India is a land of billion people. The untapped talent and potential can be found nowhere else. Every now and then, we come across some genius who devise novel ways to address different problems. Government is doing its best in promoting such talents. They are given financial aid and recognition. If their innovation is found to be of economic use, many companies will pay them millions to get the patent. Here, we will be letting you know about the best innovations that our talented people have put forth this year:
Recent Innovations in India in 2018
- Eyescribe: Invented by 16-year old Gursimran Singh, Eyescribe is a wearable device meant for blind people. Gursimran recognized that the visually impaired people had to go through lots of Braille books. Also, Braille books are not so easy to find. They cannot read newspapers in the moving train like everybody else. So, he devised Eyescribe that capture mages from the reading material. The image is then converted into audio output through a text to speech engine. This technology is yet to hit the market. On successful launch, this will revolutionize the way visually impaired people read. They will be able to enjoy the books just like us regardless of location and availability of Braille books. This is what we call a social innovation!
- Bee Saver Bot: Honeybees are an important component of our ecosystem. They are responsible for pollination which is the reason for thriving agriculture. Bees can build their hive almost everywhere, sometimes even in unwanted places. People tend to break the hive or burn it to get rid of it. This destroys the whole hive and also several bees. The incident may seem isolated to one person, but throughout the country, this is taking place regularly. 12-year old kavya Vignesh decided to tackle this problem. She with her group of students and teachers made a bee saver bot that can successfully relocate beehives without causing any damage to it.
- Saathi: Women hygiene has grabbed the much-needed attention. All thanks to the movie padman that more and more people are now conscious of the ill impact of unhygienic menstrual practices. There is an issue with the sanitary pads available in the market. They have a remarkable proportion of non-biodegradable material. So they tend to accumulate in the environment causing pollution. Tarun both of Ahmedabad found a solution to this issue. He uses fibres from banana plants to make these napkins. Banana is an abundantly found plant. Also, the fibre from it is easily degradable. The sanitary pads get degraded after use. Isn’t it a wonderful way to care for our women as well as the environment?
- Organic Manure from Flowers: India is a home to lakhs of temples and other religious places. Devotees offer flowers, coconut, and leaves. Even for the temples, it is hard to dispose of them owing to the religious sentiments attached to them. Yash Bhatt and Arjun Thakkar from Ahmedabad based engineering college decided to address this problem. They have invented a compressor that successful converts flowers and leaves into manure in just 15 days. They received support from their university and also the city mayor. They plan on expanding their work to include making incense sticks, rosewater, and cocopits from the coconuts. They have provided temples with their specialized bins to segregate different components. The flowers from devotees are no longer ending up in piles but are making the lands fertile.
- Annie: This has been developed by Bangalore based Tinkerbell labs. Visually impaired people have a low literacy rate. This is primarily because of the high cost involved with Braille books and stationery. Annie is an all in one device. It consists of a Braille keyboard, a refreshable Braille display as well as a digital Braille slate. Now the blind people can indulge themselves in self-learning. Also, the classroom teachings will be easier and more fun. We hope that this leads to higher literacy rate among this challenged population.
- Sparsh: Sparsh has been created by yostra labs. This addresses the much-needed problem of peripheral neuropathy in diabetics. Diabetics face high incidents of peripheral neuropathy which is permanent damage to the nerves in the feet. But there is not a proper screening of this. the traditional screening device is bulky and too expensive. This makes the cost of screening too high. Sparsh is a light hand-held portable device that helps clinicians in detecting the condition. Since the device is cheap, this allows even the poor to go through the examination. We hope that with this device, the current 30% incidence of peripheral neuropathy comes down to zero.
- Vistar: IT is India's first smart air purifier. It has been developed in IIT Madras. It covers a surface area f 550sq.ft. and can be laced anywhere in a room. It is equipped with a patented technology effective granular absorption particulate arrester. It works on the absorption process filtering particulates to 0.3microns. The filters have a life of one year which makes it cost effective. It comes with wifi connectivity, touch interface and the option of mobile pairing.
- Zen Den: This is a ready-to-move kind of housing structure invented by Bangalore based architect Anshul chodha. At times when concrete and cement can be expensive, this prefabricated structure can be a lifesaver. It is made up of birch wood and comes with ready to install shelves for kitchen, bed, and all the daily amenities for a home. It can be extremely helpful in times of disasters when several people lose their home and are forced to live in open tents.
- Chilled Chutney Cart: Indian street food is famous throughout the world. But at the same time, it is notorious for being unhygienic too. A team comprising of Aakash Shamanur, Dr.Nilima Kadambi, Hanumanthraya, and Sourabh Alagundagi found a solution to this problem. They realized that it is the chutney that goes bad with heat and temperature. So if a vendor prepares it in the morning, it will be bad by the evening when there is maximum footfall. But providing them with pre-packaged chutneys will lead to loss of authenticity of the dishes. So, they did a little infrastructural innovation. They placed refrigerators in areas that can be accessible by a large number of vendors. Vendors place their chutneys there and take out as per requirement. This not only maintains hygiene but also makes it cost-effective for them.
- Low-cost Solar Water Purifier: India is on road to the acute water crisis. Some regions face the wrath of floods every year while some go dry for years. This uneven distribution is further aggravated by the fact that a major percentage of potable water is contaminated. The well to do can afford water purifiers. But what about the poor? They are forced to take water that comes with a large proportion of arsenic, iron and other pollutants. Scientists from the Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute, Maharashtra have developed a solar-powered water purifier that uses four tubular solar water heaters to purify water. It is actually very cheap. So it can be easily used by even the poor folks.
