Imphal, November 26 2009: Two State natives have made outstanding marks in the field of scientific innovation at national level.

However, recipients of second and third prizes of the National Grassroots Technological Innovations and Traditional Knowledge Awards, Manoharmayum Manihar and Kshetrimayum Nickolson have decried total lack of Government support in such innovative activities.

They appealed to the Government to promote and sponsor innovators at grassroots level.

The awards are given biennially by the National Innovation Council to the best inventors and innovators of the country at grassroots level.

M Manihar was awarded the second prize for his invention of automatic pump operator and Ksh Nickolson the third prize for inventing electric shook proof convertor.

Manihar and Nickolson were among the 25 best innovators selected from the across the country for the awards known as National Grassroots Innovation Award.

The awards were distributed by President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil on November 18 .

Talking to media persons at Huiyen Lanpao office today, Manihar said that the automatic pump operator can be used for both domestic and industrial purposes.

Drawing water to a container using water pumps equipped with the device he invented will be stopped automatically.

The same function is applicable for all fluids, Manihar said talking about the utilities of his invention.

Nickolson's electric shock proof converter is a short of voltage stabiliser.

Electrical appliances and devices equipped with the convertor are shock-proof, the innovator said.

M Manihar, now 59 years old, was determined to make some innovations or invention since a very young age.

However, due to abject poverty he had to give up formal education after matriculation.

Besides doing several odd jobs for livelihood, Manihar managed to attend short term training courses at Manipur Science and Technology Council and Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology.

Together with his innate innovativeness, these short term courses were enough for Manihar to come with the brilliant idea of his automatic pump operator.

It took 18 years from 1990 to 2007 for Manihar to materialise his idea into a concrete object.

Ksh Nickolson is a young man of just 28 years.

Since a tender age, he had great knowledge about mechanics and electricity.

His father Indrajit is an electrician at RIMS.

Together with his father, Nickolson ran an electrical repairing centre at Uripok.

The repairing centre while augmenting family income virtually served as experimental centre for the young enthusiast.

It was here Nickolson experimented with different electrical circuits and configurations.

Nickolson said that he was always confident that electric shocks and the resulting casualties can be prevented by some devices.

After successfully invention of the electric shock proof convertor, 136 applications were submitted to the Chief Minister and 33 applications to the Chief Secretary to promote his invention but in vain.

Repeated approaches to different banks also proved futile, Nickolson said while decrying the total absence of any Government initiative for scientific innovation.

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