The eToilet has an automatic flush, which works before and after use, sensor controlled water usage and eliminates the need for manual cleaners in schools. / The Hindu
Eram Scientific, manufacturers of the country’s first eToilet, on Tuesday unveiled the world’s cheapest unmanned, self-cleaning eToilet with inbuilt solar panel and metallic platform for schools.
“This is our contribution to the nation and comes as a response to the “Clean India Campaign” announced by the Central Government. It perfectly matches with the “Make in India” campaign as well,” said Siddeek Ahmed, chairman of Thiruvananthapuram-based Eram Group.
Built of stainless steel base, mild steel super structure and occupying 25 sq.ft space, the eToilet comes with a price tag of Rs.99,999 ex-factory, which is inclusive of insurance charges and one-year warranty.
It has got an inbuilt solar panel, which eliminates the need for electricity connection while the metal platform avoids civil construction too.
It has an automatic flush, which works before and after use, automatic floor wash, sensor controlled water usage and eliminates the need for manual cleaners in schools.
“The present problems in sanitations at schools are known to be not because of the dearth of toilets. The lack of maintenance and requirement for manual cleaning has made them dysfunctional. We are out to address that gap and that is why we are now launching this comprehensive solution for schools,” said K. Anvar Sadath, CEO.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / IANS / Thiruvananthapuram – September 30th, 2014
Brothers Mohammad Methar Hussain and Mushtaq Ahmad wanted power for irrigation and they developed a low cost windmill made out of bamboo, which is more than 10 times cheaper than the regular ones available in the market. Now, there are more than 25 such windmills running in Gujarat. Read to know more about their journey and how they did it.
Mohammad Methar Hussain and his brother Mushtaq Ahmad from Darrang district in Assam grew paddy in the winter season (also known as bodo paddy). Irrigation involved a lot of manual effort and using diesel sets for pumping water was a huge drain on the resources. To tackle this issue, Mehtra thought that if they could run a large wheel on wind power, and connect the wheel to the hand pump, that would serve their purpose quite efficiently.
So, both of them started working on making a windmill unit from locally sourced materials such as bamboo wood, strips of old tyres, pieces of iron, etc. With the help of a carpenter, the first prototype was ready in four days. Since the supporting framework was composed of bamboo, the final product costed Rs. 4500, vis-a-vis the commercially available wind mills which cost over Rs. 60,000.
Mehtar and Mushtaq
Innovation Diffusion : Assam —–> Gujarat
India is the third largest salt producing country in the world with an average annual production of about 157 lakh tonnes. The Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) supplies 21% of the total salt production of India.
Salt workers, known as Agarias, are some of the poorest people in the state. Agarias mostly used counterpoise, a method that requires two people, one for lowering the counterpoise and other for straining the water. Some of them started using diesel pumps, but the exorbitant machine and fuel costs made a huge dent in their already diminishing returns from salt farming.
With the mission to improve lives of salt farmers, Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network – West (GIAN W) along with National Innovation Foundation (NIF-India) took the lead in diffusing the innovation in salt farming areas.
Based on the feedback received from salt farmers, GIAN W improved the design and developed a multi-dimensional model which was installed at LRK in 2008. Understanding the diverse needs of farmers to increase the efficiency of windmills, GIAN W joined hands with Alstom foundation for design modification and improvement.
As of 2012, 25 of these windmills have been installed in Kathivadar and Kadiali villages in Amreli district.
Low cost windmill has solved irrigation problems for the village
Benefits of the Windmill Pump
Thanks to the windmill pump, now salt farmers don’t have to slog for hours with the water pump. The windmill pump saves about Rs.50,000 worth of diesel in six months. It has decreased salt farmers’ reliance on manual labour resulting in savings of about Rs. 28,000 per season per person. Farmers can now easily recover their investments within the harvesting season.
The innovation would also result in the reduction of five tonnes of carbon emissions for every 100 tonnes of salt produced. As per NIF, on an average, every windmill-powered hand pump should generate five Carbon Emission Reductions (CERs) certificates worth Rs.3750.
Every rupee saved and milligram of carbon emission reduced is a glaring testimony of how rural innovations impact the community, society and the world at large.
In the next phase, GIAN W plans to erect more windmills in other parts of Gujarat. The salt farmers of Gujarat are indebted to Mehtar and Mustaq for making their lives more efficient and their occupation, profitable.
