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From her perspective

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, ,

Gorakhpur, UTTAR PRADESH  / NEW DELHI :

Celebrating works of female photographers, an exhibition was mounted in New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts

You would be familiar with the ‘male gaze’, a term coined by feminist critic Laura Mulvey, which states that the point of view of almost all cinema or photograph is masculine. But if one pays attention to the recent trend in photography, women are actually taking back the gaze. Female gaze can be ascribed to anything photographed by a woman and in that process frees females from the “male-constructed” photographs that have developed an image of femininity in our minds throughout the history of image making.

Similar themes were central to Prof. Farhat Basir Khan’s recently concluded exhibition Feminography at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, which was the result of his observations and curated work of female photographers which includes media practitioners, teachers, scholars, writers, mothers and daughters.

On the rationale of holding an exhibition based on women’s perspective of the world, Prof. Khan, who also teaches photography at MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia, said: “Feminography celebrates the work of women in India and their journey of both being and becoming a woman. It is a narrative of the people, places and spaces, and the relation women shares within it, which is shot through the lens.”

Prof. Khan is happy that more and more women are now asserting their position through social media platforms like Instagram and the broader perspective on the way we look at the woman is changing through it. It is also reflected in the shifting of many institutional magazine’s portrayals of women, which are now showing them as a character in a visual narrative, not as an object of desire.

Transcending barriers

Nitisha Malick takes inspiration from urban eccentricities and captures the connection with the wilderness in her picture Maids Of Gurgaon. “I wanted to show the emotions of those women who live in the shadows of modern cities but their life is still very far from development,” said Mallick, while explaining her work. In an another picture, she explored the contentment of a girl despite all hardships and challenges in her life. All images shown were powerful stories of cities andspaces that women photographers inhabit and the barriers that they transcend.

FROM HER PRISM Saumya Khandelwal’s “Child Bride in Shravasti”
FROM HER PRISM Saumya Khandelwal’s “Child Bride in Shravasti”

Some were independent memories shot with a half smile; others with grit and determination, still others with a gentle non-abrasive press of a shutter. Saumya Khandelwal’s “Child Bride in Shravasti”, questions the life of young married girls yet reflects the happiness that they have built for themselves. “The subjects in the works includes forms and textures – the mundane and the ordinary which is transcending them into works of art to frame, admire and cherish,” concluded Prof. Khan.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Art / by Atif Khan / January 04th, 2017

An underwater photography exhibition for Lucknowites

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education,
(L to R) Farhat Basir Khan, Prof. S.P. Singh at the exhibition of Aditya Havelia (BCCL / Vishnu Jaiswal)
(L to R) Farhat Basir Khan, Prof. S.P. Singh at the exhibition of Aditya Havelia (BCCL / Vishnu Jaiswal)

Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH :

Lucknowites  witnessed an underwater photography exhibition titled Into the Blue, by Aditya Havelia  at an art gallery in Aliganj.

Giving the social message of saving our water from pollution, the eight-day exhibition attracted a lot of photography enthusiasts.

The exhibition, which had 54 pictures clicked by the photographer from the year 2010, was inaugurated by Prof SP Singh, vice-chancellor, Lucknow University. Singh said, “I really enjoyed seeing the underwater life.

Aditya’s initiative to promote the cause of water pollution was also worth appreciating.”
Curated by the academician, Farhat Basir Khan, the photos displayed Aditya’s work from Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Netrani Island, Malaysia and Mauritius.

Telling us about the hard work put in to get the perfect clicks, Aditya said, “We usually don’t get a perfect guide for underwater photography, which made it a bit of a challenge for me to click these photographs.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News> Events / by Adnaan Rizvi / TNN / April 05th, 2018

How the fashionable sixth Nizam helped in the evolution of the ‘sherwani’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders,

Hyderabad , (Old – ANDHRA PRADESH ) :

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The sherwani that Mahbub Ali Khan wore evolved from the achkan with elements from Edwardian and Victorian frock coat

It is a known fact that the Sixth Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan had a taste for the good things in life. Visitors to the Nizam’s Museum in Purani Haveli area of Hyderabad  are stunned to see the walk-in wardrobe that appears endless. “He never repeated a dress,” is the whispered word. But new research has spotlighted his role in the evolution of the sherwani which is now the dress of choice during weddings and is preferred by the political class during ceremonial occasions. Former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru even used the sherwani as a style statement during his visits to various foreign countries and events in India. Soldiers of the Pakistani Army are allowed to wear it for various events.

