Non Violence on Lord Mahavir and Gandhi birth anniversaries

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, U.S. 0

International Ahimsa Foundation USA celebrated Non Violence “A Message of Lord Mahavir” on his 2618th birth anniversary and also commemorated the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The event was held at the Consulate General of India in New York, The Master of Ceremonies were Shanie Persaud, Adeen and Shelly Jain. The event began with the American National Anthem sung by Shruti Goyal and followed by the Indian National Anthem by melodious Dr. Smita Guha.

Over 200 guests attended the event from the Indian American community, foreign press, and diplomatic missions and consulates from Italy, Bangladesh, Japan, Georgia and Indonesia.

The evening was graced by distinguished special guests. Among them were the Hon. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Guest Speaker Professor Lawrence A. Babb of Amherst College, Jessica Schaowski, Mayor’s office representative, Hon. Assemblyman David Weprin, and Hon. NYS Senator John Liu, Hon. NYS Senator Kevin Thomas and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney who introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives to posthumously present the Congressional Gold Medal to Mahatma Gandhi in recognition of his promotion of nonviolence, said Gandhi has been a “truly inspirational leader, historic figure”.

Mahatma Gandhi was “transformational in so many ways” and an inspiration to all Americans and people across the world, Maloney said. She said Mandela and King both attributed their philosophy of non-violence and their leadership to Mahatma Gandhi and both are recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal.

“Already Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King have received the Medal. It’s only right that the inspirational leader for both of them was Mahatma Gandhi and so he should receive this award,” Congresswoman added.

Ms. Maloney, who spearheaded efforts to have the US Postal Service issue the first Diwali Stamp, urged members of the Indian-American community to reach out to the Congress members and friends across the nation to co-sponsor the legislation to honor Gandhi with the Congressional medal.

“We are working to get the Senate sponsor. We must pass it this year and honour his leadership and his gift to the world,” she said, adding that “we should all work together and have a day of National Service in this special year for Gandhi and to remember him, she said.

“There is not enough that we can do to remember and say thank you to Gandhi for his life’s work, for his gift of non-violent ways of handling problems.” Gandhi brought independence to India with non-violence and recognizing his contributions to values in America, Ms. Maloney said she introduced the bill last year to give him the greatest honour that can be bestowed by the US Congress on an individual.

The medal will “honour his leadership” and his gift to the world of inspiring with his principles of non-violence, Maloney echoed. Other keynote speakers were the Hon, Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty and Samani Malay Pragyaji and Samani Neeti Pragyaji of Jain Vishwa Bharati of North America.

Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty said Gandhi himself was deeply influenced by the work and principle of civil disobedience of American poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, emulating it in his life. “Gandhi was deeply influenced by Thoreau and it shows in his life and work. Our freedom fighters were also deeply influenced by the American independence movement and the Constitution,” he said.

Maloney added that India and the US, the world’s largest democracy and the oldest democracies, have several commonalities, share the same values and have been allies across the spectrum. She said that paying homage to the memory and teachings of Lord Mahavir, she said she was not aware that one of Mahavir’s most important message is ‘Live and let live.’ “This slogan is one of the most famous quotes in America.”

The celebration of Non Violence ‘A message of Lord Mahavir and Mahatma Gandhi began with a lamp lighting ceremony with Navkar Mantra by Samani Malay Pragyaji and Samani Neeti Pragyaji joined by the distinguished guest and Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty, Mrs Taruna Chakravorty and Dr. Neeta Jain, President and Founder of International Ahimsa Foundation.

Dr. Neeta Jain gave welcome remarks and reiterated the importance of Non Violence and teachings of Lord Mahavir and Mahatma Gandhi, now more than ever before, and emphasized why and what motivated her to start the IAF organization.

Dr. Jain, the only female Indian-American elected official in New York City, was recently nominated by the Consul General of India in NY, Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, and was honored by the Society of Foreign Consuls in New York, Inc. on International Women’s Day for her tireless work in the South Asian Community. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney was the special guest of the evening, joined Consul General Chakravorty and Dr. Neeta Jain, and other distinguished guests in the lamp lighting ceremony.

Consul General Chakravorty was the keynote speaker and Professor Lawrence A. Babb the guest speaker who delivered special remarks and was honored by IAF and CG of India for his scholarship and research work on India. Special remarks also delivered by Jessica Schaowski, the Mayor’s office representative, Hon Assemblyman David Weprin, Senator John C Liu, Kevin Thomas and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

Samani Malay Pragyaji and Samani Niti Pragyaji of Jain Vishwa Bharati of North America also delivered special remarks and graced the evening with Shanti Ki Preksha (Peace Meditation) chants along with the guests.

The guests were entertained by colorful cultural performances throughout the evening by artists and performers from Manglastak Rhythm Dance Academy by Angel Shah, Saurya Doshi, Siddharth Doshi and Shiv Ajmeri and Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram Mahatma Gandhi’s prayer song by United Nations International School, directed by Ms. Ellen Cava.

Hon. Judge Deborah Taylor of The Honorable Society of the Inner Temple presented a video telecast commentary on Mahatma Gandhi.

Consul General Chakravorty, along with Dr. Jain and Vice President of IAF Dr. Raj Bhayani honored the dignitaries –NYS elected officials and the distinguished guests from the diplomatic community CG of Bangladesh Sadia Faizunnesa, Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the UN Toshiya Hoshino and Mrs. Hoshino, Ms. Annavaleria Guazzieri, Head of Education Section, Consulate General of Italy to NY, Mr. Giampiero Biagioli, Prof of Linguistics at Rutgers University Italian Studies, Civil Servant at Italian Foreign Ministry, Ms. Emanuela Costa, Italian Language teacher, and Selene Candido, Italian language teacher at Scuola d’ Italia with a shawl and IAF Prayer book.

The finale performance Ghoomar was presented by Rhythm Dance Academy. Artists Khushi Ojha, Jigna Ojha, Nidhi Parikh, Aditi Parikh, Krishna Patel, Jedlina Sarita, Ashmita Saha and Krisha Patel captivated the audience. Vice President of IAF Dr. Raj Bhayani delivered acknowledged the presence of Foreign media from Italy, US, Turkey, Germany, Hungary, China, South Africa, Poland and India.

Dr. Jain gave special thanks to the Consul General and his staff who worked tirelessly and gave unprecedented full support to organize and hosted the IAF Non Violence event and the presence of all elected officials and all guests who were present. The event was generously supported by the media sponsors JITO, JAINA, South Asian Times, TV Asia, PTC, ITV Gold and Parikh Media. The evening began with special Jain vegetarian reception and concluded with Jain vegetarian dinner and desserts

International Ahimsa Foundation Inc. was formed in 2012 to spread the message of non-violence and peace from Jain principles to the community. The goal of the foundation has been to promote the teachings of non-violence and peace in thought and action by providing dialogue, peace-building activities, and civic engagement across cultures. The Foundation hopes to encourage students and the community at large to get involved in creating a better world

Religious freedom conditions in India on a downward trend in 2018: US Commission Report

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, India, Politics, U.S. 0

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recently released an annual report that examines the state of religious freedom in several countries around the world, including India. The countries are categorised into two tiers, with India once again being placed in Tier 2, “for engaging in or tolerating religious freedom violations that meet at least one of the elements of the “systematic, ongoing, egregious” standard for designation as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA),” the report states. In its key findings, it notes that India saw religious freedom conditions continued on a downward trend in 2018, noting that last year, “approximately one-third of state governments increasingly enforced anti-con- version and/or anti-cow slaughter laws discriminatorily against non-Hindus and Dalits alike.”

The report adds that, in 2018, “approximately one-third of state governments increasingly enforced anti-con- version and/or anti-cow slaughter laws discriminatorily against non-Hindus and Dalits alike,” and notes that Christians were also the targets were mob violence “under accusations of forced or induced religious conversion.” Moreover, the report notes that in cases involving mob violence against a person over false accusations of forced conversion of cow slaughter, “police investigations and prosecutions often were not adequately pursued.”

In its key findings for India, the report takes note of the Supreme Court of India’s highlighting of “deteriorating conditions for religious freedom in some states” in 2018, stating that the court concluded that “certain state governments were not doing enough to stop violence against religious minorities, and in some extreme cases, impunity was being granted to criminals engaging in violence.” The report also highlights Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on these issues, saying he “seldom made statements decrying mob violence,” and noting that “certain members of his political party have affiliations with Hindu extremist groups and used inflammatory language about religious minorities publicly.” These were some of the points the report notes to explain why India was once again termed a Tier 2 country.

The report outlines recommendations to the United States’ government, saying that it should “press the Indian government to allow a USCIRF delegation to visit the country and meet with stakeholders to evaluate conditions for freedom of religion or belief in India”. It calls for working with the Indian government to formulate a years-long strategy to curb religion-driven hate crimes by “pressing state governments” to prosecute public figures, including government officials, “who incite violence against religious minority groups through public speeches or articles.” The recommendations for this strategy also include bolstering the training and capacity of state and central police forces to prevent and punish instances of religious violence, encouraging the passage of the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2018, and assisting the law ministry to work with states to increase prosecution of hate crimes and hate speech targeting religious minorities, among others.

The report says that the conditions for religious freedom have declined in the last decade, stating, “A multifaceted campaign by Hindu nationalist groups like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sang (RSS), Sangh Parivar, and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) to alienate non-Hindus or lower-caste Hindus is a significant contributor to the rise of religious violence and persecution.” It notes that in 2017, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) “reported that communal violence increased significantly during 2016,” highlighting that human rights organisations criticised the NCRB last year not adequately including data on mob violence or lynching. Given this, “the NCRB delayed its 2018 report to collect data on nearly 30 new crime categories, which will include hate crimes, lynching, and crimes based on fake news,” the report states.

The report notes that in 2018, Minister of State at the Ministry of Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir told Parliament that 111 people were killed and 2,384 people were wounded in 822 communal clashes in 2017. By contrast, in 2016, 86 people were killed and 2,321 were injured in 703 clashes, the report offers, later adding that independent organisations that monitor hate crimes found that 2018 saw more than 90 religion-based hate crimes that resulted in 30 deaths and many more injuries. However, the report also notes that in December 2018, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that communal attacks had declined 12%, compared to the peak in 2017.

The report also notes how “institutional challenges” have contributed to religious freedom concerns, with “the police and courts overwhelmed,” and highlighting how “worsening income inequality has left more Indians suffering from poverty and has exacerbated his- torical conditions of inequality for certain religious and social minorities.”

The report takes note of anti-conversion laws that are in force in seven states in India, noting that the fundamental right to freedom of religion “includes the ability to manifest one’s beliefs through expression intended to persuade another individual to change his or her religious beliefs or affiliation voluntarily.” The report outlines that in 2018, anti-conversion laws were primarily enforced against Christians and Muslims who were proselytising, and says that religious minority leaders and others were also arrested under these laws. It highlights the case of Hadiya, whose marriage had been embroiled in accusations of ‘love jihad’. The report does not mention this phrase, but takes note of “inflammatory allegations of an organized campaign to coerce Hindu women to marry Muslim men and convert to Islam,” stating that the National Investigation Agency investigated this alleged campaign and eventually concluded that there was no evidence for it. Meanwhile, the report mentions ‘ghar wapsi’ ceremonies, in which those born as Hindus who converted to another religion are converted back, stating that “In some cases, these conversion ceremonies reportedly involve force or coercion,” but noting that it is difficult to determine if such conversions are voluntary or not.

Notably, the report, while discussing the role of Hindutva/Hindu extremist groups, highlights that “moderate and extreme forces within the Hindutva movement point to the rise in the Muslim population from constituting 10 percent of the national population in 1951 to 14 percent in 2011, which in their view necessitates “mitigation” against the growing Muslim community.” It later takes note of the fact that numerous cities have been renamed, such as Allahabad and Faizabad, abandoning the names that had been given during the Mughal period, stating that this “has been perceived as an effort to erase or downplay the influence of non-Hindus in Indian his- tory and as an attack on Muslims within India today.”

The report also discusses cow vigilantism, noting that “cow protection” mobs, “a new phenomenon,” have engaged in more than 100 attacks since May 2015 that have led to 44 deaths and around 300 people being injured. “In 2018 alone, cow protection lynch mobs killed at least 13 people and injured 57 in 31 incidents.” It also takes note of hate crimes against religious minorities, including anti-Muslim rhetoric in West Bengal in April 2018, threats against Christians in Tamil Nadu in October 2018.

Per the report, impunity for large-scale incidents of communal violence persists in India, “without proper accountability or recompense.” Probes and prosecution of those allegedly responsible have been “ineffective” or “absent,” and victims have said that the government has not adequately helped in rebuilding “destroyed neighborhoods, homes, and places of worship.” The report emphasises that while the Supreme Court and fact-finding commissions “have noted common characteristics and causes of such violence, including incitement to violence against religious minorities by politicians or religious leaders,” the failure “to address those common characteristics and causes or to hold perpetrators accountable have contributed to a culture of impunity for such violence.”

Other than incidents and threats that are communal, the report also discusses the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 1976, and details how it has been used to target non-governmental organisations “with missionary and human rights portfolios,” who have been banned from operating in India. It notes that in November 2018, the government “demanded that 1,775 organizations provide further explanation for their failure to submit use of foreign funds over the last six years; these organizations included many non-Hindu religious groups, some Hindu trusts managing major temples, and secular human rights groups.” The report explains that some Hindus, including some “Hindutva extremists,” “perceive Christian missionaries converting Dalits to be particularly threatening, as there are nearly 200 million Dalits in India,” adding, “Many observers assert that it was this fear of mass conversion that led to the 2017 shutdown of Com- passion International, a U.S.-based Christian charity, which provided services to nearly 150,000 Indian children.”

The report also has a section on Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC), which has jeopardized the Indian citizenship of more than four million people. “Widespread concerns have been raised that the NRC update is an intentional effort to discriminate and/ or has the effect of discriminating against Muslims, and that the discretion given to local authorities in the verification process and in identifying perceived foreigners to be excluded from the draft list will be abused,” it notes. It also highlights the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, saying that “concerns about the targeting of Muslims through the citizenship process were separately exacerbated” by its introduction and passage in the Lok Sabha; the bill, which would have provided citizenship to migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan “as long as they were not Muslim,” was dropped in the Rajya Sabha in February 2019, after the reporting period.

The report also discusses religious freedom for women, highlighting the Kathua case, in which an eight-year-old child was “abducted, gang-raped, and murdered as a message and threat to her Muslim nomadic community in Kashmir.” It notes that a priest, his son and a special police officer were charged in the case, and other police officials were charged with covering up the crimes. The report notes that while many protested the incident, “several others organized in support of the men charged, including members of the BJP.” It also highlights the Sabarimala Temple case, saying that following the Supreme Court’s ruling that adult women be permitted to enter the temple, “women attempting to enter the temple were physically attacked and others who publicly stated that they would try to enter the temple received hate mes- sages including death threats both online and in-person.”

The report also mentions a handful of positive developments with regards to religious freedom in India, such as the decline in communal violence in 2018, and the Supreme Court’s directive to the state and central governments to tackle mob violence, asking them to “pursue an 11-point plan, including compensation to hate crime victims, fast-tracking prosecutions, assigning senior police officers to deal with communal issues, and other provisions.” The report also mentions some progress in mob violence cases, citing June 2017’s Alimuddin Ansari lynching case, in which 11 accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2018. Per the report, the Ministry of Minority Affairs was also granted a 12% increase in its budget.

Separately, Tenzin Dorjee, chair of the USCIRF, wrote a note in which he disagreed that religious freedom in India was deteriorating, stating, “While India must address issues related to religious freedom, I respectfully dissent on the views that India’s religious freedom conditions continued on a downward trend, the government allowed and encouraged mob violence against religious minorities, and some states are involved in ‘systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.’” He notes that in the 30+ years he spent living in India as Tibetan refugee, he “mostly witnessed the best of India and sometimes worst due to intractable interreligious conflicts.” He acknowledges that “religious divides and power struggles” resulted in the Partition of India and Pakistan, and also “contribute to egregious violations of religious freedom and tragedies,” but says that in spite of these concerns, “India exists as a multifaith and secular country.” Dorjee says that as a Tibetan refugee, “the most vulnerable minority among all minorities” in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, where he lived, he “experienced full religious freedom,” citing China’s systematic attacks on the Tibetan community in comparison. Dorjee also highlighted isolated incidents of religious harmony, such as a Muslim village donating land and money to build a Hindu temple, and a Hindu head priest carrying a Dalit youth on his shoulders into the Chilkur Balaji Temple’s inner sanctum amid cheers from a huge crowd. He takes note of Nathowal village in Punjab, where Hindu and Sikh communities helped rebuild an old mosque, and Muslims and Hindus helped work at a Sikh gurudwara. “People in this village reported to the Times of India that they celebrated together annual multifaith festivals such as Diwali, Dusshera, Rakhi, Eid, and Gurupurab,” Dorjee writes, opining that such “stories speak for India’s multi- faith civilization, religious freedom, and interreligious harmony.” He ends with an appeal to the Indian government “to continuously respect religious freedom and strive to promote India as a vibrant country of and for the multifaith people.”

The complete report may be read here. The section on India is on pages 174-181.
https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2019USCIRFAnnualReport.pdf

Sadhguru To Lead Spiritual Discourse During AAPI’s 37th Annual Convention in Atlanta

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

(Atlanta, GA: May 10, 2019): Understanding the inherent humanity that unites all nations, religions and cultures, Sadhguru is recognized for his pioneering efforts to nurture global harmony, Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of American association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), said today, while announcing spiritual discourse led by Sadhguru during AAPI’s 37th Convention in New York.

The 37th Annual AAPI Convention & Scientific Assembly will be held from July 3rd to July 7th, 2019 at the fabulous and world famous Omni Atlanta at CNN Center and Georgia World Congress Center. Expected to have a record attendance of more than 2,000 delegates including Physicians, Academicians, Researchers and Medical students, “the annual convention offers extensive academic presentations, recognition of achievements and achievers, and professional networking at the alumni and evening social events,” Dr. Parikh added.

“Having Sadhguru at the Convention with his unique ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds, and act as a bridge to the deeper dimensions of life, will make the convention and the delegates from across the nation richer, in so many ways,” said Dr. Sreeni Gangasani, Chairman of the Convention. “His approach does not ascribe to any belief system, but offers methods for self-transformation that are both proven and powerful,” Dr. Gangasani added.

Named one of India’s 50 most influential people, Sadhguru is a realized Yogi and mystic who works tirelessly towards the physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing of all. Sadhguru’s work has deeply touched the lives of millions worldwide through his transformational programs.

“We need to create a culture of Health in society, instead of investing in just healthcare,” Sadhguru says. “What we call feeling healthy, is not just the absence of disease, but having a sense of wholeness within us. If we feel like a complete being in our body, mind and spirit, that is when we are truly healthy.”

An author, poet and internationally renowned speaker, Sadhguru’s wit and piercing logic provoke and broaden our thoughts and perception of life. Sadhguru has been an influential voice at major global forums including the United Nations, World Economic Forum, the UK House of Lords, TED among many others.

Just as he has stated, “Your success in this world essentially depends on how well you can harness the prowess of this body and this mind,” Sadhguru believes in dedicating his life for the service of humanity. He established Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization supported by over three million volunteers worldwide. From powerful yoga programs to large-scale humanitarian projects for rural upliftment, education for the underprivileged, environmental restoration, as well as holistic and healthy living, the foundation’s activities are designed to create an inclusive culture and establish global harmony.

His fundamental vision is to offer the science of inner wellbeing to every human being – a science vitally helping realize the ultimate potential within. From this vision stem a multitude of projects, programs, and methods, all towards the same aim: to raise every human being to the peak of their potential, be exuberant, all-inclusive, in harmony within themselves and the world.

Perhaps Sadhguru’s mission is most succinctly summarized in his own paradoxical words: “I have no mission of my own. It is just that when you see a certain need around you, you do what you can do – that’s all. But I have a dream, that someday, walking on a street anywhere in the world, I would be able to meet lots of enlightened or realized beings. That would be the greatest blessing to happen to the world.”

As though responding to the growing need: “Physician, heal thyself,” especially when there are growing signs of burn out among physicians, AAPI is focusing on themes such as how to take care of self and find satisfaction and happiness in the challenging situations they are in, while serving hundreds of patients everyday of their dedicated and noble profession.

Accordingly, some of the major themes as part of the CME sessions include: Pursuit of Happiness In Medicine; Burnout Prevention and Wellness in Physicians; Easy Life of a Hospitalist: An Illusion; and, Meditation and Mindfulness. Other themes at the CME include: Combining Ancient Sciences and Modern Medicine in the Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases; Mysteries of Type 2 Diabetes in South Asians – the Unresolved Questions; and, Cardio-oncology: Clinical Practice and Echocardiography.

The annual convention this year is being organized by AAPI’s Atlanta Chapter. In addition to offering over 12 hours of cutting edge CMEs to the physicians, CEOs Forum, fabulous entertainment, and women’s leadership forum. The convention will be addressed by senior world leaders, including US Senators, Presidential candidates, Nobel Lauretes, Governors, Congressmen, and celebrities from the Hollywood and Bollywood world.

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 37 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 seeing you in Atlanta!” said Dr. Naresh Parikh. For more details, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org and www.aapiusa.org

International Media Critical of Modi as Elections in India Nearly Concludes

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

With the election in the largest democracy in the world, coming to a close and the world is awaiting for the crucial results to the Indian Parliament, the media, across the world, is filled with avidity, giving all sorts of analysis and predicting the outcomes. This election is witnessing a headstrong fight between the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the other opposition parties. While the Congress is trying hard to regain its lost ground, the ‘mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance), dominated by Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has been formed, leaving behind their old rivalry, sheerly to ouster Modi.

Media is playing a very significant role in this election along with allegations of being biased and spreading fake news. Even the global media is intently watching the turnarounds in this election. While Modi is being applauded for improving India’s global status and developing bonhomie with the superpowers, the international media is not all praise for the PM.

Some portions of the media are calling Modi an autocratic leader with his only objective being that of imposing his party’s Hindutva ideology on our secular nation while some are portraying him as the only beacon of home.

American news magazine Time has featured Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the cover page of its May 20 issue with a headline that may create controversy across India amid the election season. The headline reads “India’s Divider in Chief” that is and carries a caricature of the Prime Minister criticizing Modi.

This title pertains to the article in the magazine, written by Aatish Taseer with the headline “Can the World’s Largest Democracy Endure Another Five Years of a Modi Government?”

The write up compares former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s idea of secularism with the prevailing social “stress” under Modi,” the article read. Besides, the article has also recalled the Gujarat riots that allegedly claimed lives of scores of people.

It is not the first time when the magazine has come with critical commentary about Modi. In its published article in 2012, the magazine described him as a controversial, ambitious and a shrewd politician.

Referring to the 2014 victory, Taseer writes, “The nation’s most basic norms, such as the character of the Indian state, its founding fathers, the place of minorities and its institutions, from universities to corporate houses to the media, were shown to be severely distrusted. The cherished achievements of independent India–secularism, liberalism, a free press–came to be seen in the eyes of many as part of a grand conspiracy in which a deracinated Hindu elite, in cahoots with minorities from the monotheistic faiths, such as Christianity and Islam, maintained its dominion over India’s Hindu majority.

Modi’s victory was an expression of that distrust. He attacked once unassailable founding fathers, such as Nehru, then sacred state ideologies, such as Nehruvian secularism and socialism; he spoke of a “Congress-free” India; he demonstrated no desire to foster brotherly feeling between Hindus and Muslims. Most of all, his ascension showed that beneath the surface of what the elite had believed was a liberal syncretic culture, India was indeed a cauldron of religious nationalism, anti-Muslim sentiment and deep-seated caste bigotry.”

Paradoxically, in the same magazine, there was another article titled, ‘Modi Is India’s Best Hope for Economic Reform,’ wherein the writer, Ian Bremmer, praises Modi for his bold and much-needed reforms like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the biometric identification system- the Aadhar card, strengthening international ties, uplifting the poor through welfare schemes like Ujjwala Yojana and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, among others. “.. India still needs change, and Modi remains the person most likely to deliver. He has improved relations with China, the U.S. and Japan, but it’s his domestic development agenda that has done the most to improve the lives and prospects of hundreds of millions of people. Consider what he’s already accomplished during five years in charge,” the article read.

In an Opinion article, titled, ‘Modi Reminds India of Indira Gandhi. Will He Share Her Electoral Fate?’ published in The New York Times on May 8, the writer, Gyan Prakash, draws parallels between Modi and the former PM Indira Gandhi based on their autocratic form of ruling. The writer even goes on to say that the election results will show whether the public continues to accept an autocratic ruler or removes him like Indira Gandhi was defeated in the 1977 elections post-emergency. He further accuses Modi of destabilizing the democratic institutions.

Prakash writes, “Mr. Modi has ruled India with the iron will reminiscent of Mrs. Gandhi. He brooks no dissent and projects the personality cult of a strong Hindu nationalist warrior combating the nation’s internal and external enemies with “surgical strikes….While Mrs. Gandhi resorted to emergency rule to survive a political crisis, Mr. Modi’s regime thrives on Hindu majoritarian militancy. He stokes majoritarian resentments against the minorities to further his rule. Dissent is denounced as treason, and Hindu nationalists deride critics as elites guilty of “rootless cosmopolitanism.”

He further writes, “Riding to power in 2014 with an overwhelming majority for his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr. Modi quickly moved to centralize power. His government bypassed the Parliament and issued ordinances to advance his policies. Civil society organizations have faced investigations. Unqualified Hindu nationalists were foisted on educational and cultural institutions. A law was instituted to exert greater control over the appointment of judges.”

In an interview, with the Financial Times’ South Asia Bureau Chief Amy Kazmin and South Asia Correspondent, Stephanie Findlay, discuss the 2019 elections. They start the interview by saying, “India’s election has turned into an ideological battle pitting an inclusive vision of a multi-faith nation against the view that Hindus should have sway.” They even talk about how the 2014 election was fought on the promise of economic development which clearly wasn’t fulfilled. Thus, Modi is fighting the 2019 elections on the basis of national security, by creating an atmosphere of threat and promising that the Modi-led government will protect India as it did through the Uri and Balakot strikes. They have further accused Modi of playing the Hindu nationalism card to seek re-election.

Though the global media is divided in its opinion about Modi and his re-election, one thing which is common across all the sections is the lack of alternate leader for the Indian voters which gives Modi an upper hand in this fierce battle. Taseer rightly says, “Modi is lucky to be blessed with so weak an opposition–a ragtag coalition of parties, led by the Congress, with no agenda other than to defeat him.”

This election has become a fight to uphold our Constitutional principles and our democratic institutions. It is a battle to ensure that religion doesn’t overtake the ideals of justice and equality for all. As rightly described by Prakash, “With an authoritarian, hyper nationalist warrior asking for their support, Indian voters are tasked with making a consequential choice for India’s future. As B.R. Ambedkar, the great Dalit leader and the architect of India’s Constitution, once remarked, Indians were particularly susceptible to “bhakti,” or devotion. This was fine in religion, but in politics, he warned, it is “a sure road to degradation and eventual dictatorship.”

Taseer argues that To understand the deeper promptings of this enormous expression of franchise – not just politics, but the underlying cultural fissures – one needs to go back to the first season of the Modi story because only then “one can see why the advent of Modi is “at once an inevitability and a calamity for India.”

He says the India offers a unique glimpse into “both the validity and the fantasy of populism” and “forces us to reckon with how in India, as well as in societies as far apart as Turkey and Brazil, Britain and the U.S., populism has given voice to a sense of grievance among majorities that is too widespread to be ignored, while at the same time bringing into being a world that is neither more just, nor more appealing.”

But Taseer notes that Modi is lucky to be blessed with so weak an opposition – a ragtag coalition of parties, led by the Congress, with no agenda other than to defeat him. Even so, doubts assail him, for he must know he has not delivered on the promise of 2014.

“It is why he has resorted to looking for enemies within. Like other populists, he sits in his white house tweeting out his resentment against the sultanate of “them. And, as India gets ready to give this willful provincial, so emblematic of her own limitations, a second term, one cannot help but tremble at what he might yet do to punish the world for his own failures,” he says.

The article also recalled the Gujarat riots of 2002. Taseer describes Modi’s record on women’s issues as “spotty” and calls Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath a “hate-mongering priest in robes of saffron”.

In the wake of the article, reactions on social media were galore with people commenting in favor or against Modi depending on their political persuasions with some calling it a biased article against Modi’s popular government while others welcoming it as an objective thoughtful essay on the divisive politics of the Modi era.

France strongly supports India for UN SC Permanent Member

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India 0

India and nations like Germany, Brazil and Japan are “absolutely needed” as permanent members of a reformed and enlarged UN Security Council to better reflect contemporary realities and the addition of these key members to the UN high-table is among France’s “strategic” priorities, the French envoy to the UN has said.

India is at the forefront of efforts at the UN to push for the long-pending reform of the Security Council, emphasizing that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member.

“In terms of policy, France and Germany have strong policy which is to work together to enlarge the Security Council and to succeed in terms of the negotiations that should lead to the enlargement of the Security Council that we consider absolutely needed to better reflect the world as it is. There is no question about it,” France’s Permanent Representative to the UN François Delattre told reporters here last week.

Speaking along side German envoy to the UN Christoph Heusgen at the end of Germany’s Presidency of the Council for April, Delattre emphasised that France considers that “Germany, Japan, India, Brazil and a fair representation of Africa in particular are absolutely needed at the table to get towards a fairer representation of the Security Council. This is for us a matter of priority.”

He underlined that Paris believes the enlargement of the Security Council with the addition of a few key members is “one of our strategic priorities.”

Noting that when France and Germany launched their alliance for multi-materialism, he said it signifies that the two nations strongly believe in the UN as the core of today’s global governance and that they strongly believe in “multi-lateralism and means that we are actively working to reform and in some respects to refound, reinvent multi-lateralism so that it is really efficient for the decades to come.”

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, speaking at the informal meeting of the Plenary on the Intergovernmental negotiations on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council earlier this year, had said that on the issue of ‘Categories of Membership’, a total of 113 Member States, out of 122 who submitted their positions in the Framework Document, support expansion in both of the existing categories specified in the Charter.

“In short, more than 90 per cent of the written submissions in the document are in favour of expansion in both categories of membership specified in the Charter,” he had said.

Akbaruddin had said that while reform at the UN is a process rather than an event, “there is no process known to us here that has traversed winding pathways in the manner as this process of the Reform of the Security Council.” “In terms of inertia too, it has no peer. While the world is not what it was when we began the process, the objections to moving forward remain the same. While the global challenges of the 21st century have multiplied, we remain divided even about the process to adopt in order to move forward,” he had said.

France has maintained that if the crises of recent times have confirmed the centrality of the UN, they have also reinforced the need to make the organisation more effective and more representative of the current balances in the world.

“That is why France pushes for the expansion of the Security Council by supporting the accession to a permanent seat of Germany, Brazil, India, Japan, as well as a greater presence of African countries,” according to the Permanent Mission of France.

India-US Trade War

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics, U.S. 0

Any retaliatory tariff by India in response to the United States’ planned withdrawal of some trade privileges will not be “appropriate” under WTO rules, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warned on Tuesday.

The comments, made to broadcaster CNBC-TV18 during a trip to India’s capital, come as trade ties between the United States and China worsen. The United States is India’s second-biggest trade partner after China.

Indian officials have raised the prospect of higher import duties on more than 20 U.S. goods if President Donald Trump presses ahead with a plan announced in March to end the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for India.

India is the biggest beneficiary of the GSP, which allows preferential duty-free imports of up to $5.6 billion from the South Asian nation.

“Any time a government makes a decision adverse to another one, you will have to anticipate there could be consequences,” Ross said. “We don’t believe under the WTO rules that retaliation by India would be appropriate.”

He added that India’s new rules on e-commerce, which bar companies from selling products via firms in which they have an equity interest, and data localisation have been discriminatory for U.S. firms such as Walmart Inc and Mastercard Inc.

“So the American companies are showing very good will and a very cooperative attitude towards ‘Make in India’ and the other programmes,” he said, referring to a manufacturing push by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“But there’s a limit to how far the discriminatory behaviour can go. And our job is to try to get a level, more level playing field.”

Earlier, Ross told a business conference that localisation rules and price caps on medical devices imported from the United States were barriers to trade but that New Delhi was committed to tackling them after general elections.

“We applaud India’s commitment to addressing some of these barriers once the government is re-formed, probably starting in the month of June,” Ross said.

“Our role is to eliminate barriers to U.S. companies operating here, including data localisation restrictions that actually weaken data security and increase the cost of doing business.”

India’s 39-day general election ends on May 19, and votes will be counted four days later.

Ross met his Indian counterpart Suresh Prabhu on Monday, after which New Delhi said the two countries would engage regularly to resolve outstanding trade issues.

Last year, global payments companies such as Mastercard, Visa and American Express unsuccessfully lobbied India to relax central bank rules requiring all payment data on domestic transactions to be stored locally.

“As President Trump has said, trade relationships should be based, and must be based, on fairness and reciprocity,” Ross added. “But currently, U.S. businesses face significant market access barriers in India.”

Wisconsin Honors Sikhs at Temple Where 6 Were Killed in 2012

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

This year, Wisconsin joined Colorado, Utah, Washington and Connecticut in passing first-time resolutions. These states joined others that have previously issued proclamations like California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Additionally, 33 local proclamations and resolutions were passed, including first-time recognitions in Salt Lake City, UT; Lexington, KY; Olathe, KS; and more. Many of these successful initiatives were supported by the Sikh Coalition, putting Sikh community leaders in direct touch with their elected officials on both sides of the political aisle.

Nearly four million Americans were wished a “Happy Vaisakhi” by their own elected officials through social media posts that the Sikh Coalition worked to facilitate in time for April 14th.

Last week, the Governor of Wisconsin visited the Oak Creek sangat at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin to deliver the first-ever statewide proclamation declaring April Sikh Awareness & Appreciation Month. Gov. Tony Evers chose the Oak Creek gurdwara to honor and remember the victims, including my father-in-law, when six of our own were killed by a gunman with neo-Nazi ties on August 5, 2012.

A Milwaukee-area Sikh temple where a white supremacist fatally shot six parishioners in 2012 hosted Wisconsin’s governor Tuesday to make April Sikh Awareness and Appreciation month in the state.

The celebration had been months in the making but came at a time when houses of worship have been targets of violence recently. On Saturday, a gunman opened fire in a California synagogue where about 100 people were celebrating the last day of Passover, killing one and injuring three others. Last month, 50 people were killed during attacks at mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch .

Saturday’s attack is on the minds of parishioners in Oak Creek, but they say they’re not deterred. “There’s always a bit of fear when something like this happens,” said Pardeep Kaleka, 42, one of the parishioners at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek. “But at the same time … that’s what faith really is. It’s to have courage in times when you do feel fear. I think we’re more excited than anything else.”

The national Sikh Coalition in New York has gotten 33 Sikh Awareness and Appreciation proclamations so far, including some from states, counties, cities, and school districts. The latest in Oak Creek has special significance because of its tragic past.

On Aug. 5, 2012, a gunman killed six parishioners and injured four others at the Oak Creek gurdwara — what Sikhs call their temples of worship. Kaleka’s father, Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, the founder of the Oak Creek temple, was among those killed.

“I don’t think shootings have a deterrent effect on faith communities. I think it actually strengthens faith communities,” Pardeep Kaleka said, noting that their congregation has doubled since 2012, going from about 1,000 members to somewhere between 1,700 and 2,000.

At the temple where parishioners were attacked, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers presented Sikh congregants with a plaque making the proclamation official, telling them “the state of Wisconsin is committed to better understand, recognize, and appreciate the rich history and shared experiences of Sikh Americans.”

After the Wisconsin shootings, the Sikh Coalition reached out to about 300 gurdwara’s across the country to encourage them to have safety plans in place, said Satjeet Kaur, the coalition’s executive director. Those plans were updated after the church shootings in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015 and the attack at Tree of Life Congregation synagogue in Pittsburgh in October, Kaur said. That has meant assembling security task forces, adding cameras and asking local police for increased vigilance at temples, she said.

At the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, security staff has been added, windows with bullet-proof film have been installed, and an emergency plan for dealing with active shooters has been created, Pardeep Kaleka said.

Jaspreet Kaur Kaleka, 37, Pardeep Kaleka’s wife, was on hand to receive the proclamation from Evers. She said her congregation has made it a goal to raise awareness and understanding about their religion. Every year, temple parishioners participate in a 6K run in Oak Creek to remember the shooting victims and raise money for six scholarships — one in the name of each of the people killed.

“We need to tell people what we’re about, what we do, because at the end of the day we pretty much all believe the same thing,” Jaspreet Kaleka said. “We just want to be good people, we believe that there’s a greater being and just treating everybody basically how we want to be treated — and that goes across all religions.”

This grassroots effort was directly supported by the Sikh Coalition. They worked with local Sikh community leaders to help secure the proclamation and then facilitate the visit by the governor to the Oak Creek gurdwara. Everything, including media outreach and support, was handled by their team and helped further raise educational awareness so that we could focus on what truly matters: the community.

An Urgent Need to Advance Peace

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

STOCKHOLM, May 10 2019 (IPS) – Let us be blunt: the world is in crisis. Peace, human rights, our planetary ecosystem, and our systems of conflict management and global governance are under enormous strain.

Global military expenditures reached 1.8 trillion in 2018, their highest level in real terms since the Cold War, driven by great power competition between the US and China. The ‘Doomsday clock’ is now set at 2 minutes to midnight, as the world has moved closer than ever to nuclear self-destruction as a result of US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal(the Joint Common Plan of Action (JPOA)), and withdrawal from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and uncertainties about North Korea’s nuclear plans.

And, buttressed by regular reports about the growing effects of global warming, rapidly declining biodiversity and theextinction of thousands of species, climate change is now widely acknowledged by citizens and experts in many countries as the world’s biggest threat.

The past decade has seen a reversal of the long-term trend of declining civil wars. According to the UN-World Bank publication Pathways to Peace, the world has seen sharp increases in the number of internal armed conflicts in the world over the past decade, most involving numerous non-state armed groups, and such conflicts are both increasingly internationalized and protracted.

Mostly as a result of conflict, some 68.5 million people are currently displaced, with the overwhelming majority of refugees residing in poor or middle-income countries. While there are often multiple, complex causes of conflict, key structural factors include weak institutions in combination with political and economic exclusion.

In developing and post-industrial states alike, factors such as growing income inequalities and the continued failure of most countries to significantly control corruption are undermining governance and faith in the ability of states and the political class to uphold the public good. Across the world we are witnessing a rise in populism rooted in anti-pluralism and exclusionary nationalist politics, attacks on the basic democratic tenets and a crisis of democracy.

With the global rolling back of human rights, there is a shrinking of civic space and dramatic decline in countries considered safe for journalists and for human rights defenders and women’s rights defenders.

And within the leading global governance bodies, such as the UN Security Council, divisions among major powers and failure in leadership to constructively address current crises in Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Venezuela are calling into question the continued credibility of such arrangements.

Within this fraught context, leading individuals from the humanitarian, development and security fields will be convening in Stockholm next week*. The Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development, cohosted by SIPRI and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will discuss how the world can better respond to emergencies and crises, and how it can stabilize and strengthen prospects for peace and longer term development.

By bringing together subject and regional specialists, humanitarian workers, human rights defenders, peace researchers, police and military representatives, political leaders and policy makers, the Forum seeks to stimulate essential, sometimes difficult, conversations among those who are working to support peace, rule of law and development embodied by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The international and professional diversity of those who will attend reflects the recognition of the need for interdisciplinary understanding of drivers of conflict, coordination across sectors and comprehensive approaches in responding to violence, hunger and injustice.

Substantial participation by representatives from the Global South reflects the need to develop truly people-centred approaches that are context specific, politically informed and locally owned. It embodies the realization that technocratic, template approaches to preventing conflict and assisting shattered states and societies are not acceptable and do not work.

With its commitment to advancing peace through evidence-based data, research and analysis, SIPRI is proud to co-host the Forum and to contribute to global efforts to find solutions to the grave problems that confront us.

*Follow the Forum Plenary live-stream on 14 and 16 May: Opening Session and High-Level Panel on Mediation: https://youtu.be/yaGj1RQOVKY Closing High-Level Panel on Inclusive Peace: https://youtu.be/ks28SC5MWhM

Alcohol intake in India up 38% this decade

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India 0

Alcohol consumption in India increased from 4.3 litres a year per adult to 5.9 litres in 2017, a growth of 38 per cent, says a study of 189 countries’ alcohol intake.

Driven by the rise in alcohol intake in India, China and Vietnam, global alcohol consumption increased from 5.9 litres a year per adult in 1990, to 6.5 litres in 2017, and is predicted to increase further to 7.6 litres by 2030, showed the results published in The Lancet.

As a result of increased alcohol consumption and population growth, the total volume of alcohol consumed globally per year has increased by 70 per cent — from 20,999 million litres in 1990 to 35,676 million litres in 2017.

While intake is growing in low and middle-income countries, the total volume of alcohol consumed in high-income countries has remained stable, the study said.

The estimates suggest that by 2030 half of all adults will drink alcohol, and almost a quarter (23 per cent) will binge drink at least once a month.

“Our study provides a comprehensive overview of the changing landscape in global alcohol exposure. Before 1990, most alcohol was consumed in high-income countries, with the highest use levels recorded in Europe,” said study author Jakob Manthey from Technische Universitat Dresden in Germany.

