The Rs 15-crore, 40,000 sqft modern facility that can accommodate 300 people was opened last week.
Yusuffali M A and Punalur Somarajan bring two wheelchair-bound inmates to the prayer hall of Gandhibhavan.
Kochi:
In September 2016, after laying the foundation stone of his proposed mall in Thiruvananthapuram, Lulu Group chairman and managing director Yusuffali M A visited Gandhibhavan, a destitute home for senior citizens and children in Pathanapuram, Kollam. The sight of elderly women left orphaned by their children troubled the UAE-based businessman, who runs 255 stores and shopping malls in the Gulf and other parts of the globe.
“He could not fathom how aged mothers could be abandoned in a destitute home by their children. And this troubled him no end,” a confidant said. The next few months and years saw Yusuffali visiting the inmates of Gandhibhavan at regular intervals and supporting them with their medical, food and other requirements. In the process, he supported the home with around Rs 7.5 crore for the medical, food, and clothing needs of the inmates.
Around the same time, Yusuffali also got personally involved in setting up a three-storey elderly home for the women of Gandhibhavan. The Rs 15-crore, 40,000 sqft modern facility that can accommodate 300 people was opened last week. Gandhibhavan, founded by Dr Punalur Somarajan, a public figure who lost his mother early in his life, will be run as earlier with Yusuffali as its mentor.
Gandhibhavan building
inauguration of the new building, constructed over three years, was also unique: it was carried out by three aged mothers of the care home, and no politician was invited. The ‘griha pravesh’ (housewarming) was completed when Yusuffali and Somarajan helped two inmates in wheelchairs into their respective rooms. The billionaire has also provided adjustable side-rail beds, furniture, two lifts, a laboratory, pharmacy, library, prayer rooms, dining hall, a doctor’s consulting room, and modern waste-management facility, among others, for the elderly home.
“The responsibility of taking care of aged parents rests with their children. Only 15 women of Gandhibhavan are unwed. The remaining women had grown-up children, who had abandoned them. I built the new facility so that their sunset years will be spent at a good place and in abundance,” Yussufali said at the opening of the new home.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / January 12th, 2023
Karnire (Mangalore) KARNATAKA / Jubail. SAUDI ARABIA :
Dammam:
KS Sheikh Karnire, Vice President of Expertise Contracting Ltd, has become one of the few Indians to receive permanent residency in Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom recently permitted foreign nationals to own business and property without the need for a sponsor.
Reacting to the news Sheik said, “My heartfelt thanks to King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and the entire Saudi Government. No doubt, this is a proud moment for me. I am delighted and happy. My sincere thanks to the people who have trust in Expertise and my brothers who are the driving force behind the success of Expertise. “
The Premium Residency, informally known as Saudi Green Card, is a residence permit in Saudi Arabia that grants expatriates the right to live, work and own business and property in the Kingdom without the need for a sponsor.
The introduction of the Premium Residency comes as a part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 reform plan, which was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to boost the Saudi economy.
Expertise Contracting Company, founded in 1999 has been a renowned Industrial service provider of KSA with more than 10,000 employees and more than 5000 pieces of equipment. Expertise services span major industrial divisions allowing them to serve a variety of sectors including petrochemical, oil & gas, fertilizer, steel, cement, water treatment, and power generation verticals. With headquarters in Jubail Industrial City, KSA, Expertise boasts an operating terminal of 300,000 sq. meters and has branch offices across the kingdom.
It can be recalled that Sheik and his team had supported the stranded employees and families during COVID 19 pandemic to safely bring them back from Saudi to India through more than 10 chartered flights to the various cities of India. They are also running an NGO under the name of KS Sayeed Charitable trust supporting a number of downtrodden families with food, shelter, and education.
Hailing from a village Karnire, Near Mangalore, Mr.Sheik had entered the kingdom as an Automobile Engineer and built the company along with his 5 other brothers.
source: http://www.english.varthabharati.in / Vartha Bharati / Home> Karavali / by Vartha Bharati / June 11th, 2022
Children at Umeed Academy. | Picture by arrangement
Wali Rahmani’s work has earned him recognition and respect and people have come forward to sponsor the students in whatever way they can.
Kolkata :
Budding lawyer, human rights activist, orator, motivational speaker, social entrepreneur and a proud father to 140 children, 23-year-old Wali Rahmani hopes that one day all his children will be successful leaders and prove to be invaluable assets to the nation.
The 140 children who fondly call Wali Rahmani Abba Ji hail from different slums of Kolkata. Many of them are orphans and all of these children are from families caught in the vicious cycle of poverty.
Wali with his boys dressed for a skit on harmony. | Picture by arrangement
Wali Rahmani was just 18 when he first took 3 kids from a slum under his wing. These 3 kids, around 3-4 years old, were orphans. Wali, their Abba Ji, washed the soiled clothes of the kids, bathed, cooked and fed them–playing the role of a mother, a father, a nanny and a maid. His determination did not waver. Gradually, he found more and more people joining him which encouraged him to start and register ‘Umeed’, which served both as an orphanage and an educational academy.
The journey of Umeed When Wali Rahmani was just turning 18, many changes were taking place in the country which he said, “changed him as well.” The assembly elections of 2017 in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which brought Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister, became the turning point in Wali’s life and brought in its wake an energized goal and mission to work for the upliftment of the society.
Rahmani said he was “aghast that someone like Ajay Singh Bihist a.k.a Yogi Adityanath could become the CM.” He took to social media to talk about the injustices, violations of human rights and atrocities that were happening in the country. This was the beginning of Wali’s political journey. Soon, his fearless voice got him thousands of followers on Youtube, Facebook and other social media.
At one point, Wali paused to reflect that he is the only one talking against the oppression and gross injustices meted to people. Where are all the other youth leaders? Why are they not standing up against injustices? He spoke to his peers but they were keen only on pursuing their education, having fun and enjoying life. They did not want to take up these issues or even talk about them.
“I realized that my suggestions did not go down well with my peers. They did not want someone to tell them to ‘do this and do that.’ It became more of an ego thing,” Wali said, reminiscing the early days.
