Adaikkalam Anandhan was 16 when a mistake almost proved fatal. He climbed a tree out of fascination, fell and injured his spinal cord. It meant he would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.   But the effect it had on him was the reverse of what was expected. At 29, now Anandhan …

Archaeologists said they had found the earliest evidence of Chinese people using monascus in order to make alcohol in 8000-year-old clay pots unearthed in central China, as per TNN.  This was on December 17.  A lot of monascus hypha and cleistothecia along with fermented starch grains from rice were found in two clay pots found in the Peiligang cultural site in …

Back in the day, when the Razakars were on a terror spree in Hyderabad state and trying to resist the integration of the state into the Dominion of India, a boy who was going to school decided to open a library in Yellanki, a remote village in erstwhile Nalgonda district.  But it was not to be as the feudal landlords …

Two senior executives of a South African pharma company and two other junior employees of a lab have been arrested in connection with issuing a fake COVID certificate. This helped the first South African Omicron patient leave India in November, as per ABP Live.  The man tested COVID positive and had been quarantined in a star hotel in Vasanthnagar. But …

The Indian Army thanked the locals here who helped in rescue activities after the IAF helicopter carrying the late CDS General Bipin Rawat crashed and resulted in the deaths of 13 of the 14 passengers, as per ET. The Army said the villagers were like ‘God’ to the victims.  Chief of Defence Staff Gen Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 11 …

A woman from Australia has had an overnight change of wealth after she took her COVID vaccine. 9News Joanne Zhu won $1 million or Rs 7.4 crore when she became the major prize winner of The Million Dollar Vax Alliance lottery.  The prize is the brainchild of philanthropists and companies from Australia.  iStock The lottery aims to to get more …

A Delhi court has sentenced the Ansal brothers to 7 years each and fined them Rs 2.25 crore each, as per India Today according to PTI. Sushil and Gopal Ansal received their sentences in connection with the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case.  The brothers were convicted of evidence tampering on October 8. The court also gave 7 years to former …

Pooja Biswas loves sports. She is a fitness trainer by profession and her dream of making it big as an athlete was foiled by penury and personal problems, as per The New Indian Express.  However, she does plan to make her 7-year-old daughter Avneet Kaur compete in the Olympics and win a medal for her country when she grows up. …

Americans across the nation are observing October as the Hindu Heritage Month as per PTI.   Over 20 of the 50 states and 40-plus cities have issued proclamations about it, according to community leaders. The first-ever initiative of Hindu groups in USA has been welcomed by elected representatives.  Shutterstock Hindus all over the world celebrate Navratri, Dussehra, Durga Puja, and Diwali …

Fresh communal violence reports have come in from Bangladesh when more than 20 houses of Hindus were burned down by a mob in Rangpur, as per TOI.  The local Union Parishad chairman said that more than 60 houses were torched.  Police said tensions began when some claimed that a Hindu man posted religiously abusive content on Facebook. AP “Police reached …