The Tejas train is a new class of trains that will be commercially introduced across the country in 2017. Prabhu, who was attending the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Surat, made this announcement recently.
Photo credit: Facebook
The Times of India quoted him as saying, "It will offer on-board services such as entertainment, local cuisine, Wi-Fi, etc. through a single service provider to ensure accountability and improved customer satisfaction." The introduction of Tejas has caused quite a bit of interest among the general public. So far, the government has declared that there will be three routes - Anand Vihar Terminal to Lucknow Junction, Delhi to Chandigarh Tejas Express and Mumbai to Karmali (North Goa). They are expected to cost about 20-30% more than the fare of a Shatabdi express.You may also like: 5 Steps Indian Railways is Taking to Improve Services and Increase Revenues
But they are also expected to offer far more features than the average Indian train. Apart from free Wi-Fi, expect cuisine curated by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, LED screens on the backs of all seats for in-train entertainment, hand dryers, bio-vacuum toilets, water level indicators and more.
Speaking to the 
Mahim Nature Park[/caption]
Mahim Nature Park is home to a thriving butterfly population[/caption]
Around the same time, an extensive clean-up drive was conducted to clear the polluted Mithi river and the Mahim creek, along whose banks the dumping yard was located. Next, close to 1,50,000 mangrove saplings were planted on the periphery of the park along the creek. Today, it supports a lush evergreen mangrove forest.
After years of tireless efforts, the park was opened for school children in 1992. Anand Pendharkar, a Mumbai-based environmentalist who witnessed the efforts taken by the trio to develop the park, said the work was all the more difficult as communal riots were going on during that time.
A pathway through Mahim Nature Park[/caption]
Shawna Pandya[/caption]
Shawna is an avid adventure enthusiast.
Shawna addressing students at the Lilavatibai Podar High School in Mumbai.
Image source: 
Meher Heroyce Moos[/caption]
Meher Moos[/caption]
Meher Moos[/caption]
Meher Moos with her 18 passports[/caption]
Meher Moos[/caption]
The man behind these innovative farms is 31-year-old Arun Raj who runs Primus Design, a boutique industrial design studio comprising a 10-member strong team of designers, engineers and technicians. Working to develop products in electronics, consumer durables and FMCG domains, among others, it was his work that led him to develop the Altifarm concept.
As it’s often said, the devil is in the details. The metal frame is powder-coated to prevent rust, and the wicking cones can pass water without resorting to electricity. The trays are height-adjustable to account for the growing trees. Altifarm also addresses issues of space constraint, lack of natural light and oxygen, and even the grower’s lack of time.
“All the learning we had over the years as a design studio has been distilled into the Altifarm,” says Arun. “It has helped us meet amazing people and take some huge risks.”
The product was launched through a crowdfunding platform, which has helped the team with feedback and outreach. “Rather than the conventional approach of sales and marketing, crowdfunding provides a direct one to one interaction with potential customers and early adopters,” says Arun. “We have covered 30% of our goal in the first week and the response from around the world on social media has been phenomenal.”
Available in four colours, Altifarm is available at an early bird pricing of $199, followed by $219 for a 4-tier model. The unit arrives in a compact box and can be assembled in minutes—customers source their own seeds and soil. The brand is now focused on developing the project with more variants and expansion packs.
Speaking about her experience, Pallavi says, “A woman becomes a mother, and overnight she is suddenly introduced to a world of baby-care and baby products. Like most mothers, I bought disposable diapers for my son. It took two uses for him to get rashes.”
Pallavi’s husband was also very concerned about the environmental hazards of using disposable diapers in large number. Their joint concerns led them to look for other alternatives, which came in the form of international cloth diaper brands.
“Regular diapers are coated with plastic and contain a cocktail of chemicals,” says Pallavi. Superbottoms diapers are composed of layers of fabric coated by a dry-feel protective soaker that Pallavi calls the USP of the design. These soakers are made from microfibers as well as bamboo and hemp. A soft, laminated outer layer helps keep the inner parts waterproof yet breathable.
“As it turned out, disposable diapers weren’t our biggest competitors,” says Pallavi. “Most mothers around the country would rather use more traditional options; with our product they can have the benefits of disposable diapers on a cloth base.”
But not many are familiar with sustainable diapers, and Pallavi initially struggled to even find testers. “I could test the product on my own baby, but many parents were hesitant to let their babies try a new diaper. But friends and family pitched in and I gradually got volunteers too,” she says.
Dharavi is commonly referred to as 'the heart of Mumbai,' and it's not difficult to see why.[/caption]
Residents of Dharavi.[/caption]
Amongst all the extremities of a poverty stricken environment that exists in Dharavi, the dirt, the waste, the utter hardship, what was evident to me was what the residents lacked in material and facilities, they made up with heart. What stood out for me more than anything else was what these people shared; a real, genuine, unshakable and undeniable sense of community, or what I like to call 'bonds of the heart.'
This spirit of community is something that, in my opinion, is lacking in most big cities, particularly in the West. In London for example, where I grew up, there seems to be a prevailing culture, particularly amongst the youth that glorifies an attitude of isolation. Comments such as 'it's me against the world', 'you can't trust any-one' and 'I have to watch my own back' are commonly spoken.
And I am not here to say that this attitude isn't justified. That people don't have a reason to think like this. What I am saying is that it is a damn shame. A shame because I believe that this attitude is built on the false premise that all we really have to depend on in life is ourselves.
As people we are sociable beings and aren't made to exist in isolation. To quote a famous English poet John Donne, 'no man is an Island.' I believe that as people we aren't designed to just look out for ourselves. We can't function wholly nor be our best self without others.
