Monthly Archives: September 2014

Hindi scholars from Israel honored

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, World Opinion

Gorakhpur:

Hindi scholars from Tel Aviv University, Israel, were honored at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University and Buddha PG College, Kushinagar for their love for Hindi language.

Dr Gendi Shlomper, a Hindi teacher, Tel Aviv University, was in the region along with six Russian students, Alexendra, Adi Ferore, Tal Goraski, Mataj Massika, Yakir Dahari and Ofir Mikhaji, to learn Hindi language and the culture of India.

While speaking at Buddha PG College, Kushinagar, Dr Shlomper said, “For the development of Hindi it is necessary to develop it as a technical language so that the language helps in employment.” “English is important as it is international language but Hindi shouldn’t be ignored. I’m happy that Hindi is now in much use at social media,” Dr Shlomper added. The scholars reached Kushinagar after visiting Delhi, Allahabad and Ayodhaya. They also sang Hindi movie songs at the pogramme.

GDA bulldozes unauthorized shops:

The Gorakhpur Development Authority removed many illegal structures under a drive against encroachment. Three shops at Rail Vihar Colony near Taramandal wer also removed under the drive as the shops were illegally constructed overlooking the GDA norms. It is to be mentioned here that the development authority has served notice to over 850 buildings owners across the district citing objections over violation of norms in the constructions. The erring building owners have filed a review plea before GDA.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / September 20th, 2014

Sarnath awaits World Heritage site status

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

Varanasi :

The Buddhist marvel in Sarnath, where Buddha preached his first sermons, is yet to be declared World Heritage. Sarnath and Kushinagar in UP are the main Buddhist destinations, but unfortunately, none of them finds a place in the UNESCO World Heritage List, while the Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodhgaya in neighbouring Bihar and Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi in MP are in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

However, the ancient Buddhist site of Sarnath had been included in the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage in 1998 in cultural category. In the tentative list, it was submitted that the monuments in Sarnath are divided into two groups- Chaukhandi Stupa under Group ‘A’ and all other monuments at the sites like Stupas, monasteries, and temples under Group ‘B’.

Chaukhandi Stupa is a lofty brick structure crowned with an octagonal tower. The octagonal tower is a Mughal monument built by Goverdhan, the son of Raja Todarmal in 1588 AD to commemorate the visit of Humayun to this place.

The second group, which contains remains of several stupas, monasteries and Ashoka column are built in brick and stone and datable from the 3rd century BC to 12th century AD, forms the major and important segment of the site. The Ashoka column, Dharamrajika stupa, Dhameka stupa, the remains of the temple and a series of monasteries and stupas are the most important remains of the site.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / September 20th, 2014

Needed in Aligarh, bookstores

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Uncategorized

Aligarh :

Reading The Fault in Our Stars, now that social media is abuzz with talks of the film adaptation of the book, maybe a tad difficult if you live in Aligarh. Despite the city being home to one of the country’s most prestigious educational institutions – Aligarh Muslim University – the absence of a good bookshops selling fiction, non-fiction or, for that matter, anything beyond prescribed reading material for students is quite a telling let-down.

“The city has somehow never really felt the need to have the kind of arrangement where you can go and buy fiction in a store that’s well-furnished with eclectic literary offerings,” says Shubhangini, a CAT aspirant. “Although there is not much of a choice when it comes to book shopping, it doesn’t mean people in Aligarh are not aware of the current scenario in the world of literature. Popular books can be procured through some of the stores by placing an order and paying a commission.”

There are nearly 100 bookshops functioning for decades in Aligarh, but they mostly cater to the madrassa-going students and sell Urdu literature. And almost all stores stock reading material that help in preparations for competitive examinations. This leaves the lover of fiction/non-fiction with little choice but to tap online sources or place an order at a bookshop, which may take anywhere between a week and 10 days (depending on availability) to deliver. The other option is to travel down to Delhi or the National Capital Region and go on a book shopping spree or, if one is a student, rely on AMU libraries to satiate the inner bibliophile.

Though education fairs are common in Aligarh, book fairs are few and far between. “It is a small city without much tourist inflow. So, there are not many stores that sell popular books. There are far more education fairs than book fairs here,” says Sandeep Choudhury, who recently organized an education fair in the city.

Students being on the look-out for better opportunities and job prospects have prompted even the oldest bookstore in the city – Malviya Pustakalaya – to stock books for competitive exams and recruitment tests. Malviya Pustakalaya, incidentally, has one of the most valuable collections of literature, religion, philosophy and Hindi novels.

