Remya Jose: How a 14-Year-Old From Kerala Built a Washing Machine From a Bicycle and Won a National Innovation Award
Remya Jose was 14 when she built a pedal-powered washing machine from a bicycle for about Rs 2,000. In 2005, her invention won a national grassroots innovation award in India. Her story did not end the way headlines expected.
Smit Machchhar: The Indian Flydubai Captain Who Fought Back After Being Stabbed in the Cockpit Mid-Air
Indian captain Smit Machchhar was seriously injured during a cockpit altercation on Flydubai Flight FZ1073, yet reportedly opened the door so passengers and crew could intervene. The aircraft landed safely in Tabuk, and both Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu praised his courage.
Panchayati Raj at Nagaur: Nehru’s 1959 Launch and the Village Councils Shaping India Today
Panchayati Raj began on 2 October 1959 at Nagaur, where Jawaharlal Nehru launched India’s village councils on Gandhi’s birthday. Decades later, Hiware Bazar in Maharashtra showed how far an elected village council can take a community.
Andhra State Formation: How Potti Sriramulu’s 58-Day Fast for a Telugu-Speaking State Changed India’s Map
On 1 October 1953, Andhra State was carved out of Madras State for Telugu speakers. It followed the death of Potti Sriramulu, who fasted for 58 days in 1952. Years earlier, he had fasted to open Nellore temples to Dalits.
Safeena Husain and Educate Girls: How One Woman’s Movement Won India’s First Organisational Magsaysay Award
Safeena Husain built Educate Girls, the first Indian organisation to win the Ramon Magsaysay Award. From 50 villages in Rajasthan, her team has brought over 2 million girls back to school across four Indian states.
Lalit Modi: The Cricket Administrator Credited With Turning the IPL Into a Global Sporting Phenomenon
Lalit Modi, the IPL’s first chairman and commissioner, turned T20 cricket into a global sporting spectacle. The league he built is now worth over US$4 billion and inspired T20 leagues across the world.
Lobzang Yangchen: The Spiti Woman Leading an 11-Member Team in India’s Snow Leopard Survey
Lobzang Yangchen, a mother of two from Spiti’s Kibber village, had never used a computer. Today she leads an 11-member women’s team that helped process over eight lakh camera-trap images for Himachal Pradesh’s snow leopard survey.
Jayshree Vencatesan: The Chennai Wetland Scientist Who Became the First Indian to Win the Ramsar Award for Wetland Wise Use
Jayshree Vencatesan, co-founder of Care Earth Trust in Chennai, became the first Indian to win the Ramsar Award for Wetland Wise Use in March 2025. She mapped the shrinking Pallikaranai Marsh using little more than a rope, a compass and a pair of binoculars.
Anchal Bhateja: The Blind Advocate Who Became the First Visually Impaired Woman to argue a case in the Supreme Court
Anchal Bhateja lost her eyesight before her Class X exams. In 2023 she graduated from NLSIU Bangalore, and on 6 June 2025 she became the first visually impaired woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court of India.
AstroSat Space Observatory: How India Joined the Short List of Nations Studying the Universe From Orbit
The AstroSat space observatory lifted off from Sriharikota on 28 September 2015, making India one of the few nations with its own space telescope. Built by ISRO with institutes across India, it carries five instruments that study the universe in ultraviolet, visible and X-ray light at once.