Simran Singh success story

Simran Singh was born and brought up in Nagpur and has just finished 12^th grade in a school called Sheiling House School in Nagpur. He did both his family and his school proud by winning the ‘Imagine Cup-Earth’ competition. He came to know about this competition through an email he had received from Microsoft on October 25^th 2015. This is software development based competition in which one has to develop software that will help the ecosystem in some way. Since Simran was familiar with coding since the age of 13, he decided to participate in it. “One day in the month of October 2015, I got a mail from Microsoft in which there was a mention about the global competition named ‘Imagine Cup-Earth’. As I knew coding, I decided to take part in the event and informed my parents about it. Due to my exams, I had to leave the task of developing the app in the midway. It was just two days before the deadline that the app could be readied. Once it was ready, I gained confidence of winning this competition and this proved to be true”, said Simran. Simran won the first prize in the competition and was awarded a cash prize of $3000 along with a gift hamper. He also had the privilege of meeting Mr. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft at an event of the company held in New Delhi on May 31 where he explained his web app to him. “It was wonderful meeting Satya sir. I had never thought of getting this moment in my life. The school also felicitated me during the morning assembly. My parents are a proud lot and now I look forward to pursue BTech in Computer Science engineering from renowned IIT next year for which my preparations are underway.” On being asked what his web app could do, he replied that it could predict the amount of algae in the sea if parameters such as temperature, humidity and salinity were inputted. The web application displays the result in the form of an image along with other parameters in the form of text, which shows how much algae and what type of algae is present in the sea. He said his app could be integrated with machines that do weather forecast so that along with the weather forecast, the level of algae could also be known. “I was asked by Microsoft CEO during our meeting in Delhi on May 31 about the future use of this web application to which I had apprised him that this app could be integrated with the computerized machines that do weather forecast. Along with the weather forecast, the level of algae could also be known. I told Satya sir about the functioning of the app.” Simran said. Simran is also grateful to his friends for their help in developing this application and was felicitated in the morning assembly of his school.

Background

Many people these days have become lazy but highly self- centered and money minded. If people are born poor or in a middle class family, most of them blame god for the pathetic plight they are in and always crib and lust for more money. Very few people like Bill Gates, Ratan Tata, Varghese Kurien, Bhavish Agarwal etc., despite being born in poor or a middle – class family, work hard not only to achieve something and improve their stature in life but also to make a difference in the lives of people around them or in general to contribute something to the world. One such story which demonstrates such a rare and extraordinary quality in humans is the story of a Nagpur born boy called Simran Singh.

About algae

Algae belong to a group of single celled plants called ‘Phytoplankton’ and exist either as individual cells or in a group. Like all plants, they appear green due to the presence of the green pigment – Chlorophyll. They grow both in salt water and to some extent in fresh water i.e., in oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and ponds. Some species of algae are harmless and provide as a source of food for microscopic animals called ‘Zooplankton’, which in turn serve as food for small fish, who in turn serve as food for bigger fish and sea birds, thus forming the basis of the food – chain upon which the entire ecosystem depends. However, some species of algae host deadly bacteria like the ‘Cyanobacteria’ which produce potent toxins as a waste byproduct that could harm marine and human life. Toxin producing algae like the Blue – Green algae thrive in warmer climatic conditions and saline water. The cyanobacteria in them cause them to float on the surface of the water, thereby enhancing their ability to absorb sunlight and carbon dioxide both from the atmosphere as well as from water (in the dissolved form) when compared to other algae. When conditions are right, blue – green algae in particular multiply and grow tremendously. This phenomenon is called ‘Harmful Algae Bloom’ (HAB). When HAB occurs, it cuts off sunlight and carbon dioxide to other organisms in the sea i.e., both marine life and aquatic plants causing them to suffocate and die. Since algae also breathe oxygen at night, they reduce the dissolved oxygen in water again leading to suffocation and death of marine life. Those animals or aquatic plants that do not die of suffocation will definitely die due to the toxins released by blue – green algae which host cyanobacteria. Even after the death of blue green algae, their bodies decompose to release nutrients which are brought up from the depths of water bodies through currents, again promoting HAB. Salinity, due to the evaporation of water by the heat of the sun, also promotes the growth of cyanobacteria and thereby HAB. Thus we can conclude that the eco system and climate are very delicate indeed and climate change caused by global warming is a serious threat to the environment and to life in general and should be addressed seriously. Applications like the one Simran has developed will certainly help in the process.