Monthly Archives: April 2018

Lucknow group imparts lessons in harmony with scholarship

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features
Sachin Gupta (right) receives the scholarship from a Shoulder to Shoulder member in the city

Lucknow :

For the past several days, six-year-old Ziqra Aqeel had been missing out on her studies. The reason being her parents’ inability to pay her school fees. But now, the Balaganj resident will not have to worry about a break in her studies till she wants to continue studying in her life, courtesy a scholarship from Praveer Singh.

The assistance was made possible by a unique scholarship launched by citizen-driven initiative Shoulder to Shoulder (S2S) Foundation, as another step towards building bridges between communities.

The facility ‘S2S Shiksha Tehreek’ allows any individual or group to institute a scholarship in the name of a family member or institution and commit the amount for tuition fees and books for at least one year but with a rider, that the scholarship is for a child from another community.

The recent initiative has already received four sponsors.

“I’ve named the scholarship in my father’s name – Raghvendra Singh and will continue to fund Ziqra’s education till the time she wants to study. Once she is done, I will fund another child. This is not just educating a child, but sending a strong message of peace and harmony,” said Singh.

Ziqra’s father is unemployed due to illness and her mother sews clothes from home.

A bright student Sachin Kumar (6) was also on the verge of being a drop out when Mohd Furqan instituted a scholarship in his father Haji Mohd Shafi’s memory.

“Sachin’s father, a rickshaw puller, was going to stop his education. The scholarship is a boon to the child who is good at studies,” said school co-ordinator Nahid Akhtar.

The scholarship comes to the aid of children who have potential to study but have to drop out of school because of lack of financial resources.

It also gives a message of communal harmony in times of strife,” said Furquan.

S2S Foundation has previously organised Shia-Sunni namaz on Eid-ul-Zuha, roza iftars at gurdwaras, participated in langars on Guru Parv, organised khichdi feast on Makar Sakranti among other activities for promoting communal harmony.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / TNN / April 10th, 2018

Uttar Pradesh: State’s first butterfly park now open for visitors

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Travel

At present, 28-species of butterflies could be seen, but soon the number can go up to 40, said zoo director RK Singh. Butterflies are the most important indicator of good environment.

The park will be further developed to increase the number of butterflies(HT Photo)

Now, visitors can also have a look at different species of butterfly at the Lucknow Zoo as the state’s first butterfly park was inaugurated by forest minister Dara Singh Chauhan here on Monday.

At present, 28-species of butterflies could be seen, but soon the number can go up to 40, said zoo director RK Singh. Butterflies are the most important indicator of good environment.

He said that the park will be further developed to increase the number of butterflies. “We have placed host plants that attract butterfly and hopefully more species will come up soon,” said Singh.

He said that the park will also generate awareness among visitors about the risks that butterflies face due to increasing pollution and use of chemical fertilizers.

There are around 2,000 species of butterflies in the world of which, 1,500 are found in India. On the occasion, the forest minister said that soon Uttar Pradesh would be leading state in eco-tourism as several programmes for the same were being implemented.

source: htt://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Lucknow / by Gaurav Saigal, Hindustan Times,Lucknow / April 10th, 2018

Ghumantu Pathshala: How this school at Varanasi railway station is changing the lives of children

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

Varanasi :

The Government Railway Police (GRP) at Varanasi railway station has opened a school meant to educate the underprivileged children living in the nearby slum clusters.

The school is attended by at least 40 students who are accused in petty theft cases, are drug addicts or are involved in menial jobs such as picking garbage.

GRP jawans, sub-inspectors, and CO rank officers have volunteered to teach these children.
A vacant room on platform no. 4 is being used to run the classes for the students and has been named “Ghumantu Pathshala” (Nomadic Classroom).

The police department is also tasked with providing study material and stationery for the students.
Normally, the classes are held for two hours every day where the students are taught about the basics of reading and writing.

An NGO, Sathi and Dare, has volunteered to help the children and counsel them about the benefits of attending school.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Varanasi News / TimesofIndia.com / March 14th, 2018

Varanasi farmer’s daughter Punam bags gold at CWG

Sports, World Opinion
Punam’s younger sister Puja practices on indigenous weightlifting equipment in their native Dandapur village in Varanasi on Sunday

Lucknow :

Yet another farmer’s daughter Punam Yadav braved odds to add another shade of gold at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games to India’s tally on Sunday.

