Author: Staff Reporter

Pope Francis Advises Humility For Newly Elevated ‘Princes Of The Church’

Staff ReporterReligion 0

(RNS) — The day after convening more than 200 red-robed cardinals from around the world and elevating 20 new “princes of the church,” Pope Francis impressed on his audience at a Mass on Sunday (Aug. 28) the importance of humility. He stressed the value of selflessness and — in what was perhaps a tease to Catholic leaders who have heard rumors of his intent to retire — knowing when to step down.

“There is no other way to realize God’s will than by taking on the strength of the humble,” the pope said in his homily at the St. Mary in Collemaggio Basilica in Aquila, near Rome. “Because of the way they are, the humble are seen as weak and losers, but in reality, they are the real winners because they are the only ones who trust completely in the Lord and know his will.”

The pope had come to Aquila to perform, for the first time in 700 years, the dramatic opening of the Holy Door of the basilica, a tradition begun by Pope Celestine V, who first opened the door in 1294 A.D. to admit believers to enter through the gate to the basilica to seek forgiveness of their sins. The pardon, which usually lasts a few days, has been extend to last until late in August of next year.

Besides the Celestinian Pardon, Celestine is remembered for being among the small number of pontiffs who chose to retire instead of carrying out their ministry until their deaths. Francis also visited Celestine’s tomb below the basilica, which Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI famously visited four years before announcing his resignation in 2013.

With most of the men who will appoint his successor in Rome for the 2022 consistory, or meeting of the full College of Cardinals, Francis also had Vatican observers on pins and needles about his own plans. He has repeatedly denied that he will follow Benedict and resign his post, but the rumors persist.

In an aside at Sunday’s Mass, Francis criticized the poet Dante Alighieri’s choice to place Celestine close to the doors of hell in his epic “Inferno,” calling Celestine not “the man of the ‘no,’ but the man of the ‘yes.’”

“The strength of the humble is the Lord — not strategies, human means, the logic of this world, machinations,” the pope continued. “In this sense, Celestine V was a brave witness to the gospel because no logic of power was capable of imprisoning and limiting him.”

Humility, Francis said, is about adopting a “healthy realism” with ourselves and recognizing “our potential but also our miseries.” Only by experiencing suffering and misery can individuals truly find compassion and love for others, he added.

The pope is meeting behind closed doors at the Vatican on Monday and Tuesday with the cardinals. Among them is the newly elevated Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, who in his homily on Sunday echoed Francis’ call for a humble church.

Christian humility, McElroy said, is two things: “It is putting aside the pretenses and facades we often erect to try to look better to others than we are and, secondly, challenging and facing the impulse all of us have to place our own interests ahead of those of others.”  McElroy emphatically dismissed reports that the pope would resign.

The 85-year-old pontiff has been struggling with knee pain, which confined him to a wheelchair and forced him to cancel important events, including a July trip to Africa. But Francis acknowledged in a news conference on the papal plane returning from Canada on July 30 that he might have to slow down in order to serve the church. On that occasion, he also said that his resignation “wouldn’t be a catastrophe.”

Singapore Unveils Long-Term Work Visas To End Talent Crunch

Staff ReporterImmigration, Money 0

Singapore is overhauling visa rules to attract foreign workers and ease a tight labor market that’s contributing to wage and price pressures. The new rules will allow foreigners earning a minimum S$30,000 ($21,431) per month to secure a five-year work pass, with a provision to allow their dependents to seek employment, according to the Ministry of Manpower.

The new rules will allow foreigners earning a minimum S$30,000 ($21,431) per month to secure a five-year work pass, with a provision to allow their dependents to seek employment, according to the Ministry of Manpower. Exceptional candidates in sports, arts, science and academia who don’t meet the salary criteria are also eligible for the long-term visa under the so-called Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) pass that will take effect Jan. 1.

“Both businesses and talent are searching for safe and stable places to invest, live and work in. Singapore is such a place,” Manpower Minister Tan See Leng told reporters on Monday. “It is therefore timely to leverage on this opportunity to cement Singapore’s position as a global hub for talent.”

The announcement is the latest in a string of decisions this year that are meant to address a still-tight labor market, as well as attract international business to drive the city-state’s ambitions as a global financial hub, after a pandemic-era slump in white-collar workers from abroad. Many parts of the economy have seen pay increases this year to lure talent, stoking fears wage-cost escalation will add to headline inflation that’s touched a 14-year-high and force the central bank to tighten monetary policy further.

Effective Sept. 1 next year, Singapore plans to exempt jobs, comparable to those held by top 10% of Employment Pass holders, from the need to be advertised locally before hiring foreigners under a system called Fair Consideration Framework. The duration of FCF advertisements, where applicable, will be halved to 14 days, the ministry said, adding that processing time for all EP applications will be cut to 10 business days from the current maximum three weeks.

The rule change will help the city-state better compete with rival business hubs like Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates and catch up to Australia and the UK, which have similar global talent visas. More than 700 finance professionals moved to Singapore from Hong Kong last year, according to recruitment firm Robert Walters.

The UAE this year made it easier for expatriates to work without being sponsored by an employer, as well as switched to a Saturday-Sunday weekend to align the country with global markets as it seeks to win more businesses, with Dubai positioning itself as a crypto hub.

Singapore has had to grapple with especially challenging labor-market dilemmas as the nation lives with Covid and the need to recharge sectors like hospitality and food and beverage that suffered disproportionately amid social mobility restrictions that are finally all but canceled.

A key gauge that measures the imbalance between demand and supply of workers rose earlier this year to the highest level since 1998. That trend is a risk to productivity in the economy, which officials expect will grow by 3%-4% this year, narrower than the 3%-5% seen before — a pace that will be among the slowest in Southeast Asia.

The country is witnessing an easing of labor market tightness, Minister Tan said, adding that labor supply in manufacturing and construction, among others, have gone back almost to pre Covid levels.

The problems are at the high end of the income ladder — where Singapore wants to attract top global talent particularly in next-generation, technology-heavy industries — as well as the lower end. The government fielded criticism during the pandemic that treatment and broader policies for migrant workers primarily employed in the construction industry needed a reboot.

“This is an age where talent makes all the difference to a nation’s success,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his Aug. 21 National Day Rally speech. “We need to focus on attracting and retaining top talent, in the same way we focus on attracting and retaining investments.”

First Ever South Asian New York Fashion Week To Spotlight On South Asian Designers

Staff ReporterFashion 0

For the first time in New York Fashion Week history, an innovative initiative is being launched to highlight, recognize, and appreciate South Asian fashion designers through a stand-alone platform. From September 8 to 14, 2022, at venues all over Manhattan, South Asian New York Fashion Week (SANYFW) will take over the city’s fashion scene by storm with some of the most noteworthy names in international couture, including Nomi Ansari and Mayyur Girotra.

The event will feature established and upcoming designers, jewelry designers and retailers showcasing their collections. There will also be an interactive partnership with the app Aina(Nisha Saboo), which enables customers to virtually try on clothing.

In a move to spotlight, acknowledge, and appreciate South Asian fashion designers a South Asian New York Fashion Week (SANYFW), is being organised for the first time in New York Fashion Week history.

The event taking place from Sept. 8 to 14, 2022, will give renowned designers like Nomi Ansari, Falguni Shane Peacock, and Mayyur Girotra, a stand-alone platform to display their designs all around Manhat

Established designers include Rivesse (Ishan Sanghvi), Margi Official (Margi Sutaria), and jewelry by ReeMat Designs (Reena Mathur) and Avigna (Deepti Mandhava).

The emerging designers who will be showcasing their collections during SANYFW are What is Moire? (Sezan Khan), Bedi NYC (Alice Narang), RKJ Designs (Renee), Aariah by Sabbineni (Harika & Anusha Sabbineni), Ayla Noor New York, Tai by Studio 9696 (Tupili Andrapathy Sandeep), Recover Season Co. (Reshma Zaman), and Pali (Vinod Muralidhar).

Almost a decade in the making, SANYFW is the brainchild of fashion entrepreneur Shipra Sharma, who after partnering with Hetal Patel, made it her life’s mission to showcase and uplift South Asian fashion inspired by traditional and modern South Asian attire and culture. To watch a video of upcoming highlights, please click HERE.

“Lehenghas turned into co-ord sets. Sarees turned into gowns with drapes. Palazzo pants became wide legged pants. We want to reclaim that narrative and introduce the world to the origins of these silhouettes and designs. At SANYFW, we intend to highlight and share the history of our fashion and culture, while celebrating the fashion pioneers who have been trailblazers for our community universally,” said Founder and CEO Sharma during the SANYFW Summer Kick-Off event.

SANYFW’s official tech partner, Nate – www.nate.tech, is becoming the first solution to bring the hottest looks from the runway directly to the consumer, in real time. Championing initiatives in diversity and inclusion, nate felt it was natural to get involved, using its universal technology to make every show completely shoppable, via nate Lists. Any consumer or creator will be able to scan a QR code directly from the runway and shop any item with a tap, as well as share it seamlessly to social media. With the wide world of social media and viral content creators in the mix, designers’ latest collections are garnering a limitless number of impressions.

Increased visibility and innovative technology to facilitate those sales opens a whole new network of buyers — the luxury, at-home shopper. Further proving their influence, creators are giving a voice to what sells, but also paving the way forward for emerging designers to take claim of their rightful share of wallet.

During the week-long experience, hosted at quintessential NYC venues such as Chelsea Factory, 620 Loft & Garden, Ave India Design Collective, 48 Wall Street, and High Line Nine, influencers, celebrities, icons, and enthusiasts of South Asian design, fashion, and culture will have access to jaw-dropping runway shows categorized by streetwear, sustainability, menswear, traditional, bridal, and Indo-Western styles. The show runner is Ayesha Hakki of Events by Ayesha

SANYFW’s official kick-off party is in partnership with Indo Warehouse, the experiential series under Kahani’s premier label and collective Nonresident, which serves as a space for listeners to feel sound and lose themselves in a world of blended cultures.

“Never before has New York City seen South Asian culture come alive DURING New York Fashion Week the way we plan to showcase it,” said co-founder and COO Patel. “With an expectedly high projected audience and increased participation from leading pioneers of the South Asian fashion industry, SANYFW promises to be the MUST-ATTEND week for fashionistas this fall.”

Events will be ticketed, and the entire schedule of fashion shows, pop-up events, and parties will be on the official website, www.sanyfw.com

Zee5 Inks Partnership With Iconic US-Based Indian Franchise Patel Brothers

Staff ReporterBusiness 0

ZEE5 Global,  the world’s largest platform for South Asian content, today announced its partnership with the Patel Brothers, a US-based Indian Grocery chain, to facilitate connecting with diaspora audiences on the occasion of the 75th year of Independence.

The Patel Brothers store on Oak Tree Road Edison, New Jersey, was inaugurated by popular Bollywood actor Sonali Bendre. Sonali, who recently made her comeback and successful debut on ZEE5 Global with The Broken News, spoke about the partnership and how this will benefit the Indians in the US.

ZEE5 Global also hosted a contest at the store where the participants had to answer questions related to the platform and Patel Brothers. The winners were given an opportunity to shop grocery items worth $200 for free with none other than Sonali as a part of the ‘Shop with the Stars’ contest. The platform also distributed its branded shopping bags to the customers.

Zee5 hosted a “Shopping with the Stars” contest at the newly opened Patel Brothers store in Edison, New Jersey.

Leading South Asian content provider, Zee5 global recently announced its partnership with America’s oldest and most popular Indian grocery store chain, Patel Brothers, in a move to connect with South Asian diaspora audiences.

The collaboration was announced by Bollywood star Sonali Bendre at a press event after she inaugurated the new Patel Brothers store on Oak Tree Road, Edison, New Jersey.

Commenting on the partnership, actor Sonali Bendre said, “I’m very happy to be here to kick off this partnership between two deeply rooted South Asian brands, The Patel Brothers and ZEE5 Global.  As the leading South Asian streaming service, ZEE5 Global has stepped out of screens and is making an effort to bring together the diaspora audiences across the US through multiple community initiatives. Together with the Patel Brothers who are America’s oldest, largest and best-loved Indian chain in the US, we can expect many wonderful initiatives and experiences from this partnership.”

Speaking of the collaboration with Patel Brothers, Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, said, “We’ve seen exponential growth in the U.S. in our first year of launch, and we are happy to have been able to delight our audiences here with our rich content library. There’s no better way now to cement our leadership position in this market than with this partnership with the Patel Brothers, another iconic and much-loved South Asian brand, and we look forward to a long, wonderful relationship with them”

Kaushik Bhai Patel from Patel brothers said, “We’re always looking for ways to cater to the needs of NRIs and South Asians in the U.S. hungry for their home culture. We are very happy to partner with ZEE5 Global that shares this ethos.”

Launched on June 22 in the US, 2021, ZEE5 Global is the only dedicated streaming platform in the country for South Asian content. Home to the biggest blockbusters, latest originals and web series across languages and genres, the platform offers an unparalleled 200,000 hours of content with 100+ hours of new content added daily.  ZEE5 Global further houses one of the biggest South Indian content libraries with hits like RRR, Valimai, Bangarraju etc., much loved TV shows across languages and more.

A Space in the World

Staff ReporterTravel, Youth 0

Set in Buenos Aires, from Son’s perspective

I am sitting outside of the school director’s office, one of these uncomfortable plastic chairs the students probably are used to. This British language institute isn’t one of the more famous ones. I found out about it from some ads I saw online, sent an email, and am now hopefully going to get my next job.

It is just my third day in Buenos Aires. A few days in Santiago and I thought, This city is too all over the place for me. I have to get out. A few days in the Southern Cone and I thought, This part of the world is just too cold for me. I flew all the way to the other side of Latin America because I wanted something different, but not in terms of temperature. A few days in Buenos Aires, and I’ve thought, Beautiful buildings everywhere, something that finally reminds me of what I bet the architecture of Spain or Italy would be like. The weather’s a little chilly, but not too bad, typical autumn fare. The wind picks up because there are tall and elegant buildings directing it to its lanes.

As for the people, they’re not always the nicest behaving. Most Argentinians are very white. I have the feeling that they see a person of colour and wonder if I’m out to steal something. Or maybe they are too busy to act nice. Buenos Aires seems like one of those cities in which life takes on the appearance of quickness. I say “the appearance” because even though everyone is running about, I also get the sense that they really don’t have that much going on at all. It’s like their empanadas—the steam runs out quick, but the flavour inside remains soggy for hours.

It’s been about fifteen minutes, past nine, the hour of our appointment. When is the director going to call me in for the interview?

Just as I’m thinking it, the rusty door creaks open and an olive-coloured face with glasses is waving me to come inside. I get off my chair and try to give the woman a handshake, but she avoids my hands even as her face gets closer. I think her lips are puckered, and I am confused.

Her lips go onto one cheek, and I remember that people greet this way in certain parts of the world. I lean in to kiss, but it’s too late. The woman hacks out a chortle.

‘You’re clearly not used to the way we do things,’ she says, in a somewhat forced but accomplished British style of an accent. It’s a little too perfected, if anything, and it makes her put-down that much more grating. I try to put on a smile. Obviously I don’t understand how to do these things. She’s the first local I’ve had to greet like this. In the backpacker hostels, everyone is from another country, and the youngsters who run it are so busy smoking up their cannabis that if they touch someone, it has a very different meaning.

Anyways, I’m thinking about what to say as I follow her into the room.

The woman takes her seat on the other side of her desk and slaps a file down, as if to signal that I should be sitting down on the other side of it. I take my seat and glance about. The room looks like it’s from the era of Eva Perón. There is a purple rug on the floor and posters of famous Argentinian intellectuals whom I can’t quite recognise. One is Borges, one looks like an actor, and some have the stare of politicians. There is a dusty smell to the room. I am glad I am wearing my mask, or I might be sneezing. Cabinets are open, files are laid out all over, and a half-drunk 1ate container is by her computer. She is even lighting a cigarette for herself as she opens up the file.

She is so different from the last boss I had in Mexico City.

I sit there awkwardly, not saying anything. She looks back alertly at me, as if she has remembered she was the one who called me in. She clears her throat and keeps the file in front of her eyes.

‘So, you are looking to teach English in Buenos Aires?’

‘Sí, señora.’

She gives me a little snubbing look through her glasses.

‘You can speak to me in English.’

And I thought my Spanish pronunciation was improving. ‘Yes, yes,’ and I add in Spanish for good measure, ‘Claro que sí.’

She opens one of the files and looks at something. She goes on, ‘So, you haven’t done an official course.’

‘A CELTA or TEFL? No.’

‘And you don’t have much work experience?’

‘I’ve taught a bit in Mexico, but otherwise, no.’

The director swats a bit of the air with her cigarette.

‘Then, why do you think we should hire you?’

I swallow the air, because I’m feeling a very annoyed swirl of emotion in my chest. It would be very easy for me to say exactly what I’m thinking.

Well, why not hire me? I’m a native speaker. Isn’t that enough? I didn’t hear a single native speaker when I was coming up to your office. I bet I could teach these students a more natural English register than your put-on British affect.

But I don’t say that, because I know being a teacher has little to do with pronunciation. The truth is, I might not know grammar better than any of these Argentinians, who probably have decades of experience.

I tell her instead what I’m feeling.

‘Look, señora, I just got into Buenos Aires, and I’m loving it here. Really, your country is amazing. And after spending so many months in Mexico and hating every second of it, I’d really love to be in a place where I’m happy, you know what I mean?’

The director smiles politely, strangely, and then types at her computer.

‘There are a lot of schools here who would hear your perfect English and hire you. We’re not one of them.’

She puts the papers she was looking at back into the file, and I’m able to get a quick glance at them. Huh. It wasn’t actually my résumé she was looking at,  just some internal tax returns that she was reviewing while talking to me.

So, I have my answer. I know how seriously she takes me. I stand up and thank her for her time. But in a bid to be just a little snarky, I also say, ‘I know there are many more schools willing to consider me. I’d be more than happy to be considered by them.’

The director smiles. I’m thinking she’s a little charmed by my temerity, but then she says, ‘I wouldn’t recommend you interview with them, either.’

I push the chair closer to her desk. A lot of emotion is coming out, and I don’t know why.

‘Because you think I’m not good enough for it?’

The director has finished her cigarette. She’s only been smoking it for a few minutes. I’m sure it has plenty more tobacco, and yet she’s snuffing it in her ashtray. And yet she’s looking at me, with the smoke fuming between us. I might have shown a bit too much of my insecurities.

But she’s looking like she’s feeling really sorry for me.

‘No, mi amor. Look at the state of this country you claim to have fallen in love with. We’re having some of the worst inflation in the world. Most of our population is going homeless. Even the teachers we already have, we are considering firing. There’s no space for anyone to come into this country and teach. That’s not just at this school, but any school.’

No, that can’t be true, is my first gut reaction. I’ve hopped all around Central America. I’ve spent hundreds of US dollars to get here all the way from Mexico. I’ve wasted money going up and down this country and Chile and god knows where else it’ll have to be if I don’t get a job here.

There’s no reason to say any of this to her face. She clearly has a busy day ahead of her. I tell her goodbye and take my leave. She doesn’t kiss me again on the cheeks, just shows me to the door, a fresh cigarette in her wrinkled fingers. I take the stairs three storeys down and out of the building.

This director was nice enough, but also not really, and it’d be a little bit of a cliché if I ended up working for some British school all the way in Argentina. I’m better than that.

I’m better than this, is all.

I get out of the school and am immediately greeted by the August chill. It’s a cold breeze that puts me back into the moment. People all around me are wearing sweaters or jackets. I’m probably the only one not well covered up. My hostel is just on the other side of some of these buildings, in a small lane next to a huge avenue, on the other side of one of the city’s major theatres. I’m not in the mood to head there yet. There’s a side of the city that’s on the port. I feel like going in that direction.

The director is right. There are a lot of homeless people about. The person cleaning the rooms at the hostel explained it away to me a few days ago, that all of it is recent, from the inflation and COVID. I was glad to hear it, but I knew she was telling it to me to make me less concerned about how poor Argentina looks. And that worked for a while. I stopped thinking about how discomforting or not it was to see so many people on the streets.

I never put that into the context of what it would mean if I were to try to work here, and in terms of the future of this city and country as a whole. It doesn’t matter how much the colours on these buildings gleam if the people under them are starving.

And that contrast is getting worse. The closer one gets to the port, the taller and more ostentatious the buildings get. It feels like you’re in the thick of New York or Chicago, with skyscrapers all around you. Not that I’ve been to either, but again, that’s just the foreigner’s feeling I am getting. But then at each side end of the boulevard is a person coming up to me and asking for pesos. I say no once, I say no twice, and by the third time I’m aggravated.

Why do I want to take work opportunities from people here, when all I have to do to have a good standard of living is go back home?

It’s been fifteen minutes of walking. I want to go to the port, but I’m also getting tired. I think I’ll have breakfast—some empanadas will be good. I find a place that has a clear queue of hungry people and decide to stand in it. This must mean the place is good.

I get to where I can order and see the sweat on the cashier’s face, and I think, Is it crowded because everyone likes the empanadas, or is it the only thing people nowadays can afford?

I try to order in my bad Spanish. The cashier gets impatient and says something firm with me. I don’t understand because I don’t know Spanish, and she makes a very angered face, passionately swatting the air with her hands and shouting on in her language. A person pulls me aside. I think they’re going to help, but they push me away. Others in the line move forward. One by one they get their empanadas and leave. I’m thinking someone, just anyone, who speaks English will soon come up and help me order, but no one does.

I feel so angry and humiliated that I force myself to go.

This is nothing like Mexico. There, at least, they would have made an effort to help. The people I met liked getting to know foreigners. And if someone didn’t understand me, they might not have liked it, but they were at least polite.

Maybe I shouldn’t have left. It was getting boring, but every place gets boring. I made a huge gamble in coming here, and I just have to accept that it’s most likely not going to pay off. I can hop to Brazil, I can go up north towards Bolivia, but that doesn’t mean that any of it is going to work out.

A calmer voice in my head is trying to tell myself, If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. Let it go.

In reality, there’s nothing but tension running up and down my throat.

“Fuck Buenos Aires,” I shout.

I didn’t want to say that out loud, and now people are staring.

“Fuck Buenos Aires,” I say again.

This time some young guys are looking at me with a smile, nodding to themselves.

“Fuck Buenos Aires,” I say, this time laughing at myself.

I like this city. I really do. People are a little too blunt, people show frustration more than what I’m used to, but I’m still at peace at the end of the day, standing here, with the flow of traffic all about me, with the cedars and the buildings. If I’m not able to find teaching work once classes start, and prices are indeed going up, well, that’s no good news at all. But if I like it here, then I like it here. That is it. I have to give it a shot. There’s nothing wrong with trying a few other interviews here or there. I have the rest of the day—no, I have the rest of the month. I can try to scrounge something up.

I have to have faith in the possibility of being successful in what I want. We need that faith to go anywhere, literally anywhere in life. Otherwise there’s not a chance at all that I will pull through. I’ll go give myself that faith, even if no one else has it in me.

The only one who can give myself space to be in this world is myself.

We are all in our own ways trying to survive—and that includes me.

(KIRAN BHATi is a global citizen formed in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, to parents from Southern Karnataka, in India. I think since I was a teenager I was interested in global themes. Around seventeen, I re-member wanting to tell people I wanted to write a collection of stories for each country in the world, telling a myriad of tales of things happening there. For more details about his journey to over 100 countries in the world, please visit: Kiran Bhat – A a playspace for one person who pretends to be seven billion people at once. (kiranbhatweldgeist.com)

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The right way to Recognize Gaslighting in Connections

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Gaslighting in romantic relationships can be hard to recognize. Those who find themselves overly hypersensitive are prone to gaslighting. However , that is very important to understand the symptoms so as to help your are there any legitimate online dating sites self and your mail order brides macedonian partner. Additionally it is helpful to obtain professional advice.

Gaslighting is definitely when a person repeatedly makes fake statements and promises. The victim turns into doubtful regarding the truth and loses confidence. Sometimes, the individual’s behavior is purposely designed to make the additional believe he or she is being mistreated. In order to avoid this, you must know how https://www.bustle.com/articles/36286-multiracial-singles-are-the-most-attractive-online-daters-according-to-new-study to recognize gaslighting.

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When it comes to a romance, if your partner notifys you that all is fine and you’re not within a good place, this is one of the primary red flags. This is because the patient is often confused and may have difficulty seeing that their very own partner has been unfair. In such a circumstance to you, you must seek support from a specialist. They can assist you to rebuild the confidence that help you see your problems even more clearly.

Another sign of gaslighting is normally when your partner keeps you from experiencing friends. They may say that you are overly sensitive or have unrealistic beliefs. You should not give your feelings importance when they carry out certainly not apply to you. Besides, it is not necessarily normal to be in a relationship that may be filled with unhappiness. Rather, it is actually normal to have frustration and frustration whenever your partner does not treat you as you will need to.

Your companion may be doing gaslighting whenever he or she has been question you things, such as saying you are not allowed to leave the house. Other evidence include making excuses because of not meeting with you, requesting to stay faraway from friends, and cutting you out of social incidents. Aside from these, you may also notice that your companion is controlling the conversation.

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The main issue with gaslighting is that it is usually very noxious to the wellness of a romance. It can also lead to a deterioration of the quality of life. No matter whether the person’s behavior is intentional or perhaps not, it is necessary to end it as soon as possible.

This can be a good idea to use time away from relationship. Bringing months to focus on the own requires can also be helpful. This will help you to remind yourself you will be worth a lot more than what you are currently suffering from. Taking some a chance to relax and enjoy characteristics, listening to your favorite music, or taking a hot bath just before bed can easily all be good for you.

Managing Children’s Back-to-School Anxiety

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Kelly Moore, a Rutgers mental health expert discusses how to prepare children to return to school, signs of emotional distress and benefits of virtual learning.

Students preparing to return to school — in-person, remotely or both — are facing stresses unique to the type of learning they will engage in this fall. Knowing signs of emotional distress and preparing children to bond with peers and teachers before school begins is important to a successful transition, says Kelly Moore, a licensed clinical psychologist and program manager for the Children’s Center for Resilience and Trauma Recovery at Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare, who discusses how parents and teachers can help children navigate the return to school:

How can students form a bond with teachers and classmates while remote learning?

Students should be as engaged as possible. They should be required to use their video option, so they can be seen and should ask questions or offer comments during class instruction. Teachers should engage students by calling on those who do not often speak up. It is critical that schools ensure that virtual classroom features facilitate this process and that students and teachers know how to use the technology.

Some children have really thrived in this virtual school environment while others have struggled. This difference can be true even with siblings. This type of school situation calls for parents, teachers and school staff to really work together to help students stay connected educationally and socially. Once schools get acclimated to remote learning this fall, having virtual clubs for students would be an excellent idea for student engagement.

Adults likely will need to be more hands-on than ever before to ensure that children connect with peers. Many students use online gaming and social media platforms to stay connected. Parents can arrange for virtual activities – virtual escape rooms and mystery games, for example – that are increasingly available. They also can do activities that strengthen family bonds: puzzles, movie nights or creating a family book club where you read a book and then watch the movie.

What are signs of emotional distress in children?

Parents should watch for changes in their children’s normal mood patterns: Are they withdrawing, irritable, having trouble sleeping or being overly clingy and fearful? Elementary school-age children will often show their emotions through their behaviors. Signs of emotional distress can include regression in behaviors that were once mastered, increased separation anxiety or asking a lot of questions repeatedly.

Teachers may notice students who used to be participatory are being less vocal, turning in assignments late or not at all. If teachers notice shifts in class engagement, work performance or attendance that is a red flag.

In addition to the Covid pandemic, many young people may also be feeling the emotional stress and frustration regarding recent events like the murders of unarmed Black men and women and the increased talk about racism in America. I would encourage all parents to talk to their children about these issues in an age-appropriate manner. We cannot take it for granted that they know how to talk about how it’s affecting them and having to now return to school may just intensify those emotions. And if you don’t know how, read books or articles that give you ideas on how to talk to kids about race.

Therapists are offering free or reduced cost support groups for youth and teens. Introduce children and teens to apps that teach them about meditation, guided imagery and yoga. Learning new stress management skills may become a lifelong practice.

How can adults ease the distress children feel about returning to school or continuing virtual learning?

In an unpredictable world, having accurate information in doses we can tolerate and establishing routines can ease distress. Schools and families with students learning at home should establish a clear structure and routine. Children returning physically to school should understand what to expect and the safety guidelines in place. Children might feel more in control if they can pick out or decorate their own masks to wear each day in the classroom.

If at-home learning is feasible, parents can empower children by including them in discussions about whether to pursue in-person, hybrid or virtual learning, and ask them to list their pros and cons about each option.

What are the emotional pros and cons of virtual learning?

While hybrid or virtual leaning can impact some of the traditional aspects of social and emotional skill building like making friends, speaking in groups or navigating a new building, virtual learning may promote new skills. On these platforms, the student has to stay more engaged, pay attention to facial cues during conversations and improve their technological skills, so they can take advantage of chat and reaction features. As students and teachers become more comfortable with these platforms, students also may speak up more to be recognized and communicate more clearly and concisely. Their typing skills also may improve.

What unique challenges do children in underserved communities face?

Children in these communities are now at a greater risk for food insecurity and falling behind academically. It is critical that they have at least one supportive adult to help ensure they have their basic needs — food, safety, shelter and technology— met so they can keep up with their peers. Schools should enlist their counselors, social workers, nurses and child study team staff in innovative ways to reach these students.

(Kelly Moore is a licensed clinical psychologist and program manager for the Children’s Center for Resilience and Trauma Recovery at Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare)

Under Pressure From Trump, FDA Announces Emergency Authorization For Convalescent Plasma To Treat Covid-19

Staff ReporterHealth, Politics, USA 0

The US Food and Drug Administration on Sunday issued an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19, saying the “known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.”

The FDA said more than 70,000 patients had been treated with convalescent plasma,which is made using the blood of people who have recovered from coronavirus infections.

“Today I am pleased to make a truly historic announcement in our battle against the China virus that will save countless lives,” President Trump said at a White House briefing, referring to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. “Today’s action will dramatically increase access to this treatment.”

Last week, Trump accused some health officials of playing politics regarding an EUA for convalescent plasma. When asked about the FDA not having granted an EUA, Trump said the reason was political.

On Sunday, a source who is close to the White House Coronavirus Task Force told CNN the FDA had reviewed additional data to inform its EUA decision. This official has not personally reviewed the data. They added the FDA is under no obligation to consult anyone outside the agency about its decision.

