JK group chairman Gaur Hari Singhania passed away today following a heart attack.
Singhania (80) was also the president of JK Organisation and a promoter director of JK Cement Ltd since its inception in 1994.
A sports lover, he was the chief patron of Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association. He is survived by his son Yadupati Singhania.
He was cremated this afternoon at Bhagwat Das Ghat in the city.
Expressing his condolence, chairman and managing director of Jagran Prakashan Mahendra Mohan Gupta said Singhania was a true well-wisher of Kanpur city, where he was born on June 12, 1935.
“Gaur Babu not only promoted sports-related activities in Kanpur and the state but also participated in all industrial activities,” said Gupta, who is also the former president of the Merchant Chamber of Uttar Pradesh.
In the field of education, he contributed to various universities and had opened an university at Udaipur, Rajasthan.
Singhania held chairmanship in other companies, including Jaykay Enterprises, JK Cotton and JK Traders.
He served as the chairman of the Merchant Chamber of Uttar Pradesh and the Employers Association of Northern India. Apart from that, he was the founder chairman of the UP Stock Exchange and founder patron of the Associated Chamber of Commerce.
Singhania was a director in various corporations such as Pradeshiya Industrial Investment Corporation of Uttar Pradesh, UP State Industrial Development Corporation and Uttar Pradesh State Sugar Corporation.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Business> Story / Thursday – February 05th, 2015
In Their Shoes, Atul Sabharwal’s documentary on the leather industry of Agra, is making all the right noises. Atul reveals the idea which prompted him to go ahead with this documentary.
“I realised that my father was slowly nudging me out of the family business. The same was happening to my brother as well. My father is a man with a great foresight and he wasn’t happy with the current situation of the family business. He had this idea that it’s going to be a bad phase in future. When I assessed the entire situation, I came to the conclusion that there are certain issues which need the government’s attention,” says Sabharwal.
Sabharwal had already made a mega TV show Powder before directing the Arjun Kapoor-starrer Aurangzeb in 2013, but then he decided to trace his roots.
“See, Aurangzeb was the stepping stone in my career as a filmmaker. That happened and thus after it I decided to go with this documentary because it was also a quest to find answers to some personal questions.”
He further says, “I had some money saved from my fee as director from Aurangzeb. I invested that in ‘In Their Shoes’. I also did some writing assignments. The film was shot in 2013, so it kind of developed brick by brick. Also, the studio was very supportive. I made the film first. I got the first voices first and then later supported them with research during editing.”
There are hardly any filmmakers in Bollywood who go to documentaries after making a hardcore mainstream commercial film. Clearly, Sabharwal is not one of them. “The commerce of Hindi films is different, and making films just for the sake of making it was never my criteria. In my opinion, such constraints should never stop a filmmaker from doing a film of his or her choice.”
Agra is an integral part of In Their Shoes. Atul says, “Agra is very important in the film. Similarly, Mumbai was central in Powder and Delhi-NCR, in Aurangzeb. I was born and brought up in Agra, so it had to bear an impression on the film. There was a strong emotional connect as well.”
“Agra needs the government’s attention. Our shoe industry is getting killed due to the dumping of Chinese goods. It’s time to act to rebuild the age-old industry, especially when our honourable PM has announced the Make In India campaign,” adds Sabharwal.
(Interact with Rohit Vats at Twitter/@nawabjha)
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Entertainment / by Rohit Vats, Hindustan Times, New Delhi / March 16th, 2015
(L-R) Simran Sahni, Rajesh Ramchandani and AK Mathur
The Department of Business Administration, LU, along with the Lucknow sub-chapter of TiE, an association of entrepreneurs, organised a seminar for college as well as school students, and budding entrepreneurs.
Titled, ‘My Story’, the event saw two successful entrepreneurs of the city, Rajesh Ramchandani and Pankaj Agarwal, addressing the gathering and sharing with them their journeys.
While Pankaj spoke about his experiences in the education sector, Rajesh narrated his remarkable journey from a small town boy to a globe-trotting industrialist. The speeches had their share of emotional as well as humorous moments, and were thoroughly appreciated by the audience.
