News from India : of positive action, steely endeavour and quiet triumphs ~ news that is little known
gniLogo
India is a million new initiatives now and GoodNewsIndia is dedicated to publicising them.
Unique visitors:
since Jun,00


Page-views:
3,000,000 :   Jun,07 
2,000,000 :   Jul,05 
1,000,000 : Dec,03 
0,000,000 :  Jun,00 

Why is GoodNewsIndia not being updated?

Many regular readers of GoodNewsIndia [GNI] have wondered why this site has not been updated since 2006. The simple answer is this: the one-man team, that is me, D V Sridharan that publishes GNI is busy with a land restoration project christened, pointReturn . It will need my undivided time and attention at least till 2010; that leaves me with little time or energy to travel and do stories for GNI as I have done since 2000. So work on the site is temporarily suspended.

That is the reason. But there is a connecting story behind how I came to undertake pointReturn. In case you are interested, do pull up a chair and listen. It's a long one, and I must caution, somewhat opinionated.  ⇒⇒


Status report: June, 2009 –  Adventures with the Rocket Stove –  Trees at pointReturn –  Permaculture : an interlude –  Exploring cob –  Large water storage - a solution –  Off grid power –  Vetiver : an interlude –  A spell of inaction –  Was it the week that oil peaked? – 
What is pointReturn | Mission


MAGAZINE

List of all stories

Random Picks

Battling for governance :
santosh
Parivartan’s unknown little Indians like Santosh, have fought to clear the thickets to form tracks to good governance.


Biodiesel goes from lab to land:
svo
Prof Shrinivasa’s SuTRA has proved to India’s tribal people that biodiesel is the best way to electrify their homes. And they are making a revolution of it.


Where water flows in veins:
tiptur
The Smile Index of children and adults here, proves that the networked farm pond idea pioneered by BAIF’s branch in Tiptur, Karnataka is a success worth replication.


Bridges to mainstream life:
bharadwaj
Girish Bharadwaj’s foot bridges for isolated villages are transforming communities—and are aesthetic as well


A Marathon man in village-India:
elango
The success of Rangaswamy Elango at Kuthambakkam village justifies the hope that Gram Swaraj will yet bloom all across India.


Staring down droughts:
dharwad
Amidst the gloom of droughts and suicides, we have this transformation of farmers who will look a drought in its eye.


Enfolding the lost ones in Goa:
plastoFuel
Bernadette D’Souza and Gregory D’Costa strive for the dignity of immigrants who built today’s shining Goa - and, are abandoned on its streets to their own devices.


World standard toilets:
fuad
Since 1999, Fuad Lokhandwala has been demonstrating in New Delhi that building and running toilets to world standards is possible along sound commercial lines.


The new Indian rope-trick :
upChain
In the decade since it opened its economy, India has survived early shocks and has now assimilated with elan the tricks of making good profits in world markets.


Young voices rising:
cwc
Nandana Reddy and Damu Acharya have approached the issue of India’s working children by creating activists from children’s own ranks.


After micro credit, it’s micro capital, now:
aavishkaar
Aavishkaar is a pioneer attempt by India’s overseas professionals to bring venture capitalism to socially, environmentally relevant small businesses.


Digging deep into Sanskrit:
melkote
Prof. Lakshmi Thathachar at Melkote is a teacher, ecologist, animal breeder, computer adept and a champion of Sanskrit as an unmined knowledge source.


A Gandhi education pays off:
cherkady
Cherkady Ramachandra Rao, now 86, lost his parents when 2, found Gandhi when 7, and has not been lost ever since.


Jim Garthe’s innovation:
plastoFuel
The pioneering work of Jim Garthe at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, in converting plastic waste into an energy resource has a great significance for India’s environment.


A magic wand to zap plastics:
dhan
Alka Zadgaonkar conjures up a way to end waste plastics menace by creating value for collectors and processors


The road from Marx turns right at Gandhi:
timbuktu
Mary and Bablu didn’t settle at Timbaktu to retire, but to begin again with the conviction that nature is what really matters.


Minimalism in service:
dada
Dada Lakhiani is a role model for everyone who is sitting out for the right time, funds and opportunity to do something for India.


A U-Turn at B-School:
dhan
M P Vasimalai’s rural upbringing made him turn back to rural India, soon as he graduated from IIM-A


The Ganga in the sky:
rwh
Residents and establishments in Tamil Nadu have taken to rain water harvesting and water recycling proving that local action can alleviate shortages.