Convalescent plasma is taken from the blood of people who have recovered from Covid-19. At the end of March, the FDA set up a pathway for scientists to try convalescent plasma with patients and study its impact. It has already been used to treat more than 60,000 Covid-19 patients.

However, like blood, convalescent plasma is in limited supply and must come from donors. And while there are promising signals from some studies, there is not yet randomized clinical trial data on convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19. Some of those trials are underway.

Experts say more data is needed

US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said studies involving 70,000 volunteers justified the EUA.

“The data we gathered suggests that patients who were treated early in their disease course, within three days of being diagnosed, with plasma containing high levels of antibodies, benefited the most from treatment. We saw about a 35% better survival in the patients who benefited most from the treatment,” Azar told the White House briefing.

“We dream in drug development of something like a 35% mortality reduction. This is a major advance in the treatment of patients. A major advance.”

Azar appeared to be referring to a national study of 35,000 patients treated with convalescent plasma. The study, released August 12 in a pre-print, meaning it had not yet been peer-reviewed, showed that 8.7% of patients who were treated within three days of diagnosis died, compared to about 12% of patients who were treated four days or more after their diagnosis. That’s about a difference of about 37%.

Those treated with plasma containing the highest levels of antibodies had a 35% lower risk of dying within a week compared to those treated with less-rich plasma.

But this is not how doctors usually measure the benefit of a treatment. The gold standard is a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial that means that doctors randomly choose who gets the treatment and who doesn’t, so they can truly tell whether it’s the treatment affecting survival and not something else. And the comparison is usually treated patients compared to untreated patients — not patients treated earlier compared to those treated later.

“The problem is, we don’t really have enough data to really understand how effective convalescent plasma is,” Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University and a CNN medical analyst, said Sunday.

“While the data to date show some positive signals that convalescent plasma can be helpful in treating individuals with COVID-19, especially if given early in the trajectory of disease, we lack the randomized controlled trial data we need to better understand its utility in COVID-19 treatment,” Dr. Thomas File, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said in a statement.

Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said he thought it likely the White House pressured the FDA into pushing through the EUA.

“I think what’s happening here is you’re seeing bullying, at least at the highest level of the FDA, and I’m sure that there are people at the FDA right now who are the workers there that are as upset about this as I am,” Offit told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

According to a knowledgeable source, Dr. Francis Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health; Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Dr. H. Clifford Lane, who works under Fauci at NIAID, were among government health officials who had previously been skeptical there was enough data to justify emergency authorization of plasma for Covid-19.

‘Great demand from patients and doctors’

President Trump said there might have been a holdup on the EUA, “but we broke the logjam over the last week to be honest,” Trump said at the briefing. He said he believed there were officials at the FDA and in the Department of Health and Human Services “that can see things being held up and wouldn’t mind so much.”

“It’s my opinion, very strong opinion, and that’s for political reasons,” Trump said. Hahn denied the decision was made for any other than legitimate medical reasons.

“I took an oath as a doctor 35 years ago to do no harm. I abide by that every day,” Hahn said in a statement to CNN’s Jim Acosta.

“I’ve never been asked to make any decision at the FDA based on politics. The decisions the scientists at the FDA are making are done on data only.”

Hahn said during the briefing the agency decided the treatment was safe, and looked potentially effective enough to justify the EUA, which is not the same as full approval.

“So we have ongoing clinical trials that are randomized between a placebo, or an inactive substance, and the convalescent plasma. While that was going on we knew there was great demand from patients and doctors,” Hahn said.

While an EUA can open the treatment to more patients, it could also have the effect of limiting enrollment in clinical trials that determine whether it’s effective.

On Thursday, Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said that doctors have treated so many Covid-19 patients with convalescent plasma, it has been difficult to figure out if the treatment works.

“The problem with convalescent plasma is the great enthusiasm about it,” Woodcock said in an online conversation about the latest science behind monoclonal antibody treatments and convalescent plasma. “It exceeded anyone’s expectation as far as the demand.”

Bioethics expert Art Caplan said he’s worried about whether there’s a large enough supply of convalescent plasma. With an EUA, doctors will be more likely to give convalescent plasma without tracking data, so it will then be difficult to determine which donors have the most effective plasma, and which patients are the best candidates to receive it.

“We’re going to get a gold rush towards plasma, with patients demanding it and doctors demanding it for their patients,” said Caplan, the founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine.

Nassau County Celebrates India Independence Day

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Mineola, NY- On August 12th, 2020, the Office of Asian American Affairs hosted a virtual event to celebrate India’s Independence Day. This event was hosted by County Executive Laura Curran and Executive Director Farrah Mozawalla. It celebrated the independence of India and the heritage of our Indian-American Nassau residents.

The event was held via Zoom and over 100 attendees were present. Special guests included the Consul General Mr. Randhir Kumar Jaiswal of the Consulate General of India in New York and New York State Senator Kevin Thomas.

The virtual event was organized through the efforts of the host committee members Indu Jaiswal, Mohinder Singh, Dr. Bobby Kumar, Shashi Malik, Mukesh Modi, Jyoti Bhatia Gupta, and Pink Jaggi. Sponsoring organizations included the Indian American Forum, India Association of Long Island, IDP USA, and Long Island Ladies Club.

The virtual event started off with the playing of the American and Indian national anthem. Attendees then enjoyed the dance performances of residents followed by a video from community members wishing all a happy Indian Independence Day. The Office of Asian American Affairs also presented citations to eight honorees to recognize their special efforts to their local community.

These eight honorees were: Kuljeet Karishma Ahluwalia, Mukesh Modi, Siddhi Vaishnav, Jessica Kalra, Quddus Ahmed, Flora Parekh, Prakash Shilagani, and Darshan K. Nangia. In addition, the dome of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building was lit in the colors of the Indian flag. During the midst of a pandemic, we were pleased to be able to commemorate this significant event for the Indian community. To see videos and pictures of the beautiful event, visit the Nassau County Office of Asian American Affairs Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NassauCountyOAA.

Dr. Sajani Shah, A Second Generation Physician Of Indian Origin Becomes Chair Of BOT, AAPI

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Dr. Ami Baxi is the President of YPS, Dr. Kinjal Solanki is the AAPI MSRF President

(Chicago, IL – August 22, 2020) “We are extremely happy that Dr. Sajani Shah, a second generation physician of Indian Origin, and the first ever from the Young Physicians Section, has become the Chair of BOT, AAPI for the year 2020-21,” Dr. Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, President of AAPI announced here. “I am so proud that this historic milestone by AAPI has occurred during my Presidency.”

Dr. Sajani Shah assumed charge as the Chair of Board of Trustees, AAPI during the first ever Virtual Summit on July 12th. Also, Dr. Ami Baxi was sworn as the President of YPS and Dr. Kinjal Solanki as the AAPI MSRF President. In her farewell message, Dr. Seema Arora, outgoing BOT Chair, said, “I congratulate and wish the very best to three incoming Trustees – Dr. Jagdish Gupta, Dr. Raghu Lolabhattu and Dr. V. Ranga, the incoming President, Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda and the incoming BOT Chair, Dr. Sajani Shah and entire AAPI leadership & membership to take AAPI to further heights in the future.”

Dr. Shah is a general surgeon from Boston, MA who specializes in minimally invasive Bariatric Surgery. She earned her executive MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently, she is serving as the Chief of Minimally Invasive Bariatric/Surgery and is the Medical Director of Weight and Wellness, Obesity Treatment Program in New England. Dr. Shah is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine. As the Board Chair, Dr. Shah “will focus on what is best for the AAPI organization by facilitating board leadership and governance by setting the direction and priorities of the board for the upcoming year.”

“An organization can only survive to its fullest potential when it is financially independent,” says Dr. Shah, who lives in Boston with her family and enjoys traveling and visiting her family in New York. “The trustee account from which we have been drawing each past year will deplete someday, therefore, it’s vital that we work on strategies to help strengthen the financial well-being of AAPI.” Dr. Shah promises to focus on academic excellence, without compromising AAPI’s financial well-being or the fact that AAPI is an organization of friends and families.” Dr. Shah wants to “work with her board to help engage the younger generation of physicians to the organization and overall increase in AAPI membership.”

Dr. Sajani Shah, a past president of IMANE, a subchapter of AAPI, has been serving as a member of BOT, AAPI since 2018 and involved in AAPI since the 2007 in several capacities including regional director, co-chair of the academic committee and chair of the women’s forum, “hopes to continue molding the organization’s culture, mission and work ethics.” Working in coordination with She is excited for a wonderful slate of board members and looks forward to actively engaging the board members, building upon each member’s individual strengths to accomplish great things this year.” Dr. Shah is confident that “working collaboratively under the guidance of the AAPI president and his executive team, AAPI will be lifted to new heights. As a second generation Indian and youngest to serve as the Chair of the Board of Trustees, I am truly humbled, honored and excited to start my tenure as the new BOT Chair.”

Dr. Ami Baxi, AAPI YPS President, is a board certified psychiatrist, based in New York City. During Residency, she had served as Chief Resident in her final year, Dr. Baxi has advanced up the chain of hospital administration at Lenox Hill Hospital, a prestigious Upper East Side hospital, part of the Northwell health system.  After serving as Director of Inpatient Psychiatry for five years, Dr. Baxi is now Director of Ambulatory Services within the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Baxi’s keen interest in the training and education of future doctors resulted in an appointment as the Director of Medical Student Education, overseeing medical students and residents from Downstate Medical College, Westchester Medical Center, New York Medical College, and Staten Island University Hospital. Dr. Baxi’s work has not gone unnoticed by her trainees as they have often appointed her Faculty of the Year. Finally, Dr. Baxi also most recently graduated from Northwell’s esteemed Physician Leadership Development Program.

Dr. Baxi has been familiar with AAPI, growing up in a family of physicians and as her own career developed, she naturally took a leadership role as an active member of the Young Physicians Section.  In her first year on the YPS Executive Committee, she served as the convention chair of their Marquee event, the Winter Medical Conference in Las Vegas,  In subsequent years, she served as Treasurer, then President-Elect prior to now being President of YPS.

In her new role, Dr. Baxi wants to “work towards increasing AAPI membership to sustain the future of the national organization while continuing to enhance value to the YPS constituents, and growing the mentorship program so that members may benefit from each other’s experiences and accomplishments.” While recognizing the challenges of unprecedented times, Dr. Baxi is aware that “flexibility is of utmost importance to successfully implement the goals of our organization.  We plan to leverage our networks and work with national AAPI to organize webinars with well-credentialed industry experts to assure the community and physicians from all over the country benefit from the wealth of information that AAPI has to offer.”  In this way, Dr. Baxi hopes to increase YPS’s visibility and value throughout the nation.

“Working in close coordination with AAPI leadership, YPS will remain actively engaged with our contemporaries in India via the Global Health Summit to ensure AAPI’s presence on a global stage while also giving back to our motherland,” says the young physician endowed with a vision to serve India.  “We will continue to be a voice for young physicians at next year’s annual convention in Orlando, Florida.  And, of course, our highly acclaimed 8th Annual Winter Medical Conference will be second to none as we bring our members the best and most current content from the country’s most renowned medical professionals.  We are confident these will all be events not to be missed.”

Dr. Kinjal Solanki, AAPI MSRF President is an Infectious Disease Fellow in New Jersey. “I am honored to take over the role as the president for the AAPI medical students, residents, and fellows. As a first-generation Indian-American and an international medical graduate, I truly believe my multicultural experiences have humbled me, cultivated my cultural awareness, and enabled me to relate to others on both personal and professional levels.”  Giving credit to her Indian heritage in shaping who she is today, Dr. Solanki says, “I am grateful for the opportunity to give back to our Indian-American community through my involvement in AAPI these past four years. This upcoming year, I am excited to help develop AAPI as an organization, further advance its mission, and continue to learn from and work alongside all of the AAPI members.”

In her new role as the MSRF President for the year 2020-2021, Dr. Solanki is looking forward “to working with the YPS team and the AAPI Executive Committee on various projects that will interest and benefit medical students, residents, and my co-fellows. This year presents with both academic as well as professional and personal challenges as the world continues to tackle the COVID-19 global pandemic. We plan to hold a series of virtual seminars to educate, discuss, and navigate these challenges. My main goal for this year is to increase awareness and interest in AAPI via the easily accessible virtual platform. I look forward to a great and productive year ahead.”

“We are so excited that all the three leaders Indian American women leaders, who are passionate about AAPI and its noble mission to be the voice of the over 100,000 Physicians of Indian Origin in the United States,” said Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, another woman leader of AAPI, who will become the president of AAPI in 2021.  For more information about AAPI and the many initiatives of AAPI, please visit www.appiusa.org

Indian Overseas Congress, USA, seeks dismissal of Ankhi Das, FACEBOOK content Chief in India

Staff ReporterPolitics, India, Media 0

Indian Overseas Congress, USA, an advocacy group that promotes democracy, freedom, and equal justice in India, condemns the FACEBOOK management for its election-year interference, content bias, and suppression of free expression by Indian citizens to help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that is in power.

The Wall Street Journal dated August 14, 2020, wrote a story on how FACEBOOK’s blatant bias and dubious practices in India in favor of the Modi government is having an impact on the social media as regards its citizen’s right to express their opinions in public. These revelations shine a light on how major business houses that include Ambani’s Jio platform and Tech companies in Silicon Valley are heavily invested in India’s current politics and interferes in its communal faultlines.

“It is quite unfortunate that a company founded in a free society undermines the very essence of that philosophy in a sister democracy in the world and that too in favor of a political party that demonstrated its disdain for pluralism, democracy and freedom of religion, “ said George Abraham, Vice-Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA.

It has been reported that Ms. Ankhi Das, the content manager in charge of FACEBOOK in India, is said to have told her colleagues “punishing violations by politicians from the @narendramodi party would damage the company’s business prospects in the country.” Reuters reported that a handful of employees had written a letter asking FACEBOOK to denounce “anti-Muslim” bigotry” from BJP politicians that Ankit Das said to have protected.

“Congress party valiantly fought for freedom and independence and the dignity of every Indian for the last 74 years, and it is regrettable to see that India’s democracy has now been undermined by a profit-making company such as FACEBOOK,” said Mohinder Singh, president of the IOC, USA.

It is a well-known fact that India is the largest market for FACEBOOK and WhatsApp, and these companies have a huge responsibility in managing the content without bias and bigotry. However, they have chosen the side of those that incite violence and encourage instability that has led to destruction of lives and property. Facebook shoulders a heavy responsibility for what has transpired.

IOC, USA, supports the proposal by the AICC asking Facebook to set up a panel to investigate the blatant bias regarding BJP-RSS and punish those who have engaged in such dubious practices. As a first step, Ankhi Das, who is the content manager for FACEBOOK in India, should be relieved of her duties and be investigated for her connection to a political party since her actions have tainted the company’s reputation as an independent arbiter of opposing viewpoints.

Facebook says will purge hateful posts by public figures in India

Facing intense political heat in India over its alleged role in favouring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on its platform, social networking giant Facebook on Friday clarified its position, saying it has removed and will continue to remove content posted by public figures in India which violate its community standards.

Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, Facebook India, said in a statement that Facebook has always been an open, transparent and non-partisan platform where people can express themselves freely.

“Over the last few days, we have been accused of bias in the way we enforce our policies. We take the allegations of bias incredibly seriously, and want to make it clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in any form,” Mohan said.

He was referring to the controversy generated after a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report claimed that Facebook’s content regulation policies favoured the BJP.

The WSJ report sparked a widespread debate in India, raising serious questions over Facebook’s content regulation practices.

The report claimed that Facebook India’s Public Policy Head Ankhi Das had told staff members that punishing violations by BJP politicians would damage the company’s business prospects.

Mohan said the policies at Facebook are “ever-evolving to take into account the local sensitivities, especially in a multicultural society such as India”.

“An example is the inclusion of caste as a protected characteristic in our global hate speech policy in 2018,” Mohan said.

The Facebook India chief said that the employees represent a varied political spectrum who have either served in many administrations or have political experience and take immense pride in being active contributors to public service.

“Despite hailing from diverse political affiliations and backgrounds, they perform their respective duties and interpret our policies in a fair and non-partisan way. The decisions around content escalations are not made unilaterally by just one person; rather, they are inclusive of views from different teams and disciplines within the company,” he elaborated.

Amid the debate, BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya has claimed that Mohan worked with the Planning Commission during the UPA era.

According to Mohan, there is no place for hate speech on Facebook but they need to do more.

“We know this work is never over, which is why we will continue to invest in our efforts to combat hate speech on our services. We welcome the opportunity to engage with all parties — political or otherwise — who want to understand our content policies and enforcement more,” he said, adding that Facebook’s commitment to India and its people is unwavering.

The Congress has demanded that Facebook should order a high-level inquiry into its leadership team and their operations in a time-bound manner, and publish and make transparent all instances of hate speech since 2014 that were allowed on the platform.

“Facebook India should appoint a new team so that the investigation is not influenced,” said Congress leader K.C. Venugopal in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) to hold “Reflections@50: Walking in Dharma” – a Virtual Conference

Staff ReporterCulture, Religion 0

A unique, first of its kind, two-day online community event “Reflections@50: Walking in Dharma” will be held on September 19 and 20, 2020. Organized by the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA), this virtual conference marks VHPA’s 50 years of continuous service to the Hindu community, and will serve as a curtain raiser for a major in-person event to be held in New Jersey in 2021.

Reflections@50: Walking in Dharma comes in the wake of VHPA’s “Threads 2019” meet which last year effectively captured the multifaceted contributions of the community in the US in the present and projection on the future. Now, VHPA seeks through this conference, to gaze back to the pioneering spirit of first-generation Hindu Americans, who took the bold step of leaving the comfort of their motherland to come to the US in search of better opportunities. Reflections@50 will reprise this amazing journey of 50 years, to learn how Hindus have enriched and strengthened the strands of culture, knowledge, community engagement through their dharmic values and enterprise.

The conference will have four keynote speakers: Vyomesh Joshi, CEO,3D Systems; Vandana Tilak, CEO & Director, Akshaya Patra USA; Dr. Raj Vedam, Scholar, Indian History and Benny Tillman, President, Vedic Friends Association. They will speak from experience on leadership, service, identity and melding of tradition in modern society.

Eight panels featuring academicians, religious heads, charity organizations, elected officials, youth leaders and business people will hold discussions on a broad range of topics including on women, seniors, dharmic institutions, advocacy, youth and community service.  The conference is open to all who seek a deeper understanding of the contribution of Hindus in America. Please register at www.reflections-50.org

Key Findings About U.S. Immigrants

Staff ReporterCommunity, Immigration 0

The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world. Today, more than 40 million people living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s migrants. The population of immigrants is also very diverse, with just about every country in the world represented among U.S. immigrants.

Pew Research Center regularly publishes statistical portraits of the nation’s foreign-born population, which include historical trends since 1960. Based on these portraits, here are answers to some key questions about the U.S. immigrant population.

How many people in the U.S. are immigrants?

The U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 44.8 million in 2018. Since 1965, when U.S. immigration laws replaced a national quota system, the number of immigrants living in the U.S. has more than quadrupled. Immigrants today account for 13.7% of the U.S. population, nearly triple the share (4.8%) in 1970. However, today’s immigrant share remains below the record 14.8% share in 1890, when 9.2 million immigrants lived in the U.S.

What is the legal status of immigrants in the U.S.?

Most immigrants (77%) are in the country legally, while almost a quarter are unauthorized, according to new Pew Research Center estimates based on census data adjusted for undercount. In 2017, 45% were naturalized U.S. citizens.

Some 27% of immigrants were permanent residents and 5% were temporary residents in 2017. Another 23% of all immigrants were unauthorized immigrants. From 1990 to 2007, the unauthorized immigrant population more than tripled in size – from 3.5 million to a record high of 12.2 million in 2007. By 2017, that number had declined by 1.7 million, or 14%. There were 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2017, accounting for 3.2% of the nation’s population.

The decline in the unauthorized immigrant population is due largely to a fall in the number from Mexico – the single largest group of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. Between 2007 and 2017, this group decreased by 2 million. Meanwhile, there was a rise in the number from Central America and Asia. 

Do all lawful immigrants choose to become U.S. citizens?

Not all lawful permanent residents choose to pursue U.S. citizenship. Those who wish to do so may apply after meeting certain requirements, including having lived in the U.S. for five years. In fiscal year 2019, about 800,000 immigrants applied for naturalization. The number of naturalization applications has climbed in recent years, though the annual totals remain below the 1.4 million applications filed in 2007.

Generally, most immigrants eligible for naturalization apply to become citizens. However, Mexican lawful immigrants have the lowest naturalization rate overall. Language and personal barriers, lack of interest and financial barriers are among the top reasons for choosing not to naturalize cited by Mexican-born green card holders, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey.

Where do immigrants come from?

Mexico is the top origin country of the U.S. immigrant population. In 2018, roughly 11.2 million immigrants living in the U.S. were from there, accounting for 25% of all U.S. immigrants. The next largest origin groups were those from China (6%), India (6%), the Philippines (4%) and El Salvador (3%).

By region of birth, immigrants from Asia combined accounted for 28% of all immigrants, close to the share of immigrants from Mexico (25%). Other regions make up smaller shares: Europe, Canada and other North America (13%), the Caribbean (10%), Central America (8%), South America (7%), the Middle East and North Africa (4%) and sub-Saharan Africa (5%).

Who is arriving today?

More than 1 million immigrants arrive in the U.S. each year. In 2018, the top country of origin for new immigrants coming into the U.S. was China, with 149,000 people, followed by India (129,000), Mexico (120,000) and the Philippines (46,000).

By race and ethnicity, more Asian immigrants than Hispanic immigrants have arrived in the U.S. in most years since 2010. Immigration from Latin America slowed following the Great Recession, particularly for Mexico, which has seen both decreasing flows into the United States and large flows back to Mexico in recent years.

Asians are projected to become the largest immigrant group in the U.S. by 2055, surpassing Hispanics. Pew Research Center estimates indicate that in 2065, those who identify as Asian will make up some 38% of all immigrants; as Hispanic, 31%; White, 20%; and Black, 9%.

Is the immigrant population growing?

New immigrant arrivals have fallen, mainly due to a decrease in the number of unauthorized immigrants coming to the U.S. The drop in the unauthorized immigrant population can primarily be attributed to more Mexican immigrants leaving the U.S. than coming in.

Looking forward, immigrants and their descendants are projected to account for 88% of U.S. population growth through 2065, assuming current immigration trends continue. In addition to new arrivals, U.S. births to immigrant parents will be important to future growth in the country’s population. In 2018, the percentage of women giving birth in the past year was higher among immigrants (7.5%) than among the U.S. born (5.7%). While U.S.-born women gave birth to more than 3 million children that year, immigrant women gave birth to about 760,000.

How many immigrants have come to the U.S. as refugees?

Since the creation of the federal Refugee Resettlement Program in 1980, about 3 million refugees have been resettled in the U.S. – more than any other country.

In fiscal 2019, a total of 30,000 refugees were resettled in the U.S. The largest origin group of refugees was the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by Burma (Myanmar), Ukraine, Eritrea and Afghanistan. Among all refugees admitted in fiscal year 2019, 4,900 are Muslims (16%) and 23,800 are Christians (79%). Texas, Washington, New York and California resettled more than a quarter of all refugees admitted in fiscal 2018.

Where do most U.S. immigrants live?

Nearly half (45%) of the nation’s 44.4 million immigrants live in just three states: California (24%), Texas (11%) and Florida (10%). California had the largest immigrant population of any state in 2018, at 10.6 million. Texas, Florida and New York had more than 4 million immigrants each.

In terms of regions, about two-thirds of immigrants lived in the West (34%) and South (34%). Roughly one-fifth lived in the Northeast (21%) and 11% were in the Midwest.

In 2018, most immigrants lived in just 20 major metropolitan areas, with the largest populations in the New York, Los Angeles and Miami metro areas. These top 20 metro areas were home to 28.7 million immigrants, or 64% of the nation’s total foreign-born population. Most of the nation’s unauthorized immigrant population lived in these top metro areas as well.

How do immigrants compare with the U.S. population overall in education?

Immigrants in the U.S. as a whole have lower levels of education than the U.S.-born population. In 2018, immigrants were over three times as likely as the U.S. born to have not completed high school (27% vs. 8%). However, immigrants were just as likely as the U.S. born to have a bachelor’s degree or more (32% and 33%, respectively).

Educational attainment varies among the nation’s immigrant groups, particularly across immigrants from different regions of the world. Immigrants from Mexico and Central America are less likely to be high school graduates than the U.S. born (54% and 47%, respectively, do not have a high school diploma, vs. 8% of U.S. born). On the other hand, immigrants from every region except Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America were as likely as or more likely than U.S.-born residents to have a bachelor’s or advanced degree.

Among all immigrants, those from South Asia (71%) were the most likely to have a bachelor’s degree or more. Immigrants from Mexico (7%) and Central America (11%) were the least likely to have a bachelor’s or higher.

How many immigrants are working in the U.S.?

In 2017, about 29 million immigrants were working or looking for work in the U.S., making up some 17% of the total civilian labor force. Lawful immigrants made up the majority of the immigrant workforce, at 21.2 million. An additional 7.6 million immigrant workers are unauthorized immigrants, less than the total of the previous year and notably less than in 2007, when they were 8.2 million. They alone account for 4.6% of the civilian labor force, a dip from their peak of 5.4% in 2007. During the same period, the overall U.S. workforce grew, as did the number of U.S.-born workers and lawful immigrant workers.

Immigrants are projected to drive future growth in the U.S. working-age population through at least 2035. As the Baby Boom generation heads into retirement, immigrants and their children are expected to offset a decline in the working-age population by adding about 18 million people of working age between 2015 and 2035.

How well do immigrants speak English?

Among immigrants ages 5 and older in 2018, half (53%) are proficient English speakers – either speaking English very well (37%) or only speaking English at home (17%).

Immigrants from Mexico have the lowest rates of English proficiency (34%), followed by those from Central America (35%), East and Southeast Asia (50%) and South America (56%). Immigrants from Canada (96%), Oceania (82%), Europe (75%) and sub-Saharan Africa (74%) have the highest rates of English proficiency.

The longer immigrants have lived in the U.S., the greater the likelihood they are English proficient. Some 47% of immigrants living in the U.S. five years or less are proficient. By contrast, more than half (57%) of immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for 20 years or more are proficient English speakers.

Among immigrants ages 5 and older, Spanish is the most commonly spoken language. Some 42% of immigrants in the U.S. speak Spanish at home. The top five languages spoken at home among immigrants outside of Spanish are English only (17%), followed by Chinese (6%), Hindi (5%), Filipino/Tagalog (4%) and French (3%).

How many immigrants have been deported recently?

Around 337,000 immigrants were deported from the U.S. in fiscal 2018, up since 2017. Overall, the Obama administration deported about 3 million immigrants between 2009 and 2016, a significantly higher number than the 2 million immigrants deported by the Bush administration between 2001 and 2008. In 2017, the Trump administration deported 295,000 immigrants, the lowest total since 2006.

Immigrants convicted of a crime made up the less than half of deportations in 2018, the most recent year for which statistics by criminal status are available. Of the 337,000 immigrants deported in 2018, some 44% had criminal convictions and 56% were not convicted of a crime. From 2001 to 2018, a majority (60%) of immigrants deported have not been convicted of a crime.

How many immigrant apprehensions take place at the U.S.-Mexico border?

The number of apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border has doubled from fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2019, from 396,579 in fiscal 2018 to 851,508 in fiscal 2019. Today, there are more apprehensions of non-Mexicans than Mexicans at the border. In fiscal 2019, apprehensions of Central Americans at the border exceeded those of Mexicans for the fourth consecutive year. The first time Mexicans did not make up the bulk of Border Patrol apprehensions was in 2014.

How do Americans view immigrants and immigration?

While immigration has been at the forefront of a national political debate, the U.S. public holds a range of views about immigrants living in the country. Overall, a majority of Americans have positive views about immigrants. About two-thirds of  Americans (66%) say immigrants strengthen the country “because of their hard work and talents,” while about a quarter (24%) say immigrants burden the country by taking jobs, housing and health care.

Yet these views vary starkly by political affiliation. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 88% think immigrants strengthen the country with their hard work and talents, and just 8% say they are a burden. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 41% say immigrants strengthen the country, while 44% say they burden it.

Americans were divided on future levels of immigration. A quarter said legal immigration to the U.S. should be decreased (24%), while one-third (38%) said immigration should be kept at its present level and almost another third (32%) said immigration should be increased.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published May 3, 2017, and written by Gustavo López, a former research analyst focusing on Hispanics, immigration and demographics; and Kristen Bialik, a former research assistant.

Two gold nuggets worth $350,000 found in Australia

Staff ReporterBusiness, Finance/Economy 0

Two gold nuggets worth around $350,000 (£190,000; US$250,000) have been discovered by a pair of diggers in southern Australia. Brent Shannon and Ethan West found the nuggets near goldmining town Tarnagulla in Victoria state.

Their lucky find was shown on TV show Aussie Gold Hunters, which aired on Thursday. The men dug up the ground and used metal detectors to detect gold in the area.

“These are definitely one of the most significant finds,” Ethan West said, according to CNN. “To have two large chunks in one day is quite amazing.”

They found the nuggets, which have a combined weight of 3.5kg (7.7lb), in a number of hours with the help of Mr West’s father, according to the Discovery Channel which airs the program.

The show, which is also broadcast in the UK, follows teams of gold prospectors who dig in goldfields in remote parts of Australia.

“I reckoned we were in for a chance,” Mr Shannon told Australian TV show Sunrise. “It was in a bit of virgin ground, which means it’s untouched and hasn’t been mined.”

West said that during four years of mining for gold, he is picked up “probably thousands” of pieces. The Discovery Channel also said collectors could pay up to 30% more for the nuggets than their estimated value.

In 2019 an Australian man unearthed a 1.4kg (49oz) gold nugget worth an estimated A$100,000 (£54,000; $69,000) using a metal detector.

Gold mining in Australia began in the 1850s, and remains a significant industry in the country.

The town of Tarnagulla itself was founded during the Victoria Gold Rush and became very wealthy for a period of time when keen prospectors moved there to make their fortune, according to a local website.

Are Women Happier Than Men? Do Gender Rights Make A Difference?

