While the names of swimmer and activist Ali and Deshprabhu had been doing the rounds, the tennis icon was a surprise for most.
Mamata Banerjee with Leander Paes in Dona Paula, Goa / Telegraph picture
Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday inducted celebrities such as Leander Paes and Nafisa Ali and entrepreneur Mrinalini Deshprabhu into her party for its Goa foray, which she formally launched over the course of a busy day of political and PR exercises.
While the names of swimmer and activist Ali and Deshprabhu had been doing the rounds, tennis icon Paes was a surprise for most.
“When, at the age of 14, I went to play tennis for India, Didi (Mamata) was the (junior) Union sports minister. She used to always encourage, always support…. Now, after three decades of tennis, I would like to support the lady who has been going forward with immense courage. She is a real champion to me,” said Paes, 48, a Calcutta boy and now a resident of Goa.
Regarded as one of the greatest players in doubles, he won 18 Grand Slams in men’s and mixed doubles, and a bronze for India in men’s singles at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
“I would like to serve the people by means of politics. I would like to serve the youth of the nation. That is why I have joined Didi,” said Paes. “India is the world’s largest democracy. There cannot be division here on the basis of caste, creed, or religion,” he added.
Now 64, Ali was a Congress candidate against Mamata in Calcutta South in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. She lost. Ali also had a brief stint with Samajwadi Party before returning to the Congress in 2009.
Mamata Banerjee with Nafisa Ali in Goa / Telegraph picture
“She (Mamata) is such a champion for the cause of protecting the inclusive ethos of India…. It is important, now more than ever, to close the ranks on forces that seek to divide this great nation,” said Ali, a Calcutta girl who was the national swimming champion in the early 1970s, was crowned Miss India in 1976, and went on to act in films.
Sources in Trinamul said Mamata was keen on engaging civil society members in politics in Goa, something she did successfully in Bengal.
The BJP’s Pramod Sawant-led government would seek re-election to the 40-seat Goa Assembly in February 2022.
The principal Opposition there is the Congress, with the AAP testing waters there for some time.
Last month, Mamata inducted Goa’s former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro, with four decades in the Congress. He is now a national vice-president of Trinamul, helping it not only in Goa but also in several states of the Northeast, which he handled organisationally for the Grand Old Party.
After Faleiro came a number of political leaders from Goa, from various parties there. From the civil society, Trinamul has already managed to get the likes of poet N. Shivdas, filmmaker Tony Dias, environmentalist Rajendra Shivaji Kakodkar, footballer Denzil Franco, and boxer Lenny Da Gama.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> West Bengal / by Meghdeep Bhattacharrya, Calcutta / October 30th, 2021
Mohammad Ali is an independent journalist based in New York.
Independent journalist Mohammad Ali was announced as the winner of this year’s Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting on South Asia by the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) for his report on right-wing vigilantes’ radicalization of India’s Hindus. The past winners of the award include Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist Dexter Filkins and renowned investigative journalist Azmat Zahra.
New Delhi :
Independent journalist Mohammad Ali was last week announced as the winner of the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting on South Asia 2021 by the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), a journalism organization based in the U.S. and Canada.
Ali was awarded for his investigative piece on the Hindu vigilante’s radicalization of India’s Hindu’s by “using a dangerous cocktail of social media and Hindutva.” The 10,000-word long piece titled ‘The Rise of a Hindu Vigilante in the Age of WhatsApp and Modi’ appeared in the American magazine WIRED, well known for its focus on “how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics.” The piece appeared as a cover story in May 2020 of WIRED magazine.
Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Ali announced, “I am grateful to @sajahq for the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting on South Asia 2021 for my profile of a Hindu vigilante in @WIRED. It was an investigation into the process of radicalization of India’s Hindus using a dangerous cocktail of social media & Hindutva.”
Picture: Mohammad Ali Twitter
The Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting on South Asia is awarded yearly by SAJA. Named after American journalist Daniel Pearl, who was killed in Pakistan in 2002, the past winners of the award include Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Dexter Filkins, and renowned investigative journalist Azmat Zahra.
Ali said that he is elated at the award. “Besides helping my career, the award will draw more attention to the rise of Hindu extremism in India,” Ali told TwoCircles.net.
Ali said the idea for the WIRED story on the rise of Hindu vigilante in India, especially after right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in India in 2014, was spawned as he “didn’t like the liberal media coverage of Hindutva in India.”
Ali said for the story he spent a lot of time with the foot soldiers Hindutva, who would carry out the task of propaganda for “India’s slide towards right-wing Hindu extremism.”
“I didn’t want to demonize them (the workers of right-wing parties in India) but instead to humanize them and tell their story,” Ali said, adding, “With all being said, these workers and the work they do is historically significant as it is changing the course of India’s fate as a democracy.”
Ali’s has been reporting and writing on the rise of Hindu nationalism and violence against Muslims in India for over twelve years.
