Tag Archives: Indian Muslim Women Achievers

Nusrat Noor: First Muslim Woman to Top Jharkhand Public Service Commission

Jamshedpur, JHARKHAND:

Nusrat Noor from Jamshedpur not only cleared the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examination but also secured the highest rank in the list of successful candidates

Ranchi:

Nusrat Noor has become the first Muslim woman to top the Jharkhand Public Service Commission examination 2022 securing the first rank. She not only cleared the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examination but also secured the highest rank in the list of successful candidates who cleared the coveted examination the result of which was declared two days ago.

Nusrat Noor, 27, applied for the examination a year ago under the medical category soon after application forms were made available on the website. She prepared for the exams with due diligence, appeared for an interview last month, performed brilliantly in the exam and eventually came out with flying colours to become the first Muslim woman to ever top the JPSC examination.


On the empowerment of Muslim women, Nusrat Noor said, “Participation and initiative are key to increasing women’s representation. It doesn’t matter what the result might be, Muslim women should come forward to get into civil services. This is how we can increase our representation and benefit our community and the nation at large.”

The Jharkhand Public Service Commission conducts the state-level civil services examinations to make recruitment for top governmental posts in various departments, including teaching, medical, and healthcare, in the state. It is also responsible to conduct written and verbal examinations to appoint candidates for these prestigious government positions.

On being asked what motivated her to go for civil services, she said, “I noticed that the representation of Muslim women in the government workforce is negligible. It’s high time Muslims got highly educated. Especially our women should be in the forefront when it comes to grabbing the opportunities that come our way from every sector.”

Born and brought up in the Jamshedpur city of Jharkhand, Noor, a mother of one is a medical practitioner with a specialisation in neurology.

After completing her primary education at Sacred Heart Convent School in Jamshedpur, she moved to Ranchi to pursue her degree in medical sciences from the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science.

She completed her degree of MBBS in the year 2020, and consequent to this, she was posted in the same medical college to practice what she refers to as a junior residentship.


During her residentship, she got married. But her marriage has not come in the way of her studies and her dedication to pursue her goals. She lives in a joint family where, she says, everyone is very supportive. Her in-laws never discouraged her from pursuing her dream and goals.

During an outing with her in-laws

She says, “My husband and in-laws are very encouraging and supportive, I am lucky in a way, but this is how it should be in every household. I would say my family is a role model for every other family which treats its daughter-in-law as someone who is no more than a person whose job it is to do all the household chores.”

She looks at her family of more than 10 members as her strength and backbone. “I have a very big family, but it never has been a setback in doing whatever I wanted to do”.

Her husband, Mohammad Umar, is also a doctor and a consultant surgeon. He has always been by her side during her entire journey.


“My husband has always motivated me; he switched roles and helped me in my household chores. He did everything possible to make me achieve my goal, from setting up the timetable for me to study to taking care of our two-year-old child,” she recounts with a sense of gratitude.

With husband Dr. Mohd Umar and son Mohd Saad

Noor’s father, Md. Noor Alam, is in a managerial post at Tata Steel, Jamshedpur while mother Seerat Fatima is a homemaker. She is the youngest in her family. The news of her becoming the first Muslim woman in the entire state to top the JPSC examination makes them proud.

Her elder brother, Mohammad Faisal Noor, is pursuing his research in industrial engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur.

He says, “We were quite confident about her selection, but the news of that she got the first rank was, Alhamdulillah, a pleasant surprise.”

With her elder siblings

The one thing that she will never forget about in her entire journey, right from her school days to becoming a doctor to now cracking the JPSC, is that people and society even in the 21st century don’t consider a woman’s approach to her career as a personal achievement. Society still believes that a woman’s well-being lies in her traditional role as a homemaker.

She recalled the moment she got married, she was told by a friend that getting married ‘on time is an achievement in life and she has achieved it.

