Category Archives: Amazing Feats

UAE: Meet the Indian who is travelling from Kerala to London on a bicycle

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KERALA :

Fayis Ashraf Ali, who is currently in the Emirates for a pit stop, says one of his biggest dreams is to meet his hero Sheikh Hamdan

Thirty-four-year-old Fayis Ashraf Ali, a hard-core adventurer, has embarked on a big solo mission: To travel around 35 countries in 450 days — on a bicycle.

From the south Indian state of Kerala, Ali is biking his way to London to cover 30,000km. After departing Thiruvananthapuram on August 15 — where state Education Minister V Sivankutty flagged off his journey — he arrived in the UAE via Oman on September 27.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Ali said he entered the UAE through Ras Al Khaimah and cycled through Khor Fakkan and Fujairah to arrive in Ajman.

“I will cycle to Sharjah, spend some time there attending events and then head on to Dubai and Abu Dhabi before crossing into Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The cyclist plans to spend 24 days in the Emirates, the third destination on his list. Here’s a photo of him in Khor Fakkan:

Hoping to meet his hero Sheikh Hamdan

In the UAE, Ali has only one hope – to meet the Dubai Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

“He is my hero. I draw so much inspiration from his adventurous personality. I sincerely hope to meet him before I depart for Saudi Arabia,” he said.

After his UAE pit stop, he will be moving to Saudi Arabia, where he will cycle across the country for two months.

“I hope to go to the holy cities of Makkah and Medina, and visit every place in Saudi Arabia, where I worked for four years with Wipro before leaving my job,” said Ali, an electrical engineer who has kept aside his professional goal to cycle worldwide.

From Saudi Arabia, he will travel to Qatar, and Bahrain, return to Saudi Arabia then head to Kuwait.

“From there. I will go to Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey and enter Europe through Greece. I plan to ride across 22 countries in Europe and hope to reach London in 2023,” he said.

This is not Ali’s first long journey on his bicycle. In 2019, he cycled from Kozhikode to Singapore in 104 days, covering more than 8,000km. He pedalled through Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia during that time.

No support crew, no hotel bookings

Going on this adventure — without any support crew — is not a spur-of-the-moment decision for the cyclist. In fact, it took him over a year and a half to plan the solo journey.

“I am travelling alone as this is being done on a budget. I am staying with people I meet during my travels. I have not booked rooms in hotels or lodges,” said Ali.

For example, in Khor Fakkan, Ali stayed with some cafeteria workers across the police station.

“I coincidentally went into the cafeteria to eat some food and told them about my journey. They invited me to stay with them for the night,” he said. “Since I am a Rotary Club member, I stayed in some of the club locations in India. I am hoping to find similar support in Europe. If not, I will sleep in a tent, a mosque, or whichever place that will have me for the night,” he said.

The Rotary Club, Norka-Roots, Malayalam Mission, Kerala Tourism and the Kerala Hearts Foundation are supporting the endeavour.

He rides on a Surly Disk Trucker Cycle, sponsored by UAE-based travel and luggage accessories company ParaJohn. Dubai- based Emirates First is also lending some financial assistance to him.

On his bicycle, he carries four bags filled with clothes, a battery pack, dried fruits, tools, and a GPS tracker. He rides only in the mornings.

What inspired Ali to take up this adventure?

Ali left his job as a networking engineer in 2016 to take care of his father who was suffering from a cardiac ailment.

“I got into the habit of cycling around that time. I got my cycle when my father was in the ICU. Unfortunately, a week later, my father died,” said Ali. He believes cycling would strengthen one’s heart.

Ali is cycling to raise awareness about heart health, world peace, health care, zero carbon emission and zero drugs. He is married to dentist Dr Asmin Fayis and a father to two boys, Fahzin Omar and Izin Nahel.

“My wife supports me in every way possible. She is the one who plans my itinerary and posts on social media. She helps me immensely with the paperwork needed for such a journey. She does all this while taking care of our kids and is an assistant professor at the Coorg Institute for Dental Sciences. She is a superwoman,” he said.