“These were ordered, so we got them,” says Sanjeev Agarwal of Vimal Book Store, pointing to a stack of popular fiction and non-fiction reading material. It was only recently that 1 % of the shop’s stocks began comprising authors like Arundhati Roy and William Dalrymple. “Earlier, there used to be a store selling fiction but now it has shut down, probably because of dipping sales.”

However, what makes Aligarh unique to bookworms is its repository of Urdu literature. Home to a substantial number of madrassa and AMU students, the city’s stores have an enviable collection of fiction and non-fiction by Faiz, Firaq and Ghalib. “Urdu works are most popular as a lot of retired professors or students from madrassas or AMU reside here,” says Asad Faisal Farooqui, who frequents the Education BookHouse established in 1927.

“It is interesting to see modern English literature being translated into Urdu for them,” he says, adding, “Students have bought Urdu translations of books by Jaswant Singh, Irfan Habib and also religious texts, including translations of the Bhagvad Gita.”

However, the trend does not go beyond prescribed reading material or books talked about in popular media. As Ashok Kuckreja of Aligarh Law Books, says, “Students buy what their professors recommend, which may be pertinent to one’s course but may not help build a larger reading repertoire.”

The experienced bookseller rues never being asked for books by, say, legal humourist Marc Galanter or by the likes of AP Herbert. “Not even 1% of that genre is ordered here, I have tried so many times to bring to their notice the works of Edward Heward on Lord Denning, John Mortimer’s ‘The Devil’s Advocate’ and Krishna Swamy’s work on V R Krishna Iyer, but there is no interest,” Kuckreja says.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / by Eram Agha, TNN / September 22nd, 2014

Tunday Kebabs in Rs 50 crore law suit over trade infringement

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

The world famous ‘Tunday Kebab’ of Lucknow has been caught in Rs 50 crore lawsuit over trade infringement.

Mohammad Muslim, who runs the ‘Lucknow Wale Tunday Kebabi’ chain of restaurants in Lucknow and beyond and is maternal grandson of the legendary one armed chef, late Haji Murad Ali ‘Tunday’, has sued the food chain’s current owner Mohammad Usman for trade infringement staking claim over the popular brand.

The Civil Judge (Senior Division) Ashok Kumar has asked Usman who runs restaurants in the name of ‘Tunday Kababi’ to come with his reply into the matter. The next hearing is on September 27.

Muslim has alleged that Usman has created the controversy over the inheritance of the chain of restaurants famous for melt-in-the-mouth Kebabs and other non-vegetarian delicacies. He said being the relative of the late Haji Murad Ali Tunday, he had every right to be part of the business.

TundayLUCKNOW22sept2014

“I am the real kin of Haji Murad Ali. We are running Lucknow Wale Tundey in Lucknow and outside for quite some time now,” Muslim said.

Contradicting Muslim’s claim, Usman said that the former was not directly related to Lucknow Wale Tunday. He said he came from Saudi Arabia and fraudulently used the brand name of Tunday Kebabs in Lucknow with his partner.

“He has no blood relation with use. I will fight it in court,” he added.

What started with a small shop in the old Lucknow city, Tunday is now a huge business empire with outlets in several parts of the city and outside.

source: http://www.news18.com / News18 / Home> English> News> Uttar Pradesh / by Gulam Jeelani / Monday – September 22nd, 2014

Academy to revive rare books

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All

Allahabad :

As part of its initiative to revive its lost glory, Hindustani Academy has started publishing rare out of print Hindi and Urdu literary books of the pre-Independence era. The first in the series is a book on legendry king Raja Bhoj.

Raja Bhoj’s ‘Coronation millennium year’ was celebrated in 2011 in Madhya Pradesh for one year. A book, ‘Raja Bhoj’ written by Ramagya Dwivedi ‘Sameer’ was published once in 1932. It was selected to be published.

The publication of two other rare books of the third decade of last century, ‘Awadh Kosh’ (1934) and ‘Prayag Pradeep’ (1937) have also started rolling and are expected to hit book shelves.

Prayag Pradeep was stated to be an exhaustive description of the socio-political history of Allahabad, documented by Shaligram Srivastava in 1937.

Sunil Jogi, chairman of the academy said the books would provide a good reading material for the readers as well as research scholars.

