304. Imran Hassan Khan

Imran Hassan Khan is an Indian Shooter. In Commonwealth Games Delhi, Imran combined with Gagan Narang won the gold medal in pairs 50-metre rifle event. He had won gold medal in last SAF games too.







He hails from Bareily in Uttar Pradesh and is currently serving the Indian Army.

Source : Wikipedia

303. Mohammed Fazal

Mohammed Fazal (born July 2, 1922) was the Governor of Maharashtra from October 10, 2002 to December 5, 2004.
He is known for his controversial suggestion to the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Sushilkumar Shinde to legalise prostitution.





Born in a well-known zamindar's (landlord's) family, he studied at the Allahabad University and later at the London School of Economics at the University of London.
In 1977, he was appointed the Secretary of Industrial Development, Government of India. He served the Planning Commission as its senior-most member from April 1980 till his resignation in January 1985. Thereafter, Mr. Fazal was the founding chairperson of Hughes & Hughes Chem Ltd.
In 1999, he was appointed the Governor of Goa a post he held until he was appointed as Governor of Maharashtra.

Source : Wikipedia

302. Irfan Razack

Chairman & Managing Director
Prestige Group




Irfan Razack, the eldest son of Razack Sattar, is at the helm of the Prestige Group. A born leader, Irfan is blessed with the acumen to see opportunities where none apparently exist, the courage to take the untrodden path and the determination to see his vision through to fruition. His leadership acumen received national recognition, when he was declared Professional of the Year at the Real Estate Excellence Awards 2008. He has been Honorary Secretary of the Al Ameen Educational Society for 17 years, the President of Bangalore Commercial Association (BCA), and the Chairman of the Real Estate Committee of CREDAI, Karnataka for 4 years.

He has been a special invitee to the southern regional council of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). He is also a sought after panelist for discussions on business and real estate on leading television channels.

While Irfan propels the falcon to soar higher, farther and wider, what sets him clearly apart is his ability to simultaneously bring his formidable abilities to bear on philanthropic and social causes. A past president of Rotary Midtown, Bangalore, he is still actively involved in the Club's activities, and is also a Paul Harris Fellow. Among his many initiatives is the prestigious Rotary Midtown Prestige Citizen Extraordinaire Award to honour citizens of Bangalore who have contributed to society in a truly significant way. He has attended a course by the United Nations University International's Leadership Academy (UNU/ILA) in Jordan, and now shares his knowledge with budding leaders, both in the Prestige Group and beyond.

A man of many facets, Irfan's leadership skills have been at the fore right from his youth. As a student leader at St. Joseph's College, Bangalore he was the driving force behind many a laurel won by it. In recognition of his achievements the St. Joseph's Old Boys Association has honoured him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Source : prestigeconstructions.com

301. Fariq Naik

Fariq Naik, son of the Illustrious world renowned orator on Islam and comparative religion, Dr, Zakir Naik, is presently 14 years of age and studying in Std. VIII.

Home was his 1st school where he received his Islamic training and his parents his 1st teachers. Born on the 10th July 1994, Fariq has an excellent memory. He is able to absorb Arabic, the language of the Qur’an easily and converse fluently.

The complete memorization of the Glorious Qur’an is one of his achievements, along with regular Academics at the tender age of 13.

He is, one of the 15 IIS students, IIS Huffaz in the age group of 11 to 13 years, who have not only memorized the Qur’an but also understand its language.

In my knowledge I do not know of any child below the age of 14 in India who has memorized the complete Qur’an and understands what he has memorized.

Fariq is also a product of the unique and unconvential method of Memorising the Qur’an without compromising on any part of Academics, sports or extra curricular activity and spending one hour a day – five days a week – Nine months a year. The students of Hifz are supposed to complete the Hifz in a span of 5 years from IV to VIII Std but Fariq Al Hamdulillah memorised the Qur’an in 3 ½ years at the age of 13.

Unfortunately, Qur’an remains memorized in the hearts of thousands of Huffaz – UNCOMPREHENDED! Hence generations are devoid of its meaning and mercy! Imagine if all the Huffaz in India understood the Qur’an and implemented it, what a ‘positive transformation’ we could have!