Ali says that to make extraordinary achievements, one has to make several sacrifices. “I do not want to go back to work, and I want to achieve something extraordinary before I depart from this world,” he stated.

source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> World> UAE / by Dhanusha Gokulam / September 29th, 2022

Kerala: League of Islamic Universities ‘Climate Summit’ concludes on positive notes

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Events, Exhibitions, Conferences (wef. Nov 18th, 2021), Green Products, Leaders, World Opinion, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kozhikode, KERALA:

League of Islamic Universities launches climate action on campuses
Dr. Osama Al-Abed, secretary-general of the League of Islamic Universities, signs the Malabar Declaration on climate action in Kozhikode, India, on Oct. 20. (Photo courtesy: LIU)

On October 27, the ‘Malaibar Declaration for Climate Action’ held by the League of Islamic Universities based in Cairo and Jamia Markaz Kozhikode in Markaz Knowledge City concluded.

Members including 200 universities from 60 countries, were present at Jamia Markaz, an Islamic university in Kozhikode, Kerala, for the International Climate Action Summit which was held between October 17-20.

Dr. Osama Al-Abed, secretary general of the league, opened the event by urging global stakeholders to use fresh approaches to combat climate change because the globe is currently “facing challenges that are structurally different from the past.”

As a consequence of talks on many facets of the main issue, Dr. Al Abdu and Muhammed Abdul Hakim Azhari, the rector of Jamia Markaz, jointly made the following declaration: The Partnership of University Leadership in Mitigating the Climate Change.

The declaration includes a request for environmental science to be taught in member universities’ curricula, for financial and human resources to be set aside for research into tackling climate challenges, as well as for new technology to be developed for the same.

“We thought that the real community who has to work on climate change is students. In every country, if the universities go for some course on climate then the future generation would be working on climate change,” Jamia Markaz rector Dr. Abdul Hakeem Al-Kandi told reporters.

“Students, who are the future leaders, when they are getting aware of climate change, (they) will impact the whole world.” he said.

Al-Kandi stated that the league would create an environmental studies centre in Calicut, India.

The goal of the university league’s activity, according to environmentalist and Markaz Law College principal Dr. C. Abdul Samad, who organised the summit, was to engage community members in various societies and make them stakeholders in saving the environment.

“Introducing environmental science courses in universities is important as the young leaders need to be educated to think about nature and climate change, and its impact,” he said.

“It is the new generation that can preserve the diversity of nature and respect the environment. The whole idea is to save the planet for the future,” he further stated.

At the summit, 63 research papers on diverse facets of the main issue were presented. A hundred trees were planted on the Knowledge City Campus by university leaders as part of Jamia Markaz’s afforestation programme and in support of the summit.

source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Environment> Indian Muslim> Positive Story / by Muslim Mirror Staff / October 27th, 2022

Saluting Major Salman Ahmad Khan who laid down his life in the service of nation

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Martyrs of the Nation, ,

Kanpur, UTTAR PRADESH :

Saluting Major Salman Ahmad Khan who laid down his life in the service of nation

HIGHLIGHTS

Major Salman Ahmad Khan was a gallant and committed soldier who laid down his life in the service of the nation, following the highest traditions of the Indian Army.

Bengaluru:

Kupwara in Kashmir had been a hotbed of terror. Deployment in the district required constant vigil. In 2005, Major Salman Ahmad was deputed to serve with the 6 Rashtriya Rifles battalion in Kupwara.

It was just the place for a determined soldier and a fine officer like Major Salman Ahmad Khan. Major Salman’s unit was always in a high state of alert and carried out a number of operations to flush out terrorists.

On May 5, 2005, the unit received credible information from intelligence sources about the presence of terrorists in a village of Kupwara district.

After analyzing the situation, a decision was taken by the security forces to launch an operation in the wee hours of May 5.

The 6 RR unit swung into action and launched an operation in the wee hours of May 5.

The assault team cordoned off the area. On being challenged, the terrorists opened fire at the security troops and a fierce gunbattle ensued.

Major Salman eliminated one terrorist in the gunbattle. He then chased another terrorist who was trying to flee. In the process, other terrorists hiding from a house opened fire at Major Salman with automatic weapons.

The officer was seriously wounded. But despite his injuries, he lobbed a grenade at the second terrorist and killed him.

Major Salman later succumbed to his injuries. He was a gallant and committed soldier who laid down his life in the service of the nation, following the highest traditions of the Indian Army.

