Khaji Abdul Vali and Rafiya Bibi, were used to work as teachers in Mudduru for more than 60 years ago, hailed from Cheriyal mandal in Warangal district is now in destitution.
But, they are the owner of a diamond-studded chunni (dupatta), dating back to the Mughal era which was a gift to them. The diamond-studded dupatta was given to their only daughter Fathimunnisa Begum as gift from their parents on her D- day.
In search of livelihood, they sold their house in Cheriyal and shifted to Hyderabad.The family with the valuable chunni approached a gemologist in Hyderabad recently to get some financial assistance, but was told that it is precious and need to be preserved.
Therefore, the family decided to hand-over the dupatta to the government and also asked for financial help. Warangal district SP directed the Cheriyal police officials to preserve the valuable dupatta and it was kept it in the safe deposit locker of 5131, Cheriyal branch, to protect it from theft.
Locals have urged the officials to put chunni on view for public and provide financial aid to family members of Ms Fathimunnisa Begum.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Top Stories / Hyderabad – Thursday, September 18th, 2014
The Anna Salai branch of Buhari Hotel is its most famous — Photo: Special Arrangement / The Hindu
When Buhari hotel on Anna Salai threw its gates open to the public in 1951, it ushered in a number of firsts: espresso machines making cup after cup of steaming coffee, a jukebox playing tunes of the times, and cutlery and crockery brought from London to give a “fine-dining experience to Madras’ foodies.”
A.M. Buhari, who brought the mildly spiced, fragrant biryani from Colombo, was a pioneer of sorts. Whether it was a boiled egg nestled in a bed of saffron-infused rice or Chicken 65 fried to perfection —called thus after the year it was created in, he set himself apart in the restaurant business early on.
Buhari Hotel’s Anna Salai branch is its most famous — Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu
The brand Buhari that has now become synonymous with biryani in the city emerged out of 200 different blends Mr. Buhari experimented with.
As a ten-year-old, Mr. Buhari had to leave his village in Tirunelveli district and go to Sri Lanka. After a self-sponsored education, it just took a few years to figure out his calling. Starting with trading in food and groceries, he finally set up Hotel De Buhari in Colombo and introduced the brand’s eponymous dish.
“My grandfather then wanted to return to India and came to Madras to set up Buhari,” says Nawaz Buhari, who currently heads the original branch. Today, the brand has proliferated with nine branches in the city and is looking to set up four more in the near future.
1956
A.M. Buhari introduced a jukebox and a espresso coffee machine at the Anna Salai branch
1965
Chicken 65, a deep fired chicken dish with telltale red colouring, was introduced at the hotel
1996
The one-man show by A.M. Buhari ended, after a 45 year period with his death
Did you know !
Actor M.G. Ramachandran loved the special almond chicken soup and the cassata icecream from buhari so much that a parcel of both was frequently requested to be delivered to his house
While the Anna Salai branch is its most famous, the one at Marina, set up in 1956, became the popular hangout of the 60s and 70s.
Seventy-year-old A.H. Lathif, as famous as the restaurant, has worked in the restaurant for 54 years. “I have served actors Raj Kapoor, Sivaji Ganesan and Sridevi,” he says.
Having lost the branch at Marina beach in the 80s, and the one opposite Central station very recently, the brand, headed by the patriarch till the time of his death in 1996, is now run by the family’s third generation.
With the increase in the number of branches, there are, predictably, differences in the quality and taste of the biryani. “The family has taken a decision to never go for the franchise model of business, because we cannot compromise on the brand image my grandfather worked so hard to build,” says Mr. Nawaz Buhari.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Madras 375 / by Evelyn Ratnakumar / Chennai – August 13th, 2014
Begum Parveen Sultana continues to be the diva she was. Her voice and passion remain undiminished, finds DEEPA GANESH
The huge auditorium was packed and overflowing. Old, middle-aged and the young had thronged the hall. When the diva of Hindustani classical music, the stunning Parveen Sultana occupied the stage, there was a thunderous clap. For the older crowd, they went a long way back with this musician who, with her remarkable voice and rendition, had etched a permanent place in their hearts. The young had heard many a story about how she drew thousands to her concert – she was not merely a breathtaking beauty but a musician who could make four octaves submit to her. After the first few minutes of rag Madhuvanti, the audience exchanged reassured looks, but after a few more minutes they just looked at each other, amazed. Into her sixties, the power of Parveen Sultana’s voice remains the same and her musical exuberance intact. That evening, as she sang Rageshri, Bhavani Dayani (supported by dazzling artistry of Vyasamurti Katti and Vishwanath Nakod) and others for the 60th anniversary of Shri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira, she took the listeners into the world of nada .