“The ‘Awadh Kosh’ published once in 1934 and written by Ramagya Dwivedi ‘Sameer’ is another book worth reading and incorporates the socio-geographic status of regions coming under the then Awadh, the districts of Faizabad, Lucknow, Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Shravasti, Sultanpur, Unnao and Kanpur,” Jogi added.

It may be mentioned here that Hindustani Academy, established in January 1927, publishes, promotes books in Hindi and Urdu. Till 80s, the academy used to buzz with literary discussions with stalwarts like Mahadevi Verma, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Jagdish Gupta and others regularly participating in debate. The Academy also holds seminars, talks and lectures for the promotion of the two languages.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / by Vinod Khanal, TNN / September 18th, 2014

Asian Games: Jitu Rai wins gold in 50m pistol event

Records, All, Sports
Jitu Rai gestures after winning the men's 50m pistol individual final of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon on September 20, 2014. (AFP Photo)
Jitu Rai gestures after winning the men’s 50m pistol individual final of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon on September 20, 2014. (AFP Photo)

Incheon :

India’s most in-form shooter Jitu Rai gave the country its first gold medal in the 17th Asian Games, cutting through a tough field to finish on top in the 50m pistol event on Saturday.

Medal Tally

The world number five showed tremendous grit and concentration to beat back the challenge from strong contenders like Wang Zhiwei of China and South Korea’s two-time Olympic champion and reigning world champion Jongoh to win the gold.

In fact both Zhiwei and Jongoh were eliminated in the race early on leaving only the Indian ace and unheralded Vietnamese Hoang Phuong Nguyen fighting for the gold.

It needed the last set of shots to decide the issue in favour of Rai. He shot 8.4 after the nervous Vietnamese was way off the mark to fire a poor 5.8 to win the gold.

Fresh from his 50m Pistol silver in the World Championships, the Lucknow-based marksman completed a grand double as he had won a gold in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this year.

He thus became only the second Indian pistol shooter to clinch an Asian Games title after Jaspal Rana and the fourth shooter overall after shotgun experts Randhir Singh in 1978 and Ronjan Sodhi in 2010.

Rai said he badly wanted to win the gold here. “I wanted to win this gold badly and was under a lot of pressure. The competition here was even more than in the Commonwealth Games or the World Championship. I am happy that I could fulfill my wish,” he said.

He qualified seventh for the final with a tally of 559. National pistol coach Pavel Smirnov later praised Rai, describing him as a very strong character.

“He’s very strong mentally. There had been lot of competitions this year leading into the Games, the CWG, the world championships. He’s mentally strong and that’s why he could do it,” he said.

The shooting and archery team’s mental trainer Vaibhav Agashe said the fact that 27-year-old Rai is from the army is of tremendous help and said he was among the fittest in the shooting fraternity.

“He’s physically very fit. Muscle control is important,” said Agashe pointing out to the back-to-back competitions for Rai.

In the edge of the seat thriller that the final proved to be, Rai had to climb from the lower order to get into the medal round. When 14 shots were completed only four were left standing for the count: Rai, Nguyen, his compatriot Hoang Xuan Vien and China’s Wang Zhiwei.

This was the time the Indian ace showed his true colours by shooting 9.9 and 10.7 to keep himself in medal contention. Hoang and Zhiwei got successively eliminated by the end of the 16th and 18th shots leaving Rai to fight for the gold with Nguyen.

Nguyen, in fact, led the Indian by 0.7 points after the 18th shot, but in the last series of two shots, lost his nerves and the chance for the title.

While the Vietnamese came up with scores of 8.7 and a shocking 5.8, a clear case of nerves, the steely-handed Indian brought off a stunning 9.6 and then sealed the gold with an 8.4.

This was his sixth medal on the trot in international competitions this year, including the gold medal in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and silver in the Granada World Championship — in the 50m range.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Sports> Tournaments> Asian Games 2014 / PTI / September 20th, 2014

AMU scientist urges Health min to identify occurrence of NDM-4 bacteria

Science & Technology

Aligarh:

A scientist at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has urged the Union Health Ministry to launch a nationwide multi-centered joint project to identify the percentage of occurrence of NDM-4, a deadly bacteria variant which was found by researchers in AMU recently.

Dr Asad Ullah Khan, Chief Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Lab, AMU headed the team along with other researchers which found the deadly bacteria also called the “super bug” from the hospital’s sewage.

