Author: Staff Reporter

Shri Venkiah Naidu Urges AAPI To Build Collaborations In Research And Development To Address Various Health Issues In India

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“It’s very great joy that I welcome you all who have come to be part of the MINI Convention and the Fall Governing Body Meeting of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin here in Chicago, IL. I appreciate your presence here in spite of the fears of the Covid Pandemic,” Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, President, AAPI, told the AAPI delegates who had come from around the nation on Saturday, September 26th, 2020 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, in the Windy City.

 “Basically organized as the “Volunteers Recognition Ceremony” to honor all those hundreds of volunteers of AAPI, who have worked hard during the year 2019-20, especially during the COVID Pandemic, the Convention has been unique in so many ways,” Dr. Suresh Reddy, Immediate Past President of AAPI and the Chief Organizer of the Convention, said. “A special feature of the Convention has been honoring the hundreds of Volunteers who have dedicated their time, energy and efforts in the past one year for the success the many initiatives under my leadership. All the volunteers have raised the bar of AAPI and we salute your generosity and admire your sacrifices.”

 Chief Guest at the Convention, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Honorable Vice President, in his address, virtually, said: “I congratulate the leadership of AAPI and the members for your great contributions to India, your motherland and the United States, your adopted land.” Referring to the Convention, the leader of India said, “This is not just an event but a showcase of a critical health mission that will empower us greatly to tide over the crippling effects of this pandemic.”

 “I applaud AAPI for being a dynamic body, spearheading legislative agendas and influencing the advancement of medical care not only in the US but across the globe,” Shri Naidu said. “I am also glad to know that AAPI’s mission for India is to play an important role in making quality healthcare accessible and affordable to all people of India. It is indeed a laudable objective as both accessibility and affordability are the need of the hour, especially in a vast developing country like India with a huge population of middle class and lower middle class,” Shri Naidu said.

India is now facing a huge challenge in the form of rising Antibiotic Resistance. The Vice President of India “urged the AAPI fraternity to share with their Indian counterparts and Indian Medical Association, the invaluable experiences gained by our doctors working abroad, which will help in devising an effective strategy to combat Antibiotic resistance. “I would also urge Indian doctors working abroad to build collaborations in Research and Development to address various health issues, including combating  tropical diseases like Tuberculosis and Malaria. Such collaborations will provide a boost to India’s quest to effectively and quickly eradicate these diseases,” India’s Vice President told AAPI leaders.

A dedicated pool of Physicians led by Dr. Meher Medavaram, Convention, Cahir, has been working hard to make the convention a memorable experience for all. “With Corona Virus impacting every aspect of life around the world, posing several challenges in carrying out with numerous plans and programs for AAPI in 2020, Dr. Suresh Reddy, the 36th President of AAPI, has been right on task and has devoted the past one year leading AAPI to stability and greater heights. The deadly pandemic, COVID-19 that has been instrumental in the lockdown of almost all major programs and activities around the world, could not lockdown the creative minds of AAPI leaders,” she said.  

A Coffee Table Book, chronicling the history of AAPI was released. “This coffee table book is dedicated to all the “First Ladies” who have sacrificed innumerable hours of their family time for the sake of AAPI,” Dr. Suresh Reddy said. “My sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of the leaders of AAPI, and in particular to Dr. Ranga Reddy for being the “Shrusti-Kartha” of this book. He chronicled the history of AAPI. Spending thousands of hours in the past 25 years, making sure this book saw the light of the day. He wrote the biographic sketches of each past President with inputs from most of them.”

In her farewell message, Dr. Seema Arora, Immediate Past COT Chair, said, “I am honored and humbled to have served our dignified organization working harmoniously together with the Executive Committee throughout this term. We overachieved all missions and goals of our organization in spite of the unprecedented pandemic, which actually brought us together with fresh ideas and creativity, helping to enhance the image of AAPI around the world.”

“Taking the lockdown and the social distancing as a challenge, the organizing committee of the AAPI Mini Convention has put together a unique Convention with Physical Distancing; Universal Masking; and Total Outdoor Setting,” said Dr. Sajani Shah, Chairwoman of AAPI Board of Trustees. Strict Covid precautions as per CDC, state and federal regulations was observed throughout the convention, ensuring the safety and well-being of every participating delegate, she added.  

Other main Guests at the Mini Convention included, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Consulate General of India in Chicago, Honorable Amit Kumar and Dr. Srinath Reddy, President of Public Health Foundation of India.

Describing Indian American Physicians as the “Best of America,” Raja Krishnamoorthi praised them for their dedication and skills. “We are proud of your achievements,” he told AAPI members. Given that a physician of Indian origin sees every 7th patient in this country and every 5th patient in rural and inner cities across the nation, the reach and influence of AAPI members’ contributions go well beyond the Convention, he said, while urging everyone to participate actively during the General Election on November 3rd.

Ambassador Amit Kumar acknowledged with gratitude the contributions of Indian American Physicians, especially during the pandemic. He referred to AAPI members writing over 1,000 prescriptions to the stranded visitors and students from India during the Covid pandemic. Ambassador Kumar thanked AAPI for its numerous initiatives to benefit people in India thorugh AAPI’s collaborative efforts with Apollo Hospital and Tata Trust in India.

Under the leadership of Dr. Vemuri S. Murthy, Chair of AAPI Webinar CME Committee, during the CMEs, eminent and world renowned experts in their respective areas of expertise shared their knowledge and wisdom, enlightening the delegates with new advances in their field of practice.

Physician Wellness: Stress and Burnout was the topic addressed by Dr. Lucky Jain, Professor and Chair at Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics& Chief Academic Officer, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; and, Dr. Rohit Kumar Vasa, an Attending Neonatologist at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago, Chair of Pediatrics and Neonatology Site Leader, Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, Chicago.

CME on “A Global Health Topic: Learnings for India’s Health System” featured Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India and was moderated by Dr. Navin C. Nanda, Distinguished Professor of Medicine & Cardiovascular Disease at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL; and, Dr. T.S. Ravi Kumar, President, AIIMS, Mangalagiri, AP, India and a Member of WHO Global Patient Safety Experts Curriculum Committee.

 The session on Surgical Management of Intracerebral Hemorrhage was led by Dr. Joseph C. Serrone, Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery and Radiology at Loyola University Medical Center & Neurosurgeon, Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in Maywood, Illinois; and, Dr. Suresh Reddy, Associate Professor of Radiology at Loyola University Medical Center & Chief of Radiology, Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in Maywood, Illinois.

“The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin Mini Convention offered an exciting venue to interact with leading physicians, health professionals, academicians, and scientists of Indian origin,” Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, President-Elect of AAPI, said. “The General Body Meeting and the Convention had participants discuss and plan activities and program priorities for the current year and beyond,” she added.

“The Mini Convention provided a forum for AAPI members to network, share knowledge and thoughts, and thus, enrich one another, and rededicate ourselves for the health and wellbeing of the people in the US and back home in India,” Dr. Ravi Kolli, Vice President of AAPI, said,

Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, Secretary of AAPI said. “The Mehfil/AAPI Talent Show provided a perfect setting for the AAPI delegates to display their talents. The Convention also featured and honored the “Best Mask; Best Obesity; and, Best Monument Picture.”

 “The convention offered a variety of ways to reach physicians and their families. It provided access to AAPI members who attended in person and virtually, regarding new products and services,” Dr. Satish Kathula, Treasurer of AAPI, said.

Physicians of Indian Origin in the United States are reputed to be leading health care providers, holding crucial positions in various hospitals and health care facilities around the nation and the world. Known to be a leading ethnic medical organization that represents nearly 100,000 physicians and fellows of Indian Origin in the US, and being their voice and providing a forum to its members to collectively work together to meet their diverse needs, AAPI members are proud to contribute to the wellbeing of their motherland India, and their adopted land, the United States.

 In his Message, calling for Unity, Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda said: “When we come together for AAPI events we meet as friends. We interact with one another with respect, acknowledging the unique qualities and background, each one comes from. We respect their languages, religions, regional backgrounds and work together for what AAPI stands for. We may have differences of opinions; differences of approaches to various issues; our political and cultural affinities are unique. We acknowledge and accord that each of us will work together for the common good of the people we are called to serve and to realize the vision and mission of AAPI,” the President of AAPI added. For more details, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.aapiusa.org

AAPI Sends Well-Wishes to the President and First Lady

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Washington, DC — October 4th, 2020: “The members of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) join the nation in praying for the speedy recovery of President Donald J. Trump and the First Lady, Melania Trump, who have been diagnosed with the deadly pandemic Covod-19, and are being treated for the symptoms,” said Dr. Sudhakar Jonalagadda, President of AAPI here today. Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda issued the following statement after he conveyed well-wishes to the President of the United States and the First Lady on behalf of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). “The presidency is not about a person, it is about the office and what it represents not just to the American people, but to people around the world.  COVID-19 is a serious illness and we are hopeful that the President and First Lady make a full and speedy recovery.  Many AAPI members have witnessed firsthand the devastating impact that the coronavirus has had on families across America.  We have been on the frontlines in the war against this pandemic, and we will not stop fighting.  As physicians, we have joined forces with researchers, scientists, and academics, to develop appropriate therapeutics and we hope, effective vaccines, to stop the spread of this disease, not just in the United States, but in India and around the world. It is our sincerest wish that during these trying and very difficult times, that the American people will set aside their differences and work together so we can defeat COVID-19,” added Dr. Jonnalagadda. Indian-Americans constitute less than one percent of the country’s population, but they account for nine percent of the American doctors and physicians. One out of every seven doctors serving in the US is of Indian heritage, providing medical care to over 40 million of US population.

Dr. Sajani Shah, Chairwoman of AAPI’s Board of Trustees pointed to the fact that “The deadly Corona Covid-19 virus has claimed nearly 180.000 deaths around the world with the US leading the chart with nearly 45,000 deaths. The pandemic has placed the entire healthcare sector, and in particular the Indian American medical fraternity at the frontlines of the fight against the pandemic.” There are about 80,000 practicing Indian American physicians who are at the forefront of fighting COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Dr. Jonnalagadda said,  “APPI, the largest ethnic medical organization in the country has taken several proactive steps in educating their members and the general public about the disease, the preventive steps that needs to be taken at this time and most importantly, they are using all their contacts and resources at the hospital administrative and government level to facilitate treatment protocols to be in place at the various hospitals around the country.” For more information about AAPI, please visit: www.aapiusa.org

COVID-19 Infects Majority Of Bad Dreams: Study

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Scientists used artificial intelligence to help analyses the dream content of close to a thousand people and found that the novel coronavirus had infected more than half of the distressed dreams reported.

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. The researchers crowdsourced sleep and stress data from more than 4,000 people during the sixth week of the COVID-19 lockdown in Finland. About 800 respondents also contributed information about their dreams during that time – many of which revealed shared anxiety about the pandemic.

“We were thrilled to observe repeating dream content associations across individuals that reflected the apocalyptic ambience of COVID-19 lockdown,” said lead author Dr. Anu-Katriina Pesonen, head of the Sleep & Mind Research Group at the University of Helsinki.

“The results allowed us to speculate that dreaming in extreme circumstances reveals shared visual imagery and memory traces, and in this way, dreams can indicate some form of shared mindscape across individuals,” added Pesonen.

“The idea of a shared imagery reflected in dreams is intriguing,” she added. Pesonen and her team transcribed the content of the dreams from Finnish into English word lists and fed the data into an AI algorithm, which scanned for frequently appearing word associations.
The computer built what the researchers called dream clusters from the “smaller dream particles” rather than entire dreams.

Eventually, 33 dream clusters or themes emerged. Twenty of the dream clusters were classified as bad dreams, and 55 per cent of those had pandemic-specific content.

Themes such as failures in social distancing, coronavirus contagion, personal protective equipment, dystopia, and apocalypse were rated as pandemic specific.

For example, word pairs in a dream cluster labelled “Disregard of Distancing” included mistake-hug, hug-handshake, handshake-restriction, handshake-distancing, distancing-disregard, distancing-crowd, crowd-restriction and crowd-party.

“The computational linguistics-based, AI-assisted analytics that we used is really a novel approach in dream research. We hope to see more AI-assisted dream research in future. We hope that our study opened the development towards that direction,” Pesonen said.

The study also offered some insights into the sleep patterns and stress levels of people during the pandemic lockdown. For instance, more than half of respondents reported sleeping more than before the period of self-quarantine, though 10 per cent had a harder time falling asleep and more than a quarter reported more frequent nightmares.

Not surprisingly, more than half of the study participants reported increases in stress levels, which were more closely linked to patterns like fitful sleep and bad dreams. Those most stressed-out also had more pandemic-specific dreams.

The research could provide valuable insights for medical experts who are already assessing the toll the coronavirus is having on mental health. Sleep is a central factor in all mental health issues, according to Pesonen.

“Repeated, intense nightmares may refer to post-traumatic stress. The content of dreams is not entirely random, but can be an important key to understanding what is the essence in the experience of stress, trauma, and anxiety,” she said. (ANI)

Americans Favor A Single Government Program To Provide Health Care Coverage

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A majority of Americans continue to say the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. And since last year, there has been an increase – especially among Democrats – in the share saying health insurance should be provided by a single national program run by the government.

How we did this

Among the public overall, 63% of U.S. adults say the government has the responsibility to provide health care coverage for all, up slightly from 59% last year. Roughly a third (37%) say this is not the responsibility of the federal government, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted July 27 to Aug. 2 among 11,001 adults.

When asked how the government should provide health insurance coverage, 36% of Americans say it should be provided through a single national government program, while 26% say it should continue to be provided through a mix of private insurance companies and government programs. This is a change from about a year ago, when nearly equal shares supported a “single payer” health insurance program (30%) and a mix of government programs and private insurers (28%).

Most of the increase has come among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. A 54% majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners now favor a single national government program to provide health insurance, up from 44% last year. Support for single payer health coverage has increased among most groups of Democrats, including those who describe their political views as very liberal (up from 66% to 77%), liberal (50% to 61%) and conservative or moderate (35% to 43%).

Among Republicans and Republican leaners, a 66% majority says the government does not have the responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. Among the one-third of Republicans who say the government does have this responsibility, opinion is divided over whether or not it should be provided through a single government program or a mix of private and government programs.

Although most Republicans say it is not the government’s responsibility to ensure health coverage for all, a 54% majority says the government “should continue to provide programs like Medicare and Medicaid for seniors and the very poor.” Only 11% of Republicans say the government should not be involved at all in providing health insurance.

While divisions remain within the Democratic Party about the best way to provide health insurance, increasing shares across most demographic and ideological groups support a single national government program.

Very liberal Democrats, who in 2019 constituted 15% of Democratic registered voters, are far more likely than liberal Democrats (32% of Democrats) and moderates and conservatives (51%) to say that health insurance should be provided by a single government program.

White Democrats remain more likely than those of other races and ethnicities to support a single national program, but White, Black and Hispanic Democrats have each increased their support for a single national program by about 10 percentage points since last year.

A similar pattern emerges with age: Younger Democrats are still more supportive than older Democrats, but Democrats of all ages have increased their support over the past year.

(Source: Pew Research Center. By Bradley Jones)

Trump Cannot Restrict Visas For High-Skill Workers, Judge Rules

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U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, Calif., agreed with several big U.S. business groups, which argued President Donald Trump exceeded his authority by imposing the immigration restrictions. The order, at odds with the conclusion reached by a federal judge in Washington, means the fight will likely move to an appeals court.

White said his order doesn’t apply nationwide but only to the members of the plaintiff organizations. Those members, which include giants like Amazon.com and Microsoft Corp., comprise hundreds of thousands of U.S. businesses of all sizes and from a cross-section of economic sectors.

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Trump declared in a June proclamation that foreign workers pose a threat to the U.S. labor market amid the downturn caused by coronavirus pandemic. His decree froze new H-1B and H-4 visas, used by technology workers and their families, as well as L visas for intracompany transfers and most J visas for work- and study-abroad programs, including au pairs, through the end of the year. Thursday’s order also blocks restrictions on J and L visas.

In his ruling, White distinguished the visa ban from Trump’s earlier travel ban restricting nationals of six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S., which was upheld by the Supreme Court as a legitimate exercise of the president’s power to conduct foreign affairs.

The visa ban “deals with a purely domestic economic issue — the loss of employment during a national pandemic,” the judge wrote. “This court rejects the position that the proclamation implicates the president’s foreign affairs powers simply because it affects immigration.”

White added, “There must be some measure of constraint on presidential authority in the domestic sphere in order not to render the executive an entirely monarchical power in the immigration context.”

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation sued to block the restrictions, saying they impede the hiring of engineers, executives, IT experts, doctors, nurses and other critical workers who help drive the American economy.

The Chamber is a longtime supporter of high-skilled immigration and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which provides legal status for some migrants who entered the country as children.

Approximately 580,000 foreign workers with H-1B visas in specialized jobs are in the United States, according to the suit. Almost 160,000 L visas were issued in 2019 for executives, managers and employees with special experience and their dependents, and about 300,000 exchange visitors enter the U.S. annually on J visas, the Chamber said. Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, is among the companies that have expressed support for a court order blocking Trump’s policy.

30th Anniversary Of World Summit For Children – Today Children Need A New Initiative

Staff ReporterEducation, Youth 0

On the eve of the UN’s 75th anniversary, Antonio Guterres, the UN’s Secretary-General has declared that the coronavirus pandemic is the world’s top security threat. He has called for action – for greater international co-operation in controlling outbreaks and developing an affordable vaccine, available to all. Such action is needed and possible -even in the absence of a large gathering of world leaders in New York to celebrate the anniversary.  But children today in every country need more.

Thirty years ago, on 29/30 September 1990, the largest gathering of world leaders that had ever taken place, met at UN Headquarters under the auspices of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF. This was The World Summit for Children. It was an enormous success, gathering headlines around the world-and leading to worldwide action for children.

The Summit set goals for improving the situation of children everywhere, in health, education and their needs in especially difficult circumstances. Every country in the world adopted and agreed to these goals and, since then, all but the United States has– ratified the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The World Summit for Children was the brainchild of the American James P. Grant, the charismatic head of UNICEF. After initial doubts about whether more than a handful of presidents or prime ministers would come for a high -level meeting on children – as opposed to one on trade or the economy – The World Summit for Children took place with 71 heads of State, including President Bush and Prime Minister Thatcher.

Though children are much less likely to suffer direct effects from the virus, the indirect effects are already serious -in disrupted education, in neglect of essential medical care, in disturbed relations with family, relatives and friends

Such was the success of the event that the idea of holding Summit meetings soon caught on – the Earth Summit in 1992, the World Summit for Social Development in 1995, the Millennium Summit in 2000, and the Summit for Sustain able Development in 2015.  agreed at the Summit for children.

More importantly, following the goals, child survival has improved dramatically: the number of children dying under five has been reduced by 60%, from 12 million in 1990 to well under 6 million today. Immunization, growth monitoring and other actions have improved the health and life expectancy of millions of children in the developing world, and all countries have accepted that “the best interests of a child shall be a primary consideration.”

Today when children are under serious threat from Covid-19, the 30th anniversary of the Children’s Summit is a highly appropriate time for countries to renew and update the vows they made then.

Though children are much less likely to suffer direct effects from the virus, the indirect effects are already serious -in disrupted education, in neglect of essential medical care, in disturbed relations with family, relatives and friends. Many are also suffering the consequences of domestic violence and child abuse. Countries are turning away from collective national and international action just when it is needed most.

Today’s COVID crisis could be an opportunity -for a new impetus to invest in our children and in the next generation of doctors, nurses, scientists, statisticians and carers, who will need to be well prepared to deal with future crises and emergencies.

Though a collective meeting is not possible, every country needs to consider and plan for its children, both to recover from the immediate effects of the virus and to set new paths for the next five and ten years.

Prime ministers and heads of state should take the lead, citizen’s assemblies should add to the specifics and communities and governments should make the commitments. A World Summit is not possible nor necessary, -but every country needs to consider the new priorities for its children and make serious plans and policies to respond to them.

 (by Richard Jolly. He is a Honorary Professor at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. From 1982-95 he was Deputy-Executive Director of UNICEF when Jim Grant was Executive Director. Among the books he has written are “UNICEF- Global Governance that works” and “UN Ideas that Changed the World”, which he co-wrote with Tom Weiss and Louis Emmerij.)

GOPIO-Manhattan Chapter Launched

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During a solemn virtual ceremony, which was live webcast around the world, GOPIO-Manhattan Chapter was launched, with a new team led by Shivender Sofat as the President assuming charge of the GOPIO-Manhattan Chapter on Thursday, September 24th, 2020. Attended by several community and business leaders from around the New York region, Consul General of India in New York, Randhir Kumar Jaiswal, inaugurated the new Chapter.

 The program, compered by Co-Secretary Dr. Lisa George with Co-Host Bhavaya Gupta, started with American National Anthem by Shruti Sen followed by Indian National Anthem by Jaya Sharma. Since Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Anniversary was being celebrated throughout the world, in commemoration, his favorite bhajan Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye was sung by Jyoti Singh

Ambassador Randhir Kumar Jaiswal, Chief Guest, said, “It’s a privilege to be able to join you all in inaugurating the GOPIO-Chapter, which will strengthen GOPIO, the NRI community and the Consulate in New York.” Ambassador Jaiswal congratulated the leadership of GOPIO, which he said, “has played a stellar role in shaping Indo-US Relations. We are proud of your achievements.”

Showering praises on the Indian Diaspora in the US, the Senior Diplomat from India said, the success stories of every Indian American is “a great source of strength to the people in India. GOPIO has played an important role in fostering this relationship, he said. While assuring whole-hearted support to GOPIO, he urged GOPIO to “connect with the youth both in India and the USA.”

Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman GOPIO International, in his introductory remarks said, “GOPIO was born in 1989 and today, it has over 100 chapters across the world, contributing to the larger community. GOPIO chapters also serve the local communities in need, by sponsoring soup kitchens and giving scholarship to needy students. During the Covid-19 period, GOPIO chapters have been making financial contributions and replenishing food items at the food pantries serving the needy. Some chapters also provided N-95 medical masks to frontline workers, he said.

Summarizing the long-felt need for a GOIPIO Chapter in the Business Capital of the US, Dr. Thomas Abraham said, “In Manhattan, there are a large number of Indian-American young professionals who move to the city from all over the country. Also, many parents are moving to Manhattan to be closer with their grownup children who work in New York City. We have been receiving enquiries from those who move to the city to join a GOPIO chapter and we want to make that happen.

Shivender Sofat. President, GOPIO-Manhattan, said, GOPIO was started in NYC and now we are back in action reviving the organization in the city, where 60 to 70 percent of NRIs have a connection. Describing some of the programs GOPIO-Manhattan has envisaged, the President of the Chapter said, “Motivate our Indian Diaspora community to participate and help in local charitable and social service activities including soup kitchens and walkathons benefitting local charities; Organize seminars and symposium on subjects of interest to the Indian Diaspora community; Host elected officials from New York and India with interactive sessions; A welcome networking reception and dinner for all new students from India who join colleges and universities in New York city; and, Build an Indian American Youth and Young Professionals network and organize program for them.”

Prof. Arvind Panagariya, a Padmabhushan Recipient, former Niti Ayog Vice Chairman and a Faculty at Columbia University, while according a warm welcome to the new Consul General in New York, shared his greetings to the new OIffice Bearers of the GOPIO Chapter in NYC. He applauded Dr. Thomas Abraham and called him “a Pillar of the Indian Community globally.”

Prof. P. Somasundaran, a Padmashri Recipient and Faculty at Columbia University, in his address, complimented GOPIO, which he said, “is a brainchild of some creative people.” Referring to the extreme challenges, particularly climate change, chaos and political violence, he said, “We need the comfort and support of each other. Current pandemic has shown how important and critical it is to stay united and for all of us to work together.”

New York State Senator Kevin Thomas, described the launch of the GIPIO Chapter in Manhattan as “awesome” and thanked “GOPIO for bringing us together as one family.” He praised the Indian Diaspora for its great contributions to the larger American community. “I am so proud to be the first Indian American Senator in NY,” he said. Jenifer Rajkumar, the first Indian American candidate for NY State Assembly called upon the Indian Diaspora to stand united to promote India and its heritage in the United States. 

Dr. H.R. Shah, a Padmashri Recipient and Chairman, TV Asia, while offering whole hearted support, extended his heartfelt greetings to GOPIO and the officers of the New Chapter. He called upon the 5.7 Million Indian Diaspora to play an active role in the local communities and in politics. He called upon GOPIO to “encourage the new generation and motivate them to join politics and serve the community.”

Dr. Sudhir Parikh, a Padmashri Recipient and Chairman and Publisher, Parikh Worldwide Media, in greetings, congratulated GOPIO and the leadership of Dr. Thomas Abraham “for his vision” and wished the best to the new Chapter team for the leadership. Stating that he has been associated with GOPIO since its inception, he described GOPIO to be “a home away from home.”

Neeta Jain, a Democratic leader from Queens and national delegate for Biden, who is running as a City Council member, shared about her 30 years of fight for “equality and cultural recognition, which is ongoing.” Dr, Navin Mehta, Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, NYC, praised Dr. Thomas Abraham, who is “always with full of energy.” Extending wholehearted support to GOPIO, said, New York City has much potential and “we can do so much together.”

Sunil Hali, Publisher & Promoter of Indian Eye Newsweekly, Radio Zindagi and Divya Bhaskar NA Edition, described the launch of a new Chapter in NYC as “an extraordinary moment in NRI history.”

Indian American Global Chamber of Commerce President Rajeev Bhambri said that GOPIO Manhattan will fill in a void for providing service to our community and extended all help through his media outlets.

Others who facilitated GOPIO included Poet Anoop Bhargava and Global Indian Trade and Cultural Council Chairman Harinder Singh Panaser,

GOPIO-Manhattan activities and services to be provided were explained by its board members and committee chairs including Youth Initiative Coordinator Mukul Gupta, Vice President Dr. Vimal Goyle (Supporting food pantries/soup kitchens), Executive VP Prof. Rajasekhar Vangapaty (Welcoming and Hosting Students from India) and Siddharth Jain (Reaching Out Indian American College Students). Treasurer Braj Aggarwal outlined the membership details and appealed everyone to become members. Membership form is available online at https://forms.gle/r7qpsX3QPndNMV1dA.

GOPIO-Manhattan’s charitable and social service activities got a boost when Philanthropist Sreedhar Menon committed $10,000 for the next two years. Others in attendance were India’s Deputy Consul General Shatrugna Sinha. Consul for community Affairs A.K. Vijayakrishnan, GOPIO Vice President Ram Gadhavi, SACSS Executive Director Sudha Acharya, GOPIO-New York President Beena Kothari, GOPIO-CT President Ashok Nichani and GOPIO Central New York President Patsy Leopald.  The hour and a half long program concluded with greetings by GOPIO International Coordinator-at-Large Dr. Asha Samant and vote of thanks by GOPIO-Manhattan Board Member and Legal Advisor Megha Bhouraskar.

GOPIO International is Pan-Indian community organization for NRIs and PIOs with over 100 chapters spread in 35 countries. In the New York area, GOPIO has chapters in New York (Central NY and Queens & Long Island), in New Jersey (Central and North) and in Connecticut. These chapters organize programs tailored to the Indian community, motivating the community to participate in civic and local community activities, and provide services to the larger society. GOPIO-Manhattan is already registered as in New York State a charitable organization and has accorded non-profit 501 (c) (3) status by the IRS.   For more information and participation, contact GOPIO-Manhattan President Shivender Sofat, Tel: 731-988-6969, E-mail: shivisofat@gmail.com

“Ekal Foundation” Embarks on a Trailblazing Goal

Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

“Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (EVF)” hosted its annual ‘International Conference’ in virtual mode with 600 registrants from USA, Canada, India and Australia. The multiple agenda-packed gathering, not only saw and discussed the presentations on what had been achieved to date, but also, the futuristic goals for the holistic development in 102,000 villages where it has intrinsic presence. As the youths are the future of any organization, ‘Ekal’, as EVF is popularly known, also involved youths in this conference at every level, under ‘Youth Leadership’ program.

The seeds of this ‘youth element’ were sowed, in fact, in a grand scale event called “Parivartan Kumbh” (Transformation Convention) in Lucknow, India in February this year, which was convened specifically to assess overall changes brought upon by EVF to rural India. Although rooted in education, Ekal in recent years has blossomed into healthcare, integrated village development, digitization, farming research and socio-economic empowerment. From this perspective, the conference was a total game-changer.

This year’s Covid-19 clampdown had posed an unprecedented challenge to Ekal for fund-raising which had been an essential part of this largest grass-root movement. Ekal overcame this hurdle by motivating its loyal donor-base in series of concerts and successfully raised almost 80% of the funds through them. Until now, Ekal had been tenaciously eradicating illiteracy by imparting functional literacy to 2.8 million youngsters each year through one-teacher schools, computer-equipped vans, – called ‘Ekal-on-Wheels’- use of ‘tablets’ where possible and empowering rural folks by adult-education & skill-training. Starting 2021, having fulfilled the noble assignment given by the Hon. PM Modi to establish 100,000 schools in villages, two years in advance, Ekal set up a new trailblazing agenda for the next 5 years.

In essence, Bajarang Bagra, CEO of ‘Ekal Abhiyan’ (umbrella organization of all ‘Ekal’ satellite-divisions) proposed to keep 102,000 school tallies ‘as is’ and embark on a transformative ‘roadmap’ that would revolutionize rural life in all its aspects. Among the primary goals adopted by the delegates were to increase – ‘Ekal On Wheels’ vans from current 25 to 85; ‘Integrated Village Clusters’ (30 villages each) from current 12 to 51; ‘Skill Development Ctrs’ from current 33 to 100; ‘Gramotthan Resource Ctrs’ (GRC) from current 16 to 27; ‘Telemedicine’ from current 120 villages to 6,000 villages and ‘Intensive Health Care’ from current 1,200 villages to 6,000 villages.

In addition, the most ambitious project that Ekal wants to push forward is that of ‘E-Shiksha’ or digital education. It wants to spread it from current 1,200 villages to 100,000 villages by Yr. 2025. A new initiative, called ‘GRANE’ (Gramotthan Atma-Nirbharata for Ekal), was also introduces to bring E-commerce activity to the villages so as to avail villagers with new economic opportunities. There is a plan to accomplish this by rewarding farmers, empowering village women and providing necessary tools to the ground team. The conference also resolved to plant 10 Million trees in next 5 years. There were some break-out parallel discussions too. Youths from schools and colleges had brain-storming sessions of their own under the auspices of ‘Ekal Youth Leaders’ to formulate their own initiatives. The initiatives include getting connected to youths in schools & colleges, visiting Ekal villages, starting activities in slum-areas, raising funds every which way possible, promoting ecological aspect and healthy lifestyle.

This year, youths connected to Ekal-USA played an important role during the corona pandemic. They, not only, kept the home-bound school children engaged through their DIY (Do-It-Yourself) educational campaign, but also, raised donation through this effort. In last few years, ‘Arogya (Health) Foundation of India’ had been a force to reckon with in rural healthcare.

Their Medical-camps, initiatives for Anemia control, child & women health-practices and Herbal-medicine & ‘Telemedicine’ have found wide spread acceptance. Now, for ophthalmic care, there are plans to deploy numerous mobile-clinic vans, called ‘Eye-Van’. Hon. PM Modi has said that, “no education in the world can succeed by giving up its culture and values”. Therefore, to prepare self-reliant and value-based rural India, Ekal has floated a fleet of ‘Kathakars’ (storytellers of India’s cultural identity and heritage) to reach out to the lowest strata of the society.

From current strength of 1000 such ‘Kathakars’, the plans are under way to double that number by 2025. The price-tag for this 5-year wish-list is estimated to be $80 Million and Ekal-USA has been challenged to bear at least 1/3 of that amount. Touching on this ambitious budget Suresh Iyer, President of Ekal-USA and his ‘Board’ resolved to master ‘grant- writing’ efforts to court philanthropic ‘Foundations’ & ‘Corporate-Wings’ for specific ventures. As a successful technocrat, he wants to introduce ‘Technology’ at every possible level to streamline accountability and progress of all projects. While doing this phenomenal work, the importance of public-relation, its exposure in the Media and the ‘reach-out’ aspect within the Indian diaspora, wasn’t lost on the participants. The conference applauded all the efforts of the ‘Media Teams’. This conference was a splendid example of the ‘multi-model connectivity’ that Hon. PM Modi floated in his Aug.15, 2020 address to the nation. More information is available on www.ekal.org

 

Indian Overseas Congress, USA Condemns The Rape And Murder Of Manisha Valmiki Of Hathras, U.P

Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

Indian Overseas Congress, USA joins millions of non-resident Indians across the globe in condemning the horrific rape and murder of Manisha Valmiki of Hathras, U.P. The barbarity and the bestiality involved in the killing show the depraved and criminal mindsets of those who perpetrated such heinous acts against a Dalit woman who is from the lowest rung of India’s caste system. The ghastly way this woman was raped and murdered has indeed shaken the nation to its core and terrorized the people of conscience across the world. 
 The victim, who belonged to the Dalit community, was raped by four  men on September 14 in the heartland state of Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district. The woman’s family told local media that they found her naked, bleeding, and paralyzed with a split tongue and broken spine in a field outside her home. On Tuesday, she died two weeks later after battling severe injuries in a hospital in New Delhi.

To add insult to injury, the police barricaded her family members & locals inside the house and forcibly burned the body. The family was not allowed to see their daughter for one last time and say good-bye. As it has been said by Yogendra Yadav, “even criminals are allowed dignified cremation. Here is a rape victim being cremated by police at 2.30 AM without family members”.

“Mr. Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, it is your party which is in power. Given your supremacy within the party in U.P. and the centralized control you exercise, you more than anyone else have to be held responsible for this terrifying state of affairs,” said George Abraham, Vice-Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA. Your past statement, such as ‘women not capable of being left alone and their energy should be regulated, lest it becomes worthless and destructive,” is not only despicable but misogynistic and chauvinistic.

“while you have ordered an inquiry, Mr. Chief Minister, you haven’t taken any steps to cure this rape culture in your state or shown any resolve to change the social, political, and administrative conditions under which such anti-Dalit hatred is bred,” said Mohinder Singh Gilzian, President of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA. Your continuing inaction in this regard will gain you the title as the Chief administrator of the notorious Rape State in India,” Mr. Gilzian added.

“It is indeed the growing culture of violence emanating out of the wrong-headed sense of ultra-nationalism and majoritarian arrogance that is polarizing the communities and dividing the nation.  We call upon the Modi Government to stop paying lip service with slogans like “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” and provide true leadership in bringing perpetrators of this pervasive rape and abuse of women culture across the country to justice regardless of their party affiliations and oust any government officials who remains stumbling blocks to that effort” the statement added. 

Geneva Adopts Highest Minimum Wage In The World, At $25 An Hour

Staff ReporterBusiness 0

Voters in Geneva, Switzerland, have agreed to introduce a minimum wage in the canton that is the equivalent of $25 an hour — believed to be the highest in the world.  According to government data, 58% of voters in the canton were in favor of the initiative to set the minimum wage at 23 Swiss francs an hour, which was backed by a coalition of labor unions and aimed at “fighting poverty, favoring social integration, and contributing to the respect of human dignity.”

While Switzerland has no national minimum wage law, Geneva is the fourth of 26 cantons to vote on the matter in recent years after Neuchâtel, Jura and Ticino.  “This new minimum wage will apply to about 6% of the canton’s workers as of November 1st,” Geneva State Counselor Mauro Poggia told CNN in a statement.  Communauté genevoise d’action syndicale, the umbrella organization of unions in Geneva, described the result as “a historic victory, which will directly benefit 30,000 workers, two-thirds of whom are women.”

The decision was also praised by Michel Charrat, president of the Groupement transfrontalier européen, an association of workers commuting between Geneva and nearby France. Top of Form Bottom of Form

Charrat told The Guardian that the coronavirus pandemic “has shown that a certain section of the Swiss population cannot live in Geneva,” and argued that the new minimum wage is “the minimum to not fall below the poverty line and find yourself in a very difficult situation.” Charrat didn’t return a CNN request for comment. The Geneva Council of State, the local executive branch, said in an opinion against the measure that the new minimum wage would be “the highest in the world.”

A measure introduced by citizens

The Swiss system of direct democracy calls on voters to exercise their right four times a year, and allows citizens to collect signatures to introduce “popular initiatives” to be enacted.  “On two occasions in the past, initiatives to set a mandatory minimum wage in Geneva had been submitted to the population and rejected,” said Poggia, who is in charge of the Department of Security, Labor and Health for the Geneva canton.

The two previous votes took place in 2011 and 2014, and in the latest case, it was a national referendum to introduce an hourly minimum wage of 22 Swiss Francs, which found 76% of voters were opposed.

“On 27 September, a new vote on this subject was finally accepted, for a salary of 23 Swiss Francs per hour, or slightly more than 4,000 Swiss Francs per month for an activity of 41 hours per week,” Poggia added. That’s roughly $4,347 per month.

While a $25 per hour minimum wage might look staggering from the perspective of the United States, where the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, context is key. 

Geneva is the 10th most expensive city in the world, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2020 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. The roughly 4,000 Swiss francs workers will now earn puts them slightly above the poverty line of 3,968 Swiss francs for a household of two adults and two children younger than 14, as estimated by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office in 2018.

Switzerland is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it wasn’t shielded from the damaging impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its economy.

Overall, the Swiss government’s economic experts group expects the adjusted Swiss GDP to fall by -6.2% in 2020, and average unemployment to be around 3.8%, the lowest economic slump since 1975.

Did coronavirus impact the vote?

Michael Grampp, Deloitte’s chief economist in Switzerland, said he believed the coronavirus pandemic had an impact in determining how many voters were in favor of passing the minimum wage initiative. Low income workers in the service sector were the most affected by the lockdown measures put in place in Switzerland.

“I think many people realized how many people are working in these sectors. It’s not like everyone here is working for a bank or a chocolate factory. We also have a broad service sector that was hit hard due to the lockdown,” Grampp told CNN.  “It definitely helped push the vote towards almost 60%,” he added.

Grampp believes more cantons will enact minimum wage legislation. But Poggia said he doesn’t believe the pandemic had a significant impact on the vote.

“Compared to other countries, given the strong social security coverage in Switzerland, the economic effects of Covid are currently being contained, even though job losses are already occurring in the sectors that have been directly affected, such as tourism, hotels and restaurants,” he said. 

Babri Masjid Demolition A Criminal Act And CBI Court Verdict Must Be Challenged NAPM Condemns The Criminal Neglect Of The Prosecution In The Case And Complete Denial Of The Findings Of The Liberhan Commission

Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)   is shocked and dismayed at the verdict of the CBI Special Court in acquitting all 32 persons accused of being responsible for the demolition of Babri masjid on December 6, 1992. For reasons best known to it, the CBI led a weak prosecution based upon defective evidence, even though the Liberhan Commission after its detailed investigation (1992-2009) pointed to the involvement of senior RSS and BJP leaders, including L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti. It is indeed sad commentary for  our democracy that active participants in a movement such as this often say one thing inside Court and the exact opposite outside it and yet go scot-free. The Judgement running in to 2,300 pages then goes at length to say that there was no active conspiracy, it’s a mockery of the rule of law.

The verdict does nothing to remedy the illegality of the demolition, which was recognized by the Supreme Court in its Ayodhya Verdict on November 9, 2019, but on the other hand has encouraged claims for demolition of other mosques, leading inevitably to increasing discord, hate and violence in society. Further, the verdict trivializes Supreme Court’s comment that the Babri masjid demolition was “an egregious violation of rule of law”.

Prima facie, it appears that the Prosecution not only failed to do its job but also willfully worked in favour of pleasing its political masters, since on record, in front of Liberhan Commission, Uma Bharti, one of the co-accused had taken responsibility for her role in the demolition of the mosque. There is enough evidence visual and written in public domain from the times where their speeches, actions and everything has been recorded.  Photographs of leading lights who were leading the Ramjanmabhoomi movement and were on stage near the site of the demolition celebrating the fall of the mosque are a case in point. All right thinking citizens are therefore dismayed at the decision that they had no role in the demolition of the Babri Masjid.  NAPM condemns this decision of the CBI court and demands that this be challenged in the High court.

The verdict has shocked everyone, though given the state of affairs and continued miscarriage of justice in recent times, it has not come as a surprise to many. This completely falls in the current pattern where students activists, professors, lawyers, journalists, human rights activists and critics of the regime are being arrested on false charges, and conspiracies are being established on WhatsApp chats and social media posts, case being Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy and Delhi Riots Conspiracy. The judicial system has always been seen as the last recourse of common people in the face of a rapacious executive and a complicit legislature, which are destroying the social fabric of our nation. Unfortunately, judiciary is abdicating its responsibility.

We urge that the Supreme Court takes suo moto note of this verdict and brings the perpetrators to justice. The demolition of Babri mosque was a body blow to the secular fabric of the nation and a criminal act. And it is with deep sorrow that we note that the Ram Mandir will be built on the back of demolition, violence and miscarriage of justice.

We the People, who have faith in the Constitution of India, are being constantly failed by its three pillars, and all public servants. In the face of failing democracy, we still believe and trust that the Judiciary at all levels will yet rise above the political pressures that it faces, and display its independence. We expect it to stand tall with courage and belief in the power of truth, to uphold justice without fear or favour, and honour their Constitutional oath to serve the People of India.

Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM); Dr. Sunilam, Adv. Aradhna Bhargava, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti; Rajkumar Sinha, Chutka Parmaanu Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti, NAPM, Madhya Pradesh;

Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shankar Singh, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), National Campaign for People’s Right to Information; Kavita Srivastava, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL); Kailash Meena NAPM Rajasthan;

Prafulla Samantara, Lok Shakti Abhiyan; Lingraj Azad, Samajwadi Jan Parishad & Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, Manorama, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti; Lingaraj Pradhan, Satya banchor, Anant, Kalyan Anand, Arun Jena, Trilochan Punji, Lakshimipriya Mohanty and Balakrishna Sand, Manas Patnaik, NAPM Odisha;

Sandeep Pandey (Socialist Party of India); Richa Singh & Rambeti (Sangatin Kisaan Mazdoor Sangathan, Sitapur); Rajeev Yadav & Masihuddin bhai (Rihai Manch, Lucknow & Azamgadh); Arundhati Dhuru & Zainab Khatun (Mahila Yuva Adhikar Manch, Lucknow), Suresh Rathaur (MNREGA Mazdoor Union, Varanasi);  Arvind Murti & Altamas Ansari (Inquilabi Kamgaar Union, Mau), Jagriti Rahi (Vision Sansthan, Varanasi); Satish Singh (Sarvodayi Vikas Samiti, Varanasi); Nakul Singh Sawney (Chal Chitra Abhiyan, Muzaffarnagar); NAPM Uttar Pradesh

  1. Chennaiah,Andhra Pradesh Vyavasaya Vruthidarula Union-APVVU, Ramakrishnam Raju,United Forum for RTI and NAPM, Chakri (Samalochana), Balu Gadi, Bapji Juvvala, NAPM Andhra Pradesh;

Jeevan Kumar & Syed Bilal (Human Rights Forum), P. Shankar (Dalit Bahujan Front), Vissa Kiran Kumar & Kondal (Rythu Swarajya Vedika), Ravi Kanneganti (Rythu JAC), Ashalatha (MAKAAM), Krishna (Telangana Vidyavantula Vedika-TVV), M. Venkatayya (Telangana Vyavasaya Vruttidarula Union-TVVU), Meera Sanghamitra, Rajesh Serupally, NAPM Telangana;

Sister Celia, Domestic Workers Union; Maj Gen (Retd) S.G.Vombatkere, NAPM, Nawaz, Dwiji, Nalini, Madhu Bhushan and Mamatha Yajaman, NAPM Karnataka

Gabriele Dietrich, Penn Urimay Iyakkam, Madurai; Geetha Ramakrishnan, Unorganised Sector Workers Federation; Suthanthiran, Suthanthiran, Lenin & Arul Doss, NAPM Tamilnadu;

Vilayodi Venugopal, CR Neelakandan, Prof. Kusumam Joseph, Sharath Cheloor, Vijayaraghavan Cheliya, Majeendran, Magline, NAPM, Kerala;

Dayamani Barla, Aadivasi-Moolnivasi Astivtva Raksha Samiti; Basant Hetamsaria, Aloka Kujur, Dr. Leo A. Singh, Afzal Anish, Sushma Biruli, Durga Nayak, Jipal Murmu, Priti Ranjan Dash, Ashok Verma, NAPM Jharkhand;

Anand Mazgaonkar, Swati Desai, Krishnakant, Parth, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti; Nita Mahadev, Mudita, Lok Samiti; Dev Desai, Mujahid Nafees, Ramesh Tadvi, Aziz Minat and Bharat Jambucha, NAPM Gujarat;

Vimal Bhai, Matu Jan sangathan; Jabar Singh, Uma, NAPM, Uttarakhand;

Manshi Asher and Himshi Singh, Himdhara, NAPM Himachal Pradesh

Eric Pinto, Abhijeet, Tania Devaiah and Francesca, NAPM Goa

Gautam Bandopadhyay, Nadi Ghati Morcha; Kaladas Dahariya, RELAA, Alok Shukla, Shalini Gera, NAPM Chhattisgarh;

Samar Bagchi, Amitava Mitra, Binayak Sen, Sujato Bhadro, Pradip Chatterjee, Pasarul Alam, Amitava Mitra, Tapas Das, Tahomina Mandal, Pabitra Mandal, Kazi Md. Sherif, Biswajit Basak, Ayesha Khatun, Rupak Mukherjee, Milan Das, Asit Roy, Mita Bhatta, Yasin, Matiur Rahman, Baiwajit Basa, NAPM West Bengal;

Suniti SR, Sanjay M G, Suhas Kolhekar, Prasad Bagwe, Mukta Srivastava, Yuvraj Gatkal, Geetanjali Chavan, Bilal Khan, Jameela, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan; Chetan Salve, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Pervin Jehangir, NAPM Maharashtra;

Faisal Khan, Khudai Khidmatgar, J S Walia, NAPM Haryana;

Guruwant Singh, Narbinder Singh, NAPM Punjab;

Kamayani Swami, Ashish Ranjan, Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan; Mahendra Yadav, Kosi Navnirman Manch; Sister Dorothy, Aashray Abhiyan, NAPM Bihar;

Rajendra Ravi, NAPM; Bhupender Singh Rawat, Jan Sangharsh Vahini; Anjali Bharadwaj and Amrita Johri, Satark Nagrik Sangathan;  Sanjeev Kumar, Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch; Anita Kapoor, Delhi Shahri Mahila Kaamgaar Union; Sunita Rani, National Domestic Workers Union; Nanhu Prasad, National Cyclist Union; Madhuresh Kumar, Priya Pillai, Aryaman Jain, Divyansh Khurana, Evita Das; Anil TV, Delhi Solidarity Group, MJ Vijayan (PIPFPD)        

Amazon Prime To Launch Anthology Of Five Tamil Films Featuring Stories Of Love, New Beginnings, Second Chances & A Glimmer Of Hope

Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

Amazon Prime Video is set to launch Putham Pudhu Kaalai, an anthology of five Tamil films, featuring stories of love, new beginnings, second chances and a glimmer of hope. Putham Pudhu Kaalai brings together five of the most celebrated directors in Tamil cinema – Sudha Kongara, Gautham Menon, Suhasini Mani Ratman, Rajiv Menon, and Karthik Subbaraj to create Amazon Prime Video’s first Indian anthology film Putham Pudhu Kaalai will release on the 16th of October in over 200 countries and territories.

The anthology includes five short films:

  1. Ilamai Idho Idhodirected by Sudha Kongara (Soorarai Pottru) starring Jayaram (Uttama Villain), Kalidas Jayaram (Poomaram), Urvashi (Soorarai Pottru), and Kalyani Priyadarshan (Hero).
  2. Avarum Naanum/Avalum Naanum, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon (Yennai Arindhaal) starring M.S. Bhaskar (Sivaji: The Boss) and Ritu Varma (Pelli Choopulu).
  3. Coffee, Anyone? directed by and starring Suhasini Mani Ratnam (Sindhu Bhairavi), Anu Hasan (Indira)) and Shruti Haasan (Treadstone)
  4. Reuniondirected by Rajiv Menon (Kandukondain Kandukondain) starring, Andrea (Vada Chennai), Leela Samson (OK Kanmani) and Sikkhil Gurucharan.
  5. Miracledirected by Karthik Subbaraj (Petta) featuring Bobby Simha (Petta) and Muthu Kumar (Pattas)

The anthology is a first for Amazon Prime Video and follows the successful release of several Tamil films such as Nishabdham, Penguin, and Ponmagal Vandhal as well as Amazon Original series Comicstaan Semma Comedy Pa and will be available to stream across 200 countries and territories from the 16th October 2020.

