“I wondered if there is something I can do. My vehicles have been lying in the garage for months now, why not use them, I thought,” said Najeeb.
Najeeb in front of his tempo traveller that was recently converted into a Covid care ambulance by attaching first-aid kits and stretchers
Kochi :
At a time when the state is grappling with the second wave of Covid, a Kochiite who owns a fleet of tempo travellers has decided to convert his vehicles into Covid-care ambulances, given the shortage of facilities in the district.
Recently, Najeeb Vellakal who hails from Thrikkakara himself faced a crisis when he couldn’t get a vehicle to drop his Covid positive staff to his hometown in Palakkad. He converted one of his 20 tempo travellers under Zainul Travels into a Covid ambulance to drop his staff. “I removed all the seats except the long one in the back.
I bought a PPE kit for the driver and separated the driver’s cabin using a plastic sheet and dropped the Covid positive person in Palakkad,” said Najeeb, who has been in the vehicle rental business for over 20 years. The incident, however, left him pondering over the struggles of common people during the pandemic. “I wondered if there is something I can do. My vehicles have been lying in the garage for months now, why not use them, I thought,” said Najeeb.
“It costs around Rs 10,000 to convert a traveller into an ambulance by adding stretchers, fixing oxygen cylinders and first aid kits,” he added. On a trial basis, the Ernakulam mayor suggested converting one vehicle into a Covid ambulance.
“I am willing to convert the rest of my 15 vehicles into Covid ambulances if they agree,” Najeeb said. He also said that the ambulance will only charge an affordable rent from people, enough to pay the driver and get fuel. The 43-year-old has been working at Kakkanad Infopark arranging transportation for its employees. His business has been dull since work-from-home became the new norm.
You may contact Najeeb on 7907034416
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Aishwarya Prabhakaran, Express News Service / April 28th, 2021
Javed Khan said he and his wife often saw painful visuals over TV, showing people die in the want of ambulance and also having to pay hefty sums to get the ambulances.
Javed Khan with his autorickshaw-ambulance in Bhopal (Photo | Special arrangement)
Bhopal :
A 34-year-old autorickshaw driver in MP capital has turned his bread-winning vehicle into free ambulance service.
Meet Javed Khan, the Aishbag resident, who since the last three days has saved at least 15 lives by timely rushing them free of cost to different hospitals of Bhopal — which is among the top two Covid hotspots of MP.
Khan, the father of three kids (two daughters and a son), who also takes care of his three daily wage labourer brothers (who don’t have jobs owing to the corona curfew) sold his wife’s gold necklace for Rs 5,000 to fund his mission of rendering the free auto-rickshaw ambulance to Covid and other patients.
“I stocked three months’ ration for my family and subsequently used the money secured by selling wife’s necklace to fund the conversion of the autorickshaw into an ambulance. The 7 kg oxygen cylinder fitted in the auto-rickshaw has been gifted by social activist Bharti Jain,” Khan told The New Indian Express on Friday.
“Besides selling my wife’s chain, I’ve also stopped the payment of the instalment of Rs 10,500 on the purchase of the auto-rickshaw to ensure that my ambulance continues to run effectively and my family too doesn’t have any problems in the coming days. Some people have donated Rs 1,500 which too is helping my cause,” said Khan.
The money has been used to refill the cylinder, buy pulse oxymeter, sanitizer and PPE kits and other protective gear to keep himself safe.
According to the father of three kids, for whom the auto-rickshaw was the lone bread-winner, he and wife often saw painful visuals over TV, showing people die in the want of ambulance and also having to pay hefty sums to get the ambulances.
“In agreement with my wife, I decided to start the autorickshaw-ambulance service which can be availed by anyone just by dialling my cell number 7999909494. In the last three days, I’ve rushed 15 Covid patients to hospitals, including AIIMS-BHOPAL, Hamidia Hospital and Paliwal Hospital. Even if people are willing to pay me, I tell them that this is for the human cause during the holy month of Ramzan,” Khan said.
While Khan is the lone autorickshaw driver to start this service, he also claims that there are 10-12 more autorickshaw drivers in the city, who are ready to operate a similar service if supported by generous donors.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Anuraag Singh / Express News Service / April 30th, 2021
Pyare Khan, a Nagpur-based businessperson, has spent 1 crore rupees to buy 32 tonnes of oxygen and supply them to Covid care centres in the city.
Last week, he had sent a tanker carrying 16 tonnes of oxygen to the city from Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. He has again sent another tanker carrying the same amount of oxygen to Nagpur.
Khan is associated with transport business. He is the owner of Amshi Transport.
Several Muslims have been at forefront in the ongoing battle against Covid-19. Several of them have played their role in various ways during the pandemic.
