What's new today Sangeetha from Cronica Media

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is considered a children's classic. Although the author did not write this book intended for a young audience, it has become a go-to read for many primary schoolers and middle schoolers. A group of children (10 yrs old) read this book, completed some book review worksheets and finally got together to share their views on the book with each other. 

Guests: Nayra, Prakriti, Smyan, Rishi, Pravit, Rusheel, Saatvik and Advik

Questions they answer in this episode
A) For what age do they recommend this book?
B) Why do they think the author wrote this story?
C) How do they evaluate the writing style and vocabulary of a book written nearly 150 years ago?
D) How did reading this book change their perspective?
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30 years ago in Nepal, Yagya Kumar Pradhan woke up to the news that two holy masks from the community's temple had been stolen. Yagya filed police complaints, but got no closer to the masks. He gave up all hope of ever seeing the masks again. One of his family members reached out to a group 'Lost Arts of Nepal' who track stolen artifacts with the help of amateur art detectives from around the world, using social media and other sleuthing techniques. As luck would have it, Yagya's masks were traced and returned to the Nepali government a few weeks ago, in a grand repatriation ceremony that was held in Manhattan, New York.

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Reference articles
(a) Our blog post containing photos of the masks
(b) Originally reported in the Himalayan Times.
(c) Interview with Yagya and Erin by NPR
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The UK recently passed a bill - as its way of telling people to not come to its country, especially if they are coming by dangerous boats. The UK doesn't want people from poor countries who are fleeing wars and conflicts to end up inside its boundaries.

What does this bill contain? Why are people in so many countries watching this bill with bated breath? Will this become the norm for other European countries? Will they also turn their backs to illegal migrants?

Co-host: Shambhavi (14-yr old from Delhi)

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A Scandinavian country, deep into the Arctic, is home to one of the happiest peoples in the world. What factors help them stay happier than people in many other developed countries (such as the US / western Europe / Japan)? Why are the children in Finland happier than their peers elsewhere?

Listen to this conversation with a primary, a middle and a high schooler, to unravel the rest of the story.

Co-hosts: Nayra (from Mumbai), Ayan and Dakshta (from Delhi)
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In the most recent earthquake in Taiwan, lives were lost and property destroyed. A group of dogs (called search and rescue dogs) came to the attention of many people through their valiant efforts at rescuing people caught under the rubble. This is a story of one such dog called Roger - who was earlier labelled a failure by the country's sniffing dogs group. How he was able to put to use his abundance of energy coupled with his intelligence forms the rest of his life-story.

Search and rescue dogs are highly trained canines that are often the first to reach a natural disaster spot. For example, following the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, these canines were amongst the first to be flown in by many countries to help the rescue efforts.

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A teenager from Gujarat came up with a novel solution to provide access to learning content on devices. Rather than rely on the goodwill of NGOs to provide devices and internet, Karthik Joshi, a 12th grader suggested a way by which students could 'pay' for this, without actually having to pay using money, but resources that are easily available to them. Another teenager from Tamil Nadu (Madhumita) has designed a 2-wheeler that can help the deaf drive on Indian roads, more safely.

These are two of the many innovations that have won India's National Innovation Fund awards over the past few years. To read more about these awards given to school children - Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards, click here.

Co-hosts: Pranay and Akmal, middle schoolers from Bosco Public School, Delhi

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