Bullet Santi - Motorcycle Driven Multi Purpose Farm Machine

Bullet-loving farmers set up biker club
Times of India, Vijaysinh Parmar, 13 Aug 2008,

AHMEDABAD: When Mansukh Jagani, farmer from Amreli district invented 'Bullet Santi' in early '90s, he didn't know he was sparking a revolution of sorts. Bullet Santi is basically a motorcycle-driven multipurpose farm machine. His innovation inspired many others to follow suit and has led to formation of a club in Gujarat called Technology Commons. The club will comprise innovator and those who improvize the technology. They will critically analyze and improve on each other's models. Such an initiative is being taken for the first time in the country and the institution behind it is National Innovation Foundation. "In May, we organized a meeting of innovators in Rajkot and the idea of setting up this club emerged," said Anil Gupta, executive vice-chairman of NIF and faculty member of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A ). There would be no restrictions on club members learning from each other, but if a company wants to use their technology , it would have to get a licence, he added. Licensing would require consent from the lead innovator and all those who made improvements. Jagani fabricated an attachment so that a farm machine could be powered by an Enfield Bullet motorcycle. The innovation was patented by Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN) in US as well as India. "The idea was to have the flexibility of using a motorcycle for farming. Several fabricators in Saurashtra and Kutch found this a very attractive idea,'' says Riya Sinha, who has done a case study on motorcycle-based ploughing machines. She is president of SRISTI Innovations and senior advisor of newsletter 'Honey Bee' that documents grassroots innovations. There are at least 50 motorcycle-driven farm machine fabricators in Saurashtra alone, and more than 8,000 farmers using such machines.

SETTING STANDARDS Technology Commons will bring in standardization in grassroots innovations which is the best thing that could happen, saysProfessor Gupta. "It will make innovations competitive and cost-effective . And, offer affordable solutions to the expanding market. It raises the interesting possibility of combining customization (so necessary for farm machinery) with standardization," he added. NIF encourages people to imitate and build on each other's designs. The only precondition is that each innovator making derivative changes will put the improvements in the Technology Commons database.

Eco Friendly Hybrid Bikes

Times of India, Ahmedabad, Aug 22, 2008
Anand man creates eco-friendly hybrid bikes
In this age of skyrocketing fuel costs and pollution, an eco-friendly, multi-fuel bike sounds like the dream vehicle. That's what Paresh Budh of Anand has come up with. The 40-year-old, who used to work for a multinational, has now devoted himself full-time to develop hybrid bikes. Budh is an invitee to 'Inventors of India' workshop being organized by IIM-A. His bike can run on petrol, diesel, gas or bio-gas. It will neither create air nor noise pollution and will be air-conditioned! This is, amazingly, because it will be covered. Budh has been working in the field of fuel efficiency for 20 years. A diploma holder in automobile engineering, he is presently burning the midnight oil fine-tuning 'Motoscoot'. "My idea was to develop a bike that's multi-fuel and cost-effective. My bike prototype ranges from 180cc to 250cc and can accelerate to 60 kmph in 7.2 seconds. It has an aerodynamic shape in front, four-speed manual gear (and gearless variant for women) and three safety belts," an excited Budh adds. In 1998, he made a fuel-efficiency kit which gave him 110-km average for petrol in a 110cc bike. Currently, he's experimenting on a kit that can give 1,000 km average for Rs 200 of fuel. Budh has applied for a patent in India, but is frustrated that no one has supported him so far. "People have not recognized my work. In fact, they joke about it. That's why I'm particularly happy that my innovation has been selected for this prestigious workshop which Dr Abdul Kalam is expected to attend. I will show him my work and he will understand it better, being a scientist," he says.

Media should move beyond cricket

It's not often that Indian sports persons except cricketers get featured on the front page of newspapers. It is time for the media to create an equal space for all sports to encourage the masses towards other games beyond cricket..


SUSHIL KUMAR, Vijender Kumar and Abhinav Bindra are names, which have done India proud at Beijing Olympics. Hardly anyone knew them a few days back, may be the sports journalists had known them but now these three have become a part of history forever. Media is all over them for a small interview, a picture, for a minute of their life. Their families are being interviewed on television channels, media has reached their homes. And all the credit goes to the three stars who proved their mettle at Beijing. Else, when does the media in India get time to cover any other sports except cricket, which is their first love.

Even if Dhoni buys a new car, or gets a new dog it is ’breaking news’! Or Yuvraj attends a party with a girl, it’s news! Before the world cup, anything you do, make a cake in shape of bat, sing a song to wish the Indian team, it was news and the media covered it. But the same passion is never there for any other sport. These do get some coverage but that prime time attention is missing, especially in electronic media. In fact, when Abhinav was competing in the shooting event, half the Indian media at Beijing was missing, they only rushed to get his shots when he won.

Media attention also brings in money, sponsors and no doubt, Indian Cricket Board is the richest cricket board in the world.

