Varanasi
Varanasi known as Benares, Banaras, or Kashi, is a city on the banks of the river Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, India, 320 kilometres south-east of the state capital, 121 kilometres east of Allahabad. A major religious hub in India, it is the holiest of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism and Jainism, played an important role in the development of Buddhism and Ravidassia. Varanasi lies along National Highway 2, which connects it to Kolkata, Kanpur and Delhi, is served by Varanasi Junction railway station and Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport. Varanasi is one of 72 districts in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. At the time of the 2011 census, there were 1329 villages in this district; the main native languages of Varanasi are Bhojpuri. Varanasi grew as an important industrial centre, famous for its muslin and silk fabrics, ivory works, sculpture. Buddha is believed to have founded Buddhism here around 528 BCE when he gave his first sermon, "The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma", at nearby Sarnath.
The city's religious importance continued to grow in the 8th century, when Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. During the Muslim rule through Middle Ages, the city continued as an important centre of Hindu devotion, pilgrimage and poetry which further contributed to its reputation as a centre of cultural importance and religious education. Tulsidas wrote his epic poem on Rama's life called Ram Charit Manas in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. Guru Nanak visited Varanasi for Maha Shivaratri in 1507, a trip that played a large role in the founding of Sikhism. In the 16th century, Varanasi experienced a cultural revival under the Mughal emperor Akbar who patronised the city, built two large temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu, though much of modern Varanasi was built during the 18th century, by the Maratha and Brahmin kings; the Kingdom of Benares was given official status by the Mughals in 1737, continued as a dynasty-governed area until Indian independence in 1947.
The city is governed by the Varanasi Nagar Nigam and is represented in the Parliament of India by the current Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, who won the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 by a huge margin. Silk weaving and crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Diesel Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. Varanasi Hospital was established in 1964. Varanasi has been a cultural centre of North India for several thousand years, is associated with the Ganges. Hindus believe; the city is known worldwide for its many ghats, embankments made in steps of stone slabs along the river bank where pilgrims perform ritual ablutions. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead and the Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here; the Ramnagar Fort, near the eastern bank of the Ganges, was built in the 18th century in the Mughal style of architecture with carved balconies, open courtyards, scenic pavilions.
Among the estimated 23,000 temples in Varanasi are Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, the Durga Temple. The Kashi Naresh is the chief cultural patron of Varanasi, an essential part of all religious celebrations. An educational and musical centre, many prominent Indian philosophers, poets and musicians live or have lived in the city, it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. One of Asia's largest residential universities is Banaras Hindu University; the Hindi-language nationalist newspaper, Aj, was first published in 1920. Traditional etymology links "Varanasi" to the names of two Ganges tributaries forming the city's borders: Varuna, still flowing in northern Varanasi, Assi, today a small stream in the southern part of the city, near Assi Ghat; the old city is located on the north shores of the Ganges, bounded by Assi. In the Rigveda, an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns, the city is referred to as Kāśī from the Sanskrit verbal root kaś- "to shine", making Varanasi known as "City of Light", the "luminous city as an eminent seat of learning".
The name was used by pilgrims dating from Buddha's days. Hindu religious texts use many epithets to refer to Varanasi, such as Kāśikā, Avimukta, Ānandavana, Rudravāsa. According to Hindu mythology, Varanasi was founded by Shiva, one of three principal deities along with Brahma and Vishnu. During a fight between Brahma and Shiva, one of Brahma's five heads was torn off by Shiva; as was the custom, the victor carried the slain adversary's head in his hand and let it hang down from his hand as an act of ignominy, a sign of his own bravery. A bridle was put into the mouth. Shiva thus dishonored Brahma's head, kept it with him at all times; when he came to the city of Varanasi in this state, the hanging head of Brahma dropped from Shiva's hand and disappeared in the ground. Varanasi is therefore considered an holy site; the Pandavas, the protagonists of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, are said to have visited the city in search of Shiva to atone for their sin of fratricide and Brāhmana
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It has a total of 403 members excluding one Anglo-Indian member, nominated by the Governor. Till 1967, it had a strength of 431 members including one nominated Anglo-Indian member. According to the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission, appointed after every Census, it was revised to 426. After reorganization of the State on 9 November 2000, the strength of the Legislative Assembly has become 404 including one nominated member to represent the Anglo-Indian community; the Term of the Vidhan Sabha is five years. The election is held on the principle of "one adult one vote"; the Legislative Assembly for the United Provinces was constituted for the first time on 1 April 1937 in accordance with the Government of India Act, 1935. The strength of the Assembly as stipulated under the Act of 1935 was 228 and its term was five years. Purushottam Das Tandon and Abdul Hakim were elected the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker on 31 July 1937.
