Author: Staff Reporter

PIN Code In India Explained

Staff ReporterNews 0

The 75th Independence Day coincides with another milestone in the country’s history — it was on August 15, 1972, that the Postal Identification Number (PIN) was introduced in India. As the PIN code turns 50 on Monday, we look at its history and evolution.

Why was the PIN code introduced?

According to the Department of Posts, there were 23,344 post offices, primarily in urban areas, in India at the time of Independence. But, the country was growing rapidly and the postal network had to keep pace.

The PIN code was meant to ease the process of mail sorting and delivery in a country where different places, often, have the same or similar names, and letters are written in a wide variety of languages.

How does the PIN code work?

The PIN is made up of six digits. The first number indicates the postal region — Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern; and number 9, which signifies the Army Postal Service. The second number denotes a sub-region, and the third represents the sorting district. The remaining numbers narrow the geography further to the specific post office making the delivery.

Who was the person behind the initiative?

The person behind the initiative was Shriram Bhikaji Velankar, additional secretary in the Union Ministry of Communications and a senior member of the Posts and Telegraphs Board.

Velankar was also a Sanskrit poet of eminence who had been conferred the President’s Award for Sanskrit in 1996, three years before he died in Mumbai. Among Velankar’s 105 books and plays in Sanskrit was the Viloma Kavya, which is considered a literary masterpiece because it comprises verses in praise of Lord Rama when read from one side and, when read backwards, it transformed into verses dedicated to Lord Krishna. Velankar had set up a cultural group in Mumbai, called the Dev Vani Mandiram, which worked to create awareness about Sanskrit in India and foreign countries. Velankar was also the chairman of the World Philatelic Exhibition, called Indipex, which was held in New Delhi in 1973 and featured 120 countries. He retired from his government service on December 31, 1973.

What are some parallel systems followed world over?

Globally, in the US, the Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code was introduced July 1, 1963, under the aegis of the Postal Service Nationwide Improved Mail Service plan to improve the speed of mail delivery. According to the Library of Congress, “Under the old system letters went through about 17 sorting stops – the new system was going to be considerably less time-consuming utilizing newer, more mechanical systems”.

In the UK, the sorting of mail started getting mechanised in the mid-1960s. “The key to mechanisation is an alphanumeric postal code that provides for sorting by machine at every stage of handling, including the carrier’s delivery route. The coding equipment translates the postal code into a pattern of dots by means of which machines can sort mail at eight times the speed of manual sorting,” informs Encyclopedia Britannica. Japan created its postal code address system in July 1968, and automatic postal code reader-sorters exist in major post offices of the country.

Is the PIN code still relevant?

With the spread of the Internet, when people are sending fewer letters, it is easy to question the relevance of the PIN code.

But try to order a food delivery or a parcel over online shopping and the importance of Velankar’s work in India will become evident. (The Indian Express)

India Bags 22 Golds At Commonwealth Games 2022

Staff ReporterSports 0

Badminton powers India to 22 gold medalsGolden double: Double Olympic medallist and world badminton champion P V Sindhu, ranked seventh, created history by not only winning her maiden gold medal — beating Michelle Li, ranked 13th, of Canada, the 2014 champion at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games (CWG) in straight sets, 21-15, 21-13 — at the CWG in Birmingham but also powering India to a double century of first place podium finishes — placing India fourth in the all-time gold medals list after Australia (998 gold medals), England (769 gold medals) and Canada (510 gold medals).

Golden hat-trick: It wasn’t just Sindhu who had the national anthem playing for her — in the men’s singles category, 10th ranked 20-year old Lakshya Sen rallied brilliantly from a set down to beat the 42nd ranked Malaysian Ng Tze Yong, 19-21, 21-9, 21-16. Adding the cherry on top were the men’s doubles duo of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty who won India’s third gold medal in badminton in a single day by staving off the English duo of Sean Vendy and Ben Lane, 21-15, 21-13.

Golden comeback: It was a day of racquet sports, with India’s fourth gold medal of the day — and 22nd overall in this edition in its haul of 61 medals that also included 16 silver and 23 bronze — coming at the hands of Achanta Sharath Kamal, who, at the age of 40 and ranked 39th beat World No. 20 and 29 year old Liam Pitchford 11-13, 11-7, 11-2, 11-5, 11-8. To put things in perspective, Kamal, who had a brilliant run in what could possibly be his last appearance in CWG with a haul of 4 medals, including 3 gold, won his first CWG gold medal 16 years back, when Pitchford was just 13.

And the big miss!

The Indian men’s hockey team suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Australia as the kangaroos thrashed them 7-0 to win the gold, relegating the men in blue to a silver — their third defeat at the hands of the Australians in a CWG final who blasted five goals in the first half itself to take the game away from the Indians.

Global Population Projected To Exceed 8 Billion In 2022; Half Live In 7 Countries

Staff ReporterLifestyle 0

The world’s population will cross 8 billion in November, according to recently released projections from the United Nations. And more than half of all people live in just seven countries.

China has the world’s largest population (1.426 billion), but India (1.417 billion) is expected to claim this title next year. The next five most populous nations – the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Brazil – together have fewer people than India or China. In fact, China’s population is greater than the entire population of Europe (744 million) or the Americas (1.04 billion) and roughly equivalent to that of all nations in Africa (1.427 billion).

As recently as 2015, half the world’s population was concentrated in just six countries – the same as above, with the exception of Nigeria, which was then the seventh most populous country and has since passed Brazil to move into sixth place. Recent population growth, however, has been faster in the rest of the world than in these nations, meaning that the top six now hold slightly less than half (49%) of the world’s people. Including Brazil’s 215 million people puts the world’s seven most populous countries at 51.7% of the global population.

In the UN’s “medium” scenario for future population growth – its middle-of-the-road estimate – the global population is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100. Growth is expected to be concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 29% of all the world’s births happened last year. The 2021 total fertility rate in sub-Saharan Africa, 4.6 births per woman, is double the global average of 2.3 births per woman and triple the average in Europe and Northern America (1.5) and in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (also 1.5).

At 75, Pakistan Has Moved Far From The Secular And Democratic Vision Of Its Founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah

Staff ReporterWorld 0

(The Conversation) — This month marks the 75th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence and of its Partition from British India in a devastating process that uprooted more than 15 million people and resulted in 1 million to 2 million dead. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs – communities that had coexisted for hundreds of years – all participated in the sectarian violence. Countless people have borne the scars from these events over multiple generations.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, sought to create a democratic, egalitarian and secular country where the Muslims of the subcontinent, who constituted about 25% of the population, could enjoy full equality. For most of his life, he sought to achieve this equality within an undivided Hindu-majority India. Later he became convinced that a separate homeland was necessary to realize such equality.

Today, widespread and escalating violence against Indian Muslims under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing, Hindu-nationalist rule seems to confirm Jinnah’s fears.

Jinnah died just a year after Pakistan was born. As a scholar of South Asia, I know that in the years that followed, the military and the business elite consolidated their power and helped shape a country that bears little resemblance to his vision – although many continue to fight for it.

Pakistan today

Ideology and religion are divisive forces in Pakistan today – from sectarian violence against Shia Muslims to the state’s blasphemy laws that authorize a death sentence for anyone who insults Islam. Religion, as interpreted by the state, plays a significant role in politics and governance. An example of its harmful role can be seen in the deterioration of the rights of Ahmadis, members of a religious minority targeted by the state.

Other religious minorities also face discrimination, with Christians subject to particularly harsh treatment. According to Pew Research statistics, 75% of Pakistanis say blasphemy laws are necessary to protect Islam, while only 6% say blasphemy laws unfairly target minorities.

Pakistan also remains on a turbulent political and economic trajectory. The army has been in direct control of the state for most of its existence, with four military coups and decades of military rule since 1958. The military and notorious intelligence services remain in direct control of domestic and foreign policy, making decisions to protect their power and economic interests, including vast commercial holdings.

Economically, Pakistan has lagged behind other developing countries, with debt as high as 71.3% of its GDP. Inequality is high, with the top 10% of households owning 60% of the national wealth, and the bottom 60% owning just 10%.

The elite evade taxes on a massive scale, contributing to the country’s economic instability. While millions live in dire poverty and hunger, the government’s spending to mitigate poverty is among the lowest in the region. Dissidents, human rights activists and journalists face censorship and repression.

Born in Karachi in 1876 to a Muslim family, Jinnah was first educated at a local Muslim school and later at Karachi’s Christian Missionary Society High School.

At 16, Jinnah was sent to London, where he decided to study law. After returning to India, he established himself in Bombay as a successful and eloquent lawyer.

Happier days: Mohammad Ali Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi.
Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress in 1906, becoming part of the largest Indian political party organizing for independence from British colonial rule. At this time, he was the foremost proponent of Hindu-Muslim harmony in India and pursued a strategy of a unified front against the British.

He considered himself “a staunch Congressman” and rejected political organizing that separated Muslims and Hindus in India. Accordingly, Jinnah delayed joining the All-India Muslim League, the political party formed to represent the rights and concerns of the Muslims of British India, until 1913. For years he remained a member of both parties.

Jinnah’s concerns over Hindu nationalism

Jinnah’s faith in the Congress party would wane, and he resigned in 1920. He was increasingly concerned with Congress’ growing emphasis on India’s Hindu identity and the lack of political representation for the country’s Muslim minority.

Jinnah was also deeply disturbed by the emergence of right-wing Hindu nationalist groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, a violent paramilitary group that drew inspiration from European fascist parties, opposed Muslim-Hindu unity and increasingly sought to force Muslims to convert or leave India.

In 1934, Jinnah was unanimously elected as the president of the Muslim League, and he continued to advocate for the rights of Muslims in a unified India. He did not embrace dividing the Indian subcontinent into separate Muslim-majority and Hindu-majority areas until the 1940s.

In this period, escalating sectarian violence stoked by both Hindu and Muslim right-wing groups, and Congress’ refusal to accept a federation in which Muslim-majority regions enjoyed greater political representation, contributed to foreclosing an alternative to partition. During this period, Jinnah stressed that Muslims would never enjoy security and full equality in the Hindu-majority nation.

Jinnah eventually led the Muslims of India to form a nation of their own with the creation of Pakistan in 1947. He insisted that this new nation be a secular democratic country with equal rights for all who resided there.

Jinnah’s vision for a secular Pakistan

Jinnah emphasized the necessity of secular education to improve social and economic conditions in the Muslim community, argued for equality between the sexes and advocated for the discarding of the parda, or veil.

Jinnah did not write a book or memoir, but his speeches give an insight into his vision for Pakistan. Notably, his speech a few days before becoming Pakistan’s first president, delivered on Aug. 11, 1947, expressed his secular aspirations for the newly formed country. In it he stressed: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the state.”

Four days later, on Aug. 14, 1947, British India was divided into the independent nations of Pakistan and India. As the first president of Pakistan, Jinnah again emphasized his secular vision for the new country, saying, “We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. … We are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.”

Jinnah’s dream unrealized

Jinnah’s achievement remains a significant milestone of the 20th century. But 75 years later, Pakistan is far from the country he envisioned.

People from the region, nostalgic for a unified country and cognizant of the suffering during Partition and beyond, sometimes express that it might have been better if they had not been divided based on their religious identity but had instead continued the struggle for a pluralistic society with equal rights for all. Others maintain that Jinnah was right to conclude that Muslims in India were bound to face continued violence and be treated as second-class citizens in a Hindu-majority country.

What is certain is that Jinnah’s dream of a compassionate homeland for the minorities of the subcontinent remains unrealized. But glimmers of it have lived on in movements and people who have gone on to dream of a more equitable, inclusive and just Pakistan.

For example, Christian and Muslim landless farmers in the Peasant Movement, one of the largest and most successful land rights movements in South Asia, have resisted violent efforts to quash their demands for a more equitable society. Some 80,000 lawyers were part of the Lawyers Movement, which challenged the power of the military and fought for a free and independent judiciary. And individuals such as human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud have paid with their lives for their dream of a just and pluralist Pakistan.

And while today’s Pakistan is far from Jinnah’s vision, the work of these people and movements reflects the famous words of Pakistan’s most celebrated revolutionary poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz: “We must [continue to] search for that promised Dawn.”

(Farah N. Jan, Senior Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

Cocktails To Enjoy At Home

Staff ReporterFood 0

It’s a perfect time to chill at home with your favourite drinks as the rain drizzles in the background as the monsoon season descends upon us in all its majesty. A simple DIY cocktail in your hand is the ideal way to enjoy a quiet rainy day. Let the flavour of the conversation permeate as you sip on these delectable whisky and gin cocktails as everyone chatters away.

Here are some of the best drinks for the monsoon season:

Rich & Restless

INGREDIENTS

60 ml Grant’s Distinction

Pineapple — Parsley oleo — 30 ml

Lemon Juice — 15 ml

Paprika salt — to rim

METHOD

Shake all ingredients over ice, strain in a coupe

Pineapple, parsley oleo: 2 Big chopped pineapples, 500gm sugar, 50-gram parsley

Keep overnight in a covered jar.

Strain

Paprika salt — 1:1 of sweet paprika and salt

Grant’s Distinction can unquestionably create an upscale ambiance thanks to its raisin cake richness that makes it very mixable. Grant’s Distinction, which maintains the family’s “House style,” has a powerful, malty character with delicate fresh fruit flavours that add a special blend of sweet and spicy overtones. In order to cater to a younger generation of Scotch Whiskey drinkers, it is made from the finest malt and grain whiskies, which were personally chosen by master blender Brian Kingsman. Grant’s Distinction is only sold in India and costs Rs 2,500 for 750 ml in Mumbai and Rs 1,200 for 750 ml in Gurugram.

Tropical Green Apple

INGREDIENTS

60 ml Grant’s Triple Wood

22.5 ml Green Apple Syrup

15 ml Fresh Lemon Juice

2 sprigs of thyme

Soda to top

METHOD

Pour in a shaker, muddle thyme a little and shake over ice.

Strain into a high ball glass with ice and top up with soda.

Garnish with a thyme twig and dehydrated apple

In order to provide a smoother, richer, mellower flavour, Grant’s Triple Wood is aged in three different types of wood: virgin oak barrel, which adds a peppery strength; american oak, which adds a subtle vanilla smoothness; and the bourbon refill, which adds a brown sugar sweetness. It boasts rich pear and summer fruit aromas, a lengthy, sweet finish, and a little whiff of smoke. It is offered in a few locations around India and costs Rs 1,950 for 750 ml in Mumbai.

Mighty Mizaru (A version of clarified New York Sour)

INGREDIENTS

60ml Monkey Shoulder

Orange Marmalade — 2 bars spoons

20ml Lime juice

Clarified with 30 ml Milk

Shiraz wine float

METHOD

Combine all the ingredients except wine, then put the mixture of monkey, jam and lime into the milk so that it curdles.

Clarify the mixture using a coffee filter and then batch the mixture.

Pour the mixture in an old-fashioned glass over a block of ice.

Pour red wine over the top to float.

Monkey Shoulder is a versatile, fun-loving, and free-spirited scotch whiskey. It is the ideal 100 per cent malt whiskey for combining due to its richness and vitality, fruity smells, and subtle vanilla undertones. It can be sipped neat, on the rocks, or in various cocktail concoctions. In Mumbai, Monkey Shoulder costs Rs 6,050 for 700 ml and is sold all over the nation.

Hendrick’s Martini

Since its invention sometime in the 19th century, the Martini has slinked across our collective imagination in literature, cinema and song. Here we meet the flavours of gin in a primal pure form. This classic of classic cocktails, this melodious master, is further heightened when it entertains Hendrick’s Gin herself.

INGREDIENTS

50ml Hendrick’s Gin

7ml Dry Vermouth

Cucumber slice

METHOD

Stir vermouth and Hendrick’s Gin over ice cubes in a mixing glass

Strain into a martini glass

Garnish with a cucumber slice

Hendrick’s Gin is a delightful, ultra-premium gin that is created with a variety of unique twists. Hendrick’s mixes a unique blend of eleven botanicals with the signature infusions of cucumber and rose petals to give a flavour that is both strange and pleasantly distinctive. The result is a beautifully refreshing gin with a delightfully distinctive scent. Hendrick’s is the only gin that uses a marriage of spirits from both a Carter head and Bennett Copper Pot Still, a combination that results in a divinely smooth gin that has both the necessary character and balance of subtle flavours. Hendrick’s is handcrafted in Scotland in tiny batches by William Grant & Sons. In Mumbai, Hendrick’s Gin costs Rs 5,000, while in Delhi, it costs Rs 3,995. (IANS)

India’s Supreme Court Is Complicit In Modi’s All-Round Assault On Civil Liberties, Human Rights: Veteran Lawyer Prashant Bhushan

Staff ReporterIndia 0

India’s most famous lawyer and veteran human rights defender Prashant Bhushan has slammed the country’s Supreme Court saying it is now complicit in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comprehensive assault on civil and political liberties of religious minorities such as Muslims; human rights defenders; the civilian population of India’s only Muslim-majority province of Kashmir; the government’s critics; and dissenters.

“The Supreme Court has been virtually abdicating its role as the guardian of civil liberties and human rights of the people in India,” Bhushan said at a Briefing organized Wednesday by US-based civil and political rights groups. “[The Supreme Court has] indeed gone further in some cases to even assault the civil liberties of the citizens.”

The Constitution gave the Supreme Court the “very important responsibility of protecting fundamental rights [and] human rights of the citizens” and ensuring “that the executive and the legislature function within the norms or within the bounds of their power.” But the court had failed to deliver on that mandate to protect civil and political liberties.

In the eight years since Modi came to power in 2014, India had seen a “rampant trampling” of the people’s rights with a “full-blooded assault on minorities. “There are lynch mobs out on the streets. There are lynch mobs on social media. Laws are being made to somehow reduce [Muslims] to second-class citizens.” Muslims were being extra-judicially killed in “fake encounters;” their homes “bulldozed” merely for protesting.

“Civil rights of dissenters” were being crushed. “Anybody who stands up and speaks out against this government, especially journalists or activists,” was targeted

Saying that a “very large number of our activists and journalists are in jail,” many of them falsely accused of carrying out the anti-Muslim violence in Delhi in 2020, Bhushan said activists were being charged under draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and “kept in prison for years altogether [and] denied bail.

“In such a situation, the role of the Supreme Court and the High Courts…  becomes even greater because it is really their responsibility and their power and duty to protect the rights of people whose rights have been trampled,” Bhushan said.

However, habeas corpus cases, petitions against the anti-Muslim Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), and cases challenging imprisonment on bogus charges of sedition under UAPA, the Penal code, or “even the National Security Act, which allows preventive detention those cases, are not being heard,” Bhushan said.

Bhushan said the Bhima-Koregaon case, so called because it arose from upper-caste Hindu violence against lower-caste Hindus in a village of that name in Maharashtra state, was “clearly a false case. Several forensic experts have shown that the material based on which [the accused] are charged has been planted in their computer. But now it’s been almost four years and these people are still in jail” and the Court has failed to give them bail. Over a dozen human rights defenders are incarcerated in this case.

“There are many people in Kashmir who have been in jail,” and many petitions have challenged the revocation of Constitutional Article 370 that had given special status to Jammu & Kashmir state. But the Supreme Court has refused to hear those petitions.

“In many cases, bail has been denied by the High Court or even sometimes by the Supreme Court,” Bhushan said. The Supreme Court “has been abdicating its responsibility [by] denying bail in obvious cases where the charge is bogus.”

Bhushan said the Supreme Court was “absolutely faulty” in its “interpretation of the draconian provisions of bail” under the UAPA. The “normal principle” is that “bail is the rule, jail is the exception.” Bail can only be denied if there were reasonable grounds to believe the accused would “flee,” “tamper” with the evidence or commit a crime.

Bhushan slammed the Supreme Court for last month upholding the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) “reversed” the “burden of proof.” Now anyone accused under PMLA would need to” prove innocence” to get bail. “It is virtually impossible before trial for anybody to prove his innocence before even the trial begins.”

Bhushan also criticized the Supreme Court for its recent ruling that ignored evidence against Modi’s complicity in a pogrom against Muslims in Gujarat state in 2002 and virtually ordered the arrest of human rights defender Teesta Setalvad who had long exposed Modi’s role in that violence 20 years ago. This ruling showed that the Court had taken the abdication of its responsibility to a “different level,” Bhushan said.

