44-year-old car mechanic Mohammad Raees Markani from Madhya Pradesh has invented a car that runs on water.
This 12th pass took five years to develop the final product. The car runs on acetylene gas, which is formed from a chemical reaction between calcium carbide and water. Raees now has a patent for his water car. According to Mirror, Raees has been modifying an 800 cc engine for the last five years – and now believes he has made the scientific breakthrough. The eco-friendly car uses a mix of water and carbides.
Raees who has been a mechanic for the last 15 years told Mirror, “The gas is used for several industrial purposes including welding and portable lighting for miners. But in my case, I am using it to propel the car engines . I have made other changes to the engines, which helps the overall performance of the car. So basically, it is just about the water.”
“The market for environmentally friendly cars is getting bigger and automobile companies around the world are looking for eco-friendly ways to reduce pollution. So a car like mine can be a good alternative. It costs close to nothing to operate and it is environment friendly,” added Raees.
Image : Pultan
The Chinese automobile companies have invited Raees to develop the idea further. All the companies that are interested in Raees’s water car project will have to meet his one condition – any plant to make new cars will be established only in his hometown in Madhya Pradesh. “I want things to change in my hometown. So this is where my work should continue,” Raees stated.
Bhatkal lad Abdul Bais Kadli, secured Best Oral Presentation Award during the International Conference on Desalination (InDACON-2018) on 20th April 2018 at National Institute of Technology, Tiruchinapalli, Tamilnadu.
Abdul presented his paper entitled ‘Optimisation and Modelling Of Desalination Of Water Using Biological Waste By Rsm And ANN’ during the event and secured the award.
The event was organized by National Institute of Technology, Tiruchinapalli, Tamilnadu at their campus on 20th and 21st April 2018.
Abdul Bais is a student of 8th semester chemical engineering at Siddaganga Institute Of Technology, Tumakuru and was representing his college in the event.
He is also a alumni of Anjuman Hami-e-Muslimeen Bhatkal where he completed his high schooling and Pre-University education, he was also a recipient of the prestigious academic award of the institution ‘Viqare Islamia’ in 2012 his teachers and management and Anjuman expressed their happiness over Abdul’s achievement and congratulated him while also wishing him luck for his future endeavors.
(Bhatkallys News Bureau/ Shaikh Zabi)
source: http://www.bhatkallys.com / Bhatkallys.com / Home> Bhatkallys News / by Shaikh Zabi, Bhatkallys News Bureau / April 23rd, 2018
Drypetes kalamii: The plant is found in the wet, shaded areas of subtropical, moist semi-evergreen forests, at heights of 50-100 metres.
The plant is named after former President Abdul Kalam
Scientists from the Botanical Survey of India have identified a new plant species from two protected National Parks in West Bengal. Named Drypetes kalamii, it is a small shrub found to be shorter version of its close relative Drypetes ellisii. This adds to the rich floral wealth of India.
Standing just 1 metre tall, the newly described plant is unisexual in nature, which means they have separate male and female plants.
“During the survey and documentation of the flora of Buxa National Park, West Bengal (core area of Buxa Tiger Reserve), in 2011, I came across these plants, but could not identify them. Another author of the paper had collected a new female plant with fruits from Jaldapara National Park, West Bengal. The fruiting specimen can be easily identified in Drypetes. We later found that both the plants belonged to the same species. Further consultations with plant biologists from India and abroad helped us confirm its new identity,” says Dr Gopal Krishna from BSI who is the first author of the paper published in Phytotaxa. The researchers compared the new plant with other Drypetes species and found differences in the leaf, flower and fruit structures. There are about 220 species of Drypetes identified across the globe of which 20 have been reported from India.
Medicinal cousin
“The new species is a close relative of a medicinal plant known in Sanskrit as Putrajivah”, says Dr K. Karthigeyan, scientist at BSI and corresponding author of the work. “NASA had recently named a new bacterium after Dr Kalam, and we also chose his name as he is a big inspiration for students and young researchers,” adds Dr Karthigeyan.
