An old new student

On 28 April, Fatima Beevi of Alappuzha district in Kerala got up earlier than usual. Her teacher came at 9.30 am, and both then left for a nearby school. There, over four hours, she answered questions on Malayalam, arithmetics and basic social sciences. All this wouldn’t have been very unusual if Fatima Beevi was not 90 years old.

Read more on Open Magazine: http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/real-india/the-90-year-old-student

Information Source: Open Magazine and The Better India

Are we now to believe in something like 'Age' for studying and taking exams? 

Farmer designs water mill to generate electricity

wOw!

I read this news on the BetterIndia site this morning. Felt absolutely terrific.

They say illiterate farmer, but I say a creative farmer, using his experience, from Somapur village in Gadag district of Karnataka, has designed a water mill to generate electricity. Right from conceptualizing to materialisation, the farmer has done everything on his own. He operates the water mill in the canal near his house. 

Read the full story here and say wOw!

As they say, grass root innovations are the need for the hour and that works, this is just one of those examples. With only just 5000 Rs, Siddappa has come up with this brilliant 'workable' model. 

Pic courtesy: The BetterIndia

Srik

It's a living paint!

Pic taken from DTE website

wOw!

Can you believe if someone says a paint is living? Interesting isn't it?

I just read this interesting piece on Down-To-Earth magazine. It says Rock paintings found in Western Australia's Bradshaw region show traces of life.

Paleontologist of University of Queensland and his team discovered that the art is resplendent with colorful bacteria and fungi, which constantly  replenish the art's color. So they still look fresh after 40,000 years. 

Read the complete article here. 

Power of Husk!

wOw! was my reaction.

I recently read the article on NYT - 'A Light In India' by David Bornstein. The subject excited me as always and made me read it. 

Pic from NYT

The article was about the brilliant initiative by a small but fast-growing off-grid electricity company based in Bihar called Husk Power Systems. It has created a system to turn rice husks into electricity that is reliable, eco-friendly and affordable for families that can spend only $2 a month for power. The company has 65 power units that serve a total of 30,000 households and is currently installing new systems at the rate of two to three per week.

Husk Power was founded by four friends: Gyanesh Pandey, Manoj Sinha, Ratnesh Yadav and Charles W. Ransler. They are the real entrepreneurs who made their excellent idea work at the right time. 

What they did perhaps a new way of thinking about innovation which is the need of the hour in the countries like India and Africa. 

To access the full article, click here. 

SMS for farmers

Zambian government has launched a project that will allow farmers to purchase seeds and fertilizers via cell phones. 

Farmers who register with the system will receive pre-paid cell phone vouchers, each worth US$ 53, to use at agro-dealers. These vouchers are transferred via cell phones to farmers. The pilot project launched in collaboration with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization is on in 28 of the country's 72 districts. 

Source: Down To Earth, December 16-31st.

-----

Wonder if the same technology is (can be) implemented in India?