During extensive field surveys across the Jammu and Kashmir region, researchers identified three previously unknown species of the genus Conocephalus, more commonly known as meadow katydids or long-ho…
During extensive field surveys across the Jammu and Kashmir region, researchers identified three previously unknown species of the genus Conocephalus, more commonly known as meadow katydids or long-horned grasshoppers. The discovery was led by Muzamil Syed Shah and a team of entomologists from Aligarh Muslim University. The new species have been named Conocephalus usmanii, Conocephalus nagariensis, and Conocephalus ganderbali.
Prior to this study, the mountainous region of Kashmir was thought to host only a single species of this genus. The team’s findings suggest that the area’s complex topography, which includes the Western Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range, has fostered a much richer variety of insect life than previously recorded. To find these elusive insects, the researchers trekked through various habitats, including tall meadow grasses, bushes, and deciduous forests, collecting adult specimens during the day.
The researchers used Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to distinguish the new species from their known relatives. This allowed them to capture high-resolution images of the stridulatory files, a microscopic row of teeth on the male insect’s wings that acts like a musical comb to produce their characteristic chirping sound. By counting these teeth and measuring the shape of the insects’ body parts, the team was able to prove they had found entirely new branches of the tree of life.
Each of the three new species possesses unique physical blueprints that set them apart. Conocephalus nagariensis, found in the Budgam district, is distinguished by its spindle-shaped appendages (cerci) and a stridulatory file containing exactly 34 teeth. It is dedicated to Dr. Rajendra Nagar, a researcher credited with discovering several other species of katydids across the country, and bears his name.
In contrast, Conocephalus ganderbali, discovered in the Ganderbal region, is notably small and slender, with a musical file of only 28 teeth and a unique V-shaped incision on its underbelly. Its name is derived from the Ganderbal district in Kashmir, the specific locality where the researchers first collected the specimens.
The third species, Conocephalus usmanii, features a flat, elongated plate on its abdomen and a musical file with 36 teeth. It was named in honour of Professor Mohd Kamil Usmani, a scholar who has made significant contributions to the study of Orthoptera (the group of insects including grasshoppers and katydids) in India.
Beyond the three new species, the study also provided new records for other katydids in the region, such as Conocephalus longipennis and C. kwasiphaiensis, which were previously known only in other parts of India. This suggests that Kashmir serves as a vital corridor for insect migration and evolution.
The discovery highlights how much of the natural world remains unexplored, even in well-known geographical areas. The researchers noted that because Kashmir is so biologically diverse yet understudied, many more species likely remain hidden in plain sight within its mountain valleys. The physical type specimens used to describe these new insects have been deposited in the Museum of Zoology at Aligarh Muslim University, where they will serve as a permanent reference for future generations of scientists.
This article was written with the help of generative AI and edited by an editor at Research Matters.
Wani, historically known as Wun, is an old town of the Vidarbha region whose history reflects the changing political boundaries of central India. At different times, the Wani area was connected with the Nizam’s dominions, while the neighbouring Chandrapur region was historically associated with the Gond rulers. To the east and south lay territories of the erstwhile Hyderabad State, including the area that subsequently became Adilabad district and is today part of Telangana.
Wani’s political identity changed with successive territorial reorganisations. The area was once associated with the Nizam of Hyderabad. After independence, it came under the larger Central Provinces and Berar/Madhya Pradesh administrative framework before becoming part of Maharashtra when the state was formed in 1960.
This layered history is important in understanding the social background of Dr Abdul Razzaq Ahmed, a prominent Muslim of Wani. His family belonged to an established local community whose standing was associated with both landholding and professional achievement. Dr Abdul Razzaq Ahmed was a dermatologist, while later generations entered administration, medicine, and law.
Today, Dr A. Razzaque Ahmed, MD, DSc, is internationally recognised as a dermatologist, immunologist and academic physician, and as a pioneer in autoimmune blistering diseases. He has served as Professor of Dermatology and Director of the Centre for Blistering Diseases at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He is associated with the Ibn Sina Professorship. His career has brought together clinical medicine, molecular immunology, laboratory research, therapeutic innovation, teaching and philanthropy.
Yet his significance lies not simply in professional distinction. His life represents the transformation of education into knowledge, knowledge into healing, and achievement into service.
Roots, Education and the Making of a Cosmopolitan Mind
Dr Ahmad spent his early childhood in Wani in a house built by his great-grandfather around 1875. He was the son of Salam Ahmed and Begum Noor Jehan and grew up in a family that regarded education and social advancement as important instruments of human development.
