From a laid-back Nawabi culture to Hi-Tech hub: Why Lucknow is the new startup destination of India?

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Lucknow is known for many things besides its ‘tehzeeb’ (etiquette). Its history, politics, food, clothes, music, culture and language are traits of a city steeped in rich traditions. Today, I am going to share with you how this historic Indian city is fast embracing the hi-tech startup culture.

Lucknow-StartupLUCKNOW13aug2014

Last week, the city hosted the second edition of ‘Bootstrap Weekend’, an initiative aimed at supporting startups.

“I used to speak in many conferences regarding the lack of startup eco-system in Lucknow, the legendary capital of Uttar Pradesh, even after having an IIM in town and couple of IITs nearby. After mulling over it for some time, I took upon this responsibility to build an eco-system here. ‘Bootstrap Weekend’ is a weekend meetup event which I have just kickstarted. In our first meetup in January, 12 people turned up from eight startups, including one woman entrepreneur and an enabler – Michelle Abraham from Villgro. We have decided to meet every month on Saturdays or Sundays,” said Durgesh Nandann, Founder, InMotion Media. Durgesh has been relentlessly working to make Lucknow a startup-friendly city.

“The meeting gave us a glimpse of the endless possibilities in this space; we were inspired and humbled by the experiences shared,” said Akansha Singh, Founder – Café 3105, the only woman entrepreneur who attended this meetup.

Challenging the common perception that cities like Bangalore and Pune are the only places for tech startups, young entrepreneurs here are convinced about their reasons to choose Lucknow and how this city presents a unique opportunity.

Anurag Rastogi, co-founder of NewGenApps, says, “We shifted base to Lucknow in 2009 and have grown from a three-member team to over 50 people today. We had strong reasons to be in Lucknow, and let me outline some of it here for you:

– Having worked in geographies across the world, I thought why do we need to go outside India to flourish? I had Netherlands and Australian work permits, and a US H1B. I let all those expire and decided to build a company in Lucknow, it’s my town and I wanted to contribute my bit in making it a tech hub.

– We knew there is great talent in Lucknow and Uttar Pradesh at large. Many people cannot leave their hometown to work in Bangalore or NCR. We started creating opportunities for the talented folks here to stay closer to their homes.

– Indian IT success story is largely a services success story. We believe we can build world class products from India. That’s how xiffe.com came into existence, bootstrapped and funded by NewGenApps services revenue. It’s a world class product for designing and prototyping mobile apps. We will build more of these products.”

Lucknow-Kanpur corridor (90 KM) has some of the greatest talent available. As the ecosystem influencers come together to channelise this potential, with right vision and good governance, we can build one of the best tech hubs here. Let’s not ignore that Kanpur has an IIT, and Lucknow has an IIM among many other notable institutions.

Anurag had noted: “Victor Hugo once said ‘all the forces in the world are not as powerful as an idea whose time has come.’ Lucknow’s time has come. India cannot grow without UP growing. We have almost one-fifth of India’s population and would be the fifth largest nation in terms of population if it were an independent country. We need more of our countrymen to come back from abroad and build Lucknow and UP into a great developed state.”

Praveen Kumar Singh, co-founder of Lucknow headquartered Healthtokri.com, says, “After deciding to start an online healthstore, the next thought was, where to start it from. So first it was Gurgaon but after 10-15 days of brainstorming and surveying, we found out that we will not be able to afford the operating costs and manage operations there. Lucknow was the best available choice for a bootstrapped venture like ours.” Praveen and his business partner were encouraged when their decision to startup in Lucknow was validated with the fundamental requirements for their business already in place in the city — availability of all products across most of the brands, good connectivity with the rest of the country, presence of all major e-commerce shipping carriers and mentorship support.

“The reason for starting out of Lucknow in 2010, came from the observation that most IT companies here were operating in outsourcing model. My drive was to bring technology and its impact to people of Lucknow or to put it broadly – to Uttar Pradesh. Soon after we started, Microsoft identified our potential and partnered with us for the
implementation, support and customization related activities of e-governance projects in UP & Bihar,” said Nikhil Kumar, Co-founder, Trendsetterz.

