Monthly Archives: December 2015

Col CK Nayudu award for Kirmani

Bengaluru,  KARNATAKA  :

Former stumper chosen for life-time achievement honour

nayuduMPOs

Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Syed Kirmani has become the fourth cricketer from Karnataka to receive BCCI’s prestigious Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Awards Committee, which met on Thursday at Cricket Centre in Mumbai, unanimously nominated Kirmani for the award for the year 2015. The committee consisted of BCCI President Shashank Manohar, Secretary Anurag Thakur and N Ram, former Editor-in-chief of The Hindu Group.

The award — instituted in the name of Col Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu, the country’s first Test captain — is given to individuals for their unparalleled contribution to Indian cricket, on and off the field.

The award carries a trophy, citation and cheque for Rs 25 lakh.
Kirmani, who made his Test debut in 1976 against New Zealand, kept wickets against India’s famous spin quartet and did the job remarkably well.

Having started his career as an understudy to Farokh Engineer, Kirmani took over the responsibility and added his charm to the role in a decade-long career.

Not only is he arguably India’s best wicketkeeper ever, he was a tenacious batsman that saw him score two Test centuries in the lower order.

Against England in 1981–82, he did not concede a single bye in three consecutive Tests.
A World Cup-winning player in 1983, Kirmani finished with 198 (160 catches and 38 stumpings) dismissals from 88 Tests. He was no mug with the bat either, finishing his career with 2759 runs, which included two hundreds and 12 half-centuries, at an average of just over 27.

Among his memorable innings, the right-hander shared an unbeaten 126 runs partnership with Kapil Dev against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup as the Indian captain went on to script one of the country’s greatest wins at Tunbridge Wells.

Kirmani also provided solid support to Sunil Gavaskar in the unbroken 143-run stand for the ninth wicket as Gavaskar made 236 not out, the then top score by an Indian against West Indies in the sixth Test in Chennai in 1983.

A recipient of Padma Shri award in 1982, Kirmani also served as the chairman of the senior national selection committee.

source:  http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports / Friday – December 25th, 2015

Central Meeland Committee celebrates Jashn-e-Meelad Un Nabi in city

MeeladMPOs25dec2015

Mysuru,  KARNATAKA  : 

The Central Meelad Committee celebrated Jashn-e-Meelad Un Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Mohamed on Thursday at Meelad Bagh on Ashoka Road here.

Sir Khazi of Mysore Hazrath Moulana Mohamed Usman Shariff presided.

Hazrath Moulana Syed Shahabuddin Nadvi, Mohtamim, Jamia Hazrath Khaki Shah, Hazrath Moulana Mohamed Zaka Ulla Siddiqi, President, All India Milli Council Mysore District Unit, Saleem Pasha, Senior Lecturer, DIET, Chikmagluru, Hazrath Moulana Mufthi Salman Ahmed Rishadi & Nadvi, Vice President, Darul Uloo Siddiqia, Hazrath Moulana Hakim Ziauddin Madni, Ambur, Tamil Nadu, spoke on the life of Prophet Mohamed.

MLA Tanveer Sait, who is also the President of Central Meelad Committee, Ariff A. Mehkri, Chairman, Mysore District Wakf Advisory Committee, former Corporator Shivanna and others were present.Abdul Azeez Chand, Secretary, Darul Uloom Siddiqia. welcomed. S.Moinuddin Pasha proposed vote of thanks.

On the occasion, Tanveer Sait felicitated Social Worker Khaleel ur Rahman for supervising the gardening work and maintainance of Meelad Bagh.

Later, a procession of tableux depicting Kabathulla of Makkah, Gumbad-e-Khizra of Madeena and other famous Masjids was taken out from Meelad Bagh to Dr. Zakir Hussain Circle.

