Category Archives: Business & Economy

Start-up incubated at IIT-Kanpur blooms at UN

Agriculture, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Education, Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Nature
Ankit Agarwal

HelpUsGreen recycles floral waste at temples into a substitute for thermocol

New Delhi :

HelpUsGreen, a start-up incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) was chosen as one of the exceptional young leader projects to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations on Sunday.

HelpUsGreen, founded by a young engineer Ankit Agarwal together with Karan Rastogin three years ago, seeks to convert flowers offered in temples ,which are often thrown away as waste, polluting rivers and other water bodies, into biodegradable substitute to thermocol and fragrant incense sticks.

Agarwal was among the 17 young leaders selected from more than 8,000 youth from over 184 countries at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly currently in session in New York.

HelpUsGreen currently processes around 8.4 tonnes of floral waste from temples and mosques in Uttar Pradesh and converts them into biodegradable packaging material, charcoal-free incense sticks, and natural vermicompost.

According to Agarwal, over 8 million tonnes of flowers are used in different religious places as offerings. These flowers, a symbol of devotion, are subsequently discarded in the rivers like the Ganga, creating havoc in their fragile ecosystems and leach in the groundwater.

The start-up, supported by Tata Trusts through its Social Alpha programme, has developed a patented flower-recycling technology, which not only tackles the monumental temple waste in India, but also provide employment to people.

HelpUsGreen, which has so far recycled over 11,000 tonnes of floral waste, has been able to provide livelihood to 73 manual scavenging families, which now earn six times more than what they did earlier.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Trending Today / by The Hindu Bureau / New Delhi – September 25th, 2018

Power of transformation wins laurels for Meerut company

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology

The zeal to excel can transform fortunes. This is proven in the case of Transtron Electricals, a transformer manufacturer, which is among the country’s top 100 small and medium enterprises.

The zeal to excel can transform fortunes. This is proven in the case of Transtron Electricals, a transformer manufacturer, which is among the country’s top 100 small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The company’s motto, “It has to be ‘The Best’ because it has our name on it”, inspires the owners and the staff.

Situated in Meerut’s Partapur industrial area, the unit won the ‘India SME 100 Award’ in August. It is among the four SMEs of Uttar Pradesh to have made it to the list of the country’s top 100 such firms.

Transtron managing director (MD) K N Singhal says the company was selected for the honour out of over 33,102 SMEs of the country.

“It was indeed a matter of pride for us, receiving the award from union ministers in Delhi,” he says.

Singhal claims he has never compromised on quality. He says he has refused to accept advice to use raw material of an inferior quality to bring the cost down.

He reiterates, “Quality is our biggest strength and that is why we proudly announce ‘it has to be ‘The Best’ because it has our name on it.”

The Singhal family has deep roots in Meerut and has been living here for over 100 years.

After graduating in science from Meerut College in 1970, Singhal obtained a Bachelor of Electrical degree from Agra University in 1975. He received job offers from various government organisations but because of his bond with his native place and his father’s ill health, he chose to stay here and joined a transformer manufacturing unit ‘Electra India’ in Partpaur as assistant engineer (quality control).

Soon, he was promoted as director (technical) and got an opportunity to travel to many countries on business before he resigned in 1997.

Singhal says he took the step so that he could utilise his experience to start his own venture.

After providing consultancy in transformer design for a year, he established ‘Transtron Electricals Pvt. Ltd.’ in Partapur in 1998 with a seed capital of Rs 10 lakh.

His contacts with clients of his previous unit helped him build his own network and Transtron got its first order to supply transformers to Nepal in 1998.

Initially, the company manufactured 200 KVA transformers. By 2005, the company was making 5000 KVA transformers. For the last four-five years, it has been making 10,000 KVA transformers.

Singhal says, “Success is not far if your vision is clear and if you don’t fall prey to greed.” The company has 80-plus employees. He claims Transtron`s transformers are ‘energy efficient’ and many skilled workers of Electra India joined him after closure of the company.

He also says his wife Renu Singhal contributed a lot to his success but she died in 2008. Now his sons Sidharth Singhal and Abhinav Singhal help him in his business.

He minces no words in saying that delay in payment by government departments is the biggest hurdle in growth of SMEs in UP. He explains that 80% business of SMEs depends on government orders and they receive payments in six months, instead of 45 days, as prescribed under the rules.

