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Manoj Sharma

Manoj Sharma is Metro Features Editor at Hindustan Times. He likes to pursue stories that otherwise fall through the cracks.

Articles by Manoj Sharma

Get savvy or go bust: Street food joints in Delhi reinvent after Covid shock

According to the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), Delhi had about 60,000 street food vendors before the pandemic , but now only about 30, 000 are left

Bhola Shankar Kachori Wale’s stall at Vaishali in Sector 4 in Ghaziabad. (Sanjeev Verma/HT photo)

cities

Updated on Nov 01, 2021 02:02 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma

Taking stock of the market: Bull run boosts finance literacy programmes in Delhi

Kanika Bhaskar, a resident of Nirman Vihar in east Delhi, expounds stock market trading concepts such as risk management, position-sizing, and stop-loss, among others like a seasoned professional

cities

Updated on Oct 25, 2021 01:31 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma

Are your home or office private security guards trained? Probably not

Unlicensed agencies and their reluctance to invest; RWAs and their desire to avoid paying minimum wages; and governments and their lack of oversight are contributory factors

Talk to guards across Delhi and most of them will tell you that they have not undergone training as prescribed under the law (Representative Image) (AFP)

opinion

Updated on Oct 12, 2021 11:40 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma

Unlikely Covid fillip boosts famous scissors market in Meerut

The Covid-19 pandemic has unexpectedly given a new lease of life to Meerut’s 350-year-old scissors industry, which faced a downward spiral in the past two decades due to the growing popularity of Chinese scissors.

(From left) Abdul Aziz and Mohammad Anis at the world famous Kainchi Bazar (scissors market) in Meerut. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

cities

Updated on Oct 11, 2021 05:52 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma

Mohammadpur village in Delhi debates its name and past

The village has been in the news after a local councillor sought to rename the change the name of the village from Mohammadpur to Madhavpuram

A lane in Mohammadpur village in Delhi. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

cities

Updated on Oct 04, 2021 01:31 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Ramlila a non-starter in the land of Ravana worshippers

Bisrakh—a village in Gautam Budh Nagar, about 30 km from Connaught Place, does not organise Ramlila or celebrate Dussehra, which is in fact the day of mourning for villagers. Local legend has it that Bisrakh is the birthplace of Ravana, the demon king and the ruler of Lanka.

The Shiva temple in Bisrakh, Gautam Budh Nagar, which according to the local legend was established by demon king Ravana’s father Vishrava. Local residents claim that it was at this temple that Ravana, along with Vishrava, used to worship Lord Shiva. They say that they don’t organise Ramlila and Dussehra is a day of mourning for them. (HT Photo)

cities

Updated on Sep 27, 2021 04:16 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Delhi’s revamped Chandni Chowk holds different meanings for its many residents

The redeveloped Chandni Chowk was inaugurated by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on September 12.

Locals take a stroll on the revamped Chandni Chowk in New Delhi on Saturday (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

cities

Updated on Sep 20, 2021 12:49 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma

At Signature Bridge, lifts that didn’t lift off

A colonial-era law's definition of a lift has blocked a ticketed ride for tourists to the glass viewing gallery atop the Signature Bridge in national capital Delhi

The stairs leading to the gate of Delhi's Signature Bridge lift(Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

cities

Updated on Sep 13, 2021 04:23 PM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

From cargo to classrooms: Containers triggering ideas and opportunities

Experts say they are slowly gaining popularity as an eco-friendly, rapidly deployable, scalable, portable plug-and-play building solution.

A container school in UP’s Gorakhpur set up by Project OoSC (Out of School Children). (Sourced)

cities

Updated on Sep 06, 2021 10:18 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma

Khari Baoli dry fruit market has centuries-old ties with Kabul

Afghanistan has been driving the dry fruit business in Khari Baoli, which is India’s biggest dry fruit market and home to some of the oldest dry fruit importers in the country.

Katra Ishwar Bhawan in Khari Baoli has hundreds dry fruit importers, who have long business ties with Afghanistan. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

cities

Updated on Aug 30, 2021 04:39 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, New Delhi

Kabuli Gurdwara: A sanctuary in Delhi for Afghan violence victims

On Sunday, an Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 Globemaster aircraft landed at the Hindan airbase in Ghaziabad with 168 travellers, including 107 Indians, from Kabul.

