Monthly Archives: May 2016
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IIT Kanpur students develop kit to fight child sexual abuse
A team of five students of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur have developed a workshop kit to spread awareness about sexual abuse of children.
Sexual abuse among children, though rampant, remains a taboo subject in India. At least 46% children are subjected to sexual abuse, but most don’t report the assaults to anyone.
Jhumkee Iyengar, who is guiding the team, said the workshop kit is self-sufficient and can be used by anyone with basic communication skills, affinity towards children and an interest in educating kids – teachers, NGO volunteers and school counsellors.
Iyengar is a faculty in the Design Program at IIT Kanpur where she teaches post-graduate design students a course that she conceptualised and created on Human Centered Design.
“Children in the age group of 8-12 years and in a group of 30-35 can be benefitted in a single session,” Iyengar said.
“The central message to kids is that being abused is not their fault and that they should freely discuss their problems with parents or teachers. Our underlying vision is to save a child’s innocence through knowledge,” the professor added.
The team developed the kit after extensive research and field studies, which included talking to psychologists, counsellors, teachers, parents and doctors along with holding focus group interviews in Kanpur slums. The initiative was a part of a year-long project that culminated in April 2015.
The workshop includes lessons on personal safety, respecting one’s body and overcoming guilt. It has been designed in a way such that it’s playful, educative and interactive, and also helps the teacher tackle the embarrassment that’s likely to accompany the subject.
“The content has been approved by subject experts and psychologists,” Iyengar said.
“We tested the product internally and iteratively as it was being defined and refined. It was also tested by the staff of an NGO on the children they serve. Pilot testing is being done in schools and the product is being further refined,” shared Prof Iyengar.
The team comprising of Apoorva Aggarwal, Mitali Bhasin, Sneha Parhi, Sachin NP and Swayamsiddha Panigrahi said it was difficult for them to read about child sexual abuse and understanding the current situation was an emotionally draining process.
“Sexual abuse has so many wrong notions attached to it. So, spreading awareness about this issue is definitely of paramount importance. For instance, the middle, upper middle class societies are quick to dismiss child sexual abuse as a problem of the lower classes,” Bhasin said.
Aggarwal said she too had gone through one such harrowing experience when she was a child.
“As a child, there were instances when I was subjected to uncomfortable scenarios that disturbed me for weeks but I was unable to react to the situation at the time. In retrospect, my parents always did everything in my best interests but something was missing,” Aggarwal said.
“While they spared no efforts to send me to the best school of the city, my mom, dad, sister – no one – ever told me how to guard myself from the world. Somewhere they hesitated in giving me that one important life lesson,” she added.
Currently available in English, the kit can be translated into different Indian languages.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / HindustanTimes.com / Home> Lucknow / by Rajeev Mullick, Hindustan Times,Lucknow / April 07th, 2016
For 32 years, Agra’s ‘waterman’ offers summer respite to people
Agra:
For more than 32 years now, a group of good samaritans religiously sit every summer at busiest crossings across the city and offer cool water to commuters sweating buckets under the searing weather.
Seventy seven-year-old Bankey Lal Maheshwari, chief of Sri Nath ji Nishulk Jal Sewa, who has been spearheading the initiative, said, “The service was first started in early 1980s, but was expanded in 1987 after a tragic train accident drove city residents to help the injured and offer them water at Raja ki Mandi railway station.”
At present, there are more than 42 such kiosks around the city, which are run by volunteers. Interestingly, Jal Sewa is not a registered body and primarily depends on people’s contribution. Besides water kiosks, Mahehwari has also installed 101 ice boxes in front of many business establishments.
“Many business houses and residents come to me and promise to provide daily requirement of water. We open kiosks at such places. Generally, it is the older people who volunteer for work. The elderly brave the heat but sit at kiosks all day to offer water to people,” Maheshwari added.
A little amount of Kewra (pandanus flower) water is mixed to give it a distinct, pleasant smell.
However, the work of providing water to people is not as straight forward as it seems. Maheshwari has to keep a tab on the inventory. “Every year, we lose around 55 drums each costing Rs 400 and 1,200 mugs priced at Rs 10 each. There is no help from the administration, but we continue to provide our services,” he added.
However, Maheshwari and his team’s effort does not go in vain – what they get in return for their endeavor is public appreciation. “What Jal Sewa is doing is great. The Jal Sewa maintains a high standard of hygiene at every kiosk,” said Sandeep Sharma, who works at Sanjay Place.
Surendra Sharma, 70, said, “Agra faces problem of water scarcity. So there could not be a better way to serve the society. Every day hundreds of people benefit from this service.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Agra / by Aditya Dev / TNN / May 03rd, 2016
IIT-K boy develops kettle that uses app to brew tea
If you are still brewing tea in a kettle then it’s time for you to switch to a tea maker that will make your brewing experience tech savvy.
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur’s (IIT-K) Sachin Np has designed Ocha 2.0, a customisable tea maker which uses a mobile application to brew tea to suit the user’s taste buds and can be scheduled to keep a cup ready.
“Not everyone prefers the same tea that we get from a vending machine. Now, this is not a problem anymore. Brewing tea is now an art. In the case of Ocha 2.0, I have redefined the rules as art follows technology,” Sachin said.
His kettle is loaded with options such as customising and scheduling the tea as and when the user wants it to be ready. So, one can boil the water at the particular temperature they want and set an alarm the night before to keep the tea ready.
“It can be operated by the user in two different ways. Either with the help of the mobile application that comes along with the product or with the help of the user interface embedded onto the product. The kettle comes with a central display console comprising a display button placed right at the centre of the console that helps in selecting the various options in the menu,” he says.
It also has a control dial along with two push buttons that are embedded on its either side. The application also makes it possible to operate Ocha remotely with the help of Internet of things.
According to Sachin, brewing tea is a play between tea dust, infusion rate, the quantity of milk and the amount of sugar to give a cup of perfect tea. The existing tea makers are totally void of customisation, as even sugar and strength of tea is difficult to manipulate, he says.
“It also kills the spice up factor called aroma. Ocha 2.0 is a jack of all trades. It doesn’t miss out on any of these and is a cocktail of all the conventional brewing experiences. Opinion differs from one person to the other and so is the taste,” he says.
His prototype of the kettle, which he developed within a year, helped him win A’ Design Award and Competition, the world’s largest design competition recognising the best designs, concepts, products and services.
“I believe design lies in everything that makes a user not to let think of its design. The design should be always like a fluid for a user that just flows flawlessly,” he said.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Lucknow / Rajeev Mullick, Hindustan Times,Lucknow / May 02nd, 2016