Ushering in social change through 'Jugaad' 23 innovations in Siemens' award shortlist aim to do just that

One dollar glasses, sleeping bag incubators for newborns, internet solutions through sms – these are but few examples of frugal engineering or ‘jugaad’ that aim to plug the gaps faced by the less privileged groups in developing countries.

These are also part of the 23 shortlists from over 800 submissions for the Siemens Stiftung ‘empowering people. Award’, which aims to recognise technological innovations that could bring about social change.

One of the shorlists – Thermpod – by US-based company Embrace seeks to provide a low-cost and energy efficient incubator to prevent hypothermia among newborns. WHO estimates show that about 15 million babies are born prematurely every year. Of these, 85% of all premature births take place in developing nations. Most of these kids could be saved by keeping infants warm in the first few days after birth, says the company.  

Then there are one dollar glasses made from spring steel mires, biogas and water purification solutions, portable solar chargers, soil mapping system, wheelchairs to traverse extremely rough terrains, funnels to prevent wastage of water, polymer-based prosthetics among others in the shortlist.

The lone Indian shortlist – ‘smsgyan’ - aims to provide the benefits of internet to people through sms. Majority of Indians have access to mobile phones but not internet, we intend to bridge this divide, says Deepak Ravindran of Innoz Technologies. The user search query is sent via sms, scanned on the web, shortened and sent back to the user for 0.01 euro per sms or 0.30 euro flat rate per month.

Rolf Huber, Managing Director of the Siemens Stiftung says, “Entries provide access to water, energy, health, education and communication in a practicable and cost-efficient manner. They also create opportunities for the establishment of small businesses, new ways of generating income and improvements in daily life”

Voting for the 23 shortlists for a community prize is now open on the website: http://www.empowering-people-award.siemens-stiftung.org. Winners of this prize will receive freely selectable technical equipment to the value of 3,000 Euros for their project.

Besides, an international jury will announce the top three winners of the Siemens Stiftung award at a ceremony in Nairobi on 30 October. The first three winners will recieve 50,000, 30,000 and 20,000 euros respectively.  The remaining 20 will get 5,000 euros each.

An online platform will also be developed to connect inventors with potential investors and multipliers.

A list of the shortlists for the Siemens Stiftung award:

1)    Score StoveTM 2: Power production through acoustic oscillations
2)    Eliodomestico: Affordable water distillation system using solar energy
3)    Leveraged Freedom Chair: Wheelchair for rough ground
4)    SMSGYAN – Information & Communication: Offline internet research service via SMS
5)    BioGas Backpack: Portable carrier allows transport of valuable biogas
6)    SimGas GesiShamba rural biogas digester: Affordable rural biogas digester
7)    ROTOR – Swimming power plant: Floating hydropower
8)    Jompy Water Boiler: Heats water, kills bacteria
9)    Sun Saluter: Solar tracking & water filtration in one simple device
10)    River Ice – Cooling system: Cooling system with turbine in flowing water
11)    BioGas Backpack: Portable carrier allows transport of valuable biogas
12)    Mapeo de Napas con Georadar: Soil research innovation
13)    Mobile Solar Cellphone charger: Transportable charger
14)    MakaPads Sanitary pads: Locally-made biodegradable sanitary pads
15)    OneDollarGlasses: Specs for one dollar crafted manually empowering people
16)    OpenIR : Democratizing Infrared Satellite Data
17)    ReMotion Knee: Polycentric prosthetic knee for amputees
18)    ElectroChemical Arsenic Remediation: Vital water purification
19)    Solar reflectors: Solar energy for cooking
20)    Solarkiosk: Power for remote regions
21)    The Fish Farm: Micro-intensive process for sustainable fish production
22)    Thermpod: Sleeping bag incubator with reusable heat pads
23)    Pee Poo: Recyclable single-use toilet bags removing bacteria

People of the week: Prof. Ashish Nanda (Director: IIM-A)

After Harvard Business School, Nanda is back at his alma mater and wants the institute to connect well internationally

What would most people in their twenties do if they had the option of either taking up a job at Delhi's Patparganj or accepting an invitation from the Harvard Business School (HBS) to join its economics PhD programme? The answer should be a no-brainer, but around 25 years ago, Ashish Nanda was more inclined towards the former for three reasons: one, Tata Motors (then TELCO) offered him a promotion to head the company's newly set up facility at Patparganj; two, his wife was working in India; and, three, his parents were based in Delhi and he was the only child, writeShyamal Majumdar and Vinay Umarji.