A picture of simplicity, poise and grace, Parveen Sultana spoke at length about her childhood and musical journey from a remote village in Assam to centrestage in Bombay. Excerpts from the interview:
You had very unusual parents who not only recognized your talent, but also wanted you to pursue it. In the later years, when they learnt that music was going to be your life, how did they react, coming from an orthodox Muslim background?
My father Ikramul Mazid was a musician himself. Our house was filled with music 24 hours in a day – my father’s riyaz, fellow musicians coming to our house, so on and so forth. So in that sense, it was difficult to ignore music in our household.
I think being born in Assam also made a difference. The atmosphere in our village Nagaon was syncretic. There were no caste barriers, and people of all the religions stayed together. I remember my aunts used to wear the bindi and never found it interfering with the religion they practiced. They were sure about its aesthetic value and the same passed on to me as well.
When I was a little girl, my father used to take great pains to inculcate seriousness in me. He would wake me up at 5 a.m., carry me and give me a wash, make ovaltin for me and would sit down for riyaz with me. But as the years went by, I began to love music so much that I needed no one to tell me to dedicate time to it. When I was 11 years old, I started giving small concerts, won several prizes, and step by step, with my parents standing firmly beside me, I moved on. In fact, when I decided to pursue music seriously, my mother Maroofa told my father, “I will take care of the household, you take care of her.” They started looking for a guru, and finally it was decided that I was going to learn from the scholar Chinmoy Lahiri in Kolkata who was known to my father. Every Friday I used to go from Nagaon to Kolkata for my lessons. The only advice my parents gave me was this, ‘Dress well, speak well. Mistakes are human, be brave to admit it and don’t lie to us. We are here to help you in everything.’ I was fortunate to have such parents, they were wonderful. Their engagement with me was complete.
In those days, Kolkata had many an Ustad. Why did you choose to go to Chinmoy Lahiriji?
I was too young to decide who my guru had to be. My father was of the opinion that I should learn from a scholar, and not a professional, performing musician. ‘He is a man who has made many musicians. You learn from him,’ my father said. However, my father had to deal with Muslim orthodoxy. ‘Why are you teaching her music?’, ‘ Don’t give daughters so much importance. Just get her married’, ‘Why are you taking her to a Pandit being a Muslim?’ and more. But my father was a very progressive person. He brushed everything aside firmly and left me in my guru’s care.
My guru took me into his fold like I were his daughter. I used to stay at his house, eat and rest there. He had immense patience and explained everything in great detail. This would not have been possible if I went to an Ustad. I could speak only Assamese and knew no Hindi. I studied in a missionary school so I knew English. How would I communicate with an Ustad? And I was someone who asked a thousand questions. I was fortunate to learn from my guru.
Your first full-fledged performance was at the age of 12 in Kolkata…
That concert was organized by my Guruji at the Sadarang Sangeet Sammelan. Kolkata, as you said, was full of top class musicians in those days. My guruji was a revered scholar in the music circles, and on his word Pandit Ravi Shankar, Salamat Ali Khan saab, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan saab, Samta Prasad and a whole lot of luminaries had turned up. I hadn’t the slightest clue about their greatness. Before I went on to the stage, my father said, ‘Sing like you are the Maharani of music. Nothing but your music should matter to you.’ I was a daredevil and knew no fear. After the concert, each of them came and blessed me, and my concert became the talk of the town. The happiness of my guru and my parents knew no bounds. But today, when I think of that concert my feet go cold and I feel nervous. Even Bharat Ratna cannot match what I got from all those greats of music that day.
