Piraman Village (Bharuch District) GUJARAT / NEW DELHI :
Ahmed Patel was one-point contact person for Congress leaders, workers from Gujarat
Ahmed Patel | PTI
When the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading in India in March, many journalists in Gujarat received a call from Ahmed Patel asking about their well-being and also that of their families.
“Hope you and your family are doing well. Do let me know in case any help is needed,” he said.
Even several Congress workers received a call from him. He personally called up a reputed hospital in Ahmedabad to book a room for his colleague, Rajya Sabha member Shaktisinh Gohil, who tested positive for COVID-19.
On Wednesday, when the nation lost Ahmed Patel of post-COVID-19 complications , for the Gujarat Congress, it is a loss that the party and its leaders cannot even imagine.
Ahmed Patel was the one-point contact person for the leaders and party workers from Gujarat. Ahmed Patel was accessible 24×7.
A three-time Lok Sabha member and five-time Rajya Sabha member, Ahmed Patel was a man who was in New Delhi but did not forget his roots in Gujarat and was ever ready to help Gujarat and raise concerns when it mattered.
He had friends across party lines and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and people of Ahmed Patel’s age called him ‘Babubhai’, a name he got from his native Piraman village in Bharuch district of Gujarat. There is a likelihood that he might be buried beside the graves of his parents in Piraman.
Not many know that Ahmed Patel was instrumental in running many gaushalas (cow shelters) in Gujarat. A Congress leader in Rajkot, Dr. Hemang Vasavda, recalled how during drought Ahmed Patel aided gaushalas and the way he stayed in Kutch during the killer earthquake of 2001 to guide the party workers.
Totally dedicated to the party without aspiring for any post and easily accessible is how former Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhwadia described Ahmed Patel. “We have lost a friend, philosopher and a guide,” he said.
Tributes came from the young working president of Gujarat Congress Hardik Patel as well. Hardik recalled how Ahmed Patel inspired him before he joined the party over two years ago. “I remember how he offered me mango ras and puri in peak summer in New Delhi when I went to meet him,” he recalled.
Hardik also said that when he was in jail, Ahmed Patel often called up his parents to comfort them and say that lawyers would be arranged for his case.
Ahmed Patel reaching out to party workers and meeting them personally during his visits to Gujarat in their good and bad times is something that the rank and file of Gujarat Congress is not able to forget.
The manner in which Ahmed Patel won the Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat in a nail-biter in mid-2017 strengthened the Congress and it put up a good show in the Assembly election later that year.
source: http://www.theweek.in / The Week / Home> News> India / by Nandini Oza / November 25th, 2020
The 33-year-old officer says he chose the location outside his office so that he could monitor and supervise the arrangements.
From food items to hangers filled with warm clothes, ‘Wall of Kindness’ in Srinagar brings warmth during this harsh winter | Zahoor Punjabi
As the mercury drops to 2 degree Celsius on a windy Saturday evening in Srinagar, a youngster, Zubair Ahmad, puts up a blanket on a hanger mounted on the ‘Wall of Kindness’, a unique wall set up for the needy and homeless, outside the office of the traffic police department.
Ahmad is among thousands of residents who have come forward to donate their clothes — jackets, coats, suits, mufflers, among others — for those in need of warm clothes during the chilly winter, as a gesture of their “kindness”.
And the ‘architect’ behind the Wall of Kindness initiative is Sheikh Aadil Mushtaq, a 2015-batch Kashmir Police Service (KPS) officer from Baramulla district who is posted as deputy superintendent of police (DSP) traffic police in Srinagar.
Moved by the deplorable conditions of the poor — hit by two shutdowns, after the abrogations of Article 370 in August last year and the Covid-19 lockdown in March — the young police officer took the initiative on November 13 on the occasion of World Kindness Day. The Wall of Kindness was first started in Mashhad in Iran in 2016 and later, the charity initiative spread to other parts of the world.