But Nanda had underestimated Harvard's persuasive powers. The school wrote to him, suggesting he should fly down to Boston and get a feel of the place. He had never flown out of the country before and was amazed that one of the world's top schools even bothered to send business-class tickets and put him up in a hotel even though he was just one of the many applicants to the school from all over the world. But those luxuries still looked like small change after he went to the campus. "I felt I was among some of the world's best thinkers. I had read their books and now I was actually talking with them. The loyalty I feel towards Harvard begins with that gesture on their part. They invested in me and believed in me", Nanda, now in his mid-fifties, says.

Harvard, of course, had reasons for this investment and belief: Nanda was an extraordinary student at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi and the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, having twice won the President of India Gold Medal and the IIM Director's Gold Medal, besides being a member of the coveted Tata Administrative Service with five years of stellar track record.

We are at the canteen located at the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Management Development Centre within the IIM-A campus. Nanda, who took charge as director of his alma mater earlier this month, spent the first few seconds apologising for the barely five-minute delay on his part. The stewards inform us while orange juice, pineapple rasam soup and hara bhara kebab will be served on the table, the rest will be buffet.

We shift our conversation to his appointment at IIM-A, a process that lingered for a long time and also impacted Nanda personally as his wife wasn't able to join him. The institute approached him, he says, just before his visit to India for a reunion of the 1983 batch. But he wasn't too sure whether he could relocate to India. His wife is a successful dentist in Massachusetts and a professor at Tufts Dental School and he had just recently managed to convince his parents to shift to the US. But his wife was insistent, as apart from the fact that their son was just starting his medical education at Columbia, she felt "some economic discount or sacrifice" was worth it for a meaningful assignment in their home country at this juncture of his life.

The extent of the financial discount he has taken has been a matter of much speculation, but Nanda refuses to be drawn into any discussion on his compensation as that's not a very important factor "when you want to serve". We get the message and head for the buffet counter.

Nanda ensures he knows what he is eating. So, while a paneer do pyaza and carrot beans poriyal are easy picks, a gutti wonkai koora does test our culinary knowledge. "What's this?" Nanda asks a steward. "It's a South Indian dish, Sir," comes the reply. "But what does it contain?" Nanda persists. The steward excuses himself to find an answer and isn't seen again. The dish looks like a stuffed brinjal curry, which all of us decide to ignore. Hot rotis are served on the table.

One of the reasons for the delay in his appointment - the process took over six months - was the need for a background check. The story goes that trailing a professor abroad proved to be a difficult task for the intelligence agencies more used to following terrorists. Nanda doesn't say much, except that his wife would often pull his leg by saying, "See that car over there. There must be people watching us with binoculars".

Nanda had been teaching at the HBS for 13 years when then-Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan and vice-dean David Wilkins approached him in 2007 with an unusual idea. Kagan, the future US Supreme Court justice, wanted Nanda to move to the law school to start a first-of-its-kind executive-education programme for practising attorneys. The idea appealed to him, though he says he was somewhat of an odd duck in the law school since he had no legal background. The law school obviously backed the right horse since the course has become one of the most sought after for lawyers all over world.

The main course is over pretty fast and the stewards serve jalebis and fruits. Nanda says a lot has changed at IIM-A in the 30 years since his student days. But what hasn't is the fabulous quality of students. Another thing - he terms it a puzzle - that hasn't changed much is the size of faculty. During his student days, IIM-A had 70 to 80 faculty members for 180 students, which now stands at 100 for 480 students. He also remembers with some fondness how the signature Louis Kahn Plaza and even the shadows have remained the same in the old campus.

So, what's his agenda for the next five years for the institute? For one, he wants the institute to connect well internationally - something that goes beyond student exchange programmes. "I wish that people outside are more aware of the quality of people here and the quality of education they go through, and that people here are able to contribute to cutting-edge discussions on issues of managerial importance on a global level," he says.

The second item on his agenda is to try and create an enabling environment for IIM-A teachers and students to achieve their best potential. That includes attracting and retaining bright youngsters to academics as a profession and IIM-A as a home. "If you want to get people who are at the top of the game, you have to create a nurturing environment, of which compensation is a significant part. So, if I had a magic wand, I would say we should give schools the autonomy to compensate faculty in a manner they feel is competitive with the rest of the world," Nanda says.

