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

The Globe and Mail. The wealthy Muslim leader and philanthropist was in Ottawa this week to discover the secret of the nation's multicultural success. But he was critical of the U.S. for its simplistic views of good and evil. 'I will not stigmatize a whole population as being evil, whether they are Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu. I can't do that,' he told JOHN STACKHOUSE and PATRICK MARTIN.

OTTAWA - CNW: Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien and His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims today together called for an increased commitment to fostering pluralism in societies across both the developing and developed worlds. The Aga Khan was concluding a two day official visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada.

The Globe and Mail - Thousands to join 10-city walk on Sunday to further Aga Khan Foundation's work. Karim Mamdani remembers well the smiling face of a woman he met cooking food on her new chula in a village in India. 'I wondered how come she had a big smile on her face. She just got her appliance,' said Mr. Mamdani, the Toronto-area convener for this Sunday's annual World Partnership Walk, organized to raise money for the Aga Khan Foundation Canada.

The Moscow Times - In Central Asia, where authoritarian leaders thwart democracy and Islamic militancy is a threat, a group of international scholars are creating a regional university to bring secular education to people in some of the remotest, most forbidding and poverty-stricken regions. 'We want to give them the opportunity to be modern and remain where their forefathers have lived,' said S.

: Aga Khan Foundation extended its work in neighbouring Tajikistan by starting a new initiative for raising domestic food production. Through its Mountain Societies Development Support Programme, the foundation will develop local farms and bring more farmland under cultivation. At least 80 percent of the population of seven million in Tajikistan lives in poverty, and a third of the children are malnourished.

Dawn - Peshawar. NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah on Tuesday welcomed a change in the behaviour of people who are demanding education for their daughters. 'The story in the NWFP is similar to that of the other provinces where social taboos confined women to their traditional roles. We are enlightened people, but how many of us allow our womenfolk to participate in decision-making other than bringing up children. Now, the winds of change are blowing across the NWFP, people are demanding education for their children,' he said at a reception.

Chitral -The district government has constituted a coordination committee to monitor the development activities of the NGOs aimed at arresting the mounting sectarian tension in the area. The committee, to be headed by the district Nazim, comprises the district heads of all the political parties. Also, two representatives of the Ismaili community have been included in the committee. Shuaib Sultan, chairman of the National Rural Support Programme (SRSP), and Walji, chairman of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, had come to Chitral to attend the meeting.

Bishkek, October 31. (KABAR). The meeting of Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev with Prince Aga Khan was held in the Government House. In the course of the meeting, an Agreement on Economic Development between the Kyrgyz Republic and Aga Khan Fund is signed by Finance Minister of Kyrgyzstan Bolot Abildaev and Director of the Aga Khan Fund Yen Chein. In words of A. Akaev, this agreement is a fundamental for further cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Aga Khan Fund.

Prince Aga Khan, and Begum Inaara attended the civil wedding ceremony of Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Maxima Zorreguieta in Amsterdam, Saturday Feb. 2, 2002. Most of the European papers covered the story, Paris Match, Point de Vue, Hello etc.

NEW DELHI : As part of its plan to reorient its business, Development Credit Bank Ltd (DCB) is considering hiking the foreign direct investment (FDI) in the bank to 49 per cent from the present 37.5 per cent held by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). The Aga Khan Foundation of France, supports economic development in developing countries. 'With the FDI norms having been relaxed we are considering a possible hike in the overseas holding to 49 per cent,' Mr Sandeep Mookerjee, Head, Personal Finance Services, DCB, told Business Line.

Daily Nation (Nairobi) - The Tsavo project was the single largest foreign direct investment in the country in the recent past and was completed ahead of schedule. It was the first open bid project-financed Independent Power Producer (IPP). Industrial Promotion Services (Kenya) Ltd (IPS), an affiliate of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and Cinergy Global Power Inc of US are the largest investors through a joint venture in the Tsavo Power Company at 49.9 per cent.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200209040373.html

Nairobi (The East African) : AGA KHAN Health Services, Tanzania, has started to provide high quality healthcare services to the members of the newly formed Tanzania National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in an agreement reached in Dar es Salaam last month. The move will see NHIF members receiving high standards of care from AKHS health facilities in six centres where the AKHS runs hospitals.

Khaleej Times (UAE) - THE Aga Khan University Hospital, the leading arm of Pakistani development sector giants, the Aga Khan Development Network, finally made their Middle East move yesterday by establishing a representative office in Dubai which will also act as the liaison and specimen collection centre for UAE patients. The office was inaugurated by Shaikh Mohammed bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Director Sharjah Medical District in the presence of AKUH team headed by Dr Shamsh Kassim Lakha, president of university hospital and CEO Nadeem Mustafa Khan.

Since the mid-1980s, the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) had steadily expanded its development projects in the region, winning strong grassroots support. But over the last three years, the group has often been on the defensive. After several bomb threats and acts of sabotage, a powerful explosion in late 2000 prompted the AKRSP to shutter its offices here. The closing was only temporary, but it came as a blow to aid workers who thought they had made progress in overcoming years of sectarian strife.

The Nation, Karachi: Aga Khan deliberated upon the various facets of US' understanding of Islam and lamented the bias against Islam in the West. Commenting on the post-Sept 11 developments, he emphasised the need for a better understanding of Islam and the issues perturbing the Muslim mind around the world by the West. He said the West needs to realise that the majority of the Muslim Ummah was never in favour of the policies of the Taliban.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - President Pervez Musharraf on Friday promulgated Aga Khan University Examination Board Ordinance 2002 to establish an examination board under government's policy to encourage public-private partnership... The ordinance said that it was desirable in the national interest to aspire to standards of excellence in the field of education, and the government considers important to offer the people of Pakistan more educational options and to improve school examinations.

Sunday Nation - The Aga Khan Development Network has pledged continued investment in the country's social and economic projects. The network's resident representative, Mr Anil Ishani, said the support would not be affected by the political or economic situation as the organisation was confident that the people of Kenya would manage their affairs well.

On the occasion of the 2001 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Robert Ivy talked with His Highness the Aga Khan about the architectural, social, and environmental issues facing Islam today. The following interview was conducted at Aiglemont, France, on August 31. Due to the events of September 11, the interview has recently been updated. An abbreviated version of this interview appears in the February, 2002 issue of RECORD.

Tajik Television: A microfinance bank will be opened with the financial support of the Aga Khan Development Network in the country this year, an expert on microfinance of the Aga Khan Development Network, said during a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Qozimdavlat Qoimdodov. The bank will deal in savings and granting credits to individuals, financial groups and especially needy families and other sections of the population. The bank's headquarters will be situated in Dushanbe.

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Aga Khan, the billionaire spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims, will build the English-speaking world's biggest Islamic art museum and cultural center in Toronto after plans to buy a site in London failed, a spokesman said on Tuesday. The Aga Khan Development Network, one of the charitable institutions and businesses headed by the Aga Khan, said the museum would house artifacts from renowned private collections including those of the Aga Khan and of the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London.