Ishita Sharma an actress has started an initiative which we all should share to spread awarenss. #GirlPower #MukkaMaar

To empower the underprivileged girls in the society, 27-year-old Goregaon resident, Ishita Sharma, started an initiative to teach basic martial arts techniques so that girls are able to protect themselves. The initiative named as ‘Mukka Maar’, was started on January 16 and is already popular among the Versova residents.

Under this initiative, underprivileged girls can join the one hour martial arts sessions conducted at the Versova Beach during the weekends. 

Talking about the initiative, Ishita Sharma, an actress and founder of Aamad Performing Arts & Wellness, said, “The girls in the society usually don’t raise their voice against any kind of harassment or violence. We wanted to empower the girls and help them stand against any kind of harassment they face in their daily lives. The sessions will help them to learn about basic self-defence techniques. We want to reach out to as many underprivileged girls as possible. We have a martial arts trainer Alexander Fernandes, who will be conducting the sessions.”

Talking about the initiative, Sharma, said, “Few weeks ago, while I was traveling in my car from Shashtri Nagar at night, few bikers were peeping inside my car and staring at me. I slowed my car to let them go but that did not work. Later, I shouted at them because of which they ran away. That incident made me realize that it is important for each girl to know how to protect herself in such situations. That is what made me begin this initiative like Mukka Maar and teach self-defence to the underprivileged girls.”

More than 10 girls from Versova village have participated so far in the self-defence session held by Mukka Maar. 

The initiative has been spread through social media and door to door campaign mostly. Sharma added, “We spread the word about the initiative through Facebook and other social media platforms. I even asked few of my friends to get their housemaids for the sessions. It is a challenging task to make them understand about the initiative and ask them to join us for the cause. We also went door to door in nearby area of Versova beach and made people aware about our initiative. We hope many more girls join us for the sessions. It is a long term initiative and anybody can join anytime. My friends helped me in spreading the word and also my friend Isha Chopra helped me to design the posters for online campaign of the initiative.”

Girls who are 8 to 18 year old can join the initiative. Sharma also conducted fund raising session for this initiative through her organization ‘Aamad’ few weeks back.

You can contact them on  +91-99300 29265 or info@aamad.co

People excreting in open were fined in Chattisgarh. Please spread this to create awareness. #SwachhBharat

Sonhat, a tribal development block in Koriya district of Chhattisgarh, is serious about the Swachh Bharat Mission. 14 villagers have been penalised Rs 3500 for defecating in the open.

Believe it or not, the panchayat committee took serious note of the issue and charged each of them Rs 250. A kind of challan has been imposed against those defecating in the open.

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the district administration had constructed toilets in the villages and Sonhat panchayat has formed a special committee to closely monitor the problem of open defecation and create awareness about cleanliness. During an inspection on 14 February, the committee members found that few villagers were not using the toilets and penalised them.

To promote Swachh Bharat Mission, the village panchayat formed a committee including 20 panchayat members and other villagers. "Gram Panchayat Sonhat has been declared open defecation free. We have penalised these villagers defecating in the open on the basis of the proposals passed by the panchayat members," said Uday Raj Singh, sarpanch of the village.

We applaud the village and the sarpanch for taking Swacch Bharat Mission in the way it should be. Please spread this to create awareness.

Souce - Catch News

In 1995, She Fell Asleep On A Train And Lost Her Way Home. What happens 21 Years Later..Read to know more

Jyotsna Dhawle's story seems so filmy that you will want to pinch yourself. It begins with a tragedy at the age of 8, when she falls asleep on a train and wakes up in a strange city, all alone.

Jyotsna told Bangalore Mirror that she left her home in Datta Nagar locality of Maharashtra's Chandrapur, about 1000 km from Bengaluru, when she was eight years old. She fell asleep inside a train while playing.

After a 20-hour journey, the little girl woke up in Mumbai. She boarded another train for home but de-boarded in Secunderabad."I realised I was nowhere near home. I begged for help to reach Chandrapur, but nobody had heard of the place," she recalls. She went to a small eatery asking for food. "The owner took pity on me and I worked as a domestic help till I was beaten and thrown out a year later," she said.

She tried again to return home  but landed herself in Bangalore where a woman constable admitted her to a hospital and put her in a home for abandoned children.

