J&K Knowledge Initiative has invited suggestions, ideas and recommendations from stakeholders including students, teachers, thinkers and civil society members to take forward the maiden initiative in the State.According to a statement issued by the Higher Education Department, the suggestions can be mailed at the [email protected] by 16 October 2017.The Knowledge Initiative co-chaired by Minister for Education, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari with Advisor to Chief Minister, Prof Amitabh Mattoo its Chairman, has been constituted recently by the State Government with the objective of Empowering J&K's Youth in a global knowledge society.The thrust areas of the Knowledge Initiative include preparing a Vision Document for interventions in skills, teaching, curriculum, research and innovation and extra-curricular programmes that will be drawn from global best practices and local knowledge and history.It also includes preparing policies, guidelines and schemes to ensure holistic education, including full literacy in the state through an optimal use of existing infrastructure and human recourses available in the state, monitoring their implementation and preparing a blueprint for Information and Communication Technology initiatives in the knowledge sector."The mandate of the Knowledge Initiative also includes preparing a plan and guidelines for the creation of knowledge clusters that can become a hub of state-of-the-art technology, research and innovation and preparing a blueprint for the creation of a knowledge township in the state that will provide a state-of-the-aft environment for the youth of the state to become globally competitive," the statement said.