Category Archives: Inspiration / Positive News and Features

Mahua savouries from tribal kitchens to hit markets

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All

D. Divya

Move to help indigenous people protect their culture

A revival of pristine Adivasi customs and traditions cannot be envisaged without including the irp marra or mahua tree (Madhuca indica) in the scheme of things.

Therefore, the new plan of the Adilabad district administration, perhaps the first of its kind in the country, to help indigenous people protect their culture hinges on plantation of mahua and introduction of the lesser known tasty savouries and eatables made out of the flowers of the sacred tree in the headquarter town, in near future.

“The food items coming out of the kitchens of aboriginal people have good shelf life and will be packaged and sold at the Prakruti store for organic vegetables in Collectorate Chowk,” Adilabad Collector D. Divya revealed.

There will also be an attempt towards getting the ethnic people to manufacture the famous heady brew from mahua flowers, the ippa sara or irp kal, aimed at weaning them away from the more dangerous Indian Made Foreign Liquor and marketing it sometime in the future, on the lines of the experiment in Bastar of Chhattisgarh.

“There certainly is more to mahua tree than the heady brew distilled from its flowers. It is the source of nutritious supplementary food and some potential economic activity for tribal people besides yielding fodder to the animals,” opined tribal teacher Kanaka Rao Ambaji from Marlavai in Jainoor mandal of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district.

Mahua trees come into bloom between latter half of March and April. Each tree sheds its flowers in the morning every day, over a period of 15 to 20 days and yields about 1.5 quintals to 2 quintals.

The customary puja is performed under the tree after the festival of holi, called duradi in Gondi, following which women and children collect the flowers. The collection is done at dawn and the flowers are subsequently put out to dry.

“The dried up flowers are roasted, made into balls or laddus called eruk gola, and used as a snack or stuffed into a roti. Other eatables are also made by roasting the dried up flowers with sesame and sunflower seed, besides the rarely found khade and churchal seeds,” Durva Nagubai, a Raj Gond elder, listed out some names of traditional supplementary food items.

“We will also sell the edible oil extracted from the kernel of mahua seed,’ the Collector disclosed. The practice of using mahua oil, called eruk niy, in preparation of food is almost lost,” she pointed out.

“Among other eatables which are made of the mahua flowers is the eruk jawa or gruel which is served when receiving the barat. Also, the gum of the tree, eruk chikada, is used to trap birds and small animals while the wood from a dead tree is used to make traditional musical instruments like a dhol,” Mr. Ambaji stated.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by S. Harpal Singh / Adilabad – February 26th, 2019

Boy’s invention to be adopted by Civil Supplies Dept.

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology

Paddy filling machines, if successful, to be installed at all procurement centres

A class VIII boy’s ingenious invention is set to be adopted by the Civil Supplies Department at its Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs) on a pilot basis.

A prototype of a paddy filling machine, used to fill paddy into bags, would be adopted with minor tweaks and installed at select PPCs. If successful, they would be installed at all the centres across the State, Civil Supplies Commissioner Akun Sabharwal said in a statement here on Saturday.

Abhishek, studying in Zilla Parishad High School at Hanumajipet village in Vemulawada mandal of Rajanna-Sircilla district, has already received accolades and prizes for his invention at Inspire Science Exhibition at regional and national levels.

On Saturday, he met Mr. Sabharwal along with his parents Rajavva and Lakshmi Rajyam, and his school principal, and received a gift of ₹10,000 and a robot doll from the Commissioner.

Mr. Sabharwal said the machine, with a few changes, would be very useful for farmers. The machine’s capacity could be increased from 20 kilograms to 40-45 kg by increasing its width, he said. If successful, the machine would replace four workers.

Naming it Vari Abhishekam, Mr. Sabharwal directed the officials concerned to initiate the process of obtaining patent for the machine on behalf of the Telangana government. In another major initiative, the Civil Supplies Department would introduce e-weighing machines at warehouses with the capacity of five tonnes, starting from the coming rabi season. The department is aiming to implement the same State-wide starting from the next khariff.

