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News Around:
Compiled By: Asim Deb, 1977 Electronics & Tele-Communication Engineering.

India’s Minerva Academy has scripted a chapter of its own by winning one of the world’s most prestigious youth tournaments beating Brazil in the final by 2-1 and win the Gothia Cup, 2026 in Sweden, after defeating England 12-0 and France by a margin of 17-1 in earlier matches and thus, becoming the first academy in the country to win three youth world titles. The Mohali – Chandigarh based academy lifted the U-12 Gothia Cup 2026, regarded as the World Youth Cup, with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Brazilian powerhouse RS Sports in the final in Sweden on Saturday. The triumph further cements Minerva Academy’s extraordinary record on European soil. Fresh from winning the Helsinki Cup in Finland earlier this month, the Indian youngsters once again remained unbeaten. The academy won all eight of its matches, maintaining a perfect record while scoring an astonishing 86 goals and conceding just seven. Along the way, they overcame formidable opposition from footballing nations including Brazil, France and Bolivia. Minerva Academy’s Gothia Cup triumph serves as a powerful reminder that India’s next generation is capable of making its mark on the global football stage.

The triumph came just weeks after the Mohali-based academy lifted the Helsinki Cup in Finland, making it two European titles in the same summer.

Coached by Ranjit Bajaj, the Under-12 team dominated the tournament from start to finish, making India proud on the global stage. Their remarkable achievement has inspired millions of young footballers across the country, offering hope for the future of Indian football.

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Switzerland just buried solar panels under a live train track to get clean energy.

A Swiss startup, Sun-Ways, has installed the most unusual solar installation in the world on April 24, 2025. between railway tracks in western Switzerland near the village of Buttes. Today, 48 photovoltaic panels sit flush between the rails on a 100-meter stretch of active railway, low enough that trains pass directly overhead without slowing down. This innovative project tests if trains can operate over these panels. The goal is to generate clean energy without using farmland. This technology could transform vast rail networks into solar farms. It offers a solution for energy needs without land conflicts. Right now, trains are rolling over solar panels in western Switzerland, and nobody had to chop down a forest or pave over a farm to make it happen. The panels are also completely removable. Maintenance crews can pull them out, do their work and put them back without shutting down the line.

The installation mechanism, developed with Swiss track maintenance company Scheuchzer, lays pre-assembled one-meter-wide panels between the rails like a carpet unrolling from a moving train and can cover up to 1,000 square meters a day. The figures are deliberately low. The 18-kilowatt installation is expected to produce about 16,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to power a handful of homes. That’s not the point. The question is whether solar panels can handle the weight, vibration, metal dust from braking and repeated pressure waves of live train traffic in a three-year test running through April 2028.

As the demand for solar grows, scientists and engineers have been working to figure out how to mitigate conflicts over the conversion of agricultural land a challenge that has spawned entire research fields around how to co-locate energy production with existing land uses without cannibalizing one another

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Lhakpa Sherpa: The ‘Mountain Queen’ who climbed Mount Everest 11 times; says she wants to climb ‘until I’m 80’

In May 2026, Lhakpa Sherpa, 52, known as the “Mountain Queen”, broke her own record for the most ascents by a female climer, after her 11th Everest summit. She first summited Everest in 2000, becoming the first Nepali woman to do so. Then she made record for her 10th climb on May 12, 2022. In 2016, she was listed as one of the BBC’s 100 Women, one of the most inspirational and influential women in the world She is also the subject of a 2023 documentary, titled Mountain Queen, about her multiple Everest summit climbs and life as a single mother.

In childhood, her mother discouraged her in climbing, calling her a “tomboy” and that she would never get married. Her love and respect for nature and the mountain encouraged her to keep climbing each year, where she then met her then-husband, and relocated to Connecticut in 2002 where his business was located. Lhakpa says: “I felt like I’d changed Sherpa culture, the status of Sherpa women and Nepali women. I enjoyed being outside of my home and I wanted to share that feeling with all women.”

