Craftsmen from Bareilly, made in Jaipur
Jaipur :
Gone are the days when traders of Jaipur used to bring in truckloads of kites from Bareilly and Rampur in Uttar Pradesh for genuine kite lovers and ‘ustaads’ of the city.
In bid to make the business more economically viable, many traders have hired kite makers of Bareilly to design and produce quality ‘patang’ locally.
Labourers from famed kite manufacturers of Bareilly and Rampur have been brought to Jaipur to make them here.
Major kite markets, including those in Handipura, Haldiyon Ka Raasta, Jhotwara, Murlipura and Kishanpole Bazaar, are full of kites made by the labourers from UP.
Most of them were brought to the city in November itself to complete the orders given by local traders as well as those from districts such as Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu where there’s a huge demand, starting a fortnight prior to the auspicious occasion of Makar Sakranti.
On reasons why the local traders are not buying directly from UP, Ravi Khandelwal, a wholesale kite trader in Jhotwara, said, “From December, places, including Rampur and Bareilly, witness moderate to heavy fog. Every year, loads of kites get damaged as trucks bringing these kites come via Delhi. So, we contacted the UP producers and asked them to send their workers here to make kites for us.”
Akhtar Hussain, a wholesale kite trader at Handipura, said that the state has a big market for kites as they were flown almost around the year on various occasions. “In places like Alwar, Ajmer and Dausa, people fly kites during Raksha Bandhan. In Jaipur, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Churu and Bikaner, they are flown on the occasion of Makar Sakranti.
And many other districts fly them on August 15 like in Delhi. So, the traders here have engaged craftsman from UP,” Hussain added.
However, some local traders try cheat by selling ‘fake’ UP kites. “Some stick rubber stamps of kite manufactures of Bareilly. So, kites which are actually made by local craftsmen are stamped as manufactured in Bareilly,” said Suraj Saini, a wholesale dealer at Haldiyon Ka Raasta.
But traders said that genuine kite lovers can differentiate between both. “UP ki patang ka bans thoda kala seeka hua hota hai (The bamboo used in UP kites has been treated using fire),” said Anil Pandey, a kite lover.
The most popular Kites from UP includes ‘adhha’, ‘pauna’, ‘aadha’, ‘dedh kanni’ and ‘danda’.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Jaipur News / by Ashish Mehta / TNN / January 13th, 2018
Lucknow girl hoists tricolor at Everest’s base camp
Lucknow girl Purva Dhawan returned home recently after hoisting the tricolor at the base camp of Mount Everest which is 17,595 feets above the ground level.
Lucknow girl Purva Dhawan returned home recently after hoisting the tricolor at the base camp of Mount Everest which is 17,595 feets above the ground level.
Purva Dhawan left for tracking for the base camp from Lacula in Nepal on December 23. She reached the base camp on December 31 when the temperature was -32 degree Celsius.
Purva now aims to climb the Mount Everest (18,192 feet) in year 2019. Before that, she has planned to conquer the Kanchanjanga peak which is the highest in India. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and is pursuing her degree in commerce from Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad.
A resident of Indira Nagar, Purva said she got training in mountaineering from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttar Kashi, Uttarakhand.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Lucknow / by Hindustan Times, Lucknow / January 10th, 2018
11th
IIT-K develops gadgets for specially abled
Kanpur :
IIT-K’s persons with disabilities (PwD) cell organised an event on Tuesday for people with disabilities and the challenges they have overcome.
PwD cell convenor KS Venkatesh said that the cell is developing tools and services to help students with disability on campus. These include developing special gadgets and making all areas of the campus accessible to them.
A special website dedicated to the PwD cell was also launched. The website will act as an important resources for people with disabilities on campus.Visit www.iitk.ac.in/pwd for more information.
Several organisations working with people with disabilities were invited to deliver talks. These include handicap welfare department, Uttar Pradesh, Deaf and Dumb College, Bithoor, Ambedkar Institute of Technology for Handicapped, Kanpur and others.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City News> Kanpur News / TNN / January 10th, 2018
Japanese envoy in city, takes stock of VCC project
Varanasi :
Japanese ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu visited Varanasi Municipal Corporation on Thursday afternoon to take stock of the progress in work of Varanasi International Cooperation and Convention Centre (VCC).
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is bringing this VCC with an investment of Rs 130 crores by removing VMCs Sadan, mayor office and Tilak Prekshagrih (auditorium). As per the protocol of Hiramatsu received by the district administration, his meeting with mayor Mridula Jaiswal was proposed with site inspection of VCC between 11.30 am and 12.30 pm.
However, his flight was delayed due to which his meeting with the mayor was cancelled but he visited VMC to take stock of progress in work of VCC. On debris of the demolished portion of VMC Sadan, mayor office and Tilak auditorium he questioned the VMC and JICA officials whether the area would be given for construction after removing debris in response of which the officials informed him the timeframe for removal of debris. After this he left for Banaras Hindu University.
On September 15, an agreement was signed with the government of India to provide grant aid of up to 2,240 million yen (approximately Rs 130 crores) for the project for construction of VCC. The VCC will be one of the prime examples of state-of-the-art facility nurturing the cultural and social exchanges. VCC will be a sophisticated convention centre comprising of a main hall with a full flying tower, having a capacity of 1,200, a gallery, meeting rooms, together with a parking facility of 120 cars.
The Japanese ambassador reached BHU to deliver a special lecture on ‘experience and contribution to India in environmental field’ organised by the institute of environment and sustainable development.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Varanasi News / TNN / Decembr 22nd, 2017
Allahabad University scientists find ‘fisetin’ slows down brain aging
A team of scientists at the Allahabad University has established that a natural compound called fisetin, found in strawberry, apple, onion and cucumber, can restore brain functions which deteriorate during aging.
A team of scientists at the Allahabad University has established that a natural compound called fisetin, found in strawberry, apple, onion and cucumber, can restore brain functions which deteriorate during aging.
The findings of the team, led by Prof SI Rizvi from the department of biochemistry at AU, have been published in the latest issue of American research journal Life Sciences.
Scientists acknowledge that oxidative stress is a major factor responsible for age-related changes in living organisms. Oxidative stress is the condition when the damage, due to the toxic form of oxygen molecules, exceeds the capacity of the body to repair such damage.
“It is a paradox that oxygen, which is essential for life, becomes the cause of aging,” said Prof Rizvi.
“In human body, most of the oxygen is consumed by the brain. Therefore, it is the brain that becomes more vulnerable to oxidative stress. With increase in age, brain cells degenerate leading to diseases and loss of brain function,” he said.
Through experiments, the research team analysed a host of biomarkers of aging, including pro-oxidants, antioxidants, mitochondrial function, expression of genes, and apoptosis cell death.
The results of the AU study conclude that fisetin can protect the brain from damage induced by aging.
“The study was carried out on rats of different ages and also on those which were chemically induced to age faster,” said Prof Rizvi.
Fisetin was given to rats of old age and the effect was compared with the younger ones. Fisetin-treated old rats were protected from brain damage.
Among all anti-aging strategies being explored, caloric restriction is the most promising which, in common terms, can be defined as less food intake.
Caloric restriction has been effectively tested in small organisms like fruit fly and earthworms. The strategy becomes difficult to implement in humans where several ethical issues are involved.
Scientists have stumbled upon a class of compounds which mimic the effect of caloric restriction. With the use of these compounds, known as caloric restriction mimetics, the body feels like it is food restricted without the need of eating less.
According to Prof Rizvi, fisetin works as a caloric restriction mimetic in showing its anti-aging effect on rats. “Scientists are hopeful that compounds exhibiting caloric restriction mimetic effects will prove to be good anti-aging drugs,” he said.
Several experimental drugs are being tested in Prof Rizvi’s lab for possible anti-aging effects. “Although an increase in human lifespan may not be possible, it may increase the health span,” Prof Rizvi added.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Lucknow / by K. Sandeep Kumar , Hindustan Times, Allahabad / January 08th, 2018
Varanasi: Central Institute of Tibetan Higher Studies all set to welcome Dalai Lama
Varanasi :
The Central Institute of Tibetan Higher Studies (CIHTS), Sarnath is all set to give a grand welcome to Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, who is arriving on Friday.
Talking to reporters on Thursday, the CIHTS vice-chancellor Prof. Geshe Ngawang Samten said that the Dalai Lama is arriving here to take part in the golden jubilee of the institute on January 1, 2018. “It is a matter of great happiness for us that we will celebrate the golden jubilee in presence of His Holiness,” he said adding that the Dalai Lama is arriving here after a gap of four year. Earlier, he had visited the institution in January 2013.
According to him, before the golden jubilee celebration the Dalai Lama will also take part in the two-day international conference on ‘concept of mind in science and philosophy’ on December 30 and 31. Eminent scholars from various universities and institutions of the country and abroad will take part in the conference to express their views. About 150 Indian delegates and over 70 foreign delegates from different countries will attend the conference. After four-day stay at the CITHS the Dalai Lama will leave for Bodh Gaya on January 2, 2018.
Established in 1967 the CIHTS is celebrating its golden jubilee in presence of the Dalai Lama, who is instrumental in establishing this institution. After the mass exodus of the Tibetan emigrants in 1959 they took political asylum in India. It was the joint efforts of the Dalai Lama and India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that the CIHTS came into existence in Varanasi in 1967 to educate the youth of Tibet and the students on the Indian border who had lost the opportunity of living in Tibet for advanced studies and religious discourses in Buddhism. The institution was established with objectives like preservation of Tibetan culture and traditions, restoration of ancient learning and implementation of multi-dimensional Tibetan studies, and revival of traditional education under modern university system.
