Category Archives: Records, All

Jhansi honours its Rani’s descendents

Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All

Jhansi :

Mixed emotions gripped 70-year-old Arun Krishna Rao ‘Jhansi Wale’, the great grandson of Damodar Rao, the foster son of Rani Laxmibai, when he stepped into Jhansi Fort. He was here with his son for a felicitation ceremony on the inaugural function of Jhansi Jan Mahotsav on Sunday.

After Laxmibai’s death in 1858 in the battle against the British forces and the subsequent surrender of her foster son Damodar Rao two years later, her descendants were gradually forgotten. Damodar’s family too chose to lead a life in isolation and had hardly enough money to make ends meet. Arun, a retired junior engineer from Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board, did not wish to divulge details of what travails the family went through.

“My father Krishna Rao and grandfather Laxman Rao worked as freelance typists in front of the courthouse in Indore. After the death of Rani Laxmibai, everyone thought that her son Damodar Rao too had died and no one spoke of him. However, he was brought to Indore and settled there by the British government. He was given a monthly pension of Rs 200 by them.”

A photographer by passion, Damodar could not do much professionally. His son Laxman became a typist but the income was hardly anything. After Damodar’s death, his pension was halved and later on, stopped.

As the fifth generation of Rani Laxmibai, Arun says, “My ancestors fought for the sovereignty of this country and if given a chance, I too am ready for the same. I do not expect anything from anyone for myself.”

When asked whether he had any hope or expectation that the government would recognize them as part of a royal family, he said, “How does it matter what I think? It has got no value and no one is going to hear you, especially when you are poor. My ancestors and I are more worried to feed their families. In such circumstances, how can we fight for our rights?

The entire Rao family lived in isolation till 2007 till local journalist and historian Mohan Nepali located them in Indore and felicitated them at a private function in Jhansi.

“It is really very sad that today the descendants of the great warrior, who is still worshiped no less than a God, are leading such a life and there is no one to take note of them,” said Nepali, adding that the government should recognise them.

Arun’s son, the sixth generation of Rani Laxmibai, is 37-year-old Yogesh Arun Rao ‘Jhansi Wale’ (as they love to call themselves). A software engineer in Nagpur, Yogesh said, “It is a matter of pride for me that I belong to the family of the great Rani who had shaken the entire British and the world still remembers her valour.” However, he also has a grudge that maximum people tend to disbelieve his claim after seeing their moderate living conditions which are quite unlike a royal family’s.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Arindam Ghosh, TNN / December 28th, 2015

AKTU to honour Mars Orbiter mastermind

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Lucknow :

APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University will confer honoris causa on Indian Science and Research Organisation chairman A S Kiran Kumar on its convocation slated on January 22. An accomplished space scientist, Kumar was instrumental in evolving the successful strategy for steering the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft towards planet Mars as well as its Mars Orbit Insertion.

As many as 47 students, gold, silver and bronze in streams like engineering, management, fashion designing and pharmacy will be awarded medals. In the medal tally, girls rule the roost once again. Close to 80% of the medals to be awarded on the convocation ceremony are in the girls’ kitty. Out of 47 medals, 38 will be awarded to girls.

For the first time, graduating students of AKTU will wear a cream-coloured ‘angvastra’ over their traditional dress. Boys will wear white-coloured shirt and dark coloured trousers. Girls will wear saree. Printed on the angvastra will be Lucknow’s heritage and famous historical monuments of UP. In addition, it will also have sermons of former APJ Abdul Kalam. It is also decided that the dignitaries will wear a maroon angvastra and a cream-colour pagadi.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest at the function.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / December 16th, 20154

Benaras boy Yatharth Ratnum wins first edition of The Stage India

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

In the finale aired on Sunday night, Yatharth won a Renault car, a contract with Universal music plus a 10-city tour.

BanarasboyLUCKNOW15dec2015

Yatharth Ratnum, a 19-year-old boy from Benaras, has won The Stage India, the country’s first English singing reality show. “I know it is a crazy thing to get into English music growing up in Benaras. I had trained in Hindustani classical music for six years since I was seven, and that had stood me in good stead in whatever genre I have chosen to pursue ever since,” said Yatharth, who lists pop, R&B and soul as genres he loves singing the most.

In the finale aired on Sunday night, Yatharth won a Renault car, a contract with Universal music plus a 10-city tour. Not many may remember but Yatharth was the budding teenager who finished as a runner-up on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009.

“That was a different space. This is unlike anything that has ever happened in the Indian reality scene. The response we got on social media plus the comments, and shares that came our way have been heartening,” he said, adding that participation in the show happened purely by accident.

