Category Archives: Records, All

HBTI launches community newsletter

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All

Kanpur :

In a bid to bridge the gap with teachers and alumni, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (HBTI) students have come up with their first in-house newsletter – HBTI Akhbaar. The newsletter will provide a platform to students’ creative skills.

The newsletter will include stories focusing on topics ranging from features, sports activity within the community along with sketches and cartoons made by engineering students. The newsletter is a joint initiative of HBTI Alumni Association HBTI and Literary Sub Council (LSC) of the college. Appreciating the efforts, director in-charge Prof A K Nagpal said, “It is an innovative initiative by students and will motivate them to come up with creative ideas and work on it. The initiative is first of its kind.”

LSC secretary and third-year student of Civil Engineering Rohit Rajput said that the paper also contained interviews of successful alumni and Gate rankers. “It is a 14-page newsletter that will be published quarterly. We were planning it for the last two years. Lots of efforts went into the launch of the newsletter. It will be distributed free-of-cost among students and faculty and keep them updated about happenings on the campus. The newspaper contains a number of inspiring interviews by alumni as well as toppers of the college and other successful people. It also has placement records and academic calendar,” he said.

Rajput said that till now they have distributed 2,000 copies on the campus. “It took a lot of hard work, and a bit of fun to produce the newsletter. It is an activity that keeps all students united,” he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kanpur / TNN / February 03rd, 2015

If you missed Tansen, listen to his descendant

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All
Abdul Rashid Khan will perform at Sursagar’s ‘Living Legends and Budding Masters’ series at Alliance Francaise on January 30 at 6.30 p.m. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.
Abdul Rashid Khan will perform at Sursagar’s ‘Living Legends and Budding Masters’ series at Alliance Francaise on January 30 at 6.30 p.m. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan (107), based in Kolkata, was the oldest living legend to be bestowed Padma Bhushan

He is the direct descendant of Tansen and has been performing for 75 years. He has performed nearly 3,000 concerts and composed 2,000 bandish , which are being sung by leading Hindustani musicians. In 2013, when he was conferred the Padma Bhushan, he was the oldest living legend to be bestowed the honour.

“I am Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, 107 years young,” declares the maestro jokingly. “Some members of my family have lived up to the age of 110 and beyond,” he says.

Born in 1908 at Salon near Rai Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, Rashid Khan is the son of Chote Usuf Khan of the Gwalior Gharana. He is the 23{+r}{+d}generation of Tansen’s family and traces his ancestry to Surat Sen, one of the maestro’s four sons.

“My father, and uncle Bade Usuf Khan, trained me in a 10-hour schedule that was followed by a four-hour riyaaz (practice) every day for 22 years.

“Only when I touched 30 did my gurus allow me to step on a stage. That was the kind of integrity we followed,” says the Ustad, who once had Zakir Hussain, then 16, playing the tabla.

After obtaining a degree from Allahabad University, Rashid Khan went to Rae Bareli. He performed a slew of concerts in every nook and corner of India. “I have performed at every maharaja’s court in pre-Independent India. Rae Bareli alone had 22 maharajas and each would demand a particular raag ,” he says recollecting the traditional four to five hour concerts that were in vogue then.

In 1991, he was specially invited by the ITC Sangeeth Research Academy in Kolkata to take over as the senior guru. He has been teaching there for the last 25 years. His traditional compositions have been recorded by the BBC and Iraq Radio.

The UP Sangeet Natak Academi and the ITC Sangeet Research Academy have more than 1500 compositions of the ustad in their collection.

And the secret of his longevity?

“All we know is that he prays five times a day,” says grandson Bilal Khan, who accompanies the ustad on the tabla.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – January 29th, 2015

Is Mumtaz Mahal’s body mummified in Taj Mahal?

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

TajMahalMPOs30jan2015

The mystery surrounding Mumtaz Mahal’s burial at the Taj Mahal has deepened with a book claiming that her body was mummified.

Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built the 17th century Taj Mahal here in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz who died while giving birth to their 14th child in Burhanpur, a town in what is now Maharashtra.

“The real truth about Taj Mahal was suppressed. If the truth had been revealed when Taj Mahal was being built, it would have become almost impossible to construct the monument,” Afsar Ahmad, author of the controversial e-book “Taj Mahal or Mummy Mahal” (Self-published, 200 pp, Rs.150), told IANS.

The journalist-turned-writer has also disclosed in the book what he claims are several unknown facts related to Mumtaz’s death.

The book has details about Mumtaz’s death and her last few days – and details the mummification of her body. Mumtaz was buried thrice – twice in a depository and then the final one.

But how was her body preserved during the period? Did the Mughals use the method of the ancient Egypt or was it some other procedure? Did the Mughal have a ritual of preserving dead bodies? But the biggest question the book tries to answer is if Mumtaz’s body is still preserved.