What I miss immensely now is that atmosphere. Young or veteran, every musician and organizer deemed it as his duty to be present, listen and encourage them. But today, everyone is after stars. You have to encourage youngsters. I too was young and inexperienced at one point. But my gurus, parents, fellow musicians, and listeners have made me what I am. They say that you have to take a thousand births before you are born as a musician. I am very fortunate. God has showed me this path. Every day I pray to him, ‘Don’t take music away from me…’
(This is the first part of a two-part interview with Begum Parveen Sultana.)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review / by Deepa Ganesh / September 19th, 2014
The grand couple of Hindustani music Begum Parween Sultana and Ustad Dilshad Khan get into a jugalbandi of words
MUTUAL ADMIRATION Ustad Dilshad Khan calls Parween Sultana his perfect student and she considers him her perfect guru Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy
When Begum Parween Sultana and Ustad Dilshad Khan pose for our camera, they’re completely at ease. She tells us how beautiful his compositions are, including the one he has composed in Maluhamand. He says he calls her Yaman (the raga), because no one sings it like her. Getting them to talk to each other, but not about each other, was quite a challenge, says MALA KUMAR, who caught the exuberant couple just before they performed yet another enthralling jugalbandi.
Both have been child prodigies. Begum Parween Sultana received her early training from father Ikramul Majid, then from Acharya Chinmoy Lahiri in Kolkata, and finally from husband-to-be Ustad Dilshad Khan in Mumbai.
Ustad Dilshad Khan started learning the tabla at the age of four from his father and later took up singing under the guidance of N.C. Chakravorty, Hidan Banarjee and Gyan Prakash Ghosh. Influenced greatly by the gayaki of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of the Patiala gharana, he later became the disciple of Fayyaz Ahmed Khan and his brother Ustad Hiaz Ahmed Khan of Kirana gharana. Having been exposed to the best in the Seni, Patiala and finally the Kirana styles, Dilshad became so obsessed with classical music that he gave up a lucrative career as a marine engineer to dedicate his life to the cause of Indian classical music.
In an intimate conversation, the musical couple speak of the tehzeeb or culture of old world music and the politics of today’s “music talent” world. Excerpts:
Begum Parween Sultana (BPS): Let’s talk about our music.
Ustad Dilshad Khan (UDK): What? And displease the best cook in the world! No, no… (To the writer) Parween is an excellent cook, and I love to eat. You know, we’re almost South Indian in our tastes.
BPS: (Getting right back to their favourite topic, music) Achcha Khansaab, do you remember? We first came to Bangalore as musicians in 1978, invited by the Rama Seva Mandali, and today again we are here to perform for them.
UDK: Yes, the Bangalore audience has always been excellent, isn’t it? Those were great days… people used to take so much trouble to listen to great artistes. The singers were great because they used to be so experienced and they used to do so much riyaaz. Everyone seemed to have time to sit through long recitals… (He then gets into a two-minute conversation with the writer.)
BPS: (Bringing him back to the conversation) Khan saab, zara idhar dekhiye…
UDK:Battees saal se dekh raha hoon… two years as my student and for 30 years after our marriage!
BPS: In the music room you are my guru…
UDK: And you are an excellent student. We do have very good students all over the world. But isn’t the world itself changing? People want to learn music, learn karate, painting… everything in quick workshops.
BPS: True. But we are different. We have been teaching only those who want to become professional singers. And we teach not just music but the tehzeeb — the culture, the etiquette, that an artiste should have.
UDK: We don’t want to teach students for whom it means hobby… or hubby!
(But Parween got both, didn’t she?!)
UDK: That is true, but even today she is a true student. But haven’t we seen people who want to become singing sensations within 48 hours? They want to become Indian Idols. See that Ravind…
BPS: Now don’t bring him up Khan Saab.
UDK: But how did people vote for that besura man?