“However, this pattern has changed substantially, with large reductions across Eastern Europe and vast increases in several middle-income countries such as China, India and Vietnam,” Manthey added.

“This trend is forecast to continue up to 2030 when Europe is no longer predicted to have the highest level of alcohol use,” he added.

Increasing rates of alcohol use suggest that the world is not on track to achieve targets against harmful alcohol use.

“Based on our data, the WHO’s aim of reducing the harmful use of alcohol by 10 per cent by 2025 will not be reached globally,” Manthey said.

“Instead, alcohol use will remain one of the leading risk factors for the burden of disease for the foreseeable future, and its impact will probably increase relative to other risk factors,” he warned, adding that implementation of effective alcohol policies is warranted, especially in rapidly developing countries with growing rates of alcohol use.

The study measured per capita alcohol consumption using data for 189 countries between 1990-2017 from the WHO and the Global Burden of Disease study.(IANS)

Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan Win Instagrammers of the Year Awards

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterSocial Media 0

Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone and Sara Ali Khan have won Instagrammers of the Year awards, which recognize most engaging community members on the social media platform across the nation.

Winners are selected on the basis of how these individuals use their Instagram handles with the help of Stickers, Stories, Feed, Live and IGTV.

Winning the title of ‘Most Followed Account’ this year is Priyanka Chopra Jonas with 39 million followers, while Deepika Padukone received the ‘Storyteller of the Year’ award, thanks to her impromptu Instagram stories and boomerangs from events, and Ask Me sessions to interact with fans and more.

“I come to Instagram every day to live, laugh, love and share with the people that are most important to me and I am grateful for all their kindness,” Padukone said in a statement. “In 2019, I look forward to connect more, love more and share many more authentic experiences with my beautiful fans.”

Sara Ali Khan Sara who bagged the ‘Rising Star of The Year’ award shared her excitement about the same in a statement. She told a news agency, “Instagram is a platform that allows me to be myself and to stay connected with audiences in the most direct and organic way. Not to mention it also allows me to salivate over great food, look at interesting and new places to travel to and of course stalk people.”

Others who were awarded include cricketer Virat Kohli whose Kohli’s Instagram handle was applauded as “The most Engaged Account of the Year,” Chef Pooja Dhingra (Food Account of the Year), comedian and singer Bhuvan Bam (Entertainment Account of the Year) and Sejal Kumar (Fashion Account of the Year).

Bharat Karnad on India’s ‘Inept’ Foreign Policy

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

With India in the throes of the world’s largest exercise in democracy, Indians and the international community are assessing the performance of its incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The conventional wisdom about Modi’s first term in office has generally been: disappointing on the economic and social fronts; generally successful on foreign affairs. Some analysts have even credited Modi for ushering a bolder and more engaged foreign policy.

A recent book throws cold water on such assessments. In the opening pages of Staggering Forward: Narendra Modi and India’s Global Ambition, author and Indian national security expert Bharat Karnad describes Modi’s foreign policy as “inept” and “short-sighted.” The book makes the cases that Modi has been anything but bold on the international stage. While Modi’s efforts may have garnered small successes, Karnad believes he has failed in the grander ambition to propel India toward great power status. Instead, Karnad sees Modi’s India as “great power lite,” being stuck for the past five years in “neutral gear.”

The book’s critique of Modi comes from an unexpected angle. While Modi is maligned by the left (in India and abroad) for his Hindu nationalist, strong-man approach, Staggering Forward is a takedown from the other side of the political spectrum. Karnad, a research professor at the Center for Policy Research who describes himself as “India’s foremost conservative strategist,” faults Modi not for being hawkish but for being diffident.

I asked Karnad some questions about what disappointed him about Modi’s first term. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

The book is called Staggering Forward, which suggests progress, though of the uneven kind. How would you grade Modi’s foreign policy performance?

The “staggering” in the title is meant to denote a certain diffidence evidenced in Modi’s foreign policy, which boasts, in substance, of no unique feature nor approach, being a continuation of policies pursued by the previous governments in the new millennium.

You characterize Indian leaders as being too afraid to enact “proactive, offensive, pre-emptive policies” for fear of upsetting China. What policies would you want the next Indian government to adopt toward China?

Based on the long history of the factors that command the respect of China’s rulers, I have been advocating for some two decades now and also in this book that India adopt a tit-for-tat approach. For instance, the most obvious way to react to Beijing’s very successful initiative to arm Pakistan with nuclear missiles and use that country to contain India would have been for Delhi to transfer like armaments to many more small adversarial states on China’s borders to equalize the strategic context. It would have signaled India’s intent to respond in kind and equal measure and would have quickly sobered up Beijing and telegraphed to all Asian states India’s ability to take on an ambitious and oppressive China. It would have crystallized India as a competing power node to China in Asia. A similar attitude to inform India’s trade policy would have prevented the skewed trade and severe balance-of-payments problem India now faces.

The recent India-Pakistan crisis following the Pulwama terrorist attack became a major political battleground in India ahead of the election. Politically, Modi seemed to come out on top. How did India come out vis-à-vis Pakistan and its security going forward?

Pakistan, I believe, is Modi’s greatest failure. Rather than resorting to covert warfare methods to discreetly drive home the message to Islamabad that two can play at the terrorism game, Modi has sought to make political capital out of forcefully countering actions by Pakistan-sponsored terrorist organizations, such as Jaish-e-Mohammad, that are active in Indian Kashmir. This has a dual purpose of also communally polarizing the Indian society, which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to benefit from. This is base tactical thinking.

The most obvious way to react to Beijing’s very successful initiative to arm Pakistan with nuclear missiles and use that country to contain India would have been for Delhi to transfer like armaments to many more small adversarial states on China’s borders to equalize the strategic context.

A more strategic-minded leader would have used covert means when and where necessary while also seeking to influence the Pakistan government with a spate of economic incentives, such as open access to the vast Indian market, and unilateral military measures, such as demobilizing and reconstituting the Indian Army’s three strike corps — which the Pakistan Army most fears — into a single composite corps sufficient for any Pakistan contingency, and withdrawing forwardly deployed nuclear missiles from the border with Pakistan. By such means, India could have and still can reassure Pakistan, preclude it from acting the Chinese cat’s paw in the region, and regain for South Asia the unitary strategic space lost in 1947 with the Partition of India.

At the start of the book, you declare that Modi’s extensive “personalized diplomacy” has “produced no signal departure from the policies of previous governments, nor any stellar results.” You do point to one exception: strengthened ties with the Gulf States. Why has this been a priority for Modi?

If all politics is local, then Modi has been sensitive about actions that fetch him domestic political dividends. A large section of Indian society gains from the remittances, estimated by the World Bank in 2018 as some $80 billion annually; sent home by skilled and unskilled Indian labor employed [primarily] in the Gulf countries. These remittances make for India’s healthy hard currency reserves and help sustain the economies of several Indian states, chief among them Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. The remittance beneficiaries also constitute a large voter base, which Modi has kept pleased by cultivating, in the main, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Intimacy with these Sunni majority states also balances India’s ties with the Shia majority Iran, giving India a role in the ongoing Shia-Sunni tussle in West Asia. More generally, close ties with Islamic nations symbolizes the fact that India has the second largest Muslim population in the world (after Indonesia), and is a counterpoise to India’s deep relations with Israel, on the one hand, and on the other hand, limits Pakistan’s influence in the Islamic world.

The book is about India’s place in the world, but you also write about how Modi’s tenure has exacerbated “tensions in society along caste and religious lines.” Why are these domestic divisions a problem when it comes to India’s global ambitions?

India has long projected itself, successfully, as an inclusive democratic country suffused with liberal values and exemplifying secular ideals. This image cannot but be hurt when domestic politics are communalized. India’s recent downgrading by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, for instance, will have repercussions in that many countries may be influenced by its findings, and the Modi government’s desire for India to be seen as a bastion of liberal thought and democratic action will take a hit. Further, anti-Muslim rhetoric will begin to impact India’s interactions with the Islamic world, alienate Muslim states, and cumulatively affect India’s quest for great power.

Lastly, any bold predictions about the elections?

Modi’s use of technology for development and in social welfare schemes has buffed up his credentials as a modernizer and a leader who means well and does good by the people. Moreover, his record of personal rectitude in office has left an impression on the average voter, as has his government’s performance in government. These attributes position Modi in good stead in the general elections underway.

My assessment is that Modi will be re-elected, but that his government, the BJP-led NDA coalition, will be returned to power with a much-reduced majority. However, if the majority is quite thin, Modi could be replaced as PM by someone like the Transportation Minister Nitin Gadkari, who has distinguished himself as a conciliator. Gadkari has warm relations with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — the social service organization associated with pushing the Hindu nationalist agenda that is the power behind the BJP — but also with many leaders in the opposition. The belief is that he will be better able than Modi to draw support from small parties in the opposition, and thus beef up the BJP coalition.

One million species threatened with extinction because of humans

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterEditorial, Environment 0

One million of the planet’s eight million species are threatened with extinction by humans, scientists warned Monday in what is described as the most comprehensive assessment of global nature loss ever.

Their landmark report paints a bleak picture of a planet ravaged by an ever-growing human population, whose insatiable consumption is destroying the natural world.

The global rate of species extinction “is already tens to hundreds of times higher than it has been, on average, over the last 10 million years,” according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a UN committee, whose report was written by 145 experts from 50 countries.

Shrinking habitat, exploitation of natural resources, climate change and pollution are the main drivers of species loss and are threatening more than 40% of amphibians, 33% of coral reefs and over a third of all marine mammals with extinction, the IPBES report said. “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever,” said Sir Robert Watson, IPBES chair, adding that “transformative change” is needed to save the planet.

The report comes six months after the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)warned that the world has less than 12 years to avoid catastrophic levels of global warming.

In the same way that the IPCC report put the climate crisis on the political agenda, the authors of the IPBES report hope that it will thrust nature loss into the global spotlight.

Just as with climate change, humans are the main culprits of biodiversity damage, altering 75% of Earth’s land and 66% of marine ecosystems since pre-industrial times, according to the report.

The report emphasizes the disastrous impact of population growth and rising demand. It notes that the world’s population has more than doubled (from 3.7 to 7.6 billion) in the last 50 years, and gross domestic product per person is four times higher.

More than a third of the world’s land and 75% of freshwater supplies are used for crop or livestock production, it noted.

“[There is] very little of the planet left that has not been significantly altered by us,” Sandra Diaz, co-author of the report and professor of ecology at the University of Córdoba, told CNN. “We need to act as stewards for life on Earth.”

Diaz said countries in the Global North are particularly to blame for nature damage due to their “unsustainable” levels of consumption, especially when it comes to fishing and logging.

In 2015, a third of marine stocks were being fished at unsustainable levels and the amount of raw timber being harvested has increased by almost half since 1970, with up to 15% of it cut illegally, according to the report.

Marine plastic pollution has increased tenfold since 1980, with an average of 300-400 million tons of waste dumped into the world’s waters annually.

Pollution entering coastal ecosystems has produced more than 400 ocean “dead zones,” totalling an area bigger than the United Kingdom. These areas are so starved of oxygen they can barely support marine life.

It’s not too late

Despite the ominous picture “it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global,” said Watson, adding that this would require an overhaul of economic systems and a shift in political and social mindsets.

Diaz said that governments should implement drastic changes now to avoid a “dire future” in 10-20 years when their “food and climate security [is] in jeopardy.”

Climate change has already contributed to biodiversity loss by triggering more extreme weather events and rising sea levels and will exacerbate the crisis over the coming decades, the report noted.

The report says we can improve sustainability in farming by planning landscapes so that they provide food while also supporting the species that live there. Other suggestions include reforming supply chains and reducing food waste.

When it comes to healthy oceans, the report recommends effective fishing quotas, designated protected areas and reducing the pollution that runs off from the land into the sea, among other actions.

Rachel Warren, professor of global change and environmental biology at the University of East Anglia, told CNN that governments should focus on “the restoration of destroyed or degraded ecosystems with native species [as this] helps to address both biodiversity loss and climate change.”

“Biodiversity underpins ecosystem services such as pollination, flood prevention, water and air purification, and soil conservation. We are in danger of losing vital ecosystem services which will have major negative consequences for human civilization,” she said.

Guenter Mitlacher, director of international biodiversity policy at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said, “Ours is the first generation with the tools to see how the Earth has been changed by people at our own peril. We’re also the last generation with the opportunity to influence the course of many of those changes. Now is the time to act, not halfheartedly and incrementally but drastically and boldly.”

The IPBES report comes ahead of two high-level summits in 2020 where world leaders will scale up their climate and environment protection goals. That is when China will host the UN convention on biodiversity to set new 20-year targets and when the signatories of the 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global warming to less than 2 degrees will revise their commitments.

Matryoshka Dolls And Its Types

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterFashion 0

The matryoshka is a wooden, brightly painted hollow inside doll in the form of a semi-oval figure, into which other similar smaller dolls are inserted. Matryoshka cut from linden, birch, alder and aspen. More hard and durable conifers do not use. The best material for making nesting dolls is linden. The tree is harvested in the spring, usually in April, when the wood in the juice. The tree is cleared of bark, be sure to leave bark rings on the trunk, otherwise it will crack when dried. Logs are stacked in a pile, leaving an air gap between them. The wood is kept outdoors for two years or more. Only an experienced cutter can determine the readiness of the material. Turner makes with a lime chock up to 15 operations before it becomes a finished doll. It is one of the https://nestingdolls.com interesting dolls</a> in dolls.

The very first grind a small one-piece figure. For the opening matryoshka, first they grind out the lower part – the bottom. After turning, the wooden doll is carefully cleaned, ground with paste, achieving a perfectly smooth surface. After priming the matryoshka is ready for painting. Russian nesting dolls are very diverse in shape and painting, depending on their place of origin (region of Russia).

Matryoshka from Sergiyev Posad is distinguished by a squat shape, the top, smoothly turning into the expanding lower part of the figure. The preferred ratio of dolls – 1: 2 – is the ratio of the width of the doll to its height.

The <a href=”https://www.elledecor.com/paint/“>painting</a> is done without a preliminary drawing with gouache and only occasionally with watercolor and tempera, and the intensity of the color is achieved with the help of varnishing.

Semenovskaya nesting doll more slender and elongated. The basis of the composition in the painting of Semyonov matryoshka is an apron, which depicts a magnificent bouquet of flowers.

Modern masters create paintings in three colors – red, blue and yellow. They change the color combination of an apron, a sundress and a scarf. The bouquet on the apron is traditionally written not in the center, but somewhat shifted to the right.

Semenovskiy turners have come up with a special form of dolls. Its upper part, relatively thin, sharply turns into a thickened lower one. Semyonov’s matryoshka differs from other nesting dolls in that it is ambivalent: it consists of 15-18 multi-colored figures. It was in Semyonov that the largest 72-seater nested doll was cut out. Its diameter is half a meter, and its height is 1 meter.

Semenov is considered the largest center for the creation of matryoshkas in Russia. Vyatka Matryoshka Vyatskaya Matryoshka is the most northern of all Russian matryoshkas. She portrays a blue-eyed northerner with a soft, shy smile. The face of this nested doll is cute and affable. Matryoshka painted with aniline dyes and covered with oil varnish.

Matryoshka from Polkhovsky Maidan: Polkhovsky nested doll differs from Sergievsky and Semenovka nested dolls in its shape: pointedly elongated figures with a small, rigidly outlined head. Also, there are primitive single figures, columns, similar to mushrooms.

The painting of polkhovsky nesting dolls is based on a combination of raspberry – red, green and black colors along the outline previously drawn with ink. “Flowers with a tip” – the most typical and favorite painting in Polkhovsky Maidan, is characterized by a motley decor – decoration with the help of individual strokes, “poking” and dots.

The masters of the Polkhovsky Maidan, like the Merin and Semenov neighbors, paint the matryoshka with aniline paints on a previously primed surface. Dyes are diluted with an alcohol solution.

Today, the Matryoshka brand is actively used throughout the world. Designers from different countries offer various stylistic solutions, as well as the most unexpected options for the Russian nesting doll.

6 facts about U.S. moms

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, U.S., Women 0

American motherhood has changed in many ways since Mother’s Day was first celebrated more than 100 years ago. Today’s moms are more educated than ever before. A majority of women with a young child are in the labor force, and more mothers are serving as their family’s sole or primary “breadwinner.” At the same time, the share of mothers who are stay-at-home moms has held steady in recent decades after falling precipitously in the 1970s and 1980s.

Here are some key findings about American mothers and motherhood from Pew Research Center reports:

1.Women are more likely now to become mothers than they were a decade ago, and this is particularly the case among highly educated women.The share of women at the end of their childbearing years (ages 40 to 44) who had ever given birth was 86% in 2016, up from 80% in 2006. This was similar to the share who were mothers in the early 1990s.

Over the past 20 years, highly educated women have experienced particularly dramatic increases in motherhood. In 2014, 80% of women ages 40 to 44 with a Ph.D. or professional degree had given birth, compared with 65% in 1994.

The shares of women who were mothers also rose among those with bachelor’s or master’s degrees during this period, while rates of motherhood remained steady for women with less than a bachelor’s degree, at 88%.

2. Women are becoming mothers later in life. The median age at which women become mothers in the U.S. is 26, up from 23 in 1994. While this change has been driven in part by declines in births to teens, delays in motherhood have continued among women in their 20s. In 1994, more than half (53%) of women in their early 40s had become mothers by age 24; by 2014, this share had fallen to 39%.

3. Mothers are spending more time in the labor force than in the past, but also more time on child care. In 2016, moms spent around 25 hours a week on paid work, up from nine hours in 1965. At the same time, they spent 14 hours a week on child care, up from 10 hours a week in 1965. Dads, too, are spending more time on child care. (In addition to caring for their children, 12% of parents are also providing unpaid care for an adult. Among these parents, moms spend more time than dads on caregiving activities.)

Seven-in-ten moms with kids younger than 18 were in the labor force in 2015, up from 47% in 1975. In fact, mothers are the primary breadwinners in four-in-ten U.S. families. In 46% of households with a mother and father, both parents are employed full time, up from 31% in 1970.

4. About one-in-four mothers are raising their children on their own.While most U.S. mothers are married (68%), nearly one-quarter (24%) are solo moms. All told, about 9 million mothers are living with a child younger than 18 without a spouse or partner. Solo motherhood is particularly common among black mothers (56% are in this category). By comparison, 26% of Hispanic moms, 17% of white moms and 9% of Asian moms are solo parents. (Solo parenthood is far less common among fathers: 7% of dads are raising a child without a spouse or partner in the home.)

A relatively small but growing share of moms are living with an unmarried partner. In 1997, 4% of mothers were cohabiting, and by 2017 that share had doubled to 8%.

5. Most Americans say women face a lot of pressure to be involved mothers. Even in an era where women make up nearly half the U.S. workforce and men are more involved in housework and child care than in the past, the public sees vastly different pressure points for women and men in today’s society. Roughly eight-in-ten adults (77%) say women face a lot of pressure to be an involved parent; a significantly smaller share (56%) says the same about men.

In contrast, most adults (76%) say men face a lot of pressure to support their family financially, while only 40% say women face this type of pressure.

6. Foreign-born moms account for a rising share of U.S. births. While annual births have decreased among U.S.-born women since 1970, they have increased among the foreign born, driven both by a growing foreign-born population in the U.S. and by relatively high birth rates among that group. In the past quarter century, births to foreign-born moms have boosted fertility in all but two states. And they accounted for more than one-third of all births in three states in 2015 (New Jersey, New York and California).

Jagruti Panwala: Chairwoman of AAHOA, World’s Largest Hotel Owners Association

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Finance/Economy, Profiles, Women 0

Pennsylvania hotelier Jagruti Panwala is the new chairwoman of AAHOA, the world’s largest hotel owners association. Panwala became chair during the association’s 2019 Convention and Trade Show which was held at the San Diego Convention Center. Panwala is the first woman to lead the association in its thirty-year history.

“I am humbled and honored to serve the more than 18,500 hoteliers of AAHOA as Chairwoman. As an association, our success is a collective effort, and we will continue to build on AAHOA’s thirty years of industry leadership. We are at the strongest point in our association’s history. I am confident that we will continue to grow by inviting more hoteliers into the fold, expanding our vast educational offerings, and bringing industry partners and hoteliers together.”

Over the next year, Panwala said she will focus on bolstering AAHOA’s advocacy efforts at the state and local level, building out the association’s political action committee, and encouraging more hoteliers to seek leadership roles within AAHOA and the hospitality industry. “We must speak with a collective voice against those who seek to harm the foundations upon which our industry is built. America’s hoteliers face significant challenges. Short-term rentals are seeking special laws, such as secret tax agreements, that fly in the face of free enterprise. Unscrupulous lawyers intent on exploiting small business owners continue to abuse the ADA by filing frivolous lawsuits against hoteliers. We will fight for a level playing field with short-term rentals and work with a diverse coalition of hoteliers and disability rights advocates to address drive-by lawsuits. AAHOA will continue to advocate for smarter laws and regulations that benefit hoteliers, guests, and our communities.”

In her inaugural address to AAHOA members, Panwala thanked AAHOA’s founders, past chairs, and members for their decades of dedicated work. “You are responsible for all that AAHOA is today and will become in the future.”

Chairwoman Panwala joined AAHOA in 2001 and served on the AAHOA Board of Directors as Female Director Eastern Division. AAHOA members elected her as Secretary in 2016. She is the President & CEO of Wealth Protection Strategies. Panwala is an AAHOA Certified Hotel Owner (CHO). She is a graduate of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania and holds a degree in economics and finance.

“We are fortunate to have our new Chairwoman, Jagruti Panwala, leading the way as AAHOA enters its fourth decade as the voice of America’s hotel owners,” said AAHOA Interim President and CEO Rachel Humphrey. “Her success in the hospitality and financial services industries is a testament to the determination and relentless pursuit of excellence with which she approaches her work. From testifying before Congress to collaborating with brand executives and industry partners, Jagruti’s knowledge of the hospitality industry and understanding of hoteliers’ needs will serve our association well.

AAHOA Announces 2018 Award Winners

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Community, Fashion, Finance/Economy, Health, Profiles, Tourism 0

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney addressed America’s hoteliers on Saturday, April 27, during the closing night of the 2019 AAHOA Convention and Trade Show. In his remarks, Mulvaney touted his longtime relationship with the association and its members, the effectiveness of AAHOA’s advocacy efforts, and the strength of the American economy. Mulvaney’s relationship with AAHOA dates to his time in the South Carolina state legislature and as a restaurant franchisee. Mulvaney is a 2017 recipient of AAHOA’s “Friend of the Hotelier Award,” the association’s top advocacy honor.

“America’s hoteliers were honored to welcome our good friend Mr. Mulvaney to highlight the celebration of AAHOA’s thirtieth anniversary at our 2019 Convention,” said AAHOA Interim President and CEO Rachel Humphrey.

The celebration of achievement and excellence was a common theme as AAHOA reflected on its thirtieth anniversary during the 2019 AAHOA Convention and Trade Show in San Diego, Calif. On Friday, April 26, the association honored hoteliers for their contributions to the hospitality industry, and representatives from RLH Corporation announced the 2019 winner of the Bright Innovations Award. Winners received their awards on the main stage during the general session. The winners are:

AAHOA Award of Excellence: Jan Gautam
Outstanding Woman Hotelier of the Year: Deepa Patel
Outstanding Young Professional Hotelier of the Year: Ankit Panchal
IAHA Independent Hotel of the Year: Lexen Hotel North Hollywood
Outreach Award for Philanthropy: Bhupen Amin
Political Forum Award for Advocacy: Arti Patel
RLH Corporation 2019 Bright Innovations Award: Roshan Patel

“Every year, we honor hoteliers who go above and beyond in their contributions to the hospitality industry,” said Immediate Past Chairman Hitesh (HP) Patel. “It is incumbent upon us to recognize the excellence in our midst, and I cannot think of a better stage on which to do so than in front of thousands of AAHOA members at Convention.”

Earlier in the session, Outreach Award for Philanthropy winner Bhupen Amin addressed the general session about giving back to one’s community and the multitude of ways, big and small, that a hotelier can make a difference through charitable efforts.

“We have an amazing membership that is constantly raising the bar for what success and distinction as a hotelier means. I congratulate all our award winners and look forward to seeing how they influence our industry and shape expectations for innovation and achievement,” said Interim President and CEO Rachel Humphrey.

“As a franchisee and tireless advocate of small businesses, Mr. Mulvaney understands firsthand the challenges and opportunities facing America’s hoteliers. We are fortunate to have such a strong champion for regulatory relief and tax reform in the White House,” said AAHOA Chairwoman Jagruti Panwala.

AAHOA is the largest hotel owners’ association in the world. The nearly 18,500 AAHOA members own almost one in every two hotels in the United States. With billions of dollars in property assets and hundreds of thousands of employees, AAHOA members are core economic contributors in virtually every community. AAHOA is a proud defender of free enterprise and the foremost current-day example of realizing the American dream.

India wins global support in naming Masood Azhar’s terror tag

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Editorial, India, Politics 0

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar was on Wednesday designated a global terrorist by the UN after China withdrew its long-standing block to the move, marking a major diplomatic and political victory in the Indian government’s efforts to counter cross-border terrorism.

Azhar was listed by the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee for his association with al-Qaeda and his role in financing, planning and facilitating terrorist acts by the JeM, shortly after officials announced in Islamabad that Pakistan would no longer object to his designation – a sign to iron brother China to lift the “technical hold” it had placed on four attempts to sanction Azhar.

Hindustan Times first reported on Tuesday that China was expected to lift its hold on listing Azhar at the UN on May 1.

Following the designation, Pakistan will be required to take three steps – freeze the funds and financial assets of Azhar, enforce a travel ban on him, and cut off his access to arms and related materials.

India’s permanent representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, informed Sanjeev Singla, private secretary to PM, about the listing and asked him to “brief the boss”. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been inquiring about the matter since morning, he could not be directly informed by Singla as the premier was in the midst of an election rally.

Singla is believed to have informed National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who rushed to the PMO from Sardar Patel Bhawan and informed Modi of the development on a secure line.

Shortly after the February 14 suicide attack in Pulwama that killed 40 Indian troopers and was claimed by JeM, France, with the backing of the US and the UK, moved a proposal at the 1267 Sanctions Committee to sanction 50-year-old Azhar. After a 10-day period to consider the matter, China blocked the proposal on March 13 by saying more time was needed to discuss the issue.

This angered the US, which threatened to take the matter to the UN Security Council, where discussions are held in public, unlike consultations held behind closed doors by the sanctions committee. The heavy lifting was done by the US as it wanted the terrorist tag for Azhar during consultations on April 23, but China and Pakistan wanted it to happen after the Indian elections as they didn’t want the listing to benefit Modi, people familiar with developments said.

The date was then moved by the US to April 30, though China was insisting on May 15. A compromise of May 1 was reached after the US hinted it would take the matter to the Security Council, the people said.

India and its Western allies also continued to work with China throughout this period. During a visit to Beijing last week, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale shared evidence on the role of Azhar and JeM in terrorist attacks with Chinese officials, including foreign minister Wang Yi.

A fifth proposal to sanction Azhar was moved by France, the US and UK last month. In an apparent face-saving measure for Pakistan at the behest of China, this proposal didn’t contain references to the Pulwama attack and terrorism in Kashmir, the people said.

The statement issued by the UN on Azhar’s listing referred extensively to his links with al-Qaeda, its slain chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban, and his role in supporting and facilitating these terrorist entities and providing them arms but made no mention of Kashmir, where JeM has carried out several devastating attacks, or Pakistan, where Azhar is based.

The statement referred to Azhar’s role as former leader of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen but made no mention of this group’s activities in Kashmir. The statement also referred to Azhar’s activities only till 2008, with no mention of attacks such as the 2016 assault on Pathankot airbase blamed on JeM.

Need to institutionalize U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Stresssed

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, India, U.S. 0

Indian American Rep. Ami Bera (D.-Calif.) has called to institutionalize the U.S.-India strategic partnership across various sectors, vowing to bring in legislation to bring the tow nations closer than ever before. Bera, 53, predicted that this legislation, once enacted, would make India as much an ally of the U.S. as are its NATO partners and other close allies such as Japan and South Korea.

Speaking at the Capitol Hill 2019 Spring Conference of the U.S.-India Friendship Council last month, he said the legislation would “codify the importance of the U.S.-India partnership,” and while acknowledging that some of the aspects of the pending legislation “exists in other places, we’d like to incorporate language about the U.S.-India Enhanced Cooperation Act, which already exists, but put it into a comprehensive bill that will put India on a par with other major allies.”

Bera pointed out that necessarily anchoring this comprehensive legislation would be the growing U.S.-India defense and military partnership, which has grown to be the crown jewels of the strategic partnership between the two countries, which has led to “us increasingly recognizing India as a strategic partner.”

He said in the legislation, “We would look at how we can work with India to develop technologies like artificial intelligence, etc., so that you can get Indian companies and U.S. companies working together in a strategic fashion.

“We’d like to authorize the DOD (Department of Defense) to assist India reducing purchases from countries we may mutually view as adversaries and certainly those we view as adversaries,” Bera said, and added, “and we’d also like to assist India to increase its own capacity in self-defense.”

He also said that “we’d require the Department of Defense to conduct regular military engagements and dialogues with India, particularly in the western Indian Ocean region, where we already recognize India as having a vital role in protecting the Indian Ocean and keeping those lanes of commerce open.

“We see that partnership as critical and we already conduct major naval and defense exercises,” with India, he said.

Bera said that this comprehensive legislation would also push for the State Department to “advance India’s membership into APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum because we believe this is an important vehicle by which India can continue to seek its free and open trade across Asia.

“We also think it’s important to authorize and work with India in partnership to help advance and promote aid in third nations, and the countries in Africa is an example,” he said.

Bera pointed out that “India has much deeper and older relationships with Africa, and our understanding is that we can work together with USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) and other partners with India and go into those third developing countries — that could be a critical partnership for both countries.”

He also said another vital sector that he would like to see institutionalized would be in the education sector because already, each year, we know that hundreds of thousand of Indian students come to the U.S. to study.”

Bera said by the same token, “It will be in our interest to foster this partnership — where more American students go and study in India. “And, again, these planks would continue to move the U.S.-India partnership forward together,” and help institutionalize it, he added.

Bera said that “as we introduce this legislation, we would be looking to the U.S.-India Friendship Council and other organizations to help work with us as we move this legislation forward. “We still believe that the U.S.-India relationship can be that defining relationship in the 21st century and certainly a strategic relationship,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), in this remarks, lauded Swadesh Chatterjee, the founder and chair of the Friendship Council for “your incredible guidance and mentorship over the years.

“You have been a trail-blazer for the Indian-American community, when it was hard to get appointments with (Congressional) staff assistants, let alone getting members of Congress elected,” he said, turning to Chatterjee.

Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, continued that “that kind of dedication is something that I’ve never forgotten in terms of the commitment that people like Swadesh have shown and we’ve grown on the sacrifices that people like you’ve made.”

He recalled that it “took people like Swadesh and Ramesh Kapur, who were willing to speak out of turn, who were willing to chase down members of Congress down the hallways, just trying to get a word in. They refused to be passive observers of democracy, but were willing to get into people’s faces in Congress to move forward.”

Khanna continued, “I’ve always believed that their generation and the sacrifices that they’ve made for this country and the community, will always be far more than my generation.”

He said that thanks to this older generation, “Our generation was handed a lot of good opportunities in life — good families, good education, and it’s never lost on me how many people have paved the way for our being able to be in public service.”

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D.-Ill.), speaking at the evening reception, pointed out to the scores of political and community activists who were on hand spanning three generations, that it was the U.S.-India Friendship Council led by Chatterjee and a handful of other community leaders who were catalytic in lobbying the Congress to pass the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement in 2008, which was a transformational moment in the history of the relationship between Washington and New Delhi.

He said that “really showed the Indian-American community coming of age in terms of building those bridges between the U.S. and India that will last.”

Krishnamoorthi also made a strong pitch for more members of the Indian-American community to run for public office, including the U.S. Congress and help swell the ‘Samosa Caucus,’ of four Indian- American lawmakers in the House.

“If you dream it, you can do it,” he said, and added, “The fact that a guy like me with 31 letters in his name that 99 percent of my constituents cannot pronounce is testament to the greatness of this country and the fact that anyone can do anything they want to do in this country.”

Millennial desi women on a mission to make Kathak a household name

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, Entertainment, Women 0

New York Kathak Festival produced its first festival at the Ailey Studios and Ailey Citigroup Theater this weekend on April 19-21, 2019. The first of its kind, the New York Kathak Festival attended by over 750 was a confluence of artists and Kathak aficionados coming together as a community to learn, share, and connect over the 3-day event in the heart of Manhattan.

Originating in India, Kathak is a classical dance that carries history in its very form. The New York Kathak Festival is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit run by a team of 10 young professionals. “The NYKF organizing team is mostly millennial women who live and work in the New York + New Jersey area. The festival is our passion in addition to our careers,” said Meenakshi Lala, on behalf of the festival. Anisha Muni, also on the festival team said, “we created this event with the intention of using art to bring community together and create a platform for Kathak to blossom in New York City. We’re on a mission to make Kathak a household name.”

The festival created space for performance, teaching, and discussion. Raoul Bhavnani of the India Center Foundation, co-sponsored panel discussions on critical conversations relevant to Kathak dance. He commented: “An honor to co-host an expert panel on the present, past, and future of Kathak dance today during the Kathak Festival weekend. Well done to all the panelists who grounded us in the living tradition, gender, and the idea of the divine. Inspiring conversation.” Eminent artists contributed to the festival, including Pandit Divyang Vakil, Dr. Pallabi Chakravorty, Dr. Purnima Shah. Dr. Sitara Thobani, and many others. Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty and Air India supported this important event.

The concert lineup included 50 dancers and 10 musicians from all over the world. Prashant Shah, an Indian dancer now based in New York closed his showcase of traditional and contemporary Kathak to a standing ovation. Shivangi Dake Robert traveled the furthest—all the way from Singapore—and was electric. The weekend was closed with a finale by the festival’s guest of honor, legend Pandit Birju Maharaj and his foremost disciple, Saswati Sen. Speaking about the event’s organizers, Sen said, “what the seniors couldn’t do, these children have done: bringing everyone together for Kathak.” Maharaj, 81 years old and a highly celebrated 7th generation artist added, “now you must support them.” The FIA is a proud community partner of the New York Kathak Festival.

The New York Kathak Festival is a newly formed organization that presents and promotes dancers, scholars, and practitioners of Kathak, a classical dance tracing its origins to India. We produce a festival bringing together established and emerging artists from across the United States and beyond. The New York Kathak Festival is produced by the American Kathak community, inspiring creative exchange between local Kathak artists and diverse New York audiences.

PRATHAM HOUSTON RAISES RECORD $4.5 MILLION AT ANNIVERSARY GALA

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Entertainment 0

On Saturday, April 20, 2019, more than 900 guests attended the annual Houston gala, which commemorated 20 years of Pratham’s presence in the US. Held at the Hilton Americas, the event raised $4.5 million—the largest amount ever by a local Indian-American charity—to support our education programs.

The enormous impact we’ve made on the education sector in India was reflected in the evening’s program. A touching video tribute to gala honoree Vijay Goradia, who established Pratham USA in 1999 after visiting a small preschool in the slums of Mumbai, was followed by an insightful conversation between Goradia and Pratham co-founder and president Dr. Madhav Chavan, a former University of Houston professor.

“Like I would bet on an established company over a startup, by investing in an NGO like Pratham, I am investing in the future of tens of millions of children,” explained Goradia, who pledged $1 million at the benefit. “It has a proven track record, continues to be well managed and grow.”

Local luminaries and gala underwriters Bimla and Swatantra Jain, who were also recognized for their longstanding commitment to education, made a commitment of $1 million to support the construction of a vocational training center in North India.

“This is our city’s 20th annual gala, and every year we see an increase in participation and

Celebrity guest Anil Kapoor was visibly moved by the tremendous show of support. “It’s a privilege, it’s an honor, it’s an emotional moment for me to be here listening, observing, absorbing emotionally the kind of work Pratham has done for 20 years!” exclaimed the Bollywood superstar. “I’m feeling really very small compared to all of you and all the people who have done so much for such a noble cause and for such a great organization. It proves that Pratham is one of the world’s best organizations.”

“It’s an easy sell,” explained Joe Patterson, senior vice president of Bank of America, who has been part of the Pratham family for close to two decades. “The efficiency of what Pratham does for really small dollars, what it can achieve in these villages and the way it pulls together the Houston community is very powerful.”

Among the many prominent community leaders and philanthropists in attendance were Dr. Anupam Ray (consul general of India), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Illinois congressman), Andrea and Bill White (former mayor of Houston), and Anne and Albert Chao.

The event, hosted by mistress of ceremonies Nicole O’Brian Lassiter, featured an inspirational speech from Ali Dhanani, who supports a Pratham vocational training center in Hyderabad; a heartfelt message from Pratham beneficiary Mamta Dawar; and lively entertainment from the dance group Rhythm India as well as a fashion show by leading Indian designer Anita Dongre presented by Raaz.

The evening’s success would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of gala co-chairs Peggy and Avinash Ahuja, Indrani and Hemant Goradia, and Shital and Bhavesh Patel and the generous support of sponsors, including Wells Fargo, Ascend Performance Materials, Packwell, Amegy Bank of Texas, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Family Office Services, and PKF of Texas, all of which have been supporting Pratham’s transformative work for a decade.

Engineering Building at the University of Houston renamed after Dr. Durga and Sushila Agrawal

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Science & Technology, Youth 0

Dr. Durga D. Agrawal, a longtime Houston resident, is well known for giving back to the community particularly to his alma mater – the University of Houston. One 26^th April 2019, the University recognized his sizable and generous gift by renaming the Engineering building as the Durga D. and Sushila Agrawal Engineering Research Building. A floor is also named after the couple and the gift will provide ongoing support for faculty, students, research and building operations.

Chancellor Renu Khator, Consul General of India Dr. Anupam Ray, members of the Indian community, students, faculty, Dr. Agrawal’s children, grandchildren and colleagues were present at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

In his remarks, Dr. Agrawal credited several people for his success. He expressed his admiration and respect for his professors at UH like Dr. Rhodes (who was present at the ceremony), Dr. Donaghey, Dr. Dawkins and Dr. Elrod who “put their heart and soul” into teaching students including some like him who had trouble understanding both the language and the American accent. He traced his values of compassion, giving back and respect for education to his parents and acknowledged his wife Sushila’s support and patience without which, he said, he would not have completed his doctorate or built his business.

UH, he concluded, “has a very special place in my heart. We must keep the torch of knowledge, excellence and innovation growing and glowing.”

Chancellor Dr. Renu Khator tweeted: “Today, we named the new Engineering building after Dr. and Mrs. Durga Agrawal, our alum and regent to celebrate their generosity. Your gift will inspire our students and alumni for many generations! Thank you.

Over the years, Dr. Agrawal, who is 74, has been providing endowments, scholarships and internships for UH students. In 2013, he was named a member of the UH System Board of Regents by Texas Governor Rick Perry. He hopes his contributions “will encourage additional donors and attract high-caliber students, especially since many UH students are from the Houston area and will most likely stay here upon graduation to pursue their careers.”

The building today bears no resemblance to the one Dr. Durga studied in but has been rebuilt on the same piece of land. UH’s engineering college boasts of more than 4,200 students, including over 1,150 graduate students, enrolled in 10 engineering disciplines, as well as several interdisciplinary graduate programs.

Dr. Agrawal’s kindness and generosity isn’t limited to giving donations but also comes across in small gestures. When Houston was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey, Dr. Agrawal and members of his family showed up at the campus with vans to transport stranded students to other locations and even took many home.

His deep seated value for education probably stems from his own early struggles for educational opportunities. He was born in Lakhanpur, a small village in Madhya Pradesh in India with a population of 700. The village did not have a water supply system, electricity or high school which meant that he had to cycle or sometimes even walk to the high school 13 miles away. He was also the bookkeeper for his father’s prosperous business from the time he was in elementary school and reveals that “when you work in the family business, you learn a lot.”

Encouraged by his parents, he attended one of the best engineering schools in India, IIT, New Delhi. In 1968, he came to Houston to pursue his Masters in Industrial engineering and in 1974 added a Doctorate to his resume, both from the UH Cullen College of Engineering. He attributes his present success to the two institutions equally and gives back unstintingly to both. As he says “giving back to the community is important and there’s no other field where money invested gives back more returns than education.”

In 1975, Dr. Durga put his entrepreneurship skills to the test by building his company Piping Technology and Products from scratch, out of his garage. The company is today one of the leading providers of pipes for industrial and construction needs and employs over a 1000 people.

Dr. Agrawal also earns high marks for his spirit of community service. He was the first major donor and Founding president of India House, a community center that offers free services and community programs. As the founder and first President of the Indo American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, he has been part of many delegations to promote trade and the exchange of educational and medical resources between Houston and India. No stranger to high ranking elected officials, he was once introduced by President George Bush as “my good friend from Texas” at a State Dinner for Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Capitol Hill.

A regular practitioner of yoga, Dr. Agrawal is a key contributor to the S-Vyasa Yoga Center that was recently inaugurated in Houston.

