Category Archives: Green Initiatives / Environment

IICT scientist to head CSIR’s only north east lab


G. Narahari Sastry 

‘The institute has made a big difference to the area through its research and by introducing about 100 tecnologies’

“It is the only lab of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in north east at Jorhat in Assam that is involved in multifarious scientific activities. I feel proud to be heading an institute that is soon to celebrate its diamond jubilee,” said G. Narahari Sastry, the newly appointed director of North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST).

Dr. Sastry, 53, who was with CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) since 2002 heading the Centre for molecular modelling, has just taken over and was here for a conference when he told The Hindu about his new ‘institute of eminence’ and the direction he intends to take it forward.

North East is blessed with abundance of natural resources like varied flora and fauna, minerals, natural gas, petroleum, aromatic and medicinal plants and hence, NEIST is targeted to undertake research in those areas. “The institute has been dealing with chemicals, agro-technology, geotechnical and other studies spread on a sprawling campus of 400 acres. It already has an excellent record and has made a big difference to the area through its research and by introducing about 100 technologies,” he said.

Dr. Sastry said emphasis will be on fundamental and translational research of applying basic biology and clinical trials to address critical societal health needs through drug discovery, environment care and sustainable development.

With a PG degree in chemistry from Osmania University and Ph.D from University of Hyderabad, he moved to ‘bio-informatics’ during his teaching stint with Puducherry university. His research is on employing artificial intelligence and machine learning to integrate with bioinformatics in developing disease-specific web portals and delineating disease biology in the area of healthcare.

“Seventy per cent of my research work deals with biology combining computational mathematics and AI. The government’s directive now is while excellence is good, science should be relevant to the people and improve their quality of living,” says Dr. Sastry.

A Shanthi Swarup Bhatnagar Award winner in chemical sciences in 2011, he has been a visiting professor for universities in Japan, Germany and United States.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. Geetanath / Hyderabad – March 04th, 2019

Mahua savouries from tribal kitchens to hit markets


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

GHMC bags cleanliness award

First in engaging community-based organisations

GHMC Commissioner M. Dana Kishore on Friday received ‘Swachhata Excellence Award’ at a special function held in New Delhi as the civic body stood first under cities with over one million in engaging community-based organisations and information on waste pickers in sanitation and solid waste management.

The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) Swachhata Excellence Awards have been instituted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to recognise the Area Level Federations (ALFs), City Level Federations (CLFs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) working towards achieving sanitation outcomes with their communities and promoting dignified livelihoods in the sanitation sector.

Main objectives

The main objectives of Swachhata Excellence Awards are to bring cleanliness, sanitation and livelihoods to the forefront of social discourse.

It is also to encourage ULBs, ALFs and CLFs for their initiatives related to elimination of open defecation, eradication of manual scavenging, behavioural change towards healthy sanitation practices, creating awareness about its impact on public health and modern and scientific solid waste management.

Through this initiative, the urban local bodies (ULBs) are supposed to mainstream informal sanitation workers, improve their income-earning capacity and engage community organisations to achieve sanitation and cleanliness outcomes, a press release said.

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

Working all alone, woman farmer scripts history


Rupireddy Laxmi at her field.   | Photo Credit: K M Dayashankar r

School dropout impresses scientists

A woman farmer from the interior Kondapalkala village of Manakondur mandal scripted history and emerged a role model.

She cultivated paddy without engaging farm labourers — be it for tilling the soil, removing weeds or any other related activity. She adopted innovative farming techniques and reaped a bumper harvest compared to other farmers who employed farmhands.

Adversity to opportunity

Meet Rupireddy Laxmi, a native of Kondapalkala village, who had dropped out of school after class 5. But she received appreciation from scientists of the agricultural university, Krishi Vignana Kendra, and others. For the last four and a half years, she has been cultivating paddy single-handedly on her 12 acres of land. Ms. Laxmi only sprinkles paddy, which is kept wet for one day on the field. Her cultivation technique have reduced the use of fertilizers and pesticides and also water consumption. She sprays pesticides only to avoid growth of weeds on the field.