She said, “Personal life can be an aspect to achieve the ‘progress’, but there is much more to it. For me, apart from my personal life, achieving goals set by myself counts as progress. Society still needs to evolve to address the needs of today’s generation. My husband’s family, which is mine too, present an example of a ‘just’ and ‘progressive’ society which looks at the woman more than someone whose responsibility is confined to looking after the household.”

Nusrat now aims to start preparing for her post-graduation while taking charge as a medical officer in one of the government hospitals as appointed by the administration. She also looks forward to encouraging and facilitating other women to take up professional and administrative positions.

Proud mother of a two-year-old Mohd Saad

“Women should participate more to come into the mainstream. I also make an appeal to families to encourage their daughters to educate themselves as much as possible, as this is the only way to make them economically independent and socially self-sufficient.”

source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion India / Home / by Ghazala Ahmad, Clarion India / December 11th, 2022

Meet Naziya & Shabrun, two Muslim nurses from Bihar awarded by President Murmu for meritorious service

BIHAR:

The young nurses believe that more Muslim girls across the country should opt for the nursing profession to serve society.

Patna (Bihar) :

Two Muslim nurses Naziya Parveen and Shabrun Khatun from Bihar were awarded this year’s National Florence Nightingale Awards (NFNA) by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier this month. 

The National Florence Nightingale Awards (NFNA) were instituted in 1973 by the Government of India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a mark of recognition for the meritorious services rendered by nurses and nursing professionals to the society.

Sajeeda Banu of Karnataka, Ahmedullah Wani of Jammu & Kashmir, and Mohammed Kasim AB of Lakshadweep are the other Muslims who were awarded this year. 

She was among 51 people from around the country who were awarded in different categories by the President. Her citation states that she has contributed to the establishment of the labor room and for helping in preparing the standard operating procedure.

Meet Naziya & Shabrun, two Muslim nurses from Bihar awarded by President  Murmu for meritorious service – TwoCircles.net
32-year-old Naziya Parveen receiving the award from the President Murmu. | Picture by arrangement

Hailing from Sultanganj, Bhagalpur, Naziya is the eldest of three sisters. She is married to a microbiologist Mohammad Shams of Gaya. After completing her high secondary education in Dumka, Jharkhand she studied nursing for GNM at JawaharLal Medical College, Bhagalpur, and worked with Jamia Hamdard in New Delhi for six years. It was challenging to move from Delhi to Araria but her family supported her as “there isn’t much scope of work in Sadar Hospital.” 

“I feel quite proud to be awarded as our society does not recognize the work of nurses. I am elated for being a Muslim awardee as we don’t get nominated for such awards. I was asked if I was from Kashmir as I was wearing a hijab,” she said.  

Mother of two kids, Naziya has inspired other Muslim girls to take admission to nursing courses. Local newspapers in the state ran stories featuring her. 

“We need to change our attitude towards this profession. It is a good job and one can draw good income from it. The nursing course is such that even if one does not opt for a job, they can get the chance to serve from home and earn. I am of the view that more Muslim girls should study nursing as a profession,” she said. 

28-year-old Shabrun Khatun was awarded in the ANM (Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife) category. | Picture by arrangement

28-year-old Shabrun Khatun was awarded in the ANM (Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife) category. She works at Darbhanga Sadar primary health center. She had applied for the award previously but it was her work during Covid-19 that won her an award this year. She recalled how she went for a door-to-door screening of Covid-19 in April 2020 while being on fast and continued to work in 2021. 

Shabrun told TwoCircles.net that receiving the award from President Murmu was quite encouraging. 

Her journey to success has not been smooth. She had to work in local hospitals to support her family but this experience helped her. “I was good at studies in school and got prizes for my co-curricular activities. I wanted to be a medical doctor. I was selected for MBBS at a private medical college but did not have enough money to take admission. I also wished to be an officer in administration but my father’s proximity to doctors got me into nursing.”