He also criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that rejected testimonies from indigenous people in Chhattisgarh state that the police had carried out mass killings.

Harvard, Yale Investigated Over Alleged China, Saudi Arabia Funding

Staff ReporterEducation 0

The Education Department opened investigations into Harvard and Yale as part of a continuing review that has found U.S. universities failed to report at least $6.5 billion in foreign funding from countries such as China and Saudi Arabia, according to department materials viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The investigations into the Ivy League schools are the latest in a clash between U.S. universities and a coalition of federal officials including law enforcement, research funders such as the National Institutes of Health and Defense and Energy Departments, and a bipartisan group in Congress that has raised concerns about the reliance of higher-education institutions on foreign money, particularly from China.

A Harvard spokesman said the university is working on a response. A Yale spokeswoman didn’t immediately have a comment.

The Education Department described higher-education institutions in the U.S., in a document viewed by the Journal, as “multi-billion dollar, multi-national enterprises using opaque foundations, foreign campuses, and other sophisticated legal structures to generate revenue.”

Officials accused schools of actively soliciting money from foreign governments, companies and nationals known to be hostile to the U.S. and potentially in search of opportunities to steal research and “spread propaganda benefitting foreign governments,” according to the document.

In addition, while the department said it has found foreign money generally flows to the country’s richest universities, “such money apparently does not reduce or otherwise offset American students’ tuition costs,” the document said.

U.S. officials say China uses a variety of means to target academia, including government-funded talent recruitment programs such as the Thousand Talents Plan. The arrest last month of the chairman of Harvard’s chemistry department on federal charges of lying about receiving millions of dollars in Chinese funding through the program while the U.S. shelled out more than $15 million to fund his research group catapulted the issue into the spotlight.

In a letter to Harvard dated Feb. 11 and posted on the Education Department website, officials cited the recent Justice Department case and asked the school to disclose records of gifts or contracts involving the governments of China, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran. It also requested records regarding telecommunications giants Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. of China; the Kaspersky Lab and Skolkovo Foundation of Russia; and the Alavi Foundation of Iran, among others.

The Education Department said Yale had failed to disclose at least $375 million dollars in foreign funding after filing no reports from 2014-17, according to a document viewed by the Journal. The department, in a Feb. 11 letter to the university, sought records regarding contributions from Saudi Arabia, China and its telecom giants, Peking University’s Yenching Academy, the National University of Singapore, Qatar and others. It also asked the university to detail foreign funding of Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center and the new Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs.

If the schools refuse to disclose the information, the Education Department can refer the matter to the Justice Department, which could pursue civil or criminal actions.

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Bro-hug: This is a quick, low-contact embrace that you can do between close friends. You’ll want to become comfortable with the hug, and it’s really a good idea to dab your pal’s back by least 1-3 times.

Changes and poignant occasions: If you have a very good emotional interconnection towards the person that you simply hugging, consider touching them as you mark an important transition or a remarkable moment. For example , you might hug your good friend after they publish a powerful tale with you or hug the sister once her dude breaks up with her.

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India Elects New Vice President, Jagdeep Dhankar

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The Election Commission of India declared Jagdeep Dhankar, former governor of West Bengal, as the country’s 14th Vice President on Saturday, August 6th.  He is expected to take oath on Aug. 11, 2022.

Backed by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) lead National Democratic Alliance(NDA), Dhankar defeated his opponent Marget Alva, by an overwhelming majority to succeed incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu, whose tenure ends on Aug.10. He secured 528 votes out of the 710 valid votes in the Vice-Presidential election held in Parliament on Saturday.

The electoral college for the vice president consists of votes from both houses of parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coalition had a comfortable majority making Dhankhar’s election a foregone conclusion.

The vice president takes over in the event of the death, resignation or removal of the president and is also chairman of the upper house of parliament, or Rajya Sabha. The president is the supreme commander of India’s armed forces and oversees creation of a government in case of a hung parliament.

On July 21, Droupadi Murmu was elected as president of India, becoming the first tribal politician to occupy the top constitutional post in the world’s largest democracy. The vice-presidential post in India assumes significance as he chairs the proceedings of the upper house or Rajya Sabha.

Murmu congratulated Dhankhar on being elected the vice president of India.“The nation will benefit from your long and rich experience of public life. My best wishes for a productive and successful tenure,” she wrote on Twitter.

Analysts say that Dhankar was nominated for the second highest constitutional post as he belongs to a family of farmers and represents the Jat community. The community had participated in large numbers in the year-long farmers’ protests around the national capital New Delhi against new agriculture reform laws.

Jagdeep Dhankhar, a Jat, was born in 1951 into a farmer’s family in Kithana, a small village in Rajasthan. Dhankhar started as a lawyer and has practised in the Supreme Court and the Rajasthan High Court. He was designated a senior advocate in 1990, a year after he entered active politics. He was closely associated with former deputy prime minister of India Chaudhary Devi Lal and followed his mentor when the latter walked out of the VP Singh government and became a union minister in 1990 in the minority government led by Chandra Shekhar. Dhankar entered politics in the mid 1980s. In 1989 he contested, and won, Lok Sabha elections from Jhunjhuna as a Janata Dal candidate.

He joined the Congress when PV Narasimha Rao became the prime minister. But with the rise of Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan, he changed ships to the BJP. Dhankhar was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal in July 2019. During his tenure, he had regular run-ins with chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Banerjee on the other hand sought his removal from the governor’s post, accusing him of corruption and creating governance-related hurdles for the Trinamool Congress.

AAPI Collaborates In Boosting The TB Notification (BTN) Campaign To Help Make India Free Of Tuberculosis

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Tuberculosis kills nearly 0.42 million persons (mostly poor and young), more than any other infectious disease, while nearly 2.8 Million persons acquire TB every year causing huge suffering to millions of families. India with the highest TB burden is a key player in the global quest to end Tuberculosis. India has incorporated Strategies to achieve TB elimination in its National Health Policy. It envisages Reduction in incidence of new cases, to reach elimination status by 2025 much ahead of the SDG target of 2030.

Understanding this huge challenge, India has initiated concerted efforts with Revised National TB Control Program, the private sector, civil society, communities, professional bodies and patients. However, Covid has had a devastating impact on the TB Free efforts for India. Most significantly, TB notifications have been reduced by 30%-50% in the initial stage of the pandemic and failed to reach the 2.4 million annual TB notification target for 2021. There is an urgent need to boost TB Notification, especially post-Covid.

“There is no instant solution for India’s myriad problems. But by collaborating with the governments both nationally and at state levels, and working with the government and NGOs, physicians of Indian origin can make a huge difference,” said Dr. Ravi Kolli, President, of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI).

Dr. Ravi was part of the closing ceremony of BOOSTING THE TB NOTIFICATION (BTN) CAMPAIGN, a training and certification program of DTO (District TB Officers) in India attended almost 370 DTOS and STO State TB Officer, organized by Drs. Manoj Jain and Salil Bhargava co-founders of CETI Collaboration to Eliminate TB in Indians, supported by USAID, Emory University and CDC etc. and discussed plans for future events.

According to Dr. Manoj Jain, “DTOs in the nation have initiated a TB Notification Campaign using the PDSA quality improvement process guided by CETI (Collaboration to Eliminate TB among Indians) and Emory University with the objectives of: Increasing notification for TB by 10% over the course of a year by implementing the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) -Quality Improvement Initiative (QII); Engaging over 500 DTOs covering all the districts in a virtual 8 week session for 1.5 hours each week; and, Providing certificate of completion from Emory University, Central TB Division, WHO, IIPH and CETI to successful DTOs.”

The Program engages Central TB Division and WHO consultants as key partners along with CETI, Emory Faculty, IIPH (Indian Institute of Public Health) staff and others. DTOs along with QIC and CETI Faculty developed a PDSA cycle with an aim statement, process measures, outcome measures, interventions, root cause analysis and run chart of the PDSA on increasing notification.

Dr. Manoj Jain, who has been part of this initiative of AAPI, since its launch, shared with AAPI leaders of the progress in involving local leaders to develop a Local Roadmap on how to make India TB Free. AAPI and USAID along with other NGOs will work together to utilize the 100,000-strong network of physicians of Indian-origin living in the United States to support health programs in India, engage AAPI’s network of private charitable clinics for TB awareness, detection and treatment, and explore opportunities for collaborations between U.S. and Indian medical schools to exchange cutting-edge health care solutions.

“AAPI in its unique way has made immense contributions to helping our motherland during the crisis and played a significant role in saving lives. TB Eradication Program by a committed team led by Dr. Manoj Jain in collaboration with USAID and now actively functioning in several states in Indi, and AAPI is honored to be part of this noble initiative and we extend our full support,” Dr. Kolli added.  For more details on AAPI and its many noble programs, please visit: www.aapiusa.org. You may also watch the event on: https://youtu.be/R40BiVnjM_E.

Biden Denounces Wisconsin Gurdwara Shooting On Its Tenth Anniversary

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Seven people died when a white supremacist opened fire at Oak Creek‘s Sikh Temple on Aug. 5, 2012, and the community continues to remember the victims a decade later. For some, the journey to mark the anniversary began thousands of miles away. Thousands of people from across the nation came together to remember and honor those who lost their lives on that tragic day in Wisconsin.

United States President Joe Biden on Friday observed the 10th anniversary of the Oak Creek shooting which is considered the most brutal attack on Sikh Americans in the US history by issuing a statement. Mourning the loss of the six individuals who lost their lives during the attack and one more who survived but died a few years after, the President said, “Jill and I know that days like today bring back the pain like it happened yesterday, and we mourn with the victims’ families, the survivors, and the community devastated by this heinous act.

“When generations of Sikh-Americans in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, constructed their own place of worship after years of renting local halls, it was a sacred place of their own and a connection shared with the broader community. That sense of peace and belonging was shattered on the morning of August 5, 2012, when a white supremacist wielding a semiautomatic handgun arrived at the Gurdwara and began shooting,” President Joe Biden stated in a statement issued by the White House.

“It’s a chance to reflect on the Sikh-American experience and how the Sikh community has responded to these sort of events,” said Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal, who was part of the Sikh Motorcycle Club left Stockton, California.

On the morning of Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, the gurdwara (a Sikh house of worship) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was attacked by a white supremacist and U.S. Army veteran. The gunman killed six worshippers and injured several others, including Baba Punjab Singh, a community elder who was paralyzed (and ultimately died from his injuries in 2020), and Lt. Brian Murphy, a heroic responding police officer who was shot some 15 times in an exchange of gunfire.

The assault remains the worst-ever attack on Sikhs in our country, and at the time, it was the deadliest attack on a U.S. house of worship of any kind in decades.

Stars Shed Light On Why Stellar Populations Are So Similar In Milky Way

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Scientists have uncovered what sets the masses of stars, a mystery that has captivated astrophysicists for decades. Their answer? Stars, themselves.

Newswise — Scientists have uncovered what sets the masses of stars, a mystery that has captivated astrophysicists for decades. Their answer? Stars, themselves.

Using highly detailed simulations, a collaborative team led by researchers from the University of Texas at Austin has made a breakthrough discovery that star formation is a self-regulatory process, knowledge that may allow researchers to understand star formation within our own and far away galaxies.

The study was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The collaborative team also included experts from Carnegie Observatories, Northwestern University, Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology.

Stars form within giant clouds that consist of cold gas and dust. Slowly, gravitational attraction pulls far-flung specks of this gas and dust together, forming dense clumps in which material falls inwards, compressing to high densities and producing heat: a newborn star.

Surrounding each of these “protostars” is a rotating disk of gas and dust. Every planet in our solar system was once specks in such a disk around our newborn sun. Whether planets orbiting a star could host life is dependent on the mass of the star and how it formed. Therefore, understanding star formation is crucial to determine where life can form in the universe.

“Stars are the atoms of the galaxy,” said Stella Offner, an associate professor of astronomy at UT Austin’s College of Natural Sciences and Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences. “Their mass distribution dictates whether planets will be born and if life could develop.

Every subfield of astronomy depends on the mass distribution of stars — what we call the initial mass function (IMF) — which has proved challenging for scientists to be able to model correctly. Stars much bigger than our sun are rare, making up only 1% of newborn stars. And, for every one of these stars, there are up to 10 sun-like stars and 30 dwarf stars. Observations found that no matter where we look in the Milky Way, these ratios (i.e., the IMF) are the same, for both newly formed star clusters and for those that are billions of years old.

This is the mystery of the IMF. Every population of stars in our galaxy, and in all the dwarf galaxies that surround us, has this same balance, even though their stars were born under wildly different conditions over billions of years. In theory, the IMF should vary dramatically, but it is virtually universal, which has puzzled astronomers for decades.

“For a long time, we have been asking why,” said Dávid Guszejnov, STARFORGE project lead and postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Astronomy at UT Austin. “Our simulations followed stars from birth to the natural endpoint of their formation to solve this mystery.”

The STARFORGE Project is a multi-institution initiative, co-lead by UT Austin and the Carnegie Observatories. The research was completed on two of the most powerful supercomputers in the world: Frontera and Stampede2 of UT Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center.

One of the greatest challenges in studying star formation is the enormous dynamic range of the problem, an example of which is stellar feedback: where individual stars can affect their parent clouds, which are 100 million times larger than they are.

“Even the largest supercomputer and best code could not cover the entire dynamic range, but TACC supercomputers are powerful enough that we can capture a sufficient amount to identify individual stars forming in the simulation.”

These simulations are the first to follow the formation of individual stars in a collapsing giant cloud while also capturing how these newly formed stars interact with their surroundings by giving off light and shedding mass via jets and winds, a phenomenon referred to as “stellar feedback.”

“We have discovered that star formation is a self-regulating process,” Guszejnov said. “Stars that form in wildly different environments have a similar IMF, because stellar feedback, which opposes gravity, also acts differently, pushing stellar masses toward the same mass distribution.”

The collaboration was funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, XSEDE, Northwestern’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, and the Harvard Institute for Theory and Computation.

You can view this YouTube video of a 360-degree kinematic map of a star formation simulation from the STARFORGE team.

10 Years After Shooting, Wisconsin Sikhs Lead Interfaith Conversation On Safety

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(Interfaith America) — On the eve of the 10-year anniversary of the fatal mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, more than 100 interfaith leaders, policymakers, White House officials, law enforcement officials and educators convened Thursday night (Aug. 4) at city hall in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, for an interfaith panel discussion on protecting places of worship from hate crimes.

The panel was a part of the Healing from Hate & Protecting Places of Worship Forum, a memorial of the tragedy at the gurdwara (as Sikhs call their houses of worship) organized by the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee in partnership with the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Sikh Coalition and Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The forum was a part of a series of events these groups are hosting this week to honor the victims of the shooting: Sita Singh, 41; Ranjit Singh, 49; Prakash Singh, 39; Paramjit Kaur, 41; Suveg Singh Khattra, 84; Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65; and Baba Punjab Singh, 72.

“Being here is incredibly moving because people have turned their pain into purpose in a way that none of us could have predicted,” Melissa Rogers, executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, said after the forum.

The interfaith panel, moderated by former U.S. attorney James Santelle, included Pardeep Kaleka, executive director of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee; Walter Lanier, CEO of the African American Leadership Alliance of Milwaukee; Ahmed Quereshi, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee; and Ari Friedman, director of security and community properties at the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.

In the decade since the Oak Creek shooting, hate crimes against places of worship have been on the rise. Between 2018 and February 2020, mass shootings caused by religious hate increased by 17%.

As attacks have increased, synagogues, churches, mosques, gurdwaras and other places of worship have increased surveillance and security at their doors.

“We’ve developed an usher and greeters’ program where volunteers, who are not security people, but an extra set of eyes and ears, are trained to interact with the people as they come in, in a friendly manner,” Friedman said. The volunteers, he said, look out for nonverbal cues and other indicators to gauge if there is any need for concern.

In addition to securing their gates, the faith leaders said it’s important to include their congregations in conversations about safety and security.

Lanier said he uses biblical references to emphasize the importance of protecting oneself from harm.

“There’s a New Testament narrative where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,” Lanier told the gathering. “Some religious leaders were mad … and they said we’re going to move off. We’re not going to put ourselves in the way of danger. But we’re going to use wisdom in this moment, and pull ourselves back. It was really important to frame up for the congregation that this is biblical, this is within the wheelhouse of our faith.”

Not every place of worship can afford to hire security, and, the Milwaukee Islamic Center’s Quereshi noted, in some cases it’s even illegal to do so. Quereshi added that many faith leaders face the challenge of balancing a fundamental belief that places of worship should welcome everyone with an urgent need to protect themselves and their community.

Lanier said it’s important for people to look out for not just their own but other communities as well. “It’s like being in a neighborhood. It can’t be that I’m just going to look out for my house and not worry about what’s happening at your house … let’s get together like this evening so that we can share resources, information, best practices, collaborate and have a narrative and have a critical mass of people who are on the same page and sharing similar messages.”

Kaleka, whose father was one of the seven victims at Oak Creek a decade ago, said one of the lessons the Sikh community learned that day was how everyone can keep moving forward with compassion while also learning to fortify their walls.

“In all communities who are targeted, we have been blessed to be surrounded by love, by compassion, by kindness,” Kaleka told the audience. “We could have left whatever happened as whatever happened, but you all made the conscious choice of being here because of seven people who died, but you would not let hope die. And we’re here 10 years later, simply because of that.”  (A version of this article originally appeared on Interfaith America magazine.)

Australia’s Deakin University Announces Scholarships To Honor 75 Years Of India’s Independence

Staff ReporterEducation 0

Deakin University, Australia, has announced its Research Scholarships Program 2023, which offers 100% tuition fee waiver to twenty high-achieving Indian students for the full duration of their onshore higher degree by research studies at the university. Among the top 1% universities for global research impact and a 100% Excellence in Research Australia (ERA), Deakin University remains committed to partnering with India and giving back to Indian students to open a world of opportunity with a research scholarship.

The scholarship recipients will receive a 100% tuition fee waiver and an annual stipend of up to INR 15 lacs for full-time, on-campus study for up to three years. Additionally, students will also be eligible to receive a one-time relocation allowance of up to INR 1.5 lacs and health insurance cover for the duration of their student visa. Through these scholarships, students will be able to re-imagine their careers, connect with industry, and create an impact alongside world-leading researchers at Victoria’s number one university for overall employment.

Deakin’s strategic research and innovation centers help to solve global challenges guided by the five impact themes of advancing society and culture, building safe and secure communities, improving health and wellbeing, enabling a sustainable world, and designing smarter technologies. With a diverse range of research areas, close links with industry, and first-class facilities, Deakin’s research create a real-world, far-reaching impact. In recent times, Deakin’s Recycling and Renewable Energy Commercialization Hub (REACH), Australia’s largest recycling and clean energy advanced manufacturing ecosystem, was awarded a $50 million Australian government Trailblazer Universities Program grant to facilitate research that will play a crucial role in driving Australia’s green manufacturing revolution.

Professor Julie Owens, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research, Deakin University, said, “At Deakin, we focus on promoting research that will have a positive impact on our local and global communities. Through the Research Scholarships Program, we will provide passionate students with the opportunity to focus on making an original and significant contribution in their chosen area of research.”

Professor Bas Baskaran, Pro Vice – Chancellor International Research Partnerships, Deakin University, added, “We have had deep connections with India for almost three decades and our collaborations with eminent institutes in the region have led to exceptional innovation and research over the years. In recognition of India’s 75th year of Independence and 28 years of Deakin University’s presence and engagement in India, Deakin’s Research Scholarships Program aim to provide Indian students with an opportunity to study with our vibrant research community in Australia and pursue meaningful research that can provide solutions to global challenges.” .

Applications for the scholarship are open for students meeting the below eligibility criteria:

  • A Master’s degree with at least two-thirds of the degree comprising a thesis graded at 80% and above
  • A Master’s degree by coursework or graduate diploma, which includes a research project or thesis of 10,000 to 20,000 words, and 80% and above standard and research methodology units
  • Relevant postgraduate research experience
  • Independently refereed journal articles, publications, or conference papers
  • Professional reporting or prior learning
  • Research-related awards or prizes
  • IELTS/TOEFL scores are mandatory

About Deakin University

Established in 1974, Deakin University successfully combines excellence in teaching, research and effective partnerships with industry and government to deliver high quality courses and undertake research that makes a difference to the domestic and international communities it serves.

