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Animal Sense
February 14: So you live in a quake-prone region and want to be prepared the next time an earthquake strikes. Unfortunately, science has still not come up with a way to predict earthquakes. But there’s hope yet. Just visit your local zoo and observe the behaviour of the animals there. Astonishing but true. Animals remain even today, the best bet of alerting humans to an impending natural disaster. Animal Sense [Illustration by Shinod AP] Curious to know why?...
Flying Dogs and School-going Monkeys
Flying Dogs and School-going Monkeys [] Flippi the Flying Pup Squiggly goes for a Picnic Lippo goes to a Party Cheeko and the School Bag Written by Deepa Agarwal Illustrations by Atanu Roy and Deshraj Published by Frank Educational Aids Pvt. Ltd. Heard of Flippi the doggie-bird? Flippi is the dog who knows how to fly. Or, take Cheeko the monkey, who loves mangoes and goes to school, Squiggly the worm who’s a little untidy....
How Humans Got Eyes
Retold from ‘When the World was Young’ by Verrier Elwin When God created humans, he forgot to add eyes so that they could see. Most people had a very tough time as a result. They couldn’t walk without tumbling and tripping over each other. Life was so difficult. People couldn’t see where they were going, what they were eating, who they were meeting. The Earth used to be beautiful then. There were fragrant flowers, colourful birds and butterflies, dense, green forests, and clear, gurgling streams....
The Silken Web
While working on a machine in a sericulture unit in Karnataka, a little girl was severely injured in the head. Sericulture is the art of raising silkworms to obtain raw silk. The incident ocurred in the Ramanagaram-Channapatna taluk (a group of villages make a taluk) of Karnataka, where there are many such units. The little girl is one of hundreds of thousands of children employed in the sericulture industry in the state. Owners of sericulture units prefer children over adults for the work....
Girl Power in Gaul!
Girl Power in Gaul! [Illustration by Shinod AP] March 27: Over 40 years ago, Belgian artist Alberto Uderzo and French scriptwriter Rene Goscinny, created a new comic series. It was all about the ‘mis’adventures of a diminutive warrior Asterix, his giant of a friend Obelisk, and their dog, Dogmatix as they battle the invading armies of the Romans in Gaul, as ancient France was known. Uderzo and Goscinny set the story in the year 50 BC, over 2000 years ago....
The First Woman to Fly High in the Air Force
Across the world there are tales of women who take up adventurous careers as a challenge. They fly planes, climb mountains or travel to space on a rocket launcher. Some among them have another remarkable quality. They know how to include their striking achievements into their normal day-to-day life. Fifty-five year-old Dr Padmavati Bandhopadhyay is one of them. At home, she is like any other mother, happy to retell tales from the Mahabharata, cook elaborate meals for her family....
This Time Teachers are the Students
August 12: About 55,000 teachers in West Bengal are going back to school. They are going to be taught English so that they can teach the language to their students. The West Bengal government has realised that most primary school teachers in the state do not know the ABC of English. Rather, they don’t remember. The reason is not hard to find. For 20 years the government had banned the teaching of English at the primary level....
Polluted India
Where: Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad is a lake famous for the thousands of migratory birds it attracts from other parts of India and abroad, in the winter months. But the seagulls, ducks and other migratory birds no longer find it hospitable. They only use it as a stopover and prefer to fly away elsewhere. Too many idols spoil the lake The lake has seen more clay idols of deities such as Ganesh and Durga being immersed in its waters than any other lake in the vicinity....
The Travellers
In a temple city in south India, lived a group of young merchants who wanted to become rich. They had often heard about traders who had amassed a great deal of wealth in the course of their travels across the world. So, one fine day, the merchants set out on a long journey in quest of riches and engaged in trade. Unfortunately though, they did not become as rich as they had thought they would. Worse, they had spent more money on their travels than they had earned in the course of their trade – and that was galling....
Welcome Rains?
April 21: A few days ago, Delhi residents were pleasantly surprised when the sweltering April sky suddenly darkened with clouds and it began to rain heavily. A freak shower, they thought, since it hardly ever rains in Delhi in April. But, surprise, surprise… the rains occurred the next day, too. And the day after. The unseasonal showers have transformed the weather marvellously. It hasn’t happened in Delhi alone. Most of northern India, from Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, have been hit by the rains....