OBE is one of the most prestigious honors awarded in the UK and is given to individuals who have made a significant impact in their respective fields.
Hyderabad-origin Dr Raghib Ali
Dr. Raghib Ali, a renowned physician in the UK, was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Prince William in a ceremony held at the historic Windsor Castle. The award, presented by the Prince of Wales, recognizes Dr. Ali’s contributions to the NHS and the COVID-19 response.
Dr. Ali’s achievements in the field of medicine are well-known and have earned him recognition both nationally and internationally. His dedication to his patients and his innovative approach to medicine have set him apart from his peers and earned him a reputation as one of the leading medical professionals in the UK.
Order of the British Empire
The OBE is one of the most prestigious honors awarded in the UK and is given to individuals who have made a significant impact in their respective fields. Dr. Ali’s award is a testament to his hard work and dedication, and it reflects the respect and admiration that he has earned from his colleagues, patients, and the wider
Dr. Raghib Ali is Our Future Health’s Chief Medical Officer, an Honorary Consultant in Acute Medicine at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Senior Clinical Research Associate at the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Public Health Research Center and Associate Professor at New York University Abu Dhabi.
In March 2020, he took leave from his university work and volunteered to return, unpaid, to frontline NHS duties and worked on the frontline in all four waves of COVID-19.
In October 2020 he was appointed as an unpaid independent expert adviser on COVID-19 and ethnicity to the UK Government’s Race Disparity Unit and subsequently worked closely with Equalities Office, the NHS, the media, and community organizations to improve vaccine confidence and uptake.
Graduated from Cambridge University
Dr. Raghib Ali graduated from Cambridge University in 2000 and has been awarded postgraduate degrees in Epidemiology and Public Health from the Universities of London, Cambridge and Oxford and was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2013.
He has been involved in health inequalities research since 2004 – as secretary of the UK Biobank ethnicity subgroup, Director of the INDOX Cancer Research Network and as Principal Investigator for the first study of cancer incidence by individual ethnic group in England.
He is also the Principal Investigator for the UAE Healthy Future Study investigating risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Raghib Ali’s has strong family ties to Hyderabad. His dad (late) Mir Irshad Ali attended Osmania University and migrated to the UK in 1963. He was well known in the immigrant community, and he combined his professional career as an accountant with a life-long commitment to community service in various towns and cities across the UK. Dr. Ali’spaternal grandfather (late) Mir Sajjad Ali was a Finance Secretary for the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Dr. Ali is married with three children, and he loves to visit Hyderabad whenever his busy schedule allows.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home / by Guest Contributor / posted by Sameer Khan / February 05th, 2023
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that Unani physicians will have a 10% reservation quota in the state’s public hospitals and primary healthcare facilities. He also said that the state needed a government-run Unani medical college. He made these commitments through a video message during the 40th National Unani Medicine Conference, which was hosted by the Nagpur branch of the All India Unani Tibbi Congress.
The Chief Minister thanked Unani physicians for their services during the deadly Covid epidemic in a brief speech. He assured the conference that every effort would be made to advance Unani medicine in the state.
Dr Wajahat Mirza, a Congress MLC and the head of the Maharashtra State Waqf Board, welcomed the Chief Minister’s decision in his speech and assured the gathering that he would exert all of his political power to see that the proposed government Unani Tibbi College would be realised. He claimed that if there had been no conflict over the city, the college would have been founded much earlier.
Former Congress minister and MLA Nitin Raut echoed his sentiments, saying that Unani medicine is a very efficient and cost-effective treatment and that it should be given every chance to flourish.
Dr Anis Ahmad, a former minister of Maharashtra, proposed building an Unani house with full facilities. He also offered to provide a plot of land to the intended centre.
AIUTC national president Professor Mushtaq Ahmad, who was presiding over the conference, praised the Maharashtra chief minister and noted that this was the first time the Maharashtra government has made a significant announcement about the development of Unani medicine. He also expressed his joy at the All India Unani Tibbi Congress Nagpur branch’s pompous arrangement of this magnificent conference, in which devoted Unani physicians from all across the country took part with great zeal.
In his keynote address Dr Syed Ahmed Khan, general secretary of AIUTC provided a snapshot of the organisation’s activities. He listed problems faced by the Unani fraternity at the national and state levels. He pointed out that Unani representation was overlooked in the new decision-making process as it was clubbed with a regional medicine of system. He called upon the Unani fraternity to make concentrated efforts for the advancement of Unani Tibb.
