Category Archives: Green Initiatives / Environment

Adopt Lake and Name it after You: Government Tells NRIs

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nri's / PIO's, Records, All, World Opinion

HarishRaoTELANGANA22dec2014

Hyderabad :

Contribute for the development or restoration of a lake and get it named after your or your dear ones. This is the method to be adopted by the state government to get participation from the people, particularly non-resident Indians of Telangana origin, in the development of lakes in the state.

As multitude of people joined their hands in achieving statehood for Telangana, the state government now wants to involve the same collective energy to realise its proposed goal of golden Telangana.

To restore minor irrigation and to restore lakes in Telangana, the government wants NRIs to chip in for this ambitious project. Irrigation minister T Harish Rao drafted an open letter to NRIs persuading them to adopt lakes and to extend an helping hand in sprucing up the local water bodies.

The minister claimed that already three NRIs had promised to take part in ‘Mission Kakatiya’ project slated to begin in January.

Hailing the efforts of NRIs in achieving Telangana, the minister said the Telangana expatriate community had played a vital role in mobilising support for Telangana cause worldwide.

“Despite staying away from the homeland, you are emotionally connected to the region. The people of Telangana acknowledge how you had longed for a separate state,” he said in his letter addressed to NRIs.

In realisation of the promises, made during the Telangana movement, the state government felt that restoration of lakes is an important programme which can contribute to the holistic development of the Telangana’s countryside, he pointed out.

Recognising the contributions made by the Kakatiya rulers, he said chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao christened the project asw ‘Mission Kakatiya’.

The minister urged the NRIs to take part in the restoration of lakes in their native villages. Based on the name proposed by the donor, the restored lake would get its new name, he said.

“If you wish the lake to get your father’s or mother’s name or perhaps your name, the government will approve that name officially,” he told them and added that organisations can also chip in for the cause.

He informed that he would conduct a tele-conference with NRIs in January to drum up support for the flagship project of the TRS government.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / December 22nd, 2014

ICRISAT Director-General William D Dar to Retire on Dec 31

Agriculture, Green Initiatives / Environment, Leaders, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Sangareddy :

Dr William D Dar, Director General, Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is relinquishing his post on 31 December 2014 after an unprecedented three, five-year terms. Dr Dar is leaving behind a legacy of benefiting millions of marginal farmers in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and other dryland regions of the world.

“After 15 years, we have completely transformed ICRISAT into one of the best international agricultural research for development (AR4D) centres in terms of innovative and inclusive research programmes, scientific excellence, impact on smallholder farmers, and financial health and stability,” said Dr Dar who assumed the institute’s top position in 2000.

Through his strong and transformative leadership and astute governance, Dr Dar has quadrupled the income and investments poured into ICRISAT by development partners, from US$ 22 million in 2000 to US$ 85 million as of 2014.

This financial stability has brought improved capacity and high morale among scientists and staff over the years, translated into unprecedented achievements in the institute’s AR4D programmes, and the corresponding impacts on food security and poverty reduction goals.

Over the decades, ICRISAT has grown into a pipeline of innovations and impacts that are changing the lives of the dryland poor on a large scale, showing high returns on social investment. In a 2014 ex-post impact assessment study of ICRISAT’s highly successful breakthrough innovations called ‘Jewels of ICRISAT’ – a return on investment of US$70 on average for each dollar invested in AR4D, and an internal rate of return of 35 per cent was generated. These outstanding economic rates of return to investment illustrate ICRISAT’s core science and impacts.

Restoring strong relations with countries that host ICRISAT in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and forging strategic public-private-people partnerships worldwide, the institute was able to broaden its donor base and to mobilise new resources that are fully compatible with the public-goods orientation of ICRISAT and the CGIAR. ICRISAT is a member of the CGIAR Consortium.

Today, ICRISAT’s three top donors, outside the CGIAR system, are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, India (the largest of any CGIAR host country), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Gates Foundation is funding three of the institute’s major AR4D initiatives: the HOPE project (Harnessing Opportunities for Productivity Enhancement of Sorghum and Millets); the Tropical Legumes II (TL-II) project; and the Village Dynamics in Southeast Asia (VDSA).

With the innovative AR4D programmes and the culture of scientific excellence that Dr Dar introduced, ICRISAT continues to attract much-needed investments into the development of climate-smart and sustainable crop cultivation and technologies of the institute’s mandate crops – chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum and pearl millet – crops that are farmed by millions of smallholder farm families in the drylands of the world.