Since a very young age of 8, while on Dawah trips with his father, Fariq started giving short talks in English and Arabic as well as recited the Qur’an in front of large audiences of thousands in Chennai, Kashmir, Poona, Dubai, Italy, Trinidad and other cities of the world. He also had the privilege of addressing more than 50,000 people in Srinagar in 2003 at age 9 and a larger audience in Hyderabad in 2006 at the age of 12.

His hobbies include traveling and exploring the beautiful creations of Allah. Besides visiting several cities in India, he has traveled to South Africa, USA, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in South America, Dubai and several trips to the Holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Source : deedsuponintention.com

300. Dr Syed Ziaur Rahman

Born	September 10, 1972 (1972-09-10) (age 39) Aligarh, India
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Aligarh Muslim University & University of Western Sydney

Dr Syed Ziaur Rahman (Urdu: ڈ اکٹر سید ضیا ء ا لرحمن) (Bengali: সৈয়দ জিয়াউর রহমান) is a faculty member in the discipline of Pharmacology and Chair of the Advisory Council (Section 3), International Association of Medical Colleges.

Biography

Syed Ziaur Rahman's father Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, grandfather Hakim Syed Fazlur Rahman and great grandfather Hakim Syed Karam Husain were all physicians of Unani medicine.
He earned his matriculation in 1987 from Minto Circle, graduation (MBBS) in 1995 and postgraduation (MD) in 2000 from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, a part of Aligarh Muslim University, India. His PhD thesis is on exploring various health and lifestyle parameters in relation to dementia from UWS School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Australia.
He has been on the board of various academic bodies such as Advisory Council Section 1 (Medical Education) of International Association of Medical Colleges, Mahatma Gandhi DorenKamp Center for Alternatives to the use of Animals in Life-science Education and also on editorial board panel of many academic journals such as 'Natural Product Radiance' (now, Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources) of NISCAIR 'Clinical Researcher','Newsletter of Ibn Sina Academy' and 'Journal of Pharmacovigilance & Drug Safety'.
He served as Secretary Hobbies (1992–1994), Chief Editor (1996–1997), Club Secretary (1997–2000) and President (2007–2009) of the Non-Resident Students' Centre.

 Contribution in medical science

• Alternatives to animal testing: He believes in the philosophy of 'Three Rs" of Russell and Burch". He gave series of lectures during 2004 at “Alternatives, Animal Welfare and the Curriculum – A training Seminar and Workshop” in different cities of India.He addressed in the meetings of International Network for Humane Education (InterNICHE) and International Centre for Alternatives in Research and Education (I-CARE). On the recommendation of Medical Council of India (MCI), and after getting survey related to the attitude of undergraduate medical students towards Alternatives to animal testing and Animal experiments, he initiated a separate lab on “Alternatives to Animal Experimentation” in the Department of Pharmacology at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College. This is a first attempt in any medical college of India to have an exclusive lab where experimental work on animals is demonstrated by Computer aided education. In addition, he edited "A guide to alternatives to animal experiment in pharmacology", which is included in the curriculum of second professional MBBS course. He even translated few papers into Urdu in the field of Alternatives to animal testing

• Traditional medicine: He works in the field of Traditional medicine with special reference to Unani medicine While working on morphine de-addiction properties of medicinal plants, he proposed a modified method for moderately and severely induced morphine dependent rats He specifically screened Delphinium denudatum for its protective activity in morphine induced physical dependence.