While the 22-year-old from Dandupur village in Varanasi, was basking in glory in Australia, her elder sister Shashi Yadav talked about the roads of struggle they had to overcome before success came.

It wasn’t easy for the Yadav sisters – Punam, Shashi and Pooja who took to weightlifting despite coming from a family with moderate means.

Their father Kailash Nath Yadav being a marginal farmer, it was difficult for the seven siblings (five sisters and two brothers) from the very beginning.

“We had to struggle all through, not only financially, but also had to break through the societal pressure of playing sports despite being girls.”

Now with both Punam and Shashi employed with Indian Railways, there is financial stability in the family. “The best thing was that our father, himself a sports lover, backed us all through.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / by Asheem Mukerji / TNN / April 09th, 2018

Students go high on fashion

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

Students of a private institute in the city displayed more than 250 outfits based on different themes in a one-and-a-half-hour fashion show, as part of their annual festival.

The event was inaugurated by Dr Manisha Dwivedi, HOD, Department of Medicine, MLN Medical College, while Dr VK Mishra, Additional CMO, Allahabad, and Dr Ruchi Mittal, principal of the institute, welcomed the guests.

(L) Pushpa and Abhishek (R) Amrita (BCCL/ Pankaj Singh)
(L) Atul and Somya (C) Chandni (R) Monika (BCCL

Arshima and Akansha commenced the show with their designs while Amrita and Richa were next with their collection of semi-formal Indo western wear. Pretty shades of peach with elaborate hand embroidery and creative ribbon embellishment made their dresses elegant, pretty and very cosmopolitan. The first year students took a break from heavy designing and walked the ramp in black outfits along with a tie and dye shrug, depicting a casual and sporty look.

(L) Narmata (R) Nitika, Ruchi and Pragya (BCCL/ Pankaj

Neha and Madhu presented a sequence of saris and lehenngas while Shivali, Reena and Nikita gave a mixed presentation of gowns, long skirts, pallazos, salwars in an Indo-western style. The show concluded with a very sleek presentation of Indo western outfits in animal prints presented by Saumya and Sangeeta.

(L) VK Mishra (C) Shivali (R) Preeti (BCCL/

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Allahabad News / TNN / April 07th, 2018

V-Mart Retail opens fashion store in Uttar Pradesh

Business & Economy

Total number of stores stands at 172 stores

V-Mart Retail has opened a new fashion store in the state of Uttar Pradesh. With this the tally of stores in Uttar Pradesh is 56 fashion stores and 17 composite stores.

This takes the total number of stores to 172 Stores in 145 Cities across 14 states, with 37 composite stores & 135 fashion stores with a total area of approx. 14.4 lakhs sq. ft.

Powered by Capital Market – Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-CM> Companies> News / Capital Market / April 06th, 2018

An underwater photography exhibition for Lucknowites

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
(L to R) Farhat Basir Khan, Prof. S.P. Singh at the exhibition of Aditya Havelia (BCCL / Vishnu Jaiswal)

Lucknowites witnessed an underwater photography exhibition titled Into the Blue, by Aditya Havelia at an art gallery in Aliganj.

Giving the social message of saving our water from pollution, the eight-day exhibition attracted a lot of photography enthusiasts.

The exhibition, which had 54 pictures clicked by the photographer from the year 2010, was inaugurated by Prof SP Singh, vice-chancellor, Lucknow University. Singh said, “I really enjoyed seeing the underwater life. Aditya’s initiative to promote the cause of water pollution was also worth appreciating.”

Curated by the academician, Farhat Basir Khan, the photos displayed Aditya’s work from Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Netrani Island, Malaysia and Mauritius.

Telling us about the hard work put in to get the perfect clicks, Aditya said, “We usually don’t get a perfect guide for underwater photography, which made it a bit of a challenge for me to click these photographs.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News> Events / by Adnaan Rizvi / TNN / April 05th, 2018

VC gets his gold medals after 32 years

Education, Leaders, Records, All

Lucknow :

After a wait of 32 years, a meritorious Lucknow University student who is now vice chancellor of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, Prof Manoj Dixit, received his two pending gold medals on Sunday.

The 56-year old who topped his masters in public administration in 1986 won the Raja Raghuvendra Pratap Singh and Suresh Chandra Bhasin gold medals for academics.

He couldn’t receive them then as the university did not hold a convocation that year. After being awarded, the VC took to social media posting old and present photographs.

“I won this medal at a young age and I am receiving it when I have lost all my hair. This shows how long the wait for the two medals was,” said Dixit.

Dixit has held various positions at Lucknow University too.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News> Schools & Colleges / TNN / April 02nd, 2018

Former TV executive now dedicated to taking care of autistic kids

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

Lucknow :

Sahil used to get furious whenever he met a stranger. Sometimes, he would look at his parents but behave like he did not recognise them. Vansh does not talk to anyone. Sakshi has difficulty in speaking. Many times, she has tried to explain something in broken words, but would suddenly fall silent.

All these kids are autism patients. But when Vipin Agnihotri from Lucknow interacts with them they laugh and talk with him.

A resident of Udayganj, Vipin has been taking care of autistic children for last 5 years. 32-year-old Vipin is associated with film television production. After doing MCA, MSC and Mass Comm, he has dedicated his life to these children.

“Autism is a mental disorder. Children who suffer from autism are not ‘normal’. So I try to treat them with love,” Vipin said.

Elaborating on his “treatment”, Vipin said he counsels and takes care of about 50 childen from the city through his organisation Escort Social Collective Action for Research and Development.

“We counsel them, conduct workshops and arrange entertaining games for them, and try to co-ordinate with their parents,” he added.

Vipin said he does not take financial help from anyone for his initiative. Some psychiatrists, students of psychology and others help Vipin by giving their time to these special children.

Dr Manish from BRD Mahanagar Hospital, Lucknow said that a child wants love and attention from his parents and other family members. In this way, he or she feels safe and gains self-confidence.

Autism is a mental disorder and its symptoms begin to appear in childhood. Autism prevents the child’s mental development and they grow slowly. Autistic children often suffer from social anxiety and are unable to interact with others like their normal peers. Most scientists do not label autism as a disease. Not taking proper diet during pregnancy can increase chances of Autism occurring in the child.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / by Navbharat Times / April 02nd, 2018

This lawyer teaches secrets of growing flowers, fruits organically

Agriculture, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
Representative Image – TOI

Bijnor :

Mukesh Bhatnagar was just 10 years old when he took to gardening, guided by his father. As he grew up, his interest expanded. He experimented, learnt from his mistakes and his hard work and perseverance paid off. Today, this 60-year-old lawyer is a proud owner of a garden spread over 500 metres, comprising over 100 varieties of flowers, including many foreign varieties, as well as fruit trees including mango, orange, lichi and guava. He has become an example for others, specially farmers.

What’s more, all the fruits and flowers are organically grown. Bhatnagar has developed a nursery in his house for preparing plants and pits for organic manure and organic pesticide. Even the horticulture department has taken note of this garden. Farmers come to learn from him.

Besides, he has a kitchen garden where he grows most of the seasonal vegetables. He has become so self-sufficient that he seldom needs to purchase vegetables from the market.

Talking with TOI, Bhatanagar, said, “I have been growing flowers, vegetables and fruit since I was 10 years old. Most of the flowers are being grown in pots. Whenever I travel and go to a new place, I try to find new plants or seeds, which I bring back. As of now, I have around 100 varieties of flower plants including ranunculus, lilium, Water lily, carnation, stocks, freesia, and geranium. Besides, dahlia, pansy marigold both French and African blooms, salvia, calendula, daisy, Begonia and Rose.

“I have 36 varieties of bulbs like lilium. I grow both perennials and season flowers and also evergreens. Besides, I have a collection of snake plant, crotons, signonium, cacti, caladium and seku.”

He said gardening keeps him fit and healthy as well as acts as a stress buster. “ I am lawyer by profession and spend most of my free time in my garden. I am trying to make people aware about sowing flowers, fruits and vegetables by adopting organic methods. I recycle the waste from my garden — dry leaves, wilted flowers and decaying and withered plants — for making manure by using a decomposer. Besides, I also make bio pesticide and insecticide.”

Bhatnagar credited his father for motivating him to take up gardening. All his family members have taken to gardening as well, he said. His married daughter who has developed a garden of her own in her house consults him whenever she faces any problem. “We share pictures and videos of our garden through video conference,” he added.

Now, horticulture and agriculture departments send farmers to Bhatnagar’s garden to understand his technique and adopt organic methods of farming.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Meerut News / by Harveer Dabas / TNN / March 31st, 2018