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(ZENIT News – ACN/Madrid)- Today, more than 360 million Christians experience high levels of persecution and discrimination, according to the Report presented by the Evangelical Christian organization Open Doors “World Watch List of Persecution 2023.” Moreover, throughout the world one out of every seven Christians is persecuted or discriminated because of his faith. According to Ted Blake, Director of Open Doors in Spain, “this figure is one out of five in Africa, two out of five in Asia and one out of 15 in Latin America.”
Another important conclusion of the study is that Sub-Saharan Africa is facing an enormous humanitarian disaster given the wave of religious violence, whose epicentre is in Nigeria, which has extended to the whole region and which is directed against Christian populations.
“For 30 years we have been presenting annually this World List of Persecution, and never before have we had such high levels of persecution as now,” said Ted Blake.
North Korea occupies the first place in the persecution of Christians, with the highest levels of persecution in its history. The increase is due to the new wave of arrests in virtue of its recent “Law Against Reactionary Thought.” The other countries occupying the first places in the Report are: Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Sudan.
The Christian presence continues to decrease in the Middle East, according to Open Doors. It hasn’t been able to recover after the boom of the Islamic State, despite the slight decrease in the number of murdered Christians (with the exception of Syria, which has suffered a wave of violent incidents). “This is the cradle of Christianity and a great part of the Church is losing hope: the discrimination and poverty regime is too heavy to endure, especially for young people who don’t see a future here as believers,” according to Rami Abed Al-Masih, Regional Director of Open Doors’ Legal Defense for the Middle East and North Africa.
Nicaragua is yet another Latin American country to enter the list. Organized crime is being entrenched especially in rural areas where Christians denounce the activities of the cartels. Meanwhile, the Government’s direct oppression of Christians, considered to be the voice of opposition, is widespread in Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba, country where Evangelical Christian leaders were imprisoned without a trial for their participation in last year’s protests.
Improvement Data
The total number of murdered Christians due to their faith decreased slightly from 5,898 in the 2022 edition of the Report to 5,621 cases registered at present, with the clear exception of Sub-Saharan Africa, as pointed out earlier. The total number of attacked churches under different levels of violence decreased from 5,110 (LMP, 2022) to 2,110 registered cases (LMP, 2023). As the world returns to a degree ”to normality after the pandemic, there seems to be a certain stabilization of violence, although the exact reason for it is the object of discussion and it’s not considered very probable that it forms part of a continued tendency.
Greater tolerance has been promoted in certain countries of the Gulf. Persecution decreased in Bahrein, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. In Qatar persecution also has decreased this year, although this might be due to the massive closing of churches during 2022, which continue closed this year.
Can India create a higher education system worthy of its aspirations as a full-fledged knowledge economy? That’s still to be determined. But India is on the verge of taking a major, long-awaited first step in the right direction: With the recent release of draft rules by the country’s higher education regulator – the University Grants Commission – India is moving closer to allowing high-quality foreign universities to set up campuses to help meet the country’s growing appetite for advanced education.
Crucially, under the rules, which will have to be approved by Parliament, foreign universities would get the freedom to decide their own curriculums, fix fees and hire faculty at terms of their choosing. They would even be allowed to repatriate earnings. That all might seem underwhelming to readers accustomed to the U.S. system. But it would be a radical – and, eventually, perhaps game-changing – shift for India.
And India’s higher education system badly needs shaking up. Setting aside issues of quality (as if those can be set aside), India does not come close to providing sufficient seats to those aspiring to higher education – a glaring shortcoming as India’s burgeoning middle class strives to prepare their children for the opportunities of the future.
India’s system has its successes, of course, but they are narrow. Just nine Indian higher education institutions made the top 500 of the most recent QS World University Rankings. The top one – the Indian Institute of Science (at 155) – is a highly specialized institution focused on postgraduate studies and research in the sciences. The other eight are part of the well-known Indian Institutes of Technology, which specialize in engineering. The highest-ranked comprehensive university was the University of Delhi, falling in the 520s.
That is simply not good enough. All told, India has just over 1,000 institutions of higher learning. China, with a similar population, has three times that. The United States, with a much smaller population, has four times as many.
India’s gross enrollment ratio for higher education – the percentage of college-age adults who are enrolled – is around 27 percent, much lower than in advanced economies and even other emerging economies such as Brazil and China. Expect that figure to increase. If the supply of higher education cannot keep pace, more students will look overseas, as so many already do. Canada, the United States, Australia and Britain are primary destinations. The “import” of higher education from other English-speaking countries makes no sense for a country that prides itself on a service-based economy and its English language advantage. Education should be a sector that provides export earnings.
So, what’s the problem? Overregulation, as with so much of the Indian economy. Other parts of the economy have been liberalized over the years, but not higher ed.
More than half of Indian colleges and universities are government-run – around 200 by the federal government and 400 by state governments. Of course, it is not uncommon for countries to have large public university systems. But India grants little autonomy to such institutions, which have no freedom to set tuition and fees – kept artificially low by the pressures of populist politics.
Thus, institutions are totally dependent on the government for funding, eroding what autonomy exists on paper. The federal and state governments have serious fiscal constraints, and higher education always struggles in the competition for resources. Faculty salaries are benchmarked with civil servants, but at a somewhat lower level; tenure and promotions are based on service time, not merit. There is no way to reward stellar talent.
Private universities, too, are overly regulated and cannot operate for profit. That deters the best entrepreneurs from entering the sector.
Critics argue that allowing in foreign universities will not solve the problem, and it’s true it won’t be a cure-all. But if even a small number of acclaimed universities establish campuses, it would both improve overall quality and inject some competition into a sector that badly needs it. It should also induce more top academic talent to stay in India.
More important, it would set a precedent that Indian universities, both public and private, can and will use to argue for greater liberalization and freedom. They will push for a level playing field, which will eventually be granted. In the long run, high-quality foreign university campuses and improved Indian institutions can attract students from Africa and elsewhere in Asia, turning higher ed into the growth-and-jobs pillar that it should be in a world-leading economy.
Of course, it would be better if Indian institutions could get the benefits of change before, or at least alongside, foreign universities. But in India’s reform-resistant system, sometimes all you can do is open one window at a time.
Dhiraj Nayyar is the director for economics and policy at Vedanta Resources, whose philanthropic arm runs three not-for-profit colleges in India.
(IPS) – Few policymakers ever claim credit for causing stagnation and recessions. Yet, they do so all the time, justifying their actions by some supposedly higher purpose. Now, that higher purpose is checking inflation as if it is the worst option for people today. Many supposed economists make up tall tales that inflation causes economic contraction which ordinary mortals do not know or understand.
Inflating inflation’s significance
Since early 2022, like many others in the world, Americans have been preoccupied with inflation. But official US data show inflation has been slowing since mid-2022.
Recent trends since mid-2022 are clear. Inflation is no longer accelerating, but slowing. And for most economists, only accelerating inflation gives cause for concern.
Annualized inflation since has only been slightly above the official, but nonetheless arbitrary 2% inflation target of most Western central banks.
At its peak, the brief inflationary surge, in the second quarter of last year, undoubtedly reached the “highest (price) levels since the early 1980s” because of the way it is measured.
After decades of ‘financialization’, the public and politicians unwittingly support moneyed interests who want to minimize inflation to make the most of their financial assets.
War and price
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine began last February, with retaliatory sanctions following suit. Both have disrupted supplies, especially of fuel and food. The inflation spike in the four months after the Russian invasion was mainly due to ‘supply shocks’.
Price increases were triggered by the war and retaliatory sanctions, especially for fuel, food and fertilizer. Although no longer accelerating, prices remain higher than a year before.
To be sure, price pressures had been building up with other supply disruptions. Also, demand has been changing with the new Cold War against China, the Covid-19 pandemic and ‘recovery’, and credit tightening in the last year.
There is little evidence of any more major accelerating factors. There is no ‘wage-price spiral’ as prices have recently been rising more than wages despite government efforts ensuring full employment since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Despite difficulties due to inflation, tens of millions of Americans are better off than before, e.g., with the ten million jobs created in the last two years. Under Biden, wages for poorly paid workers have risen faster than consumer prices.
Higher borrowing costs have also weakened the lot of working people everywhere. Such adverse consequences would be much less likely if the public better understood recent price increases, available policy options and their consequences.
With the notable exception of the Bank of Japan, most other major central banks have been playing ‘catch-up’ with the US Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. To be sure, inflation has already been falling for many reasons, largely unrelated to them.
Making stagnation
But higher borrowing costs have reduced spending, for both consumption and investment. This has hastened economic slowdown worldwide following more than a decade of largely lackluster growth since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Ill-advised earlier policies now limit what governments can do in response. With the Fed sharply raising interest rates over the last year, developing country central banks have been trying, typically in vain, to stem capital outflows to the US and other ‘safe havens’ raising interest rates.
Having opened their capital accounts following foreign advice, developing country central banks always offer higher raise interest rates, hoping more capital will flow in rather than out.
Interestingly, conservative US economists Milton Friedman and Ben Bernanke have shown the Fed has worsened past US downturns by raising interest rates, instead of supporting enterprises in their time of need.
Four decades ago, increased servicing costs triggered government debt crises in Latin America and Africa, condemning them to ‘lost decades’. Policy conditions were then imposed by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank for access to emergency loans.
Globalization double-edged
Economic globalization policies at the turn of the century are being significantly reversed, with devastating consequences for developing countries after they opened their economies to foreign trade and investment.
Encouraging foreign portfolio investment has increasingly been at the expense of ‘greenfield’ foreign direct investment enhancing new economic capacities and capabilities.
The new Cold War has arguably involved more economic weapons, e.g., sanctions, than the earlier one. Trump’s and Japanese ‘reshoring’ and ‘friend-shoring’ discriminate among investors, remaking ‘value’ or ‘supply chains’.
Arguably, establishing the World Trade Organization in 1995 was the high water mark for multilateral trade liberalization, setting a ‘one size fits all’ approach for all, regardless of means. More recently, Biden has continued Trump’s reversal of earlier trade liberalization, even at the regional level.
1995 also saw strengthening intellectual property rights internationally, limiting technology transfers and progress. Recent ‘trade conflicts’ increasingly involve access to high technology, e.g., in the case of Huawei, TSMC and Samsung.
With declining direct tax rates almost worldwide, governments face more budget constraints. The last year has seen these diminished fiscal means massively diverted for military spending and strategic ends, cutting resources for development, sustainability, equity and humanitarian ends.
In this context, the new international antagonisms conspire to make this a ‘perfect storm’ of economic stagnation and regression. Hence, those striving for international peace and cooperation may well be our best hope against the ‘new barbarism’. (IPS UN Bureau)
In the United States, the Welfare Reform in 1996 dramatically changed welfare participation rules by imposing restrictions on immigrant welfare use.
Several studies have been conducted to asses the use of welfare programs by different ethnic groups in the US. An immigrant in the United States consumed 27.3 per cent less welfare than native-born Americans, the public policy think tank, Cato Institute said in its report. The report called for further reforms to reduce expenditure on welfare by building a higher wall around the concept of the ‘welfare state’ than around the country.
According to the report, the average value of welfare benefits per immigrant was $6,063 in 2020, or 27.3 percent less than the $8,335 average for native‐born Americans.
Immigrants consumed 36.9 percent less Social Security, 26 percent less Medicare, 10.7 percent less Medicaid, 11.5 percent less SNAP benefits, and 87.6 percent less TANF benefits than native‐born Americans on a per capita basis. However, immigrants consumed 11.4 percent more in SSI benefits than natives, which translates to $19 more than natives on a per capita basis. Immigrants individually also consumed 42.9 percent more WIC benefits than native‐born Americans, which translates to $7 more than natives per capita.
On the other hand, ssing data from 1995 to 2018, Huang and colleagues investigated the effects of demographic factors, macroeconomic trends, and policies on the welfare participation gap between immigrants and natives in the US.
This study covered 24 years of data, spanning times of economic recessions and recoveries, changes in welfare policy regimes, and policies towards immigrants. The authors found that immigrants’ participation in means-tested programs would have been much less overall and greatly below those of natives, after adjusting for individual characteristics such as educational attainment. This article was published in Population Research and Policy Review, a leading interdisciplinary international journal of population research.
The study also found that business cycles impact immigrant and native welfare participation differently. Immigrant participation in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, and State Children’s Health Insurance Program are more sensitive to the business cycle than native participation, providing some evidence that immigrant “dependence” on safety net programs is temporary and closely linked to the economy.
The lead author, Xiaoning Huang, is a doctoral candidate at Columbia School of Social Work and a fellow at Columbia China Center for Social Policy. The coauthors are Dr. Neeraj Kaushal, professor at Columbia School of Social Work, and Dr. Julia Shu-Huah Wang, assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong and an associate at Columbia China Center for Social Policy.
On the policy front, the analysis suggested that program eligibility explains only a modest proportion of the overall immigrant-native gap in welfare use. This finding offers an alternate perspective to supplement previous research that has found substantial impacts of policy on welfare use. While the restrictive welfare policies can significantly influence welfare use, the rules are not as consequential as an individual and household characteristics in “explaining” the difference in immigrant and native households’ welfare participation.
These findings underline the limits of restrictive welfare policies, advocate for better social safety net programs to protect immigrants and their children from economic downturns and adverse health events, and support inclusive policies such as DACA and the DREAM Act to invest in immigrants’ human capital development.
The Supreme Court of India has directed the Central Government led by Narendra Modi to produce original records relating to its decision to block a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots. However, it turned down a plea for an interim order to direct the government to make public its gag order and said the matter would be examined on the next date of hearing.
Petitions
The top court issued notices to the government and others on pleas filed by veteran journalist N Ram, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and lawyer M L Sharma.
Emergency powers
The SC asked the petitioners why they did not approach the high court in the matter. Senior advocate CU Singh, appearing for Ram and the others, submitted that the government has invoked the emergency powers under the Information Technology (IT) Rules to block the documentary. The Supreme Court said it is also a fact that people have been accessing the documentary.
‘Arbitrary & unconstitutional’
One of the petitioners has also alleged that the ban on the documentary ‘India: The Modi question’ was “malafide, arbitrary and unconstitutional”.
Freedom of press
Ram and others, in their pleas, have sought a direction to restrain the government from curbing their right to “receive and disseminate information” on the documentary.
The contents of the BBC documentary are protected under Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression) of the Constitution, the plea said, adding that the contents of the series do not fall under any of the restrictions specified in Article 19(2).
Reacting strongly after Ram filed his plea, India’s Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had tweeted, “This is how they waste the precious time of Hon’ble Supreme Court where thousands of common citizens are waiting and seeking dates for justice.”
Both the Houses of India’s parliament were adjourned on Friday last week amid chaotic scenes as some lawmakers demanded an inquiry following the meltdown of shares in billionaire Gautam Adani’s group companies, which some fear could spark wider financial turmoil. Opposition parties continue to highlight that Life Insurance Corporations (LIC) of India’s and State Bank of India’s (SBI) high exposure to stocks in the Adani Group can have wider economic repercussions.
Shares in Adani companies recovered after sharp falls, but the seven listed firms have still lost about half their market value – or more than $100 billion combined – since U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research last week accused the group of stock manipulation and unsustainable debt, Reuters reported.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said India’s banking sector is “resilient and stable” and the central bank maintains constant vigil on the lenders, in a statement issued in the light of the Adani crisis, triggered by a US-based short seller’s allegations of stock manipulation, fraud and use of tax havens by the Adani Group.
The stock rout led to Adani Group losing around $108 billion since Hindenburg Research published its report on January 24. But signs of recovery were visible on Friday.
But the government differs
Talking about the risks to the Indian banking system and lenders emanating from the ongoing crisis, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that the country’s banking system is in a sound position. “They (LIC and SBI) have very clearly said that their exposure (to Adani Group stocks) is very well within the permitted limits and with valuation falling as well, they are still over profit. That is the word from the horse’s mouth,” Sitharaman said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.
The stock market turmoil created by the rout in Adani group shares is a “storm in a teacup” from a macroeconomic point of view, finance secretary TV Somanathan said on Friday, emphasising that India’s public financial system is robust. The senior-most bureaucrat in the finance ministry also said that movements in the stock market per se is not the government’s concern and there are independent regulators to take necessary action. Read more here.
Shubman Gill, considered as the future of Indian cricket has proved that he does belong to the T20 internationals, scoring his maiden century in the format in the 3rd and final T20I of the series against New Zealand. Gill, who had famously scored a double hundred in the ODIs against the Kiwis earlier, reached the triple-digit score in the shortest format for the first time in his career. Gill completed his century in just 54 balls, becoming the 5th Indian to score a T20I hundred.
Gill, who ended his innings at 126, has now registered the highest score for an Indian in T20 internationals. Earlier, Virat Kohli held the record for scoring the highest-score for an Indian in T20Is. Kohli had scored an unbeaten 122 against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. Gill surpassed him in the match against the Kiwis.
Gill continued his fine form and showcased his array of shots, hitting the New Zealand bowlers to all parts of the Narendra Modi Stadium to score 126 not out off just 63 balls balls with the help of 12 fours and seven sixes.
But the start was far from rosy for India after electing to bat as Mitchell Santner made a master-stroke decision by handing Michael Bracewell the second over and the off-spinner reposed his captain’s faith by removing an out-of-form Ishan Kishan, who was adjudged LBW with the second ball of the over.
In-form Gill struck two boundaries off Lockie Ferguson in the next over. He was at his ominous best, be it pick up hits, drives or pulls to continue his onslaught.
Gill has been receiving plenty of criticism for his performances in the shortest format for India of late. With someone like Prithvi Shaw waiting on the bench, former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir had said that Gill’s “basic game” doesn’t suit the shortest format as much as Shaw’s does.
“I feel Shubman Gill has to get better against spin, on a spinning wicket. He had his struggles against Bangladesh as well. Yes, he has been fabulous in the 50-over format, got good wickets to bat on, with 5 fielders inside, But then, you’ve got to get better when the ball starts spinning, gripping and bouncing as well. He will get tested, not only against seam but spin as well,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.
“He still hasn’t found his feet in T20 format, when it comes to playing international cricket. Sometimes you have to play at a different tempo. His basic game suits 50-over format. Someone like Prithvi Shaw, his basic instinctive game is made for T20 cricket. Shubman Gill is someone whose basic game is made for 50-over format. How quickly he learns and adapts to this format will decide whether he will be able to play all the three formats,” Gambhir asserted. However, with his performance against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, Gill has proved that can be a superstar in the shortest format too.
As the rout in Adani group’s stocks triggered by short seller Hindenburg Research’s allegations touched $92 billion on Wednesday, as per news agency Bloomberg, business tycoon Gautam Adani lost his status as the world’s richest Indian to fellow Gujarati businessman and Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani.
The richest
Sixty-year-old Adani has now been pushed to the No. 15 spot on the list of world’s richest billionaires, compiled by Forbes, with his wealth now estimated at $75.1 billion. Sixty-five-year-old Ambani is at 9th position with a net worth of $83.7 billion. Over the last three years, Ambani and Adani have swapped positions as world’s richest Indian on several occasions.
With that, Ambani also became the world’s richest man from Asia, sharing the top-ten space in the Forbes list of billionaires with Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Larry Page among others.
Brotherhood of billionaires
Adani groups, on Tuesday, secured a $2.5 billion share sale amid the short-seller storm, triggered by allegations of stock manipulation, accounting fraud and use of tax havens against the conglomerate.
While the heavy lifting was done by a $400 million investment from a conglomerate based in Abu Dhabi, a few other uber-rich surprisingly came to the last-minute defense of their compatriot.
People who’re neither financial institutions nor small investors bid for 3.3 times the stock reserved for them as a class. A Delhi-based industrialist, three Gujarati pharmaceuticals billionaires and a steel magnate from Mumbai were among the share sale’s white knights, according to the Economic Times. Read more here.
But, FPO cancelled
However, Adani Enterprises sprung up a surprise on Wednesday evening, announcing that it has “decided not to go ahead with the fully-subscribed Follow-on Public Offer” and assured that all proceeds will be refunded to investors. In a statement, it cited “unprecedented” market fluctuations and “extraordinary circumstances” to conclude that going ahead would not be “morally correct”.
Kumar Gallery is pleased to present 27 MASTERS, a group show of master artists spanning from the Bengal school, J P Gangooly, Jamini Roy, Bireswar Sen; to Progressives M F Husain, F N Souza, S H Raza, Krishen Khanna, K H Ara, Ram Kumar, Akbar Padamsee; to tantric abstractionists G R Santosh, Biren De, Sohan Qadri; to important modernists K S Kulkarni, N S Bendre, A Ramachandran, J Swaminathan, B Prabha, Satish Gujral, Sakti Burman, George Keyt, A P Santhanaraj, Badri Narayan, Jatin Das; to eminent sculptors Amar Nath Sehgal, Prodosh Das Gupta, Sankho Chaudhuri, and Dhanraj Bhagat.
Works in the exhibition span themes relevant to 2023. Ramachandran’s Visions of War, with its reflections on propaganda, ideology, religion, history, and the specter of nuclear war has never since World War II been more relevant on account of the Ukraine War. The exhibition invites viewers to further reflect upon themes of the vitality of life as expressed through sexuality in art, the historical socioeconomic fabric of India, and the integration of philosophy into modern life.
Exhibition opens online on February 5th 5PM IST. Select works will be on exhibit at Kumar Gallery Hotel Hyatt Regency & Kumar Gallery Sainik Farms (By Appointment)
Mr. Virendra Kumar Jain of Kumar Gallery is the pioneer in promoting contemporary Indian art in our country as well as abroad. Most of the top ranking artists of today owe their beginnings to him. It was due to relentless efforts Kumar made in creating awareness of modern vocabulary of the mode of painting that has made it possible for most of us to find a niche in the history of world art. What our society has gained through such developments is too obvious to mention. – Satish Gujral
This essay pays tribute to a champion and great supporter of Modern Indian Art, Shri Virendra Kumar, founder of Kumar Gallery. With the dizzying ascent and soaring value of the market for Modern Indian Art in recent years, it is all too easy for connoisseurs to defer to price as a proxy for aesthetic value. Yet Modern was once Contemporary, and there was a time when the evolution of style was the result of a hard-won struggle against the prevailing commercial trends. It was precisely at those crossroads in the history of India that Virendra acted as the principal tastemaker and visionary patron for serious, avant-garde artistic expression.
Virendra Kumar was born on 26 January 1933 to an illustrious and philanthropic Jain family. For generations the family had provided patronage to musicians, sculptors, and painters, architects and had commissioned numerous temples. Most notable amongst direct patrilineal ancestors of the family were Raja Harsukh Rai (1740 – 1807) and his great grandfather Deep Chand Sah, who respectively built the Naya Mandir and Lal Mandir in Delhi, and the latter of whom was the treasurer for the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Oral histories of the family trace the lineage back further to influential Jain traders during the Tomara dynasty (8th – 12th centuries), principally located in the area where the Qutb Minar is now located.
In many ways, known and unknown, the shape of what we now understand as Modern Indian Art was shaped by the efforts of Virendra Kumar and his brothers at Kumar Gallery. Their contributions as promoters and tastemakers came precisely at the hour of need for the first generation of contemporary artists in independent India’s.
