Members of this group have a secondary metabolite used in colon cancer: Expert
Researchers of western Assam’s Bodoland University have recorded a new plant species that may go a long way in fighting cancer.
The species, named Ophiorrhiza recurvipetala, has been found at 675 metres above mean sea level in central Assam’s Dima Hasao district. It has been classified under the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, to which the plant yielding coffee belongs.
Recurvipetala means petals curved back.
The finding was published in the March 2021 issue of the Nordic Journal of Botany.
“This is a new species to plant science and may be a potential anticancer research candidate. All members of this group have a secondary metabolite called Camptothecin used in colon cancer,” Sanjib Baruah, assistant professor of Bodoland University’s Department of Botany said.
He co-authored the study with research scholars Birina Bhuyan of Bodoland University and Selim Mehmud of Guwahati’s Cotton University.
“It is now our turn to find the Camptothecin content occurring in this novel species. There is a possibility to cultivate this species as a promising medicinal plant for the northeast, but its agrotechnology is not known,” Dr. Baruah told The Hindu.
The researchers had spent a few months in the hilly areas of Jatinga and Haflong in Dima Hasao district to locate a few plants on a wooded mound. “The new species is restricted to this area where it grows in moist shady places,” he said.
Ophiorrhiza is a predominantly herbaceous genus distributed from eastern India to the West Pacific from South China to northern Australia. According to the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, 2017, it is a notably species-rich and taxonomically complicated genus with about 318 species worldwide.
In India, 47 species and nine varieties have been recorded and among them 21 species and one variety are from the northeast.
The Ophiorrhiza recurvipetala is a perennial herb with a maximum height of 60 cm and is branched. It yields a creamy white flower.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by Rahul Kamakar / Guwahati – March 19th, 2021
Despite all odds, an 18 year old girl from Goa has set an example for many aspiring girls who want to be a sport person. The girl is Aqsa Altaf Sayed who has been selected in the women’s football team of Goa prestigious FC Goa (football club Goa). She hails from a remote village in Goa but her steely resolve brings out her talents to the fore.
If you have the courage and that spark to achieve your goals, you can get it in any way that is a message from the success of Aqsa. She was born in Valpoi village of Sattari Taluka (North Goa). She will play in the Goa Football Association’s “Vedanta Women’s League” starting next month.
It is worth to mention here that after commencement of High Profile ISL (Indian Super League) the FC Goa club has earned many accolades and admirers in the global football buff fraternity.
Speaking with Muslim Mirror, Aqsa says that she loved to bounce around the ball since she was a kid but her journey began from 6th grade when she used to play for her school at taluka level while getting her routine practice from the GFDC (Goa football development council).
Aqsa dreams to be part of India’s national women’s football team and to represent India at international events. She also wants to continue being into the track of her passion by picking up to be a football coach in the future. She further wants to coach and motivate little girls to play football.
Her elder brother is an inspiring personality for her who is a good soccer player of soccer. She used to watch him while he was playing football. “My motivation was my hard work, sacrifices and my prayers”.
“ Much credit also goes to my parents and my brother without whom I would have never made this journey successful. I feel blessed to get such supportive people in my life,” Aqsa adds.
Head Master of Unity High school, Valpoi Ashraf Ali Khan said he is proud of Aqsa who brought laurels to her alma mater
I am elated to know that our ex student Aqsa Sayed has been selected to play for FC goa. In fact, she had shown great interest in sports activities during her school days besides, doing her level best in her studies, Khan said.
“I am sure that she will be an asset to the team she will play for India in the near future, we wish her all the very best”.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Indian Muslim / by Sobiya Inamdar / March 15th, 2021
Arif Shaikh had a long stint as a journalist with over 40 years of experience in Marathi, English, Urdu and Hindi journalism.
Aurangabad :
Veteran English and Urdu Journalist Arif Shaikh passed away in a private hospital following a brief illness here on Monday evening, family sources said.
Shaikh was 70 and is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Shaikh’s last rites were performed at the Masjid Ganje Shaheedan late on Monday night, followed by his burial at the Ganje Shaheedan cemetery.