Afghanistan MP Narender Singh Khalsa was also among those airlifted to India from Kabul on Sunday. He broke down as the plane touched down at Hindan airbase.

cities

Updated on Aug 23, 2021 12:50 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

With new world-class sports facilities, Najafgarh capital’s major sports hub

There are over a hundred others playing football on the new synthetic turf, and practising long jump and running around a 400-metre new synthetic track.

The Delhi government has also made a big sporting infrastructure push in the area, investing about <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>150 crore in developing multi-sports complexes.

cities

Updated on Aug 23, 2021 12:37 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, New Delhi

The uniform serves even after duty ends

‘Sepoi’ -- a name from the word ‘sipahi’ meaning soldier--- is another such initiative. Founded in 2019 by Mumbai-based couple Siddharth and Suchi Jaiswal, it turns old defence uniforms into products such as backpacks, tote bags, and laptop bags.

A unit in Khanpur in south Delhi, where military uniforms are repurposed into different products such as bags, masks, aprons, etc. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

cities

Published on Aug 16, 2021 06:13 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

High on glory, monumental flags take huge effort to install, retain

In the past few years, from Delhi-NCR to Guwahati, India has had some of the world’s tallest and largest national flags installed in public parks, at railway stations, airports, educational campuses, corporate houses, among others.

A worker gives finishing touches to the 60x90 feet tricolour at a Byculla workshop, in Mumbai, on July 30. (Photo by Satish Bate/Hindustan Times)(Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

cities

Published on Aug 02, 2021 03:24 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, New Delhi

Silent culinary revolution brews at south Delhi’s Humayunpur village

The village, near Safdarjung Enclave, has witnessed a slow and silent culinary revolution with over 60 trendy, budget-friendly restaurants and cafes offering Chinese, Korean, Nepalese and North-east Indian cuisine coming up in the last three years, putting Humayunpur on the city’s ever-expanding culinary map.

A view of Humayunpur Village, at Safdarjung in New Delhi.(Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

cities

Published on Jul 26, 2021 05:26 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Villages set up own libraries with a little help from friends

A rural library movement is sweeping across the country.

Kalda in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, about 45 km from Connaught Place, is not the only village to have set up a library—in fact, a rural library movement is sweeping across the country.(HT Photo)

cities

Updated on Jul 20, 2021 07:11 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

OTT platforms give new lease of life to regional language authors

The OTT platforms’ search for content has also given rise to ‘book story agents’, who act as intermediaries between publishing houses, writers and OTT platforms and production houses.

A poster of Rabindranath Ekhane Kokhono Khete Asen Ni, an OTT adaptation of a thriller novel.(HT Photo)

cities

Published on Jul 12, 2021 01:39 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

A haircut above the rest: Outdoor allure a win for roadside barbers

While the business of salons and hairdressers has suffered since the pandemic began last year, Delhi/ NCR’s ubiquitous roadside barbers are getting new clients who desperately need a haircut but are fearful of walking into the air-conditioned salons for fear of contracting the Sars-Cov-2 that causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

In east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar, Munna Thakur, another roadside barber, also attracts many customers from DDA’s SFS flats located right behind his shop.

cities

Updated on Jun 28, 2021 04:15 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Pangs of displacement in Jewar

Villagers in Jewar, whose houses are being demolished for the development of an airport, say their displacement is an emotionally distressing experience and will forever alter their cherished rural lives

A man stands on the rubble of demolished houses in Jewar’s Nagla Ganeshi, one of the seven villages that have been acquired for construction of an international airport. (HT Photo)

india news

Updated on Jun 14, 2021 02:30 PM IST

ByManoj Sharma

People with disabilities suffer as Covid limits access to care

The pandemic, people with disabilities say, has brought to the fore the inadequacies of the healthcare system in responding to their needs.

The temporary Covid care centre set up at Shehnai Banquet Hall attached to Lok Nayak Hospital.(Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

cities

Updated on May 31, 2021 06:12 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, New Delhi:

Sharing meds and pain during pandemic

Medicine Banks—where people can donate their unused medicine and those who require them can receive them free of cost-- are coming up across the country.

