Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

10th trustee appointed for Ayodhya mosque project

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Ayodhya, UTTAR PRADESH :

The design of a mosque and a hospital to be built on a five-acre land in Ayodhya’s Dhannipur village was unveiled on December 19, 2020. Photo: Twitter/@IndoIslamicCF  

The new mosque will be bigger than Babri Masjid, says war veteran Mohammad Afzaal Ahmad Khan

The new mosque will be bigger than Babri Masjid, says war veteran Mohammad Afzaal Ahmad Khan

The trust entrusted with building a mosque and hospital in Ayodhya’s Dhannipur village on Tuesday nominated war veteran Mohammad Afzaal Ahmad Khan as its tenth trustee, officials said.

The Dhannipur mosque project was formally launched on Republic Day at Dhannipur, around 24 km from the Ram Janmabhoomi, exactly six months after the Sunni Waqf Board constituted the mosque’s trust — Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF).

The trust was constituted following the 2019 Supreme Court verdict that backed the construction of a temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot be found for a mosque in Ayodhya in lieu of the Babri Masjid.

The blueprint of the mosque complex, which includes a hospital, was unveiled on December 19.

In a virtual meeting of the IICF in Lucknow, it unanimously nominated 80-year-old Khan as its tenth trustee, officials said.

Khan is a veteran of the 1965 and 1971 wars and a recipient of the Sena Medal. He is also a recipient of the President Award – Samaj Ratan.

The Ayodhya Mosque project of the IICF is based on serving humanity. The hospital will be the centre stage of the project, Khan said.

“We will provide free of cost treatment to the ailing poor through this hospital, and our community kitchen, another important part of our project, will feed at least 1,000 people daily, and the research centre that is also part of the project will be dedicated to great freedom fighter of Awadh Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah,” he said.

The new mosque will be bigger than Babri Masjid, but won’t be a lookalike of the structure which once stood in Ramjanmabhoomi premises.

Meanwhile, the Indo-Islamic Cultural Research Centre, to be built by Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board in Ayodhya, would be named after freedom fighter who led the first war of Independence in the Avadh region, Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah.

The decision was taken in the IICF meeting, spokesperson of the trust, Athar Hussain said.

The research centre will have a museum, library and publications to showcase Indo-Islamic culture of shared struggle and accomplishments of Hindus and Muslims of India, he said.

Shah had led the first war of Independence in 1857 in the Avadh region.

The spokesperson said that as the Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition filed by two Delhi-based sisters claiming ownership of the five-acre land at Dhannipur village in Ayodhya, the process to speed up the project will begin now.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by PTI / Ayodya, Lucknow / February 10th, 2021

Mangaluru: Beary Chamber of Commerce & Industry felicitates Covid warriors

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Mangaluru, KARNATAKA :

Mangaluru :

Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) felicitated COVID-19 warriors on Wednesday, February 3 at Hotel Ocean Pearl, Mangaluru.

The felicitation program commenced with prayer offered by Ashraf Kinara Kudroli.

Chancellor of Nitte University, N Vinay Hegde said, “When society was facing turbulent times, extending a helping hand to those in need is commendable. I have never witnessed such unprecedented times in the last 81 years of my life. People have been philanthropists on several occasions, but being one during the pandemic is a different thing altogether.”

Chairman Sri Devi Education Trust Sadananda Shetty said, “I congratulate the Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry for felicitating COVID warriors who worked hard, faced all the difficulties, and risked their lives during the pandemic.”

President Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry, S M Rasheed said, “The year 2020 was a tough year for all of us, as one of our active founder members lost his life due to coronavirus.”

Image result for images Mangaluru: Beary Chamber of Commerce & Industry felicitates Covid warriors

As many as 11 COVID warriors were felicitated in the event namely: Abdul Rehman Goodinabali, Ziyauddin Ahmed, Abdul Rauf Putthige, Dr Farhan Fazal, Dr Tajuddin K, KM Asif, Abubakar Siddique, Mohammed Ilyas Bajpe, Ashraf Kinara Kudroli, Abdul Azeez and Mohammed Ashraf Kandak.

President Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry S M Rasheed welcomed the gathering, treasurer Mansoor Ahmed proposed the vote of thanks and Abdul Razzaq compered the event.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / DaijiWorld.com / Home> Top Stories / February 03rd, 2021

Mangalore University proposes to introduce courses in Beary art forms

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Mangaluru, KARNATAKA :

Mangalore University. Credit: DH File Photo

The university has issued a notification on January 28 constituting a committee for drafting the curriculum and regulations.