Shaikh had a long stint as a journalist with over 40 years of experience in Marathi, English, Urdu and Hindi journalism.
He started his career in 1970 with Ajintha Daily, and worked in Marathwada, Aurangabad Times and United News Of India before joining the Indian Express in Mumbai, where he worked for over 15 years.
Later, he joined the Mid Day in Mumbai besides working with Hindi Daily Citizens. He also launched an English language weekly, Public Express, in Aurangabad.
Shaikh was the recipient of many state and district level awards for excellence in journalism. — IANS
source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion India / Home> India> Indian Muslims / by IANS / March 09th, 2021
Former IAS officer Syed Zameer Pasha died in Bengaluru late in the evening on Wednesday (December 2) after ailing for some time. He was 68.
He had retired as Secretary of the Department of Public Administration and Reforms (DPAR) and had simultaneously held the post of the Secretary of the Department of Minority Affairs in Government of Karnataka.
A social worker, an educational activist and of late an office-bearer in the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), Pasha had unsuccessfully fought Assembly election in 2018 for the Kolar seat, 70 kms east of Bengaluru. He was one among the first batch of degree awardees in 1970 from the Bengaluru’s Al-Ameen College of Arts, Science and Commerce set up by leaders like Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, Rahman Khan and Begum Abbasiya Mecci. He later took LLB and LLM degrees and appeared for the Karnataka Civil Services examination and became a Karnataka Administrative Services (KAS) officer. He was conferred IAS ten years before retirement on the basis of seniority.
Following retirement he joined the Congress Party and was appointed one of the vice presidents of the party. He even began to practice as a lawyer.
Pasha was born in Magadi, a small town in the backyard of Metropolitan Bengaluru and was engaged in educational upliftment of the townsfolk. Being one among the early students of Al-Ameen, he was inspired by the Al-Ameen movement and Dr. Mumtaz Ahmed Khan. Soon after leaving the college he founded Al-Falah Educational Trust in Magadi town which currently runs an English medium school (Winner’s International Academy), an upper primary school (Jawahar English School); Al-Falah PU College and a theological school (Taalimaat-e-Aamma Muhammadiya). During his tenure with the government, he handed over the management of the institutions to a group of Turkish students for a few years residing in India which vastly improved its infrastructure and academic standards. Several students of the school and the town have been taken on educational trip to Turkey during the recent years.
He began to interact with the community in Kolar while he was Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kolar district during 1999-2001 and maintained regular contact thereafter advising the activists and organizations in the town.
He was under treatment for pancreatic cancer for the last four months. He leaves behind his wife and two daughters and a son. He was laid to rest this (Thursday) morning in Shantinagar graveyard.
Known for his sincere social work, his death will be mourned by the community in Bangalore.
M A Siraj is senior journalist based in Bengaluru. He writes for several publications in the country.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Bangalore / by M.A. Siraj / December 03rd, 2020
Faria Abdullah, who made her acting debut with ‘Jathi Ratnalu’, is a multi-hyphenate, pursuing dance, theatre, painting and poetry
Faria Abdullah is still coming to terms with the euphoric response to her Telugu film Jathi Ratnalu: “It’s sinking in, one step at a time,” she says, speaking for this interview in between visiting cinema halls in Hyderabad for post-release promotions.
Jathi Ratnalu directed by K V Anudeep and starring Naveen Polishetty, Priyadarshi and Rahul Ramakrishna as three friends who migrate to Hyderabad in search of better prospects, but are sucked into a whirlwind of unexpected events, has taken the box office by storm.
All through lockdown, producers Vyjayanthi Films waited patiently for theatres to re-open, not wanting to take the OTT route. Faria looks back at the seemingly never-ending wait and says, “Nagi (producer Nag Ashwin) took a vote by asking us whether the film should have an OTT release or wait for theatres to re-open. I had completed filming 95% of my scenes and 90% of dubbing in 2019, and it was a long wait for me. Impatient to see myself on any screen, I voted for OTT. But he held on. Soon after the film’s preview and theatrical release, I messaged Nagi, thanking him for not listening to me. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a newcomer like me.”