Traffic was diverted for sometime on the procession route. Heavy Police bandobast was provided around Meelad Bagh during the celebrations. The function concluded with Fatheha and Dua by Sir Khazi of Mysore.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News /  Friday – December 25th, 2015

Writer Murthy, Ustad Rafique Khan, Devdas Kapikad to be honoured with Sandesha awards

Mangaluru , KARNATAKA :

Writer H.S. Venkatesh Murthy, sitar player Ustad Rafique Khan and comedian Devdas Kapikad are among the eight persons who will be conferred the Sandesha Awards by the Sandesha Foundation for Culture and Education. The awards will be presented on January 16.

Writer H.S. Venkatesh Murthy
Writer H.S. Venkatesh Murthy

Mr. Murthy will be given the award for his contribution to the field of Kannada literature, Mr. Khan for his contribution to the field of music and Mr. Kapikad for his work in Tulu theatre and cinema.

Ustad Rafique Khan
Ustad Rafique Khan

Comedian  Devdas Kapikad
Comedian Devdas Kapikad

Others who have been chosen for the award are writer Gladys Rego (for Konkani literature), Sugantha Sathiaraj (teacher), Alexander Joel Pereira (Konkani Music), Thomas D’Souza (media) and G.S. Jayadeva of Deenabhandu Trust in Chamarajanagar.

Talking to presspersons here on Monday, writer Na. D’Souza, who headed a six-member jury to select the award winners, said the selections were made on the basis of merit and they did not invite applications.

The jury members were writer Sara Aboobacker, playwright Eric Ozario and theatre artiste Richard Louis.

Roy Castelino, president of the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy and trustee of Sandesha Foundation said that Home Minister G. Parameshwara would attend the award ceremony.

Archbishop of Bengaluru Bernard Moras would be present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Mangaluru / by Staff Correspondent / Mangaluru – December 15th, 2015

Sandesha Foundation announces annual Sandesha Award to eight including Venkatesha Murthy

Mangaluru , KARNATAKA :

Mangaluru :

Eminent writer H S Venkatesha Murthy is among eight achievers selected by Sandesha Foundation for Culture and Education, Mangaluru to receive the Sandesha Awards 2016.

The foundation for the past 24 years has been honouring personalities who have made significant contribution to Kannada, Konkani and Tulu literature, art and culture and in these years has honoured 223 persons, institutions with the award in 10 different categories.

Announcing the awards here, writer Na D’Souza, president of the Sandesha Awards jury said the jury only went by the merit of the names placed before it and did not receive any applications in this regard. The jury comprised on Na Damodhar Shetty, Sara Abubakkar, Chandrakala Nandavar, Eric Ozario and Richard Louis. The awards that consists of Rs 10,000 cash, citation and memento will be presented at an awards ceremony to be held at Sandesha on January 16, 2016.

While Venkatesha Murthy has been selected for Sandesha literature award, Gladys Rego has been selected for Sandesha Konkani literature award, actor-dramatist Devdas Kapikad for Sandesha Tulu literature award, Sugantha Sathiaraj for Sandesha best teacher award, Ustad Rafique Khan from Sandesha Art award, Alexander Joel Pereira for Sandesha Konkani music award, Thomas D’Souza for Sandesha media award and G S Jayadeva for Sandesha music award.

EOM/December 14, 2015

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Mangaluru / by Jaideep Shenoy, TNN / December 14th, 2015

The Right Hook

Khidderpore – Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

A new documentary follows the lives of young Muslim women who are training to be boxers and are taking a shot at a different life.

As the strains of the evening azaan dissolve into the air, Mirajuddin Ahmed, a squat man with keen eyes, takes centrestage at the boxing rink inside the Kidderpore School of Physical Culture in central-west Kolkata. It’s not much, just a raised platform lit by an overhead lamp. Ahmed’s students, a group of girls in their teens, wait patiently for his instructions. The evening walkers at the adjacent park peek curiously as the girls bow down to pray before training. The stares don’t seem to bother them. “We are used to it,” says Kashmira Khatoon, 16, who commutes two hours every day from her village, Ghutiari Sharif, in 24 Parganas, south, to attend practice.