The objective of the event was to inspire management students to take to entrepreneurship rather than pursue the time-honoured goal of getting a ‘good job’.
The event was well attended by students from LUMBA and other management institutes, as well as by members of Lucknow Management Association’s Young Managers Forum.
Sachin Sahni, member of TiE took care of the proceedings along with Khushal Bhargava. Prof Medhavi, the Head of the Department of Business Administration of Lucknow University also addressed the audience.
The event concluded with the students of a city school giving a presentation on entrepreneurship, led by their principal Dr Manjula Goswami.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Saloni Tandon, TNN / March 12th, 2015
Her curly hair swayed and sari fluttered in the air as she rode down Hazratganj, on a bright green Vespa scooter, back in the 1960s. This is the picturesque memory of ace badminton player Meena Shah several Lucknowites shared on Tuesday, after she breathed her last, early morning following a cardiac arrest at a city hospital. She had just celebrated her 78th birthday on January 31. At a time women could not move out of the four walls of the house, Meena flicked her wrist effortlessly with a badminton racket in hand. Unmarried, the Muslim woman taught the game to three generations of her friends and their families.
An Arjuna awardee and Padma Shri recipient, Shah ruled the badminton circle for several years. Winner of the singles title in the Senior National Badminton Championships for seven years in a row (1959-1965), Meena was among the first Indian women in sports. She had also won the women’s doubles title thrice and the mixed double’s crown twice. Shah had also been conferred with the prestigious Uttar Pradesh Laxman Award.
“Meena and I have been friends since 1960 and since 1979 and I had been taking care of Baby as I used to call her fondly,” said Mauveen Shaw, who had been her support at their home in Qaiserbagh, recalling how Shah would help any stray animal. “I remember we saw an injured horse lying on the pavement around Parivartan Chowk area. Everyday both of us took grass from La Matiniere Girls College, where I taught and we fed the horse. For the next few days, every time the horse heard the scooter horn, it would neigh in response,” shared Meena’s closest friend. There were times Meena would forget to refuel the scooter and stranded till the next fueling station, they would drag the vehicle to the horse, added Shaw.
“We used to play gulli danda together at the Lalbagh grounds, even before we were coached by T N Seth for badminton around the same time,” said Shah’s childhood friend Ann Marie Kalra, adding, “With one agile movement of her wrist, she would make her opponent run across the entire court, running and gasping for breath, while she stood there smiling triumphantly.” Ann’s daughter Jaya Kalra said, “The scooter was called ‘Chhappan battees’ by everyone in the social circle, and she would always take along more than three people on it at a time. I remember the times when because of her illness in the later years, she would tie the shuttle to a thread on the clothes line and keep hitting at it. She could not walk without support at that time, but her love for the game was phenomenal. She taught everyone and children she loved most.”
Recalling the first time he saw Shah playing at the Asian Badminton Championship held in Lucknow, retired officer K K Bali said, “She was playing there with the likes of Nandu Natekar, Suresh Goel and if I remember correctly, Prakash Padukone. Her heavy frame never came in the way of her game. She had racy movement and fast reflexes.”
Mohammad Haider, head, legal and regulatory affairs in a private telecom major said, “I remember being taught by her in the badminton court outside her house. Her turns and technique were sharp.”
An admirer Rana Safvi recalled, “I had met her in school when I was in class VII. She was an icon, not just for budding badminton players, but for all women of that time.”
‘Loss for entire baddie frat’
President of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) Akhilesh Das Gupta condoled death of Padma Shri Meena Shah on March 10. Gupta said it was a loss not just for Lucknow but for the Indian badminton fraternity. General secretary Vijai Sinha informed that two minutes of silence were observed at BBD Uttar Pradesh Badminton Academy, as a tribute to the seven times senior national badminton champion.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Yusra Husain, TNN / March 11th, 2015
Veteran journalist and Outlook’s editorial chairman Vinod Mehta died in New Delhi.