Dharavi is a place where human spirit radiates and triumphs over all. There is a shared sense of hardship and the struggle of a single individual is the struggle of many. If a person's wealth was attributed to kindness and hard work, then the residents of Dharavi would all be rich.
Before I left for my first visit to India I met a stranger in a post office in London. An elderly immigrant man from India whom I told about my upcoming trip to India. With a sweet smile on his face he told me that he wanted me to do something for him. Dubiously, I asked him what this was. In a voice so warm he replied, 'find out why they still smile'. I didn't quite understand what this man was talking about at the time, but standing amongst the squalor of Dharavi, the heart of Mumbai, I think that I’m starting to get it.
Gaurishi (centre) on a school trip[/caption]
The seeds of the project were laid when Gauhrishi, who studies in an IB-curriculum school in Mumbai, had to choose a project for her Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) component. “I gave it a lot of thought. I considered various options, including cancer awareness and children’s welfare, but wanted to help those who the public did not readily pay attention to,” she says. She eventually zeroed in on the army, in particular the countless widows of the soldiers who lay down their lives for the nation.
The next stage of the project was reaching out to the right people. One of the first challenges was how to find the women to support. Gauhrishi received a lot of support from the Zila Sainik Parishad, and welfare officer Capt Ratnaparkhi mentored her through every stage of the project. She drove the project forward, securing approvals from her school and the Sainik Parishad at multiple levels and interacting with the widows.
(L-R) War widows Sumati Yadav and Suman Sonawane[/caption]
“Many of these women lead very lonely lives,” says Gauhrishi citing more examples. “We spoke to Surekhaben, whose husband died at war when she was pregnant. Now at 75, she would like to stay self-sufficient but is unable to find jobs. Another of our beneficiaries was a child bride whose husband died when she was 14. Having nowhere else to go, she has since lived with her sister for all these years.”
Realising that many of these women craved companionship and a more wholesome life, the next stage of Mission A.W.E hopes to engage people to adopt these widows. “We will launch a pilot project in Mumbai and around Maharashtra this March, and hope to complete the first phase of the project by the middle of the year,” says Gauhrishi.
Image for representation. Source: Pixabay 
Image source: 
Image source: 
The game was kicked off by actor Shriya Saran who is the brand ambassador for blind football in India. The Federation has been conducting various talent scouting camps throughout the country, and the one organised in Mumbai also looked at building a blind football team in the city.
Winning team player, Azhar[/caption]
The IBFF, which is promoted by Society for Rehabilitation of the Visually Challenged, Kochi - a registered NGO working with the sector since 2002, is affiliated with the Paralympic Committee of India. The federation also plans to set up the first Blind Football Academy in Kochi, where talents will be identified and brought on for a long-term basis, offering intensive training, fitness, tactical skills.
Follow the IBFF on Facebook 
The initiative has been taken up by the National Service Scheme (NSS) of the college.
In 2005, the NSS unit conducted a camp in Karvale village to build one toilet for a school. None of the families in the village had a toilet and it was upon visiting the village that the students realized the gravity of the issue –they then decided to extend the project.
Dr Muffazal heads the Institute of Minimal Invasive Surgical Sciences and Research Centre at Saifee Hospital, where Eman has been admitted. He has been in the public eye for over a week now, as his patient made her way past bureaucratic and logistical obstacles to land in Mumbai on February 11.
Dr Muffazal was approached by Shaimaa Ahmed, Eman’s sister, who had been seeking medical help across the world. He took up the case pro bono, and went to visit her in January for preliminary assessments.
Among the team, Doctors Kamlesh Bohra, Abizer Mankad and Aparna Bhasker were part of the contingent that brought Eman to India.
Bringing the patient to India required special attention, including a special bed which was used to transport her throughout her journey. Special evacuation measures had to be undertaken — a crane was used to lift the bedridden Eman out of her house. She flew to India, with her family, on an Egypt Air cargo flight specially loaded with medical equipment.
While the doctors and hospitals have largely taken up the case at complimentary rates, Eman’s family has been unable to meet the cost of her special transportation, accommodation in India, medication and incidental expenses.
Dr Muffazal, who even approached Sushma Swaraj to facilitate Eman’s travel to India, has been invested in the campaign as well. The hospital has acknowledged that it has been receiving best wishes and congratulatory notes from all over Egypt.
Eman’s recovery is hardly likely to be an overnight affair. Yet the team of specialists are determined to change her life for the better. For a woman who hasn’t seen the sun in decades, that’s nothing short of a miracle.
Contribute to the Save Eman campaign 
It was Shammas, an IBM employee, who came up with the concept in 2015. “I am an avid social media user,” he says. “I realised that so many of the stories circulating on Facebook and Whatsapp were complete hoax. But convincing people can be difficult without proof.”
A string of misleading posts changed his mind, and Shammas picked up a Wordpress site and began posting. As a project along with regular work, his posts were initially sporadic. Things picked up when Shammas was joined by Bal Krishn, a self-confessed serial entrepreneur, in 2016.
Many stories are obviously fake, easy to detect with Google searches and online tools. But both Bal Krishn and Shammas agree that the popularity of some of these posts can make it very difficult. The duo wades through pages of rumours and false information, till they find the right sources.
The lack of people for on-ground research can often present a hindrance. The website is currently seeking volunteers which the duo hopes will help them cover stories faster and more efficiently.
“Everyone is frustrated with social media,” Shammas says. “We have seen that people often debunk these facts for themselves. If they share it with us and others, that would make a lot of difference.”