Rooted humour
She, just like the others involved with the film, was confident that it would be received well. But the euphoric response took them by pleasant surprise: “It’s becoming a sort of cult film?” Faria says cheerfully, adding, “We knew that the audience would relate to the authentic, rooted humour. Anudeep hails from Sangareddy district and his writing reflects the milieu. But the response is much more than what we imagined.”
Faria grew up in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, and was inclined to fine arts in school. She used to paint, learnt dance in summer camps and all this, she says, added to her personality. After Class X, she didn’t want to take the MPC (maths, physics, chemistry), BiPC (biology, physics, chemistry) or commerce streams. Her mother arranged for home-schooling: “That gave me the freedom to learn what I wanted, from different teachers. I would travel to Kachiguda for painting classes and Lingampally for literature…”
Around the same time, Faria got introduced to theatre and has been a part of well known theatre groups in Hyderabad — Nishumbita, Torn Curtains, Samahaara, Dramanon, Rangeen Sapne and Kissago, to name a few. “I missed working with the Sutradhar group so far,” she says. For a brief while, she also wrote and directed plays.
While pursuing Mass Communication at Loyola College, Hyderabad, she met Nag Ashwin who visited the campus as chief guest for an event: “He asked if I would be interested in acting in one of his productions, and I auditioned for the role.”
Faria Abdullah
On stage
Her experience in theatre prepared her for Jathi Ratnalu: “The stage prepares you for everything — acting, networking and social skills. On stage, you have to be present in the moment and think on your feet. Once, my sari nearly came undone. I quickly went backstage, took the strings off someone’s hoodie, tied my sari, and got back on stage.”
While many actors state that cinema, unlike theatre, has scope for retakes, Faria differs, “You have the opportunity to improvise when you perform the same play again. In cinema, you can’t do that.”
She remembers her parents and grandparents being inclined to the arts, especially acting and dancing, but not having the opportunities to showcase their talents: “I would hear that my mom used to dance when she was carrying me; maybe that’s how my interest in dance began. She was born in Kuwait, though her parents are from Mumbai and Hyderabad.”
The family spoke Hindi and Urdu. Faria learnt Telugu in the last couple of years and dubbed for the film.
Movement practitioner
Away from the cameras, her interests include abstract painting, poetry and dance. She’s also a movement practitioner: “I love freestyle dancing and I let music dictate my moves.” She learnt Kathak briefly, hip hop, house, waacking, belly dancing and dance hall styles.
Talking about her journey ahead, she says she hasn’t signed any new films yet: “I am open to acting in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and even English. Who knows?” She doesn’t want to limit herself to acting: “I’ve always been multi-hyphenate, expanding my skill sets and integrating them to my personality. I don’t want to be unidimensional.”
Before we wind up, we talk about Jathi Ratnalu and if, beneath its hilarious veneer, it’s a black comedy of migration and survival in the big city. Faria mulls over it and says, “It can be watched just as a fun film and later, one can ponder what it was about. I think there’s an element of black comedy. We talk about success and development and don’t realise that real development is when you can succeed in staying true to your roots. That’s what I believe in and I’m glad I could begin my career from Hyderabad.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Movies / by Sangeetha Devi Dundoo / Hyderabad – March 16th, 2021
The flight is said to have landed at 8.05 am at Jaipur Airport following which a doctor and an ambulance was arranged.
Dr Subhana Nazir
Bengaluru :
A North Western Railway Zone doctor was lauded after she assisted in the delivery of a baby girl onboard an IndiGo flight from Bengaluru to Jaipur on Wednesday. An official communique from the airlines stated that the baby was delivered with the help of the flight crew under the guidance of Dr Subhana Nazir. There were 116 passengers onboard the flight.
The flight is said to have landed at 8.05 am at Jaipur Airport following which a doctor and an ambulance was arranged. The baby and the mother are safe, the airlines said.Dr Subhana received a rousing welcome on landing at Jaipur Airport and was also lauded by her railway zone.
