Hyderabad, TELANGANA:
Hyderabad:
Syed Yousuf who got selected in first place in 55kg Category at the Mr. Sportex Classic India Men’s Physique & Bodybuilding Championship held at Hitex Exhibition Center, Hyderabad.
Around 300 bodybuilders across India participated in different category.
source: http://www.munsifdaily.com / The Munsif Daily / Home> News> Sports / by munsif digital / August 28th, 2023
KERALA:
New Delhi:
While much has been written about the educational background of several engineers and scientists involved in the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft that soft-landed on the moon’s South Pole on August 23, bringing India into the ranks of the US, Russia, and China in the field of space technology.
However, Chandrayaan’s hero and ISRO chairman S. Somanath has been totally ignored as far as his educational background and his alma mater are concerned.
Many people may not know that he is a product of TMK College of Engineering, at Kollam in Kerala, set up by a Muslim businessman – Thangal Kunju Musaliar – in 1958. An Aided autonomous institution, the college is affiliated to APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Kerala.
College’s Placement Manager Harish TP, when contacted, told this scribe that Somanath visited the college last year and also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up a course in spacecraft at his alma mater in collaboration with ISRO.
According to Harish, the course is in the process of being designed by ISRO scientists and the college’s faculty members.
Former director of ISRO’s satellite centre TK Alex also studied at this college.
The college has the distinction of being the first private engineering college in Kerala, indicating the educational interest of its founder Thangal Kunju Musaliar, or in short TKM who died in 1966. He traced his ancestry to Malik ibn Deenar, an Islamic missionary who came to India in 8th century, and in a later generation to Sheikh Ali Hassan Musaliar whose tomb exists in the premises of the Sheikh Masjid at Karunagapally.
According to the college’s website, TKM, a cashew nut businessman set up TKM educational trust in 1956 paving the way for the setting up of the college.
The college’s foundation stone was laid on February 3, 1958, by India’s first president Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and formally inaugurated on July 3, 1958, by Prof. Humayum Kabir, the then Union Minister for Scientific and Cultural Affairs.
TKM’s eldest son Dr. Shahal Hassan Musaliar is now the chairman of the TMK trust. The trust now runs several institutions including TKM College of Arts and Sciences, TKM Institute of Technology, TKM Institute of Management, TKM School of Communication and Information Technology, TKM Centenary Public School, TKM High School, TKM Higher Secondary School, and more recently the TKM Centre for Advanced Learning and TKM School of Architecture, having thousands of students.
source: http://www.indiatomorrow.net / India Tomorrow/ Home> Debate / by Syed Khalique Ahmed / August 28th, 2023
Awadh, U.P. / WEST BENGAL:
Calcutta may not have a birthday, but there can be no disagreement that the city is an alchemy of multiple events and influences. One such is the arrival of the ruler of Awadh. Wajid Ali Shah arrived in Calcutta in 1856, remained here till his death in 1887 and continues to tick on in the city’s DNA.
Metiabruz
Before 1856, Metiabruz was a nondescript place on the outskirts of Calcutta taking its name from a matiya burz or earthen tower. The shipbuilding yard of Garden Reach had just started developing. It was the advent of Wajid Ali that transformed the very nature of the place. He purchased land from the King of Burdwan and built around 22 palatial
residences in Metiabruz. With these at the core, an entire mini-Lucknow came up. “He made this city his home and left a legacy, some tangible and mostly intangible,” says Talat Fatima, one of the king’s progeny and currently working on the English translation of the book Wajid Ali Shah Ki Adabi Aur Saqafati Khidmat by Kaukab Quder Meerza. Meerza Sr’s son, Kamran, points to the remnants of the king’s mimic kingdom — Sibtainabad Imambara, Begum Masjid, Shahi Masjid, Baitun Nijat and Quasrul Buka.
