For those who made it into the UPSC exam results, the journey has not been easy.
New Delhi :
For those who made it, the journey has not been easy. “When I told my family members and friends that I wanted to take the exam, I was discouraged at first,” said MohammadNadeemuddin from Karnataka, who secured 656th rank this year but hopes to get into the Indian Police Service as he is an OBC.
“I was told that at the interview level there would be bias at play but I was elated when I found the interview board to be cordial,” the 25-year-old said.
For Nooh Siddiqui of Maharashtra, who has got 326th rank and hopes to get into the Indian Revenue Service, the target is clear. “I want to be able to serve my community in the best way possible and address the concerns they have,” he told The New Sunday Express.
A total of 990 candidates — 750 men and 240 women — were recommended by the UPSC for appointment to various central government services.
Of these candidates, 476 are from the general category, 275 from OBC, 165 from scheduled caste and 74 from scheduled tribes category.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by Sumi Sukanya Dutta / Express News Service / April 29th, 2018
Miyan Sahab Ka Imambara in Gorakhpur sees lakhs of devotees around Muharram every year.
Not many might know that Gorakhpur, the epicentre of the Nath sect, is home to a two-century-old Imambara as well. Built with the help of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah, the Imambara has been included in the list of places being promoted by UP Tourism.
Legend goes that once when the Nawab was out hunting in a forest in Gorakhpur, he came across a man meditating by the side of a dhuni (slow burning fire) deep in the woods.
Seeing the mystic wearing almost no clothes, the Nawab offered his expensive shawl to him as it was a bonechilling winter evening.
However, not welcoming of the move, the man, identified as mystic Hazrat Roshan Shah, threw it over the dhuni. But, instead of burning to ashes, the shawl did not catch fire at all, leaving the Nawab bewildered. Seeing his expressions, the mystic replied that the shawl was kept in the safest of places and he could reproduce it on demand. Then, the man took the unscathed shawl out from his ‘dhuni’ and offered it back to the Nawab.
Amazed at his spiritual powers, the Nawab offered him a handsome grant but Shah refused. When the Nawab insisted, Shah asked him to get an Imambara built for Imam Hussain and give some land for the Imambara’s waqf.
As ordered, Asaf-ud-Daulah granted 17 villages in Daud Chak area cash and promised to send gold and silver tazias to the saint. In a book titled Shahernama Gorakhpur, an article by Afganullah Khan notes that the land for the Imambara was handed over to Shah in 1796 and construction began soon after.
The saint died in 1805 and was succeeded by his nephew Ahmed Ali Shah, popularly known as Miyan Sahab. The Imambara came to be known as Miyan Sahab Ka Imambara. It is this name that has been included in the list of places being promoted by the Uttar Pradesh government to bring Gorakhpur on the national tourist map.
It found a mention in the ‘list of places of interest for tourism’ at Gorakhpur Mahotsava too. The government also plans to invite proposals from corporates for investment at tourist sites—including this Imambara.
With its impeccably white exterior, the grandeur of the Imambara can be seen only during the first 10 days of Muharram when azadari rituals are performed. “At least 1 lakh devotees visit the Imambara during Muharram,” says Nahid Shama, principal of a girls’ PG college run by the Imambara Trust.
Blogger Mazhar Naqvi has noted that the traditions of azadari came to the Imambara from Awadh. “Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula sent gold- and silver-plated tazias for the Imambara here from Lucknow. It is believed that the saint had promised to conduct azadari on behalf of the Nawab, and he kept his word,” Naqvi has noted in his article ‘Roshan Ali Shah and the Imambara of Gorakhpur’.
Local writer Prem Paraya stated that the estate grew manifold under the leadership of Roshan’s successors who took keen interest in administrative affairs of the Imambara and related property. “It is said that by then, the estate’s exchequer had lakhs in cash, many gold and silver blocks and a treasure of ‘asharfis’. The waqf was so wealthy that it gave a loan to the East India Company as well,” says Paraya.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / by Shailvee Sharda / TNN / April 01st, 2018
Himanshu Sharma bagged the other gold medal in the 49 kg.
Twitter/Nikhat Zareen
Returning to action after a long injury-lay off, Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and Nikhat Zareen (51kg) were among the three gold-medallists in India’s stupendous campaign at the 56th Belgrade International Boxing Tournament in Serbia.