• Pharmacovigilance: His other field of works is Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoepidemiology. In the field of Pharmacovigilance, he gave the concept of Pharmacoenvironmentology and differentiated the term Ecopharmacology from Pharmacoenvironmentology. However, some scientists also suggest the term, ‘EcoPharmacovigilance’ and ‘PharmEcovigilance’ in place of Pharmacoenvironmentology. He started as editor-in-chief, the official journal of the Society of Pharmacovigilance, India (SoPI) in 2003 - "Journal of Pharmacovigilance & Drug Safety (ISSN 0972–8899)"

 Medico-social services

• He is affiliated with many professional academic bodies such as National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), Indian Science Congress Association, Indian Medical Association, Safety Pharmacology Society, Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine, Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists, International Society for Neurochemistry, International Brain Research Organization, IndiaCLEN (Regional network of INCLEN), Indian Science News Association (Science and Culture), Association of Physiologists and Pharmacologists of India, Indian Pharmacological Society and Academics of Indian origin, Australia.
• He is the Founder Trustee and Treasurer of Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences. He coordinated in the establishment of its Library, Museums, AIDS Cell & Centre for Safety & Rational Use of Indian Systems of Medicine.
• He arranged many medical camps on the occasion of World AIDS Day, World Health Day and World Tuberculosis Day.

 Selected awards

• ISN Fellowship, 20th Biennial Meeting of the ISN-European Society for Neurochemistry (ESN), Austria, 2005.
• ISN Fellowship, First Special Neurochemistry Conference, International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN), France, 2004
• WHO Fellowship, Second International Conference on Improving Use of Medicines (ICIUM 2004), Thailand, 2004
• WHO Fellowship, 2nd Asian Course on Problem-Based Pharmacotherapy Teaching, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia, 2003.
• APSN Fellowship, 6th Biennial Meeting of the Asia Pacific Society for Neurochemistry, 2004, Hong Kong.
• SPS Junior Scientist Award, Safety Pharmacology Society, USA, 2005 & 2006.
• The African Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology (AiBST) Scholarship, Kenya, 2003
• Shikhar Samman (in the field of medical science), Shikhar (a literary, cultural and social organization), India, 2008.
• John Autian Award, Annual Conference of Indian Pharmacological Society, India, 1998 and 2002.

 Selected publications

• A Guide to the Alternatives to Animal Experimentation. Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences. 2009 (revised second edition 2010). ISBN 978-81-906070-8-7. 
• An Introduction to Environmental Pharmacology. Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences. 2008. ISBN 978-81-906070-4-9. 
• History of Non Resident Students’ Centre, AMU, Aligarh. Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences. 2000. 
• The Glowing Legend of Sir Syed – A Centennial Tribute. Non-Resident Students’ Centre, Aligarh Muslim University. 1998. 
• Aligarh in My Days. Non-Resident Students’ Centre, Aligarh Muslim University. 1997.

Source : Wikipedia

299. Moraad Ali Khan

Moraad Ali Khan is one of the top shooters of India. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1996. He won gold medal at the Manchester Commonwealth Games and many other international medal at the Asian and world level competitions. He has also been the National Champion seven times.
Born in 1961 he started playing only at the age of 32. He worked in Tata Steel in various Senior Executive positions before quitting the job after an illustrious career spanning 25 years with the company.Delhi .

He is currently producing a film titled "KHWAAB" which is in the genre of sports drama romance and is being directed by his son Zaid.

Source: Wikipedia

298. Ali Sardar Jafri

 

 Ali Sardar Jafri (1913-2000) --- Ali Sardar Jafri was born in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh.  He came to Mumbai in 1942 and made it his home. He firmly believed in the cultural unity of the subcontinent. Arrested for writing against British rule in India, Jafri was among the votaries of the progressive movement in Urdu literature.  Jafri's literary career began at the young age of 17. He has written nine books of verse, two plays, one memoir-reportage, three collections of critical essays and one volume of short stories. With the publication of his very first collection of nazm and ghazal, Parwaz, in 1943, he established himself as a poet to reckon with.