Major Salman Ahmad Khan was honoured with Shaurya Chakra posthumously. Flags of Honour salutes this officer for his outstanding courage, unyielding fighting spirit and supreme sacrifice.

source: http://www.mynation.com / My Nation / Home> India / by Team MyNation / May 05th, 2021

MANUU Prof. Dr.Salman A Khan features in Stanford’s top International Scientists list

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Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

Dr Salman also featured in Stanford’s list in the years 2020, 2021 and continues to be in the prestigious top international scientists list’ of 2022.

Hyderabad: 

Dr. Salman Ahmad Khan, Professor in chemistry and Dean, School of Science, Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) featured in the prestigious Stanford University’s list of top 2% International Scientists third year in a row.

The list is also known as ‘Updated Science wide Author database of Stanford Citation Indicators’.

The database was released by Stanford University, USA and published by Elsevier BV on 10 October 2022.

Dr Salman also featured in Stanford’s list in the years 2020, 2021 and continues to be in the prestigious “top international scientists list’ of 2022 in recognition of his exceptional research work.

The selection was among top 100,000 scientists by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above in their field from all over the world and was classified into 22 different fields and 176 subfields.

Prof. Syed Ainul Hasan, Vice-Chancellor, MANUU congratulated Prof. Salman. He said that Dr Salman’s achievement highlights our research competencies and university is on a path to find innovative solutions to complex problems of society through quality research work.

Prof. Salman A Khan has published 185 research Articles in reputed journals like Elsevier, Springer, Wiley and has also published 4 books and 2 book chapters.

He completed his PhD from Jamia Millia Islamia University New Delhi.

Back in 2020, Jamia Islamia’s Prof Imran Ali was selected as leading scientist in India in the field of Analytical Chemistry by the Standford University in the US.

In the same year, Professor Ahmed Kamal, Jamia Hamdard Pro-Vice Chancellor was also named among top 2 per cent cientists in the world by Stanford University.

source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> Science & Technology / by ummid.com news network (headline edited) / October 20th, 2022

Indigo pilot Aafrin Hirani’s inspiring journey from grocery store to cockpit

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Indervelli Mandal (Adilabad District), TELANGANA:

A few months ago, she was appointed as the first pilot of Indigo Airlines.

 Indigo pilot Aafrin Hirani [Twitter]

Hyderabad: 

The journey of 28-year-old Indigo pilot Aafrin Hirani from her family’s grocery store to the flight cockpit is a motivation to youngsters, especially girl students.

Aafrin who is the daughter of Aziz Hirani, owner of a grocery store located in Indervelli Mandal, Adilabad district is now a pilot of Indigo Airlines.

As becoming a commercial pilot was her dream since her childhood, she opted for Aeronautical Engineering after completing intermediate from a college in Hyderabad.

Later, she was selected for two-year rigorous training in Australia. Though she completed training in 2020, she waited for two years as the appointment process was halted due to the pandemic.

A few months ago, she was appointed as the first pilot of Indigo Airlines. After the appointment, Aafrin said that the encouragement and support received from her parents helped her in achieving success.

After her appointment as an Indigo pilot, she became the second woman commercial pilot from Adilabad. Earlier, Swathi from the same district was appointed as a commercial pilot and she was the source of inspiration for Aafrin.

Who is the commercial pilot?

A commercial pilot is a trained professional who flies airplanes or helicopters for the transportation of passengers, cargo, emergency rescue, etc.

They are skilled enough to handle aircraft and ensure passengers’ safety in different weather conditions.

In order to become a commercial pilot, obtaining a Commercial Pilot License from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is mandatory.

This license is given to those who are medically fit and successfully undergo training at a flying school.

Indigo airlines

Indigo is a low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana. Its domestic market share as of August 2022 was 57.7 percent.

The airline not only operates domestic but also international flights. As of July 2022, it operates over 1500 flights daily to 98 destinations in India and abroad.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Telangana / by Sameer Khan / October 17th, 2022

Martyr Maj Mustafa Bohra’s family being looked after by locals

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Kheroda Village / Udaipur, RAJASTHAN :

Martyr Mustafa Bohra with his parent at his passing out parade (Twitter)
Martyr Mustafa Bohra with his parent at his passing out parade (Twitter)

Delhi:

A pall of gloom has descended on the house of Major Mustafa Bohra, co-pilots of the Indian Army Helicopter Cheetah that crashed at Siang, close to Tawan on the China border in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday killing five people onboard.

People from all walks of life, leaders, and Army officials have been visiting the family of Major Bohra in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Local media said Major Bohra is survived by his parents Fatima and Jallaludin Bohra, and sister Alfia Bohra.