Deakin’s South Asia operations commenced in 1994 at New Delhi, India, making it one of the first overseas education providers to establish operations in this region. Across India, Deakin engages with the government, industry, and academia to share its vibrant culture of education and research.

The last date to submit the application is 15th October 2022. For more information about Deakin University Research Scholarships Program 2023, please visit https://deakinuniversity.in/research/.  You can also email research.sa@deakin.edu.au or call the Deakin South Asia Office, New Delhi at +91-(0)11-26544766.

India Top Country Of Origin For Immigrant Founders Of US Unicorns

Staff ReporterBusiness, Technology 0

Over half of America’s start-ups (319 out of 582 or 55 per cent) valued at $1 billion or more have been founded by immigrants. As the country of origin for immigrant founders in the US, Indians top the charts with 66 companies. Israelis followed suit with the second highest number of billion-dollar companies at 54.

A study published by the National Foundation for American Policy on Tuesday, 26 July, has found that “India, with 66 companies, is the leading country of origin for the immigrant founders of US billion-dollar companies.” India, at 66, is followed by Israel, whose immigrants have founded 54 unicorns.

And Israel is followed by “the United Kingdom (27), Canada (22), China (21), France (18), Germany (15), Russia (11), Ukraine (10), Iran (8), Australia (7), Romania (6), Italy (6), Poland (6), Nigeria (6), South Korea (5), New Zealand (5), Pakistan (5) Argentina (5), Brazil (5), Spain (4), Portugal (4), Denmark (4) and several other countries.”

Only companies that are startups valued at $1 billion or more are included in the list. The report also identified 10 founders who founded two or more unicorns. These included Elon Musk, Mohit Aron, Jyoti Bansal, Ashutosh Garg, Ajeet Singh, Al Goldstein, Noubar Afeyan, Ignacio Martinez, Ion Stoica and Sebastian Thrun. Four of the 10 founders were born in India before immigrating to the US.

As per this report, the collective value of the unicorns founded by immigrants stood at $1.2 trillion. This is more than the companies listed on major stock markets like Brazil Stock Exchange ($925 billion); Madrid Stock Exchange ($727 billion); Singapore Exchange ($679 billion); Indonesia Exchange ($620 billion); Stock Exchange of Thailand ($613 billion); Moscow Exchange ($579 billion); Italian Stock Exchange ($507 billion); and Mexican Stock Exchange ($498 billion).

Interestingly, immigrant-founded American companies like SpaceX ($125 billion), Stripe ($95 billion), Instacart ($39 billion), Databricks ($38 billion), Epic Games ($31.5 billion), Miro ($17.5 billion) and Discord ($15 billion) have the highest valuations.

Dr. Satheesh Kathula, Vice President of AAPI Hosts Legendary Cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, Raising $54,000 Towards Heart to Heart Foundation

Staff ReporterCommunity, Sports 0

Legendary Cricket Star Sunil Gavaskar, well known around the world as an inspirational speaker, philanthropist, and the chairman of H2H Foundation has been on a Tour across the United States raising funds for Heart to Heart Foundation, which supports children with congenital heart diseases in India.

As a part of the fundraising tour, Gavaskar graced the home of Dr. Satheesh Kathula, an eminent Oncologist and the Vice President of AAPI. Several physicians and business leaders attended the fundraiser and they collectively raised $54,000, which supports 27 open heart surgeries.

“It was a memorable experience hosting the legend and raising funds for a great cause” Dr. Kathula said. “Mr. Gavaskar has really been spending his personal time and going one city to another to help children in need which is quite remarkable and commendable” he added. “He is one of the most humble people I have ever met” said Dr. Kathula. He thanked all the donors who made this possible with their generous contributions.

During the Meet & Greet event with Sunil Gavaskar, recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards for his contributions to Indian cricket inspired the hearts and souls of participants by telling us how India remains the world capital for Congenital Heart Disease (CHD), with 300,000 children born each year.

Without medical/surgical care, over 25% of children die before their 1st birthday, contributing to over 10% of the Infant Mortality Rate and resulting in 250+ children dying every day; many more die in infancy or the preschool ages. Only a small fraction of children with CHD can afford the cardiac surgery, which can cost over $100,000 in the United States.

With frugal innovations in CHD care H2H Foundation has reduced the average cost of an open-heart surgery to only $2000$  per patient, which would otherwise be $75,000 to $125,000 in the United States and $5,000 to $9,000 in India. Gavaskar has personally sponsored 34 surgeries to match his 34 test centuries. The legendary cricket master is touring the United States to raise awareness and funds to support the cause.

Heart to Heart (H2H) Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving the lives of children born with CHD, by providing FREE pediatric cardiac surgeries in collaboration with the group of Sai Sanjeevini Hospitals in India. Since February 2014, these hospitals have also been providing primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare exclusively to children with CHD and over 10,000 surgeries have been performed free of cost. 10,000 is also the number of innings played by Gavaskar. Additionally, for every test century, he has scored he has personally funded the same number of surgeries.

Gavaskar was the keynote speaker at the recently concluded AAPI Convention in San Antonio,  Gavaskar referred to his association with the “Heart to Heart Foundation” and how the Foundation is touching many hearts around the world. Gavaskar said “I really want to thank all the donors who opened their heart to help the children in need.”

FBI Raids Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Resort In Palm Beach, Florida

Staff ReporterUSA 0

Former President Donald Trump has reported that the FBI “raided” his home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and even cracked his safe on Monday, August 8th. The search was reportedly tied to classified information Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to his Palm Beach resort in January 2021. The search was as part of an investigation into the handling of presidential documents, including classified documents, that may have been brought there when he left the White House, media reports stated.

Trump said in a statement that Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach was “occupied by a large group of FBI agents”. Monday’s search was reportedly connected to an investigation into Mr Trump’s handling of official papers. “These are dark times for our nation,” Mr Trump’s statement said. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a president of the United States before.”

Neither the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) nor the justice department have commented on the reported search. According to reports, the former President was at Trump Tower in New York when the search warrant was executed. In February, the National Archives previously said at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from the resort — including some that were classified.

According to BBC reports, an unnamed law enforcement official has reportedly told CBS News, that the Secret Service was notified shortly before the warrant was served around 10:00 local time (14:00 GMT), and that agents protecting Trump helped the FBI investigators.

BBC report also stated, several boxes were taken away, the source said, adding that no doors were kicked down and that the raid had concluded by the late afternoon. A federal search warrant must be signed by a judge. Though such a warrant does not suggest that criminal charges are expected, law enforcement agencies must first demonstrate the possibility that evidence of illegality will be found.

Trump said he had co-operated with all relevant government agencies and so the “unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate”. He said it amounted to “prosecutorial misconduct” and “the weaponisation of the justice system” to prevent him from running for the White House again. “Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World countries,” he said. “Sadly, America has now become one of those countries, corrupt at a level not seen before.

There has never been a search warrant quite like this in American history, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg told the BBC, describing it it as “a big deal”. American presidents are required by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) to transfer all of their letters, work documents and emails to the National Archives (NA).

Trump lawyer Christina Bobb, who said she was present for Monday’s search, told NBC News that Trump and his team have been “cooperative with FBI and DOJ officials every step of the way,” while adding that the bureau “did conduct an unannounced raid and seized paper.”

A senior law enforcement official in Florida confirmed that there was “law enforcement activity” at Mar-a-Largo on Monday. The White House said it was not given a heads up. “We did not have notice of the reported action and would refer you to the Justice Department for any additional information,” a White House official said.

There are also other federal laws regarding the handling of classified documents. In February, the National Archives said it had retrieved 15 boxes of papers from Mar-a-Lago, which Mr Trump should have turned over when he left the White House. The agency later told Congress the boxes included “items marked as classified national security information”.

In addition, photos have apparently revealed Trump’s habit of flushing key White House documents down the toilet. The extraordinary move to search the home of a former president comes as Trump’s legal problems continue on multiple fronts. Trump is also expected in the coming months to announce he will launch another bid for the White House in 2024.

Rising Global Temperatures Impact Children’s Fitness

Staff ReporterEnvironment 0

Record levels of obesity and physical inactivity among children mean they are set to bear the brunt of poorer health effects from rising global temperatures, warns a new comprehensive review of studies.

While physical fitness is key to tolerating higher temperatures, children are more obese and less fit than ever before, argues Dr Shawnda Morrison, an environmental exercise physiologist, from Slovenia’s University of Ljubljana.

This could put them at greater risk of suffering heat-related health problems, such as dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

She noted that current climate change policies fail to adequately address child health needs and that encouraging children to make exercise part of their everyday lives must be prioritised if they are to cope with living in a hotter world.

In the peer-reviewed journal Temperature, her team assessed a comprehensive review of over 150 medical and scientific studies into how children maintain physical activity, exercise, cope with heat, and how this might change as global temperatures rise.

The research, she highlights includes a study of 457 primary school 5-12 year old boys in Thailand, which found that overweight youngsters were more than twice as likely to have difficulty regulating their body temperature as those of normal weight when exercising outdoors.

In another study, data from emergency departments at children’s hospitals in the US, found attendance was higher during hotter days. Younger children were particularly likely to need emergency care.

The research also found children’s aerobic fitness is 30 per cent lower than that of their parents at the same age.

There are rapid declines in children’s physical activity globally, especially over the last 30 years.

Most children are not meeting the World Health Organization’s guideline of performing an average of at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day.

Physical inactivity was accelerated, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic when schools and other societal infrastructures were closed.

Higher temperatures and changes in weather patterns are projected to also lead to outbreaks of new diseases entering the human population. If there are more movement restrictions put in place to contain the novel diseases, this will have potentially devastating consequences to children’s physical fitness, mental and physical health.

“Yet, as the world warms, children are the least fit they have ever been. It is imperative that children are encouraged to do daily physical activity to build up, and maintain, their fitness, so that they enjoy moving their bodies and it doesn’t feel like ‘work’ or ‘a chore’ to them,” Morrison said. (IANS)

Air India To Induct Wide-Body Aircraft

Staff ReporterTravel 0

With a view to expand its network, Air India has planned to induct wide-body aircraft into its fleet. Total 10 grounded aircrafts will be brought back into service by early 2023, reporst suggested.

A wide-body aircraft is generally deployed on International routes as its bigger fuel tank allows it to travel on long-haul international routes like India-US and India-Canada.

Air India’s wide-body fleet currently stands at 43 aircraft, of which 33 are operational. This is a significant improvement from 28 aircraft that the airline was operating till recently,” said the airline.

The airline on Sunday also announced that it will operate daily flights between Delhi and Vancouver (Canada) from August 31 onwards. Currently, it operates Delhi-Vancouver service three times per week. Frequency on this route has been increased keeping in view the growing traffic between India and Canada and has been enabled by the return to service of the wide-body Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft.

The airline said that Boeing has been working closely with Air India following its acquisition by Tata Group to restore aircraft that had been grounded for prolonged periods due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other reasons.

“The progressive restoration of these aircraft has already allowed Air India to increase schedule resilience and will allow further frequency and network increases over the coming months,” it added.

It was on January 27 this year when the Tata Group took control of Air India after successfully winning the bid for the airline on October 8 last year. Air India’s newly appointed CMD Campbell Wilson had in the last week of July asked the airline’s Integrated Operations Control Center (IOCC), which is the “nerve centre” of any carrier, to report directly to him and give recommendations on how to improve the on-time performance. Wilson said in a statement that the increase of frequency on Delhi-Vancouver route marks the first step in restoring Air India’s fleet and international network.

Chicago Rowdies Beat Chicago Hurricanes In Cricket

Staff ReporterSports 0

Chicago Rowdies have been victorious in the three prior games that they have played, and Hurricanes came into their third game winning their past two games. This truly looked like a clash of the titans. Both teams have only local players vying for the topmost slot, and both teams are known to put their heart out when they compete.

Rowdies won the toss and decided to bat first. Skokie ground has proven to be favorable to the team batting first fifty percent of the time, which is not something you look past when you want to win. Pruthvish, captain of Hurricanes was not very pleased with the outcome of the toss but nevertheless took the field with his playing 11 to prove their might.

Rowdies’ openers Ahsan Syed and Wasim Patel both started off slow but steady. Garv the young gun who is only 17 looked like he was dominating the batters with Pruthvish providing ample support from the other end. But the Rowdies batters couldn’t be silenced past the third over. The fourth over yielded ten plus runs while the fifth was a devastating blow to the Hurricanes. Garv conceded 25 runs in the fifth over which accelerated the momentum for Rowdies. The initial partnership between Ahsan and Wasim yielded 59 runs. After Wasim’s departure the middle order did not rack up much in terms of partnership or runs. Liyakat Raja came in late but his contribution of 39 runs of mere 18 balls pushed the team total to 176 runs.

Urvish Desai’s spectacular bowling performance was the saving grace for Hurricanes. He hauled 4 wickets in 4 overs at a very economical rate of 3.25. Hardik Patel picked up 2 wickets at only 5.75. Salman Ahmed proved a little expensive but still managed to pick up 2 wickets. Garv and Pruthvish were on the more expensive side, both going for more than 11.00.

 With a solid total to chase the Hurricanes sent in Urvish Desai and Sunny Bhati. Urvish succumbed to a slow short ball and got out cheaply. Salman Ahmed who came in next put up a decent partnership with Sunny for 25 runs. Pruthvish and Sunny put together 41 runs but then succumbed to Liyakat. Sargam, Jay, and Jash did not do much damage. Aditya’s performance provided a glimmer of hope with his stellar 26 runs of 10 balls which was not enough to swing the game in the Hurricanes’ favor.

 Score: Chicago Rowdies: 176/9(20.0 Overs) Chicago Hurricanes: 158/8(20.0 Overs)Result: Chicago Rowdies won by 18 Run(s); Player of the Match: Liyakat Raja

After US Senate Passes Historic Inflation Reduction Act,  Congress To Take Up The Bill

Staff ReporterUSA 0

Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin clinched an unexpected deal on the massive over $485 billion bill that would combat climate change, reduce prescription drug prices and lower the federal deficit

The US Congress moved much closer to the passage of President Joe Biden’s much articulated but modified Build Back Better (BBB) initiative on climate, healthcare and tax spending as bleary-eyed Senators worked through a series of amendments to a wide-ranging bill that was eventually adopted by the Senate with 50 votes plus the tie breaking ballot by Vice President Kamala Harris.

For Democrats, the long hours paid off when the Senate on Sunday, August 7th eventually passed the inflation reduction bill originally proposed by Biden and adopted with several amendments, including those by Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema on the financial provisions, media reports said. The Senate saw a rare weekend session for the Democrats push hard to pass their ambitious bill known before leaving Capitol Hill for their traditional August recess.

According to media reports, Democrats advanced the bill, called the Inflation Reduction Act, through the budget reconciliation process, which means they had to clear a few procedural hurdles to send the bill to the House for expected passage and eventually the President’s desk. “The Democrats in our Senate caucus have stayed unified throughout the night,” Senator Chris Coons told ABC News during a break between votes.

“Every single amendment vote of the dozens we’ve taken so far we’ve defeated Republican efforts to knock down this important, even landmark piece of legislation that will reduce prescription drug prices, reduce health care costs, reduce the deficit and make a big down payment on combating climate change.”

Also speaking to ABC News, South Dakota Republican Mike Rounds said party members would keep fighting passage of the bill. “It’s not going to do much to help inflation. We’re still going to have a problem there,” he also said on the Sunday show. “And yet at the same time, they’re going to be collecting about real close to $740 billion in new tax revenue over the next supposedly 5 to 10 years, but most certainly it’s not going to help get us through a tight time in which we’re worried about coming out of a recession.”

What’s the budget reconciliation process?

Senate Democrats used the budget reconciliation process to move the bill, allowing them to avoid the 60-vote threshold to overcome a Republican filibuster. The process allowed the bill to pass with 50 votes, meaning all they needed was a strict-party line vote with their 50-50 majority (Vice President Harris cast the tie-breaking vote). No Republicans supported the final version.

The process had one major caveat — provisions in the bill must be related to the budget in some capacity. Any bill that is on track to reconciliation must first go through the Senate Parliamentarian, who combs through the bill for any violation of what’s been dubbed the Byrd Rule. It was named after Virginia Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd, considered a fiscal hawk.

On Saturday morning, Democrats got a good start with the good news when Parliamentarian Elizabeth Macdonough deemed that reconciliation could be applied to large parts of the bill regarding climate initiatives and allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug costs for seniors.

“We are one step closer to finally taking on Big Pharma and lowering Rx drug prices for millions of Americans,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

Last week, Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin clinched an unexpected deal on the massive over $485 billion bill that would combat climate change, reduce prescription drug prices and lower the federal deficit.

The New York Times described the Democrats’ victory as being within a shouting distance of getting the climate change bill endorsed which has wide ranging provisions on carbon emissions and tax breaks for using non fossil fuels and electric vehicles instead of gasoline driven cars.

On Saturday evening, the Senate agreed by a party-line vote of 50-50 with Harris breaking the tie and starting what could have been up to 20 hours of debate, equally divided between Democrats and Republicans. But leaders of both parties opted to move straight to votes on amendments after only a few hours of debate.

Later in the night, Democrats received more welcome news as Schumer’s office announced that the Congressional Budget Office confirmed that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 meets reconciliation instructions, allowing the bill to move forward on the Senate floor.

The bill will “lower costs for American families. It’s going to address some of the basic need’s families have been having for generations in terms of daily costs of life that are too expensive that are going to be lowered because of this work”, Harris told reporters after casting the tie-breaking vote.

Once debate ended, a “Vote-a-Rama” on amendments to the bill began. Independent Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders, a former presidential candidate, had called the voting process a circus of “Vote-a-Rama” after he was disappointed that Schumer had made the BBB initiative tepid with the amendments of Manchin and Sinema.

What’s a “Vote-a-Rama”?

In a “Vote-a-Rama”, Senators can offer up an unlimited number of amendments to a bill but the process is expedited. There is only one minute allocated for debate, equally divided between both sides. Then, Senators are given 10 minutes to vote. This process repeats for every single amendment. The first amendment was offered by Sanders, shortly after 11.30 p.m. Saturday. His proposal would have sped up Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower pharmaceutical costs and expanded the list of drugs on which they could impose price caps. It failed 99-1.

The Senate last held a “Vote-a-Rama” a year ago when it adopted a budget resolution for fiscal year 2022. In that instance, Senators offered up 43 amendments for a vote, leading to a session that lasted around 14 hours.

This weekend’s “Vote-a-Rama” was even longer, lasting nearly 16 hours before a final vote was held. The majority of amendments were proposed by Republicans, on issues like the IRS, energy production, and immigration. Many failed 50-50 with no Senator crossing party lines.

Sanders proposed the most amendments on the Democratic side of the aisle. None of the amendments overnight passed. Republicans blocked a proposed $35 cap on insulin copays on Sunday morning, arguing the scope of the cap didn’t fall under reconciliation. The amendment only targets the insulin cap on private insurers; Democrats’ plan to lower insulin costs under Medicare remains intact.

Ten Republican Senators needed to vote with Democrats to protect the cap, but only seven voted to keep the cap in place: Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Dan Sullivan of Alaska.

Just when the end of amendment votes became imminent on Sunday afternoon, Senate Minority Whip John Thune began negotiations with Sinema to exempt some businesses owned by private equity from the 15 per cent corporate income tax. Democratic Senators Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Raphael Warnock of Georgia joined Sinema and all Republicans senators in support, with the amendment passing 57-43.

The exemptions eliminate $35 billion in revenue from the bill — which has been a sticking point for Manchin, who has prioritized deficit savings throughout months of negotiations. To offset the lost revenue, Senator Mark Warner offered an amendment to extend loss limitations that some businesses can use for tax deductions. The amendment passed by a party-line vote before the bill moved for final passage.

What’s the point of it? Most amendments from Republicans, who were furious over the deal which was negotiated without their input.

Republican-proposed amendments mostly failed, with the exception of Thune’s amendment exempting some businesses from the 15 per cent corporate tax rate. But the “Vote-a-Rama” allowed Republicans to make Democrats vote on tough issues that could be used for ads on the campaign trail this fall.

