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01

Swachhta Survey: Varanasi cleanest among cities on Ganga banks

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Varanasi, one of the most ancient holy cities of the world, has been adjudged as the cleanest among the cities situated on the banks of river Ganga.

“Heartiest congratulations to PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, who represents the city in Lok Sabha, for his visionary leadership which has inspired the people of the town for this achievement,” tweeted Union Minister Hardeep Puri.

According to Swachh Survey-2020, a number of UP cities have done well on the scale of cleanliness. As compared to last year’s ranking given by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, a number of cities have been able to figure among the top 129 of 4203 cities adjudged in 2020.

While Varanasi has been found to be the cleanest among cities on the banks of river Ganga, Shajahanpur has been judged as having maximum citizen participation in the cleanliness drive among cities with a population one lakh and above. Similarly, Firozabad, the city of glass, has walked away with the ‘Best Mover’ award among cities with population from three lakh to 10 lakh.

While Indore remained the cleanest in the country for the fourth time in a row with 5647.56 points, UP capital Lucknow made considerable progress and remained at number 12th position securing 4728 points and remained the cleanest in the state. In 2019, Lucknow was at number 121 in the country.

Agra remained at number two position in UP and at number 16 in India securing 4391.51 points, Ghaziabad at number three in UP and 19th in India with 4283.26 points and Prayagraj at number four in UP and 20th in the country with 4141.47 points. The industrial hub of UP, Kanpur remained at number 5 position in the state and 25th in the country with 3783 points.

In 2019, Agra had been on number 85 in the country which is now at number 16. Even Kanpur has risen by 38 positions. In 2019 It was at 63rd position and now has been pushed up at 25th in the country.

02

Swachh Survey: Varanasi grabs top slot among Ganga Towns

Varanasi/Lucknow: Six cities of Uttar Pradesh burst into the Swachch hall of fame this year with Lucknow and Varanasi hogging the limelight after trailing in national rankings since the cleanliness survey took off.While Varanasi was declared the best ‘Ganga Town’ with a population of more than 10lakh, Lucknow too shone in the same category by bagging the 12 th spot. The ‘fastest mover state capital’ honour also went to Lucknow in the 2020 Swachh Bharat Survey announced on Thursday.Besides Varanasi, Kannuaj and Chunar too came up with stellar performances to grab top slots in the three population-wise subcategories in the Cleanest Ganga Town category.Among 97 Ganga Towns in the country, Varanasi was at the top with 86.5 points followed by Kanpur (81), Munger in Bihar (78.5), Prayagraj (60) and Haridwar in Uttarakhand (58.8). Among 62 Cantonment Boards, Varanasi Cantonment Board secured the 5th rank with 3,148.10 score followed by Jhansi on 6th, Matura at 11th spot and Lucknow on 19th position.However, in national rankings with 10 lakh population, Varanasi was ranked 27, preceded by Kanpur (25), Ghaziabad (19), Agra (16). However, the city made a dramatic turnaround in its cleanliness quotient when it improved its rank from 70 in 2019 to 27 this year.The Swachh Survey, 2020, surveyed 4,242 cities, 62 Cantonment Boards and 97 Ganga Towns and witnessed participation of 1.87 crore citizens. The survey teams visited over 58,000 residential and over 20,000 commercial areas covering over 64,000 wards.Varanasi municipal commissioner Gaurang Rathi said, it is a big achievement to bag the top honour among Ganga Towns. “We are committed to improve the city’s national ranking,” he told TOI.Expressing happiness over the 5th rank of Varanasi Cantonment Board, member and former vice-president of Cantonment Board Shailendra Singh congratulated chairman Brig Hukum Singh Baisala and other officials for the achievement. He said, it is the collective effort of board officials and local citizens.