The SMEs have to procure raw material by paying cash and it takes more than two months to manufacture a transformer and complete the testing procedure, he says.

Appreciating the union government’s ‘ ‘Make in India’ policy , Singhal says, “It has the potential to change the country’s industrial scenario.”

“Our aim is to make a genuine contribution in government policies for ‘electrification of India’, especially in the rural areas. We insist on giving trouble- free service to clients at least for 25 years with each transformer.”

After serving as executive council member of the Indian Transformers Association for years, Singhal has now been elected its treasurer.

He also believes in serving society and bears expenses of many underprivileged girls.

He is also involved with an NGO which conducts eye operations for marginalised sections of the society.

“I do it for my satisfaction. I don’t want any publicity for it,” he says.

“Be honest and dedicated to your mission and Mother Nature will help you in every possible way,” he advises budding entrepreneurs.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Lucknow / by S. Raju, Hindustan Times,Meerut / September 07th, 2018

This Varanasi-based start-up is offering a crash course to ‘groom’ daughters-in-law

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy
Representation Image

A Varansi-based start-up has designed a three-month special crash course to ‘groom’ potential daughters-in-law. The three-month course promises to train women, boost their communications skills and heighten their confidence.

The course has been initiated by Young Skilled India Start-Up which is incubated with the Malviya Nav Parivartan Kendra of IIT-BHU based on demands of parents. The CEO of the start-up clarified that initiative wasn’t officially linked to IIT-BHU.

Named ‘My Daughter, My Pride’, the course was designed with Kashi-based Vanita Institute of Fashion and Designs after conducting a survey. They said they had received ‘tremendous response’ from the public and parents during the survey.

Jatin Srivastava, who runs another start-up said: “It is true that businesses do cater to any legitimate demand in the market. But one has to be careful in dealing with social and public issues. Personally, I do not endorse any such project which is aimed at making money at public cost.”

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> India / by Srawan Shukla / September 03rd, 2018

Scent per cent: Temple floral waste to be put to fragrant use

Agriculture, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

The Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad, on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the famous Naka Hanuman Garhi temple, Faizabad, for collection of floral waste from the temple for producing exotic itra (traditional, natural perfume), incense sticks and fertilisers.

The university would collect the floral waste for this purpose, said Mahant Ramdas of the temple after signing the MoU.

Prof Manoj Dixit, vice chancellor of Avadh University, said the university will soon help recycle bio degradable refuse into exotic itra (traditional natural perfume), incense sticks and even scented havan ingredients.

Devotees offer about 200 kg flowers and 50 kg tulsi (basil leaves) at the temple every Tuesday and Saturday.

They offer 50 kg flowers on the remaining five days.

Mahant Ramdas said he was delighted that the university had come forward to sign this pact with the temple as it was becoming difficult to dispose of such a large volume of floral waste.

“We are happy that students will collect the floral waste and produce itra out of the flower juice,” he said.

The university had already signed an MoU with the Kannauj-based Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC), he added. Production of itra and incense sticks will begin anytime this year, he said.

“We are waiting for the machines to come from Kannauj,” said prof Dixit.

“The students will learn to produce itra from flower juice, incense sticks from dry flowers and fertiliser from leaves. The move will not only help in disposal of floral waste but also generate employment for locals,” said prof Dixit.

The Avadh University has prepared a detailed proposal in association with FFDC, Kannauj, for this purpose. with whom they signed MoU earlier this month.

There were nearly 10,000 big and small temples in Ayodhya that accounted for 10-12 quintal floral waste daily, said Jaswant Singh, professor in environmental sciences department of the university. He is in touch with FFDC for the project.

“The idea is to use discarded flowers and leaves by traditional methods for making fragrance and flavour (itra, incense sticks, etc) with the help of local people and the finished product will be given back to the temples,” he further said.

source:http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Lucknow / by Rajeev Mullick, Hindustan Times,Lucknow / August 23rd, 2018

Mahana dials investors in run-up to ground breaking ceremony

Business & Economy

With a fortnight to go for the ground breaking ceremony in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of 64 projects worth Rs 55,000 crore on July 29, the industrial development department is abuzz with activity these days.

The amount of investment that the BJP government has been able to draw in two years is more than what the previous governments could do in 15 years, he claims.(Sunil Ghosh / HT Photo)

With a fortnight to go for the ground breaking ceremony in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of 64 projects worth Rs 55,000 crore on July 29, the industrial development department is abuzz with activity these days.