Shabrun’s father Mohammad Akhtar is a tailor who would stitch clothes for operation theaters of hospitals nearby. She had cleared the preliminary test for selection in the police department but finally settled for a nursing course after her graduation in Zoology from her hometown of Rosera Bazar in Samastipur district in Bihar. 

Shabrun said that she had to face unfriendly treatment in society after she chose to become a nurse. “But seeing my success now, everyone is happy,” she said. 

She is of the view that Muslim girls who are not able to qualify for MBBS should consider nursing as a career as “it gives the satisfaction of serving humanity in one small way.” 

In December this year, she would be felicitated on the foundation day of the Darbhanga district. 

Sami Ahmad is a journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He tweets @samipkb

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / November 25th, 2022

AMU students win Judges Choice Award in NASA Space App Challenge

Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH :

Aligarh :

An unintended but welcome consequence of the lockdown to contain the coronavirus has been improved air quality stated the presentation of ALTAIR, a team of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) students led by MBBS first-year student, Ayesha Samdani, which won the ‘The Judges Choice Award’ in the International NASA Space App Challenge-2020 for presenting a solution in response to the NASA’s Challenge ‘A One Health Approach’.

Ayesha and team members, Mohd Zakir Husain (MBBS), Aman Ahmad Khan (MBBS), Faisal Jamil (B.Tech) and Abdullah Samdani (BA LLB) gave an analysis on air quality of the pre and post lockdown periods in the Indo Gangetic region of Northern India. Their study gave details about how an improvement in the air quality benefited the health of people.

For the presentation, the ALTAIR members also coded an Air Quality Index (AQI) Calculator to measure AQI of a certain region, which is helpful in giving health and cautionary statements and providing guidance to common people on pollution related health issues.

Congratulating the students on the achievement, Prof Shahid Ali Siddiqui, Principal, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) of the university and Prof Shakeel Samdani, Dean, Faculty of Law said that the work of these AMU students is formative as it provides a clear comparison of average concentration levels during the months before the lockdown and the time period during the lockdown restrictions, showing a reduction in SO2 level.

The event was judged by ISRO and NASA scientists including Tazeen Siddiqui of NASA.

source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> News> Community News / by The Milli Gazette Online / October 06th, 2020

Meet Ruveda Salam – a doctor and Kashmir’s first woman IPS officer

Farkin Village (Kupwara District), JAMMU & KASHMIR :

Meet Ruveda Salam - a doctor and Kashmir's first woman IPS officer

In 2015, Dr Ruveda Salam became the very first woman IPS officer from Jammu & Kashmir. When Ruveda was growing up, her father often used to say that he wanted his daughter to become an IPS (Indian Administrative Service) officer. That’s when she first thought of becoming one. It inspired her and she decided to aim for it.’

“As I have cleared the UPSC (Union Public Services Commission) exam for the second time, I will have to go for training again depending on the cadre. I think I will be posted as a sub-collector. Last year, I was selected to the Indian Police Service cadre. I went for training to Hyderabad. The training was very strenuous. Physically it was very hard. I joined the IPS cadre in Tamil Nadu and was posted as an Assistant Commissioner of Police in Chennai,” Ruveda said in a report in Rediff.com.

Before Ruveda cleared the UPSC (for the first time), she got into medical college, but even while studying medicine she used to read a lot. Ruveda found time to clear the Kashmir State Administrative Service exam. Instead of doing a post graduation in medicine, Ruveda started preparing for the UPSC.

As a young ACP, Ruveda has given motivational speeches to the youth, particularly girls. She encourages them to appear for the IPS exams in Jammu and Kashmir. Ruveda’s role is challenging. It carries a lot of responsibility. “I am in a state where people respect the police. I like it here (Tamil Nadu). When girls see me in uniform they look at me with admiration. I had conducted a workshop for girls in Hyderabad. The girls who attended said they wanted to join the IPS, but were apprehensive about whether their parents will support them,” Ruveda shared.