Virendra’s comprehensive patronage and unwavering belief that Indian artists could compete with their Western contemporaries was the quintessential catalyst that manifested the latent potential of India’s nascent artistic ecosystem. In recognition of the role that Virendra Kumar played, and in appreciation of his sincerity and resolve, M.F. Husain, termed him, ‘The Kahnweiller of Indian Contemporary Art.’ For more details, please visit: https://kumargallery.com/about-us/
The U.S. military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday afternoon, the Pentagon said, while China called the downing an overreaction.
“On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
Austin said military commanders “had determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload.”
Speaking on Saturday, President Biden told reporters he gave the order on Wednesday. U.S. officials “said to me, ‘Let’s wait ’til the safest place to do it,’ ” he said. “They successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” Biden added.
The downing came shortly after the Federal Aviation Administration said it had “paused departures from and arrivals to” three East Coast airports — in Wilmington, N.C., Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Charleston, S.C. — “to support the Department of Defense in a national security effort.” Flights through these airports resumed shortly after 3 p.m.
China responds with “dissatisfaction and protest”
U.S. and Chinese officials have given conflicting information on the balloon’s purpose. The Chinese government said the balloon is strictly used for meteorological research and accidentally went adrift into U.S. airspace. China’s foreign ministry on Saturday expressed “strong dissatisfaction and protest” over what it called the U.S.’s “use of force to attack a civilian unmanned airship.” It called the shooting down an “obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.”
The Pentagon has said the balloon was being used for surveillance. Its presence already led Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday to postpone a historic trip to Beijing, as tensions continue to rise between the two countries over national security.
U.S. officials earlier this week decided against shooting down the balloon after the Biden administration said it did not pose a national security threat. The Pentagon shared reports on Friday of a second balloon, belonging to China, that could be seen floating over Latin America. Colombia’s Air Force said on Saturday that an object with characteristics of a balloon had traveled through its airspace on Friday.
The balloon traveling through the U.S. quickly became an internet celebrity as meteorologists, storm chasers and others shared sightings on social media as it continued on its path across the U.S. Others criticized the Biden administration for not taking quicker actions to stop it.
Blinken postpones his Beijing trip after a Chinese balloon spotted
“The China balloon flying over the U.S. is a direct assault on our national sovereignty,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted on Friday. “Biden’s refusal to stop it is a dereliction of duty. From flying balloons to open borders, Biden has no regard for our national security and sovereignty.”
After its downing on Saturday, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said it “should have been shot down before it crossed the continental United States, not after. We still don’t know what information was collected and where it was sent,” he said. “This was a dereliction of Biden’s duty, and let’s hope the American people don’t pay a price.”
Austin praised Biden’s decision to shoot down the balloon. The Canadian government assisted in the “tracking and analysis of the balloon,” according to Austin.
“Today’s deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC’s unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” he said in the statement.
On Saturday, people shared sightings of the balloon on social media. Earlier, in South Carolina, the York County Sheriff’s Office tweeted that the balloon was more than 60,000 feet in the air and urged people not to take matters into their own hands. “Don’t try to shoot it!!” the office tweeted. “Your rifle rounds WILL NOT reach it. Be responsible. What goes up will come down, including your bullets.”
Stocks have surged since the start of the year. The Nasdaq is up nearly 15% this year after posting its best January since 2001. And it’s not just stocks: bonds have risen and even bitcoin has made a roaring comeback, though all markets fell a tad on Friday.
This is all after a miserable 2022, when markets were hit hard by fears about surging inflation and about how the Federal Reserve was fighting it, with the biggest increases in the country’s interest rates since the early 1980s.
Today, hope has replaced that fear. Inflation has eased substantially and investors now believe the Fed will soon stop raising interest rates – and even cut them later this year to prop up a sagging economy.
And many on Wall Street no longer dread the worst about the economy, turning from their predictions of a big recession to hope that any downturn will be mild, or even that a recession may not happen at all.
But should there be this much optimism? Here’s why Wall Street is getting so excited about the economy – and why others believe it may end in tears.
The case for hope
The recent Wall Street gains could perhaps be explained in a single word: inflation. There are plenty of signs that inflation is starting to ease substantially after reaching its highest levels in around 40 years last year.
Consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 6.5% in December, down from a peak of 9.1% in June. The Fed’s preferred inflation yardstick is also down substantially from its recent peak.
And economists are hopeful inflation will continue to ease. Supply chains, for example, have improved. And wage gains have softened in recent months, allaying economists’ worries that rising wages could push up prices.
Prices are still high, of course, in fact, too high for the Fed’s comfort. But even Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expressing some hope about inflation while warning, repeatedly, that the fight against inflation is far from done.
Recession? What recession?
Then, there are the shifting views on the economy. In 2022, markets were bracing for the worst as they looked to history.
In the past, the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes to tame inflation have sparked recessions.
Higher interest rates can have all kinds of negative effects on the economy: mortgages get more expensive, which hurt the housing market; companies pull back on spending; and so forth.
But now, many on Wall Street believe any recession could be mild, like the short one during the pandemic in 2020 that barely made a blip in the markets (the S&P500 surged 16% that year, while the Nasdaq soared 44%).
Some economists even believe the economy may not suffer a recession at all, slowing down into a “soft landing,” or avoiding a contraction and a spike in unemployment.
That optimism is not completely unjustified.
For one, the labor market is very strong. Data on Friday showed U.S. employers added a whopping 517,000 jobs, much stronger than most forecasts, while the unemployment rate dropped to a 53-year low.
“The labor market continues to be very resilient with no clear signs of stopping yet,” investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients on Friday.
Investors are also taking comfort in earnings, which have largely proven resilient, though there are exceptions, notably, in the technology sector.
GM, for example, reported this week a surge in profits in the most recent quarter. Then again… There is one big downer in the market, however: the Fed. Some optimists believe the Fed will make an abrupt U-Turn and pivot to cutting interest rates as early as this year, after raising them one last time, likely at its March meeting.
That would mean the Fed would go from fighting inflation by slowing down the economy to doing exactly the opposite — revving up that very same economy with cheaper, easier borrowing.
The big issue with that premise? That’s not what the Fed is saying it plans to do at all. Powell, in his news conference on Wednesday may have sounded hopeful about the economy, but he also said it’s way too premature to declare victory against inflation, and he reiterated the Fed has no intention of cutting interest rates any time soon.
The message does not appear to be swaying the optimists on Wall Street so far, however. Some investors still believe the Fed is being too cautious about inflation. After all, the central bank for months played down inflation by calling it “transitory” until it suddenly reversed course and aggressively raised interest rates.
“The Fed is still firmly in the driver’s seat, but the market continues to fight the Fed, believing that they will pause and/or cut rates much sooner than they’ve guided,” said Amanda Agati, the Chief Investment Officer of PNC Financial Services.
But there are big dangers in fighting the Fed, as the famous market adage goes.
The Fed is the most powerful economic player in the world, with the ability to move markets from New York to Hong Kong with a single word.
And so far, the Fed has said, clearly, that the fight against inflation will go on. And is the economy really that strong, anyway?
Then, beyond the Fed, there’s the risk that plenty can still go wrong for the economy. For one, inflation could prove much more entrenched than the Wall Street bulls expect.
A strong labor market is great for workers, but it remains a major worry for the Fed given that it can keep inflation elevated, forcing companies keep wages high and fueling more consumer spending by those who are employed.
What tracking one Walmart store’s prices for years taught us about the economy
Furthermore, there’s plenty of other data that raises the prospect that the economy could end up hitting a recession after all.
The housing market, for example, has taken a major hit since the Fed started raising rates. And retail sales are showing signs of declining, a big concern in an economy so reliant on consumer spending. Market bulls are fond of noting that “as goes January, so goes the year,” an expression that refers to a historic trend in which strong January gains tend to portend a good year for Wall Street.
But that’s not always the case. In 2001, the Nasdaq similarly rallied in January, ending the month up 12%. It did not end well. The economy skidded into a recession, and the Nasdaq slumped a whopping 30% over the next 11 months, with losses magnified by the Sept. 11 attacks. As it turns out, all that optimism in January 2001, proved to have been misplaced.
US visa applications can be accepted outside India
With many travelers still years behind on getting their US visa appointment, the United States is making every effort to shorten this duration. In its latest initiative to cut the backlog, the US Embassy in India has announced that those planning a trip to the Americas can now apply for a business or tourist visa through the US embassy or consulate of another country.
Most people applying for US visas right now have over 500 days of wait time until their appointment. Citing the example of Thailand, the US embassy in India tweeted, “Do you have upcoming international travel? If so, you may be able to get a visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your destination.
For example, @USEmbassyBKK has opened B1/B2 appointment capacity for Indians who will be in Thailand in the coming months.” Meanwhile, the embassy has also announced that applications to renew US visas can be submitted via file-hosting service Dropbox now, while clarifying that renewal requests would not be accepted via e-mails.
More than 1 lakh visa applications have been processed in the month of January alone this year, which is more than any month since July 2019, the mission noted.
The US embassy and its consulates in India are preparing to receive a fresh record number of visa applications from students, according to a PTI report. US embassy and consulates in India already broke their all-time record for the number of student visas issued in a single year in 2022, top US State department official Ned Price had earlier informed.
The country is also expecting other visa applications to increase – to around 1.2 million this year – making India the second-largest country for US visa ops after China, as per the PTI report.
The US has announced a series of initiatives to cut the backlog in visa appointments. The US Embassy in India today announced that some visa applicants will now be able to seek appointments in other countries.
The move is aimed at reducing the backlog, with the waiting period for a US visa as high as 800 days at some centers in India.
The UK has been warned that 65,000 illegal migrants are expected to enter the country this year. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may withdraw from an international human rights treaty with an aim to crack down on illegal immigration in the country. The UK PM is prepared to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in a bid to curb migrant arrivals, the Sunday Times reported.
The UK has been warned that 65,000 illegal migrants are expected to enter the country this year. According to these estimates, illegal immigration in the UK will rise by 50 per cent this year.
Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman have started working on a new immigration legislation after the warning. The new laws could be unveiled within weeks, Bloomberg reported.
The pair are also prepared to withdraw from the ECHR before the general election if judges in Strasbourg rule that the new plans are unlawful, the Times report said.
A threat to withdraw from the ECHR would draw a sharp dividing line between Sunak’s Conservatives and the opposition Labour party — underlining the prime minister’s hardline stance on immigration.
Before being elected as the Prime Minister in October last year, Rishi Sunak had vowed to fix the “broken” asylum systems in the UK and stop the illegal boat crossings from France.
He had also announced a five-step strategy to clamp down on illegal immigration, with a promise to end the government’s backlog of asylum applications by the end of next year.
On Abhishek Bachchan’s 47th birthday, dad Amitabh Bachchan penned a long note. He said that Abhishek proved all naysayers wrong. He also said that his son made his choices and defied the norm.
Actor Amitabh Bachchan has heaped praises on his son-actor Abhishek Bachchan with a long note on his 47th birthday. Taking to his blog on Sunday, Amitabh said that Abhishek proved ‘all naysayers wrong’. He also added that Abhishek made his own choices and defied the norm. Amitabh also called his son ‘pride of the family’. (Also Read | Navya Naveli Nanda wishes ‘the best’ Abhishek Bachchan with throwback pics on birthday)
Amitabh Bachchan wrote on his blog, “And Abhishek for the 5th Feb 2023 .. and his 47th .. and how time has flown by .. going back in time all the memories of the day and the several days that kept giving us the joy and the pride and the pleasure of Abhishek .. and now to see him achieve his worth through his hard word, quietly, and proving all the naysayers wrong .. !”
He also wrote, “It is a delight for a Father for his Son but mostly for the Son who has through the dint of his hard word and perseverance shown the mettle of his calibre and his confidence .. That is the pride that one honours .. He took his own decisions .. he made his own choices .. defied the norm and proved it …. with his success…”
“Winning the Kabaddi Championship, by the select of his team, who everyone said was poor and weak and incapable .. but he inspired the boys and came out victorious .. despite all the bias reporting and negative opinions against him and the team .. By winning the Best Actor for ‘DASVI’ .. his choice of film story and crew .. and delivering a performance that got universal praise .. a complete transformation from all that he had ever done before .. flawless and complete..,” Amitabh continued.
“Winning the Kabaddi Championship, by the select of his team, who everyone said was poor and weak and incapable .. but he inspired the boys and came out victorious .. despite all the bias reporting and negative opinions against him and the team .. By winning the Best Actor for ‘DASVI’ .. his choice of film story and crew .. and delivering a performance that got universal praise .. a complete transformation from all that he had ever done before .. flawless and complete..,” Amitabh continued.
He concluded, “And then to be the at the top of the MOFN .. the Mood Of The Nation list … that is a true reflection of his standing ..A pride of the family .. a pride for the Father .. Aaj ke din ki anek anek badhai (Many many congratulations on this day). So .. a few words to him in blessing–Family: Aaj ke din ki badhai (Wishes for today). Abhishek: Janm din ki badhai lo tum, sada raho prasanna; yeh din har din, viswa tumhara sada kare abhinandan. Sada kare abhinandan, tumko, aur raho tum swasth, pragati, khyati, tumhari kar de auro ko lathpath…auro ko lathpath ya dhwasth (Good wishes on your birthday, be happy always; may the world always greet you. may you always stay healthy, your progress, fame may make others unstable..or demolished).”
Amitabh on Sunday evening greeted his fans outside his Mumbai home. The actor was dressed in a white kurta, pyjama and white socks. He also wrapped a cream-coloured shawl as he stood on a small podium. The actor greeted his fans by waving at them. He also folded his hands and smiled at the crowd outside his home.
Amitabh was recently seen in the family entertainer film Uunchai along with Anupam Kher, Parineeti Chopra, and Boman Irani last November. Helmed by Sooraj Barjatya, the film got positive responses from the audience. He will be next seen in remake of the The Intern along with Deepika Padukone and in Project K alongside Deepika and Prabhas.
Dr. Gopinath Upamaka suddenly passed away at home on February 3, 2023. Dr. Upamaka, lovingly known as Gopi or Doc, was a devoted father, husband and cardiologist. Beloved by all those around him, Gopi changed so many lives.
Born in Hyderabad, India, in 1959, he completed his medical school at Osmania Medical School in 1983 and married the love of his life, Anu also in 1983. He moved to the United States in 1984 and completed his residency at Mt. Sinai and fellowship at Metro General in Cleveland, Ohio. He made the journey to Toledo with his wife and joined private practice as a cardiologist. Anu and Gopi had two beautiful children, Navin and Neelima as they built a wonderful life in Toledo.
Gopi was best known lovingly as one of Toledo’s premier cardiologists, serving his community for over 30 years. He was an integral partner with the original Northwest Ohio Cardiology Consultants and had the honor of being President and Medical Chief of Staff at Toledo Hospital from 2005-2007. His patients, staff and colleagues all loved him.
He is survived by his wife, Anuradha; children, Navin and Neelima; sister, Satya Rao (Siva Yechoor); and brother, Raghu Rao (Kanchana Rao) He was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Brahmaji Rao and Girija Rao.
Friends may visit the family on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at the Walker Funeral Home, 5155 Sylvania Ave. (west of Corey) from 8:30 am until 10 am where a Celebration of Life will take place beginning at 10 am followed by a Hindu Ceremony at 12 Noon. Further cremation services will take place at Toledo Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the American Heart Association. Condolences may be shared with the family at:
www.walkerfuneralhomes.comc
CNN — Less than two weeks ago, Gautam Adani was the fourth-richest person in the world. With a personal fortune estimated at $120 billion, the self-made Indian industrialist was wealthier than either Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.
Then Hindenburg Research, an American short seller with bets against Adani’s companies, accused him of pulling off “the largest con in corporate history.”
Adani’s firms have lost $110 billion in value since then, and his own wealth has been halved to little more than $61 billion as investors pull their support.
While the Adani Group has condemned the report as “baseless” and “malicious,” investor questions about its claims linger, and the fallout is growing. Adani’s business partners and lenders are clarifying their ties to the conglomerate, while India’s federal government is reportedly launching an investigation of his business after an outcry by opposition lawmakers.
Here’s what you need to know.
Who is Gautam Adani?
Gautam Adani is a 60-year-old tycoon who founded the Adani Group more than 30 years ago.
A college drop-out, he built a sprawling business empire that spans infrastructure, logistics, energy production and mining. That success has earned him comparisons to John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt, who created vast monopolies during America’s Gilded Age in the 1800s.
He was Asia’s richest man, and last September briefly surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the second-wealthiest person in the world. He’s also seen as a close ally of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi.
What are the accusations against him?
Hindenburg Research stunned investors in late January when it published a report accusing Adani and his companies of widespread fraud and “brazen stock manipulation” that it alleged took place over decades. The firm said it had taken a short position in Adani Group companies, meaning it would benefit from a drop in their value.
Hindenburg pitched 88 questions to Adani that cast doubt on his conglomerate’s financial health. Those ranged from requests for details on the group’s offshore entities to why it has “such a convoluted, interlinked corporate structure.”
The Adani Group has said it’s considering legal action in response to the claims. It charged Hindenburg with launching “a calculated attack on India” and said the investment firm is only interested in its own financial gain. But analysts say Adani Group hasn’t convincingly answered the questions raised by the report.
What do investors think?
Investors, spooked by the claims, are bailing, not wanting to get caught on the wrong side of a trade. Shares of Adani Enterprises, Adani’s flagship firm, have plummeted almost 55% since Hindenburg’s report was published on January 24.
The company is now struggling to raise new funding as a result. On Wednesday, Adani Enterprises abruptly abandoned a $2.5 billion deal to sell shares, just 24 hours after it was sealed.
Stocks of most Adani Group companies slumped again on Friday. India’s stock exchanges halted trading in five listed Adani firms after their shares crashed by the daily limits, set at 5% and 10%.
Meanwhile, TotalEnergies, a major business partner, said Adani had agreed to let one of the “big four” accounting firms carry out a “general audit.” There was no confirmation from Adani.
The French energy giant described its $3.1 billion exposure to Adani, via joint investments in India, as “limited”. It also said these partnerships were “undertaken in full compliance with applicable — namely Indian — laws.”
What happens next?
The wave of selling is raising questions about how Adani’s businesses will continue to cover their costs.
The large debt load of Adani firms — one of the concerns raised by Hindenburg — is under the microscope. Ratings agency Moody’s said Friday that the turmoil was likely to reduce the group’s ability to raise capital.
In a statement Wednesday night, Adani stressed that his business remains on solid footing, and that executives would review its capital market strategy “once the market stabilizes.”
“Our balance sheet is very healthy with strong cashflows and secure assets, and we have an impeccable track record of servicing our debt,” he said.
The consequences of the sell-off may not be contained to Adani. Indian banks that hold Adani Group assets could also be affected if the value of those holdings continues to drop.
The Reserve Bank of India said Friday that the banking sector “remains resilient and stable” based on its latest assessment and pledged to continue to monitor the situation.
In its first statement on the recent market turmoil, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said Saturday that it had observed “unusual price movement in the stocks of a business conglomerate.” It said that if any information comes to SEBI’s notice,” it would be examined and “appropriate action” would be taken.
The market regulator added that it “is committed to ensuring market integrity.”
India Inc. on the defensive
At the same time, the ordeal is the source of growing political turmoil in New Delhi. Opposition lawmakers in India have demanded a probe into the Hindenburg report. They staged a protest in the country’s parliament on Wednesday while the country’s finance minister presented the annual budget.
Their demands that normal business be suspended Friday to allow an emergency debate on the Adani crisis led to an uproar, resulting in the adjournment of both houses of parliament until Monday.
“Action is being taken against Adani all over the world, but PM Modi is quiet,” the main opposition Congress party tweeted. “When will our govt take action?”
Questions about the health of Adani’s empire are clouding the outlook for India Inc., which just weeks ago was out in force at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland touting opportunities for foreign investors.
The country’s emissaries leaned into its relatively robust economic outlook. The World Bank projected last month that India would log the strongest economic growth of any major economy this year.
“The Adani saga has opened a big can of worms,” said Manish Chowdhury, head of research at brokerage Stoxbox. “The India story is looking weak” to foreign investors now, he added.(CNN.COM)
Honda is set to launch the first hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric CR-V in 2024 and it is getting a little help. The automaker has revealed that the Ohio-built SUV will use technology developed in partnership with General Motors.
Fuel cells combine hydrogen stored in tanks with atmospheric oxygen through a catalyst to create water, the process generating electricity and H2O vapor. The power systems are lighter than battery packs and can be refueled as quickly as a gasoline-powered vehicle.
Both automakers have been experimenting with the technology separately, with Honda briefly selling a fuel cell-powered Clarity car that was hamstrung by high costs and a lack of public fueling infrastructure outside of California, where it was sold.
According to Honda, the next-generation system will cut production costs to one-third of what they are now and by half again in the coming years. Honda is exploring using the technology in cars, commercial vehicles, stationary power systems and even in space. The ramp-up to commercialization will be slow, however.
Honda only expects to build 2,000 of the CR-Vs in 2025 and up to 60,000 fuel cell vehicles annually in 2030, but sees the output growing to hundreds of thousands by the middle of the next decade.
Several other automakers are keen on both hydrogen combustion and fuel cell technology as an alternative to battery-power, including Toyota and Hyundai, which both currently offer low-volume models for sale.
Honda will also start selling the battery-powered Prologue SUV in 2024, which will be built in the U.S. the GM Ultium electric car platform that underpins the Cadillac Lyriq today. Pricing and other specifications for the fuel cell CR-V and Prologue have not yet been announced.
Mercedes-Benz drivers could get their hands on a technology that Elon Musk has literally been promising for years—and before Tesla drivers.
The German car company has just announced plans to introduce ‘Level 3’ self-driving in Nevada by the end of this year.
The firm’s ‘Drive Pilot’ system means drivers will be able to watch movies, play videogames, and browse the Internet while the car handles ‘all aspects’ of driving.
Meanwhile, Tesla drivers are still stuck with ‘Level 2’ self-driving which requires the driver to remain in control of key aspects of the journey—despite Elon Musk promising ‘full self-driving’ every year for over a decade.
Elon Musk has fallen short of delivering full self-driving for years – despite his promises(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Like a Tesla, the Drive Pilot system will require drivers to keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel, and autonomous driving will deactivate if the driver falls asleep or gets distracted.
The self-driving system will also only work on roads up to 40 mph. However, it still meets the US highway safety administration’s framework for Level 3 automation, which states that the car “handles all aspects of the driving task while the driver remains available to take over driving if requested.”
The Drive Pilot software is cheaper than Tesla’s ‘full self-driving’ system(Image: John Locher/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
Cameras in the dashboard ensure that the driver’s face is always visible. If something is placed in front of their face, like a selfie camera, the AI-powered system will deactivate.
We have a new exoplanet to one day scour for potential signs of life. Just 31 light-years away, astronomers have identified an incredibly rare Earth-sized world orbiting at a distance from its star that should be hospitable to life as we know it. If, that is, the exoplanet itself has the right conditions to be conducive to life’s emergence.
That information isn’t available to us yet, but the world represents a promising candidate for a future search for biosignatures on nearby, Earth-mass exoplanets.
The search for exoplanets – that is, extrasolar planets, those outside our Solar System – is hobbled by the limitations of our current technology. Make no mistake, that technology is amazing; but our primary methods for finding exoplanets are way better at finding large worlds than small ones.
That’s because they rely on indirect signs, the effects an exoplanet has on its host star. The transit method detects the very faint, regular dips in starlight as an exoplanet orbits between us and its star; and the radial velocity method detects minute changes in wavelength of light as the star is very, very slightly moved around on the spot by the gravitational interaction with the exoplanet.
