** Army officer breaks two Guinness World Records for fastest solo cycling

Indian Army’s Lieutenant Colonel Bharat Pannu has earned two Guinness World Records for his fastest solo cycling feats from October last year, said officials on Thursday.

The first record was created when Pannu cycled from Leh to Manali (472 km distance) on October 10, 2020, in just 35 hours and 25 minutes, the Army officials noted.

Pannu created a second record when he cycled the 5,942-km-long ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ route, which connects Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, in 14 days, 23 hours and 52 minutes, they said.

** M.S. Swaminathan felicitated for work towards TB eradication

REACH, a Chennai-based non-profit organisation working towards eradicating TB for over two decades, organised a virtual event at which Professor Swaminathan, who was its founding chair, was felicitated.

Since the organisation’s inception in 1998, he has instilled the need for a more holistic approach to TB by engaging communities and the private sector, a press release said.

** The world knew him as Periyar’s editor

Had V. Anaimuthu not stepped in, Periyar’s ideas, scattered and unavailable for systematic study, may have been lost

Periyar E.V. Ramasamy was a great thinker and propagandist. To disseminate his ideas he established a series of publishing firms such as the Kudi Arasu Pathippagam, Pagutharivu Noorpathippu Kazhagam (modelled on the Rationalist Press Association of London) and the Periyar Self-Respect Propaganda Institution. Printed on flimsy paper with worn-out types, the price of the publications was kept low. In the near-daily meetings that he addressed, Periyar would urge the audience to buy these books. Often, his wife Maniammai herself would hawk them. The downside of this democratising zeal was that his ideas were scattered in booklets and pamphlets and unavailable for systematic study until V. Anaimuthu (1925-2021), who passed away on April 6, stepped in.

** Story of a heritage house, illustrious occupants

The ‘House of Baruas’ in Guwahati will turn 100 in 2022

An almost 100-year-old house in Guwahati facing an iconic field has yielded 29 Assamese films, eight actors, four movie directors, three singers, two composers, two Ranji Trophy-playing cricketers, a footballer and a politician.

This house and its illustrious occupants are being chronicled in a feature-length documentary planned for release in 2022 when the expansive Assam-type structure enters its 100th year of existence.

** Manipal to sell Malaysian unit to Ramsay Sime Darby

220-bed hospital offers more than 30 speciality services

Manipal Health Enterprises on Friday said it will divest its Malaysian business to Ramsay Sime Darby Healthcare. The company, however, did not disclose the value of the deal.

Set up in 2016, the 220-bed Manipal Hospitals, Klang, is a high-end tertiary care hospital accredited by the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health.

** At least 10 Indian-Americans running for local elections in Chicago area

Community leader Jitendra Diganvker is running for Maine Township highway commissioner to be a voice for taxpayers.

Dr Suresh Reddy, immediate past president of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin or AAPI, is running for a trustee seat in Oak Brook, a city located 15 miles west of the Chicago Loop.

Nimish Jani is running for Trustee of Schaumburg Township, while Syed Hussaini is a candidate for Trustee for Hanover Park township. Smitesh Shah is running for Clerk for Maine township.

Said to be a direct impact of Vice President Kamala Harris, the five-women candidates running for elections are Vasavi Chakka for Naperville City Council, Mehgana Bansal for Wheatland Township Trustee and Shweta Bair Aurora 10th Ward Alderman. Supna Jain and Saba Haider are running for District 204 School Board.

** I was told my art wasn’t intelligent enough, says Indian – origin creator of world’s largest painting

Twenty hours a day for seven months went into painting ‘The  Journey of Humanity’, the largest painting on canvas and the second most expensive by a living artist.

Sacha Jafri, the British artist with Indian origins…

** Rahul Kumar becomes first Indian-origin man to win city parliamentary election in Germany

Haryana-born Rahul Kumar made history last month when he was elected as a city parliament member in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

According to Indoeuropean.eu a website for Indians in the European Union, this is the first time an Indian-origin candidate has won a city parliamentary election in Germany