The Northeast Frontier Railway restarted the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) toy train service between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling on Wednesday.
The service between NJP and Darjeeling was suspended on June 15, 2010, after a landslide near Paglajhora, about 35km from Siliguri, damaged the tracks. The tracks had caved in because of landslide and rain in Tindharia also.
The NFR resumed train services on June 12, 2015, but it was suspended again on June 15 because of landslides.
Repair was undertaken and finally, the service resumed on Wednesday.
According to NFR sources, a passenger special DHR train will leave Darjeeling at 10.15am and arrive at NJP at 5.45pm.
From NJP, the train will leave at 8.30am and reach Darjeeling at 4pm. Each train will have two first-class coaches and a luggage van and would be pulled by a diesel loco.
The toy train was flagged off by Purnabahadur Lepcha, a senior railway employee, at the Darjeeling railway station in the presence of Md. Jamshed, the general manager of NFR, and other senior officials at 9.30am.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Front Page> North Bengal> Story / Thursday – December 03rd, 2015
A well compiled innings of 174 n.o. (208b,20x4s, 4x6s) by middle order batsman Armaan K. Jaffer and his unfinished fourth wicket partnership of 189-runs with skipper S.Z. Mulani (84 n.o. 122b, 12x4s), enabled Mumbai to take control of the pro-ceedings against hosts Karnataka.
Mumbai at close of second day’s play had scored 429 for three in 109 overs, in their Elite Group ‘A’ Cooch Behar Trophy U-19 match played at the SDNR Wadiyar Platinum Jubilee University Grounds here yesterday.
Resuming at their overnight score of 58 for one in 19 overs, Mumbai were helped by a 64-run second wicket partnership between H.J. Tamore (86, 13x4s) and A.W. Usmani (42, 5x4s, 2x6s) and later by a 131-run third wicket partnership between Armaan Jaffer and Tamore helped Mumbai to take control over the proceedings.
Likith Bannur (one for 79), B.M. Shreyas (one for 79) and S.J. Nikin Jose (one for 30) were the wicket-takers for Karnataka.
The scores
Karnataka 180 in 68.3 overs Vs Mumbai 429 for threetani 84 n.o, A.W. Usmani 42).
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / Monday – November 07th, 2015
Seen in the picture are (from left) Syed Rafiulla Hussaini, Gowher Tarikervi, Viqar Ahmed Siddiqi, Baqar Umar Khan, Dr. Fouzia Choudhry, Shamim Ahmed, Nyamathulla Khan, Capt. Mir Afzal Hussain and Anwer Pasha.
Mysuru :
Dr. Fouzia Choudhry, Chairperson, Karnataka Urdu Academy, Bengaluru, visited MEWA Educational and Vocational Training Centre at Shantinagar on Nov. 30 and interacted with the trainees of tailoring, fashion designing, computer, Urdu course and students who have taken SSLC Exam as private candidates.
She advised them to work hard and achieve their goals ignoring the hurdles which come across.
She was received by the organisation President Viqar Ahmed Siddiqi, Secretary Shamim Ahmed, Vice-President Capt. Mir Afzal Hussain, Anwer Pasha, Baqar Umar Khan, Syed Rafiulla Hussaini, Gowher Tariikervi, and Nyamathulla Khan.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Monday – November 07th, 2015
Trackwoman Feroza Bano says she has to ensure fitness and renewal of tracks in coordination with signals before movement of each train. (HT Photo)
When Feroza Banu became Northern Railway’s first trackwoman in 2004, every day was a struggle.
Her husband had disappeared three years ago, and her colleagues weren’t ready to accept a woman in what has always been a male bastion. She had to run from pillar to post to convince officials she deserved the job. Back home, she had six daughters to bring up.
A decade on, the 50-year-old has proved naysayers wrong. Working in 12-hour shifts, she lugs around a 20-kg bag packed with heavy tools on her back and monitors a 5-km stretch of track near Charbagh railway station in Lucknow.
With scores of trains whizzing past every hour, even a small slip-up can cost hundreds of lives but Feroza doesn’t appear intimidated.