Vibrant Goa Global Expo/Summit 2019 Roadshow in Chicago

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Community, Science & Technology, Youth 0

Chicago IL: Newly designated Consul General of India Mr. Sudhakar Dalela in collaboration with Indian American Business Council [IABC] headed by Harish Kolasani, IABC Founding Presidentheld Vibrant Goa roadshow highlighting Goa’s phenomenal success story in areas such as such as innovation, sustainability, industries, technology, youth, skill development and knowledge sharing and networking at the Indian Consulate premises in downtown Chicago on April 16, 2019. The entire gamut of Goa’s illustrious story will be extensively showcased at the Vibrant Goa Global Expo & Summit 2019 to be held in Goa, India on October 17-19, 2019.

Consul General of India Mr. Sudhakar Dalela in his keynote address comprehensively outlined India’s growing economic eminence and the trajectory of its extraordinary growth. Consul General Mr. Sudhakar Dalela commended the initiatives of the Goa’s leadership and the roadshow delegation including Dr. Jagat Shah and Raj Kumar Kamat in helping advance the vision of Goa through this magnificent Vibrant Goa 2019 Expo. Consul General of India Mr. Sudhakar Dalela said that this Vibrant Goa 2019 will augur well in validating Goa’s fastest growing economy which is driven by strong performance of industrial, mining, tourism and pharmaceuticals — that which waswas reaffirmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Dr. Jagat Show, Founder Managing Director of Global Network & Chief Mentor of Vibrant Goa 2019 in his presentation expansively delineated the goal of Vibrant Goa Global Expo & Summit and presented a host of audiovisuals illustrating the phenomenal trajectory of growth of the state of Goa vis-à-vis India’s burgeoning economic eminence. Dr. Jagat Shah said Vibrant Goa Global Expo Summit would be an ideal convergence of Goa’s industries and business community to showcase their strengths, highlight business opportunities and facilitate knowledge dissemination across 19 countries worldwide and 20 states in India. He added Vibrant Goa 2019 would provide a practical opportunity to its participants to understand the potential of Goa across various sectors

Harish Kolasani, IABC President welcomed the corporate, business and community leader and explained the overview of Indian American Business Council and its significant role in creating platforms in connecting business entrepreneurs; more importantly connecting the small to medium businesses between the United States and India. In a statement, Harish Kolasani said that in less than 24 hours IABC has received huge wave of interest in participating in the VIbrant Goa 2019 including prominant leader Smita Shah, Chair of Delhi Committee on Chicago Sister Cities International had made remarks on ways Delhi Sister City Committee can complement the Vibrant Goa 2019.

Raj Kumar Kamat, Founder Managing Director of Kamat Group and President of Vibrant Goa Foundation presented the goal of the Vibrant Goa expo summit. Pranav Agarwal Director of Balasahree Foods made presentation on “blue fort’ producing basmati rice. Anand Chatterjee, General Manager of Planet Hollywood Beach Resort made presentation on burgeoning tourism of Goa. Pranav Aggarwal, a basmati rice exporter from Goa was also part of delegation with his Blue Fort brand.

Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, IABC Director proposed the vote of thanks and thanked Consul General Mr. Sudhakar Dalela for opening the doors of his office and hosting this milestone meeting that sought to connect the delegation from Goa to Chicago’s business leaders.

Vibrant Goa Global Expo and Summit 2019 (VG GES 2019) (www.vibrantgoa.com), a dream project of Late Shri Manohar Parrikar the former Chief Minister of Goa state, is focused on inclusive development of Goa in key areas. Vibrant Goa Foundation organizes vibrant Goa 2019 in partnership with Global Network and BNI and in association with Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Goa State Industries Association and Goa Technology Association. Make in India is the manufacturing partner of Vibrant Goa 2019. Government of Goa, India supports the initiative.

VG GES 2019 will be one of a kind display expo; something that has never been witnessed by the people of Goa and its industry. This display shall be sharing all the developments, newer projects and vision of growth. In addition, the eco-friendly planet Hollywood beach resort was showcased at the Chicago roadshow.

The knowledge summit at VG GES 2019 will be organized concurrently with the Expo with an aim to bridge the gap between Goan industries and other national as well as international players. Moreover, internationally acknowledged and successful ‘Goans’ hailing from over 40 different countries shall be making a memorable visit to their native soil.

Pursuing the idea of our honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi to see India proliferate in corporate and commercial realms across the world by providing optimal combination of skilled human resources and state-of-the-art technology; Vibrant Goa Global Expo and Summit 2019 will be an ideal platform to meet, interact, network and discuss business possibilities for importers, exporters, investors, customers, experts and all those who matter in business and trade.

Vibrant Goa 2019 is based on the Vibrant Gujarat model which brings together global business leaders, investors, corporations, thought leaders, policy and opinion makers to understand and explore business opportunities.

Key Sectors of focus: Agro and Food Processing, Emerging Technologies, Construction Equipment, IT (Information Technology), Light Engineering, Medical Tourism, Pharma and Biotech, Startups and Start-up Institutions, Ship Building, Education,Building Materials, construction and Real Estate, Film & Entertainment, Tourism and wellness, Services and other sectors. The key highlights of Vibrant Goa 2019 includes: Goa Expo, Business to Business B2B and Business to Government B2G Meeting, Knowledge Sharing Seminars on countries & sectors, Technology Transfer proposals, Opportunities of Investment and Joint Ventures, MoU signing with International Chambers, Company Site visits, Goa Shopping Festival and Guinness Book World Record attempt for largest Feni Drink (Cashew Liquor)

Over 17 international roadshows across 17 key countries globally and 20 national roadshows across 20 state capitals of India are being conducted to pave way for the participation of international & national delegations to help strengthen trade relations with India & Goa.

Indian Association of Greater Chicago organizes community day in Schaumburg

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

Chicago, IL Indian Association Of Greater Chicago, IAGC as it is more popularly known in the city, organized a Community Day on April 13,2019, at Play N Thrive,81 Remington Road in Schaumburg, Greater Chicago Illinois.

The President and Founder Member of IAGC says in an interview, “IAGC is one of the leading organizations in Chicago land area to work with community and work for community to bringing all variety of programs with free of charge.” So all the beneficial activities that ladened that day was free of charge to all the community members and visitors who participated in the event.

Starting in the early morning at 8.30 am and continuing till 8 pm at night this event was one of a kind as the whole day was packed up with innumerable activities for the benefit of the community members and the visitors who participated in the event, all for free.

The event programs were chalked out on different areas comprising of 1) Will / Trust with multiple seminars which negotiated on prices to complete Will and Trust and free IAGC lifetime membership; 2) Life Insurance with multiple seminars negotiating on prices for term policies and giving participants free lifetime IAGC membership; 3) Business Seminars; 4) Health Camp; 5) Membership Drive;6) Job Fair;7) Eye & Ear Care;8) Blood Donation Drive; 9) Seminars on immigration; 10) Painting Exhibitions;11) Live Music; 12) Cultural Programs;13) Community Awards; 14) DJ and Dance and many more.

The President thanked the participant doctors who worked relentlessly for the Health Fair to make it successful.The participating doctors were : Dr. Bhargavi Nettam (Family Medicine), Dr. Mehul Vora (Endocrinologist), Dr.Surekha Sakala ( Dentist), Dr.Viji Susarala ( Psychologist), Dr. Jyothi Gogineni (Endocrinologist), Dr. Hetal Patel (Pediatrician), Dr. Hemal Patel (Gastroenterologist).

In the Art Exhibition more than hundred plus arts were exhibited throughout the day and was conducted by Piyas from Paisley Arts and Fabrics.

The Emcees Mukti Saptarshi, Reena Nadakudithi and Priti Kamat did a fabulous job in introducing every category of the event and the speakers.

The event was coordinated well by Shilpa paidimarry, Usha kabra, Ujwala Pawar, Garima Singh, Aparna Deshmukh.

Malla Reddy, The President & Founder of the organization, who is also a very successful entrepreneur and consultant, says in an interview that in spite of being successful in America he overseered that the IAGC mission “preserves, perpetuates and propagates the heritage of the people of Indian origin, to assist and promote cultural, educational, religious, social, economic, health and community activities of the people of Indian origin.”

Reddy thanked all the special guests,sponsors,coordinators,doctors, volunteers, and all the other participants who worked hard in making this event a very successful one.

The 12 hr long day event had free breakfast, lunch and dinner to all who participated in the event. In between the main course snacks and Indian Chai was served to all the coordinators, guests, volunteers and community members so that the participants were charged up the whole day to make it very commemorable and successful event.

President special thanked Satish Macha,KK ( BidShore),Narendra Kadiyala ,Keerthi and Rajesh for outstanding work and volunteering their precious personal time.

Reddy Thanked his team and IAGC BODs Hina Trivedi, Sanjay Shah,Narendra,Naveen Ankem,Rajesh,Manoj Singamsetti,Satish Macha, Harindar Puliyala and KK.

Reddy said one of his statements our sponsors are the best and they really care for community and here are the event sponsors and media partners: HR Pundit, Financial Services Mania by Thiru, PMS Mortgage inc, ,VR Chinni,Meghana Jewelers, Krishna K Rangaraju from New York Life,Radhika’s Kitchen,BidShore,Movers.com,India Videos,Atlantic Travels, Masala Restaurant,Universal Accounting Services,Rivaz Indian Food,Arlington Rental,Hot Breads,Arvy Foods,Usmania Restaurant, Asian Media,Hello NRI,Desi Talk,Desi Junction and Admark Solutions.

No other community day event was ever as large as this one as the impeccable arrangements didn’t make it seem like a long day to anyone but even after a long 12 hr event people left with all smiles across their faces.

Zila Khan’s Rumi Yatra

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterEntertainment, Fashion 0

Zila Khan’s Rumi Yatra takes audiences on a journey through India’s treasured musical landscape, through the prism of Rumi’s philosophy.

Zila Khan’s powerful vocals act as a harmonic looking-glass through which Rumiexperiences the music of Indian literary icons like Amir Khusro, Mirza Ghalib, Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah, Kabir, and Ustad Vilayat Khan, among others. These songs will also be interwoven with Rumi’s poetry that has inspired writers for countless generations.

A highly revered Indian singer, Zila Khan is also a music entrepreneur, actor, and a cultural ambassador for the Government of India. A prolific performer, she is the daughter of Sitar Maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan, and is known for her diverse repertoire and her effortless command over various musical styles from Indian Classical, World Music and Indo-Jazz Fusion to Traditional Ghazal and Sufi. She is widely regarded as one of the finest and most accomplished Sufi singers of her generation.

Her ensemble consists of some exceptional maestros including jazz virtuoso Ossam Ezzeldin; bass wiz Kai Eckhardt; and master bansuri player Steve Gorn, who seamlessly combines Indian harmonic ideas with jazz music literature.

Presented by Asia Society, the Consulate General of India in New York and the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

The 19th Annual New York Indian Film Festival Announces Full Lineup May 7 – May 12

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, Entertainment 0

New York –April 24, 2019 –The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) announced the full lineup at the Launch event for their 19^thyear of celebrating Independent, art house, alternate, and diaspora films from the Indian subcontinent (May 7– May 12) at the Village East Cinemas in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (181-189 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003). Dedicated to bringing these films to a New York audience, the festival will feature 32 screenings (29 narrative, 3 documentary and 32 short films). NYIFF will be featuring 7 World Premieres along with an International Premiere and 5 US premieres and the rest of the films being NY premieres. NYIFF has been the go-to festival to see South Asian diaspora films that have not been seen in New York City and is continuing with this mission for the nineteenth year.

This year NYIFF has the largest number of regional (non-Hindi) language films – 20 in total. The languages focused on are Assamese, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Ladakhi, Punjabi, and Harayanavi and all the films will have English subtitles.

NYIFF Festival Director Aseem Chhabra said “We are thrilled to share our lineup for this year. The NYIFF programming team has spent a number of months watching, tracking films and we now present to the audience the best of Indian cinema.”

Returning to NYIFF is award-winning filmmaker, Gurinder Chadha with her new film. The festival will be hosting a Special Spotlight of Chadha’s Blinded by the Light, which will be making its New York debut after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The film is inspired by the true story of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor and his lifelong love of Bruce Springsteen.

Bengali Master Buddhadev Dasgupta’s Urojahaj (The Flight) will be a part of the special focus on Bengali cinema that NYIFF will be presenting this year. Seven features will be a part of this presentation, many by first time filmmakers, putting a spotlight on a resurgence of films from West Bengal.

Arijit Singh, a widely popular Bollywood singer will be highlighted at the festival with his second directorial venture Sa- a tribute to Satyajit Ray and Ravi Shankar. Anoushka Shankar plays sitar for the film.

Other highlights of the festival include Assamese filmmaker, Rima Das whose last film Village Rockstars was India’s official entry for the 2019 Oscars. Rima’s new film Bulbul Can Sing will have its NY premiere at NYIFF along with Assamese master and National Film Award Winner Jahnu Barua’s World premiere of his new film Bhoga Khirikee (Broken Window).

Short Filmmakers Ashuman Sharma (Jalebi) and Vick Krishna (Mokshi) were in attendance at the NYIFF Launch event on Thursday, April 18 at the Consulate General of India, New York. They are a part of NYIFF’s four short programs that includes a total of 32 short films.

Also announced at the NYIFF Launch, Celebrity Chef and filmmaker Vikas Khanna was named the Brand Ambassador of the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC). Khanna is a Michelin-star chef as well as a cookbook author, humanitarian, filmmaker and was once voted New York City’s hottest chef. Khanna’s The Last Color starring Neena Guptawill be the prestigious Closing Night film for the festival and will be honoring mothers around the world on Mother’s Day.

Said Sunil Hali, Executive Director and President, IAAC,”We have received tremendous support from Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty and Consulate General India, New York. Corporate sponsors such as AIR INDIA, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank amongst others have come forward with significant contributions. The PIERRE from Taj Group continues to expand the relationship with IAAC. Local regional and community associations such as “Sadhu Vaswani Centers” continue to help in supporting our expanded mandate to promote regional films. Film schools have joined hands and now the leading broadcaster, IndiaCast with Viacom18 has confirmed as our exclusive broadcast partner for NYIFF2019 in USA in “powered by” category. A special 30-minute curtain raiser and a 90-minute special on NYIFF2019 will be produced by IndiaCast and aired on “Aapka Colors” and “Colors Rishtey”. We look forward to building such relationship to make NYIFF2019 a great success”.

5th Annual DFW SAFF Unveils Entire Festival Lineup: Eight Features, Two Docs & 11 Shorts over Four Days

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterCulture/Religion, Entertainment 0

(Dallas, Texas – May 1, 2019) The 5^th annual DFW South Asian Film Festival, presented by Toyota, is proud to announce its entire festival lineup, which consists of ONE World Premiere, TWO North American Premieres, ONE U.S. Premieres, 14 Texas Premieres and THREE Dallas Premieres.

The four-day movie event, taking place from May 16th to 19th at various locations including Victory Park, Addison and the Design District, boasts 21 shorts, documentaries and feature films, Q&A sessions with attending filmmakers/actors and nightly after-parties for festival-goers. For the entire festival schedule, please click HERE.

The centerpiece film (also men’s programming) is the U.S. Premiere of Vasan Bala’s(in attendance) action-packed film MARD KO DARD NAHIN HOTA (The Man Who Feels No Pain), marking the acting debut of Bollywood actress Bhagyashree’s son, Abhimanyu Dassani (in attendance). The movie will screen at the AMC Village on the Parkway 9 on Saturday, May 18 at 7:15 p.m., followed by an after party at Saffron House in Addison.

The festival closes with the Texas Premiere of Aijaz Khan’s (in attendance) emotional Kashmiri drama about a boy in search of his missing father, HAMID, starring Rasika Dugal of MADE IN HEAVEN, DELHI CRIME and QISSA fame. The closing night film will take place at the AMC Village on the Parkway 9 at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 19, followed by an after party at the Design District’s Center Stage.

Annual Festival of Colors celebration, SURATI HOLI HAI, takes on New Avatar in 2019

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, Entertainment 0

(New York, NY – Tuesday April 30, 2019) “When everyone is colorful, no one is different,” states Surati’s motto, celebrating equality and brotherhood across boundaries. 2019’s SURATI HOLI HAI, the country’s LARGEST Festival of Colors, epitomizes that sentiment, as a special partnership emerges this year between two neighboring New Jersey cities, Hoboken and Jersey City.

The day-long event on Saturday, June 15, 2019, will promote peace, equality and unity through cultural diversity, color play, a color walk, live performances, cultural, educational and interactive workshops, interactive art, food & drink vendors, a children’s zone, DJ, dancing and much more.

The festival will begin at 10 a.m. in downtown Jersey City with the Hudson River Fitness Color Walk featuring yoga, fitness, dance and drumming. Health professionals and organizations will offer workshops, lectures and fitness demonstrations. The walk will continue along the Hudson waterfront route to Pier A, Hoboken, where the Spring Festival of Colors will begin at noon. T-shirts, color packets and water will be given to registered walkers.

“What I love about our festival is that it is attended by all, irrespective of their cultural backgrounds or nationalities, thus spreading the message of love, brotherhood, acceptance and peace,” said Rimli Roy, Founder/Artistic Director. “Through the arts and culture of India, Surati Holi Hai is growing to be the tristate area’s most talked about, meaningful and unique celebration of the Spring Festival of Colors, with an incredible impact across diverse communities in the United States and beyond.”

Today, Surati Holi Hai is possibly the United States’ and definitely the East Coast’s most popular family-friendly cultural festival, having attracted more than 12,000 people in 2018 who registered from 22 U.S states and six countries around the world. To watch a video from previous events, please click HERE.

Surati Holi Hai is organized by award-winning 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization Surati for Performing Arts, an organization that has been bringing quality performing arts, programming and festivals to the Hudson County communities and beyond for almost two decades now. Surati has performed at the United Nations Headquarters, The Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, The University of the U.S Virgin Islands – Reichhold Center, Alaska PAC to name a few. Our programming is currently funded by NJ State Tourism, Hudson County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs / Tourism, City of Jersey City, City of Hoboken, The Indian Govt – Consulate General of India in New York, Carepoint Health, NJCU (New Jersey City University), NY Waterway etc. Our past events have been sponsored by Comcast, State Bank of India, NY Life, Zee TV, TV Asia, Lycamobile, Mack-Cali, Silverman, BCB Community Bank, Bira to name a few. Our work and events have been featured in The Vogue, NY Daily News, Jersey Journal, Star Ledger, Hudson Reporter, News India Times, Desi Talk, Times of India and The Statesman, just to name a few. For more information, please visit www.suratiholihai.org.

GOPIO-NEW YORK ORGANIZES SUCCESSFUL HEALTH CARE SYMPOSIUM

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

Global Organization of People of Indian Origin – New York Chapter (GOPIO-New York) organized a community Health Care Seminar on April 20 , 2019 at the Indian American Kerala Center in Elmont, New York. The event was once again, a grand success. Seven prominent physicians and healthcare providers, each an expert in their specialized field served as speakers and panelists.

The program started with an inaugural session with welcome greetings and messages from Kerala Center Vice President Alex Esthappan, GOPIO-New York President Beena Kothari, GOPIO International Coordinator-at-Large Lal Motwani and GOPIO International Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham. The first speaker was Dr. Jagamohan Kalra, M.D. Hematologist, Oncologist, and Internist – triple board certified, who identified and addressed various types of cancers and concluded that modern health care is our best wealth.

Dr. Prachi Dua , M.D. an ophthalmologist spoke in details about the cataract surgery and provided information on modern cutting edge technology available for the best eye care . Dr. Ketan Laud , M.D. a famous and prominent Retina specialist, treats all medical and surgical conditions, talked about Diabetes and Retinal health in great details.

Dr. Parinda Dave, DDS, who practices general and family dentistry, spoke about the importance of Oral Health care. Dr. Dua said that if regular dental care is not done, could lead to many serious health hazards including heart issues.

Registered world famous Nutritionist/Dietician Rita Batheja , M.S., RDN,CDN, FAND, AFMCP , eloquently informed the audience about the balance diet and importance of green raw vegetables in our daily diet. Community activist and dietician Indu Jaiswal further reinforced importance of diet in one’s health.

Distinguished Chiropractor Dr. Michael Posner, who is also internationally certified instructor of Tai Chi-Chi Young, meditation and weight loss spoke about how great posture empowers your level of energy, create better health and wellbeing, while reducing stress .

Dr. Yousuf Syed , M.D.MPH. a Pathologist , was the moderator who introduced the speakers , encouraging robust discussion of event’s agenda and topics and moderated Q&A session.

“With a well-attended program, our community is very much interested in such programs and GOPIO New York will continue to do health educational seminars,” said GOPIO-New York President Beena Kothari. GOPIO’s next health related seminar is titled Aging Gracefully with Proper Health Care in early June.

The symposium was co-sponsored by Alliance of Global Sindhi Associations, India Day Parade (IDP), Indian American Forum (IAF) and Long Island Ladies Council (LILC). GOPIO-New York can be contacted at beena.kothari@gmail.com, Tel: 631-988-1280.

Forum on “Understanding Hate Crimes and Protection of Places of Worship” Held

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

On 6th April, Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH) hosted a first-of-its-kind Forum on “Understanding Hate Crimes and Protection of Places of Worship” for faith based and community leaders to learn how to prevent and respond to hate crimes against places of worship. Facilitated by the United States Department of Justice Community Relations Services (CRS), it held presentations by representatives from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Harris County District Attorney’s office, FBI Houston Field Office, Department of Homeland Security and Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

About 40 faith based organizations attended the forum which was held at the Houston Durgabari Society. The event touched on four issues: Hate Crimes Prosecutions Overview, Hate Crimes Statistics and Symbols of Hate, Preventing and Responding to Active Shooter Situations and a Panel Discussion on Protecting Places of Worship by Interfaith leaders.

A brain child of HGH Past President Partha Krishnaswamy, the forum sought to educate custodians, caretakers and members of temples, churches, synagogues, gurudwaras and mosques on tackling the uptick in hate crimes against places of worship.

Almost all the presenters pointed out that expressing hate, name calling and the display of offensive symbols, no matter how vile, are not in-and-of-themselves criminal. The Constitution is bound to protect the rights of even those who indulge in hate speech. It has to rise to the level of a criminal act before law enforcement agencies can take action.

Recent attacks against religious sites include the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh; Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston, S.C.; Victoria Islamic Center, Victoria, Texas, the Oak Creek, Wis., Sikh temple; and the Overland Park Jewish Center in Kansas.

Moderator Harpreet Singh Mocha and Kim Milstead, both from the US Department of Justice were instrumental in putting the program together.

Deputy Chief US Attorney Office of Southern District of Texas, Sharad Khandelwal kicked off the program by highlighting the January 28th 2017 attack on the Victoria Islamic Center, a mosque about 80 miles in Victoria, Texas. Residents around the center woke up to a fire that engulfed the entire mosque and raged for hours eventually burning down the mosque to the ground. It was emotionally devastating for its congregation but Khandelwal noted the outpouring of support from the community. A prayer vigil was attended not just by Muslims but by other local communities with churches and synagogues providing their premises for worship until the mosque was rebuilt.

A squad of law enforcement agencies such as the ATF, FBI, Victoria Fire and Police Department used “every single law enforcement method and technology to crack the case.” The perpetrator was charged with a hate crime that got him 24 years of prison time. This was the repeated assurance offered by Khandelwal that in the event of a hate crime, the Department of Justice will not hesitate “to call it a hate crime and make sure justice is served.”

Bureau Chief-Special Crimes Harris County District Attorney’s Office Ruben R. Perez who works for Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg also reiterated that their office was there to help and protect people and would prosecute all cases of arson, graffiti, theft, vandalism and aggravated assault on a place of worship. He encouraged the gathering to dial 911 as a first responder if they saw something that was out of the ordinary, or call CrimeStoppers with tips and speak up if they notice an overt display of hate speech against a community or race on social media.

FBI Houston Supervisory Special Agent Tricia Sibley recommended two sites helpful in understanding hate crimes, hate symbols and their incidence – Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program FBI and StopHoustonGangs. In a recent report, Federal Bureau of Investigation logged 7,175 hate crimes in 2017, a 17% increase from the prior year that was caused by growing attacks against racial and religious minorities. The number represented the third consecutive year that hate crimes went up and the biggest year-by-year increase in hate crimes since 2001. Due to an increase in attacks on Hindu temples and individuals, the FBI began tracking hate crimes against Hindus since 2013.

FBI Houston Supervisory Special Agent Chris Johnson offered some broad based guidelines and resources on securing places of worship and how to survive an active shooter. Since 2014, 1016 hate crimes motivated by religious bias were reported and occurred at churches, temples, mosques, gurudwaras and synagogues.

While entering to a place of worship should be a welcoming experience, some easy security measures he suggested were: Invite local law enforcement personnel to your building during larger prayer services or meetings. Other than the main access points, all other access points should be locked during services. Fire alarm and sprinkler systems should be tested regularly

Ushers can be the first line of defense. They should be positioned at the main access points and trained to spot “something that doesn’t add up” such as nervous behavior, excess clothing or constant adjusting of clothing. Have ushers greet and talk to newcomers in the congregation Install surveillance cameras in conspicuous and inconspicuous places. The perception of surveillance could change someone’s behavior and help law enforcers apprehend the perpetrator. 74% of active shooters enter through the main access point. If you have only one camera, install it at the main access point.

Security cameras should employ good lighting.

In case of a suspicious item, do not touch or tamper with it. Dial 911 immediately.

In case of a threat by phone, do not hang up. If possible record the conversation, ask questions and write down the exact wording of the threat.

In case of a suspicious person, note down license plates, write down descriptions of what the person looked like and what they did. Such evidence is critical for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute if necessary.

A case of vandalism, no matter how minor, must be reported. Follow up with the appropriate officer regularly on the progress of the case. “See something, say something.” Call 911 if you spot suspicious behavior. Develop a plan and educate members of the congregation on the plan.

In case of an Active shooting:

In the wake of the 2012 shooting at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek Wisconsin, Special Agent Johnson noted a dangerous trend in that the attacks are getting deadlier almost “as if the shooters are trying to outdo the previous shooting.”

A study of 160 active shooters in the US from 2000-2013 showed that 3.8% or 6 of them were at places of worship. 69% of the 160 incidents ended in 5 minutes or less. Law enforcement response time was 3 minutes and 67% of the incidents ended before the police arrived.

Some do’s and don’ts:

In case of an active shooter, evacuees should leave all personal belongings behind.

Avoid using elevators and escalators to escape. He recommended viewing a film on YouTube called “Run. Hide. Fight. Surviving an Active shooter.” During an active shooting, the three basic response actions are Run, hide or fight. Individuals can run away from the shooter, seek a secure place where they can hide or incapacitate the shooter with improvised weapons such as fire extinguishers or chairs. When hiding, silence electronic devices like cell phones, lock and barricade the door with heavy furniture, turn off lights and remain silent.

Provide first responders with a site plan including information about door and window locations as well as locks and access controls.

Commander Criminal Intelligence Division Houston Police Department M. Wyatt Martin clarified that the average response time after a 911 call is 5 minutes. He also encouraged the gathering to call Stephen Daniel at 713-308-3246 for a site security assessment and training in how to protect the place of worship.

Developing a strong relationship with the local commander is important in helping protect a place of worship. One can also text 911 now for emergencies while the non-emergency number is 713-884-3131.

Officer Martin strongly suggested the need for a plan of action, a plan of evacuation and a security committee to create a security plan. A good idea when entering a public place, he cautioned, is to check out the exits on the property. In a concluding panel discussion, representatives from Interfaith ministries – Rev. Gregory Han – IMG Interfaith, Dr. Zahra Jamal – Rice University, Jason Plotkin from the Synagogue, Kedar Thakker – BAPS Mandir and Morris Grunill from the Fort Bend Church shared the security protocols they utilize to protect their place of worship.

Security is a high priority for the BAPS Mandir. Ketan Thakker stated that BAPS looked at security through 2 perspectives – IT and people perspective. Since they host several events a year which sometimes attract almost eight thousand people, they take precautionary steps such as installing several cameras that are monitored, invite law enforcement to temple events, have officers present but in the end, he emphasized that “human vigilance is best.”

The Fort Bend Church has a carefully thought out multilayered system of security. Members are first greeted by parking lot attendants, then greeters and ushers. Security Officers are present on campus. During the week only one entrance is used except Sundays when all 6 entrances are used. An in house security committee meets once a year to review and revise security measures.

Other suggestions included conducting fire drills or exercises to make a quick departure from the space, “using proactive fellowship” to check out newcomers, monitoring social media for hate feeds, asking first time people to stand and be acknowledged, knowing the people in your immediate vicinity and “finally educate and create awareness without creating panic.”

The Hindu American Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group based in Washington D.C., has been actively working for years with the Department of Justice, law enforcement, and legislators across the country to track and address bias motivated attacks on Hindus and other religious and ethnic minorities. HAF also requests help in tracking incidents of identity-based or bias-motivated intimidation, threats, harassment, and violence being experienced in our communities by filling out the Bias-Motivated Crime Data Collection Form, if they or someone they know has experienced or witnessed an incident. Contact HAF for assistance at info@hafsite.org or 201-223-8222.

FEMA had a grant program of $150,000 to enhance the security of religious centers that are at risk for hate crimes. Organizations can apply at https://www.fema.gov/nonprofit-security-grant-program.

Other resources:

Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service (CRS) Visit justice.gov/crs

Find your regional FBI office at fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices

Learn about the FBI’s hate crime reporting process and statistics at fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes

Find hate crime data collection guidelines and a training manual at ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime-data-collection-guidelines-and-training-manual.pdf

Protector Security Advisor Program (PSA) provide voluntary security surveys and assessments of facilities. Visit dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/PSA-Program-Fact-Sheet-05-15-508.pdf.

Federal Emergency Management Agency: www.fema.gov/protecting-houses-worship

TiECON East Keynote Speakers Announced: Legendary Investor Jim Breyer, Kronos CEO Aron Ain, Veracode CEO Sam King and Seema Kumar of Johnson & Johnson

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Community, Education, Finance/Economy, Health 0

TiE Boston, one of the region’s largest and oldest organizations supporting the Massachusetts entrepreneurial ecosystem and connecting entrepreneurs, executives and venture capitalists, announced today the four keynote speakers who will feature at its annual conference, TiECON East. The day-long conference will be held on May 7, 2019 at the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel in Boston and will feature artificial intelligence and digital health as central themes.

The four keynote speakers spanning morning to evening sessions are: legendary investor, founder and CEO of Breyer Capital Jim Breyer, Kronos CEO and author Aron Ain, Veracode CEO Sam King and Seema Kumar, Vice President of Innovation, Global Health and Policy Communication at Johnson & Johnson.

“We are very excited that four giants of the new economy have joined TiECon East 2019 as keynote speakers,” said TiECON Chair Sanjay Jain. “In addition, we will have about 40 speakers who are experts in their fields. TiECON East will give you the facts and knowledge that you need to make vital business decisions.”

Breyer, who has led investments in household names including Facebook, Didi, Spotify and Etsy, will talk about his new focus on AI-driven companies. His recent investment, Boston-based AI fintech startup Kensho, was acquired by S&P Global for $550 million.

Interviewing Breyer will be another VC heavy-weight and author, Hemant Taneja of General Catalyst. Taneja, whose investments include Snapchat and Stripe, recently authored “Unscaled: How AI and a New Generation of Upstarts are Creating the Economy of the Future”. The conference’s AI & Robotics track will feature several Boston-based leader and unicorn companies including Teradyne, DataRobot, RapidMiner and Cambridge Mobile Telematics.

Ain, CEO of Lowell-based software giant Kronos, will be another prominent keynote. Under his leadership, Kronos has grown to a stunning $1.4 billion in revenue, while creating an exemplary work culture. In 2018, Kronos topped Boston Globe’s “Best Places to Work” list. Mr. Ain, who recently published “WorkInspired: How to Build an Organization Where Everyone Loves to Work” will discuss how company culture is central to building an enduring business.

The third keynote speaker is Sam King, CEO of Boston-based cybersecurity giant Veracode and a recognized expert in cybersecurity, the emerging practice of DevSecOps and business management. As a founding member of the Veracode team, Sam helped lead the establishment and growth of the application security category working with industry experts and analysts. In addition to security and technology, Sam is also passionate about developing leaders and creating positive work environments that foster creativity and personal growth.

The final keynote speaker is Seema Kumar, Vice President of Innovation, Global Health and Policy Communication at Johnson & Johnson. From acquiring robotics startup Auris for $3.4 billion, launching JLAB incubators in 13 global locations, to investing through JJDC, Johnson & Johnson is a player to reckon with in Digital Health. Ms. Kumar will walk the audience through JNJ’s major push in entrepreneurship globally.

In addition to AI, digital health will be another prominent theme at TiECON East 2019.

Leaders from Veritas Genetics, IBM Watson, Amazon, Virtusa and John Halamka of BIDMC, amongst others, will discuss how new entrants like Amazon, technologies like big data and AI, and upstart companies are rapidly changing healthcare as we know it.

“No other conference in Boston comes close to the quality of speakers and depth of discussion than TiECON East. This is because our conference is put together by domain experts – our members who are founders and executives of leading companies in their fields,” said TiE Boston President Nilanjana Bhowmik. “As a not-for-profit, we keep ticket prices low to make such a high-quality event accessible to a broad range of attendees including engineers, founders, and executives in tech and health care.”

SAKHI to honor Champions of Gender Equality

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Profiles, Women 0

On Friday, May 3, 2019, Sakhi for South Asian Women (Sakhi), New York City’s first South Asian American women’s organization and an award-winning nonprofit that combats domestic and sexual violence in NYC’s South Asian community, will celebrate 30 years of service and advocacy at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine at its gala Honoring the Power Within.

ACLU Artist Ambassador, best-selling author, and Top Chef host/executive producer Padma Lakshmi will serve as the gala’s Honorary Chair. Sakhi will recognize ‘me too’ movement founder Tarana Burke and philanthropist Indrani Goradia.

Sakhi’s 30th Anniversary Honored Guests Padma Lakshmi, Honorary Chair, best-selling author and host/executive producer of Bravo’s Top Chef Tarana Burke, Honoree, ‘me too’ founder, activist, and advocate Indrani Goradia, Honoree, philanthropist, advocate, and founder of Indrani’s Light Foundation Eve Ensler, Award Presenter, author of Obie Award-winning The Vagina Monologues, Tony Award-winning playwright, author, performer, and activist Amanda Nguyen, Award Presenter, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, founder and CEO of Rise Mayuri Veda, Special Remarks, thriver and peer advocate Padma Lakshmi, ACLU Artist Ambassador for immigrants’ rights and women’s rights, best-selling author, and host/executive producer of Bravo’s Top Chef is serving as the Honorary Chair of the gala.

Ms. Lakshmi says that, “Sakhi is fulfilling an important role in the Asian-American community, supporting those who need it most. The work they do is vital.” Two in five South Asian women experience domestic violence compared to one in four in the general population. Through crisis management, safety planning, job training, counseling, and more, Sakhi works with South Asian survivors of violence and sexual assault to achieve safety and independence.

Sakhi will honor two champions of gender equity and justice: Tarana Burke and Indrani Goradia. Honoree Tarana Burke is the founder of the viral ‘me too’ movement.

Time magazine included her on their 2018 Time 100 list as one of the world’s most influential people. For over 25 years, Ms. Burke has worked to increase access to resources for communities affected by sexual violence and racial injustice. Like the #metoo movement, Sakhi works with South Asian survivors of violence to take control of their lives and see themselves not as victims, but as agents of change. Ms. Burke says, “‘me too’ was born from a need to center black and brown girls in the movement to end sexual assault. Sakhi has been a model for gender justice, a resilient community partner, and I couldn’t be more humbled to stand with them as they celebrate their 30-year journey.”

Ms. Burke will be introduced by Amanda Nguyen, the founder and CEO of Rise and a 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee for her work on behalf of survivors of sexual assault. Sakhi also works with different communities and institutions to end domestic violence. Sakhi leads grassroots workshops that destigmatize taboos around domestic violence in South Asian communities and trains doctors, law enforcement officers, and other frontline providers to treat South Asian survivors with greater cultural sensitivity.

Honoree Indrani Goradia is an example of the power of collaboration. Ms. Goradia is an activist, philanthropist, and founder of Indrani’s Light Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the level of care for domestic-violence survivors. In 2013, Ms. Goradia joined forces with global health organizations, the PSI Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lift women and girls out of poverty. Ms. Goradia says, “As an advocate and survivor, I have dedicated my life to uplifting the voices and power of survivors across the globe, and I am deeply honored to receive this award for Sakhi for South Asian Women’s 30th anniversary celebration.

Indrani’s Light and Sakhi are inextricably linked in a movement fighting for justice for all survivors of violence.” Ms. Goradia will be introduced by Tony Award-winning playwright Eve Ensler. Ms. Ensler wrote the best-selling play The Vagina Monologues, which won an Obie Award and has been published in 48 languages and performed in more than 140 countries. “It is an honor to bring together these powerful leaders in the movement to end violence against women for Sakhi’s 30th anniversary celebration,” says Sakhi’s Executive Director, Kavita Mehra.

“They share our belief in uplifting the voices and power of survivors of violence and are role models for all of us at Sakhi. As one of the first South Asian women’s organizations in the country, and the first to break the stigma about gender-based violence in the South Asian community, we’re proud of the progress we’ve made. As we embrace a new chapter of our history, we’re urgently looking to our friends and supporters to help us expand our services to meet the rising needs facing South Asian survivors of violence in New York City. We raise nearly half of our annual budget at our annual gala. This year we have an ambitious goal of raising $600,000, which will support Sakhi’s critical work in crisis intervention, mental health counseling, as well as help us launch our new transitional-housing program.” For more information, including gala ticketing and sponsorship information: www.sakhi.givesmart.com

Sakhi for South Asian Women (Sakhi) exists to end violence against women. Sakhi unites survivors, communities, and institutions to eradicate domestic violence to work together to create strong and healthy communities. The organization uses an integrated approach that combines support and empowerment through service delivery, community engagement, advocacy, and policy initiatives. Founded in 1989 by a group of five South Asian women—Anannya Bhattacharjee, Mallika Dutt, Tula Goenka, Geetanjali Misra, and Romita Shetty—who were from diverse professional fields such as banking, film, law, and public health, Sakhi, meaning “woman friend,” was created to fill a critical need—in spite of an abundance of religious and cultural centers, professional associations, and ethnic-specific groups within New York’s large South Asian immigrant population, there was no place for women to address the silenced subject of domestic violence. Through efforts to serve survivors and mobilize community members to condemn abuse, Sakhi has changed the conversation on domestic violence in the community. Margaret Abraham, author of Speaking the Unspeakable: Marital Violence Among South Asian Immigrants in the United States, has noted, “What Sakhi did was bring together issues around ethnicity and gender, which were previously not discussed in our communities. They shifted domestic violence from a private family problem to a public social

Sanjay Raman Appointed Dean of the College of Engineering at UMass Amherst

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Science & Technology 0

Sanjay Raman, associate vice president for the Virginia Tech National Capital Region and president and CEO of the Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation, has been named the new dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The announcement was made by John J. McCarthy, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. Raman begins his new duties at UMass Amherst in August.

McCarthy said, “I’m delighted to welcome Sanjay Raman as our next dean of the College of Engineering. He possesses an outstanding combination of skills in academic leadership, research and development, and collaborating with colleagues across academia, industry and government. We look forward to drawing upon his rich experience in establishing collaborations within and outside the university.”

Raman succeeds Timothy J. Anderson who served as UMass Amherst’s dean of the College of Engineering from 2013-18. Anderson is a Distinguished Professor in chemical engineering and remains on the faculty.

At Virginia Tech, Raman is a tenured full professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering based at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington, Va. From 1998-2009, he was assigned to the Virginia Tech main campus in Blacksburg.

As the associate vice president (AVP) for the Virginia Tech National Capital Region (NCR), Raman is responsible for planning and executing region-wide initiatives to enhance the university’s research, education, and outreach missions, focusing on cross-cutting themes of data and decision science, integrated security, intelligent infrastructure, global systems science, policy, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Since July 2016, he has also served as the president and CEO of the Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation, a 501(c)(3) university affiliated research organization whose mission is to deliver analytic and technology solutions to the university’s government and non-government customers, extending the brand and impact of the Virginia Tech Research and Innovation enterprise.

From 2007-13, Raman served as a program manager in the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), on loan from the university under Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignments. He is also a graduate of the Virginia Tech Executive Development Institute.

Raman earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1998 and joined the ECE faculty at Virginia Tech. Prior to his doctoral studies at the University of Michigan, Raman served as a nuclear-trained submarine officer in the U.S. Navy from 1987-92. He earned a bachelor’s of electrical engineering degree, with highest honors, from Georgia Tech in 1987.

Raman is a founding member of the Virginia Tech Multifunctional Integrated Circuits and Systems (MICS) group, focused on innovative research in analog, mixed-signal, and RF/microwave/mm-wave IC designs, optoelectronics, and RF interfaces. Raman is an Elected Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for leadership in adaptive microwave and millimeter-wave integrated circuits. He is also an elected member of the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society.

Election news from the campaign Trail: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

There is no doubt that Rahul ji’s candidacy in Wayanad has reenergized the party cadre across Kerala, however, that enthusiasm hasn’t spilled over to Thiruvananthapuram where Shashi Tharoor is contesting the election for a third term. For reasons that cannot be explained well, the party workers at the ward and booth level have been lackadaisical in taking the party’s message to the voters at the ground level. If the party leadership doesn’t wake up and deal with the situation with a sense of urgency, we might lose the representation for Kerala by an internationally acclaimed personality whose victory not only may assure a cabinet-level appointment after the elections, but also provide a powerful voice in the Parliament and across the nation on behalf of pluralism and democracy.

