From helping destitute women to promoting ethical beekeeping: the top Social Stories of the week

SocialStory caught up with Malini Kochupillai and Kunal Singh, whose firm, Tenacious Bee Collective, is trying to help beekeepers resolve challenges they face in the honey industry.

Meanwhile, Scientist and PHDCCI’s Environment Committee Chairman Dr JP Gupta gave some insights into the renewable energy sector of India, especially hydrogen energy, and how it can be improved.

Top stories from this week:

Meet this doctor couple from Maharashtra, helping over 300 destitute women

Dr Rajendra, and his wife Dr Sucheta Dhamane, run Mauli Seva Pratishthan (MSP), based in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra — a charitable home for women who needed shelter, support, medical treatment, and also protection from sexual abuse.

The institution provides lifelong care, treatment, and rehabilitation of its inmates by not only taking care of their medical needs but also by giving them a home with healthy meals, clean surroundings, and hope for a better life.

How Shreni Samudaya is supporting weavers, artisans through peer-based occupational networks

For Sudhir Kamath, it came as no surprise the number of people joining the ‘larger informal sector’ was dipping. 

From his conversations with workers — through his experience in the construction industry — he learned this was because the sector was not structured to have social status or a professional career path.

To help bridge this gap and pave the way for these workers to receive recognition and respect for their work, Sudhir founded Shreni Samudaya in 2018. The idea was simple: create an occupational network that would connect people and enable knowledge transfer. In fact, the name comes from the ancient concept of ‘Shreni’ or trade guilds. 

India is best placed to produce cost-effective renewable, hydrogen energy: Scientist Dr JP Gupta

India is the fourth most attractive renewable energy market in the world. According to a report by IBEF, as of July 2021, India had 96.96 GW of renewable energy capacity, which represents 25.2 percent of the overall installed power capacity.

Recently, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) organised an International Climate Summit (ICS) 2021, in partnership with NITI Aayog, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

We caught up with Scientist and PHDCCI’s Environment Committee Chairman Dr JP Gupta gave insights into the renewable energy sector of India.

How this Himachal enterprise promotes ethical beekeeping, creates employment opportunities for rural women

Malini Kochupillai and Kunal Singh first met in 2017 at an exhibition by Khoj, an International Artists Association, where they struck up a conversation about engaging in the community through the arts. 

That search for honey led Kunal to learn more about the conditions of beekeepers in his hometown of Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh. To help these beekeepers resolve some of the challenges that stood in their way, Malini and Kunal co-founded Tenacious Bee Collective. 

Building a resilient society amidst the climate emergency

Recent years have witnessed record-breaking warmest years around the world. The impact in India is all too apparent. Much of central and peninsular India has been suffering from heatwaves.

The rising number of disaster events — almost twice it was before the 1980s — has made it obvious that it is not business as usual. The climate emergency can no longer be managed by a top-down command and control kind of approach. The tables have now turned.

Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the inevitable shift in the manner the first and second waves are managed — from national to state-level control — has highlighted the importance of locally-led action to manage at scale while remaining sensitive to context and rapidly changing ground situations.