03

Swachh Survekshan Awards 2020: Proud moment for PM Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi

© Provided by Zee Business

Swachh Survekshan Awards 2020 results are finally out, and in a proud moment for PM Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi, the city has been the adjudged the 'best Ganga town' in the central government's cleanliness survey. Taking to Twitter, Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs (I/C); Civil Aviation (I/C); and MoS Commerce and Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri said, "Ancient holy town of Varanasi is rightfully the cleanest town on the banks of river Ganga. Heartiest congratulations to PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, who represents the city in Lok Sabha, for his visionary leadership which has inspired the people of the town for this achievement."

Indore was adjudged India's cleanest city for the fourth straight year in the central government's cleanliness survey announced on Thursday.

The second and third positions in the category were grabbed by Surat and Navi Mumbai respectively.

The Swachh Survekshan awards 2020 were announced by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at a ceremony.

Swachh Survekshan 2020: HIGHLIGHTS

-Swachh Survekshan 2020 is the World’s largest cleanliness survey which ranked a total of 4,242 cities, 62 Cantonment Boards and 92 Ganga Towns and saw an unprecedented participation of 1.87 crore citizens.

- The event is being organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India.

- Completed in 28 days

-1.7 crore citizens registered on Swachhata App

-Over 11 crore impressions on social media

-Over 5.5 lakh sanitary workers linked to social welfare schemes and over 84,000 informal waste

pickers integrated into the mainstream

-Over 21,000 Garbage Vulnerable Points identified and transformed

Swachh Survekshan

- In Swachh Survekshan 2020, in order to ensure continuous assessment and sustainability of on-ground performance of cities, the Government had also introduced Swachh Survekshan League, a quarterly cleanliness assessment of cities and towns conducted across three quarters,with 25% weightage integrated into the final Swachh Survekshan results for this year.

- Swachh Survekshan was introduced by the government with the objective of generating large scale citizen participation in the Mission, along with inculcating a spirit of healthy competition among cities towards becoming India’s cleanest cities.

- MoHUA had conducted Swachh Survekshan 2016 survey for rating 73 majorcities in January 2016, followed by Swachh Survekshan 2017 conducted in January-February 2017 for ranking 434 cities.

- Swachh Survekshan 2018, which, ranked 4,203 citiesfollowed by SS 2019 which not only covered 4,237 cities but was also the first-of-its-kind completely digital survey completed in a record time of 28 days.

01

Hindus in India set to build temple at razed mosque site

© Provided by Associated Press A Hindu holy man looks at a decoration on the ghats of the river Saryu as part of preparations for the groundbreaking ceremony of a temple to the Hindu god Ram in Ayodhya, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Monday, Aug. 3, 2020. As Hindus prepare to celebrate the groundbreaking of a long-awaited temple at a disputed ground in northern India, Muslims say they have no firm plans yet to build a new mosque at an alternative site they were granted to replace the one torn down by Hindu hard-liners decades ago. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — As Hindus prepare to celebrate the groundbreaking of a long-awaited temple at a disputed ground in northern India, Muslims say they have no firm plans yet to build a new mosque at an alternative site they were granted to replace the one torn down by Hindu hard-liners decades ago.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2019, file photo, Hindu women devotees pray to the bricks reading "Shree Ram" (Lord Ram), which are expected to be used in constructing Ram temple, in Ayodhya, India. As Hindus prepare to celebrate the groundbreaking of a long-awaited temple at a disputed ground in northern India, Muslims say they have no firm plans yet to build a new mosque at an alternative site they were granted to replace the one torn down by Hindu hard-liners decades ago. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)

Wednesday's groundbreaking ceremony follows a ruling by India’s Supreme Court last November favoring the building of a Hindu temple on the disputed site in Uttar Pradesh state. Hindus believe their god Ram was born at the site and claim that the Muslim Emperor Babur built a mosque on top of a temple there.