As far as Maharashtra is concerned, according to the conference’s organising chairman Dr Niyazuddin Siddiqui, it is a model state for Unani medicine because it enjoys the support of the state government. He claimed that there are 200 Unani doctors practising in and around Nagpur city and demanded the revival of the Unani Tibbi college, which was shut down in 20024. The college was started in 1991. He claimed Nagpur had become a hub for unani medicine.
In a similar vein, Special Guest Dr Vaidya Jayant Devpujari (Chairman, NCISM Government of India) stated in his speech that our primary goal is to standardise medical colleges. He said, “Such a conference is very important for the promotion of Unani medicine, and the role played by Unani medicine in Covid-19 is commendable. I also wish to congratulate the members of the All India Unani Tibbi Congress Nagpur for organising a very standard and grand programme which will send a strong message about Unani medicine throughout the country.
Dr Nadim Usmani, the advisor to AIUTC Maharasthra, also shed light on the activities of State Unani unit. He said Unani medicine is a bright future in the state.
The 40th Conference titled ‘Role of Unani Medicine In present Scenario’has sessions on specialised lectures on some major diseases. The experts and academics presented their papers through power-point. Professor Ahsan Farooqui presented his paper on Fasd(Venesection): Concept and Application with Demonstration. Dr Shabbir Raja’s topic was Dialysis and RenalTransplant: Myths and Facts. Cancer Management with Unani Medicine by Dr Mastan Shaikh, Pain Management in Unani Medicine by Prof Khan Mohammad Qiaser and Management of PCOS in Unani Medicine by Prof Nafees Bano.
Prof. Arif Zaidi, Dean, Faculty of Unani Medicine, Jamia Hamdard also spoke on the occasion.
The conference held on December 25 also released a souvenir highlighting the achievements of Unani Tibb in Maharashtra.
In the end, the 40th conference also passed several resolutions including the Directorate of AYUSH, Government of Maharashtra must create a post, Deputy Director – Unani, Assistant Director – Unani in the Directorate to represent the Unani System of Medicine in the State of Maharashtra.
The other resolutions are as follows:
*- Ministry of Food and Drugs Administration, Government of Maharashtra must create a post of Licensing Authority – Unani / Technical Officer- Unani / Drug Inspector – Unani in FDA to serve as an expert of Unani under provisions given in Drugs and Cosmetic Act 1940 and Rules 1945.
* Follow up to complete implementation for the establishment of Government Unani Medical College in the State of Maharashtra As per the declaration of Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Eknath Shinde Ji on 25th Dec 2022 at Nagpur to establish one Government Unani Medical College in the State of Maharashtra.
* Central Government and Delhi NCR must declare and approve Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College, karol baugh as Hakim Ajmal khan Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia University.
* Ministry of AYUSH and NCISM, New Delhi must proposed to amend the Act NCISM 2020 to felicitate separate Unani Board under NCISM
* There are No proper representation in NCISM and its constituted authority/committee, hence a sufficient number of Unani representatives must be there.
* Strong recommendation for Empanelment of Unani System of Medicine in the Ministry of Defence / Defence Department to serve healthcare services to Defence personnel as Ayurveda is already empanelled.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Health> Indian Muslim / by Abdul Bari Masoud / December 30th, 2022
When the English imprisoned Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar (1775-1862), the last Indian Moghul Emperor, in the Jail of Rangoon in 1857, instead of Indian Flag, Union Jack started hoisting at Dehli’s Red Fort and Queen Victoria became the full-fledged ruler of India without any obstacle, at that time, many country patriots came into field united to fight against the British rule.
Maulana Muhammad Qasmi Nanautavi (1832-1879) was one of them too.
In 1857, one Fatwa for Jihad against the English was issued.
The Fatwa carried the signature of 34 prominent Ulama. One among them was Maulana Nanautavi himself. As other elders had participated in the Jihad of Shamli in 1857, Maulana Nanautavi also had participated personally with his colleagues. Briefly in the battle of Shamli, Nanautavi and his colleagues got defeated to British forces.
He was a far sighted scholar. He comprehended that the British has not only occupied India and would attack the Indian culture, but even the faith of Indians would be at risk. Therefore, while on the one hand, he started fighting against the English, he began debating with clergyman on the other. But to that time, the freedom wasn’t destined for India, so he didn’t succeed in the mission.
