This Engineer Earns for finding faults from Software Bugs in Facebook, Twitter & Zomato !!!

February 20, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

From hacking into the social media accounts of his friends, to finding more than 90 security flaws for Facebook – Anand Prakash has come a long way with his love for technology and interest in ethical hacking. This is his story.

It was while preparing for his engineering entrance exams in Kota, Rajasthan that Anand Prakash first became interested in hacking. “I had a smartphone and Internet packs were very costly at that time. I came across some kind of proxy setting and figured out a way to use the Internet for free,” he says. The service provider rectified the loophole after some time when many users came to know about it. But for Anand, it was the beginning of a very eventful journey towards building a career in the field of hacking – the kind that’s ethical.

“What I do now is called security research, not hacking,” he is quick to correct.

Today, the 23-year-old is a security engineer with Flipkart, uses the Internet in a more responsible manner, and has been rewarded by many organizations for finding flaws in their software or technology setups.

Anand Prakash

Anand, who is from the town of Bhadra in Rajasthan, was always interested in computers.

“It was always the same with me. I used to score better in technical subjects, but when it came to subjects like geography, environmental studies, etc., I used to face a lot of problems,” he recalls.

As a student, Anand strengthened his newly acquired knowledge of hacking by experimenting among friends.

“I used to practice phishing on my friends’ accounts with their permission. It is the most basic process in hacking. It involves extracting information like usernames, passwords, etc., by sending out emails to the victims in a way that they will trust them enough to open the links,” he says. Getting access to the password of a friend’s Orkut account was Anand’s first hack.

After Kota, he joined Vellore Institute of Technology to pursue a course in computer science engineering. Anand continued to polish his knowledge about ethical hacking and different programming languages in college, and practiced whatever he learned among friends.

“Up till then, I only knew about hacking processes that involved using some automated tools. And that did not interest me after a point. Finding security flaws in systems is completely different from what I was doing then,” he says.

In the third year of college, Anand came to know about Facebook’s Bug Bounty Program. It offers recognition and compensation to security researchers who find vulnerabilities in Facebook and report them according to the organization’s responsible disclosure policy.

By then, Anand was well-versed in languages like PHP, JavaScript, etc.

“I liked to analyse codes. And when I learnt that Facebook has given monetary compensation to someone for finding a bug in their technology, I thought of giving it a try,” he says.

He utilised the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), which is an initiative by OWASP Foundation for the improvement of software security in different organizations around the world. The project provides users with open source study materials to understand application security over the Internet.

“I started learning with the help of OWASP, followed experts on Twitter, and read up a lot about security research. Fortunately, I found a bug on Facebook in just a month. It was a loophole that enabled me to find people online even if they had turned off their chat,” he says. Anand received his first bounty of USD 500 for reporting this issue.

Then he learned that many such organizations welcome people who find security vulnerabilities for them. And the work turned out to be so interesting that there was no turning back for the technology enthusiast. To date, he has found about 90 bugs for Facebook, and ranks fourth in the Facebook wall of fame 2015.

The highest bounty Anand received from Facebook was a sum of USD 12,500 for finding a major security flaw because of which a user could post anything on his/her profile using someone else’s account. “For example, I could post a picture, a video, or text, and it would be visible on my Facebook wall as a post from your side,” he explains.

After college, he did an internship with the Cyber Police Investigation Branch of Gurgaon Police. There he worked on finding the different strategies used by cyber criminals.

After the internship

He has also reported issues to companies like Twitter and Google and has earned Rs. 1.2 crore in the process. He was able to hack into the systems of the restaurant discovery and search application Zomato to gain access to the accounts of their 62 million users. He disclosed this issue to the company and they fixed it in two day, appreciating his efforts.

“I always first report the issue to the organization without exposing it elsewhere. It is called responsible disclosure. Then I take permission from them and post about it on my personal blog if they allow it.”

But Anand is not very happy about the way many Indian companies treat security researchers:

Some companies are very responsive. They fix the bugs immediately and also give monetary compensation without much delay. But if you report bugs to many companies in India, they reply saying they will take legal action against you. The condition is very bad in terms of security here. But it is changing slowly. I have come across some companies that are now open to security research.”

