Going green with living walls

The problem of global warming is real. Rising temperatures and falling water tables are warning us about a disastrous future. But are we listening? At least this Jaipur based firm is. 
Jaipur based organization The Living Greens offer unique solutions to tackle the problems of falling water tables and vanishing green cover in cities. Their roof-top organic farming kit not only grow Fresh organic Vegetables with very little water but also help to cool down internal home temperatures.

They also have interesting features like:

• SOIL-LESS MEDIUM – Thye have their our own proprietary organic soil-less medium which is 3 times lighter than soil and need never be replaced after it has been filled in the Rooftop Kit.
• LIGHT-WEIGHT, PORTABLE, LEAK-PROOF CONTAINERS – These containers are stabilized for UV rays and hence can withstand the climatic extremities on the rooftop for at least 3 years.
• SUB-SURFACE DRAINAGE FOR RAINWATER HARVESTING – The containers catch rainwater which can be channelised through a sub-surface drainage system that is installed at the bottom of the containers.
• HIGHLY WATER-EFFICIENT DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM – With just 1 bucket of water, 100 plants can be irrigated.

Their Living Green Walls product further adds beauty with the desired functionality.

This Indian Village runs entirely on solar power.

Dharnai, a village in Bihar, has become India’s first village that’s powered entirely by solar electricity. A few months ago, Greenpeace and two other NGOs that work in the area (BASIX and CEED) started building a solar power micro-grid to serve the village. The 100 kilowatt solar power system officially went online few days back.

70 kW of the power is used for electricity generation and 30 kW for 10 solar-powered water-pumping systems with three horsepower each. It has a battery to store excess electricity, for use during the sunless hours.

Greenpeace says it required a heterogeneous village for this project where agriculture was the main occupation also with basic social infrastructure like school, healthcare facility, an anganwadi (communal childcare centre), a commercial zone and around 400 households. They claim that the Dharnai grid serves about 450 homes, housing 2,400 residents, as well as roughly 50 businesses, streetlights, water pumps, two schools, health care center, and other public and private ventures.

Click on link to see  https://youtu.be/qYHKcQdf8p4

India reveals worlds first 100 percent solar powered airport ....Think positive Keep India Ahead..

Cochin International Airport recently announced that it will now run completely on solar power from 46,150 panels laid across 45 acres.

According to a press release, Cochin International’s solar power station is expected to save 300,000 tons worth of carbon emissions over the next 25 years. That’s the equivalent of planting three million trees or not driving 750 million miles.

The airport’s parent company, Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), plans to sell surplus energy from the new solar plant to the Kerala State Electricity Board. CIAL has also said that it is looking to continue exploring alternate energy resources, taking advantage of the numerous water bodies in Kerala through dam-based solar panels and other hydro power projects.

Read More: http://www.theverge.com/

Bicycle Weeder - Innovation by Inspired Indian - Make In India ...Think positive...

Name : Gopal Malhari Bhise

District & State :  Jalgaon, Maharashtra

Category : Agricultural (General)

Award :   Consolation

Award Year :   2nd National Grassroots Innovation

Gopal Malhari Bhise (64 years) is a marginal farmer. As a child, he was fond of making replicas of airplanes out of paper, leaves and waste fabrics. He often dreamt of darting from place to place despite not being blessed with wings like butterflies. After completing matriculation he loathed taking up a routine, desk-bound clerical job. Instead, he attempted to make a living out of his meager landholding in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. When there was no work at the farm, he worked as a manual labourer, doing odd jobs for others.

Bhise feels vindicated about his commitment toward productive physical work close to earth. More than 200 farmers who use the multi-purpose cycle weeder/hoe developed by him, vouch for his success. Bhise had to dispose off his land and migrate to Jalgaon district as he could not make ends meet. He settled down in Shendurni village. He purchased 0.8 hectare of fallow land and started cultivating it. It was a tough job because he owned no bullocks and the land was rainfed. Though the land was quite fertile, he and his wife Mainabai had to toil hard to make a living out of it. They even dug a well, all by themselves.

However, they had to hire bullocks to do the strenuous tasks of cultivation, like deep-ploughing and harrowing. They had to contend with the harsh reality that the bullock owner would often not spare the animals when these were actually needed the most, leading to crop failure or lower productivity.

It was his frustration at the plight of marginal farmers like him that led him to develop this device. One day he saw a grocer transporting four big sacks of flour on a bicycle. Although it was quite tedious, that saved him the cost of cartage. The sight gave Bhise an idea, "Why should I not modify the bicycle for the purpose of farm operations?"