Eventually, Jyotsna married a screen painting artist and had two children but never lost her hope of reaching Chandrapur. One day, she was able to get in touch with the Chandrapur police helpline where she spoke to woman constable Mamata Mandvi. Mandvi said: "On March 16, 2016 I received a call from Jyotsna," following which, Chandrapur district SP Sandip Diwan formed a team to help hunt her parents down and were able to locate her autorickshaw father through an old missing complaint report.

She came to Chandrapur with her husband and children, and met her parents after two decades. Needless to say, it was an emotional reunion with a happy ending.

Image and News Source - IndiaTimes

Read how Hanumanthappa could have been saved if we had this before.

Yet another achievement by ISRO to save our Soldiers protecting our country border in Siachen. 

In order to prevent our soldiers from freezing temperatures of Siachen, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram has manufactured the world's lightest material called silica aerogel or 'blue air'. 

Having utility both on Earth as well as in outer space, the material has an outstanding thermal resistance that can be used in soldier uniforms to help them stay warm. And it probably would have saved the life of the late Lance Naik Hanumanthappa and many others who lost their lives in Siachen. Also called as ‘frozen smoke', the material manufactured by ISRO's research centre arm is so light that it can even be delicately placed on a flower head. For our soldiers, the material can be used for thermal jackets.

Image source - NDTV/Web

News Source - IndiaTimes

Lets join hands in helping our planet be livable for our future generations- Water Man of India

We introduce you to  Water Man of India

Rajendra Singh from Rajasthan won Stockholm Water Prize, an award known as "the Nobel Prize for water", in 2015. Previously, he won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2001 for his pioneering work in community-based efforts in water harvesting and water management. . This water conservationist has brought water back to over 1,000 villages and revived five rivers in Rajasthan, Arvari, Ruparel, Sarsa, Bhagani and Jahajwali.

In 2008, The Guardian named him amongst its list of "50 people who could save the planet".  He runs an NGO called 'Tarun Bharat Sangh' (TBS), which was founded in 1975. The NGO based in village Kishori-Bhikampura in Thanagazi tehsil, near Sariska Tiger Reserve, has been instrumental in fighting the slow bureaucracy, mining lobby and has helped villagers take charge of water management in their semi-arid area as it lies close to Thar Desert, through the use of johad, rainwater storage tanks, check dams and other time-tested as well as path-breaking techniques. Starting from a single village in 1985, over the years TBS helped build over 8,600 johads and other water conservation structures to collect rainwater for the dry seasons, has brought water back to over 1,000 villages and revived five rivers in Rajasthan, Arvari, Ruparel, Sarsa, Bhagani and Jahajwali.


His website is http://tarunbharatsangh.in/ wherein they are looking for volunteers who can help in saving the planet. Lets join hand in helping our planet be livable for our future generations.

Image source- Google Image

Here is everything you need to know about your PAN CARD

The First 3 Characters

Every PAN card's first 3 characters represent an alphabetic series running from AAA to ZZZ.

The 4th Character

This 4th character represents the status of a PAN holder, which can be one of the following:

• C – Company
• P – Person
• H — HUF (Hindu Undivided Family)
• F — Firm
• A — Association of Persons (AOP)
• T — AOP (Trust)
• B — Body of Individuals (BOI)
• L — Local Authority
• J — Artificial Juridical Person
• G — Government

So, a private individual will have the 4th character as P.

The 5th Character

This fifth character of a PAN card is the first letter of:

1. The surname in the case the status is “P”, or,
2. The name of whatever Entity, Trust, Society, Organization, HUF, etc. in all other cases

The 6th to 9th Characters

The next four numerals are sequential numbers running from 0001 to 9999.

The 10th Character

The last digit is an alphabetic check digit which is generated by applying a formula to the preceding nine letters and numbers.
 

Image source- Pfguru.com

The man who donated his lifetime earnings and 30 crores in charity

AN EPITOME of selfless service, `Paalam' P. Kalyanasundaram is a fine example of simple living and high thinking. He practices Gandhian principles without bothering whether the world takes notice of them or not. As he approaches people and appeals for funds to help suffering children in his soft voice, they realise that he is not just another fund-raiser.