With new technologies coming up every day, Anand’s hunger for learning keeps developing. His advice to those who want to pursue a career in security research: “Try and report bugs to companies in a responsible manner. And do not disclose the issue unless you have permission. Security research is a great thing if done ethically.”

Find out more about how he finds different bugs, here.

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

Natarajan

Images for the Day….

February 20, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

A picture might be worth a thousand words but National Geographic photographs leaves us speechless. Known for their captivating daily pictures, they also offer an opportunity to dive into the archives of previously unpublished or forgotten images.

The project called Found was established in 2013 to honor NatGeo’s 125th anniversary. The project’s team says that their mission is to bring the pictures back to life by sharing them to new audiences. And even some of the dates or locations are missing, the images capture perfect moments making them timeless.

The photographs are dug up by Guardian of the Collection William Bonner, who still finds them highly inspiring even after years spent in the archives. Together with editor Janna Dotschkal’s love for aesthetics, they make the vintage material shine as new.

More info: NatGeo Found (h/t: DeMilked)

A White Fallow Stag Stands In A Forest In Switzerland, 1973

Loggers And The Giant Mark Twain Redwood Cut Down In California, 1892

Boys Dressed Up In School Uniforms Pose With King Penguins At The London Zoo, 1953

A Man Stands Dwarfed Under The Ape-ape Leaves Of Puohokamoa Gulch In Maui, Hawaii, 1924

Source……www.boredpanda.com

Natarajan

These Miniature Models Are Created Using – Hold Your Breath – Pen Refills!..

February 17, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Sreenivasulu M.R. has always had a fascination for the arts. He started painting at the age of seven. He enrolled himself in a dance school and is now accomplished in Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, and folk dance. However, his biggest fascination is making miniature models.

Sreenivasulu honed his skills as a child by making miniature house models from wedding invitation cards. He also had a habit of collecting pen refills from his friends.

Being an environmentalist, he conducts various programmes to spread awareness on global warming. At the ‘Say No to Plastic’ programmes, which he organises in schools and colleges, he keeps pen refill collection boxes.

These refills later turned into raw materials and Sreenivasulu started making monuments out of them.

Through this, Sreenivasulu is driving home the idea of recycling. He began by making a model of the Eiffel Tower. It took him eight months and over 200 refills to create it. Since then, there has been no stopping Sreenivasulu.

Today, this software professional has made the Charminar, Big Ben, Taj Mahal, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Gateway of India, Seattle Space Needle, and Sydney Harbor Bridge from used pen refills. His miniature Taj Mahal, made from 700 pen refills, even found a place in the ‘India Book of Records’ in the year 2012.

Take a look at some of his models:

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

Natarajan

Joke of the Day……” It is Cuckoo….” !!!

February 17, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

It was a typical night of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire…

Regis: “Barbara, you’ve done very well so far – $500,000 and one lifeline left — phone a friend.

The next question will give you the top prize of One Million dollars if you get it right … but if you get it wrong you will drop back to $32,000 — are you ready?”

Barbara: “Sure, I’ll have a go!”

Regis: “Which of the following birds does not build it’s own nest?

Is it…

A – Robin

B – Sparrow

C – Cuckoo

D – Thrush

Remember Barbara its worth 1 Million dollars.”

“I think I know who it..but I’m not 100%… No, I haven’t got a clue. I’d like to phone a friend Regis, just to be sure.”

Regis: “Yes, who, Barbara, do you want to phone?”

Barbara: “I’ll phone my friend Maggie back home in Birmingham.”

(ringing)

Maggie (also a blonde): “Hello…”

Regis: “Hello Maggie, its Regis here from Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I have Barbara here and she is doing really well on $500,000, but needs your help to get to a Million. The next voice you hear will be Barbara’s and she’ll read you the question. There are 4 possible answers and 1 correct answer and you have 30 seconds to answer — fire away Barbara.”

Barbara: “Maggie, which of the following birds does not build it’s own nest? Is it:

A-Robin

B-Sparrow

C-Cuckoo

D-Thrush”

Maggie: “Oh Gees, Barbara that’s simple…..It’s a Cuckoo.”

