Kalyan Verma - an Engineer to BBC Earth Champion

The co founder of peepli.org, a collaborative effort on long form visual story telling on crucial environmental issues as well as the co founder of India Nature Watch, an online community dedicated to wildlife photography - Kalyan Verma needs no introduction at all. A film maker, specialist in environment and Science and an eminent Wildlife photographer - Kalyan is known for his passion for nature photography.

Childhood Days

For Kalyan ,wildlife photography was a childhood dream which got manifested now. Right from childhood days, he was spending hours sticking to television ,watching wildlife programs on BBC Earth and National Geographic. He was mesmerized by observing these programs. Soon he realized that this was something which was giving him an opportunity to explore the wonderful wildlife and reveal it in front of everyone. " As I remember, I loved wild life from my childhood days and was kindly interested in photography. " Kalyan says. However as belonging to a middle class family ,he was not having the choice to follow an unconventional career , so he completed his mechanical engineering from Bengluru and started his career from Yahoo.

Transition in Career

In 2001, he joined Yahoo and worked as Security Division Head there. He also worked for open source software and LINUX community in India. During his job in Yahoo, he enjoyed his work a lot and was also awarded by 'Superstar Award ' which is presented only to 10 selected candidates all over the world. He was promoted and also sent to US but his heart was swinging in photography only so he finally quit his job in 2004 for his passion.

Migrating to the Wild

When Kalyan left his job, he decided to follow his dream and turned up to nature photography. He packed his bag and  migrated to B R Hills, a small wildlife sanctuary amidst dense forests in South Karnataka. He started understanding the relationship of human beings with nature and photographed many natural events. In his endeavor, he was helped a lot by Soligas, a community of local people living in wild for centuries. In this process, he got many valuable experiences and his entire vision about nature got transformed. As per Kalyan " we live in a country where we need protected areas. Our relationship with nature is very bad."

Royalty Free photos

As photography was a true falling for Kalyan, he took a breakthrough decision of keeping his photographs free. When he was in college, he was much inspired by the idea of free software and creative commons as these tools can be much beneficial for all. As per Kalyan, the idea of creative commons is wonderful in itself as you are putting forward your creative work in front of others for free so that they can consume it and improve also. Inspired by this idea, Kalyan has made his 10000 + photos on internet free which are ready to be used anywhere. He is not charging anything for them. He firmly believes that the people eventually pay you for your services.

His Works

As a child, Kalyan craved for being a part of a filming team. His dream came true when BBC asked him to work with them. Since then, he has worked both for BBC and National Geographic on many of their Blue chip programs. Kalyan has photographed lion tail monkeys which are found in Western Ghats in South India whose population is only 2000 worldwide. In his project, when he photographed them in an album and sent it to the project engineer showing that how their project was killing the monkeys, the construction work was stopped. He also documented several crucial wildlife projects namely Million snake bites and secrets of wild India and Mountain of the Monsoons. He also freelanced with Lonely Planet ,GEO, The Guardian ,Nature and Smith Sonian. 

Setting up World's largest Photography Platform

Kalyan is the co founder of India Nature Watch, the largest online photography community in the world. Decades ago when Kalyan started his work, he found that many other photographers were doing amazing work in nature photography but had no platform to share their work. Along with three other co-founders ,he created a web platform to share their wildlife photos and built a flourishing community around it. It has an active member base of 10000 + members with thousands of photos shared everyday. He also formed peepli.org, a collaborative visual story telling platform focusing on critical environmental issues  . He has now turned up to photo journalism by filming various landscapes changing over the years and making people aware about them.

Awards

Kalyan has been awarded with Century Wildlife photographer of the year 2005 and BBC Wildlife photographer of the year 2013. He has also got National Film Award for best exploration or adventure film for movie Wild Karnataka. His documentary on the Sundarbans Tiger for the BBC series super cats was nominated for the Emmys. He regularly give lectures on digital and nature photography. 

Passion has no body but only wings. It can create wonders. Kalyan Verma is a perfect example of it!

 Tondra - The Organic Village of Jharkhand

The organic revolution is now becoming a familiar face to the country. One such inspiring story comes from a small village from relatively less known state of India - Jharkhand. The 12 villages of Jharkhand including Kasamar and Jaridih near Bokaro are on the path of organic farming. The 1200 acres of land in these villages don't use any kind of chemical fertilizer for farming and the leader of all of them is Tondra village of Bhaski Panchayat near Bokaro.  

