Category: National

The mythical creature joins more than a million worldwide who have tried a vegan diet

New Delhi (India), December 27: Veganuary, the global pledge to try vegan for 31 days, has a new supporter- Bigfoot. A video of the mythical creature – voiced by Hollywood actor James Cromwell – surfaced yesterday where he was seen signing up to Veganuary to cut his carbon Bigfoot print.

Living alone in the woods, hardly seen by anyone, Bigfoot felt disconnected from the world and the scenes of climate chaos he saw on social media. But when his best friend Snowman melted to the ground, Bigfoot realised he IS connected to the rest of the world and must do his part to save it. So, he decided to change his diet with the help of Veganuary.

James, star of Succession, Six Feet Under and the Christmas classic Babe, says: “Do the planet and yourself a favour. Take the Veganuary challenge. Make a difference with little or no effort.”

 The cheeky, fun video premieres worldwide on December 27^th, as Veganuary aims to reach 2 million participants this year, since its launch in 2014. The ambitious target is powered by massive growth in interest towards plant-based eating in India. A 2019 study reported that 63% of Indians were keen to replace meat with plant-based options. Additionally, there is a growing realization that a vegan diet has multiple benefits. Almost half of the Veganuary 2021 participants said they did it for the animals. 22% participated for personal health and 21% for the environment.

India had the third highest Veganuary participants in 2021, with Bengaluru the top city in the country. Euromonitor International has noted that the ongoing pandemic has exposed the health, safety, and supply chain vulnerabilities of animal meat and that Indian companies selling vegan products are seeing a 40-60% jump in demand since the onset of the pandemic. The Good Food Institute India projects that over the next five to seven years, the smart protein market in India may touch $1 billion.

Veganuary India head, Prashanth Vishwanath, says: “Bigfoot may be mythical, but the need for urgent climate action is real. Changing our diets is crucial for this – and taking part in Veganuary is the perfect place to start!”

 More than 582,000 people from 209 countries and territories officially took part in Veganuary in 2021, and this year is set to be even bigger as the campaign has officially launched in India for 2022. With campaign hubs now in the UK, US, Germany, Argentina, Chile, Brazil and India, Veganuary is truly a global phenomenon.

Veganuary is free to join, and people can sign-up at veganuary.com to receive 31 daily emails tailored to the Indian audience, packed with nutritional info, delicious recipes, easy meal plans and helpful advice.

Surat’s noted industrialist and environment lover received the award at a ceremony in Dubai

Dubai (UAE), December 26: Surat’s noted industrialist Viral Desai, popularly known as Greenman for his love for the environment, has been awarded the prestigious Global Environment and Climate Action Citizen Award in Dubai.

Viral Desai and the other winners were felicitated at Dubai’s Atlantis, The Palm, on December 23, with the Bharat Gaurav Samman by Sanskruti Yuva Sansthan. The UAE’s Foreign Trade And Economic Development Department’s Director-General Sheikh Awad Mohammed Mugrin graced the ceremony with his presence.

Twenty-eight prominent personalities from 11 countries, including the UK, the US, New Zealand, France, and Malaysia, were felicitated with the prestigious awards on occasion, but Viral Desai was the only one from India to have won the honour for climate action.

Some of the other awardees include motivational speaker Padma Shri Gaur Gopaldas, polo player Ashvini Kumar Sharma, Akshaya Patra Foundation’s chairman Padma Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa, instrumentalist Padma Bhushan Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Padma Shri Ramkishore Chhipa, Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi, investor banker Saket Mishra, and others.

“Service of nature can take us anywhere. We only need to have faith in nature and put in our wholehearted efforts to conserve nature. The rest happens on its own,” Viral Desai said.

“This is the third time I have received an international award for conservation of the environment and will inspire me to further scale up my efforts for the cause. I am thankful to the team of Bharat Gaurav Samman and Pandit Suresh Mishra Ji in particular for finding me worthy of the honour,” he added.