Barbara: “You think?”

Maggie: “I’m sure.”

Barbara: ” Thanks Maggie.” (hangs up)

Regis: “Well, do you want to stick on $500,000 or play on for the Million, Barbara?”

Barbara: “I want to play, I’ll go with C-Cuckoo”

Regis: “Is that your final answer?”

Barbara: “It is.”

Regis: “Are you confident?”

Barbara: “Yes fairly, Maggie’s a sound bet.”

Regis: “Barbara…..you had $500,000 and you said C-Cuckoo …you’re right! – You have just won ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!! Here is your check. You have been a great contestant and a real gambler. Audience please put your hands together for Barbara!”

The audience goes wild)

That night Barbara calls round to Maggie and brings her down to a local bar for a celebration drink and, as they are sipping their Champagne, Barbara turns to Maggie and asks “Tell me Maggie, How in God’s name did you know that it was the Cuckoo that does not build its own nest?

Maggie: “Listen Barbara, everybody knows that a Cuckoo lives in a clock!”

Source………www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

Do You Know Tyre Furniture Is the Rage in Hyderabad’s Govt. Offices? All Thanks to This Couple.

February 16, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

This couple went searching for furniture for their new home. And ended up making bamboo houses for others. Now, they have moved on to manufacturing all things recyclable.

Newlyweds Prashant Lingam and Aruna were out shopping for furniture to set up their new home when they realised the market is inundated with plastic, iron, and steel furniture. They decided they weren’t going to succumb to buying something commercial but would look for eco-friendly products.

So, the Hyderabad-based couple did some research and found that bamboo furniture was very common overseas, although it wasn’t very popular in India as yet. Attracted by the idea, they started looking for manufacturers of such furniture – their search eventually took them to a far-off village in Tripura called Katlamara, on the Indo-Bangladesh border.

“This sleepy little village surprised us. There were artisans in this village who were highly skilled in working with bamboo. Though they had the skills, they were finding it difficult to sustain their trade due to lack of buyers,” says Prashant.

Sensing a future in the bamboo business, the couple decided to undertake an extensive tour of places where artisans make handicrafts and furniture from bamboo.

“Our family and friends thought we were crazy. We had just been married for a year. Aruna dropped her PhD plans while I decided to take my focus away from my business. It was a big risk. But our hard work and research eventually paid off,” he adds.

In May 2008, the couple started Bamboo House India – a social enterprise that provides livelihood opportunities to marginalised communities working in the bamboo sector.

The organisation practises fair trade and ensures artisans are adequately compensated for their time, labour and raw materials used in making each product.

India is well-endowed with bamboo. It grows on millions of hectares of forest as well as private land. Since it is a grass, the plant is not killed when it is cut. Instead, it grows back. Bamboo can be harvested thrice a year. Because most bamboo grows in forest areas, Prashant and Aruna faced constraints in sourcing and transporting the raw material. But the couple overcame these barriers slowly. They funded their venture from their own personal savings and some money borrowed from family and friends.

Today, Bamboo House India is supported by the National Mission of Bamboo Applications, Andhra Pradesh Technology Development Centre, IIT-Delhi, and others.

After successfully creating aesthetically appealing houses, furniture, and other products made with bamboo, Prashant and Aruna decided to venture into making other eco-friendly products as well.

“Customers for whom we were building bamboo huts started requesting us to provide them with furniture also. We were wondering what new innovation we could come up with. This is when we hit upon the idea of using tyres to make furniture,” says Prashant.

This was again a challenging time for the couple. They had no idea as to how to use tyres as raw materials.

It took their research and development team almost a year to come up with the first prototype of a product.

During the process of studying tyres, Aruna and Prashant landed up at the municipal dump yard in Secunderabad. “There were acres of end-of-life tyres just lying around. We were stunned at the sheer volume. Because tyres hardly fetch any money, the authorities wouldn’t even auction them regularly. It was a breeding ground for mosquitoes as well,” he adds.

