Srinagar, JAMMU & KASHMIR :
Srinagar:
Dr Noor Mohammad Mir, former Head of the Plant Pathology department at the Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, passed away on Thursday.
His ‘Rasme Chaharum’ would be held on Monday at 10:30 am at the family’s ancestral graveyard at Chotta Bazar, Kanikadal, in downtown Srinagar. (KNS)
source: http://www.risingkashmir.com / Rising Kashmir / Home / Srinagar – November 25th, 2017
Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :
Mysuru :
City’s young 10 year old tennis player Mustafa M Raja won a grand double crown winning both the singles and doubles trophy of the Championship Series 7 days AITA 12 and Under National Tournament held at Top Spin Tennis academy in J P Nagar, Bengaluru.
This is Mustafa’s biggest win of his career. This tournament saw players participating from all over India including Maharashtra, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka etc.
Mustafa played consistently throughout the 5 days and did not drop even one set in the entire tournament. In the semi finals third seeded Mustafa won against the top seed player Keshav Goel from West Bengal with the score of 6,2 and 7,6(7,4). In the finals Mustafa overcame Prakash Bhuvan from Karnataka with the score of 7,6(7,1) and 6,4.
In the doubles finals second seeded pair of Mustafa and Jason M David from Karnataka defeated the No 1 seeded pair of Keshav Goel (WB) and Arnav Paparkar (MH) with the score of 6,3 and 6,1.
This is Mustafa’s 21st AITA Trophy which includes 16 winner titles and 5 Runner Up titles. Mustafa has achieved this feat in less than 24 months.
Mustafa studies at Excel Public School and trains at the Nagaraj Tennis Centre. He is the son of Murtuza Raja and Farida Raja. -(KK)
source: http://www.citytoday.com / City Today / Home> Mysore / CT Bureau / November 25th, 2017
Hyderabad, TELANGANA :
Tucked away in the locality of Urdu Shareef is the shrine of a sufi saint
The Deccan region has been blessed by the influence of many sufis, saints, gurus and spiritual leaders. It is said that 1400 paalkis (palanquins) came to Deccan, symbolising the number of sufi-saints. They spread the message of universal brotherhood, love, tolerance, peace, harmony, humanity and amiable relations between the two major communities. Many devotees and followers also embraced Islam. The entire Deccan region and the city of Hyderabad, in particular was visited by many god men, who not only commanded respect and reverence from common man, but also from nobilities and elite class of the society.
The old city of Hyderabad i.e. the southern part has shrines of many famous Sufi-saints, whose annual Urs are still celebrated with great devotion.
A little away from Pathergatti High Court road is the locality called Urdu Shareef, where the army of Mughal Prince Kaambakhsh stayed during that period. The palace of Kaambakhsh was also constructed in the vicinity.
It is in this area that you will see the shrine of Hazrat Arifullah Syedna Shah Saadullah Saheb Naqshbandi. The 175 year old shrine has a large dome with beautiful architecture housing four graves made of fine sand. It is an uncommon and unusual sight, as graves are usually made of cement, mortar, lime and stones; and rarely are covered by marble, the graves appear like sand dunes, and lie adjacent to one another. The biggest grave is that of Hazrat Saadullah Saheb.
The adjacent one on the left side is of his brother, Md Osman Saheb, the next one is of Osman’s wife, while on the far right is the grave of his favourite disciple, Mirza Ashraf Ali. The entire area of these graves is seven feet long and four feet wide. The sand is changed annually and many devotees, both Hindus and Muslims pay their respect and seek his blessings.
Hazrat Saadullah was born in the Frontier Province. He came to Deccan during the reign of Nawab Nasir-ud-daula, the fourth Nizam, and settled here. Many nobles including, Maharaja Chandu Lal, used to come to seek his blessings. A great scholar, he was an Arabic and Persian poet as well. Since he was physically disabled, he would sit on the back of a disciple when roaming around the city.
The impressive dome was constructed by one of his ardent followers, Maulvi Mohd Hussain, who was the tutor of the fifth Nizam, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan.