“Committed to duty… anytime… anywhere. Dr Subhana Nazir, a railway doctor of North Western Railways, while travelling Indigo6E from Bengaluru to Jaipur attended to the medical emergency and helped deliver a baby on board. #Proudrailwaywoman,” tweeted the NW zone.“The Indigo crew were able to help the doctor after having received special training for such situations,” said an airline representative. In October last year, the airline had faced a similar situation on a Delhi-Bengaluru flight.
Indigo permits expectant mothers till the end of 36 weeks of pregnancy, provided there are no prior complications, to board flights. If the pregnancy is between the 33rd and 36th week, a fit-to-fly certificate from the treating obstetrician, dated not more than seven days before the date of travel, is required.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Express News Service / March 18th, 2021
Kerala-based Traditional Prophetic Medicine Association Trust (TPMAT) has launched the Supreme Twibb Council in order to promote Prophetic medicine or Tibb-e-Nabawi.
The initiative aims to provide a platform to doctors and physicians involved in Prophetic medicine and will also give training to those doctors who are interested in practising Tibb-e-Nabawi.
Dr Muhammed Gafoor Saquafi, the council’s president highlighted that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recognized Prophetic medicine as one of the alternative medicine as ordered by the ruling of the Supreme Court. TPMAT had filed a petition in the Supreme Court in this regard and after winning the case they decided to initiate Tibb Council.
“Moreover the Prophetic medicines institutes have received various orders from the Central Government in this connection. Based on this and Central Act1882, the TPMAT is registered and Supreme Twibb council is formed under it.
Advice and remedy given by Prophet Muhammad on the matters of health including sickness, hygiene, and treatment are called Prophetic medicine. These remedies are given by the Prophet, which is mentioned in the books of Hadith, and the writings were undertaken by non-physician scholars to collect and explicate these traditions.
In 2014, the Prophetic medicine was recognized as a complementary medicine senate via the Alma Atta Declaration of the World Health Organization. A letter of recognition and appreciation was also provided by the World Health Organization via the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Sidha and Homeopathy (AYUSH).
Prophetic medicine was enlisted as an alternate medicine by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2017 and gains the status of independent practice. This liberty to practice prophetic medicine was given by Supreme Court itself. There are many Prophetic Medicine institutions initiated at various locations of India.
The Court managed to draft bylaws of the Council in contrast with a pending petition given by TPMAT to the Supreme Court earlier, that constitute the legal part of the Prophetic medicine.
The council will also provide memberships to the scientific scholars and traditional scholars in different categories. Moreover national memberships will also be given for the structural expansion of the training institutes in the Country with a head-quarter in the national capital, Delhi.
source: http://www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> News / by Ghazala Ahmad / March 13th, 2021
President Ram Nath Kovind Friday appointed Advocate Mohammed Ghouse Shukure Kamal as an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court. Advocate Kamal’s appointment comes almost two years after his name was proposed by the Supreme Court Collegium.
The notification issued by the Department of Justice today (12th March) states that Advocate Mohammed Ghouse Shukure Kamal will be an additional judge for a period of two years from the date he assumes charge of the office.
According to the Ministry of Law and Justice statement, Kamal has practiced for more than 23 years in the Karnataka High Court and subordinate courts at Bengaluru in civil, criminal, constitutional, labour, arbitration, revenue and Waqf matters.
The President made the appointment in exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution’s Article 224, as per the notification issued by the Ministry’s Department of Justice.
Advocate Kamal’s elevation was objected to by the government, along with the other names proposed by the Collegium citing, “Mohammed Ghouse Shukure Kamal has limited practice in the High Court”.
However, the Collegium, headed by former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, referring to Intelligence Bureau reports said that the advocates enjoy good “personal and professional” image and nothing adverse came to notice against their integrity.
