Monthly Archives: August 2014

India, Japan sign MoU to develop Varanasi into ‘smart city’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Kyoto :

Varanasi, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents in the Lok Sabha, will be developed into a ‘smart city’ by using the experience of Kyoto, the ‘smart city’ of Japan, under a pact signed here on Saturday.

A partner city MoU was signed by Indian ambassador Deepa Wadhwa and Kyoto mayor Daisaka Kadokawa at a ceremony witnessed by Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
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The MoU, which was signed soon after Modi’s arrival here on a five-day visit, provides for cooperation in heritage conservation, city modernization and cooperation in the fields of art, culture and academics, external affairs ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told reporters.

This will serve as framework for smart heritage city programme between the two countries, he added.

Kyoto, which is a he​ritage city with Buddhist culture, provides special symbolism to the visit as the Prime Minister has the vision of “rejuvenating” Indian cities.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / PTI / August 30th, 2014

Mohani Tea shows how to crack distribution network in remote areas

Business & Economy, Leaders

When Ramesh Chand Agarwal went for a holiday to Darjeeling after his graduation little did he know that it would decide the course of his future. As he visited the tea plantations in North Bengal and saw tea auctions in the open market, he felt that this was going to be his calling. Ramesh instantly bought a small consignment of tea to test out his potential and there has been no looking back since.

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Initially Ramesh was just testing the waters by being involved in trading operations for bulk tea. But then one incident changed his perspective. Ramesh shares, “It so happened that once while I was sitting with a retailer of loose tea a customer came complaining about the quality of tea and wanted to return what she had bought from the retailer a few days back. That was the flash point for me and I made up my mind to launch my own packet tea with affordable pricing and good, consistent quality that will reach small villages where large packers like Brooke Bond or Lipton did not reach.” With the help of his three brothers, Ramesh got into the production of tea under his own brand, Mohani Tea, to solve the problem of people in remote areas.


How it works
Though tea is a seasonal product, people consume it throughout the year. From procuring the samples from different states, including Assam, North Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to getting out the final product is nothing less than a Herculean task. Once they procure samples from different agents, it goes through a standard and blind calibration check, after which they place their order. The entire product from different agents is then brought to their facility at Kanpur where it is again tested and processed. At present, they have a team of experts which oversees the entire supply chain and delivers the product within three months.


Challenges
Like any consumer facing product they had to face huge challenges when it came to distribution. Rural population was a big market but reaching them was a challenge. Ramesh says, “As we started our backyard operation to produce packet tea in Kanpur, we realized that distribution and reaching to far flung areas in UP was a huge challenge that we had not anticipated. Being a new brand, it was difficult to find distributors. Everyone wanted credit. Off-take was low so shopkeepers did not have much confidence in the product. However, persistence and perseverance finally paid off and Mohani Tea started gaining acceptance with consumers in smaller towns.”

What had been their biggest challenge slowly became their strength. They have overcome most competition from other local players as well. Ramesh adds, “There are a number of regional players in the market who either dominate a small area, or number of districts and often compete on pricing and schemes. Since our key focus is villages, small towns and suburban area, we are not directly competing with large national players like Unilever or Tata. But the regional and local competition is very intense. There are no technology entry barriers as such and it is primarily the strength of distribution, branding, trust of the consumers and supply chain that give us the competitive edge over other players.”


Future
At present, Ramesh claims to have achieved around five percent market share in North India, primarily in UP, MP, Punjab, J&K, Bihar and Jharkhand. Looking at the future, Ramesh says he is looking forward to reach at least Rs 1000 crore in turnover from their current turnover of around Rs 300 crore in the next five years.

source: http://www.yourstory.com / Your Story / Home> Yourstory.com / Aditya Bhushan Dwivedi / August 29th, 2014

Indian Industries Association organizes ‘Uttar Pradesh Udyami Mahasammelan 2014’

Business & Economy

Lucknow :

Indian Industries Association (IIA) is organizing ‘Uttar Pradesh Udyami Mahasammelan-2014’ with the support of department of MSME and Export Promotion, government of Uttar Pradesh on September 20, 2014 at Indira Gandhi Pratisthan, Vibhuti Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.