The university has issued a notification on January 28 constituting a committee for drafting the curriculum and regulations to introduce the courses in Beary art forms. The committee is headed by Prof Uday Barkur, Dean of Faculty of Arts at Mangalore University.

Karnataka Beary Sahithya Academy Chairman Rahim Ucchil said that the Academy had written to the university to introduce courses in Beary art forms like ‘Duff’, ‘Burda’, ‘Mehandi’, ‘Oppana’, and ‘Kolkali’ on September 16, 2020. The university has accepted the request and constituted a committee the draft the regulations. The introduction of the courses will help in saving the art forms and promoting it, he added.

Beary is an ethnic Muslim community, mainly concentrated in coastal Karnataka, and has its own language and culture.

The committee constituted by the university comprises organisers of Beary programmes Bashir Baikampady and Ahmed Bava Moideen, teachers Abdul Razak Ananthady, Haidarali, language expert S B Darimi, writers K M Siddique Montugoli and Mariyam Ismail, ‘Duff’ teacher Noor Mohammad, ‘Oppane’ and ‘Kolkali’ artist Rahis, artiste Zulfikar Ahmad, member coordinator Aboobakkar Siddique, Academy President Rahim Uchil said.

The courses in art forms will help in warding off the feeling of inferiority among a few people on the art forms. If it is introduced as a course, it will help in passing on the art forms to the future generation. It may be recalled that the Academy had recently introduced Beary script and numerals. Beary script has 13 vowels, 33 consonants and nine numerals. The Academy had released a calendar with all 12 months in Beary language.

The academy intends to submit a proposal on introducing Beary language as the third optional language in schools from sixth standard onwards. The Chairman said that Beary language has a history of 1,400 years and is spoken by over 20 lakh people. 

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Karnataka Districts / by Naina J.A , DHNS / February 06th, 2021

The coming-of-age story of Rani Rudrama Devi on television

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Mumbai, MAHARAHTRA :

Producers of the Telugu TV serial ‘Rani Rudrama Devi’, Alind Srivastava and Nissar Parvez explain why period dramas need a rich storyline to go with its technical brilliance in order to connect with audiences

The legendary warrior queen Rudrama Devi of the Kakatiya dynasty was celebrated for her valour. But how many of us are aware of her formative years, her emotional journey and of her hardships as an eight-year-old girl who was brought up as a boy?

Star Maa’s new period drama Rani Rudrama Devi depicts the emotional journey of a little girl before her transition into a fearless leader.

Nissar Parvez   | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Producers Alind Srivastava and Nissar Parvez, of Mumbai-based Peninsula Pictures, explain over phone that a team from the Star Maa channel had approached them last year with the story pitch. The duo says that there were “so many emotions” to tell about her and the other characters who aid her journey. “We realised the story is not just about the warrior queen,” Alind remarks.

Once the research team finalised the storyline (after drawing references from various books) the project got rolling in October 2020. A set was constructed at Naigaon, Mumbai.

Right ingredients

Peninsula Pictures has prior TV experience; two of their shows currently on air are Aladdin – Naam Toh Suna Hoga and Hero — Gayab Mode On, which is telecast on Sab TV, but the Telugu-language serial Rani Rudrama Devi marks their début in the vernacular space.

A set was constructed at Naigaon, Mumbai by mid-October. While the technical crew including a team of technicians, director Santosh Badal, director of photography Kunal Kadam and costume designer Niyati Pathak from their VFX studio in Mumbai give it the required grandeur and scale, the cultural nuances and Telugu flavour are enhanced by artistes, a language editor and dialogue writer from Hyderabad.

The main challenge, however, in a period drama is the familiarity. While it can serve as an advantage, with audiences able to connect to the story easily, the familiarity also brings about scrutiny. “The moral of the story has to be absolute correct. It is the same story being told, but what matters is the way it is presented,” says Nissar.

“Visual effects, colour palette, music and acting will make for a visual spectacle, but only a rich storyline will excite the audiences. The glamour, glitz and technical chutzpah of a historical drama is present but at the heart of Rani Rudrama Devi is the story of a girl. We want our presentation to make the viewers think, ‘Oh, I know the story, but never imagined it like this’,” Alind adds.

Alind Srivastava   | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Having previously watched the Anushka Shetty-starrer Rudhramadevi (2015), which was also based on the warrior queen, the duo feels that the movie cannot be compared to their TV series.