I first met Vinod Mehta across the net of a table tennis table. We were at a TT coaching camp in Nainital; he was already the UP champ while I was a budding junior. I was the youngest in the group, and small for my age and so was subjected to bullying by a particularly nasty older and bigger boy. Vinod came to my rescue, and for the 15 days of the camp he became my protector, his weapon a sarcastic wit to which the bully boy had no answer. Was this a sign of Vinod’s later championing of the underdog?
We met years later in London purely by accident. The National Film Theatre was premiering Merchant Ivory’s Shakespearewallah. Somehow, in spite of the years, we recognised each other. When we came out of the theatre, we saw Ismail Merchant, James Ivory and the star of the film Felicity Kendal at the door. Vinod and I looked at each other. “We must talk to Felicity,” we said in unison. We looked at each other again. “You go first,” he said. “You go first,” I said. This table tennis like rally went on for a while with both of us indecisively stuck to our spot when a limousine came and whisked Felicity away.
I suppose that was the last time shyness held Vinod Mehta back. When I came back to Bombay in the early 70s he was already here. He had self published ‘Bombay, a Private View’, a rather presumptuous book considering he was a young man who had just come to the city, but it was a statement of intent. Vinod wanted to write; even more, he wanted to be in journalism, and perhaps the book was his passport into this desired territory. He soon met Susheel Somani, an industrialist who had shocked his conservative family by launching Debonair, India’s answer to Playboy.
It was a rather poor answer, but Vinod as editor transformed it. Its nudes continued to be terrible (Vinod probably gave only a fleeting moment to them), but Debonair became a magazine you wanted to read. The qualities that made Vinod Mehta such a very different editor from the usual mould were on display here: his lively irreverence, his unflinching honesty, his sharp wit and his penchant for the gossipy anecdote. He gave me my first column (which he called Dharker’s Dilemma) and I met him quite often but his real Bombay friends were Behram Contractor (Busybee to his countless admirers) and Mario Miranda (the cartoonist). They formed Bombay’s gossip troika, and one wonders how many reputations were good naturedly demolished every evening over a bottle of Old Monk.
Vinod was greatly influenced by British journalism and his oft-stated ambition was to start a Sunday paper like London’s Sunday Times or The Observer. Ashwin Shah of Jaico Publishers gave him that opportunity with The Sunday Observer and while Vinod ran it, it was probably the best Sunday paper in the country with often provocative articles and a letters page which became a Vinod Mehta trademark — opinions of every shade were allowed to be expressed, the more against the paper’s views the better.
What distinguished Vinod from his contemporaries was that he was no respecter of reputations, and politicians particularly were the objects of his mockery. That’s why when he moved to Delhi, he never developed a cosy relationship with ministers and politicians. His run-ins with proprietors was partly a result of this at-arms-length attitude. His falling out with Vijaypat Singhania at The Indian Post and LM Thapar’s Pioneer were spectacular in their suddenness, but he was stubborn in not following any diktats. In the battle that ensued someone had to go. Obviously that was the Editor.
If he stayed at the helm of Outlook for 17 years it was not because he had mellowed in his approach but because in Rajan Raheja he found a proprietor who supported him in full. In one of his books, Vinod tells the story he calls ‘Foster PM’, of how Ranjan Bhattacharya, with the help of NK Singh and Brajesh Mishra, seemed to bypass Prime Minister Vajpayee in awarding major contracts to dubious firms. The consequence of the detailed stories was an income tax raid with 700 officials (as reported by Hindustan Times) descending on the group’s offices in 12 cities. Outlook, fortunately, didn’t flinch and continued its anti-establishment ways with Arundhati Roy’s long diatribes (10,000 words plus) in sensitive issues like Kashmir, terrorism and Naxalites and gave full rein to the Radia tapes, all of these invariably treading on government and corporate toes.
In a sense, Vinod’s career encapsulates the uneasy relationship between the state and the media: we have on the surface an unbridled free press, but the sub text is, you can go this far, but no further. What Vinod Mehta showed is that if you are fearless, if you are ready with your resignation letter in your pocket (his phrase), you can keep pushing the boundaries one step at a time. You might offend a lot of people, hurt many interests, but in the end you will have bravely served the larger cause. Vinod Mehta continued doing this till the very end.