A post-graduate in literature, Ali started his journalism career with TwoCircles.net in 2008 before joining The Hindu in 2012.
“I belong to the generation of Indian Muslims who witnessed the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat and became conscious of the oppression against the community,” Ali said.
Ali said his foray into journalism came naturally as “becoming conscious of the issues facing Indian Muslims lead me to write about it.”
TwoCircles.net, Ali said, gave him a platform to write about these issues.
“At TCN, the reportage on Muslims was a priority. It was not done before in any other mainstream publication. Working at TCN provided me with a great experience in understanding the issues facing the Muslim community in India beyond what was being written about them in the mainstream press,” Ali said.
It was at TwoCircles.net, Ali said that he did his best stories. His series of stories on the wrongful incarceration of Mohammad Amir brought the focus on the impact of the war on terror on India’s marginalized Muslim community.
Mohammad Amir, a resident of Azad Market in Old Delhi, was falsely charged in 20 cases of bomb blasts in and around Delhi in 1998. He was finally released in January 2012, after 14 year long wrongful incarceration.
TwoCircles.net was the first news portal to break the sad story of Aamir.
“Aamir’s story is the defining story of my career. The story brought focus on him and he was eventually released. I still keep in touch with him,” Ali said.
Currently based in New York, Ali’s work has been featured in WIRED, Al Jazeera and The Hindu, among others.
Ali said that due to threats to his life in 2017 from extremist Hindu groups he had to move to the US in 2018 when Columbia Journalism School offered him a fellowship.
Ali has been interviewed by The NewYorker (in a piece on the lynching of Muslims in India), Al-Jazeera (The Listening Post episode on use of WhatsApp in spreading violence and propaganda in India), Harper’s Magazine (on the lynching of Muslims in India), Guardian, (on murders triggered by fake news on WhatsApp), and dozen other Indian publications.
His WIRED piece, which won him the Daniel Pearl Award, which was over a year-long investigation into the functioning of the foot soldiers of RSS, is a powerful account of “how Modi’s rise has unleashed an army of violent Hindu extremists on India’s minority communities pushing them to the possibility of second-class citizenship.”
To report for the story, Ali spent months with workers of Bajrang Dal which is part of a larger ideological fraternity patronized by BJP and Modi.
“The WIRED piece is one of the very few instances of reporting in American magazines on Bajrang Dal’s functioning on a day-to-day basis, and demonstrated how politics transforms a society, how hatred is created between communities in the name of ancient wounds and how it is deployed to control power in the present,” Ali said.
Ali said that his WIRED piece documents “how the most commonplace and most humane things like eating a meal or falling in love can be politicized and turned into sources of majoritarian rage and violence against minorities.”
Ali is currently working on a book on India.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Irfan Mehraj, TwoCirlces.net / October 29th, 2021
Auto drivers Sunil and Mujeeb returned a bag with cash, a mobilephone and documents to its owner at Suntikoppa in the presence of the police
Two honest auto drivers have returned a bag containing Rs 28,000 in cash, a mobile phone and documents to its owner.
Auto drivers Mujeeb and Sunil had found a bag lying on the ground at Panya Junction in Madapura. After opening the bag, they found that it had cash, documents and a mobile phone.
The duo handed the bag over to Autorickshaw Drivers and Owners’ Association president A M Shareef, who in turn handed it over to PSI Puneeth Kumar.
The police informed the owner of the bag.
It is said that plantation labourers Ravi and his wife were travelling in an auto and did not realise that their bag had fallen while they were travelling.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by DHNS, Suntikoppa / October 27th, 2021
Wipro’s Azim Premji donated Rs 9,713 crore or Rs 27 crore a day to retain his top rank among Indian philanthropists in FY21.
Indian business tycoon Azim Premji (Photo | PTI)
Mumbai :
Software exporter Wipro’s Azim Premji donated Rs 9,713 crore or Rs 27 crore a day to retain his top rank among Indian philanthropists in FY21.
Premji, the founder chairman of the company, increased his donation by nearly a fourth during the pandemic year, as per the Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021, which had HCL’s Shiv Nadar at second place with contributions of Rs 1,263 crore towards upliftment causes.
Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, India’s richest man by a distance, came third on the list with a Rs 577 crore contribution and was succeeded by Kumar Mangalam Birla with Rs 377 crore.
The second richest Indian Gautam Adani is eighth on the givers’ list with a donation of Rs 130 crore towards disaster relief.
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani’s ranking improved to fifth with a Rs 183 crore donation with “societal thinking” being identified as the primary cause.
“At present, most of the money is going to fundamental aspects like education and healthcare because of the requirements on the ground. Nilekani has indeed made interesting contributions, and in 10 years, we will have broader civil society issues feature as primary causes,” Hurun India’s managing director and chief researcher Anas Rahman Junaid said.
He said as the age profile of the givers shifts to those under-40, and many of them being self-made ones also presents a hopeful picture.