The e-weighing machines would be installed at 170 warehouses across the State, to ensure that the commodities are supplied to fair price shop dealers with correct weight. Inspecting the performance of the machines at Met Weigh India Factory at Cherlapalli on Saturday, Mr. Sabharwal said the machines would be available at all the godowns by March 31.

The machines would be linked to the Command Control Centre at Civil Supplies Bhavan and also to the Mini Command Control Centres in the districts, where live weighing can be viewed.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 23rd, 2019

Teen mountaineer on a new high

Amazing Feats, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Malavath Poorna after conquering the 6,962-metre Mt. Aconcagua, the highest peak of South America, on Friday

Poorna becomes youngest tribal girl to scale world’s four highest peaks

Malavath Poorna has added another feather to her snow-capped hat. She has become the world’s youngest tribal woman to scale four highest mountain peaks across four continents.

The 18-year-old successfully climbed Mt. Aconcagua, the highest peak in Southern and Western Hemisphere on February 15. “I cannot even describe how difficult the climb was; it was much tougher than Mount Everest but I was determined to go ahead with the mission,” Poorna said, speaking from Mt. Aconcagua.

Before this, she had scaled Mt. Everest (Asia), Mt. Kilimanjaro (Africa) and Mt. Elbrus (Europe).

‘Sky’s the limit’

The sky should be the limit for girls hailing from marginalised communities, she asserted. “We can achieve great goals in life,” she said. Poorna was a student of Telangana’s Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate studies at Telangana Social Welfare Residential Degree College for Women in Kamareddy.

“My goal is to make Telangana and India proud by becoming the youngest tribal woman in the world to scale the seven highest peaks across all seven continents. Now, I have set my sights on scaling Mt. Denali in North America, Vinson Massif in Antarctica) and Mt. Kosciuszko in Australia,” she declared.

Sekhar Babu, director of Transcend Adventures, had sponsored Poorna’s Aconcagua expedition.

Reacting to Poorna’s latest achievement, TSWREIS secretary R.S. Praveen Kumar said, “What makes her feat unique is that she hails from a poor tribal community and her parents, Laxmi and Devidas, work as agricultural labourers in Pakala village of Nizamabad district. Poorna has become a role model and source of inspiration for millions of girls from marginalised communities throughout the world.”

Poorna also participated in the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, 2015, to speak on equal rights for girls. In 2017, Bollywood actor-filmmaker Rahul Bose released a film on the young mountaineer that he titled ‘Poorna: Courage Has No Limit’.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 16th, 2019

Powering through challenges to reach a unique half-century

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

TS-Transco chairman and managing director completes 50 years of service in power utilities today

Putting in 50 years of service in a public sector organisation with an unblemished record all along is no mean task, more so when 27 years out of that are spent in holding key executive positions in power utilities that are directly linked to almost every household.

However, for Devulapalli Prabhakar Rao, the chairman and managing director of TS-Genco and TS-Transco since the formation of Telangana State, it has been a smooth journey except for some “occupational hazards” linked to every responsibility.

He has been the Man Friday to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in tackling severe power shortage, one of the major fallouts of the bifurcation of combined Andhra Pradesh.

Efficiency in functioning of the power utilities of Telangana was under scrutiny of general public and also those in power from the day of State formation as it was one of the first challenges faced by the State government with farmers taking to the streets demanding supply of power to save the standing crops.

“We could overcome the problem and reached a position of supplying seven-hour power to the farm sector within six months with support of the government, particularly the Chief Minister,” says Mr. Prabhakar Rao recollecting the challenges he faced in the initial days of State formation what with 2,700 MW shortage of power compared to the demand.

“Industrialists taking to the streets, demanding adequate quality power supply was the position we inherited from combined AP,” he points out.

With a three-pronged strategy for overcoming the immediate power shortage with spot, short-term and medium-term power purchase linkages, improving the efficiency of power generation units of State utilities, and going for long-term power purchase agreements and capacity addition in power generation, the State overcame the problem of power shortage before the turn of one year.