The idea of taking up paddy cultivation by sprinkling seed occurred to Ms. Laxmi when there was acute shortage of labourers in the village. So, she did it all by herself, and saved an average of ₹ 6,000 to ₹7,000 per acre in the process. Moreover, when other farmers harvested 40 to 45 bags of paddy per acre by adopting the normal form of cultivation, she could reap 55 bags, much to their dismay.

Labour of love

Inspired by her innovative farming techniques, more than 10 farmers of the village had adopted the Ms. Laxmi’s techniques since the last kharif season and reaped more. Incidentally, her husband Tirupathi Reddy had taught her driving of tractor, two-wheeler and car and tilling operations. Recently, this progressive woman farmer purchased a luxury car, following a bumper harvest. Talking to The Hindu on Sunday, Ms. Laxmi said farmers could reap riches if they enjoyed the profession. “If there is no zeal to do cultivation, then the farmer cannot become a king by securing a good harvest,” she says boldly. Ms. Laxmi feeling proud of her herself is well-deserved as agricultural scientists invited her to various agricultural research stations in the State for displaying and sharing her techniques.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by K. M. Dayashankar / Karimnagar – January 13th, 2019

The jewel in the bibliophile’s collection


Prof. G. Rameshwaram showing a rare naturopathy book that is a century old.

Passionate about naturopathy, Prof. G. Rameswaram has collected many books

Here is a professor whose passion for collection of books now made him peerless. Among his collection is a century-old handwritten book.

Meet Prof. G. Rameswaram who is passionate about naturopathy, the ancient Indian system of medicine. He visited places across the country collecting books on the system over the decades and built a good library of rare books. His single great collection is a manuscript of 54 pages titled, How I found Nature Cure, by American doctor Henry Lindlahar.

The book is A4-size, lined with blue pencil, and written in cursive style.

The book was released in 1918 and is priced at 13 cents. “It was printed by Nature Cure Publishing House, Chicago, Illinois. Perhaps they have written more copies by hand and hence priced it at 13 cents,” Prof Rameswaram told The Hindu.

According to him, Henry Lindlahar (1862- 1924) was pioneer of Natural Therapeutics. A college was established on his name in America.

Prof. Rameswaram, who retired as professor of Public Administration from Kakatiya University recently, is working on Naturopathy for decades. He currently is senior research fellow of Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi.

Spending his own resources, he built a exclusive library of Naturopathy for the benefit of students, research scholars and academics at his residence where accommodation for outstation visitors is free.

Among his collection include – a handwritten book on the life and works of Vegiraju Krishna of Prakruthi Ashramam, Bhimavaram, dated 1953.

“I have many magazines on Naturopathy that are no more in vogue. I collected in various languages – Telugu, Hindi, English, Tamil, Kannada and Marathi, and four rare books in Urdu as well,” he says.

Prof Rameswaram can be reached on 9885774967 or rameshwaramg@yahoo.

co.in.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by Gollapudi Srinivas Rao / Warangal Urban Dt – December 24th, 2018

Solar panel maker to scale up operations in Hyderabad

Solar photovoltaic (PV) cell and module maker RenewSys India is planning to grow the capacity of its Hyderabad facility to 1 GW and establish a 500 MW plant near Mumbai, both by next year-end, with an investment of $25 million.

A part of $350 million Enpee Group, most of whose companies are based in Nigeria, the firm graduated from being a manufacturer of EVA backsheets used in solar panels to making solar cells and modules when it acquired the assets of Solar Semiconductor three years ago.

Briefing presspersons at the facility in Fab City on the outskirts of Hyderabad, RenewSys managing director Avinash Hiranandani said the company had acquired the assets, of the sick unit, in June 2015 for around ₹100 crore. With new machinery, the solar panel manufacturing capacity over time increased to the 400 MW. The facility also has 130 MW solar PV cell capacity.