The group rivalry that has been a fixture in the Congress politics in the State, may have a lot to do with the current situation. There are areas in the Constituency, where party workers are notably absent. It has been said that more volunteers are working in Wayanad where Rahul Gandhi is running from, although that is a very safe constituency for the party, than in Thiruvananthapuram. The UDF is slated to win a majority of the seats from Kerala, and yet some of the contests are just too close to call.

Thiruvananthapuram is one of those constituencies where BJP has poured in resources and fielded hundreds of RSS volunteers with a vow to defeat Mr. Tharoor. It appears that removing a great critic of the Modi regime has almost become an obsession in the higher ranks of BJP and they are willing to pay any price towards achieving that goal. That is quite understandable from a political standpoint; however, the question many folks are asking is why some in the Congress leadership in Kerala are acting as silent partners to the opposition agenda?

To begin with, some of them have consciously participated in this charade of spreading rumors that “Tharoor can’t win or he is behind” falsehood across the constituency almost making the opposition BJP candidate, Kummanam Rajasekharan, a divisive voice in the State, almost invincible. There is no doubt that this has been a disservice done to the voters by the vested interests and we will only know of the potential negative impact when the final tally will be in. Let us face one reality that as many who appear to drape themselves with tri-color during the day might also change to Saffron at night. It is almost frightening to observe that many in the party cadre and some in the leadership are becoming totally devoid of any values and principles of the Nehruvian vision and operating on their own to advance their self-development.

However, one thing is sure, the communalism has arrived with its full force and ugliness to this once peaceful state. BJP is fanning the flames of communalism and bigotry to gain political ground in Kerala that until now largely rejected BJP as an outlier. Although Communist party is running a distant third in the recent polls here, they too have determined to carry on with an active campaign to take away as much vote from the secular front to show their displeasure with the Congress decision on Wayanad. However, they fail to realize that a BJP victory from the Capital of Kerala, the seat of the LDF government, will prove to be more than a thorn in their backs and they may come to regret it.

The voters in Kerala are smart, thoughtful and deliberate. They also know very well how to distinguish a Vidhan Sabha election from a Parliamentary one. They have witnessed the neglect and disdain shown by the BJP government towards Kerala especially during the great flood. They also have learned about the alleged involvement of RSS proxies who appear to have filed a petition in Supreme Court asking for the entry of women of all ages to the Sabarimala Temple and BJP at the Center and at the State level initially welcomed such a decision.

It is Modi’s Home Ministry that refused to file any review petition on behalf of the faithful they purportedly defending right now. It is the same ministry that kept reminding the state government to implement the SC decision. It is also the Modi government that has done nothing at the Central level either through an ordinance or via legislation to remedy the issue. After having done nothing other than to fan the flames of division and exasperate the situation with their cadre protests to create havoc across the state similar to what has happened in Ayodhya, Gujarat, and Muzzafarnagar, they have now professed themselves to be the great guardians of the faithful! Keralites understand the devious game that is being played upon them, and they will give a fitting reply to BJP on April 23rd through the ballot box.

Neetu Chandra to make Hollywood debut with ‘The Worst Day’

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterEntertainment, Women 0

Indian actress Neetu Chandra is all set to make her foray in Hollywood with a short film titled “The Worst Day”. Based in Los Angeles, the comedy film is written and directed by Bulgarian filmmaker Stanislava Ivy, read a statement.

On her role, Neetu said: “2019 has started off on a wonderful note for me and I’m thrilled to be working on this project. “It’s been a learning experience for me because it’s my first ever negative role. She is wild, she is interesting and she is the villain.”

According to Neetu, the project has “changed her” and this is definitely “one of my most special projects”.

“The Worst Day” also features actors Marietta Melrose and Jose Moreno.

Also, the film is expected to be developed into a TV series. However, it is yet not clear.

Apart from it, Neetu will also appear in Korean youth action drama “Narae”.

Neetu Chandra is a popular Actor. Latest movies in which Neetu Chandra has acted are Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Garam Masala, Ameerin Aadhi Bhagavan and Khiladi. Neetu rose to fame with her role of an airhostess in the Akshay Kumar-John Abraham starrer “Garam Masala”. She later appeared in several Indian regional films.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day last month, to acknowledge women’s contribution to the society, The Consulate General of India, New York and The Federation of Indian Associations BY-NJ-CT, jointly hosted and organized a gala celebration in New York. And Neetu was the guest of honor at the event, where she spoke wit passion about women’s empowerment.

Apart from being an actress who’s worked in several industries, including Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, Neetu is also a producer whose film had won the National Award. She has dabbled in theatre, with her performance in the play Umrao Jaan being appreciated by many. An international Taekwondo champion, she is also associated with NBA and basketball.

Designers from India show festive wear in New Jersey at “Spring Soirée 2019”

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Fashion 0

An array of Indian and US-Indian designers showcased their latest collections at the fashion and lifestyle exhibition Spring Soirée 2019 April 14, at the Royal Albert’s Palace in Fords, New Jersey.

The exhibition was a one-stop shop for the spring wedding season.

The show ‘Spring Soiree, 2019’ showcased the versatility of Indian designers whose wide-ranging styles were not restricted to any culture or ethnicity, but also included the ethnic and traditional, according to a press release from organizers House of Chic by Heena Surani, a New York-based pop-up retail company, in collaboration with Vandana Malhotra Puri.

Currently their fashions have been seen in Dubai, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles, and at Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai, and according to organizers, the Mumbai event “is already creating a buzz in Indian style and fashion magazines.”

The ‘Spring Soiree, 2019’ has been held in New York City, and Westchester before being taken to New Jersey. Many well-known designers (with their collection) such as Jayanthi Reddy, Adhya, Myoho, Lotus Sutr, Priya Chahabria, Inaarabypriya, Harshi, Dolly Saraf Jain, Dhashi, Roma Bhalla, Aneehka, ReeMat, BG Jewels, Tinted Teal, Allure Jewels and many more participated in the event.

In the New Jersey show, exquisite Indian embroideries with Western cuts made it on the ramp, the collections holding an international appeal, organizers said. It included festive couture, handcrafted luxury pret, which derives inspiration from the fusion of modern trends, fall styles to summer spring looks – including kurtas, salwaar suits, tunics, semiformal Indian wear and many more silhouettes were highlighted.

On April 14, House of Chic and Vandana Malhotra Puri hosted the New Jersey edition of Spring Soirée 2019 at the Royal Albert Palace in Fords. The fashion and lifestyle exhibition featured clothing, jewellery, and accessories with traditional and bridal wear as a focus.

Participating clothing designers included Jayanti Reddy, Priya Chhabria, Aneeka Harshi, Myoho, Roma Bhalla, Lotus Sutra, Heena Kochhar, Dhashi, Aadhya, and Kama Fashion by Dolly Jain. Jewellery brands Reemat Designs and Bijoux by Priya Chandra also participated. Fusion wear, kurtas, lehengas, and dupattas provided both formal and casual options for shoppers and the New Jersey Indian community came together to celebrate Indian fashion.

The event was designed to create a “buzz” around Indian fashion, according to the event’s press release. The New Jersey event followed Dallas, New York City, and Westchester and Heena Surani’s fashion events business House of Chic has also run similar events in Los Angeles and Dubai.

“A holistic cocktail of the antique artistry mixed with modern wizardry of silhouettes, cuts and jaw dropping designs,” organizers said in the press release. “The response was outstanding and crowds are now waiting for the next Exhibition with the next stunning Collection,” they added.

Indo-American Arts Council Presents “The Colors Of Her Heart”

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, U.S., Women 0

Choreographed and directed by Mallika Sarabhai, The Colors of Her Heart is a spellbinding, dance-theatre-multimedia production, that uses the haunting lyrics of British musician Samia Malik with the creative visual imagery and story creating skills of Yadavan Chandran. On the stage, six women tell their poignant stories bringing awareness into the issue of gender inequality.

What do all women across the world share as experiences? Whatever the color of their skins, whatever their language and culture, the single identity that leads to their exploitation and violence against them is their gender. With songs in Urdu and English and stories that are both personal and universal, the heartful composition draws you into the world of women and their lives, dwelling on their experiences of vulnerability, love, pain, rejection, discrimination, and violation.

The ballet shifts between powerfully spoken monologues as accounts of the performers, group and solo dances, emotive pieces, even a ghazal that come together rhythmically with the bilingual live music by Samia Malik. The pieces reflect upon the common thread that binds all women, bringing together not just the stories of six women, but the pains, travails and victories of women of all nations.

The Colors of Her Heart plays at The Ailey Citigroup Theatre on 405 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019 on April 17. The show starts at 7PM and there will be a talkback with the Mallika Sarabhai, Yadavan Chandran and Samia Malik at the end of the show.

Mallika Sarabhai is one of India’s leading choreographers and an accomplished Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer, who has specialized in using the arts for social change and transformation.She first came to international notice when she played she played the role of Draupadi in the Peter Brook’s play The Mahabharata for 5 years, first in French and then English, performing in France, North America, Australia, Japan and Scotland.

Mallika has won many accolades during her long career, the Golden Star Award is one of them, which she won for the Best Dance Soloist, Theatre De Champs Elysees, Paris 1977. As well as a dancer, Sarabhai is a social activist. She manages the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts located at Ahmedabad, a centre for the arts and for the use of arts as a language for behavior change.

The IAAC supports all the artistic disciplines in classical, fusion, folk and innovative forms influenced by the arts of India. We work cooperatively with colleagues around the United States to broaden our collective audiences and to create a network for shared information, resources and funding. Our focus is to help artists and art organizations in North America as well as to facilitate artists from India to exhibit, perform and produce their work here. The IAAC is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law. For information please visit www.iaac.us.

Priyanka Chopra makes breathtaking bride on Vogue cover

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas looks beguiling in her breathtaking custom Ralph Lauren wedding gown on Vogue Netherlands’ inaugural Love & Wedding Issue.

In the cover, she is seen sporting the Ralph Lauren gown she wore for her Christian wedding to American actor-singer Nick Jonas. She looks beautiful as she sees through her stunning veil.

“My fairytale, thank you Vogue Netherlands for making me your first cover girl of the Love and Wedding issue,” the caption read.

Photographer Jose Villa shot the “Isn’t It Romantic” actress at the Western-style Christian ceremony on December 4, 2018, during her three-day Indian nuptials to Nick.

Priyanka tied the knot with Nick in two extravagant ceremonies at the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur.

For the Christian wedding ceremony, the couple opted for stunning Ralph Lauren outfits, and for the Hindu wedding, Priyanka wore a red Sabyasachi Mukherjee lehenga coupled with diamond jewellery.

On the Bollywood front, Priyanka will be seen in “The Sky is Pink” which also stars Farhan Akhtar and Zaira Wasim. The film is directed by Shonali Bose.

Skipping breakfast may increase death risk

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

Do you skip your morning meal and eat dinner late at night? If so, it may increase the risk of death and other heart-related problems, researchers have warned.

The findings, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, suggest that people with such an unhealthy lifestyle had a four to five times higher likelihood of early death and increased chances of a second heart attack.

“Our research shows that the two eating behaviours are independently linked with poorer outcomes after a heart attack but having a cluster of bad habits will only make things worse,” said co-author Marcos Minicucci, from Sao Paolo State University in Brazil.

“We also think that the inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and endothelial function could be involved in the association between unhealthy eating behaviours and cardiovascular outcomes,” he added.

For the study, the team involved 113 patients with a mean age of 60, of which 73 per cent were men. The study enrolled patients with a particularly serious form of heart attack called ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

According to the team, this was the first study to evaluate these unhealthy behaviours in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Skipping breakfast was observed in 58 per cent patients, having late night dinner in 51 per cent, and both behaviours in 41 per cent.

To improve eating habits, researchers recommended a minimum two hour interval between dinner and bedtime.

“A good breakfast is usually composed of dairy products (fat-free or low fat milk, yogurt and cheese), a carbohydrate (whole wheat bread, bagels, cereals), and whole fruits,” the team said.

New Android Phone? Lay a Good Foundation with These Apps

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Science & Technology 0

As a smartphone user, the online world is rife with threats to your privacy and security. Among the most vulnerable are Android smartphones, especially those drawing on older versions of the popular operating system. Studies show that nearly 90 percent of Android devices are insecure. These vulnerabilities are caused by the lack of security updates as many smartphone vendors still don’t roll out Google’s monthly security updates in a timely manner — if at all they do.

The Android Operating System is under constant attack. If you’re going to use your phone to browse the internet, you’d better be prepared. So, what can you do to keep your new Android phone safe from various threats on the world wide web? A lot, actually. The Android mobile operating system is very flexible. With the right security applications from Google Play Store, you can effectively ward off common privacy and security threats. New Android phone? Lay a good foundation with these apps.

VPN App

A Virtual Private Network or VPN app is one of the most important device-security tools you can have in your phone. An Android VPN encrypts all your internet communication thus potentially protecting you from prying eyes. You can also use a VPN service to spoof your location. This is a trick that will allow you to bypass content censorship and geo-blocks, and is widely used to access Netflix and YouTube.

There are numerous VPN apps in the Google Play Store. However, not all Android VPN apps are not created equal. By using a VPN service in your Android device, you are placing a lot of trust in the service so it’s important to know how much it collects from you, not just how well it works. Take the time to understand whether a VPN is exposing you to online threats, injecting your device or browser with ads, or selling your data to third parties.

Antivirus Software

We are all aware of the perils and disastrous consequences of viruses and other types of malware on our personal computers. Well, times have changed and many computing tasks that hitherto took place on PCs can now take place on a smartphone or tablet. As a result, malicious threat actors are now using malware to target our smartphones. Luckily, there are plenty of antivirus apps on the Google Play Store to help Android users protect themselves against the rising and constantly evolving malware threats.

There are tons of ways to catch malware on your Android device. Heck, you can even download malicious apps straight from the Google Play Store. These applications can be copycats that bear the same name and icon as the genuine apps masquerading as helpful utilities thus tricking the unsuspecting user into downloading malware into their smartphones. Sadly, the Play Store filter is only weakly armed against malware uploads.

From devastating ransomware trojans to the merely annoying adware that will just show you unwanted advertisements, there are many types of malware that can infect Android smartphones and tablets. Malware infection in your Android device, irrespective of the type of malware, can have serious consequences on your privacy and security. Installing an antivirus application on your new Android phone can help you defend against these adversaries.

But not so fast. A 2017 survey by AV-Comparatives found that more than two-thirds of the 250 antivirus apps tested are not effective. According to the company, Symantec, Trend Micro, AVG, Avast, McAfee, Kaspersky, and Bitdefender performed well in the survey. Therefore, Android users need to a little picky with the vendors they choose to entrust with the security of their smartphones and tablets.

Password Manager App

Having strong, unique passwords for all your online accounts is one of the best ways to protect against online threats. But when you have multiple online accounts on different sites, remembering the password for each one can be a tough job. Fortunately, there’s a wide variety of password manager applications on the Android platform. These applications make your life easier by managing your passwords with an additional layer of security. Apps such as LastPass help Android users store all their sensitive data in one place. Users only have to remember the LastPass password, an encrypted master password.

App Permission Manager

Some Android apps are known for being invasive. You can use an Android app permission manager to block permissions of such apps. This can be a very useful tool when dealing with installations that require unnecessary app permissions. You can use an app permission manager to block permissions that don’t have anything to do with the main functions of the application. For instance, you can revoke the permissions of the flashlight app if it wants to collect location-based data. App Ops is one of the most popular Android app permission managers. Get the app from the Google Play Store for free.

File Encryption App

A VPN service encrypts your internet traffic to keep snoopers from accessing your private communications. But what about the files in your device? File encryption apps can help you encrypt sensitive files on your Android smartphone or tablet before moving them to the cloud. Since you are the only person that can access and read the encrypted files, you can also choose to store the files on your device. Crypt4All Lite (AES) is one of the most popular Android file encryption apps, and it’s free.

Your Android smartphone probably has some sensitive data on it. Smartphone data is increasingly becoming a target for hackers and other online malicious threat actors. If you use your Android smartphone to access the internet, you need to ensure that you are fully protected from malicious threat actors. These apps will help protect your new Android device from a variety of online security and privacy threats.

For more info and to download the app, please visit: https://www.expressvpn.com/vpn-software/vpn-android

April 22nd is Earth Day Perceptions of people on potential threats to EARTH

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Environment, Science & Technology 0

April 22 is Earth Day, an annual event that highlights environmental concerns and encourages civic action. This year’s Earth Day comes amid widespread global concern about climate change. The way people perceive and respond to climate changes depends on one’s ideology, location, income and education, among the many other factors.

A 2018 Pew Research Center survey on how people evaluate eight potential threats, as well as other polls conducted by the Center, has some surprising conclusions.

Majorities in most surveyed countries say global climate change is a major threat to their nation. In fact, it’s seen as the top threat in 13 of 26 surveyed countries, more than any other issue the survey asked about. People in Greece express very high levels of concern, with 90% labeling climate change a major threat (similar to the 88% there who cite the condition of the global economy). People in South Korea, France, Spain and Mexico also express strong concerns. Eight-in-ten or more in each of these countries say climate change is a major threat.

Americans are less likely to be concerned about climate change, with 59% seeing it as a serious threat. About as many people in the United States cite climate change as point to ISIS (62%) and North Korea’s nuclear program (58%). Americans most frequently cite cyberattacks as a major threat. People in Russia (43%), Nigeria (41%) and Israel (38%) are the least likely to say climate change is a major threat to their nation.

Substantial shares see climate change as a minor threat or not a threat at all. Not all people in the surveyed countries consider climate change to be a major threat. A median of 20% across these countries consider global warming a minor threat, while 9% say it is not a threat. About half or more in Israel and Russia say global climate change is a minor threat or not a threat (58% and 51%, respectively). In the U.S., roughly a quarter (23%) believe climate change is a minor threat, while 16% say it is no threat at all.

Concerns about climate change have risen significantly in many countries since 2013. The share of people expressing concern about the threat of climate change around the world has grown since 2013, when Pew Research Center first asked respondents whether they see it as a major threat to their nation. In 2013, a median of 56% in 23 countries said climate change was a major threat; in the Center’s most recent Global Attitudes survey, a median of 67% in the same countries hold this view. And in 10 countries, the share of people who see global warming as a major threat has grown by at least 10 percentage points. For example, 83% of people in France say this, up from 54% in in 2013, an increase of 29 points. Mexico has seen a similar increase, from 52% to 80%, or 28 points.

Americans have also grown more concerned about climate change, even if their overall level of concern is lower than in some other countries. Nearly six-in-ten Americans see climate change as a major threat (59%), up 19 points from 2013.

People with more education tend to be more concerned about climate change; in some countries, women and younger people are also more concerned. Education, gender and age are related to evaluations of climate change as a threat. In most countries surveyed, those with higher levels of education are more likely than those with less education to see climate change as a serious threat. For instance, Hungarians with a postsecondary or higher education are 11 percentage points more likely than their less-educated counterparts to say that climate change is a major threat. Women are more likely than men to be concerned about climate change in nine of the 26 surveyed countries. In Canada, for example, 72% of women consider climate change a major threat, compared with 59% of men. Age is also associated with views of climate change in some countries. In the U.S., 71% of those ages 18 to 29 say climate change is a threat, compared with half of Americans 50 and older.

In the U.S., there’s a wide partisan gap about climate change.Among American adults, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are less likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to express concern about climate change. Roughly a quarter (27%) of Republicans say climate change is a major threat, compared with more than three-quarters of Democrats (83%) – a 56 percentage point difference. Democrats have also grown more worried about climate change since the question was first asked five years ago, while Republican opinions on climate have remained roughly the same. This trend is consistent with wide and growing political divides among Americans on a range of beliefs about climate issues.

Sri Lanka Terror Attacks: ‘International network’ linked to bombings

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

A wave of bombings that killed 290 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday was carried out with the support of an international network, Sri Lankan officials said. The government has blamed a little-known local jihadist group, National Thowheed Jamath, although no-one has yet admitted carrying out the bombings. Over 500 others were injured in the suicide attacks on churches and hotels.

Sri Lankan authorities were warned about a bomb threat from National Thowheed Jamath a full two weeks before the attacks, cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said at a press conference. He said that the warnings were not passed on to the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, or his cabinet. Wickremesinghe acknowledged that security services had been “aware of information” but had not acted on the information.

Sri Lanka’s Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said, was a result of “colossal intelligence failure” as there was prior information about the attack. He demanded the resignation of the Inspector General of Police. “As a government, we apologize to families and other institutions. The problem is that even when we met the Prime Minister at the Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister was also in the dark,” he said.

The emergency declaration by the Sri Lankan Government will give police and military extensive powers to detain and interrogate suspects without court orders. Police have arrested 24 people in a series of raids and the president’s office declared a state of national emergency.

Four Indians were among those killed in the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, while many others, including a leading Tamil actress, had a narrow escape.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj quoted the Indian High Commission as saying that it had been informed by the National Hospital in Colombo about the death of three Indian nationals — Lakshmi, Narayan Chandrashekhar, Ramesh. “We are ascertaining further details,” the Minister said.

Islamist extremists carried out the first six major suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, The Daily Mirror reported. Investigators said that two terrorists had on Saturday checked into Room 616 of The Shangri-La hotel, one of the three Colombo hotels where blasts took place in quick succession, the English language daily reported.

Close circuit television camera (CCTV) footage revealed that the suspects detonated the bombs in the cafeteria and on the corridor of the hotel, it said.

Investigators suspect that C-4 explosives weighing 25 kg were used for the bombings at the hotel, it said.

The investigators who broke into the room found materials used by “radical Islamic extremists”, the daily quoted sources as saying. It was unclear if the bombers were locals or international terrorists who arrived on tourist visa to the island nation.

On Monday, another blast rocked a street near a church in the capital, Colombo. Police were attempting to defuse explosives in a vehicle used by the attackers when it blew up. It is not yet known if anyone was hurt.

On Monday, 87 detonators were found from the main bus station at Pettah in Colombo while a bomb the security forces were trying to defuse exploded near the St Anthony Church in Colombo, triggering panic in the area.

An improvised explosive device (IED) was also detected near the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on Monday morning and was defused in controlled explosion by the Sri Lanka Air Force, according to the Daily Mirror.

Police said that they had seized a van and its driver who allegedly transported some suspects into Colombo and also raided a safe house used by the attackers.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the bloodbath, Senaratne told the media: “NTJ was involved. It is a local organisation. We don’t know whether they are linked to outsiders. All those arrested are locals.” But he too admitted that without an international network, “these attacks could not have succeeded”.

The first of the eight blasts took place on Sunday morning in three luxury hotels — Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-la, Kingsbury — in the heart of Colombo and in a church each in Colombo, Negombo, 30 km from here, and in the Tamil-majority Batticaloa town in the island’s east that was once a Tamil Tiger stronghold.

Later in the afternoon, another blast hit a guest house near the zoo in Dehiwala in Colombo, killing two persons, and a housing complex at Dematogoda in the city leaving three policemen dead.

Sri Lanka’s National Security Council on Monday announced plans to impose a “conditional state of Emergency” from midnight. It said the measures would target terrorism and would not limit freedom of expression.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said that terrorist groups continued to plot possible attacks in Sri Lanka and urged Americans visiting that country to exercise increased caution.

Mueller’s report is worse for Trump than Barr had us believe

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s 448-page report, made public las week in redacted form has had President Trump furious at what those pages have revealed to the public. Nearly half of those pages show how the president reacted to and fumed over the Russia probe, seeking to undermine it, curtail it, and even fire the special counsel himself.

That the contents of the Mueller report diverge so sharply from Barr’s portrayal has long seemed possible, based on his initial summary and subsequent appearance before Congress.

The attorney general Barr has implied that Mueller left that choice to Barr. In truth, the report makes clear that Mueller felt constrained by the Justice Department policy that a sitting president could not be indicted.

Barr was appointed as the nation’s AG after writing a memo casting the Mueller investigation as illegitimate.

Democrats want Robert Mueller, the man who collated the report, to publicly testify before congress about the work he has done. It comes after a redacted version of the document was released on Thursday.

Democrat congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in a joint statement said the report painted a “disturbing picture of a president who has been weaving a web of deceit, lies and improper behavior”.

The party has begun moves to try to obtain the full, unredacted document and to have Mueller testify before Congress. There is a growing division in the Party as to impach the President or leave it to the people to decide on the fcate of the President in the next elections in 2020.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted March 25 and March 26 (after the Barr letter summarizing the Mueller findings) found that the Barr summation did not move the needle on public opinion. Forty-eight percent said they believed “Trump or someone from his campaign worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election.” This was down 6 points from the same question asked a week earlier, before the report was sent to the Attorney General.

And 53 percent said “Trump tried to stop investigations into Russian influence on his administration,” down 2 points from the same question asked a week earlier. Responses to the questions fell predictably along party lines, with Democrats believing in the President’s guilt and Republicans believing in his innocence. Barr’s comments today will be greeted as complete vindication by the President’s supporters and as a whitewash by his opponents.

But what everyone, supporters and opponents alike, seem to agree on is that they want to make their own decision. The Quinnipiac poll conducted from March 21-25 found that 84 percent of the general public wanted the Mueller Report made available to the public.

According to the report, Trump reacted to Mueller’s appointment as special counsel in May 2017 as follows: “Oh my God, this is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.”

Trump’s legal team has said it completely exonerates the president. But while the report does say the Muller Team was unable to prove that president had colluded with the Russians, it did not come to a firm conclusion on the issue of obstruction of justice.

It also reveals several occasions when Trump tried to hinder the investigation itself – including attempting to have Mueller removed.

The 448-page redacted document is the result of a 22-month investigation by Mueller, who was appointed to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

There may be something in the redacted report that changes public opinion, but as Trump’s former aid Steve Bannon once noted, the president’s firing of FBI Director James Comey may go down as the biggest mistake in “maybe in modern political history.”

The first section of the Mueller report details Russia’s efforts to upend the 2016 presidential campaign, and scrutinizes the many interactions between Trump associates and Russia. But it’s in the second half, which provides a litany of instances in which Trump may have obstructed justice, that the real bombshells await.

And then, as Mueller lays out in sometimes lurid detail, in at least 10 episodes over the ensuing months Trump sought to block or stop that very investigation. He did so even as Mueller doggedly made public the “sweeping and systematic fashion” in which the Russian government attacked the 2016 presidential election, and brought serious criminal charges—and won guilty pleas—from a half-dozen of the president’s top campaign aides.

“If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state,” the report says. “Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgement.

“Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

The report says that potential obstruction of justice by the president only failed because members of his administration refused to “carry out orders.” Investigators viewed the president’s written responses to their questions as “inadequate” but chose not to pursue a potentially lengthy legal battle to interview him.

Mueller then points to Congress, not the attorney general, as the appropriate body to answer the question of obstruction. As Mueller wrote in what seems to be all but a referral for impeachment proceedings, “The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president’s corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law.”

After Fire Destroys Parts of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Macron says new cathedral will be ‘more beautiful’

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

In the latticed shadows of the medieval masterpiece that was Notre Dame de Paris, centuries of history unspooled: two calamitous world wars, bubonic plague, revolution, the sprawling, messy intricacies of daily life. Its mighty bells clanged at momentous junctures — when Paris was liberated from the Nazis in 1944, in tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A massive blaze at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris devastated large parts of the 850-year-old church. The fire is now out, but the cathedral’s iconic spire fell during the hours it took to battle the blaze. French President Emmanuel Macron, in an address to the nation, promised Parisians that they will “rebuild this cathedral together.”

Onlookers wept and gasped in horror as more than 400 firefighters fought the ferocious and fast-moving blaze, which broke out about 6:45 p.m., destroying large parts of the 850-year-old Gothic monument.

Firefighters said the roof had been mostly destroyed, and at one point they feared the entire structure could collapse. Flames licked up the tall spire, which eventually buckled and collapsed in on itself, but by midnight, with the fire’s intensity finally fading, officials at the scene said the cathedral structure, including the two towers on the main facade, had been saved.

On Monday, it was the bells of Paris’ other churches that tolled — in an anguished, prayerful gesture of solidarity and support for the burning cathedral.

The cathedral was minutes away from total destruction, officials say.

But despite Mr Macron’s pledge experts say its reconstruction could take decades.

Fifty people will investigate the cause of the fire. Paris public prosecutor Rémy Heitz said there was no obvious indication of arson and that the blaze was being treated as an accident.

A combined €800m ($902m; £692m) has already been pledged by a number of companies and business tycoons to help rebuild the Unesco World Heritage site.

In a televised address on Tuesday evening, President Macron suggested he wants it rebuilt by the time Paris hosts the Summer Olympics in 2024.

“We’ll rebuild Notre-Dame even more beautifully and I want it to be completed in five years, we can do it,” said Mr Macron, who had already pledged to launch an international fundraising scheme for the reconstruction.

“It’s up to us to convert this disaster into an opportunity to come together… It’s up to us to find the thread of our national project.”

But Eric Fischer, head of the foundation in charge of restoring the 1,000-year-old Strasbourg cathedral, told AFP the Notre-Dame may take “decades” to rebuild.

Frédéric Létoffé, the head of the group of companies for the Restoration of Historic Monuments, put the timescale at between 10 and 15 years, warning substantial work would be needed to secure the site before restoration can begin.

The blaze – which was discovered at 18:43 (16:43 GMT) on Monday and was fully extinguished almost 15 hours later – destroyed most of the cathedral’s roof and led to the collapse of its iconic spire.

Experts have not yet been allowed on site to assess the damage and firefighters have sent a drone to survey the scale of the destruction.

The main structure, including the two bell towers, was saved in a time window of 15 to 30 minutes by a team of 400 firefighters, he said.

In his speech Mr Macron heaped praise on the fire services, saying they took “extreme risks” to tackle the blaze.

5 Million people lost job opportunities after demonetization in India: Study says

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

India is in the midst of national elections on an almost incomprehensible scale: Over five weeks, more than 900 million people across 29 states and seven territories will cast their ballots at over a million polling stations. Voting, which began on April 11, is set to conclude on May 19 — although the ballot count will not begin until four days later.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking a second term amid a tepid economy and increased tensions with Pakistan following a February 14 suicide attack in Kashmir linked to a Pakistan-based terrorist group. The main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, has joined forces with a number of smaller parties to stop BJP. One matter at stake is the future of India’s identity: Is the country a multi-ethnic, secular democracy? Or is it a state where Hindu values take precedence?

Since the November 8, 2016 demonetisation, at least five million people lost opportunities to work across the country, while the overall unemployment rate doubled between 2011 and 2018 to 6%, says a ‘State of Working India’ (SWI) report published by the Centre for Sustainable Employment (CSE) of the Azim Premji University (APU) that was released on Tuesday.

Researchers from the university used unit-level data from the Consumer Pyramids Survey of the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), which covers around 5.22 lakh individuals quarterly, to get an outline of unemployment and what could be done to address it.

The rural Workforce Participation Rate (that is, the percentage of people working against the population within the working age) among men dipped from close to 72% in January-April 2016 (a few months before demonetisation) to slightly above 68% by December 2018. The corresponding figure for urban men reduced from 68% to nearly 65% in this time.

“The numbers seem to suggest we are in a perfect storm-like situation. On the supply side, there is rising aspirations, youth bulge, higher levels of general educational degrees. On the demand side, there has been a collapse of public sector employment, weak link between growth in private industry and employment, and factors such as demonetisation and GST,” Amit Basole, lead author of the report, said at its release. “It seems like employment opportunities have been hit by demonetisation and has not recovered after that,” he observed.

The report shows that the worst-hit in terms of lost employment opportunities were those in rural areas with pre-university or graduate certification, and those between the ages of 20 and 24 years.

SWI relied primarily on date from CMIE rather than the Centre’s Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), whose last report was in 2011-12. While a report on 2017-18 had been prepared, it ran into controversy as the Centre refused to release it. Leaked versions of the report pointed to soaring unemployment rates — reportedly highest in 45 years.

P.C. Mohanan, who resigned from the National Statistical Commission in protest against the Centre’s decision not to release the report, said there was much insight in the 2017-18 report, which had been carefully drafted to tally with previous five-yearly PLFS reports.

“Unemployment has been concentrated in a small age group: 80% of rural unemployment is among those aged between 15 and 29 years, while the corresponding figure is 77% for urban areas. These are all fresh graduates and unemployment levels among them can have serious consequences on the economy and society,” he said.

The report suggests tackling unemployment through a national urban employment guarantee scheme, modelled on the existing Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. APU researchers propose a programme that provides 100 days of guaranteed work at ₹500 daily in the city — from maintenance of public buildings to greening and environment-related works.

“The country will see more than half of the population live in urban centres in a few decades. Hitherto, the thinking was to provide opportunity through private services. But this scheme will provide means to focus on public goods,” said Harini Nagendra, Professor, APU.

Indian-American PAC endorses Harris for president Tulsi Gabbard outraises Kamala Harris among Indian-American donors

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics, U.S. 0

An Indian-American political action committee (PAC) has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris of Indian and Jamaican descent for the 2020 presidential race.

“In such a critically important election, one that will shape policy and politics for generations to come, Indian Americans can’t afford to stay on the sidelines,” the Indian American Impact Fund’s co-founder Raj Goyle said in a statement last week. Goyle, also a former Kansas state lawmaker, said it was for that reason that the organization chose to be “the first Indian-American or Asian-American political organization to endorse” Harris, whose mother was from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, media reports say.

“In the coming months, we look forward to mobilizing our network of resources to ensure Senator Harris secures the Democratic nomination and is elected the next president of the U.S.,” Goyle said.

Harris thanked the Impact Fund for the endorsement. “This endorsement and the support of the Indian American Impact Fund and its members means so much to me,” she said in a statement. “Together, we will fight for an America that restores the values of truth and justice and works for working people, from raising incomes to expanding health care.”

The Impact Fund Executive Director and former Maryland state delegate Aruna Miller said her group was “proud to endorse” Harris. “She is a tested leader who has demonstrated, throughout her career, a strong commitment to our community’s progressive and pluralistic values,” Miller said.

Harris, one of the first Democrats to launch the presidential campaign in this election cycle, is also one of the front-runners at the moment. If elected, she will become the first woman, the first Indian-American, the first Asian American, and the first African American woman to serve as president.

Meanwhile, Sen. Kamala Harris released 15 years of her tax returns las week, showing that she and her husband earned almost $1.9 million in 2018. Most of the adjusted gross income of $1,884,319 in 2018 reported by Harris, D-Calif., came from her husband Doug Emhoff’s earnings as a lawyer. Harris reported $157,352 in Senate salary and $320,125 in net profit from the memoir she released before announcing her campaign.

Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu US Congresswoman and Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, has vastly outraised Senator Kamala Harris of Indian and Jamaican descent among Indian-American donors in the 2020 presidential fundraising derby so far.

Gabbard, who is a Hindu American but not Indian-American, has raised more than $237,000, from the community. In comparison, Harris, daughter of an Indian American mother and Jamaican American father, has so far raised only $72,606 from the community, according to AAPI Data, which publishes data and policy research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

In a clear sign that Harris, one of the strongest contenders in the crowded 2020 Democratic field, has not been fully embraced by the community, the Senator even trails New Jersey’s Corey Booker among Indian-Americans, the American Bazaar reported on Saturday.

Booker has raised more than $131,000 from Indian Americans. A big reason for that is New Jersey is home to nearly 370,000 Indian Americans. But Harris’ home state of California has the largest Indian American population in the country – more than 712,000. Yet, her campaign hasn’t received traction among Indian American campaign donors, the AAPI Data research reveals.

Historically, Indian Americans have donated huge amounts to congressional and gubernatorial candidates from the community. However, their track record in bankrolling candidates from the community so far is spotty. In the last presidential election cycle, the campaign of former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal attracted only lukewarm support of the community.

Facebook joins GAME to train entrepreneurs in India

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Community, Social Media 0

Facebook and the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) — a consortium of public and private organizations — on Tuesday announced a partnership to train entrepreneurs and create jobs across India.

Phase one of this partnership, to be rolled out this year, will cover 10 states including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra, among others.

The partnership is in line with Facebook’s commitment to train five million people with digital and entrepreneurial skills by 2021, the social networking platform said in a statement. Women currently constitute 23 per cent of Internet users and six per cent of mass entrepreneurs in India.

“When you give women and youth the skills and technology to improve their lives, we can equip them to unlock economic and social value for themselves and their communities,” said Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director, Facebook – India, South and Central Asia.

GAME and its partners will assist small entrepreneurs build their businesses using digital platforms like Facebook and Instagram to aggregate demand, market products and acquire customers.

“Imagine the power of a platform that can bring together communities of artisan clusters, agri-entrepreneurs or homepreneurs in the thousands to learn, collaborate and succeed,” added Ravi Venkatesan, Founder, GAME.

GAME and Facebook will kick-off their engagement with a project empowering local communities of rural entrepreneurs — using digital and physical modes, a landscape review and identification of solutions for women entrepreneurs and a grand prize challenge for innovative models that spur new business creation.

With its ongoing programmes, Facebook has already trained over one million people across 150 cities and 48,000 villages with support from 50 partners.

TIME’s List of 100 ‘Most Influential People’ 2019 Released

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Community, Entertainment, Politics, Profiles 0

Indian-American comedian and actor Hasan Minhaj has been named in Time magazine’s 2019 list of 100 most influential people in the world. Also named in the coveted list are lawyers Arundhati Katju and Menaka Guruswamy, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

In Minhaj’s profile for Time, The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah writes about the first time the two met in 2014. It was on the sets of the Comedy Central show “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

“We were both fresh-faced kids trying to find our voice in the fast-paced world of late-night television,” Noah writes. “Fast-forward five years later, Hasan is still as fresh-faced as ever, but his voice booms across screens around the world, thanks to his groundbreaking Netflix show ‘Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj’.”

Noah goes on to say that “after hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and releasing his stand-up special ‘Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King’ in 2017, the opportunity for a late-night show of his own wasn’t just obvious, it was necessary. We’ve needed Hasan’s voice since Donald Trump came down that golden escalator and turned immigrants and Muslims into his targets.

He continues: “See, Hasan is a first-generation, Indian-American Muslim. But Hasan also loves the NBA, struggles with a “crippling” sneaker habit and speaks fluent hip-hop. ‘Patriot Act’ is the manifestation of Hasan’s whip-smart commentary, charisma and sincerity. It’s also a consistent reminder that Hasan is America. And America is Hasan.”

On his six-month-old 32-episode Netflix show, Minhaj, 33, has been taking on socially relevant topics including the Indian elections, student loan debt crisis, Amazon’s plan for world domination and immigration enforcement in the Trump era.

But the episode that got the most attention was his takedown of Mohammad bin Salman, which Netflix pulled from the Saudi Arabian market at its government’s request. “The Patriot Act” is also nominated for a Peabody Award in the entertainment category.

Also featured in among Pioneers are Katju and Guruswamy, who led the fight for equal rights for the LGBTQ community in India and were lead lawyers representing the petitioners seeking to decriminalise homosexual activity between consenting adults, which was punishable by up to 10 years in jail according to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Along with being a Supreme Court of India judge, Guruswamy is the B.R. Ambedkar Research Scholar and Lecturer at Columbia Law School.

The “two amazing public-interest litigators,” were honored by Priyanka Chopra, who writes: “Armed with a well-planned strategy that went beyond their well-researched legal arguments, Arundhati and Menaka became beacons of hope for the Indian LGBTQ+ community. Their perseverance and commitment led an entire community to a historic win by humanizing their struggles and giving them the freedom to love.”

Chopra says Arundhati and Menaka have helped take a giant step for LGBTQ+ rights in the world’s largest democracy. In their committed fight for justice, they have shown us that we as a society must continue to make progress, even after laws are changed, and that we must make an effort to understand, accept and love. It is who we are as people.”

Ambani, who’s listed among Titans is the richest Indian. This year, he retained the top spot in the Forbes annual list of 100 richest Indian tycoons, According to Forbes, his wealth increased to $38 billion from $22.7 billion last year. Writing his profile, Anand Mahindra, chairman of business conglomerate the Mahindra Group says “Ambani’s father Dhirubhai was a visionary in Indian business, whose Reliance Industries conglomerate pioneered ways of targeting global scale,: adding, “But Ambani’s vision is now even more ambitious than that of the father whose blessings he unfailingly invokes at the launch of each initiative.”

Mahindra says the scale of Reliance Jio mobile-data network, which has already connected over 280 million people in India with low-cost 4G “is impressive by any standard. But what is truly jaw-dropping is the way it will allow Reliance to potentially dominate a staggering array of new businesses.”

Pakistan Prime Minister is listed among leaders like President Donald Trump and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Journalist Ahmed Rashid says “Pakistan is at a critical crossroads, and the man in charge is the closest it has to a rock star.” Khan captained the team that won the 1992 Cricket World Cup, built a cancer hospital in Lahore, then a university for kids who could never have dreamed of attending one.

Khan, who Rashid says entered politics 20 years ago, is now “Prime Minister of an impoverished nation that cannot pay its bills and is dependent on handouts from rich neighbors like China and the Arab Gulf states.” Rashid says that despite all the criticism, Khan “still generates the broadest hope among young and old that he can turn Pakistan around, and help make South Asia an ocean of peace rather than a state of permanent conflict.”

US warns ‘India-based call center scam industry’

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterFinance/Economy, India, U.S. 0

The US government has initiated action against the “India-based call center scam industry”, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski has warned while announcing the extradition of an Indian citizen from Singapore allegedly involved in a multi-million dollar racket.

Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, 42, who operated the HGlobal call centre in Ahmedabad, was extradited to face trial on charges relating to the scam that allegedly ripped off thousands of Americans of millions of dollars using people in call centers impersonating US government officials, the Justice Department said last week.

Patel was arrested and produced on Friday in a federal court in Houston, Texas, where Magistrate Judge Peter Bray remanded him to custody, according to a court document obtained by IANS. He is to appear in court again on Wednesday.

“This extradition once again demonstrates the (Justice) Department’s unwavering commitment to disrupt and dismantle the India-based call centre scam industry and to work with our foreign partners to hold accountable those who perpetrate schemes that defraud our citizens,” Benczkowski said. “Patel operated a call centre that allegedly preyed upon vulnerable U.S. citizens as part of a massive fraud scheme”.

After Patel flew from India to Singapore, he was arrested there on September 21, 2018, at the request of the US, and Singapore Law Minister K. Shanmugam issued a warrant on March 25 to hand him over to America, the Justice Department said.

“This historic extradition should serve as notice to transnational criminal organisations of the lengths DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is willing to go to arrest those who would enrich themselves by extorting the most vulnerable in our society,” said David Green, the Special Agent in charge of the DHS Houston Field Office.

He warned of global action against the owners, managers and employees of overseas call centers, saying: “Our pursuit of justice for victims of their scams does not stop at the water’s edge.” Patel was charged in 2016 along with 55 people, most of them of Indian descent, and five companies in the alleged massive scam.

The India-based call centers allegedly impersonated tax or immigration officials and called people in the US and threatened them with arrest or deportation if they did not pay what they claimed were back taxes or fines, according to the charge sheet filed against them.

When their victims agreed to pay, the people at the call centre arranged for payments to be collected in the form of store cards or wire transfers by their co-conspirators in the US, who cashed them often using stolen identities and laundered the money, according to the charges. In other instances, they offered people fake loans and collected fees for the lending that never materialized.

Since 2013, the tax official impersonation scam “has been on a relentless path, claiming more than 15,000 victims who have collectively suffered over $75 million in losses”, said Treasury Inspector General J. Russell George. Federal agencies have identified 140 scammers, including Patel, “who have preyed upon taxpayers”, he added.

The fraud calls originating from India that are received by millions of Americans are hurting the country’s reputation as a hub for back office, tech support and call centre operations.

In recent weeks, at least three persons of Indian descent have been sentenced to prison terms in cases of tax official impersonation.

A federal court in Florida sentence an Indian on Thursday to eight and a half years in prison and last month another person of Indian origin to eight years and nine months.

In a separate case, Indian was sentenced to 16 months in prison by a federal judge in Atlanta earlier this month.

Bhopal gas tragedy among world’s major industrial accidents of 20th century: UN report

April 24, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

Among the other nine major industrial disasters after 1919 listed in the report are the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters as well as the Rana Plaza building collapse.

The 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy which killed thousands of people is among the world’s “major industrial accidents” of the 20th century, a UN report has said, warning that 2.78 million workers die from occupational accidents and work-related diseases each year.

The report released by the the UN labour agency International Labour Organization (ILO) said in 1984, at least 30 tons of methyl isocyanate gas, which was released from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in the Madhya Pradesh capital, affected more than 600,000 workers and nearby inhabitants.

“The Government figures estimate that there have been 15,000 deaths as a result of the disaster over the years. Toxic material remains and thousands of survivors and their descendants have suffered from respiratory diseases and from damage to internal organs and immune systems,” it said.

The report titled ‘The Safety and Health at the Heart of the Future of Work – Building on 100 years of experience’ said the Bhopal disaster was among the world’s “major industrial accidents after 1919”.

Among the other nine major industrial disasters after 1919 listed in the report are the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters as well as the Rana Plaza building collapse.

In the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986, one of four nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl power station in Ukraine exploded, releasing at least 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

The explosion killed 31 people immediately and thousands of people in the aftermath.

“The number of casualties in the region increases every year due to long term effects including a sharp increase in thyroid cancer,” the report said.

Following a major 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami which struck north-eastern Japan in March 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plants experienced equipment failures which caused a series of explosions, fires and radiation releases, causing injuries to plant workers and emergency responders, it said.

In one of the worst industrial disasters in Bangladesh, the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka collapsed in April 2013. The building, which housed five garment factories, killed at least 1,132 people and injured more than 2,500.

According to recent estimates released by the ILO, each year 2.78 million workers die from occupational accidents and work-related diseases (of which 2.4 million are disease-related).

An additional 374 million workers suffer from non-fatal occupational accidents. It is estimated that lost work days globally represent almost four per cent of the world’s GDP, and in some countries, this rises to six per cent or more.

The report attributes stress, excessively-long working hours and disease to worker casualty every year, underlining ILO’s message that no paid work should threaten a worker’s wellbeing, safety or life.

The agency also identified several new or existing occupational risks of growing concern, that affect women more than men. These include modern working practices overall, world population growth, increased digital connectivity and climate change, which are believed to account for losses of almost four per cent of the global economy.

“The world of work has changed, we’re working differently, we’re working longer hours, we’re using more technology,” ILO’s Manal Azzi told UN News. “The report says 36 per cent of workers are working excessive long hours, meaning more than 48 hours per week,” she said.

Noting that “people are increasingly asked to produce more and more, they have no time to rest,” Azzi highlighted that women are particularly at risk because they tend to be the primary carer for children or parents and lack the time to exercise.

“Not only do you work when you’re at your office but then you’re working at home as well,” Azzi said, adding that “so it’s a lot of sedentary work and that affects cardiovascular diseases as well”.

The greatest proportion of work-related deaths – 86 per cent – come from disease, according to the ILO, with some 6,500 people a day dying from occupational diseases, compared to 1,000 from fatal occupational accidents.

The greatest causes of mortality are circulatory diseases (31 per cent), work-related cancers (26 per cent) and respiratory diseases (17 per cent).

“As well as the economic cost we must recognise the immeasurable human suffering such illnesses and accidents cause. These are all-the-more tragic because they are largely preventable,” Azzi said.

Launched during the ILO’s centenary year – and ahead of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on April 28, the report underlines the life-saving value of promoting prevention, to save lives and encourage healthy working environments.

“Serious consideration should also be given to the recommendation of the ILO’s Global Commission on the Future of Work, that occupational safety and health be recognised as a fundamental principle and right at work,” Azzi said.

The report said that new risks may emerge whereas other risks may be on the rise.

“While the road ahead presents many new challenges to safety and health at work, it is important for governments, employers and workers, and other stakeholders to seize the opportunities to create a safe and healthy future of work for all,” it said.

Since 1919, the ILO has adopted more than 40 international labour standards promoting occupational health and safety.

6th Annual Turban Day on Times Square

April 24, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

Thousands of people from the New York region came together to the city’s iconic Times Square to celebrate ‘Turban Day in Times Square’ relishing the experience of having a turban wrapped around their head by enthusiastic volunteers who took the opportunity to raise awareness about Sikh faith and culture.

The event was organized by Sikhs of New York in association with the Consulate General of India in New York. Turban Day, which started in 2013 at Baruch College, is celebrated annually to spread awareness about the Sikh community and promote its culture and identity. Chanpreeet Singh, co-founder of Sikhs of New York, told PTI that more than 38,000 turbans have been tied in the past seven years.

Sikhs in the United States have borne the burden of post-9/11 hate crime and Sikh children experience continue to experience bullying in schools according to organizations that have been active around the country and engaged law enforcement to help prevent verbal and physical violence on the Sikhs. One of the worst incidents of violence was the Aug. 5, 2012 massacre at the Oak Creek Gurdwara in Wisconsin by a White supremacist. And just days after 9/11, a Sikh man in Arizona was shot dead as reprisal for the attack on the World Trade Towers in New York City.

This was the 7th year of Turban Day, and according to Sikhs of New York, the main organizers of the event, to date 38,000 turbans have been tied, the event has received 1 million live views; reached more than 12 million digitally, and receives massive international coverage. More than 10,000 volunteers have come forward to help out over the years. Anjleen Kaur of the National Sikh Campaign which collaborated with Sikhs of New York to organize the day in the Big Apple, told the media. “What Turban Day really represents is justice and equality.”

This time round there was an added incentive. Renowned ice-cream makers Ben & Jerry’s joined the Turban Day campaign, putting it on their social media sites. and giving out coupons for their delicious scoops. At the event, Ben & Jerry’s gave away coupons to some 500 lucky New Yorkers, Kaur said.

Deputy Consul General of India in New York Shatrughna Sinha said the Consulate is commemorating the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak with Gurubani recital programs.

As part of the commemoration of Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary as well as to mark Baisakhi, this year the Consulate associated with The Sikhs of NY on Turban Day, Sinha said.

“This is a great environment and ambience and the crowd is fantastic,” Mr Sinha said, sporting a blue turban as he took part in the commemoration. There is no better way than this to raise awareness about Sikhism as well as propagating the message of universal brotherhood and humanity of Guru Nanak Dev ji,” he told PTI.

Sikhs of New York co-founder Chanpreet Singh said in the seven years that Turban Day has been organized in the city, there has increasingly been awareness about Sikhism, not just through people who are getting turbans tied but by the thousands others on social media following the event.

Optimism persists, but concerns about terrorism and Pakistan loom large among Indian Voters

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

Polls in the largest democracy in the world opened earlier this month. As many as 900 million people, are expected to cast their ballots to elect a new government at the end of the weeks long electoral battles across the states of India. In April and May 2019, Indians will go to the polls to elect a new Lok Sabha, the 545-seat lower house of the Indian Parliament. When it comes to specific aspects of their democracy, Indians voice strong frustrations about elections and elected officials.

The elections to the Indian Parliament follow a year in which most Indian adults showed dissatisfaction with the nation’s progress on issues including unemployment, inflation and the efficacy of elections. Even prior to the Pulwama attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, majorities of Indians voiced concern about terrorism and the threat posed to their country by Pakistan. But despite these worries, most Indian adults are satisfied with the direction of their country and the economic prospects of the next generation, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted among 2,521 respondents in India from May 23 to July 23, 2018.

Here are 12 takeaways about public opinion in India that provide context about the public’s views leading up to the national elections.

1. Indian public opinion on national conditions

1Indian adults certainly recognize that their personal economic well-being has benefited greatly from strong national economic performance: Indian economic growth has averaged 7.3% per year since 2014. Roughly two-thirds (65%) say the financial situation of average people in India is better today than it was 20 years ago. Only 15% say things are worse.

But there are signs of public unease. About two-thirds of Indians (66%) believe that today’s children will be better off than their parents. But that optimism is down 10 percentage points since 2017.

Similarly, a majority of Indians (55%) are happy with the way things are going in their nation today. But that is down 15 points from 70% in 2017 and marks a return to the level of public satisfaction in 2015, the first full year of Narendra Modi’s government. Still, Indians’ mood remains much higher than in the last two years of the previous government of Manmohan Singh.

2. Lack of employment opportunities is seen by the public as India’s biggest challenge

Lack of employment opportunities is seen by the public as India’s biggest challenge, with 76% of adults saying it is a very big problem – little changed over the past year. In 2018, despite an estimated 3.5% formal unemployment rate, 18.6 million Indians were jobless and another 393.7 million work in poor-quality jobs vulnerable to displacement, according to estimates by the International Labor Office.

Other aspects of the economy are also at the top of the public’s concerns. More than seven-in-ten (73%) believe rising prices are a very big problem.

About two-thirds of the public says corrupt officials (66%), terrorism (65%) and crime (64%) are very big problems. In each case, such concern is down significantly from 2017 – by 20 percentage points in the case of crime, 11 points for terrorism and 8 points regarding officials’ corruption.

Indians with at least a secondary education are significantly more worried about corrupt officials than the less educated. Notably, there is little partisan difference in views of these problems.

On one very personal aspect of crime, more than half (54%) of Indians say the statement “most people live in areas where it is dangerous to walk around at night” describes India very or somewhat well.Roughly half of the public believes the gap between the rich and the poor is a very big problem (51%) and a similar share complains about poor-quality schools (50%). But while the latter sentiment has not changed since 2017, concern about inequality is down 10 points. More than four-in-ten are very concerned about air pollution and health care (both 44%), but these views are also down 10 points.

Notably, incidents of communal violence are higher than they were in 2014, according to Indian Ministry of Home Affairs data, but only about a third of Indians (34%) see this as a very big problem facing the country.

3. When asked whether various challenges facing India have gotten better or worse in the past five years, a time frame that largely encompasses the term of the current Modi government, few Indians voice a positive judgment. Just one-in-five (21%) say job opportunities have gotten better, while 67% think things have gotten worse (including 47% who say much worse). A similar share believes prices of goods and services (19%), corruption (21%) and terrorism (21%) have gotten better.

Meanwhile, 65% say prices have gotten worse, 65% are of the opinion that corruption has worsened (including again 47% who say it is much worse) and 59% think terrorism is worse. (This survey was conducted roughly nine months prior to the Pulwama attack, later claimed by Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad.) Roughly one-in-four think the gap between the rich and the poor has narrowed (27%) and that air quality has gotten better (27%). In both cases, more than half the public thinks these things have gotten worse. And just 28% say communal relations have improved, while 45% say they have gotten worse.

As the Lok Sabha election nears, there is a decidedly partisan take on the direction of the country and the challenges facing India. Members of the opposition Indian National Congress party (Congress) are 21 percentage points more likely than backers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to say that job opportunities have worsened and 17 points more likely to say the same about air pollution. Congress adherents are more likely than BJP supporters to believe inequality has gotten worse (by 17 points), that corruption has worsened (12 points) and that terrorism and communal violence has become more of a problem.

4. As Indians head into election season, more than half (54%) are satisfied with the way democracy is working in their country. However, satisfaction has declined 25 percentage points from 2017, when 79% voiced approval. Men are more likely than women to give Indian democracy a thumbs-up, though one-in-five women decline to offer an opinion. Indians with a secondary education are more likely than those with less than a secondary education to be satisfied with their democracy, though one-in-six (17%) less-educated Indians offer no opinion. Such satisfaction is a partisan affair: 75% of BJP supporters, but only 42% of Congress adherents, are satisfied with how Indian democracy functions.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) say most politicians are corrupt (including 43% who very intensely hold this view). Notably, nearly seven-in ten (69%) of both BJP supporters and Congress backers share the view that elected leaders are corrupt.

Another 58% voice the opinion that no matter who wins an election, things do not change very much. This includes a majority of both BJP and Congress adherents.

And only 33% of Indian adults believe elected officials care what ordinary people think. Men are more likely than women to believe that officials don’t care, but almost a third of women (32%) decline to voice an opinion.

5. At the same time, the public thinks that the Indian state allows democratic values to flourish.

By more than two-to-one (58% to 26%), Indians say their rights to express their own views are protected very or somewhat well. Those with more education are more likely than those with less education to say freedom of speech is protected, although, again, a significant share of the less educated (22%) voice no opinion.

A similar proportion (56% to 27%) says most people have a good chance to improve their standard of living in India. People living in urban areas are more likely than those in rural parts of India to believe in such opportunities. BJP supporters (66%) are more likely than Congress adherents (53%) to say Indian democracy delivers economic opportunity.

A plurality (47%) believes the court system treats everyone fairly, a perception held especially among young people.

6. Globalization and India

Indians (71%) overwhelmingly believe trade is good for their nation.Support for trade, in principle, is roughly comparable to that in Japan (72%) and the United States (74%), but lower than that in the European Union (85%), according to a recent international survey by Pew Research Center. And the share of Indian adults who say growing trade and business ties between India and other countries is very good has nearly doubled, from 25% in 2014 to 49% in 2018.

The rise in intense Indian support for trade reflects a widely shared perception that international commerce benefits individuals. Contrary to public opinion in the U.S., Europe and Japan, a majority of Indians believe trade with other countries leads to an increase in wages (57%) and creates jobs (56%). And such sentiment is up slightly from 2014. Few Indian adults believe trade kills jobs (15%) or undermines wages (13%). At the same time, roughly half of Indians (52%) say trade increases prices, a sentiment that is widely shared in other emerging markets yet is contrary to economic theory that international commerce should lead to falling prices.

Educational attainment plays a role in Indian views of trade. Of those who offer an opinion, adults with at least a secondary education are far more likely than those with less education (86% vs. 63%) to say that trade is good for India. They are also more likely to believe that trade creates jobs (72% vs. 49%) and boosts wages (71% vs. 50%), but also to think that trade leads to higher prices (65% vs. 46%). Less-educated Indians are roughly three times as likely as more educated Indians to voice no opinion about the impact of trade, highlighting the significance of education in shaping public views of globalization.

For those who provided a response, there is also a generational difference in public opinion about the impact of globalization. Young Indians, those ages 18 to 29, are more likely (59%) than older Indians, those ages 50 and older (50%), to believe that trade generates new employment. And young Indians (55%) are more likely than their elders (45%) to say trade raises prices. Older Indians are, however, more likely than their younger compatriots to have no view, or less willing to share that view, on the personal impacts of trade.

BJP supporters are more likely than Congress backers to think trade creates jobs and raises wages, but they are also more likely to believe that trade raises prices.

7. With more than 1.35 billion people, India is home to the world’s second-largest population and nearly a fifth of the total world populace. India also happens to be the top source of international migrants – one-in-twenty migrants worldwide in 2015 were born in India. In 2017 more than 16 million Indians were living abroad, with high concentrations in the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Still, this constitutes only about 1% of India’s birth population, putting the nation well under the 3% average emigration rate for other countries around the world.

When asked if people leaving for jobs in other countries posed a problem for India, more than six-in-ten (64%) said this type of emigration was a problem, including nearly half (49%) saying it is a very big problem. Although outmigration itself may not be viewed favorably, in 2016 Indian migrants abroad collectively sent nearly $63 billion worth of remittances back to family and friends living in India, or roughly 3% of total gross domestic product.

At the same time, Indians show little enthusiasm for expanding immigration into their country. Roughly three-in-ten Indians (29%) say their government should allow fewer immigrants, with an additional 16% volunteering that there should be no immigration at all.

Just 13% think more immigration into India should be encouraged, and 11% think immigration levels should stay about the same as they are now. In 2017, just over 5 million people (or less than 1% of the population) living in India were born in other countries, with most of them coming from neighboring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.

8. When thinking about why people move abroad, Indians say it is to advance careers and pursue educational opportunities. Roughly three-quarters think finding better jobs and furthering education are important reasons why people in India move to other countries. Roughly half see uniting with family living in another country as an important reason why Indians relocate abroad, while only about a quarter think Indians move to escape violence.

More than eight-in-ten Indians with higher incomes and educational attainment cite the pursuit of better career and education opportunities as reasons people move to other countries, while fewer cite fleeing violence or joining family abroad. Indians in both urban and rural areas also see following better prospects for learning and working abroad as important reasons people in India emigrate.

9. India-Pakistan relations

Most Indians see Pakistan, their neighbor to the west, as a threat. When asked how serious of a danger Pakistan poses for India, about three-quarters in India (76%) say Pakistan is a threat, including 63% who say it is a very serious threat. Only 7% of Indians do not see Pakistan as a danger for their country. (This survey was conducted roughly nine months prior to the Pulwama attack, later claimed by Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad, and retaliatory Indian air strikes in Pakistani territory.)

Indians from many walks of life share in this sentiment. Those in rural areas and urban centers, supporters of the prime minister’s BJP and supporters of the opposition Congress party, as well as Indians across age groups, all agree that Pakistan threatens their nation.

Indians who express confidence in Narendra Modi are more likely (70%) to see Pakistan as a threat than are those with less confidence in the prime minister, although even among this latter group about half view Pakistan as a danger (51%).

One source of historical tensions between these two nations lies in Kashmir, a region in the Indian subcontinent whose possession has been disputed since the Partition of India – the creation of the modern Indian and Pakistani states – in 1947.

A majority of Indians (55%) see the situation in Kashmir as a very big problem. When asked how this issue has changed over the past five years, more than half (53%) say circumstances in Kashmir have gotten worse. Only 18% think things have gotten better, and just 6% believe conditions are the same.

When asked about the government’s strategy in dealing with the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, a majority believes the Indian government should use more military force than they are currently using. Equal, though small, shares think the military should use either less or about the same amount of force (both 7%).

10. Global views of India

Throughout Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s term in office, international perceptions of India have been mostly positive. Majorities in all five Asia-Pacific countries surveyed have a favorable view of India, with such positive judgement ranging from 64% in South Korea to 57% in Indonesia and Australia. Half the American public also shares this upbeat opinion of the world’s largest democracy.

Compared with 2014, the year Modi first came to office as prime minister, views of India abroad have largely remained stable. Favorable views have increased by a negligible 5 percentage points in South Korea, while they have decreased by the same amount in Japan, Indonesia and the U.S. The Philippines holds more positive views today than four years ago, with a 13-point increase in Indian favorability over that time.

11. There is a notable gap between how Indians see their country’s global stature and how others around the world see it. While 56% of Indians believe their country is playing a bigger role in world affairs than a decade ago, a median of just 28% across 26 nations polled agree. Pluralities in six countries believe India’s role has grown over the past 10 years, with notable shares saying India’s stature has increased in advanced economies, including France (49%), Japan (48%), South Korea (48%), Sweden (47%) and the UK (46%).

Fewer (a median of 22%) think India’s global role has diminished in the past decade. In particular, South Africans (37%) and Brazilians (32%) see India as a less important global power. The most common view across the nations surveyed (a median of 34%) is that India’s role is about the same as it was 10 years ago.

In many European countries, people with higher levels of education and income are more likely to think India plays a larger role today than it did 10 years ago. For example, roughly six-in-ten in France (59%) and the UK (58%) with a postsecondary degree or more say India’s power has grown, compared with about four-in-ten of those with less education.

Views of India’s relatively stagnant role on the world stage compared with 10 years ago diverge from international evaluations of China – a median of 70% in 25 countries say Beijing is playing a more important role in world affairs than 10 years prior. (For more comparisons between countries, see Chapter 3 of “Trump’s International Ratings Remain Low, Especially Among Key Allies.”)

12. Across the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in the U.S., the share of the public who express confidence in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi exceeds the share who lack confidence in him. A majority in the Philippines give the leader a vote of confidence for his handling of world affairs, as do more than four-in-ten in Japan, Australia and South Korea.

The U.S. shows some division in perceptions of the Indian prime minister, with slightly more of the public saying they have confidence in Modi than do not (39% vs. 32%, respectively).

More than a third of Indonesians (37%) express confidence in Modi, though an equal proportion offer no opinion. Roughly a quarter (26%) have no confidence

Will Julian Assange be extradited to USA to face legal actions?

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Wikileaks is at the center of major questions in Robert Mueller’s investigation, including whether anyone involved in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign assisted the organization in releasing hacked materials. But the charge in the one-count indictment against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange unsealed on Thursday shortly after his arrest doesn’t speak to those questions or broader First Amendment issues.

In an indictment dated March 6, 2018, the United States charges Assange with one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. The indictment alleges “that in March 2010, Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on U.S. Department of Defense computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network, a U.S. government network used for classified documents and communications.”

Conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, which violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, is the “meat and potatoes” in the world of computer crime, says Paul Rosenzweig, who teaches at the George Washington University School of Law and was deputy assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “Almost everybody that you see who’s charged with a computer fraud of some sort gets a charge that’s somewhere like this.”

This fits with the typical prosecutorial strategy of charging someone with a smaller, more easily provable crime in what could be a larger criminal context. “The conspiracy component of it can be pretty easy to prove, that there had to be some degree of coordination of efforts and action,” says Thomas Holt, a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University who is an expert in computer hacking. “So conspiracy is a way to… treat it as low-hanging fruit where you can at least demonstrate through email and other communications that they were working in some degree in concert to produce an outcome.”

Limiting the indictment against Assange to this one, narrower charge and not charging him with espionage leaves aside any First Amendment questions that could have been raised about Wikileaks publishing classified material. “There has been a lot of speculation that the U.S. would indict Assange merely for distributing classified material,” former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti wrote on Twitter. “You have heard a lot of concern about that, and it is justified. Many legitimate press publications in the U.S. distribute classified material at times.”

This indictment does not implicate press freedom in any way. It is a crime for any person, whether you sell hotdogs or write for newspapers, to agree to help someone hack into a protected computer server in the United States. I prosecuted non-journalists for that crime myself.

There has been a lot of speculation that the U.S. would indict Assange merely for distributing classified material. You have heard a lot of concern about that, and it is justified. Many legitimate press publications in the U.S. distribute classified material at times.

But this indictment does not charge Assange with a crime related merely to the publication of the material. Rosenzweig offers this analogy: If a journalist has sources offering classified documents, the journalist can publish those documents and this indictment against Assange has no bearing on that. But if a source tells a journalist there are documents behind a locked door, and the journalist offers to help pick the lock, that’s when it becomes a crime. “You as a journalist have become engaged in a criminal enterprise in a way that’s different from normal journalist behavior,” Rosenzweig says of that scenario.

This is where relevance to Mueller’s Russia investigation comes in. In 2016, hackers that the U.S. government believes to have been directed by the Russian government hacked the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta. Batches of the hacked emails were released by Wikileaks. Mueller indicted Russian intelligence officers for crimes related to this operation, but he did not charge Assange.

There are two key relevant questions in Mueller’s investigation. The first is how the hacked material made its way from Russia’s Internet Research Agency to Wikileaks, and whether Trump advisor Roger Stone or anyone else associated with the campaign was in that chain of custody. The second, related question is whether Stone or anyone else in the campaign assisted in targeting the hacking or selecting and timing the release of hacked material. (Stone has been charged with lying to Congress and obstructing an investigation into his communications with Assange. Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen also testified that he was present for a July 2016 phone call during which Stone informed Trump that Assange was planning to publish hacked Democratic emails.)

As in Rosenzweig’s analogy, if Stone or another member of the campaign simply knew about the information in advance, that likely wouldn’t be a crime. But if they conspired in the hack, that could be.

Attorney General William Barr has said Mueller’s investigation did not establish that anyone on the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to influence the election.

For now, this single-count indictment against Assange for activity from nine years ago doesn’t seem to have direct bearing on lingering questions from the Mueller investigation. And Mueller hasn’t recommended any more charges to come directly from his office. But Assange and Wikileaks loom over multiple aspects of Mueller’s investigation, and more details may surface in the coming days when Barr releases a redacted version of the report.

BJP government’s approval ratings sink as elections begin in India

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

The net approval rating of the Narendra Modi government has dropped 12 points between March 12 and April 12, according to the CVOTER-IANS tracker.

The performance rating of the Central government had peaked in the days after the Balakot air strike on February 26, touching the highest level of 62.06 on March 7.

After remaining in the 50s till March 22, the approval ratings have come down to 43.25 on April 12, a day after the first phase of polls held for 91 Lok Sabha seats.

Exactly a month ago on March 12, the approval rating of the government was 55.28.

The tracker findings are based on survey of people who were asked if they are “very satisfied”, “satisfied to some extent”, “not satisfied” and “Dont’ know/can’t say” about the performance of the Central government led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

On March 7, 51.32 per cent of the respondents had said they were very satisfied with the performance of the government. However, the net approval rating, taking into account all the responses, has been in constant decline and is settling into the pre-Pulwama levels.

The government’s net approval rating was 32.4 on January 1 and remained between 30 and 40 for the entire month before rising steadily after the mid-February when the Pulwama attack took place which was followed by air strike against Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Balakot resulting in sharp rise. Around half of the voters surveyed by CVOTER-IANS continue to be very satisfied with the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The poll tracker interviewed 12,050 voters on April 4 and found that 50.95 per cent of them said they were very satisfied with the performance of the Prime Minister while another 22.49 per cent said they were satisfied to some extent. There were 25.29 per cent voters who said they were not happy with him at all.

The satisfaction level with the Prime Minister remained high mostly after the air strikes on the terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakot whose momentum on the voters has sustained despite a slight dip. The latest findings of the tracker poll has come just three days ahead of the first phase of polling on April 11.

The Prime Minister had the best approval rating of over 55 per cent on March 6, 7 and 8. But the sample size on those days was half of what it was on April 4. There has also been a marginal rise in those who are not at all satisfied with the Prime Minister from around 20 per cent in the first week to March to around 25 per cent in the first week of April. (IANS)

Pope falls to the knees in South Sudan, a dictator falls in Sudan

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

Pope Francis on Thursday last week knelt in front of political leaders of South Sudan and kissed their boots. “I express my heartfelt hope that hostilities will finally cease, that the armistice will be respected, that political and ethnic divisions will be surmounted, and that there will be a lasting peace for the common good of all those citizens who dream of beginning to build the nation,” the Pope later said.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011, ending Africa’s longest-running civil war. But that did not bring peace in the new nation. In 2012, South Sudan and Sudan fought over the control of an oil-rich region, until an agreement was signed six months later. But later, South Sudan fought among itself, after President Salva Kiir sacked the cabinet and accused Vice-President Riek Machar of planning a failed coup. That civil war has displaced over 2 million people and killed thousands. A ceasefire was declared in June 2018, but a UN report says “hostilities have persisted“.

In Sudan, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was ousted by the nation’s military on Thursday, after nearly four months of protest, dozens of deaths at the hands of the security forces and endless chants of “revolution!”. al-Bashir had ruled the impoverished nation for 30 years and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for playing “an essential role” in a genocidal purge in Darfur.

Yet, the protesters did not get the revolution they were hoping for, as Lt. Gen. Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, the defence minister, took charge. He announced the new terms: Political prisoners will be released, but Sudan will undergo a two-year “transition” under the military, during which the Constitution will be suspended. There are similarities to this in Algeria, where President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had to resign after 20 years in view of protest earlier this month, only to be succeeded by interim leader Abdelkader Bensalah, the upper house speaker.

Tamil Nadu Chapter of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA remains vigilant and diligent

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

Speaking at an event on April 13, 2019, in Hicksville, New York, the President of the Tamil Nadu Chapter Ms. Jaya Sundaram said that with the current Lok Sabha elections on the way, the Tamil Nadu Chapter remained vigilant and diligent as to the accomplishment of its set goals in trying to get out the votes of all its family members and friends back home. She warned that one should not be swayed by propaganda but must make their choice on facts and figures.

Mr. John Joseph, the Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Chapter, who is also national Vice President of the Indian Overseas Congress USA, said that the Chapter had its review and strategy planning session where some 75 of its leaders gathered around to take stock of its overall work. Mr. Joseph traced back the criteria the Chapter had established earlier to register and measure its targeted goals of making phone calls and the use of other media means to coax their respective relatives, families and friends to make a critical analysis of the work of the Modi government to assist families make their choice of government. The horrific stories going around of money laundering at high levels was scary and worrisome, he added. He thanked the NRIs for their concerns.

Mr. Devendra Vora, President of the Maharashtra Chapter opined that the families have only to look around their own cases to see how badly the downturn in the economy had affected them during the last five years and how disappointing the performance of the Modi government had been.

Mr. Ravi Chopra, President of the Finance Committee, appealed everyone to support the efforts to change the government and bring Rahul Gandhi to head the next Government.

Ms. Shalu Chopra, Chair of the women’s Committee made a passionate speech on how women were increasingly playing an active role in politics and drew everyone’s attention to the recent increase in their numbers of participation.

Mr. Mohinder Singh Gilzian, President of IOC, USA pointed out that the market conditions were deplorable, unemployment remained high, farmers complaints were very serious, the sick and the students in schools were beginning to take a heavy toll. Furthermore, many promises made by the Modi government during their election campaigns turned out to be bogus. Consequently, many voters were now seeking to replace the Modi government. Mr. Mr. Harbachan Singh, Secretary General of IOC, USA praised the most comprehensive Manifesto of the Congress Party as a masterpiece which addressed every issue in human endeavor. It did not dwell in outlandish and unattainable propositions as contained in other manifestos. Where is the black-money and where are the fifteen Lakh rupees that were promised to be deposited into every personal account, he asked. Modi government began by fooling the people who over the years are now traumatized. He referred to a litany of failures and scams which plagued the administration and observed that NRI families had recently been glued to the TV and media to keep themselves appraised on the developments back home destined to bring about change in the government to ameliorate the frustrating situation.

Speaker after speaker painted a gloomy picture of the Modi government’s performance and expressed despair and gruesome future that threatened India and its people. Amongst the leaders that also spoke include Pradeep Samana, Vice President of IOC USA, Oommen Koshy, George Chacko, Leela Merat Kerela Chapter President, Mathew kutty Easow, and Sophia Sharma

Maharashtra Chapter of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA holds campaign meeting

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics 0

New York. With the current Lok Sabha elections already in progress, the Maharashtra Chapter of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA met on April 11, 2019 to review its performance to get out the votes of all their respective family members and friends back home.

Ms. Malini Shah, Chairperson of the Maharashtra Chapter and national Vice President traced back the criteria the Chapter had established earlier to register and measure its targeted goals of making phone calls and the use of other media means to coax their respective relatives, families and friends to make a critical analysis of the work of the Modi government to assist families make their choice of government. Mr. Devendra Vora, President of the Chapter opined that the families have only to look around their own cases to see how badly the downturn in the economy had affected them during the last four years.

Ms. Shalu Chopra made a passionate speech on how women were increasingly playing an active role in politics and drew attention to the increase in their numbers of participation.

Mohinder Singh Gilzian pointed out that the market conditions were deplorable, unemployment remained high, farmers complaints were very serious, the sick and the students in schools was beginning to take a heavy toll. Furthermore, many promises made by the Modi government during their election campaigns turned out to be bogus. Consequently, many voters were now seeking to replace the Modi government with one that not only has a good manifesto but also that the promises don’t seem outlandish and incredible. Where is the black-money and where are the lakh rupees that were promised to be deposited into every person’s account. A list of failures were mention by each speaker one by one and they were upset on the gruesome future that now threatened the people.

Among the leaders who spoke were Pradeep Samala, national Vice Chairman, Charan Singh Prempura, President of Harayana Chapter, Zinda Singh, President Delhi Chapter, Amir Rasheed, General Secretary, Sawaran Singh, Treasurer, and Girish Vaidya.

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April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterScience & Technology 0

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UN labor agency ILO sees big challenges on 100th anniversary

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

In 1919, the International Labour Organization was brought to life to fight for social justice. A century later, many workers are still exposed to exploitation, particularly in Africa. Martina Schwikowski reports.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has been “a trusted voice” to “ensure social justice in every corner of our world,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday.

He made the remarks at a high-level meeting to commemorate the centenary of what was the first ever United Nations agency.

The UN chief painted a picture of a time of upheaval, when newly-emboldened labor unions in many parts of the world, demanded fair treatment, dignity at work, adequate wages and an eight-hour working day.

Guterres said that ILO has had its “finger on the pulse on people’s concerns,” and “played a central role in the struggle for social progress.”

Acknowledging ILO’s more than 180 conventions and implementation programs “on everything from gender equality to forced labor,” UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces said that “injustice is still a reality for millions of people,” highlighting the predicament of child workers, forced laborers and those trafficked into prostitution.

“Over 40 million people today are victims of modern forms of slavery, more than twice the number involved in the transatlantic slave trade,” she said.

Citing decent work as one of her own priorities, Espinosa affirmed that it makes the United Nations “more relevant to people,” by demonstrating the “everyday impact of international agreements like the 2030 Agenda, and multilateral bodies like the ILO.”

Founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1919, the ILO is a UN agency whose mandate is to advance social justice and promote decent work by setting international labor standards. The ILO is the first specialized agency of the UN with 187 member states.

On April 11, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, gave an intervention during the High-Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

In his statement, Archbishop Auza said that ILO’s centenary is an opportunity to renew the commitment to collaborate for social justice. He noted that ILO’s motto, “If you desire peace, cultivate justice,” and its Constitution, which emphasizes that “universal and lasting peace can be established only if it based upon social justice,” is something that for 100 years the organization has been striving to establish, but he asked whether, after 100 years, work conditions and the role of labor are still considered cornerstones to social justice and peace. He praised the ILO’s Global Commission Report on the Future of Work for recognizing the importance of anthropology, specifically how work is a necessary component of human fulfillment but one that must be harmonized with other parts of human nature, like the importance of family and community. Work, he said, is important, above all, for forming a person’s character and dignity in accordance with personal creativity and responsibility. He also addressed the issues of access to work and social security protections for those who cannot work, as well as the necessary legal, political and ethical underpinnings to ensure fairness in employment and not reducing the dignity of workers to commodities. He finished by emphasizing that the Holy See looks forward to continued collaboration with the ILO.

Following is the Archbishop’s Full Intervention:

Madam President,

The Delegation of the Holy See is pleased to participate in this High-level Meeting on the occasion of the one-hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the International Labour Organization (ILO). We consider this celebration an opportunity to renew the necessary commitment to work together in order to achieve the goal of a social justice available to all, leaving no one behind, while moving forward into the second century of the Organization.

At the time of its creation, after the ravages of World War I, the motto that was chosen declared: Si vis Pacem, cole justitiam – If you desire peace, cultivate justice. It echoed the values that were foundational in guiding the action of the Organization, as enshrined in the first paragraph of the Preamble to the Constitution: “Whereas universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice.” This key point was emphasized even by the Nobel Committee when it awarded the Peace Prize to the ILO, in 1969: “there are few organizations that have succeeded, to the extent that ILO has succeeded, in translating into action the moral idea on which it is based (…) [thus having] permanently influenced the social welfare legislation of every single country ”[1].

One hundred years later, the question remains: are the conditions of work and the role of labor in societies still the cornerstones to grant social justice and peace?

The ILO’s Global Commission Report on the Future of Work encouraged governments and all stakeholders to commit to a set of measures in order to deal with the unprecedented challenges coming from the today’s world of work. The basis of the Agenda on the future of work is a human-centered approach[2]. In so doing, the ILO recognized work as a necessary component of human fulfillment, while reaffirming that every aspect of the human person, not only as a worker but as a member of a family and of a community, must be at the center of inclusive and sustainable strategies for integral development. “Recognizing the centrality of the person means restoring dignity to work and production processes. It means putting the working person at the forefront even before the work he does”[3].

Important consequences, however, follow from these premises. First of all, access to decent work for all is an essential condition for development. During the last decades, the world economy has not been able to create sufficient decent work opportunities for all. “While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few”[4]. The latest data, in fact, show that globally only one out of four persons has the protection of social security, while 5.2 billion people remain without any coverage[5]. Secondly, as repeatedly underlined by Pope Francis, decent work must fully integrate the ecological paradigm, rather than being based on a selfish and outdated growth model. The three “T” motto used by Pope Francis in his mother language – Tierra Land, Techo Housing, and Trabajo Work – push us to reassert the inner value of developmental principles based on the dignity of the human person.

Social protection for inclusive economic growth, together with the promotion of decent work for all, has proven to enable a number of low and middle-income countries to strengthen their social protection systems.
Such progress demonstrates that our societies can afford to provide at least a basic level of social security for all while aspiring to accomplish something more. Inclusive social protection actually facilitates the transition from an informal to a formal economy; it can allow societies to support workers in carrying out their family responsibilities; it responds to the necessities of peoples and communities while caring for those in need.

Rights and benefits should not be disposable. The Decent Work Agenda today is part and parcel of the global development agenda and it is universally applicable, regardless of countries’ economic, social or political status. Labour should have its legal and political framework based on just ethical principles that bear real political, legal and economic consequences. A labor contract, by definition, involves a transaction between human beings, it cannot, thus, be considered as a mere commercial relationship. As clearly stated by the ILO Constitution, “Labour is not a commodity”.

The activity of human labor is important, above all, for its role in the formation of a person’s character and dignity. It is not consumption, but the capability of creating new things, relations, expressions, that marks the vitality of a person. The personal imprint, given through work, brings about satisfaction and the will to grow and to contribute in a positive way to social coexistence. As stated by Pope Francis, “work should be the setting for this rich personal growth, where many aspects of life enter into play: creativity, planning for the future, developing our talents, living out our values [and] relating to others.[6]” From this perspective, the same forces of globalization that today are generating unequal growth can be tomorrow a powerful instrument for the development of the human being. With the diffusion of modern technology new ideas can spring forth, with the circulation of peoples there is an occasion for greater interaction and creativity and with trade in goods and services there arise opportunities that can be put at the service of the common good.

In conclusion, Madam President, the path forward to an effective and inclusive development needs new visions and strategic investments to provide employment and to sustain enterprises, especially where the social gap is deep. Giving priority to decent work keeps economic activity at the service of the human being and its social relations and strengthens the ethical foundation that can help to guarantee it. The good practice and continued relevance of social dialogue, with its important contributions, is increasingly necessary, in a context of global developments, employment as well as in labor relations. Over the last century, we have had the pleasure to observe that, in order to promote a real social dialogue, the effective tripartite structure of the ILO, has been both an objective in itself and a means to achieve other objectives.

We wish to commend the ideals that, 100 years ago, presided over its creation and reaffirm that “the ILO possesses the moral compass to guide its decisions and the values by which it must assess all changes in the world of work. The task is to shape the emerging realities of our time into conformity with those values, and not the reverse”[7]. The Holy See confidently looks forward to continued collaboration, as the International Labour Organization addresses the theme of labor and of its impact on the economy and society, in the best interest of every human person and for the just progress of every country.

Thank you, Madam President.

First Picture of a Black Hole Released

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterScience & Technology 0

A picture of a black hole is one of those great, self-negating concepts, like the sound of silence, the presence of absence or the lives of the dead. The nature of one refutes the other. But a picture of a black hole has arrived nonetheless — revealed Wednesday morning in simultaneous press conferences held in six different locations around the world.