So, while more than 5,200 exoplanets have been confirmed at time of writing, fewer than 1.5 percent of those have masses below that of two Earths.
And of those, perhaps a dozen are orbiting their stars at a distance where temperatures could allow for liquid water on the surface – not so hot that it burns off, nor so cold that it freezes.
A location in this so-called habitable zone is the first step in narrowing down whether a world may or may not be hospitable to life. And this is what a team of astronomers led by Diana Kossakowski of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Germany have discovered a nearby red dwarf star Wolf 1069.
The newly discovered exoplanet, 1.36 times the mass of Earth, has been named Wolf 1069b. “When we analyzed the data of the star Wolf 1069, we discovered a clear, low-amplitude signal of what appears to be a planet of roughly Earth mass,” Kossakowski says.
“It orbits the star within 15.6 days at a distance equivalent to one-fifteenth of the separation between the Earth and the Sun.”
That would definitely be too hot for habitability if Wolf 1069 was a star like the Sun, but red dwarfs are much smaller and cooler than our home star. This means that their habitable zones are significantly closer to the star than our Solar System’s habitable zone, which just extends from around Venus and just reaches Mars.
Although Wolf 1069b is 15 times closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun, the radiation it receives is around 65 percent of what Earth receives from the Sun.
At this level, a bare, rocky Wolf 1069b similar to Mercury should have a temperature around -23 degrees Celsius (-9.4 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s way too cold for liquid water; but, without an atmosphere, liquid water would turn to vapor anyway.
Obviously there’s a lot more that goes into habitability than just the right proximity to the star. An atmosphere could trap heat and lift the average temperature, but it would need to be a nice, thick atmosphere. Mars has an atmosphere, and its mean temperature sits at -65 degrees Celsius.
The red planet’s atmosphere is also rather flimsy, and this is thought to be because it doesn’t have a protective global magnetic field like Earth does. ( Venus doesn’t have an internally generated magnetic field, either, but its interaction with the solar wind creates an external one. It’s a Venus thing.)
An internally generated global magnetic field is the result of rotating, convecting, and conducting fluids within the planet’s core that converts kinetic energy into magnetic energy to create a magnetic field. And it’s possible that Wolf 1069b has one of these.
“Our computer simulations show that about 5 percent of all evolving planetary systems around low-mass stars, such as Wolf 1069, end up with a single detectable planet,” says astronomer Remo Burn of the MPIA.
“The simulations also reveal a stage of violent encounters with planetary embryos during the construction of the planetary system, leading to occasional catastrophic impacts.”
These encounters would heat the young world, suggesting that the core of Wolf 1069b is still molten, like Earth’s core, and therefore could be generating a magnetic field.
There’s just one more problem. You know how the same side of the Moon is always facing Earth? That’s called tidal locking, and it’s the result of gravitational “brakes” being applied to a body’s rotation if it’s in close orbit with a more massive one.
Because the habitable zone of red dwarf stars is so close to the star, most potentially habitable red dwarf exoplanets are tidally locked. That means one side is in permanent day, and the other in permanent night.
All, however, is not lost. Research shows that such worlds can still be habitable, particularly around the terminator, the twilit line between night and day. A simulated temperature map of Wolf 1069b, however, shows that liquid water is most likely to be present on the region directly facing the star.
Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait to find out more: Wolf 1069b doesn’t pass between us and its star, which means we currently have no way of probing it for an atmosphere.
“We’ll probably have to wait another ten years for this,” Kossakowski says. “Though it’s crucial we develop our facilities considering most of the closest potentially habitable worlds are detected via the radial velocity method only.”
The UAE has made major changes to visas last week, updating rules on renewals as well as guidelines for people living abroad. At the same time a three-day weekend scheme in parts of the UAE have been declared a success and a new megaproject has been announced.
It has been a busy week in the Middle East with headlines on holidays and visas across the region. Dubai made headlines after police gave a safety warning over a so-called “silent killer”. The emirate also has a new city after a district was renamed.
Public holidays in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and across the GCC are a mixture of religious observances and days of national celebration and recognition.
While public and private sectors in all countries offer holidays for occasions such as Eid, there are specific observances only recognized in certain countries.
It means that keeping track of every country’s public holiday and dates of business can be complex. Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, has ordered that a district in the emirate be renamed. The city includes four zones, Hind 1, Hind 2, Hind 3, and Hind 4, and spans an area of 83.9km.
Dubai Police warning over ‘silent killer’
Butti Ahmed bin Darwish Al Falasi, director of the Security Awareness Department in the General Department of Community Happiness at Dubai Police, said that carbon monoxide exposures and poisonings occur more often during summer and winter seasons due to the lack of awareness and wrong practices of some individuals.
“In summer, the most common way of getting carbon monoxide poisoning is when the AC of an automobile is on while it’s idle in a closed garage or space without proper ventilation. Meanwhile, carbon monoxide poisoning occurs in winter as people are more likely to use gas furnaces and heating appliances seeking warmth in closed places or structures with minimal airflow. Carbon monoxide is odourless, so it goes undetected by humans and silently kills them.”
UAE changes visa rules for those living abroad
The service can be accessed by residents via the UAE Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) website, under the ‘smart services’ page. Residents can also apply for a re-entry permit via smart service centers or typing centers.
UAE 3-day weekend plan success
Government agencies in Sharjah moved to a four-day working week in January last year. At a meeting of the Sharjah Executive Council (SEC) last week, Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah chaired a session where the success of the move was reviewed.
The SEC reviewed a study of the three-day weekend work system and results showed an increase in employees productivity of 88 percent across Government entities. The change to the working week also led to:
UAE announces major visa change for all nationalities
However, this service can be availed only once, a report by Gulf Today said, citing the ICP. “They can do this only before entering the country,” ICP said.
The fee to extend a visa validity is reportedly priced at AED200, including AED100 for the smart services, AED50 for the application form and AED50 for the authority and the electronic services offered to customers.
The Loop
“It will provide an enjoyable climate controlled all-year environment, to make walking and cycling the primary mode of transport for Dubai’s residents, in line with its new 20-minute city initiative. The aim is to make cycling and walking the primary mode of transport for daily commutes for more than 80 percent of Dubai’s residents by 2040,” the statement added.
THE LOOP project in Dubai is in place to develop a smart cycling and walking infrastructure, however it is still at its research and development phase, URB said. Key facts of THE LOOP include:
Visa centers will soon disappear, and it will be possible to get a Schengen visa without leaving home. This result of the procedures of complete digitalization of the process of obtaining visas was presented in the European media. At the same time, according to experts, the process will last several years, but everything can happen shortly – the European Union has already started work.
According to experts, the first step was the adopted law on digitalization of the visa procedure, which the EU Parliament passed. As a reminder, its essence boils down to abandoning “paper” visas and issuing Schengen visas only in digital form (read details here).
The EU authorities are sure that the path of “digitalization” can go even further. “Visa applications will be processed on a single online platform, which will also inform applicants of which country they will be granted a visa for in case of multi-country travel. The new system is also designed to work harmoniously with the ecosystem of EU border management systems and databases. Making the entire process of obtaining a Schengen visa online for travelers who need it to visit any of the 27 member states will not only make life easier for applicants, requiring less effort and cost but will also improve security in the EU,” MEPs said.
At the same time, the experts called the first advantage of the digitalization of Schengen visa procedures that the digitization of the Schengen visa application procedures means that tourists will no longer need to go to the embassy, visa center, or consulate to submit the necessary documents and application form.
They will be able to simply go to the system’s website, fill out all the applications, and then all they have to do is upload the necessary documents to obtain a Schengen visa, including a scanned passport, a recent photograph, a travel insurance amount of EUR 30,000 and other scanned documents. At the same time, the system will, according to the idea, prompt the user if he fills in something by mistake. So far, however, such a site does not exist – even in the mode of the test version.
“Each applicant must submit a completed application form using the EU application platform, including a statement on the authenticity, completeness, correctness, and reliability of the submitted data, as well as a statement on the truthfulness and reliability of the statements made,” the European Parliament also stated.
In-person, tourists only have to appear at a biometrics collection center on their first visa application to be fingerprinted and photographed, but this will only happen once every five years as long as they apply for a visa with the same document.
As soon as the application is processed, information about the results of the application review will be sent to tourists by e-mail. Moreover, they no longer need to stick the visa itself to the passport – it will be issued digitally in the form of a 2D barcode, cryptographically signed by the Country Signature Certification Center (CSCA) of the member state that issued the visa.
What is essential — tourists are assured that the innovation will not only not make the visa more expensive, but will also make it cheaper.
However, so far these are “theoretical explanations”. As stated in the European Parliament, it will take at least five years to create and operate the platform. And given the experience of implementing other systems — most likely even more.
A new study has found that Amazon, Infosys, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are the biggest benefactors of the H-1B visa in the US, for which 85,000 new applications are allowed each year for companies.
An H-1B visa allows American employers to employ highly skilled foreign workers. According to a new analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), titled ‘H1B Petitions And Denial Rates In FY 2022’, Amazon had the most number of a…
A distant second is Infosys, which had 3,151 H-1B petitions approved in FY22, around 2,000 fewer than its figures in FY21.
These three leading companies were followed by Cognizant (2,521), Google (1,562), Meta/Facebook (1,546), HCL America (1,260), and IBM (1,239). However, the 85,000 annual applications allowed each year represent only 0.05 per cent of the 165 millio…
Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/amazon-infosys-have-highest-h-1b-visa-approvals-in-draws-1187792.html
Nassau County Executive Honorable Bruce Blakeman, Nassau County Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello, Chairman of Human Rights Commission Dr Bobby Kalotee joined with Indian American Forum Chairperson Indu Jaiswal and Indian American Community from long Island, organized the 74th Republic Day Celebrations on January 26, 2023. Celebrations started with American National Anthem sung by Nipun Marwaha, Followed with Flag hoisting by Nassau County Controller Elaine Phillips, Town of Oyster bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino Deputy County Executive Anissa Moore, NY State Senator Steven D Rhoads, New York State Assemblyman John K Mikulin , North Hempstead Town Clerk Ragini Srivastava, Hewlett House Executive Director Geri Barish, Judge Elizabeth Fox-McDonough, Judge Sarita Kapoor, Indu Jaiswal Chairperson IAF, Mrs. Beena Kothari, Mrs. Jyoti Gupta and Mr Deepak Bansal ,
Special Salutes to the flag given by Members of Indian Veteran of Tristate (NY) Wing Commander Suresh Butani, Wing Commander Paul Katari, Wing Commander Jagdish Handa and Colonel Naresh Gogna. Indian National Anthem Led by Jyoti Gupta and Mr Raj Dhingra.
Evening started with Welcome Remarks by Mrs. Beena Kothari and Jyoti Gupta. Patriotic dances presented by Students of Shilpa Mithaiwala and Shilpa Jhurani.
Nassau County Judge Elizabeth Fox-McDonough, Judge Sarita Kapoor, Nassau County Controller Elaine Philips, Nassau County Deputy Executive Anissa Moore, NY State Assembly man John Mikulin, New York State Senator Steve Rhoads, Town of North Hempstead Clerk Ragini Srivastava, IDP USA President Vimal Goyal, Mr Deepak Bansal, Colonel Naresh Gogna, Mrs. Sujata Seth , Public Affairs Associate for Parker Jewish institute of Healthcare and Rehabilitation, Dr Shaifali Karkare specializes in Pediatric Neurology in New Hyde Park, Dr Jagmohan Kalra, Specializes in Hematology and Medical Oncology, Dr Sohita Mehra is currently the Director of Breast imaging and started the Breast MRI institute, Mrs. Anju Sharma active member known for her outstanding Community Services., Dr Swati Kumar and Shilpi Kumar MBA were presented with India Republic Day Awards by Indian American Forum and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino., on India’s 74th Republic Day celebration in the Nassau County legislature building on January 26 evening.
Indu Jaiswal Chairperson of Indian American Forum welcomed and greeted all the guests. Dr Bobby Kalotee , Chairperson of Human Rights Commission in Nassau County, Deputy County Executive and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino highlighted the significance of India’s Republic Day. Patriotic Medley presented by Jyoti Gupta, Anuradha Khanna and group created patriotic atmosphere. Several community leaders and members of various organizations graced the event.
Ravi
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President Joe Biden’s second ever State of the Union Address to the US Congress on Tuesday, February 7th was filled with optimism for the future– even in the face of open hostility.
The spectacle of Biden smiling and offering a pointed riposte through multiple rounds of heckling from some House Republicans was, in many ways, an apt illustration of his presidency and a useful preview of his likely 2024 candidacy.
A majority of Americans say he hasn’t accomplished much, many Democrats aren’t thrilled at the prospect of him running for reelection and he faces clear disdain from most Republicans.
But Biden powered through. Delivering what was widely viewed as a test run for his reelection announcement, Biden claimed credit for progress made during his first two years in office while stressing the job isn’t finished.
He faced sometimes-unruly Republicans, with whom he spiritedly sparred from the podium on spending cuts. The feisty display drew cheers inside the White House and offered the best preview to date of the energy Biden hopes to bring to the campaign trail soon.
The speech carried a strain of populism rooted in strengthening the middle class – vintage Biden, but delivered at a pivotal moment for his political future.
No president enters his State of the Union wanting to recite a laundry list of accomplishments and proposals, but – almost inevitably – the speech often veers in that direction. Biden’s was no different, even as the president sought to tie everything together with a refrain of “finish the job” – a phrase that appeared 12 times in his prepared text.
Rather than tout any one accomplishment, however, Biden hoped to address the national mood, one that remains downbeat even as the economy improves and the country attempts to return to normal amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Biden spars with sometimes-unruly Republicans
In a room full of elected officials, identifying an adult shouldn’t be difficult. But heading into Tuesday’s speech, both Republican leaders and Biden’s team telegraphed a desire to act as the night’s “adult in the room” – the mature voice seeking common ground and lowering the temperature.
For the first 45 minutes of Biden’s address, that appeared to be the play for both sides. But when Biden began castigating Republicans for plans that would slash Social Security and Medicare, the decorum dropped.
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For Biden, House Republicans act as a useful foil as he prepares to announce his intentions for 2024. His jousting on Tuesday was the best glimpse of how he’ll approach his candidacy, at least until a Republican opponent emerges from the GOP primary process.
White House officials were thrilled by the off script back and forth. “Couldn’t have written a better moment,” one official said. More than the substantive back and forth, one official noted how it appeared to animate Biden in real time.
“He gets energy from his audience,” the official said. It’s not a new view on how Biden operates – his advisers constantly talk about how he finds his energy from engaging with people.
Biden and his team believe a serious focus on governing contrasts favorably with House Republicans, who they accuse of threatening to send the nation into default and piling up distractions as they investigate the president and his family.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy entered the speech vowing to treat Biden respectfully – and urging his Republican colleagues to do the same. It was a tall order, given the loose grasp he has on his conference and the propensity from certain Republicans for stunts.
As lawmakers like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene interrupted Biden, McCarthy was silent – but his glare into the crowd spoke for itself. Later he found himself shushing his conference multiple times at outbursts interrupted the president.
For the third year in a row, Biden set the record for the oldest president to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress. It’s an underlying fact of his presidency: No one older has ever served.
As Biden prepares to ask voters to keep him in office until he is 86, it was critical he look and sound like someone who is able to keep doing the job.
His delivery was energetic, even if he stumbled over a few of his prepared lines. When Republicans interrupted him, he responded quickly, deftly turning their heckles back around into challenges.
Over the weekend at Camp David, aides set up a podium, microphone, lights and teleprompter in a conference room inside the Laurel Lodge for Biden to practice his speech with his team. The potential for hecklers was something White House officials had in mind as they prepared for the speech.
At the White House, a similar set up has been used in the Map Room to practice the address. Aides were focused on the message – but also the language, ensuring the speech lent itself to a vigorous presentation. After all, for many in Biden’s television audience, Tuesday’s speech was one of the only times they actually heard and saw the president this year.
Vintage Biden
Perhaps more than his previous two addresses to Congress, Tuesday’s speech was salted with riffs and lines that appear nearly every time he speaks: inherited wisdoms from his father, anecdotes about inequality and his views of the middle class.
“So many of you feel like you’ve just been forgotten,” he said, directly appealing to a demographic that used to vote reliably for Democrats but has more recently turned to the GOP.
“Amid the economic upheaval of the past four decades, too many people have been left behind or treated like they’re invisible. Maybe that’s you, watching at home,” he said. “You wonder whether a path even exists anymore for you and your children to get ahead without moving away.”
“I get that,” he said. Appearing for the first time in front of a divided Congress, Biden also leaned into his record working across the aisle – even as he faced heckling from Republicans.
In many ways, both Biden and McCarthy hoped a more mature showing would set the tone for the next two years of divided government, even if they remain sharply divided on policy.
Biden hoped in his speech to bridge that gap, to demonstrate he cares about what Americans care about and to identify the problems he’s looking to fix.
His focus on highly specific issues – like eliminating “junk fees” for consumers or reining in tech companies – are areas the White House believes will resonate with Americans who aren’t necessarily attuned to the ins-and-outs of Washington.
At moments, his speech seemed tailor-made for a nation of annoyed consumers, down to annoyances about baggage fees on airlines and fine print on hotel bills.
“Americans are tired of being played for suckers,” he said, listing off the litany of common grievances.
But Biden and his team are acutely aware that simply telling people their lives are improving won’t cut it – they have to actually feel it. Many of the accomplishments Biden helped passed over the past two years are still in the implementation phase, making their effects elusive for now.
Biden seemed to acknowledge that when he urged lawmakers to extend a price cap on insulin – a benefit that is still coming into effect. (Courtesy: CNN)
More than 11,000 people have been killed and thousands injured by a huge earthquake which struck south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, in the early hours of Monday morning.
The earthquake, which hit near the town of Gaziantep, was closely followed by numerous aftershocks – including one quake which was almost as large as the first.
The death toll is expected to keep rising.
Why was it so deadly?
A number of factors have contributed to making this earthquake so lethal. One of them is the time of day it occurred. With the quake hitting early in the morning, many people were in their beds when it happened, and are now trapped under the rubble of their homes.
Additionally, with a cold and wet weather system moving through the region, poor conditions have made reaching affected areas trickier, and rescue and recovery efforts on both sides of the border significantly more challenging once teams have arrived.
One of the most powerful earthquakes to hit the region in a century rocked residents from their slumber in the early hours of Monday morning around 4 a.m. The quake struck 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, in Turkey’s Gaziantep province, at a depth of 24.1 kilometers (14.9 miles), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The first earthquake was big – it registered as 7.8, classified as “major” on the official magnitude scale. It broke along about 100km (62 miles) of fault line, causing serious damage to buildings near the fault.
A series of aftershocks reverberated through the region in the immediate hours after the initial incident. A magnitude 6.7 aftershock followed 11 minutes after the first quake hit, but the largest temblor, which measured 7.5 in magnitude, struck about nine hours later at 1:24 p.m., according to the USGS.
Prof Joanna Faure Walker, head of the Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction at University College London, said: “Of the deadliest earthquakes in any given year, only two in the last 10 years have been of equivalent magnitude, and four in the previous 10 years.”
But it is not only the power of the tremor that causes devastation.
This incident occurred in the early hours of the morning, when people were inside and sleeping.
The sturdiness of the buildings is also a factor.
Dr Carmen Solana, reader in volcanology and risk communication at the University of Portsmouth, says: “The resistant infrastructure is unfortunately patchy in South Turkey and especially Syria, so saving lives now mostly relies on response. The next 24 hours are crucial to find survivors. After 48 hours the number of survivors decreases enormously.”
This was a region where there had not been a major earthquake for more than 200 years or any warning signs, so the level of preparedness would be less than for a region which was more used to dealing with tremors.
How long can people survive under rubble?
Despite the mounting challenges, a structural engineer and humanitarian coordinator urged rescuers not to abandon hope as survivors could be found up to “weeks” after the massive earthquake hit the region. Kit Miyamoto, president of non-profit Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief, also praised the community in Turkey who came together and “did their part” after the quake struck.
“The community, the citizens, they’re the ones that are actually the first line of defense,” he told CNN Wednesday. “They dug up family, friends, neighbors.”
What caused the earthquake?
The Earth’s crust is made up of separate bits, called plates, that nestle alongside each other.
These plates often try to move but are prevented by the friction of rubbing up against an adjoining one. But sometimes the pressure builds until one plate suddenly jerks across, causing the surface to move.
In this case it was the Arabian plate moving northwards and grinding against the Anatolian plate.
Friction from the plates has been responsible for very damaging earthquakes in the past.
On 13 August 1822 it caused an earthquake registering 7.4 in magnitude, significantly less than the 7.8 magnitude recorded on Monday.
Even so, the 19th Century earthquake resulted in immense damage to towns in the area, with 7,000 deaths recorded in the city of Aleppo alone. Damaging aftershocks continued for nearly a year.
There have already been several aftershocks following the current earthquake and scientists are expecting it to follow the same trend as the previous big one in the region.
How are earthquakes measured?
They are measured on a scale called the Moment Magnitude Scale (Mw). This has replaced the better known Richter scale, now considered outdated and less accurate.
The number attributed to an earthquake represents a combination of the distance the fault line has moved and the force that moved it .
A tremor of 2.5 or less usually cannot be felt, but can be detected by instruments. Quakes of up to five are felt and cause minor damage. The Turkish earthquake at 7.8 is classified as major and usually causes serious damage, as it has in this instance.
Anything above 8 causes catastrophic damage and can totally destroy communities at its centre.
How does this compare with other large earthquakes?
On 26 December 2004, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded struck off the coast of Indonesia, triggering a tsunami that swept away entire communities around the Indian Ocean.
The 9.1 magnitude quake killed about 228,000 people.
Another earthquake – off the coast of Japan in 2011 – registered as magnitude 9 and caused widespread damage on the land, and caused a tsunami. It led to a major accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant along the coast.
The largest ever earthquake registered 9.5, and was recorded in Chile in 1960.
In December 2022, when the agitation of the fish workers at Vizhinjam in Kerala was at its peak, I wrote an open letter to Gautam Adani, head of the Adani Group, to include the cost of rehabilitation of those who lost their houses and were living in a miserable condition, in the project cost and win their confidence.
Let me quote from the letter published in this magazine, “If the rehabilitation of the fish workers would cost, say, Rs 50 crore or Rs 100 crore, please include it in the project cost. Nobody would object. If each displaced farmer gets a plot of land where he can build a permanent house, not far from the sea, he would be more than happy to withdraw the agitation”.
Around the same time, I heard a spokesman of the Adani Group claim that whatever they could do was done to mitigate the hardship of the people affected and nothing more could be done. He specifically mentioned the number of laptops distributed under the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program.
When I heard him, I remembered the video of a mother standing before an open toilet to let her daughter have some privacy as she eased herself. Could the laptop have given her privacy? I concluded my letter requesting him to be generous to the poor fish workers of Vizhinjam.
Before that, I also warned him of what could happen. Let me quote the letter again: “The great Malayalam poet Poonthanam’s Jnanappana (The fountain of wisdom) written in the 16th century has these thought-provoking lines: “If God wishes, the people we see now or are with us now, may disappear or be dead in the next moment. Or, if He wishes, in a few days, a healthy man may be paraded to his funeral pyre.