Just opposite the shrine is a small mosque built by Hazrat which bears similarity with Charminar. The architecture on the parapet, minarets and the ceiling is extraordinarily magnificent.
source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> SundayScape> Telangana Diaries / by Dr. Anand Raj Varma / October 15th, 2017
Bastar, CHHATTISGARH :
Pennsylvania :
Arif Sheikh has become the only Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the country to win this award in community policing twice in a row.
Bastar:
Bastar Superintendent of Police (SP) Sheikh Aarif Hussain has been awarded the prestigious International Association of Chief of Police (IACP) Award 2017 in Pennsylvania in the ‘Homeland Security’ category for his campaign ‘Amcho Bastar, Amcho Police’.
Arif Sheikh has become the only Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the country to win this award in community policing twice in a row.
Arif Shaikh has dedicated this award to the martyrs, who have sacrificed their life at the altar of their duty in Bastar and to the brave and innocent tribals of the region, who have supported and collaborated with the Bastar Police in this fight against the Naxalism.
Through his campaign, the Bastar Police have come to the aid of few children, who were trapped in the clutches of the Bal Sangham of Maoists, who were used to plant IEDs against the security personnel. They also tried to bring back the surrendered Maoists into the mainstream by giving them alternative earning opportunities.
The ‘Amcho Bastar, Amcho Police’ initiative aimed at bridging the gap between the police and the tribal communities by assimilating with their culture. At the same time, the police has focussed on neutralising the Left wing extremist and also by encouraging the ultras to surrender and join the main stream.
The annual IACP award ceremony and Banquet was held on Wednesday in the Pennsylvania convention centre in a majestic ceremony.
The IACP is a 126-year-old organisation of all the chiefs of police in the U.S. with its headquarters located in Virginia.
The IACP president, Donald W. De Lucca, was the chief guest. The other guests of honour were the executive board directors of the IACP.
Total 15 different awards were given in various categories including forensic sciences, prevention of terrorism, community policing, human rights awards, victim services awards and Reuters awards for excellence in criminal investigations et al.
The IACP/Cisco Leadership award in community policing recognises outstanding community policing initiatives undertaken by law enforcement agencies worldwide.
The other agencies across the world which won the community policing awards were the Oelwein Police department from Iowa, the Monrovia Police department from California, the Roanoke Police department from Virginia, the Fujairah Police department from the UAE and the Arlington Police department from Texas.
source: http://www.asianage.com / The Asian Age / Home> Newsmakers / by ANI / October 25th, 2017
Pingwa,Mewat (HARYANA) / NEW DELHI :
________________________________________________________________________
Gurugram :
This is what a silent revolution looks like. Six sisters, who live with their parents in Delhi’s Malaviya Nagar, have launched a campaign against dowry in their native village, Pingwa in Mewat. Since Friday last, they have been busy in a door-to-door campaign against the social evil in Mewat.
They have declared they will also urge qazis, or Sharia magistrate, to not allow such weddings in the district.
Shabana Khan, 29, the eldest of six sister, was married to a Sikandrabad, UP, resident 10 years ago. Tormented by her in-laws for dowry, she returned home to her parents after suffering for two years. Since then, she realised most women around her suffered after marriage for “not bringing enough dowry”.
Noticing the plight of their sister, Shabana’s five younger sisters — Nishi (26), Neelu (24), Shahin (23), Abida (21) and Nafisa (15) — have declared they would rather remain unmarried if there is dowry involved in a potential alliance. It also inspired them to launch their campaign against dowry. They founded an organisation in 2014 — Sahely, for victims of dowry, and now have decided to return to their roots to empower girls in Mewat.
“As dowry, my father gifted all kinds of household articles, but he didn’t have enough money for a car and the lakhs of rupees in cash sought. For this, I was harassed by my in-laws and eventually my marriage broke. Dowry is an epidemic. Girls are mentally and physically tortured for it. It has to stop, and it’s time somebody did something about it,” said Shabana.
The sisters will organise public meetings in the villages to raise awareness. They chose Mewat not only because it is their ancestral home, but also because of its high illiteracy.