Muslim girl boxers of Khidderpore fighting all odds to become professinal boxer. Express photo by Subham Dutta. 17.11.15
Muslim girl boxers of Khidderpore fighting all odds to become professinal boxer. Express photo by Subham Dutta. 17.11.15

Soon, the gloves come on, the girls begin to bounce on their toes and jab their fists into the air. “It takes at least four hours of training, six days a week to be a professional boxer,” says Ahmed. He would know; better known as China da, Ahmed, 49, is a sort of legend in Kidderpore. He has turned out boxers of the calibre of 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Mohammad Ali Qamar. Since 1997, Ahmed has trained over 60 young Muslim women, some of who have found themselves at the centre of Burqa Boxers, a documentary film by Alka Raghuram that is apart of the work-in-progress lab organised by NFDC at the ongoing 46th International Film Festival of India in Goa.

“When I learned about women boxers from Kolkata in 2007, I was intrigued. I wanted to know what their story was. That’s how the film came about,” says Raghuram. The San Francisco-based filmmaker travelled to Kolkata soon after to meet the girls who “dare to dream and fight”. Burqa Boxers tells the story of Razia Shabnam, one of the first Muslim girls to start training as a boxer in the Khidderpore-Ekbalpore area, and how she trains other young women in her neighbourhood.

Muslim girl boxer Shaima Ajmeri (11) with her sister Shama Ajmeri (23) at their home at Ekbalpore in Khidderpore area. Express photo by Subham Dutta. 17.11.15
Muslim girl boxer Shaima Ajmeri (11) with her sister Shama Ajmeri (23) at their home at Ekbalpore in Khidderpore area. Express photo by Subham Dutta. 17.11.15

The Khidderpore docks are near the port. Slums huddle next to highrises and unemployment rate here is one of the highest in the city. For the rest of Kolkata, Khidderpore is not much above a Muslim ghetto. In a neighbourhood where women often do not feel at ease in the public eye, boxing means about more than landing the right uppercut. It is also about safety and retaining one’s dignity. “If the girls are able-bodied boxers, they are not teased. But if you happen to be a salwar-kameez clad girl, you are teased if walk alone after sundown,” says Shama Ajmeri, 23, a final year college student at a south Kolkata college, whose sister Shaima, 11, is training in Ahmed’s boxing club. “When I started making the film, I had some preconceived notions. I thought most Muslim families would be unsupportive of their daughters who were learning to box. But I was wrong. These girls most definitely received family support,” says Raghuram.

Mavish Halim, 11, is leading us through the serpentine Mission Dent road that leads to her home. She walks quickly, past the mosque with a mosaic dome, past the granite and chrome building of Ekbalpore nursing home, and the bottle cap factory, past the goat tied to a lamppost. A cavernous gate leads to a foyer; Halim’s family’s one-room apartment is on the fourth floor of a chawl, where she lives with her parents, sister and grandmother. “It’s a bit cramped, but we manage,” she says, shyly.

Dressed in a loose T-shirt and shorts, Halim looks different from her sister, Arshin, 21, who is wearing a pink salwar-suit with a dupatta draped over her head. For the past three years, Arshin has woken her sister at 6 in the morning, made her breakfast and sent her to Ahmed’s classes to train as a boxer. That is the dream of the Halim family — to see their younger daughter as a national-level boxer. “People ask us, why do you send your girl to a boxing class, since we are god-fearing Muslims. My response to them is that Islam doesn’t stop women from being self-reliant,” says Arshin.

