Special

Three lesser known acts of bravery from India’s military history

The history of our jawans is filled with lesser known tales. While some are lost in the pages of history, others went unnoticed and don’t have shining medals to associate with. We bring you three such tales of bravery.

When 21 Sikhs defended a military post against 10,000 Afghan invaders

The Battle of Saragarhi is the tale of incredible valour of 21 soldiers who remained unconquered even in death.

Some unique villages in India that inspire us

Submitted by souravroy on

With over 60 percent of India’s population still living in villages, it is not an overstatement to say that the soul of India lives in its villages. Villages are peaceful, calm, green, and away from the hustle of city lives. However, Indian villages are also often plagued with lack of education, healthcare, sanitation, and regressive beliefs. There are however, several villages in India, which go beyond the stereotype, and define a league of their own. Here is a list of few unique villages in India which inspire us all –

The HLA Revolution : Getting together to make a difference

Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ullhasnagar, Rajahmundry, Faridabad and Dehradun - in last few months Sankalp India Foundation together with Cure2Children has offered free HLA typing to children suffering from thalassemia who have a healthy sibling. More than 250 families have been offered HLA typing. A fourth of these are likely to find a perfectly matched sibling. The journey towards cure has started for children for children in each of these cities. It's probably for the very first time that the families are being offered HLA typing at their doorsteps.

Health Ministry permits transfer of blood between Blood Banks

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has identified two major initiatives towards better utilisation of blood and blood components, as part of its commitment to ensure safe blood and enhanced access to blood products, on the recommendation of the National Blood Transfusion Council. The first step is permitting the transfer of blood from one blood bank to another. This was not allowed earlier and will help in transfer of blood to places of scarcity. Detailed guidelines for proper and efficient transport of blood between banks have been prescribed.

Importance of the blood donor questionnaire form

The importance of the blood donor questionnaire form in blood donation cannot be over-emphasized. Besides, the demographic and identification related information, the donor form has questions which impact both the safety and well-being of the donor himself or that of the patient. It is also the instrument to capture informed consent. The first and very important step in the direction of keeping both the donor and the patient safe is the blood donor questionnaire form. However, there are significant challenges involved in achieving the intended goal of the questionnaire.

When a 4 month old girl was detected with Thalassemia

(Dr Reshma Srinivas, stationed at Samraksha shares her experience) A Family from Koppal visited Bangalore. They came to the Samraksha day care for thalassemia, located in the premises of Rashtrotthana Parishat with Rakesh, a two-year-old child. At registration, his father told me that Rakesh is their second child and was diagnosed with thalassemia. He is on regular blood transfusions ever since. Rakesh has an elder brother Ramesh who is 4-years-old and a younger sister Shweta. As a part of regular questionnaire, I asked them if they are doing fine.

Celebrating Nature - The three Bihus

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Bihu is a set of festivals of Assam and celebrated by the Assamese diaspora around the world. Bihu is celebrated thrice every year - in the months of Bohaag (Baisakh, the middle of April), Maagh (the middle of January), and Kaati (Kartik, the middle of October). The Bihus have been celebrated in Assam since ancient times. Each Bihu coincides with a distinctive phase in the farming calendar. It is one of the festivals of India which focuses on nature worshiping and not idol worshiping. The word Bihu is derived from the language of the Dimasa people. Bi means "to ask" and Shu means "peace".

Emergency Wing Team Report - 2014-15

The year began with merger of Project Disha and Emergency Wing, the two teams inclined towards making blood accessible and available to the needy. It was felt that it would be logistically easier if the two, otherwise separately perceived teams, worked in cohesion.

The Helpline Situation

The helpline is believed to be critical to Sankalp’s progress as an organisation. Running the helpline without problems means that the basic purpose of the organisation gets fulfilled – helping people with blood. To this extent the team did perform.

How some people make a difference

When people go beyond their zone of comfort and honestly work hard towards something, the results are always good. The actions of such individuals are inspiring to people around. This story is of one such individual. An individual who is a blood donor hero by himself. Sankalp has been organizing blood donation drives at ITPL since 2007. Thanks to the support from Ascendas and Applied Materials, the drive at ITPB campus is held regularly once in 4 months. ITPB has more than 15,000 people walking into their campus on any given day.

Spiti valley - a world within a world

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Rudyard Kipling had described Spiti valley as 'a world within a world' in his celebrated novel Kim. Over a century has passed, but not much has changed in this world, as it continues to remain relatively unknown, hidden between multiple folds of valleys and mountains, a world within another world. The name 'Spiti' means 'The Middle Land', i.e. the land between Tibet and India. Bordered by Ladakh in the north, Tibet to the east, Kinnaur to the south east, and the Kullu Valley to the south, this peculiar cold desert spans an area of almost 8000 sq km.

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