But it was on January 24, 1893, perhaps at 4 pm, that the world got its first memorable glimpse of the sherwani when Mahbub Ali Khan wore it and sat down with Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, then travelling in India, for a post-lunch photograph by the team of Raja Deen Dayal at the Chowmahalla Palace. History was made. According to a Ph D thesis by Toolika Gupta, the photograph is the first evidence of sherwani being used as it evolved from achkan. The achkan itself evolved from a garment called angarakha with the addition of buttons which were a European novelty.

The Lucknow historian Abdul Halim Sharar who spent a few years in Hyderabad tutoring the sons of a Paigah nobleman wrote about the evolution: “The achkanwas extremely popular and the style started to find its way from the towns to the villages. In a very short time it was worn throughout India. In Hyderabad, it developed, with a few alterations, into the sherwani. Its sleeves were made like those of an English coat, the adornments over the chest were discarded and for the lower part the shape of an English overcoat was adopted. It became so popular everywhere, including Lucknow, that it is now the national dress of all Hindus and Muslims in India.”

While the achkan is the gift of the nobility from Lucknow, Hyderabad can lay claim on the ownership of the sherwani. The sherwani was a gradual evolution of angarakha which had laces on either the right or left shoulder to tie up the flaps. A similar garment would be a women’s kurti with the cut not in the middle but across the right or left shoulder. But the sherwani revolution happened when the buttons moved to the centre and the oriental dress appeared like a version of frock coat which was popular during Edwardian and Victorian eras in England. One only has to think of Darcy and Bingley in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for the frock coat (some of the more popular illustrations were done by Hugh Thomson in 1894).

The 28-year-old Nizam who was a fashionista naturally adapted the trend, though Archduke Ferdinand remarks: “He always wears European dress; most of the times he is in a black frock coat and the only native piece preserved in his costume is a turban-like cap made out of yellow cloth with a golden tassel. He never takes off this headdress.” But for casual events, the Nizam knew the comfort factor in Indian clothes.

It was just perfect that it was in a kingdom where the British mingled with Indians with absolute freedom that the sherwani evolved.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture> Living Hyderabad / by Serish Nanisetti / March 10th, 2018

Indian Scientists Led by Muslim Woman Succeed in Making Hydrocarbons with Microbes

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion, , , , , , ,

All India, NEW DELHI :

From left — Scientists Shriessh Srivastava, Syed Shams Yazdani, Zia Fatma and Tabinda Shakeel studied the phospholipid pathway of E. coli . (Photo – The Hindu)
From left — Scientists Shriessh Srivastava, Syed Shams Yazdani, Zia Fatma and Tabinda Shakeel studied the phospholipid pathway of E. coli . (Photo – The Hindu)

New Delhi :

A team of scientists at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi has successfully experimented with the use of microbes in making hydrocarbons.

The scientists “have succeeded in engineering the metabolic pathway of Escherichia coli in such way that it would synthesise hydrocarbons of carbon chain length 15 and 17, which are the fundamental components of diesel,” says a report in The Hindu.

The results of the study, conducted by four researchers of microbial engineering – Shriessh Srivastava, Syed Shams Yazdani, Zia Fatma and Tabinda Shakeel – were recently published in the Journal of Metabolic Engineering.

“Few cyanobacteria are known to produce a low quantity of alkane. So we put the genes responsible for this production into the laboratory bacteria. But then the production was very minimal. So we took the approach of in-silico metabolic pathway, and finally over-expressed a gene (zwf gene) and removed few genes from E. coli which resulted in significantly high hydrocarbon production,” explained Zia Fatma, Postdoctoral researcher and first author of the paper.

