Monthly Archives: August 2015

Enclave’s first baby after freedom named Azad

Community Involvement / Social Issues

Kolkata :

Midnight on July 31 had ushered in a new freedom in Cooch Behar’s 51 Bangladeshi enclaves. It took the wail of a newborn 12 days later to underline what it actually meant. Named Azad, he is the first baby born in free territory -with his parents’ real names, and calling what was no-man’s land his home.

When TOI had met the pregnant 18-year-old Jharna Biwi a fortnight ago, the Bangladeshi enclave of Poator Kuthi in Cooch Behar was excited because this baby would be special. At 6.30am on Wednesday , Azad was born at Bamonhat primary health centre. Never has the birth of a newborn -to a teenage mother -been the cause of such joy in any enclave.

Gone are the days when even quacks, what to speak of doctors, would refuse to deliver babies of enclave residents.Would-be-mothers would suffer the ignominy of lying about their husbands’ name.Azad’s elder brother, born four years ago, was named Saheed (martyr). Grandfather Mujibur Ali is ecstatic but cannot forget the shame and agony of half a century .”When Saheed was born in 2011, we had to send Jharna to her maternal home in Dinhata’s Picnicdhora, evading BSF patrols. We had to lie about her husband’s name and give a fake Indian address just to get her into hospital. Not any more,” Ali said. “Azad signals the new dawn,” he said, before hurrying off to offer sweets to visitors flocking to his home.

When Jharna felt pre-mature labour pains in the predawn hours, her brother-inlaw Meharul and mother-inlaw Jamina Biwi took her in a van rickshaw to the primary health care centre, half-anhour away . This in itself would be a huge task a fortnight ago. Being Bangladeshis, they couldn’t step out of their villages for fear of being hounded by BSF or police.And getting admission in a state-run health facility was out of the question.

As Poator Kuthi savoured the sweets of Azad’s birth, 70 year-old Mansoor Ali recalled how Asima Biwi was denied treatment in 2010.

“Nearly 3,500 enclave residents braved a nine-hour stand-off with police and BSF to get her treated at Dinhata sub-divisional hospital. The administration relented only when they realized the protest could snowball into a huge agitation. Her baby was born that day and we named him Jehad (struggle),” said Mansoor, president of Poator Kuthi enclave exchange committee. Mansoor said, “Jehad’s birth may have brought our plight before the people but it didn’t change our way of life. Expectant mothers had to fudge their husbands’ name (give an Indian’s name) and address to get admitted to hospitals. Nothing can be a bigger insult to a married woman than to lie about the father of her child.” He added, “But this morning, I held Jharna’s hand and told her to go with her head held high and tell them that she belongs to Poator Kuthi, India, and her husband’s name is Jamidul Ali. She did.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> India / by Kamalendu Bhadra, TNN / August 13th, 2015

Picking the pieces of a rich heritage

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Travel & Tourism

KuttichiraMPos14aug2015

Efforts needed to preserve the unique socio-cultural identity of Kuttichira

Kuttichira, a predominantly Muslim settlement in the coastal region of Kozhikode, holds testimony to the city’s trade relationship with the Arab world.

Built around centuries-old mosques, the region comprises hundreds of families who still keep its unique socio-cultural identity at different levels. The last vestiges of its physical expressions—the ancestral homes and a number of household articles—are vanishing and efforts to set up a cultural museum to preserve them failed to bear fruit.

After a few decades, no one would believe that more than 100 members of a family in a matrilineal descent system lived in a single tharavadu at a time, says Hassan Vadiyil, a veteran journalist and a member of a prominent family in Kuttichira.

Six kitchens for a single house may sound like a bit of an exaggeration. But that was what some of these colossal houses had at a time. “Some of them even had three domestic wells around them,” says Mr. Vadiyil, who had first hand experience of the entire socio-cultural practices and customs that were part of life in Kuttichira.

Ramsy Ismael, member of CIESCO, a socio-cultural organisation based at Kuttichira, had a good collection of a number of artefacts related to the cultural life of Kuttichira. They included a decorative cap used by the groom on the wedding day and even furniture used during special occasions like wedding. “But many of them have been lost,” says Mr. Ismael.

Most of the families at Kuttichira have now left their joint families migrated to the Middle East. “Members of the new generation have been completely disconnected from their glorious common past,” says Parappil Muhammed Koya, writer and historian, who has an entire title ‘ Kozhikkotte Muslimgalude Charithram,  written on the lives of people in Kuttichira. “Documenting and preserving at least the valuable remnants of this remarkable culture is a necessity,” he says.