Industrial development minister Satish Mahana is busy contacting on phone those investors who had signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the state government during the UP Investors Summit in Lucknow in February.

Mahana says: “I have a list of the owners and officers of the 64 companies with their telephone number who have signed MoUs with the state government.”

He directs his staff to ring up an official of ACC, which has submitted a proposal to set up a cement plant in Amethi district.

When the officer comes on the line, Mahana asks him if the allotment of land has been completed.

He tells the ACC official that the state government officers have been directed to expedite land allotment. “If there is any hiccup, feel free to contact me,” he adds.

Next, he calls Gautam Kanodia of the Kanodia Group to know if a no objection certificate has been issued by the administration. When the reply is affirmative, he invites Kanodia to attend the ground breaking ceremony.

“I will talk to all the investors in the run-up to the ground breaking ceremony,” he says and adds chief minister Yogi Adityanath will also talk to the investors to get their feedback about the facilities provided by the state government to launch projects.

“It’s a prestigious project for the state government. We have named it ‘Rising UP Powering New India’,” Mahana says.

His staff tells him the owner of Intex, which has submitted a proposal to set up a project in Noida, is on the line.

Mahana asks him if he is facing problems in setting up the unit. The company owner tells him production work will start after three months as construction work is in progress now.

“I have talked to the owner of Telengana Electric Works and WTC who are investing in the IT and electric sector. DCM has signed an MoU for setting up sugar industry, Dharampal Prempal Company has signed MoU for investment in horticulture sector,” he says.

The amount of investment that the BJP government has been able to draw in two years is more than what the previous governments could do in 15 years, he claims.

Later, Mahana reviewed preparation for the ground breaking ceremony in a meeting with officers.

He told officers to contact businessmen and give clearances to projects, the foundation of which will be laid during the PM’s visit.

Reliance Group chairman Mukesh Ambani, Infosys non-executive chairman Nandan Nilekani, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrashekharan and CII chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal are likely to attend the programme. Around 1500 businessmen, entrepreneurs and officers were invited to attend the programme, Mahana said.

Union commerce and industries minister, Suresh Prabhu, defence minister Nirmala Sitaraman and electronic and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will also attend the ground breaking ceremony.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Lucknow / by Rajesh Kumar Singh,Hindustan Times,Lucknow / July 16th, 2018

Apollo Hospitals acquire 50% stake in Lucknow-based healthcare project

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology

“The acquisition of the 50 percent equity stake is through a primary issuance of shares by Medics for a consideration of Rs 91 crore which would be utilised towards hospital commissioning and related expenses,” Apollo Hospitals said.

Apollo Hospital

Apollo Hospitals today said it has acquired 50 percent stake in a Lucknow-based 330-bed super speciality hospital project for a consideration of Rs 91 crore. The acquisition of 50 percent stake in Medics Super Speciality Hospital would help the Chennai-based healthcare major to consolidate its position in Uttar Pradesh, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise said in a regulatory filing.

The project, which is spread over a 3.5 lakh square feet area in Lucknow, is expected to be commissioned by the third quarter of the current financial year, it added.

“The acquisition of the 50 percent equity stake is through a primary issuance of shares by Medics for a consideration of Rs 91 crore which would be utilised towards hospital commissioning and related expenses,” Apollo Hospitals said.

Apollo Hospitals Managing Director Suneeta Reddy said, “In order to strengthen Apollo’s position in the UP region, Apollo was on the lookout for acquisitions to grow inorganically and considers the acquisition as the right choice given the promoter’s background and expertise in healthcare services in Lucknow.”

The healthcare provider expects to leverage its proven track record of performance and operational capabilities to drive growth and profitability at Medics and create long term value for the shareholders, she added.

Medics Super Speciality Hospital’s founder and chairman Sushil Gattani said there is a potential to develop Lucknow as a cost-effective medical travel destination.

Lucknow already attracts around 5-8 percent of its patients from Nepal, he added.

Shares of Apollo Hospitals today ended 3.11 percent down at Rs 1,044.55 on the BSE.

source: http://www.moneycontrol.com / Money Control / Home> News> Business> Companies / by PTI / July 05th, 2018

‘For me, weaving chairs with blind eyes is like knitting dreams’

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

Bareilly :

People sitting in the veranda of the district magistrate court, waiting for their turn, are absorbed by the dexterity of a certain visually impaired man who can always be seen hard at work, knitting chairs, heedless of the arguments and appeals in the courtroom. Patiram’s (he goes by his first name) fingers move flawlessly, weaving bases of wooden frames of chairs. The moment he finishes a chair, onlookers applaud with amazement. “For me, knitting chairs with blind eyes is like knitting dreams,” he says.