There are a few new entrants into the list, including the largest stocks investor Rakesh Jhunjunwala, who donated a fourth of his overall earnings or Rs 50 crore in FY21 with efforts on education.
hunjunwala, who recently had a private meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is among the backers of Ashoka University, as per a statement.
Brothers Nithin and Nikhil Kamath committed USD 100 million (Rs 750 crore) over the next few years to support individuals, organisations and companies working on solutions for climate change and are 35th on the list.
Former chairman of engineering major Larsen & Toubro, A M Naik, is 11th on the list with a donation of Rs 112 crore, it said, adding that he has pledged to give away 75 per cent of his income for charitable purposes.
Others in the top ten givers include the Hinduja Family, Bajaj Family, Anil Agarwal and the Burman family.
Nine women find their place in the list led by a Rs 69 crore donation by Rohini Nilekani of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and, followed by Leena Gandhi Tewari of USV who donated Rs 24 crore, and Anu Aga of Thermax donated Rs 20 crore.
Based on the place of residence, Mumbai led with 31 per cent of the list and was followed by New Delhi 17 per cent and Bengaluru 10 per cent.
The pharma industry has the largest number of philanthropists followed by automobile and auto components and software and services.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Business / by PTI / October 28th, 2021
Tausif, Zuarez and Qaif have qualified for admission at India’s prestigious institutes. | Photos by arrangement
At least 65 students, including one girl, of Rahmani 30 – an educational movement for underprivileged students started in Patna, Bihar by late Wali Rahmani, have qualified for admission in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Techonlogy (IITs) this year. TCN features some of them.
Bihar :
Zaurez Ahmed (17) has secured 393rd rank this year in India’s topmost engineering entrance test known as Joint Entrance Exam (Advanced). His father Shakeel runs a modest general store in Jalwara, Kewti of Darbhanga, one of the most backward areas of Bihar. His family was in no position to afford the expensive private coaching for such exams. It was Rahmani 30 that came to his rescue.
Like Zaurez, there are atleast 65 students, including one girl, of Rahmani 30 who have qualified for admission in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) this year from the main centre at Patna. All 93 aspirants from Rahmani 30 qualified for JEE (Main). Across India, there are 23 IITs having 16000 seats for which more than 1.6 lakh applicants participated in the JEE (Advanced). These are shortlisted from one million aspirants of JEE (Main).
Rahmani 30 is modelled on Super30, the first such centre for coaching students for the IIT entrance test. Rahmani 30 was founded by the renowned Islamic scholar late Hazrat Maulana Wali Rahmani in 2008. Since 2009, Rahmani 30 boasts of more than 400 successful students who have qualified for admission in different IITs. Apart from this, nearly 1000 students have qualified for JEE (Main) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), the second most prestigious engineering institute of India.
Rahmani 30 offers the top 30 students free stay, food and education which costs around Rs. 60 lakhs for two years.
What is special about Rahmani 30? “Apart from the low cost or no cost stay at Rahmani 30, the ever availability of teachers and mentors here is immensely helpful,” Zaurez told TwoCircles.net.
He said that teachers at Rahmani 30 are “quite supportive.”
Zaurez cites ‘deeni mahaul (religious atmosphere)’ at the centre as helpful in having a ‘useful break’. His EWS (Economically Weaker Section) category rank is 28 and he is quite hopeful to get Computer Science at IIT, New Delhi.
Rahmani 30 has its branches at Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Bangalore and Hyderabad. Apart from the main centre, there is a girls unit in Patna. The main centre is being run in a rented apartment ‘Anand Palace’ at Anisabad, Patna.
A normal day for studies starts at 7 in the morning and continues till 9 in the evening.
Mantasha Firdous (17), who qualified this year, is the first female student of Rahmani 30 since its establishment to compete successfully for JEE (Advanced). Generally, the girl aspirants join Rahmani 30 for the medical entrance test NEET. However, Mantasha has a knack for mathematics. She has secured an EWS rank of 4074 and hopes to get “a good branch at a good IIT’. She said that the “group of girls” at the centre was quite helpful for her to remain focused on studies.
At Rahmani 30, the aspirants are admitted for a two-year residential course. As Covid-19 hit their preparation, an online mode was learning was started in 2020. Most students attended online classes on mobile phones though there were network issues for those residing in remote areas.
Tausif Alamhas (17) secured CRL (Common Rank List) 7169 and a category rank of 1339. His father Mohammad Rashid works as a tailor and his mother is a homemaker. His family could not send him to study at any coaching centre as they charged a hefty fee. He came to know about Rahmani 30 from one of his senior and passed the test to get admission.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, he said the most helping part of Rahmani 30 is “group study where peers help in doubt clearing.”
“My motivation level only rose with the continuous encouragement from the teachers. It helped increase my willpower too,” Tausif said. His next aim is to crack the country’s top exam for civil services U.P.S.C.
