Azamgarh

MADRASSA TURNS TECH-SAVVY

2011-07-09T15:32:00.000+05:30

A CENTURY-OLD ISLAMIC SEMINARY IN AZAMGARH HAS A CURRICULUM THAT INCLUDES SCIENCE AND COMPUTERS TO KEEP UP WITH THE TIMES

AZAMGARH: Re-inventing itself to keep pace with the times, a century-old Islamic seminary in Azamgarh district not only has a broadbased curriculum with science and computers but also a polytechnic to equip its students with vocational skills.

Apart from the Quran, the madrassa also imparts knowledge in English, science, mathematics, political science, economics, Hindi and computers. Several alumni are doing research in various universities in India and abroad.

Fakhrul Islam Islahi, vice rector of Islah, says that modern education is not incompatible with Islam.

“ We don’t believe in differentiating between education,” said Islah, who also heads the department of Arabic of Shibli National Post Graduate College in Azamgarh city.

“ Science and mathematics are helpful to understand Islam and obey its commandments.

It is difficult to solve inheritance questions and disputes without knowing mathematics,” he said.

The Islamic law of inheritance is an important subject of Islam that is necessarily taught in madrassas.

English has come a long way here and is no more viewed from the pre- independence lens as the language of the oppressor

What makes the madrassa stand out is that it is located in a place often associated with terror and Islamic fundamentalism.

Azamgarh made headlines after the Batla House shootout of 2008 in Delhi in the immediate aftermath of the serial blasts in the capital. Two suspected militants, both Azamgarh natives, were killed in the incident.

Many of those accused of the Sept 13, 2008, Delhi serial bombings belonged to Azamgarh. Following the incident, many local youths were arrested in connection with different terror attacks across the country, which maligned the image of the district.

DID YOU KNOW?
Established in 1908 at Saraimir town in Azamgarh, Madrasatul Islah is one of the oldest Islamic religious schools in the region.

1,000
No of students from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra that study at the madrassa

Decentralised renewable energy holds the key to rural electrification

2011-07-02T12:01:00.001+05:30

Announcement / Economy July 01, 2011, 19:07 IST

National consultation on RGGVY demands revamp of scheme

With Centre’s ambitious Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana failing to provide quality electricity access to rural India, at a National Consultation organised by Greenpeace, restructuring of RGGVY to include decentralised renewable energy for quick and reliable electricity to all, was the key issue on focus. The consultation brought together government agencies, energy experts, policy makers and civil society representatives (1).

Member of Parliament D Raja expressed concern on the findings of the social audit and raised questions on the effectiveness of the scheme. “How long will rural areas have to wait before they get energy empowered? The scheme raised people’s hopes but has dashed them again by not being able to provide reliable and quality electricity, which is not more than a few hours in some areas. The government must rectify the loopholes so that people get what is their right. Their right to electricity, their right to work, study and do business even after dark, their right to growth and a better life,” Raja said.

“The centralised grid based approach of RGGVY has not been able to meet people’s aspirations. Rural areas have always been neglected in this energy hierarchy. Decentralised renewable energy can break this hierarchy and provide quick, reliable and sustainable power to people. The planning commission should consider and include it in the scheme,” said Divya Raghunandan, Campaigns Director, Greenpeace India.

This shift to decentralisation was echoed by Deepak Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of new and renewable energy, recently at the global energy forum at Vienna, Austria. He highlighted the need for a fundamental rethink in India’s approach to rural electrification, and the failure of the currently prevalent grid extension approach towards fulfilling the mandate of electricity for all. He emphasized on decentralised distributed generation models (DDG) operated at the local level which rely on renewable energy sources and technologies as the way forward to deliver on energy access. This would deliver faster on access while reducing costs around centralised grid extension (2).

Ahead of the national consultation, Greenpeace conducted social audits and public hearings on RGGVY in 31 villages across Madhubani and Saran districts in Bihar, Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh and Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh.

The social audits and the public hearings clearly brought out the inconsistencies in the claims made by the Centre’s scheme and what the reality at the ground level.

In a shocking expose, it was found that while the information on the RGGVY website claimed that Saran and Madhubani districts in Bihar had achieved 100 per cent and 97 per cent electrification, in reality, almost 78 per cent of the population at Saran and almost all villages in Madhubani had no access to electricity. Similarly, in Azamgarh, eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP), the RGGVY website claims electrification upto 93 per cent, while in reality a large number of people have been denied even an electric connection. In energy deficient UP and Bihar, the supply is highly erratic and unreliable.

In Andhra Pradesh, where villages have access to electricity, RGGVY has failed to achieve intense electrification that it set out to do. Improvement in electricity infrastructure has not translated to improved supply and failed to meet the demands of the people who want electricity for more than just lighting purposes. Moreover, lack of awareness and entitlements under the scheme has lead to entry of contractors and rampant corruption as people of the area alleged in our public hearings.

“The scheme has not been able to provide even basic electricity to rural areas because it has envisaged grid extension in the absence of quality and reliable electricity supply. There are inherent problems in the scheme that need to be rectified. The Planning Commission is reviewing the scheme for the 12th five year plan. With the social audits, public hearings, regional consultation and now the national consultation, we hope to input into the review process and take people’s concerns to the policy makers,” said Arpana Udupa, campaigner, climate and energy, Greenpeace India.

Greenpeace calls on the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Power to mainstream DRE in RGGVY in a significant way. The scheme should:

•Take up a target of small scale renewable energy generation (mix of mini-grid and off-grid) infrastructure development in the 12th plan period.
•Include electrification for 100 per cent households in a village.
•Embed the social audit component in the scheme to enhance accountability of the system.
•Include guidelines for energy infrastructure for irrigation and medium and small scale industries as part of rural energy programme
•Inclusion of Panchayati Raj Institutions to enable better implementation and monitoring of the scheme.

Greenpeace will share the recommendations emerging out of today’s consultation with the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Power.

Notes to the editor
1.The national consultation was attended by representatives of GIZ, Power Grid Corporation India Limited, Department for International Development, Planning Commission, Society for Participatory Research in Asia, Development Alternatives, The Energy Research Institute, Rural Electrification Corporation, Vasudha Foundation, Ministry of Power, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and Member of Parliament Dr D Raja amongst others.

2.Vienna Energy forum bulletin – A summary report of the Vienna energy forum 2011 http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=1001185

For further details and social audit reports, pleae visit:

http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/System-templates/Search-results/?all=rggvy

Return in state an uphill task for party

2011-07-02T11:58:00.000+05:30

The Congress has miles to go before it can be seen as a political alternative to form the next government in Uttar Pradesh. It has been out of power in the state since 1989 and has been unable to connect with the the people in the elections one since then. The 2009 Lok Sabha polls saw its re-emergence. So all eyes will be on it in the 2012 polls.

In the recent months, it has been able to keep itself on the centre stage by raising issues of public concern. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's recent moves to reach out to the people to meet the victims of rape and murder have helped the party connect with the issues of public concern.

His decision to accompany Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Rita Bahuguna Joshi to file applications to get information about use of National Rural Health Mission funds and his 'dharna' at Bhatta-Parsaul villages outsmarting others have generated a lot of heat in the political arena.

Take the case of party's organisational strength. A number of district and city units are yet to be constituted notwithstanding the much-prolonged exercise of holding organisational elections.

The party leaders from Azamgarh were staging a dharna in front of the UPCC headquarters to demand early appointment of DCC president when Rahul was attending the state election committee meeting to decide the policy to announce candidates for 2012 assembly elections.

The UPCC had said the party would announce candidates for the assembly elections by May 31, 2011. Even after a month, the party has not been able to announce the candidates.

Besides the state centric factors, the party would also have to find convincing answers for its handling of issues like price rise at national level.

Combating human trafficking proves difficult

2011-07-02T11:56:00.000+05:30

Jun 24, 2011, 10.03pm IST

VARANASI: Though the anti-human trafficking cell (AHTC) of police has become operational recently in the district, it has to evolve a foolproof mechanism for preventing and combating human trafficking as Varanasi is believed to be a transit point for the same.

"No case of human trafficking has been registered so far, though we have rescued 15 children below 14 years of age from many 'dhabas' and small hotels," said Pannalal Gupta, the in-charge of the cell that came into existence on June 16. The cell has been established as per the directive of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

The advisory on preventing and combating human trafficking clearly mentions that the Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) is a crime committed in order to target, lead or drive a human being into an exploitative situation with the aim to make profits. Such exploitation may take many forms like commercial sexual exploitation, child labour, forced labour or bonded labour. The country is witnessing cross-border as well as internal (intra-country) trafficking.

In its initial exercise the cell rescued child labourers only. "We have contacted the guardians of the rescued children and sent them back," Gupta told TOI on Friday. According to him, it could not be established that the children were trafficked. However, one of the main objectives of the cell is to put an effective check on trafficking of children and women, who can be exploited as labourers and commercial sex workers. He admitted that it would take some time for the proper running of the cell. The cell has a team of six personnel, including two sub-inspector, two head constables and two constables. "We also need public support and co-operation for effective action against those involved in trafficking," he said.