It is noteworthy that Viral Desai accepted the award while proudly wearing the traditional Gandhi cap and Indian attire.

The award winners and other visitors interacted at length with Viral Desai and sought to know more about the transformation of Surat’s Udhna Railway Station, which he has adopted and transformed into the number one green railway station in the country. They also expressed interest in signing MoUs for replicating the model at other places, undertaking large-scale tree plantation, and preparing other environmental models.

December 24: Well known Ram Kathakar Morari Bapu met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai. This was a courtesy meeting. The Governor greeted Morari Bapu with a shawl and flowers. Devotees of Morari Bapu were also present.

December 24: Veteran Film Composers Shri Kuldeep Singh, Ms. Sharda Iyengar and Shri Dilip Dutta felicitated the MCAI General Secretary Shri Aashish Rego for being the first Indian Music Composer to be elected Vice Chairman of APMA (Asia Pacific Music Creators Alliance).

Yoon Myung-Sun from Korea was elected Chairman while Amanda Brown from Australia was elected Co- Vice Chairman along with Aashish Rego.

Made up of 21 nations, (Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Cambodia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Viet Nam, Hong Kong, Macau, Nepal & Taiwan) the Asia Pacific Music Creators Alliance works in close co-operation with CIAM (International Council of Music Authors), to safeguard the interests of Music Creators worldwide, and unify the voice of music creators, to protect, promote and expand the rights and interests of music creators from the Asia- Pacific region.

One of the foremost music composers from India, having won Five Indian Telly Awards for Best Background Score, Aashish Rego has scored music for over 130 TV shows, 25 Web series and 22000 episodes of content. A strong propagator of artists, musicians and songwriters rights, he has been at the helm of the Music Composers’ Association of India for many years. He has conceived, composed and executed two path-breaking songs and Music Videos, “Vande Mataram” and “Jaago Zara” that brought together over 100 renowned musicians, singers and composers globally to spread the message of Creation, Collaboration and Contribution. The two videos together have won over 125 awards and accolades worldwide in 2021.

Having been a former Director of IPRS (Indian Performing Rights Association) Aashish Rego has raised his voice against several alleged malpractices in the society, such as regulatory violations and concerning the questionable distribution of royalties between members.

Shri Kuldeep Singh, a Veteran Composer of the famous song “Itni Shakti Humein De Na Daata” that has inspired millions, congratulated Mr. Rego on the achievement that is a matter of pride for both MCAI and Music Creators across India. He requested Mr. Rego to take up the matter of non-payment of royalties by music companies and IPRS to senior Composers like himself.

Mr. Aashish Rego stated that while on one side it was a matter of great pride to be felicitated by such luminaries, it was a matter of great shame for Music Creators across India to have to see them in this state where they are compelled to raise their grievance in a public forum. He assured Kuldeepji that MCAI would take up the matter strongly with the concerned authorities on all appropriate forums to ensure that justice was done at the earliest.

New Delhi (India), December 22: You Care Lifestyle by Luke Coutinho, a platform created with an intention of providing mindfully curated health and wellness related products like Grocery and Staples, Healthy alternatives in snacking, and other lifestyle-related items is celebrating Kisan Divas through a 4-day festival that introduces home-grown and farm to table products, offers, and other interesting activities on their social media. Seen as India’s first digital farmers market which has made available the best of products by connecting small-time farmers and vendors who are ethical and responsible towards both health as well as the environment, celebrating Kisan Diwas is part of the brands larger objective of building a sustainable food chain and encouraging local players through #Wellnessthroughfairtrade. Starting from December 20, 2021 to December 24, 2021, it will be a one-of-a-kind experience for the consumers to buy some of the freshest and responsibly sourced products from the You Care Lifestyle platform with a provision of availing the discount of upto 25 percent on their purchase. The brand will also be bringing many of these vendors to the forefront through various social media activities and giving a chance for their audience to connect with them directly through activities like Ask Me Anything, IGTV Live, and so on.

