The Cheapest Water Purifier Just at Rs.1500/-

Meet Dr. Anil Rajvanshi, an Indian scientist who invented the path-breaking technology that can provide clean drinking water to rural India for just Rs. 1500!

Dr. Anil Rajvanshi brought back the traditional methods of filtering water in an effective and simple way to make a low-cost solar water purifier, which could be immensely helpful for rural households. Using the knowledge that water does not need to be boiled to make it germ free, and even exposure to a lower temperature for a sufficiently long time should suffice, he has created a low cost solar water purifier using cotton cloth, glass pipes and sunlight!

The water purifier is made available by Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), a Phaltan, Maharashtra based NGO.
“In most other solar heaters available in the market, water only gets heated up, it is not purified. And in other systems like RO, etc, water only gets filtered but complete sterilization is still lacking. So we came up with an idea where we can both filter the water and kill germs by heating it at a low cost using solar energy,” says Dr. Rajvanshi.

How does the technology work?

All you need is a discarded saree, a few glass pipes and sunlight. The solar water purifier (SWP) consists of four tubular solar water heaters attached to a manifold. The unclean water, which is filtered by the cotton cloth, is filled in the SWP and is later heated using solar energy to make it potable.

The unclean water is filtered through four-layered cotton sari cloth and then heated to 60°C for 15 minutes or 45°C for 3 hours so that all the coliforms are inactivated.
How is it different?
Other technologies, like reverse osmosis (RO) and ultraviolet (UV) based water purifiers, include filters which face clogging and necessitate their periodic replacement, and face other problems like wastage of water and unavailability of electricity in rural areas.

NARI’s SWP does not require any electricity and can be assembled easily from locally available materials.

The impact

The biggest impact of the technology is the development of a low-cost model, the know-how for which is made available for free by NARI Phaltan.

“We have not patented this technology so that the rural population can utilize it in an efficient way,” says Dr. Rajvanshi.
In addition to its low cost, the technology does not require any maintenance. It is so user-friendly and efficient that people from Nepal, during the recent earthquake, contacted NARI and asked them to install it there.

In the future, NARI team wants to expand the technology and reach out to more rural households.

When diseases caused by unclean drinking water take the lives of approximately 760,000 young children throughout the world¹, this low cost technology can prove to be a gamechanger.

The first Transgender Television Anchor of India

Meet Padmini Prakash: The First Transgender Who Became Television News Anchor In The Country Five Months After The Supreme Court Legally Declared This Community As A Third Gender.

The 1-year-old news anchor recently started working at Coimbatore-based Lotus News Channel and within a month became the face of its 7 pm special daily bulletin due to her immense popularity. 

On the occasion of its 68th Independence Day, India freed itself from another kind of gender bias when Padmini Prakash became the first transgender news anchor in the country. The news came as a happy event that marked the success of this community five months after the court ruled that the transgender be recognised as a legal third gender.

Having worked as a dancer and acted in various Tamil soap operas before joining this news channel, Padmini says she now feels liberated from the burden of social stigma that she carried all her life. Like other people belonging to sexual minorities, Padmini too faced constant pressure, discrimination and harassment in the past.

She separated from her family and dropped out of college when she was a first year B.com degree student, as she could not take the stigma and pressure any longer. Being an outspoken person and always voicing her opinions as a social activist for transgender rights, it became even more difficult for her to live a peaceful life.

Her desire to do something different took her to many places and she traveled even beyond Tamil Nadu before she returned to become a Bharatnatyam dance trainer in the state.

Her first encounter with the newsroom wasn’t an easy one as she found it intimidating to take up such a high-profile role.
“I was very worried because I also had to focus on my diction and maintain a steady narrative pace to ensure that there was clarity and viewers could understand me,”

But her hard work paid off and she got high praise from her employers, friends, members of transgender community and other media personalities, which was a great boost to her new start.
Always full of life, Prakash has participated in various beauty contests and won many prizes. She is now happily settled in her life with her partner in the suburbs of Coimbatore.

