- 11th July (3)
- India (1)
- San Antonio (3)
- Uncategorized (23)
- May 14, 2008: Aga Khan seeks reforms in madrassa education
- April 15, 2008: Aga Khan makes rare visit to U.S.
- April 11, 2008: Thousands of North Texans headed to San Antonio for rare religious event
- April 10, 2008:
- April 6, 2008: Royal visit to draw 35,000 to town
- March 28, 2008: Aga Khan opens Ismaili centre in Dubai
- March 25, 2008: Aga Khan to open Ismaili Centre on March 26
- March 25, 2008: Hamdan meets with Aga Khan
- December 11, 2007: BDB eyes Aga Khan tie-up for key fund
- November 19, 2007: Uganda: Aga Khan Group Joins $650 Million Sea Cable Project
Aga Khan seeks reforms in madrassa education
May 14, 2008 by bipin.
NEW DELHI: The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili community, yesterday called on President Pratibha Patil and discussed a host of issues, including reforms in madrassa education and the conservation of monuments in India.
The Aga Khan, who is on a week-long trip to India, met Patil for about a half-hour. According to official sources, the 70-year-old leader, also known as Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, spoke enthusiastically about the need for reforms in Islamic religious schools.
“He talked about the possibility of replicating a programme of reform of madrassa education at the Aga Khan’s Educational Institution in Hyderabad,” said an official.
The Ismaili leader also visited Humayun’s Tomb and Sundar Nursery to survey the progress of a project for the revitalisation of several cultural heritage buildings located in Nizamuddin area in the heart of New Delhi. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Aga Khan Foundation forged a partnership with several Indian government agencies, including the Archaeological Survey of India, for the preservation of the historic buildings in 2004. The project is modelled on the Bagh-e-Babur integrated conservation project being implemented by the Aga Khan Trust in Kabul, Afghanistan.
He also met opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani.
The Aga Khan arrived here on Monday on a visit that marks his 50th year as the imam of over 25mn Ismailis worldwide.
He met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday.
The Aga Khan, one of the world’s pre-eminent philanthropists and businessmen who runs one of the largest private development networks focusing on the poor, will go to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Ahmedabad before he heads to Dhaka on May 19.
In Mumbai, the Aga Khan - one of the world’s wealthiest Muslim investors - will get a grand reception from the 6,000-odd Ismailis in the city.
In Gujarat, he will meet Chief Minister Narendra Modi and will also visit Siddhpur, a town in northern Gujarat that is home to a large Ismaili community.
The Aga Khan last visited India in September 2006, when he laid the foundation of the Aga Khan Academy for Excellence in Education in Hyderabad.
Earlier, in 2004 the spiritual leader gave away the Aga Khan Award for Architecture at a presentation ceremony at Humayun’s Tomb here. – IANS
Posted in India | Print | No Comments »
Aga Khan makes rare visit to U.S.
April 15, 2008 by bipin.
By Tricia Escobedo
CNN
updated 2:26 p.m. EDT, Tue April 15, 2008
(CNN) — The leaders of three world religions will be visiting the United States this week, and although the media spotlight is focused on Pope Benedict XVI and the Dalai Lama, thousands of Ismaili Muslims are celebrating a rare U.S. tour by the Aga Khan.
The Aga Khan says a “clash of ignorance” has led to friction between Islam and the West.
The Aga Khan doesn’t exactly fit the image that may be expected for the spiritual leader of 20 million Ismaili Muslims across the world; he usually wears a suit and tie.
But his followers see him as the final authority on interpreting the Quran. One one Muslim scholar said that in that regard, “he is more powerful than the pope.”
The Aga Khan, 71, arrived Friday in Austin, Texas, where he met with Gov. Rick Perry and signed a memorandum with the University of Texas on behalf of his Aga Khan University.
The two schools agreed to share research and cooperate in what was described as “a move towards narrowing the gap between the West and Islam.”
Aga Khan University is an international University with teaching sites in eight countries: Afghanistan, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Syria, Egypt and the United Kingdom.
The agenda for the Aga Khan’s first U.S. tour in 20 years includes stops in Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; and Atlanta, Georgia; places he described as having “particular importance to the Ismaili Community over the last half century.” 
Watch the Aga Khan’s arrival in the U.S. »
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His trip to the United States and to other Ismaili communities around the world is in celebration of his “Golden Jubilee” — which actually fell last year — marking 50 years as the spiritual leader.
“It’s not very often that the Ismaili community gets this opportunity,” said Saloni Firasta Vastani, a volunteer community leader in Atlanta.
The Aga Khan “has a worldly responsibility in addition to spiritual,” Vastani explained. And that is why the centerpiece of his role is his $150 million nonprofit, nondenominational foundation that focuses on helping the poor.
The imam’s personal life has sometimes overshadowed his message of tolerance, which a spokesman for the U.S. Ismaili community says has “not been well covered” by the media.
“In the Western world, he is not as well-known, except for the British tabloid press, which will talk about his racehorses and the private life of his father,” Dr. Mansoor Saleh said.
The Aga Khan repeatedly focuses on a “clash of ignorance,” not a clash of cultures, that has led to the current friction between Islam and the West.
“The hope is that this visit will provide the impetus … for the West to understand what he does and what he stands for,” Saleh said.
Last year, Forbes Magazine listed the Aga Khan, who lives in the Paris suburbs, as the 10th richest royal in the world, valued at $1 billion. In a previous article, the magazine heralded him as “venture capitalist to the world,” saying the Aga Khan “was early among experts in Third World development to grasp that government handouts and multilaterally funded megaprojects often foster dependence, not self-reliance, in the people they’re meant to help.”
Prince Karim al-Husseini became the current Aga Khan as a 20-year-old Harvard student, after his grandfather passed the title on to him and not his father, Prince Aly Khan, who was once married to the American actress Rita Hayworth.
Despite the Aga Khan’s immense wealth, the imam shuns the title of “philanthropist” because he feels that the Aga Khan Foundation is part of his mandate as a religious leader.
His teachings also stress respecting other cultures and faiths, Vastani said.
“There’s not enough education on both sides, and we’re living in such a global place now, so learning about each other is important,” she said. “That’s the way the Ismaili community views it.”
Dr. Liyakat Takim, who teaches Islamic studies at the University of Denver, said it is not the Aga Khan’s wealthy lifestyle that draws the most criticism from fellow Muslims but his authority to interpret the Quran for Ismaili Muslims.
“Ismailis see him as the final authority in today’s world,” Takim said. “His word is law.”
That means as a spiritual leader, the Aga Khan “is able to reinterpret” the teachings of Islam and has the authority to “nullify or supersede religious practices.”
“That would include things like daily prayers,” Takim said. “Ismailis see themselves firmly within the Islamic tradition but of course other Muslims have problems with that.”