Luke’s vision of a healthier India has always been one of his prime responsibilities but he never thought of achieving it without resetting the entire food chain system. His ideologies and belief of ‘Supporting the farmers’ and ‘Eating Pure and Chemical Free Food’ are not just backed by economic validations but also the benefaction of the consumption. You Care Lifestyle, previously popular as ‘Luke’s wellness Market’ was a platform to bridge the gap between consumers and the freshest, ethical, and chemical-free produce by the farmers. You Care Lifestyle enhanced this concept by making it virtually accessible to a wider audience who are seeking to tweak their lifestyle on sustainable grounds and also support the noble cause of ethical consumption, simultaneously.

In the wake of such times, where health and economy are going hand in hand, the brand is putting out many such initiatives that can bring awareness about the need to eat right and also support local players in order to strengthen the backbone of the agro-economy. Further, it will help the farmers build a labyrinth of a network by coming on board with leading online retail marketplaces that offer home-grown and natural produce. With the approach and attempt towards becoming a self-reliant economy, You Care Lifestyle supports by providing solidarity to the farmer community in an appropriate way.

According to Luke Coutinho, Co-founder of You Care Lifestyle, “Today, as the agriculture sector is standing at the crossroad of a transformation, this campaign aims at introducing pioneer work in the field of agriculture that promotes the welfare of farmers and the sector as a whole. To support this purpose, we wanted to use technology to devise a way so that farmers do not bear the brunt of the pandemic. The platform will also enable individuals like us to have access to fresh produce and lifestyle products at all times. With the way things are progressing globally, online purchasing is the future. People are scared to venture out, stand in lines, risk themselves to viruses and other threats. Online purchasing enables them to meet their daily lifestyle needs in a simple, safe, and comfortable way. To further amplify this opportunity, we are highly keen on welcoming business entities that will support fair trade, sustainable organic farming, regenerative methodologies, zero waste products to come and join us in this collective initiative.”

About You Care Lifestyle:

You Care Lifestyle is a unique online retail marketplace that brings together products and services under one roof that can add value to our health and lifestyle. With a clear focus on supplying quality to the buyer as its prime offering, the online marketplace retails a product line made up of established holistic and wellness products. The marketplace brings to life the vision of preventive healthcare of Luke Coutinho, Co-founder of You Care Lifestyle, Narendra Firodia, social entrepreneur, thinker, innovator and promoter, and CFO Gautam Kapadi. For the passionate trio, You Care Lifestyle is a story of a small brand coming out and making a difference in everyone’s life and health. A story that stands out by its offering of continued value addition to the market and putting together an e-commerce platform that caters to all those looking for healthier lifestyle alternatives.

New Delhi (India), December 22: HEAL Foundation, an Indian non-profit organization, held Quality, Accessibility, and Data Integration- Keys to Anemia Eradication eSummit– the Episode-23 of the HEAL-Thy Samvaad series. The eSummit – supported by HemoCue – discussed the challenges and solutions for anemia eradication.

Dr. P Sivakumar, Advisor ESI MedTek Solutions, and moderator of eSummit said, “Anemia Mukt Bharat, an initiative of MoHFW and UNICEF was launched in 2018 to reduce the overall burden of anemia in India. The scheme is part of the intensified national iron plus program. The program focuses on 6 target beneficiary groups through 6 interventions and 6 institutional mechanisms to achieve the envisaged target under POSHAN Abhiyaan. This eSummit is an effort to understand where we stand and way forward.”

Anemia is a major healthcare challenge in India with almost every second child and woman of reproductive age is suffering from it. Over the years several initiatives were taken by governments to curb the menace. However, despite these continuous efforts, the graph for anemia keeps on rising steadily.