Going Organic

The first totally organic village of Jharkhand near Bokaro has a population of about 1200 people. Out of which nearly half of the population - 600 people are farmers. These farmers have not only initiated organic farming in their fields and successfully growing crops but also demotivated other farmers nearby to use chemical fertilizers. The impact seen was quite majestic which revolutionized the lives of people there.

Start of a Change

Noonibala Devi of Tondra  recalls " under the guidance of Agriculture Scientist M S Swaminathan, the leader of Green Revolution ,we took it on a serious note to adopt organic farming and related practices when he told us about the severe consequences and harm done to the environment due to use of chemicals". 

She elaborates " Our village panchayat Bhaski put up the slogan "No chemical ,go chemical" for the first time in the region. In village Bhaski itself, a total of 125 acres of land is cultivated under organic farming. It includes paddy ,maize , tuar daal and vegetables. Vegetables are grown on a large scale organically in the village.  

The Sarpanch of village Mantu Marandi and Ex Sarpanch Sunita Kumari are both very active. Sunita attends every meeting related to organic farming. Panchanan Mehto of Durgapur Panchayat says that we have totally adopted this beautiful practice to conserve our land and water resources realizing its power.

Consequences of Organic Farming

Organic farming have started leaving its positive results now. Due to this practice, not only the biodiversity of the village has enhanced but there is a remarkable improvement in the overall health of the villagers also. The women told that there is no one in the village who is seriously ill. 10 -15 years ago, people were suffering from cold and cough only however during covid period ,3 cases of diabetes were also detected in the village. After adoption of organic farming, their glucose levels have improved drastically. There are no cesarean deliveries is in the village .Moreover the village children also rarely become ill !

Effect on Farming

Initially the farmers have to work hard and invest more but they start getting benefits within eight months. Contrary to chemical fertilizers, whose intake has to be increased continuously year by year, the use of organic manure decreases with the increasing time span as they replenish the soil naturally. Although the production increases to 10% of its present value using chemical fertilizers but 15% product decompose or rot also . Moreover they degrade the health also. One such result was clearly seen in the village by the presence of tomatoes in the month of may when the flowers of tomatoes were shed away all over the state and tomato prices were raised. 

The villagers have firm belief that it's only a matter of attitude. If someone is dedicated to adopt organic farming ,he has to just change his mindset and the amazing results are in front of everyone through the example set by Tondra village of Jharkhand. Infact ,it is a perfect example of team spirit and community service !

 IITians to Make Face Recognition Software

The students of IIT Bhilai have got splendid success by designing face recognition software which can prove to be a landmark in the history of  smart policing. It can prove to be very beneficial to police in identifying and catching the criminals and finding their location. 

Introduction

All the students who have designed the software belong to IIT Bhilai. They include Vipin Gautam ,Vansh Raj Singh, Shubham Bhagat, Raja Singh and Pratham Sahu. All of them are the students of second semester in IIT Bhilai in computer science branch. Along with their efforts, they also took the help of police experts for making this software. After successful completion of designing of software a , successful demo was also given in front of police officials. 

The Software

The software first has to be uploaded with photo and data of the criminals and then to be connected with a camera. Even a rough sketch of the criminal downloaded in the software can identify the original person as soon as it comes in contact with the camera. The most wonderful feature of the software is that even if the person faces the camera by changing the get up, then also the camera will identify the person with the help of software and will inform to the control room immediately. As per students, this is the first ever software in the country which sends immediate message to the control room after identifying the accused. 

The Technology Behind

Student Vipin Gautam told that a person has roughly 64 such points on his or her face which are not matching with anybody's face. The software has been prepared on this basic principle only. The software recognizes the accused by scanning those 64 points in his or her face which has to be uploaded in the software. The activity and ways of movement are also the additional factors which contribute to the recognition of the accused. Even if the system is uploaded with thousands of photos ,the software can identify the particular accused amongst them.

Successful Demonstration

So far the software has an arrangement that it can provide response within the range of data stored in the software only. The students have successfully demonstrated the software in front of present Superintendent of police Divyang Patel. The demonstration was done at a large scale by uploading the photos of police corps in the software. As soon as they faced the camera, they were identified and message was sent to the control room. The software is in use by police now. 

Innovations need for creative call and a small support to get unveiled publicly. This story is a perfect example of it !

