Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee have come up with a new method for production of biodiesel from microalgae (‘kai’ in indi), which they claim is low-cost and more effective.
Elaborating on the research, professor BR Gurjar, head of centre for transportation systems of the institute said, “Microalgae are considered to be one of the superior resources for production of biodiesel due to the species’ ability to produce higher biomass and accumulate more lipids, which are the target material for biodiesel production. To increase the rate of production and to make it cost-effective, we used heterotrophic cultivation of microalgae using low-cost organic carbon-based feedstock such as agro waste, molasses, municipal and industrial wastes. This resulted in an automotive quality in biodiesel production.”
The cost of feedstock and expense of operation are two crucial cost components in biodiesel production. The cost of feedstock alone accounts for about 60–70% of the total cost while the cost of the substrate is also a huge factor. The method employed by IIT Roorkee considerably reduces the cost of the substrate.
IIT Roorkee researchers used the algal-based crude glycerol in the production, which is a low-cost organic carbon source and the main byproduct of the biodiesel production process. Crude glycerol works as a media feedstock for cultivation of microalgae, thereby reducing the cost of the substrate to a negligible point.
Research showed that the use of crude glycerol enhanced the accumulation of the total lipid in the algal cells. Various analyses after the production of the fuel proved it was better in terms of quality and quantity. The fuel was also comparable to the existing vehicular fuel standards.
“The method used by the team is beneficial to the environment as there is no biodiversity loss attached to it. Moreover, it minimizes waste production by using materials like agro-waste and is able to produce an enhanced quantity and quality of biodiesel,” said Richa Katiyar, an associate in the research project.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bareilly News / by Tapan Susheel / TNN / November 03rd, 2017
It is indeed curious how some remarkably important historic events can vanish from the collec tive memory of people. Not many remember that exactly 50 years ago, the daughter of the most powerful communist dictator of USSR, Joseph Stalin, had landed in a small village of India at the height of USSR’s global dominance and the Cold War.
Svetlana Alliluyeva spent three months in Kalakankar, a sleepy village right on the banks of river Ganga in Pratapgarh district.
However, hardly anybody in India knows accurately the events surrounding the remarkable journey of Svetlana, who gave up on the famous surname of her father.
It was during a boating expedition organised by UP Police down the Ganga till Kalakankar that somebody mentioned to me about the extraordinary real life story of Stalin’s daughter having come and lived there. Even after living for so many years in the state, I had never read or heard of those extraordinary events.
As I explored later, I found that Svetlana had carefully and beautifully written about her stay on the banks of the Ganga in her memoirs, originally in Russian, and later translated into English as `Only One Year.’ In the mid 1960s, years after Stalin was dead and even after Khruschev was `dethroned’, that this remarkable lady, who by that time had two grownup children from her previous marriages, came in contact with an old, idealist, romantic Indian communist called Brajesh Singh, in Moscow. Brajesh belonged to the rich landlord family of Kalakankar and happened to be an uncle of the then-foreign minister of India.
Under extraordinary circumstances, they fell in love and despite protestations and forebodings, were `married’, though the marriage was never registered under Soviet law.
Brajesh, who was already very ill when the two met, tragically died soon after and Svetlana decided to take the ashes of her late ‘husband’ to Kalakankar. After all, Kalakankar was his home. Once in India, tasting `freedom’ for the first time, Svetlana began to toy with the idea of never returning to USSR. After a lot of prevarications, she finally picked up the courage to defect to the west–something that must have been big international news in those days of peak Cold War.
But for an Indian, the real value and beauty of Svetlana’s memoirs is the insightful observations made during her stay in Kalakankar, her meeting with then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi–she had stayed in Kalakankar during an election campaign–and her description of public figures like Ram Manohar Lohia and Dinesh Singh. She also talks of people’s growing disenchantment with politics even 50 years ago.
Her evocative descriptions of Magh Mela, travel in a crowded general category train to Lucknow, her warm appreciation of simple-minded generous villagers, her genuine respect and praise for Gandhiji and Nehru and most of all, her beautiful imagery while describing the rural Indian landscapes have both literary and historic value.
After Svetlana emigrated to the US, she sent money, a part of her royalty, to build a hospital at Kalakankar that is now a school. It was her way of paying homage to the memory of her late husband and his country.
Today, Brajesh Singh and Svetlana and their story are largely forgotten but not entirely. The memory of that kind, humane spirit and those few months, 50 years ago, still somehow lingers among the local populace at Kalakankar, where Stalin’s daughter stood, or otherwise, how would I come to know of her footsteps on the sands of time.The writer is a Lucknow enthusiast and an IAS officer. He also likes to read, is a sports enthusiast, and is also a keen nature lover.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / by Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma / TNN / November 05th, 2017
Cricketer Suresh Raina was made the brand ambassador of the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) at a programme here on Sunday.