Thumri
Until the early 19th century, Calcutta’s aristocracy had some exposure to Nidhu Babu or Ramnidhi Gupta’s semi-classical tappa. As for dance, there was the form practised by the khemtawalis of the red-light areas of Chitpore and Bowbazar in central Calcutta. Enter Wajid Ali Shah. He was, historians note, an “enthusiastic” patron of the arts. The “light classical” vocal form of thumri flourished in his court. He himself composed thumris under the pen name of Akhtar or Akhtar Piya. The thumri was traditionally performed by tawaifs or courtesans. And though there are arguments to the contrary, their dance style had “undeniable links” with Kathak. To make a long story very short, the king arrived in Calcutta with his musical entourage, thus stirring into its environs and culture a new rhythm. Courtesans like Malka Jaan were appointed by his court. Other ustads and musicians arrived too and many Bengali-speaking singers such as Bamacharan Bandyopadhyay were also groomed. A new style of thumri evolved with folk influences and it came to be known as the bol banao thumri. The babus of Calcutta loved it. Many of the musicians and courtesans settled down in the Chitpore area of north Calcutta, turning it into a production hub of musical instruments. This legacy, somewhat contagious, influenced commercial theatres and produced musical exponents such as Gauhar Jaan, Angoorbala and Indubala who went on to cut gramophone records and became the first artistes to do so. If Wajid Ali had not left Lucknow nagari, Ray’s Jalsaghar would be missing the jalsa; the sound of Begum Akhtar singing, “Bhar bhar aayi mori akhiyan piya bin…”
Haute Couture
It was not just Wajid Ali who arrived in Metiabruz; he was accompanied by his family, his many wives, dancers, a retinue of specialised servants and tailors. By some estimates, within a decade of his arrival, the palace had 2,000-plus employees and 1,000 soldiers. All of these people needed clothes, as did the king, who loved to dress. In his early 20th century work Lucknow: The Last Phase of an Oriental Culture, Abdul Halim Sharar suggests that the achkan was Wajid Ali’s gift to Indian haute couture. And so the fitted tunic with its stylish necks debuted in Bengal, as did the angrakhas. The king also wore an elaborate cap called the alam pasand. The royal tailors, their pupils and their descendants popularised Awadhi fashion — the chapkan, the churidar, the shararas, the ghararas… Their progeny has now turned Metiabruz into one of the largest tailoring hubs of unbranded garments. None of this would exist if it had not been for the good old trendy king. But for him, homegrown celebrity designers who are synonymous with wedding wear, sherwanis and fancy achkans would have been making patterns on their bottom line today.
Kabutarbazi
The king was famous for his menagerie and also for the thousands of kabutars or pigeons he reared and kept. He employed hundreds of people to look after the birds. Among the varieties were peshawari, gulvey, choya, chandan, shirazi — many fetched from Lucknow. Some of them were trained to perform manoeuvres during flight. “You’ll still find breeders invoking the royal pigeons while making a sell in the bird market,” says Kamran Meerza, the great-great-grandson of Wajed Ali Shah. Many babus of north Calcutta eventually embraced the hobby and pigeon roosts were a common architectural feature in old mansions of the city. The king also brought one of the best kite fliers of Lucknow, Ilahi Baksh Vilayat Ali, with him. He himself could design kites and encouraged others to compete with his team of kite fliers. The tradition of flying kites from those days still survives in Calcutta. Beginning August 15, right through to winter, the city skies are dotted with kites, most of them made in Metiabruz. Kabutarbazi and kite flying are not just random sports, they are synecdoches of a culture of great panache even in great leisure.
The Calcutta Biryani
The king’s khansamas gave Calcutta a taste of the Awadhi style of dum pukht or slow oven-cooking. Their descendants spread across the city and continued to popularise and adapt this style of cooking to fit the plebian kitchen. The Calcutta Biryani would be nowhere on the culinary map had it not been for the banished king. Manzilat Fatima, who is Wajid Ali’s great-great-granddaughter, wields her secret family recipes to create the Calcutta Shahi Biryani and Awadhi Galauti Kebab among other Lucknavi delicacies in her boutique restaurant in south Calcutta. Manzilat clarifies that the potato, an exotic tuber in the 19th century, was used as an experiment by the king to enhance the taste of the biryani and not to incorporate a cheaper substitute as has been suggested. Jab tak rahega biryani mein alu…
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> Culture / by Prasun Chaudhuri / August 27th, 2023
UTTAR PRADESH / TELANGANA:
Muzaffarnagar and Adilabad, two districts in India, are celebrating the remarkable achievement of their Muslim scientists who contributed significantly to the success of the Chandrayaan 3 mission. The successful landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the Moon’s south pole has ignited a sense of festivity and pride in both regions.
Areeb Ahmed, an ISRO scientist hailing from Khatoli, Muzaffarnagar, emerged as a central figure in this achievement. As a key member of the Chandrayaan-3 team, Areeb Ahmad played an instrumental role from the mission’s launch to its successful landing. The celebrations in Muzaffarnagar included fireworks and heartfelt congratulations to the Areeb family.
The success story extends to Adilabad, where scientist Sheikh Muzammil Ali, originally from Kaghaz Nagar, shone as a valuable contributor to the Chandrayaan 3 mission. His involvement in the ISRO team that achieved the lunar landing brought immense pride to the Muslims of Telangana. Sheikh Makhdoom Ali, Sheikh Muzammil Ali’s father, expressed his joy and gratitude for his son’s accomplishment, viewing it as a divine blessing and a moment of national pride.