Along with Lhakpa Sherpa, another person Kami Rita Sherpa, 56, known as the “Everest Man”, was leading clients up the 8,849m (29,032ft) peak when he also set his new record for the 32nd time, while guiding clients for the 14 Peaks Expedition company. In 2018 he became the first person to climb Mount Everest 22 times, breaking the 21-time record he previously held with two other Nepali Sherpa mountaineers, who then retired. Kami Rita Sherpa first summited Everest in 1994 and then did the same almost every year since. Some years he’s even scaled it twice

Nepal’s tourism department has congratulated both climbers for the “historic achievement”. So did Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah, who said that the climbers had “once again written history”. “Such historic success can only be achieved through unwavering courage, rigorous self-discipline, and honest dedication to one’s work,” he wrote on X.

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Doctors Removed More Than 4,000 Gallstones from 41-Year-Old Man

Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad, successfully removed more than 4,000 gallstones from a 41-year-old man through minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery. The case is among the highest gallstone counts reportedly treated in the city. The patient had a high-risk clinical profile, including morbid obesity, obstructive sleep apnoea, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and acute kidney injury. The multidisciplinary team, led by Dr. B.D. Pathak, Senior Director, GI, Minimal Access and Bariatric Surgery, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad, completed the procedure in just 45 minutes under general anaesthesia.

Severe Symptoms and High Stone Burden: The patient presented with severe abdominal pain that had worsened over seven days, along with nausea and indigestion. Diagnostic imaging showed a severely inflamed gallbladder packed with thousands of microscopic gallstones and thick biliary sludge. Given the high stone burden, immediate surgery was necessary to prevent complications such as infection, gallbladder rupture and bile duct obstruction.

Precision Surgery in a High-Risk Patient: Commenting on the case, Dr. B.D. Pathak said, “Operating on a patient with a BMI of 46 who is already battling acute kidney failure and requiring dialysis is an extraordinary clinical challenge. Treating more than 4,000 gallstones requires extreme precision to prevent rupture and widespread infection. Completing the procedure safely in just 45 minutes demonstrates how advanced minimal access surgery can reduce surgical trauma and anaesthesia time in high-risk patients.”

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This small-town West Bengal Man Once Earned Rs 1,500 a Day as Zomato Rider, Now Runs Two AI Startups.

Suraj Biswas, once earning Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 a day as a Zomato delivery partner, the 28-year-old now runs AI startups and has published two research papers. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Biswas spoke about growing up in a small town in West Bengal, giving up his dream of becoming a doctor, building a startup without funding and why he believes AI should understand each person as an individual instead of treating everyone the same.

Originally from Chakdaha in Nadia district of West Bengal, Biswas says he never came from the kind of background people usually associate with startup founders. “A small town, not the kind of place people expect founders to come from,” he said. He completed his B.Sc. in Genetics from Gurunanak Institute of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology in Kolkata. Although he once dreamed of becoming a doctor, life took him in a different direction. After graduating, he joined Zomato as a delivery partner to support himself while figuring out his next step.

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5 Indian Companies That Built Billion-Dollar Businesses Around a Single Product

Synopsis: While many companies pursue growth through diversification, some of India’s most successful businesses have taken a different route—focusing relentlessly on a single product category. By building strong brands, deep technical expertise, extensive distribution networks, and customer trust around one core offering, these companies have transformed niche products into billion-dollar businesses. Here are five Indian companies that built enduring competitive advantages by mastering one product category.

1. Pidilite Industries

When it comes to adhesives in India, Fevicol is often the first brand that comes to mind. Through decades of consistent product quality, strong brand building, and deep engagement with dealers and end-users, Pidilite Industries has transformed a simple adhesive product into one of the country’s most trusted consumer and industrial brands. With a market capitalization of approximately Rs. 1,62,417 crore, Pidilite has established a dominant position in India’s adhesives and sealants market. The company’s success is driven by its extensive distribution network, which reaches retailers, carpenters, contractors, and industrial customers across the country. This widespread presence, coupled with strong brand recall, has enabled Pidilite to maintain its leadership despite competition from domestic and multinational players.

Over the years, the company has diversified into segments such as construction chemicals, waterproofing solutions, and art materials. However, adhesives and sealants continue to remain the cornerstone of its business. The near-generic status of the Fevicol brand, combined with high customer trust and significant pricing power, creates a strong competitive moat that makes it challenging for rivals to gain meaningful market share.

