Monthly Archives: October 2015
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National Children’s Science Congress begins in Allahabad
Allahabad :
The 23rd National Children’s Science Congress, organized by Union department of science and technology got underway at Kendriya Vidyalaya, New Cantt on Wednesday. Around 300 students from 31 KVs of the state are participating in the two day intra-regional event.
The students would discuss various weather phenomenon and climatic changes like understanding weather scenario, impact of human activities on weather & climatic changes, eco-system, their co-relation with society and culture, agriculture and health and many more such issues.
In a short but glittering inaugural ceremony, chief guest Narendra Dev University of Agriculture & Technology, Faizabad, Vice Chancellor Akhtar Haseeb reflected upon the need to develop scientific attitude among students through interesting ways and means so that they could contribute towards human welfare in the most rational way.
KV New Cantt principal Shalini Dikshit accorded warm welcome to the distinguished guests. At the end of the inaugural ceremony, vice principal Rajeev Kumar Tiwari proposed vote of thanks.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / October 15th, 2015
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An arm and a leg for these ‘Million Dollar’ stars
Rinku and Dinesh cracked Major League Baseball, a story that inspired a Disney film
Sports and drama are inseparable, and when they combine on the screen, it becomes an irresistible watch. Million Dollar Arm , which premiered on Indian television recently, was a film waiting to be made. The real-life events that inspired it were a gripping saga of grit and determination, a striking David and Goliath plot.
Two boys from rural Uttar Pradesh win the “Million Dollar Arm” talent show and go to the U.S to train in, and eventually to play, professional baseball. After rigorous training, Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel performed in front of talent scouts from 20 Major League Baseball teams in November 2008. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed them, becoming the first Indians to win American Major League Baseball contracts.
In a telephone interview, the pair discusses the challenges and joys of their unusual journey.
“Dinesh and I were javelin players. We went to a small college in Lucknow and trained there and played a couple of international events and represented India. But our life took a complete turn and we have got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Mr. Singh said.
The talent show is the brainchild of a sports agent, Jeff Bernstein, who was inspired by Yao Ming, a Chinese athlete and basketball player with major success in American sports.
Bernstein watched a cricket match on ESPN and noticed that the bowlers were delivering at high speeds, something that could work well for baseball. So he created a television show that would find the strongest throwing arm in India and the programme would offer $1 million to anyone who could throw three consecutive balls at more than 145 kmph. It came to be called the “Million Dollar Arm”.
“They went all over India and they could not find anyone who could through hard and fast, and finally Dinesh and I went to the ‘Million Dollar Arm’ competition and both of us got a speed of 145 kmph,” Mr. Rinku said.
Glitzy turn
Their story was turned into a major Disney movie, directed by Craig Gillespie and with screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. Jon Hamm, famous for his role in the television series Mad men , plays Bernstein. Suraj Sharma plays Rinku Singh and Madhur Mittal, Dinesh Patel.
As part of the competition, the two had to travel to the U.S. to train and get a chance to try out professional baseball.
“After we won the competition in India, we were taken to America, to a new country where we did not speak the language; it was a totally different world and we had to play baseball which was a sport that we had no idea about. At that point, we did not speak any English; there were times when we would try to go get food but we could not order anything,” Mr. Singh said.
“We felt like we were not cut out to play baseball because we saw the other players and they were really good. They have been playing this their whole life, ever since they were kids and here we were 18-19-year-old kids going for try-outs to play professional baseball. The experience of the life there itself was amazing. I am still on the journey and trying to make it to leagues. I want to represent India and be able to support youngsters back in India who are not able to have three meals a day. The goal is to be able to give an opportunity to India, and to open up huge doors,” he said.
While he is still in the U.S., working through an injury, to make it for the next try-outs, Mr. Patel is back in India. “I left the U.S. in 2011 and came back to teach kids in India how to play baseball. I just finished my graduation in English and Hindi and even went to China in 2012 to learn how to be a baseball coach. I am still involved with the Million Dollar Arm project and I spent some time with Gaurav, who was the second season winner and helped him train in baseball. The next season is starting as well. So I will be involved with that.”
He just had a baby girl last week and is looking forward to spending time with her, “It’s good to be back home with all this new learning, I want to help more kids to learn and love the sport to hopefully have them train and go to America. I want to teach my daughter to play javelin, I am not sure about baseball.”
Mr. Singh interrupts him and says in Hindi: “ Agar aapki beti ko baseball khelna hai tho hum use sikaenge (If your daughter wants to play baseball, we will teach her).”