“If God wishes, the king living in a palace today may lose everything and end up carrying a dirty bag on his shoulders and walk around homeless”. He reminds us about the fleeting nature of wealth.
Adani did not send a reply, let alone loosen his purse strings to settle the problem. Instead, with the help of the police, he allowed the agitation to be suppressed.
Not even two months have passed since I wrote that letter. At that time, Gautam Adani was the richest man in India, nay Asia. He was the third richest person in the world. He used to create wealth at the rate of Rs 1,612 crore per day to outpace Jeff Bezoz of Amazon.
During the last few days, Adani has lost billions of rupees. At the rate at which the value of the shares of Adani Enterprises and other Adani companies has been plummeting, one really wonders whether it is the beginning of the end of the Adani business saga. After all, it was a small boy David who felled the giant Goliath.
What pricked the bubble of Adani is a report published by Hindenburg Research, a small company in the US. When the report was released, the mainstream media in India did not think it merited detailed coverage. Adani, who believed that money could cover up his “sins”, produced multiple-page advertisements in major Indian newspapers to suggest that everything was hunky-dory with his companies.
Any sensible and sensitive person would have called off the Rs 20,000-crore Follow on Public Offer (FPO), given the doubts created in the public mind by the Hindenburg Research (HR). The strategy now in vogue in the political and business fields is to counter truth with greater and greater falsehood.
The voluminous rejoinder the Adani Group produced to counter the HR report was like the 5,000-page chargesheet filed against Siddiqui Kappan, which reminded me of Shakespeare’s famous line, “sound and fury signify nothing”. Adani was confident that with the support of the business empire he has created and with the help of those in power, he would be able to brazen out. That is why he persisted with the FPO.
The public relations team was at its best when it claimed that the FPO was oversubscribed. Yes, institutional investors did not disappoint him. But retail investors for whom half the FPO shares were earmarked did not show any interest. Only 11 percent of the earmarked shares were lifted by them. Nearly 50 percent of the shares earmarked for the employees also remained unsold. They knew the company better!
In other words, it was a flop show. And that is why the company was forced to declare that it would return the money of all those who invested in the FPO. It is a major setback to the whole Adani Group.
What the Hindenburg Research said was that Adani built his empire using all devious means. Let me explain it in simple terms. Suppose I buy an acre of land for Rs 1 lakh. After that, I spread the news that there are gold deposits in the land. Nobody can check the land as tight security is arranged. Then I decide to sell 60 cents of the land at Rs 1 lakh each. I get Rs 60 lakh which is 60 times my investment, while 40 cents of land still remain with me. I use Rs 60 lakh to rope in more investors and my asset doubles, triples and quadruples.
Adani became famous in 2014 when he made available his fully-fuelled helicopter at the service of Narendra Modi. Every day, the chopper would take off from Ahmedabad carrying Modi and his tiffin to one of the states where he would campaign that day. He would return home the same day.
It was in Adani’s aircraft that Modi came to Delhi to be sworn in as the Prime Minister of India. Adani accompanied Modi whenever he went on a foreign trip. Everybody who mattered in the country knew his close connections with the Prime Minister, which came to his help as he expanded his business network both within and without the country. Soon, he got mega projects like seaports and airports.
When the world’s largest consignment of drugs passed through his port in Gujarat, nobody blamed the owners of the port. It was also revealed that a similar consignment had already been cleared. Nobody knows who funded the import of such a large quantity of drugs. The point is that they remain at large.
Was Adani a great entrepreneur? Take the case of Steve Jobs, who founded Apple Incorporated. He developed a prototype of a computer and set up a company to manufacture it. Later, he added new products like iPhone, iPad, iPod to make his company the world’s most valuable. Similarly, Jeff Bezos found a new way of selling books. He also introduced a device called Kindle.
Soon, Bezos became an industrialist and acquired the skills to operate at a global level. Ford was America’s greatest-ever industrialist. He developed a car and began selling it to become the world’s greatest industrialist. In the case of Adani, nothing of the sort happened.
He did not even complete his college education and went to Mumbai. There, he became a trader, who would buy something for Rs 100 and sell it for Rs 400 to earn Rs 300. He realised that he was successful when he made his first Rs 1 lakh. Thereafter, there was nothing to stop him. He was essentially a trader, who stepped into the manufacturing sector. By then, he had learnt how to manipulate the share market.
Why single out Adani? I have read BM Birla’s biography where it is mentioned that when he turned 18, he was given a gift of Rs 1000 by his father GD Birla. He did not spend the money on clothes or other items. Instead, he used it for speculation and made another Rs 1000. In fact, almost all the Indian industrialists are not entrepreneurs but traders who cannot succeed except by bluffing the government.
What Hindenburg Research accused Adani of doing is what an American company Enron did. The American investigative and legal system acted swiftly without caring for the company and the persons involved. Before its bankruptcy in late 2001, it employed around 21,000 people and was one of the world’s leading electricity, natural gas, pulp and paper and communication companies with a claimed revenue of $111 billion in 2000. Fortune named Enron “America’s most innovative company” for six consecutive years.
It achieved infamy at the end of 2001 when it was revealed that its reported financial condition was sustained mostly by institutionalized, systematic and creatively planned accounting fraud. Enron has since become a popular symbol of willful corporate fraud and corruption. Kenneth Lay, its former chairman, died of a heart attack while he was on trial and Jeffrey Skilling, its chief operating officer, was given 24 years of imprisonment. It also led to the collapse of World.com, a bigger firm than Enron.
The American government followed the principle, emanating from the Malayalam saying, that those who eat salt should drink water. In other words, the more severe the crime, the more severe the punishment.
Recently, India lost a great lawyer in the death of Shanti Bhushan, who was also a Union Minister. He wrote the Foreword for the book titled ‘Reliance, The Real Natwar’ by Arun K. Agrawal (Manas). Let me quote a few lines from the author’s Preface:
“The plain truth of the matter is that Reliance has become the largest company in India and its owner the richest man in the country the old-fashioned way: Financial engineering involving the conversion of debt into equity, the propping up of its own shares to public institutions, issuing shares of new companies at premium to the public and then merging the companies, allotting shares to the promoters to increase their stake, avoiding taxes, managing a company-friendly tax regime and, of course, the oil bonanza handed over to it by the government.
“Inevitably, in just 30 years, its turnover has grown from approximately Rs.100 crore to over Rs 1 lakh crore”. This book was published in 2008 but what it says about Reliance reads like a summary of the Hindenburg Research report about the Adani Group.
One cartoon that became viral on social media showed Adani approaching the State Bank of India for a loan to purchase the bank. When the Vizhinjam port in Kerala was successfully bid by Adani, many would have thought that he would pump in his own money. The fact of the matter is that no Indian businessman sinks his own money in any project. It is all public money that is sunk. But once the profits start flowing, the owners do not part with it.
Today, Reliance makes most of its money from petroleum. It is believed that all the wealth under the earth belongs to the people of India. Then, how did Reliance get the oil wells? It was the late Captain Satish Sharma who, as the Petroleum Minister, handed over the oil fields to receive pecuniary benefits, as found out by the CBI.
Most corporates in India believe in the theory, as propounded by Lord Byron in a poem, that everybody has a price. The poet concludes his poem in these words, “The most by ready cash — but all have prices, from crowns to kicks, according to their vices”.
Small wonder that a wisecrack said that if Gautam Adani knew that Hindenburg Research could hit him so hard, he would have offered a price and bought it like NDTV he bought, certainly not for the profit it made but to end a nuisance. Even now it is not too late for him to remember the seven deadly sins identified by Mahatma Gandhi — wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, science without humanity, religion without sacrifice and politics without principles. (Courtesy: Indian Currents) ajphilip@gmail.com
The United States Congress Committee assignments are being announced as the new 117th Congress begins sittings, and among the first few so far are important assignments for the Indian-American lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois has bee appointed to serve as the Ranking Member on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This is a new committee formed in the 118th Congress for the specific purpose of investigating and developing policy to address the United States’ economic, technological, and security competition with the Chinese Communist Party.
Krishnamoorthi thanked Minority Leader of the House Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, for selecting him as the senior most member on the Democratic side (Ranking) for the new Committee.
“The Chinese Communist Party poses serious economic and security threats to the United States and to democracy and prosperity across the globe, illustrated by its threats against Taiwan’s democracy, its weaponization of TikTok, and its theft of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of American intellectual property,” Krishnamoorthi is quoted saying in the press release. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in both parties on this committee to counteract the CCP’s escalating aggression and ensure that our nation is prepared to overcome the economic and security challenges that the CCP presents to our country,” he added.
He however drew attention to the anti-Asian hate and violence on the rise, and cautioned policymakers that it needed to protect all Americans, “while avoiding dangerous rhetoric that fuels the types of xenophobia that have endangered members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.”
He appreciated the Republican Chairman of the new Committee, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, for “repeatedly” demonstrating “his singular focus on the committee’s critical undertaking of readying the United States for all the challenges posed by the Chinese Communist Party,” and was looking forward to working with him.
Krishnamoorthi is also a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, is the lead Democrat on the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act), which protects Americans by blocking and prohibiting all transactions from any social media company in, or under the influence of, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and several other foreign adversaries.
Another Indian-American Congressman, Ro Khanna, D-California, is appointed to the new House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. Khanna recently authored a piece in Foreign Affairs journal outlining the role that China has played in the deindustrialization of America and his vision to reduce the trade imbalance and lower tensions between the two countries through increasing American production.
In a statement, Khanna said he was honored to be appointed and “look forward to working with Chairman Gallagher, Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi and all of the members on the committee to look seriously at the economic relationship between the United States and China. I plan to use my seat on the committee to bring attention to our trade deficit with China while also working to address the security risk China poses to Taiwan,” Khanna added.
“I take my role as the representative for the only majority Asian American community in the continental United States very seriously. We can be tough on the Chinese Communist Party while unequivocally condemning anti-Asian racism and the increase in hate crimes targeting the Asian American community,” Khanna went on to say. “It is my hope that the work done by this committee will help chart a productive path forward and prevent inflammatory rhetoric, violence, and discrimination,” he said.
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington State, the first and only Indian-American woman elected to the lower house, has been reassigned to the powerful House Budget Committee. Jayapal, a champion of immigration, led Democrats in introducing the “Roadman to Freedom” resolution, which she has described as “a visionary north star for immigration reform” according to a press release from her office Jan. 27, 2020.
“While establishing a roadmap to citizenship for 11 million people, this progressive vision signals a strong commitment to transforming the immigration system so it is humane, fair, equitable, and focused on respect, dignity, and family unity,” the press release says.
“As a lifelong immigrant rights organizer who created the largest immigrant rights organization in Washington state before becoming one of only 14 naturalized citizens serving in Congress today, I know that we must do far more than simply reverse the harmful, xenophobic policies of the Trump Administration,” Jayapal is quoted saying in the press release. “Our immigration system has been broken for decades, and with a new president in office, we must finally reform it in a humane way that focuses on respect, dignity, family unity and real opportunity for all immigrants,” she added noting that she will be working with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus to introduce the Roadmap to Freedom.
Congressman Ami Bera, D-California, was named chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation for the 117th Congress. Dr. Bera is the first Indian-American elected since 1957 when Dalip Singh Saund, also of California, was elected to the House of Representatives.
Saying he was honored to be named chair of the subcommittee, Bera noted, “Asia continues to be the most consequential region for American foreign policy, as our economy and national security are intrinsically linked to this region.” Bera was also selected to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Korea and previously chaired the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.
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(IPS) – The G20 India Presidency is marked by unprecedented geopolitical, environmental, and economic crises. Rising inflation threatens to erase decades of economic development and push more people into poverty. Violent extremism is also on the rise as a result of increasing global inequality, and the rule of law is in decline everywhere. All of these challenges impact the G20’s goal of realizing a faster and more equitable post-pandemic economic recovery.
But as India prioritizes its agenda for 2023, it is corruption that is at the heart of all of these other problems- and which poses the greatest threat to worldwide peace and prosperity.
An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Although the G20 has repeatedly committed to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) anti-money laundering standards, member countries have been slow to implement policy reforms
Despite unprecedented challenges, 2022 also opened windows of opportunity to move the needle around critical anti-corruption issues, such as anti-money laundering, asset recovery, beneficial ownership, and renewable energy. When global leaders meet during the G20 Indian Presidency , they must prioritize and build on this progress, rather than make new commitments around these issues that they then fail to implement.
According to the UN, an estimated 2-5% of global GDP, or up to $2 trillion, is laundered annually. Although the G20 has repeatedly committed to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) anti-money laundering standards, member countries have been slow to implement policy reforms. In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ineffective economic sanctions against Russian oligarchs, governments have started reexamining existing policy and institutional gaps, especially recognizing the role of Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs), also known as “gatekeepers.”
G20 member countries are responding to concerns and criticisms from their national counterparts regarding failures to adopt FATF recommendations and clamp down on “dirty money.” Grappling with the need to be able to prosecute money-laundering cases and recover billions of dollars worth of frozen assets, they are also amending national laws to be able to do so.
Lack of beneficial ownership transparency is also aiding the flow of laundered money globally. The G20 recognizes beneficial ownership data as an effective instrument to fight financial crime and “protect the integrity and transparency of the global financial system.”
The Russian invasion helped drive home this message, especially among countries that are popular destinations for those buying luxury goods and assets. FATF’s amendment of its beneficial ownership recommendations in early 2022 was timely. Member countries are also introducing new reporting rules, and fast-tracking policies and processes to set up beneficial ownership registers. While there are still gaps in the proposed policies – as identified here– these are important first steps.
Similarly, the transition to renewable energy, initially raised as an environmental issue and then as a national security concern is increasingly gaining attention from a resource governance perspective. Given the scale of the potential investment, there is a need to tackle corruption in the energy sector to avoid potential pitfalls resulting from a lack of open and accountable systems as we transition to a net zero economy.
The cross-cutting nature of the industry means a wide range of issues– from procurement and conflict of interest in the public sector to beneficial ownership transparency- need to be considered. The global energy crisis and the Indonesian Presidency’s prioritization of the issue have helped build momentum around corruption in the renewable energy transition, and this focus must continue.
Calling on India
Corruption-related issues identified here are transnational in nature and have global implications, including for India. For instance, with money laundering cases rising in India, it cannot afford to regard it as a problem limited to safe havens like the UK or the US. The same is true for the lack of beneficial ownership transparency or corruption in the renewable energy transition, which fuels illicit financial networks in India and beyond, and which often transcend national borders.
Finally, corruption has a disproportionate impact on the global poor. Almost 10% of the global population lives in extreme poverty, many of whom live in countries such as India. The G20, under the Indian Presidency, provides a unique opportunity to ensure the voices of the most vulnerable are heard at the global level. By prioritizing the anti-corruption agenda and building on past priority issues and commitments, the Indian government can lead efforts to bridge the North-South divide.
Two world-renowned Mathematicians of Indian origin from the US and Canada are among the 106 recipients of the prestigious Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian honors of the country, according to the Government of India, announced on the eve of India’s 74th Republic Day.
Indian-American S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan has been chosen to be honored with the Padma Vibhushan and Indo-Canadian Sujatha Ramdorai will be conferred with the Padmi Shri for their stellar contributions in the field of science and engineering.
Born in Chennai on January 2, 1940, Srinivasa Varadhan is known for his fundamental contributions to probability theory. The Mathematics professor was awarded the 2007 Abel Prize by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters “for his fundamental contributions to probability theory and in particular for creating a unified theory of large deviations”.
Armed with a master’s degree (1960) from the University of Madras, Varadhan earned his doctorate (1963) from the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta. In 1963, Varadhan came from India as a postdoctoral fellow to the Courant Institute in New York and never left. He is currently Professor of Mathematics and Frank J Gould Professor of Science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.
He was awarded the Birkhoff Prize (1994), the Margaret and Herman Sokol Award of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, New York University (1995), and the Leroy Steele Prize (1996). In 2008, the Indian government awarded him the Padma Bhushan.
Associated with the University of British Columbia, Canada, Sujatha Ramdorai is an algebraic number theorist known for her work on the Iwasawa theory. She is the first Indian to win the prestigious International Centre for Theoretical Physics Ramanujan Prize in 2006 and also a winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 2004.
She is also the recipient of the 2020 Krieger-Nelson Prize for her exceptional contributions to mathematics research. Having served at the National Knowledge Commission from 2007-2009, Ramdorai is currently a Member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India and a Member of the National Innovation Council.
She completed her B.Sc. in 1982 from St Joseph’s College, Bengaluru, and then got her MSc from Annamalai University in 1985. Ramdorai did her Ph.D in the area of Quadratic forms over function fields and Witt rings of varieties from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
The Padma Awards are conferred by the President of India usually around March/April every year. This year, a total of 106 Padma awards will be conferred to personalities across varied disciplines.
The Awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service).
If we were to rank all of these websites according to their traffic numbers, we would see a classic power law distribution. At the low end, the vast majority of these websites would be inactive, receiving little to no traffic. On the upper end of the ranking though, a handful of websites receive the lion’s share of internet traffic.
Estimates vary, but there are upwards of two billion websites in existence in 2023. This visualization, using data from SimilarWeb, takes a look at the 50 websites that currently sit at the top of the ranking.
Which Websites Get the Most Traffic?
Topping the list of most-visited websites in the world is, of course, Google. With over 3.5 billion searches per day, Google has cemented its position as the go-to source for information on the internet. But Google’s dominance doesn’t stop there. The company also owns YouTube, the second-most popular website in the world. Together, Google and YouTube have more traffic than the next 48 websites combined.
The power of YouTube, in particular, is sometimes not fully understood. The video platform is the second largest search engine in the world after Google. As well, YouTube has the second highest duration-of-visit numbers in this top 50 ranking. (First place goes to the Chinese video sharing website, Bilibili.)
But Google and YouTube aren’t the only big players on the internet. Other websites in the top 50 ranking include social media giants Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. In particular, TikTok has seen a surge in popularity in recent years and is now one of the most popular social media platforms in the world.
Here’s the full top 50 ranking table form:
| Rank | Website | Monthly Traffic | Category | Country |
| #1 | google.com | 85.1B | Search Engines | U.S. |
| #2 | youtube.com | 33.0B | Streaming & Online TV | U.S. |
| #3 | facebook.com | 17.8B | Social Media Networks | U.S. |
| #4 | twitter.com | 6.8B | Social Media Networks | U.S. |
| #5 | instagram.com | 6.1B | Social Media Networks | U.S. |
| #6 | baidu.com | 5.0B | Search Engines | China |
| #7 | wikipedia.org | 4.8B | Dictionaries & Encyclopedias | U.S. |
| #8 | yandex.ru | 3.4B | Search Engines | Russia |
| #9 | yahoo.com | 3.3B | News & Media Publishers | U.S. |
| #10 | whatsapp.com | 2.9B | Social Media Networks | U.S. |
Showing 1 to 10 of 50 entries
Notable companies that have fallen out of the top 50 since our last version of this visualization are Walmart and PayPal. Notable entrants into the top 50 are Samsung and the New York Times.
The Geography of the 50 Most-Visited Websites
The United States is still home base for many of the world’s biggest websites, taking up 30 spots on this ranking. Of these 30 websites, half are operated by Big Tech companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Netflix.
Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea round out the top five.
Things get interesting in the “other” category, which includes six websites. Two spots are taken up by Aaj Tak and Globo, which are large media publications in India and Brazil, respectively.
The remaining four websites—XVideos, PornHub, XHamster, and XNXX—specialize in adult content, and are located in a variety of countries. These are often referred to as “tube sites” since they are built on the YouTube model.
Realsrv, the only adult-oriented site in the top 50 located in the U.S., is interesting to delve into as well, since it’s far from a household name. The website essentially supports advertising efforts by redirecting users away from the content they were viewing over to another page (generally premium adult content). This is one of the key ways that adult websites earn revenue.
Dr. Avinash Gupta, an Indian American cardiologist, has been appointed a member of the Ocean County Board of Health. The appointment took place at the regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Ocean County in New Jersey on Jan. 18, 2023, as per the news release.
“Gupta is looking forward to promoting public health in Ocean County,” the release stated. Specialized in Cardiology, Nuclear Cardiology, and Clinical Lipidology, he has practiced the domain for almost three decades in Lakewood, New Jersey.
Dr. Gupta is very active in community service and has served as President of the Monmouth Ocean County Association of Physicians from India (MOCAAPI) and Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America (BJANA).
He also holds the prestigious title of Chief of Cardiology at Monmouth Medical Center and President of the Medical Staff at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus.
He is chairman of Shree Siddhivinayak Temple of USA, Indian Cultural & Community Center in Toms River, and was recently elected as Executive Vice President of FIA.
Dr. Gupta was recently honored for his exemplary work in public health and social service, especially for COVID-19-related relief and humanitarian work in India and the US. “Being involved with community groups and helping others has always been my passion. Community service is very rewarding and fulfilling. It has enriched me as a person,” said Gupta who received the humanitarian award from the Monmouth Medical Center-Southern Campus Gupta at a function in New Jersey on Diwali eve.
He has been married to his wife, Dr. Geeta Gupta for over 35 years. They have one son, Abhinav who is currently in his surgical residency. Dr. Gupta has made numerous contributions to healthcare, including initiatives both in the local area and in India to promote vaccinations against COVID-19. He was recognized as an honoree at MMCSC Humanitarian Gala in October last year.
Renowned Indian American media personality, Parveen Chopra’s new wellness and spirituality magazine was launched in a ceremony hosted by the Indian Consulate in New York on January 21, 2023.
The new venture, Lotus in the Mud, offers insights and inspiration for people to be healthy, happy and peaceful, a news release noted. The online site, alotusinthemud.com offers insights and inspiration for people to be healthy, happy and peaceful, according to a press release from Chopra, who explained that the name, ‘Lotus in the mud’ is a key concept in Hinduism and Buddhism, signifying that one may get caught up in problems, but that people have an inherent capability to emerge in full bloom.
At the launch event, India’s Consul General Randhir Jaiswal called the initiative “another slice of India in America promoting wellness through yoga, right food habits, etc, and which people should benefit from.”
Consul General Randhir Jaiswal unveiled the website during the ceremony, describing it as “another slice of India in America promoting wellness through yoga, right food habits, etc, and which people should benefit from.”
Chopra said Lotus In The Mud carried the collective wisdom of many like-minded writers, experts and advisers. “We tap the world’s religious and spiritual traditions for wisdom as well as modern medical and scientific research to present content for people to be fully productive and successful and yet be healthy, happy and centered,” he explained.
Subjects covered on the site range from ‘The big questions of life as answered by Hinduism, ‘The 4 happy hormones and how to boost them’, ‘Practical uses of faith – a Zoroastrian perspective’, and ‘Beware the frozen food convenience’ etc. It also offers short meditations, personality quizzes and space for visitors to share their experiences of healing and personal/spiritual growth.
Guest speakers at the event included Nitin Ajmera, chairman of the Parliament of the World’s Religions; Arvind Vora, founder of Shanti Fund that promotes Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals among school children in Long Island, NY; Reverend Tom Goodhue, emeritus Executive Director of Long Island Council of Churches; and Dr Bhaswati Bhattacharya, author of the bestselling book Everyday Ayurveda.
Chopra’s biography describes him as a trained teacher of meditation, founder of Life Positive, India’s first body-mind-spirit magazine from New Delhi in 1996. In the United States, he has edited The South Asian Times for more than a decade and One World Under God interfaith journal. The web magazine is published by American Center for Wellness & Spirituality Inc, a non-profit established by Chopra.
