As often as you fail, get up and try again. God will never let you down, so long as you don”t let Him down, and so long as you make the effort
—Paramahansa Yogananda
International
Kenya’s #ElephantGuardian
helps thirsty animals
Patrick Kilonzo Mwalau, dubbed “the Elephant Guardian,” is saving animals by delivering water to them in dry regions of Tsavo, Kenya. GoFundMe, a Facebook page created five months ago to fund his efforts has raised over $90,000 so far. In a message on his page, Mwalau said water has become a very precious commodity and will continue to be so until November, when rain is again expected to fall. “Some years back we lost many animals including elephants due to a prolonged drought. Elephants are becoming endangered from poaching and we need to save the ones we have left by providing water for them until the drought peril is over,” it says. Mwalau and his team, the Tsavo Volunteers, rent water trucks to deliver 12,000 liters of water at least four times a week, at a cost of $250 for each tank.
7-year-old girl breaks #Football throwing record
Seven-years-old Elly Evarts of Gibsonburg broke a national age group record in the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick competition when she threw a football 48 feet, 5 inches on her way to winning a national championship in Orlando. Elly’s father, Bo Evarts, said that she was the first to compete and set the bar for her competition. “I was pretty confident after I went,” declared Elly. “I just took deep breaths.” After taking her top scores in each phase, Elly’s impressive total yardage of 151 feet fell just three feet short of the national record for the girls 6-to-7-years-old age group.
#FloridaPanther
population increases
The endangered Florida panthers are improving their chances of survival every day—with a little help from their government friends. The estimated number of endangered Florida panthers roaming in their breeding territory south of the Caloosahatchee River has just been updated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). According to the February 2017 report on conservation and recovery efforts, the adult and subadult Florida panther population has seen a 27% increase since 2014—and the numbers do not include kittens still dependent on their mothers. “This latest Florida panther population estimate is a good news, an indication that conservation efforts are on track in helping recover these endangered animals,” said Kipp Frohlich, FWC’s Deputy Director for the Division of Habitat and Species Conservation.
#SaudiArabia to curb oil use
Saudi Arabia, the nation ranked as one of the world’s top crude oil exporters, has launched a $50 billion initiative to phase out fossil fuels in favour of renewable energy. The country plans on harnessing 10 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2023 by constructing several wind and solar plants throughout the nation. Saudi Arabia plans on completing the initiative with 700 gigawatts. The initiative will not only be economically beneficial for the nation’s residents, but will also help steer Saudi Arabia’s main federal income away from crude oil as well as help the country meet worldwide sustainable energy goals.
National
14-years-old sets up
#Free CodingCamp
Krish Samtani, a 14-years-old student, launched ‘0Gravity’ coding club in Chennai to make coding more popular and funny. Started in Bengaluru a month ago, Samtani decided to bring his ‘0Gravity’ camp to Chennai after he had been flooded with hundreds of requests. As the unusual name suggests, the camp does not stick to the traditional method of teaching coding. It has maintained an equal girl-boy ratio in its intake of students and is looking to make learning about computers fun. According to Samtani, this means ditching the text-books. “There is too much theory there,” says the ninth grader.
7,000 Railway Stations to #GoGreen
The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in the Union Budget for the 2017–2018 that the Government plans to power over 7,000 Indian railway stations with solar energy. The project has already started implementing the renewable energy system at 300 different stations. The government also plans on expanding their solar reach beyond the initial goal set by the Solar Mission of the Indian Railways, decreasing further their dependence on fossil fuels. This initiative is not India’s first campaign for sustainability either; the nation was hailed after implementing the first airport in the world powered entirely by solar energy.
A School Educates #ElderlyWomen
One school in Phangane, outside Mumbai, Aajibaichi Shala educates old women, many of whom are grandmothers, through a one-year programme. The classes include basic literacy lessons like learning the alphabet and signing names. “As long as I’m alive, I want to learn,” a 65-years-old student Sunanda Datatri says. “When a girl is educated, we all benefit. So every grandmother should also pursue her dreams and get her education,” she said.
#DelhiPolice teach girls to fight trouble
Delhi Police on February 20 launched Sashakti, an initiative where girls would be trained in easy-to-learn-and-use self-defence techniques across the capital. Delhi Police aims to train over 1 lakh girls and women under the programme. The event witnessed the participation of over 1,500 girls from more than 50 schools and colleges, mostly from the west district. The girls also had officers answering queries about cybercrime and giving them tips on online safety. Most of the questions were related to safety of content on Facebook and WhatsApp. More than 20,000 girls, from various schools and colleges, have already been trained as a part of the programme in 2016.