Starting from food items to hangers filled with warm clothes to sanitary pads, the Wall of Kindness in the heart of summer capital brings warmth during this harsh winter. Painted in white, the wall has a message, too: “If you don’t need it, leave it. If you need it, take it.” “It is not a new idea. It is a corollary effort. This Wall of Kindness is an interface that I have dedicated to the people of Srinagar,” Aadil says.
The 33-year-old officer says he chose the location outside his office so that he could monitor and supervise the arrangements. According to Aadil, there has been an overwhelming response to the initiative. “Every day, hundreds of people come and donate items such as woollen clothes, food and blankets etc.” The DSP, who is pursuing post-graduation diploma in cybercrime, says with the onset of winter, the arrangements for kangris (earthen hot pots) have also been made at the wall.
A coffee and tea vending machine has also been set up there by the donors. “Any homeless or an underprivileged person can have a cup of tea or coffee to beat the chilling winter,” the officer says, adding that it is being ensured that the items reach the needy only. “My initiative has been successful. The things are reaching the needy and the deserving people, and this was the main purpose of my initiative,” Aadil says. Asked whether people have been hesitant in donating, the officer says: “I have been lucky here. The kind of love and affection I get from people is overwhelming.
Without their help, it would have been impossible. I don’t have to instruct much. People are themselves cooperating and donating items.” “I am not doing it as a police officer. Being a police officer is my second identity. I am a responsible citizen first, and I have certain responsibilities towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” says DSP. Aadil says he has been receiving calls from people from Jammu and other places who want to join the initiative and generously donate for the destitute.
The police officer says the winter in Kashmir is harsh and many people struggle in the absence of warm clothing. He said he and other police personnel wanted to help those people. The clothes hanging on the wall catch the attention of people who stop to take a look. Locals have, however, appreciated the initiative. Ahmad, a local who has also donated a pair of blankets, says the initiative should be appreciated to encourage others.
“It hardly matters whether the initiative has been taken by a police officer or a civilian. What matters is that we need to be compassionate towards people, who have been economically hit by two lockdowns since August 5 last year. We need to be compassionate towards each other and help each other in the trying times like Covid-19 pandemic. We should come up with such initiatives regularly,” he says.
Moved by deplorable conditions of the poor in Srinagar, after two lockdowns in seven months, a young traffic police officer sets up a ‘Wall of Kindness’ where people can donate clothes for those in need, reports Fayaz Wani.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Fayaz Wani / Express News Service / November 22nd, 2020
These are not the boats of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) or Disaster Response Force (DRF) of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC)
With heavy rains and flash floods inundating Hyderabad’s Nadeem Colony, authorities pressed into service a few boats for rescue and relief operations, but a week later a couple of boats are still seen floating in the flooded waters in the area.
Abdul Qadeer and his friends sail from door to door, supplying free food, milk packets and water bottles to those still trapped in inundated houses. There was another inflatable boat seen floating in the area to provide relief.
These are not the boats of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) or Disaster Response Force (DRF) of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
With the colony facing perennial problems of water-logging and as there is no end in sight to recurring floods, a couple of residents of the colony have procured boats to remain prepared for the worst.
Abdul Bari, a relative of Abdul Qadeer, brought the inflatable boat with a seating capacity of 5-6 persons from a recent trip to the US.
Though Abdul Qadeer’s house is also inundated with 2-3 feet of water, this did not deter him and some others from helping those who are the worst hit. “The next lane still has five feet of water and this boat is the only means to reach out to the people who have taken shelter on the first or second floor of their houses,” Abdul Qadeer told IANS.
A senior accountant in a private engineering college, he has been living in the colony in Toli Chowki area since 1989. Whenever it rains heavily, the colony gets inundated but the residents have learnt to live with a couple of feet of water every year. “This is the third worst flood. We earlier saw a similar situation in 1989 and 2000,” said Abdul Qadeer.
The colony is located near Shah Hatim pond, which gets stormwater from various uphill localities in Jubilee Hills. The residents in this colony of 500 to 600 families deny that they built the houses in Full Tank Level (FTL).
