Engineering – Page 23 – Take off with Natarajan

The Parallel Worlds Of Puddles In Toronto…!!!

January 30, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

With my Instagram account I try to demonstrate that you don’t need a professional camera to take a nice picture. With the use of a smartphone, one can take a beautiful picture that tells its own story.

Many people don’t like rain, but the puddles left behind can be more than magical. Every time I see a puddle I take out my smartphone and put my camera lens as close as I can to the water and capture its parallel world. These are some of my puddle reflections I have taken in Toronto, Canada last month.

More info: Instagram

Source………

Guigurui

Community Member in http://www.boredpanda.com

Natarajan

Australian Farmer Fights Soil Erosion With Land Art……

January 30, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

After a recent bushfire consumed all vegetation on his land, a South Australian farmer Brian Fischer decided to etch a gigantic geometric pattern on the bare ground in a bid to fight soil erosion. Without vegetation, the topsoil was vulnerable to erosion by gusting winds. So Fischer ploughed his land in a patchwork of spirals creating long furrows in the topsoil. Now no matter which direction the wind blows there will always be a furrow to catch the soil. Fischer says the pattern cost him a few days to make, but he expects to save 15 cm of topsoil that would have otherwise been lost, until the fields are green again.

The clever erosion-fighting technique came from his dad, who used it on the farm as early as 1944 during one of the worst droughts South Australia experienced. More than one million hectares of land were destroyed by a raging bushfire in Victoria, prompting some farmers to come up with this unique solution.

Photo credit: Brian Fischer

via The Guardian

Source….www.amusingplanet.com

Natarajan

How Barefoot College Trained 700 Rural Grandmothers to Be Solar Engineers & Electrified 20000 Homes…?

January 29, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

A vocational training college in Rajasthan, started by well known educator and activist Sanjit Bunker Roy, is responsible for lighting up the homes of thousands of poor villagers across the world.

Tilonia is a small village in Rajasthan’s Ajmer district. On the face of it, Tilonia is like any other village in India. One can see large tracts of semi-arid land, flocks of sheep on the roads, and women whose heads are covered with the pallus of brightly coloured sarees.

However, what sets Tilonia apart is that it is home to the Social Work and Research Centre, popularly known as Barefoot College. This institute is known all over the world for training rural people in vocational skills.

In the 1970s, Sanjit Bunker Roy, an educator and social activist decided to give something back to society and set up Barefoot College in Tilonia.

Photo source: Youtube

The college is spread over eight acres and runs completely on solar energy.

Bunker, who studied at Delhi University, says: “My elitist education almost destroyed me. In fact, the biggest reasons why the poor will always remain poor are the literate man and woman — products of the formal education system. This system makes you look down on villages.”

According to him, the formal system of education demeans and devalues the traditional knowledge and practical wisdom that the poor value. He says his real education started during his initial years in Tilonia when he was working as an unskilled labourer — blasting wells for water.

“I lived with very poor and ordinary people under the stars and heard the simple stories they had to tell of their skills, knowledge, and wisdom that books and university education can never teach you. My real education started when I saw amazing people – water diviners, traditional bonesetters and midwives – at work. That was the humble beginning of the Barefoot College,” he adds.

Though the college started with the aim of providing solutions to the water problems of rural India, its mission soon changed to sustainable development and empowerment of the marginalised. In fact, the courses offered at the institute are rooted in the Gandhian philosophy of making villages self-reliant.

“But it was not Gandhi or Marx who inspired the work of the college, but very ordinary people with grit, determination, and the amazing ability to survive with almost nothing,” says Bunker.

Students, primarily women, are selected from the poorest of villages and are taught vocational skills in different areas like solar energy, healthcare, education, handicrafts, and so on. The college provides basic health services to the villages through a team of doctors, midwives, and dentists.

It imparts education to women and children by keeping their different needs in mind. There are crèches for small children whose mothers work all day. There are night schools for children who help in the fields or tend to animals during the day. And bridge courses for those among them who wish to join day school. There is an emphasis on hands-on learning. Even the lessons offered are practical in nature. The children are taught about how democracy works, how to take care of a sick animal, how land is measured, etc.

