Find The Quality Of Air From Greenpeace’s Clean Air Nation App

As part of Clean Air Nation campaign, Greenpeace India has launched Clean Air Nation app which empowers users to find out the quality of air and how to protect themselves on bad polluted days and what actions government should take to protect public health.

Shivanandan L, Technology Manager at Greenpeace India, said, “As a father, I wanted to do something to highlight the dangers they face – which affect 35% of school going Indian children. The obvious answer would surely be to tackle the problem of air pollution by reducing emissions at sources. But in India that’s not going to happen quickly – so do people need to continue to suffer from hazardous PM and pollution – or can we introduce preventative measures now. I’m a tech minded guy – so is there some tech I can build which will help? So we decided Greenpeace India can create a solution which will help people to take precautionary measures for our loved ones.”

Once the user downloads the app, they can go through different cities’ air quality data as provided by the NAQI (National Air Quality Index). Depending on the quality of the air, the app will give users precautionary measures for different various groups (children, elders and pregnant women).

(source Next Big What.com)

Now Donation, recycling of digital devices just a click away

Dubai Municipality launches mobile app for overhaul of electronic devices.

Recycling your old digital devices is now just a touch away with the Dubai Municipality launching a mobile app that supports easy donation and overhaul of electronic devices.

The app called Taheel (refurbish in Arabic) is now available on Android and iOS applications.

With the slogan "your old device is gold for others," Taheel helps to access the municipality's Personal Computer Refurbishment Centre (PCRC) service now renamed as Digital Devices Refurbishment Centre (DCRC) from smartphones.

The services offered through the app include donating devices, requesting for used devices, technical training and support to establish a training lab using refurbished devices.

"This application enables community members and businesses to register donation requests and be aware of the available collection points and delivery options available," Head of the Centre Qasim Mohammed Rafi told Khaleej Times. On the other hand, he said, it also enables the authorised parties, who meet the requesting conditions, to request for these refurbished devices.

"Companies and others can send applications via the smartphone app. We will send a team to collect the donated items if they meet our criteria," said Rafi.

"If there is a big quantity of whole units of PC, say more than 25 complete units, we will send a team to collect them..For small quantities, we direct them to drop the used products at a nearby DM centre or to our office."

The contact details and locations of the PC Refurbishment Centre and Dubai Municipality centres where deliveries can be made are provided.

The interactive smart channel has been provided by the Dubai Municipality as a supportive step towards its efforts for environmental conservation and community service.

Reducing e-waste through charity

A website www.ddrc.ae has also been created to support the initiative that is aimed at considerably reducing e-waste in Dubai through an environmental-friendly and charitable project.

The civic body has collaborated with Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment and Microsoft for the PC refurbishment and donation project.

While Microsoft offers the technical support, the charity helps in distribution of these devices to people, mostly students, in need across the UAE and abroad.

The initiative is for individuals, institutions and the general public to generously donate second-hand, damaged or discarded computers to the centre.

The items, after the necessary repairs, will be donated to educational institutions, social and charity organisations.

About 55,000 devices including over 17,000 desktop computers and about 1,300 lap tops were refurbished and donated to needy students since the inception of the centre in 2007 to 2014.

Another 10,000 devices including desktops, laptops, printers and scanners are being given for free to aid the students and other needy people this year.

More than 80 entities have listed themselves as bulk donors of electronic devices while the municipality has longer lists of establishments inside and outside the UAE as the recipients of these refurbished devices.

The municipality aims to popularise the app and the services of the centre during the Gitex Technology Week Exhibition.

The civic body will showcase the other mobile applications and e-services that its various departments are offering as well.

(with Inputs from Khaleej Times)

How Mobile Phones Are Making Childbirth Safer in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia where almost nine in every 10 women give birth at home after pregnancies with little or no medical support, a mobile phone app is coming to the rescue with lifesaving guidelines when things go wrong.

The "Safe Delivery App", created by the Danish development organisation the Maternity Foundation, provides simplified instructions and animated films to deal with emergency situations, be it haemorrhaging, birthing complications, resuscitating newborns or infections.

"Midwives may have skills and knowledge," said Mesfin Wondafrash, the Maternity Foundation's program manager in the Horn of Africa state. "But they may not apply the right procedures when complications arise - even simple complications."

At the touch of a button, the app can give crucial guidelines to birth attendants, who are often traditionally educated and may lack training in up-to-date procedures that could save lives.

The initiative is proving even more vital in rural areas, where the only help many mothers get is from family members or a local woman.

Described as an "emergency training tool", the app is available in local languages and in English. And a key asset: it can be pre-installed on a mobile telephone so it works even without a network connection or Internet access.

'Easy to understand, access, update'
Officially, 85 percent of Ethiopian babies are born at home. The hospital is often seen as an option only when major complications arise - often too late to save a life.

"Pregnant women wait at home and if a complication occurs, like bleeding, it may be too late to access care," Mesfin told AFP.