The two have surely come a long way from children playing a different sport in a college ground in Lucknow.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National / by Rini Mukkath / Mumbai – October 14th, 2015
British ‘de-developed’ India, says Darwin descendant
Lucknow :
The British did not develop, rather “de-developed” India, said Felix Padel Darwin, a descendent of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin. “India was developed long before and British conquered it because they were developed militarily,” said Darwin, an adjunct professor in Jawarlal Nehru University’s School of Social Sciences, visiting the city for a national seminar on ‘Social ecology and environmental movements in India’ at Lucknow University.
“India was far more developed than Britain in terms of multi-cultural ethos and in its manufacturing skills. After the British rule, the quality of manufacturing in many things like cloth declined radically and went in the ‘de-developing’ mode,” he said.
Tribal communities (adivasis) whose lands are taken over or invaded by a mining company or for a dam, undergo a precisely similar process, said the social scientist, adding that it’s a long process of developing a symbiosis as their natural environment is cut off and their quality of life drops drastically. Their indigenous process of development is disrupted and destroyed effectively, he elaborated.
Darwin is fascinated with the indigenous culture of the tribal communities. “They are egalitarian, have excellent environmental knowledge. Tribal societies are far more developed than the mainstream industrial society, especially if we look at living sustainably,” he said.
Terming the mainstream industrial society as uncivilised and primitive, the London-born sociologist-activist said adivasis have a strong sense of law which the entire country must learn from. Their legal process reconciles with contestants rather than one party right proving the other wrong. “Traditionally, both parties were usually fined, and the fines paid funded a feast of reconciliation. What can be more civilised than that,” said Darwin, and adds, there are thousands of thousands court cases pending.
The scenario is no different in developed countries like America. Darwin said, in India, corruption is very easily visible. “The corruption starts from my own country Britain. The top accountancy firms don’t even see the proper documents. They just see the mark of British approval. It is meaningless but is completely forced,” says Darwin
Human right is the index of development of the country. But today, thousands of police officers are raping with complete impunity. “In Shivaji’s regime, the person committing rape was immediately executed. I am not saying that capital punishment is right or wrong but it surely created a fear among others,” said Darwin.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Isha Jain, TNN / October 14th, 2015
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Artisans from East UP to display artifacts in Geneva
Varanasi :
Crossing the geographical boundaries, the signature products of Varanasi region are all set to catch the attention of international audience at the 55th General Assembly of International Bureau of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. A three member delegation including two artisans left the city on Sunday to take part in WIPO event from October 5 to 10.
“The Banarasi artisans will exhibit some of the famed products in the ‘Make in India -Geographical Indication of India’ event at Geneva”, said the team leader and president of Human Welfare Association (HWA) Rajni Kant before leaving the city. “It is really a proud movement for the artisans that they were invited by the WIPO, one of the specialized agencies in United Nation. It is a recognition of the eastern UP’s GI products at international level,” said a jubilant Kant.
With him the two master craftsmen – Kunj Bihari Singh from Varanasi and Sohit Kumar Prajapati from Nizambad, (Azamgarh) left for Geneva with their artifacts. Kunj Bihari is known for his mastery over the art of Gulabi meenakari (pink enameling), and Sohit is a craftsman of black pottery of Nizamabad. They will give live demonstrations of Gulabi Meenakari and Black Pottery in the front of international audience. For them the trip to Geneva is like a lifetime achievement. “We had never thought of participation in such an international event,” said Kunj Bihari. An art piece made by Kunj Bihari -a replica of pink enameled rickshaw was presented to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the city on September 18.
According to Kant, this event is supported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India in collaboration with WIPO. “This event will create a great opportunity to the GI registered products of the country, mainly the hand-woven and handicrafts products will get maximum benefit to show-case at Geneva where nearly 170 country will represent in this international event,” he said adding that five other artisans from other parts of the country will also take part in the event with their traditional products. “It is for the first time when the real artisans are participating in this type of international event which is exclusively organize on the issue of Intellectual Property Right (IPR),” said Kant, who played a key role in getting GI tags to many products of this region. Varanasi has emerged as a hub of GI registered products.
According to him, some of the products of this region like Banaras Brocades and Sarees, Handmade carpet of Bhadohi, Banaras Gulabi Meenakari, Wooden Lacquer ware & Toys, Mirzapur handmade Dari and Black Pottery will display there with other GI products of the country. “We are grateful to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and WIPO to provide us this opportunity for creating new dimensions at international level for the traditional weavers and artisans of the GI registered products under Make in India initiative, and we hope that after this initiative, the artisans and weaves will get a new market through GI as a brand and millions of the weavers and artisans and consumers will be directly benefited under “Make in India – Geographical Indication of India,” he said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Varanasi / by Binay Singh, TNN / October 04th, 2015