What's new today Sangeetha from Cronica Media

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.

Support Our Show - Donate to keep this podcast live and going

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
Do you like to read stories? Read our newsletters here
Get Whatsapp alerts here
Follow us on Instagram

Email your comments at hello@wsnt.in.

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)

To support team What's new today and to donate to us, please click here.
Do you like to read stories? Read our newsletters here
Get Whatsapp alerts here
Follow us on Instagram

Email your comments at hello@wsnt.in.

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)
Do you like to read stories? Read our newsletters here
Get Whatsapp alerts here
Follow us on Instagram

Email your comments at hello@wsnt.in.

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.

If you would like to support the production of this show and keep it going, please click here to donate and support us.
Do you like to read stories? Read our newsletters here
Get Whatsapp alerts here
Follow us on Instagram

Email your comments at hello@wsnt.in.

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

For details on our Podcasting Summer Camp, please click here


Do you like to read stories? Read our newsletters here
Get Whatsapp alerts here
Follow us on Instagram

Email your comments at hello@wsnt.in.

This episode captures the history of Bengaluru from over a 1000 years ago. Small settlements created fertile pastures in an otherwise arid region. The ingenuity they used to build a series of lakes and tanks is to be much admired. This is all the more evident in the backdrop of how we squandered centuries of efforts and destroyed all of it in less than 50 years. The story of Bengaluru is narrated in three parts
Part 1: How the settlements were formed from 1000 - 1500 AD
Part 2: Formation of modern Bengaluru by Kempe Gowda ~1500 AD
Part 3: British settlement post 1800 till modern times

Pioneers who are restoring lakes in Bengaluru
a) Anand Malligavad - Click here to reach out to him
b) Harsha Tej - Click here to reach out to him
c) Usha Rajagopalan - Click here to read about her pioneering work

To support this show, please click here
Do you like to read stories? Read our newsletters here
Get Whatsapp alerts here
Follow us on Instagram

Email your comments at hello@wsnt.in.