Monthly Archives: October 2014

Thumbay Group among Forbes ME ‘Top 100’ in Arab world

October 12, 2014Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Leaders, NRI's / PIO's, Science & Technology, World Opinionmpositiveone@gmail.com

Ajman :

Thumbay Group has crossed another milestone today. Thumbay Group has been listed in “Top 100 making an impact in the Arab World”, a list compiled by Forbes Middle East Magazine in the May 2013 Issue 14. Rankings, awards, undoubtedly play an important role in recognizing an organization’s success. Thumbay Group, UAE ranks 44 in the list of “Top 100 Making An Impact In The Arab World”.

Thumbay Group, UAE established in the year 1997 has come a long way. It has developed into a conglomerate having multifarious business activities and operations spread across the globe. The Thumbay Group, UAE today is a leading conglomerate with a host of medical and healthcare institutions under its ambit. The Group encompasses Gulf Medical University, GMC Hospital and Research Centre, Gulf Medical Centre & GMC Pharmacies in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and Fujairah.

Gulf Medical University has a student cohort from 67 nationalities, majority of them are locals and Arabs from the GCC, medical professionals and staff from 22 countries. Patients from over 175 nationalities ranging as far as Africa, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, GCC countries and Western Europe receive treatment at GMC Hospitals & Research Centre, a constituent private teaching university hospital with a capacity of 250 beds housed with ultra-modern facilities. The Group also owns and manages international chain of Health Clubs and Coffee Shoppe, Chain of GMC Diagnostic laboratories, Chain of Pharmacies, Chain of Optical Centres.

“In a short span of time we have worked our way to reach to this position today. I thank the Almighty God, the great leaders of this country, all our staff members for their continued support in achieving this proud status today. We have very big and ambitious plans and God willing with each and every immeasurable support we will be able to reach to the pinnacle of success one day” commented Thumbay Moideen, founder president of Thumbay Group, UAE.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / DaijiWorld.com / Home> Gulf / Media Release / Ajman – May 22nd, 2013 / posted Wednesday – May 22nd, 2013

Veteran INA member Capt. Abbas Ali passes away

October 11, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leadersmpositiveone@gmail.com

Aligarh:

Freedom fighter and Indian National Army war veteran, Captain Abbas Ali, 92, died of cardiac arrest today at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College.

Capt. Abbas Ali was born on 3rd January 1922 in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. From his early days, he was inspired by the revolutionary ideas of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. While pursuing his studies in Aligarh Muslim University, he came in contact with great communist leader of his time Kunwar Muhammed Ashraf. On his inspiration, he joined British Army in 1939 and was posted in South East Asia during World War II.

In 1945 when Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose called for revolt, he left British Army and joined Netaji’s Indian National Army (INA) but later he was arrested, court marshalled and awarded death sentence. After India gained Independence in 1947, he was released by Indian Government.

In 1948, Capt. Abbas Ali joined Socialist Party led by Acharya Narendra Deva, Jai Prakash Narayan and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and remained associated with the Socialist Party till its merger with the Janata Party in 1977. He was General Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Unit of Socialist Party in 1967 and 1974 and member of its Parliamentary board.

In 1967, he played a key role in formation of the first Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD) government led by former Prime Minister, the late Chaudhry Charan Singh in Uttar Pradesh. In 1977, when Janata Party came into power, he was appointed first President of Uttar Pradesh Unit of Janata Party.

In 1978, he was elected to UP Legislative Council for six years. He had been a member of UP Sunni Central Waqf Board for six years.

Abbas Ali is survived by his son, noted journalist Qurban Ali and two daughters. He will be laid to rest later this evening at Qila Road graveyard.

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home / by TCN News / October 11th, 2014

UPSNA revives Akademi awards after 12 years

October 11, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainmentmpositiveone@gmail.com

Lucknow:

The prestigious Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi (UPSNA) awards for music, dance and drama which were discontinued in 2003 have been revived. This was announced by UPSNA president Naved Siddiqui and secretary Veena Vidyarthi on Thursday.

“Besides a shawl and brass plaque, awardees will be given a purse money of Rs 10,001 on November 11,” said Siddiqui.

The past 12 years awards will be given in retrospect in two phases. To begin with, awards this year will be given for those entitled between 2003-2008 and in the next financial year the remaining till 2014 will be honored.