Muslim men in various cities have performed last rites of Hindu Covid victims. Danish Siddiqui and Saddam Qurashi are among them. They have cremated over 60 bodies so far in Bhopal.
India is witnessing an acute shortage of oxygen and other basic medical facilities required for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Commenting on the current situation, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that India is facing a ”national emergency-like situation”. The court asked the Centre to put in place a “national plan” on issues including supply of oxygen and essential drugs for the treatment of patients infected, and method of vaccination.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Featured / by Muslim Mirror Staff / April 24th, 2021
Shakir, who is a resident of Areekode in Malappuram district, Kerala, built a miniature soft top Mahindra jeep for his children and the video of his creation is now making rounds on the internet.
While it’s common for parents to buy kids their favourite toys, a Kerala man went out of his way to build a miniature jeep for his children to play with.
Shakir, a resident of Areekode in Malappuram district, built a miniature soft top Mahindra jeep for his children and the video of his creation is now making rounds on the internet.
The jeep, which is a replica of a Mahindra Jeep, is powered by a 1000 watts motor and comes complete with a manual gearbox, power steering, detachable soft top and headlights. It took Shakir around a year to finish the project.
In the video, Shakir explained that though he completed the project over 5-6 years ago, it was only now that the miniature jeep went viral.
The jeep, which reportedly has a driving range of approximately 60-70 km, cost him around Rs 1.5 lakhs.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Trending> Trending in India / by Trends Desk, New Delhi / April 19th, 2021
Owning a car was a distant dream till 50 years of my age. Finally, I could buy a petite beauty — a German company car Opel Corsa Sail. It was a “pre-owned” one (decent word for second hand). The running around I made to purchase this would itself make an interesting story as I was a greenhorn then. The pre-owner used all his expertise in explaining its features and convinced me to buy it. He also postured as if he was deeply pained to part with the car.
Well, like any other kid with a new toy, I developed a bond with this beauty. Once, it was a dream to buy a car but soon I used to drive this car even in my dreams. My obsession for spic and span maintenance of my new love, made her silver-coloured curvatures (I believe Chassis is a very harsh word) shine brighter.
A veteran from Indian Air Force that I am, the lessons on cleanliness has been imbibed by me. I never cared for myself even when I got sunburned in the cleaning process. I thought I had to compensate the time lost in my earlier 50 years without a car and spent more time in adoration of this new car !
This car had an exquisite spacious accommodation and upkeep of the interiors of her beauty was also given equal prominence. Dust was my chief enemy. The sight of dust would horrify me. So cleaning was meticulous. Even the remote and hard-to-access portions were carefully polished.
Well, my wife was obviously unhappy that in the course of car cleaning, my household responsibilities were weaning. Her frequency of nagging had increased. (Friends used to say their wives are also same and that sounded like music to my ears). One fine day (can I call it so?), in spite of my wife’s admonitions, I ventured into cleaning my car.
Matter of just a switch
I do not dare to blame my wife for her warnings, because of which I got a little distressed. But the resultant bad mood had an evil effect as I cleaned the interiors. There was this headlight control switch that became the casualty of my distraught. Unlike the modern-day cars, which have control switch attached to steering wheel itself, in my car, it was a little remotely fixed at right-hand corner below the dashboard. Because of my unusual harsh handling that day, the switch got damaged and so was my sleep that night.
The next day I went to the company-authorised service centre. The service engineer inspected it and gave a verdict that it cannot be repaired and the entire switch control unit needs to be replaced, with an original imported one. He said that it has to be obtained from the manufacturer and may take 15 days and the estimated cost was about Rs. 7,000.
Deft hands
I got worried and decided to have a second opinion. One of my friends advised me to go to a local mechanic, Khaleel, who was an expert in his own way in repairing high-end cars. I thought of giving it a try and went to his garage which was next to a Gujari (dump yard). I was amazed to see several high-end imported cars parked there for different levels of repairs.
I was very anxious about the snag in my car, may be very minor, but was paramount for me. But after inspecting the car for only a few seconds, he showed no expressions whatsoever. He asked me to leave the car and come after an hour. His face was so serious that I did not dare to ask any more questions. The next one hour was the toughest in my life. My restless mind was preparing for the worst.
Complex problem, simple solution
I went back to the garage, posing with a fictional courage. Cool as a cucumber, Khaleel said the snag is rectified and demonstrated that it worked properly. He asked me to pay Rs. 100. I was astonished and could not believe. I peeped into the dashboard and I could see a new control knob, which looked pretty familiar as well as bizarre to me. It was totally different from the original one. I wondered how he could get such a part which was supposed to cost a bomb and was not readily available locally in such a short time and that too for a paltry hundred rupees.