According to them, the main reason for water logging is the encroachments on the pond. “The pond in 1989 was spread over 35-40 acres but now it is just 17 acres because of encroachments,” he said.
Syed Azhar, a businessman who has been living in the colony for 20 years, said a part of the pond was filled with debris to build houses and a golf course.
The flow of stormwater was also disrupted due to encroachments which led to narrowing of the drains at various points.
Several visits by public representatives and officials and assurances over the years have failed to change the destiny of the colony.
Despite their houses still remaining under water and with no electricity for more than a week, people like Abdul Qadeer are doing their bit to help those worst hit.
Asia Begum, who had to shift to her sister’s house in another colony, cooks food for 50-70 people every day and brings it to Nadeem Colony for distribution. “This is the testing time for all and this is the time to earn good rewards,” she said.
Some families are not ready to leave the houses as they either fear thefts or have no relatives where they can shift. “They can’t go to any other place. In these pandemic times even the guests are not being welcomed,” said Abdul Bari, who also comes here from another area in the city to take part in relief work.
One of the worst floods in Hyderabad’s history last week claimed 33 lives and inundated hundreds of colonies in and around the city.
source: http://www.nationalherald.com / National Herald / Home> National / by IANS / October 20th, 2020
The Wednesday episode of KBC (Kaun Banega Crorepati) was memorable for the Season 12 as the show got its first crorepati in Delhi-based Nazia Nasim. The contestant was lauded not only for her historic victory, but also for not using any lifeline till late during the game.
On November 11, she won the prize money of Rs 1 crore after answering 15 questions correctly. Nasim was the roll-over contestant of Tuesday’s game, during which she had earned Rs 40,000 already. Although Nazia couldn’t answer the 16th jackpot question of Rs 7 crore, she is hailed as the first crorepati after the season premiered on September 28, 2020.
Here are 10 things to know about Nazia Nasim.
Nasim hails from Ranchi, Jharkhand. She moved to Delhi in 2004 to do a PG diploma in advertising and PR from Indian Institute of Mass Communication. Currently, Nasim is working as a communication manager.
She got married in 2008. Along with her husband and 10-year-old son, she resides in the National Capital Delhi.
Nasim’s credits her inspiration of participating in KBC to her mother who has been a die-hard fan of the show and host Amitabh Bachchan. She and her father used to go to the telephone booth early morning to answer KBC’s participatory questions. After having tried for more than 8-10 seasons for 20 years, she finally had to chance to try her knowledge at the game show.
For Nasim, winning the prize money was a ‘Slumdog Millionaire moment’ as she just had to refresh the knowledge she had acquired over the years to answer the questions as she hadn’t prepared much for the show. Slumdog Millionaire is a 2009 Academy Award winning film about the journey of a teenager from slums of Mumbai becoming a millionaire.
Nasim revealed that she would use her prize money for medical expenses of her parents and in-laws. She also wants to get his son proper soccer training as he is an enthusiast of the sport. Moreover, she would donate 2.5 percent of the money for charity (zakat).
Nasim identifies herself as a feminist as she is a big propagator of women’s rights. She hopes that her victory helps cultivate confidence in women and girls from small towns to thrive.
The first crorepati of KBC 12 feels that the show is much more than just money as it provides a stage and opportunity for a person from a decent family to appear on national television and talk to a celebrity.
On talking about not winning the jackpot amount Rs 7 crore, she said that she had gone on the show to fulfill her mother’s dream.
The question that fetched Nasim one crore rupees was, “Which of these actresses once won a National Film Award for Best Playback Singer?” which she answered correctly as Roopa Ganguly.
Nasim’s strategy on the game show was eliminating every wrong option, which did eventually lead her to the right answer. Notably, she didn’t use any lifeline till the 11th question.