Seventeen-year-old Qais Alam’s success has a twist. His father is a small farmer and suffers from poor eyesight. Qais hails from Marar, a remote village in the Khagaria district of Bihar. He didn’t have much of an idea about IITs. He appeared for Aligarh Muslim University’s entrance test for a three-year Engineering diploma course and qualified. He studied there for two years, and quit before completing his degree. This was during 2016-17. He came to know about Rahmani 30 and was selected for its two-year preparation course. He appeared for JEE (Advanced) in 2020 in his first attempt but was not satisfied with his result. He reappeared for JEE again in 2021. He bettered his All India Ranking to 6025 from his 2020’s performance of 28000th rank. His EWS rank also improved to 639 from above 3000. He is hoping to get admission at IIT Delhi or IIT Madras. He too aims to clear U.P.S.C. after graduation from the IIT.
Twenty-three-year old Atif Hussain is in his 3rd year at IIT Guwahati. He originally hails from Bihar but his family is settled in Kolkata, West Bengal. Atif’s father Phool Mohammad sells Lahti bangles (lac bangles) which and his business has been hit due to Covid-19 lockdown. His mother is a housemaker. Atif studied in Urdu medium Howrah High School and got 84% marks in his 10th Board examination. He came to know about Rahmani 30 from a senior. He said that getting admission in Rahmani 30 was the ‘turning point’ of his life. “Teaching guidance and peer study environment at Rahmani 30 was very useful,” Atif, who is fond of research and coding, said.
Though Rahmani 30 was started for helping underprivileged students crack the IIT entrance test, it has ventured into other top examinations like Medical, Commerce and Law. In its CA/CS program, out of 10 successful candidates this year, five were girls.
Rahmani 30 calls itself “a movement, not an institution” which hankers “to demonstrate that economically, socially and educationally backwards and suppressed students when given the opportunity rise to the occasion.” It is “established to be the catalyst for inspiring the minorities to aim high to seek their rightful places.”
Rahmani 30’s founder late Maulana Rahmani had a clear vision about this centre. He was of the opinion that, “Utmost service to the religion during these times is to educate our youth and upcoming generations with contemporary subjects while keeping their faith firmly established and their self-confidence high; so that, they excel in religion, are adorned with education, have an appreciation of hard work and therefore are able to navigate and make confident decisions in their life.”
Bihar’s former Director General of Police (DGP) Abhayanand has been a great help for Rahmani 30 as a mentor since its beginning. Known for his Physics teaching skills, Abhayanand is credited with starting super 30 along with Anand Kumar, to teach poor students of Bihar to crack IIT JEE.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Abhayanad was delighted that Rahmani 30 is expanding in size and dimension in the right direction.
Late Maulana Wali Rahmani had approached him to be the mentor of this centre and he readily accepted the proposal. “There didn’t exist a good trend for education in Muslim community, particularly in the weaker sections. I thought it would be in the broader interest of the country to help such students,” Abhayanand said.
His only and interesting condition was, “I will not interfere in the administration of the centre and Maulana will not interfere in teaching at the centre.”
Maulana Fahad Rahmani, the younger son of late Maulana Wali Rahmani is the current CEO of Rahmani 30.
He told TwoCircles.net that Rahmani 30 initially started with 10 students and “in 12 years the number of students has gone up to 900.”
Maulana Fahad aims to increase the number to 15000 across India at the end of this decade. “If we consider the total number of institutions of national importance to be one lakh, its corresponding number for the Muslim community should be 15 % of it, which is roughly the population of the community in India,” he argues, adding, “To achieve this goal the community support needs to be increased. If we can arrange one donor for one student we will need 15000 donors, which is not beyond reach.”
Maulana Fahad insists that he doesn’t believe in the traditional fund collection.
On the success rate of girl students of Rahmani 30, Maulana Fahad said that it was his father and the late chairman Maulana Wali’s wish to see the girl students excel in engineering too. “Alhamdulillah, this year it has started, and it get better in the coming years.”
Sami Ahmad is a freelance journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He tweets at @samipkb
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / October 23rd, 2021
Interestingly, the spouses of Fathima, Hajra, Ayesha, and Faiza are also doctors. Kumhamed Kutty and his wife were also against dowry.
Zaina (third from right) flanked by her doctor family. (Photo | Special Arrangement)
Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. This is true in the case of Ahamed Kunhamed Kutty and his wife Zaina Ahmed of Nadapuram in Kozhikode district of Kerala.
When Zaina Ahamed gave birth to six daughters, Ahamed and his wife didn’t despair. Rather they were happy. Ahamed was a progressive thinker. He envisioned a life for his daughters in which they would serve society better and be role models for others.
His wish did not take long to turn into reality. All the six daughters of the couple did well in their studies and would go on to be doctors. Wait, we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Four daughters namely, Fathima Ahamed 39, Hajra Ahamed 33, Ayesha Ahamed 30, and Faiza Ahamed are already practicing doctors. Raihana Ahamed 23 is doing her final year MBBS in Chennai while the youngest Ameera Ahamed is in the first year of her MBBS course in Mangalore.