“Both Islam and country’s laws prohibit dowry, yet it’s given and taken openly. We’ll approach all qazis and tell them not to consecrate any wedding where dowry is exchanged. In fact, dowry seekers should be boycotted. It’s against Islam, and is a cancer that is eating away at the foundations of the institution of marriage,” said Shahin, another sister.
The sisters will target both youths and elders for their campaign. “We as a society spend more on girl’s dowry than her education. We should provide all resources to a girl for education, and not give any dowry at all. Even if in one generation, family of the bride/groom refuse to give/accept dowry, our job is done. That will transform society and will be the way to save the girl child,” added Neelu.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Gurgaon News / Chetna Choudhry / TNN / October 30th, 2017
Kolkata , WEST BENGAL :
Kolkata:
Former Bengal cricketer and Maidan coach Abdul Monayem takes up the role of the Cricket Operations Head and the bowling coach of the Aditya School of Sports launched by the Aditya Group, here on Thursday.
The Aditya Group, in a press conference at the Calcutta Sport’s Journalist’s club announced the launch of The Aditya School of Sports of in the presence of coach Monayem, Anirban Aditya, chairman of the Aditya Group, Ankit Aditya, vice-chairman, Subrata Talukdar, CEO of Atletico De Kolkata and Jhulan Goswami, former captain of the Indian women’s cricket team.
The Aditya School of Sports is a new and a first initiative of it’s own kind as it seeks to promote the idea of sports as career option. Initially, the institution would have training personnel for only cricket and football but other sports like rifle shooting are set to be included soon.
The students will have to undergo practice sessions for six days a week along with well balanced education.They would be provided with the latest training equipment and no stone, in their path of becoming able sportspersons, would be left unturned.
Anirban Aditya said that this initiative has mainly been taken to give importance to sports along with studies. He told ,”We have built this institution following the lines of The Tata Football Academy.”
“We are trying to contact the Dumdum and Barasat municipalities so as to get them repair the unkept fields. After they have been rebuilt they could be made available for even local players use them.” Coach Monayem, the man who had played for both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan clubs, and has big responsibilities of nurturing young talent, came out supporting this initiative.
He said, “This was needed from a long time. Here, along with education, people would take interest in sports, especially cricket”. He goes to say, ” Some of these cricketers may end up playing for Bengal one day.” He also says that not only boys but girls too, are free to take up admission in this institution.
Monayem had won the CAB First Division league with the Bhowanipore Cricket Club in the 2015-16 season. He also carries with him an experience of coaching first division clubs for 15 years.
The football training will be provided by specialized coaching staffs from the inaugural Indian Super League champions, Atletico De Kolkata.
The CEO of the club Mr.Subrata was present for occasion and said that, “ATK has helped the development of football in the country.” He also assured continuous help and support from the club to this institution.
source: http://www.sportscrunch,in / Sports Crunch / Home> Cricket / by Souryaprokas Bhaduri / November 23rd, 2017
Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH :
Lucknow :
These are times of aggressive nationalism we are living in, said vice chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, Faizan Mustafa, where we have started to consider Mughals not part of the country. Mustafa speaking at the grand 200th bicentenary birth anniversary celebrations of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in Lucknow on Tuesday went ahead to say that Mughals were in fact leaders of the first war of independence of 1857 and were considered so by the likes of Tipu Sultan, Tatya Tope and others.
“Mughals were an integral part of India who could not be fragmented from its soul and now we are here in these times of aggressive nationalism where we are having doubts about them. And this nationalism has not only made us target the Mughals, but also recently there were similar talks about Rabindranath Tagore,” said Mustafa who was the guest of honour at the Sir Syed Day organised by Aligarh Muslim University’s (AMU) Old Boys’ Association. Filmmaker Muzaffar Ali was the chief guest on the day, both of whom being former pupils of the university, recounted their time spent at AMU.
Mustafa also cleared that now when criticising the government is equated to being seditious, it was in 1860 after a fatwa (decree) from clerics at Deoband against the British that the law of sedition as a charge was enacted. Mustafa also exhorted his fellow Aligs (as past pupils of AMU are popularly known) that the dream of Sir Syed has not yet been realised with Muslims lagging in both modern education and securing government jobs.
