Monthly Archives: September 2015

Adopt UP villages, Akhilesh appeals to banks

Business & Economy, Leaders

Mumbai :

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav appealed to top bosses of nationalised banks to increase credit deposit ratio for improving economy of the state and to provide employment to youth as well as adopt villages for all-round development. At an industrial road show organised by the Uttar Pradesh government in Mumbai on Thursday, Yadav emphasised that credit deposit ratio in the state is 54% and to take it up to 75% there was a need to invest nearly Rs 1.50 lakh crore, hence bankers should motivate corporate houses to come to Uttar Pradesh to set up big projects.

The CM expressed satisfaction over improvement of credit deposit ratio in last three years from 44% to 54% though there was still need to improve it further vis-a-vis the national average and keeping in mind the size of the state. He said the state’s banking sector had improved in the last two years with opening of more than 3,500 branches. “You have opened branches across UP and the state too had supported the development,” said the chief minister at the meeting attended by heads of the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank, besides private sector banks like ICICI.

“Lending in the state has increased by Rs 1.65 lakh crore from Rs 2.01 lakh crore in 2012 to Rs 3.67 crore in March this year,” said the chief minister, adding that government wants there to be one brick-and-mortar branch in every 5km with population of 5,000.

Speaking on the occasion, chief secretary Alok Ranjan who was heading the delegation of top offices of the state advised bankers about the important role they can play in UP which is the largest market and tops in production of sugarcane, potato, milk and vegetables.

Responding to the queries of bankers for increasing recovery rate, Ranjan said necessary directions have been issued to officials at district level to take strict action against big defaulters and help banks in recovery of bad debts.

Principal secretary finance Rahul Bhatnagar said there were nearly 11,000 branches in the state and if each branch adopted just two villages, 22,000 villages could be developed. He said despite directions of the Reserve Bank of India, banks were not lending sufficient loans under various programmes. In Uttar Pradesh, they should have extended loans over Rs 2,850 crore to 19 lakh persons this financial year, but have not. He appealed to bankers to increase loaning under various schemes of UP government, including Kaamdhenu, education, minor and medium sector industries. Bhatnagar added, 38,050 branches of various nationalised banks in the state were sick, which the bankers should revive.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Subhash Mishra, TNN / September 11th, 2015

Renaissance hotels debuts in North India by launching first hotel in Lucknow

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Travel, World Opinion

Lucknow :

Renaissance Hotels, a hotel brand known around the world for helping the next generation of business travelers to discover unexpected cultural experiences has announced the opening of its first hotel in North India, in the city of Lucknow. With 16 floors and 112 stylish rooms, it is the tallest hotel to open in Lucknow and offers stunning views of the Gomti River and the city’s landscape.

Renaissance Lucknow Hotel is the brand’s second hotel in India after almost 14 years, with the first Renaissance hotel being based out of Mumbai city. On its launch, Rajeev Menon, Chief Operating Offer – Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China), Marriott International said, “Lucknow is fast emerging as a cultural and business hub in Uttar Pradesh and makes for the perfect location for a Renaissance Hotel. Renaissance Hotels is a global, lifestyle hospitality brand that seeks to inspire and provoke its guests to discover something new and different each and every time they visit.”

The Renaissance Lucknow Hotel features a contemporary design that is juxtaposed against the heritage background of Lucknow. The centrally located hotel provides easy access to business hubs as well as popular leisure destinations in the city. The Renaissance Lucknow Hotel has 96 tastefully appointed rooms and 16 suites that offer modern luxury to guests.

The hotel features a variety of dining options that include international cuisine all day dining restaurant, the Awadhi specialty fine dining restaurant, the hotel patisserie that specializes in freshly baked pastries, sandwiches, cakes and brewed coffee and a poolside bar located on the 16th floor offering exquisite wines, cheese boards and an exclusive range of International beverages. Leisure facilities at the hotel also include a well-equipped fitness centre, a yoga studio and a rooftop infinity pool and Jacuzzi.