© Provided by Associated Press A photo of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, along with other leaders are seen on the decorated ghats of the Saryu river ahead of a groundbreaking ceremony of a temple to the Hindu god Ram in Ayodhya, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Monday, Aug. 3, 2020. As Hindus prepare to celebrate the groundbreaking of a long-awaited temple at a disputed ground in northern India, Muslims say they have no firm plans yet to build a new mosque at an alternative site they were granted to replace the one torn down by Hindu hard-liners decades ago. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

The 16th century Babri Masjid mosque was destroyed by Hindu hard-liners in December 1992, sparking massive Hindu-Muslim violence that left some 2,000 people dead. The Supreme Court's verdict paved the way for the building of a temple in place of the demolished mosque.

The court also ordered that Muslims be given 5 acres (2 hectares) of land to build a new mosque at a nearby site. But the ruling disappointed Muslims, who comprise around 14% of Hindu-majority India’s 1.3 billion people.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay five silver bricks as the temple foundation amid the chanting of Hindu religious hymns. Houses and other buildings close to the temple site in the city of Ayodhya are being painted yellow to recreate the look when the Hindu god Ram ruled there for thousands of years, according to the Hindu epic Ramayana.

More than 100,000 oil lamps will light up the city in celebration, said chief priest Satyendra Das.

A security clampdown, however, will allow only limited entry to Hindu devotees into the city because of the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, a priest and 15 police officers in the area tested positive for the virus.

As ordered by the Supreme Court, the Uttar Pradesh state government set up a trust last week for the building of a new mosque at a nearby site, in a village 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the spot where the Babri mosque was demolished by Hindu radicals.

But there is no allocation of funds yet for the project. The government-run Sunni Central Waqf (Endowment) Board's chairman, Zafur Ahmed Faruqi, said mosques are always built with public support. “Money is bound to pour in,” he said. “We will open a bank account and ask people to donate for the construction of the mosque.”

© Provided by Associated Press Indian Muslims look at pillars lying at a workshop for the construction of a Rama temple ahead of its groundbreaking ceremony in Ayodhya, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Monday, Aug. 3, 2020. As Hindus prepare to celebrate the groundbreaking of a long-awaited temple at a disputed ground in northern India, Muslims say they have no firm plans yet to build a new mosque at an alternative site they were granted to replace the one torn down by Hindu hard-liners decades ago. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Faruqi didn't give a time frame for building the new mosque. Muslim community groups have not yet come forward in support of the project.

Hindu hard-liners began preparing for the new temple in the 1990s, and prefabricated blocks of huge, ornately carved stones displaying Hindu mythology are ready for once the construction work starts. The construction is expected to take 3 1/2 years.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this Dec. 6, 1992, file photo, Hindu hard-liners stand on top of one of the three domes of the 16th century Babri mosque before it was destroyed in Ayodhya, India. As Hindus prepare to celebrate the groundbreaking of a long-awaited temple at a disputed ground in northern India, Muslims say they have no firm plans yet to build a new mosque at an alternative site they were granted to replace the one torn down by Hindu hard-liners decades ago. (AP Photo/Udo Weitz, File)

Zafaryab Jilani, who represents the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said that while the Muslim community is not satisfied with the Supreme Court's ruling, it will respect the decision and not protest the building of the temple.

© Provided by Associated Press Illuminated city of Ayodhya is seen ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony of a temple to the Hindu god Ram in Ayodhya, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Monday, Aug. 3, 2020. As Hindus prepare to celebrate the groundbreaking of a long-awaited temple at a disputed ground in northern India, Muslims say they have no firm plans yet to build a new mosque at an alternative site they were granted to replace the one torn down by Hindu hard-liners decades ago. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Saeed Naqvi, a political analyst, said he didn’t expect any trouble between Hindus and Muslims over the issue. “Muslims by themselves have learned the hard lesson that if they oppose this issue, it only helps Hindutva (Hindu ideology),” he said.

Several prominent Muslim writers, academics and activists, who didn’t want to be identified, refused to discuss the issue, suggesting that the community was resigned to the new reality.

