My
Dear Student Friends,
Greetings!
This is Dr. Ravi Saripalle, Founder, Inspire to Innovate (i2i) Storytelling
Movement. Welcome to “Letter
to Student Series- Volume 3 and Issue 2”. Hope you enjoyed reading my
previous letter (they are available at http://i2itm.blogspot.in/). The goal of these letters is to
inspire, educate, engage, entertain and empower students across the country and
make them Future Ready.
Methanol as a fuel to Ships: Hon'ble Minister for Road Transport
& Highways, Shipping and Water Resources announced that Government is
planning to make ships run on methanol. You might be wondering why Methanol ( CH3OH)?
Methanol is cheaper and clean! Methanol can be developed using carbon dioxide
and it is game changing technology! Also, it is indigenous fuel available in
our country. You might ask, why we need to improve our water ways? Why Hon'ble
minister is stressing the need for water ways! Interesting statistics provide
us answer-Cost of road travel is ~Rs 1.50 per KM, rail travel cost Rs 1,
whereas by water it will work out for 20 paisa!!In china logistics cost is
8-10%, Europe 12-14% where as India 18%. There is need for reducing this cost
by improving water ways and developing alternative fuels like methanol. We also
need to develop technology to produce Methanol from agricultural waste and
municipal waste material. India needs inventions and innovators to work on this
perpetual energy problems.(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/shipping-/-transport/ships-in-india-soon-may-run-on-methanol-nitin-gadkari/articleshow/60926472.cms;http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/
methanol-a-clean-cheaper-fuel/article19397706.ece).Now question arises, how safe is Methanol?
As per Dr. Robert Zubrin, Methanol is safer than gasoline as it is less
inflammable. It is biodegradable. Hence consequences of a spill is lesser
than petroleum products. (http://energy.agwired.com/2006/02/13/ethanol-vs-methanol/).
It has lower
production cost. Methanol remains in a liquid state, hence infrastructure
investment costs are low compared to Liquefied natural gas (LNG). My dear
student innovators and startups, Don't you think, it is promising research
topic and business idea? Will you take up?
Rechargeable Magnesium based
Eco-Friendly battery: Indian
Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) developed magnesium based battery,
replacing highly toxic Lead acid battery. It is not only eco friendly but also
cost effective. It used modified natural graphite as cathode, magnesium as
anode and ionic liquid electrolyte. These elements are abundantly available and
safe to operate. It is estimated to have 2-3 years shelf life. Lead exposure
can potentially damage brain, kidney, hearing and cognitive learning in
children. (http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/rechargeable-magnesium-battery-developed-at-iict-hyderabad-1409994822-1).
"Children
who are exposed to levels of lead (>10 ug/dl) are at increased risk for
cognitive and behavioral problems during development (http://www.mwph.org/programs/lead-treatment/effects)". The other problems could be
delayed language, poor speech articulation, hyper activity, problems while
paying attention, poor social relationships, aggression etc. Ideally we should
make house lead safe. In past, houses were painted using lead. Now it is kind
of banned practice but still some old houses hold it. Some painted toys,
furniture, cosmetics, food containers, water bottles etc are potential risky
products (please make sure that they are lead free). You also make sure that
water is not passing through lead pipes.
Dear Chemical/Chemistry students, it could be potentially consulting
opportunity to you. You can visit houses and conduct lead safety assessment. Help
families and Nations to grow!
Battle On Obesity : Obesity
is much dangerous than terrorism! It has psychological, social and economic
implications on individual as well as on the state. It has to be
methodologically uprooted. Recently I was reading an article on how obesity
linked diseases would cost India $13 billion by 2025! (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/obesity-linked-illnesses-to-cost-india-13bnyr-by-25/articleshow/61048217.cms). My dear friends, Can you imagine? Do
you let it happen without any social responsibility? Childhood obesity is big
menace in the society today. Less on the play ground, no physical exercise,
fear to let them on streets, hooking to video games, mobile phones and
television are making it happen. Globally it would cost $1.2 trillion per year
by 2025.
This article presents interesting
fact. While we have child obesity, globally more children remain underweight
too! Today India is facing twin challenge of obesity-underweight/under
nourishment!
Dear Students, Hope you have taken following Future
readiness assessment. The last question is "how much time you are spending
on physical activity". Reduce your exposure to games and mobile apps.
Automatically you are bound to do some or other physical activity. It saves
your health, focus, determination and attitude. I request you to adhere to
following formula and build yourself healthy and build your nation healthy.
Request
you to answer the following five questions and calculate your Future
Readiness.
1.
I read / hear stories
of amazing people
(A) weekly once (10 marks)
(B) monthly once (5
marks) (C) Irregular
reading (2 marks) (D)Not Interested
(0 marks)
2.
I write letter
/ mail to my mentor (other than parents) for guidance (professional /
personal)
(A) every 6 months (10 marks) (B) yearly
once (5 marks)
(C) Irregular writing (2 marks) (D)Not Interested
(0 marks)
3.
