Monthly Archives: August 2017

Prof. Huzoor H. Khan Elected President of Indian Mathematical Society

Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH :

ProfHuzoorKhanMPOs26aug2017

 

Professor Huzoor H. Khan, Department of Mathematics at the Aligarh Muslim University shall be the new President of Indian Mathematical Society (IMS).
According to Professor V. M. Shah, General Secretary of the Indian Mathematical Society, Prof. Khan was elected President of IMS during the general body meeting of the society held at SRTM University, Nanded, Maharashtra recently.

source: http://www.myamu.in / My AMU / April 17th, 2012

Had it not been for Muslims, we would have died: Saints injured in Utkal Express derailment

UTTAR PRADESH :

UtkalExpressMPOs26aug2017

Meerut :

“I remember my head bumping into the seat in front of me, throwing me at least two feet forward. I was in pain and could her screams from all directions. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for Muslims in the area who rushed to the spot and pulled us out of the train’s coach, we might not have survived,” said Bhagwan Das Maharaj, a saint with a saffron cloth tied around his neck. He was travelling with six other ascetics who had boarded the Utkal Express from Morana in Madhya Pradesh and were going to Haridwar to take a holy dip in Ganga.

“They brought us water, khaats and arranged for a private doctor for us. We will never forget this gesture,” he added. Three saints from the group were injured and were rushed to Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial (LLRM) Medical College in Meerut for treatment.

“We believe in God and we saw his power soon after the accident. There are times when people politicize Hindu-Muslim ties, but there has always been love between the two communities,” said Morni Das, another saint.

Soon after 14 coaches of Haridwar-bound Kalinga Utkal Express derailed near Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar, government and private hospitals in Meerut were put on alert and emergency wards were set up for the accident victims. “There were many women and children in our coach. All of us were chit-chatting and suddenly our coach overturned. Initially, we didn’t realize what had happened,” said another saint Hakim Das.

Dr Raj Kumar Chaudhary, Meerut’s chief medical officer, said, “As many as 23 people have been taken to different hospitals in Meerut and are being given treatment. Also, 26 government ambulances and 26 private ambulances were rushed to the accident site to take the victims to hospitals.”

Till the time this report was filed, 23 people were admitted to different hospitals and many more were coming in. PL Sharma district hospital and LLRM Medical College also launched their helpline numbers: +919410609434 and 0121-2604977 respectively.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Meerut News / by Ishita Bhatia, TNN / August 19th, 2017

AMU Alumni made to toppers in Boston University School of Dental Medicine

Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH / Boston, USA :

Dr Mohammad Abbas Khan
Dr Mohammad Abbas Khan

Aligarh :

Aligarh Muslim University Alumnus, Dr Mohammad Abbas Khan has brought laurels to his Alma mater after graduating, among the top of his class at the Boston University School of Dental Medicine, USA for Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD).

Khan has scored a 100 percent in Pharmacology besides scoring the highest marks in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology in his exams at the Boston University School of Dental Medicine.  He has also been felicitated during the award ceremony of the Dental School. Meanwhile, he has also been awarded by the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, USA for being among the top of the Dental School’s merit list.

Khan, who has been in the Boston University for over two years, has made remarkable contributions to the student bodies. As the elected President of American Association of Public Health Dentistry for the Boston University, he generated awareness about Public Health and spearheaded new initiatives. Due to his good academic record and passion to contribute to the students, he was appointed as the teaching assistant for the subjects of Pharmacology, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Endodontics and Removable Prosthodontics.

Before beginning his journey at Boston University for his DMD, he did his MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) and graduated in 2015. Even at JHSPH, he was among toppers and contributed to the student community as the elected Vice-President for Johns Hopkins Student Assembly and Student representative for Committee on Academic Standards.

