Amaan Khan placed at the National Junior Sciences and Humanities Symposium in Maryland.
PLAINFIELD, IL :
Plainfield South High School sophomore Amaan Khan won second place in the National Junior Sciences and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) held in Maryland May 2 to May 5, 2018, for creating a self-driving model car.
He advanced to the national competition after winning first place at the regional JSHS competition in March.
Khan’s model car can drive within designated lanes, stop and go at traffic lights, and avoid obstacles.
His second-place finish earned him an $8,000 scholarship in addition to the $2,000 scholarship for winning the regional event. The regional competition is open to ninth through twelfth grade students.
Most of the 97 national competitors were high school juniors and seniors. “Second in national is still really great,” Khan said.
Students compete in several categories including computer science and math, bioengineering, behavioral science, medicine, health, physics, engineering and environmental science.
Khan wants to enter the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair next year, he said.
Photo/article via District 202
source: http://www.patch.com / Plainfield Patch / Home> Kids & Family / by Shannon Antinori , Patch National Staff / May 17th, 2018
A Plainfield South High School sophomore is traveling to a national science competition, after he created and programmed a self-driving car.
Amaan Khan, 15, will compete this week in the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in Maryland, after winning the Illinois Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) in March, according to a news release from Plainfield District 202.
Khan created and programmed a self-driving car that can drive within designated lanes, stop and go at lights and avoid obstacles.
He won a $2,000 college scholarship and free trip to the national competition. He is one of two students from Illinois heading to Maryland to compete Tuesday through Saturday with 93 students from across the nation.
Competitors must submit a research paper and present their projects before a panel of judges and an audience of their peers.
Khan became interested in robotics and artificial intelligence last year, after he built a voice-controlled toy car. He took online college courses and watched college lecture courses and YouTube videos to teach himself computer programming.
“As I was learning I kept building the project,” Khan said. “I’d learn one thing, implement it, learn another thing and implement that.”
Patrick and Samantha Scanlan, PSHS science teachers, have supported Khan along the journey.
Samantha Scanlan helped Khan register for the contest. Patrick Scanlan helped Khan polish his oral presentation.
“[Khan] knows what he wants and seeks out the resources to do it,” Patrick Scanlan said. “And if there’s something he needs to learn, he’s able to figure out what he needs to be successful.”
The JSHS is designed to challenge and engage students in science, technology, engineering or math.
44-year-old car mechanic Mohammad Raees Markani from Madhya Pradesh has invented a car that runs on water.
This 12th pass took five years to develop the final product. The car runs on acetylene gas, which is formed from a chemical reaction between calcium carbide and water. Raees now has a patent for his water car. According to Mirror, Raees has been modifying an 800 cc engine for the last five years – and now believes he has made the scientific breakthrough. The eco-friendly car uses a mix of water and carbides.
Raees who has been a mechanic for the last 15 years told Mirror, “The gas is used for several industrial purposes including welding and portable lighting for miners. But in my case, I am using it to propel the car engines . I have made other changes to the engines, which helps the overall performance of the car. So basically, it is just about the water.”
“The market for environmentally friendly cars is getting bigger and automobile companies around the world are looking for eco-friendly ways to reduce pollution. So a car like mine can be a good alternative. It costs close to nothing to operate and it is environment friendly,” added Raees.
Image : Pultan
The Chinese automobile companies have invited Raees to develop the idea further. All the companies that are interested in Raees’s water car project will have to meet his one condition – any plant to make new cars will be established only in his hometown in Madhya Pradesh. “I want things to change in my hometown. So this is where my work should continue,” Raees stated.
After six months, Reshma Nilofer Naha will be piloting ships from sea to the Kolkata port.
She will be the world’s first woman river pilot to do this. She will pilot ships through a distance of 223km, of which, 148km will be up the Hooghly – considered to be one of the most treacherous with its sharp ‘bars and bends’. Reshma, originally from Chennai, is now undergoing training at the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT).
“The role of river pilots is crucial as they have knowledge of the river and can guide the ships into port. We have 67 river pilots in service and Reshma will start her job soon,” KoPT chairman Vinit Kumar said.
Reshma, a BSc (Nautical Science) graduate, was recruited by KoPT in 2011. According to JJ Biswas, director, marine department, KoPT, she also has a year’s experience at sea as a cadet. “After joining KoPT, she obtained the 2nd and 1st mates competency certificates from the Directorate General of Shipping. Recently, she cleared the Grade III Part-I examination from KoPT. In the next six months, she will qualify as a Grade III pilot,” he added.