In this situation, intending to free India from the British rule, in the company of some friends, Maulana Nanautavi adopted another policy to establish a Madrasa on 21st May, 1866 (a famous learning centre of Indian Subcontinent, Darul Uloom, Deoband) beneath a pomegranate tree in Chattah Masjid of Deoband. So that the trained products of the Madrasa would sacrifice themselves to preserve the country and Islam both in British India. Alhamdulillah, Nanautavi succeeded in his mission and a good number of Darul Uloom’s product gave sacrifices for the sake of Indian freedom and Islam.
The noted Islamic scholar Maulana Manazir Ahsan Gilani (1892-1956) quoted in his book, “Ihaatae Darul Uloom Men Beete Huwe Din” (The Days Passed in the Campus of Darul Uloom) from his teacher and the first graduate of the seminary, Shaikhul Hind Mahmood Hasan Deobandi (1851-1920) saying:“Did my teacher (Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi) establish this seminary only for the teaching and learning? The seminary was established before me, as far as my knowledge goes, my teacher established this one in 1866 to compensate the defeat of 1857 from the British. I have chosen the same mission for which it was established before me.”
Very few people know the fact: “In the meeting of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind at Kolkata in 1926, the participants included graduates of Darul Uloom, Deoband and they supported the group which called for complete independence of India from the British rule.
Indian National Congress was to declare complete independence as its goal three years later, in its session at Lahore.” (Wikipedia, Darul Uloom Deoband)The famous freedom fighter, Frontier Gandhi, Khan Abdu Ghaffar Khan (1890-1988), who visited Darul Uloom, during his visit to India in 1969, had said, “I have had relation with Darul Uloom since the time, Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mahmood Hasan, was alive. Sitting here, we used to make plans for the independence movement, as to how we might drive away the English from this country and how we could make India free the yoke of slavery of the British Raj. This institution has made great efforts for the freedom of this country.” (Wikipedia, Darul Uloom Deoband)Due to the great interest in India’s freedom struggle, Shaikhul Hind became an icon of Indian independence movement. Though he was a teacher of Darul Uloom, but made much effort to start an armed revolution against British rule from the both inside and outside India.
He started a programme to train volunteers and his students in the seminary from India and abroad for that goal. The most eminent among those who joined the movement were his students: Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi (1872-1944), Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani (1879-1957), Maulana Muhammad Mian Mansoor Ansari etc.Shaikhul Hind sent Maulana Sindhi to Kabul and Ansari to the North-West Frontier Province to mobilize the popular support and recruit volunteers. And he with Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani travelled to Hijaz (KSA) to secure Turkish support. Getting the Turkish governor, Ghalib Pasha’s signature on a declaration of Jihad against the British, he planned to return to India via Baghdad and Bluchistan to start the rebellion.When Shaikhul Hind planned to return, the Silken Letter Movement was captured by Punjab CID.
Due to this movement, Shaikhul Hind was arrested in Hijaz. He was imprisoned in Malta, where he was tortured mercilessly, for more than three years.
Here it seems necessary to mention that what was the Silken Letter Movement. Shaikhul Hind wanted an armed revolution against the British rule, as I mentioned. So, he needed arms and ammunition. He and his colleagues, therefore, travelled to different countries to seek support from the anti-British countries; such as Afghanistan, Turkey and Russia. During the visiting different countries, letter exchanged between Shaikhul Hind and his colleagues, containing the outlines of the plan to recruit the volunteers for army and to establish a national government were written on silk piece of cloth. That is why the movement was known as the Silken Letter Movement/Tahreeke Reshmi Rumal (in Urdu)/Silk Letter Conspiracy (according to British government).When he returned to India, after release, was conferred upon by the title of Shaikhul Hind, leading leader of India.
Now he issued a Fatwa making it a duty of all Indian Muslims to support and participate with Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) and the Indian National Congress, who had prescribed a policy of non-cooperation and mass civil disobedience through non-violence.
He died on November 30, 1920 wishing to get martyrdom for India’s freedom.
Though Shaikhul Hind was no more, but he left a good number of students, who followed the footprint of their elders and worked tirelessly for the freedom of India.
Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi (1872-1944), a 1891’s graduate of Darul Uloom, was also among them. He was the most active and prominent member of India’s freedom movement. He was among those leaders of Darul Uloom who left India, following the commandment of Shaikhul Hind, during World War 1, to get support of the anti-British central powers for an armed revolution against British rule.