But for many Ismailis, the Aga Khan’s role transcends that of spiritual leader. Those who feel that way include Zarifmo Aslamshoyeva, who credits his foundation with saving her life, as well as the lives of her husband and their two children.
Now an editor with CNN in Atlanta, Aslamshoyeva saw her life as a television news anchor in her native Tajikistan came crashing down after the collapse of the Soviet Union sparked a civil war in her country in 1992.
Aslamshoyeva lived in the remote, mountainous Pamir region of Tajikistan, isolated from the aid that flooded in following a lull in the fighting.
“There was aid in the capital and in the surroundings, but they could not reach us in the mountains,” she said.
Pamir residents normally stockpile food for the harsh winters, but nearly everyone ran out of food in the middle of winter partly due to an influx of refugees fleeing the fighting in the capital, Dushanbe.
“At home, there was no electricity, no food. I would just sit there and look at my children,” she said. Their faces were pale and thin. Without any paychecks from Moscow, many people were forced to beg on the streets.
“By then, who cares if you have an education or if you are a doctor or journalist? We all had nothing, and we were worried about our children.”
It felt like the world had forgotten about her small region and their suffering, she said.
“Pamir was just a little tiny place,” she said. “People know Tajikistan but not Pamir.”
Despite intermittent power, television remained the only way to communicate. She says her life changed on the day she was called in to the tiny TV station to read an announcement telling residents that food from the Aga Khan Foundation had finally arrived in Pamir.
“I never heard of the Aga Khan Foundation, but I had heard of the Aga Khan,” she said. Her grandmother had spoken of “the imam” in hushed tones during the Communist period.
Since that day, Aslamshoyeva said, aid began pouring in, changing her life forever.
“He helped everyone who lived in Tajikistan: Russians, Germans, Jews,” she said. “It didn’t matter what religion you were.” E-mail to a friend 
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Thousands of North Texans headed to San Antonio for rare religious event
April 11, 2008 by bipin.
Star-Telegram staff writer
Nadir Meharali knows he has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of a rare religious event.
Today, the Dallas man is heading to San Antonio to join as many as 10,000 other North Texas Shia Ismaili Muslims who are taking part in the Golden Jubilee, a time to celebrate the 50th year of leadership by their spiritual guide, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV.
“I think practically everyone from here is going,” Meharali said.
As many as 35,000 Shia Ismaili Muslims from across the state may be there to honor Aga Khan, a descendant of the prophet Muhammad, who succeeded his grandfather in 1957 at age 20. He is the 49th hereditary leader of the Shia Ismailis.
Once he reached his 50th year of leadership, Aga Khan, who lives in France, began traveling to different countries for the yearlong celebration, which began July 11, 2007.
Aga Khan tries to meet with state leaders during his stops and talk about initiatives not only to increase access to healthcare and education but also about ways to reduce poverty and find peace.
This month, he plans to visit four states — Texas, California, Illinois and Georgia.
He is scheduled to arrive in Austin today.
On Saturday, Gov. Rick Perry will meet with Aga Khan and hold a special ceremony at the state Capitol to sign a memorandum of understanding between the University of Texas and Aga Khan University, pledging to work together to showcase educational environments, according to information released about the Golden Jubilee.
Saturday night, Perry and his wife, Anita, will host a private gala dinner at an exotic game preserve in Austin to celebrate Aga Khan’s 50 years of service, according to the governor’s office.
By Sunday, Aga Khan will meet with those in the Shia Ismaili Muslim community who gathered at the convention center and Alamodome in San Antonio, during the private celebration that will include speeches, dances, poetry and celebration.
“This is a first in our lifetimes,” Meharali said. “There are a lot of festivities … and a tremendous amount of cooking.”
Prince Karim Aga Kahn IV
Who he is
Aga Khan became the spiritual leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims on July 11, 1957, at 20. He succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III.
The 49th hereditary imam, or leader, he is a descendant of the prophet Muhammad and his cousin and son-in-law Hazrat Ali, who was the first spiritual leader of the Muslim community.
Born in Geneva in 1936, he grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, and graduated from Harvard in 1959 with an honors degree in Islamic history.
The community he leads
The Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, known as the Ismailis, are part of the Shiite branch of Islam.
They believe that after the prophet’s death, Hazrat Ali became the spiritual leader, known as an imam. That leadership continues through his descendants.
There are about 15 million Ismaili Muslims living in about 25 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe, as well as central and South Asia, East Africa and the Middle East.
Source: Golden Jubilee committee
atinsley@star-telegram.com
ANNA M. TINSLEY, 817-390-7610
Posted in San Antonio, 11th July | Print | No Comments »
April 10, 2008 by bipin.
Texas welcome for imam
Had you read or heard that the governor of Texas was to break bread with a Muslim imam only 10 years ago, you might have thought it highly improbable. It’s a new Texas, however, and a new world.
Gov. Rick Perry is scheduled to welcome the Aga Khan, a religious leader with a global reach and immense wealth with activities that include a formal dinner on Saturday. The imam is celebrating 50 years as leader of the world’s Shia Imam Ismaili Muslims with a world tour, and Texas is the first stop on the U.S. leg of it. The current Aga Khan, 71, has led the sect since 1957.
His Texas followers number 25,000 to 30,000 and are engaged in a wide variety of businesses and professions. They don’t generally attract a lot of attention, but the visit by the Aga Khan and the recognition by the top state elected official will change that a little.
The sect led by the Aga Khan values self-reliance, tolerance and human worth. In addition to tithes from followers, the Aga Khan finances the sect’s activities with more than $1 billion in sales from a variety of businesses, including banks, hotels and newspapers. The sect also builds hospitals and health care facilities.
The immense wealth of the Aga Khan has stirred controversy in the past, including from other Muslims who have disassociated themselves from the Ismailis.
The first of the Ismailis arrived in Texas 40 or so years ago and are concentrated in the state’s metropolitan areas: Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio.
The visit to Texas is clearly a message that the Aga Khan wants to pierce stereotypes of Muslims that have grown since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by extremist Muslims in the United States. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan stoke suspicions of Muslims in this country. Lamenting that climate of suspicion, the Aga Khan - who was educated at Harvard - has described the religious conflict “as a clash of ignorance.”
Though the visit is more symbol than substance to official Texas, the participation by Perry sends a positive message to both the Ismailis and their fellow Texans.
It’s a message of understanding and tolerance that we would all be wise to heed: Peace be with all of us.
Posted in San Antonio, 11th July | Print | No Comments »
Royal visit to draw 35,000 to town
April 6, 2008 by bipin.
San Antonio will host a massive religious gathering just days after the Final Four crowds leave town.The event, called the Golden Jubilee, will bring a gathering of 35,000 Ismaili Muslims and their spiritual leader Prince Karim Aga Khan to the Alamodome and the Convention Center starting Friday.
“His Highness” is considered a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad, and his visits with large gatherings of his congregation are rare.
