In a bid to identify “homegrown jugadu scientists” — people who haven’t received formal education but have invented things indigenously — the Nav Pravartan centres under UP science and technology department will hold a special drive in Bijnor district on April 28 and May 8. According to officials, the objective behind the exercise is to find out those whose inventions need wider exposure. All village pradhans will be involved and their help will be sought in identifying such individuals. Once the process of shortlisting is over, these “jugadu scientists” will be honoured at the state and national level, officials said.
Giving details about the plan, district coordinator of Nav Pravartan centre, Sudhansu Vats said, “Out here, a large number of people live in rural areas. Some of them invent things indigenously, but their inventions mostly go unnoticed or are not known outside their respective areas/villages. That is why the science and technology department is providing an opportunity to such people to formally showcase their talent. Such individuals will prepare a project and submit it in exhibitions at district and state levels.”
Vats added that in the first phase of the plan, they will take help from village heads. “Several farmers, artisans, mechanics and craftsmen have devised technologies that can contribute in preserving the environment. Also, we have so many vaids who treat people with natural items. All such people are like scientists for us and they need to be identified and honoured,” he said.
On being asked about the larger government plan, state joint director of Nav Pravartan Kendra, Raadhelaal said, “There are many people living in rural areas who know a lot about the use of herbs and plants as medicine. We will invite them to showcase their talent. If their innovation is found good and is up to the mark, we will promote them and attach them to good institutes and universities. If such innovators want their product, medicine or technology to be patented, we will help them in getting that. Our aim is to hone raw talent.
We will also extend invitations to farmers, artisans and mechanics to come forward and show us what they have created. We will also call school and college students to our exhibitions. A four- member team will look at each project and will decide whether it is innovative or not.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Meerut News / by Harveer Dabas / TNN / April 24th, 2018
Some prominent alumni of Lucknow University, including UP’s chief secretary Rajive Kumar, former DGP Sulkhan Singh, Justice Vikram Nath and Justice (retd) Khem Karan were felicitated at a function on Saturday.
UP’s chief secretary Rajive Kumar, Justice Vikram Nath, former DGP Sulkhan Singh, urologist Dr Salil Tandon, animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi, badminton player Dharmendra Soti, and Ravindra Verma known for his work on mining were given Distinguished Alumni Award by deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma.
UGC member Prof DP Singh, Jagdish Gandhi, Justice (retd) Khem Karan and Prof Shishir Kumar Dubey were honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The alumni shared some interesting anecdotes. Former DGP Sulkhan Singh, who did his LLB in 2005-2008 while he was in service, recalled, “I was stopped by security guards on the first day of the examination. They strictly told me that parents are not allowed during examination. I was allowed to enter only when I showed them my admit card and student identity card.”
Animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi shared that she also found her life partner in LU when she took admission in BCom in the year 1995. “I met Dushyant on the very first day when I entered the classroom. I fell in love with him and we got married,” Maulekhi reminisced.
Deputy CM Sharma also inauguarated the portal of LU Alumni Foundation. Alumni from across the world will be able to register on the portal. Sharma also released a souvenir.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India/ Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / TNN / April 29th, 2018
The final results of Civil Services Examination-2017 were released by the Union Public Service Commission late on Friday evening. Anubhav Singh (23), son of a farmer from Allahabad, bagged an all-India eighth rank in the coveted exam.
A BTech from IIT-Roorkee, Anubhav did his schooling from government primary schoolin Daser village of Handia tehsil, 55 km from Allahabad.
Another engineering graduate Vishal Mishra of Kanpur, made it to top 50 and secured 49th rank while two 25-year-old engineering graduates from the state capital, Sanjeev Kumar, a civil engineering graduate, and Ankita Mishra, a computer science graduate,secured 89th rank and 105th ranks, respectively.
Anubhav had cleared the exam in his first attempt last year and is undergoing training as Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer.
He told TOI, “I studied in government primary school andthen atBBS Inter College. It was only in Roorkee that I worked upon my English and personality.”
Anubhav gave the credit for his success to his mother Sushma Singh, a clerk in a private school, and father Dhananjay Singh, a farmer.