Conveniently located in Lucknow city centre, the hotel offers extensive facilities for social events and meetings. Spread over 26,000 sq ft, the versatile indoor and outdoor space features the Renaissance Hotels signature R.E.N. meetings program, designed to bring live entertainment and the best of the local destination to business and social gathering. “The Renaissance Lucknow Hotel brings a modern, new face of hospitality to Lucknow and is sure to set benchmarks in the city,” said Rahul Maini, General Manager, Renaissance Lucknow Hotel.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Priyanka Singh, TNN / September 11th, 2015

Rare artifacts on display at museum

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

Allahabad :

The Allahabad Museum celebrated Janmasthami by displaying rare exhibits of Lord Krishna and episodes from his life at the Central Hall. 68 artifacts and paintings depicting Krishna and incidences from his life, stories related with him, were on display.

The exhibition titled ‘Krishna in Indian Art’ included a collection of Rajasthani, Pahari and Deccan style miniature paintings ranging from 18 to 20th century. The exhibition was inaugurated by ex-governor, Rajasthan, Anshuman Singh.

Rajesh Purohit, director, Allahabad Museum said, “Rajasthani or Rajput syle of painting evolved in royal court and are known for their distinct features with Lord Krishna as one of the main themes. The exhibits including ‘Bal Krishnaleela’, ‘episode from Bhagwad’, ‘Krishna as a milkman’, ‘Krishna on Yamuna Bank’, ‘Krishnaleela’ and ‘Krishna rearing cows’ are among the most the possession of the museum. The Deccan style paintings included ‘dancing Krishna’ and ‘Krishna playing flute’.”

“Pahari style is known for its unique strokes. The stories included ‘Krishna and Brahma’, ‘Krishna and cowherd’, ‘Yashoda holding infant Krishna’ among others. The artifacts from 19th and 20th century were the centre of attraction,” he added.

Meanwhile, a seminar on Lord Krishna was organised at Nirala auditorium of Allahabad University as part of Janmasthami celebrations.

Addressing the ceremony, vice-chancellor, AU, professor A Sathyanarayan highlighted the three features of Lord Krishna. He said, “Lord Krishna’s character can be divided into three parts wherein first his act reflects innocence during his childhood when he was caught stealing butter, secondly his political thoughts during the treaty between Kaurava and Pandwa. Thirdly, he is adored as a guide to mankind during the battle between them.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / September 07th, 2015

Lucknow to host the country’s first Mahabharat festival

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Travel

Cultural performances, art exhibition, interactive sessions and a Mahabharatthemed food festival will be part of the event.

After capturing the imagination of TV and filmmakers, the Ma habharat is coming to Lucknow, thanks to a first-of-its-kind festival on the epic. Scheduled for October 2 and 3, the event is being organised by UP Tourism in association with the Draupadi Trust, and will showcase the Mahabharat era and also give people a peek into the characters of the epic through exhibitions, interactive sessions, quiz, cultural programmes and also a food festival!

Why a Mahabharat festival

“Our plan is to highlight and bring people’s attention to this place called Kampil in UP , which was a prominent place in the tale of Mahabharat. But despite the epic being so well-known in the state, places like Kampil are yet to be explored for tourism. We want to attract tourists to destinations like these and also educate our own people about our rich heritage,” says Amrit Abhijat, DG UP Tourism. “We expect a lot of school kids, college students and people who must know about the relevance of the Mahabharat, to be there,” he adds.

Neera Misra, who has collaborated with the government on the initiative, says there is still a lot to be done, but that they will make sure that people love this festival. “It comes as a surprise to most people that the maximum characters of the Mahabharat were from places that come under the present day Uttar Pradesh. Panchali, or Draupadi was born in Kampil, which is near Farukkhabad. There are still remnants of the palace that used to be there during that time, which was discovered a few years ago. Then there’s Mathura, the Krishna Janmbhumi, Hastinapur, Kashi where Amba, Ambe and Ambalika belonged to, Naimisharanya, where Mahabharat was narrated to the rishis and Allahabad which was then the Kaushambi region. South Panchal used to be where you have present day Kampil, near Farrukhabad, and North Panchal was where we have present day Bareilly , Amla and other places. So the purpose of having this festival is to let people know about all these places and to inform tourists across the world that UP has a big part to play in the history of the world and to mark these places on the tourist map,” adds Misra.