The new species is found in wet, shaded areas of subtropical moist semi-evergreen forests, at a height ranging 50-100 metres. With pale yellow flowers in clusters and bright orange to red fruits, the plant is exclusive to the two national parks.
By following the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) rules, the scientists have provisionally assessed the plant to be “Critically Endangered”. The report states forest fires and grazing as two plausible threats to the new species.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Science / by Aswathi Pacha / February 24th, 2018
The Supreme Court today appointed Justice Jawad Rahim, judicial member of National Green Tribunal (NGT), as the acting chairperson of the green panel.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said that the new acting chairperson will discharge his duties until a regular appointment is made and will take part in selection process of other members of the NGT.
“Justice Rahim shall discharge the duties of Chairperson (of NGT) for all purposes, including participating in the selection process for filing up vacancies of members, until a regular appointment of a new Chairperson is made,” the bench said.
It, however, made it clear that this appointment is an “interim arrangement” and shall not be construed to be a final determination of the seniority between Justice Rahim and Justice R S Rathore by this court.
The order came on a plea of the NGT Bar Association that has said that due to the non-appointment of chairperson at NGT, the selection process to fill up vacancies has been stalled.
The bench was told that Justice Rahim and Justice Raghuvendra S Rathore are the judicial members of the NGT and both were appointed to the NGT on 12 January 2016.
The Centre, represented by Attorney General K K Venugopal, left to the apex court the issue of appointing the acting chairperson in view of the fact that both the judges were appointed in the NGT on same day.
The apex court noted that the Attorney General has indicated that the central government would abide by the interim arrangement that is made by the court, so as to facilitate the discharge of duties of the Chairperson until a regular appointment is made.
“The making of an interim arrangement is also necessitated in order to enable the acting Chairperson to participate in the selection process for filling up vacancies of members of the NGT,” it said.
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source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> Business> Business India News / PTI / March 27th, 2018
Businessman Bhat has spent Rs 30 lakh from his pocket to plant 1,45,000 trees; he aims to plant 20,000 trees every year.
Abdul Hameed Bhat digging pits and planting conifer saplings.
Srinagar:
About nine years ago, he single-handedly began planting trees on barren hillocks which, till a couple of decades ago, used to be full of beautiful clusters of deodar or Himalayan cedar and conifer trees.
Abdul Hameed Bhat, 51, a businessman, has himself planted or helped volunteers in planting as many as 1,45,000 trees, mostly pine, in different parts of the Kashmir valley spending Rs 30 lakh from his own pocket.
“I don’t get any financial help from government or any other source nor do I run any NGO. It is an effort made at personal level,” he said, calling it a “heart mission” rooted in his love for environment.
Mr Bhat’s passion began in 2009 when he started taking care of dozens of pine trees planted by the social forestry department on the pavements outside his office in Srinagar’s Barzulla area but were left unattended.
As a promotion activity in his auto business, he started gifting saplings to clients in place of calendars, diaries and other stationery items.
Last Sunday, Mr Bhat, a school dropout who has made it big in business, was joined by a large group of volunteers, including journalists and members of a football club, to plant over 1,000 pine trees on a knoll at Sutaharan in central district of Budgam. Sitting in the lap of Pirpanjal Range, Sutaharan like many other Valley areas has witnessed large-scale deforestation mainly during the three-decade old armed conflict in Kashmir.
“There are many things we can do to preserve and protect our environment if we want to preserve and protect life on Earth and leave behind something good for our coming generations,” he told this correspondent after digging about 100 holes and planting saplings in them.
Mr Bhat said that it pains him to see deforestation across Kashmir and he took a “conscious decision” to do his bit to rectify the wrong.
“I know the damage done to our woods over the years is huge and no single effort is likely to have a great impact of reparation. But I thought whatever I can, I must do,” he said.
Relentlessly dedicated to restoring nature, Mr Bhat who is now known to many people in Kashmir as “Green Warrior” has not only won appreciation from all but is also enthusiastically joined by volunteers from almost every walk of life in planting trees.