After a lot of trial and error, he came out with an implement, fashioned out of the front axle, wheel and handlebar of a standard bicycle, that can be used by the marginal farmers to conduct operations normally carried out by bullocks or tractors.

People used to laugh at him but he never gave up. Other blows in life also took their own toll. His first wife died at the age of 36, and he married again. The responsibility increased. He had to feed four children by first wife and a daughter by second wife, Ranjana alias Mainabai. In all his endeavors, Mainabai and his close friend Subhash Jagtap stood by him solidly. The latter, owner of Sachin Welding Works, helped him with his expert welding skills. Perseverance finally paid off and his portable implement, christened Krishiraja, was received very well in the local market. He has fabricated 213 devices so far. The whole set currently sells for approximately Rs 1200 a piece. `Krishiraja' makes a raja out of the marginal farmer. It gives the much needed independence to the small farmer who cannot obtain bullocks or a tractor in time," says Ramesh Mahajan, an extension worker in the Department of Adult and Continuing Education and Extension Services of North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon. He is the scout who introduced the innovator to Honey Bee Network and NIF. With the help of GIAN- West, his innovation has transformed into a motorised device. Help from his mechanic cum electrician friend Mr. Subhash Jagtap has proved very crucial in materialising his ideas into innovation.

The innovation of Gopal Malhari Bhise is a multi-purpose farm implement fashioned out of inexpensive bicycle components. The main part of the implement consists of the front portion of a bicycle, namely handlebar, front axle and the wheel. A steel fork is connected to the axle and the other end carries different kinds of attachments. Separate attachments for weeding and tilling or a harrow are attached to the working end, using bolts and nuts. This helps in changing the attachments as needed. Suitable slots are provided for attachment so that the distance between blades can be adjustable to suit specific requirements. Safety provisions are incorporated so that the blade did not injure the farmer at the time of reversing the device during weeding.

The weeder costs approximately Rs 1200. With it, a person can weed 0.08 ha per hour. It is very easy to operate and is ideally suited to the needs of marginal farmers who cannot afford to maintain bullocks.

The tiller attachment enables the farmers to cultivate medium-hard soil up to a depth of two cm. The load in digging out the soil has been kept to the minimum by providing appropriate profiles and curvature to the implements through a process of trial and error. Bhise uses the device to carry out most of the farming operations on his own land. He no more needs bullocks for cultivating his land. The device is so simple that even his 12-year-old nephew can operate it safely without difficulty.

Students of Gomia learn science through self made Mobile Film. Keep thinking positive India..

Digital village in Gujarat.. Inspiring ..... Keep India Ahead...

ICICI has created the ‘ICICI Digital Village‘ at Akodara in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat to enable villagers to use technology in various aspects of life including banking, payments, education and healthcare among others.

Here, financial transactions are cashless, text books are paperless, children read books on LED monitors and Tabs, patients can avail the facility of telemedicine and wi-fi connectivity is available across the village.

The digital village initiative has three dimensions. The first dimension is to enhance access to banking and provide seamless banking services. For that the Bank is using tab banking to open savings bank account. The Bank will also provide technology-enabled banking services to the villagers and link their accounts to Aadhar to enable direct transfer of government benefits into savings accounts.It is also creating a cashless, digital payment ecosystem for the village for which it has created an end-to-end payment solution leveraging Rupay cards and SMS banking .The APMC mandi at Himmatnagar, the district headquarters, will be the first cashless mandi in Gujarat.

The third dimension of the strategy is to create enabling infrastructure to make technology available, and access and disseminate information. As part of this, high speed broadband connectivity throughout the village via wi-fi was ensured using a wi-fi tower.The Bank has negotiated special rates for Reuters Market Live (RML) subscription services which will provide advisory on farm activities, weather information and Agri-news to the farmers on their mobile through SMS. Farm advisory will help farmers to optimize the utilization of resources and maximize profitability. Access to commodity spot price will help the farmers to decide to sell or hold.Farmers have been provided access to the latest information on prices of agricultural commodities on NCDEX and a water treatment plant has been established in the village.

This ‘digital village’ was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a function at the bank’s headquarters to mark 60-year celebrations of the group. ICICI’s chief Chanda Kochhar hopes this initiative motivates other entities to take up similar projects.

IISC’s portable washing machine that runs without electricity. Keep India thinking positive.

