GoodNewsIndia :: The Sieve
Good news filtered from media streams
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Sep 30, 2006 : Kolkata’s wonder wetlands
For a city of 12 million, Kolkata has no conventional sewage processing system. Human and biological wastes are sustainably handled by nature in 12,500 hectares of living marshes known as East Kolkata Wetlands [EKW]. It is home to 300 ponds producing 13,000 tonnes of fish annually and farms producing150 tonnes of vegetables a day. There’s also a square mile of garbage dump within EKW. People and small wildlife have lived in productive harmony here for over a century. It’s a living lesson for those that do not appreciate the importance of wetlands. Read an exciting profile of EKW.EKW is in news now because a research team from West Bengal University of Technology has mapped its microbial population and identified 20 bacteria that can remove lead, cobalt, iron, chromium, nickel and silver and also many other chemicals that flow down from industries and tanneries. Some bacteria can degrade oil and some secrete enzymes useful in pharma and soap industries. DownToEarth [subscription required]
Sep 29, 2006 : Women Hindu priests of Pune
From nowhere thirty years ago, women Hindu priests are over 500 strong in Pune. Vinita Deshmukh, writing for Women’s Features Service, says it was due to Shankarrao Thatte who in early 1980s started the Shankar Seva Samiti to train women in priestly duties. He was riled by the unprofessional ways of male priests who were in any case becoming scarce. Widespread opposition of early days has given way to acceptance though for funeral rites many still prefer male priests. Thatte’s breakthrough came when he took 22 women priests on a tour of Indian homes in US and UK. Today they officiate in many pujas and wedding, christening and other ceremonies.The big honour must be reserved for Gulabbhai Tripathi who died aged 86 in 2005. In conservative Allahabad, UP, she defied men priests since she was 11. She built her own funeral ghat on the Ganga and ran it for 70 years. Read the full exciting story here.
Sep 29, 2006 : India’s online tutors
Reuters today has a story on an online business called TutorVista, run from Bangalore. It has 150 e-tutors on its rolls who help out students, mostly in the USA. Most of the tutors have Masters degree, are trained in US curriculum needs, history and manner of speaking. They teach everything from grammar to geometry using instant messaging, voice and whiteboard. The charge is just $100 per month for unlimited hours, v. the $40 charged by similar US services. Face to face tutoring in the US goes up to $100 per hour.TutorVista has signed up over 1,100 students. The report quotes a happy mother as saying her daughter was now on top of every subject in her class. Though US education is very well designed, it seems currently there’s a crisis with only 60% of students graduating from school. See how TutorVista works
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