Five years later Nai Duniya Ko Salaam, an unconventional, longish nazm brimming with revolutionary optimism, took the Urdu world by pleasant surprise. Sardar had by then become a familiar and revered name. Among his other poetic works Khoon Ki Lakeer (1949), Ashia Jaag Uttha (1951), Patthar Ki Deewar (1953), Pairahan-e-Sharar (1966), Lahoo Pukarta Hai (1978) and November, Mera Gahwara (1998) are remarkable, both for their theme and style.  Sardar’s early works reflected a restless yearning for India’s independence from the colonial yoke. Equally intense was his yearning for the freedom and dignity of the proletariat. This was because of the strong impact of the Progressive Writers’ Movement inspired by Marxism. With the publication of Pairahan-e-Sharar in 1966, one could see a noticeable shift in Sardar’s poetry, both in terms of its grammar as well as form. In its preface the diehard, uncompromising radical of Patthar Ki Deeawar now declared that his nazms were no longer ‘political documents’. Rather they were a ‘cry of the heart and voice of the soul’. As it has been said, "The Sardar was a rebel, freedom fighter, pacifist, radical activist, story writer, critic and documentary filmmaker at once. But, above all, he was a poet endowed with exquisite imagination, one of the brightest stars on the firmament of 20th century Urdu poetry. Like all great poets he was a prophet engaged in unravelling the mysteries and ambiguity of human drama. The principal theme of his poetry was compassion, love, perseverance and sensitivity surviving amidst the callous inhumanity of our times. In his unique style, he depicted the exemplary survival of the human spirit in face of all-pervasive adversity and defeatism. In so doing he not only carried forward the traditions of Urdu poetry but enriched its treasure with new symbols and powerful imagery. Indeed, his poetry gradually evolved into a genre of its own kind whose influence is difficult to ignore among the present generation of Urdu poets."  He was awarded the Iqbal Gold Medal by the Pakistan government in 1978.  In India, he was awarded the prestigious Jnanpith Puraskar in 1998. His memorable work, Ek Khwab Aur, received the Sahitya Akademi award. He received the Jnanpith Award for the year 1997.

Source : oocities.org

297. Kazi Abdul Wadud

Kazi Abdul Wadud (Bengali: কাজী আবদুল ওদুদ) (26 April 1894 – 19 May 1970) was a Bengali author. He championed the Buddhir Mukti Andolon.

 Life

Kazi Abdul Odud was born in 1894 at his mother's village Jagannathpur in the district of Nadia(now Kushtia). His father's name is Kazi Syed Hossain and his home is at the village Bagmara of the district Faridpur.
He passed entrance from Dhaka Collegiate School
He passed B.A. from Presidency College, Calcutta in 1917.
In 1919 he got an M.A. in Economics from Calcutta University.
He was appointed a lecturer of Bangla at Dhaka Intermediate College in 1920.
He died in 1970 in Calcutta.



Personality

Kazi Abdul Odud was a faithful muslim as well as a Bengali by heart. He didn't accept the state Pakistan from heart. He permanently moved to Calcutta after the birth of Pakistan and never visited East Pakistan(now Bangladesh) again.
Throughout his life he championed the freedom of thought.

 Bibliography

Kazi Abdul Odud wrote many books. His books represent the diversity of his interest.A brief bibliography follows:b

 Essays

• Kabiguru Göethe ( vols. 1 & 2)
• Shashwata Banga

Source : Wikipedia

296. Syed Mustafa Siraj

Syed Mustafa Siraj সৈয়দ মুস্তাফা সিরাজ is an eminent Bengali writer. In 1994, he received the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel Aleek Manush অলীক মানুষ. In 2005, his short story Ranirghater Brittanto রানীরঘাটের বৃত্তান্ত was made into the film "Faltu" by Anjan Das.