Ahmed said he wants to lift the veil and mystery surrounding the death and subsequent burial of Mumtaz.

Shah Jahan’s court writers could have shed light on the entire incident, but they could not do so as they were under instructions not to reveal anything which showed the emperor in poor light.

The author said the reader has the right to know the truth behind Mumtaz’s death and burial.

The e-book also tries to find answers if the Mughal only followed Islamic rituals and the different methods of burial. The book is available on Amazon in the Kindle format.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> National / IANS / Agra – January 28th, 2015

Bravehearts of police force to receive gallantry award today

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All

Lucknow :

Six personnel of the Uttar Pradesh Police were shortlisted for gallantry award on the occasion of Republic Day. The highest police honor for bravery in the course of duty has been awarded to these personnel in three different cases of counters held in the recent past.

The most publicised encounter of the three was incidentally captured live by news crews in Allahabad in which a criminal who had come to gun down a rival ended up blowing the head of a police head constable with a hand grenade when the latter tried stop him during a routine vehicle checking drive near district court in civil lines area on September 18, 2006.

One of them, Pintoo Misra, was chased and gunned down after a fierce gun battle and another associate was arrested while kingpin Babloo Misra fled from the spot along with others and planned to kill Dy SP Rahul Srivastav but was gunned down in exchange of fire with police three months later.

The footage of the encounter which showed an accused waving his hands to surrender when he was gunned down raked up a controversy and the incident was debated on all news channels at the national level for about a week. It was only after independent inquiries from CB CID and NHRC gave a clean chit to the police that the gallantry awards were recommended.

With 40 encounters to his credit, DySP Rahul is presently posted with chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s security details.

Inspector general Bareilly Zone Vijay Singh Meena, Superintendent of police (SP) Varanasi Joginder Singh, Sub Inspectors Bind Kumar and Shashi Bhushan Rai along with Head Constable Ashok Kumar Singh were awarded for their role in an encounter in Mau in which crimimals have taken a family hostage to evade police but were gunned down.

Inspector SKS Pratap has been awarded for gallantry he displayed in an encounter in Noida.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / January 26th, 2015

UP’s woman IPS scales S American peak

Leaders, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Lucknow :

Aparna Kumar is the first woman IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh to scale Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain peak of South American.

Aparna, who had earlier scaled Carstensz, the highest peak in Indonesia, achieved this feat on January 15, inspector general (law and order) A Satish Ganesh said on Tuesday.

At the height of 23,000 feet, Mount Aconcagua is considered the most difficult to scale, he said, adding that Kumar unfurled the Indian and UP Police flag on the peak. Kumar has also successfully scaled Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, said the IG, adding that Aparna’s achievements will encourage more, especially girls, to take up adventure sports.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / January 21st, 2015

Mughal era museum near Taj soon

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

Agra:

A museum dedicated to the Mughal era will come up in the vicinity of the Taj Mahal at an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore, and the construction work is likely to begin next year.

The proposed museum will be built near Shilpagram parking on the East Gate side of the monument. The land currently belongs to the state electricity department.

According to information, the project’s funding will be partly taken from the corpus granted by the World Bank under the pro-poor tourism development program. The program is aimed at improving infrastructure for tourists in order to generate revenue and employment in the state. The World Bank (WB) has reportedly loaned out Rs 1,800 crore to the country for the development of the Agra-Braj corridor. Rs 10 crore, amount needed for the building of the museum, will be taken from that amount.

Director general (DG) tourism Amrit Abhijat said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) would most likely be signed by the WB, the Central government and the UP government by September 2015. Construction work will start within a year after that. The state cabinet has reportedly given its approval fro the project in principle.

“The museum will have Mughal-era artefacts, armours, textiles and arms on display. The WB wants it to be developed on the lines of international museums. A detail project report (DPR) is under process,” Abhijat said, adding that foreign expertise will be sought to develop the museum.

The DG informed that besides the museum, there is also a plan to create an art gallery to promote trademark products of the city. Stone works, carpets and sweets, especially petha, will be on display at the gallery. There will also be a section from where tourists can buy finished products.

The centre will be built on the lines of Swiss museums, wherein they showcase the intricacies of cheese manufacturing. Similarly, tourists visiting the centre can learn about how carpets have been woven since the time of the Mughals. Petha production will be explained too.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / by Aditya Dev, TNN / January 13th, 2015

Surgery for epilepsy now available in city

Records, All, Science & Technology

Lucknow :

A team of doctors at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences has undertaken surgery to help a patient get rid of epilepsy. So far, epileptic surgery has been limited to only a few centers in the country including Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvanthanapuram, and National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru.

