pranab mukherjee, former president of india...

02 INNOVATION

The former president of India Pranab Mukherjee presented Dr A P JAbdul Kalam IGNITE Awards 2019 to children from across the country

at Grambharti, near Gandhinagar, recently. This year, 21 studentsfrom nine states and Union Territories were awarded for their 18distinct innovations. Overall, more than 60,000 submissions werereceived from 544 districts of the country during the IGNITE 2019competition, held from September 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Thiscompetition is organised every year by the National Innovation

Foundation (NIF), India. Here are the winners and their innovations

SWADHA KRISHN, CLASS VII, DPS, BANGALORE, KARNATAKASWASTIK SITH, CLASS VI, KV, SAMBHALPUR, ODISHA

The duo got thinking when they noticed that while cleaningthe ceiling or fans, the dust often falls on the person clean-ing them. They came up with an idea of having an invert-ed umbrella-shaped attachment to the broom to collect dust.

Swastik says, “It saves both time and effort required for cleaning.”Swadha aspires to be a scientist and loves to do software coding,while Swastik loves nature and wishes to explore the space.

QUICK FINGER DUSTER FOR WHITE BOARDS

BAIBHAV PARINDA, CLASS VIII,DAV PUBLIC SCHOOL, ODISHA

Baibhav has designed auser-friendly toilet forthe blind, which canguide a person using

voice commands. Thinkingahead, he has suggested that thetiles in a toilet could be designedto facilitate movement and faucetscould be linked to artificial intelligence to control flow ofwater. Baibhav was inspired tomake this helpful innovation

after he saw a blind man struggling with his daily chores. “This canbring privacy and liberty to blind people”, he says.

ARCHIT ARYAMAN, CLASS IX, ARMY PUBLIC SCHOOL, NARANGI, ASSAM

It has been noticed that while writ-ing on the white board, a per-son often cleans small mis-takes with fingers instead of

reaching out for the duster. The inkhas harmful chemicals and it couldbe dangerous. Archit came up withthe idea of having a small duster at-tached to the hand to erase minor mistakes,while writing on the white board. Archit isan aspiring researcher.

RAKTIM DAS, CLASS X, SHANKARDEV SHISHU VIDYA NIKETAN,KAMRUP, ASSAM

Raktim is passionate aboutpainting, but at times hecould not do shading due topain in his hands. Then he

came up with a portable, economicaltool that could be used for shadingwhile drawing. He says, “With this, Ican draw in less time with no pain.”

INNOVATIVE SHADINGTOOL FOR DRAWING

ASIM SIKANDER MIR, CLASS VIII, SHEMFORD FUTURISTICSCHOOL, ANANTNAG, J & K

An earthen pot filled with burning charcoal – kaangri –is kept under phiran (in sub zero temperatures of Kash-mir) for warmth. What usually happens is that the kaangri tilts and leads to burns because of the spilling

of burning charcoal. Asim came up with an idea due to whichkaangri remains upright even after getting tilted. Asim says, “Thiskaangri will help prevent injuries and ensure warmth too.”

SPILL PROOFKAANGRI

SHIVAM AMRITESH, CLASS XI SANSKAR BHARTIGLOBAL SCHOOL, MADHUBANI, BIHAR

Seeing one of his society members suf-fer due to sleepwalking with no aptmedical treatment for this condition,Shivam thought of designing some-

thing for such people. He came up with awatch-like device that detects motion andgives mild shock to wake up the person. Hedeveloped another prototype which is wornon feet, so the moment the person puts pressureon his feet, the alarm rings. Shivam aspires to

be an entrepreneur.

SLEEP WALKING DETECTORAND PREVENTOR

KISHAN THAKOR, CLASS XII, GRAMSHALA,GRAMBHARTI, GANDHINAGAR, GUJARAT

Sickle is used during harvesting and isa major cause of injury among thefarmers. The problem is that properfirst aid kit is not available in fields

and the injury is ignored because of workpressure. Kishan came up with the idea ofplacing a basic first aid kit inside the sickle handle, for quick treatment when needed. He says, “This will ensure immediate aid for serious injury.”

SICKLE HOUSING FIRST AID KIT

TANMAY KUMAR SETHI, CLASS VII, DELHI PUBLICSCHOOL, ODISHA

Dustbins placed on the road could createproblems due to the hovering insects inand around them. This could pose healthhazards for people. Tanmay came up with

the idea that if a bug zapper is attached to the topof dustbin, all insects could get killed, and this willcheck the spread of germs. He enjoys playing bad-minton and aspires to be a civil servant.