Out of the 115 entries, 66 have been shortlisted (11 artistes are awarded annually) to be honoured with Sangeet Natak Akademi awards and 12 for Ratan Sadasyata at the three-day fest from November 11-13 to mark the centenary of UPSNA.

Ratan Sadasyata will be given to Sulochana Brahaspati (classical music) and Hari Prasad Chaurasiya (flute) for 2003; N Rajan (violin) and Daya Prakash Sinha (stage drama) for 2004; Savita Devi (light classical music) and Rajan Mishr (classical music) for 2005; Chhannulal Mishra (classical music) and Anoop Jalota (light classical music) for 2006; Saadat Hussain (qawwali) and Anil Rastogi (drama) for 2007 and Mudra Rakshas (drama) and Wilayat Jaafri (drama) for 2008.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / October 10th, 2014

Victoria Memorial Hall collections to find place in Google’s digital storehouse of art

October 11, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, Travel & Tourism, World Opinionmpositiveone@gmail.com

The painting titled 'General Claude Martin and his Friends' or 'Colonel Polier with his Friends' depicts Colonel Antoine Polier, Claude Martin, and John Wombwell with the painter himself, Johann Zoffany (1733-1810), in the background, being waited on by Indian servants, probably in Lucknow around 1786-87. — The painting titled ‘General Claude Martin and his Friends’ or ‘Colonel Polier with his Friends’ depicts Colonel Antoine Polier, Claude Martin, and John Wombwell with the painter himself, Johann Zoffany (1733-1810), in the background, being waited on by Indian servants, probably in Lucknow around 1786-87.

Kolkata :

The Victoria Memorial Hall’s collections will find a place in the largest-ever digital repository of exhibits and collections on a global platform created by Google. Apart from Victoria, some others on the list are Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York, British Museum, National Gallery and Tate Gallery in London, Musee d’Orsay in Paris, Acropolis Museum in Athens and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

Victoria Memorial curator Jayanta Sengupta told TOI that the museum and its finest collection of art and artifacts are expected to join the Google Cultural Institute, a cyber platform created by Google Art that enables users to view high resolution images from various museums and even compile their own digital collection. It is fast emerging as an invaluable resource for researchers as they can have access to objects from museums across the world and learn about art objects, their history and artists at the click of a mouse.

“A team from Google will reach Kolkata with sophisticated video and still cameras to film the museum and photograph the 120-odd highlights. Of these, they will select one item and photograph it with high-definition gigapixel camera so that it can be magnified online without distortion. Once the exercise is over in a couple of months, a virtual tour of the galleries at Victoria Memorial will be created and the images uploaded on Google Cultural Institute,” said Sengupta.

Victoria Memorial signed a memorandum of understanding with Google Art in February 2013 and has been communicating with the team since. The museum has sent the list of 120 items it considers the best among its collection of 33,000+ objects of art apart from the 10,000+ small objects like stamps.

Though the Google team is at liberty to select any one of the 120 objects listed by Sengupta’s team as the museum’s highlight for the gigapixel photography, the curator has suggested a painting titled ‘General Claude Martin & his Friends’. The painting that has an alternative title ‘Colonel Polier with his Friends’ depicts Colonel Antoine Polier, Claude Martin, and John Wombwell with the painter himself, Johann Zoffany (1733-1810), in the background, being waited on by Indian servants, probably in Lucknow around 1786-87.

“We have suggested the painting by 18th century German neoclassical painter because it is intricate. There are six paintings within the painting that can be enlarged and viewed in detail when photographed in a gigapixel image,” explained Sengupta. Other paintings that make the cut are ‘Bharat Mata’ and ‘Passing of Shah Jahan’.

Among the other objects in the highlights shortlist are oil paintings by Thomas and William Daniel, Abanindranath Tagore and Gaganendranath Tagore, a 1964 copy of the Ain-e-Akbari manuscript, Persian translation of Aristotle’s treatise Six Principles of Ethical Life and commentary by Dara Shukoh as well as his Persian translations of Gita and Upanishad, Aurungzeb’s personal Quran, Tipu Sultan’s dagger, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s sword and Queen Victoria’s piano.