After seeing the pathetic state of the dump yard, the couple became firm in their resolve to do something with tyres. Initially, there were accidents in their workshop as nobody had any clue about cutting tyres. But they managed to put a safe system in place finally.

Bamboo House India now makes furniture, flower pots, etc., out of these recycled tyres. And the best part is the company sells these products back to the municipal authorities.

After teaming up with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the company first provided furniture to the North Zone GHMC Office. There has been no looking back since then.

Today, Bamboo House India’s goods made from recyclable materials like tyres, drums, PET bottles, etc., adorn government offices, bus stops and parks in Hyderabad.

“The government officials are so happy with the development that they want to replicate this practice across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The State Bus Corporation has asked us to design furniture for bus stands. For the authorities it is a win-win situation actually. We use junk from their backyard and sell products back to them. They are also saving on a lot of money. The tyre pots last a long time compared to the cement pots they buy every year,” says Prashant.

The products are reasonably priced and cost between Rs. 500 and Rs. 1500. Bamboo House India has a margin of only 15-16% on these products.

The couple is now looking for social investors to scale up the business.

“The satisfaction we get ultimately is not only from using eco-friendly products but also from providing employment to the men and women from underprivileged backgrounds who work with us,” Prashant says.

When asked about his vision for the company, Prashant says it would be great if other social entrepreneurs across India get inspired by this model and replicate it in different parts of the country.

For more details, visit their page on Facebook.

Source……. Meryl Garcia in http://www.the better india.com

Natarajan

Message for the Day…” Like cream in milk, and fire in fuel, God is in everything….Have full faith on this…”

February 15, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

There is no penance (tapas) higher than fortitude, no happiness greater than contentment, no good deed (punya) holier than mercy, no weapon more effective than patience. Consider your body as the field and good deeds as seeds and cultivate the name of the Lord, with the help of the heart as farmer, to reap the harvest of the Lord Himself. Like cream in milk and fire in fuel, the Lord is in everything. Have full faith in this. As the milk, so the cream; as the fuel, so the fire; so also, as the spiritual discipline, so is the direct divine experience (sakshatkara)! Even if you don’t attain liberation (mukthi) as a consequence of taking up the Lord’s name, one of these four gates will be open to you: Company of the virtuous, truth, contentment and control of the senses. Anyone who enters through any one of these gates will certainly attain the Lord without fail.

This Indian granny who left thousands teary-eyed…

February 14, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Image copyrightAnushree Fadnavis/Indus Images

Uma Tembulkar began performing in ad films at the age of 70

In the youthful world of Indian advertising, Uma Tembulkar, 78, is an unlikely celebrity model.

Ms Tembulkar is the lead in the advertisement, British Airways: Fuelled by Love, that has gone viral on YouTube and has Twitter tearing up over her.

The six-minute film, uploaded a week ago on YouTube, has had more than one million visitors and made Ms Tembulkar a welcoming face that’s beaming from a billboard at the Mumbai airport.

“Ms Tembulkar brings on a heavy dose of emotion to the ad; meaningful not melodramatic,” says advertising expert Vidhya Sankarnarayan.

“It resonates with Indians like the granny who feels dislocated on flights and connects at a human level,” she says.

An emotional flight

Ms Tembulkar said the British Airways ad was easy to enact because it had “two strangers who show kindness and compassion to each other, breaking cultural and generational barriers”.

A look at the ad would explain why she’s spot on.

The film shows a septuagenarian returning home from visiting her son in London.

She struggles while fastening the seat belt and bending over her arthritic knees to pull on her socks. A young stewardess, Helena Flynn, on her maiden flight to India, comes to her help.

The lady wells up, missing her son. The stewardess comforts her and is invited home by the elder woman.

A visit to the south Indian home is full of effusive Indian hospitality, good food and a slice of culture and a high dose of warmth.

Image copyrightAnushree Fadnavis/Indus Images….Uma Tembulkar lives with husband Mahesh Tembulkar in Mumbai

Image copyrightAnushree Fadnavis/Indus Images

Image captionUma Tembulkar lives with husband Mahesh Tembulkar in Mumbai

“I wanted the ad to debunk the stereotype of the uptight British person and rude Indian traveller and Ms Tembulkar touched the right chords,” says director Neeraj Ghaywan, feted recently at the Cannes film festival.