In his brief speech, Mustafa also touched upon the controversy around AMU’s minority status and said, “People say that the minority status was for the college and with AMU a university, it does not stand now. I researched for this when I had to submit in Allahabad high court as AMU’s stand on the case and I found that when Sir Syed laid the foundation of the madrasa it was the university he had in mind and when he gave his first speech in 1877 when the school was raised to the college level, in front of Lord Lytton he said that one day the college would be a university.
Mustafa also said that blaming Sir Syed for the two nation theory was not just wrong but also absurd. “In several of his recorded speeches, he has identified and defined both Hindus and Muslims as not separate identities but one qaum (community) and one nation. Mustafa considered an authority on law also said that reforms in Muslim personal laws were needed and could only be possible through the ideas of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
ON the day, the AMU Old Boys’ Association and its members that had gathered in the city from different parts of the state passed the resolution to raise demand of Bharat Ratna for Sir Syed and to generate funds for a Sir Syed House in Lucknow to carry on his Aligarh movement of education.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Yusra Hussain / TNN / October 18th, 2017
NEW DELHI :
The meet not only fostered the alumni bond, but also extended a helping hand to fresh graduates
It was an evening steeped in nostalgia, as over 500 alumni of New Delhi’s central university and one of India’s most famous – Jamia Millia Islamia – came from all across the world to celebrate their alma mater’s 97th birthday.
Scores of ex-Jamia students who travelled all the way from India, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UK along with their families, attended the event at Hyatt Regency, Dubai Creek Heights.
Apart from the distinguished guest list that included Ambassador of India to UAE Navdeep Singh Suri, the university’s vice chancellor Talat Ahmed and other dignitaries, successful alumni shared nostalgic memories of their time at the school.
The programme began with a recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by the university’s anthem called sung with full enthusiasm.
Addressing the gathering, prominent alumni Parvez Akram Siddquie welcomed the guests and JMI alumni and highlighted the university’s key objectives. He spoke about starting a medical college in the university’s campus, expansion of the campus, and campus placement for students.
Talking about the role of the alumni meet, Siddquie added: “The heart of the alumni meet lies in giving back in kind to their alma mater. Such meets not only aim to bring together and foster a bond among alumni, but also are a means of extending a helping hand to fresh graduates in different aspects, from job-hunting to settling down in the UAE. Many a time, the alumni chapter has also generated funds for pressing needs like a hostel accommodation at the university.”
Dr Haji Ibrahim, co-chairman of Malabar Gold & Diamonds, announced the company’s support in building the hostel facility for students, on the Jamia campus.
JMI vice-chancellor Talat Ahmed delivered a powerful speech on the values and ideals that define the university. Stating that JMI is a confluence of modern and age-old values of brotherhood and mutual coexistence, he said: “JMI is a platform from which students embark on a journey of learning and self-discovery. It is a model of national integration where children of every religion, sect, and denomination study together,” Ahmed said.
“We recalled our college days today, as we met our batchmates and friends after so many years, even 20 years in some cases. We shared the same jokes that we cracked as students and had a great time catching up,” said Imtiyaz Ahmad, a JMI alumni and one of the meet’s organisers.
Suri assured his support in getting the Global Jamia Alumni Network (GJAN) official recognition and registration in the UAE.
Talking about the role of Indian expats in the UAE, Suri said: “I was talking to some very high officials in the UAE government, and they said we have been told to drive the India-UAE relationship because our leaders believe that Indians are the people we trust. Why? ‘Because, at home, we leave our children in the care of Indians, in hospitals we put our lives in the hands of Indian doctors, and in banks, we put our money in the hands of Indian bankers’ he said. There is a lot of goodwill earned by the Indian community.”
The show concluded with the vote of thanks by one of the main organisers and JMI alumni Nadeem Hasan. Others key alumni members who helped in organising the event were Imtiyaz Ahmad Ansari, Eqbal Ahmad, Abdul Khaliq, Abbad Khan, Ahmad Khan, Riyaz Khan, Shams Khan, Jalal Ahmad, Rizwan Ahmad, Salauddine Ansari and Amjad Khan has been appreciated to make this event successful and Syed Nadeem Zaidi.
saman@khaleejtimes.com
source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> Nation / October 24th, 2017
Vijayawada, ANDHRA PRADESH / Hyderabad, TELANGANA :
To inculcate the love of reading in children, former journalist and Hyderabad-based businessman Sheik Sadiq Ali has embarked on a unique mission. He operates a mobile library by stacking books on a pushcart that moves around remote villages and distributes books to young children who do not have access to them.