“We didn’t emotionally connect with the film which we feel we have achieved in our series. Unlike the movie, we are trying to show how Rudrama became what she became. Also, the interpersonal equations between the characters is something to watch out for in our series,” says Alind.

Aladdin and Hero Gayab Mode on Sab TV are their two shows currently on air. With this first historical drama in Telugu, the production house has made its debut in a regional space.

Rani Rudrama Devi airs weekdays at 9pm on Star Maa.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment / by Neerja Murthy / Hyderabad – February 03rd, 2021

Indian woman who won Dhs15 million in Big Ticket raffle, says she bought the ticket for the first time

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KERALA / Doha, QATAR :

Thasleena Puthiya Purayil with her husband and children.

Indian expat based in Qatar Thasleena Puthiya Purayil has hit the Dhs15 million Big Ticket jackpot in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Thasleena who lives in Doha bought the winning ticket online.

Thasleena, who hails from Kerala, took home the mega prize amid pandemic.

Big Ticket Abu Dhabi wrote on Facebook, “Congratulations to Thasleena Puthiya Purayil, from India, with winning ticket no. 291310. She won Dhs15 Million in The Fantastic 15 Million series 224.”

Thasleena told Big Ticket officials that she brought the ticket for the first time.

In Qatar, Thasleena and her husband Abdul Gaddaf run a chain of restaurant and their business is doing quite well.

The happy couple has 3 children, a son who is studying in a University in Dubai, daughter and an infant.

Big Ticket also wrote, “Congratulations to Wilma Danthi with Ticket No. 001517 from India for winning the Dream Car Range Rover series 1!”


Apart from Thasleena, 7 other Indians won prize money between Dhs350,000 to Dhs20,000 in the raffle draw.

The Big Ticket, the longest-running and biggest raffle draw in the UAE is hosted at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Ain Airport and online at www.bigticket.ae

The raffle draw said, “What started out with a Million Dirham cash prize, gradually grew over the years and now on Big Ticket’s 29th year, we’re giving away grand prize’s of up to 20 Million Dirham.”

The raffle draw guarantees cash prizes vary from month to month with Big Ticket giving away a minimum of 10million dirham up to our biggest jackpot of 20 million.

source: http:///www.gulftoday.ae / Gulf Today / Home> News / by Gulf Today, Staff Reporter / February 06th, 2021


Gauahar Khan wedding LIVE UPDATES: Gauahar and Zaid look stunning at their reception

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Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Gauahar Khan and Zaid Darbar’s wedding will be an intimate affair attended by family and close friends.

Gauahar Khan and Zaid Darbar at their wedding reception. (Photo: PR Handout)

Actor Gauahar Khan is set to marry choreographer Zaid Darbar today. The couple hosted their chiksa and mehendi ceremonies earlier this week. Sharing pictures of her mehendi, Gauahar wrote, “Writing our love story on each other’s hearts forever with the blessings of our family and friends and above all Allah. ❤”

Announcing her wedding on Instagram, the actor had written, “The year 2020 has been anything but ordinary and our love story through it all has been nothing short of extraordinary! It gives us immense joy to announce that we are tying the knot and embarking on a journey of forever. Keeping the current scenario in mind, we will be celebrating the big day with our family in an intimate ceremony. We seek your blessings & love & are eternally grateful for the constant support & the outpour of warm wishes we have received. We hope for every soul to find its mate and pray for every heart to find it’s reason to beat. All our love, Gauahar and Zaid.”

Gauahar Khan had previously shared an animated video on Instagram, which detailed her love story with Zaid Dabar. She shared with her followers that the two bumped into each other during the lockdown as they shopped for groceries and hit it off instantly. They started texting and their dates comprised of long drives and Zoom calls.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Entertainment> Television / by Arushi Jain, Kriti Sonali and Sana Farzeen – New Delhi / December 25th, 2020

How Sumiya Faruq Built Taqva, The Islamic YouTube

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Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

While the majority of children today are born with gadgets loaded with raunchy music and sensual dance videos, 25-year-old Sumiya Faruq wants to change the way kids are growing up.

Meet the Hyderabad-based entrepreneur and founder of Taqva — the single largest video repository of Islamic content, who is fast replacing irrelevant music and inappropriate videos with faith reviving content, inspiring the younger generation to honour integrity, morals, values, ethics, and principles to adopt righteous behaviour.

Started as a way to help toddlers and kids of the digital era to find a safe online audio-visual zone, and to shield young minds from exposed danger of inappropriate video content that has now overtaken creative online space with distracting adverts, and illicit pop-ups, Taqva was created to provide virtuous online space for families and children, where scholarly erudition of faith, etiquettes and mannerisms are being taught at the forefront, gradually but firmly establishing reverential consciousness of God.

