Innovative ideas developed by students for energy conservation were on display at the Kerala State Student Energy Congress 2016.
Thirty-seven teams from various districts participated in the event organised as part of the ‘Smart Energy Programme’ of the Energy Management Centre (EMC) on the centre’s premises. Hundred-odd upper primary and high school students from all over the State attended the one-day congress held as part of the EMC’s energy conservation programme.
Aparna V.S. and Kavitha K.M., students of Holy Angels School, Thiruvananthapuram, came up with an idea of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy at a low cost.
They turned a bicycle into an exercise bike which can pump water and generate electricity. Arathy Ramesh and Sreekutty Udayakumar from the Aluva educational district bagged the first prize in high school section. Ayisha and AlsaBinShahulHameed from Kozhikode got the first prize in upper primary section.
S. Somanath, Director, Liquid Propulsion System Centre, gave away the prizes at a function presided over by K.M. Dharesan Unnithan, Director of EMC.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / A Correspondent / Thiruvananthapuram – April 21st, 2016
Sri 108 Munishree Pavanakeerthi Bhattaraka Muni Maharaj is seen conferring ‘Sri Mahaveera Ahimsa Award’ on noted Homoeopath Dr. Khader during the 2615th Janma Jayanti celebrations of 1008 Bhagawan Sri Mahaveera Theerthankara organised under the aegis of Sri Mahaveera Seva Samsthan at Sri M.L.Vardhamanaiah Smaraka Bhavan on Chadragupta Road last evening as Padmashree Jaina Mahila Samaja President Sheela Anantharaj, Sri Mahaveera Bhavan Construction Committee President M.A. Sudhirkumar, Sri Digambara Jain Samaj President S.N. Prakash Babu, M.L. Jain Boarding Home Secretary Madan Kumar, Sri Mahaveera Seva Samsthan Vice-President M.R. Sunil Kumar, Ajit and others look on.
Mysuru :
“Born as a human being, one should practice the habit of letting other living beings also live in peace,” said city’s noted Homoeopath Dr. Khader, who has been touring rural areas propagating the message of non-violence for the past 10 years after turning a vegetarian at the age of 15.
He was speaking after being conferred with ‘Sri Mahaveera Ahimsa Award by Sri 108 Munishree Pavanakeerthi Bhattaraka Muni Maharaj at a function organised by Sri Mahaveera Seva Samsthan as part of 2615th Jayanti Mahotsava of 1008 Bhagawan Sri Mahaveera Theerthankara at Sri M.L.Vardhamanaiah Smaraka Bhavan on Chadragupta Road in city last evening.
Regretting that 30 to 40 percent of those manufacturing biscuits and chocolates use fat extracted from animals, he added that consumption of bakery items also lead to sugar-related and respiratory ailments, which need to be curbed at once by using vegetarian products.
Former Mayor and Ekalavya Awardee (for Kho-Kho) N.Prakash was also felicitated on the occasion by the Seva Samsthan.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / April 20th, 2016
More than 6,000 specimens at the 105-year-old herbarium in the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB) can now be accessed by the click of a mouse, as the institute plans to digitise it.
The digitisation will help preserve the fragile specimens, prone to damage due to constant physical handling.
The Fischer Herbarium, which was started in the year 1911 on the Forest Campus in R S Puram, was created as a repository to house the many collections made by British forest officer Cecil Ernest Claude Fischer. He had an extensive collection of specimens from the Nilgiris, Palanis, Coimbatore forest divisions, Seshachalam Hills and Ganjam District of Andhra Pradesh. The herbarium also houses century old collections by forest officers,T F Bourdillon and M Rama Rao from the Travancore presidency. The herbarium was brought under IFGTB’s control in 1988.
The herbarium, considered a national repository by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), contains 2,954 species, 254 families of plants and 1,257 genera, some of them as rare as the one by forest officer J R Drummond in 1879.
“The herbarium is visited by a lot of taxonomists and botanists. So, when they discover a unique species but have heard of similar looking species being present in a herbarium in another part of the country or world, they often have to physically visit the herbarium to cross check the facts,” said IFGTB director R S Prashanth. “But now they can cross-check with the image and data available online,” he said.