(Anil Dharker is an Indian columnist and author)
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities / by Anil Dharker, Hindustan Times / March 08th, 2015
Science graduate Aditya Kumar has dedicated his life to teaching in the slums of Lucknow. (AFP File Photo)
Every day, Aditya Kumar cycles around 40 miles with a heavy load of books and his few possessions on the back of his battered old bike to bring education to India’s slum children.
The science graduate has dedicated his life to teaching in the slums of Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, and home to some of the country’s most deprived communities.
He takes no money for his lessons, which he gives all over the city, parking his bike up wherever he is needed and staging an impromptu outdoor lesson.
“These children do not know what a classroom looks like. Until I met them, they had no reason to visit a school,” Kumar told AFP during one of his lessons, gesturing to a group of rapt-looking pupils.
A Right to Education Act passed in 2009 guarantees state schooling for children from six to 14 in India.
But education activists say schools are often overcrowded or inaccessible, or that the quality of teaching is so poor that children simply stop going.
Poverty is also a major driver, with India home to the largest number of child labourers in the world.
Kumar, who does not know his exact age but thinks he is in his mid-40s, has been conducting his mobile school for around two decades, with no fixed curriculum and no standard text books.
Most of his pupils are under 10 and have no education at all.
He teaches them functional English and mathematics, with the aim of getting them to a standard where they can start going to a regular school.
“I can relate to the lives of these kids. I know how tough life can be for want of an education,” says Kumar.
As the son of a poor labourer who wanted his children in paid work as soon as they were able, Kumar had to fight to go to school.
He managed to find a place in a government-run establishment, but he ran away from home when he was a teenager because his parents insisted he stop studying and start earning his keep.
For a while, he lived on the streets, before meeting a teacher who spotted his potential and helped him graduate from university in science.
In return, Kumar helped his new mentor with his teaching — and found his vocation in the process.
He has no teaching qualifications, however, and says he never had any ambition to become a proper school teacher.
He believes he can make more of an impact on literacy through his mobile school, which he says reaches around 200 children a day.
‘No mean feat’
Government figures show that around 97% of children of primary school age are in education, but campaigners say the true figure is far lower.
Many of those who do attend classes are failing to learn the basics, according to a major, annual survey of school children in rural areas released in January.
Only one quarter of children aged eight could read a text book meant for seven year olds, the survey of 570,000 students found.
“Overall, the situation with basic reading continues to be extremely disheartening in India,” the survey, by Indian education research group Pratham, concluded.
Kumar’s solo efforts are applauded by child rights activists, including teacher Roop Rekha Verma who said it was “no mean feat” teaching from a bike.
“I am so glad that his efforts have exposed so many underprivileged children to the world of words,” the former vice-chancellor of the University of Lucknow told AFP.
“And with this exposure these children now have a reason to attempt accessing newspapers and books,” she said.
But she stressed much more needed to be done to help India’s millions of impoverished children facing bleak futures receive an education.
To earn money, Kumar occasionally does paid tuition for private students. But mostly he lives on charitable donations, sleeping on the streets like many of his pupils.
When Limca — the makers of a soft drink that publishes India’s answer to the Guinness Book of Records — wanted to honour him for his work in 2014, the certificate had to be mailed to a well-wisher as Kumar has no fixed address.
“I am used to it,” he told AFP. “I have learnt the art of surviving.”
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities / AFP, Lucknow / March 11th, 2015
To mark the International Women’s Day, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) recognised Chhavi Tiwari, senior research associate at Banaras Hindu University, as Super Woman for her dedication to empowering women farmers by making them aware of the value of micronutrient-rich wheat.
According to BHU spokesperson, she has been working with the Harvest Plus programme with active collaboration and support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to empower women farmers by making them aware of the value of micronutrient-rich wheat. Her on-farm training programmes increase their understanding of crop and soil management techniques, aiding in the improved production of wheat varieties high in zinc content.
