Kainat Imtiaz

Kainat Imtiaz (born 21 June 1992, Karachi) is a cricketer from Pakistan.

Career: T20
Imtiaz made her T20 debut against South Africa in 2010 at Potchefstroom.

2010
Imtiaz was part of the team at the 2010 Asian Games in China which won gold.

Awards: First Ever Ismaili women to win cricket gold Medal at Asian Games.

ODI Debut
ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier Women's ODI debut: Kainat Imtiaz. 15 November 2011 Played at Narayanganj Osmani Stadiuma

Domestic career:
Captain Karachi Under-17 Women's Cricket Team(2008) Captain Karachi Under-19 Women's Cricket Team (2009 and 2010) Captain Karachi Region Women's Cricket Team (Senior 2010 and 2012) Captain SINDH Team (Benazir Bhutto Tournament) (2012) Captain Omar Associates Cricket Club.2013- present

Personal Interest:
Alongside Cricket Carrer Kainat Imtiaz have alot interest in Art n Crafts....Kainat is a full time student....Her favorite Cricketers are Imran Khan,Shahid Afridi Shoaib Akhter,Brett Lee and Jonty Rhodes...


Ref: Wikipedia

Saleem Jaffar

Saleem Jaffar (born November 19, 1962) is a retired Pakistani cricketer who played in 14 Tests and 39 One Day Internationals from 1986 to 1992. Jaffar was born in Karachi, Sindh.

Jaffar took 5 for 11 on his first-class debut in 1983–84, and in 1985–86 finished the season with 80 wickets at a Bowling average of 19. He made both Test and ODI debuts against West Indies the season of his international call-up. His tour of England in 1987 was ended by injury. Against England at Karachi in 1987–88 he took five wickets and was selected for the tour of the Caribbean that followed. Against New Zealand at Wellington in 1988–89, he took match figures of 8 for 134, including his only Test five-for.

After his test career he played in the British Columbia Mainland Cricket League, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. In 2007 he was appointed as a selector for the Pakistan national cricket team.

Ref: Wikipedia

Faisal Kapadia

Faisal Kapadia is a member of the very popular Pakistani pop band Strings. Faisal was born on June 29, 1971 in Karachi, Pakistan. Growing up, he learned classical music, vocals, and guitar. He is married to Seema Kapadia and has 2 sons Armaan and Gibran. He is a Ismaili Nizari Muslim (Aga Khani) by faith.

Faisal Kapadia directed a number of music videos for his band. The success of the song sequences came in 1992 after the launch of the song Yeh Pahar Sar Kiye, an instant hit, and that was a camel. Chains to make its entry into the Bollywood music in 2006.
Interview

The world is going through strange turmoil. Wars make are making headlines with the lynch pin being the War on Terror. Under this banner, America attacked first Afghanistan and then Iraq and then Israel followed this year by bombing Lebanon. The myriad news channels, both foreign and homegrown, cover the real politick behind such decisions. In times like these, it often seems like Pakistani art is functioning within a rosy bubble of romance and froth.

In such drastic times, it was surprisingly pop sensation Strings who decided to make a simple yet effective song to portray the face of the new world. It is called 'Beirut' and it has touched both hearts and minds in Pakistan. With the country following the war so closely, it is a song that everyone can identify with. With a video that focuses on images from the war and taglines that give information on how many have died and how many others rendered homeless, 'Beirut' makes one think even as one is humming along to it.

Tell us about 'Beirut' - how did the song happen

Faisal Kapadia: In the morning a few days, Bilal (intentional) called me and said that we have to do something regarding the situation in Beirut. When you hear the word Beirut and Tyre thing that comes to mind is that of a war zone. And Beirut was always a kind of war zone. I got the city until a few years ago, and stable. But now, things go wrong again. Therefore, the two and we decided to do something about it. In addition, Ramadan is a month of the year where each and every one of us stop thinking about ourselves and start focusing on others. People think about others and their problems. We thought this was the right time to make a video of this kind.

Is it important for bands to make such statements?

FK: It is not about a band or an artist. The point is to create some form of awareness. The idea is to make others realise where we're going. The world is divided. In spite of living comfortably in our homes, we cannot say that the world is a safe place for our children to grow up in. Look at the world around us. Wars are increasing with every passing day. We never realise the extent of an event and its consequences until it hits us directly. When the earthquake happened, Pakistan came together on one single platform. It felt great seeing that. We may be living in peace but in reality, we're not. So yes, it is important to make such statements.

What do you hope to achieve from this video?