Sheikh Muzammil Ali’s educational journey showcased dedication and determination. After completing his education from various esteemed institutions, he cleared the ISRO exam in 2016, leading to his appointment as a “Scientist Group Gazetted Officer” in 2017. His father’s unwavering support, despite a modest salary, served as an example of the importance of higher education for Muslim parents aspiring to empower their children.
The accomplishments of Areeb Ahmed and Sheikh Muzammil Ali underscore the significance of providing quality education to young Muslims and encouraging them to pursue careers in cutting-edge fields. Their contributions not only contribute to India’s scientific progress but also inspire others to strive for excellence irrespective of adversity.
source: http://www.munsifdaily.com / The Munsif Daily / Home> News> Regional> Telangana / posted by Rasia Hashmi / August 24th, 2023
INDIA:
New Delhi:
Meet some of the Muslim scientists and engineers who contributed to India’s moon mission success.
Together with other scientists, they played an important role in the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 project team that wrote a new history in the world of space science and technology, bringing immense laurels to the country.
Because of our scientists, India now ranks counts with the US, Russia, and China – countries that have mastered in spacecraft technology. It would not be wrong to say that India has emerged as one of the “Vishwa Guru” (world leaders) in spacecraft science.
Here are the names and brief biodata of the few Muslims scientists who were part of the Chandrayaan-3 team.
*SANA FIROZ, a B.Tech. (2006-2010) in electronics and communications engineering from Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology at Gorakhpur in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, is among the 54 female scientists and engineers who contributed to the success of the Chandrayaan-3.
Sana, who hails from the small town of Mau, neighbouring Azamgarh, has been working with ISRO at Mohali since 2013.
*Sana’s husband YASSER AMMAR, also a B.Tech.(2006-2010) in electronics and communications engineering from Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology at Gorakhpur in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, was also in the Chandrayaan-3 project team. Yasser is a native of Gorakhpur, the hometown of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Yasser also works at ISRO’s Mohali facility.
Yasser, who has been working with ISRO since 2010, has written several research papers, including one on “Design and development of Silicon Photomultiplier for Photon Counting Applications” published in the Journal of Spacecraft Technology, a prestigious research journal published by ISRO.
*MOHAMMED SABIR ALAM, is another engineer, who played an important role in the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Holding a B Tech degree inaerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), he has been working at ISRO’s Thiruvananthapuram centre since 2018.
*AREEB AHMAD, a B.Tech in mechanical engineering (2015-19 batch) from Jamia Millia Islamia, is a young scientist who contributed immensely to the success of the Chandrayaan-3. He hails from Muzaffarnagar district of UP which witnessed one of India’s worst communal riots in August-September 2013 that resulted in 42 Muslims and 20 Hindus being killed. More than 50,000 Muslims were displaced many of whom have yet not returned to their original homes and villages. Posted at ISRO’s Sriharikota facility, Areeb was part of an inspection team before the Chandrayaan-3 was launched in July 14, 2023. The spacecraft landed at the lunar south pole region of the moon on August 23, 2023, in a span of six weeks.
*AKHTEDAR ABBAS, a native of the Gonda district in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and posted at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, also worked with the Chandrayaan-3 project, bringing immense pride to the nation. A B.Tech (2006-2010) from Aligarh Muslim University and an M.Tech from Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, he has been working with ISRO since March 2015. Before joining ISRO, he worked as a professor at the DIT University in Dehradun and Operations Manager at Indian Oil Corporation Limited.
*ISHRAT JAMAL, who was also associated with the Chandrayaan-3 project, is a B Tech in electrical engineering from AMU and an M Tech in Power and Control from IIT, Kanpur. He has been working with ISRO for the last six years. He is currently posted at ISRO’s research facility in Bengaluru.
“I am a power electronics engineer with experience in the design and development of space qualified Electronic Power Conditioners (EPCs)/Power Supplies for various Radio Frequency (RF) subsystems, such as Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) and Travelling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTAs), of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payloads,” he says in a post on a social media platform.
*Khushboo Mirza, is another Muslim woman scientist, who was involved in the Chandrayaan-3 project. She is a B.Tech. in Electronics Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University and works at the ISRO centre in Greater Noida.
She is an experienced scientist skilled in ArcGIS products. ArcGIS is a family of client, server, and online geographic information system (GIS) software developed and maintained by Esri (Environmental Systems Research Institute). Esri is an American multinational geographic information system software company.
*Another Muslim engineer involved in the Chandrayaan-3 mission is Mohd Kashif, a B Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia. He joined ISRO at its Bengaluru centre in December 2021. He obtained the top rank in ISRO recruitment in 2021.