The main objective of organizing this mega event is to speed up the growth of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state of Uttar Pradesh. At present, 31 lakh MSMEs exist in Uttar Pradesh and this number is the biggest in the country compared to other states.

MSMEs contribute about 50 percent of the total gross domestic production in the state and are feeding about 40 million people which is about one fourth of the total population of the state. As such MSMEs play an important role in the socio-economic development of the State.

Keeping in view the contribution of MSME sector in the development of the state, government of Uttar Pradesh have announced several new industrial policies which contain provisions for the development of MSMEs. There is a need to make MSME entrepreneurs aware about these policy provisions at the same time to provide feedback to the government regarding implementation status.

Keeping in view the initiatives of the government, IIA have planned to organize this mega event which will be attended by more than 1000 entrepreneurs from all over Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh’s CM, AKhilesh Yadav has given consent to be the chief guest for this mega event.

Also, Bhagwat Sharan Gangwar, the minister of state (independent charge) MSME and Export Promotion, government of UP and Alok Ranjan, chief secretary, UP will be the guests of honour. Apart from more than 1000 industrialists from all over the state, the Mahasammelan will be attended by senior officials related to industrial development in the state as well as Central government.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / Priyanka Singh, TNN / August 27th, 2014

AU prof deciphers Gupta dynasty inscription

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links / Pre-Independence

Allahabad :

A faculty member of the department of Ancient History of Allahabad University has managed to decipher and identify a rare 5th century copper plate inscription discovered in a village near Mahasthan in Bogra district of Bangladesh.

The 1,500-year-old single copper plate is the first of the Imperial Gupta dynasty (CE 320-550) to come to light in the past three decades and is expected to throw new light on the empire whose political and cultural history is mainly based on 58 published inscriptions engraved on stones, copper plates, iron pillar and clay tablets, besides 42 inscriptions.

The accomplishment of cracking the inscription has been achieved by D P Dubey, associate professor in the department of Ancient History. Dr Dubey said, “This is the 59th inscription of the dynasty and second copper plate charter of king Vainyagupta who reigned from CE 499-500 to CE 507-08. The inscription is engraved on both sides of a single sheet of copper, measuring 22.5 cm x 11cm and weighs 850 grams and there are 26 lines of writing on it.”

“A circular seal is attached to it, which bears the legend in two lines si (read shri) paramabhattaka Vainyaguptadhikaranasya. The language of the inscription is Sanskrit and the record dates back to the Gupta year 180 (which means CE 499-500) and supplies the day and month as 9th day of the month of Jyeshtha (May-June),” informed Dubey.

He further said that King Vainyagupta, who succeeded Gupta king Budhagupta (CE 476-77 to CE 499-500), was known from his Nalanda seal and his Gunaighar (Comilla district of Bangladesh) copper-plate grant of Gupta Era 188 was published in 1930. It is known that in GE 157, Budhaguta ascended the throne but his last date has been speculative because the date read as 180 on one of his coins is doubtful. This new inscription shows that Budhagupta was dead well before Jyeshtha month in GE 180.

Dubey also claimed that this is the only inscription or source referring to maladministration in the time of a Gupta king in the empire, particularly in North Bengal (modern Bangladesh) in GE 157. The high provincial officer named Mahamatra was not heard after the Maurya rule in Indian history and for the first time in Gupta history, his existence is now known again, otherwise he is unknown in the Gupta history.

This inscription is also important because of the fact that it refers to king Vainyagupta as paramabhattaraka, a titled used for Maharajadhiraja in the Gupta period. But many historians think that Vainyagupta of the Gunaighar grant and the Nalanda sealing are identical. However, the evidence from the present inscription puts this controversy at rest, said Dubey.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / Rajiv Mani, TNN / August 28th, 2014

Admin steps in to restore Moti Jheel

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Agra :

The district administration has initiated steps to restore the Moti Jheel that is located behind Fatehpur Sikri fort complex, following the directions from the central government.