That ethos subsequently found institutional expression through the Begum Noor Jehan Salam Ahmed Trust in Yavatmal district. Under Begum Noor Jehan’s leadership, the Trust established educational institutions including the Sunrise English Medium Convent, Wani; the Noor Jahan Begum Salam Ahmed Arts and Commerce College, Wani; and the Noor Jahan Begum Salam Ahmed Women’s College of Law.
The women’s law college was particularly significant, reflecting a deliberate commitment to giving women access to professional education, legal knowledge and greater independence. The family tradition therefore gave education a meaning larger than individual advancement: it expanded opportunity and enabled others to participate more fully in society. That principle would later find expression in Dr Ahmad’s own teaching and philanthropy.
His early education exposed him to unusually diverse intellectual and cultural environments. Until the age of seven, he studied at a convent run by French nuns and later attended a Jesuit Catholic boarding school in Nagpur.
At fifteen, an American Field Service International Scholarship took him to Le Mars, Iowa, where he lived with the Thompson family, attended the local high school and studied at Westmar College. The experience gave a young student from central India an early encounter with American society and education, broadening his intellectual horizons.
Returning to India, he pursued pre-medical studies at Nagpur University before entering the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. At AIIMS, he distinguished himself academically, standing first in many classes and receiving the Gold Medal as the outstanding graduate of his cohort. The movement from Wani to Nagpur and from Nagpur to AIIMS marked the first major stage in a life that would repeatedly cross geographical and intellectual boundaries.
After completing his medical education, Dr Ahmad moved to the United States for specialist training. He trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, Dermatology at the University at Buffalo and Clinical Immunology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he subsequently joined the faculty.
His growing interest in the molecular basis of disease led him to Harvard, where he pursued advanced research in molecular immunology and earned a Doctor of Science degree. His investigations attracted National Institutes of Health support and developed into the Ahmed Laboratory, which remained NIH-funded for more than two decades.
A defining feature of his career was integrating laboratory science with clinical medicine. Disease encountered in the clinic generated scientific questions; laboratory research sought their answers; and those discoveries returned to patients through improved diagnosis and treatment.
From Molecular Discovery to a New Paradigm of Care
Dr Ahmad became an international authority on autoimmune blistering diseases, particularly pemphigus and mucous membrane pemphigoid. These rare disorders can be debilitating, disfiguring and, in severe cases, life-threatening.
His research examined the immunological and genetic mechanisms underlying these diseases. Among his key contributions was identifying associations between specific HLA-DQB1 genes and pemphigus in different populations. He reported the association of HLA-DQB10402 with Jewish pemphigus patients and HLA-DQB10501 with non-Jewish patients. Studies of relatives helped demonstrate that low titres of pemphigus autoantibodies could occur without full clinical disease. He also distinguished pathogenic from non-pathogenic autoantibodies, demonstrating the pathogenic significance of IgG4 and the non-pathogenic character of IgG1 in pemphigus.
His investigations involving patients from Northwestern Iran and comparisons with Ashkenazi Jewish patients in the United States and Israel revealed striking genetic homology. They contributed to wider research concerning the population history of Ashkenazi Jews.
His molecular research extended to mucous membrane pemphigoid. He identified alpha-6 integrin as a putative antigen in oral pemphigoid and beta-4 integrin in disease involving other mucosal sites, identified epitopes on these molecules and investigated their role experimentally in animal models and tissue cultures. These studies helped shift the field from clinical description towards molecular understanding.
But Dr Ahmad’s contribution did not end with discovery. He sought to create a system that could translate scientific knowledge directly into comprehensive patient care. In Boston, he established the Centre for Blistering Diseases, bringing together specialists in oral medicine, ophthalmology, ENT, gastroenterology, urology, gynaecology, proctology, internal medicine, nutrition and clinical psychology.
The multidisciplinary model reflected the nature of the diseases themselves, which can affect several organs and mucosal surfaces. Rather than leaving patients to navigate separate specialities, the Centre organised care around the patient’s complexity.
His commitment to patients extended beyond medical treatment. In 1993, he established the Boston Blistering Diseases Support Group, recognising that people living with rare and potentially life-threatening disorders also require emotional support, information and a community of shared experience. The model was subsequently emulated elsewhere, including by the International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation.
Transforming Treatment and Restoring Lives
One of Dr Ahmad’s most consequential contributions was his pioneering work with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) in autoimmune blistering diseases.
Severe disease had traditionally been treated with corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive drugs, which could themselves produce serious complications. Dr Ahmad developed and refined IVIg protocols that enabled some patients to achieve prolonged remission and, in certain cases, discontinue conventional therapy.