Shikha Chandra is an intern with SheThePeople.TV
source: http://www.shethepeople.tv / She The People / Home / by Shikha Chandra / November 13th, 2020
Nasheet Shadani is one of the handful ‘creative strategists’ Facebook employs around the world. He is also a great lover of the Urdu language and runs a unique platform called Ishq Urdu on, where else, Facebook, with 254,000 followers. The Cannes award-winning adman who has worked with ad agencies like McCann, Grey and Ogilvy and Mather tells Grin why he is dedicating his life to reviving the medieval Indian language of great poets.
From Shadani’s Project Urdu.
There are around 70 million Urdu speakers in the world — most of them in South Asia. ‘But most websites, blogs represent Urdu in a very boring way. Most are just e-books, directly uploading content from books. Many thought that Urdu is a language spoken by some kind of obscure species. There was no curation and at times it gave an impression that it is indeed spoken by obscure species. The need to modernize the language in terms of visual look and feel as well as curation was badly needed,’ says Shadani. Several great Indian poets including the 17th century maestro Mirza Ghalib wrote in Urdu.
Shadani grew up speaking the language in Old Delhi and studied fine arts at the Jamia Millia Islamia university. He learnt Urdu calligraphy while he was working on a project called Save Calligraphy and redesigned Ogilvy’s logo in Urdu which won awards at the Cannes Lions Festival in design.
Ogilvy in Urdu.
‘This made me realize how culturally rooted works with a good cause can make a huge difference. Soon, I started immersing myself in the language which was followed by a series of discoveries. From thoughtful Urdu poetry to Angaray (which was the start of ‘Progressive Writers Movement’) to Bollywood , I started feeling an urge to share this knowledge with friends through my personal Facebook profile,’ Shadani, who soon moved onto to creating Ishq Urdu.
The project took off the ground in August 2015 with the goal to make people realize that they are already speaking Urdu in their day to day routine and listening to Urdu all the time through Bollywood songs and dialogues. ‘Most people think that Urdu is limited to its poetry but the truth is that Urdu has an entire ecosystem around it. To help solve this problem, we came up with our first campaign Bollywood Without Urdu where we removed Urdu words from iconic Bollywood songs and dialogues to highlight the importance of Urdu in our day to day life,’ says Shadani. For instance, the famous dialogue Mogambo khush hua would not sound the same without the Urdu word khush in it.
Shadani says he is touched when Urdu lovers from all across the globe connect with him and share their stories which pushes him towards his goal of making the language cool, contemporary and relevant in today’s world.
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source: http://www.grin.news / Grin.news / November 22nd, 2017
A scientist, a visionary, a family man. He was responsible for pioneering research work in the field of Marine Geology.
Dr. Siddiquie was born on 20 July 1934 to M. A. Siddiquie, a civil surgeon, and his homemaker wife Ahmedi Begum in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh in India. The eldest of 6 sons and two daughters, he completed his intermediate studies from Osmania University (Hyderabad) then went on to acquire BSc and MSc (Geology) degrees from Aligarh Muslim University (Aligarh). He started his career at a young age, as a geologist with Geological Survey of India, Kolkata. After 17 years of service in GSI, he was offered the position of Head of Geological Oceanography Division in CSIR’s National Institute of Oceanography in Goa. Here he served in various capacities and later became Director in 1985.
After an impeccable career and service to the nation, he passed away on 14th November 1986 after a massive heart attack. He is survived by his wife Talat and three children.
Dr. Siddiquie left behind a legacy of extensive research and survey work done in the exploration of petroleum and minerals, infrastructure development, exploration of polymetallic nodules, studies on sediments, studies on Foraminifera, paleoclimatic studies and Antarctica He was associated with several oil projects which included piping, route identification, bathymetric and shallow seismic surveys for ONGC and Oil India. He is also credited with the initiation of managanese nodule program in India and this coordinated program was reported to have earned India a place among the seven registered Pioneer Investors of the International Seabed Authority of the United Nations.
He served as the deputy leader of the first Indian expedition to Antarctica and he coordinated the marine science programs for Dakshin Gangotri, the permanent Indian station in the southernmost continent. He authored several peer-reviewed research papers and articles throughout his career.
