Many regular readers of GoodNewsIndia [GNI] have wondered why this site has not been updated since 2006. The simple answer is this: the one-man team, that is me, D V Sridharan that publishes GNI is busy with a land restoration project christened, pointReturn . It will need my undivided time and attention at least till 2010; that leaves me with little time or energy to travel and do stories for GNI as I have done since 2000. So work on the site is temporarily suspended.
That is the reason. But there is a connecting story behind how I came to undertake pointReturn. In case you are interested, do pull up a chair and listen. It's a long one, and I must caution, somewhat opinionated. ⇒⇒
Aug 04, 2006
R Arvind, a final year student of engineering from the unfashionable Chennai suburb of Pammal and studying at an obscure college even further away in Tambaram has been given a $121,597 fellowship to pursue his PhD in the US. He had always been interested in missile systems. His project at the college was on minimising errors in missile navigation. An Internet search led him to discover that Prof Jay A Farrell at the University of California was working on the subject. The professor looked at Arvind’s work and offered him the opportunity.
The modest circumstances of the young man did not matter once he rode the Internet highway. The story is both a measure of India’s knowledge potential and an indicator of how true genius is less likely any more, to die unnoticed.
Random picks:
Singh was awarded US Patent No 6237579 in May 2001 for his idea
Dec 25, 2002:NewsclipDelhi Metro had taken barely four years to execute
Jul 28, 2003:EnthusiastSo far a total of 35,000 youngsters have participated in Hariyali activities.
Feb 19, 2004:ActivismOf the distortions in world trade indulged in by the West, the most stark are in agricultural subsidies
Mar 31, 2004:ElsewhereAnd by the nineties, grapes worth Rs 500 crores were being harvested in Maharashtra
Oct 23, 2002:TrendRight now, there is a market opportunity for India
Sep 15, 2002:InitiativePrize for Dr Pushpangadan’s work with the Kani tribe
Dec 02, 2002:InitiativeDatabase of volunteers throughout India, who are willing to donate blood
Jul 01, 2004:InnovationAhmed Khan has now produced what seems a flawless solution that will satisfy all critics.
Sep 19, 2003:EnergyA workshop on biodiesels in Bangalore on Sep 6 and 7,2003
Jan 01, 2004:ProfilePandurang Shastri Athavale is one of modern India’s Great Masters
Sep 15, 2005:NewsclipCMS study has showed which products of reforms have worked: information technology and legislation, smaller-sized states and true competition.
Jatropha is to be planted in the first phase in 5 million hectares in 20 districts
Jan 12, 2004:InnovationA quick composting technique and a plant recycling TetraPak cartons
Jul 15, 2003:EconomyWe have a self-reinforcing pattern with trends beginning to inter-lock.
Jun 03, 2004:EnergyEventually a total of half a million megawatts are to be produced by nuclear reactors.
Apr 05, 2004:ElsewhereIt is the transcript of plain words spoken by a no-nonsense, hands-on man given to ‘doing it’ rather than talking about it.
Jul 21, 2003:Ideas For IndiaThe most appealing feature is the wide variety of waste it can handle: tyres, plastics, paper, sludge, municipal waste and abattoir wastes.
Aug 22, 2005:EnergyPongamia can be a wasteland tree, its oil is not edible, its care requires no chemical fertilisers or much water, it does not call for repeated planting and harvest like rape or soya do and the enriched land under its canopy can be used to raise edible crops.
Sep 25, 2003:UpdateFly ash, sewage sludge and the redoubtable water hyacinth could be combined into a formidable regenerating agent for depleted soils
Jan 04, 2003:EnergyRs.150 crores would be shaved from their annual fuel bill
Mar 29, 2004:InnovationIn a world that has been drugged to believe that computing is not possible without Microsoft products, these four Indians are pointing to an enticing road ahead.
Apr 28, 2003:Enthusiast“And when I heard of GoodNewsIndia in Rajkot during a seminar I was delighted,” said this grand old man.
Mar 13, 2003:Sciences“We have been able to successfully develop cyrogenic engine on our own”
Jan 16, 2007:ReformsThe Supreme Court has settled once and for all, that the Parliament’s freedom to legislate is not unfettered but subject to provisions of the Constitution
Nov 09, 2003:UpdateShelter Associates believe that planning for the poor must have the poor as the largest participant in plan design, implementation and management.
Dec 21, 2002:NewsclipVajpayee declared that India was ready to bid for the 2012 Olympics!
Dec 02, 2003:InnovationThis brew has been tried out on carrots, tomatoes, organic cotton and - Bt cotton.
Jan 24, 2007:EnergyAlthough not of Indian origin, two new developments could favourably affect our environmental and energy situation.
Jan 07, 2004:TrendFreedom has resulted in this current demographic advantage, that is likely to last another 20 years.
Nov 24, 2003:InnovationIndia has about 300million each of non-literates and neo-literates. SLS offers a very low cost technique of developing their reading skill
May 12, 2004:EnergyIndia has entered into an agreement with Russia and some exploratory work has begun.
Apr 06, 2003:InnovationTwo bullocks go round and round in a large circle, driving a 2 kva alternato
Jan 02, 2004:Memory SpeaksThe whole family gathered around it
Jun 15, 2005:Ideas For IndiaAll it requires is some subtle management of a fully integrated, zero-waste system
Jul 28, 2006:AppealOoranis are people friendly, low cost, sustainable solutions for drinking water, based on rain water harvesting.
Jul 15, 2003:ReformsIt is clear the PDS never really delivered to the needy but fed a parallel trade
Mar 06, 2006:EnergyLarge scale jatropha farms may be wrong solutions. Biodiesel producing algae may be a better option.
May 13, 2006:Ideas For IndiaHere are some promising paths that lead away from fossil fuel dependance, towards a sustainable energy future
Apr 14, 2006:ActivismGlobalisation that spawns much evil, has also created many tools and resources for grassroots activists