- Moved by the plight of construction workers, three final years students of Don Bosco College of Engineering took it upon themselves to find a solution as part of their final year project. The students — Vivek Khadilkar, Saeel Kamat and Drasti Naik are now planning to patent their design. Their invention is a robot that can be operated from a distance of 400 meters! The robot has a device which can sanitise by both spraying chemicals and using ultraviolet light. It cost the students Rs. 95,000 to create the prototype. The students are now hoping that the robot will be helpful in closed spaces, open markets, hospitals and other places without the intervention of frontline workers.
- One of the happiest news across the nation is the survival of a 103-year-old man from Palghar and a 20-day old infant from Punjab have recovered from COVID. What seems like a story of hope, Shamrao Ingle contracted the virus and was admitted to the rural hospital. He was discharged on Saturday after recovering from the disease, a spokesperson of the district collectorate said in a release. He walked out of the hospital with a smile on Saturday. Palghar district so far has had 1,715 deaths due to the disease. What came as another good news was from the state of Punjab, where a 20-day old infant recovered from the lethal virus. In early April, Gurdeep Singh and his wife Sandeep Kaur were blessed with a baby boy. After turning 20 days old, the boy contracted the virus. The mother couldn’t feed him or comfort because of the predicament. All the family could do was pray and the young boy recovered. Sukhdeep’s grandmother Kulwinder Kaur said, “With God’s grace, my grandson is back home healthy. Doctors looked after him very well.”
- Rajpal, Piyush More, Surya Prabhat and Prince Kohli, in their forties, received a distress call from one of their friends, Abhishek, whose father was facing problems in breathing due to COVID-19. What started as helping a friend out has turned them into saviors for other people in their community as well. The group has purchased over a dozen cylinders for those who cannot afford to buy one. They lend the cylinders without taking any cost or security deposit from the beneficiaries. When it comes to food, the quartet is providing free food packets to more than 500 people in the last 20 days. Hats off to them for being so selfless in such trying times!
- Thanks to four young crusaders Srijith, Aruvi, Anish, and Sharan Karthik the Trans Community Kitchen came into force to help people stranded on the road without access to free or affordable food in adverse times, especially during the Sunday lockdown that was imposed from April 25. The kitchen runs on the labour of 12 trans women, who after always being the ones to receive help, now know what it is to give. The team has been functioning with permission from the police and by adhering to hygiene protocols. Here’s to these selfless people with a bigger cause.
- In Japan’s Tateyama Bay, a friendship of different sorts has come to light. Yoriko, an Asian sheepshead wrasse first met scuba diver Hiroyuki Arakawa nearly 30 years ago when he was supervising the construction of an underwater Shinto temple, 56 feet beneath the surface of the bay. On one dive when Arakawa was visiting, he noticed Yoriko’s mouth had been badly injured. Even so, she came to greet him. Realizing she’d be unable to catch her own food, Arakawa spent the next 10 days hand feeding Yoriko meat from crabs he hammered open for her near the submerged temple gate. Thankfully, Yoriko bounced back from her injuries fairly quickly. After her recovery, the bond between the pair seemed to grow even stronger. And till date, they’re one of the best friends!
- Hundreds of diamondback terrapin hatchlings have been rescued from Jersey Shore. Usually, they slip into drains when they attempt to crossroads, however these were found surviving off their yolk sacs. Volunteers successfully rescued 826 baby turtles using a specially crafted scooper made from telescopic aquarium attached to a bamboo pole. As of now, Stockton University volunteers are taking care of them under their Head Start program. Once the turtles are mature, in about a year’s time’ they will be placed in the wild to thrive.
- A couple in Mumbai is doing a remarkable job by reusing medicines unused by COVID survivors. On May 1, Dr. Raina and her husband Dr. Ranney started, Meds for More- a citizen’s initiative to collect unused medicines from COVID recovered patients. “We started this initiative 10 days ago. We collect medicines from housing societies and provide them to those who cannot afford them,” said Dr Marcus Ranney. “The idea came when one of the family members of our staff got infected from Covid and they needed medication. As you know the medicines can be expensive. At that time there were a few people who had recovered from Covid, so we decided to take their medicines and donate them,” said Dr Raina. Within just 10 days, the couple has collected a massive 20 kg’s of medicines! These medicines will be donated to the primary health care centres in rural districts across India for the timely treatment of the underprivileged, who are infected due to Covid. More power to such people for their selfless service!
More good news to follow until next week.
Until then, stay safe and stay indoors.
To read last week’s round-up click here.