On the other hand, social activists working in this field feel that it needs proper co-ordination to address the deep-rooted problem. "It is a fact that girls are trafficked from Nepal, Bangladesh and Indian states like West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and east UP itself. This trafficking either culminates and gets accommodated in the brothels of Varanasi, Mau, Azamgarh, Ballia or gets routed (transit point) to Bombay, Delhi, Dubai and other places from Varanasi by virtue of having air, road, rail links," said Ajeet Singh of Guria, an organisation working for women and child rights. "A broader linkage needs to be built between source, transit and destination areas to trace, rescue and rehabilitate trafficked victims of commercial sexual exploitation," he said. According to him, nearly 5% of women and girls engaged in prostitution are from Nepal and Bangladesh and about 5,000-7,000 Nepali girls are trafficked to India every year mainly via UP and Bihar.

So far the organisation has rescued around 50 minor girls from the brothels in the red light area of Varanasi with the help of the civil society. Presently Guria is fighting over 100 cases against more than 400 traffickers and brothel keepers. Singh has also been included in the team constituted by the National Commission for Women (NCW) to investigate trafficking channels from Azamgarh to the Middle East. According to him, the problem exists because laws like Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA) and Bonded Labour Abolition Act are not enforced properly. A report of the National Human Rights Commission also suggests that laws do not adequately target traffickers, pimps, and brothel keepers. He said around 14,000 persons are arrested every year under ITPA, out of whom about 90% are women, despite the fact that a majority of the exploiters and traffickers are men.

Poverty is believed to be the root cause of trafficking of children for various purposes. Singh said about 44% of the women in prostitution fall prey to traffickers because of poverty. The report of the Ministry of Women and Child Development on Child Protection in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) also admits it. It is estimated that 90% of trafficking for sexual exploitation is within the country. Many of those trafficked are children, sometimes as young as eight years old, or even younger. According the report, trafficking for labour is the most under reported crime.

"There is no appropriate law to put a check, particularly on child trafficking effectively," said another social activist Rajni Kant, director of Human Welfare Association ( HWA). According to him, Varanasi has sensitive pockets that are ideally located for child trafficking through rail road links. "It is fine to create an exclusive cell to tackle this problem, but all police station should also have dedicated teams for this purpose," he said.

UP may formulate Action Plan for augmenting CD Ratio

2011-06-30T12:33:00.001+05:30

Virendra Singh Rawat / New Delhi/ Lucknow June 29, 2011, 0:46 IST

Perturbed over low Credit Deposit Ratio (CDR) in Uttar Pradesh, especially in the Bundelkhand region, the state government may formulate an Action Plan in partnership with commercial banks.
This has to be seen in the backdrop of UP seeking private investment to the tune of Rs 2,00,000 crore across sectors to prop up its economy.
Although, UP is the second largest economy after Maharashtra, its CDR is around 48 per cent, much lower than the national average of around 70 per cent.

The issue of the low CDR in UP was discussed in the recent State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) meeting in Lucknow.
“The SLBC decided to double credit flow to the agriculture and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sectors in UP,” Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regional director Amarendra Sahoo told Business Standard .
The segments identified for emphasis are minor irrigation and rural road connectivity. He said the Action Plan would be laid down by the government in concert with banks.
“The banks have assured to increase credit flow commensurate with the credit absorption capacity created by the state government,” Sahoo added.
The government feels the CDR of UP should ideally be 60 per cent. The higher is the CDR, the higher is credit deployment to more credit-users.
Low CDR indicates low industrial and commercial activity, especially in eastern and Bundelkhand regions. It also indicates flight of domestic savings to other industrialised and more developed states to spur their development activities.
UP is a vast and populous state with rough geographical and climatic conditions in certain pockets. Almost 80 per cent of the population lives in rural areas with low literacy and high poverty. Thus, banks need to intensify their network with a sense of commitment, the government feels.
Sahoo, however, denied that there was flight of capital from UP. “In fact, several projects in UP receive funds from banks sanctioned in Delhi and other places.”
Earlier, a sub-committee had been formed to prepare a report on UP districts, where CDR was below 40 per cent. In short term, SLBC aims to increase their CDR beyond 40 per cent mark.

‘Bombers’ turn to books in jail

2009-02-11T17:45:00.001+05:30

ANANYA SENGUPTA
New Delhi, Feb. 8: Two of the alleged September 13 Delhi bombers are studying from early morning till late night in Tihar jail so they can complete their university courses.
Ziaur Rehman, 22, is up by 4am and, after his morning rituals, immerses himself in books borrowed from the jail library. His lawyer, Shanwar Khan, has petitioned Delhi High Court so that Ziaur is provided all the study material he needs to sit his BA finals from Jamia Millia Islamia, likely in March.

Saqib Nissar, 25, has already received court permission to appear in the third semester examination of Sikkim Manipal University’s MBA programme, which he was pursuing through a correspondence course.

He will take the exam from jail, probably next month, and is studying eight to 10 hours every day, jail officials say. “Since the trial has not started yet, he has a lot of time to study,” Saqib’s lawyer Vikash Padora said.

The two youths’ eagerness to complete their studies is consistent with a new trend in militancy in India: most militants are now highly educated with their ranks including engineers, doctors and teachers.

Ziaur will move court for permission to take his exam once Jamia Millia announces the dates. “The court will decide whether he should go to the campus and write his papers under guard, or if university officials will come to the jail to conduct the exam,” Khan said. “But I know that with his hardworking ways, he will do well even if he is given seven days to prepare.”

Ziaur is already putting in long hours, jail sources said. “He rises early and then he is in his cell, studying hard. He wants to secure good marks so that, if he is acquitted, he wouldn’t have to run around for a job,” Khan said.

Ziaur’s subjects are Islam in medieval India, cultural history of Islam, media education, government and politics in India, international politics, and social changes and social problems in India.

Jail officials said the two youths have been studying late into the night.
Saqib and Ziaur, alleged Indian Mujahideen members, are accused of involvement in last year’s Delhi blasts that killed 30-odd people and injured over 100.

Officers say the Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad bombings were all carried out by 13 young men from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Two of them, including alleged module leader Mohammed Atif Amin, were shot dead in the mid-September Batla House “encounter” in Delhi.

The police have filed chargesheets against the five they have arrested: Saqib, Ziaur, Mohammed Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed and Mohammed Shakeel. The charges come under the Indian Penal Code (murder, attempt to murder, waging war against the nation), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosive Substances Act.

Saqib and Ziaur, however, are not the first terror suspects to study and obtain degrees from jail. Nalini Murugan, convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, completed a master’s course in computer applications in 2007. She is lodged in a Chennai prison.

Commuters bear the brunt

2008-08-09T13:11:00.002+05:30

Vijay Pratap Singh
Posted online: Saturday , August 09, 2008 at 03:00:20

Allahabad, August 8 The August 9 BSP rally brought woes for millions of commuters in the state on Friday, as over 2,000 buses of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) stayed off the roads.

The state party leaders had booked these buses to reach the venue of the national conference of the BSP at the Ramabai Ambedkar ground in Lucknow. Thousands of passengers remained stranded at bus stations across the state.

There are 17 regions of UPSRTC and each region has earmarked up to 200 buses for ferrying the BSP members to Lucknow. “Over 2,000 buses would remain off the road for two days,” said Chandra Shekhar Pandey, state President of Roadways Karmachari Sanyukt Parishad

The UPSRTC buses carry over 4 crore passengers daily, said a department official. The Allahabad, Varanasi, Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Azamgarh, Hardoi, Aligarh and Jhansi regions of the UPSRTC have reportedly kept aside over 1,200 buses for the rally.

While the BSP leaders have booked only 145 UPSRTC buses from the Allahabad region, the department had reportedly sent 200 buses for the rally. Regional manager of UPSRTC, SK Banerjee said the party paid Rs 16 lakh in advance for the buses in Allahabad.

Regarding the inconvenience caused to the passengers, he said the department had increased the frequency of the remaining 230 buses in the region. The actual situation, however, belied his claim, as thousands of passengers remained stranded at several bus stations in the region.

BSP sources said each MLA was asked to manage 15 buses for the party workers. A leader’s ranking in the party would depend on his ability to manage vehicles and workers.

The BSP candidate for the Allahabad Lok Sabha constituency Ashok Kumar Bajpai booked 90 buses of UPSRTC and 110 private buses. “We paid money for the buses and did not misuse the state machinery,” said Kumar.

11 school kids drown in swollen Silni in Azamgarh

2008-08-07T15:52:00.007+05:30

2 Aug 2008, 0415 hrs IST

LUCKNOW/VARANASI: Eleven children drowned when the boat carrying around 21 school students capsized in Azamgarh on Friday.

Azamgarh district authorities handed out cheques of Rs 1 lakh each to the kin of deceased, whose bodies were fished out of river.

District Magistrate (DM), Azamgarh, Mayur Maheshwari said that the incident took place near Gyaspur village in Sandhara police circle. A boat ferrying 27 persons, including 21 school children, across Silni, capsized in the afternoon.

"While six managed to swim to safety, another 10 were fished out in an unconscious state by the rescue teams and admitted to the district hospital," Maheshwari said adding that 11 bodies of students had been recovered from the river when the rescue operation was called off due to bad light on Friday.

