AMU Annual Convocation: Mr. A.R. Rahman being confered an Honorary D.Lit, Report from PRO Dr Rahat Abrar

L to R Justice Ahmadi, Mr. Gopal Krishna Gandhi, AMU VC, Mr. A.R. Rahman and AMU Controller Exams

Mr. Gopal Krishna Gandhi at the 59th Annual Convocation at AMU

Noted Musician Mr. A.R. Rahman being confered an Honorary D.Lit. at 59th Annual Convocation at AMU

Mr. A.R. Rahman at the 59th Annual Convocation at AMU

ALIGARH, June 7: The Governor of West Bengal, Mr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi today urged the Aligarh Muslim University to play an important role in 'exploring the deprived sections of society including women who suffered from lack of education'.

Mr. Gandhi was addressing the 59^th Annual Convocation of the Aligarh Muslim University. He observed that the common man and woman continue to face inflation with poverty, extravagance with squalor, corruption with defeat. The man of the street is constantly harassed whether it is a phone connection or a change of name in the electric meter bill or a birth certificate or a land – mutation or a driving license. Men in the authority delay and deny what is done. The common man and woman face cheats and conman posing as facilitators in their everyday existence, he noted.

While paying rich tribute to the University Mr. Gandhi observed that the AMU had a golden history, it enjoyed a distinct educational status, its writings are deep, its language is high and its voice always was heard with attentiveness.

Mr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi said that AMU has to its credit its amazing alumni who have influenced history. Its present and future generations, have a clear and positive role to play. He hoped that AMU will enable, enrich and strengthen India and the India can give to the world a unique lead that can save environment, including the endangered ice-cap that sustains both India and Pakistan.

Mr. Gandhi said that preservation of peace and harmony in our neighbourhood, should be a priority. He said we should draw a clear distinction between the purveyors of hatred and violence inspired by and represented by the Taliban and the mass of the people of Pakistan who want amity and peace between the two countries.

The Aligarh Muslim University conferred honorary doctorate degree upon world fame Indian musician, A.R. Rahman and noted Urdu writer, Professor Gopichand Narang for their outstanding contributions in their respective field of art and literature.

Accepting the honorary degree, A.R. Rahman said that AMU is not only one of the oldest Universities of India, but also a major center of quality education. It is the quality education that matters in the present day world, he added.

Mr. Rahman disclosed that Indian tradition and philosophy have always given him direction in life and it is only with these values and the people who support him that he achieved success both nationally and internationally.

AMU Vice Chancellor, Professor P.K. Abdul Azis said that Rahman's music is a unique fusion of East and West and eloquently reflect the composite culture of India. Professor Azis mentioned that Rahman was a role model for young India and his success in blending music and technology is a remarkable fiat that is cutting across international barrier. He described Professor Gopichand Narang as an outstanding scholar, critic, writer and master of one of the most beautiful language of the world.

Presenting the Annual Report, Professor P.K. Abdul Azis has appealed to the Muslim community to observe a 'Decade of Education' so that every Muslim should get educated and can participate in nation building activities in a meaningful manner.

Professor Azis said that the AMU community has shown immense warmth, hospitality and goodwill towards him and extended unstinted support that led to remarkable all round development of the University.

Professor Azis pointed out that AMU has a rare distinction and privilege of offering education to boys and girls starting from nursery to post doctoral research its educational spectrum is vast as it offers 325 courses.

Professor Azis said that the University has made rapid progress and succeeded in providing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities to all its staff and students with 24 hour internet connectivity and efforts are on the anvil to further expand ICT through wireless system and high speed cable in the near future.

Professor Azis has mentioned that as part of creating a global branding for the AMU, the University has undertaken a special drive to enlist the support of its alumni spread across the world for creating partnership with prestigious universities and research institutions.

For the first time in the history of the University admission test centers were setup at Bhopal, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow and Hyderabad to regain the national character of AMU.

Professor Gopichand Narang while delivering his acceptance speech described AMU as a shining chapter of the history of Urdu language and literature. To consider Urdu merely a language and limit it to the VIII schedule amount to gross injustice as Urdu is a way of life, a way of thinking and a way of living, he added.