Early life

The famous Bengali writer Syed Mustafa Siraj সৈয়দ মুস্তাফা সিরাজ was born in a village named Khoshbaspur in the district of Murshidabad in 1930. In his early days, he enjoyed a bohemian life style. Once he joined a folk drama group 'Aalkaap আলকাপ' and travelled the districts of Murshidabad, Malda, Burdwan, Birbhum and also performed in Kolkata. In those days, he used to perform whole night and sleep in day time. He used to play flute. He was a teacher of folk dance and drama. But oneday he got tired of this life and felt he had a wider life spreading around him. He turned his face to writing poetry and short stories. Later he came to Kolkata and enter the world of serious writings and immediately became famous for his short stories. "Inti, pisi o ghatbabu ইন্তি, পিসি ও ঘাটবাবু", "Bhalobasa o down train ভালবাসা ও ডাউন ট্রেন", "Hizal Biler Rakhalera হিজল বিলের রাখালেরা" and "Taranginir Chokh তরঙ্গিনীর চোখ" brought fame for him. He joined one Bengali daily news paper as a journalist and minded in serious and creative writing. He wrote around 150 novels and 300 short stories. His short stories " Uro pakhir Chhaya উড়ো পাখির ছায়া ", "Manusher Janma মানুষের জন্ম", "Ranabhumi রণভূমি", "Rakter Pratyasha রক্তের প্রত্যাশা ", " Maati মাটি ", "Goghna গোঘ্ন ", "Mrityur Ghora মৃত্যুর ঘোড়া " immediately attaracted the bengali readers and intellectuals. He got "Ananda Puraskar", "Bankim Puraskar", "Sahitya Akademy Puraskar", "Bhualka Puraskar", "Narsingdas Puraskar" and a lot of awards for his literary excellence.
His first novel is "Neel Gharer Nati নীলঘরের নটী". The other novel "Trinabhumi তৃণভূমি" (and also Kingbadantir nayak কিংবদন্তীর নায়ক", "Aleek Manush অলীক মানুষ" and "Uttar Jahnabi উত্তর জাহ্ণবী" ) was a big success and was translated into all major Indian languages. His short stories " Mrityur Ghora মৃত্যুর ঘোড়া", " Rakter Pratyasha রক্তের প্রত্যাশা", "Goghna গোঘ্ন" and many other stories have been translated in different languages.


He is also a creator of a detective character "Goenda Colonel গোয়েন্দা কর্নেল" - Detective Colonel. An ex-Colonel Niladri Sarkar is the hero to find out the culprit or killer. The stories are so interesting that Siraj has got own fan followings. From children to old people, there are huge number of readers who are fond of Colonel Niladri Sarkar.
A retired Colonel – Niladri Sarkar – was the eccentric sleuth in Syed Mustafa Siraj’s stories, narrated by a lazy journalist (Jayanta) who accompanied him on his missions. The colonel was a butterfly collector and ornithologist, smoked pipes and had a Santa beard. He was also jovial and liked quoting Bengali proverbs & nursery rhymes.
Siraj did not start his career writing for children. His reputation was built on writing novels & short stories for adults. He started writing for children to respond the huge demand for that genre in Bengali.

Source : Wikipedia

295. Shaista Ambar

Social activist

President
 All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board


In the face of grim opposition from fundamentalists, she set up the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board to challenge the persecution of Muslim women by half-educated maulvis through biased interpretations of the Quran. The graduate from Lucknow University and holder of two degrees in Urdu-Persian literature and theology from AMU is known as "Godmother" among the rural poor of Lucknow.


 


The mother of three grown-up children, her husband Mohammad Idris, a provincial civil services officer, approves of her work-but after initial reluctance. "As a Muslim woman I must obey my husband," she says.

ALL INDIA MUSLIM WOMEN PERSONAL LAW BOARD

Personal Law Boards are mushrooming in Uttar Pradesh. Muslim women are also making futile efforts to prove their mettle. They took a vow to prove themselves. They have now emerged in Uttar Pradesh as a force to reckon with and have the capability to launch a powerful and effective movement to uplift their lot. The Muslim women are not lagging behind, they too have formed the All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board challenging the authority of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) which is till now considered an apex decision-making body of the community.
The president of the All-India Muslim Women Law Board, Mrs. Shaista Amber, told this correspondent that the decision to form Muslim Women Law Board came after deep thought and concerted efforts. The intention is very clear and pious, she pointed out blaming the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) ignoring and isolating problems of the Muslim women and that is why the need for AIMWLB arose.