Putham Pudhu Kaalai was shot in compliance with rules and regulations set by the Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI) for filming during the ‘Unlock’ phase.

“Putham Pudhu Kaalai was born with the intent of talking about hope, love and new beginnings and the fact that art finds expression in the most challenging times,” said Aparna Purohit, Head of India Originals, Amazon Prime Video, “With Putham Pudhu Kaalai, we are delighted to bring to our customers a unique offering by some of the best creative visionaries from the Tamil entertainment industry.”

The new releases will join the thousands of TV shows and movies from Hollywood and Bollywood in the Prime Videocatalogue. These include Indian-produced Amazon Original series like Four More Shots Please!, Pataal Lok, Breathe: Into The Shadows, Bandish Bandits, The Family Man, Mirzapur, Inside Edge, Made In Heaven, as well as award-winning and critically acclaimed global Amazon Original series, including Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Boys, Hunters, Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, all on Prime Video, which is available at no extra cost for Amazon Prime members. The service includes titles available in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi and Bengali.

Crispy Chicken Karaage (Less oil frying technique)

Staff ReporterAmmu's Hearty Treats 0

Wanna try an appetiser recipe that’s easy to follow yet would fetch you all praises?This great asian fried chicken recipe is like none other that it’s promised to win hearts of kids and adults alike for its rightly crisp texture and not too spicy yet flavourful marinade. How I developed this recipe – Karaage is a Japanese cooking technique of deep frying leaving a crusty and crispy coating of flour on top. This amazing appetiser could be doubled as a dinner time snack if you ever need a break from with your regular KFC buckets , chicken popcorn or wings as nothing compares to crispy yet juicy chicken karaage made at home.Having this dish from restaurants and seeing everyone praise its unique crisp, I badly wanted to try this at home, but was intimidated when I saw the amount of oil used for frying the chicken- actually they double fry it -for crisp benefits of course!So I did improvise this recipe a little bit and came up with an idea where first fry is in the air fryer during which most of the moisture is dried out making the second fry in oil more effective and easier. You could try the other way around too.i.e., first fry in oil and second in the air fryer if you prefer a more succulent chicken. What’s special about this recipe- “Perfectly crisp on the outside and juicy tender meat on the inside” is what I would describe this chicken Karaage as. And my version guarantees a “more healthier low calorie less oil technique “ so that you are left with no other option than to try making this dish at home.This is a very flexible recipe that, I have tips, tricks and alternative methods for people who do not have an airfryer at home. What you’ll need- For marination– 500g Boneless skinless chicken thighs (each thigh cut into 2 pieces) 1 teaspoon grated ginger  1 teaspoon minced garlic  2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar  2 tablespoons soy sauce  1.5 teaspoons white pepper powder  Half teaspoon salt  Half a beaten egg 1/4 cup flour   For frying– 1.25 cups cornflour Water-as required  Half teaspoon salt  Neutral oil like canola or sunflower,etc. for frying  How to make- Marinate the chicken in all the ingredients listed under marination -except egg and flour-atleast for an hour or preferably overnight in the refrigerator. Mix in the egg and flour to get a battery coating over the chicken pieces. In a bowl, combine cornflour with salt and add water by tablespoons mixing well after each addition to get a crumbled textured pearly flour coating. 3 methods of efficient “less oil” frying: 

  1. In this method you air fry the chicken first  for 10 minutes at 200 degree Celsius, then deep fry it in the oil until light brown and crispy and drain excess oil on a towel
  2. Or instead you could deep fry it first in the oil until just golden and cooked through, drain excess oil on a towel and then air fry at 200 degree Celsius for 10 minutes, until light brown and crispy.
  3. Here is the alternative method for people who don’t have an airfryer at home. Choose your preferred method from the above two at use your 200 degrees preheated oven in the place place of the airfryer- but don’t forget to lay your chicken pieces uncrowded on a foil or parchment lined on a baking tray before putting it in the hot oven.

 Notes, tips and suggestions- 

  • -This dish is traditionally serve with lemon wedges and sliced cabbage.
  • -You could also used a mayo dip or a sriracha dip or even just ketchup.
  • -Another quick and easy dip would be equal parts of sriracha mixed with equal parts of mayo.
  • -Sprinkle your fried chicken with one or two pinches of paprika for a hotter version.

Best Indian Diet Plan for Weight Loss

Staff ReporterHealth, Science & Technology 0

Are you looking for the best Indian diet plan to lose weight? The rules are simple. All you need to do is start eating right. But in India, this can feel like an insurmountable challenge, given our food culture and dietary habits. For instance, a typical Indian meal is high in carbohydrates and sugar – we eat a lot of potatoes, rice and sweets. We also love our snacks and can’t imagine a day without our fix of namkeens and bhujias. We pressurize our friends and family into eating too much, as a sign of hospitality and affection, and consider refusing an extra helping a rebuff. To top it all, we’ve never embraced physical exercise as essential. It’s no wonder that India is battling a growing obesity problem.

But the answer doesn’t lie in shunning Indian food in favour of foreign ingredients or fad diets. You’ll find that the best Indian diet plan consists of foods you’ve already got in your kitchen and that you can lose weight by making a few changes to your diet.

Understand the Science Behind Weight Loss

Weight loss and gain, revolve around caloric consumption and expenditure. You lose weight when you consume fewer calories than you expend. Conversely, you gain weight when you consume more calories than you expend. To drop those excess kilos, all you need to do is eat within your calorie budget and burn the required number of calories. A combination of the two works best suggest experts. Get your daily requirement of calorie consumption and burn based on your lifestyle and dietary preferences, by signing up on HealthifyMe.

However, simply determining how many calories your body needs isn’t enough. After all, four samosas (600 calories), two slices of pizza (500 calories) and two gulab jamuns (385 calories) may be within your daily requirement of 1500 calories, but these unhealthy food choices will eventually lead to other health problems like high cholesterol and blood sugar. To lose weight the healthy way, you also need to ensure your diet is balanced i.e. it covers all food groups and provides all the nutrients you need necessary for good health.

The Best Indian Diet Plan for Weight Loss

No single food provides all the calories and nutrients the body needs to stay healthy. That’s why a balanced diet comprising of macronutrients like carbohydrates, protein and fat along with micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals, is recommended.

The best Indian diet for weight loss is a combination of the five major food groups – fruits and vegetables, cereals and pulses, meat and dairy products, and fats and oils. Knowing how to divvy up the food groups, allocate portion sizes, and the best/ideal time to eat is also important.

1200 Calorie Diet Plan

A lot can be spoken about what goes into an ideal diet chart. However, one’s nutritional requirement varies based on various factors. It could change depending on gender, for example, male dietary requirements vary from that of a female. Geography can play a role as well, with North Indian diets being largely different from South Indian ones. Meal preferences come into play since the consumption of food by a vegetarian or a vegan differing largely from that by a non-vegetarian.

However, we have put together a diet plan for weight loss with Indian food. This 7 day diet plan, 1200 calorie diet plan is a sample, and should not be followed by any individual without consulting with a nutritionist.

Day 1:

  • After starting your day with cucumber water, have oats porridge and mixed nuts for breakfast.
  • Have a roti with dal and gajar matar sabzi for lunch.
  • Follow that up with dal and lauki sabzi to go with a roti for dinner.

Day 1

Diet Chart

6:30 AM

Cucumber Detox Water(1 glass)

8:00 AM

Oats Porridge in Skimmed Milk(1 bowl)

Mixed Nuts(25 grams)

12:00 PM

Skimmed Milk Paneer(100 grams)

2:00 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

2:10 PM

Dal(1 katori)Gajar Matar Sabzi(1 katori)

Roti (1 roti/chapati)

4:00 PM

Cut Fruits(1 cup)Buttermilk(1 glass)

5:30 PM

Tea with Less Sugar and Milk(1 teacup)

8:50 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

9:00 PM

Dal(1 katori)Lauki Sabzi(1 katori)

Roti (1 roti/chapati)

Day 2:

  • On the second day, eat a mixed vegetable stuffed roti with curd for breakfast.
  • For lunch, have half a katori of methi rice along with lentil curry.
  • End your day with sauteed vegetables and green chutney.

Day 2

Diet Chart

6:30 AM

Cucumber Detox Water(1 glass)

8:00 AM

Curd(1.5 katori)Mixed Vegetable Stuffed Roti(2 piece)

12:00 PM

Skimmed Milk Paneer(100 grams)

2:00 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

2:10 PM

Lentil Curry(0.75 bowl)Methi Rice(0.5 katori)

4:00 PM

Apple(0.5 small (2-3/4″ dia))Buttermilk(1 glass)

5:30 PM

Coffee with Milk and Less Sugar(0.5 tea cup)

8:50 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

9:00 PM

Sauteed Vegetables with Paneer(1 katori)Roti (1 roti/chapati)

Green Chutney(2 tablespoon)

Day 3:

  • Breakfast on day 3 would include Multigrain Toast and Skim Milk Yogurt.
  • In the afternoon, have sauteed vegetables with paneer and some green chutney.
  • Half a katori of methi rice and some lentil curry to make sure you end the day on a healthy note.

Day 3

Diet Chart

6:30 AM

Cucumber Detox Water(1 glass)

8:00 AM

Skim Milk Yoghurt(1 cup (8 fl oz))Multigrain Toast(2 toast)

12:00 PM

Skimmed Milk Paneer(100 grams)

2:00 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

2:10 PM

Sauteed Vegetables with Paneer(1 katori)Roti (1 roti/chapati)

Green Chutney(2 tablespoon)

4:00 PM

Banana(0.5 small (6″ to 6-7/8″ long))Buttermilk(1 glass)

5:30 PM

Tea with Less Sugar and Milk(1 teacup)

8:50 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

9:00 PM

Lentil Curry(0.75 bowl)Methi Rice(0.5 katori)

Day 4:

  • Start Day 4 with a Fruit and Nuts Yogurt Smoothie and Egg Omelette
  • Follow that up with Moong Dal, Bhindi Sabzi, and roti.
  • Complete the day’s food intake with steamed rice and palak chole.

Day 4

Diet Chart

6:30 AM

Cucumber Detox Water(1 glass)

8:00 AM

Fruit and Nuts Yogurt Smoothie(0.75 glass)

Egg Omelette(1 serve(one egg))

12:00 PM

Skimmed Milk Paneer(100 grams)

2:00 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

2:10 PM

Green Gram Whole Dal Cooked(1 katori)Bhindi sabzi(1 katori)

Roti (1 roti/chapati)

4:00 PM

Orange(1 fruit (2-5/8″ dia))Buttermilk(1 glass)

5:30 PM

Coffee with Milk and Less Sugar(0.5 tea cup)

8:50 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

9:00 PM

Palak Chole(1 bowl)Steamed Rice(0.5 katori)

Day 5:

  • Have a glass of skimmed milk and peas poha for breakfast on the fifth day.
  • Eat a missi roti with low fat paneer curry in the afternoon.
  • End the day with roti, curd and aloo baingan tamatar ki sabzi.

Day 5

Diet Chart

6:30 AM

Cucumber Detox Water(1 glass)

8:00 AM

Skimmed Milk(1 glass)Peas Poha(1.5 katori)

12:00 PM

Skimmed Milk Paneer(100 grams)

2:00 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

2:10 PM

Low Fat Paneer Curry(1.5 katori)Missi Roti(1 roti)

4:00 PM

Papaya(1 cup 1″ pieces)Buttermilk(1 glass)

5:30 PM

Tea with Less Sugar and Milk(1 teacup)

8:50 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

9:00 PM

Curd(1.5 katori)Aloo Baingan Tamatar Ki Sabzi(1 katori)

Roti (1 roti/chapati)

Day 6:

  • On Day 6, have idli with sambar for breakfast
  • For lunch, roti with curd and aloo baingan tamatar ki sabzi
  • To end Day 6, eat green gram with roti and bhindi sabzi

Day 6

Diet Chart

6:30 AM

Cucumber Detox Water(1 glass)

8:00 AM

Mixed Sambar(1 bowl)Idli(2 idli)

12:00 PM

Skimmed Milk Paneer(100 grams)

2:00 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

2:10 PM

Curd(1.5 katori)Aloo Baingan Tamatar Ki Sabzi(1 katori)

Roti (1 roti/chapati)

4:00 PM

Cut Fruits(1 cup)Buttermilk(1 glass)

5:30 PM

Coffee with Milk and Less Sugar(0.5 tea cup)

8:50 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

9:00 PM

Green Gram Whole Dal Cooked(1 katori)Bhindi sabzi(1 katori)

Roti (1 roti/chapati)

Day 7:

  • On the seventh day, start with besan chilla and green garlic chutney.
  • Have steamed rice and palak chole for lunch.
  • End the week on a healthy note with low fat paneer curry and missi roti.

Day 7

Diet Chart

6:30 AM

Cucumber Detox Water(1 glass)

8:00 AM

Besan Chilla(2 cheela)Green Garlic Chutney(3 tablespoon)

12:00 PM

Skimmed Milk Paneer(100 grams)

2:00 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

2:10 PM

Palak Chole(1 bowl)Steamed Rice(0.5 katori)

4:00 PM

Apple(0.5 small (2-3/4″ dia))Buttermilk(1 glass)

5:30 PM

Tea with Less Sugar and Milk(1 teacup)

8:50 PM

Mixed Vegetable Salad(1 katori)

9:00 PM

Low Fat Paneer Curry(1 katori)Missi Roti(1 roti)

Balanced Diet Chart

While creating a diet chart, it is important to make sure it is balanced, in order to ensure that you receive all the required nutrients. Include the following nutrients in your diet plan:

1. Carbohydrates

Carbs are the body’s main source of energy and should make up half of your daily calorie requirement. However, it’s important to choose the right type of carbs. Simple carbs, such as bread, biscuit, white rice and wheat flour, contain too much sugar and are bad for you. Instead, opt for complex carbs that are high in fiber and packed with nutrients as compared to simple carbs. Fiber-rich complex carbs are slow to digest, leave you feeling full for longer, and are therefore the best option for weight control. Brown rice, millets such as ragi and oats are all good complex carb choices.

 

2. Proteins

Most Indians fail to meet their daily protein requirement. This is troublesome, as proteins are essential to help paper writer the body build and repair tissue, muscles, cartilage and skin, as well as pump blood. A high protein diet can also help you lose weight, as it helps build muscle – which burns more calories than fat.

About 30% of your diet should consist of protein in the form of whole dals, paneer, chana, milk, leafy greens, eggs, white meat or sprouts. Having one helping of protein with every meal is essential.

3. Fats

A food group that has acquired a bad reputation, fats are essential for the body as they synthesize hormones, store vitamins and provide energy. Experts suggest one-fifth or 20% of your diet comprise of healthy fats – polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and Omega-3 fatty acids. Using a combination of oils for different meals – including olive oil, rice bran oil, mustard oil, soya bean, sesame, sunflower and groundnut oil – along with restricted quantities of butter and ghee is the most optimal way to consume fats. Avoid trans fats – that are found in fried snacks, completely.

4. Vitamins and minerals

Vitamin A, E, B12, D, calcium and iron are essential for the body as they support metabolism, nerve and muscle function, bone maintenance, and cell production. Primarily derived from plants, meat and fish, minerals can be found in nuts, oilseeds, fruits and green leafy vegetables. Experts recommend consuming 100 grams of greens and 100 grams of fruits everyday.

5. Meal Swaps

One of the easiest ways to eat healthy is to swap out the unhealthy foods in your diet with healthier alternatives. For example, fulfil your cravings for a snack to munch on with air popped popcorn instead of relying on potato chips. Check out a few healthy meal swaps that you could try going forward:

Along with a balanced diet plan, these habits will help you stay healthy

  • Opt for 5-6 meals a day: Instead of three large meals, try having three modest meals and a few snack breaks through the day in controlled portions. Spacing your meals across regular intervals prevents acidity and bloating, and also keeps hunger pangs at bay. Quit your junk food habit by making healthier snack choices.
  • Have an early dinner: Indians eat dinner later than the other societies across the world. Metabolism slows down at night, so a late dinner can lead to weight gain. Experts recommend you eat your last meal of the day by 8 pm.
  • Drink a lot of water: How does drinking more water help you lose weight? For starters, it’s zero calories. Also, drinking a glass of water can help curb hunger pangs. Have six to eight glasses of water daily to lose weight. You can also find a list of drinks that will help you lose weight here.
  • Eat a lot of fiber: A person needs at least 15 gm of fiber every day, as it aids digestion and heart health. Oats, lentils, flax seeds, apples and broccoli are some great sources of fiber.

You don’t have to ditch your regular food habits or make massive changes to your diet, you just need the best balanced Indian diet plan to get fit!

(source: https://www.healthifyme.com/blog/best-indian-diet-plan-weight-loss/?fbclid=IwAR2Yy8i6yP7ancgpkgIiW1u3kj6Tw_P42lsAanPoxgHhsjueChH9t_o5vgQ)

 

Community Mourns Death of SPB, Popular Indian Playback Singer

Staff ReporterEntertainment, Profiles 0

S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, an Indian singer who delivered songs for more than 1,000 movies in a smooth and vibrant voice and in a multitude of regional languages, died on Sept. 25 in Chennai, India. He was 74. The cause was complications of Covid-19, according to a statement from MGM Healthcare, where he had been hospitalized.

The singer was hospitalized at a private hospital in Chennai after testing positive for COVID-19 and was keeping unwell for quite some time now. From Rajinikanth to Kamal Haasan, music maestro AR Rahman to Lata Mangeshkar, celebrities across India took to social media to mourn the death of the singer.

Meanwhile political leaders across the country — President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister K. Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, DMK President M.K. Stalin, MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, PMK Founder S. Ramadoss and Chief Ministers of several other states mourned the singer’s death. Actor Rajinikanth tweeted: “Balu sir … you have been my voice for many years … your voice and your memories will live with me forever … I will truly miss you …”

 “With the unfortunate demise of Shri S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, our cultural world is a lot poorer,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India wrote on Twitter. “I have no words to say. There can be one and only Balu Sir. I have sung a couple of songs with Balu Sir in Tamil movies. In those days the recording used to be live and it was interesting. He encouraged me a lot. Some months back I had met him. He enquired about my family and me,” playback singer Jency said.

The legendary singer who has recorded over 40,000 songs in 16 languages over a period of five decades, died on Friday afternoon due to cardio-respiratory arrest at the M.G.H. Healthcare. Earlier in the day, hundreds of people stood in a long queue to pay homage to the singer as well as celebrities from the movie world at the farm house.

On August 5, in a Facebook post, the 74-year-old SPB said that he was suffering from a very mild attack of coronavirus and had got himself hospitalized to take rest. He had said that though the doctors had advised him to stay at home and take rest, he decided to be in a hospital, as at home his family members would get concerned.

He hoped to get discharged from the hospital in two days. But it was not to be. For a brief period, he showed some improvement in his health condition and had tested negative for coronavirus on Sept. 4. But on Sept. 24 the hospital said his condition was extremely critical. Since then, the indications about Balasubrahmanyam were not good. He was placed on ECMO and other life support systems. The singer’s family members were present at the hospital.

Director Bharathiraja, after visiting the iconic singer at the hospital, told the media at this time of grief he was not able to say anything. It was movie director Venkat Prabhu who first tweeted about the singer’s death. Prabhu tweeted “#RIPSPB 1:04pm” announcing the sad news.

For more than four decades Mr. Balasubrahmanyam, better known as “S.P.B.” or “Balu” to his fans, was a major presence as a playback singer, who sings tunes that are later lip-synced by actors in India’s movie musicals. His best-known songs were in the languages of Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.

“I often sit with the lyricists and ask them what they meant to convey so that I get the emotional crux of the song,” he once said in a newspaper interview about having to be expressive in so many languages. “If I think I cannot pronounce something well, I opt out of the song.”

Mr. Balasubrahmanyam was also a music producer and character actor. He won the National Film Award, one of the country’s most prestigious entertainment prizes, six times. He also received two of India’s top civilian honors: the Padma Shri in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan in 2011.

Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam was born on June 4, 1946, in Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, a state in southeastern India. His father, S. P. Sambamurthy, was a singer and stage actor; his mother, Sakunthalamma, was a homemaker.

Mr. Balasubrahmanyam once said that he became a singer by accident. He was studying engineering in college when he won a singing competition, which opened doors for him in the Telugu-language film industry as a playback singer. His first movie performance came in 1966.

Encouraged by his initial success, he went on to perform in a band; one member, Ilayaraja, also became well-known. He broke into Bollywood in 1981. He later collaborated often with the composer A.R. Rahman, who won two Oscars for his work on the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008).

Mr. Balasubrahmanyam often spoke of the inspiration he received from Mohammed Rafi, one of the most popular Indian singers in the 1950s and ’60s. “I was so bewildered by the talent with which he was singing,” he said on his YouTube channel in 2019.

He is survived by his wife, Savitri Balasubrahmanyam; his daughter, Pallavi Balasubrahmanyam; his son, S.P.B. Charan; and two grandchildren.

Seeking Greater Role For India, Modi Questions Relevance Of United Nations

Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

Articulating an inclusive vision for the world and India’s role in manifesting it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) how long India would be kept out of the top UN decision-making bodies. He assured the world of the adequate supply of vaccines and highlighted India’s contribution to UN peacekeeping mission and its non-exclusive foreign policy, making the case for India playing a leading role in the UN.

In his address to the 75th United Nations General Assembly on September 26, 2020, the Indian Prime Minister said the problems and solutions of the world in 1945 were quite different from today. “Today we are in a completely different era,” he said, asking if the character of an institution from those times is even relevant today. He said the UN enjoyed “unparalleled” respect in India but Indians were concerned whether the reform process would “ever reach its logical conclusion.”

Modi questioned the relevance of the United Nations to meet 21st Century challenges with a 19th Century structure that did not include India as a permanent member of the Security Council, and made a call to arms for nations to work for all humanity in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Modi posed the question of “Whether the character of the institution, constituted in the prevailing circumstances of 1945, is relevant even today?”

Despite several “stellar achievements” Modi in effect, argued that the UN had failed to stem the tide of terrorism and civil wars despite avoiding a ‘third world war’. And as for the pandemic, Modi slammed the international institution, asking, “Where is the United Nations in this joint fight against the pandemic? Where is its effective response?”

His answer: “Reform in the responses, in the processes, and in the very character of the United Nations is the need of the hour.” India has been waiting for the long-pending promised reforms which are supported by the United States and virtually all nations. “For how long will India be kept out of the decision-making structures of the United Nations?” Modi demanded, noting that this is the largest democracy in the world with more than 18% of its population, “which was a leading global economy for centuries and also one which has endured hundreds of years of foreign rule.”

In his speech, Modi noted that even during these very difficult times of the raging pandemic, the pharmaceutical industry of India has sent essential medicines to more than 150 countries. As the largest vaccine producing country of the world, “I want to give one more assurance to the global community today. India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting this crisis.”

India is now in phase 3 of clinical trials and Modi promised to help all the countries trying to enhance their cold chain and storage capacities for the delivery of the vaccines. Modi contended that India had never been a power-hungry nation through history. “When we were strong, we were never a threat to the world, when we were weak, we never become a burden on the world. Your Excellency, How long would a country have to wait particularly when the transformational changes happening in that country affect a large part of the world?” Modi questioned.

Drawing attention to India’s standard view of the world as one (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam), Modi detailed the contributions his country had made in the last 75 years of the UN, including 50 peacekeeping missions where India has lost the most number of peacekeeping personnel.

He attributed numerous initiatives India jumpstarted and which were adopted by the UN including ‘International Day of Non-Violence,’ ‘International Day of Yoga,’ the initiatives of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the International Solar Alliance, among them.

He articulated India’s strategic priorities like ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ and the ‘Act East Policy’, taking a swipe at China’s power moves in the region including in the South China Sea, he mentioned the Indo-Pacific region’s security and growth, going on to say that India helped nations not with a “malafide intent” at the cost of making a partner “dependent or hapless.”

“We must congratulate him for his firm, decisive approach to China,” Parikh said referring to Modi’s comments on following the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region. India’s experiences at development, Modi said, would help many countries who are trying to progress.

He claimed that during his administration over the last 4 years, India had succeeded in bringing more than 400 million people into the formal financial sector, provided toilet facilities to 600 million people; and within 2-3 years, provided more than 500 million people access to free health care services. He also dwelt on progress toward a ‘digital’ India, mentioned the water supply initiative as well as the goal to achieve a tuberculosis-free nation, empowerment of women, and ensuring the rights of transgender people.

“Prime Minister Modi has eloquently made a case for India’s inclusion (in the Security Council),” said Anju Bhargava, a management consultant, formerly in the Obama administration’s inaugural Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership, as well as founder of Hindu American Seva Communities. “He has presented India’s strength from the ancient past to the present as well as pointed to the future. Despite its challenges India has tremendous strength and can play a significant role on the world stage in the future,” Bhargava added.

“In the changed circumstances of the post-pandemic era, we are moving forward with the vision of a “Self-reliant India”. A Self-reliant India will also be a Force Multiplier for the Global Economy,” Modi declared, concluding with a poignant hope that the UN would remain relevant in the brave new world.

Biden Adds Pressure on Trump By Releasing Tax Returns

Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Democratic nominee Joe Biden released his most recent tax returns just hours before Tuesday night’s debate with Donald Trump, signaling he wants new revelations about the president’s taxes at center stage for their first face-to-face encounter.

The difference between the two candidates’ tax history is fodder for Biden’s argument that Trump has conned working-class voters into supporting him. The debate begins at 9 p.m. New York time.

Biden’s taxes showed that he and his wife Jill paid more than $346,000 in federal taxes and other payments for 2019 on an income of nearly $985,000 before seeking a refund of nearly $47,000 they said they had overpaid the government.

“This is a historic level of transparency meant to give the American people faith once again that their leaders will look out for them and not their own bottom lines,” Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, said on a call with reporters. “Mr. President, release your tax returns or shut up,” Bedingfield added.

Billionaire Trump, meanwhile, paid $750 in 2016 and 2017, and nothing in ten of the last 15 years, according to the New York Times.

With more than a million Americans already casting early ballots and time running out to change minds or influence the small sliver of undecided voters, the stakes are enormous as the two White House candidates take the stage five weeks before the Nov. 3 election.

The 90-minute debate, with a limited and socially distanced in-person audience because of the coronavirus pandemic, will begin at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT on Wednesday) at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, with Chris Wallace of Fox News serving as the moderator. It is the first of three scheduled debates.

The Biden tax returns gambit ahead of the debate shows that the former vice president is seeking political advantage on an issue that could resonate with voters – a wealthy real estate developer-turned-politician who has, according to the New York Times report, often avoided paying federal income taxes.

Democrats have sought to portray Trump as a tax dodger. Trump’s persistent refusal to release his taxes has been a departure from standard practice for presidential candidates. Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh issued a statement responding to Biden’s disclosure, accusing him of being dishonest in public statements about his own past earnings, but did not address whether Trump would release his returns.

The Times also reported that Trump was currently embroiled in a decade-long Internal Revenue Service audit over a $72.9 million tax refund he claimed after declaring large losses. If the IRS rules against him, he could have to pay over $100 million, according to the newspaper.

BIDEN INCOME

Biden’s 2019 return showed most of his income came from a company he has said handles payments from his speaking and writing engagements and from a University of Pennsylvania teaching post from which he took an unpaid leave of absence after launching his candidacy.

The 2019 tax returns for Biden’s running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, also were released. Harris and her husband, lawyer Doug Emhoff, reported paying about $1.2 million in total federal taxes on $3.3 million of income for the year, according to the tax returns released on Tuesday. Vice President Mike Pence released a decade of returns before the 2016 election but no tax information since then.

The combustible Trump and more low-key Biden will debate an array of urgent political challenges, including a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people in the United States and thrown millions out of work, a brewing battle over Trump’s nomination of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, and continued protests for racial justice.

Biden, 77, has held a consistent lead over Trump, 74, in national opinion polls, although surveys in the battleground states that will decide the election show a closer contest.

The debate will be divided into six segments: the records of Trump and Biden, the Supreme Court, the pandemic, the economy, election integrity and “race and violence” in U.S. cities. A senior Trump campaign official told reporters aboard Air Force One that the president “knows exactly what he wants to communicate” and hopes to get into his differences with Biden on trade, “endless wars,” the issue of America’s “haves and the have nots” and Biden’s long career in elected office.

Biden is certain to press his criticism of Trump’s response to the pandemic, and highlight Trump’s efforts to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, the law known as Obamacare that has helped millions of Americans obtain health insurance.

AAPI’s Mini Convention Held In Chicago Shri Venkiah Naidu, Vice President Of India, Urges AAPI To Build Collaborations In Research And Development To Address Various Health Issues In India

Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

(Chicago, IL: September 28th, 2020): “It’s very great joy that I welcome you all who have come to be part of the MINI Convention and the Fall Governing Body Meeting of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin here in Chicago, IL. I appreciate your presence here in spite of the fears of the Covid Pandemic,” Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, President, AAPI, told the AAPI delegates who had come from around the nation on Saturday, September 26th, 2020 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, in the Windy City.

“Basically organized as the “Volunteers Recognition Ceremony” to honor all those hundreds of volunteers of AAPI, who have worked hard during the year 2019-20, especially during the COVID Pandemic, the Convention has been unique in so many ways,” Dr. Suresh Reddy, Immediate Past President of AAPI and the Chief Organizer of the Convention, said. “A special feature of the Convention has been honoring the hundreds of Volunteers who have dedicated their time, energy and efforts in the past one year for the success the many initiatives under my leadership. All the volunteers have raised the bar of AAPI and we salute your generosity and admire your sacrifices.”

Chief Guest at the Convention, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Honorable Vice President, in his address, virtually, said: “I congratulate the leadership of AAPI and the members for your great contributions to India, your motherland and the United States, your adopted land.” Referring to the Convention, the leader of India said, “This is not just an event but a showcase of a critical health mission that will empower us greatly to tide over the crippling effects of this pandemic.”

“I applaud AAPI for being a dynamic body, spearheading legislative agendas and influencing the advancement of medical care not only in the US but across the globe,” Shri Naidu said. “I am also glad to know that AAPI’s mission for India is to play an important role in making quality healthcare accessible and affordable to all people of India. It is indeed a laudable objective as both accessibility and affordability are the need of the hour, especially in a vast developing country like India with a huge population of middle class and lower middle class,” Shri Naidu said.

India is now facing a huge challenge in the form of rising Antibiotic Resistance. The Vice President of India “urged the AAPI fraternity to share with their Indian counterparts and Indian Medical Association, the invaluable experiences gained by our doctors working abroad, which will help in devising an effective strategy to combat Antibiotic resistance. “I would also urge Indian doctors working abroad to build collaborations in Research and Development to address various health issues, including combating  tropical diseases like Tuberculosis and Malaria. Such collaborations will provide a boost to India’s quest to effectively and quickly eradicate these diseases,” India’s Vice President told AAPI leaders.

A dedicated pool of Physicians led by Dr. Meher Medavaram, Convention, Cahir, has been working hard to make the convention a memorable experience for all. “With Corona Virus impacting every aspect of life around the world, posing several challenges in carrying out with numerous plans and programs for AAPI in 2020, Dr. Suresh Reddy, the 36th President of AAPI, has been right on task and has devoted the past one year leading AAPI to stability and greater heights. The deadly pandemic, COVID-19 that has been instrumental in the lockdown of almost all major programs and activities around the world, could not lockdown the creative minds of AAPI leaders,” she said.  

A Coffee Table Book, chronicling the history of AAPI was released. “This coffee table book is dedicated to all the “First Ladies” who have sacrificed innumerable hours of their family time for the sake of AAPI,” Dr. Suresh Reddy said. “My sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of the leaders of AAPI, and in particular to Dr. Ranga Reddy for being the “Shrusti-Kartha” of this book. He chronicled the history of AAPI. Spending thousands of hours in the past 25 years, making sure this book saw the light of the day. He wrote the biographic sketches of each past President with inputs from most of them.”

In her farewell message, Dr. Seema Arora, Immediate Past COT Chair, said, “I am honored and humbled to have served our dignified organization working harmoniously together with the Executive Committee throughout this term. We overachieved all missions and goals of our organization in spite of the unprecedented pandemic, which actually brought us together with fresh ideas and creativity, helping to enhance the image of AAPI around the world.”

“Taking the lockdown and the social distancing as a challenge, the organizing committee of the AAPI Mini Convention has put together a unique Convention with Physical Distancing; Universal Masking; and Total Outdoor Setting,” said Dr. Sajani Shah, Chairwoman of AAPI Board of Trustees. Strict Covid precautions as per CDC, state and federal regulations was observed throughout the convention, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of every participating delegate, she added.  

Other main Guests at the Mini Convention included, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Consulate General of India in Chicago, Honorable Amit Kumar and Dr. Srinath Reddy, President of Public Health Foundation of India.

Describing Indian American Physicians as the “Best of America,” Raja Krishnamoorthi praised them for their dedication and skills. “We are proud of your achievements,” he told AAPI members. Given that a physician of Indian origin sees every 7th patient in this country and every 5th patient in rural and inner cities across the nation, the reach and influence of AAPI members’ contributions go well beyond the Convention, he said, while urging everyone to participate actively during the General Election on November 3rd.

Ambassador Amit Kumar acknowledged with gratitude the contributions of Indian American Physicians, especially during the pandemic. He referred to AAPI members writing over 1,000 prescriptions to the stranded visitors and students from India during the Covid pandemic. Ambassador Kumar thanked AAPI for its numerous initiatives to benefit people in India thorugh AAPI’s collaborative efforts with Apollo Hospital and Tata Trust in India.

Under the leadership of Dr. Vemuri S. Murthy, Chair of AAPI Webinar CME Committee, during the CMEs, eminent and world renowned experts in their respective areas of expertise shared their knowledge and wisdom, enlightening the delegates with new advances in their field of practice.

Physician Wellness: Stress and Burnout was the topic addressed by Dr. Lucky Jain, Professor and Chair at Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics& Chief Academic Officer, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; and, Dr. Rohit Kumar Vasa, an Attending Neonatologist at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago, Chair of Pediatrics and Neonatology Site Leader, Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, Chicago.

A CME on “A Global Health Topic: Learnings for India’s Health System” featured Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India and was moderated by Dr. Navin C. Nanda, Distinguished Professor of Medicine & Cardiovascular Disease at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL; and, Dr. T.S. Ravi Kumar, President, AIIMS, Mangalagiri, AP, India and a Member of WHO Global Patient Safety Experts Curriculum Committee.

The session on Surgical Management of Intracerebral Hemorrhage was led by Dr. Joseph C. Serrone, Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery and Radiology at Loyola University Medical Center & Neurosurgeon, Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in Maywood, Illinois; and, Dr. Suresh Reddy, Associate Professor of Radiology at Loyola University Medical Center & Chief of Radiology, Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in Maywood, Illinois.

“The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin Mini Convention offered an exciting venue to interact with leading physicians, health professionals, academicians, and scientists of Indian origin,” Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, President-Elect of AAPI, said. “The General Body Meeting and the Convention had participants discuss and plan activities and program priorities for the current year and beyond,” she added.

“The Mini Convention provided a forum for AAPI members to network, share knowledge and thoughts, and thus, enrich one another, and rededicate ourselves for the health and wellbeing of the people in the US and back home in India,” Dr. Ravi Kolli, Vice President of AAPI, said,

Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, Secretary of AAPI said. “The Mehfil/AAPI Talent Show provided a perfect setting for the AAPI delegates to display their talents. The Convention also featured and honored the “Best Mask; Best Obesity; and, Best Monument Picture.”

“The convention offered a variety of ways to reach physicians and their families. It provided access to AAPI members who attended in person and virtually, regarding new products and services,” Dr. Satish Kathula, Treasurer of AAPI, said.

Physicians of Indian Origin in the United States are reputed to be leading health care providers, holding crucial positions in various hospitals and health care facilities around the nation and the world. Known to be a leading ethnic medical organization that represents nearly 100,000 physicians and fellows of Indian Origin in the US, and being their voice and providing a forum to its members to collectively work together to meet their diverse needs, AAPI members are proud to contribute to the wellbeing of their motherland India, and their adopted land, the United States.

In his Message, calling for Unity, Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda said: “When we come together for AAPI events we meet as friends. We interact with one another with respect, acknowledging the unique qualities and background, each one comes from. We respect their languages, religions, regional backgrounds and work together for what AAPI stands for. We may have differences of opinions; differences of approaches to various issues; our political and cultural affinities are unique. We acknowledge and accord that each of us will work together for the common good of the people we are called to serve and to realize the vision and mission of AAPI,” the President of AAPI added. For more details, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.aapiusa.org

GOPIO-Manhattan Chapter Launched

Staff ReporterCommunity 0

During a solemn virtual ceremony, which was live webcast around the world, GOPIO-Manhattan Chapter was launched, with a new team led by Shivender Sofat as the President assuming charge of the GOPIO-Manhattan Chapter on Thursday, September 24th, 2020. Attended by several community and business leaders from around the New York region, Consul General of India in New York, Randhir Kumar Jaiswal, inaugurated the new Chapter.

Ambassador Randhir Kumar Jaiswal, Chief Guest, said, “It’s a privilege to be able to join you all in inaugurating the GOPIO-Chapter, which will strengthen GOPIO, the NRI community and the Consulate in New York.” Ambassador Jaiswal congratulated the leadership of GOPIO, which he said, “has played a stellar role in shaping Indo-US Relations. We are proud of your achievements.”

Showering praises on the Indian Diaspora in the US, the Senior Diplomat from India said, the success stories of every Indian American is “a great source of  strength to the people in India. GIOIO has played an important role in fostering this relationship, he said. While assuring whole hearted support to GOPIO, he urged GOPIO to “connect with the youth both in India and the USA.”

Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman GOPIO International. In his introductory remarks, said, GOPIO was born in 1989. Today, it has 00 chapters across the world, contributing to the larger community. GOPIO chapters also serve the local communities in need, by sponsoring soup kitchens and giving scholarship to needy students. During the Covid-19 period, GOPIO chapters have been making financial contributions and replenishing food items at the food pantries serving the needy. Some chapters also provided N-95 medical masks to frontline workers, he said.

Summarizing the long-felt need for a GOIPIO Chapter in the Business Capital of the US, Dr. Thomas Abraham said, “In Manhattan, there are a large number of Indian-American young professionals who move to the city from all over the country. Also, many parents are moving to Manhattan to be closer with their grownup children who work in New York City. We have been receiving enquiries from those who move to the city to join a GOPIO chapter and we want to make that happen.

Shivender Sofat. President, GOPIO-Manhattan, said, GOPIO was started in NYC and now we are back in action reviving the organization in the city, where 60 to 70 percent of NRIs have a connection. Describing some of the programs GOPIO-Manhattan has envisaged, the President of the Chapter said, “Motivate our Indian Diaspora community to participate and help in local charitable and social service activities including soup kitchens and walkathons benefitting local charities; Organize seminars and symposium on subjects of interest to the Indian Diaspora community; Host elected officials from New York and India with interactive sessions; A welcome networking reception and dinner for all new students from India who join colleges and universities in New York city; and, Build an Indian American Youth and Young Professionals network and organize program for them.”

Prof. Arvind Panagariya, a Padmabhushan Recipient, former Niti Ayog Vice Chairman and a Faculty at Columbia University, while according a warm welcome to the new Consul General in New York, shared his greetings to the new OIffice Bearers of the GOPIO Chapter in NYC. He applauded Dr. Thomas Abraham and called him “a Pillar of the Indian Community globally.”

Prof. P. Somasundaran, a Padmashri Recipient and Faculty at Columbia University, in his address, complimented GOPIO, which he said, “is a brain child of some creative people.” Referring to the extreme challenges, particularly climate change, chaos and political violence, he said, “We need the comfort and support of each other. Current pandemic has shown how important and critical it is to stay united and for all of us to work together.”

New York State Senator Kevin Thomas, described the launch of the GIPIO Chapter in Manhattan as “awesome” and thanked “GOPIO for bringing us together as one family.” He praised the Indian Diaspora for its great contributions to the larger American community. “I am so proud to be the first Indian American Senator in NY,” he said. Jennifer Rajkumar, the first Assemblywoman of Indian Origin in New York called upon the Indian Diaspsora to stand united to promote India and its heritage in the United States. 

Dr. H.R. Shah, a Padmashri Recipient and Chairman, TV Asia, while offering whole hearted support,  extended his heartfelt greetings to GOPIO and the officers of the New Chapter. He called upon the 5.7 Million Indian Diaspora to play an active role in the local communities and in politics. He called upon GOPIO to “encourage the new generation and motivate them to join politics and serve the community.”

Dr. Sudhir Parikh, a Padmashri Recipient and Chairman and Publisher, Parikh Worldwide Media, in greetings, congratulated GOPIO and the leadership of Dr. Thomas Abraham “for his vision” and wished the best to the new Chapter team for the leadership. Stating that he has been associated with GOPIO since its inception, he described GOPIO to be “a home away from home.”

Neeta Jain. A Democratic leader from Queens, and national delegate for Biden, shared about her 30 years of fight for “equality and cultural recognition, which is ongoing.” Dr, Navin Mehta, Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, NYC, praised Dr. Thomas Abraham, who is “always with full of energy.” Extending whole hearted support to GOPIO, said, New York City has much potential and “we can do so much together.”

Sunil Hali, Publisher & Promoter of Indian Eye Newsweekly, Radio Zindagi and Divya Bhaskar NA Edition, described the lauch of a new Chapter in NYC as “an extraordinary moment in NRI history.” Others who facilitated GOPIO included Rajiv Bhambri and Mukul Gupta.

GOPIO International is Pan-Indian community organization for NRIs and PIOs with over 100 chapters spread in 35 countries. In the New York area, GOPIO has chapters in New York (Central NY and Queens & Long Island), in New Jersey (Central and North) and in Connecticut. These chapters organize programs tailored to the Indian community, motivating the community to participate in civic and local community activities, and provide services to the larger society. GOPIO-Manhattan is already registered as in New York State a charitable organization and has accorded non-profit 501 (c) (3) status by the IRS.  

Pandemic is Time to Rethink Way of Life, Economics, Social Systems: Pope Francis Addresses UN General Assembly

Staff ReporterCulture/Religion 0

Pope Francis while addressing the United Nations General Assembly, called for the organization to continue to focus on human rights and the environment. Due to the pandemic, his address was sent in a pre-recorded video in Spanish. “In these days, our world continues to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has led to the loss of so many lives.,” Pope Francis said. “This crisis is changing our way of life, calling into question our economic, health, and social systems, and exposing our human fragility.”He suggested this is a time when society must separate what is necessary from what is not. This can lead to “rethinking our way of life and our economic and social systems.” The Holy Father noted the need to address many humanitarian crises around the world, including refugees, ongoing conflict, and inequality of economic opportunity. “I urge civil authorities to be especially attentive to children who are denied their fundamental rights and dignity, particularly their right to life and to schooling,” the Pope said. He also urged continued attention on equality for women. This was the second time Pope Francis has addressed the General Assembly. The first time was in person, exactly five years ago, on September 25, 2015. It will be the sixth time a Pope has addressed the UN, following Pope Paul VI in 1964, Pope John Paul II in 1979 and 1995, Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. 

Following is the full address, provided by the Vatican.