Dr Syed Shams Yazdani, from Microbial Engineering group and corresponding author of the paper said: “Currently, most of our need for fuels is met by non-renewable crude petroleum. Few countries have commercialised biodiesel made via transesterification of vegetable oil, but they can only be blended in the proportion of 5-20% with diesel and are not compatible with the supply chain,” says per. “The production is currently only at the lab level. We have to integrate the engineered plasmid into the genome and go for mass production. We are working to bring about a ten-fold increase in the production and at the same time bring down the cost of the new product.”

source: http://www.caravandaily.com / Caravan Daily / Home> Editor’s Notes / Caravan News /  April 01st, 2018

Hyderabad: 400-year-old Makkah Masjid and its grandeur

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , , , , , ,

Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

MakkaMasjid01MPOs03apr2018

Hyderabad:

Makkah Masjid in Hyderabad is one of the biggest mosques in India and the foundation stone for its construction was laid during 1616-17 CE and the foundation was laid by the Qutub Shahi ruler, Sultan Mohammad Qutub Shah VI.

MakkaMasjid02MPOs03apr2018

The construction was completed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1694 after 77 years.

The mosque is also listed as a heritage building. The Masjid is built in granite and the bricks for its construction were brought from Mecca, the holy city of Saudi Arabia.

source: http://www.siasat.com

The chief mason was Rangaiah Chowdhury while the engineer was Faizullah Baig.

The prayer hall can accommodate 10,000 people owing to its large size with dimensions of 75 feet high, 180 feet long and has a width of 220 feet.

According to the information available on the Hyderabad.org.uk, it is believed that a strand of Prophet Mohammed’s hair is preserved in a room in the mosque’s courtyard.

MakkaMasjid03MPOs03apr2018

There are 15 intricately designed arches that support the roof of the main hall, in which 5 arches were constructed on 3 walls. The mosque is decked with Belgian crystal chandeliers, which adds to the beauty of the exquisitely designed interiors of the mosque. Inside the mosque, there are 5 passageways and tombs of the rulers belonging to the ‘Asaf Jahi’ dynasty.

MakkaMasjid04MPOs03apr2018

According to the news reported in Times of India, during the Qutub Shahi rule, Iran was specifically mentioned in Friday sermons in all mosques in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the Qutub Shahi kingdom.

According to the historian Abdul Majeed Siddique in his ‘History of Golcunda (1956)’ one of the reasons for the Mughal rulers to attack the Qutub Shahi kingdom was the recital of the name of the Shah of Iran (Safavid dynasty) in Friday sermons. Emperor Shahjahan was so angry that he sent a letter to Abdullah Qutub Shah VII to stop mentioning the name of the Shah.

Historian Abdul Majeed Siddique quotes Emperor Shahjahan’s words that order “the abandonment of the name of the Safavid King and replacement thereof by the emperor’s own name in both, the Friday sermons and coins”.

Currently, the restoration works are being done to welcome the Iranian President Dr. Hassan Rouhani who will be the first Iranian President to address the congregation, though he is the second leader to visit the mosque. After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Mohammad Khatami became the first Iranian President to visit Hyderabad (January 28, 2004), but he did not participate in the Friday congregation.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Hyderabad> News> Top Stories / February 15th, 2018

UP’s National Bravery Award recipient Nazia Khan: The PM jokingly called me ‘ladaku’

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, , ,

Agra, UTTAR PRADESH :

Nazia Khan (BCCL/ Hemant Kumar)
Nazia Khan (BCCL/ Hemant Kumar)

Nazia Khan, 18, who has received a number of national and state awards for her bravery and social work, was recently honoured with the prestigious Bharat Award at the National Bravery Award ceremony held in Delhi. A resident of Agra, Nazia is the only recipient from UP to have won the award – there were a total of 18 children from various parts of the country who were honoured for their acts of bravery by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

.
It started with saving an eight-year-old girl
The first act of bravery for Nazia, a BA first-year student, was when she saved an eight-year-old girl from getting kidnapped. She was also instrumental in stopping a bunch of people in her locality from gambling.

The first act of bravery for Nazia, a BA first-year student, was when she saved an eight-year-old girl from getting kidnapped. She was also instrumental in stopping a bunch of people in her locality from gambling.

NaziaKhan02MPOs02apr2018

‘I talked for at least half an hour with the PM’
Nazia received her Bravery Award in Delhi where she met the PM. She says, “I was seated right in front of him and noticed him smiling at me. While receiving the award, I talked to him when he jokingly called me ‘ladaku’. He also met my mother and asked her if I quarrelled with her as well.”