Most of the victims were students of class 4, 5 and 6 at Durga Inter College in Kandhrapur area and were returning home when the incident took place. Though the school had an approach road, students preferred to ferry across the river as it was a short-cut, Maheshwari said.

According to local villagers, the boat was overloaded and ferrying it across the swift current of the swelling river was a dangerous preposition. In utter disregard to safety, the boatman took 27 passengers in the boat that had a sitting capacity of 15.

"The rescued students are completely out of danger but we have kept them under observation as they are in a state of shock," SSP, Azamgarh, Vijay Garg said.

No PWD inroads in mafia land

2006-11-16T16:01:00.000+05:30

Rajesh N Singh

[ 13 Nov, 2006 0300hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

LUCKNOW: The shadow of the mafia over PWD contracts in east UP has severely hampered the infrastructural growth of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

A majority of contracts for development projects, including World Bank-aided works, simply don't see the light of the day in this crime-prone region because the quoted cost far exceeds the estimated cost. Reason: Contractors have to include the 'mafia tax' in each of the bids.

The cost quoted by contractors in this region is almost 40 to 50 per cent higher than the estimated cost.

Interestingly, same contractors keep their bids approximately equal to or less than the estimated cost for the same nature of work in the central or western parts of the state.

The mafia menace is so rampant that most of the districts in the region including Basti, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Deoria, Ballia, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Mau and Varanasi witness mafia-turned politicians dictating terms in government contracts.

"Politicians like Hari Shankar Tewari, who is also a minister, Mukhtar Ansari, Dhananjay Singh, Chulbul Singh, Akhilesh Singh (all gangsters cum legislators) rule the roost in their respective areas. Each contract would need their blessings," confided a senior PWD official.

Talking to TOI, principal secretary, PWD, Satish Kumar Agarwal admitted," Such elements were not allowing contractors to work without fear of coercion." He however refused to identify the mafia-turned politicians realising 'mafia tax' from the contractors.

He said that the projects which are in the eastern UP areas, the department is not getting the right of kind of people to place a bid.

"In some cases the bids are exorbitant and as high as 40 to 50 per cent above the estimated cost," said Agarwal. Citing an example, he said that for Deoria-Ballia World Bank-aided state road project, the bid was as high as 44 per cent of the estimated cost

DISCOVER YOUR ROOTS : Tracing century-old roots for NRIs’ family tree

2006-05-03T09:09:00.000+05:30

UP Tourism Dept’s project helps descendants of immigrant workers trace surviving relatives; Ballia adopted as pilot project.
Surendra Pratap Singh

Lucknow, April 29: IT is a search for long lost roots — a journey which goes back to over a century. Between 1900-1911, thousands of people from various districts of Uttar Pradesh were shipped by the ruling British to serve as bonded labourers across the globe. Today, their descendants, most of whom are now well-to-do Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), are trying to trace their roots with the help of the UP Tourism Department.

The present generation of these NRIs are trying to track the whereabouts of their surviving relatives. In a recent breakthrough, two were successful in tracing their families in Jaunpur and Azamgarh.

Although the department initiated the project, ‘‘Discover your Roots’’, in 2000, it only received a boost last year. This year, the search has received a budgetary allocation of Rs 7 lakh from the State Government. Another proposal for Rs 30 lakh is lying with the Centre. All interested NRIs can register under scheme by paying a fee of US$ 100.

Nikhil Chandra, joint MD, UP Tourism Corporation, said it has been an uphill task so far. ‘‘As per the instructions of the Government of India, we have been searching for the families of 56 people who migrated from Ballia. Of these, eight families have been found so far,’’ he said.
‘‘Information on 38 districts has been collected so far. The names and addresses of 10,000 people who went as indentured labourers have been compiled,’’ said R R Saxena, project manager of Discover Your Roots.

The district of Ballia has been undertaken as the pilot project. ‘‘An office has been set up in Ballia with two field supervisors, who are engaged in visiting villages to collect the necessary information,’’ he said.

Five other districts — Varanasi, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Faizabad and Azamgarh — will also be taken up as part of the pilot project. The maximum number of immigrants was found to be from these six districts. The details of villagers who have been successfully traced will be put up on the department’s website.

Officers involved in the search revealed how their task was made more difficult by villagers’ unwillingness to divulge information. They feared that the NRIs would return to ask for their share of property.

On a district level, officials are scanning old land records, talking to old people belonging to the same caste as the immigrant, checking ration cards, and studying birth and death registration certificates. Even old folk songs are being studied to look for some names.

Seventy colonial immigration registers have been dug out from the Lucknow archives. The pothis (record books) on the ghats of Haridwar, Varanasi, Gaya, Badrinath, Dwarkadham and Pushkar are also being scanned. These pothis contain the names of people who perfomed pind daan (prayers for dead relatives) or other religious functions, along with their addresses too.
Efforts are also on to study the immigration lists (1917-1978) at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute in Mauritius.

The whole project has been divided into three phases. In the first phase, information on the immigrants will be collected. This preliminary information will then be sent to the related NRIs, along with an invitation to visit their ancestral place.

In the second phase, a packaged tour for the NRI will be organised to his village. This will include fooding, lodging and conveyance.

And in the third, the tourism department will facilitate any construction activity or other developmental work that the NRI may want to undertake at his village.

Girmitias to NRIs
FROM 1900-1911, the British got thousands of Indians to sign agreements undertaking to work in foreign countries under the then British empire. They were promised a good life, job opportunities and a chance to make more money.

These people, most of whom belonged to Ballia, Gonda, Basti, Azamgarh, Rae Bareli, Gorakhpur and Bahraich districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, were packed into three ships. Some men were alone, while others were accompanied by their families.

The living conditions on board the ships were bad. Even the rations were inadequate. Many died during the journey. Those who survived were dumped in Mauritius, Surinam, Fiji and other neighbouring areas to work as bonded labourers.

They came to be known as ‘‘Girmitias’’, a distortion of the word ‘‘agreement’’. Because, whenever they were questioned, these Indian immigrants used to answer that they were there ‘‘on agreement’’.

Over the years, the immigrants became affluent through sheer hard work. And most of their descendants are now well-off NRIs.

Capturing roots on frames

2006-01-12T10:21:00.000+05:30

25-year-old unfolds her family's 19th Century flight from India and subsequent struggle in a 90-minute documentary film

Name: Shundell Prasad.

Age: 25 years.

Place of birth: British Guyana.

Profession: Documentary filmmaker.

This young woman fled Guyana, grew up in New York and studied at the Film School, New York University. Since childhood -- when she was told of her Indian origin -- she wanted to know where she was born and why she was not in India.

This search for her roots made her go about directing and producing a documentary film in the first-person narrative. It begins in Queens, New York, goes to the sweltering sugarcane fields of British Guyana where her family from India was taken as servants for the British Empire. From New York to British Guyana and Kolkata, the documentary unfolds.

"Uncovering the truth about one's lost history can be painful. This is my family's story of displacement, struggle and survival and my attempt at rediscovery. I managed to trace my forefather's 19th century ship records from Guyana's record room. They became my navigational map back to India," Shundell says.The filmmaker says she has shot 75 digital hours in Bihar and East Uttar Pradesh -- two areas that witnessed major scenes for Indian uprising, specifically the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. In Bihar, she found distant relatives of her mother in remote Muzaffarpur. In Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, she traced her father's relatives.

"It was stranger than fiction to come face to face with my relatives who live in dire poverty. It was here that I realised how removed I had become", she says. The documentary is in the post-production stages and in a few weeks, she will have a 90-minute product for the world to see. She is busy trying to show glimpses to people who matter and is also working to enter her film in film festivals.

A land that breeds top-rated dons

2005-11-16T18:06:00.000+05:30

(Source : TNN)
Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005, LUCKNOW:
Azamgarh, situated in the backwaters of Uttar Pradesh, has no industry. Half of its land mass stays barren. But still the district is highly fertile, at least for breeding top-rated criminals.

It is the native place of not only Abu Salem but at least half a dozen other top shots of the underworld. Talk of sharp-shooters with different gangs and the records list over two dozen local youth.

Abu Salem’s link to Sarai Meer in Azamgarh is well known by now but Abu Hashim’s connection is still under wraps. Hashim happens to be the first criminal arrested under the Anti Terrorists Activities and Disruptive Act (Tada). He landed in the dragnet of the investigative agencies probing the serial blasts in Mumbai. Hashim also hails from Sarai Meer.

Ever heard of Shahid Badra? He was the first ever president of banned Muslim outfit Simi (Student’s Islamic Movement of India) which was allegedly behind inciting young minds on communal and anti-national lines. During 1999 - 2000 the Central government finally banned Simi and its activities following intelligence reports highlighting Simi’s role in execution of terror acts in central India. Shahid Badra was from the main Azamgarh town.

A step down from these top ranker natives of Azamgarh are the supposedly "lesser mortals" like Irfan Goga and Salim Chikna.

The two dreaded contract killers and sharp-shooters have given quite a few sleepless nights to Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi police. They too are known to have their bases in Gulf and South East. Azamgarh happens to be their home town as well.

Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Anees Ibrahim found his life partner in a family from this suburban district which has seen a significant migration to the middle east in search of a living.