Interestingly, the spouses of Fathima, Hajra, Ayesha, and Faiza, namely, Dr Rishad Rasheed, Dr Ajnas Mohammed Ali, Dr Abdurahman Padiyath Manapat, and Dr Ajas Haroon respectively are also doctors.
Zaina was only 12 years old when she was married off to her cousin Ahamed. At the time, he was running a business in Chennai. After the birth of their first daughter, Ahamed went to Qatar with his wife and daughter where he was employed in a refinery.
Hajra, who did a BDS course while all the others opted for MBBS, recalls the evenings in Qatar when their parents used to infuse them with the importance of doing well in their studies and serving society.
Once they returned from school, there used to be a family gathering when their parents chatted with their daughters about several things, particularly their studies and future.
Ahamed Kunhamed Kutty and his wife Zaina Ahmed
My Uppa liked medicine. When he couldn’t become a doctor he dreamt of making his brother a doctor. But his brother went on to become a teacher and he’s known as Soofi teacher in our place,” Hajra said.
So, naturally, Ahamed wished that one of his daughters would fulfill his dreams. Fathima opted for MBBS and she took to the course like a duck to water. The positive feedback from Fathima inspired her other sisters also to go in for medicine. Behind it, all was the advice of their parents.
In fact, one of the sisters, Ayesha was interested in doing law. But her parents told her she can pursue it after completing her MBBS course.
Similarly, when it came to the marriage of their daughters, Ahamed and his wife were specific that their daughters should marry someone from the same profession so that it would help the young couple understand each other better. They were also against the practice of dowry. They didn’t want to “sell off” their daughters but marry them off to a person who understood and loved them.
After working in Qatar for nearly 35 years, the couple with their daughters returned to Kerala. About two years later, Ahamed suffered chest pain and passed away. At the time, only two of the daughters were married off. Thereafter, Zaina encouraged and inspired her daughters to pursue their courses and married off two other daughters.
Fathima is presently working in a military hospital in Abu Dhabi. Hajra said she had returned from abroad and is planning to do her PG course.
Ayesha is serving in a hospital in Kodungallur while Faiza and her husband work in Kochi.
This story would read like a dream. But, as they say, Rome was not built in a day. The six women doctors and their mother would testify.
The sisters don’t have a photograph taken together with their Uppa. They carry an image of him in their hearts.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Gladwin Emmanuel, Online Desk / October 20th, 2021
Kozhikode-native Dr Fathima Asla is fearless in her persuit. Battling disability, she became a doctor, and she found a groom in Firoz Nediyath, who gave her a wheelchair as wedding gift
Dr Fathima Asla and Firoz Nediyath
Kochi :
For the past couple of years, dowry and dowry-related atrocioties has been the topic of discussion in Kerala. The fact that women are to be valued more than the gold and money their family can shell out, is being addressed on a large scale. This is why the wedding of Dr Fathima Asla and Firoz Nediyath is relevant at this point.
Kozhikode native Fathima has been struggling with brittle bone disease since she was a kid. For her wedding, her husband Firoz gave her a wheelchair as wedding gift — a gesture that would go a long way in terms of empowering those who dare to dream above their disabilities.
For Fathima, Paathu as she is lovingly called, the battle began just three days after she was born. However, being diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta or brittle bone disease didn’t stop her. Her parents, though financially struggling, encouraged her to study and helped her become a doctor.
“I was fascinated with doctors because they have helped me since I was a kid. I wanted to be like them, help those like me,” says the house surgen at ANSS Homeo Medical College hospital, Kottayam. Fathima is 65 per cent disable, and had undergone six surgeries as a kid. She can walk very short distances now with the help of a walker. She also penned a book ‘Nilavupole Chirikkunna Penkutty’, an autobiography that discusses her life as a differently abled person.
Fathima met Firoz — a digital artist and MFA student at Fine Arts college, Thiruvananthapuram who hails from Lakshadweep — last year through a mutual friend. They fell head over heels for each other. “Our parents were very supportive of the relationship too, which was delightful. Everyone wants to feel loved and respected by their partners. Firoz doesn’t treat me with pity or sympathy. Rather, he sees me as an equal, someone who can dream and do things just like him. Wahtever little insecurity I was harbouring about myself before meeting Firoz is gone now. I want to go on an all-India trip with my new authomatic wheel chair,” quips Fathima.
The couple’s love bloomed during Covid. Firoz adds how the wedding was also a message to the society. “I want to tell everyone to be that person supporting specially disabled people to live their life to the fullest. It is not about sympathising with them, but enabling and encouraging them,” says the youngster.
Firoz also also talks about how travelling with Fathima has made him realise how our public spaces are non-disabled friendly. “We boarded a bus from Nilambur to Kozhikode. The bus’s foot board was not disabled friendly. When I was carrying her into the halted bus, other vehicles would honk loudly behind the bus. I doubt how many of educational institutions and tourist locations have disabled-friendly toilets and ramps.