FK: It is not about achieving something. If it makes someone think about the repercussions of war, specifically the happening in Beirut and generally, everything that is taking place globally, we will think that we did something. We don't know what it will achieve and neither achieving something was ever the point of this video.

Strings are always involved in their videos. Who did this video and how were you guys involved?

FK: Yes, we did have a say in the concept but Omair and Shehryar of Mystic Media did the video. They are from Islamabad. We shot it in Karachi. We told them that we wanted to keep it simple. Usually, videos have a certain element of glamour and style to them. But we wanted to avoid it. Because this video was not about looking good. It was about showing things for what they are. We wanted to send out a message without being glamourous.

What are you guys up to these days?

FK: We're flying off to India and USA soon. We're going to round

Ref: http://www.profilepk.com/Faisal-Kapadia_262.html

Ismail Gulgee

Ismail Gulgee – The Gulgeez (25 October 1926 – 16 December 2007 Pride of Performance, Sitara-e-Imtiaz (twice), Hilal-e-Imtiaz, was an award-winning, globally famous Pakistani artist born in Peshawar. He was a qualified engineer in the US and self-taught abstract painter and portrait painter. Before 1959, as portraitist, he painted the entire Afghan Royal Family. From about 1960 on, he was noted as an abstract painter influenced by the tradition of Islamic calligraphy and by the American "action painting" idiom.

Gulgee was born on 25 October 1926 at Karimpura locality in Peshawar, Pakistan. Initially, he went to Aligarh University to study civil engineering before heading off to US for continuing his higher education. Gulgee started to paint while acquiring his training as an engineer in the United States at Columbia University and then Harvard. His first exhibition was in 1950.

Gulgee was a gifted and consummately skilled naturalistic portrait painter who had enjoyed (according to Partha Mitter) "lavish state support" and plenty of elite commissions in this capacity. Nevertheless, he was perhaps best known worldwide for his abstract work, which was inspired by Islamic calligraphy and was also influenced by the "action painting" movement of the 1950s and 1960s (Mitter notes that Elaine Hamilton was a strong influence in this direction). This is perhaps a natural enough stylistic combination, since in both Islamic calligraphy and action painting a high value is placed on the unity and energy of gestural flow. As with the works of other action painters or abstract expressionists, Gulgee's canvases were often quite large. He was also known for using materials such as mirror glass and gold or silver leaf in his oil paintings, so that they were in fact mixed media pieces.

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see external links): "Gulgee's calligraphy paintings are abstract and gestural interpretations of Arabic and Urdu letters. His sweeping layers of paint explore the formal qualities of oil paint while they make references to Islamic design elements."

Beginning in the 1960s (if not earlier), Gulgee also created sculptures, including bronze pieces that were (like so many of his paintings) calligraphic in form and inspiration, and sometimes specifically based on verses from the Quran [source:artnet.com].

His paintings were bright and full of color, but the paint was put on with great sensitivity, and paintings vibrate with intense feeling. Areas sing with luminous, thin color; thick blobs of paint pulsate with fiberglass tears, the brush swirls strong and free. The total effect used to be very free, yet considered and well thought out. They work enormously well, because it was all orchestrated with great care and concentration.

His son Amin Gulgee is also a famous artist.

International and special assignments
Guljee, as he was famously known, received many requests for his paintings internationally, from the Saudi royal family to the Islamabad presidency. Many of his works are placed in the "Faisal Mosque" in Islamabad. Guljee received many awards, including in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Japan and France.

Exhibition and personal life
Gulgee's exhibitions have mostly been available to few people. Keeping that in mind and high demand from public and lovers of his works, an art gallery for Gulgee has been built in Clifton, Karachi near South City Hospital and Sea View Karachi. Gulgee mostly painted for his own inspirations and vision. Although selected paintings are available for sale in Gulgee art gallery. Gulgee was last based in Boat Basin in Karachi. He has a son Amin Gulgee. Ismail Gulgee belongs to the Shia Imami Ismai'li interpretation of Islam.

Murder
Gulgee, his wife Zarrin Gulgee and a maid were found dead in their house on the evening of 19 December 2007 by his servants. Police suspect that all three had been murdered. While the bodies were found on the 19th, officials report that they had apparently been deceased for three days, leading to a speculative death date of 16 December 2007. Their bodies were found bound and gagged in separate rooms of the house. The initial cause of death for all three has been attributed to suffocation. According to press reports, his son reported that Gulgee's car and driver are missing. Gulgee was buried on the evening of 20 December 2007, in Karachi.