 Source : archives.digitaltoday.in/indiatoday, muslimwomenpersonallaw.com

294. Omar Abdullah

 

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
Assumed office 05 January 2009

Minister of State for External Affairs
In office 23 July 2001 – 23 December 2002

Born	10 March 1970 (1970-03-10) (age 41) Rochford, Essex, United Kingdom
Political party	Jammu and Kashmir National Conference

Omar Abdullah (Hindi: उमर अब्दुल्लाह, Urdu: عمر عبدالله), born 10 March 1970 in United Kingdom, is an Indian Kashmiri politician and the scion of Kashmir's 'first family', the Abdullah family who became the 11th and the youngest Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir after forming a government in coalition with the Congress party, on January 5, 2009.
yes he was a member of 14th Lok Sabha, representing Srinagar constituency of Jammu and Kashmir, India. He was a Union Minister of State for External affairs in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA government, from July 23, 2001 to December 23, 2002. He resigned from NDA government in October 2002 to concentrate on party work. Prime Minister tried to convince him to continue his work. However, on 23 December 2002 his resignation was accepted by President A P J Abdul Kalam.
Omar joined politics in 1998, as a Lok Sabha member, a feat he repeated in subsequent three elections and also remained a Union minister; he took on the mantle of National Conference from his father in 2002, though he lost his own seat of Ganderbal during the 2002 state assembly elections, and so did his party, the political mandate; four years later, he fought once again from the very seat and won in the 2008 Kashmir Elections.


Early life and education

Omar Abdullah was born 10 March 1970. He is the son of Farooq Abdullah and grandson of Sheikh Abdullah, all three of whom have been Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir. His mother Mollie, a British Christian, and a nurse by profession, was not in favor of him joining politics. He studied at the Burn Hall School, Srinagar and then at Lawrence School, Sanawar. He is an alumnus of Sydenham College, Mumbai (where he did his B.Com.). After that he joined the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, for an MBA, although he did not complete it.
He married his own wife, daughter of an Army officer, Major General Ram Nath from Delhi  on September 1, 1994, and the couple have two sons, Zahir and Zamir, hence. They are currently separated.  His younger sister, Sarah Abdullah is married to Sachin Pilot, son of Rajesh Pilot. He has been criticized by many for violating the Muslim Personal Law which barrs Muslims from marrying non-Muslims.

 Political career

Before joining politics, Omar Abdullah worked with ITC Limited in its International Business Division. He was posted in Hyderabad and Mumbai. In 1998, at the age of 29, Omar Abdullah was elected to 12th Lok Sabha, becoming the youngest minister. In 1998-99, he was a member of both the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of Tourism's Consultative Committee. In 1999, he was re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (2nd term). On October 13, 1999 he took oath as Union Minister of State, Commerce and Industry. On July 22, 2001, he became the youngest Union Minister, when he was made Union Minister of State for External affairs. He resigned from the post on December 23, 2002, to concentrate on party work.
On June 23, 2002, he became the President of the National Conference party, replacing his father, Farooq Abdullah.
He lost his Ganderbal seat in the Kashmir assembly elections held in September–October 2002.
Abdullah was re-elected as the National Conference party's president in 2006.
In March 2006, much to the disapproval of the centreOmar Abdullah had a one-on-one meeting with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharaf, in Islamabad. This was the first meeting of its kind between a mainstream politician from Jammu & Kashmir and the Pakistani government, thereby re-enforcing Omar's growing commitment to the solution of the Jammu & Kashmir cause. Omar received a rousing reception by thousands of Kashmiris upon his return.



























On July 9, 2007, Omar escaped a bid on his life when suspected militants threw two rifle grenades targeted at him. The incident happened when Omar was interacting with party workers at a party leader's house.

“	“I am a Muslim and I am an Indian, and I see no distinction between the two. I don't know why should I fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future. The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor—poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice….” - Omar Abdullah, July 22nd, 2008, Lok Sabha.	”

On July 22, 2008, Omar gave a passionate speech during the 2008 Lok Sabha vote of confidence, which was praised by almost all quarters, and even won him fans on the internet. He was also seen briefly, playing himself, in director Apoorva Lakhia’s film, Mission Istanbul (2008), based on international terrorism.
After the 2008 Kashmir Elections, the National Conference won the maximum number of seats, and formed a coalition government with the Congress party, and Omar was sworn in as the 11th Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on January 5, 2009 at the General Zoravar Singh Stadium in the University of Jammu, Jammu, raising hope amongst the people of Jammu and Kashmir who had been reeling under insurgency and violence since 1989.
Omar Abdullah on 28 July 2009 submitted his resignation to Governor Narinder Nath Vohra over sex scandal allegations against him by the opposition PDP. His resignation, however, was rejected by Governor Vohra.