India ended the tournament with three gold, five silver and five bronze medals in all.
Continuing his fine comeback from a wrist injury, Sumit, an Asian silver-medallist, defeated Ecuador’s Castillo Torres in a unanimous 5-0 verdict to claim the top honours on Saturday night.
Former junior world champion Nikhat, also returning to action after recovering from a shoulder injury, notched up a 5-0 win over Greece’s Koutsoeorgopoulou Aikaterini to pick up a morale-boosting gold.
Also claiming a gold was Himanshu Sharma (49kg), who defeated Algeria’s Mohammed Touareg 5-0 in his final bout.
Signing off with silver medals among women were Jamuna Boro (54kg) and Ralte Lalfakmawii (+81kg). While Jamuna lost to local favourite Andjela Brankovic 1-4, Lalfakmawii went down 2-3 to Turkey’s Demir Sennur.
In the men’s draw, Laldinmawia (52kg), Varinder Singh (56kg) and Pawan Kumar (69kg) had to be content with silver medals.
Laldinmawia was beaten 0-5 by Korea’s Kim Inkyn, Varinder lost 2-3 to Brazillian Arilson Goncalves.
Pawan was also defeated in a split verdict, going down 1-4 to Croatia’s Petar Cetinic.
Earlier, Narender (+91kg) had fetched a bronze in the men’s competition. In the women’s competition, Rajesh Narwal (48kg), Priyanka Thakur (60kg), Rumi Gogoi (75kg) and Nirmala Rawat (81kg) had settled for bronze medals.
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> The Field> Indian Sport / Press Trust of India / April 29th, 2018
The Vice-President, De. Montfort University Students Union, England and Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress Spokesperson, Syed Saud Hasan met British Member of Parliament, Jonathan Ashworth twice and apprised him the problems facing by Indian Students who are eager to go to England for study.
Syed Saud Hasan, met the British Parliamentarian second time last evening and conveyed him the problems faced by the Indian students, who were either studying in England or eager to go there for study.
Hasan, in his half an hour meeting with Jonathan Ashworth, put with him the visa and stay back problems facing by the Indian students, the parliamentarian heard the above problems seriously and promised to raise the issue in the British Parliament once again.
He said that the MP had already raised the issue in the Parliament earlier as per the first meeting with him few months back. Jon Ashworth promised that he would put pressure on the British government to take a major step in favor of Indian students.
The MP expressed hope that Indian students can get good news soon in the above context. Syed Saud Hasan, Vice President, DMU Student Union said, if this matter is not heard soon, then we will surround the UK government by formulating further strategies. We will fight for the rights of Indian students till it achieved.
source: http://www.centralchronicle.com / Central Chronicle / Home / by Chronicle Reporter – Bhopal / April 25th, 2018
Courtallam Border Rahmath Kadai, a 40-year-old eatery opens its doors in Coimbatore
Located in the busy road of Race Course is the newly opened restaurant, Courtallam Border Rahmath Kadai. We are there for dinner. Painted white and well lit, the restaurant has two floors and we choose the first floor as the ground floor was packed, and we go up a flight of wooden stairs. Red kolam and mirror works decorate the walls and there are old-fashioned glass lanterns hanging too.
The menu is South Indian with several chicken, quail, prawns, fish and egg. The chicken lover in me is already happy.The restaurant is known for its border porotta and poricha kozhi. We order the same to start with. The food is served on banana leaves with no delay. The porotta came with chicken gravy and the poricha kozhi is red and I love the strong whiff of coconut oil. The dish is mildly spicy and the meat is tender. We also order chicken kothu porotta and a generous portion of it arrives with a lot of onion and curry leaves along with soft chicken pieces. It is one of the best I have had so far.
Pichi potta pepper chicken fry is spicy, and the shredded chicken is again redolent of coconut oil, onion and pepper. We then dig into the idiappom, gun chicken (so named because the piece looks like a gun!) and a masala kalakki that is an egg dish. I particularly like the masala kalakki as the egg is gooey and cooked perfectly. The small pieces of cinnamon, pepper, cloves, onion and cardamom add to its flavour.