Barefoot College is probably best known for producing hundreds of ‘barefoot’ solar engineers.

In 2003, the college decided to train illiterate rural women as solar engineers. The biggest challenge at the time was to convince donors, policy makers, as well as the male members of the community to accept the ‘impossibility’ that these women could be trained.

“Do you know why we insisted on women? Because training men is pointless. They will grow restless and go to big cities in search of jobs. Women have more patience to learn the skill. And especially since they are from poor families, they will stay back home and prove their worth to their communities,” says Bunker.

This training of women — to teach them how to install, repair, and maintain solar lighting units — did not stop in Rajasthan. Today, the institute trains women from countries like Afghanistan, Bhutan, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Fiji, etc. It boasts of having over 700 solar ‘mamas’ in 70 of the least developed countries in the world. These women, from isolated and non-electrified villages, congregate in Rajasthan for a few months. To overcome the language barrier, they are taught through sign language.

They memorise the permutations and combinations of wires through colour codes.

Barefoot College brought three women from Afghanistan to Tilonia and trained them. After they went back, their village became the first ever solar-electrified village in the country. These women went on to train 27 others and now there are over a 100 solar-electrified villages in Afghanistan.

The College also trained grandmothers from Sierra Leone. They lit up the first village in the country with the sun’s energy.

The idea caught on and now there is a Barefoot Vocational Training Centre in Sierra Leone.

Under the India Technical Economic Cooperation Programme of the Ministry of External Affairs, the Barefoot College has trained nearly 700 rural grandmothers to be solar engineers and electrify over 20,000 houses in different countries.

Barefoot College is funded by various organisations and grants. Barefoot College applied for the HCL Grant and through this grant, it wanted to implement the Barefoot model of alternate community-based education and skill development in the five districts of Rajasthan, by empowering and educating children, women, and youth and setting up 25 crèches and 50 bridge schools in these districts. To know more about Barefoot College, contact the team on their website.

About HCL Grant

There are about 3.3 million NGOs in India doing commendable work in various areas aimed at inclusion and development. The HCL Grant has been launched to support the institutionalization of the Fifth Estate comprising individuals and institutions formed and led by the citizens of the country through the creation of strong governance frameworks and management capabilities. An endeavour of the HCL Foundation, HCL Grant envisions to build sustainable communities by supporting NGOs and individuals who are doing path-breaking work towards high impact transformation in rural India. In the first year, HCL Grant has identified the best NGOs in the area of rural education. To know more about the HCL Grant: http://www.hcl.com/hcl-grant

source……..Meryl Garcia in http://www.the betterindia.com

Natarajan

Image of the Day…Space Station Flyover of the Mediterranean…

January 28, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Expedition 46 flight engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency (ESA) shared this stunning nighttime photograph with his social media followers on Jan. 25, 2016, writing, “Beautiful night pass over Italy, Alps and Mediterranean.”

Image Credit: ESA/NASA

Source…….www.nasa.gov

Natarajan

Neft Dasları: A City Built On Oil Platforms…!!!

January 28, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Far out into the Caspian Sea, a hundred kilometers away from the Azerbaijani capital Baku, lies one of the most incredible settlements in the world. A fully functional city of 3,000 living in a network of oil platforms and artificial islands connected by 300 km of trestle bridges. This is Neft Daslari, also known as Oil Rocks, and it lies fully within the world’s largest lake at an incredible distance of 55 km from the lake’s shore.

Azerbaijan has been famed for its rich oil resources since ancient times. There is evidence of oil drilling and actual trade in petroleum as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries. Historical accounts of the area’s oil and natural gas seepage can be found in old Arabic and Persian manuscripts, as well as in the writings of famous travellers such as Marco Polo. The Persians called the area the “Land of Fire”.