Khan’s mother, Dr Zebun Nisa Khan teaches at the Department of Education, AMU while his father Professor Huzoor H Khan teaches at the Department of Mathematics, AMU.

source: http://www.twocirlces.net / Two Circles.net / Home> Indian Muslims> Lead Story / TCN News / May 29th, 2017

Involvement by fans a big factor in my playing days – Muneer Sait

Chennai, TAMIL NADU :

Sportstar caught up with distinguished former India hockey goalkeeper Muneer Sait, who was part of the Indian team that won the bronze in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. He had arrived at the launch of Sportstarlive.

'During my time, when hockey was popular, we played in front of packed stadiums and having fans chant your name really gave me a kick', said Muneer Sait (seated centre). - R.RAGU
‘During my time, when hockey was popular, we played in front of packed stadiums and having fans chant your name really gave me a kick’, said Muneer Sait (seated centre). – R.RAGU

One of the outstanding hockey goalkeepers of his time, Muneer Sait was part of the Indian team that won the bronze in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. For his work on field hockey, the International Hockey Federation awarded Sait the President’s Award in 2005. Hockey India inducted Sait as part of the five-member selection committee in 2009 and he is also associated with Squash Rackets Federation of Tamil Nadu. We caught up with the Olympian for an informal chat during the launch of Sportstarlive.

Edited excerpts:

What’s your impression of Sportstar? We are going live with our website…

The launch party was very well organised. It is nice to see a variety of sportspersons attending this event. Good representation from tennis, cricket, squash, snooker and also chess. I’ve been a regular reader of Sportstar and The Hindu. Actually, I’ve been recognised by The Hindu and have been getting complementary issues of the magazine.

What is the best part of being a sportsman in India?

I’ve loved sports every since my schooldays. We never had the distraction of the television, Twitter and Facebook so we had plenty of time to play. I have played hockey since my Loyola college days. During my time, when hockey was popular, we played in front of packed stadiums and having fans chant your name really gave me a kick. As a matter of fact, I played the 1966 national championships in Madurai in front of a full house. Everyday my photo would come in The Hindu as the outstanding goalkeeper. That boosted my image all over the country and got me selected for the Indian team.

What’s the flipside of being a sportsman?

The negative side, especially with respect to hockey, was the lack of money and encouragement from the associations. Those days we had to make our own arrangements for travel and accommodation for different national tournaments. I paid from my own pocket to go to Jalandhar via New Delhi for different competitions. It was a difficult time but we got through thanks to the love for the sport.

source: http://www.sportstarlive.com / SportsStar Live / Home> More  Sports> Hockey / by Amrit Ramakrishnan / Chennai – February 06th, 2017

Book on Ghadar hero Rehmat Ali Wajidke released in Surrey

Wajidke, Barnala : PUNJAB :

“Today when the Hindu nationalists are in power in India, we need to remind our younger generation that men like Wajidke and not the RSS played a significant role during the freedom movement. This has become important as the Hindutva forces continue to question the patriotism of Muslims,” he said.

Sarwan Singh Aujla.
Sarwan Singh Aujla.

A Punjabi book on Rehmat Ali Wajidke, a Ghadar Party activist who was hanged in 1915, was released at a public event held in Surrey on Sunday.

Authored by Sarwan Singh Aujla, a retired school principal from Barnala, the book is written in the form of a long poetry and throws light on Wajidke and his struggle.

Wajidke was hanged for sedition by the British government in March 1915. He was among the Ghadar Party members who had returned from foreign countries to India to launch an armed rebellion against the British occupation. This year marks the centenary of Wajidke’s martyrdom.

Aujla, who is a freelance writer, has authored many books. He had served at the government public school in Wajidke, the native village of Rehmat Ali. He was instrumental in getting the school renamed after the Ghadar hero and had also traced his descendants in Pakistan and brought them to India where they were duly honoured by the Punjab government in 1970s. Wajidke’s relatives had migrated to Pakistan after the partition in 1947.

Aujla has been highlighting the story of Wajidke through his columns in the local newspapers as well. He told HT that his story needs to be amplified to challenge the communal forces which are inimical to peace and people’s unity.