Some scientists and engineers like Amit Bhardwaj who have passed out from Jamia Millia Islamia, and Priyanshu Varshney and Sonali Jain from AMU were also in the Chandrayaan-3 team.
source: http://www.indiatomorrow.net / India Tomorrow / Home> Breaking News> Editorial (edited) / by Syed Khalique Ahmed (edited) / August 24th, 2023
ASSAM:
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Guwahati
Assam’s Nazneen Yasmin and Dr. Baharul Islam Barbhuyan are among the scientists who contributed to making the ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 land on the South Pole of the Moon.
Nazneen Yasmin, who is from a middle-class family of central Assam’s Nagaon district joined the ISRO after cracking the toughest selection test two years ago. The young scientist has been involved in radar tracking in the launch department of ISRO for more than a year.
But the journey was not easy for Nazeen Yasmin. While she was on maternity leave for her firstborn about six months ago, she was recalled for crucial operations at least twice and she took her child along.
Despite facing the challenges of married life and the post-pregnancy phase Nazeen was very passionate about the Chandrayyan-3. Many a time, Nazeen worked from home by keeping her baby in her lap.
Naznin Yasmin, daughter of Abul Kalam Azad and Manzila Begum of Maherpar near Juria in the remote Nagaon district received her appointment letter as a scientist at the ISRO headquarters in Swar Sriharikotha, Andhra Pradesh around two years back.
Naznin Yasmin received her primary education at Nuruddin Furkania JB School, Juria in Nagaon district in central Assam. She performed brilliant results in the matriculation or Class X final exam from Kadamani Town High School in 2007. She passed the Class XII exam from Alphabita Science Junior College in 2009 with letter marks in several subjects in the science stream. She later obtained her B.Tech in Electronics from NITS Mirza College, Guwahati in 2013 and her M.Tech in First Division from Tezpur University.
Along with working in various private scientific institutions, Nazneen passed the National Eligibility Examination under the University Grants Commission in 2018 and also qualified for the Junior Research Fellowship of the Government of India.
Nazneen Yasmin, who had dreamed of becoming a scientist since childhood, said she was inspired by the success of India’s first female astronaut Kalpana Chawla. She urges the younger generation not to think of themselves as weak and prepare themselves to get a place in the leading institutions of the country through hard work.
Also, Nazneen was inspired by the life and work of former President Dr. APJ Abbul Kalam, who came from a family with modest means, a family source said.
On the other hand, Dr. Baharul Islam Barbhuiyan of south Assam’s Hailakandi has proved that all dreams come true if a person chases them and works hard.
Baharul, 45 is a resident of Syedband II Khand village situated about 5 km from Hailakandi town. He is the pride of the Hailakandi district.
Baharul Islam’s name came into the spotlight after India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft made history by landing on the south pole of the moon on Wednesday evening. He is a prominent scientist at ISRO. He is one of the scientists who played an important role in the success of Chandrayaan-3
Speaking to Awaz-the Voice Assam from ISRO headquarters in Bangalore, Baharul Islam said he was proud to be involved in a historic work that set a record in the space world. He said students have always been interested in space and after the successful landing of Vikram on the South Pole of the Moon. “Success of Charayaan-3 will result in an increase of interest and curiosity about space science among the younger generation,” he said.
He earned his B.Sc from SS College, a Masters in Mathematics from Aligarh Muslim University, PhD from Gujarat University before joining the ISRO.
Baharul’s parents were teachers and they created an environment of science at their home from the very early stage of their son. His father, Moinul Haque Barbhuiyan, has passed away. Mother Rehana is old yet she is excited about her son’s achievement.
“There are no words to express my joy at the moment. I never thought such a day of success would come. People have been calling us since Wednesday,” said Baharul’s brother Enamul Haque.
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice/ Home> Story by ATV / posted by Aasha Khosa / August 26th, 2023
Jodhpur, RAJASTHAN:
Jodhpur:
In a major initiative set to generate new avenues, the Jodhpur-based Maulana Azad University, which is the first private university established by the Muslim community in Rajasthan, has set up a Minorities Research Chair for conducting targeted studies and research on the issues, problems and challenges confronting the minority communities in the state. The research chair will make important recommendations after its studies.
The Minorities Affairs Department of the Congress government in Rajasthan has sanctioned Rs. 2 crores as financial assistance for the research chair. The university was established by the Marwar Muslim Educational & Welfare Society (MMEWS) at Bujhawar village on the outskirts of Jodhpur in 2013. The institution of higher education is now imparting education to more than 15,000 students belonging to Muslim and other less privileged communities in multiple disciplines of studies.