“From Utrethia to Charbagh, I have to ensure fitness and renewal of tracks, packing of sleepers, tightening of bolts and coordination with signals before movement of each train,” she says with pride.
Even a small slip-up can cost hundreds of lives, Feroza knows, but she doesn’t appear intimidated. (HT Photo)
She is fondly called ‘Feroza Aapa’ by her colleagues, who now admit she is a better worker than many of them.
“Her commitment to her job with trains whizzing past, is commendable. And carrying heavy equipment on her back while patrolling an area of around 5 km is not easy,” said SK Sharma, Charbagh station superintendent.
However, for Bano hard work is part of life. “If I have to survive, I have to work. After all, God has given me the role of ensuring safe travel for thousands of people,” she said.
She now lives with two daughters in a house in the Alambagh Railway Colony compound but is acutely aware of her responsibilities.
“I have six daughters, four of them are married. I have to settle the other two also next year before retirement. I was not able to educate them properly because trackwomen are not paid that well,” she says.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home / by Anupam Srivastava, Hindustan Times, Lucknow / November 30th, 2015
Coming into national reckoning just a week before a major international competition as a replacement for one of your best friends is never easy. But Mohd. Amir Khan knows an opportunity when he sees one.
At the ongoing Hockey World League Finals here, the youngster from Allahabad has grabbed it with both hands. Named as replacement for statemate and friend Lalit Upadhyay after the latter got injured, Amir has impressed everyone with his runs, dodges and feints to wrong-foot the opposition defenders. He may not have scored yet but the lanky forward knows there are more ways to contribute to a team’s performances.
On Friday, while several of the India players preferred to either sleep off the strain of the tournament so far or relax with the occasional cheat-eat and their favourite cups of coffee, Amir and Mujtaba were busy with their afternoon prayers. Walking in to find coach Roelant Oltmans waiting for lunch, he tried to explain his absence. “That’s absolutely fine, as long as you are in time for whatever is the team’s schedule,” the Dutchman waved him off.
Starting at the age of 10 at the Majidia Islamia College grounds in Allahabad, hockey has always been a way of life for Amir. “In my area, a lot of people pay hockey. In fact, the grounds have more kids with sticks than those with bats. A lot of my relatives also played, though not at big levels. My cousin Ayaz Ahmed used to play for Customs and it was normal for me to play the game,” he explains. A product of the Lucknow SAI hostel, two of his younger brothers are now following in his footsteps.
The frail-looking youngster is the latest in a long line of illustrious predecessors from Uttar Pradesh that began from Dhyan Chand and continued through Ashok Kumar, Mohd. Shahid and RP Singh, players who mixed attitude, skill and style to produce what was considered the traditional Indian hockey. His looks, though are deceptive.
Nimble on his feet and quick to stop and turn against defenders, Amir Khan’s dodges upfront have been impressive so far in the tournament. Regardless of the opposition, the youngster held on to his style of aggression. Most experts of the game consider him among the most talented strikers in the next generation.
“Style aur dash hona hi chahiye, dikhna bhi chahiye jab zarurat ho (style and dash must be there and must also be visible when the situation demands). Planning is important but so is individuality. Even the coach accepts that there are times when plans do not work, an individual has to use his mind and skill and decide on his own.
“Yes, there are times when it doesn’t work, like it happened a couple of times against Britain also, but that will get better with experience,” he says with conviction.
New stage, old mates
Even though this is his first major senior tournament, Amir isn’t exactly unfamiliar with his team mates. Having played with the likes of VR Raghunath, Danish Mujtaba, Talwinder Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Birendra Lakra for India at the junior level, the 21-year old – he will turn 22 later this month – is among known faces here. Mujtaba, in fact, belongs to the same area and the two grew up playing together from childhood even though the senior pro is five year older. Unsurprisingly, there is a higher comfort level.
For someone only starting out, Amir is grounded with a lot of quiet self-belief. “Pressure is always there but if you remember your good times and performances, it helps a lot. Pressure doesn’t mean you succumb to it – you have to face and beat it, you need to look inside you. Everyone knows what he is capable of, what he can do and what his talent is.
