Awaz the voice

Aasha Khosa/New Delhi When Pakistan opposition leader Maryam Nawaz posted a video clip of the people in Sharda village of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK) in Neelum Valley bordering Kupwara of Jammu and Kashmir, protesting she has exposed their anger and frustration at being subjected to yet another round of fraudulent elections. Imran Khan’s PTI apparently won in lowly participated elections that are often managed by Islamabad. One of the slogans raised was  “Kashmir banega Hindustan ” (Kashmir (POK) will become India), triggering rage among the elite TV anchors in Islamabad studio who asked how could people in ‘Azad Kashmir’ cross red lines and others wondering whether Imran Khan has sown the seeds of another Bangladesh. Sharda is a village that has the ruins of a 5000-year-old temple of Goddess Sharda. The temple ruins have got the civil societies of Kashmir across the line of control re-connected on social media and campaign for reopening it to pilgrims from India. Muslim League...

Tokyo India men's hockey team defeated defending Olympic Champion Argentina by 3-1 in their fourth group A game here at Oi Hockey Stadium- North Pitch on Thursday. With this win, the Indian men's hockey team has qualified for the quarterfinals in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. India started the match at a good pace as defenders gave no clear-cut chance to defending champion to find that rhythm in midfield. Dilpreet Singh had India's best chance in quarter one but it was kept out by the Argentine goalkeeper by a very good save. India's finishing was not clinical even in the second quarter and it remained scoreless after the end of the first half. In the third quarter, the pressure by Indian forwards finally delivered as Varun Kumar gave the team a much-needed breakthrough after converting a very well worked penalty corner. In the dying minutes of the quarter, Graham Reid's men were close to double their lead but Argentina goalkeeper Juan Manuel came big for his team again ...

Ashfaq Kamyakhyani/Barmer Fakira Khan may be the only Indian artist to present 490 shows in the famous Zingaro theatre of Paris and that is a matter of huge prestige, yet his father had wished his son to become a government servant and rid the family of poverty. Folk singer Fakira Khan is the sensational voice that has emerged from Western Rajasthan also known as  Thar ki Thati  for the land is native to a number of talented singers who have showcased their talents across the world. Fakira Khan was born in 1974 in the house of Manganiyar Basar Khan in Vishala, a small village in the Barmer district. His father Basar Khan was also a folk singer and earned by singing music at social functions like weddings etc. Basar Khan was keen to get his son educated and get a government job thereafter to rid the family of poverty. However, destiny had other plans for his son. After passing his eighth grade, Fakira, who by then had learnt singing from his father, was spotted as a sensat...

Shreshtha Tiwari/Chennai Scientist Nellai S Muthu worked with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam for 40 years from 1963 to 1980. While Dr Kalam was the project director at ISRO, Muthu joined as a scientist in 1973. They remained in touch with each other even after Dr Kalam had moved to DRDO. Muthu has written and translated four books on Kalam. Muthu translated Kalam’s  India 2020 vision  in Tamil and also wrote a biography of Dr Kalam. He is one of the members of the Advisory board of the APJ Abdul Kalam Foundation. Going down the memory lane, Muthu says, “My first informal meeting with him was in Trivandrum (1989) during his visit to Vikram Sarabhai space centre visit. This was when ASLV underwent a failure. I had written a book called  Vanathai Allapom  (Measure the Sky) back then and had sent a copy of it to him. During this visit, he recalled the book during tea time. “Every time he visited Sriharikota during 1997-2008, I met him. Also during his visits to Chennai, we met. Duri...

An interview of S M Khan, press secretary to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam spoke with onthe occasion of his death anniversary. Excerpts from his interview to  Manjeet Thakur of Awaz-the voice : All the Indians considers Dr Kalam as their ideal. What inspired you the most about him? His simplicity and honesty. He was a straightforwards person. There was no aspect of him that you could not understand. He was a very simple, humble and transparent person. His honesty was reflected in everything he did -  work, routine, or making big decisions. He was a very active President. His being active meant that he did not unnecessarily create any problems for the government. But when it came to taking his decisions as President always used to test it on the basis of the Constitution. He did not come under the influence of the government. He was President in both the governments of the NDA (2002 to 2004) and the UPA. He had worked with Prime Ministers Vajpayee Ji and Manmohan Singh ji. But he too...

  Bravery of Kargil heroes motivates us: PM Modi New Delhi Remembering the sacrifices and valour of heroes of the Kargil war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said their bravery motivates the country every day.  "We remember their sacrifices. We remember their valour. Today, on Kargil  Vijay Diwas  we pay homage to all those who lost their lives in Kargil protecting our nation. Their bravery motivates us every single day," tweeted Prime Minister Modi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the countrymen to salute the brave hearts of Kargil on July 26, when the nation will mark Kargil Vijay Diwas. Hailing the Indian armed forces, the Prime Minister said that the Kargil war is a symbol of valour and discipline of our security forces which the entire world has witnessed. He said that India will celebrate this day as  'Amrut Mahotsav' . "Monday is Kargil  Vijay Diwas . Kargil war is a symbol of valour and discipline of our armed forces which the en...

