Category: Amazing Feats

** Serum Institute chairman Cyrus Poonawalla named as recipient of Lokmanya Tilak National Award

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of the city-based vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII), will be honoured with the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award for 2021. Deepak Tilak, president of the Lokmanya Tilak Trust, has made the announcement.

** Sprinter Maan Kaur dies at 105 after heart attack

Maan Kaur, who held four world records in the 100+ age category and won 35 medals at national and international levels, breathed her last on Saturday. She was 105.

** India assumes UNSC presidency; focus on maritime security, peacekeeping, counterterrorism

India took over the presidency from France. Ambassador of India to United Nations, TS Tirumurti thanked France Permanent Representative to the UN, Nicolas de Riviere, for steering the UN Security Council for the month of July.

“Thank you Ambassador @NDeRiviere, PR of France for steering the UN #SecurityCouncil for the month of July. India takes over the Presidency for August,” Tirumurti tweeted.

** Tokyo Olympics: India rejoices at shuttler PV Sindhu’s second medal

Sindhu on Sunday became only the second Indian and first woman to win two Olympic medals, securing a bronze after a straight-game win over world no.9 He Bing Jiao of China.

** Biden nominates Indian-American to be first Muslim envoy for religious freedom

President Joe Biden has nominated an Indian-American, Rashad Hussain, as the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and if approved by the Senate he will be the first Muslim to head US diplomacy for advancing religious liberties.

** From Mysuru To Mumbai: Railway Porter Badge No. 16 Takes Her To ‘Indian Idol’ Stage

Rizwana Banu’s story breaks free from dogmas of male-dominated profession

Wearing Porter Badge No. 16, Rizwana has appeared on the stage of the country’s biggest singing TV reality show ‘Indian Idol’ in Mumbai on July 6 and this has made her the talk of the town. But the celebrity status has not got into her head and she still lifts passenger luggage, smiling. Her amiable approach gets her a few rupees more than the normal remuneration.

** Awarding Australian Alumni

13 recipients were awarded with over AUD 150,000 during the event.

The 13 recipients shared their projects from various fields, including environment, technology, agriculture, communication, gender, clean energy and more. Of the selected, four represented Chennai-based teams – Madhavi Shankar for communication app SpaceBasic, Venkateswaran Palat Krishnan for STEM Challenge Pilot, Ashok Jalagam for an Automated Millet Finder, and Lakshmi Venugopal for an Indo-Australian Platform on Environmental Education and Research (IA-PEER). The remaining recipients were posted in Kolkata, Mumbai, and New Delhi.

** Racism in Scotland: A memorial to British Indian Army soldiers who served in World Wars would help counter far-right’s hate – Dr Saqib Razzaq

There is no permanent memorial in the UK to the soldiers of the British Indian Army who fought for Britain in both world wars.

That is something that the charity Colourful Heritage is planning to change, with plans now well underway for a memorial in Glasgow to our forgotten soldiers.

More than four million of them fought alongside British troops in the 20th century conflicts, with many making the ultimate sacrifice.

Scotland has a special connection to the British Indian Army (BIA) through a Second World War regiment called Force K6.

** True icon of Indian badminton: Tributes pour in after legendary Nandu Natekar dies

Nandu Natekar, who played a bit of cricket and tennis at the national level before becoming an international shuttler, died in Pune on Wednesday.