Youngest Indian Sailor at the Asian Games

Meet Chithresh Tatha: The Youngest Sailor To Represent India At The Asian Games.

The young lad from Chennai is just 12 and is the youngest sailor from India to participate in the recently commenced Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea. He first developed an interest in the sport when he saw his sister Meghna sailing in the Laser Radial category and thought of giving the sport a try himself. Sincethen, he has never looked back and even won the gold medal in the India International Regatta (Under-12) in 2013.

A passion for sailing has taken this grade 7 student from Chennai’s Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram school to countries like the UK, Malaysia, Turkey, Ireland, France, Bahrain, the Netherlands and Malta.

“I began sailing in 2009 and it came naturally to me. I love being on the water. It gives me great joy,” he told the New Indian Express.

The young genius makes sure that he practices six hours every day and hasn’t even been to school for six months now.

“I’m making up for the missed hours at school by studying at home. Thankfully my teachers have been very supportive and that’s helped me focus on sailing completely”, Chitresh told The Times of India.

Tatha is a national champion in the ‘Optimist’ category, which is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy used by children up to the age of 15. Being one of the most popular categories, there are over 1,50,000 boats registered in this class.

Thus, Tatha proves that age is just a number and one can never be too young to find their passion. We wish good luck to this young sailor and hope to see him succeed in his all his endeavours,

Girl who climbed the Everest with an Artificial Leg

Meet Arunima Sinha: The Woman Who Climbed The Mount Everest With An Artificial Leg.

Arunima Sinha, a former national level volleyball player from Uttar Pradesh, lost her leg three years ago when some burglars demanded her gold chain, and on her refusal, pushed her out of the moving train. She was hit by a passing train and suffered severe injuries.

The ugly incident in 2011, which she describes as her “darkest hour”, changed her life completely. But 26-year old Sinha stood tall and converted this challenge into an opportunity, becoming the first woman amputee to climb Mount Everest.

“I turned my artificial leg into my strength and stubbornly chose the most difficult sport for myself,” she says.
Inspired by cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who had successfully defeated cancer, she wanted to get her life back, and, with support from her brother and coach, she became more determined about what she had to do.

She joined Eco Everest Expedition group in the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation-run training camp in Uttarkashi and got trained under ace mountaineer Bachendri Pal. While going through a year-long rigorous mental and physical training she would sometimes feel disheartened when she could not catch up with “normal” people, but her strong dedication kept her going.

And, after immense hard work, training and 52 days of a difficult climb from Kathmandu to the top of the peak she fulfilled her dream as she conquered the highest summit which was 8,848 meters above the sea level on May 21, 2013.

Getting over the challenges

After the train incident, doctors had to amputate her leg below the knee to save her life. A rod was inserted inside her leg to provide support to the damaged limb.

She hated the look of pity and sympathy in everyone’s eyes. She didn’t want to be looked upon as a handicapped person and wanted to live a normal life like before.
At one point of time she started to sweat so extensively that she felt that her artificial leg would come off. But she couldn’t take off her gloves to support the leg for fear of frostbite, so she dragged herself till the camp. Not being a quitter, she continued her journey with high spirits and positive thoughts.

She was supported by BVG India for her expedition. With the prize money, she has purchased a land in Uttar Pradesh and plans to open a sports academy for poor and physically challenged children.

Sinha is an inspiration to all those who give up on their lives due to small obstacles. She has proved that a strong determination and will is far more important than a strong body. She overcame her challenges and made history.

Hers is a story of courage, passion and dedication and how nothing can come in the way of a strong mind.

Doctor who treats 400 patients in a slow day

Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy: The Man With The Perfect Vision Who Gave Sight To A Million People In India Since 1976

Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy is the founder of Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai and became the largest single provider of eye surgery in the world. Having perfected the art of treating cataract and other eye problems to the point where any further improvements would necessitate a revolution in the field, the hospital and its team of dedicated surgeons and staff has achieved unimaginable economies of scale. A cataract operation that would cost $1,650 to perform in the US takes them about $10

On a slow day, Aravind treats 400 patients. Offering free services to all who need it, with absolutely no criteria for availing for free service, the hospital still manages a gross margin of 40%. This is despite the fact that almost 70% of its patients paying nothing, and it does not depend on donations or government grants. It has been achieved by constantly cutting costs, increasing efficiency, innovating and building a market. Most of Aravind’s potential beneficiaries are not even aware of such a service or their need for it.

“In the third world, a blind person is referred to as ‘a mouth without hands,’ ” says Dr. V. “He is detrimental to his family and to the whole village. But all he needs is a 10-minute operation. One week the bandages go on, the next week they go off. High bang for the buck. But people don’t realize that the surgery is available, or that they can afford it because it’s free. We have to sell them first on the need.”

Aravind has managed to beat costs in every area of its service: The hospital’s own Aurolab, begun in 1992, pioneered the production of high-quality, low-cost intraocular lenses. Aurolab now produces 700,000 lenses per year, a quarter of which are used at Aravind.

Did you know Dr. V had studied to become an obstetrician but a crippling rheumatoid arthritis forced him to take an alternative path?

As a young man, a brand-new obstetrician, he contracted rheumatoid arthritis and watched helplessly as his fingers slowly twisted, fused, and grew useless for delivering babies. So he started over, this time studying ophthalmology. He managed to design his own instruments to suit his hands, and these tools enabled him to do as many as 100 surgeries a day. He became the most admired cataract surgeon in India.

Tossing all market intelligence to the wind, Aravind Eye Hospital has managed to create a huge demand by the quality of its service and the education its customers.

Thus Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy is the true legend of our nation!

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.