Mr. President,Peace be with all of you!I offer cordial greetings to you, Mr. President, and to all the Delegations taking part in this significant Seventy-fifth Session of the United Nations’ General Assembly. In particular, I greet the Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, the participating Heads of State and Government, and all those who are following the General Debate. The seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations offers me a fitting occasion to express once again the Holy See’s desire that this Organization increasingly serves as a sign of unity between States and an instrument of service to the entire human family.[1] In these days, our world continues to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has led to the loss of so many lives. This crisis is changing our way of life, calling into question our economic, health, and social systems, and exposing our human fragility. The pandemic, indeed, calls us “to seize this time of trial as a time of choosing, a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not”.[2] It can represent a concrete opportunity for conversion, for transformation, for rethinking our way of life and our economic and social systems, which are widening the gap between rich and poor based on an unjust distribution of resources. On the other hand, the pandemic can be the occasion for a “defensive retreat” into greater individualism and elitism. We are faced, then, with a choice between two possible paths. One path leads to the consolidation of multilateralism as the expression of a renewed sense of global co-responsibility, a solidarity grounded in justice, and the attainment of peace and unity within the human family, which is God’s plan for our world. The other path emphasizes self-sufficiency, nationalism, protectionism, individualism, and isolation; it excludes the poor, the vulnerable and those dwelling on the peripheries of life. That path would certainly be detrimental to the whole community, causing self-inflicted wounds on everyone. It must not prevail. The pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to promote public health and to make every person’s right to basic medical care a reality.[3] For this reason, I renew my appeal to political leaders and the private sector to spare no effort to ensure access to Covid-19 vaccines and to the essential technologies needed to care for the sick. If anyone should be given preference, let it be the poorest, the most vulnerable, those who so often experience discrimination because they have neither power nor economic resources. The current crisis has also demonstrated that solidarity must not be an empty word or promise. It has also shown us the importance of avoiding every temptation to exceed our natural limits. “We have the freedom needed to limit and direct technology; we can put it at the service of another type of progress, one which is healthier, more human, more social, more integral”.[4] This also needs to be taken into careful consideration in discussions on the complex issue of artificial intelligence (AI). Along these same lines, I think of the effects of the pandemic on employment, a sector already destabilized by a labor market driven by increasing uncertainty and widespread robotization. There is an urgent need to find new forms of work truly capable of fulfilling our human potential and affirming our dignity. In order to ensure dignified employment, there must be a change in the prevailing economic paradigm, which seeks only to expand companies’ profits. Offering jobs to more people should be one of the main objectives of every business, one of the criteria for the success of productive activity. Technological progress is valuable and necessary, provided that it serves to make people’s work more dignified and safe, less burdensome, and stressful. All this calls for a change of direction. To achieve this, we already possess the necessary cultural and technological resources, and social awareness. This change of direction will require, however, a more robust ethical framework capable of overcoming “today’s widespread and quietly growing culture of waste”.[5] At the origin of this “throwaway culture” is a gross lack of respect for human dignity, the promotion of ideologies with reductive understandings of the human person, a denial of the universality of fundamental human rights, and a craving for absolute power and control that is widespread in today’s society. Let us name this for what it is: an attack against humanity itself. It is in fact painful to see the number of fundamental human rights that in our day continue to be violated with impunity. The list of such violations is indeed lengthy and offers us a frightening picture of a humanity abused, wounded, deprived of dignity, freedom, and hope for the future. As part of this picture, religious believers continue to endure every kind of persecution, including genocide, because of their beliefs. We Christians too are victims of this: how many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world are suffering, forced at times to flee from their ancestral lands, cut off from their rich history and culture. We should also admit that humanitarian crises have become the status quo, in which people’s right to life, liberty, and personal security are not protected. Indeed, as shown by conflicts worldwide, the use of explosive weapons, especially in populated areas, is having a dramatic long-term humanitarian impact. Conventional weapons are becoming less and less “conventional” and more and more “weapons of mass destruction”, wreaking havoc on cities, schools, hospitals, religious sites, infrastructures, and basic services needed by the population. What is more, great numbers of people are being forced to leave their homes. Refugees, migrants, and the internally displaced frequently find themselves abandoned in their countries of origin, transit, and destination, deprived of any chance to better their situation in life and that of their families. Worse still, thousands are intercepted at sea and forcibly returned to detention camps, where they meet with torture and abuse. Many of these become victims of human trafficking, sexual slavery, or forced labor, exploited in degrading jobs, and denied a just wage. This is intolerable, yet intentionally ignored by many! The numerous and significant international efforts to respond to these crises begin with great promise – here I think of the two Global Compacts on Refugees and on Migration – yet many lack the necessary political support to prove successful. Others fail because individual states shirk their responsibilities and commitments. All the same, the current crisis offers an opportunity for the United Nations to help build a more fraternal and compassionate society. This includes reconsidering the role of economic and financial institutions, like that of Bretton-Woods, which must respond to the rapidly growing inequality between the super-rich and the permanently poor. An economic model that encourages subsidiarity, supports economic development at the local level, and invests in education and infrastructure benefiting local communities, will lay the foundation not only for economic success but also for the renewal of the larger community and nation. Here I would renew my appeal that “in light of the present circumstances… all nations be enabled to meet the greatest needs of the moment through the reduction, if not the forgiveness, of the debt burdening the balance sheets of the poorest nations”.[6] The international community ought to make every effort to put an end to economic injustices. “When multilateral credit organizations provide advice to various nations, it is important to keep in mind the lofty concepts of fiscal justice, the public budgets responsible for their indebtedness, and, above all, an effective promotion of the poorest, which makes them protagonists in the social network”.[7] We have a responsibility to offer development assistance to poor nations and debt relief to highly indebted nations.[8] “A new ethics presupposes being aware of the need for everyone to work together to close tax shelters, avoid evasions and money laundering that rob society, as well as to speak to nations about the importance of defending justice and the common good over the interests of the most powerful companies and multinationals”.[9] Now is a fitting time to renew the architecture of international finance.[10] Mr. President,Five years ago, I had the opportunity to address the General Assembly in person on its seventieth anniversary. My visit took place at a time marked by truly dynamic multilateralism. It was a moment of great hope and promise for the international community, on the eve of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Some months later, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was also adopted.Yet we must honestly admit that, even though some progress has been made, the international community has shown itself largely incapable of honoring the promises made five years ago. I can only reiterate that “we must avoid every temptation to fall into a declarationist nominalism which would assuage our consciences. We need to ensure that our institutions are truly effective in the struggle against all these scourges”.[11] I think of the alarming situation in the Amazon and its indigenous peoples. Here we see that the environmental crisis is inseparably linked to a social crisis and that caring for the environment calls for an integrated approach to combatting poverty and exclusion.[12] To be sure, the growth of an integral ecological sensitivity and the desire for action is a positive step. “We must not place the burden on the next generations to take on the problems caused by the previous ones… We must seriously ask ourselves if there is the political will to allocate with honesty, responsibility, and courage, more human, financial, and technological resources to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, as well as to help the poorest and most vulnerable populations who suffer from them the most”.[13] The Holy See will continue to play its part. As a concrete sign of the Holy See’s commitment to care for our common home, I recently ratified the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.[14] Mr. President,We cannot fail to acknowledge the devastating effects of the Covid-19 crisis on children, including unaccompanied young migrants and refugees. Violence against children, including the horrible scourge of child abuse and pornography, has also dramatically increased. Millions of children are presently unable to return to school. In many parts of the world, this situation risks leading to an increase in child labor, exploitation, abuse, and malnutrition. Sad to say, some countries and international institutions are also promoting abortion as one of the so-called “essential services” provided in the humanitarian response to the pandemic. It is troubling to see how simple and convenient it has become for some to deny the existence of a human life as a solution to problems that can and must be solved for both the mother and her unborn child. I urge civil authorities to be especially attentive to children who are denied their fundamental rights and dignity, particularly their right to life and to schooling. I cannot help but think of the appeal of that courageous young woman, Malala Yousafzai, who speaking five years ago in the General Assembly, reminded us that “one child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world”. The first teachers of every child are his or her mother and father, the family, which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights describes as the “natural and fundamental group unit of society”.[15] All too often, the family is the victim of forms of ideological colonialism that weaken it and end up producing in many of its members, especially the most vulnerable, the young and the elderly, a feeling of being orphaned and lacking roots. The breakdown of the family is reflected in the social fragmentation that hinders our efforts to confront common enemies. It is time that we reassess and recommit ourselves to achieving our goals. One such goal is the advancement of women. This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Conference on Women. At every level of society, women now play an important role, offering their singular contribution and courageously promoting the common good. Many women, however, continue to be left behind: victims of slavery, trafficking, violence, exploitation, and degrading treatment. To them, and to those who forced to live apart from their families, I express my fraternal closeness. At the same time, I appeal once more for greater determination and commitment in the fight against those heinous practices that debase not only women but all humanity, which by its silence and lack of effective action becomes an accomplice in them. Mr. President,We must ask ourselves if the principal threats to peace and security – poverty, epidemics, terrorism, and so many others – can be effectively be countered when the arms race, including nuclear weapons, continues to squander precious resources that could better be used to benefit the integral development of peoples and protect the natural environment. We need to break with the present climate of distrust. At present, we are witnessing an erosion of multilateralism, which is all the more serious in light of the development of new forms of military technology,[16] such as lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) which irreversibly alter the nature of warfare, detaching it further from human agency. We need to dismantle the perverse logic that links personal and national security to the possession of weaponry. This logic serves only to increase the profits of the arms industry while fostering a climate of distrust and fear between persons and peoples. Nuclear deterrence, in particular, creates an ethos of fear based on the threat of mutual annihilation; in this way, it ends up poisoning relationships between peoples and obstructing dialogue.[17] That is why it is so important to support the principal international legal instruments on nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation, and prohibition. The Holy See trusts that the forthcoming Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will result in concrete action in accordance with our joint intention “to achieve at the earliest possible date the cessation of the nuclear arms race and to undertake effective measures in the direction of nuclear disarmament”.[18] In addition, our strife-ridden world needs the United Nations to become an ever more effective international workshop for peace. This means that the members of the Security Council, especially the Permanent Members, must act with greater unity and determination. In this regard, the recent adoption of a global cease-fire during the present crisis is a very noble step, one that demands goodwill on the part of all for its continued implementation. Here I would also reiterate the importance of relaxing international sanctions that make it difficult for states to provide adequate support for their citizens. Mr. President,We never emerge from a crisis just as we were. We come out either better or worse. This is why, at this critical juncture, it is our duty to rethink the future of our common home and our common project. A complex task lies before us, one that requires a frank and coherent dialogue aimed at strengthening multilateralism and cooperation between states. The present crisis has further demonstrated the limits of our self-sufficiency as well as our common vulnerability. It has forced us to think clearly about how we want to emerge from this: either better or worse. The pandemic has shown us that we cannot live without one another, or worse still, pitted against one another. The United Nations was established to bring nations together, to be a bridge between peoples. Let us make good use of this institution in order to transform the challenge that lies before us into an opportunity to build together, once more, the future we all desire.God bless you all! Thank you, Mr. President.

6 Indian-Origin People On 2020 TIME100 List

Staff ReporterCommunity, Profiles 0

Six Persons of Indian-origin have made to the prestigious 2020 TIME100 List of the world’s most influential people. They are: Ravindra Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease at the University of Cambridge; Ayushman Khurana, Indian actor, singer, and television host; Sen. Kamala Harris, Vice Presidential running mate of Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden in the United States; Indian Prime Minister Naredra Modi; Alphabet CEO and Google head Sundar Pichai; and Bilkis, Shaheen Bagh’s ‘dadi’.

Other people in the TIME 100 List are: Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, Angela Merkel, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and William Barr. To coincide with the launch of its annual list of the world’s most influential people, TIME is also hosting 2020 TIME100 honorees for a special three-part series of consecutive TIME100 Talks, TIME’s series of virtual conversations that convenes influential leaders across fields to encourage cross-disciplinary action toward a better world. This series of TIME100 Talks is airing on September 23, 24 and 25 on Time.com and across TIME’s social media platforms.

“The TIME100 is more than a list. It’s a community of hundreds of leaders from across the years and around the world whose visions can guide us and whose achievements can bring us hope,” said TIME executive editor and editorial director of the TIME100 Dan Macsai. “We look forward to convening this community for this special series of TIME100 Talks.”

Thousands of people participated in last year’s widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh. Three feisty grandmothers also took part in these demonstrations surrounded by young women with prayer beads in one hand and the national flag in the other.

One of the Shaheen Bagh grandmothers (Dadi), 82-year-old Bilkis who became the face of the Shaheen Bagh protests in India, has featured among Time Magazine’s top 100 most influential personalities in the world. While she is happy about the praises garnered, she also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has now featured four times in the magazine’s influential personalities’ list.

In the latest influential people’s list released by Time Magazine, Bilkis has been placed in the ‘Icon’ category. Bilkis told IANS, “I am very happy that I have been honored with such respect. Although I did not expect this but who knows whom God gives recognition?”

“I have only read the Quran and never went to school. But today I am happy, congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too. He is also my son. I did not give him birth but that does not mater. God bless him with a long life and always give him happiness,” Bilkis added. “Our fight first is with corona, the disease must be eliminated from the world only then something can be thought of the world after that,” the 82-year-old added.

Grandmother Bilkis, who emerged as the face of the NRC-CAA protests, originally hails from Hapur. Her husband died nearly 11 years back. At present, she lives in Shaheen Bagh with her sons, daughter-in-laws and grandchildren.

Bilkis’ family is also happy that her name has featured alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Time Magazine’s 100 ‘Most Influential People’ in the world list.

The TIME coverage included a brief write-up on Khurrana by actress and friend, Deepika , Padukone. In a statement Khurrana said, “I’m truly humbled with the recognition that TIME has bestowed on me. As an artiste, I have only looked to contribute towards bringing a positive change in society through cinema and this moment is a huge validation of my belief system and my journey. I have always believed that cinema has the power to bring about change by triggering the right conversations among people and society. Hopefully, through my content choices, I have been able to contribute towards my country and countrymen.”

After dabbling for some years in theatre and television, Khurrana made his Bollywood debut with the Shoojit Sircar directed ‘Vicky Donor’. He went on to act in critically acclaimed and commercially successful films such as Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Andhadhun, Badhaai Ho, Article 15, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, and Bala.

His latest work is featured on Amazon Prime Video’s dramedy Gulabo Sitabo, where he shared screen space with Amitabh Bachchan for the first time.

Other Indians featured on the list include Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, London based doctor Ravindra Gupta, who found a cure for AIDs and Bilkis – Shaheen Bagh ‘Dadi’ who has been a vocal critic of the Indian government’s Citizenship Amendment Act, which opponents contend singles out Muslims by not mentioning them among those favored for citizenships status.

While Trump Refuses TO Commit TO Peaceful Transfer, Mcconnell Promises An ‘Orderly’ Transition Of Power

Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

President Trump cast doubt on the transition last week, questioning the probity of the vote with so many ballots likely to be cast by mail. But Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said there would be a peaceful handover in January as there had been every four years since 1792. Democratic senators label Trump a grave threat to American democracy. The president currently trails his challenger, Democrat Joe Biden, in national opinion polls with 40 days to go until the election.  Many more Americans than usual will be casting their votes by post this year, due to the pandemic, and Trump has been questioning the security of this mail-in ballot system. If Trump were to refuse to accept the result of the election, it would take the country into uncharted territory. Biden has suggested that should this happen, the military could remove Trump from the White House. However, Trump’s spokeswoman said the president would abide by the results of a free and fair election. 

What have Republicans said?

“The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th,” Mr McConnell tweeted on Thursday. “There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792.” Other Republican lawmakers, including vocal Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham, have similarly promised a safe and fair election. “I can assure you it will be peaceful,” Mr Graham told Fox News, but suggested a decision could go to the nation’s top court. “If Republicans lose we will accept the result. If the Supreme Court rules in favour of Joe Biden, I will accept that result.” Senator Mitt Romney offered a more critical response on Wednesday, saying “any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable”.

What did Trump say?

On Thursday, Mr Trump again cast doubt on the integrity of the election, saying he was not sure it could be “honest” because, he claimed, postal ballots are “a whole big scam”. The president sparked the controversy on Wednesday evening when he was asked by a reporter if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power “win, lose or draw” to Mr Biden. “I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots,” Mr Trump said. “And the ballots are a disaster.” When the journalist countered that “people are rioting”, Mr Trump interjected: “Get rid of the ballots, and you’ll have a very – you’ll have a very peaceful – there won’t be a transfer, frankly, there’ll be a continuation.” Back in 2016, Trump also refused to commit to accepting the election results in his contest against the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, which she characterised as an attack on democracy. He took the White House after winning the all-important electoral college count, although he lost the popular vote by three million ballots, an outcome he still questions. 

What have Democrats said?

Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the third most powerful politician in Washington, told reporters on Thursday that she was not surprised at Mr Trump’s earlier remarks. Mrs Pelosi added that the president “admires people who are perpetuating their role in government”, citing Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “But I remind him: you are not in North Korea, you are not in Turkey, you are not in Russia, Mr President… so why don’t you just try for a moment to honour your oath of office.” Speaking to reporters in Delaware, Mr Biden said Mr Trump’s comments on the transition of power were “irrational”. The Democrat’s team also said “the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House”. A Biden spokesman told Politico the former vice-president “obviously, has participated in a peaceful transition of power before” and will do so after the 2020 election as well. Biden has himself been accused by conservatives of stoking unrest over the election by saying in August: “Does anyone believe there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is re-elected?” Last month, Mrs Clinton urged Mr Biden to not concede defeat early on election night. “I think this is going to drag out, and eventually I do believe he will win if we don’t give an inch.” She raised the scenario that Republicans would try “messing up absentee balloting” and mobilise an army of lawyers to contest the result. Doubts about the fairness of November’s vote come as another high-stakes political battle is fought – on whether or not to appoint a new Supreme Court justice before the election. 

Cardinal Becciu: Vatican Official Forced Out In Rare Resignation

Staff ReporterBusiness, Culture/Religion 0

High-ranking Vatican official Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu has unexpectedly resigned but has revealed he was told to do so by Pope Francis. He said he was suspected of giving Church money to his brothers, and denied any wrongdoing. Cardinal Becciu was a close aide to the Pope and previously had a key job in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.

He became involved in a controversial deal to invest in a luxury London building with Church funds. That investment has since been the subject of a financial investigation.

Resignations at this level of the Vatican are extremely rare and the Holy See said little in its communique released late on Thursday.

“The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the office of Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and from the rights connected to the Cardinalate, presented by His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu,” a statement said.

But the cardinal, 72, told Italian website Domani he was being forced out because he was suspected of giving Church money to his brothers. “I didn’t steal even one euro. I am not under investigation but if they send me to trial, I will defend myself,” he was quoted as saying.

Speaking later at a news conference, the cardinal said his removal had come “like a bolt out of the blue”. He said the Pope “was suffering” when he delivered the news. “It’s all surreal. Up until yesterday… I felt I was a friend of the Pope, the faithful executor of the Pope. “Then the Pope told me that he no longer had faith in me because he got a report from magistrates that I committed an act of misappropriation.”

Cardinal Becciu insisted there had been “a misunderstanding”, adding: “I am ready to explain everything to the Pope. I have not done anything wrong. I said to the Pope: why are you doing this to me, in front of the whole world?”

The anguished words of one of the Church’s most senior cardinals – now fired and stripped of his right to choose the next Pope. Giovanni Angelo Becciu had served as Deputy Secretary of State – a role with unfettered access to Pope Francis – and was latterly head of the department that chooses future saints.

But on Thursday evening, he was summoned for a reportedly tense meeting with his boss. Cardinal Becciu had managed a controversial €200m (£180m) purchase of a London property with Church funds, including alms money. Other reports allege he propped up a failing Roman hospital which employed his niece.

“The Holy Father explained that I had given favours to my brothers and their businesses with Church money… but I am certain there are no crimes”, he told new Italian newspaper Domani.

But his denial was not enough. It’s been dubbed an “earthquake at the Vatican”.

The choreography of his dismissal may seem cloak-and-dagger – but it is a reminder yet again that the scandal and corruption that beset governments across the world also reach the highest echelons of the Holy See.

Who is Cardinal Becciu?

Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who is Italian, spent the early years of his career in the Vatican’s diplomatic service. Then, from 2011 to 2018, he had the powerful role of Substitute for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State, when he met the Pope on a daily basis.

It was Pope Francis who made him cardinal in 2018, when he took up a new role of running the department that looks after sainthoods and beatifications.

“It’s a blow for me, my family, the people of my country. I’ve accepted out of a spirit of obedience and love of the Church and the Pope,” Italian media quoted the cardinal as saying on Friday morning.

What is known of the London property deal?

It was during the cardinal’s time as Substitute for General Affairs that he was linked to a luxury property deal in a wealthy area of London.  The $200m (£155m) purchase of the apartment block in Sloane Avenue was bought out of Church money through offshore funds and companies.

Five members of staff were suspended last year following a raid of the offices of the Secretariat last year. Vatican police officers seized documents and computers. Then, in June, Italian businessman Gianluigi Torzi was arrested by Vatican police on suspicion of extortion and embezzlement.

Earlier this year, Cardinal Becciu defended the purchase.

“An investment was made on a building. It was good and opportune occasion, which many people envy us for today,” he said in February. He also denied that money collected for the poor, called Peter’s Pence, had been used in the deal.

Why now?

The cardinal’s sudden departure may not just be linked to the London deal. In his interview on Friday, the cardinal said the Pope confronted him over Church money he had given to co-operatives and businesses run by his brothers.

A co-operative in Sardinia, run by his brother Tonino Becciu, provided help to migrants and the cardinal said all the money had been accounted for. Other funding was used to renovate the Holy See’s building in Cuba.

Italian reports also suggest the Pope was unhappy with the use of Peter’s Pence funds for other investments. Last year, Italian weekly L’Espresso published a report from the Vatican’s anti-corruption authority alleging more widespread speculative investments amounting to $725m.

Cardinal Becciu will keep his title despite his resignation from the congregation. However, he will not be able to vote for the next Pope.  The last cardinal to give up his right to vote for a new Pope was Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien who resigned in 2013 amid a sex scandal. He died five years later.

Two Million Deaths ‘Very Likely’ Even With Vaccine, WHO Warns

Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

The global coronavirus death toll could hit two million before an effective vaccine is widely used, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. Dr. Mike Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies head, said the figure could be higher without concerted international action. Almost one million people have died with Covid-19 worldwide since the disease first emerged in China late last year. Virus infections continue to rise, with 32 million cases confirmed globally. The start of a second surge of coronavirus infections has been seen in many countries in the northern hemisphere as winter approaches. So far, the US, India and Brazil have confirmed the most cases, recording more than 15 million between them. But in recent days, there has been a resurgence of infections across Europe, prompting warnings of national lockdowns similar to those imposed at the height of the first wave of the pandemic. “Overall within that very large region, we are seeing worrying increases of the disease,” Dr Ryan said of the marked spike in cases in Europe. He urged Europeans to ask themselves whether they had done enough to avoid the need for lockdowns – and whether alternatives, such as testing and tracing, quarantines and social distancing, had been implemented. “Lockdowns are almost a last resort – and to think that we’re back in last-resort territory in September, that’s a pretty sobering thought,” Dr Ryan told reporters at the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva. 

What did he say about the death toll?

Asked whether two million fatalities worldwide was possible before a vaccine became available, Dr. Ryan said: “It’s not impossible.” He added that fatality rates were dropping as treatments for the disease improve. But better treatments and even effective vaccines might not be enough on their own to prevent deaths surpassing two million, he said. “Are we prepared to do what it takes to avoid that number?” Dr Ryan asked, calling on governments to do everything to control Covid-19. “Unless we do it all, the number you speak about is not only imaginable, but unfortunately and sadly, very likely.” 

What are the latest developments globally?

Around the world, stricter social-distancing guidelines and restrictions on businesses are being brought into effect to curb a second spike. In Spain, the government has recommended reimposing a partial lockdown on all of Madrid area, where cases have risen sharply. Instead, local authorities stepped up restrictions on some districts of the city, affecting a million people. Meanwhile in France, staff from bars and restaurants in the southern city Marseille protested against the closure of their workplaces on Saturday. On Friday, more restrictions were announced in several regions of the UK, as new daily infections continue to rise. The pandemic officially started when the WHO declared it in March 2020 but how will it end? In contrast, curbs on businesses are being lifted in some US states, despite the increasing number of cases nationwide. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious diseases expert, said the first wave of the pandemic had not ended yet in the US, because infections have not decreased sufficiently since the initial outbreak. “Rather than say, ‘a second wave,’ why don’t we say, ‘are we prepared for the challenge of the fall and the winter?’,” Dr Fauci told CNN. Elsewhere, Israel tightened restrictions on businesses and travel, one week after the country became the first in the world to begin a second nationwide lockdown. 

Biden Vows To Address Indian-Americans’ Concerns On H-1B

Staff ReporterPolitics, Travel 0

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has vowed to address the Indian-American community’s concerns related to the H-1B work visa, which President Donald Trump’s administration has temporarily suspended, the media reported.

Biden made the remarks while addressing a virtual fundraiser organized by the community on Tuesday, The American Bazaar reported on Wednesday. “It makes parents wonder whether their kids will have the kind of future they dreamed of when they came here.

“As President, I promise I am going to draw on the best, not the worst, beat this pandemic and build the economy back, help our kids get a good education and make sure healthcare is a right not a privilege,” the former Vice President was quoted as saying.

In June, the Trump administration suspended the H-1B and several other categories of foreign work visas until the year end. The decision has been opposed by Indians, who have received as much as 70 per cent of H-1B visas over the past five years.

US business leaders have also criticized the move saying it will block their ability to recruit critically needed skilled workers from foreign countries. Slamming Trump for the move, the Democratic nominee said: “This President makes things worse, not better.”

While praising the community for their hard work and entrepreneurship, he said Indian-Americans have powered the economic growth of the US and helped forge cultural dynamism in the country, adding: “That is a continuation of who we are, we are a nation of immigrants.”

Biden has chosen Indian-origin California Senator, Kamala Harris as his running mate for Vice President. During the virtual event, Biden also spoke to Vivek Murthy, who served as surgeon general during the former Barack Obama administration, during which also recalled the work he had done to forge close India-US relations, reports The American Bazaar.

“Seven years ago, as Vice President, I told a business owner in Mumbai that the US-India partnership was the defining relationship in the 21st century. “I am not just saying it now, I said it then and I mean it… I will work to make sure it occurs,” he added.

Meanwhile, support for Biden among Indian-Americans appears to have fallen by 11 per cent compared to the voting for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 elections, according to polls.

While she received 77 per cent of votes from Indian-Americans, the 2020 Asian American Voter Survey (AAVS) released earlier this month found Biden getting only the support of 66 per cent. Trump’s support has however, increased by 12 per cent in the court years to 28 per cent. (IANS)

Broccoli & Spinach Soup with Poached Egg and Croutons (lactose free)

Staff ReporterAmmu's Hearty Treats 0

You’ll love sipping this green goodness. You could have it anytime of the day as this soup is perfect for a nutritious start to a cold winter morning to even a starter for a lovely dinner treat. Rich in greens and packed with flavours, this is a must try recipe. How I developed this recipe- The only soups kids usually have are the creamy ones, which uses a mix of flour-butter-milk— which makes the white sauce base. Even though I like how cream of vegetable soups taste,I never found the use of white sauce or dairy cream as a very healthy thing in these soups.  As many of the kids today are lactose intolerant, including myself, I really tried my best to make this recipe creamy, yet almost dairy free (used ghee- make it completely lactose free) and with nutritiously better dairy substitutes. Not only that, unlike many other vegetable soup recipes, this one uses a variety of greens which adds to the nutritive value of this recipe. What’s special about this recipe- . Lots of greens-  Even though the main veggies used in this recipe are broccoli and spinach, I’ve incorporated more veggies like zucchinis, brussel sprouts, onions, cellery, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, leeks & tomatoes in recipe, packing it with folate and lots of vitamins. . Dairy free substitutes- I’ve used cashew cream/coconut cream substitutes instead of flour-butter-milk white sauce and milk cream in this recipe. This not only makes this recipe simply lactose free, but also, makes it more nutritious. . Poached egg – The addition of a perfectly poached egg not only adds more protein and good fats into this recipe, but also, makes it extra delicious. Whatyou’ll need- . 2 cups broccoli florets. 2 cups spinach leaves . Half cup roughly chopped carrots. Half cup roughly chopped brussel sprouts . Half cup roughly chopped white onions . Half cup roughly chopped tomatoes . Half cup roughly chopped leeks. Half cup roughly chopped cellery . Half cup roughly chopped zucchini . Half cup roughly chopped button mushrooms . 4 cups vegetable stock . 5 garlic cloves . 2 teaspoons ghee or olive oil. Salt & Pepper to taste . Half teaspoon oregano . 1 teaspoon white vinegar . 2 tablespoons cashew cream or coconut cream . 1 poached egg ( per bowl of soup). A pinch of red chilli flakes.. Bread croutons . Chopped parsley  How to make- 

  • Heat oil/ghee & sauté onion & garlic until garlic starts browning.
  • Now add rest of the veggies-reserving half cup of broccoli & spinach and sauté it adding few pinches of salt, until lightly browned and mushy.
  • Blend this sautéed veggie mix with a little of the broth until well puréed.
  • Pour it back to the pan and heat to a boil added rest of the broth.
  • Lower the flame and stir in the cashew/coconut cream.
  • Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Add the oregano too.
  • Boil the soup down to a desired thicker consistency.
  • In another pan heat a little olive olive and sauté the broccoli and spinach with a pinch of salt, until broccoli is tender.
  • Serve hot soup topped with sautéed broccoli & spinach, bread croutons, chopped parsley & poached eggs sprinkled with chilli flakes and salt.

 Notes, tips and suggestions- . You could make this recipe gluten-free by just omitting the bread croutons or substituting it with gluten-free ones. . You could go for crumbled or pan fried tofu instead of poached eggs, if you are a vegan. . Directions for perfectly poached eggs are given in detail with my Egg Benedict & Egg Florentine recipe.  

Chicago Blasters Cricket team clinch spectacular win against the Michigan Stars

Staff ReporterSports 0

The newly constituted Chicago Blasters Cricket Team clinched magnificent back-to-back victories against the Michigan Stars with the young cricketers putting up domineering performances highlighted by tenacious bowling, outstanding fielding and remarkable boatmanship in the Minor League Cricket tournament on a warm crispy afternoon on Sunday September 27, 2020 at the Mountain View Park cricket grounds in Des Plaines. Illinois USA with appreciative cricket-lovers and families gathered to watch this exciting clash.

 This second game between Chicago Blasters and the Michigan Stars kicked off to an exciting start with Michigan Stars electing to bat first.  Having wrapped up the Michigan Stars for a total of 169; the Chicago Blasters took to the field hammering all across the field with openers Shaheer Hassan and Fahad Babber executing powerful shots taking the Chicago Blasters to a spectacular victory. Shaheer Hassan scored a magnificent102 not out with 16 shots to the boundary including 8 sixes; while Fahad Babber scored 65 with 5 sixes taking this amazing partnership to lift the team to a decisive victory – creating  a record in the USA Cricket franchise in the Minor League Cricket.  

 Earlier, The Chicago Blasters kicked off its maiden cricket match with a thrilling victory against the Michigan Stars at the Lyons Oaks park stadium near Detroit Michigan on September 19, 2020 scoring a magnificent knock excelling in both batting and bowling. After an initial slow rate, the Chicago Blasters displayed outstanding batting prowess with batsman Anirudh Jonnavituila scoring an amazing 74; while bowler Hunain Amin took 4 wickets with his immaculate bowling spell. Later, the Michigan Stars walked into the field scoring runs but the tenaciousbowling and fielding kept the Michigan Stars fall short of their target – thus the Chicago Blasters emerged victorious in its first encounter in Detroit, Michigan.

Iftekhar Shareef, CEO/Owner of the Chicago Blasters Cricket Team welcomed the team, families, other cricket enthusiasts gathered at the grounds including the ‘live’ online viewers and praised the Chicago Blasters for chronicling stunning victories and applauded their robust collective team spirit that helped forge an impressive win.  Iftekhar Shareef thanked and acknowledged the core inner operational team including Khurram Syed, Vice President supported by Satish Dadepogu and the management team of Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, Ajai Agnihotri & Dr. Sanhita Agnihotri.  The ChicagoBlasters Cricket team is based in Chicago, USA was constituted as an affiliate team in the United States of America under the authorized aegis of  the International Cricket Council [ICC]. The Chicago Blasters team members consists of Ashar Mehdi (Captain &Wicket Keeper), Joshua Kind (Vice Captain), Fahad Babar, Shaheer Hasan, Najmi Hasan, Anirudh Jonnavitula, Sachin Veeraswamy, Talha Mohsin, Hunain Amin,  Ibrahim Khaleel, Sai Charith Duggupati, Adnan Yar Khan and Mann Patel, Coach/ Manager Afroze Siddiqui, Selectors Neeraj Patel, Mohammes Ashfaq & Ahmed Shareef. (Source: Asian Media USA ©) 

 

S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, A Legendary Bollywood Singer Leaves a Lasting Legacy Of Enchanting Songs

Staff ReporterEntertainment, Profiles 0

One of India’s most renowned film singers, SP Balasubrahmanyam, the legendary singer passed away at the age of 74 due to Covid related complications. The mortal remains of famous playback singer and Padma awardee S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, popular as SPB or Balu in the movie world, was laid to rest with police honors at his farmhouse in Chennai on Saturday, September 26th. At about 12.30 p.m. SPB’s body was lowered into a dug up pit bringing to end a great musical era. Speaking briefly to the media outside the MGM Healthcare Hospital, his son S.P. Charan said Balasubrahmanyam passed away at 1.04 p.m. and thanked the hospital officials for the treatment and service. The singer’s body was taken to his residence after embalming for public homage in the evening. The singer was hospitalized at a private hospital in Chennai after testing positive for COVID-19 and was keeping unwell for quite some time now. From Rajinikanth to Kamal Haasan, music maestro AR Rahman to Lata Mangeshkar, celebrities across India took to social media to mourn the death of the singer. Meanwhile political leaders across the country — President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister K. Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, DMK President M.K. Stalin, MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, PMK Founder S. Ramadoss and Chief Ministers of several other states mourned the singer’s death. Actor Rajinikanth tweeted: “Balu sir … you have been my voice for many years … your voice and your memories will live with me forever … I will truly miss you …” “I have no words to say. There can be one and only Balu Sir. I have sung a couple of songs with Balu Sir in Tamil movies. In those days the recording used to be live and it was interesting. He encouraged me a lot. Some months back I had met him. He enquired about my family and me,” playback singer Jency said. The legendary singer who has recorded over 40,000 songs in 16 languages over a period of five decades, died on Friday afternoon due to cardio-respiratory arrest at the M.G.H. Healthcare. Earlier in the day, hundreds of people stood in a long queue to pay homage to the singer as well as celebrities from the movie world at the farm house. The singer’s family performed the last rites. The mortal remains were brought to the farmhouse on Friday evening. On Friday, a large number of people gathered at his residence here to have a last glimpse of the singer and pay their respects. Later in the evening, his body was taken in a van to his farmhouse at Thamaraipakkam. Enroute several people stood on the pavement and bade SPB a tearful goodbye. On August 5, in a Facebook post, the 74-year-old SPB said that he was suffering from a very mild attack of coronavirus and had got himself hospitalised to take a rest. He had said that though the doctors had advised him to stay at home and take a rest, he decided to be in a hospital, as at home his family members would get concerned. SPB hoped to get discharged from the hospital in two days. But it was not to be. MGM Healthcare in a statement said: “In a further setback this morning, despite maximal life support measures and the best efforts of the clinical team, his condition deteriorated further and he suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest. With profound grief, we regret to inform that he has passed away on September 25 at 13.04 hours.” The hospital said, Balasubrahmanyam was on life support measures since Aug 14 for severe Covid-19 pneumonia. On August 5, in a Facebook post, the 74-year-old SPB said that he was suffering from a very mild attack of coronavirus and had got himself hospitalized to take rest. He had said that though the doctors had advised him to stay at home and take rest, he decided to be in a hospital, as at home his family members would get concerned. He hoped to get discharged from the hospital in two days. But it was not to be. For a brief period, he showed some improvement in his health condition and had tested negative for coronavirus on Sept. 4. But on Sept. 24 the hospital said his condition was extremely critical. Since then, the indications about Balasubrahmanyam were not good. He was placed on ECMO and other life support systems. The singer’s family members were present at the hospital. Director Bharathiraja, after visiting the iconic singer at the hospital, told the media at this time of grief he was not able to say anything. It was movie director Venkat Prabhu who first tweeted about the singer’s death. Prabhu tweeted “#RIPSPB 1:04pm” announcing the sad news. 

Indian Lyricist, Writer Javed Akhtar to be Honored with 2020 Richard Dawkins Award

Staff ReporterEntertainment, Profiles 0

Indian writer, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar will be presented next month with the 2020 Richard Dawkins Award. Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, will present Akhtar with the award at an Oct. 24 virtual ceremony.

“Their work has inspired and enlightened millions of people around the world and across generations. Their passionate advocacy for reason and their unapologetic questioning of religion and superstition have broken taboos and changed the cultural landscape,” the Center for Inquiry said in a news release.

In a virtual ceremony hosted by Dawkins from the UK and streamed live over Zoom, Akhtar will formally accept the Richard Dawkins Award for 2020, followed by an extended, unscripted conversation between the two, the release noted. This 90-minute live event will take place Oct. 24 at 11 a.m. ET.

“We are excited to honor such a distinguished luminary for his work challenging religion and promoting critical thinking, but this event means something even more,” said Robyn Blumner, president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry.

“It’s an opportunity to bring the wisdom and insight of both of these remarkable individuals to new audiences,” Blummer added. “Viewers in India will get to hear directly from Richard Dawkins, one of the world’s most famous and respected scientists and a leading voice for atheism, and western viewers will be introduced to the eloquence and courage of Javed Akhtar.”

Akhtar has written some of India’s most popular and acclaimed films, earning multiple awards for screenplays and lyrics. As a poet and social commentator, Akhtar has advocated for education and equal rights for all, and called for the rejection of religious fundamentalism and superstition, his bio notes.

He has been honored with India’s prestigious Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri for “distinguished service of a high order,” and nominated to the Rajya Sabha of India’s Parliament. 

The Richard Dawkins Award is presented annually by the Center for Inquiry, home to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, and given to a distinguished individual from the worlds of science, scholarship, education or entertainment who publicly proclaims the values of secularism and rationalism, upholding scientific truth wherever it may lead.

Mcconnell’s Fabricated History To Justify A 2020 Supreme Court Vote

Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Senate Republicans’ decision to vote on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s successor reflects individual and collective cost-benefit calculations of seating a rock-ribbed conservative in what may be the Trump administration’s waning days. As a fig leaf to obscure the hypocrisy of voting on President Trump’s election-year nominee after refusing to vote on President Obama’s in early 2016, Republicans have claimed an historical norm that doesn’t exist.

The GOP Senate’s initial claim

In March 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to justify denying a vote on Obama’s nomination of DC Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland to replace Justice Antonin Scalia: “All we are doing is following the long-standing tradition of not fulfilling a nomination in the middle of a presidential year.”

There is no such tradition. The table shows the nine Supreme Court vacancies in place during election years in the Court’s post-Civil War era—once Congress stabilized the Court’s membership at nine and the justices largely stopped serving as trial judges in the old circuit courts. Those nine election-year vacancies (out of over 70 in the period) were all filled in the election year—one by a 1956 uncontested recess appointment and eight by Senate confirmation.

Last year, given the lack of any “long-standing tradition” but anticipating the possibility of an election-year vacancy, McConnell fabricated a different history to justify treating a Trump nominee differently from Obama’s. He argued that “[y]ou have to go back to … 1880s to find the last time … a Senate of a different party from the president filled a Supreme Court vacancy created in the middle of a presidential election. That was entirely the precedent.” When that anticipation became reality with the death of Justice Ginsburg, he offered a slightly different excuse: “Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year”. A National Review article claimed a norm: “when their party controls the Senate, presidents get to fill Supreme Court vacancies . . . [but] when the opposite party controls the Senate, the Senate gets to block Supreme Court nominees . . .”.

Other Republican senators have fallen in line. Mitt Romney (Utah) cited the party-control distinction in claiming that he “came down on the side of the Constitution and precedent as I’ve studied it.”

Pre-2016 modern-era confirmations offer a different story: First, it’s not as if there were a string of election-year vacancies, some during unified government, which got filled, and others during divided government, which didn’t. Rather all five election-year vacancies from the 1890s until the 1950s were during unified government, offering no test of whether divided government would have confirmed them. However, the three voice votes suggest the minority party, had it been in power, would have confirmed.

Second, even excluding as McConnell does the 1880s’ two divided-government confirmations, the two more recent divided-government vacancies got filled:

  • in 1988, the Democratic-majority Senate voted 97-0 to confirm Justice Kennedy (after the 1987 rejection of the controversial Bork nomination), and
  • Eisenhower made an uncontested October 1956 recess appointment of Justice Brennan. Had the Senate been in session, it would have confirmed a Brennan nomination—as it did early in 1957.

Bottom line: there was no historical justification for denying Garland a vote; thus, voting for Trump’s late-2020 nominee is hypocritical.

But there is more to this fig-leaf history than its lack of a factual basis. First, it provides no reason why a vote is permissible only if the same party controls both the White House and the (constitutionally malapportioned) Senate. McConnell’s September 18 statement said “Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump,” including on judicial appointments. Even so, 2018’s two-seat gain reflects no national consensus that a president elected with large popular vote deficit should be able to reshape the Court in the waning days of his reelection bid.

Second, historical precedents—even accurate ones—are of questionable value given that today’s Supreme Court confirmations happen in a different world than before. Let’s look at the period from 1901 to the end of the Johnson administration (1969) for some context. During that time, there were 10 median days to confirmation, with 62% by voice vote; since then, 65 median days and no voice votes.

Third, this cynical power play will weaken the Court’s legitimacy. I noted here the arguments from many sources that presidential elections put a necessary but indirect popular imprint on the judiciary, assuming that those choosing the judges reflect in some sense popular majorities. With the late 2020 confirmation, the Court will have a six-member conservative majority, five of whose members were appointed by presidents who gained office after initially losing the popular vote.

Finally, the appointment will strengthen what was until recently a fringe restructuring movement. If Democrats control the White House and Congress, there will be great pressure to restructure the Court by adding seats to counterbalance those occupied by Trump appointees. Some say, were roles reversed, Democrats would do what McConnell and company are doing. Maybe so, but that’s not the situation facing the country now. (Source: Russell Wheeler at the Brookings Institute)

As Planet Burns, One Million Species in World’s Eco-System in Danger of Extinction

Staff ReporterEnvironment 0

UNITED NATIONS: (IPS) – When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the 193-member General Assembly last December, he focused on the smoldering climate crisis– pointing out that the last five years have been the hottest ever recorded.

Ice caps are melting, he said, In Greenland alone, 179 billion tonnes of ice melted in July. Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing 70 years ahead of projections. Antarctica is melting three times as fast as a decade ago.

“Ocean levels are rising quicker than expected, putting some of our biggest and most economically important cities at risk. More than two-thirds of the world’s megacities are located by the sea. And while the oceans are rising, they are also being poisoned,” Guterres warned.

And as the planet burns, one million species in the world’s eco-system are in near-term danger of extinction
According to a new survey of 222 leading scientists from 52 countries conducted by Future Earth, there are five global risks — failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation; extreme weather events; major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse; food crises; and water crises. And four of them — climate change, extreme weather, biodiversity loss, and water crises — were deemed as most likely to occur?

Asked about the impending disaster, Dr. Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) told IPS that climate change, extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and food and water crises are already happening, primarily as a result of human activities, and they are deeply impacting the lives of people around the world.

“It is therefore imperative for the science and expert community to make their voices heard – as Future Earth has done, building on the key messages of the IPBES Global Assessment Report – to provide decision-makers with the evidence and options they need to act.”

Of real significance, however, is that it is not just the voice of science that is now speaking up for nature – consider that the global business community has also become increasingly vocal about the risks of the nature crisis and the need for evidence-informed action.

For example, in the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Risk Report, the top five perceived risks are all environmental and “systems-level thinking,” as called for.

Decision-makers have a wide range of options across sectors, systems and scales to shift to more sustainable pathways.

One million species face extinction, but the solutions to the nature crisis are still within our reach, said Dr Larigauderie, in an interview with IPS.

In the run-up to October’s historic UN Biodiversity Conference, officials and experts will convene at FAO headquarters, Rome, 24-29 Feb. for negotiations on the initial draft of a landmark post-2020 global biodiversity framework and targets for nature to 2030.

The new framework will be considered by the 196 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the 2020 UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP15), Kunming, China, 15-28 Oct.

Excerpts from the interview:

IPS: How many of the 20 Aichi biodiversity targets—including the integration of biodiversity values into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies – have been achieved so far/will still be achieved even as the 2020 deadline is looming over the horizon?

Dr. Larigauderie: The IPBES Global Assessment Report shows that, of the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets, good progress has been made towards components of just 4 target, moderate progress towards components of 7 more targets, with poor progress towards all components of 6 other targets. Conservation actions, including protected areas, efforts to manage unsustainable use and address the illegal capture and trade of species, and the translocation and eradication of invasive species, have been successful in preventing the extinction of some species.

Good progress has been made on less than 10% of the 54 total elements. On 39% of the elements, poor progress and even some loss of progress has been seen.

As a result, the state of nature overall continues to decline, with 12 of 16 indicators showing significantly worsening trends.

It has never been more urgent for decision-makers at every level to have the best evidence and heed the warnings of science, for the decisions made now will have direct implications for our shared future.

IPS: How is the world doing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially as regards the impact of the nature crisis and the likely missing of most of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets on efforts to achieve these?

Dr Larigauderie: Human development depends directly on nature – from food and water security, to jobs, health and general well-being. The rapid declines we are seeing now in biodiversity, and many of nature’s contributions to people, mean that most international development goals will not be achieved – unless we make fundamental, system-wide changes. The IPBES Global Assessment Report found that 80% of assessed SDG targets will be undermined by negative trends in nature.

The Sustainable Development Goals and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets are closely connected, with many of the Aichi Targets having been integrated into the SDGs.

Our failure to achieve the Aichi Targets does not bode well for efforts to achieve the SDGs – unless we see fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values – to tackle the direct and the indirect drivers of the nature crisis.

Besides clear connections to climate, oceans and land, the nature crisis has direct implications for poverty, hunger, health, water, and cities in addition to more a complex relationship to education, gender equality, reducing inequalities, and promoting peace and justice.

Without transformative change addressing both the direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, we will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

IPS: How will the rising global population — from the current 7.6 billion to an estimated 8.6 billion in 2030, with 43 cities reaching over 10 million each by 2030– have an impact on biodiversity targets? There are already warnings that the increase in population will have negative implications on the demand for resources, including food, infrastructure and land use.

Dr Larigauderie: Population growth is a major indirect driver of change in nature. Since 1970, the human population has more than doubled, but at the same time, per capita consumption has also risen sharply [15% since 1980], the global economy has grown nearly fourfold, global trade has grown tenfold, and the environmental and social costs of production and consumption have shifted away from those most directly responsible.

In other words, population growth is important but is only one of many key indirect drivers of change underpinning the unsustainable use of our natural resources. Other important indirect drivers include economy and technology, institutions and governance and conflicts, all of these being dependant on our values and behaviours.

Addressing all of the indirect drivers, including population growth, in an integrated and holistic way, will best enable us to achieve our shared global development goals.

Indeed, as the co-chairs of the CBD’s Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework note, “the wide-ranging changes that are needed to reach the 2050 Vision will require an unprecedented degree of collaboration and whole-of-society engagement.” (Zero draft, page 3, 6(f))

IPS: In this important “super year” for nature, with major milestones expected on both climate change and biodiversity, what plans are there to bring the science/expert communities from both climate and biodiversity together to help best inform the decisions and actions for the coming decade?

Dr Larigauderie: 2020 has real potential to be a turning point for society, where we can begin to holistically transform our relationship with nature. The ‘Super Year for Nature’ is an opportunity for decision-makers at every level of society to listen and act on the science on both biodiversity and climate change. The stakes could not be higher.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are inseparable challenges that must be addressed together, in the scientific community as well as in policy and business.

From 12 –14 May this year, well before the two major UN biodiversity and climate conferences in 2020, IPBES and the IPCC will co-sponsor a workshop – the first of its kind – to bring leading scientists together to focus on the opportunities to meet both of these challenges and on the risks of addressing them separately from one another.

The workshop report will be an important document informing the CBD and UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties (COP15 and COP 26, respectively) regarding implementation of the Paris Agreement, the post-2020 biodiversity framework and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The IPBES Global Assessment found that nature-based solutions can provide more than one-third of climate mitigation needed to keep warming below 2°C.

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org

India’s Ministry of Health Updates Guidelines for International Arrivals

Staff ReporterCommunity, Travel 0

India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has updated the Guidelines for international arrivals in India. Per the announcement of the Ministry, here are the guidelines: 

Before Planning for Travel

i. All travelers should submit self-declaration form on the online portal (www.newdelhiairport.in) at least 72 hours before the scheduled travel. ii. They should also give an undertaking on the portal that they would undergo mandatory
quarantine for 14 days i.e. 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health. iii. Only for compelling reasons/ cases of human distress such as pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parent(s) with children of the age of 10 years or below, home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days. iv. If they wish to seek such exemption under para (iii) above, they shall apply to the online portal (www.newdelhiairport.in) at least 72 hours before boarding. The decision taken by the government as communicated on the online portal will be final. v. Travelers may also seek exemption from institutional quarantine by submitting a negative RTPCR test report on arrival. This test should have been conducted within 96 hrs prior to undertaking the journey. The test report should be uploaded on the portal for consideration. Each passenger shall also submit a declaration with respect to authenticity of the report and will be liable for criminal prosecution, if found otherwise. The test report could also be
produced upon arrival at the point of entry airport in India. 

Before Boarding

i. Dos and Don’ts shall be provided along with ticket to the travelers by the agencies concerned. ii. All passengers shall be advised to download Arogya Setu app on their mobile devices. iii. At the time of boarding the flight/ ship, only asymptomatic travelers will be allowed to board after thermal screening. iv. Passengers arriving through the land borders will also have to undergo the same protocol as above, and only those who are asymptomatic will be enabled to cross the border into India. v. Suitable precautionary measures such as environmental sanitation and disinfection shall be ensured at the airports. vi. During boarding and at the airports, all possible measures to ensure social distancing to be ensured. 

During Travel

i. Travelers who had not filled in self-declaration form on the portal shall fill the same in
duplicate in the flight/ship and a copy of the same will be given to Health and Immigration
officials present at the airport/ seaport/ Iandport. Alternatively, such travelers may submit
self-declaration form on the online portal at arriving airport/ seaport/ Iandport as per the
directions of the concerned authorities, if such facility is available. ii. Suitable announcement about COVID-19 including precautionary measures to be followed shall be made at airports/port and in flights/ships and during transit. iii. While on board the flight/ ship, required precautions such as wearing of masks, environmental hygiene, respiratory hygiene, hand hygiene etc. are to be observed by airline/ ship staff, crew and all passengers. 

On arrival

i. Deboarding should be done ensuring social distancing. ii. Thermal screening would be carried out in respect of all the passengers by the Health officials present at the airport/ seaport/ Iandport. The self-declaration form filled online shall be shown (or a copy of physical self-declaration form to be submitted) to the airport health staff. iii. The passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be immediately isolated and taken to medical facility as per health protocol. iv. Post thermal screening, the passengers who have been exempted from institutional
quarantine (decision as indicated on the online portal in advance) will show the same to the
respective State Counters on their cell phones/other mode before being allowed home
quarantine for 14 days. v. The remaining passengers shall be taken to suitable institutional quarantine facilities, to be arranged by the respective State/ UT Governments. vi. These passengers shall be kept under institutional quarantine for a minimum period of 7 days. They shall be tested as per ICMR protocol available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/Revisedtestingguidelines.pdfIf they test positive, they shall be assessed clinically. a. If they are assessed as asymptomatic / pre-symptomatic/ very mild cases, they will be
allowed home isolation or isolated in the Covid Care Centre (both public & private
facilities) as appropriate. b. Those having mild/ moderate/ severe symptoms will be admitted to dedicated Covid
Health facilities and managed accordingly.If found negative, they shall be advised to further isolate themselves at home and self-monitor their health for 7 days. vii. In case, any symptoms develop they shall inform the district surveillance officer or the
state/national call center (1075). NOTE: States can develop their own protocol with regards to quarantine and isolation as per their assessment post arrival of passengers in the state concerned.

