In Brief – March 2022
Anti-bullying app for schools
Anoushka Jolly, a 13-year-old Class 8 student from the Pathways School, Gurgaon, has created a mobile app to stop bullying in school. She started this social venture in 2018 and created the Anti-Bullying Squad (ABS) app. With help of educational institutions, social organisations and experts, ABS has positively impacted over 2,000 students from over 100 schools and universities and received a ₹50 lakh funding offer from Shark Tank India, an entrepreneurial reality show.
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Padma Shri awardee donates chopper
Savji Dholakia, owner of Hari Krishna diamond company, who has been conferred with the Padma Shri Award recently donated a ₹50-crore chopper gifted to him by his family. The new chopper will be used for medical and other emergencies in Surat. He had made headlines earlier for rewarding his employees with cars, gold jewellery sets and two-bedroom flats as part of a loyalty programme.
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Himalayan glaciers melting fast
The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, which has been monitoring six glaciers in the Chandra basin in western Himalayas since 2013, has released a study that confirms that the Himalayan glaciers have lost ice 10 times more quickly over the last few decades. In the last 400 to 700 years, the glaciers have lost around 40 per cent area — shrinking from 28,000 sqkm to around 19,600 sqkm, with grim prospects of reduced water supply to millions of people in Asia.
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Vengeful monkeys
In a bizarre incident reported from Beed district, Maharashtra, two enraged monkeys have reportedly killed close to 250 puppies. The killings began after an infant monkey was killed in the same region. Dubbed as “revenge”, the killing of the puppies forced local authorities to arrest the two monkeys who were carrying puppies to high-rise buildings and throwing them down.
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Death Cafe expands
The Death Cafe movement which started in London in 2011 has spread to 70 countries and completed over 10,000 death cafe meetings. The cafes are free and open to anyone who wants to talk about death. The cafes promote the discussion on death in a safe and supportive environment to increase awareness on the subject and help people cope with their loss. Tea, coffee and cake are on the house.
