Category Archives: Amazing Feats

Karnataka: All-woman Garuda team in the making

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Karnataka (under research project), , , ,

KARNATAKA :

The first batch of women commandos undergoes training for Garuda, Karnataka’s anti-terror force. (Photo | EPS)

What will emerge is a lean, mean team — the first batch of the all-woman Garuda commandos of the Karnataka Police.

Bengaluru :

Seventeen young women, mostly from villages across Karnataka, are training to shoot, handle explosives, rappel, rope walk, handle terror, as they build grit and endurance, for 12 hours a day. What will emerge is a lean, mean team — the first batch of the all-woman Garuda commandos of the Karnataka Police. 

The special operational team Garuda, Karnataka’s own anti-terror force, was formed in 2010, and for the first time this year, the department will be training 50 women to join the force. Pre-induction training is on at Bengaluru’s Centre for Counter Terrorism for these 17 women, under the Deputy Director, Lt Col Rohit Nayak and his team led by Superintendent of Police M L Madhura Veena. 

“They will form the first all-woman commando team and are undergoing training to handle any kind of terror attack or save victims of such attacks,” said Madhura Veena, the only woman SP in the Centre for Counter Terrorism, of the Internal Security Division (ISD).  The Response Counter Terrorism Team will be based in Bengaluru, and can reach any part of the city in 30 minutes. The commandos will be deployed in areas with high concentration of IT-BT companies, besides sensitive areas, including coastal Karnataka. 

ADGP of ISD Bhaskar Rao has been appreciative of these youngsters coming from humble backgrounds but with enough grit to be trained into commandos with special counter-terrorism skills such as handling weapons, Improvised Explosive Devices, explosives, rope work and communication, CAD (computer aided design) and navigation, medical first aid and PIN (planning, intelligence and negotiation) etc. 


“First batch of Women Garuda Commandos with 17 girls have started.

Few are enthusiastic, few want to go back. But a very strong willed SP, Madhur Veena is spending full time. The girls are amazing quick learners,” Bhaskar Rao tweeted on Saturday. However, when the girls were asked why some of them want to go back, Uma Devi, from a village in Bidar, said, “It is difficult initially. During basic training, after we clear constable post, it’s not so rigorous. Here we are trained in handling weapons, ropes, besides tackling obstacle course,” she told TNIE.

Umashree, 26, a constable with Karnataka State Industrial Security Force, added, “I was among the first two women who began training two months ago with men for the same force. In an emergency, it doesn’t matter if you are a man or woman. You have to have grit, focus and physical strength to bear all this. We motivate women who come for training.”

Rizwana agrees, saying that though her parents work in the fields in a village in Kalaburagi, she had always dreamt of joining the police force and is fascinated by the stars on the uniform. “I will make it big here, I know. I will continue with training,” she says.

After two months of training, they will have to write an examination, after which they will be inducted into the team.R

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Chetana Belagere, Express News Service / February 07th, 2021

J&K girls are flying high, as pilots

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JAMMU & KASHMIR :

Kaneez Fatima.

In the recent past, Jammu and Kashmir has been giving to the country several women professional pilots—young women who have struggled hard to get their wings to fly. The latest to join the club is Kaneez Fatima who became the second lady from Ladakh to become a pilot.

Talking to The Sunday Guardian, her mother Shakeela Bano said that her daughter’s success was because of her, the mother’s, struggle as she had single-handedly brought up Kaneez and provided her with the required education. Shakeela was divorced at a young age and devoted her life to bring up her two daughters.

Shakeela said that she saw a spark in her daughter and was very keen for her education. “I got myself transferred from Ladakh to Srinagar only for the better education of my daughter. I gave her my best as a single parent, I tried my best to give her everything she needed,” she told this newspaper.

She said she was satisfied that her daughters were settled in their lives and added that the burden of her bank loan for their education was no longer occupying her mind. Her elder daughter Nahida is an engineer with HAL. She did her engineering from Srinagar.

“I took a huge loan from a bank in Srinagar for the education of my daughters. Now it is all over. I have achieved what I wanted for my daughters,” said a smiling Shakeela. She said that she could get her daughter admitted to the Government Aviation Training Institute at Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Kaneez, according to her mother, went through a six-year training course and subsequent flying experience.

