Screen4SpLDs - Development of an Automated Pre-Screening Tool for Specific Learning Disabilities in Children.

DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Specific Learning Disabilities (SpLDs) is a common term in today's society, which manifests in different ways and can cause various difficulties in daily life. For one person it might be the lack of attention, for another, it might be struggling to read fluently or conduct basic mathematical calculations; these are different groups of Learning Disabilities. Early detection and treatment of SpLDs are crucial, as it enables the start of interventions that support the best outcomes for children living with SLDs. Not addressing SLDs at a young age has a major influence on development into adulthood and results in a high economic cost, exceeding the lifetime costs of asthma, intellectual disability, and diabetes have a huge shortage of special educators to conduct SLDs screening and subsequently providing treatment post diagnosis. There are nearly 90% of the world's children reside in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). The challenge of early detection and early intervention of SpLDs is exacerbated by limited expertise, including limited screening, diagnostic and treatment resources in LMICs. For instance, in the Global South, the skilled human resource and tools to assess SpLDs are very limited. Thus, these children are undiagnosed and negatively reinforced by the community by stigmatizing and labelling them. These factors all lead to low self-esteem and behavior problems that further interfere with their ability to learn. In vulnerable communities, which are often already poverty stricken, this operates as a vicious cycle, simply because optimal education is the main method of breaking this vicious cycle. We aim to target these developmental issues by developing and piloting low-cost mobile app-based solution for the screening of SpLDs that will lead to early intervention. Specific learning disorder may affect handwriting in a way that can be visually distinguished. The purpose of the proposed research is to evaluate the ability of deep learning to distinguish between those who have SpLDs and those who do not, from their handwriting. The proposed solution requires no more than taking a photo of the handwritten image on a mobile phone and passing it to the prediction model and getting the prediction results. Based on the proposed solution, the SpLDs screening can be conducted at home, in a school study area without any additional special setting. The important factors of this app are simplicity, ease of use, less training requirement, the accuracy of the results, and reliability. This app can serve from individual to national level for screening SpLDs in children. This will reduce the burden of the shortage of special educators, and this will be a huge relief for LMICs. This will, in general, reduce the inequalities faced by vulnerable and marginalized children, by providing an opportunity to receive optimal health and educational services. This will lead to the improvement of quality education received by ALL which in turn will contribute to wider societal improvements. In addition to the direct impact on the child, the spillover effects on the family and community development are significant. Further, creating an opportunity to screen a larger population will increase societal awareness of SpLDs and reduce the stigma

Weather and Climate Science for Service Partnership (WCSSP) India - Calls- tender-PML

DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

River outflow to the ocean in the NEMO model of the Regional Coupled System is currently prescribed as pure fresh water input, either at the surface or on a few ocean levels. However, in reality, fresh water gets mixed with marine water in estuaries, and the inflow into the ocean has a very different salinity and temperature profile with depth than what is currently done in the NEMO model at river outflow points. Current Met Office simulations do have stability issues at river outflow points, because of the current crude estimation of river flows. Estuary box models are considered as the way forward for ocean models which can't explicitly resolve estuaries (Matte et al. 2025). This will enable better numerical stability to run month-long or multi-decadal simulations and better oceanic circulation, due to improved temperature and salinity profiles near coastlines. This work will allow a better understanding of the interactions between river outflow and the ocean to enable partners to better assess potential impacts and thus mitigate against climate change. Primary beneficiaries would be the South Asian region, particularly those countries with an Indian Ocean coastline.

Environmental Pollution Programme

Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs

The Environmental Pollution Programme’s aim is to work with ODA-eligible countries and regions to reduce the adverse impacts of pollution. Work will improve health and reduce environmental harm and poverty that results from chemical, air, waste and water pollution, as part of the Triple Planetary Crisis. 2021-22: Scoping year to share expertise, best practice and invest in research to strengthen the capacity of low- and middle-income countries to meet their obligations under UN Multilateral Environment Agreements and frameworks. 2022-2025: Phase one delivering two multi-year projects in Vietnam and South Africa through delivery partners Global Alliance on Health and Pollution, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and in country organisations. The programme reduced pollution and its impacts on the environment and health by promoting sustainable, economically viable practices, strengthening regulations, and enhancing awareness through multi-sector engagement, robust evidence projects, capacity building and monitoring to support policymaking. 2025-26: Phase two delivered a one-year programme which built and expanded on the successful approaches on reducing air pollution and increasing uptake of integrated pest management in Vietnam, adding new work on waste and plastic pollution. The programme launched in Uganda and focussed on developing a Health and Pollution Action Plan, creating a framework for future action that is aligned with priorities of national stakeholders. The programme also established the Regional Pollution Forum platform, taking a multilateral approach in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa to amplify impact by spreading knowledge of successful interventions.