The judgment from SC has opened various gates for sexual minorities and Prakash is an example of one who dared to convert this into a great opportunity. This new rule is a ray of hope for the many transgender in the country who face discrimination and abuse on an everyday basis.

A large number of transgender came forward and declared their identity after the rule was passed.

With Padmini’s recent success, we hope to see many more people from this community coming forward and realizing their dreams.

The google for Police

Meet Dilip Thakor: The Police Constable Who Has Programmed A Dozen Software To Boost Police Efficiency In Crime Prevention And Detection.

The 38 year old Dilip Thakor working with Ahmedabad police first saw a computer when each of the district headquarters were allotted one PC each. Most policemen were confused by the machine but Thakor, a diploma in diesel mechanics, began to explore the computer on his own.

Looking at his enthusiasm, his superiors had him enrolled for private coaching in computers. The investment paid off. Over years, Thakor has developed his best work - PINAC and EKLAVYA which will finally be presented to senior cops from different parts of the city at the two-day national seminar taking place on Thursday at Hyderabad. Besides which, the software will also be demonstrated in New Delhi.

PINAC has helped in over 200 crime detections. In December 2014, the software assisted the Police in nabbing Paresh Jani who duped senior citizens. He used to travel in an expensive SUV and identify himself as a builder in the pursuit for some money. Upon receiving a complaint, police found a match on modus operandi that showed him involved in 12 cases. On the basis of the information, crime branch caught Jani in a few days.

Eklavya too has played a significant role in the 100 per cent increase in detection of vehicle thefts in Ahmedabad city. Both the software have been implemented (fully or partially) by the police in major cities of Gujarat. Digitization of records for easy access by the software is also underway.

Thakor is delighted with the progress that he has made so far in helping the Police capture these criminals. His dream project is now underway through which he plans to integrate data from various fields such as PAN card, driving license, house registration records, etc at one click. "It will be like a Google of the police. I am trying to integrate various sets of data on one platform and create Gujarat police's own search engine for specific queries," he said.

This is undoubtedly a good instance where technology and mankind have come together to fight crime. Do you agree?

From golfing Staff to Golfing star

Meet Chikkarangappa: How A Golf Staff Became A Golfing Star!

Chikkarangappa joined a golf resort as a worker to earn a paltry wage of Rs. 50 per day. At a tender age of 10, he joined Eagleton Golf Resort to earn some money and make ends meet. But gradually, he got fascinated by the sport. He would watch the players for hours and finally, he couldn’t help but develop an interest in the game. He made a golf stick out of a branch of a tree and practiced golf swings in his spare time.

Some time later, he managed to get a real golf stick and started practicing. One fine day, a coach Vijay Dhivecha, noticed him swinging his golf stick and asked him if he would like to play the sport professionally. It came as a great surprise to Chikka, and initially he was reluctant to take up the offer due to his family’s poor background, but he eventually agreed and convinced his family too. Since then there has been no turning back.

He gave everything he had to the sport and even quit his schooling to take up golf full time. He played his first professional tournament in Ooty and bagged the second position. Later that year, he participated in another championship at Eagleton at the age of 11 and won his first trophy.

Chikkarangappa S bagged yet another trophy as he won TAKE Solutions India Masters on November 1 scoring a total of 18-under 270 after marking an amazing two stroke victory. Chikka’s victory over Abhishek Jha was his fourth professional victory, making him earn $12,250 and a two-year exemption on the ADT.

Jha was in six-shot lead over Chikka in the game but the latter made a dramatic comeback and remarkably snatched the victory from Jha’s hands.
“This was my first win as a pro on my home course. I always felt something was missing. For the last two weeks, after my grandfather passed away, golf wasn’t even on my mind. I dedicate this win to him,” said the 21 year old golfer to The Hindu.

This young golfer from Eagleton Golf Resort became the second Indian after Sujjan Singh to win on the Asian Development Tour. The journey till this stage has not been easy for Chikka. Born to a farmer father and a daily wage labourer mother in a small village Bidadi, near Bangalore, Chikka always faced various financial
restrictions.