At those events — in Washington, Brussels, Santiago, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo — astronomers gave humanity its first look at the black hole at the heart of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy, nearly 54 million light years from Earth. With that, astrophysics opened one more tiny crack in the wall of secrets that is the universe:

“We are delighted to report to you that we have seen what was thought to be unseeable,” said Shep Doeleman, Harvard University senior research fellow and director of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), at the announcement at Washington’s National Press Club. “We now have visual evidence. We know that a black hole sits at the center of the M87 galaxy.” True to the nature of the science, the picture does not show the black hole itself. The defining feature of all black holes is that they are so dense, generating a gravity field so powerful, that nothing, not even electromagnetic energy — which, of course, includes visible light — can escape their pull. What the picture reveals instead is the black hole’s so-called event horizon, the swirl of gas and dust and stars and light itself, circling the gravitational drain, before they’re sucked inside never, ever to reemerge.

In April of 2017, a global web of eight radio telescopes located in six places (Chile, Mexico, Spain, Hawaii, Arizona and the Antarctic), the collective network that makes up the EHT, began surveying the Messier 87 black hole, as well as the black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. Seeing any sign at all of either formation was no small achievement.

“The light from the M87 black hole has to travel for 60,000 years through its own galaxy, then for 55 million years across interstellar space,” said Doeleman. “Then it had to make it through our atmosphere, where the greatest enemy of the photons is water vapor.”

For that reason, all of the telescopes are deployed in places where the air is generally dry and generally clear — though not always. Simple bad weather could stymie even the most sophisticated plans, but the EHT team caught a break.

“We were very lucky,” said University of Arizona astronomer Dan Marrone, of the EHT team. “Our first three days of observing were some of the best we’ve ever seen.”

The black hole at the center of our galaxy goes by the name Sagittarius A*. It has a mass equivalent to about 4.1 million of our suns. While that earns it the sobriquet “supermassive black hole” (more common black holes can be as small as five solar masses), it’s actually something of a pipsqueak as these things go. It measures perhaps 24 million miles across, or about a 50 billionth the size of the galaxy. Trying to take an image of that from the 26,000 light year distance at which the Earth sits from the center of the Milky Way is like trying to spot an orange on the surface of the moon—with the naked eye. (A picture of Sagittarius A* was not released Wednesday, but will be in the future.)

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard criticized for ties with Indian right-wing outfits

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India 0

As Hawaii Congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard addressed supporters at the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, March 30, several people gathered outside to protest her ties to nationalist groups in India. Waving signs reading “Tulsi, Prince$$ of the R$$” and “Stop Supporting Fascism in India,” the rally, organized by the Organization for Minorities of India, included Christians, Dalits, and Sikhs. “I came here because I want to preserve American values of freedom and justice,” said Los Angeles-based businessman Harjeet Singh.

Flyers alleging Gabbard’s close ties with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were distributed. It also posed a series of questions to Gabbard regarding her meeting with OFBJP members in the U.S., her acceptance and later refusal of the being the chairperson of the World Hindu Congress held in Chicago last year.

Inside the church, Gabbard shared her experiences serving as a soldier in the Army National Guard, being deployed twice to the Middle East, serving in Congress for more than six years, and on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees, a press release from her campaign office said.

According to Organization for Minorities of India, Gabbard was questioned about her RSS ties and her collaboration with the group by Pieter Friedrich, an analyst of South Asian affairs. “Hawaii resident Michael Brannon Parker says he has known you since you were a child and he introduced you to the RSS,” said Friedrich. “Vijay Pallod of Texas is a leader in RSS-affiliated groups in the USA, and he confirms that he met you through Michael Brannon Parker. In your first two terms in office, you also met the RSS spokesperson at least three times. And you spoke at many RSS events, including two in India. When did your collaboration with the RSS begin and how much money have they given you?”

Protestors outside the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, Calif., March 30, organized by the Organization for Minorities in India, included Christians, Dalits and Sikhs, who decried Gabbard’s close ties to Hindu nationalist groups in India and the U.S.

“I’m a soldier, and I took an oath,” Gabbard said in response to the question. “One oath in my life.” She continued, “That was an oath to serve and protect this country, to put my life on the line for the people of this country.” She added, “We stand for aloha, we stand for diversity, we stand for peace.” While most of the audience remained seated, she stated, “Thank you everybody for standing with me.” Finally, she concluded, “It is this kind of attacks that are rooted in religious bigotry that we must stand together and condemn.”

“It’s sad to see Tulsi refusing to acknowledge the extreme violence of the RSS,” said Arvin Valmuci, a spokesperson for Organization for Minorities of India said.

“We remember the most recent pogrom against Christians, in 2008 in Odisha, where even the chief minister of the state said that the RSS was guilty,” he said. “It’s even more shameful that Tulsi, as participants in the protest told us, refused to answer any of the questions about her links to the RSS.”

Supporters cheer as Hawaii Congresswoman and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard addresses the campaign rally.

As Gabbard’s event ended, dozens reportedly interacted with the demonstration outside. Some gathered to listen as several demonstrators spoke through a megaphone, the OMI press release said.

“I am a representative of the black community,” the OMI press release quoted demonstrator Jada Bernard as saying. “It is sad to say that, in 2019, white nationalism is an issue for the black community. The diversity of America must be protected,” he said.

Rep. Ami Bera calls to institutionalize U.S.-India Strategic Partnership

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics, U.S. 0

Four-term U.S. Rep. Amerish ‘Ami’ Bera (D.-Calif.) — the longest-serving Indian-American U.S. lawmaker — whose influence and clout in the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee has been enhanced with the Democrats regaining the majority in the House, has said he will shortly unveil legislation he’s authored and co-sponsored by several other members of Congress, to institutionalize the U.S.-India strategic partnership across various sectors.

Bera, 53, predicted that this legislation, once enacted, would make India as much an ally of the U.S. as are its NATO partners and other close allies such as Japan and South Korea.

“We also think it’s important to authorize and work with India in partnership to help advance and promote aid in third nations, and the countries in Africa is an example,” he said.

Bera said by the same token, “It will be in our interest to foster this partnership — where more American students go and study in India.

“And, again, these planks would continue to move the U.S.-India partnership forward together,” and help institutionalize it, he added.

Bera said that “as we introduce this legislation, we would be looking to the U.S.-India Friendship Council and other organizations to help work with us as we move this legislation forward.

“We still believe that the U.S.-India relationship can be that defining relationship in the 21st century and certainly a strategic relationship,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), in this remarks, lauded Swadesh Chatterjee, the founder and chair of the Friendship Council for “your incredible guidance and mentorship over the years.

Khanna continued, “I’ve always believed that their generation and the sacrifices that they’ve made for this country and the community, will always be far more than my generation.”

He said that “really showed the Indian-American community coming of age in terms of building those bridges between the U.S. and India that will last.”

IMF’s Gopinath Doubts India’s GDP number

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterFinance/Economy, India 0

After 108 economists and former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Chief Economist Gita Gopinath has expressed doubt over India’s growth rate, saying that there are still some issues with the way India calculates it.

This comes as a blow for the government as the key argument that senior officials in the NDA government have consistently made is that the GDP figures are accepted by global organisations like the World Bank and the IMF.

“With regards to the newer numbers that are coming out, we are paying close attention to it, we are speaking closely to our colleagues in India and then we will make a determination based on that,” Gopinath told CNBC.

While she welcomed the changes made to the GDP calculation in 2015, including the change in base year, she also flagged concerns over the “deflator” used to calculate the real GDP.

“There were important revisions that were made in 2015 as a part of modernizing India’s national accounts statistics, so that is certainly welcome. That said there are still some issues that need to be fixed and this we have flagged before with respect to the deflator that is being used for estimating real GDP… this is something we have flagged in the past,” Gopinath said.

Several experts have expressed doubt over the unemployment, growth rate figures and have alleged that the government was suppressing uncomfortable data.

Explaining one such point of contention, R. Nagaraj of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research had told IANS that as the employment rate has fallen, one would also expect output growth to have decreased, unless there is a huge rise in productivity per worker for which there is no evidence. “So, the rising GDP and declining employment rate for the same year seems anomalous,” he said.

Nagraj, alongside several economists, in a statement released earlier this month, questioned the government’s intent behind the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) methodology revision and called for the restoration of independence of statistical bodies in light of the allegations that government was suppressing uncomfortable data.

On a similar note, former Reserve Bank of India Governor Rajan said in a TV interview: “I know one Minister has said how can we be growing at 7 per cent and not have jobs. Well, one possibility is that we are not growing at 7 per cent.”

Earlier this year, a report citing National Sample Survey Office’s PLFS data, the publication of which was withheld, revealed that unemployment in the country was at a 45-year-high of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18. (IANS)

Indian Americans host event for candidate Laura Fortgang in New Jersey

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

Dr. Jayesh Kumar Patel and his team organized a fund raiser for Laura Fortgang who is a candidate for Assembly from the 26th Legislative District from the Democratic Party, at his home in Parsippany. The event was attended by the Mayor of Parsippany – Mike Sariano along with elected officials from Verona, West Caldwell, Morris County, Jefferson Township, Montville Township, Rockaway Towenship, Passiac County, Fairfield and several communities in the district.

Mayor Mike Sariano spoke on the ability of Laura to include all people’s views and their aspirations in decision making. He said that she brings to the table the ability to work with diverse people for a progressive and better community as a leader. He assured Laura Fortgang will move forward with the development and she will recieve all the support from him and his team.

Laura Fortgang promised that she will work on improving the education standard of the schools in the district, building better transportation facilities to the district to retain working class people so that they can travel to work easily within the tri state. She promised to decrease the taxes, especially amongst the taxes being paid by senior citizens so that they can lead a good retired life after having worked hard all their life. She said that as a small business owner she understood the difficulties of running a business in a competitive environment and promised that she will be a supporter of small business in the district. She hoped that she will receive all the support from the community in her endeavor to serve the 26th Legislative district in New Jersey.

Dr.Jayesh Patel who was the host for the event that saw over 200 people attend the event, thanked the Mayor for taking time to attend the event and assured Laura Fortgang all the support for her re election. Several Community leaders like Rajendar Dichpally, Raju Patel, Chandu Patel attended the event.

Indian Embassy Advisory for students hoping to study in US

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation, Travel 0

The Indian embassy in Washington issued an advisory urging students hoping to study in the United States to go beyond the usual checks to ensure they were not applying to “fake” universities that law enforcement agencies here have set up in the past to “trap” immigration frauds suspects.

The Indian embassy in Washington issued an advisory Wednesday urging students hoping to study in the United States to go beyond the usual checks to ensure they were not applying to “fake” universities that law enforcement agencies here have set up in the past to “trap” immigration frauds suspects.

“In order to ensure that Indian students do not fall into such “traps”, it is advised that due diligence be exercised while seeking admission in US Universities,” said the embassy advisory.

“The fact that a University is duly accredited by relevant US authorities such as its inclusion in the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVIS), is not an assurance in itself about the bonafides of a University”.

The alert comes in the wake of, and the the advisory mentions them, US authorities apprehending hundred of Indian students enrolled at Farmington University in Michigan, a “fake” university set up by immigration enforcement agencies to ensnare recruiters and students in what was described as a “pay-to-stay” scheme. People enroll only to either stay in the US or extend their stay without any intention of studying, US enforcement agencies have alleged.

The other such institution was University of Northern New Jersey, which was used for the same purpose.

Indian students enrolled in these universities were apprehended and many were deported. They later claimed that they had taken these universities for real, paid their fees and had every intention to study.

“In order to ensure that Indian students do not fall into such “traps”, it is advised that due diligence be exercised while seeking admission in US Universities,” the embassy said.

The mission issued a checklist of steps students could take to ensure they were not duped.

Check if the university function from a campus or merely maintains a website and has administrative premises only? Does it have a faculty and regular instructors/educators? Does it have a a proper curriculum, hold regular classes and actively implement academic or educational activity?

Jet Airways cancels all international flights

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Finance/Economy, Travel 0

Jet Airways, facing its worst existential crisis in its over 25-year-old history, Friday extended suspension of its international operations till next Monday due to severe liquidity issues.

Incidentally, the stake sale bid invited by the SBI-led consortium of bankers, which manages the day-to-day operations of the airline, also closes by the end of the day Friday, after being extended by two days.

Airline founder Naresh Goyal, the UAE carrier Etihad Airways, Air Canada and the country’s national investment fund among others are reported to have submitted bids, according to media reports.

On Thursday, the airline had announced temporary grounding of its international operations – Jet was the largest international airline from the country till the financial crisis – when it had also suspended operations to the entire Eastern and Northeastern markets as Jet was forced to ground 10 more aircraft following default of lease rentals.

This has left Jet with no large aircraft while it had just 14 planes for domestic operations as of late Thursday. “Jet has decided to extend suspension of its international operations till Monday, due to severe cash crunch,” airline sources told PTI Friday.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) called an urgent meeting to discuss the crisis that Jet Airways, which is facing acute financial woes, is undergoing, news agency PTI reported.

Saying that the airline was working to minimise guest inconvenience, a Jet Airways spokesperson said, “…The airline’s management and its key stakeholders including its consortium of lenders, continue to work closely towards resolving the current situation.”

Jet was the largest domestic carrier operating in the international sector with a hub in Amsterdam, where a cargo agent had taken possession of an aircraft this on Tuesday demanding bill payment. This led to the cancellation of the Amsterdam-Mumbai flight that day.

Thursday Jet flights to London, Amsterdam and Paris from Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru scheduled were cancelled for operational reasons,” Je had said, adding it had also cancelled the Bengaluru-Amsterdam-Bengaluru flight Friday.

On the domestic front, all Jet operations to and from the Eastern and Northeastern states were suspended till further notice. Following this, there would no Jet flights to and from Kolkata, Patna, Guwahati and other airports in the region, travel industry source had told PTI.

Jet had also said its Mumbai-Kolkata, Kolkata-Guwahati and Dehradun-Guwahati-Kolkata flights stood cancelled till further notice due to “operational reasons.”As of Thursday, the airline had just 14 planes–way down from 123 planes in operations till a few months back.

Of the 14 aircraft that it operated till Thursday evening, eight were wide-body B777s (seven) and an A330– generally used for long-haul international operations.

The remaining six planes were, three B737s, which are largely used for flying on domestic routes besides on short- haul international destinations and the rest three are regional ATRs.

With just 14 aircraft left for operations, aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola had told PTI that the ministry was awaiting a report from the DGCA to decide whether Jet can continue to fly on international routes.

The government rules stipulate an airline must have at least 20 planes for operating international operations. The developments came as banks refused to release the promised additional loan of ₹1,500 crore and original promoter Naresh Goyal pledged 26% of his holding in Jet Airways with Punjab National Bank. This is to borrow money from the bank to continue operations of the airline.

It could not be immediately ascertained how much money was sanctioned against the share pledge. Jet Airways on Thursday informed stock exchanges about the pledge.

The airline cancelled three domestic flights for Friday. These include Mumbai-Kolkata, Kolkata-Guwahati and Dehradun-Kolkata via Guwahati. “Guests have been informed and refunds are being processed,” an airline spokesperson said.

Rachana Desai Martin Appointed as Chief Operating Officer of Democratic National Committee

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

The Democratic National Committee announced that it has appointed Rachana Desai Martin as the Chief Operating Officer. The CEO of the Democratic National Committee is Seema Nanda.

Rachna has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer, a role she has been filling on an interim basis. She will oversee the DNC’s operational and administrative infrastructure.

Previously, Rachana served as the Director of Voter Protection and Civic Engagement, where she oversaw the Party’s national voter protection efforts. She brings a wealth of experience from both government service and a variety of campaigns, including multiple roles inside the Obama administration and led the voter protection efforts in Nevada for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.

“As we head into one of the most important elections of our lifetime, we are building a world class team in order to beat Donald Trump and elect Democrats up and down the ballot,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez. “Waikinya, Rachana, and Reyna bring a wealth of knowledge to the party and we are lucky to have them on our team. Their work will be felt far outside the building as we continue to strengthen our party and build on the victories from the last two years.”

Added DNC CEO Nanda: “Our rich diversity of background and experience is what has made the new DNC a political force in electing Democrats up and down the ticket in every corner of the country. These three phenomenal women embody our core ideals and will bring new energy to our leadership team as we continue to lay the groundwork to take back the Senate and the White House in 2020.

Diane Gujarati re-nominated by Trump for Federal Judgeship

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

US President Donald Trump has re-nominated an Indian American prosecutor, Diane Gujarati, to be a federal judge. The White House announced on Monday that Trump was again sending her nomination to the Senate for confirmation as a judge of the federal court for Eastern New York that has jurisdiction over parts of New York City and Long Island.

She was first nominated by President Barack Obama in 2016. Trump re-nominated her last year and both times the full Senate didn’t act on the nomination, even though the Senate Judicial Committee had unanimously approved it.

Gujarati is now the deputy chief of the criminal division of the federal prosecutor’s office for Southern New York that has jurisdiction over Manhattan.

Her father, Damodar Gujarati, is an economics professor at West Point, US Military Academy, that trains officers. Her mother, Ruth Pincus Gujarati, taught social studies at a New York City high school.

After graduating in law from Yale University, Diane worked as law clerk to a federal appeals court judge and at a top law firm, Davis Polk & Wardwell, before joining the prosecutor’s office.

She has the backing of both Democratic senators from New York, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as Trump. But her nomination was one of hundreds backlogged in the Senate, although in her case it was not on ideological grounds.

Last month, the Senate approved appointment of Neomi Rao as a judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, considered the most important after the Supreme Court. She replaced Brett Kavanaugh, who was elevated to the Supreme Court. Considered a conservative jurist, her nomination split the Senate along party lines. (IANS)

NGOs Blast US for Undermining Criminal Court

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics 0

As it paves a destructive path against international institutions and multilateralism, the Trump administration is slowly but steadily undermining the United Nations and its affiliated agencies.

The US has already withdrawn both from the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris while, at the same time, it has either cut off, or drastically reduced, funding for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and for UN peacekeeping operations (by a hefty $500 million).

The most recent attack has been directed at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague which was planning to investigate war crimes committed in Afghanistan, focusing both on the Taliban and US soldiers.

The US action to revoke the visa of Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, has not only triggered protests from academics and from human rights and civil society organizations (CSOs) but also left several lingering questions unanswered.

When the United Nations decided to locate its secretariat in the city of New York, the United States, as host nation, signed a “headquarters agreement” back in 1947 ensuring diplomatic immunity to foreign diplomats and pledging to facilitate the day-to-day activities of the world body– without any hindrance.

So, is the revocation of the visa a violation of the 1947 US- UN headquarters agreement? Or has the US a right to impose proposed sanctions on ICC judges when it is not even a member of the ICC?

And is the revocation of the visa the shape of things to come, with political leaders from countries such as Iran, Venezuela and Cuba– blacklisted by the Trump administration– being refused admission when they are due in New York next September for the annual General Assembly sessions?

The protests against the US decision have come from several CSOs, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) and the World Federalist Movement- Institute for Global Policy (WFM/IGP).

The letter from the three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) states “the purpose of the visa restrictions is to block and deter legitimate criminal investigation into serious crimes under international law”.

“Not only might they have a chilling effect on ICC personnel and others advocating for accountability, but they will set a dangerous precedent with serious implications on the overall fight for impunity, especially the right of victims and their legal representatives to seek justice and reparations without fear of retaliation.”

Dr. Tawanda Hondora, Executive Director of WFM-IGP, told IPS the Trump administration has been consistent in its reckless application of retrogressive policies that undermine a rules-based international order.

He said its policies are seriously damaging the post-WWII system of international law and practice, and have exponentially increased the risk of armed conflict in a world in which many more states now possess weapons of mass destruction.

“The revocation by the US of Fatou Bensouda’s visa violates Article IV of the UN-US headquarters agreement”.

There is no question that the US is applying its immigration laws with the objective of improperly influencing the ICC Prosecutor’s investigations into crimes committed by all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan, he argued.

“It is wholly unacceptable that this administration is using Bensouda’s personal situation to coerce her to breach her mandate under the Rome Statute and to the UN Security Council,” he declared.

Dr Martin S. Edwards, Associate Professor of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University in the US, told IPS both civil society and other countries are right to be critical here.

“I would hope that this is solely intended to make life difficult for Bensouda and not part of a more general trend of denying visas for General Assembly visits”.

However, said Dr Edwards, there is little about this administration and its mix of insecurity and unwarranted bluster that should surprise anyone.

“I would think that this could lead to similar attempts to deny visas for General Assembly visits” He pointed out that the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro could be a natural target here as an extension of diplomatic efforts to isolate him.

It would be ironic that a President that frames his accomplishment as a reassertion of American power would be afraid of what he would say from the podium, said Dr Edwards.

But the hallmark of this US Presidency has been a singular focus on controlling perceptions and information, rather than confidently relying on our diplomatic prowess to produce results.

Historically, the US has grumbled about leaders coming to New York (denying Arafat was legally easier than a Head of State), but one can imagine this White House pushing the envelope here, since it’s perfect “red meat” for the President’s base, he added.

The legal basis for doing this is incredibly thin, based on a false reading of Section 6 of the Headquarters Agreement, which grants leaders a right to access to the UN, and the US would surely lose in arbitration, Dr Edwards noted.

Briefing reporters on March 15, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said since 1998, the United States has declined to join the ICC because of its broad, unaccountable prosecutorial powers and the threat it poses to American national sovereignty.

“We are determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation. We feared that the court could eventually pursue politically motivated prosecutions of Americans, and our fears were warranted,” he declared.

Dr Palitha Kohona, a former Chief of the UN Treaty Section, told IPS the US is not only, not a party to the Statute of the ICC, but it also inserted Article 98 of the Statute during its negotiations excluding US nationals from its jurisdiction.

Subsequently, the US formally advised the UN Secretary-General that it will not ratify the Statute thereby exempting it from any obligations arising from signature.

Thus, the US has emphatically signalled its position with regard to the Statute of the ICC. Therefore, denying a visa to the prosecutor only underlines its consistent opposition to the Statute, said Dr Kohona a former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations.

While one could raise one’s eye brows about the US action, said Dr Kohona, one is reminded again that we still live in a world where the powerful dictate the terms and modify the rules to suit their convenience, despite the dreams of those idealists who had hoped to create a world governed by a transparent and predictable framework of rules equally applicable to all.

“Unfortunately, the rules, especially those relating to human rights and humanitarian affairs, tend to be applied with vigour only to the weak and the meek and not to the powerful. This is the reality of the world that we inhabit,” he noted.

Dr Edwards of Seton Hall University said: “As for the ICC, Bensouda is caught between a need to investigate non-African cases to signal her independence, but picking the biggest fight imaginable in the process”.

This does fit a general US pattern of using ICC as a tool against other countries while exempting itself from investigation in the process, so in one sense it is not surprising.

“The bigger danger for the ICC is that this might set a precedent for other countries to try to tamper with its work in similar ways moving forward,” he declared.

Dr Hondora of WFM-IGP called on the United Kingdom and France – members states to UN Security Council (UNSC) and the Rome Statute – to initiate a debate in the UNSC regarding the lawfulness and propriety of the US decision to revoke Bensouda’s visa in the peculiar circumstances of this case.

He said WFM-IGP calls on the UN General Assembly to object to the revocation of Bensouda’s US visa as it sets a precedence that will see representatives of governments and international bodies that different US administrations object to being personally targeted with punitive personal US sanctions with the intention of prejudicing how they discharge their roles and responsibilities under key treaties.

WFM-IGP also calls on the General Assembly to seek an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice regarding the lawfulness – under the US-UN Hosting Agreement – of the US decision revoking Bensouda’s visa to the US in retaliation to a decision taken by the Office of the Prosecutor to investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan.

(The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org)

All South Asian Countries, Except Afghanistan, Are Happier than India; Finland Tops the List, US Ranked # 19

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Environment 0

All South Asian countries, except Afghanistan, are happier than India, according to the World Happiest Report 2019. India ranked # 140th happiest country, as compared with Pakistan as the 67th happiest country in the world; Bhutan #95; Nepal # 100; Bangladesh # 125; Sri Lanka # 130; and Afghanistan # 154. Maldives was not included in the report.

“When you factor in population growth, world happiness has fallen in recent years, driven by the sustained downward trend in India,” according to a statement by the World Happiest Report 2019. “As for emotions, there has been a widespread recent upward trend in negative affect, comprising worry, sadness and anger, especially marked in Asia and Africa, and more recently elsewhere.”

As in 2018, Finland again took the top spot as the happiest country in the world according to three years of surveys taken by Gallup from 2016-2018. Rounding out the rest of the top ten are countries that have consistently ranked among the happiest. They are in order: Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada and Austria. The US ranked 19th dropping one spot from last year.

This year, the Report analyzes how life evaluations and emotions, both positive and negative, have evolved over the whole run of the Gallup World Poll, starting in 2005-2006. For life evaluations at the national level, there have been more gainers than losers.

Among the 20 top gainers in life evaluations from 2005-2008 to 2016-2018, 10 are in Central and Eastern Europe, five are in sub-Saharan Africa, and three in Latin America. The 10 countries with the largest declines in average life evaluations typically suffered some combination of economic, political, and social stresses. The five largest drops since 2005-2008 were in Yemen, India, Syria, Botswana and Venezuela.

This year’s happiness report focuses on happiness and the community: how happiness has evolved over the past dozen years, with a focus on the technologies, social norms, conflicts and government policies that have driven those changes. Special chapters focus on generosity and prosocial behaviour, the effects of happiness on voting behavior, big data, and the happiness effects of internet use and addictions, according to the statement.

“The world is a rapidly changing place,” said Professor John Helliwell, co-editor of the report. “How communities interact with each other whether in schools, workplaces, neighborhoods or on social media has profound effects on world happiness.”

The World Happiness Report 2019, which ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be, according to their evaluations of their own lives, was launched today at the United Nations. The report was produced in partnership with The Ernesto Illy Foundation.

“We are living a moment of transition to a new age and this generates a sense of uncertainty,” said Andrea Illy, Chairman of illycaffè and Member of the Board of Fondazione Ernesto Illy. “Social happiness is therefore even more relevant, in order to give a positive perspective and outlook for the present and for the future.”

The chapter by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network focuses on the epidemic of addictions and unhappiness in America, a rich country yet one where happiness has been declining rather than rising.

“This year’s report provides sobering evidence of how addictions are causing considerable unhappiness and depression in the US,” Sachs said. “Addictions come in many forms, from substance abuse to gambling to digital media. The compulsive pursuit of substance abuse and addictive behaviors is causing severe unhappiness. Government, business, and communities should use these indicators to set new policies aimed at overcoming these sources of unhappiness.”

The report, produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) with the support of the Ernesto Illy Foundation, is edited by Professor John F. Helliwell of the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Professor Richard Layard, co-director of the Well-Being Programme at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance; and Professor Sachs, director of SDSN and the Earth Institute’s Center on Sustainable Development. Policy applications of happiness research are collected in a companion SDSN publication Global Happiness Policy Report 2019.

According to Professor Sachs, “The World Happiness Report, together with the Global Happiness and Policy Report offer the world’s governments and individuals the opportunity to rethink public policies as well as individual life choices, to raise happiness and wellbeing. We are in an era of rising tensions and negative emotions (as shown in Chapter 2) and these findings point to underlying challenges that need to be addressed.”

The World Happiness Report 2019 includes the following chapters:

Chapter 2 Changing World Happiness: by John Helliwell, Haifang Huang and Shun Wang, presents the usual national rankings of life evaluations, supplemented by global data on how life evaluations, positive affect and negative affect have evolved on an annual basis since 2006, and how the quality of government and various forms of conflict have influenced those evaluations.

Chapter 3 Happiness and Voting Behaviour: by George Ward, considers whether a happier population is any more likely to vote, to support governing parties, or support populist authoritarian candidates.

Chapter 4 Happiness and Prosocial Behavior: An Evaluation of the Evidence by Lara Aknin, Ashley Whillans, Michael Norton and Elizabeth Dunn, shows that engaging in prosocial behavior generally promotes happiness, and identifies the conditions under which these benefits are most likely to emerge.

Chapter 5 The Sad State of US Happiness and the Role of Digital Media: by Jean Twenge, documents the increasing amount of time US adolescents spend interacting with electronic devices, and presents evidence that it may have displaced time once spent on more beneficial activities, contributing to increased anxiety and declines in happiness.

Chapter 6 Big Data and Well-Being: by Paul Frijters and Clément Bellet, asks big questions about big data. Is it good or bad, old or new, is it useful for predicting happiness, and what regulation is needed to achieve benefits and reduce risks?

Chapter 7 Addiction and Unhappiness in America: by Jeffrey Sachs, surveys a number of theories of addiction, presents evidence of rising US prevalence of several addictive behaviours, and considers a variety of possible causes and cures.

In presenting these results at the launch, coeditor John Helliwell noted that “over the seven years of World Happiness Reports, there has been a steady increase in the level and sophistication of reader interest. At first, readers mainly wanted to see how countries ranked. Now we see ever-increasing interest in using the happiness lens to help understand what makes for happier homes, schools, workplaces, and communities, and to use these findings to help make lives better everywhere.”

600 theatre personalities urge people to vote against ‘bigotry, hatred, and apathy’ in India

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

More than 600 theatre personalities, including Amol Palekar, Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad and Usha Ganguli, have signed a letter asking people to “vote BJP and its allies” out of power, arguing that the idea of India and its constitution are under threat.

The letter, which was issued last week in 12 languages on the Artist Unite India website, said the upcoming Lok Sabha elections are the “most critical in the history” of the country.

Among those who have signed the letter are Shanta Gokhale, Mahesh Elkunchwar, Mahesh Dattani, Arundhati Nag, Kirti Jain, Abhishek Majumdar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak Shah, Lillete Dubey, Mita Vashisth, M K Raina, Makarand Deshpande and Anurag Kashyap.

“Today, the very idea of India is under threat. Today, song, dance, laughter is under threat. Today, our beloved Constitution is under threat,” they said.

The government has “suffocated” the institutions where argument, debate and dissent were nurtured, the letter stated. “A democracy must empower its weakest, its most marginalised. A democracy cannot function without questioning, debate, and a vibrant opposition. All this is being concertedly eroded by the current government.”

“The BJP, which came to power five years ago with the promise of development, has given free rein to Hindutva goons to indulge in the politics of hate and violence,” it added.

In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the letter stated that he has destroyed the lives of many people through his government’s policies and has failed on the promises he made.

The letter does not refer to the prime minister by name.

“He promised to bring back black money; instead, rogues have looted the country and run away. The wealth of the rich has grown astronomically, while the poor have become even poorer.”

The letter asked people to protect the “Constitution and our syncretic, secular ethos” and vote “bigotry, hatred, and apathy out of power”.

“We appeal to our fellow citizens to vote for love and compassion, for equality and social justice, and to defeat the forces of darkness and barbarism,” the letter read.

“Vote to empower the weakest, protect liberty, protect the environment, and foster scientific thinking. Vote for secular democratic, inclusive India. Vote for the freedom to dream. Vote wisely,” it added.

Last week, a similar appeal was issued by celebrated indie filmmakers such as Anand Patwardhan, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan and Devashish Makhija, asking voters to “defeat fascism”.

Police charge Bishop Franco of raping nun

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, India 0

Police have charged Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar with raping a Catholic nun multiple times, nine months after she complained in southern India’s Kerala state. The police team probing the allegations filed charges on April 9 before a magistrate in Kottayam district, where the nun’s convent is based.

A 2,000-page charge sheet listed charges of wrongful confinement, rape of a woman incapable of giving consent, causing grievous bodily harm during rape, unnatural offense and criminal intimidation.

If found guilty, the bishop faces imprisonment of not less than 10 years or up to life in jail. The charge sheet also lists 83 witnesses, 40 of them Catholic leaders including Cardinal George Alencherry, the major archbishop and head of the Syro-Malabar Church.

Three bishops — Joseph Kallarangatt of Pala, Kurian Valiakandathil of Bhagalpur and Sebastian Vadakkel of Ujjain — and 25 Catholic nuns and 11 Catholic priests are also named as witnesses.

The nuns, who have been campaigning for justice for the alleged victim, have termed the development a turning point in a case that has attracted international attention.

“We have only crossed one major step in the fight to ensure justice for our sister,” said Sister Anupama Kelamangalathuveli, one of the nun’s supporters.

The alleged victim is a former superior general of Missionaries of Jesus, a diocesan congregation that functions under Bishop Mulakkal’s patronage.

She complained to police on June 27 last year that Bishop Mulakkal had sexually abused her 13 times from 2014 to 2016 when he visited her convent in Kuravilangad village in Kottayam district.

Sister Anupama and four other nuns have been supporting their former superior. They also joined a public protest organized by the Save Our Sisters (SOS) forum, formed by a group of social activists.

Following the public protest, police arrested Bishop Mulakkal on Sept. 21 and placed him in judicial custody. He was later released on bail by Kerala High Court. He has always maintained his innocence.

The Vatican removed him from his administrative responsibilities and appointed an administrator. The prelate, however, continues to stay in the bishop’s house in Jalandhar in the northern state of Punjab.

“We know the bishop is powerful and influential and can do anything to subvert the case,” Sister Anupama told uanews.com.

“We bank on the justice of God that sustained us throughout this fight for justice,” she said, adding that the powerful Catholic hierarchy “will do everything to influence the witnesses.”

The way in which the hierarchy responds to the case will decide the future of the Catholic Church in India, according to Shaiju Antony, joint convener of SOS.

“The people in India, irrespective of religion, believe Catholic priests and nuns. If a priest or nun is a witness in a case, they believe they will tell the truth and the victim will get justice. But in this case the situation is entirely different,” he told ucanews.com.

Antony said police have video-recorded statements of witnesses in case they retract them under pressure from the church leadership.

Father Augustine Vattoli, who was forced to quit the post of SOS convener after his superiors castigated him for his involvement in the case, sees the latest development as “very positive.”

“This will pave way for the renewal of the Catholic Church in the country as it gives a message that, however mighty one might be, the law will take its own course,” he said.

Source: UCAN

Indian communities in New York call for defense of democracy

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics, Travel 0

The NYC “Defense of Democracy” rally brought together the rich diversity of the Indian Diaspora in the United States – scientists and engineers, service workers and computer professionals, artists and doctors, Hindus, Sikhs, Dalits and Muslims, policymakers, activists, left and liberal intellectuals and community leaders.

Commenting on the lynchings and targeted attacks on Muslims and Dalits that have increased exponentially since the coming to power of Narendra Modi in 2014, Sarah Anderson-Rajarigam of Dalit Solidarity Forum, one of the co-sponsors of the rally said, “Dalit Solidarity Forum deplores the heavy targeting of Dalits and other marginalized communities. We unite our voices with Dalits and other minorities in their fight for freedom and support them in their efforts to uphold the constitution”. Out of all the mob-lynching incidents by so-called ‘cow-protection’ mobs since 2010, 97% have taken place between 2014 and 2018.

Coalition for the Defense of the Constitution and Democracy (CDCD) have in their press release have stated that the BJP government has responsible for systematic erosion and weakening of democratic values and institutions. It has been attacking and weakening constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission, Supreme Court, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The CBI and Income Tax department have also been used to intimidate media organizations critical of the BJP government.

Sunita Viswanath of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, said, “We are Americans of Hindu faith, many of us Indian, who stand opposed to the ideology of Hindutva and the atrocities against minorities and dissenters being committed in the name of Hinduism. We stand with all the people of India who are calling for an end to this regime that threatens democracy, disregards the dignity and safety of minorities, and has declared war on the poor.”

The BJP has significantly increased corruption and corporate plunder. To distract people from its record of failed governance, the BJP has increased war mongering and is busy dividing the people along communal lines. When Muslims, Dalits, and the Left have resisted or spoken up against the injustice, they have either been imprisoned using draconian laws such as Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Adivasi (indigenous) people and landless laborers, who have been fighting for land and forest rights, have been arrested and harassed. Workers, who have been struggling against the government’s increased privatization and casualization of work, have been fired or put in prison. With the emboldening of patriarchal forces, in many instances, the attacks on women’s rights and safety have been led by BJP ministers and leaders.

Mohammad Jawad, National General Secretary of Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), speaking on why IAMC has joined the rally said, “The people of India will eventually recognize the divisive and hatred the current BJP/RSS government is spreading and will unite to preserve our constitution and defeat this government.”

The protestors at the Defense of Democracy rally held placards and shouted slogans such as:

· Ensure Free and Fair Elections! Election Commission must guarantee election free of violence, intimidation, and rigging

· Stop the witch-hunt! Release all UAPA arrestees and drop all charges

· Stop the lynchings of Dalits and Muslims! Arrest and prosecute the perpetrators

· Stop culture of fear! End the attacks and intimidation of activists, artists, workers and women

The demonstration was held in front of the Indian consulate, New York.

USCIS Strengthens Guidance for Spousal Petitions Involving Minors

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Travel 0

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced additional guidance regarding the adjudication of spousal petitions involving minors, following up on the agency’s February update to its policy.

The guidance, published as an update to the USCIS Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM), instructs officers to conduct an additional interview for certain I-130 spousal petitions involving a minor. Generally, the bona fides of the spousal relationship are assessed in person by USCIS when the alien spouse applies to adjust status, or by the Department of State when the alien spouse applies for an immigrant visa. However, I-130 spousal petitions involving a minor party warrant special consideration due to the vulnerabilities associated with marriage involving a minor. As such, USCIS is modifying its policy to require in-person interviews at this earlier stage for certain I-130 petitions involving minor spouses.

“As part of our continued efforts to strengthen guidance for spousal petitions involving minors, we have instructed USCIS officers to conduct an additional in-person interview earlier in the immigration process for certain petitions that warrant additional scrutiny,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. “While USCIS has taken action to the maximum extent possible to detect and closely examine spousal petitions involving a minor spouse, Congress should address this issue by providing more clarity under the law for USCIS officers.”

Interviewing earlier at the I-130 petition stage provides USCIS with an additional opportunity to verify information contained in the petition and assess the bona fides of the claimed spousal relationship. USCIS officers will now conduct interviews for the following I-130 spousal petitions as part of the adjudication of any I-130 spousal petition where:

The petitioner or the beneficiary is less than 16 years old; or

The petitioner or the beneficiary is 16 or 17 years old and there are 10 years or more difference between the ages of the spouses.

While there are no statutory age requirements to petition for a spouse or be sponsored as a spousal beneficiary, USCIS published guidance earlier this year detailing factors that officers should consider when evaluating I-130 spousal petitions involving a minor. USCIS considers whether the age of the beneficiary or petitioner at the time the marriage was celebrated violates the law of the place of celebration. Officers also consider whether the marriage is recognized as valid in the U.S. state where the couple currently resides or will presumably reside and does not violate the state’s public policy. In some U.S. states and in some foreign countries, marriage involving a minor might be permitted under certain circumstances, including where there is parental consent, a judicial order, emancipation of the minor, or pregnancy of the minor.

In addition, per regulation, USCIS may use its discretion to issue a request for evidence (RFE) where appropriate. As with any benefit, the burden is generally on the petitioner to demonstrate the validity of their petition and the bona fides of their spousal relationship.

These AFM updates are part of USCIS’ continuing efforts to ensure that our policies and processes remain current and are compliant with existing immigration law. USCIS also created a flagging system that sends an alert in an electronic system at the time of filing if a minor spouse or fiancé is detected. After the initial flag, the petition is sent to a special unit that verifies that the age and relationship listed are correct before the petition is accepted. If the age or classification on the petition is incorrect, the petition will be returned to the petitioner for correction.

For more information on USCIS and our programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis), and Linkedin (/uscis).

New York mural of astronaut, Gandhi talks about future

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterEnvironment, Science & Technology 0

The high-tech future of green jobs and the Gandhian virtue of the dignity of work meld their messages on a six-storey high mural commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the centenary of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Sporting a Mahatma Gandhi patch on his shoulder, an astronaut floats in space on the mural painted on the side wall of the Indian Mission to the UN that was inaugurated on Tuesday.

The mural that looks up from the vista that opens to the iconic glass-fronted UN building a block away commemorates the occasions.

The other themes on the mural, a joint effort of the ILO and the Indian mission, include the concept of “green”, environmentally sustainable jobs and the greening of the world by planting trees.

India’s Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said at the inauguration that the mural addresses global concerns of decent jobs and the environment.

He said the mural effort goes beyond the diplomatic work at the UN of dealing with resolutions to a new diplomatic area of reaching out to people to create broader awareness of issues.

Victor Ash, the artist who painted it while perched high on a cherry-picker, told IANS: “I mixed different ideas and came up with this ‘green astronaut’ that is also worker – the worker from the future who would be working in space.”

And to commemorate the anniversary of Gandhi’ birth, he said he added Gandhi’s image as a logo on the arm of the astronaut.

Ash said that one of his inspirations was India’s record in 2017 of planting 66 million trees on a single day.

The mission building with a red-stone facade was designed by the internationally acclaimed Indian architect Charles Correa, but one of its sides was bared to the bricks after the neighbouring building was torn down and a hotel was built on the site with a deep setback.

The mural now decorates that side without impinging on the building’s Correa design.

The mural was one of several sponsored across the city by ILO to commemorate its centenary with a project called Street Art for Mankind that aims to spread the message of decent work for all with sustainable development and social justice.

Portugal-born Ash said that he had painted a mural at the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai during its Summerfest.

He said that he had started as a street-artist in Paris, where he had studied, and later went into doing paintings for galleries.

