Prof Saima Yunus Khan, Chairperson, Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Dr. Z.A. Dental College, Aligarh Muslim University has been awarded the Copyright by the Government of India for her original innovative work on an evidence based Indian Caries Risk Assessment tool for the children up to 6 years of age.
She started to work on the project in 2021, on receiving the John Clarkson Fellowship from the Prestigious International Association for Dental Research.
Being the first Indian to receive this fellowship, she worked in collaboration with Dr. Gerald Niznick, College of Dentistry, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences University of Manitoba, Canada.
According to Dr. Saima, the CRA tool would be beneficial to the Indian children as it addresses the risk factors of early childhood caries of Indian preschoolers. It’s a small compact tool form which can be used with ease by the masses in hospital or field settings.
The Dean, Faculty of Medicine and the Principal, J.N. Medical College, Prof Veena Maheshwari, and the Principal, Dr. Z. A. Dental College & Hospital, Prof R.K. Tewari congratulated Prof. Saima on her exemplary achievement.
source: http://www.amu.ac.in / AMU, Aligarh Muslim University / Home> Public Relations Office (headline edited & additional pix edited) / April 02nd, 2024
Barsa, written by Kadeeja Mumtas, is the first Malayalam novel to be set in Saudi Arabia and as its introduction states, is a record of “a woman’s scrutiny of Islamic scriptures and Muslim life”.
Barsa, as its introduction states, is the first Malayalam novel to be set in Saudi Arabia. Written by Kadeeja Mumtas and translated into English by K M Sherrif, the book acts as a record of “a woman’s scrutiny of Islamic scriptures and Muslim life”.
Sabitha, the protagonist of the novel, after moving to Saudi Arabia, starts questioning every aspect of her every day life – including religion.
The novel traces her personal journey as she is caught amidst culture, religion, and personal agency, and struggles to assert her own identity.
One hot afternoon, Rasheed and Sabitha first stepped out like refugees on the large expanse of land surrounding the grand mosque which housed the holy Ka’aba. Other travellers who knew their way hurriedly moved on while the two of them stood hesitantly at the crossroads, unsure of their next step. The coppery glare of the sun sat on their heads like the legs of a giant spider.
Rasheed glanced at Sabitha. He could sense her discomfort in the headscarf and the abaya, looking like a lawyer’s coat, which the Malayali workers at the airport had helped her buy. But he thought that even in those uncomfortable clothes, Doctor Prabhakaran’s niece, with her wheatish complexion, had a particular charm. He wanted to tell her this with a little smile, but with his tongue stuck to the roof of his dry mouth. He just couldn’t do it, which was a pity. If he had, maybe the wrinkles on her forehead would have lost at least one crease.
A yellow taxi backed up and stopped near them. Th e face of a man with a shabby headdress clamped down by a black ring came into view, and an arm jerked out of the window at the driver’s seat. “Fain aabga ruh?” Rasheed guessed he was asking where they wanted to go and replied, “Mudeeriya Musthashfa”—the Health Directorate. He had gleaned the Arabic expression from the conversation he had had in halting English with the Palestinian doctor they had met at the airport emergency service. He had seen Sabitha too write it down in her diary.
“Ta’al ”—come. Th e driver opened the car doors and invited them in. As he could not understand the driver’s sarcastic remark, directed obviously at his fairly large suitcase, Rasheed, with some embarrassment, chose to put it on his lap as he sat down and leaned back comfortably.
As the car sped at breakneck speed, Sabitha felt a tremor run through her, but she suppressed it immediately. She felt helpless at having to depend on a complete stranger, an Arab driver whose language she did not know. But she was also reassured by Rasheed’s presence. They had reached this far, trusting strangers, many of whose languages they did not know.
As they boarded the Saudi Airlines flight to Riyadh from Mumbai, Thambi, the man from their ticketing agents Ajanta Travels, had said reassuringly, “The flight will take about four and a half hours. Someone from the Ministry will be waiting to receive you. There is nothing to worry about, Riyadh is a nice city. Okay then, happy journey!”
From the moment Thambi, with that characteristic city dweller’s way of waving goodbye had raised his hands and walked away, Rasheed and Sabitha had taken comfort in each other’s presence. They could make this journey together only because of their decision to stick to each other, come what may. At the interview in Mumbai, it was Sabitha who was selected first, as a lady gynaecologist. The interview for ophthalmologists had not yet been conducted and, as there were a large number of applicants, Rasheed was not too hopeful of getting in. When she was asked to sign the contract, Sabitha hesitated, “I will sign only if my husband too is selected.” She had by then realised that lady gynaecologists were much in demand. “You sign; even if he is not selected, he can come with you on a family visa and then try for a job there.”