He also addressed access. Because IVIg is expensive, he presented clinical and pharmacoeconomic evidence involving 160 patients to Medicare authorities. The resulting policy permitting Medicare coverage for IVIg in blistering diseases helped broaden access, and private insurers later adopted similar policies.
His work with rituximab marked another major therapeutic advance. In collaboration with Harvard oncologists, he developed a protocol combining rituximab and IVIg that targeted the B-cell mechanisms involved in autoimmune disease. The results were reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, with subsequent long-term follow-up demonstrating sustained disease control in treated patients.
Some patients achieved exceptionally prolonged remission without continuing therapy, in some cases for more than 20 years. His continuing research has examined whether successful treatment can restore immune balance rather than merely suppress disease. Long-term follow-up of patients with pemphigus treated with IVIg contributed to this emerging understanding, with findings reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2024.
His work has also addressed ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, a rare autoimmune disease capable of causing progressive scarring and irreversible blindness. Research into its mechanisms helped establish therapeutic approaches involving IVIg and subsequently rituximab combined with IVIg.
The significance of such work extends beyond disease control. Preventing blindness preserves independence, employment, family life and human dignity. It exemplifies a broader principle in Dr Ahmad’s career: the ultimate measure of medical success is not simply suppressing disease but restoring a patient’s capacity to live a meaningful life.
This philosophy also shaped the institutions he built. He developed an outpatient infusion model that enabled patients to receive sophisticated intravenous therapies without prolonged conventional hospitalisation, attracting patients from across the United States and other countries.
As a teacher and mentor, he has influenced generations of medical and dental students, residents and researchers. Many former trainees subsequently became professors and departmental leaders. He has lectured internationally for decades and served as a visiting professor at universities worldwide. His influence has therefore travelled not only through publications and therapies but through the people he taught.
The breadth of his contribution has been recognised through numerous professional honours, including the William Gies Award, the Walter F. Lever Award, lifetime achievement and research contribution awards, and international awards for excellence. The International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation honoured him as Physician of the Year, and he has also received India’s Charaka Award. In 1999, the Governor of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts House of Representatives separately recognised his contribution to the Commonwealth’s citizens.
Science, Faith and the Larger Meaning of Service
Another dimension of Dr Ahmad’s life is his religious commitment. During his extensive international travels, he has repeatedly visited Makkah and performed more than one hundred Umrahs. His scientific and spiritual commitments have existed alongside one another. Scientific inquiry seeks to understand disease; faith provides a framework of gratitude, humility and responsibility.
That sense of responsibility has also shaped his philanthropy. In addition to the educational legacy of the Begum Noor Jehan Salam Ahmed Trust, Dr Ahmad has devoted substantial resources to educating disadvantaged young people, particularly women, supporting higher education, professional training, books, computers, transport and leadership development.
The results have reportedly reached thousands of students, with women beneficiaries entering the judiciary, public prosecution and legal practice. The objective is therefore not simply charitable relief but the creation of durable opportunities through education.
Dr Abdul Razzaque Ahmad’s life is not merely a story of migration from India to America or advancement from a small town to elite academic institutions. It is a story of continuity through transformation.
Wani provided the beginning; Nagpur broadened the horizon; AIIMS supplied an exceptional medical foundation; Pittsburgh, Buffalo and UCLA provided specialist training; Harvard deepened his scientific inquiry; and Boston became the centre from which his clinical and research contributions reached the wider world.
The ancestral house in Wani and the laboratories, clinics and lecture halls of Boston may appear to belong to different worlds. In his life they form a single continuum. The family gave him an inheritance of education and responsibility. He transformed that inheritance into scientific discovery and clinical innovation, and then extended its benefits through teaching, patient care and philanthropy.
His legacy is therefore measured not only by publications, professorships and awards, but by what those achievements enabled: patients who obtained relief, individuals protected from irreversible disability, students who gained educational opportunities, physicians shaped by his mentorship, and a field of medicine advanced by his research.
The distance from Wani to Boston is considerable. The distance his ideas travelled is greater still. A journey that began in the hinterland of India entered the global corridors of academia. Its deepest destination, however, was neither fame nor distinction, but service—to the patient seeking relief, the student seeking opportunity, the scientist seeking truth, and society seeking a more humane future.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror /Home>Personalities> Positive Story / by Moin Qazi / October 10th, 2026
Parvez Parwaz, a 72-year-old former journalist and social activist, died in Gorakhpur District Jail on Sunday while serving a life sentence in a gangrape case. Jail officials said he suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes. He developed breathing difficulties late Saturday night and was taken to the district hospital, where he died around 2:50 am during treatment.