Lastly, he would love to increase the diversity of students - 95 per cent of IIM-A students are engineers, unlike Harvard where students come from a wide variety of backgrounds. As a solution, he wants a system where IIM-A "recruits" in addition to "selecting" students, just as what Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) did a few years ago in its drive to attract more women students. The world's best engineering institute decided to reach out to talented women students and tell them "we are hungry to get you". Apart from giving scholarships to deserving students, MIT also reached out to its alumni to identify women role models who could be showcased. "MIT did all this because it realised that its overall education is not going to be of the best quality if it doesn't get the best minds from all sources," Nanda says, adding IIM-A also needs to publicise alumni from non-traditional backgrounds who have gone on to do wonderful things and reach out to potential students in all disciplines.

That's quite a formidable task, but the professor isn't finished as yet. One of his other priorities would be not to remain just an administrator and do what he has done best over the past 20 years of his life - that is teaching. "A captain also has to score runs if he has to earn real respect among his peers," Nanda says with a laugh, before rushing off to a class.

IIM-A is a hidden jewel, Nanda had said a few days before taking charge. The jewel will surely get a lot of polish over the next five years of the professor's tenure.

Mega bailout likely for road sector

The plan for a government bailout for highways looks set to swell to Rs 1,51,000 crore. The road transport and highways ministry might consider a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) proposal to include 16 more projects for rescheduling of premium payments, if the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decides to first provide a one-time relief for 23 others.

CCEA would soon consider a proposal to reschedule premium payment worth Rs 98,000 crore, to be paid by private concessionaires to NHAI for 23 projects. If 16 more are approved for reconsideration, another Rs 53,000 crore of premium payment due to be paid to NHAI would need to be rescheduled.

Larsen & Toubro, IDFC, Ashoka Buildcon and Oriental Structural Engineers were among the 16 firms hoping to be considered for premium rescheduling, said an official. NHAI has been holding meetings with officials in the ministry to take up the case of these 16 projects, too.

FAST LANE AHEAD

23: Number of projects NHAI board had earlier approved for premium rescheduling; the roads ministry had forwarded the request to the finance ministry Approval: The matter is now awaiting clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Rs 98,000 crore: Total premium to be rescheduled 16: Number of projects NHAI now wants to be included in the scheme Rs 53,000 crore: Additional Premium payment for rescheduling Breather: Rescheduling not to affect the total payout, seen as only a breather for the industry

"We can look at providing relief to the projects if CCEA agrees to reschedule premium in the first place. This is a one-time relief and not a policy, so we are hoping they agree," a senior ministry official told Business Standard.

According to the norms, once a project is awarded to a concessionaire, it has to complete land acquisition and take clearances from the environment & forests ministry. The developer has to tie up funds, beside meeting other norms. Once the latter are achieved, an appointed date for start of construction is said to have been achieved. The issue regarding these 16 has emerged after the developers achieved their appointed dates.

"The finance ministry has recommended that we conduct a stress test to find who are in real trouble and have a valid point. With regard to the 16 projects, we feel they need some help and we will see what we can do from our side," the official added.

Premium is the amount a concessionaire pays NHAI for a BoT (build-operate-transfer) project, as it feels the returns are expected to be very high. This is usually decided on the basis of future traffic flow at the time of bidding.

The ministry is considering a rescheduling of the premiums to give a breather to companies for a few years, given the current slowdown in the economy. According to the plan, concessionaires are expected to pay less premium for a few years and then raise the amount, without affecting the total payment.

"Basically, it's a breather, so that we can kick-start the projects. Once traffic picks up, they can pay back a higher amount in the future. At this point, we need these measures to encourage private-sector investments," an NHAI official said.

At its board meeting, NHAI had proposed 23 projects be considered for premium rescheduling and sent a request for this to the road transport ministry. Following concerns raised by the other project concessionaires, NHAI requested that the remaining companies also be added to the list.

The move to restructure premiums was proposed against the backdrop of some private infrastructure firms pulling out of road projects due to delays in regulatory clearances, such as land acquisition and environment approvals.

"Except a few cases, there is actually no need for premium restructuring. The government has taken a number of steps to ensure the private sector is not affected and it's the companies that are at fault, as they anticipated the economy would continue to grow at the same pace. There are some genuine cases where, for reasons such as a ban on mining, the traffic flow has fallen. Otherwise, there is no genuine reason for all companies to seek rescheduling," another ministry official said.

Great Speech on Democracy

http://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_barber_why_mayors_should_rule_the_world.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2013-09-21&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=talk_of_the_week_buttonhttp://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_barber_why_mayors_should_rule_the_world.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2013-09-21&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=talk_of_the_week_button