People who heard his talks on social media, his debates on the television channels looked up to him as the leader of the future. Wali, however, was not happy being a leader. He wanted more leaders in the community. According to him, a true leader is not someone who does not leave any legacy behind. He believes that a true leader creates more leaders and leaves behind a rich legacy. Instead of asking other youth to join him in the mission to raise their voice against the wrongs of society, he thought it is better to create new leaders. He believed that these will be small children who can be successfully molded to become strong leaders. He took a break from his studies for a year to work on this idea of creating future leaders.
“But where would I find these children whom I could train? Would any parent trust me enough to send the child to me? Then by chance, I came across a Hadith by our beloved Prophet (PBUH) wherein he mentioned the status of a Muslim who is kind to orphans. I felt that through this hadith, Allah was guiding me. So, I decided to take in children who had no parents,” Wali said.
“I had made up my mind that I want to be a father of 10 before I turn 20. And people laughed at me. They advised me to go study and asked me blunt questions related to my financial capability,” Wali said, “But I did not give up. It was the womenfolk who came forward to help me realize my dream”.
Wali said that he approached several people who had wealth and could easily help him but instead they scoffed at his idea.
“The very first person to help me was my mother. She believed in my dream. She was the first donor for Umeed,” Wali said while giving details of other donors who were also women.
He remembers the first donors fondly and with gratitude. One woman gave her gold finger ring because she was not earning and wanted to give what belonged to her. Wali likens this to the woman who donated her gold bangles to Sir Syed Ahmed when he was seeking donations for the Aligarh Muslim University.
Some girl students also promised monthly payments from their pocket money. And as they say, small drops of water make a mighty ocean, Wali Rahmani’s dream project began taking a concrete shape.
Today he runs the Umeed Academy in a rented apartment with 140 children. Some of these children are day scholars who are at the academy for at least 12 hours.
Many of these children are kids from slums whose parents are alcoholics, orphans who are homeless, kids who have parents but stay with their guardians to avoid the brutality that their parents either go through or make them go through, children with parents serving jail time. Some kids have homes not suitable to live in. The children of his academy are mostly from Muslim Ghettos.
Umeed Academy’s vision Wali envisions creating leaders who in turn will become capable to create more leaders. Year after year, Wali hopes, Umeed will produce leaders who will carry forward the legacy of Wali and his academy Umeed.
“Each child that graduates from Umeed shall be an institution builder and a leader. They will leave their imprints in the sands of time,” he said.
Inside Umeed Academy There are no wardens at the Umeed Academy, only house parents who take care of all the needs of the children. From the time of their enrolment to the time they pass out as students have completed their 12th standard ICSE curriculum syllabus, all their costs are borne by the academy including their residential cost, health cost, books, clothing and sports.
The focus is on the holistic development of girls and boys. For their spiritual growth, they are taught Quran and Islamic values.
The children are taught regular subjects of the school curriculum which is ICSE and apart from that, they are taught self-defence, drawing, sports, Quran, Hadith and ethics. They are encouraged to participate in many activities conducted in their academy.
Class room in Umeed. | Picture by arrangement
“The transformation in the children is visible. They are all so disciplined and neat that despite sharing common toilets and bathrooms, they keep it all clean,” Wali says proudly, adding, “Ask them to recite the Duas (prayers) of eating, sleeping, going out, going to the toilet, or when it rains, they will recite it.”
The house parents bring up these children as they would bring up their own, insists Wali. He also does his bit by interacting with the children every day, listening to them, talking to them and thus making strong the bond they share.
The core team members, who are his well-wishers not only guide him but also help him make the right decisions.
Asma Alam, director of Umeed, Ghazala Imam and Yusuf Haque who taught Wali at school are now part of the core committee. Others who have joined his mission are an army veteran Abhishek Mukherjee, educationists Shabana Anwar, Usha Banerjee and Mufti Anwar Khan Sargiroh.
Wali Rahmani, with his staff and children of his academy. | Picture by arrangement
Awards and recognitions Wali Rahmani has appeared in various national television debates and is perhaps the youngest Indian TV debate panellist.
He says that his work for society is not social work, but “his social duty.” He has been awarded the young social Hero award in 2019 at the South India NGO conference. He has also been featured as one of the young top 20 achievers in India under the age of 20 by Mumbai Coworking, and also received the Shan-e-Hindustan award by Youth Ekta Front, Delhi. His work has been acknowledged and featured by India Times, Brut India, and the Indian Express.
Many prestigious institutes and organisations have invited applications from Wali to apply for the awards but Wali Rahmani says “his work should speak for him,” and does not believe in applying for any award.
“The ultimate award will be when these children grow up and lead the nation and establish peace and harmony around them,” he said.
Future of Umeed Wali Rahmani’s work has earned him recognition and respect and people have come forward to sponsor the students in whatever way they can. One generous donor has donated 2 Acre (87120 square feet) of land to Umeed Academy worth Rs 2 Crore.
Wali has plans to construct fully functional hostels on the land for students with separate dormitories for boys and girls, a housing facility for the staff members and a campus which can accommodate approximately 600-700 students at once.
The construction work has started and the cost of the entire project has been approximated at Rs 13.5 crores. Wali intends to complete this work within the next two years and requests donations for his lofty mission through donations.
Tausif, Zuarez and Qaif have qualified for admission at India’s prestigious institutes. | Photos by arrangement
At least 65 students, including one girl, of Rahmani 30 – an educational movement for underprivileged students started in Patna, Bihar by late Wali Rahmani, have qualified for admission in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Techonlogy (IITs) this year. TCN features some of them.
Bihar :
Zaurez Ahmed (17) has secured 393rd rank this year in India’s topmost engineering entrance test known as Joint Entrance Exam (Advanced). His father Shakeel runs a modest general store in Jalwara, Kewti of Darbhanga, one of the most backward areas of Bihar. His family was in no position to afford the expensive private coaching for such exams. It was Rahmani 30 that came to his rescue.
