PM Narendra Modi full of praise for Goan students

PANAJI: Three students of Dr K B Hedgewar High School, Cujira, were presented with an opportunity of a lifetime on Wednesday. Not only did they get to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing in a live telecast viewed across the country, they even presented to the PM their innovation — a mechanism that counters high beam headlights on oncoming vehicles.
Later, chief minister Manohar Parrikar tweeted about the address, which is part of Modi’s ‘interaction with start-up entrepreneurs and innovators’ across the country.

In the four-minute-long interaction, the Prime Minister appreciated the children’s concern towards the societal problem of rising accidents.

“The device senses the high beam of a headlight of an oncoming vehicle and goes into dipper mode. There is an LDR sensor fitted in the front of a car or scooter. If this device is fitted in all cars, driving will become safe,” said Sanat Balgiri, who came up with the ‘smart headlights for vehicles’ innovation, along with schoolmates Sumedh Prabhudesai and Lekhraj Surlekar. Student Nidhi Thakur helped present the project to the PM.

The trio came up with the innovation in their school’s Atal Tinkering Lab, a scheme funded by the central government under Modi. The PM asked the students to find a solution to another common problem, which is also a common cause of accidents.

“Often, the vehicle driving in front of you has non-functional tail lights and this leads to accidents. Can you find a solution to this problem? I do not want an answer immediately. You can ponder over it in your tinkering lab,” he said.

“I felt very pleased that the youngsters in Goa are concerned about the rise in accidents and want to reduce them, that they have thought about a societal issue and tried to find a solution. Look my fellow countrymen, at these children,” said Modi.