Justice A.M. Ahmadi former Chief Justice of India, Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University, presided over the Convocation.

Controller of Examinations, Professor Mohammad Irfan announced the list of students who were awarded medals in various courses. Prachi Mehdi Datta, an MBBS student secured largest number of 14 medals and created a history.

Professor V.K. Abdul Jaleel, Registrar, AMU conducted the function.

Mr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, A.R. Rahman, Professor Gopichand Narang, Justice A.M. Ahmadi and AMU Vice Chancellor paid a floral tribute at Sir Syed's mazar and laid chadar soon after the Convocation was over.

Dr. Rahat Abrar

Public Relations Officer

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THE NEW BEGINNING - ISLAM AND THE WEST

THE NEW BEGINNING - ISLAM AND THE WEST BY: PROFESSOR SYED WARIS SHERE
A historical speech ever delivered by an American President in Cairo designed to improve better U.S. relations with the Islamic nations. President Barack Obama in his address said that the United States and the Islamic world must confront violent extremism across the globe for the sake of humanity. According to Boston Globe, Obama's much-anticipated remarks before an often-applauding audience of 3,000 at Cairo University - and to an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims around the globe - intertwined quotes from the Holy Quran with soaring oratory. "America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition," Obama declared in his 55- minute address, the longest of his presidency, adding, "The interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart." President Barack Obama called for a better relations between the United States and the Muslim world. According to the Times of London, no one in the Arab world can remember anything quite like it. President Barack Obama quoted from the Koran, recalled his own experiences of living in Indonesia, and emphasised his family's connections to Islam. Above all he showed great humility, a respect for Islamic traditions and the Muslim world. Quoting verses from the Holy Qur'an, the United States President, Barack Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims". "We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world - tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate," Obama said. "I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect," President Obama said.

It is the first time an American leader drawn so much applause from an audience in the Muslim world, or dared to quote the Holy Quran so often. He said, we meet at a time of great tension between the United States and Muslims around the world, tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. 'America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition — in fact, they overlap and share several principles,' President Obama said. "President Barack Obama succeeded in delivering a message of respect to Muslims across the world," said an editorial in the United Arab Emirates-based Gulf News. "His familiarity with Islam and his ability to quote comfortably from the Holy Quran is bound to resonate in this part of the world. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of coexistence and cooperation but also conflict and religious wars. President Obama wishes to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap and share common principles, principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings. In his address the President said, we can recall the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said: "I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power and teach us that the less we use our power, the greater it will be." All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time.

The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart or whether we commit ourselves to an effort, a sustained effort to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children and to respect the dignity of all human beings. President Obama's mission on this historical visit in the heart of Islamic culture was to tell Muslims that the United States is "not, and never will be, at war with Islam," reiterating a statement he made in Turkey earlier. President Obama noted that Thomas Jefferson kept a copy of the Holy Quran in his personal library, and he told the audience that "there is a mosque in every state of our union." According to New York Times, Obama's speech in Cairo, which he called a "timeless city," was perhaps the riskiest of his presidency, as he used unusually direct language to call for a fresh look at deep divisions, both those between Israel and its neighbors and between the Islamic world and the West. Paul D. Wolfowitz, a former top Bush administration official who was an architect of the war in Iraq and is a strong supporter of Israel, offered general praise for Mr. Obama's address. "I could have used less moral equivalence, but he had to get through to his audience, and it's in America's interest for him to get through," Mr. Wolfowitz said. Fareed Zakaria a prominent foreign affairs analyst has noted that the way in which President Obama was able to use the symbols and symbolism of Islam and his familiarity with it was very powerful. He was able to convey to the audience and to the world that he knew Islam and understood it. President Obama has the opportunity to create facts on the ground that will change the dynamics of politics in a major Arab nation, Zakaria said. Many Arabs regard Obama as the ideal American leader.