For any enquiries related to the machine, please get in touch with NIF-India at bd@nifindia.org.
source: http://www.thebetterindia.com / The Better India / Home> Innovation> Gujarat / by Rahul Anand / July 24th, 2014
The news that the Schmidt Memorial on Elliot’s Beach was being restored and the area around it landscaped is welcome indeed. But while this memorial has kept alive for several decades memories of the courage of a young Danish mercantile executive (Miscellany, September 23, 2013), there have been at least two other persons with Danish connections in the city’s past who deserve commemoration for significant contributions they made to Madras — and even to India.
John Goldingham was of Danish descent but was more British than Dane. He was the first official head of the oldest modern observatory in the country and of the oldest modern technical school in Asia, both surviving to this day. But better remembered is what was considered his patron Lord Edward Clive’s folly — or entertainment space. Built by Goldingham to host the Governor’s Council, this Assembly Hall became better known as Banqueting Hall (and should I say ‘Ballroom’?) but today languishes as Rajaji Hall. Making me wonder how this splendid building can be revived and given new life.
Goldingham’s contributions may be remembered by a few, but very, very few outside the scientific community are likely to remember a German who made Denmark his home and later contributed significantly to India. Dr. Johann Gerhard König was a Danish-trained physician who served the Madras Government in the late 18th Century but became better known as ‘The Father of Indian Botany’, with scientific botany in India emerging through his efforts.
Born in what is now Latvia, König moved to Denmark in 1748 to study and became a private pupil of Linnaeus at Uppsala University from 1757. He lived and worked in Denmark till he came out to Tranquebar in 1768 to serve the Danish Halle Mission as its medical officer. Simultaneously, he worked with the Nawab of Arcot as his Naturalist and travelled throughout his domain (virtually what became the Madras Presidency) and Ceylon. In 1778, he was appointed the East India Company’s first Natural Historian /Naturalist/ Botanist and served in that capacity till his death near Vizagapatam in 1785. Amongst those who benefitted from his training them as naturalists were the Rev. Christoph John and Rev. Johann Rottler in Tranquebar and William Roxburgh in Madras. It was Roxburgh who treated him during his last days in what is now Andhra Pradesh when dysentery was felling him. J. König, a name to reckon with in Indian botanical terminology, was responsible for South India being the earliest centre for botanical and zoological research in the country.
Until König came along, plants found in India by the ‘greens’ were sent to Europe to be classified and described by scientists like Linnaeus and others. König introduced the Linnaean rules in India and was soon followed by others. Many of these students of Indian vegetation in the Peninsula and Ceylon, like James Anderson, Francis Hamilton-Buchanan, Roxburgh, Rottler, and John and a few others formed a society to promote botanical studies, exchanged specimens and information on new species collected, and, acting in concert as a society, named them. But as they became more confident of their botanical knowledge, some of them began naming their finds themselves without consultation. All this information was sent by them to European botanists who published the information under the names sent to them or under names they had changed the originals to. Later authors of botanical information, like Edward Balfour and Robert Wight, tended to use the names in general use at the time, but also offered the synonyms that had been earlier used. One of the names listed is Murraya Königii, a species of curry leaves.
Footnote: Searching for material for this column constantly throws up new leads to follow. And while writing today’s piece I came across the name of Dr. Francis Appavoo. Here was an Indian who, as early as the 1860s, was in charge of the Conservator of Forests’ office in Madras. I wonder if anyone can tell me more about him.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by S. Muthiah / September 28th, 2014
City-based student Syed Tazib Rehman has proved his mettle at the Global Cancer Conference and Medicare Summit 2014. He is one of the 12 students across the world whose online presentations were selected for special appreciation. Rehman is a student of Sri Chaitanya Junior College Visakhapatnam. All the selected students except Rehman were graduates and post-graduates.
The 12 students would repeat their presentation before the President of India and other officials on September 15 at HICC, Hyderabad. Earlier, Rehman bagged the ‘Bala Ratna’ award for ‘Creative Scientific Innovation’ in 2013.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / September 15th, 2014
A scientist at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has urged the Union Health Ministry to launch a nationwide multi-centered joint project to identify the percentage of occurrence of NDM-4, a deadly bacteria variant which was found by researchers in AMU recently.
Dr Asad Ullah Khan, Chief Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Lab, AMU headed the team along with other researchers which found the deadly bacteria also called the “super bug” from the hospital’s sewage.
Khan has urged the Health Ministry to launch a nationwide multi-centered joint project for identifying the percentage of occurrence, if at all, of this particular strain and all other strains of this bacteria in the country.
A collaborative effort is the need of the hour if we wish to make an accurate assessment of the situation in the country, he said.