Khan has urged the Health Ministry to launch a nationwide multi-centered joint project for identifying the percentage of occurrence, if at all, of this particular strain and all other strains of this bacteria in the country.

A collaborative effort is the need of the hour if we wish to make an accurate assessment of the situation in the country, he said.

“In Europe, hospitals are collecting hundreds of samples for identifying these bacteria but in India there are just sporadic efforts to identify these bugs. There is certainly no cause for panic as of now but laboratories all over the country which are equipped to handle such studies should launch a collaborative effort for spotting these bacteria in different hospitals,” Khan told PTI.

“It is a fact that hospitals in India are not very co-operative for conducting such tests inside hospital wards and operation theaters but if such studies become a part of a national project then we will have a true picture of the dimensions of this problem,” he added.

Representational Image. Reuters
Representational Image. Reuters

Khan had recently succeeded in isolating the mutant strain for the first time in India, after studying sewage water samples of a hospital. The original bacteria from which the above strain is derived was identified as NDM-1 and was first detected in 2009.

After recording the presence of “super bug”, a team of officials from the state health department visited Khan’s lab at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical college, AMU to discuss the fallout of his recent findings. Khan said that he along with his team of researchers were fully prepared to cooperate in any nationwide project to isolate this bacteria in different hospitals.

“The first step which the Union Health Ministry should take is to introduce a move for mandatory hospital infection management systems in the country. Once such a step is introduced our hospitals will be as safe as any hospital in west.”

He also called for a national policy on the over-the-counter sales of antibiotics. “This step should be preceded by a national antibiotic prescription policy wherein no antibiotic can be sold over the counter without a doctors prescription,” Khan said.
He said that indiscriminate overuse of antibiotics for years has led to the birth of the original antibiotic resistant strain in 2009 known as NDM-1.

source: http://www.firstpost.com / FirstPost.com / Home> F.India> Latest News> India News / September 11th, 2014

Museum makes rare objects, artifacts available in printed images

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence

Allahabad Museum has opened up its treasure trove of artifacts and rare objects for its visitors by making them available in printed images of the objects at Rs three to five. The decision was taken to attract the gen-next along with foreign and domestic tourists. At present, museum sells prototypes of the objects in its possession.

State governor, Ram Naik, also chairman of the museum, would start the scheme during a function at its auditorium on September 17. He would also release brochures and books related to the museum and its artifacts. Images of the rare objects available only with the museum are expected to help the students and researchers for history project work.

“The aim is not to increase the revenue of the museum but to arouse interest among youngsters about the museum objects. The images are available in glossy images and paintings in galleries so the price has been kept minimal,” said Rajesh Purohit. The museum would ensure that prototypes too remain within the low price range, he added.

Meanwhile, to make seminars, organised in the museum, more attractive, the museum officials have decided to put on display all the items related to the seminar in the galleries for visitors. As part of the initiative, in the upcoming seminar ‘Shiva in India’, the interiors of the museum would be decked up with various idols of Lord Shiva belonging to a different period.

“The move has been made to give a practical experience of the discussions in the seminar. The famous Lord Shiva idols and statues, belonging to different century, would be put on display in central hall for the seminar,” said Purohit.

The museum houses objects of historical and archaeological importance ranging from 100-years-old to 2000-years-old. Prominent among them are the terracotta objects excavated from nearby district of Kaushambi, Chandrasekhar Azad’s pistol and Nehru-Gandhi belongings among others.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / Vinod Khanal, TNN / September 13th, 2014

Haj pilgrims opt for Bareilly’s surma

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

Bareilly :

Scores of Haj pilgrims across the world traveling to Mecca prefer to apply ‘Bareilly-wala surma’ (kohl manufactured in Bareilly) rather than the kohl prepared in other Asian and Arab countries.

A city-based manufacturer claimed that the demand for Bareilly’s surma increases by over 30% during Haj time as compared to other seasons.

The USP of Bareilly’s surma is that it is finely grinded and instantly provides cool comfort to the eyes, he says.

“While preparing surma, other manufacturers based in India and other countries use a grinder and other modern appliances for crushing the semi and precious stones. However, we still stick to our traditional method of using baton stone (sil batta) which helps us finely crush the metal or stone,” said M Haseen Hashmi (67), the manufacturer of Bareilly’s surma.

He claimed that it was his ancestors who made surma popular in the country after setting up their firm in 1794. Since then, generation after generation of Hashmi’s family has been producing surma. At present, hundreds of people in Bareilly work under him.