The president, who is a Christian but whose Kenyan Muslim father came from a family that includes generations of Muslims, stressed his Muslim roots in a way that he never did during his presidential campaign last year. "He said things that if previous presidents had said them, it wouldn't have mattered, but because he is who he is, it changed the climate in which he said them, made it more meaningful," said Ron Kaufman, who was a political adviser to former President George H.W. Bush. "The fact that a Barack Hussein Obama said these things, he can say them in a way that the moderate Muslims would listen," Kaufman said. President Obama's Harvard Law School education served him very well in talking about the rights of individuals. In an editorial, the Financial Times called Obama a born leader. "There is no bombast or chauvinism or phony sentiment in Mr. Obama's oratory. He inspires, yet his appeal is always to the intellect; still he holds an audience of this size spellbound. It was the performance of a born leader. President Barrack Obama has proven to be the best gift that the United States could have given to the world. The New York Times reports, "Again and again, Muslim listeners said they were struck by how skillfully Mr. Obama appropriated religious, cultural and historical references in ways other American presidents had not. He sprinkled the speech with four quotations from the Holy Quran and used Arabic greetings." He "structured his speech almost like a Friday Prayer, blending a political, social and religious message." The Washington Post reports the "55-minute address electrified many Muslims in the Arab Middle East," and praises the President's use of "spare language and a measured explanatory tone," while the Los Angeles Times says "few world leaders today can match Obama's eloquence and charisma," adding that although the speech "didn't provide enough concrete solutions to wipe away doubt...it did suggest...that the president is a conciliator, not a warrior, and that America, especially in Iraq, had made mistakes." The Jordan Times reports that "several intellectuals" it interviewed yesterday said Obama's speech "was marked by courage and balance, adding that it will help push peace efforts in the Middle East forward as he renewed commitment to creating a Palestinian state and assured the Israelis of continued US support at the same time." The Egyptian Gazette says the President received "thunderous applause" from the audience as he "sought to share the blame for tense relationships between the US and some Muslims" in his address. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said: "It was a remarkable speech, a speech that without any doubt is going to open a new page in the relation with the Arab-Muslim world and I hope in the problems we have in so many theatres in the region." President Obama can end "years of tension and confrontation" between the West and Islam, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said. "The general relationship between the West and Islam was very much affected by policies in the last few years," the secretary-general of the 22-nation bloc told the BBC. "

The relationship between the West and Islam - the years of tension and confrontation should come to an end now." UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed hope that the speech would have a "positive impact" on the moribund Middle East peace process and "herald the opening of a new chapter in relations between the United States and the Islamic world". President Barack Obama is a powerful figure on the world stage. About 80 percent of people in France, Germany, Italy and Spain have a positive view of President Obama. President Barack Obama is a great communicator and has the potential to become one of the greatest political speakers of modern times. He deserves to be ranked beside Lincoln and King, men of words whose greatest triumphs came amid the most dreadful adversity. After the last Presidential election, the New Yorker literary critic James Wood published a close reading of his victory speech in Chicago, tracing the allusions to Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, and exploring his use of history, his fondness for repetition, and the "plain but musical" flow of his language.
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From AMU News And Views

About the Author: Professor Syed Waris Shere is an educator and author of 8 books including "IN SEARCH OF PEACE" and "THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE". Professor Shere is a resident of Canada and is a graduate of Aligarh Muslim University.
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Summer Projects : AMU RoboClub

From AMU News And Views

RoBoClub
Summer Projects '09

Robotics Club, AMU is offering summer projects to be undertaken during the current summer vaccations.

All the students are invited to develop new and innovative projects on the platforms of their choice (ATmega/ST7/8051/PIC). Here are are a set of suggested projects, you can either choose from them or develop somthing with your own ideas.

1. Mobile Controlled Robot
2. RC5/RC6 TV Remote Decoder
3. Bank Display systems for announcing token nos
4. Ball tracker using MATLAB
5. Wireless remote/keypad using RF Modules

All those completing their projects successfully will be awarded certificates and their projects will be dispalyed in the exhibition to be held after the vacations.

You can either do the projects alone or in groups (max 3 students/grp). Plz register your group by sending mail to coordinator@amuroboclub.com containg name(s), Roll No(s), Branch(es), year(s) of all group member(s) and your project chosen. The projects can be done at your places, there is no need to be present in the college for the same.

The club coordinators/ asst cordinator/volunteers can be reached for any help. there contact details are given at www.amuroboclub.com

Hope to see enthuziastic response from you all.

