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

ew Delhi [India]: The entry for Nila Gumbad at Humayun Tomb Complex in the national capital was opened on Saturday for the general public.
Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel opened the gate and also leads a morning walk at Humayun Tomb Complex as part of the Fit India Movement.

In 2017, Nila Gumbad was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Monument as part of the extended Humayun’s Tomb World Heritage Site.

By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Almost five years after its conservation, Neela Gumbad, the blue-tiled tomb in the 16th century mausoleum complex of Mughal emperor Humayun, is likely to be unveiled officially on Saturday.

According to officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel will inaugurate the ancient domed building on August 31 with two other projects — a new museum displaying retrieved and confiscated antiquities at Purana Quila and new-fangled illumination at Qutub Minar complex.

The 14th century baoli in the Kotla Feroz Shah complex is another example of a stepwell still in use. the decrepit well still waters the gardens.

Once important community spaces, stepwells from centuries ago needn’t just be relics of the past for tourists and history buffs but can be used to conserve water in these arid times, even with dipping groundwater levels, say conservationists and historians.

At a time when many areas in Delhi and multiple cities across the country are facing acute water shortage, Mughal Emperor Jahangir-built baoli at Arab Ki Sarai can become a harbinger of hope for water conservation. It is being revived with the twin purpose of heritage and water conservation.

Hyderabad: The Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad celebrated its sixth Graduation Ceremony at its 100-acre campus near Shamshabad/RGI Airport on Saturday 25th May 2019. 74 students of the Class of 2019 concluded their International Baccalaureate journey at the Academy with a formal evening ceremony attended by fellow students, Academy senior management, faculty and staff as well as parents, extended families and invited guests. These students join a growing legacy of global young leaders, driven by the Academy’s unique curriculum and approach to education.

The Imam of the Shia Ismaili community, the Aga Khan, on Thursday said his Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) will work for the agriculture sector and rural support in Maharashtra.
Lauding the efforts of the state government for tribal development, the visiting spiritual leader said he will consider extending support to finish incomplete irrigation projects in Maharashtra and create livelihood opportunities for tribals in remote areas.

By Bill Gates
Can goats empower women?
In one of the poorest areas of India, they already are.
This is thanks to a new team of health workers who are training rural women how to gain financial independence by raising healthier goats.

The health workers are goat nurses known as “pashu sakhis,” which means “friends of the animals” in Hindi. Pashu sakhis are all poor women themselves who are given basic training in how to vaccinate, deworm, and provide other preventive care to goats in their community.

So, how does this help empower women?

New Delhi: The Aga Khan Foundation on Tuesday partnered with the German embassy, which will provide Rs 41.5 lakh for rebuilding of a traditional ‘baoli (water stepwell) in the Humayun Tomb’s complex here.

It was announced during the signing of a memorandum of understanding by Aga Khan Trust for Culture Chief Executive Ratish Nanda and the German envoy Martin Ney in the Mughal-era Arab Ki Sarai premises.

The Arab Ki Sarai, an Archeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monument, houses an out-of-use stepwell.

Anganwadi teachers to collect info on food habits of families

The Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens (DWCD) will soon have a project monitoring unit (PMU) to monitor the data of children, pregnant and lactating mothers served by the Anganwadi centres across the State.
The DWCD has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Aga Khan Foundation which has agreed to support the PMU. Currently, the department’s internal IT Cell is digitising the data uploaded by Anganwadi supervisors.

Teachers roped in

On 22nd September 1962 at Calcutta (India) an address of welcome was presented to Mowlana Hazar Imam Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan by Shri Keshab Chandra Basu, the speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

All Nations Club of Calcutta (India) gave a Dinner in Honour of His Royal Highness Prince Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan on 22nd of September 1962.

His Excellency Shri Shanker Das Banarji, the Finance Minister of West Bengal (India) welcoming His Royal Highness, paid glowing tributes and said, “Your position, therefore, is that of a world citizen, who can make a large contribution towards creating goodwill among men, understanding and co-operation among nations.

His Royal Highness in his reply said, :

“Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Your Excellency, members of Kamar Education Trust:

Let me begin by saying how very happy I am to be amongst you today and how honoured I am that you should have invited me to lay the Foundation Stone of this Hostel. The kind words which you have spoken about my late Grandfather have touched me deeply as he was not only a great Muslim but the revered head of my family for over three quarters of a century.

Prince Aly Muhammad visited Gujerat, India for AKDN work in February 2019

Never in the history of Mankind has the speed of change been so great. Until some years ago, only the philosophers and astronomers had thought of the other worlds. All our children will have to think of them, for our boys and girls will certainly have the occasion to visit them.

This extraordinary widening of the horizons of mankind is something for which we must prepare our children and if the aim of education is to equip our young generations with the weapons with which to meet the future, then surely your institute is doing the most noble service.

PRINCE ALY MUHAMMAD IS IN INDIA THIS WEEK FOR AKDN WORK 2019-02-19

AT RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN

DELHI, INDIA,

JANUARY 12, 1983

Your Excellency,

I am delighted that this evening's most enjoyable dinner gives me the opportunity of thanking you publicly for the welcome which your Government, and in particular the Prime Minister and the officials concerned, have given us. My wife, my brother and I are all deeply touched by the warmth of our reception on this Silver Jubilee visit and are sincerely appreciative of the courtesies extended to us.

His Highness the Aga Khan led the prayers at Calcutta, India, where he spent a few days. When he is weighed in diamonds, the proceeds will be handed over to charity. An autographed study of the Aga Khan, seen with his wife the Begum, in Calcutta, India, on Dec. 13, 1945. (AP Photo)

URS AsiaOne Magazine felicitated the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad at the 3rd edition of India’s Greatest Brands & Leaders 2017-18 awards ceremony at Taj Lands End Hotel, Mumbai recently.

According to Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) listing of ancient structures in Delhi, Arab Sarai was built in 1560 by Hamida Banu Begum, who was chief consort of Mughal emperor Humayan, to accommodate 300 Arabs she had brought back from Mecca.

The lofty eastern gateway of a walled enclosure built in the 17th century — which was originally a market built during Jahangir’s reign along side Arab ki Sarai, Nizamuddin East — has been restored to its old glory.

The restorer, Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), began restoration work in January 2017.

Hyderabad: The Aga Khan Trust for Culture in collaboration with the State government and Tata Trust has completed conservation works on 25 monuments and landscape restoration over a 20 acres zone at Qutb Shahi Heritage Park.

The restoration initiative had master-craftsmen clocking 1,50,000 man-days of work to restore structural stability and grandeur of the monuments, a press release from Aga Khan Trust said.