When I expressed my bewilderment and disbelief (though happy within), he nonchalantly said, “Saar, it is very simple technology like a mixer in your house. I just bought a mixer speed control knob for just ten rupees and replaced the broken switch” and handed over the broken switch to me. I was astounded. I thought to myself, hell with the frightening company-authorised service centre, my job was done so effortlessly and the worry vanished.
Above all, I thought, it was a classic example of “vocal for local” and “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” much before our Prime Minister Modi promulgated the scheme nationally. Wonder how many such sophisticated spare parts Khaleel would have replaced in those imported cars lying in his garage with their bonnets open to the sky. And how many such Khaleels would be in the trade!
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by S. Vasudevan, Retired Superintendent of Customs & GST / March 26th, 2021
The flight is said to have landed at 8.05 am at Jaipur Airport following which a doctor and an ambulance was arranged.
Dr Subhana Nazir
Bengaluru :
A North Western Railway Zone doctor was lauded after she assisted in the delivery of a baby girl onboard an IndiGo flight from Bengaluru to Jaipur on Wednesday. An official communique from the airlines stated that the baby was delivered with the help of the flight crew under the guidance of Dr Subhana Nazir. There were 116 passengers onboard the flight.
The flight is said to have landed at 8.05 am at Jaipur Airport following which a doctor and an ambulance was arranged. The baby and the mother are safe, the airlines said.Dr Subhana received a rousing welcome on landing at Jaipur Airport and was also lauded by her railway zone.
“Committed to duty… anytime… anywhere. Dr Subhana Nazir, a railway doctor of North Western Railways, while travelling Indigo6E from Bengaluru to Jaipur attended to the medical emergency and helped deliver a baby on board. #Proudrailwaywoman,” tweeted the NW zone.“The Indigo crew were able to help the doctor after having received special training for such situations,” said an airline representative. In October last year, the airline had faced a similar situation on a Delhi-Bengaluru flight.
Indigo permits expectant mothers till the end of 36 weeks of pregnancy, provided there are no prior complications, to board flights. If the pregnancy is between the 33rd and 36th week, a fit-to-fly certificate from the treating obstetrician, dated not more than seven days before the date of travel, is required.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Express News Service / March 18th, 2021
The man in the Indian Air Force uniform is Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather with India’s Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf, an Chairman of Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier
Hilal was commissioned in Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot on December 17, 1988
Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather is presently India’s Air Attaché to France
________________
The first batch of the much-awaited five Rafale fighter jets that took off from France on July 27 will reach India today around 2 PM. In the moment of euphoria over the arrival of one of world’s best fighter jets, Indian social media users were quick to point out the important role played by Hilal Ahmad Rather in the quick delivery of Rafale.
Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather is presently India’s Air Attaché to France. Hilal hails from South Kashmir’s Anantnag district. He became India’s first pilot to see off the batch of Rafale jets from France to India on July 27. Reports suggest that he played a crucial part in early delivery of the Rafales, and was previously associated with the weaponisation of the Rafale jets according to the Indian requirements.
Hilal was commissioned in Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot on December 17, 1988. He became flight lieutenant in 1993, wing commander in 2004, group captain in 2016 and air commodore in 2019.
Recipient of Vayu Sena Medal and Vishisht Seva medal, Hilal has a record of 3,000 accident-free flying hours on different aircraft.
An October 2019 video was also shared widely where he was preparing for Shashtra Puja along with Group Captain Anand, in presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
India had signed a deal worth over ₹60,000 crore with France in September 2016 for 36 Rafales to meet the emergency requirements of the IAF.
source: http://www.livemint.com / Mint / Home> News> India / by Staff Reporter / July 29th, 2020
In the recent past, Jammu and Kashmir has been giving to the country several women professional pilots—young women who have struggled hard to get their wings to fly. The latest to join the club is Kaneez Fatima who became the second lady from Ladakh to become a pilot.
Talking to The Sunday Guardian, her mother Shakeela Bano said that her daughter’s success was because of her, the mother’s, struggle as she had single-handedly brought up Kaneez and provided her with the required education. Shakeela was divorced at a young age and devoted her life to bring up her two daughters.
Shakeela said that she saw a spark in her daughter and was very keen for her education. “I got myself transferred from Ladakh to Srinagar only for the better education of my daughter. I gave her my best as a single parent, I tried my best to give her everything she needed,” she told this newspaper.
She said she was satisfied that her daughters were settled in their lives and added that the burden of her bank loan for their education was no longer occupying her mind. Her elder daughter Nahida is an engineer with HAL. She did her engineering from Srinagar.