“Once Victoria Memorial Hall joins the others on the Google Cultural Institute website, all objects that comprise the museum highlights will be there for the world to see and experience online. We have been working on documenting each object, detailing the history, the artist and its relevance. We are currently in the final lap of that exercise and expect to be on the website by this yearend or early next year,” said Sengupta.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Subhro Niyogi, TNN / September 07th, 2014

When a lensman’s passion takes the driver’s seat

October 11, 2014Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Products, Travel & Tourism, World Opinionmpositiveone@gmail.com

Motor vehicle inspector Shefiq B.'s photograph of a leopard at the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary won a prize at the State-level wildlife photography competition. Photo: K.K. Mustafah / The Hindu — Motor vehicle inspector Shefiq B.’s photograph of a leopard at the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary won a prize at the State-level wildlife photography competition. Photo: K.K. Mustafah / The Hindu

A motor vehicle inspector’s commitment to wildlife photography

: His passion for photography almost cost him his life a decade ago when he was chased around by a herd of wild elephants in Thekkady. And that night in 2003, he stayed atop a tree to escape the wrath of the pachyderms.

For someone who took pictures with trembling hands and landed himself in trouble out of his ignorance about positioning, Shefiq B. has come a long way to grab the victor’s prize at the State-level wildlife photography conducted by the forest department.

A motor vehicle inspector by profession, Mr. Shefiq will receive the award from Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan on Tuesday at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkady.

The picture of a leopard lying on a rock at the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary won him the prize.

“Initially, the animal was behind a rock and was not fully visible before it stepped on to the rock. From its stomach I could gauge that the animal had had its prey just then and would be resting there for a while,” he said.

Photography became his passion after he took a five-year break from his job as a vehicle inspector.

During this time, he took up a job in the Middle East which gave him the opportunity to travel to the wildlife sanctuaries of Kenya, a photographer’s delight.

So much was he consumed by the passion that he didn’t think twice before taking a loan for purchasing a professional worth Rs. 2.5 lakh.

Since rejoining duty at the Aluva Regional Transport Office last year, Shefiq puts in extra hours at work, so that he can go exploring nature in the company of his camera on weekends .

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by M.P. Praveen / Kochi – October 07th, 2014

Waqf board spanner in film shoot at Old City haveli

October 8, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Travel & Tourismmpositiveone@gmail.com

Lucknow :

A majestic pre-Independence era haveli in Old City is caught in a controversy with the UP Sunni Waqf Board asking district administration to halt shooting schedule of a Hindi film in it.

Tucked away in the congested Akbari Gate area on Abdul Aziz Road, Ahmad Manzil was built in 1922 and belonged to tobacco merchants Ahmad Ali and Sons of global fame. In the 1940’s, owner Khan Bahadur Syed Ahmad Husain Rizvi declared it wakf property and laid out conditions under which the property was to be utilised by his descendants. The current mutawalli (caretaker) Iqbal Rizvi allegedly granted permission to the makers of ‘Tanu Weds Manu-2’ to shoot inside the building.

This has irked other residents of the haveli who allege that shooting of the film in the building is against the will of the wakif Khan Bahadur Syed Ahmad Husain Rizvi. “Shooting cannot be allowed since no such activity can take place on the haveli compound without unanimous consent of all beneficiaries of the property. Also, nothing that’s against the ‘Shariah’ (Islamic jurisprudence) can be allowed,” says Fareed Rizvi whose letter to the Waqf Board prompted the latter’s letter to the district magistrate.

Incidentally, the Waqf Board had written a similar letter to the DM during the shooting of ‘Dabangg-2’ but by the time a district administration inspection team reached the venue, shooting for the film had already concluded.

When contacted, the haveli’s caretaker Iqbal Rizvi remained tight-lipped on the issue. DM Raj Shekhar said the Wakf Board letter could not be tabled for discussion due to holidays but appropriate action will be taken after studying the facts of the case.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City>Lucknow / by Ali Rizvi, TNN / October 08th, 2014

Laxman to deliver Pataudi lecture

October 8, 2014Leaders, Sportsmpositiveone@gmail.com

One of Kolkata’s favourite sons, V.V.S. Laxman, will deliver the prestigious Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi Memorial Lecture here on October 19, the eve of India’s fifth One-day International against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens.

Laxman will be the third cricketer to deliver the lecture after the peerless Sunil Gavaskar and Anil Kumble.

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has decided to invite all former India captains to the lecture as this will form a part of the celebrations of 150 years of Eden Gardens.

The lecture was originally slated for October 18 but was postponed by a day by the Board.

A book and a documentary will be released on October 16 where former captain Chandu Borde and Salim Durrani are expected to be present.