Muslim girl boxer Zara Faiyaz (10) with her parents at their home at Ekbalpore in Khidderpore area. Express photo by Subham Dutta. 17.11.15
Muslim girl boxer Zara Faiyaz (10) with her parents at their home at Ekbalpore in Khidderpore area. Express photo by Subham Dutta. 17.11.15

When Raghuram first met Shabnam, the protagonist of her film, the young boxer was training other girls of Khidderpore to box. Today, Shabnam, 34, is a mother of two and is employed as a trainer at a south Kolkata NGO that works with children from the red light areas. And though she has left the streets of Khidderpore behind, she says that she will never forget her roots. “This was around 1997-98. I was initiated into boxing by my brother, Tabrez, who was training under Mirajuddin Ahmed at the time. I was in college and I didn’t know of any women boxers in the country. I saw Laila Ali (Muhammad Ali’s daughter) on TV and was taken in by the glamour of it all,” says Shabnam. She approached Ahmed and asked to be trained. “Surprisingly, he was quite open to that,” she says. Since that day, there has been no looking back.

Training doesn’t come cheap. Though Ahmad charges only Rs 50 per month from his students, he says the actual cost to train amateur boxers comes to nearly Rs 10,000 a month, which includes a proper diet and training equipment. “We make do with the barest minimum and ask established boxers for hand-me-downs. We also get donations from different organisations,” he says. Most of his boxers can’t even afford gloves. “A basic glove costs Rs 1,500. That’s more than half the monthly income of the families of most of my students,” says Ahmed. One of his star students is Khatoon. “Her father is a vegetable vendor and can’t even afford the daily commuting fare,” says Ahmed.

In spite of all odds, Khatoon, who is representing Bengal at the National Boxing Championship in Guwahati next month, has big dreams. “If I get a railway job, I will be able to help my family,” she says. Khatoon’s brush with boxing began as soon as she hit her teens. “Boys in the locality where we stay would harrass my sister. I felt helpless and wanted to help her. I saw Mary Kom win matches on television and felt that I could do something about this,” says Khatoon. A cousin who lived in Kidderpore suggested Ahmed’s boxing club. But Khatoon had her reservations. “I was scared that it will be too much of a burden on my parents. A boxer’s diet is expensive. But slowly, I realised that they were actually dreaming on my behalf. My father would give me his share of eggs, my mother skips one meal a day so that I can eat properly,” she says.

Most girls in the area are married off early, sometimes in their teens, but the sport is slowly opening up new possibilities. Sufiya Noor, 12, a standard IV student at the Loyala High school has recently informed her parents that she won’t marry till she establishes herself as a boxer. “We will support her. We won’t force her to marry if she decides that she wants to excel in her chosen career path,” says her mother, Shabana Noor, 34.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Entertainment> Entertainment – Others> Eye 2015 / by Premkumar Biswas, Mumbai / November 25th, 2015

‘Dangal’ experience changed my life: Kashmiri actor Zaira Wasim

Srinagar,  KASHMIR  :

“I was like new to the (showbiz) world and felt nervous when I was working with my co-actors on the sets”, Zaira Khan said.

Zaira Wasim, who was unknown a few months ago, has now become a household name in her native Kashmir after landing a role in superstar Aamir Khan’s upcoming movie “Dangal”.
Zaira Wasim, who was unknown a few months ago, has now become a household name in her native Kashmir after landing a role in superstar Aamir Khan’s upcoming movie “Dangal”.

Zaira Wasim, who was unknown a few months ago, has now become a household name in her native Kashmir after landing a role in superstar Aamir Khan’s upcoming movie “Dangal”.

Competing with a thousand girls, Zaira never thought she would ever get a chance to land a role in the film. But luck was on her side, as she bagged the role of wrestler Geeta Phogat and got the chance to share screen space with Aamir. After completing shooting for six months in Mumbai, Zaira is now back in Srinagar.

“I was like new to the (showbiz) world and felt nervous when I was working with my co-actors on the sets”, Zaira told IANS on the phone.

“The experience has been so strong to change my life. Playing Geeta Phogat, the role demanded wrestling skills on my part. I had to go through rigorous physical and mental training,” added the 15-year-old Zaira, who is currently in Class 10.