Like Zaurez, there are atleast 65 students, including one girl, of Rahmani 30 who have qualified for admission in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) this year from the main centre at Patna. All 93 aspirants from Rahmani 30 qualified for JEE (Main). Across India, there are 23 IITs having 16000 seats for which more than 1.6 lakh applicants participated in the JEE (Advanced). These are shortlisted from one million aspirants of JEE (Main).
Rahmani 30 is modelled on Super30, the first such centre for coaching students for the IIT entrance test. Rahmani 30 was founded by the renowned Islamic scholar late Hazrat Maulana Wali Rahmani in 2008. Since 2009, Rahmani 30 boasts of more than 400 successful students who have qualified for admission in different IITs. Apart from this, nearly 1000 students have qualified for JEE (Main) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), the second most prestigious engineering institute of India.
Rahmani 30 offers the top 30 students free stay, food and education which costs around Rs. 60 lakhs for two years.
What is special about Rahmani 30? “Apart from the low cost or no cost stay at Rahmani 30, the ever availability of teachers and mentors here is immensely helpful,” Zaurez told TwoCircles.net.
He said that teachers at Rahmani 30 are “quite supportive.”
Zaurez cites ‘deeni mahaul (religious atmosphere)’ at the centre as helpful in having a ‘useful break’. His EWS (Economically Weaker Section) category rank is 28 and he is quite hopeful to get Computer Science at IIT, New Delhi.
Rahmani 30 has its branches at Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Bangalore and Hyderabad. Apart from the main centre, there is a girls unit in Patna. The main centre is being run in a rented apartment ‘Anand Palace’ at Anisabad, Patna.
A normal day for studies starts at 7 in the morning and continues till 9 in the evening.
Mantasha Firdous (17), who qualified this year, is the first female student of Rahmani 30 since its establishment to compete successfully for JEE (Advanced). Generally, the girl aspirants join Rahmani 30 for the medical entrance test NEET. However, Mantasha has a knack for mathematics. She has secured an EWS rank of 4074 and hopes to get “a good branch at a good IIT’. She said that the “group of girls” at the centre was quite helpful for her to remain focused on studies.
At Rahmani 30, the aspirants are admitted for a two-year residential course. As Covid-19 hit their preparation, an online mode was learning was started in 2020. Most students attended online classes on mobile phones though there were network issues for those residing in remote areas.
Tausif Alamhas (17) secured CRL (Common Rank List) 7169 and a category rank of 1339. His father Mohammad Rashid works as a tailor and his mother is a homemaker. His family could not send him to study at any coaching centre as they charged a hefty fee. He came to know about Rahmani 30 from one of his senior and passed the test to get admission.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, he said the most helping part of Rahmani 30 is “group study where peers help in doubt clearing.”
“My motivation level only rose with the continuous encouragement from the teachers. It helped increase my willpower too,” Tausif said. His next aim is to crack the country’s top exam for civil services U.P.S.C.
Seventeen-year-old Qais Alam’s success has a twist. His father is a small farmer and suffers from poor eyesight. Qais hails from Marar, a remote village in the Khagaria district of Bihar. He didn’t have much of an idea about IITs. He appeared for Aligarh Muslim University’s entrance test for a three-year Engineering diploma course and qualified. He studied there for two years, and quit before completing his degree. This was during 2016-17. He came to know about Rahmani 30 and was selected for its two-year preparation course. He appeared for JEE (Advanced) in 2020 in his first attempt but was not satisfied with his result. He reappeared for JEE again in 2021. He bettered his All India Ranking to 6025 from his 2020’s performance of 28000th rank. His EWS rank also improved to 639 from above 3000. He is hoping to get admission at IIT Delhi or IIT Madras. He too aims to clear U.P.S.C. after graduation from the IIT.
Twenty-three-year old Atif Hussain is in his 3rd year at IIT Guwahati. He originally hails from Bihar but his family is settled in Kolkata, West Bengal. Atif’s father Phool Mohammad sells Lahti bangles (lac bangles) which and his business has been hit due to Covid-19 lockdown. His mother is a housemaker. Atif studied in Urdu medium Howrah High School and got 84% marks in his 10th Board examination. He came to know about Rahmani 30 from a senior. He said that getting admission in Rahmani 30 was the ‘turning point’ of his life. “Teaching guidance and peer study environment at Rahmani 30 was very useful,” Atif, who is fond of research and coding, said.
Though Rahmani 30 was started for helping underprivileged students crack the IIT entrance test, it has ventured into other top examinations like Medical, Commerce and Law. In its CA/CS program, out of 10 successful candidates this year, five were girls.
Rahmani 30 calls itself “a movement, not an institution” which hankers “to demonstrate that economically, socially and educationally backwards and suppressed students when given the opportunity rise to the occasion.” It is “established to be the catalyst for inspiring the minorities to aim high to seek their rightful places.”
Rahmani 30’s founder late Maulana Rahmani had a clear vision about this centre. He was of the opinion that, “Utmost service to the religion during these times is to educate our youth and upcoming generations with contemporary subjects while keeping their faith firmly established and their self-confidence high; so that, they excel in religion, are adorned with education, have an appreciation of hard work and therefore are able to navigate and make confident decisions in their life.”
Bihar’s former Director General of Police (DGP) Abhayanand has been a great help for Rahmani 30 as a mentor since its beginning. Known for his Physics teaching skills, Abhayanand is credited with starting super 30 along with Anand Kumar, to teach poor students of Bihar to crack IIT JEE.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Abhayanad was delighted that Rahmani 30 is expanding in size and dimension in the right direction.
Late Maulana Wali Rahmani had approached him to be the mentor of this centre and he readily accepted the proposal. “There didn’t exist a good trend for education in Muslim community, particularly in the weaker sections. I thought it would be in the broader interest of the country to help such students,” Abhayanand said.
His only and interesting condition was, “I will not interfere in the administration of the centre and Maulana will not interfere in teaching at the centre.”
Maulana Fahad Rahmani, the younger son of late Maulana Wali Rahmani is the current CEO of Rahmani 30.
He told TwoCircles.net that Rahmani 30 initially started with 10 students and “in 12 years the number of students has gone up to 900.”