Speaking during HEAL-Thy Samvaad supported by HemoCueon the most recent initiative of government Anemia Mukt Bharat, Dr. Kapil Yadav, Additional Professor & Nodal Person, National Centre of Excellence and Advanced Research on Anemia Control (NCEAR-A), Centre for Community Medicine, AIIMS, New Delhi, said, “it’s been only 3 years since the launch in 2018. We have been very successful in some areas like provision of diagnosis across states and Iron Folic acid supplementation coverage, which has improved. Most states have launched AMB successfully. However, there were a few challenges too.We still have a long way to go if we have to achieve the milestone laid down in AMB. The challenge is humongous asalmost 50% of or population suffers from Anemia and the remaining 50% who do not have anemia still require intervention related t anemia as they might have nutrition deficiencies. I personally happy with our achievements in first 3 years.”

India has a huge population of 1.3 billion and for any program to be successful, government must get all the support it can get. Expressing his views on Public-Private Partnership for Anemia eradication during HEAL-Thy Samvaad supported by HemoCue, Dr.Harshwardhan Dere, Director Programs, Americares India Foundation said, “The government has a very robust policy for public-private partnership (PPP) for NCD however, the same is missing for Anemia. This is where the first step can be taken. The private sector can provide direct support to the govt for the implementation of activities such as IFS reach and hands-on support for point of care testing, digital testing, which are important parameters in AMB. The private sector has immense experience in the supply chain, which is another area where PPP models can be worked out.”

Speaking on Digital tools for AMB, Dr. Virender Ahlawat, Deputy Director NHM, Nodal Officer AMB State Immunization Officer, Haryana said, “We have learned a lot in the past 1 and half years and pretty much everyone using digital portals to implement the programs. However, we still need to simplify our portals up to the Asha workers level who are the end-users. We have provided Mobile-Tablets of Asha workers in 12 districts through which they maintain the record of immunization and we are trying to triangulate this with anemia and maternal health. Taking the digitalization to root level of Anganwadi, ANM, and Asha workersin the future.”

Dr. Archana Mishra, Dy. Director, Maternal Health, National Health Mission (NHM), Madhya Pradesh, said, “We are using digital hemoglobinometer at PHC level. We have devised a mechanism where pregnant women undergoat least 1 check-up at PHC level where their hemoglobin is measured. We are implementing the mechanism throughout the state. The launch of Lakshya programs has ensured that a point of care device is available in the labor room when women come in an emergency. We have provided digital hemoglobinometers high load centers.”

Dr. J L Meena, Division Head of “Service Provider Engagement“ (Provider Operation, Empanelment & IC/TPA/ISA), National Health Authority (NHA), GoI, said, “In the PM-JAY program we have empanelled private hospital and have seen that 50% of facilities are availed by females, which is an excellent example of PPP. Presently we have cumulative packages for diagnosis and treatment. We are thinking in lines of separating diagnosis from treatment through e-vouchers. When implemented beneficiaries would be able to go for tests including anemia testing through e-voucher received directly on their mobile.”

Dr. Hema Divakar, Past President, FOGSI, said, “Persistent is the key to success. Digital technology needs to be exploited much more than it is today. The reason is somehow both the consumer and provider have been slow in adapting the digital technologies in the healthcare space. People use digital for every day to day activities but when it comes to healthcare, they are a bit hesitant. The buzz around COVID was such that people even in remote villages were checking their oxygen saturation through pulse oximeters and asking questions on chat. Similar deep percolation has not happened for anemia or hemoglobin level as an important healthcare parameter. With Point of Care devices, we have taken a big leap at the laboratory level where 1 drop can give hemoglobin level. However, advocacy needs to be there for people’s contribution that their health is in their hands. Improved awareness among people is essential for success.”

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], December 20: The Hyderabad Chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organisation held the chapter finals of Global Student Entrepreneur Awards on 18th December at T-Hub, Gachibowli.