“Pressure is always there. Specially, when you haven’t played any big tournament and suddenly you are in such a big event but the good thing is I believe I haven’t let it overpower me. I think I have been able to handle it a little better and so maybe I am going in the right direction. Now I need to work on my consistency,” he says.
“Before a match, I only focus on the match and try to avoid the negativity. I pray a lot but if something does happen that affects me — which doesn’t happen too often, to be honest – I just speak to my parents and solve it with their advice. I do not like to talk much to everyone,” he adds.
Is he now targetting a Rio spot? “Preferences don’t matter, performances do. I am not thinking of it now, I am thinking of the next two games. Everything depends on my performance. I would love to be at Rio and have both Danish and Lalit with me but coaches only see what you do on field,”he signs off, heading for lunch.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Hockey / by Uthra Ganesan / Raipur – December 05th, 2015
He wanted to join the media industry but landed up in Hollywood. Meet 29-year old Saim Hyder who is doing theatre and also acting in short films in the United States of America. He has recently completed playing the leading role in the classic Anton Chekov play `The Cherry Orchard’ for Falcon Productions, a wellknown theater group in New York City .
Hyder’s talent landed him meaty roles in the plays ‘Bonafide Women’ directed by Stephanie Ogeleza. He played the lead in short film `Larry Bought Lemon’, screened at the prestigious Indian Film Festival of Tampa, Florida in 2013) and another film, `Patrons’, directed by Polish director Rita Haider was screened at the International Palm Springs Film Festival last year.
Hyder’s performance received favorable criticism in US media. Broadway World, authority on all Broadway shows called his performance in the part-comedy-part-drama `The Rajah’s son & Princess Labam’ “dramatic and riveting”, while NRI Tribune, one of the largest Indian-American newspaper described his role in the same play as “one of the most loved performances”.
In Lucknow, Hyder went to La Martiniere College where his acting talent was nurtured under his teachers. In school, I acted in school plays and inter school competitions where I stood out and was praised,” said Saim. It was only when he moved to US in 2008 to pursue Mass Communication from the University of Arkansas, he realised performing on stage could mean more than journalism. ” was so passionate about the film industry that at UOA, took up research on the influence of Indian cinema he roes on the youth,” said Hyder, who later trained at the renowned New York Film Academy and Maggie Flanigan Acting Studio in New York City.
While at NY Film Academy, he was trained in the basics of film genre. It was a MF studio where he received intensive training under the best in the industry in the exclusive `Meisner Technique of acting which legendary actors such as Marlon Bran do, Robert Duvall and Tom Cruise learnt as students Meisner technique is an approach to acting which develops from an interna source such as emotional re call, memory, etc. Back home, Hyder is famous for entertaining family and friends, acting out famous dialogues of Indian and Hollywood actors. “In all our family get-togethers, he is made to enact scenes from his plays or films, his favourite, which he repeats most of the time, being from The Cherry Orchard, saying the lines, `I have done it, I have done it all. The Cherry Orchard is mine…’, to an applause from all of us,” said Aaqil, Hyder’s cousin, who is more a friend.
Hyder hasn’t restricted himself to theatre, he has also dabbled with radio. “I have anchored more than 100 minutes of live shows, called Bindaas Bol on Jus Radio, an online channel popular with the Indian American diaspora,” he said.
His upcoming work includes a Hindi sitcom for a South Asian TV channel which is even being produced by him. “With his focus and talent, we are hopeful that Saim will make a mark in the highly competitive entertainment industry in Hollywood. The talent of this Lucknow boy will shine around the world,” said his father Nafees Haider Naqvi.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Isha Jain, TNN / December 07th, 2015
Just the city of Agra and its close neighbour Fatehpur Sikri have five of the top 10 monuments in the country that are most visited by foreign tourists.