The digital herbarium, which can be accessed through the website www.frcherbarium.org, currently contains 6,231 of the total 23,000 specimens available with the IFGTB. “This digitisation was done by former librarian at the Kerala Forest and Research Institute K H Hussain,” said the head of the biodiversity division at IFGTB C Kunhikannan about the project which cost Rs 6 lakh.
“The website has uploaded the herbarium’s sheets and allows people to zoom into the image to take a closer look at the specimen and the officer’s own writings,” said Hussain. “We will be shortly applying for more funds to digitize the rest of the herbarium’s data,” said the director. The institute, however, admitted that they were yet to review all the data on the website and eliminate spelling errors that might have occurred since the data entry personnel were not taxonomists.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / April 13th, 2016
COIMBATORE, 16/02/2012: Syed Sajjad Ahmed (left), a businessman dealing with electrical accessories in Bangalore, with his relative on a solar car in Coimbatore on February 16, 2012 as part of his tour of South India for 1,000 km to generate awareness among the people on pollution and corruption. Photo: M. Periasamy / The Hindu
Syed Sajjan Ahmed travels 3,000 km in self-built four-wheeler.
Bengaluru , KARNATAKA :
Sixty-three-year-old Syed Sajjan Ahmed arrived in Bangalore in a self-developed solar electric-powered car to cover 3,000 km from Bangalore to Delhi to participate in the first India International Science Festival (IISF).
It took Syed 30 days to cover the arduous journey, which included crossing the Vindhyas. Born in Kolar, 70 km from Bangalore, the standard XII dropout began his career as a fruit vendor and went on to set up a shop for electronics repair.
His work included assembly of electronic goods, starting off with transistors, tape recorders and television sets and antennae. Later, he moved on to computers, before attempting to realise his childhood dream to do something for society.
“I had to leave school when I was 15 to start earning for my family. But the fire to create something that would be of use to humanity kept burning within me,” he says.
The break came in 2002. “I told myself that I am 50 now, and I must do something before I become too old and infirm.”
Ahmed started by modifying a two-wheeler to run on electric power, and then a three-wheeler, and later a four-wheeler.
He bagged the Karnataka government’s award for environment protection, instituted in honour of former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in 2006, for his innovation. Ahmed says that the modified car is equipped with a set of five solar panels, each with a capacity of 100 watts.
The power generated by the panels propels the machine through a bank of six batteries, each with a capacity of 12 volts and 100 amps. He takes pride that his small car withstood the test of the 3,000-km trek. “There were times when we thought we would not be able to take the steep climbs on the ghat roads. But, it crossed all the hurdles without much trouble,” he adds.
Ahmed says he has travelled 1.1 lakh km in his four-wheeler across the country so far. He is accompanied by a cousin, Salim Pasha, who travels in a regular car alongside. Both started their journey to Delhi from Raj Bhavan in Bangalore on November 1.
Ahmed, who says his vehicle costs around one lakh rupees at present, would further be driving from Delhi to Dr. Kalam’s hometown of Rameshwaram. “I wanted to make this journey an adventure; I have driven this vehicle for 10 years and hope to keep it going,” he says. He will then return to Bangalore via Kanyakumari.
“Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is my inspiration. Through my journey, I want to inspire and educate the public, especially students, about Dr Kalam’s Vision 2020 for uplifting the country,” he adds.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / IANS / December 08th, 2015
N Sheik Abdullah at work in his organic farm at Kalakudi village near Manur in Tirunelveli | EXPRESS
Tirunelveil :
At a time when agricultural lands are turning into commercial housing plots, a youth has been silently transforming dry land into organic farming plots near Manur in the district.
Giving up his high salary job after working around nine years in West Asia, diploma holder N Sheik Abdullah (34) is busy now turning his integrated organic farm at Kalakudi village near Manur into a farm that grows watermelon, drum sticks and marigold.
“After completing a diploma in mechanical engineering, I worked in production arena in Erode and Coimbatore for around five years. Later, I took up the job of a design engineer in the West Asia. With the support of my family members, I later purchased dry lands at Kalakudi village,” Abdullah said.
He returned from West Asia in March last year to launch into agricultural activities.
Hailing from Pettai in Tirunelveli city, he travels about 25 km to reach his farmland from his house daily.Step by step, he is turning the dry soil into one that is suitable for organic agriculture farming.
Abdullah said he has plans to keep local breeds of cows, goats and chicken in the organic farm.