 Rajiben Vankar - The Artisan Entrepreneur

Rajiben Vankar, a renowned artisan and entrepreneur from Kutch, Gujarat is the face for all women who amidst all odds, are changing their lives and contributing to the progress of nation as well. Rajiben is a noted personality in the field of weaving as she is creating beautiful handicraft products from discarded plastic and so far upcycled 100,0000 single use plastic bags. She is not only saving the environment from hazards of plastic but also empowering women. The tagline of her brand is 'crafting a better planet.'

Childhood

Rajiben belongs to the Vankar community of Kutch which has been practicing loom weaving for centuries in the dry landscape of Bhuj in Kutch. Her home was in Kotay village along the shore of grand Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. In her childhood days ,she was keenly interested in weaving as she saw her family members weaving beautiful woolen clothes on loom. Although weaving was considered as no woman job, seeing her interest for weaving, her cousins secretly taught her weaving when her father went for farming on a small piece of ancestral land. By the age of 14, she was an expert in weaving. 

In 2020,when there was a severe drought in Kutch and her father faced great losses in agriculture ,it posed a big problem for their livelihood. It was a total surprise for her father when she told him that she knew weaving. He finally gave her permission to start weaving with acrylic wool on the loom.

Hardships in Life

She got married at the age of 18. Very soon she was a mother of two boys and one girl in quick succession however she was denied from weaving due to societal norms and traditions. In 2007 ,her husband got a cardiac arrest at the age of 30 and passed away leaving family responsibilities on her. 

She was in absolute shock. Being mentally broken and financially burdened, she was unable to brought up her three children so she shifted to Avadh Nagar where her elder sister resided. Unable to pay the rent, she put up a bamboo tent and started working as a farm labour to support her family. Rajiben was however not enjoying her work.

Turning to Weaving

Working as a farm labour for 2 years, she once heard of a local NGO Khamir which was providing platform to the heritage and crafts of Kutch region by providing employment to the artisans of the region. When Rajiben approached them they asked her to join and offered her a salary of rupees 3000 which was raised to rupees 10000 in the third year. Here came a U turn in her life! She was not only enjoying her work but meeting various people who were visiting the NGO to learn Kutch art and craft . She was praised much for her work. 

One day Rajiben got struck with an innovative idea that single use plastic bags which are discarded and simply polluting the environment can be upcycled and various items can be prepared from them through weaving. This will not only generate income but also reduce pollution.

Start of a New Journey

With this new approach, Rajiben started  collecting, cleaning and breaking down plastic bags into a form which can create new items. She trained 30 women for performing this whole process. Due to her innovative approach , she went to London to exhibit her weaving skills and showcase the products prepared from the upcycled plastic.

Initiating Her Own Enterprise

After her London trip, Rajiben realized that she can start her own enterprise. She united 30 women from nearby villages to prepare planters ,plastic bags, spectacle cases, pouches ,trays and other products on loom. She was however lagging design and marketing expertise. This gap was bridged by Kaarigar Clinic- an Ahmednagar based bussiness firm which connects urban buyers and rural artisans through technology. After training women across villages, she is also now creating products like yoga mats, laptop bags ,shopping bags and table mats also. Their annual revenue is about 10 lakhs.

From a Labour to President Award

After years of hard work, Rajiben is a successful entrepreneur leading a glorious life with two awards in her bag. She has been awarded with President award for her Social entrepreneurship in the field of weaving and saving environment and also bagged Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman as well. Her two sons have settled in corporates and her daughter has joined the loom business after graduation. Hats off to the lady with such a powerful will !

 Zero Circle

Ever heard of an algae entrepreneur ? Sounds incredible? Neha Jain, the founder of science startup 'Zero Circle' is in news for her innovative startup which aims at offering an eco friendly solution for the increasing plastic crisis by making eco friendly plastic films through sea weeds. 

The Professional Journey

Her professional journey is quite lucrative. From being a journalism student to her career in Google, she was quite innovative in nature. In year 2020 , she decided not to use plastic in the house when she was working as a tech consultant for a sustainability firm. She however realised that the changes cannot be brought on mass scale if it is implemented at the at the individual level but a noticeable change in carbon footprint can be brought about if this awareness is spread among the masses .This gave birth to the startup 'Zero Circle'.