Even the baton stone used in the preparation of surma is unique. “The stone is black and it is available in Jaipur. The black stone crushes the metal into fine pieces but metal is unable to grind the black stone,” said Hashmi, as he recalled that it was the same black stone with which Shahjahan wanted to build a black Taj Mahal.

He added, “The main ingredient of Bareilly’s surma is the stone of Kohetoor mountain which is located in Egypt. From there, it is exported to India and we purchase it from traders.”

Shabbu Miyan, who is the manager of Khanquah-e-Niyaziya and younger brother of Sajjadanasheen, said, “It is mentioned in the holy Quran that applying surma extracted from the Kohetoor mountain is pious and good for eye-sight. Even Prophet Mohammed used to apply surma made from Kohetoor stone before going for prayers and sleeping.”

Though surma prepared in Bareilly is available in more than 80 varieties, a majority of Haj pilgrims from all over the world opt for surma gulab. “It is a general surma and can be applied by anyone,” said Hashmi. Apart from this, pilgrims prefer to apply ‘surma mamira 777’ and ‘sadi kajal’. ‘Surma mamira 777’ actually causes irritation in the eyes, but cleans all impurities, he claimed.

Sadi Kajal is for women and enhances the beauty of their eyes. The other popular variants help in curing diseases related to eye-sight like red spot in sclera (white area of eyes), eyes pain and also help in improving eye-sight, Hashmi claimed.

The manufacturer provides Bareilly’s surma to agents in Mumbai and Delhi who later export it to Arab countries. As pilgrims offer prayers at Mecca on Eid-ul-Adha or Bakri-Eid, the demand for the city-based surma soars by 30% three months before the festival.

Masqood Hasan, a timber businessman who will be leaving for Haj soon, said, “Applying surma is following Prophet Mohammed. As people across the country are attracted to Bareilly’s surma, I always get surma packed to gift it to my relatives and friends whom we meet during Haj.” Another Haj pilgrim, Shahida Mahmood (42) said, “Bareilly’s surma not only provides comfort but also protects the eyes from all diseases.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bareilly / by Priyangi Agarwal, TNN / September 08th, 2014

First Muslim Woman to Enter Civil Services Awarded Padma

Leaders, Records, All

She broke the glass ceiling many a time, from being the first woman to enter any Class-I civil service to becoming the first IRS officer to be appointed as a UPSC member, to being the only woman to have worked in the Central Narcotics Department.

After donning multiple hats during her long career, it was another proud moment for Parveen Talha, when she was conferred the Padma Shri award on Saturday for her contribution to the Civil Services.

But the road to success wasn’t easy for Talha and her biggest hurdle was to overcome the anti-women mindset of her bosses at the initial stages of her career.

“It is indeed a proud moment for me but I am grateful to my bosses too. Though I had to initially deal with their anti-women mindset when I joined services 45 years ago, after a few years I was able to prove that I could handle the tricky jobs as efficiently as my male colleagues,” Talha told PTI.

70-year-old Talha joined the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) in 1969 where she worked for 35 years and was then picked up as a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in 2004.

“Once my bosses began to trust in my capabilities, I started getting challenging assignments including posting as Deputy Narcotics Commissioner in Uttar Pradesh,” she said.

“There was a large-scale leakage of opium going on in UP then. While I tried my best to play a stringent officer dealing with certain illegal channels, poppy cultivators were surprised too because they had never seen a woman at that level,” she added.

By halting for days in the cultivation areas and delving deep into the processes of poppy cultivation from sowing to lancing and harvesting, she gathered foolproof intelligence which was put to good use by her hand-picked preventive parties.

During her posting in UP and Bihar in 1990s, she attached illegally acquired property worth millions of rupees belonging to smugglers and drug traffickers, risking her life.

While she was posted as the Director General Training in 2002, Talha provided strategic vision to the Department of Customs and Central Excise in evolving comprehensive packages of programmers for technical capacity building of all cadres and service providers.

Talha, who was honoured with the President Award for “Specially Distinguished Record of Service” in 2000, also has a penchant for writing.

She has written ‘Fida-e-Lucknow’, a collection of 22 short stories, besides writing the script for the serial ‘Husn-e-Jana’ directed by Muzaffar Ali.

“I find there are stories in every nook and corner that are waiting to be told. So I will pursue my passion for writing now that I am a retired person,” she said.

source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> News / New Delhi – April 27th, 2014