Staff ReporterCulture 0

About 2,500 languages are in danger of becoming extinct according to Unesco, and some of them are spoken by only 30 people. By the turn of the century, it is estimated that at least 50 per cent of the world’s current spoken languages will be extinct. Unesco uses a set of five categories to define how endangered a language is:

  • Vulnerable, where most children speak the language, but it may be restricted to certain domains such as the home;
  • Definitely endangered, where children no longer learn the language as a ”mother tongue” in the home;
  • Severely endangered is when a language is spoken by grandparents and older generations, and while the parent generation may understand it, they do not speak it to children or among themselves;
  • Critically endangered is when the youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently;
  • Extinct – there are no speakers left.

Millions of languages have disappeared throughout the world’s history. Many that exist today are threatened as populations move and countries adopt other, more widely spoken languages. Here are the some of the rarest languages left on Earth and where to hear them.

DUMI

Dumi is an endangered language from eastern Nepal. There are four different dialects typically spoken by people in the area — Brasmi, Makpa, Lamdija, and Kharbari. As of 2007, there were only eight native speakers left in the world, according to the Endangered Languages Project. Nepal is very diverse with more than 123 languages spoken. Most people speak the official language, Nepali, which is replacing many of the lesser-spoken languages.

ONGOTA

Ongota is another rare language with only eight native speakers left in the world. Although it’s still spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, it is being replaced with the Tsamai language. There have been several pushes to save the dying language, but it’s considered critically endangered.

LIKI

On the small offshore islands of Indonesia is a group of people who speak an endangered language called Liki. There are a few hundred people who live in the remote village, but only 11 of them were native Liki speakers in 2009. The numbers continue to dwindle as time goes on. One estimate from UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Endangered Languages puts the number of speakers at just five.

PAAKANTYI

Paakantyi is a language spoken by aboriginal Australian tribes — specifically along the Darling River in New South Wales. The name Paakantyi comes from the word for river or paaka. Recent estimates put the number of remaining speakers between 2 and 22, but efforts are being made to bring the language back from the brink of extinction by teaching it in local schools. Perhaps in the future, Paakantyi will no longer make the list of Earth’s rarest languages.

TANEMA

Tanema is an endangered language that’s spoken on the Solomon Islands off the coast of Papua New Guinea near Australia. Tanema is considered critically endangered with only four native speakers left as of 2008. It has been mostly replaced by Teanu, which is the main language on the islands.

NJEREP

Njerep is a language that originated in Cameroon, Africa on the Nigerian border. As of 2000, there were only a few remaining speakers — between four and six, by some estimates — with the youngest speaker at only 60 years of age. Although the speakers could interact in their native tongue, none of them used it on a regular basis, which makes Njerep essentially extinct. Although the language has been extensively studied and catalogued, there doesn’t seem to be any hope in reviving it. Njerep will soon be completely extinct except in record books.

CHEMEHUEVI

Chemehuevi is a language that originated in the Mojave Desert. It once had between 500 and 800 speakers in different Native American tribes throughout the region. When white settlers arrived, however, the tribes were relocated to Colorado. Today, although the Chemehuevi tribe is still active, there are only a handful of people — fewer than two dozen — who still speak the original language.

SARCEEE

Sarcee, also known as Tsuut’ina, is an indigenous language from northern Canada. In 2015, there were a recorded 50 native speakers left, but there have been efforts to revive the language by offering community programs and teaching it in classes throughout the area.

LEMERIG

Lemerig is an endangered language native to the Banks Islands off the eastern coast of Australia. It’s considered critically endangered with only two remaining native speakers. As more and more settlers move to the islands, Lemerig is being replaced by Mwotlap, a more prominent language in the area.

KAIXANA

Kaixana is tied for the title of rarest language in the world. In 2008, there was only one remaining speaker known to UNESCO’s Atlas of the World Languages in Danger. The language originated in Brazil on the banks of the Japurá River, but it’s likely to soon be extinct.

TAUSHIRO

Like Kaixana, Taushiro is a dying language with only one remaining native speaker. It originated in the Amazon rainforest in Peru, where, at one point, there were thousands of Taushiro speakers. When the Europeans came, many tribes were violently removed or wiped out by disease. Today, Amadeo García García is the very last Taushiro speaker in the world and the final member of his tribe. Once he’s gone, his native language will be too.

Are Women Happier Than Men? Do Gender Rights Make A Difference?

Staff ReporterCommunity, Women 0

I have been working on well-being and happiness in economics for more than two decades. The research—based on the work of scholars around the world—finds consistent patterns in the determinants of life satisfaction across millions of respondents. These include income (yes it matters but not as much as you might think), health (matters a lot), employment, families and friendships, and age (there is a mid-life dip in well-being that holds across most people and countries around the world). A question that always comes up, though, is “are women happier than men?” The answer is “yes, but it’s complicated”—and at times in surprising ways.

In a 2013 study of happiness and gender, based on Gallup World Poll data for 160 countries, Soumya Chattopadhyay and I explored that basic question. Women around the world report higher levels of life satisfaction than men, but at the same time report more daily stress. And while this finding holds across countries on average, it does not hold in countries where gender rights are compromised, as in much of the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. The gap between women and men’s well-being is greater (e.g., women are that much happier than men) in wealthier contexts, among more educated and older cohorts, and in urban areas. While there seems to be a modest gender difference in life satisfaction, it does not hold when women’s rights are compromised.

We also found that the typically positive links between life satisfaction and marriage were much weaker in the same countries with compromised gender rights, where marriage is often an imposed norm rather than a choice. Indeed, it was the married men who were happier than the unmarried in these countries, not the married women. More generally, the common finding that married people are happier than non-married people is in part due to selection bias: happier people are more likely to get married. By construction most cross-section studies—which are at one point in time—are simply comparing the higher happiness levels of those individuals who married each other versus those who did not marry.

As Claudia Senik and colleagues find, the actual effects of getting married (which we can explore with over-time data on the same people) last approximately 18 months, after which people adapt to their pre-marriage happiness levels. Meanwhile, divorce (in rich countries) is most common when there are asymmetries in happiness levels within couples; in other words it seems that it is better to have two happy people or two unhappy people married to each other, rather than one happy and one unhappy person in the same partnership. Unhappily married women in countries with compromised gender rights, meanwhile, are much less likely to be able to divorce if they would like to.

The logical conclusion, then, is that once women’s rights improve, their life satisfaction levels will increase. Yet while women’s rights undoubtedly improved with a host of changes that occurred during the 1970s, there was a “paradox of declining female happiness” in the decades after gender rights improved, as found by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers. Rafael Levine and Alois Stutzer (2010) discovered a similar pattern in Switzerland, one of the last wealthy countries to give women the right to vote in 1971 (!). A national referendum (common for the Swiss) was passed in 1981 that mandated equal pay for equal work, giving them a natural experiment to explore its effects on gender differences in well-being. The authors were able to compare the differences in cantons that voted for the amendment versus those that did not. One would think that women would be happier in the cantons that voted for equal pay. Instead, the opposite occured and female happiness fell precisely in those cantons, compared to in those that did not vote for equal pay.

What explains this? First, these trends reversed over time. A later study of women’s happiness in the U.S. based on data that covered a later time period—1985 to 2005—by Chris Herbst  found that men’s happiness declined more than women’s in that period, beginning in the late 1980s, while the decline for women slowed down significantly, reversing the gender gap in happiness. And over time in Switzerland, the differences across the cantons also declined. One reason for the initial decline is that when unequal gender rights are amended with legislation, established gender norms lag, and that may be particularly strong within households, creating new tensions, especially for working women.

My own experience, entering the labor force in the 1980s and having children in the 1990s was that being a full-time working mother was often seen as a choice between being a “good” mother and working. Many of my impressive colleagues and predecessors at Brookings—such as Alice Rivlin, Belle Sawhill, and Janet Yellen—no doubt faced even more such challenges in previous decades. By now, that choice seems a straw man. College completion and full-time work are now the rule rather than the exception for most women (at least those with means).

The gaps in well-being between unemployed and out-of-labor-force women and their counterparts in other labor market categories are much smaller than those for men.

Indeed, in the U.S. today, there is much more concern about declining male happiness and, more importantly, hope—particularly among less-than-college-educated white men. Kelsey O’Connor and I, based on data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics for the U.S., find that individuals born in the 1930s and 1940s who reported to be optimistic in their twenties were much more likely to still be alive in 2015 than were non-optimists. While optimism among women and African Americans gradually increased after gender and civil rights improved (again with a lag) the one group that decreased in optimism was less-than-college-educated white men. And since that time, minorities have continued to make gradual progress on both education and health fronts, while discrimination decreased (but certainly did not disappear), and more women entered the labor market.

The decline in men’s well-being began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the first decline of manufacturing, and has continued since. The erosion of stable blue-collar jobs due to both changes in labor market demand and supply (individuals with only a high school education do not have the skills to compete in today’s labor markets) has been a major factor in this trend. The trend is starkest for white men who previously had privileged access to good blue-collar jobs and to a stable middle-class existence—and that existence was very much a part of their identity as breadwinners. Not surprisingly, men suffer greater drops in well-being when they become unemployed than do women.

In contrast, the gaps in well-being between unemployed and out-of-labor-force women and their counterparts in other labor market categories are much smaller than those for men. This is likely due to women’s ability to multitask and to have multiple identities as mothers or caregivers, among other things, in addition to working. While that is often stress inducing, it also seems to be (somewhat) protective of psychological well-being.

These well-being declines matter to life outcomes. Less-than-college-educated white men—and particularly those who are unemployed or out of the labor force—are overrepresented in the crisis of deaths of despair (premature mortality due to suicide, drug overdose, and liver disease) that has taken over 1 million lives in the U.S. in the past two decades.

In sum, in wealthy places women’s happiness is typically higher than men’s, even when they are in less privileged jobs and lifestyles. Yet in many developing countries where women’s rights are compromised, women do not experience that same happiness differential. In addition, strong gender norms—which are preclusive of women giving honest responses—can affect the accuracy of their life satisfaction scores. Malorie Montgomery tests for this bias using vignette research. This approach asks respondents to rank their expected happiness in a series of different scenarios (in this case a range of lifestyles involving different levels of freedom and opportunities for women). She finds that women’s rankings of the desirability of these lifestyles often differ markedly from their general life satisfaction scores. Adjusting for this bias, she finds that the around-the-world gender gap in well-being remains but is substantially smaller, driven by countries where strong gender norms preclude honest life satisfaction reports.

While women’s rights have advanced a great deal in most wealthy countries, there are still many poor women around the world whose lives—and well-being—will remain compromised for the foreseeable future. And, as the trajectory of those countries who have already improved equity in gender rights shows, the process is far from simple and does not end with legal changes alone.

Indian Americans Overwhelmingly Support Biden-Harris Candidacy

Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics, USA 0

Indian Americans for Biden-Harris, a recently formed grassroots group, celebrates the groundbreaking announcement on August 11th of Senator Kamala Devi Harris as the vice-presidential running mate of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden.  The group Indian Americans for Biden was formed in July 2020 to establish a unified Indian American voice to support and help elect Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. With the addition to the 2020 ticket of Senator Harris, proud daughter of Indian immigrant Mrs. Shyamala Gopalan, the rapidly growing grassroots group saw a phenomenal number of requests to join the group within hours of the announcement which has grown by over 1,000% since July.

The Indian American community in the U.S., which is now over 4 million strong has achieved incredible success on the path paved by the U.S. civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King and John Lewis, who as Senator Harris notes, were inspired by the non-violence philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. “Senator Harris has got this, and we as a community have got her back. She knows what it means to operate on multiple identity levels in America. The Indian American community is overwhelmingly Democratic, and we will see unprecedented levels of organizing and voting in the Indian American community, as well as the larger Asian American community.” said Seema Nanda, former DNC CEO, the first Indian American CEO of any U.S. political party.

It is befitting now that we mobilize to elect the first woman of both Black and Indian descent to the White House along with VP Biden, who appreciates that Senator Harris represents the essence of America as VP Biden was quoted to say “Her Story is America’s Story”. With this first major decision as President, VP Biden has ignited energy and hope not only for Indian Americans and South Asians, but for all women of color that hard work, courage and determination are still the path to achieving the American Dream. “This is the America we must fight to protect with everything we have and elect the Biden-Harris ticket this November” said group’s co-founder Anu Kosaraju.  Another co-founder Dr. Suresh Kumar, noted that VP Biden, has suffered unimaginable tragedies and understands what’s at stake in this election for all Americans, particularly immigrants. “We as immigrants who left our birth-country and worked hard to build our lives in America should feel the same urgency. Being the swing voters in battleground states, we have an extraordinary responsibility in this election,”said Dr. Suresh Kumar.

To cap off this historic week, on August 15, the Indian American community had an opportunity to hear a special message from both VP Biden and Senator Harris at a virtual celebration to mark Indian Independence Day. In a strong show of support to India,  and recalling the countries’ mutual special bond and his efforts over 15 years to deepen ties with  India, VP Biden reiterated his belief that the US becoming closer friends and partners with India will make the world a safer place and if elected President, will stand with India in confronting the threats in the region. Senator Harris’s fondly reminisced about her trips to Madras (former name of Chennai) and how listening from her grandfather about the heroes of India’s Independence fight and watching her mother march in the civil rights movement instilled in her to fight against injustice and that these values shaped her. The trifecta of historic events culminated with the Biden-Harris campaign releasing a policy statement for Indian Americans which underscores the contributions and importance of our community in the beautiful quilted fabric of America.

For decades, Indian Americans have contributed significantly to the economic growth of the United States,  but were conspicuously absent from political discourse, civic engagement and a formal recognition by political parties. “The rising xenophobia coupled with the onslaught of American and democratic values and institutions in the last three years, has driven the community to get politically engaged but has yet to develop a collective and unique Indian American narrative within the Democratic Party even though we immigrated from the largest democracy in the world,” said Satish Korpe, a co-founder of the group.

“While Indians make up 80% of the South Asians diaspora and share the same, political challenges values and goals of the broader Asian American and Pacific Islander community as well, we are also proud of our unique Indian heritage,” Dr. Suresh Kumar said. Through extensive conversations with Indian American community leaders the group’s founders realized that the immigrant Indian community which makes up about two-thirds of the total Indian American voting bloc wanted to coalesce around their common ties to India and the issues that particularly impact them and US-India relationship, and so the group Indian Americans for Biden was formed and has evolved this week to Indian Americans for Biden-Harris.

According to the group’s founding members, Satish Korpe, Dr Suresh Kumar and Anu Kosaraju, Facebook was the platform they found to be the fastest way to bring together people from across the country to unite in the mission to get Joe Biden, and now Senator Kamala Devi Harris elected this November, while also solidifying an Indian American identity within the Democratic Party. With less than 80 days to November 3, the group is working tirelessly inspired by Senator Harris’ call to action, “Our children and grandchildren will ask us where we were when the stakes were so high. They will ask us what it was like. I don’t want us to tell them how we felt. I want us to tell them what we did.

To get involved with Indian American for Biden-Harris, please join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/indianamericansforbiden/

The Rise Of Kamala Harris Is Symbolic Of The Coming Of Age Of Indian Americans

Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics, USA, Women 0

“My name is pronounced “comma-la”, like the punctuation mark,” Kamala Harris writes in her 2018 autobiography, The Truths We Hold. The California senator, daughter of an Indian-born mother and Jamaican-born father, then explains the meaning of her Indian name. “It means ‘lotus flower’, which is a symbol of significance in Indian culture. A lotus grows underwater, its flowers rising above the surface while the roots are planted firmly in the river bottom.”

The Vice Presidential Candidate, Kamala Harris’s public image has been more tied to her identity as an African-American politician, especially recently during the current conversation around race and the Black Lives Matter movement in the US.

But Indian-Americans also view her as one of their own, her candidacy suggesting a potential wider recognition of the Indian and South Asian communities in the country. It is clear that her late mother was a big inspiration for Kamala Harris. Shyamala Gopalan was born in the southern Indian city of Chennai, the oldest of four children.

The speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday created a buzz on social media among the Indian-American and Tamilian community after she gave a special shoutout to her “chithis” while emphasising the importance of family. Tamil word ‘chithi‘ means aunt.

Harris, who made history by being the first Black woman and the first woman of Indian descent to contest US elections on a major party’s ticket, made the remark during her vice-presidential acceptance speech. In her speech, Harris spoke about the importance of family support in shaping an individual.

“She raised us to be proud, strong Black women. And she raised us to know and be proud of our Indian heritage. She taught us to put family first. The family you are born into and the family you choose,” said Harris while talking about her mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris. Describing what family means to her, she said, “Family is my uncles, my aunts, and my chithis”.

For many Tamil Americans, Kamala Harris’s use of the phrase chitti was a small but significant way for the vice-presidential candidate to say, before an audience of millions, that she is one of them, too. As she accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president last week, California Sen. Kamala Harris recounted how she had been taught to “put family first.”

That covers both “the family you’re born into and the family you choose,” she said. Family is her husband, she said, and her two step-kids. Her sister, her sorority, her best friend, her godchildren. And then, she added, “Family is my uncles, my aunts and my chittis.” That last word, a Tamil term of endearment for the younger sisters of one’s mother, was met with a fierce outpouring of pride across social media.

For many Tamil Americans, Ms Harris’s use of the phrase – which can also be spelled out phonetically in English as “citti,” “chitthi” or “chitthi” – was more than just another word for “auntie.” It was a small but significant way for the vice-presidential candidate to say, before an audience of millions, that she is one of them, too. “Americans everywhere are googling ‘chitthi’ but @KamalaHarris we know,” Gautam Raghavan, a former Obama White House staffer, wrote on Twitter. “And we love you for it.”

By now, the basics of Ms Harris’s Black and South Asian identity are familiar: Born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother who met as graduate students, she was raised to appreciate her Black and South Asian heritage but prefers to call herself simply “American.”

Yet less commonly acknowledged in that biography is the regional heritage of her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, in Tamil Nadu, a South Indian state whose majority ethnic group is known for a deep pride in its distinct language and culture.

More than 240,000 people in the United States speak Tamil at home, according to census data, and a growing number of Tamil Americans – including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, actress Mindy Kaling, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. – have risen to national prominence in recent years.

In 2015, the comic Aziz Ansari featured lengthy snippets of Tamil dialogue during a much-celebrated episode of “Master of None,” when his real-life parents appeared on the show to played his fictional ones. But there’s nothing quite like prime-time politics.

“A Tamil word in an acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. Still blows my mind,” wrote Hari Sevugan, the former deputy campaign manager for Pete Buttigieg. “Despite this president, ‘only in America’ is still a thing.”

As her multiracial heritage challenges American notions of identity, and some have accused Harris of playing down her South Asian roots – or merely not playing them up as much as her Black identity – her use of “chittis” was a swift reproach.

“My Indian mother knew she was raising two Black daughters,” the candidate told the Los Angeles Times in 2015. “But that’s not to the exclusion of who I am in terms of my Indian heritage.”

After her parents’ divorce in the early 1970s, Harris often traveled as a child to visit relatives in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu city where her maternal grandparents had settled. She wore saris to family events and spoke Tamil with her relatives, the Times reported.

In her autobiography, Kamala Harris described how her mother would often use Tamil around the house to express “affection or frustration.” Her use of the word chitti is a reflection of the family structures and specific language used by Brahmin Tamils, a group that includes Gopalan and her family in India, said Vasu Renganathan, a lecturer in Tamil at the University of Pennsylvania.

The combination of linguistic Tamil roots that mean “little mother,” it can also be used to refer to a stepmother or even a friend of one’s mother who is a bit younger than her. A popular Tamil soap opera called “Chitti,” which first aired 20 years ago, tells of the relationship between a young girl who loses her mother and the woman she begins to treat as a maternal figure.

Hours after Harris’s speech, Renganathan told The Washington Post he was disappointed that Harris did not sprinkle in more Tamil phrases.

“Tamils are passionate about their homeland, and many want to identify themselves as Tamil in order to distinguish from North Indians or other South Indians,” he said. “She could have at least talked about her ‘amma,’ her own mother.” But, he added, it’s only a matter of time before she uses more Tamil on the campaign trail.

Apple Reaches $2 Trillion, Punctuating Big Tech’s Grip

Staff ReporterBusiness, Technology 0

It took Apple 42 years to reach $1 trillion in value. It took it just two more years to get to $2 trillion. Even more stunning: All of Apple’s second $1 trillion came in the past 21 weeks, while the global economy shrank faster than ever before in the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, Apple became the first U.S. company to hit a $2 trillion valuation when its shares climbed 1.4 percent to $468.65 in midday trading, though they later declined and ended the day flat. It was another milestone for the maker of iPhones, Mac computers and Apple Watches, cementing its title as the world’s most valuable public company and punctuating how the pandemic has been a bonanza for the tech giants.

As recently as mid-March, Apple’s value was under $1 trillion after the stock market plunged over fears of the coronavirus. On March 23, the stock market’s nadir this year, the Federal Reserve announced aggressive new measures to calm investors. Since then, the stock market — and particularly the stocks of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook — has largely soared, with the S&P 500 hitting a new high on Tuesday.

Investors have poured billions of dollars into the tech behemoths, betting that their immense size and power would serve as refuges from the pandemic-induced recession. Together, those five companies’ value has swelled by almost $3 trillion since March 23, nearly the same growth as the S&P 500’s next 50 most valuable companies combined, including Berkshire Hathaway, Walmart and Disney, according to S&P Global, the market analytics firm. Apple’s valuation alone rose by about $6.8 billion a day, more than the value of American Airlines.

“It’s become the new flight to safety,” Aswath Damodaran, a New York University finance professor who studies the stock market, said of investors flocking to Big Tech. Companies that are rich, flexible and digital are benefiting in the pandemic — and that describes the tech Goliaths, he said, adding, “This crisis has strengthened what was already a strong hand.”

BIG TECH’S DOMINATION

The stock market share of five tech companies hasn’t been seen from a single industry in at least 70 years. Apple’s rapid rise to $2 trillion is particularly astonishing because the company has not done much new in the past two years. It has simply built one of the tech industry’s most effective moneymakers, which has such a firm grip over how people communicate, entertain themselves and shop that it no longer relies on groundbreaking inventions to keep the business humming.

Apple first reached $1 trillion in August 2018, after decades of innovation. The company, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, churned out world-changing products like the Macintosh computer, the iPod, the App Store and the iPhone.

Since then, it has mostly tweaked past creations, selling gadgets with names like the Apple Watch Series 5, the AirPods Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max. It has also pushed into services such as streaming music, streaming movies and TV programs, and providing news, selling subscriptions for them.

Under its chief executive, Tim Cook, Apple’s most important innovation in recent years has arguably been its nearly unrivaled ability to generate profits. Mr. Cook has built a sophisticated global supply chain to produce billions of devices — most assembled in China — and leaned into a product line designed to lock customers into its ecosystem so they buy new gadgets every few years and pay monthly fees to use Apple’s suite of digital services.

Apple has also grown despite its size by extracting more money from the companies that run businesses on iPhone apps, drawing accusations that its 30 percent cut of some app revenues is unfair.

The Silicon Valley company’s business has been only further entrenched by the pandemic, which has forced people to work, learn and socialize virtually. From April through June, even as Apple shuttered many of its retail stores because of the virus, it posted $11.25 billion in profits, up 12 percent from a year earlier. It increased its sales of every product and in every part of the world.

“Our products and services are very relevant to our customers’ lives and, in some cases, even more during the pandemic than ever before,” Luca Maestri, Apple’s finance chief, said in an interview last month.

Still, Mr. Maestri disputed that the pandemic had been good for business. Apple would have made billions of dollars more without it, he said.

Turkey’s Historic Chora Church Turned Into Mosque

Staff ReporterCulture, Religion 0

The Turkish government formally converted a former Byzantine church into a mosque Friday, a move that came a month after it drew condemnation from people around the world for similarly turning Istanbul’s landmark Hagia Sophia into a Muslim house of prayer. A report stated here that Istanbul’s Church of St. Saviour in Chora, known as Kariye in Turkish, was handed to Turkey’s religious authority, which would open up the structure for Muslim prayers.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan reconverted the historic Chora church, one of Istanbul’s most celebrated Byzantine buildings, into a mosque on Friday, a month after opening the famed Hagia Sophia to Muslim worship. The mediaeval Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, built near the ancient city walls of Constantinople, contains 14th century Byzantine mosaics and frescoes showing scenes from biblical stories.

They were plastered over after the city was conquered by the Muslim Ottomans in 1453, but brought to light again when – like Hagia Sophia – the building was converted to a museum by Turkey’s secular republic more than 70 years ago.Erdogan, whose AK Party is rooted in political Islam, has positioned himself as a champion of Turkey’s pious Muslims and last month joined tens of thousands of worshippers in the first prayers at Hagia Sophia in 86 years.

The move was sharply criticised by church leaders and some Western countries, who said that reconverting Hagia Sophia exclusively for Muslim worship risked deepening religious rifts.Last year a Turkish court annulled a 1945 government decision converting Chora – known as Kariye in Turkish – into a museum run by the Education Ministry.

On Friday, an edict signed by Erdogan and published in Turkey’s official gazette declared “the management of the Kariye Mosque be transferred to the Religious Affairs Directorate, and (the mosque) opened to worship.

The church was first built at the site in the 4th century, but most of the existing building dates to an 11th century church that was partly rebuilt 200 years later following an earthquake.

The church, situated near the ancient city walls, is famed for its elaborate mosaics and frescoes. It dates to the fourth century, although the edifice took on its current form in the 11th–12th centuries. The structure served as a mosque during the Ottoman rule before being transformed into a museum in 1945. A court decision last year canceled the building’s status as a museum, paving the way for Friday’s decision.

Erdogan’s edict on Friday did not say when the first Muslim prayers would be held at Chora, or what arrangements would be made for the Christian artworks there. At Hagia Sophia, curtains have been drawn in front of an image facing worshippers of Mary and the infant Jesus.

And as with the Hagia Sophia, the decision to transform the Chora church museum back into a mosque is seen as geared to consolidate the conservative and religious support base of Erdogan’s ruling party at a time when his popularity is sagging amid an economic downturn.

Greece’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the move, saying that Turkish authorities “are once again brutally insulting the character” of another UN-listed world heritage site.

“This is a provocation against all believers,” the Greek ministry said in a statement. “We urge Turkey to return to the 21st century, and the mutual respect, dialogue and understanding between civilizations.”

Coronavirus Pandemic Could Be Over Within Two Years – WHO Head

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Speaking in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Spanish flu of 1918 had taken two years to overcome. But he added that current advances in technology could enable the world to halt the virus “in a shorter time”.

“Of course with more connectiveness, the virus has a better chance of spreading,” he said.

“But at the same time, we have also the technology to stop it, and the knowledge to stop it,” he noted, stressing the importance of “national unity, global solidarity”. The flu of 1918 killed at least 50 million people.

Coronavirus has so far killed 800,000 people. Nearly 23 million infections have been recorded but the number of people who have actually had the virus is thought to be much higher due to inadequate testing and asymptomatic cases.

Prof Sir Mark Walport, a member of the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) – on Saturday said that Covid-19 was “going to be with us forever in some form or another. So, a bit like flu, people will need re-vaccination at regular intervals,” he told the media.

In Geneva, Dr Tedros said corruption related to supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic was “unacceptable”, describing it as “murder”.  “If health workers work without PPE, we’re risking their lives. And that also risks the lives of the people they serve,” he added, in response to a question.

Although the question related to allegations of corruption in South Africa, a number of countries have faced similar issues. On Friday, protests were held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi over alleged corruption during the pandemic, while doctors from a number of the city’s public hospitals went on strike over unpaid wages and a lack of protective equipment.

The same day, the head of the WHO’s health emergencies programme warned the scale of the coronavirus outbreak in Mexico was “clearly under-recognised”.

Dr. Mike Ryan said the equivalent of around three people per 100,000 were being tested in Mexico, compared with about 150 per 100,000 people in the US.

Mexico has the third highest number of deaths in the world, with almost 60,000 fatalities recorded since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In the US, Democratic nominee Joe Biden pledged to introduce a national mandate to wear masks if elected, and attacked President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

“Our current president’s failed in his most basic duty to the nation. He’s failed to protect us. He’s failed to protect America,” Mr Biden said.

More than 1,000 new deaths were announced in the US on Friday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 173,490.

What’s happening elsewhere?

On Friday, a number of countries announced their highest numbers of new cases in months.

South Korea recorded 324 new cases – its highest single-day total since March.

As with its previous outbreak, the new infections have been linked to churches, and museums, nightclubs and karaoke bars have now been closed in and around the capital Seoul in response.

Media captionAnother church, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, was identified earlier this year as South Korea’s biggest virus cluster

A number of European countries are also seeing rises.

Poland and Slovakia both announced record new daily infections on Friday, with 903 and 123 cases respectively, while Spain and France have seen dramatic increases in recent days.

In Lebanon, a two-week partial lockdown – including a night-time curfew – has come into effect as the country saw its highest number of cases since the pandemic began.

Infections have doubled since a devastating blast in the capital Beirut killed at least 178 people and injured thousands more on 4 August.

The disaster left an estimated 300,000 people homeless and placed massive strain on medical facilities.

In Africa, the average daily cases of coronavirus fell last week, in what the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr John Nkengasong, described as a “sign of hope”.

The continent-wide daily average was 10,300 last week, down from 11,000 the week before.

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Non-Resident Indians Reflect On India At 75

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Among the Sliver Lining, There Are Dark Clouds Hovering Over The Very Idea Of India And The Constitution Embodies

India has come a long way since it attained freedom on August 15th, 1947. As people of Indian heritage, spread across every corner of the world celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, it is also time to take stock. The India we see and are proud of is the result of decades of deliberate planning, benefitting hundreds of millions of rural and urban population in every part of India.

The India we see and are proud of is a result of decades of consciously focused planning towards an all-inclusive growth by several governments led by visionary leaders. Quoting Ambassador A. R. Ghanshyam, who wrote in a previous edition of theunn.com, pointing to the vibrancy of Indian democracy. He wrote: “Independent India has witnessed seventeen free and fair Parliamentary Elections with fifteen Prime Ministers at the helm – each contributing his/her mite to the growth, stability and development of the Indian Nation, its society and economy. How individual Prime Ministers of India tried to build a modern India from the debris of two centuries’ rule by the British Empire is in itself a great story and has been narrated by many authors, Indian and foreign.”

India was primarily an agrarian economy in 1947The contributions to Indian GDP by agriculture, industry and services sectors were 56%, 15% and 29% respectively. Agriculture employed the largest workforce of 72% with Manufacturing and Services providing 10% and 18% jobs respectively.

