Youngest women scientist of the Chandrayaan Mission team
THE ENTRANCE to Chaugori Mohalla, a small Muslim locality in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha town, about 200 km from Delhi, isn’t the least bit inviting. A sixfoot- wide serpentine stretch, rutted and grimy, lies beyond — the only way into the neighbourhood. Today, however, it does not deter a stream of people eager to visit the house of the Mirzas, a short distance in. The woman they have come to meet, Khushboo Mirza, opens the door and welcomes them warmly. Khushboo is soon joined by her spirited mother, Farhat, and the mother-daughter duo proceed to smash one stereotype after another in an hour-long chat. “Hindi or English?” I ask Khushboo. “English will be fine,” comes the confident reply from the 23-year-old, who studied in the local Hindi-medium school till Class 10.
The flow of guests to the Mirza home is growing everyday. “I had never imagined that I would become such an icon,” says Khushboo, as her mother glances at their six-seat dining table, now covered with commemorative inscriptions and bouquets. Khushboo, an engineer with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is the youngest member of the team of 12 engineers of the Check-Out Division of India’s maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan- I. Her task was to carry out the vacuum, thermal and assembly examinations in different simulated conditions on various components of the satellite. “We had to check and see how the satellite would perform in space,” says the engineer, who joined India’s premier body for space research in 2006.
More people have come to congratulate the Mirzas since Chandrayaan- I was launched in October 2008 than have visited the Mirzas on Eid in several years put together. “Kai log to sochte hain ki Khushboo chaand par gayee thi (Some think Khushboo had gone to the moon and ask her when she returned),” Farhat chuckles.
A few years back, however, the Mirzas were in very different circumstances. Farhat, widowed at 30 after her husband Sikandar passed away in 1994, worked at the family’s petrol pump to pay her children’s school fees and keep the house running. Khushboo was seven at that time; her younger sister Mehak, now a student of engineering at Moradabad Institute of Technology, was four; and her older brother, Khushtar, now a B.Tech graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, was 10. “My husband was an engineer and it was his dream to see his daughters excel. And I knew it wasn’t possible without giving them a good education,” says Farhat. For the Mirzas, education for women wasn’t a novel idea as Farhat is a graduate from a Moradabad college. Moreover, Farhat’s sister teaches English at a public school in Dehradoon and her two nieces are doing their PhD in the US. “I taught my children to reach for the stars,” states the 45-year-old proudly. They did.
After her Class 10 examinations, Khushboo, a district level volleyball player, joined the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and later applied for a BTech at the same university. She became the first girl to fight an election in AMU. Though she did not win, she managed to encourage other girls to take the plunge, one of whom even won election the following year. Subsequent to her graduation, Khushboo received a job offer from Adobe Software, but gave it up in October 2006 to join ISRO for a salary much lower than what Adobe offered. Farhat, who accompanied her daughter to ISRO training programmes across the country, says there was no question of rejecting the ISRO offer for the extra money Adobe offered. “Khushboo was eager to contribute to Indian science and I was only happy to let her do so,” she says.
For a year and 10 months, Khushboo says, she worked conscientiously with her team to accomplish the mission. “I observed my Ramzan fasts, prayed and even celebrated Eid at the testing centre,” she says, spelling out that she is no different from any other Muslim woman who follows Islam and its customs. However, she acknowledges that she owes her success to her family’s liberal background.
Back in Amroha for a 15-day winter break, Kushboo is acclimatising herself to the newfound attention. “I was only a small part of a big mission, of a bigger dream that the country had seen. The praise I’m getting is overwhelming.”
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Even Indian "mullas" clear competitive exams to join Indian Civil Services
A First for Darul Uloom Deoband, Cleric Clears UPSC
Wasimur Rehman from Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharth Nagar could have ended up being an imam, leading prayers in a mosque.
The 31-year-old certified cleric, however, chose the road less travelled. And in doing so, he has become the first cleric from the influential Islamic seminary Darul Uloom of Deoband to clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam, which selects officers for the country’s elite administrative cadre.
Rehman secured the 404th position this year in his fourth and final shot at the UPSC.
“I always wanted to become a high-ranking government officer and serve my country. I am happy to become the first Darul cleric to clear the UPSC,” Rehman said on Wednesday.