For someone who represents the best of humanity, his is a remarkable story. Kalyanasundaram was born and brought up in Melakaruvelangulam village, of Nangunari taluk in Tirunelveli district.

he turning point in his life came when he was doing library science at the Madras University. That was when the Indo-China War was on. "I was listening to Nehru on the radio requesting us to contribute to the defence fund. Immediately, I went to Chief Minister Kamaraj and gave him my gold chain. “

For 45 years, Kalyanasundaram's social work focussed on children. However, in 1998, after retirement, he decided to expand his service and, thus, Paalam was born. One of the first things he did was to direct the money he received as retirement benefit to social cause. Paalam serves as the link between donors and beneficiaries. Assistance is not only monetary. Children are helped in pursuing education, medical attention is provided to the needy, blood donation camps are organised and blood samples are reached to hospitals during emergencies, the unemployed, elderly, sick and handicapped are rehabilitated, and free counselling is provided.

"We work on the principle of gaining everybody's support. That is the reason why membership costs just a rupee a month (life membership is Rs.100). We take about anything used or unused - old newspapers, clothes and utensils - and reach these to people in need. We are sort of a bridge between donors and beneficiaries," states Kalyanasundaram.

Paalam has also taken active part in relief work during cyclones and earthquakes that have struck various parts of India.

People trust Paalam because of Kalyanasundaram and what he stands for. "I have slept on pavements and railway platforms to find out what it is like to be poor, without a roof over your head," he says, joyfully recounting an instance of his students running up to him to tell him that they had spotted his look-alike sleeping on a railway platform.

"I am a bachelor and my personal needs are meagre. I am able to manage doing odd jobs in a hotel or a laundry. I simply do not wish to own anything. In fact, one of my happiest moments was when, after being chosen as the `Man of the Millennium' by an American organisation, I donated the entire amount of Rs. 30 crores I received towards charity. Everything is, therefore, a state of mind.

Source - The Hindu

The doctor who delivers girl child free of cost

Dr Ganesh Rakh has delivered 436 baby girls free of charge. The son of a coolie and housemaid, he wanted to be a wrestler as a child, but his mother encouraged him to study hard and get a proper job.

The doctor wants to change the mindset of a 'boy-obsessed' society.

In 2007, he started the Medicare hospital. For the last four years he have not charged a fee when a girl child is born in this hospital. They have delivered 436 girl children through this scheme.

When a new-born girl child needs intensive care, they provide that too without charge. When a girl child is born they distribute cakes and sweets to all the patients in the hospital.

For things to change, society must learn to celebrate the girl child. They must realise that a girl child is as good as a boy child. They must not differentiate.

The government is running many campaigns to save the girl child, but its focus is on government hospitals. Female foeticide happens in private hospitals. Private hospitals must be encouraged to join the save the girl child campaign. Every little bit helps. 

Source - RediffNews

India first e-toilets

Delight Electronic toilets are compact, portable systems that occupy only 45 square feet (less than 5 square metres) of space for each unit.

There is an automatic payment collection facility in the unit, and the coin validator accepts coins of any denomination.

The moment coins are inserted, the door of the unit unlocks and with it, the light and the exhaust fan get switched on automatically.

Once the user enters it, the closet gets wetted with a pre-flush of 100 ml of water.

Even if the user does not flush the toilet after use, it automatically gets flushed and cleans the closet.

If the user flushes it himself, the back-up flush system does not kick in. If the usage is for only less than 3 minutes, the system flushes with 1.5 litres of water and if the user is there for more than 3 minutes, the system flushes 4 litres. So, the total water usage does not go beyond 4 litres.

Though the unit has a normal 230 V power mechanism, there is a power back up also. Inadequate availability of power and water will automatically close the unit, well in advance.

The water tank in the unit stores 500 litres of water from the supply source but there is also a motor to pump water from an additional source in the case of emergency.

Delight toilets use 40 units of electricity and 1,008 litres of water for 168 users.

There is a GPRS enabled system so that it can be controlled remotely which includes remote opening and closing of the unit, daily collection monitoring, and checking the functioning of the unit through a web application or through mobile phones.

Green initiatives

Delight is a green e-toilet! They have provided solar panels to generate electricity for its own use.

In the areas where drainage facility is not available, the unit has "Green Eco friendly" solution to manage the disposal of the waste.