Today, the service sector accounts for 54% of Indian GDP. The Industry and agriculture follow with 25.92% and 20.19% respectively. Life expectancy on the eve of independence was 32 years. It has now gone up to 70 years.

In 1950, infant mortality rate in India was 145.6/1000 live births and maternal mortality ratio in the 1940s was 2000/100,000 live births which declined to 1000 in the 1950s. There were just 50,000 doctors across the entire country and the number of primary healthcare centers was 725. Today, infant mortality is 27.7 per 1000 births and maternal mortality rate is 103 per 100,000. India now has more than 1.2 million doctors. There are 54,618 Sub-Health Centers (SHC), 21,898 Primary Health Centers (PHC) and 4,155 Urban Primary Health Centers (UPHC), as on December 8, 2021. There are as many as 70,000 public and private hospitals. As of April 5, 2022 there were 117,771 Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centers (AB-HWCs) are operational in India apart from 748 e-Hospitals established across the country as part of the ‘Digital India’ initiative of the government.

And we salute and honor this India, where people belonging to different faiths, languages, and social strata live together, peacefully. The forces of division will fail, while diversity and the rich cultural heritage of India where people of all walks of life are respected and given due dignity.

While we are proud of India’s accomplishments and realizing that India is emerging as a world leader on its own merits, it is at the same time, an occasion to remember all those who laid down their lives during a long struggle to make India free from the yoke of colonial rule. It is a call for all of us to ponder as there are dark clouds that are hovering over the very idea of India that the freedom fighters stood for and the constitution embodies.

We continue to share in this edition, reflections from eminent Indian Americans on India and what they perceive India to be “Today – Tomorrow:”

Happy 75th Anniversary of India’s Glorious Independence Day!

Ajay Ghosh, Chief Editor, www.theunn.com

It’s A Mile Stone With Mixed Feelings

India @ 75! It’s a mile stone with mixed feelings, one with a sense of pride and joy for all the accomplishments and progress we have made, while preserving our integrity, unity, core values of freedoms, democracy and respect for different cultures and the groups that live and thrive  in our beloved motherland.

Recently while in India on August 15th, I witnessed the spectacular and proud display of the tricolors. I also saw scrawny and swarthy street kids hawking flags at the traffic light stops to wealthy fatcats chauffeured in big SUVS. That was a jarring scene and would love to see that relegated to distant history.

So I also have this sense of impatience and expectations for the nation, aspiring for greater heights and successes in lifting the entire population out of the poverty and in providing all the basic necessities of health, education, opportunities equitably to realize our fullest human potential in all realms of and walks of life.

We now have the cultural resurgence and the national determination, to take our rightful place in the world and history and to contribute  and  to lead the global humanity to end sufferings and bring peace and prosperity to one and all. It is our destiny and destination. I have no doubt we are fully capable of accomplishing that goal. We shall continue to be vigilant and jubilant going forward. Happy 75 th Anniversary to Independent India!!

Ravi Kolli, President, AAPI

No Citizen Should Be Denied Of Healthcare

India in the last few decades made great progress on digital technology and energy industries. But Health sector development still seems to be at snail pace, post 75 years of independence! No citizen should be denied of healthcare due to lack of access or lack of facilities.

India spends only 1.3% of GDP on public health sector which is very low compared to most developed nations. Why small sight to health sector? Public healthcare is both inefficient and inequitable and it is still not reachable to the rural population who constitute 60-70 % of Indian population. Non communicable diseases (Diabetes, Hypertension, Heart disease, Anemia, Kidney diseases are at its worst and have become a healthcare burden. Spending out of pocket for poor man is burdensome.

American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) has initiated preventive health screening camps in 75 villages to emphasize “ Prevention is better than Cure “ and the data obtained will give more outlook of Rural health in India. India should develop Preventive Task Force guidelines with mandatory annual healthcare screenings and divert healthcare model more towards prevention than disease cure model.

In contrast, India has become a hub for Medical tourism for out of country residents which is driving  Indian Doctors to practice more in corporate setup in urban cities and doctors are reluctant to work in government healthcare facilities in rural PHCs. More innovative changes in healthcare are needed to address rural India using digital technology.

Looking forward for more accessible and affordable Healthcare to every rural citizen and better and safer provisions for young doctors to work at PHCs by 2047!  Thank you and Jai Hind!

Anupama Gotimukula

Immediate Past President, AAPI (2021-22)

Soon, India Is Going To Be A Super Power.

As a young physician in the early 1980s, I left India seeking greener pastures to earn a living and to find ways to grow professionally. I came to the United States with an ambition to succeed. As a beginner in the US, the land of opportunities, I was paid $20  a month in foreign exchange for pocket allowance.  Today, $15,000 foreign exchange is being provided by Indian government to their citizens.

Thousands of my colleagues, who came to the US seeking professional achievements and a better living have similar stories to share. However, now, as we celebrate India’s 75th anniversary of obtaining freedom, India has grown tremendously in every field.

Physicians of my time, wanted to leave India and go overseas for name and fame and fortune. However, today I meet physicians in India who are highly successful and have careers that are noteworthy and successful. Healthcare in India is fast growing.

From being an importer of healthcare services, India has become a maker and supplier of healthcare services. India leads the world in providing cheap and affordable medicine to the world. India has become a hub for alternate medicine.

Kudos to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and past Indian Prime Ministers, who have helped develop the country beyond, with their vision, and imagination for a better India for all.  I am confident, soon, India is going to be a Super Power.

Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalgadda, Past President of AAPI.

Stand United And Work In A Cohesive Manner As A Nation

India celebrated its 75th Independence Day on August 15th 2022, which marked its Independence from British rule and is indelible in history and in people’s collective memories.

We are blessed to have our independence and have the right to speak and be heard because of the sacrifices made by our past leaders who let nothing deter them from their goals of seeking and acquiring independence for our future generations.

Our tribute to our freedom fighters will be to always stand united and work in a cohesive manner as a nation. May this spirit of freedom lead our nation to all success and glory. Once again saluting our entire nation and Happy Independence Day.

Anjana Samadder, President-Elect, AAPI

Need For Fertile Soil In India For The Growth Of Its Seeds Within Its Boundaries

As India celebrates its 75th Independence Day, those of us who left India due to lack of opportunities to pursue our passions and professions, heartfully wish that the twenty-first century India focuses on making its soil fertile for the growth of its own seeds within its boundaries, so that they need not go to other countries to grow into trees.

That needs development of institutes and systems which can function autonomously and responsibly promoting the meritorious. Then only India becomes a major world power.

BK. Kishore, M.D., Ph.D., MBA

Academician, Innovator, & Entrepreneur

India’s Tricolor Flag Is Unique; Should Be Displayed In Every Home

I am very proud to be celebrating the 75th Independence Day of India, which achieved Freedom led by a peaceful non-violent method, led by Mahatma Gandhi.  India’s 75th Independence celebration is followed by Indian citizens and others all over the world. It brings pride and joy to all of us.

At this time, I proudly would like to add that the First Flag that was hoisted at Delhi Red Fort and by the Madras Government, now Tamil Nadu, was woven by one of my husband’s relative Mr. R. Venkatachalam, owner of Hindustan Fabrication at my husband Jagadeesan Poola’s hometown of Gudiyattam in Vellore District, in Tamil Nadu. The company was also given huge order to weave flags at that time.

India’s Tricolor flag is so unique and should be displayed in every home in India and Indian Homes outside of India. This unites all of us without prejudice of religion and language. India is a Union of people belonging to many languages and Religions. This should be followed by the Government also in every state and Delhi. The Governments are elected to serve the people without discrimination.

India is self-reliant in many ways but needs to go much further. If the present Government of India is taking the honor of Economic stability –  why is the value of  Rupee is highest ever – Rs 79 to $1. The value of Indian Rupee keeps falling.

Happy 75th Independence Day To Everyone of INDIAN origin!

Kanchana Poola, Past President of Tamil Sangam, Philanthropist, and Community Leader

A Tribute to Indian Healthcare Professionals

As we proudly celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence, we need to continue strengthening international collaborations and partnerships in the healthcare sector in this day and age of globalized medicine in order to eradicate pandemics such as COVID-19 and enhance outcomes in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as well.

One of the biggest, current global healthcare challenges is heart disease (# 1 global killer). Indians and Indian immigrants are especially vulnerable.

As a visiting university professor, I have worked closely for a number of years with Indian physician peers involved in medical university resuscitation education and training, community healthcare and cardiac arrest research projects.  I genuinely admire and appreciate their contributions to the rapidly advancing global medicine.

Diseases have no geographical barriers, and neither should our efforts to eradicate or mitigate them. Internationally shared evidence-based knowledge and medical practices through global collaborations have a proven track record of enhancing healthcare outcomes.

While celebrating our Indian heritage and independence on this occasion, let us recognize and thank our Indian Physicians and other healthcare professionals for their ongoing, valuable global contributions. Their selfless efforts and personal sacrifices during the COVID-19 pandemic can’t be thanked enough.

Finally, let us look forward to more Indo-US governmental and non-governmental collaborations in the healthcare sector cementing our existing relationships!

Vemuri S Murthy, MD, A Global Champion of Resuscitation Medicine

A Self-Reliant India Is A Strong Successful India

India is celebrating it’s 75th birthday! To commemorate this proud and happy moment, the Government introduced Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. This highlights the glorious past, celebrates the present groundbreaking achievements and points towards the bright future. This comprises of 5 pillars a) Freedom struggle b) Ideas@75 c) Resolve@75 d) Actions@75 e) Achievements@75. 

Har Ghar Tiranga: A bold vision, this ignites the spirit of patriotism and nationalism, and is part of the Government of India’s campaign to have the Indian tricolor in 20 crore houses! This may garner a spot in the Guinness World Records!!

A self-reliant India is a strong successful India. A 20-lakh crore economic package will help in Atma Nirbhar Bharat. Multiple programs are in place across the country, designed to empower citizens, especially women and give them technical expertise.

Basic Vocational tailoring, teaching Areca Leaf Plate making, professional cake training, women farmers recycling domestic waste, getting a computer into the hands of every student, aiming for a tobacco free India (with the proper education and tools), an innovative wrist band to help senior citizens, these are some of the programs helping folks in rural and urban areas.

Jai Hind!

Bhavani Srinivasan MD MPH, Chair Women’s Affairs AAPIQLI; Vice President NIAASC;

President GMC Alumni USA Inc.

Freedom Is, In Fact, The Autonomy To Express One’s Views In Public Without Fear

As India is celebrating its 75th Independence Day, the Diaspora worldwide is joining in the festivity with parades, proclamations, and plays. Undoubtedly, there is so much to celebrate for getting freed from the yoke of colonialism and the clutches of the British. They all who had fought for our freedom deserve our eternal gratitude for their grit and ceaseless efforts that brought us victory.

However, becoming independent necessarily doesn’t mean that one is free. Freedom is, in fact, the autonomy of expressing views in public places against the government and having the right to go everywhere with anyone, wear anything of their own choice, and believe or not to believe in any religion while affording protection from the state for life and property. Are these true in Today’s India?

As India celebrates its 75th Independence Day, there is little doubt that individual liberties guaranteed under the constitution are steadily vanishing while the judiciary that is supposed to protect personal freedom and the rule of law is finding common ground with the Executive branch that is increasingly set on a  path towards majoritarian authoritarianism. It has been said that “democracy dies in darkness,” and the provisions in India’s constitution, like the one in the U.S., are like “parchment barriers – fragile bulwarks intended to preserve liberty. To be effective, these barriers need to be respected by the government and ordinary citizens alike both in law and custom.”  Wishing the nation a happy 75th Independence Day.

George Abraham, vice-chairman, Indian Overseas Congress, USA

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Women Have More Sex Partners Than Men In Several Indian States

Staff ReporterLifestyle, Women 0

The National Family Health Survey which was conducted among 1.1 lakh women and 1 lakh men showed that the number of sex partners on average for women was higher than men in many states and Union territories.

Women on average have more sex partners than men in 11 states and UTs but the percentage of men who had sexual intercourse with someone who was neither their spouse or lived with stood at 4 per cent, much higher than that of women at 0.5 per cent, according to the NFHS data.

The National Family Health Survey which was conducted among 1.1 lakh women and 1 lakh men showed that the number of sex partners on average for women was higher than men in many states and Union territories.

These states and UTs are Rajasthan, Haryana, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu. Rajasthan had the highest number of women who had on an average 3.1 sex partners as against the 1.8 for men.

But the percentage of men who had sexual intercourse with someone who was neither their spouse or live-in partner, in the 12 months preceding the survey, stood at 4 per cent. For women, the number stood at 0.5 per cent.

A marginally larger share of rural women than urban women and those currently married than of those never married, divorced, widowed, or separated said they had sex with two or more partners in the 12 months preceding the survey.

However, according to the NFHS data, a larger population of men (3.6%) than women(0.5%) have had sexual intercourse with those who were neither their spouses nor those with whom they have lived together just 12 months before the survey.

The National Family Health Survey-5 conducted during 2019-21 surveyed 707 districts of the country from 28 States and eight UTs. The national report also provides data by socio-economic and other background characteristics, useful for policy formulation and effective programme implementation.

NY Times Rebuts Critics About Story On Delhi Govt’s Education Model

Staff ReporterMedia, Education 0

The New York Times (NYT), whose front page report lauding the AAP-led Delhi government’s much-touted education model became a major sub-plot of recent CBI raid against Manish Sisodia – Delhi’s deputy chief minister who also holds the education portfolio – dismissed allegations its report was a ‘paid article’.

“Education is an issue that the NYT has covered over many years. Our report about efforts to improve Delhi’s education system is based on impartial, on-the-ground reporting,” the newspaper’s director for external communications, Nicole Taylor, said in an email to news agency PTI.

“Journalism from the New York Times is always independent, free from political or advertiser influence,” Taylor added. On the same story being published in the Khaleej Times as well, she said that other news outlets ‘routinely license and republish our coverage’.

The report, published on the front page of NYT’s international edition on August 18, became a major sub-plot of Friday’s CBI raid against Manish Sisodia, the deputy CM of Delhi who also holds the education portfolio.

The response by the London-based Taylor, who, according to her LinkedIn profile is responsible for the daily’s communications in global markets outside the US, came after PTI wrote to her, seeking a clarification on the matter.

On Friday, as the CBI raided Sisodia’s residence in connection with alleged regularities in the Delhi government’s excise policy, several leaders of his AAP, including the party’s national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, described him as the ‘best education minister of independent India’.

Pointing to the NYT’s story, the party said the fact that the central agency’s action against the senior minister came just a day after the report was published, showed that the opposition BJP, to whose government at the Centre the CBI and other central agencies report, was rattled by the rise of the AAP, and, in particular, that of Arvind Kejriwal.

It also challenged the saffron party to get an article published in the NYT by paying money, if possible. The AAP’s retort came after the BJP, pointing to the same story appearing in Khaleej Times (the paper credited NYT), said this proved that the report was a ‘paid promotion’.

Don’t Dawdle With Latest Iphone Update. Here’s Why And How

Staff ReporterMedia, Technology 0

(AP) — Apple regularly issues updates to the software powering the iPhone, and sometimes it’s OK to dawdle when it comes to installing them. But that’s not the case with its latest — an upgrade that Apple released Wednesday to close a security hole that could allow hackers to seize control of iPhones and several other popular Apple products.

Security experts are warning that everyone with an iPhone should install the update as soon as possible to protect all the personal information many people store on a device that’s become like another appendage for many.

Without the latest update, a hacker could wrest total control of Apple devices, allowing the intruder to impersonate the true owner and run any software in their name.

The company also issued fixes to block the security threat on iPads and Macs. The flaw may already have been “actively exploited,” according to the company, which has had to fix other security problems with the earlier this year.

HOW DO I FIX THIS?

The good news? There’s an easy fix: you should be able to find easily. Start with the Settings app, the one with an icon featuring what looks like gears in an old watch. Go into the “General” section, then “Software Update.” The page you see will offer simple instructions or, if your device has already updated, a message to that effect. The whole process typically only takes a few minutes, according to security experts. .

WHY IS UPDATING YOUR APPLE DEVICE SO URGENT?

Commercial spyware companies such as Israel’s NSO Group are known for identifying and taking advantage of such flaws, exploiting them in malware that surreptitiously infects targets’ smartphones, siphons their contents and surveils the targets in real time. It’s a risk that’s best to avoid.

WHY DOESN’T MY APPLE DEVICE DO THIS FOR ME?

Apple devices are set to automatic updates by default, but it can take some time before they get around to it. Updates also don’t usually trigger unless can be done and it usually won’t happen unless the iPhone is plugged into a power outlet at the time. It’s quicker just to check for the latest updates and do it manually.

DOES THIS MEAN APPLE ISN’T DOING A GOOD JOB PROTECTING ITS USERS?

No. The reality is that hackers are constantly looking for ways to gain unauthorized access to phones, tablets, computers, and other internet-connected devices for a wide range of malicious and illegal purposes. Apple’s products tend to be a prime target because they’re popular, making them an attractive target.

“Apple is no different to any technology company in that they’re constantly dealing with vulnerabilities,” said Jamie Collier, senior threat intelligence advisor for the cybersecurity firm Mandiant and an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. “This is really a function of the fact that they’re innovating. They’re constantly developing, they’re constantly improving services, improving their technology, improving their software. That means they’re constantly rolling out new things.”

WHAT APPLE DEVICES ARE AFFECTED?

The affected devices include the iPhone6S and later models; several models of the iPad, including the 5th generation and later, all iPad Pro models and the iPad Air 2; and Mac computers running MacOS Monterey. The flaw also affects some iPod models.

OW DO I UPDATE IPADS AND MACS?

You can update your iPad using the same process outlined above: go to “Settings,” click “General” and click “Software Update.” On the Mac, go to “System Preferences,” then “Software Update.”

WHAT’S THE RISK THAT MY PHONE WAS COMPROMISED?

Unless you’re a journalist, political dissident or human rights activist, the chances are extremely low. The kinds of spyware created to exploit vulnerabilities of this type are expensive and typically reserved for targeted hacking.

“If you keep the systems updated, you’ll be absolutely fine,” Collier said. “Typically, when vulnerabilities in, say, phones and iPhones, for instance, are exploited, they tend to be pretty targeted, pretty focused on a small subset of individuals. So we’re unlikely to see anything that’s really widespread at this stage.”

Covid Increases Risks Of Brain Disorders

Staff ReporterHealth, Science 0

A study published this week in the Lancet Psychiatry showed increased risks of some brain disorders two years after infection with the coronavirus, shedding new light on the long-term neurological and psychiatric aspects of the virus.

The analysis, conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford and drawing on health records data from more than 1 million people around the world, found that while the risks of many common psychiatric disorders returned to normal within a couple of months, people remained at increased risk for dementia, epilepsy, psychosis and cognitive deficit (or brain fog) two years after contracting covid. Adults appeared to be at particular risk of lasting brain fog, a common complaint among coronavirus survivors.

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The study was a mix of good and bad news findings, said Paul Harrison, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford and the senior author of the study. Among the reassuring aspects was the quick resolution of symptoms such as depression and anxiety.

“I was surprised and relieved by how quickly the psychiatric sequelae subsided,” Harrison said.

David Putrino, director of rehabilitation innovation at Mount Sinai Health System in New York, who has been studying the lasting impacts of the coronavirus since early in the pandemic, said the study revealed some very troubling outcomes.

“It allows us to see without a doubt the emergence of significant neuropsychiatric sequelae in individuals that had covid and far more frequently than those who did not,” he said.

Because it focused only on the neurological and psychiatric effects of the coronavirus, the study authors and others emphasized that it is not strictly long-covid research.

“It would be overstepping and unscientific to make the immediate assumption that everybody in the [study] cohort had long covid,” Putrino said. But the study, he said, “does inform long-covid research.”

Between 7 million and 23 million people in the United States have long covid, according to recent government estimates – a catchall term for a wide range of symptoms including fatigue, breathlessness and anxiety that persist weeks and months after the acute infection has subsided. Those numbers are expected to rise as the coronavirus settles in as an endemic disease.

The study was led by Maxime Taquet, a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford who specializes in using big data to shed light on psychiatric disorders.

The researchers matched almost 1.3 million patients with a diagnosis of covid-19 between Jan. 20, 2020, and April 13, 2022, with an equal number of patients who had other respiratory diseases during the pandemic. The data, provided by electronic health records network TriNetX, came largely from the United States but also included data from Australia, Britain, Spain, Bulgaria, India, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The study group, which included 185,000 children and 242,000 older adults, revealed that risks differed according to age groups, with people age 65 and older at greatest risk of lasting neuropsychiatric affects.

For people between the ages of 18 and 64, a particularly significant increased risk was of persistent brain fog, affecting 6.4 percent of people who had had covid compared with 5.5 percent in the control group.

Six months after infection, children were not found to be at increased risk of mood disorders, although they remained at increased risk of brain fog, insomnia, stroke and epilepsy. None of those affects were permanent for children. With epilepsy, which is extremely rare, the increased risk was larger.

The study found that 4.5 percent of older people developed dementia in the two years after infection, compared with 3.3 percent of the control group. That 1.2-point increase in a diagnosis as damaging as dementia is particularly worrisome, the researchers said.

The study’s reliance on a trove of de-identified electronic health data raised some cautions, particularly during the tumultuous time of the pandemic. Tracking long-term outcomes may be hard when patients may have sought care through many different health systems, including some outside the TriNetX network.

“I personally find it impossible to judge the validity of the data or the conclusions when the data source is shrouded in mystery and the sources of the data are kept secret by legal agreement,” said Harlan Krumholz, a Yale scientist who has developed an online platform where patients can enter their own health data.

Taquet said the researchers used several means of assessing the data, including making sure it reflected what is already known about the pandemic, such as the drop in death rates during the omicron wave.

Also, Taquet said, “the validity of data is not going to be better than validity of diagnosis. If clinicians make mistakes, we will make the same mistakes.”

The study follows earlier research from the same group, which reported last year that a third of covid patients experienced mood disorders, strokes or dementia six months after infection with the coronavirus.

While cautioning that it is impossible to make full comparisons among the effects of recent variants, including omicron and its subvariants, which are currently driving infections, and those that were prevalent a year or more ago, the researchers outlined some initial findings: Even though omicron caused less severe immediate symptoms, the longer-term neurological and psychiatric outcomes appeared similar to the delta waves, indicating that the burden on the world’s health-care systems might continue even with less-severe variants.

Hannah Davis, a co-founder of the Patient-Led Research Collaborative, which studies long covid, said that finding was meaningful. “It goes against the narrative that omicron is more mild for long covid, which is not based on science,” Davis said.

“We see this all the time,” Putrino said. “The general conversation keeps leaving out long covid. The severity of initial infection doesn’t matter when we talk about long-term sequelae that ruin people’s lives.”

Half Of Fatal Cancer Cases Linked To Avoidable Risk Factors

Staff ReporterHealth, Lifestyle 0

Almost half of all cancers that lead to death can be attributed to risk factors that are avoidable, a new study found, with researchers advising that governments invest in supporting environments that minimize exposure to certain cancer risk factors.

The study, which looked at cancer cases from 2019 and was published in The Lancet, found that 44 percent of cancer deaths were what researchers referred to as risk-attributable cancer deaths, meaning cancers that could be linked to higher exposure to certain risk factors for the disease.

On a global scale, the leading risk factors were smoking, alcohol and high BMI in descending order. These risk factors were the same for both male and female patients.

The same study found that 42 percent of cancer-related disability-adjusted life-years — the number of years lost to not living at full health or with a disability — could be attributed to risk factors.

The burden of risk-attributable cancers varied across regions, with smoking, unsafe sex and alcohol being the leading risk factors in lower-income, socially disadvantaged countries. Higher-income countries tended to reflect the global risk factors, according to researchers.

“Although some cancer cases are not preventable, governments can work on a population level to support an environment that minimises exposure to known cancer risk factors,” researchers said.

COVID-19 associated with increased risk of brain disorders 2 years after infection: study Five things we learned this week about the FBI search of Trump’s home

“Primary prevention, or the prevention of a cancer developing, is a particularly cost-effective strategy, although it must be paired with more comprehensive efforts to address cancer burden, including secondary prevention initiatives, such as screening programmes, and ensuring effective capacity to diagnose and treat those with cancer.”

Researchers noted that “substantial progress” has been made in reducing tobacco exposure, particularly through interventions like taxation, regulations and smoke-free policies globally. Similar efforts have been made to address risks such as alcohol use and unsafe sex.

“Behavioural risk factors are strongly influenced by the environment in which people live and individuals with cancer should not be blamed for their disease,” said researchers.

Biggest Visa Racket Busted By Delhi Airport Police, 4 Held

Staff ReporterImmigration 0

Four persons, who were running the biggest international fake passport and visa rackets, have been arrested by the IGI airport police.

The DCP of IGI airport, Tanu Sharma, said that 325 fake passports, 175 fake visas and other related things were recovered from them.

“The mastermind of the gang is Zakir Yusuf Shaikh. IGI unit got tip-off about the gang following which it was busted,” said the police official.

Earlier, a case of PP Act was registered at Police Station of IGI Airport in which passenger Ravi Rameshbhai Chaudhary, a resident of Gandhinagar, Gujarat was deported from Kuwait on the allegations of fake and fabricated passport.

During course of investigation, it was found that the fake and fabricated passport was arranged by agents namely Zakir Yusuf Shaikh and Mushtaq alias Jamil Picturewala, both residents of Mumbai, who were introduced to Ravi Rameshbhai Chaudhary through a local agent namely Narayanbhai Chaudhary of Gujarat.

During the course of investigation, both the agents Sheikh and Picturewala were arrested from Mumbai along with their counterparts Imtiaz ali Sheikh alias Raju Bhai and Sanjay Dattaram Chavan from Mumbai.

“325 Indian passports, 175 visas (Canada, Singapore, US and other countries), more than 1200 stamps (immigration stamps of different countries and airport, embassies, banks etc), 11 international driving permits, issued from Republic of India), 75 passport jackets, 17 Aadhaar cards, 12 colour printers, dyes for making forged Indian passports, two lamination machines, one paper cutter machine, two UV machines, photo polymer stamp making machine and other incriminating evidence were recovered,” the police said. Efforts are being made to arrest absconding agent Narayan Bhai who is on the run. (IANS)

Air India Launches Additional Flights To Connect Key Metros

Staff ReporterTravel 0

Aiming to boost connectivity between key metro cities, Air India will start 24 additional domestic flights from Saturday onwards.

Most of these flights will be deployed on the routes of metro cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, among others.

While Air India will add two new frequencies from Delhi to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, and from Mumbai to Chennai and Hyderabad, one new frequency on the Mumbai-Bengaluru route and Ahmedabad-Pune route will be included as well.

“The additional 24 flights include two new frequencies from Delhi to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, and from Mumbai to Chennai and Hyderabad, as well as one new frequency on the Mumbai-Bengaluru route and Ahmedabad-Pune route,” the airline said in a statement.

Commenting on the network expansion, Campbell Wilson, MD and CEO, Air India, said: “This expansion bolsters connectivity between key metros, and improves connectivity between Air India’s domestic and international networks.Over the past six months, Air India has been working closely with our partners to return aircraft to service, and we are delighted that this effort is now bearing fruit.”

Air India’s narrow body fleet currently stands at 70 aircraft, of which 54are currently serviceable. The remaining 16 aircraft will progressively return to service by early 2023. (IANS)

Indian American Rom-Com No. 2 After ‘The Sandman’ On Netflix Global Top 10

Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

While the streaming fantasy drama ‘The Sandman’ was watched for 127.5 million hours, landing in the No. 1 position on the newly released Top 10 rankings of Netflix, Season 3 of the Mindy Kaling-created Indo-american teen comedy series ‘Never Have I Ever’ debuted at No. 2 during the August 8-14 viewing window.

‘Never Have I Ever’ was watched for 55 million hours after three days of availability, reports Variety. It was followed by the debut of another teen series’ third season: ‘Locke & Key,’ which was watched for 38.4 million hours in its first five days of availability.

According to Variety, the fourth place was secured by Season 4 of ‘Stranger Things,’ which was watched for 35.3 million hours. This was the season’s sixth full week of availability since the premiere of the two episodes making up Volume 2 on July 1.

Following ‘Stranger Things 4’ on heels is the fourth season of the romantic-drama series ‘Virgin River’. With 29.6 million hours watched, the show lands at No. 5.

Variety further states that ‘Manifest’ also remains in the Top 10 after reappearing during the July 4-10 window due its recent addition to Netflix in India, Latin America and the Nordic countries. This week, the show’s third season came in at No. 6 (28.4 million hours).

The No. 7 position went to ‘I Just Killed My Dad,’ which was viewed for 26.2 million hours in its first six days of availability. Limited thriller series ‘Keep Breathing’ took eighth place with 20.9 million hours watched after debuting at No. 3 during the July 25-31 window and taking second place last week.

The 9th and 10th spot on the ranking board are occupied by ‘Manifest’ season 2 and ‘Manifest’ season 3 respectively. (IANS)

Giant Sharks Once Roamed The Seas, Feasting On Huge Meals

Staff ReporterEnvironment, Science 0

(AP) — Today’s sharks have nothing on their ancient cousins. A giant shark that roamed the oceans millions of years ago could have devoured a creature the size of a killer whale in just five bites, new research suggests.

For their study published Wednesday, researchers used fossil evidence to create a 3D model of the megalodon — one of the biggest predatory fish of all time — and find clues about its life.

At around 50 feet (16 meters) from nose to tail, the megalodon was bigger than a school bus, according to the study in the journal Science Advances. That’s about two to three times the size of today’s great white shark. The megalodon’s gaping jaw allowed it to feed on other big creatures. Once it filled its massive stomach, it could roam the oceans for months at a time, the researchers suggest.

The megalodon was a strong swimmer, too: Its average cruising speed was faster than sharks today and it could have migrated across multiple oceans with ease, they calculated.

“It would be a superpredator just dominating its ecosystem,” said co-author John Hutchinson, who studies the evolution of animal movement at England’s Royal Veterinary College. “There is nothing really matching it.”

It’s been tough for scientists to get a clear picture of the megalodon, said study author Catalina Pimiento, a paleobiologist with the University of Zurich and Swansea University in Wales.

The skeleton is made of soft cartilage that doesn’t fossilize well, Pimiento said. So the scientists used what few fossils are available, including a rare collection of vertebrae that’s been at a Belgium museum since the 1860s.

Researchers also brought in a jaw’s worth of megalodon teeth, each as big as a human fist, Hutchinson said. Scans of modern great white sharks helped flesh out the rest.