Indian Immigrants Send Back Home $11.72 Billion a Year

Staff ReporterBusiness, Community, Finance/Economy 0

With hundreds of American banks and financial institutions shuttering physical branches due to COVID-19, it’s now even more difficult for the US-based Indian immigrant community to send money back home, which totals $11.72 billion annually. As an alternative to traditional in-person money transfers, Paysend digitizes the entire money transfer process via its mobile app, making it easier and safer to send money abroad.

Starting Sept. 22, 2020, to support US-based customers who send money to loved ones across borders, Paysend is waiving fees for digital money transfers from the US to India. This offer includes 70+ other countries and runs throughout October 31.

America’s 9 million expatriates, 47 million immigrants and 1 million foreign exchange students continue to navigate living abroad in the face of the novel Coronavirus and its economic impacts. The announcement comes on the heels of Paysend’s U.S. launch, which enables American residents to securely transfer funds internationally across accounts operated in more than 70 countries within minutes — without visiting a physical bank location.

“As people around the world struggle to financially navigate COVID-19, it is more important now than ever for every individual to have an affordable, safe and accessible way to send money internationally,” said Matt Montes, Paysend’s U.S.-based general manager. “Since the start of 2020, nearly one million new global users have joined Paysend’s platform – transferring money to loved ones around the world, without leaving the comfort and safety of their homes. Since the U.S. is home to the largest global transfer market in the world, we wanted to further accelerate peer-to-peer (P2P) payments during this difficult time by waiving transaction fees.” To take advantage of zero-fee money transfers during the month of October, U.S. residents can download the Paysend mobile app from the App Store or Google Play. Paysend’s standard $2 transfer fee will automatically be waived through October 31, 2020 for money transfers sent from U.S. customers to international cards, bank accounts or digital wallets in more than 70 countries.

 

 

Hinduism Has a Profound Influence on the West

Staff ReporterCulture/Religion 0

The Hindu way of life and thinking, far from being a mystical eastern religion, has had a profound influence on the west, leading to successes on American soil, not in terms of material wealth, but in individual satisfaction with immense self- content.

Four outstanding personalities from different walks of life bore testimony to realizing this principle in their lives and showcased their stories during the 50th anniversary celebrations of the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) .

The keynote speakers set the “virtual” stage for “Reflections@50: Walking in Dharma” on Sept. 19 and 20 for an upcoming real life congregation and grand celebration next year to commemorate World Hindu Council of America’s 50 years of fostering the Hindu socio-cultural-spiritual movement.

The four speakers, Vyomesh Joshi, CEO, 3D Systems; Vandana Tilak, CEO & Director, Akshaya Patra USA; Dr. Raj Vedam, scholar in Indian history and Benny Tillman, President, Vedic Friends Association, narrated their pioneering efforts and accomplishments, based on the ancient Hindu philosophy and how it paved the way for their fruitful journey.

Vyomesh Joshi

Vyomesh Joshi, one of the biggest names in the printing industry and an influential Indian American, presently helms 3D systems, a leading manufacturing solutions company, as President and CEO.

Interweaving references from the Bhagavad Gita, Vyomesh spoke on “Authentic Leadership” and how Hindu scriptures guided him in leading global companies as well as dealing with triumphs and setbacks.

Citing a Gallup poll, he noted that followers look for four attributes in a leader, namely – Trust, Compassion, Stability and Hope.

Trust, he said, comes from Trustworthiness which in turn comes from competence and character. Humility is equally important and there’s no room for ego. Stability is the third attribute in an authentic leader.

Raj Vedam

Referring to the Second Chapter in the Gita, Verse 54, Arjuna asks for help in understanding “Sthita prajna” or a stable intellect to control the senses, mind and desires. Stability is about the present but what is needed for the future is Hope – the fourth attribute of an authentic leader: Arjuna did not want to fight but Bhagwan Krishna explains that only the body perishes, the atma or the soul never dies. Every leader must offer hope in difficult times.

Vandana Tilak, CEO of Akshaya Patra USA, called “children who have to go hungry an injustice.”

In her keynote address on “Seva – the First and Last Frontier,” she dwelt on her philosophy of looking beyond oneself and her service through a leading non-profit organization – Akshaya Patra. Akshaya Patra serves 1.8 million vegetarian meals in 19,500 government schools in India in 15 states every single day. It has also served 8.2 million meals to date to stranded migrant workers since the lockdown on March 26.

Seva, for Vandana, is an unconditional exchange of love, thoughts, words and action. Whether it is a person, animal or this planet – each one is a living breathing organism and they all “deserve the respect and dignity of seva.” We are just mechanisms and the universe conspires to do good through us, the “divinity in each of us is fulfilling the destiny of those we meet,” according to Vandana Tilak.

Continuing in the same vein, she noted that the Universe ensures that 1.8 million children are fed every day through Akshaya Patra. This one single thought connects her to what she does.

This is an opportunity for us, she said, not the beneficiaries. More importantly, seva doesn’t tolerate an ego. The minute you put yourself on a pedestal, the Universe will find a way to bring you down to earth, she said.

A student of Ayurveda, she said one of the first things that is taught is the nature of hunger. “When we are hungry, we eat healthy food and exercise. This is Prakriti or the natural flow. When we are not hungry and overeat, it’s vikrutti. But when you keep a little bit aside knowing that someone else needs it and both of you are happy and fed, that is sanskriti.”

Dr. Raj Vedam , an acclaimed scholar and co-founder of a Think tank, Indian History Awareness & Research, based in Houston, highlighted how Hindu identity has steadily come to be defined not by Hindus but by others, subverting Hindu identity.

Vedam traced the roots of modern sciences, mathematics and technology and his findings contradicted western narratives that the Indian civilization’s knowledge of mathematics and science came from outside India.

One of the consequences of the “identity crisis” is growing attacks on Hindu identity by organized groups with huge funding from abroad and within the country. The media and universities have also turned into “hotbeds of Hinduphobia.” Hindu student groups face enormous backlash and anti-Hindu pressure by hate based organizations, Vedam said.

The western narrative peddled the view that Aryans invaded India, brought in the caste system, imposed a Vedic religion and drove the original inhabitants towards the southern part of the country. One of the direct consequences of the introduction of English in India was the discontinuation of publications of books in Sanskrit and funds were instead used for the propagation of English.This distancing from Sanskrit meant that Indians could no longer connect to their roots, Vedam said.

One way to reclaim the Hindu identity, he said, is by becoming ambassadors to exemplify Dharma as a logical, rational, responsible system with solutions for global problems, living a dharmic lifestyle, learning about Hinduism, celebrating festivals, visiting temples, supporting scholars, institutions and organizing outreach talks and conferences.

Benny Tillman aka Balabhadra Bhattacarya Dasa is a direct disciple of his Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He serves as the first African American President of the Vedic Friends Association dedicated to the preservation, promotion and application of Vedic culture and philosophy.

Society, he pointed out, is confused about the real purpose of life, which according to Vedic teachings should focus on self-realization as well as material development. While living in this world, we must learn to connect these two and that’s yoga. Contrary to popular belief, yoga is not just a form of exercise, it is much deeper than that, he said.

The uncertain situation in the world today presents an opportunity for Hindu leaders to offer practical solutions derived from the Vedas. The need of the hour is to create a more accessible process to introduce Hindu culture and philosophy to the general public and reaching out to communities. He lauded the Hindu youth in Houston for their support in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Benny concluded his address with the one word that “encapsulates the entire Vedic culture” – Namaste. It is a recognition of the divine within each one of us and respecting the spiritual existence within us. We need to lift the word “Namaste” and teach people all over the world to use this to develop a better sense of love and respect for each other.

Among the highlights of the two day-webinar were eight enlightening panel discussions with well-known speakers – entrepreneurs, heads of organizations, religious leaders, academicians, dignitaries, and youth leaders.

Engaging youth in community service has been a cornerstone of the VHPA’s mission. Two panels: “Hindu Youth – Being the Change Today for Better Tomorrow” and

“Evolving Nature of Seva (service) in North America” were dedicated to youth and volunteerism to focusing on their current relevance.

Other topics like, “The Hindu Woman as Sustainer of our Timeless Tradition,” “Influence of Hindu Heritage on Life Choices and Decisions” and on early teaching, “Learning Through play,” “The Role of Dharmic Houses of Worship – Challenges and Opportunities,” “The Power of Dharma in Action” and “The Legacy of the Hindus in North America,” were discussed. World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) had earlier planned Swarna Jayanti gala event to mark its jubilee milestone, however, the occasion had to be moved to September 2021 due to the Covid-19 crisis. The virtual community conference served as a glimpse into the jubilee event planned next year

About 3,200 people registered and participated in the virtual conference. “2020 is a landmark year for Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America. Established in 1970, we have completed 50 years of leading and serving the Hindu community,” Dr. Abhaya Asthana, President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America said.

“That humble initiative of 1970 has blossomed into a formidable movement over five decades, with many Hindu organizations joining in partnership along the way. Every aspect of Hindu American life, for four generations, has been positively touched by VHPA through its visionary and transformational programs. As we stand at this crossroad, and behold the future, filled with aspirations and hope, we must also turn our gaze back on the amazing journey of 50 years, walking with Dharma in this land of America,” Asthana said.

“As a community, how far have we travelled on this four-laned highway of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha? Where are we? Where do we want to be? And, what do we have to do, to get there,” he asked?

Dr. Siddhesh Shevade, National Executive Director of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, congratulated all VHPA karyakartas for a very inspiring 50 years of tireless efforts.

“In this reflection conference, we learned about many new dimensions of Hindu unity and realized the needs of Hindu Society in modern times. As Hindu Americans, let us achieve those by our own efforts ‘Swayamev Mrugendrata’ in the near future, he said.

“Reflections@50: Walking in Dharma” represented a confluence of prominent Hindu thought leaders to do a “manthan” of the history of Hindu Americans in the last half century, and chart its course for the next half century and beyond, according to Dr. Jai Bansal , Conference convener.

Amnesty International Halts Work In India, Citing ‘Witch-Hunt’ By Modi Government

Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

Citing a “reprisal” by the Indian government against its human rights work, Amnesty International said Tuesday that it had to lay off staff and halt operations in India. In a statement, the watchdog accused India’s Hindu nationalist government of “an incessant witch-hunt” against human rights organizations that have revealed wrongdoing by Indian authorities in recent years. Amnesty International’s latest investigations in India have focused on alleged human rights abuses in India’s only Muslim-majority region, Kashmir, as well as on alleged misconduct by Indian police in last February’s Delhi riots that killed dozens of mostly Muslim civilians. The group said its work in India has come to “a grinding halt” after it learned on Sept. 10 that the Indian government froze its bank accounts. “For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent,” Avinash Kumar, executive director of Amnesty International India, said in the statement. Later Tuesday, the Indian government issued a statement calling Amnesty International’s claims “unfortunate, exaggerated and far from the truth.” It accuses Amnesty International of illegally routing money to India through its U.K. branch for several years. “All the glossy statements about humanitarian work and speaking truth to power are nothing but a ploy to divert attention from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws,” the government said. This is not the first time Indian authorities have taken action against Amnesty International. In 2016, they charged the group with sedition for holding an event in the southern city of Bengaluru, related to Kashmir. In 2018, Indian authorities raided Amnesty International’s Delhi office and froze its bank accounts. They have long accused the group of violating rules on foreign funding, including as far back as 2009, before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party won power nationally. Amnesty International denies any wrongdoing. It has temporarily shut its India operations and then resumed them several times in the past. Amid fears of rising authoritarianism around the world, Tuesday’s events put India in the same category as Russia, where Amnesty International says its Moscow office was seized by the Russian government in 2016. The group’s local director in Turkey has also faced detention and trial. In September, Amnesty International USA submitted a statement to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, accusing Indian authorities of harassing journalists during the pandemic, violating Kashmiris’ rights and failing to investigate abuses by Delhi police. The acting secretary-general of Amnesty International’s worldwide operations, Julie Verhaar, issued a separate statement calling the closure of its India operations an “egregious and shameful act by the Indian Government.” “However, this does not mark the end of our firm commitment to, and engagement in, the struggle for human rights in India,” Verhaar was quoted as saying. “We will be working resolutely to determine how Amnesty International can continue to play our part within the human rights movement in India for years to come.” (NPR producer Sushmita Pathak contributed to this report)

Dr. Amit Chakrabarty Honored During AAPI Mini Convention In Chicago

Staff ReporterCommunity, Profiles 0

“It is amazing how quickly these two years have passed by. With the help of Dr. Annu Terkonda I helped revive the Indian Medical Council of St Louis (IMCStL), that had been dormant for more than 8 years to become one of the most vibrant chapters of the American Association of Physician of Indian Origin (AAPI), culminating in hosting the National AAPI governing body meeting during our upcoming Diwali Gala,” said Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, President of IMCStL 2018 and 2019, and currently the National AAPI Secretary said, after receiving an Award recognizing his contributions to the growth of AAPI and the revival of Indian Medical Council of St Louis.

Dr. Suresh Reddy, Immediate Past President of AAPI honored Dr. Amit Chakrabarty during the Mini Convention held in Chicago on Saturday, September 26th, 2020. Dr. Amit Chakrabarty was among the several AAPI leaders and others honored during s solemn ceremony for their contributions and achievements, especially during the pandemic. Dr. Reddy thanked Dr. Amit Chakrabarty for his stewardship and working hard to make this Chapter one of the finest in the nation.  

“We had the honor and pleasure of hosting leaders of National AAPI as our guests during their Governing body meeting. I was privileged to have dedicated a committee members to help make this event one of the best AAPI has ever witnessed and donated over $20,000 to the national AAPI in addition to bearing the entire cost of hosting the Governing Body Meeting,” Dr. Amit Chakrabarty said.

It’s been a very long journey with American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) for Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, from being an ordinary member of the largest ethnic medical society in the United States to a Regional Leader, currently serving as the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of national AAPI, and now leading the organization as the Secretary of national AAPI, that he calls as his second family and has come to adore.  “Since my membership to AAPI In 1997, for more than two decades I have been a dedicated foot soldier for the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin,” Dr. Amit Chakrabarty a Consultant Urologist, Poplar Bluff Urology, Past Chairman of Urologic Clinics of North Alabama P.C., and the Director of Center for Continence and Female Pelvic Health.

In his endeavor to play a more active role and commit his services for the growth and expansion of AAPI that represents the interests of over 100,000 Indian American physicians, Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, the Alabama-based Indian American Physician wants this noble organization to be “more vibrant, united, transparent, politically engaged, ensuring active participation of young physicians, increasing membership, and enabling that AAPI’s voice is heard in the corridors of power.”

A physician with compassion, brilliance, and dedication, Dr. Chakrabarty has excelled in every role he has undertaken. Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, who was honored with the National AAPI Distinguished Service Award 2018 and the President’s Award for Services in 2019 by the Indian American Urological Society, says, “I consider myself to be a leader and shine in the fact that I can get people motivated.  I lead by example that motivates people.  I am fun loving and have always striven to brush off any obstacles that come in the way.”

 

Indian Authorities Have No Regard For The Constitution Or The Laws On The Books” – Pastor Bryan Nerren Tells At FIACONNA Event

Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

“The authorities in India have no regard for the constitution and no regard for the laws,” said Pastor Bryan Nerren, from Tennessee, who was held captive for more than 7 months by the Indian Government under the false charges of possession of undeclared funds when he arrived in India on October 5, 2019 on his way to Nepal.  One of the Customs officials informed him also that “I have been ordered by the Central Government to arrest you.”

In other words, the officials were advised from Delhi to concoct a case against him, said Pastor Nerren, while addressing a webinar organized by the Federation of Indian Christian Association of North America (FIACONA) on the deportation of American Christian leaders from India. Besides, his lawyer has been advised as well by officials that “We have been ordered to make a case against your client and that he is here for converting people and we are going to stop American Christians from coming here, and we will make an example of him”. Pastor Nerren also narrated a story of one of the local BJP leaders visiting him and saying these chilling words “we do not help our poor children, and we don’t want you to come here and help the poor children either. God decided that they are poor, and if they die, they die!

Rev. Peter Cook, the Executive Director of the New York Council of Churches, spoke next, talked about his experience in obtaining a valid visa at the New York Consulate to travel to India along with eight other colleagues. We wanted to do some touristic stuff after meeting up with the CSI Bishop in Chennai. Once at the Chennai airport, the immigration officer got suspicious of our address that read ‘Cathedral Way.’ We were then taken to a side room and subjected to a battery of questions on Christianity and our church affiliation and was interrogated for eight hours. We were not even allowed to contact our would-be hosts. Towards the end, one of the officials said to a person in our delegation that “we don’t let Christians into our country”.

Rev. Cook then surmised by saying it may be that of our acts of charity and justice that threaten them or the egalitarian message that we convey challenges their caste system, which discriminates and exploits workers for financial gains. They may also be afraid that we may side with the Dalits’ rights in their political activity or resistance, or Christians may challenge their nationalist agenda based on discrimination and policy violence that is becoming a daily occurrence in India against religious minorities.

John Hutchinson, Field Director of ‘Greentree Global’, lamented that although India proclaims itself to be the biggest democracy in the world, they really do not practice it. He then went on to detail his story of going to India and visiting Khandamahl, Odisha, after the anti-Christian riots there.  For that reason, he has been banned from entering India again. He said, “In Odisha during those riots, 100 or so Christians got killed, 200 Churches were burned, 5600 houses were destroyed, Priests got killed, and a Nun gang-raped by Hindutva extremists”.

He further stated that he went there because he felt that it was his duty to meet fellow Christians who were in distress. “The riots were a stain on India,” he added. He reminded that India is a constitutional democracy and a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Article 18 specifically states the right to freedom of Religion. Mr. Hutchinson went on to say, “U.S and India are friends, we have no malice or ill will. We have a mutual relationship in areas of the economy as well as Military and want those relationships to continue”. He also told the story of officials telling them first that Religion had nothing to do with those riots, then another source tells them that if you stop conversions, all attacks would be stopped. He concluded by saying that India is not a Banana Republic to ban people from an allied country.

John Prabhudoss, Chairman of FIACONA, who traveled with John Hutchinson and three others, detailed about his encounter in a meeting with a Hindutva activist who threatened ‘I would make sure that you will not come back to the country again.’ he added that it turned out to be true as he traveled to India a few months later, there was a ‘lookout citation notices’ on him at the Hyderabad airport, and he was deported from the airport. He went on to say that “most of the bureaucrats in India are so hostile to Christians and every single day Christians are being deported from India, however, most of the time they keep these stories of deportation private hoping that one day they would be able go back again. It is unfortunate that American policy makers and leaders are continually being deceived.

Prabhudoss said “if you work for a Christian organization in the U.S. whether you are a Bishop, Pastor, or a Plummer, you will not be given a tourist visa. On the other hand, radical Hindutva leaders on tourist visas to this country visit temples and give fiery speeches often denigrating Christians. There is no doubt that it shows weakness while affecting America’s national interest.

“Therefore, when they do such heinous things to an American citizen, I urge any U.S. administration what they have done to the folks who are here today, there should be accountability and reciprocity.

A case in point is the story of ‘Compassion International’,  our failure in that regard today has invited more restrictions on NGOs, Christian charitable organizations in particular.  India boasts that America is weaker; they cannot do anything to us.  Let us remember that India is going the way of Pakistan, our longstanding policy of appeasement never worked there, and he warned as long as America remains muted, it will be at the cost of America’s national interest.”

Ms. Dorothy Pierce, a team member with Rev. Cook, said that we went to India to have that cross-cultural experience and traveled there in good faith but had a sad experience. Again, it is symptomatic of how certain groups of people there are treated there daily. She hoped that justice, equity, and morals would eventually triumph. Please visit www.fiacona.org or contact president@fiacona.org for more information.

Justice Ginsburg, An Iconic Jurist Leaves Behind A Legacy Of Unparalleled Courage To Stand Up For Equality For All

Staff ReporterPolitics, Profiles 0

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States, and a pioneering advocate for women’s rights, who became a much younger generation’s unlikely cultural icon, died due to complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer on September 18, 2020 at her home in Washington. She was 87.

In her 27 years on the bench, Ginsburg transformed American society through the interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause, expanding women’s rights and later LGBTQ+ rights. A quiet and brilliant jurist, Ginsburg was devoted to the law, always doing justice to the views on the other side of the issue while articulating her argument — especially in her pointed dissenting opinions.

Justice Ginsburg was a master wordsmith, using her power with words to fight for justice, freedom, and a clean environment. The second woman appointed to the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg’s pointed and powerful dissenting opinions earned her late-life rock stardom. Justice Ginsburg was a fighter.

She fought not only — and famously — for equal rights based on gender, race, and sexual orientation, but also for the environment. She championed the rights of citizens to take action in court to prevent environmental harm. She defended the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and authored several of the opinions that gave EPA the power and responsibility to regulate greenhouse gases. But most notably, she always defended an individual’s right to equality and dignity, and to determine the course of their own lives.

After the 2010 retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, whom Justice Kagan succeeded, Justice Ginsburg became the senior member and de facto leader of a four-justice liberal bloc, consisting of the three female justices and Justice Stephen G. Breyer. Unless they could attract a fifth vote, which Justice Anthony M. Kennedy provided on increasingly rare occasions before his retirement in 2018, the four were often in dissent on the ideologically polarized court.

Later in her career, the champion of gender equality declared her support for the #MeToo movement, recounting this experience, and said it was “about time” for women to be able to stand up against sexual harassment. “For so long, women were silent, thinking there was nothing you could do about it,” she said in 2018. “But now the law is on the side of women, or men, who encounter harassment, and that’s a good thing.” Ginsburg was instrumental in changing the law, filing lawsuits against her university employers for pay discrimination and discrimination on the basis of sex.

As news spread of Ginsburg’s death Friday night, a shrine of memorabilia emerged outside a Collegetown apartment. And the next afternoon, a crowd of masked students gathered on the Arts Quad for a vigil.

“We can’t help but look to someone like R.B.G. and say, ‘This is an icon. This is a role model,’” Cosimo Fabrizio ’22 said. “She is someone I aspire to be, if not in a career path, in her commitment to making this country a more equitable, just society.”

The octogenarian became a kind of rock star, known for her powerful dissenting opinions and transformative influence. Two movies came out about the justice in 2018, young girls dressed in R.B.G. costumes for Halloween and the image of a severe Ginsburg with oversized glasses and her frilly lace “dissenting” collar appeared as stickers, t-shirts and even tattoos.

As Justice Ginsburg passed her 80th birthday and 20th anniversary on the Supreme Court bench during President Barack Obama’s second term, she shrugged off a chorus of calls for her to retire in order to give a Democratic president the chance to name her replacement. She planned to stay “as long as I can do the job full steam,” she would say, sometimes adding, “There will be a president after this one, and I’m hopeful that that president will be a fine president.”

As a young mother, Ginsburg was unable to get a job in a law firm after graduating from Harvard Law School.  As one of four liberal justices on the highest court, her death raises the prospect of President Trump trying to expand the court’s conservative majority.

The Republicans-led US Senate should take her wishes into consideration as we honor her, noting that shortly before she died she dictated to her granddaughter, Clara Spera, that: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

After the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February of 2016, most Republican senators rallied behind a new idea — a new justice should not be voted on, or even given a hearing, until after a new president and Congress had been seated.[4] This was nine months before the election and it meant that President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, was never given consideration. We are now only a few weeks away from an election, and any rush to confirm a nominee would be the height of hypocrisy. 

We are dealing with multiple crises in the country: climate disruption, a pandemic, a reckoning on racial justice, economic turmoil, and widespread voter suppression. A sham confirmation process should not be the top priority. We should respect Justice Ginsburg’s final wishes. We should take action as she took action to speak truth to power and stand up for what’s right. We should honor her brilliant ability with words by sending a message to demand our senators wait to fill her seat until after the inauguration.

Kangana Ranaut Criticizes Male-Dominated Bollywood Industry For “offering 2-minute roles, item numbers after sleeping with hero”

Staff ReporterEntertainment, Women 0

Actress Kangana Ranaut has made shocking claims, saying all that Bollywood ever offered her were two-minute roles, item numbers and a romantic scene — that too in return of sleeping with the hero.

Actor Kangana Ranaut has said that she has charted her own path in the film industry, and was served nothing on a platter. Kangana’s remarks come a day after Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan questioned Kangana’s comments about the film industry being a ‘gutter’. Jaya Bachchan, in a recent Parliament speech, criticized people who were tarnishing the film industry by badmouthing it.

Reacting to Jaya Bachchan’s Parliamentary speech, Kanagna tweeted: “The one that was offered to me had two-minute roles, item numbers and a romantic scene, that too in return of sleeping with the hero. I taught the industry feminism. This is my own plate, Jayaji, not yours).”

Jaya had said on the second day of the Monsoon Session in Parliament, “People in the entertainment industry are being flogged by social media. People who made their names in the industry have called it a gutter. I completely disagree. I hope that the government tells such people not to use this kind of language. Jis thali mein khate hai usme chhed karte hai. Galat baat hai (they bite the hand that feeds, it’s wrong).” Previously, Kangana had called the film industry a ‘gutter’ and alleged that 99% of the people who work in it have been exposed to drugs.

Jaya’s comments came after Kangana’s sustained attacks on a few powerful members of the film industry, whom she refers to as the ‘movie mafia’. Kangana has alleged that the ‘movie mafia’ mistreats outsiders such as herself and the late Sushant Singh Rajput, whose death fuelled this debate.

Jaya had also expressed shock at Ravi Kishan’s remarks on Monday. “Just because there are some people, you can’t tarnish the image of the entire industry. I am ashamed that yesterday one of our members in Lok Sabha, who is from the film industry, spoke against it. It is a shame,” she had said.

Ravi responded to Jaya’s comments and said that he is surprised that she didn’t support his stance. “I expected Jaya ji to support what I said,” ANI quoted him as saying. “Not everyone in the industry consumes drugs but those who do are part of a plan to finish the world’s largest film industry. When Jaya ji and I joined, situation was not like this but now we need to protect the industry.” The Bhojpuri actor had alleged that drugs are being smuggled into India by Pakistan and China, in a ploy to corrupt the youth.

Many members of the industry, such as Sonam Kapoor, Richa Chaddha and Farhan Akhtar hailed Jaya’s comments, and appreciated her taking a stand for the rest of them. “I send my best regards to Jaya Ji. Those who don’t know, please see this is how the spinal cord looks,” filmmaker Anubhav Sinha wrote on Twitter.

In response, Kangana tweeted, “Jaya ji would you say the same thing if in my place it was your daughter Shweta beaten, drugged and molested as a teenager, would you say the same thing if Abhieshek complained about bullying and harassment constantly and found hanging one day? Show compassion for us also.”

Jaya, alleging a ‘conspiracy to defame the film industry’, said on the second day of the Monsoon Session in Parliament, “People in the entertainment industry are being flogged by social media. People who made their names in the industry have called it a gutter. I completely disagree. I hope that the government tells such people not to use this kind of language.”

Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, and the subsequent drugs-related investigation in the case, questions have been raised about certain alleged activities in the film industry. Sushant’s girlfriend, actor Rhea Chakraborty, has been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau, along with her brother Showik and four others for allegedly procuring drugs for the late actor.

Kangana had earlier alleged that 99 per cent of Bollywood consumes drugs and asked top stars Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal and director Ayan Mukerji to take blood tests to prove they are clean. Replying to a Twitter user who pointed out that the film industry employs not just actors and directors, but also technicians, Kangana wrote, “Like a famous choreographer once said ‘rape kiya toh kya hua roti to di na (so what if you’re violated, at least you got paid)’ is that what you implying? There are no proper HR departments in production houses where women can complain, no safety or insurances for those who risk their lives every day, no 8 hours shift regulations.”

She added that in addition to money, employees also deserve respect. The belief that paying someone for their services is enough needs to change, she said, adding that she has compiled ‘a full list of reforms I want from central government for workers and junior artists’.

Kangana Ranaut is known for her fine acting skills and is also known to perfectly fit in any role. Her prominent roles in movies like  Fashion, Queen and Tanu Weds Manu gained her immense popularity and she has won awards for these roles, including the prestigious National Award. Achieving this feat is no joke, but Kangana has managed to lock this prestigious awards not once, but multiple times. Check out the list of movies for which she has won National and Padmashree Awards.

Over the past two decades, Kangana has won three National Awards—as Best Supporting Actress in 2009 for “Fashion”, and Best Actress awards for “Queen” (2015) and “Tanu Weds Manu Returns” (2016). She is a recipient of Padma Shri, besides numerous popular film awards.

Her upcoming projects include “Thalaivi”, where she essays late Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa, besides the action film “Dhaakad” and “Tejas”, where she plays an Air Force Pilot.

Indian Americans Ramp Up Campaign For Biden In Swing State Votes

Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics 0

e race for the White House heats up with just one and a half months to the Nov. 3, 2020 elections, Republicans and Democrats are outdoing each other to woo the Indian-American community. From polls declaring that more Indian-Americans support the GOP, to forming numerous groups representing this mostly affluent though small vote-bank, both parties are trying to expand their outreach. All in the hope that this vote bank could be decisive in swing states.

The Indians for Biden National Council (IBNC) is ramping up its outreach to the community, aiming for votes in the key swing states where small vote margins count, by adding several legislators and other leaders to its advisory board, the organisation’s National Director Sanjeev Joshipura announced on Friday.

“Indian American leaders from different political and advocacy areas have joined the Indians for Biden National Council to help expand the Council’s reach in various Indian American communities in battleground states across America,” the IBNC said.

The battleground states are important because neither the state has a lock on them and they can also swing either way with a small number of votes deciding the final result of the presidential election, which is finally determined by electors and not the popular votes.

Support for Democratic candidate Biden among Indian Americans appears to have fallen by 11 per cent compared to the voting for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 elections. While she received 77 per cent of votes from Indian Americans, the 2020 Asian American Voter Survey (AAVS) released this week found Biden getting only the support of 66 per cent. President Donald Trump’s support, meanwhile, has increased by 12 per cent in the court years to 28 per cent.

While two-thirds of Indian American voters said they planned to vote for the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris presidential ticket, President Donald Trump got a surprising, almost double digit, jump, according to the results of the AAPI Data survey released Sept. 15.

In 2016, 77 percent of Indian Americans voted for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, while just 16 percent voted for Trump. Seven percent voted for an “other” unnamed candidate.

In 2020, however, 65 percent of Indian Americans surveyed said they intend to vote for Biden, while 28 percent intend to vote for the re-election of Trump. Six percent said they were undecided.

The advisory board includes Nisha Biswal, who was the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia in the administration of President Barack Obama, and is now the President of the US-India Business Council and Senior Vice-President for South Asia at the US Chamber of Commerce. House of Representatives member Raja Krishnamoorthi is also a member of the board.

Displaying the broad sweep of emerging Indian American politicians, the board includes seven state legislators from across the country and activists. “The participation of respected political and policy figures on our advisory board emphasizes the importance of Indian Americans as a voting block, especially in the swing states. We are delighted and inspired by our advisory board’s enthusiasm to help the Biden-Harris ticket win in November,” Joshipura said.

Biswal said, “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are absolutely the right people to lead this country during these trying times. Moreover, from Biden’s long record in public service, and based on the campaign’s publicly released agenda for the Indian American community, I know that a Biden-Harris administration will do a great job in further strengthening US-India ties.” The IBNC operates under the umbrella of South Asians of Biden, which also has separate councils for Pakistani Americans and other ethnicities.

Biden gave the push for Indian American votes with a digital address to the community on August 15, recalling his leadership for getting the India-US nuclear deal through the Congress and assuring them by saying “as President, I’ll also continue to rely on Indian American diaspora. It keeps our two nations together.”

The US Presidential polls are indirect elections with members of the Electoral College distributed along state lines making the final selection. Although Hillary Clinton won 2.8 million votes, she lost the 2016 elections because Trump received 77 more votes than her in the Electoral College. This has made Indian American voters in the swing states important for the outcome of the elections as they could contribute to the slim margins that determine the outcome.

If undecided voters follow patterns of previous years, Trump will get 30 percent of votes cast by Indian Americans, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and director of AAPI Data, which released the results of its survey in a joint briefing with Indiaspora on September 15th.

AAPI data surveyed 1,596 registered Asian American voters — including 260 Indian Americans — throughout the nation for its 2020 survey. Polling began July 15 and ended Sept. 9; respondents were contacted online and by telephone.

Indian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group within the AAPI umbrella: the community has more than doubled in the past two decades. More than 1.8 million Indian Americans are eligible to vote in the Nov. 3 general election.

During a panel discussion following the release of survey results, Seema Nanda, former CEO of the Democratic National Committee, said Indian American participation in elections has skyrocketed over the past six years. In 2014, 26 percent of Indian Americans voted in the general election; in the 2018 midterm election, 47 percent of Indian Americans cast their ballots. “That’s a staggering statistic,” she said, attributing the huge jump to the results of the 2016 election that brought Trump to the White House.

The community is much more engaged, she said, noting the number of grassroots organizations, many led by women. “They didn’t do this before Trump,” said Nanda. “Indian Americans could be the margin of victory,” said Nanda, noting that many live in key battleground states.

Fifty-four percent of Indian Americans are registered Democrats, 16 percent are Republican, while 28 percent identify as Independent; 2 percent said they did not know. Among the AAPI ethnicities surveyed in the poll, Biden had the highest approval rating from Indian Americans: 27 percent viewed the candidate very favorably, while 45 percent viewed him somewhat favorably. Notably, 11 percent of Indian Americans said they did not know enough or had never heard about Biden. Overall, 19 percent of Asian Americans viewed Biden favorably, while 34 percent viewed him somewhat favorably.

Trump faced a drubbing from Indian Americans surveyed for the poll: 53 percent viewed him very unfavorably, while 7 percent viewed him somewhat unfavorably. Nineteen percent viewed the president very favorably, while 17 percent viewed him somewhat favorably. Overall, 47 percent of Asian Americans viewed Trump very unfavorably.

Trump has invested his time with India and Indian Americans in a positive way, MR Rangaswami, founder of Indiaspora, told the media, noting that the president had made a quick three-day visit to India in late February, during which he traveled to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, Gujarat.

Trump was also feted at the “Howdy Modi” event in Houston, Texas, last September, during which the prime minister gave the president his tacit endorsement, proclaiming: “Abki Baar Trump Sarkar” (This time, it’s Trump’s time).

Rangaswami — an Independent who has donated to the Biden-Harris campaign, as well as to the coffers of several Indian American Democrats running in national races, according to his Federal Election Commission report — said Modi’s endorsement of Trump may sway older Indians, but pointed to AAPI Data survey results, which showed that Indian Americans are not single issue voters, but rather, vote in a broader context, considering several issues when choosing a candidate.

Sonia Raman To Coach NBA Team

Staff ReporterProfiles, Sports, Women 0

Described as “MIT’s all-time winningest coach,” Sonia Raman, possibly one of very few Indian American basketball coaches at a major institution, was just appointed assistant coach to the Memphis Grizzlies, (@memgrizz) who tweeted Sept. 11, 2020 – “JUST ANNOUNCED: We’ve hired Sonia Raman as an assistant coach.” Sonia, who is the head coach of the women’s basketball team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), becomes the fourth person of Indian-origin to work as a coach in the NBA, joining Vin Bhavnani (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Roy Rana (Sacramento Kings) and Adi Vase (Fitness coach with Golden STate Warriors). Sonia, who coached MIT for 12 years will join head coach Taylor Jenkins’s staff on November 1. She comes in place of Niele Ivey, a former Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star who left to take up head coach’s role at University of Notre Dame. Sonia is the 14th woman coach in NBA history and the seventh to join the league since 2019. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of the Memphis Grizzlies coaching staff,” she was quoted as saying by the Grizzlies in a release. “I can’t wait to get to Memphis and get started with Taylor, his staff and the team’s emerging young core,” she said. “I must also give a truly special thank you to MIT and the women I’ve had the honour of coaching for the past 12 years. I wish the program continued success.” Sonia has had a very successful stint at MIT as she took the team to three Division III finals and was also voted coach of the year in her region. Eighteen of her players have earned New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) All-Conference accolades, including four Rookie of the Year honours. Prior to her arrival at MIT, she was the top assistant coach at Wellesley College. During her six-year tenure, she scouted opponents, assisted with practice and game planning, managed individual player skill and leadership development, and served as the Blue’s primary recruiter. “We are beyond excited to welcome Sonia to the Memphis Grizzlies,” Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins is quoted saying in the announcement posted on the NBA website. “She has a high basketball IQ and a tremendous ability to teach the game, as well as a strong passion for the game. She is going to be a great addition to our current coaching staff.” “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of the Memphis Grizzlies coaching staff. I can’t wait to get to Memphis and get started with Taylor, his staff and the team’s emerging young core,” Raman said. “I must also give a truly special thank you to MIT and the women I’ve had the honor of coaching for the past 12 years. I wish the program continued success.” Sonia began her intercollegiate coaching career with a two-year stint as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Tufts University. A four-year player and a captain for the Tufts, she graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and went on to receive a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School in 2001. Sonia, who served as an ambassador in the Massachusetts area. was in September 2017 selected to serve on the Coaches Council for the Alliance of Women Coaches, which aims to empower women coaches, at all levels, by providing support, resources, events and programs which address the needs and interests of its members. 

7 Indian-Americans To Compete For Miss World America 2020 Title

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A record seven Indian Americans are set to compete for the Miss America World 2020 Contest, according to a report released by The Miss World America pageant, announcing the 30 contestants for its 2020 national competition. Shree Saini of Washington, Serene Singh of Colorado, Amulya Chava of Kansas, Radhika Shah of Nevada, Manju Bangalore of Oregon, Manya Saaraswat of Pennsylvania; and Mangala Chava of West Virginia are the Indian American contestants who will be competing for the Miss World America 2020 crown. Afroza Nishi of Rhode Island is the Bangladeshi-American contestant. Shree Saini from Washington state, who has a heart condition, is a global motivational speaker and has addressed audiences in more than 8 countries and 30 states in the United States. Shree Saini has been a visiting student at Harvard, Stanford and Yale Universities, her bio states.  She has earned the “Best Pageant Titleholder” award and recognitions from the Secretary of State, Senate, Governor and the American Heart Association CEO. Singh from Colorado is the founder of a nonprofit, ‘The Serenity Project Brave Enough to Fly’ that aims to give confidence tools to at-risk women, according to the Miss World America website, which provides brief bios of the contestants, A graduate of University of Washington, Singh has also worked for former First Lady Michele Obama and the Girls Opportunity Alliance to improve girls’ education in South Asia. She plans to one day serve on the United States Supreme Court, the bio says. Amulya Chava from Kansas wants to be a civil rights attorney and is currently majoring in political science. She is the founding president of her local Wounded Warrior Project chapter. She recently released her first book entitled ‘Soar’. 

Shah from Nevada founded Real Autism Difference (RAD), a nonprofit to provide respite services for those with autism in the Southern Nevada community and beyond. In just two years, she raised more than $100,000 for RAD’s programs. In December of 2018, she was appointed by then Governor Brian Sandoval to serve as the youngest Youth Commissioner for the state of Nevada. Shah will be attending Stanford University this fall as a Public Policy major before pursuing a medical degree, the bio says. Bangalore is a physicist, actor, and the founder of Operation Period, a youth-led nonprofit addressing menstrual inequity through art, advocacy, education, community engagement, and aid.
Bangalore has worked at two NASA centers, Marshall Space Flight Center and Johnson Space Center, as well as in the White House on science policy in the Obama administration. Bangalore is now pursuing her M.S. in aerospace engineering with a concentration on propulsion systems. Saaraswat from Pennsylvania is pursuing a Master of Science in Health Policy and Economics at Weill Cornell Medicine before she enters medical school and wants to focus on global pediatric health.
Saaraswat has done a stem cell internship at Harvard university, has 4 publications in medical journals, and experienced what she says was a ‘life-changing’ trip to volunteer and intern at a local hospital in India.Mangala Chava is from West Virginia and wants to become a physician. She is a recent graduate of Biology from University of California, San Diego and has been involved with Alzheimer’s San Diego during her time in college and currently volunteers for Alzheimer’s Orange County. 
The contestants will participate in real-time preliminary competitions, receive camera time in front of a live audience and judges; they will also interact with viewers, and rehearse and collaborate with each other, according to the contest website. Each contestant will be able to plug in to Miss World America events through her smart phone or laptop. Viewers will have access to series of online virtual events, during the month of October.Preliminary competitions will include Beauty with a Purpose; Influencer Challenge; Talent Showcase; Head To Head Challenge; Entrepreneur Challenge; Top Model Challenge; and People’s Choice. The new Miss World America and Miss Teen World America queens will be invited to an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles for an official crowning ceremony, photo shoot, appearances, media interviews and other activities, all of which will be included in the Miss World America 2020 Final webcast, according to a news release. The 2020 national competition will be held in the form of a series of virtual web casts. Tickets to the event can be accessed at https://missworldamerica.com/ for $15 for the All-Access pass and $45 VIP Access pass.

U.S. Image Plummets Internationally As Most Say Country Has Handled Coronavirus Badly

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Since Donald Trump took office as president, the image of the United States has suffered across many regions of the globe. As a new 13-nation Pew Research Center survey illustrates, America’s reputation has declined further over the past year among many key allies and partners. In several countries, the share of the public with a favorable view of the U.S. is as low as it has been at any point since the Center began polling on this topic nearly two decades ago.

For instance, just 41% in the United Kingdom express a favorable opinion of the U.S., the lowest percentage registered in any Pew Research Center survey there. In France, only 31% see the U.S. positively, matching the grim ratings from March 2003, at the height of U.S.-France tensions over the Iraq War. Germans give the U.S. particularly low marks on the survey: 26% rate the U.S. favorably, similar to the 25% in the same March 2003 poll.

Part of the decline over the past year is linked to how the U.S. had handled the coronavirus pandemic. Across the 13 nations surveyed, a median of just 15% say the U.S. has done a good job of dealing with the outbreak. In contrast, most say the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Union have done a good job, and in nearly all nations people give their own country positive marks for dealing with the crisis (the U.S. and UK are notable exceptions). Relatively few think China has handled the pandemic well, although it still receives considerably better reviews than the U.S. response.

Ratings for U.S. President Donald Trump have been low in these nations throughout his presidency, and that trend continues this year. Trump’s most negative assessment is in Belgium, where only 9% say they have confidence in the U.S. president to do the right thing in world affairs. His highest rating is in Japan; still, just one-quarter of Japanese express confidence in Trump.

Attitudes toward Trump have consistently been much more negative than those toward his predecessor, Barack Obama, especially in Western Europe. In the UK, Spain, France and Germany, ratings for Trump are similar to those received by George W. Bush near the end of his presidency.

The publics surveyed also see Trump more negatively than other world leaders. Among the six leaders included on the survey, Angela Merkel receives the highest marks: A median of 76% across the nations polled have confidence in the German chancellor. French President Emmanuel Macron also gets largely favorable reviews. Ratings for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are roughly split. Ratings for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are overwhelmingly negative, although not as negative as those for Trump.

Views of Trump are more positive among Europeans who have favorable views of right-wing populist parties, though confidence is still relatively low among all groups. For instance, supporters of Spain’s Vox party are particularly likely to view Trump in a positive light: 45% are confident in his ability to handle international affairs, compared with only 7% among Spaniards who do not support Vox.

Ratings of America’s response to the coronavirus outbreak are also related to support for right-wing populist parties and political ideology within several countries. While ratings are low among both groups, those on the political right are more likely than those on the left to think the U.S. has done a good job handling the outbreak.

Thus far, the pandemic and resulting global recession have not had a major impact on perceptions about the global economic balance of power among the nations surveyed. Majorities or pluralities in these countries have named China as the world’s leading economic power in recent years, and that remains true in 2020. The exceptions are South Korea and Japan, where people see the U.S. as the world’s top economy.

These are among the major findings from a Pew Research Center survey conducted among 13,273 respondents in 13 countries – not including the U.S. – from June 10 to Aug. 3, 2020.

Views of the U.S. generally shift in tandem with confidence in the American president. Favorable views of the U.S. dropped sharply in 2017 during President Trump’s first year in office and have decreased further in every country surveyed in both years except Spain. A larger share of Spaniards view the U.S. positively in 2020 (40%) than in 2017 (31%), though fewer hold this view now than during Obama’s presidency.

Positive views of the U.S. are at or near an all-time low in most countries for which trends are available. However, Spain and Italy had less positive views of the U.S. before the start of the Iraq War in March 2003 than they currently do. Favorable opinions were also lower in South Korea in the same year.

In every country surveyed, men have a more positive assessment of the U.S. than women. The gender gap is largest in Denmark, where 42% of men rate the U.S. favorably, compared with 26% of women. There is a similarly large gap in Spain (48% of men vs. 33% of women) while the magnitude of the gender difference is roughly 10 percentage points in the other countries polled.

In all European countries surveyed, views of the U.S. are significantly more favorable among those who support their country’s right-wing populist parties. For example, 73% of people with a favorable view of Spain’s Vox have a positive opinion of the U.S., compared with only 29% of those who view Vox unfavorably.

Consistent with the right-wing populist party findings, people who place themselves on the right of the ideological spectrum in general have a more positive view of the U.S. than people on the ideological left. This ideological divide is particularly large in Spain and South Korea, where there is a roughly 30 percentage point difference between the two groups.

This pattern mirrors the findings of previous surveys, where those on the right have generally viewed the U.S. more favorably than those on the left, even during President Obama’s tenure. In 2019, U.S. favorability ratings increased in some countries, driven in part by large jumps in ratings among those on the ideological right.

Overwhelming majorities rate America’s response to coronavirus outbreak as bad

Overall, few assess the American response to the coronavirus outbreak positively. In no country surveyed do more than a fifth think the U.S. has done at least a somewhat good job dealing with the virus, and a median of only 15% across the 13 countries polled consider the country’s handling of the virus to be effective.

As the U.S. presidential election approaches, very few polled in Canada, Europe or the Asia-Pacific have confidence in Donald Trump to do the right thing regarding international affairs. Across the 13 countries surveyed, a median of 16% have confidence in the American president. Just one-in-five or fewer in Canada and Western Europe trust the president to do what is right. In Belgium, Denmark, Germany and France, roughly one-in-ten have confidence in Trump.

The countries surveyed with the highest confidence in Trump are both in the Asia-Pacific region, and ratings in these countries are still very low. Roughly one-quarter of people in Australia and Japan believe the president will do the right thing in international affairs. In previous years, confidence in Trump has been relatively higher in some countries such as India, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria and the Philippines, but due to the coronavirus outbreak, interviewing is not currently possible in countries such as these where we typically conduct face-to-face interviews.

There has been some variability in Trump’s confidence ratings over the last few years, but overall, current ratings are consistent with those at the start of his presidency in 2017. Italy (9 percentage point decrease) and Australia (-6 points) are the only countries where confidence in Trump has decreased since he first took office. In contrast, Spaniards have more confidence in Trump now (16%) than they did four years ago, when they had one of the lowest levels of confidence measured (7%).

AAPI Plans Mini Convention in Chicago From September 26th – 27th

Staff ReporterIndia, Social Media, U.S. 0

 “It’s very great joy that I want to invite you all to come and be part of the MINI Convention and the Fall Governing Body Meeting of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) to be held from September 26th to 27th, 2020 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, Chicago, IL,” Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, President, AAPI, announced here today.

With Corona Virus impacting every aspect of life around the world, posing several challenges in carrying out with numerous plans and programs for AAPI in 2020, Dr. Suresh Reddy, the 36th President of AAPI, has been right on task and has devoted the past one year leading AAPI to stability and greater heights. The deadly pandemic, COVID-19 that has been instrumental in the lockdown of almost all major programs and activities around the world, could not lockdown the creative minds of AAPI leaders.

“Basically organized as the “Volunteers Recognition Ceremony” to honor all those hundreds of volunteers of AAPI. Who have worked hard during the year 2019-20, especially during the COVID Pandemic. All the volunteers have raised the bar of AAPI and we salute their generosity and admire their sacrifices,” Dr. Suresh Reddy said. A special feature of the Convention will be honoring the hundreds of Volunteers who have dedicated their time, energy and efforts in the past one year for the success the many initiatives under the leadership of the outgoing President of AAPI.