2. Page Industries

Page Industries stands as one of the most successful examples of focused brand building in India’s consumer sector. By concentrating on premium innerwear under the Jockey brand, the company transformed what was once a largely unorganized market into a strong branded consumer category, creating a benchmark for quality and comfort in the process. With a market capitalization of approximately Rs. 45,714 crore, Page Industries has built a dominant franchise around Jockey through its unwavering focus on product quality, innovation, brand positioning, and retail expansion. Rather than diversifying aggressively into unrelated segments, the company concentrated on strengthening its core category, enabling it to establish a strong presence across India as well as international markets such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the UAE.

Over the years, Jockey has become synonymous with premium innerwear, supported by a vast retail network and strong consumer trust. Its powerful brand recall, loyal customer base, and premium positioning have allowed the company to command superior margins compared to many apparel peers. This combination of brand strength, customer loyalty, and category leadership has created a durable competitive advantage, making Page Industries one of India’s most successful businesses built around a single product category.

3. Astral

Astral transformed India’s plumbing industry by popularizing CPVC piping systems at a time when conventional materials largely dominated the market. By focusing on product quality, technological innovation, and extensive awareness campaigns, the company successfully educated plumbers, contractors, and consumers about the benefits of CPVC pipes, including superior durability, corrosion resistance, and ease of installation. With a market capitalization of Rs. 39,929 crore, Astral has emerged as one of India’s most recognized plumbing solutions brands. Its strong distribution network, deep engagement with plumbers and channel partners, and consistent brand-building efforts have helped it establish a dominant position in the organized pipes industry. The company’s reputation for reliability and innovation has enabled it to build significant customer loyalty and pricing power, positioning it well to benefit from long-term growth in housing, infrastructure, and water management projects across the country.

Astral further strengthened its leadership through aggressive marketing initiatives and a robust ecosystem of contractors and installers, creating a sustainable competitive advantage. While the company has expanded into adjacent categories such as adhesives, paints, and water tanks, its leadership in CPVC plumbing systems continues to remain the foundation of its brand strength and market leadership.

4. AIA Engineering

Unlike consumer-focused businesses, AIA Engineering has built its leadership position around a highly specialized industrial product category—high-chrome grinding media and mill liners used extensively in mining and cement operations worldwide. With a market capitalization of Rs. 45,260 crore, the company has emerged as one of the world’s leading players in this niche segment. Grinding media and mill liners are critical consumables that directly influence operational efficiency, energy consumption, and production costs, making product quality and performance far more important than price for customers.

Over the years, AIA Engineering has developed deep metallurgical expertise, established long-term relationships with global mining companies, and built an extensive international distribution network spanning the Americas, Australia, Africa, and other key mining regions. Its strong technological capabilities and reputation for delivering high-performance solutions have enabled it to maintain a dominant position in a market characterized by significant entry barriers.

Operating in what is effectively a global duopoly, AIA Engineering has successfully transformed a niche industrial product into a globally competitive business, making it one of India’s most successful engineering exporters and a leader in the high-chrome grinding media industry.

5. Fine Organic Industries
Fine Organic Industries has built a leadership position in a highly specialized segment of the global specialty chemicals industry through its focus on oleochemical-based additives used in plastics, food packaging, cosmetics, paints, and polymer applications. With a market capitalization of Rs. 16,020 crore, the company has emerged as one of the world’s leading manufacturers in this niche category. Unlike commodity chemical producers that primarily compete on pricing, Fine Organic differentiates itself through proprietary formulations, deep technical expertise, regulatory compliance capabilities, and decades of product development experience.

The company’s additives often become an integral part of customers’ manufacturing processes, resulting in high switching costs and long-term business relationships. Its ability to consistently meet stringent global quality, environmental, and safety standards has helped it establish a strong international footprint across more than 80 countries.

By focusing on a niche yet high-value product category, Fine Organic has created a high-margin business supported by technological know-how, long-standing customer relationships, and significant entry barriers, enabling it to maintain a strong competitive position in the global specialty chemicals market.

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