Photo credit: geozet.ru

Modern drilling began in 1870 after Russia conquered the territory. By the start of the First World War, Azerbaijan’s oil wells were already supplying 175 million barrels of crude oil a year, or 75 percent of the country’s entire oil production. After the war, while exploring for oil in the Caspian Sea, Soviet engineers struck top-quality oil at a depth of 1,100 meters below the seabed. Shortly thereafter, the world’s first offshore oil platform was built at the spot, and Neft Daslari was born.

The original foundation of Neft Daslari consisted of seven sunken ships including the world’s first oil tanker. Over the decades this grew to some 2,000 drilling platforms spread in a 30-kilometer circle, joined by a network of bridge viaducts spanning 300 kilometers. Over these platforms, workers built eight-story apartment blocks, a beverage factory, soccer pitch, library, bakery, laundry, 300-seat cinema, bathhouse, vegetable garden and even a tree-lined park for which the soil was brought from the mainland. During its heydays, some 5,000 workers lived here.

Neft Daslari’s decline began with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the discovery of new oilfields elsewhere. The workforce was reduced and many oil rigs were abandoned. Neglect and lack of maintenance caused many of them to collapse into the sea. Others are in the process of crumbling. Out of the 300 kilometers of roads, only 45 kilometers remain usable, and even they have fallen into disrepair. To the government, however, the place is still the proud, closely-guarded secret it was in Soviet times. It is still very hard for foreigners to gain access to the city. You can’t even zoom into it on Google Maps.

Photo credit: IPAAT/Panoramio

Photo credit: infoglaz.ru

Photo credit: IPAAT/Panoramio

Photo credit: geozet.ru

Sources: Spiegel / Wikipedia

Source……www.amusingplanet.com

Natarajan

Images of the Day…Animals on safari !!!

January 27, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Africa promises one of the best safari experiences in the world, enabling you to see the five big wild animal groups: the lion, the leopard, the elephant, the rhino and the buffalo. Capturing a good photo of these beautiful animals is not always easy, and very often, it comes down to being at the right place at the right time. But, the pictures below are pretty incredible. So, get ready to enjoy some animal watching with this great photo series!

Male lion ignoring a group of Thomson’s Gazelles.

safari animals

‘One day I’ll be tall like mommy’.

safari animals

Young male leopard watching the setting sun.

safari animals

Black-face Vervet monkeys as seen on safari in Tanzania

safari animals

The ‘painted wolf’, also known as the African wild dog, is Africa’s most endangered predator.

safari animals

Two male lions relaxing in the sun.

safari animals

Elephants playing in the red soil. Taken at Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi National Park in Kenya, Africa.

safari animals

A male lion getting some sun at the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, Africa. This may be the best wildlife reserve in all of Africa, renowned for the variety and number of animals living in it, both predator and prey.

safari animals

A beautiful shot of two elephants at the Kruger National Park, another of Africa’s large game reserves, which covers 18,989 square kilometers (7,332 square miles), and is 360 kilometers (220 miles) long.

safari animals

Another resident of Kruger National Park slowing down traffic for a while.

Source………www.ba-bamail.com

natarajan

The Circular Laguna Garzon Bridge in Uruguay……

January 27, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

When building bridges, engineers and architects don’t always look for the shortest possible crossing. The new ring-shaped bridge across Laguna Garzon in Uruguay’s southern coast is such an example.

The concrete structure consist of two semi-circular bridges, joined at either end to create a ring, and was built to replace a raft crossing between the cities of Rocha and Maldonado. On the bridge’s unusual circular design, its architect Rafael Viñoly has a perfectly logical and functional explanation: the curved design will force drivers to slow down the speed of their cars while also prove an opportunity to enjoy the panoramic views of this amazing landscape. The bridge also has a pair of pedestrian walkways.

Before the bridge was built, the raft crossing allowed only two cars to cross at a time. The raft operated only at certain times of the day, and during windy or stormy days it remained closed. The poor connection has kept the region of Rocha away from further developments compared to what Maldonado has been experiencing in the last decades.