For his work and efforts he was awarded the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prize (1978), the Padma Shri (1983), National Mineral Award and the State Award of the Government of Goa (1986 Posthumously).
H. N. Siddiquie was the member/ fellow of various boards and councils including the elected member of Indian National Science Academy and the National Academy of Sciences, India. Indian Geophysical Union has instituted the Dr. H. N. Siddique Memorial Lecture series in his honor.
A tall, handsome man of friendly demeanor; he had an impressive personality. He was also very religious and adhered to the tenets of Islam. A mentor and inspiration to many; he is still remembered, admired and respected by all who met him.
An old woman wearing green clothes, which fully covered her body (Burqa), carrying sword and gun, and riding a horse used to exhort the residents of Delhi to fight against the British forces during the summers of 1857. This old woman used to gather civilians behind her and attack the British forces stationed at ridge and Kashmiri Gate. People could never know her whereabouts. Out of nowhere, she used to appear on a horse and after the attack would disappear.
In a letter dated, 29th July, 1857, Lieutenant Hudson wrote to Deputy Commissioner of Ambala that this Muslim woman was very dangerous. The woman was weird and incited the Delhites to revolt against the British. She led the people into the skirmishes and was an able commander, who could manage untrained civilians into war against the trained British army. Hudson further noticed that she was excellent at fighting with swords and shooting with guns. She killed many British soldiers during the different skirmishes.
Hudson paid a tribute to the bravery of this woman by comparing her with Joan of Arc of France. He contended that the courage, leadership and valour of this green wearing Muslim woman was no less than Joan of Arc.
During one of the battles at the ridge in Delhi she fell from the horseback and was captured. Army General, looking at an old Muslim woman, felt unthreatened and ordered her release when Hudson intervened. Hudson told the General that this woman was the actual commander of the Indians and hence really dangerous. Afterwards, it was decided that the old woman would be shifted to a prison in Ambala.
This brave old woman was shifted to Ambala in July, 1857. Neither we know her name nor we have any idea of what happened to her in Ambala but surely this old Muslim woman clad in a green burqa is one of those unsung heroes of the 1857 who ignited a flame which later liberated India from the foreign rule.
source: http://www.heritagetimes.com / Heritage Times / Home> / by Saqib Salim / October 07th, 2020
October 24th was the 137th birth anniversary of Sir Mirza Ismail, one of the Dewans of the erstwhile Mysore State who later went on to become the Dewan of the Princely States of Jaipur and Hyderabad too.
To mark this event, the Anjuman-E-Hadiqatul Adab, Mysuru, conducted a webinar that was well-received by the large number of viewers who logged in. I can say with some confidence that the Anjuman requires no introduction to most Mysureans because it is well-known for the annual Eid Milan get-together which it has been hosting over the past fifteen years to promote communal harmony and camaraderie among people of different faiths.
This event is as old as my column is because it is with my report of the first Eid Milan, which I filed for Star of Mysore, that my column was born! However, this year’s Eid Milan unfortunately could not be conducted because COVID-19 wiped out all celebrations from the entire face of this earth. Let’s all hope that things will change for the better before it is time to hold the Eid Milan next year.
Niranjan Nikam, the well-known senior journalist, who again does not need any introduction to most Mysureans, was the principal speaker at the webinar. He spoke on ‘The Unknown side of Sir Mirza Ismail,’ a topic which I suggested because I felt that by being slightly unusual, it would certainly be a crowd-puller! And Niranjan rose up to the expectations of his large virtual audience admirably well. Through some very painstakingly collected and well-curated references, Niranjan brought out many very interesting anecdotes from the life of Sir Mirza which were very noteworthy because I don’t think they are known to present day Mysureans.
Although it is understandable and expected too, that any speaker worth his salt will come well-informed and well-prepared for his talk, it quickly became evident to me that Niranjan was privy to much inside information which left me more than a little amazed. Take for instance the revelation that upon his death, the body of Sir Mirza that had already been interred was once again exhumed when there was a hue and cry from many grieving members of the public that they did not get a chance to see it and pay their last respects to their dear leader.
