Rural cricket stars in a league of their own

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Sports

Lucknow :

Idiosyncratic batsmen, charged audience, nail-biting run chases, unpredictable results— It’s all there at the Indian Grameen Premier League (IGPL), a rural cricket tournament being played barely 18km away on the outskirts of the city.

Now in its third season, the IGPL which was started in December 2013 has in fact gained so much popularity among the local lads that foreign-educated MBAs, young entrepreneurs and budding politicians are among those who have either formed or joined one of the 16 participating teams. Among the strong contenders are BKT Superkings, BKT Blues, Bhawani Tigers, Rukhara Royals, Young Fighters, Eleven Fighters, Abbasiya Cricket Club and Chhatamil Cricket Club. Many of the popular players in these teams are known not by their original names but by the names of international players they resemble in playing style or looks.

For example, Atul Mishra of BKT Superkings is called Dhoni because of his helicopter shot and wicket keeping. Ranjeet Singh of Bhawani Tigers is often compared with Australian all-rounder David Hussey and Hafir Zubaid from Mohanlalganj team is known as Hashim Amla beacause of his looks and batting style. Another player from Mohanlalganj was cheered as Kieron Pollard because of his physique and ability to hit long sixes without footwork.

Participating in IGPL for the first time, London-return Manvendra Singh, the captain of BKT Superkings says, “Even after pursuing a business management course from Great Britain, I couldn’t leave my passion for cricket and decided to form my team. My team is a good mixture of young blood and experienced players.”

On the other hand, the captain of defending champions Bhawani Tigers is a home guard in the fire department, Sanjeev Singh. “No matter which team is playing, my players know how to uproot the stumps of the opponents. Unlike other players, who tend to shift to other teams for better opportunity after the season ends, our teammates stick together and that’s why we rule,” says Singh.

The man behind the sporting league, Anurag Bhadauria, better known as ‘Bhaiyaji’ among youths in the area, says, “Being a local and a diehard cricket fan, I initially thought of an idea to utilize the energy of idle and unemployed youths into something from which they can benefit from and hope for opportunities.”

Giving the example of Amrendar Yadav, a 31-year-old youth who does commentary for IGPL matches, Anurag said, “Like many other village boys, Amrendar too was depressed because of unemployment and even attempted suicide. But this league has given him opportunity for employment.”

He added, “Sports have a lot of potential to change the nation. Take the example of Brazil. Over here, we don’t have lush green grass or proper kits to play, but still these boys are trying to find opportunities in their passion.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / Arvind Chauhan, TNN / October 09th, 2014

Potters work overnight to meet demand of designer diyas

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

This Diwali, the demand for designer ‘diyas’ has increased manifold and city based potters have started working meeting the requirement. A Naini based potter said, “Diyas occupy a special significance during the festival and the demand for for both ordinary and designer diyas has risen”. He added, “Despite the fact that markets are flooded with LED and Chinese lights, people are still going for the traditional diyas every Diwali. With the changing trends, potters too are wheeling out designer diyas. During the puja of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi, people still light diyas as no electrical light can replace our traditional medium.”

Potters, however, said people now prefer diyas to decorate their houses as well. Pooja, a buyer said, “Diyas offer a unique picture on the festive occasion which could not be matched with lights”.

Archana Mishra, a house wife said, “LED lights cannot replace diyas. Even mythological tales on Diwali mention use of diyas. It is said that these earthen lights not only help in lighting the physical path but the spiritual path too.” Kumar, a potter, said, “The sales of designer diyas has picked up in the past few years. Besides small vendors, shops selling gift items too have started keeping designer diyas.” City potters are working overnight in order to meet the demand of designer diyas this festive season.

Currently, not only elders of the potter’s family but youngters are too busy designing diyas this Diwali. According to them, it is the best time to show their caliber by drafting designer diyas.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / October 12th, 2014

Freedom fighter Captain Abbas Ali dies

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All

Freedom fighter Captain Abbas Ali, 95, died of a heart attack around Saturday morning, at a hospital here.

Ali was a captain in the Indian National Army led by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Later he joined the socialist movement and was a close associate of Ram Manohar Lohia.

He left party politics in 1988.