“He hasn’t visited the congregation collectively in about 21 years. This is a major and religious occasion to meet the spiritual leader,” said Dr. Mansoor N. Saleh of Georgia, who’s a member of communications council for the U.S. Ismaili community.
Event coordinators first looked into having their event at Reliant Park in Houston, but the center was unavailable. So they came to San Antonio a few weeks ago looking for space. A lot of space.
“The city benefits from having the Alamodome readily available,” said Michael Sawaya, the city’s director of convention, sports and entertainment facilities. “The economic impact of this is going to be like an Alamo Bowl. We were only given several weeks to plan this when normally a group this size will plan for four years.”
City officials say this is the largest three-day event San Antonio has seen since HemisFair in 1968. It’s estimated the group could spend about $37 million while here.
Sawaya said even though visitors here for religious gatherings typically don’t spend as much as business travelers, this group is affluent.
But they didn’t need as much hotel space — they have a block of 3,000 rooms — because many Texas Ismailis will be staying with family and friends in San Antonio during the event.
The three-day event will include a visit on April 13 from the Aga Khan — the spiritual leader of the Ismailis, which is a Shiite branch of Islam.
Born in 1936 in Geneva, the Aga Khan spent his early childhood in Nairobi, Kenya, and graduated from Harvard in 1959.
(Bloomberg News file photo)
Prince Karim Aga Khan, shown in 2005, leads 12 million to 15 million Ismaili Muslims, with an estimated 1,500 to 1,700 in San Antonio.
The Aga Khan leads a community of 12 million to 15 million Ismaili Muslims living in some 25 countries, according to the official Web site of the Ismaili community.
During the Golden Jubilee, which began July 11, 2007, and will continue until July 11, 2008, the Aga Khan will visit numerous countries, including stops in the U.S.
The Aga Khan also is making visits in April to Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago. The San Antonio visit is considered a private event for Texas Ismailis.
Amin Makhani, an owner of an Asian grocery store in Northeast San Antonio, said he has cousins coming from Houston and Dallas just to attend the gathering.
“You can say he’s like a pope. This is the best opportunity for our people to see him,” said Makhani, who estimated there are about 1,500 to 1,700 Ismailis in San Antonio.
Makhani’s family is so excited about the visit they have been celebrating for the last 15 days, he added.
Another person who’s happy about the Aga Khan’s arrival is Greg Kowalski, president and owner of The RK Group, a local catering company.
RK Group is taking on the mammoth task of serving more than 200,000 meals in 60 hours. This is one of the largest events the firm has had to handle on such short notice.
“This piece of business came about suddenly and to amass this much food and supplies to feed roughly 200,000 meals in a matter of 60 hours is really an incredible logistic opportunity,” Kowalski said.
Local hotel officials said despite the short notice, the group is coming at a great time.
“It’s a weekend piece of business, and it’s short term. It’s a nice group to have right after the Final Four,” said Scott Lane, the Grand Hyatt director of sales and marketing, who said the event will use a couple of hundred rooms at the new luxury hotel.
While the ultimate event features Aga Khan, the closed festivities also include traditional dancing, youth activities, poetry and live devotional music.
Posted in San Antonio, 11th July | Print | No Comments »
Aga Khan opens Ismaili centre in Dubai
March 28, 2008 by bipin.
DUBAI (AFP) — The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world’s Shiite Ismaili Muslims, on Wednesday inaugurated an Ismaili cultural centre in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, the first of its kind in the Middle East.
The Ismaili Centre, which houses a library and will host conferences and an early childhood education programme, will serve as “a place for peaceful contemplation, ” he said at the inauguration ceremony.
“It is not a place to hide from the world, but rather a place which inspires us to engage our worldly work as a direct extension of our faith,” the Aga Khan said.
The centre is the fourth for the 15-million-strong Ismaili community. Others are in London, Lisbon and Vancouver.
Around one million members of the Shiite sect live in the Middle East.
The 71-year-old Aga Khan, who is based in France and has been the “imam” of the Ismaili community for half a century, said the choice of Dubai as venue was driven by the “diversity” that characterises the city state, which is home to some 1.4 million people, mostly foreigners.
Dubai, one of the seven members of the United Arab Emirates, has become “a truly global crossroads” and “the very embodiment of the global village,” he said.
The inauguration was attended by Sheikh Ahmad bin Saeed al-Maktoum, a member of Dubai’s ruling family and chairman of the city state’s carrier Emirates, and by UAE Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister Sheikh Nahayan bin Mubarak al-Nahayan.
Officials at the centre said it took four years to build and cost 22 million dollars.
“The variety of expressions within Islam is not a curse but a mercy,” said the Aga Khan, referring to various Sunni and Shiite sects.
Up to 8,000 Ismailis, mostly expatriates, live in the UAE. Members of the sect are scattered across the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and central Asia. Ismailis can also be found in Africa with smaller numbers residing in Europe and the United States.
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Aga Khan to open Ismaili Centre on March 26
March 25, 2008 by bipin.
23 March 2008DUBAI - The Ismaili Centre in Dubai will be opened on March 26 by The Aga Khan. As the fourth Ismaili Centre in the world and the first in the Middle East, the opening of this centre is historic for the community.
Situated on Oud Metha Road, the centre introduces a timeless statement of Islamic architecture to the contemporary landscape of the Middle East. With the state-of-the-art facilities for lectures, presentations, seminars and conferences, the Ismaili Centre Dubai will host initiatives to enrich dialogue in areas of social, economic and cultural endeavour as well as recitals and exhibitions to educate people on Islamic heritage.
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Hamdan meets with Aga Khan
March 25, 2008 by bipin.
|
Published: March 25, 2008, 00:34 |
| Abu Dhabi: Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, on Monday received Prince Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Islamic Ismaili sect.
Shaikh Hamdan and Aga Khan reviewed a number of educational, social and developmental projects implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation in Arab and Islamic countries. Among those present was Shaikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Emiri Flight Authority. |
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BDB eyes Aga Khan tie-up for key fund
December 11, 2007 by bipin.