First e-toilet in an Indian school

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Member of Parliament from Ernakulam, P Rajeev approached Eram for Delight e-toilets as a part of suchi@school (Sustainable Comprehensive Hygiene Initiative) project.

This initiative of his, aims to provide toilets and urinals in all government and government-aided schools in the district of Ernakulam.
Source- Rediff

India's First 100% Dowry-Free Village in Kerela

9 years ago, 1/3rd of Kerala municipality Nilambur was homeless because they had sold off their homes to pay for their daughters' weddings. 
The Panchayat found that Nilambur had 60 weddings every month, where Rs. 3-4 lakh was spent on dowry. Those who couldn't pay dowry couldn't marry off their daughters. Those who got their daughters married went bankrupt . A lot of families were broken after paying their daughters' dowry so they demanded it while marrying off their sons.

So, "in 2009, we took a pledge to make Nilambur a dowry-free village in a year,” said Shoukath. The heart of this mission were sensitization programmes and workshops that warned Nilambur it was going broke due to dowry. 

The mission had a great response - local men and women joined in large numbers, and took part in public meetings, door-to-door campaigns, street plays and motivation classes.

‘Dump dowry’ association informers gave tip-offs about dowry cases. Expensive marriage were replaced by mass community marriages.

Volunteer K Shabeer Ali explained how this new mindset was formed. “We fashioned it in a way that dowry is the biggest crime in one’s life and it did wonders.” 

Spreading the word - There's also an upcoming matrimonial website that the Panchayat and NGO Mahila Samakhya Society set up (www.dowryfreemarriage.com) with an obvious dowry-free twist. The site will also talk about dowry, marriage customs, gender justice and matrimonial property rights.

Face of Indian Politics that will make you feel proud as Indian

In the image, Atal Bihari Vajpayee bowed down to touch the feet of a lady from Tamil Nadu who is known as Madurai Chinna Pillai, 

Chinna Pillai is from a small village near Madurai. She started a very successful banking system in the villages in Tamil Nadu and is a champion trying to reduce poverty and debt grievances by empowering women. Her intent efforts in leading a savings unit among women in the debt stricken village of Pullucheri became so successful that soon many groups sprung in the region with equal effectiveness. The Kalanjiam, microcredit movement received a huge boost from her dedication and contributions, reaching out to many women living under poverty.

Pillai was one of five women to receive the Stree Shakti Puraskar in 1999. In a picture perfect moment for the press, then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee bowed down in respect and touched her feet while presenting her with the award.

Shri.Vajpayee, a true Legend, a true human being and hero of Indian politics.

India has a Zero mile stone in Nagpur which is considered center of India.

Zero Mile Stone  is a monument locating the geographical centre of colonial India in the city of Nagpur,Maharashtra. The Zero Mile Stone was erected by the British who used this point to measure all the distances. The Zero Mile Stone consists of four horses and a pillar made up of sandstone. In 2008, The Times of India undertook to maintain the monument for the next 5 years.

It is located on the south east of Vidhan Bhavan, Nagpur.

The British rulers considered Nagpur to be the centre of India and hence identified this point and constructed the Zero Mile Stone. Earlier India was divided into provinces and Nagpur was the capital of CP & Berar Province. Later when states were created, Nagpur was incorporated into Maharashtra, and as Nagpur had been the capital of CP & Berar, even though it was geographically shifted to Maharashtra, the status of second capital was granted to Nagpur.

Facts about Digital India that you might be unaware of

• 

• Quite recently, Indian government has launched a scheme called DigiLocker.Anyone having an Aadhar card can login to www.digilocker.gov.in and upload scanned copies of all the important documents like 10th marksheet, 12th marksheet, Graduation certificate, electricity bill, PAN, DL, Passport etc. So whenever, you will need those documents (for verification by govt agencies while applying for any service etc) , you can directly give your locker number and it is done! No more hassles of carrying those documents and tons of photocopies. Its in beta phase now.
• 
• There is a website MyGov: A Platform for Citizen Engagement towards Good Governance in India where Indian citizens can make profiles and participate actively in governance by discussing, giving suggestions, making logos and taglines for schemes etc.