Nikhil mentioned, “Microsoft provided us with two rounds of funding for developing products which will help them pitch Office 2013 as a line of business application. We are still working in alliance for the improvisation in the features of the product. It will soon serve the business purposes of various public departments.” For this young entrepreneur, the biggest sense of happiness and pride comes from his 25 member local team. And, a well furnished 2200 sq.ft office space adds on to the journey.

Pramesh Agarwal runs an online library, 300stories.com, out of Lucknow. He surveyed the market in the city and found a big need for the service he was offering. He said, “It’s easier to make mistakes in a smaller city with minimal capital and expand to mature markets after fine-tuning the model.”

Durgesh said, “The idea of working with rickshaw drivers was born in Lucknow after meeting a number of drivers and finding a pattern in their problems. InMotion Media took birth in this city to address these problems which were particular to this part of the country. The problem is solvable and I needed to work here before expanding to other markets. I know Lucknow inside-out, if you are brought up in any city, you develop a comfort level with the city; for me it’s the same with Lucknow. This understanding with the city was enough to convince me to work here ignoring all the odds and lack of an entrepreneurial culture.”

InMotion expanded outside Lucknow in UP and in other states as well. “It was much easier to expand than to start in Lucknow, may be because we have seen the hardships here. This city embraces you and at the same time toughens you as a businessperson,” he adds.

On a lighter note, Durgesh adds, “My friends or people in my network who visit Lucknow are always mesmerized by the beauty of the city, and I often hear remarks like ‘we would love to settle here’, in fact, I took Rashmi Bansal for a city tour and she loved it, saying – ‘it was a Sunday perfectly spent.’ ”

Madhukar Pandey, national head, MeraDoctor firmly believes in the human capital which the city has to offer. “We have talented human resource in the city, and the city is far more economical than others. If you show the young people in the city that they can grow here, then there will be no reason for them to move to other cities. We have seen it happening at MeraDoctor and it’s very motivating.” Madhukar also believes that people in Lucknow are warm and their sense of ownership towards work is very high. Startups run on adrenalin and one cannot ignore the emotional intelligence which people from small towns naturally have.

Only time will tell how fast Lucknow will embrace the startup culture, but one thing is for sure, these entrepreneurs are passionately bringing about winds of change. One cannot but remember Mahatma Gandhi’s famous line, ‘Be the change that you wish to see in the world.’

I believe numerous factors are working together to shape this growth. Some of the key developments favouring Lucknow are:

An ‘IT City’ is proposed to be built on about 100 acres of government land at Gajaria farms on Sultanpur Road in Lucknow. The state government had given approval for the city in April 2012. The state has proposed 40 IT/ITeS parks (apart from IT SEZs), two biotech zones and a knowledge park.

Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of mobile subscribers in the country, total of 121.60 million mobile phone connections out of 861.66 million in India, according to the telecom regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, TRAI, as of May 2013.

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India with 199,581,477 people as of March 1, 2011. The state contributes 16.16% of India’s population. The population density is 828 people per square kilometre, making it one of the densest states in the country.

It has a young demographic population which is bringing global experiences back home.

“In my entrepreneurial journey I had to face a lot of obstacles. I wish Bootstrap Weekend in Lucknow existed 25 years back when I had started, I am sure then my journey would have been different. It was exhilarating talking to such bright minds that my only wish was to turn the clock back and start all over again,” Alok Misra, MD, Benchmark Enterprises and a serial entrepreneur, said after attending Lucknow’s Bootstrap Weekend event — a clear indication of changing times.

As Machiavelli puts it, ‘One change leaves the way open for the introduction of others,’ let’s watch out and participate as this Nawabi city embraces a change which, I believe, is here to stay.

What do you think about this change? Do you want to participate in this growth story? Are you an entrepreneur based in Lucknow? I look forward to hearing from you. Also, please get in touch with Durgesh Nandann, if you want to participate in the Lucknow story.

source: http://www.yourstory.com / Your Story / Home> by Shradha Sharma / February 27th, 2014

No netagiri, only iNetagiri, if this techie from Lucknow has his way

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Entrepreneurs are among those who are most influenced by decisions made by the government. And as leaders in different spaces, you would have a strong opinion or two about politicians, governance and the general state of affairs. The problem is, how do you get your ideas across to your elected representatives? That’s where iNeta, a futuristic platform for transparent politics, can make a difference.