According to Shakeela, another girl from Leh was so inspired by her daughter’s struggle that she too got herself enrolled for training in the same institute.

J&K came into prominence when Captain Tanvi Raina became a pilot. It was followed by other success stories of women pilots Ayesha Aziz and Iram Habib. The state got its first Muslim pilot Hina Masood, who is working with Air India now, and belongs to Ladakh. Like Hina, Kaneez has also joined Air India. Ayesha is flying fighter jets and has roots in Kashmir as her mother is from the Valley.

source: http://www.sundaygurardianlive.com / TSG – Sunday Guardian Live / Home> News / by Noor ul Qamrain / September 22nd, 2018

Meet the Lady Behind India’s First Incubator for Indian Muslim Women

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DELHI / NRC :

Ruha Shadab is a doctor and a graduate from the Harvard Kennedy School where she was on a full-tuition scholarship. Shadab has worked as a doctor in low-income neighborhoods in Delhi and later moved on to work on systemic issues of healthcare, as a part of the Government of India.

LedBy, India’s first incubator for Indian Muslim Women helps them by providing leadership workshops, 360 degree advisory framework, and executive coaching.

Dr Ruha Shadab (30) is the founder of LedBy Foundation, India’s first and only leadership incubator focused on empowering Indian Muslim Women by providing leadership experiences to undergraduates and postgraduates. Launched in 2019, LedBy was incubated at Harvard University and was pre-seed funded by them as well.

Dr Ruha has been quite an achiever all her life – she pursued her medical degree, worked as a physician for a few years, then decided to join public health and worked at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), worked with NITI Aayog and then made her way to Harvard with a full-tuition scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in public policy. At Harvard, Dr Ruha realised the need to do something for Indian Muslim women given the specific challenges that they faced, and also found the medium to address the problem.

From a religious majority to a religious minority

To understand why Dr Ruha felt the need to start an initiative for Indian Muslim women, it is imperative to understand her early influences.

While Dr Ruha is originally from India, she was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and she spent the first decade of her life there before moving to Delhi/NCR.

Narrating an incident that left a deep impact on her, which eventually led her to start this initiative, she says, “Twenty years ago, it was on Diwali that my family and I moved back to India. While driving from the airport to our home I saw every house on the way lit up and children on the streets bursting fire crackers. This suddenly took me back to the Diwali’s in Saudi and I realised how my friends there, the minority, never celebrated it in this way.” After a few years, she saw Eid in a similar light as Diwali.

She says, “In Saudi, as part of a monolithic society, one does not even think of what the minority is feeling. And then I moved to India where so many things just hit me so hard.” That is when she understood what being a Muslim woman, especially in a multicultural society like India, felt like.

It was not like there were not enough Muslim women, but they were hard to find in the mainstream.

“It was tiring, after a point of time to be the only Muslim woman in school, college, workplace. There was no one who shared a similar background as me whom I could look up to and aspire to be and that is what I wanted to change,” she says. During Dr Ruha’s stint as a clinical physician, she says, “At the hospital I worked at, I would see so many young Muslim girls with large families. Without saying it was right or wrong, what I saw was that there was an issue that needed to be addressed.”

Dr Ruha believes that there is a lot of talent in them [Indian Muslim women] but what they lack is 3 A’s: agency, access, and avenues. LedBy is looking to change that. If you have the privilege of knowing, you do not have the luxury of not doing,” says Dr Ruha.

LedBy works closely with high potential college-going Muslim women in India and provides them with three things – leadership workshops, 360* advisory framework, and executive coaching. “For all these three things we have very skilled women, across regions and religions, on-board to help the younger women realise and achieve their potential,” says Dr Ruha.

“We have been able to get coaches, mentors, and facilitators from across the globe. Being a virtual program helps breaks barriers,” she says. It is a summer program of four months in which 24 women are selected on merit. To be eligible to apply for this programme, you must identify yourself as an Indian Muslim woman, no more than two years away from completing a full-time undergraduate degree (that means, is in 3rd or 4th years of a 4-year program; 2nd or 3rd year of a 3-year program) or are in a full-time postgraduate program of one or two years duration, and physically reside in India.

For the 24 women who were part of the first cohort – what stood out were the connections that they made and the validation that their ideas and dreams received from others at the programme. While for Ammara Gul Qaisar, a student at Lady Shri Ram College, the programme “represents the power of human connections”, for Sahreen Shamim the programme allowed her a chance to delve into her dreams and find ways of realising them.