“Today when the Hindu nationalists are in power in India, we need to remind our younger generation that men like Wajidke and not the RSS played a significant role during the freedom movement. This has become important as the Hindutva forces continue to question the patriotism of Muslims,” he said.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Punjab / by Gurpreet Singh, Hindustan Times / October 13th, 2015

Meet Iqra Rasool – 17-Year-Old Girl From Jammu & Kashmir Who Is Fighting The Odds To Play For Team India

JAMMU & KASHMIR  / WEST BENGAL :

The last cricketer we heard of from the valley was Parvez Rasool. Now here’s a woman cricketer named Iqra Rasool, who is trying to beat the odds and play for the women’s Indian cricket team.

Currently, Rasool is aspiring to play for Bengal and then represent India after getting a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association.

Facebook
Facebook

The 17-year-old relocated to West Bengal after limited opportunities for women stood in the way of her ambitions. She has represented Jammu & Kashmir at the U-19 and U-23 level.

Twitter
Twitter

Iqra is now training at the indoor facilities of the Eden Gardens with permission from Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), the state’s parent body of the sport. The NOC certificate has been signed by J&K cricket association General Secretary Iqbal Ahmad Shah. It cleared Iqra to play for any state association affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

“I want to play for India and that’s why when Aditya School of Sports contacted me I lapped up the opportunity,” Iqra told IANS on Wednesday.

Twitter
Twitter

Iqra faced a lot of opposition initially when she started out. More than her parents, it was the relatives and neighbours back in Kashmir who raised objection. “I was asked ‘kyun khel rahi ho’ (why are you playing). I was looked at differently as I slowly became popular and TV channels started covering me,” the 5ft-8inch tall bowler said.

“My father told me to leave my state after I finish my 12th standard,” Iqra, now a class XI student, added. It was three months ago in May that Iqra came to West Bengal and joined Aditya School of Sports.

“We came to know about her from television. We have our scouts everywhere and they brought her here. Jhulan Goswami took her trials and she was accompanied by her parents,” a teacher of the school said without wanting to be named for administrative purposes.

Twitter
Twitter

Abdul Monayem, one of Iqra’s two coaches, said the lanky bowler has raw pace and is extremely determined to don the India colours. “She has good pace and is very serious about her cricket. If she is guided properly, she can play for India. She has the talent and the will.”

“I have loved my stint so far in Bengal,” Iqra said. “I want to play for my nation and before that represent Bengal at the domestic level as the facilities here are great. It’s not the same in Jammu & Kashmir,” she said.

Inputs From IANS

source: http://www.indiatimes.com / IndiaTimes.com / Home> Sports / August 24th, 2017

Now Frontier Gandhi’s descendant to urge Modi to stand by Pakhtunistan

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

Yasmin Nigar Khan will organise a rally at Shahid Minar in the heart of Kolkata’s business district after Durga puja.

Yasmin Nigar Khan is the president of All India Pashtu-Jirga-e-Hind, an organisation that is spearheading the movement for secession of Pakhtunwa area of North West Frontier Province from Pakistan.(HT Photo)
Yasmin Nigar Khan is the president of All India Pashtu-Jirga-e-Hind, an organisation that is spearheading the movement for secession of Pakhtunwa area of North West Frontier Province from Pakistan.(HT Photo)

India-Pakistan relations may have more twists in store than meets the eye. Yasmin Nigar Khan, great granddaughter of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, better known as Frontier Gandhi, now plans to meet Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi to urge him to stand by the Pashtuns as he did in the case of Balochistan.

The Kolkata-based 45-year old leader of the Pashtuns living and working in India told HT that she also plans a rally in the city against atrocities of Pakistan on the people of North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

“We are happy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of Balochistan. Similar atrocities are regularly being committed by Pakistan on Pashtuns in NWFP. We want Modi to highlight the plight of Pashtuns and help in their struggle to get freedom from Pakistan. The Pashtun people are equally oppressed by Pakistan,” said Khan on Friday.

Yasmin Nigar Khan stays in Park Circus area in south Kolkata and runs a school. (HT Photo)
Yasmin Nigar Khan stays in Park Circus area in south Kolkata and runs a school. (HT Photo)

Yasmin Nigar Khan president of All India Pashtu-Jirga-e-Hind, an organisation based in Kolkata that has been spearheading a movement for secession of Pakhtunwa area in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and its merger with Afghanistan. The area is situated near the border of Afganistan and Pakistan.

