Category Archives: Education

Cultural Academy modifies safety code

February 27, 2015Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Travel & Tourismmpositiveone@gmail.com

Srinagar :

Apart from fire proof and earthquake proof, the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Cultural and Languages has added flood proof code to its list of precautions for building any new strong room to store rare manuscripts and paintings.

The Academy, whose collection of valuable artifacts was damaged during the last year’s flood, has taken the decision to prevent the occurrence of such a situation in future. The academy is in possession of some of the rarest manuscripts, many of which are the only surviving copies.

“Just a day before the floods, on September 6, we shifted majority of our manuscripts and paintings to the second floor,” said Haroon Rashid, Secretary of the Academy. “That saved our treasure from total annihilation.”

The floods damaged around 40 newly acquired manuscripts and 50 paintings at the Academy’s repository. “To restore these manuscripts and paintings we got a team of four experts from National Museum of India, New Delhi, and National Research Laboratory For Conservation Of Cultural Property, Lucknow,” said Rashid.

The experts worked for over two weeks by employing latest techniques for the preservation of manuscripts. “With their efforts we were able to save our entire flood-affected collection,” said Rashid. “As of now the damage to the cultural treasure of Kashmir remains minimal.”

Rashid said that the Academy was never prepared for floods, although precautions were always taken against other dangers like fire, theft and earthquakes. “Now we have added another safety measure of protection against floods. Whenever our strong room is built it would be flood proof too,” said Rashid. The Academy has currently shifted the strong room to the top floor.

The Academy is in possession of over 400 manuscripts and 500 rare paintings. Their total value runs into hundreds of crores although the officials say that they are priceless. Some of the manuscripts include first Quranic manuscripts handwritten in the subcontinent in 1237 AD by Fateh-ullah Kashmiri, the Holy Quran dating back to 1594 written in an ink prepared by blending gold with saffron, another Quranic manuscript written in gold dating to 1711 AD and a Persian manuscript written in embossed calligraphy with nail of thumb popularly known as Khat-e-Nakhun.

The paintings include those of M F Hussain, GR Santosh, NS Bendre, VS Gaitonde, Tayeb Mehta, J Swaminathan and others. One of Hussain’s paintings with the Academy is worth Rs 5 crores.

source: http://www.greaterkashmir.com / Greater Kashmir, Srinagar / Home> Kashmir / by Haroon Mirani / Srinagar, January 23rd, 2015

Awesome ‘Eightsome’ Do ALC Proud

February 26, 2015Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Educationmpositiveone@gmail.com

NCC cadets of Andhra Loyola College, who participated in the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, shares a light moment before being felicitated by Krishna district collector Babu A on the college premises in Vijayawada on Tuesday | Express Photo

Vijayawada :

Pride of achievement was writ large on their faces and their demeanour spoke of confidence. They were eight NCC cadets engaged in a banter while waiting outside the auditorium in Andhra Loyola College (ALC) on Tuesday to be felicitated by the district collector for representing the state in Republic Day parade.

ALC had achieved a rare distinction of being the first college to have eight NCC cadets selected to participate in Republic Day parade. Sharing their experiences and future plans with Express, the cadets expressed their joy and pride of being able to participate in Republic Day parade.

‘Awesome’, ‘Most cherished moment of life’ were their immediate response, when asked how they felt being part of such a momentous occasion. Many of those cadets want to join civil services and become IPS officers while some want to pursue their career in defence services.

Senior Under Officer D Venkata Krishna, pursuing BSC (MPC) second year, was the contingent commandant from the state. It was a proud moment when he got selected for the RD and had seven members of his own group also getting selected for the event.

Venkata Krishna, the only cadet from Andhra and Telangana to get selected for the All India Guard of Honour – 2015 at RD camp, said it was one of the best moments of his life. “I had been able to perform cultural programme in Teen Murti Bhavan in the presence of the Prime Minister,” he said. He along with another cadet R Divya Sai got selected for Youth Exchange Programme (YEP) for 2015. They will be visiting a foreign country, yet to be finalised, in March.