After independence, the legislative assembly met for the first time on 3 November 1947. At its meeting on 4 November 1947, the legislative assembly adopted a resolution for the use of Hindi for the transaction of all its business and proceedings and accordingly all the business of the House was thereafter transacted in Hindi. On 25 February 1948, the Assembly passed a resolution requesting the Governor to submit to the Governor General the request of the assembly to the effect that the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad and the Oudh Chief Court be amalgamated. Another important resolution passed by the House on 18 October 1948 congratulated the government of India, the military commanders and the soldiers on their successful police action against the Hyderabad State; the first session of the U. P. Legislature under the new Constitution, began on 2 February 1950 with an address by the Governor to both the Houses assembled together in the Assembly Hall. Prior to the commencement of the session, the Governor administered the oath to P. D. Tandon and Chandra Bhal in their respective chambers, thereafter all other members present took oath or made affirmation, as required by the Constitution, in their respective Houses.
An important legislative measure passed in 1950 was the U. P. Language Act, 1950, which provided that the language to be used in Bills and Acts shall be Hindi in Devanagri script. In 1951, the U. P. Official Language Act was passed adopting Hindi in Devanagri script as the language to be used for official purpose of the State. On 11 August 1950 Purshottam Das Tandon, resigned from his office. On 21 December 1950 Nafisul Hasan, was elected the Speaker. Hasan replied to the congratulatory speeches on the occasion, he declared that unlike his predecessor, he would not be taking part in politics as long as he remained the Speaker. Hargovind Pant was elected the Deputy Speaker on 4 January 1951; the newly elected Assembly of Uttar Pradesh met on 19 May 1952. On 20 May 1952, Atma Ram Govind Kher was elected the Speaker. Govind Kher speaking on the occasion, said that of the two different conventions set by his two predecessors in office in the matter of taking part in politics he would like to follow neither but would strive to follow a middle course in this regard.
He said that he would not take part in active politics nor hold any office in the Congress Party to which he belonged, but at the same time he would continue to be a member of that party and take part in non-controversial activities relating to social and developmental work. Following are the dates of dissolution of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. First sitting date and date of completion of term for each Vidhan Sabha can be different from the constitution and dissolution dates. Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council First Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh Sixteenth Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath ministry History of Legislature in Uttar Pradesh Official Site of Legislature in Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh Government website UP Assembly
India
India known as the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is the second most populous country as well as the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia; the Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE. In the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, Buddhism and Jainism arose. Early political consolidations took place under the Gupta empires. In the medieval era, Zoroastrianism and Islam arrived, Sikhism emerged, all adding to the region's diverse culture.
Much of the north fell to the Delhi Sultanate. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal Empire. In the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, in the mid-19th under British Crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance and led to India's independence in 1947. In 2017, the Indian economy was the world's sixth largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption and inadequate public healthcare. A nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the second largest standing army in the world and ranks fifth in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal republic governed under a parliamentary system and consists of 29 states and 7 union territories.
A pluralistic and multi-ethnic society, it is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindush, equivalent to the Sanskrit word Sindhu, the historical local appellation for the Indus River; the ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as "The people of the Indus". The geographical term Bharat, recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations, it is a modernisation of the historical name Bharatavarsha, which traditionally referred to the Indian subcontinent and gained increasing currency from the mid-19th century as a native name for India. Hindustan is a Middle Persian name for India, it was introduced into India by the Mughals and used since then. Its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety; the name may refer to either the northern part of India or the entire country.
The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago. Nearly contemporaneous human rock art sites have been found in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, including at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh. After 6500 BCE, evidence for domestication of food crops and animals, construction of permanent structures, storage of agricultural surplus, appeared in Mehrgarh and other sites in what is now Balochistan; these developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, the first urban culture in South Asia, which flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in what is now Pakistan and western India. Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and Kalibangan, relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilization engaged robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade. During the period 2000–500 BCE, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic cultures to the Iron Age ones; the Vedas, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism, were composed during this period, historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain.
Most historians consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent from the north-west. The caste system, which created a hierarchy of priests and free peasants, but which excluded indigenous peoples by labeling their occupations impure, arose during this period. On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation. In South India, a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this period, as well as by nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, craft traditions. In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas; the emerging urbanisation gave rise to non-Vedic religious movements, two of which became independent religions. Jainism came into prominence during the life of Mahavira.