The project is aimed at rediscovering the beauty of this Mughal lake by preventing encroachments and settlements around it. The union tourism ministry wants the water body to be restored near the Unesco heritage site (Sikri fort complex) so as to promote tourism in the area.

Speaking on this aspect, district magistrate Pankaj Kumar said, “The Moti Jheel is a massive project. So, in the meantime we plan to build a pond nearby the fort. The biggest obstacles that would make the task of reviving the Jheel quite difficult, are the settlements and farm lands, surrounding it.”

“The work for constructing the pond will start in the next 15 to 20 days. As far as the Jheel is concerned, we have two options – either we compensate the villagers and ask them to vacate the land or convince them for the same. We are looking in to the matter,” Kumar added.

Sources said kumar recently conducted an inspection of the area along with a team of revenue and irrigation department officials to identify the area, where once this lake existed. The officials were asked to demarcate the lake area with the help of old maps. They were also directed to file a report on the size and appropriate depth of the lake.

The project has been gathering dust for the last two years, but revived once again during the visit of union tourism minister Shripad Naik, who instructed the ASI and the local administration to look into the feasibility of restoring the Moti Jheel.

An ASI official said, “It is the responsibility of the administration to restore the lake. There are historical evidences about the Jheel and about its tributaries. No doubt, it will take time to acquire land before restoration work can starts.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / Aditya Dev, TNN / August 25th, 2014

British era police records to be preserved

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion

Allahabad :

The Allahabad police has found police records of British era in which casts of Urdu alphabets were used to lodge FIRs as well as maintain records. Now, these records would be preserved for posterity with help from historians and experts of Allahabad museum.

The records, dating back to 1896, reveal that the Britishers had laid emphasis on maintaining history of each and every case systematically in Conviction Registers (CR).

Interestingly, every case registered in a CR had its serial number along with name of convict and number of history-sheet, percentage and caste, place and date of conviction, offence category, punishment awarded, place of crime committed outside village and remarks.

Apart from this, the records had other details also like notes on crime in the village with special references to fractions, land or water dispute, presence of criminal tribes or gang, occurrence of obstructions or damage to railway line within the village, special outbreaks of crime in the village.

SSP, Allahabad, Deepak Kumar said, “After collecting the old police records from different police stations, we have decided to preserve them technically and scientifically. Maintenance of records revealed that the Britishers were keen to compile special references to fraction village wise, land or water disputes as well as damage to railway line within a village.”

Interestingly, the police authorities have decided to consult Allahabad Museum experts and eminent historians to know more about the records and how to preserve them scientifically.

The records also indicated that in British era, ‘gopniya patrikas’ (secret reports) were being prepared regarding public movements, i.e., dharna, demonstration and violence in which a senior police officer also put his remark. The main record was known as conviction register and contained details of criminal cases along with all details.

The Britishers had maintained area wise Village Crime Note Books (VCNBs) like Chowk, Colonelganj, Civil Lines. Each VCNB was divided into five sections. The conviction register was the main part of VCNB while other details were compiled in different sections. The Britishers also had a list of names of respectable persons (area wise), licenced arms holders, people of a particular caste, religion along with religious places.

The British era cops used to take pains to gather and note down all inputs about the people and the area under their jurisdiction and the seniors were putting the remarks once or twice in a year.

The police have also found the notes wherein special remarks were put regarding a particular incident. For instance, a paper wherein an inspector rank police officer had on August 8,1966 noted down his remark regarding an incident of public agitation over power crisis was also found.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / Kapil Dixit, TNN / August 21st, 2014

Dr. Indu Singh takes Telemedicine to Villages Near Benares; The Story of G.V.Meditech

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Science & Technology

A Dream Come True Situation

With urbanization, migration has become a common occurrence especially in villages around even towns like Benares. More and more young men are heading to cities in search of jobs. This has left women, children and old people in these villages without the people to escort them to the city for any serious medical requirement.