This was the indie filmmaker’s first venture into ad filmmaking and he found Ms Tembulkar “just the perfect face of dignity and affection”.

And the social media response has been effusive praise for the ad.

Today, Ms Tembulkar gets grabbed for selfies on her morning market run to buy vegetables and milk.

Global granny

“It was an honour to act in the British Airways ad and I thoroughly enjoyed travelling to London,” she says.

Ms Tembulkar has been married for 60 years and led life as a homemaker with an enduring passion in Indian classical music that helped her “overcome fear of performing before an audience or the camera”.

She now watches over a brood of grandchildren, who are students in Harvard and Carnegie Mellon, travelling frequently to holiday with her scattered family across the globe. “My passport is the fattest,” she chuckles with quiet pride.

“My life as a model began at 70,” she speaks carefully in English, though she is also fluent in her native tongue Marathi, and Hindi, Bengali and a smattering of Gujarati too.

The actress in her was discovered by young friends at a family gathering and in the last eight years, she has acted in more than 60 advertisements for products as varied as insurance companies, furniture, cooking oils, biscuits and more.

“Look at her: she’s the quintessential Indian granny and her predicament while travelling alone is real. That has made the ad work,” says Mr Ghaywan.

He praises her as a “super granny” who travels alone frequently to visit her children and grandchildren, and understands the “emotional palette with her restrained, yet powerful performance”.

Image copyrightAnushree Fadnavis/Indus ….Ms Tembulkar is the archetypical Indian granny who lives in a busy suburb in Mumbai

Ageism

Experts say ageism has never been a problem in India and has always helped in selling products.

“Like the grandpas from India and Pakistan for the Google ad, age never goes out of style in Indian advertisements,” says Ms Sankarnarayan.

Unlike an earlier generation, the granny in the British Airways ad travels business class in comfort, though not schooled in global travel; she represents the old setting off alone to connect with scattered families across the world and makes a human connection that makes the ad tick.

Many say the ad helps to debunk the stereotype of the rude Indian in-flight traveller.

“Ms Tembulkar does a fantastic job of giving the contemporary Indian traveller a face,” explains Ms Sankarnarayan.

Given the soaring success of the advertisement, the sky is the limit for this granny.

Source……..Sudha G Tilak Delhi in http://www.bbc.com

Sudha G Tilak is a Delhi-based independent journalist

Natarajan

Two School Students Help Hundreds of Indian Grandparents Fight Loneliness with Technology !!!

February 14, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

These high school students are introducing technology to senior citizens in an effort to help them overcome loneliness and social isolation – all because of respect and love for their grandparents, who they consider their superheroes.

The 2001 census of India showed that the population of senior citizens in India has crossed 100 million. Today, India is home to one out of every 10 senior citizens in the world. Yet, very few in the country are looking into the problems faced by this ageing section of our society.

An emotional and psychological problem tormenting elders in our country is loneliness.

A student helps a senior citizen learn how to use a computer.

This is due to the growing ‘empty nest syndrome.’ Children go away to far-off countries in search of economic betterment. Even if they live within the country, due to the spread of western ideas such as ‘space, privacy, individualism and non-interference,’ nuclear families are becoming the norm even in villages.

Poor social interaction with family and friends, poor social networks, and lack of family support are some of the difficulties faced by senior citizens. At the other extreme is the young generation today, highly dependent on social networking to stay connected with family and friends and build connections. Two high school students from Delhi are helping bridge the gap between the two generations.

Vibhor Rohatgi and Suyesha Dutta were in their 11th grade in Shri Ram School Mouslari, Gurgaon, which follows the International Baccalaureate (IB) board.

Suyesha (on extreme left) and Vibhor (second from right) with their teacher

Creativity, activity, service (CAS) are the three essential elements of a CAS project that every student must complete as part of the Diploma Programme (DP) in the IB board internationally. For many students, these projects provide experiences that are profound and fulfilling.