The man at Ajanta Travels, a go-getter, tried to hustle her. “No, I am not that keen to go to the Gulf to work. I will go only if he also gets a job there.” Her stubbornness paid off . An interview was fixed for Rasheed as a special case.
Excerpted with permission from Barsa, by Kadeeja Mumtas, Yoda Press. You can buy this book at 20% off at the FII-Yoda Press Winter Book Sale on 21st and 22nd December 2018 in New Delhi. For more details, check out the sale page.
source: http://www.feminisminindia.com / Feminism In India – FII / Home> Culture> Books / by FII Team / December 21st, 2018
Just an 11-year-old girl astonishes the world with her extraordinary development skills. She recently created an AI Application that uses advanced models to determine eye diseases or serious conditions such as Melanoma, Cataracts, etc. Read below about this creative Kerala-origin girl.
An 11-year-old Dubai-based girl called Leena Rafeeq has designed a modernistic application integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI). This young girl from Kerala proclaimed that this smart app can locate common eye disorders and symptoms. Moreover, this can be determined through a unique scanning method built into the app and only the iPhone supports this advanced model so far.
iPhone users will be able to check their eye-related problems and conditions with 70 per cent accuracy. The intelligent app that has been going viral for a couple of days has been named ‘Ogler EyeScan’ by Ms Leena Rafeeq. She was just 10 when she built it and now after so much research at the age of 11, she exuberantly launched it.
Self-taught Techie
On a social media platform called LinkedIn, she vividly presented the model. She further expounded the workings of her self-made in an online video that she posted online after which several viewers are impressed with her knowledge and skill set.
She asserted that this AI-based application has the capability to evaluate various parameters. The specifications include light and colour intensity, distance and look-up points in order to track down the eyes.
It scans the human eyes within the available range of the frame and this is possible through the “advanced computer vision and machine learning” used in this model’s design.
Features of ‘Ogler EyeScan App’
Leena Rafeeq explains her exceptional achievement and said that the Ogler EyeScan App can also identify any light burst issues. Additionally, this app will first check the eye positioning inside the scanner frame and after that through advanced technological scanning procedures, it can identify some of the common eye problems.
Built with Machine Learning Algorithms and Computer Vision Systems, eye conditions like Arcus, Melanoma, Pterygium and Cataracts can be checked however 70% accurate results have been recognized till now.
How AI App is developed?
Ms Rafeeq told that this smart technology app was developed natively with high-level programming developer ‘SwiftUI’ without the involvement of any third-party libraries or packages. She also reveals that she dedicated herself for almost six months to conducting research and development to come up with this initiative.
Along with this, she continued her learning about different eye conditions, computer vision, algorithms, machine learning models and other advanced levels of Apple iOS development which involves sensors data, AR, CreateML, CoreML and many such tools.
It is notable that the Ogler EyeScan is supported solely in iPhone 10 or Apple phones with iOS above 16. The app is under review on the App Store and this young girl hopes that her model gets listed soon.
Appraisal of her Project
This young Kerala girl leaves many flabbergasted by the invention of such a little girl. People congratulated her as she attains this level at this age. A user commented that this is a pretty good example of how AI can be effectively used in the health sector.
Another goes on to say that this is such an amazing creation and wished her good luck with her future endeavours. They all wished her positive reviews on her app. Ms Rafeeq responded that the model accuracy is “almost 70 per cent”.
However, she is handling some difficulties with the presence of glare and burst from lights caused by the distance required for capturing scans through the phone device. She has implemented metrics and detection for light-related issues so that the users will be able to re-scan. Her current focus is on training more elegant models. As soon as Ogler is accepted by the Appstore, she will be releasing an update in the software.
source: http://www.jagranjosh.com / Jagran Josh / Home> Current Affairs> Science – Technology Current Affairs / (headline edited) April 2023
The art was created with plywood sheets, screws, and spray paint. It is constructed of 20 frames and three lakh screws. The installation weighs 460 kilogrammes, is 444 centimetres tall, and is 555 centimetres wide.
Giant screw art piece featuring the UAE’s ‘Spirit of the Union’ picture, as well as the Expo 2020 Dubai emblem.
An Indian family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has created a giant screw art piece featuring the UAE’s ‘Spirit of the Union’ picture, as well as the Expo 2020 Dubai emblem. The three lakh screw art piece has been inscribed in the Arabian Book of World Records as the world’s largest screw art.
