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AMU felicitate GATE qualifiers

AMU VC addressing the felicitation programme

ALIGARH. The Department of Electronics Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, felicitated the final year students on their excellent performance in the recently announced results of GATE-2013 exams. Among the top 50 positions countrywide in all disciplines of Engineering and Technology, Amit Chawla ranked second and Hameedah Sultan ranked 48. Both of them are from the department of Electronics Engineering.

In his presidential remarks, AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt. Gen (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah stressed the importance of sustained hard work and urged the students to appear in GATE as well as other national level exams and tests in greater number in the coming years.

Prof. Ekram Husain, Principal, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology also addressed the gathering and highlighted the good performance by the students of Electronics Engineering.

Prof. M. Salim Beg, Chairman, Department of Electronics Engineering encouraged the students to come out with better performance in next year’s GATE examination.

Amit Chawla and Hameedah Sultan also spoke on the occasion and gave tips to crack the GATE exam.

Muslim conference on the 12th Plan

Lucknow. A national conference, “Unpacking the 12th Plan”, was held on the 17th of March. The conference was an effort to understand as to why goverment initiated welfare schemes do not reach out to the masses, and to find a way out so that the objectives of the schemes are truly realised. It was presided over by Dr Maulana Saeed-ur-Rehman Azmi Nadvi. Also present on the occassion were Salman Khurshid, External Affairs Minister, Pallam Raju, Minister for HRD, and Mrs Sayeda Hameed, Member of Planning Commission. Continue reading “Muslim conference on the 12th Plan”

Commemorative postage stamp on Sahir Ludhianvi

The President and other dignitaries at the release function.

“PATLAA hai haal apnaa, lekin lahuu hai gaaRaa
Phaulaad se banaa hai, har naujavaaN hamaaraa
Mil-jul ke is vatan ko, aisaa sajaayeiNge ham
Hairat se muNh takegaa, saaraa jahaaN hamaaraa”

THE President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, released a commemorative postage stamp on late Sahir Ludhianvi on March 8th. The occasion was his birth anniversary.

Born as Abdul Hayee, Ludhianvi was a popular Urdu poet and lyricist of the Hindi film industry. He passed away on October 25, 1980, at the age of 60.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that Ludhianvi was widely acclaimed as a people’s poet who wrote on the trials and tribulations of the everyday life of the common man with great intensity and deep empathy. He was recognised as the poet of the young because of his writings on love and beauty. He wrote with great sensitivity on the values and social concerns of the contemporary period.

The President added, “One of Sahir’s greatest contributions was to converge Urdu poetry into film songs.” He also fought for recognition for lyric writers through the Film Writers Association.

In recognition of his services, The legendary poet was awarded the Padma Shri in 1971.

The Message of Islam

I CHANCED upon two well researched articles in Awadhnama late last year. One was by Dr Mohammad Saani and the other by Ms Razia Majeeda. As per those articles, during the last 20 years, in India alone, some 80 to 100 million infant girls were killed in their mother’s womb. Reading the articles, some other figures crossed my mind.

The World War II resulted in some 50 to 70 million casualties, the partition of India saw one million people killed on either side of the border, more than a million perished during the Vietnam war, and Saddam’s terror reign followed by the Iraq war saw a million people losing their lives. The list goes on with Bosnia, Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, and others. So much bloodshed! Is this all in the name of Islam? Compare these figures with the female infanticide in India alone! Continue reading “The Message of Islam”

International conference promotes ‘marsia’

NEW DELHI. The Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari inaugurated the “International Urdu Marsia Conference” on Friday. Addressing on the occasion he said that marsia can be written and heard by heart only. He hoped that the seminar will help in getting more people associated with marsia.

The word ‘marsiya’ is derived from the Arabic word ‘risa’, meaning a great tragedy or lamentation for a departed soul. Marsiya (or elegy), is nearly always on the death of Hasan and Hussain (grandsons of the Prophet Mohammad [PBUH]) and their families, but occasionally on the death of relatives and friends. It is usually in six-lined stanzas with the rhyme ‘aaaabb’.

The recitation of these elegies in the first ten days of Muharram is a common practice.

