Bhashini (BHASHa INterface for India) is a national AI language translation platform under the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM), spearheaded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The initiative aims to bring all 22 scheduled Indian languages into the digital ecosystem. Its primary objective is to make AI-driven platforms accessible in every Indian language. While many implementations are already visible across websites, Bhashini extends beyond basic use cases into sectors such as law, agriculture, governance, and e-governance, which require domain-specific terminology and solutions. Prof. Dipti Misra Sharma, Professor of Linguistics and Head of the Department of Language Technologies at IIIT Hyderabad, said: “About 12 institutions across India have been associated with this project for four years now. Some of the basic models already existed, but the quality of translation was not satisfactory. Bhashini is unique due to its scope — unlike general-purpose large language models, here each language is given richer, more focused data.”

A slew of innovative tech-based smart solutions emerged from Solvathon 2026, India’s premier HealthTech Innovation Challenge. With International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship collaborating as innovation partner with Apollo Research and Innovations (ARI) and Transforming Healthcare with IT (THIT), the 3-day hackathon saw medical and tech-centric experts grapple with real-world healthcare challenges. Healthcare and specifically eldercare has raced to the top of the householder’s budgeting portfolio along with your child’s orthodontic treatment and university education, making it an issue that affects everyone, from cradle to grave. Thus, when stakeholders in medico-tech (students, researchers, startups, clinicians, and technologists) came together at Solvathon 2026 between January 30 – February 1 at HICC to dig deep and unravel real-world healthcare challenges, it was a timely response to an unfolding emergency.

When commercial number plate systems failed to handle India’s hand-painted truck plates, International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad’s iHub-Data adapted lab research into Vahan Eye – a low-cost, field-deployed solution now monitoring sand transport in Telangana. ‘Truck art’ or the hand-painted ‘Horn Ok Please’, ‘Use Dipper at Night’ and the ‘Buri nazar waale tera mooh kala’ are an integral part of Indian highways. These artistic expressions which lighten up many a road journey also find an extension in hand painted registration plates. However, such unstandardised lettering can prove to be a challenge for automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems. Most commercial ANPR systems are designed for standardized license plates. ANPR systems play a crucial role in modern governance, helping authorities monitor traffic, enforce regulations, prevent illegal transport, and improve public safety. From toll booths to traffic violations, ANPR enables real-time vehicle tracking without manual checks.