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

My views on Libya, India and the permanent SC seat

Image
On Wednesday, the British government 'de-recognized' the Gaddafi government and decided that it was in the interest of democracy to recognize the Libyan rebels as the only legal representative of the Libyan people. Immediately after that, the British Police entered the Libyan embassy in London and forced the remaining Libyan diplomats out of UK. France has already been parachuting modern weaponry, arms and ammunition to the Libyan rebel strongholds and both France and the United States have recognized the rebels as the legal Libyan representative power. While I am not a fan of Gaddafi or his regime in any way or form but I am equally disappointed in NATO's tactics and the double standards being played by the western powers in the Arab world. Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein had been two sore patches in the otherwise near-sweeping 'western conquest' of the Arab world and its oil. Only now, when a group of disenchanted Libyans, trained and provided for by wes
Read more

Agra unit to turn waste to wood

Image
Vishal Sharma / Agra December 29, 2008, 0:00 IST Govardhan Udyog plans to use cowdung to produce particle board. Faced with the task of developing environment-friendly technology for industry due to guidelines issued by the Supreme Court, entrepreneurs in Agra are realising the cost-effective potential of such technologies and innovations. Govardhan Udyog is one such unit which plans to use a non-conventional raw material, cowdung, to produce particle board and pharmaceutical products. The unit was inaugurated this week on the Agra-Delhi national highway near the Mathura refinery, about 55 km from Agra. Company sources said the basic raw material used in the manufacture of particle board will be cow dung. This will perhaps make it the first particle board manufacturing facility using cowdung as the raw material. Govardhan Udyog Managing Director SK Mittal said particle boards were emerging as a viable alternative in designing office furniture and automation products in the country as c
Read more