The Minorities Research Chair will function under Maulana Azad University’s Centre of Excellence and Research, for which Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had granted Rs. 15 crores in 2022. The research chair, which is expected to make a meaningful intervention for the development of Muslims and other minorities, is the brainchild of noted educationist Mohammed Atique, who is the MMEWS Chief Executive Officer and the Founder-Chancellor of Maulana Azad University.
The research chair was inaugurated at a grand function organized on the university premises in the presence of Rajasthan Minorities Affairs Minister Saleh Mohammed, Rajasthan Madrasa Board Chairman M.D. Chopdar, several MLAs, public representatives, government officers, educationists, distinguished citizens, journalists and social activists on August 16. The university is already running M.Phil and Ph.D. programmes in various streams.
In his address, Saleh Mohammed said the Maulana Azad University, which had made consistent progress during the last 10 years, was another name for high-quality scientific education in the future. The Minorities Research Chair would prove to be extremely beneficial for research and education in the areas crucial for the development of minority communities, he said.
After the research chair’s inauguration, the Central Equipment Room of the university’s Faculty of Pharmacy, and the classroom furniture and virtual smart classes of Crescent Public School and Maulana Azad Upper Primary School run by MMEWS were dedicated to the students. A poster of the foreign language training programme under the Chief Minister’s Minority Language Proficiency and Communication Skills Development Scheme was also released on the occasion.
Mr Atique said the Maulana Azad University was making sincere efforts to achieve the goal of “education for all” with a clear objective that no child from the weaker sections of any community should be deprived of education because of the lack of basic facilities. University president Jameel Kazmi said the research chair would review the progress of the government’s schemes for the development of minority communities and evaluate their achievements and success, besides identifying the obstacles in their implementation.
Presiding over the function, M.D. Chopdar described Atique as “Sir Syed” of the modern era while pointing out that the initiatives taken under his leadership in Jodhpur had made a record of sorts. He said the Madrasa Board was taking steps for the modernization and development of madrasas, for which the MMEWS was rendering full cooperation to it. Chopdar also flagged off a vehicle carrying the furniture supplied by the Madrasa Board to various schools in the city.
Luni MLA Mahendra Singh Bishnoi, Jodhpur City MLA Manisha Panwar and Congress leader from Soorsagar Assembly constituency, Ayub Khan, were special guests at the function. All of them praised the stellar role played by the MMEWS and Maulana Azad University in improving the educational standard of the Muslim community in Jodhpur. A large number of distinguished citizens from Barmer, Jaisalmer, Pokhran and Phalodi in western Rajasthan also came to attend the function.
The MMEWS, established in 1929 during the pre-Independence era, runs as many as 330 educational, health and social institutions. Atique has been instrumental in easing the lives of more than 45,000 youths through these institutions working in varied fields of education, health care, community development, rural development, waste-to-wealth initiatives and skill development programmes during the last four decades.
The then ruler of Jodhpur princely state, Maharaja Umaid Singh, was the patron of MMEWS and had gifted a school named ‘Durbar Muslim School’ to the Society in 1936. The Rajasthan government allotted five acres of land to the MMEWS in 1978, on which the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Muslim Senior Secondary School was constructed.
Since then, the MMEWS has established several institutions, including the Industrial Training Institute, Nursing College, Pharmacy College, B.Ed. College, Mai Khadija Hospital, Rahmatul-Lil-Alameen Blood Bank, Marwar Adarsh Gaushala and Bujhawar Veterinary Hospital.
The MMEWS established the university in 2013 with the intention of providing higher education to the most deprived and marginalized sections of society.
The first president (Vice-Chancellor) of Maulana Azad University was the noted Islamic scholar from New Delhi, Akhtarul Wasey. The current president, Jameel Kazmi, hailing from Jaipur, has taken steps for interdisciplinary studies while maintaining the indigenous ethos and the spirit of plurality in the university’s functioning.
About 45,000 students have so far passed out from the MMEWS group of institutions and become doctors, engineers and business people and entered other professions as well. Some of them have also established nursing homes and clinics in remote rural areas, which are often ignored in the government’s development plans. Maulana Azad University has set the motto, “Gain Knowledge and Serve Mankind”, for itself.
source: http://www.indiatomorrow.net / India Tomorrow / Home> Education / by the India Tomorrow Correspondent / August 25th, 2023
BIHAR / Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH:
Chance, coincidence and an unflinching belief in the plans of the cosmos propelled Samina Bano to quit the corporate world to champion children’s right to equitable access to education.
Sometime in late 2012, Samina Bano, then a Chicago-based consultant with Deloitte Consulting, started to notice what she believed to be ‘omens’ all around. She loved her corporate life – thrived on its challenges and enjoyed its ceaseless travelling, yet was convinced it was time to move on. “There was this persistent feeling that I was meant for something else,” she says.