Satiated we climb down the stairs and meet I.Mohammed Asan, Director of the restaurant. He tells me, “My grandfather started the hotel as a small eatery at Courtallam for lorry drivers 40 years ago. Then it served only tea, porotta and chicken gravy. It was known as Border Kadai as it was situated on the Kerala- Tamil Nadu border. Tourists to Courtallam began flocking to our eatery for our border porotta. The one in Coimbatore is our sixth branch. We have four others in Chennai.” Their speciality is the fact that they use country chicken from their farm in Courtallam and the masala is homemade. “We are particular about maintaining quality.” They faithfully follow the recipes of his grandfather and cook the biriyani and gravies in firewood stove. “It is the traditional way and helps to lock the flavours better.”
As I make my way to the parking space, I see people waiting patiently outside for their turn to get a taste of their food.
Info you can use
Courtallam Border Rahmath Kadai is open from 12.00 noon to 11.00 pm.
Indian-origin star Aziz Ansari became the first man of Asian origin to bag the title of best actor in a TV series (musical/comedy) at the Golden Globes.
The 34-year-old won the trophy for his role in Master of None .
“I genuinely didn’t think I would win as all the websites said I was gonna lose,” Ansari said.
He was up against Anthony Anderson of ( Black-ish ), Kevin Bacon ( I Love Dick ), William H. Macy ( Shameless ) and Eric McCormack ( Will and Grace ).
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life / PTI / January 07th, 2018
Markazu Saqafathi Sunniyya (Sunni Cultural Centre) led by Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musaliyar has decided to adopt 100 villages in the country as part of the 41st anniversary of the institution.
Dr Wael Albattrekhi, deputy head of Palestine embassy in India, inaugurated the programme held at Markaz on Wednesday. He stated that Markaz’s activities have been incredible as the institution carefully engages the marginalised communities in the country.
Kanthapuram handed over a cheque of Rs 1.5 crore to orphans at the function. In his address, the Sunni leader said Markaz had spread its activities to 22 states decades before to improve the living conditions of poor people. Now, Markaz has extended its activities by adopting 100 villages as part of as part of the mission’s focus on educational and humanitarian activities, he said.
Sayyid Zainul Abideen Bafakhi Thangal launched ‘One Million Notebooks’ project and Chennai district judge Zakkir Hussain inaugurated the smart village project during the occasion. C Muhammed Faizy, the general manager of Markaz, delivered the keynote address.
Besides providing food and shelter to the residents, Markaz will impart education and training in the 100 villages with the intention of changing the status of villages. Markaz also will supply one million notebooks and other educational equipment to underprivileged students. As part of Markaz Orphan Care Project, 5000 orphans are being given financial aid.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Kozhikode News / TNN / April 19th, 2018
Shahzar Rizvi bagged the silver medal in the intriguing contest, scoring 239.8. Image courtesy: Twitter @IndiaSports
Changwon (South Korea) :
Shahzar Rizvi on Tuesday clinched India’s first medal at the ongoing ISSF World Cup, winning a silver in the 10m air pistol event.
Rizvi, who had won the gold medal in his first appearance in the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico in March, fell short by just 0.2 points this time. He bagged the silver medal in the intriguing contest, scoring 239.8.
Russia’s Artem Chernousov clinched the gold medal with a final score of 240 while the bronze went to Bulgaria’s Samuil Donkov who shot a total score of 217.1.
After Indian shooters drew a blank on the first two days, the onus was on Rizvi and Commonwealth Games medallists Jitu Rai and Om Prakash Mitharval to end the country’s medal drought.
Rizvi qualified for the final as the sixth best shooter with a score of 582.
However, it was disappointment for both Mitharval and Rai as both of them failed to make it to the final round.
While Mitharval finished 11th with a score of 581, Rai was further behind on the 38th spot with a disappointing score of 575.
Danish Siddiqui and Adnan Abidi were part of the Reuters team that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography announced on Monday.
A Rohingya refugee after crossing the Bay of Bengal. | Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
A sun-burnt woman sinks to her knees on the shore, fatigued and forlorn. In the distance, a group of men unload the meagre belongings that they have carried with them in a small boat as they have made their way across the Bay of Bengal from their homes in Myanmar to the safety of Bangladesh.
This striking picture is the work of Danish Siddiqui, one of two Indians in the seven-member Reuters team that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for their series documenting the violence faced by Myanmar’s minority Rohingya community and their mass exodus to Bangladesh starting from August 2017. The prestigious awards, given out by Columbia University in New York, were announced on Monday.