Lack of these spaces makes specially-abled people isolate themselves,” he says. Fathima adds that her vision in life is to address these issues and make Malayalis more sensitive to these aspects. “We have launched a new YouTube channel ‘Kadalum Nilavum’ which will feature our travel vlogs and thoughts about making our society disabled friendly,” signs off Fathima.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Arya LK, Express News Service / Octobter 22nd, 2021
The World Youth Group has appointed Bahrain-based businessman Mohammed Mansoor as the Director of their Council.
Mansoor, Founder & CEO of Saara group heads a series of ventures and organisations spread across the domains of information technology, energy, oil & gas, sports, seed capital investments, and is a well-known social activist and philanthropist.
Founded in 2019, the World Youth Group, is a globally renowned team of elected young leaders, politicians, parliamentarians and diplomats. Their mission is to Educate, Encourage, and Engage global youth in social and political sectors within the UN realm by supporting the United Nations initiatives.
Apart from the UN and it’s Agencies, the entity to host highest number of elected representatives in the 76th UNGA. With 22 Members of Parliament, 6 Ministers and UN Permanent Representatives, representing over 25 countries, to participate in 5 Summits.
The founding organizations are Collegiate Congress Inc. (USA), All-Africa Students Union (AASU), European Students Union (ESU), Organization Continental Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Estudiantes (OCLAE), Young Democrats of America, and Young Republican National Federation (YRNF), and the founding members are then heads of the respective organizations.
Adding heft to the organisation is the Advisory Board which comprises of ten Permanent Representatives (Ambassadors) of UN Member States. Each Ambassador also acts as Chief Advisor for a Committee on SDG. With 108 national student unions, a dozen national youth political leadership, and over 45 Youngest Members of Parliament, they are to be the largest only elected youth leader’s consortium in the world.
Speaking about Mansoor’s appointment as Director – The Council, H.E. Ambassador Collen V.Kelapile, Permanent Representative of Botswana to the UN and President of UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said, ” Mr Mansoor’s credentials as an entrepreneur and social activist speak for themselves and we, at the Advisory Board, are delighted to have him as our partner as we are confident that under Mr Mansoor’s able leadership the Council, which comprises of top experts in various fields and is the only non-parliamentary, non-diplomat team at the World Youth Group, will serve to further strengthen our group as we actively work towards United Nations Agenda 2030 – the Sustainable Development Goals and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development especially during these challenging times.”
Cristo Thomas, Chair, World Youth Group added, ” Mansoor’s association with us will add the much needed impetus to invigorate The Council, I am confident that we will grow by leaps and bounds and accelerate our progress towards our common goals.”
Abdul Subhan Saith, co-founder of Bengaluru based Upmyranks Pvt. Ltd. will be coferred Global Excellence and Leadership Award by the Global Business Federation in Dubai. Subhan will be awarded under the category of “Edtec Educational Excellence.
The award will be conferred during Business Conclave and Global Excellence and Leadership Awards ceremony on October 22 at The Oberai Hotel in Dubai.
He will also take part as a panelist at a panel discussion that will be held at the Indian Pavillion at Dubai Expo 2020 on October 23 as a part of the business conclave.
Abdul Subhan Sait is the son of senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan Sait.
source: http://www.english.varthabharati.in / Vartha Bharati / Home> Gulf / by Vartha Bharati / October 16th, 2021
Haris Sumair secured All India Rank of 270 in UPSC 2020
Bidar, KARNATAKA :
Haris Sumair
Earlier this month the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) declared the results of UPSC examination 2020 wherein 761 candidates who appeared for the exams, cleared it. One of the names that made the headlines in Karnataka was that of Haris Sumair, a young engineering graduate hailing from Bidar city who secured the All India Rank of 270 bringing laurels to his city and the State.
What is more interesting in Haris’ story is that he has not received any professional or paid coaching for clearing, which is touted to be one of the toughest exams in the country. Although he was helped by his brother who cracked the UPSC exams last year and is an IPS Officer, Haris believe there are enough content and topper strategies on the internet to help anyone crack the exams without any professional coaching.
Less than a week after the UPSC declared the results, Haris says he was elated when he saw his name in the list adding that he was expecting a positive result but felt on cloud nine when he came to know that he had secured All India Rank of 270.
Vartha Bharati spoke to Haris in an interview and spoke to him about different aspects of clearing the UPSC and his personal life. Below are the excerpts from the interview:
Q: Did you expect this result? What was your reaction to the result?
A: I was very hopeful of a positive result however since the examination of UPSC has cutting edge competition. There is always doubt in mind that doubt was still there but I was very hopeful and very positive about the result. When I saw my name on the list, I was on cloud nine and I was feeling very elated.
Q: Please tell us about your family, education, and childhood.