| BDB eyes Aga Khan tie-up for key fund |
|
MANAMA: The Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) is planning to collaborate with the Geneva-based Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance in a bid to develop a poverty alleviation fund. A meeting between Finance Ministry Under-Secretary and BDB chairman Shaikh Ebrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance general manager Jacques Toureille took place yesterday at the Bahrain Business Incubator Centre (BBIC). “Poverty alleviation is a noble cause and through productive activities physical evidence of success will always be visible,” Shaikh Ebrahim told the GDN. “The BBIC has been a success story and having outside officials visiting the centre will have a ripple effect that will help display its position as a main player in society. “The development of microentrepreneurs at the BBIC has proven itself as being a success. Through microfinance a difference can be made to benefit nations struggling with poverty. “Using microfinance to provide the investment needed to develop housing projects is something that the BDB is hoping to expand into, and with the help of the Aga Khan Agency we hope to benefit other countries not only in the region but wherever needed.” “The agency is well-known in over 35 countries in the world,” Mr Toureille said. “Through delivering materials cheaper in economies where the labour of building housing is done by the family itself we can strategically position ourselves to make a difference. “We are currently active in countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Syria and we hope that with the help of the BDB we will further expand. “The possibility of developing co-operation in poverty alleviation to build a programme together will not only benefit us but our partners worldwide. “With this we hope to further integrate into society with a joint effort to help emerging economies.” The meeting at the BBIC also included a presentation from Unido head Hashim Hussein who introduced a number of companies currently operating from the BBIC. “Microentrepreneurs can compete anywhere with tailor-made solutions dedicated to specific communities,” Mr Hussein said. “With the help of the BBIC developing companies into small or medium sized businesses has been 84 per cent successful provided that the companies can survive the initial training period. This allows them to accumulate their wealth sufficiently enough to begin to develop into their next project. “Our objectives include the ability to teach independence and self reliability that will allow our patrons to develop into fully fledged grown companies.” |
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Uganda: Aga Khan Group Joins $650 Million Sea Cable Project
November 19, 2007 by bipin.
Edris Kisambira
Kampala
The Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) has joined SEACOM to back the construction of a US$650 million undersea optic fibre cable that will link Mozambique, Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania with international broadband cables in South Africa, India and Europe (France). SEACOM wants to build the 15,000km long state-of-art cable with other African investors. IPS is part of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). SEACOM’s venture, which will be ready for service in 2009, will provide faster, cheaper, broadband capacity for Africa. SEACOM will be one of four submarine cables that are being planned for the eastern seaboard of Africa. Others are the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), The East African Marine System (TEAMS) and the NEPAD-backed BAHARICOM. High bandwidth at low costs will be a catalyst for productivity and the growth of service industries such as call-centres, back offices and research institutions in Africa. The additional bandwidth offered by the new cable will also contribute significantly to bringing the cost of connectivity down. “The agreements signed today (November 15) make the SEACOM broadband cable a reality for Africa, and with it access to much cheaper, much faster fibre optic links between countries in the south and east of the continent to the rest of the world,” said Mr. Lutaf Kassam, IPS (Kenya) group managing director. “The project will in turn spur economic growth and social development in the region through employment and connecting business opportunities,” Kassam said in a press statement AKFED issued last week. “Ten years ago, very few believed African markets were capable of the tremendous growth experienced in the mobile industry. Today, we see the dawn of a similar revolution in the growth of data communications,” said SEACOM president Mr. Brian Herlihy. East Africa is the only part of the world without access to international cables and is desperate for low cost, high quality, international bandwidth. The estimated cost of satellite bandwidth on a monthly lease ranges from $1,700 to $6,000 per megabit/second per month. The same bandwidth on the SEACOM cable will be approximately 20% of current costs. The investors in SEACOM are IPS (25%), Venfin Limited (25%); Herakles Telecom LLC (25%); Convergence Partners (12.5%) and the Shanduka Group (12.5%). Nedbank Capital, the investment banking arm of Nedbank Limited, was appointed as the Mandated Lead Arranger for all debt funding requirements of the project and the funding will be provided by Nedbank Capital and Investec Bank. Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) is the infrastructure and industrial development of AKFED. IPS has operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and DR Congo and is also actively pursuing investment opportunities in Rwanda, Mozambique and Madagascar. Outside the East and Central Africa region, IPS also operates in Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Canada. “This is a tremendous opportunity for our continent, because the cable gives us the technical capacity for much closer integration into the world economy where Africa will significantly share in the new opportunities and efficiency gains arising from this project,” said Shanduka Chairman, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa. “We are extremely happy that the investors from South and East Africa have partnered with an international counterpart around our shared vision of linking Africa to the world in the spirit of NEPAD.” SEACOM has already invested more than $10million in the marine survey and engineering of the cable. This advance work has allowed SEACOM to maintain its ready-for-service-date of June 2009. Actual production of the high-tech cable and undersea repeaters starts next week. The statement said SEACOM’s 1.28-terrabytes-per-second broadband capacity would bring prices for businesses, institutions, communities, and individuals down significantly. It will provide sufficient bandwidth to accommodate high definition TV, peer to peer networks, IPTV, and surging Internet demand. SEACOM will also make a direct contribution to meeting the New Partnership for Africa’s Development’s (NEPAD’s) goals of development for Africa’s renewal and its full and beneficial integration into the global economy.
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Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan
November 14, 2007 by bipin.
Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan
at the Conference on Central Asia and Europe :
A New Economic Partnership for the 21st Century
Berlin - November 13, 2007
Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim
Your Excellencies Foreign Minister Steinmeier, Dr. Belka
and Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner,
State Secretary Erler,
Your Excellencies Ministers from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me, first, acknowledge and thank for their kind words those who have spoken before me this morning — the Foreign Minister, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Dr. Marek Belka — as well as Benita Ferrero Waldner, the EC Commissioner for External Relations.
It has always been special pleasure to return to Berlin — a city that continues to be synonymous with the word “cosmopolitan”. Berlin is truly a global connecting point — a fact which has been instrumental in our decision to open an office of the Aga Khan Development Network here.
How appropriate that we should be discussing, in this historic crossroads city, one of the great, inter-cultural projects of our time — the effort to build a partnership between Central Asia and Europe. I commend the German Government for its leading role in this effort, and the European Union for carrying it forward — with its endorsement of a “Regional Strategy” for Central Asia a few months ago. Others have also played welcome contributing roles, including The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
As I offer my own comments today, I will draw on the experience of our Aga Khan Development Network in Central Asia. We have come to know much of this region well, particularly Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; not only has it long been home to significant numbers of Ismaili Muslims, but we have also developed a widening range of programs across the region over the past fifteen years.
It is appropriate that the word “Regional” is at the center of our deliberations on Central Asia. The countries are diverse in many ways — and the development approaches there must be sensitive to divergent requirements. But these countries also have a common historical experience, including several centuries of shared Islamic heritage. Each of them has faced the need to build new political and economic institutions following the breakup of the Soviet Union. And, as the EU Strategy document emphasizes, each of them can only optimise their development through a regional approach.
In this respect, the Central Asian experience parallels the European experience. In Europe, too, the end of the Cold War demanded new political and economic structures and it is striking how quickly Europe is now reaching out to Central Asia — offering, among other things, the great gift of a powerful regional example.
Among other things, the European example demonstrates that a healthy sense of national identity need not be a barrier to constructive regional engagement. So my first objective today is to tell you how warmly I endorse regional diagnosis for Central Asia. And because that diagnosis begins in the right place, it also extends into a series of wise prescriptions for the future. These prescriptions are validated in large measure by the experiences of the Aga Khan Development Network institutions in Central Asia. We have learned a great deal from those experiences — both successes and setbacks, but we can learn a great deal more by sharing our lessons.