She claimed there are about 10,000 Pashtuns living in Bengal, mostly in and around Kolkata.

“NWFP were given on lease to the British for 100 years. But more than 120 years have passed by,” she claimed, adding “NWFP has no business staying in Pakistan.”

“Our leaders are holding meetings in Kolkata to press our demand. We are planning to organise a rally against Pakistan in Kolkata after the Pujas at Shahid Minar. By the end of the year we will meet the Prime Minister,” said Khan.

The Pashtun community comprises basically the Pathans who are from Afghanistan and also from the Pakhtunwa area. In Kolkata, a section of them who have settled more than 100 years ago, are better known as Kabuliwalas (money lenders).

File photo of Khan (fifth from Left) attending a ministry of culture programme in Delhi to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Frontier Gandhi. She appealed for a university to be set up in Bengal in the name of her great grandfather. (Facebook)
File photo of Khan (fifth from Left) attending a ministry of culture programme in Delhi to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Frontier Gandhi. She appealed for a university to be set up in Bengal in the name of her great grandfather. (Facebook)

Khan alleged that the condition of the Pashtuns living in NWFP is appalling and the Pakistan government is not keen on any development in the region.

“Like Balochistan, Pakhtunistan too is deliberately neglected. the Pakistan government is keeping the mass uneducated so that they do not demand their rights. The area is used for breeding terrorists Pakistan is using Taliban to spread terror in the region. We will soon hit streets over the issue,” added Khan.

Many of the Pashtuns living in Kolkata have relatives there and they worry about Taliban threats.

“We want to highlight Pakistan’s atrocities in NWFP and condemn attacks on India. Pakistan should be declared a terrorist state by the international community,” she added.

The Pashtun leader stated that during a programme at the union ministry of culture on May 20 this year (to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Frontier Gandhi), she appealed for a university to be set up in Bengal on the name of her great grandfather.

In 1996 after the death of her father Lala Jan Khan, Yasmin took over the mantle of the organisation that looks after the interests of Pashtuns.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Kolkata / by Ravik Bhattacharya, Hindustan Times / September 30th, 2016

Mohammad Mustafa is SIDBI’s new CMD

UTTAR PRADESH :

The Centre has appointed Mohammad Mustafa, a 1995 batch IAS officer, as Chairman and Managing Director of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

Prior to this appointment, Mustafa was Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the Finance Ministry.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment for a period of three years, according to a Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) order.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Money & Banking / August 05th, 2017

The magic of Suraiya

PUNJAB / Mumbai (MAHARASHTRA) :

When Nawab F K Sherwani’s daughter got married, his friend the Chawalwala Nawab invited Suraiya to sing, and despite fever, one could make it to the wedding of Farhana Begum, holding on to mother’s hand. That was in the 1940s, when one was fortunate to hear the legendary singer in her prime and also see the courtesans dance the night away. That function is a fading memory now but not the screening of Anmol Ghadi, held two years later in Jaipur in a predominantly Muslim locality by Danyal Sahib. He put up the screen against the City mohalla wall, and it being a summer evening, people spread their cots to hear and see Suraiya, along with Noor Jahan, the senior of the two reigning screen beauties.

Suraiya had become a magical name by then and everybody was talking about her golden voice that could sway not only the music-loving rajas and nawabs but also the hoi polloi. “Iski zaban mein mithas hai (There’s sweetness in her voice),” commented 80-year-old Keti Baba, the ex-gardener of a nawab’s compound. Jajja Bua agreed with him as she munched her favourite bida ofpaanunder the neem tree, where she sat on a stringed cot, near the beautiful dulhan, Bilqis, while Khaleda Behn spoke or a fanciful musical duet between Saighal and Munawar Sultana. Each scene of the film drew remarks galore, and sometimes when the scenes got hetic.

