Lavender crop brings 20 times more profit than, say, maize. This was discovered by a lady doctor who went on to taste success in farming and also be a change-maker in Kashmir, says Sana Altaf
Sudden shocks of climate change rarely affect the farm of Sudha Gunwant in Almora. Taking Anuradha Sahni around the farm, a hub of biodiversity, she explains how she overcame the challenge
Suresh Poojari started as a general help in a small eatery on a monthly salary of Rs.4 at age 10. Now he owns a popular restaurant chain, a shopping mall and a 3-star hotel, says Quaid Najmi
Attibele Gram Panchayat, 40 km from Bengaluru, is witnessing another development like the IT city. Its women have been making a splash as popular panchayat leaders, reports Pushpa Achanta
In militancy infected Kashmir, life is not easy for women. But some women grassroots leaders are making life easy for others. Ashutosh Sharma meets two of them, Zaitoon Begum and Vimla Devi
In a Himalayan achievement, three women from the Northeast reached the peak of their mountaineering career. Ninglun Hangal tells us the stories of Anshu Jamsenpa, Bidyapati Ningthoujam and Wansuk Myrthong, who were on top of Everest recently
The humble neem, which is part of Indian household remedies, is now being harnessed to fight cancer. Researchers in Kolkata are on the job and human trials could come next, says Sahana Ghosh
By launching a portal, Travelkhana.com, in October, 2012, Pushpinder Singh has helped over 50,000 rail travelers have palatable food during the journey. Akash Bisht explains how food from popular eateries get delivered at various stations
Kultikiri village in West Bengal has been electing only women to its panchayat for the past 20 years though the seats are not reserved. Saadia Azim finds out why women rule the roost here
The clocks of Sunil Saxena grew in size as his mother’s eye sight failed. His wish to make her read time without strain has led to the clock with a diameter of 72 inches, says Brij Khandelwal
Photographer Media Ramu captures some of the memorable moments from The Weekend Leader – VIT Chennai Person of the Year Award Function held at VIT Chennai. The Award went to Balasaheb Darade
A first year engineering student, Aditya Bali, used 6500 waste tetra packs, and loads of sawdust for building couple of sound proof rooms at the St. Mary’s School, Dwarka, says Deeksha Bhatia
Fossilised dinosaur bones and eggs of gigantic creatures that measured around 18-20 metres and weighed 10-13 tonnes have been discovered in Salbardi area near Amravati in eastern Maharashtra
Fashion designer Jaskeerat Bedi is participating in one of the world’s toughest mountain biking events, not to win any title but to spread awareness about breast cancer, says Vishal Gulati
A 15-minute boat ride through the Poovar River took Sanu George to a resort where there were a row of floating cottages and a floating restaurant. The place is 20 km from Thiruvananthapuram
A drone built by a computer science student in Kolkata is capable of camera surveillance, weather forecasting, and even attack and defence, but the DRDO is not responding, says Sahana Ghosh
The unanimous decision of the UPA government and the Congress Working Committee to grant statehood to Telangana sets right a historic blunder committed by Nehru 57 years ago, says Sam Rajappa
Rayna Srivastava, a 16-year-old high school student from Texas, USA, spent her summer vacation teaching English at a girls’ home in Mumbai, even skipping a trip to Brazil, says Krishnaraj Rao
Forty sightless people, who are themselves waging a grim battle for survival, have formed an association in West Bengal to extend help to those less fortunate than them, says Ritwik Bagchi
The media does not follow the rules in certain matters, while the judiciary could be vindictive also, said Justice K Chandru, speaking at the Friends of Positive Journalism Conclave in Chennai
A group of social workers in the temple town of Kanchipuram meet every week to chart their down to earth projects. All of them teetotalers, not by scheme, they work at the grassroots level but seek no external aid. P C Vinoj Kumar meets them
Besides being a cosmopolitan city, which is a bustling IT hub, also known for fine weather, Bangalore has more for a visitor, says Sudha Narasimhachar, giving a list of 15 must visit places
In the chilly heights of Ladakh, Thinlas Chorol stands out as a social entrepreneur, trekking guide, ice hockey player and a writer rolled into one. Her remarkable role is changing the face of tourism up there, says Kavita Kanan Chandra
Fetching water takes such considerable time for rural women that they expend most of their time and energy on that. But ‘Water Wheel’, a recent innovation, is ushering a change in the lives of women in some villages, says Souzeina S Mushtaq
Young social entrepreneur Medhavi Gandhi works with artisans from around the country, helping them to innovate and design better products to keep pace with the market needs, says Afsana Rashid
He once wanted to create a 'Shangrila' in the Himalayas. In 1993, he was into mergers and acquisitions in Citibank. But now Ramji Raghavan promotes scientific temper and the spirit of enquiry among poor children, says Kavita Kanan Chandra
Yankanma wanted to be a cook. Today she teaches English to her son. Rajesh Bhat, who quit a well-paid job to be a social entrepreneur, has many such rural success tales to narrate as he tells Souzeina S Mushtaq about his NGO, Head Held High
Students of IIT, Kanpur, are learning more about society by taking classes to underprivileged children around their campus. 'Shiksha Sopan’, a students' organization, enables many of its poor charges do what they couldn't have done otherwise
He helps students from poor families to pursue their higher studies and trains many for competitive exams, but shies away from publicity. He wouldn’t even want his photo to be published. P C Vinoj Kumar meets the founder of Mugavari, K Ramesh
If you hear the laughter of a disabled child, think of Kilikili, which literally means child's warbling laughter. Founded by Kavitha Krishnamoorthy, the NGO strove for making parks disabled-friendly. Souzeina Mushtaq tells us how it started
Success