Parwaz had been in custody since September 2018 after a woman accused him and another man of gangrape. A district court sentenced him to life imprisonment in July 2020.
His death has revived attention on his prolonged legal challenge against a 2007 speech by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, then a BJP MP from Gorakhpur. On 27 January 2007, Parwaz recorded Adityanath addressing a gathering near Gorakhpur railway station amid communal tension following a clash during a Muharram procession. Adityanath was quoted saying that for the blood of one Hindu, “we will not get an FIR registered against the administration, but will instead have at least 10 such people killed.”
Violence followed in parts of the city, with reports of at least two deaths and extensive property damage. Parwaz sought an investigation into alleged incitement. A local court rejected his plea, and later efforts, including before the Supreme Court, did not yield the proceedings he sought before his own criminal case led to imprisonment.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Indian Muslim> Media / by Muslim Mirror Desk / October 13th, 2026
Hyderabad, TELANGANA / Birmingham, UNITED KINGDOM :
The Hyderabad-origin doctor’s three-decade pursuit of better diabetes care and fairer health outcomes earns him an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Hyderabad :
The news arrived with all the ceremony one would expect of a royal honour. For Prof Wasim Hanif, however, it also prompted a journey in the opposite direction — back to Hyderabad.
Back to St. George’s Grammar School. Back to Gandhi Medical College. Back to the city where medicine first became more than a profession and where a young student began imagining a life in healthcare.
This month, Prof Hanif was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2026 for services to diabetes care and tackling health inequalities. In Britain, the award recognises a career spent shaping policy, advancing research and advocating for patients often overlooked by healthcare systems.
In Hyderabad, the news was received somewhat differently. Here, the honour belongs as much to memory as achievement.
Hanif grew up in a Hyderabad that was very different from the technology hub it would later become. His father served as General Manager of the Azam Jahi Mills at Gunfoundry, one of the institutions that formed part of the city’s industrial landscape. Education was valued, ambition was encouraged and, like many Hyderabadi families of the period, the expectation was simple: work hard, study harder.
Medicine became his path, first in Hyderabad’s classrooms and later in hospitals thousands of miles away. At Gandhi Medical College, Hanif belonged to a generation of students who viewed medicine not merely as a profession but as a public service. The crowded wards, demanding schedules, and constant interaction with patients offered lessons that would remain with him long after he left the city.
When he moved to the United Kingdom in 1995, he joined a long line of Indian doctors seeking advanced training and professional opportunities abroad. Over time, one question increasingly shaped his career: why do some communities experience significantly poorer health outcomes than others?
For Prof Hanif, diabetes was never simply a disease measured through blood sugar levels or laboratory reports. It was also a lens through which broader questions about society could be examined. Why were certain ethnic groups more vulnerable? Why did some communities have less access to healthcare? Why did outcomes differ so sharply between populations living in the same country?
These questions would come to define much of his professional life.
Today, he serves as a professor of diabetes and endocrinology at University Hospitals Birmingham and Clinical Advisor to Diabetes UK. His expertise has taken him far beyond hospital clinics and lecture halls. He has advised the World Health Organisation (WHO), the European Union and the UK Parliament on issues relating to diabetes, obesity, ethnicity and public health.
Yet colleagues often describe him as someone who has remained grounded in the realities of patient care. Behind the research papers, policy recommendations and leadership positions lies the daily work of listening to patients and understanding the circumstances that shape their health.
His work has been particularly influential in drawing attention to the disproportionate burden of diabetes among South Asian and minority ethnic communities. Long before health inequality became a widely discussed public issue, Hanif was highlighting the social, cultural and economic factors that influence health outcomes.
Reflecting on the honour, Prof Hanif responded with characteristic humility.
“I am deeply honoured to receive this award. Throughout my career, I have been driven by a desire to improve the lives of people living with diabetes and to address the inequalities that continue to affect health outcomes across our society.”
The award, he emphasised, belongs to many others as well.
“This recognition reflects the dedication and support of the many colleagues, students, researchers and healthcare professionals I have had the privilege to work with. While this is a tremendous personal honour to my family and me, it is also recognition of the importance of continuing our efforts to deliver fairer, more inclusive healthcare.”
Today, Prof Hanif’s influence extends across some of Britain’s most respected medical institutions. He is President-elect of the British Medical Association, Trustee of Diabetes UK, Non-Executive Director of the BMJ, Chair of the Association for the Study of Obesity UK and Trustee of the South Asian Health Foundation.