“There is only one mantra of success, which is hard work. Internet helped me a lot in preparing for the GS paper,” he said.
Vishal Mishra, MTech from IIT Kanpur, said, “This was my third attempt. One has to work hard, be focused and should not be afraid of failures.”
Manish Kumar, who belongs to Kushinagar, had cleared the exam last year also and is IPS trainee, secured 84th rank. “Being an IAS hasbeen always my first preference so I will be opting for it now,” said Manish.
Ankita Mishra credited her success to her father BK Mishra who always motivated her to become a civil servant.
“I feel daily revision and paying more attention to optional subject helps to score better,” Ankita told TOI over phone from New Delhi.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Mohita Tewari & Vinod Khana / TNN / April 28th, 2018
The eastern UP’s two more handicraft goods – Soft stone undercut work and Ghazipur jute wall hanging joined the league of Geographical Indication (GI). With the addition of these two products to GI club, the Eastern UP has emerged as a hub of goods protected under Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
The GI expert and facilitator Dr. Rajni Kant of Human Welfare Association said that the GI certification was granted to soft stone undercut work (registration number 556) and Ghazipur jute wall hanging (registration number 555) on March 30. Now, the east UP has a total of 10 GI products including Banaras brocade & saree, Handmade carpet of Bhadohi, Banaras gulabi meenakari craft, Varanasi wooden lacquerware & toys, Mirzapur handmade dari, Nizamabad black pottery, Banaras metal repouse craft, and Varanasi glass beads.
He said that with the support of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Lucknow, the local artisans had applied for GI tag in July 2016. These two products were also put on display at the Deen Dayal Hastkaka Sankul for the view of French President Emanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their visit to the city on March 12. The crafts were highly appreciated by them.
The undercut stone carving at Varanasi is very unique producing different artifacts. The most noted product of this kind is an undercut elephant. Artisans carve variety of products from soap stone. Lamp stands, small bowls, jaalis, candle stands and decorative items. Similarly, the wall hanging of Ghazipur is one of the unique handicraft products transformed from the best combination of golden fiber jute yarn and fabric. Proper display of this product provides aesthetic pleasure. Jute fiber used as basic material is a natural gift of mankind, which is biodegradable, non-toxic and environment friendly.
Kant said that the soft stone undercut works produced exclusively in Varanasi, Chandauli, Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts, and jute wall hanging procuced in Ghazipur, Varanasi , Chandauli and Mirzapur districts are entitled to use GI tag after certification.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Varanasi News / by Binay Singh / TNN / April 16th, 2018
Allahabad’s Anjali Verma tops UP Board class 10 with 96.33% marks , ANI
Anjali Verma, a resident of Allahabad, topped the Class 10 UP Board exams with 96.33% marks. She secured 578 out of 600 marks in the exams. UP Board Class 10 and Class 12 results were announced by the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP)/Board of High School and Intermediate Education Uttar Pradesh (BHSIE UP) today.
The class 10th topper Anjali said, “I am very happy to top the exam, I was confident of scoring good marks. Our school teachers helped us to prepare well. I want to become an engineer. My father is farmer who has always supported me: Anjali Verma, Class 10th topper (UP Board).”
Yashasvi, a student of BMIC Fatehpur, has bagged the second position with 94.50% marks. There was a close fight between the second and third position. However, Vinay Kumar Verma from Sitapur and Sunny Verma from Gonda shared the third position on the chart. Both of them secured 94.17% marks.
Over 37 lakh students had appeared for class 10 examination. The board results can be accessed on UPMSP official website upmsp.edu.in and upresults.nic.in .
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath also congratulated the students and said “I am really happy that such a good result has come. I want to congratulate everyone who has passed in these examinations. This time all the exams were held without any complaints of cheating coming from anywhere.”
It was earlier announced that the UP 10th High School Result was to be declared at 1.30 pm, however, UP Class X Results were declared early. The UP 10th exam was conducted from February 6-February 22.
