MindTree General Manager Segregates Waste At Home Itself, Gets Her Neighbours To Do The Same | Garbage Down By 2 Tonnes A Day

Sunitha Rao R | TNN

Bangalore: Those who turn up their noses at garbage heaps in their neighbourhood should meet Veena Rajappa, 38. General manager of MindTree, Veena has not only thrown open a part of her house for waste segregation but also devotes prime time during weekends for waste management in her neighbourhood of Rajarajeshwari Nagar.
Veena’s efforts have got residents of 500 houses in her neighbourhood to segregate waste at source every day. The result is huge: the daily waste burden is reduced by two tonnes. Mavallipura, where the dumping of garbage has sparked off civic outrage, can breathe that much more easy.
“It is not only my effort. My neighbours have contributed too. I’ve visited all 500 houses in my locality and explained to residents the necessity of garbage management. Unless we, the educated citizens, start segregating waste at source, and give paper and plastic waste for recycling, issues like the Mavallipura dumpyard will remain,” says a modest Veena.
Veena’s hectic work schedule has not dimmed her enthusiasm for the weekend grind. She began collecting dry waste, largely recyclable plastic and paper, from 250 households in her locality on February 12, 2012. Faced with a lack of spaceto store dry waste, she turned a room in her backyard into a storehouse. Once a week, the collected recyclable waste is cleared by ITC Limited for further recycling. The company has distributed bags to every household to store dry waste, and pays for the waste it purchases. About Rs 2,500 is paid to the pourakarmika every month.
“My work has become easier. My pushcart is not dirty with all kinds of waste,” says Lakshmi, the pourakarmika.
Veena’s endeavour received a lot of support from her employer MindTree, under its ‘Green Community’ initiative. Her efforts even moved the BBMP, which has now provided Rajarajeshwari Nagar a shed to store dry waste.
Rajarajeshwari Nagar residents admit there is sea change in their area. “As we segregate waste on a daily basis, the quantity of waste from this area has come down. The locality looks clean as the pourakarmika visits every day. The mosquito menace has come down,” said Uma J, a resident who religiously segregates waste in her house.
Rajarajeshwari Nagar corporator GH Ramachandra also helped streamline the process and got a shed to store dry waste. “He put us on to solid waste management experts and BBMP engineers,” Veena recalled.
Zero-waste management
Veena Rajappa has perfected the art of zerowaste management. Not a shred of waste goes from her house. While wet waste is diverted into the park where it becomes manure, dry waste is sent for recycling.
EXPERT OPINION
The work taken up by Rajarajeshwari Nagar residents, led by Veena Rajappa, is what we need. Seeing their interest, we’ve provided a shed (in pic) for them to store dry waste. Awareness must be developed and we are making our best efforts too. Krishnamurthy U | ENVIRONMENT OFFICER, RR NAGAR, BBMP
We don’t need to send waste to Mavallipura or Mandur if everyone segregates waste at home. Veena is a model for Bangaloreans. BBMP must make segregation at source mandatory. NS Ramakanth |
SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT EXPERT 
We are pleased to see recyclable waste being segregated by residents of RR Nagar. It must happen in other areas too to solve the garbage problem. S Murugesan | CHIEF MANAGER (MATERIALS), ITC LTD

CLEARING UP: Veena devotes time during weekends for waste management in her neighbourhood

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An interface to plan your trips

IISc Portal To Be Launched Today

Saswati Mukherjee B TNN

Bangalore: Henceforth, you have a ‘friend’ to guide you as you commute across the city. An interactive interface ‘Maargamitra’ (a friend on your path), which helps to plan your trip before you step out of home, will be launched on Monday.
The multi-modal interface is designed and operated by the civil engineering department of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. It promises to provide you with the best available information: a combination of walking, travelling, waiting and transfer time. Also, the estimated fare and the number of transfers involved will be available at a click .
At present, the planner covers Big-10, Vayu Vajra, Vajra, and Metro Reach-1 services. It will be updated with other bus routes and new public transport modes as and when introduced.
“A person might not like to wait at terminals and may prefer a route where the waiting time is less or minimum. Some might prefer direct routes to those withtransfers, even when the direct route involves higher invehicle travel time,” said Ashish Verma, assistant professor, department of civil engineering, IISc.
HOW TO USE IT 
Anyone who wants to use
public transport in Bangalore can get her/his best itinerary by giving the origin and destination details on the interface. Information is categorized under minimum travel time and generalized cost. The trip planner gives the best path option based on the concept of ‘generalized cost’, which is estimated after taking into consideration the combination of walking, travel, waiting and transfer time and also the fare. Take note: Log into the trip planner at http:// planyourtrip.civil.iisc.ernet.in

