Good News: How Predators Turned Protectors, Kindness at an Altitude, A Library for Kids by Kids, and More

Predators Turn Protectors

Once driven to the brink by hunting, deforestation and habitat loss, hornbills in Arunachal Pradesh’s Pakke Tiger Reserve have found unlikely allies. Launched in 2012, the Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme was created after researchers found birds competing for shrinking breeding spaces. As of 2025, the programme has successfully fledged 238 hornbill chicks and facilitated the planting of up to 10,000 saplings annually since 2014 to restore degraded habitats. Central to this effort is the Nyishi tribe—once hunters of hornbills for ceremonial headgear—many of whom now serve as nest protectors. They monitor nests, prevent poaching and repair habitats. Real hornbill beaks have been replaced with fibreglass replicas, following a campaign launched in 2002 by the Wildlife Trust of India and the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department.

70 is a Lot Like 60 These Days

Ageing, it turns out, may be getting easier. A large study of older adults in England found that today’s pensioners are healthier and more capable than previous generations at the same age. Instead of focusing on disease, researchers measured how well people functioned—physically, mentally, and socially. The results were striking: a 68-year-old born in 1950 often matched the abilities of a 62-year-old born 10 years earlier. Scientists were surprised by the scale of the improvement, which they linked to better healthcare, education, and living conditions. While ageing still brings challenges, the findings suggest later life may be more active and independent than many expect. In short, growing older no longer automatically means slowing down.

While ageing brings challenges, life may be more active and independent than many expect. Photo Courtesy: Adobe Stock

A Library for Kids, by Kids

In August 2010, six schoolchildren, supported by child-rights activists, turned a room in an ancestral home in Chagaletti—23 kilometres from Bengaluru—into a library for children. Fifteen years on, the Chagaletti Children’s Library houses over 5,000 books and serves more than 250 children from Chagaletti and 11 nearby villages. What sets it apart is simple and radical: it is run entirely by children. From cataloguing and lending to upkeep, everything is handled without adult supervision. Within eight months of opening, it won the Best Community Library Award from the Hippocampus Reading Foundation. Today, the library has 18 core members, all migrant children living in temporary settlements. The original founders, now adults, continue to mentor new members. During the Covid pandemic, the library expanded through mobile reading sessions and book lending—quietly proving what children can build when trusted.

Kindness at an Altitude

On 2 September 2025, the Indian Army set up a neki ka deewar—wall of kindness—at Tsomgo in East Sikkim, near the Nathu La border. The initiative allows people to leave essentials like clothes and shoes for anyone in need. Wing Commander Himanshu Tiwari, chief public relations officer for the Defence Ministry, Kolkata, told Reader’s Digest India that Tsomgo was chosen as it is both a tourist hub and a space frequented by locals and defence civilians. Over 1,200 people have donated here so far. “Anyone is free to take anything they need from the wall. There is no supervision,” Tiwari added.

Medical Marvels

From hearing restored to sight regained, 2025 delivered medical breakthroughs that felt almost impossible a decade ago. Gene therapy helped people born with genetic hearing loss recover sound. Later in the year, an innovative retinal implant allowed many people with advanced macular degeneration to read again—by pairing a tiny device in the eye with smart glasses. Children with previously untreatable blood cancers went into remission after receiving a world-first ‘living drug’ made from reprogrammed immune cells. Scientists also reported the first successful slowing of Huntington’s disease using gene therapy. Leading doctors described these advances as the opening of entirely new chapters in medicine. While many treatments are still early and expensive, the momentum is unmistakable: conditions once incurable are finally being challenged—and, in some cases, beaten.

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