People Track

Spaceward Foundation, a US-based public funded non-profit organization, has recruited Sayed Vizarat Ali for co-ordinating their activities in India.


Known as the first man in the country to have written a book on Mining in Space, Ali’s assignment will be to spread the Spaceward Foundation’s vision of having a space elevator in operation by 2010. This envisages a elevator built on a ship anchored in an ocean and connected to geo-synchronous space ship above it at an altitude of 3,27,000 km. The elevator will be connected by a ribbon from the marine ship to the space ship.


Sayed Vizarat Ali is .a reputed mining engineer and ex-General Manager of Indian Bureau of Mines. Space elevator will be used for transporting personnel, payloads, machinery and solar power plants from earth to space for establishing laboratories, colonies, settlements and hotels for exploring mineral deposits. Spaceward Foundation has announced $ 10 million as prize money to construct a full scale operable elevator. Ali has pinned his hopes on the Government of India and ISRO in particular. For further information, Sayed Vizarat Ali can be contacted at Ph: 2581380 or 9890987647, Vindyachal Apts, Suyognagar, Opp-Kalbandi Nursing Home, Flat No 1021, Jaffernagar, Nagpur-13

Mr. Ziaullah Shariff and his team were elected directors of the Bangalore based Amanath Cooperative Bank Limited for a five-year term. Other directors include Shaikh Dawood, Syed Sadaqath Peeran, Syed Mateen Agha, Farooq Noor Mohammad, Shabbir Pasha, Syed Mustafa, former MLA Sadat Ali Khan, Syed Hameed, Dr. Anwar Basith and Mr. Mohan Raj. The elections were held on March 22.

Karnataka Chief of Loka Ayukta, Mr. Justice N. Venkatachala trapped Karnataka State Minorities Development Corporation Chairman, Mr. Ubeidullah Shariff while taking bribe on March 22. According to Loka Ayukta sources, Sharief had demanded and accepted Rs. 75,000 from one Naseerullah, Secretary of the Karnataka Integrated Welfare Society which had applied for sanctioning loans for purchase of 100 autorickshaws. Obeidullah Shariff is also editor of the Urdu daily Pasban. He is a Congressman and had unsuccessfully fought election for Lok Sabha from North Bangalore in 1996 when the Congress had denied ticket to its sitting member, Jaffer Sharief.

Noted bureaucrat, . Wajahat Habibullah has been appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard. Currently he was Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India. Habibullah, an IAS officer of the 1967 batch belongs to the Jammu and Kashmir cadre. Before joining the services, he taught at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Syed Shahabuddin, former Lok Sabha member and Congress leader and Shabana Azmi, noted film actress, have been nominated as members of the newly constituted National Integration Council. They were selected for the category of eminent members of public by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

Prof. Mohammad Nooruddin has been appointed the Chairman of the Karnataka Urdu Academy at the head of the 11-member Academy. The post was lying vacant since previous Chairman Prof. Wahab Andaleeb demitted the office on expiry of his term. Nooruddin was earlier head of the department of Urdu at Bangalore University.

Mr. M. Jafri has taken over as the new director of the National Institute of Unani Medicine here. He was formerly professor of pharmacology (Ilmul Advia) at the Jamia Hamdard and a member of the scientific and academic committee of the NIUM.


Jafri took charge from Mr. D. V. Prasad, director of Medical Education in Karnataka ever since former director Mr. Wamiq Amin demitted office on expiry of his term.