Supporting Dalit women to become leaders, promoting a school for Tibetan refugees, helping educate girls in rural West Bengal, supporting a children’s hostel in rural Goa, offering IT training, personal development and English classes in Nagpur, offering a retreat from the slums in Bhaja and Bordharan: these are some of the projects run by the Karuna Trust. “Inspired by […]

He’s an “Inspioneer”. “A what?” you ask. A pioneer who inspires. That’s what Bertrand Piccard is. His Solar Impulse, a long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft project, is meant to inspire us, to show us impossible things can be done with clean technologies. Bertrand Piccard likes to affirm: “Change is possible right now. We can halve the world’s […]

Solar cookers aren’t new. But according to National Geographic, these devices, which use only the energy of direct sunlight to heat, cook or pasteurize food or drink, are making “a big difference in impoverished communities”. In the developing world they are a lifesaver. Solar cooking uses no electricity, gas, charcoal or wood. Only the sunshine […]

Everyone knows how dangerous nuclear energy can be. No so long ago, the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011 caused three meltdowns and the release of radioactive material the next day.  Time will tell whether cancer cases and deaths from radiation exposure following the […]

This video has already widely circulated, but it’s worth showing again and watching to the end. It’s a perfect example of humanity.

“11 August 2015 marks 1 year since the last wild polio case was detected on the entire African continent. A polio-free Africa would leave only 2 countries where polio transmission has never been interrupted: Pakistan and Afghanistan.” That’s the great news from the World Health Organization in its update: Africa advances toward a polio-free continent. On […]

Malvika Iyer is a model and role model. She’s an example of a person who has maintained a hugely positive attitude despite great adversity. And adversity seems like a weak word when you know what happened to her. When Malvika was 13, she lost both her hands and sustained severe injuries, nerve damage and multiple fractures […]

In his book, Before Happiness, Shawn Achor, writes about “actionable strategies to create a positive path to success”. Here are some tidbits: – “You can summon all your cognitive, intellectual, and emotional resources to create positive change, because you believe that true change is possible.” – “The better your brain is at using its energy to […]

Solar Impulse, the Swiss solar-powered aircraft, has set a new record. Pilot André Borschberg achieved the longest non-stop solo flight of 5 days and nights as part of Solar Impulse’s enterprising journey around the world. The plane took off from Nagoya, Japan, and landed in Kalaeloa, Hawaii, earlier this month. Without one drop of fuel! The […]

Drag queens are not new but, in that role, Conchita Wurst (or is it Tom Neuwirth?) has forced us to rethink gender stereotypes. He’s a bearded woman. Conchita is not the first person to win the Eurovision Song Contest whose self-identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender. But she has […]