Achievements News

17-year-old Ayesha Aziz, from Baramullah, Kashmir, is all set to become the youngest pilot to fly a commercial aircraft and may even enter the Limca Book of Records for the same. Ayesha, who cites astronaut Sunita Williams as her inspiration, has also completed a two-month advanced space training course at NASA, being one of three Indians selected for the course.

In what is touted to be the first international placement in the 82-year history of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, an M.Tech student(24) of the institute has received an offer of $100,000 (Rs 62.7 lakh) from Google. Moreover, it is the highest salary offered to any ISI student till date. Last year's highest offer was Rs.28 lakh from Goldman Sachs.

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata group, will be enlisted as Foreign Associate, into the prestigious National Academy of Engineering(NAE), US on Sunday for his "outstanding contributions" to industrial development worldwide. One of the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer, NAE provides engineering leadership in nation's service. 8 Indian-American members are already a part of NAE's body.

With the aim of delivering a "message of peace", Pakistani Kharlzada Kasrat Rai(37) walked 6,387-km from Karachi (started on June-7) to Mecca (October-1) to perform Hajj. The two-time World Record holder for Peace Walks, who walked from Khyber to Karachi (1,999 km) in 2007 and Lahore to Islamabad (327 km) in 2009, received a grand welcome in Mecca.

A young mining engineer from NIT Raipur named Monendra Sahu has been listed at the 11th spot in world in Google's "Security Hall of Fame", in its current quarter list. In past, Sahu has hacked into some of the most secured internet networks existing on World Wide Web including websites of Microsoft, Google, Nokia, Blackberry and Yahoo.

World No.72 Aditya Mehta on Friday defeated World No.5 Stephen Maguire from Scotland 4-3 in the semi-final of the Indian Open to become the first-ever Indian to reach the final of a professional snooker tournament. In the final, Mehta takes on World No.4 Ding Junhui of China. Mehta (27), from Mumbai, had scalped two World champions in the earlier rounds.

Fortune's global list of top-50 women business leaders features four Indians led by ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar at fourth position, followed by NSE chief Chitra Ramkrishna(17), Axis Bank's Shikha Sharma(32) and HSBC's NL Kidwai(42). This list is topped by Brazil's Petrobras CEO MDG Foster. Also, PepsiCo's Indian-origin CEO Indra Nooyi is ranked second in Fortune's similar list for US.

India on Tuesday created history at the AIBA World Boxing Championship in Almaty (Kazakhstan) with five boxers - Sumit Sangwan (81kg), Vikash Malik (60kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) - reaching the quarterfinals for the first time. Another win will ensure them a bronze medal. Four boxers reached the quarterfinals in 2011.

Scoring 209 off 158 balls in the seventh ODI against Australia in Bangalore, Rohit Sharma has become the third batsman in the history of ODI cricket to score a double ton after Virender Sehwag(219) and Sachin Tendulkar(200*). The 26-year-old also broke Shane Watson's record for the most sixes in the innings, hitting 16 in a knock along with 12 fours.

Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday became the fastest Indian bowler to take 100 wickets in Test cricket, with his 3 for 45 in the second Test against West Indies. Ashwin reached the milestone in his 18th match by taking the wicket of WI's Darren Sammy. He surpassed legendary Indian spinner Erapalli Prasanna who had achieved the feat in 20 Tests.

According to Forbes, Apple with a brand value of $104.3 billion is the world's most valuable brand followed by Microsoft($56.7 billion), Coca-Cola($54.9 billion), IBM($50.7 billion) and Google($47.3 billion). US-based brands dominated with over fifty spots in the list of 100, far ahead of Germany(9 brands), France(8) and Japan(7). Unfortunately, no Indian company featured in the list.

With 5278 runs in 152 ODI matches, MS Dhoni has become the highest scoring captain of India in ODIs, leaving behind former captain Mohammad Azharuddin's tally of 5239 (in 174 matches). After Azharuddin and Ganguly, Dhoni is the third player to amass 5000 runs as captain for India in ODIs, and also the quickest to achieve this feat.

At the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year-2013 award function on Friday, former Chief Justice of India, JS Verma was awarded the lifetime achievement award. For the first time, the jury selected a person for posthumous recognition. Justice Verma had died earlier in 2013. He played a significant role in modifying laws governing rape during his stint as the NHRC chairman.

The MD and CEO of Bajaj Auto Ltd, Rajiv Bajaj was awarded the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year, 2013 (Business) on Friday. Mr. Bajaj is credited with reinventing the automobile major Bajaj in India with Bajaj's Pulsar. The 42-year-old had joined the family business in the late 90s.

Indian women’s kabaddi team defeated Iran 31-21 Friday, clinching its second successive gold medal at the Asian Games. The Indians managed to get the entire Iranian team declared out twice in the match, which gave them four ‘lona’ points - a feat that Iran could not achieve even once. Women’s kabaddi had made its Asiad debut in the previous edition.

The semi-high speed train from Delhi to Agra, which has the capability to run at 160 kmph (the maximum till date in Indian Railways), will be named ‘Gatimaan’ Express, Railway Ministry said. The proposed train, to be flagged off next month, is expected to cover the 220 km distance in just 105 minutes. Railways has already conducted two successful trials.

The 74-year-old Indian-origin Tamil poet, KTM Iqbal will be awarded Cultural Medallion, the Singapore's highest cultural award by President Tony Tan Keng Yam, on Thursday night in Singapore. Iqbal has written more than 200 children’s songs for Radio Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s. Remarkably, the poet has also received recognition in the education system of Singapore.

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai (17), Tuesday received the US Liberty Medal and was pledged $100,000 award to education in her homeland Pakistan. The National Constitution Center gave away the prize for her courage and resilience in the face of adversity and for serving as a powerful voice for those who have been denied their basic human rights.

A 14-year-old Indian-American student named Sahil Doshi has been awarded the title of "America's Top Young Scientist", after he won the 2014 'Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge' for his innovative, eco-friendly battery design. The prototype developed by him - the PolluCell - converts carbon dioxide into electricity, ingeniously helping to reduce the Earth's carbon footprint.