A hazy idea of what that ‘something else’ entailed was brought about by a chance reading of How to Change the World by David Bornstein. “Till that point, I did not know how to make the best use of my education and skills. I first read the term ‘social entrepreneur’ in the book and figured out that was the way ahead for me,” she recalls.
It would take a chance reaching out to one such change maker in Bihar for Samina to understand that Uttar Pradesh – a state with some of the poorest development indicators, was where she must use her skills. Another chance conversation on the Right to Education Act (RTE) helped her decide the area she must work on.
Samina’s work channelled initially through the Bharat Abhudaya Foundation and subsequently through the RightWalk Foundation (both of which she founded), has focused on Section 12(1)(C) of the above Act. The Section mandates that all private unaided schools (with the exception of minority-run schools) reserve 25 percent seats in their entry-level class for children from socially and economically disadvantaged groups.
Since 2009, when the Act came into force, that Section had never been implemented in UP- home to the world’s largest child population. In 2012, two years before Samina started working, the State recorded zero admissions under the Section, but in 2017, this number had leaped to 27,726.
This was made possible by the bringing together of various stakeholders, awareness building, handholding of parents, creating interface with the government, activating a helpline for RTE admissions and creating an online digital system to institutionalise the admission process. The most prominent push in this effort came yet again from a chance fight.
“The first parents who approached us for admissions fell within a one-kilometre area of a branch of City Montessori School. Under the State government’s rules, it was the ‘neighbourhood school’ to which the children were entitled to admission. We were turned away 15 times by the school. Finally, when the District Magistrate ordered the school to admit 31 children, it approached the High Court”, Samina recounts. It turned out to be a David versus Goliath fight which the school (recognised in 2013 by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest school) had every reason to win had it not been for Samina and her team’s persistence.
“We did not leave the court case to the government. We worked with its counsel to provide the right arguments. The school was represented by the likes of Gopal Subramanium and Shanti Bhushan. At no point in time were we assured of a win. Yet, we were sure we were going to try,” she says.
The High Court’s order in September 2015 against the school (which then went on to appeal against it only to have its plea dismissed by the Supreme Court) was the most strongly worded message of Samina’s persistent belief that inclusive education was the way ahead for a more egalitarian society. She says, “The law is the same for everyone. Injustice is not acceptable. If you take an initiative with the right conviction, dedication, faith, belief, integrity and truthfulness, God will help you to find the right path”.
This was a lesson Samina had first learned as a child of eight at one of the air force stations her airman father was posted. “I did not understand why there must be a playground reserved only for the children of officials,” she says. Then when she learned in civics class one day that a playground was public property, she rallied classmates and marched up to the station commander demanding that the playground either be opened to all children or their lessons be modified to reflect the inequality. “My victory gave me the hope that anything wrong happening with the world need not stay that way. If we try, even an eight-year-old can make a difference,” she says of that learning.
The transition to working with the government and bureaucrats has been tough admits Samina, While the communication, problem-solving, team and interpersonal skills she learned in her corporate stint helped her, she was hamstrung by women’s inherent inability to network after work hours. Her background in high-end technology did little to convince men of her abilities. “My disability made them think that I must have gotten into engineering through a quota,” she says referring to an accident that left her with more than 50 percent paralysis in one leg.
She has been challenged by vicious rumours of her being related to a prominent politician, accused of having a communal agenda in her dogged pursuance of the RTE and even faced physical threats. “I have had to work almost thrice as hard for recognition of my abilities,” she says. She has also had to bear criticism of her supposed aggressiveness which in men would have been lauded as leadership ability.
Yet never one to shy away from challenges, Samina believes she has been guided by instinct in her work life. This was first manifested when she gave up her MBBS course for a change to engineering, driven by her love for Physics and Mathematics, and refusing to bow to the stereotype that the medical professional was the safest bet for women who studied science.
Her dogged fight against being typecast has yielded rich honours for Samina. She is the recipient of the International Ashoka Fellowship, and the Acumen Fellowship, and counts the APJ Abdul Kalam Award for Innovation in Governance and Women Super Achiever Award from the World Women Leadership Congress, among her many recognitions. Yet it’s in the heartfelt gratitude of parents and children that she finds her greatest reward.
Having created an enabling environment for the implementation of the RTE – not just through admissions but by training government officials at every level, bringing private school managements up to speed on how to provide inclusive education and effecting policy changes, Samina is ready to move on to her next challenge. “Our philosophy is to strengthen government systems for effective and efficient delivery of services, such that they can function independently of us”, she explains. Thus, after 2018, she sees RightWalk as addressing new challenges in education and in other sectors.