Rahim Greens, a subsidiary of Rahim Motors owned by Mr Bhat, in collaboration with various organisations and the state’s forest department sometime ago launched a plantation drive in Srinagar city and Rajouri district in the Jammu region and involved educational institutions. An initiative named as “The Tree of Life” was organised by it jointly with Help Voluntary Trust earlier.
“No doubt, Hameed Sahib took the initiative and continues to be at the forefront of the campaign but it now appears to be a story of Mein akela hi chala tha janib-e-manzil magar; loag saath aatey gaye aur karvan banta gaya (I set out alone for the destination but people kept joining me and it turned into a caravan),” said a volunteer.
One of the prominent faces which have ardently joined the crusade is Rifat Abdullah, a TV journalist. Apart from distributing saplings in schools and colleges, he has adopted a barren hill in Rathsun area of Budgam and taken a pledge to convert it into what he calls “First Oxygen Zone” of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Thousands of deodar trees have been planted voluntarily on the hill, so far, under ‘Mission One Crore Plants’ launched by ‘Save Environment, Save Kashmir’, a public movement,” he wrote on Facebook.
Volunteers in Sutaharan area of the Valley.
The Kashmir valley bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and on the northeast by the main Himalayas range is blessed with exotic natural beauty of landscape and water bodies. But over the years, its water bodies, mountains and particularly forests have been vandalised and the ecological assets are fast disappearing. As per official statistics, more than 14,000 hectares of forestland, including 9,496 hectares in the Jammu region and 4,877 hectares in Kashmir, has been encroached upon by people.
The state has a total forest area of 20,230 square km, largely distributed in the Valley (8,128 sq.km) and the Jammu region (12,066 sq. km). The twin district of Leh and Kargil in Ladakh are mostly devoid of forest vegetation with only 36 sq. km forest area together.
Forest minister Choudhary Lal Singh claimed that the government retrieved from encroachers around 135,000 kanals (16,875 acres) of forestland in 2016-17 for restoration.
“I have asked divisional forest officers to gear up their men and machinery for demarcation of retrieved forests land to avoid further encroachment,” he said.
Officials claim that a slew of measures have been initiated to regenerate the degraded forests. These include planting over two crore saplings across the state — 250,000 of these along the highways.
Mr Singh, while speaking in the state Assembly recently, admitted that out of 20,230 sq km forest area, about 9,000 sq km area is degraded due to “unabated human intervention”.
He also said that 382,000 kanals (47,750 arces) of forest area was under encroachment as on April 1, 2016. “I need around Rs 10,000 crore for treating 9,00,000 hectares of degraded forest area of the state and at the rate of present funding, it will take more than 350 years to rehabilitate the degraded forest area,” he said.
As per the forest policy of the country, 33 per cent of the total area of every region in plains and 60 per cent in the Himalayan region must be under forest cover but the ground reality is that India does not have more than 22 per cent total forest area.
In Jammu and Kashmir, despite it falling in the Himalayan region, the total forest area is about 20 per cent of the total area. The Valley has been experiencing erratic snowfall and hotter summers for the last decade or so and environmentalists say that the main reason for it has been the large-scale deforestation.
Ecologists and other experts insist that restoring the state’s green cover needs the involvement of people and more importantly the spirit shown by Mr Bhat and his partners.
Mr Bhat is hopeful of a greener future. “Our younger generation is aware of the consequences (of deforestation). I have found young boys and girls more than willing to work with me and others in our humble effort to see our surroundings turn green again.
source: http://www.asianage.com / The Asian Age / Home> India> All India / by Yusuf Jameel , The Asian Age / March 17th, 2018
Zubeda Begum (extreme left) and her workers busy assembling solar lights in Sangareddy on Thursday.
Employs 15 divyangans led by Zubeda Begum
Sashikanth, who was affected by polio in childhood, never thought he could earn his living. But life has changed for better since the past three months, thanks to Divyangan Solar Society (DSS).