Regards,

Md Umair
Technical Advisior AMU RoboClub
(BTech AMU 2007)
Kanpur

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Nagpur’s Almas Sayyad tops Maharashtra HSC exam

Congratulations to Almas Sayyad for this achievement.

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The Wolrd's Most Prestigious And Renowned Institution By Syed Waris Shere

THE WORLD PRESTIGIOUS AND RENOWNED INSTITUTION

BY: SYED WARIS SHERE,

WINNIPEG,

Fond Memories

I have the fond memories of the Aligarh Muslim University, the world
prestigious and renowned institution. It was a privilege and honour to
have studied at this university of high learning. To me, Aligarh
Muslim University strives to be one of the leading research
universities and the most outstanding university in the world. As a
research university, it seeks to achieve the highest levels of
distinction in the discovery and transmission of knowledge and
understanding. Many prominent leaders, and Urdu writers and scholars
of the Indian sub -continent have graduated from the Aligarh Muslim
University. This is a premier Central University with several
faculties and maintained institutions and draws students from all
corners of the world, specially Africa, West Asia and South East Asia.

Joined the University

My father Syed Ahsan Shere and elder brother Syed Harris Shere were
also the product of this great institution. My brother Syed Harris
Shere of the Engineering College was married to Shanaz the daughter of
Dr. Hafizur Rahaman, Formerly Dean of Law at the A.M.U. Dr. Hafizur
Rahman and my father were class mates at the Aligarh Muslim University
in early 1930's. Dr. Rashidulzaffar an eminent educationist and
brother of my sister-in-law Shahnaz was my class mate(1952-54) in
Intermediate Science. I joined the University in 1952. During my four
year stay in Aligarh, I resided in Mumtaz Hostel, Aftab Hostel and
S.S.West. I was actively involved in sports and Student Union
activities. Upon completion of under-graduate degree in 1956, I left
for Europe in 1958 and studied at the University of London and
Technische Hochscule, Aachen, Germany. In 1962, I left for Canada and
taught Applied Mathematics at the University of Manitoba and Red River
College, Canada.

Books and Publications

I have authored eight books in the field of Applied
Mathematics for Engineering and Science and International Affairs. My
book "IN SEARCH OF PEACE" had a foreword by Lord Douglas Home, former
Prime Minister of Great Britain. My other publication "THE STRUGGLE
FOR PEACE" has been recently released with an introduction by
Professor Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American
University, Washington. The Aligarh Muslim University provided me with
valuable experience.

Encouraging Campus Life

I found that the Campus life activities were
built around the concepts of encouraging each community member to
express his or her talents and to respect all members of our
pluralistic community. One of the University's most distinctive
characteristics, I experienced was its closely knit and integrated
residential community. I had also the distinct honour of my close
association with Dr. Zakir Husain, Vice-Chancellor of this eminent
university. Dr. Zakir Hussain was an imposing embodiment of culture
and refinement. He was sensitive to beauty in all its forms and had an
intense passion for excellence. He was also a personal friend of my
father Syed Ahsan Shere. Dr. Zakir Husain went to the University of
Berlin for higher studies in 1923 with my uncle Syed Hamid Shere,
returning with a doctorate in Economics three years later. He rejoined
the Jamia Millia in February-March, 1926 and became the Shaikhu Jamia
(Vice-Chancellor). It was at the Jamia Millia that Dr. Zakir Hussain
developed his gifts as an educationist. It was his experience here as
well as his deep study of the philosophy of education which enable him
to take charge of the scheme of Basic National Education when it was
launched in 1938.