“A photo should draw people and tell them the whole story without being loud,” Siddiqui told Scroll.in. “You can see the helplessness and the exhaustion of the woman, paired with the action that is happening in the background with the smoke. This was the frame I wanted to show the world.”
Adnan Abidi was the other Indian in the team that won the prize. The other members of the Reuters team were Mohammad Ponir Hossain, Soe Zeya Tun, Hannah McKay, Damir Sagolj and Cathal McNaughton.
The Rohingyas, who are mainly Muslim, have been fleeing their homes in Rakhine state for several years, alleging that they are being discriminated against by the government of Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Myanmar maintains that the Rohingyas are illegal migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.
The exodus in August was prompted by an intense campaign of violence in Rakhine. Myanmar’s military said that it had launched “clearance operations” against Rohingya militants. It denied that civilians had been targetted.
Smoke is seen on the Myanmar border as Rohingya refugees walk on the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, in September 2017. Photo: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Complete chaos
Siddiqui was one of the first international photographers to be sent to the field at the outset of the crisis. The photographer had been on vacation in August when he saw the crisis unfold on the news channels. “I told my editors that I wanted to cover the story and within 48 hours I was on the first flight from Mumbai to Dhaka and then to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh,” Siddiqui said. “Since I was one of the first wave of journalists to land up there, there weren’t many restrictions, and I was permitted to even click pictures in no man’s land.”
Siddiqui spent around three weeks in the coastal villages of Bangladesh and in refugee camps. “It was completely chaotic,” he recalled. “Fishermen were carrying the refugees illegally from Myanmar to Bangladesh. The boats off coast were not going on the jetty and were landing in the middle of nowhere. Since the waves were really high, the boats were toppling and some people even died. Most of them were so traumatised. What they told me was that nobody should witness these kinds of things in their lives. For them, the first priority was to get food and water for their family.”
Adnan Abidi said that the situation was frantic. “Everybody was in pain,” he said. “We knew it was our job to shoot, but I did not want to randomly go in and click pictures. So I spoke to them and then started shooting. Everybody has lost everything and were living in a 10 by 6 plastic sheet for shelter.”
Abidi spent about 15 days in Bangladesh between late October and early November. “I have worked at Reuters for over 14 years now, but this is the most challenging story I have done till now, including the Nepal earthquake” of 2015, he said.
Rohingya refugees scramble for aid at a camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh September 24, 2017. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton
Right place at the right time
Each of the 16 photographs in the series portray a different aspect of the vast human tragedy. A great news photograph, says Siddiqui, the result of both knowledge and chance. “You have to be at the right place at the right time,” he said. “It is also important to know the history and culture behind a place. You need to also know the history of the conflict. And in cases like these you have to do research on the monsoon waves. But again, news photography does not involve too much planning. We must think of what the readers want to see.”
Behind Abidi’s picture of a young boy bearing a scar, there is a Rohingya translator’s presence of mind, the photographer said. “I was very tired that particular day and was having tea at a small dhaba in the camp when my translator Mohammad Farooq noticed that this kid had a scar,” Abidi said. “I quickly went to them and spent some time with them. The father explained that the seven-year-old boy had been shot on his chest.”
The picture speaks volumes. “I decided that I did not want to show the face of the kid and instead show just his chest and the father’s hands because that image says everything,” Abidi said.
Mohammed Shoaib, 7, who was shot in his chest before crossing the border from Myanmar in August, is held by his father outside a medical centre near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh November 5, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi.
A story to tell
But not everything can ride solely on coincidence, the two photographers noted. When Abidi was in Palong Khali, near Cox’s Bazar, there was an influx of more than 3,000 refugees across the Naf river on November 1. Covering such sudden events needs quick thinking, Abidi said. “We could see a thin line of people crossing the river from around 2 km away from a village,” Abidi said. “So we walked to the river and when we reached there the light was really good. But there was a guard standing at the bank of the river who did not let us go inside to shoot. We pleaded with him to not send us back. He finally let us in and we kept shooting till 11 in the night.”