With such a comprehensive list of important names in the police files of Maharashtra and Delhi having their roots in Azamgarh, it was an obvious hunting ground for the intelligence sleuths to look for two Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) terrorists. They were supposedly operating from their temporary base in eastern UP. The two were intercepted at a Madarsa in the heart of Azamgarh recently.

Eid prayer passes peacefully, night curfew continues in Mau

2005-11-05T09:50:00.000+05:30

Saturday November 5 2005 00:00 IST
UNI

MAU (UTTAR PRADESH): After a violence- free Diwali, the festival of Eid-Ul-Fitr started off on a peaceful note on Friday in riot-torn Mau town, with the customary Namaz being offered amid tight security followed by exchange of pleasantries among all communities.

The town, however, was now free from day curfew following return of peace, DIG (range) Azamgarh Rajendra Pal Singh told UNI.

Adequate security arrangements were in place on the occasion of Eid Namaz, which passed off peacefully, he said.

The town of Mau had been under curfew since October 14 last following communal riots, which had seen seven persons killed and 37, injured.

About 450 people had been arrested so far in connection with the communal trouble in the town. Strict vigil was on, the DIG said.

Day curfew had already been lifted from this town from 0900 hrs to 1700 hrs, but the night curfew was still in place as a precautionary measure, the DIG said.

Following the peaceful passage of the Diwali and Eid, the administration was now reviewing lifting the night curfew as well, Mr Singh said.

SEC postpones polling date by a day

2005-10-14T15:49:00.000+05:30

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2005 01:18:47 AM ]

LUCKNOW: State Election Commission (panchayat and local body) has deferred the poll schedule of more than two dozen places from October 14 to 15 on account of continuing festivities.

According to additional commissioner, SEC, Vinay Priya Dubey the polling in Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Kushinagar, Siddharthnagar, Banda, Balrampur, Maharajganj, Kanpurnagar, Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti, Sultanpur, Basti and Jaunpur would be held on Saturday instead of Friday to facilitate puja celebrations.

The first first of the kshetra and zila panchayat polls would be held on Friday. In this phase, 223 blocks would be covered. Around 41,775 polling stations have been established and 6,734 of them have been declared sensitive. The number of hyper-sensitive stations are 7,280. More than two crore voters would exercise their franchise in the first phase to elect 17,153 kshetra panchayat members and 695 zila panchayat members.

Meanwhile, the SEC has attached SDM Etah (Aliganj) to collector's office. The polling in Dhobi and Sondhi ward in Jaunpur has been annulled, said the SEC official.

First phase of UP District Panchayat polls tomorrow

2005-10-14T15:47:00.000+05:30

Lucknow October 13, 2005 7:38:35 PM IST

All preparations have been made for the first phase of the four phase district and kshetra panchayat polls in 223 development blocks of Uttar Pradesh tomorrow.

State Election Commission (SEC) sources said here today that an estimated 1.5 lakh voters will cast their ballots for electing 17,153 kshetra panchayat and 695 district panchayat members.
The election will take place between from 0700 hrs to 1700 hrs at a total of 215 polling centres and 41,775 polling booths. Out of this as many as 6734 and 7280 booths have been classified as sensitive and hyper sensitive respectively, sources added.

A total of 75,914 and 11,492 candidates are in fray for the post of district and kshetra panchayat members respectively.

Meanwhile, owing to idol immersion, the polls have been rescheduled for October 15 instead of tomorrow in 38 blocks of Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Kushinagar, Siddharthnagar, Banda, Balrampur, Maharajganj, Kanpur, Gonda, Baharaich and Shravasti districts.

The second phase of the polls will be held on October 17, followed by the third and fourth phase on October 20 and 23 respectively, sources added.

STF nab one for blackmail

2005-10-14T15:41:00.000+05:30

STF nab one for blackmail
Express News Service

Lucknow, October 10: THE Special Task Force today arrested Satya Prakash Shukla on charges of making threating calls and receiving ransom from doctors, businessmen and private coaching centres in Lucknow and Varanasi. Satya Prakash- resident of Azamgarh was arrested from Varanasi. The police recovered two mobile phones, three ATM cards, ICICI payment and inquiry slips, four fake driving licenses and three sim cards from his possession.

According to the police, Satya Prakash Shukla called using the name of mafia Munna Bajrangi and Brijesh Singh. Satya Prakash targetted businessmen, private coaching centre owners and doctors, they said. The police said, Shukla ask them to deposit the ransom in the account of one Sudhir Singh at an ICICI Bank branch.

Four held: The police nabbed four members of Mangali Kewat gang in district Jalaun. The arrested were identified as Raj Kumar alias Bunty, Kamal Kewat, Hari Lal Mishra and Shiv Mangal. The police recovered a factory-made .405 bore rifle, a factory-made hand granade, factory made DBBL gun, a country-made .315 bore rifle, a country-made pistol and catriges.

Bhojpuri: A language characterised by melody and frankness

2005-09-28T18:54:00.000+05:30

BHOJPURI is one of the popular languages of India, spoken mainly in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, western part of Bihar, Jharkhand, Nepal, Mauritius (national language), Guyana, Surinam, Trinidad & Tobago, Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa. In fact, the Bhojpuri language is spoken on all the six continents. The total number of speakers of Bhojpuri all over the world is approximately 125 million.

There is a lot of variation because of the interaction with the neighbouring areas. The Bhojpuri of eastern UP areas (Balia, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Deoria, etc.) and western Bihar (Ara, Chapra, Motihari, etc.) may be assumed to be the standard form of the language. The Bhojpuri of Allahabad and the surrounding areas is mixed with Awadhi; similarly, the Bhojpuri of Vaishali is influenced by Maithili and Bajjika. The Bhojpuri in Mauritius is flavoured with French. Local influence may have affected the language in Fiji, Surinam and Trinidad. But these variations, however, are no impediment.

Bhojpuri is characterised by its melody and its people by their frankness and straight-forwardness. Poets and philosophers such as Amir Khusru, Tulsidas and Kabirdas used Bhojpuri to pass their messages to the world. Many great personalities were born in the Bhojpuri region. Sher Shah Suri, Mangal Pandey, Veer Kaur Singh, Maulana Mazharul Haque, Dr Rajendra Prasad (first president of India), Shaheed Abdul Hameed, Jayaprakash Narayan, Jagjivan Ram, Chandra Shekhar and Vishwanath Pratap Singh are among them.

The Bhojpuri language and its personalities have contributed much to Indian art and literature. Premchand, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Kaifi Azmi, Moti B.A., Shabana Azmi, Amitabh Bachchan, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Bismillah Khan, Anand Milind, Chitragupt, Rakesh Pande, Manoj Bajpai are a few among them. Also, the land of Bhopuri has given Thumri dance to the Indian people.

The contribution of Bhojpuri in Hindi films has been great. Lagaan, based on Bhojpuri dialect, had been nominated for Oscar. Other hits include Ganga Jamuna, Mangal Pandey, Milan and Teesri Kasam. Many Bhojpuris have achieved great honour outside India. They include Nobel prize winner for literature V.S. Naipaul (Trinidad), Bhagat Jagdev (former president of Ghana), Dr N. C. Ramghulam (former president of Mauritius), Pratap Narayan Radhakishun (former prime minister of Surinam) and Vasudev Pandey (former prime minister of Trinidad).

Bhojpuris started settling down in different parts of the world as early as the late 18th century as farm labourers in Oceania, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Islands. These people took in their blood the great Indian Bhojpuri culture, the spirituality, the love for humanity and compassion, the religious tolerance and a longing for better and prosperous life

Amar Singh's brother calls him an 'autocrat'

2005-09-28T18:49:00.000+05:30

Press Trust of India Lucknow, September 22, 2005

Arvind Singh, younger brother of Samajwadi party general secretary Amar Singh, has accused the elder sibling of "autocratic" style of functioning and said he plans to quit the party and join BSP.

"Discontentment against his (Amar Singh's) autocratic style of functioning is brewing in the party," Arvind Singh said over phone from Azamgarh, his home district.

Arvind claimed a sizeable number of old and dedicated SP workers from the district have evinced interest in quitting the party in protest against Amar Singh's "autocratic style of functioning".

"Amar Singh is calling the shots in the party simply because he has the financial resources at his command," according to Arvind.

Arvind alleged Amar Singh had conspired to have Azamgarh district SP general secretary Bijendra Singh expelled from the party after the latter opposed his style of functioning.
"Amar Singh was against my becoming active in politics and became jealous of my rising popularity graph in the district, especially after I helped SP win the prestigious Lalganj Lok Sabha seat in last parliamentary elections," Arvind charged.

Asked about his future strategy, Arvind said he had kept all his options open. "Politics is a game of possibilities," he said when asked whether he could join BSP.

"There is nothing wrong in joining the BSP as long as it accords me due respect and honour," he said, adding "We are in touch with the BSP".

Arvind also challenged his elder brother to contest elections from anywhere in the district.

Girl raped in AC coach of Toofan Express

2005-09-28T18:47:00.000+05:30

September 14, 2005 06:28 IST

A girl travelling alone in an air conditioned coach of Delhi-Howrah Toofan Express train was on Tuesday found in a semi-conscious state at Madhupur in Jharkhand's Deogar district amidst suspicion that she was raped, a senior railway police official said.

