Babura village in Kaushambi district has become the first village in the state where e-governance will be provided with click of a button. The programme has been finalized under ‘E-village’ initiative.
Giving details, informatics officer of Kaushambi Daanish Faizan said: “Various types of services like making of income certificates, caste certificate, domicile certificate will be provided through E-village centre (Jan Suvidha Kendra) established at the Babura village. These certificates will be provided electronically over the counter at the time of filing the application. Any applicant can get the requisite certificate within five minutes.”
This initiative will soon be implemented in the villages all over the state.
This plan will be integrated with the other programmes in the state like public health centre, schools and public distribution system.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / Ashraf Jamal , TNN / June 07th, 2014
In 29 years, Thursday was the one of the busiest and most exciting days of Prem Ranjan Singh. His cell phone kept ringing every minute and all he said was ‘thank you’. It was not his birthday, but an unforgettable day as he secured 62nd all India rank in the civil services examinations. Ecstatic, Lucknow-based Singh, who was currently undergoing training at National Police Academy, Hyderabad, said: “it’s a moment worth living for. After four years, my dream has come true.”
This was his second attempt for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). While in first he couldn’t clear the interview, in the second and third round, he got selected in police services. A mechanical engineer from MNIT, Allahabad, Singh worked for four years in Ashok Leylands, Chennai. “I wanted to do MBA but took the civil services route to serve my country,” said he.
On why IAS, he said “being an administrator puts one in diversified roles. There are different domains where one can work. One gets experience working in different departments and can also specialise in a particular one. IPS was restricted to police.”
His father D N Singh is a retired railway employee, while his mother is a homemaker. One of his two brothers is also in the railways while the other is an IIM-Ahmedabad graduate working in Mumbai.
Holding AIR – 67, city boy Rituraj Raghuvanshi said “rigorous studies and being patient is key to success.” Rituraj is presently working in Indian Railway Traffic Services. It was his fourth attempt in civil services. In his last attempt, he secured AIR – 555.
A CMS student, Rituraj did BA LLB (hons) from Symbiosis School of Law and LLM from National Law University, Bangalore. His father Anil Kumar Singh is an IAS officer and presently special secretary, rural development department, UP. On his success, Rituraj said “my books always accompanied me while I was out of home.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / June 13th, 2014
Sitapur boy Avi Prasad is UP topper in the prestigious Civil Services examinations-2013 by securing an All India Rank, 13. An IPS officer, Avi is currently undergoing training at National Police Academy, Hyderabad. “I will now shift to IAS,” Avi told TOI over phone from Hyderabad.
Having done his schooling from Sitapur, Avi graduated in international business and finance from Jamia Milia Islamia University, Delhi. Later, he pursued post graduation in management and business law from NLU, Jodhpur. Avi has one and half year of working experience at the Reserve Bank of India. “I had absolutely no inclination towards civil services. While I was working in RBI, I realised our system just doesn’t deliver. Interacting with people, I found its people who are running the system makes a difference. I chose civil services to work for a citizen-centric system,” said Avi.
Son of a business man, Avi’s mother is a home-maker. His sister is preparing for judicial services. It was Avi’s second attempt. The first time, he secured an AIR of 171. On how difficult it was to quit a plum government job, Avi said “In RBI, it would take another 15-20 years to achieve something. In civil services, one begins early age. Responsibilities comes early and one has full control on his work place and environment. The charm to deliver pulled me towards IAS.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / June 13th, 2014
A reading of letters that offer snapshots of life in the city from 1903
The letters look at both mundane and political exchanges
Lucknow, the administrative and cultural hub of the nawabs of Awadh at the time of the British Raj, is today an amalgamation of the medieval and the modern. The centuries-old city and its past will be brought to life by Saman Habib and Sanjay Muttoo through an illustrated reading session of handwritten letters written to, or by, people living in Lucknow, in the Capital on Sunday and Tuesday.
Habib is a research scientist at the Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow, and Muttoo is a freelance media professional.
Their performance, titled “Lucknow In Letters: Endeavours, Achievements, And Tragedies”, is structured around a historical timeline, with a commentary that contextualizes the letters. It is accompanied by photographs of the people who wrote and received them, images of original manuscripts, and a minimal soundtrack to enhance the sensory experience.