Central computing facility for Wakf records inaugurated

NEW Delhi. K Rahman Khan, the Union Minister of Minority Affairs (MoMA) & Chairman, Central Wakf Council, inaugurated the Central Computing Facility (CCF) on Friday. The facility will help digitalise information on about 400,000 acre of Wakf properties.

Khan highlighted the emerging role of the Central Wakf Council in the light of the proposed amendment in the Wakf Act 1995, which provide for greater role of Wakf Institutions in protecting and developing the Wakf properties at various places. He said that Wakf assets are public properties and public is entitled to know and access the details. Computerisation of the records and management of data of Wakf properties spread across various states in an efficient and transparent manner will be very helpful in this, the minister added.

Are women really prohibited from entering mausoleums?

RECENTLY a women’s organisation in Mumbai, Akhil Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Association, conducted a survey and found out that in 18 of the total sufi mausoleums, women are prohibited from entering Astana i.e. sanctum and sanctorum in which they were previously allowed. Prominent among them is Haji Ali Dargah, which is highly popular among non-Muslims also.

The report created a media stir. Everybody wanted to know on what grounds are they prohibited.

When press questioned some clerics about it, they promptly quoted hadiths which prohibit it. Some quote hadith from Imam Bukhari, saying it is prohibited, while other from Sahih Muslim, saying it was prohibited but later on the Prophet (PBUH) allowed it. Our clerics simply quote a hadith while completely ignoring the context. It was for this reason that the Prophet (PBUH) discouraged people from collecting hadith, as he knew it will create problems when he is gone. Continue reading “Are women really prohibited from entering mausoleums?”

Secular forum condemns attack on Agnivesh

THE All India Secular Forum has strongly condemned the recent attack on Swami Agnivesh by communal forces in a meeting organised by Garima Abhiyan in Bhopal. The meeting was called to make the members of Balmiki community take a pledge that they will not be carrying the night soil (human excreta) on their heads.

Agnivesh was attacked when he came forward to touch the feet of an old lady from Balmiki Community. The gesture was to recognise the dignity of all the humans being equal. In a way it was to challenge the prevalent practices which derive their origin from caste system.

The government has already come with legislation banning this dehumanising practice, which takes away the dignity of section of society. Agnivesh was attacked as he staunchly opposed this practice. Communal forces led by VHP are believed to be behind it.

The Career Fest 2012 to be held next month

THE Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) is organising yet another edition of the ‘The Career Fest’. The main event is to be held on the 15th and 16th of December, 2012. The Fest seeks to bridge the gap between the professionals in society and the young brilliance who look up for guidance from them.

The AMP is a platform for all Muslim professionals, and volunteers to share their knowledge, intellect, experience and skills for the overall development of not just the Muslim Community but the society at large.

Organised by AMP and supported by many social and educational organisations in Mumbai, the Career Fest was first organised in 2009. The Fest attracted more than 20,000 visitors in 2011. This year workshops and lectures will be organised for students in prominent colleges of the city divided in 7 different zones. Special workshops will also be conducted for teachers in different zones over the entire week. The event will feature more than a 100 high profile speakers and participation from more than 150 schools in Mumbai. A host of competitions have already started for students, teachers and parents, as part of the event.

The organisers claim the event to be the biggest in India in the educational sector.

To know more about the Fest please log on to http://www.ampindia.org.

Sir Syed Day celebrated in Maharashtra

THE 195th birth anniversary of the revolutionary Muslim leader and scholar, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, was recently celebrated in Mumbai.

The Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association (AMUAA) of Maharashtra held their annual Sir Syed Day event at Alkesh Dinesh Modi Hall, Mumbai University on October 17, 2012.

Kuldeep Nayar, an eminent Journalist, was the Chief Guest on the accassion. He emphasised on the role of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in revolutionising Education. He called on Muslims of India to wake up and don’t consider themselves as minority, “There is no minority or Majority in the country, India belongs to all who live here.” He was of the opinion that Indian Muslims can become a force to reckon with if they take up education seriously. Continue reading “Sir Syed Day celebrated in Maharashtra”