Dr. Syed Zahoor Qasim
He led the first Indian expedition to Antarctica in 1981.
New Delhi: Dr. Syed Zahoor Qasim, noted marine biologist and leader of the India’s first expedition to Antarctica in 1981, died on October 20 here after prolonged illness. He was 89. Dr. Qasim guided seven other expeditions to the Antarctica between 1981 and 1988 as the Director of the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa. He was vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia for three years and member of the Planning Commission between 1991 and 1996. Qasim began his schooling from Majidiya Islamiya Intermediate College Allahabad, and then moved to Aligarh Muslim University, where he obtained a B.Sc. degree in 1949 and a M.Sc. degree in Zoology in 1951. He stood first in the order of Merit for which he was awarded the University Gold Medal. For several years, he was a lecturer in the Department of Zoology at Aligarh before proceeding to the United Kingdom for higher studies in 1953. In 1956, he completed his D.Sc. and Ph.D.degrees from University College of North Wales. He was conferred with Padma Shri in 1974 and Padma Bhushan in 1982. He was also presented with Oceanology International Lifetime Achievement Award by the United Kingdom 1999.
A bacterial strain isolated from a marine sediment sample collected at a depth of 200 m from Kongsfjorden, Svalbard was named in honour of Professor S. Z. Qasim, the founder of polar biology in India as “Cyclobacterium qasimii”. He is survived by his wife (who was daughter of the Nawab of Rampur) and three daughters.
Son of Poet Iqbal Dead
Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, son of renowned poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal, passed away at the age of 91 in Lahore here on October 3. Waleed Iqbal, son of Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, confirmed the death of his father saying that he passed away at around 8 am. His funeral prayers were offered the same day in Gulberg area. Javed Iqbal served as a senior justice at the Supreme Court of Pakistan and previously as the chief justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC). He is survived by his two sons Waleed and Munib Iqbal and wife Justice (retd) Nasira Iqbal “ a former Lahore High Court judge. Javed Iqbal was born in October 1924 in Sialkot, Punjab province, British India. He obtained a BA (honours) degree from Government College Lahore in 1944, a masters degree in English and philosophy in 1948, and a PhD degree in philosophy from the University of Cambridge in 1954 at the age of 30. He then pursued his passion for law, graduating as a barrister in London.
The former justice participated thrice as a member of the Pakistani delegation at the United Nations. He served as chief justice of Lahore High Court from March 1982 till October 1986 and remained a senior judge of the Supreme Court. He also served as an elected member of the Senate. Javed Iqbal penned several books on the ideology of Pakistan.
Maulana Syed Nizamuddin
Phulwari Shariff (Patna): Islamic Scholar Maulana Syed Nizamuddin, Ameer e Shariat of Bihar and Odisha passed away on October 17 after prolonged illness. He was 88.
He was also general secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. Maulana received madrassa education first at Darbhanga and later at Darul Uloom Deoband and taught at several madrassas. He joined Imarat Shariia, Bihar in 1965 as its Nazim (administrator). He succeeded to the post of Ameer e Shariat after the demise of previous Ameer Maulana Minnatullah Rahmani in 1998. He was elected the general secretary of the Personal Law Board in 1991.He was buried in Phulwari Shariff on October 18.
Imarat Shariia Bihar was set up in 1921 and provides arbitration in family disputes on the basis of the Islamic Sharia. It runs several Darul Qaza in the two states it operates. He is survived by his wife, six sons and three daughters.
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