“I met up with a friend for coffee and she informed me she would proceed to audition for this reality show of English songs that was about to be launched. I decided to tag along because I had been involved with English music for around the last couple of years, writing and creating music in Los Angeles,” he pointed out.

The LA trip, he says, happed because of his Li’l Champs sojourn. “I got a call to perform at the Young Artist Award because they loved my Hindi songs!” he laughed.

His switch from Hindi to English happened because of two reasons. “I don’t want to be contained in India. At the awards do, I realised I could reach out to a wider audience if I wanted to. Plus, I tried writing in Hindi but could not.” He recalls he was just five when he heard AR Rahman’s Dil Se, an experience that had a strong impact on him. “My dad was in the audio distribution business, so I would a chance to listen to a huge variety of music. That let me develop a varied sense of sounds,” said Yatharth, who counts Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson and Rahman as a few of his inspirations.

Meanwhile, he has also bagged a film deal. “I have signed up for a Hindi film titled Blue Mountains, which also features Ranvir Shorey and Gracy Singh. I play the male lead and have also sung four songs in the film. Acting is something that lets me be who I am not.”

Music, though, will be his first love. “Music is music. I wake up and go to sleep with it,” he signed off.

source: http://www.indiatoday.intoday.in / Home> News> Mail Today / by Vinayak Chakravorty / Varanasi – December 14th, 2015

PGI to roll out eyebrow transplant facility soon

Records, All, Science & Technology

Lucknow :

The plastic surgery department at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences performed its first eyebrow hair transplant last week. The facility, available in high-end plastic surgery centres in the metros, would soon be rolled out to the public at a much lower cost.

“Loss of hair in the eyebrows, technically known as madarosis, is common after the age of 40 years. It starts with the side and proceeds towards the midline. It also leads to thinning of eyebrows. Bushy eyebrows are a symbol of beauty and their loss leaves a negative impact on a person,” said Dr Rajeev Agarwal, head of the plastic surgery department at SGPGIMS.

The procedure is time-taking and requires expertise. “Eyebrow transplant is different from regular hair transplant as the hair are to be planted in a slant orientation,” explained Dr Agarwal.

He added that a transplant was better than the cosmetic procedures available in the market.

“Options like cosmetic darkening of the eyebrow or tattooing create a camouflage but can never return the natural look, which is the biggest advantage of transplant,” he said.

The only disadvantage with a transplant is that one needs to get the eyebrows trimmed regularly as transplanted hair grow faster than normal hair. “Anyone who gets it done has to visit the beauty parlour regularly but then the advantage is quite satisfying,” said Rita Saha, relative of the patient who went under the knife for the transplant.

The team at SGPGI said that their rates would be at least one-third of what is being charged in private hospitals, where anything between Rs 200 and Rs 300 per hair are charged.

“An eyebrow transplant involves insertion of at least 300 hair per brow. This means that a patient would spend Rs 60,000-Rs 90,000 per brow in the private sector. Though the rates at our centre are yet to be finalized, they would be one-third of the market rate,” said Dr Agarwal.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Shailvee Sharda / December 08th, 2015

KGMU orthodontic dept’s golden jubilee

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

Lucknow :

As students, they walked through King George’s Medical University’s iconic administrative block umpteen number of times, but students from orthodontic department’s first batch never felt so overwhelmed as they did here on Saturday.

Aboard a golden chariot to take a ride of their campus, the alumni relished each moment of their golden jubilee. The ride ended at Browne Hall which had marked the beginning of their journey as specialist dentists.

First student Dr DN Kapoor, who was given a special welcome, said the face of his college has changed but the spirit remains the same. “We all owe our best to this campus… Once a Georgian, always a Georgian,” he said.

The day also marked 50 years of in orthodontics in the medical university. “We began with just one room in 1965 and today, it is a full-fledged department from where over 200 post graduate students have passed out and are working in different parts of the world,” said head of the department and also the organizer of the event Prof Pradeep Tandon.

A 50-minute video capturing department’s journey from its inception was also screened. It included bytes from scores of teachers and students. The department is the only Orthodontic Centre in India which has exclusively rendered orthodontic teaching and treatment.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / December 06th, 2015

5 Agra monuments in India’s top 10 frequented by foreigners

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel

Agra:

Just the city of Agra and its close neighbour Fatehpur Sikri have five of the top 10 monuments in the country that are most visited by foreign tourists.

Replying to a query in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Union culture minister Mahesh Sharma said Taj Mahal alone has 23% share of foreign tourists travelling to India. Agra Fort got 12% in 2014. He added that foreign exchange earnings through tourism in India during 2012, 2013 and 2014 stood at Rs 94,487 crore, Rs 1,07,671 crore and Rs 1,23,320 crore respectively.

