STATE TAKES STOCK OF ALL HISTORICAL BUILDINGS IN AGRA | AGRA HINDI NEWS

The government is all geared up about documenting its maintenance of historical monuments in the district that are not under the care of the Archaeological survey of india (ASI) or any such other body at state level. The documentation would be supervised by the National Mission for Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA).
ASI superintending Archaeologist, Agra Circle , Dr Atiq R.Siddiqui said,"Although a proposal had been moved to list and document about the neglected heritages monuments, the government until redently didn't get serious about taking care of these."
Dr Siddiqui said a plan was chalked out on the project after a meeting was held in Lucknow under the chairmanship of Director General (tourism) Avnish Awasthi.
The Centre had formulated the NMMA to document about the heritage monuments that don't come under the purview of either the Centre or the state government. According to Centre , there were several such monuments across the country thar are of heritage value but are under serious neglect. The plan was to first list these monuments and then to ideate how these could be preserved .
However, according to Siddiqui, the progress of the project in the initial three years was quite slow. He said now, however, the government is taking it up practically and implementing it seriously.
Across UP, districts such as Agra, Meerut , Jaunpur , Varanasi, Lucknow and Bareilly would be covered under this move. He said that a resource person has already been identified. Soon details such as how the monuments would be identified and the funds for the project would be worked out.

AND TAJ GOES TO | AGRA NEWS

Young models of Agra walked the ramp in both Western and Indian dresses at the 'Kohinoor-e-Taj' beauty contest at Soor Sadan Auditorium . Agra's search for the city's best models ended as Miss and Mr Kohinoor-e-Taj Anshika Saxena and Saurabh Anand were crowed on Thursday.
Besides the dancers rocking the stage with their moves during the dance competitions,Agra person alities also turned out on the occasion to lend sparkle to the event .
Apart form the winners,there also titles for the runners-up as participants vied with each other for the top spot .
The show consisted of introduction , walking the ramp and the question-n-answers round .
Ankita Sharma and Meenakshi Chuhan were declared as first and second runners up. Kamlendra Pundhir and Manu Bhuduaria were the first and second runners up for Mr Kohinoor-e-Taj .
In the dance competition, Divyanshi Chaturvedi was crowned as the winner,while Anjali and Vartika were on second and third position.
The chief guest for the evening was agra . Devlopement Authority's vice-chairmen Tanvir Zafar Ali, who inaugurated the function.
In the panel of judges were programming director Yogendra Varshney,beauty expert Rashida Haarun,jyoti Singh, Shivani Agarwal,Anita Sandra Vickey.
Amit suri and sanna anchored the event.

SEE TAJ IN DIFFERENT COLOURS | AGRA NEWS

25\06\2010   AGRA NEWS
Want to watch Taj just choose the time zone to have the best view. At sunrise it's pink and at sunset,orange. When the clouds hover over it,the Taj wears light blue to violet colour.
Well,that's the marvel of the marvel ,They say the Taj changes its mood with the weather and time and hence the range of colours it reflects.
There are no specific timings for opening and closing of Taj. The Archeological survey of India has marked the sunrise as time for opening Taj gates and sunsets is the closure time. Nothing to worry if yjr temperature soars to extreme 46 degree Celsius these days.Avoid afternoons and plan your visit at sunrise and sunset.
The Conservation
Archeologist Dr R K Dixit has a piece of advice  "Visit Taj in the early hours of the day and you would have a 'pink' Taj. The same Taj turns orange in evenings hours it being.
'Godhuli kall' with Taj having another desolate look with . closing time approaching .Taj is evergreen in its charm and has always something for the visit.
Dixit says:'The reflection of the sunlight changes phase of weather and even in these summer days,slight planning can give you special Taj. In fact ,most of the tourists visiting Taj opt for evening timings these days with more or less similar inflow during early hours of sunrise. The ticket sale begins early hours of day before openings of Taj and one can have the opportunity to view Taj in 'usha' or early morning hours.Munazzar Ali,presently at Sikandra monuments is another expert from the ASI at. Agra and had been.
Conservation Archeologist at Taj earlier before beings posted at Sikandra. He also has observation about Taj.
"Most of the component of VIBGYOR  of colours range are found at this magnificent building of Mughal period .Wait for monsoon to come and the cloudy sky will bring another Taj with colour range turning to blue at one point of time and violet at another,"says  Munazzar Ali.

FLAMINGOS PAY AN EARLY VISIT TO KEETHAM BIRD SANCTUARY | AGRA NEWS

24\06\2010 AGRA NEWS
Undaunted by excessive humidity and 46 degree Celsius temperature at Agra's Keetham Bird Sanctuary,flamingo ,a cold season bird, has made its presence felt at the Keetham lake.
Around 500 of these birds have been sited in front of watch tower no.4 and behind the Bear rescue center where the Yamuna flaws.
Keetham's range officer R.B Uttam said," This is the first time such a unique phenomenon has been seen at Keetham. The flamingo makes keetham its home during the cold months from October till March."
He said for the flamingo, the cold season is part of the pasage migration where these birds stop to rest and feed and conserve its energy before heading for southern destinations for breeding .
The bird, generally a resident of countries like South Africa and Russia ,makes the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat its nesting habitat where it makes nests in the mud in the marshes.
Talking about the reasons for the bird making its presence here this season,the officer said one of the possible causes could be that climate change has affected the bird's behaviour this season.
But at present, the officer said, it is not easy to explain the change in the bird's exception al behaviour.
Another plausible reason could be adequate supply of food and security for the bird in the sanctuary that may have led to early arrival of the birds here, he added.


source :- ht agra

STATE BIRD SARAS ON THE RISE IN WEST UP | AGRA NEWS

24\06\2010 AGRA NEWS
There has been a 30 percent increase in the numbers of the Indian crane,the UP's state bird,in western Uttar Pradesh .
The increased count came to notice after the statewide census of the avian species on june 20.
The census was conducted by the forest department at the behest of the state government which plans to start an Indian crane protection project,as the number of this stately bird is declining.
The chief conservator of forests, Agra Zone ,Dr Rama Prasad Bharti said,"The results for the Indian crane census for Agra -Aligarh divisions have been received .As compared to the census of 2008 there has been a 30 per cent raise in the bird's number."
In the 2008 census ,Agra division had 2,409 cranes and Aligarh had 1,296.
Now,as per the 2010 census ,there were 2,585 Indian cranes in Agra division and 2,238 in Aligarh division.
District wise,Mainpuri witnessed 1,835 birds in 2008 and 2010 saw 2,120.
Agra saw 25 in 2008 and 38 in 2010.Firozabad saw 127 in 2008 and 241 in 2010.