As a Grade III pilot, Reshma will initially be assigned smaller vessels. Later, as she gets more experienced, she will graduate to Grade II and Grade I and take charge of large ships like Panamax vessels – nearly 300m-long with a capacity of 70,000 tonnes or more.
All ships calling on the ports of Kolkata or Haldia have to contact the pilot station on Sagar Island when they approach the Sandheads. From the Sandheads to the pilot boarding point at Sagar, remote pilotage is provided to the ships using Vessel Traffic Management System guidance. At a spot known as Middleton Point, a pilot vessel rendezvous with a ship and the pilot gets on board. The pilot is in charge till the ship reaches Kolkata and the harbour pilot takes over.
“The river has several sandbars and bends. A river pilot knows the channel along which the ship has to move to avoid getting stranded. Draught is also a problem and there is little scope of manoeuvring. The pilots make best use of the tides to guide ships in. People without training and experience along the river cannot handle ships,” another official said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kolkata News / by Jayanta Gupta / TNN / April 05th, 2018
L-R) Neelima Gupta, Andrea Gomes Megrath, Jyoti Mishra and Purvi Singh ( BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
To promote the spirit of womanhood, a car and two-wheeler rally was organized at Awadh Girls’ Degree College, recently.
Organized by the alumnae association of the college, the rally was flagged off by Brijesh Pathak, cabinet minister, Law, Justice and Alternate Energy Resources, Namrata Pathak, former chairperson, UP Women’s Commission and a social activist, and Upma Chaturvedi, principal of the college. “It gives me a great pleasure to be a part of this event. I think talking about women empowerment will not help unless and until we incorporate it with events like these,” said Brijesh.
The rally started from the college campus and covered five major checkpoints in the city which were provided to the participants in the form of riddles.
(L-R) Neena, Meeti, Baby and Biba (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui(L-R) Saher Bano, Rana Khan, Sheeba Mushahid and Sabina Ahmad (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)Shakun Prakash (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)Dia Ahuja (L) and Vidhi Agarwal (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)Namrata Pathak (R) Ria and Caroline (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)
The best part about the treasure hunt was that each participant had to click a selfie on the spots that they cover.
Several cars and bikes were decorated with various themes. While a few had pictures of Sridevi, giving her a tribute, others had several messages of women empowerment.
Farhana Khan (R) Shachi Singh and Simran (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)Nidhi Praksh, Surya & Suparna Sarkar, Upma Chaturvedi (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad
Finally, Priyanka Malik and Abeeha Rizvi bagged the first position in the car category while Suparna Sarkar bagged the first position in the two-wheeler category, and were felicitated by Major General Vinod Sharma and Namrata Pathak.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> Entertainment> Hindi> Events> Lucknow / by Prachi Arya / TNN / March 22nd, 2018
Kochannoor (Thrissur District), KERALA / Doha, QATAR :
K P Abdul Hameed
Doha :
Long-time Doha resident and prominent Indian entrepreneur K P Abdul Hameed (76) passed away at a hospital in Bengaluru in southern India on Monday.
He was a managing director of Al Muftah Rent A Car, set up in 1970 as the first vehicle rental firm in Qatar.
Hameed will be buried at his native place, Kochannoor, in Kerala’s Thrissur district on Tuesday. He leaves behind his wife Aminu and two sons, Dr K P Najeeb (Hamad Medical Corporation) and Fazil Hameed (Al Muftah Rent A Car). A K Usman, who is also a managing director of Al Muftah Rent A Car, is his brother-in-law.
Hameed had suffered a stroke more than a month ago in Doha and was taken to India for treatment. Hameed, who arrived in Qatar in 1965, was a regular presence at a number of community events over the last four decades.
The veteran businessman was among the founders of MES Indian School, which was the first Indian expatriate institution of the country. The school was established in 1974.
Hameed was also one of the founding members and chief patrons of the Indian Cultural and Arts Society (Incas Qatar).
Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF) and expatriate forums Incas Qatar and Indian Medical Association (Qatar chapter) and Pravasi Malayali Federation have mourned the death of Hameed.
source: http://www.gulf-times.com / Gulf Times / June 19th, 2017
Marzooq Ahmed during his ‘Whole Week Only On Wheels’ initiative in Mangaluru.
