Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim
Your Excellency Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Minister for Culture Shrimati Chandresh Kumari Katoch
Mr. Ratan Tata
Honorable Ministers, Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me first extend my special thanks to the Prime Minister, whose presence honours all of us.

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Your Excellency, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Kiran Kumar Reddy
Your Excellency, Honourable Union Minister for Human Resources Development, Dr Pallam Raju
Honourable Ministers
Distinguished Guests
Staff and students of the Aga Khan Academies in Mombasa and in Mozambique
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is great joy for me to welcome you on this wonderful occasion. And I want to begin these comments by thanking the Chief Minister for his and his government’s support to the creation of this institution.

This week we travel to outskirts of Hyderabad to interview His Highness The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili Community and Founder and Chairman of The Aga Khan Development Network. He speaks about how he bridges the east and the west and brings different communities together. He says that the modern world suffers from ignorance rather than civilization. He also speaks about how his academy is devoid of caste, religion and sect. And about how his life changed after the World Trade Centre plane crash in 2001.

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, September 2013 - The Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad is a new, not-for-profit school situated on a 100-acre campus near the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. It will be inaugurated by the Union Minister of Human Resources and the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in the presence of His Highness the Aga Khan, founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network.

New Delhi: One of New Delhi's most famous monuments, a mausoleum that inspired the Taj Mahal, will be officially unveiled today after a six-year refit that has seen it restored to its original form. Humayun's Tomb, completed in 1570 by the Islamic Mughal dynasty that ruled most of northern India for more than three centuries, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the biggest draws for visitors to the Indian capital.

New Delhi: Spiritual leader Prince Karim Aga Khan IV will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Wednesday.

Aga Khan IV, who arrived on an official visit to India for 11 days, will meet Dr Singh at the latter's official 7, Race Course Road (RCR) here at 12: 30 pm.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will then call on the visiting dignitary at around 3 pm at Hotel Taj Mahal here.

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari will host a banquet in honour of the spiritual leader at the Hyderabad House here at 7: 45 pm.

Press Trust of India New Delhi

Aga Khan, the chairman of Aga Khan Development network, arrived here today on a 12-day India visit during which he will meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Vice President Hamid Ansari.

Khan would preside over an inauguration ceremony to mark the completion of the restoration of Humayun's Tomb Heritage site tomorrow.

The restoration work at the heritage site has been carried out by the Aga Khan Trust.

Aga Khan Development Network Revitalisation to Begin on Quli Qutb Shah
Archaeological Park in Hyderabad, India

This Jamatkhana is under Chitravad (gir) Council.
It is a small jamat and all Ismaili belongs farming (agriculture).
This Jamat is very decent and spiritual.

Humayun's Tomb -- the 16th century magnificent Mughal marvel -- will be the first stop in Delhi tomorrow for US President Barack Obama, who will pay tribute to India's rich cultural heritage through his visit to the monument.

Obama, accompanied by his wife Michelle, is expected to drive to the beautiful red-stone monument in south Delhi, which now sports a new look after a major renovation exercise.

New Delhi, Nov.7 : It was as close to the slum-dog moment as the Obamas could get in their India tour. The US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama met with 16 children of labourers at the Humayun’s tomb in New Delhi today.

The children, aged between five and seven, do not go to a regular school because they are too poor. They receive informal education due to the voluntary efforts of Mr K.K. Mohammad, the Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of India who has taken upon himself to get some basic literacy tools to these kids.

New Delhi, Nov.7 : Spending almost an hour at the 16th century Humayun Tomb complex, the Obamas held hands and listened carefully as the officer of the ArchaeologicalSurvey of India (ASI) explained in detail the history of the complex. They asked a few questions about therestoration work that the ASI and Aga Khan Trust were doing.

NEW DELHI: Twenty-eight-year-old Anisha, now a mother of four, was married off at the tender age of nine. Born and brought up in Bihar, she landed in Delhi with her husband, who paints for a living. From her ordinary existence as a housewife in Nizamuddin basti, she has emerged as a respected earning member of the family who brings home up to Rs 5,000-8,000 every month. For this, Anisha put in almost three years to train herself in traditional sanjhi cutting and jaali pattern work.

NEW DELHI: This cultural revival project is a part of the vocational training programme of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture's urban renewal project in the Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti and is co-funded by Ford Foundation. The women have been trained by skilled craftsmen. According to officials, the project aims to link heritage with opportunities for economic gain by training both women and men.