Buddhism, based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle
Delhi
Delhi the National Capital Territory of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. It is bordered by Haryana by Uttar Pradesh to the east; the NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres. According to the 2011 census, Delhi's city proper population was over 11 million, the second-highest in India after Mumbai, while the whole NCT's population was about 16.8 million. Delhi's urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundaries and include the neighboring satellite cities of Faridabad, Gurgaon and Noida in an area now called Central National Capital Region and had an estimated 2016 population of over 26 million people, making it the world's second-largest urban area according to United Nations; as of 2016, recent estimates of the metro economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the most or second-most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second-wealthiest city in India after Mumbai, with a total private wealth of $450 billion and is home to 18 billionaires and 23,000 millionaires.
Delhi has been continuously inhabited since the 6th century BCE. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various empires, it has been captured and rebuilt several times during the medieval period, modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. A union territory, the political administration of the NCT of Delhi today more resembles that of a state of India, with its own legislature, high court and an executive council of ministers headed by a Chief Minister. New Delhi is jointly administered by the federal government of India and the local government of Delhi, serves as the capital of the nation as well as the NCT of Delhi. Delhi hosted the first and ninth Asian Games in 1951 and 1982 1983 NAM Summit, 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup, 2010 Commonwealth Games, 2012 BRICS Summit and was one of the major host cities of the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Delhi is the centre of the National Capital Region, a unique'interstate regional planning' area created by the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985.
There are a number of legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi. One of them is derived from Dhillu or Dilu, a king who built a city at this location in 50 BCE and named it after himself. Another legend holds that the name of the city is based on the Hindi/Prakrit word dhili and that it was used by the Tomaras to refer to the city because the iron pillar of Delhi had a weak foundation and had to be moved; the coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called dehliwal. According to the Bhavishya Purana, King Prithiviraja of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modern-day Purana Qila area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom, he ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and named the fort dehali. Some historians believe that Dhilli or Dhillika is the original name for the city while others believe the name could be a corruption of the Hindustani words dehleez or dehali—both terms meaning'threshold' or'gateway'—and symbolic of the city as a gateway to the Gangetic Plain.
The people of Delhi are referred to as Dilliwalas. The city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages. Examples include: Abhi Dilli door hai or its Persian version, Hanuz Dehli dur ast meaning Delhi is still far away, generically said about a task or journey still far from completion. Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large-hearted/daring. Aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies parched. An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it idiomatically refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty; the area around Delhi was inhabited before the second millennium BCE and there is evidence of continuous inhabitation since at least the 6th century BCE. The city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to the Mahabharata, this land was a huge mass of forests called'Khandavaprastha', burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha.
The earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period. Remains of eight major cities have been discovered in Delhi; the first five cities were in the southern part of present-day Delhi. King Anang Pal of the Tomara dynasty founded the city of Lal Kot in 736 CE. Prithviraj Chauhan renamed it Qila Rai Pithora; the king Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated in 1192 by Muhammad Ghori, a Muslim invader from Afghanistan, who made a concerted effort to conquer northern India. By 1200, native Hindu resistance had begun to crumble, the Muslims were victorious; the newfound dominance of foreign Turkic Muslim dynasties in north India would last for the next five centuries. The slave general of Ghori, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, was given the responsibility of governing the conquered territories of India until Ghori returned to his capital, Ghor; when Ghori died without a heir in 1206 CE, his territories fractured, with various generals claiming sovereignty over different areas. Qutb-ud-din assumed control of Ghori's Indian possessions, laid the foundation of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mamluk dynasty.
He began construction of the Qutb Minar and Quwwat-al-Islam mosque, the earlie
Babatpur
Babatpur is a village in Pindra Tehsil of Varanasi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The village falls under gram panchayat by the same name as the village; the village houses Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport which serves Varanasi district. The village is about 26 kilometers North-West of Varanasi city, 260 kilometers South-East of state capital Lucknow and 797 kilometers South-East of the national capital Delhi. Babatpur has a total population of 2,293 people amongst 339 families. Sex ratio of the village is 897 and child sex ratio is 811. Uttar Pradesh state average for both ratios is 902 respectively. Babatpur can be accessed by road. Nearest operational airports are Allahabad Airports. Pindra Tehsil Pindra Varanasi district ^ All demographic data is based on 2011 Census of India
Postal Index Number
A Postal Index Number, or sometimes redundantly a PIN code, is a code in the post office numbering or postal code system used by India Post, the Indian postal entity. The code is six digits long; the PIN system was introduced on 15 August 1972 by Shriram Bhikaji Velankar, an additional secretary in the Union Ministry of Communications. The system was introduced to simplify the manual sorting and delivery of mail by eliminating confusion over incorrect addresses, similar place names, different languages used by the public. There are nine postal zones including eight regional zones and one functional zone; the first digit of the PIN indicates the zone. The second digit indicates the sub-zone, the third digit indicates the sorting district within that zone; the final three digits are assigned to individual post offices. The first digit of the PIN is allocated over the 9 zones as follows: 1 — Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir, Chandigarh 2 — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand 3 — Rajasthan, Gujarat and Diu, Dadra and Nagar 4 — Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh 5 — Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka 6 — Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep 7 — West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya and Nicobar Islands, Sikkim 8 — Bihar, Jharkhand 9 — Army Post Office and Field Post Office The first three digits of the PIN represent a specific geographical region called a sorting district, headquartered at the main post office of the largest city and is known as the sorting office.