But some expressed fear that the new temple could embolden Hindu nationalists to target two other mosques in Uttar Pradesh.

“The Modi government should assure Muslims that Hindu outfits will not ask for the construction of temples in Varanasi and Mathura after demolishing existing mosques there,” said Iqbal Ansari, the main litigant in the Supreme Court case.

The Gyanvapi mosque in the Uttar Pradesh city of Varanasi is in the complex of the Kashi Vishwanath temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. In Mathura, another city in the state, the Shahi Idgah mosque stands adjacent to the temple complex that marks the birthplace of the Hindu god Krishna. Hindu organizations say both structures were built by razing previously existing temples.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2019, file photo, Indian Muslims read a newspaper reporting about a Supreme Court verdict favoring the building of a Hindu temple on a site in a decades-old land title dispute between Muslims and Hindus in Ayodhya, India. As Hindus prepare to celebrate the groundbreaking of a long-awaited temple at a disputed ground in northern India, Muslims say they have no firm plans yet to build a new mosque at an alternative site they were granted to replace the one torn down by Hindu hard-liners decades ago. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)

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Sharma reported from New Delhi.

© Provided by Associated Press Workers decorate one of the main street as part of preparations for the groundbreaking ceremony of a temple to the Hindu god Ram in Ayodhya, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Monday, Aug. 3, 2020. As Hindus prepare to celebrate the groundbreaking of a long-awaited temple at a disputed ground in northern India, Muslims say they have no firm plans yet to build a new mosque at an alternative site they were granted to replace the one torn down by Hindu hard-liners decades ago. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

02

Malwi, Nimari, Bagheli folk songs on 2nd day of online ‘Lalit Parv’

Marking the second day of Lalit Parv, ‘Malwi, Nimari and Bagheli folk songs were performed on Thursday.

A lecture on Human Civilization and Lord Krishna was also addressed by Professor Bhagwat Sharan Shukla.

Three-day event ‘Lalit Parva’ is being organized on the occasion of Janmashthmi.

Being organized by Government of Madhya Pradesh, Department of Culture, Triveni Art Museum, Ujjain the event is all about regional folk music and lecture based on Lord Krishna.

The event is being broadcasted on the social media platform YouTube Channel.

The entire event is being hosted by renowned anchor and narrator Vinay Upadhyay.

The event began with Malwi folk song Yashoda Tharo Natkhat, by Nand Kishore.

It was followed by Nimari folk song Jhula Par Lo Lo Nandlal. Then, Bundeli folk songs' Mata Devki Ne Jaay Pyare Lallana 'and Bagheli folk songs' Sakhiya Chaliya Chalo Chalen Chalo Darshan Gopal swinging in Braj'.

Later, Prof. Bhagwat Sharan Shukla, Varanasi presented a lecture based on human civilization and Lord Krishna. Shukla said that Lord Krishna incarnated on the land of India, wishing for the welfare of the entire universe.

Lord Krishna was born to establish Dharma. The main meaning of the word Dharma is Yajna and Yajna is the manifestation of Lord Vishnu.

Similarly, Bhagwan Shriman Narayan also incarnated to protect yagnas. When there is loss of religion and iniquity arises, there is excess accretion, then God is incarnated for the protection of mankind.

He described the character of Lord Krishna through various verses in his address.

Kailash Chandra Pant will present a lecture on Lord Krishna's overall personality. Later, traditional folk songs from in Malwa, Nimar, Bundelkhand, Baghelkhand and Chambal for Lord Krishna will be performed on August 14.

03

Indian PM lays foundation of temple at razed mosque site

AYODHYA, India - Despite the coronavirus restricting a large crowd, Hindus rejoiced Wednesday as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke ground on a long-awaited temple of their most revered god, Ram, at the site of a demolished 16th century mosque.