A: I have done my schooling from grade 1 to grade 10 in Kendria Vidyalaya A-4 station Bidar. To pursue my intermediate, I went to Shri Chaitanya College in Hyderabad, and later I pursued my Engineering from Ramaiya College in Computer Science and Engineering. Most of my childhood was spent in Bidar city itself in the Northernmost part of Karnataka. I was a very playful kid I used to play sports as a kid and I encourage students even now to play sports along with their studies.
My father is a retired lecturer, my mother is a housewife and my brother also cleared UPSC last year and he is an IPS officer.
Q: Was cracking UPSC and becoming a civil servant your first ambition? If not, what was it?
A: Since childhood, I would play with computers, I used to play computer games while growing up I was very fond of them. In 12th std, I decided that enough with playing computer games now I will create new computer games and do software programming so I pursued computer Science engineering with that dream in my mind and did well in it as well and I got a job at Intel.
But as I went through the journey I learned more about civil services and the power and responsibilities that come with it. With the platform which civil services provide using which we can change the face of society. The role played by IAS officers like Shri Harsh Gupta ji he was the District Collector in my area he made a master plan of the city and revamped the entire city so this was very inspirational for me. This also motivated me to aspire for civil services. I am hopeful that the knowledge that I have learned in CS Engineering about artificial Intelligence, blockchains, and newer technologies I will implement this knowledge as a civil servant when I enter bureaucracy.
Q: Please tell us about your first inspiration that prompted you to take up UPSC exams?
A: There isn’t a particular incident as such, however, my friend Abdul used to stay in a rural village called chidri it is very near to my city. I used to see him and his condition that he had to walk for around 2 km just to be able to attend school. I was sad about his situation only because of a lack of good road his studies were getting affected. He has to spend most of the time completing the trek to be able to attend school. So, this was one of the reasons that motivated me that if only a single road connecting from village to town can empower so many students so what a DC can do if he can connect all the villages and make them smart villages, so this inspiration also was there in me.
Q: How old were you when you first thought about clearing UPSC and how did you shape yourself accordingly? What were the major changes in your life that you brought in to prepare for UPSC?
A: I was 21, I was in the final year of my engineering where I decided that I need to do this and I want to be able to do civil services. I had to change my schedule because in my Engineering final year it was supposed to be interactive, if I could use the word, it was not so hard. When it comes to civil services it is tough, cracking civil services examination requires consistency and hard work. I had to make some changes for instance we have to inculcate the habit of being able to read for long hours. What I did was even besides the studies I ensured that I played some sports like football and badminton because physical health and mental health are as much important along with your studies.
Q: Please tell us about how you prepared for UPSC exams? How did you select your subjects etc.?
A: For my optional, I took political science and international relations, there was a multitude of reasons why I took political science one of the reasons was this particular optional had converged with other subjects as well. If you study political science in international relations as optional it helps you cover your general studies paper almost entirely you do not have to do much effort for other papers and it also helps you in ethics as well as essays. So, I took political science in international relations as an optional. It is a dynamic subject you are supposed to be aware of current happenings around the world, so this was also a reason because it is an interesting subject it’s not just like history where some events are recorded. In political science in international relations, you are supposed to be up to date about how India’s foreign policies work Vis a Vis another country. So, it was very interesting it helped me and today I think the choice was right that’s why I have been able to clear the exams.
Q: If you have to put the struggle of clearing UPSC in one word, what would it be?
A: I would use the word consistency. It is the single most important thing when it comes to cracking any competitive examination you need consistency. Because of your little efforts each day, even an atom’s worth of efforts, even if it is as small as an atom together cumulatively, they add up to create a mountain so consistency is the key.
Q: Did COVID and lockdown hamper your preparations in any way?
A: Certainly, being humans, civil service aspirants are not robots they are also humans they also have emotions they see things around them and get depressed. So, when the covid pandemic happened then the lockdown started it was very depressing to see the number of casualties everywhere. I was looking for hope and positivity which I found in my friends and family. They supported me and motivated me to study during the covid 19 period. Some of my friends lost their relatives and parents, negative news was there around that, but the other aspect was because of the covid 19 pandemic the exams were delayed and there were three months to prepare more, I became resilient and studied despite the covid 19 pandemic.
Q: If you had to choose one, what would you choose as your biggest challenge throughout the process of clearing UPSC?
A: The biggest challenge if I were to choose one would be the lack of motivation sometimes people get demotivated and they are not motivated enough to study. It is hard work; it is smart hard work you need some motivation at times people do tend to be demotivated that is certainly a challenge continuing that momentum being motivated throughout the year because the examination process is long and all the three stages of the examination take around nine months so, being motivated thoroughly and consistently is the single biggest challenge I faced. I was very positive and I kept a positive attitude and because of this, I could ace through this challenge.
Q: Did you take any coaching for these exams? Do you think it’s necessary?