With an office based in Noida, Dr Ruha says that everything that they do is virtual and in a sense COVID-19 only helped in pushing it towards being online.

source: http://www.maeeshat.in / Maaeshat.in / Home> Entrepeneurship / January 11th, 2021

Ali Manikfan: The versatile genius without formal education

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Minicoy (Lakshwadeep) / Olavanna (Kozhikode), KERALA :

Another major interest of Manikfan is Lunar calendar and he has built one calendar based on the New moon and on astronomical algorithms

Thiruvananthapuram :

The locals of Olavanna in Kozhikode used to see an upright, lean person wearing Arabian clothing walking towards his home. They only knew that he was a retired official from Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) living here and was from Lakshadweep.

But, when television screens flashed the name of Ali Manikfan among the Padma awardees, the people were lost in words as to who they had ignored albeit unknowingly.

Mohammed Basheer and P.R. Ramachandran, employees of a private firm in Olavanna said, “He is lean and frail but walked straight and with a twinkle in his eyes but we never knew who he was until the news flashed that he was awarded the Padma Shri.”

Manikfan, who is currently living in a rented accommodation along with his wife in Olavanna, was sent to Kannur in Kerala for studies but after fifth standard he did not pursue formal education and returned to Minicoy, his home town in Lakshwadeep Islands.

He was a keen observer, knew almost every fish that inhabited the sea off the Minicoy islands and this observation turned into a passion for fishes. This motivated him to study more about fishes, their origin and everything in and out about them.

The research in fishes got him a job at the CMFRI where he discovered a rare fish which has been named after him – Abudefduf Manikfani.

He can speak, read and write 14 languages including French, German, English, Arabic and other languages and uses seven of them to communicate.

In 1981, he was invited to Oman to make a ship, a replica of the one believed to be used by Sinbad, the Sailor, during his voyages. He was invited by the Irish voyager Tim Sirven who wanted it to be made without metals. Ali and his made a 27-m long ship using timber and coir in an year. Named “Sohar” after the town of Sohar in Oman. Tim and his team travelled 9,000 km from Oman to China on it and it is now kept in a museum in Oman.

Manikfan told IANS, “Those days metal was not used for making ships and hence we had to replicate one using timber. This ship sailed up to China from Oman and is still kept at Oman museum.”

Another major interest of Manikfan is Lunar calendar and he has built one calendar based on the New moon and on astronomical algorithms.

The multifaceted personality had invented a bicycle with roller motor and travelled to New Delhi along with his son Musa.

Another of his interest is agriculture and he has converted a barren 15 acre land at Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu into a lush green farm land using indigenous methods of cultivation. He also built a residential premises using traditional materials.

He is now basking in the glory of Padma Shri award but local people vouch that there is no difference in his attitude even after this honour.

Ramachandran said, “He is a great personality and down to earth, we never knew who he was until media reported about him. The local people are planning a grand programme to felicitate him.”

–IANS

source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Featured / by Muslim Mirror / February 07th, 2021

She almost did not become a Doctor; but now Dr Farida Ghoghawala helps thousands of women for free

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, FREE : Healthcare / Assistance, NRI's / PIO's, Useful / HEALTHCARE, World Opinion, , , , ,

Ahmedabad, GUJARAT / Fort Myers (FLORIDA) , U S A :

Dr Farida Ghoghawala.

Fort Meyers, Florida: 

For most professionals, 60 is the age when they are expected to take a backseat, relax, and retire. But then, most professionals are unlikely to have the zeal of Dr Farida Ghoghawala. She might have officially retired in 2000, but since then, the 72-year-old obstetrician-gynaecologist, who is now a US citizen, has travelled extensively in India, Philippines and Jordan to treat women who can’t afford quality health care. What is even more commendable that she offers her service for free, paying for her own travel and food, only to serve humanity.

After retiring from her practice in 2000, Dr. Farida started volunteering for health programs. In 2012, she came to India to help in a health initiative organised by Indian Muslims Relief and Charities and has been visiting every year since then. Since 2015, she has been spending six months in India doing medical activities, treating and providing quality medical care to poor and low income women, free of cost.