Marzooq Ahmed keeps his vow and uses non-motorised transport for a week
This lecturer with a polytechnic believes in practising and not preaching as he has kept his vow of pedalling for a whole week to spread awareness on non-motorised transport.
Marzooq Ahmed, lecturer in Civil Engineering with P.A. Polytechnic, Konaje, took up the initiative — Wwoow Factor (Whole Week Only On Wheels) — on February 26. Till Sunday, he either rode a bicycle or walked to any place he happened to travel.
To begin with, Mr. Ahmed rode to his institute every day instead of using any motorised transport. With the support of the principal, K.P. Soofie, and his colleagues in the institute, Mr. Ahmed also conducted awareness programmes to 750-odd students explaining to them the benefits of non-motorised transport, including reduced carbon footprint.
He told the students: “I believe that as an individual I cannot do escalating work but as a socially responsible citizen I can sit on a saddle and steer my thoughts and actions by pedalling to make a small drop in the ocean accountable, to improve the quality of the air that we all inhale.”
Students do their bit
Students too shared a bit of their knowledge and practice on non-motorised transport. While Vishnu and Fareen highlighted the importance of carpooling and reduced dependence on motorised vehicles for short distances, Tilak spoke about the benefits of cycling and how it helps environment conservation. Sapnaz added the concluding statement at the awareness programme by saying, “The actions we show now will reflect in our future. We need to uphold and undertake right measures to control pollution now.”
While Mr. Ahmed is used to regular rides being a member of Mangalore Bicycle Club (MBC), he rode from the institute to Circuit House in the city on Thursday afternoon when the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board opened its continuous weather monitoring centre to show his commitment.
Besides riding bicycle and inspiring his students, Mr. Ahmed is also interacting with the public to create awareness about environment conservation. On Saturday, he spoke to several students in Belthangady taluk as part of his mission.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Anil Kumar Sastry / Mangaluru – March 04th, 2018
Women are going places, they say. But Mumbai’s Motorwoman, Mumtaz Kazi takes people places by driving them in Mumbai’s local trains. Not only is she one of the few motorwomen the world has seen, but she’s also a first in Asia, to begin with.
In a career span of more than 20 years, Mumtaz has driven various kinds of trains. She is also Asia’s first woman train driver.
Sure that didn’t come easy, did it?
From a very young age, Mumtaz wanted to be in Railways. Her father was a Trunk Superintendent at Churchgate railway station. She grew up in the railway quarters and used to watch the trains pass by.
She was born and brought up in Mumbai and went to Seth Anandilal Poddar High School. In 1989, just after her SSC, she applied for the job of the motorman.
Since that very year there was a change in the railway recruitment board policy in India, Mumtaz could sit for the examinations and applied for it.
She did extremely well in examinations, leaving everyone impressed with her ambitiousness. And, was appointed in 1991 just after her class twelve examination.
While she was extremely happy about the job, she faced a bit of resistance from her father’s side upon her decision. Her father, Allahrakhu Ismail Kathawala, asked her to complete her Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology (DMLT) course first.
After much convincing, Mumtaz’s father gave in and gave her his blessings. And, she became the first motorwoman. In its 1995 edition Limca Book of Records acknowledged Mumtaz’s success and she became the first woman diesel engine driver in Asia at the age of 20.
Not only that, Mumtaz also went on to become the first train driver to possess the skill of driving both Electric and Diesel engine.
Throughout her journey, Mumtaz was the courageous support system to her family. It was because of her, they could buy a home in Mumbai and she also helped with her brothers’ education. Both her brothers, Imtiyaz and Feroz, are engineers and settled abroad.
But that’s not the only thing for which she makes all look up to her. When she’s not driving trains and being on the job, she is a homemaker and loves spending time with her family.
She got married to an electrical engingeer from Nandoorbar, Maqsood Kazi, in 2002 and is a proud mother of two kids Tausif Ahmed and Fateen.
In the year 2015, she was awarded Railways General Manager Award.
And, in 2017, on International Women’s Day, she was awarded the Nari Shakti Award by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Mumbai’s local train is one of the busiest railway network and Mumtaz, like a boss, pilots the busiest local trains. With her grit and determination, Mumtaz, over the course of more than two decades, has set an example that there’s no job that women can’t do. After all, the levers on the train don’t know if it’s a man or a woman’s hands operating them.
source: http://www.storypick.com / StoryPick. / Home> Culture / by Rachna Srivastava / March 10th, 2017
Mysuru girl Rifah Taskeen drives into the Golden Book of World Records.