Global Student Entrepreneur Awards or GSEA is an initiative started by Entrepreneurs’ Organisation worldwide. A competition conducted at regional, national and international level, the GSEA is to motivate and reward student entrepreneurs or “Studentpreneurs” who run promising businesses with funding and mentorship.

GSEA – Hyderabad Chapter Finalists

After receiving hundreds of applications, 6 studentpreneurs were shortlisted for Hyderabad chapter’s finals for their innovative and disrupting business ideas.

The finalists came from a diverse range of backgrounds with businesses in various sectors.

Passionate about sustainability and reducing plastic waste on our planet, Syed Ali Qasim founded iWater – a brand of packaged drinking water that is made of 100% biodegradable packaging.

Mohammed Shairose has developed an app called Bunkmeal to make food ordering for students at colleges and universities easier and more seamless.

A serial innovator, Chitta Sri Yasaswi through his latest patented product at SADENT aims to mitigate damage from two wheeler accidents.

FullStack is an educational company where the founder Parth Maheshwari aims to teach graduates and undergraduates various digital skills like app development and graphic design.

Hailing from Nagpur, studentpreneur Vidhi Pandya saw the gap in the market for ready to use content which led her to start her company Ink Of Bond, where content is readily available for different industries.

And finally, The Date Mind Centre founded by IIM Graduate Saathwik Nune is a company that provides a one-stop solution to train employees and students to handle all data needs of a company.

GSEA Hyderabad Chapter – The Finals

After being mentored by certain members of EO Hyderabad for weeks, the day had finally come for these bright studentpreneurs to showcase their business models to 5 judges who to win the title of First and Second place of GSEA Hyderabad Chapter and also qualify for the regional and national rounds.

The panel consisted of 5 judges – GV Kumar, Smitha Raju, Aditya Vuchi, Neeraj Gelli & Abhijeet Pai, each of whom have made a strong mark in the entrepreneurial world.

Much like an episode of Shark Tank, each of the finalists was given 30 minutes to present their business idea and impress the panel of judges.

It was a very close competition among these impressive finalists and came down to the minutest of details. It was Parth Maheshwari, founder of Team FullStack who ranked above all to secure the first place and win funding of Rs 100,000 from the GSEA Hyderabad Chapter.

Vidhi Pandya and her company Ink of Bond came in close to secure second place and win funding of Rs 50,000.

Both these studentpreneurs will compete at the regional level competition in January next year.

The icing on the cake was a surprise guest KT Rama Rao – Minister of MAUD, Telangana, who awarded all the participants their certificates and also had words of encouragement for these studentpreneurs.

December 20: Adv. Dushyantraje Deshmukh, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena district president, told the youngsters that gaining domination in political circles is the key to success in politics. Talking about his background, Deshmukh attended Jayhind High School and Jayhind Senior College for his education.

Dushyantraje Deshmukh has always emphasised education and extracurricular activities. He mastered martial arts techniques such as kung fu, judo, karate, and taekwondo during his school and college years. Dushyant possesses 7 Dan Black Belt Master Degrees in Karate and has achieved a gold medal at the state & national level. He also received the Martial Arts Life Time Achievement Award at Indore, Madhya Pradesh, for his thirty-year dedication and experience in martial arts. Dushyantraje also runs his own martial arts academy. Also, the best swimming player won continuously 3 years gold medal at the state level and participated in a national level Championship. Participated in Ashwamegh university games. NCC  Best cadet award & Captain Ashok Patil memore award achieved by Dushyantraje.

Dushyantraje, when at B.A. final year of college elected as a General Secretary (G.S.) of his college and also nominated for  University representative (U.R.)he was selected for North Maharashtra University  Students Council and competed for election for Cenet in 2002-03.  Dushyantraje completed his education M.A., LLM and MBA,. Dushyantraje is practising as an Advocate to the district Session Court of Dhule.