BPS: Why do you want to talk about him? We are not bothered. You know, you must be careful about what you say. We have to realise that to be successful, it is not enough just to be talented. One needs to be blessed, one needs to know the nerve of the audiences and you also need a cool temperament. Success comes and knocks on the door, but you have to open the door. And to maintain success you have to work very hard. You have to be diplomatic.
UDK: Yes, I agree, you are my guru in this department. There is a small difference between being simple and being a simpleton. And I’m often thought of as the latter!
BPS: No, no, you are just too sentimental. And too nice. We all need to be disciplined, but you are too much! So many times I have had to drag you away from riyaaz because people are waiting for us, or we have a flight to catch….
UDK: See, my guruji died on my lap. And he told me never to let go of two things — namaaz and riyaaz. So it’s very difficult for me to change.
BPS: I am a singer and a performer.
UDK: So you need to add garam masala!
BPS: Yes, we need to be very practical. Knowing your audience and catering to them is not just important, it is the most important thing.
(Is that why Lata Mangeshkar continues to sing, even when her voice shakes?)
UDK: Why not, when she sings so well? And when… (turning to his wife) ok, I won’t take his name.
BPS: Why are you comparing Amma with that man? She still doesriyaaz before coming for a recording!
(Changing the topic to talk about their other interests)
BPS: You are an excellent artist and paint so well. You have a great sense of colour and style. You even chooses my saris, my lipstick.(laughs) But you don’t like to come shopping with me.
UDK: But don’t you have the best companion, the love of our life, our daughter.
BPS: At 17, she has a voice that has an excellent range. She is a kind, sensitive, loving child, and she and you are very close.
UDK: I object! You are her favourite!
BPS:Bakwaas!
UDK:(Turning to the writer) Let me take two minutes to tell you….
BPS:Bas, bas, Dilshad, these two-minutes will be endless and we have to leave…
UDK: We have to meet Sai Baba to take his blessings, let’s go.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> MetroPlus Mangalore / by Mala Kumar / Saturday – May 28th, 2005
Zila Khan is the daughter of Ustad Vilayat Khan. In his time he was the most famous Sitar player in the country. Today, she is as her father, grand-father Ustad Inayat Khan and great grand-father Ustad Imdad Khan were in the times they lived. 42-year old Zila Khan is currently amongst the best of our country’s singers of classical and light classical Hindustani music specialising in Sufiana and rendering ghazals of great poets of Urdu and Hindi. She was put through a rigorous mill of singing eight hours a day while still a child in school in Calcutta. She was not allowed to study beyond the 10th standard in order to devote all her time to music . She was the first girl in seven generations to become a professional singer. She did me the honour of singing at one of my mehfils. It was a memorable evening.
There were a few surprises in store for me. I was expecting her to come alone. She came bustling in, followed by her harmonium and tabla players, a photographer and a lackey. I expected her to be a demure and reserved young lady; she kissed my beard or both sides as I sat wrapped up in my shawl by the fire-side. I offered them sharaab (Scotch): they declined and asked for tea. The first thing she did was to keep her mobile with her while sipping tea. I am allergic towards mobiles in mehfils.
The session started with the harmonium and tabla players warming up. Zila sang a few notes to get the harmonium to the right notes and slapped her thighs to indicate the beat for the table. In between she answered my questions in fluent English and Urdu: Her mobile rang. Call from New York. She confirmed her date with the caller. Then back to singing a note or two for the harmonium, thigh slaps for the tabla, answering my questions and pressing buttons on her mobile. She was on line to Kochi telling the fellow at the other end to change the date of her performances in Kerala till after she had fulfilled her engagements in the States. She was like a six-armed goddess doing six things at a time. I lost patience and pleaded with her “Switch off that damned mobile before you start. “She did not take offence. ‘I’ve finished with it,” she replied as she put it in her hand bag. She turned to me with a bow, for permission to begin “Ijaazat?” I nodded my head: “What would like to hear first?” she asked. I was not prepared for the fermaish, so came out with the first ghazal that came to my mind : Muddat hoee hai yaar to mehmaan kiye hooey (it has been a long time since I entertained my beloved in my house).Then she broke into full throated song — arms and hands emphasising meanings. At the end of every couplet she turned to me rather than her note book for the next — whether to test me or flatter me. Fortunately, I did not let myself down. I was able to show off my memory and was mighty pleased with myself.