Based on their digital creation, researchers calculated that the megalodon would have weighed around 70 tons, or as much as 10 elephants.

Even other high-level predators may have been lunch meat for the megalodon, which could open its jaw to almost 6 feet (2 meters) wide, Pimiento said.

Megalodons lived an estimated 23 million to 2.6 million years ago.

Since megalodon fossils are rare, these kinds of models require a “leap of imagination,” said Michael Gottfried, a paleontologist at Michigan State University who was not involved in the study. But he said the study’s findings are reasonable based on what is known about the giant shark.

From Big B, Salman To Ayushmann And Varun, Coming Months Will Be A Test Of Star Power

Staff ReporterCinema 0

Hindi cinema of late seems to be in trouble as Bollywood’s big-ticket releases such as ‘Samrat Prithviraj’, ‘Shamshera’, ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ and ‘Raksha Bandhan’ have failed to impress the audience.

Nevertheless, a motley bunch of films starring names such as Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgn, Varun Dhawan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon are lined up for release in the coming months.

However, the million-dollar question looming over the furrowed brows of distributors is: Will these movies ensure the return of ‘achche din’ for Bollywood?

The first big film, which is slated to hit the screens is Ayan Mukerji’s trilogy ‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’ starring newly wed couple Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt along with Amitabh Bachchan and Nagarjuna. The film is scheduled to hit the theatres on September 9.

‘Brahmastra’ is a three-part film franchise and the beginning of India’s first original universe, the Astraverse. It is a new original cinematic universe inspired by deeply rooted concepts and tales in Indian mythology but set in the modern world.

During a conversation with IANS, Ayan had earlier said that with ‘Brahmastra’ he has put so much in the film for so long that he has a “very peaceful confidence when it comes to this film”.

Next in line is Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan-starrer ‘Vikram Vedha’, a neo-noir action thriller, which is a remake of a Tamil hit film helmed by Pushkar and Gayathri, who are also directing the Hindi remake. Set to release on September 30, the film tells the story of a tough police officer who sets out to track down a menacing gangster. It also features Radhika Apte in a prominent role.

On October 7, Amitabh Bachchan, Rashmika Mandanna and Neena Gupta’s movie ‘Goodbye’ will be hitting the theatres for release. The film is touted as a heart-warming story about family, life and relationships.

After giving three duds such as ‘Bachchhan Paandey’, ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ and ‘Raksha Bandhan’, Bollywood star Akshay Kumar will be seen coming on the big screen once again with ‘Ram Setu’, which will be locking horns with Ajay Devgn’s ‘Thank God’ at the box-office. Both movies have been booked for a Diwali release on October 24.

‘Ram Setu’ is an action-adventure drama that tells a story rooted in Indian cultural and historical heritage. ‘Thank God’, which also stars Sidharth Malhotra and Rakul Preet Singh, has a fantasy-based plotline which follows Sidharth’s untimely death.

Ajay, reportedly, is playing the role of the God of Death, ‘Yamraj’, in the movie. The comic plot of the movie is to be driven by the banter between Ajay and Sidharth.

Bollywood stars Ajay Devgn and Tabu are all set to bring the nail-biting mystery back on screen after 2015 movie ‘Drishyam’ with ‘Drishyam 2’, a remake of the Mohanlal-starrer by the same name. Actor Akshaye Khanna has also joined the team of the hit thriller.

‘Drishyam’ chronicled the story of a family man Vijay Salgaonkar, who leaves no stone unturned to protect his family after an unfortunate incident involving his elder daughter, brought them under the police’s scanner. The second instalment of the thriller is set to release on November 18.

The Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon-starrer ‘Bhediya’ is all set to light up the screen on November 25. The horror-comedy is directed by Amar Kaushik and written by Niren Bhatt, best known for penning the long-running TV show ‘Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma’. ‘Bhediya’ is the third film in producer Dinesh Vijan’s horror-comedy universe after ‘Stree’ and ‘Roohi’ — both starring Rajkummar Rao in the lead.

Ayushmann’s film ‘An Action Hero’ is the first release in December. Touted as a slick actioner with a sprinkle of satirical humour, ‘An Action Hero’ follows the story of an artists journey from behind to in front of the camera.

After giving out a failure in May with ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’, Bollywood’s livewire actor Ranveer Singh returns to the silver screen with Rohit Shetty’s ‘Cirkus’.

Hitting the screens on Christmas, ‘Cirkus’, which is officially adapted from Shakespeare’s play ‘The Comedy of Errors’, will release on December 23. The big-budget film stars Ranveer, Pooja Hegde, Jaqueline Fernandez, Varun Sharma and many more popular faces from Bollywood.

Bringing the curtains down for 2022, will be superstar Salman Khan’s ‘Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali’, which is a family drama. The film, which also stars Pooja Hegde, Venkatesh, Shehnaaz Gill and Raghav Juyal among many other, will light up the screens on December 30. (IANS)

Ratan N. Tata Invests In Start-Up Offering Companionship To The Elderly

Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

Goodfellows, a young start-up that provides authentic meaningful companionship to seniors through young, educated graduates that are vetted intensely for empathy and emotional intelligence, was launched on Wednesday. It is a for-profit start-up based on the concept of intergenerational friendships.

Shantanu Naidu, General Manager in the office of Ratan N. Tata, said, “The start-up emphasises that companionship means different things to different people. To some, it may mean watching a movie, narrating stories from the past, going on a walk, or having quiet company sitting around doing nothing together, and we are here to accommodate it all. In its beta phase, we discovered how organically the Grandpals bonded with the Goodfellows. Tata’s investment in our venture further is a huge source of encouragement to our dedication to this concept.”

Commenting on the investment, Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Emeritus of Tata Sons, said, “The bonds between the two generations created by Goodfellows are very meaningful and are helping to address an important social issue In India. I hope the investment helps the young team at Goodfellows grow.”

The launch was attended by Ratan Tata as well as some youth icons, including Shriya Pilgaonkar, Artist; Viraj Ghelani, Content Creator; with their grandparents and with existing “Grandpals” who have subscribed to the service.

Over the past six months, the start up has taken time to complete a successful beta and will now be available in Mumbai with Pune, Chennai and Bangalore as the next target cities. During the beta testing phase, it received a positive response with over 800 applications from young graduates looking to be employed here, of which a shortlisted cohort of 20 provided companionship to the elderly in Mumbai.

According to the team, it has been a challenging but rewarding task to ensure that the “Goodfellows” bond with their Grandpals in an authentic and meaningful way and not just cosmetically. This requires several rounds of vetting and some in-house psychometric tests to choose the best graduates.

In terms of services offered, a Goodfellow does whatever a grandkid would do. There are 15 million elderlies in India living alone, either due to loss of a partner, or families moving away for unavoidable work reasons. While many of them have caregivers or start-ups for utilitarian needs such as e-commerce, the issue of loneliness or lack of company has been the primary reason for deteriorating mental and physical health.

In addition to this, Goodfellows also hosts monthly events curated to the enjoyment and engagement of the Grandpals who participate, making the bond deeper and enjoyable in a different environment. This allows the Grandpals to meet each other as well as more young graduates, building a sense of community.

The business model is a freemium subscription model. The first month is free with only the goal of having the Grandpal experience this service, since it’s hard to understand the concept without actually going through it. The second month onward is a small subscription fee that has been decided based on the limited affordability of pensioners. The fee is in place for two important reasons:

The Goodfellows have been vetted for empathy and have an affinity towards the elderlies, but like any other graduate, they would like to be secure about their finances and do their best for the seniors. To give them dignified, respectable salaries for choosing this profession, this is a paid service. This also ensures that chosen few are retained, groomed and have a career ladder while giving back to society.

A subscription model guarantees that when the seniors bond with the goodfellows, we do not keep rotating the graduate visiting them since that does not allow enough time or emotional attention to form an authentic and real bond. When we make a friend we want to see the same friend often. A new person every time will prevent this from happening.

Several non-profit models in this space have failed since volunteering happens as per the availability of volunteers and no one invests enough time with one senior to form an authentic bond. Once the desire is over, volunteers move away which impacts seniors gravely.

It offers short term internships as well as employment to graduates looking to find a job that allows them to apply their educational background in this space while having a sense of purpose or fulfilment from the work that they do. These graduates are given the autonomy to ideate and create and make the company their own. For example Ketki from Sophia College has been instrumental in refining the psychometric testing in order to “mine” more numbers of empathetic graduates into the organisation based on psychological evidence.

The major percentage of funds from investors are currently geared towards scaling up the human capital, which is a slow process since empathy cannot be vetted quickly or by the traditional recruiting process. In the near future, it will offer travel companions for seniors holding back from making trips due to lack of security or company, and also plans to extend its services to the handicap community facing similar or more challenges.

Artist Shriya Pilgaonkar, known for her outstanding role in ‘Mirzapur’, ‘The Broken News’, and ‘Guilty Minds’, said, “The stories and experiences our grandparents have to share with us are nothing less than invaluable. They have seen it all and probably have evolved with it more considering how much more they are open to understanding our generation, compared to our parents. Which makes for the most riveting conversations when we are together. My grandfather’s zest for life and travel, to date, keeps inspiring me and in some ways makes him one of my best friends too, as we go on adventures together.” The star was also present with her grandfather Arun Narayan Sabnis, who shared wise words.

Popular YouTuber, Sherry Shroff, who is also a former model and law student, appreciated the initiative, and said, “Often younger people may not have the privilege to grow up with their grandparents, and won’t know what they are missing. From that standpoint, Goodfellows is such a great initiative for not just the Grandpals, but also the youth, to get the chance to learn from the older generation, who have a treasure trove of knowledge to pass down.”

Known for his hilarious videos and reels with his sassy grandmother, Viraj Ghelani, content creator, said, “I owe so much of my success to my grandmother. I still struggle to fathom the breadth of knowledge she holds, from how the city of Mumbai came to exist, to watching the Independence movement come to life. I get to learn so much from her and it is truly a privilege to be loved and protected by a grandparent.”

Senior citizens can avail the services by signing-up on thegoodfellows.in or can give a missed call at +91-8779524307 or check out the Instagram handle. (IANS)

India Plans 1,000 Routes, 220 Airports By 2026

Staff ReporterTravel, Technology 0

People will have more options to fly from one city to another as nearly 220 destinations including airports, heliports and water aerodromes with 1,000 routes have been planned to be completed under UDAN regional connectivity scheme.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation’s flagship programme Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN has completed 5 years of success since the launch of its first flight by the Prime Minister on April 27, 2017.

The scheme was initiated on October 21, 2016 with the objective to fulfil the aspirations of the common citizen by following the vision of ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik’, with an enhanced aviation infrastructure and air connectivity in tier II and tier III cities.

On the occasion, Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia said: “The success of RCS UDAN is a demonstration of the government’s commitment to the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik’. It has played a great role in the transformation of the Indian aviation industry. So far under this scheme, we have 425 routes aiming to go up to 1,000 routes, 68 new airports aiming to touch 100 airports.

“In the next 4 years, we are expecting 40 crore travellers through Civil Aviation in India. That day is not far when along with rail transport and road transport Civil Aviation will become the bulwark of the transportation in India.”

In the last five years, UDAN has significantly increased the regional air-connectivity in the country. There were 74 operational airports in 2014. Because of the UDAN scheme, this number has increased to 141 by now.

At least 68 under-served/unserved destinations which include 58 Airports, 8 Heliports and 2 Water Aerodromes have been connected under UDAN scheme.

With 425 new routes initiated under the scheme, UDAN has provided air connectivity to more than 29 states/ UTs across the length and breadth of the country. More than one crore passengers have availed the benefits of this scheme as on August 4. (IANS)

2 Indian-Americans To Be Awarded At Asian American Unity Conference In Las Vegas

Staff ReporterProfile 0

The content and delivery of the programs at the 2022 NCLF in-person conference were offered by AAUC’s various multi-cultural groups, which represent seven or more ethnicities.

he Asian American Unity Coalition (AAUC) is hosting the National Civil Leadership Forum (NCLF) 2022 convention at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada from Sept.11–13, 2022. The two-day conference aims to connect Asian Americans who have engaged in noteworthy causes.

Speaking of the event, Angela Anand, vice president, AAUC, said that the conference will have a lot of Indian flavors including Bollywood music and dance along with other Asian communities’ participation. She further added, “I wanted to point out that even in awards and in panels, there is a lot of Indian participation.”

160+ Organizations Join The Fight For Sikh Migrants

Staff ReporterImmigration 0

The Sikh Coalition and our allies at the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona (ACLU-AZ) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) were joined by more than 160 civil rights, immigration, religious, advocacy, and other organizations in submitting a letter to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas regarding the continued mistreatment of Sikhs and other religious migrants at our southern border by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers.

The letter reads in part: “For years, advocates and the media have repeatedly raised concerns about the seizure of religious headwear and other articles of faith, as well as the denial of religious diets by CBP … Time after time, DHS officials have assured the public and stakeholders that they take these concerns seriously, yet the violations continue. Alarmingly, these abuses have gone on for so long that they appear to have become standard operating procedure at the border, supplanting CBP’s own rules.”

As a reminder, in June and July, news began to emerge that CBP officers were confiscating Sikh migrants’ turbans and other possessions and throwing them in the trash. Later reports revealed that some Sikh migrants also have been denied vegetarian meals and were ordered by border officials to eat meat or ‘starve.’ Unfortunately, this misconduct appears to be ongoing: According to our organizational partners on the ground, there have been at least 12 new cases of turban confiscation in August alone.

The Sikh Coalition joined the ACLU-AZ and ACLU to take action by sending a letter to DHS in early August, and we have since continued to press senior DHS leaders to respond in a transparent and comprehensive way. Additionally, we were proud to support a letter sent last week by Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), and Judy Chu (D-CA) demanding answers about CBP’s treatment of Sikhs and other religious migrants, and we continue to provide information to members of the media working to spotlight this issue. Per public reporting, an investigation of this issue is currently underway.

“Sikh migrants are among the most vulnerable individuals coming to the United States–in many cases, fleeing a well-founded fear of religious persecution in their home countries,” said Sim J. Singh Attariwala, Sikh Coalition Senior Policy and Advocacy Manager. “To have their religious and other rights immediately violated by CBP officers is a cruel irony, and this misconduct should not be tolerated.”

60 Million Years Of Climate Change Drove The Evolution And Diversity Of Reptiles

Staff ReporterEnvironment, Science 0

Artistic reconstruction of the reptile adaptive radiation in a terrestrial ecosystem during the warmest period in Earth’s history. Image depicts a massive, big-headed, carnivorous erythrosuchid (close relative to crocodiles and dinosaurs) and a tiny gliding reptile at about 240 million years ago. The erythrosuchid is chasing the gliding reptile and it is propelling itself using a fossilized skull of the extinct Dimetrodon (early mammalian ancestor) in a hot and dry river valley.

Newswise — Just over 250 million years ago during the end of the Permian period and start of the Triassic, reptiles had one heck of a coming out party.

Their rates of evolution and diversity started exploding, leading to a dizzying variety of abilities, body plans, and traits, and helping to firmly establish both their extinct lineages and those that still exist today as one of the most successful and diverse animal groups the world has ever seen. For the longest time, this flourish was explained by their competition being wiped out by two of the biggest mass extinction events (around 261 and 252 million years ago) in the history of the planet.

A new Harvard-led study has rewritten that explanation by reconstructing how the bodies of ancient reptiles changed and by comparing it against millions of years of climate change.

Harvard paleontologist Stephanie Pierce’s lab shows that the morphological evolution and diversification seen in early reptiles not only started years before these mass extinction events but instead were directly driven by what caused them in the first place — rising global temperatures due to climate change.

“We are suggesting that we have two major factors at play — not just this open ecological opportunity that has always been thought by several scientists — but also something that nobody had previously come up with, which is that climate change actually directly triggered the adaptive response of reptiles to help build this vast array of new body plans and the explosion of groups that we see in the Triassic,” said Tiago R. Simões, a postdoctoral fellow in the Pierce lab and lead author on the study.

“Basically, [rising global temperatures] triggered all these different morphological experiments — some that worked quite well and survived for millions of years up to this day, and some others that basically vanished a few million years later,” Simões added.

In the paper, which published Friday in Science Advances, the researchers lay out the vast anatomical changes that took place in many reptile groups, including the forerunners of crocodiles and dinosaurs, in direct response to major climate shifts concentrated between 260 to 230 million years ago.

The study provides a close look at how a large group of organisms evolve because of climate change, which is especially pertinent today as temperatures continually rise. In fact, the rate of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere today is about nine times what they were during the timeframe that culminated in the biggest climate change-driven mass extinction of all time 252 million years ago: the Permian-Triassic mass extinction.

“Major shifts in global temperature can have dramatic and varying impacts on biodiversity,” said  Stephanie E. Pierce, Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and curator of vertebrate paleontology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. “Here we show that rising temperatures during the Permian-Triassic led to the extinction of many animals, including many of the ancestors of mammals, but also sparked the explosive evolution of others, especially the reptiles that went on to dominate the Triassic period.”

The study involved close to eight years of data collection and took a heavy dose of camerawork, CT scanning, and loads of passport stamps as Simões traveled to more than 20 countries and more than 50 different museums to take scans and snapshots of more than 1,000 reptilian fossils.

With all the information, the researchers created an expansive dataset that was analyzed with state-of-the-art statistical methods to produce a diagram called an evolutionary time tree. Time trees reveal how early reptiles were related to each other, when their lineages first originated, and how fast they were evolving. They then combined it with global temperature data from millions of years ago.

Diversification of reptile body plans started about 30 million years before the Permian-Triassic extinction, making it clear these changes weren’t triggered by the event as previously thought. The extinction events did help put them in gear though.

The dataset also showed that rises in global temperatures, which started at about 270 million years ago and lasted until at least 240 million years ago, were followed by rapid body changes in most reptile lineages. For instance, some of the larger cold-blooded animals evolved to become smaller so they could cool down easier; others evolved to life in water for that same effect. The latter group included some of the most bizarre forms of reptiles that would go on to become extinct such as a giant, long-necked marine reptile once thought to be the Loch Ness monster, a tiny chameleon-like creature with a bird-like skull and beak, and a gliding reptile resembling a gecko with wings. It also includes the ancestors of reptiles that still exist today like turtles and crocodiles.

Smaller reptiles, which gave rise to the first lizards and tuataras, went on a different path than their larger reptile brethren. Their evolutionary rates slowed down and stabilized in response to the rising temperatures. The researchers believe it was because the small-bodied reptiles were already better adapted to the rising heat since they can more easily release heat from their bodies compared to larger reptiles when temperatures got hot very quickly all-around Earth.

The researchers say they are planning to expand on this work investigating the impact of environmental catastrophes on evolution of organisms with abundant modern diversity, such as the major groups of lizards and snakes.

An Interfaith Discussion On The Role Of Religion In Mental Health

Staff ReporterOpinion, Religion 0

(The Conversation) — Religious leaders often try to support the people they serve during challenging times. This supportive role was especially important during the past few years as the nation dealt with a pandemic, social distancing and the loss of more than a million lives.

In a recent discussion sponsored by the Global Religion Journalism Initiative, academics and religious leaders discussed faith-based mental health counseling, including its benefits and limitations.

Academic panelists included Thema Bryant, a trauma psychologist, ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and professor at Pepperdine University and Rabbi Seth Winberg, senior chaplain at Brandeis Hillel at Brandeis University. Publisher and author David Morris also took part.

Below are some highlights from the discussion. Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Natasha Mikles: Are there times when religion can actually be a source of stress rather than comfort for someone who’s going through a difficult time?

Thema Bryant: Yes, religion can be used for healing and empowerment, and it also can be used to oppress, marginalize and shame. In psychology, there’s something called positive religious coping and negative religious coping. Positive religious coping is believing that God is loving and ultimately wants to help, and that’s associated with positive mental health outcomes. Fundamentally believing that God is harsh and trying to penalize me is associated with more negative religious outcomes, and more negative mental health outcomes.

Seth Winberg: Yes, depending on the person and the circumstances, the faith, traditions and the community that one is living in, faith can certainly be a burden, or a strain, or a source of trauma. But for many people, faith provides a community, a social network, a sense of shared values, a rhythm to life and a common culture that I think is very powerful.

David Morris: Yes, too often people are given simplistic platitudes about how their loved one is in heaven. But as grief continues, they might be shamed a little bit and be told that they should move on. But grieving takes time. There are plenty of examples in religious literature of people in tremendous grief and tremendous sorrow.

Natasha Mikles: What tools can religious professionals use to help people have a more balanced understanding of how their religious tradition thinks about mental health?

Seth Winberg: In a page of the Talmud, there’s an open dialogue that rabbis across generations and people of faith across generations are having with each other. And I sometimes encourage students to feel free to try to talk to me or with anyone in that kind of open way – to take the risk of asking questions that we might think we can’t ask and still be a person of faith. I think, because of our modern, maybe American, perception of clergy, people don’t expect contemporary faith leaders or rabbis to be open to that kind of discussion. But that’s where Rabbinic Judaism started.

Thema Bryant: Yes, I think there’s a wonderful role for ministers and other faith leaders to play in promoting and creating space for mental health. And one of the pieces is transparency. I have seen ministers from pulpits talk about mental health challenges, talk about their grief, or talk about themselves going to therapy. That can really open the door, letting our humanity show.

Natasha Mikles: In the past two years of the pandemic, have you seen a change in the types of things that young people are struggling with?

Seth Winberg: What I’ve observed personally is a kind of suspended animation of young adults’ social, emotional and spiritual development. I think they’ve really suffered from a lack of in-person interactions in a variety of aspects of their lives, but particularly their social spiritual development. It really does something to be physically distanced from people in such extreme ways.

It’s not so obvious what the right faith-based responses are. One of them is just being present with people and being with them as they try to figure it out – not trying to give them answers and biblical verses, but to just let them express that really uncertain feeling. And having them feel that there’s a slightly older adult in their lives that just nods and lets them express those doubts and those questions, I think, can be helpful.

Thema Bryant: I would definitely agree that a major challenge for young adults has been loneliness and disconnection. Another big piece is around injustice. Some sanctuaries have fought for these issues, but other sanctuaries have not only been silent but have actually promoted really oppressive [ideas]. And I like to say it’s healthy to be outraged about outrageous things. And there are some outrageous things that have been done and said, even in the name of faith and religion. Young people have a need not only for community and companionship, but [support in] addressing social injustices.

Watch the full webinar to hear the panelists discuss the impact of COVID-19 on in person religious traditions, clergy burnout and share more actionable advice for incorporating mental health discussions in faith.

(Emily Costello, Managing Editor, The Conversation US. Thalia Plata, Editor. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

Discovering The Next Generation Of Indian Beauty Brands

Staff ReporterFashion 0

A first of its kind nonequity grant program,, Beauty&You India, created by The Estee Lauder Companies (ELC) and NYKAA, looks to discover, spotlight, and propel the next generation of Indian beauty brands.

A rare, one-of-a-kind opportunity for founders to create, build and scale in one of the most exciting beauty markets in the world. The programme aims to support India-focused companies and entrepreneurs through a competitive application process. Awards to both pre-launch and in-market premium beauty concepts will be given.

Award recipients will benefit from access to The Estee Lauder Companies and Nykaa relationships and expertise across the beauty ecosystem in order to nurture emerging ideas that amplify Indian voices and address unmet needs in the categories of skincare, makeup, hair care, and fragrance.

Winners will be announced in November 2022 based on applications submitted via no later than September 30, 2022 on https://www.beautyandyouawards.com/ (IANS)

Technology Promises To Change The Meaning Of Death — At Least For Some

Staff ReporterLifestyle, Technology 0

When artificial kidneys were first used as a medical tool in 1945, it became unnervingly clear that human organs, until then essential to the human makeup, were replaceable. Soon after, hearts — once thought to be the linchpin of humanity — were quickly substituted by external devices, supplanting the inexplicable complexity of human muscle with far simpler, synthetic parts.

This month, a team of Yale scientists partially revived the cellular function of pigs a full hour after the animals’ brain and cardiac waves had flatlined. With the help of their OrganEx system, they restored some cellular activity in the pigs’ hearts, livers and — most meaningfully to bioethical discussions — brains. Though the pigs did not regain consciousness, the Yale researchers demonstrated that vital organs may remain treatable for longer than most scientists have suspected. While this finding doesn’t yet have clinical applications, it may soon offer a new challenge to medical claims about where life ends and death begins.

The pigs had been dead for an hour. Scientists made their hearts beat again.

The brain is the last human organ whose parts cannot be replaced synthetically: As philosopher Daniel Dennett writes, brain transplants are the one kind of operation where one should wish to be on the donating side. If at one point our hearts epitomized the singularity of humans, today the gooey, floating mass within our skulls delineates what we understand as human life.

Until the middle of the 20th century, a patient could be pronounced dead without debate if her heart stopped and her lungs ceased to function. But new ventilators and defibrillators meant that checking for rising, falling or fluttering chests was no longer a valid way to diagnose death. In the late 1960s, physicians who were concerned about the viability of transplantable organs proposed a new metric for thinking about our mortality, one focused on brain death rather than on the functioning of other organs. Their approach soon took hold, and when today’s physicians record their patients’ time of death, they mean the moment when medical devices can no longer register or restore consciousness.

As Harvard bioethicist Robert Truog suggests, what we formally call “death” consists “more of a moral judgment than a biological fact.” In other words, brain death is less the point at which an organism is definitively gone and more an arbitrary limit, designed to permit legal and medical systems to move on. Though there are no properly documented cases of recovered consciousness after a correct brain death diagnosis, Truog predicts that medical advances may at some point preclude us from using the term “brain death” as a legally binding elision with what the U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics defines as “human death”: the irreversible cessation of the “fundamental work of a living organism.”

Green burials can change our relationship with death

With the successful revival of some brain and cardiac cellular activity in mammals, the day when medical technologies will again force us to update our definition of human death looms slightly closer.

This promise is at once thrilling and terrifying. If we extrapolate on the potential of the Yale team’s OrganEx system, we may eventually be capable of reviving silent brains and restarting organs that once would have been considered irreversibly dead. (As it turns out, “irreversibly dead” is not a pleonasm.) In just a few decades, we may be forced to acknowledge that death isn’t a biological absolute so much as an administrative process. Death certificates might indicate that the deceased’s family couldn’t afford to reboot their loved one — or to preserve their body long enough to let such technologies take hold. With advancements in cryonics and emerging technologies such as OrganEx, this is no longer just a science fiction hypothetical but a reality conceivable within our century.

The distinction between life and death, in other words, might become a more painful sort of moral judgment: a matter of who can afford to keep a body functioning. In such a future, health inequities would be exacerbated; the wealthy could repeatedly forestall their death, while those least well-off would be forced to accept an indeed “irreversible cessation” of their bodily functions. The fact, however, is that this future shouldn’t sound unfamiliar to those least well-off today. In 2022, a person dies almost every hour while waiting for an organ transplant. Patients of color are especially vulnerable to such deaths, having fewer systemic chances to delay their fate.

The notion that death could be, and sometimes is, an administrative hurdle — the result of missing ventilators, organs or, in the future, superior but expensive OrganEx devices — makes funerals difficult to swallow. We might ask whether we should continue to develop life-extending technologies if they risk exacerbating our already horrifying inequities.

The answer, I suggest, is yes. In the 1940s, the vast majority of patients with failing kidneys did not have access to dialysis — though some exceptionally well-off, well-connected or simply lucky ones did. Since then, millions of low-income patients have been saved because we accepted this period of inaccessibility. In 2022, artificial kidneys are far from equitably distributed, with those who lack health insurance often unable to afford them. Yet the only way of increasing access to cutting-edge medical interventions is by encouraging more funding for them — even if this temporarily worsens disparities.

If the philosopher William MacAskill is right — and if we do our part to ensure we have a future to look forward to — humanity is only entering its adolescence and has a moral obligation to improve the lives of future generations. In fact, with the current pace of technological advancement, it is not implausible that these futuristic, life-extending medical technologies may become available for low-income people alive today. And one might argue that the fastest, most ethically permissible way of lowering the price of extraordinary medical therapies is by having the wealthy subsidize them as initial customers, as philosopher John Rawls implies.

DNA testing is radically reshaping the definition of family

DNA sequencing is a case in point: The first incomplete sequence cost $2.7 billion in 2003 and offered no clinical relevance. In 2011, Steve Jobs paid $100,000 to learn his genome sequence and his tumors’ genes, without encouraging results. Today, thanks at least in part to Harvard geneticist George Church, who advocated for the democratization of genome sequencing since the 1990s, it is the upper-middle-class American’s $299 go-to Christmas present and is only beginning to provide clinical benefits. Tomorrow, insurance companies and European governments may offer DNA sequencing free of charge, allowing vulnerable populations to benefit from this once-luxurious tool.

The practice of forestalling death is as old is it is undivorceable from the concept of medicine. As history shows, today’s extraordinary measures will simply be tomorrow’s measures, saving the lives of real humans, both rich and poor. This will remain true even when we again tweak our definition of where life ends and death begins. (Courtesy: Washington Post)

Indian American Creators Put A New Spin On Arranged Marriage

Staff ReporterEntertainment, Lifestyle 0

Visibly frustrated, matchmaker Sima Taparia recounts her struggle to an “Indian Matchmaking” producer: She has been tasked with finding potential partners for a 30-something Indian man living in Nashik, a few hours outside of Mumbai, but women of his generation would rather live in a bustling metropolis than this quieter part of the country. Thirty years ago, Sima reminisces, she followed her husband to Nashik and fell in love with the warmth of its people. Why hasn’t anyone done the same for Akshay Dhumal?

“Akshay’s charming, handsome. Parents are good. He’s loaded with money. He has a good business, good education. Everything is there,” she says. “But the girls, they do not want to go to Nashik.”

Generational differences often pose challenges to Sima, whose downsized presence in the new season of the Netflix reality series hints at the evolving landscape of arranged marriage. When the show premiered two years ago, it set off a flurry of takes in South Asian communities: Some criticized how it painted the culture as “burdensome,” while others described it as “telling it like it is.” Sima’s strong-willed client Aparna Shewakramani became a fan favorite for refusing to contort herself to fit other people’s expectations.

The determined independence exhibited by Aparna — as well as by the women who refuse to abandon their big-city lives — is also a central component of two other recent South Asian-led projects on Netflix: the romantic comedy “Wedding Season” and the comedy series “Never Have I Ever,” which released a new season Friday. All three were created by Indian Americans and explore the growing sense of autonomy exercised by the people for whom matches are sought, whether in India or as part of the diaspora. Ultimately, the power lies with them.