Maulana Fahad aims to increase the number to 15000 across India at the end of this decade. “If we consider the total number of institutions of national importance to be one lakh, its corresponding number for the Muslim community should be 15 % of it, which is roughly the population of the community in India,” he argues, adding, “To achieve this goal the community support needs to be increased. If we can arrange one donor for one student we will need 15000 donors, which is not beyond reach.”
Maulana Fahad insists that he doesn’t believe in the traditional fund collection.
On the success rate of girl students of Rahmani 30, Maulana Fahad said that it was his father and the late chairman Maulana Wali’s wish to see the girl students excel in engineering too. “Alhamdulillah, this year it has started, and it get better in the coming years.”
Sami Ahmad is a freelance journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He tweets at @samipkb
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / October 23rd, 2021
Mateen Jamadar with his parents, mother Razia Begum and father Nabisaab. Photograph: Kind courtesy Mohammad Mohsin
A teenager who doesn’t need to be told to study, who makes no demands on his parents even while preparing for his board exams — and then goes on to score a perfect 100%. Jyoti Punwani salutes Mateen Jamadar’s scholastic achievement against all odds.
He’s 18, but looks 15.
A teenager who doesn’t need to be told to study, who makes no demands on his parents even while preparing for his board exams – and then goes on to score a perfect 100%.
Meet Mateen Jamadar, the pride of Mannur village in Gulbarga district, for having scored 600/600 in Karnataka’s PUC (pre university course) exam, the results of which were announced on Friday, July 23, 2021.
His father Nabisaab works as a mason on construction sites in the village, earning about Rs 500 a day; his mother Razia Begum cleans her neighbour’s field all day to come home with barely Rs 150.
Both parents have studied upto Class 10 and wanted their three sons to study further, but their eldest had to give up after Class 10 thanks to an eye affliction. He is now handicapped and at home, unable to work.
Their second son has done well, he’s a constable in Bengaluru; but it is their youngest who has brought them fame they had never imagined.
Razia Begum says she knew Mateen would do well. “Since he was a child he would come home and sit with his books,” she recalls. “No playing, no roaming around.”
That made Mateen his village school topper; he scored 619 out of 625 in his Class 10 Boards.
Mateen says he expected to do well in the PUC. This year, the evaluation for the final PUC exam had to be done based on previous performance since the exam was not held due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“I had scored 98.7% in my 10th and around the same in my First Year PUC,” he says over the phone. “I thought I would get 99%.”
Always fond of studies, Mateen decided to seek out a good college after completing his 10th from the government school in his village. The PUC college in his village wasn’t up to the mark.
His quest took the village boy more than 600 km away from his home to the MMU PU College in Ramanagara. The magnet that drew him there was the hostel run by the Rahman Education Foundation in Ramanagara city.
The Foundation provides free stay for five years to meritorious boys to prepare them for the UPSC exams. The stay includes not just food, but also access to teachers, computers, sports facilities, and lectures by visiting IAS and Karnataka Administrative Service officers.
It was one such talk by IAS officer Mohammad Mohsin that made Mateen decide his final goal — the IAS. “The IAS gives you respect,” said the youngster.
Mateen, third from right with his hostel mates.
Mohsin, a Karnataka batch IAS officer hailing from Bihar, tells Rediff.com that the Rahman Foundation had invited him to spend half a day to motivate their hostelites. “I told the boys that no one from my family had ever joined the IAS; we are a business family. But I wanted to do something for the country.”
It was Mohsin who brought Mateen Jamadar’s achievement to the world by tweeting (external link) about him. “I wanted to show students that poverty need not mean the end of the road,” said Mohsin.
It may well have become so for Mateen.
Forced by the lockdown last year to return home as his hostel shut down, Mateen had to depend on online teaching. When he left for college, his parents had given him a simple phone, just good enough to stay in touch. Students were anyway not allowed a phone by the hostel authorities. The latter would keep the students’ phones with them, and give them back for just one hour every Sunday to call up home.
That phone was no use for online classes. To buy himself an Android, Mateen had to use his annual scholarship of Rs 6,000 given by the Karnataka government, but even that wouldn’t have been enough had his father not dipped into the funds he had saved slowly over the years.
Of course, that meant working harder to make up, but said Nabisaab, “We have to do that much for our children; and this boy has turned out to be so clever, we have to support him!”
Mateen Jamadar
Nabisaab and Razia Begum used to work in Mumbai and Pune earlier, on construction sites. But it was the desire to educate their children that took them back to their village, said Nabisaab.
His youngest son has made sure that’s a decision he will never regret. As Mateen said, “More than me, my parents are overjoyed at my result.”
The coaching and guidance center run at the Haj Bhawan under the Minority Welfare Department of the Bihar government provides residential preparation for government jobs and academic examinations. The Haj Bhawan started offering guidance first in Bihar civil services and is helping students in police inspector’s job test. Lately, the center has been in news for the success it has achieved.
Bihar :
Unlike other Haj Bhawan’s in the country, the Haj Bhawan of the northern Indian state of Bihar is not sending Muslim pilgrims to Mecca for Hajj. The Bhawan is doing a different and sometimes a more urgent and laudable one. It is in news for sending minority students on a job journey to secure top level state jobs.
The coaching and guidance center run at the Haj Bhawan under the Minority Welfare Department of the Bihar government provides residential preparation for government jobs and academic examinations. The Haj Bhawan started offering guidance first in Bihar civil services and is helping students in police inspector’s job test.
Fifty-three of Haj Bhawan’s coaching and guidance center’s candidates were declared successful in the recently announced result of Bihar Public Service Commission’s examination for the top civil state job. Out of nearly 1400 successful candidates, 101 were Muslim candidates.
Similarly, fifty-three Haj Bhawan’s candidates were selected for the post of Sub Inspector in Bihar Police. Importantly, 19 successful candidates in the BPSC exam and 11 in the police exam are female.
Of late, the Bihar government’s initiative to provide ‘coaching’ to the students for government job examinations has been quite a success. Bihar has also seen the success of privately run Rahmani 30 for Muslim students for engineering and medical entrance tests.
