295: Fairly straight forward for those who can read Tamil. Identify and explain the connection. 294: Saint Alphonsa Muttathupadathu, a Catholic Saint, the second person of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Church and the first canonized saint of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.
294: Who does this stamp honour? 293: Anand Tucker – he has directed the films Shopgirl (based on a book written by Steve Martin), Hilary and Jackie (based on the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pré) and Saint-Ex (based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s life.)
293: Which part-Indian film maker connects? 292: The current ruling house of Thailand, the Chakri Dynasty, is named after the Sudarshana Chakra, the mythical weapon of Lord Vishnu. “The Chakri which provides both name and emblem to the house of Chakri, is composed of the discus (Chakra) and the trident (Trisula), the celestial weapon of…
292: Identification and significance, please? 291: First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28-31, December, 1885.
291: The first what? 290: The World Food Prize, set up by Norman Borlaug. M.S.Swaminathan and Verghese Kurien have also won the award.
290: These Indians are all recipients of the honour shown. Two other well known Indian recipients are not shown. What prize? 289: The sculpture at Mahabalipuram was traditionally held to depict Arjuna’s penance. People now believe that it depicts Bhagiratha’s tapasya to bring the river Ganges to earth.
289: What is /was the controversy over this sculpture? 288: Mammootty appearing as Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in the 1998 film.
288: Which national award winning performance? 287: The two scripts of the Punjabi language which evolved on the basis of religious / political affiliations – the Gurmukhi script used in India and the Shahmukhi script used in Pakistan.
287: What’s the difference? 286: The Chauri Chaura Incident.
286: What dark episode? 285: Hamsa (Swan) and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. The obvious connection is that the swan is a symbol of the Ramakrishna Mission, the other is that the title Paramahamsa may be translated as “supreme swan,” and is based on “the swan being equally at home on land or water and the true sage…