Singapuram Raghavachar Krishna Kumar, Ashok Subhashchandra Kinagi, Suraj Govindaraj, and Sachin Shankar Magadum are the four Additional Judges of the Karnataka High Court appointed by the Central government.
source: http:///www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> News / by Shaik Zakeer Hussain / March 13th, 2021
Faiz Aquil Ahmed Mumtaz, District Magistrate of Jamtara in Jharkhand, has triggered what could be called a ‘library movement’ in the infamous ‘phishing capital of India’. He has successfully renovated 118 dilapidated government buildings and converted them into public libraries in the past five months.
He has inaugurated around 100 of them and the remaining ones are likely to be opened soon.
Faiz believes that this initiative would positively change the identity of the Jamtara district.
It is said that the majority of online fraud calls received by people across the country emanate from Jamtara. Many youth, mostly drop-outs in the 15-35 years age group, have been turning to cybercrime to make a few quick bucks.
“With people using digital platforms more often than before, cybercrime incidences are only going to increase. In pursuit of easy money, youth were found resorting to online fraud. We need to divert them into studies,” Faiz says.
“Now the students don’t need to go to Patna or Delhi to prepare for competitive exams. They can remain in the villages and do that. People from lower class and lower middle class cannot afford coaching and so they give up hope,” he adds, explaining the significance of the initiative.
Faiz is an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia’s Residential Coaching Academy and had cleared civil service examinations, obtaining the 17th rank in 2014.
source: http://www.thecongnate.com / The Cognate / Home> News / by Rushda Fatima Khan / March 06th, 2021
The 24th annual general meeting of the Minority Welfare Society (MWS) was held with a colourful programme on Sunday in Guwahati. The events which began in the morning consisted of a host of competitions for youngsters followed by deliberations by invited speakers. Annual awards were given away in the valedictory function held in the afternoon.
MWS is made up of more than 1,500 families residing mostly in and around Guwahati whose roots are in the Barak Valley region of Assam. The Society undertakes various welfare and motivational programmes throughout the year.
The highlight of Sunday’s programme was the presentation of Annual Sahidul Alom Choudhury Memorial Award 2021to Dr KM Baharul Islam, who was born in Karimganj District of Assam, now serving as Professor & Chairperson of the Centre for Public Policy and Government at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kashipur, Uttarakhand. He served as the Dean (Academics) during 2019-2021 at the same Institute. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 2020. The award consisting of a plaque, memento, and cash component of Rs 25,000 was handed over to him by Abdus Sattar Choudhury and Abdul Karim Choudhury, President and General Secretary respectively of MWS. Dr Islam donated the entire cash amount back to MWS to be used for various welfare activities undertaken by the Society.
In his acceptance speech, Dr Islam paid profound tribute to his father, late Fakhrul Islam, Principal Lala Rural College Hailakandi Assam who was also a Deputy Minister (in charge of education) in the Govt of Assam. He said, “My father taught me about plain living and high thinking because of which I have been able to reach a respectable position in life where I am placed today.” Dr Islam mentioned that he founded the PFI Foundation in memory of his late father and this foundation is now accredited by the United Nations.
The eighth edition of “Barak”, the annual publication of MWS, was released on the occasion by dignitaries present on the dais. The magazine consisting of well researched articles supplemented by rare documents and photographs was edited by Jiya-ud-Din Choudhury and designed by Abul Hussain Choudhury.
The annual report of MWS that was presented at the meeting highlighted the aggregate channelising of zakat and relief funds amounting to Rs 1.87 lakh to the deserving poor and the needy in the society. Rs 63,000 was handed over to poor patients for their medical treatment. MWS also made a donation of Rs 50,000 to “Assam Arogya Nidhi” for the Covid19 Pandemic. In addition, MWS extended loans of over Rs 3 lakh to 190 small entrepreneurs under the “Quomrul Hoque Memorial Endowment” programme supported by the ERD Foundation.
Dignitaries gave away the prizes to winners of various competitions and meritorious students at the end of the programme. The General Secretary announced that MWS will now take up the publication of the updated directory of its members for which help and cooperation was sought from all present.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Indian Muslim / by Muslim Mirror, Special Correspondent / March 01st, 2021
