Solar 'charkhas' to produce 'green clothes'

Mumbai: The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is finalizing a project to introduce solar "charkhas" (spinning wheels) across the country and produce "green clothes", a top official said here Saturday.

A prototype of a solar "charkha" has been developed and is undergoing field trials by the KVIC in collaboration with the Gandhigram Urja Vikas Sanstha, Amravati and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Industrialisation, Wardha, said Kumud Joshi, KVIC chairperson.

"This is an ambitious project and the product spun from the solar 'charkhas' would be marketed as 'green cloth' in India and abroad," Joshi said.

Khadi is essentially hand-spun, hand-woven cloth and will now have technological help to assist the production with solar power, Joshi explained.

Khadi is essentially hand-spun, hand-woven cloth and will now have technological help to assist the production with solar power, Joshi explained.

The project involves introduction of 100,000 such "charkhas", each costing around Rs.20,000, every year.

Generally one spins the "charkha" wheel with the hand. In the new model, there would be solar panels, which would draw solar power. The solar panels are connected to a battery, which stores power.

KVIC chief executive officer J.S. Mishra said once implemented, the solar 'charkhas' would help not only to spin effortlessly but the spinners can also earn double their present earnings, from Rs.60 per day to Rs.150 per day.

This is the second major technological innovation by the KVIC in the past couple of years  

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German-aided project on climate change in Nagaland

A German development bank and Nagaland government have signed an agreement to raise adaptive capacity of rural people in the face of climate changes.

As part of the climate change adaptation (CCA) project in the North-East, the German government-owned development bank, Reconstruction Credit Institute (KfW) on Tuesday signed the ‘minutes of meeting” (MoM) with the Nagaland government for implementation of the programme.Before signing the MoM a KfW mission team visited various parts of the state for three days and held meetings with officials from various departments, including the State Task Force on Climate Change, a state official said here.

Dr. Marcus Stewen, senior project manager of KfW signed the document on behalf of the German bank while Chief Secretary Lalthara signed for Nagaland in the latter’s office in presence of additional chief secretary and development commissioner Alemtemshi Jamir and other senior government officials.

The KfW (German financial cooperation programme) will be implemented involving various government agencies, including Nagaland Environment Programme through Economic Development (NEPED) and NGOs, through micro-level planning and execution of livelihood programmes keeping in mind the challenges of climate change.The programme, which is likely to take off by early 2012, is intended to enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of rural people in Nagaland in the face of climate change and variability, the official said. 

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