His son senior journalist Qurban Ali told IANS: “Captain Sahab was active till the last minute”

Abbas Ali was born in in 1920 Khurja, Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. Early in life he was inspired by Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-IANS> Politics / IANS / Aligarh – October 11th, 2014

IIT-Kanpur adds hope to Moonj craft revival dream

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technology

Kanpur :

Nineteen-year-old Meena Kumari can now make a moonj basket on her own. She also dreams to be an entrepreneur and revive the dying art of weaving Moonj baskets from grass. Sahana, a moonj craftsperson, wants awareness about this form though her children do not wish to follow the family tradition.

Meena and Sahana’s dreams are fired by a bunch of students of IIT-Kanpur students who are helping them in various ways under an MHRD initiative to revive this famous craft form of Uttar Pradesh, products made of wild grass called “moonj.”

And, as the institute gets immersed in its annual fest – Antaragni – Meena and many practitioners of the art proudly display their skills at a stall on the campus.

Meena was trained in less than three months by students associated with the research lab under IIT-K’s master of design programme.

“Moonj products are simple but attractive and eco-friendly,” said Meena, who studied computer science from an ITI, as she sat knotting the grass in spirals at the stall on Friday.

Naini, a village on the banks of Yamuna in Allahabad, is a major producer of moonj. Moonj and kasa are types of wild grass that grow on the banks of the Yamuna. The grass are found in abundance along the air strip in Kanpur too.

“Moonj is the outer layer of a type of grass called ‘sarpat.’ This layer is peeled off and knotted as it is easy to store and dry. These knots are locally known as ‘balla’. Kaasa grass is dried and wrapped with moonj grass by rolling around kaasa. The motifs of basketry are created by adding colored grass (after dyeing the original grass) in between,” said trainers Pooja Mishra and Jyoti Bahadur of IIT-K.

Nearly 90% of womenfolk in Naini are involved in moonj basket making. “I am making moonj products since four decades. But, my kids do not want to do this as they do not find this lucrative. I am happy that awareness about this craft is growing which will lead to people coming forward to get this form into the mainstream,” said Sahana, a moonj craftsperson from Naini.

Textile designer Neelam Gupta (28) left her job in Delhi to learn moonj craft. “I have seen my mother work on moonj craft since I was six. However, she could not continue as she had myopia and nobody from our family took interest in this craft form. When I got to know about this project, I decided to leave my job and work for reviving moonj craft,” said Neelam.

Moonj coiled grass products are used as containers, food storage devices, coasters and wall decorators. “Moonj craft also has traditional significance as the products are gifted to women in ritual functions and weddings,” said Pooja. Recent additions are cooker cover, bowl stand, glass cover, and cutlery box.

Project in-charge, Koumudi Patil who is a faculty of humanities and social sciences at IIT-K, said: “We are working to develop the community by looking into their frugal technology to promote moonj craft right at the grassroot level. The project aims to take the craft to the mainstream. Artisans will be engaged with the design process as well as entrepreneurship training so that they can earn their own livelihood.”

Besides, students at IIT-K who are part of the project are devising a mechanism to upgrade the technology in order to increase production. “The manual process is time consuming. At times, it takes weeks to design a moonj product. We are trying methods, which can be used in needle movement for knotting the spirals so that the products are masterly crafted. To create a space in the market, we need to increase production without affecting employment,” said Mohit Soni, final year mechanical engineering student involved in the project.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Isha Jain, TNN / October 11th, 2014

Sangam City a part and parcel of 160 yrs of postal service

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

The postal department will complete 160 years of glorious service on Wednesday. However, many of us are unaware that the Sangam City has been a vital spot in this journey and has many firsts to its credit. From the launch of first horse cart postal service to air-mail and railway-mail service, the city has always been the first choice.

The credit of launching horse cart service in 1841 goes to prominent trader of chowk area Lala Thantimal. Owing to diversified business, he felt the need for a speedy mail service and hence the first horse cart service came into existence. His mail service also used to carry letters of public but for a price.

The launch of service led to Lala Thantimal’s business growing by leaps and bound. Later, he finally settled in Kanpur. “A decade later, he started postal company ‘Inland Transit Company’. Initially, the company carried mails and parcels between Kanpur and Calcutta (now Kolkata). The services were later expanded to Meerut, Delhi, Agra, Lucknow and Varanasi,” said director, postal services, Krishna Kumar Yadav. Thantimal’s great grandson Vinod Tandon now lives in Kanpur but is engaged in separate business. Incidentally, Yadav has conducted an extensive research on the topic.

In another first, the Britishers in 1864 launched railway-sorting section between Allahabad and Kanpur. “The section was later converted into rail mail service which now occupies over 70% of postal delivery services in the country,” said the director.