CIMMYT grew out of a pilot programme sponsored by the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation in the 1940s-50s to raise Mexico’s farm productivity. The wheat specialist in this program, Norman Borlaug, worked with Mexican researchers and farmers to develop strong, short-stemmed varieties that resisted the rust diseases and gave much more grain than traditional varieties.
The relationship between India and CIMMYT is one of the longest and most productive in the world of international agricultural research and development. For more than 40 years, scientists from India and CIMMYT have been working together to improve food security and agricultural production systems.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) report, Zinc deficiency is attributed to 800,000 deaths each year and affects about one-third of the world’s population. It can lead to short stature, hypogonadism, impaired immune function, skin disorders, cognitive dysfunction and anorexia. Additionally, it causes approximately 16 per cent of lower respiratory tract infections, 18 per cent cases of malaria and 10 per cent cases of diaorrhea worldwide.
According to CIMMYT, enhancing the micronutrient content in wheat through bio-fortification is increasingly seen as an important tool to help improve the livelihoods of the most vulnerable, poorest and least educated sectors of society. Working closely with women’s self-help groups, Chhavi demonstrated the importance of wheat varieties high in zinc content through a participatory variety-selection approach, increasing the potential agronomic and nutritional benefit of these varieties for fast-track adoption.
Through her inclusive approach, a great deal of interest in high zinc wheat varieties has been generated among women farmers. Her efforts have contributed to the adoption of nutritious wheat varieties the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, leading to the potential for technology dissemination in neighboring states. Engaging with rural women farmers is a core interest of Chhavi’s. She consults women farmers on their views and gives them the opportunity to participate in a decision-making process that increases their investment in agriculture and nutrition. Her activities play a crucial role in uplifting women by alleviating malnutrition and hunger through nutritious wheat.
Chhavi is the recipient of the 2010 CIMMYT- Cereal System Initiative of South Asia (CSISA) research fellowship and the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum Award from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative in 2014.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / by Binay Singh, TNN / March 08th, 2015
Nine months ago, Teer Gran in Meerut was in the news for all the wrong reasons – communal clashes had broken out, claiming one life. Several people were injured. Few are aware, however, that Teer Gran is home to the Muslim families that make the colourful Holikas that Hindu communities traditionally burn on Holi eve. This locality is also called ‘Holi Mohalla’.
Around 25 Muslim families here make more than a 1,000 Holikas which find their way to various west UP cities besides Meerut. Mohd Yunus, 50, has a small shop near the lane leading to Bhairon Temple. On Tuesday, there were numerous life-size effigies, decked up and colourful, with feminine features, lining his shop.
“Holika symbolizes victory of good over evil. Hindu legend has it that after demon king Hiranyakashipu demanded that he be worshipped, his son Prahlad remained defiant, and said he would only worship Lord Vishnu. The king’s sister Holika, on instructions from her brother, attempted to burn Prahlad alive by taking him in her lap and sitting on a pyre. Holika had a magic shawl with which she could save herself from burning. She hoped her nephew would be reduced to cinders. When the fire was set, however, the shawl flew and enveloped Prahlad instead. Holika was burnt to death. Prahlad escaped unhurt,” Yunus explains.
For generations, Yunus’ family has been making effigies of Holika that are burnt on the eve of Holi festivities.
“We have no records, but for hundreds of years our family has been making these effigies.” There are about 25 Muslim families that make Holikas in Holi Mohalla. The effigies are made with waste paper, masks and colours.
Shaukat Ali, another resident of the area, said, “We need to make about 1,000 Holikas every year. These travel to Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat and Muradnagar.”
The Holika effigies are the work of entire families. With time, interestingly, volumes have grown. Mohd Wasim, an effigy maker, said, “Earlier, communities would select one place to burn the Holika, which was made on order, and would be quite tall and expensive – we have made effigies 20 feet tall, costing about Rs 2,000, at least. Now, as cities have expanded, even small colonies have their own Holika burning ceremony. Volumes have grown, but the size of each Holikas has shrunk. These days, we make Holikas about five feet tall, costing about Rs 250 each, at most.”