Realising the monumental threat to the 21st-century children being exposed to explicit online content, Sumiya recalls the earlier times where the online space was still non-existent.

“During my childhood, my parents used to have a collection of cassettes and CDs containing Islamic content. We used to exchange and share these collections with friends and relatives. Over time, this practice changed as the content was being available and accessible by anyone on the internet, thanks to content sharing websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc. But unfortunately, these sites are like a jungle. You can find any and every type of content on there and it’s possible for a person watching Islamic videos to get lost in that jungle and get into “haraam”/ forbidden zone. Even the advertisements on these channels could be distracting and often have forbidden content.”

“Internet has become a huge jungle where kids might soon end up learning things that are completely inappropriate for their age,” says Sumiya Faruq, who also holds a Masters degree in Psychology and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science & Engineering.

Taqva, a video-aggregation platform of beneficial videos was created to jeopardise the great peril of early exposure to illicit websites. Created and curated with the assistance of volunteers from various parts of the world. Taqva comes with the ability to link the best of videos from content sharing websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, etc.

The videos are suggested by a group of enthusiastic volunteers who analyse the Islamic videos’ quality of content, such as the content’s suitability, reliability, and authenticity, along with various other important parameters.

“There are various categories of Islamic videos on Taqva such as — Quran recitation, Tafseer, Hadiths, Islamic reminder videos, Prophetic stories, Inter-faith debates, Revert stories, Islamic cartoons for kids, etc” adds Sumiya.

However, Taqva’s major USP is the Kids section, which is a huge collection of Islamic cartoons for Kids. It is one of website’s most viewed sections — a testimony that its audience love it.

Gaining a popular momentum, Sumiya and her team are making their online presence felt by marketing their brand using social media as their marketing tool. Taqva is available and active on major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, as “TaqvaOfficial” added Sumiya who has created a niche of her own with her brainchild — Taqva, which is an exclusive one-stop destination for all Islamic Videos.

Today, Taqva has become the YouTube of Islamic videos. “Currently, we are reaching to 50,000+ users and have over 20,000 active followers on Social Media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest. Our Target viewership for Taqva is definitely, all the Muslims across the globe — and of course, many non-Muslims too! We want Taqva to be the go-to website for Islamic Videos” says Sumiya, who believes Taqva.com is an “Islamic” video hub.

“It has been designed to be intuitive, easy to use and clutter-free. Also, it’s Ad-free and all the videos are neatly categorised into several relevant categories making it easy for users to browse Islamic content says Sumiya excitedly. The Taqva team also curates posts based on Islamic quotes, mainly from the Quran and the Hadith (authentic sayings of the Prophet), featured videos and shares them on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

“We are not biased towards any particular school of thought. We fundamentally believe that there is only One Islam, the religion completed by our Prophet” she further explains.

With Taqva, this determined entrepreneur is sure to influence and change the way Muslim families are engaging with online platforms. The enterprising youngster who also works full time at a Multinational corporation as a software engineer aims to extend her team of dedicated volunteers, to help identify and list the best of Islamic content being produced in various languages across different countries.

“By 2020, we envision Taqva to become the largest video repository of Islamic Content reaching to millions of Muslims across the world,” she adds.

source: http://www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> Startups / by Hajira Firdouse / March 02nd, 2018

Kashmir’s first-ever igloo restaurant turns selfie spot for tourists

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Gulmarg (Baramulla District) , JAMMU & KASHMIR :

It’s well furnished inside and leaves one wondering in awe, says a visitor

With the minimum temperature plummeting to minus 18 degree Celsius in north Kashmir’s tourist hotspot Gulmarg, a spherical 22-feet-wide and 15-feet-high igloo restaurant has become a major attraction among the tourists, more for selfies than food served inside.

“We threw the igloo restaurant open to the public two days ago. It’s the country’s biggest igloo ever made. It took 15 days to construct it with the help of 20 workers,” Waseem Shah, managing director of the Kolahoi Resorts, told The Hindu.

The all-snow covered restaurant has eight tables, serving lunch and dinner inside it, and can accommodate 18 people simultaneously. The novel idea has been picked from the cold places of Europe.

“I have travelled to Switzerland, Norway and Finland and saw similar snow sculptures. We too have snow in abundance and can experiment on such projects,” Mr. Shah said.