Necessary equipment to add 300 MW of solar panels have arrived, he said, adding by next month the capacity would touch 700 MW. The company wanted to increase the capacity of the Hyderabad plant, located on 50 acres, to 1 GW by end of 2019.

On investments, he said $100 million has been made so far and the expansion proposed by next year would entail $5 million more. The investment on the plant proposed near Mumbai, on about 8 acres, is expected to $20 million. The capacity of the Bengaluru plant where encapsulants and backsheets are made is also to be increased, he added.

To queries, Mr. Hiranandani said profitability in solar panel business, in the face of intense competition from China, is possible only with scale of operations. In 2017-18, the RenewSys’ turnover was ₹256 crore, which the management is targeting to take to ₹600 crore this fiscal and over ₹1,500 crore in 2019-20.

The potential for growth was good, he said, pointing out that only 45% of India’s solar panel requirement is being met by domestic manufacturers.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities > Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – November 14th,2018

Beyond bag basics: Bagman

Bag it right Shashi of Bagman is on a drive to replace plastic bags with handmade cloth bags. This startup engages small groups of women workers to stitch bags that can be sold at a nominal rate at various places Nagara Gopal | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal

Bagman is a campaign by Rewheel to promote use of cloth bags to protect environment
“How much would you pay for this,” asked Sashi Kaja holding out a simple cloth bag with fishes printed on it. The print on the bag apart from fishes has a message that reads ‘plastic free oceans’.

Even at the cost of being judged after examining the double sturdy stitches on the sides and the cloth handles, I said, “not more than ₹100.” Sashi smiled, took the bag from the hand, (at this point I was sure of snide remarks) and said “I am selling them for ₹ 30 and even then I have people who wear expensive shades argue and bargain with me at malls.”

Sashi is the founder of a campaign — Bagman, which is also a part of his business — Rewheel that manufactures handmade cloth bags for everyday use. Rewheel is a social enterprise, which hopes to sensitise society on the usage of plastic bags for the cause of sustainable environment by iterating the fact that making earth safe starts with little changes in everyday lifestyle. In achieving the same, Rewheel manufactures cloth bags which are handy, comfortable, strong and above all ecologically safe. “Right from taking it to gym for a change of clothes and shoes to buying vegetables,” he assures. One can also look hep with his multi-purpose bags with quirky prints. Ideal to carry laptops and other extra essentials that cannot be stuffed into your stylish handbag for fear of making it go out of shape.

Bagman campaign

Sashi’ journey with bags however began with a trek. He never in his wildest dream thought he will be a ‘jhola-man’ to the extent of making and selling them. “I am a nature lover and love solitude. I am mostly out on treks and visit the wild on my own and that has pretty much made me become familiar with the jungles. Having trained to handle snakes have also taken me deep into the jungle to understand their habitat etc. While on one such trek I was shocked to find plastic bags deep inside the jungle. It was not a picnic spot or a commonly visited area, so the presence of the plastic bag was horrifying,” says Sashi.

While he is against plastic, Sashi agrees that plastic is a good discovery. “It is the way we use and dispose that makes a difference. Finding plastic inside a cow’s stomach is very common these days. The oceans are fast-filling up with plastic. Aquatic birds and animals are eating plastic and we are still not able to find a solution,” says Sashi.

Bagman campaign

Before starting Bagman, Sashi was into trading, buying from one point to selling at another. He would buy from others and market and sell it to people. So much so that he became a joke at home. “’Your brother works for Microsoft and what do we say you do?’ would be the joke at home,” laughs Sashi.

Earlier Sashi even worked in a startup where he sold chai and samosa. The idea he says is to understand how is it to be out there and sell a product.

Sashi wanted a business plan that would make him realise the dream of doing something for the environment and being able to provide livelihood to a section of people who need it. “We have a few in-house trained bag makers but I also outsource work to people who are trained but have very less work. I saw no point in training and investing in an infrastructure when there is ample available to be used,” says Sashi.