He has also planted local tree species of banyan, neem, pipul, fig, Poovarasu among others.
Abdullah, who considers organic farm expert Nammalvar as his role model, has undergone training at his organic farm ‘Vanagam’ in Karur district. He has cultivated paddy in the farm and plans expand it to more areas in his plot.
His idea is to produce healthy milk, egg and organic agriculture produces, which has no pesticides and chemicals.
Satisfied with the milk yield of local breeds of cattle, the 34-year-old is also chalking out measures to save them.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by M. Abdul Rabi / March 03rd, 2016
Follow your class 5 moral science lesson on cleanliness, take steps to rein in the garbage mafia and find a solution to sanitary waste -these are not the words of an urban planner but a humble waste picker’s advice to Bengalureans. Mansoor Ahmed, 33, whose hard work fetched him a seat at the Paris climate conference, is back in the city, enlightened and overwhelmed. Still in awe of the French capital, he aims to make Bengaluru the Paris of India.
Mansoor, a waste picker from ward no 198, Jayanagar, collects dry waste from more than 1,000 houses. The passionate worker who spoke about low carbon strategies in the waste sector at the Paris summit has set a threefold agenda for Bengulureans: Keep your surroundings as clean as your house, keep a vigil on the garbage mafia by equipping each ward with cameras and find a way to effectively dispose sanitary waste.
While this is his vision for the city , Mansoor wishes to have a uniform for waste pickers, so that they feel as respectable as any other civic worker. “I have a team of 12 waste collectors and the job we do is exhausting. We show up at people’s doors at 5am and I don’t know how many residents even remember our faces. A uniform will make us feel better about ourselves,” said Mansoor.
The waste picker who doesn’t charge a single paisa for his contribution (he’s not paid by BBMP either) earns a living through his “donate dry waste project”.He collects around 25 tonnes of dry waste in a month and sells it to recycling companies, making enough money for his daily expenses.
“We still don’t have a solution for sanitary waste. We know what to do with dry waste and wet waste but with sanitary waste, we have no option but to burn it.Also, where does all of it go? Even I’m clueless. “I am not educated but still I’m passionate about keeping mine and others’ houses clean. Only if the literate follow what they have been taught in school, their education won’t go waste,” said Mansoor, signing off on a hopeful note. Needed: A change in attitude
Asked what is the simplest thing he learnt from Paris conference that can be replicated here, Mansoor Ahmed said: “If people’s attitude changes, things will automatically change.When when we go to collect waste, residents are only bothered about the muck getting out of their homes. Whether it lands on the road or in a garbage dump is nobody’s concern. The garbage mafia is our biggest enemy; we should see that after the waste is picked up from a particular ward at 5am, no one uses it as a dumping ground.This can done only if the residents are vigilant and cameras are installed in wards”.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / TNN / December 11th, 2015
While the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) plans to introduce stringent measures in the city to ensure proper waste segregation by Bengaluru’s citizens, 33-year-old Mansoor Ahmed, waste-picker from the city, will be in Paris for the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP (Conference Of Parties) 21, scheduled to be held from November 30 to December 11.
His hard work and vision in spreading awareness about waste management among the citizens has led him to Paris to present a talk to participants from across the world.
During his visit to Paris, he will talk about the importance of waste segregation and how he was able to create awareness and convince 75 per cent of his customers to segregate waste at source.
Mansoor speaks three languages: Tamil, Hindi and Kannada. He admits he cannot utter a single sentence in English. “English is not a problem as long as my work talks for me. I’m genuine and there is sincerity in my work which will speak for me. Besides, I will have a translator. As part of my talk, I will be narrating my journey from a seven-year old rag-picker to what I’m today,” he says. He has a team of 12 members at the Jayanagar DWCC who manage an inventory of 10-12 tonnes of dry waste every month.
Mansoor’s talk will be translated by Kabir Arora, who coordinates Alliance of Indian Waste-pickers (AIW) – an informal network of organisations, cooperatives, and companies working on waste management with the help of waste-pickers. Hasiru Dala, which is a coalition member the AIW and an organisation of waste-pickers and waste workers, is sponsoring Mansoor’s 10-day trip.