Drawn from far and near in India and abroad, each letter provides an authentic narrative of events as they happened—from M.K. Gandhi appreciating Jawaharlal Nehru’s role in the protests against the Simon Commission, appointed by the British in 1927 to look at governance reform, in Lucknow, to Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi’s letters to his close friend S.M. Mehdi; from sundry exchanges between cousins about the kitchen being repaired, to ones that talk about how secular Lucknow was till the mid-1950s. Among these, a few published and publicly available letters—the exchange between Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan, involved in the Kakori Conspiracy, a train robbery during the independence movement, for instance—will be featured too.
A letter written in 1903, by Hilda Seebohm from Lucknow to her home in London, describing the plague in the city, is the oldest of the lot.
This reading is one of Habib and Muttoo’s many endeavours to trace their cultural roots to Lucknow. “At the Mahindra Sanatkada Festival in February, our session on ‘Feminists Of Awadh’ elicited huge response. I read out pages from Ismat Chughtai’s autobiography Kaghazi Hai Pairahan and Sanjay read about Begum Akhtar. The crowd’s appreciation of the language and content got us thinking, and hence began our search for letters,” says Habib.
A host of humorous and poignant letters within her family served as starting material but a much larger and diverse set was needed for a more real representation of Lucknow. More letters from Habib’s cousins in Pakistan, and scanned published material, came in. “The most poignant line in the entire collection is in a letter from a person in Pakistan writing to his cousin in Lucknow saying, ‘My body may be in Pakistan but my soul lives on in Lucknow’,” says Muttoo.
“Lucknow In Letters: Endeavours, Achievements, And Tragedies” will be held on 25 May, 7pm, at Studio Safdar, 2254/2A, New Ranjit Nagar, Shadipur, New Delhi; and on 27 May, 4pm, at the National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi. For details, call 25709456/26717121.
source: http://www.livemint.com / Live Mint & The Wall Street Journal / Home> Leisure / by Arunima Mazumdar / Thursday – May 22nd, 2014
On Sunday, Yusuf Pathan won his 2nd IPL trophy in 2 years, and his 3rd overall, becoming the first cricketer to win 3 IPL trophies, featuring in the winning XI. Yusuf was an important contributor in Rajasthan Royals’ inaugural season title, and has gone on to win it with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012 and 2014.
In the final, after Kings XI Punjab scored 199/4, he hit a crucial 22-ball 36 for KKR, keeping the momentum provided by Manish Pandey alive. Having come under criticism for his prolonged no-show ever since joining KKR, Yusuf played some brute innings for his side at the business end of this season, including a 22-balll 72 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, which pushed his team to No.2 in league stages, ahead of Chennai Super Kings.
“I am very proud of the way the team performed today. I am glad for this win and yes, hope I have made my family proud by being part of an IPL win thrice,” he said after the match. “I think I made pulses race when I got out. I could have finished the match earlier.”
Yusuf ended the tournament with 268 runs in 12 innings – at an average of 29.77 and a strike rate of 162.42.
Manvinder Bisla has also been part of three IPL title winning squads. He won two with KKR and won one with the now defunct Deccan Chargers back in 2009 when he wasn’t a regular member of the playing XI.
source: http://www.sportskeeda.com / SportsKeeda / Home> News> Cricket/IPL / by Raj / June 02nd, 2014
What was the course of river Ganga thousands of years ago? Was there a communication link between the Indus Valley Civilisation and Gangetic belt? In an attempt to find answers to questions like these, Allahabad Museum would carry out exploration at the 20-kilometre tract of land between Allahabad-Varanasi after the monsoon.
Earlier, discovery of fossils and tools at the Gangetic plain had revealed existence of habitat prevalent in the neolithic age. Experts claimed that the exploration is expected to detect the deposits that the shrinking river left thousands of years ago. This in turn would help find places where early civilization used to live at the banks of the river.
Several scholars and archaeologists would be participating in the exploration which is expected to be conducted with the help of satellite mapping and coordination from India Space Research Organization (ISRO).
“The stretch of land covering the two civilizations has been a subject of curiosity for excavators and archaeologists as the cultural resemblance between the two societies has till now not been identified. We would be focusing on exploring whether there existed any communication link between the two cultures,” said Allahabad Museum director Rajesh Purohit.
The exploration which was conceptualized last year is slated to start after the rainy season when the upper crust of the land softens, making it easy for explorers to execute the job.
The teams which would be taking part in the explorations include assistant curators and archaeologists Dr Sunil Gupta, Arun Wankhade and Dr Sriranjan Shukla along with the director.