Taken together, the appointments speak to the esteem in which he is held within British medicine. Yet honours and titles tell only part of the story. The larger story is about persistence — about a doctor who spent three decades asking difficult questions about fairness in healthcare and working to find practical answers.
For Hyderabad, the recognition carries a special resonance. The city has produced generations of doctors who have built distinguished careers across the world. Prof Wasim Hanif now joins a long list of Hyderabadis whose contributions have transcended national boundaries while remaining rooted in the values and education that shaped their early lives.
The OBE marks a significant milestone. But perhaps its deeper significance lies elsewhere.
It recognises the idea that medicine is not only about treating disease. At its best, it is also about reducing barriers, widening access and ensuring that those most vulnerable are not left behind.
That conviction has guided Wasim Hanif from the classrooms of Hyderabad to the highest levels of British healthcare. The honour may have been announced in London, but its roots lie elsewhere – in the classrooms of St George’s Grammar School, the wards of Gandhi Medical College and a Hyderabad upbringing that first shaped a young doctor’s understanding of service.
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Syed Khaled Shahbaaz is a Hyderabad-based journalist and author of the best-selling coffee-table book ‘The Kohinoors: Distinguished Personalities of Hyderabad.’ He may be reached at syedkhaledshahbaaz@gmail.com.
source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion India / Home> Editor’s Pick>India> Indian Muslim / by Syed Khalid Shahbaaz / June 18th, 2026
A special ceremony was held at the Trinity College in Dublin, to honour all the recipients. Khalid was represented by his father, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas.
Umar Khalid is seen speaking at a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, in this file image dated March 3, 2020. Photo: PTI/File.
New Delhi:
Activist Umar Khalid who has been jailed since the last six years has won the 2026 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk.
“Umar Khalid is the 2026 Asia winner of the Front Line Defenders Award. To those who try to silence his work, he is seen as an “enemy of the state’’ and an “anti-national”, but to others, he is a national hero, a voice of the people, and a human rights defender. For the last six years, Umar Khalid has been shackled behind bars for his leadership in the peaceful and democratic civil movement against the unconstitutional and anti-Muslim amendments to India’s citizenship laws,” Front Line Defenders said in a statement on Thursday (October 8).
Khalid has continued to be lodged in jail ever since Delhi Police Special Cell arrested him as a ‘key conspirator’ in the 2020 Delhi riots case on September 14, 2020. He is charged with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), sedition and 18 other sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder and attempt to murder. A student activist at the time of his arrest, Khalid had played a key role in organising anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in 2019-2020.
The Front Line Defenders statement noted how the CAA impacts India’s Muslim population and how Khalid spoke against this grave injustice.
“The law, which accompanied an increasingly hostile climate of growing Hindu nationalism, threatens to disproportionately strip Muslims of documentation and legal status. Umar Khalid, with a steady trajectory defending students’, minorities’ and citizens’ rights, is seen as one of the key voices speaking out against this injustice. Several major international human rights organisations, as well as the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, have highlighted the illegality of his arrest and detention,” said the statement.
The five winners of the 2026 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk pictured at Trinity College in Dublin, where a special ceremony was held in to honor them.
A recently freed anti-death penalty campaigner from Iran, a feminist pro-participatory democracy… pic.twitter.com/2D9BjFg2bs
Apart from Khalid, the other winners are: Laurinda Manuel Gouveia (Angola) for Africa, Adda Vyctoria Caetano (Brazil) for the Americas, Ljiljana Nešić (Serbia) for Europe and Central Asia and Ahmadreza Haeri (Iran) for Middle East and North Africa.
A special ceremony was held at the Trinity College in Dublin, to honour all the recipients. Khalid was represented by his father, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas.
On September 20, the Delhi high court had denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam – also jailed for more than six years – in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots larger conspiracy case.
Khalid was lasted granted a three-day interim bail by the Delhi high court on May 22 for meeting his mother who underwent a surgery after a trial court had on May 19 denied him relief that he had sought to attend rituals after the death of his uncle and to attend to his mother before and after a surgery on June 2.
source: http://www.thewire.in / The Wire / Home> Rights / by The Wire Staff / October 09th, 2026
Aarian Zeeshan Ahmed of Rangia in Assam’s Kamrup district has brought pride to the state after receiving special recognition from NASA for discovering two new asteroids.