At least one of the traditional homes in the area could be purchased or taken over on lease by the tourism department to be converted into a museum which can house whatever is available to tell the story of Kuttichira to the future generation, says Dr. Koya.

“That can also become one of the most valuable tourism attractions of the city if materialised,” he says.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / by Jabir Mushthari / Kozhikode – August 14th, 2015

Gandhi, Akbar among Time magazine’s top 25 political icons

Leaders, World Opinion

GandhiMPOs14aug2015

New York  : 

Indian political geniuses Mahatma Gandhi and Emperor Akbar have been listed among the ‘Top 25 Political Icons’ of all time by TIME magazine, along with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and Mao Zedong, the father of modern China.

Released on the 100th birth anniversary of the late US President Ronald Reagan, the TIME list figures names like the great conqueror Alexander the Great and some of history’s most polarising figures like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

Gandhi’s experiments with satyagraha — the genesis of the non-violent methods of protest pioneered by him — and his leadership of India’s freedom movement that has inspired many revolutionaries of later years, led him to the top of the list of the 25 all time greats.

Describing Mohandas Gandhi as a figure “few will ever forget”, the prestigious magazine said his struggle paved the way for other social movements including America’s struggle for civil rights.

“While working as a lawyer in South Africa, he pioneered the concept of satyagraha, or, civil disobedience in response to tyranny, helping Indians there campaign for civil rights,” it said.

“Working with Jawaharlal Nehru, the nation’s future prime minister, Gandhi led the country in peaceful protest against foreign domination, exemplified by the 1930 Salt March in protest to a British salt tax. His rise paved the way for
India’s independence in 1947,” it said.

Gandhi, who left behind a universal influence, has inspired leaders like American civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King and South Africa’s anti-apartheid champion Nelson Mandela, and also US President Barack Obama.

The 16th century Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, a figure who played a major role in unifying the largely scattered fiefdoms in northern India, also finds a place in the elite list.

The ethos of pluralism and tolerance pioneered by the Muslim ruler in a Hindu-majority India underline the values of the modern republic of India, the magazine said.

The third Mughal ruler of India presided over a flourishing of the arts, sponsoring artisans, poets, engineers and philosophers at a time when Europe was still in its
pre-Renaissance stage.

“If ever a leader merited a tautology, it was the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great. Under Akbar, a fragile collection of fiefs around Delhi grew into the great Mughal
Empire, a diverse and sprawling kingdom across northern India,” the magazine said.

“He was a canny warlord whose conquests gave rise to one of the early modern world’s wealthiest states. Moreover, while a Muslim, Akbar was spiritually curious and hosted religious scholars from Hindu gurus to Jesuits at his vast,
diverse court,” it said.

source: http://www.ndtv.com / NDTV / Home> India / by Press Trust of India / February 06th, 2011

Kalam’s Parting Gift to Children: A Sequel to Ignited Minds

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders

KalamMPOs14aug2015

A number of new books by late A P J Abdul Kalam, including a sequel to his ever-popular Ignited Minds, are lined up for publication in the next few months.

Puffin Books will publish My India: Ideas for the Future, billed as a sequel to Ignited Minds. It will be a collection of insightful and thought-provoking speeches from Kalam’s post presidency years.

Organised into seven sections, the speeches in this collection are a roadmap for children, and adults alike, to follow their dreams and contribute to a better India, the publishers said.

Drawn from Kalam’s addresses to parliaments, schools and universities across the world, these speeches include his thoughts on nation building, poverty, failure, science and self-confidence in the 21st century.

Scheduled to be published later this year, My India: Ideas for the Future is a book that will inspire, invigorate and empower many generations to come, the publishers said.

Brought out in 2003 by Penguin, Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power within India went on to become a bestseller. The book examines why, given all our skills, resources and talents, we, so obviously capable of being the best, settle so often for the worst.

Kalam offers no formulaic prescription in Ignited Minds. Instead, he takes up different issues and themes that struck him on his pilgrimage around the country as he met thousands of school children, teachers, scientists and saints and seers in the course of two years: the necessity for a patriotism that transcends religion and politics; for role models who point out the path to take; and for confidence in ourselves and in our strengths.

Puffin had recently published Reignited: Scientific Pathways for a Brighter Future, co-authored by Kalam and his aide Srijan Pal Singh, in which the writers worked to inspire a new generation of Indians in careers in science.

HarperCollins will also be taking through to publication one of Kalam’s last projects,Advantage India, co-authored with Singh, which draws upon some remarkable examples from his life to illustrate how India could have a winning edge.