According to Ruveda, development will lead to peace in Jammu and Kashmir. “Peace and development go together. We should look to the future. Living outside has helped me understand the situation better,” said Ruveda.

source: http://www.yourstory.com / Your Story / Home> Inspiration / by Think Change India / May 11th, 2016

UAE: Meet the Guinness record-holding Indian father-daughter duo at Sharjah book fair

Kozhikode, KERALA / Dubai, UAE:

20-year-old Roshna created the longest cartoon strip measuring 430m, titled ‘The Billion Dollar Journey’ honouring businessman MA Yusuff Ali

Father and daughter duo M Dileef and Roshna M. Photo: Nasreen Abdulla

The ongoing Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) houses two record-breaking installations — tucked away in Hall 7, the world’s largest screwdriver is displayed and right next to it is the world’s longest cartoon strip depicting the inspirational story of UAE-based businessman MA Yusuff Ali.

Both of these Guinness world record-holding creations have been made by Indian expat father-daughter duo M Dileef and Roshna M. “It feels great to be exhibiting here,” said 20-year-old Roshna, who broke her own record for the longest cartoon strip established in 2021 with her latest creation. Measuring 430m, the new strip titled ‘The Billion Dollar Journey’ is stretched across two wheels and can be read by rotating the hand.

On Sunday, the illustrious Indian businessman from Kerala, MA Yusuff Ali, visited the stall and commended Roshan’s efforts.

Roshna’s father, M Dileef, a seasoned record-setter, said this is his third Guinness World Record. “Due to space constraints, I could only put the head of the screwdriver on display,” he said. Completed in March, the tool measures a whooping 6.6m in length. The artist was recently granted a Golden Visa in the UAE.

The longest cartoon strip

The cartoon strip charts the journey of businessman MA Yusuff Ali, from his childhood in a village in Kerala to his meteoric rise as one of the most influential businessmen in the world.

“I have always looked up to him,” she said. “I want to be an entrepreneur; he is my role model, so I wanted to make something to honour him.”

It was in 2021 that Roshna set her first world record with a cartoon strip measuring 404 metres in collaboration with Global Village. This year, she has broken that record. According to the youngster, who recently graduated with a bachelor’s in fine arts, making this strip took her 8 months, five months of which was just for research.

“I had a team of six classmates,” she said. “We had decided that we wanted to do something to make our mark, and this is the idea we came up with. They helped me in the entire research process and aided me when drawing the cartoon strip as well.”

The graduate now dreams of pursuing a master’s degree in Europe and hopes to raise funds for her education with her artwork.

Largest screwdriver

The masterpiece by Dileef was first displayed at World Art Dubai in March of this year. “I wanted to pay tribute to the working-class population in the city,” he said. “No other country has honoured and valued the contribution of the working class like the UAE has. So many lives were transformed because of Dubai. This piece was a homage to that.”

Made out of mahagony wood and mild steel, the screwdriver was constructed in Dubai. The handle, which has a diameter of 70cm, also has storage space for knickknacks.

Dileef has earlier set two world records- one for curating the world’s longest Quran and another for the largest badminton racket.

www.dileefartgallery.com

source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> UAE / by Nasreen Abdulla / November 06th, 2022

Sajida breaks into male bastion to become first woman music technician

Hyderabad, TELANGANA:

Sajida Khan has served in many Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films as a sound engineer over the past 10 years

Hyderabad:

Since the time Indian women got the liberty to pursue jobs, most have fulfilled their ambitions by working in the government sector, banks and multinational companies. However, Sajida Begum from the Maula Ali suburb of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, has broken a new glass ceiling by establishing herself in ‘musical acoustics and audio engineering.’ She has not just learnt the ropes of the industry, but become an expert in her field.

For the same reason, President Ram Nath Kovind presented her the ‘Ladies Award’ recognising her as “India’s first female music technician” in 2018.