The minister dismissed claims that the tourism industry had witnessed a decline compared to the last few years. “On the contrary”, he said, “foreign tourists’ arrival growth rate in India has more than doubled between 2012 (4.3%) and 2014 (10.2%). In 2013, it was a mere 5.9%.

In terms of exact numbers, a total of 6.58 million tourists visited India in 2012, which increased to 6.97 million in 2013 and 7.68 million in 2014.

Citing Archaeological Survey of India’s data on foreign tourist arrival at centrally-protected monuments in 2014, Sharma said Taj Mahal with 6.4 lakh visitors, Agra Fort with 3.43 lakh and Qutub Minar with 2.76 lakh were the top three tourist destinations in the country.

The other three monuments of Agra which featured in the top 10 list are Fatehpur Sikri (5th position), Akbar’s tomb (8th) and Itimad-ud daula (10th).

To another query on carbon pollution around the Taj Mahal, the minister said that the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) Authority has banned entry of Euro-I model, petrol/diesel-operated auto loader vehicles from July 31 to reduce vehicular pollution in the vicinity of the Taj. He added that TTZ Authority has also decided to convert petrol/diesel-operated commercial vehicles to CNG. So far, 34,302 vehicles have been converted to CNG in Agra, he said.

However, though the Taj Mahal still remains at the top of the most-visited monuments in the country, there has been a constant fall in the number of foreign visitors to the 17th century monument in the last three years. There were 7.9 lakh visitors from abroad to the Taj in 2012. But the number came down to 7.4 lakh in 2013, further dipping to 6.4 lakh in 2014.

Prior to 2012, the average foreign tourist footfall at the world heritage building had been increasing at a rate of 10-15% per annum. In 2010, 6.1 lakh foreigners had visited the Taj. The number went up to 6.7 lakh in 2011 and further to 7.9 lakh in 2012.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Agra / Aditya Dev, TNN / December 02nd, 2015

Girls top medal tally at APJ tech varsity

Education, Records, All

Lucknow :

Girls once again rule the roost in APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University’s medal tally. Close to 80% of the medals to be awarded on the convocation ceremony scheduled on December 24 are in girls’ kitty. A total of 48 medals will be awarded in the convocation. Of these, 38 will be awarded to girls.

For the first time, graduating students of AKTU will wear a cream-coloured angvastra over their traditional dress. Boys will wear white shirts and dark trousers. Girls will wear sarees. The angvastra to be worn by the students will showcase Lucknow’s heritage and famous historical monuments of UP. In addition, it will also have sermons of former president APJ Abdul Kalam. It is also decided that the dignitaries will wear a maroon-coloured angvastra and a cream-coloured pagadi.

In each group, like engineering, management, fashion designing, computer applications and pharmacy, three medals each – gold, silver and bronze – will be awarded. On the occasion, the university will also release an annual report that will highlight the notable developments during the year.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / December 01st, 2015

44 years later, LU honours Chemistry wiz

Education, Records, All

Lucknow :

At the age of 65 and after a long wait of 44 years, Anil Kumar Singh finally received his M Raman Gold medal for Inorganic Chemistry from the Lucknow University (LU) on Saturday.

Singh had secured highest marks in the subject and was eligible for the said gold medal since 1971. But, the university did not hold convocation that year and none of the medals were handed over. With Singh’s unprecedented win, gates for other medal holders and achievers from 1971 to claim their due are flung open.

Ironically, Singh completed his education, served as a teacher in chemistry department and retired as a professor in June 2012. He is also executive president of the Rashtriya Shikshak Mahasangh.

“Everytime I queried anyone at the university or voiced my concern, I was told it’s the university rule not to give medals or degrees, if convocation was not held for any reason in that year,” said Singh.

His mark sheet from the university said he stood first in order of merit and a certificate issued in 2007 also confirmed his eligibility to the coveted award. This had given some relief to Singh until on March 24, he filed an RTI in the case.

Quoting a clause in section 15.05 of the first statute of the university that said that if due to any reason the university fails to hold the convocation, the degree, diploma and academic distinctions maybe sent by registered posts, Singh shot an RTI asking if this was being followed.

“I didn’t get the reply to this question, but I also asked them if one puts an application to the effect, will the medal be given then?” informed Singh. It was to this question that he got an answer stating that if the Vice Chancellor (VC) consents to the application, the medal might be handed over.

The matter however didn’t even reach the VC. “The current controller of examinations, SK Shukla taking personal interest in the case, found the records, got my medal made and gave it to me today,” said Singh, who feels the fight was an in principle one.