Sports other then cricket also have a story. It is not that Sushil, Abhinav and Vijender have never played for India earlier. In 2006 Doha Asian Games, Sushil got a bronze. Vijender is the Asian Games bronze medallist and the King’s Cup silver medalist. Similarly, Abhinav had got a gold in 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games and is the first Indian shooter to win a world championship gold. It was covered by media, may be as one news item or limited to sports page. Unlike this time when Bindra made to Page One as India’s golden boy. Possibly, these victories in wrestling, boxing and shooting may do some good to these sports and divert attention to them. And a country like India with over a billion people should be aiming high in the next Olympics.

We celebrated India’s 1984 World Cup victory in cricket, but we never celebrated or even remembered Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav’s victory, he was India’s first individual (Olympic Games) wrestler to win us a bronze medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Today when Sushil Kumar repeated history they talked about him. Hope his work gets some recognition at least after 56 years.

One rupee is not a rupee – one boy is not a boy

“One rupee is not a rupee, one boy is not a boy,” said a housewife from Shivpuri district of MP. Sex ratio in MP has declined at an alarming rate. It's the desire among people to have more than one son that is responsible for declining sex ratio



THIS IS the story from a village in India, which falls in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh. It is a story of how a girl child is still unwanted. Even if one visits the district today it is the son the families want

"One rupee is not a rupee – one boy is not a boy," said Radha, a housewife in Sirsod, a village in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh, while she was visiting primary health centre of her village for her son’s vaccination. It was the first Tuesday of October and was the ‘Vaccination Day’ in the district. She was there to get her son – (her fourth alive child) Kapsingh vaccinated. It could have been her fifth child if she had not lost her girl child few years back. In a possibility of exploring answers why they have so many kids (like a typical social worker), I slowly went ahead and had a conversation with her, other women, and the Anganwadi workers. Is it the pressure of having son or just ignorance regarding use of family planning method or something else? Well Radha’s eldest child was a son and rest were all daughters. She told us it is mainly due to son that they have so many children but it is not one son that they want. They want at least two sonsIt is that pressure within community and belief that ‘one son is not a son’ just like ‘one rupee is not a rupee’. But why two? Mangal Singh, a community member pointed out that people out here feel if you have only one son he may be left alone if there is a fight or when it comes to defending one’s family, one son is not enough. If something happens to one son, then who will take the name of the family forward? In earlier times, Shivpuri also had dacoits. If you have two sons then you are secure and have the so-called ‘power to defend’.



Another woman standing next to Radha at the Anganwadi with her seven-month-old son on her lap echoed this fact. She was more educated than Radha, and had studied till class tenth and her husband was a teacher. But even for her it was the fifth child, which was a son, after four girls. She added that in our case we do not differentiate between son and daughter, but we need a son – he runs generation ahead.



Your surname ie your family name dwindles if you have a daughter because when she gets married she will adopt another family’s name. If you want your family name, your generation to grow - you need a son. Families just want to have two sons. Nobody wants a daughter. It is this strong bias and with growing reach of ultrasonography and sex-determination technology that the female sex ratio in this part of the state is dwindling. It is not only Shivpuri, but even districts like Morena and Bhind have a sex ratio below 850 girls per 1000 boys. This is an issue, which needs urgent intervention. Though we have laws but these have not been implemented properly. There is a strong need to bring a change in the attitude of the people towards a girl child..

Life beyond AIDS

In order to fight HIV, all one needs is a strong will power to fight the disease. A positive frame of mind goes a long way to ease the dread of death. Remember, there is a life beyond HIV..

Anil Gulati

SPIRITUAL GURUS say and even I believe that our thoughts, moods, state of being and feelings are powerful influences on our health and immune system. I had attended a workshop on Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), which was held in Bhopal, wherein, I had a chance to hear from Sanjeev (name changed) who lives in one of the districts of Madhya Pradesh, on his experience in fighting with HIV, which he and his wife had been living with for the last six years. I too was a resource person in the same workshop. One got moved not only because the way he narrated his story, but by the way he has been fighting the dreaded virus. More than anything, the most powerful message one could get from his talk was that there is a life beyond HIV. One needs the will to fight the infection, which he had in him in plenty.

I presume that the moment you have that positive will, you would do whatever is needed and advised to fight HIV. I feel Sanjeev is a fighter, a fighter with the weapon of will. He not only motivates you and tells you that it is the will, which could be more potent than any other vaccine. He may or may not succeed but more important is his present, which he is living with full confidence. To me it proves a point that thoughts, one emotion and various body systems don't work in isolation. They work together as a whole system.

After hearing from him, I did some search, which was more to add to his belief and mine too. One which I found close to this was by UCLA AIDS Institute research, which showed that stress enables HIV to spread more quickly in HIV-positive persons and impairs antiretroviral drugs from restoring the immune system.