Patiram, 36, is one of the few men in the country that are working hard to keep alive the art of weaving chairs, which is on the verge of disappearance. An optimist, Patiram says he never let his blindness stand in the way of his dreams. He was determined to achieve things on his own instead of being favoured for his disability.

“I have been in this profession for the past 16 years. Today, I have a job, a beautiful wife and a son. Life is all about struggle and working hard to make your dreams come true,” he says. Sitting on an empty jute bag, he steadily adds layer after layer of white plastic threads, creating strong supporting bases so that those using the wooden chairs can sit comfortably.

“I am never bored with my job. I never complete a chair hurriedly. I know that even a single misstep in knitting can cause discomfort to the person sitting on the chair. I knit every chair as if it were my first,” he says.
Patiram’s chairs are used in the collectorate and all six tehsils of the district. There are 181 plastic-knit wooden chairs in the collectorate and 90 in the tehsils. Every time a chair needs repair, Patiram reaches the tehsil concerned to fix it.

Life was never easy for Patiram, who has been blind since birth. His father was a small farmer and mother a homemaker. A native of Mau district, Patiram studied up to class VIII and then left for Banda in 2001, where he completed a one-year course in chair knitting at an institute run by the National Federation of the Blind. “Since I didn’t get enough work to make ends meet, I took to teaching chair knitting to visually impaired persons at a school in Mau, which had been started by a close aide of former MP Kalpnath Rai. After Rai’s untimely demise, the school was closed due to lack of funds. After a seven-month stint there, I reached Rajkiya Kaushal Vikas Kendra in Gorakhpur, where someone introduced me to the manager of the center and I got a job there,” Patiram recalls.

Life in Gorakhpur was no easier on Patiram. He was paid a meager Rs 10.75 on the days the centre didn’t receive any orders to knit a chair. “It was a hand-to-mouth existence. I spent 10 years there only because I didn’t want to become a liability for my family,” he says.

Patiram then got to know that those with experience in chair knitting were eligible for government jobs. “I applied for my first government job in 2011 in Allahabad but couldn’t get through. I kept going to several interviews for the next three years in several cities, including Varanasi, Lucknow, Bahraich, Bareilly and Muzaffarnagar, but had no luck. Finally in 2014, I came to know of a vacancy that had been created in Bareilly after the retirement of one Zamir Ahmed. Thanks to my hard work and luck, I was selected for the post of kursi bunkar there,” he says with a smile on his face.

As living alone became difficult for him in Bareilly, he suggested some relatives to get him married. “I knew it would be hard for anyone to accept me as a husband because of my blindness, but I never lost hope. My cousin’s husband found a girl for me and when I first met ‘malkin’, I told her, till my last breath, I would never let her down. I’m not sure how that impressed her but she accepted my proposal and we got married in April, 2016.”

Patiram now earns around Rs 25,000 a month. His wife’s name is Mina but he calls her “malkin” (mistress) out of love and respect. He says he has a happy life with his nine-month-old son, who is a handful. “My son pulls at my plates when I sit down for a meal. His antics amaze me and fill me with joy. My only concern is his health, especially his eyesight, as doctors say that the first 11 years are crucial for a child with a blind parent,” he says with a deep breath.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City / by Pankul Sharma / June 30th, 2018

UP airport 1st to have national highway under runway

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology
Lal Bahadur Shastri airport

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HIGHLIGHTS

The construction of an underpass will ensure the expansion of the airport’s runway for the landing of big planes, as well as convert the highway into a four-lane road.

The AAI has given its nod to the airport’s runway expansion by building the underpass, which will keep the alignment of the Varanasi-Lucknow highway (NH-56) intact.
_________________________

Varanasi :

The Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) International Airport in Babatpur — about 26km from Varanasi — will soon become the first airport in the country to have a national highway running under its runway. The construction of an underpass will ensure the expansion of the airport’s runway for the landing of big planes, as well as convert the highway into a four-lane road.