The body was once again displayed on a platform of sand for many more hours till late in the night and till all the people assembled there were satisfied that they had paid their homage to the man before it was interred into the grave once again. I have never heard of anything like this having happened, anywhere in the world in connection with the death of any public figure. DVG, the well-known Kannada writer, in his account about Sir Mirza has said that among the mourners was a frail old lady who was weeping bitterly saying that Sir Mirza, once while on his morning rounds, in response to her humble plea summoned one of the municipal engineers and ordered him to immediately provide a water tap to the street she lived in!
R.K. Narayan, the famous writer says in his autobiography, ‘My Days’ on page 138 that when his writing was not very paying, with him having got just 40 pounds for his book ‘The Dark Room’, it was Sir Mirza who got him a free railway pass and a government grant and commissioned him to write his book on Mysore, which Narayan was keen on writing.
As Niranjan’s talk progressed, the pieces of a most interesting jigsaw puzzle began to fall in place one by one. Niranjan revealed that his wife Pamela and he were associated for over ten months with the production of a book on Agha Aly Asker, the paternal grandfather of Sir Mirza, written by Sir Mirza’s very charming and graceful nephew Maj. Mohammed Mirza’s wife Syeda Mirza who stays in Bengaluru. The book which the speaker had brought with him, says that Sir Mirza who shared a very close working association and more significantly a very intimate friendship with the then Maharaja of Mysore, Sri Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, would not have been a part of the history and growth of Mysore if his very enterprising grandfather, Agha Aly Asker, as a sixteen-year-old lad had not overheard a conversation between two people who were sipping tea in a chaikhana at his hometown, Shiraz in Iran. Learning that there was a great demand for Arab horses in the court of the Maharaja of a distant kingdom called Mysore, he decided to try his luck in selling them where they were in demand. So, he wasted no time in buying two hundred fine steeds and setting sail with them to India from Iran in the year 1824. The most surprising fact is that every one of those two hundred horses survived this long and arduous journey over sea and land, reaching Bangalore, alive and kicking!
The man who sold the horses to the Maharaja endeared himself to his customer and settled down in Bangalore which soon became his ‘Karmabhumi’ according to the writer Syeda Mirza. At that time Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, the then Maharaja of Mysore was about to become a victim of the very vicious Doctrine of Lapse imposed on Indian royalty by a very scheming British regime by which it could annex any kingdom if the ruler did not have a direct heir. It is reported that Agha Aly Asker became very close to the Maharaja because he could through his good relationship with Sir Mark Cubbon, the British Commissioner, get the Crown to restore the kingdom’s reins into the Maharaja’s hands, which understandably must have been a very difficult task. Meanwhile Sir Mark Cubbon commissioned Aly Asker to build more than a hundred bungalows around High Grounds, Richmond Town and the Bangalore Cantonment, many of which still stand in testimony to his abilities. We also have the Ali Asker Road named after him in Bengaluru on which his own house too still stands, although in a very vestigial state.
The close relationship between his family and the Mysore royal family continued down the line with his grandson, Sir Mirza Ismail becoming the classmate of the young Maharaja Sri Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar at the private royal school that was being run in the Summer Palace in Bangalore. Sir Mirza, who graduated from the Central College, Bangalore in the year 1905 and held many high posts was the first Indian to become the Private Secretary to the Maharaja. At the age of forty-two, he also went on to become the youngest Dewan of the State of Mysore in the year 1926 after A.R. Banerjee relinquished office.
His love for Mysore was so intense that in a speech that was aired on All India Radio, which can still easily be found on its archives in the internet, Sir Mirza says: I want Mysoreans to wash with Mysore soap, dry themselves with Mysore towels, clothe themselves in Mysore silk, ride Mysore horses, eat abundant Mysore food, drink Mysore coffee, sweetened with Mysore sugar, equip their houses with Mysore furniture, light them with Mysore lamps and write on Mysore paper!