Replying to a query in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Union culture minister Mahesh Sharma said Taj Mahal alone has 23% share of foreign tourists travelling to India. Agra Fort got 12% in 2014. He added that foreign exchange earnings through tourism in India during 2012, 2013 and 2014 stood at Rs 94,487 crore, Rs 1,07,671 crore and Rs 1,23,320 crore respectively.
The minister dismissed claims that the tourism industry had witnessed a decline compared to the last few years. “On the contrary”, he said, “foreign tourists’ arrival growth rate in India has more than doubled between 2012 (4.3%) and 2014 (10.2%). In 2013, it was a mere 5.9%.
In terms of exact numbers, a total of 6.58 million tourists visited India in 2012, which increased to 6.97 million in 2013 and 7.68 million in 2014.
Citing Archaeological Survey of India’s data on foreign tourist arrival at centrally-protected monuments in 2014, Sharma said Taj Mahal with 6.4 lakh visitors, Agra Fort with 3.43 lakh and Qutub Minar with 2.76 lakh were the top three tourist destinations in the country.
The other three monuments of Agra which featured in the top 10 list are Fatehpur Sikri (5th position), Akbar’s tomb (8th) and Itimad-ud daula (10th).
To another query on carbon pollution around the Taj Mahal, the minister said that the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) Authority has banned entry of Euro-I model, petrol/diesel-operated auto loader vehicles from July 31 to reduce vehicular pollution in the vicinity of the Taj. He added that TTZ Authority has also decided to convert petrol/diesel-operated commercial vehicles to CNG. So far, 34,302 vehicles have been converted to CNG in Agra, he said.
However, though the Taj Mahal still remains at the top of the most-visited monuments in the country, there has been a constant fall in the number of foreign visitors to the 17th century monument in the last three years. There were 7.9 lakh visitors from abroad to the Taj in 2012. But the number came down to 7.4 lakh in 2013, further dipping to 6.4 lakh in 2014.
Prior to 2012, the average foreign tourist footfall at the world heritage building had been increasing at a rate of 10-15% per annum. In 2010, 6.1 lakh foreigners had visited the Taj. The number went up to 6.7 lakh in 2011 and further to 7.9 lakh in 2012.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Agra / Aditya Dev, TNN / December 02nd, 2015
Qawali (Zahidulla Khan Mastana & party and Zaiba Tarranum & party) has been organised at the Exhibition Grounds today from 6 pm to 7.30 pm, under the aegis of the Cultural Committee of Karnataka Urdu Academy and Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA).
Qawali will be followed by ‘Sarige Utsav,’ a cultural programme by KSRTC employees, organised by Dasara Exhibition Cultural Sub-Committee, at P. Kalinga Rao auditorium in the Exhibition Grounds.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> In Brief / Saturday – December 05th, 2015
I got attracted to history only after I entered the museum
HISTORY BUFFDr. J. Raja Mohamed has made his career showcasingTamil Nadu’s rich heritage for the public.— Photo: B. Velankanni Raj
Former curator of Pudukottai Government Museum Dr. J. Raja Mohamedcomments on how we allow our awareness of our past to shape our present
“If we want communal harmony, we must have a proper history to be taught to the people, and the younger generation in particular,” says J. Raja Mohamed.
Having spent over three decades in Tamil Nadu State Department of Museums – first as the Curator of the Pudukottai Government Museum from 1968 to 2003 and retiring as Assistant Director of Museums, Chennai in 2004 – Dr. Mohamed is amply qualified to comment on how we allow our awareness of our past to shape our present.
In a way, Dr. Raja Mohamed’s home in Pudukottai’s Jeeva Nagar neighbourhood is like a museum too, a repository of books from all over the world and his own writings (he is the author of around 10 books in Tamil and English on local history and has published over 100 research papers in art, architecture and history).
Like any good historian, all his statements are backed up with meticulous research. “Many facts in history have been distorted over the years, and we do not know at which stage it was done. Similarly, so many things have not been brought to light,” says Dr. Mohamed, who has specialised in the history of Pudukottai and has also written a seminal reference work on the maritime history of Tamil Muslims (see related story on Page 2 ).
So how did this zoology graduate get so interested in history?