Rehman has three brothers one is a taxi driver, another works at a shop while the third is a student.
When he graduated from Darul a few years ago, Rehman realised that an unrecognised Islamic degree rendered him ineligible for his dream career the civil services. So, he went back to his native Latia village and gave religious discourses for a while.
Then somebody told him a bachelor’s degree in Unani medicine from Jamia Hamdard University in New Delhi could make him eligible for civil services. Five years later, the degree cleared his way for the UPSC examination.
Rehman, who manages only a smattering of English, wrote the entire exam in Urdu, with History and Persian as his main subjects. Far away from Darul in Gujarat’s Bharuch district, news of Rehman’s feat has triggered celebrations in Jameah Qasimiya Arabia, one of India’s most modern madrasas that has introduced compulsory English and computer classes.
“This is great news. Rehman has made all madaris (students) proud,” said Maulana Hamzad, a student.
“Madrasas need not produce only clerics. Students invariably become clerics because most of them do not get career counselling.”
Rehman himself feels the modernisation of madrasas, a prickly issue, is a crying need.
The Sachar Committee, which assessed the socio-economic status of India’s 150 million Muslims, has called for “recurrent grants and a mechanism for madrasas to be linked with a higher secondary board so that students wanting to shift to regular/mainstream education can do so even after having graduated from a madrasa.”
Source
-------------------
Sameena Shah wins Google India Engineering Award
Sameena Shah has won the 2009 Google India Women in Engineering Award. Google India selected 9 top students for the 22 finalists this year. Full time student in a recognized institution and pursuing Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related majors were eligible for this award.
An Engineering graduate of Jamia Millia Islamia, Sameena Shah, on winning the award said, “I love research in Computer Science because it satiates my inherent desire to understand the logic behind things. Things which are seemingly random may have an underlying structure. The joy for me lies in discovering patterns, creating algorithms, proposing a theory and making my own little contribution to the world.”
Google India wants to recognize and celebrate women in computer science and related fields through this award of Rs 100000. Shah has extensive work in Artificial Intelligence, seven published papers and eight under review in international journals and conferences. She has got the Ministry of Human Development & Research research fellowship from 2004 to 2009 for perusal of PhD. She also received the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (USA) student scholarship in 2008.
Shah did her Engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia in 2002 and then Masters in Technology from IIT ( Delhi ) in 2004. She is currently pursuing a doctorate degree from IIT ( Delhi ) on the topic "Distributed Machine Learning."
Source
--------------
Muslim Scientist working towards education for all
Source
Meher Tabassum is a Scientist working at Division of Remote Handling and Robotics, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India. She is a Government of India employee, with an official status of Class I Gazetted Officer.
Me: I was born in Hyderabad, AP to a highly civilized and educated Sunni Muslim family. Since my father was on a transferable government job, I traveled along with him to many places all over India. At present I am residing in Anushaktinagar, a BARC residential colony in Mumbai, India. I am passionate about engineering, travel, books, fashion and antiques. I hold a good collection of rare and old coins and stamps.
Family: My parents are my role model. I am always grateful to my illustrious father Mr. M F R Hyder who diligently served the Geological Survey of India, as a Drilling Engineer till he retired and provided me with guidance and support all throughout my life. My loving mother Mrs. Paiker Jamal is a simple lady with exotic knowledge of Islam, governance and general knowledge. She nurtured me with good moral values and inspired me to live a humble simple life. That makes me prefer to go on a bicycle to office and not to fail to spend the day in my life without 5 times namaz for my Allah. I have an asset of many supporting relatives and friends including my husband. My life also revolves around my small beautiful daughter Hana, who is a very intelligent and creative girl.
Education: I attended St. Joseph Convent High School and St. Francis De Sales college, Nagpur for my 10th & 12th respectively. I received my Bachelors’ degree in the year 1995 from Nagpur University and my Masters in Electronics Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University in the year 1998. Before joining BARC, I acquired Diploma in Nuclear Engineering from BARC training school.
Profession: My first job as a lecturer was in Women Polytechnic, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, from April 1997- May 1998. I taught subjects like Microprocessor and Computer to Diploma Engineering students making my primary goal to ensure the best quality of education & to give practical knowledge to each student.