“The stretch between Uttar Pradesh and Balochistan has always drawn the curiosity of archaeologists who are still studying about the root cause of differences between the two societies,” added Purohit. At present, paper work to seek permission from Archaeological Survey of India is being completed.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / by Vinod Khanal, TNN / June 04th, 2014
Three girls shared the top position in the city in the UP Board high school exam, results of which was declared on Friday. Smita Singh of St Anthony Girl’s Inter College along with Sakshi Pandey and Viplaw Yadav of Brij Bihari Inter College secured 94.83%.
With Kalpana Chawla and A P J Abdul Kalam emerging as the foremost role model for city toppers in high school examination this year, the message was clear that selfless service was the key to achievements and winning admirers across the globe.
Sharing her success mantra with TOI, one of the three toppers from the city, Smita Singh said, “One should be honest in his or her endeavours in any field to court success. However, one must not forget that at least 6 to 7 hours of round the year regular studies can fetch you top rankings in the exam.”
Daughter of a section officer of Utter Pradesh Public Service Commission, Smita aspires to become a successful surgeon after completing MBBS from a prestigious medical college. Giving credit for success to her parents who always remained by her side to provide the much needed guidance, the topper said: “Just like Kalpana Chawla students should be creative and focused in their studies.”
Hailing from a modest background Viplaw Yadav, daughter of primary teacher at Phaphamu, aspires to be an IAS. Pledging to follow former president’s footsteps, Viplaw said “I also want to become a renowned scientist like Prof Kalam and take my country to the pinnacle of glory in the field of science and technology”.
Similarly, Sakshi Pandey has no words to express the contribution of her parents who worked tirelessly to ensure quality education to their children.
Ishika Singh of St Anthony Girl’s Inter College and Prajjwal Saxena of SBM Intermediate College, Naini jointly stood second with 94.67% while Ashwani Singh also of SBM Intermediate College secured 94.50% to bag third position.
The fourth ranker was Preeti Yadav, 94%, Vijay Shankar Patel bagged fifth position by securing 93.50%, Jyotika Agarwal was sixth with 93.50%.
Shalini Singh and Neha Yadav shared the seventh spot with 93%, Komal Prajapati, Sanjana, Sadaf Bano, Swati Singh all bagged eighth position by securing 92.83%. Similarly, Sachin Tewari and Sheelu Singh shared ninth spot with 92.67% and 10 position spot was bagged by Shivam Singh who secured 92.50%.
Trans-Yamuna, trans-Ganga regions perform better
This year schools situated in the blocks of trans-Yamuna and trans-Ganga regions have churned out majority of city top 10 rankers. Barring St Anthony’s Inter College and Brij Bihari Sahai School, others belong to remote areas of Meja, Karchana, Naini and Amilo Deeha.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / by Vinod Khanna, TNN / May 30th, 2014
Like UP Board intermediate results, Barabanki students bagged the top honours in class X too, results of which were declared on Friday.
Prerna Verma of Maharani Rani Laxmi Bai Inter College topped the class X UP Board exams scoring 98%. Arnav Nigam of Saraswati Vidya Mandir Barinath, Jaunpur, was second with 97.5% marks. Two girls – Himanshi Parmar of Thakuar Abhilash Singh Inter College, Saharanpur, and Sarita Chaurasia of Sri Sai Inter College, Barabanki was joint third with 97.3% marks.
“I was expecting good marks but never thought I would top the state. I came to know about the results from news channel reporters when they called me for the interview. I’m on cloud nine,” said Prerna, who hails from a humble family. Prerna’s father was a para-medical worker but lost his job 10 yeas ago. Thereafter, her mother took up a job at a primary school to earn the livelihood for the family.
Prerna’s brother, Kumar Ashok, said, “It’s a big day for us. She (Prerna) has made us all proud. We knew that she will score high marks but never of this day.” Prerna aspires to become an IAS officer.
Overall, 86.71% students – highest in five years – passed the exam. The pass percentage was 86.6% last year. Girls outdid boys with an impressive pass percentage of 90.8 against boys’ 83.2%.
This year, there was a significant drop in the pass percentage in government schools, falling to 81.2% from 85.4% last year. In government- aided schools too, the pass percentage dipped to 84.8% from 86.3% last year. Private schools recorded a pass percentage of 86.3%.
A total of 33.3 lakh candidates appeared in the high school examinations — 18.2 lakh boys and 15.1 lakh girls, said director, secondary education, Shail Kumari Yadav
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / May 31st, 2014