The book will deal with subjects like Make in India, Skill Development, Digital India, Smart Cities project, rural development models and new energy policies.

Known for his visionary ideas grounded in practical experience, Kalam published numerous books including Wings of Fire, Target 3 Billion, Life Tree: Poems, Mission 2020, Beyond 2020 and Turning Points, his highly readable account of his presidency.

Written in straight-forward, accessible language, each book shares his passion to help India and Indians dream big, and offers an action plan to help realise these goals.

The power of true spirituality, of faith that inspires good deeds and thoughts, the very special relationship between a teacher and a disciple, all of these are enshrined inTranscendence, a book that HarperCollins just published by Kalam, co authored with Arun Tiwari.

The book is about the unique spirituality-science fellowship that was formed between Kalam and Pramukh Swamiji Maharaj, who is one of the most inspiring spiritual figures of modern times and the fifth spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

In The Family and the Nation (with Acharya Mahapragya), Kalam said how any task of nation building had to begin at an individual’s first training ground, the home. In A Manifesto for Change (with V Ponraj), he took up the crucial subject of how we should elect our leaders, and how those we elect should carry out their duties.

Kalam was also reportedly working on a book in Tamil with a vision for the growth of Tamil Nadu and completed seven chapters.

The book was titled Ennathil Nalamirunthal Kanavu Tamilagam Uruvagum, Puyalai Thandinal Thendral and seven chapters of it were completed after detailed discussions, co-author of the book and scientific advisor to Kalam when he was President, V Ponraj said.

Says Udayan Mitra, Associate Publisher at Penguin Random House who worked as Kalam’s editor for more than 10 years,

“Kalam managed to inspire the millions of people who met him, listened to his speeches, and read his books – and he ignited their minds.

“Having had the privilege to know Kalam personally and to have published his books for over a decade, I will miss him dearly, as I know the entire nation will. But his dream and his extraordinary personality will live on in his books, and it is in their pages that we will be able to find Kalam in our midst again, and celebrate his vision anew.”

Meanwhile, Kalam’s aide Singh is also mulling an idea of incorporating the unfinished lecture on ‘Creating a Livable Planet Earth’ at IIM-Shillong into a book.

source:  http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> News / by Zafar Mudasser Nofil / New Delhi – July 31st, 2015

Sania Gets Khel Ratna, 17 Others Get Arjuna Award

Leaders, Sports, World Opinion

Sania Mirza’s name was today officially approved for the coveted Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, becoming only the second tennis player to be nominated for the highest sporting honour.

The government also named the winners of the 2015 Arjuna Awards. The list has 17 sports-persons including cricketer Rohit Sharma and shooter Jitu Rai. Gymnast Dipa Karmakar, hockey player P R Sreejesh, wrestling duo of Bajrang and Babita, athlete M R Poovamma, shuttler K Srikanth and boxer Mandeep Jangra are among those who won the Arjuna.

“It’s a tremendous honour for me to be conferred the Khel Ratna award and I feel humbled with the love and respect showered on me by my country,” Sania told PTIfrom Toronto.

“Representing my country in all corners of the world has been my great privilege for so many years and this recognition of my efforts by the government of India is certain to inspire me to earn more laurels for our country. I would like to wish all my fellow Indians a happy independence day,” she said.

Sania, currently ranked world number one in women’s doubles, scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win a women’s doubles Grand Slam title when she and Martina Hingis clinched the Wimbledon trophy earlier this year.

Sania is only the second tennis player after Leander Paes to be named for the top award. Paes had been bestowed the honour way back in 1996 after his bronze medal in the Atlanta Olympics.

The 28-year-old, who has won three mixed doubles Grand Slams in her career, beat competition from squash player Deepika Pallikal, discus thrower Vikas Gowda, track and field star Tintu Luka, rising shuttler P V Sindhu, and hockey captain Sardar Singh for the coveted honour.

The awards will be conferred by the President Pranab Mukherjee on August 29, the National Sports Day.

The Khel Ratna carries a prize money of Rs 7.5 lakh along with a citation, while the Arjuna awards come with a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a citation.

Besides doing well on the professional circuit, Sania had also won the gold medal and the bronze medal in the mixed and women’s doubles categories of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

The Hyderabadi girl had won the Arjuna award in 2004 and was the favourite for the top award this year. In 2006, she was bestowed the Padma Shri — the country’s fourth highest civilian honour.

Sania’s mixed doubles trophies had come in the Australian Open (2009), French Open (2012) and US Open (2014).

Rohit has been India’s batting mainstay in the ODIs and became the highest individual scorer with a knock of 264 against Sri Lanka last year.