The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has given its nod to the airport’s runway expansion by building the underpass, which will keep the alignment of the Varanasi-Lucknow highway (NH-56) intact. The existing runway is 2,750m and is proposed to be extended up to 4,075m to ensure landing of big cargo and Boeing planes at the airport. The runway expansion and underpass construction will commence simultaneously, said officials.

“It will be India’s first highway to pass under the runway of an airport. The proposed underpass will also solve the long-pending issue of deciding the alignment of NH-56, which is being converted into a four-lane road. As AAI’s project of runway expansion is yet to begin, the NHAI is repairing the existing highway patch for smooth vehicular movement,” NHAI project director (Varanasi) S B Singh told TOI.

The proposal to convert the NH-56 into a four-lane has been in the pipeline for over a decade and was approved by the UPA government in 2013. The NHAI started basic work on the Varanasi-Sultanpur stretch but not much headway could be made. With the change of guard at the Centre in 2014, the process of land acquisition and other work on the stretch sped up. However, the alignment issue remained unresolved.

AAI, in its Masterplan-2004, proposed the runway extension. However, as a railway track runs on the eastern side of the runway, the expansion could only take place on the west where the NH-56 exists. For the project, AAI sought 593.77 acres of land in Mangari, Bikunthpur, Karmi, Ghamhapur Karmi, Sagunaha and Pura Raghunathpur villages.

The proposal was neglected for over a decade until AAI sent a letter to the Uttar Pradesh government on March 27, 2015, through the director of civil aviation (UP), seeking the required land. The scheme gained momentum in 2017 when AAI restarted identification of land for expansion.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City News> Varanasi News / by Rajeev Dikshit / TNN / June 05th, 2018

With IIT-K startup’s help, Lucknow firm ready for drone delivery of food

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology, Travel

Kolkata/Lucknow:

In a first, an IIT-Kanpur startup, in association with a Lucknow-based food delivery firm, successfully flown in flasks of freshly brewed tea on the doorsteps of its customers in the city of nawabs.

TechEagle Innovations, founded and run by IIT Kanpur graduate Vikram Singh Meena, pilot-tested delivery of two litres of hot tea with the help of battery-powered and GPS-fitted drones on May 23. It has developed the specialised drone to drop-ship a consignment up to 2 kg within a 10-km-radius of its take-off station with just a single click of a mouse. TechEagle has joined hands with OnlineKaka, a Lucknow-based food delivery startup, for these test flights.

“We have successfully delivered world’s first chai via drone. Now, we would provide these mean machines to other food delivery startups like Zomato, Swiggy and Foodpanda. To begin with, we plan to venture out in north India,” Meena told TOI.

Talking about the drone-delivery model, Bilal Arshad, who founded OnlineKaka, along with friend Ahad Arshad and Salman, said: “It’s not like the customer will directly receive the order from the whirring gadget. The drones would be flown and received by our executives at different points and because they would not be commuting through the busy streets, it would cut down the delivery time drastically.” Although the cost implications would be known only after a full-fledged launch of the service, both Bilal and Ahad said they would try to ensure that there was no extra burden for the customer as they would be saving on commuting. At present, they charge Rs 59 per delivery.

Although the trial was conducted with DGCA’s permission, the firs is yet to get a nod for the regular service. “The DGCA had said the norms for drone delivery would be specified in January but it hasn’t come through. It is now expected sometime in July. In sync with the Civil Aviation ministry, the DGCA would mark zones for the drone flights and assign altitude, etc, besides issuing licence for each gadget. The pilots hired for the drones would be another factor to determine cost of operation,” said Ahad.

Interestingly, there are no active drone-based food delivery services in the world. UberEats, the largest grub-delivery platform which has recently opened shop in India, has recently tested a similar drone-based delivery in San Diego, US.

In October last year, global e-tail giant Amazon had filed patent for delivery of products via drones in India.

In 2014, an unmanned drone was used to deliver a pizza to a flat in a high rise in Worli, Mumbai. Another drone startup, based out of Kanpur, called Aarav Unmanned Systems, raised a bridge round funding In April 2016.

However, many firms and startups, who are raring to begin unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drone-based commercial operations (like door-to-door delivery, aerial mapping, infrastructure monitoring and product transport) across the country, have hit a regulatory roadblock as India’s sky watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), hasn’t yet formulated a final official policy for the same. Although, Goldman Sachs has estimated that drone industry will be worth $125 billion globally by 2020.

