247 items in this section. Displaying page 14 of 25
Indian Children on US Mars Project
October 6: The planet Mars, or the ‘red-planet’ as it’s called, has fascinated people on earth for centuries. The fourth planet from the sun, Mars is the nearest planet to earth. This stunning landmass of craters, an uneven surface and dark skies has been a highly favoured destination for space travelers in science fiction, the body of literature that deals with stories of exploration into alien worlds. The possibility of humans visiting Mars and even colonizing it some day, is the dream of astronomers and space scientists the world over....
Who's Stealing the Doctors' Clothes?
August 5: Some thieves are lurking in the corridors of Delhi’s Lady Hardinge Hospital. They steal clothes. But, not any clothes. It has to be a doctor’s clothes. Or perhaps, the clothes are the only items of value around that place as all other valuables are locked carefully. For over a year now, doctors who go into the operation theatre after leaving their clothes in the changing room, have not seen them again. Doctors change before getting into the operation theatre to leave behind any germs of infection that their clothes might carry inside....
The Colour of China is Red — Henna Red
July 31: Madonna, the international pop star, was among the first to use henna as an international fashion. But young people around the world are using more and more of it to beautify their bodies or their hair. And now even the Chinese have adopted it in a big way. The Colour of China is Red — Henna Red [Illustration by Sudheer Nath] Call it henna or call it ‘mehndi’, that coffee-coloured extract from the henna plant, which has been used down the ages in India as a beauty aid....
The Borders of the Internet
November 25: In what is seen as a historic decision by many people, a civil judge in Paris has ordered Yahoo! Inc., a leading American web company, to block out from its sites any reference to Nazi associated saleable items to people who log in from France. The Nazis under Adolf Hitler, perpetrated a reign of terror against Jews in the 1930s and 1940s and France suffered greatly under Hitler’s rule. The Borders of the Internet [Illustration by Shiju George] Well you thought the World Wide Web has no borders, huh?...
Shakespeare in Prison
October 6 : Hulagappa Kattimane directs plays written by the world-famous English playwright, William Shakespeare. Macbeth and Hamlet are two plays that he staged recently in the South Indian cities of Bellary and Mysore. Both were astounding successes. There’s nothing unusual in any of this except for one thing – his actors are all prison inmates. Hulagappa is on a mission to reform criminals and help them cope with their sentences by introducing them to Shakespeare and the art of theatre....
A World for Children
July 31: K Shankar Pillai (1902-1989) or Shankar as he was called, was one of India’s best-known and best-loved cartoonists. Besides cartooning, he had one other love – children. He was especially interested in encouraging a child’s creativity. It was lucky for children that he thought this way, and from Delhi, where he was settled he wove an amazing web of dreams for children. He began the Shankar’s International Children’s Writing and Painting Competition in 1949 or 51 years ago....
The Magic Carpet
October 21: Meet Sheikh Tayyab Mahajan. This resident of Nagpur has a dream – he wants to create a carpet in which he can weave the complete cultural pattern of India. Ambitious? But possible, thinks Tayyab. That is why he started weaving a durrie or rug seven years ago. At that time, he wanted to make it to the Guinness Book of Records for weaving the longest carpet in the world. Now he is aiming higher having already woven 900 feet of the durrie....
The Tiger Cubs who Lost their Parents
August 5: What’s the worst thing that could happen to a kid? The death of his parents. But it’s not just us humans who feel the pain of becoming orphans. Three orphaned tiger cubs have shown that when you lose your folks, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an animal or not. The pain is the same. The Tiger Cubs who Lost their Parents [Illustration by Shiju George] A happy white tiger family lived in Nandankanan Zoo in Orissa....
Eleven-year-old Eco-ambassador
July 31: Somya Ahuja does not like the way people treat their environment. So she wrote an essay about it. And that essay led to her becoming India’s Eco-ambassador at a children’s conference in England recently. Eleven-year-old Somya lives in Delhi – a city which has the distinction of being one of the most polluted cities in the world. The city’s roads are choked with cars, lorries, buses, tempos and three wheelers. Most of these vehicles belch poisonous gases....
Ancient Library in the Desert
Ancient Library in the Desert [Illustration by Shinod A.P.] February 16: Ever heard of Chinguetti, a city nestling deep in the Sahara desert close to the North African country of Mauritania? No? Well, neither did most of the world, till it was discovered that this desert city that is slowly sinking in sand, could be home to the world’s oldest “living” libraries. That is to say a library with intact manuscripts....