Phogat is the first woman wrestler from India to have won the gold in the 55 kg freestyle category at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. In “Dangal”, Aamir plays wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who trained his two daughters in the sport.

Zaira’s training included exhaustive morning sessions of running, swimming and wrestling. The training made her learn to overcome anxieties.

“Before ‘Dangal’, I had done two ads. I got a call from Mukesh Chabra (the film’s casting director) to attend an important workshop for a week. I went to Mumbai to attend the workshop. There were a lot of girls who had already done one or more ads or serials and I had to do some scenes in front of them; so, I was like ‘there is no space for me’,” she said.

Like other parents, Zaira too had to convince her parents to support her decision to act in the film, more so being from Kashmir.

“It was my school principal and my aunt who supported my decision. They both convinced my parents and handled the situation very well,” Zaira said.

As the word of her shooting for the film spread, some netizens began trolling and bullying her and also issued self-styled life threats.

“Some nasty comments about me were posted on social media. But Aamir Khan and the rest of the crew helped me. I am still getting comments from unknown persons, but I believe in positivity and have learned how to deal with such comments,” she said.

“To be honest, after getting back to Kashmir and being a girl, it haunts me how people would feel about me now. But I saw appreciation and support from my friends, family and other neighbours and I am really honoured that people are telling me I am representing Kashmir,” she added.

Zaira said that the people in Kashmir should “realise their talent” as they have a “lot of potential and ability”.

Does she have any plans for future in Bollywood?

“I don’t have any goal or any aim which I have to follow; I am going with the flow that life shows me… I want to study, but if another film offer comes my way in future and doesn’t affect my studies I will take it,” Zaira concluded.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Entertainment> Bollywood / by IANS / New Delhi – December 13th, 2015

Meet Riyaz Pasha who decks up Lord Krishna & Radha

Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

Bengaluru  :

In an obscure bylane abutting the glitzy Commercial Street, Riyaz Pasha is engrossed in some intricate work. He’s giving the finishing touches to an embroidered orange-magenta dress. Ask him who it is for and pat comes a reply. “For Lord Krishna and Radha,” he says before getting back to fine-tuning the chamkis (golden beads) on the skirt.

For 15 years, Pasha, 48, has been the official embroidery designer for Iskcon, Bengaluru. “Everyone has the right to serve god. I enjoy doing this work for the temple,” he told TOI during his first visit to Iskcon on Thursday.

“When we approached him to do the embroidery, he didn’t think twice. And he has no inhibitions talking about our requirements. We have been working in perfect synchronization for 15 years now. We provide the dress material to him and he does the embroidery and other work,” said Bhaktilata Devi Dasi and Chameri Devi Dasi, dress designers at Iskcon.

So far, Riyaz has designed more than 105 dresses for Radha, Krishna, and Balaram. “It takes me two to three days to get one piece ready. Sometimes, it may even stretch to a week,” he said. When asked if his family or community had any reservation to the job, he said: “This is a business for us. All my family members and community leaders understand that and have no problem. No one has opposed what I do. I keep religion out of my work and treat every assignment equally. I will do this work for the Krishna temple all my life”.

Everyday, the attire is changed twice at the temple. “The whole idea of making the deities wear embroidered Kancheevaram sarees is to make them look brighter, even from a distance,” said Bhaktilata.

Not just in Bengaluru but in Vrindavan (Lord Krishna’s birthplace) too, it is a Muslim who designs dresses for the deities. As Vasudev Keshav Dasa, Iskcon vice-president (deities), puts it: “At Iskcon, we do not discriminate based on religion.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bengaluru / by Seetha Lakshmi, TNN / December 15th, 2015

The face as a canvas

Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

Natural style

Zara Syed
Zara Syed

She loves to play with colours and that’s what inspired her to become a make-up artist. It has been over 18 years since Zara Syed, a celebrity make-up artist, entered the industry.