The founding members of TechEagle Innovations started designing and manufacturing since 2015 in the garage of IIT Kanpur hostel and formed the B2B tech startup only in January 2017.

“Our startup develops custom-made drones of both types — rotary wing and fixed wing — which can carry 500gm to 5kg payload. The wingspan ranges between 60cm and five-meter, flight time varies between 30 min and two hours,” added Meena.

“The drone-based delivery system came to our minds when we saw real-life problems like traffic jams affecting delivery services, especially food transportation. Then, we partnered with Online Kaka,” the TechEagle CEO said.

TechEagle plans to expand its services across the country based on need and resources. “We have analyzed that around 10-15 drones can be deployed in one city. Our drones can traverse 10 metres in one second and one single trip can last up to 20 minutes. So, it can fly up to 6km to deliver tea and come back to its take-off spot. We are doing research on batteries to increase the payload capacity and flight time,” Meena added.

On the likely cost of food or tea to be delivered via drones, Meena signed off by saying, “Quality and price of tea or any food items will be handled and decided by the food delivery firms, who will use our drones, instead of a bike or a motor van. We can’t disclose the exact selling prices of the drones at present. But when the service becomes fully functional, our drone delivery will definitely be cheaper than the current modes of transportation. We are in talks with quite a few food delivery startups.”

There was a time in the city when one could order little from home other than pizza. It was 2016 and while big names like food panda and zomato were foraying into the Lucknow market, a startup with just two delivery boys caught the fancy of locals, whose staple feast is the kabab-biryani fare. “Our shoestring budget did not allow a lavish ad campaign, so we relied more on word of mouth,” said Ahad Arshad, who founded OnlineKaka, along with friend Bilal Arshad, adding.

Founded in 2016, OnelineKaka is a popular service in Lucknow for delivery and is preferred for delivery from iconic joints from crowded Old City. “It saves people the trouble of commuting to the crowded, jammed areas and they could enjoy kabab-paratha, biryani, kulcha-nihari in the comfort of home,” Bilal says. Today, they have a 125-strong army of delivery boys and an equal number of vendors on their panel, with over 500 new joints in queue. From a turnover of Rs 20 lakh in their first year, they have notched Rs 5 crore and recorded a 15% growth per month, said the founders.

“There was a minimum-order rider in the beginning but now we deliver the smallest of orders,” said Ahad, adding that their latest offering was delivery of the city’s favourite chai and bun-makhan, anywhere. “The packing ensures you get your cuppa steaming hot but with a successful run of delivery by drone, we hope to pick up more orders in this segment,” he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / by Sovan Manna / TNN / June 01st, 2018

Lucknow boy’s creation wins top honours at AtomExpo

Business & Economy, Education, Green Initiatives / Environment, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Gautam Bishwas receives the award

Sochi :

‘Atom on Wheels’, a campaign designed by an NPCIL communication expert who hails from Lucknow, won the top honours at AtomExpo Awards 2018 at a glittering ceremony here on Monday evening.

The campaign which especially targeted the rural audience for creating awareness and dispelling myths about nuclear energy, received the award in public communication category. Other two entries in the category were from Hungary and Kenya. Gautam Biswan, executive director, NPCIL received the award from the chairman of the jury.

A beaming Amritesh Srivastava, senior manager (corporate communication) who conceived the campaign, told TOI: “Atom on Wheels” is a unique tailor made public awareness campaign which is especially crafted for rural people to make them aware and educate about numerous aspect of nuclear energy and to dispel the apprehensions related to this. It was organised in 6 states of India, covering more than 6 lakh people in 1500 villages. The response was tremendous and people accepted this wholeheartedly.”

“It’s really a matter of immense pleasure and proud to win this prestigious award for our country and organisation. It’s dream come true for me to achieve this international award,” he said.

‘Atom on Wheels’, the customised AC bus has travelled 1500 villages of Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

It has creative panels, models, posters and multimedia presentations in local languages to help villagers develop a positive and rational thinking towards nuclear energy, particularly to build a constructive opinion for setting up of more and more nuclear power plants in a phase wise manner at various locations across the country.

In all, awards were given in five categories. There were participants from 22 countries and entries were judged by a 25-member jury panel, all world renowned experts from across the world.

This campaign has already got many awards at national level and Monday evening got it the ultimate international recognition at what Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev called ‘Atomic Davos’.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> India News / by Pravin Kumar / TNN / May 15th, 2018