Books on law woo students and advocates

What is the difference between the Lokpal Bill and the Jan Lokpal Bill? What is Indian Penal Code? What does Article 1 of the Indian Constitution state? The answers to these above questions were found at a book stall put up in the Ninth Book Fair currently underway at the Moti Mahal Lawns, Lucknow.

Right from books dealing with the Constitution of India to the glossary of legal terms, all are available here. "We want to create legal awareness at the grass root level. People should know the basic laws and its implementation, so that no one fools them," said Paul Jacob of Indian Social Institute (ISI). In fact, this is the only stall in the fair that has books on law. Organisers have been trying to catch hold of other publishers since the past nine years, but have failed badly.

"We have been consistently trying to woo law publishers to participate in the fair. But they cite reasons such as deficit in sale," said Dev Raj Arora and Umesh Dhall, the organisers. This year, they approached Eastern Book Company and various publishers from Allahabad but all refused to come. Reason: These publishers have a fixed target, which they fail to get in the book fair.

Full report here Times of India 

Readers, Rejoice!

Perfect retreat for the extended weekend comes in the form of National Book Fair that opened on Friday, Oct 1.

Release of as many as 11 books by city/UP authors, a pavilion dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore on the occasion of his 150th anniversary year, opportunity to meet authors not only from the city, including Kamtanath and Mudrarakshas, but even others like Mahesh Bhatt, whose book was released recently and as many as five stalls vending Urdu books are the highlights of the National Book Fair that was inaugurated by Governor BL Joshi on Friday at Moti Mahal Lawns on Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow.

“The threat to law and order notwithstanding, we managed to get an overwhelming response from publishers, only a few of whom did not turn up,” said organiser of the fair in Lucknow, Devraj Arora. “All the stalls are taken and we expect a footfall and revenue better than previous years.”

Full report here Indian Express

Restoring pieces of history - Adi Granth to Tagore portrait

A portrait of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore dating back to the early 1940s had become dull and lifeless. The colours had faded with cracks and stains visible on the surface. But the canvas has got a new lease of life.

This has been made possible by the Indian Conservation Institute-Lucknow (ICI-L), which claims to be the largest centre for restoration of manuscripts and tomes in India.

The ICI-L received the 61 cm by 75 cm oil painting in a shabby condition from a private collector. Beginning with its photographic documentation, the technical staff cleaned the painting with a soft brush using a solvent to undo the yellowing effect of varnish over the portrait.

Further, the paint layer was consolidated with the help of heat seal adhesive. All the cracks were filled up carefully. A protective layer of varnish was applied over the portrait, restoring it to its original glory. Even the name of the painter and its commissioning date Oct 2, 1944, became clearly visible.

Full report here Sify

Hindi Diwas celebrated in city colleges

The Hindi Diwas was celebrated with full zeal and enthusiasm in various Lucknow colleges. In Karamat Hussain Girls Degree College, where nearly 2,300 girls have opted Hindi as a subject, the Hindi Day `pakhwara' began on Tuesday, Sep 14.

Various competitions like `Lok geet', debate, learning Hindi words and other activities were organised for students. "To make the students aware of the importance of Hindi Diwas, we have decided to organise a 15-day celebration where in a lot of activities in Hindi will be conducted,'' said Zarina Rehmat, head, department of Hindi, Karamat College.

At Nari Shiksha Niketan Degree College, two chief guests, Pawan Agarwal from the department of Hindi, Lucknow University, and Anita Dubey from the UP Hindi Sansthan expressed their dissatisfaction on the present status that the language has acquired. "Hindi is our national language and it has been given this status since 1949. We should realise that it is 65 years after being given the status but it has still miles to go.''

Full report here Times of India 

Little dum in this nawabi pulao

To be honest, if you so much as dangle the carrot of Lucknow in front of me, my senses tingle. I think there are few town-cities in the world more magical than Lucknow. Something in the air there smells of history. And it isn’t a musty history: the language rings with poetry, the parks are lush, interesting spaces that fill your mind with pictures and stories, the streets are doused in aromas of food, and, creeping up on the Bara Imambara on a quiet, rainy night conjures up romance like it does nowhere else. Above all, though, is that the history compels you, draws you in — unlike other old cities where you often just have the sense of being on the fringes of a time far, far away.

The Begum's Secret
AK Srikumar
Penguin
Rs 299

So when I got hold of a book that claimed to set out a canvas as vast and busy, as spicy and complex, expectations were high indeed. The Begum’s Secret wasn’t just a novel about Lucknow — it’s a novel that claims to draw you into Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula’s palace: The famine and poverty of the fading Awadhi state, the court intrigues, the smoke and politics stirred up by the visit of Viceroy Warren Hastings; stories inside the harem, the relationships between the Nawab and his wives, the relationships his wives have with others, the way these relationships are played by others in the palace and outside. And more — the poetry and the food, the language and the lifestyle, and the evocation of a most significant moment in a princely capital.

Full review here Deccan Chronicle

Urdu University seeks govt aid for its building

In its first meeting, the executive council of Urdu, Arabic-Persian University decided to offer some selected courses from the session starting July, 2011. The diploma courses of Arabic-Persian translator and interpreter, BCA, BCom, comparative studies of Indian languages, five-year integrated course in law, journalism and mass communication will be started, initially.

The V-C of the university, Anis Ansari said UP government had released Rs 11 crore for construction of a building against which Rs 17 crore has been spent by UP Nirman Nigam. A request has been made to the state government to release Rs 150 crore by September, 2010.

As for the eligibility criterion, it will be mandatory for the candidates taking admissions to have studied Udru, Arabic or Persian at the high school level. Every course offered by the university will have an additional paper of Urdu, Arabic or Persian. To make students learn the correct pronunciation, a lab will be set up. Along with Urdu, courses on comparative analysis of literatures of different languages like Hindi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Punjabi, Marathi, Malayalam, Bengali and Sanskrit would also be offered.

Full report here Times of India 

Scholars discuss Kaifi Azmi's contribution to Urdu

A seminar was organised by the department of Urdu, Lucknow Christian PG College, with the help of Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy, on Tuesday, March 23.

The focus of seminar, held in Fairfield Hall of the college, was Kaifi Azmi, who was hailed for his versatile personality. Prof Sharib Rudaulvi, formerly head of the Urdu department at JNU, New Delhi, shed light on the development of Kaifi Azmi's literary career. The scholars said that Kaifi was a nationalist poet, who wrote in reaction to the fallacious and materialistic progress of man.

Prof Sabira Habeeb, the chairperson of Monitoring Minority Education Committee emphasised that the lyrics that Kaifi Azmi wrote for the Indian film industry were deeply rooted in the Indian culture.

Full report here Times of India