Maulana Mazharul Haque Arabic and Persian University is the nodal agency for the government’s state coaching scheme. While the facilities are free here, only Rs. 3500 are charged as mess fee. For those whose candidates whose families cannot even afford that and are economically weak, the mess fee is waived off.
This coaching and guidance center was established in the financial year 2006-07. Initially, it struggled but since the year 2010, it has been bringing success to the state. Till 2019, 1517 candidates have been selected for jobs from here out of 4777 selected candidates for coaching. In 2019-20 the centre gave coaching to 860 and in 2020-2021, the number of students who received coaching was 568.
The centre promises to provide free residential coaching for the jobs offered by Bihar Public Service Commission, general police jobs like sub-inspectors and constables, jobs offered by Railways and staff selection commission. The centre also provides coaching for the preparation of the University Grants Commission’s exams like the National Eligibility Test (NET) and Junior Research Fellow (JRF). It also gives coaching for Teachers Eligibility Tes (TET).
However, the success in Bihar Public Service Commission’s exam is getting all the accolades to this center at Haj Bhawan. The center conducts entrance tests for its different coaching programmes. For the BPSC jobs, each year 150 candidates are selected out of nearly 1000 candidates who sit for its entrance test. The entrance test is advertised in the local newspapers and on social media too.
Features of the Center Mohammad Rashid Hussain is the coordinator of this coaching and guidance centre. He has studied at Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU) and Hamdard Study Circle. He did his masters in Persian and Central Asian Studies from JNU, and qualified for JRF and SRF. Hussain later moved to Hamdard Study Circle. In 2007, he cleared the BPSC examination and joined Bihar Administrative Service.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Hussain said that he has adopted the model from Hamdard Study Circle. “The 24 hours open library, test series, lectures by the top experts and online-offline study materials are the salient features of this center,” he said.
He said that the environment of group study is quite helpful. “Discipline is quite strict here. No one needs to go outside to get anything related to their studies,” Hussain said, who also works as CEO of Bihar Haj Committee.
According to Hussain, the mock interview preparation at the Centre is quite successful. “So much so, that even non-minority students approach us for the interview and this service is provided to them,” he added.
Hussain said that the girl candidates get maximum safety measures at the Centre, and “this keeps them focused in their preparations.” The girl candidates are provided separate rooms, mess and prayer hall. There are two female wardens for them.
What inspires candidates at the Centre Mohammad Adil Bilal got 22nd rank in BPSC’s examination and would be a Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy SP) after training. Adil’s father teaches English at a college in Darbhanga.
Talking about his success, Adil said that the coordination between seniors and juniors at the Centre “worked wonders for him.” He said that seniors were very helpful in pointing out the shortcomings and suggesting ways for improvement.
Razia Sultan, an engineer by profession, was also selected for the post of Dy SP. In fact, it is claimed that she is the first Muslim lady in Bihar to get this post directly. She joined the center after clearing the mains examination.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, she said that “she got a lot of motivation here.” She appreciates the guidance for the interview.
Noorjahan, another successful candidate, told TwoCircles.net that she got the best training here in personality development. She quotes an oft-repeated saying by the center’s coordinator Mohammad Rashid Hussain that “a ship is safe at the harbour but it is not made for the harbour,” as very motivating.
“This inspired me to work hard,” she said.
Another successful candidate, Sima Khatoon has done her Computer Engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She has been selected for Panchayati Raj Officer.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, she said that that “any Muslim girl can achieve success.”
She is all praise for the facilities and guidance that was provided to her at the Centre. “Allah has listened to my prayers for a platform to work for social welfare,” she said.
More works needed Afzal Hussain of Bihar Rabita Committee, which works for the minority community, told TwoCirlces.net that the success at Haj Bhawan is “commendable and its success needs to be emulated.” He said that the six centres supposed to impart coaching to minority students for job examinations at Patna, Darbhanga, Motihari, Kishanganj and Bhagalpur should also be developed along the lines of Haj Bhawan.
Social activist Nashoor Ajmal said that while the success at Haj Bhawan is welcome, “we should seriously think about the abysmal representation of Muslim community in government jobs while their population constitutes almost 17 per cent in Bihar.”
Experts and successful candidates are of the opinion that more efforts are needed and such initiatives should start at the Masjid committee level in the state.
Ajmal added the government of Bihar should work for the educational upliftment of the Muslim community by conducting special drives.
Sami Ahmad is a journalist based in Patna, Bihar.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / July 02nd, 2021
Maulana Wali Rahmani | Photo Courtesy: Clarion India
What set Maulana Wali Rahmani, an Indian Sunni Islamic Scholar, academician and founder of Rahmani30, apart was his efforts towards the promotion of education among Muslim youth. Although Rahmani was a multi-lingual man, he had evident love for the Urdu language. In February this year, he launched a campaign for education among the Muslim community and promotion of the Urdu language.
The well-known torchbearer of India’s Muslim community, who strove to work for the promotion of education, Maulana Mohammad Wali Rahmani would have turned 78-years-old on June 5 this year. On April 3, Maulana Wali Rahmani breathed his last at a Patna hospital after a brief illness and other complications.
Such was his repute and respect among the community that he had 8.5 lakh followers who took the oath of allegiance to him as “Sajjada Nashin” of Khanqah Rahmani in Munger in the Indian state of Bihar. Rahmani became “Sajjada Nashin” of Khanqah Rahmani, Munger in 1991 after the death of his father Sayyid Minatullah Rahmani. At present, Rahmani was the Secretary-General of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). He was Ameer-e-Shariat, or the head, of the renowned religious organization Imarat-e-Shariah of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. However, what set him apart was his endeavour in the field of education. His organization, Rahmani30, founded in 2008, was his gift to the Muslim community of Bihar, and the country.
Had there been no Rahmani30, hundreds of students might not have heard about him and many poor Muslim students could not have realized the dream of making it to India’s top engineering institutes; the IITs or the Indian Institute of Technology.
The Rahmani30 has since then expanded to NEET or the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical education. Top accountancy and Law entrance tests have also been included now.
