Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, September 25 Sunita Williams could not contain her emotions while speaking of her friend and fellow astronaut, the late Kalpana Chawla, at an event organised at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad on Tuesday. “Kalpana was a great friend and also my greatest role model,” said Sunita stifling sobs.
“I consider myself a citizen of the universe. When we go up in space, all we can see is a beautiful earth where there are no borders of nations and religion. This was Kalpana’s vision too, and it holds true,” she said to a resounding applause. Sunita Williams was speaking to a packed house at a felicitation ceremony organised by the Ahmedabad Management Association.
She recounted an incident when she looked at the earth from the window of her space craft and her friend mentioned, “It is hard to imagine two people arguing down there, much less fighting”. “All I could see were the snow caps of the Himalayas, the blue of the icebergs, the continents and surprisingly, the pyramids. The boundaries of the countries that we have created exist only in our minds,” she said.
Williams shared her experiences in space and patiently answered many questions put up by the audience. “I saw a world that was truly incredible. Anyone who has the desire and determination can achieve their dreams just like I did,” she said. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:indian institute of management ahmedabad, kalpana chawla, space walks, sunita williams | Categories: Children, Science and Technology, Teardrops, The Indian Express | No Comments »
Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, September 25 Sunita Williams could not contain her emotions while speaking of her friend and fellow astronaut, the late Kalpana Chawla, at an event organised at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad on Tuesday. “Kalpana was a great friend and also my greatest role model,” said Sunita stifling sobs.
She recounted an incident when she looked at the earth from the window of her space craft and her friend mentioned, “It is hard to imagine two people arguing down there, much less fighting”. “All I could see were the snow caps of the Himalayas, the blue of the icebergs, the continents and surprisingly, the pyramids. The boundaries of the countries that we have created exist only in our minds,” she said.
“I consider myself a citizen of the universe. When we go up in space, all we can see is a beautiful earth where there are no borders of nations and religion. This was Kalpana’s vision too, and it holds true,” she said to a resounding applause. Sunita Williams was speaking to a packed house at a felicitation ceremony organised by the Ahmedabad Management Association.
Williams shared her experiences in space and patiently answered many questions put up by the audience. “I saw a world that was truly incredible. Anyone who has the desire and determination can achieve their dreams just like I did,” she said.
The astronaut who holds the records of the longest stay in space, highest number of space walks and longest time spent in space walks said, “When people tell me I have achieved a lot, I laugh, because I have not really done anything remarkably different. I ventured where people had already been. I really look up to my father who left the country at a young age. He left the world he knew to go somewhere unknown, where he made huge strives to change his life.”
Sunita exhorted the youth to keep their minds open to new ideas and new opportunities. “Sometimes, life throws open doors that you are afraid of or uncomfortable to venture through, but if you keep your mind open to exploring all options, you might find yourself living dreams that you never dreamt of,” she said.
Suni on space
* While in space, the human body undergoes interesting changes. For example, in its weightless state in space, the heart doesn’t need to work as hard as it does while on earth. So it can actually start shrinking. So, Sunita had to do a lot of cardiovascular exercises to keep her heart in its original size.
* Also, she grew two inches taller in the six-and-a-half months she spent there. This is because the spine in the body is like a sponge that expands in the absence of gravitation. When Williams returned to earth, the whole body started settling down and getting used to the gravitation again and she lost the height that she had gained.
* Its not just the body, but the body fluids too, start floating in space. When the fluids in the ears, which maintain the body’s balance start floating, it has a very nauseating effect on the person. But, with time, the body adapts itself to the feeling. If not taken care of, the time spent in space can also irreversibly impair some body functions.
* The bone mass in the legs and the hips can also start degenerating because of lack of exercise. On the earth, gravity acts as a constant force against it and keeps it fit. In space, the floating around can really spoil your legs and they may not feel up to walking well again. So there is a lot of equipments for exercise on the space craft which help astronauts keep fit for their landing too.
* In the absence of an atmosphere, the body is exposed to a lot of radiation which is why astronauts have to limit the number of times they can go to space and the amount of time they can spend there without harming their bodies.
Source: Indian Express
Tags:indian institute of management ahmedabad, kalpana chawla, sunita williams | Categories: Children, Science and Technology, Teardrops, The Indian Express | No Comments »
Pulkit Vasudha
Patan/Kutch/Amreli, September 19 No one in Rafu village of Sami taluka in Patan district remembers when the building of the primary health centre (PHC) collapsed. The new set of buildings being financed by the European Union in the name of post-earthquake development programme, are no where near completion.
Rafu PHC presently functions from the nurse’s quarter, with the kitchen having been converted into a laboratory. Most of the medicines including the deep freezer for vaccines are stocked in an abandoned vet hospital.
Looking at the idle labourers at the construction site, Dr Vaidyanath Ram, the medical officer at Rafu, says, “In the unlikely event of the building being ready in a couple of years, I hope I will be out of this place. Kab tak koi rahega yahan? (How long can anyone stay here?). Till I joined two years ago, the pharmacist was known as the doctor. I doubt anybody will come to Rafu.”
Health minister Ashok Bhatt has only words of assurance, “All the vacancies in our PHCs have been filled. Where we could not find doctors, we have appointed ayurvedic practitioners.” However, primary healthcare in Gujarat is visibly in a shambles. In its own quality assessment report of May 2007, the department of health and family welfare has categorised the output of 86 per cent of the 352 PHCs and CHCs in the state in Grade D, while the remaining 14 per cent are in Grade C. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:Ashok Bhatt, Gujarat, healthcare, Kutch, United Nations Population Fund | Categories: Development, Health, Rural Development, Teardrops, The Indian Express | No Comments »
Pulkit Vasudha
Fatehgarh (Rapar, Kutch), September 17:Fatehgarh village in Rapar taluka in Kutch district is on a fast-track to an environmental disaster. The frantic mining in the clay belt of Fatehgarh and adjoining villages in Rapar, has spelt disaster not just for land but also the livelihood in this region.