Depression and negative attitudes have also been linked to lowering the immune system, which means that opposite could do better, probably a theory, of which Sanjeev is a living example.Many of us get emotional on issue which affects us, but when you see him and hear about him, his wife and the suffering and stigma they got in return from the society in this 21st century era of technology and openness. How his daughter could not get admission in any school in the state capital?

One feels our issues are nothing as compared to his woes. He inspired me with the message that it is positive will power, which has helped him to fight. He is a real life role model, not only for a person living with HIV but also for me and may be for most of us. He encourages us to encounter our problems bravely.

Letter to CM, an opportunity for raising issues !

Dainik Jagran and Raj Express carry readers’ voices to the Chief Minister in their 'Letter to the Chief Minister' columns.



One of the roles of media is to provide an opportunity for voices of the communities to be heard, and giving vent to the opinions and views of people. Many possible options are available; letters to editor is one of them. One can use it to raise an issue which was in media or express your opinion on the story, or even to highlight issues which may have got missed in regular reporting.But when you feel strongly about an issue or have an unresolved problem, you may feel the need to draw the attention of the chief minister, who is supposed to be the highest in the rank of the elected representatives. This is possible in the state of Madhya Pradesh wherein two newspapers Dainik Jagran and Raj Express offer that opportunity for their readers.



For sometime now they have started an additional column in their edit page which is titled letter to The Chief Minister. They call it by different names: one calls it ‘Letter to Mr. Chief Minister’ and other one says 'Paati Mukhayamantri ke naam' . One uses a photograph of the Chief Minister at the head of the column while another uses his caricature. Both offer an opportunity for people voice to be heard. If one looks at kind of the letters which appear in print, they are diverse in nature. I am not sure how many are received by them and how many are published, and do they censor the content or not ? But if one analyzes them a few inferences can be drawn. The issues they raise are diverse, letters are normally written by individuals or sometimes by groups of individuals, and they come from various parts of the state, including interiors of the state. At present this is a feature which appears twice or even thrice in a week.



If one does a dip stick assessment of the content it reveals that issues of education, problems of state government employees, salaries, unavailability of water, electricity, roads, non accessibility of schemes initiated by the state, maternal deaths, the failure and weaknesses of the health system, and the issue of eve teasing appear more frequently. Perhaps these are issues which impact people directly. Regarding education, issues such as lack of building, teacher absenteeism, and vacant positions do come up quite often in these letters. One does not know many of them are being responded to.



There is some indicatio that people find this way as an easier way to reach eyes of the Chief Minster rather than approaching CM House directly. The Department of Public Relations which does media tracking for the state does track many of them and the same is evident from their website, wherein they scan and display the press cuttings tracked by them, indicating that at least some people get a bit of say in the system, with the help of media. May be this needs to increase.

blogathonindia, blogathonindia1

Letter to CM, an opportunity for raising issues !

Dainik Jagran and Raj Express carry readers’ voices to the Chief Minister in their 'Letter to the Chief Minister' columns.



One of the roles of media is to provide an opportunity for voices of the communities to be heard, and giving vent to the opinions and views of people. Many possible options are available; letters to editor is one of them. One can use it to raise an issue which was in media or express your opinion on the story, or even to highlight issues which may have got missed in regular reporting.But when you feel strongly about an issue or have an unresolved problem, you may feel the need to draw the attention of the chief minister, who is supposed to be the highest in the rank of the elected representatives. This is possible in the state of Madhya Pradesh wherein two newspapers Dainik Jagran and Raj Express offer that opportunity for their readers.



For sometime now they have started an additional column in their edit page which is titled letter to The Chief Minister. They call it by different names: one calls it ‘Letter to Mr. Chief Minister’ and other one says 'Paati Mukhayamantri ke naam' . One uses a photograph of the Chief Minister at the head of the column while another uses his caricature. Both offer an opportunity for people voice to be heard. If one looks at kind of the letters which appear in print, they are diverse in nature. I am not sure how many are received by them and how many are published, and do they censor the content or not ? But if one analyzes them a few inferences can be drawn. The issues they raise are diverse, letters are normally written by individuals or sometimes by groups of individuals, and they come from various parts of the state, including interiors of the state. At present this is a feature which appears twice or even thrice in a week.



If one does a dip stick assessment of the content it reveals that issues of education, problems of state government employees, salaries, unavailability of water, electricity, roads, non accessibility of schemes initiated by the state, maternal deaths, the failure and weaknesses of the health system, and the issue of eve teasing appear more frequently. Perhaps these are issues which impact people directly. Regarding education, issues such as lack of building, teacher absenteeism, and vacant positions do come up quite often in these letters. One does not know many of them are being responded to.



There is some indicatio that people find this way as an easier way to reach eyes of the Chief Minster rather than approaching CM House directly. The Department of Public Relations which does media tracking for the state does track many of them and the same is evident from their website, wherein they scan and display the press cuttings tracked by them, indicating that at least some people get a bit of say in the system, with the help of media. May be this needs to increase.

blogathonindia, blogathonindia1