Rifah Taskeen drives a truck in Mysuru on Sunday.
Mysuru:
Amazing though it may seem, seven-year-old Rifah Taskeen at last got permission from the state government to participate in a record breaking event and drove 16 vehicles, in a bid to become the youngest to drive multiple wheeled vehicles at Idgah ground and St Joseph’s school ground at Bannimantap here on Sunday
In her bid to enter the Golden book of world records, the tiny wonder drove a lorry, Mahindra Bolero, Tata Ace, Mahindra Scorpio, Toyota Fortuner, Maruti 800, Maruti van, Maruti Esteem, Maruti Zen, Santro, Ford, an ambulance, a Hyundai Verna, a Tata Indica and a Quad bike among others (Her father had modified and lowered the level of the seats in the vehicles to suit her height).
Mr Santhosh Agarwal of Golden Book of World records, who represents South India, participated as an observer in the event. Rifah aimed for the record after permission was granted by Primary and Secondary Education minister Tanveer Sait and Mysuru city police Commisioner Dr A Subramanyeswara Rao. Her aim now is to become the youngest pilot. Her parents are in touch with a few airlines and a firm has agreed to train her, according to her father Tajuddin.
Tears flooded the eyes of Bibi Fathima, mother of Rifah, a class 2 student of St Joseph’s school at Bannimantap after seeing her feat. Principal of her school Maria Gracilda had no words to express her happiness as Rifah stunned people at the event, with her amazing confidence.
Rifah’s father Tajuddin, a contractor of floor tiles and a former racer who has won several national level contests, has worked as stuntman and dancer in several movies while her mother is a government school teacher. They reside in NR Mohalla here. Owing to constraints, Tajuddin couldn’t fulfill his dream of contesting in races at the international level. He started training Rifah ever since she was a baby. “I used to put her on my lap when I used to drive. She learnt driving at the age of 3,” Mr Tajuddin disclosed.
Rifah has performed stunts at school during Republic Day and Independence Day programmes. She even launched Chinnara Dasara hosted by the department of women and child development, in the presence of chairperson of Karnataka Commission for the Protection of Child Rights Krupa Amar Alva, during Dasara recently. But due to lack of permission from the authorities, the event to break the record was delayed. “My only aim is to drive a Formula 1 car and also become a pilot,” Rifah said.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by Deccan Chronicle / by Shilpa P / November 06th, 2017
The group of seven led by Syed Abdul Ali beginning their journey from Daira Mir Momin in the city on Saturday.
To take at least six months to reach the shrine of Hazrat Imam Hussain
Faith and devotion make people do remarkable feats. It can make them test their limits and transcend spatial and political boundaries. Even if they have to walk hundreds of miles across three countries in their quest for spirituality. Seven men from the city have embarked on this very journey to reach the shrine of Hazrat Imam Hussain in Karbala, Iraq.
A revered and loved figure for both the Shi’ites and Sunnis, Hazrat Imam Hussain was the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. Each year, dozens of Shi’ites embark on what they call ziyarat or pilgrimage, from the city to Karbala.
The group of seven led by Syed Abdul Ali, a 66 year old from Purani Haveli in the Old City, left for New Delhi from the Daira Mir Momin early on Saturday morning. The others making the journey on foot are Syed Sharif-ul-Hasan Razvi (28), Mir Asim Ali Moosvi (33), Syed Ali Razvi (31), Syed Saqib Zia Naqvi (33), Ali Asghar (31) and Syed Ali Ahmed (37).
“The journey to Karbala will take at least six months. Our intention is to walk between 35 and 40 km every day along the National Highway 44. In other words, eight hours of walk every day. That way, we will reach New Delhi by the end of February or the first week of March,” the leader and sexagenarian said.
Out of the seven, two have made the pilgrimage on foot twice.
To avoid crossing into Pakistan on foot, they will take a flight from the national capital to Tehran in Iran. From there, they intend to go to Yazd and then cross into Iraq where they will proceed to Karbala.
A vehicle carrying supplies such as food and bedding will trudge alongside till New Delhi.
The six wayfarers began to prepare for the journey more than two months ago. “We practised walking every day without fail. It’s not possible to go without preparing yourself for something like that,” they said.
Explaining what the journey means to him, Mr. Ali Asghar, a businessman, said, “I got a job in Dubai, but I gave it up since I wanted to go to Karbala. Going there on foot is a great act of piety. What more could I want?”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Syed Mohammed / Hyderabad – January 06th, 2018