The Dalai Lama has been visiting CIHTS quite. In the beginning it was established in the premises of the Sanskrit University and later it moved to its own premises in Sarnath and was granted autonomy under the department of culture. In 1988, the institute got status of `deemed to be a university’ with financial support from the Union ministry of human resource development.
Meanwhile, the students and staff of CITHS were busy in giving final touch to the preparations. The entire campus was being decorated with flowers and floral patterns on the roads. Buddhist monks and followers from different places also started tronging Sarnath in large numbers. They will greet the Dalai Lama on his arrival on Friday.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Varanasi News / by Binay Singh / TNN / December 28th, 2017
What an idea! They recycle waste flowers picked from temples and make incense sticks
Help Us Green has brought respectability to more than 200 informal “scavengers”-usually women from lower castes.
As one approaches Bhaunti, a small village 25 km west of the district headquarters of Kanpur, the smell of flowers becomes overpowering. It’s coming out of a building that houses Help Us Green, a company that collects as much as 800 kilograms of waste flowers every day from the 29 temples in Kanpur, recycles them and turns them into incense sticks and organic vermicompost (made from a composting process using various species of worms). The founders, Ankit Agarwal and Karan Rastogi, have successfully trademarked the term “Flowercycle” for this process.
The duo was visiting the temples on the banks of the Ganga in Bithoor, Kanpur, in 2015, when they thought of the idea of recycling floral waste. “Pollution caused by flowers, unlike industrial waste, is often overlooked in the drive to clean the holy river,” says Agarwal. And it’s not just the flowers rotting in the river but also the pesticides used on them, which can affect marine life. Shortly after, the two left their jobs to launch Help Us Green. “When we started, everyone thought we were mad,” says Rastogi. They started with an initial investment of Rs 72,000, and two months later, came out with their first product, a vermicompost they chose to call “Mitti”. The vermicompost has a mix of 17 natural ingredients, including coffee grounds discarded by the local outposts of a coffee chain.
Later, IIT Kanpur chipped in with some funds. Later, their company also started making environment-friendly incense sticks, sans coal, in Sarsol village in Kanpur. And since devotees found it difficult to throw packets of incense products embossed with images of gods in dustbins and so threw them in the river, Help Us Green started selling its products in paper infused with Tulsi seeds that could be sowed once the incense was used. In August this year, the duo floated another company, Kanpur Flower Cycle, with a new 20,000 sq. ft factory in Bhaunti. Another new product is in the pipeline: florafoam to replace thermocol. Help Us Green has brought respectability to more than 200 informal “scavengers”-usually women from lower castes. Earning a measly Rs 10 a day earlier, now they earn at least Rs 200.
source: http://www.indiatoday.intoday.in / India Today / Home> News> Magazine> Cover Story / by Ashish Misra / January 05th, 2018
With ancient flora, UP plans to revive Govardhan Parvat
HIGHLIGHTS
Yogi government is planning to promote UP’s religious sites for tourism in a big way.
He had formed the Brij Tirath Vikas Parishad just two months after Rampur assuming office.
Lucknow :
The UP government is planning to rejuvenate the almostbarren Govardhan Parvat, which has huge mythological significance for Hindus, by reviving flora of Dwapar Yug along its 21-km perambulation path. Indian Agriculture Research Institute has been roped in for the project in Mathura.
The Yogi Aditya Nath government is planning to promote the state’s religious sites for tourism in a big way. Yogi had formed the Brij Tirath Vikas Parishad just two months after Rampur assuming office.
The CM, who is also the chairman of the parishad, has tasked it to find five varieties of trees: kadamb, karoli, tamal, pakkad and tilkan and develop the vegetation around Govardhan Parvat to resemble what has been described in the sacred texts.
Myhtology has it that Lord Krishna picked up Govardhan hill, and held it above his head with his little finger for seven days to protect villagers from incessant rain, a result of the wrath of Indra.
“In Hindu mythology, kadamb was the favourite tree of Lord Krishna, who used to play the flute and play with his friends under its shade. We’ve sent our research team to find this tree in Rajasthan’s Karoli Dham area. The entire Govardhan project is being monitored by the CM,” said Brij Tirath Vikas Parishad CEO Nagendra Pratap.
In a recent report to the CM, the parishad said the hill’s green cover had shrunk over the years and it was necessary to preserve its sanctity as it was intrinsic to Hindu culture and mythology.
The government has sanctioned Rs 226 crore as the first instalment for the project. Forest officials blame brackish water of the Yamuna in Mathura for poor vegetation on the hill. The parishad now plans to use water harvested from neighbouring Bharatpur district in Rajasthan for irrigation around Govardhan Parvat, said Pratap.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Rohan Dua, TNN / January 04th, 2018