Our news for kids is interesting, relevant, sometimes quirky, always well-informed and about real people and happenings in a real world. News for kids delves deep into the ‘how’ & ‘why’ of news, giving children (and adults) a wider understanding of the events happening around them.
437 items in this section. Displaying page 11 of 44
Green Protection for the Taj Mahal
Where: Agra, India February 3, 2009 : ‘Ocimum tenuiflorum’ or ‘Ocimum sanctum’ is better known as Tulsi in Indian homes. It’s been used for centuries to prepare home remedies to cure coughs, colds and stomach disorders. It is used in Ayurvedic medicine, too. A tulsi plant, grown traditionally in many Indian gardens, is believed to purify the air around it. This has now been confirmed by environmentalists. The Tulsi plant releases high amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere, and this reduces the harmful effects of industrial pollution....
Where are the Children?
Where are the Children? [Illustration by Shinod AP] April 21: Slavery was banned in south America several decades ago. But in west and central Africa, it still continues. Now, child slaves from poor African countries are being sold to the rich African countries. Poor families sell their children to work for almost nothing in Gabon, a country in west Africa. Gabon is rich in oil. Despite international efforts to stop this trade, it continues, reports The Asian Age newspaper....
History was Made Here
November 4: It is a dirty and dimly-lit room, located on the first floor of the government-run JJ Hospital at Byculla, Mumbai. It includes a table, a chair and pieces of equipment occasionally used by the hospital staff, and is used as a safe refuge by tired employees looking for a quiet corner to doze off. History was made over a hundred years ago in this room, when a German bacteriologist called Robert Koch discovered the vaccine against the tuberculosis and cholera bacteria, in it....
Tiger Target
October 16: A few months ago, the accidental death of a dozen Royal Bengal tigers, at an Orissa zoo, shocked the nation. The news made headlines and gradually got relegated to the inside pages of newspapers before vanishing altogether. Yes, public memory is notoriously short and people eventually forgot about the whole episode. Now, yet another tiger death has shaken us out of our apathy. The gruesome slaughter of a young Bengal Tiger (Saki) at the Hyderabad zoo has once again highlighted the utter negligence on the part of zoo officials....
The Green Magician
July 1: Many children, all over the world, are working to protect the environment. While some are involved with school groups, others are busy spreading awareness in their neighbourhood. Fifteen-year-old Kruti Parekh is a bit different for she uses some rather fantastic methods in campaigning for the environment. This nature-loving teenager uses magic to promote environmental causes! Kruti also happens to be India’s youngest professional conjurer — a record she has held for the last five years....
How Spy Cameras expose Scandals
In the past one year, tehelka.com has unearthed two major scandals using hidden cameras. In May 2000, video footage revealed cricketers involved in match-fixing. And now, senior politicians and defence ministry officials have been caught on camera, taking kickbacks or bribes from people selling arms. How Spy Cameras expose Scandals [Illustration by Shinod AP] Whether these tapes will hold up in a court of law is not clear. What is certain is that in the new age, where technology forces transparency in how the government works, is here to stay....
A school for budding politicians
August 1: The ‘Netagiri Vidyalaya’ (Leadership School) in Ranchi gives the impression of being one of those ‘dingy-lane’ institutes that spring up like mushrooms during rains. What could a school situated in such premises possibly teach its students, you wonder. Apparently a lot, says a report in the India Today magazine. As the name suggests, the recently opened school, the first of its kind in the country, aims to educate aspiring politicians. And the institute is sure to get a lot of ‘students’ for Ranchi is now the capital of the new state of Jharkhand, formerly a part of Bihar....
More fuel to the CNG fire
August 16: It’s a nightmare either way. Too little, and we have thousands of autorickshaws and bus drivers in Delhi waiting for their turn to fill their fuel tanks with the new eco-friendly CNG or Compressed Natural Gas. Too much, and we have the gas pipe of a bus bursting when a careless attendant over-filled a tank at the Bhikaji Cama Place mother station. On the other side, Petroleum Minister, Mr Ram Naik is now championing the cause of low-sulpher diesel, and more recently, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), which we use as cooking gas....
A Problem, Naturally!
April 4: On April 1 or Fool’s Day, India’s capital, New Delhi, wore a deserted look. There were no public vehicles on the road. According to a Supreme Court decision passed two years ago, they were required to run on compressed natural gas or CNG, to ease the terrible pollution levels in the city. For two years, two successive Delhi governments slept through the deadline, not bothering to create a system that would make the transition easy....
The Fossil Tree
December 27: Which are the oldest living trees in the world? You might think it’s those huge redwood trees, called giant sequoias, dating 4000 years. Not true. How about the Wollemi Pine? Yes, you’re getting there. But the answer is the Nightcap Oak, which was discovered recently. This oldest tree is 90 million years old. The Nightcap Oak has been identified as a living fossil. It dates back to millions of years and was thought to have died out....