Rahmani30 is modelled on Super30 founded by famous mathematics teacher Anand Kumar of Bihar who started selecting 30 poor students and grooms them for IITs. Super30 was a big success. So is Rahmani30. Since its inception, Rahmani30 had the services of Bihar senior police officer Abhayanand, who retired as DGP Bihar. Every year test exams are held for the selection of Rahmani30 and the selected candidates are provided with free residential coaching with food.
Maulana Wali Rahmani was a political personality. His proximity with political leaders got him brickbats too. He was elected to the Bihar Legislative Council on April 7, 1974, and continued till 1996. In 1984 and 1990 he was elected as deputy chairman of Bihar Legislative Council. He was criticized after his (in)famous Deen Bachao Desh Bachao (Save Islam, Save Country) rally at Patna in 2018. Just after the rally, one of its organizers were declared as the candidate from Nitish Kumar’s party for the Bihar Legislative Council. Maulana Rahmani was accused of compromising with Nitish for ‘a seat in Bihar council.’
He, however, was also praised for his bold statements before the top political leaders when the issues related to the Muslim community were discussed.
His birthplace Khanqah Rahmani is a well-known religious place that was founded in 1909 by his grandfather Maulana Mohammad Ali Mungeri, who was a co-founder of Nadwatul Ulema, Lucknow. Maulana Wali Rahmani’s father Maulana Minatullah Rahmani was also a renowned religious scholar who also held the post of General Secretary in All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
Maulana Rahmani got his initial education at Rahmania Urdu School, Jamia Rahmani in Munger, Bihar and then proceeded to Nadwatul Ulema and Darul Uloom Deoband. He also studied at Bhagalpur University which is now known as Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University in Bihar.
At the age of 22, Maulana Rahmani joined ‘Naqeeb’, a weekly published by Imarat-e-Shariah. He also served at Jamia Rahmani.
In 1991, following the demise of his father, he was made Sajjada Nashin of Khanqah Rahmani.
He was made Ameer-e-Shariat at Imarat-e-Shariah in November 2015 and held the post till his last breath. Here too, Maulana Rahmani’s focus was on education. He also worked for the better medical facility at Sajjad Memorial Hospital being run by Imarat-e-Shariah.
Although Maulana Rahmani was a multi-lingual man, he had evident love for the Urdu language. In February this year, he launched a campaign for education among the Muslim community and promotion of the Urdu language.
He also campaigned for the upliftment of the Madrasas.
His biography Hayat-e-Wali penned by Shah Imran Hasan states, “Maulana’s untiring efforts and timely steps to save the country’s Madrasas are worth mentioning. He met several dignitaries, including the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and presented before him the case of Madrasas in the context of their roles in the country’s freedom struggle and nation-building.”
Maulana Rahmani was a man who loved to make friends in other Muslim organizations too. He kept Maulana Rizwan Ahmad Islahi, the young Ameer-e-Halqa (Bihar chief) very close to him. Maulana Rizwan recalls that when representatives of Muslim organizations went to meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, everybody wanted Maulana Rahmani to talk to him but he proposed his name (Maulana Rizwan’s). “Such was his generosity,” he said.
Maulana Rahmani will be missed at many places, including at AIMPLB and Imarat-e-Shariah. However, his absence would be felt most at Rahmani30. The passing away of Rahmani poses a challenge for both Imarat-e-Shariah and Rahmani30 to take his dream further.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / April 05th, 2021
Delhi Minorities Commission initiated a scheme of awards to best performers in various fields of human endeavor in NCT of Delhi and beyond.
For 2019-2020, the Commission has decided to offer awards under 14 categories which are as follows:
(for X, XII classes students securing 96+ per cent marks), Communal Harmony, Community Service, Human Rights, Non-Government Organisations, Promotors of Punjabi, Promotors of Urdu, Sports, Supporters of Minorities, Teachers of Substance, Print & Electronic Media persons, Outstanding Schools, Special Awards, Life-Long Achievement. This year 178 awards have been given under these categories.
Two new categories, Special Awards and Lifetime Achievement Awards, have been added to the list this year.
These awards are given mainly to residents of NCT Delhi but in exceptional cases, awards are also been given to persons from outside Delhi. Each awardee will be honoured with a shield.
A booklet containing photo of each awardee with a short introduction about his/her achievements has also been printed and is available at https://archive.org/details/dmc-2019-awards . (Please see below for a short list of the awardees).
The following is the full list of the awardees under various categories:
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (students who secured over 95% in High School and Higher Secondary exams in 2019):
Flavia Ekka (St. George’s School, Alaknanda, High School Exams 97.6%), Tracey James (Fr. Angel Sr. Sec School, Senior Secondary Exams 97.4%), Himieka Jain (DPS Mathura Road, High School Exams 97.2%), Garima Jain (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary Exam Exams 97.4%), Kulsum Azad(Hamdard Public School, High School Exams 96.6%), Abeer Mohammad Asad (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary Exams 97%), Mahwash Rizvi (Greenfield School, Senior Secondary Exams 96.8%), Mohd. Sadique Raza (Father Agnel School, NOIDA, High School Exams 98.4%), Afrah Naayaab (DPS Indirapuram, High School 97%), Harjas Kaur (Guru Nanak Public School, Pushpanjali Enclave, High School Exams 96%), Harjyot Singh Sidhu (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary 95.4%), Aliza Alvi (DPS Indirapuram, High School 97%), Ancy A Daniel (ST. George’s School,High School Exams 97%), Anjali Maria Antony (Mater DEI School, Senior Secondary Exams 98.4%), Divya Jain (St Joseph’s Academy, High School Exams 95.4%), Aayush Jain (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary Exams 97.2%), Zainab S. Qazi (Hamdard Public School, High School Exams 96.2%),Ruba Haider (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary Exams 96.8%), Ms Sana (SGGSS Sc 2, JamaMasjid, Senior Secondary Exams 97.6%), Ms. Mantasha Ilma (Jamia Girls Sr. Sec. School, High School Exams 97.6%, Dashmeet Kaur (St Joseph’s Academy, High School Exams98%), Japneet Singh (Springdale’s School Pusa Road, Senior Secondary Exams 97.8%), Harjeet Singh Bedi (DPS Mathura Road, Senior Secondary Exams95.4%), Mahi Singh (Springdale, Sr Sec Exam 96/75%), Namira Rasheed Khan (DPS Ghaziabad, High School 96.6%), Barundeep Singh Gambhir (DPS Mathura Rd, Sr. Sec. Exams 96%).