Master Sahib tried to interpret them to those who kept getting puzzled by the sequence of events. Munni Bua found it difficult to control her son Karim who, like any mischievous schoolboy, kept fidgeting with his mother’s sari or tried to pull his sister’s hair. He, however, began to concentrate on the film when the fighting scene commenced. In those days films did not have “dhishum-dhishum” stuff. Here was a fight with a knife until the Pehalwan sprang up and wrested it from the villain’s hand. When the film ended people picked up their cots and went home, but they kept talking about Suraiya and Noor Jahan for a week after that, with comments on Suraiya’s dominating Nani.

More than 50 years later one had a chance to see the legendary actress again, when she came to receive the Sahitya Akademi award in 1998. That was a glimpse of a much mellowed Suraiya. But she still looked pretty though approaching 70. The wrinkles were hidden under a lavishly rouged face, the hair had been dyed, except for a straying grey one here and there, but the almond eyes were still sparkling and full of life. She conversed in a low voice and declined to sing, saying she had left “mosiqui years ago”.

Someone mentioned Dev Anand but she ignored the comment, and preferred to change the topic by remarking that it was getting late and she had to go back, the reference probably being to her Marine Drive residence, where she led the life of a recluse. What an evening of old memories it was!

Nawab Faiyaz Khan was long dead, so also his eldest daughter and her husband, S K Sherwani. The Chawalwala Nawab did not die a natural death: he had shot his begum in a fit of anger in the 1950s and was hanged on the clinching evidence of his only son.

Suraiya did not speak much about Noor Jahan (nor of Lata Mangeshkar) but from the little she said it was evident that she held her in high esteem. They were both from undivided Punjab ~ Noor Jahan from Kasur (which was to become such an issue during the Indo-Pak war of 1972) and Suraiyu from Lahore, where her uncle Zahoor, the ace villain or the silver screen in the 1930s and 40s was able to win her parents’ approval to become a child actor.

Although Suraiya did not speak about Dev Anand that December day, one still remembers the Latka (limerick): “Chhayi bahar hai / Jiya beqarar hai / Aaja mere Dev Anand,Suraiya bemar hai”. And when one reminisces of Suraiya can Noor Jahan be forgotten? When she came to India in 1980s, 35 years after leaving for Pakistan along with her husband Shauqat Hussain, one had a chance to see her at close quarters. Her name was later linked with cricketer Nazar Mohammad and then General Yahya Khan in a big scandal.

The glamour-girl of yesteryear, despite her many engagements in Delhi, found the time to visit the dargah of Hazrat Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki and the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia. Tradition has it that one should visit Hazrat Qutubuddin’s mazar first and other shrines afterwards. Even Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti had ordained that the devotee must first pay respects to Qutub Sahib and then come to his dargah.

So Noor Jahan, accompanied by her pretty daughter, Hina and her husband, Haroon Butt, went to this mazar first. At Nizamuddin’s Dargah Noor Jahan offered a chadar and stood praying with palms open for blessings amid the aroma of joss-sticks. Perhaps the Malika-e-Tarannum prayed that her voice remain ever redolent. Or she sought the saint’s benediction on Hina and her husband ~ health, wealth and happiness. As per tradition, the actress left for Ajmer on a Friday to seek the blessings of the greatest Muslim saint of the East, without a visit to whose shrine no trip to India is complete for the true devotee.

Noor Jahan’s golden voice still resounds in the mind “in jocund or in pensive mood” ~ “Awaaj de kahan hai”, interspersed with Suraiya’s “Nuqta chin hain ghame-e-dil”, which brought out the very soul of Ghalib on her honeyed tongue. Suraiya’s last visit to Jaipur was at the initiative of music composer Naushad, who belonged to this city before making it big in Bombay. At his behest, she was the guest of the niece of the novelist lsmat Chughtai and spent a whole day at her house.