“In America, you feel tired of being asked about arranged marriage,” said “Wedding Season” writer Shiwani Srivastava. “But on the flip side, you realize people have a gross misunderstanding of it.”

Following in the footsteps of its rom-com forebears, the “Wedding Season” screenplay began with a trope: Protagonists Asha (Pallavi Sharda) and Ravi (Suraj Sharma) would pretend to date, but … to what end? Srivastava, 40, pulled from her life years before, when she attended weddings on an almost biweekly basis. Maybe Asha and Ravi want to throw nosy aunties off the scent. If they “dated” each other, neither one would be pestered into going out with a close friend of someone’s second cousin, twice removed.

In the film, Asha, a certified girlboss, starts to resent the expectation that she entertain those matchmaking efforts. She challenges her parents to consider that she can support herself and may never want to get married. In writing immigrant parents who presumably came to the United States in the 1970s or ’80s, Srivastava made sure to include a line in which Asha’s father, Vijay (Rizwan Manji), observes that his daughter seems to believe her parents’ mentality is straight from the India of 40 years ago.

“I think it does happen. It’s been documented across different immigrant communities: You bring your way of thinking from certain points of time and transplant it in America,” the screenwriter said. “It evolves in America but, meanwhile, India is evolving in parallel. We’re not the same. We’re different cultures.”

Srivastava underscored that “Wedding Season,” set in her home state of New Jersey, depicts “a very specific Indian American experience for millennials who were born to this wave of immigrants.” The disclaimer could be even more precise. Similar to “Never Have I Ever” — and, to some extent, this season of “Indian Matchmaking” — the film doesn’t delve into factors such as caste or colorism, both of which can heavily influence the matchmaking process. All three projects feature heterosexual Indian couples as well, for the most part from middle- or upper-class Hindu families.

These grains of salt might be implied with a Netflix rom-com, a genre hardly expected to answer for societal shortcomings. Srivastava didn’t set out with the intention to provide commentary on arranged marriage; Ravi, for instance, never hesitates to go out with someone of his parents’ choosing. Srivastava said it was a framework she used to highlight the courage it takes for two people to embrace what they truly desire in life. Although Asha and Ravi are initially set up, what matters in the end is that they choose each other.

In Srivastava’s experience, arranged marriage “feels like a misnomer — it’s more like an arranged introduction,” she said. “I often joke with my family about [this] dating service run by your parents and their network. They’re the ones setting you up on the date, and the rest is up to you.”

In “Indian Matchmaking,” Sima shares her exasperation directly with Akshay and his parents. This isn’t the first time she has been asked to find someone willing to move somewhere like Nashik. She says she often winds up asking clients, “Are you marrying a city, or are you marrying the boy and the family?”

The boy and the family, granted equal weight. In this collectivist culture — and in any culture, really — the best-case scenario would be for both partners to mesh well with each other’s families. It might even be a requirement for some couples. The worst case? Let’s turn to the teen comedy “Never Have I Ever.”

Early on, protagonist Devi Vishwakumar’s older cousin, Kamala (Richa Moorjani), begins living with Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and her mother, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan), after arriving from India to pursue a PhD at Caltech. Kamala is soon set up with a potential husband, Prashant (Rushi Kota), and she gives him a fair chance. But in the third season, Kamala realizes her growing discomfort with the situation has less to do with Prashant and more to do with the fact that she isn’t ready for marriage, period.

They end things, much to the chagrin of Devi and Kamala’s grandmother, Nirmala (Ranjita Chakravarty), who proceeds to ice Kamala out. Kamala is forced to reckon with the fact that her desire to better understand what she wants for herself — which includes dating Devi’s English teacher, Manish Kulkarni (Utkarsh Ambudkar), a man Nirmala disapproves of — butts heads with what is expected of her.

‘Never Have I Ever’ gives immigrant mothers the dimension they rarely receive on TV

“The arranged marriage storyline we were introduced to has really evolved and been a part of a larger story about [Kamala] finding her independence and voice,” said Moorjani, 33. “I felt very empowered by her journey because it’s something I deal with in my own life, to put my own happiness first.”

Moorjani found the storyline “fascinating and interesting to watch on an American television show.” The series, which was co-created by Lang Fisher and Mindy Kaling, marks the latter writer’s most substantial depiction yet of Indian American culture. She previously starred in sitcoms “The Mindy Project” and “The Office,” for which she wrote numerous episodes — including the silly, celebrated “Diwali” episode.

In a recent interview with Marie Claire, Kaling noted that her production company is developing a romantic comedy about Indian weddings that she co-wrote with Dan Goor and will star in with Indian actress Priyanka Chopra. Kaling, a single mother of two, said the film is “a lot about the value that we put, particularly Indian women, on marriage. And how so much of our value is set on being married.”

When filmmaker Smriti Mundhra was in her late 20s, an aunt recommended she become a client of Sima’s. It didn’t work out for Mundhra romantically — she had just gotten out of a relationship and largely agreed to her aunt’s suggestion because she “felt like as long as I was unmarried, I was disappointing people that I loved” — but she did succeed on another level. She was now well acquainted with Sima, who was “so blunt and so hilarious.”

In her time working with Sima, Mundhra encountered firsthand the “regressive and problematic things that exist” in matchmaking alongside the merits of a “culture that values community over individuality.” As a storyteller, she couldn’t let that go. Sima first appeared in Mundhra’s 2017 documentary “A Suitable Girl,” about three Indian women facing pressure to marry, before starring in “Indian Matchmaking.”

Mundhra, now 42, approaches reality television as a documentarian. In its second season, the show is less concerned with whether its characters will find love than it is the evolving concepts at play: individual needs and desires, societal expectations and, of course, the matchmaking process itself. Sima can seem dismissive at times but, according to Mundhra, is a “product of her generation” and aware she must change alongside her clients.

“That doesn’t come without its pains and frustrations,” Mundhra added.

One of the most significant shifts Mundhra has witnessed in the process may come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with more traditional practices: Whereas Sima used to base the bulk of her assessments off conversations with clients’ parents, she now speaks to clients directly. This makes for great television at times, particularly when a client balks at Sima’s frequent suggestions that they lower their standards, but exposes flaws in the system as well. Should they really be expected to set aside much of what they believe they deserve?

The answer varies. Mundhra noted that none of the clients showcased in “Indian Matchmaking” were forced into the process; even for the more reluctant sort — such as Aparna, who decides Sima isn’t a match for her, either, and spends the second season looking for love on her own — autonomy doesn’t imply rejecting traditions but deciding the extent to which they embrace them.

The show continues to follow Aparna’s journey even after she shirks the matchmaking process because, according to Mundhra, the realization that “I need to hit pause on this because I need to figure out who I am” is just as valuable a takeaway.

The desire to “make our communities happy, our families happy — it’s still strong,” Mundhra said of her generation. “But it’s getting harder and harder to drown out that individual voice.”

Indian Embassy Celebrates India’s 75th Anniversary Of Independence

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Indian Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Sandhu hosted a reception at India House to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence and to commemorate 75 years of U.S.-India relations.

Indian Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu addressing guests at the reception on August 15th at India House in Washington DC. PHOTO: T. Vishnudatta Jayaraman, News India Times

Addressing guests at the reception, Sandhu stated “when India became independent in 1947 predictions on its ability to survive challenges, political, economic, and social were rather mixed. 75 years later, India is here strong, full of hope and optimism for the future of humanity,” adding that India’s strength lay in its diversity. Sandhu went on to highlight India’s progress in different areas, and emphasized how India and U.S. are ‘indispensable partners’ whose strength would keep growing.

The chief guest at the reception, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said, “As we commemorate India’s 75 years of independent history and 75 years of US-India relations, I want to say what a privilege it is to be a part of this bilateral relationship at a moment when it’s perhaps never been stronger.” Leaders of both countries are clearly committed to addressing  challenges together, she said, and reminisced about her trip to India last November.

“I came away with a real flavor of your nation’s vibrant culture. Rich and very long history and dynamic economy. And while I’m always reluctant to draw comparisons among our very important trading partners around the world, I will acknowledge that Indian hospitality is hard to beat.”

The Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf while addressing guests said he was honored to be at the anniversary celebrations. “I’m here as an ordinary citizen, who has a great personal regard for India and a grand admiration for the way especially India won its independence, becoming the largest democracy in the world on  August 15, 1947.

White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, said it’s an incredible honor and pleasure to celebrate 75 years of Indian independence, Indian democracy, and US-India friendship. As a proud Indian-American, Dr. Jha said he was grateful to President Biden for crediting the three-and-a-half million Indian-Americans and its vibrant community for making America more innovative, inclusive, and a stronger nation.

“Now, I spent a lot of time in the last two-and-a-half years thinking about and working on this pandemic. And I can’t think of two nations that have done more to vaccinate and protect their own populations and to donate, support and vaccinate, and protect the world, than India and the United States.”

Director of National Drug Control Policy, Dr. Rahul Gupta, said “Knowledge is the lever that moves mountains and that’s where India invested its power, its mind, and its youth all the way from 1947. It is that what is paying off today,” adding, “and that is a very important reason why working in the White House right now, I feel not only comfortable but enthusiastic. We’re looking at a future of two countries, the largest and the oldest democracies, working together to solve some of the most complex, and difficult often turbulent problems.”

Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Brian McKeon, Deputy Secretary of  Treasury Department, Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of US Department of Commerce, Don Graves, and Secretary of United States Air Force, Frank Kendall spoke at the reception in which Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Christopher Grady, Astronaut and Deputy Administrator of NASA, Pamela Melroy, Deputy Administrator for Policy and Programming at USAID, Isobel Coleman, Nobel laureate Dr. William Phillips, several members of the US-India CEOs forum, Punit Renjen, Rajesh Subramaniam, and Venkatesh Sharma along with other members from industry, US government, and others were also present.

What’s In The Bill President Biden Signed Into Law That Allocates Highest Ever Funds Towards Clean Energy

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President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill into law on Tuesday, delivering what he has called the “final piece” of his pared-down domestic agenda, as he aims to boost his party’s standing with voters less than three months before the midterm elections.

The legislation includes the most substantial federal investment in history to fight climate change — some $375 billion over the decade — and would cap prescription drug costs at $2,000 out-of-pocket annually for Medicare recipients. It also would help an estimated 13 million Americans pay for health care insurance by extending subsidies provided during the coronavirus pandemic.

The measure is paid for by new taxes on large companies and stepped-up IRS enforcement of wealthy individuals and entities, with additional funds going to reduce the federal deficit.

In a triumphant signing event at the White House, Biden pointed to the law as proof that democracy — no matter how long or messy the process — can still deliver for voters in America as he road-tested a line he will likely repeat later this fall ahead of the midterms: “The American people won, and the special interests lost.”

“In this historic moment, Democrats sided with the American people, and every single Republican in the Congress sided with the special interests in this vote,” Biden said, repeatedly seizing on the contrast between his party and the GOP. “Every single one.”

The House on Friday approved the measure on a party-line 220-207 vote. It passed the Senate days earlier with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a 50-50 tie in that chamber.

“In normal times, getting these bills done would be a huge achievement,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said during the White House ceremony. “But to do it now, with only 50 Democratic votes in the Senate, over an intransigent Republican minority, is nothing short of amazing.”

Biden signed the bill into law during a small ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House, sandwiched between his return from a six-day beachside vacation in South Carolina and his departure for his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He plans to hold a larger “celebration” for the legislation on Sept. 6 once lawmakers return to Washington.

The signing caps a spurt of legislative productivity for Biden and Congress, who in three months have approved legislation on veterans’ benefits, the semiconductor industry and gun checks for young buyers. The president and lawmakers have also responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and overwhelmingly supported NATO membership for Sweden and Finland.

With Biden’s approval rating lagging, Democrats are hoping that the string of successes will jump-start their chances of maintaining control in Washington in the November midterms. The 79-year-old president aims to restore his own standing with voters as he contemplates a reelection bid.

The White House announced Monday that it was going to deploy Biden and members of his Cabinet on a “Building a Better America Tour” to promote the recent victories. One of Biden’s trips will be to Ohio, where he’ll view the groundbreaking of a semiconductor plant that will benefit from the recent law to bolster production of such computer chips. He will also stop in Pennsylvania to promote his administration’s plan for safer communities, a visit that had been planned the same day he tested positive for COVID-19 last month.

Biden also plans to hold a Cabinet meeting to discuss how to implement the new climate and health care law. Biden’s initial 10-year, $3.5 trillion proposal also envisioned free prekindergarten, paid family and medical leave, expanded Medicare benefits and eased immigration restrictions. That crashed after centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said it was too costly, using the leverage every Democrat has in the evenly divided Senate.

The measure is a slimmed-down version of the more ambitious plan to supercharge environment and social programs that Biden and his party unveiled early last year.

During the signing event, Biden addressed Manchin, who struck the critical deal with Schumer on the package last month, saying, “Joe, I never had a doubt” as the crowd chuckled. Later, outside the White House, Manchin said he has always maintained a “friendly relationship” with Biden and it has “never been personal” between the two, despite Manchin breaking off his negotiations with the White House last year.

Though the law is considerably smaller than their initial ambitions, Biden and Democrats are hailing the legislation as a once-in-a-generation investment in addressing the long-term effects of climate change, as well as drought in the nation’s West.

The bill will direct spending, tax credits and loans to bolster technology like solar panels, consumer efforts to improve home energy efficiency, emission-reducing equipment for coal- and gas-powered power plants, and air pollution controls for farms, ports and low-income communities.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a powerful political ally to Biden, noted during the White House ceremony that his late wife, Emily, who battled diabetes for three decades, would be “beyond joy” if she were alive today because of the insulin cap. “Many seem surprised at your successes,” Clyburn told Biden. “I am not. I know you.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci To Step Down In December After More Than 50 Years Of Public Service

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Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the president and longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said he will be leaving those positions to “pursue the next chapter in my career.” Fauci, 81, has led the NIAID for 38 years, and has advised every president since Ronald Reagan.

“While I am moving on from my current positions, I am not retiring,” Fauci said in a statement Monday. “After more than 50 years of government service, I plan to pursue the next phase of my career while I still have so much energy and passion for my field.”

Fauci has become a household fixture during the Covid-19 pandemic, battling back misinformation — sometimes from the highest levels of government. His steadfast commitment to science, challenging former President Donald Trump on everything from the use of hydroxychloroquine to mask mandates, made him a quasi-celebrity in the process.

The 81-year-old has advised seven U.S. presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan through the HIV/AIDS epidemic, West Nile virus, the 2001 anthrax attacks, pandemic influenza, various bird influenza threats, Ebola, Zika and, most recently, Covid and monkeypox.

In a statement, President Biden praised Fauci as a dedicated public servant with a “steadying hand” who helped guide the country through some of “the most dangerous and challenging” public health crises.

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Fauci has been at the forefront of every new and re-emerging infectious disease threat the country has faced over the past four decades, including HIV/AIDS, West Nile virus, the 2001 anthrax attacks, pandemic influenza, Ebola and Zika, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Because of Dr. Fauci’s many contributions to public health, lives here in the United States and around the world have been saved. As he leaves his position in the U.S. Government, I know the American people and the entire world will continue to benefit from Dr. Fauci’s expertise in whatever he does next,” Biden said.

Biden worked closely with Fauci during the Zika and Ebola outbreaks when he was vice president, and has leaned heavily on Fauci’s expertise during the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden noted one of his first calls as president-elect was to ask Fauci to become his chief medical advisor.

Fauci previously said he does not plan to stay beyond the end of President Biden’s first term in 2025, but had yet to give a formal announcement.

“I want to use what I have learned as NIAID Director to continue to advance science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world to face future infectious disease threats,” Fauci said.

Fauci said he would use his remaining time in government to “continue to put my full effort, passion and commitment into my current responsibilities” and to help prepare his institute for a leadership transition.

Fauci has been one of the leading infectious diseases researchers for decades, but he became a household name at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic during the Trump administration as part of the White House pandemic response team.

It was in this role that Fauci became a political lightning rod. He fell out of favor with Trump after numerous public disagreements over unproven COVID-19 treatments as well as the level of danger posed by the virus.

Fauci’s embrace of mitigation measures like masks and temporary business closures early in the pandemic made him a villain to conservatives, who view him as a symbol of government overreach and “lockdown culture.”

Threats from the public led to Fauci needing a security detail. Fauci has clashed repeatedly with Republicans in Congress, who are are eagerly floating investigations into the Biden administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic if they win back control of the House or Senate in November’s midterm elections.

Fauci’s fiercest clashes have come against Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a libertarian ophthalmologist who has repeatedly antagonized Fauci over the benefits of masks, vaccinations and the origins of COVID-19.

“Fauci’s resignation will not prevent a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic. He will be asked to testify under oath regarding any discussions he participated in concerning the lab leak,” Paul tweeted Monday.

Following Fauci’s announcement Monday, House Republicans also indicated Fauci’s decision to leave government won’t shield him from any potential investigations.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement Monday Fauci needs to answer questions about what he knows about the origins of the coronavirus, including whether the National Institutes of Health helped fund controversial research that led to the virus’s creation in a lab in Wuhan, China.

“Retirement can’t shield Dr. Fauci from congressional oversight,” Comer said. “The American people deserve transparency and accountability about how government officials used their taxpayer dollars, and Oversight Committee Republicans will deliver.”

The U.S. intelligence community has ruled out the possibility that COVID-19 was a bioweapon developed by China, but beyond that the origins of the virus are unclear.

Some scientists have said the idea that it escaped from a lab needs further investigation but acknowledge that won’t happen without China’s help. Many others think that it spilled into the human population from animals sold in a Wuhan market. Still, there is little evidence to suggest it was created in a lab or with funding help from the National Institutes of Health or Fauci.

Pakistan’s Former PM Imran Khan Charged With Terrorism

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A formal case of terrorism charges have been filed against former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan authorities said Monday, escalating political tensions in the country as the ousted premier holds mass rallies seeking to return to office.

A case under Anti Terrorism Act section 7 has been registered against Former PM Imran Khan by Islamabad police on the alleged threats that he gave to the IG Police Islamabad and a Female magistrate during a public rally in Islamabad on 20th August.

The charges followed a speech Khan gave in Islamabad on Saturday in which he vowed to sue police officers and a female judge and alleged that a close aide had been tortured after his arrest.

Khan himself has not publicly spoken about the latest charges against him. However, a court in Islamabad issued a so-called “protective bail” for Khan for the next three days, preventing police from arresting him over the charges, said Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a senior leader in his Tehreek-e-Insaf opposition party.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman was booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). An FIR has been filed against Niazi under Section 7 ATA for challenging judicial and law enforcement authorities.

Hundreds of Tehreek-e-Insaf members stood outside Khan’s home on Monday in a show of support as the former premier held meetings inside. The party has warned that it will hold nationwide rallies if Khan is arrested while working to try to squash the charges in court.

“We will take over Islamabad and my message to police is … don’t be part of this political war anymore,” warned Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, a former minister under Khan.

Under Pakistan’s legal system, police file what is known as a first information report about charges against an accused person to a magistrate judge, who allows the investigation to move forward. Typically, police then arrest and question the accused.

The report against Khan includes testimony from Magistrate Judge Ali Javed, who described being at the Islamabad rally on Saturday and hearing Khan criticize the inspector-general of Pakistan’s police and another judge. Khan went on to reportedly say: “You also get ready for it, we will also take action against you. All of you must be ashamed.”

Khan could face several years in prison from the new charges, which accuse him of threatening police officers and the judge under Pakistan’s 1997 anti-terrorism law, which granted police wider powers amid sectarian violence in the country. However, 25 years later, critics say the law helps security forces skirt constitutional protections for defendants while governments also used it for political purposes.

Khan has not been detained on other lesser charges levied against him in his recent campaigning against the government.

The Pakistani judiciary also has a history of politicization and taking sides in power struggles between the military, the civilian government and opposition politicians, according to the Washington-based advocacy group Freedom House. Current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif likely will discuss the charges against Khan at a Cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

In seeking Khan’s ouster earlier this year, the opposition had accused him of economic mismanagement as inflation soars and the Pakistani rupee plummets in value. The parliament’s no-confidence vote in April that ousted Khan capped months of political turmoil and a constitutional crisis that required the Supreme Court to step in. Meanwhile, it appeared the military similarly had cooled to Khan.

Khan alleged without providing evidence that the Pakistani military took part in a U.S. plot to oust him. Washington, the Pakistani military and Sharif’s government have all denied the allegation. Meanwhile, Khan has been carrying out a series of mass rallies trying to pressure the government.

In his latest speech Sunday night at a rally in the city of Rawalpindi outside of Islamabad, Khan said so-called “neutrals” were behind the recent crackdown against his party. He has in the past used the phrase “neutrals” for the military.

“A plan has been made to place our party against the wall. I assure you, that the Sri Lankan situation is going to happen here,” Khan threatened, referencing the recent economic protests that toppled that island nation’s government.

“Now we are following law and constitution. But when a political party strays from that path, the situation inside Pakistan, who will stop the public? There are 220 million people.”

Khan’s party has been holding mass protests, but Pakistan’s government and security forces fear the former cricket star’s popularity still could draw millions out to the street. That could further pressure the nuclear-armed nation as it struggles to secure a $7 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund amid an economic crisis, exacerbated by rising global food prices due in part by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Khan came to power in 2018, promising to break the pattern of family rule in Pakistan. His opponents contend he was elected with help from the powerful military, which has ruled the country for half of its 75-year history.

Why FBI Searched Trump’s Home?

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Former President Trump could be facing mounting legal troubles as new details emerge about the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation that prompted an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump has called for the release of more information tied to the search, an effort that corresponds with bashing the agency for what he claims is a politically motivated attack.

Meanwhile, the DOJ has fought to limit how much information will come out about an ongoing investigation with Trump as its target.

Here’s what we’ve learned this week.  Trump eyed for “willful” violations of the Espionage Act

Although the most highly sensitive materials underlying the Mar-a-Lago search warrant remained under seal this week, the judge presiding over the case did make one court record newly available to the public. That document, known as a criminal cover sheet, provided additional insight into the nature of the crime under investigation, according to some legal experts.

It was already known that investigators believed the materials housed at Trump’s residence were linked to a likely violation of the Espionage Act, a WWI-era statute designed to help safeguard the country’s vital national security secrets. What the criminal cover sheet revealed, after it was unsealed Thursday, is that law enforcement had probable cause to think a “willful retention of national defense information” occurred.

That new detail appeared to lend further support to the theory — one that was already widely assumed — that Trump himself is the target of the investigation.

“This aligns with what we know so far from public media reporting, as well as the minimal information we have derived from the unsealed court filings,” Bradley Moss, a national security lawyer and partner in the law office of Mark S. Zaid, told The Hill in an email.

“All indications are that the government’s argument will amount to three things: (1) Trump took the properly marked classified records with him to Florida; (2) he left them in boxes in the basement; (3) when confronted about it, he willfully held onto records despite demands from NARA and later the FBI to return them,” he added, referring to the National Archives and Records Administration, which takes custody of White House records when a president leaves office.

DOJ appears to be investigating Trump’s claims around a “standing order”

In a sign the Department of Justice is not content to have simply secured the return of classified materials, its investigators appear to be contacting former Trump-era officials about his claims of having declassified the contents removed from his Florida home.

According to reporting from Rolling Stone, the FBI has thus far been conducting voluntary interviews with those who could have knowledge of such an order, including former staff on the National Security Council.

Shortly after the warrant was executed, Trump claimed the documents removed from his home were “all declassified.” He later elaborated in a statement to Fox News that he had “a standing order” to declassify any documents.

“If the DOJ was really focused on recovering the classified material and was not criminally investigating the former president, they would not be calling in former NSC officials to question them about Trump’s supposed “standing order” declassifying documents,” Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, wrote on Twitter.

National security law experts who previously spoke with The Hill noted that while Trump would have broad powers as president to declassify documents, such a practice is usually done on a  case-by-case basis, and also triggers notification to other agencies that hold classified information, so that they can reclassify them appropriately in their own system.

“Realistically, no one actually believes that Trump had such an order.  It was not written down anywhere, doesn’t make a lot of sense (as some of his own appointees have pointed out), and was never raised by Trump’s lawyers during their communications with DOJ,” Mariotti continued.

Even if Trump did declassify documents, that isn’t a defense for the Espionage Act, one of the three statutes cited in the warrant. That law only requires mishandling national defense information to trigger a violation.

Trump wants it all released

Former President Trump and his allies have responded to the government’s desire for redactions with calls for the release of the full document.

“Pres. Trump has made his view clear that the American people should be permitted to see the unredacted affidavit related to the raid and break-in of his home. Today, magistrate Judge Reinhard rejected the DOJ’s cynical attempt to hide the whole affidavit from Americans,” Taylor Budowich, a spokesperson for the former president, said Thursday.

Trump separately posted on Truth Social, his social media platform, calling for the “immediate release” of the unredacted affidavit, citing the need for transparency. He also called for Reinhart to recuse himself from the case without giving a clear reason.

The former president and his allies have attacked the credibility of the FBI and DOJ ever since the search was executed earlier this month, pointing to the handling of the Russia investigation to allege it is the latest politically biased attack on Trump.

By calling for the unredacted affidavit to be released when the government opposes such a move, Trump will likely further fuel distrust in the Department of Justice among his supporters.

DOJ is working through redactions

The Department of Justice, however, does not want its affidavit for the warrant fully released.

The department argued that the affidavit should remain under seal in its entirety, saying the information it contained laid out a “roadmap” to its ongoing investigation, “highly sensitive information about witnesses,” and “specific investigative techniques.”

But a federal magistrate judge on Thursday dismissed efforts by the DOJ to maintain the affidavit entirely under seal.

“I find that on the present record the Government has not met its burden of showing that the entire affidavit should remain sealed,” Judge Bruce Reinhart said in a brief order.

According to The New York Times, Reinhart said there were parts of the affidavit that “could be presumptively unsealed.”

The DOJ has until noon Thursday to submit their proposed redactions, after which Reinhart, who approved the initial warrant, will review them — meaning a redacted version of the affidavit could be released as early as next week.

What it means for Trump and 2024

Casting a cloud over the entire proceeding is the fact that Trump is likely to announce a 2024 White House bid in the coming months, though he may wait until after the midterm elections.

Trump denied in an interview last month with New York Magazine that any presidential run would be a way to insulate himself from criminal consequences as he faces investigations over election interference in Georgia, business dealings in New York, the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots and now his handling of classified information.

And while some experts believe it’s unlikely Trump will ultimately be indicted over the documents he kept at Mar-a-Lago, the political consequences could still loom large over his desire to return to the White House.

A Reuters-Ipsos poll conducted this week found that 54 percent of Republicans believe the FBI behaved irresponsibly following the Mar-a-Lago search, compared to 23 percent who said the agencies behaved responsibly.

Comparatively, 71 percent of Democrats felt law enforcement had acted responsibly, as did 50 percent of independent voters. It is the latter category that bears watching in determining how the search could swing Trump’s political fortunes.

Former President Trump has shifted his defenses for taking classified documents to his Mar-a-Lago residence in the wake of the FBI search of the estate last week, when agents seized 33 items including nearly a dozen sets of classified items.

Trump has ripped the FBI and Department of Justice while giving varying explanations for why he did nothing wrong.

On Monday, in an interview with Fox News he said the “temperature has to be brought down” but then added that his supporters would not “stand for another scam,” repeating his criticisms. Those statements came amid worries that law enforcement could come under attack given the fierce criticism of the FBI coming from some voices on the right.

An unsealed warrant shows the FBI executed the warrant while investigating whether the Espionage Act had been violated. Agents seized 11 sets of classified documents from the estate. The warrant was approved by a federal judge.

Here’s what Trump has said about the FBI’s actions and his shifting explanations about the documents. Trump told the world that the FBI had executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago home, calling it “not necessary or appropriate.”

He said at the time he had been “working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies” and described his home as “under siege” by FBI agents.

Investigators had provided Trump’s attorneys with their own copy of the search warrant and a receipt that would have itemized the materials seized during the search, which follows standard practice.

Trump at the time also decried the search as “political persecution” and included a link for donations to his political action committee in his statement. The investigation comes amid growing speculation over how soon the former president might announce he’s running again in 2024.

Trump and his supporters also in the days that followed floated a conspiracy theory that the FBI had planted evidence at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump’s initial reaction led to a flurry of finger-pointing from his supporters, including Republican lawmakers who blamed President Biden and claimed the president had used the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) to go after his political opponent.

Attorney General Merrick Garland made his first public appearance since the search to say he personally made the decision to seek a warrant and that it was not done “lightly.” He announced at the time that the DOJ would move to unseal the warrant authorizing the search.

The Trump camp put out a statement later, saying “everyone ends up having to bring home their work from time to time” and that Trump would take documents, including classified documents, to his residence to “prepare for work the next day.”

“He had a standing order that documents removed from the Oval Office and taken to the residence were deemed to be declassified the moment he removed them,” the statement said.

The 33 items that were seized from the property included the executive order of clemency for longtime Trump ally Roger Stone, information regarding the “President of France,” binders of photographs, and a handwritten note. The FBI reportedly sought documents containing information about nuclear weapons in the search, but it’s unclear if such records were seized.

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Costa Rica is an excellent place for a wedding, not merely because it’s a great idyllic vacation spot, nonetheless also as it has many amazing wedding customs which were passed on through generations. These wedding traditions can be a mix of ancient world and new world that creates a traditional and exclusive experience.

A Marriage is actually a Lifelong Trip

Costa Rican wedding traditions derive from the idea that love is a trip, and that the couple’s union is an important component to their lives. This belief makes Costa Rica an excellent place intended for couples to get started their new lives collectively, as it is a country that commemorates life and its natural beauty.

A Family-centered Tradition

In Panama and nicaragua ,, family is very important and all customers are encouraged to enroll in a wedding ceremony. Frequently , the star of the event and groom’s whole family is invited to join https://www.elitesingles.com/mag/relationship-advice/online-dating-tips the wedding get-togethers, that may be as huge as a huge selection of guests.

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13 Coins

In a Puerto Rican marriage ceremony, the groom signifies his woman with 13 numismatic coins at some point during the ceremony. This ritual is a result of the husband’s responsibilities while head on the family and his determination to his new partner. These coins are blessed with a priest, and represent Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles.

Favors to be a Sign great Luck

A tradition that dates back to ancient times, Bahía Rican lovers exchange marriage ceremony favors. Place be nearly anything from a portal for an ornament, and so are said to provide luck for the newlyweds.

