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Hazir Imam and Mrs. Gandhi Inaugurate Centre in New DelhiMowlana Hazir Imam was the guest of honor at the inauguration of the All India Women's Conference Building by Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, on the 26th March 1980 in New Delhi. The ceremony was held to coincide with the All Womens' Conferences' 48th annual session. This session wad formally opened by Begum Salimah in their newly constructed Conference Hall which they had decided to name 'Aga Khan Hall'.

On 16th October 1961, the Maharashtra Friendship Society held a reception at Bombay (Bharat) in honour of His Royal Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan.

Speaking on that occasion, His Royal Highness pleaded for world peace and hoped that the statesmen of the world would do everything in their power to prevent a global war. The full text of the speech is given below.

Mr. Chairman, Chief Minister, Your Worship the Mayor, Sheriff of Bombay, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Between February 2-14, 1989 Mawlana Hazar Imam visited India as a guest of the Indian Government. The visit, primarily to meet the Jamat of Gujurat, also included visits to Bombay and New Delhi. In Gujarat Mawlana Hazar Imam met the Jamat in Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Sidhpur and Malia Hatina.

Jamatkhana in Junagadh in Ismaili Society

Very old Jamatkhana.
Houses The Regional Council of India.

Imam Aga Ali Shah is reported to have told to the Junagadh jamat to recite daily the tasbih of Ya Ali Ya Muhammad and salwat for 14 times in the Jamatkhana in the name of Varas Ismail Gangji and pray for him. Later on, Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah included the names of Varas Kassim and Itmadi Ibrahim in the tasbih. This practice is still operative only in Junagadh Jamatkhana. It indicates the great and incredible services of the Gangji family for the Imam and the jamat.

The Petronas Towers and a project to revitalise Old Jerusalem were among seven architectural achievements named as winners of the 2004 Aga Khan award for architecture.The prizes were presented by the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims, yesterday.

Mughal emperor Humayun's mausoleum here, said to be the Indian subcontinent's first garden tomb, reopens Tuesday after a $650,000 (Rs 31 million) facelift that has added scintillating lights, refreshed fountains and made the tourist site disabled-friendly.
The 16th century monument was renovated under a programme taken up jointly by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the Aga Khan Foundation for Culture and the Oberoi Group of Hotels.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, began a six-day official visit to India Monday during which he will meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and President Abdul Kalam, officials said.It is his first visit to India in 11 years. He will meet Kalam and Vajpayee later Monday and is also expected to meet deputy premier Lal Krishna Advani and Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha, an Indian government official said.

L'Aga Khan était en Inde pour un séjour de six jours. ? son arrivée à New Delhi, le prince, qui est le chef spirituel des Ismaéliens, la secte musulmane indienne et pakistannaise créée en 1880 par Hassan Ali shah, a rencontré Vinod Khanna, le ministre indien des Affaires étrangères.

http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/index.html
Zee News
Dlhi April 17, 2003

Aga Khan discusses scope of developmental network with Sinha

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh gave away the 9th Agha Khan Award for Architecture, here today. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister hoped that more public private partnership can be evolved to maintain and restore the monuments which often lie in neglected conditions in our cities and towns. The Prime Minister emphasized that every Indian must take pride in his or her legacy and should contribute to ensure that there remains a legacy for which our descendents can be proud.
Following is the text of the Prime Minister?s address on the occasion:

Promising all out efforts to confront terrorism in Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf has said his country would demonstrate its seriousness and sincerity in resolving all outstanding issues, including Kashmir with India.Speaking at a dinner hosted in honour of Prince Karim Aga Khan, the spiritual head of Ismaili community in Islamabad on Friday night, Musharraf said Pakistan stands for peaceful settlement of all issues with India, including Kashmir and was ready to enter into a dialogue.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for evolving more public and private partnerships for maintaining India?s heritage and termed the first privately-funded restoration of a world heritage site here ?an unqualified success?, reports our correspondent.Singh was speaking at a ceremony to announce the seven winners of the 2004 Aga Khan Award for Architecture ? a triennial prize fund of $500,000. The ceremony was held this evening on the gardens of Humayun?s Tomb complex, whose waterways and fountains were restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

HUMAYUN'S TOMB, one of the 23 heritage sites in India, has come alive - at a cost of Rs.3 crore thanks to the Aga Khan - with dormant fountains playing again, old forgotten wells being redug and lights illuminating the mausoleum whose garden, in which tobacco was given till 1915, has been redesigned.

The Department of Posts will bring out a set of two postage stamps to commemorate the Ninth Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The two stamps in the denomination of fifteen rupees each feature the Agra Fort. The 2004 Aga Khan Award for Architecture stamps depict three views from different angles of Khas Mahal (Private Palace) built entirely of marble by Shah Jahan in 1637. The stamps will be released at Agra by the Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology, Dr.

Andhra Pradesh government on Friday decided to provide 100 acres of land free of cost to Aga Khan Foundation for setting up a Center of Excellence and a string of educational institutions on the city outskirts.The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy here.

A Central team today visited the Agra Fort and Mehta Bagh, near Taj Mahal, to assess the feasibility of the Uttar Pradesh Government's plan of holding the 350th anniversary celebrations of the monument of love there and decided to recommend to the Supreme Court in favour of the programme.The team led by Union Cultural Joint Secretary K Jayakumar, and comprising Advisor to the Union Culture Minister besides other Archaeological Survey of India officials made an on-the-spot inspection of the place, official sources told PTI.

Head of Ismailia sect Prince Aga Khan, who is on a visit to India, today assured to establish a Centre of Excellence here.Aga Khan called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and acquainted himself with the development activities carried out by the state government, an official spokesman said here.
During the meeting, he assured Reddy that a Centre of Excellence will be establish here with the assistance from Aga Khan Foundation, for which the state government agreed to provide a 50 acre plot.

The Aga Khan Tuesday lamented the loss of Iraqi cultural treasures amid widespread looting and warned that much of the world's heritage was at risk.The billionaire spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims also called for greater tolerance between cultures.
'The need for better understanding across cultures has never been greater in what is clearly a defining moment in world history,' he said.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, today discussed with President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee possibilities of his development network working together with India in education, health, rural development and other areas.On his first visit to India in 11 years, Aga Khan spoke about the potential for cooperation also in areas like healthcare, micro credit, financial services, humanitarian assistance and in the promotion of non-governmental organisations.