“In Europe, hospitals are collecting hundreds of samples for identifying these bacteria but in India there are just sporadic efforts to identify these bugs. There is certainly no cause for panic as of now but laboratories all over the country which are equipped to handle such studies should launch a collaborative effort for spotting these bacteria in different hospitals,” Khan told PTI.
“It is a fact that hospitals in India are not very co-operative for conducting such tests inside hospital wards and operation theaters but if such studies become a part of a national project then we will have a true picture of the dimensions of this problem,” he added.
Representational Image. Reuters
Khan had recently succeeded in isolating the mutant strain for the first time in India, after studying sewage water samples of a hospital. The original bacteria from which the above strain is derived was identified as NDM-1 and was first detected in 2009.
After recording the presence of “super bug”, a team of officials from the state health department visited Khan’s lab at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical college, AMU to discuss the fallout of his recent findings. Khan said that he along with his team of researchers were fully prepared to cooperate in any nationwide project to isolate this bacteria in different hospitals.
“The first step which the Union Health Ministry should take is to introduce a move for mandatory hospital infection management systems in the country. Once such a step is introduced our hospitals will be as safe as any hospital in west.”
He also called for a national policy on the over-the-counter sales of antibiotics. “This step should be preceded by a national antibiotic prescription policy wherein no antibiotic can be sold over the counter without a doctors prescription,” Khan said.
He said that indiscriminate overuse of antibiotics for years has led to the birth of the original antibiotic resistant strain in 2009 known as NDM-1.
source: http://www.firstpost.com / FirstPost.com / Home> F.India> Latest News> India News / September 11th, 2014
Prominent businessman and President of J&K Chemists and Druggists Association Syed Mushtaq Geelani passed away last evening due to a massive heart attack. He was 74.
Geelani suffered attack at his residence in Sheikhpora (Budgam) and was shifted to Budgam hospital. However, he breathed his last within minutes. He was later buried in his ancestral grave yard in Khankahi Mu’alla.
Fourth day (Rasm-e-Chaharum) will be observed on September 20 (Saturday) at 10.30 AM at Khankahi Mu’alla and later a condolence meeting will be held at their residence- Fitrat Abad Sheikhpora (Budgam).
He was brother-in-law of noted writer and poet Farooq Nazki and uncle of IGP (Crime) Syed Javaid Mujtaba Geelani. Rising Kashmir extends solidarity with Geelanis and Nazki’s over this loss.
Clubs belonging to Lions District 324A1 have installed solar power plants at 35 schools run by the State government and Chennai Corporation. / Photo: M. Srinath / The Hindu
The Government Hobart Higher Secondary School for Muslim Girls, Royapettah, recently got a 1.5 KV solar power plant. Students of classes VII, VIII and IX will benefit from the plant that can power 10 lights and seven ceiling fans.
Imtiaz Fathima Wadood, president of the parent-teachers association of the school, said the supply from the plant could also be used to power the examination hall, which has a seating capacity of 100 students, when tests are conducted.
“We have to thank the Lions Club of Periamet for providing the facility worth Rs. 2.5 lakh to the school, which has 300 children from poor families from Triplicane and Royapettah studying,” she said. The Club will maintain the facility for five years.
Clubs belonging to Lions District 324A1 have also installed solar power plants at 35 schools run by Chennai Corporation and the State government.
According to G. Ahmed Sharif, advisor, district 324A1, who is also the project chairman, said a total of 19 government and 11 Corporation schools had been covered under the project this year. “It is the suggestion of the district governor D. Balachandra Reddy that all the clubs are following. The district provides Rs. 50,000 per plant and the clubs have to bear the rest of the cost. Many classrooms are poorly lit and need such solar plants. In the long run, it will also help reduce the schools’ power bills,” he said, adding that more clubs were coming forward to install such plants.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – December 26th, 2013
In one of the nicest ironies in Shiv Sena supremo and `Hindutva’ champion Bal Thackeray’s life, the doctor who treated him for the past five years and was with him in his last hours was a Muslim.
Dr Jalil Parkar, well known Pulmonologist from Lilavati hospital who had been Thackeray’s trusted physician for the last five years, made the announcement of Sena chief’s death last evening with tears in his eyes before the crowd of party workers and mediapersons here.
Dr Parkar, a Muslim, earned the faith of Thackeray family after he successfully treated the Sena patriarch’s chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a lung disease that makes breathing difficult, some years ago.
From thereon, everytime Thackeray developed health complications, Dr Parkar was called in. He became so close to the family that in the recent years he was spotted on the dais with other VIPs at the annual Dussehra rally of Shiv Sena.