Is it financially viable? “At the moment not quite viable. sometimes we lose money, sometimes we just manage. Apart from this, rejections are a part of our business. The best thing one can do at times like this is to try harder. That is what I would tell those who want to give wings to their dreams,” says Sashi.

Earlier on, Sashi was also a part of the UnLtdHyderabad which is a part of UnLtdindia, an organisation that works to find, support and grow early-stage social entrepreneurs who can build high-impact organisations and grow as catalysts for social change.

Bagman campaign

“They gave me a grant and that’s how I started Rewheel five years ago. I most recently started the Bagman campaign to promote use of cloth bags. All heroes don’t wear capes, some heroes carry cloth bags because they care for the environment,” says Sashi pointing out to the campaign artwork. The pinboard displays his two most favourite subjects — one is Bagman and the other is Sonali Bendre. “I am a big fan and I was shattered to know that she was fighting cancer,” says he.

For details: www.thebagman.in

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Environment / by Prabalika M. Borah / Hyderabad – September 03rd, 2018

Bakey’s edible cutlery allows you to eat with them, then gobble them up

Bakey’s edible cutlery is Narayana Peesapaty’s solution to save the environment from plastic pollution.

Narayana Peesapaty’s phone rings incessantly. Taking a break from the calls he says, “Enquiries about the product and machinery keep me busy all day. Even while I am at the factory, my staff and I get very little time to do any other work. ” Some of these phone calls are to congratulate Peesapaty for the Swachh Bharat Award, which he received on June 23 from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion of World Environment Day.

Apart from the congratulatory messages, some calls are enquiries for a product Peesapaty’s brand, Bakey’s, manufactures — edible cutlery. The unique cutlery is made mixing jowar (sorghum) with rice flour and wheat flour. He uses jowar only because unlike ragi and other millets, which have an overpowering taste, jowar is fairly neutral and allows different flavours to be mixed in.

One year and many kilograms of millets later, Peesapaty, with the help of his wife, was able to successfully get the right recipe to make the spoons. Finally, in 2016, Bakey’s took shape. Baking the dough at 280° Celsius for 28 minutes makes them tough enough to even spoon up soup with. Peesapaty thought about this cutlery first by accident while he was 5000 metres above sea level. “I was on a business trip and had packed jowar rotis. I forgot all about it. Then, when hunger pangs began, I reached for my food. I don’t like in-flight meals. My jowar roti had hardened. It was brittle, but still edible. I slowly began scooping the curry with the pieces, thus making me aware of what can be done to avoid disposable spoons,” says Peesapaty.

He realised the solution was not simple. His obsession with finding an alternative to disposable cutlery had two angles. “Apart from harming the environment, do we really know how disposable spoons are disposed of in reality? If they are all really being disposed of, then spoon piles should be as big a concern as discarded sanitary napkins. But no one talks about single-use spoon piles. Why? Because, often, they are not disposed of,” asserts Peesapaty.

To double-check this theory, not only did he wade through garbage, but even started sneaking into catered events to get first-hand information. “I made my way to the ‘service’ section of the function hall. I saw that while food and other things were being discarded, the spoons were separated and put in a bowl of water. When I enquired about it, the staff said ‘the spoon will be washed and reused. It is the supervisor’s instruction’. Still not convinced? Wipe a disposable spoon with your finger or a tissue paper, or drop them in a bowl of water. You will observe a thin film of oil floating in the water,” he says.

Another concern is depleting ground water levels and the presence of chemicals in them. “Millets use less water than rice. The dry belt of Telangana was mainly cultivated for millets. Rice was aspirational because it was consumed by the rich. But once the farmers grew rice, they came into the trap of fertilizer companies, because dry lands do not yield good produce. Everyone wants to make a profit, so the use of fertilizers has become rampant,” says Peesapaty, explaining why he was determined to engineer his product specifically with millets.