ICRISAT-DirectorTELANGANA16dec2014

The ICRISAT Governing Board has appointed Dr David Bergvinson as the next Director General of ICRISAT for a five-year term, effective January 01, 2015 to move the institute further in generating and sharing cutting-edge global scientific innovations, and bring about genuine pro-poor growth and inclusive market-oriented development in the drylands.

A Philippine national, he is set to return to his country to share his management and technical experience and knowledge with Filipino farmers particularly in transforming rain-fed and unproductive farmlands into productive, sustainable and climate-smart farms through an agri-based social movement called Inang Lupa (Motherland).

Notable achievements of ICRISAT  1.The formulation of a new, more dynamic institutional strategy known as Inclusive Market-Oriented Development (IMOD) which shifted ICRISAT’s focus towards enabling poor farmers to harness markets for poverty escape

2.Establishment of Centres of Excellence for genomics, transgenic research, climate change research for plant protection, and information and communications technology (ICT) innovations for agriculture

3.An inclusive and technology-based entrepreneurship and agribusiness strategy – the Agribusiness and Innovation Platform – through public-private partnerships to bring science-based technologies and products to the market for the benefit of marginal farmers

4.Scaling out a sustainable natural resource management model called Bhoochetana (land rejuvenation), which uses soil analysis as an entry point, that has brought prosperity to resource-poor farmers in India

5.Establishment of the ICRISAT Development Centre (IDC) to undertake large-scale uptake of science-based technologies for the benefit of marginal farmers

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / December 15th, 2014

Treat for Rosarians

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, World Opinion

Hyderabad :

Rose lovers have another reason to celebrate as the The Indian Rose Federation and Hyderabad Rose Society together are organising 3rd World Federation of Rose Societies Regional Convention in the city. During the event, around 800 varieties of roses will be displayed. The purpose of the convention is to inform people about the wide varieties of roses available in the country, informs Ahmed Alam Khan, President of Indian Rose Federation. “This is the first time such convention will be held in India,” he adds.

Rosarians from around the country will be presenting the flowers they grow in their convention. “A competition will be held where they will be judged on the quality of their flowers. Apart from the competition, technical sessions will be held at the convention where they will be informed about how to good quality roses, increase their shelf life, etc,” he says. Ikebana, Japanese pattern of arranging flowers will also be taught during the convention.

The theme of the convention is ‘New Light on the Old World of Roses’. “Around 98 per cent of roses exported in the world is by Israel. But India also has the potential to have good market in exporting roses. Through this convention, we aim to encourage the rosarians to develop good quality of roses. People from the city are encouraged to visit the show to gain more knowledge about roses at the event.

The event will be held from November 29 to December 2 at HICC between 11 am to 5 pm.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express Features / November 14th, 2014

Palair has all the makings of a hub

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

A fisherman throwing a net in pursuit of fishing near Palair in Khammam District. Photo: G.N. Rao / The Hindu
A fisherman throwing a net in pursuit of fishing near Palair in Khammam District. Photo: G.N. Rao / The Hindu

Telangana government plans to make it a centre of cage fish culture. There are around 14,000 members enrolled in as many as 184 fishermen cooperative societies in the district.

The Palair balancing reservoir, a major hub of freshwater fish and prawn culture in Kusumanchi mandal, is likely to turn into a centre of cage fish culture if the plans of the Telangana government to give a major thrust to fish culture in the new State are any indication.

Thanks to its abundant water resources, the district earned a niche for itself in fish and prawn production in the entire region.

According to sources, the fish production and fresh water prawn production in the district is estimated to be over 16,000 MT and 500 MT respectively.

There are around 14,000 members enrolled in as many as 184 fishermen cooperative societies in the district.

Apart from feeding the ayacut under the Nagarjunasagar left canal system, the Palair balancing reservoir is also catering to drinking water needs of Khammam town.

The reservoir is also serving as a sole source of livelihood for over 1,000 fishermen of Kusumanchi and its adjoining mandals.

A total of 15 members of the Palair based fishermen societies have been selected for an exposure visit to Jharkhand to study the cage fish culture.

The Fisheries Department has selected them for the tour to familiarise them with the cage fish culture method being followed by the local fishermen at Chandil reservoir in Jharkhand.

Minister for Fisheries Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Minister for Finance E Rajender have recently visited the Chandil reservoir to study the feasibility of promoting the cage fish culture in Telangana.

