A Food-Tech Startup Amid Pandemic

‘As A Food Startup, My Goal Lies In A Hunger-Free India’

Sakshi Guha, 34, founder and owner of Bengali Love Café, Gurgaon, who has been nominated as a ‘Covid-19 Soldier’ shares her story and her objectives

Mine is a Slumdog millionaire story: A girl who came out of a humble household, founded a food-tech startup amid pandemic, with zero financial support from anyone, and made a fortune big enough to support many other unlettered women. Today, Bengali Love Café, my one-year-old venture, distributes free meals to the less privileged, gives out educational kits to poor students, holds tree plantation campaigns and trains women in business skills.

I came to Gurgaon from Muzaffarnagar, a small town, for work and better opportunities. When I lost my job during raging Covid-19, I decided to start my own business set up. I noticed during those tough times that even well-to-do families were hard put in arranging meals; restaurants had shut shop, housemaids had left to their native places, and the disease caused fatigue.

Hence I along with my mother, Deepa Guha, started a tiffin service by distributing leaflets in and around our locality in the hope of getting customers for our service. It was a bona fide startup. We took money from those who could afford and provided free meals to those who could not.

There were all types of meals, of course it included traditional Bengali food, and several interesting options different from the regular fare. The food was freshly cooked, and delivered to the doorsteps of our patrons.

To save costs, we grew fresh and chemical-free vegetables at our own kitchen garden. All spices used for cooking are also home made by our women team members. This helped us maintain hygiene as well as keep them cost effective. We promoted zero-food-waste policy and decided to donate the extra food to the needy.

Guha with her mother (left) and other team members of Bengal Love Cafe

As business grew, we found pleasure in serving the isolated people, families of Covid patients, PG (paying guest) students, youth workers, corporate employees and senior citizens. Our good intentions clicked. We made enough profits to set off a bigger objective: a hunger-free future.

As per recent update, about 194 million people in India today do not have enough food to eat, the largest number in the world. According to the Global Hunger Index 2020, India falls under the ‘serious’ hunger category with a rank of 94 among 107 countries. These statistics do not take into account the effects of Covid-19. The resultant migration, unemployment and loss of earning members of households has pushed millions of Indians into extreme poverty and hunger.

ALSO READ: ‘How I Turned The (Dining) Table On Lockdown’

We believe that satisfying hunger is not an issue of charity. It’s a matter of justice. It is our true attempt to liberate ourselves as a community. We launched a Feed India, one-time meal, campaign under Bengali Love Cafe Foundation. We are glad to share we have being able to help more than 30,000 people across India so far. Though this is just a beginning. People from different cities are joining our campaign through social media channels and promoting the same.

Focus is around taking action against hunger by kindling the spirit of fulfilment through giving while reducing wastage of food. As we all know in food tech business majority of food get wastage daily either by walking customer or by staff but we manage to minimize it to zero wastage.

As Told To Mamta Sharma

UP Anti-Terrorist Squad Busts ISI Terror Module; 3 Held

Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has busted an ISI-sponsored terror module and arrested three people on Tuesday.

“This success was achieved during simultaneous raids in Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh, and Prayagraj. A live IED has also been recovered from Prayagraj which was deactivated by the bomb diffusing unit,” said Prashant Kumar, Additional director general of police (Law and Order), Uttar Pradesh.
Further inquiry is underway. (ANI)

Yogi Govt Arrested 2,281 Mafia Members

In its continuing drive against the mafia, Uttar Pradesh made arrests of 2,281 people and seized or demolished properties amounting to around Rs 1,900 crore under the Gangster Act, said the state government on Tuesday.

Uttar Pradesh government said for the first time in the state, the action was taken by identifying professional mafia, land mafia, mining mafia, drug/liquor mafia, education mafia and other mafias.
“19,121 cases were registered against 3,371 mafia and 2,281 were arrested and a total 3,028 accused were prosecuted,” said an official release.

According to the state government, Uttar Pradesh Police has been taking multipronged action against the mafia. Along with the legal action, the property acquired illegally has also been confiscated and demolished.

“For the first time in the state under the Gangster Act, property worth about Rs 1,900 crore has been seized or demolished,” it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday lauded the Yogi Adityanath led government in Uttar Pradesh and said that the BJP government is sincerely engaged in the development of the state while the previous governments in the state were run by goons and mafias.

Speaking at the event of laying the foundation stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh, the Prime Minister also slammed the previous government in the state and stated that there was a time when the administration in the state was run by goons and mafias.

“There was a time when the administration was run by goons, governance was in the hands of the corrupt, but now such people are behind the bars,” he said. (ANI)

Several Districts In UP See Spike In Dengue Cases

A surge in dengue cases has been seen among children in various districts of Uttar Pradesh.