Vibhor and Suyesha decided to take up a CAS project that would prove to be not only life changing for them but also for a much ignored segment of our society –senior citizens.

“When CAS is discussed in school, most students think of helping the underprivileged, the needy or the slum kids. We have this belief that only those who are deprived of money need help. But there are people who have it all but still feel emotionally empty. We wanted to help them – our grandparents,” says Suyesha.

Bridging the generation gap – senior citizens with students.

Suyesha, who had spent a lot of time with her grandparents till she was in her teens, lost her grandfather three years ago. She saw her grandmother spending most of her days alone after that. So she decided to connect her to technology to help her overcome her loneliness. Once she saw how successful that experiment was, she wanted to gift technology not just to her own grandmother but to as many other grandparents as she could as a tribute to her grandfather.

Suyesha and her friend Vibhor are great fans of the comic superhero Silver Surfer, a humanoid with metallic skin who can travel space with the aid of his surfboard-like craft. Since this superman is an icon of technology himself, they decided to name their initiative the Silver Surfer Programme.

“The Silver Surfer Programme (SSP), a social initiative started by us, is the epitome of the maxim ‘age is just a number.’ Age is a measure of experience, inefficiently gauged by how many candles one blows out every year. To this plenitude of experiences, we, looking to bring about a social change in society, decided to add one more…the experience known as technology,” says Vibhor

“We called it the Silver Surfer Programme because Silver Surfer is a superhero and we consider our grandparents to be superheroes. His senses enable him to detect objects and energies light years away. Similarly, grandparents have strong intuition and can detect any problem or trouble in their children’s and grandchildren’s lives. He has even proven capable of time travel on occasions, just like our grandparents take us back to their times by narrating stories from their childhood,” adds Suyesha

The Silver Surfer Programme is an effort to better acquaint grandparents with the delights of modern day technology.

SSP aims to make the lives of grandparents simpler, faster and efficient. The programme includes two hour modules on three Saturdays every month for the grandparents. The programme, which began in May 2015, includes the following learning sessions:

Introduction to the programme and its aim.

Introduction to email – how to write an email.

Introduction to Facebook and Twitter – how to open and set up an account, send requests, etc.

Familiarization with smart phones and tablets and an introduction to WhatsApp – how to set up an account, send and receive messages, etc.

Introduction and use of specialist apps, such as, Grofers, Flipkart, BookMyShow, News InShorts/ Times of India, Ola and Meru Cabs, etc.

Net banking through HDFC, SBI, etc.

Paying utility bills such as electricity, phone bills, etc.

The programme, which started with the help of a few volunteers and their teacher Amrita Sai Marla, became so close to their hearts that they decided to continue it even after the CAS project was over.

The classes were conducted in the computer hall of their school, so they took special permission to continue with the classes. Now, as they have graduated from school, they plan to hand it over to their juniors.

Suyesha and Vibhor do not want to stop getting the blessings of grandparents even after they bid farewell to school. They are now planning to take the initiative forward by going to old age homes and teaching the grandparents who are staying there.

“We raise concerns over environmental degradation or the lack of education of the underprivileged, but seldom have we ever touched upon the most experienced in our society, the grandparents. As we feel that grandparents are the cornerstones of our lives, this is how we’ve decided to do something for them, show them our love and support. We work really hard towards our modules, undertake new challenges and come up with some interesting and essential things for the grandparents to learn, while constantly keeping them engaged. The blessings that the grandparents shower upon us make us feel accomplished and we don’t want to miss a single chance to keep those jubilant smiles on their faces,” says Suyesha

One of the defining moments of the Silver Surfer Programme came when a grandmother from a foreign country came to learn about Facebook from them.

Grandparents are overjoyed at connecting with old friends through Facebook.

Now in her 70s, this grandmother had not seen her friends ever since she was in her 20s and had to leave her country due to political instability. The prospect of even getting a glimpse of her school friends made her so eager to learn that within minutes Vibhor and Suyesha helped her set up her very own Facebook account. After intensive searching for an hour, they finally found her old friends.