Maulana Sindhi reached Kabul to rally the Afghan Amir Habibullah Khan.
After a period of time, he offered his support to Raja Mahendra Praratab’s plans for revolution in India with German support. He joined the Provisional Government of India formed in Kabul on 1st December, 1915. In this government, he was nominated the Minister for India. It was declared a revolutionary government in exile, which was supposed to take the charge of independent India, if the British government has been overthrown according to the plan. But unfortunately, in 1919, the provisional government was dissolved under the diplomatic pressure to Afghanistan.
He stayed in Afghanistan for 7-year nearly.
Then visiting Soviet Russia,he reached Turkey, where he issued the charter for the independence of India from Istanbul.
He left Turkey for Hijaz and remained there until 1929. He journeyed from a country to country for the sake of India’s independence. He died on 22nd August, 1944, at Deenpur in Pakistan.
Shikhul Islam Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani (1879-1957) was also one of the Shaikhul-Hind’s students and graduate and latter Professor of Hadith at Darul Uloom, Deoband.
Though he had been not convicted, but he accompanied Shaikhul Hind to Malta voluntarily, to take care of him. He stayed in Malta three years upto the release of Shaikhul Hind. Returning to India, he actively became involved in the freedom struggle. He had been imprisoned several times by the British authority for his participation in the freedom movement. It was he who dared to issue a Fatwa in the meeting of Indian National Congress at Karachi that working as British army and police is Haraam. After this Fatwa, he was rewarded two years rigorous imprisonment. He never stepped down from the freedom struggle movement, until India got freedom.
At the time of independence, the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress were at logger heads on partition of united India. On that occasion, Madani opposed the partition thoroughly. He journeyed the different provinces of India along with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958) and Mahatama Gandhi to assure the people safety and security and tried his level best to stop them to migrate from India to Pakistan. Many people targeted him, but he never conformed to the opinion of the partition.
After the independence, he was served a ministry, but he refused and restricted himself under the four walls of Darul Uloom and Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind for teaching and social works.
Like Madani and Sindhi, there were hundreds of Darul Uloom’s graduates, who actively took part in the freedom struggle of India. To mention the works of those patriots, the volumes and volumes are required.
It’s sorrowful matter that historians of modern India ignored completely the role played and efforts made by Darul Uloom for India’s freedom struggle. Today, most of the people aren’t aware of this historical institution. Some people know that Darul Uloom is a conservative seminary that produces merely Maulanas or a factory that only issues Fatwaas. And some say that Darul Uloom is “a Station of Terrorism” and “it produces terrorists”. This one is a famous opinion among Hindu fundamentalists, while the fact is otherwise as I stated in the essay.
It’s a bird’s eye view of the role of Darul Uloom, Deoband in India’s freedom struggle.
One who is interested on the topic, should go through the book, “Taarikhe Darul Uloom” (History of Darul Uloom).
May Allah accept the works of the seminary!
source: http://www.millattimes.com / Millat Times / Home> Special Column / by Khursheed Alam Dawood Qasmi , Email: qasmikhursheed@yahoo.co.in / August 15th, 2022
Allah Bakshu coordinated with most of the catering services and function hall members and convinced the organisers to hand over the leftover food to needy people.
Guntur Covid Fighters Charitable Trust members distribute leftover food, which was collected from weddings and functions, to over 300 needy people everyday
Guntur :
When the world fell into chaos, when thousands of people are looking for hope during the times of pandemic, there appeared a 33-year-old man who extended his arms and has been feeding the destitute every single day for the past two years.
Pattan Allah Bakshu, founder of Guntur Covid Fighters, is a sales executive by profession with the help of his three brothers, Pattan Hussain Khan, Pattan Muzeeb Basha and Pattan Fayaz Khan collects the leftover food at functions and weddings and serves them to over 300 needy people a day.
Not just providing food to the needy, these brothers provided free ambulance services and also lent their shoulders to carry over 1,000 unclaimed bodies whose families were in no condition to perform last rites during Covid-19, despite getting resistance from their own families.
What started as a group of four now has as many as 25 volunteers including people from all walks of life contributing their little efforts for a major cause, in fact for their voluntary services, they were awarded with ‘Manavathva Dheeras’ (Warriors of Humanity) tag from AP Police department.