The problems of Central Asia are remarkably complex — their causes are multiple and defiantly inter-tangled. Progress requires a multi-faceted and multi-input approach — a proper “policy mix”– to cite the language of the EU Report. The learning curve is steep and there should be a sense of urgency — for all of us — and all the more so, because solutions can be elusive.
In many ways, the greatest obstacle in the struggle for progress in Central Asia is simple human frustration. In this region the sense is that its development partners talk about progress, and then act, and then talk some more — but too often, for the people of the region, progress is just “not happening”. When it does happen, it too often is incomplete, or exceptional, or fleeting. This situation is of course by far the most acute in Afghanistan.
What we face in Central Asia is a race against frustration — which means a race against time and mediocrity. Alternative scenarios, often utopian and extremist, beckon on every hand — and people will not be patient with pragmatic scenarios unless the work in practice is effective. The EU rightly emphasizes the need for greater “continuity” in these efforts — so that each experience, successful or unsuccessful, becomes a building block for the future.
It is a daunting challenge indeed to move in a coordinated way on multiple fronts. But as we do, success can become self-generating. Progress on one, or two, or three fronts can often make progress easier on other fronts — a sense of possibility can also be contagious. I acknowledge the considerable advances that each of the Central Asian countries is making, including recognising the needs of their rural populations.
In a spirit of shared learning and with diffidence — let me highlight a few of our own experiences.
I would begin with the University of Central Asia, founded in the year 2000 by the Ismaili Imamat — and the governments of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.
I remember the signing ceremonies well. They were the culmination of six years of planning — an experience which itself illustrated the importance not only of regional cooperation, but also of cooperation among disciplines and among social sectors. Our goal was to address a massive regional problem: how to improve the quality of life of nearly 25 million people who live in the high mountain areas of the region and beyond?
We often talk about Public Private Partnerships — as the EU Strategy does. But such relationships need not be limited to cooperation between
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Aga Khan Trust revives the Middle Ages
November 1, 2007 by bipin.
Aga Khan Trust revives the Middle Ages
The Khayrbek and Umm Al-Sultan Shaaban monumental complexes, two of the finest examples of Islamic mediaeval architecture in the Darb Al-Ahmar district of Cairo, have been restored. Nevine El-Aref was at the opening ceremony
 Click to view caption |
| The mosque in Umm Al-Sultan Shaaban monument after restoration |
Traffic was barred from Bab Al-Wazir Street in the Darb Al-Ahmar district last Friday night as journalists and TV crews joined government officials at the Khayrbek complex to await the arrival of Prince Karim Aga Khan and Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, who would announce the inauguration of the Khayrbek and Umm Al-Sultan Shaaban complexes after five years of restoration.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/869/eg3.htm
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Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at Round Table Louvre Museum
October 30, 2007 by bipin.
Mr President
Ladies and Gentlemen
Shortly after the announcement of our museum in Toronto, the aim of which is to present Islamic art in all its beauty and diversity, I had the immense pleasure of receiving Henri Loyrette’s invitation to stage an exhibition here at the Louvre.
I thank Mr Loyrette and the management of the Louvre most warmly for organising this round table and inviting me to speak this evening. This is a completely new situation for me, since I have never previously taken part in this kind of initiative in France, much less at the Louvre. You will not be surprised if I confess that I feel as though I am sitting an extremely important school examination for which I have done no preparation at all! So I approach the task with deep trepidation!
When I was invited to talk to you about the future of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto and the objects that will be on show there, I was asked to explain the significance of our exhibition and the role museums might play in improving understanding between East and West.
The meaning of our exhibition was certainly better illustrated by my brother Prince Amyn, and the director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Luis Monreal. I myself could not have explained the technicalities, but I think it is interesting to know about the framework within which our initiative is taking place, and it is to this issue that I shall turn now. It is, of course, risky to generalise about a world as diversified, complex and pluralistic as the Islamic world in this day and age. I shall allow myself to take that risk and attempt to explain to you some of the strategic aims we considered in relation to putting our collection on exhibition.
I believe that today the Islamic world’s view of its own future is seriously affected by a divergent squint. It is a world split into two tendencies: on the one hand, modernisers and believers in progressive change, on the other, traditionalists who might even be described as hidebound. Both seek to determine future directions to be taken by the Ummah which will reinforce its identity, or rather its identities, while remaining rooted in a truth which is firmly Muslim. In practice, these two tendencies can be seen in the political domain in the differences between theocratic governance and the secular state; between the application of Sharia in all legal fields and the complete absence of Sharia or its application only in the domain of civil law; between economic and financial systems based on Sharia and systems that are essentially liberal and westernised; between religious education at every level and a national system with no reference at all to religion throughout the whole educational process, apart from the madrasa option for very young children.
In this context, we thought it essential, whichever choice Muslim populations may indicate to their governments, to clarify certain aspects of the history of Muslim civilisations in order that today’s two main tendencies, modern and traditional, can base their ideas on historical realities and not on history that has been misunderstood or even manipulated.
Firstly, the 1,428 years of the Ummah embrace many civilisations and are therefore characterised by an astonishing pluralism. In particular, this geographic, ethnic, linguistic and religious pluralism has manifested itself at the most defining moments in the history of the Ummah, hence the objective of the Aga Khan collection, which is to highlight objects drawn from every region and every period, and created from every kind of material in the Muslim world.
The second great historical lesson to be learnt is that the Muslim world has always been wide open to every aspect of human existence. The sciences, society, art, the oceans, the environment and the cosmos have all contributed to the great moments in the history of Muslim civilisations. The Qur’an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God’s creation. Our collection seeks to demonstrate the openness of Muslim civilisations to every aspect of human life, even going so far as to work in partnership with intellectual and artistic sources originating in other regions.
The third important observation we can make about the Ummah today is that the two main tendencies, traditional and modern, are trying to maintain, indeed to develop, their Islamic legitimacy. Loss of identity, anxiety about the risk of being caught up in a process of westernisation that is essentially Christian and is perceived as becoming less and less religious, are deep and very real concerns. Where the two tendencies diverge is on the question of how to maintain and strengthen this identity in the future.
Here, I would like to digress in order to illustrate how deep this loss of identity can be, even though it passes unrecognised until it is too late. Thirty years ago, I and a number of Muslim intellectuals met to ask ourselves an apparently simple but in reality extremely complex question: “Has the Muslim world lost the ability to express itself in the field of architecture, a field admired and acknowledged as one of the most powerful manifestations of every great Muslim civilisation?” The response was a unanimous ‘Yes’. Since then, many efforts have been made to reverse the situation, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, but one of the causes was that, throughout the Ummah, none of the teachers in any of the schools of architecture had studied in their home countries. Without exception, every teacher of architecture in every school and university in the Muslim world had been trained abroad, without any reference whatsoever to the Muslim world. This is, by the way, one of the reasons we are pleased to have been able to include in our collection some documents of unique architectural interest.