The birth of Zero Circle

After leaving her job and saying no to plastic, Neha was in search of an eco friendly solution to the devastating plastics when she came across seaweeds. During her research ,she discovered these unique species that could change the whole scenario of plastic use in the country. This marine plants absolutely do not require any soil, freshwater or fertilizer to grow but they grow by their own. Moreover they act as cleansing agents of sea. In 2020 ,with a team of eminent environmentalists and scientists, the 'Zero Circle' came into existence. They started converting different species of seaweeds into low cost bio packaging films. They first procured sea weeds from sea shore and marine farms in Gujarat and Tamilnadu.

The Products

After processing sea weeds, they are turned into powder through proper technology and then used to make films for food preservation and packaging, handbags, tea bags and more. The most unique thing about these products are that they dissolve in the ocean without leaving any plastic, even in the micro form causing no harm to the environment. Zero circle provides packaging solutions which are 100% home compostable, marine safe ,food safe ,heat sealable and printable. They do not emit carbon dioxide or methane on degrading in the ocean.

Key Features

The Enterprise aims at finding energy efficient solutions, investing in renewable energy and reducing carbon footprint by using marine safe technology. They help the brands to go carbon neutral and find  sustainable solutions for their industries. They use locally sourced materials and use low cost green processing technology to produce carbon efficient solutions. There core belief is that seaweed based products possess the caliber to replace the traditional fossil fuel products. Moreover, the cultivation of seaweeds provides a secondary source of income to the locals also.

Awards

Zero Circle has won Tom Ford prize worth $1.2 million in the field of plastic innovation by converting seaweeds into biodegradable, sustainable packaging films. It comprises of of cash as well as direct investment which is launched by designer Tom Ford in collaboration with Lonely Whale in 2020. They are dedicated to find companies which are aiming at finding biodegradable alternatives to thin film plastics by utilizing marine waste for this purpose. They also help in scaling sourcing such enterprise.

innovations seek for patience, creativity and passion. Zero Circle is one of those examples!

 Puli Raju - the Man behind the Farmers

Puli Raju, government school teacher in the Siddipet district of Andhra Pradesh is a well known name for the farmers of Telangana, atleast not less than an angel. Raju, for more than two decades, is not only documenting the death of farmers by collecting their death certificates who were victims of suicidal death but also providing legal help and psychological counselling to their families. 

The family background

Puli Raju  himself belongs to a farming family that have 15 acres of land however he witnessed his family and family members struggling against changing crop patterns, water crisis, climate change and not getting the minimum support price for crops. His grandfather compelled his father for higher studies and to take a job. His father was unable to do so however Raju completed his Masters in Economics and became a government teacher. Her wife is also a government teacher. Whenever he finds time he visits his village in vacations and works with his siblings in fields.

The start of a mission

In year 2020, Raju decided to take a solid step to help the families of victim farmers when he read one report on farmers suicide in a newspaper . The article was written by his journalist friend only. He started meeting their families personally and prepared a list of about 1800 farmers with proper documentation like FIR, proof of Identity and death certificate. He then started filing compensation for them in High Court and was able to provide compensation to majority of them. Raju says that in 98% cases the court declines the compensation request and they are left hopeless and all alone due to lack of proper evidence and identity. The compensation was given to the owner only and not the family members. The major issue was documents like death certificate which proved that he was a farmer and undergone suicidal death. He is providing help to such farmer's families through private companies, corporates and personal help. Due to his consistent efforts a private company has under took the task of educating 40 such children.

Investigation

Raju found that nearly 27064 farmers committed suicide in Telangana alone between 1995 to 2014 in his investigation but when he filed RTI only 7000 farmers have got compensation. Moreover from 1999 to 2012 nearly 1474 farmers committed suicide as per records of National Crime Record Bureau but as per Raju this figure can be around 3000 as many deaths go unregistered due to lack of awareness. So far in his journey of 21 years, Raju has met family members of around 500 families of such suicidal cases by visiting door to door. 

He found that mostly those farmers committed suicide who were having debt between 3 lakhs to 6 lakhs rupees which was a considerably larger amount for them. Also 90% of these farmers were small or marginal formers not having their own land or having land less than 5 acres that's why they were entitled to get loans as small as 30000 rupees only from banks. They were then the victims of so called money lenders of their area.

The problem actually started from here. After the death of the head of the family ,the whole burden of upbringing of children was transferred to their wives or elders of family. Moreover they were also harassed by money lenders for money. The children also suffered as they dropped out from school and worked in field.