The agricultural productivity of the land has reduced drastically in the last five years. “Agriculture has died a rapid death in the clay zones of Kutch. In summers, clay forms a think blanket over crops. During monsoons, the clay runs into the fields and hardens the soil, trapping all the moisture underneath,” says PS Rathore, a retired school teacher. “In my own field, the production of bajra has decreased by over 50 percent over the last one year as mines have been dug all around it.”
“The excavation trucks dump clay and waste soil from the mines directly into the adjoining fields,” says Bharat Dhodia, who works with the NGO, Setu. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:agricultural productivity, clay mining, Environment, kachchh, Kutch, poverty, rapar | Categories: Development, Environment, Rural Development, Teardrops, The Indian Express | No Comments »
Pulkit Vasudha
Rapar (Kutch), September 9 Hazraben Khamisa Bhatti, of Taga village in Kutch, knew Roshan, just a year younger to her 22-year-old son, Faiz, would make for a perfect daughter-in-law. There was a small hitch, though. Faiz’s family did not have the amount of money that Roshan’s family demanded as “royalty” in exchange of their daughter.
Hazraben only had to take recourse to the sata-pata (exchange marriage) custom prevalent in Kutch to make the marriage happen — she married her daughter, Subhana, 20, to Roshan’s unmarried uncle Doudbhai, 35.
“I knew it was a bad deal for my daughter, but I had to go ahead for the sake of my son,” says Hazraben. Now, Subhana is not only trapped in a compromising marriage, but is also a victim of domestic violence. Faiz and Roshan’s marriage, too, is in jeopardy owing to the escalating tension in Subhana’s marriage. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:customs, dowry, feminism, kachchh, Kutch, marriage, rapar, sata pata, sata peta, Women | Categories: Of the people, Rural Development, The Indian Express, Women | No Comments »
Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, September 2:The annual theatrical extravaganza– Sankalp-2007 –is all set to take the centrestage in Ahmedabad once again. On Saturday, with Mudra Institute of Communication-Ahmedabad (MICA) launching the first website solely dedicated to Sankalp, the annual festival also kicked off with the students’ adaptation of Ed Monk’s popular play, ‘Cut’, getting a standing ovation by the audience. The entire production– from acting, direction, sounds, lights, music, costumes, marketing and production– was a collective effort of students.
This year, the students are taking their fest to a new level. The festival will be held over a period of three months and this time around, the theatre will be taken to the masses, outside the hallowed corridors frequented by the elite. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: News, Of the people | No Comments »
Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, September 1: The findings of the third National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2005-06 has turned out to be an eye-opener for Community Food and Nutrition Extension Unit (CFNEU) of the Health and Family Welfare department of the state government.
The survey found that over 80 per cent children belonging to the age group of six months to three years are anaemic. Over 55 per cent children in the state are not fully immunised. More than 40 per cent children in urban areas are under nourished, of which, at least five per cent suffer from severe malnutrition. It also found that 55 per cent women belonging to the age group 15 to 49 years are anaemic.
Arvind Patel, technical assistant in CFNEU, who participated in the survey, said, “Anaemia can also be largely seen among pregnant women and lactating mothers.” According to the survey, over 60 per cent pregnant women are anaemic, leading to complications during birth and affecting the health of the newborn. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:anemia, anemic, Community Food and Nutrition Extension Unit, Gujarat, India, malnutrition, Ministry of Women and Child Development | Categories: Children, News, The Indian Express | No Comments »
Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, August 31: The countdown to India’s first moon mission has begun, and the major part of the work is happening in our own backyard at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Ahmedabad. When Chandrayan-I soars into space in April 2008, India will become the fifth country — after Russia, USA, Japan and China — to undertake space exploration.
The payloads have already started arriving at Space Applications Centre (SAC) and PRL for testing in the vacuum and vibration chambers. A team of scientists led by Professor Narendra Bhandari at PRL and SAC are giving the final touches to the remote sensing lunar craft.
“For ISRO, the moon is the next stepping stone, the next station for undertaking planetary studies,” says Professor Narendra Bhandari, a lunar scientist and the man behind the mission. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Science and Technology | No Comments »
Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, August 28: Until 2004, Kanuben Katesia, of the remote Gundala village in Rajkot district, earned Rs 50 a day as an agricultural labourer on others’ farms. On her own 2 acres of land, she grew cotton, a water-intensive crop, completely unsuited to the drought-prone arid zone in South Gujarat. The meagre savings Kanuben tried to stow away were drained away by expensive fertilizers and pesticides.
In 2004, she bought a cow with a small loan and began to process its milk along with other women in a small mandal.
“With the support of my mandal, entrepreneurial training and market exposure, I have paid back my loan and multiplied my profits. Today, I negotiate the sale of milk, laddus, ghee and sharbat with potential customers in Rajkot, Vadodara, Surat and Ahmedabad on the cell phone I bought last year,” says Kanuben. Though her products are priced higher than market rates, urban dealers are clamoring for every kilo of pure cow ghee she sells.
The noticeable prosperity in 25 villages of Jasdan block of Rajkot district has been facilitated by the Gram Nidhi project. From being farmers deep in debt and dependent on water availability, these villagers have now become eco-entrepreneurs. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:agricultural community, agricultural labourer, asia pacific forum, asia pacific forum for economic development, cee, centre for environmental education, entrepreneurial training, environmental development, gram nidhi, mandal, south gujarat, sustainable livelihood, Women | Categories: Activism, Environment, Smiles, The Indian Express, Women | No Comments »