For Siddiqui, the biggest challenge was physical. “We had to sometimes walk hours to get to a point,” he said. “One day I had to a climb a mountain and walk for six hours barefoot, with leeches on my leg. But you could see that the refugees are also coming from the same side. As a journalist you want to be strong in front of them because I had to tell their story. They should feel that connection with me. If they see me walking by with a bottle of water before them, it will not be nice. You have to be like them.”
Rohingya siblings cross the Naf River along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Palong Khali, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on November 1, 2017. Photo: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
The seven members of the Reuters team each spent about two weeks in Bangladesh on rotation. “We had photographers from different language backgrounds from Bangaldesh, India, Northern Ireland, Britain and Bosnia,” Siddiqui said. “We had a complete story. We also had pictures from the other side in Myanmar as well, which many don’t. Also as a [news] agency, we are very fast and work on getting raw emotions in a photo.”
The rotations helped the photographers cope with emotional exhaustion, Abidi said. “I followed around this kid who had lost his father and was living with his mother and eight siblings,” he recalled. “This kid was taking care of his family. There were people from NGOs and religious communities who were distributing food and money at certain camps. This kid used to follow them for many kilometers and knew where to find them just to get supplies for his family. A week of following the boy broke me down and I then decided that I could not shoot after that.”
Rohingya refugees are reflected in rain water along an embankment next to paddy fields after fleeing from Myanmar into Palang Khali, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh November 2, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Finding new eyes
Siddiqui hopes that the Pulitzer Prize will attract new attention to the tragedy. “I just hope that this award makes a positive difference in the lives of these refugees,” he said. “I hope through these pictures and recognition, more people would get to know about the problem. Because it is not over yet. The crisis is not over yet. These makeshift camps are built on muddy hills which are prone to landslides when the heavy monsoon starts.”
Adnan Abidi (left) and Danish Siddiqui.
Siddiqui added that his field experience had opened up his mind to the various narratives about the Rohingya community and its displacement. In August 2017, the Indian government announced that it was planning to deport all 40,000 Rohingya refugees living in the country, telling the Supreme Court in an affidavit in September that the refugees posed a “serious national security ramifications and threats”. The Supreme Court did not allow any deportations.
“How the narative in India is played out is totally different from what I saw on the ground,” Siddiqui said. “You do not know what is happening unless you are on the ground. Another big takeaway was how too much nationalism can destroy a community of more than one million people. The narrative in Myanmar is totally different. When I went there I could see how helpless people were. They had to fight for a bottle of water. Reading news reports on the crisis was completely different from being on the field and experiencing it first hand.”
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> PhotoJournalism / by Sruthi Ganapathy Raman / April 18th, 2018
The box named ‘Aashrayam’, kept for people who want to donate clothes, at the Poojappura junction in Thiruvananthapuram.
‘Aashrayam’ is the brainchild of a few youngsters.
One morning in January this year, passersby noticed a sky blue box, almost like a letter box but much bigger than it, by the side of the road near the Poojappura junction.
On the box was written an appeal to the public to deposit clothes for the needy. Before long, the box began filling up with clothes.
Word of mouth spread, so much so that those who put it up had to come frequently to clear the collection.
The box named ‘Aashrayam’ is the brainchild of a few youngsters who thought of contributing something for society, when they completed their studies.
UAE touch
“This idea of a cloth bank was put to us by Fazil Musthafa, an NRI, whom we had met through Facebook. He and his friends had put up a few such boxes in the UAE. He helped us put this box at Poojappura. The response from the public in the first few months has been overwhelming,” says Siddique, one of the five persons behind the initiative, who passed out of the KeralaInstitute of Tourism and Travel Studies recently.
Public could drop their old or new clothes, washed and ironed.
All of the five members of the collective live outside the city, around Parassala and Neyyattinkara.
Weekends
They collect the clothes usually on weekends, to distribute it to orphanages and tribal villages.
“The owner of a textile shop and that of a tea shop near the box have the spare keys to the box, in case the box is filled up or if someone leaves the clothes outside the box.
A majority of people have contributed clothes in good condition, although there have been a few instances of people dropping waste clothes. The collected clothes are sorted according to age and size and later distributed at appropriate places.
This month end, we are planning to distribute clothes at a few villages in Attapady,” says Mr. Siddique.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by S. R. Praveen / Thiruvananthapuram , April 22nd, 2018