The Root cause of Problem

Recalling his childhood days, Raju says that they were using cow dung and droppings of goat ,sheep and pig to be used as manure but the picture changed when fertilizers came into existence. Gradually they depleted the land's natural fertility by replacing organic manures and left them barren with time. Moreover the price of fertilizers raised from 2 kg per acre to 6 to 7 kg per acre. 

Previously families used to store and reuse their own seeds for cultivation but this practice was declined as private companies came into picture which insisted farmers to buy poor quality seeds from them with the assurance of good yield. Most importantly Telangana is situated on the southern plateau where there is too much of water scarcity. Most of the bore wells have been dried with very less water supply facilities for the farmers. So the cost raised gradually however productivity went down . This was the major cause of farmers committing suicide. 

Awards

Raju has been awarded with Raithunesthm Foundation award in 2019 for his extraordinary service in the field of social work done for farmers. Puli Raju is not only providing psychological and financial support to them but also guiding the farmers towards alternating farming practices. He has helped around 2500 farmer families of Telangana so far. Hats off to the man with such an altruistic attitude cultivating hope and smiles in lives of people.

An Innovative Waste Management Startup - Swaaha

In year 2016, when Jwalant Shah and Rohit Agarwal laid the foundation of "Swaaha" , a Resource Management company and an innovative startup in the field of waste management, they themselves were not aware of the progress of this startup which has now become one of the leading startups of the country in the field of solid waste management. Later on in 2017 ,Sameer Sharma also joined the team as a mentor. Swaaha has developed a unique technique of waste management in which they are able to convert waste into compost at the site only and primary transportation of waste material is not needed for its processing. Recently Swaaha is in news as  it is leading Amarnath Yatra in association with Jammu and Kashmir Government to make it completely eco friendly. 

The Origin

Rohit Agarwal and Jwalant Shah  have completed their mechanical engineering  from IIT Indore. These former alumni of IIT Indore thought of initiating a startup on solid waste management and sustainability in year 2016 which was one of it's kind idea in the country at that time. It gains it's name from initials Swacch (clean) and Hara (green). The startup has been incubated from IIT Indore and startup India. Swaaha was initially started with a capital of rupees 50000 only and now it has a valuation of 75 crores. The municipal corporation Indore has also given special support and appreciation to this innovative startup.

The Technology Behind

Rohit and Jwalant along with their teacher Sameer Sharma have developed a unique technique of solid waste management in which the waste is processed at the same site from which it is collected and then it is carried to composting site of Swaaha after 10 to 12 days. They have developed a mobile van for waste processing when for this purpose also. One such mobile organic waste processing unit named "Havankund" is also launched at IIT Indore campus. This mobile van has a capacity to process 400 kg of waste in 1 hour and it has been specially designed to modify complete wet waste into compost. They have also presented a complete plan for making IIT Indore a total zero waste campus.

Achievements

Swaaha started it's journey by processing solid waste of shops located in Chappan Dukan area of Indore. Initially they charged 70 paisa to 2.5 rupees for composting per kg of solid waste. Initially there was only one mobile van however they are now serving 7 big hotels ,4 education centres and 15 townships in Indore with 4 mobile vans. Due to their innovative approach in the field of waste management, sustainable practices, ethical business practices and social impact by waste management an American company has invited Swaaha to demonstrate their solid waste management model and has signed an MOU with them whose pilot project has been already started. They have also been awarded as best smart city project in 2020.

From Indore to Amarnath

With a team of more than 350 volunteers and Safai Mitras, Swaaha is going to prevent waste from polluting the Himalayan region by making Amarnath Yatra completely eco friendly. 200 Kashmiri youth are also a part of this noble initiative. In Association with Indore city social media group, this innovative enterprise has started a unique Langar in Amarnath Yatra which will be totally powered by solar energy and biogas. Moreover a complete plan for composting food and solid waste during Amarnath Yatra is also proposed. For this purpose they have 13 campsites throughout the Yatra up to cave. 

An Exciting Innovation

Swaaha has yet another gem in their achievements as they have developed a machine that works without electricity at higher altitudes which can be carried to the mountains with the help of mules and horses. This wonderful machine for waste management needs very less maintenance and can be assembled quickly. To ensure proper waste management, Swaaha has also developed a software that provides real time data of any litter or waste throughout the journey with the help of a web app.

This innovative journey is a remarkable example of out of box thinking, innovative approach and right attitude towards solving a problem infront of today's youth. A great applause to them!