Category: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

** Kalinga Literature Festival Book Awards 2020-21 announced: Full list of selected titles

Acclaimed writers Amitav Ghosh’s “Jungle Nama”; Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar’s “The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World”; Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s “Restless as Mercury: My Life as a Young Man Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi”; Gulzar’s “A Poem a Day”; Sandeep Bamzai’s “Princestan: How Nehru, Patel and Mountbatten Made India”; Shashi Tharoor and Samir Saran’s “The New World Disorder”, Bollywood actor Sonu Sood and Meena Iyer’s “I am no Messiah” are among the prominent titles selected for the awards.

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** First three-day international symposium on Sikh architecture to be held in Chandigarh from September 7

About 1000 architects and other professionals from the world are likely to attend this symposium, said Surinder Bahga, chairman of Saakaar Foundation.

** Indian Army organises Jashn-E-Janoob, sports festival for youth in Kashmir

“These kinds of events are good for the people of Kashmir because they give them exposure and motivation to do something in life.

Sports is the best way to all the hazardous things out of the mind. I appeal to all the parents to send their child to sports, along with the education,” Hanis Shabir, a martial artist told ANI.

** Bilingual affair: Kerala woman enters India Book of Records for writing unique novel

When young writer Anju Sajith decided to utilise the pandemic-induced lockdown creatively, little did she know that her attempt would get her name etched on the prestigious India Book of Records. 


Recently, the Palakkad-native shared the Book of Records with the Tamil poet and writer Bho Manivannan, for developing a novel uniquely.

The duo wrote the chapters of the novel- Ven Tharishu Nilangal- in each other’s mother tongue. Anju penned some in Malayalam, and Manivannan wrote a section in Tamil as well. Within a month both of them released the full book in their regional language as well. Anju claims that the novel was an attempt to revive the art of writing during the lockdown days.

** For better or for verse

Having published 61 poems as part of her book, Echoes of Soulful Poems, this city-based 12-year-old has been conferred the title of ‘Youngest Poetess in India’ by the India Book of Records.

The lockdown due to the pandemic gave many opportunities to children to hone their creative skills. Some like Amana, a Class 8 student studying in Bishop Cotton Girls’ School, utilised the time to create a record in the field of literature.

The Bengaluru girl now holds the title of the  ‘Youngest Poetess in the India ’ by the Book of Records for publishing a book Echoes of Soulful Poems containing 61 poems, at the age of 12 years, five months and 10 days. Her work has also gotten recognised in the Asia Book of Records for which she has been given the title of the ‘Grand Master’ for writing poems at a young age. Her entry into the India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records were confirmed on July 26 and July 27, 2021, respectively.

** India’s highest herbal garden at 11,000 feet altitude inaugurated in Uttarakhand

The garden, located in Mana village of Chamoli district, has been developed by the research wing of state forest department on a three-acre land given by Mana Van Panchayat.

The garden, inaugurated by Mana sarpanch Pitambar Maulfa, has been developed in three years under the central government’s Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) scheme. It displays around 40 species, including important medicinal herbs, found in the high-altitude alpine areas of the Himalayan region.

** Goa, the land of feni, gets its first alcohol museum

The land of feni just got a museum wholly dedicated to the locally brewed alcohol.

Started by local businessman Nandan Kudchadkar, who is a collector of antiques, the museum ‘All About Alcohol’ located in the tiny beach village of Candolim, houses hundreds of artefacts linked to feni, including large, traditional glass vats in which the local cashew-based alcohol was stored centuries ago.

** Indian yoga teacher in UAE sets 3 world records during COVID pandemic

She has set two records in the India Book of Records and one in the Canada Book of Records.

Bhagya Puttalingappa, a native of Karnataka, has been practising yoga since the age of eight and her childhood passion earned her not only a double place in the India Book of Records, but she also earned a spot in the Canada Book of Records.

In the India Book of Records, Bhagya holds one record for performing Shirshasana (head standing pose) on a chair for one minute and seven seconds and another record for performing the maximum yoga poses standing on her head for one minute.