The cutlery also serves the purpose of promoting millets for consumption. As a result, “Farmers get encouraged to cultivate millets, which require very less water,” explains Peesapaty. Bakey’s sources the jowar millet locally from Telangana.

The crisp spoons taste like thick baked rice crisps. They need a strong bite with the molar to break and chew them. The spoons, if not bitten, do not dilute the taste or flavour of the curry you are having. Bakey’s has sweet and savoury varieties as of now, and a team of 27 people are working on other flavours like chocolate as well, in the factory at Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad. They are also looking at decreasing the current waiting period of two months.

“The demand and feedback the world over are overwhelming, and the company is taking care of delivery logistics on its own to keep costs down,” he says.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Food / by Prabalika M. Borah / Hyderabad – July 13th, 2018

NTPC bags Golden Peacock award

NTPC Ramagundam received the Golden Peacock award on energy efficiency at the 20th World Congress on Environment Management and Climate Change organised by the Institute of Directors, New Delhi, on Friday.

Ramagundam Group general manager Ravindra and DGM (EEMG) Manoj Kumar Jha received the award.

Recognition of efforts

This award recognises NTPC-Ramagundam’s contribution towards reducing the greenhouse gas emission into environment through well-developed energy efficiency management system at the power station as well as actions taken for system performance improvements by system modifications, augmentations and promotion of new technologies towards climate change.

NTPC-Ramagundam in last 20 years has avoided almost 15 millions tonnes of carbon-dioxide from emission into environment due to its performance/efficiency improvement initiatives.

Upon receiving the award, GGM Ravindra expressed his happiness and said this award will not only bolster NTPC-Ramagundam’s image but also motivate them to give their best.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Peddapalli – July 08th, 2018

Khammam gearing up to ready 6 lakh ‘eetha’ saplings

Saplings being watered by a worker at a forest department nursery at Tekulapalli in Khammam. | Photo Credit: G. N. Rao

Govt. wants to plant toddy-giving ‘eetha’ as part of Telanganaku Haritha Haaram

A Herculean task awaits the Forest Department to meet the target of planting around six lakh ‘eetha’ (Phoenix sylvestris) palm saplings in the coming fourth phase of the Telanganaku Haritha Haaram (THH), the State government’s flagship afforestation programme.

The State government has accorded utmost priority to planting of toddy-giving saplings, mainly ‘eetha’ plants, along the foreshores of tanks and other water bodies as part of a multi-focal strategy to improve green cover, augment income for toddy tappers and check the menace of spurious ID liquor and toddy in the State.

However, the well-intended initiative is beset by some bottlenecks such as lack of proper institutionalised provision for protection of toddy-giving saplings after the plantation drive and adequate government lands to take up plantation of saplings on a massive scale in the district, sources said.

Around 2.30 lakh ‘eetha’ saplings were planted across the district in the previous phase of the THH against odds. Thousands of saplings were given away to the government agencies concerned in Mahabubnagar and a few other districts due to problems associated with identifying suitable open places, particularly around water bodies in the district last year, sources added.

The Forest Department has laid focus on achieving the target in terms of planting the ‘eetha’ saplings in coordination with the Department of Prohibition and Excise during the fourth phase of the THH, likely to be implemented later this month.

The Excise Department has stepped up efforts to actively involve the toddy-tappers’ cooperative societies in the ‘eetha’ saplings plantation drive during the THH’s fourth phase, sources added.

Officials concerned have already held discussions with toddy-tappers, mainly concentrated in Kusumanchi, Tirumalayapalem and other mandals in Palair constituency.

Adequate number of ‘eetha’ saplings are available in several nurseries, including Bathulapally in Kalluru mandal and Cherukapally in Sattupalli mandal in the district, says Sunil Hiremath, District Forest Officer, Khammam.

A wide variety of saplings, mainly of forest tree species, are being raised in 65 nurseries of the Forest Department in the district to fully meet the target of planting 1.97 crore saplings in the fourth phase of the THH all over the district.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by P. Sridhar / Khammam – July 08th, 2018