The favors could be gifts by friends or family, or perhaps can simply be a gift for the couple to hold as being a souvenir of their special day. That is a great way for the couple to show their absolutely adore and honor to those who support all of them on their trip.

Having Pre-Marital Classes

For many lovers, premarital plans are necessary before the wedding so they can make themselves just for the complications of a long-term partnership. In Costa Rica, for instance a series of classes that can take approximately 8 weeks. These kinds of classes teach the few about their romance, the function of the what are the safest online dating sites parent, and also other aspects of a normal and https://mylatinabride.com/costa-rican-women/ happy significant other life.

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Voices From The Non Resident Indian

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Thousands of miles away from India, our hearts long for India, our motherland. A land with rich traditions, history and culture. A land that gave to the world so much and welcomed everyone with open arms. The generosity and spirit of warmth that we all inherited for centuries from generation to generation, with its unparalleled glorius past makes us all stand tall.

Today, after centuries of enslavement, plundering, destruction and marginalization, India has begun to raise its head, seeking and finding its rightful seat among the nations of the world. We are an young nation, full of energy and power; talent, skills and education; future-oriented and willing and able to accomplish our goals.

India Today gives us hope. The vibrant and the largest democracy makes us all proud even though it has its own limitations, with certain groups trying to abuse power and threaten the very foundation of democracy and equality. In India, transfer of power happens peacefully through ballots at local, state and federal levels. And, not by force and intimidation.

The people of India are rising. They have made a name for themselves across the globe, wherever they went, and wherever they made their homes. They are appreciated for what they are and what they bring to their adopted lands. They are much sought after for their integrity and caliber.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden on the occasion of India’s 75th anniversary of India’s Independence Day hailed India as an “indispensable partner” He said, “The United States joins the people of India to honor its democratic journey, guided by Mahatma Gandhi’s enduring message of truth and non-violence.” Biden expressed his commitment to further strengthen the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership that is formed on the ideals of law and democracy and most importantly on their people-to-people ties.

Here are some reflections from some eminent Indian Americans on India and what they perceive India to be “Today – Tomorrow:”

Reflecting On How The Great Accomplishments Of India Are Impacting The Rest Of The World

“As the first elected AAPI Legislator in Middlesex County, representation has always been important to me. It reflects achievements made here in America as well as in India. On the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence Day, we celebrate how far we have come as a community and a nation. It is our job to look back and reflect on all of the great accomplishments India has made to impact the rest of the world and remember we are always moving forward.”


Assemblyman Sterley Stanley

New Jersey General Assembly

18th Legislative District, New Jersey

India – Past – Present – Future

India is an exceptional nation with a civilizational history of 5,000 years old, with a rich tapestry of cultures, religions, and peoples, and a strong economy that was unparalleled by all means. India’s glorious past and profound diversity make it unique. India had a robust economy, having almost one third of the total world’s GDP. India was advanced in almost all fields of science, Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, Literature and Public Administration. Wikipedia notes that the engineering skills of the people were “remarkable”, with great achievements in measurement accuracy and craftsmanship. The subcontinent boasts the longest history of jewelry making in the world, stemming back 5,000 years.

However, with the invasion and rule by the Islamic and British rulers, in the past 1,000 years, India’s wealth was plundered. People were killed. Temples were destroyed. The freedom and the lifestyle along with the remarkable advancement in science and technology were stalled.

India became the 1st nation in the world to attain freedom with a peaceful means, Satyagraha, from the British rulers. While India made moderate progress in the past few decades, the pace of progress accelerated under the dynamic leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, India is today stronger than ever, well respected among the nations of the world. India’s economy is growing faster than ever, and the many programs are benefiting the people of India evermore. India has earned its rightful place in the world. We are proud of India and what India has accomplished, its contributions to the world and I look forward to a brighter and stronger India.

By Dr. Vinod K Shah

Founder, Medstar Shah Medical Group

Past President of AAPI

The Ancient Indian Values Of Respect For Diversity, Peaceful Coexistence, And Respect For Nature Are Needed More Urgently Than Ever

On the 75th anniversary of India, so many Indian American organizations and the Consulate General of India in New York, organized a series of programs showcasing India’s cultural diversity, antiquity, and contemporary relevance. Participants in New York or online anywhere in the world, are able to enjoy music concerts, literary gatherings and dance performances throughout the year as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Seventy-Five years ago, when India became an independent country after centuries of colonial rule, all eyes were on India. As a new society, the Gandhian message of Ahinsa, freedom through to non-violence, and its ancient message of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, that the world is one family became the new Mantra.

Today, in our world of polarization, increasing tribalism, new conflict and extreme environmental degradation, the ancient Indian values of respect for diversity, peaceful coexistence, and respect for Nature are needed more urgently than ever.

These activities aim at bringing the Indo-American bonds closer, with cultural exchanges.

Please participate in the programs like the parade along with family and friends and experience the wondrous imagination and inspiring dynamism of the Indian arts to the fullest. Please join us in wishing India a joyous 75th birthday and a bright future ahead. Jai Hind

Anil Bansal, President of First National Realty Management; Founder of Bansal Charitable Foundation; BOD Member of IAAC; Past President of FIA NY/NJ/CT

India Today and Tomorrow

As we celebrate this year India@75, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, India as a multi cultural, diverse nation has emerged as a significant respected player on the world stage. With its highly successful vaccination program, more than 2 billion doses of vaccines have been administered in the last 18 months. India is the third largest energy consuming country in the world and also ranks third as the world’s largest renewable energy producer. It hopes to meet fifty percent of its electricity requirements by 2070 from renewable energy. Like any other country, the pandemic has taken a severe toll on the economy along with rising inflation and unemployment crisis. But there is a silver lining and according to the projections by the economists at Morgan Stanley, India’s GDP growth is expected to be at 8%-8.5% for 2022-2023 making it as Asia’s strongest economy. However, unless there is gender parity, there can be no sustained economic growth. and India has one of the worlds’ lowest female workforce participation.

Fast forward to India 2040 and beyond we will see it as one of the world’s largest working age population with growing urbananization.  Some of the crucial challenges will be to address gender inequities, sustain the momentum of its economic development and trade, accelerate expansion of higher education and build smart cities with digital technologies. I dream of India that resonates with Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of   Truth and Non Violence— where there is peace, harmony and justice for all. Happy 75th anniversary India.

Dr. Renee Mehrra, Eminent Journalist, TV Anchor, Community Leader

A Dream For the Medical Fraternity

Enhancing national unity and democracy are amongst the great achievements of the people of India. To augment medical education, patient care and research the Government of India should take services of the willing US doctors of Indian origin, who are over 100,000 practicing US Physicians are of Indian origin.

I have lobbied fa or such program for many years. Hope the Health Ministry will initiate and funds for such a project. It will help all parts of india, as these US Doctors hail from all parts of India and they want to effectively serve their motherland, India.

Navin shah  MD
Founder and former President, AAPI

My Small Hope For India

Independence Day is a reminder of the sacrifices for valiant freedom fighters. We have come a long way in the last 75 years. However, to fulfill the dreams of our founding fathers and see a prosperous India, we will need to work hard and contribute towards most successful and vibrant India.

Vishweshwar Ranga MD

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Among the varied marriage stereotypes in Europe, is the tendency of European women to hurry up to get married. In fact , there is a high amount of child marital life in many regions of the continent. This is a huge problem because it is quite often tied to patriarchal attitudes toward girls. This puts ladies at risk of assault, and it can also cut all their education and prospective customers.

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(RNS) — Descendants of those who experienced the Partition of Punjab in 1947 come together to share stories of interfaith collaboration after 75 years of religious animosity in India and Pakistan.

In September of 1947, after Tarunjit Singh Butalia’s Sikh grandparents’ ancestral home in West Punjab was set afire by mobs from a neighboring village, they had no choice but to flee. A Muslim couple in present-day Pakistan swore on the Quran to give them shelter and protect them as if they were family.

They survived, and seven decades later, Butalia, now executive director of the interfaith advocacy organization Religions for Peace USA, tracked down the Muslim couple’s son. The man guided him to the village where his parents, Ahmed Bashir Virk and his wife, Amina Bibi, were buried. Butalia knelt and kissed their graves.

“There are angels that walk on the earth,” said Butalia, who chronicled his grandparents’ past in his 2020 book, “My Journey Home: Going Back to Lehnda Punjab.” “And for my family, they were indeed angels on earth.”

Butalia is only two generations removed from the Partition of South Asia in August 1947, when the British, as they ended their colonial rule in India, imposed a national boundary across northern India that created Pakistan. In so doing they split the religiously diverse province of Punjab into West, or Lehnda, Punjab, and East, or Charda, Punjab.

The border added a geographical quotient to the existing religious distinctions made between Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Jains and Christians, resulting in nearly 15 million people being divided from their religious community. Many left their homes to seek wholeness again in the largest mass migration that the region has seen; others stayed and fought for their rights as minorities. More than half a million people died in revenge killings, riots and communal violence from all sides.

Butalia believes the kindness shown to his grandparents fostered his devotion to creating meaningful relationships and understanding between people of faith. The shared history of Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus at the time of Partition led him to his current position, as well as his work as a founding member of the Sikh Coalition for Interfaith Relations.

“The interfaith movement is very much who I am,” said Butalia. “It has been a critical factor in my formation of Sikh identity.”

The feuding that the Partition initiated between Indian and Pakistani Hindus and Muslims has not ceased. Increasingly it is fueled by governments on both sides that stoke religious nationalist feelings among their citizens.

But in this 75th anniversary year of the Partition, stories such as Butalia’s are the focus of many Indians and Pakistanis who are looking to oral history to preserve the memory of interfaith collaboration as an essential part of their two countries’ histories. Butalia himself said he hopes to use the past, when Hindus, Muslims and Sikh protected each other, to look forward past what he calls a pervasive “patriotism of hate.”

At a recent webinar about the Partition of Punjab held by the Sikh Council for Interfaith Relations, three scholars — one Hindu, one Muslim and one Sikh — related their families’ experiences.

One speaker lived through the trauma himself.

“The Partition of Punjab was a period of marked madness, massacres and lifelong misery,” said Ranbir Singh Sandhu, professor emeritus at the Ohio State University. “But goodness eventually prevails, and it did this time too.”

A practicing Sikh, Sandhu was an engineering college student in east Punjab in 1947. The neighborhood where he lived at the time was declared a Muslim refugee camp after the Partition, which had rendered his Sikh family the minority religious group. But that didn’t stop them from providing the refugees with halal food and temporary shelter.

“These were old neighbors and helpers,” said Sandhu. “We knew they were friends.”

When he and his brother were forced to leave what is now Lahore, Pakistan, it was a group of Muslim men that helped them find their way. And when heavy rains in Punjab damaged houses, Sandhu’s Muslim friends took charge of the rescue.

Like Butalia, Sandhu continued to maintain friendships with Muslims, Hindus and Christians, whether as colleagues or as Ph.D. students he advised.

“All this madness and misery was avoidable,” said Sandhu. “Both nations have wasted a lot of money on fighting.”

The webinar drew floods of comments from audience members that showcased the wide array of stories that Punjabis across the world still tell. The panelists agreed that the best way to share anecdotes and tales of the Partition is through social media, or what another panelist, Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, called “the new face of Punjab nationalism.”

The 1947 Partition Archive, founded in 2013, is dedicated to preserving stories from the South Asian community. Panelist Munish Singh is the moderator for the Punjab Heritage Facebook group, which has over 100,000 members.

We must use these tools to do what the government can’t provide,” said Singh. “Cross-border, people-to-people conversations.”

For the divisions to heal, Butalia said, people must separate neighbors from the actions of their governments, confront people in their own religious communities who are moving toward extremism and use compassion generously.

“What worries me is the line that people have drawn in their hearts,” said Butalia. “That is the border that needs to be erased.”

In his book, Butalia shares a story from his visit to the hometown of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, who was famously accompanied on his journeys by his Muslim friend Bhai Mardana. Butalia recalled seeing a group of Muslim schoolchildren visiting the gurdwara, as Sikh houses of worship are called.

The students told him they often come by for the langar — the free meals offered by gurdwaras as a service to their community. To his surprise and delight, the children told Butalia that they exchanged Facebook and Twitter accounts with the Sikh children from the other side.

“That is the future,” said Butalia. “This change is already happening. We just need to amplify it.”

Mexican President Proposes Global Peace Commission Led By 3 Leaders, PM Modi, Pope Francis & UN Secretary General

Staff ReporterWorld 0

The Mexican President proposed that the top commission should include Pope Francis, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and Indian PM Narendra Modi.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is planning to submit a written proposal to the UN to create a commission, made up of three world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to promote a world truce for a period of five years, MSN web portal reported.

“I will make the proposal in writing, I will present it to the UN. I have been saying it and I hope the media will help us to spread it. Because they do not speak when it is not convenient for them,” MSN quoted Obrador as saying during a press conference.

The Mexican President proposed that the top commission should include Pope Francis, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and Indian PM Narendra Modi.

The aim of the commission would be to present a proposal to stop the wars around the world and reach an agreement to seek a truce for at least five years.

“The three of them meet and soon present a proposal to stop the war everywhere, and reach an agreement to seek a truce of at least five years, so that governments around the world dedicate themselves to support their peoples, especially the people who are suffering the most from the war and its effects; that we have five years without tension, without violence and with peace,” he said.

Calling for an end to warlike actions, the Mexican President has invited China, Russia and the United States, to seek peace and hoped the three countries “will listen and accept an intermediation such as the one we are proposing”.

“Tell them, by their confrontations, in nothing more than a year, they have caused this. They have precipitated the world economic crisis, they have increased inflation and caused food shortages, more poverty and, worst of all, in one year, because of the confrontations, so many human beings have lost their lives. That is a paragraph. That’s what they have done in one year,” MSN quoted him.

According to Obrador, the proposed truce would facilitate “reaching agreements in the case of Taiwan, Israel and Palestine, and not be promoting, provoking more confrontation”.

Furthermore, he urged that all the governments around the world should join in support of the UN and not the bureaucratic mechanism in which proposals and initiatives are presented.

Stolen Goddess Parvati Idol Discovered In New York After 50 Years

Staff ReporterReligion 0

A statue of the Hindu goddess Parvati that vanished from the Nadanapureshwarar Sivan Temple at Thandanthottam, Kumbakonam, fifty years ago has been found in New York, according to the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing CID (Crime Investigation Department) on Monday. The idol was reportedly found in New York’s Bonhams Auction House, according to the CID. Despite a report being made to the local police in 1971 and an FIR being filed by the idol wing in 2019, the case had remained unresolved. Inspector M. Chitra of the Idol Wing took over the case and made the case public. She also started searching for Chola-era Parvati idols in overseas museums and auction houses.

Though a complaint was given to the local police in 1971 and an FIR registered by the idol wing on a complaint from an individual K Vasu in February 2019, the case was pending since then. It received attention only recently after the Idol Wing Inspector M Chitra took up the investigation, started browsing for the Parvati idols of the Chola period in various museums and auction houses abroad.

After a thorough search, she found the idol at the Bonhams Auction house. The copper-alloy idol of the Chola period circa 12 century measures about 52 cm in height and is valued at US$ 212,575 (about Rs 1,68,26,143), a release from the Idol Wing said.

Parvati or Uma as the Goddess is commonly known in South India is portrayed in standing position. She is seen wearing a crown, called a karanda mukuta of piled rings diminishing in size and culminating in a lotus bud.

South Indian Actor Vijay Sethupathi Bags Best Actor Award At Indo French International Film Festival For ‘Maamanithan’

Staff ReporterCinema 0

South star Vijay Sethupathi has achieved another milestone in his acting career as the actor was recently handed the Best Actor Award for his critically acclaimed Tamil drama, Maamanithan, at the Indo-French International Film Festival. The film, which also stars Gayathrie, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Guru Somasundaram and Shaji Chen in pivotal roles, won a gold medal at the Tokyo Film Awards which took place over a week ago.

The critically praised Tamil movie ‘Maamanithan’, directed by Seenu Ramasamy, earned the ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Best Picture’ awards at the Indo French International Film Festival. The awards were given to Actor Vijay Sethupathi and Producer Yuvan Shankar Raja respectively for their contributions to the movie. Renowned director Shankar had referred to the movie as a “realistic classic” when it received widespread acclaim shortly after its debut. Vijay Sethupathi’s outstanding performance in the movie, in Shankar’s words, deserved a National Award.

Taking to his Twitter handle on Wednesday, August 3, the film’s director and writer, Seenu Ramasamy wrote, “Congratulations @VijaySethuOffl For best Actor & @thisisysr For best picture #Maamanithan movie Thank you #INDOFRENCHINTERNATIONALFILMFESTIVAL #Maamanithan @ahatamil @ahavideoIN @YSRfilms @SGayathrie @gurusoms @shajichen @mynnasukumar @sreekar_prasad @onlynikil @Riyaz_Ctc”.

Earlier, Maamanithan also bagged the gold in the Best Asian Film category at the Tokyo Film Awards. While Mart Bira’s ‘Nomadic Doctor’ took the bronze, Takahiro Kawabe’s ‘Love Song at 5 pm’ won the silver medal.

Seenu Ramasamy shared the information on his Twitter handle and wrote, “Category ( Best Asian Film) Golden Winner Happy to share our #Maamanithan feature film Won Tokyo Film Awards 2022 Thanks to producer @thisisysr @ilaiyaraaja @VijaySethuOffl @SGayathrie @shajichen @sreekar_prasad @mynnasukumar @studio9_suresh @CtcMediaboy @onlynikil.”

Maamanithan revolves around a humble auto driver struggling to provide proper education to his children. As he tries to sell his land to get them into a private school, he gets cheated by a real estate businessman Madhavan. The film has been produced by veteran musician Yuvan Shankar Raja under his YSR Productions banner. It witnessed a theatrical release on June 24, 2022, after being delayed for five years.

On the professional front, Vijay Sethupathi is all set to share the screen space with Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif in Sriram Raghavan’s upcoming film Merry Christmas.

India’s Outbound Tourism Sector To Expand Beyond 42 Billion Dollars By 2024

Staff ReporterTravel 0

A report by leading business consulting firm Nangia Andersen LLP in association with the Federation of Indian Commerce and Industry says that outbound trips from India will surpass US$42 billion by 2024. The report, titled “Outbound Travel and Tourism – An Opportunity Untapped”, was presented in the recently-held second edition of the Outbound Tourism Summit. The report was concerned with the rapidly developing Indian travel market, outlining a framework for creating a more value-for-money experience for Indian tourists and travelers.

Outbound trips from India will surpass USD 42 billion by 2024 and the government could bring about certain policy changes to boost this growing market, a report said.

The report’ titled ‘Outbound Travel and Tourism – An Opportunity Untapped’ by Nangia Andersen LLP in association with FICCI, highlights the up-and-coming Indian travel market and outline a framework for creating a more value for money experience for Indian tourists and travellers.

To facilitate ease of doing business and promote the interests of Indian firms dealing in outbound travel the government could look at steps like increasing direct connections to popular and upcoming destinations, allowing foreign cruise vessels to operate on Indian waters, besides taking concerted and coordinated efforts on multiple fronts to propel the outbound tourism market, the report said.

Nangia Andersen LLP Head – Government and Public Sector Advisory Suraj Nangia said Indian outbound tourism is going to surpass USD 42 billion by 2024.

“We are soon going to be the most populous country in the world with the fastest growing economy. The Indian outbound travel market is among the fastest growing markets globally with approximately 80 million passport level of purchasing power, especially among the middle class.”

The report noted that allowing foreign cruise vessels to include Indian destinations as a stop would encourage both inbound and outbound tourism as well as increase revenue for Indian ports.

With a growing economy, young population, and growing middle class, India is ideally positioned to become one of the most lucrative outbound tourism markers in the world. Europe sees 20 per cent of the travellers from India’s outbound traffic. 10 per cent travel to Australia and New Zealand, while the rest of the traffic is towards South east Asia, it said.

Nangia Andersen LLP Partner – Government and Public Sector Advisory Poonam Kaura said, “With the positive response of foreign delegations and their policies, our government can surely establish bilateral relations with tourist-friendly countries for both inbound and outbound tourists.

In 2021, Indians spent approximately USD 12.6 billion in outbound trips, compared to USD 22.9 billion in 2019. While the reason for decrease in spending could be due to the pandemic but these figures point out the huge value that can be captured from Indian outbound travellers, the report added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

AAHOA Launches Elevateher Women’s Initiative To Highlight And Support Women Hoteliers And Leaders In The Industry

Staff ReporterTourism, Women 1

AAHOA, the nation’s largest hotel owners association, with nearly 20,000 members who own 60% of the hotels in the United States, announced the launch of ElevateHER, an initiative aimed at elevating, educating, and empowering the women hoteliers of AAHOA and across the industry.

“AAHOA has been proud to celebrate the important work women are doing at every level of hospitality, and this initiative further underscores our commitment to the women of AAHOA and elevating their contributions to the industry,” said AAHOA President & CEO Laura Lee Blake. “While there’s still much work to be done, AAHOA recognizes the significant strides women have made to be seen at industry events, heard in the boardroom, and valued in the workplace – ElevateHER celebrates these accomplishments and will further drive our association’s work around elevating and supporting women in the industry.”

In what has been a predominantly male-dominated industry, AAHOA understands how important it is to foster, promote, and empower women entrepreneurs – and the impact that ElevateHER can have to help women shatter the glass ceiling and pursue their own entrepreneurial journey.

“Women play an active role in all areas of hospitality – from welcoming guests at the front desk to providing the best in housekeeping services to owning and operating hotel properties, women hoteliers continue to step up to leave their mark in the industry,” said AAHOA Female Director Eastern Division Lina Patel, CHO. “I’m proud to work alongside the entire AAHOA Team to launch the ElevateHER program and give women hoteliers the chance to learn from and inspire each other, and set everyone up for years of progress and success.”

AAHOA’s ElevateHER program will offer networking and educational opportunities for women hoteliers and hospitality industry professionals, and elevate AAHOA to be the foremost resource and advocate for women in the industry. This initiative will ultimately support all women in their endeavors and ensure more stability and opportunities for generations to come.

“Women are the backbone of this industry, and AAHOA recognizes the importance of helping advance women’s initiatives in our industry and beyond,” said AAHOA Chairman Neal Patel, CHO, CHIA. “I’m proud to see more and more women hoteliers in top leadership positions within the association, and the industry at large. AAHOA’s ElevateHER initiative further highlights our organization’s commitment to encouraging women hoteliers to take an active role in hospitality with a program created to elevate them in every way.”

As part of our initial launch of this initiative, AAHOA is hosting a Women Hoteliers ElevateHER Conference, October 26-27, 2022, in Cincinnati, OH, which will focus on bringing together AAHOA’s engaged community of women hoteliers for education, inspiration, and empowerment.

“AAHOA has long been an advocate of amplifying women’s voices within the industry, and the brand-new ElevateHER program invites more and more women to shape the future of hospitality and advance their careers,” said AAHOA Female Director Western Division Tejal N. Patel, CHIA, CHO. “Additionally, the 2022 Women Hoteliers ElevateHER Conference will aim to expand women hoteliers’ scope and view of what is possible professionally and personally in hospitality. I could not be more excited for all that will be accomplished thanks to ElevateHER and AAHOA’s renewed focus on elevating women leaders in the industry.”

Entrepreneur Vijay Garg Takes Over As President Of Rotary Club Of Plainsboro, North & South Brunswick, NJ

Staff ReporterCommunity 0

Rotary Club of Plainsboro, North & South Brunswick, held its Annual Changing of the Guard ceremony and inducted new officials for the rotary year 2022-2023.

District Governor John Shockley conducted the oath ceremony for the incoming President Vijay Garg and his team. In his acceptance remarks, Garg said that he is looking forward in working with the team and continue  various community projects aligned with the Rotary International causes. “I am excited and honored to accept the role,” said Garg, a successful entrepreneur, past north-east president of IT Serve, board member of TiE, GOPIO and other social organizations.

With his immense community reach and leadership skills, the club is poised to take up bigger projects and extending its reach. The new team includes, Sanjeev Dixit as secretary, Sanjay Pagidimarri as treasurer, Venkat Jagarlamudi as president-elect, Ganesh Madda as the foundation chair, Jaydip Sen as PR chair, Suresh Pannala as membership chair, Sudharani Kankanala as service project chair, Srinivas Gattu as fundraising chair and Sunil Nambiar as international projects chair.

Outgoing President of the club Blisse Vakkalagadda presented various projects that the club completed during her presidency. Vakkalagadda along with Sudharani Kankanala, had also played a pivotal role as mentors of the Interact Club of North Brunswick and helped organize various service projects. During her presidency, club also undertook international service projects.

The changing of the guard ceremony was well attended by the Rotary Club members, Rotary Interact Club members, families, and prospective members. Past District Governor Dr. Tulsi Maharjan and Kalpana Patel, president, Rotary Club of Robbinsville-Hamilton, NJ, were among the attendees at the ceremony. Representatives from organizations like ITServe, IBA, SMEC joined and discussed collaboration on future Community Service Projects.

The club, which  is also celebrating its 20th charter anniversary this year, recognized six senior members, Suresh Pannala, Sunil Nambiar, Rajeev Mehta, Nishit Mehta, Mahalingam Narayan and Darshan Doshi, who completed over twelve years of service as dedicated and passionate Rotarians.

In 2002 a few prominent people from the community, living in Plainsboro, South Brunswick, North Brunswick, and surrounding areas decided to charter a new Rotary Club in Central New Jersey with the intention of serving the local and international community. The club started out with three active members and rapidly grew to about more than 25 members living in various parts of the state. Although the club is open to people of all race, color, and religion, most of the current members are people of Indian Origin. Since its inception, the club has proudly sponsored a number of local and international charitable projects.

For more information, visit PlainsboroRotary.org

Voices From The Non-Resident Indians

Staff ReporterEditorial/Opinion, India 0

Thousands of miles away from India, our hearts long for India, our motherland. A land with rich traditions, history and culture. A land that gave to the world so much and welcomed everyone with open arms. The generosity and spirit of warmth that we all inherited for centuries from generation to generation, with its unparalleled glorius past makes us all stand tall.

Today, after centuries of enslavement, plundering, destruction and marginalization, India has begun to raise its head, seeking and finding its rightful seat among the nations of the world. We are an young nation, full of energy and power; talent, skills and education; future-oriented and willing and able to accomplish our goals.

India Today gives us hope. In India, transfer of power happens peacefully through ballots at local, state and federal levels. And, not by force and intimidation. The vibrant and the largest democracy makes us all proud even though it has its own limitations, with certain groups trying to abuse power and threaten the very foundation of democracy and personal freedom and liberty.

The people of Indian origin are rising. They have made a name for themselves in India across the globe, wherever they are today, and wherever they made their homes. They are appreciated for what they are and what they bring to their adopted lands. They are much sought after for their integrity and caliber.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden on the occasion of India’s 75th anniversary of India’s Independence Day hailed India as an “indispensable partner” He said, “The United States joins the people of India to honor its democratic journey, guided by Mahatma Gandhi’s enduring message of truth and non-violence.” Biden expressed his commitment to further strengthen the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership that is formed on the ideals of law and democracy and most importantly on their people-to-people ties. I echo these positive sentiments and hope foir better future for all Indiuans, and peoples of all nations, all faiths and all humanity,

Happy 75th Anniversary of India’s Glorious Independence Day!

Sharing here with our readers reflections from some eminent Indian Americans on India and what they perceive India to be “Today – Tomorrow:”

Ajay Ghoish

Chief Editor, Theunn.com

Reflecting On How The Great Accomplishments Of India Are Impacting The Rest Of The World

“As the first elected AAPI Legislator in Middlesex County, representation has always been important to me. It reflects achievements made here in America as well as in India. On the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence Day, we celebrate how far we have come as a community and a nation. It is our job to look back and reflect on all of the great accomplishments India has made to impact the rest of the world and remember we are always moving forward.”
Assemblyman Sterley Stanley

New Jersey General Assembly

18th Legislative District, New Jersey

India – Past – Present – Future

India is an exceptional nation with a rich civilizational history dating back over 5,000 years, and includes a rich tapestry of cultures, religions, peoples, and a strong economy. India’s glorious past and profound diversity make it unique. Its robust economy, having almost one-third of the total world’s GDP, despite its infancy as an independent nation speaks volumes of the determination of its people. India continues to be advanced in almost all fields of the Arts, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, Literature, and Public Administration. It is noted that the engineering skills of its people were “remarkable”, with great achievements in measurement, accuracy, and craftsmanship. The subcontinent boasts the longest history of jewelry making in the world, stemming back 5,000 years.

However, with the invasion and subsequent rule by Islamic and British forces, India’s richness in society and wealth was plundered away over the last 1000 years. People were murdered, Temples were destroyed. The freedom and the lifestyle along with the remarkable advancements in science and technology was stalled.

India became the 1st nation in the world to attain freedom by peaceful means, or Satyagraha, from the British empire. While India made gradual and moderate progress over the past seven decades, the pace of advancement accelerated under the dynamic leadership of Shri Narendra Modi. India is today stronger than ever, and well respected among the nations of the world. India’s economy is growing faster than ever, and many programs and initiatives are benefiting the people of India even more. India has earned its rightful place in the world. We are proud of our mother nation of India and what it has accomplished in the span of 75 years. India’s contributions to the world will continue to make our planet a better one and I look forward to a brighter and stronger India, a nation that will be looked upon as a world leader in the years to come.

By Dr. Vinod K Shah

Founder, Medstar Shah Medical Group

Past President of AAPI

The Ancient Indian Values Of Respect For Diversity, Peaceful Coexistence, And Respect For Nature Are Needed More Urgently Than Ever

On the 75th anniversary of India, so many Indian American organizations and the Consulate General of India in New York, organized a series of programs showcasing India’s cultural diversity, antiquity, and contemporary relevance. Participants in New York or online anywhere in the world, are able to enjoy music concerts, literary gatherings and dance performances throughout the year as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Seventy-Five years ago, when India became an independent country after centuries of colonial rule, all eyes were on India. As a new society, the Gandhian message of Ahinsa, freedom through to non-violence, and its ancient message of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, that the world is one family became the new Mantra.

Today, in our world of polarization, increasing tribalism, new conflict and extreme environmental degradation, the ancient Indian values of respect for diversity, peaceful coexistence, and respect for Nature are needed more urgently than ever.

These activities aim at bringing the Indo-American bonds closer, with cultural exchanges.