Previously in 2004, Singh had fought a battle with the university over his daughter’s rightful claim over the most prestigious Chancellor’s Gold Medal at LU. It was after that win, that LU introduced the system of inviting applications to the coveted honour. Prior to that head of the departments nominated any student they wished to.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / November 29th, 2015

India’s first Elephant ambulance bringing Mia and Sita, the female jumbos rescued from Tamil Nadu circus,to Mathura.

Agriculture, Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Nature, Records, All, Travel

Agra :

After spending decades in the circus, Mia and Sita were rescued by wildlife SOS under their circus elephant rescue mission, coordinated by union government, on Sunday. The two female jumbos are currently traveling in India’s first modern custom designed elephant ambulance and will be sent to Elephant Conservation & Care Center in Mathura.

The female elephants, “Mia” and “Sita” are the 6th and 7th circus elephants to be rescued in the year since the Centre has teamed up with animal rescue organization Wildlife SOS to rescue captive elephants being illegally used for circus performances, as part of its project to check maltreatment of wild animals. Wildlife SOS was instrumental in the release of Raju, the elephant who cried after being released from a life of chains after 50 years, and has collaborated with the government against the practice of using bears for dance performances. The organization is partner with the government to save 67 captive elephants from across the country, starting with 17 in the first phase that started in November, 2014.

This rescue also marks the inaugural trip of the Wildlife SOS’s new elephant ambulance – the first modern elephant ambulance in India with automatic electric hydraulic ramp, showers, dual power supply, dedicated room for the veterinary team with washing and treatment preparation area. This vehicle was designed to make transporting rescued elephants safer and more comfortable for the elephants.

Geeta Seshamani, Co-founder of Wildlife SOS, said, “With the addition of Mia and Sita to the herd, we have now rescued more than 10% of all the elephants that remained in India’s circuses when our circus elephant campaign began about one year ago. We are proud of this progress, but are committed to see this campaign through to the end, when we can say that no more elephants are suffering in India’s circuses.”

Earlier rescue operations required Wildlife SOS to hire trucks that were not specially equipped to deal with elephant rescues which made transport unsafe, challenging and inefficient.

Shreekant Upadhyay, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, UPFD said, “I am very happy that Wildlife SOS’s dedicated team is travelling across India to Tamil Nadu to save these elephants. Our Forest department congratulates Wildlife SOS with the success of this operation. ”

Initiatives to protect the elephant are not recent. In 1992, the ministry of environment and forests launched Project Elephant, designed to help elephants both wild and captive. In 1998, the central ministry banned the use of wild animals like tigers, bears, leopards, lions and monkeys in circuses. The elephant joined that list recently. The Animal Welfare Board of India has issued show-cause notices to circuses found lacking in animal welfare and documented maltreatment of elephants.

Both Mia and Sita, in their 50s will reach to elephant care and conservation centre Mathura on Wednesday. While Mia, the more spirited of the two, is developing a cataract in her eyes. She has significant, painful inflammation in both hind feet, as well as abscesses in her toenails – all of which contribute to making her gait severely abnormal.

Sita, the one who is more mild and mannered is also no less in need of veterinary intervention. Her right front leg never healed properly from an old fracture and is fused so she cannot bend it. Her left front leg is hyper extended, putting pressure on her foot, which has led to nail cracks and abscesses. Because of these problems, she has likely not been able to lie down and rest properly in more than a year.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Environment> Flora & Fauna / by Ishita Mishra, TNN / November 23rd, 2015

City girl goes places for environmental work

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

Lucknow :

City girl Yugratna Srivastava, the first Indian child to make it to the junior board of Tunza, a United Nations Environment protection program, and represent Asia and pacific region is all set to participate in the International conference of parties organized in Paris from November 30 to December 11.

Yugratna, a student of Btech at Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, has done remarkable work for creating a sustainable environment; she uses social media as an effective tool to add people in the noble job. She has also delivered rousing speeches in and outside India about the inevitable need of spreading awareness about environmental issues and ways to tackle it. The aim of Tunza Junior board is to build ecological sensitivity, equip members of the society to tackle local environmental issues and make people aware about the preservation of bio-diversity.

Yugratna, an alumnus of St Fidelis College, has participated in several International conferences and talked about the importance of environment preservation as also her ideas to take the issue forward. “Deposit Green Gold to Enrich Oxy Bank,” a slogan launched by her in Nairobi stirred the social media for a long time.

During her visit to France this year, she will also give a representation in United Nation foundation on December 7 and at the Unesco Headquarters in Paris the next day

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / November 19th, 2015