Explaining about the food distribution, he said, “After the pandemic, while we were thinking to expand our services, we observed how many poor people are suffering without sufficient food as they lost their livelihood. We also observed how much food is being wasted at weddings and several functions which are held almost every day at some place or the other in the city.’’
Allah Bakshu coordinated with most of the catering services and function hall members and convinced the organisers to hand over the leftover food to needy people. Seeing their noble work during the pandemic, not only function organisers, but also temple priests are contacting Allah Bakshu and the team if they have any leftover food.
“As soon as we get a phone call, we go to the place and collect the food and distribute them directly to the needy people. We have set up a food court at Guntur GGH also,’’ he added. Along with this they also help old people who are abandoned by their families and take them to old age homes giving them a new family and people to look after.
“This charitable trust is moving forward with the collective efforts of several people from college students to retired employees. Seeing our work, several kind-hearted people came forward to help and join our cause, donated ambulances, and provided financial assistance,” Allah Bakshu said.
People can call 8143222456, 9397602553 to contact Guntur Covid Fighters Charitable Trust and handover leftover food to feed hungry people.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Bandhavi Annam / Express News Service / December 11th, 2022
Billionaires in Africa, Maha tycoons follow father, feed thousands in hometown
Yavatmal :
Decades ago, a humble Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) district driver Abdul Narsinghani had a strange habit before going off to work.
Every morning he would instruct his wife Fatima to pack a few ‘rotis’, he put them in his pocket and at various stops of his ST bus en route, would distribute them among a few poor people he encountered.
His young kids — sons Aman, Aslam and daughter Farida — closely watched all this but often wondered at their father’s undue concern for others when they themselves eked out a bare existence in a 200 square feet slum tenement in Yavatmal.
Years later, Aman, 45, and Aslam, 43 are successful business magnates in Congo, (formerly Zaire), Africa, and Farida I. Budhwani is a housewife in Mumbai, but now they warmly cherish their simple father’s small acts of charity for fellow beings.
“We brothers completed our high secondary school (Class XII) and got jobs in Uganda, so we went there in 1998. In just three years (2000), we got an offer to start a pharmaceutical business in the adjoining country, Congo, and we grabbed the opportunity,” Aman told IANS.
That was the turning point for the Narsinghani brothers, and they became the first Indians to start a business in Congo, and their venture is named Sara Pharmaceuticals.
“Many Africans have a fetish to pop in medicines for everything… We imported various types of medicines from India or China and then sold them there… Slowly, that tiny business has grown into a pharma-cum-electronics empire with a turnover of over Rs 1,200 crore per annum,” said Aman.
On their frequent trips back home from Africa, they never forgot their father’s daily habit of donating ‘rotis’ or his wise advice – ‘Let nobody go empty handed from my door’ – and decided to do something to take it forward.
“From 2009, we have launched a community kitchen that feeds around 750 people for lunch and some 250 for dinner daily… 98 per cent of the beneficiaries are the local poor people, irrespective of religion or status, all are equally welcome…” said Aman.
The daily offering through ‘Khidmat-E-Khalk’ (Selfless Service) is either good quality rice-vegetables, lip-smacking vegetable or chicken biryanis and other foodstuff as the people may desire, and distributed at a couple of locations in Yavatmal, 365 days a year.
It was during the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2021) lockdown that the small kitchen proved its true worth and utility for lakhs of deprived people, especially the migrant folks stranded far from home.
“In the first six months of the stringent lockdown, we fed over 1.50 crore people. We also distributed food-kits of around 25 kg rations worth Rs 2 crore to the helpless people who had lost their jobs,” said Aslam.
After the lockdown eased a bit from October 2020 onwards, the Narsinghani brothers shifted their attention to the local Shri Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College & Hospital, where they served free food to all the patients for over one year.
As the pharma business of the siblings flourished in Central Africa, the duo also progressed, upgrading from their humble 200-sq.ft. slum abode to a palatial 10,000 sq.ft mansion in Yavatmal, where they rank among the most esteemed citizens.
The devout Khoja Muslim, Abdul Narsinghani, who gave his children an invaluable lesson to care for fellow humans, witnessed everything with joy and pride. He passed away peacefully in 2015, while his widow Fatima, 71, continues to guide and support her two sons in all their ventures.
Doing business in Africa is not everybody’s cup tea, given the political turmoil in many countries there, plus the social, cultural and language barriers, but the Narsinghani brothers managed to learn Swahili in just a couple of years and were accepted with open arms in Uganda, Congo and other countries in Central African region.
