The Hon'ble President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FINE) organised by the Rashtrapati Bhavan in association with the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) India and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

After inaugurating the exhibition, he also presented the Gandhi Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) Awards for 2018. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences; Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology; Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, Chairperson, National Innovation Foundation and Prof. Anil Gupta, Vice-Chairperson, National Innovation Foundation were present. 

23 innovators received the awards from the Hon'ble President that ranged from innovations in microscopy to biotechnology, including one on the solar cooker. The details of the projects and  winners will be available on http://gyti.techpedia.in/

Addressing the gathering, the Hon'ble President congratulated the award winners and innovators. He noted that the innovations have the potential to make India a collaborative society, and emphasised on translating innovation to entrepreneurship. The President remarked that innovations need to be replicable that can reach out to all cross-sections of the society. In the end, he also sought actionable recommendations based on the deliberations during the round-tables that will also take place. Later Dr. Harsh Vardhan gave away GYTI Appreciation awards to 27 innovators.

The festival aims to celebrate creativity and innovations and is open to the public from 19 to 23 March from noon to 5 pm at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. It has about 250 exhibits by the award winners, innovators and entrepreneurs.