The rise of AAP and catapulting of IIT grad Arvind Kejriwal into the chief minister’s seat in Delhi after mass campaigns involving citizens indicates that the time is ripe for initiatives like iNeta. If an awakened electorate wants to have a say in governance, what better way than to use technology and the web to facilitate the process?

An idea whose time has come

AkramKhanLUCKNOW13aug2014

Software engineer Akram Khan started thinking about this long before Anna, AAP and Arvind arrived on the scene. He was talking politics with his flatmates in Hyderabad in 2007, when it struck him that there was a need for a new age communication platform to dialogue with elected representatives. He was working with Mindtree then. The consensus was that meeting leaders to tell them about any issue was very cumbersome if not impossible.

Around then, Tata launched the Jago Re campaign, and Akram’s friends thought he had come up with an idea whose time had come. But it remained dormant as Akram didn’t know how to develop on it. He went on to do other things: An MBA, a stint as the business development guy with his friend’s startup Innocent Technosoft – a mobile application and game development company based in Lucknow – and a startup of his own in the software consultancy space.

It was 2012 and a next generation platform that enables open governance still didn’t exist. So, “I thought, why not take it up again? By now, I had enough experience and knowhow to develop it,” Akram told YourStory.

iNeta went live on 2 October 2013 – the birth date of Mahatma Gandhi. The space in which iNeta operates is different from other platforms like Voterite, which are more into campaigning. “iNeta is about solving people’s problems. It is about open governance and taking e-governance to the next level.”

It is based on the idea that people want to talk to elected leaders about issues that affect them. “People need an audience with their leaders. It is an attempt to make governance open source, like how it should be in a true democracy,” explained Akram.

“It is often rightly said that the road to Delhi goes from Lucknow and that is where we are based. It is the hub of political activity in India,” Akram says. He runs iNeta with his friend, Ankur Srivastava, an IT engineer and a clean politics enthusiast.

“We are funding iNeta from our own pockets right now. Since I am a web developer, there are no bills to pay for developing the site. But of course, there are other costs. We are looking to expand and hire cartoonists, writers and analysts. So we have to look at ways this could be achieved,” Akram says.

iNeta-pageMPOs13aug2014

Risks of the plunge

Akram says it was his basic curiosity to look for solutions to problems around him and see if they succeed or not that led him to entrepreneurship. “I am already working on my next idea while I develop iNeta for scaling.”

Like most entrepreneurs, the big risk for Akram too is financial. He has an education loan to pay off. The EMI makes him “always cash-strapped”, he quips. “Apart from that I am not afraid. I believe persistent effort is required for success and if I keep at it I would be successful.”

Born and brought up in Lucknow, Akram did his engineering from the Manipal Institue of Technology. After eight years in South India, he moved back to Lucknow to startup. “My initial plan was to develop a site like shiksha.com while I was doing my MBA in 2009. But it did not materialize and I had to drop it,” he recalls.

He learnt web development while working at Innocent Technosoft. “I was more of an idea guy and always used to look for someone to develop it. Since I did not have enough funds to get my ideas developed, I thought, let me try building one on my own. I trained myself in web development and started doing web consultancy to make money,” he says.

Akram lives in a joint family, where his mother looks after the house and father runs a manufacturing unit for textile accessories. His younger brother is a doctor. He has two sisters. One is a journalist with a leading Urdu newspaper in Noida and the other is doing her M.Tech in Biomedical engineering.


Getting politicians to respond

The political climate of India is such that it would take mainstream parties a lot of time to understand the power of a platform like iNeta and how to effectively utilise it, Akram feels. “We have spoken to several political leaders who liked the idea but are not quite keen to get on board as they think it might hurt them – which could be true, but this kind of platform is the future.”

The problem iNeta tackles is quite universal. People elect their leaders and then get to see them only when their elected term is about to get over. Even if a leader really wants to connect with people, there is no dedicated platform for this. It is impossible for him to meet every individual in his constituency anyway. This is where iNeta comes in with a web-based interactive solution.

Talking numbers, there are 790,000,000 (79 crore) voters in India. Of these, 120,000,000 (12 crore) are first-time voters. “We consider all the voters as part of our market because everyone at some stage or the other has a problem and would like their leader to be available to at least listen,” Akram says.