Led by Zubeda Begum, a differently-abled woman fighting for the rights of divyangans, the DSS has employed Sashikanth along with 14 others who are differently-abled to sell solar-powered lights. It has also given indirect employment to a total of 85 persons. So far, the Society has sold over 20,000 solar lights of different varieties.
Work begins at 9.30 a.m. and workers get ₹3,000 a month as salary. For many, more than the money they get by working here, it’s the respect that they earn by doing so that matters the most. “Everyone considers a differently-abled person a burden both on the family as well as the society. We don’t get jobs easily as the employers see certain limitations in what we can do and refuse to give us a chance to prove them wrong. It’s humiliating. That’s the reason why I began my fight for divyangans and their rights. I can say I have been partly successful in this regard,” Ms. Zubeda told The Hindu.
About two decades ago, she set up a public telephone booth, which took her almost a year, for self-sustenance. Given her grit to live life on her own terms, she was entrusted with the responsibility of running DSS after it was established in 2016. For the past two years, the Society has done business of ₹18 lakh. It produces 10 varieties of solar lights.
The DSS has also established its units in Mahabubnagar, Janagam, Manchiryal and Kamareddy.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by R. Avadhani / Sangareddy – March 17th, 2018
Carrying forward its glorious tradition of honouring the service of permanent value rendered to society, Maharanaof MewarCharitable Foundation (MMCF) under the astute command of ArvindSingh Mewar, gave away the most coveted Maharana MewarFoundation 36th Annual Awards (MMFAA) to the highly deserving individuals in a grand ceremony held at The City Palace, Udaipur .
Started with the presentation of certificates to students from schools and universities in Udaipurand across the State of Rajasthan, the grand awards ceremony witnessed international and national awardees gathering on the dais to receive their awards from ArvindSingh Mewarof Udaipur, Chairmanand Managing Trusteeof Maharanaof MewarCharitable Foundation, in the proud presence of Rashtrakavi Shri Balkavi Bairagi ji who graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.
Amid the resplendence displayed by the City Palaceof Udaipur, Maharana MewarFoundation 36th Annual Awards (MMFAA) was received by ProfessorJohn Stratton Hawley, USA, who is Claire Tow Professorof Religion at Barnard College, Columbia University; Suhasini Haidar the Diplomatic Editorof The Hindu; Dr. E. Sreedharan– ‘The Metro Man’; Raspreet Sidhu, captainof the Indian Basketball Women’s Team; Gafarbhai Qureshi, a farmerfrom Ramdechi, Talala, Gir Somnath District of Gujarat .
Salim Gafur Sheikhand Harsh Desai for rendering selfless service, rising beyond the callof duty in the face of immense hostility; Pandit (Dr.) Chandrakant Purohit(Munshi), a retired teacher; Dr. Sandeep Joshi, well-known name in the field of oriental research and preservation of Indian Heritage and ancient literature; Prof. Satyavrat Shastri, a highly decorated Sanskrit scholar, writer, grammar expert and poetfrom Indiaand many other distinguished personalities who have precisely earned this award after their immense hard work and dedication shown to enhance image of Udaipurand the country on National and International platforms.
ArvindSingh Mewarof Udaipur, Chairmanand Managing Trusteeof Maharanaof MewarCharitable Foundation, Udaipursaid, “It’s truly a proud moment for all of us and I take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners for their extraordinary contribution to the society. Maharanaof MewarCharitable Foundation is continuing with its commitment of pursuing its mission of nurturing cultural values in society by adopting innovative methods of communicating and impacting and this is another step forward in this direction.”
Lakshyaraj Singh Mewarof Udaipur, Trustee, Maharanaof MewarCharitable Foundation, Udaipursaid, “The whole purpose of MMFAA awards is to recognize and honour the contributions of the extraordinary individuals and leading light of the society in their respective fields. I thank all the attendees for participating in this ceremony with full zest and zeal.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-ANI> Business / by ANI / Udaipur(Rajasthan), New Delhi (India) / March 13th, 2018
Marzooq Ahmed during his ‘Whole Week Only On Wheels’ initiative in Mangaluru.