INSECT KILLING DUSTBIN

SIDHANT KUMAR, CLASS IX, GOVT HIGH SCHOOL,NALANDA, BIHAR

When water is stored in tanks, dirt getssettled at the bottom over a period oftime. Then it becomes difficult to cleanthe tank. Sidhant came up with the idea

of a slanting base with a outlet, which can make thecleaning of tanks a smooth process. An aspiring police officer, he loves to make paintings. He says,“with this slight change, water tank can be cleanedmore frequently and easily.”

EASY CLEANING WATER TANK ANUJ MISHRA, CLASS IX, VINDHYAVASINI PUBLICSCHOOL, MIRZAPUR, UP

Falling from staircase can be fatal in manycases, so Anuj came up with the idea of astaircase with sensors and cushioned parti-tions. In this system, a random abrupt weight

change is noticed with/without random touch sensedon the railing and the staircase infers it as fall, andthe cushioned partitions open to prevent the personfrom rolling down and falling. Anuj, who seeks in-spiration from the late former president A P J AbdulKalam, says, “I had fallen from third floor and got in-jured. This encouraged me to ideate on a solution.”

INTELLIGENT STAIRCASE

VINISHA UMASHANKAR, CLASS VIII, THE PATHGLOBAL PUBLIC SCHOOL, THIRUVANNAMALAI, TAMIL NADU

Eliminating the usage of coal, Vinisha has designed a mobile cart that uses solar panelsto steam the mobile iron cart. In the absenceof sunlight, this cart can be recharged with

pre-charged batteries, electricity or a diesel power gen-erator. Aspiring scientist Vinisha says, “this innovationwill help vendors increase their earning by offering their service at doorstep, besides checking deforestation.”

SOLAR IRONING CART

Left to right: State governor Acharya Devvrat, former president of IndiaPranab Mukherjee, NIF chairperson P S Goel and NIF director Dr Vipin Kumarduring Dr A P J Abdul Kalam IGNITE Award Function at Gandhinagar

SEMI-AUTOMATIC FLOWERGARLAND MAKER AND

PACKERSURYA A J,VENKATESWARAN SAND VENURAM RR,VIDHYA MANDIR S SSCHOOL, CHENNAI

This foot operat-ed flower gar-landing andpackaging sys-

tem consists of a knot-ting device operated bya foot pedal. The oper-

ator needs to pressfoot twice and

keep flower against the thread for beingknotted. The team has designed the pack-aging system too for the same purpose.Surya says, “this machine not only re-duces time, but also gives more outputfor selling.” Adds, Venuram, “we ob-

served the problem at a flowermarket in our locality and

came up with this idea.”

EXPANDABLE FOOD PLATE

PADAMSHREE G, CLASS VI, GKHPS,KARNATAKA

Young Padamshree suggested afood plate that can be com-pressed/folded when not in useand expanded when in use. This

can come handy while travelling or inhouses with limited storage capacity. Shealso wants to mention a health advisoryat the back of this plate. Her passion issinging and dancing but Padamshree as-pires to join the Indian Army.

PERSPIRATION ABSORBING SHOE

SYEEDA BANO, CLASS IX, GOVT HIGHSCHOOL, KARGIL, LADAKH

Syeeda was disturbed bythe odour that comesfrom feet, which may alsolead to infections. She

suggested using washable abs-orbent material on the innerwalls of the shoe. This materi-al could easily absorb sweatand keep odour at bay. Syeeda

says, “I want to become a doctorand serve the people of my area.”

VISHWA GOSWAMI, CLASS UKG,BHASKAR PLAY SCHOOL,GANDHINAGAR, GUJARAT

Have you ever felt the dis-comfort of carrying foodand water in one go during

social gatherings, and if both arecarried together, you cannot eatas both hands are occupied. SoVishwa suggested an in-built glassin a food plate. This way bothplate and glass can be carriedtogether, using only one hand.Vishwa, who wants to be ateacher, says, “the glass can bedetached as and when requiredand the water does not spill inthe plate.” This innovation willimprove the experience of eating in social gatheringswithout much investment.

PLATE WITH DETACHABLE GLASS

DEVJIT PRASAD MAJHI, CLASS IX, BUXIJAGABANDHU ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOL,

BHUBNESWAR, ODISHA

Dirty shoes after playing football always bothered Devjit and he couldnot wash them daily as they took alot of time to dry. To solve this issue,

he came up with the idea of fast drying shoeswith three layers, where the middle layer hasa heating filament to dry the inner and

outer layer quickly. His idea is a blessingfor those who play sports daily. Devjit says, “now I can wash myshoes in the rainy season too.”

BROOM WITH DUST COLLECTOR

FAST DRYING SHOES

USER FRIENDLY TOILET FOR VISUALLY CHALLENGED

Ragini.Bharadwaj@timesgroup.com

IGNITEhonours young Indian

INNOVATORS

We need to follow 3 I’s for India: Impatient, Innovationsand Inclusive and keep trying till we succeed.

Pranab Mukherjee, former president of India