Jitu, on the other hand, has been in splendid form, winning seven international medals in the last one year besides an Olympic quota berth.

Sreejesh was recommended for his outstanding show as India’s goalkeeper. He was part of the team that won the Asian Games gold medal last year, which also fetched the side a direct qualification for next year’s Olympics.

Dipa has been rewarded for becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games, while boxer Mandeep has been recommended for his silver medals in the Asian Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

Srikanth has been one of India’s top performers on the badminton court, winning three titles this year.

The list of sportspersons recommended for Arjuna awards: P R Sreejesh (hockey), Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics), Jitu Rai (shooting), Sandeep Kumar (archery), Mandeep Jangra (boxing), Babita (wrestling), Bajrang (wrestling), Rohit Sharma (cricket), K Srikanth (badminton), Swarn Singh Virk (rowing), Satish Sivalingam (weightlifting), Yumnam Santhoi Devi (wushu), Sharath Gaekwad (para-sailing), M R Poovamma (athletics), Manjeet Chhillar (kabaddi), Abhilasha Mhatre (kabaddi), Anup Kumar Yama (rollerskating).

source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> News / New Delhi – August 14th, 2015

Mughal Era Quran Recovered in Mysuru

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, World Opinion
The antique Quran seized at K R Nagar town | EPS
The antique Quran seized at K R Nagar town | EPS

Mysuru  :

An antique Quran dating back to the Mughal era has been seized by the police from a 10-member gang at K R Nagar town in the district. The gang claimed to have got the book from Hyderabad and was planning to sell it for Rs 5 crore, the police said.

The district police came to know about the gang a week ago when they came across a video which had details of the book. The video was made to find potential buyers. After showing the book to historian and former vice-chancellor of Goa Univeristy and Mangalore University, Prof Sheikh Ali, who confirmed its authenticity, the police followed up the case. On Monday night, the police received a tip-off about the gang’s whereabouts in K R Nagar town.

The police officers approached four members of the gang on the pretext of buying the book and arrested them. The remaining six members were arrested in Mysuru city.

The arrested are Nagaraju S (39) and A Muralikrishna (30) of Raichur district, Kanakappa (40) of Gadag district, Kallappa (40) of Kalburgi, Sanath (27), Ravindra (33) and Raghu (30) of Udupi district, Vijayendra (30) and Prasad (43) of Shivamogga district and Bhaskar (31) of Bengaluru rural district. Kallappa is an SDA in the Food and Civil Supplies Department. Prof Ali said going by the date mentioned on the last page of the 604-page book based on lunar calendar, the book belongs to the 17th century and is 398 years old. The pages are gold-coated and the calligraphy is in Arabic.

The pages have decorative borders, he added. He said the ink used in the book is not an ordinary one but a chemically treated one and hence the writings are still intact.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by ENS / August 12th, 2015

Mysurean bags Rs.1 crore European fellowship

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

SyedUsmanTaqiMPOs14aug2015

Mysuru :

Syed Usman Taqui of Mysuru has been awarded Erasmus Mundus Fellowship amounting to 1,29,900 Euros (almost equivalent to rupees one crore) to pursue his Doctoral Programme in Membrane Engineering for a period of three years beginning November 2015.

He is the youngest to top the Global Ranking List. The Erasmus Mundus doctorate in Membrane Engineering (EUDIME) is a prestigious European Fellowship programme designed to implement at international level — excellence, innovation, mobility and multidisciplinary in investigation approaches related to membrane science and technology. The consortium includes six leading partner institutions from Portugal, Netherlands, Czech Republic, France, Belgium and Italy.

Syed Usman Taqui pursued his Master Degree in Membrane Engineering under the Erasmus Mundus Master’s Scholarship amounting to 48,000 euros (rupees thirty-four lakh) during 2012-14, then the youngest to be selected among fourteen from all over the world.

Usman’s elder brother Syed Raihan Taqui was the youngest and one among the three from Asia to be awarded Erasmus Mundus Scholarship from European Union to pursue his Master’s Degree majoring in Education Management in 2007.

Usman Taqui is the son of Ayesha Nasreen and Prof. Syed Akheel Ahmed, former VC of Yenepoya University and former Dean and Syndicate Member of University of Mysore.

Usman carried out his project at the Department of Chemical Engineering Technology (IIT), Mumbai, during his undergraduate days. He has bagged numerous prizes and awards from the institutions he studied.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News /  Saturday – August 08th, 2015

Quran dating back to Akbar’s period recovered by Dist. Cops

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion

Ten-member gang trying to sell it for Rs.5 crore arrested

AkbarQuranMPOs12aug2015

Mysuru :

In a meticulously planned and precisely executed operation, sleuths attached to the District Police, seized a 410 year-old Quran, written during Mughal ruler Akbar’s period in the district and also arrested a gang of 10 members who were allegedly trying to sell it for Rs.5crore.