Marzooq Ahmed keeps his vow and uses non-motorised transport for a week
This lecturer with a polytechnic believes in practising and not preaching as he has kept his vow of pedalling for a whole week to spread awareness on non-motorised transport.
Marzooq Ahmed, lecturer in Civil Engineering with P.A. Polytechnic, Konaje, took up the initiative — Wwoow Factor (Whole Week Only On Wheels) — on February 26. Till Sunday, he either rode a bicycle or walked to any place he happened to travel.
To begin with, Mr. Ahmed rode to his institute every day instead of using any motorised transport. With the support of the principal, K.P. Soofie, and his colleagues in the institute, Mr. Ahmed also conducted awareness programmes to 750-odd students explaining to them the benefits of non-motorised transport, including reduced carbon footprint.
He told the students: “I believe that as an individual I cannot do escalating work but as a socially responsible citizen I can sit on a saddle and steer my thoughts and actions by pedalling to make a small drop in the ocean accountable, to improve the quality of the air that we all inhale.”
Students do their bit
Students too shared a bit of their knowledge and practice on non-motorised transport. While Vishnu and Fareen highlighted the importance of carpooling and reduced dependence on motorised vehicles for short distances, Tilak spoke about the benefits of cycling and how it helps environment conservation. Sapnaz added the concluding statement at the awareness programme by saying, “The actions we show now will reflect in our future. We need to uphold and undertake right measures to control pollution now.”
While Mr. Ahmed is used to regular rides being a member of Mangalore Bicycle Club (MBC), he rode from the institute to Circuit House in the city on Thursday afternoon when the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board opened its continuous weather monitoring centre to show his commitment.
Besides riding bicycle and inspiring his students, Mr. Ahmed is also interacting with the public to create awareness about environment conservation. On Saturday, he spoke to several students in Belthangady taluk as part of his mission.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Anil Kumar Sastry / Mangaluru – March 04th, 2018
Ikhlas Khan. Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Communications
Ikhlas Khan, director of the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, is the winner of AOAC International’s 2018 Harvey W. Wiley Award, which recognizes lifetime scientific achievement.
AOAC International develops global quality standards for microbiological and chemical materials, ranging from food to pharmaceuticals in an effort to ensure public health. Khan, who has been with the university since 1992 and directed the natural products center since 2017, has spent much of his career developing standards for dietary supplements.
“I’m very pleased to receive this award,” Khan said. “AOAC is the top organization for chemical standards, and I appreciate this recognition of my work in this area.”
As part of the honor, Khan will deliver the Wiley Award address and chair the Wiley Award Symposium at AOAC’s annual meeting in August in Toronto.
The Harvey W. Wiley Award has been given to one person a year since 1957, with past recipients including scientists from government, industry and academic institutions from around the world.
The National Center for Natural Products Research maintains a repository with more than 18,000 natural product specimens, derived extracts and pure compounds. Photo by Robert Jordan/Ole Miss Communications
Story by Sydney Slotkin Dupriest, courtesy of Ole Miss Communications
Rambechi village in Talala region boasts of Quraishi Baagh which has the unique distinction of 23 lakh plants / trees in 4 acre of land with 210 medicinal plants, to their credit the Qureshi couple – Gaffarbhai Muhammadbhai and his wife Zebunnisa provide cheap cure to hundreds of patients on very nominal rates.
With, on an average 25000 visitors every year; the plantation received several awards.
In addition to the prestigious Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Award of the state government, Qureshi has been felicitated twice by the Presidents of India – Gyani Zail Sinh and A. Kalam.
Having visited plantations all over the country Qureshi imbibed on the spot knowledge of plants and medicines though he has no formal education in agriculture nor any diploma in horticulture.
He maintains a nursery from where people buy plants of their choice.
His most cherished desire is to enrich the earth with one crore trees, Allah willing.
source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> Online News> Community News / Online April 27th, 2013 (Print April 16-30th, 2013)