“Taking the lockdown and the social distancing as a challenge, the organizing committee of the AAPI Mini Convention has come up with the plan to have a unique Convention with Physical Distancing; Universal Masking; Bonfire; Total Outdoor Setting and Fireworks,” said Dr. Sajani Shah, Chairwoman of AAPI. “Strict Covid precautions as per CDC, state and federal regulations will be observed throughout the convention, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of every participating delegate,” she assured all the participants.  

Chief Guests at the Mini Convention include, Consulate General of India in Chicago, Hon Amit Kumar and Dr. Srinath Reddy, President of Public Health Foundation of India. Under the leadership of Dr. Vemuri S. Murthy, Chair of AAPI Webinar CME Committee, during the CMEs, eminent and world renowned experts in their respective areas of expertise will share their knowledge and wisdom, enlightening the delegates with new advances in their field of practice.

Physician Wellness: Stress and Burnout will be the topic addressed by Dr. Lucky Jain, Professor and Chair at Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics& Chief Academic Officer, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; and, Dr. Rohit Kumar Vasa, an Attending Neonatologist at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago, Chair of Pediatrics and Neonatology Site Leader, Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, Chicago.

CME on “A Global Health Topic: Learnings for India’s Health System” will feature Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India and will be moderated by Dr. Navin C. Nanda, Distinguished Professor of Medicine & Cardiovascular Disease at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL; and, Dr. T.S. Ravi Kumar, President, AIIMS, Mangalagiri, AP, India and a Member of WHO Global Patient Safety Experts Curriculum Committee.

The session on Surgical Management of Intracerebral Hemorrhage will be led by Dr. Joseph C. Serrone, Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery and Radiology at Loyola University Medical Center & Neurosurgeon, Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in Maywood, Illinois; and, Dr. Suresh Reddy, Associate Professor of Radiology at Loyola University Medical Center & Chief of Radiology, Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in Maywood, Illinois.

“The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin Mini Convention offers an exciting venue to interact with leading physicians, health professionals, academicians, and scientists of Indian origin,” Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, President-Elect of AAPI, said. “The physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year,” she added.

“The Mini Convention is forum to network, share knowledge and thoughts, and thus, enrich one another, and rededicate for the health and wellbeing of all the peoples of the world,” Dr. Ravi Kolli, Vice President of AAPI, said, “The Convention also features and will honor the “Best Mask; Best Obesity; and, Best Monument Picture,” he added. 

A dedicated pool of Physicians led by Dr. Meher Medavaram, Convention, Cahir, has been working hard to make the convention a memorable experience for all.

Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, Secretary of AAPI said. “The Mehfil/AAPI Talent Show will provide a perfect setting for the AAPI delegates to display their talents. The extravaganza mouthwatering ethnic cuisine with every day “Theme Menus” with variety of display of best of the culinary art will be a treat for the young and the old.”

“The convention offers a variety of ways to reach physicians and their families. It provides access to hundreds of health professionals who are leaders and decision-makers regarding new products and services, as wells as to national and international health policy advisors,” Dr. Satish Kathula, Treasurer of AAPI, says.

Given that a physician of Indian origin sees every 7th patient in this country and every 5th patient in rural and inner cities across the nation, the reach and influence of AAPI members goes well beyond the Convention.

Physicians of Indian Origin in the United States are reputed to be leading health care providers, holding crucial positions in various hospitals and health care facilities around the nation and the world. Known to be a leading ethnic medical organization that represents nearly 100,000 physicians and fellows of Indian Origin in the US, and being their voice and providing a forum to its members to collectively work together to meet their diverse needs, AAPI members are proud to contribute to the wellbeing of their motherland India, and their adopted land, the United States.

Representing the interests of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, leaders of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, for 38 years, AAPI Convention has provided a venue for medical education programs and symposia with world renowned physicians on the cutting edge of medicine.

“Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country and internationally will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year. We look forward to meeting with you all in Chicago!” said Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda.  For more details, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit:  www.aapiconvention.org   and www.aapiusa.org

Yoshihide Suga Is Japan’s New Prime Minister

Staff ReporterPolitics, Profiles 0

Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, takes the reins of the world’s third-largest economy this week, he inherits a domestic agenda swamped by the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s biggest economic slump on record and the postponed Tokyo Olympics. The leader of one of America’s closest allies also steps into a tense geopolitical climate amid rapidly deteriorating U.S.-China relations. Yet experts say this new premier is largely untested in the foreign policy arena. “Suga is more domestically-oriented and several questions have been raised about his propensity to deal with foreign relations and international issues,” says Donna Weeks, professor of political science at Musashino University in Tokyo. Suga takes over from the country’s longest-serving prime minister, 65-year-old Shinzo Abe, who resigned due to health reasons. Abe, who became an internationally recognizable statesman during his second tenure as prime minister, made wooing President Donald Trump a top priority. He was the first foreign leader to meet Trump after the 2016 election, and invited Trump to be the first foreign leader to meet Japan’s new emperor in 2019.During Trump’s 2019 visit to Japan, Abe’s pandering made headlines. They played a round of golf (stopping to take a smiling selfie in between holes), ate a hamburger lunch, sat at ringside seats at a sumo competition and then tucked into a Japanese barbecue dinner. When Abe announced in late August that he was stepping down, Trump was quick to comment on Twitter. He called Abe “the greatest Prime Minister in the history of Japan,” adding that Japan’s “relationship with the USA is the best it has ever been.” That begs the question: what will a new prime minister mean for U.S.-Japan relations? Trump’s foreign policy has often been defined by his personal relationships with world leaders, and Abe appears to have fostered among the closest ties to the volatile American President. Suga, Abe’s longtime chief cabinet secretary, is largely expected to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps when it comes to foreign policy. But he may not be able to replicate the Trump-Abe bromance, not least because he admits he lacks the diplomatic skills. “Prime Minister Abe’s leadership diplomacy was truly amazing. I don’t think I can match that,” Suga said on Sept. 12, adding that he will continue to consult with Abe on foreign relations. Still, Suga’s role as Abe’s right-hand man for the last eight years means he has a strong understanding of how to manage the relationship with the U.S., says Yoshikazu Kato, an adjunct associate professor at the University of Hong Kong’s Asia Global Institute. “Suga is less outgoing than Abe, but he knows what he has to do—at least until November,” Michael J. Green, senior vice president for Asia and the Japan Chair at the Washington D.C-based think-tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), tells TIME. “One of [Suga’s] most important jobs for the near term will be managing the constant insults and unpredictability of President Trump.” The benefits of Abe’s U.S. charm offensive are also up for debate. Trump still imposed aluminum and steel tariffs on Japan, strong-armed Abe into a one-sided trade deal and proposed to quadruple the $2 billion Japan pays for hosting U.S. troops in the country. And Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a big regional trade deal that Japan had promoted as a way of containing China’s growing influence. Still, Suga is not a completely unknown quantity in Washington, and has already built relationships with some top U.S. officials. He met U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Tokyo in 2018, and visited Washington D.C. last May, meeting Vice President Mike Pence (at the time, Suga’s visit sparked speculation that he was being groomed for a bigger role). Experts say Suga will be closely watching the U.S. election to determine what a Biden presidency might mean for Japan. “Japan is greatly interested in the U.S. election because Mr. Biden’s direction toward China affects Japan greatly,” says Mieko Nakabayashi, a professor at Waseda University in Tokyo. “Japan wants the U.S. to deter China’s military aggression in Asia.” 

In Unanimous Vote, Diane Gujarati Confirmed for Federal Judge Position in New York

Staff ReporterProfiles, Women 0

Diane Gujarati, a prosecutor with decades of experience in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, was confirmed unanimously by the US Senate on September 10th as the newest district judge in the Eastern District of New York.

Gujarati, an Indian American prosecutor with decades of experience in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, by a vote 99-0 in favor of confirming Gujarati. The Senate Judiciary Committee on June 27 had advanced the nomination of Gujarati for the post.

Initially announced last May as President Donald Trump’s 14th wave of judicial nominees, the slate of nominees cleared the Judiciary Committee in September but did not receive a confirmation vote in the full Senate before the end of the last Congress.

Trump re-nominated the prospective judges in April. Gujarati, of New York, is the daughter of an Indian father and Jewish mother. The attorney has been nominated by the president to serve as a district judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Gujarati is deputy chief of the criminal division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she has served as an assistant United States attorney for the past 19 years.

She has also served as an adjunct professor of clinical law at New York University School of Law until earlier this year.

Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gujarati practiced for three years as a litigation associate in the New York City office of Davis Polk & Wardwell, LLP, her bio notes.

Upon graduation from law school, Gujarati served as a law clerk to Judge John M. Walker Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Gujarati had previously been nominated by former President Barack Obama to the same post for which Trump nominated her for April 8.

Obama, at the time, said, “I am pleased to nominate Diane Gujarati to serve on the United States District Court bench,” said Obama (see India-West article here: https://bit.ly/2WXQZtj). “I am confident she will serve the American people with distinction.”

The Indian American’s nomination from Obama expired in early 2017 and then Trump in May 2018 nominated her again for the same post. The seat for which Gujarati has been nominated covers parts of the city as well the suburbs on Long Island.

The nomination by Trump shows both her legal standing as well as the administration’s difficulty in finding candidates within its ideological spectrum who will be able to win Senate support, according to a news release at the time of Trump’s initial nomination.

Three vacancies remain in the Eastern District following Gujarati’s confirmation, and all have active nominees, according to Law.com. The nominees are Hector Gonzalez, a partner at Dechert; Saritha Komatireddy, deputy chief of general crimes in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York; and David C. Woll Jr., a principal deputy assistant secretary for community planning and development in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

What is Aiding India’s Low Covid Mortality Rate

Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

A study conducted by top genetic experts has revealed that Indians should be thankful to their genes for tiding over the Covid pandemic with a relatively lesser mortality rate as compared to the U.S. and European nations.

A team comprising distinguished genetic experts from six institutions, led by Prof. Gyaneshwer Chaubey of the Banaras Hindu University, analyzed complete DNA data of the Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) gene of X chromosome from various continental populations and found that it is the Indian genes that have protected the population and helped battle the deadly virus.

This explains why the mortality rate of Covid-19 has been much higher in European countries and in the U.S., as compared to India and Southeast Asian countries.

The results of the team’s analysis have been published in the internationally renowned journal PLOS ONE, released Sept. 17.

The scientists have provided a possible molecular genetic explanation for why Iranians, Europeans and Americans of European ancestry are at more mortality risk to the novel Coronavirus than people in India and East Asia, as reflected in the current global distribution of reported Covid-19 cases per 1,00,000 inhabitants.

The international team analyzed complete DNA data of the ACE2 gene from various continental populations and found that certain mutations in this gene are helping South Asian and East Asian populations in successfully battling the virus and reducing mortality rate in comparison to the U.S. and Europe.

“The ACE2 gene is the gateway point of the Coronavirus and certain genetic mutations of this gene are related to the disease severity,” said Chaubey.

There have been a few initial studies on the ACE2 gene by other research groups, but all of them looked for the presence or absence of various mutations, whereas this team used more powerful haplotype-based analysis (the method in which experts break the whole length of DNA into several pieces and make comparisons).

“The genetic ancestry of most South Asians can be traced to West Eurasian populations rather than with East Eurasians, whereas for this gene, the result is other way round,” said Prof. George van Driem of University of Bern, Switzerland, one of the experts on the team in the paper.

In this type of analysis, several DNA fragments are compared rather than few mutations as populations that share more DNA chunks are considered to be closer, said Chaubey.

“The match of DNA fragments of South Asians with East Asians suggests that the entry gate of Corona virus among South Asians will be more similar to that of East Asians rather than that of Europeans or Americans. This also explains the low mortality rate in South Asia,” he explained.

The second important finding is about two major mutations which are responsible for strengthening the entry point of the Coronavirus among South Asians. “Thus, this paper adds important potential implications to understanding the transmission patterns of Coronavirus in various populations across the world,” said Anshika Srivastava, one of the authors of the paper.

Rudra Pandey and Prajwal Singh from BHU, Avinash Rasalkar, Pankaj Srivastava from Sagar Central University, Rakesh Tamang from Calcutta University and Pramod Kumar from National Centre for Disease Control were also involved in this research.

Why distributing a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine will be global challenge

Staff ReporterBusiness, Health 0

There’s nearly universal agreement that a safe and effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine should be available and affordable to all countries—rich or poor—both as a moral imperative and because the globe’s health and economy will depend on it. But the rollout of a vaccine will be hugely expensive and time consuming, potentially leaving poorer countries and disadvantaged communities last in line and also forcing tough decisions about which members of society ought to get it first.

During a recent “Ethics Talk” videocast from the AMA Journal of Ethics® (@JournalofEthics), Ruth Faden, PhD, MPH, professor of biomedical ethics at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, summarized efforts underway to head off inequity in distributing vaccines and outlined the top-level ethical arguments around who should get the vaccine first when supply is limited.

A global public health good

The need for countries to balance their commitments to securing vaccines for their populations without simultaneously depriving low- and middle-income countries of access to doses is a “global ethics sweet spot,” Faden said.

The COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility, headed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, was organized to help with this. By pooling demand, it provides countries that have entered into bilateral agreements with manufacturers an insurance policy in the form of a larger portfolio of vaccine candidates. At the same time, it gives governments lacking bilateral agreements—typically low- and middle-incomes countries—a reliable supply of vaccines, with financial support coming from various donor sources.

As of early September, more than 170 countries had signed on to the effort. The U.S. wasn’t one of them, though, ostensibly because of its objection to the WHO’s involvement. But there are “prudential, self-interested reasons” for getting behind it, Faden noted.

In public health, she said, it’s axiomatic that, “if there are outbreaks anywhere, there are outbreaks everywhere.”

Front-line health care workers should be prioritized for vaccination because of their societal value during a pandemic, Faden said. But determining who else is essential is more challenging.

For starters, decision-makers need to avoid the elitist bias that “essential” necessarily means highly skilled, well-trained or professional. Within health care, for example, essential workers ought to include custodial staff and food preparers, she said.

Outside of health care, they might include people who are critical to the country’s food supply, transportation system and power grid, but this is normatively charged territory, Faden added. Primary, middle and high school teachers illustrate the point.

“Are they essential workers or not?” Faden asked, noting that many essential workers are, in fact, highly skilled and cannot be replaced easily. “I would make a big plug for K–12 workers being essential workers. Someone else might want to throw in university professors into that category as well.”

Making such a determination is also a matter of assessing whether additional risk of infection comes with the occupation, whether risk can be mitigated by PPE, whether there is adequate availability and quality of PPE and potential for physical distancing at the work site.

But while limited vaccine supply might prevent some essential workers from getting doses as soon as they are available, Faden added, U.S. health care workers should enjoy priority for another reason: The country owes it to them.

“We also need to incentivize people to continue to do those jobs,” she said, “to make them feel not only acknowledged and that expression of national gratitude, but also, ‘OK, I can keep doing this because I’m going to be protected.’”

The AMA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more at the AMA COVID-19 resource center. Also check out pandemic resources available from the AMA Code of Medical Ethics, JAMA Network™ and AMA Journal of Ethics, and consult the AMA’s physician guide to COVID-19.

U.S. Won’t Get Back To Normal Until Late 2021

Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

The nation’s leading infectious disease expert also voiced concerns about states starting to resume certain indoor activities like dining. Even as movie theaters, gyms and salons are opening and some states are allowing limited indoor dining, daily life in the U.S. won’t get back to normal until late 2021 when a vaccine for COVID-19 could be widely distributed, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Friday.

In an interview on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he remains confident there will be a vaccine available by the end of this year or early 2021.

“But by the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccine and get a majority or more of the population vaccinated and protected, that’s likely not going to happen until the end of 2021,” he said. “If you’re talking about getting back to a degree of normality prior to COVID, it’s going to be well into 2021, towards the end of 2021.”

As the U.S. is plateauing at a high level of around 40,000 new cases and 1,000 deaths a day, Fauci also voiced concerns about states starting to resume certain indoor activities like dining.

“Being indoors absolutely increases the risk” of transmission, Fauci said. “I am concerned when I see things starting indoors, and that becomes more compelling when you move into fall and winter season.”

This week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said restaurants will reopen on Sept. 30, at 25 percent capacity and allow 50 percent capacity in November. Miami-Dade restaurants were allowed to reopen at 50 percent capacity at the end of August.

A report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that adults who tested positive for COVID-19 were twice as likely to report having eaten at a restaurant in the past two weeks.

Fauci stressed that the safest way to resume indoor activities is to bring down community transmission to the lowest possible level. He also noted that being outdoors doesn’t offer blanket protection, either. “Just because you’re outdoors does not that mean you’re protected, particularly if you’re in a crowd and you’re not wearing masks,” he said, referring to political rallies.

Fauci didn’t offer more details about the University of Oxford vaccine trial, which was paused by ther drug maker AstraZeneca this week after a participant developed a spinal issue, but did say the safety board was investigating.

Married And Lived Together For 50 Years, A Couple Die Minutes Apart, While Holding Hands

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A couple married for 48 years, and together for over 50, died of coronavirus only minutes apart holding hands.  Johnny Lee Peoples, 67, and his wife Cathy “Darlene” Peoples, 65 started feeling symptoms at the beginning of August, but would not make it to see more than two days of September.

“Mom and Dad lived hand to hand for 50 years, they died hand to hand, now they’re walking in heaven hand to hand,” their son, Shane Peoples, told CNN.  “The message our family would like to convey is that Covid is real. It’s not a hoax or a joke. Our parents took the proper precautions but tragically still contracted the virus.”

Johnny served in the US Army for over 17 years and retired from the North Carolina Department of Correction a few years ago. Darlene worked at Rowan Family Physicians where she was employed by LabCorp and was supposed to retire on September 1, the day before she and her husband died.

 

Darlene had a fever on August 1 and had a coronavirus test that week. Shane said that on August 10 she tested negative, which the family believes was a false negative because she later tested positive at the hospital.

 

Johnny started having symptoms on August 5 and tested positive on August 7. Then on August 11, both were admitted to the Covid-19 unit at their local hospital, Novant Health Rowan Regional Medical Center, because of difficulty breathing due to previous illness.

Darlene had high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, and Type 2 diabetes, while Johnny had pneumonia two years ago that caused some damage to his lungs, Shane said.

 

“(On September 1), we were told they had no chance of surviving. Dad could continue to live on the ventilator but would never come off of it. Mom’s organs were failing,” Shane said.

The next day, they were placed in the same room next to each other. They were taken off the ventilator and died a few minutes apart.

“They both had pre-existing conditions. Just keep in mind, these didn’t kill my parents, Covid-19 did,” Shane said. “This was the first time for that ICU staff to deal with two family members passing. The hospital staff was amazing through the whole thing.”

The couple is survived by their three children and nine grandchildren.  In their memory, the family is asking for donations to Dr. Vandana Shashi’s Genetic Sequencing Research in the Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine since two of their grandchildren have rare unnamed genetic disorders.

“We were cheated,” Shane said in a Facebook post after they died.  “My parents weren’t just a blessing for me, my brother, my sister, our spouses, and our children. They were a blessing to every person that met them… I just wish everyone could see them through my eyes. You would see the two most loving and caring couple, ever. Without them, this world just got a bit more gloomy.” (Source: CNN.COM)

Teriyaki Chicken & Scallion Buns

Staff ReporterAmmu's Hearty Treats 0

The smell of hot and soft homemade bakes fresh out of your oven is a bliss good enough to make up your day. What if this recipe is also a savoury treat stuffed with yummy chicken. No will be able to say no to this one! How I developed this recipe- Stuffed soft bread rolls are always my favourites and making them at home may not always work as good as it has to be worth the effort for, as we get these savoury buns quite cheaper in almost every bakeries around. So perfecting atleast an almost failproof recipe was a must that I worked for every way possible. The dough recipe here is adapted from the ‘omnivores cookbook‘ whom I follow on Instagram whereas the stuffing recipe for teriyaki chicken is my creation. What’s special about this recipe- Softest buns- I assure that anyone who follows this recipe would never be disappointed for this is the fluffiest and softest low effort buns you’d ever make as you could even make it without the stuffing and would still love it ! Healthy & tasty chicken filling- I’ve used chicken breast for the filling which means you get to use lean protein in this recipe plus, the teriyaki flavour is a worldwide favourite loved by kids as well as adults for its subtle sweetness, umami & less spiciness.  What you’ll need- For the dough-

. 3 cups bread flour . 1 teaspoon salt. 3 tablespoons butter, melted & cooled. 1 egg, beaten. 250 ml milk (warm) ~ 1 cup +2 teaspoons. 3 tablespoons sugar. 7 g (2 and 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast

 

 

 

 For the filling-

. 1 heaping cup chicken breast , chopped. 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder. 3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce . Half teaspoon red chilli flakes . Half teaspoon white pepper powder . 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine / Shaoxing/ dry sherry – optional . 2 cloves grated garlic . 4 tablespoons chicken stock . 3 tablespoons chopped scallions . Vegetable oil- 1 to 2 tablespoons   . Sesame seeds & 2 tablespoons milk – for coating the buns How to make- For the filling-

. Sauté the garlic, heating oil. Add the spices, sauces, stock and wine. When it starts thickening, add 1/4 cup water and then the chicken cook it covered until the chicken is well cooked. Now, open the lid and shred it up. Stir fry the chicken adding half a tablespoon of oil if need, until its dry. Turn off the heat.. Stir in the scallions when the chicken has cooled down. For the dough-

. Dissolve sugar in the milk and stir in the yeast. Keep it covered in a slightly warm place (preferably in a close oven with lights on) for approx. ten minutes for the yeast to bloom.

.Combine flour and salt in your stand mixer bowl. Add in the butter and egg into the bloomed yeast mixture, and pour it into the dry ingredients bowl.

. Start kneading : at speed 6 on the stand mixer for 15 minutes, or 20-30 minutes by hand. The dough should stretch into a very thin and translucent sheet that’s smooth and non-sticky at this point.

. Now, grease a large bowl and keep the dough in it covered for around 40 minutes to an hour for proofing/rising into double its size. 

. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius (fan on). Punch it down, cut into 12 equal parts and roll it into balls.. Flatten each dough ball into palm sized circles, fill and seal with 1 -1.5 tablespoons of teriyaki chicken each.. Let it rest to proof/rise again for atleast 30 minutes or until doubled in size. . Brush with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the buns are golden brown.. Brush with melted butter on taking it out from the oven and let it cool down a bit before biting in..  Notes, tips and suggestions- 

  • You could substitute the filling used here with your takeout boneless Chinese chicken dish /seafood stir-fries as well.
  • For a vegetarian version try your favourite tofu/mushrooms sautés as fillings.

Daily coffee consumption associated with improved survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Staff ReporterHealth 0

 In a large group of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, consumption of a few cups of coffee a day was associated with longer survival and a lower risk of the cancer worsening, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and other organizations report in a new study.

The findings, based on data from a large observational study nested in a clinical trial, are in line with earlier studies showing a connection between regular coffee consumption and improved outcomes in patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer. The study is being published today by JAMA Oncology.

The investigators found that in 1,171 patients treated for metastatic colorectal cancer, those who reported drinking two to three cups of coffee a day were likely to live longer overall, and had a longer time before their disease worsened, than those who didn’t drink coffee. Participants who drank larger amounts of coffee – more than four cups a day – had an even greater benefit in these measures. The benefits held for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.

The findings enabled investigators to establish an association, but not a cause-and-effect relationship, between coffee drinking and reduced risk of cancer progression and death among study participants. As a result, the study doesn’t provide sufficient grounds for recommending, at this point, that people with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer start drinking coffee on a daily basis or increase their consumption of the drink, researchers say.

“It’s known that several compounds in coffee have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other properties that may be active against cancer,” says Dana-Farber’s Chen Yuan, ScD, the co-first author of the study with Christopher Mackintosh, MLA, of the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. “Epidemiological studies have found that higher coffee intake was associated with improved survival in patients with stage 3 colon cancer, but the relationship between coffee consumption and survival in patients with metastatic forms of the disease hasn’t been known.”

The new study drew on data from the Alliance/SWOG 80405 study, a phase III clinical trial comparing the addition of the drugs cetuximab and/or bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated, locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer. As part of the trial, participants reported their dietary intake, including coffee consumption, on a questionnaire at the time of enrollment. Researchers correlated this data with information on the course of the cancer after treatment.

They found that participants who drank two to three cups of coffee per day had a reduced hazard for death and for cancer progression compared to those who didn’t drink coffee. (Hazard is a measure of risk.) Those who consumed more than four cups per day had an even greater benefit.

“Although it is premature to recommend a high intake of coffee as a potential treatment for colorectal cancer, our study suggests that drinking coffee is not harmful and may potentially be beneficial,” says Dana-Farber’s Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, senior author of the study.

“This study adds to the large body of literature supporting the importance of diet and other modifiable factors in the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer,” Ng adds. “Further research is needed to determine if there is indeed a causal connection between coffee consumption and improved outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer, and precisely which compounds within coffee are responsible for this benefit.”

Co-authors of the study are Sui Zhang, MS, Robert J. Mayer, MD, and Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber; Fang-Shu Ou, PhD, and Brian C. Mullen, MS, of the Mayo Clinic; Donna Niedzwiecki, PhD, of Duke University School of Medicine; I-Wen Chang, MD, of Southeast Clinical Oncology Research Consortium, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Bert H. O’Neil, MD, of Indiana University School of Medicine; Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, of Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California; Charles D. Blanke, MD, of Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University; Alan P. Venook, MD, of University of California San Francisco School of Medicine; Charles S. Fuchs, MD, of Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital; Federico Innocenti, M.D., PhD, of Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Andrew B. Nixon, PhD, of Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center; Richard M. Goldberg, MD, of West Virginia University Cancer Institute; and Eileen M. O’Reilly, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Funding for the study was provided by the National Cancer Institute (grants U10CA180821, U10CA180882, U10CA180795, U10CA180838, U10CA180867, U24CA196171, UG1CA189858, P50CA127003, R01CA118553, R01CA205406, U10CA180826, U10CA180830, and U10CA180888), the Project P Fund, Genentech, Sanofi, and Pfizer.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is one of the world’s leading centers of cancer research and treatment. Dana-Farber’s mission is to reduce the burden of cancer through scientific inquiry, clinical care, education, community engagement, and advocacy. We provide the latest treatments in cancer for adults through Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center and for children through Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Dana-Farber is the only hospital nationwide with a top 10 U.S. News & World Report Best Cancer Hospital ranking in both adult and pediatric care.

As a global leader in oncology, Dana-Farber is dedicated to a unique and equal balance between cancer research and care, translating the results of discovery into new treatments for patients locally and around the world, offering more than 1,100 clinical trials. 

India’s Parliament Regulates Foreign Funding Rules

Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

The Lower House of the Indian Parliament has approved a Bill by approving that drastically changes The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020 on Sunday, September 20th. The Bill is aimed at making rules governing the foreign funding of non-government organizations (NGOs) more stringent and also mandating Aadhaar for all office bearers of these organizations.

The bill also seeks to bar government employees and judges from receiving foreign funds, and to prevent recipients from transferring funds to other organizations or individuals. The new bill also gives sweeping powers to the Centre to suspend the licence of any NGO, which could previously be suspended for 180 days under the original law, by an additional 180 days. And it reduces the amount of funds received that can be spent on administrative expenses to 20% from the previous 50%.

The 1976 Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act was replaced by the 2010 Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, which was passed to “regulate the acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by certain individuals or associations or companies and to prohibit acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for any activities detrimental to the national interest and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”[5]

Section 3(1) of the 2010 Act listed persons and entities barred from accepting foreign contributions, including candidates for election, members of any legislature, political parties or party officeholders, organizations of a political nature, and associations or companies engaged in the production or broadcast of audio news, audiovisual news, or current affairs programs.[6] No person or resident in India, and no citizen of India resident outside the country, is allowed to accept any foreign contribution or acquire or agree to acquire any currency from a foreign source on behalf of any political party, any person referred to in Section 3(1), or both. Delivery of currency from a foreign source is also prohibited under the Act.

The amendment (2020) passed this week by the Parliament seeks to make specific changes to the FCRA law, first introduced in 2010 by the UPA government and whose rules were amended in 2012, 2015 and 2019. The law provides the framework under which organizations in India can receive and utilise grants from foreign sources. This primarily affects the non-profit sector in India, comprising a wide range of organisations – NGOs that implement development projects, research organisations, civil society activists, etc.

Governments have argued that the receipt and use of foreign grant funds need to be regulated to ensure that they are not used to hurt the national interest. Nobody denies that there should be greater transparency when it comes to activities that are funded by foreign sources.

The Bill says the amendment is required to enhance transparency and accountability in the receipt and utilization of foreign contributions worth thousands of crores of rupees every year and facilitating the “genuine” non-governmental organizations or associations who are working for the welfare of society. But is it too much to hope that the government will see NGOs and civil society organisations as genuine partners in India’s development journey? As demonstrated during the ongoing pandemic and the migrant workers’ crisis, NGOs and activists routinely make up for gaps in government programmers, by reaching the unreached, supplementing the quality and quantity of services provided, and speaking for those whose voices are marginalized.

Restraining non-profit organizations is equal to restraining democracy itself. But several elements of the FCRA rules and their vague definitions of national interest makes it hard to believe that the government sees this sector as an ally. The government has used the FCRA as an instrument for harassment of political rivals or activist organizations such as Amnesty International. Starting from environmental activism to religious activities – a wide range of organizations have come under the scanner of government authorities in recent years.

14 US Senators write to US Secretary of State Pompeo on designating India as CPC

Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

The “Coalition to Stop Genocide in India”, a broad coalition of Indian American and US-based civil rights organizations and activists, today welcomed a letter written by fourteen US Senators to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressing that US law requires the US Government to consider a federal commission’s recommendations that some countries be designated as a Countries of Particular Concern (CPC), which is the US Government’s official term for countries that are the world’s worst offenders of religious freedom.

 

The bipartisan letter was signed by ten Republican senators and four Democratic senators and sent to Secretary Pompeo this month. Should the US government decide not to accept the recommendations made by the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a federal commission, the letter requires the State Department to inform US Congress of its reasons within 30 days of making that determination.

 

Last year, the US designated nine countries, including China, North Korea, Burma, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as CPC on the basis of USCIRF recommendations. In April this year, the USCIRF recommended adding nine more countries, including India, to this list.

 

CSGI has repeatedly called for the inclusion of India in the list of countries of particular concern, and has urged the State Department to accept USCIRF’s recommendations in this regard, given the escalating levels of persecution against religious minorities in India.

 

“Our nation was founded on the principle that all people have a right to freely practice the faith of their choice, without fear of persecution by their government or any other actors,” the bipartisan letter to Secretary Pompeo said. “As the leader of the free world, it is vital that the United States model and promote this crucial human right and our values to the rest of the world as a fundamental part of our foreign policy objectives.”

 

The Senators wrote that to accomplish that goal, “we must first publicly highlight abuse, persecution and discrimination experienced by people and groups of faith around the world.”

 

“We are encouraged to see the pressure from Congress to designate India a Country of Particular Concern. The US should always lead with its values and hold our friends accountable when they miss the mark on religious freedom,” said Matias Perttula, Advocacy Director, International Christian Concern. “The Modi government must move away from its radical agenda and secure the rights and liberties of all religious minorities in India as is guaranteed in its constitution.”

 

Added Ahsan Khan, National President, IAMC: “The Senators’ letter to Secretary Pompeo shows that there is a strong bipartisan Congressional support for holding India accountable for its escalating violence against its principal minorities, the Muslims and the Christians. The US Government must designate India as CPC.”

 

The Senators who have signed the letter are James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Chris Coons (D-Delaware), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), and Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia).

 

“Both the State Department and USCIRF play important roles in sustaining the United States’ leadership in religious freedom across the globe, including through their annual reports,” the letter said. “These reports are invaluable for Members of Congress, other governments, and civil society groups, and help hold bad actors accountable.”

 

Reports by USCIRF and the State Department “enable the international community to identify atrocities, encourage progress and develop solutions,” the letter said.

 

The letter has also been sent to US Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.

 

The Coalition to Stop Genocide has urged Secretary Pompeo not only to accept the USCIRF’s recommendation that India be designated as CPC “for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA),” but also to move quickly to impose “targeted sanctions” against Indian agencies and officials “responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ assets and/ or barring their entry into the United States.”

 

The “Coalition to Stop Genocide in India” is committed to safeguard peace, pluralism and social justice in India by ensuring that American institutions and discourse continues to highlight human rights abuses and religious freedom violations in India.

India Seeks Collaboration in Pharma Sector

Staff ReporterBusiness 0

At a time when tensions between India and China continue to cast a shadow on businesses including imports of crucial drug ingredients from China, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani invited US companies to invest and conduct tie-ups with Gujarat-based pharma companies for raw material production.

The CM also emphasized on Gujarat’s eagerness for collaboration in the sectors such as life sciences, defense sector, petrochemicals and clean energy, besides warehousing and logistics; and pharmaceuticals and healthcare sectors.

In a special address at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF)’s Leadership Summit, Rupani said, “Gujarat presents great opportunities to US companies and is also developing robust infrastructure facilities for the pharmaceutical sector in the form of a Bulk Drug Park in Bharuch, and a Medical Devices Park in Rajkot district.”

At the special public session hosted by USISPF at the week-long virtual summit, he called upon US companies to join hands with the Indian companies to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in India.

The special public session was hosted by the USISPF to focus on the investment opportunities in Gujarat. Rupani was the only Chief Minister of a state from India to be invited to address the Third Annual USISPF leadership forum. Besides seeking to improve market access to the artisans in tribal areas through digital education, Rupani also expressed the willingness of the government to partner with companies like Cisco in the next wave of digital transformation especially in the fields of cyber technology and governance.

“India and the US have evolved as strategic partners. The partnership is people-driven and people-centric. We share common values of democracy with strong cultural ties and objective for human prosperity,” the Chief Minister stated.

Rupani also highlighted the newly released new Gujarat Industrial Policy 2020, which provides several provisions such as relocation benefits for companies moving out from other countries, besides investor-friendly measures such as delinking incentives from the GST regime and land on a long-term lease.

The Gujarat government will appoint a senior nodal officer from the Chief Minister’s office to facilitate American companies to partner with the State. Besides the conventional manufacturing sectors, Rupani showcased the opportunities for a startup engagement program between US and Gujarat in the diverse and emerging areas of semiconductors, electronics and e-vehicles.

 Amid the challenges posed by the pandemic, Gujarat has shown strong recovery from the economic impact of the Covid-19-induced lockdown. “I am happy to share that on 29 August 2020; our power consumption was 5% more than that consumed last year at the same time. This clearly shows that the economy has bounced-back and is steadily getting back on growth curve,” Rupani added. 

Luminous Paintings And Drawings Inspired By The Night Sky

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During the lockdown, Ando immersed herself in an investigation of indigo, which she has used to create a series of moon drawings based on her observations of the night sky. She produced one every day of the closure as a way to chronicle the experience. The drawings inspired a new body of work that explores the moon in different phases and atmospheric conditions, which Ando says she articulates using the vocabulary of minute changes in nature as an examination into an alternate recording of time. Although indigo is a material Ando is deeply familiar with, this is her first body of work highlighting it.

The exhibition also features several of Ando’s kumo (cloud) paintings, one of which was recently acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Additionally, there will be work from her new Oborozuki series on view, which investigates the concept of liminal space.  

 

Miya Ando has a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and attended Yale University to study Buddhist iconography and imagery. She apprenticed with the master metalsmith Hattori Studio in Japan, followed by a residency at Northern California’s Public Art Academy.
 
Ando’s work has been shown worldwide, including at the Asia Society Texas Center, Houston; Socrates Sculpture Park, New York; Katzen Arts Center, American University Museum, Washington D.C.; Noguchi Museum, New York; Detroit Institute of Arts; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas; Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York; Queens Museum, New York; Rubin Museum of Art, New York; Spartanburg Art Museum, North Carolina; Grand Rapids Public Museum, Michigan; Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, California; Hammond Museum, North Salem, New York; Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art, Georgia; Pensacola Museum of Art, Florida; and the de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, California, in a show curated by Nat Trotman of the Guggenheim Museum.

Jeanne Ives, Candidate for US Congress, visits Aimtron Corporation Commends its ‘Made-in-America’ initiatives and commitment

Staff ReporterCommunity 0

Chicago IL: The COVID-19 pandemic is tightening its grip and as per the Federal Reserve estimate, the worst of the damage is yet to come. As America grapples with lay-offs in millions, the Aimtron Group is one exceptional American Tech conglomerate that is defying all odds and is on an expansion spree to fuel its Made-in-America dream.  Jeanne Ives, candidate for US Congress, in her recent visit corroborated Aimtron’s new initiatives and commitment towards a stronger and brighter America.  Ives, on her recent visit to Aimtron, reiterated the fact that it will be a joint responsibility of government and capable companies like Aimtron Systems, LLC to uplift the national economy. “Understanding that our national security is always at the forefront of keeping Americans safe and keeping our Economy going, I certainly, appreciate the work that you do on behalf of the Defense industry. What you are doing is incredibly detailed, technical, and important work.” Ives further commended the Vasani Family for Aimtron’s journey so far: “Mr. & Mrs. Vasani – look at what you’ve built and look at the opportunity you’ve given everybody here, and the services you’re providing to our nation are incredible…That’s what being American is about. That’s why you showed up at the age of 31 and built this incredible business. I appreciate the risk-taking that you’ve done in your life. I appreciate the education that you’ve given your children”.  Aimtron Corporation was started by a young promising entrepreneur Mr. Mukesh Vasani. Vasani is the owner and CEO of Aimtron Corporation. He founded the company in 2009 with a vision of setting up a technology company dedicated to design and manufacturing of PCB assemblies. Today, Aimtron Corporation has diversified into 6 different group companies. Upon the visit from Ives, Vasani said, “Aimtron is committed towards supporting local manufacturing and increasing American employment. Aimtron’s journey is nothing but a fable of serving community and nation. Today, we have deployed world-class manufacturing processes and infrastructure. We are a strong family of experienced engineers who are geared-up to fulfill of our customers located across the globe. With support from government in form of favorable business policies and a conducive business environment, we are confident of achieving our objective.” Aimtron Corporation is one of those few organizations who have gender neutral workplaces. The institution is purely based on merit. The ideology of hard work and equality forms the very genesis of Aimtron. No wonder, Aimtron Systems, the company’s military/defense division is headed by an inspiring young woman – Ms. Dhruti Vasani. Ms. Vasani, the managing director of Aimtron Systems is a perfect example of America’s youth full of confidence and drive to achieve the impossible. On the occasion of Ms. Ives visit, Ms. Vasani stressed upon cohesive working of government and corporations for promising futures. She further added, “We at Aimtron Systems are passionate towards supporting military/defense sector of our country. The uncertain times of COVID-19 are temporarily here to stay, but we are extremely enthusiastic and have deep faith in the bright future of Aimtron and America as whole.” Aimtron Corporation today is catering to customers spread across the globe. Aimtron’s sales and marketing department is spearheaded by Mr. Abel Castillo and Mr. Joel Petersen. As a recently onboarded director of Sales & Marketing, Mr. Petersen serves as an example of Aimtron’s rapid growth. “At Aimtron we are driven by delivering quality in any pursuit that we venture into. May it be from understanding our customer’s requirements, to manufacturing, to delivering support, etc. Quality sets us apart. It is due to our obsession of delivering quality services, we have one of the industry’s lowest customer attrition ratios.” Mr. Petersen further corroborated, “Aimtron has the brilliant combination of positive energy, excellent leadership and knowledgeable workforce. Based out of Illinois, we are all geared up to cater to the global marketplace.” The Aimtron group of companies has a wide spectrum of offering through its subsidiaries. Aimtron Systems is dedicated to making Mission Critical devices for American military & Aerospace assemblies. Aimtron’s sister company, American Pinball, produces highly sophisticated and entertaining pinball machines. Aimtron Corporation and Aimtron Electronics manufacture printed circuit board assemblies – the heart of any electronic product. Aimtron’s R&D division is dedicated to design and engineer a wide range of advanced products. Lastly, Aimtron Foundation is the not-for-profit arm of the company dedicated towards giving back to society. Today, Aimtron is well on its way towards becoming a world-renown American conglomerate in the field of design, engineering, and manufacturing of high-quality electronics products. Backed by a strong workforce and favorable government, we are on the mission to take Made-in-America brand globally. 

Up to 15 inches of sea-level rise from ice sheets by 2100 predicted by international modeling collaboration

Staff ReporterEnvironment 0

Los Alamos National Laboratory, working with three dozen other institutions from around the world, has helped to create the most accurate prediction of how melting ice in Antarctica and Greenland will contribute to global sea-level rise. The six-year effort, called the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (ISMIP6), found that by the year 2100, sea levels could rise by as much as 15 inches, from melting of the ice sheets alone. This is in addition to 5 to 26 inches of sea-level rise expected to come from ocean thermal expansion, the melting of mountain glaciers around the world, and changes in storage of water on land.  “In particular, this study helped us understand the importance of ice shelves, the portion of the ice sheet that hangs into the ocean, and that are most susceptible to melt,” says Matthew Hoffman, a glaciologist and climate modeler at Los Alamos. “Ice shelves are like the cork on a champagne bottle holding everything in. If they weaken, then the ice resting on the ground behind them can flow more quickly into the ocean, leading to rapid sea-level rise.”  The ISMIP6 project, led by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, brought together more than 60 scientists focused on melting ice in Antarctica and Greenland, which contain the world’s largest ice sheets. As the atmosphere and ocean warm, ice sheets contribute to sea-level rise when they melt and flow into the ocean more quickly than they grow new ice from falling snow. To assess the effects of a changing climate, the models simulated ice sheet conditions from 2015 to the end of the century, following both extreme and mitigated warming scenarios.   The Laboratory’s work focused on modeling ice changes in Antarctica, using its MPAS Albany Land Ice model (MALI), which was run by Hoffman and Los Alamos scientists Tong Zhang and Stephen Price. Among the 13 models in the project, MALI used the most accurate equations of ice flow and ran at the highest model resolution (each model grid cell representing about one mile of Antarctica), which was enabled by using 6,800 computer processors on Department of Energy supercomputers. Predicting ice melt in Antarctica was more complicated than for Greenland because of its unique geographic setting. In the continent’s east, the simulations project the ice sheet to grow due to warming air temperatures that produce more precipitation. But in the west, warm ocean currents will erode the base of floating ice shelves at a rapid rate, leading to exceptional ice melt and adding up to 7.1 inches of global sea rise alone. This drastic variation, caused by the uniqueness of Antarctica’s climate and geographic setting, is one factor that has always made modeling ice sheet melt on the continent especially difficult.  “The exciting part of this coordinated project using more than a dozen models and multiple climate scenarios is being able to identify what matters most for possible future ice sheet changes,” Hoffman says. “And the most important factors we found were how rapidly the ocean is able to melt the ice from underneath and the amount of future greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”  The results of the ISMIP6 collaboration, published this week, appear in a special issue of the journal The Cryosphere. The work is part of the Laboratory’s ongoing research to model the impacts of climate change on sea level.   The Laboratory’s expertise in data visualization allowed these high-resolution simulations of Antarctic ice flow to be depicted in unprecedented detail, analysis led by data scientist John Patchett. Laboratory climate scientists Alice Barthel and Xylar Asay-Davis played key roles in preparing the climate model projections used as inputs to the ice sheet modeling.  The research was funded by the Biological and Environmental Research program of the Department of Energy Office of Science.  MALI is developed jointly by Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories. Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is managed by Triad, a public service oriented, national security science organization equally owned by its three founding members: Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle), the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS), and the Regents of the University of California (UC) for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.  Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns. 

Is There Life On Venus

Staff ReporterCommunity, Science & Technology 0

An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, today announced the discovery of a rare molecule – phosphine – in the clouds of Venus. On Earth, this gas is only made industrially, or by microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments.

Astronomers have speculated for decades that high clouds on Venus could offer a home for microbes – floating free of the scorching surface, but still needing to tolerate very high acidity. The detection of phosphine molecules, which consist of hydrogen and phosphorus, could point to this extra-terrestrial ‘aerial’ life. The new discovery is described in a paper in Nature Astronomy.

The team first used the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii to detect the phosphine, and were then awarded time to follow up their discovery with 45 telescopes of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. Both facilities observed Venus at a wavelength of about 1 millimetre, much longer than the human eye can see – only telescopes at high altitude can detect this wavelength effectively.

Professor Greaves says, “This was an experiment made out of pure curiosity, really – taking advantage of JCMT’s powerful technology, and thinking about future instruments. I thought we’d just be able to rule out extreme scenarios, like the clouds being stuffed full of organisms. When we got the first hints of phosphine in Venus’ spectrum, it was a shock!”

Naturally cautious about the initial findings, Greaves and her team were delighted to get three hours of time with the more sensitive ALMA observatory. Bad weather added a frustrating delay, but after six months of data processing, the discovery was confirmed.

Team member Dr Anita Richards, of the UK ALMA Regional Centre and the University of Manchester, adds: “To our great relief, the conditions were good at ALMA for follow-up observations while Venus was at a suitable angle to Earth. Processing the data was tricky, though, as ALMA isn’t usually looking for very subtle effects in very bright objects like Venus.”

Greaves adds: “In the end, we found that both observatories had seen the same thing – faint absorption at the right wavelength to be phosphine gas, where the molecules are backlit by the warmer clouds below.”

Professor Hideo Sagawa of Kyoto Sangyo University then used his models for the Venusian atmosphere to interpret the data, finding that phosphine is present but scarce – only about twenty molecules in every billion.

The astronomers then ran calculations to see if the phosphine could come from natural processes on Venus. They caution that some information is lacking – in fact, the only other study of phosphorus on Venus came from one lander experiment, carried by the Soviet Vega 2 mission in 1985.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist Dr William Bains led the work on assessing natural ways to make phosphine. Some ideas included sunlight, minerals blown upwards from the surface, volcanoes, or lightning, but none of these could make anywhere near enough of it. Natural sources were found to make at most one ten thousandth of the amount of phosphine that the telescopes saw.

To create the observed quantity of phosphine on Venus, terrestrial organisms would only need to work at about 10% of their maximum productivity, according to calculations by Dr Paul Rimmer of Cambridge University. Any microbes on Venus will likely be very different to their Earth cousins though, to survive in hyper-acidic conditions.

Earth bacteria can absorb phosphate minerals, add hydrogen, and ultimately expel phosphine gas. It costs them energy to do this, so why they do it is not clear. The phosphine could be just a waste product, but other scientists have suggested purposes like warding off rival bacteria.

Another MIT team-member, Dr Clara Sousa Silva, was also thinking about searching for phosphine as a ‘biosignature’ gas of non-oxygen-using life on planets around other stars, because normal chemistry makes so little of it.

She comments: “Finding phosphine on Venus was an unexpected bonus! The discovery raises many questions, such as how any organisms could survive. On Earth, some microbes can cope with up to about 5% of acid in their environment – but the clouds of Venus are almost entirely made of acid.”

Other possible biosignatures in the Solar System may exist, like methane on Mars and water venting from the icy moons Europa and Enceladus. On Venus, it has been suggested that dark streaks where ultraviolet light is absorbed could come from colonies of microbes. The Akatsuki spacecraft, launched by the Japanese space agency JAXA, is currently mapping these dark streaks to understand more about this “unknown ultraviolet absorber”.

The team believes their discovery is significant because they can rule out many alternative ways to make phosphine, but they acknowledge that confirming the presence of “life” needs a lot more work. Although the high clouds of Venus have temperatures up to a pleasant 30 degrees centigrade, they are incredibly acidic – around 90% sulphuric acid – posing major issues for microbes to survive there. Professor Sara Seager and Dr Janusz Petkowski, also both at MIT, are investigating how microbes could shield themselves inside droplets.

The team are now eagerly awaiting more telescope time, for example to establish whether the phosphine is in a relatively temperate part of the clouds, and to look for other gases associated with life. New space missions could also travel to our neighbouring planet, and sample the clouds in situ to further search for signs of life.