His father works in Kuwait and was away when the sad news came, Both the women at home are inconsolable and mostly in an unconscious state.

Major Mustafa Bohra was the only son of his parents.

Martyrs of Arunachal Pradesh Helicopter crash (Indian Army Twitter)

When the last report was filed Jallaudin Bohra was trying to fly home to be with his family in this hour of grief.

Hitesh Kumar, a resident of Udaipur, who knew the Bohra family, and who spoke to local media said that Major Bohra’s mother and sister are in bad condition and in a state of deep shock.

The family hails from Kheroda village and currently lives in the street of Ajanta Hotel in Udaipur city.

Vallabhnagar MLA Preeti Shaktawat visited the family on Saturday and spent time with the women and their relatives.

Major Bohra completed his primary education at Uday Shiksha Mandir Higher Secondary School, Kheroda. Later the family shifted to Udaipur city and he joined St. Paul’s School. He joined the Indian Army after his higher secondary.

Major Bohra’s body is expected to reach by Sunday evening. Besides Bohra, Major Vikas Bhambhu, CFN Tech AVN (AEN) Ashwin KV, Havaldar (OPR) Biresh Sinha, and NK (PPR) Rohitashv Kumar also died in the accident.

The Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) carrying five soldiers, including two pilots, was on a routine flight when it crashed at 10.43 am on Friday, October 21, near Miging, about 25 km south of Tuting.

Defense spokesman Lt Col AS Walia said the bodies of four other personnel were recovered from the crash site in the densely forested mountainous area, about 35 km from the Chinese border, on the evening of Friday, October 21.

source: http:/www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz The Voice / Home> India / by awazthevoice.in / October 23rd, 2022

Sajida breaks into male bastion to become first woman music technician

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Hyderabad, TELANGANA:

Sajida Khan has served in many Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films as a sound engineer over the past 10 years

Hyderabad:

Since the time Indian women got the liberty to pursue jobs, most have fulfilled their ambitions by working in the government sector, banks and multinational companies. However, Sajida Begum from the Maula Ali suburb of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, has broken a new glass ceiling by establishing herself in ‘musical acoustics and audio engineering.’ She has not just learnt the ropes of the industry, but become an expert in her field.

For the same reason, President Ram Nath Kovind presented her the ‘Ladies Award’ recognising her as “India’s first female music technician” in 2018.

Every part of her life journey reflects her love for music.  

Interest in sound mixing and engineering

Sajida says she wanted to enter the music industry right from her school days. Alongside pursuing studies, she would often participate in competitions held at Hyderabad’s famous Ravindra Bharathi Theatre. She demonstrated her talent at various programmes and contests on Doordarshan and All India Radio as well.  

She recounted an incident when a folk singer from Andhra, once, spotted her passion and told her about the various genres of music — folk, classical, Bollywood, and others. Her interest grew and she became determined to try something new.

Sajida says that she completed an animation course and then a PG diploma in the subject while finishing her XIIth Standard studies.

Meanwhile, she had the opportunity to go to a studio with her friend. Here, she displayed such great technical knowledge of the devices and equipment, that the owners were impressed and offered her a job. She worked here as an assistant to the music director for about five years.

Making a mark in the industry over a decade

Talking about her current projects, Sajida says she aims to bring as many stories on the digital audio format as possible. This allows authors and societies to preserve their knowledge. She has recently helped 40 children record their poems in audio format.

Sajida has served in many Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films as a sound engineer over the past 10 years. She has done dubbing, background music and complete audio mix. Besides, she is responsible for the success of several jingles, music albums and TV serials.

She has worked with leading film directors like Dasari Narayana Rao, Teja and Puri Jagannadh.

The only female music technician in the country, Sajida has also found her way into the ‘International Audiobook.’ This is a collection of interviews with women achievers in the audio field from across the globe. It’s called ‘Women in Audio.’

Despite this, Sajida says that it will still take some time for India and the world to recognise the contributions of women sound engineers.

Encouraging more women to venture into the field

Sajida says there’s no gender discrimination in the music industry. In fact, she got more work and with more confidence from her employers due to her being a woman. She said families must encourage their girls if they take interest in music, just like her parents did.

For Muslim women she said, a lot of them get into Mehndi application, beautician and tailoring courses; but they can explore fields beyond these as well. Muslim women need to be provided education so they are empowered and made more aware of all the career avenues available to them.