Her dedication to women who cannot afford treatment comes partly from dire financial constraints during her childhood. Dr Farida was born in a low income class family in Ahmadabad, Gujarat in 1944 to Mohammad Usman, who worked in a book-binding center and Zeenat-un-Nisa,a home maker. She did her primary education in a neighborhood Government-run Urdu elementary School. However, her parents asked her to drop out, as they weren’t much educated and wanted her to instead focus on domestic chores.

Fortunately, her maternal uncle came to her rescue. He took her with him and got her admitted into an English school in 5th grade. Having studied in Urdu medium school, English was quite difficult to comprehend for the little girl, but she was full of enthusiasm when it comes to studies and joined Kindergarten classes to learn the subject.

After years of struggle and getting admission into B. J. Medical College Ahmedabad, she finally graduated in October 1967. But fate had better in store for her. “Mamu (maternal uncle) insisted that i should take the US entrance exam called Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). However, there was a small catch. India had closed centers for ECFMG exam to prevent physician outflow to foreign countries. So, Mamu sent me to Ceylon for the exam by borrowing application fee of 15 dollars from the Physician son of his business colleague, who was doing residency in Cleveland Ohio,” recalls Dr. Farida.

Finally, she was selected in four-year residency program in Saint Johns Hospital of Cleveland Ohio in 1970.With 15 dollars in hand Dr.Farida landed in United states.

“That time was such a struggle for me. I use to sleep in hospital call room,” she recalls.
After finishing her residency, she started private practice in Fort Myers Florida and settled their along with one daughter and a son, who is now working as an ophthalmologist in Texas.

Dr. Farida has also served during Iraq-US war in the United States Army. But she continued to have one wish.

“Despite all such work something was amiss in my life. I always wanted to go back to India, because my childhood memories and our poverty and that of other people living in the neighborhood used to haunt me and I wanted to do something for them, especially the women who used to suffer silently,” says Dr. Farida.

Dr. Farida came for treating poor patients in India in year 2012, with IMRC, which conducts an annual India Health Initiative for treating poor patients in India for free.

“Finally in 2012, I first came to India as a volunteer doctor for IMRC, organizing free medical camps across various parts of India. They are really doing a great job in India,” she added.

The India Health Initiative (IHI) was started by IMRC in 2010. Every year, doctors from the US volunteer for this health initiative by rendering their services free of cost. Since its inception, the organization has successfully conducted seven India Health Initiatives comprising of medical camps across different rural areas, poor localities and slums in India.

Dr. Farida, through her efforts, has treated thousands of female patients in Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Assam and Haryana in the last four years.

“Really, the experience has been so fulfilling that after my first visit in 2012, I started coming to India every year and now Alhamdulillah, every year, I spend six months in India,” she says.


While sharing her experience, she further said, “Women here get exploited by local medical fraternity due to lack of awareness, especially in fertility treatment. I am educating them on when to say no and how to get proper treatment. Apart from that, many ailments arise in women due to nutritional deficiency. Women are the caretaker of the whole family if we educate them about health issues then we are saving families from chronic diseases.”

Earlier this year Dr. Farida travelled with a team of 10 US based doctors volunteering for IMRC and treated patients in slums of Hyderabad and villages in Kozhikode district of Kerala.


She has also volunteered and worked for four months since November, 2015 in a low cost medical care clinic in Bangalore, Karnataka.

On August 18, Dr. Farida will embark on a new mission, but to a new country and new people, whom she considers most deserving. She is going to Amman in Jordan with IMANA Syrian Refugee care mission, where she will treat refugee women.

Later this year she is again coming to India to be the part of IMRC’s health initiatives and also treat poor women in Jammu and Kashmir. This might seem daunting tasks for many, but for Dr. Farida, this is what she does best, and she is unlikely to stop anytime soon.

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Indian Muslim> TCN Positive / August 12th, 2016

Mangaluru: Beary Chamber of Commerce & Industry felicitates Covid warriors

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mangaluru, KARNATAKA :

Mangaluru :

Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) felicitated COVID-19 warriors on Wednesday, February 3 at Hotel Ocean Pearl, Mangaluru.

The felicitation program commenced with prayer offered by Ashraf Kinara Kudroli.

