President APJ Abdul Kalam inspects the dual security alarm system of Aminuddin Ahmed. A Telegraph picture

Laurels for innovators

At the recently concluded fourth biennial national competition, 2007, six innovators from the Northeast were presented the National Award by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and chairperson of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), R.A. Mashlekar, in New Delhi.

Mohammad Aminuddin Ahmed, who loves to call himself a “footpath engineer”, has won the award for the second time for creating an audio-visual security system for industrial establishments. Ahmed has installed 21 dual alarm systems at drilling sites and offices of ONGC. He has filed for a patent for his invention from the Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network Cell of NIF at IIT Guwahati.

The idea to develop a badminton stroke-practising machine (the first of its kind in the world) fetched Amlan Bhattacharya and Subash Das the Partnership Award. This machine drops shuttle corks at regular intervals and also spins it a little because of the circular motion of the conveyor belt.

Akhil Mandal, a farmer, has developed a head cutting procedure for areca nuts, which increases productivity of the plant. His innovation earned him a consolation award. Mohammad Mehtar Hussain and Mushtaq Ahmed also won a consolation award for designing a windmill-operated tubewell.

Malaria death

In 2006, Arunachal Pradesh, the state with the lowest population density in the country, lost 96 lives to malaria.

Around Rs 64.91 lakh meant for programmes to control malaria remained unspent last year. Red tape, which often masquerades as non-fulfilment of official formalities, queered the malaria control pitch.

The death toll — relatively higher than the figures reported in the media — came to light at a review-cum-evaluation meeting of vector-borne disease control societies here recently.

Out to excel

Tami Tamiang, an Arunachal-based activist for disabled people recently said they were planning to put up candidates for all the Assembly constituencies for the next state polls in 2009.

Speaking at the Northeast-level regional workshop on Disability and law issues and challenges in Guwahati, organised by the Disability Law Unit, Northeast Tamiang said, “Unless there are people with disabilities at decision-making positions, whether it be the political front or bureaucracy, the disabled people cannot get their demands fulfilled.”