“Never did a click ever make someone this happy. Overflowing with emotion she was as she got to speak to her friends, her smile radiating light on a cloudy, rainy day. It is for moments such as this that we had started this initiative,” says Vibhor.

“The journey of the Silver Surfer Programme has instilled in me vital life lessons that have helped me develop and grow as a person. For instance, I have learned that learning, in its candid, most humble form, is not bound by time but that it is in fact imperishable. Learning is a well-oiled machine that never stops, a beating heart that gives life. I have learned that there is no ‘right’ age and it is never ‘too late’ to learn,” adds Vibhor.

Suyesha narrates another happy moment when one of the grandmothers came to her after the class and requested that she teach her how to download songs. Initially, Suyesha was reluctant to do so. She explained to her how it would be an act of piracy. However, the grandmother insisted by saying that it was her favorite song and no one was helping her download it, even though she saw her grandchildren doing it all the time.

“It was an Atif Aslam song, Jiya re Jiya re! I can’t describe the glow in her eyes after it downloaded. She left me with numerous blessings that day,” says Suyesha

The Silver Surfer Programme has now evolved to also start providing the benefits of technology to workers and guards of their school. Their next series of modules is aimed at computer literacy, wherein they will teach the guards and workers everything about the basics of using computers – using the mouse, keyboard, internet, etc.

Source….Manabi Katoch in http://www.the betterindia.com

……About the author: A mechanical engineer, Manabi Katoch has been brought up listening to Tagore’s poems and stories, so she is kind of an emotional person within. She loves writing poems and stories on social and political issues. Few of her poems can be viewed on http://www.poemocean.com and satires on http://www.mindthenews.com. She has worked with Wipro, Frankfinn and Educomp in the past.

Waste to Valuable: Used Flowers in Religious Shrines Are given a New Life by These 2 Friends…

February 14, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

Two friends in Kanpur were shocked by the amount of flowers that are dumped into the Ganges every single day, choking the river with pesticides and chemical fertilisers. They started collecting the flowers from temples and mosques in the city, and turned them into some brilliant eco-friendly products.

Enter a temple, mosque, gurudwara or church in India and the first thing you’ll probably notice is the abundance of flowers at the place of worship. There are flower sellers at the entrance, flowers strewn all over the shrine’s floor, devotees receiving flowers in the form of blessings – there seems to be no limit. Ever wonder what happens to those sacred flowers once we are done with our prayers?

According to many religious beliefs, flowers that are offered during prayers are sacrosanct and cannot be dumped into the garbage once they’ve wilted. This is one of the reasons why people prefer to discard them in rivers, lakes and other water bodies. But not many of us think about the fertilizers and pesticides that might have been used to grow these flowers, which then mix with the water and pollute it.

Ankit Agrawal and Karan Rastogi, two friends from Kanpur, had often thought of this issue. While growing up, the river Ganges had been an important part of their lives and it pained them to see it become increasingly polluted as the years went by.

Karan and Ankit

“Karan and I have been friends since childhood and some of our friends live abroad as well. Whenever all of us meet in Kanpur, there isn’t much to show them in the city. And when our friends see the river, their first reaction always has to do with how polluted it is. That was the starting point for our idea. Karan used to go to the temple every day and he would see the waste flowers being collected to be dumped in the river. So we thought of doing something to treat these flowers,” says 27-year-old Ankit.

According to him, every year, approximately 80, 00,000 tons of waste flowers are dumped into Indian rivers.

So, Ankit and Karan started thinking of a way to convert these flowers into an eco-friendly business venture. They started research in 2012 and a brilliant idea had taken shape by 2014 after several experiments. In May 2015, they founded Helpusgreen with the aim of utilizing the disposed flowers and turning them into bio-fertilisers and lifestyle products.

The duo picks up flowers from different places of worship every day – approximately 500 kg of them. Since they don’t have a factory, they divide the amount equally between themselves and take the flowers to their respective homes.