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Pranab the new president of India

Pranab is lucky 13th

Sweeps Prez Poll With 69% Of Valid Votes

Vishwa Mohan TNN

New Delhi: Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee’s big win in the presidential election — which will make him the 13th occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhavan — marks the return of an active politician at Raisina Hill after three successive Presidents who were either past their prime in politics or did not have a political background at all.
Since July 1997, when K R Narayanan became President, the high office has been held by missile man A P J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil whose careers had peaked, while Mukherjee was a hands-on politician playing a crucial role in UPA affairs.
Unlike his predecessors who were picked as safe choices by the
ruling establishment of the day, Mukherjee sought the job and even bent his party to his will, aided by some ill-timed pressure tactics by Congress ally Mamata Banerjee that yielded unexpected results.
Interestingly, Mukherjee will move to Rashtrapati Bhavan from 13 Talkatora Road, a fact that may interest the numerologically inclined. Those who know Mukherjee say his sense of the Constitution, politics and grasp of governance make him his own man who cannot be taken for granted as President. Mukherjee made the point, saying he would try and fulfill expectations to “defend, preserve and protect” the Constitution.
Mukherjee polled a vote value of 7.14 lakh or about 69.3% of the valid votes in the electoral college — aided by cross-voting from BJP legislators in Karnataka. The Opposition nominee, former Speaker PA Sangma, secured a vote value of 3.16 lakh, handing Mukherjee a handsome margin.
After the result was finally out on Sunday evening, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by son Rahul, called on Mukherjee to congratulate him. The presence of Rahul was noted, particularly in the context of his announcement that he was accepting a more active role in Congress affairs.
Soon after, PM Manmohan Singh reached Mukherjee’s residence where celebrations were underway since the afternoon when his tally crossed the halfway mark.
Cross-voting by BJP MLAs in Karnataka, where the party is in majority, saw Mukherjee gaining a lead of 117 votes to Sangma’s 103.
States got funds to back Pranab: Sangma
NDA’s defeated presidential candidate P A Sangma congratulated Pranab Mukherjee but alongside, accused the UPA of doling out economic packages to states to swing support for him. “For election to the Lok Sabha and assembly, there is a code of conduct for free and fair elections. Such a code of conduct does not exist for presidential and vice-presidential elections… Rs 57,000 crore was given to UP, Rs 27,000 crore to Bihar…,” Sangma said. “Everybody knows that the so-called economic packages have gone in a very big way. We all know that there have been some threats, be it Mulayam Singh or Mayawati.”
1st active neta to enter Raisina in over a decade
After more than five decades of fine innings in politics and weathering many a political storm, Pranab Mukherjee is a quintessential politician — a strategist, a troubleshooter and, above all, someone who can cross over the barrier to buy out support from the rival camps. It’s for the first time in over a decade that an active politician is stepping into the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mukherjee’s major acid test will be the next general election if it throws up a fractured verdict. It’s widely expected that Pranab will bring into Raisina a sharp political mind and a wealth of experience. The days to come will testify to this. BIGGER MARGIN THAN EXPECTED 
UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee polled 7.14 lakh votes, or nearly 69% of valid electoral college votes, thrashing P A Sangma who got 3.16 lakhPranab got
more than 7.11 lakh committed votes of UPA and parties like JD(U) & Shiv Sena 
Sangma’s committed support was around 3.10 lakh votes. He gained from additional votes in states like W Bengal As many as 15 votes cast by MPs were invalid, including nine for Pranab UPA had
expected 535
votes of MPs, got 527. One Oppn MP cross-voted. In all, 81 votes termed invalid In BJP-ruled
Karnataka, Pranab got 117 votes to Sangma’s 103. In Jharkhand, vote again showed up divide in NDA

ONE FOR THE ALBUM: (Left to right) The PM’s wife Gursharan Kaur, PM Manmohan Singh, LS Speaker Meira Kumar, Mukherjee’s wife Suvra, Pranab Mukherjee, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi

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