Cadet Captain R Divya Sai was part of the Prime Minister’s rally and bagged All India second best cadet award (silver medal). She also won the Governor’s gold medal for excellence in RD camp 2015 along with Chief Minister’s gold medal at state level. “It was one of the most cherished moments of my life ,” she said. Sergeant M Vikram, who too was part of the PM Rally, said he is proud of his achievement.

Cadets S Naga Balaji and Tijo Thomas said they were excited to march along the Rajpath on Republic Day.

Cadet Shaik Riyaz, who got 3rd place in static model presentation ‘Eurofighter’ explained how he workedhard to prepare for RD camp and the stages he had to cross to get qualified.

Corporal P Gayatri got selected for RD contingent and secured All India fourth place on Gold Star and she was the only girl who could complete the novice show jumping arena with two different horses.

Junior Under Officer Meer Akbar Basha was part of Swachh Bharat Ballet presented by the AP contingent in PM’s house.

“I am proud that I got an opportunity to show culture of both AP and Telangana through my cultural programme,” he said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by S. Guru Srikanth / February 25th, 2015

From Avadi to unconscious world: A writer reminisces

February 25, 2015Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Educationmpositiveone@gmail.com

Chennai :

Books and the sea filled her life, and the city gave her enough of both. That’s author Anita Nair reminiscing her Chennai days.

“Growing up in Avadi, my main interests were to go to the Moore market to buy books and hit the beach where the sea seemed like an endless horizon of abundance and hope,” said Nair, whose latest novel is ‘Idris: Keeper of Light.’

She was addressing English literature students of Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women as part of a collaborative lecture series organised by the Madras Literary Society (MLS) to create awareness about its project to restore books, digitalise its catalogue and enroll more members.

In a sense, writing the book itself was a journey for her as she “travelled to places beyond to tap into the great unconscious world” where she visualised Idris, an African trader who is the main character of her novel, named after a prophet who wielded a pen. She wrote in long hand and it took six years to complete the book. ‘Idris’ was inspired by stories narrated by an acquaintance on a boat ride on the Nila river, now called the Bharatapuzha in Kerala, about a group of warriors in the 1600s who unsuccessfully tried to assassinate the Zamorin of Calicut every 12 years. Historical fiction, she said, “makes history palatable and fiction relevant.” She researched the period and culled material from foreigners’ travelogues and records kept by a Portuguese clerk called Duarte Barbosa. Dr Fathima Banu, head of English department, Admiral M Raman and Padma Padmanabhan of MLS were among those present.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / February 25th, 2015

ANU botany professor pens a treatise on flora of Guntur

February 25, 2015Education, Green Productsmpositiveone@gmail.com

Senior Professor of Botony P. R. Mohana Rao shares excerpts from his book ``Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh," in Guntur. Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar / The Hindu — Senior Professor of Botony P. R. Mohana Rao shares excerpts from his book “Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh,” in Guntur. Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar / The Hindu

A former professor of Botany from Acharya Nagarjuna University has brought out an exhaustive treatise on the wealth of flora in Guntur City. The book, “Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh,’’ a brain child of P.R. Mohana Rao, Professor Emeritus and former HoD, Department of Botony, Acharya Nagarjuna University, is considered the only available and authentic work throwing light on the numerous species of plants and trees in the city.

Dr. Rao was assisted by Assistant Professor of Botony, ANU, S.K. Khasim and former research student Bibi Aasiya, who are the co-authors of the book published by Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh from Dehra Dun.

Dr. Rao had a rich global experience working in University of Cambridge, Delhi University, Himachal Pradesh University before settling at the ANU. He founded the Bio Technology Centre and started M.Sc (Biotechnology) course.

His association with the renowned systematic Botanist Professor late Olov Hedberg at Uppasala University, Sweden, during 1982-83 inspired him to take up the seminal work.

“The book has up-to-date information on flora which will help students, naturalists, tourists and town planners in identifying plants,’’ Professor Rammohana Rao told The Hindu on Tuesday.

The book listed 431 flowering plants, shrubs and trees belonging to 76 families of angiosperms. The families were arranged systematically following Bentham and Hooker System of Classification. The authors besides giving current nomenclature to families, genera and species, also gave original citation and a brief description of species, local names, flowering and dispersal mechanisms. A city map is also incorporated in the book.

