# The place where former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi launched the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) at Rajendra Prasad ghat in Varanasi in 1986 had turned into a pungent smelling embankment by river side in
It has been nine months that Narendra Modi stomped home with four lakh plus margin of votes from Varanasi. He went on to become the prime minister and lives in the national capital where hospitals
I had grown up hearing the name Kashi frequently. Every now and then people would express their desire to settle in Kashi out of anger, disappointment, sadness, neglect but rarely for religious rea
A s dusk sets in, Asi ghat comes to life. A stage has been set up and performers gather in colourful garb. Locals and tourists begin to occupy the steps of the ghat. Tea sellers and boatmen do bris
Varanasi, the oldest living town on planet, is prone to small-scale disaster as the frequency of small-scale disasters and natural ecosystem vulnerabilities has increased in five years. This was re
Soon the residents of Varanasi will be able to get pure drinking water from the polluted river Ganga, which is filthy and unhealthy even for a dip. Sulabh International is claiming t
Ahead of prime minister Narendra Modi`s visit to Jammu tomorrow (July 17), Pakistani Rangers resorted to heavy shelling on the Indian forward posts and civilian areas that left a 42-year-old woman
The holy city of Varanasi is getting benefits of corporate social responsibility funds of various public sector undertakings. In order to promote solar power and also to overcome pow
It conducts normal operations of a commercial banks, almost. But it does not deal in cash. This is called ‘Anaj bank. It collects food grains from donors and gives it to the ne
The call of the muezzin and chiming temple bells break the stillness of air over Ganga as Rehaan Hasan wakes up for the day. Now in his sixties – he does not know his exact age – Rehaan
Like hundreds of other villages in its vicinity, Khushiyari in Varanasi district, was another village lost on the map of India, until a group of women popularly known as Green Gang brought it to pu
On a dry winter morning in December 2012, while crossing the bridge over what seemed like narrow waterway in an eastern UP town, I noticed a mountain of garbage in the stream. This shrunken, pollut
The government has planned to promote navigation in rivers, including the mighty Ganga. Union minister for road transport, highways and shipping
Girija Devi is one of the finest classical and folk vocalists in the country. Born and brought up in Varanasi, she took forward the legacy of Benaras gharana and mastered semi-classical forms o
“Toilets are being built. I ask, where?” wonders Asha Devi, a 38-year-old native of Khushiyari village near Varanasi. The village in prime minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary c
Varanasi and Allahabad had ‘zero’ good air quality days last year, said a report launched at an air quality workshop, ‘Lifting the Smog’. The report by
In order to restore the beauty and serenity of the kunds, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), an energy maharatna, is all set to clean the four kunds based at Varanasi -- Durga kund,
"Beet jayei ho beet jayei, voting ke bela ho; Sovat rahaba abki bhi tu, hoi paanch saal jhamela ho. Beet jayei ho beet jayei, kis soch mein haua ho, koi tohke paisa dei, police ke phone milaiy
When Narendra Modi chose Varanasi, the Hindu holy city, as his constituency to run for prime minister in the 2014 general elections, the symbolism was not lost on anyone. As the city goes to the po
Indore is India’s cleanest city, while Gonda in Uttar Pradesh is the country’s dirtiest, according to the Swachh Survekshan-2017 that was conducted in 434 cities and towns.
Kyoto, nicknamed the city of a thousand temples, and hence comparable to Kashi, or Varanasi, where I spent some of my formative years, is about 500 km from its anagrammatical cousin, Tokyo. But the
Ganga ke jal mein apni ek taang par khada hai yeh shehar apni duusri taang se bilkul bekhabar – Hindi critic an
It’s said that to see as much of life as India can show, all one needs to do is visit Varanasi. The city, often called India’s cultural capital, has recorded continuous settleme
On his first visit to Varanasi after the Uttar Pradesh polls, PM Modi announced and laid foundation stones of various projects on Friday and Saturday. Addressing a public meeting in
There was something eclectic about the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). As one crossed the gates, the sprawling campus came in view, representing a microcosm of the entire universe of education. Dri
GAIL has awarded a contract for laying 520 km gas pipeline connectivity from Dobhi (Bihar) to Durgapur (West Bengal), including 120 km line to Jamshedpur (Jharkhand). With these awards, major
Varanasi and Nagpur will soon have intermodal stations. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has conducted detailed pre-feasibility studies for setting up intermodal stati
Indian Railways entered a new era as prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off the country’s first semi high-speed train, Vande Bharat Express, from the New Delhi railway station.
In a major embarrassment to the railways, the much touted Vande Bharat Express developed a technical snag at Chamraula, 15 kms from Tundla junction. Prime Minister Narendra Mo
As you drive down from Varanasi airport, the elevated road that takes you to the city says it all. It takes less than 20 minutes to reach the cantonment area where the British established their gar
Indian Railways spent Rs 52.18 lakh to organise the inaugural function of the country’s first engineless semi-high speed train Vande Bharat express. The train was flagged off by prime ministe
A new study titled, ‘Quantitative analysis of Microplastics along River Ganga’ by Toxics Link has found heavy concentration of microplastics in the Ganga. All samples col
A videography survey in the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi this month, along with a similar survey in the mosque in Mathura permitted by a court, has brought the Places of Worship Act under focus afte
Amid the campaign for building a temple in place of Babri Mosque, India in 1991 passed a law, the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, to prohibit the conversion of places of worship –