The Lotus launch at the Consulate followed felicitation of The South Asian Times (TSAT) Person of the Year 2022, Anil Bansal, former president of the Federation of Indian Associations NYNJCT.
India and Pakistan came “too close” to a nuclear conflagration during the 2019 confrontation with both sides believing the other was preparing to deploy nuclear weapons, according to former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
He recounted in his book, “Never Give an Inch”, his frantic night-time diplomatic efforts to get the neighbours to stand down after getting a call from his “Indian counterpart” warning him that he believed Pakistan was readying nuclear weapons for a strike and India was considering its own escalation.
The External Affairs Minister, during the crisis set off by the terrorist attack that killed 46 Central Reserve Police Force personnel and the Indian strike on a terrorist base inside Pakistan in Balakot in February 2019, was the late Sushma Swaraj.
“I do not think the world properly knows just how close the India-Pakistan rivalry came to spilling over in a nuclear conflagration,” Pompeo wrote.
But, he added: “the truth is, I don’t know precisely the answer either. I just know it was too close”.
He was woken up at night while he was on a visit to Hanoi with a call from his “Indian counterpart” who told him that “he believed the Pakistanis had begun to prepare their nuclear weapons for a strike”.
“India, he informed me, was contemplating its own escalation. I asked him to do nothing and give us a minute to sort things out,” Pompeo wrote.
Working with John Bolton, who was then the US National Security Adviser, from their Hanoi hotel room he “reached the actual leader of Pakistan. General (Qamer Javed) Bajwa”, he wrote.
“I told him what the Indians had told me. He said it wasn’t true. As one might expect, he believed the Indians were preparing their own nuclear weapons for deployment.
“It took us a few hours, and remarkably good work by our teams on the ground in New Delhi and Islamabad, to convince each side that neither was to convince each side or the other was not preparing for nuclear war,” Pompeo added.
Taking credit for the de-escalation, he wrote: “No other nation could have done that, but we did that night to avoid a horrible outcome.”
He acknowledged the work of Kenneth Juster, who was the then US envoy in New Delhi, calling him “an incredibly capable ambassador” who “loves India and its people”.
Pompeo, who was the director of the Central Intelligence Agency before becoming the Secretary of State, recounted in the book his four years in former President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
The book subtitled, “Fighting for the America I Love”, lays out how he aggressively implemented Trump’s ‘America First’ vision.
Writing about his efforts to deepen ties with New Delhi, Pompeo wrote that he “made India the fulcrum of my diplomacy to contract Chinese aggression”.
“I chose to devote serious quantities of time and effort to make India the next great American ally,” he added. (IANS)
India received three nominations for Best Original Song (‘Naatu Naatu’ from ‘RRR’), Best Documentary Feature Film (‘All That Breathes’), and Best Documentary Short Film (‘The Elephant Whisperers’).
The Oscars are going to be held on March 13 this year and while the wait is going to be quite a long one from now, the nominations have sure lifted the spirits of not just the crew and cast of the films mentioned above, but also of everyone who hopes to see an Indian movie bagging the prestigious award.
Actor Jacqueline Fernandez penned down a heartfelt note last week as her film ‘Tell It Like A Woman’s song ‘Applause’ recently bagged an Oscar nomination in the ‘Best Original Song’ category.
The song is competing against ‘RRR’s ‘Naatu Naatu’, ‘Hold My Hand’ from the movie ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ ‘Lift me Up’ from ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,’ and ‘This Is Life,’ from ‘Everything, Everywhere All At Once’. The actor also congratulated the team ‘RRR’ for their Oscar nomination.
“Also big congratulations to Team RRR for Naatu Naatu nomination!!! My best wishes and love to the entire team and all the nominees,” the caption further reads.
Taking to Instagram, the ‘Kick’ actor shared a post which she captioned, “Beyond words right now Congratulations to @dianewarren @sofiacarson for the Oscar nomination for ‘Applause’ and making us all proud! It was an honor to be associated with this beautiful film ‘Tell it like a woman’ alongside such esteemed artists! Thank you @leenaclicks @chiaratilesi @lucasakoskin @andreaiervolinoproducer @wditogether @aseematographer @arrahman.”
The nominations for the upcoming 95th edition of Academy Awards were announced on last week by hosts Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams, with ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ leading the pack with as many as nine nominations.
The Colin Farrell-starrer film got nominated in the following categories — Best Supporting Actor (two nominations), Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Picture, Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay.
‘The Fabelmans’ received seven nominations followed by ‘Tar’ and ‘TopGun: Maverick’ (six each), ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ (five), ‘Avatar’ (four), and ‘The Whale’ (three).
Competing for the best picture are ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, ‘Elvis’, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, ‘The Fabelmans’, ‘Tar’, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘Triangle of Sadness’ and ‘Women Talking’.
The 95th Academy Awards is set to be presented at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 12. Jimmy Kimmel will be seen back as the host, after previously leading the awards show in 2017 and 2018. Last year, the Oscars returned to a host format with Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall, after going host-less the previous two years due to the Covid-19 pamdemic.
Here is the complete list of nominations:
* Best Supporting Actor
Brendan Gleeson (‘The Banshees of Inisherin’)
Brian Tyree Henry (‘Causeway’)
Judd Hirsch (‘”The Fabelmans’)
Barry Keoghan (‘The Banshees of Inisherin’)
Ke Huy Quan (‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’)
* Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett (‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’)
Hong Chau (‘The Whale’)
Kerry Condon (‘The Banshees of Inisherin’)
Jamie Lee Curtis (‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’)
Stephanie Hsu (‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’)
* Best Animated Feature Film
‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’, Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley
‘Marcel the Shell With Shoes On’, Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey
‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’, Joel Crawford and Mark Swift
‘The Sea Beast’, Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger
‘Turning Red’, Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins
* Best Animated Short Film
‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’, Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud
‘The Flying Sailor’, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
‘Ice Merchants’, Joao Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano
‘My Year of Dicks’, Sara Gunnarsdottir and Pamela Ribon
‘An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It’, Lachlan Pendragon
* Best Costume Design
‘Babylon’, Mary Zophres
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, Ruth Carter
‘Elvis’, Catherine Martin
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, Shirley Kurata
‘Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris’, Jenny Beavan
* Best Live Action Short
‘An Irish Goodbye’, Tom Berkeley and Ross White
‘Ivalu’, Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan
‘Le Pupille’, Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuaron
‘Night Ride’, Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen
‘The Red Suitcase’, Cyrus Neshvad
* Best Makeup and Hairstyling
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerova
‘The Batman’, Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, Camille Friend and Joel Harlow
‘Elvis’, Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti
‘The Whale’, Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley
* Best Original Score
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, Volker Bertelmann
‘Babylon’, Justin Hurwitz
‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, Carter Burwell
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, Son Lux
‘The Fabelmans’, John Williams
* Best Sound
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, Viktor Prasil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges
‘The Batman’, Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson
‘Elvis’, David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller
‘Top Gun: Maverick’, Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
* Best Adapted Screenplay
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’, Written by Rian Johnson
‘Living’, Written by Kazuo Ishiguro
‘Top Gun: Maverick’, Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
‘Women Talking’, Screenplay by Sarah Polley
* Best Original Screenplay
‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, Written by Martin McDonagh
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
‘The Fabelmans’, Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner
‘Tar’, Written by Todd Field
‘Triangle of Sadness’, Written by Ruben Ostlund
* Best Cinematography
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, James Friend
‘Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths’, Darius Khondji
‘Elvis’, Mandy Walker
‘Empire of Light’, Roger Deakins
‘Tar’, Florian Hoffmeister
* Best Documentary Feature Film
‘All That Breathes’, Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer
‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’, Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov
‘Fire of Love’, Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman
‘A House Made of Splinters’, Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellstrom
‘Navalny’, Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris
* Best Documentary Short Film
‘The Elephant Whisperers’, Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga
‘Haulout’, Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev
‘How Do You Measure a Year?’ Jay Rosenblatt
‘The Martha Mitchell Effect’, Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison
‘Stranger at the Gate’, Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
* Best Editing
‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
‘Elvis’, Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, Paul Rogers
‘Tar’, Monika Willi
‘Top Gun: Maverick’, Eddie Hamilton
* Best International Feature Film
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (Germany)
‘Argentina, 1985’ (Argentina)
‘Close’ (Belgium)
‘EO’ (Poland)
‘The Quiet Girl’ (Ireland)
* Best Original Song
‘Applause’ from ‘Tell It Like a Woman’, Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
‘Hold My Hand’ from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
‘Lift Me Up’ from ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler
‘Naatu Naatu’ from ‘RRR’, Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
‘This Is a Life’ from ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne
* Best Production Design
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole
‘Babylon’, Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
‘Elvis’, Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn
‘The Fabelmans’, Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
* Best Visual Effects
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, Frank Petzold, Viktor Muller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
‘The Batman’, Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick
‘Top Gun: Maverick’, Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher
* Best Lead Actor
Austin Butler (‘Elvis’)
Colin Farrell (‘The Banshees of Inisherin’)
Brendan Fraser (‘The Whale’)
Paul Mescal (‘Aftersun’)
Bill Nighy (‘Living’)
* Best Lead Actress
Cate Blanchett (‘Tar’)
Ana de Armas (‘Blonde’)
Andrea Riseborough (‘To Leslie’)
Michelle Williams (‘The Fabelmans’)
Michelle Yeoh (‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’)
* Best Director
Martin McDonagh (‘The Banshees of Inisherin’)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’)
Steven Spielberg (‘The Fabelmans’)
Todd Field (‘Tar’)
Ruben Ostlund (‘Triangle of Sadness’)
* Best Picture
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, Malte Grunert, Producer
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers
‘Elvis’, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers
‘The Fabelmans’, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers
‘Tar’, Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers
‘Top Gun: Maverick’, Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
‘Triangle of Sadness’, Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers
‘Women Talking’, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers
The world famous Mughal Gardens at the President’s official home, Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi is being renamed with a common name as part of the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebrations. The old road sign that said “Mughal Gardens” was removed and taken away in a bulldozer last week.
“On the occasion of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence as Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the President of India has given a common name to the Rashtrapati Bhavan Gardens as Amrit Udyan,” Deputy Press Secretary to the President Navika Gupta said.
While the BJP said the renaming shreds yet another symbol of colonialism, the opposition parties advised the government to focus on creating jobs and controlling inflation instead. The Congress did not officially react to the name change, but the Trinamool Congress and CPI rubbished the move, with the Left party terming it an “attempt to rewrite history”.
“Who knows, they might now want to rename the Eden Gardens and call it Modi Gardens! They should focus on creating jobs, controlling inflation and protecting the precious resources of LIC and SBI,” Trinamool Congress’ Parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien told news agency PTI. CPI general secretary D Raja said this name change has been going on for quite some time and “no one knows when it will end”.
There are three gardens in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, inspired by Mughal and Persian gardens. The public and the authorities started calling the one inspired by a garden with the same name in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar as “Mughal Gardens”. But the gardens were never officially named “Mughal Gardens”.
Spread over 15 acre, Amrit Udyan has often been portrayed as the soul of the presidential palace. Amrit Udyan draws its inspiration from the Mughal Gardens in Jammu and Kashmir, the gardens around the Taj Mahal and even miniature paintings of India and Persia, according to the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s website.
“The Amrit Udyan had up till now been opened for the public only during the annual festival, Udyan Utsav, held in the months of February-March. But the gardens, which forms the third circuit of the Rashtrapati Bhavan tour, will now be open for the public from August till March,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s website says.
“Welcome and thank President Droupadi Murmu ji for renaming the iconic gardens at the President House as Amrit Udyan. This new name not only shreds yet another symbol of colonial relic but also reflects India’s aspirations for the amrit kaal,” Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted.
The old road sign that said “Mughal Gardens” was removed with a bulldozer and a new board that said “Amrit Udyan” was installed.
Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel won her bid against rival Harmeet Dhillon, a California lawyer and a person of Indian origin on January 27th to lead the GOP for two more years, prevailing in an election that highlighted fierce internal divisions that threaten to plague the party into the next presidential season.
Ronna McDaniel, whom Donald Trump tapped as RNC chair in 2016, won on the secret ballot, 111 to 51, over Harmeet Dhillon, a California lawyer. The high-profile election played out inside a resort on the Southern California coast as the RNC’s 168 voting members – activists and elected officials from all 50 states – gathered for their annual winter meeting.
The party is not united,” McDaniel’s chief rival, Trump attorney Dhillon, told reporters in the hallway soon after standing alongside McDaniel on stage. “Nobody’s going to unite around the party the way it is, which is seemingly ignoring the grassroots.”
A relieved McDaniel invited her rivals to the stage immediately after the outcome was announced. “With us united, and all of us working together, the Democrats are going to hear us in 2024,” she declared.
With the victory, McDaniel becomes the longest-serving RNC chair since the Civil War. While the vote itself wasn’t as close as some had expected, friends and foes alike agree that she will not be leading the RNC from a position of strength.
Indeed, while Trump privately backed McDaniel, powerful forces within his “Make America Great Again” movement lined up behind Dhillon. Backed by MAGA leaders in conservative media, Dhillon waged an aggressive challenge against McDaniel that featured allegations of chronic misspending, mismanagement and even religious bigotry against Dhillon’s Sikh faith — all claims that McDaniel denied. Above all, the case against McDaniel centered on deep dissatisfaction with the direction of the party after continuous election losses since Trump chose her to lead the committee following his upset 2016 victory.
The former president ignored the feud as he congratulated McDaniel on her “big WIN” on his social media network.
“Now we have to STOP THE DEMOCRATS FROM CHEATING IN ELECTIONS!” Trump wrote in capital letters, repeating baseless allegations of election fraud that have filled his political messaging for the past two years.
But some of Trump’s acolytes were not so willing to move on. Conservative activist Charlie Kirk cited the Republican base’s overwhelming desire for change and said those members who voted for McDaniel would be held “accountable.”
“The RNC has contempt for their voters,” said Kirk, who sat among several Dhillon allies in the back of the hotel ballroom where the vote was held. “They basically just gave them a middle finger.”
While McDaniel prevailed, some of her supporters privately conceded they were open to a change in the committee’s leadership after three successive disappointing elections. But there were specific concerns about Dhillon – and the people around her.
The California Republican closely aligned herself with Caroline Wren, a former Trump fundraiser who was involved with raising money for the Washington rally on Jan. 6, 2021,that preceded the violent attack on the Capitol.
Dhillon’s chief surrogate at the RNC meeting this week was Kari Lake, the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate who has spread debunked claims of voter fraud. Lake courted RNC members on Dhillon’s behalf inside the conference hotel.
From afar, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely 2024 presidential contender, spoke out against McDaniel on the eve of the vote as well. “I think we need a change. I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC,” DeSantis said in an interview with Florida’s Voice, citing three “substandard election cycles in a row” under McDaniel’s leadership.
Meanwhile, Trump had quietly supported McDaniel, a niece of Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, and dispatched a handful of his lieutenants to Southern California to advocate on her behalf.
The former president avoided making a public endorsement at McDaniel’s request, according to those with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. McDaniel’s team was confident she would win without his public backing, allowing her to maintain a sense of neutrality heading into the 2024 presidential primary season.
According to its rules, the RNC must remain neutral in the presidential primary. Trump is the only announced GOP candidate so far, but other high-profile contenders are expected in the coming months.
Also in the race on Friday was MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist who won four votes. Lindell has already endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign and said he would not change his mind if his longshot bid was successful Friday. “I’ve never not endorsed Donald Trump,” Lindell said. “I’m never moving off that space.”
McDaniel is now set to lead the RNC through the 2024 election. Under her leadership, the committee will control much of the presidential nominating process – including the debates and voting calendar — while directing the sprawling nationwide infrastructure designed to elect a Republican president.
YRF’s Pathaan has become a historic hit at the box office and director Siddharth Anand is definitely one of the biggest directors of this generation in India. The film-maker, who has been backed by Aditya Chopra, to direct two towering blockbusters WAR and now Pathaan from YRF’s Spy Universe, says he is feeling greatly overwhelmed after creating history at the box office.
Siddharth says, “Scripting history. Everyone wants it, but one cant plan it. It just happens. And when it does, it’s actually a very humbling experience. I’m feeling incredibly overwhelmed right now and inspired to get back on the film set and try and create something really special for audiences again. That’s my state of mind.“
With Pathaan, Siddharth Anand becomes the only Hindi film director to have two back to back 50 crore+ openers under his credit.
He says, “I’m hungrier than before to create more spectacles and immersive experiences like Pathaan. For me, yes numbers do matter. It is a validation of all the hard work but film-making is also a team game. So, I share this incredible moment with the entire cast and crew of Pathaan. Each one of us believed in a vision to create a never seen before theatrical experience that cuts across the length and breadth of the country and I’m glad we delivered on this promise.”
Pathaan has so far created 21 new records!
1. Highest Grossing Day In The History of Hindi Cinema, Set Consecutively On Day 1 & Day 2.
2. Only Hindi Film To Breach ₹ 55 Cr NBOC Barrier, Set on Day 1.
3. Only Hindi Film To Breach ₹ 70 Cr NBOC Barrier, Set on Day 2.
4. Fastest Hindi Film To Record ₹ 100 Cr NBOC, Set on Day 2.
5. Only Hindi Film To Breach ₹ 50 Cr NBOC Barrier On Two Consecutive Days, Set on Day 2.
6. Sets Circuit Record In Every Film Circuit of India, Set on Day 2.
7. Widest Hindi Release of All Time In India, Set on Day 1.
8. Highest Grossing Opening Day For A Hindi Film Post Covid 19 Pandemic, Set Consecutively on Day 1 & Day 2.
9. Highest Grossing First Day For A Non Holiday Release, Set on Day 1.
10. Highest Grossing Second Day In The History of Hindi Cinema, Set on Day 2.
11. YRF is The Only Film Studio In India To Breach ₹ 50 Cr NBOC Barrier With A Hindi Film, Set in Years 2018, 2019 & 2023.
12. YRF Has Recorded Collections In Excess of ₹ 50 Cr NBOC Four Times in The Last 4 Years.
13. 3rd YRF Film To Cross ₹ 50 Cr+ Net Box Office Collections On The 1st Day after “WAR” and “THUGS OF HINDOSTAN”.
14. 3rd YRF SPY UNIVERSE FILM To Set An Opening Day Record After “EK THA TIGER” & “WAR”.
15. Highest Grossing First Day & Second Day for Shah Rukh Khan.
17. Highest Grossing First Day & Second Day for Deepika Padukone.
18. Highest Grossing First Day & Second Day for John Abraham.
19. Highest Grossing First Day & Second Day for Siddharth Anand.
20. Highest grossing First Day & Second Day for Yash Raj Films.
21. Highest grossing First Day & Second Day for YRF Spy Universe Films.
Siddharth says, “With War and now Pathaan, we, the Hindi film industry have given films that have pan India appeal. I have always believed that cinema has no language. Cinema is about an emotion and if it connects with people, it can really go to dizzying heights and that’s what’s happening with Pathaan.”
Siddharth is happy that Indian cinema is flourishing and creating new benchmarks with landmark global hits. He says, “Today is a victory of Indian cinema because we are all Indians first. It is such an exciting phase for our country that films from across India are making records, breaking records and most importantly entertaining the people of our country globally!”
YRF’s Pathaan is a historic hit as it collected 113.6 crore gross on day 2, taking the total worldwide collection to an astronomical 219.6 crore gross! Pathaan has become a must watch theatrical entertainer which is being celebrated across the nation. Pathaan, is part of Aditya Chopra’s ambitious spy universe and has the biggest superstars of the country Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in it.
Directed by National Award winner Hansel Mehta, the new thriller FARAAZ releases in North American theaters on February 3. Based on the real-life attack that ravaged a Dhaka cafe, the gripping film is a tense hostage drama that unfolds over one claustrophobic night.
The Great War of civilization cemented its polarization in the post 9/11 world. The horror was psychological as well as empirical in the way it defined the idea of survival and humanity in the upcoming decades.
Islam became a word with multiple connotations, an idea whose very existence manifested itself in war games, geo political reassessment and elections. While the Middle East suffered from modern colonialism, the subcontinent went through its own struggles. “Justice” started being meted out by mobs, kitchens were invaded by parochial attitudes and skull caps and beards became a marker of prejudice.
In this context, in a democratic, largely Islamic country, The month of Ramadan was bloodied by the worst terrorist attack Bangladesh had ever witnessed. Around 8pm, 5 boys entered an upscale restaurant opening fire, killing all a dozen hostages in a matter of a few minutes and taking everyone else hostage.
Mortified nationals were glued to their tv sets as the Holy Artisan bakery in Gulshan, Dhaka, was taken hostage along with 50 odd people. The horror unleashed by the terrorists was beyond brutal. And the irony of it all was that the terrorists shared the same faith as the majority of the country, but their approach was medieval to say the least.
The attackers, in their early 20’s, killed people who did not agree with them or who did not align with their religious beliefs. They were sure that they were on God’s mission and fate had chosen them to accomplish this holy war. The message that they wanted to send to the world was that Bangladesh was its new frontier that needed a lesson in Islam.
What followed was almost 12 hours of a harrowing experience where the hostages were surrounded by death, violence and a skewed idea of a religion that has espoused so many contradictions in the world. Security forces stuck in a quagmire, with emotions running high, the bureaucracy behind dealing with a situation of this magnitude and the prayers of multiple Bangladeshi and empathizers from across the globe hoping that the hostages somehow miraculously come out.
Through the film we see the people behind these staunch rhetorics with their own complexes and hidden agendas. Their shortcomings which guise themselves in the name of holy war and the innocent people who become unfortunate victims of religious extremism.
However, we are the stories we choose to tell the world. This is a story of resilience, resistance and rationality. It’s a story where humanity finds itself on the edge of a cliff, a slight push can make it plunge into divisive chaos, only to find its feet in the face of a grave caveat.
FARAAZ
Release Date: February 3
Director: Hansal Mehta
Cast: Zahan Kapoor, Aditya Rawal, Juhi Babbar Soni
Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishnan Kumar, Anubhav Sinha, Sahil Saigal, Sakshi Bhatt, Mazahir Mandasaurwala
Film Updates: https://www.facebook.com/RelianceEnt/
Subtitled Trailer: https://youtu.be/aNvVwGAtnLg
What makes you genuinely happy? There could be a wide range of answers ranging from closing a big sale or investment, reaching a mountain summit after an arduous hike, or eating a perfect ice cream cone on a hot summer day. But according to what may be the longest-running scientific study of happiness, the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has been going on for 85 years, the biggest determinant of genuine. long-term happiness isn’t wealth, or accomplishment, or even pleasure. It’s the relationships we form with the people in our lives, in our workplaces, and in our communities that bring us the greatest happiness in the long run.
With that in mind, the New York Times worked with the leader of the Harvard study to create a 7-Day Happiness Challenge as a way to start the new year. The whole challenge is well worth doing. These are the four steps that resonated most with me, and you can do any of them in about 10 minutes, any time of the day.
The Times’ wellness columnist, Jancee Dunn, tried this with a friend of hers and was surprised at how powerfully it lifted her mood. The eight-minute phone call plan solves two ongoing problems with conversations. The first is that most of us “tend to think that in some unspecified future, we’ll have a ‘time surplus,’ where we’ll be able to connect with old friends,” according to Bob Waldinger, the psychiatrist leading the Harvard study who worked with the Times on these challenges. But chances are that “someday” when we think we’ll have lots of time for our friends will never come. So we need to make time right now or risk drifting away from our friendships.