The world of postal services was, however, revolutionized by world’s first airmail service. It too was started from Allahabad to satellite town of Naini in 1911 and carried letters of freedom fighter Motilal Nehru written to his son Jawaharlal Nehru.

“The first air mail took off from the Parade Ground in February 18, 1911. It carried 6,500 letters and after 13 minutes it landed near the Central Jail in Naini,” said Kumar, adding Allahabad was the most suitable place for starting the postal service as it was situated between Kolkata and New Delhi and between Mumbai and New Delhi.

It may be mentioned here that a clergyman of the Holy Trinity Church, currently situated on Sarojini Naidu Marg, requested Englishman Walter Windham to participate in an exhibition on Parade Ground with his aircraft. There, Windham performed an aerial show to raise funds for the construction of a hostel. As a part of their contribution, a lot of people had also posted letters with postage stamps which were delivered to Naini.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / Vinod Khanna, TNN / September 30th, 2014

UPSNA revives Akademi awards after 12 years

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Lucknow:

The prestigious Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi (UPSNA) awards for music, dance and drama which were discontinued in 2003 have been revived. This was announced by UPSNA president Naved Siddiqui and secretary Veena Vidyarthi on Thursday.

“Besides a shawl and brass plaque, awardees will be given a purse money of Rs 10,001 on November 11,” said Siddiqui.

The past 12 years awards will be given in retrospect in two phases. To begin with, awards this year will be given for those entitled between 2003-2008 and in the next financial year the remaining till 2014 will be honored.

Out of the 115 entries, 66 have been shortlisted (11 artistes are awarded annually) to be honoured with Sangeet Natak Akademi awards and 12 for Ratan Sadasyata at the three-day fest from November 11-13 to mark the centenary of UPSNA.

Ratan Sadasyata will be given to Sulochana Brahaspati (classical music) and Hari Prasad Chaurasiya (flute) for 2003; N Rajan (violin) and Daya Prakash Sinha (stage drama) for 2004; Savita Devi (light classical music) and Rajan Mishr (classical music) for 2005; Chhannulal Mishra (classical music) and Anoop Jalota (light classical music) for 2006; Saadat Hussain (qawwali) and Anil Rastogi (drama) for 2007 and Mudra Rakshas (drama) and Wilayat Jaafri (drama) for 2008.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / October 10th, 2014

‘Fellow of Academy’ award to BHU prof in plastic surgery

Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

Varanasi:

Head of the department of plastic surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences of Banaras Hindu University, Prof V Bhattacharya was awarded with the ‘Fellow of Academy’ by National Academy of Medical Sciences for his immense contribution in the field of medicine along with the new inventions in plastic surgeries.

Every year, National Academy of Medical Sciences awards the diligent plastic surgeons for their contribution in the field of medicine and this year, Prof V Bhattacharya has been chosen and would be honoured at the 54th National Convention on October 18 in Hrishikesh.

Prof V Bhattacharya is known for the invention of new technologies and contribution in the field of plastic and cosmetic surgeries and has also received various accolades like Kilner Prize, HariOm Ashram Award for his work and contribution in the field of medicine. For the holistic development of the world of medicine, he has also created two short films of which ‘Sushrut – The Father of Plastic Surgery’ holds a significant place on an international level.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / October 09th, 2014

Clean India campaign unearths century-old record

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

While preparing for Thursday’s ‘Swatch Bharat’ campaign, the Department of Post recently stumbled upon century old records hidden beneath stacks of files in its store room. The archival documents, throwing light on the functioning of postal services in the British regime, were in a dilapidated state.

The officials and the public have so far been oblivious to the existence of such records that have academic interest. As the officials went through the records maintained in English, Hindi and other languages, they were surprised to find many unknown facts, including the one that malaria drug ‘quinine’ as earlier used to be sent through post offices.

The document says, “Quinine is almost finished. There is a stock of only two packets. The branch master should write to assistant director, public health malaria, Lucknow for new supply.”

Similarly, records dated January 24, 25 and 26, 1905 and signed by the then Post Master General of United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (border almost identical to present Uttar Pradesh) says, “The horses of Allahabad are the best I have seen in this circle. Most of them are in very god condition, but some are thin. Post Master has prepared a statement which shows that some of the horses are overworked.”

He wrote that he want a similar statement from Cownpore, Lucknow and Agra after which he would take any action.