Superintendent of Police (Railway) Dhanbad Division Sidho Hembram said the police suspect the girl, said to be from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly sexually assaulted in the train.

The travelling ticket examiner and the coach attendant have been detained in connection with the incident, he said and added the police were looking for two other suspects.

"She (girl) claims she has been raped but she is still in a semi-conscious state. Only after she recovers we can get a clear picture," the SP said, adding FIR has not yet been filed as the girl was not clear in her statement.

He said prima facie it seemed the girl had fled from her home.

Azamgarh jailor succumbs to murderous attack

2005-08-24T15:40:00.000+05:30

Express News Service

Lucknow, August 23: While the jailer of Azamgarh jail Deep Sagar Singh (42 yrs) breathed his last in a hospital at Varanasi on Monday, the police is still to find two alleged conspirators and accused in the case, Sheru alias Taiyab and Kamlesh.

Earlier, jailer Singh was shot at and injured by a group of criminals near the Azamgarh jail on August 4. Singh was targeted when he refused to grant special privileges to a group of jail inmates inside the Azamgarh jail.

‘‘We have already solved the case with the arrest of two persons Pappu Mian and Dinesh Tewari. Dinesh Tewari is the main conspirator. Both the arrested persons confessed their involvement in the murder. We also seized the countrymade pistol which was used in the crime. I have constituted special teams to ensure the arrest of the two other criminals Sheru and Kamlesh,’’ Azamgarh SP Subhendra Kumar Bhagat told the Indian Express over phone.

Bhagat disclosed Sheru, Dinesh and Kamlesh had met a notorious criminal Ramesh Singh in Gorkahpur jail.

Ramesh was unhappy with the jailer after being transferred from Azamgarh jail to Gorakhpur jail. ‘‘They hatched a conspiracy near the jail gate to eliminate the jailer. They planned the murder in advance and Pappu Mian played an important role in it,’’ he added.

When contacted, the president of UP Jailers’ Association Sanjeev Tripathi said his association has collected cash to the tune of Rs 38,000 for the bereaved family.

‘‘We also met Principal Secretary (jail administration) and requested him to reimburse the cost incurred in the treatment of Singh,’’ he informed.

A Soothing & Healthy Tea for the Stressful Holiday Season

2005-08-24T15:38:00.000+05:30

2005-08-04 - ORGANIC INDIA

ORGANIC INDIA has announced The Tulsi Tea Collection - a new assortment of their six savory blends: Original Tulsi; Tulsi Ginger; Tulsi Gotu Kola; Tulsi Chai; Tulsi Green Tea; and Tulsi Darjeeling. While Tulsi itself is caffeine-free, 3 of the tea blends contain caffeine: Green, Chai and Darjeeling. The Tulsi Tea Collection is a thoughtful gift item or is a perfect soothing non-alcoholic beverages to entertain guests with during the holidays.

In the charitable spirit of the holidays, it feels good that purchases of ORGANIC INDIA Tulsi Tea help support sustainable agriculture and fair trade for communities in India. To produce Tulsi Tea, ORGANIC INDIA works with hundreds of family farmers in the village of Azamgarh and pays them a Fair Trade premium.

ORGANIC INDIA is the largest grower of organic herbs in India. The company's products are marketed exclusively by OM Organics and are sold in hundreds of stores across the U.S. including Whole Foods Markets. In addition to Tulsi Tea, ORGANIC INDIA offers organic herbal supplements, bulk organic herbs, and an ever-expanding line of high quality organic spices, grains, seeds and herbs.

For more information, please visit www.omorganics.com or www.organicindia.com.

Students step in to sort out traders’ feud, stabbed

2005-07-14T09:45:00.000+05:30

Express News Service

New Delhi, July 5: Two Civil Services aspirants were stabbed on Tuesday when they tried to intervene in an argument in Model Town. One of them died, while the other is in critical condition.

Dhananjay Tiwari from Varanasi and his friend Shiv Sharma, were stabbed by two businessmen in Gurjranwala Town in Model Town II. The accused, 31-year-old Rajesh Chugh and his 35-year-old brother-in-law Vivek Sharma, have been arrested.

Tiwari, Sharma and two friends were on their way to visit Tiwari’s younger brother, Rajkumar, in Gujranwala Town. On their way to the house, they saw the accused fighting with a guard. The four friends got out of their car and tried to intervene, but the accused stabbed Tiwari and Sharma.

Tiwari, who was 25 years old, died on the spot, while Sharma is still in critical condition in the Pentament Hospital in Gujranwala Town. A case has been registered at the Model Town police station.

Their friends, Ajit Singh and Siddhartha Vaswani, were not injured in the incident. The 26-year-old Shiv Sharma is from Azamgarh. He and Tiwari shared a flat and planned to appear for the Civil Services examination.

Mental health units in 11 distts

2005-07-14T09:42:00.000+05:30

Express News Service

Lucknow, July 5: MEDICAL help will soon be available at door-step to the mentally ill patients in 11 districts of the state. The mental health units planned under the National Mental Health Programme is finally taking shape and will be set up in 29 different districts in the country.

In Uttar Pradesh, the state government has given a go to the nodal agencies to start the units in the 11 districts and begin training the doctors for the same.

Under the programme, a ten-bed mental health unit will be set up in each of these districts with the objective of providing medical help to the mentally-ill and challanged. The districts in UP where the units are being set up include Muzaffarnagar, Etawah, Banda, Moradabd, Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Ghaziabad and Gazipur.

The King George’s Medical University (KGMU) has been made the nodal centre for execution of the plan in three other districts- Faizabad, Raebareli and Sitapur. The ground work had been completed some time back and the nodal centre here was waiting for an approval from the state government to start the work.

The head of department and professor of Psychiatry at KGMU, Prabhat Sithole informed Newsline, ‘‘the government officials passed the orders in this matter in a meeting on Friday.’’ He added that a training programme has also been started for doctors and as soon as the government hands over the units, the teams will shift base and get down to work.

Director General (Medical and Health) Ram Babu confirmed that orders have been passed in the meeting with the Principal Secretary. ‘‘The work for the Lucknow division has started and the training has begun,’’ stated Ram Babu.

Earlier, the nodal in-charge of one of the unit, Harjeet Singh had stated that all work was complete including the recruitment of doctors and para-medical staff for the centres and only the government’s approval was awaited.

According to annexure of the government order, the units in these districts have to provide the mentally-ill patients and their families with referral service, liasion and daily out patient service. Moreover, the idea is to remove the stigma of mental-illness by creating awareness in the families of such patients.

The scheme has to be implemented in two phases. The first phase will be taken up this year and the second phase will be taken up during the ninth five year plan.

ENCOUNTER

2005-06-25T10:14:00.000+05:30

LUCKNOW, JUNE 23 (PTI)

Notorious criminal Guddu alias Kashmira, carrying a cash reward of Rs 5000 on his head, was killed in an encounter with police at Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh today, police said.

On a tip off, a team of local police and special operation group challenged three criminals hiding near village Gaura and killed Kashmira while his accomplice managed to escape.

Two constables Arshad and Harnath Yadav were also injured in the exchange of fire and were admitted to a local hospital, they added.

UP MP gets protection in Mumbai

2005-06-22T19:01:00.000+05:30

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2005 09:04:58 PM ]

MUMBAI: In a rare case, the state Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, Abu Asim Azmi, using his MP status has got protection from the Uttar Pradesh Police as his security was scaled down by the Mumbai police.

In the first term of the Democratic Front government, the Samajwadi Party was a part of the DF government. Azmi had been given protection and four armed constables accompanied him.

About two years ago, the Maharashtra government scaled down his security to just one guard, which upset him. After Mulayam SIngh of the SP took over as the UP chief minister, he gave protection to Azmi, who now has three stengun-weilding guards from Azamgarh in UP accompanying him all over Maharashtra.

The fact that he is a Rajya Sabha MP from UP helped even though he is in Mumbai most of the time. He stays in a penthouse in Colaba and has vast business interests in the city.

Additional commissioner of police (protection) Surinder Kumar said "it is illegal to use policemen from other states on a long-term basis." "I will find out how the UP government has given him security cover in Mumbai," he added. Deputy commissioner of police Naval Bajaj said law and order was state subject and other government's cannot interfere here. An inspector of Colaba police, in whose jurisdiction Azmi resides, "We have not permitted him to bring police police personnel from UP."

Azmi said he had to get protection from UP since the Mumbai had scaled down his security without any basis. He said he did not share with the city's police's threat perception.

"As recently as two months ago, someone had fired a bullet on my Mercedes car when I was passing through Nagpada. I have lodged a complaint with the Nagpada police.

The Mumbai police's response was to give me one more guard," he told this paper on Tuesday. Azmi is a former serial bomb blast accused who was acquitted by the supreme court.

Since the Mumbai police has not given him a escort vehicle, Azmi uses his personal vehicle, a Mahindra Bolero, to ferry his guards, including those from UP.

Does he really need so much the security? Some police officers feel that having sten gun toting guards has become a status symbol. Former police commissioner M.N. Singh said during his tenure a person close to the then chief minister of Haryana OP Chautala had brought guards from the northern state. "We objected to that and got the guards removed," he added.