  Tokyo Ace weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu opened India's medals tally on Saturday as she bagged a silver in the Women's 49kg category here at Tokyo International Forum. Chanu lifted a total of 202 kg (87kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk) during her four successful attempts across the competition. China's Zhihui Hou bagged gold with a total of 210kg and created a new Olympic Record while Indonesia's Windy Cantika Aisah grabbed bronze with a total of 194kg. With this monumental silver medal, Chanu has become the second Indian weightlifter to win an Olympic medal after Karnam Malleswari bagged bronze in the 69kg category at the 2000 Sydney Games when the weightlifting arena was opened to women for the first time. Mirabai got off to a flying start after she completed her lift of 84 kg in the first attempt in snatch. Manipur-born weightlifter then proceeded to complete the 87kg weightlift with ease but failed to complete the 89kg lift in her last attempt. USA...

Tokyo   Veteran Indian hockey team goalkeeper PR Sreejesh says that it is the duty of the experienced players to make the juniors aware of the magnitude of the task at the Olympics, and that it's not enough to just represent the country.   Sreejesh, who was the India team captain during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, said on Thursday that, "It's up to us (seniors) to motivate the young guys. Some of them may be happy by just thinking that they are playing for India.    "However, it's the senior players' duty to make them understand that it's not enough and that playing in a major tournament is an opportunity to actually win a medal. We need to force the youngsters to dream, tell them that they are very good players and that they can do well here," Sreejesh told AIFF.tv.   Sreejesh added that when he first made it to the Indian team, his seniors had told him to keep playing with full commitment, as a slump in performances quickly means that one finds hims...

Tokyo Indian Archer and the world number one Deepika Kumari had managed to enter the next round of competition at the Tokyo Olympics in the qualifying round. He earned 9th Rank and will have to compete in the elimination rounds starting on 27th July against Bhutan's Karma. The game will begin at 4:30 pm (IST) in Tokyo with just about 950 people, including officials and reporters, watching the opening ceremony in the main stadium. The games were delayed and will happen amidst a grim scenario of Covid-19 spreading in the host country. Hidemasa Nakamura, chief of Tokyo 2020 main operation centre told a press briefing that apart from the above-mentioned group, the rest allowed into the stadium are performers and athletes participating in the event. The Tokyo 2020 organising committee also reported 12 new positive Covid-19 cases related to the Olympics on Thursday, with two infected foreign athletes in the athlete's village. A total of 87 people associated with the Olympics have so ...

Tokyo Twelve new positive COVID-19 cases on Thursday were reported by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games' organizing committee, which includes two athletes residing in the Olympics village. A total of 87 people associated with the Games have so far tested positive for the virus in Tokyo since visitors started arriving for the 2020 Games, as per the Kyodo News. Many athletes have started to withdraw from the Games before their departure after testing positive, including world number one skeet shooter Amber Hill who tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK. Amber, 23, was due to compete in the Women's Olympic Skeet competition, in which she was a finalist in Rio 2016. No replacement athlete has been selected in Amber's place, the British Olympic Association confirmed. A Chilean taekwondo athlete has already withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for the virus, Chile's Olympic committee confirmed on Wednesday. This was the first known case of an athlete pulling o...

New Delhi   Shabir Ahmad Najar has not been schooled in any artists’ den or an art school yet this 42-year old Kashmiri has painted the town in vivid colours and meaningful images to create feel-good vibes in south Kashmir’s towns. Najar, 42, is a self-taught artist whose service has been hired by the Shopian Municipal Corporation had been painting the graffiti and murals for past several weeks as part of the district administration’s beautification drive. His work is evoking public interests and he has already been given a nickname of ‘The Colour Player’ by the townsfolk. Kashmiris are generally fond of giving nicknames to famous persons. He has already won a lot of praise from one and all in the town for his impeccable artwork. “His paintings are charming and are irresistible,” said Altaf Ahmad, a local. Shabir Ahmed Najar at work in Shopian Najar has so far created graffiti and murals on more or less a dozen walls in the town as part of the Municipal Committee Shopain’s (MC...

The holy festival of Eid al-Adha (Bakrid), also known as the ' Festival of Sacrifice ' or the Greater Eid is celebrated on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th month of the Islamic calendar. It marks the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.  According to Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, the crescent moon of Jul Hijjah was seen on July 11 this year. According to that, Bakrid is being celebrated across India today, on 21st July. However, in Saudi Arabia, it was celebrated a day earlier. Eid al-Adha is the second Islamic festival of the year and comes after Eid al-Fitr. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The date changes every year, as it is based on the Islamic lunar calendar, which is approximately 11 days shorter than the 365-day Gregorian calendar. It is celebrated as a commemoration of Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice everything for God. The key difference between the Biblical story of Jews and Christians is that Muslims believe that the son was Ismail...

Colombo   Shikhar Dhawan struck an unbeaten 86 in his first match as Indian team skipper and Ishan Kishan blasted 59 off 42 balls on ODI debut as India thrashed hosts, Sri Lanka, by seven wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series here on Sunday.   The team coached by Rahul Dravid was called a "second-string side" by Sri Lanka's World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga before the start of the tour. And though the hosts were forced to put up a 'second' squad after some key players had to be left out due to disciplinary reasons and injuries, the Indians were clinical in executing their plans and won the match without breaking a sweat.    Dhawan led from the front, anchoring the innings as fellow opener Prithvi Shaw and then No. 3 Ishan Kishan blasted the Sri Lankan bowling as India, after restricting the hosts to  262/9 in 50 overs, chased the target with 80 balls to spare.    Skipper Dhawan's unbeaten 86 came off 95 deliveries as the Indians r...