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Derelict Deccan Park that lies unused for the past 15 years will be developed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and merged with the Qutub Shahi Tombs

A new lease of life is in the offing for the beleaguered Deccan Park that lies close to the Qutub Shahi Tombs and the historic Golconda Fort.

Developed at a cost of Rs 3 crore, the Deccan Park right from the beginning was ridden with one controversy or the other and as a result has not been thrown open to public.

THE Aga Khan Trust for Culture, one of the world’s premier organisation involved in matters of architecture, conservation and urban planning, will continue helping Malaysia protect, develop and enhance George Town, Penang.

The trust has extended its contract with Think City Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd) and Penang state government for another three years and will provide technical assistance to preserve the town, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO is 2008.

Hyderabad, India -- The old Qutb Shahi Tombs in India's southern Hyderabad city are getting a new life as they are being restored under a project sponsored by the United States.

The 400-year-old tombs have got grant of over USD100, 000 for the excavation work.

The United States, in collaboration with Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) - world's leading conservation body, are undertaking restoration and conservation project of the royal necropolis, said deputy chief of mission, U.S. embassy, Michael Pelletier.

If the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) doesn't improve the quality of conservation of Taj Mahal, the monument's maintenance could be handed over to the Aga Khan Foundation.

Talking to India Today, a senior ASI official said that the Ministry of Culture is planning to portion out the monument, giving the maintenance of its various areas to different organizations on the grounds of a Corporate Social Responsibility campaign that began in 2013 with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation signing up for the maintenance of the monument.

News Release

Ontario Signs Agreement of Cooperation with the Ismaili Imamat

Joint Initiatives to Promote Education, Diversity and Economic Development

May 25, 2015 12:00 P.M.

Office of the Premier

Premier Kathleen Wynne welcomed His Highness the Aga Khan to Queen's Park today for the signing of a historic Agreement of Cooperation between the province and the Ismaili Imamat. The agreement outlines areas of cooperation and joint initiatives, including leveraging diversity and culture as an economic driver and supporting a pluralistic approach to education.

The Inauguration of the Aga Khan Park will take place in the presence of Mawlana Hazar Imam on 25 May 2015. Situated along Wynford Drive, the Park provides a beautifully landscaped contemplative public space that encompasses the Ismaili Centre, Toronto and the Aga Khan Museum.

Also see:
» WEBCAST: Aga Khan Park opening in Toronto
http://www.theismaili.org/news-events/webcast-aga-khan-park-opening-toro...
» Aga Khan Park is for now and forever http://www.theismaili.org/news-events/event-journal-opening-toronto-and-...

CAIRO: The 14th century mosque of the Amir Aqsunqur, better known as the Blue Mosque, has been opened to the public Saturday after the completion of a six-year renovation project.

The mosque had been closed since 1992 due to damage it had suffered from an earthquake in the same year.

As part of the Al-Darb al-Ahmar Urban Regeneration Program, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) has commenced the renovation work in 2009.

Many of the Mughal rulers, perhaps most of them, were also exceptional leaders in the acumen and insight which they brought to their leadership roles. They were statesmen who would have excelled in any time

Spiritual leader of Ismaili sect Prince Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan visited the Taj Mahal on Wednesday. Following the visit, he commented "Thank you for letting me visit the Taj for the second time." He wrote the same comment in the monument's visitors' book.

New Delhi, India, 8 April, 2015 –His Excellency Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, today awarded His Highness the Aga Khan the Padma Vibhushan, one of the country’s highest civilian decorations, for his contributions to social development in India.

The award, which was bestowed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi as part of the commemoration of India’s 66th Republic Day, was also awarded to actor Amitabh Bhachchan, philanthropist Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade and renowned nuclear scientist, Malur Ramasamy Srinivasan, amongst others.

New Delhi: Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, Prince Karim Aga Khan, called on the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today. He is currently on a visit to India, and will be awarded the Padma Vibhushan by President Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow.

Bismillah-ir-Rahim-ir-Rahim

Honorable Minister of Tourism and Culture Dr. Mahesh Sharma
Secretary Mr. Ravindra Singh
Secretary Dr. Lalit Panwar

You have been most generous with your comments this afternoon and I thank you warmly for the encouragement you have given to the people of the Trust for Culture and myself. And I would like to begin these comments by repeating what I said when the foundation-stone was laid sometime ago of the restoration of the Humayun’s Tomb.

The Capital will have its first sunken interpretation centre linking three historic sites -- Humayun's Tomb, Sundar Nursery and Nizamuddin Basti -- if multiple agencies required to give clearances come together and give the go-ahead for the project.

Interpretation centres, popularly known as site museums that detail the history of a cultural or natural heritage, have been largely missing from the Indian arena. The project, a first of its kind in the country, has been conceptualised and designed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

Nairobi, Kenya - 29 November 2012

City Park face lift: Aga Khan, govt. sign agreement

Published on Nov 29, 2012 by NTVKenya

The government and the Aga Khan Trust have formalized the project to restore the Nairobi City Park. His Highness The Aga Khan and Prime Minister Raila Odinga signed the agreement to rehabilitate the Park at the Nairobi National Museum paving the way for the Aga Khan Trust to embark on the rehabilitation early next year.

Cairo Governorate and Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Public-Private Partnership for Historic Cairo Revitalisation Projects

Cairo, 17 July 2007 – Cairo’s Governor, H.E. Dr. Abdel Azim Wazir, and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture’s General Manager, Mr. Luis Monreal, today signed an historic Public-Private Partnership (PPP) linking Al-Azhar Park, a future “Urban Plaza” project at the northern end of the Park, and ongoing work by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Darb al-Ahmar.

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.

I think what drives our network is to enable people to manage their destinies. Once they manage their destinies, you will see, generally speaking, a take-off situation. It’s when they cannot manage their destinies and cannot achieve a level of economic independence that they are indebted in a terrible way or are subject to climate change because they are in agriculture or because they are high-risk and they have an earthquake — these are situations which we try to assist.