“It is a matter of pride for Ghaziabad that Suresh Raina, an international star, is the brand ambassador of GMC and also the brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat Mission,” said V.K. Jindal, Joint Secretary and Director of Swachh Bharat Mission.
Ghaziabad Municipal Commissioner C.P. Singh added: “I am grateful to Raina for accepting my proposal to be the brand ambassador of our Municipal Corporation.”
Raina is a resident of Ghaziabad. It is the only city among 16 municipal corporations in Uttar Pradesh which has been declared open defecation free.
Raina said: “I will offer my best services to the municipal body. I have been emotionally attached to this city. This city gave me strength so that we could win the World Cup.”
source: http://www.cricket.yahoo.com / Yahoo Cricket / Home / by Sahir Usman / October 29th, 2017
After a gap of three years, Lucknow University has introduced two medals this year. They will be awarded during its convocation on December 9. LU has received Rs 5 lakh each for the new medals which will be conferred to the high scorers in law faculty .
“The medals will be constituted in the name of former legislator late DP Bora and Justice (retired) BK Dhawan. The amount of Rs 5 lakh for each set by the university has been given by MLA Neeraj Bora and Daya Dhawan respectively,” said LU VC SP Singh.
He added that Neeraj Bora had given Rs 11 lakh to LU for the constitution of a medal in the name of his father DP Bora. While Rs 5 lakh was for the medal, the remaining amount will be used for development work at the university.
The medal in the name of Justice Dhawan will be awarded to the high scorer of LLB (three years).
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City News> Lucknow News> Schools & Colleges / TNN / November 02nd, 2017
Ginger Hotels, the dominant budget hotel chain from the Taj Group, has opened a property in Lucknow.
“Ginger Hotel Lucknow is a 72-key property located within a short drive from the airport and railway station.
Ginger is the pioneer and the largest chain of branded budget hotels in the country,” Ginger Hotels managing director and CEO Rahul Pandit said in a statement.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Companies / PTI / Mumbai – October 03rd, 2017
Varanasi akhara breaks its 450-yr tradition, lets girls in | Varanasi News – Times of India
Highlights
Tulsidas akhara will now hold fights featuring women from Diwali.
The mahant of Sankant Mochan, Vishwambar Nath Mishra, too, believes the decision will go long way to empower women here.
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Varanasi :
Clad in body-hugging lowers and sporty tees, Nandini Sarkar and Aastha Verma collect a fistful of mud at the Tulsidas akhara on the Ganga banks here, rub it on their foreheads and let out a fullthroated cry of “Jai Shri Ram”.That chant has just shattered a 450-year-old glass ceiling at this medieval wrestling ring.
In a major break from tradition, the akhara that’s managed by the Sankat Mochan temple trust has permitted girls to practise and wrestle at its hallowed mud pit, dedicated to the bachelor god, Hanuman.
It took the two feisty 20-yearold girls, who are still pursuing their bachelor courses, almost a decade to convince the trust’s mahant to be allowed to practice and spar at the akhara. Aptly, their freedom to enter the mud pit came on August 15 this year, which coincided with the Nagpanchami festival.
The akhara will now hold fights featuring women from Diwali. “The training of tradi tional wrestlers remains incomplete till they touch the mud of an akhara. We have finally achieved that dream,” says Nandini. “Our coaches, Surendra Yadav and Gorakhnath Yadav, approached the mahant this year and convinced him that if the country can have a Prime Minister representing Varanasi for the first time, why can’t women achieve a first of their own?” she said.
Of course, getting the permission was far from easy. “We were shown texts on Hanuman’s vow of bachelorhood and told that girls are impure and their presence is a sin for the god. But it’s the same god who gave us the strength to fight,” Nandini reasoned.
The mahant of Sankant Mochan, Vishwambar Nath Mishra, too, believes the decision will go long way to empower women here. “People are surprised when they learn that I am a professor at IIT as well as the mahant of this temple. I believe I can contribute to society in both ways. So why not take a decision that’s in keeping with gender equality and restores the faith of people in the divine?” said mahant Mishra, who teaches electronics at IIT BHU.
Both girls have represented UP in wrestling. Even as they try out traditional practice equipment at the akhara, such as bhala and gadha, for the first time, the girls have already mastered their favourite manoeuvres by watching the men here for the past 10 years. For Nandini, its dhobi paat (shoulder throw) while Aastha swears by kalajang (squat punch).
