Agra to host international Aga Khan Awards

VIJAY UPADHYAY

Agra, 18 Nov. Agra, the city of Tajmahal is also known as the breeding ground for innovative architectural styles in the medieval ages and this historic city has now be chosen to become the honored host of the "International Aga Khan Foundation Awards-2004", being held for the first time in a non-Islamic country, India.

The details of this award ceremony were discussed on Tuesday evening in Delhi in a meeting attended by senior officials from the Union & UP governments, presided by Union Addl. Secretary (Home) Anil Chowdhary. The meeting was also attended by the Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, C. Babu Rajiv & Jt. Secretary (Cultural), K. Jay Kumar. From the UP government, the meeting was attended by UP Principal Secretary (Home) Alok Sinha, District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police, Agra.

The District Magistrate Agra Nitishwar Kumar told The Pioneer on Wednesday that to be held on 28th November, the 3 – day Aga Khan Award Ceremony shall be held in the Diwan-e-Aam of Agra Fort of the first day and a two-day seminar of world architects shall be held in Hotel Mughal Sheraton, which shall be inaugurated by a senior representative of the Union government, possibly a minister. He said that there is also a possibility of Aga Khan himself attending the first day of the award ceremony.

The world fame "Aga Khan Award for Architecture" is presented to individual institutions worldwide for their architectural excellence, encompassing contemporary design combined with area conservation and landscaping while also addressing the environmental issues.

Seeking to identify and encourage building concepts addressing the needs of Muslims in countries where Muslims have a significant presence, this largest architectural award in the world is presented in a three-year cycle with Prizes totaling up to US$ 500,000. With eight cycles of the awards already completed since 1978, the Ninth Award Cycle covers the period from 2002 to 2004. Eligible projects must be designed for, or used by Muslim communities, in part or in whole, wherever they are located in the world.

India is ranked among the few countries with the largest muslim population in the world and the contemporary architecture of this country has been widely influenced by the architectural style introduced by the Mughals & Agra, with its rich heritage of mughal monuments, holds a strong claim to be named as the venue for these awards.

First presented to an Indian hotel - Mughal Sheraton of Agra in 1980, this prestigious award is being seen as a part of the 350 year celebrations of the construction of Tajmahal, an outstanding example of the architectural finesse of Medieval Mughal architects. Through these awards, Agra shall also be the witness of the most imaginative architectural designs of the world.

An Indian architect Rahul Mehrotra, Harvard graduate and Urban Planner of Mumbai has been nominated as member of the Master Jury responsible for selection of projects for these awards. Other members of this international jury include architects from U.S.A., England, Germany, Italy, Japan & Oman.
(UNITED NEWS NETWORK)





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Woman torched to death by inlaws on International Women's Day in India

AGRA.               It could serve as a well-placed slap in the face of the the groups of so-called women's rights activists who all too recently celebrated International Women’s Day, fervently praising the contribution made by women to the society and vowing to prevent violence against the feminine gender comfortably ensconced in luxurious clubs and hotels.    While the world was busy celebrating women’s day, a young girl was murdered in cold-blood, torched to death by her in-laws in Kayamganj town of Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh, alongwith a 6-month fetus inside her, just three years after marriage.    Two weeks have passed since the grisly murder but the local police appears to be in no hurry to catch the absconding in-laws who doused the girl in kerosene and left her to burn and die on the street, making good their escape while the locals awaited for the police to arrive. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother Archana Sharma has suffered from a strok
Read more

Chambal Bandit for 30 years, Nirbhay retires to the Himalayas

VIJAY UPADHYAY ETAWAH/BHIND. For 30 years, he ruled the Chambal with a steady hand but weakened by age and continually dogged by the police, Nirbhay Gujjar, the last remaining edifice of the old stock of bandits from India’s own “Wild-Wild West”, may have at last taken a peaceful retirement in the Himalayas, that he was vying for a long time. Reports filtering in from the Chambal ravines of Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh and the adjoining Bhind of Madhya Pradesh indicate that this most feared bandit of Chambal has finally given up the ghost, following the rising waters of the river and the depleting strength of his gang due to regular encounters by the police of these two states. According to the residents of the villages of Etawah, Bhind & Kalpi, Jaloun districts, Nirbhay has not been seen in these parts for quite some time and his regular contacts in the villages are no longer active. The gang has even gone untraceable on the electronic surveillance net of the police. Sources
Read more

Playing scribe's role at wedding costs photographer his life

VIJAY UPADHYAY AGRA. Essaying the role of a photo-journalist cost a wedding photographer his life in Agra last week when he shot the footage of some history-sheeter criminals dancing in a wedding procession. The criminals murdered him the same night in a bid to retrieve the incriminating video. This was the police's conclusion five days after the murder; now the groom's family is being interrogated for the names of the criminals who had participated in the wedding. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police, Etmadpur, MM Beg, Sunil Sharma, a resident of Fulatti Bazar area of Agra was murdered on Thursday at Sunil Singh's wedding. His video-camera was taken away by the unknown criminals. Mr Beg said upon interrogation of the groom's family which had been named by Sharma's family, the police realised that the deceased photographer met this fate after he shot a footage of some hard-core criminals, including a notorious history-sheeter of Etmadpur, op
Read more