Dr Parkar is credited with saving Thackeray’s life five times in five years. When senior Thackeray needed a second heart intervention in 2009 (the first was needed in 1996), it was Dr Parkar who prescribed the treatment which was readily accepted by the Sena chief.
When Uddhav Thackeray, his son and Shiv Sena executive president, needed a heart surgery some months ago, it was again Dr Parkar who led the medical team which treated him.
Though there was some commentary in political circles about Thackeray’s personal doctor being a Muslim, Dr Parkar never commented on this aspect. All he would say was the Sena Chief had been very kind to him.
source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> Mumbai – November 18th, 2012
The G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, today honored its former student, United States Chief Agricultural Negotiator Ambassador Islam A. Siddiqui, with an honorary degree of Doctor of Science. The degree was conferred upon Ambassador Siddiqui in recognition of his contributions to agricultural research and development, as well as agricultural trade policy development and his work’s influence on world agriculture.
“I feel humbled and honored at the same time to be receiving this honorary degree of Doctor of Science. Thousands of agricultural scientists, engineers, and veterinarians graduating from Pantnagar and sister universities provided the foot soldiers to make the Green Revolution a reality. This massive technology transfer of modern agricultural practices – combining education, research, and extension — turned India from a net food importing country to a food exporting nation. As a student of the first batch of this great institution when it opened its doors 51 years ago, I had not imagined in my wildest dreams that one day I would receive this prestigious award.”
Ambassador Siddiqui was born in Haldwani, Uttar Pradesh and attended G.B. Pant University before taking a scholarship at the University of Illinois in the United States. Throughout his career, he has advocated for international cooperation, technology transfer, capacity building, and new technology development to achieve food security in the 21st century.
source: http://www.newdelhi.usembassy.gov / Embassy of the United States, New Delhi, India / Home> News & Events> Press Releases / New Delhi – May 20th, 2011
Wheelchair-bound Baby Fatima is the inspiration behind Saira of ‘Bangalore Days’. Insert : Fathima with Parvathy (R)
Remember Saira of ‘Bangalore Days’? The character of Saira, who vanquishes the handicaps of the body using sheer willpower, is based on a real life character who caught Anjali Menon’s attention at a ward in the Kozhikode Medical College. Baby Fatima, a wheelchair-bound young girl who went to each patient, made them smile and consoled them, was the real life inspiration behind Saira.
Baby Fatima, like Saira, is also fast becoming a rage in the campuses. Fatima is visiting campuses to garner support of the students for the palliative care work in connection with the ‘Becoz I Care’ campaign jointly conducted by the Institute of Palliative Medicine and Students in Palliative Care.
Even though not a radio jockey like Saira in ‘Bangalore Days’, Fatima, too, has the gift of gab. The palliative care workers contend that once Fatima speak a few words to them, any patient will be able to forget their woes. Ask Fatima how she came to possess such boundless positive energy, and she will wax eloquent about her family and her childhood.
Parvathy (L) with Anjali Menon (R) during the making of the movie, ‘Bangalore Days’
Fatima grew up with her ‘moothumma’ Malappuram Kottappadiyil Kiliyamannil Mumtaz Usman’s family as the pampered lone sister of moothumma’s four sons. It was not as a handicapped child that the family treated her. Having been raised in such a way as to instill confidence in her, proved to be her strength, according to Fatima.
Fathima is a second year BSW student now, though she has not gone to school or college for studies. She studied from home. It was as part of the ‘Becoz I Care’ campaign that Fathima had her first glimpse of a campus, giving her immense joy.
BSW was a natural choice for her as social service is her ambition in life. Soon after completing Class 10, Fathima took the lead to meet up with palliative care workers and became part of their activities.
Apart from all these activities, the entrepreneur in Fatima has launched a designer clothes boutique in her own home. Fatima’s muthumma Jamal Ayesha accompanies her to the Medical College every morning, where patients await the girl, who has been a regular presence there for the past five years with a beaming smile and soothing words of care.
Life +ve Becoz I Care campaign is about each student reaching the brochures and registration forms of palliative care to ten households. The goal is to make the kind-hearted souls who are willing to set aside Rs 3 daily (Rs 1000 annually) as members in the ‘Tracks We Live’ project. The palliative care workers will then be able to deliver one time painkillers to one patient at Rs 3. The project aims at alleviating the pain of a patient using one person’s donation.
For registration form visit: www.instituteofpalliativemedicine.org
Phone: 82816 64752
source: http://www.english.manoramaonline.com / OnManorama / Home> Lifestyle> Health / by Kapil Raj / Friday – July 25th, 2014