The girls come from humble backgrounds. Nandini’s father sells sweets to pilgrims at Assi Ghat, earning around Rs 7,000 a month. Aastha’s father is no more. Her mother Madhu Verma sells flowers on the stairs of Kedar Ghat to support her daughter’s wrestling dreams.
“We derive our strength and determination from our parents who keep the faith of devotees alive by providing them accessories to complete their pooja. That’s why God was kind to us,” says Aastha.
However, the girls’ struggles are far from over. With their modest means, it’s getting increasingly difficult for to afford a protein rich diet and top-notch training to progress in the sport. To support their needs, the girls frequently travel as far as Patna, Madehpura and Begusarai in Bihar for dangal contests.Each match earns them Rs 2,500.
“Ghee, milk, almonds, protein and personal gym costs us Rs 15,000 a month. Sometimes we can afford it. When we can’t, we just hop on to a night train and reach Bihar. It takes one day to reach the venue, two days to play and another day to return to Varanasi,” says Aastha. Being women wrestlers in a patriarchal society is tough. The girls have many horror stories on their wrestling visits to Bihar. “There are times when men would try to pat us just to feel us. We usually answer such touches with a punch and tackle,” said Nandini, laughing.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Varanasi News / by Rohan Dua / TNN / October 08th, 2017
The declaration was made at the eleventh hour as the State Election Commission announced civic polls in three phases from November 22.
Mathura-Vrindavan Nagar Nigam was constituted recently along with Ayodhya Nagar Nigam.
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Lucknow :
The Uttar Pradesh government today declared Vrindavan Nagar Palika Parishad and Barsana Nagar Panchayat in Mathura district as “pavitra tirth sthal” (holy pilgrim place).
The declaration was made at the eleventh hour as the State Election Commission announced civic polls in three phases from November 22.
“Vrindavan area in Mathura is the birth place of Lord Krishna and his elder brother Balram, and is world famous. Barsana is Radha’s birthplace. Lakhs of tourists visit these places to pay obeisance. Keeping in mind their importance and in view of tourism, these are declared as holy pilgrimage places,” an official release issued here said.
Special attention will be paid to these areas for development of facilities for locals and tourists, it said.
Mathura-Vrindavan Nagar Nigam was constituted recently along with Ayodhya Nagar Nigam.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News> Civic Issue / PTI / October 27th, 2017
Girija Devi, fondly known as Appa ji, passed away in a hospital in Kolkata on Tuesday evening. She was 88.
She worked as a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata in the 1980s and of the Banaras Hindu University during the early 1990s
She was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2016
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Varanasi :
Demise of great vocalist and Thumri queen Girija Devi came as a big shocker to the music lovers of Varanasi, the birth place of the eminent singer. Girija Devi, fondly known as Appa ji, passed away in a hospital in Kolkata on Tuesday evening. She was 88.
“It is an irreparable loss to Indian music and Banaras Gharana of music. She was a guiding figure for us,” said noted Sarod player and Yash Bharati recipient Pt. Vikash Maharaj. “She was ailing for some time, and admitted to BM Birla Hospital in Kolkata in the morning. She left for the heavenly abode in the evening,” he said adding that she had been living in Kolkata with her daughter.
“No one can fill the gap. Even at 88 her scintillating voice could leave the audience spell bound. She was perhaps the last exponent of thumri, tappa, chaiti and khayal. I heard her singing in an award ceremony in New Delhi on August 27,” said Ashok Kapoor, founder of a cultural organization Kala Prakash working for the cause of Indian music.
Though settled in Kolkata, she regularly visited Varanasi. She was born in Varanasi in 1929. She took lessons in singing khayal and tappa from vocalist Sarju Prasad Misra in early childhood. She worked as a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata in the 1980s and of the Banaras Hindu University during the early 1990s. She was a prominent performer of purabi ang thumri style of Banaras gharana. She was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2016.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> India News / by Binay Singh / TNN / October 25th, 2017
Urvashi Sahni, founder of Study Hall Educational Foundation, was awarded the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award 2017 for her work in educating India’s most disadvantaged girls
Urvashi Sahni is an Ashoka Fellow, an honorary member of the Clinton Global Initiative and a non-resident fellow at the Centre for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in the US.
New Delhi:
Urvashi Sahni, founder and chief executive of Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF), was awarded the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award 2017 for her work in educating India’s most disadvantaged girls.
She won the award, beating candidates from more prominent non-profit organizations including Akshaya Patra. Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu presented the award to Sahni.
Jointly founded by Jubilant Bhartia Foundation and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship in 2010, the award recognizes promising and high impact social entrepreneurs implementing practical and sustainable solutions.
Sahni was chosen from over 100 applicants. The other two finalists for the award were Safeena Husain of Educate Girls and Madhu Pandit Dasa of the Akshaya Patra Foundation.
SHEF has demonstrated a business model of education for inclusion, empowerment and leadership building for India’s most disadvantaged and girls at risk. It has scaled its model across 993 government schools of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, training 24,000 teachers in the process and impacting 501,000 girls.
To ensure that women from ultra poor communities have the resources to keep their daughters in schools, Sahni has started Didi, a catering and tailoring venture that has captured the Lucknow market for corporate meals and has doubled the incomes of its women employees.
Accepting the award, Sahni said the perfect tool for changing mindset is education. “Education should be broader, deeper and wider. Until then we cannot call ourselves a fully democratic country,” she added.
Sahni is an Ashoka Fellow, an honorary member of the Clinton Global Initiative and a non-resident fellow at the Centre for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in the US.
In an emailed response before she won the award, Sahni said in her girls education programme, the organization uses the government curriculum but makes sure that it is infused with critical feminist pedagogy or a gender-empowering methods of education. “We have also added a separate programme called ‘critical dialogues’ in the official curriculum,” she said.
Sahni said the biggest challenge to remain sustainable is building teams that believe in the idea, the mission, the underlying philosophy, the culture of the enterprise and above all a culture of entrepreneurship. “Having a secure flow of funding is important too, but in my opinion if the social entrepreneur has invested enough in building a strong team, they will ensure the flow of funding. I work very hard at building my team in the ways described above. We are a learning organisation and that is what sustains us,” she said.
To be a successful social entrepreneur, passion is more important than expertise, Sahni said. “Expertise is sterile without passion. But passion alone can only go so far and will burn itself out if it isn’t guided by expertise. Passionate social entrepreneurs, either seek out and develop the expertise they need to execute their ideas, or then find people who have the expertise. But they are very good and fast learners themselves. In our case, we are all thinking and learning all the time and working at developing the expertise we need and reaching out to other partners who have the expertise we don’t have,” she said.
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is a sister organization of the World Economic Forum. The Foundation provides unique regional and global platforms to promote social entrepreneurship as a key element to advancing societies and addressing social problems innovatively and effectively. It also fosters a peer global community of social entrepreneurs.
Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, established in 2007, is the not-for-profit organization of the Jubilant Bhartia Group. It focuses on conceptualizing and implementing the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives (CSR) for the Group. The Jubilant Bhartia Foundation’s activities include various community development works, health care programs, cultural and sports events, an environmental preservation initiative, vocational training, women empowerment and educational activities.
Seema Chowdhry contributed to the story.
The promoters of HT Media Ltd, which publishes the Hindustan Times and Mint, and Jubilant Bhartia Group are closely related. There are, however, no promoter crossholdings.
source: http://www.livemint.com / Live Mint / Home> Companies / by Asit Ranjan Mishra / Thursday – October 05th, 2017
There was an unusual flicker emanating from the banks of Saryu river on Wednesday. Lined up coherently on the ghats of Ram ki Paidi, around 2 lakh oil lamps shimmered on the steps leading to the holy river as renditions of ‘Hey Ram’ bhajan played out from gigantic speakers.
It was with this that the state government attempted a Guinness World Record to light up 1.71 lakh diyas for at least five minutes continuously amid thundering cheers of residents and tourists present in the temple town.
Having aligned beautifully around 2 lakh diyas filled with over 10,000 litres of oil, 2 lakh cotton buds and around 25kg of camphor, the target was to break the previously held record by Dera Saccha Sauda that had lit up 1,50,009 diyas. Wednesday’s Deepotsav was claimed to be bigger and brighter.
“We were able to keep alight 1,87,213 diyas, as was counted by the team from Guinness records. The official letter after verification of the same will be handed over to us in the next five days,” said Prof Manoj Dixit, vice chancellor of Avadh Faizabad University who with the local populace and the tourism department had attempted the feat.
“The weather was favourable to us with no breeze; that helped us through and through. If all goes well, we will make this a Diwali tradition in Ayodhya now to be followed every year,” added Prof Dixit.
Around 3,000 volunteers, mostly students, helped set up the diyas neatly on the ghats, that later served as the perfect background for people’s Diwali festivities, with reflection of the many temples on the ghats showing in Saryu’s shining waters.
The occasion was followed by innumerable photographs being taken etching for people a memory of the historically unique moment.
Following this, a laser show recreating the Ramayana succinctly followed. A huge white screen showed scenes from the life of Lord Ram in laser light, leaving all enthralled.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / Yusra Husain / TNN / October 19th, 2017