Here is how you can check UP Board 10th Result 2018:
1. Go to either of the official websites to access UP Board Results 2018 i.e. UP 10th Results 2018 & UP 12th Results 2018. The websites are upmsp.nic.in, upmsp.edu.in & upresults.nic.in
2. Click on UP Board High School (Class X) Results 2018 for UP 10th Result 208
3. UP Class 10th Students click on the UP 10th Result & UP class 12th students click on UP 12th Result link
4. Keep details like roll number and other details handy
5. Download the result and keep a print out ready for future reference
source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> India / by DNA Web Team / April 29th, 2018
Excavation unearths 13 bodies that roughly date back to 11th century AD; discovery leads to calls for a deeper examination because people of the region in that period were known to cremate the dead.
An excavation by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) near Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, has unearthed 13 bodies that roughly date back to 11th century AD, according to people familiar with the developments. This has sparked interest among experts and led to calls for a deeper examination because people of the region in that period were known to cremate the dead.
Historians have defined the era between the 7th century AD and the 12th century AD as the Rajput Period, and archaeologists say that this is the first time that any excavation has revealed the burial of bodies from that period in north India.
“We have found extended burial of 13 persons which include a male, a female, children and a handicapped person,” said Sanjay Manjul, director at the Institute of Archaeology, who is overseeing ASI’s Barnawa excavations.
“While twelve bodies were placed in a particular direction, with the head facing the North, one body was found placed in the opposite direction,” Manjul said.
He said that burial pots were recovered with the bodies, suggesting that people of that era may have believed in life after death.
“Since this is the first discovery of burials which seem to be from the later Rajput period, we need to further examine it scientifically and arrive at an exact time period,” he said.
Manjul feels that the discovery is significant as it will throw light on death rituals and cultural aspect of people of that era living in this area.
“Since Muslim Turks, who used to follow burial practices, arrived in India after the 12th century, it would be interesting to determine who these people were and why were they not cremated,” Manjul said, adding that burials were practised in the Harappan and Later Harappan periods, and also among certain Hindu tribes before the Raput Period.
Other archaeologists and historians feel that these burials might unravel some mysteries of the cultural aspect of life of people.
Dr Buddha Rashmi Mani, Director General, National Museum, says that though he doesn’t have first-hand experience of the excavated materials, the recovery of burial pots suggests the body doesn’t belong to members of the Muslim community.
“The Veerashaiva community in southern India practice burying the dead, so there is a possibility of existence of a similar community at the excavation site in UP,” said Mani.
“However, it is also possible that these bodies were of people who died due to some dangerous disease or some calamity and buried at one place in a group. Both possibilities require through investigation.”
Noted archaeologist KK Muhammed, who is credited for discovering Mughal emperor Akbar’s Ibadat Khana (House of Worship), from where the Mughal king propounded the religion Din-i Ilahi, said that that during wars people would bury bodies due to lack of time and resources in the war field. It’s a notion that historian Kapil Kumar agreed with, but both said that it would be too early to determine the identity of these people and the reasons for such graves, and called for a thorough examination.
According to historian Makkhan Lal, “It’s a good thing that we are paying attention to the excavation of the Rajput Period sites which has not been done so far.”
HT had reported earlier this month that the excavations at Barnawa, which started last December, also tried to determine the existence of the Lakshagriha episode mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. Archaeologists had said that artefacts found there bore strong a cultural resemblance to those found at sites such as Hastinapur, Indraprastha, Kurukshetra and Mathura — places that find mention in the epic.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India / by Jeevan Prakash Sharma, Hindustan Times,New Delhi / April 26th, 2018
Former Marine commando Praveen Teotia, 34, finished one of the toughest races in the world — Ironman Triathlon Championship 2018 — held in South Africa, a few days ago.
This Shaurya Chakra winner took four bullets during the operation to neutralize terrorists at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai in November 2008. Hit in the lung and in an ear, he became partially hearing impaired. After being given a non-active duty job by the Navy, Teotia set about trying to prove that he was still fit for service, and began participating in marathons.
“I wanted to prove myself and the Navy that I am still a commando not only in spirit but physically as well. No Navy man from India has ever finished the Triathlon so far,” said a beaming Teotia, who landed in Mumbai on Thursday. He hails from Bulandshahr.
Last year on September 9, despite a damaged lung, he participated in the grueling 72-km-long Khardung La marathon in Ladakh, finishing well within the stipulated time and earning a medal.