Thus, having started by using a tree branch to practice golf swings, great passion made the farmer’s boy became a golfing sensation.

India Sets Two Guinness World Records On A Single Day!

India Sets Two Guinness World Records On A Single Day!

The First international Day of Yoga was celebrated yesterday with much fanfare as India set two Guinness World Records with the mega event that happened at Rajpath. 

Firstly, it broke the record for the largest yoga class as 35,985 people gathered at the event to practice the ancient Indian discipline.The previous record was held by Gwalior's Jiwaji University, with 29,973 people

The second record set at Rajpath was for the mightiest number of nationalities, volunteers and invitees who arrived at the Yoga event from 84 different countries A team of two from London on behalf of Guinness World Records came to Delhi to supervise the arrangements for the International Day of Yoga. The data was audited by Ernst & Young.

In the wake of this event, we can therefore conclude that this is one step towards a better India. Do you agree?

From a Rickshaw puller to an entrepreneur

Story Of Dharamveer Singh Kamboj: How A Rickshaw-Puller Became A Successful Entrepreneur With Turnover Of Rs. 40 Lakhs

Born in 1963, Dharamveer is the youngest among five siblings. Always inquisitive by nature, his mother also inculcated in him a love for nature. He learnt about herbs by a holy man who visited their village, and while working as a rickshaw-puller in Delhi, where he used to ferry passengers dealing in herbs.

Genesis of the Multi-Purpose Machine

In 2004, Dharamveer got the opportunity to visit Aloe Vera and Amla processing units in Rajasthan, along with a group of farmers, through the Department of Horticulture, Government of Haryana. He got interested in the business. Deterred by the exorbitant cost of machinery, he decided to develop his own machine. In April 2006, Dharamveer was ready with the first prototype of the machine, which was used mainly for extraction of Aloe Vera juice.

Multi-Purpose Processing Machine

The multi-purpose processing machine is a portable machine, which works on a single phase motor and is useful in the processing of various fruits, herbs and seeds. It has features like temperature control and condensation mechanism which helps in the extraction of essence and extracts from flowers and medicinal plants. The machine is a cylindrical container made of food grade stainless steel having an opening (with lid) at the top to feed the herbs, and an outlet at the bottom to collect residue. It is powered by an electric motor whose power depends on the capacity of the machine. It is also equipped with an oil jacket outside the main chamber to prevent direct heating of the herbs.This machine is unique as it has the capacity to process a wide variety of products without damaging the seed of the fruit or vegetable.

It can be used for processing Mango, Amla, Aloe Vera, Tulsi, Aswagandha and flowers like Rose, Chameli, Lavender.

Innovation Diffusion
Dharamveer is supported by NIF-India and GIAN North for value addition and business development. A patent application has been filed in his name for the multi-purpose machine. NIF-India has also engaged a designer to improve the usability and aesthetics of the machine. Relying primarily on word-of-mouth, Dharamveer has sold his machine in many states of the country and also exported one to Kenya. He has given employment to over 2 dozen women in the village who engage in producing and selling processed amla and aloe vera products made by using the multi-purpose machine.

Dharamveer is one among 5 members who have been selected for the inaugural “Innovator in Residence” program of the President office launched by the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee on his birthday on December 11, 2013. 

The Cheaper Bamboo Wind mill

Meet the Two Brothers Who Invented A Bamboo Windmill That Is 10 Times Cheaper Than Any Other Windmill!

Brothers Mohammad Methar Hussain and Mushtaq Ahmad from Darrang district in Assam wanted power for irrigation and they developed a low cost windmill made out of bamboo. Now, there are more than 25 such windmills running in Gujarat. 

The brothers grew paddy in Darrang district in Assam during the winter season. But, 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.

Innovation Diffusion: Assam to Gujarat

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.

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. 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.

The salt farmers of Gujarat are indebted to Mehtar and Mustaq for making their lives more efficient and their occupation, profitable.