NATIONAL COVERAGE REPORT: INDIA
World Teenage Reporting Project > COVID-19
https://www.globalyouthandnewsmediaprize.net/project-stories-3
Maansi Anand, Amity International School, Vasundhara, Sector 1, XII
Maansi Anand, an aspiring journalist, served as Page Editor and then Associate Editor for 5 consecutive years for her school newspaper The Global Times. An avid reader, she takes pride in writing on several current and pressing issues. She aims to work with a leading publication and travel the world to report stories from the ground level.
1: Bored in lockdown, teens dig well to solve water problems
Three teenagers, Arjun, Mahesh and Piyush in the village of Bhatkheri in Neemuch district, Madhya Pradesh, India, dug a 30-feet deep well in their own courtyard in just three days to finally reach the level of groundwater. Scarcity of water and unable to go out to get water, they dug day and night with only the equipment available to them at home with the assistance of other members of the extended family. One of the teenagers, Piyush, gave a deeper glimpse of how the persistent water problem has adversely affected their village, “Water supply to our village from a nearby reservoir is erratic. We did not get water for 15 days recently. So, we dug up the well to help the village.”
Read the full story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4oSVuFGI7Y
2: Teens spread awareness through Radio programme
A group of 50 kids from Narayanan Nair Memorial Higher Secondary School, Malappuram, Kerala, India have taken up the role of a Radio Jockey. Radio SPC, as it is famously known spreads awareness around social distancing and responsible hygiene through the programme that comprises poems, stories, reviews, quiz programs, speeches and even birthday wishes for fellow classmates. Some kids part of Radio SPC have also been preparing buttermilk for cops and volunteers working on the frontline to fight the disease, and some others have also been stitching protective masks at home.
Find out more about the creative initiative of Radio SPC RJs here:
scoonews.com/news/these-teen-rjs-from-kerala-are-making-quarantine-bearable-8974
3. COVID-19 website to mitigate fake news
COVID-19 website created by Sheikh Uzair Hussain, a teenager from Delhi Public School, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir is aimed at cutting down misinformation and rumors which tend to circulate during such critical situations, especially over social media. ‘Talaashsrinagar’, a local Srinagar district website is also integrated with the COVID-19 site to provide all emergency numbers in one place and address any queries or concerns.
Obtain verified, accurate information regarding the global pandemic and say goodbye to rumors here: https://jkcov.pw/
Know more about the COVID-19 website and all it does here: https://kashmirreporter.com/featured/4926/srinagar-boy-develops-covid-tracker-for-jk/
4: Homemade armour for Corona-fighters
Project Arpan by eight teenagers and their principal from Prayagraj, India have come together to create protective face masks for those fighting the virus at the frontline. As of now, almost 5000 people have benefited from this project. “During this task, I have never seen these kids getting tired or unable to explain their motive to the villagers. In fact, since the majority of team members are girls, they get easy access to the houses in the village, meet the women folk and explain as to how to use the mask, wash with care and reuse the same every time they go out in the open,” says Kaushal Singh, the principal.
Support Project Arpan and its brave creators here: https://www.scoonews.com/news/meet-the-teens-making-facemasks-to-fight-corona-in-prayagraj-8953
5: Helping keep cool in lockdown
Nine-year-old, Golu from Jaitpur in Mahoba district, Uttar Pradesh, India created a mini cooler to help people keep themselves cool at home during lockdown.
Golu’s first-hand experience of building her Mini Cooler can be found here: https://khabarlahariya.org/mini-cooler-built-in-lockdown-to-enjoy-summer/
6: Youth tackling COVID-19 Innovatively with AIM
Under the Atal Innovative Mission (AIM), a flagship initiative by the Government of India for promoting innovation and entrepreneurship among the country’s youth, several Indian teenagers have done wonders with their innovative projects to assist those who are fighting the pandemic as frontline healthcare workers. Some of these brilliant projects include-
6 (a) Corona Tracker Mobile App- Sohail and Parth of Dr KB Hedgewar High School, Goa, India, developed a Corona Tracker Mobile App called ‘Goa Delivery’ for helping Goans get essential deliveries to their doorstep without any inconvenience. At present it is being used by more than 146K users. The app is also useful for finding out how far away an individual is from the nearest patient who has been tested positive.