Close Knit Family

We are blessed with three children, Sahba, Sheraz
and Feraz. Sheraz did his post-graduate studies at Princeton
University. He was the youngest Vice-President with the American
Express in New York. At the moment Sheraz is working for "GOOGLE" in
Sanfrancisco. Our youngest son Feraz graduated in Chemical Engineering
and M.B.A from the university of Toronto. He is working for "SCOTIA
CAPITAL" in Investment Banking in Toronto. Only last year (2008) my
wife Parvin Shere and I spent some of the best times of our lives in
Algarh. We stayed in Hafeez Manzil with my Bhabi Shanaz and her
children Faisal Shere, Hasan Shere and their wives. During our stay in
Aligarh Parvin's book "KIRCHIAN"(2nd Edition) was launched. Parvin is
an artist, poet and musician. Her extensive travel throughout Europe
and particularly in developing countries triggered in her a need to
enlighten her audience about the dualistic nature of this world. The
oppressed has a profound effect on her work. Her visual art has been
shown extensively in Canada, U.S.A., England, France and India. Her
work is displayed in many prominent public and private collection
internationally. She has received several awards for her paintings.
She has composed CD'S of poetry and music for UNICEF to help raise
funds for underprivileged children globally. Parvin's book "KIRCHIAN"
is also in the collection of Maulana Azad Library in Aligarh.

Maulana Azad Library And Its Valuable Collections

I was very impressed visiting thev library, surrounded by 4.75 acres of land
in the form of beautiful lawns and gardens. It is the most beautiful
building of the University and one of the few very attractive
libraries in India. I was told by the Chief Librarian that the Library
has approximately 900,000 books. It is because of these rich
collections of immense research value that this Library is reckoned
among major libraries of the world. The oldest manuscript owned by the
library is more than fourteen hundred years old. It is a fragment of
the Quran transcribed by Hazrat Ali, the fourth caliph of Islam and is
written on parchment in Kufi script. Another rare collection is the
Halnama of Beyazid Ansari, no copy of which is available anywhere else
in the world. Aligarh Muslim University is an experience. The academic
program is demanding, which students appreciate, and it prepares
students for not only the work force but also top-notch graduate
schools. Students who take full advantage of what Aligarh has to offer
have the opportunity to work with some of the most talented professors
and scholars in the world on an idyllic campus. They graduate with one
of the best educations in the country and with all the connections the
alumni experience has to offer. Some students may not realize the
significance of the Aligarh Muslim University experience until they
march on to the new world. As long as I live, I will always cherish
the memory of this renowned institution. Whatever I am today, it is
mainly due to the education I received at this outstanding
institution.

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International Collaborative research project with Technical University Berlin, Germany

ALIGARH, June 2: Dr. Abdul Malik, Chairman, Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Aligarh Muslim University has been sanctioned a joint International Collaborative research project entitled "Molecular screening, isolation and characterization of conjugative plasmids from contaminated soils" with Dr. Elisabeth Grohmann, Technical University Berlin, Germany under DST-DAAD (Germ nay) Academic exchange programme. Under the above progarmme Prof. Malik has visited Department of Umweltmikrobiologie, Technical University, Berlin, Germany and also delivered a lecture at Umweltmikrbiologie, TU-Berlin, Germany on Detection of conjugative plasmids and antibiotic resistance genes in contaminated soils of India and Germany and genotoxicity of wastwaters and soil.

Technical University, Berlin is considered as one of the best Universities in the world carrying research in various fields; Department of Environmental Microbiology and Department of Ecotoxicology of TU-Berlin are the best departments where scholar works on wastewater and contaminated soils for the Molecular detection of conjugative plasmids and antibiotic resistance genes and genotoxicity of waste and soil.

Dr. Malik has been teaching at the Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Aligarh Muslim University for last Fourteen years and he has received several prestigious awards and fellowships including BOYSCAST, Young Scientist project of DST twice during his career. He has received research grants from several funding agencies of Government of India such as DST, CSIR, UGC as Principal investigator.

(Zeeshan Ahmad)

Assistant Public Relations Officer

Congratulations Danish Akhtar From Professor SYED WARIS SHERE

As a former product of Aligarh Muslim University,I wish to congratulate Danish Akhtar, a bright student of AMU City High School who has been selected for academic trip to the United States as part of the US Embassy Access Programme. I sincerely hope that such academic exchange programmes will contribute to academic excellence on the Aligarh Muslim University campus.
Kindly bring this note to the attention of Danish Akhtar, his beloved prents and senior members of the University. Please also publish this note in A.M.U.
News and Views. Thanks.
Best wishes,
Sincerely,
Professor SYED WARIS SHERE,
Winnipeg, Canada,
E-Mail: wpshere@mts.net