I practice my passion
or natural intelligence (to know your
intelligence https://goo.gl/vgyD54)
(A) weekly 4 hours (10 marks) (B) weekly
2 hours (5 marks)
(C) Irregular practice (2 marks) (D)Not Interested
(0 marks)
4.
I manage my academics
with consistent percentage or grade
(A) A Grade and above (10
marks) (B) B Grade and
above (5 marks) (C) C
Grade or below (2 marks) (D)Consistent
Failure (0 marks)
5.
I do physical
activity and maintain good health
(A) weekly 4 hours (10 marks) (B)
weekly 2 hours (5 marks)
(C) Irregular practice (2 marks) (D)Not
Interested (0 marks)
|
Check
Your Score and Title
|
I wish you should be either
Performer (your score should be between 40-50) or Challenger
(your score should be between 25-40). You should not give any scope to be Lounger (relaxed) with 10-25 score or Laggard
(slower than desired) with score less than 10.
Urban Planning- New Type of Jobs,
Entrepreneurship :
Dear Students, Recently I came across a NGO called Hyderabad Urban Lab. Idea is
to provide research services / policy advocacy in terms of urban waste
management, housing, traffic management, water management, sewage planning, Swacch
Bharat planning, urban environment planning, public welfare schemes planning etc.
Essentially it deals with technical and political process of urban management.
I believe there are umpteen number of opportunities if we plan right. Do we
have any alternative models to manage toilets in terms of water & waste! Is
standalone toilet better or mobile community toilet better? Do you think mobile
recreation halls or mobile plug & play playgrounds can work in urban setting where
children need facilities at specific time and specific days? How to provide
safe eco-friendly bicycle paths in busy traffic prone urban setting? Do you
think low cost Mono Bicycle Paths at elevated pitch solve this problem
(safe, cost effective and less congestion)? In the recent times, we have seen
many cities getting marooned due to heavy rain falls. We witnessed many lakes
overflowing. Do you think we need to plan for linkage of city lakes? Can the
current sewage lines strong enough to handle the spurt of water force? Think
few more problems and build your next opportunity right next to your door! Are
you game?
India StoEduTain 680 Series: Theatre
for Kids and Teens (Similar to TED Type of storytelling sessions): TED talks are inspiring, thought
provoking, idea germinating, vision setting! Do you agree? Please do visit https://www.ted.com.I am requesting government to setup
TED type of theaters in every district across India (680 theater clubs),
identify people who made impact in various domains (agriculture, healthcare, environment,
energy, livelihood, education etc) and make a provision for short storytelling
talks of grassroots innovators/social change makers. Infact every school /
college should create such model, identify storytelling day and celebrate that
day. It will discharge positive vibrations and build innovation eco-system. We
should create platform called " India StoEduTain 680 Series",
a combination of Story+Education+Entertainment, which should be established
across 680+ districts of India. This Project helps in building positive
dreams and act as catalyst to people
aspirations (deep diving of winning hearts). We should also make students write
their vision statement for life and publish their vision statements. This
becomes good reminder for them to plan their future right and execute right!
Are you Future Ready?
My Dear Friends, Appreciate your valuable time. Ideas
are good. However, we should take these ideas to next level. Micro research
should start at the age of 10-15 years itself. This is the time schools should
identify those budding innovators, isolate them, group them, provide proper
ecosystem and invest in them. If we can do this activity, we will see best
results in 5 years time. Employability gets eradicated to the core. Future
becomes bright. Hope you all agree. See you in my next letter. Thank you for
giving me this wonderful opportunity. You can also reach to me at sdindia2020@gmail.com I am happy to respond to your letter.
With Best Wishes,
Dr.
Ravi Saripalle
About Author: Dr. Ravi Saripalle is Founder of Inspire
to Innovate (i2i) Storytelling Movement and Director, Center for
Innovation, GVP College of Engineering (A), Vizag, AP, India. As part of Inspire
to Innovate (i2i) Storytelling Movement, Dr.Ravi is trying to instill
inspiration through spreading positive stories of amazing people in the form of
short stories, embedding them in the form of letters (epistolary form) and
sending them to thousands of schools, colleges, universities districts
administration across India. Also conducting Storytelling Workshops in select institutions.
Providing customized mentoring to inspired students. Dr. Ravi is having 18
years of experience in Industry, Consultancy, Training, Mentoring and Research.
Prior to this current mission, Ravi worked with Wipro Technologies for more
than a decade. Ravi can be reached at sdindia2020@gmail,com or http://i2itm.blogspot.in/ or https://www.facebook.com/i2istorytellingmovement/
Previous letters are available at http://i2itm.blogspot.in/
Disclaimer: The goal of this i2iSM letter series
campaign is to inspire students / youth through storytelling and develop
innovative leaders to build strong nation. In this process, I have taken
several data points from various websites, NEWS articles, books, videos etc. I
sincerely thank all the editors for providing such an insightful stories and
information. To the best of my knowledge, I tried to acknowledge all the
sources. I sincerely apologize for any omissions, grammatical mistakes and
hurting any reader’s sentiments. I request all the readers to understand the spirit
behind this effort. This effort doesn’t involve any commercials. Letter series
is for free distribution.
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