The second is that, as Harvard research has shown, most conversations go on too long–often longer than either party would prefer. So set an eight-minute limit ahead of time–what Dunn calls a “hard out,” guarantees that this won’t happen. It also makes it easy for even a very busy friend to say yes to the call. For instance, Dunn’s friend spent eight minutes talking with her while traveling to the dry cleaner’s.
What surprised Dunn was how much she and her friend were able to talk about in eight minutes. “We talked about our mothers’ health, made birthday plans, gossiped about a friend who abruptly quit his job and moved to a tiny Mexican town, traded book recommendations, and explored the possibility of an afterlife,” she wrote. Perhaps because they had both committed to a tight time limit, they were quick to get the important stuff.
Dunn wrote, “I had missed her, and didn’t realize it until I heard her voice.” This is an important factor, researchers say. Hearing someone’s voice is a more powerful way to connect than texting with them or chatting over social media. So make that eight-minute phone call today, if you can.
Research has shown that starting a conversation with a stranger increases our happiness, even when we don’t expect that it will. Given that humans are profoundly social creatures and that we all thrive on connection, that shouldn’t really be as surprising as it is. Dunn put this advice to use herself when she asked a neighbor whose dog always barked at her if there was anything she could do to make friends with him. There was, and it was surprisingly simple–all she had to do was take off her hat, because hats upset this particular dog for some reason.
In my own case, a few years back, I struck up a conversation with Shelmina Babai Abji at a cocktail party and we soon became friends and supporters of each others’ careers. At the time we both had book projects we hoped to sell and in some odd twist, both our books came out on the same day. I’m proud to have her endorsement on my book, Career Self-Care.
Work friends are incredibly important–particularly in the high pressure and long hours that go with starting a business. Yet, experts say, we don’t always recognize the value of these relationships. So choose someone at work you would like to get to know better. This could be an acquaintance who you’d like to turn into a friend, or someone you don’t know at all but would like to get to know.
For someone you don’t yet know, find a bit of common ground. These conversation starters can help. If you like, pay attention to things they may have mentioned in public, perhaps that they are about to give an important presentation or will be attending a family member’s wedding. If you follow up afterward and ask how it went, they’ll be impressed and pleased that you were paying attention and remembered what was going on with them. You’ll have turned that person from a stranger into an acquaintance.
To go from acquaintance to friend, invite them to do something simple that takes only a few minutes, like walk with you to the corner deli to pick up lunch. Or, use the Ben Franklin
effect, and ask them to do you a small and easy favor, a counterintuitive but powerful way to get someone to like you. With most people, this approach will help start you on your way toward being a work friend. If it doesn’t work with this particular person, don’t dwell on it. Just pick someone else and try again.
Research shows that this simple gesture creates immediate happiness benefits both for the person doing the thanking and the person receiving the thanks. So, even though it’s not the easiest of these steps, it may be the most important. Take a few minutes to write a note to a friend, a loved one, a family member, or even someone who’s helped you in your career. It can be someone you see all the time, or someone you haven’t spoken to in years.
Imagine that this is the last message you’ll be able to send this person, and write down what you’re grateful for. You don’t need to put a huge amount of thought into this–you can do it in less than 10 minutes, as promised. Now here’s the hard part: Send the message. Whether by email or social media, or snail mail, send it. Don’t worry if the person at the other end hasn’t heard from you for a long time. People are always happy to get a thank you note, even if it’s from someone they haven’t thought about in a long time. Getting it will make them happy, and sending it will make you happy.
If you can, try one of these 10-minute challenges every day next week. Altogether, they will ]take only about an hour of your time. At the end of the week, ask yourself if these small steps made you feel better than you would have without them. If the answer is yes, should you make them part of your routine every week? (https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/4-simple-ways-to-make-yourself-really-happy-in-10-minutes-or-less-backed-by-harvard-research.html)
(AP) — A computer science graduate, S. Goutham quit his job nearly a decade ago to pursue his calling. He has since followed in the footsteps of his ancestors as a fifth-generation decorator of temple deities. The former computer professional — now a very specialized type of artist — locked his gaze on the deity before him.
On a recent afternoon, 33-year-old S. Goutham was perched on a ladder at the altar of the goddess Durga at the Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Chennai, India. Goutham — his hand moving steadily — was pleating a green silk sari to adorn the deity.
“You cannot get tense when you are doing this work,” he says. “You can’t do this if you are not patient. You need to become one with her.”
A computer science graduate, Goutham quit his job nearly a decade ago to pursue his calling. He has since followed in the footsteps of his ancestors as a fifth-generation decorator of temple deities.
In Hindu temples, idols are mostly made of materials such as black granite, white marble or five-metal alloys that have sacred significance. These deities are worshipped as physical, tangible representations of god (Brahman) who is believed to be infinite, omnipresent and beyond comprehension. Worship in a Hindu temple includes bathing these deities in milk, decorating them with colorful clothes, flowers, perfumes such as sandalwood, jewelry, and even weapons such as swords, clubs and tridents. Oil lamps are lit at the altar, and sacred chants and foods are offered to the gods.
Decorating the deities is a millennia-old practice that is described in the Hindu epic Ramayana, and Goutham has been learning the art since he was a toddler. He crafted his first formal decoration when he was 13 — at the very altar where he stood 20 years later on a day in November.
He has done thousands of decorations, ranging from relatively simple ones that take an hour or two to complete, to others that are more complex and take several days.
Goutham said he became interested in decorating deities as a child because of his father. “When you are little, your father is your hero,” he said. “I wanted to be just like him.”
The first lesson Goutham got from his dad was about the weapons each god would hold. He heard stories about the power of each weapon and how gods would wield them. “The personality of the deity and the story of the god or goddess could change depending on their weapons, the clothes they wear, the expression on their face or the position in which they are sitting or standing,” he said.
When he sets out to decorate a deity, Goutham says he has a concept of what to do, but doesn’t start out with a sketch. He goes step by step — placing the deity’s hands, feet and weapons. Then, he moves on to the clothes and jewelry. Gradually, the god’s form manifests.
There are rules about the types of materials that can be used on deities. “The human body is made up of earth, water, fire, air and space, and everything you see naturally occurring on Earth is made of these elements,” Goutham said. “To show this, we decorate deities using things that occur in nature and are a representation of these elements, like copper, cloth, coconut fibers and so on.”
He says decorating a deity combines elements from art, dance and yoga, in terms of the hand gestures and postures the deities assume. Man-made materials such as plastic are prohibited. Goutham says he uses little pins to hold fabric together, but makes sure the pins don’t directly touch the idol.
He sources the deities’ arms and legs, mostly made from copper or brass, as well as the weapons and jewelry, from artisans.
He has also created an app and website for those who wish to learn more about this art and dreams of establishing an institution to train artists who can maintain the sacred tradition. While most deity decorators are men, he sees no reason why women cannot learn and practice it.
“Everyone is equal under god,” he said. Storytelling is an important part of what he does. One of his favorite installations depicts the friendship between Lord Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu, and Kuchela.
“It shows Krishna washing the feet of Kuchela, a poor man, conveying the message that humility is a virtue — whether you are a human being or god,” Goutham said.
The term “idol worship” may have negative connotations in some faiths. But for Hindus, deities — which are kept in temples, homes, shops and offices — serve as focal points “for to us channel our devotions, our actions and serve as a reminder of all the positive values that are associated with those deities,” said Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation.
Shukla says this form of worship is a way for her to connect with her ancestors. “As a second-generation Hindu American, I didn’t grow up with all these things around me where I could absorb through osmosis,” she said. “But just knowing that I’m part of a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation is personally powerful for me.”
In U.S. Hindu temples, community members come together to help create the costumes for the deities, and it is an act of devotion, Shukla said. “No one has to sit there and embroider a skirt or sari for a goddess, but they do it as a display of love,” she said. “It’s humbling and empowering.”
Goutham says he doesn’t view his job as a vocation. “You can call it service because it brings pure joy to so many and plays a role in our spiritual awakening,” he said. “But in my view, it’s much more than that. It has the power to transform people.”
Goutham has decorated deities in temples abroad as he has in tiny Indian villages and little-known temples. He remembers stopping once at a village tea shop and hearing the locals praise his decoration of their temple deity. “It really warmed my heart,” he said. “I love seeing mother Durga whether or not she is decorated,” she said. “But, when I do see her all decked up and looking gorgeous, it makes me so happy. It’s uplifting and empowering.”
There are some decorations which bring tears even to the artist’s eyes. “It’s not just something that is pretty to look at,” Goutham said. “It’s about love and faith. When you touch the deities, clothe them and decorate them, you think of them as your friends or parents. You need skill and vision to do this. But above all, it takes heart.”
Newswise — BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — In the first global Human Rights Report Card issued by the CIRIGHTS Data Project, Canada and Sweden were at the head of the class with a 96, followed by New Zealand, Norway and Portugal at 94. At the bottom were Iraq with a score of 12, China at 10, and North Korea and Syria with six. Iran was marked by a shocking lack of human rights, scoring only two out of a possible total of 100.
While Binghamton University Professor of Political Science David Cingranelli has been tracking global human rights for more than 40 years, the recently launched CIRIGHTS project — a collaboration between Binghamton and the University of Rhode Island (URI) — accomplishes a long-term goal: a simple report card for a complex issue.
The score is meant to grab attention and even provoke: a necessary prerequisite for change. “People who see a report card understand what a 95 means and what a 20 means,” said Cingranelli, co-director of CIRIGHTS with Skip Mark of URI and Mikhail Filippov of Binghamton University. Mark received his PhD in political science from Binghamton in 2018.
According to Mark, CIRIGHTS “…gives a shorthand assessment of how countries are doing when it comes to respecting human rights.” It provides 72 numerical scores that show how well every country in the world protects — or doesn’t protect — a wide variety of internationally recognized human rights. The full dataset and the 2022 report card are freely available online and can be accessed at https://cirights.com/.
More maps, additional data visualization tools and a guide explaining the scoring system will soon be added. The Human Rights Report Card will be issued annually and includes a total country score as well as individual scores in particular areas, such as gender equality.
The goal is to provide researchers, nongovernmental organizations, policy-makers, college and high school teachers, and others with an objective tool to track human rights around the world, according to Mark, director of URI’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies.
“We measure what we treasure,” said Cingranelli, also co-director of Binghamton’s Human Rights Institute. “I sincerely believe that anything we care about in this world, we measure, whether it’s how much we weigh or how fast we are at the 50-yard dash. If you don’t measure it, how could you change it?”
Ranking rights
In the 1970s, the United States passed laws banning the allocation of military and economic aid to governments that systematically violated the human rights of their citizens. But how well were those rules being followed?
“I wanted to conduct a research project to examine whether there was any relationship between the distribution of American foreign aid and other favors of American policy and the human rights practices of the potential recipients,” Cingranelli explained.
In 1982, Cingranelli began researching and scoring Latin American countries on human rights with the help of then-graduate student Thomas Pasquarello, now a professor at SUNY Cortland, and a faculty colleague. A few years later, he and another graduate student — David Richards, now an associate professor at the University of Connecticut — expanded their data collection to other parts of the world. The result: the Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Data Project, considered the gold standard in the field of human rights until the project’s end in 2013.
A gift from URI alumni Shannon Chandley and Tom Silvia has enabled the CIRIGHTS team to hire student research assistants and data specialists to update and significantly expand the original CIRI database. Sources for scoring human rights include annual human rights reports from the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, the United Nations State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples Report and other sources. The State Department’s annual report alone often spans almost 3,000 pages, with keen observations contributed by ambassadors all over the world, Cingranelli said.
The 72 internationally recognized rights in CIRIGHTS’ database include those related to physical integrity, such as those prohibiting torture and extrajudicial killings; workers’ rights, such as fair working conditions and the right to unionize; the political rights of women and Indigenous people; and the right to a fair trial.
The scorers — often undergraduate or graduate students supervised by Cingranelli, Filippov or Mark in their seminar courses — work independently with a rigorous set of scoring guidelines and then work together to resolve differences. Using a three-point scale, 25 human rights measures were considered for this year’s pilot report card.“Our scoring guidelines lay out everything our scorers need to assess each right — a simple definition of the right, its grounding in international law and examples of what violations look like,” said Kate Sylvester, a URI graduate student. “The goal is to be as objective as we can possibly be.”
However, one country is mostly missing from the current report card: the United States. Part of that comes down to data: While Amnesty International reports on respect for physical integrity rights in the U.S., it doesn’t report on much else. The State Department report includes a much wider range of rights, but doesn’t report on itself.
Another reason comes down to objectivity, since the evaluation is done within the United States by human reviewers who have access to a wide range of sources about their own country. Essentially, Cingranelli explained, it wouldn’t be an apples-to-apples comparison.
Still, the problem may eventually be resolved. Mark plans to offer a seminar in Rhode Island that will explore the status of human rights in the United States, with the goal of establishing more comprehensive rankings of U.S. human rights. And, Cingranelli points out, nothing prevents database users from reviewing the available information and determining how the U.S. ranks on their own.
A broader look
In addition to individual rankings, CIRIGHTS’ inaugural 2022 report identifies some broad global trends in the 21st century. According to the researchers, economic rights — apart from the right to a minimum wage — have declined, along with rights associated with the ability to criticize government, electoral self-determination and an independent judiciary. Some rights, however, have seen a marked increase, such as the right to a fair trial, protection from human trafficking, women’s political rights, and freedom of domestic and foreign movement.
Ultimately, countries seem to fall into two groups: One in which human rights have improved over time, and the other in which they remained stagnant or declined. The main difference between the two groups is whether they have regular free and fair elections with universal adult suffrage, Cingranelli said.
Long term, the team plans to expand both the dataset and the scope of the report. The ultimate goal is to have a comprehensive global human rights dataset that includes every internationally recognized human right.
“The way that human rights become real is through education,” Cingranelli added. “I’m hoping that these human rights report cards will be used by people around the world, especially teachers, to learn about indicators of human rights performance and to assess the performance of their own government relative to others.”
On the occasion of Republic Day, India achieved yet another milestone on the global stage as it launched the world’s first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine. Bharat Biotech’s iNCOVACC was unveiled by Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare in the presence of Union Minister of State (IC) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, officials from the union government, co-founder and executive chairman, Bharat Biotech Dr Krishna Ella and co-founder and MD, Bharat Biotech Suchitra Ella.
World’s 1st intranasal
• iNCOVACC® is the world’s first Intranasal vaccine for COVID to receive approval for the primary 2-dose schedule, and as a heterologous booster dose, administered as nasal drops.
• iNCOVACC® is a cost effective COVID vaccine which does not require syringes, needles, alcohol wipes, bandage, etc, saving costs related to procurement, distribution, storage, and biomedical waste disposal, that is routinely required for injectable vaccines.
• iNCOVACC® utilizes a vector-based platform, which can be easily updated with emerging variants leading to large-scale production, within a few months. These rapid response timelines combined with the ability of cost-effective and easy intranasal delivery, makes it an ideal vaccine to address future infectious diseases.
• A rollout of iNCOVACC® is expected to begin in private hospitals that have placed advance orders. Initial manufacturing capacity of several million doses per annum has been established, this can be scaled up to a billion doses as required. iNCOVACC® is priced at INR 325/dose for large volume procurement by State Governments and Govt of India.
• Phase III trials (as a 2-dose regimen) were conducted for safety, immunogenicity in ~3100 subjects, in 14 trial sites across India.
• Heterologous booster dose studies were conducted for safety and immunogenicity in ~875 subjects, with BBV154 intranasal vaccine administered in those previously completing a regimen of the commonly administered COVID vaccines. The trials were conducted in 9 trial sites across India.
• iNCOVACC® recipients demonstrated significant levels of Mucosal IgA antibody levels (measured in the saliva). Mucosal IgA antibodies in the upper respiratory tract may provide benefits in reducing infections and transmission. New Delhi/Hyderabad, Jan 26, 2023: Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL), a global leader in vaccine innovation and developer of vaccines for infectious diseases, today dedicated iNCOVACC® (BBV154) to the nation, world’s 1st COVID intranasal vaccine for Primary series and Heterologous booster.
iNCOVACC® was launched by Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Hon’ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare, in the presence of Dr. Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Minister for Science & Technology, on the occasion of Republic Day. Product development and clinical trials for iNCOVACC® were funded in part by the Government of India, through the Department of Biotechnology’s, COVID Suraksha Program.
Bharat Biotech received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for iNCOVACC® to be administered for primary series and as heterologous booster doses.
Amid growing COVID- 19 cases and emerging variants of the highly transmissible virus, a booster dose of the vaccine becomes imperative. iNCOVACC® is now available on CoWIN, and priced at INR 800 for private markets and INR 325 for supplies to Govt of India and State Governments.
iNCOVACC® is a recombinant replication-deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilized spike protein. This vaccine candidate was evaluated in phase I, II and III clinical trials with successful results.
This vaccine has been specifically formulated to allow intranasal delivery through nasal drops. The nasal delivery system has been designed and developed to be cost-effective in low and middle-income countries. As a needleless vaccination, Bharat Biotech’s iNCOVACC® will be the world’s first such booster dose. India will now have more options when it comes to third doses or precautionary doses.
Clinical trials and extensive humoral and cell mediated responses were conducted to evaluate iNCOVACC® as a primary dose schedule, and as heterologous booster dose for subjects who have previously received two doses of the two commonly administered COVID-19 vaccines in India. The intranasal vaccine is stable at 2- 8°C for easy storage and distribution and has been designed for efficient distribution and easy pain free administration.
iNCOVACC® was developed in partnership with Washington University, St. Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vectored construct and evaluated in preclinical studies for efficacy.
The Gandhian Society is organizing an Essay competition and prayer meet on January 29th, 2023 to mark the 75th martyrdom anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This essay competition will have students from different schools in east coast participate in the competition on the life and message from Mahatma Gandhi.
The Gandhian Society will be giving away prizes to the winners of the essay competition and honor the students who participate in the competition. The event will be organized on January 29th at 11 am in New Jersey in the premises of Gandhian Society in Edison (321 Middlesex Ave, Colonia, NJ 07067) and also virtually and participants of the essay competition will have to submit the essays before 27th January to be able to participate in the essay competition.
The link for participants to submit their essay is – http://www.tinyurl.com/gandhi-essay. Dr.Sudarshan Iyengar (Former Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University) will be the guest of honor for the event and will give away the prizes for the winners of the essay competition.
The Gandhian Society Founder Shri Badra Butala has also said that the society will continue to make efforts in spreading the message and ideals of Mahatma Gandhi in USA and this Essay Competition is an effort in that direction. He said that this essay is to educate and make aware of the life and sacrifices of Mahatma Gandhi for the second generation American Indian Children so that they can learn and imbibe the values of one of the greatest men to have walked the planet – Mahatma Gandhi.
The children who participate in the essay and win the competition will be awarded special prizes by the Gandhian Society. The project is spearheaded by Shri Bhadra Butala, Mahesh Wani, Brijesh Kachalia, Anita Amar, Bani Dabur, Sonal Gadhvi and Sravan Natakala.
The Gandhian Society members – Asha Samanth, Dr.Deepak Naran, Varsha Gandhi Joshi, Sravan Natakala, Fashion Designer Sonal Gadhvi, Rajendar Dichpally, Balaji Jilla, Shiva Kumar, Mahesh Wani, Hasmukh Patel, Kamal Daga and Brijesh Kachalia will be assisting the Gandhian Society in spreading the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi in USA and helping the society undertake several charitable, cultural and patriotic events in USA.
The Gandhian Society will also be doing the winter clothing drive in Atlantic City and Parsippany along with other supporting organizations like Rotary, Zakir Husain Circle etc in distributing winter clothing (Jackets, Blankets etc). This initiative is one of the many efforts of the Gandhian partnership with other participating Organizations to serve the society and do charitable activities as part of its community outreach initiative.
The Gandhian Society will set up collection centers in over half a dozen centers in partnership with Organizations like Rotary Club of Parsippany, Telugu Fine Arts Society (TFAS), Rajni Restaurant, E&T Food Market, PAL (Police Athletic League (Parsippany) Durga Temple (East Brunswick), Zakir Husain Circle etc to collect new or gently used winter clothes to donate them at various places and organizations in East Coast. The Society will also purchase over 3000 dollars’ worth winter jackets in addition to the winter clothes that will be collected at highly discounted prices. This project will be done under the leadership of Rajender Dichpally and Santosh Peddi (Rotary President – Parsippany)
The Gandhian Society is also organizing a prayer meet on January 30th to observe the martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi and plans to have an all-religious prayer meet. This Gandhian Society has invited eminent Gandhian’s to take part in the prayer meet and pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi and his martyrdom.
An openly gay advisor to the Vatican says he’s not surprised by Pope Francis’ declaration that “being homosexual isn’t a crime.”
Juan Carlos Cruz, an internationally known Chilean advocate and survivor of clerical sexual abuse, told NPR the pope’s remarks made for an “incredible day.”
In his first interview since the death of former Pope Benedict XVI, Francis told the Associated Press that laws criminalizing homosexuality are “unjust” and that Catholic bishops should apply “tenderness” and help ease discrimination by welcoming LGBTQ people into the church.
On Tuesday, Cruz told Morning Edition’s Leila Fadel that anti-sodomy laws in dozens of countries, including some that impose the death penalty, are “horrifying,” but the pope’s moral leadership will help civil authorities, bishops, and cardinals to “change their heart” and join the pontiff in speaking out.
“The pope highlights that the LGBTQ community is not sinful and criminal,” said Cruz.
Cruz, who is a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, also dissents from Catholic teachings. Cruz says the church’s insistence that homosexuality is “sin,” a position embraced by the pope, is “shameful,” although Cruz says the pope appears to be trying to shift the church’s relationship with the LGBTQ community.
Interview highlights
On the impact of the pope’s message on LGBTQ criminalization
It’s been an incredible day with his statement, something that no pope has ever done in history. He’s taken great steps and they’re sincere and that I appreciate. In a moment where the LGBT community all over the world needs it because it’s being attacked, condemned, there’s laws that criminalize it.
This man does change and does acknowledge when he has made a mistake and he said it publicly. And I admire that in him. I mean, there’s a lot a lot still to do in terms of abuse in the church. By no means we’re done.
It doesn’t surprise me from Pope Francis. He’s a man that is open to everybody, who holds the dignity of the person in the highest standards. The LGBT community is very in his heart. I would not say this if I didn’t know it. I know this for a fact, and that makes me very happy.
On how Cruz has seen Pope Francis’ view change over the last decade
The pope that I knew and that I saw in 2017 versus the pope that that I met, and after a few meetings in 2018, it’s 180 degree difference. It’s surprising. You know, we normally say older people, you know, it’s hard to change their views or change.
This man does change and does acknowledge when he has made a mistake and he said it publicly. And I admire that in him. I mean, there’s a lot a lot still to do in terms of abuse in the church. By no means we’re done.
On the pope’s initiative to shift the church’s relationship with the LGBTQ community
The pope highlights that the LGBTQ community is not sinful and criminal. And he says harming one’s neighbor is most certainly both. So it’s the bedrock of Catholic teaching. And he shifts this, you know, wording, like you said it, Leila, but he highlights how important it is that it’s more sinful, you know, having things against your neighbor or being uncharitable, or criminal towards the gay community, that’s sinful.