The new bridge will allow some 1,000 vehicles to cross the lagoon, and is expected to help drive the development of Rocha’s coastline.

via Dezeen

Source…….www.amusingplanet.com

Natarajan

These 25 Children Received the National Bravery Award This Year. Here Are Their Inspiring Stories…

January 26, 2016January 26, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

They saved their friends, parents, and neighbours from drowning, electrocution, thieves and a lot more – these 25 children, who were honoured with the National Bravery Award this year, displayed immense courage and risked their lives to protect their loved ones. Here are their awesome stories.

New Delhi witnessed the gathering of some of India’s bravest children on January 24, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the National Bravery Awards to them. From a 16-year-old who fought off a tiger, to a 13-year-old who lost his life while trying to save his friend from drowning – these three girls and 22 boys showed incredible bravery in the face of some very dangerous situations.

“For the award winners, this act of bravery should not become an end in itself. Life must continue to evolve and the children should continue to develop their careers and continue to serve society to the best of their abilities,” the Prime Minister told them during the event.

The National Bravery Award scheme, initiated by the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW), was started with the aim of awarding children in the age group of 6-18 years, who display outstanding bravery and inspire other children with their actions. The awards consist of five categories including the Bharat Award, Sanjay Chopra Award, Geeta Chopra Award, Bapu Gaidhani Award and the General National Bravery Awards. The awardees receive a medal, a certificate, and a cash prize. Bharat Award winners get a gold medal, while the others receive silver. As a part of ICCW’s sponsorship program under the Indira Gandhi scholarship scheme, each child is also receives the financial assistance to complete his or her schooling.

Here are the astounding stories of this year’s winners.

1. Shivampet Ruchitha, Telangana

8-year-old Shivampet Ruchitha became the youngest person to receive the award this year. On July 24, 2014, Ruchita saved two of her school mates when a train hit their school bus. She noticed that their bus had stopped on a railway track and a train was coming towards them. Showing extraordinary presence of mind, she pushed two students out of the window and jumped off the bus herself too. Unfortunately, she could not save her younger sister who was sitting in the front row. Her younger brother sustained severe injuries, but he has recovered now. 16 students, the driver, and the conductor lost their lives in that accident. She was honoured with the Geeta Chopra award.

“It feels good to have the limelight and get an award from the Prime Minister. But I wish I was able to save my sister, too, as we all miss her,” she told The Indian Express.

2. Arjun Singh, Uttarakhand

In July 2014, a tiger entered 16-year-old Arjun Singh’s house in Uttarakhand. He showed extreme courage and fought it off, saving his mother’s life who had fainted as soon as the tiger entered. Arjun went into a room and picked up a sickle to fight the tiger. As it was too small to hit from a distance, Arjun grabbed a stick and waved it towards the tiger. He did not stop until the villagers reached there and the animal ran away on seeing the crowd. Arjun received the Sanjay Chopra award.

3. Late Shivansh Singh, Uttar Pradesh

Shivansh Singh, a 14-year-old medal-winning swimmer from Faizabad, was posthumously honoured with the prestigious Bharat Award. He lost his life while trying to save his friend from drowning in the Saryu River.

“I wish he was here. Seeing all these boys and girls enjoy their moment of glory, I wish my son could have been part of this,” his mother, Neelam Singh, told The Telegraph.

4. Late Gaurav Kawduji Sahastrabuddhe, Maharashtra

Gaurav was only 15 when he lost his life while rescuing four of his friends from drowning in the Ambazari lake. He was a good swimmer and had gone to the lake one afternoon in June 2014. While playing in the water, his friends suddenly started drowning. According to the police, Gaurav swam for 20 minutes and rescued them all. But while trying to pull out the last boy, he hit his head on a submerged stone and drowned. He received the Bharat Award.

5. Aromal SM, Kerala

12-year-old Aromal is one of the six winners from Kerala. He saved two women from drowning in a 14-feet pond and was honoured with the Bapu Gaidhani Award.