TOI had carried a story on his achievement in the September 14, 2017 issue. The consequent limelight helped Teotia receive help. He got a special bicycle and he began training for Ironman Triathlon in Goa.
Achieving this feat was not an easy task. The championship requires back to back three events to be finished in 16.45 hours that include 3.8-km of swimming in the sea followed by 180.2-km of cycling followed 42.2-km of run. Despite losing precious 35 minutes due to an accident on the bicycle, Teotia still managed to finish all three events within 14 hours 19 minutes and that too with an injured knee.
Teotia had taken voluntary retirement from the Navy a month before his Khardung La marathon achievement, and now wishes to run for Ultraman event to be held in Florida in the US in February next year.
“That’s the toughest championship on Earth and involves 10 km of swimming, 421 km of cycling followed by 84.4 km of running all in a span of three days,” says Teotia who will begin training soon.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Meerut News / by Sandeep Rai / TNN / April 20th, 2018
A Meerut-based photojournalist has been nominated for Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Award. Gyan Dixit, 74, a graduate from JJ School of Arts began his career as a photographer in 1975 in Mumbai itself and shot almost all cine stars of those times.
He worked for magazines like Kadambari and Mayapuri apart from others. He will receive this award on April 29 in Mumbai.
“It has been more than four decades in this profession, but I never thought that I will be considered for this prestigious award,” said an emotional Dixit, a recipient of a large number of awards including from the agencies like UNICEF. “When I am not clicking actors, then natural surroundings and scenery is something that keeps me busy.”
A resident of a rural area of Kaseru Buxar village, on the outskirts of Meerut, Dixit got the letter on Tuesday and his entire household jumped with joy. A father of two daughters, Dixit feels it’s the biggest gift of all times. “I had been associated with various film personalities including Prakash Mehra.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Meerut News / by Sandeep Rai / TNN / April 24th, 2018
The graves of 12,000 British subjects in the Lal Kurti cemetery in the northern Indian city offer a quiet testament to the passage of time
The headstone inscriptions on the graves at the Lal Kurti cemetery help to chart history / Image Credit : Rohit Ghosh
It is hard to locate Jai Prakash Yadav among the more than 15,000 graves in the Lal Kurti cemetery but he is there somewhere — maybe lazing under an old tree in the shade or tending to a plot.
In his sixties, Yadav is the caretaker here just as was his father and grandfather before him, a lineage that goes back more than 120 years in one of the oldest cemeteries in Kanpur, the second largest city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India.
The caretaker of the cemetary, Jai Prakash Yadav / Images credit : Rohit Ghosh
“Kallu Yadav was my grandfather,” Yadav tells Weekend Review. “I do not know the exact year when he became the caretaker, but I guess he worked here for some 30 to 35 years. He died in 1920. My father, Babu Lal was appointed in his place.”
Babu Lal died in 2000 when he was 105 years old, and so Jai Prakash became the new caretaker.
It an area with a lot of history. Initially the British selected Kanpur [formerly Cawnpore] to establish a cantonment and, because of the soldiers and their families stationed there, trade and business flourished.
Administrative offices and courts also brought business, and both British and Indians alike saw opportunity and set up industries. Soon, Kanpur became the biggest city in north India by the last quarter of the 19th century.
Churches, hospitals, schools, clubs came to Kanpur — and so did cemeteries.
“The British set up four cemeteries in Kanpur,” explains Manoj Kapoor, a local historian. “One has been occupied by squatters, two have been declared protected monuments. Lal Kurti is the biggest and is still in use.”
Interestingly, since the British left in 1947, no new cemetery has been opened in the city.
Lal Kurti cemetery derives its name from its adjacent cantonment. Lal in English means red while kurti means tunic — a reference to the colour of the uniforms worn both by British and Indian troops, and so the region came to be known as Lal Kurti.
A photographic memory
“My father was dedicated to the cemetery,” explains Yadav. “He had a few workers under him and he would ensure that the cemetery was spick and span. You would not have found even a dry leaf. Above all, he had a photographic memory. You had to name a dead person and he would have taken you to his or her grave within minutes. The chances of his making a mistake were nil. And you must remember, there are 12,000 graves of British people in the cemetery.”