Police have also seized a Ford Ikon car (MH02 AK-4967) from the gang

The nabbed have been identified as S. Nagaraju of Sindhanur, A. Muralikrishna of Sasalamai Camp, Kanakappa Kambli of Yerebeleri village in Gadag district, Kallappa Kambali o Kalaburgi and Sanath of Kollur in Udupi taluk, Ravindra, Vijayendra of Hosanagar in Shivamogga district, Prasad of Heggodu in Sagar taluk, Bhaskar of Sindhanur and Raghu of Karwar.

Addressing a press conference at his office in city yesterday, SP Abhinav Khare said that Police, who came across a video on the antique Quran that the gang was sharing with prospective buyers formed a team to trap the gang.

The Police team, posing as prospective buyers approached five members of the gang near the Railway Station in Hosa Agrahara in K.R.Nagar taluk in the district and nabbed them before nabbing the remaining members in Mysuru city, he said and added that the accused had confessed to have got the antique from some persons in Hyderabad promising to share the proceeds of the sale with them.

Additional SP Kala Krishnaswamy, Rural Dy.SP Vikram Amte led K.R.Nagar Inspector H.N.Siddaiah, DCIB Inspector Gopalakrishna, Saligrama SI Poonacha in the nabbing and seizing operations.

Meanwhile, noted historian and former Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore and Goa Universities Prof. B. Sheikh Ali, who was present at the press conference described the calligraphy as a 604-page book, each separated by a butter paper for better preservation as a piece of Exquisite Art adding that writing in the Quran is legible.

Continuing, Prof. Sheikh Ali said ‘It was written in 1959 of the Hijri calendar, which works out to 1605 A.D. This was around the period when Mughal rule was at its peak in India and the time when Akbar was succeeded by Jahangir.”

He further said that though there is no other information on the last page other than the year in which it is written, there is a sentence that says that the calligraphy is dedicated to the saints.

Interestingly, SP Khare removed his footwear while holding the Quran to pose for photograph before the Quran was carefully placed in a carved wooden stand and covered with a cloth.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Wednesday – August 12th, 2015

Azad Bhavan to come up in city by next year : Minorities Dev. Corporation Chairman

Community Involvement / Social Issues
Minorities Development Corporation Chairman Masood Faujdar is seen inaugurating the newly-shifted office of the Corporation at K.R. Mohalla here yesterday and former MLA Muktharunnisa Begum and others look on.
Minorities Development Corporation Chairman Masood Faujdar is seen inaugurating the newly-shifted office of the Corporation at K.R. Mohalla here yesterday and former MLA Muktharunnisa Begum and others look on.

Mysuru :

“Azad Bhavans, housing all offices related to the Development and Welfare of Minorities, will be constructed at all district headquarters across the State and the one in Mysuru will come up in a year,” said Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation Chairman Masood Faujdar

Speaking after inaugurating the newly-shifted Office of the Corporation in Kempananjamba Agrahara in K.R. Mohalla here yesterday, Faujdar said following complaints of public inconvenience over the different location of offices related to minorities welfare, the government has decided to construct Azad Bhavans, for which budgetary allocations have been made by the Chief Minister.

Stating that the Corporation has raised the upper limit ceiling of loans extended by the Corporation under various schemes, he said that the Corporation has sanctioned Rs. 7 crore to Mysuru district this year for the implementation of the schemes.

Stressing on the need for organising widespread awareness campaigns for popularising the Corporation’s initiatives, especially educational loans, Faujdar called upon the beneficiaries to make good use of the schemes.

K.R. MLA M.K. Somashekar, in his address, said that the State Government is doing its best for the upliftment of minority communities and called upon the beneficiaries to be informed about the schemes and make the best use of them.

Former Mayor Ayub Khan, who also spoke on the occasion, said that the frequent shifting of offices related to minorities welfare was causing great inconvenience to the beneficiaries, especially those from rural regions. Stating that lack of education, health and houses was the main reason for the backwardness of minorities, he appealed the government to release more funds to the Corporation for effective implementation of welfare schemes.

Mysuru Industries Association (MIA) General Secretary Suresh Kumar Jain, former MLA Muktharunnisa Begum, Corporator Suhail Baig, Congress leaders Allah Baksh, Rehana, Tajunnisa and others were present.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Tuesday – August 04th, 2015