Currently, they have a working product ready and live. “We are improving it on a daily basis. Funding would really speed up our expansion plans.”

The best part about iNeta, he says, is seeing how happily people receive the idea when he talks to them about it. “When we tell someone about iNeta there is a big smile on their face as if this is something which they have been looking for and would love to use.”

To take it forward to a larger audience, they plan to try an SMS module, where people would get to know more about the contestants in their constituencies by sending an SMS. “We would be creating a blog and introducing our website in our Facebook and Google+ groups and other online forums. Later on, we might go for online advertisements as well,” he says.

Right on top of their list of priorities, though, is to get political parties on board, using the platform to engage with voters. “As they are the ones who would eventually answer to the people, unless they come on board, it is a useless idea. So that is top priority as of now.”

If enough people get on to iNeta, we bet politicians will soon follow, in this election season.

Are you curious about how Arvind Kejriwal won over Delhi in a year of starting the Aam Aadmi Party? You might like this: 5 secrets to the success of AAP

source: http://www.yourstory.com / Your Story / Home / by Malavika Velayanikal / February 10th, 2014

West UP birds like Red-headed falcon now ‘endangered’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, World Opinion

Meerut :

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its updated ‘Red list’ has featured three birds of UP West – the red-headed falcon, the woolly-necked stork and the Himalayan griffon. The last of these migrates to West UP in winter.

These birds have been added to the list of endangered species recently released on IUCN website. The list is based on the studies jointly conducted by the Bombay Natural History Society and Bird Life International, based in UK.

Rajat Bhargava, ornithologist and senior scientist, BNHS, said, “The inclusion in the list means these birds have now entered the threatened zone. Out of these three birds, the Himalayan griffon is an occasional visitor during winter.”

This year, 172 birds from India are in the endangered list, seven more than the 165 listed last year. “The main reason for the dwindling population of these birds is the shrinking grasslands and wetlands, the natural habitats of these species. Industrial activity and use of chemicals in agricultural processes also threaten these birds”, Bhargava said.

The Himalayan griffon, a species in vulture, has been hit by the use of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, administered to livestock, on which the vultures feed. The increased number of crows and stray dogs, that also feed on carcasses, threaten the vultures.

Birdlife International is the official agency responsible for preparing the IUCN Red List of globally threatened birds. This was earlier done once in three years. The list is now revised every year.

Caption: Woolly-necked stork is seen during winters in cultivation and marshy areas of Meerut. It feeds on lizards, frogs, crabs and large insects.

Caption: Red-headed falcon prefers open country with wide cultivated plain along with groups of trees, groves and villages, and avoids dense forest. Pairs usually hunt in concert by driving prey (small birds, rodents and lizards) out from leafy branches.

Caption: Himalayan griffon is among the largest birds, a species of vulture, and perches on rocks and makes a rattling sound when descending on a carcass. They feed on old carcasses, sometimes waiting for a couple of days near a dead animal.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Meerut / by Sandeep Rai, TNN / August 09th, 2014

40 students from 7 districts express their heritage in German

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, World Opinion

Allahabad :

Sangam city witnessed a unique confluence of German and Indian culture when around 40 students from seven districts of the state assembled to creatively express the heritage and tradition of their respective cities in German language. The occasion was a German language camp organised as a part of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s German language school curriculum. The programme was being conducted by Kendriya Vidyalaya, Varanasi region and Max Mueller Bhawan.

Take for instance the pictorial description of Varanasi with caption by students of class 7 and 8. With ‘Gott Buddha’ for ‘God Buddha’, ‘Fluss Ganga’ for ‘flowing Ganga’, ‘Der Tempel’ for ‘Temple’ and ‘Der Sari’ used to describe the popular Banarasi sari, the poster by students presented a live picture of the city as a cultural-heritage city.

Students from the KV of Allahabad, Rihandnagar, Basti, Shakti Nagar among others expressed themselves in German. 13-year-old Pratyush, student of KV, who gave a vivid description of Varanasi as ‘Banaras is a heritage city through which river Ganga flows. It flows silently…The city lanes are crowded and traffic snarls…’.

Commenting on the workshop and programme, project coordinator at the Goeth Institute, New Delhi, Puneet Kaur said, “children from Kendriya Vidyalas of Allahabad Region have assembled to improve their German language skills while discussing their immediate environment in their city.”

