Awaz the voice

If you happen to visit Maadi village, Ben Tehsil of Nalanda district in Bihar , you might come across the call of muezzin at the designated time for Muslims to pray. However, you may be surprised to know that this village is home not to a single Muslim and yet the aazan  can be heard five times each day. Maadi village’s 200-year-old mosque remains the epicenter of people's faith and is considered the spiritual heritage by all. Though no Muslim lives there today, the Hindus maintain the mosque and keep the tradition alive by regularly playing a recorded aazan  at a specific time for Muslims to pray. The Muslims of the village had apparently fled following riots in 1981. After they migrated, the Hindus took up the responsibility of maintaining the mosque and issuing the call from it to the devout to pray. Since there is no way a Hindu knows or is authorized to give aazan , the villagers have recorded it in a pen drive and that is played at regular intervals The Hindu family looks aft

New Delhi India is likely to purchase the anti-drone system from Israel called  Smash 2000  to deal with the fresh security threat posed by the use of cheap and easily available drones in the attack on an Indian Air Force base in Jammu recently. According to the sources, Indian Navy has already been testing an anti-drone system  for some time as the threat of such an attack was already there. The decision of buying the Israeli system is expected to be taken shortly in view of the sightings of more drones in and around the border areas of Jammu post the IAF base attack. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has since confirmed the use of two drones in the Satwari attack from its preliminary findings and formally taken over the probe. The forensic experts have identified the variety of RDX used in the attack, sources said. India’s top leaders Prime Minister  Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah remained huddled with National security Advisor Ajit Do

New Delhi The majority of the Indians -84 per cent – feel being Indian means having respect for all religions and 80 per cent say this respect is part of their personal faith. Also, Indians cutting across religions feel they are ‘very free to practice their faith.’ This is the conclusion of a study  - Religion in India: tolerance and segregation- done by the American Think tank Pew Research centre. The study is based on the response of 2,999 Indians belonging to six religions – Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Christians – and covers all the zones. Earlier Pew had projected that India’s Muslim population will grow to 311 million by 2050 making the country home to the world’s largest Muslim population. Though the sample used for conclusions is very small for a country of 1.3 billion people with all the religions of the world, it generally reflects the general perceptions even among the Indians. The finds that while most Indians believe in respecting other faiths they also re

M.A Yusuffali, chairman of LuLu Group International, was recently in news for saving Becks Krishnan, a fellow Indian from the death penalty that he was given in Abu Dhabi for killing a man in a road accident. When all doors had closed for Becks Krishnan and his Kerala-based family Yusuffali intervened to pay blood money to the victim’s family and saved Krishnan. Otherwise too Yusuffali is known for his philanthropy. Forbes magazine has listed him on its Billionaires list and as a most influential Asian business leader in the West Asia and North Africa region. The Wall Street Journal named him as the most influential non-royal businessman in the UAE. He recently bought the historic Scotland Yard building and converted it into a hotel called The Great Scotland Yard Hotel. He is the biggest employer of Indians outside India. In an exclusive conversation with  Awaz-The Voice Editor-in-Chief Atir Khan,  he shared his vision for India. Here are the excerpts of the interview: You were recent

Ehsan Fazili/Srinagar The adage necessity is the mother of invention holds true for Tariq Ahmad Patloo, who struggles to reach the shore of Dal lake foe medical help when he was sick with Covid infection, prompted him to convert his own Shikara into a water ambulance. Patloo’s  efforts for not letting anyone living inside the main Lake of Srinagar city suffer was mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his latest  Man ki baat  episode.   Paltoo was happy to get appreciation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who praised his efforts of running a floating ambulance service for the thousands of people living in Dal Lake amid COVID-19 pandemic. “I  am extremely grateful to PM Modi Ji for mentioning my efforts. The appreciation from him is a great honour and means a lot to me. I hope the mention of my work in the programme will benefit my community who face a lot of problems during the ongoing pandemic,” he said. While mentioning Patloo and his floating ambulance PM Modi said that ther

New Delhi A Kashmiri youth who had joined a terrorist group Hizbul Mujahideen in March surrendered while his associate was killed in a gunfight in Hanjipora Kachdora village of south Kashmir's Shopian last evening. The surrendered person identified as Sameer trusted the police that had surrounded his hideout in the village and made an appeal to him to surrender.  As is the practice in the security forces, they give a chance to the local militants to surrender. In this case, too his parents were brought to the venue of the encounter and made to appeal to him to give up his arms and surrender. In the small video clip posted on the Social media platform Twitter, the police are seen addressing Sameer and assuring him that no harm will happen to him in case he chose to live. Police officer while  #offering   #surrender  opportunity to trapped  #terrorist  to lay down his arms and surrender.  @JmuKmrPolice   pic.twitter.com/4LHU1uYExW The policeman speaking in Kashmir is assuring Sameer

  New Delhi The Afghan government is planning to send back children who had been detained for their links with the Taliban to their homes after they complete an ongoing education programme that seeks to change their minds and de-radicalize them. This was stated by Rahmatullah Andar, a spokesman for the Afghan National Security council, in response to Human rights bodies criticism of arrest of children who were seen as collaborators of the Taliban. He said the “Taliban were recruiting children and using them for their war. The Afghan government detains children who could have been harmed, used in war, or targeted by terrorist attacks, and will be returned to their families after training programs.” The Council strongly denied that the children were arrested or tortured. NGP Rahmatullah Andar, a spokesman for the Afghan National Security council, has said that the Taliban were recruiting children and using them for their war. The Afghan government detains children who could have been har