“But it was only the studio work and exhibiting in galleries was not reaching such a broad public,” he said.

“So I went back to the street and did murals because it has a much bigger impact and you can actually transmit messages much better than just exhibiting in galleries for a few specific people.” (IANS)

New York Workplace Discrimination Law Better Protects Sikhs

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Travel 0

The New York State Senate unanimously voted to pass Senate Bill 4037, which prohibits New York employers from discriminating against employees due to their religious attire, including grooming observations, last week.

Senate Bill 4037 makes it very clear that employers have an obligation to provide reasonable accommodations for religious attire and grooming practices, such as the Sikh turban and unshorn hair. This critical piece of legislation was inspired by the Sikh Coalition’s advocacy efforts in 2011 and successful multi-year settlement against the New York City Metro Transit Authority (MTA) for discriminating against Sikh employees who were previously denied the right to wear religious head coverings in full public view.

“New York has sent a clear message to their employers that respecting and protecting our religious rights in the workplace matters,” said Sikh Coalition Policy and Advocacy Manager, Nikki Singh. “We thank New York legislators for working with organizations like the Sikh Coalition to make sure this new law passed.”

In early April, the Sikh Coalition launched an online petition campaignacross New York to mobilize Sikh community members to write their elected officials in support of the bill. On April 8th, the Sikh Coalition also mobilized 14 New York gurdwaras (Sikh houses of worship) and 22 civil rights organizations to sign onto letters supporting the legislation. On April 9th, the Sikh Coalition joined a rally in Albany, New York in support of the legislation.

“No Sikh should ever have to make the unthinkable choice between their faith and career,” said Ms. Singh. “This legislation will have an immediate impact for Sikhs who have been turned away from employment in New York, and it further paves the way for every Sikh across the state to know that their faith should never impede the career they want to pursue.”

For over 17 years, the Sikh Coalition has been fighting to end employment discrimination in the United States. This work has included successfully litigating high-impact employment discrimination cases against local and federal government agencies, major Sikh-populated industries, Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. Army. If you or someone you know has experienced discrimination in the workplace, please contact the Sikh Coalition’s legal team for a free and confidential consultation. The Sikh Coalition continues to handle an average of over 200 free legal aid cases per year, including many employment discrimination cases.

Additionally, the Sikh Coalition has led grassroots efforts to pass landmark employment discrimination laws in California in 2012. In 2011, the Sikh Coalition also initiated and secured the passage of New York City’s “Workplace Religious Freedom Act,” which significantly enhanced religion-based protections for employees working in New York City.

“We thank every New York Sikh community member that has taken action in support of this legislation, including 14 New York gurdwaras,” said Ms. Singh. “When we mobilize, the Sikh voice has the power to create change that positively impacts the lives of millions.”

The Sikh Coalition also thanks New York State Senator John Liu (D-11th District), the eleven co-sponsors of Senate Bill 4037, along with the tireless efforts of New York State Representative, David Weprin (D-24th District) for bringing this legislation to fruition.

Journalists, diplomats visit Pakistani madrasa that India claims was hit by its air strike

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

On Wednesday, April 10, a group of journalists from foreign news organizations and foreign diplomats was permitted access to a madrasa in Pakistan that was the alleged target of air strike by the Indian military, Reuters reported. The Indian government had claimed that it killed several hundred “terrorists,” Reuters noted. The madrasa is on a hilltop in the Jaba village area, near Balakot. Reuters explained that some visitors expected to clarify several details, especially regarding India’s claim that the air strike was a success and hit a major terror training camp, or if they missed the madrasa and instead landed in the hills, as Pakistan has said. Another aspect was if the madrasa “was a cover” for Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). The organisation claimed responsibility for the February 14 suicide bombing that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel, after which India mounted the air strike.

However, the diplomats and reporters did not have sufficient time to address these queries. They were only permitted into the madrasa’s main building, and “were hurried away by the army, which organised the trip, after less than half an hour. Those arriving by vehicle had even less time,” Reuters stated, adding that they were also only permitted a limited interaction with the madrasa’s teachers and students, which ranged from young to older teenagers. When questioned about this, army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said that Pakistan did not have anything to hide, and that reporters could come to stay for a night or even a month in the future. He denied that JeM had recently used the madrasa, and indicated that “If there was a relationship it was a long time ago,” Reuters stated.

At least three diplomats told Reuters that “it was very difficult to draw any firm conclusions because of the six-week delay in gaining access and the restricted time allowed to look around.” One Western diplomat said, “I don’t think the site was hit but I still can’t be 100 percent after today,” adding, “As to whether JeM were here – they may have been but I can’t determine that from this either.” The group was “shown craters that the allegedly wayward missiles had created on the surrounding hillsides” on its way up to the madrasa compound, Reuters reported.

The group of diplomats and journalists did not see any indication that there had been construction work to remove structures, or build new ones, Reuters noted, adding that vegetation also did not seem display any signs of being hit by a missile attack. Satellite images have suggested that the primary buildings on the hill seemed to be in the same condition as they were prior to the air strike. For the complete Reuters piece, go here.

4th Annual Indie Meme Film Festival Reveals Complete Line Up

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

The Indie Meme Film Festival (IMFF) joins the Austin community for the fourth year in a row. Over a period of four days, the festival will showcase carefully curated, critically acclaimed, socially relevant bold & inspiring features, documentaries, and shorts from South Asia.

The event will include youth films and have local, international, and US based filmmakers in attendance. Complete with red carpet, opening & closing night galas, audience discussions and networking events , the 4th Indie Meme Film Festival promises to be a spectacular community event.

IMFF kicks off Sunday, April 14, and continues April 26-28. The opening night includes The Last Color, a directorial debut by Michelin star chef, renowned restaurateur, celebrity TV host & author Chef Vikas Khanna . The film, featuring Neena Gupta and set in Banaras, India is on restoring the life of dignity for widows expected to be forgotten in a colorless existence. Vikas Khanna will be in attendance at the screening.

“With 25 films over 4 days, including 11 features, 9 shorts, and 5 youth films spanning across 7 countries in 9 languages with over 6 filmmakers in attendance, IMFF will be an exceptional world cinema event to resonate with global audiences ,” shared Tripti Bhatnagar, Co-Founder, Indie Meme Org & IMFF Austin. “We will have amongst us a Celebrity Chef who is a first time filmmaker.” she continued, “Everyone, including the children will have something new to experience at the Indie Meme festival. We urge you to gather your community to celebrate the South Asian culture through films with us.”

The kickoff event on April 14th includes the family film Chuskit which is the story of a feisty paraplegic girl who locks horns with her tradition-bound grandfather – to chase her dream of going to school!

The Centerpiece, Her. Him. The Other (Sri Lanka/Fiction/Drama/1hr56min/Sinhala & Tamil) is from Three Sri Lankan filmmakers renowned for their internationally acclaimed films based on the Sri Lankan civil war, join in to make one film to express their views on post-war reality.

The Closing night film is, Kaamyaab (India/Fiction/Comedy-Drama/1hr 53min/Hindi). On being made to go through his own IMDB page, Sudheer, a washed up side actor from the heydays of Bollywood , realizes that he ‘retired’ on the verge of a rare milestone – he had featured in 499 Hindi films! Now at 63, against the wishes of his daughter, he decides to come out of retirement to complete the round figure of 500 and get that one substantial role for which he will be remembered forever.

Half Widow (India/ Fiction/Drama/ 1hr 31 min/ Kashmiri & Urdu) is a featured film. Amid the backdrop of the Kashmiri conflict, a young woman must come to grips with the disappearance of her doting husband and embark on harrowing journey of self-discovery.

Mangesh Desai, The Sound Man, (India/Documentary/1hr53min/Hindi) is featured amongst top 10 sound mixing engineers of the world by New York Times, Mangesh Desai was a genius and regarded so by the Indian film community. With unparalleled understanding of the craft & technique of sound, Desai’s dynamic range of work goes from the artistic extremes of Satyajit Ray and Shyam Benegal’s art films to the blockbusters by the likes of Manmohan Desai, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Gulshan Rai, Yash Chopra with films including Deewar, Kabhi Kabhi, Sholay – the list goes on! A true tribute to a true hero.

Badges, bands, and individual tickets are available now and can be found along with the full line-up and schedule of films at https://www.indiememe.org/imff-2019

2019 New York Indian Film Festival announces Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing Night Films

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

The annual New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is excited to announce its showcase films for Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing Night. NYIFF, North America’s longest-running, and most prestigious Indian Film Festival will be held on May 7th – 12that the Village East Cinemas in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (181-189 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003).

Festival Director Aseem Chhabra stated, ‘We are proud to share a wonderful collection of new films from India. This selection of exceptional titles showcases the beauty, power and glory of film story telling at its best. Our audience will be excited by the protagonists and fall in love with their journeys.’

Chairman Dr. Nirmal Mattoo said, ‘The 2019 NYIFF selection is the culmination of a global search process by our festival director and curators. We will present award winning releases. We will showcase for the first time, regional movies which present the depth and breadth of India. Original, fresh, transformative dramas will give the audience the deep immersive experiences that they seek. The audience will join us in giving critical acclaim and recognition to the artists who give us so much.’

Opening Night Film: SIR

KALANK

Global Release Date: Wednesday, April 17

Director: Abhishek Varman

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha, and Aditya Roy Kapur

Official Site: https://www.facebook.com/foxstarhindi/

Subtitled Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Z_ueeT_XQ

SYNOPSIS:

‘Kalank’ is an epic romantic drama of six enigmatic, esoteric and wistful characters entangled in search of love but separated by the dichotomy between the two worlds of Husnabad, a town in North India. The elite, opulent and solemn world of the Chaudhry family, and the wild, mysterious and musical underbelly of the town, Hira Mandi, clash when Roop Chaudhry encounters Zafar, a daredevil from Hira Mandi, unleashing deep-buried truths, secrets of betrayal and affairs that threaten to bring the both worlds crashing down. Set in 1945, in Pre-Independent India, ‘Kalank’ is the story of a vivid and ethereal world, lost when the fire of Partition engulfs the city and the country. It’s the story of the shades of Reds in their lives as they yearn for hues of love while Husnabad gets soaked in the reds of violence and revenge.

Date: Tuesday, May 7th

Director: Rohena Gera

Cast: Tillotama Shome, Vivek Gomber, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Rahul Vohar, Ahmareen Anjum

Post Screening Q&A with Rohena Gera

Synopsis: A prosperous young Indian man falls in love with his servant, a widow with the dream of becoming a tailor. “Sir” is an award-winning film that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival (Critics’ Week).

Centerpiece: PHOTOGRAP

Date: Friday, May 10th
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra

Post Screening Q&A with Ritesh Batra

Synopsis: A struggling Mumbai street photographer pressured to marry by his grandmother convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée during a family visit. Despite vast cultural differences, the pair develops a surprising connection that challenges their worldviews in a wistful and funny romance from Ritesh Batra (“The Lunchbox”). “Photograph” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was shown at the Berlinale as a Special Gala presentation.

Photos and press materials can be downloaded here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/op5taqpdtz1jwbu/AACjCl7KceIUdauoefTHeT2ca?dl=0

Closing Night Film: The LAST COLOR

DATE: Sunday, May 12th

Director: Vikas Khanna

Cast: Neena Gupta, Aqsa Siddiqui, Princy Sudhakaran, Rudrani Chettri, Aslam Sheikh

Post Screening Q&A with Vikas Khanna

Synopsis: Nine-year-old fearless tightrope walker and flower seller, Chhoti, savors her dream to save Rs. 300 ($ 4), so she can attend school. “The Last Color” traces Chhoti and her best friend Chintu’s daily struggles for survival on the streets of the ancient city of Banaras, India. Chhoti befriends Noor, a white-clad widow who suffers a life of total abstinence and is disallowed from taking part in any festivities, especially Holi, the Indian festival of colors. Over time, Chhoti and Noor’s friendship and uplifting spiritual bond breaks through the barriers of the social system. “The Last Color” is a story of promises kept and promises broken, a friendship that knows no bounds, and the freedom and victory of the human spirit.

Photos and press materials for Last Color can be downloaded here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kU35ZIknOmGvFucCVKl5EYTaHDhpL0FB

The festival’s complete lineup will be revealed soon!

Tickets are available online and can be purchased on: https://www.iaac.us/nyiff2019/index.htm

The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is the oldest, most prestigious film festival screening premieres of feature, documentary and short films made from, of, and about the Indian subcontinent in the Independent, arthouse, alternate and diaspora genres. Seven days of screenings, post-screening discussions, industry panels, award ceremony, special events, nightly networking parties, red carpet galas, media attention and packed audiences build an awareness of Indian cinema, entertain & educate North Americans about the real India, and add to the amazing cultural diversity of New York City. For more information, please visit the website HERE.

For further information, visit www.iaac.us

GRAPHIC INDIA AND ARKA MEDIAWORKS LAUNCH SEASON 4 OF “BAAHUBALI: THE LOST LEGENDS” ~ The Epic New Season of the Animated Hit Series Now Available ~

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

Mumbai, April 12, 2019 – Graphic India, one of India’s leading character entertainment companies, announced today that the hit animated series, Baahubali: The Lost Legends has released the epic 4thseason with an additional new 16 episodes available starting today on Amazon Prime Video.

Produced by Graphic India and Arka Mediaworks, Baahubali: The Lost Legends initially launched in 2017 and created by S.S Rajamouli and Sharad Devarajan, is based on the blockbuster film franchise, beloved by millions of fans across the world. Season 4, brings the series to a total of 55 action-packed episodes for the country’s millions of Baahubali fans.

Baahubali: The Lost Legends is set before the Kalakeya invasion depicted in the first movie, when Baahubali and Bhallaladeva are still both young princes of Mahishmati. Two brothers competing to rule the greatest kingdom of its age and the epic adventures they must endure to prove they are worthy to one day wear the crown. Under the watchful eye of Sivagami, and the warrior, Katappa, one shall rise to be King of the throne, while the other shall become King of the people.

“When we look at Baahubali and Bhallaladeva, the warring brothers, what we see in the film is just a minor part of their lives. In the ‘Baahubali Universe,’ there is so much more worth knowing about them. The same applies to other characters too,” said Baahubali creator and filmmaker, S. S. Rajamouli. “

“Season 4 is filled with political intrigue, betrayal, war, action, adventure and even more twists and turns as we take fans deeper than ever into the events that shaped Baahubali from a young prince into a legendary hero,” added Graphic India Co-Founder, Sharad Devarajan.

In the new season, Mahishmati and its protectors face their greatest challenge yet and find themselves the targets of a mysterious new force seeking revenge on the legendary kingdom. The season features new, never before revealed stories about the characters from the film including Prince Baahubali, Bhallaladeva, Kattapa and Sivagami as well as all new characters that expand the world of Baahubali.

S. Rajamouli, Shobu Yarlagadda, Prasad Devineni and Sharad Devarajan are Executive Producers on the series along with Jeevan J. Kang, Graphic’s EVP Creative and the lead character designer, and Ashwin Pande, Graphic’s lead writer.

Experience the untold stories of India’s greatest cinematic hero. The legend of Baahubali continues!

Men sometimes act less interested in sex — in order to get it

Men tend to act less interested, while women tend to act a little more interested in sex Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

Newswise — When heterosexuals have casual sex, previous research indicates it is typically the woman who sets the boundaries. If she’s not interested, usually nothing will happen.

“When men and women in the study met, about half of the men said they were interested in having sex with the woman, whereas most women were uninterested initially,” says Associate Professor Mons Bendixen at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU) Department of Psychology.

So the women in the study basically have little interest in having casual sex at first – unless they find the man really attractive.

But a man who gives the impression of wanting to have sex with anyone, anytime, is definitely not what most women are looking for. That could be why men acted way less interested in sex than they really were.

“Men who are overly eager do not come across as attractive,” says Professor Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair in the same department.

The whole thing is a tactical game, say the researchers, and the new NTNU research suggests that men and women’s real intentions may be different from the signals they send each other.

Bendixen is the first author of a recent study dealing with the sexual signals that men and women send to each other.

Do women really want to have sex?

Men who report being the most interested in having sex reduce their signals of interest more.

Evidence from the study suggested that women, on the other hand, might pretend to be a little more interested than they actually are.

“We think this may be to keep the man’s attention a little longer,” says Kennair, but this study does not speak to that directly.

Or perhaps the strategy gives her more opportunity to assess the quality of the guy. And as long as the woman does not seem to be excluding the possibility of sex, men across the board are willing to spend more time with her – and enabling her to check out whether he’s a good choice.

And, if a man is of high quality, that could actually shift the woman’s interest, so that an initially uninterested woman becomes truly interested in the man.

“The exception to this general sex difference is when the woman is as interested as the man. In this case, women also pretend to show less interest.”

“Both men and women who are truly interested in a partner might be trying to ‘play it cool.’ In economic terms, it’s about supply and demand. The most in-demand people are not the most available – they are a rare commodity in the mating game,” says Professor Martie Haselton of UCLA.

“By playing it cool, women and men can also avoid some of the sting of rejection if their partner is not actually interested in them,” says Haselton.

The researchers collected two rounds of data from students at NTNU. The survey included questions such as when they last met with a potential sexual partner, and whether they eventually ended up having sex.

The first round of data collection took place in the spring, when most students are busy studying. The second round was in the autumn, right after the start of the semester and the introduction week activities.

The researchers found a significant difference between the two rounds. Sexual relationships were far more common during the autumn introduction week.

Women choose the most attractive guys

“Among singles, we found differences between men and women when it came to who ended up having sex,” says Bendixen.

Women were much more likely to have sex if they thought the potential partner was attractive. This was consistent with previous findings.

They were also far more likely to have sex if they were new students. Female students who had been at university for a while were much more selective.

“More than half of the new female students who had met an attractive partner the last time they were at a pub or at a party ended up having sex with him,” says Bendixen.

“This behaviour is probably related to two factors: one is the absence of ‘daughter-guarding’ or ‘sister-guarding'” once students arrive at university,” says Kennair.

Fathers – and siblings – might keep a watchful eye on young women’s sexual behaviour and dissuade them from having casual sex. This can be explained by evolutionary biology. But new students in a new city no longer have those same obstacles hindering their free sexual expression.

“The second factor has to do with the perception of increased competition for the men,” Bendixen says.

Female students outnumber male students. So in a lot of groups it can seem like there’s some competition for the men.

In this kind of a situation, women are more willing to have sex. The few guys that are available are simply perceived as more attractive.

Some get a lot – a lot get none

The most important factor in whether men had sex was how many sexual partners they have had previously. This could contribute to their being perceived as sexually attractive and available.

“It’s really the same reason for both men and women – the man’s sex appeal – that decides whether they end up having sex,” says Kennair.

So there’s a lot for some, and much less for the rest. Once a woman decides to have casual sex, she usually chooses the man she finds most sexually attractive.

Other studies show that long-term relationships function slightly differently. In this case women may have to lower their expectations a bit, because the most attractive men are often already taken or because they are able to pursue short-term relationships instead of long-term ones.

“A lot of women have had sex with more attractive partners than the men they end up with in long-term relationships,” says Kennair.

“In our research, women did not appear to act coy in general; rather both sexes downplay their signals if they are very interested. These are novel findings,” Bendixen notes. “Further, men do not pursue women that send signals of low interest.”

###

Reference: APA PsycNET: Adjusting signals of sexual interest in the most recent naturally occurring opposite-sex encounter in two different contexts. Bendixen, Mons Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen Biegler, Robert Haselton, Martie G.

Will democracy survive after the elections in India?

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

For many people in India, democracy means a majoritarian rule. Once a party or a coalition is elected, it acts as if it has the moral and legal right to do what it pleases! That is the crossroad where India is today with Narendra Modi in power disregarding the aspirations of the minorities and diminishing the power structures that provided political and social equilibrium in the last 7 decades or more.

India has not only survived through the growing pains of a democratic experiment but prospered as a nation under a Nehruvian vision and the constitutional umbrella engineered by the great B.R. Ambedkar. Together, they have built Institutions that guaranteed life and property of every Citizen regardless of their background or circumstances and provided an opportunity to climb up the ladder of success and economic prosperity. What we should have witnessed is a continuum of those policies and practices resulting in more openness and tolerance, and yet the opposite seems to have taken place.

Many liberal critics of the Modi regime sincerely believe that his administration is run by a political dogma inspired by the RSS ideology. His long association with that organization and penchant for appointing many of the chief ministerial candidates from that feared cadre may have given such an impression to the public. It is suspected that many of his illiberal policies and reluctance to err on the side of liberty and justice may be the direct result of his commitment to that ideology.

That ideology is based on a common thread promoted by the Sangh Parivar organizations and is called the ‘Hindu Nationalist agenda of BJP.’ The ultimate goal of the agenda is to transform the pluralistic and democratic India to a Hindu nation where the majority religion will have the pre-eminence and minorities relegated to subservient role probably being denied equal protection or opportunities, that too, to a substantial segment of the population.

What is happening to the soul of Indian democracy? After five years of BJP rule, lynching has become the national pastime, and the mobocracy rules the day. Attacks on innocent civilians continued even after India’s Supreme Court requested the government to enact new legislation to end an increase in mob violence and lynching that have reportedly killed over a hundred people accused of cattle theft or other bigoted reasoning.

For astute political observers, these are not isolated incidents, but rather a direct result of evolving national policies that have provided cover and credence to vicious gangs and thugs who are engaged in this type of violence in the name of religion. The mob is appeared to be succeeding every day in tearing up the secular fabric of a nation while the Government’s own actions tend to weaken the Institutions of democracy at every juncture.

Let us take a look at some of these developments in the last five years under the Modi administration that is having a transformational impact on the society and accomplishing their stated goals:

The weakening of Institutions:

Disrespecting Parliamentary Democracy:

The constitution framers created a democratic system wherein the legislature would make laws, the executive would implement laws and be accountable to parliament, and an independent judiciary would enforce and interpret the laws. They also put in systems of checks and balances among these three organs of the state. However, over the years, these three organs of the country have pushed the boundaries of their relationship with one another.

NDA has the majority in the Lok Sabha where they pass ordinary bills and then pass it on to Rajya Sabha as Money bills to circumvent their numerical impairment in that body. They also have shown utter disregard to deliberate on essential bills bypassing various parliamentary committees. It should also be noted that Lok Sabha passed the Finance bill of 2018 without even debate against the objections by the opposition.

2) Running interference with Law Enforcement

Agencies such as India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate of the Finance Ministry, the Income Tax authorities and even local police forces are often accused of doing Government’s bidding. The opposition has charged that their leaders have been frequently targeted for harassment which they consider as a political vendetta for expressing their opinions critical of the government.

3) Assaulting on the Independence of Judiciary

India has witnessed an extraordinary news conference by four members of the Collegium revealing the skew in the allocation of work and lack of transparency by Dipak Misra, a former Chief Justice of India. According to the retired Justice Jasti Chelameswar, the second senior most judge at the time, “we tried to persuade the CJI to take steps but failed. Unless the Institution of Supreme Court is preserved, democracy won’t survive in the country”. There is indeed a cloud still casting a pall over the recent verdicts on Loya and Mecca Masjid cases.

4) Weakening of RTI

Since the Narendra Modi government came to power, access to information through the Right to Information (RTI) Act has diminished greatly, according to the annual report of the Central Information Commission (CIC) for 2014-15. “Every Indian deserves to know the truth, and the BJP wants to hide the truth. The BJP believes the truth must be hidden from the people and they must not question people in power. The changes proposed to the RTI will make it a useless Act,” Rahul Gandhi said that on Twitter.

5) Influencing the Election Commission

Shiv Sena, a member of the NDA coalition, has dubbed the election commission as a ‘Tawaif’ (Mistress) of a political party. Coming from an ally, it only amplifies the long-held suspicion by many that election commission has become a tool increasingly in the hands of the BJP government. “People are losing faith in the voting system,” Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told ANI.

Muzzling of Freedom

Freedom of Conscience is fundamental to all other liberties. It is innate and God-given. It is guaranteed under the Indian Constitution. However, it is open season on those who freely exercise it. President Ronald Reagan once spoke eloquently on the importance of maintaining the freedom we all cherish. He said “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same”.

a) Stifling of Individual thought and expression

Professor M.M Kalburgi and Govind Pansare were active in combating the organized mysticism and cultures of gullibility widespread at the “popular” level. Their professed independence and determined efforts to alert the common man from the hideous agenda of the so-called religious godmen cost their lives.

b) Harassing of the Media

Media is dubbed as the fourth estate and has a vital role to play in a vibrant democracy. However, they are increasingly fearful of their existence if they do not toe the line of the Government. Many of these media outlets are bought out by the crony capitalists and have become the cheerleaders of the BJP agenda.

c) Curbing dissent in Academia

Academia has become another favorite target of the Modi Government. BJP and its ilk have always hated Institutions like JNU where the free flow of ideas flourished, and lively debates on the pros and cons of contemporary issues were the order of the day. Today, the students and faculty in these revered institutions are intimidated, harassed and called anti-national for failing to toe their Hindutva agenda line and often charged with sedition.

d) Diminishing Civil Society

Modi Government has been openly hostile to civil society groups. It repeatedly denounces human rights and environmental activism as “anti-national” – a phrase that carries connotations of treason. Their role is critical in a society especially because of the lack of ethics and morality of the current regime that is supremely indifferent to the plight of hundreds of millions of its citizens.

e) Violating of the Religious Freedom

Religious freedom in India continued on a downward trend in 2017, said the United States Commission on International religious freedom’s annual report released recently. It said that although government statistics have indicated that communal violence has increased over the past two years, during the year, Hindu-nationalists groups sought to “saffronize” India through violence, intimidation, and harassment against non-Hindus and Hindu Dalits” although Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion through article 25 and 26. India is home to roughly 172 Million Muslims- the third largest Muslim population in the world. Since the ascendance of Modi as the Prime Minister, tensions between Muslims and Hindus have increased in many parts of the country. Modi’s rise has further pushed Muslims towards marginalization.

Christians, who constitute around 2% of the population, are also under severe stress with many of their places of worship under attack, with increased re-conversion efforts by Hindu fundamentalist organizations, removal of Christmas Day and Easter Day from the National Calendar and by the cancellation of FCRA of thousands of Christian charities effectively putting them out of business, the Saffron brigade is questioning the very Indian ness of every Christian in India.

f) Policing Morality

A group of youths, mainly reportedly affiliated to Bajrang Dal allegedly stripped and attacked a Muslim youth in public in Mangalore for the simple reason that he was found to be with a Hindu girl. The man identified as Shakir claimed he was merely giving the girl a ride in his car on her request when he was attacked.

g) Imposing Dietary restrictions

Since Mr. Modi rose to power, emboldened hard-line Hindu activists have assaulted cow traders and people suspected of eating beef, claiming to defend Hindu beliefs. Mohammed Aklaq of New Delhi was dragged down from his home and lynched to death for the suspicion that he had possessed beef in his refrigerator.

i) Stifling Artistic expression

“Democracy is under threat in India with “artists, writers and rationalists” being attacked in some form or other, says acclaimed actress and filmmaker Nandita Das who feels conservatives and right-wing groups are increasingly becoming country’s moral police. Be it the debate around growing intolerance in India or the agitation around the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film “Padmavati” or the issue around “S Durga” or occasional calls to put a temporary ban on Pakistani talent from working in the Hindi film industry – the conversation around the extent of creative freedom in India keeps coming back. Moreover, Nandita Das feels that there has been an attempt to silence creative voices.

Yogi Adityanath, the saffron-robed new chief minister of India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh said some time ago that its most famous monument, Taj Mahal, does not represent “authentic Indian Culture” – presumably because the 17th-century tomb was built by a Muslim King for his Muslim wife. Minority groups, as well as secular-minded Hindus, are increasingly fearful that the country’s diversity is under threat. “We are turning into Pakistan,” said a society hostess in Delhi.

7) Practicing Anti-Dalit policies

Since the ascension of BJP to power, there is one in a series of incidents that has revealed the mindset of a party, on the one hand, urging Dalits to unite under the flag of Hindutva but on the other, setting up a delimiter to what extent they can be included. First, the ban on the Ambedkar-Periyar Study circle of IIT Madras, then the burning alive of Dalit children in Haryana and finally General VK Singh allegedly referring to them as animals. The suicide note of Rohit Vemulla, a Dalit scholar, may have summed the heart-breaking sentiment felt across their community. “My birth is my fatal accident. I can never recover from my childhood loneliness -the unappreciated child from my past”.

8) Implementing Zero tolerance in Kashmir

According to the Prem Shankar Jha “let us look at where Modi has taken India in the past five years. In Kashmir, he has let loose a regime of absolute terror based on the idea of zero tolerance for political dissent. Today there are no militants in Kashmir, only terrorists who are being hunted down and killed without even being given a chance to surrender. Modi says the Kashmiris are itching to be freed from them”.

The United Nations also have chimed in: “There is an urgent need to address past and ongoing human rights violations and abuses and deliver justice for all people in Kashmir, who for seven decades have suffered a conflict that has claimed or ruined numerous lives,” a report by the UN Human Rights Office published on Thursday says.

Treating Mythology as Science

Human Resource Administration is busy at work changing curriculum and rewriting history to fit the Sangh Parivar narrative. RSS, the radical organization that is behind this administration, has determined to create a theocratic state and the HRM is more than willing to affect those changes. Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of modern India, is being made to disappear as well as an iconic figure in Indian history.

Conclusion: Democracy and Secularism in India under serious assault.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 has ushered in an unprecedented attack on India’s democracy and injected new elements of intolerance and authoritarianism into the lives of people living in the country. As per Jairus Banaji in an article in the Wire that very eloquently put it “behind the mask of a developmental regime promising rapid industrial expansion and millions of jobs for the mass of unemployed youth, we have seen instead a hideous explosion of the cultural politics of the extreme right, overt acclamations of a Hindu Rashtra, a wide-ranging takeover of educational and cultural institutions by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a rampant culture of violence targeting freedom of expression, freedom of religion, intellectual freedoms, and even the freedom of the young to love, a calculated drive to communalize voters in North India with hate campaigns that have led to the horrid lynching at Dadri and Udhampur, a shocking subversion of the judicial system through a concerted drive to secure the release of elements indicted on fake encounter and terrorism charges, fabrication of evidence to crush a handful of individuals who have campaigned for justice for the victims of the Gujarat violence, and of course the brazen murder of anti-superstition crusaders. The fabric of India’s democracy is today being torn to shreds. This is the first government in independent India where the RSS is overtly in command. We are further away from both Jawaharlal Nehru and BR Ambedkar than ever before: from Nehru’s contempt for the RSS as a harbinger of fascism to Ambedkar’s vision of a casteless India”.

A constitution exists to create a framework for the government to function and the constitution of India tries to keep the government inside that framework. That is what Nehru and Ambedkar intended as its authors. It is obvious to any independent observer that the current Modi regime has shown very little respect for that sacred document. Now it is time for the voters to decide whether they want to protect the Constitution that protects them! Martin Luther King once Jr. Said: Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. Let voters decide!

(Writer is the Vice-Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA)

Share of U.S. adults using social media, including Facebook, is mostly unchanged since 2018

April 16, 2019 Staff ReporterSocial Media 0

The share of U.S. adults who say they use certain online platforms or apps is statistically unchanged from where it stood in early 2018 despite a long stretch of controversies over privacy, fake news and censorship on social media, according to a new Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 8 to Feb. 7, 2019.

More broadly, the steady growth in adoption that social platforms have experienced in the United States over the past decade also appears to be slowing. The shares of adults who say they use Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter are each largely the same as in 2016, with only Instagram showing an uptick in use during this time period. (There are no comparable 2016 phone survey data for YouTube, Snapchat, WhatsApp or Reddit.)

Facebook – which recently celebrated its 15th anniversary – remains one of the most widely used social media sites among adults in the U.S. Roughly seven-in-ten adults (69%) say they ever use the platform. (A separate 2018 Center survey showed Facebook use among U.S. teens had dropped in recent years.) YouTube is the only other online platform measured that matches Facebook’s reach: 73% of adults report using the video sharing site. But certain online platforms, most notably Instagram and Snapchat, have an especially strong following among young adults.

Instagram, Snapchat remain especially popular among those ages 18 to 24

As was true in previous surveys of social media use by the Center, there are substantial age-related differences in platform use. This is especially true of Instagram and Snapchat, which are used by 67% and 62% of 18- to 29-year-olds, respectively.

Particularly for these two platforms, there are also pronounced differences in use within the young adult population. Those ages 18 to 24 are substantially more likely than those ages 25 to 29 to say they use Snapchat (73% vs. 47%) and Instagram (75% vs. 57%).

By comparison, age differences are less pronounced for Facebook. Facebook use is relatively common across a range of age groups, with 68% of those ages 50 to 64 and nearly half of those 65 and older saying they use the site.

Other demographic patterns related to social media and messaging app use are relatively unchanged from last year. Women are nearly three times as likely as men to use Pinterest (42% vs. 15%). Around half of college graduates and those who live in high-income households use LinkedIn, compared with 10% or fewer of those who have not attended at least some college or those in lower-income households. And WhatsApp continues to be popular among Hispanics: 42% use the messaging app, compared with 24% of blacks and 13% of whites. (For more details on social media and messaging app use by different demographic groups, see the bottom of the post.)

Neeta Bhushan Rids Indian Consulate of Corruption

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Profiles 0

CHICAGO – A high profile Indian Foreign Service Officer, Neeta Bhushan is a woman of steel. Currently she is the Consul General of India at Chicago. Her legacy as CG will be that corruption shall not revisit Chicago’s Indian Consulate, and it shall forever remain a “guardian” to the NRIs.

“Consulate is your guardian,” she had announced to the community the very 1st day on her arrival to this Chicago posting. Now 3-years later, one sees a transformed Consulate. Its doors stay open to public. From all over, the NRIs look up to it for support, guidance and advice. Organizations seek “legitimacy.” Destitute women seek solace. This unique achievement is truly a feather in her cap; it’s something that her predecessor miserably failed at.

A great organizer, she put into effect numerous great initiatives all through. Many of these shall go into annals of history for having far reaching positive consequences for India. Transfer of ?600 crore worth of the state-of-the-art ‘Seed Development Technology’ to India’s Andhra Pradesh is one such example. The research facility is coming come up at Kulnoor. Neeta Bhushan was singularly instrumental in getting this high profile pact through. Not only it included the transfer of seed genetics, but the techniques at ‘genetic modification’ as well. India, now a seed-importer, will soon be exporting seeds world over, including to US, over and above its national seed demands.

NB is her initialism. NB means Neeta Bhushan. It also means ‘Neat Business.’ As if the Pied Piper of Hamlin, the economist in Neeta Bhushan drove entire Midwest commerce India-wards. The trade from the 9 US states that she commands shot up to 7036 Million US Dollars. It increases as we read. Illinois alone, where she is headquartered, contributes $2482 Million to this. Her neighbor at Chicago, the Boeing, is supplying 205 aircraft to SpiceJet in India; and another 75 to Jet Airways. Neeta Bhushan’s domain, Midwest, is America’s hub of Meat and Food Industry. It be emphatically mentioned that 53,445.78 Kilos of poultry meat and 21627 units of live poultry have been exported to India. These figures form a roaring introduction to Neeta Bhushan’s endeavors that have resulted in reduction of the trade deficit between US and India.

From the very onset, Neeta Bhushan started with a bang! Yoga Day was her very first signature event that startled the community. Organized in a huge arena, the day-long celebrations were attended by who’s-who of the Midwestern United States. These included several Congressmen, Senators, Corporate Magnets, and Religious leaders. On her behest, a Local Chicago leader reinforced the Yoga Day with a 15-minute long live interview on significant National Public Radio.

In the history of Indian Embassy, Neeta Bhushan has the singular honor of hosting the Presidential visit to Chicago. She hosted the sitting Vice President of India while ensuring full-fledged protocol and impregnable security bubbles. The arrangements involved a series of impossibles that don’t event meet an ordinary eye. It needs an emphatic mention that Neeta Bhushan’s behind-the-scene set-ups contributed big time towards the flawless conduct of the first ever World Hindu Congress that was held in Chicago. Delegations from over 18 countries had sent participated that included a dozen of International leaders; one a ‘Head of a State.’

On Commerce front, the India Business Conference that Neeta Bhushan organized has been a trendsetter for the local leadership-aspirants. Its roaring success with over 450 businessmen in attendance was a road-map for reluctant business organizations to do things the right-way. In a span of few hours, Consul General Neeta Bhushan delivered an introduction to almost all Indian states and their industries, and also have American corporate houses participate in Panel Discussion to seek their way of doing business with India.

Much to the awe of many, Neeta Bhushan has been omnipresent. That way she has been a community person. There has been no organization, whose event Neeta Bhushan has not attended. Such has been her zeal, as I would find her presiding-over over three functions a day, after attending the full day of her office. More so, none has ever been denied her audience. A regular visitor to the Universities and Academic Institutions, Neeta Bhushan has handled the academia with a astute diplomatic skills.

Neeta Bhushan is an eagle-eyed officer. She knows the community threadbare. She wont delegate the accountability to the experience-lacking untrustworthy. But same time she wont annoy them. She knows how to message whose ego, and when. She could maintain a delicate balance amongst the perpetually warring factions of the community. Her this officer-attribute has resulted in Neeta Bhushan being center of attraction all over the Midwest. She has been the favorite of the elderly and the students alike.

Memory be the measure, Neeta Bhushan has been the most photographed amongst the Consul Generals. Her friendly persona has helped her make deep inroads into region’s Politco-Bureaucratic circles. No wonder she could set a new trend by hosting India’s national functions at Chicago’s venues be it Millennium Park or Harris Theatre pro bono.

But her affable persona shrouds an iron-lady. Neeta Bhushan carries an iron hand with a velvet glove on it. Rather than looking the other side, she would catch the bull by the horns and pin it down. One can define her as a “No Non-sense Officer.” And rightly so! After all she hails from a family of legendary bureaucrats. That way she inherited Administration skills as a ‘Sense of Fact’ from her IAS father. When the need arose, she put these to use as her second nature. Neeta Bhushan was quick to catch the chronic corrupt practices from within the Consulate, pinpoint the responsibility, and execute remedial measures. Such was the wrath of her actions, that the offenders tended to take refuge in the lap to local disparaging rowdies. The Result: Consulate rid of malpractices; and Neeta Bhushan victorious in her stance.

With over 25 years experience in her haversack, Neeta Bhushan is a diplometese personified. Pauses and silences are part of her vocabulary. She masters non-answers, and answers alike. She wont answer when its not needed to. But when she does, her responses are extensive, elaborate and accurate.

She is a prolific speaker. In her speeches she supports her arguments with extensive statistics and data. Neeta Bhushan has been the most sought after in the region as a Key Note Speaker. Recently, she was the keynote speaker at the prestigious Allen Lerner Lecture Series at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Besides, she has also addressed Booth School of Business at University of Chicago; University of South Dakota; and the Purdue University. Alongside US Senator Dick Durbin, US Senator Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and several Congressmen, Neeta Bhushan had the honor of breaking ground for Chicago-located Fermi Lab’s new accelerator project (See the top banner photo). This PIP-II Particle Accelerator project comprises construction of a 4-story Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment a mile below the earth’s surface with significant components manufactured and contributed by India. This tech know-how will assist India in its domestic accelerator program especially Indian Spallation Neutron Source Initiative.

All said and done: ‘Sagacious’ is her one word definition. Sagacious she is, didactic not. What could be a her teaching, I pondered! ‘Carry the ordinary along, but don’t settle for the ordinary,’ I deduced.

Pope Francis blames Europe, US weapons for children killed in wars

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

Pope Francis blamed Europe and the United States for the deaths of children in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, saying Saturday that wealthy Western countries fuel conflicts by selling weapons in war zones.

Speaking to students and teachers of Milan’s San Carlo Institute, Francis said the reason there are so many wars around the world is “the rich Europe and America sell weapons … used to kill children and kill people.”

Without such firepower, the pope added, there wouldn’t have been war in countries such as Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria. .

“A country that produces and sells weapons has on its conscience the death of every child and the destruction of each family,” Francis said.

Talking about the need for countries to welcome and integrate migrants, the pope refuted the crime concerns governments cite to keep out asylum-seekers.

Foreigners aren’t the source of most crime in Italy because “we also have lots of them,” Francis said.

“The Mafia has not been invented by Nigerians. Mafia is ours,” he said. “All of us have the possibility of being criminal. Migrants bring us wealth because Europe has been made by migrants.”

Pope Francis arrives in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican for a audience with students and teachers of the San Carlo Institute of Milan, Saturday, April 6, 2019.

IAPC Confers Life Time Achievement Award on Kanchana Poola IAPC receives full-throated support of Indian community at Induction Ceremony

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, India, Profiles 0

Kanchana Poola, a community leader and philanthropist, best described as the unassuming power-house of the Indian community, was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Induction Ceremony of the Indo-American Press Club (IAPC) on March 31st here on Long Island at the at the popular Antun’s by Minar in Hicksville, NY.

During the solemn ceremony attended by community leaders, diplomats, political leaders and hundreds of community members, a new Team led by Sunil J. Koozhampala as the President of IAPC assumed charge for the coming year.

Sunil J. Koozhampala took the oath of office as IAPC President along with his Executive Committee for 2019. New Board members were also inducted and executive committees for New York Chapter & Philadelphia Chapter installed. Sunil is the publisher and MD of Rashtra Deepika Ltd and Deepika, a reputed Malayalam newspaper from Kerala. He also has hospitality interests in the US and Costa Rica. He called IAPC founder chairman Ginsmon Zacharia a visionary leader.

