HCBL Co-operative Bank extends financial assistance to Chikan karigars in Lucknow as part of financial inclusion

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

Lucknow :

One of the leading banks in the Urban Co-operative banking sector of Uttar Pradesh, HCBL Co-operative Bank Ltd has taken active initiatives to promote financial inclusion among skilled craftsmen.

The Bank said it is committed to preserve and promote the age old art of Chikankari, for which the State of Uttar Pradesh is most famous. Chikankari and Zardoji are the traditional crafts of Lucknow city, which are widely appreciated all over the world. To uplift the social and financial promoting this segment .

KK Gupta, chief general manager of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Lucknow recently distributed the cheques of financial assistance to artisans and craftsmen at the Alambagh branch of the bank. Gupta assured artisans that in the coming Lucknow Festival, five stalls would be provided by NABARD to display and sell their products. He praised the efforts of HCBL co-operative Bank for providing financial and other help to Chikankari workers.

He said that NABARD would also help in providing training to the artisans about latest trend and designs in Chikankari. This is the third phase of financial assistance extended to the artisans by the HCBL Bank. Earlier in August and December 2013 too, the Bank had organized similar events in which a large number of artisans had benefited.

Speaking on the occasion, Anil Vikram Singh, chairman of the Bank said, “The Bank has always taken prompt initiatives to provide substantial financial assistance to the lowest strata of the society, specially the artisans and zardoji workers. We hope such financial assistance will make these artisans financially independent and also aid in preserving the age old craft of chikan karigari.”

He said that in future too, the HCBL Bank also aims at providing point of sale options to these artisans to sell their products at the bank’s branches. This will not only help the artisans to show case their products and art but also earn a reasonable income through such sales.

On the occasion, Pawan Kapoor CEO of the bank along with other directors of the bank – Vandana Mehrotra , Pratibha Thukral and other dignitaries were also present. Staff members and other senior officials of the bank attended the occasion.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Priyanka Singh, TNN / July 03rd, 2014

CCSU to help visually impaired in NET preps

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

Meerut :

Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU) is all set to help the visually impaired prepare for the National Eligibility Test (NET).Under recent UGC approval, Braille booklets of 44 subjects will also be distributed.

“The exam, which will take place on June 29 will have facilities not only for the visually impaired as per the UGC approval, but also for physically handicapped students who might need a helper while taking the test,” said Dr. N.C. Lohani, nodal officer and observer of counseling in the university.

He further claimed that though according to rules, students who need a helper had to apply a week before the exam, CCSU has relaxed the rules and will accept such requests till June 28.

The university will also allow the visually impaired to use assistive devices like talking calculator, tailor frame, Braille slate, abacus and geometry kit. “If students are in doubt about the acceptance of their application forms, they can check the university’s website, where a list of students whose forms got rejected is displayed,” said Lohani.

He further claimed that students can bring their application forms with them if they have not received their admit cards.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Meerut / by Ishita Bhatia, TNN / June 26th, 2014

Sulabh to build toilets in Badaun village

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All

Shocked by the Badaun gang-rape and murder case, Sulabh International, which works in the field of sanitation, has decided to construct toilets in all households at Katra Sadatganj village where the horrific crime took place.

Founder of the non-governmental organisation Bindeshwar Pathak decided to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to begin a campaign to build toilets in each household across India and end the problem of open defecation.

“By providing toilet facility in the village, we want to exhort the government and corporate houses to come forward and participate in providing toilet facilities to poor people in villages and towns across India. Lack of toilet facility was the main reason for the rape and murder of the two girls … By adopting this village, we are just setting an example,” Dr. Pathak told The Hindu.

“We will make all efforts to ensure proper toilet facilities in as many poor households as possible. I urge the corporate sector to donate freely to ensure that no house in India remains without a toilet … Each corporate house and big company should adopt one village for this purpose. It will not only address this social evil but will also help in tackling several diseases that happen due to open defecation.”

Dr. Pathak said it was the duty of the government to provide toilet facilities, which would also help check crimes. “Any woman defecating in the open is vulnerable and the government must acknowledge this,” he noted.

Welcoming Sulabh International’s initiative, former Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said the Centre as well as all State governments need to work collectively on the issue of sanitation and women safety. “It is clear from what has been seen in Bihar and now Badaun that open defecation is not just an assault on the dignity but also on security of women,” he told The Hindu.

Referring to Mr. Modi’s slogan “Toilet first, temple later,” he said, “Building toilet at every household will herald an effective social change in society … I will urge the Prime Minister to make it his government’s top priority.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by Sandeep Joshi / New Delhi – June 02nd, 2014

Seminar on Pandit Mishra

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders

Allahabad :

A seminar on renowned litterateur Pandit Shitla Prasad Mishra was organised on Thursday. Various speakers elaborated on diverse aspects of Mishra’s personality. He died June 23 last at the age of 90 years.