In Agra, according to the government data to date, the total number of dengue patients in the district is 35, out of which 14 are still active.
Speaking to ANI, Dr Arun Kumar Srivastava, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Agra said,” As of now, 35 cases of dengue were reported in the district, out of which only 14 cases are still active. We are providing proper medical care to the patients and fogging is being done daily to prevent infection and dengue, malaria and viral rapid kits are available at all our health centres”.

Rajeev Upadhyay, President, Indian Medical Association, Agra said that the situation is very bad and the Health Department is not providing the updated data as according to the situation, 40 to 50 per cent of the patients are coming from dengue and viral, in which 60 per cent are only children.

In Firozabad, 60 children have died due to dengue and 465 children are still admitted to the child ward of the medical college in the district.

Dr Dinesh Kumar Premi, Chief District Medical Officer Firozabad said ” The health teams are going door-to-door to give instructions to the people to keep cleanliness. The death toll has risen to 60 till yesterday. We are doing door-to-door tracing and giving proper medical care to the patients”.

Meanwhile, 97 dengue cases have been reported in the Prayagraj district so far.

“Total 97 cases of dengue have been reported in Prayagraj district, out of which 67 cases are from the city and the rest are from the village. Only 16 cases are active and no one has died of dengue so far,” said the CMO, Tej Bahadur Sapru Hospital, Prayagraj.

In Gorakhpur, six dengue cases have been confirmed.

Ganesh Kumar, Principal, Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Gorakhpur said,” Till now, 4,217 people have been screened in the medical college in which six dengue (ELISA) positive patients have been found and out of which five people got cured and went home while at present only one patient is admitted whose treatment is going on”.

“All preparations have been made to deal with dengue as beds, medicines, oxygen is available in abundance in the hospital. 50 beds have been reserved in the medical college for dengue and if needed more will be arranged,” added Kumar.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh health minister Jai Pratap Singh informed that the state government is taking all the possible steps to control the outbreak of viral fever in the state.

The minister informed that the government has noticed the loopholes in the working of the officials and that’s the main reason for the viral outbreak in the city. (ANI)

Sri Lanka Legend Lasith Malinga Retires From All Forms Of Cricket

Sri Lanka’s 2014 T20 World Cup-winning captain Lasith Malinga announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Tuesday.

“Today is a very special day for me, I want to thank each and everyone who has supported me and blessed me throughout my T20 career,” said Malinga on his official YouTube channel.
Malinga also thanked team members and officials of Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC), Mumbai Indians, Melbourne Stars, Kent Cricket, Rangpur Riders, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Maratha Arabians, and Montreal Tigers.

“While Playing with you all, I got many experiences throughout my cricketing injury. And I will share it [experience] with young cricketers in the future,” he added.

Notably, in January, Lasith Malinga had retired from franchise cricket. The Sri Lankan speedster, then informed his decision to the Mumbai Indians management, making himself unavailable for the champion side’s retention wish list.

Malinga made his Test debut against Australia in July 2004. 16 days after his Test debut, Malinga played his first match in ODI cricket.

Known for his toe-crushing yorkers, Malinga has taken 4 wickets off 4 consecutive balls twice in international cricket.

Malinga, who finished with 107 wickets in the shortest format, made his T20I debut against England in June 2006. (ANI)

Akkie Turns Lensman For Vaani Kapoor

Showcasing photography skills of her ‘Bell Bottom’ co-actor and Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, actor Vaani Kapoor on Tuesday treated fans with an alluring picture of herself.

Vaani who played the female lead opposite Akshay in the recently released thriller film ‘Bell Bottom’, took to her Twitter handle and shared a stunning picture of herself from the sets of the Ranjit Tiwari directorial film and teased that it was clicked by the ‘Khiladi’ star, Akshay Kumar.

Sharing the picture she wrote, “Bell Bottom BTS, by one and only @akshaykumar.”

The picture seems to be clicked during the poster shoot of the film. Vaani could be seen sitting on a car while sporting a deep neck mustard colour flare dress paired with red leather high heel boots. Keeping her luscious locks open, she accessorised the ensemble with brown shade glares.

Directed by Ranjit M. Tewari, ‘Bell Bottom’ is a spy thriller. Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani and Nikkhil Advani have produced the project, which also features actors, Huma Qureshi and Lara Dutta Bhupathi.

‘Bell Bottom’ that starred Akshay in the role of a RAW agent is based on the plane hijacks that took India by storm in the early 1980s. Lara essayed the role of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was in power at that time. Vaani played Akshay’s wife in the film.