In a promising trial run, testing started last year in the small town of Gimbie in the Oromo region, some 450 kilometres (280 miles) west of the capital Addis Ababa.

A total 78 mobile phones with the "Safe Delivery App" were given to midwives attending local women.

"After a year, the capacity of the app users to manage bleeding rose from 20 to 60 percent, and for new born resuscitation, from 30 to 70 percent," Mesfin added.

"If all health care providers could use this app, safe delivery would increase."

The Maternity Foundation says the preliminary results "show a remarkable improvement in the skill and knowledge level of the health workers."

"The advantage of the app over a medical book is that it is easy to understand, easy to access and easy to update," said foundation chief Anna Frellsen.

Every year, five million babies and 289,000 mothers die from complications related to childbirth worldwide, with the majority of the deaths in developing countries such as Ethiopia.

The foundation - whose motto is "no women should die giving life" - aims to tap the sharp rise in mobile phone users in Africa, a technology, it said, that offers "abundant unexplored potential" to quickly reach otherwise hard to access areas.

"With the Safe Delivery App, we can overcome one of the biggest barriers to preventing maternal mortality: the lack of trained childbirth support. We can reach health workers that are otherwise difficult to reach," she said.

The app is also being tested in Ghana and will soon be deployed in Tanzania, Guinea and elsewhere. The foundation's goal is to equip 10,000 health workers by 2017.

"If we achieve that, we will have ensured a safer birth for approximately one million women," said Frellsen.

Courtesy Agence France-Presse

India’s First Civic Crowdfunding Platform, Fund for Unity Launched

Gurajat government has launched Fund for Unity, India’s first civic crowd

funding platform that facilitates public funding and participation in community development projects.

Fund for Unity is a digital initiative under the umbrella of the Statue of Unity project, and seeks individual public and private philanthropic funds for enhancing the social and physical infrastructure, and the HDI, in backward regions of Gujarat.

It is an interactive platform which can host fundraising campaigns for multiple projects. It provides a secure, socially connected, end-to-end user experience where a potential contributor can browse through listed projects, understand their respective value propositions, and contribute funds in Indian currency to the projects of their choice via a secure integrated payment gateway. Contributions made on this platform are eligible for exemption at 50% under section 80(G) of the Income Tax Act of India.

All projects listed on Fund for Unity are initiated and managed by entities validated by the Government of Gujarat. Through this platform, people from all walks of life can contribute funds to projects they see merit in, and work with the government to enhance the quality of life of communities they live in and care for.

Upon registering at Fund for Unity, users can view statistical information about the implementation, effectiveness and reach of projects they have supported on their personal dashboards. All projects will feature regular updates on implementation, thereby ensuring full accountability to contributors.

Uber rolls out service for seniors, people with disabilities in Singapore

SINGAPORE — Dozens of drivers from private-car sharing app Uber are now ready to help passengers with mobility problems, having completed a one-day course on disability equality.

Under uberASSIST, which was launched yesterday (Oct 29), drivers who are part of this specially-designed service will be able to provide additional assistance not just to physically-disabled passengers, but also to other groups such as senior citizens and the visually-impaired. uberASSIST vehicles can also accommodate most folding wheelchairs, walkers and scooters.

A 26-year-old Uber driver, who wants to be known only as Sham, is among those who have been handpicked to join uberASSIST due to the good ratings given to them by their passengers.

With a rating of 4.8 out of 5 and six months’ experience as an Uber driver under his belt, Sham said about two out of 10 of his passengers had mobility issues.

Sham said in the past, he would often go with the flow when dealing with such passengers. But after attending the course, developed and conducted by disabled trainers from consultancy firm LevelField, he learnt the dos and don’ts in handling such people.

“I learnt that being overzealous is not good, and I’ve learnt to understand their needs better,” said Sham.

“One (part) of the training included blindfolding us and letting us experience how it felt if (the driver) took away my walking stick… it was an eye-opener for me,” he added.

According to a National Council of Social Service estimate, more than 110,000 Singaporeans have some form of disability.

Disabled People’s Association’s executive director Dr Marissa Lee said a service such as uberASSIST is “an important step towards an inclusive society” as it allows persons with disabilities and senior citizens with mobility issues to be “given as many choices as possible”.

She said: “Back in the days, disability is quite a taboo subject. It’s very much about learning how to engage persons with disabilities on an individual basis, so it’s about being okay with asking and understanding their needs. If they say that they don’t need help, then they don’t need help – at least you asked.”

National para-athlete Theresa Goh, said uberASSIST will help persons with disabilities to feel more at ease.

Although she hoped that all drivers can eventually be trained to handle persons with disabilities, the 28-year-old added: “I understand that there are some drivers who have a little bit of physical impairments (themselves) too, like bad backs or something, so they cannot carry something heavy like a wheelchair”.

Uber hopes to fully add wheelchair accessible vehicles to its platform early next year.