“I took a huge loan from a bank in Srinagar for the education of my daughters. Now it is all over. I have achieved what I wanted for my daughters,” said a smiling Shakeela. She said that she could get her daughter admitted to the Government Aviation Training Institute at Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Kaneez, according to her mother, went through a six-year training course and subsequent flying experience.
According to Shakeela, another girl from Leh was so inspired by her daughter’s struggle that she too got herself enrolled for training in the same institute.
J&K came into prominence when Captain Tanvi Raina became a pilot. It was followed by other success stories of women pilots Ayesha Aziz and Iram Habib. The state got its first Muslim pilot Hina Masood, who is working with Air India now, and belongs to Ladakh. Like Hina, Kaneez has also joined Air India. Ayesha is flying fighter jets and has roots in Kashmir as her mother is from the Valley.
source: http://www.sundaygurardianlive.com / TSG – Sunday Guardian Live / Home> News / by Noor ul Qamrain / September 22nd, 2018
Expatriate businessman C P Salih had a happy reunion recently after 60 years — with a gleaming Studebaker car that had left his home in 1960.
Salih’s father Chandanaparambil C P Mohammad had bought this American car from Delhi. It is estimated that the car, manufactured in 1947, arrived in India in 1949.
It was in this car that the wedding party of the mother-in-law of prominent businessman Galfar Mohamed Ali had travelled to the wedding.
C P Mohammad sold the car in the 1960s. After changing several hands, it finally reached Delhi again. What’s more, it had the same old number — DBG 8213. Mohammad had written in his diary that he had bought the car for Rs 2,400. The car was tracked in Delhi with the help of the old number.
Salih purchased the car and brought it to his Valappad home to give it to his son Anhar Salih as a wedding gift. The car was originally red in colour. It has now turned blue. The top was lost due to age. But the engine is still the old one.
C P Salih with his family.
On seeing its return, many elders shared their memories of having seen the car in the past. All this was recorded and kept by Salih’s family. Many were not even allowed to touch the car. But C P Mohammad took everyone in the area in the car.
While the old car has been found, one puzzle related to it remains. CP Mohammad had written in his diary that an Ezhuthachan in Thrissur had helped him buy the car. Salih has not yet been able to find out who that was.
source: http://www.onmanorama.com / OnManorama / Home> News> Business / by OnManorama Correspondent / January 17th, 2021
On Wednesday, headlines in an English newspaper read: ‘Kashmir Girl, 20, Adds Wings to Her Dreams, Bags Commercial Pilot’s License.’ The report in Greater Kashmir newspaper was about Neha Fida Wani, who became the second girl from Kashmir to achieve this feat at such a young age.
Commercial Pilots License
Neha Fida Wani, has become the second girl from Kashmir after Ayesha Aziz. Ayesha had become the youngest student pilot in India in 2011 at the age of 16 years, the report said.
Neha, who hails from K.P Road area, did her schooling from south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, and later moved to Chandigarh for higher studies. “After finishing 12th class in September 2018, I joined Chimes Aviation Academy in Madhya Pradesh,” Neha told Greater Kashmir.
She said the thing that fascinated her to become a pilot was the thought of flying an airplane. “I was clueless about this profession and would always spend hours surfing the Internet to know how to pursue this career. I have been fascinated by the pilots too,” said Neha.
Neha said she remembers flying the Cessna 172 aircraft for the first time in her life after getting a commercial license. “I was absolutely thrilled when I flew the aircraft for the first time. The whole journey through attaining my commercial pilot’s license (CPL) was surreal. I flew in all kinds of weather situations,” she said.
Neha has completed 200 hours
“I completed 200 hours of flying training, of which 185 hours were on Cessna 172 and 15 hours on DA42 aircraft. As a child I used to think whether one day I will be able to do that or not. I am glad that I am a pilot now. My dream is gradually becoming a reality,” she said, beaming with pride.
Revealing her future plans, Neha told the newspaper that said that she wants to work with Indigo airlines airlines. “It’s my dream,” she said.
2nd Kashmiri Girl Pilot
Neha has been very lucky as she has enjoyed the support of her family in pursuing her dream. “They (parents) have always been very supportive both financially and emotionally throughout the journey,” she said.
Her father, Fida Wani, who owns a business, said that they kept supporting Neha despite many people talking bad about them. “Sometimes it was getting very difficult for us but we never backed down. It did hurt us but it didn’t demotivate us. We are all very proud of her,” he said.
Neha said that everybody has a potential to do something out of the box, especially young Kashmiri youth. “All we need to do is to know our goals and work hard to achieve them,” she said.
source: http://www.aviatorsbuzz.com / Aviators Buzz / Home> News / by AB Editorial Team / December 10th, 2020