“Though we have seen a lot of social-cultural-political upheavals there in the past 25 years, but luckily, the Indian community there does not face problems from any quarter and we are probably treated as ‘more than equals’ among the rest,” Aman smiled.
The pharma business has gradually expanded within Africa, and lately the duo diversified into electronics trading which is picking up hugely through their several retail outlets.
“The Almighty has been magnanimous and benevolent to us and coupled with what our parents bequeathed us, we are trying in our own little way, to repay all the blessings,” acknowledge the Narsinghanis. — IANS
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Culture> Indian Muslims / by IANS / December 04th, 2022
Okhla-based lifeguard Mumtaz who fished out dead bodies from Yamuna, saved many passes away
An award-winning lifeguard, and a resident of Jamia Nagar, who had a reputation of diving into the water of Yamuna to fish out dead bodies and rescue many for the last four decades, passed away on Wednesday due to heart attack.
A retired teacher of Jamia school, 63-year-old Mumtaz Ahmed, was hospitalised for the last 15 days for getting treatment of heart ailment, but he couldn’t be save and was laid to rest in Batla House graveyard on Wednesday.
He saved many lives from Yamuna and was known to be the best swimmer in the whole area.
Though his act to save anyone from Yamuna was known but his daredevil act in 1995 of fishing out 7 bodies alone and saving one life when a boat of Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary had capsized in Okhla made him a hero.
Following the act, he was honoured with a Jeevan Rakshak Padak and a reward of Rs 10,000 from the President. Over the years he won several awards.
Mumtaz, born in Okhla, retired two years ago after working in Jamia Middle School Self Finance as a PT teacher since 1987, said his family member.
Old timers at Jamia, who knew him personally, said whenever there was any incident of drowning in Yamuna people used to rush to Mumtaz house in Ghaffoor Nagar seeking help and he never let them down.
Jamia school teacher Haris-ul-Haq said he heard from his friends that Mumtaz fished out the first body when he was 12 years old and since then he fished out some 100 dead bodies and saved many from different water bodies of Delhi.
He has left behind three sons and a wife.
source: http://www.theokhlatimes.com / The Okhla Times / Home> Local / by the okhla times / September 15th, 2022
When we talk of youngsters in their early twenties, of course, we think that it’s time for them to work hard and party harder. Right? But we are seeing a lot of youngsters take up entrepreneurship at a young age to make it big. But there are some like Alina Alam from Kolkata, who took to social entrepreneurship to make the world a better place for the differently-abled. All of 27 years of age, Alina started with her ‘Mitti Cafe’ when she was 23, which is run entirely by a staff of persons with a disability, ranging from visual and hearing impaired to Asperger’s and to Down’s syndrome.
The Mitti Cafe
While pursuing her graduation from Azim Premji University, Alina volunteered in an organisation that works with adults with a disability. That’s when she realised that the problem is not their ability but the disability in our perception, which needs to change. Talking to us about the cafe, Alina said, “I started with the Mitti Cafe in 2017, with an aim to create platforms for adults with physical, intellectual and multiple disabilities to showcase their abundant potential for productive activity and create awareness for the cause of equal opportunities in employment.”
Not every enterprise needs a VC funding, as Alina started this venture with funding from her friends, family and partnerships with Deshpande Foundation, NSRCEL-IIM Bangalore & N-Core Foundation. And now she has several branches of the cafe in both Kolkata and Bengaluru.
Facilities Enabling The Staff One can find menus printed in braille, food orders written on sheets of a note pad, self-explanatory placards and flicker lights that signal the staff when a customer calls for them, and more such unique ideas to facilitate the differently-abled staff at the Mitti Cafe.
Apart from remuneration, Alina explained how they have additional benefits like accommodation for the staff, “Since most of our employees along with having a disability come from a low-income background, apart from salaries, we also provide them with accommodation, food and logistics. We provide wheelchairs to those who cannot afford it. There are placards in the cafe for communication with our HSI staff and menu as well as instructions in Braille for our staff with visual impairment. The training methodology for our adults with an intellectual disability involves innovative techniques that involve songs, poetry and pictorial training.”
