Rourkela: Rourkela born, 16-year-old Tejaswini Priyadarshini, the inventor of ‘air bike’ which runs at up to 60km per hour, has been nominated among the 60 young achievers of India.
India’s largest nationalized bank State Bank of India (SBI) has announced to felicitate young achievers below 20 years of age in various categories of ‘YONO 20 Under Twenty’.
The award will be given in 10 diverse fields such as sustainability, performing arts, acting, entrepreneurship or innovation, sports, global Indian, disability champion, social media influencer among others.
Tejaswini is among the three nominees in ‘Promising Game Changer-Female’ category, apart from Kavya Vignesh and Pothunuri Laya.
The 16-year-old from Rourkela has invented a fuel-free bike which runs upto 60 kmph with 10 kg compressed air.
The cylinder is mounted to the back of a bicycle with no pedals.
Interestingly, the bicycle with no pedals called as ‘air bike can be used by differently-abled and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. This technology can be of great help at a time when cities across India are grappling with increasing levels of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other pollutants in the air.
Tejaswini’s father Natwar Gocchayat told, “The bicycle can run for 60 km on 10 kg of air. The same technique can be used for motorcycles and cars. The bicycle can also be used by the disabled and people who care about the environment can also use it to cut down on the use of fossil fuels.”
Tejaswini added, “If a similar concept is used for a motorcycle, it will not need petrol or diesel since it would be entirely powered by air. If the motorbikes run on air, bikers will not have to pay large petrol bills. My prime intent was to create a pollution-free vehicle.”
SBI had launched this initiative in October 2018 by identifying 100 young achievers. The final list boiled down to 30 male and 30 female nominees. Three nominees in male and female categories were shortlisted in each category.
The nominees were shortlisted by a jury panel comprising of eight eminent personalities from diverse fields such as Bollywood actresses Dia Mirza, Soha Ali Khan, sports journalist and author Boria Majumdar among others.
While voting lines opened from January 14, it will close January 27. The winners will be conferred with the awards at a ceremony February 4 in Bengaluru.
PNN
