Scientists at ICAR-CIPHET (ICAR – Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology) in Punjab’s Ludhiana have designed two low-cost machines to sanitise hands and to disinfect mobile phones, wallets, purse, bags etc. The two machines- free hand sanitiser dispenser and a portable smart UV-C disinfection system have been made at a budget of Rs 1,500 each.
The free-hand sanitiser dispenser also has an infra-red sensor which helps to get the sanitiser without even touching anything. According to Rahul Kumar Anurag, a scientist at the institute, the dispenser is very useful for the areas which don’t have any facilities to wash hands.
The smart UV-C disinfection system can be taken while going out or anywhere. It will take hardly six minutes using UVC rays to disinfect any device.
Both the devices have become the need of the time as sanitisation of hand and other devices become more common in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, in Odisha, the state-owned Utkalika has initiated the process of making organic masks as covering face has become a new norm in the present circumstances. The masks made of up of Sambalpuri cotton fabric have attracted customers as these are handwoven, organic dye of Kotpad fabric.
Earlier in the month, Durgapur-based Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute had developed a ‘Contactless Soap cum Water Dispensing Unit’ to avoid contamination possibilities. The device has proximity sensors which activate itself near objects.
The death toll due to COVID-19 has now risen to 4,971 with the number of total cases climbed to 1,73,763 in the country. The number of active cases stood at 86,422 while 82,369 people have recovered so far.
