** Under Biden, the rise of Indian-Americans

With Joe Biden set to take over as the President of the United States (US) this week, a key feature of his appointments — Mr Biden has filled his key positions with capable individuals unlike Donald Trump — is that close to two dozen Indian-Americans find a place in the top echelons of the administration.

According to a news report, Mr Biden has appointed at least 20 Indian-Americans, with 17 of them in White House positions — 13 of the 20 also happen to be women.

** In the land of ‘Sri Ram’: Why Indian indentured labourers in Suriname refused to come back

The fact that two-third of the more than 34,000 Indian immigrants settled down in Suriname and gave up their free passage back to India is to some extent proof of the fact that life in Suriname was perhaps better than in British India.

** Nellore ‘padman’ breaking taboos around menstrual hygiene

Mavuluri Suresh Babu (58), hailing from Railway Feeders Road from Nellore city, has been working as a school assistant (Telugu) in a government high school located at Venduru in Gudur mandal of Nellore district.

 He has observed the difficulties of girls to attend school during the menstruation which made them skip school for three to five days.

Andhra Pradesh

** Man on a mission: preserving Thirukkural on palm leaves

“I am a native of Hoshiyarpur in Punjab, but I grew up in Chennai.

I did my schooling from a Hindi-medium school and realised the potency of Tamil much later in life.

I started learning various literature, and 10 years ago, started reading Thirukkural. It is the only text applicable to all religions and races. It is app