Current washing machines have several issues. They use substantial quantities of water compared to hand washing, need electricity, and are quite expensive. Manual washing on the other hand, is tedious and time-consuming. In rural areas, this is further exacerbated by the fact that rural women must go many miles to a water source for washing, which involves time, effort, and pollutes the water. IISc has developed a portable, manually operated, cost-effective washing machine that can be ridden to the water source, which requires no electricity to run, and requires substantially less water to provide washing of similar or superior quality.

This invention by a team of three scientists -Amaresh Chakrabarti, Manish Kumar and Pulin M Raje -from the Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing (CPDM) of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) sounds just the perfect appliance for a country battling the pressure of water and power crisis.

Conceived in 2008, the washing drum has gone through many processes and is patented. The Society for Innovation and Development (SID), within the IISc campus, is now liaisoning with industry to take it to the market.

Garbage bin that rewards you with free WiFi! Be Positive..... Keep India Inspiring ...

Realizing the need of the Internet in everyday life, two commerce graduates decided to give free WiFi to people in exchange of a cleaner surrounding with an unique initiative — a ‘WiFi Trash Bin’.

“When somebody dumps trash into a dustbin the bin flashes a unique code, which can be used to gain access to free WiFi, says Prateek Agarwal, one of the two founders of the initiative. He and his partner Raj Desai  hit upon the idea while visiting the NH7 Weekender a music festival which is spread around a large area and as music festivals go is home to music food drinks and of course a lot of garbage.

Beggar's alms fund Rs 1 lakh pigeon tower. Keep thinking positive .... INDIA

BHUJ: Popat, a mentally challenged beggar, has spent nearly 40 years beneath the famous chhatris dedicated to valiant Rajput warriors of Kutch. But soon, Popat will have a concrete tower with his name engraved on it, and that too as its donor.

Priests of a famous Shiva temple in Bhuj will oversee the construction of a chabutro (pigeon-tower), which will cost Rs 1.15 lakh that pan-handler Popat has collected in the last 40 years in alms.

While Popat may not be able to even identify coins and notes, temple priest Mauni Baba has maintained a separate account of the money he has been paying for his tea since 1973.

"Popat has been coming to the temple daily since 1973. After the darshan, we offer him tea. Despite being mentally challenged, he never forgets to pay. But I have been maintaining an account of his contribution and it has swelled to Rs 1.15 lakh," said Mauni Baba of Biharilal Mahadev temple.

"We decided to immortalise Popat by engraving his name on the chabutro as the donor," Baba added.

Popat, who loiters around town, spends most of his time at Dhobi Talan near the royal chhatris. Recently, some kindhearted people arranged for his eye surgery that was performed by a Bhuj opthalmologist, Dr Sanjiv Upadhyay.

Army holds free coaching classes for Kashmiri youth . Keep positive thinking .......

SRINAGAR: Taking a step forward to establish meaningful contact with the youth, the Indian Army on Thursday announced that it has organised free tuitions classes for needy students in north Kashmir's Baramulla district.

"In a distinct initiative, Army based at Baramulla established a meaningful connect with the youth of Baramulla by organising free tuition classes for needy students of Class 10 to 12 at various Schools of Baramulla District," a defence spokesman told IANS here.
"The aim of conducting tuition classes is to provide free education to needy children of the far flung areas in order to create better future prospects for the students."

"General Officer Commanding of 19 Division, Major General Jai Singh Nain motivated the children to dream big and also urged the parents and teachers to aim at holistic development of students thereby facilitating them to become worthy citizens of the country."

Only Positive thinking can change our society. Be positive.......

First blind-friendly train arrives in Varanasi... Be Happy and Remember think positive

VARANASI: The country's first braille-embedded train, Varanasi-Mysuru Express, arrived at Cantonment railway station on Thursday morning. However, no visually-impaired passenger alighted at the Cantt railway station.

"Everyone who boarded the AC coach of the train from Mysuru were the regular passengers and no differently-abled or visually-impaired people were spotted," said an attendant, Ramakrishna. Similar views were echoed by his fellow attendant, Vijay Kurahatti. "We did not find any visually-impaired person here in the train. But, we are expecting them as this is now one of the most convenient means of transport for them," shared Kurahatti.

Green Corridor Save Life.... We did it!.... Be Positive......................

BENGALURU: A green corridor unleashed a new life for a patient of Yashwantpur's Columbia Asia Referral Hospital on Saturday morning as the corridor facilitated transport of a liver from Mysore's JSS hospital, which is 144 kilometres away, in just two and half hours.

