Auto Akka Raji: The Chennai Driver Turning Rides into Acts of Kindness

For many schoolgirls in Chennai getting to school safely can be a challenge But for more than years Raji Ashok has been making that journey a little easier Known affectionately as Auto Akka Raji gives free rides to government-school girls travelling through areas such as T Nagar Kodambakkam Anna Nagar and Perambur Her effort may seem like a simple act of kindness but for the girls she helps it means a safer and more comfortable way to reach school On a typical school day Raji makes two trips in the morning and three in the evening She helps around to girls a day often giving up nearly in potential earnings to provide the rides for free She Understands the Value of EducationRaji s motivation comes partly from her own life More than three decades ago she had to discontinue her college education after marrying and moving to Chennai She had

15 Sep 2026

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25,000 Students Came Together in This City, Made Clay Ganesh Idols—and Broke a World Record!

Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Guntur came with an unusual twist this year not just devotion but a giant dose of environmental awareness On September school students from schools came together at NTR Stadium to make eco-friendly clay Ganesha idols simultaneously The massive Green Ganesh programme earned the Guntur Municipal Corporation GMC a new entry in the World Book of Records London The event was organised under GMC s Nava Guntur initiative turning a traditional festival activity into a remarkable environmental campaign Beating the Earlier RecordThe scale of the gathering was what made the celebration extraordinary According to World Book of Records joint secretary M Elias the previous record for simultaneous clay idol-making stood at participants Guntur more than doubled that number with students taking part at the same time The record was officially announced and registered in the World Book of Records London making the achievement a proud moment for

13 Sep 2026

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Slingshots, Not Saplings: Rajasthan Women Take Aim at a Greener Aravalli

Planting a tree usually means digging a pit placing a sapling and ensuring it gets enough water But what if the land is too rocky steep or dangerous to reach A group of women in Rajasthan has found a surprisingly simple answer slingshots During the monsoon these women trek through hilly and forested terrain in Rajsamand district carrying tiny balls made from soil organic manure and seeds Once they reach a difficult slope or hilltop they use slingshots to propel the seed balls into places where conventional plantation would be challenging or risky The idea is simple The impact could be huge A Seed Ball That Waits for RainThe campaign has been running for nearly eight years according to Bhavna Paliwal who is associated with the initiative During this period more than lakh seed balls have been scattered across Rajsamand Amet Bhim Deogarh Kumbhalgarh Todgarh Satpalia Diver and surrounding areas

13 Sep 2026

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20 Km in 16 Minutes: A Green Corridor Paves the Way for a Life-Saving Heart Transplant in Noida

On Wednesday a remarkable medical mission unfolded across Ghaziabad and Noida where traffic police created a -km green corridor to rush a donated heart to a waiting patient The heart travelled from Hindon Civil Terminal to Fortis Hospital in Noida Sector covering the distance in just minutes Behind those few minutes was a carefully coordinated effort involving doctors medical staff and more than traffic police personnel From One Life to AnotherThe heart had been donated by a -year-old woman who was declared brain-dead She had expressed her wish to donate her organs turning a very difficult moment for her family into an opportunity to save another life The heart was found to be healthy and suitable for transplantation into a -year-old man suffering from severe heart disease The recipient Tapas a retired government employee had been undergoing treatment at Fortis since April About half of his heart was functioning poorly

11 Sep 2026

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Once Feared Extinct, the World’s Smallest Pig Is Now Thriving in Assam, Thanks to Conservation Efforts

Deep in the grasslands of Assam lives a creature that is easy to overlook but impossible to ignore in the story of wildlife conservation the pygmy hog the world s smallest and one of the rarest wild pigs For years conservationists feared that the species had disappeared forever Then in a small group was rediscovered in Assam after taking shelter from a grassland fire That discovery sparked a conservation journey that continues to this day Earlier this year captive-bred pygmy hogs were released into the wild marking another important step in efforts to rebuild their dwindling population From Captive Breeding to the WildThe rediscovery of the pygmy hog led to a partnership between the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust the Assam Forest Department and the Ministry of Environment and Forests The goal was simple but ambitious bring a small number of pygmy hogs into captivity and establish a breeding programme that

10 Sep 2026

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His Eyes Live On: Grieving Parents Donate Son’s Corneas, Giving Others Hope

For a family struggling to accept the sudden loss of their young son grief could have been the only thing left to hold on to Instead Arpit s family made a deeply selfless choice After the -year-old lost his life in the Satya Niketan PG building collapse in south Delhi his family donated his corneas Through their heartbreaking decision they hoped that someone else would one day see the world through the gift their son left behind His father Bhupendra said the decision gave the family some comfort that their son could in a way continue to see the world even after his death A Young Life Cut ShortArpit a second-year student at Delhi University s Atma Ram Sanatan Dharam College was from Dewas in Madhya Pradesh He had returned to Delhi on Sunday morning after spending Rakshabandhan with his family It was supposed to be the beginning of another

9 Sep 2026

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Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2026: Lucknow Tops India’s Clean-Air Rankings With 198 Points

Lucknow has emerged as India s No city among million-plus cities in the Swachh Vayu Survekshan scoring an impressive out of points The result is significant for a rapidly growing city where traffic construction activity and road dust have long been everyday concerns Lucknow narrowly edged out Indore which scored points while Jabalpur finished third with Bhopal and Agra shared fourth place with points followed by Surat So what helped Lucknow reach the top Here are a few measures that made a difference Electric Vehicles Take the RoadOne of the biggest changes has been the shift towards electric mobility Around electric vehicles are being used for door-to-door garbage collection reducing emissions from the municipal fleet The city also has electric buses operating on its roads To support this growing electric fleet Lucknow has established charging stations with charging points The Indian Express reports that the city is also moving towards

8 Sep 2026

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This Teachers’ Day, Meet the Woman Whose Classroom Has No Walls, But Whose Lessons Have No Limits

On most days Balaji Park in Delhi s Dwarka may look like any other neighbourhood park But for more than a decade it has been the classroom of Namita Chaudhary a woman who decided to use her time to change young lives Thirteen years ago Namita began teaching five children from families of migrant workers and daily-wage earners She had no fancy classroom no elaborate setup and no grand plan She simply had a desire to help Today more than children are part of the initiative nbsp With Teachers Day being celebrated on September Namita s story is a reminder that teaching does not always happen inside four walls Sometimes it begins with compassion and the willingness to show up every day A Teacher Who Saw More Than MarksAs reported by India Today Namita s inspiration came from a simple question what could she do with her time that would

5 Sep 2026

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He Missed an IIT Madras Trip. Now, This Teen With Cerebral Palsy Is an IIT Madras Student

Sometimes a dream begins with something as simple as listening to friends talk about a school trip For -year-old J Santhosh it began when his classmates returned from a visit to IIT Madras He could not join them because of his disability but their stories made him wonder what it would be like to study at one of India s premier institutions Today he no longer has to wonder Santhosh who has lived with cerebral palsy since birth and has a spinal muscular disability has secured admission to the four-year BS programme in Data Science and Applications at IIT Madras He cleared the programme s qualifying examination on his second attempt The institute celebrated his achievement with a message Dreams don't always follow an easy path but determination can take you where you aspire to be When One Door OpenedSanthosh initially hoped to prepare for JEE but his health challenges

4 Sep 2026

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