“Power cuts were lifted for domestic, commercial and industrial sectors and nine-year supply was given to farm sector from November 20, 2014, itself. From January 1, 2018, Telangana became the first State in the country to provide uninterrupted free power supply to even the farm sector having over 23 lakh pump-sets,” Mr. Prabhakar Rao says, describing it one of the proud moments of his career.

Starting his career as a junior accounts officer on February 10, 1969, Mr. Prabhakar Rao became the financial adviser and chief controller of accounts in 1992 in the then AP State Electricity Board. He was elevated as board member (Accounts) in 1998 and it was, in fact, the first time when a non-IAS and non-engineering background official was given such an opportunity.

“My successful career of 50 years in the power utilities has been a possibility only with the support of all employees,” he says, adding that there were some minor aberrations when he had to quit first in 1991 and later in 2002 due to professional differences with his peers but it was thanks to the support the organisation as a team offered that helped him power ahead.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by B. Chandrasekhar / Hyderabad – February 09th, 2019

City girl to represent country at UN Youth Assembly 2019

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Later she got an opportunity to participate in Jagruthi Yatra, where she travelled around 8,000 km for 15 days across the country.

Hyderabad :

A Hyderabadi girl who has worked for empowering villagers into sustainable communities is all set to make her way to the United Nations Youth Assembly 2019 in New York University, New York City this month. Harshitha Chintam is a B.Tech graduate from Sree Nidhi Institute of Science and Technology, who later pursued MBA from Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) and joined ITC as a Business excellence officer.

“I received a sapling as a token of appreciation from UNICEF during my school days for my charity work. That gave me the motivation to work for the betterment of the people” reminisces Harshitha. With the opportunity to work with SAFA, an organisation that works for the empowerment of women from urban slums, she realised the potential and the zeal residing within her. Harshitha worked in building up the brand image and attract more supporters for the cause.

Later she got an opportunity to participate in Jagruthi Yatra, where she travelled around 8,000 km for 15 days across the country. We reached out to rural areas across the country, from Kanyakumari, Dharmashala, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of North India, it was a great learning experience”, reflects upon her 15-day journey across the country, where she got an opportunity to interact with the President of India Ram Nath Kovind.

This journey sparked off her interest in the concept of sustainable cities and self-sufficiency and she worked with ‘Barefoot College’ in Tilonia district of Rajasthan, an NGO that empowers the rural residents. She worked in documented and published the teaching and training manuals of these model villages in making them self-sufficient and sustainable, which can be implemented anywhere in the world. Upon a friend’s suggestion, she applied for the United Nations Youth Assembly.

After thorough verification of the documentation and her works, followed by a few rounds of interviews, she got selected as the India representative for the UN Youth Assembly 2019, which is to be held from February 15-17. She will be talking about Sustainable development goals – ‘Sustainable cities and communities’.

“I want the voice to be heard and showcase the reality of the state of India, also learn from other leaders across the world, I look forward to more people to joining hands and work for the common good of the society,” says Harshitha. She is also an associate with Make A Wish Foundation.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Venu Srikanth, Express News Service / February 05th, 2019

Kanti Velugu lighting up lives

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology

Kanti Velugu lighting up lives

Hyderabad:

Kanti Velugu scheme, the mega health initiative, aimed at providing all services related to eye care, has touched a unique milestone by screening a whopping one crore persons in the State.

The scheme was launched on August 15 and by December 3, has managed to screen 1,00,02,544 persons for various eye related ailments. In fact, the scheme has also achieved a unique milestone by distributing close to 17 lakh reading glasses to persons who underwent screening.

According to the latest statistics, the Health Department had distributed nearly two lakh prescription glasses to persons, who were diagnosed with eye-defects, during the course of screening.

Senior doctors have pointed out that the distribution of such large number of reading and prescription glasses is quite unprecedented because it was never before attempted in the country.

The mega eye screening camps created a large number of referrals for tertiary and secondary care. Thanks to Kanti Velugu, now there are 4.50 lakh persons who will undergo cataract surgeries at various secondary eye-care institutions, which have been identified across the State.