The collection of books has all genres that cater to different tastes. “Books stimulate our imagination, curiosity and creativity, thereby enriching our lives. Realising the need to make books accessible to people at the grassroots level, I decided to take up this task,” he explains.
Why use push cart when he can afford a car or other comfortable mode of transport? “Most of my friends suggested that I fix motors to the cart or at least hire workers to push it. But I refused and chose to do it myself because I wanted to create interest among people who usually see vegetables, toys or other things sold on such four-wheeled carts. I was sure that it would raise the curiosity of kids, my target group,” he explains.
Mr. Sadiq, popular as Thopudu Bandi Sadiq, has done his Masters in Telugu from the Osmania University and his wife Usha is Joint Director in Agriculture Department. He invests in real estate and also runs an online matrimonial website and the money generated there is spent on purchase of books in bulk from publishers, most of who are generous with subsidies.
His pushcart first hit the road on February 22 at the People’s Plaza on the Necklace Road in Hyderabad in 2015, covering 350 km in the twin cities. The next year in January, the vehicle loaded with books set out with a slogan of Palle ku prematho thopudu bandi, covering about 1,000 km in 100 days across villages in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Medak and Warangal districts. This was followed by Vooroora Grandhalayam (library in every village) wherein he started libraries in 130 villages.
If his badi-badi ki thopudu bandi catered to the need of books in village schools, his Basthi lo pustakala panduga is aimed at taking books to children in summer holidays. His next programme Adavi thalli ki akshara thoranam targets Girijan thandas in the Bhupalapalli district of Telangana, from November 27.
Foray in AP
In collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh Library Association (APLA), Mr. Sadiq Ali now plans to expand his library facilities to children in Andhra Pradesh as well.
“Based on the route map given by the APLA, I’ll start books distribution from February 1, from Thiruvuru,” he says.
He intends to set up two godowns at Kallur which borders Thiruvuru and at Mylavaram and each of them will have stocks of books sufficient for 15-20 libraries.
“The APLA will give all possible support to him,” said Sarada Raavi, general secretary of the Association.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by P. Sujatha Varma / Vijayawada – November 20th, 2017
Kozhikode, KERALA :
As many as 191 benign tumours were removed from the uterus of an Omani woman at a private hospital in Kozhikode, north Kerala, on Saturday.
Doctors at the city’s Starcare Hospital claimed this was a new world record. They said the previous one was held by an Egyptian woman, who had 186 tumours removed from her body last December.
Dr Abdul Rashid, the hospital’s chief gynaecologist, told Hindustan Times they performed the operation in four hours without removing the patient’s ovaries or uterus. “We blended keyhole and traditional mechanisms to do it. We were expecting 80-odd tumours, not so many,” he said, adding that the woman was now recuperating from the procedure.
The existing record in the country is 84 tumours.
Dr Rashid said the hospital will soon update Guinness World Records authorities on the development. “We did not operate on the 34-year-old woman to break any record. We had initially considered laparoscopic surgery, but decided against it when we realised that the tumour was really big,” he added.
A team of three doctors had performed the surgery.
The chief gynaecologist said a leading medical body has already confirmed that this was a unique case. “The woman seemed to be in an advanced stage of pregnancy when she first came here, but we were keen on protecting her ovaries and uterus. She can now lead a normal life, and even conceive after a couple of years,” he added.
According to Dr Rashid, there has been a significant rise in middle-eastern patients visiting super-specialty hospitals in the state lately. “Our facilities are economical when compared to hospitals in the West, while keeping with similar standards. Kerala has always been a leading tourist destination, but it may soon become a medical hub too,” he said.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India / by Ramesh Babu – Hindustan Times, Thiruvananthapuram / November 19th, 2017