The flowers are then mixed with organic cow dung and treated with about 17 natural components like coffee residue, corn cobs, etc. These help increase the nitrogen content in the end-product. After a few days, earthworms are added to the mix. These worms consume the mixture and lead to the formation of vermicompost after 60 days. In this process, earthworms ingest the organic waste and then excrete it in a digested form. The excreta, called worm cast, is a dark, odourless and nutrient rich material that works as a great soil conditioner. Worm casts or vermicompost is a ready-to-use fertilizer.

Karan and Ankit have named this product Mitti and it helps improve soil texture for the better growth of plants.\

Helpusgreen product range

While 80% of the flowers are used to make vermicompost, the rest are crushed and made into incense sticks andyajna/havan items.

For manufacturing these items, the duo has employed 85 women from different self-help groups in villages around Kanpur, thus providing them with a source of income.

Women from self-help groups

“The women take the flower dough home and work for about four hours a day. We don’t use any chemical fragrances to make these products. Everything is natural,” says Ankit.

Most temples and mosques in Kanpur have management committees that collect the flowers inside the shrines and put them in bins. From here they are sent to be thrown into the river. Helpusgreen collects the flowers directly from the places of worship. According to Ankit, 2400 kg flowers are discarded in Kanpur on a daily basis. But Helpusgreen is only in a position to treat about 500 kg flowers a day, collected from 13 temples and three mosques.

Another great feature of Helpusgreen products is that they use recycled packaging, made from discarded cartons from a liquor factory in Kanpur.

Additionally, because they know people usually don’t throw away packets that have pictures of gods and goddesses on them, Ankit and Karan pack the havan/yajna items in seed paper that is embedded with tulsi seeds.

The discarded packets will grow into beautiful plants when they come into contact with soil.

Currently, they are exporting most of their products to Switzerland and Germany. And they are also making them available on e-commerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart, etc.

“We have produced 1.5 lakh kg flower compost till now. My mom was the target customer for us in the beginning. We had decided to keep working on the products till she approved of them. And the best feedback came from her. She loves it,” says Ankit laughing.

While most of us leave it to the gods to take care of the flowers we offer up in places of worship, kudos to Ankit and Karan for turning at least a part of the offerings into such amazing and environment-friendly products.

Visit here to know more about Helpusgreen. You can purchase these products here and here. Contact the founders at hola@helpusgreen.com.

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

Natarajan

” What is the Value of Life ….” ?

February 14, 2016NatarajanLeave a comment

A man went to God and asked, “What’s the value of life?”

God gave him one stone and said, “Find out the value of this stone, but don’t sell it.”

The man took the stone to an Orange Seller and asked him what its cost would be.

The Orange Seller saw the shiny stone and said, “You can take 12 oranges and give me the stone.”

The man apologized and said that the God has asked him not to sell it.

He went ahead and found a vegetable seller. “What could be the value of this stone?”

he asked the vegetable seller.

The seller saw the shiny stone and said, “Take one sack of potatoes and give me the stone.”

The man again apologized and said he can’t sell it.

Further ahead, he went into a jewellery shop and asked the value of the stone.

The jeweler saw the stone under a lens and said, “I’ll give you 50 Lakhs for this stone.”

When the man shook his head, the jeweler said, “Alright, alright, take 2 crores, but give me the stone.”

The man explained that he can’t sell the stone. Further ahead, the man saw a precious stones shop

and asked the seller the value of this stone.

When the precious stone seller saw the big ruby, he lay down a red cloth and put the ruby on it.

Then he walked in circles around the ruby and bent down and touched his head in front of the ruby.

“From where did you bring this priceless ruby from?” he asked. “Even if I sell the whole world, and

my life, I won’t be able to purchase this priceless stone.

Stunned and confused, the man returned to the God and told him what had happened. “Now tell me

what is the value of life, God?

God said, “The answers you got from the Orange Seller, the Vegetable Seller, the Jeweler and the

Precious Stone’s Seller explain the value of our life… You may be a precious stone, even priceless,

but people may value you based on their level of information, their belief in you, their motive behind

entertaining you, their ambition, and their risk taking ability. But don’t fear, you will surely find someone

who will discern your true value.”

In the eyes of God you are very very precious. Respect yourself. You are Unique. No one can Replace you!

Source…..unknown….input from a friend of mine

Natarajan