Category: Amazing Feats

** Guru Randhawa becomes first Indian male singer to cross 30 million followers on Instagram

Singer-songwriter Guru Randhawa has crossed 30 million followers on his Instagram, making him the first Indian male singer to have amassed such following.

Guru is known for chartbuster tracks like ‘Lahore’, ‘High Rated Gabru’, ‘Ishare Tere’ and the most recent ‘Dance Meri Rani’.

** Maiden test of Pralay surface-to-surface missile successful

The solid-fuel, battlefield missile developed by the DRDO is based on Prithvi Defence Vehicle from the Indian ballistic missile programme.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday successfully conducted the maiden flight test of indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile ‘Pralay’, from Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast.

** Tokyo Olympics: India Men’s Hockey team wins bronze after 41 years, Ravi Dahiya chasing Gold in wrestling

Indian men’s hockey team rewrote history as it claimed an Olympic medal after 41 years, defeated Germany 5-4 in men’s hockey match to win bronze at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.

Simranjeet Singh scored two goals for India at the Oi Hockey Stadium, along with Hardik Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Rupinder Pal Singh also adding their names on the scoresheet.

Aug 05, 2021

** Journalist Nava Thakuria bags international award

Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has honoured Tehelka journalist for his relentless initiatives to safeguard the rights of media persons in the south Asian country and also for defending the press freedom in the region with an exemplary commitment. 

The Guwahati-based working journalist was awarded on 30th November 2021 remotely as it was difficult for him to reach Geneva because of the Covid-19 restrictions. Even a virtual interaction program with a group of journalists there was also cancelled at the last moment.

“It is the first time that the PEC rewards a journalist from India, the second-most populous country of the world. India has a strong democracy and a vibrant press. Last year however, a record number of 15 journalists were killed in India while six have been killed this year. Journalists are targeted documenting abuses, corruption, criminal activities,” said Blaise Lempen, secretary-general of PEC.

** Bengaluru Man MD Ahmed Bags Guinness Record For Memorising Most Three-Digit Flash Numbers

Bengaluru-based author and coach Mohammed Ali Athar Ahmed, also known as MD Ahmed, entered the Guinness World Records for memorising the most number of three-digit flashcards.

Ahmed bagged the world record for recalling 32 three-digit flash numbers. The previous record was held by an Iranian (30 three-digit cards).

Ahmed is highly trained in memory techniques and also trains others to use such techniques. He decided to attempt a Guinness World Records title to help inspire others who are also interested in memorising as a skill and sport, Guinness World Records noted.

** BWF World Championships: Kidambi Srikanth Creates History

Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth on Saturday defeated compatriot Lakshya Sen 17-21, 21-14, 21-17 in the Men’s Singles semi-finals to reach his maiden BWF World Badminton Championships final.

The 28-year-old beat Lakshya in a thrilling match to become the first-ever Indian male badminton player to enter the World Championships final.

** Portugal now led by PM, 2 cabinet members of Indian origin

In a twist to that claim, Portugal is now led by people of Indian descent with family ties to the former colony: Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Finance Minister Joao Leao and Planning Minister Nelson de Sousa.

“I am very proud of visiting my father’s land as prime minister, and especially the first prime minister of Indian origin in the European Union. This visit has a strong emotional side in the personal motivation,” Costa said during a visit to India in 2017.

Costa’s grandfather Luis Afonso Maria da Costa was from Margao, where his relatives still live and his 200-year-old ancestral home is located, according to the Portuguese American Journal.

Luis Costa emigrated to what was then another Portuguese colony, Mozambique, where the prime minister’s father Orlando da Costa was born in the capital Maputo.

The elder Costa was a writer and his son released an English translation of his book, Sem Flores Nem Coroas (Without Flowers or Wreaths) while visiting India.

** Digitized war records of Indian troops killed in WWI Iraq highlight long forgotten Kut Al-Amara siege

The beautifully handwritten note on the yellowing service record, compiled by the Punjab government in 1919 and now over a century old, is as brief as it is poignant.

In faded ink, the entry for Wasawa Singh, the son of Shera, a Jat from the village of Gaike in northeast Punjab, tells the story of a young life cut short in the service of an alien empire.

There are no dates, merely a rank — havildar, equivalent to sergeant — and the name of a unit, the 30th Punjabis.

** Know Your City: How badminton was born in Pune as a pastime for bored British officers, their wives

The first informal set of rules of badminton — initially called ‘Poona’ – were formed in India by the British colonists in 1867. Later, as the British officers took the game back home, it acquired the name of Badminton after the country estate of Duke of Beaufort.

In March 1873, an English sports lover sent out a request to The Field: The Country Gentlemen’s Newspaper in England for information about the new ‘Badminton game of Battledore’ that, he had heard, was a favourite in India and was picking up in Britain.