Today, Yadav still has to go through the old records of the cemetery if a person wishes to see the grave of his or her dead ancestor. “We have the records of all the people who were buried in the cemetery since 1924,” he says.
Babu Lal was also a gravedigger, and would dig a grave using a small trowel. It was a task that usually took him 15 days. Once one grave was ready, he would start digging a fresh one.
“It is very hard to say how many graves my father must have dug,” Yadav says. “He worked here for 80 years. He may have dug thousands. In fact, he was busy digging a grave on the day he died. He returned home from the cemetery in the evening and suddenly collapsed and died.” These days, Yadav hires four workers to dig a grave.
Historically, burials took place with much fanfare. The funeral cortege would come to a halt at the gate of the cemetery. The caretaker was in a livery, and followed by a band, he would lead the coffin and mourners to a grave. “The caretaker would keep sprinkling water in front of him as he marched up to the grave,” Yadav says.
The tales are all part of a treasure of anecdotes on the lives of common British people. “My father knew the British personally,” Yadav says. “They knew him. For example, he was very friendly with a locomotive driver whose wife is buried in the cemetery. The driver would spend his nights at his wife’s grave.”
Yadav says the British ranked the cemeteries according to their neatness, and it was because of the efforts of Babu Lal that Lal Kurti always had a high place in the rankings. Today, wild bushes have overrun the cemetery and it has a somewhat decrepit look even though it seems tombstones are immune to the passage of time and onslaught of rough weather. Their inscriptions are still legible just as they were on the day they were erected. They remain a rich source of information for anyone who is interested on the British then living in Kanpur, and it’s easy to spend hours reading the inscriptions.
Kapoor says the inscriptions help to chart history. “Supposing a tombstone reads: ‘Erected by his regiment in memory of W. J. Pearce, the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, who died at Cawnpore on June 25th, 1924, aged 22 years.’ Without any doubt, it can be concluded that Kanpur was a cantonment town in 1924 and Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry was stationed here. We will get a clearer picture of old Kanpur if we study the older tombstones.”
Lal Kurti cemetery also contains the graves of 51 soldiers from Kanpur who fought and died in the two world wars. The tombstones also indicate that many British in Kanpur died at an early age. One tombstone reads: ‘Emily, the beloved wife of Henry Tall. Who died 16th May 1883, aged 35 years. Also, her two children Elizabeth Maude and Earnest Joshua who died the same month. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.’
Another one says: ‘Sacred to the memory of George E. Crawford, son of the late Major Arthur Crawford, who died of small pox at Kanpur April 6th, 1883, aged 26 years. The monument is erected as a mark of esteem by the members of the Kanpur Volunteer Rifle Corps of which he was a Liet and Adjutant. Rest in Peace.’
As Kapoor notes: “England is a cold place. India just the opposite — hot and tropical. The English could not bear the weather and there were diseases like malaria and cholera. Medical facilities at that time were not so advanced.”
India became independent in 1947 but some British families continued living in Kanpur for a few more years. Up to the 1950s, British families kept visiting Lal Kurti cemetery and Babu Lal would be happy as he received a generous tip from the visitors. As time passed, less British came and now even fewer come to visit.
“Now it is very rare,” Yadav explains. “Once in a while, an English man or a woman visits the cemetery — maybe once in five years or so.”
All Souls’ Day is observed every year on November 2, a day when Christians remember their dead relatives, light candles and place flowers on graves.
Lal Kurti cemetery teems with people on that day and Yadav is also busy with requests to whitewash or clean graves. And on that night each year, the far end of the cemetery containing the graves of Indians glows with the light of hundreds of candles and the air is heavy with the smell of fresh flowers and incense.
Even then, the graves of 12,000 British men, women and children who are eternally sleeping at Lal Kurti cemetery, far away from their home, remain unattended.
Rohit Ghosh is a writer based in Kanpur, India.
source: http://www.gulfnews.com / Gulf News / Home> Culture> People / by Rohit Ghosh – special to Weekend Review / March 28th, 2018