Zara believes that a face is similar to a canvas and a make-up artist gets the chance to showcase his or her skills in the most ideal way. Zara also teaches young girls and corporate women to manage and take care of their hair and skin on a daily basis.  She also trains those who want to take it up as a profession.

Recollecting how she got into this profession, she says, “I moved to Bengaluru eight years back and assisted many make-up artists. Since I was doing a hairdressing course then, I decided to start my career with hairstyling solely. I worked on shoots and commercials, and soon enough, I got attracted to this profession. I fell in love with how the face is sculpted and the ways one can change someone’s look just by using various tactics and colours.”

Having worked with many popular faces in the movie industry, both Sandalwood and Bollywood, she says that she has a long list of names she would want to work with in future. “I worked with  Sridevi and a couple of Marathi actresses and down South, with Ramya and Sharmila Mandre. Very soon, I will work with Aindrita as well,”  she says.

Zara’s forte is giving a natural look to a face. She explains, “I keep my work natural, sharp and defined and avoid choky make-up. I’d rather work on making the person look younger. It should be wearable on a daily basis and not just for the ramp. It defines a woman, makes her look more defined and confident.”

Her look for Christmas is, “Keeping one’s face fresh and natural with a little gloss on the cheeks for the youthful look. Winter makes the skin dry and dehydrated, so my advice is to illuminate the cheekbones and make it look more young and lively rather than leaving it dry and flaky.”

A few things that she keeps in mind when working on someone are, “I focus on the jawline and  features that are sharp. Only after this do I decide the base to be applied on someone. I constantly keep in mind that a girl should look beautiful and try my best to achieve that.”

She says that the best thing about her profession is to see the happiness on a girl’s face and especially when it is for a wedding. It is a pleasure to see the bride pleased with what she has done. “It is her day and she should look stunning and at her best.”

As for her future plans, she wants to teach more young girls about the art of applying make-up and encourage them to take it up as a profession. “I strongly believe that a woman can make another woman beautiful since she understands the characteristics and the flaws and can correct it. I would like to help my students financially and make them stand on their feet,” she says.

On a lighter note, she adds, “If not a make-up artist, I would have definitely been a chef since I love to cook and experiment. I love Chinese cuisine and would love to learn more about this it.”

As a piece of advice, she says, “I always advise make-up artists, especially if it is one woman dressing-up another, to focus on the face and forget about themselves. “The face is a canvas and as an artist, you have to give your best and make it look beautiful.”

Make-up for her, “is life. It is like meditation, and I love to play with colours. I completely forget about my worries when I am working with make-up. It is like a stressbuster.”

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by Surupasree Sarmmah  / DHNS – December 14th, 2015

Carving a niche

Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

Elegant designs

In school, she would finish all the notebooks her parents bought for her to doodle and design her future clothing collections.

Syma Ahmed
Syma Ahmed

At the age of seven, when the teacher was busy giving important notes that would come for the final examination, Syma Ahmed spent that precious time thinking about what else she could design. By the time she was 12-years-old, she had started designing her outfits that she would show off during festivals like Eid and Bakrid.

She says, “My parents encouraged me from a young age. They would give me the boost that I needed whenever I wanted to design something.” Having completed her Bachelors in Fashion and Apparel from Mount Carmel College, this Bengaluru-born designer is proud to see how much she’s grown in last few years. She was also an intern with Bollywood designer Vikram Phadnis and attended summer school at London School of Fashion. Today, she has carved her own niche with her wedding and Indo-Western collection.

“I think I learnt the most once I started working on my own and branding my own designs. When working under another designer, you need to be on par with their style and execute it accordingly. But here, I have the freedom to experiment and choose what I think looks best, and I’ve also been able to understand the fine line between what people want to wear and my vision in terms of design,” she says.

Syma likes her designs to be elegant and soft, therefore she mostly uses pastel colours. She uses everything around her as an inspiration and decides the colours and patterns accordingly.

