Back in 1975, Shyamukh Garg became its first eye donor and seeing how his grandson, born blind, went on to become an engineer, townsmen took to donating their eyes. To ensure extraction and preservation processes are done expertly, a second native son of Neemuch, G D Agarwal started the Gomabhai Nethralaya and Research Centre [GNRC - Phone: 07423-20122, 21526] Hospital there in 1992. Agarwal had made a fortune through his coaching classes in Bombay and decided to do his bit for his village.

Neemuch donated 1,230 pairs of eyes in 2005 and backs GNRC which has so far done 6,000 surgeries, half of them free. Full story in Outlook magazine of this date.

In the last one year, sales of original Pochampally sarees have increased 25%. APCO is now trying to patent Ahimsa silk, whose yarn is produced without killing the silk-worm. Elsewhere, another famous Andhra produce, Kondapally toys are seeking GI certification as well.

All these are positive spin-offs under Trade Related Industrial Property Rights [TRIPS] that India gained as a signatory of the World Trade Organisation [WTO].

Just before the onset of winter, Chewang begins to divert small streams of water through pipes to shallow locations about four or five kilometers above Ladakh’s villages. He plugs any gaps for leaks. During winter these lakes freeze into artificial glaciers. Being at relatively lower levels of 13 to 14,000 feet, these glaciers melt by spring to provide water for farming.

He has created about six low cost water storages across Ladakh that are often a village’s only source of fresh water. Contact: lnpngo@yahoo.co.in