'Dead' UP villagers plead for life

2005-06-20T17:26:00.000+05:30

Monday, 20 June , 2005, 10:37

Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh): Can there be a greater travesty of life than being declared dead when alive and kicking?

A visit to the Uttar Pradesh town of Azamgarh can certainly serve as an eye-opener, for here there is a motley group of pensioners, widows and orphaned children who are fighting to convince the local authorities that they are in fact, alive.

A heady concoction of greed, corruption, melodrama, death and rebirth, their lives may inspire a perfect Hollywood thriller. This group are victims of a long-practised land swindle racket.
Greedy relatives often bribe officials into declaring them dead to grab what is many times less than an acre of land. Most of these people have been 'dead' for close to a decade and lost their entire life-savings in fighting legal battles to prove their mortal status.

Harassed and broken, they have courted arrest, tried to contest elections for Parliament, kidnapped children, issued threats of murder, insulted judiciary and even local legislators -- all to prove that they are alive, but without any luck.

Ram Lalak Yadav, is one such "dead man". He has been fighting to prove that he is alive for the last 12 years and claims that his brother declared him dead when he was working in another city. "My brother declared me dead and took away my land. They struck off my name from the register. I have been fighting the case since 1993. The commissioner's office had declared me alive but they (his brothers) filed a case in the lower court, where I was again declared dead. Now, my case has been shifted to the Allahabad High Court," he said.

Phool Chand, another petitioner, has a similar tale to tell. "I was declared dead by my brothers who wanted to take away my property. The matter is in the high court and so far no decision has been taken," he said.

District authorities, however, deny any such case. "In my knowledge, there is no such case of anybody being declared dead. Nobody has come complained," said Raja Ram Upadhyay, Azamgarh's District Magistrate.

Estimates say at least 10,000 living people are declared dead in Uttar Pradesh government's official records.

ANI

24 hrs after missing girl’s body found, cops pass the buck

2005-06-01T09:29:00.000+05:30

Manish Sahu

Lucknow, May 31: BELIEVE it or not, 24 hours after Manila Verma, 22, was found strangulated to death at the rented flat of one Madhav Gupta, a resident of Ballia, two police stations are still fighting over who would lodge a case.

Gupta, who the police say was in love with the girl but killed her, is on the run. The police had entered the house in Aliganj last evening after neighbours complained of a foul smell. They found the decomposed body of Verma, who had been missing since Saturday. She was holding a love letter with Madhav Gupta’s name in her hand.
BrideGroom

Daughter of Hari Om, who lives in Sector 4 of Vikas Nagar, Verma got acquainted with Gupta recently when he came to Lucknow to prepare for the medical entrance examinations. The police have detained a boy, Shailesh Chaurasia, son of a sub-inspector posted in Azamgarh, as they suspect that the girl was introduced to Gupta by Chaurasia. No motive for the murder has been established.

No FIR has been registered so far at either the Aliganj or Vikas Nagar police station. While a missing report was lodged by the girl’s father at Vikas Nagar, the body was found in the jurisdiction of the Aliganj police station. ‘‘The murder occurred in Aliganj police station’s area and the case should be lodged there,’’ said the station officer of Vikas Nagar, Inspector Laxman Verma. His counterpart at the Aliganj police station, Inspector D D Tiwari, countered this, pointing out that since the circumstances of the crime originated in Vikas Nagar (the missing report was registered there), the FIR should be registered there. He added that they could relent if the other police station didn’t agree. A police team did go to Ballia for arresting Gupta but he had left the house before they reached, said Aliganj SO Tiwari.

Shailash is a classmate of the victim at College of Art, affiliated to LU. ‘‘Manila was having an affair with Madhav Kumar Gupta who is the son of Dr Shiv Singh in Ballia. He was a tenant of one S B Velan and was preparing for the CPMT examination. He used to visit the college in the morning to meet the girl,’’ Shailesh told this reporter.

On May 29, a missing report had been registered at the Vikasnagar police station. According to Manila’s family, she had left the house on May 28 at 6.30 pm, saying she would return soon. When she did not return till the evening of May 29, they lodged a complaint at the police station.

Student barred from exam hall kills self

2005-05-28T17:16:00.000+05:30

College allegedly stopped Virendra as his father failed to pay Rs 5000 donation; students go on rampage
AMAN SHARMA

Posted online: Saturday, May 28, 2005 at 0000 hours IST

LUCKNOW, MAY 27: Students of a government-aided college in Jaunpur went on a rampage today after their classmate committed suicide on the campus for allegedly not being allowed to sit for an examination.

According to an FIR filed with the Line Bazaar police, the college authorities had demanded Rs 5,000 as donation from Virendra Kumar Pandey, 26, and refused to let him sit for the B Pharma examinations when his father failed to pay the sum. Virendra, his classmates say, left the examination hall crying and his body was later found near the college gate.

A case of abetment to suicide, under Section 306 of the IPC, has been filed against the institute’s chairman, B.P. Yadav, on the basis of a complaint by the deceased’s brother.

Speaking to The Indian Express over phone, Ripendra Kumar alleged that the greed of the college management forced his brother to commit suicide. ‘‘We had paid Rs 80,000 as fees to the Prasad Institute of Technology. However, the management insisted on Rs 5,000 as donation. Finally, they threatened Virendra that he will not be allowed to sit for the exams if we did not pay the sum,’’ said Ripendra. His father Umesh Chand Pandey is a poor farmer from Motipur village in Kushinagar district.

The college authorities had also barred Virendra from appearing for the first test on May 24. ‘‘But the management changed its mind on the assurance that my father would pay the money in two days,’’ said Ripendra.

On May 26, Umesh Chand did come to Jaunpur but with only Rs 3,000, that too after taking a loan, said Ripendra.

‘‘The institute’s chairman, B.P. Yadav, rebuked my father for bringing only Rs 3,000. He humiliated my father when he fell at his feet, pleading not to play with Virendra’s career. The chairman kept the money and then pushed my father out of his office, saying he must pay the remaining Rs 2,000 today,’’ said Ripendra.

Virendra’s classmate Harish Yadav said, ‘‘the teacher sent him (Virendra) away when he came to the examination hall today, saying he hadn’t paid the donation and so will not be allowed for the exam. He left the room crying.’’

Virendra’s body was found half-an-hour later near the college gate. He had consumed some poisonous substance.

Irate students then went on a rampage, breaking furniture and pelting stones at the college office. The vehicle belonging to the chairman was smashed and the students later blocked the Azamgarh-Jaunpur highway for hours. The local police had to intervene to bring the situation under control.

When contacted, Yadav denied having demanded any donation. ‘‘The student only had Rs 5,000 pending as his annual fee. We were demanding the same as per rules,’’ he added.

Kid rescued from UP

2005-05-23T19:49:00.000+05:30

Express News Service

New Delhi, May 20: A five-year-old was rescued by the North district police who also arrested his abductors in an operation involving the UP police.

Bhasker Victor, of Kishan Ganj railway colony, told on April 30, that his son, Aryan who had gone to play had not returned. The Sarai Rohilla police registered a case and took up investigations.

On May 16, Bhasker received a call from the kidnappers who demanded a ransom of Rs 15 lakh for the child’s release. The following day the kidnappers called Bhasker many times. Police traced the call to Azamgarh in UP and a team was immediately dispatched. Bhasker was, meanwhile, asked to come with the money and a Nokia-6600 phone to Bareilly. Police learnt that only one of the accused would go there and two others would flee to Etawah with the child by train.

The team to Etawah arrested Rakesh and the team in Bareilly also apprehended the other accused, Kailash Kumar.

Organic India Announces First Line of Tulsi Tea

2005-05-13T17:40:00.000+05:30

2005-05-12 - Organic India

Six Stress-Relieving, Energizing & Delicious Blends that are “Good for You – Good for the Planet”

(Boulder, Colorado) - Organic India is the first company to bring the ancient wisdom of Tulsi tea to North America. The company has announced a line of certified organic Tulsi Tea that includes six soothing and delicious blends sustainably grown and processed in India. For more than 5,000 years, Tulsi has been revered as the “Queen of Herbs” for enhancing physical, emotional and spiritual wellness and vitality.

Also called “Holy Basil,” Tulsi contains hundreds of beneficial natural compounds known as phytochemicals. Working together, these compounds possess strong antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, adaptogenic and immune-enhancing properties that promote general health and support the body’s natural defense against stress and illness. Drinking Tulsi is also known to cause a sense of clarity and well-being, bolster stamina, provide relief from cold and flu symptoms, and strengthen digestion and metabolism to promote weight-loss.

Organic India’s Tulsi Teas are not only good for the people who drink them, they are also good for the planet and the community where they are created. To produce Tulsi Tea, Organic India works with more than 200 family farmers in the village of Azamgarh in Northern India. Organic India pays the farmers a premium above market price for their organic Tulsi. More than 1,500 farmers, harvesters and factory workers are employed and paid a Fair Trade wage during the processing of Tulsi Tea.