He said the cafe shall make it to the Limca book of records as Asia’s biggest igloo. “So far tourists come more for selfies than food. But I am happy they are leaving with cherishable memories,” he said.

Sonia Kapoor, a tourist from Delhi, said the restaurant is a must for a selfie. “The sight of igloo is amazing. The fact that it’s well furnished inside, leaves one wondering in awe,” Ms. Kapoor said.

The idea has come as a shot in the arm of tourism, which was struggling in Kashmir, first due to the abrogation of special status in 2019 and then by the pandemic.

Director, Tourism, Kashmir, G.N. Itoo said Kashmir is fast emerging as “an all season destination”.

“Kashmir is offering visitors not only mesmerising beauty of its natural landscape, its perennial rivers and lakes, gardens and meadows, mountains and valleys, forests and wildlife but also diversity of tourism products with its adventure potential, cuisine, heritage, pilgrimage circuits and plenty of leisure tourism,” Mr. Itoo said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Other States / by Peerzada Ashiq / Srinagar, January 28th, 2021

Eight Muslims selected for Padma awards this year

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NEW DELHI : 

The BJP-led Hindu nationalist government has conferred Padma awards on 119 personalities. The awardees include eight Muslims.

Two renowned Islamic scholars, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and Maulana Kalbe Sadiq have also been selected for the award.

Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award have been presented to Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, while Maulana Kalbe Sadiq have been provided Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award.

Both the scholars had urged Muslims to give away their claim on Babri Masjid. Currently, a Ram Temple is being constructed on the site where Babri Masjid was standing till its demolition by Hindutva mobs, aided by BJP-RSS veterans, on 6 December 1992.

The awardees include, polymath Ali Manikfan, who has been awarded with the Padma Shri for his contribution in grassroots level innovations at Lakshwadeep. Born into an aristocratic family in 1938 in the Minicoy Island of Lakshwadeep, Manikfan is as marine researcher, ecologist, shipbuilder, agriculturist, and a polyglot.

Gulfam Ahmed from Uttar Pradesh for his contribution in the field of Art, Lakha Khan for Literature from Rajasthan, and Ghulam Rasool Khan for Art from Jammu and Kashmir, Sanjida Khatun for Art from Bangladesh and Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir for Public Affairs from Bangladesh are among the recipients of the Padma Shri.

These awards cater to various disciplines including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service. While ‘Padma Shri’ is awarded for distinguished service in any field, ‘Padma Bhushan’ is awarded for distinguished service of high order. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service.

source: http://www.muslimmirror.com /Muslim Mirror / Home> Featured / by Muslim Mirror Staff / January 28th, 2021

Ayodhya’s Dhannipur mosque project launched with unfurling of tricolour on R-Day

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Ayodhya, UTTAR PRADESH :

The Dhannipur project includes a mosque, hospital, museum, library, community kitchen, Indo-Islamic Cultural Research Centre and Publication House.

A plantation drive was also organised to mark the launch of the Dhannipur project(Sourced)
A plantation drive was also organised to mark the launch of the Dhannipur project (Sourced)

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board (UPSCWB) formally launched the Dhannipur project on the allocated five-acre land at Dhannipur village of Ayodhya by hoisting the national flag and planting saplings to mark Republic Day celebrations on Tuesday.

The Dhannipur project includes a mosque, hospital, museum, library, community kitchen, Indo-Islamic Cultural Research Centre and Publication House. The land was allotted to UPSCWB in compliance with the Supreme Court directives in the Ayodhya title dispute case in which the apex court, on November 9, 2019, paved the way for construction of Ram temple at the disputed site.

“I believe there is no better way than to start the project by planting saplings on the five-acre land. The plantation was carried out in the area of the project meant to be developed as a green area. The area will have plants and trees from all different geographical regions of India and from different parts of the world in order to create awareness about the imminent threat of climate change,” said Athar Hussain, spokesperson for Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) which has been set up by UPSCWB to look after the construction of the Dhannipur project.

Senior members of the board along with the members of the IICF hoisted the flag at 8.30 am on the 5 acre land in Dhannipuur village. The flag hoisting was followed by plantation drive where members and trustees of IICF planted saplings.

On December 19, the trust had released the blueprint of the mosque and other structures designed by Professor SM Akhtar, a Lucknow-based architect and town planner, whom the trust has hired to design the mosque that would come up in Dhannipur in place of the Babri Masjid that was demolished in 1992.

Akhtar is the founder dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Jamia Milia University, Delhi.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India News / by HT Correspondent / January 26th, 2021