But Aarian’s interest in space research does not end with asteroid discovery. He is currently working with his friend and colleague, Tanfa Yakin Nur, on applying machine learning and artificial intelligence models to study the solar cycle (Helio-Cycle) and solar storms (Helio-Solar Storms).
The research is being conducted independently, without affiliation to any institution.
Aarian Zeeshan Ahmed helps a child with his telescope
According to Aarian, “This project uses advanced technologies to understand the Sun and its impact on Earth. Our objective is to develop an advanced ‘Make in India’ system capable of forecasting space weather by using data from Indian solar observatories.”
Earlier, Aarian had participated in a special project of the International Astronomical Search Collaboration, through which he conducted the research that led to the discovery of the two asteroids. NASA has since formally recognised his efforts.
The International Astronomical Search Collaboration has provisionally designated the asteroids as 2024 VE8 and 2024 VC23. On December 17, NASA contacted Aarian and formally recognised his discoveries.
Aarian Zeeshan Ahmed with friends
NASA is now conducting an extensive study of the characteristics of the two asteroids, a process expected to take at least a year. Once the research is completed, Aarian will have the rare opportunity to give the two asteroids their final names.
A resident of Ward No. 3 in Rangia town, Aarian is the son of Mirajul Islam, principal of Jayantipur Yogeshwar Vidyapith Higher Secondary School, and Ruma Nazrin. He completed his primary and higher secondary education with distinction at Fatima Convent School in Rangia.
He is currently pursuing the first semester of a B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM).
In an exclusive interview with Awaz – The Voice, Aarian spoke about his fascination with astronomy.
“I have been fascinated by astronomy and the movements of celestial bodies since childhood. I experience immense joy whenever I look at the sky, and I read many books on astronomy,” he said.
Aarian began developing a deeper interest in space science in Class VIII. While studying in Class XI, he bought his first telescope. He now owns two powerful telescopes and regularly observes the night sky from the rooftop of his home.
In 2024, he submitted his research as part of the special opportunity offered by NASA to young researchers. Following a year-long observation period, his work received the recognition.
Aarian dreams of joining the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and serving the country. He has already begun preparing for his goal.
His father, Mirajul Islam, said: “It is truly a matter of pride that a boy from an ordinary family like ours, from a small place like Rangia, has achieved such a major success. I hope people will bless him so that he can establish himself as a successful astronomer in the future.”
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Mizan / by Ariful Islam / September 21st, 2026
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay has announced that squash players Joshna Chinappa and Shameena Riaz will each receive an incentive of ₹30 lakh for winning a bronze medal at the Asian Games.
The 2026 Asian Games began on September 19 in the Aichi-Nagoya region of Japan and are currently underway.
The Indian women`s squash team won the bronze medal at the Asian Games. In the competition, Tanvi Khanna won 3-1, while Anahat Singh and Shameena Riaz lost 2-3, and Joshna Chinappa lost 0-3 against the Chinese players.
Joshna Chinappa and Shameena Riaz, both from Tamil Nadu, were part of the team that won India`s 61st medal at the Asian Games.
Congratulating the Indian team and the Tamil Nadu players, Chief Minister Vijay said that the Indian team had won the bronze medal in the women`s squash team event at the 20th Asian Games being held in Japan.
He also congratulated Joshna Chinappa and Shameena Riaz and announced that the Tamil Nadu government would provide an incentive of ₹30 lakh each in recognition of their achievement.
The Chief Minister said that their success, achieved through their talent, confidence and perseverance, had further strengthened Tamil Nadu`s sporting achievements. He also said that their victory would inspire young people and women who aspire to achieve success.
He extended his wishes to both players for achieving many more victories in the future and bringing greater recognition to Tamil Nadu and India on the world stage.
source: http://www.livechennai.com / Live Chennai / Home / October 01st, 2026
Rajas Shaikh, ASI, Pune City Police, being felicitated by the DG, Maharashtra Police
On a dark night in a deserted, zero-network area of Bopdev Ghat in Maharashtra, a gang-rape was reported. The case shook the nation, and all attention turned to its investigation. It was a blind case, with the criminal having left no clues whatsoever.
Rajas Shaikh, Assistant Sub-Inspector of Pune City Police, was given the responsibility of finding the rapist.
The location had no mobile network and no CCTV cameras. The culprit had switched his and the victim’s phones to flight mode. Not a single clue was left for the police to begin the investigation.
Rajas Shaikh worked day and night, checking CCTV footage. In a blurred image, he spotted the logo of a hotel on the suspect’s T-shirt. Beginning with this small clue, he immediately located the hotel and interrogated its owner.
