Arif Mohd Khan, of India, leads their team in during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. | Photo Credit: AP
Arif is the first Indian to secure qualification in two events of the same edition of the Games and his competitions are slated for February 13 and 16
Beijing Skier Arif Khan led a small four-strong Indian contingent during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony here on Friday amid a diplomatic boycott of the event by the country.
The 31-year-old Arif will be the lone Indian competitor at the Games, having qualified in Slalom and Giant Slalom events. India sent a six-member contingent to the Games including a coach, a technician and a team manager.
Arif is the first Indian to secure qualification in two events of the same edition of the Games and his competitions are slated for February 13 and 16.
India was the 23rd contingent to walk in during the grand ceremony at the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium here as China welcomed athletes from 84 countries amid a diplomatic boycott by powerful nations such as the USA and Britain over its alleged human rights violations in the Xinjiang region.
India announced a diplomatic boycott of the Games after China fielded Qi Fabao, the regimental commander of the People’s Liberation Army, who was injured during the 2020 military face-off with Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, as a torchbearer for the event’s Torch Relay.
India said China’s move was “regrettable” and it has chosen to “politicise” the Olympics.
Born in Kashmir’s Baramulla district, Arif took up skiing quite early in life, winning his first national slalom championship at the age of just 12.
He later went on to win two gold medals in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events of the South Asian Winter Games in 2011.
He has also participated in both the editions of the Khelo India Winter Games held in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir.
Arif’s inspiration was his father Yasin Khan, who owns a ski equipment shop in Gulmarg, a popular tourist destination in Jammu and Kashmir.
Previously, India’s Winter Olympics campaigns have been identified with one man — veteran luge athlete Shiva Keshavan, who represented the country in six editions of the mega-event.
The 40-year-old from Manali, Himachal Pradesh has now taken up the role of promoting winter sports in India.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport / by PTI / February 04th, 2022
A book titled ‘A world Divided: Human Rights in an Unequal World’ written on the 25-year struggle of famous social activist Shamim Ahmed was launched on September 25 at a grand ceremony held at the Five Star Ruff Hotel The Park in the West Bengal Capital.
Former minister and congress leader Mani Shankar Iyer paid tributes to Shamim as he said there are very few people in the country who do great service for the restoration of human rights and to put a smile on the face of the people of the country.
He congratulated the author of the book and said that the author has researched the life of Shamim Ahmed and brought a book before us.
The book sheds light on the life of Shamim Ahmed and his work in promotion of Urdu language.
Shankar said that he had the opportunity to read a book, adding that he was very much impressed with his “Food for All” campaign.
“Rights and opportunities have not been found. Even today, people on the streets are longing for food.” Mani Shankar Aiyar said that India is a multi-religious country. “The destiny of this country lies in national unity.”
pix: goodreads.com
Former Member of Parliament and renowned intellectual Mohammad Adib, while acknowledging the services of Shamim Ahmed, said that coming from Bihar to Bengal and launching a movement to make Urdu the second official language is nothing short of a feat.
He said, “it is unfortunate that after India’s independence Later, Urdu was treated leniently. There was injustice with Urdu in Bengal as well. Shamim Ahmed raised his voice against this injustice.
Expressing his views on the occasion, Adib said that the 25-year journey of Shamim was full of difficulties, trials and tribulations.
On the occasion, renowned international artist and Bengali intellectual Shubha Parsna said that Shamim Ahmed is the pride of Bengal. “We are happy that there are people in Bengal who speak of humanity and deal with people on humanitarian grounds. That I have known Shamim Ahmed for the last many years. He had compassion for humanity in his heart.
Prasana urged books should be written on such personalities so that the new generation is aware of him. The event was attended by important personalities from different sections of the society.
source: http://www.millattimes.com / Millat Times / Home> National / by Millat Times Staff / October 05th, 2021
Maqsud S. Alam has set an example of community harmony in his region. | Photo by Partho Burman
Forty-seven-year old Sheikh Maqsud Alam is a caretaker of a Christian cemetery. He looks after the Barrackpore Cemetery, which is one of the oldest burial grounds of the Christian community in West Bengal. He took charge at the age of 23 after his mother passed away in 1997. To this day, he continues to look after the cemetery with dedication.
Kolkata :
His responsibility doesn’t allow him to take a day off from his duty. Whether it rains or shines, he performs the last rites by laying coffins at the century-old Christian cemetery in Barrackpore, Kolkata. He sets the perfect example of communal harmony, yet his dawn-to-dusk relentless service towards society has gone unnoticed for the last 24 years.
