Chandy to interact with two million students

Thiruvanathapuram, Sep 11 (IANS) On Entrepreneurship Day Thursday, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will connect with more than two million school and college students through Google Plus Hangout at 1 p.m., a statement from the government said.

Minister for IT and Industry P.K. Kunhalikutty will join Chandy in the programme.

The message will be streamed live on www.youtube.com/oommenchandykerala and via "Hangouts on Air".

Colleges have been advised about the programme, and all district educational offices have sent circulars to schools to make arrangements to telecast the Hangout in campuses.

All those with computers and mobile devices with internet will be able to watch Chandy speak.

The chief minister is expected to elaborate on the future direction of the state's policies on entrepreneurship, and the initiatives the government is taking to support the youth in achieving their dreams.

This week also marks the first anniversary of the Kerala government announcement of its landmark Student Entrepreneurship Policy (SEP) at the first edition of its flagship Emerging Kerala global meet.

The SEP has had a transformational effect on Kerala's student community by incentivising creativity and innovation by students, even as they still pursue their education.

Through SEP, student entrepreneurs get 20 percent grace on attendance and four percent on marks.

SEP's impact is best exemplified by Startup Village, India's first telecom technology business incubator, which has received more than 1,000 applications from aspiring entrepreneurs, many of them students, since its inception in April 2012.

On Thursday, Startup Village and the Technopark Technology Business Incubator (TBI) will chart Kerala's entrepreneurial journey and milestones on a 150-metre "Startup Wall" outside the state secretariat building in the state capital.

The Wall is designed to encourage more young people to be part of the start-up movement and to highlight Kerala as a state that is building the ecosystem necessary for new enterprise to take wing.