So it went on from Ghalib to Hafeez Jalandhari, and others she interwove lines of poets to give her songs a theme, which ghazals rarely have. I was transported into another world — as was everyone else in the mehfil. Long after I had retired for a night her voice kept ringing in my ears and her animated gestures dancing in my eyes.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home / by Khushwant Singh / January 02nd, 2009
Sufi-based renditions by Zila Khan in New Delhi commemorated World Hospice and Palliative Care Day.
SINGING FOR A CAUSE: Zila Khan. / Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar / The Hindu .
Linking the world with the ring of music is invariably dismissed as a metaphorical thought except on World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, when musicians and vocalists hold a global concert in their respective regions, on that day. This week, the organisers of this event in India, CanSupport, who work for quality care and palliative support for cancer victims and their families, hosted the fourth concert of this world-series.
The decisive moment of this musical humanism began at 7.30 p.m. local time, with an inaugural concert in New Zealand. Thereon, the baton was passed from country to country and was slated to end in Hawai.
In India, the precise moment was commemorated with a recital of Sufi-based renditions by the much acclaimed artiste Zila Khan. In consonance with the prevalent mood of the occasion, Zila Khan rendered a vocal recital of Iqbal’s poem, `Zindagi,’ regaling her listeners into a mesmerising warp by touching upon the emotive pull of the notes ga, ma, pacham, nishad and swara. This high touch start by Zila Khan also brought into focus the highlights of Zila’s personal oeuvre. Her sound vocal training enabled her to delight her listeners with soul stirring content that did justice to the phraseology of the immortal verse.
Structured
The choice of classical insets into an overall ghazal format was a sanguine compositional choice by the artiste. Her penchant for singing medium paced, poised and well-accented literary verse came to the fore, in her rendering. The highly structured methodology of the geet-numa ghazal that Zila chose, recounted the universal appeal of tradition in the midst of thoughtless innovation. The audience was left satiated with her compositional flair, her intrinsic musical command and her easy mannerisms even through the trickiest passages of the verse. The next rendering of the verse of Hasrate Mohani gave listeners a chance to savour her musical talents a notch further. The singer in her remained in full control as she accented the phraseology with deliberation and combining it into an inviting musical weave. The tenets of the gayaki gharana that Zila Khan hails from, as part of the Imdadkhani tradition of her late guru and father Ustad Vilayat Khan, remained in the forefront without taking on a dominating role. Her concert thus immersed audiences in its strong content and serious listeners were able to decipher the guiding presence of the gayaki tradition just beneath the ringing tones of the artistic appeal.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Entertainment Chennai and Tamil Nadu / by Prakash Wadhera / Friday, October 21st, 2005
Zila Khan was in Delhi the other day to launch her new album of classical and semi-classical musical forms. Music is her passion, and music is in her blood, but over a cup of tea, the delights of a good lemon tart cannot be surpassed, she tells ANJANA RAJAN… .
Zila Khan performing rare musical forms in Delhi at the release of her new album./ Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar / The Hindu.
THE CHILDREN of eminent artistes often struggle to maintain their individual identity before a public that insists on regarding them as appendages of their more illustrious parents. Zila Khan, daughter of pre-eminent sitar maestro Vilayat Khan might be considered among this number. But while she is carving out a niche for herself by performing across the world as a solo vocalist known for her mastery over rare forms, she is also fiercely proud of her lineage.
“Yeh khoon hai naa,” she reiterates more than once, referring to her solid background. Even the recorded music in her family goes back four generations. But it is not merely a blood relationship with her father, it is the bond of a guru and disciple too.