The scheme has also identified close to 2.5 lakh persons, who need to undergo complicated eye related procedures, at tertiary eye care institutions including SD Eye Hospital in city, Regional Eye Hospital in Warangal, Pushpagiri Eye Institute, Secunderabad and LV Prasad Eye Institute.

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> Telangana / by Telangana Today / December 05th, 2018

Gen X entrepreneurs set to showcase their ideas today

Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

Schoolpreneur Summit 2018 will take place today (Nov 17) at Oakridge International School, Newton Campus and promises to give young minds a vibrant platform to share their ideas.

Hyderabad :

Schoolpreneur Summit 2018 will take place today (Nov 17) at Oakridge International School, Newton Campus and promises to give young minds a vibrant platform to share their ideas. The objective is to motivate the young entrepreneurs / innovators to showcase their ideas to established entrepreneurs, industry experts, academicians and government officials. Apart from the Idea pitching sessions, there are panel discussions by experts to discuss on the current education system and future of work.

More than 120 business viable ideas will be presented today as part of the preliminary rounds (Roadshow to Schoolpreneur Summit) for Hyderabad. Over 40 schools from the twin cities are participating in this event. There will also be a panel discussion on “Role of Parent & School Management to nurture the child with skills required in 21st century”. The panel members include Renuka Bodla – Entrepreneur, Investor (Hyderabad Angels, IIIT Seed Fund), Anil Kolli (Director, Epistemo & Vikas Concept School), Sri Lakshmi Reddy (Director, Keystone School), Bhanu Prakash Reddy (Founder, Beenfield Consulting, Startup Mentor), Pavan Allena, Founder, Metamorphosis).

Pavan Allena adds, “A lot of innovations are happening across schools, but there’s no entrepreneurial element added to it. Students should go through entrepreneurial journey with their innovation and learn real-life / 21st century skills. Schoolpreneur Summit is such a platform to inspire the young students with their business-viable ideas. Come join us for the event.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / November 17th, 2018

A perfect place to tinker, innovate

Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology

A model on display at the Hyderabad edition of Maker Faire, at Hitex on Friday.

Three-day Maker Faire begins at Hitex

Hyderabad got its first taste of Maker Faire on Friday as dozens of innovators trooped into a hangar at Hitex to showcase their effort. The three-day event aims at helping create an environment of innovation, tinkering, hacking and creating.

“Curiosity and innovation are innate part of childhood when children take apart toys and dolls. But somehow, it gets lost in the chase for marks, exams and competition. Only now we are realising the importance of innovation,” said Jayesh Ranjan, IT Secretary, Government of Telangana, in his keynote address.

“The last decade and a half has seen transformative ideas. We need to create an ecosystem of innovation. We have lot of problems and we need a pool of brilliant solutions,” said Mr. Ranjan.

On the first day, one section of the event resembled a science fair put up by students. “This is a device that can be used by visually-impaired. The frequency of vibration changes when the object gets closer,” said Soumyadeep Sahu, who promised adding more features to his device once his 12th class exams get over.

There were a number of such innovative ideas using proximity sensors, light sensor, movement detectors and even weather monitors. Unfortunately, most of the sensors, IOT devices and chips were off-the-shelf imported stuff. “Our education system with its focus on marks stamps out any leaning towards innovation. We need problem-solving mindset. We now have 5,400 tinkering labs and hopefully, they will bring about a change in the mindset of people,” said Ramanan Ramanathan, the mission director of Atal Innovation Mission.

The event is a brainchild of Sujai Karampuri of T-Works. “In 2014 at San Mateo in the U.S., I attended a Maker Faire and thought why not in Hyderabad. Here it is. We want to create a one-stop prototyping facility at T-Works,” said Mr. Karampuri. The event would go on till Sunday, 8 p.m. and entry is free.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – November 09th, 2018

The ‘padwomen’ of Telangana

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology

Successful venture: Adivasi women working at the sanitary napkin unit in Bhadrachalam, Telangana

Sanitary napkins made by adivasi women of the State are in great demand.

