Innovations from schoolchildren wow Kalam

AHMEDABAD: Tired of carrying your luggage after failing to find an empty bench? Pull out a seat from right behind your own suitcase. Forgot to flush after nature's call? Just shut the toilet door and rest will be taken care of by the automatic flush.
These and many more such simple but mind-boggling ideas were put on display at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) on Monday.Each of the 18 innovations amused the visitors but seemed no rocket science for the schoolchildren who invented them.
The innovations came from children across the country who were selected winners of National Innovation Foundation (NIF)'s Ignite 09. This was a national competition for students' technological ideas and innovation.
The prizes were given away by former president of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. "Each one of you present here has an inventor and discoverer in you. You should nurture imagination and constant hard work towards realizing the dream. Keep high aims, small aim is a crime," he said while addressing the children.
Other interesting innovations, included rain water harvesting umbrella with filter by Saihiel Bakshi, student of class VI from Delhi, the idea of a tripod to support the fire hose which becomes difficult to manage during fire-fighting operations by Abhishek Srikanth, class IX student from Singapore and ambulance or fire brigade with integrated GPS which will turn all the traffic lights automatically to red keeping the road clear, designed by Meenakshi Padhi, a class VII student from Angul in Orissa.