LUCKNOW: Black pottery of Nizamabad, hand painted tea set from Bulandshahr, Gulabi Meenakari brooch and cufflink set from Varanasi and hand-embroidered Zari Zardozi box were just a few specialised items hand-picked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as gift for G-7 leaders before departing for Germany.
These items, identified with Uttar Pradesh and made under ‘One District One Product’ scheme of the state government, were blended with the culture of the country whose leader received the gift.
The Gulabi Meenakari brooch and cufflinks were gifted to US President Joe Biden. The brooch, meant for First Lady Jill Biden, was a piece of pure silver moulded into a base form and with embossed design. It is a GI-tagged art form of Varanasi. Biden was gifted matching cufflinks.
Japan’s PM Fumio Kishida was gifted the black pottery of Nizamabad, which is produced through a technique to bring out the black colour while the pottery is inside the oven. A platinum painted tea set was gifted to British PM Boris Johnson. The crockery was outlined with platinum metal paint in honour of Queen Elizabeth on the platinum jubilee of her coronation this year.
French President Emmanuel Macron got a Zari Zardozi carrier box crafted in Lucknow with hand embroidery on khadi silk and satin tissue in the colours of French national flag. The box carried Attar Mitti – produced as a concoction of jasmine oil, attar shamama, attar gulab, exotic musk and garam masala in UP’s Kannauj.
The Summit host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, received brassware of Moradabad while Italy’s PM Mario Draghi was gifted a marble table top inlaid with semi-precious stones with gradients in their colour. The pietra dura has its origins in Rome.
Senegal President Macky Sall was gifted Moonj baskets and cotton durries in consonance with Senegal’s tradition of hand-weaving passed down from mother to daughter. In acknowledgment of the common cultural heritage with Indonesia, Modi gifted a lacquerware Ram Durbar to its President Joko Widodo. The GI-tagged lacquerware art has its roots in Varanasi.
Demolition: HC gives day’s time to govt to respond
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday gave a day’s time to the UP government and Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) to file reply in response to a petition filed by wife and daughter of Javed Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of June 10 violence in Prayagraj, against the demolition of their house by the administration on June 12. The matter has been posted for hearing on June 30.