And through it, all as Samina, 31, says, “I shall continue to listen to my heart and heed the omens.
source: http://www.yourstory.com / Your Story / Home> Stores / by Puja Awasthi / February 20th, 2018
Sopore (Baramulla District) , JAMMU & KASHMIR:
“In today’s world, if something goes wrong in our household, women are held responsible,” said Mubeena Ramzan, an iconic figure for women’s rights and upliftment in Kashmir. Featured in “The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims of 2019” and born in the ‘apple town of Kashmir’, Sopore, she had always been a “sensitive” child who always looked around for people who were not so privileged. She had a strong desire to help the underprivileged but financial constraints made her helpless. Growing up, she aimed to change this and be instrumental in helping the lesser fortunate women around her.
“When I initially started, we were just a few people but the recognition of our Kashmiri people who stood with me and joined our cause made me happier,” she shared about being among the most influential Muslims of 2019. Mubeena completed her studies in her native town and joined a private college run by Anjuman Moin-ul-Islam which was the only college for women at Sopore then. “Whenever things are wrong at home, a woman is asked to do a job and support the family,” she recalled. Speaking about her immediate surroundings, she detailed how women were still suppressed “in the garb of religion as interpreted by the village elders and religious leaders.” Disturbed by such wrong interpretations of the status of women in Islam, she was motivated to get educated and work towards improvisation concerning women rights.
“There is an ayah in the Quran which talks about women to remain inside four walls of their homes but we have forgotten that every ayah had its own context,” Mubeena stated while defining her motivation to pursue Islamic Studies. “Our so-called maulvis used Islam as a tool to suppress women while Islam is the only religion which empowers women in every aspect of her life,” she added. Driven by this zeal, she went to the University of Kashmir for pursuing Masters in Islamic Studies. Her choice of studying the interpretation of Islamic teachings was aimed “to look inside the teaching which catered to women.”
“In Islam, women have been given property rights but whenever a daughter asks for her share she is abandoned and fought off,” says Mubeena. Her harrowing experiences of witnessing abandoned women with limited access to clothes, food or water motivated her to enrol for a B.Ed., M.Phil and PhD in Islamic Law. Her vision remained to challenge the deliberately flawed interpretations of Islamic teaching that caused Muslim women untold misery. After her studies, she initially started working as a research associate, looking for opportunities to educate, help and empower women through Islamic teaching. She feels that when people “want to truly empower a woman they should give her the share from the property.”
“In Islam, women don’t have any economic liabilities, men were created as the protector and guardian of women so it’s his responsibility to look after her,” Mubeena explained. She completed two theses on Islamic Law and Social Evils as well as on Shah-e-Hamdan and Orientalism. Her education has taught her that “there needs to be more resources for women’s empowerment and education.” To contribute to the cause, she continued working in various educational institutions as a contractual lecturer and research associate and went on to open her own institution for women, Jamia Islamia Mahdul Muslimaat.
“The vocational training in activities like cutting, tailoring, and computer skills here empower and helps us to support ourselves financially,” says Nahila Wani, a senior student at Jamia Islamia Mahdul Muslimaat. The school provides shelter, food, clothes, and education free of cost to all needy students. “Many students who have received an education from this institution have gone on to open their own schools, benefiting our society,” shares Nahila who added that the well-balanced curriculum “fosters independence and awareness among women, making them conscious of their duties and rights.”
“There were so-called preachers who said that I can’t run this institution as I am a woman,” she said while recounting the initial three years of starting the institution. She explained that initially the establishment faced many problems but over time they installed networks with professional teams including top doctors in the valley. The emphasis here lies in educating women in Quranic exegesis, science of Hadith, Jurisprudence, and History, while also training them in languages like Arabic, English, Urdu, and computer skills. “Our goal is to equip them with the necessary skills to become self-reliant and competent individuals,” said Mubeena.
In 2014, Mubeena also started Ansar-ul-Nisa, a socio-religious organization that provides special support to needy orphans, would-be-brides, and widows. Through the organization, she came across several cases of suicidal cases of women, especially among married women. According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, there was a 15.62% increase in crimes against women in 2021 compared to the year 2020. Over 7,000 arrests were made in cases of women harassment in the union territory in 2021. In the 2011 Census, among 64 lakh women in the valley, the crime rate per lakh population in stood at 61.6% as of 2021. 315 cases of rape, 1,414 incidents of attempt to rape, and 14 dowry deaths were reported in 2021 wherein 91.4% of cases showed that the accused were known to the victims. Around 1,851 cases of physical assault on women with the intention to outrage their modesty was also caused. The figures clashed with the lockdown in COVID-19 when suicidal tendencies among Kashmiri women grew rapidly, the same time around Mubeena’s team was expanding women counselling activities.