Sir Mirza in his autobiography, ‘My Public Life’ says that the passing away of his dear friend, the Maharaja was the greatest sorrow that he had known! Towards the last phase of his active public life Sir Mirza seemed to have lapsed into a slightly disillusioned frame of mind. Here in Mysore he was seen by his detractors as a Muslim who was unusually close and influential with a Hindu Maharaja only because of his childhood friendship. At Jaipur he was seen as anti-Hindu while at Hyderabad he was seen as anti-Muslim because he did not support its existence as an independent State, without integration into the Indian Union!
It is said that once when the Maharaja and he were doing their morning rounds together on horseback, Sir Mirza, for reasons best known to him, expressed his desire to step down from his post. The Maharaja smiled and pointing towards the Chamundi Hill said: “You can do it when I go there.” He meant the cremation ground at the foot of the hill! And, that is how it was. Sir Mirza’s death came calling at the age of seventy-five while he was still very active. His demise was mourned not only here at home but across the world too, with newspapers in many countries writing about his very productive life.
Reporting on Sir Mirza’s resignation as Dewan of Mysore, The Ceylon News on May, 12th, 1941 said, Truth is a paradox and so is greatness. Sir Mirza too was a man of paradoxes. He was an autocrat with democratic instincts. A dictator with a weakness for having a constitution. A capitalist with socialist leanings. An idealist with an intense practical outlook. A dreamer with the astute mind of a businessman. A most charming man but a very stern and strict official. A perfect host but an indifferent friend. And he had no bosom friends, except the late Maharaja of Mysore!
The most amazing thing that Niranjan revealed in his talk was that the grand-old-man of India, Sir C. Rajagopalachari, fondly known as Rajaji, the first Indian to become the Governor General of India, at the time of the imminent partition told Sir Mirza to accept the invitation of Mohammed Ali Jinnah and go over to Pakistan. When a shell-shocked and very outraged Sir Mirza angrily asked him why, he said, “that way we will have someone in Pakistan who will love India and thus ensure that the Pakistanis too will do the same!” A wry but a terrific compliment indeed !
e-mail: kjnmysore@rediffmail.com
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Columns, Over A Cup of Evening Tea / November 07th, 2020
Premji pipped HCL Technologies’ Shiv Nadar, who had earlier topped the list collated by Hurun Report India and Edelgive Foundation, by a wide margin.
Wipro Chairman Azim Premji (File Photo | PTI)
Mumbai :
IT major Wipro’s Azim Premji donated Rs 22 crore a day or Rs 7,904 crore in a year to emerge as the most generous Indian in FY20 and top a list of philanthropy.
Premji pipped HCL Technologies’ Shiv Nadar, who had earlier topped the list collated by Hurun Report India and Edelgive Foundation, by a wide margin.
Nadar’s donations stood at Rs 795 crore for FY20 as against Rs 826 crore in the year-ago period.
Premji had donated Rs 426 crore in the previous fiscal.
Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries retained the third spot among the list of givers by donating Rs 458 crore as against Rs 402 crore a year ago, it said.
The raging pandemic had the corporate honchos repurposing their donations to fight the COVID infections, and the top giver on this turned out to be Tata Sons with a Rs 1,500- crore commitment, followed by Premji at Rs 1,125 crore and Ambani’s Rs 510 crore.
A bulk of the corporate commitments seemed to be given to the PM-CARES Fund, with Reliance Industries committing Rs 500 crore, and Aditya Birla Group donating Rs 400 crore, the report said.
It can be noted that Tatas’ commitment also includes a Rs 500 crore donation to the newly created fund.
Premji’s generosity pulled the total donations up by 175 per cent to Rs 12,050 crore in FY20, the list said.
Azim Premji Endowment Fund owns 13.6 per cent of the promoter’s shareholding in Wipro and has the right to receive all money earned from promoter shares, the report said.
The number of individuals who have donated more than Rs 10 crore increased marginally to 78 from the year-ago period’s 72, the report said.
