A land that breeds top-rated dons

(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

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

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

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

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

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'

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

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

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

2005-08-04 - 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2005-05-12 - 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.