For the populations of the Ummah, loss of identity is an unquestionable reality, as it is for all societies. Perhaps one of the keys for the Muslim world will be to perpetuate their cultures in the modern world by means of rediscovered ancient and newly inspired sources. The Muslim world’s two main tendencies, traditional and modern, will both have a role to play but if one attempts to achieve exclusivity at the expense of the other, the consequences will be predictable and highly damaging.
The second issue about which I have been asked to talk to you is what the role of museums might be in promoting understanding between East and West. It is a huge question to which I shall not try to give a comprehensive response but I should nevertheless point out that the Muslim world, with its history and cultures, and indeed its different interpretations of Islam, is still little known in the West. Even today in secondary and even university education in the West, the study of the Muslim world is still a specialist subject. One example is how little the Muslim world features in the study of humanities in the West, where courses are essentially centred around Judeo-Christian civilisations.
This lack of knowledge is a dramatic reality which manifests itself in a particularly serious way in western democracies, since public opinion has difficulties judging national and international policy vis-à-vis the Muslim world. There are an infinite number of historical reasons for this, but perhaps there is also a fear of proselytisation. Be that as it may, the two worlds, Muslim and non-Muslim, Eastern and Western, must, as a matter of urgency, make a real effort to get to know one another, for I fear that what we have is not a clash of civilisations, but a clash of ignorance on both sides. Insofar as civilisations manifest and express themselves through their art, museums have an essential role to play in teaching the two worlds to understand, respect and appreciate each other and ensuring that whole populations are given fresh opportunities to make contact with each other, using new, modern methods imaginatively and intelligently to bring about truly global communication.
Western museums, particularly those in Europe, have some extraordinary collections of Muslim art. Obviously, the Louvre and the Museum of Decorative Arts are the richest and I congratulate and thank them for the efforts they are making, with government backing, to fill the enormous void, a veritable black hole, which threatens us in this conflict of ignorance. Rest assured that you can fully count on us to play our part, however modest.
I shall finish by saying a few words specifically about our museum in Toronto. As you will have gathered, I am firmly convinced that better knowledge of the Muslim world can overcome distrust and therefore that city has been a strategic choice. While some North American museums have significant collections of Muslim art, there is no institution devoted to Islamic art. In building the museum in Toronto, we intend to introduce a new actor to the North American art scene. Its fundamental aim will be an educational one, to actively promote knowledge of Islamic arts and culture. What happens on that continent, culturally, economically and politically, cannot fail to have worldwide repercussions – which is why we thought it important that an institution capable of promoting understanding and tolerance should exist there.
The museum will also belong to the large Muslim population living in Canada and the USA. It will be a source of pride and identity for all these people, showing the inherent pluralism of Islam, not only in terms of religious interpretations but also of cultural and ethnic variety. Furthermore, the museum will show, beyond the notoriously politicised form of Islam which now tends to make headlines, Islam is in reality an open-minded, tolerant faith capable of adopting other people’s cultures and languages and making them its own. There is no doubt whatsoever that the Muslims of North America will play an important role in the development of states and populations within the Ummah.
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Taking it one step at a time Charity
October 17, 2007 by bipin.
Taking it one step at a time Charity
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
In a day when too many people in Washington are talking about the possibility of bombing Iran and too few are discussing how we can end the genocide in Darfur, one group gives me hope with its continued emphasis on saving humanity rather than destroying it.
This past weekend, I once again joined thousands of others on the Dallas City Hall Plaza to support the efforts of the Aga Khan Foundation, an Ismaili Shia organization that for years has funded educational, agricultural, medical and economic programs in undeveloped countries, especially in Asia and Africa.
There is something special about being in the midst of people committed to helping change the lives of millions around the world by bringing water to small villages, setting up schools (including for girls), establishing microfinancing opportunities for impoverished families and fighting the disease and hunger that plague so much of the Earth’s population.
Sunday’s event was the annual PartnershipWalk; the theme was “Walk the Walk: Change the World.” It attracted more than 7,000 people from various cultures.
What encourages me is that each year the walk gets larger and more diverse and includes more public officials who help carry the message of hope.
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert helped lead the walkers through downtown. He was joined by Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson, U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (who has participated each year), Irving City Councilwoman Beth Van Duyne, and Mayors Pat Evans of Plano and Becky Miller of Carrollton.
Event organizers use it not only to raise money for a good cause but to educate the public on what it is like to live in countries where people are struggling amid droughts, wars, hunger and total economic devastation.
During the past 10 years, the walks in Dallas and other major cities have raised more than $26 million to support programs from Tajikistan and Pakistan to Afghanistan and East Africa. All the money raised goes to projects in those countries served.
It is amazing to watch very young children and teenagers teach others about the necessity of aiding people who are desperately in need.
They are not sitting around waiting on the politicians to authorize funding or figure out a way to intervene in some of the world’s disastrous situations.
They are actively making a difference.
Many of the youth have volunteered to work in some of the programs overseas.
Give me the PartnershipWalk any day over the constant saber-rattling on one hand when it comes to Iran, for example, and the absolute complacency on the other in dealing with the disaster in Sudan.
I’ve grown tired of the war talk, and my heart remains heavy at the thought of the suffering around the world. And even though we can’t save every individual dying from natural and man-made catastrophes, we can save some.
As the AKF teaches, the “some” whom we are able to help can then help someone else.
This human chain of caring is strong, and we can see results from every drop of financial and moral support invested in those places that so many people never think about.
When I think of the hundreds of billions of dollars used to wage war, to destroy property and life, I contemplate what could be done if only a tenth of that money were used to improve human conditions rather than to make them worse.
We are making progress because each year more and more people understand that it is easier to make and keep the peace by helping others help themselves than by dropping bombs on them.
As the name of the annual walk implies, we can “partner” with individuals and organizations around the globe and change the plight of a generation, and generations to come.
I know it can be done because it is being done.
Every time a group of young and old people come together to raise money and awareness for those poor people so many have forgotten, we make can make a difference, even if it’s just a little bit at a time.
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His Highness the Aga Khan speaking at the Aga Khan Award for Architecture Presentation Ceremony, Kuala Lumpur
September 15, 2007 by bipin.
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“While we cannot present an in-depth analysis right now, I think we can begin by acknowledging that, more or less everywhere in the Ummah, Muslims and others are asking themselves the right questions and are developing positive answers about their built environment: Are we building for the future in a culturally empathetic way? Do we now own and are we marshalling the necessary creative resources - ranging from new schools of architecture to new data bases, through which the architectural community can share its questions and answers, its problems and its successes? This in itself is a magnificent change from 1977, when such simple but essential questions were generally not being asked, or had only negative answers.” –His Highness the Aga Khan speaking at the Aga Khan Award for Architecture Presentation Ceremony, Kuala Lumpur, 4 September 2007 |
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Beirut to Singapore, 9 projects win prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture
September 4, 2007 by bipin.