Modi offered prayers to nine stone blocks with Ram inscribed on them and kept in a small pit amid chanting of Hindu religious hymns to symbolize the start of construction of the temple, which is expected to take 3 1/2 years to complete. The blocks will serve as the monument’s foundation stones.

Modi wore a traditional outfit of a gold Kurta, a long shirt and a white Dhoti — a loose cloth wrapped around his waist — along with a face mask. Before the start of the ceremony, he prostrated before a small idol of the god Ram that was kept in a makeshift temple set up by Hindu nationalists at the site where the mosque was demolished in 1992.

“It’s an emotional and historic moment. Wait has been worthwhile,” said Lal Krishna Advani, a 92-year-old leader of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, who was at the forefront of the party’s temple campaign in the 1990s.

Organizers said the ceremony was set on an astrologically auspicious date for Hindus, but Wednesday also marked a year since the Indian Parliament revoked the semi-autonomous status of its only Muslim-majority state, Jammu and Kashmir.

The symbolism was impossible to miss since Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party had long pledged in its manifesto to strip Kashmir’s autonomy and to build a temple to Ram where the Mughal-era mosque once stood.

Modi said in a speech that the ceremony was a “historic occasion” for which Hindus waited for centuries.

He recalled that Mohandas Gandhi, India’s independence leader, fondly referred to “Ram Rajya (rule)” as an ideal state where values of justice and equality prevailed and even the weakest people could get justice.

He said the proposed temple will become a symbol of “modern India.”

The main roads of Ayodhya were barricaded and about 3,000 paramilitary soldiers guarded the city, where all shops and businesses were closed. Last week, a priest and 15 police officers at the temple site tested positive for the coronavirus, which has infected 1.9 million people in India and killed more than 39,000.

“Had this function been held on normal days, all these roads would have been chock-a-block with people. Millions of people would have come to Ayodhya to witness this historic event,” temple priest Hari Mohan said.

Only 175 religious saints, priests and Hindu and Muslim community representatives were invited to the ceremony. But many, including senior leaders of Hindu nationalist organizations, weren’t wearing masks, or were wearing them improperly.

Water from Indian rivers in 2,000 earthen pots sent by various Hindu temples and Sikh shrines was poured at the site.

The groundbreaking follows a ruling by India’s Supreme Court last November favouring the building of a Hindu temple on the disputed site in Uttar Pradesh state. Hindus believe Ram was born at the site and claim Muslim Emperor Babur built a mosque on top of a temple there.

The Babri Masjid mosque was destroyed by Hindu radicals with pickaxes and crowbars in December 1992, sparking massive Hindu-Muslim violence that left some 2,000 people dead, most of them Muslims. The Supreme Court’s verdict allowed a temple to be built in place of the demolished mosque.

Those invited to the groundbreaking ceremony included Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the BJP’s parent organization, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and Iqbal Ansari, the main Muslim litigant in the Supreme Court case, who now supports building the temple in Ayodhya.

The court also ordered that Muslims be given 5 acres (2 hectares) of land to build a new mosque at a nearby site.

The temple will be around 235 feet (72 metres) wide, 300 feet (91.5 metres) long and 161 feet (49 metres) high with five domes with a total area around 84,000 square feet (7,804 square meters). The complex will also have a prayer hall, lecture hall, visitors’ hostel and museum.

Houses and other buildings close to the temple site were painted yellow to recreate the look when Ram ruled there for thousands of years, according to the Hindu epic Ramayana.

“Yellow is an auspicious colour. As per Hindu tradition, yellow symbolizes purity and light,” temple priest Mahant Kamal Narain Das said.

Muslims comprise about 14% of Hindu-majority India’s population of 1.3 billion. The temple-mosque dispute badly divided Hindus and Muslims, often triggering communal clashes.

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Prominent Muslims have said the community was resigned to the new reality but fear the new temple could embolden Hindu nationalists to target two other mosques in Uttar Pradesh.

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Sharma reported from New Delhi