Lakhimpur Kheri (UP) Two Dalit boys, aged 10 and 11, were allegedly tied to a tree and mercilessly thrashed for hours by the owner of an orchard in Uttar Pradesh for having plucked 'jamun' from his plantation. The incident took place in Gehua village. When their mothers went looking for them, they found them still tied to the tree and unconscious. They informed the Mohammadi police station personnel but an FIR was registered only after photographs of the children were shared on social media on Wednesday. The main accused, Kailash Verma, has been arrested and sent to jail. The police said he was inebriated at the time of the incident. In their complaint, the families of the two boys alleged that they had plucked a few jamun from a tree on a private school campus and were eating them when the school owner, Kailash, 25, happened to catch them. He allegedly went berserk, tied them to the tree and thrashed them even as the minors cried and repeatedly begged for mercy. Pawan's mo

Mumbai Rehana Shaikh, a 40-year-old Police Inspector and the mother of a baby girl was looking forward to celebrating her daughter’s birthday in style and she had saved money for the big day. Also, she had done financial planning for celebrating Eid. One day while duty in Raigarh, she visited a school where most of the children appeared to be poor. Rehana found that most were without footwear. Rehana Shaikh decided to be of help. She spent all the money earmarked for her daughter’s birthday on to meet the immediate needs of the Raigarh school children. Not only that she decided to adopt all the 50 students, all from the population of tribal communities, and pay towards their education. No wonder, her husband, Nasir Shaikh, also a policeman, have given her the nickname of Mother Teresa of Mumbai Police. Nasir is proud of his wife’s large-heartedness and always encourages her for caring for others. Rehana Shaikh hails from the Raigad district of Maharashtra and is posted in Naigaon Arms

Sheikh Muhammad Younis/Hyderabad A visually challenged couple from the Habibnagar area of Nizamabad celebrated their first wedding anniversary with orphans and disabled children, setting an example for others. Mohammad Haji and Hamira Shirin, both visually challenged, got married a year ago. Mohammad Haji is a teacher and he works as a home teacher in the same society where he lives. Though, he can’t see Mohammad Haji never felt he was weaker or inferior to anyone. Mohammad Haji and Humaira Shirin celebrated their first wedding anniversary with the orphans, poor and disabled children of Bal Sadan in Subhash Nagar, Nizamabad. They arranged a sumptuous meal for the children.   Mohammad Haji is a graduate of Dr BR Ambedkar University, Telangana. He studied in Maharashtra till Intermediate. Having seen hard days in life, the Haji and Humaira say they are aware of the difficulties of others and therefore have decided to help the poor and the needy. Mohammad Haji teaches mathematics and Engl

New Delhi The Centre has alerted and advised Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh regarding the ‘Delta Plus variant of SARS-CoV-2, currently a variant of concern (VOC), which has been found in some districts of these states. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has communicated to these three states that the Delta Plus variant has been found in the genome sequenced samples received from Ratnagiri and Jalgaon districts in Maharashtra, Palakkad and Pathanamthitta districts in Kerala, and Bhopal and Shivpuri districts in Madhya Pradesh. The Union government has alerted these states about the recent findings of INSACOG. INSACOG is a consortium of 28 laboratories under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Biotechnology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for whole genome sequencing in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. INSACOG is tasked with not just the whole genome sequencing, but also for giving tim

Malick Asghar Hashmi/New Delhi Sunni Central Organization of Nagpur launched a campaign with the slogan 'Shahar Ko Corona Se Azadi' (Freedom to our city from Corona virus).The campaign was about this Muslim social organization joining hands with the administration for motivating people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 in areas where people were reluctant to get the jab. According to the 2011 census in Nagpur, the city of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, the Muslim population is 8.40 percent. To begin with the Muslims of this city was hesitant to take the vaccination due to misconceptions and myths. Some were not to tech savvy to get themselves registered on the web portal and then pursue getting the date and slot fo the vaccination. It was to counter such reluctance that this organization started the campaign to free the city of Corona. Interestingly, after a few days, the Union Ministry of Minorities has also started a campaign –  Jaan Hai To Jahan Hai , on similar line in whic

  New Delhi     K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together, popularly called TXT, are known as the "it boys". They are number five on the Billboard 200 chart, and among a handful of South Korean super bands that have taken K-Pop to global high, courtesy a unique mix of foot-tapping beats and synchronised choreography. [ #오늘의TXT ] 210621  #투모로우바이투게더  의 메세지 💌  #MOA  분들 '0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)' 무대 잘 보셨나요?! 💙🤍 @ CDTV Live! Live!  pic.twitter.com/ZsIaONsfLP   TXT are a quintet comprising Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Huening Kai. They made their debut in March 2019 with their maiden mini album titled "The Dream Chapter: Star". Like any other K-Pop celebrities, TXT too has a massive fan-base. They call their fan base MOA, or Moments Of Alwaysness. The band has a following of 6.9 million on Twitter and a whopping 8.6 million followers on Instagram.   Sharing the meaning of the band's name, Soobin tells IANS: "Tomorrow X Together means that you