Chancellor of Nitte University, N Vinay Hegde said, “When society was facing turbulent times, extending a helping hand to those in need is commendable. I have never witnessed such unprecedented times in the last 81 years of my life. People have been philanthropists on several occasions, but being one during the pandemic is a different thing altogether.”

Chairman Sri Devi Education Trust Sadananda Shetty said, “I congratulate the Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry for felicitating COVID warriors who worked hard, faced all the difficulties, and risked their lives during the pandemic.”

President Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry, S M Rasheed said, “The year 2020 was a tough year for all of us, as one of our active founder members lost his life due to coronavirus.”

Image result for images Mangaluru: Beary Chamber of Commerce & Industry felicitates Covid warriors

As many as 11 COVID warriors were felicitated in the event namely: Abdul Rehman Goodinabali, Ziyauddin Ahmed, Abdul Rauf Putthige, Dr Farhan Fazal, Dr Tajuddin K, KM Asif, Abubakar Siddique, Mohammed Ilyas Bajpe, Ashraf Kinara Kudroli, Abdul Azeez and Mohammed Ashraf Kandak.

President Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry S M Rasheed welcomed the gathering, treasurer Mansoor Ahmed proposed the vote of thanks and Abdul Razzaq compered the event.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / DaijiWorld.com / Home> Top Stories / February 03rd, 2021

Meet Abbas Moontasir, the Asian All-Star who rose from Mumbai’s basketball courts

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Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

The 75-year-old is one of the biggest names to emerge from the Late Bachookhan Municipal Playground in Nagpada.

Scroll.in photo

The tall frame of Gulam Abbas Moontasir stands out in the narrow by-lane with mushrooming slums that leads to the Nagpada Basketball Association courts. The ground has the distinction of producing almost a dozen internationals and many more national-level players. The 75-year-old Moontasir is one of the biggest names to emerge from the Late Bachookhan Municipal Playground.

Moontasir’s elder brothers were more inclined to body building but the youngster picked up basketball at the age of nine thanks to a group of friends and insists that he was a very bad player and can’t really explain when the transformation really took place.

“I was very bad. As an athlete, I just couldn’t run. Any child could have beaten me straight away but I don’t know I got into it. One thing we did because of our elder brothers was that they put us into weight training in the 1950s,’ says the man who captained India in the 1969 and 1975.

The strong foundation soon became the bedrock of Moontasir’s style of play as he was known to dominate play with his sheer physical presence as the Nagpada hoopsters began to first dominate arch rivals Mastan YMCA and then the state and national scene.

“It was physical but isn’t basketball also a physical game? I’ll tell you, some of my friends. For eg, Narsimha Sharma, who is in the US now, would tell me, ‘just grab the ball, you don’t have to push in your weight.’

“When I started out Napgpada was not a big name in basketball. It was known for its volleyball. But slowly we made a name for ourselves… The first tournament we won was under 5 feet. We beat Mastan YMCA in 1953. I was 11 years old. After that of course Nagpada picked up basketball.

“In 1957, before I was 16 years, we won the men’s state championship. And we were Nagpada ‘B’ team, not Nagpada ‘A’ team. We beat them in the finals in 1957. I was selected of course for the state team also then it was Bombay. Next year, I was the captain of the Bombay state team in nationals and I was ranked 3rd in the country in the men’s section,” explains Moontasir, who went on to ply his trade at the national and international level for three decades and became the first player from Nagpada to be honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1970.

Railways boost

His career really blossomed after he joined Western Railways as the side boasted of the country’s top stars and Moontasir was the pivot around whom the team revolved.

Ask him about his own memorable game and Moontasir prefers to speak about the worst one rather than the best. “It was in Bangalore. It was so bad that the children you see [points at youngsters dribbling in a basketball court] would have played better. I just couldn’t hold the ball. People always ask me about what my best game was. I say, I remember my worst game which I will never forget in my life.

“I don’t know why. I would double-dribble, I would fall down, I would lose the ball,” stating these were the kind of games that one needs to learn from.

Never the one to mince words, Moontasir was suspended twice for his run-ins with the referees and lost out almost three years of his career.

“Twice I got suspended for arguing with the referee. And I was suspended for three years. Arguing with the referee. Not abusing, not hammering, not doing anything. Just arguing with the referee I was suspended for three years. Anyway I did come back after that,” he adds.