Her latest collection is called ‘Wisteria’ and is inspired by a famous garden in Japan. Talking about the collection, she says, “This collection is inspired by the Wisteria Tunnel  in The Kawachi Fuji Gardens in Japan. It encompasses 150 Wisteria plants with 20 different spices ranging in colours of white, blue, purple, violet-blue and pink. The clothes also depict these pastel-coloured fairy-tale flowers in their graceful silhouettes, ombre dyeing and intricate embroidery details, making it a complete and rich experience.”

Recalling some of her favourite collections, she says, “The ‘Nur Jahan’ collection that I presented is one of my favourites. It was a lot of fun making because it was something different. All the designs were painted with bright, bold colours, which made it a great collection.” Syma is also proud of her interpretation of the sari. She calls it ‘TMS’ or a two-minute sari, which can be worn as a skirt and wrapped around.

She says, “Wearing a sari is absolutely time consuming.  This works well with every body shape. Now people don’t have to go through the hassle of wearing the perfect sari — you can always look perfect with this.”

Apart from designing fashionable clothes, she also makes accessories like clutches and earrings. With an eye for intricate details, she looks up to Zuhair Murad, a Lebanese fashion designer, for his details in embroidery. She also loves the work of Anamika Khanna for her interpretation of the old and the new.

“Designing is something that I’ve always wanted to do and I’m happy that I’ve had so many learning experiences so far. I look forward to experimenting so much more in this industry and bring out the best of designs,” she concludes.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by Anila Kurian / DHNS – December 14th, 2015

Urdu teacher writes book to highlight Muslim Scientists’ contribution to science

by A Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,

Solapur (Maharashtra): In an attempt to highlight the great work that Muslims have done in the field of science, an Assistant Teacher of Urdu High School has written a book called‘Muslim Scienedano ki Scienci Khidmat’.

The 92-page book of Junaid A. Qayyum Shaikh, 37, an Assistant Teacher at Social Urdu High School and Junior College of Science, Solapur, was launched by Prof. Dr. N N Maldar, Vice Chancelor of Solapur University.

Shaikh, who has completed Masters in Science (MSc) and Bachelor of Education (B Ed) wrote this book in Urdu. In order to reach out to more readers, he plans to translate it into other languages. He says he has received several requests for translation of the book into other languages and many are ready to even offer help.

The author used many sources in compiling the present book. Shaikh claims “Book of Knowledge by Al Jazari” an Arabic book in original that was translated by Hill and Donald in English is one of the main source for his work.

He also referred : ‘Invention in the medieval Islamic World’ by Rotlink, ‘Introduction to Historyof Science’ by Sarton and George, ’The Muslim Scientist’ by Muhammad Yasin Owadally, Article on Muslim Scientist by Altaf Hussain Memon Tahari, Muslim Sciencedan by M A Siddiqui & Fayeza Siddique, Musalmano ke Scienci Karname by Muhammad Zakriya Virk and Biography- W Hazmy,Zainurashid Z, Hussain R.

The book presents brief information of Muslim scientists’ contribution in the fields of Mechanical Technology, Transport technology, Gun powder technology, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Optics, etc.

Speaking with TwoCircles.net, Shaikh said, “Today most of us presume that the progress of science and technology is the contribution of Europe and American scientists only. In fact it is our lack of knowledge. The truth is that hundreds of Muslim Scientists have many inventions to their names in the field of science for centuries.”

“I felt that the newer generation is going far from the scientific history of Muslims and therefore thought that they must be reminded of contributions of Muslim Scientists so as to make it guideline and torchbearer for others who are interested in science and technology”, he said while replying to the question of trigger for him to write such book.

“This book is especially written for young Muslims, whose way of thinking is scientific and who are intersected in the research and findings related to science so that they can be motivated”, he added.

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home / by A. Mirsab / December 13th, 2015