Beirut to Singapore, 9 projects win prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A public square in Beirut, a skyscraper in Singapore and a renovated ancient city in Yemen are among the nine winners of the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, which celebrate the mundane to the magnificent around the globe.
The nine winning projects, announced Tuesday, will share the US$500,000 (€385,000) award given once every three years by the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of agencies that seek to improve living conditions in poor countries.
The network is headed by Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shiite Ismaili Muslims, a community of 15 million people living in 25 countries.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the awards at a ceremony in the Dewan Philharmonic Hall of the Petronas Twin Towers, which won the award in 2004.
Farrokh Derakhshani, the director of the awards, said the jury looks beyond visual appeal.
The award, established in 1977, recognizes architectural excellence in places where Muslims live. It covers the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community improvement, historical preservation, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of environment.
“You are not looking at a good nice facade, but (at) how do you go beyond it,” Derakhshani said. “It is the timing, the contemporary needs. We are trying to address the issues of the day: environment, collaboration, education, use of most modern technology.”
The projects that won the latest award are:
_ The Samir Kassir Square in Beirut, named for a Lebanese journalist who was slain there, is a serene public space surrounded by hectic urban development and rebuilding. The award will go to architect Vladimir Djurovic, who “created a space of reflection with two trees and a pool and made the square a focal point for the people of the city,” said Derakhshani.
_ The rehabilitation of the city of Shibam in Yemen. A centuries-old city of mud houses six to seven stories high. The city began degrading from water when plumbing was brought in. A five-year collaborative effort between a German agency and the Yemeni government helped preserve the city.
_ The University of Technology Petronas in Malaysia, known for its high-tech architecture.
_ The renovation of the walled city of Nicosia, Cyprus, a collaborative effort between the divided Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. The project reversed the city’s physical and economic decline.
_ The Central Market in Koudougou, Burkina Faso. The architects introduced simple improvements to create an important space for civic exchange and trade.
_ Restoration of the Amiriya Complex in Yemen, which protected a cultural heritage.
_ The 28-story Moulmein Rise Residential Tower in Singapore, which uses innovative techniques for tropical design in high-rise living. It incorporates the traditional monsoon window, a horizontal opening that lets in breezes but not rain.
_ The Royal Netherlands Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a contemporary structure that merges with its local environment.
_ A school in Rudrapur, Bangladesh. Using local material, this simple structure was hand-built in four months by the local community and volunteer architects from Germany and Austria.
The award jury was presented with 343 projects, of which 27 were shortlisted after onsite review by international experts. The number of winners varies in every award cycle. The projects need not be new.
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On the Net:
Aga Khan Award for Architecture Web site:
http://www.akdn.org/architecture
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Aga Khan to officiate at the Inauguration of Hydro Project
August 19, 2007 by bipin.
Aga Khan to Officiate At the Inauguration of Hydro Project
The Nation (Nairobi)
NEWS
19 August 2007
Posted to the web 19 August 2007
By Stephen Ouma
Kampala
The long-awaited building of the Bujagali hydro-power dam finally becomes a reality on Tuesday when the groundbreaking ceremonies take place.
The $750 million World Bank assisted multinational hydro-power project, the biggest investment in sub-Saharan Africa, is a public-private partnership with the Government of Uganda as primary promoter.
Bujagali power project, about 100 km of 132 KV transmission lines to be completed in four to five years, is a realisation of ten years of study and planning.
The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, who is on a 12-day Golden Jubilee visit to East Africa, is to officiate at the inauguration ceremony as well as four other projects under the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
The grand ceremony will be graced by President Yoweri Museveni, State and national officials and other dignitaries.
When completed, the dam will increase Uganda’s installed capacity by up to 250 megawatts.
The project will sharply reduce the country’s current 150-megawatt power deficit, 100 MW of which is provided by thermal plants.
The project is also expected to meet demands for the anticipated increase in energy use in Uganda, estimated at between 30-40 MW per year.
Additional benefits
According to an expert, Mr Michae Ocilaje, Bujagali Energy Limited, which brings together Industrial Promotion Services (Kenya) Limited and SG Bujagali Holdings Limited, is to provide additional benefits, primarily for the local region affected by the project.
SG Bujagali Holdings is an affiliate of Sithe Global Power, LLC (USA).
Bujagali Energy Limited is to build, operate and transfer BHP. The Bujagali Interconnection Project (BIP) will be implemented by the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited.
The (BIP), which is part of Bujagali Hydro Power Station project, will provide the transmission infrastructure and distribute the hydro electricity to the Ugandan power grid.
As part of the development agreement, BEL is to manage and oversee implementation of Community Action Plan and Resettlement Action Plan of Bujagali Project Transmission Line from Bujagali to Kawanda and on to Mutundwe.
The impact assessment, prepared by an international group of environmental and social experts and monitored by experts from seven international financing institutions, was disclosed to the public in December 2006. The environmental and social impact assessment has taken into account the issues raised regarding the project’s potential impact
Comprehensive consultations, monitored by independent NGOs, were held with local community members and national stakeholders, to identify compensation measures.
The local community and other affected people are supportive of the project.
Compensation for land taken and resettlement of 5,158 persons compare favourably with similar projects worldwide.
Following fast-tracking of negotiations, which resulted in the conclusion of nine agreements, the government released US$75 million to Salini to assist in mobilisation and begin the construction.
Initial construction work started on June 15, 2007. The work includes, among other things, clearing of the dam site, spillway and power house area, test borings, and on-the-ground surveying. The excavation and widening and improvement of access, as well as service roads, is being done.
In addition, clearing of vegetation from the quarry area is being done. Land survey of access/service roads, site construction, and building construction are all in progress.
As part of the mobilisation effort, substantial equipment and machinery is soon to be received.
Over 100 people (80 per cent of whom are local residents) are being employed in the project.
About $2.4 million will be invested in community initiatives.
Create jobs
Through this initiative, the inhabitants of Wakisi sub-county (west bank) in the Mukono District and Budondo sub-county (east bank) in Jinja District will benefit from the project through improved housing and water supply, better schools and health facilities.
The project will also create jobs in construction and in plant operations.
It will contribute to improving the frame-work for private sector activities in the country and reduce severe disruptions of economic activities in periods of drought.
The 250-megawatt power-generating facility is part of a broader energy strategy that seeks to develop generation capacity to meet medium and long-term electricity requirements for the country.