Sajida said she wishes to start her own post-production studio and a music school. She would like to employ as many women as she can in them, she said.     

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz The Voice / Home> Women / by awazthevoice.in / January 24th, 2021

Bantwal: DC visits Kalladka museum of numismatist Yasir

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Bantwal (Dakshina Kannada District) KARNATAKA :

Kalladka, Bantwal :

Deputy commissioner (DC) of Dakshina Kannada Dr Rajendra K V visited the museum of numismatist Yasir at Kalladka on the afternoon of Friday and was mesmerized by the collection of rarest of rare currency notes, coins and artefacts.

Dr Rajendra was stunned by the way Yasir explained the minute details of the collection of fancy number currency notes, coins and other unique items.

The DC appreciated the unique collection and said that students must visit the museum of Yasir at Kalladka, which has got several interesting collections.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / DaijiWorld.com / Home> Karnataka / by Mounesh Vishwakarma / Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (MS) / October 22nd, 2022

Okhla-based lifeguard Mumtaz who fished out dead bodies from Yamuna, saved many passes away

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Okhla, DELHI :

Okhla-based lifeguard Mumtaz who fished out dead bodies from Yamuna, saved many passes away

An award-winning lifeguard, and a resident of Jamia Nagar, who had a reputation of diving into the water of Yamuna to fish out dead bodies and rescue many for the last four decades, passed away on Wednesday due to heart attack.

A retired teacher of Jamia school, 63-year-old Mumtaz Ahmed, was hospitalised for the last 15 days for getting treatment of heart ailment, but he couldn’t be save and was laid to rest in Batla House graveyard on Wednesday.

He saved many lives from Yamuna and was known to be the best swimmer in the whole area.

Though his act to save anyone from Yamuna was known but his daredevil act in 1995 of fishing out 7 bodies alone and saving one life when a boat of Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary had capsized in Okhla made him a hero.

Following the act, he was honoured with a Jeevan Rakshak Padak and a reward of Rs 10,000 from the President. Over the years he won several awards.

Mumtaz, born in Okhla, retired two years ago after working in Jamia Middle School Self Finance as a PT teacher since 1987, said his family member.

Old timers at Jamia, who knew him personally, said whenever there was any incident of drowning in Yamuna people used to rush to Mumtaz house in Ghaffoor Nagar seeking help and he never let them down.

Jamia school teacher Haris-ul-Haq said he heard from his friends that Mumtaz fished out the first body when he was 12 years old and since then he fished out some 100 dead bodies and saved many from different water bodies of Delhi.

He has left behind three sons and a wife.

source: http://www.theokhlatimes.com / The Okhla Times / Home> Local / by the okhla times / September 15th, 2022

Meet Sahil Agha who owns over 50 vintage cars

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NEW DELHI :

Sahil had a love for vehicles since childhood but he started getting fond of vintage cars when he bought one and got it restored.

New Delhi: 

Syed Sahil Agha, a resident of Abul Fazal Enclave in Delhi’s Okhla, has more than 50 American, British cars as also the cars of the erstwhile Rajas and Nawabs in his collection.

Sahil had a love for vehicles since childhood but he started getting fond of vintage cars when he bought one and got it restored.

People would look in awe every time he drove out in his car. Soon enough, another connoisseur of vintage cars, bought his car and paid him a good sum for it. Sahil invested that money into buying two more vintage cars.

Gradually, he fell in love with these cars and started collecting them. Today, his collection of more than 50 vintage cars, includes a Singer 6 of 1931 and Standard Sports of 1929, which are the only two in the whole world.

Apart from these, Sahil also owns a 1947 V12 Lincoln, a Mustang and many special sports cars.

Sahil also included the cars of many rajas and maharajas in this journey to preserve vintage cars.

He believes that awareness should be raised amongst people to save such vehicles. He also helps the owners of such vintage cars in fixing them.

Agha says his motive is to preserve these cars which were usually scrapped, he does so by buying and restoring them. He believes that these cars are a part of India’s history which cannot be brought back once extinct.

Sahil is a graduate from Jamia, Delhi and has done his Post Graduate Diploma in Acting from Shri Ram Bhartiya Kala Kendra, Delhi. He is the son of senior journalist Mansoor Agha.

source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> India> Life & Style / by IANS / October 21st, 2022