Professor Emma Bunce, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, congratulated the team on their work:

“A key question in science is whether life exists beyond Earth, and the discovery by Professor Jane Greaves and her team is a key step forward in that quest. I’m particularly delighted to see UK scientists leading such an important breakthrough – something that makes a strong case for a return space mission to Venus.”

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said: “Venus has for decades captured the imagination of scientists and astronomers across the world. This discovery is immensely exciting, helping us increase our understanding of the universe and even whether there could be life on Venus. I am incredibly proud that this fascinating detection was led by some of the UK’s leading scientists and engineers using state of the art facilities built on our own soil.”

 

Andrij Parekh Wins Emmy Award for Directing HBO Series ‘Succession’

Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

Andrij Parekh, an Indian-American cinematographer, won the Primetime Emmy Award for directing the ‘Hunting’ episode of HBO’s drama series ‘Succession’. He is among several other Indian-Americans who have taken home the prestigious prize in the past, including actor, author and comedian Aziz Ansari, as well as Hasan Minhaj of the highly acclaimed show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.

Parekh’s win marked the second award for team ‘Succession’ after, writer Jesse Armstrong won the Emmy for writing the ‘This Is Not for Tears’ episode. The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards were originally slated to be held at Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided that the ceremony will be held virtually from the actors’ homes across the US. The ceremony took place on September 20.

According to ANI, “Succession” is a satirical drama by Jesse Armstrong which revolves around a family of dysfunctional owners of a global media and hospitality empire. The show centers on their tussle for control over the company.

According to Wikipedia, Parekh was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, of Gujarati and Ukrainian descent. He went to high school in Minnesota and attended Carleton College, where he graduated in 1994 with a degree in sociology/anthropology and a minor in media studies.

He went on to study cinematography at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, earning an MFA in 2001, and the FAMU film school in Prague.

While studying at NYU, he was nominated for the 1998 Eastman Excellence in Cinematography award, and in 2001, he won an honorable mention from the American Society of Cinematographers in the “Heritage Award” category.

Parekh currently lives and works in New York City, shooting features and music videos, according to Wikipedia. In 2004 he was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Indie Film” and was included as one of Variety’s “Ten Cinematographers to Watch.” Recently, he was invited to join the American Society of Cinematographers. Parekh is an American cinematographer of Indian and Ukranian heritage. According to his bio available on the Web, Parekh was born in 1971 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to an Indian father and Ukranian mother. He graduated in 1994 with a degree in sociology/anthropology and a minor in media studies.

He studied cinematography at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (MFA, 2001) and the FAMU film school in Prague. In 2001, he won an honorable mention from the American Society of Cinematographers in the “Heritage Award” category.

In 2004, Parekh was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Indie Film” and was included as one of Variety’s “Ten Cinematographers to Watch.”

He is married to French-American film director and screenwriter Sophie Barthes, who is best known for her 2009 film ‘Cold Souls’.

Besides ‘Succession’, some of his other notable works include ‘13 Reasons Why’ (2017) Episodes: “Tape 1 Side A,” “Tape 1 Side B”, and ‘Watchmen’ Episode: “If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own” to name a few. 

Joe Biden Leads Trump In Several Key Swing States

Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

In a new batch of swing-state polling released this weekend by the New York Times and CBS News, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden continues to lead President Donald Trump in several key states with just 51 days to go until the November election.

Specifically, a New York Times/Siena College poll taken from September 8 to 11 shows Biden retaining his lead with likely voters in four important states: Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin. Likewise, a CBS News/YouGov survey conducted from September 9 to 11 gives the former vice president the edge among likely voters in both Minnesota and Arizona.

In 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won Minnesota, Nevada, and New Hampshire; Trump won Arizona and Wisconsin.

This time around, the GOP has indicated they’re playing to win in Minnesota. “In 2016 I almost won Minnesota,” Trump tweeted last year. “In 2020, because of America hating anti-Semite Rep. Omar, & the fact that Minnesota is having its best economic year ever, I will win the State!” His campaign has followed that bluster with a $14 million advertising push in the state, larger than their buys in the swig states of Michigan and Wisconsin.

However, the New York Times and CBS polls would appear to throw some cold water on Trump’s Minnesota ambitions: While Clinton eked out a narrow win by less than 2 percent in 2016, both the New York Times and CBS show Biden leading Trump by 9 percentage points.

The same polls suggest that Trump is in danger of ceding Arizona and Wisconsin to Biden in November. CBS reports that Biden narrowly leads Trump by 3 percentage points in Arizona, and according to the New York Times poll, Biden is up by 5 percentage points in Wisconsin.

In Nevada, where Trump held a rally on Saturday, Biden also has a small lead of 4 percentage points — but Chuck Rocha, a former adviser to the Bernie Sanders campaign, says that Democrats need to take the state more seriously, or that might change:

“What’s underreported right [now] is the problem in Nevada,” Rocha said. “The entire Culinary Union is laid off. The entire [Las Vegas] strip is shut down, for the most part. So there’s astronomical unemployment there.”

Rocha said Democrats have not been sensitive enough to the economic hardship that has affected the area — and that has impacted Latinx voters particularly hard. To win the state, he said, Biden will have to present a clear plan of how his policy vision will help those who need work, and income, right now.

According to NBC News, the Trump campaign does not see Nevada as a sure thing for Biden, either. In fact, Trump campaign officials view Nevada as part of an “alternate route” to winning 270 electoral votes, should the president lose some of the states that handed him victory in 2016.

New Hampshire, a 2016 squeaker that went for Clinton by just three-tenths of a percent, is also part of that “alternative route” strategy. The New York Times/Siena College poll shows Biden with a 3 percentage point lead, but Trump made a point of holding rallies in the state, which has a Republican governor, shortly after wrapping up the Republican National Convention last month.

Overall, these polls contain good news for Biden — but many if his leads, like those in New Hampshire and Arizona, are narrow ones, suggesting there is still room for the president to swing opinion his way.

A mostly stable race

Looking beyond the particulars of any one poll, polling for the 2020 presidential race has been largely stable. Nationally, Biden leads Trump by an average of about 7.3 percentage points, and he has retained a consistent lead in key swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. These latest results fall in line with these standing trends.

And Biden’s national average also squares with a recent Fox News poll of likely voters, which shows Biden with a slightly smaller lead versus Trump — just 5 percentage points — but a solid advantage on most issues, including racial inequality, the pandemic, health care, the courts, immigration, and policing. Only on the economy did likely voters have more faith in Trump, by a margin of 5 percentage points.

One possible reason for the consistency seen in polling is that surveys have suggested there are fewer undecided voters than there were in 2016. According to CNN, just 13 percent of registered voters either haven’t decided or are still open to changing their minds, and a Quinnipiac University poll from earlier this month found that only 3 percent of likely voters were still undecided.

That’s likely not good news for Trump, who did well with late-breaking undecided voters in 2016 but has far more ground to make up this time around with a smaller pool of undecideds. As CNN’s John Harwood points out, Biden is also quite a bit more popular than Clinton was in 2016, while the majority of Americans still dislike Trump.

Of course, polling isn’t prophecy. As my colleague Li Zhou has explained previously, polls only really “capture public sentiment during a moment in time,” and things could still change, especially with three presidential debates yet to come. And given one needs only to win the electoral college rather than the popular vote, a candidate winning over even a portion of a group that may have traditionally voted for his rival could have an outsized effect on results.

If Biden wins by more than 5 points nationally, he’s almost certainly going to win enough electoral votes to get to at least 270 and take the Electoral College. There’s simply little record of a difference between the margin in the key swing states and the national vote being greater than 5 points.

If Biden wins by somewhere between 3 and 5 points nationally, he’ll be the clear favorite in the Electoral College, even if there is some non-negligible chance Trump could emerge victorious.  Biden’s national advantage right now is clearly outside this 5-point window.  In this particular moment in time though, Biden looks to be in a strong spot ahead of the November election.

National Geographic series, Mega Icons to Feature Deepika Padukone, AR Rahman, Ratan Tata

Staff ReporterEntertainment, Social Media 0

From actress Deepika Padukone to music maestro AR Rahman and industrialist Ratan Tata, a slew of renowned celebrities will be seen sharing their life experiences on the second season of Mega Icons.

The upcoming National Geographic series will bring viewers closer to these personalities through exclusive and intimate interviews featuring them as well as their close ones. In the episode featuring Deepika, fans will also get to see Ranveer Singh talking about his wife.

“She was going through some kind of emotional turmoil that she was not even aware of and it kept evolving the performer in her. It started coming out in her performances,” Ranveer says in the teaser of “Mega Icons”.

The life story of late Indian American astronaut Kalpana Chawla will feature in the show. “The series seeks to inspire and motivate the youth by diving deep into the lives of these successful personalities, to find the answer to an elusive question: What made them who they are today?” said Anuradha Aggarwal, Head (Infotainment and Kids), Star and Disney India, about “Mega Icons Season 2”, to be premiered on September 20.

The 4-part series will throw light on the four personalities through cinematic recreations and candid interviews with the guests and their loved ones. Talking about featuring in Mega Icons Season 2, actor Deepika Padukone, said, “National Geographic for me embodies credibility and iconicity. I feel incredibly humbled to be a part of the celebrated series, Mega Icons, which allows me to share a glimpse of my journey with people across the world.”

Music maestro AR Rahman added, “It’s a pleasure to be part of Nat Geo’s Mega Icons series along with Ratan Tata ji, Deepika Padukone and the life of the late Kalpana Chawla. I hope you find inspiration from our stories.”

Mega Icons Season 1 debuted in 2018 with stories of Kamal Haasan, Virat Kohli, APJ Abdul Kalam, Kiran Bedi and Dalai Lama. It was hosted by actor R Madhavan. Mega Icons Season 2 will have its premiere on September 20 at 7 pm with Deepika Padukone’s episode.

National Geographic, a brand with a rich legacy of spectacular storytelling through inspirational content will be bringing alive the legacy of some of India’s top icons with the second season of its unique franchise ‘Mega Icons’. Season 1 of Mega Icons deciphered the success stories of renowned personalities such as Abdul Kalam, Virat Kohli, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kamal Haasan and Kiran Bedi from a scientific lens. Building on the success of its maiden edition, Season 2 of the series will feature a strong and exclusive line up of some of India’s mega personalities.

Commenting on the launch of Mega Icons Season 2, a National Geographic India spokesperson said, “We understand that youth is inspired by personalities and motivated by their experiences. Our unique franchise ‘Mega Icons’ builds upon this insight and spotlights inspiring tales of some of India’s biggest icons to feed their curiosity. We have extracted exciting and impactful moments by decoding the life journeys of these icons and combined it with rich storytelling of National Geographic, to inspire youth through inspiring content.”

The Unprecedented Fire Ravaging Western USA Is A Mere Preview Of What Climate Change Has In Store Trump Continues to Question Science on Climate Change

Staff ReporterEnvironment 0

As wildfires raging through the West force millions of residents to confront the consequences of a warming planet, the presidential race became intensely focused on climate change — an issue that has been overshadowed through much of the campaign.

The realities of communities ablaze, mass evacuations and curtains of thick smoke settling over large, densely populated swaths of the Pacific coast pushed the rival candidates to detour from the battleground states and lay out starkly contrasting visions for reversing the cycle of worsening natural disaster.

Landing in California, where state officials say his unyielding efforts to undermine global action on climate have intensified the crisis, President Trump continued to express skepticism about climate science.

In a briefing with state and federal officials, Gov. Gavin Newsom told Trump: “We feel very strongly the hots are getting hotter, the dries are getting drier. Something has happened to the plumbing of the world, and we come from a perspective, humbly, that we assert that the science is in, and the observed evidence is self-evident that climate change is real. Please respect the difference of opinion out here with respect to the fundamental issue of climate change,” he said.

More than 3 million acres have burned in California alone, with three of the five largest fires in state history still burning all at once, along with huge swaths of Oregon and Washington. Still, much of the West is only now entering what is typically the most active part of the region’s fire season.

To scientists, the fingerprints of global warming on these wildfires — and so many other disasters, from the fires that scorched Australia to the hurricanes that have slammed the US — are clear. And as devastating as they have been, far worse disasters could be on the horizon.

How bad it gets depends on what we as humans do to reduce heat-trapping gas emissions, said Michael Mann, the director of Penn State University’s Earth System Science Center. “By some measure, it’s clear that ‘dangerous climate change’ has already arrived,” Mann said in response to emailed questions from CNN. “It’s a matter of how bad we’re willing to let it get.”

How climate change influences wildfires

Though the scale of destruction is hard to fathom, climate scientists say we should not be surprised. “It’s shocking to see the impacts, but not scientifically surprising,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research told CNN on Tuesday. “This is in line with essentially every prediction for what could happen this year and the trends we’re seeing over years and decades.”

Scientists have warned for years that fire seasons like this could come to pass, and that the more we humans heat up the planet, the more we are increasing the odds in favor of the hot, dry conditions conducive to fires.

So far, the planet has warmed by a global average of roughly 1.2 degrees Celsius since the 1880s, with human activity responsible for the bulk of that increase.

This warming is clear in long-term temperature graphs for the state of California, such as this one below from the nonprofit environmental monitoring organization Berkeley Earth, which shows that August temperatures in the state have climbed steadily over the last 150 years.

According to the National Climate Assessment, a major “state-of-science” review of climate change and its projected impacts on the US, additional warming of about 1.4 degrees Celsius (2.5 degrees Fahrenheit) can be expected over the next few decades regardless of future emissions.

By the second half of the century, the uncertainty range for the amount of warming grows tremendously, as so much will depend on potential cut backs in carbon emissions in the near future.

Democratic nominee Joe Biden denounced Trump as a “climate arsonist” and laid out how different policies would be under a Biden administration.

“It shouldn’t be so bad that millions of Americans live in the shadow of an orange sky and are left asking, ‘Is doomsday here?’” said Biden, delivering remarks in a meadow outside the natural history museum near his home in Wilmington, Del.

Biden pilloried the president for his response to the fires — which has included blaming the state for doing a poor job of raking leaves in forests and threatening to withhold desperately needed federal aid — and he took aim at Trump’s broader effort to scrap federal action to curb climate change.

Elon Musk Set to Help Revolutionize Las Vegas Casinos

Staff ReporterBusiness, Entertainment 0

Having been in the casino industry for so many years, it’s always exciting when new heavyTech giant Elon Musk aims to revolutionize the world’s gambling capital Las Vegas. The celebrated entrepreneur who has made technological strides across a wide array of industries is negotiating a new agreement with two Las Vegas casinos that want in on Boring Company tunnels that would connect them to the Convention Center. Tick Segerblom, the Clark County Commissioner, has posted a tweet last week, revealing Musk’s construction plans that include several tunnels that would connect the Wynn and the Encore with the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). Both of these casino establishments are owned by Wynn Resorts. Later this week, Wynn Resorts published that they submitted plans to the city to connect their hotels to the ongoing project. Reportedly, another conglomerate Resorts World, which is set to open in 2021, is also in on Elon Musk’s Las Vegas Project. The Malaysian-owned resort has also submitted applications for underground connectors. If you don’t want to wait until 2021 you can  enter the city of golden dreams at Neon Vegas Casino. The Verge, which first reported on the project, published both sets of applications that show a picture of Tesla vehicles swiftly transporting people from the casino to the convention center. If all goes as planned, the project should drastically reduce transportation time and turn a 30-minute walk into a 2-minute ride in each direction. According to the construction plans, the Boring company is set to excavate a 0.6-mile tunnel that is supposed to go from the Encore all the way to the Silver Lot parking lot in the Convention Center. The proposal says that the boarding area in the LVCC would save up to 25 parking spaces. Passengers at the Encore would enter the existing bus lane located outside the hotel, and the boarding areas at both ends would be constructed above ground. The Boring Company also plans to dig a 0.4-mile tunnel that would run from the new Resorts World hotel-casino to one of the parking lots that are currently under construction as a part of the LVCC expansion. Both departure halls would also be above ground. Unlike the Convention Center Loop, the Wynn Resorts and Resorts World tunnels won’t be free. In an interview with CNN, the president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Steve Hill said that each trip would cost between $3 and $5. This is just about the price passengers usually pay for a ticket to ride in the Monorail. The driverless transit system connects the LVCC to several resorts across the Strip but doesn’t reach the Encore, the Wynn, or Resorts World. The new projects would have been funded by the companies per se, as opposed to the $52.5 LVCC Loop which was financed by the Convention and Visitors Authority. According to the proposals submitted to Clark County, the two companies are still negotiating the terms of their agreements with Musk’s company. Wynn Resorts and Resorts World have a history that goes beyond their projects with The Boring Company. Namely, in 2018, Wynn Resorts filed a lawsuit against Resorts World because the Malaysian company had been planning to build a 3,000-room Chinese-themed resort that would be a stunning resemblance to the Encore and the Wynn. The two companies reached a settlement on the dispute last year. Eventually, the Boring Company plans on connecting its tunnels to the entire Strip and airport, and the two proposals from the Resorts World and the Wynn represent the first milestone towards that goal. The projects would raise tensions with the city’s Monorail company and the taxi authority, as the Boring Company would directly compete with them with those transportation means. The Convention Center Loop is set to open in January 2021, right in time for the next Consumer Electronics Show.

COVID-19 Has Killed Nearly 200,000 Americans: When & How Will This Pandemic End?

Staff ReporterEducation, Health 0

Among the world’s wealthy nations, only the U.S. has an outbreak that continues to spin out of control. Of the 10 worst-hit countries, the U.S. has the seventh-highest number of deaths per 100,000 population; the other nine countries in the top 10 have an average per capita GDP of $10,195, compared to $65,281 for the U.S. Some countries, like New Zealand, have even come close to eradicating COVID-19 entirely. Vietnam, where officials implemented particularly intense lockdown measures, didn’t record a single virus-related death until July 31.

Forty-five days before the announcement of the first suspected case of what would become known as COVID-19, the Global Health Security Index was published. The project—led by the Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security—assessed 195 countries on their perceived ability to handle a major disease outbreak. The U.S. ranked first.

It’s clear the report was wildly overconfident in the U.S., failing to account for social ills that had accumulated in the country over the past few years, rendering it unprepared for what was about to hit. At some point in mid-September—perhaps by the time you are reading this—the number of confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. has passed 200,000, more than in any other country by far.

If early in the spring, the U.S. had mobilized its ample resources and expertise in a coherent national effort to prepare for the virus, things might have turned out differently. If, in midsummer, the country had doubled down on the measures (masks, social-distancing rules, restricted indoor activities and public gatherings) that seemed to be working, instead of prematurely declaring victory, things might have turned out differently. The tragedy is that if science and common sense solutions were united in a national, coordinated response, the U.S. could have avoided many thousands of more deaths this summer.

Indeed, many other countries in similar situations were able to face this challenge where the U.S. apparently could not. Italy, for example, had a similar per capita case rate as the U.S. in April. By emerging slowly from lockdowns, limiting domestic and foreign travel, and allowing its government response to be largely guided by scientists, Italy has kept COVID-19 almost entirely at bay. In that same time period, U.S. daily cases doubled, before they started to fall in late summer.

Seven months after the coronavirus was found on American soil, we’re still suffering hundreds, sometimes more than a thousand deaths every day. An American Nurses Association survey from late July and early August found that of 21,000 U.S. nurses polled, 42% reported either widespread or intermittent shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks, gloves and medical gowns. Schools and colleges are attempting to open for in-person learning only to suffer major outbreaks and send students home; some of them will likely spread the virus in their communities. More than 13 million Americans remain unemployed as of August, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Sept. 4.

There is nothing auspicious about watching the summer turn to autumn; all the new season brings are more hard choices. At every level—from elected officials responsible for the lives of millions to parents responsible for the lives of one or two children—Americans will continue to have to make nearly impossible decisions, despite the fact that after months of watching their country fail, many are now profoundly distrustful, uneasy and confused.

  • India recorded 8,069 Covid-19 deaths in the past week, a sharp rise of 14.5% over the previous week (7,050 deaths, a 1.7% rise), with fatalities averaging more than 1,100 per day. For the first time, the national death toll remained above 1,000 on all days of the past week.
  • Fresh cases reported during the week also rose by 11%, as more than 640,000 infections were detected.
  • Both the case count and death toll in India during the week (September 7-13) were the highest in the world. While India has been reporting the highest number of Covid cases globally since August, the country’s rising death toll has overtaken other countries in September so far.
  • Maharashtra crossed a grim mark of over 1 million Covid-19 case count after nearly 25,000 new infections (24,886) were confirmed on Friday. The state accounts for nearly 22% of India’s total cases. If it were a country, Maharashtra would be the fifth worst-hit globally, with 10,15,681 cases, and may soon cross Russia’s count of 1.05 million cases.
  • Friday: 97,937 new cases (a record) and 1,249 fatalities
  • Total: 4,653,193 cases and 77,384 fatalities
  • Six other states — Uttar Pradesh (7,103 new cases), Odisha (3,996), Punjab (2,526), Madhya Pradesh (2,240), Rajasthan (1,660) and Gujarat (1,344) — also reported their highest daily count yet.

Pfizer ready to distribute vaccine in US before year-end

  • US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which has been working alongside Germany’s BioNTech on an mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine, said it will be ready to distribute the vaccine to Americans before the end of the year if found to be safe and effective. The company is prepared to distribute “hundreds of thousands of doses” if the FDA approval is in place, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said.
  • Pfizer’s is one of the three highly-anticipated vaccine candidates in the world, alongside those developed by Moderna and Oxford University. It is currently undergoing Phase III trials. On Saturday Pfizer said it will expand those trials to 44,000 participants to collect more safety and efficacy data and to increase the diversity of the study’s participants by enrolling, among others, adolescents as young as 16 years of age.
  • Bourla’s statement comes weeks after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notified state and city officials in the country to prepare to distribute a coronavirus vaccine to priority groups as early as November. The CDC’s technical specifications for two candidates described as Vaccine A and Vaccine B seem to match the products developed by Pfizer and Moderna, The New York Times had reported.
  • Health minister Harsh Vardhan said the government is considering emergency authorisation of Covid vaccine so that it can be made available at the earliest for those in high-risk groups, including senior citizens and healthcare workers.
  • Also, patients who recover from Covid may continue to report a wide variety of signs and symptoms, including fatigue, body ache, cough, sore throat and difficulty in breathing, according to a fresh protocol issued by the health ministry for managing such patients. More here.
  • NEET: Attendance for the NEET-UG exam on Sunday was between 85% and 90%, the National Testing Agency said, based on random sampling. Those who missed the exams after testing positive will get another chance to take the test.
  • Serum Institute of India paused the trials of Covishield, Oxford University-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, following Wednesday’s showcause notice issued by the central drug regulator. “We are reviewing the situation and pausing India trials till AstraZeneca restarts them. We are following the Drug Controller General of India’s instructions and will not be able to comment further on the same,” the Pune-based company said.

Chocolate Babka loaf (Lactose free & Eggless) By Certina Romel

Staff ReporterAmmu's Hearty Treats 0

Wanna devour on home-baked slices of chocolatey bread without troubling your gut? This recipe is especially for those unlucky peeps like myself who’s troubled on a regular basis when it comes to staying away from dairy (lactose) due to lactose intolerance which as you may be knowing is literally a pain in the ass most of the time when it comes to avoiding even butter.. How I developed this recipe- I have always kept on trying new recipes on my own getting inspirations and dairy substitution ideas from vegan cooking/baking vlogs/blog all over the internet, but never really loved any recipe as it is, as many dairy free recipes were vegan too. It definitely is a good kind of diet but honestly, lactose intolerance does not really have anything to do with giving up animal-based stuff completely.This is where I would like to talk about a clever incorporation into my recipe- ghee. Also known as ‘clarified butter’, this ’liquid  gold’ is lactose free as it’s just butter clarified off lactose but still renders a dairy-like rich flavour to your food which is a bonus considering its health benefits as well. Secondly I’ve used good quality dark chocolate for the filling in this recipe so that it stays lactose free. What’s special about this recipe-

 

Ghee & dark chocolate- Both these ingredients are praised for their health benefits of good fats, antioxidants and even healing medicinal properties. Eggless & easy- This recipe being eggless & lactose free, not only makes a perfect indulgence for people with diet restrictions, but also makes it simpler as it requires less number of ingredients and fewer steps. What you’ll need- For the dough-. 2 cups all-purpose flour. 1/4 teaspoon salt. 1 teaspoon instant yeast. 1/4 cup sugar. 1/2 cup warm water. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract . 2 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil (eg. refined olive/sunflower/canola oil). 1 tablespoon ghee For the filling-. 1/2 cup dark chocolate . 1/4 cup powdered sugar. 1/3 cup cocoa powder . 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or any neutral tasting vegetable oil as used for dough). 2 tablespoons ghee. 1/4 cup Dark chocolate chips/ chunks(chopped) How to make-

For the dough- . Mix in the dry ingredients in the stand mixer bowl and pour in the wet ingredients into it.

. Combine it with your rubber spatula and start mixing on speed 4-6 for 8-15 minutes, until the dough is no longer sticky, smooth and springy to touch. If you are using hands to knead, it might take around 20 minutes.

. Grease a large bowl with ghee/oil and place the dough in the middle of it. Clinwrap it and let it rise in a warm place (I place it inside my oven with the lights on) for about an hour until it doubles in size.

. When it’s rising, you could make the chocolate filling.
For the filling- . Combine and melt all the ingredients for the chocolate filling -except the chocolate chips/chunks-using a double boiler/ Bain-marie until smooth and uniform in texture. . Grease your loaf pan and take out the risen dough. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius (fan on). Flatten it out into a rectangle/square using a rolling pin, deflating it initially to remove the air formed on rising/resting.

. Spread the cooled down chocolate filling evenly on top of the flat dough surface and sprinkle chocolate chips/chunks on top.

. Roll it up (approx. to the same length of your loaf pan) and cut it in the middle horizontally /lengthwise using a big knife.

. Twist up two of the equal sized dough halves to resemble a rope- with the chocolatey cut on top. . Place it carefully into the loaf pan and loosely clinwrap it. Let it rise for an hour or so, until it doubles again.

. Once beautifully risen, bake it for 35-40 minutes (Keep an eye on the the bread halfway through to control the browning on top- if it starts to brown a lot, cover the top with a layer of aluminium foil to prevent burning on top). . Once done, take it out from the oven, brush it with a mixture of half of melted ghee/oil. Cool on a wire rack for atleast 10 minutes before slicing.  Notes, tips & suggestions- 

  • -You can use filling of your choice to create a Babka of your own . Some interesting choices are zaatar, pesto, tomato-basil, chocolate-chopped nuts of your choice, cheese-garlic (Dairy option),.etc.
  • -I have used almond flakes to top my Babka before baking. This is completely optional. You could use chopped nuts/ chocolate chips/ streusel to top your Babka in the place of almond flakes, if you prefer

IAPC Plans 7th International Media Conference

Staff ReporterCommunity, Social Media 0

Indo American Press Club (IAPC) has planned to organize its 7th International Media Conference (IMC 2020) from October 16-19th 2020. The decision to host the conference in the midst of the ongoing Pandemic was taken during a joint meeting of its Board of Directors and the National Executive Committee held on 7th September 2020.

IAPC Chairman Dr. Joseph Chalil and President Dr. S.S.Lal confirmed that due to the enormous surge of the Covid 19 pandemic, this year’s Media Conference is scheduled to be conducted with the latest virtual conferencing technologies, while having some in person meetings with limited attendance. Along with the various media workshops and seminars led by renowned media experts from abroad, IAPC is proudly presenting the US Presidential Election Debate with the active participation of prominent political leaders and observers from both the Democratic and the Republic Parties.

IAPC has been implementing various action plans to enhance the professional excellence of journalists of Indian origin. As part of this mission, IAPC brings together renowned media professionals from different corners every year, during the Media Conferences. “We strive to educate and help improve the performance of Indian American journalists and those in India by imparting  new knowledge and modern trends to the participants” said Ginsmon Zacharia, founder chairman of IAPC.

IAPC General Secretary Biju Chacko said that the Indian community in the North America and elsewhere have been very supportive of the activities of our Press Club, and have been requested to continue their support for the coming seventh International Media Conference. 

“Leading media personalities from around the world have been collaborating with IAPC” said Mathewkutty Easo, Secretary, Board of Directors. “IAPC is committed to connecting, training and encouraging emerging media professionals through innovative IT windows and platforms.”

IAPC Executive Vice President Annie Koshy said, “Despite the chaos around us, the IAPC has been unflinching in purpose to deliver and meet the needs of the Indian diaspora of journalists based in North America. It is with great joy that I look forward to our 2020 International Media Conference in this new digital format. I expect a much greater reach and impact as this new format opens doors for many more people from around the world to participate.”

National Treasurer Reji Philip said that IAPC is moving forward with the planning and execution of various activities of the seventh International Media Conference, bringing significant presence of the media community as done during the last six years. 

Eminent journalists, political and social activists from around the world are expected to address the conference, for which various committees are being set up to formulate various activities to make the International Media Conference 2020 a grand success. 

The Indo-American Press Club was formed in 2013 with lofty ideal of providing a common platform to journalists of Indian origin living in the United States and Canada, while fostering closer bonds and cooperation among an extensive network of journalists across the nation, who are committed to professionalism and have well-being of the larger society. We are committed to enhance the working conditions of our journalists, exchanging ideas, and offering educational and training opportunities to our members, aspiring young journalists and media professionals around the globe.

Seven in 10 Americans willing to get COVID-19 vaccine, survey finds

Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Almost seven in 10 Americans would be interested in receiving a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available, according to a new study. But researchers say there are concerning gaps in interest, particularly among Black Americans, who suffer disproportionately from the virus. 

Researchers from The Ohio State University surveyed more than 2,000 Americans in May, asking them about their willingness to be vaccinated and 11 factors that could influence that decision. They found that 1,374 out of 2006 people in the survey, 69%, said they would “definitely” or “probably” get a vaccine. The survey found that 17% were “not sure” and 14% were “probably or “definitely” not willing. 

The study, one of the first estimates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in the U.S., appears online in the journal Vaccine. 

Lead researcher Paul Reiter, an associate professor of health behavior and health promotion, said he suspected there would be higher-than-normal interest in this vaccine, considering the nature of the pandemic and the severity of illness many people have experienced. 

“The interest here is higher than what we typically see for flu vaccine and other vaccines where there is a strong public health need for widespread protection,” he said. 

The strongest predictors of whether someone said they’d accept a vaccine were how well the vaccine works and whether their health care provider would recommend it. Individuals’ perceived personal health threat from COVID-19 also played strongly into their willingness to be vaccinated, the researchers found. “That aligns with what we see in public health in a variety of areas — if someone perceives themselves to be at a higher risk of a health issue, that’s going to make them more likely to engage in the health behavior, in this case vaccination,” Reiter said. 

One of the more unexpected findings in this study – and something that isn’t typical of public health research – is the correlation between political affiliation and willingness to adopt a public health intervention, Reiter said. Respondents who identified as liberal or moderate were significantly more likely to accept a vaccine. 

“COVID-19 has turned into a political issue in many cases, and I think that some people just pick their side based on that, without much research,” he said. “We’ve seen that with mask wearing. It’s a promising public health intervention, but it’s turned into a political powder keg.” 

The most worrisome finding was among Black survey respondents, as only 55% said they were willing to get a vaccine.  “Given the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 infection and death among Black Americans, it’s concerning to see that Black survey participants had less interest in a vaccine,” Reiter said. “I think there are likely several factors at play, including access to care and trust in health care and potential socioeconomic barriers.”  Reducing such barriers is important since only 35% of participants in the study would pay $50 or more out-of-pocket for a COVID-19 vaccine, Reiter said. 

As of the first week of September, 10 states had indicated plans to offer free vaccines when they become available, according to KFF (formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.) Reiter said public health leaders and policymakers can look to this study as they shape efforts to communicate the benefits (and any risks) of a COVID-19 vaccine, once one is approved for general use. 

“You hear a lot of talk of vaccination and the benefits of herd immunity, the idea that when enough people have resistance to a virus it reduces the threat to the entire population. At 70%, we may or may not get there,” Reiter said. 

That makes it especially important to work toward educational efforts, the elimination of obstacles and other strategies to increase the chances of vaccination among those who face increased risks of severe illness or death. If the vaccine against COVID-19 requires more than one dose, it will present even more challenges, he said — a reality that has been made clear in recent years with efforts to fully vaccinate young people against HPV to help prevent cancer. The HPV vaccine requires at least two doses, and three when given later in the teen years. 

Though the survey was conducted four months ago, Reiter said he doesn’t expect much has changed in terms of public perception.  “As we get closer to a vaccine becoming available, factors that could further affect the public’s interest will include cost and the number of doses required,” he said. Other Ohio State researchers who worked on the study are Mira Katz and Michael Pennell. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences provided funding for the research. 

UNC Researchers Publish Striking Images of SARS-CoV-2 Infected Cells

Staff ReporterHealth 0
The UNC School of Medicine laboratory of Camille Ehre, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, produced striking images in respiratory tract cultures of the infectious form of the SARS-CoV-2 virus produced by infected respiratory epithelial cells. The New England Journal of Medicine featured this work in its “Images in Medicine” section.

Ehre, a member of the UNC Marsico Lung Institute and the UNC Children’s Research Institute, captured these images to illustrate how intense the SARS-CoV-2 infection of the airways can be in very graphic and easily understood images. Her lab conducted this research in collaboration with the labs of Ralph Baric, PhD, the William R. Kenan Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Public Health, who holds a joint faculty appointment at the UNC Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Richard Boucher, MD, the James C. Moeser Eminent Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Director of the Marsico Lung Institute at the UNC School of Medicine.

In a laboratory setting, the researchers inoculated the SARS-Co-V-2 virus into human bronchial epithelial cells, which were then examined 96 hours later using scanning electron microscopy.

The images, two of which are re-colorized here by UNC medical student Cameron Morrison, show infected ciliated cells with strands of mucus (yellow) attached to cilia tips (blue). Cilia are the hair-like structures on the surface of airway epithelial cells that transport mucus (and trapped viruses) from the lung. A higher power magnification image shows the structure and density of SARS-CoV-2 virions (red) produced by human airway epithelia. Virions are the complete, infectious form of the virus released onto respiratory surfaces by infected host cells.

This imaging research helps illustrate the incredibly high number of virions produced and released per cell inside the human respiratory system. The large viral burden is a source for spread of infection to multiple organs of an infected individual and likely mediates the high frequency of COVID-19 transmission to others.  These images make a strong case for the use of masks by infected and uninfected individuals to limit SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The National Institutes of Health and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation funded this research. 

Dr. Sarkar recognized as Peace Ambassador by World Organization For Peace

Staff ReporterCommunity 0

Kicker: Dr. Sarkar has dedicated his life giving to others through his medical expertise, spiritual services and community outreach.

New York: Dr. Jay M. Sarkar has been recognized by the World Organization for Peace (WOFP) as Ambassador for Peace, and Executive Member of WOFP Foundation for New York.

WFOP is a non-profit instituted in New York in 1991 to preserve human life on the planet. It conforms to the guidelines of the United Nations, which is the ruling parent organization, that together with its member countries shapes the destiny of humanity and advocates for human rights.

WOFP names Ambassadors for Peace periodically and these honorary ambassadors are chosen on a variety of factors.

On September 3, 2020, the WOFP Board decided to recognize Dr. Sarkar as Ambassador for Peace and Executive Member, New York, based on his work of integrating spirituality and medical science for a better way of living for humanity, and for the overall healing and wellbeing of people. He has used this approach to help his patients enjoy better lives, which is a fitting reflection of the mission of WOFP.

The World Organization for Peace is always looking for people with good intentions from various nationalities and career affiliations to represent it. “Peace is a good which is worthy of every human being and at the same time necessary to all, it does not have owners and it will only be obtained with the effort, tolerance and good predisposition of all humanity,” said the WOFP team.

The honor for Dr Sarkar is truly a reflection of his lifetime of service and contribution in the medical community and spiritual services. He has a Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine & Surgery degree from Nehru Homoeopathic Medical College in New Delhi, Occupational Therapy education from the Institute for the Physically Handicapped, also in New Delhi, and training in Mind Body Medicine from Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Dr. Sarkar’s professional experience has included working at Peterborough Hospital in Peterborough, UK and Hurstbourne Care Center in Louisville, KY. Dr. Sarkar owns a private practice in pain management in New York City, and provides physical therapy, occupational therapy and counselling services. He is licensed as OTR in both New York and Massachusetts and is also certified in Mind Body Medicine. His accolades include US Congressional Achievement Award in 2009 and NYC Council Citation Recognition Award in 2014.

WOFP conducts many peace programs to foster peaceful living and deter war, terrorism, and nuclear weapons.

As Ambassador of Peace of the prestigious organization, Dr Sarkar looks forward to inspiring people with his dynamic and holistic approach. He finds that merging spirituality and medical practice, which are typically left separate, can provide a wealth of benefits to humanity, including enhancement of mental and physical health and wellbeing, which is aligned with the mission of the World Organization for Peace.

Over 3/4th of Indian-Americans Support Joe Biden Over President Trump

Staff ReporterIndia, Politics, U.S. 0

President Donald Trump has gained some ground in the Indian-American community, but still an overwhelming majority of Indian-Americans would vote for Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket in the US presidential elections, which is scheduled on Nov. 3, 2020.

A national online survey of Indian-Americans, conducted by the IndUS Business Journal and its sister publication, INDIA New England News, showed that if the elections were held today, 76.31 percent Indian-Americans will vote for Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden for president and his running mate Kamala Harris for vice president; and 20.83 percent will vote for Republican Party candidate President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Libertarian Party Candidate Jo Jorgensen received support of only 0.56 percent Indian-Americans, and 2.22 percent did not choose any candidate. The online poll was conducted during Aug. 31-Sept. 7, 2020 after the national conventions of both Democratic and Republican parties.

“Despite President Trump’s failure to design a successful strategy to deal with COVID-19 pandemic and growing civil rights and racial tensions, he has gained some ground among Indian-American voters as compared with four years ago,” said Upendra Mishra, Publisher of IndUS Business Journal, INDIA New England News and the Boston Real Estate Times.

In 2016 elections, only 14.89 percent Indian-Americans had said they would vote for Trump in a similar poll. At that time, 79.43 percent Indian-Americans had expressed support for the then Democratic Party Candidate Hillary Clinton.

The survey also revealed that 49.01 percent Indian-Americans are registered as an Independent while 42.72 percent as a Democrat and 3.64 percent as a Republican. Four years ago, 46.43 percent Indian-Americans were registered as independent, 38.57 percent as a Democrat and five percent as a Republican.

“The close relationship between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump has electrified some Hindu-leaning Indian-Americans to support President Trump, but an overwhelming majority of secular Indian-Americans support Democratic Biden-Harris ticket,” added Mr. Mishra.

Mr. Mishra added that the minority group of Indian-Americans that support Trump believe that Trump is a better friend of India and that they support Trump because he is good for India. For the vast majority Indian-Americans who support Biden, the main reason is that Biden is good for the United States; India is also a priority for them, but the main focus is on the issues at home in the United States.

Here are some comments from the survey participants:

“President Trump is bad for the idea of Democracy across the world. He has systematically destroyed the stature of the American President.”

“We have to get rid of all the Republican scums and the vile president ASAP.”

“Democrats do not have a strong candidate as good and caliber as Donald Trump. Though President Trump has few weaknesses, he has been targeted from Day 1 of his presidency to destroy his plans by biased media, democrats, investigation after investigation proving nothing of any serious issues with Trump, though President Trump carried out whatever he promised and fulfilled in action most of his election promises. He is really for people’ welfare though as any politicians, he may have some self promotion & self interest agendas, but not to the level his opposition has been blaming. I think, as he promises for next 4 years, he will bring all manufacturing back into the US from China and will soon find a vaccine for the COVID-19. His presidency for next 4 years will be good for the economy than Biden who has no real plan for the economy. I do not like to pay higher tax under Biden’s presidency as he said he will raise tax.”

“As Indian Americans we should not be voting for Donald Trump, point blank period. Just because Donald Trump is friendly with Modi (another fascist and supremacist) does not mean he stands for the interests of Indians in America. As it is, his policies don’t even help most Indians in India, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Padma Lakshmi on the Immigrant Cuisines That Make America

Staff ReporterEntertainment, Women 0

When we chatted with Padma Lakshmi back in March, the U.S. was just one week into quarantine—a time dedicated to adjusting to life at home and, if you were Lakshmi, cooking big pots of lentils and decadent slabs of chocolate cake. A lot has happened since then. And while the concept of her just-released show, Taste the Nation, was acutely relevant three months ago, watching Lakshmi dismantle American food to its immigrant roots feels even more essential now, especially as conversations around who gets to claim those foods continue to swirl. But as much as Taste the Nation is a food show, it’s also a travel show, taking Lakshmi all over the country to eat meals with the Gullah Geechee community in South Carolina, comedian Ali Wong in San Francisco, and spearfisher Kimi Werner in Honolulu. We caught up with Lakshmi to hear about what she’s learned while filming—and the cheese-laden taco from El Paso that she can’t stop thinking about. Taste the Nation takes you all over the country. How did you choose the places you visited? I wanted to cover [as many] different parts of the country as I could. I knew, for example, that I wanted to do an African American episode, because we don’t often look at African American food as separate from white American food in the history of this country. Yet that food has roots on other continents that date back centuries. Understanding your food history—and also just understanding your history—is essential, and so that was a very important episode for me to do. I’ve always been interested in immigrant issues, as well, because I’m an immigrant, and immigration is integral to the reason that America exists. One of my favorite scenes from ‘Taste the Nation’ is when you’re grocery shopping with your mother in New York City. Why did that feel important to film? I think that’s something that mothers and daughters do a lot—or at least, it’s something we certainly did when I was growing up. She lives on the West Coast so she hadn’t experienced Patel Brothers, and I wanted her to see what [immigrant communities] who haven’t left Queens have done. I’m very proud of my mom. I think she did a very heroic thing [moving to the U.S.]. And there are millions of people like her in this country. Those are the interesting people. They make America interesting. How did your mom’s cooking shape your own palate? She had a huge, huge influence on my palate. But it was also shaped by trips back to India every summer, where I had the influence of my grandmother and my aunt. My mother worked full time, though, so she not only taught me about our food heritage by way of practicing it everyday in our kitchen, but she also taught me how to cook quickly. She taught me how to be a working woman and get a healthy, hot meal quickly on the table. Those are not restaurant methods, but the methods of people in the world who get it done. My mom was a great example of that, more than just showing me how to make Indian food. Speaking of people getting it done, women are at the center of many stories highlighted in the show. Which really stuck with you? H&H Car Wash in El Paso was the only restaurant [I visited] where the women were completely in charge. These women have turned H&H into such an industry, and they walk across that border from [the Mexican city of] Juarez every day to do so. When people say things [about immigrants] like “they’re taking our jobs,” what exactly are they talking about? These women contribute to our economy as well, at an American business that pays American taxes. Then there were the Thai war brides I met in Las Vegas. All three of them worked at the same commissary in Thailand, married American GIs, and then lived all over the world [before settling in the U.S.]. Through all of that, these women stayed in touch with each other through letters and long-distance phone calls. They became great mothers and citizens. Their story allowed me to show that America also has this beautiful history of accepting other cultures, and making them feel welcome. What’s the best thing you ate while filming? Oh my god, there were so many things. I really loved the taco I made with beautiful dark corn at Elemi in El Paso. The taco campesino is just so fucking delicious, and it’s genius the way chef Emiliano Marentes flips it over and singes all of the cheese rather than just the edges of it. Then there was this homemade kebab right off the grill [in Los Angeles] that was a thing of beauty. It only took four ingredients, which just proves that the sign of a really good cook is someone who can make something delicious out of very little.Food is such a social thing, and we’re all missing that human connection right now. What do you hope people get out of watching the show, as we come out of isolation? When you’re not allowed to go out and meet anyone new, you begin to reflect on who is and isn’t in your life in a more thoughtful way. So my hope is that [this show] makes people more curious and wanting to know their neighbors a little bit better. I hope they learn the value of breaking bread with someone. 

Practice Does Not Necessarily Make Perfect When It Comes to Creativity

Staff ReporterCulture/Religion, Science & Technology 0

 If you’re a relentlessly upbeat thinker, you may be enamored of the 10,000-hour rule, which holds that if you simply practice something regularly for a long enough time, you’ll eventually achieve mastery.

For a marketing professional who’s striving to be more creative, for example, this might translate into sitting down with a notepad and pen every morning and spending a few minutes jotting down as many ideas for new product names as you can. You might come up with a few Edsels at first, but once you get the hang of it, pretty soon you’ll be wowing your colleagues with the next iMac, Frappuccino, or Uber, right?Well, sorry to burst your thought bubble here, but no. According to recent research by Stanford Graduate School of Business alumna Melanie S. Brucks and associate professor of marketing Szu-chi Huang, regular brainstorming sessions are not likely to lead to an increase in unique ideas. In fact, the average novelty of your output — that is, the degree to which your inspirations depart from convention — actually might decrease over time.

“It was surprising,” says Brucks, who earned her PhD in marketing at Stanford in 2019 and now is an assistant professor of marketing at Columbia University. “People got worse at one type of idea generation, even as they thought they were getting better at it.”

Huang, who studies motivation, also admits she was taken aback by the results, which are detailed in an article, “Does Practice Make Perfect? The Contrasting Effects of Repeated Practice on Creativity,” recently published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. “In my field, practice is always good. It’s always about practice — do it every day and you will learn and improve your skills, or at least build good habits. But it turns out that to get better at creativity, you need to do some creative thinking about creative thinking.”

Lead author Brucks says she initially was drawn to the subject as a graduate student, because she wanted to come up with better ideas herself. “There’s a ton of research out there that shows how practice seems to help with everything if you want to improve performance,” she explains. “I thought, ‘Well, OK, I can just practice creativity, and I’ll get good at it.’”

A Research Gap

As Brucks delved into the scientific literature on creativity, however, she discovered an intriguing gap in the research. While there was plenty of work on one-shot interventions — such as using visualization techniques during idea-generating sessions, for example — there was almost no research into the question of whether repetition over time would lead to increased output of conceptual breakthroughs.

To complicate things more, creative cognition actually has two components. Divergent thinking, the sort that is utilized in idea-generating sessions, involves branching off from what a person knows and coming up with new ideas. In contrast, convergent thinking requires finding linkage between different existing concepts or ideas and connecting them to context.Often, to come up with a viable concept, “you need them both,” Brucks explains. “They’re both really important, but also very different.”

Becoming better at divergent thinking is a particular challenge, because of the way the brain works. With most skills, practice tends to produce improvement by reinforcing certain cognitive pathways in the brain, making them more accessible, Brucks explains. At the same time, it de-emphasizes other pathways, cutting them off in order to allocate an optimal amount of cognitive resources to the prioritized task. But by training the brain to become more efficient and focused, that repetition also “gives you a less flexible brain,” Brucks notes.

But inflexibility goes against the nature of creativity, which continually requires the intellect to bend and stretch into new positions. To test how practice would affect idea generation over time, and what factors might affect productivity, Brucks and Huang constructed a two-part investigation.

How the Experiments Worked

In the first study, a group of 413 subjects were recruited from an online pool and then randomly assigned to practice either divergent or convergent creativity tasks for 12 consecutive days. Those who practiced divergent thinking had to spend a few minutes each day thinking of new product names. The subjects assigned to convergent practice were asked to perform a Remote Associates Test, in which they had to identify a common link between three different words. (For example, “cold” could forge a connection among the words “shoulder,” “sweat,” and “sore.”)

All of the participants had to complete their tasks between 6:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. After the study, they took a survey in which they reported their perception of how well they had performed.

To practice creativity effectively, we have to change how we define practice. The structure needs to be more dynamic. Over the 12 days, the subjects working on divergent thinking generated about 15,000 ideas total, of which about two thirds were unique — an average of 5.71 unique ideas per person, per session. The convergent thinkers solved roughly the same amount (5.69) of RAT word problems. But there was a difference. Over the course of the study, the divergent thinkers barely increased the number of unique ideas that they produced, while the convergent thinkers had a markedly higher boost in productivity as they got better at the task.