Vibhu Ram Mishra shed light on the initial life and education of Mishra. Describing Mishra as an expert on the labour issues, he said that his book ‘Labour problems in Ancient and Medieval India’ and ‘Indian Labour Movement’ effectively summarizes the labour problems in the country. Prof Ramesh Chandra Verma evaluated the personality of Pandit Mishra as a litterateur and commented on his book ‘Akshyavat’ and ‘Sukhi Jeevan’ and other books. Ram Prakash Gupta remembered Mishra as an educationist and lauded his role in establishment of Bamaula School and as manager of Dr Kailash Nath Katju Inter College. Chief guest and former higher education consultant Chandra Vijay Chaturvedi spoke about the various facets of Pandit Mishra and described him as a source of inspiration.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / June 27th, 2014

Shah Jahan’s summer palace found near Taj

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel
The Taj Mahal, built between 1632 and 1653, is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture.
The Taj Mahal, built between 1632 and 1653, is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture.

Agra :

In an interesting discovery following excavations carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India recently, remains of a summer palace, presumably a baradari, a pavilion designed to allow free flow of air – have been reportedly found at the centuries-old Mughal-era garden Mehtab Bagh located opposite the Taj Mahal.

The garden was reputedly Shah Jahan’s favourite spot which he used to visit to get a view of the Taj at night, hence it’s name (Mehtab means moonlight in Urdu).

“The remains of the baradari-like structure have been found just opposite the Taj Mahal which strengthens our belief that the Mughal emperor must have built this place to enjoy the view of the Taj sitting near the bank of river.

The place seems to have sunk beneath the surface either due to floods or because of the presence of hollow space under the structure,” said a senior ASI official.

The excavated remains of the walls at the garden complex, situated on the opposite bank of the Taj Mahal in Agra. (PTI photo)
The excavated remains of the walls at the garden complex, situated on the opposite bank of the Taj Mahal in Agra. (PTI photo)

Incidentally, Mehtab Bagh has been associated with the myth of the black Taj which is believed to have been spun by guides to fascinate foreign tourists. According to the story, Shah Jahan wanted to build another Taj in black marble across the Yamuna and connect the two by a bridge. Mehtab Bagh is pointed out by some as the possible site where the black Taj would have come up.

“There has never been any historical evidence to prove the existence of a black Taj,” said the official.

During excavation work carried out between 1997 and 1999 at Mehtab Bagh, the ASI had found remains of a huge octagonal tank furnished with 25 fountains, a small central tank and a baradari in the east of the garden. “The present work is going in the south direction of the garden in the straight alignment of the Taj Mahal which makes the discovery an interesting one,” added the official.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / by Adithya Dev, TNN / July 02nd, 2014

Dada Saheb Phalke awardee Sharib Rudualvi, Anis Ansari at a mango party remembering Ghalib in Lucknow

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

DEDICATED TO GHALIB:

As the mango season begins, the city folk are happily enjoying mango parties. But this do was a little different from the usual. Organised at a girls’ college, the event brought together Urdu poets, intellectuals and mango lovers.

Anis Ansari
Anis Ansari

The evening was dedicated to the famous Urdu poet Ghalib and the various speakers expressed their views on Ghalib’s fondness for mangoes, how he liked to eat the fruit with missi roti and how the tradition of eating mangoes with missi roti dates back to the times of the Nawabs. The poets read couplets of Ghalib, receiving due daad from guests.

FINE DINE: Dada Saheb Phalke awardee Sharib Rudualvi, Anis Ansari and Anwar Jalalpuri spoke about the varieties and history of mangoes and the stories of fruit linked with the life of Ghalib.

“Around a decade back such events used to be a regular scene in the city’s social calendar letting people indulge in talks and debates and later feast on mangoes with missi roti, but now they are rare,” shared Khwaja Yunus, one of the organisers. After the poetry session, guests gorged on mangoes along with missi roti served with 12 different mouth-wa tering chutnies.

Some foreigners too were spotted at the event. Gabriella, a student from USA studying Urdu language in Lucknow, shared, “I am in love with Lucknow! I am making my mind to shift entirely to India.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / Renu Singh, TNN / June 30th, 2014

Young Scientist Award for Allahabad University alumnus

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

Allahabad :

Allahabad University alumnus Prashant Kumar Rai has bagged the prestigious Young Scientist Award from the Council of Science and Technology (CST). He was selected for the honour by an expert committee constituted for science awards – 2011-12.