Secretary of Indian Epilepsy Association’s UP chapter, Prof Atul Aggarwal said that surgical intervention for management of epilepsy in patients who have not responded to medication is an upcoming area of neurology in India. “Only a few centers in the country attempted this because it involves high-level of coordination between neurologist, neurosurgeon, radiologist, anesthetist and psychologist. A facility in Lucknow will surely help patients in the state,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the team, neurosurgeon Dr Arun Srivastava said, “The surgery was undertaken on a 25-year-old girl who came to us with complaints of partial seizures that could not be controlled by four epilepsy-control drugs.”

He added that the head of neurology Dr UK Mishra and his team examined the patient and referred her for surgery to Dr Sanjay Behari and team. They in turn roped in neuro-radiologist Dr Shashi Srivstava to study the patient’s brain and identify the epilepsy trigger point.

“The patient benefited significantly from the procedure called selective amygdalohippocampectomy which means removal of the problem-causing portions in areas of the inner brain. At the time of discharge, the number of epileptic episodes reduced to just one from 4-5 per day,” he said.

Doctors in SGPGI also believe that patients heading to their center will have to spend 25-30% less than what they would have to pay at the other centers. Head of neurosurgery department, King George’s Medical University, Prof BK Ojha said that their department too was in the process of developing surgical facilities for epilepsy at their center. “Our doctors are undergoing the required training for this,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Shailvee Sharda, TNN / January 05th, 2015

Our name and recipe was patented in 1995

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All, Travel

Tunday kababi wins trademark infringement case

The most popular pit stop for all visitors to Lucknow, be it film stars, politicians or even tourists, is the Tunday Kabab shop. But not just for the outsiders, but for the city folk too, it had become increasingly difficult to differentiate the real from the copies, with kebab shops by the name of Tunday mushrooming all over the city in the last few years. But after Mohd Usman, grandson of the legendary Tunday or Haji Murad Ali won a case filed against him for infringement of trademark by his khala’s (paternal aunt) son, Mohd Muslim, who owns Lucknow Wale Tunday Kababi’s chain of restaurants, all shops bearing the name Tunday and not belonging to Usman had to take their signs down on Monday . They will now have to change the names of their outlets.

Muslim claimed that the name ‘Tunday’ belonged to him and his family and they were the rightful owners of it and anyone else using the name was doing so illegally . But in December 2014, the Delhi High Court declared Usman the rightful owner of the name ‘Tunday’.

The lineage

Haji Murad Ali, a one-handed royal khansama from Bhopal made the Galwati kababs and paranthas world famous and several shops in his name had sprung up in Lucknow and outside of it. Mohd Usman, who holds the patent of Tunday , is Murad’s brother’s son, as Ali himself had no children.

“It was our grandfather who started Tunday . Although I don’t remember much of him but my father tells us tales of how he used to work with one hand. The 109-year-old legacy of our grandfather was being misused and maligned. We had to put a stop to that. Allah has bestowed his blessings on us as we have won the case.It’s nothing else but the blessings of our dada jaan,” says Usman.

The patent and the problem

“We had got the name’Tunday’ patented in 1995, so no one could use the name without our permission or without our franchise. We had also got the secret recipe patented a decade back,” he says, adding, “Mere dada jaan ne, unke baad mere walid saab ne itni mehnat se yeh naam aur iski shaan banayi thi. Hamari origi nal dukaan Chowk mein Akbari Gate ke paas hai, aur 1996 main humne Aminabad wali dukaan shuru ki.”

Not happy with the circumstances that led to this lawsuit, Usman says, “It’s not nice when people within the family fight but I was forced to take this step as it was affecting the reputation of my forefathers. People would come up to me and complain about bad quality food being served at these outlets in our name. Ab main kitne logon ko batata ki yeh asli Tunday Kababi nahi hai?” says he. What also irked Usman was that tourists and celebrities were often taken for a ride, and led to the fake Tunday kabab outlets instead of the original ones.”Kitni baar hum akhbaar mein hi padhte thay ki falan-falan celebrity Faizabad Road ya Gomti Nagar gaya.Yeh log toh tourists ko bhi mislead kar rahe thay,” says Usman. He’s right on the mark. In November 2012, celebrity chef Vikas Khanna had promoted a TV show at the Faizabad Road outlet, which had to remove the Tunday signage on Monday .

Apart from Chowk and Aminabad, the other original Tunday outlets are at Kapoorthala, Alambagh, Kanpur Road, Telibagh, Rahim Nagar and Sahara Ganj.

In August 2014, Usman filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court to prevent anyone from using his grandfather’s name. “Those people – my khala’s family, went to court last year and filed a case against us for trademark infringement and demanded a compensation of 50 lakh from us, but now that they have lost the case, we are demanding a compensation of `20 lakh from them for misusing our grandfather’s name and bringing it ill repute,” says Usman, “Now it’s time for them to get worried,” says he with a smile.