Ref: Wikipedia

Salim-Suleman

Salim Merchant and Sulaiman Merchant are a pair of musician brothers, born and brought up in Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat, India. They belong to an Ismaili Muslim family and are inspired by their father Sadruddin Merchant, who used to lead Ismaili Scouts Orchestra in India. Steeped in a family tradition of music as the sons of composer and veteran of the film industry Sadruddin Merchant, Salim mastered the piano on at the Trinity College of Music in London while Sulaiman took up tabla training with such legends as Taufiq Qureshi and Ustad Zakir Hussain. They emerged as popular music directors only in 2003, six years after their first music composition in a Bollywood film. They received recognition with their award-winning performance for their music in Bhoot, in which the music was a very influential and significant aspect of the movie. Their music in the award-winning movie Iqbal earned them rave accolades.

Salim and Sulaiman have been composing music for over a decade having scored for movies such as Neal 'n' Nikki, Chak De! India, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Fashion. The duo had also composed for many Indi-pop performers including Viva, Aasmaan, Shweta Shetty, Jasmine and Style Bhai among others, composed and produced several TV commercials and collaborated with artistes such as Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Sultan Khan. They got their first break when Karan Johar asked them to compose the music for his movie Kaal. After that, they have gone to do movies with well-known producers and directors like Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai and Ram Gopal Varma. Before composing music, they were composing the background scores for movies.

Salim Merchant was one of the three judges for the Fifth season of Indian Idol on Sony Entertainment Television (India) . Later in 2012; Salim Merchant sang "Ishq Wala Love" opposite Neeti Mohan and Shekhar Ravjiani for which he received rave reviews from critics. The song topped the music lists for a long period of time; thus becoming a chart-buster and a high commercial success. "Ishq Wala Love" remains one of the most listened songs on gaana.com(Popular music website throughout the globe). In the annual Top 100 songs of Radio Mirchi; Ishq Wala Love featured in the top 30, ranking at No. 13 respectively. The song became the biggest hit of Student of the Year as well as Salim Merchant's all-time biggest critical and commercial success till date.

They have worked on a Bollywood remix for Lady Gaga's songs Born This Way and Judas. The duo are also composing music for the Hollywood film Sold, produced by Academy Award winner Jeffrey D. Brown.

Ref: Wikipedia

Shehzad Roy

Shehzad Roy is a Pakistani singer, social worker and humanitarian. He started his singing career in 1995 and has recorded six albums since. He has many hit songs such as Saali, Teri Soorat, Kangna but is most known for his 2008 socio-political album Qismat Apney Haath Mein (translated to 'we make our own destiny'). Roy is also the president and founder of Zindagi Trust, a non-government charitable organisation, that strives to improve the quality of education available to the average Pakistani.

Roy has recently produced and hosted 2 documentary series- Chal Parha, about the state of public education in Pakistan, and Wasu aur Mein, which follows the travels of Shehzad and a villager and deals with issues like progress, poverty and patriotism in Pakistan.

In 2005, Roy was the recipient of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, which is one of the highest Civil Honors awarded in Pakistan for excellence in public service. For his organisation's rehabilitation work after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, he was awarded the Sitara-e-Eisaar in 2006. He was also selected to be a torch bearer for the 2008 Olympics.

Chal Parha
In 2013, Shehzad produced and hosted the 22-episode documentary series titled "Chal Parha" [translated 'Let's Educate']. In the show, Shehzad travelled on a Harley-Davidson bike across 80 cities in Pakistan and visited more than 200 public schools. In each of the 22 episodes, a new issue in public education was explored, for example, medium of instruction, curriculum, teachers, corporal punishment.

The show highlighted both the obstacles in improving public schools and also the remarkable individuals who are committed to teaching and learning despite the collapsed system in which they work. An example of the impact of this show is that the third episode on corporal punishment (aired 15 February 2013) resulted in catalysing a decision by the government to finally ban corporal punishment in Pakistan. Soon after the episode aired, Pakistan's provincial assemblies passed a resolution against corporal punishment and on 12 March 2013, the National Assembly unanimously passed a Bill making corporal punishment an offence. The show was intended to create awareness among Pakistani citizens for their basic right to quality education and also proposed solutions for government officials to resolve the various issues in public education. Chal Parha also showcased Pakistan's scenic beauty and diverse cultures.Watch the episodes on Youtube (the first 3 episodes have English subtitles).