A 15-member team of fishermen headed by a Fisheries Development Officer will tour Jharkhand for three-days from November 21 as part of an exposure visit to explore the possibilities of adopting the cage fish culture in the district, said V Srinivas, Assistant Director, Fisheries, Khammam.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Telangana / by P. Sridhar / Khammam – November 20th, 2014

Farming has a different meaning for him

Agriculture, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

K Srinivas with vegetables at his leased farm at Kavalmpet in Medak. Photo: Mohd. Arif / The Hindu
K Srinivas with vegetables at his leased farm at Kavalmpet in Medak. Photo: Mohd. Arif / The Hindu

Tenant farmer Katakam Srinivas, who is making profits in farming, treats crops like new born babies that have to be nurtured with love and care

For this tenant farmer, agriculture has a different meaning. “Plants are like new born babies and farmers have to nurture them with love and care,” says Katakam Srinivas, a farmer who had migrated from Kadiyam in East Godavari district to Medak in search of greener pastures about a decade ago.

Well, he seems to have found the greener pastures, as he has been successful in making profits out of farming, quite a rarity these days. But it didn’t happen in a day or a year. It took him over a decade of hard labour which finally has made him a happy farmer.

His day begins at 4.30 in the morning and ends late in the evening. And if it’s the harvesting season, the working hours stretches even further. At 10 in the morning, he is usually seen supervising the sale of vegetables like snake gourd and bottle gourd. And his two sons – Jeevan Phani Kumar and Ganapati – assist him and see to the finer aspects of growing vegetables.

Srinivas along with his sons Jeevan Phani Kumar and Ganapathi at his leased farm at Kavalmpet in Medak. Photo: Mohd. Arif / The Hindu
Srinivas along with his sons Jeevan Phani Kumar and Ganapathi at his leased farm at Kavalmpet in Medak. Photo: Mohd. Arif / The Hindu

Mr. Srinivas came to Medak in search of a job in a private factory, but failed to get one. After working as a daily labourer for some time, he approached some locals for help. As he had prior experience in cultivation, he was asked to take up farming and that changed his life for better. Now, he cultivates about 30 acres of land as a tenant farmer and has a dozen labourers to assist him. “I also have cattle to take care of. After supplying milk to the canteen of a local factory, I go to the farm,” says Mr. Srinivas. He is also into banana cultivation this year. “If the weather conditions are good, banana is one of the best crops that generate good revenue. We got saplings from East Godavari where banana crop is largely cultivated,” he says.

His belief that Mother Earth never deceives farmers only if they care for the crop they grow has yielded him good result. He suggests the other farmers to take up multi-cropping instead of a single one as it is profitable.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Telangana / by R. Avadhani / Kavalampet (Medak Dist). / November 13th, 2014

Best App in Asia award to Hyderabad entrepreneur

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

The Best App In Asia category of the digital winners 2014, Raghu Kanchustambham, explains about his application in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Photo: G. Ramakrishna / The Hindu
The Best App In Asia category of the digital winners 2014, Raghu Kanchustambham, explains about his application in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Photo: G. Ramakrishna / The Hindu

The app helps coffee growers to get instant returns for their produce. Livelihood 360 is also capable of estimating quantity of the produce in the fields and sell the crop at fair price.

The coffee farmers of Araku valley these days get instant returns for their produce. Gone are the days when they had to wait for nearly a month till the buyers completed the weighing process of the produce and release money through co-operative society. Thanks to a mobile application developed by Hyderabad-based entrepreneur, Raghu Kanchustambham, there is no waiting period.

The app dubbed as ‘Livelihood 360 (L360)’ was adjudged the Best App of Asia in the Telenor Digital Winners Conference, a global competition held in Oslo, Norway this month. The award came with a cash prize of Rs. 9,79,000, which will be utilised by the developer to further “scale up” the concept.

It all started when Mr. Raghu, who has a start-up ‘Concept Wave’, met the officials of Naandi Foundation, which was already working with the coffee farmers of Araku valley. “The basic premise was to utilise technology and reach to those people not having access to technology and internet. I visited Araku valley and spent time with them and learnt a lot about their lifestyle and livelihood,” he said.

Mr. Raghu said the previous system of remittance to coffee growers in Araku was taking about a month. The coffee growers would take their produce to a prescribed ‘adda’ where the truck drivers would collect and transport coffee beans to another location for weighing and valuing. “We gave the truck drivers an application that would quantify the yield and also determine the quality instantly. The drivers will immediately remit the amount on the spot to farmers,” he explained.