Organic India’s six savory blends of organic Tulsi Tea include: Original Tulsi; Tulsi Ginger; Tulsi Gotu Kola; Tulsi Chai; Tulsi Green Tea; and Tulsi Darjeeling. Delightful whether prepared hot or iced, each flavorful blend is offered in a variety of packaging styles of which the most popular is a box of 25 tea bags for a suggested retail price of $5.00. All of the organic herbs for Tulsi Tea are hand-harvested at the optimal time, and then blended and packaged in modern hygienic facilities to ensure maximum purity, freshness, potency and flavor. While Tulsi itself is caffeine-free, three of the teas blends contain some caffeine: Green, Chai and Darjeeling.

Operating under a sustainable business model, Organic India is the largest grower of organic herbs in India. The company’s products are marketed exclusively by Om Organics, and sold in hundreds of stores across the U.S. including Whole Foods Markets. In addition to delicious Tulsi Tea, Organic India offers organic herbal supplements, bulk organic herbs, and an ever-expanding line of high quality organic spices, grains, seeds and herbs.

For more information, please visit www.organicindia.com or www.omorganics.com.

Contact: Mic LeBel, 207-563-7695 mic@planetfriendlypr.com

Lucknow to take on Meerut in semi-final

2005-05-11T09:46:00.000+05:30

Express News Service

Lucknow, May 10: The semi-final line-up of the State Women Hockey Tournament for girls U-16 has been decided today. Lucknow will clash with Meerut in the first semi-final match, while Gorakhpur will take on Varanasi in the second semi-final match, at the KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium.

The tournament being played on league-cum-knock-out basis is organised under the aegis of the UP Sports Directorate.

In league matches played today, Varanasi brushed aside Jhansi 5-0, while Gorakhpur made Faizabad bite dust 6-0.

Varanasi scored a one-sided win over Bareilly 1-0, while Gorakhpur made a clean sweep over Kapur 5-0.

The match between Varanasi and Jhansi was totally a one-sided affair. Varansi players were moving in a well organised manner and outclassed Jhansi in all departments. Janian Bano and Kiran Kumari were the two players who played a vital role in the win, sounding the board twice respectively. The last goal was scored by Shashi Kala.

In the Gorakhpur vs Faizabad match, the Gorakhpur team did not start on a promising note, but in the second half, it gathered courage and bounced back into the game. Jyoti Pandey, Nidhi, Sikha, Amrita and Preeti struck a goal for Gorakhpur team.

In another outing, solo effort by Shashi Kala in the eighth minute, helped Varanasi clinch a win over Bareilly, while the last match between Gorakhpur and Kanpur was a treat for the audience. Pramila struck the first goal, in the fifth minute and took the winning team ahead.

After getting a lead, Gorakhpur stretched the lead to 5-0. Rajini struck twice, while Archana and Shikha sounded once.

Earlier, Meerut stole the limelight on the second day of the hockey tournament, snapping up three matches, while the home team could win two matches. Meerut beat Jhansi, Faizabad and Azamgarh by 1-0, 2-0 and 1-0 goal respectively. The Lucknow outplayed Faizabad and Kanpur by 3-0 and 5-0 goals respectively.

In another match, Moradabad beat Faizabad 1-0, while the matches between Gorakhpur, Moradabad and Jhansi, Azamgarh ended 0-0.

‘EDUCATION FOR ALL’ DEFECTIVE: SHABANA

2005-05-09T09:29:00.000+05:30

Azamgarh

Social worker and former MP, Shabana Azmi said in Mijwan, her ancestral home town in Azamgarh district that government is trying to spread education through its scheme ‘Education for all’ but this scheme is defective and that is why there is no end to the problem of illiteracy. Therefore, this scheme needs to be changed in order to improve it and make it effective. She was speaking at a function in Kanya Madhyamic School where she also distributed bicycles to one dozen girl students under a government scheme. She also criticised central and state governments’ half hearted measures in providing primary and junior education in the country. Earlier, speaking at Jaunpur she accused a section of the country’s population who, under a conspiracy after Independence, limited the scope of Urdu by declaring it the language of Muslims only whereas in fact it is the dominant language in northern India, she said.

Saffron racket kingpin held at IGI

2005-05-07T09:28:00.000+05:30

In past 2 yrs, 23 were arrested with saffron; biggest seizure this yr was in April — 118 kg from 3 Iranians.

Pratul Sharma

New Delhi, May 6: THE Customs department at the IGI Airport claimed a major success as it arrested the kingpin of a saffron smuggling racket passing through Iran and Dubai.

While saffron is not a banned item, Customs officials said that bringing it into the country in large quantities is an offence.

‘‘Noman Ahmed, an Indian national, was arrested on Wednesday. His name cropped up in revelations of the many accused caught earlier with consignments,’’ said Sanjay Bansal, Deputy Commissioner, Customs (Preventive). Ahmed claimed to be a rice exporter, but would take people from his native place in Uttar Pradesh, Azamgarh, to Dubai on the pretext of offering them jobs. When they returned, he would give them the consignment of saffron.

In the last two years, 23 passengers have been arrested with 468 kg of saffron, worth more than Rs 1.5 crore. This year, six seizures were made.

The biggest seizure was made last month, when 118 kg of saffron was recovered from three Iranian nationals at IGI Airport. On Monday, Indian national Abdul Khair Ahmed was arrested with 24.5 kg of saffron, worth over Rs 8 lakh in the local market.

Customs officials said in all these seizures, the saffron orginated from Iran, the world’s biggest producer and exporter of the spice. ‘‘However, the consignments were sent here through Dubai, which is a trade hub,’’ said Bansal. When we started keeping a tab on flights originating from Dubai, the accused started using other routes, he said.

Noman first went to Pakistan and then entered India and other accused also used this long detour, he added. Officials said the trade would suffer, given Noman’s arrest.

Smuggling of saffron produced in Iran, which was not common until 2003, picked up drastically following a drop in indigenous production. Customs officials sought specialised training to identify the medicinal herb, as it it cannot be detected by X-ray during security check.

Customs sources said there is a surge in the number of smuggling cases, as the spice, which also has medicinal value, is in great demand here. Saffron produced in Iran is considered to be the best quality. Iran, which produces 85 per cent of the entire saffron worldwide, exports it to 50 countries, including India, Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan.

SPIRITUAL RITES FOR PEACE IN FAMILY

2005-04-29T10:00:00.000+05:30

Varanasi: Search for ending discord and bringing about peace in the family led Rubina of Mubarakpur (Azamgarh) to Varanasi’s ‘Pishach-Mochan Kund (a pond where exorcism rites are performed) where, guided by a tantric baba, she offered pind (rice and kneaded flour) to restless souls. She had gone there along with her brother on the suggestion of a spiritualist. After offering meals and uttering some mantra, she took a bath in the pond and felt great relief. According to the tantric, not only Hindus but Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and even foreigners come to the place for spiritual treatment. He said that, however, it was for the first time many Muslims a Muslim woman had visited him. He said that such rites are performed to bring peace to a restless soul.

Nor’wester kills 22 in UP

2005-04-29T09:59:00.000+05:30

Lucknow: Twenty-two people, including a child, were killed in separate incidents of fire and a house collapse when a powerful nor’wester swept through Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, reports our special correspondent.

Six persons died in Mainpuri, nine in Farukkabad, six in Azamgarh and a six-month-old child was killed in Bulandshar.

UP farm department draws CAG criticism

2005-04-28T17:13:00.000+05:30

Press Trust Of India / Allahabad April 28, 2005

Financial mismanagement in the Uttar Pradesh agriculture department, resulting in stagnation in foodgrains output and areas under cultivation, has been detected by the Comptroller And Auditor General Of India (CAG).

According to the CAG, the state agriculture department has been plagued by overall financial mismanagement resulting in low foodgrain production and static cultivation area for the last three years, the CAG’s report for the fiscal ended March 31, 2003 said.

The report is highly critical of the heavy shortfall in the production of state agricultural farms, which it said were not functioning properly and earning receipts ranging between 40 and 57 per cent of the expenditure incurred on them during 1998-99 to 2000-01.

Besides, the report said, the department had obtained supplementary funds without assessing and ascertaining the actual requirements.

The department had also diverted Rs 8.38 crore central assistance towards the clearing of outstanding liabilities of state agriculture farms, it added. Grants received from the Centre for the implementation of various centrally-sponsored schemes also remained largely unutilised during 1997-2003, the report said.

The CAG has also been highly critical of the department’s distribution of seeds.

According to its report, during 2002-03, the state government suffered a Rs 7.19 crore loss due to the production of sub-standard seeds and another Rs 3.02 crore due to the excessive production of gram.

The report has also criticised the department of releasing subsidies of Rs 1.57 crore to suppliers of seeds without proper verification. Rs 1.27 crore had been advanced to one M/S Agro in 1996-97 towards subsidy against the supply of power tillers to farmers, which, till date , had not been refunded to the government, the report added.

Besides, injudicious fixation of procurement price of seeds had also led to an excess payment of Rs 2.96 crore in three crop years to Tarai Development Corporation and other seed supplying agencies, it said.

On the other hand, inadequate distribution of breeder and certified seeds hit the centrally-sponsored cotton development programme even though there was no paucity of funds, the report said, adding even the area under cultivation under the particular scheme declined from 8,771 hectares in 1997-98 to 4,887 hectares in 2001-02.

Manpower management is another area that has come up for criticism from the CAG. While as many as 2,377 group “D” officials were in excess, 1,298 operational posts remained vacant.