A: I did not take any coaching at all; I did not take any paid coaching or any professional coaching. However, I stayed at different study circles if you could say Hamdard study circle in New Delhi and Jamia Milia’s residential academy. So, I stayed at these places but I have not taken any coaching my brother helped me because he is an IPS officer so he knew how the examination procedure works, so he helped me a lot, and apart from this internet is available. So my advice to the students is they do not need paid coaching at all because all the resources and toppers strategies are free of cost available on YouTube. So, you can use the medium of YouTube for a good purpose and listen to the toppers on how they are reading and how they are doing and using this strategy you can make the best use of the internet and without any coaching, you can clear this examination.
Q: Apart from the actual preparation, what should be the mindset of a UPSC aspirant?
A: I will tell you, there is a quote in Telegu language, very small phrase that goes like Vishwasam, Prayatnam, Vijayam so the three words mean you should first have trust in yourself, then Prayatnam, efforts, and consistency should be there then Vijayam or success will come. So, our attitude should be like this, we should first trust ourselves if there is a lack of trust then obviously the result may not be positive. So, first, you need to trust yourself that I can do this. Read with a very positive mindset and open mindset so that is the important key apart from this examination is not about studying in a closed room alone it is not like that you are supposed to interact with people and that builds up your personality as well and learning from other peers helps you a lot. Apart from studying you should take care of playing some sports and taking care of your health. Overall these things are required for UPSC or any competitive examination for that matter. You should have a positive attitude and the right guidance is required. The right guidance can be sought from the toppers. On YouTube toppers strategies are available. So be positive, seek toppers guidance, and do Prayatnam then Vijayam or victory will automatically come.
Q: Tell us something about your UPSC interview?
A: As I previously told you that my background is in computer science engineering, so after you clear the main examination, you are supposed to fill a detailed application form. So, in that detailed application form, I had filled out various things I did academically in computer science and engineering like reading about AI, interest in blockchain technology so I had filled those things. Most of my interviews went talking about these technologies. I was asked how AI or machine learning can impact society, our economy, and what is my vision of how I will implement this when I come into a bureaucracy?. My advice to you students would be doing not to prepare for the interview after passing the mains examination have that vision in mind and preparation for the interview before you write prelims. Have a vision in your mind as a bureaucrat what aspirations you have after you become a bureaucrat. So, that vision you can share with the interview panel and they will ask you questions on that and that would ace you through and build up confidence in you.
Q: Now that you have achieved one of your most important ambitions in life, of clearing UPSC, what is your ambition as an IAS officer?
A: First of all I would like to say that becoming an IAS officer was an important ambition but it was not the only goal, my goal is to serve society and contribute to national integration and Rashtra Nirman. So even when I wanted to become IAS I had that in mind, for instance, the full form of IAS is Indian Administrative Service, in the end, we use the word service so it is a service to the society and the nation. So my ambition is I will serve in key areas that would take my nation forward, key areas like education, rural development and poverty, and women empowerment as well. These are the key areas in which I want to work using my technical abilities and the responsibility that is given to me. So, this is the actual ambition that I want to serve and change the society in these key areas to take my state Karnataka forward and take my nation forward.
Q: There is a lot of hue and cry about the alleged side-lining of minority candidates in government services. What do you have to say about this?
A: I think this is a myth that people have created, article 16 of the Indian constitution gives equal opportunities to everyone so there is no discrimination in UPSC or any government services. If some communities are there whose educational factors or poverty or these things are there so, what they need to do is work on these areas and through education, any community and section of society can develop themselves. So, my message is to all the vulnerable communities and all the disadvantaged sections of societies, work on education because Nelson Mandela the former president of South Africa said that education is the most powerful tool to change society and change the world. So, if you want to change yourself, your family or the society or your section of the society then pursue educational excellence in education can change and improve the socio-economic indicators we can be active drivers of Rashtra Nirman or contribution to national integration.
Q: What is your advice to youngsters?
A: In general my advise my advice to the youngsters is this is the best phase of your life and this phase of your life will determine the growth trajectory of our nation, family and society so make it productive, make it count pursue various fields of education be it law, journalism for that matter this is an important field it could be defence services, civil services or any service or any job whenever you are doing any work or anything think besides me and my family how can I contribute to society and the nation. So keep that vision in your mind and enjoy this productive phase of life and also learn in this productive phase of life. Because learning and education are key things that can change you as a person can change society can improve the development factors of the nation as well.
Q: Your advice to those preparing for UPSC.
A: One important piece of advice I would like to share with the UPSC aspirants or any competitive exam aspirants is some people do the error of counting the number of hours they have studied. They keep a count on saying I have studied 12 hours or 13 hours this is not the right way is instead of counting the number of hours count the number of chapters you have read. Make some weekly targets and daily targets and stick to them consistency and honesty to yourself and those targets are required sometimes it may be that you might take 8 hours or sometimes only 4 hours to complete a target so the study should be of quality, qualitative and not quantitative, so, this is the main thing that could make your hard work smart work so please pay attention to this.
source: http://www.english.varthabharti.in / Vartha Bharati / by Vartha Bharati / September 30th, 2021