NaziaKhan03MPOs02apr2018

After receiving the award, Nazia also participated in the Republic Day Parade with 17 other awardees. She says, “It was an experience of a lifetime to participate in the Republic Day Parade. Every year, I used to watch the parade on television and always dreamt of participating in it. So being there was a dream come true.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Noida News / TNN / February 03rd, 2018

International Women’s Day 2018: Jhansi woman in US cricket team wants local talent to dream big

NRI's / PIO's, Sports, , ,

Jhansi, UTTAR PRADESH /  U.S.A :

Jhansi :

It was a grand homecoming for her after five long years in the United States  where she had moved to after marriage.
When she had shifted in 2013, she was worried about what fate in the foreign country would do to her passion for cricket.

However, for 33-year-old Jhansi girl Zeenat Kausar , life in the US brought unparalleled success. She has been playing as a medium pace bowler with the American women’s cricket team since October 2015.

Now a mother of an infant, her sporting talent has taken her to international matches with Pakistan and England.

Married to a US-based software engineer who is also from Jhansi, Zeenat was born and brought up in the small town but had big dreams. Though a science teacher, she had a keen interest in cricket, thanks to her elder brother. In school and college, Zeenat represented Jhansi district woman’s cricket team in 2005 in Allahabad as vice-captain. She also played zonal-level cricket representing the winning central zone in 2007.

In 2008, she played for UP in the All-India Indira Gandhi Priyadarshani Memorial Cricket Tournament. The team was the winner.

Besides, Zeenat has played in a number of district and state-level cricket tournaments during her school and college time and has also participated in UP women’s cricket coaching camp in 2009. In the US recently, Zeenat and her team members had an opportunity to interact with master blaster Sachin Tendulkar .

“When my marriage was fixed, I was shattered, thinking that my cricketing career will end. But destiny held something else for me. In America, I got associated with local cricket clubs and a day came when I got this opportunity to play from the country itself,” said Zeenat, who is on a long vacation to meet her parents.

During her stay, she wants to motivate young boys and girls to pursue their dreams and encourages them to move ahead.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Arindam Ghosh / TNN / March 08th, 2018

Free JEE coaching to 40 talented Kashmiri students

Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Leaders, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

JAMMU & KASHMIR :

Srinagar : 

RISE, an institute for coaching students for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and other career oriented programmes in Kashmir Valley co-founded by three IITians on Sunday organized a prize distribution ceremony in which the toppers of Rise Talent Search Examination (RTSE) were facilitated.

The event was hosted by Jammu & Kashmir Bank which is also a co-sponsor of the initiative at their corporate headquarters in Srinagar

RiseMPOs31mar2018

The first three positions of Humanities, Commerce and Science streams from Class 11th, 12th and 10th were awarded cash prizes for their achievements at the prize distribution ceremony.

Besides free coaching was announced to 40 talented aspirants of JEE, which will be a regular feature starting this year. The toppers included students from various government and private schools of Bandipora, Shopian, Sopore, Baramulla, Ganderbal and Budgam.

“Starting this year, RISE will offer free coaching to 40 talented aspirants of JEE. The course will be conducted by the team of IITians at RISE. We want to ensure that the lack of resources is not a hindrance to any talented student towards achieving his/her dreams,” said Salman Shahid, Co-founder of the RISE.

Importantly, RISE had started an ambitious talent search examination across the valley to identify talented students who do not possess the resources to pursue quality education. The examination primarily targeted the economically weaker sections of the society. Almost 15,000 students had taken the test in over 8 districts which included 40 schools across Kashmir Division of J&K, this year.

The Chief Guest for the event was Abdul Rauf Bhat, Executive President of the J&K Bank. While speaking about the RTSE and the support J&K Bank bestowed to the initiative, Rauf said, “J&K Bank is always forthcoming in supporting such initiatives as they identify and encourage talent, inspire local youth to think big, train and guide them to realize their potential. Further, the fact that the initiative is being taken by local IIT graduates adds weight and worth, sense and seriousness to the idea.”

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Further, he advised the RISE team to develop quality coaching facilities for other competitive examinations, at graduate and post-graduate levels as well, as that is “the need of the hour for our region”.