Meena Sharma living in a village near Gazipur developed life threatening complications during the final stages of her pregnancy. Thanks to the presence of telemedicine facilities in Gazipur, tests were done immediately to diagnose the problem. Within two hours, the doctors arrived at the scene from Benares. The right blood donor had also been identified saving both mother and the premature baby.

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G.V.Meditech Bridging the Gap

Being a gynecologist from Gazipur (near Benares) specializing in fertility, Dr. Indu Singh had the opportunity to travel around the world and meet other medical practioners. This strengthened her pursuit of providing good medical infrastructure for people who needed it in this part of the country.

So in the year 1992 a small maternity and child health care unit called G.V.Meditech was started by Dr. Indu Singh in Benares providing the much needed medical infrastructure to people in this area. “My husband and myself, we are also attached to people from the villages of Gazipur and Mirzapur because we are from there. We have started two satellite centres in both these places so that people don’t have to travel unnecessarily. The problem was that the elderly people, woman and children are left alone in the villages. There were no people to bring them to Benares for treatment,” explains Dr. Indu Singh, Founder, G.V.Meditech.


ICT & Telemedicine Facilities
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Apart from computerization of all data, ICT forms the backbone of telemedicine practices followed by G.V.Meditech. Live telemedicine solutions with specifically designed equipments, once attached to the patients in Gazipur, act as a machine to read BP, ECG etc that can be accessed by doctors in Benares. If anything serious then the patients could get in touch with the doctors in Benares through telemedicine facilities attached to mobile phones.

Apart from their satellite centres, G.V.Meditech has also conducted around 150 camps in the last 10 yrs. “The best part about medical camps is that we get to meet people in person making ourselves more approachable for later interactions,” shares Dr.Indu. Invited by the villagers, G.V.Meditech conducts camps. Families support them by cooking for them. Girls and teachers from the schools where they conduct camps volunteer to support them. They check 3000-4000 people in each camp providing prescription and free medicine.

G.V.Meditech had also brought the Lifeline Express/Jeevan Rekha Express, mobile hospital train to Benares for 3 days and to Gazipur for 3 weeks. 28,000 people were treated including 450 eye surgery and 50 cleft lip surgeries that were performed.

Challenges and the Road Ahead

Sadly, the lack of funds to do surgeries continues to haunt people who need medical support. “Motivating doctors and finance are the biggest challenges. People are ready to support micro-finance organizations etc but not healthcare. Patient investors are required in this sector because it will take 3 years or so to yield results,” says Dr.Indu.

Yet G.V. Meditech Ltd. has 65 doctors who cater to 7.1 million people in 15 districts in and around Benares especially in eastern regions of Uttar Pradesh, Western Bihar and Jharkhand for the past 20 years. They attend to more than 1 million outpatient visits, deliver 25,552 babies, perform 32,452 surgeries, and fill about 64,000 prescriptions in a year.

“I plan to have another 4 centres to cater to the huge population in and around Gazipur. They will be micro clinics with one paramedic person giving medical awareness, education, blood tests etc. Our ultimate aim is that people don’t die of ignorance or lack of medical support,” shares Dr.Indu. They are also looking to educate boys and girls to train and employ them in micro clinics to support the ecosystem.

Want to support G.V.Meditech in their endeavors? Take a look at G.V.Meditech’s website. http://www.gvmeditech.com/

source: http://www.yourstory.com / YourStory.com / Home / by Brindaa Lakshmi, K / October 16th, 2012

Sound of Buddha’s teachings to see light of the day soon

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Varanasi :

Good days are ahead for Sarnath, the place where Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon after attaining enlightment. The UP Tourism department is planning to launch a sound and light show in the backdrop of Dhamekha Stupa. The Archaeological Survey of India too has given its nod in principle to the project.

In 2002-03, Union ministry of tourism had sanctioned Rs 352 lakh for a project based on Lord Buddha’s life that was to come up at the proposed Buddha Theme Park. Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) was assigned the project and in 2003-04, the fund for the light and sound show too was sanctioned. Sources claimed that despite floating repeated tenders, ITDC failed to attract bidders. A team of ITDC experts visited Buddha Theme Park in May 2011. However, the project continued to linger on.