He made his international debut during an exhibition game against Australia in 1960 and the high point of his career probably came in 1970 when Moontasir became the first Indian to be named in the Asian All-Star team after a brilliant showing in the Asian Games in Bangkok.

“We were supposed to tour Europe but we didn’t,” he says with little regret, adding he then tried to move to United States of America to make a career in basketball but things did not materialise.

“In fact, I had applied for an overseas scholarship in America. But unfortunately they said ‘We don’t give scholarships to overseas students.’ And then in those days I had to pay $3000 which I didn’t have. So I didn’t go,” he adds.

Moontasir, who played his last nationals for his employer at the age of 44 and continued playing competitive basketball for four more years, insists that even if had got a chance to go to America he would have had to work extremely hard on his fitness to match the standards of the players there.

A stickler for hard work, Moontasir uses the phrase “working very very hard” almost a dozen times during the half-an-hour interaction and goes on to explain why he would appreciate an Ivan Lendl more than his idol John McEnroe.

“Between McEnroe and Lendl, who do I think I appreciate more? Lendl. It was because the guy had no talent. It was sheer hard work. If McEnroe had worked as hard as Lendl, he would have had 30 Grand Slams,” he adds, before stating that the Indian players who are trying their luck in USA’s National Basketball Association League will have to really step up on the fitness front or would not stand a chance.

This is also why, Moontasir did not really venture into coaching after his playing career apart from working with the Western Railway women’s team.

Even today he visits the Nagpada Basketball Association courts occasionally and those running the show definitely want him to provide some inputs to the young trainees who are looking to make a mark on the domestic scene.

But Moontasir, who has even acted in a few feature films, isn’t really interested. “During our playing times we were told that a basketball player never walks on the court but runs. I don’t see that kind of intensity in these players now.”

The 75-year-old insists that even the Basketball Federation of India isn’t providing enough exposure and game time for the players to mature and excel. “We are far away from world standards. But we can definitely be among the top five in Asia and that should be our primary aim,” he signs off.

source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> The Field> Field Watch / by Abhijeet Kulkarni, Shashank Rajaram and Crystelle Rita Nunes / December 17th, 2017

Indian woman who won Dhs15 million in Big Ticket raffle, says she bought the ticket for the first time

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KERALA / Doha, QATAR :

Thasleena Puthiya Purayil with her husband and children.

Indian expat based in Qatar Thasleena Puthiya Purayil has hit the Dhs15 million Big Ticket jackpot in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Thasleena who lives in Doha bought the winning ticket online.

Thasleena, who hails from Kerala, took home the mega prize amid pandemic.

Big Ticket Abu Dhabi wrote on Facebook, “Congratulations to Thasleena Puthiya Purayil, from India, with winning ticket no. 291310. She won Dhs15 Million in The Fantastic 15 Million series 224.”

Thasleena told Big Ticket officials that she brought the ticket for the first time.

In Qatar, Thasleena and her husband Abdul Gaddaf run a chain of restaurant and their business is doing quite well.

The happy couple has 3 children, a son who is studying in a University in Dubai, daughter and an infant.

Big Ticket also wrote, “Congratulations to Wilma Danthi with Ticket No. 001517 from India for winning the Dream Car Range Rover series 1!”


Apart from Thasleena, 7 other Indians won prize money between Dhs350,000 to Dhs20,000 in the raffle draw.

The Big Ticket, the longest-running and biggest raffle draw in the UAE is hosted at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Ain Airport and online at www.bigticket.ae

The raffle draw said, “What started out with a Million Dirham cash prize, gradually grew over the years and now on Big Ticket’s 29th year, we’re giving away grand prize’s of up to 20 Million Dirham.”

The raffle draw guarantees cash prizes vary from month to month with Big Ticket giving away a minimum of 10million dirham up to our biggest jackpot of 20 million.

source: http:///www.gulftoday.ae / Gulf Today / Home> News / by Gulf Today, Staff Reporter / February 06th, 2021


Meet Sameera Khan from Andhra Pradesh with ‘Himalayan’ ambitions

Amazing Feats, Sports, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , , ,

Anantapur, ANDHRA PRADESH / Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

Sameera Khan is a cyclist and a mountaineer. Image courtesy: IANS

Hyderabad:

A cyclist and mountaineer, she is out to prove to the world that girls are capable of doing anything without family support.