Board of contention

The restaurants in Lucknow that had to take down their signboards displaying the name of Tunday are those in Vivek Khand, Gomti Nagar, Sapru Marg, Faizabad Road, Aashiana, apart from the one in Kanpur and in Raebareli.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Itishree Misra, TNN / January 07th, 2015

CAT result puts Lucknow topper on cloud 99.99

Education, Records, All

Lucknow :

It is said that children who do not have parents lack guidance and are unable to excel in their academic career. But 22-year-old Shashwat Mishra who just completed his engineering from Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur has proved this wrong. He is among few in the country who have scored 99.99 percentile in the Common Aptitude Test (CAT) 2014, results of which were declared by Indian Institute of Management Indore on Saturday. While Shashwat’s father died of an illness two years back, his mother met with an accident when he was four years of age.

A Lucknow boy, Shashwat is a chemical engineer who is presently working in an analytics firm in Noida. On his success, he said, “Since past two decades, I have Iived with my uncle in Lucknow and my aunt has been like mother to me. They have guided me everywhere. I am indebted to them for bringing out the talent in me.”

When TOI called him around 7.30pm, he was bubbling with happiness. “I was shocked when my teacher called me to inform. I was expecting a good percentile, but not 99.99. I am on cloud nine today,” said Shashwat speaking on phone from Delhi. He was heading towards a cousin’s place for a bigger celebration.

He said, “It was very difficult to get to a webpage as the CAT website was crashing every minute.”

Though he is not sure of the specialization, Shashwat is inclined towards marketing and operations from IIM-Ahmedabad. When asked why Ahmedabad, he said, “IIM Ahmedabad is the best.”

Shashwat did his schooling from City Montessori School, Rajendra Nagar and then St Anjani’s Public School, Lucknow. He scored 94.3% in class X and 91.6% in class XII.

He started prepare for CAT when he was in final year engineering. “It was tough to balance the two. But it was not impossible. Final year, there was not much pressure from college,” he said. After graduating from IIT in April, he joined a management coaching for test series. “Students serious for CAT should identify their own weaknesses and strengths. Mock tests help in analysing the grey area which you can improve on,” said Shashwat.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / December 28th, 2014

Mahila Vidyalaya may become India’s 1st women’s univ

Education, Records, All

Lucknow :

State government on Wednesday promised to extend full cooperation in turning Mahila Vidyalaya PG College into the first women’s university of north India, said chief secretary Alok Ranjan after inaugurating the platinum jubilee programme of the college on Wednesday.

Ranjan also said the government is implementing several schemes to make cent-per-cent and employment-oriented education for girls. “Providing technical education to women, more progress could be brought in the society and the state,” said Ranjan.

On the occasion, college students danced to film numbers. Another group of students performed to Indian classical music. The performances were enjoyed by the audience.

Mahila College began platinum jubilee celebrations of their degree college by holding an inter-collegiate festival ‘Tarangini’ on December 22 and 23. Students of various degree colleges, including Lucknow University participated in dance, elocution, JAM, quiz, flower decoration, poster making, debate, performing arts, essay and mehndi competition.

In the series of celebrations, the college has organised a fete on December 25. Also, an in-house rock band headed by Karishma Agrahari, a second-year BA student along five others will perform. This will be followed by a panel discussion on ‘Linking Education with Employability’ on December 26. Union home minister Rajnath Singh will attend the valedictory session on December 27.

Former V-C of LU Roop Rekha Verma, a 1961 alumnus, said “In my time, there was more open space. I remember when I visited my college years after graduation and saw many new buildings on the campus. I was a bit saddened then.”

Recalling the good old days, Verma said, “My principal late Kanchan Lata Sabbarwal was a strict disciplinarian. She had a notion that if any student argued with any teacher or principal, it was an act of disobedience. Since I was a hosteller, once, I gathered courage to argue with her on extremely restricted timing for us to go out for shopping. She got very angry with my behaviour.”

INFO

Humble Beginnings

Mahila Vidyalaya started in a rented house in Aminabad, Lucknow in 1895

Initially, it began as a small school named ‘The Hindu Girls School’

The school’s own building at the present site was inaugurated on March 9, 1921 by then education minister in United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, C Y Chintamani

Mame of Hindu Girls School was changed to Mahila Vidyalaya on February 26, 1922

In 1928, Mahila Vidyalaya was recognised for High School, in 1932 for Intermediate

In June 1939, degree section began here

In 1952, college started B Ed and in 1962, science faculty started. In 1983, B Com classes began and in 1985 BA & BSc in home-science was started

In 2004, Mahila Vidyalaya came up to PG level with MA in home-science

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / home> City> Lucknow / TNN / December 25th, 2014