Besides just counting the quantity of unique ideas, Brucks and Huang also gave the ideas to a panel of judges to evaluate their novelty — basically, ideas that were clever and memorable. “For example, if I’m trying to come up with names for a podcast app, I can come up with hundreds of ideas that are unique, but not very novel,” Brucks explains. “I might call it Podcast Organizer, or some variation of that. All those ideas could be unique, but they’re derivative.”

In contrast, playful names such as Earworm or Peas in a Pod would be more novel. Novel ideas “come from a different perspective and depart from the most obvious,” she says. “Usually it comes from having random ideas and then incorporating them. You’re hungry, for example, so you think ‘peas in a pod.’”When it came to novelty, the subjects practicing divergent thinking actually got worse rather than better. On average, they actually dreamed up ideas that were significantly less novel on the last day of the research than they did on the first.

We’re Brightest in the Morning In the second phase of the research, Brucks and Huang took 507 subjects and assigned them to practice the same divergent product name-generating exercise in different time blocks over a 14-day period. One group worked between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., while another got 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., and a third “flexible” group could pick whatever time they wanted between 6:00 a.m. and midnight. At the start, the subjects were asked to predict how well they would do, and after each session they had to record how difficult it had been to generate new names.

One of the researchers’ key findings was that practice increasingly hindered divergent thinking as the day progressed. As it turns out, “people are prone to habitual thinking late in the day,” Brucks explains. “They’re even less likely to diverge from already well-traveled cognitive pathways.” And contrary to the stereotype of creative geniuses staying up late, people who did their brainstorming at 11 p.m. had the worst productivity over time.

Oddly, the researchers discovered that subjects thought the idea-generating process got easier the more they practiced — even though they actually were producing fewer good ideas.But would-be marketing geniuses need not despair. As Huang notes, the results of the study don’t necessarily mean that it’s impossible to improve creative output through practice; they just suggest that people have been going about it too simplistically.

“To practice creativity effectively, we have to change how we define practice,” Huang says. Rather than focus on routinizing the creative process, it might be more useful to deliberately disrupt routines. A team leader might vary the times that brainstorming sessions are held, for example, and change up the types of exercises employed.

“The structure needs to be more dynamic,” Huang explains. Technique-wise, business brainstorming might well evolve into something closer to the improvisational exercises that acting students perform to get out of their comfort zone and unleash their creative instincts. Brucks notes that in previous research, imposing constraints upon idea generation — requiring subjects to come up with product names that have numbers in them, for example — has been shown to keep the novel concepts coming.

“You want to do something that prevents you from rehearsing the same thing over and over again,” she says. That way, people in search of inspiration “reinforce not going down the obvious path.”

 https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/practice-does-not-necessarily-make-perfect-when-it-comes-creativity coauthored by Stanford GSB Associate Professor Szu-chi Huang and PhD alum Melanie Brucks, now assistant professor of marketing at Columbia University 

Draupadi Unleashed To Be Released on Sep. 25th

Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

Draupadi Unleashed, a story based the book by Nisha Sabharwal, who co-directs this epic story, is being released on September 25t in US theaters. Written for the Screen and Directed By Tony Stopperan, the movie is produced by Nisha Sabharwal, Mohit Sabharwal, Joseph Restaino and Tony Stopperan.

Set in 1930’s India, DRAUPADI UNLEASHED centers on sixteen-year-old Indira who finds herself torn between true love, her duty to follow through with an arranged marriage and the powerful allure of a mysterious guru.  Through her heartbreaking journey to self-discovery, long-held secrets are brought to light and Indira discovers the strength within herself to break free. 

Draupadi Unleashed is the story of a young girl’s coming of age, set against the background of the struggle of three generations of women in a male dominated world of 1930’s British India. A romantic mystery rooted in mysticism that centers on sixteen-year-old Indira who finds herself torn between love and the duty to follow through with an arranged marriage and the manipulations of her powerful guru. Through her heartbreaking journey to self-discovery, long-held secrets are brought to light and Indira discovers the strength within herself to break free. Now a full length movie featuring a female-centric renowned cast, released nationwide in the US. It is Hollywood’s first look at aristocratic India….through the lens of romance, murder, intrigue and mystery.

In a story that mixes magical realism and gorgeous surroundings with the harsh realities of a patriarchal society, this beautifully told tale of a young woman at a crossroads in her life offers a rare look at aristocratic Indian society in the early part of the 20th Century – one that will resonate with audiences today.

Belleza Med Spa and Clinic in Chicago Inaugurated

Staff ReporterCommunity, Profiles 0

Belleza Med Spa and Clinic Ribbon Ceremony took place on Thursday September 10, 2020 with the Chamber of Commerce of west Ridge Park.  We are excited to have launched this new venture within the community and look forward to many great years ahead!!

 

Thank you to the Chamber of Commerce of west ridge Park and Alderman Deborah Silverstein for welcoming us into the community and being part of our new venture. 

 

Thank you to Rohit Joshi for the religious ceremony and all the blessings, Thank you to all of the great supporters to our friends and family that made this day so special. 

 

Dr. Rani Yousefzai:

With 20 years of experience in leading and directing thriving different healthcare companies Dr. Rani Yousefzai builds and retains high performance teams by hiring, developing and motivating skilled professionals in healthcare. She is Dynamic health care entrepreneur who creates strategic alliances with organization leaders to effectively align with and support key business initiatives. 

 

 Her academic achievements include:

  • Nursing, Bachelors in Architecture interior design, masters in health care administration, doctorate in wellness studies and doctorate in community development.

Her Achievement highlights are:

  • She has been honored as the Top 20 Women of Excellence in 2018.
  • She has been presented with the World Civility Award as a World civility Ambassador.
  • She has been awarded the ‘Civility Golden Rule’ Award as a human rights activist in recognition of her work to promote equality and principle.
  • She has been awarded the Certificate of Excellence for commitment and dedication to the Arab American Community.

She is a women’s rights activist and leads organizations to secure equal rights for women and remove gender discrimination in all fields. She is also an active member of many different ethnic organizations including the St. James Armenian Church, and she sits on the committee board of Multi-ethnic coalitions of elected officials.

She believes the key to success is to keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.

 

Belleza Med Spa and Clinic is a full Med Spa 

Where we offer Hair laser removal with the latest state of the art laser hair machine, we do BOTOX, Fillers, Chemical peels, I-Lipo, PRP hair growth treatment and Stem Cells we also have Our own VIP room for Manicure and pedicure. We offer a weight loss program that is a monitor of an MD that is licensed to see all patients where our program is alter for each and every patient depending on the patient’s needs.

 

“The staff was very informative and straightforward.  I wanted a service for my feet and the staff was straightforward with me and advised me not to waste my money due to my particular situation.  I really appreciated her honesty and did not try to take advantage of my needs for monetary gain. In addition, the doctor was friendly and informative as well. He will recommend what is best for you and not just give you anything to take your money if it won’t benefit you. My results were immediate and lasted longer than he anticipated” said Kimmiy smith.

Trump or Biden? U.S. At Crossroads

Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

The existential choice facing America was laid bare during the recent Party Conventions, as Donald Trump and Joe Biden set out radically contrasting visions for a nation impacted by the pandemic, economic meltdown, unemployment, and racial injustice. Biden, the former vice-president and the Democratic nominee for president in November, delivered a somber speech, suggesting the US is at one of the most important crossroads in its history, calling Americans to choose light over darkness. For once, President Trump spoke the truth during the recent Republican National Convention. He roared that this election is the most important one deciding which direction the country will take. According to the Washington Post as of July 9, he has made 20,000 false or misleading claims while in office – a tsunami of untruths. “We can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle,” he said, adding that Trump “is part of the problem, and accelerates it,” Joe Biden said. He compared the president to notoriously racist officials from the 1960s, adding: “I promise you this. I won’t traffic in fear and division. I won’t fan the flames of hate. I will seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued this country – not use them for political gain.” A vote for Joe Biden is a vote to preserve democracy and the noble principles the U.S. stands for. Reflecting this, a group representing almost 100 former Republican lawmakers and officials have endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in an effort to defeat President Donald Trump in the November 3 election. The group, called Republicans & Independents for Biden, led by former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, stated that its “sole mission is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden the next President of the US”. “More than 180,000 Americans are dead from a pandemic that, with consistent leadership, could have been contained. Instead, it has been left to spin out of control by a President who ignored it, refused to lead and endangered American lives,” Whitman said in a statement. “In this moment of great national crisis, we need to elect a leader matched to the moment, someone who can restore competence to the Oval Office and unify the country. “Joe Biden is that leader,” Whitman added. The group also includes former Republican Governors Rick Snyder and Bill Weld, a onetime 2020 presidential candidate. As nearly 55 days left for the Polls for this historic election, several polls reveal that former Vice President Joe Biden maintains his grip on the 2020 race for president. Biden’s up 52% to 42% over President Donald Trump among likely voters nationally, and he has a 50% to 44% edge over Trump in the key battleground state of Wisconsin as well. Biden’s 10 point and 6 point advantages are the exact same they were when CBS News/YouGov polled the contests before the party conventions. The polls are reflective of a race that barely budges even after two conventions, protests and unrest in some cities over police brutality and as the nation navigates the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, the stability of this race is record breaking when looking at polling dating back to 1940. A Monmouth University poll released on Wednesday found the two candidates virtually tied in Pennsylvania, one of Trump’s key pickups over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. Most polls suggest Biden is ahead in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – three industrial states his Republican rival won by margins of less than 1% to clinch victory in 2016. But it’s the battleground states where Trump won big in 2016 that his campaign team will be most worried about. His winning margin in Iowa, Ohio and Texas was between 8-10% back then but it’s looking much closer in all three at the moment. Betting markets, however, are certainly not writing Trump off just yet. The latest odds give him just less than a 50% chance of winning on 3 November, which suggests some people expect the outlook to change a lot over the next few weeks. But political analysts are less convinced about his chances of re-election. FiveThirtyEight, a political analysis website, says Biden is “favored” to win the election, while The Economist says Biden is “likely” to beat Trump.

Four Top Indian Filmmakers Unite to Tell Forbidden Stories of Love

Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

Four National Award-winning filmmakers, Pradeep Sarkar, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Priyadarshan and Mahesh Manjrekar, are all set to direct new films as part of a series about love, marriage and relationships.

Titled “Forbidden Love,” the series comprises four films — Manjrekar’s “Diagnosis Of Love,” Roy Chowdhury’s “Rules Of The Game,” Priyadarshan’s “Anamika” and Sarkar’s “Arranged Marriage.”Ali Fazal, Aahana Kumra, Patralekhaa, Omkar Kapoor, Anindita Bose, Aditya Seal, Pooja Kumar, Harsh Chhaya, Raima Sen, Mahesh Manjrekar, Rannvijaya Singh, and Vaibhav Tatwawadi, comprise the cast, across the four films.

“My film ‘Diagnosis Of Love’ is a crime thriller that revolves around a blooming love story between a surgeon and a colleague. You can expect drama, romance and action. Every love story is incomplete without a villain and this story is a complete package,” said Manjrekar.

“Pink” director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury calls the shots on “Rules Of The Game,” about a couple in their thirties wanting to add some spice in their relationship.

“I believe it’s a constant struggle in any monogamous relationship to keep the romance quotient high. I am sure many of you in this generation will relate to the film in some form or the other. Millennials aren’t foreign to the art of role play, but what if it takes a wrong turn? ” Roy Chowdhury said.

Priyadarshan, who directs “Anamika” said: “My protagonist Anamika is a quintessential housewife in her late 30s, but her love life is a bit dry with negligible attention from her husband. This slice of life romantic drama is an everyday story of many middle-aged women wanting a bit of love, and Anamika is their mascot. The film has a relatability factor that I hope the audience will connect with. Desire takes centrestage and the story is a visual representation of it.” On his film “Arranged Marriage,” Sarkar said: “My film exposes the flaws in the age-old tradition of Indian matchmaking where love and relationships are often sacrificed for superstition and rigid family beliefs that no longer serve us. It is a modern-day take on a love story. I’m glad the film is getting a global release.” 

Dr. Ashish Jha Leaves Harvard to Head Brown School of Public Health

Staff ReporterEducation, Health, Profiles 0

Ashish K. Jha, who served as director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and Global Health Professor and was frequent commentator in the media on COVID-19, has left Harvard to serve as the Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, according to a report by the Harvard Crimson newspaper.Dr. Jha is the 3rd Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown. Jha began as an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2004. He has also worked as a practicing general internist at the V.A. Boston Healthcare System, the Crimson said.

Jha was approached by former University President Drew G. Faust to head the Harvard Global Health Institute, where he began as director in 2014. The institute brought together a multidisciplinary team of researchers and affiliated faculty members from across Harvard’s schools, including the Law School, Business School, Medical School, and School of Public Health, according the Crimson.

“This is an unprecedented time to be joining you. In the midst of the largest public health crisis in a century, this is a moment to recast and reinvigorate public health. And we at the Brown School of Public Health are uniquely able to do so. In this moment of challenge, we have the ability to bring bold thinking and fearless research to this pandemic, to issues central to our school, and, importantly, to make clear the significance of public health in our community, our country, and around the globe. I am so excited about the opportunities ahead and look forward to working with all of you to meet them,” Dr. Jha said on the Brown University website.

As dean, Jha will oversee the School of Public Health’s academic departments, research centers, doctoral and master’s programs, and undergraduate concentrations, Brown University said in a press release. Key responsibilities include developing and executing strategies to expand sponsored research funding and elevate the school’s profile and impact locally and globally. Integral to his role will be cultivating a diverse and inclusive academic community, providing administrative oversight and ensuring the school’s fiscal strength.

In addition to his role leading the Harvard Global Health Institute, Jha is a professor of global health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and has served as the school’s dean for global strategy since 2018. He is also a practicing general internist at the V.A. Boston Healthcare System and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

His background as a practitioner providing care for individual patients, a scholar focused on national and global public health systems, and a global health advocate engaged on major issues such as the impact of climate change on public health, makes him an ideal leader to advance academic excellence and provide strategic direction for the school.

Jha said that the potential to build on the School of Public Health’s strengths and work with students, faculty and staff to position it as a leading public health school born in and built for the health challenges of the 21st century is exciting, especially in the context of Brown’s collaborative academic culture. And Brown’s track record of partnership with health care leaders and agencies in Rhode Island — through the School of Public Health, the Warren Alpert Medical School and other academic departments — is another essential factor in ensuring the role of public health educators and researchers in fulfilling the University’s mission, Jha added.

“The most significant public health problems of our time demand a multi-disciplinary approach, and faculty and students at Brown live that in addressing major challenges,” Jha said. “Brown is also deeply embedded in Rhode Island’s communities. The fact is, as Brown demonstrates, academic institutions function best when they partner with public health agencies and individuals to test ideas. It’s not a standard model for every university but it is for Brown, and that’s part of what makes me so enthusiastic about this new and important opportunity to be part of a community making a difference, locally and globally.”

With sponsored funding from sources such as the National Institutes of Health, the Gates Foundation, the Climate Change Solutions Fund and the Commonwealth Fund, Jha’s research focuses on improving the quality of health care systems with a specialized focus on how national policies impact care. He has led some of the seminal work comparing the performance of the U.S. health system to those of other high-income countries to better understand why the U.S. spends more but often achieves less in population health.

Jha co-chaired an international commission that examined the global response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014 and what could be done to strengthen the approach to pandemic preparedness and response. He has written extensively on the importance of international agencies like the World Health Organization and how they can be made more effective in infectious disease outbreaks like Ebola, Zika and now Coronavirus.

He has published more than 200 empirical papers and writes regularly about ways to improve health care systems, both in the U.S. and globally. In addition to his academic appointments at Harvard, he served in a number of roles at the federal level, including as special assistant to the secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2013. Jha was elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2013.

Jha will lead Brown’s School of Public Health as it continues to build national influence in impacting urgent health challenges and improving equity in health care through its research and teaching. Initially a department of Brown’s medical school, the school launched in 2013 and became fully accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health in 2016. With more than 250 faculty and 400 undergraduate and graduate students, the school is home to 13 nationally renowned research centers and receives more than $60 million in external research funding annually.

Jha earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Columbia University in 1992 and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1997, before training in internal medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. He completed his general medicine fellowship at Brigham & Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School and received his master of public health in 2004 from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As dean, Jha will report directly to Locke and serve as a member of the Provost’s Senior Academic Deans committee and of the President’s Cabinet. 

Pope Francis Offers A Beacon Of Hope Amid Covid Outbreak

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Just when it seemed there was no end to the woes caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there are words of solace from Pope Francis who explains in a revelatory, uplifting, and practical book why we must – and how we can – make the world safer, fairer, and healthier for all people.

In “Let Us Dream” the beloved shepherd of over one billion Catholics sees the cruelty and inequity of our society exposed more vividly than ever before. He also sees, in the resilience, generosity, and creativity of so many people, the means to rescue our society, our economy, and our planet. In direct, powerful prose, Pope Francis urges us not to let the pain be in vain.

He begins “Let Us Dream by exploring what this crisis can teach us about how to handle upheaval of any kind in our own lives and the world at large. With unprecedented candour, he reveals how three crises in his own life changed him dramatically for the better. By its very nature, he shows, crisis presents us with a choice: we make a grievous error if we try to return to some pre-crisis state. But if we have the courage to change, we can emerge from the crisis better than before.

Along the way, he offers dozens of wise and surprising observations on the value of unconventional thinking, on why we must dramatically increase women’s leadership in the Church and throughout society, on what he learned while scouring the streets of Buenos Aires with garbage-pickers, and much more.

Pope Francis then offers a brilliant, scathing critique of the systems and ideologies that conspired to produce the current crisis, from a global economy obsessed with profit and heedless of the people and environment it harms, to politicians who foment their people’s fear and use it to increase their own power at their people’s expense. He reminds us that Christians’ first duty is to serve others, especially the poor and the marginalized, just as Jesus did.

The book is the fruit of many exchanges between Pope Francis and his biographer, Austen Ivereigh, in the weeks following the coronavirus lockdown. It was written simultaneously in English and Spanish and will be published by Simon & Schuster’s audio division and Simon & Schuster’s international companies in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom. Simon & Schuster Consulting Publisher Stephen Rubin and Vice President and Executive Editor Eamon Dolan acquired world rights, first serial rights and audio rights from the agent, William Barry. “Any wisdom the Pope had to offer would be extremely valuable now,” Dolan noted, “but what made me believe ‘Let Us Dream’ might actually change the world is how clear and practical his guidance is, and how deeply comforting is the voice with which he delivers it. Here the Pope sounds closer to us – and even kinder – than we’ve ever heard him before.”  

Kailash Satyarthi Warns over a Million Children Could Die Because of COVID-19 Economic Crisis

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IPS senior correspondent Stella Paul interviews Nobel Laureate KAILASH SATYARTHI on the eve of Fair Share for Children Summit, a global virtual conference in which Nobel Laureates and world leaders are calling for the world’s most marginalized children to be protected against the impacts of COVID-19.Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi said that without prioritising children we could lose an entire generation as evidence mounts that the number of child labourers, child marriages, school dropouts and child slaves has increased as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe. Courtesy: Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation HYDERABAD, India, Sep 8 2020 (IPS) – Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi warns of the danger that over one million children could die, not because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but because of the economic crisis facing their families.

In an exclusive interview with IPS, Satyarthi said that without prioritising children we could lose an entire generation as evidence mounts that the number of child labourers, child marriages, school dropouts and child slaves has increased as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe.

He candidly noted that the most marginalised and vulnerable children in the world are still not prioritised by governments and policies and that the political will and urgency of action was simply not there to offer them protection.

Satyarthi is undoubtedly one of the greatest child rights’ crusaders of our time. Founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement) – India’s largest movement for the protection of children and centred around ending bonded and labour and human trafficking, Satyarthi has been relentlessly working to protect the rights of children for over four decades. Save Childhood Movement has rescued almost 100,000 children from servitude and bonded labour, re-integrating them into society and aiding them in resuming their education.

IPS interviews Satyarthi on the eve of Fair Share for Children Summit, a global virtual conference, hosted by Laureates and Leaders for Children – also founded by Satyarthi. The summit, which takes place from Sept. 9-10, brings together Nobel laureates, including the Dalai Lama, Tawakkol Karman, Professor Jody Williams and leading international figures and heads of United Nations agencies to demand a fair share for the world’s most marginalised children during and beyond COVID-19.

The pandemic has gravely endangered millions of children around the globe, and it is not just a moral obligation but also a practical step to protect these children, Satyarthi says.He also elaborates what could be a fair share of the global pandemic recovery package for the children and how this could be managed. Excerpts follow:

IPS: Where does the world stand today in ensuring child rights? Which are the areas where we have clear progress, and where are we still failing?Kailash Satyarthi (KS): I would be very blunt to say that the most marginalised and vulnerable children in the world are still not prioritised in the policies and fund allocations and spending on them. Protection of children needs a lot of political will and a lot of urgency and action which was not there. But I would agree that we have been making progress, slowly but surely, we are trying to protect our children in different areas. There is clear evidence that the number of child labourers has decreased over the last 20 years or so, the number of out-of-school children has also dropped considerably. Similarly, we made progress in the field of malnutrition. So, there were many areas we made progress. But as I said before, we require a tremendous amount of political will and action to protect our children.

IPS: How has the COVID pandemic endangered lives of children across the world?KS: Well, before the pandemic, we had several problems in relation to safety, education, health and freedom of children. And since these children belong to the most marginalised sector of society – they are children of unorganised workers, peasants, farmers, they are children of indigenous peoples and children belonging to refugee communities. So, they were already suffering, injustice was there, inequality was there, but COVID-19 has exacerbated that inequality and injustice, and we see the worst effect is on children.

Though there is no direct infection or disease, the indirect effect is alarming, and that has to be addressed now. It is very clear that if we do not take urgent action now, then we risk losing the entire generation. It is evident and eminent from all sources that the number of child labourers, the number of child marriages, school dropouts, the number of child slaves, even children engaged in petty crimes – these will increase.So, we have to underline these factors which are impacting the lives of children and their families, of course. And we have to be extremely vigilant and active about it. So, that sense of moral responsibility and political responsibility should be generated and educated.

I also think that this crisis is the crisis of civilisations. We were thinking that since everybody is facing the same problem, the pandemic would be an equaliser. But instead of being an equaliser, it has become a divider. Divisive forces are quite active in society, and equality and injustice are growing in the children. So, first of all, as an individual and a concerned citizen, one should generate compassion.

Two Tamil refugee children play in Mannar in northern Sri Lanka. The COVID-19 pandemic has gravely endangered millions of children around the globe. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

IPS: The government stimulus package is expected to provide employment and help in economic recovery. Is it feasible to use this specifically for child development and child protection?KS: It is not only feasible, it is necessary. We cannot protect humanity and ethos of equality and justice until and unless we address the problems of the most marginalised children and people of the world.

I am quite supportive of the government stimulus package, which is $9 trillion so far. I will give you an example – the stimulus is prioritised to bail out their own companies. Most of the developed countries are putting up stimulus to bail out their own economy, their banks, financial institutions and companies. In the United States, some companies have all-time high stock market situations.

On the other hand, we have a danger that over a million children will die – not because of COVID-19 pandemic, but because of the economic crisis, their parents are facing. So, this is injustice. How can you justify this? You need a stimulation package to bailout [the] economy, but you need a stimulation package to ensure that our children are protected. So, this is not just a moral question but also a very practical issue.This is why in May earlier this year, I joined 88 Nobel Laureates and global leaders to sign a joint statement demanding that 20 percent of the COVID-19 response be allocated to the most marginalised children and their families. This is the minimum fair share for children.

IPS:  The theme of the summit is #FairShare4Children. What would be considered a fair share of the estimated $9 trillion set aside globally to mitigate the effects of the pandemic? Where are the most critical areas? And how should it be managed?KS: Even if you only look at the $5 trillion packages announced in the first few weeks of the pandemic, 20 precent of that is $1 trillion – enough funding to fund all the COVID-19 U.N. appeals, cancel two years of debt for low-income countries, provide the external funding required for two years of the Sustainable Development Goals on Education and Water and Sanitation and a full ten years of the external funding for the health-related SDGs.

Within the estimated $9 trillion of governments’ aid, this would mean $1 trillion (for children). This funding would mitigate the increase child hunger and food insecurity, tackle the increase in child labour and slavery, the denial of education and the heightened vulnerability of children on the move such as child refugees and displaced children. These are the areas of immediate criticality. 

Some key demands to this end include – for one, the declaration of COVID vaccines as a global common good so that it is made available for free for the most marginalised communities. Secondly, the creation of a Global Social Protection Fund to provide a financial safety net to the poorest communities in lower and lower-middle income countries. Thirdly, all governments should cancel the debt of poor countries to allow them to redirect funds towards social protection. Lastly, governments should establish legislation to ensure due diligence and transparency for business and ensure its strict compliance to prevent the engagement of child labour and slavery in the global supply chains.

If we can prevent the devastating impact of COVID-19 on these areas in the present, if we can reduce the inequality in the world’s COVID-19 response, if we ensure the most vulnerable receive their Fair Share to we can then be in a position to salvage the future of our children. 

Republican Hindu Coalition Says It Will Back Off Supporting Trump’s Re-Election Bid Unless Founder’s Demands Are Met

Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

The powerful Republican Hindu Coalition, which in 2016 stepped in heavily to engage candidate Donald Trump with the Indian American community, is backing off of the president’s campaign until its demands are met.

In 2016, Chicago-area businessman Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar founded the RHC after he and his wife each donated $449,400 to Trump’s campaign, the maximum allowable amount. The RHC was co-founded by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The Kumars served as “bundlers” for Trump’s first run for the White House.

The RHC held a mega-rally for Trump in October 2016 in Edison, New Jersey, attended by about 8,000 Indian Americans. Trump pledged to the crowd that India would always have a friend in the White House if he was elected.

Later that month, the RHC released an ad to curry the favor of the Indian American community. The slogan, “Ab ki Baar Trump Sarkar” — this time, it is Trump’s turn — went viral. Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeated the phrase at the “Howdy Modi” event last October in Houston, Texas, informally endorsing the president.

But in an interview Aug. 31, Kumar told the media the RHC would greatly reduce its level of support for Trump’s re-election bid unless his six demands were met. Trump’s re-election campaign did not respond to an on the record request for comment from India-West, but said in an email on background: “The Republican Hindu Coalition is organized as a 501(c)(4) and cannot legally coordinate any efforts with the Trump Campaign.”

Kumar said he is a huge supporter of a proposal called DALCA — Deferred Action for Legal Childhood Arrivals — H4 children who are aging out of their status and face having to return to the home country, despite having spent most of their lives in the U.S. DALCA children are the dependents of H-1B visa holders, the majority of whom are Indian Americans.

The businessman has said he wants the president to take a firm stand to support DALCA, and a related issue, the green card backlog, which has left more than half a million Indian Americans with approved green card applications waiting in a queue of 53 years or more. Horror stories have emerged of people dying while waiting in the green card queue.

Kumar told India-West he also wants the president to take a stand approving India’s Citizenship Amendment Act, a controversial measure passed last year that grants citizenship to undocumented Indians but excludes Muslims. The businessman noted that the president had backed off from taking a stand on India’s revocation of Article 370, which provided special autonomous status to the Kashmir region. Indian American Republicans interviewed for an earlier story chastised Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris for voicing opposition to the revocation of Article 370.Kumar said he also wanted the president to voice a new campaign slogan in Hindi. If his demands are met, Kumar said the RHC would put their efforts into the critical battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. He noted that Biden is popular in Michigan, which Trump narrowly won in 2016.

“Indian Americans could be the margin of victory in battleground states,” said Kumar, noting that a large number of Indian Americans are Independents, who could be swept up by either party.Kayo Anderson, executive director of the Republican Hindu Coalition, told India-West: “To engage the community as we did in 2016 we need certain elements on the table. We are critical to turning out the Indian American vote for Trump.”

Kumar attended the Republican National Convention Aug. 27 as Trump spoke from the South Lawn of the White House and formally accepted his party’s renomination. In the speech, which exceeded 70 minutes and went off prepared remarks at several junctures, Trump tacitly referred to revamping the H-1B program, recalling the Tennessee Valley Authority, which had laid off several full-time employees, who were forced to train their H-1B replacements. The president said in his speech that he got the American workers’ jobs back: he has since banned federal agencies from employing H-1B workers.

The businessman told India-West he was critical of the arrangements for the president’s speech: almost no one in attendance wore masks as protection against COVID-19. Seating, with chairs stacked against each other, did not allow for social distancing.

“Why can’t Trump mandate mask wearing? COVID would be over in three months,” speculated Kumar, comparing it to the mandatory wearing of seat belts. 

India Overtakes Brazil As Country With Second-Highest Number Of Covid-19 Cases

Staff ReporterHealth, India, Politics 0

India has surpassed Brazil as the country with the second-highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases after reporting a fresh daily high of 90,802 new infections on Monday.

India’s total number of cases now stands at 4,204,613, according to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In comparison, Brazil has confirmed 4,137,521 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. 

India is the world’s second most populous nation, home to more than 1.3 billion people — more than six times the population of Brazil.

The United States remains the country with the highest number of recorded cases. As of Sunday night, the US had reported 6,275,643 cases, according to JHU.

Low death rate: As of Monday, India had recorded 71,642 virus-related deaths, far below the US at nearly 189,000 deaths and Brazil’s more than 126,000 fatalities.

India’s death rate of five virus-related fatalities per 100,000 people is lower than more than 80 countries and territories, according to JHU data.

For comparison, the US death rate is 58 per 100,000 people, while Brazil’s is 60 per 100,000 people, according to JHU.

Reopening: The rapid rise in infections in India comes after the government announced a new phase of reopening last week. Subway trains will be allowed to run for the first time in months from September 7 while gatherings of up to 100 people will be permitted at sports, entertainment, cultural and religious events outside of hotspot areas from September 21.

Schools and colleges will remain closed until the end of September.

India is now adding more daily cases than the US and Brazil combined; on cumulative cases, India is second only to the US. This has coincided with the faster spread of infections in rural India. The case count in the worst-hit states have continued to rise, save for Bihar, where the number has fallen to less than 2,000 from the peak of over 4,000 last month. In Tamil Nadu, the tally has curiously hovered around 5,500, neither rising nor declining by any considerable margin. In fact, Tamil Nadu’s standard deviation of cases, at around 4%, has been the lowest among all major states. Delhi appears to be experiencing a second wave.

The rise in active cases is also outpacing recoveries. Some states such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, though, have been recording more recoveries in recent weeks.

The rural surge is a particular concern. According to a recent report by the State Bank of India (SBI), 26 of the 50 worst affected districts for new cases in August were rural. The worst-hit rural areas are in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan.

 

Also: The number of districts with less than 1,000 cases has fallen, while those reporting between 5,000 to 10,000 cases have risen from July.

The Centre has now opted to coordinate directly with chief medical officers and administrative officials of the worst-hit districts to identify the loopholes in the strategy, as against addressing the health secretaries of the states, reports The Indian Express. 

UNICEF To Lead Global Supply Of Covid-19 Vaccine

Staff ReporterHealth 0

In what could possibly be the world’s largest and fastest ever procurement and supply of vaccines, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has said that it will lead efforts for Covid-19 vaccine supply for 92 low and lower middle-income countries.

These efforts will be part of the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (Covax Facility) plans led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Vaccine purchases for these countries will be supported by the mechanism through the Gavi Advance Market Commitment for Covid-19 Vaccines (Gavi Covax AMC) as well as a buffer stockpile for humanitarian emergencies, Unicef said.

In addition, the UN agency will also serve as the procurement coordinator to support procurement by 80 higher-income economies, which have expressed their intent to participate in the Covax Facility and would finance the vaccines from their own public finance budgets.

Unicef will undertake these efforts in close collaboration with the WHO, Gavi, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners.

The Covax Facility is open to all countries to ensure that no country is left without access to a future Covid-19 vaccine.

“This is an all-hands on deck partnership between governments, manufacturers and multilateral partners to continue the high stakes fight against the Covid-19 pandemic,” Henrietta Fore, Unicef Executive Director, said in a statement.

“In our collective pursuit of a vaccine, Unicef is leveraging its unique strengths in vaccine supply to make sure that all countries have safe, fast and equitable access to the initial doses when they are available,” the statement read.

Unicef is the largest single vaccine buyer in the world, procuring more than two billion doses of vaccines annually for routine immunisation and outbreak response on behalf of nearly 100 countries.In response to an expression of interest that Unicef issued in June on behalf of the Covax Facility, 28 manufacturers with production facilities in 10 countries shared their annual production plans for Covid-19 vaccines through 2023.

According to the timelines indicated by the manufacturers, the span from development to production could be one of the fastest scientific and manufacturing leaps in history, the organisation said.

A Unicef market assessment, developed by compiling information submitted by the vaccine manufacturers along with publicly available data, revealed that manufacturers are willing to collectively produce unprecedented quantities of vaccines over the coming one to two years. However, manufacturers signalled that investments to support such large-scale production of doses would be highly dependent on, among other things, whether clinical trials are successful, advance purchase agreements are put in place, funding is confirmed, and regulatory and registration pathways are streamlined. 

An Early Effect of COVID-19 Disruption: Drinking to Cope with Distress

Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

Using alcohol to cope with distress was associated with increased drinking during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study. Adults experiencing greater depression or lower social connectedness, and those with children under age 18, were among those at risk for drinking to cope. The COVID-19 pandemic brought extensive disruptions to daily life, involving elevated stress among the general public. This increased the likelihood of people using alcohol to cope, a motive linked to solitary drinking, heavier drinking, and alcohol-related problems. At the same time, social distancing and closures meant that access to healthier supports, such as counseling and recreation, was reduced. The study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research explored adult drinkers’ use of alcohol to cope with distress during the early pandemic, with the goal of informing interventions to address long-term alcohol-related harms.

Motivational theories of alcohol use emphasize individuals’ varying reasons for drinking, including internal distress. Researchers applied this lens to data supplied by 320 Canadian adult drinkers recruited online. The participants took surveys assessing their drinking frequency and quantity over a 30-day period beginning soon after public health measures were implemented, and the preceding 30 days. They also reported on demographic factors, and influences known to be associated with drinking as a coping mechanism or considered likely to increase that risk. These including changes in work hours and income, having children at home, anxiety about health, depression, social connectedness, drinking alone, and alcohol-related problems. Researchers used statistical modeling to explore associations between these influences.

Overall, participants’ reported total alcohol consumption was fairly steady compared to the previous month, although some people reported increased drinking while others reported decreased drinking. Using alcohol to cope with distress was associated with increased drinking and greater alcohol problems during the early stage of COVID-19. The risk was most notable among participants with greater depression or lower social connectedness. It also affected those with a child under 18 living at home, in line with previous evidence of parenting stress linked to both drinking to cope and the pandemic. Although people who lost income reported increased alcohol use early in the pandemic, this was not explained by drinking to cope.

Solitary alcohol use, a behavior linked with alcohol problems, also increased (drinking in virtual social contexts was not considered solitary). However, increased solitary drinking was linked to situational factors (such as living alone) rather than drinking to cope. Men and people belonging to racial or ethnic minority groups were also more likely to report increased solitary drinking.

The study highlights the importance of addressing coping-motivated drinking among depressed or socially isolated people and parents of children under age 18. The researchers cautioned that the study findings are not necessarily generalizable and are limited by focusing on one point in time. They recommend further investigation involving larger and more diverse samples, and longitudinal research to clarify cause and effect.

Drinking to cope during COVID-19 pandemic: The role of external and internal factors in coping motive pathways to alcohol use, solitary drinking, and alcohol problems. J. Wardell, T. Kempe, K. Rapinda, A. Single, E. Bilevicius, J. Frohlich, C. Hendershot, M. Keough.

Foreign Secretary Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla on 4 September 2020 delivered a major foreign policy lecture on “The Broad Canvas of Indian Diplomacy during the Pandemic,” during a virtual event organised by Indian Council of World Affairs, one of India’s premier and oldest foreign policy think tanks.

The scale and spread of the event covered the length and breadth of India, with participants from 28 states and 4 union territories. With 2000 registered participants, the lecture was attended by a diverse array of distinguished think-tankers and eminent academics, including deans and vice chancellors of prestigious universities and research centers. 

Fundamental Impulses That Underlie It In A Rapidly Changing International Environment

Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India’s Foreign Secretary’s lecture last week was a broad overview of Indian foreign policy. He described the fundamental impulses that underlie it in a rapidly changing international environment. He also spoke about its contemporary challenges and direction.

The Foreign Secretary pointed out that the current pandemic has affected every facet of India’s national life and its external policies. It has been an enormous economic shock. It is also likely to have serious geopolitical repercussions.

The pandemic has exposed the deficiencies of globalization. The Foreign Secretary said that India is an advocate of globalization that is human-centric. He also spoke about the Prime Minister’s vision of “Atmanirbhar Bharat.” Atmanirbharta is not about inward-looking withdrawal from a globalized world. Instead, it aims to strengthen India’s position as a prime participant in global supply chains and as a major player in global trade and innovation.

The Foreign Secretary said that India is committed to multilateralism. He referred to India’s forthcoming tenure as a non- permanent member of the UN Security Council. He also referred to India’s forthcoming presidencies of G-20, BRICS and SCO. These are testimony to India’s enhanced global standing, providing India an opportunity to project its priorities and participate in generating global solutions.

India’s first priority remains its neighborhood. It’s Neighborhood First policy reflects this central focus.. India’s engagements with ASEAN countries under Act East and with the Indian Ocean Region in line with Security and Growth for All in Region (SAGAR) vision have also strengthened. India’s Think West outreach to West Asian countries, and its engagements with African countries have intensified.

Terrorism continues to remain a growing threat, while non-traditional challenges in space, cyber-space and biological domains are complicating the security landscape. India takes its development partnerships very seriously. It is committed to working its partners in the spirit of sabka saath, sabka vikas.

During the pandemic, India established that it was a responsible member of the international community through its actions in supplying drugs such as Hydroxychloroquine and Paracetamol. These are investments it has made in the future. It has built on its reputation as the “pharmacy of the world.”

He drew attention to the fact that serving the diaspora and Indians abroad is one of India’s highest priorities. More than 1.2 million Indians have returned home to India under the Vande Bharat Mission, the largest repatriation exercise of this nature undertaken in recent history. 

MacKenzie Scott has become the world’s richest woman

Staff ReporterFinance/Economy, Women 0

MacKenzie Scott — philanthropist, author and ex-wife of Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos — is now the wealthiest woman in the world.

Scott’s net worth is now $68 billion, propelling her past L’Oréal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire index.

Scott received a quarter of Bezos’ Amazon shares in the couple’s divorce settlement in 2019. That equated to a 4% stake that was worth more than $35 billion at the time. She is now the 12th wealthiest person in the world.

In July, Scott announced that she had already donated nearly $1.7 billion to 116 organizations that included four historically Black colleges and universities. She described the organizations as focusing on one of nine “areas of need” ranging from racial equity to climate change.

Last year, Scott also signed onto the Giving Pledge initiative, founded by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates. The initiative encourages the world’s richest people to dedicate a majority of their wealth to charitable causes.

Bezos, the world’s richest man, hasn’t signed the pledge, according to a list of signatories.Amazon’s stock jumped roughly 28% over the last three months, and is up more than 90% so far this year, according to data from Refinitiv. The soar in shares increased the wealth of Bezos to over $200 billion.Scott’s bump up in wealth follows a surge in tech stock gains, which has led to other billionaire ranking shake ups at the top. Earlier this week, Elon Musk surpassed Mark Zuckerberg to become the third richest person in the world. Tesla saw a 12% stock gain after Tesla’s 5-1 stock split last week. 

“How to Be Your Badass Self: A Guide to Using Your Inner Energy for Brand Success”

Staff ReporterEducation, Women 0

Are you struggling with branding yourself professionally, in order to achieve your dreams and goals? Is your purpose unclear? Then you need How to Be Your Badass Self: A Guide to Using Your Inner Energy for Brand Success! Annie Koshy lays out the steps to turn your mindset and focus to building your brand and growing your business or career.

Start by tackling your mindset and growing your understanding of what you have to offer, as a brand and as a professional. Annie walks you through the process, giving you stories from her personal journey in the world of media and marketing. Get the tools you need to determine your strengths, create a call to action, and build relationships with your clients.

Each stage of building a brand is covered in How to Be Your Badass Self. Annie does not leave anything out, from your thoughts to your habits, and everything that contributes to the energy related to your brand. Once she guides you through the process of building a brand, Annie shares the pitfalls to avoid. By the end of How to Be Your Badass Self: A Guide to Using Your Inner Energy for Brand Success, you will be inspired to be your own badass self!

Award-winning media professional, Annie Koshy is truly a powerhouse to reckon with. Recognized as a multi-talented media and events personality, trained elite speaker and emcee Annie’s work is highly applauded, as she has made a lasting impression within the arts, media, and events arena. She has gained an impressive reputation for bridging opportunities for those in a variety of industries. Through her disciplined work ethic, aptitude for branding and skill in business networking,

Annie is a role model to many within the community.  Annie is the author of the book, How to Be Your Badass Self: A Guide to Using Your Inner Energy for Brand Success, released on Amazon August 2020. The book lays out the steps to turn your mindset and focus to building your brand and growing your business or career. Annie walks you through the process, giving you stories from her personal journey in the world of media and marketing. Get the tools you need to determine your strengths, create a call to action, and build relationships with your clients. 

As a published model with one of the city’s premier modelling agencies, Annie has garnered mainstream attention through her commercial work. Her ads have run throughout North America, has hosted on multiple stages in Canada, US and India and her voice is frequently used in commercials and films. Most recently, she was featured in a lead role in a short film titled, A Bloody Mess. This film, which is a catalyst to conversations around the stigmatized topic of menstruation has received over 16 nominations and or awards from across the world with a coveted Remi from the Houston Worldfest Film Festival. Her second film is a documentary on her life called F•E•A•R: Face Everything And Rise. Her journey is something thousands of women face on a daily basis with a purpose to inspire minds to believe in themselves. 

Weekends don’t slow down this media magnet as she hosts nFocus with Annie Koshy on the mainstream radio station, Sauga 960AM, as part of their Saturday lineup.  Premiering on Sept 12, 2020, nFocus with Annie Koshy looks at People and their milestones, places where international changemakers are impacting our world as well as events that bring our communities together. The icing on the cake is that Annie, along with 125 others, were part of a Guinness World Records attempt that was successful. In addition, she, along with the others, are officially published as #1 Amazon bestseller book in five different categories. As a fine example of a multi-disciplinary woman leader in the community, Annie’s story is inspirational and unique to young entrepreneurs and women. Her kernels of truth and words of wisdom are steeped in experience and cultural diversity.

Want to learn more? Get in touch with Annie: Social Media Handles:  Instagram:  @gtasouthasianmedianetwork | @anniejkoshyTwitter: GTASAMNLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anniekoshy/Facebook: Annie J Koshy – Media Consultant | GTA South Asian Media Network | Annie JWebsite (if applicable): https://anniejkoshy.com/ | https://findyourselfseries.com/ Link to Amazon book: www.amazon.com/dp/177277362X

Mithaiwala-style Jalebis

Staff ReporterAmmu's Hearty Treats 0

Jalebi/jilapi/mushabak is a Persian-indian sweet snack popular worldwide. This bright yellow-orange sweet flower shaped dessert can be served warm or cold. Below is a healthier yet traditional jalebi recipe that taste just as good as the ones you buy from mithaiwalas (indian street sweet vendors) of north India. How I developed this recipe- Mysore pak, kaju pista katli, varieties of laddoos.. all are my favourite indian sweets and so are yummy jalebis. But today, what we get in shops as jalebis are pretty much adulterated with low quality sugar, bleached flour and high quantities of cheap food color. That’s exactly why I wanted to create a recipe for homemade jalebi but without compromising on taste.After many references and trying the easiest to hardest versions of the same, I ended up with a refined recipe that’s easy to follow, rightly sweet and does not use artificial food colors too. What’s special about this recipe- Easy-peasy- As the batter is quite simple and so is the technique you may not have to go shopping to find the basic ingredients listed below. As I have used a squeeze bottle instead of a piping bag, it’s also a fail proof recipe when it comes to creating the jalebi flowers in the oil. Healthier version- Unlike store bought jalebis that uses mostly low quality sugar , bleached flour and food colors, this recipe uses a combination of good quality white flour and chickpea flour adding natural  colours and flavours from turmeric, saffron, cardamom and rose water.  What’ll you need- For the batter-. 1 cup all-purpose flour. 1 and 1/4 tablespoons gram flour. 2 teaspoons cornflour . 8 tablespoons curd. Water-as required (if needed). 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder . Veg. Oil (canola/sunflower..) for frying.. 1 tablespoon ghee   For the syrup-. 1.5 cups water. 1 cup sugar. 1 pinch saffron strands . Half tablespoon rose water. 2-3 cardamoms. Half tablespoon lemon juice  How to make- For the syrup-

  • Combine water and sugar in a pan and stir until dissolved.
  • Add the cardamoms & saffron strands and heat until it reaches nearly a one-string consistency.
  • Now, switch of the flame & add rose water and lemon juice.

 For the batter-

  • Combine all the ingredients and add water spoon by spoon (if required) to get a batter with a similar consistency of an yellow cake batter.
  • Cover it and ferment in a warm place (preferably in a closed oven with lights on) for 8-11 hou
  • Heat oil and ghee in a deep bottom frying kadai/wok (half level of the vessel). Fill the squeeze bottles with fluffy fermented batter and tighten the nozzles.
  • Create floral shaped tight swirl patterns of jalebis in hot oil and fry both sides for approximately 1 minute each or until before browning.
  • Drain them and dip into the syrup to soak up the flavour and sweetness.
  • After you are done with the entire batch, drain the jalebis resting in the sugar syrup to the serving plate.

 Notes, tips and suggestions-

  • This jalebis can be eaten right away or chilled. It keeps good in the refrigerator for 2-4 days.
  • If you are in a hurry , you could just skip the fermentation process by stirring in a sachet of unflavoured eno fruit salt into the batter just before filling the squeeze bottles to pipe it out into the hot oil.
  • Garnish your jalebis with saffron strands/rose petals/ chopped assorted nuts/silver foil.
  • Jalebis tastes great with rabri or vanilla ice cream or even just as it is.

 

Galaxy Simulations Could Help Reveal Origins of Milky Way

Staff ReporterEducation, Environment 0

Rutgers astronomers have produced the most advanced galaxy simulations of their kind, which could help reveal the origins of the Milky Way and dozens of small neighboring dwarf galaxies.

Their research also could aid the decades-old search for dark matter, which fills an estimated 27 percent of the universe. And the computer simulations of “ultra-faint” dwarf galaxies could help shed light on how the first stars formed in the universe.

“Our supercomputer-generated simulations provide the highest-ever resolution of a Milky Way-type galaxy,” said co-author Alyson M. Brooks, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. “The high resolution allows us to simulate smaller neighbor galaxies than ever before – the ‘ultra-faint’ dwarf galaxies. These tiny galaxies are mostly dark matter and therefore are some of the best probes we have for learning about dark matter, and this is the first time that they have ever been simulated around a Milky Way-like galaxy. The sheer variety of the simulated galaxies is unprecedented, including one that lost all of its dark matter – similar to what’s been observed in space.”

The Rutgers-led team generated two new simulations of Milky Way-type galaxies and their surroundings. They call them the “DC Justice League Simulations,” naming them after two women who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court: current Associate Justice Elena Kagan and retired Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

These are cosmological simulations, meaning they begin soon after the Big Bang and model the evolution of galaxies over the entire age of the universe (almost 14 billion years). Bound via gravity, galaxies consist of stars, gas and dust. The Milky Way is an example a large barred spiral galaxy, according to NASA.In recent years, scientists have discovered “ultra-faint” satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, thanks to digital sky surveys that can reach fainter depths than ever. While the Milky Way has about 100 billion stars and is thousands of light years across, ultra-faint galaxies have a million times fewer stars (under 100,000 and as low as few hundred) and are much smaller, spanning tens of light years. For the first time, the simulations allow scientists to begin modeling these ultra-faint satellite galaxies around a Milky Way-type galaxy, meaning they provide some of the first predictions for what future sky surveys will discover.