In 2013, Union tourism minister Subodhkant Sahay and deputy secretary Vishal Gagan held a meeting with officials of ITDC and UP Tourism in Varanasi to discuss the delay in the project. Later, the ministry withdrew the funds from ITDC and returned it to the state government so that it could materialise the project.

After ITDC had delayed the project by decade, the UP Tourism department decided to shift the site to Dhamekha Stupa. Regional tourism officer Ravindra Mishra said that ASI had in principle agreed to allow the show near Dhamekha Stupa.

On the call of the ASI, Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) experts conducted a study to know the affect of sound and light show on the monuments including Dhamekha Stupa. Initially the team provided a brief report making it clear that there would be no harm to Sarnath monuments from this project.

Mishra said that the ASI demanded detailed study, so the IIT-BHU report was being revised and would be ready in a day or two. The UP Tourism headquarters would forward it to the Union government, through state government. As per the rough estimate prepared by the electricity division of Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (RNN), the cost of the new sound and light show project at Sarnath could go up to Rs 8 crore, said sources.

Officials of UP Tourism stopped pursuing the issue. Mishra said that the district administration and the tourism department had decided to go for fresh project. This time, officials also decided to change the venue and start the sound and light show near Dhamekha Stupa as this site is visited by pilgrims and tourists coming to Sarnath. The project will be forwarded to the state government to ensure that it is sanctioned in the current financial year, he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / Rajeev Dishit, TNN / August 05th, 2014

Colourful tableaux mark ‘Dadhijkando’ fair

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Allahabad :

The glitzy ‘Dadhijkando’ fair, first in the series of six held on every weekend, started with the display of best of Indian culture and tradition by around two dozens socio-religious tableaux at Salori here on Saturday.

The fair, traditionally organised from the sixth day of Janmashtami, were started with tableaux based on the several episodes from the life of Lord Krishna.

The first in the series was Lord Krishna and Baldau sitting atop an elephant followed by tableau procession which started late in the evening and was continued till going into press.

The procession after passing through Chandpur-Salori, Teliarganj, Rasoolabad was scheduled to conclude at the same place. The localities through which tableaux passed were decked up with colourful lighting patterns and cut-out of Lord Krishna.

Earlier, the procession started with president of Salori Mela Committee Brahma Prakash along with local leaders and administrative officials offering worship at Salori temple.

As per the tradition of depicting socio-economic state of affairs along with that depicting life sketch of Lord Krishna, tableaux on ‘corruption’ were also taken out. Similarly, tableaux ‘Kraishna-Baldau’, ‘Kalia-Mardan’, ‘Raas-leela’ were highly appreciated by visitors. The decked up tableaux were also given cash prize and shield by the organizing committee on the basis of the lightings and topic selected.

On Sunday, Sulemsarai would host the Dadhikando fair. The sixth-day ‘Shasti’ celebrations was also held at Kunj Bihari Lal Agarwal Athithi Bhawan where tableaux depicting the Lord Krishna and devotional programmes were held.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / August 24th, 2014

Tributes paid to Shehnai maestro

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Records, All

Varanasi:

Rich tributes were paid to Shehnai maestro Bharat Ratna Late Ustad Bismmillah Khan on his 8th death anniversary observed at Dargah-e-Fatman on Thursday.

A music lover and a fan of Ustad, Narendra Gupta from Delhi, paid tributes to him by reading Sunderkand of Ramcharitmanas and Hanuman Chalisa beside his grave. Gupta visits the city every year on birth and death anniversary of Ustad. Some music lovers also paid a musical tribute to him on the occasion.

They were disappointed to see that the grave of Ustad could not take a shape of a maqbara yet, and a music academy after his name also seemed to be a distant dream. A series of promises were made by the government after the death of Shehnai maestro but none of them have been fulfilled yet.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / August 22nd, 2014