The number of international migrants grew to 281 million in 2020, meaning that 3.6% of the world’s people lived outside their country of birth that year, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM). The increase came despite widespread restrictions on travel and international movement in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are eight key facts about international migrants, based on the latest available data from the UN and other sources.
How we did this
Europe and Asia have the most international migrants. An estimated 86.7 million international migrants lived in Europe in 2020, followed by 85.6 million in Asia. The number of international migrants living in these two regions has steadily increased since 2005, according to the IOM.
The Latin America and Caribbean region has the fastest-growing international migrant population. Since 2005, the region’s international migrant population has roughly doubled.
International migrants make up a larger share of Oceania’s population than any other region. In 2020, 21.4% of all residents in Oceania – which includes Australia, New Zealand and various Pacific island nations and territories – were international migrants. The Northern America region is second after Oceania, with migrants making up 15.7% of the population. In Europe, migrants account for 11.6% of the population. In all other world regions, they represent 2.3% or less of the population.
Using other regional groupings, however, Oceania might be surpassed. For example, in Gulf Cooperation Council countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – more than half (52.7%) of resident populations are international migrants, according to UN data.
The United States has more international migrants than any other country. With nearly 51 million migrants in 2020, the U.S. leads the world on this measure by a wide margin. Germany has the next-largest such population with about 15.8 million migrants, followed by Saudi Arabia with 13.5 million. (For the U.S., the UN counts some people living in the 50 states or the District of Columbia as international migrants even if they were born in Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories; those born in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are U.S. citizens at birth.)
The countries that have the most international migrants are generally not the same countries where international migrants make up the greatest share of the population. For example, while the U.S. has more migrants than any other nation, migrants only account for about 15.1% of the U.S. population – a smaller share than in 24 countries or territories with a total population of at least 1 million.
The Middle East accounts for most of the top 10 countries when looking at the migrant share of the population. In 2020, 93.9% of all people living in the United Arab Emirates were international migrants, followed by 80.6% of people in Qatar and 71.3% of people in Kuwait. Other Middle Eastern countries among the top 10 include Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon.
India remains the top origin country for the world’s migrants. India has been a large source of international migrants for more than a century. In 2020, 17.9 million international migrants traced their origins back to India, followed by Mexico with about 11.2 million and Russia with about 10.8 million.
India’s migrants are dispersed around the world, but the countries with the largest Indian migrant populations are the United Arab Emirates (3.5 million), the U.S. (2.7 million) and Saudi Arabia (2.5 million).
Though India is the single largest source of international migrants, its 17.9 million migrants in 2020 accounted for only 1.3% of all people born in India by that year. By comparison, the United Kingdom’s 4.7 million international migrants accounted for 7.6% of those born in the UK by 2020. Mexico’s 11.2 million international migrants accounted for 8.2% of those born in Mexico.
Remittances – the money that migrants send to their home countries – decreased by about $11 billion from 2019 to 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic arrived. Global remittances had been steadily increasing since 2010, but they fell from $722 billion in 2019 to $711 billion in 2020. (These figures are nominal values, meaning they are not adjusted for inflation.) Notably, some countries in Latin America saw remittances fall sharply in the first half of 2020 – especially in April, when much of the U.S. was locked down due to the COVID-19 outbreak – before rebounding.
According to the World Bank, remittances reached $781 billion in 2021 and are estimated to reach $794 billion in 2022, both record highs.
India has been the world’s top receiver of remittances since 2010. Remittances to India grew from $53 billion in 2010 to $89 billion in 2021.
The U.S. has been the top sending country for remittances since 1990, the earliest year with available statistics. In 2021, international migrants living in the U.S. sent $73 billion in remittances globally.
The number of displaced people in the world rose to a new high of 89.4 million in 2020. Displaced people are those forced to leave their homes due to conflict, violence or disasters. They include refugees, asylum seekers, and people internally displaced within their country of birth. Overall, the number of displaced persons rose from 84.8 million in 2019 to 89.4 million in 2020, according to the UN’s World Migration Report 2022. Overall, about 1.1% of the world’s population are displaced people.
Among the world’s displaced people, about 34%, or 30.5 million, were living outside their country of birth as refugees (26.4 million) or asylum seekers (4.1 million) in 2020. An additional 3.9 million displaced Venezuelans who have not applied for refugee or asylum status lived outside of Venezuela in 2020. The majority of displaced people, 55 million, were internally displaced in their birth countries because of conflict, violence or disasters.
The share of international migrants who are men has ticked up in recent decades. In 2000, 50.6% of international migrants were men and 49.4% were women. By 2020, men made up 51.9% of global migrants while 48.1% were women, according to estimates by the United Nations.
A majority of the world’s international migrants lived within their region of origin in 2020. While some migrants may go to new regions of the world, a majority (54.9%) lived within their region of origin in 2020. However, international migration within regions still varies widely. For example, 69.9% of Europe’s international migrants resided in another European country in 2020, reflecting migration out of Eastern European countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Romania to Western European ones.
International migrants in Asia and Oceania are the next most likely to live in their region of origin at 59.6% and 56.2%, respectively. Migrants from Africa are about as likely to live within Africa as they are to live outside of the continent (51.6% vs. 48.4%).
Migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the Northern America region, are the least likely to live within their region of origin, at 26.3% and 25.2%, respectively.
The Indian Government led by the Hindu nationalist Party, Bharatiya Janata Party has informed the Delhi High Court that Angad Singh, a US-based journalist with Vice News, has been blacklisted despite being an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holder.
On December 7, 2022, a bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh had directed the Central government to file a response in a suit filed by Singh against his deportation from Delhi to New York in August last year. He has also challenged the refusal to grant him a Special Permit.
Appearing for the Centre, advocate Anurag Ahluwalia told the court that as Singh has violated Section 11A of the Foreigners Order, 1948, which prohibits a foreigner from producing any picture, film or documentary without permission in writing from the Centre, he is a blacklisted subject. He had allegedly depicted India in a negative manner in the “India Burning” documentary.
Singh has covered important issues in his documentaries, including the Shaheen Bagh protests, the farmers’ protests and the Covid-19 pandemic in India, among others. Ahluwalia submitted that Singh was entering India on his journalist visa for a personal visit but he wasn’t issued a visa for that.
The FRRO, in an affidavit, told the court that Singh was blacklisted at the instance of the Consulate General of India in New York.
On January 7, Ahluwalia had said that the affidavit will explain why the petitioner was denied entry into the country. Advocate Swathi Sukumar, representing Singh before the court said that Singh’s OCI card is still valid and has not yet been cancelled.
To this, Ahluwalia sought time to obtain instructions and file a response on whether any show cause notice or proceedings were started against Singh for the cancellation of his OCI card.
The court then granted two weeks’ time to Ahluwalia to file the affidavit. In his plea, Singh has mentioned that his fundamental right under the Citizenship Act, 1955, is being violated by not letting him into India. He has also asked the court to restrain the government from violating his rights.
Earlier, Singh’s counsel had sought a declaration that his deportation from the government was illegal and disclosure of all the materials and data available with the government related to him.
His mother, through a Facebook post, had claimed that he had come to India to meet his family in Punjab and it was because of his journalism that he was deported.
Ashraf Ghani, the former Afghanistan President who fled the country when the Taliban grabbed power in Kabul, was “a total fraud” solely focused on his own desire to stay in power and a big hurdle in any peace talks, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said.
In his book titled ‘Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love,’ Pompeo claims that both Ghani and Afghanistan’s former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah were involved in corruption at the highest levels that limited the US’ ability to successfully exit the war-torn country in August 2021.
The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 31, ending its 20-year-old military presence in the country.
“As negotiations accelerated, Ghani was always a problem. I met scores of world leaders, and he was my least favourite. That’s saying a lot when you have Kim (Jong-un), Xi (Jinping), and (Vladimir) Putin in the mix. Yet Ghani was a total fraud who had wasted American lives and was focused solely on his own desire to stay in power,” Pompeo writes in his book that hit the bookstores this week.
“Never once did I sense that he was prepared to take a risk for his country that might imperil his power. This disgusted me,” he writes in the book that gives a detailed account of the negotiations that the previous US administration led by ex-President Donald Trump had with the Taliban group.
The Trump administration had appointed former diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad as the special envoy for talks with the Taliban.
Pompeo claims that Ghani won his reelection mainly because of massive electoral fraud. “According to the final nominal tally, Ghani had defeated the country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah. But the truth was that Ghani simply had bribed more voters and vote counters than the other candidates had,” writes the former Secretary of State.
Pompeo says both Ghani and Abdullah were fighting about who would be the next president without regard for whether there would even be a government to lead in Afghanistan. “At General Miller’s request, I hopped a plane to Afghanistan on March 23, 2020, to tell them that they needed to find an accommodation, or I would advise President Trump that we should exit the country immediately, beginning with the elimination of the roughly USD 5-6 billion per year in foreign assistance that we were providing at the time,” he said.
This was a real threat, Pompeo notes. “While the public focus was almost always on how the aid provided security assistance, its larger purpose was to preserve civil order. It funded schools and health care, but it also meant ‘walking around money’ for local leaders. That’s a euphemism for bribery, and it’s the sad reality of both how American aid and Afghan society worked,” he said.
“My message got their attention. Eventually, we shaved off USD 1 billion in assistance to show we weren’t bluffing. In May, Abdullah essentially gave control to Ghani, and we had, at least, a head of the Afghan government,” he said.
After joining the Trump administration, Pompeo said, he assessed that Afghan low-level corruption secured a measure of stability, as it kept the country from completely unravelling, albeit at a staggering cost to the government’s credibility with its own people.
“The fact was that even Afghan’s president Ashraf Ghani and the country’s chief executive Abdullah Abdullah both led cartels that stole millions of dollars in aid money from the United States. That corruption at the highest levels limited our ability to exit successfully,” Pompeo said.
Ghani, for all his eloquence and charm, was not the leader of a war-torn, deeply divided tribal nation seeking to build the political institutions needed, he said. “He was a dim bulb in his political instincts and a Brussels-style manager in a cauldron of violence that demanded an Ultimate Fighting Championship mindset. Nor did he have much credibility among Afghan leaders, nearly all of whom had been fighting in one war or another for their entire adult lives,” Pompeo said.
Ghani’s years in the West had made him masterful at gaming American lawmakers and nonprofit organizations, he claims. “He also spent extravagantly on lobbyists. I say with no exaggeration that Ghani had more friends inside the district of Columbia than he did in Afghanistan. When I met him the first time during my CIA days, I told him straight up: ‘You’re squandering your time on K Street and Capitol Hill when you should be hustling for allies in Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif,’ Pompeo wrote.
Ghani, who has been living in exile in the UAE since the Taliban took over the Afghan capital Kabul on August 15, 2021, has, in the past, vehemently defended his move of fleeing the war-torn country, saying he left to stop further “bloodshed” by the Taliban.
The number of people dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the US escalated during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, from 874,613 CVD-related deaths recorded in 2019 to 928,741 in 2020, a new study has revealed.
The rise in the number of CVD deaths in 2020 represents the largest single-year increase since 2015 and topped the previous high of 910,000 recorded in 2003, according to the data published in American Heart Association’s flagship, peer-reviewed journal Circulation.
It means that more people died from cardiovascular-related causes in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, than in any year since 2003, according to data reported in Association’s 2023 Statistical Update. The largest increases in deaths were seen among Asian, Black and Hispanic people.
“While the total number of CVD-related deaths increased from 2019 to 2020, what may be even more telling is that our age-adjusted mortality rate increased for the first time in many years and by a fairly substantial 4.6 per cent,” said Connie W. Tsao, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“I think that is very indicative of what has been going on within our country, and the world, in light of people of all ages being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially before vaccines were available to slow the spread,” said Tsao, also an attending staff cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
There was a substantial increase in the loss of lives from all causes since the start of the pandemic. “That this likely translated to an increase in overall cardiovascular deaths, while disheartening, is not surprising. In fact, the Association predicted this trend, which is now official,” said Michelle A. Albert, the American Heart Association’s volunteer president and a professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF).
The virus is associated with new clotting and inflammation.
Several people who had new or existing heart disease and stroke symptoms were reluctant to seek medical care, particularly in the early days of the pandemic.
“This resulted in people presenting with more advanced stages of cardiovascular conditions and needing more acute or urgent treatment for what may have been manageable chronic conditions. And, sadly, appears to have cost many their lives,” said Albert.
Cardiovascular disease continues to be the top killer globally, taking the lives of more than 19 million people around the world each year, including people of all ages, genders and nationalities.
New York City students could soon have a day off to observe Diwali, an important holiday for many religions. It’s part of a city-state partnership to allow the change in the city, CBS2’s Nick Caloway reported recently.
“The time has come to recognize over 200,000 New Yorkers of the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain faiths who celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights,” said New York State Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar.
Rajkumar, the first Hindu American and South Asian woman elected to state office in New York, and Mayor Eric Adams announced the plan recently. “South Asian and Indo-Caribbean families like mine all over this city have made incredible contributions. And today, I’m proud to say our time has come,” said Rajkumar.
New Yorkers from all walks of life came to Albany to advocate for Diwali to be a School Holiday. With the support of Eric Adams Mayor, New York City and school Chancellor David Banks, Assembly Member, Jenifer Rajkumar introduced legislation to make Diwali a school holiday. Jenifer Rajkumar said that time has come to make School Holiday Now, as she introduced New York State Assembly Bill A7062A, “Establishes the Diwali school holiday in certain qualifying school districts to commemorate the Hindu festival of lights.”
“As the first Hindu-American and South Asian-American woman elected to state office in New York, I take special pride in advocating for new American communities, including those that celebrate Diwali,” Rajkumar said. “The South Asian, Indo-Caribbean, Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist communities are a vital part of our city’s gorgeous mosaic, contributing to every sector of our society,” she said. “It is long past time to honor their vibrant cultural heritage by making Diwali a school holiday, as community leaders have advocated for years. The time has come.”
A similar bill (S151) was introduced in the New York State Senate by Sen. Kevin Thomas. Thomas, the first Indian American is sponsoring a bill to give districts the ability to close on six additional religious holidays — two Islamic, two Hindu, one Sikh and Christian Good Friday. New York City schools already close on the Lunar New Year and Islamic Eid al-Fitr. Some Long Island schools have already added Diwali to their calendar.
More than 300,000 Hindus, Jain, Sikhs celebrate festival of Diwali in New York . It’s only fair that Diwali should be a school Holiday so that children can celebrate Diwali with their families.
Jagdish Sewhani, a community leader said that it’s “unfair for Hindu students in New York City to be at school on their most popular festival, Diwali. If schools had declared holidays around other religious days, why not Diwali then?”
South Asians and Indo-Caribbean in New York are fighting for Diwali school holiday for ages. It should be a public holiday in New York City, then New York State and consequently other states should fall on track.
“It’s time to recognize more than 300,000 Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain faiths New Yorkers to celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights. Thousands of students, parents, and faculty would not have to select between observing the day or missing school or work,” asserted Jagdish Sewhani, President, American India Public Affairs Committee.
Hinduism is not only the oldest and third largest religion of the world but it is rich in festivals. More so religious festivals are very precious and sacred to Hindus. Diwali, the festival of lights, drive out the darkness and light up the lives, representing the victory of good over evil. It indicates the occasion of Bhagwan Shri Ram returning to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile.In India Christmas is national holiday,It should be a national holiday in USA also asserted Mr Sewhani.
Senator John Liu , Senator Kevin Thomas , Assemblyman David Weprin and many more showed their Support for this Bill to Make Diwali a school holiday.
Facebook-parent Meta said last week that it will restore former President Donald Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks, just over two years after suspending him in the wake of the January 6 Capitol attack.
“Our determination is that the risk [to public safety] has sufficiently receded,” Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said in a blog post. “As such, we will be reinstating Mr. Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks. However, we are doing so with new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses.”
Trump could be suspended for as much as two years at a time for violating platform policies in the future, Clegg said. With his Facebook and Instagram accounts reactivated, Trump will once again gain access to huge and powerful communications and fundraising platforms just as he ramps up his third bid for the White House.
The decision, which comes on the heels of a similar move by Twitter, could also further shift the landscape for how a long list of smaller online platforms handle Trump’s accounts.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump will seize the opportunity to return to the Meta platforms. Trump’s reps did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a post on his own platform, Truth Social, Trump acknowledged Meta’s decision to reverse its suspension of his account and said “such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution.”
Former President Trump’s team was not given advance notice of Meta’s decision, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Many of his aides and advisers learned of the decision from media reports. Shortly before the announcement, Meta asked for a last-minute meeting with Trump’s lawyers this evening to discuss his possible reinstatement, but were not told what the final decision was. They were still in the meeting when Meta released the news, the source said.
Twitter restored Trump’s account in November following its takeover by billionaire Elon Musk, but the former president has not yet resumed tweeting, opting instead to remain on Truth Social.
But Trump’s campaign earlier this month sent a letter to Meta petitioning the company to unblock his Facebook account, a source familiar with the letter told CNN, making his return more likely. Although Twitter was always Trump’s preferred platform, he has a massive reach on Facebook and Instagram — 34 million followers and 23 million followers, respectively, ahead of his reinstatement. Previous Trump campaigns have lauded the effectiveness of Facebook’s targeted advertising tools and have spent millions running Facebook ads.
Meta’s decision was quickly criticized by a number of online safety advocates and democratic lawmakers. Congressman Adam Schiff said in a tweet that restoring Trump’s “access to a social media platform to spread his lies and demagoguery is dangerous,” noting that Trump has shown “no remorse” for his actions around the January 6 attack. NAACP President Derrick Johnson called the decision “a prime example of putting profits above people’s safety.”
But ACLU Director Anthony Romero called the decision “the right call,” joining several other groups in praising the move. He added: “The biggest social media companies are central actors when it comes to our collective ability to speak — and hear the speech of others — online. They should err on the side of allowing a wide range of political speech, even when it offends.”
How Meta made the decision
The company made the landmark decision to bar Trump from posting on Facebook and Instagram the day after the January 6 attack, in which his supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to overturn the 2020 election results.
Many other platforms did the same in quick succession, but Facebook was clear that it planned to revisit the decision at a later date. After Facebook’s independent Oversight Board recommended that the company clarify what was initially an indefinite suspension, Facebook said the former president would remain restricted from the platform until at least January 7, 2023.
Meta earlier this month was considering whether to restore Trump’s accounts with the help of a specially formed internal company working group made up of leaders from different parts of the organization, a person familiar with the deliberations told CNN. The group included representatives from the company’s public policy, communications, content policy, and safety and integrity teams, and was being led by Clegg, who previously served as UK Deputy Prime Minister.
The company said in June 2021 that it would “look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded” in January 2023 to make a determination about the former president’s account.
“If we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety, we will extend the restriction for a set period of time and continue to re-evaluate until that risk has receded,” Clegg, then-vice president of global affairs at Meta, said in a statement at the time.
Meta’s updated policy
Clegg said in his Wednesday post that the company believes “the public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying — the good, the bad and the ugly — so that they can make informed choices at the ballot box.” But, he said, “that does not mean there are no limits to what people can say on our platform.”
In light of his previous violations, Trump will now face “heightened penalties for repeat offenses,” Clegg said, adding that the policy will also apply to other public figures whose accounts are reinstated following suspensions related to civil unrest.
Clegg told Axios in an interview published Wednesday that the company does not “want — if he is to return to our services — for him to do what he did on January 6, which is to use our services to delegitimize the 2024 election, much as he sought to discredit the 2020 election.”
“In the event that Mr. Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation,” Clegg said. However, the possibility of permanent removal of Trump’s accounts — which Clegg had previously indicated could be a consequence of future violations if his account were to be restored — no longer appears to be on the table.
For content that doesn’t violate its rules but “contributes to the sort of risk that materialized on January 6th, such as content that delegitimizes an upcoming election or is related to QAnon,” Meta may limit distribution of the posts, Clegg said. The company could, for example, remove the reshare button or keep the posts visible on Trump’s page but not in users’ feeds, even for those who follow him, he said. For repeated instances, the company may restrict access to its advertising tools.
If Trump again posts content that violates Meta’s rules but “we assess there is a public interest in knowing that Mr. Trump made the statement that outweighs any potential harm” under the company’s newsworthiness policy, Meta may similarly restrict the posts’ distribution but leave them visible on Trump’s page.
Kicking off the proceedings for the 65th annual Grammy Awards, Awards Premiere Ceremony, Anoushka Shankar will be seen making her third performance at the event.
The ceremony will return to the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on 5 February.
The masterful sitar player, producer, film composer, activist and nine-time Grammy Award nominee will perform alongside vocalist Arooj Aftab on their nominated track ‘Udhero Na’ from Arooj’s new album, ‘Vulture Prince’.
Anoushka shared: “I’m genuinely over the moon to be performing at the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony for the third time. This time I’m excited to share the stage with the wonderful Arooj Aftab, playing her beautiful song Udhero Na.”
“I’m grateful my music on this song and on my album Between Usa has been recognised with a nomination again and am proud to represent India and my instrument, the sitar, on this world stage.”
Anoushka enjoys an extensive Grammy history; she was the first Indian woman ever nominated and youngest-ever nominee in the World Music Category for her album Live At Carnegie Hall in 2002, and then went on to become the first Indian musician to perform at the ceremony in 2005, serve as presenter in 2016 and perform for the second time in 2021.
In addition to her fresh eighth and ninth nominations, Anoushka’s previous works Live At Carnegie Hall, Rise, Traveller, Traces Of You, Home, Land Of Goldand Love Letters have all been Grammy nominated.
This announcement coincides with Anoushka’s fresh inaugural empanellment as a Visiting Professor in Music at Oxford University.
Anoushka further added: “What a true honour to be invited as the Inaugural Visiting Professor in Music Business at Oxford University! I’m deeply grateful to embark upon this new journey.”
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Shares of Adani Enterprises plunged on Friday as a scathing report by a US-based short seller triggered a massive selloff in the conglomerate’s listed firms, casting doubts on the company’s record $2.45 billion secondary offering, reported news agency Reuters.
The selloff in Adani’s corporate empire accelerated on Friday, erasing more than $50 billion of market value in less than two sessions as Asia’s richest man struggles to contain the fallout, reported news agency Bloomberg.
Adani Group’s share prices of its seven listed companies nosedived last week, after Hindenburg Research stated that it assumed a short position, in particular securities of the conglomerate. In response, Adani Group dismissed the allegations as ‘baseless’, termed the report as ‘malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale,’ and is contemplating legal action against the American investor.
“If Adani is serious, it should also file suit in the U.S. where we operate. We have a long list of documents we would demand in a legal discovery process,” Hindenburg said while also asserting that it fully stands by its findings.
As per reports, Hindenburg Research said that the company hasn’t addressed a single substantive issue raised in the 32,000-word report. “At the conclusion of our report, we asked 88 straightforward questions that we believe give the company a chance to be transparent. Thus far, Adani has answered none of these questions,” the short seller has reportedly said.
The report alleges that the Indian group, headed by Asia’s richest man, Gautam Adani, had engaged in brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud. It contains details of the Adani family’s alleged shell companies in tax havens across Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates, and the Caribbean, established for facilitating money laundering and tax evasion through siphoning money from the group’s listed entities.