Livelihood 360 is also capable of estimating quantity of the produce in the fields and sell the crop at fair price. “We have already adopted this application among 12,000 coffee farmers in 650 villages of Araku. Between 40 and 50 truck drivers from Araku were given training on using the application on a feature phone and not a smart phone,” he explained.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by M. Sai Gopal / Hyderabad – November 12th, 2014

Medicinal Plants Expo Goes Viral

Agriculture, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Karimnagar :

The students of Government Upper Primary School, Ramakrishna Colony, Timmapur have attracted national and international attention with a social media post about their exhibition on medicinal plants, ‘Mana Mokkalu – Mana Avushadalu’ (Our plants – our medicines).

Their post evoked good response with a number of likes and comments, said Kola Ramachandra Reddy, school headmaster.Non-resident Indians also responded, appreciating their team work as a inspiration for many. They complimented the students for their efforts.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / October 13th, 2014

Special cover on `Pillalamarri’

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Travel

The 700-year-old banyan tree, Pillalamarri, which will appear on a special cover being brought out by the Postal Department.
The 700-year-old banyan tree, Pillalamarri, which will appear on a special cover being brought out by the Postal Department.

Hyderabad :

Pillalamarri, the famed 700-year-old banyan tree near Mahabubnagar, will appear on a special cover being brought out by the Department of Posts.

The magnificent tree with its branches stretching over an area of three acres is acclaimed as a “living legend” of the district. Over the years, the heritage symbol, located in the fields 4 km from Mahabubnagar town, attracted tourists from far and near. From a distance, it presents the look of a small hillock covered with thick foliage. As one draws closer, the majestic tree stands out like a giant umbrella, which can shelter upto 1,000 persons. There is a tomb of a Muslim saint underneath the tree.

On its part, the Postal Department has resolved to do its bit to commemorate the tree by releasing a special cover during a philatelic exhibition at Mahabubnagar on August 29 and 30. The special cover will be released by T.S.Govindarajan, Chief Postmaster General, Andhra Pradesh Circle.

A special video show for children on “stamp collection-an educative hobby”, philately workshop, essay and quiz competitions for students will be the highlights of the two-day exhibition. As an on-going effort to popularise stamp collection, the facility of philately deposit account is provided at all head post offices through which children can get newly released stamps with an initial deposit of Rs 200.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu, Online edition / Home> Southern States – Andhra Pradesh / by The Hindu Special Correspondent / Thursday – August 14th, 2003

Awards Presented to Seedsmen

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

Hyderabad :

Seedsmen Association presented awards to personalities connected with the seed industry at its 19th general body meeting here on Thursday. Telangana agriculture minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy honoured them with the awards.

Following is the list of awards presented Life time achievement: K Ayyapu Reddy, founder, Nagarjuna Seeds For developing World Class infrastructure facilities for Indian seed industry: K Prasad, managing director, Prasad Seeds Pvt Ltd. Seed Entrepreneur: K Ramakoteswara Rao, managing director, Sri Sathya Agri Biotech Pvt Ltd Seed Scientist Category: Dr RS Mahala, research director, DuPont Pioneer. Late S Venkata Reddy Memorial Award for retired government officers: D Ashok Kumar, deputy director, agriculture Seed Grower: S Basawaraj Goud, cotton seed grower, Boothpur, Mahabubangar district.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / September 20th, 2014

2 Indians quit high-paying jobs in the US to tackle India’s mounting garbage crisis

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

Banyan is an informal sector inclusive high technology social venture which aims to solve the problems in the Indian recycling value chain through technology innovations that encourage source segregation and maximize landfill diversion.

The startup aspires to root out inefficiencies in the recycling value chain by innovating across all aspects of the recycling process from pre-sorting and collection to post-sorting and processing of recyclates.

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“Our mission is to identify and nurture progressive recyclers within the informal sector, improving their quality of life through technology solutions that give them ample opportunities to maximize their growth and earning potential,” says Mani Vajipey, Co-founder & CEO, Banyan.

The Beginning

Banyan was born during one of Mani’s travels in India where the general filth and squalor across the nation deeply disturbed him and inspired him to build an organization that will transform the solid waste management landscape in India through technological innovations, better practices and grassroots activism.

