In what is a 'rags to riches' story, Chanda Zaveri fled from the pressures of getting married at 17 and returned home 30 years later as a millionaire. Born in a conservative Marwari family, her mother wanted to force her into a marriage that she did not want and a life that she did not choose. ...
10:29 AM, Feb 01, 2013
A sex worker turned politician and was twice elected as the ward councillor of Bihar's Muzaffarpur district. Rani Begum has now put her past behind and is working towards a better future for people like her. "Initially, I faced difficulties working in the society. But gradually, when people saw my work they starting accepting me," Rani Begum said. ...
09:43 AM, Jan 30, 2013
After months of brainstorming, students of a private school in Delhi have come up with a device for the visually impaired. It is fitted with a sound alarm, voice navigator and an emergency SMS service. ...
09:18 AM, Jan 28, 2013
At a time when women's safety across the country has become a cause for concern, Priya Sachan is leading by example. The 21-year-old is the first and only woman among 50 train operators and station managers for Gurgaon's Rapid Metro project. ...
10:14 AM, Jan 24, 2013
Prema Jayakumar, the daughter of a Mumbai autorickshaw driver, has topped the All India Chartered Accountancy examination. 24-year old Prema aced the exam with a score of 607 out of 800, a solid 75.88 per cent, and attributed her success to support from her parents and teachers. ...
10:20 AM, Jan 23, 2013
A unique initiative has been undertaken by a Pune Doctor. Following the Beed female infanticide cases, Dr Ganesh Rakh of Pune's Medicare multispeciality hospital has stopped charging any fees to deliver a girl child. The birth of a girl child is celebrated in the hospital by distributing sweets and by treating the mother and child for free. Till date, the hospital has given free treatment to 135 women and their...
10:02 AM, Jan 22, 2013
Latha Nair in Kerala is making a difference by helping patients suffering from an incurable genetic bone disease lead a normal life. Along with her friend, her organisation, Amrithavarshini is helping hundreds of patients today. ...
09:04 AM, Jan 10, 2013
New Delhi: Life at the brick kilns of Jhajjar in Haryana is especially tough for children of labourers. But thanks to a new initiative by the Don Bosco Foundation, this is fast changing. Jhajjar in Haryana makes the bricks that build India's capital. But the labourers come from all over India, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan. "If we could get enough work in Bihar, we wouldn't have...
10:40 AM, Dec 21, 2012
New Delhi: The brutal gangrape in Delhi has put the focus on security for women. But there is one place in Delhi where school girls are learning the art of self-defence. A group of specially-trained women constables helps girls learn self defence. Sixteen-year-old Mariya Khan oozes confidence as she walks to her school. Her steely eyes and reflexive biceps can now handle all the unwanted male attention. In New Delhi's...
09:50 AM, Dec 19, 2012
Tausem: A young IAS officer in a remote corner of India is trying to make inroads in more ways than one. Armstrong Pame and his community are making a superhuman effort to build a road that will help connect hundreds of people. Only madness can define the resolve of the 28 year old IAS officer to build a road that connects Tamenglong in Manipur with Halflong in Assam without any...
09:03 AM, Dec 18, 2012
Kolkata: Kolkata's Dum Dum correctional home is following a unique way of reforming the lives of its inmates. It helps them polish their musical skills. Inmates have also come out with their own album. From an inmate to an artist, music has given them a new identity. 46-year-old Sujit Doloi has spent 12 years behind bars, battling depression and loneliness. Now he has found solace in music. "I am very...
09:10 AM, Dec 17, 2012
Darbhanga: Students from Belgium are in Bihar on a special mission - to build a tuberculosis research centre in Darbhanga. They have not only donated a whopping sum of Rs 2 crore for the project, but are also working as labourers. This group of bright young students from Belgium are in Bihar to construct a building, within the premises of government hospital in Bihar's Darbhanga district. "We have come from...
09:02 AM, Dec 13, 2012
Bhopal: Bhopal's Bitiya Club is an initiative that went on to become the inspiration for the Madhya Pradesh government's hugely successful 'Beti Bachaao Aandolan'. The Bitiya Club, a club for couples with only daughters, was created to instill pride in parents and reject the false sense of pity that parents of a girl child had to often go through. Eventually, members of this club became agents of social change working...
09:09 AM, Dec 12, 2012
New Delhi: A team of young lawyers is trying to make a difference. They are helping NGOs access specialised legal help and that too free of cost. CNN-IBN met up with some of them to find out more about their 'I-Probono' initiative. 29-year-old Swathi Sukumar, an alumnus of Columbia Law School, isn't a regular lawyer. Alongside her private intellectual property law practice, Sukumar provides a platform to lawyers to do...
09:36 AM, Dec 11, 2012
New Delhi: Some teachers in Delhi are trying to create low cost and high impact classrooms to improve the level of education in primary schools. The NGO called STIR Education has gotten together a group of 25 innovators to revamp the system. Small changes can make a big difference and a Madrasa in Silampur, East Delhi is a perfect example. Sajid Hassan, the principal, has faced with severe financial constraints,...
10:46 AM, Dec 10, 2012
Hyderabad: In the bylanes of Hyderabad's old city, students of Maharajaganj Government School cannot have enough of a blackboard that brings joy to its students. And not just Maharajaganj, the blackboard, procured with the help of 'Project 511' spreads smiles across the city's government schools. 'Project 511', as a give-back to society, aims to address issues of infrastructure and education quality for government school students in the cyber city of...
09:33 AM, Dec 07, 2012
New Delhi: Akshay Saxena and Krishna Ramkumar left high paying corporate jobs to help students from economically weaker families nurture their dreams. Through their organisation Avanti, Krishna and Akshay help economically weaker students from far flung areas prepare for medical and engineering entrance exams absolutely free. Raj Kumar has studied only up to class 10. Today, he sells vegetables for a living. Nikhil Kumar, Raj Kumar's son is 15, studies...
10:00 AM, Dec 05, 2012
Kolkata: The world's fastest painter uses colours and adhesives to fight his chronic mental illness. He makes an entire painting in just a few seconds. Parijoy Saha, a chronic schizophrenic, has set a record of finishing 51 paintings in just 35 minutes. The 38-year old paints awfully fast. He has painted a whole picture in less than one second. That makes him the world record-holder for being the fastest painter....
09:28 AM, Dec 03, 2012
Bhopal: Monday marks the 28th anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy. For most victims, the scars still remain. But the Swabhiman Kendra is easing their pain by empowering them. Shobha Soni still remembers waiting for her husband on that dark night of December 3, 1984. Her house was just 500 metre from the Union Carbide factory where the horrific gas leak happened. What ensued was a life of struggle with...
08:58 AM, Dec 03, 2012
Paliganj: A bank with a difference provides grain on loan to poor Dalit women in Paliganj in Bihar. It saves them from the clutches of upper caste moneylenders. If a loan is required, the bank simply lends grain to the women. This unique idea has brought about a revolution among the Dalit population in rural Bihar. The women, mostly hailing from extremely poor families, were neck deep in the debt...
10:16 AM, Nov 30, 2012