Presently I work as a Scientific Officer in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India, since 1998. My contribution is in the research and development of various Robotics and Mechatronics systems such as Automatic Liquid Scintillation Counting System, Remote Contact Perception and Force Reflection for Parallel Manipulator, Tele-presence laboratory, Mobile Vehicle with Slave Manipulator, Parallel Manipulator, Articulated 6 DOF DC Servo Robotic System, SCARA Robot Controlled Liquid Scintillation Detection System, Moderator Heat Exchanger Inspection System Project for NPC-NAPP, Narora, India etc. focusing primarily on their control electronics, embedded systems and programming.
Extra Curricular Activities: I am very active in sports and play badminton, carrom and table tennis right from my school days and had won many prizes. Recently I participated in DAE sporting event for athletics. I held responsible positions from school to colleges taking keen interests in cultural, art and academic talent competitions. I am a member of Association of Muslim Professional and RRF foundation.
Young Muslim: I want to get involved in combating the new challenge of educating our young generation and establishing a think tank to make the future generation of Indian Muslims motivated towards the pursuit of Education. I have a dream of “No Muslim child in India to be left behind for education”.
The message I wish to give to our Young Muslim is to consider Education not just a means to conquer the outer space but also the inner space, so that we must be able to conquer the atom as well as our prejudice. We must learn to clean the pollution of the air and also not allow to pollute our souls and heart. I believe Education in this century is extremely important as never before, to face the complex and unique challenges that the mankind is facing all over the world today. We need young Muslims to be educated to make this world more secure and peaceful, to understand and communicate more intelligently, to negotiate, to agree to disagree respectfully, to resolve mutual conflicts in amicable and civilized ways, to demand Justice and human rights in a democratic way and also to learn to compromise in the interest of Peace and humanity.
Indian Muslims: Islam attaches great importance to the acquisition of Education. The time has come for the Indian Muslims to embark in search of Education and Knowledge. Every Muslim parent must understand that their future depends on how well they educate their children. Parents must teach their children that only through Education they can achieve whatever they dream and wish and live a respectable life. Education must not be acquired just to get a better paying job, but to brighten our lives with awareness, confidence and to see what is coming in future. All Indian Muslims should contribute to build individuals and our beloved country India, all along positive and progressive lines.
THE ENTRANCE to Chaugori Mohalla, a small Muslim locality in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha town, about 200 km from Delhi, isn’t the least bit inviting. A sixfoot- wide serpentine stretch, rutted and grimy, lies beyond — the only way into the neighbourhood. Today, however, it does not deter a stream of people eager to visit the house of the Mirzas, a short distance in. The woman they have come to meet, Khushboo Mirza, opens the door and welcomes them warmly. Khushboo is soon joined by her spirited mother, Farhat, and the mother-daughter duo proceed to smash one stereotype after another in an hour-long chat. “Hindi or English?” I ask Khushboo. “English will be fine,” comes the confident reply from the 23-year-old, who studied in the local Hindi-medium school till Class 10.
The flow of guests to the Mirza home is growing everyday. “I had never imagined that I would become such an icon,” says Khushboo, as her mother glances at their six-seat dining table, now covered with commemorative inscriptions and bouquets. Khushboo, an engineer with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is the youngest member of the team of 12 engineers of the Check-Out Division of India’s maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan- I. Her task was to carry out the vacuum, thermal and assembly examinations in different simulated conditions on various components of the satellite. “We had to check and see how the satellite would perform in space,” says the engineer, who joined India’s premier body for space research in 2006.
More people have come to congratulate the Mirzas since Chandrayaan- I was launched in October 2008 than have visited the Mirzas on Eid in several years put together. “Kai log to sochte hain ki Khushboo chaand par gayee thi (Some think Khushboo had gone to the moon and ask her when she returned),” Farhat chuckles.
A few years back, however, the Mirzas were in very different circumstances. Farhat, widowed at 30 after her husband Sikandar passed away in 1994, worked at the family’s petrol pump to pay her children’s school fees and keep the house running. Khushboo was seven at that time; her younger sister Mehak, now a student of engineering at Moradabad Institute of Technology, was four; and her older brother, Khushtar, now a B.Tech graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, was 10. “My husband was an engineer and it was his dream to see his daughters excel. And I knew it wasn’t possible without giving them a good education,” says Farhat. For the Mirzas, education for women wasn’t a novel idea as Farhat is a graduate from a Moradabad college. Moreover, Farhat’s sister teaches English at a public school in Dehradoon and her two nieces are doing their PhD in the US. “I taught my children to reach for the stars,” states the 45-year-old proudly. They did.