With a donation of Rs 27 crore, Amit Chandra and Archana Chandra of ATE Chandra foundation are the first and only professional managers to ever enter the list.
The list has three of Infosys’ co-founders with Nandan Nilekani (Rs 159 crore), S Gopalkrishnan (Rs 50 crore) and S D Shibulal (Rs 32 crore).
The list of 109 individuals who have donated over Rs 5 crore has seven women, led by Rohini Nilekani’s Rs 47 crore.
Education is the highest beneficiary sector with 90 philanthropists, led by Premji and Nadar, donating Rs 9,324 crore, the report said, adding healthcare came second with 84 donors and was followed by disaster relief and rehabilitation with 41 donors.
The financial capital led by donor count at 36, followed by New Delhi at 20 and Bengaluru at 10.
E-commerce firm Flipkart’s co-founder Binny Bansal was the youngest donor at 37 with a commitment of Rs 5.3 crore and the average age of the donors on the list was 66 years, it said.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Business / by PTI / November 10th, 2020
Syeda Muhammadi Begum was the first woman in the Indian sub-continent to be the editor of a weekly magazine,‘Tehzeeb-e-Niswaan’. The Urdu magazine was dedicated to emancipate the women. The magazine came out with its first edition on 1st July, 1898.
Muhammadi Begum started her work along with her husband Mumtaz Ali. Mumtaz, who had also written a book stressing upon the rights of women, ‘Huqooq-e-Niswaan’, was a Darul Uloom, Deoband educated Lahore based publisher. He was a close associate of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan during the later years of the leader of Aligarh Movement. In fact, a hostel has been named after Mumtal Ali in AMU. Muhammadi and her husband realised that its was important that Muslim women also access modern education along with Muslim men. It must be kept in mind that when the magazine was launched Aligarh College was only a boys institution and there was no women’s college in Aligarh.
In fact, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan disagreed with Mumtaz and Muhammadi on women’s education. It was not until the demise of Sir Syed that they actually launched the magazine for women.
Muhammadi Begum, born in 1878 in Shahpur, Punjab, married Mumtaz Ali in 1897 after the death of his first wife. Syed Muhammad Shafi, father of Muhammadi, was the Principal of Wazeerabad High School and ensured that his daughters received modern education. In fact, Muhammadi used to play cricket and ride horses as well in those days when women were kept inside homes. When she married Mumtaz, he was already owning a publishing house and a printing press in Lahore.
Within a year, Muhammadi learned the art of publishing, editing and proofreading from her husband. She could read English, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and Arabic. Soon the first Urdu weekly dedicated to the cause of women was launched, ‘Tehzeeb-e-Niswaan’.
As expected, people did not take such progressive magazine positively. Muhammadi and Mumtaz used to send free complimentary copies to the well known educated people. In return they would receive the copies back along with letters abusing Muhammadi. The magazine picked very slowly and even after three months only 70 people subscribed to the magazine, after three years 345 and after five years 428.
Muhammadi had one son, Imtiaz Ali, whom he used to affectionately call Taj. She used to write stories, poems, plays and lullabies especially for him. She trained him to be a man of literary taste. Imtiaz grew up to edit the magazine and established himself as one of the greats of Urdu literature.
Muhammadi later launched another magazine for women, ‘Musheer-e-Madar’, in 1905. Which did not survive much after her death. She also established schools for women. A very interesting experiment carried out by Muhammadi was of an all-Women shop. This shop was operated by the women and for the women and no man was allowed inside the shop for any work. Interestingly, the title of Ashraf Ali Thanvi’s Bahishti Zewar is inspired by one of the poems written by Muhammadi.
From 1897, Muhammadi’s life was busy with social work. She edited magazines, wrote essays, stories, poems and held public meetings to emancipate the women of India. This hard work took a great toll on her health and left this world at a young age of 30, in 1908.
(Author is a well known historian)
source: http://www.heritagetimes.com / Heritage Times / Home> Women / by Saquib Salim / September 14th, 2020