• A supreme court case named Keshavnanda Bharati vs State of Kerala (1973) is considered as one of the greatest judgements ever made in the history of India. By this judgement, H'ble Supreme court limited the powers of legislature to amend the constitution. The judgement said that Basic structure of the constitution must not be changed. This has prevented political parties from amending the constitution into whatever they may feel like.

Share this and let others know a way of keeping India as beautiful as it really is.

Saare jahan Se acha Hindustan Hamara.

To keep our India clean and beautiful, one more habit to be changed by us is not to throw garbage out of train window.

Everyone of us has travelled through the trains atleast once in our lives. If you remember, earlier people used to throw the garbage in their compartment itself but since the awareness of various social campaigns people realized the importance of keeping trains clean. But the non sensitiveness towards cleanliness did not get eradicated but shifted towards throwing large amount of garbage out of the window throughout their journey. You can hear even parents teaching their kids to throw garbage outside the window. But it is not the right thing to do.

This garbage thrown out pollutes the railway tracks, jungles, crop fields, residential areas and rivers. 

Here's what you can do:

1. Look for a dustbin in your coach. It is generally placed underneath the wash basin or inside the toilet. Even a disposable bag is sometimes hung in the area between two coaches to throw garbage.
2. Collect all garbage in a plastic bag and throw or empty the bag at next railway station.

If you like our message and thinking, share this and let others know a way of keeping India as beautiful as it really is.

Advantages of homes made from Plastic Bottles.....

Homes made from Plastic Bottles,,,,...................

Advantages of having home made of plastic bottles....

• Bullet Proof 
• Fireproof 
• Eco-friendly 
• Carbon Neutral  
• Maintains comfortable temperature 
•  Earthquake resistant 
•  Affordable 

Stop writing on our cultural heritage and protected monuments. This small step will make our India more beautiful.

India is a country that is rich in heritage and cultural history and the living symbols of it stand amongst us in the form of monuments.

There is hardly any country in the world with such diverse physical structures representing the grandeur of architecture, art, religion, knowledge in various fields, etc.We don't like the plain, intricate and aesthetic carvings on stone so people beautify them with our very own red paint like tobacco or pan.
Whenever you visit any place of historical importance, somebody has engraved their names, spat, littered or pissed on the walls.
Tourists worldwide pay huge amounts to visit these places and be acquainted with Indian history and we treat them like our junkyard, probably because we haven't yet realised what we have and what value it holds.



Even, The Taj Mahal, one of the wonders of the world doesn't just have odd drawings but nonsensical scribblings ENGRAVED on it. Such damage cannot be reversed and the government every year spends crores of rupees for its beautification, as if the existing pollution wasn't damaging enough.

Next time you visit any place of historical importance, please urge people not to spoil the place by scribbling or spitting around and do not throw waste anywhere. Please throw them in designated dustbins only. A small step taken by you now will not only increase the pride of India but will save the environment as well.

Source taken from - Quora Timeline of Fieta Viegas

Save paper. Save Trees. Save our planet Earth.

Recently we did a post on drought affected India. Only if there were more trees, we would have been coped up with the situation in a better way.

One way which is environment friendly is by not printing out account balance receipt unnecessarily and then throwing it away.

If you go to any ATM, you will most likely see account balance receipts lying everywhere on the floor which were printed for no reason.

You can just click on balance inquiry and then click NO when asked if you want to print receipt.
Please get printed receipt only if you need it. Don't print it if you want to throw it after checking the balance.


By printing unnecessary receipt you are-
1. Compromising with the security of your bank account with the bank details printed on it.

2. Compromising with your health. The paper used for receipts contains harmful chemicals which causes CANCER.

3. Wasting paper which results in cutting of trees which is not good for planet.

4. Increasing the litter and making the planet dirty.

It is a request not to make the planet untidy and unfit for living. One habit which changes the life of all the individuals by 1 small step.

Drought

Drought in southern states has affected the cultivation of major commodities like rice, cotton and spices. Production of these commodities is likely to come down sharply if the absence of summer rains prevails, experts said.

The effect of drought has been severe in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, especially in the rice growing regions. 

"Perhaps for the first time in the last 20-25 years, the Nagarjuna Sagar dam has not become full, hindering irrigation activities. In Kurnool dis .. 

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/51738457.cms?from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst