In a rare feat, surgical oncologists at Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences saved life of a 40-year-old woman with extremely complicated gall bladder tumour. Gall bladder cancers account for 25-30% cancer burden in north India, and this case was rare the tumor had penetrated to adjoining organs including liver, stomach and pancreas.
Dr Akash Agarwal, chief of the Hepato Biliary Cancer Clinic who headed the procedure said, “Surgery was performed after ultra sound confirmed tumour in gall bladder of 40-year-old Kusum, a native of Faizabad.” The case was complicated because multiple organs were affected. “As we reached the gall bladder, we found the tumour had penetrated all the adjoining organs which raised difficulty for us and increased the risk,” said Dr Agarwal.
He added that the procedure had to be stopped for a while to apprise family about the complication and to take their consent. Thus, the surgery that would have otherwise taken three hours was completed successfully in seven hours. “The patient is now stable and has been discharged,” he said.
Institute director Dr Deepak Malviya said “Not a drop of blood was wasted in the process.” Stones are one of the main causes of gall bladder cancer.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News> Civic News / TNN / February 13th, 2017
The bicentenary celebrations of Poona Horse regiment were celebrated with full zeal on Sunday. A Poona Horse stamp of Rs 5 was released along with a regimental history book. While the tank mounted parade took place, sky diving event had to be cancelled due to the venue’s close proximity to the railway line.
Major S. Praveen, media coordinator, said, “The bicentenary celebrations of the Poona Horse regiment started from February 10 and ended on February 13. Sunday was marked with a tank mounted parade – which is done to mark historic occasions and have been performed only four times in the past. There were 32 tanks in parade, which moved in a synchronized manner.”
The regiment has a composition of Rajputs, Jats and Sikhs, and being martial clans they are very religious. Therefore, the functions are very important for Poona Horsemen as it is believed that they don’t fight just by their training, grit or determination, but they take god as the witness of their deeds and decide their fate.
Lt Gen Ajai Singh, ex colonel of the regiment released the Poona Horse stamp for Rs 5 and the regimental history book, with a few more chapters added with relevance to recent times, was unveiled as well.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Meerut News / by Ishita Bhatia / TNN / February 13th, 2017
There are no bigwigs like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal among the visitors to commemorate the 640th birth anniversary of Sant Ravidas falling on Friday.
Modi and Kejriwal arrived in the city in February last year to pay obeisance to preacher-philosopher Sant Ravidas at the temple in Seer Gowardhan area here. They also accepted the ‘prasad’ prepared at its community kitchen.
“This year, we are witnessing increased turnout of devotees from across the country as well as abroad. The devotees have been pouring in from different parts of states like Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand while foreign devotees from UK, US, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, New Zealand, Greece have also been thronging the temple premises,” general secretary of Sri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan Public Charitable (SGRJAPC) Trust Satpaul Virdi said.
Against the 50 tents installed last year, the count has been increased to 75 to cater to large number of devotees, Virdi said, adding that even the main pandal had to be shifted 2-3 kilometres ahead. The district administration had also tightened the security arrangements.
The entire Seer Gowardhan village was abuzz with festivity as people, including men and women, had started congregating at the temple on Thursday. Small makeshift stalls and shops selling variety of articles like toys, artificial ornaments, books, pictures and posters of Sant Ravidas attracted people as well as kids.
Trust chairman Sant Niranjan Dasji Maharaj, who along with other devotees and saints reach on Wednesday evening, inaugurated the fully automatic chapati making machine donated by Phagwara-based Sri Guru Ravidas Charitable Trust, in collaboration with a trust based in Vienna, Austria. According to a volunteer Gyani Meher Singh, the machine can produce over 2,000 chappatis per hour.
Later in the evening, the statue of Guru Ravidas was garlanded at Ravidas Park situated on the banks of Ganga. On Friday morning, the religious flag will be unfurled by Maharaj.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Varanasi News / TNN / February 10th, 2017
At a time when cane-growers in western UP, hit by demonetisation, missed the rabi season and were considering to quit farming, the fact that the state has surged past even Maharashtra to become the country’s top sugar producer might restore their confidence.
Maharashtra, which was so far the largest sugar producer, is struggling with around 40 lakh tonne from the earlier 110 lakh tonne a year because the water table sank alarmingly leading to drought like conditions. Majority of the sugar mills are shut and distressed and indebted cane-growers are reportedly facing near starvation.
The highest ever production estimation was revealed by a state delegation at a high-level meeting called by the Centre in Delhi two days ago to assess sugar production in the country. UP’s figures of around 80 lakh tonne surprised the Centre and representatives of other cane growing states as with this the state is all set to record the highest ever sugar production.
Talking to ToI, secretary general of UP Sugar Mills Association, Deepak Guptara said that the farmers deserve special mention for introducing varietal changes in the crop and researchers for the new high yielding crops, while the state government played a key role in implementation of the plans and programmes which resulted in another feather to UP’s cap. He, however, added that the climatic changes in Maharashtra were also a factor in sharp decline in sugar production in that state.
With the highest sugar production in UP this year, to be declared officially by March end, the sugar industry is all set for a revolution as cane and related activities are to get a boost and its benefits are to be harvested by the farmers, mainly nearly 35 lakh sugarcane growers.
The record production of sugar will not only stabilise the price of the product in the market, but would also result in timely payments to cane-growers, even as sugar mills would profit from selling more. In the previous cane year, the state had produced 68.55 lakh tonne. Guptara shared, “We are selling the sugar substantially in sugar deficient states this time.”
The record production in sugar is linked to increase of sugar recovery in sugarcane from around 9 per cent till last year to more than 10 per cent this year. It also got a push with growth in productivity from 59 tonne per hectare to 67 tonne per hectare. Moreover, the government has been able to overcome the barrier of transfer of hybrid and high quality seeds of sugar from lab to land.
The government is confident that a record sugar production will not only invite more investment in sugar mills’ expansion and modernization programmes, but also restore the faith of cane-growers in cane cultivation.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Subhash Mishra / TNN / February 10th, 2017
Vartika is the first woman biker to reach Tsa Lhamo, which is the highest lake in India
Lucknow :
It was her passion and the desire to make a name for herself while pursuing it that 27-year-old Vartika Jain Srivastava put her motorbike in full throttle, felt the wind in her hair, meandered through rough roads and became the ‘first woman biker’ to reach the highest lake in the country, Tsa Lhamo, also called the Cholamu lake, in North Sikkim.
For her feat, the young woman has booked herself a place in the Limca Book of Records. While she made the trip between May 3-13, 2016, it was on Friday that the Limca book certified her national record.
As she covered over 2,616 kilometre from Lucknow to the lake situated at a height of 5,330 metre (17,490 feet) in less than 10 days, Vartika was accompanied by three close companions. Her husband Ambar, their friend Atul Ghosh and Vartika’s younger brother Pratyaksh, all of whom were also featured as the first group to reach the highest lake on a continuous bike journey in Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records. Additionally Pratyaksh, at 20, became the youngest male rider for the same in the two books.
“It took me three months to get permission for the lake which is under the Army and cannot be accessed by civilians otherwise. Once I made it to the lake, the view was mesmerising. The water is in shades of green, blue and even purple with frozen edges, ice-capped mountains on one end and clean sand spread over acres on the other. The oxygen levels are low so we had to be quick,” she said.
Recalling the most difficult part of the journey, Vartika said, “Lachen is about 55 kilometre from the lake but it took us almost five to six hours to get there because of the bad roads. The end made it worth it all.” Starting as a rider only in 2007 when her husband, who was a friend back then, pushed her to learn riding, Vartika hasn’t looked back. She was the winner in the women’s open motocross category in Lucknow first motorsports contest held in April, 2016. She has also been featured in the Asia as well as India books of record.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News> Lucknow Girl / by Yusra Husain, TNN / January 28th, 2017
When the entire nation is paying homage to martyrs Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, Rajendra Lahiri and Thakur Roshan Singh, who were hanged on December 19, 1927, for the Kakori incident, the district authorities have failed to conserve a historic site associated with Roshan Singh in the heart of the city.
Singh, who was kept in Malaka Jail, which presently houses SRN Hospital of MNL Medical College, was hanged in one of the barracks. The jail building has been demolished and a new building for super-specialty facility is being constructed at the site.