Meet Sheikh Maqsud Alam, a 47-year-old caretaker of a Christian cemetery. He looks after the Barrackpore Cemetery, which is one of the oldest burial grounds of the Christian community in West Bengal. He took charge at the age of 23 after his mother Thurran Bibi passed away in 1997. He resides in a small room within the graveyard compound along with a few pet dogs.
The entrance to Barrackpore cemetery in Kolkata. | Photo by Partho Burman
The Diocese of Barrackpore notifies him before the coffin arrives. “I have to document the details of the departed soul in my register once the funeral group attends here. The burying process takes place only between sunrise and sunset. The excavation work is done based on the size of the coffin,” Sheikh Maqsud Alam told TwoCircles.net.
Born and brought up at the cemetery in a thatched house, Alam is one among nine siblings. He could not continue his studies after primary level due to poverty. Father Hanif Mali has also worked here as a gardener. Till he was alive, he was assigned to maintain the burials of World War I and World War II.
Established in circa 1820 AD, the Barrackpore Cemetery is also known as the Commonwealth War Grave. Situated at Barrackpore in Kolkata, it is one of the oldest Cantonments in India. It has 21 burials of the soldiers from the First World War and 113 graves of the combatants from the Second World War.
Second World War graves at the cemetery | Photo by Partho Burman
Officer on Special Duty at the West Bengal Heritage Commission, Basudev Malik told TwoCircles.net, “The Barrackpore Cemetery is declared as ‘Heritage’ property in 2019. The importance of heritage declaration is to create awareness among the local citizens. The declaration doesn’t mean that the State government would restore or renovate it, since the graveyard is under the Church authority, they will have to preserve it. However, they can move to the Chief Minister or ministers or local public representatives for it.”
A grave dating back to 1862 is found here. Some entombments of yesteryears might have been even older but those are either buried or veiled behind the cluttered dense woodland. Some British tombstones reflect colonial architecture while some contain loads of love, respect and care shown by their daughters, wives, fathers or sons – all of them have their feelings inscribed on the marbled tombstone in fond memories of their beloved.
Various stones such as sandstone, marble and granite were used. Some have canopies while some are quite simple. The garden of remembrance serves all the Christian communities in the area, including Catholic, Protestant and Pentecost. They show up when the mortal remains of their relatives or friends to be rested in peace here. Some Christian tribal communities also utilize the last resting place for their kith and kin.
The burial place has over 1100 memorials spread across 20 Bigha of land. It is also covered with plenty of trees, including palm, coconuts, guava, jackfruit, Indian blackberry, Indian plum, mango, neem and unwanted weeds. It also houses a number of bird species, venomous snakes, mongooses, jackals, civets, etc.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, secretary of Barrackpore Cemetery Committee, Father Achal Kumar Naru said that 3-4 are reported on average every month. There are certain norms required before burying the dead. “We issue a slip to the bereaved family and that needs to be produced before the caretaker to carry out the necessary work. We charge a nominal fee of Rs.600 for that,” informs Father Naru.
The ground is dug up to 5-feet for laying the coffin. In order to prevent the casket from surfacing, 10 bags of sand, 5 kg stone chips and 50 bricks are required to hold the box back in the soil. Two labourers assist the caretaker, who takes Rs 1500 for it.
Digging is not his only responsibility, but also to supervise the century-old mausoleum. Alam only draws Rs 1000 as salary per month from the Barrackpore Cemetery Committee for these uphill struggles. However, the short-figured man always wears a smile on his face and has no qualms about it. He couldn’t exactly remember the numbers of corpses he buried but it was around 400 bodies in the past 24 years. “Death is unpredictable. Sometimes 2-3 dead bodies come up in a day and sometimes you find none in the entire month,” claims Alam.
Married to Saina Sabina in 1992, the couple have two daughters. His family stays at a rented house in Naya Basti about 10-minute walking distance from the cemetery. Despite poverty, Alam sent his daughters to school with great struggle and both his girls are educated. The elder daughter has completed her 12th standard while the younger has finished her graduation in Arts.
Alam with his younger daughter Nilu Khatun at the cemetery. | Photo by Partho Burman
“I tried my best to educate my daughters under these hardships. I don’t want my daughters to follow the legacy of what our generations have been doing. Both are schooled and I wish to see them opting for some other profession,” concludes Alam.