Further during the inspection, the then British Post Master General found plague had hampered the work in the city and the number of absentee in the office had also increased affecting the work.

The document reveals that Allahabad had earlier been the focal point of business transaction among others. Now the officials have decided to maintain and preserve the records.

“The swatch bharat abhiyan was a blessing in disguise as we got rare records related to postal services in Allahabad circle. The service of the circle was termed as the best by the then Post Master General. At present the records and documents running into several pages are being studies and will be preserved,” said KK Yadav, director postal services, Allahabad region.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / by Vinod Khanal, TNN / October 01st, 2014

Waqf board spanner in film shoot at Old City haveli

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

Lucknow :

A majestic pre-Independence era haveli in Old City is caught in a controversy with the UP Sunni Waqf Board asking district administration to halt shooting schedule of a Hindi film in it.

Tucked away in the congested Akbari Gate area on Abdul Aziz Road, Ahmad Manzil was built in 1922 and belonged to tobacco merchants Ahmad Ali and Sons of global fame. In the 1940’s, owner Khan Bahadur Syed Ahmad Husain Rizvi declared it wakf property and laid out conditions under which the property was to be utilised by his descendants. The current mutawalli (caretaker) Iqbal Rizvi allegedly granted permission to the makers of ‘Tanu Weds Manu-2’ to shoot inside the building.

This has irked other residents of the haveli who allege that shooting of the film in the building is against the will of the wakif Khan Bahadur Syed Ahmad Husain Rizvi. “Shooting cannot be allowed since no such activity can take place on the haveli compound without unanimous consent of all beneficiaries of the property. Also, nothing that’s against the ‘Shariah’ (Islamic jurisprudence) can be allowed,” says Fareed Rizvi whose letter to the Waqf Board prompted the latter’s letter to the district magistrate.

Incidentally, the Waqf Board had written a similar letter to the DM during the shooting of ‘Dabangg-2’ but by the time a district administration inspection team reached the venue, shooting for the film had already concluded.

When contacted, the haveli’s caretaker Iqbal Rizvi remained tight-lipped on the issue. DM Raj Shekhar said the Wakf Board letter could not be tabled for discussion due to holidays but appropriate action will be taken after studying the facts of the case.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City>Lucknow / by Ali Rizvi, TNN / October 08th, 2014

Keeping alive the memory of Begum Akhtar

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Uncategorized
Begum Akhtar
Begum Akhtar

As the Centre rolled out a year-long commemoration of the birth centenary year of ghazal queen Begum Akhtar on Tuesday, the lament of her disciples and close confidantes is that Uttar Pradesh – the State where she was born and lies buried – has shown no interest in keeping her legacy alive.

Coins released
The official launch of the birth centenary commemoration with the release of commemorative coins at National Museum here saw another disciple Rita Ganguly enthral the houseful gathering with a rendition of her teacher’s aye mohabbat tere anjaam pe rona aaya…’’

But for recent efforts by individuals to salvage what remains of `Pasanda Bagh’ in Lucknow – where Begum Akhtar was buried in October 1974 – even her grave would have been lost to encroachers. Now, the space around her grave and that of her mother’s has been restored — courtesy a grant from the Department of Archaeology of the Government of India – and this evening resonated with the voice of Shubha Mudgal.

“But not many people will be able to attend Shubha’s musical offering as `Pasanda Bagh’ has shrunk to almost the size of a room where not more than 40 people can be accommodated. Our effort is to have an annual ‘Urs’ on her ‘barsi’ but we need a bigger venue so that the public can participate in larger numbers. But this is not something that the few of us can do on our own,’’ said Salim Kidwai, founder-member of Sadbhavna Trust.

“We maintain the mazaar from our own pocket,’’ Mr. Kidwai said; adding that successive Uttar Pradesh governments ignored efforts to get some local governmental support. “We are hoping that the State Government will at least include her mazaar in the tourism map as people have begun visiting it ever since we redid the place two years ago.”

Website soon
Vocalist Shanti Hiranand – a disciple of Begum Akhtar who along with Mr. Kidwai drove the effort to restore the mazaar — told The Hindu that one of the pressing tasks ahead is the setting up of a website on the ghazal queen who was equally accomplished in the `dadra’ and `thumri’ genres of Hindustani classical music. The website will be set up as part of a project of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts which will also organise a three-city showcase of Begum Akhtar as part of the commemoration.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by Anita Joshua / New Delhi, October 08th, 2014