Every part of her life journey reflects her love for music.  

Interest in sound mixing and engineering

Sajida says she wanted to enter the music industry right from her school days. Alongside pursuing studies, she would often participate in competitions held at Hyderabad’s famous Ravindra Bharathi Theatre. She demonstrated her talent at various programmes and contests on Doordarshan and All India Radio as well.  

She recounted an incident when a folk singer from Andhra, once, spotted her passion and told her about the various genres of music — folk, classical, Bollywood, and others. Her interest grew and she became determined to try something new.

Sajida says that she completed an animation course and then a PG diploma in the subject while finishing her XIIth Standard studies.

Meanwhile, she had the opportunity to go to a studio with her friend. Here, she displayed such great technical knowledge of the devices and equipment, that the owners were impressed and offered her a job. She worked here as an assistant to the music director for about five years.

Making a mark in the industry over a decade

Talking about her current projects, Sajida says she aims to bring as many stories on the digital audio format as possible. This allows authors and societies to preserve their knowledge. She has recently helped 40 children record their poems in audio format.

Sajida has served in many Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films as a sound engineer over the past 10 years. She has done dubbing, background music and complete audio mix. Besides, she is responsible for the success of several jingles, music albums and TV serials.

She has worked with leading film directors like Dasari Narayana Rao, Teja and Puri Jagannadh.

The only female music technician in the country, Sajida has also found her way into the ‘International Audiobook.’ This is a collection of interviews with women achievers in the audio field from across the globe. It’s called ‘Women in Audio.’

Despite this, Sajida says that it will still take some time for India and the world to recognise the contributions of women sound engineers.

Encouraging more women to venture into the field

Sajida says there’s no gender discrimination in the music industry. In fact, she got more work and with more confidence from her employers due to her being a woman. She said families must encourage their girls if they take interest in music, just like her parents did.

For Muslim women she said, a lot of them get into Mehndi application, beautician and tailoring courses; but they can explore fields beyond these as well. Muslim women need to be provided education so they are empowered and made more aware of all the career avenues available to them.

Sajida said she wishes to start her own post-production studio and a music school. She would like to employ as many women as she can in them, she said.     

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz The Voice / Home> Women / by awazthevoice.in / January 24th, 2021

Shotgun Shooting World C’ship: Muffadal Deesawala, Bhavtegh Gill win junior skeet mixed team bronze

Hyderabad, INDIA /Osijek,CROATIA :

The Indian duo beat the American pair of Aidin Burns and Mikena Grace Fulton 5-1 in the second bronze medal match.

Muffadal Zahra Deesawala & Bhavtegh Singh Gill | ISSF YouTube

Muffadal Zahra Deesawala and Bhavtegh Singh Gill won India’s third medal of the International Shooting Sport Federation Shotgun World Championship in Osijek, Croatia. The duo picked up a bronze in the Skeet Mixed Team Junior event here at the Olympic Shooting Range ‘Pampas’ on Tuesday.

They beat the American pair of Aidin Burns and Mikena Grace Fulton 5-1 in the second bronze medal match. They were declared winners by Golden Hit after Bhavteg and Mufaddal shot seven out of eight targets in the last series, enough to ensure that the Americans cannot win the series after Burns missed one out of his four targets.

The first pair to six points usually wins the match but the Indians were up 5-1 already and a tied last series would have given the Indians the point needed to win.

Deesawala and Gill finished sixth in the qualifiers shooting a combined 132 out of 150 targets. Deesawala shot 62 out of 75 and Gill shot 72 out of 75 shots to secure the last position for the bronze medal matches.

The British pairing of Mitchell Brooker Smith and Sophie Herrmann won the Gold in the event beating Haolei Zhao and Dan Wang of China 6-4.

Areeba Khan, on Tuesday, had won India’s second medal of the World Championship after the Junior Men’s Trap Team had won a gold. 