Wasu aur Mein
In 2011, Shehzad discovered Wasu Khan, a villager from Baluchistan, on Youtube. In his video, Wasu raps about Pakistan's checkered political history. After seeing this, Shehzad tracked down Wasu and they collaborated to produce the hard-hitting song 'Apney Ulloo'. Packing a political punch, the video is a tale of the exploitation of a poor man. In the music, video Roy emulates a peon, a lawyer, a government secretary and a media man, all of whom exploit the common man, played by Wasu

The song 'Apney Ulloo' started as a one-off collaboration but ended up taking a very different direction. In 2012, Roy produced and hosted the 8-episode documentary series titled "Wasu aur Main". The show followed the travels of Shehzad and Wasu Khan, a villager from Baluchistan. Brought together by their common passion for music, Shehzad and Wasu realise that they have a lot to learn from each other. Wasu's unique perspective on Pakistan's history and his shrewd observations force Shehzad to re-evaluate his own notions on progress, poverty and patriotism. As the show moves through several cities, the two of them try to understand what being a citizen of Pakistan means and realise what the future holds for them in this country. Watch all episodes here.

Ref: Wikipedia

Azim Hashim Premji

Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian business tycoon and philanthropist who is the chairman of Wipro Limited, guiding the company through four decades of diversification and growth to emerge as one of the Indian leaders in the software industry. According to Forbes, he is currently the fourth wealthiest Indian, and the 61st richest in the world, with a personal wealth of $15.3 billion in 2014.  In 2000, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek. He has twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by TIME Magazine, once in 2004 and more recently in 2011. Premji owns 75% percent of Wipro and also owns a private equity fund, PremjiInvest, which manages his $1 billion personal portfolio.

Career
In 1966, on the news of his father's death, the then 21-year-old Azim Premji returned home from Stanford University, where he was studying engineering, to take charge of Wipro. The company, which was called Western Indian Vegetable Products at the time, dealt in hydrogenated oil manufacturing but Azim Premji later diversified the company to bakery fats, ethnic ingredient based toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products, and hydraulic cylinders. In the 1980s, the young entrepreneur, recognising the importance of the emerging IT field, took advantage of the vacuum left behind by the expulsion of IBM from India, changed the company name to Wipro and entered the high-technology sector by manufacturing minicomputers under technological collaboration with an American company Sentinel Computer Corporation.Thereafter Premji made a focused shift from soaps to software.

Personal life
Azim was born in Mumbai India in a Muslim family originally hailing from Kutch in Gujarat. His grandfather was a noted businessman and was known as Rice King of Burma. After partition, when Jinnah invited his grandfather to come to Pakistan, he turned down the request and chose to remain in India.

He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree (equivalent to a Bachelor of Engineering degree) from Stanford University, USA. He is married to Yasmeen. The couple have two children, Rishad and Tariq. Rishad is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of IT Business, Wipro.

Premji has been recognised by Business Week as one of the Greatest Entrepreneurs for being responsible for Wipro emerging as one of the world's fastest growing companies.

In 2000, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Manipal Academy of Higher Education. In 2006, Azim Premji was awarded Lakshya Business Visionary by National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut for his outstanding philanthropic work.

In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the title of Padma Bhushan for his outstanding work in trade and commerce.

In 2011, he has been awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award by the Government of India.

In 2013, he received the ET Lifetime Achievement Award.

Philanthropy
Azim Premji Foundation and University
In 2001, he founded Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organisation, with a vision to significantly contribute to achieving quality universal education that facilitates a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. The Foundation works in the area of elementary education to pilot and develop 'proofs of concept' that have a potential for systemic change in India's 1.3 million government-run schools. A specific focus is on working in rural areas where the majority of these schools exist. This choice to work with elementary education (Class I to VIII) in rural government-run is a response to evidence of educational attainment in India.

The non-profit organisation set up by Premji in 2001 currently functions across Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, in close partnership with various state governments. The foundation has worked largely in rural areas, to help contribute to the improvement of quality and equity of school education.

In December 2010, he pledged to donate $2 billion for improving school education in India. This has been done by transferring 213 million equity shares of Wipro Ltd, held by a few entities controlled by him, to the Azim Premji Trust. This donation is the largest of its kind in India.

The Azim Premji University was established under an act of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly to run programmes to develop education and development professionals, offer alternative models for educational change and also invest in educational research to continuously stretch the boundaries of educational thinking.

The Giving Pledge
Azim Premji has become the first Indian to sign up for the The Giving Pledge, a campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, to encourage the wealthiest people to make a commitment to give most of their wealth to philanthropic causes. He is the third non-American after Richard Branson and David Sainsbury to join this philanthropy club.

"I strongly believe that those of us, who are privileged to have wealth, should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged"--- Azim Premji
In April 2013 he said that he has already given more than 25 per cent of his personal wealth to charity.

Ref: Wikipedia