A state may have one or more sorting districts depending on the volume of mail handled. The fourth digit represents the route; this is 0 for offices in the core area of the sorting district. The last two digits represent the delivery office within the sorting district starting from 01 which would be the General Post Office or head office; the numbering of the delivery office is done chronologically with higher numbers assigned to newer delivery offices. If the volume of mails handled at a delivery office is too large, a new delivery office is created and the next available PIN is assigned. Thus, two delivery offices situated next to each other will only have the first four digits in common; each PIN is mapped to one delivery post office which receives all the mail to be delivered to one or more lower offices within its jurisdiction, all of which share the same code. The delivery office can either be a General Post Office, a head office, or a sub-office which are located in urban areas; the post from the delivery office is sorted and routed to other delivery offices for a different PIN or to one of the relevant sub-offices or branch offices for the same PIN.
Branch offices have limited postal services. Find Pincode – India Post
Train station
A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot is a railway facility or area where trains stop to load or unload passengers or freight. It consists of at least one track-side platform and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales and waiting rooms. If a station is on a single-track line, it has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements; the smallest stations are most referred to as "stops" or, in some parts of the world, as "halts". Stations elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other transport modes such as buses, trams or other rapid transit systems. In British English, traditional usage favours railway station or station though train station, perceived as an Americanism, is now about as common as railway station in writing. In British usage, the word station is understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified. In American English, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station. In North America, the term depot is sometimes used as an alternative name for station, along with the compound forms train depot, railway depot, railroad depot, but applicable for goods, the term depot is not used in reference to vehicle maintenance facilities in American English.
The world's first recorded railway station was The Mount on the Oystermouth Railway in Swansea, which began passenger service in 1807, although the trains were horsedrawn rather than by locomotives. The two-storey Mount Clare station in Baltimore, which survives as a museum, first saw passenger service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on 22 May 1830; the oldest terminal station in the world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, built in 1830, on the locomotive hauled Liverpool to Manchester line. As the first train on the Liverpool-Manchester line left Liverpool, the station is older than the Manchester terminal at Liverpool Road; the station was the first to incorporate a train shed. The station was demolished in 1836 as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station. Crown Street station was converted to a goods station terminal; the first stations had little in the way of amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened in 1830.
Manchester's Liverpool Road Station, the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses. Early stations were sometimes built with both passenger and goods facilities, though some railway lines were goods-only or passenger-only, if a line was dual-purpose there would be a goods depot apart from the passenger station. Dual-purpose stations can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States, passengers wanting to board the train had to flag the train down in order for it to stop; such stations were known as "flag stops" or "flag stations". Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the grandiose architecture of the time, lending prestige to the city as well as to railway operations. Countries where railways arrived may still have such architecture, as stations imitated 19th-century styles.
Various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of stations, from those boasting grand, Baroque- or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles. Stations in Europe tended to follow British designs and were in some countries, like Italy, financed by British railway companies. Stations built more often have a similar feel to airports, with a simple, abstract style. Examples of modern stations include those on newer high-speed rail networks, such as the Shinkansen in Japan, THSR in Taiwan, TGV lines in France and ICE lines in Germany. Stations have staffed ticket sales offices, automated ticket machines, or both, although on some lines tickets are sold on board the trains. Many stations include a convenience store. Larger stations have fast-food or restaurant facilities. In some countries, stations may have a bar or pub. Other station facilities may include: toilets, left-luggage, lost-and-found and arrivals boards, luggage carts, waiting rooms, taxi ranks, bus bays and car parks.
Larger or manned stations tend to have a greater range of facilities including a station security office. These are open for travellers when there is sufficient traffic over a long enough period of time to warrant the cost. In large cities this may mean facilities available around the clock. A basic station might only have platforms, though it may still be distinguished from a halt, a stopping or halting place that may not have platforms. Many stations, either larger or smaller, offer interchange with local transportation. In many African, South American countries, Asian countries, stations are used as a place for public markets and other informal businesses; this is true on tourist routes or stations near tourist destinations. As well as providing services for passengers and loading facilities for goods, stations can sometimes have locomotive and rolling stock depots (usually with facilities for storing and refuelling rolling stock an
India
Ajaipur