After her Class 10 examinations, Khushboo, a district level volleyball player, joined the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and later applied for a BTech at the same university. She became the first girl to fight an election in AMU. Though she did not win, she managed to encourage other girls to take the plunge, one of whom even won election the following year. Subsequent to her graduation, Khushboo received a job offer from Adobe Software, but gave it up in October 2006 to join ISRO for a salary much lower than what Adobe offered. Farhat, who accompanied her daughter to ISRO training programmes across the country, says there was no question of rejecting the ISRO offer for the extra money Adobe offered. “Khushboo was eager to contribute to Indian science and I was only happy to let her do so,” she says.
For a year and 10 months, Khushboo says, she worked conscientiously with her team to accomplish the mission. “I observed my Ramzan fasts, prayed and even celebrated Eid at the testing centre,” she says, spelling out that she is no different from any other Muslim woman who follows Islam and its customs. However, she acknowledges that she owes her success to her family’s liberal background.
Back in Amroha for a 15-day winter break, Kushboo is acclimatising herself to the newfound attention. “I was only a small part of a big mission, of a bigger dream that the country had seen. The praise I’m getting is overwhelming.”
--------
Even Indian "mullas" clear competitive exams to join Indian Civil Services
A First for Darul Uloom Deoband, Cleric Clears UPSC
Wasimur Rehman from Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharth Nagar could have ended up being an imam, leading prayers in a mosque.
The 31-year-old certified cleric, however, chose the road less travelled. And in doing so, he has become the first cleric from the influential Islamic seminary Darul Uloom of Deoband to clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam, which selects officers for the country’s elite administrative cadre.
Rehman secured the 404th position this year in his fourth and final shot at the UPSC.
“I always wanted to become a high-ranking government officer and serve my country. I am happy to become the first Darul cleric to clear the UPSC,” Rehman said on Wednesday.
Rehman has three brothers one is a taxi driver, another works at a shop while the third is a student.
When he graduated from Darul a few years ago, Rehman realised that an unrecognised Islamic degree rendered him ineligible for his dream career the civil services. So, he went back to his native Latia village and gave religious discourses for a while.
Then somebody told him a bachelor’s degree in Unani medicine from Jamia Hamdard University in New Delhi could make him eligible for civil services. Five years later, the degree cleared his way for the UPSC examination.
Rehman, who manages only a smattering of English, wrote the entire exam in Urdu, with History and Persian as his main subjects. Far away from Darul in Gujarat’s Bharuch district, news of Rehman’s feat has triggered celebrations in Jameah Qasimiya Arabia, one of India’s most modern madrasas that has introduced compulsory English and computer classes.
“This is great news. Rehman has made all madaris (students) proud,” said Maulana Hamzad, a student.
“Madrasas need not produce only clerics. Students invariably become clerics because most of them do not get career counselling.”
Rehman himself feels the modernisation of madrasas, a prickly issue, is a crying need.
The Sachar Committee, which assessed the socio-economic status of India’s 150 million Muslims, has called for “recurrent grants and a mechanism for madrasas to be linked with a higher secondary board so that students wanting to shift to regular/mainstream education can do so even after having graduated from a madrasa.”
Source
-------------------
Sameena Shah wins Google India Engineering Award
Sameena Shah has won the 2009 Google India Women in Engineering Award. Google India selected 9 top students for the 22 finalists this year. Full time student in a recognized institution and pursuing Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related majors were eligible for this award.
An Engineering graduate of Jamia Millia Islamia, Sameena Shah, on winning the award said, “I love research in Computer Science because it satiates my inherent desire to understand the logic behind things. Things which are seemingly random may have an underlying structure. The joy for me lies in discovering patterns, creating algorithms, proposing a theory and making my own little contribution to the world.”
Google India wants to recognize and celebrate women in computer science and related fields through this award of Rs 100000. Shah has extensive work in Artificial Intelligence, seven published papers and eight under review in international journals and conferences. She has got the Ministry of Human Development & Research research fellowship from 2004 to 2009 for perusal of PhD. She also received the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (USA) student scholarship in 2008.