The deal also incited the anger of some on the left, who have criticized the bill’s investment in new fossil fuel development a concession likely due to the importance natural gas and coal are to the economy of Manchin’s home state.

Sanders on the Senate floor last week had urged lawmakers “to do everything possible to take on the greed of the fossil fuel industry”, and promised to offer an amendment nixing fossil fuel investments in the bill. ((IANS)

Celebrating 75 Years of U.S.-India Partnership

Staff ReporterIndia, USA 0

Over the past 75 years, India has emerged as the fastest growing large economy in the world, and the partnership between the United States and India has grown to be predominately characterized by alignment in objectives, values, and vision.

This year, we celebrate 75 years of Indian Independence, and of diplomatic relations between the two largest democracies and market economies in the world. In those 75 years, India has emerged as the fastest growing large economy in the world, and the partnership between the United States and India has grown to be predominately characterized by alignment in objectives, values, and vision.

While today our relationship is characterized by convergence, in the mid-20th century, the bilateral relationship was strained by the logic of a Cold-War geopolitical landscape and India’s experiments with an import-substitution development pathway. Bilateral trade was minimal, and the contours of the relationship were need-based.

However, even in those days, there was a vision that the U.S. and India were destined for greater cooperation. With the Indo-Pakistan War presenting a historical low-point to U.S.-India relations in the 1970’s, there was a recognition by both governments that the commercial relationship would need to pull the diplomatic, that the business community—as it often does—needed to lead.

That’s why in 1975, the U.S. and Indian Governments urged the formation of the U.S.-India Business Council to forge stronger trade and investment ties that could serve as the foundation of a productive partnership. The Council’s formation is the embodiment of the optimism that underpins this relationship. In the 47 years of our operation—and especially in the last three decades—we’ve seen tremendous development of our commercial and strategic partnership, and the increasing interdependence of the latter and former.

In 1991, India dismantled the License Raj (a baroque system of commercial licenses and permits), navigated its balance of payments crisis, and began lowering import tariffs

In 2007, Australia, India, Japan and the United States initiated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue

In 2008, the U.S. and India launched the Civil Nuclear Agreement and the U.S.-India CEO forum

In 2016, the U.S. and India signed the foundational defense agreements, committing to cooperation on logistics, secure communication, and geospatial intelligence

During my tenure at USIBC, I’ve been one of the first to taste sweet India-sourced alphonso mangos on U.S. soil; proudly watched as U.S. pharmaceutical and insurance companies deepened their investments in India as FDI rules were liberalized; and walked with Indian executives and American governors as they visited potential manufacturing sites for lasting Indian investments into the United States. In the past 20 years, India’s FDI flows have expanded 20 times and the U.S. contributes to 18% percent of them.

As our commercial ties have strengthened, so has our relationship as strategic partners. U.S.-India defense trade has increased from near zero in 2008 to over $20 billion in the last decade; today India is characterized as a major defense partner and net security provider in the Indo-Pacific.

During the pandemic, I participated in the unprecedented cooperation between the U.S. and India on global vaccination and pandemic relief. I still remember those early days when a group of global CEOs watched as the second wave of COVID unfolded in India, and I witnessed their determination to help.  Again, business was leading the way. I saw our members mobilize over $46 million to assist India in its COVID-19 response. The USIBC team was proud to facilitate the logistics around the delivery and installation of 1,000 ventilators, procured by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. India donated 1.8 million units of lifesaving Personal Protective Equipment to the United States in our time of need – a true signal that we depend on each other.

The U.S.-India economic corridor has emerged from the pandemic with a renewed focus to expand that spirit of cooperation across sectors, and the past two years have seen both sides double down on our partnership for the global good.

In 1949, just two years after Indian Independence, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru told U.S. President Truman:

“I trust that these two republics of the Western World & the Eastern World will find many ways of working together in friendly and fruitful cooperation to our mutual advantage, and for the good of humanity.”

Seventy-five years after Indian Independence, I think you will agree that Prime Minister Nehru’s vision has been realized—the U.S.-India partnership is one of global good. I am the wife of Indian American—fondly called a “Bahu” at home; just like any good family relationship, there have been times of ease and times of strain between our partner nations, but throughout our difficulties we have remained committed to one another, and to a convergent economic agenda that has benefitted our 1.7 billion people.

This is an opportune time to reflect upon and celebrate what the U.S. and India have achieved in our 75-year relationship, and how we can maximize the next 75 years of our partnership for global good. That’s why we’ve chosen the theme of our 47th India Ideas Summit and Annual General Meeting to be Maximizing the Next 75 Years of U.S.-India Prosperity.

I hope you will join me and the rest of USIBC in congratulating India on 75 years of Independence, in reflecting on the importance of our maturing trade and commercial ties, and in celebrating the ideas, the innovations, and the intrepid spirit of our peoples at the USIBC Annual Meeting and Ideas Summit September 6-7. We have made tremendous progress together, but if the last 75 years is any indication, we are just getting started.

(This blog is the first in a series of pieces that highlight the benefits of U.S.-India economic relations, published by U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), U.S. Chamber of Commerce)

Har Ghar Tiranga: Indian Flag On Every Home This Independence Day

Staff ReporterCommunity, India 0

As part of the 75th Independence Day this year, the government of India has launched the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign as part of which, Indians have been urged to display or hoist the national flag at their homes between August 13 and 15

As part of the 75th Independence Day this year, the government of India has launched the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign as part of which, citizens have been urged to display or hoist the national flag at their homes between August 13 and 15. In addition, the Ministry of Culture has launched a website under the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign that allows Indians to pin a tricolour at their location, which will be considered virtual hoisting.

Reports stated,, over 12.5 million Tricolours have been pinned. “Get featured on our website by pinning a flag in Hotspot Location,” the website said. Also, participants can send their selfies with the national flag to participate in the initiative. The selfies will be displayed on the website. Over 3 million Indians have sent their selfies to the ministry.

The ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign, part of the Centre’s ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ initiative to celebrate the country’s 75 years of Independence, was launched last month. Launching the campaign, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India had said in a tweet that it will “deepen our connect with the national flag”. The idea behind the initiative is to invoke a sense of ownership in the people and to celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav in the spirit of Jan Bhagidari (community participation).

“Today, 22nd July has a special relevance in our history. It was on this day in 1947 that our National Flag was adopted. Sharing some interesting nuggets from history including details of the committee associated with our Tricolour and the first Tricolour unfurled by Pandit Nehru,” the PM wrote in a tweet.

On July 22, 1947, the Constituent Assembly adopted our National Flag. The flag that was finally chosen underwent several changes since it was originally designed by Pingali Venkayya in 1923. Since Independence, our relationship with the flag had been more formal and institutional rather than personal.

The initiative aims to encourage people to bring our flag into our homes and hoist it to mark the 75th year of India’s Independence. Various events involving people from all walks of life will be organised at various locations connected with the freedom struggle. This will allow the new generation to discover the many threads of our freedom struggle, while older generations and communities reconnect to the events that led to a free India.

As this is a ground-up initiative, the role of the government has been that of a facilitator. An initiative of such magnitude requires meticulous planning and execution.  “The Central Theme of the program is to inspire every Indian to hoist the National Flag at their home and to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the citizen and promote awareness about our National Flag,” the Ministry of Finance said in a notification.

Since the dawn of civilization, flags have had a special place as a symbol of belonging and protection and to rally people together. Stretching back to times immemorial, flags have been a part of the Indian tradition, symbolizing glory and dharma.

Therefore, it is not surprising when this tradition is continued while building India as a modern nation state, drawing from her civilizational ethos. The flag, therefore, is not just a vision for the future, but the values and foundations of our rich and illustrious past.

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Billionaires Grow, India Shrinks: Triumph Of Crony Capitalism

Staff ReporterEconomy, India 0

Around two months ago, India’s fastest growing businessman remarked that if India became a USD 30-trillion-economy by 2050, no one would go to bed on an empty stomach.

While speaking at a conclave, Gautam Adani said, “We are around 10,000 days away from the year 2050. Over this period, I anticipate we’ll add about USD 25 trillion to our economy. This translates to an addition of USD 2.5 billion to the GDP every day. I also anticipate that over this period, we’ll have eradicated all forms of poverty.”

He anticipated that the stock markets would add about USD 40 trillion in market capitalisation, which translated to an addition of USD 4 billion every day until 2050. “Uplifting the lives of 1.4 billion may feel like a marathon in the short run, but it’s a sprint in the long run,” concluded Adani.

Well, those who attended the conclave would have actually felt that the person, who is now a frontrunner for the richest person in the world, also thinks of the poor. We can only wish that India’s growth story could also lead to the growth of each and every fellow citizen. However, it all seems to be a figment of the imagination!

Incidentally, the industrialist, who runs a slew of businesses from airports to ports to power generation to distribution to cement manufacturing to infrastructure development, has added USD 49 billion to his wealth in 2021! The figure is much higher than the world’s two richest persons – Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos – at that time. Jeff Bezos has moved to the third position recently.

In fact, during 2020 when the entire world came to a standstill due to the pandemic, Adani’s wealth grew at a much higher speed than the coronavirus! Immediately before the onset of the pandemic, he bought a lavish bungalow at one of the posh localities of the national capital. Unlike Ambani’s Antilia, not much has been written about his bungalow. However, the land size is much bigger than that of Ambani, if reports are to be believed.

In the month of February, Adani overtook Ambani to become Asia’s richest person. His net worth stood at USD 88.5 billion at that time. In a matter of five months, it stands at USD 115.5 billion! Be that as it may, his growth rate is certainly exponential!

Of late, Forbes has placed him at the fourth place in the list of world’s richest people. Incidentally, he just crossed Bill Gates, who has been donating his wealth to charity and who wishes to be kicked off this list.

Let us see how India’s economy fared during the last two years. The continuous lockdown in the year 2020 followed by the second wave in a few months from the unlock phase, had jolted the Indian economy. Despite this, we are termed as the fastest growing country. However, there is a caveat to this statement.

The combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and the states is more than 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. It only means that the government had to print more money to keep the machinery called the Indian economy going. It is an established fact that growth at the cost of fiscal consolidation is not a good practice.

We saw a similar trend in the pre-liberalisation period. In fact, India has registered a growth rate of 5.3 percent in the 1980s. However, high fiscal deficit had brought the country on the verge of bankruptcy. High fiscal deficit increases the current account deficit leading to inflation and exhaustion of foreign reserves.

During 2020-21, the Centre had a fiscal deficit of 9.6 percent, understandably to combat the emergency posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The economic slowdown had impacted the revenue. The government had no option but to print more money. The deficit was reduced to 6.9 percent in 2021-22. The finance minister has projected it to be at 6.4 percent, which is at a higher end.

Of late, a lot is being talked about global recession in view of the Russia-Ukraine war. Experts in our country have been maintaining a stand that the Indian economy is strong enough to bear this jolt. At least the economic facts do not validate such statements.

One, foreign investors have been exiting the Indian market. Resultantly, the current value of the Rupee has gone down considerably. The exchange value of the dollar has touched Rs. 80. Generally, recession is tackled by printing more money, which means higher fiscal deficit. In the current scenario, where fiscal deficit is already high, it will be suicidal to increase it to the levels of the covid year.

A government which believes in populism will find it tempting to print more money for political reasons, a move which may not gel well with the foreign investors. The rupee may further plunge, giving way to inflation, making people at the bottom of the pyramid more vulnerable.

While people like Adani may continue to make wealth, the poor will become poorer day by day. The last few years beginning with demonetisation, imposition of GST, the sudden economic closure due to the pandemic, have affected the poor badly. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has triggered retail inflation. Items of daily use have become expensive. Fuel prices have touched new heights.

On the top of it, the government’s decision to levy taxes on essential items will only make their life miserable. If one looks at the latest unemployment data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), it has shot up to 7.8 percent in June, with a loss of 13 million jobs, mainly in the agriculture sector. Not only this, 2.5 million people lost jobs amongst the salaried employees.

The government reduced the demand for armed personnel of late by announcing a new scheme. The job opportunities in the private equity-funded market have also started reducing. The situation is all-the-more worrying. High inflation coupled with reducing income levels, will only add more people to below the poverty line, increasing the pressure on government-funded schemes like the national food security act (NFSA), NREGA etc.

This only means more fiscal deficit, malnutrition, impacting the lives of children, women and the elderly. The youth who is left with no avenues to earn a livelihood, is more likely to contribute to social evils like drug addiction, crime etc. Uneducated, unskilled, unemployable youth will only add on to the economic burden. Unlike Japan, India will not be able to leverage this period when the young population is higher than ageing ones.

A report from the international food policy research (IFPRI) published a few days ago should set the alarm bells ringing. The institute has estimated that India’s food production is likely to reduce by 16 percent due to climate change. We have already witnessed the plunge in wheat production this year forcing us to stop exports. The quantity of wheat being distributed through the public distribution systems under schemes like NFSA have also been reduced. At many places, wheat has been completely replaced by rice and other cereals.

In view of the current circumstances, the IFPRI has also estimated that the number of people at risk for hunger is expected to increase by 23 percent. In fact, 73.9 million people are expected to be at risk in 2030. The report says that if the effect of climate change is factored in, the number is likely to increase to 90.6 million people in India coupled with reduction in food production. Globally, the production may increase considerably by 2050 but unfortunately people affected by hunger are expected to increase by 500 million people!

One can easily imagine how defective government policies, where the rich are favoured at the cost of the poor, will make the poor poorer year on year. It is because of this reason that India’s growth story has not been able to transform the lives of the marginalised and the underserved.

When it comes to the poor, the government looks at them from the lens of potential voters not as growth catalysts. The likes of Nirav Modi, Vijaya Mallya etc. enjoy the clout to exploit the system to their favour while the common man struggles to get a loan approved for setting up his enterprise.

As far as Adani’s statement is concerned, it certainly speaks about a world that seems to be Utopian. We can only imagine a world where no one sleeps with an empty stomach. It can only happen if the government does a serious introspection, introduces taxes to regulate the unquestioned growth of a few and invests the money for the benefit of the poor, something on the lines of Thomas Pikkety’s world as presented in his book “Capitalism in 21st Century”.

As of now “Sabka saath, Sabka vikas, Sabka vishwas” is a mere slogan, aimed at winning votes of the people not their hearts. We are set to see the rise of Adanis and Ambanis but not of the poor, who will remain trapped in the inter-generational cycle of poverty.

Raghuram Rajan Warns Turning Minority Into 2nd Class Citizens Will Divide India

Staff ReporterNation, India 0

Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has said India’s future lies in strengthening liberal democracy and its institutions as it is essential for achieving economic growth.

Warning against majoritarianism, he said Sri Lanka was an example of what happens when a country’s politicians try to deflect a job crisis by targeting minorities.

Speaking at the 5th conclave of All India Professionals Congress, a wing of the Congress party, in Raipur, he said any attempt to turn a large minority into “second class citizens” will divide the country.

Rajan was speaking on the topic ‘Why liberal democracy is needed for India’s economic development’.

“.What is happening to liberal democracy in this country and is it really that necessary for Indian development? … We absolutely must strengthen it. There is a feeling among some quarters in India today that democracy holds back India … India needs strong, even authoritarian, leadership with few checks and balances on it to grow and we seem to be drifting in this direction,” Mr Rajan said.

“I believe this argument is totally wrong. It’s based on an outdated model of development that emphasizes goods and capital, not people and ideas,” said the former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund.

The under-performance of the country in terms of economic growth “seems to indicate the path we are going on needs rethinking,” he said.

The former RBI governor further said that “our future lies in strengthening our liberal democracy and its institutions, not weakening them, and this is in fact essential for our growth.”

Elaborating on why majoritarian authoritarianism must be defeated, he said any attempt to “make second class citizens of a large minority will divide the country and create internal resentment.” It will also make the country vulnerable to foreign meddling, Me Rajan added.

Referring to the ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka, he said the island nation was seeing the “consequences when a country’s politicians try to deflect from the inability to create jobs by attacking a minority.” This does not lead to any good, he said.

Liberalism was not an entire religion and the essence of every major religion was to seek out that which is good in everyone, which, in many ways, was also the essence of liberal democracy, Mr Rajan said.

Claiming that India’s slow growth was not just due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Rajan said the country’s underperformance predated it.

“Indeed for about a decade, probably since the onset of the global financial crisis, we haven’t been doing as well as we could. The key measure of this underperformance is our inability to create the good jobs that our youth need,” the former RBI governor said.

Citing the strident protests against the Centre’s ‘Agniveer’ military recruitment scheme, Mr Rajan said it suggested how hungry the youths were for jobs.

“Just a while ago you saw 12.5 million applicants for 35,000 railway jobs. It is particularly worrisome when India has a scarcity of jobs even when so many women are not working outside their homes. India’s female labour force participation is among the lowest in G-20 at 20.3 percent as in 2019,” he pointed out.

Talking about the “vision of growth” of the current government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said it centres around the term ‘atmanirbhar’ or self-reliance.

“Now, to the extent it emphasizes better connectivity, better logistics, better roads and devotes more resources to it, in some way this (atmanirbhar vision) seems the continuation of the past reformed decades. And that’s good,” he said.

But, the former RBI governor said, in many ways a look at what ‘atmanirbhar’ is trying to achieve takes one back to an early and failed past where the focus was on physical capital and not human capital, on protection and subsidies and not on liberalization, on choosing favourites to win rather than letting the most capable succeed.

Asserting that there was a misplaced sense of priorities, Mr Rajan said the nation was not spending enough on education, with tragic consequences.

“Many (children) not having been to school for two years are dropping out. Their human capital, which is their and our most important asset in the coming years, is something we are neglecting. We are failing them by not devoting enough resources to remedial education,” Mr Rajan said.

Long Island, N.Y. Plans India Day Parade USA For August 7th

Staff ReporterCommunity 0

India Day Parade USA, which organizes the India Day Parade of Long Island set for August 7, 2022, in Hicksville, N.Y., announced July 28, that India’s Deputy Consul General in New York, Dr Varun Jeph, will join as Grand Marshal. The announcement was made at a press conference held at the Mint Restaurant July 26.

announced the details of their 11th India Day Parade in which interest is soaring as famous Bollywood actress and sportsperson Prachi Tehlan will be the Celebrity Grand Marshal, and Guests of Honor are the singing sensation Shibani Kashyap who will perform for an hour on stage, Hollywood/Bollywood actor Prashantt Gupta who will do a surprise act, and Naveen Shah, President of Navika group.

Highlighting the Unity in Diversity theme of the parade, there will be banners of all 28 states of India, and “India lovers” have been requested to walk behind the banners of their respective states and come dressed up in their state’s traditional attire, organizers said. Many lawmakers from Long Island and New York have confirmed their participation in the parade, Goyal said.

Past President Mukesh Modi announced that Padma Shri Sudhir Parikh, Chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media, will join the parade with his wife Dr. Sudha Parikh. Attendees were informed of a parade route change. Starting at 2 pm from Hicksville Community Center at Carl Street West, the parade will go along Broadway North before turning left on John Street to culminate at 125 West John Street, where the food and other stalls will be set up as well as a children’s carnival area. There is ample LIRR parking nearby.

Parade organizers thanked the officials of Nassau County and Town of Oyster Bay for their cooperation in holding a safe and successful parade. Harry Malhotra, director South Asian Business & Development, Town of Oyster Bay, who shared the stage at the event, promised all help.

Tabla performance by Aryan Rishi at the meeting to announce details of Aug. 7, 2022, India Day Parade in Long Island. Photo: IDP USA

Other speakers urged the community to come to the parade which this year, is also celebrating the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. Raffle tickets will be sold with attractive prizes such as laptops and large TV sets.

Speakers at the well-attended dinner event included IDP Chair Indu Jaiswal, Past President Beena Kothari, Senior Vice President Bina Sabapathy, and Vice President Roopam Maini. Sunil Hali of Radio Zindagi and The Indian Eye and realtor Raj Jaggi also spoke.

Prominent attendees included representatives from ITV Gold/Parikh Worldwide Media, and two candidates for the New York State Assembly Vibhuti Jha and Sanjeep Jindal.

A tabla performance was given by Aryan Rishi. Indian and American national anthems were sung by Anoushka Rishi, accompanied by Aryan Shah on saxophone.