The counseling cell works 24×7 hours to help Kashmiri women in such events wherein one of the cases she dealt with was involving a girl who was abandoned by both her parents who had separated and remarried and registered her as an orphan. Her organization fought on the social front against her father ultimately convincing the local elders to rightly grant some portion of the property in her name. The girl was married off soon after and is currently living happily with her husband and a daughter. Two more orphan sisters studying in Jamia Islamia Mahdul Muslimat received legal help to secure property share from their grandfather and are now living with their mother in their own house. Stories like this abound in Mubeena’s organizations.
“We believe in providing a safe space where newly married women, divorcees, and those suffering from mental health disorders can come to share their stories and find relief,” shares Mubeena. Through her institution’s counseling team of highly qualified professionals including top doctors and professors, they divert efforts to support them financially and emotionally. “As we look to the future, we aim to establish a helpline number to further expand our reach and continue to provide crucial support for those in need,” she said. At present, 600 girls are studying in the institutions and about 500 widows also receive financial assistance. Due to lack of funds, her plans of opening a college for skills-oriented courses are delayed.
Speaking about her future plans, she detailed that she aims to build an institution where all modern subjects are taught at par with Islamic education, alongside martial arts and vocational skills like cutting, designing, oratory, etc. “Our whole motive is to make women empowered through education,” Mubeena iterated her future plans.
Sadaf Shabir is an independent journalist. She tweets @sadafreports
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> India News /by Sadaf Shabir / May 24th, 2023
Dakshina Kannada, KARNATAKA:
Mangaluru:
Yenepoya Specialty Hospital marked a significant milestone with the launch of its cutting-edge Joint Replacement Robotic Unit. The launch event took place at the Taj Vivanta Hotel in the city on Tuesday. Gracing the occasion, Karnataka Health Minister and Dakshina Kannada In-charge Minister Dinesh Gundurao inaugurated the revolutionary unit, which is a collaborative effort with Meril Life, a global med-tech company.
This pioneering initiative stands as the first-of-its-kind facility not only in Dakshina Kannada but also as the first outside Bengaluru in the state of Karnataka.
Dr. Muhammad Thahir, the Director – Medical at Yenepoya Hospital, extended a warm welcome to the esteemed guests and attendees, setting the tone for the event. Dr. Yenepoya Abdulla Kunhi, Chairman of Yenepoya Group, followed with introductory remarks that shed light on the transformative potential of the newly launched robotic unit in the realm of healthcare. Dr. Kunhi also emphasized the need for adapting to technological advancements for the betterment of humanity and acknowledged the district’s continuous commitment to healthcare excellence.
Suvdeep, representing Meril, provided an insightful overview of the Cuvis Joint Replacement Robotic Unit, now available at Yenepoya Specialty Hospital. Highlighting its uniqueness, Suvdeep explained that it’s the sole fully-automatic robotic joint replacement unit currently accessible. The technology empowers doctors to offer personalized alignments based on a generated 3D model from CT scans, underscoring the critical role of medical expertise in the process.
Dr. Deepak Rai, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Yenepoya Specialty Hospital, applauded Abdulla Kunhi and Mohammed Farhaad Yenepoya for their visionary efforts in elevating healthcare standards in Dakshina Kannada. Dr. Rai elucidated the profound impact this robotic joint replacement unit is anticipated to bring to the future of healthcare over the next decade.
Explaining the concept of Joint Replacement Robotic Surgery, the Cuvis system was described as a tool that employs accurate CT scans of the knee and meticulous measurements pre-surgery, delivering enhanced precision and benefits in the field of joint replacement.
Minister Dinesh Gundurao commended the new service and urged the public to utilize such advanced offerings in the region. He also stressed the importance of researching why arthritic issues are increasingly affecting the younger generation. Minister Gundurao applauded the healthcare contributions of Yenepoya Group and underscored their resolute commitment to elevating healthcare in the district.
The event concluded with Dhanush Shetty extending a vote of thanks, while Clinical Dietitian Haifa Ansari efficiently compered the proceedings.
Managing Director of Yenepoya Group, Yenepoya Mohammed Kunhi, Director Operations Yenepoya Abdulla Javeed, Pro-Chancellor of Yenepoya Deemed to be University Yenepoya Mohammed Farhaad, Vice-Chancellor Dr. Vijay Kumar, Former Minister Ramanath Rai, Dr. Bhaskar Shetty, Dr. CP Habib Rehman, Dr. Savita Shetty, and others were present during the significant occasion
source: http://www.varthabharati.in / VarthaBharati.in / Home> Karavali / by Vartha Bharati / August 15th, 2023