“The team from Hasiru Dala asked me if I was interested in going to Paris for a conference. I was elated and immediately said yes. My passport and visa had to be made,” says an excited Mansoor. He flew to Delhi from Bengaluru on Monday and will reach Paris later in the day.
Mansoor operates the Dry Waste Collection Centre (DWCC) (recyclables and inorganic waste aggregation and sorting unit) in ward 168 of Jayanagar in. He went door-to-door in the area around the centre to encourage residents to segregate their wastes and drop it at the DWCC.
The daily collection of the DWCC is about 120 kg from waste-pickers. The DWCC receives one tonne of waste from apartment collection. Mansoor uses a rotating fund of `3,000 to buy wastes from the apartments.
He will be part of a joint delegation of Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) and Alliance of Indian Waste-pickers (AIW) for COP 21.
The IYCN is a network uniting Indian youth and youth-oriented organisations who are concerned about climate change and environment issues. The network works to generate awareness about and establish consensus on what role India should play in the global debate of climate change and how it should address its domestic issues.
Mansoor was just a seven-year-old when he began helping his parents collect waste by sorting it. At that time, he used to manage around 500 kg of waste every month.
He attended a small government school near his home but had to drop out of school in Class 5 when his father passed away.
He is the oldest among nine siblings (he has six sisters and two brothers), and the burden of responsibility to take care of them brothers and sisters feel upon his young shoulders.
He joined the informal waste sector with his mother to help supplement the family income.
They ran a small scrap shop near their home where all the waste-pickers from their slum would bring their daily collection. They would manage around 500 kg of waste every day.
Working with waste has therefore been the only job that Mansoor has known, but it has provided for him and his family. Thanks to the use of technology and people his people-management skills, Mansoor has been able to scale new heights.
He says he is eager to learn the concepts of solid waste management followed in Paris and will find ways to implement it at his centre too.
From the conference, he wants the countries to pursue the agenda of recycling (Waste to energy) in their climate action commitments as opposed to incineration of waste — which is currently being proposed as a climate solution by many governments. Incineration is being perceived as a threat to Mansoor’s and many other green entrepreneurs’ livelihood.
For his visit, he was asked to buy a pair of thermal wear as Paris would be freezing at this point of time. “I didn’t know that we could find thermal wear here. I was asked to buy them; but one pair costs `2,000. But it’s going to keep me warm when I land there. I have already purchased my formal wear two months ago. I am too excited about my trip. It all feels surreal,” he says.
With his contagious smile he has been easily able to build excellent relationships with his customers to whom he provides waste collection services. The last few days he has been flooded with congratulatory messages from them for this prestigious trip.
Today, with the Paris trip materialising, he feels his hard work has paid off although he claims never to have imagined that he would be able to visit a foreign country. “This is my first visit to a foreign country…and in an airplane. I’m feeling ecstatic and proud. Never in my life had I imagined that I would get such an opportunity. This would not be possible if it were not for the people who supported me throughout my life. I really want to thank my well-wishers, friends and relatives,” says Mansoor, who has three children: two boys and a girl.
He has enrolled his children in Oxford School in JP Nagar. And his aim now: To give his children a solid education … and the freedom to follow their dreams.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Civiv / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / November 30th, 2015
Waheeda Rehman’s passion for photogrphy matches her passion for acting. (PTI photo)
Bhopal :
Lights, camera, action and Waheeda Rehman would send the nation’s heart throbbing with her dignified allure. But there’s a best-kept secret about the starry-eyed actor, who ruled the silver screen in the Fifties and Sixties — Waheeda Rehman, the photographer. And this was revealed during an exclusive exhibition of her photography at Bhopal on Wednesday.
Photography has been a passion for the Bollywood star and she pursued this with similar verve while she would act before rolling cameras. The power, mystique and beauty of nature shot in the wilds of Kenyan safari of Masai Mara, South Africa and closer home in Bandhavgarh give a rare insight into her talent.
These 40 photographs — never-before-seen pictures — were clicked by her during her recent excursions.
“I have visited nearly every national park in India, including Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh,” said yesteryears screen goddess. “I am still learning photography,” she said.
By her own account, Guru Dutt was her mentor. However, for the elegant lady who took her own camera to the film set, said, “Noted Indian cinematographer Fali Mistry and his younger brother Jal Mistry and VK Murty (Guru Dutt’s regular cameraman) taught me the finer points of photography.”