Modi To Skip UNGA 2022

Staff ReporterGlobal 0

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not scheduled to be at the high-level UN General Assembly session in September this year but two newly elected leaders of troubled South Asian countries, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe, are among the scheduled participants, media reports here stated.

Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepal and Lotay Tshering of Bhutan are also listed to be speakers during the 2022 General Assembly of thew world body.

The Taliban regime, which is not recognized by any country, does not have a slot, nor does anyone from the government of ousted President Ashraf Ghani, which still in effect holds the country’s seat at the UN.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is likely to be the possible speaker at the UN, representing India, according to the roster of speakers available Wednesday at the United Nations.

Modi has so far addressed the General Assembly four times in person and once by video. He skipped the meeting in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

In a sign of the world emerging from the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, all the speeches will be in person at this year’s session that begins on September 20, Paulina Kubiak, the spokesperson for Assembly President Abdulla Shahid, said on Wednesday.

The high-level session went all virtual in 2020 and turned hybrid last year with some speaking remotely and others like Modi attending in person.

The leaders are scheduled in a hierarchical order starting with the 101 heads of state, followed by prime ministers, the deputies, the ministers and others.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, which will take up a chunk of the session’s bandwidth, is scheduled to be at the meeting this year.

Virginia Becomes First State to Declare October as Hindu Heritage Month

Staff ReporterReligion 0

The Virginia State Legislature and Senate have both, unanimously passed a resolution declaring, in perpetuity, October as Hindu Heritage Month. The passing of resolution VA HJ141 which had been introduced by State Delegate Suhas Subramanyam was greeted with great excitement by the Indian American community.

The Hindu American Foundation which took the lead, on July 12 tweeted, “We thank the Virginia Hindu community and partners for helping make this happen,” while its Associate Director of Policy Research, Anita Joshi, credited Subramanyam and advocate Rajesh Gooty for the development.

Launched in 2021, Hindu Heritage Month is the global coming together of Hindus in October each year, to celebrate their rich heritage. October was chosen as it typically hosts an array of festivals like Navaratri, Dusshera, and Deepavali that are celebrated by the diverse communities per their Hindu calendars.

The President of the Vedic Friends Association, Balabhadra Bhattacarya Dasa, speaking on the importance of the initiative said, it would go toward dispelling misinformation and “provide a resource to educate, inform, and inspire not only non-Hindus but encourage Hindus, especially the younger Hindu generation.”

Thara Narasimhan, President, Hindus of Greater Houston also emphasized the importance of the event, pointing out that the synthesis of various languages and traditions that has happened through the ages has given shape to what is recognized as Indian culture today and HMM provides an avenue to showcase this unique openness and abidance of ‘unity in diversity.’

Dr. Jai Bansal, Vice President of Education at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, coordinator for the Hindu Heritage Month movement, noted that the dream to make it a truly global event was slowly getting realized with organizations from Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, South Africa, Germany, Norway and many other countries signing up as partners.

Laxmi, The Leading South Asian Food Brand Celebrates 50 Years Of Bringing ‘Home’ To You !

Staff ReporterBusiness 0

For many cultures and its people, the primary language of love is food. Mostly all immigrant families ensure their roots remain firm is by filling their dinner tables with dishes that represent their home countries Cooking ethnic foods allows them to experience a sense of comfort and belonging which is then passed down to generations keeping traditions alive !

For over 50 years  Laxmi has done just this – enabled millions of South Asian families stay connected to their roots by providing them quality ingredients to help them cook their traditional dishes and experience home away from home.

Established in 1970 in Jackson Heights, NY by G.L. Soni and his brother K.L. Soni, the impetus for their business venture , House of Spices was Mrs. Shobhna Soni who was tired of eating yogurt and potatoes as a new bride in a new country. This gave these entrepreneurs the idea to start a business that would bring Indian ingredients like daal and spices to the USA and allow the diaspora here to enjoy the taste of home. But it didn’t stop with dals and spices – their business soon expanded to include flours, rice, oil, ghee, juices and many other traditional ingredients essential for South Asian cooking. Their success was unstoppable, and the House of Spices’ flagship brand ‘Laxmi’ became a household name in no time.

As their family expanded so did their business and along with their children, the founders nurtured a growing line of products with a vast distribution network all over North America. Time flew and the torch was passed on to Neil and Amrapali Soni. They recognized the hard work and passion that built the business and decided to enhance the Laxmi brand by giving it a new look.

These exciting brand building efforts led to a logo update and the signing of Bollywood Superstar Shilpa Shetty as its brand ambassador. Ms. Shetty, who is known for her holistic approach to diet, nutrition, and fitness was the perfect choice to represent the renewed look for Laxmi, priming it for a perfect 50thth birthday celebration. The innovation continues with a new product lines that have been recently introduced on shelves throughout North America. Laxmi has now forayed into the convenience food category with a frozen range of products that includes vegetables, Samosas, Naan’s and many more items to be added to the roster in the following months.

According to Neil and Amrapali Soni, this journey to 50 would not have been possible without the support of the South Asian community. The family has never lost sight of this unwavering support and offer their utmost gratitude to the community for their loyalty over 5 decades. Many ingredients make this company special, but the one that got them to the top has consistently been their passion for providing quality products to their customers. The Soni family’s vision for their business continues to put quality at the forefront of everything they do and carry on the tradition of excellence.

To mark this legacy milestone ,Laxmi is currently Celebrating #50YearsOfLaxmi campaign. When asked about the campaign Suhasinee Patil ,VP Marketing shared that as Laxmi turns 50 we wanted to honor our consumers and our community by inviting them to share stories about their journey in US. We truly believe our success and the community success go hand in hand. Thus the next time you eat something that reminds you of someone, don’t just remember them, reach out to them.  And when you do, we would love to hear about your food memories. …

For more information on the contest and exciting prizes, please visit www.laxmihos.com and share your stories by submitting a video and using hashtags to participate: #LaxmiYadoonKiRecipe; #50YearsOfLaxmi; #ReachOutWithLaxmi

Aruna Miller Poised To Be Lieutenant Governor of Maryland

Staff ReporterProfile 0

With opinion polls heavily favoring Democrats, Indian American Aruna Miller is likely to be elected as the next Lieutenant Governor of Maryland in November as best-selling author Wes Moore’s running mate.

In a competitive race for the nomination, army veteran Moore bested former Labor Secretary and DNC Chairman Tom Perez in addition to the Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot in the Democratic gubernatorial primary last week.

Aruna is the former Executive Director of Indian American Impact, and has previously served as a Representative for Maryland’s 15th District in the Maryland House of Delegates. Moore stated that he is “absolutely ecstatic and humbled to go on this journey with Aruna Miller.”

Moore and Miller will face Republican candidate Dan Cox — who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump — and his running mate Gordana Schifanelli in the November election.

If the pair wins, Moore will become the first African-American governor of Maryland and Miller the first Indian American to be elected lieutenant governor of any state.

Moore, who is also the former CEO of Robin Hood Foundation, said he was “absolutely ecstatic and humbled to go on this journey with Aruna Miller.”

“On behalf of my family and my incredible running mate @ArunaMiller, THANK YOU,” he tweeted. “The stakes could not be higher, but together, we’ll meet this moment with urgency and leadership. Maryland WILL be a state where we leave no one behind.
#MooreForMaryland”

The Cook Political Report suggests that the Maryland governor’s race would be solidly Democrat, according to NBC News. If opinion polls hold, Moore would most likely succeed Republican Governor Larry Hogan

According to Moore, Miller “is a seasoned legislator who has fought for families in Montgomery County and across the entire state of Maryland in the House of Delegates.”

Born in Hyderabad, Miller immigrated to the United States when she was seven years old. She became a US citizen in 2000.

Miller represented District 15 in the Maryland State House from 2010 to 2018 with four years on the House Ways and Means Committee and four years on the Appropriations Committee.

As a delegate, she worked to invest in STEM education, streamline the regulatory process for small businesses and was a champion for working families, survivors of domestic abuse, and the environment.

She worked for over 30 years as a civil and transportation engineer in Montgomery County helping improve the safety of the public and alleviate traffic, and creating equitable transportation access to connect people to opportunities.

In her 2018 bid for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, Miller came in second out of eight candidates and earned endorsements from EMILY’s List, the National Education Association, Sierra Club, CASA of Maryland, 314 Action, End Citizens United, and others.

She lives in the 6th District with her husband David, and her mother Hema. Aruna and David have three adult daughters — Meena, Chloe, and Sasha.

Shailen P. Bhatt Named As Administrator Of The Federal Highway Administration

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Shailen P. Bhatt has been nominated as the administrator of the Federal Highway Administration of the US Department of Transportation, according to a White House press release. If Bhatt’s nomination is confirmed, he will become one of over 50 Indian Americans who are serving in the Biden administration, which is a record for any US administration.

U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, applauded President Biden’s nomination of Shailen Bhatt to serve as Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

Bhatt is Senior Vice President of Global Transportation Innovation and Alternative Delivery at AECOM, a  consulting firm.  Bhatt previously served as the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, and as a presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

According to a White House release,  “Bhatt spearheaded innovative solutions, collaborations, and partnerships to support the delivery of safe, sustainable, and cost-effective transportation systems for the 21st century. He previously worked as the CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE), Chair of the Executive Committee of the I-95 Corridor Coalition, and was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Automotive and Personal Transport.”

“From the day he took office, President Biden has made rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure—and doing so in a way that reduces emissions, boosts resilience, improves safety, and connects communities—a top priority. After much consideration, I’m delighted to see him nominate such a thoughtful, accomplished person to be the Administrator of the FHWA.

“Shailen Bhatt’s resume is nearly perfect for leading a transportation agency with such a critical infrastructure mission. In addition to serving as a presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Transportation, he has also experience at the state level, leading the Colorado and Delaware Departments of Transportation. I have a long history of working with Shailen, and he is an outstanding choice. I’m confident that he won’t need any on-the-job training and look forward to doing my part to expeditiously advance his nomination and confirm him for this important role.”

Bhatt was one of a number of people brought in by the administration of Gov. Jack Markell, who departed from the usual pattern of governors not looking outside the state for administrative talent. Markell’s predecessor John Carney has mainly relied on current state employees to fill cabinet posts.

Bhatt shared Markell’s love of bicycling that, along with Congressional action, led to the continuing expansion of the trail system in Delaware.   Bhatt dealt with numerous  issues at   DelDOT, which had seen its share of scandals and controversies that included a questionable real estate transaction in Milford involving a wholesale beer distributor during the tenure of the late Gov. Ruth Ann Minner.

Badminton Star Tanisha Crasto Given Golden Visa From The UAE

Staff ReporterSports, Youth 0

Tanisha Crasto of Indian heritage, one of the best new-generation badminton players, is the latest recipient of the UAE’s prestigious ‘Golden Visa’, an honor which is also awarded to elite athletes in recognition of their contribution to the sport.

At 19-years-old, she is one of the youngest beneficiaries of the visa, which grants her a guaranteed 10 years of residency in the country. Crasto is also considered one of the best new-generation badminton players, and the Golden Visa is often awarded to elite athletes such as herself in recognition of their contribution to the sport.

“What’s really special is that my visa lists me as a ‘professional athlete’ which is fantastic and really motivates me.” she said. “Previously my visa said ‘no employment.’ Now that I have the Golden Visa, I will be looking to play a lot more tournaments around the world. It’s going to be a great help because I travel out of Dubai for a lot of tournaments and now that I have the visa I can come and go freely.”

Tanisha, who was born in Dubai to Indian parents from Goa and studied at the Indian High School, Dubai, thanked the Dubai Sports Council for helping her secure the much sought-after 10-year visa.

“When I approached the Dubai Sports Council officials to enquire whether I was eligible for a Golden Visa, they responded positively and, before I knew it, called to say that my request had been approved,” she said.

Tanisha, who is essentially a specialist doubles and mixed-double player, says she can now turn her attention to improving her game and pursuing her lifetime ambition.

“My dream has always been the same — to win an Olympic gold medal,” she said. “But you can say that my current goal is to win a medal at the World Championships. That’s my immediate target.” The WBF World Championships take place in Tokyo, from August 21-28.

Tanisha, who trains under the watchful eye of former All England champion and current India coach Pullela Gopichand, explained why she essentially plays the doubles format.

“When I was younger, there were not enough players to play singles in Dubai,” she said. “So I used to play together with my Dad. Then over the years, I discovered that doubles was my calling.”

Tanisha is the first to admit that there is still a lot of improvement necessary in her game, to take it to the next level, and is prepared to work hard to achieve it.

“You never stop learning,” she acknowledges. “I believe I have so much more to learn about the game and I am confident that by training hard and with top players, I can grow my game, further.”

Tanisha joins a roll call of top sportsmen and celebrities who have been given a UAE Golden Visa including Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, celebrated Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.

India, UAE and France Hold 1st Ever Trilateral Cooperation Meet

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In their efforts to enhance collaboration in areas of mutual collaboration, India, the UAE and France held their first trilateral meet to explore potential cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Potential points of cooperation that were discussed include maritime security, disaster relief, blue economy and regional connectivity, food and energy security and more.

The Indian side of the talk was led by Sandeep Chakravorty, Joint Secretary (Europe West) and Shri Vipul, Joint Secretary (Gulf), MEA. This was the second meeting of its kind involving both India and the UAE, who are also part of I2 U2 (India-Israel-United States of America-UAE).

“A trilateral meeting of the ‘Focal Points’ of India, France and the United Arab Emirates was held today,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The resolve of the three countries to boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific under the trilateral framework comes amid increasing global concern over China’s growing military muscle-flexing in the region.

“The three sides exchanged perspectives on the Indo-Pacific region and explored the potential areas of trilateral cooperation, including maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, blue economy, regional connectivity, cooperation in multilateral fora, energy and food security, innovation and startups, supply chain resilience and cultural and people-to-people cooperation,” the MEA said.

“They also discussed the next steps to be taken for furthering trilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region,” it said in a statement.

US House Panel Advances Prior Authorization Relief Bill For Seniors

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Newswise — The House Ways and Means Committee has voted unanimously to advance the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2022 (H.R. 8487), positioning the bill for passage in Congress possibly this fall. The bill would reform prior authorization under the Medicare Advantage program to help ensure America’s seniors get the care they need when they need it.

Support for this commonsense legislation is overwhelming. The bill has more than 330 cosponsors in the House and Senate, and has been endorsed by more 500 organizations, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and more 30 additional ophthalmic subspecialty and state societies.

A recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General underscored the need for reform, finding that Medicare Advantage plans have denied prior authorization requests that met Medicare coverage rules.

The bill was introduced by Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Ami Bera, MD, (D-CA), and Larry Bucshon, MD, (R-IN). If enacted, the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act would streamline and standardize prior authorization in the Medicare Advantage (MA) program, providing much-needed oversight and transparency while protecting beneficiaries from unnecessary care delays and denials. The legislation would improve prior authorization in MA plans by:

Establishing an electronic prior authorization (ePA) program;

Standardizing and streamlining the prior authorization process for routinely approved services, including establishing a list of services eligible for real-time prior authorization decisions;

Ensuring prior authorization requests are reviewed by qualified medical personnel; and

Increasing transparency around MA prior authorization requirements and their use.

This bill has been years in the making. The Academy is a founding member of the Regulatory Relief Coalition, a group of sixteen national physician specialty and two allied organizations advocating for a reduction in Medicare program regulatory burdens to protect patients’ timely access to care and allow physicians to spend more time with their patients. We thank the bill’s sponsors, as well as the chair and ranking member of House Ways and Means Committee, Reps. Richie Neal (D-MA) and Kevin Brady (R-TX).

“We believe this bill will help remove some of the unnecessary red tape that overburdens our healthcare system and prevents us from providing the care America’s seniors need when they need it,” said David Glasser, MD, the Academy’s secretary for Federal Affairs. “We’re confident that when this bill comes to the House floor, Congress will agree with these commonsense reforms.”

Temperature Rise To Cause Larger Extinction Of Species

Staff ReporterEnvironment 0

Newswise — A professor emeritus at Tohoku University has unearthed evidence pointing to a strong relationship between the magnitude of mass extinctions and global temperature changes in geologic times.

The research was published in the journal Biogeosciences on July, 22, 2022.

Abrupt climate change, accompanied by environmental destruction from large volcanic eruptions and meteorites, has caused major mass extinctions throughout the Phanerozoic Eon – covering 539 million years to the present.

To date, there have been few quantitative evaluations of the relationship between land temperature anomalies and terrestrial animal extinctions. Moreover, marine animals and terrestrial animals have experienced divergent extinction rates, and this phenomenon remains under-explored.

Professor Emeritus Kunio Kaiho demonstrated that marine invertebrates and terrestrial tetrapods’ extinction rates corresponded to deviations in global and habitat surface temperatures, regardless of whether it was cooling or warming. Loss of species during the ‘big five’ major extinctions correlated with a > 7°C global cooling and a > 7-9°C global warming for marine animals, and a > 7°C global cooling and a > ~7°C global warming for terrestrial tetrapods.

“These findings indicate that the bigger the shifts in climate, the larger the mass extinction,” Kaiho said. “They also tell us that any prospective extinction related to human activity will not be of the same proportions when the extinction magnitude changes in conjunction with global surface temperature anomaly.”

Kaiho cites an earlier study, which claimed a 5.2°C temperature increase in average global temperature would result in a mass extinction event comparable to previous ones. Yet, based on this study’s analysis, the temperature will need to change by 9°C, and this will not appear until 2500 in a worst-case scenario.

“Although predicting the extent of future extinctions is difficult because causes will differ from preceding ones, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that any forthcoming extinction will not reach past magnitudes if global surface temperature anomalies and other environmental anomalies correspondingly change,” Kaiho said.

Kaiho also found a lower tolerance for terrestrial tetrapods than marine animals for global warming events. However, marine animals had a smaller tolerance to the same habitat temperature changes than terrestrial animals. This is because the temperature anomaly on land is 2.2 times higher than sea surface temperature. These phenomena fit ongoing extinction patterns.

Looking ahead, Kaiho seeks to predict future animal extinction magnitudes occurring between 2000-2500.

Nomad Fashion Show Mixes Ancient With Modern

Staff ReporterEntertainment, Fashion 0

On the shore of one of the world’s deepest lakes, high up in Kyrgyzstan’s Tian Shan mountains, models strutted and sashayed in outfits mixing the ancient and modern at the World Nomads Fashion festival.

The event, now in its third year, drew designers and fashion-industry figures from about 20 countries to shimmering Lake Issyk-Kul to admire outfits drawing on Kyrgyzstan’s millennia-old nomadic culture.

The stiletto heels worn by some models wouldn’t be suitable for a proper nomad, but some of their elaborate headdresses that seemed to mimic the horns of cattle were takes on traditional nomad costume. Swirling, voluminous skirts featured in many of the outfits, either elaborately patterned or in blocks of vivid color.

“The World Nomad Fashion Festival is the first and only project in Central Asia and some European countries that glorifies the civilization of nomads,” the event’s founder, Nazira Begim, said.

Along with the couture, the show offered visitors the chance to see an array of yurts — the wood-framed tents of skin or felt characteristic of nomads — and brightly colored carpets.

“It was created in 2019. This idea belongs to me. The project is one of my old dreams. When I organized it for the first time, without knowing anyone personally, I invited designers from 17 countries and held it also on the shores of Issyk-Kul lake,” Begim added. Ms Begim is keen to spotlight Kyrgyzstan’s fashion industry. (Associated Press)

Monkeypox Declared A Public Health Emergency In New York City

Staff ReporterHealth 0

Officials in New York City have declared a public health emergency due to the spread of the monkeypox virus Saturday, calling the city “the epicenter” of the outbreak.

The announcement Saturday by Mayor Eric Adams and health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said as many as 150,000 city residents could be at risk of infection. The declaration will allow officials to issue emergency orders under the city health code and amend code provisions to implement measures to help slow the spread.

In the last two days, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state disaster emergency declaration and the state health department called monkeypox an “imminent threat to public health.”

New York had recorded 1,345 cases as of Friday, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California had the second-most, with 799.

