Category: Amazing Feats

** Arunachal villagers build museum on century-old battleground

Museum is located near spot where British officer was killed during Anglo-Abor War of 1911-12

The people of a village in Arunachal Pradesh’s Siang district have constructed an “eco-friendly” museum near a spot where warriors of the Adi community killed a British officer during a war in 1911-12.

The Adi people inhabiting large swathes of central Arunachal Pradesh had resisted colonial expansion several times between 1858 and 1912. These are called the Anglo-Abor Wars.

The Misum-Miyang Kumsung, meaning “ancient artefacts museum,” has been set up at Komsing village, about 12km from district headquarters Pangin. The spot is near where the Adi warriors had killed Noel Williamson, the British political officer during the last of the wars in 1911-12.

Locally known as the Poju Mimak, the war was fought from October 6, 1911, to January 11, 1912. It is considered one of the most decisive Anglo-Abor wars in the history of the freedom movement in Arunachal Pradesh.

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** Indian doctor performs 1st pediatric stem cell transplant in UAE

A Malayali doctor in Abu Dhabi wrote himself into record books when he performed the first pediatric stem cell bone marrow transplant in the UAE.

Dr Zainul Aabideen, a native of Kannur in Kerala, presently Head of the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Burjeel Medical City successfully performed the advanced allogeneic procedure on a five-year-old girl from Uganda with sickle cell disease.

Billed as the first such surgery done in the UAE, the patient’s 10-year-old sister donated her bone marrow for the transplant treatment at Burjeel Medical City, a flagship hospital of VPS Healthcare.

Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder, which results in an abnormality in the hemoglobin found in red blood cells, causing them to become sickle-shaped and leading to several complications including anemia, swelling in the hands and feet, frequent pain, acute chest syndrome, and sometimes stroke.

Prior to the treatment, the child has been regularly admitted to the hospital due to complications arising from her disease since birth.

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** Vijayveer Sidhu wins men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event, Rhythm Sangwan bags double gold

Vijayveer Sidhu won the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol title while Rhythm Sangwan cliched gold in both the women’s and junior section of the same event.

Punjab’s Vijayveer Sidhu won the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol title while Haryana’s Rhythm Sangwan cliched gold in both the women’s and junior section of the same event on day six of the National Selection Trial 3 and 4 here on Wednesday.

Vijayveer fought off a spirited challenge from India internationals Anish Bhanwala and Adarsh Singh to win the gold with 32 hits to his name at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.

** A big MSD fan, Greco-Roman wrestler Sachin Sehrawat bags bronze on Asian Championships debut

Sachin won a 67kg bronze in the Greco-Roman category of the ongoing Asian Championships in Mongolia on Wednesday.

A reluctant wrestler, Sachin Sehrawat, was a big MS Dhoni fan and wanted to be a successful wicketkeeper-batter like him. He even joined a cricket academy in Faridkot (Punjab) to pursue his dream. His father Virender Singh, who was with the BSF and posted at Faridkot then, however, wanted his son to follow some individual sports.

Sachin was unrelenting but eventually decided to switch to wrestling after coaches at his academy didn’t give him enough opportunities with the bat during training. “My father suggested to take up wrestling. So I joined Baba Farid Kushti Akhara in Faridkot in 2012,” Sachin, 25, told The New Indian Express from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia after winning his first international medal, a 67kg bronze in the Greco-Roman category of the ongoing Asian Championships on Wednesday.

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** Week-long activities to celebrate India@75 launched in US

Programme aims to celebrate the diversity of India and its people through cultural activities.

In commemoration of India’s 75 years of independence, the Indian Consulate here in collaboration with a city-based cultural organisation and a children’s museum commenced a week-long celebration involving a plethora of activities, including traditional paintings, music and storytelling, that honour the history of India’s people, culture and achievements.

The Consulate General of India in New York, The Culture Tree and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) kicked-off the special activities and interactive programming on Monday that aim to celebrate the diversity of India and its people through dance, music, literature, puppetry, drama, food and art, The Culture Tree said in a statement.

Anu Sehgal, founder and President of The Culture Tree that provides South Asian-themed classes and programmes, said that through these events, we can offer cross-cultural exposure that can help shape knowledgeable, open-minded and respectful individuals, while also offering ways in which children and families from the diaspora can connect with and celebrate their heritage.