After losing mother when she was just nine and her father, a tailor, few years ago, P. Sameera Khan overcame all odds to come up in life and is now looking for sponsors to fulfill her ambition of scaling Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world.

A solo traveller, she has already cycled her way to 20 countries. The 30-year-old from Anantapur in in Andhra Pradesh has already scaled four mountains, the highest being 6,858 meter high Ama Dablam in Nepal.

“I want to tell the world that a girl in India needs lot of support from her parents. I am trying to pursue my dream, earning for it, spending for it, everything on my own but now I have come to a point where I need some financial support to attain my ambition. I want to tell the world that girls are capable of doing everything despite not having family support,” Sameera told IANS.

The backpacker’s Mt Everest expedition requires Rs 30-35 lakh. “I have some money and I need sponsorship. The kind of work I do should be getting lot of support,” she said.

She wants to scale Mt Everest from Tibet side and not Nepal, which she said is commercial and easy. ” “From Tibet side, it is tough and also very technical. Rather than doing just for the sake of doing, I want to do something which makes me feel I have done the whole thing beyond my ability,” she said.

Sameera said she approached the government authorities for help but they refused as they don’t consider mountaineering as a sport.

Youngest among five siblings, she lost her mother at the age of nine and was brought up by her father, a tailor.

While pursuing medical lab technology course after 10th standard, the family finances forced her to take up a job in BPO in Bengaluru.

During Srinagar floods of 2014, she travelled to Kashmir as a volunteer. She went on a solo Pahalgam valley trek for two days and soon she started learning how to survive in tough conditions.

Sameera, who lost her father in 2015, started undertaking solo travels with her savings. She cycled across South Asian and South East Asian countries. In India, she cycled for over 1,000 km covering various states.

Her trekking expedition started with Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and later extended to Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. She has already covered 550 km high altitude trekking.

She has have not done any course in mountaineering. “I was already cyclist. I cycled in 20 countries . I think that boosted my confidence to become a high-altitude trekker,” said Sameera currently an entrepreneur at Kepler Home Cinema in Hyderabad.

Always ready to accept new challenges, Sameera started high altitude mountaineering. “Mountaineering is very down thing. It’s toughest of all sports. People who are into mountaineering have to be mentally and physically tough. Only those people who are not afraid of death can survive,” she said.

On November 13, 2018, she climbed 6,859 meters high Ama Dablam mountain peak in Nepal. This came barely a month after she had ascended 6,160 meters high Imja Tse (island) peak.

This further boosted her confidence and she started training for scaling Mount Everest. She has to go to the UK for advance training, which alone will cost Rs 3.50 lakh.

“I want to attribute to my demised parents a legacy of my lifetime achievement by inspiring women and girls from the suburbs of South India. Then I want to publish my book and make a small documentary on my life journey. I want the world to respect women and regard them high,” shared Sameera, whose all four sisters are married.

She said that she has so much to say to the world but before that wants to scale the peak. “I can be heard if only I am at the top as people listen to eminent and dynamic personalities,” added the girl with Himalayan ambitions.

source: http://www.onmanorama.com / OnManorama / Home> Lifestyle / by IANS / February 05th, 2021

Meet Rahmatunnisa, The First Collegegoer From Her Family, Among Bangalore University Gold Medallists

Amazing Feats, Education, , ,

Bengalauru, KARNATAKA :

Rahmathunnisa, currently an MCom student at Bengaluru City University, is the first from her family to attend college. On Saturday, she bagged eight awards- five gold medals and three cash prizes for BCom at the Bangalore University convocation.

Rahmathunnisa, who was a student of BBMP First Grade College said she has always been a government or an aided school student and credits her success to paying attention to the classes in college.

She plans to crack competitive exams, and says her family is supportive of her studies.

Rahmathunnisa’s father passed away when she was only three years old, and she grew up with her mother, a homemaker, and three elder sisters and an elder brother. The brother is now into aluminium fabrication, while the elder sisters are married.

In all, 319 gold medals and 90 cash prizes were awarded to 19 meritorious students during Bangalore University’s convocation ceremony. A total of 184 PhD degrees were given in different disciplines. Due to the Covid-19 situation, only gold medallists, prize winners and PhD awardees were invited in person.

source: http://www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> Education / by Rushda Fatima Khan / February 01st, 2021