The workshop concluded with the valedictory session, addressed by the deputy commissioner KVS Varanasi Region, PV Sai Ranga Rao. Interacting with the students, he said, “the efforts put in by the host school, KV New Cant is worth an applaud and so is the enthusiasm of the students.”

He also said a collaborative programme such as this would help students in shaping their career as learning German as a second language gives them better prospects.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / August 07th, 2014

A desi treat on Chhote Lohiya’s birth anniversary

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders

Lucknow :

Distributing moti choor laddoos in political events is passe and has made way for authentic local delicacies. The state government on Tuesday served Balia’s famous ‘hathi kaan poori’ and boondi at the inauguration ceremony of the Janeshwar Mishra Park, named after the senior socialist political leader, also known as Chhote Lohiya.

The pooris are a specialty of Ballia, the birth place of Mishra, and are almost the size of an elephant’s ear. They are eaten with a curry of potatoes and pointed gourd (parwal), wet boondi and mango chutney. The same meal was served to about 18,000 people at the event in Gomtinagar Extension.

Around 200 cooks were hired from Ballia for the preparations that began four days ago.

“We are making these pudis since 4am today to feed about 16,000 people who are expected. We have brought eight quintals of desi gourds from Ballia,” said the caterer. The dining options for the VIPs included three additional vegetables and maal puas. There were 36 counters and each served about 500 plates.

For the first time in Uttar Pradesh, aluminum shades from Germany were used to protect the gathering from fire and rain. A popular dancing troop from Mathura was called to perform.

Chief secretary Alok Ranjan said, “This park will be one of the largest parks in Asia and will develop many conceptual gardens based on themes like rose, bougainvillea, Mughal, lily, French, Bombay gardens, etc.” The workers suggested an Ayurvedic garden should also be developed in the park.

The preparations in the run-up to the inauguration had been on for months. Engineers from Lucknow Development Authority had slogged throughout July to complete landscaping, plantation and construction of the 11-acre water body in the park before opening it for the public.

The chief minister, cabinet ministers, chief secretary and senior officials from the housing department visited the site many times to ensure arrangements were in place. However, overcrowding, mismanagement and heavy rains a day before ruined the venue’s decoration.

As water had seeped inside the tent where food had to be prepared, the resultant sludge had to be covered with large quantities of loose sand in the morning. Even then, many areas had turned into muddy pools.

A spectator said, “It doesn’t look like a park in the first impression. Heaps of used sweet boxes are thrown near the entrance and the soil has tuned into sludge. There is no greenery at all.”

Besides, there wasn’t adequate facility for parking cars at the venue. People left their cars in the nearby lanes, near roundabouts and on flyovers.

Info:

Proposed features of the park:

Developing the park in about 376 acres (70 acres have been developed at present)

Creating water bodies in about 40 acres

Plying boats resembling Venice’s gondolas in the water body

Developing a 10.5km pedestrian walkway

Developing a 5.28km cycling track; cycles to be given on rent

Horse riding facility, golf course, 8.85km jogging track

Plantation of 2,500 trees

Children’s play area, workout station, amphitheatre, parking space

Providing sports facilities like cricket, football, skating rink and lawn tennis

Developing volley ball, badminton, basket ball and adventure zone court

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / August 06th, 2014

Breaking barriers, Vrindavan widows celebrate Raksha Bandhan

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

After actively participating in Holi and Deepawali in the past, the widows this time marked the occasion, by tying ‘Rakhi’ to children and holymen in the holy city.

Breaking barriers, Vrindavan widows celebrate
Breaking barriers, Vrindavan widows celebrate

Apart from around 800 widows, at least 100 children from various schools of Delhi took part in Rakhi celebration which was organized at Meera Sahabhagini ashram.

The initiative was taken by Sulabh International, which is working for improving the condition of the widows and bringing them to the mainstream besides ensuring their social assimilation. The organization looks after a thousand widows living in five ashrams here.

Countering the age-old social evil of widowhood, several widows have taken shelter in this holy city.

About 100 widows, mostly in their 80s, were engaged in making colourful Rakhis in Meera Sahabhagini and Chetan Vihar ashram to organise Rakhsha Bandhan at a large scale.