Criticism

Most notable among his criticism is his personal involvement in the infamous sex scandal of 2006 in Kashmir. The allegation was made in the State Assembly by the opposition party PDP including its president Mehbooba Mufti and former deputy Chief Minister Muzaffer Hussein Beigh in 2010. Omar offered to resign if proven guilty. He has also been accused of taking kick-backs amounting to 400,000,000 Indian Rupees in one of the prominent power projects in the State. Of late, he was accused of ordering the killing of one of his party-workers and a close associate of his father - Syed Mohammad Yousuf, who was beaten up in his house. The victim was reportedly involved in cash-for-position scam worth few crore rupees. There have been demands of his resignation ever-since.
After Abdullah assumed the office of Chief Minister on 5 January 2009, the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir deteriorated. Within his first six months in the office, Indian Paramilitary Forces, specifically the Central Reserve Police Force, were accused of killing at least fifteen civilians, including three women whom they were also accused of raping. The first killing took place barely a few hundred meters away from the residence of Omar Abdullah, only two days after he was sworn in as Chief Minister of the state. The victim, Abdul Rashid Rishi, 45, a deaf man from South Kashmir’s Pahalgam, was shot dead by the Central Reserve Police Force on January 7, 2009. The killings at Bomai, Khaigam, Baramulla and the rape and murder of two young women in Shopian invoked severe public anger, and resulted in valley-wide protests, and reiterated demands for freedom and removal of Indian Paramilitary Forces from Jammu and Kashmir.
In the subsequent days, hundreds of protesters, including opposition leaders, were beaten up, and many were arrested or detained under a controversial Public Safety Act. On 8 July 2009 alone, PTI reported that "...police has arrested over 320 people..." who according to police were "fomenting trouble". Police slapped minor charges of disturbing peace to serious offences like that under section 307 (attempt of murder) on those arrested. An editorial in Greater Kashmir noted about this situation that "...ever since the new government took over the state administration has not only been handling every situation ineptly but also ridiculously... (administration) has been detaining and slapping Public Safety Acts against the voices of dissent and disagreement on absurd and ludicrous grounds that have made it a laughing stock within and outside the state...". According to official statistics, 554 persons were detained under PSA in Jammu and Kashmir from January 2008 to August 2009. Ironically, the Law and parliamentary affairs minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar said that invoking of PSA is necessary for running the affairs of the State.
Omar Abdullah was also accused of covering up the rape and murder of two young women in Shopian, which was allegedly perpetrated by Indian Paramilitary Forces. Many regarded this as Abdullah's first failure, as even moderates felt Abullah had bowed to pressure from New Delhi. A. G. Noorani, a prominent lawyer and a commentator on regional affairs stated that Abdullah "needed prodding by the Centre even to order registration of a First Information Report... this testifies the gravity of Omar Abdullah’s lapses... (and) reveals the mindset that he will follow the tradition firmly established by his father, Farooq Abdullah..."
Conversely, there have been claims that the two women who were found dead were not raped and/or murdered. The CBI has said in its chargesheet filed before a court in Srinagar that Aasiya was a virgin and that both women drowned. The CBI investigation has declared that doctors in the district hospital had fiddled with the port-mortem report and fabricated evidence to implicate the security forces. However, majority of media opinion and that of the public is against this view, who regards this defense as a mere cover-up for the case. The case is still ongoing.
Taking a sharp dig at Omar Abdullah’s claim on micro-blogging site Twitter that not a single innocent person or minor from Kashmir was behind the bars, Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani said the chief minister had “surpassed Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in dissipating lies.”
Many also accuse him of being a non-serious politician. He has been pictured playing with his i-Pad during important meetings and assembly sessions. Having inherited political power and legacy from his grand-father, even some of his cabinet colleagues including Mustafa Kamal and Ali Muhammad Sagar have publicly criticized him for naive attitude.

