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Flooded by disaster
July 31: Monsoon in Orissa has meant only one thing in the recent past: floods. It’s no different this year. Floods have left 85 lakh people in over 15,000 villages homeless. The official death toll: 80. And one lakh hectare of crops have been submerged. About 5,000 kilometres of roadways, 500 kilometres of the national highways, and piped water supply sources to 61 towns have been submerged, causing widespread chaos and distress. As happens in such situations, water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, malaria and jaundice have affected more than 15,500 people, says a report in...
A Tale of Two Wonders
Where: USA and India June 24, 2000: In the first week of June, Indian newspapers wrote about two very different kinds of success stories. Both involved youngsters — one 12 year old and another teenaged boy. One was in the United States, the other was in Madurai (Tamil Nadu), India. But both proved that their success had very little to do with the education system. It had more to do with their desires and determination....
Toilet Matters
Where: New Delhi, India August 3, 2000 : As a kid, I had a big problem going out. I hated the thought of travel. It’s not that I was a stay-at-home type. I liked visiting people, places. But travel I hated. For, in the midst of a particularly long journey, I would desperately want to go to the toilet. My parents would ask me to hold on, as there were no suitable public toilets for girls....
Aruna Roy – Voice of the People
July 31: She was once an officer of the Indian Administrative Service or the IAS as it is popularly known. What is equally well known is that most IAS officers are as remote from the people as possible. Today, she has won the Magsaysay Award for public service for daring to question this attitude. She looks like a village woman in a simple sari, chatting away in a local dialect or language of Rajasthan. She is Aruna Roy, the winner of the Magsaysay Award for public service of 2000....
This Bird Paradise Stinks!
March 19: Are you a bird lover? If you live in Delhi, then the river Yamuna is the place to go to. Yes, that same river that was once Delhi’s pride but has got reduced to a polluted dump with mounds of plastic islands floating on its surface and toxic effluents flowing in from fields. And yet, birds flock to the Yamuna. Perhaps because there is no other river or wetland region in Delhi, which is predominantly a dry city, says a report in The Hindu....
Prisoners Ride on Fried Snack Success
September 30: It all began with ‘bhajiya’ (fritters). A few years ago, prisoners of Sabarmati jail in the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, began a ‘bhajiya’ corner. They sold crispy ‘bhajiya’, a favourite snack of Gujaratis, in the shop. Predictably enough, the snack was a big draw among people. Sales touched Rs. 20,000 per day. Inspired by the runaway success of their venture, the prisoners have decided to diversify. They have proposed a series of profitable ventures that they would like to set up in the coming months....
Rahaman and Resul Win BAFTAS; Zakir Gets His Second Grammy
Where: London, UK, and Los Angeles, USA February 11, 2009 : India’a A.R.Rahman won the award for the Best Music Director for his work in the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ at the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards ceremony. Fellow Indian Resul Pookutty, the sound director of the film, won the Best Sound Editing Award. At the 51st Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Zakir Hussain, India’s tabla maestro, won the Grammy for the best Contemporary World Music Album....
'Rim of Fire' in Indonesian Skies: 2009's First Solar Eclipse
Where: Samarinda, Indonesia January 26, 2009 : The annular eclipse of the sun on Monday, 26 January was a celestial spectacle, seen in several parts of Indonesia, and on the Cocos, a South Pacific island group. These areas fell directly in line with the alignment of the moon and sun. People cheered and banged on drums as the moon moved slowly over the sun’s surface, until only a thin, blazing rim of fire could be seen....
Virender Sehwag Hits Fastest ODI Century by an Indian Cricketer
Where: Hamilton, New Zealand March 11, 2009 : With his century coming off just 60 balls, Virender Sehwag became the fastest Indian batsman to hit a hundred runs in One Day International cricket. Sehwag broke Mohammad Azharuddin’s record of a 100 off 62 balls in Baroda 21 years ago. Sehwag also became the world’s seventh-fastest century hitter in limited-overs cricket. India won the match by 10 wickets. New Zealand put up a total of 270 for five....
A Debt Repaid
February 14: More than 60 years ago, the Maharaja of Jamnagar, a princely state in Gujarat, offered shelter to 600 Polish child refugees who had got orphaned during the Second World War. The children were housed near Balachadi, near Jamnagar. It was a deed that the Poles did not forget. For, as the news of the devastating earthquake that hit Gujarat spread across the world on January 26, the Polish government was among the first foreign nations to rush in with aid....