Know more about the Corona Tracker here: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/class-ix-boys-create-app-to-track-grocers/articleshow/74879925.cms
6(b) Automated Touch-Free Doorbell- Designed by Sarthak Jain of Class XI from Modern Public School, Delhi, India, this automatic touch-free doorbell can detect the presence of a person/object within 30–50 cm. It was designed keeping in mind that COVID-19 spreads on a large scale majorly due to routine activities, with the doorbell being a strong potential carrier.
Read more about it at: https://www.newindianexpress.com/good-news/2020/apr/18/16-year-old-delhiite-develops-touch-free-doorbell-to-prevent-coronavirus-spread-2131797.html
6(c) Automated Sanitizer Dispenser- Yuvraj Singh, Class VIII student from ASN Sr. Secondary Public School, Delhi, India created an automated sanitizer dispenser with sensors to make sure that the dispenser itself does not get infected when people use it and also cuts down on sanitizer wastage.
Learn more about the idea here: https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/news/14-year-old-yuvraj-singh-built-automatic-sanitiser-dispenser-to-protect-us-from-covid-19-510325.html
6(d) 3D Printed Face Shields: Students in Dr KB Hedgewar High School, came together and prepared sterilized 3D Printed Face Masks in their school lab, which were later distributed to frontline healthcare workers free of cost.
Find out more about their noble initiative here: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/school-at-cujira-leads-community-initiative-to-produce-free-face-shields/articleshow/75190326.cms
6 (e) Destroying Coronavirus with a self-made mask
Forget a vaccine, why not destroy the virus through a mask instead? These were the thoughts that were brought to life by a Class XI student Digantika Bose from Burdwan in Bengal, India. It took her seven days to create an ‘Air Providing and Virus Destroying Mask’ that can help both COVID-19 patients and healthcare workers that has already undergone a series of tests. Now, a prototype of the same is in use for fighting the virus. If approved, it will officially be used to treat COVID-19 patients.
Catch a glimpse of the Digantika Bose’s life-saving invention here: https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/bengal-girl-virus-killing-mask-shortlisted-for-national-competition
7) A wrist band to keep your hands off the face
One of the key rules we’ve all been asked to follow is to stop touching our faces since the outbreak of virus. On an average, it has been found that humans touch their face at least 23 times within one hour, making this quite a difficult rule to follow. However, 14-year old Harsh Chaudhari from Virar, Maharashtra, invented a unique wristband which can help us in not touching our faces or shake hands with others. The band can work on either buzzer or vibrator mode, and detects when one’s hands come into contact with their face or with someone else’s hands. It vibrates, thus reminding us to stop the activity. Made from scrap material like buzzer, aluminium foil, plastic tubing and tilt sensor, this ‘scrap wristband’ is also waterproof in nature.
The total cost of creating one such wristband is 90 INR, and Harsh aims to mass produce these and sell them at a cheaper rate of 40 INR. As of now, the unique scrap wristband is awaiting a patent approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research. He has also shared his unique invention with Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi.
Learn more about the unique scrap wristband which can help prevent community transmission of the novel coronavirus here: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/maharashtra-teen-invents-wristband-from-scrap-to-keep-coronavirus-at-bay-proposal-sent-to-pm-modi-icmr/story-wHSRBbHMVZI8McZNSWVioL.html
8) Supporting Local COVID Warriors
Since the original idea of going to malls and shopping complexes on shopping sprees has disappeared due to the COVID-19 outbreak, most of us have been confined to our homes, adding items to cart on online shopping sites. Now that we have switched from window shopping to curating wish lists, another concern looms overhead- what if the packaging of our online orders comes carrying the virus? To address this concern, Mihir Vardhan from Gurugram, Haryana, invented ‘The Terminator’, also known as ‘The Virus Killer’. A box made of 12 UVC lights, The Terminator sanitises packages on a commercial scale. This not only cuts the chain of contact between the customer and the package, but is also quite cost-effective! Taking only 91 seconds to complete its sanitisation process, The Terminator has been carefully created and well-tested to make sure that it is safe for community use. Specially designed to be use by apartment complexes and large neighbourhoods, The Terminator is perfect for eliminating the tiniest COVID-19 particles which might be travelling on your package!
Check out how The Terminator works by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1od74Xu1ko&feature=youtu.be
The World Teenage Reporting Project >COVID 19 is a global collaboration of teenage reporters in newsrooms around the world who produce stories about what their peers are doing to help during the Coronavirus pandemic.
