Innovation

A compulsive innovator, Vivek Mundkur’s latest innovation of a solar water pump is changing the lives of farmers who live in water-deficient areas. Affordable, portable and energy efficient - his water pump is helping farmers earn more from their land.

The researchers at IIT Roorkie are conducting in-depth research on the drug piperazine, and have discovered its anti-viral properties could be used to tackle the disease.

The idea was envisioned by V. Srinivasa Chakravarthy, who is a faculty at Computational Neuroscience lab of Department of Biotechnology, three years ago.

While the body of the pen is built from plantain leaf, papaya leaf stem, coconut leaf and castor stem, a nib is fixed at one end of the stem. The other end is sealed using maida starch which holds the ink.

The idea took inception as a design solution for the workers at the factory of Deki Electronics in Uttar Pradesh, where scorching heat released from the Genset at the entrance in the external area of the factory, was taking a toll on the health of the employees and reducing productivity.

Padgilwar Corporation successfully innovated a small-scale rice mill that can be transported easily from village to village, and run on basic electricity.

A simple thought or idea for an innovative product can lead to wide-scale transformation.

Mohan said that a male labourer is paid Rs 400-450 daily in the district. Small and marginal farmers cannot afford this, and neither can they afford to have bullocks and maintain them.

The brainchild of Electrofoodies, a group of final-year engineering students from Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) of Manipal University, Karnataka, the innovation has bagged the first prize at the national finale of Ink Makers held at T-Hub in Hyderabad.

The produce from his hydroponic farm will help feed underprivileged senior citizens in old age homes and NGOs, with none of it being commercially sold for profits.