Monthly Archives: June 2016

Bonjour Lucknow as city gets French language center

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, World Opinion

Lucknow :

Learning French will now be easier for citizens. Alliance Francaise, an institution that provides French language education and certification worldwide, has picked Lucknow to open its first centre in Uttar Pradesh in September. This will be their 13th centre in India. In fact, in northern India, it will be the third centre after Delhi and Gurgaon.

Delegate general Jean-Francois Ramon said Lucknow centre will operate from La Martiniere College. “The Francaise will not only promote French language but also provide Indo-French cultural exchange. The institution will also spread awareness of the Francophone cultures,” he added.

The uniqueness of the centre, said La Martiniere principal Carlyle McFarland, is that it will come up in a school (La Martiniere) established by a Frenchman, Claude Martin.

The centre will open to people in the 7 to 77 age group, said Richard Franco , UP coordinator. “We will have trained teachers who would provide high quality teaching of French language and culture. French education will be imparted using mediums like films and songs,” said Richard. The first project to be launched in Lucknow would be learning French through video games, added Richard.

Welcoming the opening of Alliance Francoise, Meeta Ghosh, a French expert in Lucknow, said, “French is not taught in the correct way in Lucknow. Even after completing the advanced level of French course many are unable to speak French,” said Ghosh, adding that the centre will focus on all four skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Interested people can register online.

There will be six levels – A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2, with A1 being the beginners level and C2 making the person proficient in the language. Each level has an average of 60 hours teaching, varying from four hours to eight hours per week, informed Jawahar Lal Sarin, prsident, Alliance Francoise de Delhi. Registered candidates before taking the classes, will have to undergo an online assessment to know whether the level, the person has enrolled is fit to him/her.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / Isha Jain, TNN / June 02nd, 2016

Kanpur zoo discovers new technique to document leopard blood values

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Nature, Science & Technology
Representative image.
Representative image.

Kanpur :

In the absence of documented values (such as platelets count, haemoglobin) of the blood of Indian leopards, the diagnosis of diseases in these big cats used to remain a tough task for the veterinarians. But the Kanpur zoo vets have found out the haematological values of blood of the leopard by conducting two tests.

These two tests were performed in October last year and in April this year. The findings might help in the diagnosis of diseases among leopards which are Schedule I animals and highly endangered species. RK Singh, UC Srivastava and Mohammad Nasir and pharmacist Akshay Bajaj of Kanpur zoo have worked to bring out the results of the study.

Senior veterinarian RK Singh said that the study has helped in knowing biological value interval of different haematological parameters. He said that now these values will work as a standard reference. “This study has been done on captive animals but it can work as a standard for the wild. However, a number of leopards should be screened to further establish these parameters,” he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kanpur / June 01st, 2016

Young UP bureaucrats scripting change, garnering goodwill

Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders

Lucknow : (IANS)

A young ‘collector saheb’ sipping piping hot coffee and munching ‘laiyya-chana’ at a chaupal with wide-eyed villagers, a young woman IAS official cradling infants at an Aanganwadi centre, a district magistrate riding pillion on a motorbike to check open defecation at a Varanasi village.

Dispelling the myth that bureaucrats are only meant for office comforts, a band of young officials in Uttar Pradesh is scripting a new chapter wherein not only are the people being benefited but the state’s tainted bureaucracy is also getting a long due makeover.

Perahaps taking a leaf out of the ‘chai-pe-charcha’ campaign that Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to the hilt for political success in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Gonda district magistrate Ashutosh Niranjan has kicked off a ‘coffee with collector’ wherein he randomly selects a village panchayat, drives in with his officials for a cup of coffee and problems of the village are discussed and settled then and there!

The first edition of the event was held recently in the Paraspur development block at the panchayat of Mijhaura where, over steaming cups of coffee, village head Vipin Kumar Singh, the lekhpal (revenue official) and the panchayat secretary deliberated upon a host of issues ranging from roads to potable water to power supply.

It was also decided that the gram pradhans would very soon host a similar meeting over lunch with the lekhpal, panchayat secretary, beat constable and other grassroot-level workers. “The idea is to strengthen the panchayat system and setttle many issues like land disputes at the grassroot level,” Niranjan told IANS.

Varanasi district magistrate Vijay Karan Anand is setting a similar example wherein many-a-time he hitches a motorbike ride to reach far-flung locations to “catch up with reality”. Only recently, he rode pillion at 5 in the morning to physically check issues like cleanliness, the power situation and sewerage.

He found the situation in neighbourhoods like Dayanagar Malin Basti and Sigra “pathetic” and was quick to order immediate course correction. He has also been visiting villages very early in the morning to dissuade people from open defecation.

“It is amazing to see such officials; it is a reassuring feeling,” said Vivek Singh, who works with a telecom company in Varanasi.

Moradabad district magistrate Zuhair Bin Sageer has done some exemplary developmental work in the villages. Not only did he step out of the confines of his air-conditioned office but was also instrumental in creating a mobile application for monitoring work in what are designated Lohia villages, where affordable housing is being developed for the poor.

Kinjal Singh, the district magistrate of Faizabad, is still remembered for her good work during her previous stint in Lakhimpur Kheri, wherein she not only got special sheds made as dining areas for school children for their mid-day meals but also initiated a process to assimilate the marginalized Tharu tribe into the mainstream.

Pilibhit district magistrate Masoom Ali Asgar has almost cleared the high-profile political constituency of encroachments. He is also credited with beautifying the tiger reserve here.

Suhaas LY, the district magistrate of Azamgarh, the parliamentary constituency of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, has scriped a unique method of beautifying the city, its roundabouts and major roads. Through the PPP model, the young bureaucrat has ensured beautification and lighting up of all the city’s major intersections.

Lucknow district magistrate Raj Shekhar is also creating waves. From ensuring restaurants are freed of child labour to clearing a whopping 1,000 acres of encroached government land, Shekhar is also known for his modest style and easy accessibility.

“We all have been assigned a job by the government and we are just doing it to the best of our abilities,” Shekhar told IANS.

(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)
–IANS
md/vm/tb

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / IANS / May 31st, 2016