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R HEART U O Y S E H C T H AT T O U Y L I A D G IN AN INSPIR Vol. 1 No. 30 Pages 16 PUNE, THURSDAY MAY 24, 4 2012 Rs.4 WEATHER Sunrise .....................05:58 Sunset ......................19:05 Moonrise .................08:31 Moonset ..................21:52 Temperature Min ...........................23 0c Max ...........................39 0c
BREATHE EASY NOW
FOOD D FIT FOR THE KINGS!
HOW’S IT BEING A CAR!
Get weather forecasts 24 hours in advance >> P5
A tribute to the ever-delicious Biryani >> P15
The bittersweet journey of a car >> P6
Costly textbooks?
just hire them! Now you need not buy expensive engineering books. Let www. Textbuk.in come to your rescue!
S
oon you may get into an engineering college of your choice and all you need would be books to ace the class. You would go to the shops that stock engineering textbooks only to be informed that some of them are not available. You take a trip to Appa Balwant Chowk, the hub of such academic books and yet you come back disappointed! Time, energy, effort and petrol, all spent to no avail. “It can be really frustrating when you are trying to get all the books you need for a semester. You have to make several trips and there are no guarantees on when they will be available. For my first year, I had to do that and the cost of the books was exorbitant. So when I saw www. textbuk.in, which gets the books to you at a much cheaper price, it was like an answer to my prayers,” says Shreyas Joshi, a second-year engineering student at MM College of Engineering, Pune.
A win-win solution Textbuk.in is the brainchild of Sameer Tulpule and Vishal Sharma, who were driven by the idea of making learning less expensive while making the world a greener place. Having been students themselves and knowing that textbooks can cut a huge hole in anyone’s budget, they decided to rent textbooks to students. After a thorough market survey and sampling,
ACADEMICS they launched ‘textbuk.in’ which delivers to your door all the books you need to get through engineering and some of the allied fields. “Vishal and I knew that whatever we did, we had to make a difference to those involved - economically and ecologically. There are textbook sellers by the dozen but at the end of a semester, you do not know what to do with this
Textbuk FAQ z How long does it take to process an order and how do I make payment? All orders are processed within maximum 3 business days. Cash on delivery (COD) option is available. z What are the charges for the rentals and is there any deposit? The prices for the rentals vary depending upon the semester and the year of your studies. There is also a deposit which would be returned after the rental term ends. z What is the term for the rental? Is there a late fee? The term of the rental would be till the end of the semester and the date of which would be written on the receipt. Yes, there is a late fee associated if the
book is not returned on the last date of the term as per the date mentioned in the receipt issued to you. You would charged a 15-day fine which would be mentioned in the receipt. z Can I highlight or write on the textbooks? Since the books will be ciirculated amongst students, Textbuk.in has a strict no-damage policy. It is your responsibility to keep the books that you have rented in the best possible condition. Highlighting, writing or rolling of the books is strictly not permissible. Which streams can I get the textbooks for? Save more than 60% on your engineering, BSc, and 11th Std textbooks.
heavy book that you do not need anymore. Also, these special books are not available at just any book store. Students who belong to the slightly less urban colleges have to come in search of them many times. Renting books is like recycling them. Each copy goes through the hands of students through many semesters,” says Tulpule.
Acclaimed critically After a small sampling of about 50 students in September 2010, Textbuk.in was launched in January 2011 and instantly became a huge hit with students from the first semester onwards. Joshi was their very first subscriber and continues to be with them even today. The endeavour has been received well by teachers and college principals as well. In the words of one college professor—‘Now the students cannot complain that they did not have the time or that they could not find the book. They just have to ask for
it and it is there for them.’ Textbuk.in adds books and titles depending on the requirements and suggestions of the faculty and students. “Vishal is no longer with us, but his vision lives on. The students are happy. The tree we plant every time we get a new student reminds us that we have to make a difference,” says Tulpule. James Russell Lowell has said, “Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.” And just like bees, the books at textbook.in are on the move, enriching as many minds as they can!
EXTRAA Textbuk.in C/o Quick Learning Solutions, 644/1A, Row#1, House #2, Damodar Society, Bibwewadi, Pune- 411037 Tel: 9049794949 Email: contact@textbuk.in Website: www.textbuk.in
Numbing pain through affordable means For those who require constant ventilator support, retired army officer Rustom Bharucha’s comparatively cheaper mobile device is a lifesaver
What is your
LIFE 365 daily all about?
KHURSHEED DINSHAW
I
s this suicide, euthanasia or murder?” questions Capt. (retd.) Rustom Bharucha. He represents the plight of the thousands of patients who are unable to breathe on their own and need ventilator support, but are sent home for not being able to afford the exorbitant Rs 10,000-a-day hospital charges. “Further, around 50,000 people die of snake bites every year, this despite the protocol for treatment being just one to four days of ventilator
Pic: Nitin Lawate
support,” adds Bharucha, who was motivated to help such patients by offering a portable anesthetic ventilator costing a mere Rs 24,000. The device is an extremely robust electrically-powered machine that can be operated manually as well. After his retirement from the army in 1967, Bharucha’s specialisation in instrumentation led him to start his own company called Bharucha Instrumentation and Control. This was in 1970. >> Continued on page 5
Life 365 is more than just a daily that packages `life’ in its 16 pages. It is a platform to understand your city better in terms of the good work silently being done by hundreds of good samaritans. Their stories of
Mobility matters
An Appeal z Says Bharucha, “I appeal to society to come to the rescue of the thousands requiring life-long mechanical ventilator support, by donating these simple machines.”
how they lend an extending hand could propel you to contribute your bit to the society. In this progressive city of Pune, the desire to the serve the society is very strong, as we learnt from interaction with citizens.
Do you know of a person, a group of persons, an institute, an initiative or an activity that would inspire people or promote the larger social good? Are you one of them? Life 365 offers itself as your
z A number of doctors in rural areas carry Bharucha’s small ventilator in their vehicles during a call. The innovation acts as a lifeline to those who cannot navigate too far from the bed. The ventilator allows a patient to lead a reasonably active life. He/ she can move about on a wheelchair along with the ventilator and can even go to work and to shopping malls, if residing in urban areas.
trusted platform to share it with others. Contact us at: www.life365.in or Life 365, Aaj Ka Anand building, Shivajinagar, Pune 411005.