Waheeda pursued her passion with an old standard ‘Rolleiflex’ (twin lens reflex camera). “Don’t go crazy clicking, we were told. Those were the days of film rolls and we waited for developed shots to arrive. It is something youngsters today cannot relate to with everything digital,” she said.
The veteran actress is admittedly not tech savvy or ‘active’ on social networking. However, she has kept pace with developments in photography. In short kurta and slacks, she boarded a jeep on a Kenyan safari, where one of her team members was a young 15 year-old-girl.
“Youngsters need to experience wildlife. It should be mandatory in school,” she said, when asked if she considered herself an wildlife activist.
Photographs shot by Waheeda Rehman were displayed at Samanvay Bhawan. “We did not tell Waheedaji that her collection of photographs would be displayed,” said Tigerland India film festival (TIFF) organiser.
“She was unable to email it herself. When we received wildlife photographs clicked by Waheedaji I was surprised. We decided to hold an exhibition and inform just ahead of the event,” a TIFF organiser said.
TIFF is an initiative to promote wildlife conservation and awareness through visual media.
Nagaland principal chief conservator of forests M Lokeswara Rao received the first Tigerland India Bio-diversity Conservation Award here on Wednesday. Top forest official of Nagaland received the award in presence of Waheeda Rehman. TIFF recognised Nagaland forest department’s contribution to conservation of migratory Amur falcons, which arrive at Nagaland’s Wokha district during winter.
Enabling Amur falcons’ migration pattern, the department used satellite, an intervention for which won them an international award. Few Amur falcons were tracked with 5gm transmitters.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Entertainment> Hindi> Bollywood / by Jamal Ayub, TNN / August 28th, 2015
Volunteers of Wipro Care Trust plant saplings at Perumbakkam. Photo D. Gopalakrishnan
The event was organised by TIST Tree Planting India in association with Wipro Care Trust.
Over 2,000 saplings were planted in Perumbakkam village on Sunday as a mark of respect to former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
The event, organised by TIST Tree Planting India in association with Wipro Care Trust, a corporate social activity arm of Wipro Limited, Bengaluru, marked the launch of the program to plant 25,000 saplings sponsored by WCT for the current year.
Creating biodiversity
Speaking to The Hindu , B. Praveen, programme manager, said Wipro sponsors 25,000 saplings every year and plants them in five northern districts of Tamil Nadu through local groups formed by TIST-TPI.
The main objective of TIST India’s programme is to create islands of biodiversity in an already fragmented landscape to help farmers said A. Joseph Rexon, director, TIST-TPI. He said around 1.8 million saplings were planted in Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram districts since 2003.
Over 5,500 farmers have been enrolled as members of this programm that is sponsored by Corporates including Wipro. Mr. Rexon said participants were also entitled to avail greenhouse gas (GhG) credits after 20 years.
This would be paid based on the World market price of GhG credits, as on December 1 of the year for which payment was made, he added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Staff Reporter / Kancheepuram – September 08th, 2015
Jute making workshop at Queens Mary’s College in the city. Photo: Paul Joshua
Dhanalaxmi teaches jute-bag making and helps student start their own businesses
Over 100 students of Queen Mary’s College learnt the nuances of jute bag-making from Dhanalaxmi, who has been encouraging woman to become entrepreneurs. The owner of IVERS Bags, Dhanalaxmi has been in this business for the past 11years. Five years ago, she started helping others start their own businesses. She has been training self-help groups and NGOs in making and marketing jute bags and jewellery.
“A few years ago, when the IT scene was bad, one couple from the IT industry approached me, asking me to train them in the art. Today, they run a successful jute business,” she said.
In the session conducted at the college, students from corporate secretaryship, sociology, zoology and B.Com departments walked away with certificates presented by Akathar Begum, principal, on successful completion of the workshop.
“These are the bags we have made. Dhanalaxmi ma’am also gave us a kit box with materials to try more designs at home,” said a student showing off a table full of sling bags, pencil pouches and tambulam bags made by her.
Dhanalaxmi is ready to conduct training for groups and individuals . “This is an eco-friendly product and helps reduce the use of plastic. People should make a switch to jute product.”
Dhanalaxmi can be contacted at 92831 35238/98405 33611.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Downtown / by Flavia Plaidus / Chennai – July 04th, 2015