Partho Burman is an award-winning independent journalist based in Kolkata. He writes inspirational, motivational and environmental stories. He tweets at @ParthoBurman.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Partho Burman, TwoCircles.net / December 20th, 2021
In a tragic incident, YSRCP MLC Muhammad Kareemunnisa passed away on Friday night due to a heart attack around 11 pm. She was 65.
According to the sources, Kareemunnisa was shifted to a private hospital after she fell ill where she breathed her last while undergoing treatment.
The YSRCP MLC attended the Assembly meeting on Friday morning.
She started her political career with the Congress party and later joined YSRCP. She was offered MLC seat by the YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy eight months ago.
YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed grief over her death and offered heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. He also said that the family members of Kareemunnisa will be given all support by the YSRCP.
source: http://www.thehansindia.com / The Hans India / Home> News> State> Andhra Pradesh / by Roja Mayabrahma / Hans News Service / November 20th, 2021
A team of naturalists participating at a forest department survey | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A new species of fruit fly discovered for the first time has been named after Siruvani in the Western Ghats
A fruit fly has created a buzz with its maiden show in Siruvani, a biodiversity hotspot of the Western Ghats. It turns out to be a new species that has been reported, named, and documented for the first time ever. The fruit fly is now scientifically named as Euphranta siruvani, after the place where it was first collected.
A research student at Annamalai University, H Sankararaman, first spotted this unusual visitor on a light trap which he had set up to capture moths at a non-forest space near Siruvani. “The fruit fly was attracted towards light and I was lucky enough to have spotted it. It has a distinct V-shaped black band on its forewing,” recalls Sankar.
The discovery now appears in Zootaxa journal in a paper authored by David K J and Sachin, K, ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR), Bengaluru, DL Hancock from the UK, Sudhir Singh from Forest Research Institute, Dehradun and H Sankararaman from Annamalai University. According to David, there are 104 recognised species in the genus Euphranta that are distributed across the world. “Of this, 14 are recorded so far from India. The discovery of Euphranta siruvani is the brand-new addition to the checklist.”
“This fruit fly is a rare species and a valuable addition to the diversity,” says David K J, scientist at ICAR-NBAIR, one of the National Institutes with several taxonomists of international repute. “We first check with the regional/world catalogue, then refer to available literature, and connect with authorities around the world over mail before confirming it as a new species,” explains David.
A species can be named after the ‘type locality’ (the place from where the holotype was collected), a specific characteristic feature, after the collector or after an eminent taxonomist for his contributions. In this case, they chose the place, a thriving ecosystem of rich fauna and flora and also the source of drinking water for Coimbatore.
Apart from the fruit fly, additionally a brand new fairy fly species was found at Siruvani. The species Omyomymar hayati is named after Professor Mohammad Hayat of Aligarh Muslim University for his contributions to insect taxonomy.
“I have described several species after the type locality for example Acidoxantha galibeedu in 2014 based on specimen collected near Coorg. Later, I had collected the same species from other parts of Karnataka and Kerala. Similarly, may be the E.siruvani can be seen across the Western Ghats and Kerala in South India. We have to study further to understand its distribution,” explains David, who has identified and described 28 new species of fruit flies of India.
The genus Euphranta comprises many fruit/seed infesting species, including Euphranta cassiae that feeds on the pods of Kanikonna (Cassia fistula) trees. “There are 5,000 species of fruit flies across the world. In India, we have nearly 290 species so far; we keep adding to the list.”
K D Prathapan, an expert on beetles, who works at Kerala Agricultural University, says fruit flies have an average lifespan of three to four weeks. “By infesting fruits, they damage the reproductive capacity of plants. Some species breed in bamboo shoots. And then there are cucurbit fruit flies that are pests of cucurbits such as cucumber, gourds, and pumpkins.”
The study of fruit flies is important for the agricultural economy, as they infect mangoes, melons, gourds, and guavas, says Sankararaman. “It lays eggs in fruits and the larvae feed on the pulp. We are yet get insights about the biology of the species discovered in Siruvani.”
K Mohan Prasath, founder of Act for Butterflies, says there are also many parasitic insects that are helpful to farmers in pest control. Mohan and his team have compiled a list of over 1,000 species of moths across Tamil Nadu and plan to bring it out in a book form soon. “We hope such discoveries build interest in entomology that covers insects, butterflies, and moths. Identification of new species is especially relevant now as there is habitat destruction of many species because of climate change.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Environment / by K Jeshi / January 12th, 2021
The undeniable girl power of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in sports came to the fore in Hockey as a team of AMU ABK High School-Girls clinched a decisive win in the final of the National Hockey Tournament in Goa to bag the Gold Medal.