Raging into the night:
ymc
The creation of Yusuf Meherally Centre near Mumbai is only a part of Mangla Behn and Dr G G Parikh’s 62 year commitment to India. Their smiles belie their fire.


Beyond even his dreams:
rValley
When J Krishnamurthy spotted that banyan tree in 1925, it is doubtful if he envisioned how it might change the grim landscape and lives around it.


The two-pit privy man:
sulabh
Perfecting a simple sanitation solution and getting it to revolutionise Indian society has taken 35 years of Dr Bindeshwar Pathak’s life


Making the foot run:
ymc
Not many know that top bureaucrat D R Mehta’s 30 year long commitment and leadership are what revived the famed Jaipur foot from slumber and taken it to a third of a million people round the world


Clothier to the poor:
goonj
Since 1998, Anshu Gupta’s Goonj has innovated in many ways to deepen our superficial awareness of the importance of clothes for the poor


This postman delivered more than mail:
postmanSingh
This vintage classic from the 1930s should give us heart because it shows service to fellowman is intrinsic to Indian way of life.


Sifted from main media

Jul 24, 2006

On July 21, 6 year old Prince fell into a borewell in Haryana and became a darling that the whole of India took to its heart. The well is 60 feet deep but it was luckily dry. Little Prince stoically bore his ordeal feeding on biscuits that were lowered.

By the time he was rescued by the Army after a 50 hour operation, he had the whole nation praying for him. Channels covered his rescue live. Politicians arrived on the scene. Finally, a bewildered Prince emerged to the thunderous applause of a vast throng. His parents are poor labourers and it was refreshing to see them getting the consideration that the rich mostly enjoy in India. BBC Report


OTHER PICKS:  Privatisation at grassroots |  Women hosteler’s school |  ...more


SUPPLEMENTS

List of all articles

Recent Reports

Jan 28, 2007::Activism
§ Siege of Goa… defeated!

Not since the success of the movement to save the Silent Valley in Kerala has there been a people’s victory comparable to how the siege of Goa was broken.

Jan 24, 2007::Energy
§ Emerging alternate energy breakthroughs

Although not of Indian origin, two new developments could favourably affect our environmental and energy situation.

Jan 16, 2007::Reforms
§ The Supreme Court growls

The Supreme Court has settled once and for all, that the Parliament’s freedom to legislate is not unfettered but subject to provisions of the Constitution

Jan 12, 2007::Sciences
§ A miracle rice

A new variety of rice known as the Aerobic Rice has been discovered which requires little water, generates no methane and produces good yields.

Random picks:

May 08, 2006:Springs
Their home is a school every evening

Unfussy couple Savitri Kannan and his wife Kamalam turn their home every evening into a learn and play centre for 150 poor children in Chennai

May 12, 2004:Energy
Gas hydrates: a gift wrapped in problems

India has entered into an agreement with Russia and some exploratory work has begun.

Jan 13, 2004:Memory Speaks
Papad prophesies

The bride-to-be was put through a ‘fool-proof’ test: get her to roast a papad.

Feb 15, 2004:Ideas For India
The M S Swaminathan Plan

Water-wars and resentment against migratory labour are beginning to rear their heads.

Sep 15, 2005:Newsclip
More transparent, less international

CMS study has showed which products of reforms have worked: information technology and legislation, smaller-sized states and true competition.

Nov 26, 2003:Memory Speaks
Life in the wadas

“We wouldn’t return home till we had done the rounds of at least 20-30 homes”

Jun 01, 2004:Update
ARTI develops a novel biogas plant

The new compact biogas system is just as large as a household refrigerator

Dec 02, 2003:Innovation
Bt Cotton: an Indian workaround?

This brew has been tried out on carrots, tomatoes, organic cotton and - Bt cotton.

Dec 23, 2004:Sciences
An apology to Dr. Herbert Kroemer

An abject apology to Dr Herbert Kroemer, a Nobel Laureate

Aug 23, 2003:Trend
Mainstream and the Muslims

Education is a fair and equal mainstream for all those that arrive at it

Feb 25, 2003:Update
How fares that anti-pollution invention?

Many of the stumbling blocks he has faced may have been overcome by a smart MBA

Jan 15, 2003:Economy
Revisiting the China v. India debate

Indian manufacturing efficiency is on a roll

Nov 03, 2002:Reforms
Police station lock-ups go in Hyderabad

In 60 police stations in Hyderabad lock-up rooms will cease functioning and be turned to rest rooms for policemen.