They started making Rakhis right from the first week of July and prepared around 1,000 sacred threads.

The widows shared food with school children and upper caste sadhus and brahmins on the occasion.

The widows also participated in cultural programs especially chalked out for the occasion.

Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak, who takes care of around 1,000 widows in Vrindavan, said that such an initiative would bring cheers to their lives.
‘This is my idea on how to change thoughts, behaviour and attitude of the people of this country towards widows, who are their mothers, sisters, and aunties,’ Pathak said.

A collection of 2,000 colorful Rakhis and sweets would also be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the widows who have expressed a strong desire to meet him and urge him to ensure their all round welfare.

At least ten widows would visit the PM residence with Rakhis on behalf of around 2,000 widows living in Vrindavan and Varanasi tomorrow on Raksha Bandhan hoping to meet Prime Minister Modi.

Manu Ghosh, who is more than 80 year old, hoped Modi would accept Rakhi from his sisters.

‘We’ll organize many such programs for them in near future,’ Pathak said.
Sulabh, known all around the world for promoting the concept of low-cost sanitation, started taking keen initiative in the welfare of widows after the Supreme Court took strong exception last year to the manner in which the bodies of widows, who lived in government shelter homes at Vrindavan, were disposed of.

source: http://www.post.jagran.com / Post Jagran / Home> States News / by Jagran Post News Desk – Jagran Post Editorial / August 09th, 2014

UP goes wild with eco-tourism packages

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

Lucknow :

You need not look far for your next holiday. The state government is now offering eco-tourism packages in selected sanctuaries including the Nawabganj bird sanctuary.

At the start of the tourist season in October, there will be eco-tourism packages for Sandi (Hardoi), Katarniaghat, Chuka (Pilibhit) and Samaspur (Rae Bareli). Bookings of rest houses will be made online, making the allotment process fair.

“We plan to first equip a few centres will all tourist facilities,” said forest corporation MD Iqbal Singh. The forest department’s website has information on different categories of eco-tourism packages. It also has sections for nature lovers and eco-tourism sites in the state.

Uttar Pradesh has one national park, 11 wildlife and 24 bird sanctuaries but eco-tourism has been limited to Dudhwa National Park and a few locations around it. The state has never had an eco-tourism policy.

On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved an eco-tourism policy with four guiding principles: conserving environment, developing community-based tourism, developing partnership with the private sector and creating and upgrading infrastructure facilities for tourists in wildlife sanctuaries.

The forest department has tied up with an NGO to promote ?environment education’, also a part of eco-tourism. A conservator-level officer has been appointed only for promoting eco-tourism.

“It also aims at gainful employment of local people,” said the official. Locals, mostly rural folks, will be encourages to play hosts or guides to tourists and will be paid for the services.

Potential eco-tourism sites in UP

Katarniaghat on Gerua river in Bahraich; Chuka ghat in Pilibhit on Sharda dam; Chambal ravines in Agra; Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary in Unnao; Chandraprabha Rajdari waterfalls and Deodari waterfalls in Varanasi; Sarsainawar Sarus Sanctuary in Etawah; Sandi Bird Sanctuary in Hardoi; Noida Bird Sanctuary and Kalpi river cruise in Yamuna in Jalaun

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

Ancestral house of Premchand remained closed

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Varanasi :

Lamahi , the birthplace of great novelist Munshi Premchand, witnessed a series of programmes being organized during Lamahi Mahotsava to celebrate the 134th birth anniversary of the great author on Thursday.

But, the ancestral house of Premchand situated adjacent to the celebration venue remained closed during the function disappointing visitors who had come to view the house.

The celebration commenced with garlanding Premchand’s statue. People started visiting the village after 11am. Several plays based on the works of Premchand were staged on the memorial ground and nearby Ramlila ground. Besides, a group of folk singers performed Birha recital on the occasion.

The three-day Lamahi Mahotsava organised by the cultural department began with a seminar at Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith on Wednesday. The celebration will conclude at Cultural Complex on Friday. Several activities including dance and drama by school children will be held on the concluding day.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / August 01st, 2014

Dandupur basks in Punam’s glory; gets ready to welcome its famous daughter

Sports

Varanasi :

A nondescript one-room brick house, with an asbestos shade on the front verandah in Dandupur village, about 5 kms from the district headquarters on Varanasi-Sindhora Road, waits for its proud daughter Punam Yadav, the winner of weightlifting bronze at Commonwealth Games at Glasgow.