The donor, a 38-year-old Mysorean, was declared brain dead late on Friday night after he met a road accident, following which his family decided to donate his organs saving four lives in the city.

The 58-year-old man, who received the liver is from Bellary. He was suffering from liver Cirrhosis and needed an urgent transplant, reported the hospital authority.

"There was perfect coordination among the traffic cops throughout the way to Bengaluru from Mysore and the liver reached us at the right time. We really appreciate the support provided by the police, Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Transplantation (ZCCK) and JSS hospital for helping create the Green Corridor to Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Yeshwanthpur", said Dr Nandakumar Jairam, chairman and group medical director of Columbia Asia Referral Hospital.

Green corridor refers to a traffic-free zone facilitating fast transport of organs for transplantation. The distance of 144 kilometre

Dr Kanchan Sanyal, chief of medical services at Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, said, "The procedure of liver transplant has been smooth but such procedures take a longer period of time as it has to be done slowly with meticulous care. There has been no complication in the process."

One kidney of the donor was donated to a 31-year-old woman from Coorg, who was suffering from IGA Nephropathy and had been into peritoneal dialysis for the last two and half years. The other kidney was transported to NU Hospital in Rajajinagar for a transplant.

Dr Mallikarjuna HM, consultant nephrologist and transplant physician at Apollo Hospital, Banerghatta, said, "The transplant has been successful and the patient is stable now. It took three hours for us to complete the transplant surgery."

Dr Kiran Chandra Patro, nephrologist at NU Hospital, said, "The recipient is a 30-year-old patient with kidney defect. He had undergone a transplant before that failed. This is his second transplant after which he would get another chance to live his life to the fullest."

T Swami, ZCCK coordinator, said, "We were not able to find the matching recipient for his heart so it could not be donated. His liver and kidneys were donated to respective recipients in three different hospitals. Corneas were kept for a recipient at JSS Hospital in Mysore."

One Positive step may change Society.

This inspiring young teacher converted an ordinary zilla parishad school into an extraordinary learning space, a digital shala, which will now be replicated by the Maharashtra government in 500 schools across the state. 

A 27-year-old primary school teacher from Pashtepada, Maharashtra, is creating ripples of change with his fresh and ingenious teaching methods. He has converted a zilla parishad school into a ‘smart school,’ where children are taught using tablets and computers instead of schoolbooks. The majority of the students are children of farmers and labourers.

Meet Sandip Gund, the man whose innovative teaching methods have inspired over 40 schools in Thane district to replicate his ‘Gund’ model of teaching this year.The kids share their work and assignments with the teachers and fellow students using flash transfer, a wireless data transfer technology.

Think Positive ..... Be Positive

Be Positive and Keep Inspiring India

Positive News ..... Be Positive

Vijay Thakur, a mechanical engineer, was spurred to take up taxi driving 31 years ago after his wife, in a serious condition, was refused a ride to hospital in Mumbai.

His visiting card says ‘Free service for hospitalised patients’. Each passenger gets one, with an additional assurance from him, “You can call anytime in the night for medical emergency

India reveals world’s first 100 percent solar-powered airport

Cochin International Airport recently announced that it will now run completely on solar power from 46,150 panels laid across 45 acres.

Cochin International’s solar power station is expected to save 300,000 tons worth of carbon emissions over the next 25 years. That’s the equivalent of planting three million trees or not driving 750 million miles.

The airport’s parent company, Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), plans to sell surplus energy from the new solar plant to the Kerala State Electricity Board. CIAL has also said that it is looking to continue exploring alternate energy resources, taking advantage of the numerous water bodies in Kerala through dam-based solar panels and other hydro power projects.

Garbage bin that rewards you with free WiFi! -

Realizing the need of the Internet in everyday life, two commerce graduates decided to give free WiFi to people in exchange of a cleaner surrounding with an unique initiative — a ‘WiFi Trash Bin’.

“When somebody dumps trash into a dustbin the bin flashes a unique code, which can be used to gain access to free WiFi, says Prateek Agarwal, one of the two founders of the initiative. He and his partner Raj Desai  hit upon the idea while visiting the NH7 Weekender a music festival which is spread around a large area and as music festivals go is home to music food drinks and of course a lot of garbage.

More report on http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/garbage-bin-that-rewards-users-with-free-wifi-in-india-1208027

Positive News...

Recharge your thought........ Now...