Singh was a member of the organisation founded by Chandra Shekhar Azad. he was punished by the Britishers for his role in Kakori incident when a train from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow was looted in Kakori. Despite protests by the defence com mittee, which was chaired by Motilal Nehru, Bismil, Ashfaqullah, Rajendra Lahiri and Thakur Roshan Singh were sentenced to death.
“We feel ashamed that despite our efforts, we failed to have a memorial. There is a memorial at Faizabad jail where Ashfaqullah was hanged and in Gorakhpur where Bismil was hanged,” Raju Jaiswal, son of a freedom fighter, said.
Principal of MNL Medical College, Dr SP Singh said “We have approached the administration for installing a statute in the new building.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Allahabad News / by Rajeev Mani / TNN / December 20th, 2016
When the Lucknow Metro first chugged down the elevated corridor on Kanpur Road for trials on Thursday, it became a matter of pride for Lucknowites to see two women piloting the train on the priority section.
It is a conscious decision by the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) to give the opportunity to women so that they get a chance to prove their mettle before public in handling high-tech Metro trains.
“We have chosen two women operators to drive the Metro train before the CM and public for the first time. Our women train operators are so confident and excited to drive it that they wished to take lead in the trials. They have undergone rigorous training, both at the Centre of Excellence of LMRC and hands-on training at the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation,” LMRC MD Kumar Keshav told TOI.
He added that “LMRC is a progressive and coherent organization which believes in giving opportunities to both boys and girls”.
With this, Lucknow becomes the first city in the country where women operators commence Metro trials.
The two women taking the lead are Pratibha and Prachi Sharma, both from Allahabad. Pratibha has done B Tech in electronics and communication engineering from SRMSCET, Bareilly while Prachi did her diploma in electrical engineering from IERT, Allahabad. Both joined LMRC as station controller-cum-train operators on June 9.
The decision is a welcome break from the tradition as train operators’ job is generally considered a male preserve. There were a total of 97 vacancies for train operators’ job in Lucknow Metro, for which 3,827 applications had poured in from women candidates. This is 19% of the total applications LMRC received for the job. LMRC was in for a surprise to get an overwhelming response from the state’s women for heavy-duty technical jobs.
LMRC recruited a total of 21 women station controller-cum-train operators as a part of UP government’s 20% horizontal reservation policy for women in government jobs. Except for Chennai, most of the other cities with metro train systems have just 1-2% women operators. Even the Delhi Metro has only three-four women operators driving trains.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India /News> City News> Lucknow News / by Priyanka Singh / TNN / December 01st, 2016
The beautiful bracelets, earrings and necklaces tourists never fail to pick from Varanasi became officially exclusive to the temple town with Geographical Indication Registry of India registering the handicraft.
The uniqueness of these beads, known as `kaanch ke moti’ (glass beads), could be gauged from the fact that `no two beads can be identical even when they show striking similarity’.
An application to this effect was presented in July , 2009 by export promotion commissioner, department of small scale industries and Banaras Glass Beads Association. The GI certificate, awarded on November 10, 2016, will remain valid up to July 2019. Raahul Dutta, counsel for the UP government who is pursuing the case, said, “The GI tag would benefit craftsmen by safeguarding its uniqueness which has been challenged by men and machines in China.The state would also be able to generate revenue from the work.”
Alok Kanungo -assistant professor, archaeology department, IIT, Gandhingar, who has studied glass beads of India -shared why the Varanasi glass beads are unique. “India has three major glass bead industries -Papanaidupet (Chitoor, Andhra Pradesh), Puralpur (near Hathras) and Varanasi -which are segregated on the basis of the technique used,” he said.
Asserting that Banaras glass bead was a pure handicraft, he added, “The technique used in Varanasi, called lamp winding, makes it unique. In this, glass is transformed into rods or sticks known as canes.Workers melt them at a small heat source, usually a lamp (hence the name). The glass is wound around a wire. While it is still hot, the bead may be shaped or given colour. Once cooled, beads are knocked down.”