“We will continue to work with our federal partners to secure more doses as soon as they become available,” Adams and Vasan said in the statement. “This outbreak must be met with urgency, action, and resources, both nationally and globally, and this declaration of a public health emergency reflects the seriousness of the moment.”

The World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global health emergency on July 23 and San Francisco’s mayor on Thursday announced a state of emergency over the growing number of cases. The once-rare disease has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades but was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere.

To date, there have been more than 22,000 monkeypox cases reported in nearly 80 countries since May, with about 75 suspected deaths in Africa, mostly in Nigeria and Congo. On Friday, Brazil and Spain reported deaths linked to monkeypox, the first reported outside Africa. Spain reported a second monkeypox death Saturday.

The virus spreads through prolonged and close skin-to-skin contact as well as sharing bedding, towels and clothing. In Europe and North America, it has spread primarily among men who have sex with men, though health officials emphasize that the virus can infect anyone.

The type of monkeypox virus identified in this outbreak is rarely fatal, and people usually recover within weeks. But the lesions and blisters caused by the virus are painful.

A “slow and bureaucratic” response that has led to monkeypox spreading rapidly across the US – with more than 1,000 cases in New York City alone – reveals just how badly battered local health agencies have been since the pandemic, advocates have said.

Once a rare African virus, monkeypox has taken hold across the ragged patchwork of city, county, state and federal agencies that make up the US public health infrastructure.

David Harvey, the executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, said: “Unfortunately, delayed actions mean monkeypox has spread within the gay community and among other men who have sex with men.

“This outbreak has grown to be a public health crisis in America. We are still in a very chaotic situation at the state and local level with an organized response.”

What’s behind the chaos? Many observers point to how Covid-19 reshaped the landscape for public health officials. Once considered neutral arbiters of information, many health officials were politically attacked following mask and vaccination policies.

What else is contributing to the delays? The situation was not helped as resources that had once been devoted to programs, including tracking communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, and running routine vaccination clinics, were suddenly diverted to Covid. (With Inputs From AP)

How To Understand Mixed Signals From US Economy

Staff ReporterEconomy 0

(AP) — The U.S. economy is caught in an awkward, painful place. A confusing one, too. Growth appears to be sputtering, home sales are tumbling and economists warn of a potential recession ahead. But consumers are still spending, businesses keep posting profits and the economy keeps adding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month.

In the midst of it all, prices have accelerated to four-decade highs, and the Federal Reserve is desperately trying to douse the inflationary flames with higher interest rates. That’s making borrowing more expensive for households and businesses.

The Fed hopes to pull off the triple axel of central banking: Slow the economy just enough to curb inflation without causing a recession. Many economists doubt the Fed can manage that feat, a so-called soft landing.

Surging inflation is most often a side effect of a red-hot economy, not the current tepid pace of growth. Today’s economic moment conjures dark memories of the 1970s, when scorching inflation co-existed, in a kind of toxic brew, with slow growth. It hatched an ugly new term: stagflation.

The United States isn’t there yet. Though growth appears to be faltering, the job market still looks quite strong. And consumers, whose spending accounts for nearly 70% of economic output, are still spending, though at a slower pace.

So the Fed and economic forecasters are stuck in uncharted territory. They have no experience analyzing the economic damage from a global pandemic. The results so far have been humbling. They failed to anticipate the economy’s blazing recovery from the 2020 recession — or the raging inflation it unleashed.

Even after inflation accelerated in spring of last year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and many other forecasters downplayed the price surge as merely a “transitory” consequence of supply bottlenecks that would fade soon. It didn’t.

Now the central bank is playing catch-up. It’s raised its benchmark short-term interest rate three times since March. Last month, the Fed increased its rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, its biggest hike since 1994. The Fed’s policymaking committee is expected to announce another three-quarter-point hike Wednesday.

Economists now worry that the Fed, having underestimated inflation, will overreact and drive rates ever higher, imperiling the economy. They caution the Fed against tightening credit too aggressively.

“We don’t think a sledgehammer is necessary,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said this week.

Here’s a look at the economic vital signs that are sending frustratingly mixed signals to policymakers, businesses and forecasters:

THE OVERALL ECONOMY

As measured by the nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of output — the economy has looked positively sickly so far this year. And steadily higher borrowing rates, engineered by the Fed, threaten to make things worse.

“Recession is likely,” said Vincent Reinhart, a former Fed economist who is now chief economist at Dreyfus and Mellon.

After growing at a 37-year high 5.7% last year, the economy shrank at a 1.6% annual pace from January through March. For the April-June quarter, forecasters surveyed by the data firm FactSet estimate that growth equaled a scant 0.95% annual rate from April through June. (The government will issue its first estimate of April-June growth on Thursday.)

Some economists foresee another economic contraction for the second quarter. If that happened, it would further escalate recession fears. One informal definition of recession is two straight quarters of declining GDP. Yet that definition isn’t the one that counts.

The most widely accepted authority is the National Bureau of Economic Research, whose Business Cycle Dating Committee assesses a wide range of factors before declaring the death of an economic expansion and the birth of a recession. It defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months.”

In any case, the economic drop in the January-March quarter looked worse than it actually was. It was caused by factors that don’t mirror the economy’s underlying health: A widening trade deficit, reflecting consumers’ robust appetite for imports, shaved 3.2 percentage points off first-quarter growth. A post-holiday-season drop in company inventories subtracted an additional 0.4 percentage point.

Consumer spending, measured at a modest 1.8% annual rate from January through March, is still growing. Americans are losing confidence, though: Their assessment of economic conditions six months from now has reached its lowest point since 2013 in June, according to the Conference Board, a research group.

INFLATION

What’s agitating consumers is no secret: They’re reeling from painful prices at gasoline stations, grocery stores and auto dealerships.

The Labor Department’s consumer price index skyrocketed 9.1% in June from a year earlier, a pace not seen since 1981. The price of gasoline has jumped 61% over the past year, airfares 34%, eggs 33%.

And despite widespread pay raises, prices are surging faster than wages. In June, average hourly earnings slid 3.6% from a year earlier adjusting for inflation, the 15th straight monthly drop from a year earlier.

And on Monday, Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, lowered its profit outlook, saying that higher gas and food prices were forcing shoppers to spend less on many discretionary items, like new clothing.

The price spikes have been ignited by a combination of brisk consumer demand and global shortages of factory parts, food, energy and labor. And so the Fed is now aggressively raising rates.

“There is a risk of overdoing it,” warned Ellen Gaske, an economist at PGIM Fixed Income. “Because inflation is so bad right now, they are focused on the here and now of each monthly CPI report. The latest one showed no letup.’’

Despite inflation, rate hikes and declining consumer confidence, one thing has remained solid: The job market, the most crucial pillar of the economy. Employers added a record 6.7 million jobs last year. And so far this year, they’re adding an average of 457,000 more each month.

The unemployment rate, at 3.6% for four straight months, is near a half-century low. Employers have posted at least 11 million job openings for six consecutive months. The government says there are two job openings, on average, for every unemployed American, the highest such ratio on record.

Job security and the opportunity to advance to better positions are providing the confidence and financial wherewithal for Americans to spend and keep the job machine churning. (Courtesy: Associated Press)

Ellora Caves Has Hydraulic Lift to Help Visitors

Staff ReporterCulture 0

The ancient Ellora Caves in the state of Maharashtra will become the first monument in India to have a hydraulic lift to facilitate easy movement of people in wheelchairs, according to a statement by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The invaluable ensemble of 34 caves at Ellora in the Charanandri hills of western India’s Maharashtra State not only symbolize a unique artistic creation and a technological exploit but, with its sanctuaries devoted to Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, it illustrates the spirit of tolerance that was characteristic of ancient India.

The caves, which have temples dedicated to Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, also house the largest rock-cut Shiva temple, called Kailasa Temple in Cave 16. Since it’s located in village Verul in Maharashtra, with Leni being the local word for caves, they are also called Verul Leni.

The 34 monasteries and temples, extending over more than 2 km, were dug side by side in the wall of a high basalt cliff, not far from Aurangabad, in Maharashtra. Ellora, with its uninterrupted sequence of monuments dating from A.D. 600 to 1000, brings the civilization of ancient India to life.

As per traditions, the rock-cut activity was carried out in three phases from the 6th century to the 12th century. The earliest caves (caves 1–12), excavated between the 5th and 8th centuries, reflect the Mahayana philosophy of Buddhism then prevalent in this region. The Brahmanical group of caves (caves 13–29), including the renowned Kailasa temple (cave 16), was excavated between the 7th and 10th centuries. The last phase, between the 9th and 12th centuries, saw the excavation of a group of caves (caves 30–34) reflecting Jaina philosophy.

The UNESCO sates: “The ensemble of Ellora is a unique artistic achievement, a masterpiece of human creative genius. If one considers only the work of excavating the rock, a monument such as the Kailasa Temple is a technological exploit without equal. However, this temple, which transposes models from “constructed” architecture, offers an extraordinary repertory of sculpted and painted forms of a very high plastic quality and an encyclopaedic program.”

According to analysts, the authenticity of Ellora Caves is expressed through the architectural forms and designs such as the viharas (monasteries), chaityagriha (sanctuary), and monolithic temples belonging to three different faiths. The materials, locations, and natural setting also play significant roles in determining the authenticity of the property. The Ellora Caves are authentic in terms of the forms and designs, materials and substance, and locations and setting of paintings, rock-cut architecture, sculptures, and unfinished temples of three different faiths, i.e. Buddhism, Brahmanism, and Jainism.

Al Qaeda Leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri Killed In US Strike

Staff ReporterGlobal 0

The United States killed the leader of al Qaeda, Ayman Al Zawahri in a “successful” counterterrorism operation in Afghanistan over the weekend that senior Biden administration officials say “deals a significant blow” to the terror network and degrades its ability to operate, including against the U.S. homeland, media reports stated.

The operation marks a major milestone for the U.S. Al-Zawahiri succeeded Osama bin Laden as the leader of the terror group in 2011 and helped lead the September 11, 2001, terror attacks against the U.S.

President Biden spoke to the American people to announce the strike, saying Monday: “the United States continues to demonstrate our resolve and our capacity to defend the American people against those who seek to do us harm. You know, we make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”

Biden said U.S. intelligence officials tracked al-Zawahri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was hiding out with his family. The president approved the operation last week and it was carried out on Sunday.

Al-Zawahiri, who was 71, had been rumored to be dead but appeared in a video on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 last year.  The Associated Press first reported that a U.S. operation had killed al-Zawahiri.

“Over the weekend, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation against a significant al Qaeda target in Afghanistan,” a senior administration official said Monday, without naming Zawahiri as the target. “The operation was successful and there were no civilian casualties.”

The news was particularly notable coming so close to the one-year anniversary of the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Al-Zawahiri’s killing represents a major success for the U.S. government and Biden is likely to point to it as an illustration that the U.S. does not need to be engaged in combat in order to take down threats to the homeland.

The United States government, on July 30 at 9:48 p.m. ET, and 6:18 a.m. Kabul time, undertook a “precision counterterrorism operation,” killing Al Zawahiri, who served as Usama bin Laden’s deputy during the 9/11 attacks, and as his successor in 2011, following bin Laden’s death.

A US official said that the U.S. government identified Zawahiri at a location in Kabul. “The Al Zawahiri family exercised longstanding terrorist tradecraft that we assessed was designed to prevent anyone from following them to Zawahiri,” the official explained, noting that the government identified Zawahiri’s wife, daughter and her children at a safe house in Kabul this year.

The official explained that “only a very small and select group of officials at key agencies were brought into the process and the deliberations at the early stage” and briefed on the developing intelligence.

“The president convened over the course of the last few weeks several meetings with his key advisers and cabinet members to carefully scrutinize the intelligence and evaluate the best course of action for targeting Zawahri,” the official explained, noting that Biden received updated on the developments of the targets throughout May and June.

“We are confident through our intelligence sources and methods, including multiple streams of intelligence, that we killed Zawahiri and no other individual,” the official said, noting that members of his family were present “in other parts of the safe house at the time of the strike and were purposefully not targeted and were unharmed.”

Slowdown In Home Prices Broke Record In June

Staff ReporterEconomy 0

Annual home price growth dropped by nearly 2 percentage points in June, the largest single-month slowdown on record, according to new research.

Black Knight, a real estate software and analytics company that has been tracking the metric since the early 1970s, found that annual home price growth fell from
19.3 percent in May to 17.3 percent in June as the Federal Reserve continued hiking interest rates to cool off demand.

  • Existing home sales have fallen for five consecutive months as record prices and those higher interest rates drive more Americans out of the market. Black Knight’s analysis found that seasonally adjusted home sales were down by more than 21 percent since the start of the year.
  • Slowing sales have led to recent inventory increases, according to Black Knight, but nationally, the United States still faces a shortage of 716,000 home listings. The company estimates it would take more than a year for inventory levels to fully normalize even with record increases.

“While this was the sharpest cooling on record nationally, we’d need six more months of this kind of deceleration for price growth to return to long-run averages,” said Ben Graboske, the president of Black Knight’s data and analytics division. (The Hill)

Pope Francis Wants To Slow Down As Health Declines

Staff ReporterReligion 0

(RNS) — On his return flight from a six-day “penitential pilgrimage” to apologize to the Indigenous people of Canada on Friday, Pope Francis spoke about his health struggles and what their implications might be for the future of his papacy.

“I don’t think I can continue going on trips with the same pace I had in the past. At my age and with my limitations, I need to save energy in order to serve the church,” the pope told reporters aboard the papal plane, while being seated for the first time during the traditional inflight press conference.

“On the other hand, I might need to think about the possibility of stepping aside. It wouldn’t be a catastrophe. The pope can change, that is not a problem,” he added.

Francis traveled throughout the vast country July 24-29, meeting with First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities in on their own lands. From Edmonton to Quebec City to the far-northern island city of Iqaluit, the pope embarked and disembarked the plane by using a lift and met with Indigenous people on his wheelchair.

Despite the obvious toll the trip had on the pontiff, he appeared lively and energetic during the press conference aboard the papal plane, addressing a wide range of issues. Speaking to journalists, the pope reflected on the pressing issues of his trip by condemning as “evil and unjust” the papal justification for colonialism in the past, enshrined through the Doctrine of Discovery. He described the forceful assimilation of Indigenous people and the attempted erasure of their culture as genocide.

“It’s a genocide,” Francis said, referring to the state and church led practice of “taking away children, changing the culture, the mentality and the conditions and a race” of Indigenous people. The pope said he apologized and condemned the role the church played in the administration of residential schools, which often forcibly removed children from their families and traditions.

The pope said the papal bulls that in the past provided a justification for the colonization and forceful conversion of Indigenous lands were “grievous” and suggested the Vatican is working to amend the Doctrine of Discovery. He encouraged “going back and fixing the wrong that was done” but underlined that colonization continues today in new forms of homogenization and extinction of local diversity.

As an example, Francis spoke about the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar who “don’t have citizenship rights and are considered inferior.”

The papal trip to Canada focused especially on St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus and a beloved figure in Catholic Indigenous communities. The pope underlined the important “role of women in the transmission and development of the faith.”

“The church is a woman. The church is a wife. The Church is not a man,” he said, adding that the vision of the church as a mother must prevail above any “macho power.”

As many women in the world fight for reproductive rights, Pope Francis weighed in on contraceptives, which were deemed “intrinsically wrong” by the church following Paul VI’s controversial 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, On Human Life, because they deny an openness to life.

“When dogma or morality develop it’s a good thing,” the pope said, before signaling some possibility of developing a revised Catholic doctrine on contraceptives, while insisting this must be done within the church and respecting tradition. “A church that doesn’t develop its thinking in an ecclesial sense is a church that goes backward,” he added.

He pointed to recent changes in Catholic teaching concerning the death penalty and the possession of nuclear weapons, which were once widely accepted within the church and later deemed “immoral” by Pope Francis.

The Vatican think-tank on bioethics, the Pontifical Academy for Life, recently published a book where some theologians argued in favor of developing the church’s teaching on contraceptives. Archival recordings show that Pope John Paul I had reservations regarding a total ban on artificial birth control.

“One cannot do theology with a ‘no’ in front of them,” the pope said, adding that “theological development must be open, because that’s what it’s for, and the magisterium serves to understand the limitations.”

He described as a “sin” the tendency of some “backwardists” who, while claiming to follow tradition, end up sustaining a “dead faith.” While encouraging the development of Catholic docrine, Francis said it must be done in line with tradition and with the church as a whole as enshrined by the early Christian monk Vincent of Lérins.

The pope also addressed a recent Vatican letter that pulled the brakes on a summit of bishops and lay faithful in Germany, which among other things was advocating for changes in Catholic teaching to be more welcoming toward LGBTQ couples and women. Francis said the letter was an “office mistake” because it was meant to be signed by the Vatican Secretariat of State and that he already said all he meant to say about the German synodal assembly in a 2021 letter.

Francis described his trip to Canada “as a bit of a test” to understand what future papal visits might be like. He said the effects of the anesthesia he underwent for his intestinal operation in July of last year led to a slow recovery. But the pope said he still intends to visit the embattled city of Kyiv in Ukraine once the logistics are determined.

He also said he is willing to go to Kazakhstan for an interreligious conference where Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill is scheduled to attend, adding “it would be a tranquil trip with little movement.”

He said he wishes to visit the African states of South Sudan and the Central African Republic of Congo, since he had to cancel his scheduled trip in early July due to his knee pain.

The pope spoke about the papacy as a “work, a function and a service” and did not exclude that God might one day ask him to retire.

“As an hypothesis, if the Lord tells me something I must discern what the Lord wants and it might be that the Lord wants me to take a step back,” he said. The pope’s decision to host a gathering of cardinals, or concistory, at the Vatican in the unusual month of August has spurred rumors Francis might be paving the road for the next pope. Asked about what he would like to see in his successor, Francis said it’s best to leave the decision to “the work of the Holy Spirit.”

Completing Rotation In Less Than 24-Hours, Earth Creates Record For Shortest Day

Staff ReporterScience 0

On July 29, the Earth broke its record for the shortest day as it completed a full spin in 1.59 milliseconds less than its standard 24-hour rotation.

The planet recently has been increasing its speed. Back in 2020, the Earth saw its shortest month that has ever been recorded since the 1960s. On July 19 of that year, the shortest of all time was measured. It was 1.47 milliseconds shorter than a typical 24-hour day, according to a report by The Independent.

The next year, the planet continued to spin at a generally increased rate, but it did not break any records. However, according to Interesting Engineering (IE), a 50-year phase of shorter days may be starting right now.

Scientists are still to figure out the cause of the differing speed of Earth’s spin. But scientists speculate that this could be because of processes in the inner or outer layers of the core, oceans, tides or even changes in climate.

Some researchers also believe that this could be related to the movement of Earth’s geographic poles across its surface, known as the “Chandler wobble”. In simpler words, this is similar to the quiver one sees when a spinning top starts gaining momentum or slows down, according to scientists Leonid Zotov, Christian Bizouard, and Nikolay Sidorenkov.

As per the Independent, if the Earth continues to spin at an increasing rate it could lead to the introduction of the negative leap seconds, in a bid to keep the rate that the Earth orbits the Sun consistent with the measurement from atomic clocks.

However, the negative leap second would have potentially confusing consequences for smartphones, computers and communications systems. Citing a Meta blog, the outlet reported that the leap second “mainly benefits scientists and astronomers” but that it is a “risky practice that does more harm than good”.

This is because the clock progresses from 23:59:59 to 23:59:60 before resetting to 00:00:00. A time jump like this can, therefore, crash programs and corrupt data due to the timestamps on the data storage.

Meta also said that should a negative leap second occur, the clock will change from 23:59:58 to 00:00:00, and this could have a “devastating effect” on the software relying on timers and schedulers. According to IE, to solve this, international timekeepers may need to add a negative leap second – a “drop second”.

Notably, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time, has already been updated with a leap second 27 times.

Rishi Sunak, Kamala Harris And The Rise Of The New Model Minority

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The rise of political figures like Rishi Sunak, Kamala Harris and Bobby Jindal in countries like the UK and US serves to discredit radical voices of minority empowerment.

Rishi Sunak is the latest poster boy for Indian success stories abroad. The chancellor of the exchequer until recently, he could well become Britain’s next prime minister. He and his parents featured in a 2001 BBC documentary series about the middle classes. Sunak, who had been educated at the prestigious Winchester College, bragged on camera he had friends among the British aristocracy and upper class — but, he stressed, “not working class”.