May 13, 2006:Ideas For India
Novel energy options

Here are some promising paths that lead away from fossil fuel dependance, towards a sustainable energy future

Mar 31, 2004:Elsewhere
The incredible Dr Shripad Dabholkar

And by the nineties, grapes worth Rs 500 crores were being harvested in Maharashtra

Feb 09, 2004:Activism
Why be afraid of TI?

Very few Indian commentators have bothered to question Transparency International’s techniques

Nov 09, 2003:Update
Dignity for urban poor

Shelter Associates believe that planning for the poor must have the poor as the largest participant in plan design, implementation and management. 

Dec 19, 2002:Economy
Now, an India-grown three box car.

Indigo will compete with models from the likes of Ford, GM and Hyundai

Apr 03, 2003:Trend
India keeps on connecting

An Indian maybe unlettered and poor but she is not dumb

Oct 19, 2005:Sciences
Bird Flu: the scare and some sense

An Indian scientist explains why the feared pandemic killing a hundred million will not come about. Is it scare mongering then, by commercial interests pushing drugs?

Jan 02, 2004:Memory Speaks
More than a cooking stove

The whole family gathered around it

Jun 15, 2005:Ideas For India
Food forever, for nothing

All it requires is some subtle management of a fully integrated, zero-waste system

Dec 10, 2002:Economy
A recent spray of IT good news

‘Just wing it’ is not part of the Indian culture

Aug 08, 2003:Energy
Low Road and the high road

The poor heard it straight from Prof Shrinivasa and that is enough good news.

Dec 12, 2002:Newsclip
The Divide closes by a few more inches

Language is not the barrier - it is the challenge to create a PC that will

Apr 14, 2003:Trend
Women astir all across India

The flair and versatility of the modern, urban Indian woman is widely known. Her rural cousin is no laggard either

Jul 05, 2004:Ideas For India
People-sized desalination

An ox driven desalination plant is capable of producing 600 to 700 litres of potable water per hour

Nov 12, 2002:Resources
GSPC may exceed Reliance in gas finds

GSPC’s designated field of 1850 sq.km needs shallower drilling

Nov 19, 2002:Energy
Ethanol blended auto fuel debuts

The implication of this move is enormous for India

Feb 15, 2003:Activism
Back Anna Hazare’s fast on Feb 20, 2003

If you believe in the power of the mind, this should work.

Aug 22, 2005:Energy
Biodiesel is on centerstage now

Pongamia can be a wasteland tree, its oil is not edible, its care requires no chemical fertilisers or much water, it does not call for repeated planting and harvest like rape or soya do and the enriched land under its canopy can be used to raise edible crops.

Jul 15, 2003:Activism
The fight to save Kali

The Kali Bachao Andolan (Movement to Save the Kali) has been formed by Parisara Samrakshana Kendra of Uttara Kannada

Feb 03, 2003:Economy
India to prepay World and Asian Dev Banks

Unaccounted money that used to flee India may be returning to India

Jul 05, 2003:Newsclip
Indian grit at Australian UltraMarathon

Bhardwaj slugged it out and endeared himself to the Australians that met him and “he was a fantastic Ambassador to your country”

Oct 29, 2005:Activism
Mumbai mill lands, retrieved for the people

Debi Goenka stood up to frustrate the conspiracy of profiteers to grab hundreds of acres earmarked for parks and other public spaces.

Nov 09, 2002:Trend
Creating IP for Philips

India’s knowledge services to the world is broader than you think.  Most imagine it to be just software

Mar 06, 2006:Energy
Strategies for biodiesel

Large scale jatropha farms may be wrong solutions. Biodiesel producing algae may be a better option.

Mar 04, 2004:Resources
Bamboo futures

It takes 60 years to replace a 60 foot tree but only 60 days to replace a 60 foot bamboo

May 08, 2004:Governance
Dubey may yet inspire Indian whistleblowers

India has taken the first tentative step towards a full-fledged law to protect whistleblowers.

Apr 05, 2004:Elsewhere
Konkan Rail in E Sreedharan’s words

It is the transcript of plain words spoken by a no-nonsense, hands-on man given to ‘doing it’ rather than talking about it.



...list of all articles




Write to GoodNewsIndia

GNI Mailing List
Sign UpLeave