Please participate in the programs like the parade along with family and friends and experience the wondrous imagination and inspiring dynamism of the Indian arts to the fullest. Please join us in wishing India a joyous 75th birthday and a bright future ahead. Jai Hind

  • Anil Bansal, President of First National Realty Management; Founder of Bansal Charitable Foundation; BOD Member of IAAC; Past President of FIA NY/NJ/CT

India Today and Tomorrow

As we celebrate this year India@75, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, India as a multi cultural, diverse nation has emerged as a significant respected player on the world stage. With its highly successful vaccination program, more than 2 billion doses of vaccines have been administered in the last 18 months. India is the third largest energy consuming country in the world and also ranks third as the world’s largest renewable energy producer. It hopes to meet fifty percent of its electricity requirements by 2070 from renewable energy. Like any other country, the pandemic has taken a severe toll on the economy along with rising inflation and unemployment crisis. But there is a silver lining and according to the projections by the economists at Morgan Stanley, India’s GDP growth is expected to be at 8%-8.5% for 2022-2023 making it as Asia’s strongest economy. However, unless there is gender parity, there can be no sustained economic growth. and India has one of the worlds’ lowest female workforce participation.

Fast forward to India 2040 and beyond we will see it as one of the world’s largest working age population with growing urbananization.  Some of the crucial challenges will be to address gender inequities, sustain the momentum of its economic development and trade, accelerate expansion of higher education and build smart cities with digital technologies. I dream of India that resonates with Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of   Truth and Non Violence— where there is peace, harmony and justice for all. Happy 75th anniversary India.

  • Renee Mehrra, Eminent Journalist, TV Anchor, Community Leader

A Dream For the Medical Fraternity

Enhancing national unity and democracy are amongst the great achievements of the people of India. To augment medical education, patient care and research the Government of India should take services of the willing US doctors of Indian origin, who are over 100,000 practicing US Physicians are of Indian origin.

I have lobbied fa or such program for many years. Hope the Health Ministry will initiate and funds for such a project. It will help all parts of india, as these US Doctors hail from all parts of India and they want to effectively serve their motherland, India.
Navin Shah  MD
Founder and former President, AAPI

My Small Hope For India

Independence Day is a reminder of the sacrifices for valiant freedom fighters. We have come a long way in the last 75 years. However, to fulfill the dreams of our founding fathers and see a prosperous India, we will need to work hard and contribute towards most successful and vibrant India.

Vishweshwar Ranga MD

Chairman, BOT, AAPI

India – A Vibrant Democracy and A Pluralistic Society

Staff ReporterIndia 0

For much of the two thousand years of the Common Era, India was the largest economy contributing a third of the global output. Archaeological evidence traces the origins of ancient India’s Indus Valley Civilization to the 5th millennium before the Common Era. During medieval times too India witnessed several glorious empires and great civilizations spread across millions of miles under enlightened emperors.

Towards the last quarter of the last millennium, India came under the influence of East India Company for almost a century during 18th and 19th centuries. Thereafter the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 compelled the British to place India directly under the British Crown for another ninety years. For almost two centuries, therefore, India was anchored to Great

Britain serving the interests of only the British Empire. Of all the colonies the British conquered, controlled and immensely benefited from it was India that was by far the biggest and the wealthiest and was often referred to as the Jewel in the (British) Crown. Before finally leaving India the British divided the Indian subcontinent into two countries in three parcels – India, Pakistan West and Pakistan East. India’s population then was 330 million and the GDP was INR 2.7 trillion – a paltry 3% of the global GDP. A country which accounted for a third of the global output for much of two millennia before had thus been bled bone dry by the colonial masters.

Independent India

India has come a long way since it attained freedom on August 15th, 1947. India was primarily an agrarian economy in 1947. The contributions to Indian GDP by agriculture, industry and services sectors were 56%, 15% and 29% respectively. Agriculture employed the largest work-force of 72% with Manufacturing and Services providing 10% and 18% jobs respectively.

Today, the service sector accounts for 54% of Indian GDP. The Industry and agriculture follow with 25.92% and 20.19% respectively. Life expectancy on the eve of independence was 32 years. It has now gone up to 70 years.

In 1950, infant mortality rate in India was 145.6/1000 live births and maternal mortality ratio in the 1940s was 2000/100,000 live births which declined to 1000 in the 1950s. There were just 50,000 doctors across the entire country and the number of primary healthcare centres was 725. Today, infant mortality is 27.7 per 1000 births and maternal mortality rate is 103 per 100,000. India now has more than 1.2 million doctors. There are 54,618 Sub-Health Centres (SHC), 21,898 Primary Health Centres (PHC) and 4,155 Urban Primary

Health Centres (UPHC), as on December 8, 2021. There are as many as 70,000 public and private hospitals. As of April 5, 2022 there were 117,771 Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) are operational in India apart from 748 e-Hospitals established across the country as part of the ‘Digital India’ initiative of the government.

The India we see and are proud of is a result of decades of conscious planning, benefitting millions of rural and urban population. Quoting Ambassador A. R. Ghanshyam, who wrote in a previous edition of theunn.com, who pointed to the vibrancy of Indian democracy. He wrote: “Independent India has witnessed seventeen free and fair Parliamentary Elections with fifteen Prime Ministers at the helm – each contributing his/her mite to the growth, stability and development of the Indian Nation, its society and economy. How individual Prime Ministers of India tried to build a modern India from the debris of two centuries’ rule by the British Empire is in itself a great story and has been narrated by many authors, Indian and foreign.”

And this India, where people of different faiths, social strata and

In the seventy five years since independence, India has negotiated a difficult, at times treacherous, journey replete with five wars (1948, 1962, 1965, 1971 and 1999) and facing frequent occurrence of natural calamities i.e. floods, famines, droughts and epidemics. Two of its elected Prime Ministers were brutally assassinated and a third died mysteriously after signing the Ceasefire Agreement in the Soviet city of Tashkent post the India-Pakistan 1965 War. A stretch of 21 months during 1975-77 remains an aberration in India’s otherwise uninterrupted democracy when fundamental rights of Indian citizens were suspended during the period of national emergency.

Progress achieved

Much water has flown in the Ganga since India attained her independence. During 1950-51 the contributions to Indian GDP by agriculture, industry and services sectors were 56%, 15% and 29% respectively. Agriculture employed the largest work-force of 72% with Manufacturing and Services providing 10% and 18% jobs respectively.

Today the service sector accounts for 54% of Indian GDP. The Industry and agriculture follow with 25.92% and 20.19% respectively. Life expectancy on the eve of independence was 32 years. It has now gone up to 70 years. In 1950, infant mortality rate in India was 145.6/1000 live births and maternal mortality ratio in the 1940s was 2000/100,000 live births which declined to 1000 in the 1950s. There were just 50,000 doctors across the entire country and the number of primary healthcare centres was 725. Today, infant mortality is 27.7 per 1000 births and maternal mortality rate is 103 per 100,000. India now has more than 1.2 million doctors. There are 54,618 Sub-Health Centres (SHC), 21,898 Primary Health Centres (PHC) and 4,155 Urban Primary

Health Centres (UPHC), as on December 8, 2021. There are as many as 70,000 public and private hospitals. As of April 5, 2022 there were 117,771 Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) are operational in India apart from 748 e-Hospitals established across the country as part of the ‘Digital India’ initiative of the government.

As for education, when the British left India there were 210,000 primary schools, 13,600 middle schools and 7,416 higher secondary schools in India apart from 498 colleges and 27 Universities. Today there are 1.6 million schools, 42,343 colleges and a thousand Universities. More than 250 million children are going to school today in India and close to 40 million are enrolled in our Universities.

India survived a devastating once in a century pandemic of Covid 19 and its economy contracted by 7.3% in the financial year 2020-21. It may be some consolation that this contraction was lower than in other major economies. As per latest available estimates the growth rate of GDP for 2021-22 is pegged at 8.7% which has to be seen in the context of 7.3% contraction in the preceding year.

India is bound together as a great nation by the strength and stability of its democracy, the rule of law and a breath taking diversity of its populace in terms of religion, language, culture, climate, history, geography and more. At the time of India’s first census in 1951 Hindus were 305 million (84.1%), Muslims 35.4 million (9.8%), Christians 8.3 million and Sikhs 6.86 million (1.9%). In 2022 the estimated population is 1090 million Hindus (79.80%), 200 million Muslims (14.23%), 31.2 million Christians (2.3%), 23.7 million Sikhs (1.72%), 9.6 million Buddhists (0.70%), 5.1 million Jains (0.37%) and 9.1 million (0.66%) other religions and 3.3 million (0.24%) religion not stated. There are two million Hindu temples, 300,000 active mosques, 8,114 Jain temples a few of them abroad, more than 125 Buddhist temples, monasteries, stupas and pagodas, some 35 Jewish synagogues etc. At the time of independence many predicted that India will splinter into pieces based on caste, creed, tribe, language, culture etc., but she has remained in one piece and stronger than ever.

Future Prospects

In the last ten years, despite a sliding down of growth rates since 2016 till the economy picked up this year and a significant unemployment burden haunting policy makers in the country, there is a quiet revolution taking place in the arena of technology, digitization and innovation

spearheaded by young Indian companies. The government’s Atmanirbharta crusade has given an impetus to it.

Latest research of the Indian economy in the last ten years by analyst Ruchir Sharma has a few exciting revelations. In 2011 India had 55 Billionaires with a cumulative wealth of US $ 256 billion which was then equivalent to 13.5% of India’s GDP. Ten years later in 2021 India hosts 140 billionaires with the cumulative wealth US$ 596 billion equivalent to 19.6% of the GDP. Sharma adds that 110 of these are new Billionaires created during the course of just last decade. At the time of independence India was the sixth largest economy in the world. In 2021 it retains the same position which is no mean achievement with India’s population having more than quadrupled.

Notwithstanding the above, there is no room for complacency because (a) India still have a large population that lives below the poverty line, estimated by the World Bank at 140 million which is 10% of the population, (b) the formal and informal sectors may not able to absorb the large number of educated young who are passing out of colleges (2022 estimate is 10.76 million), (c) external and internal factors will keep haunting the policy establishment in its effort to achieve double digit GDP growth rate which is the need of the hour for India. Be that as it may India also has several advantages – (i) a median age of less than 30 years, (ii) a strong and focussed government, (iii) growing market, and, (iv) an innovative Indian youth. If India persists with its pursuit of building and consolidating its infrastructure, keeps the society cohesive and harmonious, stabilizes predictable consistency in policy formulation and implementation, a brighter future can be ensured for its future generations.

[Ambassador A. R. Ghanashyam is a retired Indian diplomat who has served as Ambassador of India to Angola and High Commissioner of India to Nigeria]

India’s March Towards Aatmanirbharta

Staff ReporterIndia 0

It was in May 2020 that Indian Prime Minister Modi made a clarion call for a Bharat that was “Aatmanirbhar”. It is important to clarify what this meant and what it did not. While a rough translation of the word is no doubt “self-reliant”, it is nevertheless not the kind of self-reliance that India arguably believed and practiced in the early years of its independence up until the seventies and eighties. It is easy to state what it is not. It is certainly not autarchy; it is certainly not inward-looking; and it is most certainly not stopping imports and making every product at home. It may be more prudent to think of “Aatmanirbharta” as Self- Reliance 2.0.

In this framework of Self-Reliance 2.0, the PM clarified that rather than be self-centred, India will open up even more to the world outside, guided by its motto: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, or our Earth is just one family. PM Modi went on to say that Aatmanirbharta will stand on five pillars: economy, infrastructure, technology, demography and demand. PM explained the raison d’être of Aatmanirbharta by saying that this should prepare India for participation in global supply chains and that this is a battle India cannot afford to lose.

There is little doubt that the global pandemic i.e. COVID-19, played a significant role in India’s push for Self-Reliance 2.0. Take the simple example of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and N-95 masks. At the beginning of the pandemic, India was not making any N-95 masks. Today, India manufactures at least 200,000 N-95 masks a day, if not more. Even more impressive is India’s own record of vaccinating its mammoth population. In 2020 when COVID emerged, almost no one believed India could ever fully vaccinate its population and that such an exercise would take years and years. Yet, in July 2022, about 18 months the first vaccination began, India completed 2 billion doses of vaccines for its citizens. The story of how this was achieved is worthy of a case study which will cover vital issues such as public-private partnership, centre-state cooperation and not to mention building awareness among citizens and getting their participation willingly in this exercise. Indeed, the WHO and others have praised India and the best practices here will be emulated the world over.

Proving that Self-Reliance 2.0 is not just for  Indians, India also exported a large number of vaccines and PPE countries all over the world. The latest statistics from the MEA website talks of 240 million (approx) vaccines which have been delivered to 101 countries, of which there are developed, developing and least-developed countries. The story of India being the pharmacy of the world is too well known to bear any repetition here. All of this is real “aatmanirbharta” at work.

The COWIN platform that India used for distributing vaccines to its mammoth population was remarkable. COWIN is essentially a cloud-based IT solution for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating COVID vaccination in India. By July 2021, India decided to make this open platform available to all countries for their use. In the COWIN global conclave organized in July 2021, as many as 142 countries in the world expressed interest in adopting this platform. Again, this is Aatmanirbharta at work.

The war in Ukraine has had a profound impact not just in Europe, but more importantly for developing and least-developed countries. Specifically, the war has impacted food, energy and commodity prices adversely. Wheat shortage in particular, is expected to affect Africa and the Middle-East quite significantly. At a time like this, it is comforting to know that India’s position when it comes to food security for its huge population is satisfactory. This is yet another manifestation of Self-Reliance 2.0. Indeed, not only was India able to give away food-grains and lentils to 800 million of its citizens as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, India was also able to carry out modest exports of food-grains to low income countries that needed it. Again, Aatmanirbharta at work.

Yet another amazing success story of Aatmanirbharta is the case of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) which is a government-backed centralized digital payment gateway, widely popular in India. To understand the significance of UPI, consider this: India accounted for the largest number of worldwide digital transactions in 2021 at a whopping 48 billion, a number that is nearly three times bigger than China’s (18 billion) and is at least six times bigger than the transactions of US, Canada, UK, France and Germany combined. Voices in the US are saying that we must learn from India which is leapfrogging into the uture. Again, Aatmanirbharta at work.

The above is not to suggest that everything is rosy. India faces monumental challenges with regard to eradication of poverty, job creation and investment in health/education/skills of its vast population. But the lessons are clear: India is sui generis and it is only an “Indian” model that will work for India and Indians. Hence, the capital importance of Aatmanirbharta. After all, as we have seen above, ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ is not just good for India but also for the world at large.

[Ambassador (Dr.) Mohan Kumar is a former Indian Ambassador and afull time academic now.]

India At 75: Some Dreams, Some Hopes

Staff ReporterIndia 0

I am not a Midnight Child. My mother was in no hurry. I was born several months later. But I am still older than the Republic of India, even if I missed its birth as an independent nation, bloodied in the severance with its brother, Pakistan, and crying for those tens of millions of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and some Christians too, who were killed, raped, looted, and forced to flee their homes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants us to hail the 75th year of Independence no less but as the “Nectar of Immortality Grand Festival”, the Amrit Mahotsav.

He also wants us to simultaneously observe the day with a “Horrors of Independence” memory. He wants the Hindus and the Sikhs, who fled their homes in West Punjab, the Frontier provinces, Baluchistan and Sindh, to remember the murder of their parents and grandparents, the rape of their aunts and sisters, and even mothers, as they left their homes and villages to race to the Independent India. Many fell to sword, knife, and gun long before they reached the border. Many women lived, but never made it to the border.

But Mr. Modi’s media and social media army tell us in so much unsaid shouts that no Muslim was killed, that the Muslim was the killer, the abductor, the rapist.

I’ve seen no reports in the national and international media if Pakistan, whose people celebrate Independence a day earlier, on 14th of August, is also observing a “Horrors of Partition Day”. They would have every right to do so if their government or ruling party so chose. And if we did not give them ideas.

India and Pakistan have enough visual, audio, and documented material on the horrors. Much of Pakistan is bereft of Hindus and Sikhs who were born there. The bodies would have been cremated on mass pyres or buried in pits and old wells. Many of the women left behind, or “captured’, possibly married their captors, and had children.

It happened here, in India, too in what are today Punjab, Haryana, Jammu, parts of Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and even beyond the Narmada, and in the East, in the sliced Bengal, and areas of what is now Assam.

Partition has impacted politics in both India and Pakistan for 75 years, much more than 200 years of colonial rule. The Deccan was spared to an extent, and the lands of the Tamils, the Kannadigas, the Konkans and the Malayalees.

The difference was that even after partition, a very large number of Muslims chose to remain in India, by choice or by default. In Pakistan only a handful of Sikhs and Hindus remained. A few of them have crossed to India in the last few decades.

Mr. Modi’s arousing passions in India, seventy-five years later, has little to do with sympathy for the wounded. It has to do with his preparation for a third term in the battle of general elections of 2024, for which his party has again chosen him as the commander-in-chief.

He wants no hitch, no pothole, no barrier and certainly no person or party to come in his way.

Mr. Modi can use the Partition, and bend history his way, because there really has been no counting of the dead, no allowing the ghosts to find peace, and no balm to those whose kin is still missing.

Neither India nor Pakistan has issued White Paper on the human toll of Partition across the line drawn by the colonial British, whose officers were still controlling large numbers of police and military in both countries under the nominal control of the governments of two independent nations.

With several wars, a constant threat of subversion and terrorism and a nuclear bomb-powered military stand-off between the two countries, there is no question of any talk of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to heal wounds and give the two nations and their new generations of citizens a clean slate to write their future. Only a handful of human rights activists in the two countries dare to dream of a future with peace.

It would be difficult to guess a body count now. But many Hindus live in properties in India once owned by Muslims, as much as Muslims in Pakistan live in houses of Hindus which were allotted to them or captured by them during or after the partition violence. These properties are now known as Enemy Property, under laws in the two countries.

Periodically, social media and television stories abound of siblings re-uniting now in their nineties – a brother Hindu and a sister Muslim, or vice versa, depending on how they were separated from their families. The rich nawabs and Rajput Muslims of Pakistan still cross the border to take brides from families of their rank for their grandsons.

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru could have been overwhelmed by the refugees wading through rivers of blood. It goes to him and his colleagues that almost every Hindu and Sikh was given house or land and compensation. The national capital itself changed not just in its historical character but demography too.

I know these first-hand. As newly-weds, my wife and I lived among the refugees from West Punjab and later in a colony where those from East Bengal were settled; we lived half a decade among them. We listened to their stories of sheer horrors of Pakistan, their struggle in the refugee camps, and how, with just a little money, they had rehabilitated themselves. I met people, who had begun living in tents, and running small shops on pavements, who had risen to be industrialists, police officers, politicians, and even Member of Parliament. I also knew a real gangster of the stature of a local godfather.

The stories of resilience of these people, including that of the gangster, gave all of us hope that left to themselves and with a nurturing environment, these victims of Partition could heal themselves, and regain their strength and dignity.

The people, responding to Modi’s dog whistle, surely are a new generation, a third or fourth generation of people who are rootless not because of Partition but because of unemployment, inequity, and increasing gap between the super-rich and the average and poor citizens. Mr. Modi has not bridged the gap. His policies, and his open favours given through official channels to a handful, help a cartel of industrialists of his choice.

How will these groups, marching to the drum beat of private armies of the likes of the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the traditional but now hugely inflated ranks of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, pave the way for a third-term Modi. And will that Modi be benign now that his mark on India’s history has been deeply carved, or will he speak of a thousand-year Reich?

We all know how thousand-year Reich ended. Therefore, what about the final quarter of the independent nation’s centenary?

No midnight child I am, but as a grandfather of a 14-year-old boy of a mixed Telugu-Syrian-Bengali heritage (with a dash of East Bengali genes), I ask this question: What is the India my grandson, then a man in his late thirties, will see?

The first quarter of new India’s century was one of courage, soothing balm, healing, and hope. Despite the shock of two wars, in 1948 stand-off with the nascent Pakistan, and a humiliation at the hands of China in 1962, Nehru laid the foundations of education and technology that in time have seen a Punjabi Indian scientist, Har Govind Khurana, win a Nobel prize. And an entire army of technocrats from India’s flowering Institutes of Technology, science, and medicine, would join the post-World War II leap of science and technology in the United States of America. India is well set to send a man to the moon, a mission to Mars, and may even discover a new molecule which will enable Indian and global pharma to make cheaper life-saving drugs. As Pakistan and the neighbours seem to disintegrate into military doctorships and fundamentalist politics, India consolidated its democracy.

The second quarter of the century consolidated democracy further.  But it was first marred by the State of Emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi after she lost a democratic election. Her defeat was propelled by a popular movement that morphed into a rebellion against her. She lost the general elections after Emergency; but won the next as those who defeated her could not continue together.

Her return to power in a couple of years was marred by the rise of aberrant political forces such as the Khalistan movement which eventually led to the military action in the Golden Temple, holy to the Sikhs, and the consequent assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh guards. Possibly more than 5,000 Sikhs were stabbed or burnt to death in the national capital and several towns of the north. A regiment of the Indian army mutinied.

The third quarter of the century has seen the rise of Hindutva. It began with the decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was rebuilt on the Jana Sangh of the pre-Emergency period, that it could become a political challenge not on a popular or economic platform, but one designed to gather the Hindu masses in a matrix of militant faith. The existence of the Muslims in free India despite partition, and the slogan to rebuild a Hindu Rashtra were to be the fuel and the goal.

Mr. Modi can be said to be the best product of the slogan first raised by Mr. Lal Kishan Advani, a refugee from Sindh, as he began his march in the 1990s to rebuild Ram Temple after razing the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. The 500-year-old mosque was razed by Sangh armies as the police, the Army and the Supreme Court watched, and the Congressman Prime Minister, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, had a long siesta.

The period saw Mr Rao privatize the economy and dilute the socialism Nehru and Indira had brought in. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were happy, as was India Incorporated.  After an intervening seven years of BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee’s rule, considered benign in retrospect, Congressman Manmohan Singh completed the task he had begun as Mr Rao’s Finance Minister.

Mr Modi won the general elections of 2014 fair and square, if you can see fairness and lawfulness in a campaign built on a rhetoric of elimination of a group of citizens of their citizenship and possibly life itself.

Mr Modi is not unfamiliar with bloodshed as a consequence of hate. He presided over the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002.

Patently he is not threatened by, or afraid of, any national or international opposition to these policies. He thinks the cadres he and his Home Minister Amit Shah have trained will overcome any resistance that may come during the 2024 general elections or the ones after that.

Is he correct in his thinking, or will the nation, and its people, ensure that the years towards the Century, in 2047, will again be of rebuilding, and encouragement to reason, science and a commitment to the welfare of all people.

I would like to hope that Nehru’s dream, and the dream of those of us now as old as Independent India, will not shatter. (The Indian Currents)

75 Years After India’s Independence, A Lost Generation Recovers Its Hindu Faith

Staff ReporterNews 0

(RNS) — Indian Hindus who grew up after independence have never fully processed the trauma of colonialism.

In 2004 I was dispatched to India to cover the aftermath of the devastating tsunami, and afterward I took the opportunity to spend time with my grandfather in Chennai and listen to stories about his experiences living in the colonial era of India.

My grandfather, or thatha, grew up poor in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. For Hindus in his village to get what was considered a good education, families pooled or borrowed their money or, in the extreme, converted to Christianity: Christian missionaries frequently visited Hindu homes to offer a free education in exchange for conversion, and a number of my grandfather’s peers converted as a way of getting out of poverty.

My grandfather’s stories helped me to understand how colonial rule impacted the faith of  generations of Indian Hindus and the practices they passed down to their children born and raised in the United States. For his generation and my father’s, defining what it means to be Hindu, and Indian, is still very difficult.

My dad was born in 1946, a year before India’s independence from British rule. (My mother was born a decade later in Puducherry, which would only become wholly independent of French rule in 1963.) Growing up in newly independent India, his post-World War II, post-independence generation was encouraged to adopt a certain style of secularism that was embedded within India’s new social fabric. Many were also educated in Christian schools, where they were taught a completely different idea of religion than what they learned at home. That in turn informed how that generation practiced its faith when Indians began moving to the United States after 1965.

The staunchness with which many Indian Hindus believed in the idea of a dogmatic secularism meant that many of them carried with them a distinct shame of simply being Hindu or didn’t know why they said the prayers or performed the rituals they did. Hinduism’s core philosophies were largely ignored or misunderstood.

I still meet older Indian Hindus who are reluctant to identify as Hindu, even if they are regular temple-goers and are devotees of a specific sampradaya, or Hindu tradition. As one older friend told me, many in his generation were more schooled on the Baltimore Catechism than they were the Vedas, Upanishads and other Hindu texts. Many in my dad’s generation, now retired, are only now finally taking the time to understand more about a religion they were born into but didn’t really know.

As a result, the trauma of colonialism has never been fully processed, and many Indian Hindu immigrants were unable or unwilling to acknowledge the ways in which their religious and spiritual illiteracy impacted their self-conceptualization in the United States, where they were often marginalized religious minorities and frequently had to apologize for their “foreignness.” Many in my parents’ generation took on American (Christian) names and tried to explain Hinduism to friends in distinctly Abrahamic terms.

Their experience was very different from those of diasporic Hindus from countries such as Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Malaysia, Fiji, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and South Africa, where Hindus were (and are) under constant threat, persecution and marginalization. It’s easy to see why Hindus from outside of India feel more protective about their identity and sense of community.

I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, and for many of my generation, Hinduism has been a burden to carry. Some of us remember vividly the Dot buster attacks targeting Hindus in the 1980s. My middle school social studies teacher once asked me if an infamous “chilled monkey brains” scene from “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” was common Hindu practice. For the longest time, I simply kept Hinduism at home. I didn’t know many other Hindus, and those I did know through family networks slowly lost interest in practice or trying to understand their Hindu identity. Often, they believed the Indian customs their parents interpreted to be religious were archaic or defended as “that’s the way things have always been.”

It wasn’t until college, where I was proselytized almost daily by the Campus Crusade for Christ, that I became aware of how precarious my sense of Hinduness was. I became more cognizant of my identity and grew to understand that if my Christian and Muslim friends had no issue identifying with their faith, I didn’t need to have any, either. I grew upset at my parents and their generation for not equipping mine with the tools we needed to cope with being religious minorities in a mostly Christian country.

Today, as a parent, I’ve come to understand better that the trauma of independence had a more significant impact on my parents’ and grandparents’ generations than I ever realized. Some, like my dad, have become much more religious and curious in their later stages in life. I have friends in my age group — including some who at one point left the faith only to return later — who have also taken a more active role in understanding Hinduism and explaining it to their kids. I’m now far more empathetic to those previous generations who never had a chance to connect with their faith through shared understanding and dialogue.

Perhaps that sense of decolonizing has come too late for some, but it’s still important to note that for many Indian and Indian American Hindus, the sense of identity and connection to a spiritual home is still a work in progress. Even as India continues its own journey from the vestiges of colonialism, Hinduism will continue to evolve and adapt to the changing attitudes and views of the billion people worldwide who embrace it.

(Murali Balaji is a journalist and a lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. His books include “Digital Hinduism” and “The Professor and the Pupil,” a political biography of W.E.B. Du Bois and Paul Robeson. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

Five States That Refused To Join India When India Attained Independence From England

Staff ReporterIndia 0

The midnight of August 15, 1947 is perhaps noted as the most significant in the pages of Indian history. In the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, India awoke to life and freedom. But if freedom is the hard earned dream come true for the nationalist leaders of India, then stitching together the hundreds of territorial pieces into a distinct whole was an aspiration much harder to realize and as of August 15, lay yet unfulfilled. The departure of the British from Indian territory was accompanied by the question of how to bring together the 500-odd chiefdoms and states they had left behind.

The Indian Independence Act of 1947 gave princely states an option to accede to the newly born dominions India or Pakistan or continue as an independent sovereign state. At that time more than 500 princely states have covered 48 percent of the area of pre Independent India and constituted 28% of its population.

These kingdoms were not legally part of British India, but in reality, they were completely subordinate to the British Crown. For the British these states were the necessary allies, to keep in check the rise of other colonial powers and nationalist tendencies in India. Accordingly, the princes were given autonomy over their territories, but the British acquired for themselves the right to appoint ministers and get military support as and when required. However, several states were adamant over their decision to not join India. Some of them wanted independent statehood, while others wished to join hands with Pakistan.

Here are the five princely states that were against integrating with India:

  1. Travancore

Known for its maritime trade and richness on both human and mineral resources, Travancore was one of the first princely states to refuse the integration. A distinguished lawyer by profession, Sir CP Ramaswamy Iyer was the dewan of Travancore. By 1946 he had declared his intention of forming an independent state.

Historian Ramachandra Guha in his book says that CP Iyer had support from both Mohammed Ali Jinnah and the UK government in this matter. However, he opted to change his mind after an attempted assassination by the Kerala Socialist Party. Thus, Travancore joined India on July 30, 1947.

  1. Jodhpur

Maharaj Hanwant Singh, the ruler of the Rajput state of Jodhpur was in confusion about the whole matter. Even though the maharani (queen) wanted to join India, he was lured by Jinnah to join Pakistan in the promise of offering full port facilities in Karachi. On the other hand, Vallabhbhai Patel too tried to contact the Maharaja and offered him with sufficient benefits. After many dramatic acts, Hanwant Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on August 11, 1947.

  1. Bhopal

Ruling over a majority of Hindu population, Hamidullah Khan, the Nawab of Bhopal, always wanted independent statehood. He was against the Congress rule and he had mentioned about the same to Lord Mountbatten. But when the Nawab saw many princely states being integrated with India at large, he too decided on the same by July, 1947.

  1. Hyderabad

The Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Usman Ali, was adamant in his decision to be independent and wanted to join the British commonwealth. However, it was not encouraged by the British. The situations in the princely state took violent turn which Vallabhbhai Patel saw as a cancer in the belly of India. On September 13, 1948, under Operation Polo, the Indian troops were sent to Hyderabad. The armed encounter lasted for four days. Thus, on September 18, 1948 the princely state joined India after the army gained full control over the state.

  1. Junagadh

The princely state of Junagadh was ruled by Nawab Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III. Even though Lord Mountbatten during his address to the princes advised to join the Indian Union, Nawab of Junagadh wanted independence. Junagadh had asked Pakistan for accession, which later got accepted. This move enraged India and thus ordered for a plebiscite. On February 20, 1948 the plebiscite was conducted and 91 percent voted to integrate with India.

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