New passion
Born in 1946 in Udayarpalayam (in present-day Ariyalur district) to a middle class family trading in animal hides, the young Raja Mohamed was entering high school when his father suffered a heavy financial loss.
“Paying the Rs. 3 fees for school was a huge problem, and most of my siblings had to stop studying due to this,” he recalls today.
“But I was determined to continue my studies, and so I started working in my free time at bakeries, cool drinks shops and factories, to meet my expenses. Saving those three rupees was very tough because a day’s work would only pay one or two annas (16 annas made a rupee),” he says.
After 2 years of hardship, he was one of 6 students from the Composite District of Tiruchi who won a government scholarship of Rs. 12 which took care of his fees from 9th Standard till the end of school.
He stood first in his B.Sc Zoology course, which made it easier for him to apply for Government service. “I decided to work in the Pudukottai Museum because Zoology graduates didn’t really have a choice in those days,” says Dr. Mohamed. “But I got attracted to history only after I entered the museum.” As proof of that new passion, he went on to earn post-graduate degrees in History, Archaeology, Anthropology, and for good measure, a degree in Law besides a certification in Museum Studies. For his doctoral thesis, Dr. Mohamed researched the maritime history of the Muslims of the Coromandel Coast.
Extensive research
Contradictory interpretation of history has remained a concern for Dr. Mohamed.
“When we read Indian history, the biggest accusation made by big and small scholars alike is that Muslim rulers destroyed temples. Some people may simply be repeating what someone else has said. Nobody has gone into researching the merit of these statements for themselves,” says Dr. Mohamed.
With a grant from the Nehru Trust for Indian Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum (NTICVA), London in 1994-95, Dr. Mohamed set out to research Islamic buildings in Tamil Nadu.
The result of his work was published by the Department of Museums in 2004 as Islamic Architecture in Tamil Nadu , a book that contains photographs and descriptions of buildings throughout the State, some of which date back to the 8th Century.
The research showed him many new truths, he says. “As inscriptions on the sites prove, each and everyminbar (pulpit) of the old mosques that we find in the seashore areas to this day was made for mosques. Temples were never demolished or converted into mosques,” says Dr. Mohamed.
The main point, he says, is that around a thousand years ago, “The sthapathi or mason who was building the temple, was also the person to build the mosque. So when he built the mosques, he used Dravidian architecture, but avoided portraiture of figures and icons as per the tenets of Islam. Many structures look like temples, but they are mosques. And they have inscriptions from the 9th Century and 10th Century that state that they were endowed by Hindu rulers. These facts have got obscured over the years.”
Dr. Mohamed’s research also concludes that the earliest mosque in the State was built in Tiruchi.
“It is a small structure built during the Pallava era and is shaped like a temple mandapam, but with an Arabic inscription of old character, of 8th Century. We discovered that it was built in AD 734,” says Dr. Mohamed of the mosque that may be found in the city’s modern-day Fort Station area.
He also deciphered 200 temple inscriptions, and helped to unearth the ancient villages of Ollaiyur (now in Thirumayam district) and Senikulamanickapuram, which has now become a part of Pudukottai.
Some of his ongoing projects include a book on the ancient history of Pudukottai (till 6th Century) for the Central Institute of Classical Tamil. During the fieldwork for this book, he found a rock painting at Kudmiyanmalai, which takes the history of Pudukottai to 2000 BC.
A book on the village deities and folk arts of Pudukottai is also nearing completion. “People have been willing to accept new ideas in religion and live in peace, even though this has not been made obvious in our printed historical records,” says Dr. Mohamed, who received the State award for communal harmony in 2012.
A father of two sons and a daughter, Dr. Mohamed credits his wife Abida Begum for her unstinting support that helped him to spend time “at home and in the forest”, for his research. Not having his parents around to see him achieve his career milestones is a recurring regret.
“But my early struggles taught me to trust hard work, and not luck. I loved my job, and I still love it even though I retired long ago,” he smiles.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by Nahla Nainar / Tiruchi – November 30th, 2015