 Misdemeanors and/or cases of abuse of power/ corruption

Mr Abdullah was accused of using the state helicopter for personal use costing the exchequer to the tune of INR 120 million (USD 2.6 million). It was brought to light by the state government's civil aviation departments in response to a RTI application filed by a local resident. Opposition parties, without exception, criticized this rank abuse of authority where Abdullah used the scarce resource of the state to ferry him to different picnic destinations of the state- a state which is considered as one of the poorest in India.

Source  : Wikipedia

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293. Adil Jussawalla

Adil Jussawalla was born in Bombay in 1940. He was a student of Architecture in London between 1957 and 1958. He read English Language and Literature at Oxford and taught at a language school in London before returning to Bombay in 1970, where he became one of the founder members of the influential poets’ publishing co-operative Clearing House, which brought out eight books of poems between 1976 and 1984. 

Of Jussawalla’s precocious first collection, Land’s End (1962), Dom Moraes wrote that it “seemed [to him], and to many other poets in England, one of the most brilliant first books published since the war”. Missing Person (1976) – a startling hybrid of varied tones, perspectives and influences – has itself become a deep, acknowledged influence on the generations of Indian poets that came after it. The anthology Jussawalla edited, New Writing in India (1974), a snapshot of Indian writing in the 1960s across languages, is still widely and closely read today. Almost Island Books published his third book of poetry Trying to Say Goodbye in Nov 2011.

Jussawalla has worked as a newspaper editor and columnist, and written narratives for television films shown on BBC (Train to Calcutta, 1969) and on Channel 4 (War, 1989).  He has been an Honorary Fellow at the International Writing Program, The University of Iowa.  His poems have been translated into several Indian and European languages and have appeared in anthologies published in India and abroad.

Source : hyderabadliteraryfestival.com

292. Attia Hosain

 

Born	1913
Died	1998
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Indian
Genres	Novels

Attia Hosain (1913–1998) is a writer, feminist and broadcaster. She was born in 1913 in Lucknow in a taluqdar background. She moved to Britain in 1947.

Biography

Attia was born in Lucknow and went to the local La Martiniere Girls' College. She was the daughter of Sheikh Shahid Husain Kidwai and Nisar Fatima, the daughter of Syed Maqbool Hussain Alvi of Kakori.
She studied at Isabella Thoburn College from the age of fifteen and Lucknow University.
She moved to Britain in 1947 and became a broadcaster for the BBC, hosting a popular women's radio programme.
Attia's great-niece is the Pakistani author Kamila Shamsie.

Awards

• Gold medal when she became the first women from a Taluqdar family to graduate from the University of Lucknow in 1933. (She married Ali Bahadur Haibullah in the same year on February 27).
• The Attia Hosain Trust at Newnham College, Cambridge was set up to fund public lectures on multiculturalism and is presently (2007) funding the fees of South Asian women students at the College.

List of works (incomplete)

• Phoenix Fled, Chatto & Windus, 1953
• Sunlight on a Broken Column, Chatto & Windus, 1961
• Cooking the Indian Way, 1967

Attia Hosain was born into a feudal family in Lucknow, north India in 1913 and grew up knowing many of the major political and literary figures of the time. When Independence came to India and Pakistan in 1947, she was among the most privileged and perceptive observers of the partition of the sub-continent.

Her husband Ali Bahadur Habibullah was posted to London in early 1947, and she would spend much of the rest of her life in the onetime capital of Empire. Perhaps this distance contributed to the keen insight displayed in what has since emerged as one of the finest novels about those tumultuous days, Sunlight on a Broken Column. (1961).
Attia Hosain's life encapsulates many of the personal contradictions and difficult choices that faced so many people then and now. She left the divisions of religion in one part of the world, only to find that they still matter decades later in another apparently secular country.

A longtime BBC Urdu programme presenter to both India and Pakistan, she also had a successful career in theater and other media for half a century until she died on January 23, 1998.
Source : Wikipedia, harappa.com