US awards 26 Indian shipping firms taking part in high sea rescue
Mumbai, Aug 27: The United States Consulate in Mumbai on Monday awarded 26 Indian shipping companies which participated in the US Coast Guard (USCG)'s Automated Mutual-assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER) programmes.
The AMVER in a worldwide initiative that ensures quick and efficient rescue of disabled or distressed ships at sea, saving the lives of sailors and ensuring continuity of shipping operations.
US Consul-General in Mumbai Edgard Kagan said that AMVER, now in its Diamond Jubilee year, is an excellent example of mutual assistance and partnership.
"These awards are an opportunity to recognize the Indian merchant mariners and their efforts to facilitate world trade while preserving safety at sea," Kagan said.
Presenting the awards jointly with Kagan, India's Director-General of Shipping Malini V. Shankar said that AMVER is a unique and voluntary global ship reporting system used worldwide to arrange for assistance to ships and sailors in distress at sea.
"Instead of relying only on specialized rescue operations, this initiative provides an excellent opportunity for mutual cooperation on the seas. AMVER is an enduring example of international public-private partnership," Shankar added.
Established in 1958 and managed by the USCG, AMVER is a search-and-rescue (SAR) programme in which merchant ships sailing the high seas make themselves available for maritime emergency response on a voluntary basis without regard to nationality but with the main objective that no call for help should go unresponded.
Over 140 nations are participating in AMVER, providing a global safety net for mariners, comprising more than 7,850 ships available to carry out SAR services worldwide.
In 2017, AMVER mobilized 103 ships for providing such assistance to distressed ships and helped save 153 lives of mariners.
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Bond between Assamese Muslims, Hindus very strong: Author Wasbir Hussain
Guwahati (PTI): The bond between Assamese Hindus and Assamese Muslims is very strong and no one can easily break the traditional friendship between the two communities, Wasbir Hussain, author and executive director of Centre for Development and Peace Studies, has said.
Addressing the fourth anniversary celebrations of the Assamese Syed Welfare Trust, an organisation representing the Assamese Syeds, Hussain on Sunday urged Gauhati University to start a chair in the name of Azan Pir, a 17th-century Muslim reformer and Sufi saint, on the subject of 'inter-faith harmony or harmony of communities'.
Assamese Syeds are one of the five Muslim groups officially recognised by the Assam government as indigenous communities of the state.
Hussain said except religion, there is no difference between Assamese Hindus and Assamese Muslims. Their language is the same, culture is the same, food habits are the same and they dress the same way, he said.
"I strongly believe that no one can easily break the traditional bond of friendship between Assamese Hindus and Assamese Muslims," he said.
Hussain, who is also the editor-in-chief of Guwahati-based Northeast Live, spoke about how the indigenous Muslims of Assam follow cultural Islam compared to religious Islam and live peacefully with the larger Hindu population of the state.
He complimented Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for taking initiatives for the protection of the heritage of the Assamese Muslim community and its overall growth.
Gauhati University Vice Chancellor Nani Gopal Mahanta, the chief guest of the event, said people or communities can have multiple identities that transcend religion.
He cited the example of Assamese Muslims and Syeds who are descendants of Sufi saint Azan Pir, saying they are part of the greater Assamese society.
Mahanta assured that he will push for the Assamese Syed Welfare Trust's proposal to introduce the Azan Pir chair in Gauhati University and that he will work towards republishing the works of renowned Assamese writer Syed Abdul Malik's 'Jikirs Aru Jari'.
Assamese Syed Welfare Trust president Syed Abdul Rashid Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.