President of Banaras beads association Ashok Gupta said more than 5,000 artisan families in Varanasi, parts of Mirzapur and Sonbhadra manufacture 50,000 varieties of glass beads in various shapes and sizes. A worker may take 5-20 minutes to make a single bead.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / by Shailvee Sharda / TNN / November 23rd, 2016
Renowned theatre personality and Padma Shri, Prof Raj Bisaria is all set to weave another feather in his cap with the Madhya Pradesh government honouring him with its prestigious ‘Kalidas Samman’ national award for 2015-16 for achievement in theatre. The ceremony will be held on November 10 in Ujjain, which is also the birthday of the 80 year old.
“I got a call from the ministry’s cultural department in the afternoon today and I am grateful to them for the honour. I will be the first person from Uttar Pradesh to receive the national award in the theatre category,” he said. “It is also the year that TAW-Theatre Arts Workshop that I established in 1966, has completed its 50th year of continuous run,” he shared.
The annual award constituted in 1980 awards personalities in the four fields of classical dance, classical music, theatre and plastic arts. Previously, the likes of Pandit
Ravi Shankar, Pandit Jasraj, MF Husain, Shambhu Mitra, Habib Tanvir, Ebrahim Alkazi among others have been its recipients.
With over 100 productions to his name, Bisaria started TAW with plays in English with the first play being Shakespeare’s Othello. Bisaria also founded the Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1975. Apart from theatre, TAW also introduced other allied performing arts for the very first time, including Irshad Panjatan’s Indian mine in 1967 and modern dance by an American dance company, Indian classical dance by Sonal Mansingh in 1970 and other forms including Hindi theatre, environmental theatre presentation, painting and miniature exhibits.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City News> Lucknow News / by Yusra Husain / November 07th, 2016
Allankrita Sarkar, a 23-year-old LLB student of Lucknow University, beat nine other female finalists to bag the ‘PETA India’s Cutest Vegetarian Next Door’ online contest. (Ashok Dutta/HT photo)
Allankrita Sarkar, a 23-year-old LLB student of Lucknow University, beat nine other female finalists to bag the ‘PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) India’s Cutest Vegetarian Next Door’ online contest. Allankrita will feature on PETA’s website and will also receive a certificate, sash and trophy.
Vaibhav Upadhyay of Indore won in the men’s category. Winners were selected based on several factors, including vote count.
The contest was aimed at selecting youngsters who could help create awareness on issues concerning animals, urge people to go vegetarian and raise their voice against cruelty to animals.
“I feel that I won this competition as the blessings of animals are very powerful. I have a strong connection with animals and yes, my friends and relatives also voted for me. Winning this contest will hopefully help me in raising people’s awareness regarding animals. I am looking forward to helping more animals in need,” said an elated Allankrita, adding that she went vegetarian after witnessing a chicken being cut up at a butcher’s shop.
“I turned vegetarian when I was in class 6. I saw a chicken being cut at a meat shop. It was a scary sight. Its cries still echo in my ears,” she said.
Allankrita has three pets at home and is also taking care of 8-10 street dogs of her locality in Aliganj. “I prepare food for the street dogs in my colony. They come to my gate at different times of the day to eat it,” she said.
“I feed all the dogs of my locality and look after their basic first aid. I also create shelters for them during winters. People in my locality call me if they find any animal in distress,” she added.
Allankrita comes from a family where early on she was taught to be compassionate towards animals. “I carry a first aid box in my scooty. In case I find any needy animal on the road, I stop there to treat it,” said the youngster who works with the animal welfare NGO Jeev Ashraye.
Neerja Khede, PETA India campaigns coordinator said, “Whether it’s about improving your health, reducing pollution from greenhouse gases or sparing animals from suffering and terror in factory farms and slaughterhouses, going vegetarian is always a winning proposition.”
Vaibhav, the male winner of the competition, strongly opposed harming and killing animals. He believes that the beauty of nature lies in animals and plants.
A communication from PETA read: “While the consumption of animal-derived foods contributes to a person’s risk of developing cancer, heart disease, obesity and other ailments, a plant-based lifestyle can give us clearer skin, help prevent heart attacks and even reverse heart diseases”.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Education / by Rajeev Mullick, Hindustan Times,Lucknow / November 02nd, 2016