In Telangana’s tribal belt, since February this year, adivasi women have been running four small units that produce sanitary napkins for free distribution to students in the tribal welfare hostels and ashram schools. Now, the region is set to get four more sanitary napkin production units, thanks to the demand for pads among young women in the adivasi community.

While the State has four such units currently running in Bhadrachalam, Utnoor, Mannanur and Eturnagaram, with a collective production capacity of 6,000 to 7,000 pads per month, the facilities in the pipeline are expected to increase the total production of napkins to 40,000 per quarter.

All the existing units were commissioned under the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA). Christina Z. Chongthu, Commissioner, Tribal Welfare, has already consulted with the ITDA to support the proposed units. As per the Commissionerate of Tribal Welfare in Hyderabad, talks are on with NGOs and commercial sanitary napkin units to support adivasi youth in sanitary napkin production in districts where tribal population is high.

Expansion plans
Speaking to The Hindu, N. Vijaykumar, deputy general secretary of the Girijan Cooperative Corporation, which distributes the pads among the adivasi students, said, “With the new units, we will be able to produce 40,000 sanitary napkins per quarter.” The napkins will then be supplied to women in the adivasi community who live in the tribal pockets near each manufacturing unit.

As per the 2018 report of the National Family Health Survey, 62% of women use cloth instead of sanitary pads. In most of the adivasi villages in Telangana, women were found to be using cloth or ash for menstrual protection. The pad-making units were set up primarily to support adolescent girls and young women enrolled in schools.

The decision to start more units came after demand for the pads increased, officials said. Once funds are sanctioned for starting the units, the four existing units will also undergo a technological upgrade. While the units in operation do not make the extra safe winged variety of pads, the new technology that is set to be introduced will make it possible.

The units have provided jobs to around 30 women in each unit, with altogether 120 adivasi women employed in the four facilities.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by Nikhila Henry / Hyderabad – October 15th, 2018

Washable sanitary pads in Hyderabad soon

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

Days for Girls is a global movement breaking menstrual stigma while improving access to quality, reusable menstrual care products.

Happy Smiles Foundation and Days for Girls International say they are partnering to forge change around the issue of MHM. (Photo| EPS)

Hyderabad :

In celebration of the UN International Day of the Girl on October 11, Happy Smiles Foundations, in partnership with Days for Girls International (DfGI), is inaugurating a social enterprise in Hyderabad to provide affordable, environmentally-friendly menstrual health solutions for women and girls.

The group is launching the enterprise this month. DfG Founder and CEO, Celeste Mergens visited Hyderabad recently and met with various organizations and government officials to discuss menstrual health management (MHM) and the needs of Indian schoolgirls and women when managing their menses. Days for Girls supplies empower women to make a choice that supports the Swachh Bharat initiative.

Days for Girls is a global movement breaking menstrual stigma while improving access to quality, reusable menstrual care products. The US-based nonprofit organization has a 10 year history of delivering menstrual supplies and health education to women and girls around the world; to date, they have reached over 1 million women and girls in over 120 countries with Days for Girls Kits, which include comfortable washable sanitary pads that are eco-friendly, and designed to manage menses without stigma or shame.

In India, more than 40% of women report lack of access to sanitary pads, and many social and cultural taboos leave women and girls feeling uncomfortable discussing their menses or purchasing sanitary products.

One in five girls drops out of school after starting menstruation. India has recently seen a surge in efforts to address this issue from local NGOs, community leaders, and government officials, especially as menstrual health management has become recognized as an important barrier to gender equality, women’s health, and girls’ education. DfG uses a multi-tiered approach to menstrual health challenges that involves a global network of over 50,000 volunteer Chapters and Teams. DfG has more than 80 Social Enterprises globally, like the one launching in Hyderabad, with a mission to increase access to menstrual care and
education.

Happy Smiles Foundation and Days for Girls International say they are partnering to forge change around the issue of MHM and ‘act as a catalyst for local leaders to continue speaking out and creating solutions to this taboo subject.’ Celeste Mergens, Founder, Days for Girls International and team members Stephanie Stewart Schmid, Starry Laurie took part in the city event.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / October 10th, 2018