__________________

If you haven't seen the print edition,
you've 
missed it ALL
send me the print edition
__________________

New Delhi: Washington DC-based Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIM), which represents about 100,000 Muslims from India who live in North America, established a gold medal at the Aligarh Muslim University. The medal is titled "Association of Indian Muslims of America Gold Medal, for the pursuit of excellence in Journalism and mass communication".

This gold medal will be awarded every year in the annual convocation of the Aligarh Muslim University, to the best student in the university's department of journalism and mass communication. The establishment of the medal is the culmination of a proposal by AIM to the university that they want to provide funds to improve the quality of education among Muslims in the field of journalism. The Aligarh University Vice-Chancellor Naseem Ahmad, accepted the proposal and instituted the gold medal. The first gold medal will be awarded in the 2004 convocation to be held in late March.

In a statement to the press, AIM said that this step has been taken to alleviate the acute shortage of good English language Muslim journalists in mainstream print and electronic media in India. Improving the quality of education in the Muslim community in India in modern fields is one of the major thrusts of AIM.

AIM has a twelve-year-old robust program to provide financial assistance to Muslim schools and colleges, and scholarships to Muslim students in India. AIM operates this program in India with the cooperation of several Muslim Educational organizations, e.g. Students Islamic Trust, New Delhi; Trust for Promotion of Higher Education, New Delhi. Currently AIM is also in the process of establishing an Industrial Training Institute in Ahmedabad, for the Muslim youth, in cooperation with the Falah-e-Darain Education Society of Ahmedabad. 

— MG News Desk