Among those who attended an evening of songs by her was Khalil Mian of Bagh Chaurniwala, a great lover of music and a friend of Nawab Faiyaz Khan. As the trees swayed in the breeze blowing from the hills surrounding the city, Suraiya too swayed in rhythm ~ and the audience with her. When she departed by the night train many of her admirers wondered whether they would hear the legend sing again in a live performance. Her death years later naturally left Jaipur sadder. That Dev Anand couldn’t marry Suraiya because of opposition by her Nani is one of tragedies of filmdom, which finds a parallel in the case or Dilip Kumar and Madhubala, whose father was opposed to their wedding proposal.

Nevertheless, Dev continued to have a soft corner for his old flame and when her favourite actor Gregory Peck made a brief stopover in Bombay, he took him to her house. It was near midnight and Suraiya was fast asleep. He woke her up to give her probably the biggest surprise of her life. Dev had eventually married Kalpana Kartik and Dilip for Sara Banu as the next best thing in their lives. But the way their marriages lasted shows that the same would have been the case had Suraiya and Madhubala become their respective wives.

Even after Suraiya passed away, a red rose was always found on her grave in the Mumbai kabristan. It was a tribute by the lover of her youthful days. All this comes to mind when one relaxes before the TV in the evening for a sundowner while one of Ghalib’s ghazals is being sung. It reminds one of Suraiya’s faultless rendition of the poet’s master-piece, “Nukta chin hain,gham-e-dil/Baath bane na bane”.

In the life of the actress the “Baath” that did not materialize was the affair with her heart throb Dev Anand of the romantic Gregory Peck type hairpuff! So that long past evening with Suraiya still extends up to now.

source: http://www.thestatesman.com / The Statesman / Home> Features / by RV Smith / New Delhi / August 25th, 2017

This professor’s Unani medicine for diabetes is all set for clinical trials

Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH :

Professor Naeem Ahmad Khan
Professor Naeem Ahmad Khan

Four years back, Naeem Ahmad Khan,  professor  at faculty of Unani Medicine, Ajmal Khan Tibbiya College, Aligarh Muslim University, set a goal for himself– he wanted to find a cure for diabetes.

It was possible only if he could regenerate the primary function of beta islet cells of the pancreas to store and release insulin.

Four years on, he claims to have succeeded in his mission. He has developed a medicine that, he says, will not only improve the function of pancreatic cells, but also protect them. Besides, it will regenerate beta islet cells and improve their health by giving them required nutrition.

“My medicine will regenerate the natural process of the pancreas. This medicine will help diabetic respond to fluctuations in blood glucose concentrations quickly by releasing stored insulin,” says Dr Khan.

He believes that the medicine, if clears clinical trials, will be a better alternative to the existing drugs. “Modern diabetic medicines stimulate beta cells to produce and release more insulin. If a person develops diabetes at a younger age, these medicines stop working after a few years. Then the alternative before the patient is to take insulin supplement, which is an expensive as well as painful treatment,” he says.

The clinical trial  of the medicine, he believes,  will help standardise traditional medicine system in India and bring it at par with modern medicine

“Apart from  restoring the normal functioning of beta cells, I believe that this medicine will also bring down the number of pancreatitis cases in diabetes,” he says.
Khan says that his medicine has already been tested on animals and has gone through the  necessary toxicological studies to rule out any heavy metal impurities and other toxic effects. It has been passed by the Government of India’s Institutional Ethical Committee, he adds.

The drug will soon be tested clinically before it is available in the market. “We will study it in a controlled environment where we will monitor its effect on diabetes in non- insulin dependent patients.  We will also compare it with other existing popular modern drugs,” says Khan.

The clinical trial  of the medicine, he believes,  will help standardise traditional medicine system in India and bring it at par with modern medicine. “Evidence-based traditional medicine is the need of the hour. We need to exploit their potential to help people deal with various lifestyle diseases,” he says.

Khan says that this medicine has been developed from eight different medicinal plants, some of which were used by ancient Unani practitioners. “These medicines are as scientific as allopathic drugs. We need to validate their worth and that’s what I have been trying to do all these years, ” he says.

source: http://www.healthpost.in / Healthpost.in / Home / by HP Correspondent / Saturday – January 28th, 2017