It was late Rev.Dr.Uhl, former principal of Lutheran Mission College, Guntur who attempted a book on Flora of Guntur in 1930 but it could not be considered a complete work as Dr.Uhl had not followed any system of classification.

Dr. Rao’s work is based on three years of intensive research during 1990-1993. Leading a team consisting of Dr. Khasim, Aasiya and other students, Dr. Rao began an arduous task of collection of plants from fields, road margins, railway tracks, parks, gardens etc. Field observations included studying habit, habitat, time of flowering and fruiting.

Dr. Rao had also penned a note on the selection of plants for road margins, public parks useful to town planners. Some of the recommended trees included, Adansonia digitata (Baobab tree), Albizia lebbeck and Delonix regia (Gold Mohur) for gardens and parks etc.

“Most of the roads in the city are devoid of tree cover. Unfortunately, the city is lacking in public parks and green spaces. With the town gaining importance due to proximity to capital region, town planners could take a cue from the book on tree planting,’’ Dr. Rao added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by P. Samuel Jonathan / Guntur – February 24th, 2015

Azamgarh boy to get Chancellor Gold Medal

February 18, 2015Educationmpositiveone@gmail.com

The IXth Convocation of UP Rajarshi Tandon Open University would be held at Pt Madan Mohan Malviya convocation ground of Phaphamau campus on Saturday.

Vice-chancellor Prof M P Dubey said that governor and chancellor of the University Ram Naik would preside over the convocation. The convocation address would be delivered by Indian Space Research Organization’s Professor YS Rajan.

Nearly 12,500 students, who cleared examinations of December 2013 and June 2014 would be awarded degrees and diplomas at the convocation. Besides, 18 brilliant students would be felicitated with gold medals. The Chancellor Gold Medal has been bagged by MSc (Bio-Chemistry) student Brijbhan Yadav of Azamgarh who topped the December 2013-June 2014 examination and scored highest marks (82.08%) among all undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Other recipients of the University Gold Medal for PG course include Yadvendra Saroj, Bechan Chauhan, Vinit Kumar, Seema Kashyap, Sadhana Pandey and Brijbhan Yadav. UG students include Anamika Yadav, Kirti Gupta, Mohammad Wasim Sidhhiqui, Bhawna Sharma, Angad Kumar Yadav and Neha Verma.

Prof Dubey also said that donor gold medals would also be awarded to Kirti Srivastava, Seema Kashyap, Pooja Jaiswal, Kirti Gupta and Richa Tiwari.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / February 12th, 2015

Can El-Fateh claim victory for the city?

February 17, 2015Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Science & Technology, Sports, Travel & Tourismmpositiveone@gmail.com

Students showcase the All Terrain Vehicle, made using a 305cc Briggs and Stratton engine, at the Muffakkam Jah College of Engineering and Technology on Monday. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

The All Terrain Vehicle, engineered by 25 students of Muffakkam Jah College of Engineering and Technology, will now compete on an international platform

In all of three months, 25 students of a city engineering college toiled to come up with a fine product. Their All Terrain Vehicle, named El-Fateh, will now compete on an international platform and vie for top honours.

Crafted by students of mechanical and production engineering students at Muffakkam Jah College of Engineering and Technology (MJCET), the ATV has been selected for Mahindra BAJA SAIENDIA, which will be held in Indore later this month.

Weighing about 270 kg, the ATV can cover 100 feet in 4.03 seconds and has a top speed of 52 km/hr. It uses a 305cc Briggs and Stratton engine, producing a torque of 19.5Nm, which is mated to an Alfa Mahindra transmission. Students involved in the project say the vehicle also has a first-of-its-kind mechanical paddle shifting mechanism, which is aimed at smoother shifts and ease of driving.

“This is a great practical experience for the students and they did a good job. We are confident of doing well in the event,” said Mohd. Viquar Mohiuddin, faculty advisor to the project.

“We spent 14 to 16 hours in the college every day for the last few months. There were times when we even slept in the college premises to complete the deadline of building the vehicle,” said Abdullah Zakria, a final-year mechanical engineering student.

Outlining the vehicle’s strong points, the team’s captain Mohd. Abdul Haq said, “One of the eligibility requirements was that the vehicle has to climb an inclination of 27 degrees but we managed to drive it over step sand boulders with about 40 degrees inclination.”