The award, conferred by the UP government, includes an amount of Rs 25,000, a citation, a shawl and a memento. Rai has done his PhD from Allahabad University’s Medicinal Research Lab (MRL), department of chemistry, under the supervision of senior faculty member Geeta Watal.

The award function was organised at Sir CV Raman auditorium of CST in the state capital recently.

For his post-doctoral, Rai went to University of Johannesburg, South Africa, and is currently working in the department of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging at AIIMS, New Delhi.

“My work in MRL was on screening of some medicinally important plants like Tricosanthes dioica (pointed gourd or parwal), cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass), psidium guajava (guava), emblica officinal (Indian gooseberry), ficus bengelansis (Indian banyan tree), etc, for diabetes mellitus and its associated complications. I also purified few compounds from Tricosanthes Dioica and the fraction pointed gourd was found to be active mycobacterium,” shared Rai about his work done at AU while expressing happiness over receiving the award.

With 47 research papers published in referred journals of high repute, five book chapters and two Indian patents including on oral delivery of insulin, which is in order to be granted to his credit, Rai said currently he was working at AIIMS on metabolomics or identifying the metabolites from natural products using high resolution NMR (700 MHz).

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / June 26th, 2014

UP govt honours CSIR-IICT scientist with young scientist award

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

Hyderabad :

Dr Surya Prakash Singh, a scientist at the Inorganic and Physical Chemistry Division of the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, has been given the prestigiouYoung Scientist Award by the government of Uttar-Pradesh. The Council of Science and Technology UP Government selects bright and young scientists below 35 years age for this award every year for the recognition of their significant contributions in their respective area of research. The award has been bestowed to Dr. SP Singh on his contributions in the area of chemical sciences particularly on solar energy research.

Dr. Singh is working as a Scientist at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad. He studied chemistry at the University of Allahabad, India, and obtained his Ph. D in 2005. After working at Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan, as a postdoctoral fellow (2006-2008), he joined, as an Assistant Professor at Osaka University, in 2008. He worked as a researcher at Photovoltaic Materials Unit, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Japan (2010-2011).

He has been involved on novel C-C bond forming reactions and synthesis of New and Highly Efficient Sensitizers for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, Organic-Thin Film Solar Cells and published over 85 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 5 patents, editor of two books and author of two book chapters. He is guest editor in chief for several international journals like Advances in Optoelectronics, Journal of Nano Energy, Current Organic Chemistry, and Power Research etc.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / by Ch. Sushil Rao, TNN / June 28th, 2014

CLAT Possible’s Satyam Sahai felicitates ClAT 2014 Lucknow topper Aditya Wakhlu in Lucknow

Education, Records, All

It was time for celebrations for the students of CLAT Possible, from the house of Team Satyam located at Sikanderabagh Chauraha, Lucknow, who recently cleared their CLAT 2014 exam.

Aditya Wakhlu
Aditya Wakhlu

The spotlight was on Aditya Wakhlu, who was the Lucknow topper in CLAT 2014 with an all India ranking of 27, along with other 15 students, who made it to the most sought-after national law universities in India.

The do started with the felicitation of the students by Satyam Shanker Sahai and Surabhi Modi Sahai, chief mentors at the coaching in stitute. Surabhi then gave tips for college life to the students: “The new style mantra for col lege is, un style,” she said.

However, Satyam was quite excited about the successful results of his insti tute. “You are a CLAT Possible success sto ry and make sure you carry this legacy to your law schools and make us the number one brand in Law,” he said.

Tokens of appreci ation and mementos were later distributed to successful aspi rants by Himanshu Kumar, Principal Secretary , Finance, Government of UP .

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / June 29th, 2014

A historic temple of religious amity

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

Lucknow :

From an ancient temple of Lord Jagannath in Chinhat bearing Awadhi Muslim architecture to a Muslim putting up water kiosks during the yatra, tales of religious amity dot the cultural landscape of the city.

Historian Yogesh Praveen, said, “The temple was built by a devotee of Lord Jagannath, but given a facelift by the then-Nawab of Oudh Asaf-ud-Daullah in 1785. The temple’s uniqueness can be spotted on its dome. Instead of the traditional chakra or trishul, there is a crescent.”

In Aishbagh, Rafiq ‘bhai’ for the past decade has been putting up water kiosks at Tikaitganj, the first halt of the yatra by Shri Bhagwan Jagannath Seva Samiti, to help the hundreds of chariot pullers quench their thirst.

“It gives me immense satisfaction that I am able to help hundreds of devotees,” said Rafiq.

Thanking him, office bearer of the Samiti Saket Sharma said, “We hope the practice continues”.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / June 29th, 2014