People Track

II P.U.C student of Abbas Khan College for Women in Bangalore, F. Heena Naaz, won the Silver Medal in the 800 meters State Level Athletic Meet conducted by the P.U.C Board at Mudabidri, Mangalore, recently, and second place in the District Level Javelin Throw held at Kengeri.

Dr. Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, Member, Planning Commission, Government of India was conferred with the “Al-Ameen All India Community Leadership Award 2006” recently. She was also member of the National Commission for Women. She delivered the Hazrath Tippu Sultan Shaheed Memorial Lecture on the occasion. Chairman of Al-Ameen Educational Society, Syed Sadaqath Peeran presided over the presentation.

H. Sadiya Kauser, daughter of H. Abdul Rasheed, Noorullahpet, Ambur secured the First Rank and First Class with Distinction in the B.Sc (Physics) examination of the University of Madras. At the 149th Annual Convocation 2006, held recently, presided over by the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Surjit Singh Barnala, Sadiya was awarded three gold medals in recognition of her excellent performance in the B.Sc degree examination held by Madras University in April 2006. It is learnt that in the past 150 years history of the University of Madras, she is the first Muslim girl to secure the first rank and 3 gold medals with distinction in the state of Tamil Nadu in B.Sc Physics. Sadiya is now pursuing her post-graduate M.Sc Physics degree course in Women’s Christian College, Chennai.

Pakistan has appointed Justice Rana Bhagwandas as the acting chief justice of its Supreme Court. He was sworn in on Dec. 29, 2006. Justice Bhagwandas is the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court after Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who is leaving for China on a 10-day visit. According to Pakistan’s Constitution, the senior-most judge replaces the chief justice in his absence. Born on December 20, 1942 into a Hindu family in Sindh, Justice Bhagwandas joined the Pakistan judicial service in July 1967. He was elevated to the Pakistan High Court in 1994 and joined the Supreme Court in 2000. He has a Masters in Islamic Studies. Justice A.R Cornelius, a Christian, had served as Pakistan’s Chief Justice from 1960-68.

Munir Niazi, Urdu and Punjabi poet from Pakistan passed away in Lahore on December 27, 2006, following a heart attack. He was 89. He is survived by his wife and 13 poetry collections in Urdu and three in Punjabi. Born in Hoshiarpur in undivided India, Niazi migrated to Pakistan in 1947. He had served in the Indian Navy for some time after graduation. But he quit it soon and took up poetry.