6. Rakeshbhai Shanabhai Patel, Gujarat

This 13-year-old received the Bapu Gaidhani Award for saving a boy who accidentally fell into a well.

7. Ramdinthara, Mizoram

On January 2, 2015, Ramdinthara saved two boys who were stuck on a transformer fence. The 15-year-old pulled the boys out with his bare hands and took them to the hospital. Son of a tea-seller, Ramdinthara was walking past the transformer when he saw that two boys were struggling to free themselves after falling on the fence. He overcame his fear in just a few seconds and grabbed their hair to pull them up. He received the Bapu Gaidhani Award.

8. Abinash Mishra, Odisha

Abinash Mishra, 12, saw his friend drowning in Kushabhadra River. Without thinking twice, he just jumped into the river and swam to the shore after saving his friend. He is one of the recipients of the General National Bravery Award.

9. Chongtham Kuber Meitei, Manipur

13-year-old Chongtham Kuber Meitei became a local hero after he jumped into a 10-feet deep well to save a girl from drowning. He was awarded with the General National Bravery Award.

“I won’t lie, I was really scared. But I had to jump into the well to get to her. She would have drowned,” he told The Telegraph.

10. Kashish Dhanani, Gujarat

10-year-old Kashish protected his 15-months-old sibling from a German Shepherd. He received the General National Bravery Award.

11. Muhammad Shamnad, Kerala

14-year-old Muhammad Shamnad showed outstanding courage when he risked his life to save a little girl from drowning in a pond. He received the General National Bravery Award.

12. Mohit Mahendra Dalvi, Maharashtra

14-year-old Mohit saved his 10-year-old neighbour from drowning in Banganga Lake last year. When Krishna Pashtye slipped into the lake, Mohit was the only one of the hundreds of onlookers who had the courage to dive into the lake and save her. He was honoured with General National Bravery Award.

“I knew how to swim and so jumped in confidently. I saw the girl’s leg had stuck in mud in a ditch. I tried to get her leg out and managed to pull her out. When we came out, others rushed and helped us,” said Mohit, an orphan who lives with his paternal aunt.

13. Abhijith K.V, Kerala

15-year-old Abhijith was honoured with the General National Bravery Award for saving his friend from drowning in a 25 feet deep pond.

14. Sarwanand Saha, Chhattisgarh

Sarwanand Saha received the General National Bravery Award for saving a man from drowning in Mahanadi River.

15. Sai Krishna Akhil Kilambi, Telangana

This 15-year-old saved his mother from electrocution. His mother came in contact with a live electric wire at their residence in Agapura when she was washing the floor. Sai Krishna was quick to think on his feet and he instantly rushed forward to turn off the mains supply while making sure that he did not step into the water. He was honoured with the General National Bravery Award.

16. Dishant Mehndiratta, Haryana

On April 4, 2015, Dishant Mehndiratta was at his home in Panchkula, with his mother and younger brother. His father had just left for work when a stranger knocked at the door asking for him. The family invited him in and Dishant’s mother, Archana, called her husband to inform about the visitor. His father couldn’t recognise the man and asked him to come later. This was when the stranger asked if he could use the toilet. And while Archana was leading the way to show him the bathroom, he suddenly took out a knife and put it on her neck. He started threatening the children, asking them to bring out all the cash and valuables. Dishant made a quick plan and fell down on the man’s feet pretending to plead with him. And after a few seconds, he suddenly stood up, grabbed the knife from his hand, and threw it away. The family raised an alarm and got him arrested. Dishant received the General National Bravery Award for this courageous act.

17. Joena Chakraborty, Chhattisgarh

When a man snatched away her father’s mobile phone, 10-year-old Joena Chakraborty started running after him without wasting a single second, and brought the phone back.

“I knew he would head for a narrow alley, so I reached there before him and caught his legs even though people were shouting that he had a knife,” she said.

18. Nilesh Bhil, Maharashtra

Nilesh Bhil from Kothli was awarded the General National Bravery Award for saving a boy from drowning.