The owner recognised his employee, and the police took the culprit into custody. He confessed and also revealed the names of his two accomplices.
Recalling the successful investigation, Rajas Shaikh says, “When this investigation was completed, a very senior IPS-rank officer hugged me tightly and congratulated me. Senior officers usually don’t hug anyone, but that day I got the satisfaction that my work was truly valued.”
This complex case is among several such investigations that Rajas Shaikh has conducted during his 32 years of service. In recognition of his services, the Union Home Ministry recently honoured him with the ‘Ati Utkrisht Seva Padak’ (Medal for Most Excellent Service).
Speaking to ‘Awaz-The-Voice’, Rajas Shaikh said, “The other day a friend called and gave me the news of receiving the Government of India’s Ati Utkrisht Seva Padak. For two minutes, my heart was heavy, and tears welled up in my eyes. The hard work and service I have put in all these years had finally borne fruit.”
Rajas Shaikh joined the Pune City Police Force in 1995. A tremendous craze for the khaki uniform and a strong desire to do something impactful for society and the country while being in uniform drew him towards the police.
After graduation, he received a call from the Employment Exchange and decided to go for police recruitment. He was selected in his very first attempt.
Rajas is an athlete. He is a national-level volleyball player and has participated in long jump, high jump and triple jump.
His sports background came in handy in clearing the police entrance tests.
Initially, he worked as a helper in the storeroom and the reserve armoury section at Police Headquarters. He maintained records and handled the supply of weapons, ammunition and police uniforms for Pune city.
In 2002, he was transferred to the Traffic Branch. He was given responsibility for handling the then recently introduced prepaid auto-rickshaw service.
He also handled administrative work at the DCP office.
It was during Rajas Shaikh’s tenure at Wanowrie Police Station that his career in crime detection began. He says he was lucky to have good superiors as mentors who helped him in his journey as an ace investigator.
While at Wanowrie Police Station, he nabbed culprits in various crimes, including murder, burglary and kidnapping.
The most famous and challenging case among these was the triple murder committed by a man named Masalkar. He had brutally murdered his own mother, wife and little daughter. The media’s entire focus was on this case.
Everyone thought this man could not possibly be the culprit. But Rajas Shaikh’s sharp eyes caught his suspicious demeanour.
Speaking about this case, Rajas Shaikh said, ” Initially, my seniors said why I was interrogating a man who had just lost his mother, wife, and baby?’
But I had a strong suspicion inside. We interrogated him, and it was revealed that he had hatched this conspiracy to marry his girlfriend, and the court later convicted him of crimes of murdering the three.”
During his posting at Kondhwa Police Station, he was assigned a case involving the disappearance of a poor man’s child. According to the father’s statement, some individuals had stolen his baby. The notion that the police only work for rich people was proven wrong by Rajas Shaikh and his team.
Searching day and night, they tracked down the baby in just two days. The baby had been taken to beg at the large fair of Mhaskoba in Veer village of Pune district. The police went there, safely took custody of the baby and handed it over to the mother.
Speaking about that moment, Rajas says, “The way that mother held her baby and started crying, it was the most satisfying moment of my life. That satisfaction was far greater than the one after solving other cases.”
In December 2017, he started investigating two cases involving the theft of ATM machines from the same location.
His team tracked CCTV footage for nine days, from Pune to Kirloskarwadi in Sangli district. On the ninth day, they traced one suspect and arrested him in Osmanabad. After interrogation, they apprehended the other members of the gang from Belagavi on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border.
The gang had built a trolley, pulley and slider. They would extract the ATM machine with the pulley and slide it directly into the vehicle. The gang’s exposure led to the solving of 19 crimes in Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Osmanabad.
Later, after being transferred to the Crime Branch, while working in the Anti-Narcotics Cell, he busted MD drug and marijuana smugglers, exposing their massive network. He also put culprits involved in Nigerian frauds and ATM cloning behind bars.
Rajas Shaikh’s native village is Bhiwadi in Purandar taluka, famous for its rebellion against the British. Rajas Shaikh says, “There is a different kind of attitude in the soil of my Bhiwadi. Carrying that same attitude, I have fearlessly worked in the police department to date.”
Because of this very working style, retired senior officers used to affectionately call him ‘The Amitabh Bachchan of the Poor’. Not tolerating injustice oneself and not letting injustice happen to anyone else is a principle he has followed throughout his service, and he says he will continue to follow it throughout his life.
He has a set working style when inspecting a crime scene. He says, “If one goes to the crime scene and observes closely, a clue is 100% guaranteed to be found. If you grab onto that one thread and work, success is definitely achieved; this is my experience.”
