MUMBAI
The programme, first started in 1998, seeks to encourage students with their environment projects.
In an upscale restaurant in Cologne, Germany, 50 students from across the world were chomping down baby octopus salads, kangaroo chops, and vegetarian dishes like pasta served with asparagus and spinach for dinner. Except one. Vaibhav Tidke, an engineering student from a Mumbai university touched nothing.
Later in the night in his hotel room, Tidke sat cross-legged on his bed, opened his suitcase and removed a packet of theplas and khakras. This was his dinner.
The 24-year-old hails from a Maharashtrian village called Ambajogai, in district Beed. He was in Germany participating in the week-long Bayer Young Environment Programme (BYEE), an annual educational programme set up jointly by the German company Bayer and the United Nation’s Environmental Programme (UNEP).
The programme, first started in 1998, seeks to encourage students with their environment projects. And at the end of the week, four students’ projects which they considered the best were to be awarded, and their projects supported through a fund created by Bayer and UNEP.
Tidke’s project was two dimensional. Firstly, he along with professor Bhaskar Thorat and some of his fellow students from the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), had set up a mechanism for using solar energy to dry agricultural and marine products.
And secondly, he had founded an NGO called Science for Society which tries to solve many of rural India’s problems like access to clean drinking water and availability of power through engineering means. For access to clean drinking water, Tidke uses the solar water disinfection process, where the sun’s UV rays are used to disinfect the water.
Equally simple is his dehydrating of marine and agricultural products. It is nothing more than a duct which traps passing air and solar panels which heats the trapped air. The heated air is then passed on through another duct, on to the products.
“Farmers, otherwise, dry their produce out in the open, which is a lengthier process, is unhygienic and leads to many crops and marine products being lost,” says Tidke.
Their unit on the roof of the ICT building has a capacity of drying 400 kgs products per day. They also have a unit in Nasik of a similar capacity and another under construction in Tarapur, which when ready will be able to dry as much as 3 tonnes per day.
Most of the funding for these units have come from university grants, scholarships and a little from their own pockets. Tidke, himself, has been putting his university stipend of Rs 8,000 on his NGO for the last two years.
And when he needed to raise more money in February 2009, he went to Aurangabad and taught students hoping to crack the Common Entrance Test (CET). He taught eight hours every day, for 14 days to earn a total of Rs1, 50, 000.
But that money was never going to be enough. Luckily, in December 2009, he was awarded a cash prize of Rs 10, 00, 000 by the United Nations for his environmental work.
In Germany, however, there were many contenders for the Bayer Young Environmental Leader award. The projects of other students seemed equally interesting.
A Chilean student had developed a popular web forum for carpooling and an Indonesian girl had created ‘EcoMonopoly’, a board game like Monopoly, except that this one taught young players about rural life and agriculture.
But eventually, Tidke, with his dream of helping farmers won.
Raima Sen mourns Bharat Dev Varma's demise, pens emotional note for 'great father, great husband'
DNA TV Show: Ahead of Maharashtra poll results, MVA, Mahayuti engage in resort politics
Maharashtra: Stage set for assembly poll results; Mahayuti, MVA confident of their victories
All set for vote counting in Jharkhand tomorrow; NDA, JMM-led alliances confident of winning
Watch: Australia star inquires Rishabh Pant about his next IPL team, gets 2-word reply
Shah Rukh Khan’s house Mannat was first offered to his industry rival…, but he refused because...
The Visionary Who Promises a Blue Sky for India: Holger Thorsten Schubart’s G20 Climate Speech
The Surge of High-End Living: Luxury Residential Market to Outpace Other Segments
FeFCon 2024 to be Held in Bangalore: A Premier Event on Fever Management
'That’s wild': Noida man turns cigarette butts into teddy bears in viral video, watch
London Airport evacuates passengers over security threat, thousands stranded
The World’s First Innovative Iron Supplement to Combat Iron Deficiency and Anaemia
Meet grandmother who became fashion icon after trying on her granddaughter’s clothes
IND vs AUS: Rishabh Pant joins Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma in elite WTC list, becomes 3rd Indian to...
'All scripted drama...': Puneet Superstar allegedly assaulted by influencers in viral video, watch
Actress Ana de Armas caught kissing Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s son in viral photos
Oreshnik's Shadow: Will Russia's hypersonic missile force west to back down?
‘You’re So Beautiful’: World’s tallest woman meets world’s shortest woman over tea, pics go viral
Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: Consequences of GRAP-4 are drastic, may have adverse effects, says SC
Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: Schools likely to stay closed till..., check city-wise update
Maharashtra: 3 killed, 9 hospitalised after gas leak at fertiliser plant in Sangli
THIS farm is selling a cup of coffee for Rs 28000, but there's a twist, it is...
Chhattisgarh: 10 Maoists killed after encounter with security personnel in Sukma
Mukesh Ambani's SUPERHIT plan for Jio users, offers unlimited 5G access for 1 year for just Rs...
IND vs AUS 1st Test: KL Rahul's dismissal sparks DRS controversy in Perth Test
Dense fog, heavy rain predicted in these states till November 25; check here
Oreshnik Hypersonic Missile: Which nations are within its range?
Bihar teacher, principal reach school in drunken state; know what happened next
'I have faced a lot of...': Arjun Kapoor REVEALS his biggest fear amid break up with Malaika Arora
How millions of Indians may get affected due to US indictment of Gautam Adani in bribery case
Amid divorce rumours with Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan says 'missing someone is okay but...'
After Bibles, watches and sneakers, Donald Trump is now selling autographed guitars, price is...
Delhi pollution: Air quality improves to ‘very poor’ category, AQI at...
Vladimir Putin's BIG threat, warns he could strike UK with new ballistic missile if...
Shillong Teer Results TODAY November 22, 2024 Live Updates: Check winning numbers here
Somebody misbehaved with Alia Bhatt on Highway sets then Imtiaz Ali had to...
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal reveals twist behind Rs 200000 job fee, closes application window
Days after Ratan Tata's demise, Tata Group's Rs 131000 crore company inks pact with ADB for...