New Delhi, July 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2020 on August 1 via video conference. The Prime Minister will also be interacting with students on the occasion. Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister said that he will be interacting with the finalists of the Hackathon at 4.30 PM on Saturday, August 1, 2020. "Young India is filled with talent! The grand finale of the Smart India Hackathon 2020 showcases this very spirit of innovation and excellence. On 1st August at 4:30 PM, looking forward to interacting with the finalists of the Hackathon and knowing more about their works", the Prime Minister tweeted.

The SIH 2020 grand finale will be organised online owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The theme for Smart India Hackathon 2020 is 'No problem is too big... No idea is too small'. The Smart India Hackathon is a nationwide initiative to provide students with a platform to solve some of the pressing problems we face in our daily lives, and thus inculcate a culture of product innovation and a mindset of problem-solving. It has proved to be extremely successful in promoting out-of-the-box thinking in young minds.

Here's the tweet by PM Narendra Modi:

Earlier this week, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal informed that the winning team in this hackathon will get a reward of Rs 1 lakh, second team will get Rs 75,000 while the third team will get Rs 50,000. The Smart India Hackathon is a nationwide initiative which offers a platform to students to solve some of the pressing problems that we face in our daily lives.

The first edition of Smart India Hackathon was organised in 2017. It saw participation of 42,000 students which increased to 1 lakh in 2018 and to 2 lakh in 2019. The first round of Smart India Hackathon 2020 saw participation of more than 4.5 lakh students. The Grand Finale of the software edition this year is being organized online by connecting all the participants throughout the nation together over a specially-built advanced platform. More than 10,000 students will be competing to solve 243 problem statements from 37 central government departments, 17 state governments and 20 industries.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 31, 2020 08:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).