Advocate Dushyantraje has always been fascinated by politics. Dushyant Raje  Deshmukh was inspired to pursue politics after witnessing Raj Thackeray’s first meeting in 2006. Raje thought he had it in him to succeed in politics because he was already the Vice President of North Maharashtra University for 6 years. After that, for the past five years, he has served as the District President of the Dhule District Vidyarthi Sena.

Adv. Dushyant Raje Deshmukh has done a great job as District President during the previous two years. He has made a name for himself by working for the public benefit, the development of Dhule, and the MNS party. He is also the Dhule district president of the Maratha community and the MNS district president and has always been at the forefront of social work. He is also involved in social activities as District President of the Dhule Youth Forum.

Thousands of working-class individuals passing along the Mumbai-Agra, Surat-Nagpur route were supported by giving food packs, water bottles, and buttermilk for a month during the COVID-19 lockdown. Furthermore, as the number of patients in need grows in the second wave of the corona, beds in government and private hospitals are made accessible. He aided many of these patients and their families by preventing the patients’ financial issues and fraud.

Adv. Deshmukh has a message for youth, “Swami Vivekananda is my role model. Vivekananda’s autobiography should be read at least once by young people. This will undoubtedly inspire true and selfless patriotism and civic duty. According to Swamiji, if one performs public service with the feeling that every soul is part of God form, then one is performing service to God.”

Gandhinagar (Ahmedabad) [India], December 17: In order to give a new dimension to the tourism sector of Gujarat through social media, A Bloggers & Influencers Meet was held at Gandhinagar on 1st December 2021 by Gujarat Tourism Corporation Ltd. in collaboration with the Government of India. This was the first time such a meet was organized by the tourism department. Bloggers and influencers from all over India participated in this meet.

Shri Harit Shukla, Secretary, Tourism, Government of Gujarat, other officials of the Ministry of Tourism, as well as the people associated with the tourism industry, were present in the meet. During the event, a film on the world’s tallest statue of Shri Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ‘Statue of Unity’ at Kevadiya and a film on the state of Gujarat was shown to the bloggers and influencers present there. They all watched the film on tourism of Gujarat with great interest. A cultural program was also organized in this meet for the entertainment of the bloggers.

Speaking at the occasion, Shri Harit Shukla, Secretary, Tourism, gave information about various tourist destinations of Gujarat to the bloggers and influencers and said that Gujarat is a land of thrilling wildlife, rich culture and traditions, delightful customs, innovative tourist destinations and spiritually remarkable architecture. Gujarat offers every kind of tourist attraction, including beaches, forests, mountains, historical and religious destinations etc. The tourists visiting Gujarat have a memorable experience of a lifetime.

He asked the bloggers and influencers present in the meet to visit various tourist destinations in the state. He asked them to present the vibrant culture of Gujarat on social media in front of the world through their blogs and videos. He said that this meet would be beneficial to the travel, tourism and hospitality sector of Gujarat.

After that, the bloggers and influencers visited various tourist places of Gujarat such as Kutch Ranotsav, Modhera Sun Temple, Ranki Vav, Historic city Vadnagar, Statue of Unity, Gir Sanctuary, Balasinor Dinosaur and Fossil Park, Science City, Mandavi Beach, Shivrajpur beach etc.

During their visit, the bloggers thoroughly enjoyed these tourist destinations of Gujarat. They experienced the culture, language diversity, hospitality, costumes, customs and cuisine of Gujarat and they were very much impressed by it.

During their visit to different places, these bloggers took the help of the tourist guides to get information about the history and culture of various places. They were very pleased with the knowledge of the tourist guides of Gujarat and their courteous behavior. They got detailed information about various tourist destinations due to the tourist guides.

Visiting such diversified tourist destinations provided them with a lifetime memorable experience. Bloggers also shared their thrilling experiences. Let us know about some of these experiences.