Zila, who divides her time between Oman and London and was in Delhi recently for the release of her music album by Art Karat Entertainment, has as much encouragement for the aspiring `first generation’ artistes who don’t come from traditional music families, as she has praise for the offspring of famous performers, who like herself have decided to carry on the tradition despite the temptations of living a life of indolent luxury fuelled by the parent’s music royalties.
From the time of her grandfather Inayat Khan, the family has been known as generous in sharing and teaching, and, stressing her grandfather’s progressive outlook in teaching women, she declares we would not find a woman from a well-off family in West Bengal who has not had the opportunity of learning from him. And yet, in her own family, she is the first woman to learn and perform music! Paradox or no, Zila has no qualms about admitting it.
“I am absolutely honest,” she affirms, and her eyes have a fiery glint. It was her father who was the radical in her family, but though he taught her “like a son” he asked her to refrain from performing till she got married, and blessed her that she may get a husband in conformance with her aspirations.
Zila is sure his blessings have found their mark, and in Khalid Anwar Shaikh, she has found the perfect match who understands her passion for music and supports her in her globe trotting career.
Thankful that she is able to pursue “my greatest love and passion,” Zila, with her vast range of musical forms, like qaul, qalbana, gul, and others – each with its own special method of singing, its own theka – and her 10-year-old son Faizan who roams the world with her while simultaneously pursuing his studies, in the process keeping up the khaandani tradition, still finds delight in the little pleasures of life, like India International Centre’s irresistible lemon tarts. You have to agree with her when she calls herself “magan.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus Delhi / Thursday – December 19th, 2002
City-based student Syed Tazib Rehman has proved his mettle at the Global Cancer Conference and Medicare Summit 2014. He is one of the 12 students across the world whose online presentations were selected for special appreciation. Rehman is a student of Sri Chaitanya Junior College Visakhapatnam. All the selected students except Rehman were graduates and post-graduates.
The 12 students would repeat their presentation before the President of India and other officials on September 15 at HICC, Hyderabad. Earlier, Rehman bagged the ‘Bala Ratna’ award for ‘Creative Scientific Innovation’ in 2013.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / September 15th, 2014
Mehmood Khan, Unilever’s global innovation head, goes back to his native village with a plan to turn it around.
Nai Nangla in Haryana’s Mewat district could be just another Indian village, ridden with the usual problems of a people trapped in poverty: Lack of healthcare and clean water, low productivity, high unemployment and illiteracy. But Haji Siddiq Ahmed, a local farmer in his late 60s, sees a different vision. “I want this village to be an adarsh (model) village. Others should look up to this village — that this is what an ideal village should be like,” he says.
The image Ahmed sees is actually taking shape in this quiet village with a majority Muslim population. What’s more surprising is the way the change is taking hold. It may be difficult to imagine the humble folk of Nai Nangla as business executives, but the cool concepts reviving the economy of the village are no less professional.
Take dairy farming, which engages nearly 80 percent of the villagers. Earlier, all they could get was Rs. 12 for a litre of milk; today they can get as much as Rs. 25. Three years ago, female literacy was at 2 percent; today, almost 85 percent of the female population can sign their names and 86 percent of the children in the district are enrolled in schools. Some women are also learning to sew and are setting up their own tailoring units. Companies like insurance provider Aviva, ICICI Bank and Larsen & Toubro are beginning to look at Mewat both as a market and as a field for recruitment. They have hired locals, offering dramatically higher incomes.
Image: Amit Verma / CHARGING UP: Memhood Khan’s plans changed Ramzaan’s life for the better. The young man treats Khan to a ride on his new motorcycle
The man behind these changes is a Nai Nangla native, someone who left the village nearly 40 years ago in search of an education and a career. His name is Mehmood Khan. Now 54, he is Unilever’s innovation head.
Now, thanks to him an experiment in introducing market economy is taking shape at Nai Nangla and the district of Mewat. An impossible feat for an outsider, but something the people of Nai Nangla have welcomed from one of their own. “Focus on education and use enterprise to bring change by leveraging resources in villages,” he says.
