LUCKNOW: In 2018, 45-year-old Sushila was selling eggs to support her family of 11. On a whim, she approached a person in her colony in Prayagraj to help her purchase an e-rickshaw. Three years down the line, the grandmother of two can be seen at the Prayagraj railway station during the early morning hours, ferrying passengers across the city and saying that she has never felt more liberated.
Sushila is one of 80 women who have been empowered across the three cities of Prayagraj, Varanasi and Lucknow to break into what has traditionally been a male dominated field: driving e-rickshaws. Helping them into the profession is a startup, SMV Green Solutions, which started the project with three main agendas empowerment of women; promotion of green transport, and providing safe public transport for women.
Varanasi: President Ram Nath Kovind arrived in Varanasi on Saturday and offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple and then witnessed the mesmerizing Ganga Aarti at the Dashashwamedh Ghat in the evening.
The President on a three-day east UP tour with his wife Savita Kovind and daughter Swati, was earlier welcomed by Governor Anandiben Patel and chief minister Yogi Adityanath on landing at the LBSI Airport in the afternoon.
From airport, the President went to Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) by helicopter for staying at its guest house.
Later, the President entered the Kashi Vishwanath Dham (corridor) area through Chhattadwar to enter Kashi Vishwanath temple complex through Rani Bhawani entry point.
VARANASI: In a path-breaking accomplishment, Dr. Rajesh Kumar Upadhyay of the department of chemical engineering and technology and his team at IIT (BHU) have developed a membrane reformer prototype for producing ultra-pure hydrogen from methanol.
The team said it is the first such prototype in India and there are no such commercial units worldwide.
The prototype isolated 99.999% pure hydrogen from a mere 15 ml/minute methanol to 13 litre/minute and succeeded in producing 1 KW of power on integration with a hydrogen fuel cell, Dr Upadhyay said.
The Union government has recently launched the National Hydrogen Energy Mission to promote production of hydrogen from green energy resources.
Varanasi: Mirzapur police arrested a truck owner, Raju Chaubey, for allegedly threatening and blackmailing additional regional transport officer (administration/enforcement) Vivek Kumar Shukla after failing to pressurise him for waiving road tax.
Inspector Katra Kotwali Swaminath Prasad said, “On the complaint of ARTO a named FIR against Raju Chaubey has been lodged under section 186 (voluntarily obstruct any public servant in the discharge of his public functions), 500 (defamation) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.”
“When police raided Chaube’s house he tried to jump from the roof to escape. In this bid, Chaubey’ got his leg fractured and was admitted to district hospital under police custody. Police are trying to identifying Chaubey’s accomplice, who has also been made an accused in this case,” he added.
Varanasi: After being delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the tribal event, Vanvasi Sangam, will be graced by President Ram Nath Kovind in Sonbhadra on March 14. Earlier, the event was scheduled to be held on March 15, 2020 but was cancelled due to Covid-19 outbreak.
During his three-day tour of eastern Uttar Pradesh beginning March 13, the President will take part in various programmes in Sonbhadra, Varanasi and Mirzapur districts.
According to the visit schedule of the President released by PIB, he will arrive in Varanasi on Saturday. After offering prayer at Kashi Vishwanath Temple and watching the grand Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat in the evening, the President will leave for Sonbhadra and Mirzapur on March 14. He will also attend a programme on the issues of the Ganga, environment and the culture of India in Varanasi on March 15.