Speaking of Vaani’s upcoming projects, the diva will be next seen in ‘Shamshera’ with Ranbir Kapoor and ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’ with Ayushmann Khurrana. (ANI)

Gujarat Extends Night Curfew In 8 Cities Till Sept 25

In order to arrest the spread of COVID-19 cases in the state, the Gujarat government on Tuesday extended the night curfew till September 25.

The government said the night curfew will be in force from 11 pm to 6 am in eight major cities including Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Surat, Rajkot from tomorrow onwards.
“Night curfew in Gujarat will be from 11 pm to 6 am in 8 major cities including Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Surat, Rajkot from Sept 15 to Sept 25 in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 cases,” the Gujarat government said.

Earlier as per the Gujarat CMO, the midnight curfew was enforced during the Ganeshotsav from September 9 to September 19. (ANI)

One Arrested In Sabzi Mandi Building Collapse Connection

Delhi police on Tuesday arrested one person in connection with the collapse of a four-storey building in the Sabzi Mandi area of Delhi on Monday, police said.

The police arrested Mohak Arora, who had an electrical equipment shop on the ground floor of the same four-storey building that collapsed on Monday.
The police have registered a case against him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including section 304.

At least two people were killed while one other was rescued after a four-storey building collapsed in the Sabzi Mandi area of Delhi on Monday.

According to NS Bundela, Joint Commissioner of Police, Central Range (Delhi), teams of local police, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) among others are present to undertake rescue operations.

“Two children, who were passing by the building died during the collapse. One person has been rescued so far. He sustained a head injury and has been sent to hospital Further, the relief and rescue operation is being carried out,” said Bundela.

Asked about the amount of damage due to the accident, the Joint CP said, “We need time to assess the number of people stuck under debris.”

North Delhi Municipal Corporation is probing the cause of the building collapse.

“Relief and rescue work is underway. Probe on to find out if any load-bearing wall inside the building was affected which led to the collapse,” Sanjay Goel, Commissioner, North Delhi Municipal Corporation.

“Bodies of two minors have been found, no other body was found in the rubble,” said Anto Alphonse, DCP North, Delhi Police. (ANI)

14-Feet Iron Scrap Statue Of PM Modi Made By Father-Son Duo In Guntur

Artisans from Tenali town of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh made a 14-feet statue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with iron scrap.

The artisans are father-son duo Katuri Venkateswara Rao and Ravichandra who run ‘Surya Silpa Sala’ in Tenali town.
They are famous for making sculptures and statues with discarded material and iron scrap, mainly nuts and bolts.

Katuri Venkateswara Rao said, “We have international recognition in making iron scrap sculptures. We have made artistic sculptures using almost 100 tonnes of iron scrap for the past 12 years.”

“Recently we have designed a 10 feet height Dhyana Gandhi sculpture using 75,000 nuts for a world record. Seeing that, a Bangalore based organisation approached us to make the statue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he added.

According to Rao, various kind of waste material was used and 10 to 15 workers worked day in and day out for almost two months to complete this statue.

“We have been making statues and sculptures with iron scrap for more than a decade. We have exhibited our iron scrap statues in countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong,” said Rao.

“We have made the statue of Narendra Modiji with iron scrap. Many people who saw this work are appreciating us,” he added. (ANI)

PM Lauds Yogi Governance, Law And Order

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday lauded the Yogi Adityanath led government in Uttar Pradesh and said that the BJP government is sincerely engaged in the development of the state while the previous governments in the state were run by goons and mafias.

Speaking at the event of laying the foundation stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh, the Prime Minister also slammed the previous government in the state and stated that there was a time when the administration in the state was run by goons and mafias.
“The Central government and the Yogi government are working together for the development of Uttar Pradesh. We have to fight forces that are against development in the state. Uttar Pradesh is becoming a great example of a double engine government’s double profit.”

Appreciating the role of Uttar Pradesh in the development of the nation, PM Modi said that once the state was seen as a stumbling block in the development of the country but the same state is leading big campaigns in the country.

“Uttar Pradesh is becoming an attractive place for every small and big investor of the country and the world. This happens when the right environment is created for the development,” he said.

“There was a time when the administration was run by goons, governance was in the hands of the corrupt, but now such people are behind the bars,” he added taking a jibe on the previous political parties who ruled in Uttar Pradesh.

The Prime Minister also said that farmers are benefitting due to the constant effort of the central government.

“It is the constant effort of the central government to give strength to the small landholders. It has taken many decisions such as the extension of Kisan Credit Card, improvement in the insurance scheme, provision of pension of Rs 3,000 among others that are empowering small farmers.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh.

Prime Minister also visited the exhibition models of Aligarh node of Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor and Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University.

UP Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were also present at the event. (ANI)