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Spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan, today met President A P J Abdul Kalam and discussed his educational projects in India.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesman said Dr Kalam appreciated the projects, particularly those in Maharashtra and Gujarat, and asked him to expand his activities to Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the interest of tribals and girls.

The Aga Khan informed the President that he proposed to set up centres of excellence in 20 countries.

The meeting lasted about 40 minutes.

His Highness The Aga Khan today met the Union Minister of Culture, Shri Jaipal Reddy. They discussed the efforts of the Aga Khan Foundation in restoring the historical monuments in India and elsewhere. The Minister appreciated the Foundation's zeal and endeavour in the restoration and maintenance of monuments in India. The role of ASI was also applauded in the maintenance and upkeep of monuments in India. His Highness Aga Khan suggested that the culture tourism could be reinvigorated in the Asian Region.

At the historical Humayun's Tomb, His Highness the Aga Khan, hereditary spiritual leader (Imam) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and founder of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) together with India's Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh today announced the seven recipients of the 2004 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The announcement marked the completion of the ninth cycle of the programme. The Award, which has a triennial prize fund of US$ 500,000, is the world's largest architectural award. The seven projects selected by the 2004 Award Master Jury are:

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, center, gestures at the inauguration of the newly restored gardens of emperor Humayun's Tomb built in 1565-72 AD in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, April 15, 2003. The Aga Khan Trust funded the revitalization of the gardens, pathways, fountains and water channels surrounding Humayun's Tomb, which is a world heritage site. Others in the pictures are not identified. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Speech By His Highness the Aga KhanInauguration ceremony of the Restored Humayun's Tomb Gardens
Your Excellency, Shri Jagmohan, Minister of Culture
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,

I would like to begin by expressing my warmest gratitude to the Government for inviting me to India, and to the Minister for Tourism and Culture, His Excellency Shri Jagmohan, for honouring this inaugural ceremony with his presence.

The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, on Thursday cleared plans for the setting up of an international school of excellence in Andhra Pradesh.
The Agha Khan Development Network would build the school, which is expected to start functioning from July 2006.

The Aga Khan personally inspected the 50-acre site offered by the state government for the academy, and later met Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to give his nod for setting up the school.

To be set up at an estimated cost of Rs.400 crore, the Aga Khan Academy for Education would offer education till Class 11.

Efs Pune: As Shobhana Ranade walks about the palatial premises of the Aga Khan Palace on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, she marvels at the significance of the structure where Mahatama Gandhi was interned during the Quit India Movement, alongwith his wife Kasturba and secretary Mahadeo Desai. ''Gandhiji had made three predictions for The Aga Khan Palace in his writings. One, that this would become a place of pilgrimage. Today about 300 visitors including foreigners visit daily. Secondly he had said that the Aga Khan will donate this palace to the nation.

Whether through neglect or wilful destruction, the disappearance of physical traces of the past deprives us of more than memories. Spaces that embody historic realities remind us of the lessons of the past.'His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims was speaking at the inauguration of the restored gardens that surround the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun.

FOR the first time in 400 years, water channels in the 16th Century Humayun's Tomb were today reactivated to facilitate the water harvesting system in the tomb, making it the largest heritage site in India to have such a system.
The Tomb is also the only site to have a water harvesting system that covers two acres of constructed area and 30 acres of the entire site.

As twilight descended over the city on Tuesday, it saw the dawn of a bygone era at Humayun's Tomb as the Aga Khan unveiled the restored gardens of the monument with water flowing in its many fountains. Visitors were taken back in time to the 1560s, when the mausoleum was completed.
The restoration project, for which the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) had given US $6,50,000, tried to erase the colonial character the tomb's Moghul gardens had ''wrongly'' acquired over the past decades.

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.

Sir Edwin Lutyens' buildings will be getting special visitors on October 6. For the first time, Sir Edwin's grandson Charles along with his cousins will visit the buildings designed by the legendary architect in the Capital.
The three are part of a 38-member group on a five-day tour to India, organised by the Lutyens Trust in London and the INTACH's London chapter.

Charles Lutyens is a trustee of the UK Lutyens Trust, an educative charity that protects and preserves Sir Edwin's works and offers maintenance.

The majestic form and prominence of Nakhoda Masjid, in the din and bustle of central Calcutta, the remarkable mosque of Prince Ghulam Mohammad in Tollygunge, or the intricate stucco work and surface decoration on Nawab Wajid Ali Shah's tomb in Metiabruz.

RM: Your Highness, you are an inspiration to millions of Muslims around the world. We have traditionally associated religious leaders with austerity, with denials in a sense. You embody a fullness of life. What is the world view that circumscribes your work as an Imam?

Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS), an agency affiliated with the Aga Khan Development Network, has mobilised staff, volunteers and resources to provide humanitarian aid in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.

Union tourism and culture minister Jagmohan spent almost the whole of Sunday touring Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal to get a first-hand feel for problems relating to their upkeep, but he skipped visiting the work site of the controversial heritage corridor project linking the two. The minister had similarly gone on an inspection trip of Delhi's Humayun's Tomb and Qutab Minar some weeks ago. During the visit, he announced an additional Rs 1-crore grant for the upkeep of the Taj Mahal.

Our Bureau
Mr John Harris, Head-Financial Services, AKFED (left), with Mr H.V.
Sheshadri, Managing Director & CEO, Development Credit Bank, at a press conference in
Mumbai on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Religious leadership has always been linked with high finance. Uniquely, the institution of the Aga Khan has come to carry the ultimate lifestyle label as well. The triple burden sits lightly on the sharply cut shoulder pads of the present incumbent, revered by his 15 million followers in 25 countries as the 49th direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. Anointed at 20, Prince Karim, now 68, has steered clear of both fundamentalism and the flashy life which killed his father, Prince Aly Khan.

One of India's most ancient gardens surrounding the 16th century Humayun's tomb in Delhi has been restored to its past glory.Two hundred people worked for three years to revitalise the garden's pathways, fountains and water channels in the heart of the capital.
The four-part paradise garden is said to be the first example of an imperial tomb garden in the sub-continent.
Humayun's tomb contains more than 100 Moghul graves and is one of 23 World Heritage sites listed by the United Nation's cultural body, Unesco.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, announced the first Ismaili Centre to be built in the Middle East. Ismaili Centre, Dubai, when completed, will be comparable in scope and standing to existing major centres in London, Vancouver and Lisbon, one underway in Dushanbe and other in advanced planning stages in Toronto. The foundation ceremony was attended by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Deputy Chairman of Dubai Executive Council and President of Department of Civil Aviation representing Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.