Impact & Help With The COVID-19 Outbreak Talking about the impact of her venture, Alina said, “We currently have a total of 71 adults with disability employed at the various cafes branches and we provide experiential training to adults with a disability who is placed in the hospitality sector, retail sector or decide to start their own business.” Not only that, currently Alina and her team is also helping the vulnerable sections of the society affected by the Coronavirus lockdown. Talking about the same, she added, “The MITTI team is working on a war footing currently to help in the COVID 19 crisis by providing the most basic of the necessities: food to 2000 of our Frontline Heroes-daily wage labourers every day.”
Alina runs the social enterprise with the help of her amazing team members who left their cushy corporate jobs for the cause, including the COO & Director- Swati, another Director- Anjani Gupta and Area Operations Heads- Sanidhya Bindal & Amruta Wadekar.
She also shared her future plans with us which include, “Creating awareness about economic empowerment and dignity-one cafe at a time, till Mitto Café becomes outdated. We are hopeful that should be soon.”
source: http://www.inclusiveindia.in / Inclusive India / Home> Feature> Inclusivity / by Shobita Dutt / April 17th, 2020
Nai Manzil gives school-dropouts from minority communities a second chance to complete their education and learn a marketable skill.
Sameera was just 14 years old when she dropped out of school. Soon afterwards, her impoverished parents arranged her marriage, after which she stayed at home to cook and clean for her husband’s family, like all the other women in her small fishing community in Kerala’s Malappuram district.
When the Government of India’s Nai Manzil – New Horizons – program came calling, offering school-dropouts from minority communities a second chance to complete their education and learn a marketable skill, her husband let her join.
A year and a half later, Sameera, along with three other women from the program set up Bismil Tailoring, a home-based venture that took in sewing assignments from the community. “Our customers appreciated our work, and we were earning good money,” recalled Sameera.
However, barely a few months after they had started, a lockdown was imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Orders dried up, taking a heavy toll on the nascent enterprise.
A tailoring unit run by women from the Nai Manzil program in Malappuram, Kerala.
The women’s earnings help their families weather the crisis
When we spoke to Sameera four months later, we were naturally surprised to hear an optimistic young voice at the other end of the line. Confidence bubbled out of her, and although not everyone in her unit was able to resume work, they had received several orders for masks, and she was sure that their tiny unit would bounce back as soon as the lockdown was lifted.
Her education and training, as well as her exposure to the outside world, had instilled in her a new self-assurance that she could make a go of things, despite the temporary setback. This was bolstered by the fact that she was able to keep her small family afloat during the crisis, even though her fisherman husband had been unable to go out to sea since the pandemic started.
Sameera’s story is echoed in 32-year old Kausar Jahan, mother of three, who lives with nine other family members in the eastern city of Hyderabad. Although Kausar was just 17 years old when she got married and had to drop out of school. Nai Manzil’s training enabled her to get a job at a government hospital providing bed-side care to patients.
Today, while millions of lives and livelihoods have been severely impacted by the pandemic, Kauser is able to help support her family with the Rs 4,000 she still receives, even though her employers have asked her to stay at home until the worst is over. While this is just half her earlier salary, it has proved to be a lifeline for her 9-member household, more so since her electrician husband has been unable to get work during the crisis.
Kausar is now using her training to provide free health services to her community in the old city of Hyderabad, administering injections and checking blood pressure.
Both women look at the plight of others in their communities and shudder to think what would have become of their families had they not received Nai Manzil’s life-changing education and training.
And, it’s not just their families who have benefitted. Kausar is now using her training to provide free health services to her community in the old city of Hyderabad, administering injections, checking blood pressure, interpreting test reports, and nudging those who are seriously unwell to visit a doctor.
Sameera too is deeply involved in promoting the welfare of her small fishing community in Kerala. She is also supporting the wider population by helping with the common kitchen that has been set up to feed out-of-work migrants and other poor individuals affected by the pandemic.
A woman trained by Nai Manzil providing health care in Hyderabad.
Education, skills and exposure brings life-changing empowerment
Having seen her peers transform into co-founders of their tailoring unit – many of whom had never stepped out of their homes before or were the regular victims of domestic abuse – Sameera firmly believes that education, skills and exposure can herald life-changing empowerment, enabling the women to blossom and bring out their full potential.
While Sameera plans to study further and become a better entrepreneur, she wants the other women to grow along with her. Aware that not all her peers enjoy the same level of family support that she is fortunate to have received, she believes that religious leaders – who wield great influence within her community – can be a powerful force for change. In fact, it was these religious leaders who inaugurated the classes she attended.