“It is a matter of pride for us and the entire nation that a rural girl had won a medal. We will celebrate the victory when Punam comes home,” said her mother Urmila Devi, a homemaker who has four other daughters and two sons. Punam’s father Kailash Yadav, a farmer, on Thursday left for Swami Adgadanad Ashram at Shakteshgarh in Mirzapur district to solicit seer’s blessings for his daughter.

“It is ashram seer’s blessings that gave strength to Punam to win the medal,” said her mother, who was quite excited while sharing her feelings on the success of the 19-year-old.

Punam lifted a total of 202 kgs in the final of women’s 63 kgs class at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She is also a bronze winner in the Asian Juniors.

The condition of their house is a testimony of financial constraints the family has been facing over years in backing their three weightlifting daughters. The family has a small piece of land and a couple of cattle to meet all the requirements. Punam, the fourth daughter, is performing at international level, her elder sister Shashi Yadav and younger sister Puja Yadav are national level weightlifters. Her two elder sisters Kiran and Shashilata have been married.

“The family got financial support from well-wishers particularly from an uncle of Punam to fulfil her dreams,” said Saheb Singh Yadav, her sister-in-law. It was her dedication and hard work that won her a medal, he said.

Her brothers Ashutosh and Abhishek, both high school students, were happy over the success of their sister.

The members of Saptsagar Yadav Maha Sabha too were delighted over Punam’s success. “We feel proud that a daughter of Kashi had won medal for the country,” said Pramod Yadav, president of the organization.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav recently announced to honour and give cash awards to all the medal winners of the state in the ongoing Commonwealth Games at Glasgow.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / August 02nd, 2014

US tourists top international footfall list at Taj

Records, All, Travel

Agra :

At 12%, US nationals formed the largest chunk of international tourists to the Taj Mahal in 2013 followed by UK (8%) and Germany (7%), stated a June 2014 World Bank presented to the Agra district administration. The report titled ‘Destination profiling, tourism enterprises and value chain assessment’ aimed at assessing Agra’s potential to be developed as a tourism hub under a pro-poor tourism development programme.

The programme aims to provide better tourist facilities in the state so that the poor can earn a livelihood via revenue generated off tourism. The report states that every year, over 7 lakh foreigners visit the Taj – one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the focal point of tourism in Agra. But only one-third of foreign nationals who visit the 17th century mausoleum make a trip to the equally noteworthy Agra Fort and Fatherpur Sikri.

Delhi tops the list of domestic visitors to the Taj with 17.9% share, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan. However, the report cautioned that the figures, based on ticket sales at the ASI monuments and check-ins at Agra hotels are approximations only. Agra’s potential for development as a pro-poor tourist hub remains unrealized as only a little over 50% of foreign tourists stay overnight, while others prefer leaving the city by evening after visiting the Taj.

In other words, out of 7.4 lakh foreign tourists who came to Agra in 2013, 4.03 lakh stayed overnight. On the other hand, only 5% domestic tourists stayed overnight. “Overnight stays can have greater impact on the local economy.

Hoteliers largely attribute this decline to opening of the Yamuna Expressway facilitating day trip from the national capital. Adverse publicity (crime) and lack of tourism options beyond major monuments are other factors for less night stay” the report said, adding that in comparison to 94-330 US dollar a foreign tourist should spend on a one-day tour in Agra, only 40-110 Us dollars are spent. The 2013 Uttarakhand deluge has also affected the number of tourists visiting Agra, it stated. Foreign tourists’ inflow to Taj Mahal decreased by over 29% in June 2013 as compared to June 2012.

This is attributable to the rising number of crimes in the country sand the 2013 Uttarakhand flashfloods. According to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), 4.29 lakh foreigners visited Taj between June and December 2012, while only 3.29 lakh turned up during the corresponding period in 2013. The trend continues in 2014 as well with 1.55 lakh visitors in January and February, compared to 1.75 lakh in 2013 fort he same period.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / Aditya Dev, TNN / July 22nd, 204