19. Beedhovan, Kerala

14-year-old Beedhovan saved a boy from electrocution and was honoured with the General National Bravery Award.

20. Nithin Philip Mathew, Kerala

13-year-old Nithin was honoured for saving his neighbour’s family after their house caught fire in a cylinder blast.

21. Bhimsen, Uttar Pradesh’

On November 16 last year, a boat got overturned in Sarayu River. 12-year-old Bhimsen, who was present on his own boat, jumped into the water and saved 14 people from drowning.

22. Angelica Tynsong, Meghalaya

Angelica Tynsong, 13, from Ri Bhoi district, saved her 7-month-old brother when their house caught fire on February 1, 2015. Her brother was sleeping while she was washing clothes, and their parents were not present in the house at the time of the incident.

23. Anandu Dileep, Kerala

14-year-old Anandu Dileep was going to his tuition class with his friends. They were crossing a bridge when his friend slipped and fell into the 10-feet-deep canal. Anandu jumped into the water and rescued him.

24. Maurice Yengkhom, Manipur

Maurice was playing on the terrace with his friend who suddenly got an electric shock. Had it not been for Maurice’s presence of mind, his friend would have lost his life. The 14-year-old picked up a cane chair and started hitting him till he was free.

25. Vaibhav Ramesh Ghangare, Maharashtra

Vaibhav Ramesh Ghangare from Wardha also received the General National Bravery Award. He saved a 6-year-old child from drowning.

All pictures: Twitter

Source……..Tanaya Singh in http://www.the betterindia.com

Natarajan

This 81-Year-Old Has Walked over 5,70,000 Km to Spread Awareness Against Tobacco & Alcohol…

January 26, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

At an age when many people want to relax and lead a peaceful life, 81-year-old Bagicha Singh is on a unique mission. He has been walking since the last 23 years and has covered the length and breadth of India more than 21 times. His aim? To spread awareness against tobacco and alcohol consumption, child labour, corruption, and other such social issues.

He has covered over 5,70,000 km till now, and won’t stop as long as he has the strength to serve the nation.

Source: Facebook

A resident of Panipat, Bagicha Singh started his non-stop journey from Jammu to Kanyakumari on February 22, 1993. After his Class 12 exam, he told his parents that he will never get married because he wants to dedicate his life to the country. He carries a 90 kg backpack with two Indian flags waving on 18 feet long poles.

Throughout his journey, Bagicha Singh met many people including politicians and celebrities. And he has several interesting stories to share:

“On my way from Tezpur to Guwahati in Assam, I had to cross a forest… One has to carry dozens of bananas to cross the forest, as herds of elephants stop their human counterparts and don’t let them go unless they are given their ‘tax’. I carried six kilo bananas, and indulged the elephants. Not far ahead on this journey, I was surrounded by a group of Naga tribesmen…They demanded that I hand over all my belongings…That’s when the elephants came to my rescue! The biggest one among them ran towards the group. The men panicked and fled. The elephant then picked up my bag with its trunk and the whole herd walked with me. Once we reached the road, I was given my bag and the herd walked back in,” he told The Time of India in November 2015, when he was on a break in Hyderabad during his 22nd trip.

After waking up at 5:00 each morning, he walks till 12:00 noon, rests for an hour, and again walks till 7:00 pm. Freedom fighters like Subhash Chandra Bose, Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh inspire this octogenarian, who takes a new route in every trip.

Bagicha Singh hopes that the country’s youth will slowly understand the ill effects of tobacco and alcohol. Watch him talk about his journey here:

Source…..Tanaya singh in http://www.the better india .com

Natarajan

India’s Cultural Diversity and Military Strength on Display at Republic Day Parade….In Pictures …

January 26, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Hello, India. It’s our 67th Republic Day today. The celebrations took place as per protocol. The Prime Minister offered tributes at the Amar Jawan Jyoti and the parade commenced from the gates of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. French President Francois Hollande was the chief guest for this year’s parade. For the first time ever, there was also a French contingent taking part this year.

Here are the highlights of today’s parade: