Varanasi akhara breaks its 450-yr tradition, lets girls in

Records, All, Sports
Varanasi akhara breaks its 450-yr tradition, lets girls in | Varanasi News – Times of India

Highlights
Tulsidas akhara will now hold fights featuring women from Diwali.

The mahant of Sankant Mochan, Vishwambar Nath Mishra, too, believes the decision will go long way to empower women here.
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Varanasi :

Clad in body-hugging lowers and sporty tees, Nandini Sarkar and Aastha Verma collect a fistful of mud at the Tulsidas akhara on the Ganga banks here, rub it on their foreheads and let out a fullthroated cry of “Jai Shri Ram”.That chant has just shattered a 450-year-old glass ceiling at this medieval wrestling ring.

In a major break from tradition, the akhara that’s managed by the Sankat Mochan temple trust has permitted girls to practise and wrestle at its hallowed mud pit, dedicated to the bachelor god, Hanuman.

It took the two feisty 20-yearold girls, who are still pursuing their bachelor courses, almost a decade to convince the trust’s mahant to be allowed to practice and spar at the akhara. Aptly, their freedom to enter the mud pit came on August 15 this year, which coincided with the Nagpanchami festival.

The akhara will now hold fights featuring women from Diwali. “The training of tradi tional wrestlers remains incomplete till they touch the mud of an akhara. We have finally achieved that dream,” says Nandini. “Our coaches, Surendra Yadav and Gorakhnath Yadav, approached the mahant this year and convinced him that if the country can have a Prime Minister representing Varanasi for the first time, why can’t women achieve a first of their own?” she said.

Of course, getting the permission was far from easy. “We were shown texts on Hanuman’s vow of bachelorhood and told that girls are impure and their presence is a sin for the god. But it’s the same god who gave us the strength to fight,” Nandini reasoned.

The mahant of Sankant Mochan, Vishwambar Nath Mishra, too, believes the decision will go long way to empower women here. “People are surprised when they learn that I am a professor at IIT as well as the mahant of this temple. I believe I can contribute to society in both ways. So why not take a decision that’s in keeping with gender equality and restores the faith of people in the divine?” said mahant Mishra, who teaches electronics at IIT BHU.

Both girls have represented UP in wrestling. Even as they try out traditional practice equipment at the akhara, such as bhala and gadha, for the first time, the girls have already mastered their favourite manoeuvres by watching the men here for the past 10 years. For Nandini, its dhobi paat (shoulder throw) while Aastha swears by kalajang (squat punch).

The girls come from humble backgrounds. Nandini’s father sells sweets to pilgrims at Assi Ghat, earning around Rs 7,000 a month. Aastha’s father is no more. Her mother Madhu Verma sells flowers on the stairs of Kedar Ghat to support her daughter’s wrestling dreams.

“We derive our strength and determination from our parents who keep the faith of devotees alive by providing them accessories to complete their pooja. That’s why God was kind to us,” says Aastha.

However, the girls’ struggles are far from over. With their modest means, it’s getting increasingly difficult for to afford a protein rich diet and top-notch training to progress in the sport. To support their needs, the girls frequently travel as far as Patna, Madehpura and Begusarai in Bihar for dangal contests.Each match earns them Rs 2,500.

“Ghee, milk, almonds, protein and personal gym costs us Rs 15,000 a month. Sometimes we can afford it. When we can’t, we just hop on to a night train and reach Bihar. It takes one day to reach the venue, two days to play and another day to return to Varanasi,” says Aastha. Being women wrestlers in a patriarchal society is tough. The girls have many horror stories on their wrestling visits to Bihar. “There are times when men would try to pat us just to feel us. We usually answer such touches with a punch and tackle,” said Nandini, laughing.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Varanasi News / by Rohan Dua / TNN / October 08th, 2017

Vrindavan Nagar Palika, Barsana Nagar Panchayat declared ‘holy’ places

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

Highlights

The declaration was made at the eleventh hour as the State Election Commission announced civic polls in three phases from November 22.

Mathura-Vrindavan Nagar Nigam was constituted recently along with Ayodhya Nagar Nigam.
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Lucknow :

The Uttar Pradesh government today declared Vrindavan Nagar Palika Parishad and Barsana Nagar Panchayat in Mathura district as “pavitra tirth sthal” (holy pilgrim place).

The declaration was made at the eleventh hour as the State Election Commission announced civic polls in three phases from November 22.

“Vrindavan area in Mathura is the birth place of Lord Krishna and his elder brother Balram, and is world famous. Barsana is Radha’s birthplace. Lakhs of tourists visit these places to pay obeisance. Keeping in mind their importance and in view of tourism, these are declared as holy pilgrimage places,” an official release issued here said.

Special attention will be paid to these areas for development of facilities for locals and tourists, it said.

Mathura-Vrindavan Nagar Nigam was constituted recently along with Ayodhya Nagar Nigam.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News> Civic Issue / PTI / October 27th, 2017

SIDBI launches incubation centre for financial inclusion at IIML

Business & Economy
SIDBI’s chairman and managing director Mohammad Mustafa (in blue) and IIML director Ajit Prasad (in black) at the launch of SIDBI Centre for Innovation in Financial Inclusion

Lucknow :

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) on Friday launched a technology business incubator at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow for nurturing high impact technologies for achieving, expanding and furthering the financial inclusion. Named as SIDBI Centre for Innovations in Financial Inclusion (Sci-Fi), the centre aims at fostering innovation, research and entrepreneurial activities in financial technology (FinTech).

The Sci-Fi seeks to explore and understand FinTech and financial inclusion by turning ideas into reality through the incubation process. IIML will provide required managerial and technological resources and support to make the incubation process successful. The center will develop research artifacts, promote research collaboration, and serve as a resource center to unlock entrepreneurial potential, and will follow three objectives — capacity building to and spearheading research on FinTech and financial inclusion, promoting discussion on Fintech and financial inclusions among stakeholders, and mentoring FinTech start-ups that will create products and services for financial inclusion.

The incubator at IIML, said SIDBI chairman and managing director Mohammad Mustafa has endeavored to bring together three great national development missions of Start Up India, Universal Financial Inclusion and Digital India under one roof. The centre, fully funded by SIDBI, will be guided by a governing board consisting of eminent representatives from financial inclusion, FinTech and venture capital domains, and headed by IIML director Ajit Prasad.

Prasad during his address recounted how the UP chief minister lauded IIML as a jewel in the crown of UP but at the same time also sought IIML’s contributions to the state of UP. “I was short of words then. I am glad now that SIDBI Centre will generate hundreds of jobs,” Prasad told the audience.
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source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / Isha Jain / TNN / October 27th, 2017

REPL bags contract for Kanpur smart city

Business & Economy

New Delhi:

Real estate and infrastructure consultant REPL today said it has bagged a contract for management of the smart city project in Kanpur.

The Kanpur Municipal Corporation has appointed Rudrabhishek Enterprise Pvt Ltd (REPL) as project management consultant to develop and implement the smart city project, the company said in a statement.

Second city in UP

REPL’s CMD Pradeep Misra said it is the company’s second smart city project in Uttar Pradesh after Varanasi. REPL is already working on the Indore smart city project.

“We are sure that we will be able to leverage our experience and learning of our other smart city consultancy works for developing smart city of Kanpur which will enhance the industrial and social growth of city,” he added.

REPL will assist Kanpur Smart City Ltd in various phases of project implementation.

Project implementation

This will include activities such as preparation of detailed project reports, coordination with various appointed consultants, project prioritisation and phasing, preparing capital investment plan, implementation roadmap, conducting feasibility studyetc.

“The retrofitting development will not only improve the core infrastructure and quality of life but also assure a sustainable and inclusive development with the integration of smart ICT solution,” REPL said.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> National / Press Trust of India / October 04th, 2017

‘Girija Devi’s demise an irreparable loss to Banaras Gharana’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Records, All
Even at 88 her scintillating voice could leave the audience spell bound

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Highlights

Girija Devi, fondly known as Appa ji, passed away in a hospital in Kolkata on Tuesday evening. She was 88.

She worked as a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata in the 1980s and of the Banaras Hindu University during the early 1990s

She was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2016
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Varanasi :

Demise of great vocalist and Thumri queen Girija Devi came as a big shocker to the music lovers of Varanasi, the birth place of the eminent singer. Girija Devi, fondly known as Appa ji, passed away in a hospital in Kolkata on Tuesday evening. She was 88.

“It is an irreparable loss to Indian music and Banaras Gharana of music. She was a guiding figure for us,” said noted Sarod player and Yash Bharati recipient Pt. Vikash Maharaj. “She was ailing for some time, and admitted to BM Birla Hospital in Kolkata in the morning. She left for the heavenly abode in the evening,” he said adding that she had been living in Kolkata with her daughter.

“No one can fill the gap. Even at 88 her scintillating voice could leave the audience spell bound. She was perhaps the last exponent of thumri, tappa, chaiti and khayal. I heard her singing in an award ceremony in New Delhi on August 27,” said Ashok Kapoor, founder of a cultural organization Kala Prakash working for the cause of Indian music.

Though settled in Kolkata, she regularly visited Varanasi. She was born in Varanasi in 1929. She took lessons in singing khayal and tappa from vocalist Sarju Prasad Misra in early childhood. She worked as a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata in the 1980s and of the Banaras Hindu University during the early 1990s. She was a prominent performer of purabi ang thumri style of Banaras gharana. She was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2016.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> India News / by Binay Singh / TNN / October 25th, 2017

Bareilly boy makes the right noise in B-wood

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Manav Shrotriya, Bareilly-based sound designer and sounds-effect editor

Bareilly boy Manav Shrotriya, a sound designer, visual effects producer, sound effects editor who has worked for films like Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, Mubarakan, Mom, Saat Uchakkey, Guest In London, Aksar 2, Rocky Mental, Vicky Donor, Agent Vinod and Aashiqui 2 among several others, has carved a niche for himself in the Bollywood music industry.

Manav talks about his memories of Bareilly, his experience of working with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, upcoming projects and more.

‘Grown up being surrounded by music’

Manav, a resident of Prem Nagar and a pass-out from Hartmann College, says, “Since childhood, I had a liking for music; something which I have inherited from my mother, a classical tabla player and who used to sing for All India Radio. I was born and brought up in a family that was musically inclined and my interest in the field further prompted me to pursue a career in the same. I did a three-year course from School of Audio Engineering, Mumbai, and a specialisation in post-production and music production. After that, I also got a chance to work at a well-known studio in Mumbai as sound and mixing engineer. At this level, I developed a rapport with directors and producers and did my first commercial mainstream film -3G- A Killer Connection – with Neil Nitin Mukhesh.”

‘I miss roaming around cantonment’

Manav, who’s currently working as a post-production head at a studio in Mumbai, shares, “I used to perform with my band, Zero, comprising four to five friends at musical evenings at Bareilly hotels and St Methodist Church; it was a great learning experience. Back in Bareilly going for a bike ride with friends to Cantonment and Civil Lines, gorging on Civil Lines ka street food and mithai is something I really miss.”

‘Working with Nawaz was an enriching experience’

Sharing his experience of working with Nawazuddin in Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, Manav, says, “It was shot in Lucknow and several small places in UP like Maliabad, which I used to visit a lot during my childhood. I could give the right kind of sound for the film to create that feel. It took us four months for its sound post-production. The experience of working with Nawaz was quite enriching.”

He adds, “I’m currently working for a Hollywood film and a Hindi-Punjabi film Raja Abroadia. I’m also in talks for a project with Disha Patani next year.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bareilly News / by Manyaekta Gugliani / BCCL / October 06th, 2017

City architect to design India’s highest airport

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

Buddhist prayer wheels, colourful flags, scriptures and sculptures of monks will greet tourists at the new Leh airport which is being designed by one Australian and two Lucknow-based architects.

The highest commercial airport in the country, the revamped Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport, will open doors to those seeking serenity in Leh, soon.

The project has been initiated by the Airports Authority of India and involves three architecture consultants—Paul Mutton from Australia-based Guida Moseley Brown Architects and Vipul and Harsh Varshney from Lucknow-based Sthapati Associates. They have already started work on the airport.

The final designs have been submitted and approved and the Lucknow-based architects recently met the aviation minister in Delhi to take him through the project.

Keeping the philosophy of ancient Buddhist wisdom intertwined with modern ethos, the design closely incorporates Buddhist design elements in the structure.

According to the artist’s impressions shared with TOI, there are Bodhisattvas, mandalas and thangkas (spiritual symbols), Buddhist-Tibetan prayer wheels and prayer flags all around the airport’s interior and exterior. It has been designed to visually stimulate the tourist.

Whether it is the Himalayas- and Buddhist stupa-inspired pitch roof or the 30-foot-high prayer wheel sculpture and colourful Leh-styled giant Buddha, all elements beckon the tourist’s curiosity even before landing on the ground.

It is not just the facade and architecture that promise to wow the tourist, technology has been incorporated in such a way that the terminal is sustainable and environment friendly.

Placed at 3,256 metres above mean sea level, the airport terminal building has been planned across 16,500 square metres. While photo-voltaic cells for roof and external lighting will reduce 60% of electrical load, cavity walls will be built for thermal insulation. Besides, recycled water will be used for landscaping, and multi-function heat pump air-cooled chillers will produce chilled water all the year long. For other sanitary requirements, hot water will be produced with the same technology.

“The desert-like terrain and the harsh cold weather were two most important factors that had to be considered while designing the airport. They presented great difficulty as well, because the ambient temperature goes down to -16 degrees Celsius and freezes water. To prevent this, we had to use 45% of glycol water mixtures in the chillers of air conditioners,” says Vipul Varshney, founder of Sthapati Associates.

The design incorporates the capacity of five aerobridges, Zen landscaping (for dry climate), intricately engraved wooden pagodas and a cluster of eight stupas at the entrance, introducing the passengers to Buddha’s land.

Recounting the experience of designing the project, Varshney says, “Because of site contours and assuring minimum carbon footprint, the whole building has been designed in different levels to minimize cutting and filling of land.

The height difference between the main approach road and the runway was almost 10 meters. This is why four levels with four lounges and two separate security check areas have been designed so that passengers don’t feel any gradient difference.”

The difficulty of approach and climatic constraints propelled the design to be simple yet colourful, using pre-manufactured material to the maximum which will be assembled at the site. The use of glass and other destructible construction materials has been minimized so that airport functioning is not hindered due to their unavailability, owing to difficulty in ferrying material from the main land. The typical vernacular artefacts and landscaping will be produced by local craftsmen.

The current terminal is capable of handling 250 peak-hour domestic passengers with annual handling of 0.2 million people. Its own recorded traffic witnessed a rise of 14.6% passengers in the past five years.

“This called for expansion and revamping of the current saturated terminal to meet increased traffic demands,” she adds.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Yusra Husain / TNN / October 08th, 2017

Urvashi Sahni, founder of SHEF, wins social entrepreneur award

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

Urvashi Sahni, founder of Study Hall Educational Foundation, was awarded the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award 2017 for her work in educating India’s most disadvantaged girls

Urvashi Sahni is an Ashoka Fellow, an honorary member of the Clinton Global Initiative and a non-resident fellow at the Centre for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in the US.

New Delhi:

Urvashi Sahni, founder and chief executive of Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF), was awarded the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award 2017 for her work in educating India’s most disadvantaged girls.

She won the award, beating candidates from more prominent non-profit organizations including Akshaya Patra. Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu presented the award to Sahni.

Jointly founded by Jubilant Bhartia Foundation and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship in 2010, the award recognizes promising and high impact social entrepreneurs implementing practical and sustainable solutions.

Sahni was chosen from over 100 applicants. The other two finalists for the award were Safeena Husain of Educate Girls and Madhu Pandit Dasa of the Akshaya Patra Foundation.

SHEF has demonstrated a business model of education for inclusion, empowerment and leadership building for India’s most disadvantaged and girls at risk. It has scaled its model across 993 government schools of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, training 24,000 teachers in the process and impacting 501,000 girls.

To ensure that women from ultra poor communities have the resources to keep their daughters in schools, Sahni has started Didi, a catering and tailoring venture that has captured the Lucknow market for corporate meals and has doubled the incomes of its women employees.

Accepting the award, Sahni said the perfect tool for changing mindset is education. “Education should be broader, deeper and wider. Until then we cannot call ourselves a fully democratic country,” she added.

Sahni is an Ashoka Fellow, an honorary member of the Clinton Global Initiative and a non-resident fellow at the Centre for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in the US.

In an emailed response before she won the award, Sahni said in her girls education programme, the organization uses the government curriculum but makes sure that it is infused with critical feminist pedagogy or a gender-empowering methods of education. “We have also added a separate programme called ‘critical dialogues’ in the official curriculum,” she said.

Sahni said the biggest challenge to remain sustainable is building teams that believe in the idea, the mission, the underlying philosophy, the culture of the enterprise and above all a culture of entrepreneurship. “Having a secure flow of funding is important too, but in my opinion if the social entrepreneur has invested enough in building a strong team, they will ensure the flow of funding. I work very hard at building my team in the ways described above. We are a learning organisation and that is what sustains us,” she said.