Team members Aliya Rashid, Simran Shakeel, Rabia Khatoon, Shafiya Shakeel, Amreen Malik, Zenab Mohsin, Saniya, Shaby and others were felicitated in a special function at the school on their return.
Congratulating the team members, Dr Samina (Principal) said that the School hockey team has not only capped an excellent performance in the tournament, but also inspired other girls to take up sport and bring laurels.
Wishing the team more success in the future, Dr Saba Hasan (Vice Principal) said that the team’s performance shows that dreams can come true as long as you work hard.
School teachers, Mr Nadeem Ahmad, Mrs Shaheen Khan, Mr Mahtab Ahmed, Mr Najmur Rahman Faridi, Mr Shamshad Nisar (Sports teacher) and Md Imran Khan (Coach) delivered motivating speeches to encourage the hockey team for more success.
source: http://www.amu.ac.in / Aligarh Muslim University / AMU Public Relations Office / August 24th, 2021
As a young boy, Javeed Mehkri would watch his father spend hours with his favourite car — a 1950 model of Morris Oxford, better known in India as the Hindustan 14. Javeed not only learnt about the car and its mechanics but thoroughly enjoyed the drive in it to and from school.
The passion for the Morris Oxford is living on through four generations with Javeed now transferring the ownership of the car to his 22-year-old son Junaid Mehkri. Junaid shares as much passion for the classic beauty as his father.
The car has an interesting history to it and Javeed gets nostalgic when he settles down to talk about it. Javeed says, “My grandfather, AK Mehkri, purchased it. He was working as the superintendent of engineering in the Shimsha hydro-electric station in the erstwhile princely state of Mysore. The car was initially registered and used in Mysore for three years, after which my great grandfather moved to Bengaluru. The car has been with us since,” explains Javeed.
Almost every member of the Mehkri family has driven the car. Those who revelled at its wheel include MG Mehkri, private secretary to the Yuvaraja of Mysore; Dr MS Mehkri, founder of the Bangalore Medical College; and ME Mehkri, a freedom fighter and a well-known philanthropist. “In fact, the landmark, Mehkri Circle, is named after ME Mehkri,” adds Javeed.
Decades after, the car has been restored with some of its parts being replaced and brought to perfect working condition. “The car was taken care of by Rasheed Mehkri, my late uncle. Rasheed passed away in 2013 and wasn’t there to see the car in running condition,” says Javeed.
However, he admits that the biggest challenge, is to maintain the car. “Spare parts for the American-made vintage and classic cars are available online but you will never find perfect spares for British classic vehicles in India. I got some of the parts replicated here but again you have to personally supervise it to make sure you are not taken for a ride. It is an expensive and time-consuming process to maintain these cars,” he says.
Javeed says among those who were drawn to his car was former prime minister of Nepal, Tulsi Giri. “There’s a church just opposite our house and he used to visit the church whenever he was in the City. Once, he saw the car parked outside my house and he asked me why I didn’t do anything to get it back on the roads. When he returned six months later, he again asked me the same question. I got the same advice from my cousin Sajjad. All this hastened the restoration process,” adds Javeed.
Among Javeed’s prized possession is also a 1960 model Lambretta Scooter — his father’s first purchase. “My father rode it and I used to go to college on it. Now, my youngest son Uzair gets dropped by the scooter once in a while,” he says. Like other youngsters of their age — Junaid and Uzair — love swanky cars but they value their two prized possessions more.
The Morris Oxford has been a regular at Karnataka Vintage and Classic Car Club rally for the last two years. And Javeed loves basking in all the adulation the car draws. “It was during one of the rallies that a lady in a car stopped beside us. She asked me: ‘How old is she?’ I said 65. She smiled and said: ‘She’s my age’. Total strangers admire and compliment me on the car,” he narrates.
(Javeed can be reached on Javeedmehkri@hotmail.com)
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by Nina C. George / DHNS – Bengaluru , November 10th, 2015
The Manipal University Press will hold the ‘Author Meets Readers’ event ‘From the Horse’s Mouth’ with Manek Premchand — author of the book ‘Talat Mahmood – The Velvet Voice’ — at the AC Seminar Hall on the MIT campus here at 4.30 p.m. on Saturday.
According to a press release issued by Manipal University here on Thursday, Mr. Premchand will share his thoughts and feelings in a conversation with Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities faculty member Gayathri Prabhu.
A film will be screened and that will be followed by a music programme with Premchand and a few others singing Talat Mahmood’s songs.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Manipal – September 25th, 2015