Blogger 1- (Kutch Ranotsav)

Kutch is a wonderful tourist destination highlighting the culture and life of the villagers of Gujarat. Especially, the Rann Utsav organized here in the white Dessert is worth a visit. Your mind will be filled with joy by watching the beauty of the White Desert shining in the moonlight. The colourful local costumes of the people of Kutch are also very beautiful. This is an excellent tourist destination that every tourist must visit.

 Blogger 2- (Kutch Ranotsav)

The Ranotsav of Kutch has become a global event today, and you will know why only when you visit it. The fun of living in Tent City cannot be described in words. All protocols are followed here in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. A variety of handicraft items are being sold here. It can be seen that Ranotsav provides many employment opportunities for the locals. The beauty of the desert has not been tampered with for the development of various facilities here. The Ranotsav of Kutch is an excellent example of sustainable tourism.

Blogger 3- (Rani ki Vav)

Raniki Vav, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is truly a masterpiece of sculpture and architecture. The tourist guide here also gives detailed and interesting information about the construction of the step-well and its history, which gives a better idea of the grandeur of this step-well. Patan and Rani ki Vav are truly interesting tourist destinations for art lovers.

Blogger 4 – (Modhera Sun Temple)

A visit to the Sun Temple of Modhera gave a unique experience. We learned from the tourist guide that the first rays of the sun fall on the statue of the sun in the Garbhagruha i.e. the main sanctum sanctorum of the temple, which illuminate the whole temple. What an amazing sight that must have been! The sculpture and architectural work of the temple is also very beautiful. The beauty of this place cannot be described in words. One must visit the Sun Temple to enjoy this beauty.

Blogger 5- (Vadnagar)

It was a thrill to visit Vadnagar as the birthplace of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. I really enjoyed visiting this ancient town. Vadnagar is a place of temples. We visited Hatkeshwar Mahadev Temple here, which is the temple of the deity of the Nagar community. The view of Sharmishtha Lake is very beautiful and attractive. We also visited historical places in Vadnagar like Gauri Kund, Kirti Toran and the Tomb of famous singer sisters Tana-Riri. Vadnagar still preserves the historical heritage of Gujarat.

The bloggers and influencers witnessed how Gujarat has emphasized on the development of local tourism, which has created ample employment opportunities for the locals.

Surat (Gujarat) [India], December 17: There is some good news for the country’s tens of thousands of frontline sanitation workers. For the first time, a student from Surat’s Institute of Design and Technology (IDT) won the national innovation challenge by creating user-friendly personal protective equipment (PPE) for female sanitation workers to improve their working conditions during Covid-19.

Meenu Agarwal, an IDT student, won Rs. 25000 prize for her innovative design of a PPE kit for female sanitation workers at the national Design Innovation Challenge organised by the Bangaluru-based Collective Good Foundation (CGF).

The design innovation challenge centred on creating personal protective equipment that meets the needs and preferences of female sanitation workers while also increasing their productivity and comfort.

IDT students took up the challenge and surveyed the female sanitation workers employed in the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC). She met scores of sanitation workers to gauge the problems faced by them while working with the personal protective equipment provided to them and their drawbacks. After many rounds of interviews and field visits, the work started on designing the PPE and choosing the right fabric.

When designing the PPE, special consideration was given to the medical and general issues that females face. The actual fabric was used to create prototypes that focused on the comfort and protection of female sanitation workers.

Out of many innovators from across the country, two teams from the Surat-based IDT qualified as one of the top six finalists in the national innovation challenge, guided and mentored by Aarushi Upreti, an IDT faculty member.

Ankita Goyal, Director of IDT India and Fashionova Designs, said, “It a very proud moment for us at IDT that our student has won the national challenge of designing user-friendly personal protective equipment for female sanitation workers in the country. Meenu Agarwal has done a fantastic job by winning the challenge and doing a great social service to the nation.”

“At IDT, we are constantly striving to foster creativity and design challenges like this, paving the way for their notable success.” This recognition has instilled a sense of pride in us and has greatly motivated us to provide new avenues for our students to learn and excel.”