Rajas Shaikh’s family was extremely poor. There were six brothers and sisters in the family. His parents worked as farm labourers but educated all their children. Today, all five of his brothers and sisters are graduates.
“My mother was illiterate, but she used to sit us down to study holding a stick. She used to say there is no salvation without education. The concept of parent-teacher meetings has come up now, but back then, whenever my mother came to the Saswad market every Monday, she would visit our school and ask the teachers about our progress.”
Rajas Shaikh lives in a joint family with his siblings. His wife, Najma, is a graduate of Wadia College. His elder daughter has done her B.Tech from MIT, while the younger daughter is in the 12th standard and she too wishes to become a police officer.
Rajas Shaikh has received more than 280 awards, including the Director General of Police’s ‘Quality Service Medal’ and two certificates of honour from the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
He has also received the ‘Excellent Service Medal’ given for 15 to 25 years of unblemished service, and the Central Government’s ‘Most Excellent Service Medal’ given for service above 25 years.
On his work style, he says, “If people’s work is done according to the rules and with a smiling face, there is no stress at all. Everyone should always enjoy their work.”
Since police working hours are not fixed, their lifestyle can be stressful. But while balancing his job and health, Rajas takes care of his mental and physical well-being by eating only home-cooked food every day. He exercises, practises pranayama and meditates for 40–45 minutes every morning.
Giving valuable advice to the younger generation, Rajas concludes, “Set a goal and consistently keep trying towards it. Consistency and wholehearted efforts will definitely lead you to your goal.”
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Mizan / by Bhakti Chalak, Pune / September 21st, 2026
SFI leader Dilshada Raihan, a Muslim woman, was elected president as the AISA–ASA–DSU–SFI–TSF alliance reclaimed the University of Hyderabad Students’ Union from ABVP, winning all general posts.
Dilshada Raihan, the candidate of an alliance comprising the All India Students’ Association (AISA), Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA), Dalit Students’ Union (DSU), Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Tribal Students’ Forum (TSF), has been elected president of the University of Hyderabad Students’ Union for 2026.
Her victory puts a Muslim woman at the head of the union after the ABVP won the previous election.
Raihan is an SFI leader.
The alliance also won the vice president and general secretary posts. Korra Nithin Chauhan of TSF was elected vice president, while Pratik Sagar of ASA won the general secretary post.
Naresh Podishetti contested for president on the ABVP–Sevalal Vidyarthi Dal panel. K. Naveen Kumar was the presidential candidate of the alliance comprising the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Fraternity Movement, Muslim Students Front (MSF) and Progressive Democratic Students Union (PDSU).
Muhammad Aflah KK and Venisa Choudhary also contested the general secretary post against Pratik Sagar on the three alliance panels.
Siddhant of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) has won the joint secretary post on the AISA–ASA–DSU–SFI–TSF alliance panel.
source: http://www.maktoobmedia.com / Maktoob Media / Home> South India> India / by Maktoob Media / September 30th, 2026
Through rigorous training, continuous hard work and self-confidence, Insha Taskeen has turned her childhood dream into reality. She has now obtained her commercial pilot licence, earning the distinction of being the first woman commercial pilot from Udupi taluk.
Insha Taskeen is the daughter of Ikhlaq Ahmed and Syed Tabassum from Bailur in Udupi city. Her brother serves as a senior executive for Air India at the Delhi airport.
Insha Taskeen completed her education from LKG to Class 12 at Little Rock Indian School, Brahmavar. Afterwards, driven by her dream of becoming a pilot, she underwent training at Redbird Flight Training Academy. At Redbird’s institution in Delhi, she attended ground classes and prepared for the required exams over a period of one year, passing all exams successfully on her very first attempt.
As the next phase of her training, she successfully completed 200 hours of flight training at the Belagavi flying base and obtained her commercial pilot licence.
Insha Taskeen’s achievement of fulfilling her childhood dream through dedicated training, persistent effort and confidence serves as an inspiration to the young women of Udupi district, especially those aspiring to build a career in the aviation sector.
“Initially, I had no interest in becoming a pilot. While studying in SSLC, we once went to Delhi. Seeing the airport there sparked a desire in me to become a pilot. With the support of my family, I was able to make my dream come true. In the coming days, I aim to work as a commercial pilot and dream of achieving even more in the aviation field,” says Capt. Insha Taskeen.
source: http://www.english.varthabharati.in / Vartha Bharati / Home> Karavali / by Vartha Bharati / September 21st, 2026