COMMUNAL HARMONY:
Fr. Dr. M.D. Thomas(interfaith dialogue), Rev. Dr Vincent Manoharan (interfaith dialogue), Tej Lal Bharti(communal harmony), M. Farooq Engineer (communal harmony), Raees Ahmad (journalist and humanrights worker), Iqbal Mulla (interfaith dialogue), Baba Hardip Singh-ji (communal harmony), Soul of Humanity (NGO helping needy people), Vishav Satsang Sabha (NGO working for communal harmony), Syed Abdullah Tariq(interfaith dialogue and communal harmony), Jayshree Shukla (promoter of the composite culture, author of photo essays on Old Delhi).
COMMUNITY SERVICE:
Bhadant Buddha Kirti (serving the Buddhist community), Asad Masih (Muneer Social Welfare Society), Reena Charles ((Human rights, community service), Victor (social worker), Fr. Varghese Kunnath (seminar, orientation and training for youth, students, teachers), Rehab Foundation(community service), Karwan Foundation (community service), Sahulat Microfinance Society (national NGO promoting and facilitating interest-free microfinance), Ashwani Kumar Bairwa (president of NGO, social work in Badarpur area), Mohd. Khalid Khan (community service), Dr. Badrul Islam (promoter of Yoga), Sarabjeet Singh (community service), Adv. Abu Bakr Sabbaq(Community Service, human rightsdefender), Musharraf Husain (community service), Shama Khan (community service, especially in slum areas), Masroor Ul Hasan Siddiqui (community service), Mrs Feroza Jassawalla (community service), S. Gurvinder Singh (helping minority communities through promotion of education of children), Manjeet Singh (Nanak GA Charitable Foundation), Parmeet Singh Chadha (social worker), Mandeep Singh (serving minorities by supporting educational institutions and NGOs), Virasat Sikhism Trust (doing sewa to uplift Sikh Heritage and Punjabi language), Perminder Singh Malik (community service, especially by promoting education), Hasleen Singh Sodhi Adv. (helping minority community legally), Bibi Tarvinder Kaur Khalsa(community service), Avtar Singh (community service), Gagandeep Singh (community service), Inderjit Singh Asth (community service), Jaspal Singh (community service), Swaran Jeet Singh (community service), Ajeet Kaur (community service), Dr. Anju Jain (community service), Manjeet Singh(community service), Tanveer Kazi (community service as the Delhi head of Action Aid India), Ovais SultanKhan (human rights activist), D. S. Bindra Adv. (regular organiser of langars), Victor (social worker), Adv. H R Khan (human rights and educationactivist), Manjeet Singh Chugh (RTI activist, PIL).
HUMAN RIGHTS:
Dr. Denzil Fernandes SJ (social scientist working for the human rights), AC Michael(minority rights activist, former Member, DMC), Mrs. Anna Pinto (human rights activist), Farah Naqvi (writer & human rights activist), Armeet Singh Khanpuri (escorted back home 32 Kashmiri girls; saved 15 girls in riots), Mahmood Pracha Adv. (human rights defender), Quill Foundation (human rights of marginalized communities).
NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS:
Institute of Objective Studies (research institute and think tank), Haq Educational & Social Welfare Society (vocational training centre), Sikh Youth Organization, Mahakanishk Bodh Vihar Kalyan Samiti, Guru Daami Foundation, Pratyek (networking with 2000 schools in the country), Budhiye Dhamn Charika Samiti Delhi Pardesh, YWCA of Delhi, Action Aid India
Bhairav Singh (Ambedkar Samaj Vikas Sangthan), Dr. S. S. MINHAS (holisticdevelopment of young students), Gurminder Singh Matharu (Member, SGPC Amritsar), Jagtar Singh (helped repatriation of 32 stranded Kashmiri girls safely to their homes in the Valley), Gurpreet Singh Bindra (helped repatriation of 32 stranded Kashmiri girls safely to their homes in the Valley), Baljeet Singh (helped repatriation of 32 stranded Kashmiri girls safely to their homes in the Valley), Harminder Singh (helped repatriation of 32 stranded Kashmiri girls safely to their homes in the Valley), Jajinder Singh (helped repatriation of 32 stranded Kashmiri girls safely to their homes in the Valley), Msgr Susai Sebastian (former director, Chetanalaya),Victor Henry Sequeira (social worker), Bishop Warris Masih (peace-making in churches society), Franklin Ceasar Thomas (fighter for the rights of Christian and Muslim Dalits), Dr. Fr. P.R. John SJ (Principal, Vidya Jyoti College), Ajit Singh Sehra (Ujjwal Bhavishya NGO), Saleem Baig (worker for community uplift, RTI activist).
TEACHERS OF SUBSTANCE:
Saiby Mathew (Don Bosco School), Mrs. Magdalene Bhat (St. Michael’s Sr. Sec. School), Mrs. Maria Rodrigues (St. Xavier’s School), Ms. Grace David (St. Columba’s School), Mrs. Anne Albin (Mater Die School), Mrs. Tarannum Shoukat Ali (Rabea Girls Public School), Nazia Nikhat (Zakir Nagar 1Urdu School), Rana Tasleem (Zakir Nagar 2 Urdu School), Mrs Jeanie Naozer Aibara (Principal of Ambience Public School), Pritam Singh (Guru Harkrishan Publicc School, Shahdra), dr. Prabhjot Kaur (educational consultant and motivator), Swarn Singh (Guru Harkrishan Public School, Vasant Vihar), Mr. S. L. Jain (Director, Mahavir Senior Model School), Dr. Haleema Sadia (26 years of experience as teacher, currently Dy. Director (Education), Delhi Waqf Board).