In the two decades since that interview — whose clips are currently doing the rounds on Twitter and TikTok — Sunak has assiduously maintained his select company. After graduating from Oxford and Stanford universities, he advised investment banks and hedge funds before becoming a Member of Parliament from the “safe” Conservative Party seat of Richmond in Northern Yorkshire. Somewhere in between, he also got married to the daughter of Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy. The couple are counted among Britain’s richest people today.

Sunak is among a clutch of political figures of Indian origin who have recently risen to prominence in the West. These include British home secretary Priti Patel, US ex-governors and presidential hopefuls Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal and, most notably, US Vice President Kamala Harris. Their ascent is viewed either as epitomizing the intelligence and industry of Indians that makes them stand out everywhere — or as evidence of the prospects inherent in “inclusive” Western societies, which enable immigrants and people of color to achieve their potential. But as Sunak’s story suggests, the truth is quite the opposite.

The newfound success of Indians reflects how the opportunity structure of Western liberal democracies rewards the privileged and the powerful — or those who serve their interests. At the same time, it illustrates how the politics of identity is abused to undermine any possibility of change.

The families of many of these political prodigies moved to the US or the UK in the 1950s and 1960s. This was a time of upheaval in both countries, which forced them to relax their immigration laws — although for different reasons. Britain, no longer the colonial power it used to be, needed more people from erstwhile colonies to rebuild after the Second World War. The US not only faced the challenge of the Cold War but also growing domestic discontent in the form of Black Americans taking to the streets to demand equal rights. A 1965 US law overturned several provisions that had curtailed immigration from non-European countries. Ostensibly meant to showcase the US as the land of the free, the new policy insidiously encouraged the expansion of non-Black minorities as a means of containing the civil rights movement.

It went hand-in-hand with a concerted campaign to typecast East Asian immigrants as the “model minority”. Soon after the immigration act was passed, the New York Times published an article praising Japanese Americans for achieving great success, measured in terms of higher education and low crime rates and contrasted directly with the failures of the ”problem minority”, viz. Blacks. Similar eulogies were sung for the Chinese Americans.

Virtually overnight, the same East Asians who had been regarded for more than a century as the “yellow peril” morphed into pliant, law-abiding, productive members of society who ought to serve as an exemplar for other minorities. The purpose behind the model minority stereotype was to discredit the demands of the civil rights movement by blaming Black Americans for all their suffering — whitewashing the history of slavery and segregation. The tag also served to divide minority groups and derail the possibility of multi-ethnic mobilisation.

Sixty years later, as the US simmers with chants of Black Lives Matter and China’s rise as a global power has once more transformed East Asians into the yellow peril, it is Indians who have emerged as the new model minority.

They do meet the requisite criteria. Nearly 79 percent of Indian Americans aged 25 or over have a bachelor’s degree, compared with just 33 percent on average for other communities, according to the 2019 census. Indians are also more likely to be employed than others and typically work in high-paying sectors. As a result, Indian households had a median income of $132,000, more than double the median for other immigrant groups combined.

These statistics are touted as proof that hard work can lead anyone to success in the US — the quintessence of the so-called American Dream. As Haley once said, “We’re just good at being Americans.”

But the figures hide more than they reveal. Comparing Indians and other communities is much like comparing proverbial apples and oranges. Many Indians in the US come from privileged sections of Indian society or the Indian diaspora. The vast majority have arrived in recent years. And they have migrated by choice, typically to take up plum jobs in management, business, science and technology, and the like — or to study and then take up plum jobs in these sectors.

This history is quite different from, say, the centuries of systematic persecution experienced by Black Americans initially brought to the US as slaves from Africa or the genocide that Native Americans had to live through. Talking about Jindal or Haley or Harris’s success as though it is exclusively Indian also disregards the progress on civil rights made possible by the political struggles of other minorities — struggles that Indians did not participate in but benefit from today.

This is not to suggest that Indian Americans do not experience prejudice — they do, and it is on the rise by all accounts. Nor does it imply that Indians do not work hard or do not deserve their success. But the glowing achievements of an already well-to-do community are mobilised to shade the injustices that other minorities are speaking out against. One moneyed Indian political figure after another, belonging to one mainstream political party or the other, is unveiled as an acceptable alternative to the uncomfortable politics of protest and grassroots mobilisation that Black Lives Matter represents.

Education, income and a general unwillingness to cause “trouble” even when dealing with racist violence has allowed Indians in the US to take on the mantle of the new model minority — especially at this moment of renewed racial angst that bears parallels with the civil rights era. A similar shift has occurred in Britain too, where Hindus and Sikhs are now regarded as part of the “middle classes” — in other words, the mainstream of British society.

The policy positions of these Indian politicians give the lie to claims that their rise somehow represents the cause of inclusivity and social justice. As governor of Louisiana, Jindal cut taxes on business investments while making it harder for the poor to receive healthcare. Haley, a fellow Republican, has supported the flying of racist Confederate flags. Meanwhile, Harris, a Democrat, fought to ensure more and more people — many of whom tend to be Black or other minorities — remained inside privately owned prisons while serving as attorney general of California.

The hypocrisy of these political leaders who hail from immigrant families is perhaps most evident when it comes to immigration policy. Jindal and Haley have supported a slew of laws that make immigration to the US difficult and the life of immigrants harder. While touring Latin American countries as vice president, Harris told would-be migrants, “Do not come. Do not come.” Across the pond, Patel is widely regarded as imposing a ruthless regime against immigrants and asylum seekers, especially during the Covid19 pandemic — bordering on illegality and termed by a judge as “extremely troubling”.

While champions of identity politics might celebrate the ascendance of Sunak and his ilk to the upper echelons of power in Western capitals, the success of these “different-looking” individuals is unlikely to make any difference. If anything, it shores up power and privilege within these liberal democracies. It also illustrates the emptiness of the liberal promise of representation, which barters the struggle for social change with the success of a few individuals who pride themselves in having no working-class friends.

A Proactive Approach Toward Addressing The Challenges Of The Metaverse

Staff ReporterMedia, Technology 0

The metaverse promises to connect devices to humans and humans to each other in ways that threatens to transform economic and social relations.

When the science fiction writer Neal Stephenson first coined the term “metaverse” in 1992, the world of virtual reality-enabled computing that he imagined was still a long way off. But with virtual reality—and the computing infrastructure that enables it—making significant improvements in recent years, the interactive and embodied internet that Stephenson imagined is now closer to reality.

Today, computer science researchers conceive of the metaverse as a “network of interconnected virtual worlds” using three-dimensional platforms where humans interact with digital content and with each other, forming an “ecosystem where digital and physical worlds collide”. By relying on a combination of augmented, mixed, and virtual reality to move from the 2D version of the internet to a 3D shared space, the metaverse aims at an internet that is interoperable and synchronous.

The metaverse promises to connect devices to humans and humans to each other in ways that threatens to transform economic and social relations. As a result, it is critical that policymakers and technology companies collaborate to write the rules of the road for the metaverse. The potentially disruptive qualities of the metaverse are illustrative of how the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) will likely transform how humans work, entertain, conduct business, and socialize. The scale of this disruption means that policymakers need to adopt a proactive approach in thinking about how these technologies are likely to change our society rather than attempting to address harms once they are widespread. Especially given the recent drawdowns in the technology industry, the impending buildout of the metaverse also offers a rare opportunity to design a system that is more equitable from the start—in contrast to past paradigms like Web 2.0.

The promise of the metaverse

Depending on how it develops, the metaverse could have profound impacts on business and the global economy, though, so far, the development of the metaverse has been driven by applications in entertainment. Firms like Roblox, Epic Games, and, increasingly, Meta and Microsoft are pouring huge sums into developing interactive online spaces that have many of the characteristics of the metaverse. As the metaverse develops, it may provide useful applications in other fields.

Metaverse technologies can accelerate skill development, for example, through realistic, 3D simulations and can better connect regions and communities to these resources. Already, the UK government is investing in medical training using augmented reality for frontline nurses. As users live greater portions of their lives in the metaverse and carry out transactions there, a larger share of economic life may be transacted via cryptocurrencies, a shift that has the potential to transform the global economy.

Local governments can use the metaverse and its technologies to better serve their constituents in the short and long term by directly connecting more people to services and by having tools to better develop and update city infrastructure and plan for the future. By using “digital twins”—digital representations of real-world objects—metaverse technologies can be used to simulate proposals for urban redevelopment projects. The Boston Planning and Development Agency, for example, uses a digital twin of the city to simulate how water and sewer systems affect the physical landscape of the city, while Singapore uses a digital twin to visualize the effects of population increases on the city and its resources.

Given its uncertain future and lack of a concrete definition, it is difficult to estimate the economic impact of the metaverse, yet market research groups, investors, and banks have predicted high speeds of growth in the next 4 to 8 years, with estimates for the global market value of metaverse-related technologies ranging from $700 billion up to $13 trillion. Using a narrow definition of the metaverse, CitiBank estimates the total addressable market value of metaverse technologies will be between $1 and $2 trillion by 2030. Using a broader definition of the metaverse results in a market value between $8 and $13 trillion by 2030.

Wider accessibility to skills, as well as the blending of physical and digital worlds, will bring new and potentially more productive types of jobs and make them available to a wider range of people. Due to the pandemic, remote work opened up work opportunities for people around the world who no longer had to rely on being physically present. The metaverse has the potential to enhance these benefits and remove some of the drawbacks of remote work by increasing connection and collaboration between teams.

The metaverse could bring positive benefits for the planet as well, such as saving resources and reducing physical consumption and waste if social and business events are held virtually. Using the metaverse to create immersive and complex simulations related to biodiversity and climate change could better educate people about global change, increase access to and protect vulnerable biodiversity sites, and include more global and diverse voices in research and discussion about environmental science and sustainability.

The metaverse also can bring opportunities to address global challenges that require collaboration. Diplomacy through metaverse technologies could allow smaller or less powerful countries to be better connected to countries and people, allowing for new alliances, collaborations, and services. Barbados announced in 2021 that they will be the first country to open a virtual embassy within the metaverse platform, Decentraland, opening the possibility for other countries to embrace the metaverse as a means for international relations. None of these benefits are guaranteed, but using metaverse technologies to connect countries, communities, and individuals to resources and services in an immersive way has the potential to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable future across all aspects of society.

Challenges posed by the metaverse

The effects of the metaverse transcend borders and include risks to safety, privacy, work, resources, and inequality. These are issues raised by today’s technology as well, but the greater connectivity and integration of the metaverse threatens to either exacerbate or change their character.

Because the metaverse provides a more immersive experience, it is crucial that the safety concerns it raises are proactively addressed. The everyday abuse that users experience online today will only be worsened once such activities are experienced in VR and AR environments. Researchers have found that users experience abuse in these environments as “far more traumatic than in other digital worlds,” as the human brain can perceive virtual threats through immersive technology as actual threats. Online harassment, especially of women, has been prevalent since the internet’s inception and is happening in VR/AR environments already, with women reporting that they experience discrimination and violence in the virtual world more intensely than in other digital fora. At their best, advances in haptic and virtual technologies could help people feel more connected; at their worst, misuse could cause more realistic harm with little consequence to the perpetrator. Research has shown that online harassment disproportionately targets minorities, and these inequalities are likely to be replicated in the metaverse. Without policies to prevent such abuse, safety in the metaverse will likely be a barrier to widespread adoption.

The amount and type of data that is created and collected through metaverse technologies results in major privacy challenges. With users interacting with content and other users in a 3D environment, metaverse technologies are likely to collect highly detailed data on users and their interactions in a far more intrusive way than current online platforms. To describe the combination of behavioral and anatomical information collected in the metaverse, one Harvard researcher coined the term “biometric psychography” to describe how this data might provide insight into a user’s feelings and their potential causes. Data can be collected on eye tracking, facial scans, and other bodily responses that can be linked to an individual’s identity. When used for good, this data could lead to innovative and personalized experiences, but the potential exploitation and sale of this data leads to major privacy and human rights concerns. The potential value of this data creates major cybersecurity risks, as malicious hackers would be keen to obtain it.

The disruptions to work and the economy in the metaverse raises risks as well. The potential for further automation of jobs and the emergence of new jobs will be a challenge for those who are not prepared with adequate skills or guidance for transitioning out of these jobs. The widespread use of cryptocurrencies whose values are far from stable and that lack robust regulatory regimes may undermine trust in metaverse economies. The recent history of cryptocurrencies demonstrates that these digital currencies are quite vulnerable to theft, posing yet another barrier to adoption.

Given how computationally intensive metaverse technologies are, the energy demand to power these technologies is significant—so much so that one senior Intel executive predicted that the metaverse will require a 1000x increase on our current computing power. If the electricity to support this increase in computing power is not supplied by sustainable sources, the metaverse will drastically increase greenhouse gas emissions with extreme negative effects on the environment, making it critical that it is powered by alternative energy sources to manage its carbon footprint.

The metaverse also risks exacerbating global inequalities. Given its reliance on the interaction between new and existing technologies, the metaverse may first benefit countries, companies, and people who already in possession of its enabling technologies, infrastructure, and skills. This could result in early adopters capturing a majority of the benefits. Countries who supply the necessary infrastructure may also have greater control over the technology and how it develops. If the metaverse continues to grow and include more aspects of society from work to socializing, countries and communities already lagging behind in technology and internet adoption will be further isolated. As the metaverse attempts to create a virtual world that more accurately reflects the real world, already-existing power dynamics and inequality in the real world may be replicated in the metaverse.

The way toward a more equitable metaverse

The metaverse is currently not controlled by any one platform, and its early developers are operating under different incentives and regulations, which is likely to lead to market domination and insufficient privacy and safety protocols. To mitigate the evolving risks and capture the potential opportunities, key players—including the major tech companies, governments, developers, and users—must collaborate to co-develop regulations, align incentives, and create a governance framework now, rather than reacting to challenges that emerge later. Proactive strategies will be key to ensure that companies, users, governments, and experts are operating on a level playing field and create strategies to address safety and privacy concerns while still encouraging innovation.

Dealing with safety concerns within the metaverse will likely need a completely new approach—rather than adopting safety protocols from the currently existing internet. The immersive nature of the metaverse means that not only content but also behavior will need to be monitored and regulated. Regulation in other digital environments is often reactive and provides punishments after a violation, but the metaverse is likely to require incentives for positive behavior combined with effective mechanisms to report, prevent, and act on negative behavior. Norms may need to be created, agreed upon by users, and enforced by moderators. Balancing privacy with moderation will be a challenge, and moderation mechanisms should be discussed between platform developers, legal experts, and human rights experts.

Privacy mitigation will also need to be co-developed to ensure that data is safely handled. Companies and governments must examine potential vulnerabilities related to infrastructure and applications and adopt security practices such as breach notification and response, malware protection, and multi-factor authentication. As the metaverse and its platforms continue to develop across borders, data and privacy law will need to be examined and evaluated to address likely conflicts related to biometric data. Laws specific to metaverse technologies will likely need to be created and agreed upon internationally, instead of relying on existing statutes related to the internet. While laws and governance structures are developed, codes of conduct and voluntary constraints are likely to serve an important stop-gap function. Industry-wide codes of conduct could help provide a baseline for companies who are creating metaverse platforms or wish to be part of one to agree upon basic rules and be able to work together as they develop.

The rules of the metaverse are being written by its early adopters, which threatens to exclude key voices. Other players beyond tech-developers and governments have a role in the development of the metaverse as well, including financial institutions, mental-health professionals, sustainability experts, and civil rights activist. The scientific community will have an important role to play in studying regulatory mechanisms and governance structures, the effects of immersive technology on the brain, and sustainability. Maintaining diversity will be critical to preventing the metaverse from replicating the injustices and inequalities of the non-virtual world. Companies and governments alike should focus on policies that will contribute to a democratic approach in the development of the metaverse—including pushing for open-source standards and interoperability—to make sure the metaverse is not dominated by a select group of major technology companies whose incentives do not align with other members of society.

If developed with people and progress in mind, the metaverse and its technologies have the potential to enrich real lives with greater access to knowledge, experiences, and human connection. There is ample opportunity for accessibility, development, and equitable growth through the metaverse, but these can only be seized with proactive and strategic collaboration, planning, and action.

(Landry Signé is executive director and professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, a senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program and the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, a distinguished fellow at Stanford University, and founding director of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Initiative. Hanna Dooley is a policy analyst at Arizona State University.

44th FIDE Chess Olympiad Inaugurated In Chennai, India

Staff ReporterSports 0

A total of 187 teams in the open section will vie for the Hamilton-Russell Cup, and 162 teams in the women’s section for the Vera Menchik Cup at the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Chennai

The 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad was inaugurated on July 28 at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai with fanfare, in the presence of Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, and M.K. Stalin, the chief minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, the main initiator of the event.

A total of 187 teams in the open section will vie for the Hamilton-Russell Cup, and 162 teams in the women’s section for the Vera Menchik Cup, while the best combined results of a nation in both the sections will decide the winner of the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy.

The Olympiad having over 2000 participants is being held for the first time in India, famously known as the birthplace of Chess. Addressing the gathering, the PM welcomed the players from different countries and expressed happiness that this year’s Olympiad is special as it is coinciding with the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations along with setting its own records.

From Napier Bridge to Guindy, from Adyar to Tambaram, the chess buzz has never enveloped Chennai as it has now. The evening witnessed a march-past of the participating teams and was a sound and music spectacle to behold.

A week ago, a video anthem was released wherein A R Rahman and Chief Minister M K Stalin are walking along Napier Bridge, which is painted black and white to resemble the squares on a chess board. Both are clad in all-white, flanked by dancers in black, resembling the pieces on a board, humming the anthem and shyly jiving.

The former world champion and one of Chennai’s own, Viswanathan Anand, could not hide his excitement. “I have never seen the city so excited about chess. I was so happy to see the bridge painted black and white and I am sure that everyone in the city would know about the Chess Olympiad,” he said.

Into the melee dropped superstar Rajinikanth, when he invited fledgling chess stars R Praggnanandhaa and his sister R Vaishali as well as their parents to his house. If the confluence of the biggest politician in the state, the biggest actor and the biggest music composer does not strike a chord, perhaps nothing would. The ambitious Tamil Nadu government, riding a wave of goodwill since the curbing of the pandemic, has pulled no shutters to celebrate the Olympiad.

World Champion Magnus Carlsen, too, was blown away by the city decked up to celebrate. “Tamil Nadu or say Chennai is the hottest hub of chess in the world now. So just to be there and be a part of the chess celebration is a reason in itself,” said Carlsen, who has abdicated his crown, announcing recently that he would no longer participate in the World Championship.

The grand old International Master Manuel Aaron, who began the city’s first chess club in 1972 at the Soviet Centre for Culture Studies, where Anand polished his game, feels his life is fulfilled. “I have never seen the city celebrating chess as passionately as they have now. I feel very fortunate that I could in some way contribute to the game’s following and popularity in the city. The popularity of the game will soar even further,” he said.

This is perhaps the impact that the Tamil Nadu government had envisaged when they began an aggressive push for the Olympiad — to stretch the game to the deep reaches of the city, those locales where chess is barely played, leave alone followed. The locality around the Napier Bridge that connects Fort St George and Marina Beach is not where you find children playing chess in every house. It’s not where you want to find your children, either. Not too long ago, driving at night along the bridge was considered dangerous, replete with stories of snatchers, pickpockets and even ghosts of British soldiers. Painting the bridge like a chess board is a metaphor, too.

It is undisputed that Chennai has been churning out Grandmasters more frequently than any other city in the country — 24 out of 73, apart from seven Women Grandmasters, 34 International Masters, 10,000-odd registered players — with a throbbing chess culture and history. But the game really is not as mainstream as it is hyped up to be. It is this gulf between the mass and the niche that the Chess Olympiad seeks to bridge.

Every pillar and post reminds you of the Olympiad. The faces of DMK luminaries, from the ruling party’s founder C N Anna Durai to former CM M Karunanidhi and now Stalin to the emerging Udhayanidhi Maran have been embossed onto a chess board. In every speech Stalin makes, there is a chess analogy or reference.