Shah did her Engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia in 2002 and then Masters in Technology from IIT ( Delhi ) in 2004. She is currently pursuing a doctorate degree from IIT ( Delhi ) on the topic "Distributed Machine Learning."
Source
--------------
Muslim Scientist working towards education for all
Source
Meher Tabassum is a Scientist working at Division of Remote Handling and Robotics, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India. She is a Government of India employee, with an official status of Class I Gazetted Officer.
Me: I was born in Hyderabad, AP to a highly civilized and educated Sunni Muslim family. Since my father was on a transferable government job, I traveled along with him to many places all over India. At present I am residing in Anushaktinagar, a BARC residential colony in Mumbai, India. I am passionate about engineering, travel, books, fashion and antiques. I hold a good collection of rare and old coins and stamps.
Family: My parents are my role model. I am always grateful to my illustrious father Mr. M F R Hyder who diligently served the Geological Survey of India, as a Drilling Engineer till he retired and provided me with guidance and support all throughout my life. My loving mother Mrs. Paiker Jamal is a simple lady with exotic knowledge of Islam, governance and general knowledge. She nurtured me with good moral values and inspired me to live a humble simple life. That makes me prefer to go on a bicycle to office and not to fail to spend the day in my life without 5 times namaz for my Allah. I have an asset of many supporting relatives and friends including my husband. My life also revolves around my small beautiful daughter Hana, who is a very intelligent and creative girl.
Education: I attended St. Joseph Convent High School and St. Francis De Sales college, Nagpur for my 10th & 12th respectively. I received my Bachelors’ degree in the year 1995 from Nagpur University and my Masters in Electronics Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University in the year 1998. Before joining BARC, I acquired Diploma in Nuclear Engineering from BARC training school.
Profession: My first job as a lecturer was in Women Polytechnic, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, from April 1997- May 1998. I taught subjects like Microprocessor and Computer to Diploma Engineering students making my primary goal to ensure the best quality of education & to give practical knowledge to each student.
Presently I work as a Scientific Officer in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India, since 1998. My contribution is in the research and development of various Robotics and Mechatronics systems such as Automatic Liquid Scintillation Counting System, Remote Contact Perception and Force Reflection for Parallel Manipulator, Tele-presence laboratory, Mobile Vehicle with Slave Manipulator, Parallel Manipulator, Articulated 6 DOF DC Servo Robotic System, SCARA Robot Controlled Liquid Scintillation Detection System, Moderator Heat Exchanger Inspection System Project for NPC-NAPP, Narora, India etc. focusing primarily on their control electronics, embedded systems and programming.
Extra Curricular Activities: I am very active in sports and play badminton, carrom and table tennis right from my school days and had won many prizes. Recently I participated in DAE sporting event for athletics. I held responsible positions from school to colleges taking keen interests in cultural, art and academic talent competitions. I am a member of Association of Muslim Professional and RRF foundation.
Young Muslim: I want to get involved in combating the new challenge of educating our young generation and establishing a think tank to make the future generation of Indian Muslims motivated towards the pursuit of Education. I have a dream of “No Muslim child in India to be left behind for education”.
The message I wish to give to our Young Muslim is to consider Education not just a means to conquer the outer space but also the inner space, so that we must be able to conquer the atom as well as our prejudice. We must learn to clean the pollution of the air and also not allow to pollute our souls and heart. I believe Education in this century is extremely important as never before, to face the complex and unique challenges that the mankind is facing all over the world today. We need young Muslims to be educated to make this world more secure and peaceful, to understand and communicate more intelligently, to negotiate, to agree to disagree respectfully, to resolve mutual conflicts in amicable and civilized ways, to demand Justice and human rights in a democratic way and also to learn to compromise in the interest of Peace and humanity.
Indian Muslims: Islam attaches great importance to the acquisition of Education. The time has come for the Indian Muslims to embark in search of Education and Knowledge. Every Muslim parent must understand that their future depends on how well they educate their children. Parents must teach their children that only through Education they can achieve whatever they dream and wish and live a respectable life. Education must not be acquired just to get a better paying job, but to brighten our lives with awareness, confidence and to see what is coming in future. All Indian Muslims should contribute to build individuals and our beloved country India, all along positive and progressive lines.
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