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.