According to Gulf News, EA. Sirajudheen, a 45-year-old and his 39-year-old wife Badariya, both from Kerala, chose to make the massive art piece as a homage to the UAE on its 50th National Day.
Sirajudheen was a former aeronautical engineer who transitioned to business after moving to the UAE 24 years ago and is now the owner of Brightway Tyres and Auto Service in Abu Dhabi.
The art was created with plywood sheets, screws, and spray paint. It is constructed of 20 frames and three lakh screws. The installation weighs 460 kilogrammes, is 444 centimetres tall, and is 555 centimetres wide.
According to the couple, the Guinness World Record was for a piece of art that used 250,000 screws. They said that they first utilised sticker printouts of the photos to adhere to various portions of the boards, and then used hand drills to repair the screw. After being spray-painted with black, red, green, and gold paints, the boards were assembled to form the full-frame.
The couple has two children, 14-year-old Shehzaz and 11-year-old Zia, who helped their parents in the massive screw art. The family finished the project in one month.
Zenith Wheel Alignment, the art piece, is now on show at the Abu Dhabi Malayali Samajam in Musaffah, after the National Day exhibition. The duo stated that they wanted to show their artwork to a larger audience at the Sheikh Zayed Festival in Al Wathba.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Kerala / by News Desk – Sumaya Junaid Ahmed / January 07th, 2022
The idea for creating the app came to Hana while watching a documentary about the importance of the parent-child relationship.
Abu Dhabi:
A 9-year-old Dubai-based Indian girl who developed an iOS app receives appreciation from Apple CEO Tim Cook for her achievement at such a young age.
Hana Muhammad Rafeeq had initially emailed Tim Cook claiming to be the youngest iOS developer.
In his reply, Tim Cook wrote to her “Congratulations on all of your impressive achievements at such a young age. Keep at it and you will do amazing things in the future.”
Hana Muhammad Rafeeq, when she was 8-year-old developed ‘Hanas’— storytelling app, which allows parents to record stories in their voices for their kids, Hana handwrote more than 10,000 lines of code.
The idea for creating the app came to Hana while watching a documentary about the importance of the parent-child relationship. “If the parents are busy with work, they can record the stories so that the children can listen to them before bed,” Hana told Gulf News.
source: youtube.com / Hanas iOS Mobile App preview
Hana and her 10-year-old sister Leena are both self-taught coders who got inspired by their parents.
As per reports, sisters are now experts in coding languages HTML, CSS, C, C++, Swift and the latest SwiftUI. They are also learning human languages English, Spanish German, Arabic, Hindi and Malayalam.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Middle East / by Sakina Fatima / September 24th, 2022
Rehna has set a world record for the maximum number of online certificates secured in a day, reports Cynthia Chandran.
Kottayam:
Rehna Shajahan was devastated when half a mark cost her an MCom seat at the Jamia Milia Islamia. However, she did not lose heart. The 25-year-old enrolled for two postgraduate courses online — a master’s in social work and a diploma in guidance and counselling
She went on to prepare for the common admission test in management studies. As she cracked the CAT exam, Rehna was the only Malayali in her batch to get admission to the Jamia Millia Islamia for an MBA programme. And now, her zeal for study has earned her the world record for the maximum number of online certificates secured in a day — a whopping 81.
A resident of Illickal in Kottayam district, Rehna says her sister Nehla, whom she fondly calls ‘itha’, inspired her. Nehla got a lucrative job after pursuing her master’s in operational research from the London School of Economics and was always the studious one. “But I was determined to overcome the tag of an average student,” Rehna says.
When her sister got admission in Lady Sriram College, New Delhi, Rehna too wanted to try her luck in getting into a central university. She missed by a whisker and the rest is history. While pursuing the two post-graduate degrees simultaneously, she worked with an NGO, ‘Women’s Manifesto’, based in New Delhi that worked for women’s empowerment.
“When I cracked the CAT exam, I realised I can excel in studies. We need to try rather than just dream. I was keen on enhancing my repertoire by pursuing certification courses,” she says.
The previous world record for maximum online certificates received in one day was 75. She had recently quit her cushy job as a management professional in Dubai to attend to her father PM Shajahan, who has had a transplant surgery. For Rehna, her family comprising father, mother CM Rafiath, husband Ebrahim Riyaz, who is an IT engineer, and her sister is her priority. For that is the support system that gives her the courage and the inspiration to reach for the stars.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Cynthia Chandran / Express News Service / August 28th, 2022