Uday foundation staff sort medicines at Sarvodya Enclave, in New Delhi, India, on Friday, May 21, 2021. (Photo by Sanjeev Verma/ Hindustan Times)

cities

Updated on May 24, 2021 02:03 PM IST

ByManoj Sharma, New Delhi

Future of migrant kids uncertain amid spike

There has been limited assessment of the pandemic’s wider effects on the children of migrants. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court, in response to a petition filed by NGO Child Rights Trust, asked for data from all states and Union Territories on children of migrant workers.

Children playing kho kho in a slum at Punjabi Bagh in New Delhi on Friday.(Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

india news

Published on Apr 19, 2021 04:51 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Fear of 2020 rerun grips Delhi's migrants amid Covid-19 infection spike

There is fear and anxiety among the thousands of migrant workers in villages such as Shahpur Garhi, Tikri Khurd, Bhor Garh, and Singhola.

Migrant workers with their landlord in a tenement in village Shahpur Garhi in Narela.(HT Photo)

india news

Updated on Apr 12, 2021 10:52 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, New Delhi

‘In search of tolerance’: Why Capital’s African nationals moved to west Delhi

In the last few years, west Delhi colonies, such as Tilak Nagar and Vikaspuri, have seen an influx of Africans from south Delhi localities such as Khirki Extension, Chhatarpur, Kishangarh and Mehrauli in the perpetual quest for what Chukwuebuka calls “an affordable and tolerant” neighbourhood.

Hundreds of African nationals have moved to Krishna Puri in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar.(HT photo)

cities

Published on Apr 05, 2021 01:09 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Pandemic prompts Sarojini and Sadar to go digital

A year after the lockdown, digital is the new buzzword in some of the oldest and most popular markets in Delhi.

Vandit and Medha Chawla (left) founders of Sarojini Nagar Market Online in their office-cum-warehouse.(HT Photo)

cities

Updated on Mar 29, 2021 03:51 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, New Delhi

Tepid demand chokes small-scale industries

A year on, these Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises continue to be beset by many of these problems — and a few new ones. While the supply chains remain disrupted and the demand is far from reaching pre-pandemic levels

Workers inside a shoe factory in Capital’s Udyog Nagar, one of India’s biggest shoe-manufacturing hubs. Sanchit Khanna/HT

cities

Updated on Mar 22, 2021 04:28 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, New Delhi

Indian water gun manufacturers giving China a run for its money

In February that year, just before Holi, he went back to the Sadar Bazar trader with the water gun he had produced and also the Chinese one.

Soon, Vats, a mechanical engineer by training, got down to the drawing board.

cities

Updated on Mar 08, 2021 06:03 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Elderly make the digital switch during Covid-19 pandemic

India has about 104 million people aged above 60 — just a shade below China —according to the 2011 Census. But digital inclusion has been a distant dream for them. The government’s National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) aims to empower at least one person per household.

Senior citizens take part in a digital literacy class by Agewell Foundation. (Sourced)

india news

Published on Mar 01, 2021 03:34 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, New Delhi

Pandemic prompts the elderly to make a digital switch

New Delhi It is 11am on Friday and a digital literacy class has just begun on video communication platform Zoom

cities

Published on Feb 28, 2021 11:33 PM IST

ByManoj Sharma

A Delhi village that celebrates Subhas Chandra Bose like no other

Singh is not the only one with a Netaji story in Tikri Kalan, a village on the western fringes of the city, which celebrates Subhas Chandra Bose like no other.

The family of INA veteran Sube Singh shows documents relating to his service at the INA outside their house in village Tikri Kalan, in New Delhi, India, on Sunday, February 7, 2021. (Photo by Raj K Raj/ Hindustan Times)

india news

Published on Feb 08, 2021 06:26 AM IST

ByManoj Sharma, New Delhi

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Manoj Sharma

Manoj Sharma is Metro Features Editor at Hindustan Times. He likes to pursue stories that otherwise fall through the cracks.