While the Muslim families here make Holikas ahead of Holi, they also make effigies of Ravana ahead of Dusshera. “The Ravanas are rather more difficult to make. For the rest of the year, we make decorations for temples and mosques,” Wasim said.
Asked of his experience during the riots last year, Yunus said, “Buddhi bhrasht ho jaati hai logon ki (people go out of their minds) in time of riots. No one wants riots. These are all politically motivated, and everyone only suffers a loss. Thankfully for us, every time communal tension happens here, Hindu friends ask me to move to a safer place and take responsibility for my shop.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Meerut / by Sandeep Rai / March 03rd, 2015
Dinesh Kumar, 44, an ice cream hawker in the city, believes in sharing his opinion about day-to-day issues concerning people’s lives. That’s why he spends hours outside the collectorate every day and comes out with a hand-written newspaper by the end of the day. With little means, the option of circulating the paper is ruled out, so Kumar takes out its photocopies and pastes it on city walls.
Kumar says he writes about issues that don’t even make it through the vernacular press. “I try to highlight those issues which are not covered by the mainstream on vernacular media. I start my day by reaching the collectorate office at 10.30 am and scanning Hindi newspapers. Sometimes when I witness something of consequence happening around me, I pen my thoughts on that too,” he says.
“There are three reasons why I started writing. First, I try to make suggestions to the administration on how to solve problems that affect the public. My second motive is to spread social awareness. And finally I am hopeful that people who indulge in criminal or immoral activities will change after reading my newspaper,” explains Kumar.
Master Vijay Singh, a local activist, is perhaps Kumar’s most loyal reader. Singh has been protesting outside the district magistrate’s office against land mafia for nearly 20 years, and says, “Though his writing skills are not exceptional, since he dropped out of school after class VIII, sometimes the issues that he touches upon really appeal to me. He had once told me that he wanted to become a lawyer. Despite not having acces to a television, internet or a smartphone, he is quite well-informed.”
Kumar says he sends a copy of his paper to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and Prime Minister Narendra Modi every day. But does anybody take notice? “Additional district magistrate Indramani Tripathi tells me he likes my work. Former district magistrate Surendra Singh called me to his office and told me I was doing a good job,” he says
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Meerut / by Pankul Sharma, TNN / February 25th, 2015
TWO MUCH FUN: The campus of National Institute of Fashion Technology, Raebareli buzzed with activities like poster making, painting, singing, dancing, basketball matches, fashion show and so much more during the two-day annual inter-college sports and cultural fest, Fashion Spectrum 2015, which ended recently. The fest saw students from NIFT as well as other colleges of Raebareli and Lucknow actively taking part in various competitions held during the extravaganza.
JUST A CLICK AWAY: Apart from various campus activities, the most sought-after corner on the campus on day one was the Selfie Station, where the students had to click and submit their selfies under various categories. While Ashlesha’s selfie with her yellow specs won her the Best Portrait, Supriya Rao’s selfie of her shadow not only earned her many compliments, but also helped her win the prize for Best Faceless Selfie.
KUCHH BHI: However, the real hero on the campus was Sanjeev Kumar Singh. Sanjeev, who was making jewellery out of scrap, had the girls coming up with requests to design pieces for them. The femme brigade especially loved the necklace he made using the bottom part of plastic bottles. Even teachers like Nivedita and Shresha made special requests to Sanjeev to design jewellery pieces for them.
WORTH THE WAIT: The real fun started on day two of the fest with activities like basketball and a fashion show being lined up for the students. The basketball competition saw Chandresh Mehta and Makush Mohan scoring some excellent baskets.
The evening was reserved for the most awaited part of the fest – the fashion show. The chief guest for the evening was Kumar Keshav, Managing Director, Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation. The first round saw the students showcasing various garments under the theme Deep Ocean. Choreographed by Prashant Kumar and Tini Komal, the students walked the ramp wearing attires in shades of blue, turquoise and white. Round two of the fashion show had the NIFT students showcasing futuristic garments under the theme Avant Garde.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Akash Wadhwa, TNN / March 09th, 2015