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** Cigniti Technologies bags $10 million deal

Software quality engineering, testing and consulting services provider Cigniti Technologies on Tuesday said it has bagged a $10 million annual contract value (ACV) deal from one of the largest and oldest financial services and investment firm in the U.S.

The deal, to accelerate the U.S. firm’s digital transformation journey, is one of the largest it has won and has a high growth potential in the coming years, Cigniti said in a release.

The client is a Fortune 500 company with operations in 20 U.S. states and has offices in three continents. Cigniti Technologies CEO Srikanth Chakkilam said the deal is an outcome of deep-rooted expertise encompassing functional, process, business and digital assurance services for large enterprise customers.

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** Five KSRTC staff honoured

The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has honored five staff who have done exemplary work bettering the reputation of the Corporation at a function held in Thiruvananthapuram.

Thomas K.T., driver of Erumeli depot, who was instrumental in rescuing a three-member Gujarati family trapped in a landslide at Pullupara on October 16, 2021, conductor Jayson Joseph, who moved eight buses to a safer location when the Ranni unit was flooded even as his house was also flooded on August 15, 2018, Mahesh P.G., a mechanic at the Ranni unit, who worked with the fire force to save six lives, Aneesh T.P., a driver of the Ernakulam unit who printed and distributed notices in Tamil and English at his own expense to increase the number of passengers after COVID, and Ponnus K. C. the driver of the Erumely unit who tried to rescue the youth who were involved in a road accident on April 21, 2021 during the Erumeli-Palakkad service, were honoured at the function.

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** Indian-American Navy veteran appointed Kamala Harris’s defence advisor

In her new role, Ms. Sethi coordinates National Security Advisor documentation across the Office of the Vice President.

Shanti Sethi, a trailblazing Indian-American Navy veteran, has joined US Vice President Kamala Harris’s office as her executive secretary and defence advisor, according to a media report.

Ms. Sethi, the first Indian-American commander of a major US Navy combat ship, recently joined Vice President Harris’ office, Politico news website quoted vice president’s senior advisor Herbie Ziskend as saying.

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** Gukesh wins La Roda International Open chess title in style

Praggnanandhaa finishes third; Raunak fourth

The country’s youngest Grandmaster D. Gukesh, 15, improved upon his two runner-up finishes in March with a resounding title-triumph in the 48th La Roda International Open chess tournament in Castile-La Mancha, in Spain.

In the ninth and final round, joint overnight leader Gukesh stopped Israel’s Victor Mikhalevski in just 26 moves to finish with eight points.

Earlier, aiming for the runner-up spot, R. Praggnanandhaa did Gukesh a favour by holding the other overnight leader Armenia’s Haik Martirosyan in 37 moves. Martisroyan (7.5 points) finished runner-up and Praggnanandhaa topped a five-way tie for third place at seven points. Raunak Sadhwani was part of those at seven points and took the fourth spot.

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** N. Sankar: An innings of understated achievement ends

The chairman of the chemicals-to-shipping Sanmar Group passed away on Sunday

N. Sankar, 76, chairman of the home-grown chemicals-to-shipping conglomerate Sanmar Group, passed away at his residence here on Sunday after a brief illness. He is survived by his wife Chandra, son Vijay Sankar, who is the Deputy Chairman of the $1-billion group, and a daughter Madhurika, who is a venture investor and writer.

The elder of industrialist K.S. Narayanan’s two sons, Sankar obtained a B.Sc.Tech in Chemical Engineering from the AC College of Technology and a master’s degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.

A third-generation entrepreneur, Sankar started his career as a 21-year-old trainee at the group’s flagship chemicals company, Chemplast, in 1967, when his father was overseeing the business. At 26, he made his first entrepreneurial move by helming the acquisition of a major stake in Industrial Chemicals and Monomers, a carbide manufacturing company.

His stewardship of Chemplast, and the Sanmar Group as a whole, saw the group widen and enlarge its industrial and business footprint significantly. A pioneer in PVC manufacture, Sankar came up with some of the original choices for highly integrated manufacturing processes at various facilities of Chemplast.

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