To be a successful social entrepreneur, passion is more important than expertise, Sahni said. “Expertise is sterile without passion. But passion alone can only go so far and will burn itself out if it isn’t guided by expertise. Passionate social entrepreneurs, either seek out and develop the expertise they need to execute their ideas, or then find people who have the expertise. But they are very good and fast learners themselves. In our case, we are all thinking and learning all the time and working at developing the expertise we need and reaching out to other partners who have the expertise we don’t have,” she said.

Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is a sister organization of the World Economic Forum. The Foundation provides unique regional and global platforms to promote social entrepreneurship as a key element to advancing societies and addressing social problems innovatively and effectively. It also fosters a peer global community of social entrepreneurs.

Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, established in 2007, is the not-for-profit organization of the Jubilant Bhartia Group. It focuses on conceptualizing and implementing the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives (CSR) for the Group. The Jubilant Bhartia Foundation’s activities include various community development works, health care programs, cultural and sports events, an environmental preservation initiative, vocational training, women empowerment and educational activities.

Seema Chowdhry contributed to the story.

The promoters of HT Media Ltd, which publishes the Hindustan Times and Mint, and Jubilant Bhartia Group are closely related. There are, however, no promoter crossholdings.

source: http://www.livemint.com / Live Mint / Home> Companies / by Asit Ranjan Mishra / Thursday – October 05th, 2017

‘Weather helped us in Guinness record attempt to keep diyas alight’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion

Ayodhya :

There was an unusual flicker emanating from the banks of Saryu river on Wednesday. Lined up coherently on the ghats of Ram ki Paidi, around 2 lakh oil lamps shimmered on the steps leading to the holy river as renditions of ‘Hey Ram’ bhajan played out from gigantic speakers.

It was with this that the state government attempted a Guinness World Record to light up 1.71 lakh diyas for at least five minutes continuously amid thundering cheers of residents and tourists present in the temple town.

Having aligned beautifully around 2 lakh diyas filled with over 10,000 litres of oil, 2 lakh cotton buds and around 25kg of camphor, the target was to break the previously held record by Dera Saccha Sauda that had lit up 1,50,009 diyas. Wednesday’s Deepotsav was claimed to be bigger and brighter.

“We were able to keep alight 1,87,213 diyas, as was counted by the team from Guinness records. The official letter after verification of the same will be handed over to us in the next five days,” said Prof Manoj Dixit, vice chancellor of Avadh Faizabad University who with the local populace and the tourism department had attempted the feat.

“The weather was favourable to us with no breeze; that helped us through and through. If all goes well, we will make this a Diwali tradition in Ayodhya now to be followed every year,” added Prof Dixit.

Around 3,000 volunteers, mostly students, helped set up the diyas neatly on the ghats, that later served as the perfect background for people’s Diwali festivities, with reflection of the many temples on the ghats showing in Saryu’s shining waters.

The occasion was followed by innumerable photographs being taken etching for people a memory of the historically unique moment.

Following this, a laser show recreating the Ramayana succinctly followed. A huge white screen showed scenes from the life of Lord Ram in laser light, leaving all enthralled.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / Yusra Husain / TNN / October 19th, 2017

Lucknow girl tops PCS-J exam

Education, Records, All

Allahabad :

Swarangi Shukla of Lucknow bagged the top slot in PCS (J) exams-2016, the result of which was announced by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) here on Friday evening. Vinod Joshi of New Delhi stood second while an IAF ex-sergeant Vinod Kumar Pandey of Pratapgarh clinched the third spot.

Talking to TOI, Swarangi Shukla credited her success to her parents. “I had not expected to top the exams as this was my first attempt,” said an elated Swarangi.

Swarangi had completed her schooling from Lucknow’s City Montessori School in science stream before joining the five-year degree course from Gujarat National Law University . “I think it is hard work and dedication which pays and not the years that one dedicates for preparing the exams,” she said.

Third ranker Vinod Kumar Pandey was motivated by Mumbai blast case proceedings in court to become civil judge (junior divi sion).Vinod had served as a sergeant in IAF for 19 years before superannuation.

“I used to closely follow the Mumbai blast case of 1993, in which public prose cutor Ujjwal Nikam made appearances.

This motivated me to study law and I started taking night class of LLB at Mumbai University ,” said Pandey, who is serving as an entertainment tax inspector at Allahabad.

Similarly , second ranker Vinod Doshi belonging to Uttarakhand is presently employed in CBI in New Delhi.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Allahabad News / by Vinod Khanal / TNN / October 14th, 2017