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Aga Khan arrives in Uganda
August 18, 2007 by bipin.
| Aga Khan arrives tomorrow |
| JAN AJWANG |
| KAMPALA
HIS Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan arrives in Uganda tomorrow on the last leg of his 12-day tour of East Africa as part of celebrations marking his Golden Jubilee as spiritual leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. “His Highness The Aga Khan is due to arrive in Uganda this Sunday, August 19, at 10:30 a.m. till August 23 when he will finish his tour in East Africa,” Mr Mahmood Ahmed, the resident representative of The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), told journalists in Kampala yesterday. The East African tour is the first in a series that will take the Aga Khan to some 35 countries. In 1957, at the age of 20, the Aga Khan succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, as the 49th hereditary Imam of the Ismaili Muslims who number 15 million and live in 25 countries across the world. The Aga Khan heads the AKDN, the largest private development agency in the world engaged in economic, social and cultural development. Its annual budget for philanthropic activity runs in excess of $300 million. According to Mr Ahmed, the Aga Khan will hold meetings with several government leaders, visit the local Ismaili community, and participate in two major ceremonies. The Bujagali Project, the largest single investment of the AKDN worldwide, is expected to produce 250 megawatts of hydroelectric power when it is commissioned in 2010. Uganda has resorted to burning diesel to produce thermal power as a result of a biting crunch caused partly by the low levels of Lake Victoria, the source of water that runs turbines at the Nalubaale and Kiira dams in Jinja The $50 million Aga Khan Academy Kampala, as the Munyonyo school is formally known, will be part of a network of other Aga Khan academies in Asia and Africa dedicated to expanding education of an international standard. The Aga Khan, who is currently in Tanzania, started his regional tour in Kenya where he inaugurated the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Aga Khan University, East Africa’s first premier private medical school. The Aga Khan spent part of his childhood in East Africa. |
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Aga Khan Golden Jubliee Celebrations
August 6, 2007 by bipin.
Aga Khan Golden Jubilee celebrations
CHITRAL, 06 August 2007 - As part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of His Highness the Aga Khan, various events are being organized to cater to the welfare needs of the less-privileged and deprived segments of society. The Aga Khan Social Welfare Board for Pakistan (AKSWBP) organised the first Golden Jubilee Special People�s Sports Festival here today. This Sports Festival is one such event from a series of events being organized by AKSWBP all over Pakistan including regions of Northern Areas, Punjab, and Sindh.
The Sports extravaganza was a lively event for the special individuals, their families, and the
communities of the respective regions where people with special needs and disabilities were given an opportunity to exhibit their talent and sportsmanship. The event also aimed at creating awareness regarding the unique needs and rights of special people in our society. The event provided the individuals with an opportunity to increase their involvement in physical fitness activities, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families and the community.
The colourful event saw more than 100 Special Individuals participating in interesting games such as 50 and 100 metre race, obstacle race, relay race, tug of war and many others. The event started with lighting of the torch and saw a huge procession of more Prize distribution than 200 people march to the Ground at Garamchashma to witness an indelible event. The games were then formally declared open by the Chief Guest for the event Mr Amir Afzal � President of the Ismaili Council for Upper Chitral. The Chairman of AKSWB Committee for Chitral formally welcomed the guests and highlighted the aims, objectives, and future programmes of the Board with regard to the Special Individuals.
This event was organised as part of the Aga Khan Social Welfare Board for Pakistan - Portfolio for Individuals with Special Needs and Disabilities Golden Jubilee programmes designed for Special 
Individuals all over Pakistan. Many of the Special Individuals registered with the Board actively engage in non-academic activities such as Sports and with intensive training and coaching have made a mark for themselves in many sport events. They are registered with the Special Olympics Pakistan and have participated in various City, National, and International level Events. Many have become home winners after participating in such events
The Board�s portfolio for Individuals with Special Needs and Disabilities helps improve the quality of life for individuals with physical, intellectual, emotional and social deficiencies. It is the Board�s belief that all individuals have the right and ability to learn and achieve Paragliding Demonstration self-fulfillment. And that with appropriate opportunities coupled with care and support, Special Individuals can improve their self-esteem and play a more productive role in society. In a span of few years, the Board has reached out to many Special Individuals and their families and continues its endeavors to address the needs of the un-reached segments of the society.
Aga Khan Social Welfare Board for Pakistan is affiliated with Aga Khan Development Network and its mission is to identity needs of those segments that require special attention and to help them in achieving the economic and social well-being by providing them the means and / or motivation to do the same. It is currently serving in the areas of poverty alleviation, women development, special people, senior citizens, marriage counseling and substance abuse.
The Aga Khan Development Network�s (AKDN) activities in Pakistan encompass cultural, economic and social development and include microfinance, agricultural programmes, health, and education, the introduction of clean-water supplies and sanitation facilities, construction of mini hydro-electric plants, the improvement of public open spaces, community-driven village rehabilitation and house renovation. The Network is a group of private, non-denominational development agencies and institutions that seek to empower communities and individuals, often in disadvantaged circumstances, to improve living conditions and opportunities in selected regions of the developing world. Its agencies and institutions work for the common good of all citizens, regardless of origin, gender or religion. (Report by Zahiruddin, Photos by GH Farooqi)
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AKU experts publish new data on multiple sclerosis
July 20, 2007 by bipin.
AKU experts publish new data on multiple sclerosis
Experts at the Aga Khan University Hospital have published what is believed to be the first in-depth study into multiple sclerosis (MS) in Pakistan.
MS varies considerably in Asian countries, but, in general, occurs less than in Caucasians. In their report, the AKU experts describe their analysis of 142 cases of MS from five centers in the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, and Peshawar. Wasay and colleagues published their study in Multiple Sclerosis (Multiple sclerosis in Pakistan. Multiple Sclerosis 2007;13(5):668-9).
All 142 patients underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which was abnormal, and consistent with diagnosis of MS in 137 (95 percent) patients. Spinal MRI was performed in 37 (26 percent) patients, and abnormalities consistent with MS were seen in 22 (15 percent) patients. Of 56 (40 percent) patients given contrast, enhancing lesions occurred in 25 (18 percent) patients. The disease course was relapsing-remitting (RR)
“We describe retrospective data from the largest series of patients with multiple sclerosis from Pakistan. Mean age at onset was 27 years, with a female to male ratio of 1.45:1,” the scientists reported.
“The disease onset was polysymptomatic in 75 percent patients. Motor weakness was the most common onset symptom (70 percent), followed by sensory symptoms (45 percent). Optico-spinal type of MS was seen in only 3 percent of patients The course was relapsing-remitting (RR) in 81 percent, primary progressive (PP) in 21 percent, and secondary progressive (SP) in 4 percent of patients. Almost three-fourths of the patients were moderately (45 percent) or severely (31 percent) disabled at the time of evaluation. Two-thirds of patients with severe disability had a mean disease duration of only 5.2 years,” wrote M. Wasay and colleagues of the AKU. The researchers concluded: “MS is not uncommon in Pakistan, and many patients were found to have severe disability despite short disease duration.” hospital business week
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