According to the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), Delhi had about 60,000 street food vendors before the pandemic , but now only about 30, 000 are left

Kanika Bhaskar, a resident of Nirman Vihar in east Delhi, expounds stock market trading concepts such as risk management, position-sizing, and stop-loss, among others like a seasoned professional

Unlicensed agencies and their reluctance to invest; RWAs and their desire to avoid paying minimum wages; and governments and their lack of oversight are contributory factors

The Covid-19 pandemic has unexpectedly given a new lease of life to Meerut’s 350-year-old scissors industry, which faced a downward spiral in the past two decades due to the growing popularity of Chinese scissors.

The village has been in the news after a local councillor sought to rename the change the name of the village from Mohammadpur to Madhavpuram

Bisrakh—a village in Gautam Budh Nagar, about 30 km from Connaught Place, does not organise Ramlila or celebrate Dussehra, which is in fact the day of mourning for villagers. Local legend has it that Bisrakh is the birthplace of Ravana, the demon king and the ruler of Lanka.

The redeveloped Chandni Chowk was inaugurated by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on September 12.

A colonial-era law's definition of a lift has blocked a ticketed ride for tourists to the glass viewing gallery atop the Signature Bridge in national capital Delhi

Experts say they are slowly gaining popularity as an eco-friendly, rapidly deployable, scalable, portable plug-and-play building solution.

Afghanistan has been driving the dry fruit business in Khari Baoli, which is India’s biggest dry fruit market and home to some of the oldest dry fruit importers in the country.

On Sunday, an Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 Globemaster aircraft landed at the Hindan airbase in Ghaziabad with 168 travellers, including 107 Indians, from Kabul.

There are over a hundred others playing football on the new synthetic turf, and practising long jump and running around a 400-metre new synthetic track.

‘Sepoi’ -- a name from the word ‘sipahi’ meaning soldier--- is another such initiative. Founded in 2019 by Mumbai-based couple Siddharth and Suchi Jaiswal, it turns old defence uniforms into products such as backpacks, tote bags, and laptop bags.

In the past few years, from Delhi-NCR to Guwahati, India has had some of the world’s tallest and largest national flags installed in public parks, at railway stations, airports, educational campuses, corporate houses, among others.

A rural library movement is sweeping across the country.

The OTT platforms’ search for content has also given rise to ‘book story agents’, who act as intermediaries between publishing houses, writers and OTT platforms and production houses.

Villagers in Jewar, whose houses are being demolished for the development of an airport, say their displacement is an emotionally distressing experience and will forever alter their cherished rural lives

The pandemic, people with disabilities say, has brought to the fore the inadequacies of the healthcare system in responding to their needs.

Medicine Banks—where people can donate their unused medicine and those who require them can receive them free of cost-- are coming up across the country.

There has been limited assessment of the pandemic’s wider effects on the children of migrants. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court, in response to a petition filed by NGO Child Rights Trust, asked for data from all states and Union Territories on children of migrant workers.

There is fear and anxiety among the thousands of migrant workers in villages such as Shahpur Garhi, Tikri Khurd, Bhor Garh, and Singhola.

In the last few years, west Delhi colonies, such as Tilak Nagar and Vikaspuri, have seen an influx of Africans from south Delhi localities such as Khirki Extension, Chhatarpur, Kishangarh and Mehrauli in the perpetual quest for what Chukwuebuka calls “an affordable and tolerant” neighbourhood.

A year after the lockdown, digital is the new buzzword in some of the oldest and most popular markets in Delhi.

A year on, these Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises continue to be beset by many of these problems — and a few new ones. While the supply chains remain disrupted and the demand is far from reaching pre-pandemic levels

In February that year, just before Holi, he went back to the Sadar Bazar trader with the water gun he had produced and also the Chinese one.

India has about 104 million people aged above 60 — just a shade below China —according to the 2011 Census. But digital inclusion has been a distant dream for them. The government’s National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) aims to empower at least one person per household.

New Delhi It is 11am on Friday and a digital literacy class has just begun on video communication platform Zoom

Singh is not the only one with a Netaji story in Tikri Kalan, a village on the western fringes of the city, which celebrates Subhas Chandra Bose like no other.

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