Bhowneesh Mendiratta had also won a Paris Olympic quota, India’s first for the 2024 Games, earlier in the championship. He finished fourth in the event.

source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> The Field> Shooting World Championships / by Scroll Staff / October 04th, 2022

Shotgun WC: India’s Areeba Khan wins silver in junior skeet

Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH:

Areeba Khan

Osijek (Croatia):

At the 2022 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Shotgun World Championship, which was held on Monday in Osijek, Croatia, Indian shooter Areeba Khan took home the silver medal in the individual women’s junior skeet event.

Areeba Khan hit 29 of her 40 shots in the final, missing her final attempt, while Sophie Herrmann of Great Britain scored 30 shots to win the gold.

Raveca-Maria Islai of Romania took home the bronze medal after striking 20 shots, while Muffaddal Zahra Deesawala of India placed fourth after hitting 12 targets.

After Shapath Bharadwaj, Shardul Vihan, and Arya Tyagi won gold in the junior trap men’s team competition, this is India’s second medal in the shotgun competition.

After a shoot-off, Areeba Khan came in third place in the qualifying round. She then won her ranking match to advance to the final.

The 19-year-old Indian shooter competed for India’s junior women’s skeet squad in 2021, which won a gold medal.

No Indian shooter qualified for the ranking matches in the junior men’s individual skeet later in the day.

In qualifying, Bhavtegh Singh Gill, Abhay Singh Sekhon, and Ritu Raj Bundela came in at positions 32, 33, and 36, respectively. The ranking matches are limited to the top eight competitors. 

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz The Voice / Home> Sports / Ocotber 05th, 2022

Mumbai-born Dr Tahera Qutbuddin First Indian To Win Arab World Nobel Prize

Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA / USA :

Image: Facebook

Dr Tahera Qutbuddin, a professor of Arabic Literature at the University of Chicago, recently became the first person of Indian-origin to win the 15th Sheikh Zyed Book Award. The award is considered to be the Nobel Prize of the Arab world.

Dr Qutbuddin, who was born in Mumbai and was educated until class 12 in India, also serves on the editorial board of NYU Abu Dhabi’s Library of Arabic Literature. She won the award for her latest book, Arabic Oration – Art and Function, published by Brill Academic Publishers of Leiden in 2019.

In the book, she puts forth a comprehensive theory of Arabic literature in its foundational oral period dating the seventh and eighth centuries AD. She discusses it’s influence on modern-day sermons and lectures as well.

Image: zayedaward

Having completed her higher secondary from Sophia College in Mumbai, Dr Qutbuddin pursued her BA from Ain Shams University, Cairo and got her PhD and MA from Harvard University, USA.


In a recent interview with a portal, she said that although she has lived away for many decades in Egypt and now the US, her roots are vital to who she is, and Indian culture is part of the fabric of her being.

“It (Mumbai) is the place of my childhood memories, of playing in the monsoon rains and eating mangoes in the summer. I come back to Mumbai often. I love my Mother India, and pray for her security and progress, and for harmony and love between the many beautiful communities that call her home,” she said.

Image: Zayedaward

According to her bio, her research “focuses on intersections of the literary, the religious, and the political in classical Arabic poetry and prose.”

She is the recipient of several prestigious fellowships, including support from the Franke Institute of Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.

source: http://www.femina.in / Femina / Home> Trending> Achievers / by Shraddha Kamdar / April 30th, 2021

First Prize In Dasara Terrace Garden Competition

Mysuru, KARNATAKA :

Nishhat Afza, Founder and Director of Curiocity — School of Creative Art and Design, N.R. Mohalla, Mysuru, has bagged first prize in the ornamental terrace garden and 1st prize in waterfalls for the 5th consecutive year in the Dasara Home Garden contest organised by the Horticulture Department.

An active member of Srushti Bonsai Club, she has also participated in women empowerment and other social activities. Besides, she helps people with landscaping and waterfall designing.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Gallery> Photo News / October 07th, 2022