What’s in store

The festival as it is planned, will have an exhibition of paintings made on the Mahabharat through centuries. “For art lovers this will be a visual treat as we have planned an exhibition of the timeline of the Mahabharat through art. We have found references of the epic in Mohenjodaro where a plaque was discovered of Krishna and Balram picking up a tree.Then there’s also a book on Mahabharat written by Persian artists commissioned by Mughal Emperor Akbar. We will be putting up paintings from that book and also paintings by Raja Ravi Verma made on the epic,” shares Neera Misra. There will also be manuscripts which talk about the Mahabharata. “Students of the Government College of Arts and Crafts and the Dr.Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University will be making other paintings based on their interpretations of the epic and its characters. We will also have the war strategies or the Vyuhas like the Matsya Vyuha, Chandra Vyuha, and the Ardh Chandra Vyuha, depicted through sketches for people to understand what advanced level of planning went into fighting the war,” informs Neera.

Apart from interactive sessions with guests and school children, there will also be a small section on Draupadi as the empowered woman with a pictorial depiction of key episodes in her life and how she took the decisions which changed the history of the world. The scene of Draupadi’s swayamvar with Arjun piercing the fish eye will be depicted through live models dressed as courtiers and a life-size model of Arjun.

The evenings, meanwhile, will be reserved for cultural programmes. “These too will be centred around the theme, with Teejan Bai, the famous Pandvani, performing at the festival and also a dance ballet by renowned dancer Sharon Lowen,” informs Amrit Abhijat.

For more involvement of the people from the city, a play based on students interpretation of the characters of the epic is also being prepared by the students of Bhatkhande Music University .

“With the purpose of having something for everyone a food festival is also being planned based on the theme with dishes we can only imagine were eaten by people of that era,” says Abhijat. “The food festival will also focus on the food typical to that area. So from Varanasi or Kashi we will have chiwda, aloo papad and Bheem laddoo. From Mathura we will have fresh makkhan and peda. The Panchal region will have a Panchal thaal serving five dishes and from Hastinapur the Vidur Ki Thali with daalbaati and chokha,” informs Neera.

The handicrafts of these regions will also be displayed at the festival with brocade and zardozi and wooden toys from Varanasi, block printed cloth and zardozi and also Draupadi ka lehenga from Kampil, Gangajal and Geeta Saar from Naimishranya and Allahabad and Banaras. We have also called artisans from these places to put up their stuff too,” says Neera.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Itishree Misra, TNN / September 05th, 2015

Frank Islam receives Pride of India award

Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion
Frank Islam
Frank Islam

New York :

The American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) has honoured India-born entrepreneur and philanthropist, Frank Islam with the Pride of India award, the media reported on Monday.

India’s consul-general in New York Dnyaneshwar M Mulay on Sunday conferred the award upon Islam who had donated $222,000 in May this year to the Aligarh Muslim University in India, India New England daily reported.

“It is a distinct honour and privilege to be here tonight to accept the AFMI Pride of India award. It is also a privilege to be asked to speak as a part of AFMI’s silver jubilee celebration,” Islam was quoted as saying.

“I have received many awards. But this one is extra special because it comes from this prestigious organisation in its silver jubilee year,” Islam added.

“I must admit that receiving this award and joining such luminaries does not make me proud. It makes me humble,” he noted.

Islam, 63, was born in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh and is married to Debbie Driesman, 61.

Apart from being a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist and civic leader, he is also a thought leader with a special commitment to civic, educational and artistic causes.

He currently heads the FI Invest Group – a firm that he established after he sold his information technology firm called the QSS Group in 2007, the report added.

Islam serves on several boards and advisory councils including the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, the US Institute of Peace, the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.

He has written two books on the American condition, titled “Working the Pivot Points: To Make America Work Again” (2013) and “Renewing the American Dream: A Citizen’s Guide for Restoring Our Competitive Advantage” (2010).

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> NRI> US & Canada News / IANS / August 31st, 2015