Another Speaker, Mohammad Shafi Pandit, Chairman at Ascent Group handed over the trophies and the cash prize to the toppers of RTSE. Speaking about the state of educational awareness in Kashmir, Pandit said, “Back in time, when I was preparing for civil services, I faced similar, but bigger, challenges that students face these days. There was lack of information and awareness with respect to civil services or any other competitive examinations. The situation is still grim, as most of the students of the valley are unaware of the educational opportunities that they can avail, and lack the necessary guidance to pursue the same.”

“Through RTSE, RISE is doing a commendable job in addressing these bottle-necks. Identifying talented students and apprising them about the educational opportunities, and encouraging them to chase excellence is the need of the hour,” he added.

Meanwhile, Shah-i-Hamdan Memorial Institute from Shopian district received the award of Best School in the valley as it produced the top 3 positions of Class 10th in RTSE.

Adeeba Tak, Topper of RTSE Class 10th was exhilarated on receiving the first prize trophy and the cash prize. While sharing her overall experience, she said, “Thanks to RTSE, I am motivated to prepare for IIT right after I am done with my class 10th examinations. This award and recognition has given me a sense of belief that if I work hard, I am capable enough to achieve my dream of studying at IIT. I don’t have any doubt in my dream now.”

RISE, started in 2012 in the valley, has brought hopes among the students community that they can make it to the prestigious institutions and look beyond traditional mode of education. The institute was co founded by three IITians from three different parts of India Mubeen Masudi (Kashmir), Salman Shahid (Delhi) , Imbesat Ahmad (Bihar).The coaching centre has become a hub of very affordable IIT coaching for students in Kashmir.

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Indian Muslims / by Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCirlces.net / October 11th, 2015

Shopian girl gets prestigious UPenn scholarship

Education

Shopian (Srinagar) , JAMMU & KASHMIR :

AdeebaTakMPOs31mar2018

Srinagar :

A Kashmiri girl has been created history after she was offered a scholarship by the prestigious University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), USA, to pursue her dream of becoming an Aeronautical Engineer.

 
Adeeba Tak, who hails from Shopian, was offered a 100 percent scholarship by UPenn, an Ivy League research university and one the most prestigious varsities of the world which boasts of producing 30 Nobel laureates, 25 billionaires – the most by any University at undergraduate level, and a significant number of Fortune 500 CEOs.

 
Adeeba is a student of RiSE, an institute which coaches aspirants on several courses. Her talent first came to fore when she topped the first edition of RiSE talent search examination in 2015.

 
“Over the past two years, Adeeba has consistently worked hard in the pursuit of her childhood dream of becoming an aeronautical engineer. We are confident that Adeeba with her never let go her attitude and humility, will make the most of her time at UPenn and will scale unprecedented heights. She will become an inspiration for the youth in years to come. We wish her all the very best,” read an official statement from RiSE.

source: http://www.kashmirmonitor.in / The Kashmir Monitor / Home> News / by Monitor News Bureau / March 31st, 2018

Agra constable to get commendation disc from DGP

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, ,

Agra, UTTAR PRADESH :

Agra :

DGP UP Om Prakash Singh on Thursday announced commendation disc for constable Umeed Ali, helped to extract accident victims from a car which fell in a deep drain.

Announcing the award on his official twitter handle, Singh wrote, “I salute the extraordinary spirit of service showed by constable Ummed Ali of Agra police and his efforts to save precious human lives. I am glad to announce the DG’s commendation disc for him.”

On Wednesday evening, a speeding car with four passengers including two college girls plunged into drain in industrial area of Sikandra. Ali, a 2011 batch constable, who reached the spot on getting the news immediately jumped into the 14-foot-deep drain without any safety gear to extract the victims.

Speaking to TOI, Umeed said, “It was utter chaos when I reached the accident spot. The victims were unconscious and trapped inside the car which was flooded with sewer water. It took almost half an hour to extract the victims. I’m happy for the recognition and award, but I regret that none of the victims could survive.”

Ali was discharged from hospital on Thursday after he fell ill from swallowing sewer water during the rescue operation.  Amit Pathak, SSP, Agra also announced Rs 10,000 cash award for Ali to reward his bravery.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Agra News / TNN / March 30th, 2018