“Every one in the city is a king or a queen,” he said in a function. He has invited a clutch of ministers from neighboring states, and the buzz is that there might even be an alliance between him and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao. The only unhappy faces, so far, are in the city’s BJP unit, which has been demanding that photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi be added to the hoardings. Chess is no stranger to politics, after the numerous proxy wars on the board in the Cold War Era.

This edition of the Olympiad, from July 28 to August 10, is the first the country is hosting. India are seeded second in the open segment, fielding six teams, three each in men and women’s sections, with top-seeded USA and third-placed Norway, helmed by Carlsen, expected to put up a stiff challenge. But the gold that India shared with Russia in the last edition has infused a sense of optimism that they will win the Olympiad at home.

So much so that about 300 km from Chennai, in Thirupoovanur, a 14th-Century Shiva temple has gathered sudden attention because it’s called “Sathuranga Vallabhanathar”, literally translated as “King of Chess”. The story goes that the temple was built at the location where Shiva beat the daughter of the local king in a game of chess (“sathurangam” in Tamil) to marry her, an avatar of Parvathi. Add divinity to the mix, and this Olympiad has the makings of a wholesome blockbuster, a mass entertainer. Or as the Chennaities call it: “Mass-u!” (With inputs from The Indian Express)

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Modi Govt. Criticized For “Relentless Campaign Of Vendetta Against Its Political Opponents”

Staff ReporterIndia 0

Several Opposition Parties in India have strongly criticized the Narendra Modi led  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government for targeting its opponents and critics, saying that Modi has “unleashed a relentless campaign of vendetta against its political opponents and critics through the mischievous misuse of investigative agencies”

“Prominent leaders of a number of political parties have been deliberately targeted and subjected to harassment in an unprecedented manner. We condemn this and resolve to continue and intensify our collective fight against the anti-people, anti-farmers, and anti-Constitution policies of the Modi government that is destroying the social fabric of our society,” a statement issued by the Opposition parties said.

The Modi regime’s attack against members of the Indian parliament has led to rising concerns over a shrinking political state and the backsliding towards an authoritarian state.

After questioning Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress Party for three full days, each day for as many as 10 hours,  India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now targeted Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition party. 

In a show of strength, the Congress staged street protests and its leaders courted arrest across the country last week as the party chief Sonia Gandhi was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper.

Gandhi, who was recovering from Covid, was summoned again on July 25. The 75-year-old replied to dozens of questions last week, media reports stated. According to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, the ED said it had nothing to ask of her either Thursday or Friday. After which Sonia Gandhi said she was willing to appear on July 25th, he said. The Congress party slammed the agency’s action against its top leadership and termed it “political vendetta”.

“All Congress MPs and CWC members have courted mass arrest outside our party headquarters in a show of collective solidarity with Sonia Gandhi, a target of ‘Vishguru’s’ political vendetta,” said Congress general secretary Ramesh.

Leaders of 13 political parties, including the DMK, Shiv Sena, RJD and the Left, met at Parliament House and issued a statement accusing the government of unleashing a “relentless campaign of vendetta against its political opponents and critics through the mischievous misuse of investigative agencies”.

According to reports, an alarmingly high volume of cases register by the ED in recent years. The total number of cases registered by the ED under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) has jumped almost three times in the first three years of the second term of the BJP-led government (2019-20 to 2021-22) as compared to the corresponding period in its first term (2014-15 to 2016-17), as per the data shared by India’s Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to Lok Sabha on July 25, 2022. 

The ED registered 14,143 cases under FEMA and PMLA between 2019-20 and 2021-22, as compared to 4,913 cases in 2014-15 to 2016-17 — an increase of over 187 per cent. The break-up shows that 11,420 FEMA cases were taken up for investigation in the first three years of the second term, up from 4,424 cases in the first three years of the first term — an increase of over 158 per cent. The cases registered under PMLA increased by more than five times in this period — from 489 between 2014-15 to 2016-17 to 2,723 in 2019-20 to 2021-22 — a jump of over 456 per cent. According to the year-wise data, 2021-22 saw the highest number of money laundering and foreign exchange violation cases in the last eight years of the Modi government. In 2020-21, the ED filed 5,313 cases under FEMA (the previous high was 3,627 cases in 2017-18); and 1,180 under PMLA (up from 981 in 2020-21).

Another tool used by the Indian Government in recent years to contain dissent has been the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). As per the submission by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) before the Parliament on July 20, 2022, there is  a huge gap between the number of persons who are under-trial and those who have been either convicted or acquitted under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the country during 2016-2020.

Out of 6,482 persons under trial, only 80 persons have been convicted and 116 have been acquitted. The increasing number of persons undertrial is concerning and is a poor reflection on the Indian judicial system.It suggests that the law is merely enabling their continued incarceration. “Thus, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, (UAPA) is allegedly being misused to incarcerate political dissidents by a vindictive regime,” critics pointed out.

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Frank Islam Appointed By Biden To Be On The Commission On Presidential Scholars

Staff ReporterProfile 0

Indian American Frank Islam will be one of the 21 members of the Commission on Presidential Scholars. Islam will be a part of the 21-member commission which includes prominent Americans from different walks of life. According to the White House press release, the commission will be led by Margaret Aitken Haggerty, a communications professional who served as the spokesperson and press secretary for Biden during his Senate days.

The Commission on Presidential Scholars is responsible for selecting 161 Presidential Scholars from academics, the arts, career, and technical education.

Islam is currently the head of the FI Investment Group which is a private investment holding company. Previously, he owned an information technology firm called QSS Group which he sold in 2007. He has also served on several boards and advisory councils such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the U.N. Foundation, the US Institute of Peace, and the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Moreover, Islam has been a part of the boards and councils at different universities including John Hopkins, American University, George Mason University, the University of Maryland, and Harvard University, according to the White House press release.

A prolific writer, Islam has also written about American politics for The Quint. In an interview with the American Bazaar, Islam expressed that the new appointment was an honor. “I look forward to serving on the Commission with the other members and collaborating with them to choose Scholars who will use this experience and already impressive accomplishments in order to build an even stronger and better America,” Islam said. 

Islam has authored books on the American political landscape, including: Working the Pivot Points: To Make America Work Again and Renewing the American Dream: A Citizen’s Guide for Restoring Our Competitive Advantage

He is a regular blogger on Medium and has been contributing to the Huffington Post for almost a decade. In 2018, Islam created the Frank Islam Institute for 21st Century Citizenship which tackles the civic engagement deficit and challenges to democracy within the US and on a global scale through its website and monthly newsletter.

Born in Aligarh, India, Islam moved to the United States in early 1970s to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Colorado, in Boulder. After earning a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from the university, he worked for different companies for 20 years before creating his own, the QSS Group.

After exiting from the QSS, Islam and his wife, Debbie Driesman built a philanthropic foundation with an aim to promote education, art and culture, and peace and conflict-resolution.

Currently residing in Potomac, Maryland, just outside of Washington DC, Islam is a popular Democratic donor, and has raised millions of dollars for Democratic presidential nominees including Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, and Joe Biden. (Courtesy: The Quint)

TiE-Boston Elects Tech Entrepreneur Yash Shah As 13th President

Staff ReporterTechnology 0

TiE Boston, one of the region’s largest and leading-edge organizations supporting the Massachusetts entrepreneurial ecosystem and connecting entrepreneurs, executives, and venture capitalists, today announced that tech entrepreneur and senior business executive Yash Shah has commenced his term as the 13th President of TiE Boston.

Beginning July 1, 2022, Shah will serve for a two-year term, during which he plans to boost the organization’s outreach to early entrepreneurs, emerging entrepreneurs, and established entrepreneurs, a 3E blueprint  that will also inspire more engagement from its charter members.

“I am excited to see Yash Shah at the helm of TiE Boston,” said TiE Boston Founding President and philanthropist Desh Deshpande. “He is a seasoned entrepreneur and brings both the historical involvement from the last 25 years of TiE Boston, as well as the vision for the future that is needed for the years to come.”

Shah says he is thrilled to serve TiE Boston and lay the foundation for the next 25 years in the rapidly changing technological and business landscape in both Massachusetts and the world.

“As we celebrate TiE Boston’s 25th anniversary this year, we have also started to think about how we can make this organization more relevant to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem for the next 25 years and beyond,” said Shah . “My immediate goal to make a sustained effort to reach out to like-minded communities across New England and make TiE Boston a major resource and networking platform for budding, established, and future entrepreneurs.”

Shah replaces former TiE Boston President Anu Chitrapu, whose two-year term ended on June 30, 2022.

“I am excited about the election of Yash Shah as the next President of TiE Boston,” said Chitrapu. “His vast entrepreneurial and investment experience promises substantive impact on our programs and the entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

Shah is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, product advisor, and business executive with over 25 years of IT and software industry experience.  He is also on the advisory boards of several software startups around the world.

“I am honored at the opportunity to build on the incredible work done by TiE Boston’s founders, past presidents, and charter members. Passion for entrepreneurship runs deep in me, as demonstrated by my two decades of association with TiE Boston and starting multiple ventures of my own,” added Shah.

As a dynamic and successful entrepreneur, Shah co-founded Jeavio, a venture services firm and plays a critical leadership role in its vision and strategy. He is also the Chief Technology Officer of SevOne, which was recently sold to IBM. In addition, he is a Founding Member of the TiE Boston Foundation, an active member of TiE Boston Angels, and a TiE ScaleUp Mentor.

Yosh Rozen, CEO of Partrunner, said, “I’m excited to see Yash take over the TiE Boston Presidency. He has been a mentor to my company Partrunner since our participation in the TIE Boston ScaleUp program. Yash’s leadership at TiE Boston will be immensely valuable as an enabler for future entrepreneurs.”

TiE Boston is the second oldest and second largest TiE chapter and currently has around 170 charter members in Massachusetts, who have founded signature Boston companies creating $50B+ in shareholder value and thousands of hi-tech jobs. A charter membership to TiE Boston provides access to TiE’s global network of over 15000 entrepreneurs, professionals, industry leaders, and investors, across 64 chapters worldwide.

​Founded in 1997, TiE Boston connects tomorrow’s founders with today’s entrepreneurs, executives and venture capitalists. Operating for 25 years now, TiE Boston’s unparalleled network of successful, serial entrepreneurs are deeply engaged and committed to giving back to the community by providing mentorship, tactical advice, and expertise to rising entrepreneurs through signature programs.

TiE Boston Angels provides funding and advice to early-stage companies. Since its inception, $18+ Million has been invested in 60+ companies, through a network of over 90+ investors. Industries represented include technology, healthcare, clean tech and more.

TiE Boston ScaleUp is an accelerator program that enables “Seed to Series A” companies overcome typical barriers to growth by guiding them to optimize their strategic positioning, operations, sales and competitive advantage. Participating startups have access to top mentors from Boston who have successfully scaled and exited their own companies. Since inception, ScaleUp has accelerated 107 startups through 8 cohorts. 63% are female-founded companies and the program has seen 5 exits till date.

TiE Young Entrepreneurs (TYE) fosters the next generation of leaders through the transformative experience of building a startup. This extracurricular program for exceptional high school students provides participants with the essential business and leadership skills to prepare them to succeed in college and beyond. Since inception, close to 500 students have successfully completed the program, with 90% reporting that TYE influenced a career path in STEM and 40% reporting that they founded a company as an adult. 

Other high-impact initiatives from TiE Boston include TiECON East, the largest entrepreneurial conference on the East Coast, TiE Boston Women, and TiE Boston University

When Will The Indian Rupee Stop Falling?

Staff ReporterMoney 0

The Indian Rupee breached the psychological 80-mark for the first time against the US dollar on Tuesday, July 18th, declining to 80.06 per Dollar. The Reserve Bank of India intervened in the currency market to help the Rupee steady after hitting seven straight intraday record lows. A recovery in domestic shares also favored the Indian currency.

According analysts, a wobbly global macroeconomic environment marked by a spell of monetary tightening unleashed, firstly, by the Federal Reserve and being mimicked in earnest by the major central bank governors across the globe has led to an exodus of hot money from developing economies to the “safe haven” of the Dollar. The scenario is compounded further by record-breaking crude oil prices, which balloon India’s imports, diminish the cumulative value of India’s exports and widen our trade deficit.

It is a regular demand-supply market. Currently, there is a greater demand for Dollars than there is for the Rupee. Two factors have pushed demand — India’s current account deficit has sharply widened particularly after Russia invaded Ukraine, and investment in the Indian economy has fallen due to heavy flight of funds in recent months.

Depreciation of the Rupee makes imported items — including petrol and mobile phones — and gives India’s export a competitive edge. But India is a net importer. For those eyeing a trip abroad, earlier budgets on food, boarding, and transportation will now fall short – leaving one with the option to either expand their budgets or opt for countries where the rupee commands a stronger position compared to their domestic currencies.

The dollar has been appreciating against all currencies including the Euro. Market watchers, in fact, say that the Rupee has fared better compared to other currencies including the Euro.

In FY’22, as per the provisional figures released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s current account deficit widened to $38.7 billion from a surplus of $23.9 billion in the previous FY. 

A widening current account deficit indicates that Indians have been converting more of their rupees into dollars to complete trade and investment transactions consequently spiking up the demand for dollars. It doesn’t help that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been dumping Indian equities after a strong bullish spell, and making a beeline for US treasury notes and bonds.

The RBI has intervened by selling Dollars to check the Rupee’s slide. Else, the free market would have seen a further weaker Rupee. The current exchange market scenarios suggest that the rupee’s fall may continue for a few more months, breaching even the 82-mark. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor took a dig at the Rupee’s slide saying a “strong government” is “giving us a weaker Rupee”.

Allu Arjun To Lead India Day Parade In New York

Staff ReporterCinema, Community 0

Popular Telugu actor Allu Arjun, who starred in the hit film Pushpa will lead the annual India Day Parade in New York next month organized by the Federation of Indian Associations, a leading Indian diaspora organization, as India marks 75th year of Independence. The Federation of Indian Associations — New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — have planned grand events in the coming weeks and months to celebrate India’s 75 years of Independence —  Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

According to reports, Super Star Allu Arjun will be the Grand Marshall of the India Day Parade in New York City on August 21. Allu Arjun, the Grand Marshal, will lead the parade along with NYC Mayor Eric Adams and a host of other celebrities and distinguished participants.

The FIA India Day parade is considered the largest parade outside India to mark the country’s independence and brings together thousands of members of the diaspora.

FIA President, Kenny Desai, during the fourth Parade Council Meeting, announced details of the FIA’s planned grand events lined up for the celebration of India’s 75 years of Independence -Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

he annual cultural events runthrough several streets of Madison Avenue in the heart of Manhattan, featuring tableaux by various Indian-American organizations, marching bands, police contingents and cultural performances by young Indian-American children.

FIA Chairman Ankur Vaidya welcomed the announcement of Arjun as FIA’s 40th Grand Marshal and complimented the mega star for his kindness and patriotism towards the motherland. “There is palpable excitement in the Indian-American community to welcome the popular superstar and FIA will ensure he feels at home in the US,” Vaidya said.

Previously, actors Arjun Rampal, Abhishek Bachchan, and Baahubali actors Rana Daggubati and Tamannaah Bhatia, as well as Sunny Deol and Raveena Tandon have attended the parade.

163,370 Indians Renounced Indian Passport in 2021

Staff ReporterImmigration 0

As many as 163,370 Indians gave up their Indian passports in 2021 — the highest since 2015, the Indian Government told Parliament last week. This number was 144,017 in 2019 and 85,256 in Covid-impacted 2020. 

While 41 Indian citizens based in Pakistan gave up their Indian citizenship in 2021, compared to only seven in 2020, 326 living in the UAE renounced their Indian passports.

Data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Lok Sabha disclosed that the US was the top choice with almost half of Indians – 78,284 – preferring to become US citizens.

Overall, 932,276 Indians renounced their citizenships in favor of other countries between 2015 and 2021 — including 1,31,489 in 2015; 1,41,603 in 2016; 1,33,049 in 2017 and 1,34,561 in 2018.

Those giving up their Indian citizenship cited “personal” reasons for renouncing their home country. Indian laws don’t allow dual citizenship. 

India stands at the 84th position in the Henley’s and Partners’ passport index. A higher rank means easy visa and less bureaucratic delays in international travels.

Almost half — 78,284 — became US citizens in 2021 compared to 30,828 in 2020 and 61,683 in 2019. All of them were already based in the US. The other top destination countries were Australia (23,533), Canada (21,597), the UK (14,637), Italy (5,987), New Zealand (2,643) and Singapore (2,516).

Of the 10,645 foreign nationals who applied for Indian citizenship between 2016 and 2020 — 7,782 were from Pakistan and 795 were Afghanistan — 4,177 persons were granted Indian citizenship by the government.

Global Population Projected To Exceed 8 Billion In 2022; Half Live In 7 Countries

Staff ReporterGlobal 0

By Conrad Hackett

The world’s population will cross 8 billion in November, according to recently released projections from the United Nations. And more than half of all people live in just seven countries.

China has the world’s largest population (1.426 billion), but India (1.417 billion) is expected to claim this title next year. The next five most populous nations – the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Brazil – together have fewer people than India or China. In fact, China’s population is greater than the entire population of Europe (744 million) or the Americas (1.04 billion) and roughly equivalent to that of all nations in Africa (1.427 billion).

As recently as 2015, half the world’s population was concentrated in just six countries – the same as above, with the exception of Nigeria, which was then the seventh most populous country and has since passed Brazil to move into sixth place. Recent population growth, however, has been faster in the rest of the world than in these nations, meaning that the top six now hold slightly less than half (49%) of the world’s people. Including Brazil’s 215 million people puts the world’s seven most populous countries at 51.7% of the global population.

In the UN’s “medium” scenario for future population growth – its middle-of-the-road estimate – the global population is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100. Growth is expected to be concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 29% of all the world’s births happened last year. The 2021 total fertility rate in sub-Saharan Africa, 4.6 births per woman, is double the global average of 2.3 births per woman and triple the average in Europe and Northern America (1.5) and in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (also 1.5).

Under Pope Francis, The College Of Cardinals Has Become Less European

Staff ReporterReligion 0

By, Jeff Diamant

Unless his reign is short, a Roman Catholic pontiff typically appoints a majority of the men who vote for his successor. But Pope Francis’ additions to the College of Cardinals since his election in 2013 also have served another purpose – tilting the leadership structure of the Roman Catholic Church away from its historic European base and toward developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The pope recently announced that he will appoint 16 new voting cardinals (in addition to five other cardinals who are 80 or older and therefore ineligible to vote). After this latest group is officially installed at an Aug. 27 ceremony in Vatican City, the College of Cardinals will have 132 voting members, 40% of whom are European, down from 52% in 2013. 

How we did this

Francis’ appointments (including the recently announced future cardinals) have increased the overall representation of the Asia-Pacific region within the body of voting cardinals from 9% in 2013 to 17% in 2022, while increasing the representation of sub-Saharan Africa from 9% to 12%. These figures include cardinals who were named by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II.

Francis, an Argentinian who is the first pope from outside Europe since the eighth century, still has picked more cardinals from Europe than from any other region. Of the 83 newly appointed or currently eligible voting cardinals Francis has named so far during his papacy, 34% are from Europe, 22% from the Asia-Pacific region, 20% from Latin America and the Caribbean, 13% from sub-Saharan Africa, 8% from North America and 2% from the Middle East-North Africa region. Altogether, these cardinals appointed by Francis will make up a majority (63%) of the 132 voting members of the College of Cardinals after the Aug. 27 installation ceremony.

Among the 16 future cardinal electors Francis has chosen this year, four will represent Europe (Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom). Six will represent the Asia-Pacific region (two from India and one each from East Timor, Mongolia, Singapore and South Korea). Three other future cardinal electors are from Latin America and the Caribbean (two from Brazil and one from Paraguay). Two are from sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana and Nigeria) and one is from North America (U.S.-born Robert McElroy, archbishop of San Diego).

Given that, as of 2010, only about a quarter (24%) of the global Catholic population lives in Europe, the continent remains heavily overrepresented among voting cardinals. By this measure, the most underrepresented region within the church’s leadership – even with Francis’ new picks – is Latin America and the Caribbean, which is home to 39% of the worldwide Catholic population (again, as of 2010) but has only 18% of the cardinals.

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