In one simulation, a galaxy lost all its dark matter, and while real galaxies like that have been seen before, this is the first time anyone has simulated such a galaxy. These kinds of results tell scientists what’s possible when it comes to forming galaxies, and they are learning new ways that neighbor galaxies can arise, allowing scientists to better understand what telescopes find.

In about a year, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, recently renamed the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, will begin a survey targeting the whole sky and scientists expect to find hundreds of ultra-faint galaxies. In recent years, surveys targeting a small patch of the sky have discovered dozens of them.

“Just counting these galaxies can tell scientists about the nature of dark matter. Studying their structure and the motions of their stars can tell us even more,” said lead author Elaad Applebaum, a Rutgers doctoral student. “These galaxies are also very old, with some of the most ancient stars, meaning they can tell us about how the first stars formed in the universe.”

Scientists at Grinnell College, University of Oklahoma, University of Washington, University of Oslo and the Yale Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics contributed to the study. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

India Returns to Venice Film Fest Competition After Nearly Two Decades with Screening of ‘The Disciple’

Staff ReporterEntertainment, India 0

A film about an Indian classical musician’s struggle to balance his career dreams and life in contemporary Mumbai this week returns India to the main competition at the Venice Film Festival for the first time in nearly two decades.

Writer-director Chaitanya Tamhane’s “The Disciple” is among the 18 films selected for competition at the festival, which opened Sept. 2. The last Indian film in the competition was “Monsoon Wedding” by Mira Nair, which in 2001 won the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion.Tamhane spent four years researching, filming and editing “The Disciple,” which follows a would-be classical music vocalist who struggles to balance his craft’s centuries-old traditions with contemporary Mumbai.

His film is slated to premiere Sept. 4 and despite travel restrictions and precautions due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tamhane plans to be there.

“It’s been my dream, in a way to, you know, (to) be in competition at the festival,” he said. “You know, there would be no bigger high than presenting the film in person at Venice.”

“I started off almost like a journalist, you know, attending concerts, interviewing musicians and hanging out in these spaces that they inhabit. So it took me two years to do the research, travel around the country and write the script,” Tamhane, 33, said in an interview last month.

“Indian classical musicians — there is a general perception that they are very serious and, you know, and they are very sort of solemn and somber. And once you start hanging out with them, once you start kind of talking to them, you realize that they’re just as normal, as ordinary as all of us,” he said. “And they’re also in their respective field facing the same kind of issues, the same kind of problems that, you know, a journalist would be facing or an athlete would be facing.”

“It was a process for me to arrive at that realization,” he said.As with his 2014 debut feature, “Court,” which takes a swipe at the Indian legal system through the trial of an aging folk singer, “The Disciple” reflects his concerns about society.

“‘Court’ was a lot more observational, a lot more objective. ‘The Disciple’, I would say, is a lot more subjective,” he said. “A lot of my observations about society and people, you know, do kind of seep into the script. And I feel not just me, everybody should be socially conscious and not be insular and live in a bubble, and react and engage with what’s happening around us.”

“Court” won Best Film in the Orizzonti section that runs parallel to the main Venice Film Festival competition. It also won Tamhane the Lion of the Future award given to best first films.Tamhane said he can relate to people swimming against the tide.

“I kind of think that I am on the fringe, you know, of the mainstream film industry in India, which is so dominant,” he said.At 19, he took a jab at his homeland’s film industry with his documentary “Four Step Plan,” which addressed plagiarism in Indian films.

“So when something is so popular, so dominant as an entire machinery, how do you survive? How do you find your own voice? How do you do something that’s not going to have, say, as big an audience and never going to make as much money or gain as much popularity? So then how do you keep going? How do you find your audience,” he said.

Those themes also run through “The Disciple.” Tamhane said he doesn’t take for granted that he’ll be able to continue to make movies.

“I may not get to make the kind of things that I want to make is a constant fear in my mind,” he said. “Even when I was shooting this film every single day, I would remind myself that, you know, I’ve been blessed, I’m privileged that I’m getting to do this. And this might not be the case in a few years.” 

Danny K Davis Multi Ethnic Community Center Announced

Staff ReporterCommunity 0

Chicago IL: American Multi Ethnic Coalition Inc. celebrated Congressman Danny K Davis’s 79 Th Birthday on Sunday September 6 at Downers Grove. Dr Vijay Prabhakar, (Indian American) President, American Multi Ethnic Coalition Inc., (AMEC) announced that AMEC is opening the Danny K Davis Multi Ethnic Community Center in Bellwood, which will be the first Multiethnic Center representing 24 different ethnic communities of America. U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-6 District) said that this Danny K Davis Multi Ethnic Community Center, first of its kind will be will unifying force to represent all that Congressman Danny Davis stands for: Equality, Liberty & Integrity.

 Martino Tangkar, (Indonesian American) Chairman 7 Th Congressional District’s Multi Ethnic Advisory Task Force (MEATF) said that this Danny K Davis Multiethnic Community Center will be a beacon of hope and lighthouse of service to all.  Congressman Danny Davis was welcomed with a traditional Aarti performed by Ms Dipti Shah, AMEC Seniors Citizen Coordinator and Shree Gurusamy, AMEC Social Services Coordinator. Congressman Danny Davis was presented a Sandalwood garland jointly by Nagendra Sripada, AMEC Senior Chair along with MEATF Treasurer Jerome Athistham. AMEC President Dr Vijay Prabhakar and MEATF Youth Chair Rani Yousefzai Crowned Congressman Danny Davis with a Nawab’s Turban from Hyderabad. IACA President Vinita Gulabani draped a specially woven American National Flag on Congressman Danny Davis. Congressman Danny K Davis presented the MEATF Danny K Davis Commemorative Birthday Award 2020 to Kishor Mehta, Chairman, Illinois Development Corporation, Naperville in recognition of his ten years of volunteer service to the Multiethnic Advisory Task Force. MEATF Volunteer Service Award 2020 was presented to Niranjan Nathawani, CEO, Big Suchir Restaurant & Banquets in recognition of his service to the community for the past two decades. U. S. Congressman Danny K Davis also presented the MEATF Covid19 Relief & Rescue Hero Award 2020 to Ms Santosh Kumar, Founder- Executive Director, Metropolitan Asian Family Services, Chicago in recognition of her outstanding service of providing daily hot meals, health care & home services to several hundred senior citizens of Chicagoland  during the past six months.

 U. S. Congressman Danny K Davis speaking on the occasion talked about hunger, poverty and violence which are existing today and the need to fight and eradicate these on a war footing. Davis said that while they in Congress are striving to fight these challenges, there are hundreds of volunteers like Mehta, Ms Kumar and Nathwani who are leading by example .Volunteerism is a special calling of those who want to make this world a better place to live in. Volunteers are loved in motion, he added.

Dr Rani Yousefzai, (Pakistani- Iranian American ), Awards Jury Chair  said Congressman Danny K Davis’s 79 Th birthday is a historic milestone for all ethnic communities as AMEC kicked off the Danny K Davis Multi Ethnic Community Center which will be a center of Danny Davis’ love in motion to all.

 Several prominent Community leaders felicitated Congressman Davis and spoke on the occasion, Gerard Moorer, Tumia Rumero, Dr Sreenivas Reddy, Amar Upadyay, Acharya Rohit Joshi, Ravi Govindaraj, Dr Gladys Folorunsho, Fred Davis, Clayton Boyd, Chandrakant Modi MD, Hina Trivedi, Vijender Doma, Pradeep Kandimala, Zainab Tabassi Bibi, Shree Gurusamy, Dr Zenobia Sowell, Johnson Sukka and Jayanta Mukerjhee among others. For More Info contact: Ravi Govindaraj // 732 8817487

September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day Light a candle near your window at 8:00 PM

Staff ReporterHealth 0

There is hardly anyone whose life has not been touched by suicide in one way or another. September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day. Let us take this opportunity to remember those whose lives have been affected by suicide, raise awareness, and take steps to prevent suicide.

Did you know that asking a depressed person about suicide thoughts does not amount to suggesting suicide or increasing the likelihood of suicide? By asking, you are not going to put a thought in their heads. In fact, asking often opens up a dialogue and a feeling of relief.

People often believe that suicide is not preventable. This is not true. There are 20 million people who attempt suicide. Most of them go on to live and not die by suicide. There are many factors that contribute to suicide. One of the most important factors is untreated mental illness, e.g., severe depression among many other conditions. Ninety percent of those who die by suicide had untreated mental illness.

Some of the reasons for not seeking treatment for mental illness include stigma and shame associated with mental illness, not understanding mental illness, myths associated with mental illness and available treatments, difficulty finding culturally competent care, financial reasons, and so on. Often, people have a tendency to deny and refuse to accept the idea of mental illness. I have often heard, “such things don’t happen in our family; we are educated and successful . . . mental illness affects weak people. We are strong.” Mental illness is not a disease of the “weak.” It affects people from every socioeconomic, ethnic, racial, cultural, and national background.

Some people choose to seek traditional interventions like yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, and so on instead of conventional treatments like medications and psychotherapy. Traditional interventions can be valuable when used in conjunction with conventional treatments. Often, people are not aware that there are many safe and effective treatments available for mental illness.  Their fears of treatments are often based on misperceptions of treatments. When treatments are delayed, it is harder and takes longer for the illness to respond to treatment. Sometimes, untreated mental illness results in a tragedy.

Preventing suicide is everyone’s business. The goal of suicide prevention is reducing the factors that increase the risk and increasing the factors that promote resilience (i.e., protective factors).  Learn more about the risk and protective factors. It is also important to become familiar with the warning signs of suicide.

Those who have lost someone to suicide are left with many unanswered questions and are plagued with guilt, shame, and a host of other confusing emotions. They suffer in silence. If you or someone you know has lost someone to suicide, consider attending a Suicide Loss Survivor Support group. You can find a Suicide Loss Survivor Support group near you. In Central New Jersey SAMHIN offers a free weekly support group, Janani for anyone who has lost someone to suicide. Talking about the loss can ease your burden.

Download Light at the End of the Tunnel to learn more about depression, myths about suicide, and tips on suicide prevention. Also see additional suicide prevention and suicide survivor resources.If you or someone you know is faced with a crisis, call National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). 

A killer whale who grieved her dead calf for 17 days is a mother again

Staff ReporterEnvironment 0

The killer whale who swam with her dead calf for 17 days in an apparent act of grieving is a mother again. Tahlequah, known to researchers as J35, gave birth to a calf last week, according to a news release from the Whale Research Center.

The two orcas were spotted swimming with their pod in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca, between Washington state and Vancouver Island, over the weekend, the release said.

Tahlequah made headlines in 2018 when she swam about 1,000 miles of ocean with the body of her dead calf. The calf died a few hours after birth, but the mother prevented it from sinking for more than two weeks. Both Tahlequah and her new calf, named J57, appear healthy, the Whale Research Center said.”She was still capable of producing a live calf after an approximate eighteen-month gestation! Hooray!” the release said. “Her new calf appeared healthy and precocious, swimming vigorously alongside its mother in its second day of free-swimming life.”

Researchers believe the calf was born September 4 because its dorsal fin was upright when it was spotted, a development that occurs about two days after birth because it’s folded over in the womb.With the birth of J57, the endangered Southern Resident orca population is now 73, according to the Whale Research Center.

Tribute to Pranab Mukherjee: A man of independent mind and steely resolve.

Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

It was in the Fall of 2007; Smt. Sonia Gandhi led a delegation to the United Nations. The occasion was the extraordinary General Assembly session to launch the International day of non-violence on October 2, Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. The delegation included senior Congress leaders such as Dr. Karan Singh, Vayalar Ravi, Anand Sharma along with late Pranab Mukherjee. Prior to the U.N. General Assembly session, Indian National Overseas Congress (renamed in 2018 as Indian Overseas Congress, USA), gave a thumping reception to Sonia Gandhi and the delegation at the Marriott Hotel in Times Square, where a few thousand people attended.

Before the meeting was called to order, at the reception room adjacent to the auditorium, prominent figures from the local Diaspora were rubbing shoulders and taking photographs and were busily engaged in chit-chats. However, one leader was sitting alone in the corner isolated from all the hoopla surrounding him. He was none other than Pranab Mukherjee, the Minister of External Affairs of India.  As the General Secretary of the organization, I wondered why he was not interacting with people and walked up to him to inquire how he was doing.  His security detail then told me that he would like to be left alone.

I have no explanation for his reaction then. But the more I thought about it; I concluded that he was not your conventional politician but someone who has elevated the level of engagement with people to find tangible solutions to the pressing issues of the time. He appeared to be disinterested in meaningless conversation or insincere overtures. News reports have revealed that he disliked socializing in the Delhi circuit and listed that he had attended just one private dinner in Delhi – hosted by Sibal.   Mukherjee was never a mass leader but derived much of his political clout in his association with Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and P.V. Narasimha Rao.

Addressing the Diaspora during that visit, Mukherjee said that ‘the future of India and that of the Indian community appear to be intrinsically intertwined”. He then paused for a few seconds and wondered out loud, “When I look at you and meet fellow Indians from different parts of the world, I often ask myself, what is it in us that we are able to adapt ourselves so easily to different societies, traditions, and cultures? Why is it possible for Indians to make different places their home and make themselves liked and admired?  Then he answered his own question by saying, “While I do not always look at antiquity to seek answers to the riddles of contemporary times, I am convinced that many of the answers to the success of Indians at home and abroad lie in our history and culture.”

True to its creed, he was a Master of History and purveyor of our culture and traditions. All those who know him closely talk about history’s anecdotes he was fond of creating and retelling. From being an Assistant Professor in Vidyanagar college, Kolkata to the President of India, his remarkable journey was that of an intellectual and a scholar with a passion for politics and great loyalty to the Congress Party.During the UPA-1, Manmohan Singh Government signed the historic US-Indo Civil Nuclear Agreement with the United States. It soon became a contentious issue for Democrats, and the Bush Administration sought help from all avenues for its ratification. INOC, under the leadership of Dr. Surinder Malhotra at that time, joined the campaign engaging in advocacy and promotion to make the passage of the agreement in the Senate a reality. The deal was an important milestone in cementing the strategic relationship between the two democracies that would pave the way for closer cooperation in the areas of National Security and Trade. Pranab Mukherjee played a pivotal role in the agreement’s passing, but for the Left front, which was a coalition partner in the UPA-1, threatened to pull down the Government. A task force set up under the leadership of Mukherjee took charge of the situation, effectively troubleshooting the issues leading up to its passage in the Parliament. Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, in his message of condolences stated that “As Minister of External Affairs and Defense, he championed the landmark US-India Civil Nuclear agreement, a foundation of the US-India strategic partnership, and signed the Defense Framework agreement to enable the US-India security relationship we witness today. Few Indian statesmen played a more vital role in preparing India for the mantle of global leadership in the 21st century.”

There is no doubt that Mukherjee’s acceptance of an invitation by RSS at their convention had stunned the Congress party and many in the leadership. Congress leaders, including his own daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee, expressed displeasure at the former President’s visiting the RSS headquarters in Nagpur. He went there anyway and called the RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar as a ‘great son of India’ to the anguish of millions who regard him as a polarizing figure in Indian history. It is quite difficult to fathom that the former President could not have been aware of the Hindutva ideologue’s views that contradicted the very ‘idea of India’ that was planted and nurtured by Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru.

However, to his credit, Mukherjee has given a speech at the RSS meet that reiterated his faith in the country and its constitution. He said, “I want to share some truths I have internalized in 50 years of my political life. The soul of India resides in pluralism. We derive our strength from tolerance. We accept and respect our pluralism. We celebrate our diversity. Any attempt at defining our nationhood in terms of dogmas and identities of religion, region, hatred, and intolerance will only lead to dilution of our national identity. India’s nationhood is not one language, one religion, and it is perennial universalism of 1.3 billion people who use more than 122 languages and 1600 dialects, practice seven major religions and belong to three major ethnic groups, live under one system, one flag, and one identity of being Bharathiya.”

Pranab Mukherjee was his own man with an independent mind and a steely resolve. Coming from a flicker of a lamp in a small Bengali village to chandeliers of Delhi, his immense contribution to modern India’s development will never be forgotten. Moreover, Mukherjee’s 5’3″ physical frame undoubtedly towered over most of his contemporaries, whether it is upholding timeless principles or proposing much-needed solutions to the nation’s serious Domestic and International problems.  In his last address to the nation as the President of India,  he said, “For the past fifty years of my public life, my sacred text has been the constitution of India, my temple has been the Parliament of India, my passion has been the service of the people of India.” That summarizes a great legacy at its best! Farewell, Pranab Da. (The writer is a former Chief Technology Officer of the United Nations and the Vice-Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA)

The Controversial Origins of the Story Behind Mulan

Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

Featuring intense action sequences and sweeping cinematography, the latest Mulan trailer shows the titular heroine vowing to “bring honor to us all,” leading an army of men into battle against fierce opponents. The live-action movie has faced a battle of its own: originally scheduled for cinematic release in March, Mulan was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is now set to release on Disney’s streaming service Disney+ for $29.99, on Sept. 4, on top of a $6.99 subscription.

Initial reactions to the film after its premiere in L.A. in March were largely positive, with critics calling it Disney’s best live-action offering to date. And in an era where Hollywood is backing more Asian and Asian-American stories, Mulan is notably the first Disney-branded film to feature an all-Asian cast, with well-known Chinese and Hong Kong-born actors Liu Yifei, Jet Li and Tzi Ma in leading roles. Director Nikki Caro’s version of the traditional ballad has been celebrated as a feminist retelling, cutting out a romantic subplot from the animated film and focusing on Mulan’s character as a formidable woman warrior. Caro is also one of only four women ever to have directed a live action film with a budget of more than $100 million, with Mulan‘s budget at more than $200 million.

Yet the film has also faced controversy since its first trailer dropped in August 2019. Liu Yifei, its principal star, voiced support for the Hong Kong police on social media during the height of last year’s pro-democracy protests in the city, prompting calls to boycott the film. At the film’s European premiere in central London in March, days before its release was postponed, masked protesters gathered outside the screening venue holding signs calling for a boycott and mocking up the film’s promotional poster as an advert for the Hong Kong police.

While campaigns to both support and boycott Mulan took off on social media, other observers were quick to point out the historical inaccuracies of the trailer, particularly in its costume design and architectural setting, which appear to be mismatched for the time period and geographical location of the original story.The question of historical accuracy, and whether the film should strive to be completely faithful to the original legend, is not so simple to answer. Mulan is based on a tale that’s been adapted over more than a thousand years, and that has contested origins to begin with. Here, we lay out the film’s complex origins, how the story has changed over time, and what the new adaptation says about representation.Origins of the legend

The original Mulan story is quite different from both Disney’s 1998 animated film and the new live-action movie. The earliest printed version of the story still in existence today was first featured in an anthology from the 12th century, known as the Ballad of Mulan. It’s a short poem thought to have originated as a folk tale in the fourth or fifth century because of references to the period, known as the Northern Wei dynasty, which lasted from the fourth through the early sixth centuries.

“Anything not contained in this original poem has been made up by much later authors, and cannot be historically substantiated,” says Sanping Chen, an independent scholar and author of Multicultural China in the Early Middle Ages. This original version follows a simplified storyline of the tale many are familiar with (without the talking dragon introduced in the animated film, of course). In the tale, Mulan’s father is called to battle, and she volunteers to go in his place. While the original poem doesn’t describe her father as old or ailing, as later versions did, it says that there were no adult sons in the household to take his place. After 12 years of war, Mulan returns to her hometown along with her comrades, who are shocked to learn that she is a woman.

This first version ends with the quatrain: The male hare wildly kicks its feet;
The female hare has shifty eyes,But when a pair of hares run side by side,
Who can distinguish whether I in fact am male or female?Overall, this version is about Mulan “just getting the job done,” says Shiamin Kwa, associate professor of East Asian languages and cultures and comparative literature at Bryn Mawr College and co-author of Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend. This version emphasizes the aspects of gender, such as starting by Mulan doing weaving work, which was traditionally a task for women—a facet of the story that would evolve in later iterations. The character’s ethnic origins The Northern Wei dynasty was established by a formerly nomadic group named the Tuoba, a clan of the Xianbei people, who came from northern China and likely spoke either a Turkic or proto-Mongolian language, rather than a native Chinese dialect. The Tuoba conquest of northern China was of huge historical significance, akin to the Norman Conquest of England, says Chen. “The emperor is an important person in [The Ballad of Mulan], but he’s not called by his Chinese name,” says Chen. Rather than the Chinese title of huangdi, the emperor is referred to as “Khan,” “Kehan” or “Kaghan,” depending on the translation—a title used to refer to Genghis Khan and other Mongol leaders. Chen also says that the title of the poem and the fact that it is named for the female character reflects the respected status that women held in these nomadic societies.

While the social and cultural milieu of the Northern Wei dynasty provided the context for the tale’s origins, there’s no corroborative evidence to confirm that Mulan was ever a real person. Over time, the story and character’s nomadic and tribal origins have significantly changed from the original. Mulan has been depicted as Han Chinese in adaptations over the last century, and this process of “sinification,” or coming under the influence of Han Chinese culture, of the story goes as far back as the Tang dynasty, which spanned from the 7th to the 10th centuries. While the name Mulan translates to “magnolia” in Chinese, Chen’s research traces the name’s roots back to its Touba origins, and suggests that it’s actually a masculine name. “Otherwise, how could Mulan have hidden her true gender for twelve years in the army?” says Chen. “To the educated Chinese gentry, the meaning of ‘Mulan’ is utterly different. One may say the true meaning of the name Mulan is a forgotten legacy of the Tuoba.” How the story has changed and endured over timeAs well as the changing interpretations of Mulan’s ethnicity over the centuries, the narrative has also changed over time. For around a thousand years, the story more or less stayed the same, a simple, easy-to-understand folk poem popular with the Chinese people. The first known adaptation was in the 16th century, by playwright Xu Wei. The Heroine Mulan Goes to War in Her Father’s Place dramatized several aspects of the original poem. It emphasized footbinding, which is not mentioned in the original, as the custom was not widely practiced during the Northern Wei dynasty. “But in the 16th century, that was the major marker of how a woman was different from a man,” says Kwa. “The 16th century play would emphasize that aspect in a way that the original poem would not, and the play transported the setting to the time that seemed relevant.”

The character was later included in a popular 17th-century novel about the Sui and early Tang dynasties, which was a marked departure from the poem. Here, Mulan commits suicide rather than live under a foreign ruler, meeting a tragic end. This emphasis on the ethnic portrayal of the character also came to the fore in portrayals of Mulan during China’s Republican period. Driven by China’s active moving picture industry and a growing nationalism, several film adaptations of the story were produced in the 1920s and ’30s, the most successful being 1939’s Mulan Joins the Army, made during the Japanese occupation of China. This version played on gender as well as ideas of national identity against a complicated political backdrop, and some have argued that the renewed interest it sparked in the Mulan story was partly due to its nationalistic overtones and critique of the occupation. “In addition to these funny scenes where Mulan is now dressing up in her guise as a male soldier, there’s also a lot of playing on this idea of not just telling apart male from female, but telling apart a ‘barbarian’ from a Chinese person,” says Kwa. “That becomes just as important or maybe parallel to the question of other people not being able to tell that she’s a girl.

Kwa says that looking back over how the character has evolved over the centuries is interesting in the context of today’s idea of what makes China ‘China,’ and the idea of a patriotic heroine who is fighting against invading outsiders. At different points in time, the story’s emphasis on a sense of belonging shifted, encompassing both themes of women’s liberation and feminism and divisions along more overt ethnic identifications. “[These adaptations] speak on a specific level at specific times to different needs from different audiences,” she says, adding that the fundamental appeal of the tale speaks to a universal desire to be recognized for who we are, and also an understanding that we can’t always control how others see us.

Representation and adaptation in the 2020 version

Looking back at the original Mulan legend helps explain the criticism over certain stylistic choices in the film, such as the costume and the architecture. Some argue that adaptations of lots of different historical stories change over time and aren’t always accurate. “I feel like we are surrounded by adaptations of all kinds. Do we get angry at Joyce’s Ulysses for not being the accurate historical representation of Homer’s Odyssey?” asks Kwa.

The architecture, costume and geographical setting of Disney’s 2020 Mulan adaptation have faced criticism from observers..

At the film’s world premiere in March (its general release was postponed soon thereafter due to COVID-19), Mulan‘s costume designer Bina Diageler told Variety that the Tang dynasty was the inspiration for the film’s costumes, adding that the research included trips to European museums with Chinese departments and a three-week visit to China. Her comments immediately sparked backlash on social media and beyond, with some highlighting the role of costume designer in particular as a missed opportunity to hire someone who is more of an expert on the culture to accurately reflect the story’s origins. Others highlighted the architecture of Mulan’s home in the movie, which appeared to be a tǔlóu— a structure used as a communal residence by Hakka people in southern China and built from the 13th to the 20th centuries, which does not align with the historical and geographical setting of the original folk tale.

For some, the questions over adaptation and historical accuracy are inextricable from the issue of representation, both onscreen and behind the camera. While the film has been praised for its all-Asian cast, several of whom are of Chinese descent, there has been criticism over a perceived lack of representation among the film’s crew members, and what this means for the film and its message as a whole. “I do worry that the Mulan that we may see, how ‘Mulan’ is she?” says actor Lucy Sheen. “Is she a white version, a Eurocentric, colonialistic version of what some people, who are in the fortunate place to have commissioned this project, see?” Sheen, a British actor of East Asian descent, thinks the Mulan story has had enduring, universal appeal because it explores a journey of self discovery, and shows another facet of the female character as a warrior. “I will be from that point of view be interested to see how far this live action version has gone to make it palatable to be all things to all people, which you never can be,” she tells TIME.

In the new film, as with the original ballad, Mulan enlists in the army, disguised as a man, in the place of her father.

“As an historian, to me it’s very misleading. The story presented in the film is definitely not what the true history should be,” says Chen, who, like Kwa, has only seen the trailer for the film. “On the latest version, I cannot see much beyond an undertaking driven largely by commercial interests.” A live-action version of the animated film with an all-Asian cast is likely to appeal in China, Hollywood’s biggest overseas market, though some viewers in the mainland too have voiced dissatisfaction with the film’s setting and the character’s representation.

For others, the strength of the adaptation lies in how well the film conveys the message of the Mulan story. “Ultimately, the success of an adaptation is how well it resonates with its audience, rather than how well it supports or replicates an original,” says historian Kwa, adding that the transformation from the original poem to the 16th-century play was also drastic, much like the creative license that Disney appears to have taken with the story. Kwa says that while concerns over representation are legitimate and need to be addressed, there’s more to consider when thinking about the authenticity of adaptations. And even if the new versions are disappointing, there’s still excitement in returning to at least the idea of a millennia-old tale. “For me, the fact that there continues to be an audience for Mulan is delightful actually,” says Kwa. “We like to return to stories and we find something meaningful in stories that are related to the past.”(Courtesy: TIME)

Donald Trump Accepts Republican Party Nomination During RNC

Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Donald Trump on Thursday, August 27th night accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination for the November election from the White House Lawn, in which he sought to defend his record on the pandemic while tearing down Democrat Joe Biden – sometimes inaccurately – as a “weak” instrument of his party’s left-wing. He blasted Democratic rival Joe Biden as a hapless career politician who will destroy “American greatness,” h said and added, “Joe Biden is not a savior of America’s soul,” Trump asserted during roughly 70 minutes of remarks. “He is the destroyer of America’s jobs.” In a speech delivered from a huge stage on the White House front lawn he said he did so with a “heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism,” and described the upcoming election as “the most important in the history of our country.” In direct contrast to what Biden had characterized Trump to be during the Democratic Convention a week earlier, the incumbent who is seeking a second term said, “We understand that America is not a land that’s cloaked in darkness. America is the torch that lights the entire world. This towering America spirit has prevailed over every challenge and lifted us to the summit of human endeavors.” Among the most noted lines of Biden’s own acceptance speech came when he promised to deliver the nation out of division, arguing that Trump “has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst,” Biden said. “I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness.” As the president strode to the podium at the end of day four, he had two additional options. The first was to shift the focus from his performance during his first term by laying out a compelling vision for the next four years. After nearly an hour at the podium Trump did lay out a vision for the future, but it was a rushed, almost perfunctory recitation of bullet-points. The real energy of the speech lay in the alternative strategy—turning the election into a choice rather than a referendum on President Trump’s first term or a competition over plans for the next four years. Trump would have the voters believe that Joe Biden is a “Trojan horse for socialism” too weak to stand up to Bernie Sanders and the radical socialist left, a candidate who if elected president would “demolish the suburbs.” Republicans largely abandoned talk of the health crisis as if it had abated, in favor of reminding voters of the robust economy that existed beforehand. During the Democratic convention the previous week, Biden put the focus on holding Trump accountable for his actions during the outbreak.“These two conventions have offered very different pictures of reality, in terms of where our country is now and what our future may hold,” said Christopher Devine, an expert in U.S. elections at the University of Dayton in Ohio. 

Although most of the speakers ignored it, the administration’s headliners, First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, did their best to defend the president’s record. The first lady opened with a heavy dose of empathy for Americans who have suffered during the pandemic, assuring people “you are not alone… my husband’s administration will not stop fighting until there is an effective vaccine.” And Vice President Pence claimed that “we’re slowing the spread… we’re opening up America again… and we’re opening up America’s schools,” ignoring the reality that the premature opening up of states, especially in the south, brought the virus back with a vengeance and that most of our schools are not able to conduct business as usual.

During the Republican convention, President Trump’s strategy for closing the gap became clear: intensify his support among white working-class voters while diminishing opposition among white suburbanites (especially women) and peeling off enough African American men to prevail in the Blue Wall states—Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—whose electoral college votes put him over the top in 2016. The alternative—tacking to the center and softening his tone to broaden his appeal—seems not to have been considered.

While Trump gave the speech on the South Lawn of the White House, protesters gathered just outside the cordoned-off area to call for the end of the Trump administration, blowing horns and sirens in an attempt to drown out his televised speech (though they were at a distance).

 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has ripped into President Donald Trump to rebuke the 2020 Republican National Convention (RNC), saying it was “designed to soothe his ego”. “The Republican convention is designed for one purpose — to soothe Donald Trump’s ego. To make him feel good. But here’s the thing, he’s the President of the Us. And it’s not supposed to be about him,” Harris said in a speech in Washington, D.C on Thursday. “It’s supposed to be about the health, and the safety, and the well-being of the American people,” she said. “And on that measure, Donald Trump has failed.” Harris railed on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected 5,863,363 million people and killed 180,595, the highest tallies in the world. “It’s relentless. You can’t stop it with a tweet. You can’t create a distraction and hope it’ll go away. It doesn’t go away. By its nature, a pandemic is unforgiving. “If you get it wrong at the beginning, the consequences are catastrophic. It’s very hard to catch up… President Trump got it wrong in the beginning,” she added. Biden responded Thursday to the Trump campaign’s recent attacks on him with a lengthy statement directly refuting Vice President Mike Pence’s speech on Wednesday night. “Vice President Mike Pence stood before America and with a straight face said, ‘You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.’ His proof? The violence you’re seeing in Donald Trump’s America,” Biden said. “Did Mike Pence forget Donald Trump is president? Is Donald Trump even aware he’s president? “These are not images from some imagined ‘Joe Biden’s America’ in the future. These are images from Donald Trump’s America today. The violence we’re witnessing is happening under Donald Trump. Not me,” Biden said. “How safe do you feel in Donald Trump’s America?” The Biden campaign wants the presidential election to focus on Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and on the economic fallout.Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele — a critic of President Trump — warned that the presidential race is a dead heat and that Democratic nominee Joe Biden needs to offer a more compelling argument for why he should be elected. “This is a 50-50 race. It’s a 50-50 race right now,” Steele, one of the many high-profile Republicans who are supporting Biden, said in an interview Thursday on “The Long Game,” a Yahoo News podcast. Biden held a robust lead over Trump over the late spring and into the summer, but that lead has been shrinking. The RealClearPolitics polling average showed Biden up by 10 points in June, but the lead is now around 7 points. 

One thing is clear: the suburbs will be the central battleground in 2020, and both parties face challenges. If Republicans persuade suburban voters that Democrats will not stand up to violence and looting, President Trump could win a come-from-behind victory. If Democrats persuade these voters that Republicans are trying to win the election with racist dog-whistles, the result could be a Biden landslide.

Endorsements Come As Indian American Community’s Political Engagement Scales Rapidly

Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

In a virtual town hall on August 26, 2020, IMPACT, the leading Indian American advocacy organization, announced its slate of endorsed candidates for the 2020 general election. “With so much at stake, the Indian American community will be actively leveraging our growth and galvanizing the community across the country to elect candidates that reflect the values we hold dear – justice, equality, and opportunity – up and down the ticket,” said IMPACT Executive Director Neil Makhija, who was be joined on the call by endorsed candidate for North Carolina State Treasurer, Ronnie Chatterji. “With nearly 200,000 citizens in battleground states like Pennsylvania and 125,000 in Michigan, Indian Americans can make all the difference in the course of the country,” said Makhija. Indian Americans have made the American Dream their own – a dream that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris understand because they’ve lived it, and a dream that is under existential threat if Donald Trump is re-elected.” In addition to the Biden-Harris ticket, the endorsements in 23 general election races include: 

President and Vice President

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris 

Congress

Ami Bera (US CA-07)
Sara Gideon (Maine Senate)
Pramila Jayapal (US WA-07)
Ro Khanna (US CA-17)
Raja Krishnamoorthi (US IL-08)
Sri Kulkarni (US TX-22)
Hiral Tipirneni (US AZ-06) 

Statewide and local offices

Nina Ahmad (PA Auditor General)
Ronnie Chatterji (NC Treasurer)
Jay Chaudhuri (NC SD-15)
Jeremy Cooney (NY SD-56)
Nima Kulkarni (KY HD-40)
Padma Kuppa (MI HD-41)
Rupande Mehta (NJ SD-25)
Pavan Parikh (OH Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas)
Jennifer Rajkumar (NY HD-38)
Kesha Ram (VT SD-Chittendon)
Ravi Sandill (TX DJ 127)
Nikil Saval (PA SD-01)
Amish Shah (AZ HD-24)
Vandana Slatter (WA HD-48,1)
Kevin Thomas (NY SD-06) IMPACT will provide direct contributions to endorsed candidates where permissible, help connect campaigns to interested supporters, and provide technical support to candidates. Earlier IMPACT announced that it would be raising $10 million to support candidates that shared its values.IMPACT’s endorsements come at a time of rising Indian American political engagement. Asian Americans are the fastest growing voting bloc in the country, and made the difference in key suburban house seats in 2018. An estimated 1.3 million Indian Americans are expected to vote in this year’s election, including nearly 200,000 in Pennsylvania and 125,000 in Michigan.

Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Says, Joe Biden Will Help Heal The Nation

Staff ReporterHealth, Politics, Profiles, U.S. 0

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday asked India to end its reliance on polluting, financially volatile and costly fossil fuels and invest in clean, economically resilient solar power. Addressing TERI’s Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture virtually from New York due to Covid-19 restrictions, the UN chief asked all G20 countries, including India, to invest in a clean, green transition. “Today, as we endure the twin crises of Covid-19 and climate change, this effort has never been more important. “Worldwide, the pandemic has exposed systemic fragilities and inequalities that threaten the basis of sustainable development. A rapidly heating world threatens even more disruption and exposes even further our world’s deep and damaging imbalances. “Today’s young climate activists understand this. They understand climate justice. They know that the countries most affected by climate change have done the least to contribute to it,” he said in his lecture titled ‘The rise of renewables: Shining a light on a sustainable future’. “As we look to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, we must commit to doing better. That means transforming our economic, energy and health systems — to save lives, create stable, inclusive economies and stave off the existential threat of climate change. I want to talk to you today about how to bring that vision to life — and about India’s role in that vital effort,” said the UN Secretary-General.He said that India has all the ingredients for exerting the leadership at home and abroad envisioned by Darbari Seth, who co-founded TERI. “The drivers are poverty alleviation and universal energy access — two of India’s top priorities. Scaling up clean energy, particularly solar, is the recipe for solving both, he said.Investments in renewable energy, clean transport and energy efficiency during the recovery from the pandemic could extend electricity access to 270 million people worldwide — fully a third of the people that currently lack it. These same investments could help create nine million jobs annually over the next three years. Investments in renewable energy generate three times more jobs than investments in polluting fossil fuels. With the Covid-19 pandemic threatening to push many people back into poverty, such job creation is an opportunity that can’t be missed. Praising India, he said it is already pushing ahead in this direction.Since 2015, the number of people working in renewable energy in India has increased five-fold.Last year, the country’s spending on solar energy surpassed spending on coal-fired power generation for the first time. India has also made significant progress towards universal access to electricity. Yet despite an access rate of 95 per cent, 64 million Indians are still without access today. There is still work to do, and opportunities to be grasped. Clean energy and closing the energy access gap are good business. They are the ticket to growth and prosperity, he said. Yet, in India, subsidies for fossil fuels are still some seven times more than subsidies for clean energy. Continued support for fossil fuels in so many places around the world is deeply troubling. “I have asked all G20 countries, including India, to invest in a clean, green transition as they recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. This means ending fossil fuel subsidies, placing a price on carbon pollution and committing to no new coal after 2020,” said Guterres. “In their domestic stimulus and investment plans in response to Covid-19, countries such as the South Korea, the UK, and Germany, as well as the European Union, are speeding up the decarbonisation of their economies. “They are shifting from unsustainable fossil fuels to clean and efficient renewables, and investing in energy storage solutions, such as green hydrogen. And it is not just developed economies stepping up,” the UN Secretary-General said. “Many in the developing world are leading by example — countries such as Nigeria, which has recently reformed its fossil fuel subsidy framework. While I am encouraged by these positive signals, I am also increasingly concerned about several negative trends,” he said. Recent research on G20 recovery packages shows that twice as much recovery money has been spent on fossil fuels as clean energy. “In some cases, we are seeing countries doubling down on domestic coal and opening up coal auctions. This strategy will only lead to further economic contraction and damaging health consequences,” Guterres warned. “We have never had more evidence that pollution from fossil fuels and coal emissions severely damages human health and leads to much higher healthcare system costs. Outdoor air pollution, largely driven by high-emitting energy and transport sources, leads to damaging pulmonary diseases — asthma, pneumonia and lung cancer,” he said. Quoting scientific studies, he said this year researchers in the US concluded that people living in regions with high levels of air pollution are more likely to die from Covid-19. If fossil fuel emissions were eliminated, overall life expectancy could rise by more than 20 months, avoiding 5.5 million deaths per year worldwide. Investing in fossil fuels means more deaths and illness and rising healthcare costs. It is, simply put, a human disaster and bad economics, he said. “Not least, because the cost of renewables has fallen so much that it is already cheaper to build new renewable energy capacity than to continue operating 39 per cent of the world’s existing coal capacity. This share of uncompetitive coal plants will rapidly increase to 60 per cent in 2022. In India, 50 per cent of coal will be uncompetitive in 2022, reaching 85 per cent by 2025,” Guterres said. This is why the world’s largest investors are increasingly abandoning coal, he added. Urging all countries, especially the G20 countries, to commit to carbon neutrality before 2050 and to submit — well before COP26 — more ambitious nationally determined contributions, Guterres asked India to be at the helm of the ambitious leadership. Applauding India’s decision to take forward the International Solar Alliance in the form of One Sun, One World, One Grid, he said he was inspired by the Indian government’s decision to raise its target of renewable energy capacity from the initial 2015 goal of 175 gigawatts to 500 gigawatts by 2030.

UN Secretary General Says, India Can Be ‘Global Superpower’ In Fighting Climate Change

Staff ReporterEnvironment, India, Politics 0

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday asked India to end its reliance on polluting, financially volatile and costly fossil fuels and invest in clean, economically resilient solar power. Addressing TERI’s Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture virtually from New York due to Covid-19 restrictions, the UN chief asked all G20 countries, including India, to invest in a clean, green transition. “Today, as we endure the twin crises of Covid-19 and climate change, this effort has never been more important. “Worldwide, the pandemic has exposed systemic fragilities and inequalities that threaten the basis of sustainable development. A rapidly heating world threatens even more disruption and exposes even further our world’s deep and damaging imbalances. “Today’s young climate activists understand this. They understand climate justice. They know that the countries most affected by climate change have done the least to contribute to it,” he said in his lecture titled ‘The rise of renewables: Shining a light on a sustainable future’. “As we look to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, we must commit to doing better. That means transforming our economic, energy and health systems — to save lives, create stable, inclusive economies and stave off the existential threat of climate change. I want to talk to you today about how to bring that vision to life — and about India’s role in that vital effort,” said the UN Secretary-General.He said that India has all the ingredients for exerting the leadership at home and abroad envisioned by Darbari Seth, who co-founded TERI. “The drivers are poverty alleviation and universal energy access — two of India’s top priorities. Scaling up clean energy, particularly solar, is the recipe for solving both, he said.Investments in renewable energy, clean transport and energy efficiency during the recovery from the pandemic could extend electricity access to 270 million people worldwide — fully a third of the people that currently lack it. These same investments could help create nine million jobs annually over the next three years. Investments in renewable energy generate three times more jobs than investments in polluting fossil fuels. With the Covid-19 pandemic threatening to push many people back into poverty, such job creation is an opportunity that can’t be missed. Praising India, he said it is already pushing ahead in this direction.Since 2015, the number of people working in renewable energy in India has increased five-fold.Last year, the country’s spending on solar energy surpassed spending on coal-fired power generation for the first time. India has also made significant progress towards universal access to electricity. Yet despite an access rate of 95 per cent, 64 million Indians are still without access today. There is still work to do, and opportunities to be grasped. Clean energy and closing the energy access gap are good business. They are the ticket to growth and prosperity, he said. Yet, in India, subsidies for fossil fuels are still some seven times more than subsidies for clean energy. Continued support for fossil fuels in so many places around the world is deeply troubling. “I have asked all G20 countries, including India, to invest in a clean, green transition as they recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. This means ending fossil fuel subsidies, placing a price on carbon pollution and committing to no new coal after 2020,” said Guterres. “In their domestic stimulus and investment plans in response to Covid-19, countries such as the South Korea, the UK, and Germany, as well as the European Union, are speeding up the decarbonisation of their economies. “They are shifting from unsustainable fossil fuels to clean and efficient renewables, and investing in energy storage solutions, such as green hydrogen. And it is not just developed economies stepping up,” the UN Secretary-General said. “Many in the developing world are leading by example — countries such as Nigeria, which has recently reformed its fossil fuel subsidy framework. While I am encouraged by these positive signals, I am also increasingly concerned about several negative trends,” he said. Recent research on G20 recovery packages shows that twice as much recovery money has been spent on fossil fuels as clean energy. “In some cases, we are seeing countries doubling down on domestic coal and opening up coal auctions. This strategy will only lead to further economic contraction and damaging health consequences,” Guterres warned. “We have never had more evidence that pollution from fossil fuels and coal emissions severely damages human health and leads to much higher healthcare system costs. Outdoor air pollution, largely driven by high-emitting energy and transport sources, leads to damaging pulmonary diseases — asthma, pneumonia and lung cancer,” he said. Quoting scientific studies, he said this year researchers in the US concluded that people living in regions with high levels of air pollution are more likely to die from Covid-19. If fossil fuel emissions were eliminated, overall life expectancy could rise by more than 20 months, avoiding 5.5 million deaths per year worldwide. Investing in fossil fuels means more deaths and illness and rising healthcare costs. It is, simply put, a human disaster and bad economics, he said. “Not least, because the cost of renewables has fallen so much that it is already cheaper to build new renewable energy capacity than to continue operating 39 per cent of the world’s existing coal capacity. This share of uncompetitive coal plants will rapidly increase to 60 per cent in 2022. In India, 50 per cent of coal will be uncompetitive in 2022, reaching 85 per cent by 2025,” Guterres said. This is why the world’s largest investors are increasingly abandoning coal, he added. Urging all countries, especially the G20 countries, to commit to carbon neutrality before 2050 and to submit — well before COP26 — more ambitious nationally determined contributions, Guterres asked India to be at the helm of the ambitious leadership. Applauding India’s decision to take forward the International Solar Alliance in the form of One Sun, One World, One Grid, he said he was inspired by the Indian government’s decision to raise its target of renewable energy capacity from the initial 2015 goal of 175 gigawatts to 500 gigawatts by 2030. 

Nurses Over Drivers? Elderly Over Youth?… Who Gets Vaccinated First?

Staff ReporterEducation, Health 0

In this age of coronavirus, with vaccine experimentation moving at historic pace to the clinical trials phase, the ideal inoculation policy would emphasize age more than work-exposure risk, according to a study involving Washington University in St. Louis economists. There are numerous facets and factors to their modeling, including stay-at-home orders — with or without designating certain occupations as essential — that try to limit the possible spread of workplace infection.For the most part, though, they found the key that unlocks the mystery to potentially optimal vaccine distribution is age: While all employed people age 60-plus would receive the vaccine, in many occupations people would receive the vaccine starting from age 50. In fact, the largest volume of vaccines would be allocated to populations ages 50-59, due to its group size, followed by 60-69. As the researchers focused across the occupation spectrum and not merely age or exposure risks, they found that a 50-year-old food-processing worker would be equally prioritized as a 60-year-old financial advisor. “We expected that age would be a driving factor in allocating vaccines,” said Ana Babus, assistant professor of economics in Arts & Sciences and co-author of “The Optimal Allocation of Covid-19 Vaccines.” “But we have also learned that it may be better to vaccinate, say, a 50-year-old bus driver instead of even a 30-year-old health-care worker, when vaccine doses are limited.” Babus and SangMok Lee, assistant professor of economics at Washington University, joined Sanmay Das of George Mason University in estimating age-based and work-based infection risks, using age-based fatality rates estimated elsewhere. That’s how they emerged at the conclusion that age meant more than occupation. Furthermore, they discovered that designating some occupations as essential doesn’t affect optimal vaccine allocation unless a stay-at-home order also is in effect. COVID-19 won’t die with the first emergence of a vaccine, they learned. Even if a limited vaccine were allocated optimally, their model showed that 1.37% of the employed workforce still would be expected to get infected until a vaccine becomes widely available. That means if, say, the United States used 60 million vaccines on only current members of the workforce, some 2.5 million workers ultimately would get infected. And these numbers are based on a vaccine that’s 50% effective. A vaccine that’s 70% effective could cut that number of 2.5 million infected-workers only by 8%, to 2.3 million, they found. “We easily agree to prioritize high-risk populations,” Lee said. “However, risk level isn’t one-dimensional — it’s exposure and mortality — and putting one person ahead of another by risk isn’t so obvious. The goal of our study is to find which risk dimension to emphasize more. The goal of our study is to find which risk dimension to emphasize more.” While a recent history of vaccinating U.S. schoolchildren greatly decreased the transmission of flu, COVID-19 is a different animal. It kills older adults in far greater numbers, as well as the underrepresented. In this case, the study attempts to provide a best-practice scenario to supplement a vaccine distribution strategy with a targeted stay-at-home order preventing certain age-occupation groups from returning to their workplaces and spreading infection. They tracked eight age-groups — 16-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79 and 80-plus — over 454 occupations, using data from the 2017 American Community Service and a sample thus representative of 60% of the U.S. population (now roughly 330 million). They factored a worker’s contribution to output as measured by GDP, infection fatality rate and age. Using the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics data between March and May, they were able to infer the infection deaths for each occupation group. They related that to U.S. occupations, particularly considering physical proximity — lack of social distance at work — means higher infection risk. They conducted three exercises plugging the data into their model. In essence:The stay-at-home orders in their experimentation lasted two months. The results: In exercises Nos. 1 and 2, the 50-59 and then 60-69 age groups presented the largest volumes of vaccine allocation. In exercise No. 3, the largest age group was 30-39. In the latter sample, teachers taught online from home and more, younger health-care workers were able to get vaccinated.Remove any stay-at-home order, the researchers determined, and all employed people age 60-plus could receive the vaccine. If more occupations work from home, and workers 70-plus were mandated to stay at home, that would allow vaccines to be distributed to, say, nurses and food-preparation workers as young as 20-plus, the researchers found. They realize that their model takes into account solely the possibility of infection exposure at work. If people face the same infection risk in their social and home life, their analysis tilts “even more toward the elderly,” they wrote.

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