Mani developed Banyan’s business model at Steve Blank’s Lean Launch Pad Program and Columbia Business School’s Greenhouse Incubator. Raj Madangopal, a technologist, with a passion for applying technology to solve socially relevant problems plaguing India, came aboard 6 months later.

“Our association dates back to the year 2002 in the university town of Newark, Delaware, where we bunked classes together, and becoming thick friends,” says Mani. Mani was then pursuing a PhD in electrical engineering (wireless communications) and Raj a masters in mechanical engineering (robotics) at the University of Delaware.

Post college, their paths diverged — Mani ended up at Qualcomm in San Diego while Raj joined a mobile startup in Seattle. Ten years later over a casual phone conversation, Mani shared his vision for solving India’s waste management issues and the business model that he was developing at Berkeley and Columbia Business Schools.

As part of Columbia’s Greenhouse Incubator, Mani and Raj travelled to Hyderabad and Bangalore on customer discovery and activation. “We spoke to dozens of facilities managers at large MNCs, visited several townships in Hyderabad, and met with city municipal commissioners, private waste management contractors, rag pickers, raddiwalas and kabadiwalas in the city,” adds Mani.

Over the course of three months of thorough market research and talking to people, the duo realized that the country desperately needed an integrated solid waste management company that could innovate across the entire value chain — right from collection and transportation to landfill management, recycling and generating energy from waste.

After returning to the US, the duo spent three months to understand waste management processes in there, visiting landfills, waste to energy plants and recycling centers across the Bay Area and New York City.

The founders quit their jobs, returned to India and launched Banyan in July 2013 – primarily focusing on handling municipal solid waste. “We reviewed tenders across the country and participated in a waste to energy contract with Rourkela Steel Plant forging a partnership with a leading Biogas to Energy Company in San Francisco,” points out Raj.

Red tape and lack of autonomy make things difficult for Indian startups

India’s red tape combined with the lack of autonomy on part of the officials involved caused the tender process and negotiations to drag on for over five months. The tender that was floated around June 2013 by Rourkela Steel Plant remains open to date. “This episode taught us a valuable lesson – although there was a grave need for an integrated solid waste management company, urban local bodies had a limited appetite for innovation and risk,” says Mani.

Why Indian startups stay away from government?

This led to the next pivot — entering the solid waste management space via a model that did not depend on the government or urban local bodies for its top line revenues. “Recycling was a natural fit for us. Each year, the nation dumps 6.7 million tons of recyclable material (worth $3.1billion i.e. Rs. 19000 crores) in its unsanitary landfills causing serious environmental degradation,” adds Mani.

The informal sector forms the backbone of the recycling value chain and is responsible for achieving recycling rates of 70%, one of the highest in the world. Ironically, rag pickers are treated as social outcasts, and itinerant waste collectors and neighborhood kabariwalas (small scale stationary aggregators) — who are at the bottom of the chain — depend on middlemen (large traders) for their livelihood and working capital requirements.

These middlemen trap the rag pickers, itinerant waste collectors and kabariwalas by extending informal loans and pressurizing them to sell exclusively to them well below fair market rates.

These factors led Mani and Raj to develop a business model to disrupt the recycling value chain in India. Once Mani and Raj were clear on the recycling business model for India – friends and family pledged $100K within one week of their fundraising efforts.

Technology is genesis of Banyan

Banyan’s proprietary software platform consists of several pieces such as the Android based informal sector lead generator app and an SMS based trading platform to identify and nurture progressive recyclers from the informal sector, data analytics engine that gives the company complete control over operations to optimize, iterate and improve performance on a daily basis. It also has a GPS based routing and tracking engine for reduced collection and transportation costs.

Banyan uses the data it collects at every touch point in the value chain to periodically generate waste analytics reports to build awareness among citizens and businesses and to also provide urban local bodies with valuable insights that can power policy changes and spur sustainability initiatives in the region.

Revenue model

It generates revenue primarily through the sale of processed recyclates in the form of bales, pellets and chips to reprocessors and producers in the local, national and international commodities markets.

Differentiators and USPs

The company differentiates itself from competition by providing an end-to-end professional service right from collection and transportation to processing and sales giving it tight control over the entire supply chain and empowering the informal sector by including it in its network of suppliers.

The startup plans to integrate 1500 plus kabariwalas in the area into the company’s supplier network by the end of this month. By October, Banyan will expand simultaneously into other major cities of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

source: http://www.social.yourstory.com / YourStory.com / Home> Social Story / by Jai Vardhan / June 29th, 2014