Unfruitful expenditure in redundant agriculture workshops is another weak point identified by the CAG report, which pointed out that Rs 3.29 crore had been blocked in the workshops at Azamgarh, Deoria, Ghazipur And Jaunpur, even though they had stopped functioning since May 1995.

No homecoming for him

2005-04-22T10:24:00.000+05:30

Tanvir Siddiqui

Ahmedabad, April 21: He was to return home to his family after being on duty for 60 days. But what came home was his body. Om Prakash Singh, a Western Railway employee was killed when the Sabarmati Express rammed into a goods train on Thursday morning. A pall of gloom decended on Suryakiran Society in Ghodasar where 45-year-old Singh, an AC coach attendant on Sabarmati Express, lived with his small family.

A native of Mau tehsil in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district, Singh lived in his modest tenement with wife Shanti, 22-year-old son Sanjay, daughter in-law Seema and two-year-old granddaughter Khushi.

Singh, who earlier lived in Khokhra railway colony, had moved to his new house only a year ago.
On receiving the news of his father’s death, Sanjay immediately left for Vadodara with his employer leaving a message for Seema that he had to rush for an urgent work. But long before his return at around 4 pm, women of the house had been informed through others.

The news was too shocking for the family to take. There was no relative to console the grieving family. Sanjay, who had gone through the ordeal of seeing Singh’s body in the post-mortem room of SSG Hospital, suffered a seizure on reaching home and lost consciousness. Kushi looked around bewildered as neighbours gathered in large numbers for paying their condolences.
Harishchandra Singh, a neighbour, said that Singh had planned a vacation with his family in Mau. He was very happy and had also got the rail tickets reserved. The Singhs were to leave for Mau on April 26, but fate had something else in store for them.

“The trauma is too much for Om Prakash’s family to take. The last rites will be performed in his nativ village,” said Harishchandra who is lucky to have his sister, her husband and their two children — travelling in the ill-fated train — arrive home safe. Harishchandra too hails from the same village as Om Prakash.

“They rang me up early morning about the accident and said that they were all safe,” he said adding that the grief of losing a loving neighbour overcame that joy.

Car runs over factory guard

2005-04-22T10:19:00.000+05:30

Express News Service

Chandigarh, April 21: A SECURITY guard at the factory of Bhusan Industries in Industrial Area-I, who was hit by the car of a senior company official on Wednesday, died today morning. The official, meanwhile, is absconding.

Dudhnath, 72, was hit by the Maruti 800, being reversed by assistant general manager (AGM) Praveen Bansal at about 7.15 am. He was standing at the main gate. Dudhnath banged against the gate and received injuries on the head. He was rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) at Sector 32.

Dudhnath’s body would undergo post-mortem on Friday. He was from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh and is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. His wife will arrive in Chandigarh tomorrow.

The police have booked Bansal.

Madarsas still iffy about UP govt

2005-04-13T09:07:00.000+05:30

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2005 12:22:45 AM ]

Sign into earnIndiatimes points LUCKNOW: Numbers unfortunately deal severe blows to popular images. Chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav would know it too well as his image of 'Maulana' took a beating as the report card was read out. Sample this: registered madarasas in Bihar and MP - 3700 and 3000 respectively, according to union government's statistic. Uttar Pradesh, which under the present regime claims to be the champion of the minority's cause, has a paltry 1100.

Factually however the total number of madarsas in the state are much more than 16,000 but most don't want to get registered and enjoy government's patronage. So far the Mulayam government could do little to convince them. Union state minister for HRD MM Fatimi, exposed the failure of the government during his recent visit. Embarrassed enough, the government now is going all out to rope in the reluctant madrasas in the mainstream Education for All (EFA) project. Attractively illustrated text books in Urdu, teaching and learning material (TLM) and a concerted campaign by religious figures promoting it's agenda, the mission is to woo the minority institutions for EFA project this year. The department of Minority Welfare and Waqf has in collaboration with the UNICEF has already begun taken up the job of "jazzing up the textbooks" says Mohammed Mustafa . "The agency has offered to prepare mathematics and science kits, rework and illustrate all text books and also provide TLM to support the project at the "Tahtaniya" ( primary ) level", the official told the TNN on Tuesday. The books should be ready by next month Mustafa claimed, after a scrutiny by a select team of officials and their final clearance.

The government also plans a massive awareness drive to enlist public support to the venture. Already the Board with the help of state primary education department, proposes to hold a meeting with the select prominent opinion makers from the minority community from key districts like Azamgarh, Saharan pur, Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad, Ghazipur, Mau, Rai- Bareli and Lucknow and to win over their confidence .

Mulayam government had passed the Madrasas Education Act in September 2004. The act proposes to set up board of Madrasas education for improving the standards of these institutes and to ensure their smooth functioning.

While the body , could take a little while to come into existence the initiative by the government has come as a big incentive to the Madrasas that were regarded with suspicion and were totally cut off during the former regimes sources confide.

If successful, the move could lead to a big boost to the EFA says secretary JS Deepak even as Mustafa hopes that the efforts will prove to be successful long last.

Pankaj Kapur denies MRITAK

2005-04-12T16:43:00.000+05:30

By Manisha Deshpande

Actor Pankaj Kapur has denied having been signed to play the title role of RAM BIHARI MRITAK, in Satish Kaushik's film of the same name. A section of the press had recently reported that Kaushik had confirmed Pankaj Kapur in place of Anil Kapoor, his earlier choice for the role of Ram Bihari, "It was news to me when I read this particular story. It is a case of bad journalism. The truth is that I haven't even read the script of RAM BIHARI MRITAK nor am I aware of what the film is all about. I have no knowledge about Anil Kapoor having been approached to play the role until I read it in the news," Kapur revealed. According to him, Satish Kaushik had spoken to him on a couple of occasions in the past and expressed his desire to work with him. "But we did not meet ever since," Kapur disclosed. It may be recalled that RAM BIHARI MRITAK is Kaushik's first serious attempt to break away from the norms of commercial cinema. The story of the film is based on the life of a man in Azamgarh, UP, who was declared dead by his family more than 20 years ago and has been fighting against the system to prove his existence ever since. Ram Bihari learnt of his own death only when he applied for a loan in a bank and saw the stamp of 'MRITAK', against his name. Kaushik had recently revealed that he was planning to have a very theatrical format for the film, which he planned to complete shooting in a period of 40 days.

Hakeem Ayyub

2005-04-12T15:58:00.000+05:30

Hakeem Muhammad Ayyub Nadwi, popularly known as "Hakeem Ayyub" or "Dr Ayyub" passed away on 22 October in his native town of Bilaryaganj which is now on the world map because of Jami'atul Falah in whose establishment he played a crucial role and remained a member of its administrative and central bodies to his last day. He was buried next day in his native graveyard after janaza prayers attended by thousands of people. He was about 80 years old at the time of his sad demise.

Hakeem Ayyub hugging Zafarul-Islam Khan duringa visit to Bilaryaganj in 2000 .For over five decades Hakeem Ayyub was perhaps the most popular physician of eastern Uttar Pradesh who took great care of his patients and treated many of them free of cost. He earned a lot but most of his wealth went to charity and good work of the community. His exemplary care and moral character won many non-Muslims to Islam.He was a Unani physician but dared to experiment boldly with allopathic and herbal medicines and was able to offer treatment for many ailments which even allopathic doctors failed to cure. His clinic in Bilaryaganj was always overcrowded with patients from various parts of eastern UP. Dozens at any time could be seen sleeping on the floors of the clinic as they could not afford hotels or return to their far-flung villages.In his early life Hakeem Ayyub was attached to Jami'atul Ulama. Later he was attracted by the Jama'at-e Islami for which he suffered whenever the government persecuted the Jama'at. He went to jail in 1975 along with other JIH leaders.Hakeem Ayyub wrote two books in Urdu, one is Mu'alajaati mushahadaat about his medical experiments and how he innovated treatment using cheap allopathic drugs and how he learnt from hundreds of thousands of patients who visited him with different ailments. In one of his articles he said, "Anyone who does not have the sense to study and observe, is either bereft of brain or insane."His other book is Ek Fikri Fasad in refutation of a book by Maulana 'Inayatullah Subhani in which the latter rejected Rajm (death by stoning) for married adulterers as a legitimate punishment in Islam. Hakeem Ayyub was opposed to this interpretation and felt strongly to the point that he wrote a book on the subject.I saw him riding his impressive motorcycle in and around Azamgarh in early 1960s, going from village to village to see patients who could not visit him for one reason or another. Soon he acquired a foreign motor car which was a novelty for Azamgarh where MBBS doctors could not afford even Indian-made vehicles. His worldly success never went to his head. He left behind five sons and two daughters. His wife had died a few years ago. Hakeem Ayyub was ever a simple, sincere, faithful and truthful person - the like of whom I used to see in my village during childhood. Such people no longer walk on our Earth and Hakeem Ayyub may have been one of the very last of such selfless and simple souls who blessed our land.

Introduction

2005-03-23T16:41:00.000+05:30

Welcome to this blog, here you will find each and every information available on Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. It may be news, views, weather report, ngo report, travel guide etc and almost any information.