Mahindra Electric Automobile Limited

British International Investment plc

Mahindra Electric Automobile Limited (MEAL) is a new four-wheeler passenger electric vehicle venture company launched by Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), a leading Indian automotive group.

Mintoak Innovations Private Limited

British International Investment plc

Mintoak provides a digital payments platform for MSME retail merchants. It does this by working with banking partners to deploy and scale value-added services (payments, lending, engagement) to their MSME customers.

NMB Bank Ltd.

British International Investment plc

NMB Bank is one of Nepal's leading commercial banks, with 201 branches across Nepal. It is licensed as an "A" financial institution by Nepal Rastra Bank and was founded in 1996. It currently serves a range of large and medium-sized business customers.

Pi Ventures Fund II

British International Investment plc

Pi Ventures LLP is a venture capital firm specializing in early stage and startup investments.

pi Ventures is an early-stage fund, focused on investing on disruptive ideas leveraging machine learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) in India.

Pravega Ventures Fund II

British International Investment plc

Pravega Ventures is an early-stage venture capital investor backing highly scalable, tech-enabled businesses in India, particularly in the fintech and enterprise spaces.

Pubali Bank Ltd.

British International Investment plc

Pubali Bank is one of the largest private commercial banks in Bangladesh. It was established in 1959.

RFL Electronics Limited

British International Investment plc

RFL Electronics Ltd (REL) is a consumer electronics manufacturer based in Bangladesh, which manufactures and assembles wide range of electronic home appliances including TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners and small home appliances. REL was established in 2015 and is part of the PRAN-RFL group.

South Asia Growth Invest Holdings LP (Hero Motors Limited)

British International Investment plc

Hero Motors is an Indian-headquartered manufacturer of components (incl. gears and transmissions) for electric bicycles and electric motorbikes.

Touchkin eServices Private Limited

British International Investment plc

Wysa is is an AI-powered mental health app that has been shown to help improve mental health. It uses AI to deliver clinical grade digital therapeutics along with human support and is used by 4 million users globally across 65 countries.

Turtle Shell Technologies Pvt Ltd

British International Investment plc

Turtle Shell Technologies develops Dozee, a contactless health monitor that tracks users' heart, respiration, and sleep patterns while they sleep and converts hospital beds to "step-down" ICUs.

Wortgage Technologies Private Limited

British International Investment plc

WeRize is building a financial services platform. Its focused on providing a service for blue and grey-collar, low-middle income consumers residing in outlying districts and smaller cities in India, who are typically underserved by financial institutions.

SUSI Asia Energy Transition Fund

British International Investment plc

The Fund targets investments acrossthe energy transition sectors, includingrenewable energy, energy efficiency, andenergy storage, and focuses on emergingeconomies in Southeast Asia, includingIndonesia, Vietnam and Philippines.

Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan Limited

British International Investment plc

Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered plc. It is the oldest and largest international bank in Pakistan

Betterplace Safety Solutions Private Limited

British International Investment plc

BetterPlace is India's largest blue-collar workforce management platform. It seeks to empower workers by giving them opportunities for job growth and upwardsocial mobility, and access to credit and health insurance.

Greenizon Agritech Consultancy Private Limited

British International Investment plc

The company (which trades under the name �Jai Kisan�) offers financing solutions to the underserved, rural, agriculture value chain. It engages with and serves a range of individuals and organisations, including smallholder farmers, retailers, small and medium enterprise (SME) suppliers and agri-corporates.

India Quotient Fund IV

British International Investment plc

India Quotient Fund IV is a pre-seed/seed venture fund investing in unique-to-India businesses building for mass-market Indian consumers (living outside of Tier 1 cities) and the vast SME landscape.

Multiples Private Equity Fund I

British International Investment plc

A pan-India fund making mid and large-cap equity investments across financial services, manufacturing, consumer, and healthcare.