Khan has worked and lived in many countries over the years, making London his home for the last nine. But his link to his roots always remained alive; he would visit his village two or three times a year. He still remembers trudging a couple of kilometres to school everyday and taking cattle out to graze.
“I somehow landed a seat in university and then got into IIM-Ahmedabad. I was ejected by the system,” he says.
For the last five years, Khan has been hard at work to change “the system”.
He is converting a local resource, livestock, into a productive enterprise. He roped in the National Dairy Development Board’s Mother Dairy to spur Nai Nangla’s milk output and break the stranglehold that milk vendors had on local dairy farmers. At one time, these vendors — middlemen really — would lend money to farmers to buy milch animals.
In return, they would demand milk supply at low fixed prices until the loans were repaid. For most farmers, their income was too low to enable them to repay the debt. The result: They remained trapped in debt.
Khan was troubled by this age-old exploitation. He spoke to Mother Dairy and ushered in a new system to break this debt trap. Debt-laden farmers were given loans from institutions so they could repay the vendor and start selling direct to Mother Dairy. “Almost 25 people got loans to buy cattle, without having to pay any bribes,” says Ahmed.
Others who could repay on their own, did so and started selling to Mother Dairy for a better price. This competition forced the milk vendors to match market prices. Overall, incomes improved.
In July 2008, Mother Dairy set up milk collection centres in Nai Nangla and six other villages. In the first week, it got 70 litres of milk. Today, Nai Nangla alone gets 250 litres a day. “Gross income from agriculture has gone up from Rs. 80 lakh to Rs. 1.2 crore,” says Khan. “Milk (has become) a constant income source in a village which has seasonal income due to Kharif and Rabi crops.”
source: http://www.forbesindia.com / Forbes India / Home> Features – Beyond Business / by Neelima Mahajan-Bansal / June 05th, 2009
A scientist at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has urged the Union Health Ministry to launch a nationwide multi-centered joint project to identify the percentage of occurrence of NDM-4, a deadly bacteria variant which was found by researchers in AMU recently.
Dr Asad Ullah Khan, Chief Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Lab, AMU headed the team along with other researchers which found the deadly bacteria also called the “super bug” from the hospital’s sewage.
Khan has urged the Health Ministry to launch a nationwide multi-centered joint project for identifying the percentage of occurrence, if at all, of this particular strain and all other strains of this bacteria in the country.
A collaborative effort is the need of the hour if we wish to make an accurate assessment of the situation in the country, he said.
“In Europe, hospitals are collecting hundreds of samples for identifying these bacteria but in India there are just sporadic efforts to identify these bugs. There is certainly no cause for panic as of now but laboratories all over the country which are equipped to handle such studies should launch a collaborative effort for spotting these bacteria in different hospitals,” Khan told PTI.
“It is a fact that hospitals in India are not very co-operative for conducting such tests inside hospital wards and operation theaters but if such studies become a part of a national project then we will have a true picture of the dimensions of this problem,” he added.
Representational Image. Reuters
Khan had recently succeeded in isolating the mutant strain for the first time in India, after studying sewage water samples of a hospital. The original bacteria from which the above strain is derived was identified as NDM-1 and was first detected in 2009.
After recording the presence of “super bug”, a team of officials from the state health department visited Khan’s lab at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical college, AMU to discuss the fallout of his recent findings. Khan said that he along with his team of researchers were fully prepared to cooperate in any nationwide project to isolate this bacteria in different hospitals.
“The first step which the Union Health Ministry should take is to introduce a move for mandatory hospital infection management systems in the country. Once such a step is introduced our hospitals will be as safe as any hospital in west.”
He also called for a national policy on the over-the-counter sales of antibiotics. “This step should be preceded by a national antibiotic prescription policy wherein no antibiotic can be sold over the counter without a doctors prescription,” Khan said.
He said that indiscriminate overuse of antibiotics for years has led to the birth of the original antibiotic resistant strain in 2009 known as NDM-1.
source: http://www.firstpost.com / FirstPost.com / Home> F.India> Latest News> India News / September 11th, 2014