In its mission to offer a common platform for media professionals of Indian origin and improve their working conditions, Indo-American Press Club received encouragement from over 250 community leaders and dignitaries as it celebrated 6 years of growth & expansion and held a induction ceremony for its 2019 team.

Kanchana Poola served as the President of New York Tamil Sangam (NYTS) for several years and currently serves as an advisor of the decades old Sangam. She is a Life member of FeTNA and has been associated with American Tamil Entrepreneurs Association. Kanchana and Jagadeesan Poola have contributed to the Harvard Tamil Chair Fund. They are Co-Chairs of The Asian Era and Aksharam magazines. In her acceptance speech, Kanchana Poola said her father instilled in her the value of giving — for education, for the poor and the needy. The Poola couple were also honored by the NYTS.

Others who were honored at the colorful ceremony included:

* Dr. Neeta Jain, Democratic Party and Civic Community leader

* Mr. Devadasan Nair, Consul Community Affairs, Indian Consulate, New York

* Mr. Ashok Vyas, Program Director of ITV Gold

* Mr. Ven Parameswaran, Senior Columnist, Writer & Critic

* Mr. Varkey Abraham, Business Entrepreneur

* Guruji Dr. Dileepkumar Thankappan, Renowned Yogacharya

* BCB Bank – Manager Roopam Maini

* Mr. Mohan Nannapaneni, Co-Founder of non-profit organization TEAM Aid.

* Sujeet Rajan, Executive Editor, Desi Talk and News India Times

IAPC, which was founded by a group of Kerala origin group of media persons, felt overwhelmed by the presence of crème de la creme from other communities as well–Tamil, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Telugu, Punjabi…. you name it. The official business of induction ceremonies was interspersed with presenting plaques to the evening’s honorees, speeches by the Guests of Honor and entertainment.

“The ceremony was a sure sign of the strong support from the Indian community,” said Ginsmon Zachariah, Founder Chairman of IAPC. “The presence of IAPC leaders, past and present, leaders of various community organizations as well as many accomplished people in their fields, not to speak of the media professionals, were in attendance, was indeed encouraging for the member sof IAPC to move forward with courage and pride.”

Indeed, IAPC already has 12 chapters and has become the fast growing syndicate of print and electronic media professionals of Indian origin working in USA, Canada and Europe. It is committed to enhance the working conditions of journalists, offering educational and training opportunities to its members. It has hosted 5 International Media Conferences in USA, with topnotch media professionals coming from as far as India and Australia.

The incoming General Secretary Mathewkutty Easow in his welcome speech said: “Like any other successful organization, IAPC is forging ahead with 7 “P’s” – Purpose, Pathway, Passion, Perseverance, Positivity, Patience and Principles to become a source of pride to its members and envy to other organizations.”

Kamlesh Mehta, IAPC Board Member and Publisher of The South Asian Times, called IAPC a strong platform for Indian ethnic journalists who are not well paid and do not enjoy benefits like a pension plan. He asserted that IAPC is working toward providing some security to them with support from the community.

Neeta Jain, Democratic District Leader of NY’s 25^th assembly district (Part B) and Civic Community Leader, in her acceptance speech said that the media’s role is important because “your pen and words can make a big change in the world.”

Devadasan Nair, Consul – Community Affairs with the Indian Consulate in New York gave this advice to IAPC in his speech: “Media shall always bring the truthful and right news to the public. IAPC should attract and include media persons hailing from all regions of India and it shall grow to be an internationally renowned organization.”

From the Guests of honor, Dr. Toshiya Hoshino, Japan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, in his address highlighted the strong ties between Japan and the US and Japan being a partner country of India. Deepak Misra, Minister, Permanent Mission of India to the UN, graciously attended the entire proceeding of the evening.

Congressman Tom Suozzi and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino sent messages of good wishes to IAPC. Kevin Thomas, New York State Senator, was held up with the state budget work.

As for the prominent attendees, here are just a few names: Bobby Kumar, Bhuvana Rao, Dr. Raj Bhayani, Jagdish Sewhani, Nagendra Gupta, Shaker Nelanuthala, Sunil Hali, Sharanjit Singh, Dr Raj Uppal, Lalit Aery, Arvind Vora, Rajesh Shah, Sunil Modi, Rizwan Qureshi, Dr. Thomas Mathew, Thomas Koovalloor, Sibi David, Gunjan Rastogi, Beena Kothari, Bina Sabapathi, Nilima Madan, Pinki Jaggi, Dilip Chauhan, Ravi Bhooplapur, Andy Bhatia, Shiv Dass, Arjen Bathija, Dave Sharma, Indu Gajwani, Rashmi Sinha, Roopam Maini, Davendra Vora, Anand Ahuja, Dr M.N. Krishnan & Sashikala, Dr Bala Swaminathan, Dr & Mrs Kasinathan, Gobind Munjal, and Dr Syed Yousuf.

Dr. Parikh complimented IAPC for its six-year journey during which it has moved “from strength to strength,” and thanked the organization for honoring two people from his organization. He complimented IAPC for going from strength to strength over 6 years.

Air India’s Regional Manager – Americas Bhuvana Rao told ITV Gold in an interview at the event that the Indian media plays a constructive role as it contributes to bringing the Indian community together as well as India and US closer as partners.

A coffee table book titled ‘Global Religions’ compiling seven issues of the interfaith journal, One World Under God, was released at the event. It is published by Global Interfaith Foundation, which was started last year by Darshan Singh Bagga, a real estate developer, and is edited by Parveen Chopra, the Managing Editor of The South Asian times.

Scintillating entertainment was provided by a group displaying Chenda Melam drum art of Kerala, and Soormay bhangra group. Dance performance was given by Sowparnika Dance Academy headed by Ms. Malini Nair.

Vineetha Nair, Director IAPC Board, kicked off the meeting and handed the mike to young emcees Jinu Ann Mathew and Andrew G Zacharia. The vote of thanks was given by Biju Chacko, National Secretary. IAPC Chairman Babu Stephen Could not attend because of family emergency.

Trump Retreats on Health Care After McConnell Warns It Won’t Happen

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Health, Politics 0

President Trump backed off plans to introduce a Republican replacement for the Affordable Care Act after Senator Mitch McConnell privately warned him that the Senate would not revisit health care in a comprehensive way before the November 2020 elections.

Reversing himself in the face of Republican consternation, Mr. Trump said his party would not produce a health care plan of its own, as he had promised, until after the elections, meaning he will only try to fulfill his first-term promise to repeal and replace his predecessor’s signature program if he wins a second term.

The president’s abrupt about-face, announced on Twitter on Monday night after talking with Mr. McConnell, all but ensured that health care will take a central place in next year’s campaign, elevating an issue Democrats consider one of their strengths. But it may take the legislative heat off Republicans exasperated by Mr. Trump’s unexpected push to devise a wholesale replacement for President Barack Obama’s health law in the coming months.

“I made it clear to him that we were not going to be doing that in the Senate,” Mr. McConnell, the majority leader from Kentucky, said on Tuesday. “He did say, as he later tweeted, that he accepted that and that he would be developing a plan that he would take to the American people during the 2020 campaign.”

The latest scuffle over health care shows a sea change in the Republican stance heading into 2020.

The president’s last attempt to replace Mr. Obama’s health care program blew up in 2017 when his party controlled both houses of Congress. Democrats seized the House in last year’s midterm elections in part on a promise to defend the most popular parts of the Affordable Care Act, so when Mr. Trump revived the issue last week, it distressed Republicans who consider it a political liability.

Mr. Trump had surprised allies by ordering his administration to ask a federal court to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act and then promised a Republican replacement. Democrats, consumer groups, doctors, hospitals and insurance companies have said that 20 million people could lose health coverage if courts accept the administration’s argument.

Mr. McConnell said he spoke with Mr. Trump on Monday afternoon to explain that the Senate would not return to the issue in a broad way before the next election. “I pointed out to him the Senate Republicans’ view on dealing with comprehensive health care reform with a Democratic House of Representatives,” Mr. McConnell said.

But if that warning was meant to quiet the president, it did not work. Hours later, Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter, “The Republicans are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than Obama Care.”

Elections in India crucial for safeguarding India’s Democracy& pluralism

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

As India heads to the polls in April/May 2019 a wide cross-section of Indians gathered on Saturday, April 6, 2019 at the Indian Consulate in New York City (NYC) to stand in solidarity with people fighting to defend the Constitution, democracy and human rights in India. The NYC “Defense of Democracy” rally brings together the rich diversity of the Indian diaspora in the United States – scientists and engineers, service workers and computer professionals, artists and doctors, Hindus, Sikhs, Dalits and Muslims, policymakers, activist, left and liberal intellectuals and community leaders.

Some 900 million people can cast their ballot is, predictably, a source of anxiety and excitement on all sides of the political spectrum, and on this side of the globe. Traveling in a car en route to his next meeting with voters in India, Sam Pitroda, Chicago-based telecommunications entrepreneur and former advisor to India’s Prime Minister, shares his concerns about the heated election environment. Chicago based telecommunications entrepreneur and former cabinet minister and advisor to Indian Prime Ministers, was at an event celebrating the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Those belonging to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and their supporters in the U.S., are enamored of Prime Minister Modi. Those in other parties, including the largest, Congress Party, complain of the loss of secular values and rise of Hindu chauvinism. Others are sprinkled in between, joining either side or exercising their independence.

Hundreds of Indian residents in the U.S., and a sizable number of Indian Americans have left or are planning to leave in the next few days and weeks, to participate in campaigns of parties they support, and even vote if eligible.

From the Overseas Friends of BJP to the Indian Overseas Congress and regional parties with U.S. chapters, like Telangana Rashtriya Samithi, or the Samajwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh, or former U.P. Chief Minister Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, and Shiromani Akali Dal, Telugu Desam, members and supporters living abroad, are engaging the Indian electorate, whether by participating in phone banks from New Jersey to California, or by being physically present in India.

“In the last three days alone we have been holding more than 16 ‘Chai Pe Charchas’ and ‘Chowkidar’ marches around the United States,” Krishna Reddy Anugula, president of the Overseas Friends of BJP, told the media. He also pointed to the organization Sikhs of America, which held a car rally in support of Modi in Maryland on March 31. Members of Sikhs of America had not returned calls by press time.

Commenting on the lynchings and targeted attacks on Muslims and Dalits that have increased exponentially since the coming to power of Narendra Modi in 2014, Sarah Anderson-Rajarigam of Dalit Solidarity Forum, one of the co-sponsors of the rally said, “Dalit Solidarity Forum deplores the heavy targeting of Dalits and other marginalized communities. We unite our voices with Dalits and other minorities in their fight for freedom and support them in their efforts to uphold the constitution.” 97% of all the lynching incidents since 2010 by so-called ‘cow-protection’ mobs have taken place between 2014 and 2018 since the BJP came to power.

The organizers of the rally said, the BJP government has also been responsible for systematic erosion and weakening of democratic values and institutions. It has been attacking and weakening constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission, Supreme Court, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI). BJP ministers as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief have given statements indicating that they would like to change the constitution to implement their fundamentalist agenda. The CBI and Income Tax department have also been used to intimidate media organizations critical of the BJP government.

Mohammad Jawad, National General Secretary of Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), speaking on why IAMC has joined the rally said, “The people of India will eventually recognize the divisiveness and hate the current BJP/RSS government is spreading and will unite to preserve our constitution and defeat this government.”

The Defense of Democracy rally called for:

Ensure Free and Fair Elections! Election Commission must guarantee election freeof violence, intimidation, and rigging
Stop the witch-hunt! Release all UAPA arrestees and drop allcharges
Stop the lynching of Dalits and Muslims! Arrest and Prosecute theperpetrators
Stop culture of fear! End the attacks and intimidation of activists, artists,workers, women

Consulate in New York on Voting Rights For NRIs

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

According to the Election Commission of India, voting stretches from April 11 to May 19, during which close to 900 million eligible voters can go to the polls. Results will be announced May 23.

Consulate General of India in New York said that some misleading information is being spread in some sections of the media, especially social media about the online voting/voting in the Consulate or through proxy/mail by Overseas (NRI) Indian Voters in the forthcoming general election in India.

The Consulate General said in a statement that the position has been clarified by Election Commission of India spokesperson saying that no such facility has been extended to NRIs.

“The Election Commission of India (ECI) has also filed a complaint with the Delhi Police, asking it to track down those spreading “fake news” that NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) can cast their vote online in the coming Lok Sabha elections,” the statement said.

The current position with regard to voting by NRI voters in the general election in India is reiterated as follows:

Under Section 20A of the Representation of People Act, 1950 and rules made there under every citizen of India:

(a) whose name is not included in the electoral roll;

(b) who has not acquired the citizenship of any other country; and

(c) who is absenting from his place of ordinary residence in India owing to his employment, education or otherwise outside India, is entitled to have his/her name registered in the electoral roll as “Overseas electors” in the constituency in one’s place of residence in India as mentioned in one’s passport is located.

The statement said that the application for this purpose can be filed in the prescribed form in person before the concerned Electoral Registration Officer or sent by post or can be filed online on the website of Chief Electoral Officer of the concerned state or website of Election Commission of India (www.eci.gov.in).

After getting enrolled in the electoral roll, such person though will not be issued Elector Photo Identity Card but can cast one’s vote in India during Assembly or

Parliamentary election at the respective polling station after showing his/her valid original Indian passport. However, provision for alternative options for voting for overseas Indian elections is under consideration.

The Consulate General of India in New York requests all the NRIs in the consular jurisdiction of CGI, New York to get their names registered on the electoral rolls as NRI voters to enable them to become the part of the election process.

For further information regarding overseas electors, please refer to website of Election Commission of India http://ecisveep.nic.in/voters/overseas-voters/ or www.nvsp.in

A Guide on How Do I vote, prepared by Election Commission of India for Electoral Voters and Service Voters can be seen at the following websites:

https://mea.gov.in/Images/pdf/nri-brochure-english-at-18012019.pdf and

https://mea.gov.in/Images/pdf/service-voter-brochure.pdf

India’s secular nature ‘will die forever’ if BJP wins poll

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

Religious tolerance may be washed away by a tidal wave of hate if Modi’s party cements grip on power in April election. Fears of India evolving into a Hindu theocratic nation loom large as the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeks a second term by placating Hindu sentiment ahead of the April-May parliamentary election.

Secular and liberal political groups say the poll will be be crucial in forging the future identity of the country, which defined itself as a secular-democratic nation after British rule ended in 1947.

“Hindu pride is the platform on which voters are being courted, which is a big concern,” said Alok Verma, a rights activist in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The April 11 to May 19 elections will see 900 million eligible voters select 543 parliamentarians. The party with the most seats will govern the country for the next five years.

The BJP, in office since 2014, again finds itself pitted against the Congress party, its nemesis. But critics like Verma worry it is stoking religious intolerance and hate as a ploy to win over more Hindus.

They say the party’s track record suggests it has underperformed, but few people are discussing how unemployment has spiraled under its watch, or how the agrarian crisis continues to worsen, with debt-ridden farmers reportedly committing suicide at a rate of one every three hours on average.

“Unfortunately, such issues are not being [widely] discussed,” Verma said.

The BJP came to power promising more jobs and increased development for impoverished Indians with the slogan “Good days are ahead.”

“But five years down the line, anyone who questions the BJP’s failed promises is labeled ‘anti-national’ and ‘pro-Muslim’. This is disgraceful,” said Sheetal Nanda, a women’s rights activist in New Delhi.

Never before has the call from political parties to make India a Hindu nation been so strong, she said.

“If the BJP wins again, it will pursue a mandate to amend the constitution, make non-Hindus second-class citizens, and declare the country a Hindu heartland,” Nanda said.

New Delhi-based journalist and author Ashutosh Gupta said the BJP not only wants to change the charter and laws, but transform an entire civilization by establishing an upper-caste Hindu hegemony.

The party argues that, “Hindus were subjugated by Muslims and Christians for 1,200 years because Hindus were at that time non-violent and compassionate,” Ashutosh said.

“They have pitched for the adoption of violent methods to make the dream of a Hindu heartland a reality,” he added.

Hindu-centric ideology

Critics say the violence meted out against Christians and Muslims over the past five years proves that Hindu groups have been laying the tracks to make India subordinate to a Hindu-centric ideology.

Government data shows communal violence jumped 28 percent between 2014 and 2017 with around 3,000 incidents recorded during that period, claiming almost 400 lives and injuring 9,000 people.

Moreover, 90 percent of the religious hate crimes recorded over the last decade occurred since current Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP to power, according to the data assembled by Hate Crime Watch.

Hate crimes against minority groups are also believed to be rising as the election draws near.
Saheem Mir, an author and activist in Uttar Pradesh, cited the case of a Muslim father and son who were stopped on a road and attacked in this northern state on March 17.

“They were asked to chant slogans hailing Hindu gods and were forced to verbally abuse [Muslim-majority] Pakistan,” he said. “These elements are taking such extreme measures because they know no one is going to act against them.”

Hindu activists project Indian Muslims as supporters of Pakistan, India’s nuclear-armed neighbor and arch rival.

Others say that anyone who calls for enhanced dialogue to end India’s outstanding disputes with Pakistan is branded a traitor. Even cheering for Pakistan during a cricket match or expressing admiration for a Pakistani singer in a Bollywood movie puts people at risk of being tarred with a similar brush and denounced as “anti-national,” rights activists say.

In fact, India’s secular character will be permanently laid to rest if the BJP retains its grip on power, according to a recent paper by two research scholars who specialize in political science at the University of Kashmir.

“With the BJP government at the center, the secular tradition of India is under immense threat. If the threat isn’t quelled at various levels, the idea of unity in diversity — one that the nation has always prided itself on — will soon be in tatters,” according to the co-authors of the paper, Anayat Ul Lah Mugloo and Manzoor Ahmad Padder.

“If communal forces are not halted, India — regarded as the largest democracy in the world — will fall prey to what Joseph Schumpeter called ‘creative destruction’, which roughly entails the dismantling of age-old traditions by new ideologies — except that there would be nothing creative in the destruction of the inclusive idea of India.”

Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops Conference in India (CBCI), told ucanews.com that people should vote for candidates and parties who respect the constitution, treat all citizens as equals, and protect minorities.

“Communities cannot live in hatred of one another. The danger of sowing hatred is that once it’s sown, it gets out of control and nobody can tame it,” he said.

“That’s why it’s so important the people who govern us shouldn’t stay quiet when they witness such acts,” he added.

According to the 2011 census, 80 percent or 960 million of India’s 1.2 billion people are Hindus. Muslims make up 14.2 percent of the population (170 million) followed by Christians with 2.3 percent (28 million).

Indian Overseas Congress, USA membership registration drive in full swing

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

At a hurriedly scheduled meeting at the residence of Mr and Mrs. Ravi Chopra and Mrs. Shalu Chopra in New York on Sunday March 31, 2019, a large number of NRIs registered their strong support behind Rahul Gandhi and registered to become members of the Indian Congress Party, USA. Particularly noteworthy was the largest number of the women who were present and who were inspired by the entry into politics of Shmt. Priyanka Gandhi ji. They loudly hailed chants and slogans of Victory to Rahul Gandhi, Victory of the people of India and Victory to their motherland.

Mr. Mohinder Singh Gilzian, President, Mr. Harbachan Singh Secretary General, Mr. Ravi Chopra Chairman Finance Committee and Mrs. Shalu Chopra Chairperson of the Women’s Committee of the Indian Overseas Congress USA praised the enthusiasm and determination of the people to bring down the Modi Government through the democratic electoral process and place Rahul Gandhi to lead the Government in the upcoming elections. Each woman leader was introduced and honored with their respective new appointments by Ms. Shalu Chopra and who vouched to jointly work hard under the Women’s Committee Chair.

Speaker after speaker recounted the failings of the Modi government in their administration and promises. They vehemently declared their total opposition to Modi government governing any further. Many speakers highlighted the outstanding achievements of the Congress Party that brought honor and pride to India amongst the comity of nations and expressed their absolute confidence in the Victory of Rahul Gandhi in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“Instead of answering to the broken promises made by them to the voters, the Modi government chose to make unfounded and false accusations on Congress party leaders by, for example, misinterpreting their statements out of context and trying to create a sense of unpatriotic behavior on their part”, said Harbachan Singh. However, the people did not buy the insinuations ascribed to the Congress Party leaders. The attempts failed miserably to constrain and contain the rapidly growing robust strength of party supporters and followers.

Mr. Mohinder Sing Gilzian, Mr. Ravi Chopra and other senior leaders voiced strong confidence in Dr. Sam Pitroda, Mr. Himanshu Vyas, Mr. Madhu Yashki and above all on Mr. Rahul Gandhi in their great leadership role that each one of them were playing and expressed utmost confidence that Rahul Gandhi will be the new Prime Minister of India.

The event was covered by the media and the Executive Board Members, Chapter heads and senior officials of IOC, USA gave press comments au milieu the upbeat utterances of the supporters urging total backing of the Rahul Gandhi’s candidacy.

Interfaith Brunch hosted by Hindu community held in New Jersey

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterEnvironment 0

“Living the Change” was the theme of the 32nd annual Interfaith Brunch on February 18, 2019 at the elegant Seasons banquet hall in Township of Washington, Bergen County, New Jersey. It was attended by over 260 participants and elected officials from Bergen County and the State of New Jersey.

Sponsored by Interfaith Brotherhood/Sisterhood Committee of Bergen County, a coalition of nine faith traditions, and hosted this year by the Hindu community, this year’s event focused on interfaith initiatives for climate action and environmental sustainability, according to a press release.

Each of the 9 participating faith communities, Baha’i, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Sikh and Unitarian Universalist, set up tables with displays from their religious teachings on respecting and protecting the environment.

Gopal Patel, director of Bhumi Project at Oxford Center for Hindu Studies and Greenfaith, in his keynote speech emphasized the dire consequences of climate change and the need to restore balance and harmony between earth and nature.

He mentioned the two questions asked by the Hindu seeker, which are “Who am I?” and “What is the purpose of human life?” Rooted in his Vedic spiritual teachings, he translated the mantra from Rigveda explaining that God is all pervading and humans should be reverent, grateful and compassionate towards earth by living a life of spiritual purity and awareness.

A leading figure in international faith based environmental movement, Patel offered practical solutions to reduce carbon footprint by making climate friendly lifestyle changes and urged the participants to reduce meat and dairy consumption and eat a healthy plant-based diet. He encouraged travelling by mass transit and reducing air travel. He also encouraged the installation of solar panels to lower the energy consumption.

‘One of the questions he asked was, what contributes most to the climate change? a) The food we eat b) The way we travel c) The energy we use. How does it impact our lives? Where and how can we make a difference? It is our moral responsibility to reconnect with earth. Be in Harmony and in balance with Mother Earth,’ the press release said.

The program included round table discussions on climate change during the lavish and delicious vegetarian brunch. The summary of these discussions was presented as the memorandum on climate action by the Interfaith Committee.

Also included in the program were unity prayers on the environment by representatives of the nine faith communities, the enthralling Hindu prayer dance and joyful music by the interfaith youth choir.

H-1B pays for US College scholarships & trainings, says new study

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation, Science & Technology, Travel 0

The US grants 65,000 cap-subjected H-1B work visas to foreign workers hired abroad every year and 20,000 to foreigners in US institutions of higher education.

The H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreigners, which has been subjected to prohibitive scrutiny by the Trump administration, has earned the US $4.9 billion in employer-paid fees since 1999, which paid for more than 90,000 college scholarships and training, according to a new study.

These collections are from the $1,500 processing fee that the government charges employers for every new H-1B or a renewal, the National Foundation for American Policy, a non-partisan think tank, says in the report, and adds that the total rises to $7 billion, by adding $500 in anti-fraud fees.

The US grants 65,000 cap-subjected H-1B work visas to foreign workers hired abroad every year and 20,000 to foreigners in US institutions of higher education. More than 70% of these visas have gone to Indians, hired by US companies such as Google and Facebook, and Indian firms such as TCS and Infosys.

The application process for 2020, which comes with changes, started on Monday and will typically end in a few days given the demand. More than 190,000 applications were received by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that runs the programme, in 2018 (for 2019), and 199,000 in 2017.

“Few people realize that fees for each new H-1B visa holder fund scholarships and job training for Americans,” said Stuart Anderson, a former immigration services official and executive director of the think tank that released its report on Monday.

The report argued that the role of employer-paid H-1B fees has received scant or no attention in the policy debate around immigration so far. “People on all sides of the immigration debate agree that it is beneficial to train and educate more Americans in STEM fields, yet policymakers rarely note that every company-sponsored H-1B petition provides money for training and STEM education,” it said.

This side of the H-1B visas has indeed received no attention. The focus has been on American workers displaced by outsourcing. And the Trump administration has initiated a series of measures to check abuse and fraud of the programme in line with its “Buy American, Hire American” policies.

Since 1999, H-1B fees paid by employers have been used to educate and train Americans in technology-related fields. And based on data obtained from the National Science Foundation, the US department of labour and the USCIS, the report said approximately 87,890 college students enrolled in mathematics, engineering and computer science courses were granted scholarships ranging from one to four years and of up $10,000 a year.

Money from the collections also funded training of more than 1.5 million school students and teachers in STEM-related fields, and an estimated $2.5 billion of the total collections was used by the department of labor to train US workers.

“The H-1B fees have benefited American students and encouraged through teaching and financial support many individuals to enter science and engineering fields,” said the report.

NASA selects Indian-American-led Yale team to build miniature satellite for space launches

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterScience & Technology 0

An undergraduate team of scientists in Yale led by an Indian-American, is designing a miniature satellite which has been chosen by NASA for launch on space missions in the coming years.

The Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association (YUAA), which is currently led by Keshav Raghavan, is currently working at the Wright Lab to build a CubeSat research satellite to detect cosmic rays. It is among 16 teams undergraduate teams across the country whose CubeSats will be flown into space as auxiliary payloads on space missions planned to launch in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

“It will be the first ever Yale undergraduate endeavor to launch a spacecraft, forging the path for even more ambitious space-based projects by Yale undergraduates in the future,” the University announced in a March 22, press release.

According to a March 14 announcement from NASA, the YUAA project, called Bouchet Low-Earth Alpha/Beta Space Telescope (BLAST), “is a scientific investigation mission to map the distribution of galactic cosmic radiation across the night sky. The satellite will identify and count alpha particles and beta particles in the rays, and measure the radiation energy around Earth. BLAST will contribute to the ongoing search for the origins and nature of these rays, which will provide insight into the origins of the universe.”

To date, the CubeSat Launch Initiative has selected 176 CubeSat missions from 39 states and launched 85 CubeSat missions as part of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) through NASA’s Launch Services Program, NASA said in its press release.

Raghavan and his team mates have already done the research and development work on the miniature satellite, and this summer, they begin on prototyping and final construction work on the satellite. In January 2019, the team began using one of Wright Lab’s clean rooms to conduct tests on launch-ready components, such as the altitude control systems, Yale said in its press release. Wright Lab will be the team’s site for final assembly of the satellite.

According to the YUAA website, these miniature satellites were first developed by the California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University in 1999.

“Intended as a standard, inexpensive design that can easily fit alongside larger satellites aboard launch vehicles, the CubeSat model has given student groups, hobbyist organizations, and research teams operating with limited funding or experience unprecedented access to space,” the YUAA site says.

These miniature satellites are built from commercially available materials and have a modular structure of 10x10x10cm cubes (hence the name). Hundreds of universities, companies and research teams have designed and launched their own CubeSats over the years. The Yale CubeSat project is an undergraduate-run project, currently in its 4th year.

Rajat Gupta keen to reform US criminal justice system

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation, Health 0

Former head of McKinsey & Company Rajat Gupta, who spent 19 month in a US jail on charges of insider trading, on Wednesday said he would like to work for the reforms in the US criminal justice and prison system.

The management guru said through his experience, he saw the underbelly of US justice system and feels that much needs to be reformed in it.

“There is lot of suffering, lot of unnecessary waste of human capital. There is lot of cruelty and lot of families are destroyed,” said Gupta speaking at the launch of his book “Mind without Fear” at the Indian School of Business (ISB) here.

Gupta, who started many initiatives in education and health, said he had now started thinking about reforms in the criminal justice system as it had a staggering impact.

He said US had the largest number of incarcerated people in the world.

“There are somewhere around 3 million people. If you count them and those who go through the incarceration system again and again and think about their families, it is more than 100 million people impacted by the criminal justice system.

“While I never thought about it before I went through it myself, I have become committed to make a difference in whatever I way I can to reforms in US justice and US prison system,” he said.

Gupta, the driving force behind the ISB, shared his thoughts, his experiences and spoke about his mistakes during a conversation with Founding Dean of ISB, Pramath Raj Sinha and while answering questions from students.

He said he was sent in solitary confinement for no reason. He said people in charge of the prison had unchecked power and they make sure that they kill the spirit of the inmates.

He said he had to spend seven weeks in solitary confinement and it was harsh. According to UN Convention, solitary confinement of than two weeks is a big torture.

Gupta admits that his biggest mistake was to be too busy with too many initiatives. “Although in every situation I was involved in, I could make a positive difference but at the end, it added up to the hell of a lot which means I did not pay attention to many details that I should have and steered clear of something I should have steered clear of,” he said.

Gupta, who rose from being an orphan to an international icon, said he could see many transitions in his career as he never lived in comfort zone. “If you are too much in comfort zone, change it dramatically, get out of the comfort zone. If you get too much into a comfort zone, you get into a rut and you will not be creative and innovative anymore,” he told the students.

About the book title, Gupta said that a mind without fear was an aspiration. “In many instances I took risk without being afraid. Sometimes it failed me as well,” he added.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal gives tearful speech about non-binary loved one

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

At an Equality Act hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Pramila Jayapal made the deeply personal revelation. Three hours into Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing about the Equality Act, a bill that would add LGBTQ people to federal nondiscrimination laws, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., shared a tearful story about her child coming out of the closet.

“My beautiful, now 22-year-old child told me last year that they were gender nonconforming,” she said. “The only thought I wake up with every day is: My child is free. My child is free to be who they are, and in that freedom comes a responsibility for us as legislators to protect that freedom.”

Before Jayapal’s heartfelt comments, several GOP lawmakers and Republican-invited witnesses shared concerns about the Equality Act. One witness, Julia Beck, a self-described radical feminist and vocal opponent of transgender rights, testified that women’s sports could be irrevocably changed by the bill because men might pretend to be transgender women in order to win competitions.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., even posed an outlandish hypothetical, asking what would happen if President Donald Trump were to declare himself “the first female president.” He then asked, “Who would celebrate that?”

“As I listened to some of you today, I was struck by this push to presume that these provisions would somehow be manipulated or used by people in ways that would hurt existing sex protections,” Jayapal said at the beginning of her almost four-minute speech. “It occurred to me that we are talking about fear versus love; we are talking about fear versus freedom.”

She then continued to discuss the “heavy burden of conflict” her child had carried before coming out as nonbinary and how, by bracing their gender identity, has allowed them to flourish.

“My child is finally free to be who they are,” Jayapal tweeted after the hearing. “With that freedom comes a responsibility, for us as legislators, to legislate with love and not fear.” Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for Jayapal, confirmed that Tuesday’s hearing was the first time the lawmaker shared this personal family story.

Kamala Harris’ campaign raises $12m for 2020 bid

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics 0

US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, has announced that her campaign raised $12 million in the first quarter of 2019 from more than 218,000 individual contributions.

Harris, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, became the second major candidate to announce her first-quarter fundraising total after South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said he raised over $7 million in the first quarter, according to CNN.

“A nationwide network of hundreds of thousands of grassroots supporters has stepped up to lay the foundation for a winning campaign,” Harris’ campaign manager Juan Rodriguez said in a statement on Monday cited by the Hill magazine.

“This is a campaign powered by the people, focused on making healthcare a right, putting $500 a month in the pockets of working Americans, and giving every public school teacher in America a raise. We’re excited by the support we’re already seeing.”

The campaign’s announcement came after Sunday’s Federal Election Commission quarterly fundraising deadline.

In a news release, Harris said she had received 218,000 individual contributions during the first quarter and 98 per cent of those contributions came in amounts smaller than $100.

Harris’ aides said that more than 99 per cent of her current donors can contribute again without hitting the limit.

Harris did not disclose how much she has spent during the first three months of the year, nor how much cash she has remaining in the bank for the long primary fight. (IANS)

Americans Borrowed $88 Billion to Pay for Health Care Last Year, Survey Finds

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterHealth 0

Americans borrowed an estimated $88 billion over the last year to pay for health care, according to a survey released last week by Gallup and the nonprofit West Health. The survey also found that one in four Americans have skipped treatment because of the cost, and that nearly half fear bankruptcy in the event of a health emergency.

There was a partisan divide when respondents were asked whether they believed that the American health care system is among the best in the world: Among Republicans, 67 percent of respondents said they believed so; that number was 38 percent among Democrats.

But Democrats and Republicans had similar responses about putting off medical treatment. Asked if they had deferred treatment because of the cost, 27 percent of Democrats said they had, compared with 21 percent of Republicans and 30 percent of independents.

Respondents from across the political spectrum also reported pessimism about their leaders’ abilities to reduce health care costs. About 70 percent of respondents said they had no confidence in their elected officials to bring prices down. And 77 percent said they were concerned that rising health care costs would damage the American economy.

“Our data shows an American public that’s beaten down from this really serious issue,” said Dan Witters, a senior researcher at Gallup.

At the same time, 64 percent of respondents said they were mostly satisfied with their experiences in the health care system. When asked if they were satisfied with how well the system was serving Americans generally, only 39 percent said they were.

The survey’s authors noted that Americans’ feelings were complicated and at times conflicted. But one thing was clear: High health care costs had created significant anxiety.

Even among households earning $180,000 or more a year, a third of respondents said they were concerned about the specter of personal bankruptcy because of a health crisis. (There has been fierce debate among researchers about the extent to which health care costs can be blamed for bankruptcies.)

Many American families earning less than that, of course, feel the effects of high health care costs acutely. They are forced to cut back on other expenses to pay for health care, or skip appointments and prescription refills, creating health risks down the road.

Twelve percent of respondents said they had borrowed money for care, including 11 percent of those with health insurance, who may still face high deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses.

Most survey respondents said they believed that Americans were paying too much for health care relative to what they receive. Asked to choose between a hypothetical freeze in their health care costs or a 10 percent increase in household income, 61 percent of respondents chose the freeze. Those in low-income households were most likely to choose that option.

“When we’re talking about health care and the debate right now, it usually bifurcates between the financial impact of health care or the health outcomes themselves,” said Tim Lash, chief strategy officer for West Health, a nonpartisan nonprofit that aims to lower health care prices.

“But those two things intersect at access,” which can have dire health consequences, he said.

The organization believes that Congress should allow Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies; that there should be more transparency about the prices of medicines and procedures; and that the health care industry should shift toward “value-based care” — in which doctors are paid based on patient outcomes — rather than the current “fee-for-service” model.

House committee passes bill to upgrade 401(k) plans amid ‘retirement income crisis’

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Finance/Economy 0

The most comprehensive changes to private retirement plans in more than a decade are gaining momentum in Congress. A key House committee on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill intended to increase the flexibility of 401(k) plans and improve access to the accounts, particularly for small businesses and their employees.

The proposal, known as the Secure Act, was backed by the top Democrat and Republican on the tax-writing Ways and Means committee.

The bill includes:

A host of provisions aimed at encouraging small businesses to provide private retirement benefits to their workers.

It allows them to band together to offer 401(k)s and creates a new tax credit of up to $500 for companies that set up plans with automatic enrollment.

Businesses with long-term, part-time workers must also allow them to become eligible for retirement benefits.

Several measures that would affect other types of savings are included in the bill.

It repeals the maximum age for IRA contributions and raises the age for required mandatory distributions from 70½ to 72.

It also expands the use of 529 plans, from only college-related expenses to include home schools and student loans. “Americans currently face a retirement income crisis, with too many people in danger of not having enough in retirement to maintain their standard of living and avoid sliding into poverty,” committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said Tuesday.

The bill is one of the few proposals with a significant chance of becoming law amid a bitterly divided Congress. Elements of the bill have been debated among members for years and enjoy wide support among both industry groups and advocacy organizations. On Tuesday, Neal called the legislation “a major bipartisan accomplishment.”

“The Ways and Means committee is where we find solutions and get things done for the American people,” he said.

The last time Congress passed major retirement legislation was in 2006. The Pension Protection Act focused on underfunded accounts and reforms to that system. Since then, lawmakers have debated proposals to address the popularity of 401(k)s and individual savings accounts.

But those efforts have stalled on their own, said Paul Richman, chief government officer at the Insured Retirement Institute, a trade group. He said the Secure Act aims to “modernize” the system.

“It’s packaging them all into a comprehensive piece of legislation that would address many of these little issues that have cropped up over the years,” he said. “We think that it’s a good chance for Congress to take some positive, bipartisan action and advance this bill.”

The Senate Finance committee introduced a companion bill late Monday. It is expected to pass with backing from both sides of the aisle.

“There’s a lot of pent-up momentum for this, and that’s why it’s so bipartisan in nature,” said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank. “They’re now getting to the point where there’s momentum to get it across the finish line in both the House and the Senate.”

In the House, Neal said he is also working on a second retirement bill with ranking Republican Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas. He said he hopes the committee will consider that legislation before Congress goes on recess in August.

India’s Cloud market to hit $7 billion by 2022: Nasscom

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Finance/Economy, Science & Technology 0

With increased adoption of futuristic technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), the Cloud market in India is poised to grow three-fold to $7.1 billion by 2022, according to a Nasscom report on Tuesday.

In 2018, Cloud spending stood at approximately 6 per cent of the total IT spending, according to the report prepared in collaboration with Google Cloud and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP.

“India’s Cloud computing market is poised for growth and the technology is increasingly being embraced across businesses as well as consumers,” Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom, said in a statement.

Globally, the Cloud spending on IT is growing at 16.5 per cent and is expected to touch $345 billion by 2022, said the report titled “Cloud — Next Wave of Growth in India”.

The report highlights that Cloud spending is propelled by factors such as increased awareness of Cloud, consumerisation of IT, proliferation of start-up ecosystem, diverse landscape of supplier ecosystem, rising investments in infrastructure, talent, strategic partnerships and the impetus from key digital-led government programmes.

Futuristic technologies such as AI and ML are aiding in the seamless adoption of software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) offerings, giving a boost to the Cloud market.

The report also draws attention to a few challenges to the growth of Cloud market in India such as data security and lack of Internet infrastructure specially in tier-2 and rural markets of the country. (IANS)

Goodbye, special treatment to the rich

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterFinance/Economy 0

The Wyden plan “would transform how the U.S. taxes the wealthiest people,” The Wall Street Journal’s Gabriel Rubin and Richard Rubin writes.

Under current law, investors pay taxes on the increased value of the stocks and bonds they own — known as capital gains — only when they sell them. They also pay a lower tax rate than that on most forms of income. Wyden’s plan would remove both of those advantages.

Investors would have to pay the ordinary income-tax rate on their capital gains. And they would have to do so each year, based on the assets’ value at the time. In accounting terms, this practice of updating the value of an asset is known as “mark to market.”

The “mark-to-market” idea is similar in principle to the reassessment of home values for property-tax calculations. As I’ve noted before, the property tax is an annual tax on the largest asset for most middle-class families. But the very rich don’t face an annual tax on their largest holdings.

Their largest holdings often include stocks. Which means that the lower tax rate on capital gains, combined with the deferral of taxing them, has enormous financial consequences, as Steve Wamhoff, of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, explains on JustTaxes.org. “Wealthy households, who already own the most in assets, can defer paying tax and grow their wealth much more rapidly, while income most of us earn from work is taxed annually,” Wamhoff writes. “This is a massive tax break for the wealthy, and mark-to-market taxation would bring it to an end.”

Lily Batchelder and David Kamin, both N.Y.U. professors and former Obama administration officials, noted that the Wyden plan would also raise significant amounts of revenue for the federal government. That money could be used to reduce the deficit or pay for programs such as preschool or middle-class tax cuts.

Critics of the Wyden idea (as you can see here) claim that revaluing assets each year is too complicated to be feasible and that the plan will harm economic growth. I don’t buy either claim.

On the economic effects: It’s not as if the American economy has been performing well in recent years. As wealth inequality has risen, economic growth has repeatedly missed forecasters’ expectations.

On the complexity: All taxes have some complexity. But it’s certainly feasible for the government to become more aggressive about taxing top incomes and wealth.

I don’t know whether the Wyden plan will ultimately make more sense than Warren’s more sweeping proposal to tax large fortunes each year or the proposals from Harris and Sanders to increase the inheritance tax. But this is the right time for the debate.

The next time the country has a president who’s worried about inequality and middle-class living standards, it will be time to increase taxes on extreme wealth.

The average wealth of the poorer half of American households has dropped below zero in the years since the financial crisis, according to the World Inequality Database. What does that mean? It means that fully half of Americans hold more combined debt than assets.

The average wealth of the richest 1 percent of households, meanwhile, has more than recovered its losses from the crisis. They’re now richer than ever.

This situation isn’t healthy. And the most obvious solution is to change the tax code — specifically, to increase taxes on wealth to undo some of the radical increases in inequality over the last few decades.

Fortunately, some policymakers are starting to come forward with proposals to address the wealth imbalance. The latest is Ron Wyden, the Democratic senator from Oregon. He joins a few presidential candidates — Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren — who have also proposed higher taxes on wealth.

TheUNN Corporation

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