More than half of Nai Manzil’s beneficiaries are women, with Muslim women constituting the majority. The first batch of beneficiaries completed their training in 2017, after which many have moved on to salaried jobs or self-employment. So far, more than 50,700 minority women have benefited from the educational and skilling provided by the program.
More than half of Nai Manzil’s beneficiaries are women, with Muslim women constituting the majority.
India’s Ministry of Minority Affairs is now hard at work to reduce the impact of the pandemic on minority communities across the country by expanding their opportunities for education and employment.
Over the last five years we have repeatedly witnessed the game changing nature of the Nai Manzil program. Given the huge demand for platforms that integrate education and skilling, the program marks the start of something truly transformational for minority communities across the country.
The World Bank is supporting the Nai Manzil program run by India’s Ministry of Minority Affairs, with a loan of $50 million. The program provides school dropouts from minority communities in 26 states and 3 union territories with six months of education and three months of skills training, followed by a further six months of support to help them establish themselves.
source: http://www.blogs.worldbank.org / World Bank Blogs / Home> Covid 19 / by Marguerite Clarke & Pradyumna Bhattacharjee / August 21st, 2020
Jamia Millia Islam faculty member, Dr. Shama Parveen, to receive prestigious Sayeeda Begum Women Scientist Prize 2018 to be presented by Hon’ble Vice President of India.
Dr. Shama Parveen, Assistant Professor at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has been selected for the prestigious “Sayeeda Begum Women Scientist Prize 2018”, instituted by Jamia Hamdard (University).
pix: @ Twitter
Dr. Parveen is actively involved in research in the area of Molecular Biology of human viruses and focuses on Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika and respiratory viruses (human metapneumovirus, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus). Her research articles published in journals of international repute are being well cited.
The award is given annually in the memory of Late Mrs. Sayeeda Begum, wife of Late Hakeem Abdul Hameed, founder of Jamia Hamdard. The award aims at recognizing the academic excellence of women scientists working at any minority institution of the country in basic and applied research in the areas of biosciences, biotechnology, biomedical, pharmaceutical and environmental sciences. Scientific contributions of the candidate during last 5 years are evaluated for the award. The award carries a citation and prize money.
The award was announced on 14th September 2018 at the Founder’s Day of the Jamia Hamdard University and it will be presented to Dr. Shama Parveen during the forthcoming Convocation of the University on 23rd October 2018 by the Chief Guest, Hon’ble Vice President of India. (PRO, JMI)
source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> News> Community News / The Milli Gazette Online (headline edited)/ by PRO, JMI / September 21st, 2018
Innovators at the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) Awantipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district have claimed to have set up a prototype of a low cost ventilator to tackle the shortage of ventilators amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement by the varsity said that the innovators at the IUST’s Design Innovation Centre (DIC) had tested the ventilator prototype, named ‘Ruhdaar’ successfully in the laboratory.
It said the ventilator is expected to be handed over to the medical experts at the SKIMS hospital Soura for evaluation purposes which will immediately begin once the innovators are satisfied with its functioning in the laboratory.
The statement said that the raw materials for the said frugal ventilator are easily available within J&K and India.
Team members headed by Coordinator DIC, Dr Shahkar Nehvi, Dr Majid Hamid Koul, ex faculty IUST who recently joined the NIT, Peerzada Shoaib, Assistant professor IUST, two IUST Alumini Asif Shah and Zulquarnain, Jawad, Design Fellow IUST, Dr Saad Parvaiz from NIT Srinagar, Dr Shabir Hassan from Harvard University as overseas mentor and Abdul Rahim from Rahim Greens contributed towards the designing of the said prototype, the statement said.
It further said that there was a possibility that the ventilator is manufactured in A commercial scale once the prototype is approved by medical experts.
Vice Chancellor IUST, Prof Mushtaq A Siddiqi has congratulated the entire team for this huge achievement.
A statement quoted Prof Siddique as saying that he was thrilled over the team members for achieving the feat in a very short span of time adding that the components of the ventilator were mostly local.
The VC IUST said that the university will go for patenting and handover the technology to a start-up or couple of start-ups, so that the ventilator is produced on the large scale. Prof Siddiqi further added that the prototype is fine and alright, but it depends on the medical fraternity to accept it or suggest certain modifications.
source: http://www.kashmirreader.com / Kashmir Reader / Home / by KR Desk / April 23rd, 2020