Cost Rs.4 lakh

The vehicle costs, which amounted to around Rs.4 lakh, and other expenses were borne by the college and private sponsors.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – February 17th, 2015

Salma Ansari: Forthright in thoughts and expressions

February 8, 2015Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Leadersmpositiveone@gmail.com

Media commentators have often called her a woman with her own mind. For, Salma Ansari, wife of Vice President Hamid Ansari, is unmindful of political correctness, protocol strictness and insubstantial refinement.

Clear and forthright, both in her thoughts and expressions, Mrs Ansari carries her heart on her sleeve, belying her age and status.

This suits her calling in life. Running a charity educational chain in the slums and villages of Aligarh, it helps being devoid of protocol barriers. Al-Noor, the trust which runs the three schools, is the proverbial light which has penetrated the darkness in many a life.

“I was amazed that the place which boasted of a 135-year-old institution like Aligarh Muslim University, had in its backyard over 10,000 young children with no access to basic formal education,” says Mrs Ansari. “Govt schools were defunct. I knew there was something wrong, and things won’t change unless someone stepped forward to change them.”

From a rebellious student in the 1960s who once wanted to settle down in London, earn her living as a writer, stay single for life and keep dogs for company, it was indeed a long journey from Iraq to Aligarh.

“My father, who was posted in Iraq UN mission, realised that I was getting too westernised and romantic for Indian values. He sent me to a girls’ college in Aligarh to finish my studies and learn more about our culture; the only leeway I could get was opt for English literature,” says Mrs Ansari.

Aligarh was a shocking “gated community” for her. Mr Ansari persuaded her college principal to allow an elected students union. Here as the first elected president of the union, she encountered the injustices meted out to a woman in a conservative society.

“There were conflicts, sufferings and struggle. They pinched since I came from a different background. But I survived.” Marriage with Hamid Ansari, an IFS officer, took her all around the world. After retirement, Mr Ansari was offered the chair of vice chancellor in AMU in 2000. Life had come a full circle for Mrs Ansari.

A no less dramatic turn of events led to the formation of Al-Noor. “While in AMU, I joined a riding club. Of course, some people were scandalised. But as always, I barely cared. It was during one such impromptu riding sessions that I strode into a small hamlet off the campus. What I saw there hit me hard.

It was poverty at its worst. There was this young child, about two-year-old who was sipping sewage water. There was mud, grime and slush all around the area. I felt someone had punched in my stomach, and I was gasping for air.”Her coach comforted her by saying that ‘it will be over soon, people come, see this, feel bad, then get used to it’.

source: http://www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / Home> Collections> Aligarh Muslim University / by Pankaj Molekhi, ET Bureau / May 02nd, 2010

5 City Students Selected for Global Business Competition

February 2, 2015Educationmpositiveone@gmail.com

Hyderabad :

Five high school students from Hyderabad got a unique chance to compete in the TiE Young Entrepreneurs (TyE) global business plan competition for their innovative project ‘TICH’, which will provide online services even to those who don’t have access to the Internet.

Keshav, Rishi Reddy, Neha Acharya, Yagna Agarwal and Zayaan will compete in the global competition where the winners will be awarded a cash prize of $10,000. The best project will also receive funding from top corporate companies, according to Safir Adeni, president of TiE Hyderabad. The children earned this rare opportunity for developing a professional business plan for an innovative idea to provide online services through a call centre.

According to the plan, a call centre will be set up where customers can call and seek various services. This will process the requests of the customers and send the results to them. The services include online shopping, ticket booking and applying for jobs and admissions.

This project was developed by the children as part of the TYE Hyderabad business plan competition where the best team was selected to be sent for the global competition.

Other participants in the Hyderabad competition have also come up with innovative business ideas which included app-based services to manage booking of playgrounds in the city and a techno-glass which is similar to the Google glass. Around 25 children, who participated in the competition in Hyderabad, were mentored by experts from prestigious institutes like Indian School of Business (ISB) and International Institute for Information Technology and some experts from industry. During the 16-week course they were trained in several business-related topics such as conducting market research.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / February 02nd, 2015