PRINT & ELECTRONIC MEDIA PERSONS:
Gurpreet Singh Sethi (photographer and maker of short films), S. Amrik Singh Kooner (Akaal Channel), S. Gurpreet Singh Bhooi (Akal Channel), Md. Mahtab Alam (The Wire Urdu), Qurban Ali (veteran TV, radio, print andNet journalist), Abhisar Sharma (outspoken and brave TV journalist), Lucy Gabriel Chattopadhyay (All India Radio External Services), Mobin Ahmed Khan (All India Radio), Humra Quraishi (prolific writer, columnist, journalist, book-reviewer and author), Masoom Moradabadi (celebrated Urdu journalist), Suhail Anjum (celebrated Urdu journalist), Muhmamad Anjum (Inquilab), Shaheen Abdulla (committed young journalist), Aditya Menon (journalist committed to the causes of the masses).
OUTSTANDING SCHOOLS:
Hamdard Public School, Talimabad, New Horizon School, Scholar School, Abul Fazal Enclave, St. Xavier’s School, Shahbad Daulatpur, Mater Dei School, Tilak Lane, Don Bosco School, Alaknanda, Dr Zakir Husain Memorial Sr. Sec. School Jafarabad, Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, Dwarka (first ranking in government-run day schools in the country).
SPECIAL AWARDS:
Mohd. Rizwan (young inventor), N.M. Theerthe Gowda (arbitrator and advocate), Ms. Khursheed R. Nariman (sculptor), Bhupinder Pal Singh Walia (historian of gurudwaras in Africa), Gobind Sadan, Gadaipur, Mehrauli (Sikh-led interfaith community celebrating all religions).
LIFE-LONG ACHIEVEMENT:
Dr. Manzoor Alam (Chairman, Institute of Objective Studies), S. Rajinder Singh-Ji (Head Granthi, Gurudwara Rakab Ganj), Mary Pat Fisher (author, promoter of interfaith dialogue), Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ (human rights, peace, interfaith and reconciliation activist), Nirmal Kumar Jain Sethi (welfare and promotion of the Jain community), Prof. Haseena Hashia (academia and welfare of the Muslim community), Teesta Setalvad (human rights and rule of law), Prof. Akhtarul Wasey (Islamicscholar with life-long commitment to academia, interfaith dialogue and welfare and promotion of the Muslim community), Mufti Ataur Rahman Qasmi (Islamic scholar, chronicler of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab mosques).
(Full list of DMC Awards 2019 with photographs and more information about each awardee is available here:https://archive.org/details/dmc-2019-awards)
source: http://www.theindianawaaz.com / The Indian Awaaz / Home> Amm/New Delhi / by Indian Awaaz / June 09th, 2020
Karad Village (Malappuram District) , KERALA / Doha, QATAR :
Some of the houses constructed on land donated by Iqbal.
It was a day of immense joy and fulfillment for Qatar-based Indian businessman Ahammed Iqbal who donated 1.5 acres of land in his native place to build houses for 15 families left homeless by floods last year.
Karad, a village in Malappuram district of the southern state of Kerala, Sunday witnessed a function where the families received the keys to their new homes.
Ahammed Iqbal
“The smiles of gratitude gave me a feeling of delight. I am glad that I could uplift some flood victims from despair to happiness,” Iqbal told Gulf Times.
After the land was handed over to the district administration, the 15 houses were built with funds contributed by M P Ramachandran, chairman of Mumbai-based Jyothy Laboratories Ltd.
Iqbal recalled that the district administration had received several applications from many families whose houses were washed away in the deluge. The beneficiaries were selected after scrutiny and drawing lots.
Most of the beneficiaries came from Kavalappara village that was wiped out by a massive landslide and flash floods on the night of August 8 last year. The natural calamity claimed 48 lives while leaving hundreds homeless.
Iqbal, who was in Qatar during the deluge, approached the Kerala district administration expressing his readiness to extend a helping hand to the victims.
On behalf of Iqbal, his friend Mujeebu Rahman handed over the documents to the district administration.
“I simply wanted to do my part for the victims and stand with my people during the tough times. I have sufficient land and my religion allows me to take only three pieces of cloth when I depart,” he said, adding that his parents very often inspire him to help landless people.
Kerala’s Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel and magician Gopinath Muthukad handed over the keys to the beneficiaries.
source: http://www.gulf-times.com / Gulf Times / Home / by Shafeeq Alingal / June 28th, 2020
A homeless man being helped by a volunteer | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A trust started by a 24-year-old helps bury unclaimed bodies and takes homeless persons with injuries to government hospitals and shelters
A few weeks ago, Suseela, a 60-year-old homeless woman in Gaudiya Mutt Road, sustained a grievous injury on her head, and as she left it unattended, maggots formed in the wound. Similarly, Jeeva, a 70-year-old homeless man in Tambaram, with injuries on his legs, could not get medical attention. Luckily for them, 24-year-old Khaalid Ahmed came to their rescue during the lockdown. He, along with few other volunteers, cleaned their wounds, took them to nearest government hospitals and later, helped them move to shelters run by the Greater Chennai Corporation.
Khalid Ahmed, a mechanical engineering graduate, runs a trust called Uravugal, which helps bury unclaimed bodies after getting proper police and medical clearance. He has been running this trust since 2017 and has buried more than 800 bodies till date. There are around 500 volunteers working for the trust.
“People, who spot injured or dead homeless people, contact us after seeing our social media page. We immediately rush to the spot and co-ordinate with the respective government departments and render the help needed,” Mr. Ahmed says .
During the lockdown period, his team has not only been treating injuries of homeless persons, but have also been burying the bodies of daily wage earners, who are left without any money due to the curfew, and also of pavement dwellers who have no relatives.
“Since March 24, we have conducted final rites for nine persons. Most of the pavement dwellers manage to get food. But many are concerned about if they will get a proper burial once they die. This prompted me to start the trust,” explains Mr. Ahmed.
Apart from this, he has also helped three patients reach their hometowns. “We have our own ambulance for this purpose. Recently we shifted a pregnant woman to Jipmer, Puducherry,” he adds.
A senior police officer said that it was a very good initiative. “But if they do it in co-ordination with government, it will be more efficient,” he added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Vivek Narayana / Chennai – April 18th, 2020
