Government General Hospital (GGH) in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, recently created a new record by curing a breast cancer patient with stereotactic radiation. Venkataratnamma, from Vijayawada, had been suffering from breast cancer for the past one-and-a-half years and was admitted to GGH on 31 January, 2022. Dr Durga Prasad, the head of the Oncology department, said that it was a rare and expensive treatment performed, free of cost, for the first time in a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh.
22-year-old Dasari Lakshmi Parvati, a native of Lakkasagaram village in Kurnool District, was one of the contestants in a popular television channel show. After the video of Parvati, mentioning in the show that she wished for a bus facility service in her village, went viral, Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah discussed the issue with the corporation officials in Kurnool and instructed them to provide additional bus services to the village.
For the past ten years, 60-year-old Pallivalappil Nizamuddeen, from Panjikkeel, Kerala, has been sending indigenous vegetable seeds to those interested in farming, free of cost. He buys seeds from various agriculture research institutions such as the Institute of Horticulture Research Centre, Bengaluru and Agriculture Research, Pattambi and also cultivates vegetables and fruits in his house. Nizamuddin returned to his birthplace Panjikkeel from Bangalore, after ending his hotel business in 2010.
A group of migrant workers, who are earning their livelihood in other states, has been funding an English medium school in Kade village, Jharkhand, so that the children of the village can get better job opportunities in future. The school, which started in 2017, with eight classrooms and 24 students, currently has 217 students. The orphans and poor students receive free education, books and bus facility, while other students pay a nominal fee.
13-year-old Anoushka Jolly, a class 8 student from Gurugram, Haryana, has come up with a mobile application named ‘Kavach’, to prevent bullying in schools. Kavach allows parents and students to report bullying incidents anonymously so that the schools can intervene and take suitable action. Anoushka became the youngest contestant to pitch her social initiative idea on a TV reality show, Shark Tank India and also received a funding offer of Rs. 50 lakh from judges Anupam Mittal, founder of People Group (Shaadi.com) and Aman Gupta, co-founder of boAt.
On 14 February, 2022, at 6:17 am, The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched EOS-04, Earth Observation Satellite, into an intended sun-synchronous polar orbit of 529 km altitude. The satellite with a mission life of 10 years, was launched to get high-quality images in all weather conditions for applications, including agriculture, forestry, flood mapping and hydrology. Shri S. Somanath, the chairman of ISRO, congratulated the ISRO team on the success of the mission.
A year ago, Dr. Shankar Ramchandani, an assistant professor in the medicine department at VIMSAR, opened his one-rupee clinic in Burla town, Odisha. To mark the first anniversary of this facility, Dr. Ramchandani launched his ‘One Rupee’ medicine service on 12 February, 2022. Under this new service, medicines will be provided to needy patients, who come to him for consultation, at the cost of just one rupee.
Worried about the rapid deforestation, 104 women from Mahishgeda village, Jharkhand, started an awareness campaign, Jungle Bachao Abhiyaan (Save the Forest), to protect nine acres of forest land in their area. Divided into four groups, these women guard the forest with bamboo sticks and keep tabs on the tree count. The campaign is also promoted by the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society.
Every year, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated on February 11. A significant gender gap still exists in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This day is marked to create awareness about the contribution of women and girls in the fields of science and technology and to encourage further participation of women in the STEM fields.
Jacob, a retired employee from Palluruthy, Kerala, carries a hand pump during his morning walks and sprays insecticides in the open drainages to kill mosquitoes. The 62-year-old said that he started the intervention a month ago, after his friends complained about the mosquito problem. The shopkeepers and autorickshaw drivers of Palluruthy, said that the mosquito menace has decreased in their area since Jacob started his initiative.