Following the accusations, Adani Transmission shares crashed above 19 percent and Adani Gas tumbled 19.1 percent in their biggest downward trajectory since March 2020, while Adani Green Energy depreciated around 16 percent on the BSE during today’s early trading session. The share prices of Ambuja Cements, NDTV, and ACC, the Indian conglomerate’s recent acquisitions, also declined 7.71 percent, 4.98 percent, and 7.26 percent respectively, on Wednesday, according to reports.
The Adani Group announced on Jan 26, 2023, that it is considering taking legal action against Hindenburg Research for a report from January 23, 2023, that accused the Indian conglomerate of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme.”
Jatin Jalundhwala, legal head for Adani Group, said, “The maliciously mischievous, unresearched report published by Hindenburg Research on 24 Jan 2023 has adversely affected the Adani Group, our shareholders and investors.”
The report was released ahead of the Rs 20,000 crore follow-on public offer (FPO) by Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the Adani Group. The FPO had raised Rs 5,984.9 crore from 33 anchor investors on Wednesday.
A foreign brokerage house has said that Indian banks have an exposure of Rs 81,200 crore to Adani Group, whose group debt is Rs 2 lakh crore (about $24 billion), according to media reports.
Analysts said the listed Adani firms lost more than Rs 3 lakh crore in market capitalisation on Friday and more than Rs 4.10 lakh crore since Wednesday.
The three companies recently acquired by the Adani group — Ambuja Cement, ACC and NDTV — also wilted. The tycoon has seen over $7 billion of his personal wealth wiped out since the start of the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index which has yet to factor in last week’s meltdown.
A symbol of new India, the Kartavya Path which was formerly known as Rajpath, hosted its first Republic Day parade in Delhi on January 26, 2023. India showcased its military and its cultural diversity in a colorful parade on Thursday at the revamped colonial avenue in New Delhi to mark Republic Day, the anniversary of the day the country’s secular Constitution came into effect in 1950.
The 74th Republic day celebrations was attended by President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of other dignitaries. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was the chief guest at the ceremonial event.
The grand celebration, first in Amrit Kal, was attended by at least 65,000 people. The Delhi Police said about 30,000 people reached the parade venue through the metro this year. The Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan metro stations were open for visitors.
The Egyptian President is the first major world leader to visit India in a year the government is eagerly preparing to host the G20 summit for the first time. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chief of defense staff and the three service chiefs were also present at the parade, which featured more women in the military contingents.
“We will move together to fulfil the dreams of the heroes of our freedom movement,” Modi wrote on Twitter to mark the occasion. The country’s rich and diverse heritage was showcased in vibrant tableaux from different states and ministries, highlighting the central theme of ‘nari shakti’ or women power. The army’s tableaux comprised only locally-made weapons, reflecting India’s drive to become more self-reliant in the defense sector.
The event climaxed with a flypast by 45 aircraft of the Indian Air Force, with French-made Rafales, Russian-made Su-30s and the Indian-made Tejas fighter jets putting on an impressive aeronautical display. But foggy weather spoilt the spectacle, as spectators struggled to catch a glimpse of the aircraft as they roared overhead.
The annul parade is a tightly choreographed spectacle of motorbike stunts, traditional dance and camel-mounted soldiers at a time when the emergent Asian power faces onerous security challenges. India has benefited in recent years from an increasing economic heft and diplomatic clout that has raised its position in global affairs.
Indian Embassy in US celebrates 74th Republic day
The Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. celebrated the 74th Republic Day of India on January 26, 2023, with a flag-hoisting ceremony at India House. US lawmakers, business leaders, members of the media, students, and members of the Indian diaspora were among the friends of India who attended the ceremony.
Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Ambassador of India, unfurled the tricolor, which was followed by the singing of the National Anthem. On the occasion, a video of the President of India, Droupadi Murmu’s address, on the eve of Republic Day was shown.
The Indian Consulate in New York celebrated India’s 74th Republic Day attended by members of the staff and community in the tri-state area.
The Indian flag was unfurled by Consul General Randhir Jaiswal, accompanied by the singing of the national anthem by artists from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
Consul General Jaiswal welcomed all those present. He read the speech made by the President of India Droupadi Murmu on Jan. 25, 2023, to the nation, on the eve of Republic Day. The Consul General read the speech in Hindi and English. The Consulate General of India, Chicago celebrated the 74th Republic Day of India on Thursday, January 2023. In the morning, the ceremonial unfurling of the Indian flag took place at the Consulate.
“I never thought I’d be able to play in front of my child in a Grand Slam final, so it’s truly special for me.”
Sania Mirza’s final Grand Slam match ended with the runner-up plate but this line from her emotional post-match speech signifies the magnitude of her journey, and her achievement today, despite the loss.
Sania and Rohan Bopanna – still a doubles pair 22 years after they first partnered at the National Championship in India – went down in the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open 6-7(2), 2-6 to the Brazilians Luisa Stefani and Rafael Mataos.
It was a one-sided final for the most part, as the Indians struggled to convert their chances and counter their opponents’ defence. But the story is not just of the loss, it’s also about celebrating how Sania Mirza reiterated how she is a fighter till the end.
At 36 years of age, playing well beyond her original retirement plan in 2022 after yet another injury setback, she somehow gave herself a chance for more silverware on tennis’ biggest stage. This time with her four-year-old son watching, even joining her on court after her last win.
Her previous Grand Slam final was back in 2017, also the mixed doubles at the Australian Open, which she lost. Her son was born in 2018 and, despite a fairly successful comeback after giving birth, the pandemic disruption and a number of injuries, she never reached another final.
And yet, when the unseeded, all-Indian pair reached the final beating the third seeds it felt like no surprise, and the loss to a younger pair feels like a disappointment.
It truly puts Sania’s tennis career in perspective. Even when she lost the final, she showed once again why she is India’s greatest woman tennis player. That we had the expectation of a fairytale farewell is also down to all the times she has bounced back, on and off court to prove detractors wrong.
It was an emotional final, perhaps the significance of the moment weighing a bit too heavily on the Indians at times as a string of nervy errors showed.
Sania, who said she is not one to cry in public, was visibly emotional after. “If I cry, these are happy tears. That’s just a disclaimer,” she said on court.
“I’m still going to play a couple of more tournaments but my journey of my professional career started in Melbourne. It started in 2005 when I played Serena Williams in the third round as an 18-year-old and that was, scarily enough, 18 years ago. I have had the privilege to come back here again and again, win some tournaments here and play some great finals amongst you all. Rod Laver Arena has really been special in my life and I couldn’t think of a better arena to finish my career at in a Grand Slam,” she added.
The Australian Open has indeed been a happy hunting ground for her. She made her Grand Slam debut here and was seeded in the singles main draw for the first time – a massive achievement for an Indian player in singles.
She also played her first Major final (mixed doubles 2008), and won her first Grand Slam (mixed doubles 2009, both with Mahesh Bhupathi) here.
It feels like a full circle, yet it isn’t; Sania has been so much more than her sporting success. One cannot talk about her plethora of tennis achievements – she owns almost every milestone in Indian women’s tennis – without mentioning the off-field barriers she had to overcome.
Sania’s fearlessness kept her unfazed on court when chaos surrounded her. And she had her share of scrutiny, perhaps more than a regular Indian sportswoman, due to her religion, life partner and residence. Yet she kept at it, and brought India its most glorious tennis memories in recent times when the sport has found few silver linings.
The numbers we know – six Grand Slams, singles rank as high as No 27, the doubles No 1 for a total of 91 weeks. But to truly celebrate Sania Mirza is to acknowledge her achievements both on and off court. The teen who fought off fatwas, the 35-year-old who couldn’t lift a water bottle without pain last October due to an elbow injury that ended her planned farewell season, the mother who travelled with her toddler to tournaments. For her last dance, she pushed herself back in shape to retire on court, on her terms. The fighter who pushed boundaries and changed the way Indian tennis and sportswomen are seen.
There are a couple of tournaments still left before her swansong next month in Dubai. Till then, let’s continue to enjoy the Sania Mirza forehands and forthrightness that made her stand out like no other. (The ESPN)
Days after a BBC documentary examining the role that Narendra Modi, now prime minister of India had played in 2002 communal riots in Gujarat was released, India’s Information Ministry announced that all links to the footage were to be banned on social media.
The BBC has said its documentary was “rigorously researched according to highest editorial standards”.
India’s federal government described the two-part documentary India: The Modi Question as “propaganda” and invoked an emergency law to block it on YouTube and Twitter. The response by the Indian government was quick and draconian. Emergency laws brought in by the Modi government just two years ago were used to enforce the ban.
Both Twitter and YouTube quickly complied with the government’s censorship requests. Posts on about 50 Twitter accounts were removed, with activists, politicians and even Hollywood actors among those affected, as well as an unspecified number of YouTube channels. Widely shared clips of the documentary, which alleged that Modi, in his role as chief minister of Gujarat at the time, had enabled and then did nothing to stop the violence in which almost 1,000 Muslims were killed, quickly disappeared from Indian social media.
It is not the first time the Modi government has used the 2021 information technology rules to censor online content critical of the administration. However, the action taken over the BBC documentary is among the most high-profile use of the legislation and sheds light on the fragile and fractious place that social media such as Twitter now occupy in India and directly pits the vow of the platform’s new billionaire owner, Elon Musk, to be a “free speech absolutist” against increasingly authoritarian laws governing the country’s online sphere.
Widely criticized by human rights groups and digital activists, the 2021 IT rules give the government power to remove any content it deems to threaten “the unity, integrity, defense, security or sovereignty of India”.
Even before the passing of the legislation, legal demands made by the Modi government to remove content from Twitter increased by 48,000% between 2014 and 2020, according to the analysis of the company’s transparency reports.
The two-part BBC series documenting the rise of Modi has proved highly controversial in India, despite it only being released in the UK, prompting allegations from the Indian foreign ministry that it was “biased propaganda” that showed a “blatant colonial mindset.”
Kanchan Gupta, a spokesperson for the information ministry, called the documentary “hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage” and students who arranged a screening at a university in Kerala this week were accused of being “treasonous”.
At Delhi’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, students who tried the same were hit with an electricity and internet blackout and had stones thrown at them by others from rightwing groups. New Delhi police, clad in riot gear and equipped with tear gas, arrested nearly a dozen students at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university ahead of a planned screening. Authorities at the University of Hyderabad are also investigating a screening of the documentary on Saturday.
A local branch of the opposition Congress Party in the southern state of Kerala screened the banned BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role in the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat, NDTV reported.
The documentary aired Jan. 17 and charts Modi’s political rise through the ranks of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and becoming chief minister of the western state of Gujarat.
It focuses at length on the 2002 Gujarat riots—one of the worst outbreaks of religious violence in India’s recent history—that took place while he led the state. After a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire in the state, and 59 people were killed, grieving citizens blamed Muslims. Revenge attacks led to over 1,000 deaths.
The documentary highlighted an unpublished report from the U.K. Foreign Office that claims Modi was “directly responsible” for the “climate of impunity” that enabled the violence. Modi denies accusations of personal responsibility for the riots, and his supporters cite a 2013 Supreme Court ruling of there being insufficient evidence to prosecute him.
The BBC also uncovered memos showing that Modi’s conduct was criticised at the time by western diplomats and the British government, including in a government report which found that the riots had “all the hallmarks of an ethnic cleansing”.
Modi has been haunted for decades by allegations of complicity in the violence that took place during the Gujarat riots, which broke out after 59 Hindu pilgrims died on a train that had been set on fire. The fire was blamed on the state’s Muslim population.
Many have cited their compliance with the online censorship of the documentary as an example of how Twitter and YouTube are helping to further erode freedom of speech in India, in order to appease the Modi government and not compromise access to the vast and increasingly online Indian population. There are over 40 million Twitter users in India, making it their third largest market after Japan and the US.
“This use of an emergency law as a censorship mechanism is a very worrying development but it’s far from the first time this has happened,” said Prateek Waghre, the policy director at the advocacy group the Internet Freedom Foundation in India. According to a statement to parliament in July, action was taken against 94 YouTube channels, 19 social media accounts and 747 URLs on the government’s request since the IT rules were passed.
Before Musk’s takeover, Twitter had pushed back – though somewhat inconsistently – against the Modi government’s increasingly heavy-handed approach towards social media. Twitter had restored some of the accounts the administration had demanded the removal of and in July last year filed a lawsuit in Indian courts alleging New Delhi had abused its power by ordering the company to arbitrarily and disproportionately take down accounts belonging to government critics.
Yet for all his protestations to be a crusader for free speech, there are indicators that Musk’s Twitter might be far less bullish in standing up to the Modi government. When Musk was trying to back out of the deal to buy the platform, he made it clear in the court filings that he was unhappy with the lawsuit against the Indian government, saying he believed moderation should Media/Technology“hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates.”
“We’re talking about pressures on freedom of speech in the world’s largest democracy,” Waghre said. “Musk’s pledge has rung hollow everywhere, but in India the impact will certainly be larger.”
The decision to block the documentary comes amid an increasingly challenging environment for media and freedom of the press under the Modi government, with critical journalists and media subjected to state and judicial harassment. Last year, India slipped eight places in the press freedom index to 150 out of 180 counties, its worst position on record. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/25/india-ban-on-bbc-modi-film-elon-musk-twitter-free-speech-emergency-laws)
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Commemorating the 17th “Pravasi Bharatiya Divas,” which was attended by notable diaspora from all over the world, the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO), and India Africa Trade Council (IATC) collaborated to host the NRI Council Conference and Awards on Jan. 10th, 2023.”
Inaugurating the conference, India’s Minister of State for external affairs and culture, Meenakshi Lekhi, who also launched the Global India Organization, Asia Chapter, said: “Happy to inaugurate the NRI Council Conference 2023 & launch the Global Indian Organisation (GIO) Asia Chapter in Indore.
Had a lively interaction with our vibrant Indian diaspora and discussed the numerous initiatives undertaken by the Modi Govt. for our diaspora.”
Global Indian Business Council
With a mission to facilitate global economic development with emphasis on India, Global Indian Business Council (GIBC) launched and helped promote the Pravasi Divas 2015 in Gandhi Nagar and Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gujarat, India by organizing a meaningful half-day economic seminar on November 22, 2012, in metro Atlanta.
GIBC is a network of business and technology leaders across the globe based in USA to promote and facilitate greater cooperation in trade and commerce between India, USA, and the rest of the world following the new vision offered by the pragmatic and dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.
The seminar was well attended by several distinguished speakers, processionals, corporate executives, and leaders of governments, chambers of commerce and academics.
The program started with a cocktail/social hour, which gave the opportunity to the conference attendees to network with each other and explore the opportunities for a successful Indo-USA trade and commerce partnership.
In welcoming address, Dhiru Shah, President-elect of GIBC, President-Suraj International, Inc., Alumnus of London School of Economics and Harvard Business School with 40 plus years of international management and business experience, dwelt upon the need to have an organization like GIBC to promote and facilitate bilateral trade, commerce and investment between all countries particularly at a time when the global economic situation is facing severe recessionary trends. Shah pointed out that both European Union andJapanare already facing recession andChinais slowing down. He further stated that while theUSeconomy is stable, it is very important that massive investments inIndiafrom overseas can help stimulate further the economy ofIndia. For this effort, GIBC (which strives to help) can become a major player in facilitating investment, trade and business inIndia.
Dr. Mahesh Mehta-President of GIBC, an eminent scientist and research scholar in Membrane technology, explained the basic mission and objectives of GIBC. Dr. Mehta stated that the election of 2014 has for the first time brought a party to power with a clear majority which in turn has elected the most dynamic, visionary, incorruptible and pragmatic leader, Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India.
He felt confident that the time has come for India to become an economic powerhouse under the leadership of Modi and his hard working team to lead India to its new zenith. GIBC with it networking abilities with the Indian government and the state governments,USAand the rest of the world will be able to provide its (GIBC) services fromUSAand the rest of the world to set up businesses and industries inIndia.
Hon. Consul R. Srinvasan of the Indian Consulate-Atlanta conveyed his best wishes for the success of GIBC. He explained the role of theAtlantaconsulate in furthering the economic development ofIndiaby offering different services to facilitate investment inIndia. Consul Srinivasan informed that theAtlantaconsulate serves eightUSstates with about 300,000 NRIs and PIOs by offering Visa and other facilities. Currently he, at the Consulate, also deals with economic, trade and commerce wing to help US and NRIs businesses and companies by providing information relating to the Indian economy and various Indian government economic entities.
As a keynote speaker, Hon. Kwanza Hall, Council member of city ofAtlanta, felt that there was a big need to invest in small and medium scale industries and business inGeorgia, which would generate massive employment for the poor African American people. Hon. Hall wanted that theAtlantaCitywould welcome investments inAtlantafromIndiaand Indian diaspora inAmericaon a reciprocal basis
Hon. Yasukata Fukahori,Deputy ConsulGeneral,JapanAtlantaConsulate talked about the close economic relationshipJapanhas withIndia. He stated that the recent meeting of Prime Ministers of India andJapanhas further strengthened the economic ties between the two countries. He praised the efforts made by GIBC in helping facilitate the trade and commerce between Indian and other countries. Hon. Fukahori stated thatJapanhas a very large investment in GA even though the number of the Japanese living in GA is very small compared to Indian Americans. There were some hilarious moments when Hon. Fukahori talked about reservations of Japanese speakers to speak beyond the protocol and how the Indian speakers like to continue speaking. He narrated one experience in which the Japanese Speaker in India spoke for 5 minutes but the interpreter in India explained for 30 minutes explaining what the Japanese spoke in 5 minutes.
Andjela Kessler, President-Incentive Travel & meetings, talking about the Indo-Global tourism, informed the audience that her company has been successful in developing tourism in India and particularly in Gujarat. She spoke about the success of the short Gujarat tourism advertisement videos/films by engaging the Bollywood film star like Amitabh Bachchan and her good fortune to interact with then CM. Narendra Modi of Gujarat She pointed out about the great success story of tourist industry in Thailand and felt that India can also become a major tourist nation in the world if the Indian government and businesses developed the basic infrastructures like good hotels, roads, and reliable transportation. At hisMadisonSquareGardenrally in NY on September 27, Prime Minister Modi had made a direct pitch to NRIs to woo tourism for the progress ofIndia.
Raj Anand, CEO of Southern States LLC and an alumni of IIT India, narrated how successful his company has been able to develop a close and mutually beneficial business relationship with a few Indian companies like Crompton Greaves. He stated that there is a large pool of qualified engineers and technically trained workers inIndiawho will help the country to develop economically fast with the help of the Indian government, foreign investment and established Indian business corporations. He hinted that for a success of operations inIndiaby overseas companies, it is desired that they have at least some control in the day-to-day operations inIndia. He went on to elaborate the success story of the Southern States LLC which has introduced ground breaking products like the Load and Line Switchers.
Charles Wood of ETech Global Services,Dallas,TXspoke about the US-India Collaborative success in the field of IT industry. His company has set up two offices in Gujarat employing about 500 IT executives who are responsible for software development for their global operations includingUSA. Their first office in Gandhinagar was inaugurated by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi (then Chief Minister ofGujarat). ITech CEO, Matt Raco conveyed the message that his company will join hands with GIBC in facilitating investment inIndiaand congratulated its President Dr. Mahesh Mehta for this visionary and timely endeavor.
On the topic of Medical Tourism inIndia, Dr. Raghunath Katragadda, Asst. Prof. of Medicine, Div. of Cardiology,EmoryHeart & VascularCenter, talked about his success story of setting up a top class Hospital chain inHyderabad,Indiato cater to the medical tourism fromUSAand other countries. He stated that in order to build a successful medical tourist industry inIndia, it is necessary to have top class hospitals, reliable nursing, follow up care, trained doctors and surgeons with affordable pricing. Currently, there are only a few hospitals inIndia, which can treat patients from the western world. He also pointed out that there are other countries likeSingapore,Thailandwho are also competing withIndiato attract medical tourists in their countries.
Kanchan Banerjee, VP, GIBC, CEO- Ipremm, Inc. and Editor in Chief of the New Global Indian Magazine, made a power point presentation on Vibrant Gujarat 2015 and urged audience to join the GIBC delegation to Vibrant Gujarat program scheduled to be held on Jan. 9-11, 2015 which will give them the opportunity to meet industrialists, the Chief Minister and top government bureaucrats of the Gujarat government for signing MOUs in investing in Gujarat. He added, never before has the business environment so friendly inGujarat. “So, take advantage of it!”
Subash Razdan, VP-GIBC, an active participant and recipient of PBD Samman Award 2013 and Director, Georgia Chamber of Commerce, gave a brief overview of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD-People of Indian origin), the opportunities to invest in India and encouraged the audience to attend the 2015 event to be held in Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat on Jan. 7-9, 2015, especially so when it is followed by the Vibrant Gujarat Summit (VGS). He underscored the importance of this year’s PBD as it will celebrate the centennial celebrations of return of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi from S. Africa toIndiain 1915 and for further details, one could get in touch with the Consulate General of India (CGI) and/or members of GIBC.
Ashwin Patel, VP- GIBC, Chairman-Apsilon Hotels LLC, Supreme Hospitality Supply LLC and Alpha Renewable Energy LLC, offered the vote of thanks to the distinguished dignitaries, invited guests, media persons, officials and volunteers and the hospitality of Staybridge Suites staff. He thanked Dr. Narayanan Komerath, Prof. of Aerospace Eng. at GA tech for his design of the GIBC website. He thanked Madhu Tata of Swapna Indian Cuisine for catering an exotic dinner and Sanjay Pandya of Davis Printing. The event saw many prominent and other dignitaries present such as Hon. Greg Pridgeon, former Council Member of Atlanta and former Chief of Staff of City of Atlanta under Mayor Shirley Franklin and key proponent of the Atlanta-Ahmedabad Sister City relationship; Hon. Eric De Groot of Sandy Springs International Economic Affairs and President of the Holland Chamber of Commerce; Wayne Lazarus of the prominent law firm Stokes, Lazarus and Carmichael who has drafted articles of Incorporation of many Asian (also Indian) American non-profit organizations, Jitu Patel, Chair of the Atlanta-Ahmedabad Sister City Exchange Committee (AASCE) et al. TheSisterCityproposal of twining of Atlanta-Ahmedabad was approved by the public hearing of over 300 attendees in favor of Ahmedabad by near unanimity, but had to be shelved due to scale back and economic recession in Georgia and the rest ofUSAunder mayor Shirley Franklin. Fortunately, Mayor Kaseem Reed is looking at it favorably now with special connection of Gandhi (Ahmedabad) and King (Atlanta).
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launched the Global Tamil Angels platform (www.tamilangels.fund), which would allow investors from the Global Tamil Diaspora to invest in the State’s start-ups on January. 9, 2023.
The Chief Minister launched the platform at the “Global Startup Investors Summit,” which was co-hosted by the Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission (TANSIM) and the FeTNA International Tamil Entrepreneur Network in Chennai.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launched the Global Tamil Angels platform (www.tamilangels.fund) of Start-upTN, which will enable investors from the Global Tamil Diaspora to make investments in Tamil Nadu-based start-ups. Stalin launched the platform at the “Global Startup Investors Summit” jointly organized by Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission and FeTNA International Tamil Entrepreneur Network in Chennai on Monday.
The platform, besides connecting the Tamil Nadu-based start-ups with the global Tamil angel investors, will offer legal consultation for investing and help take products to the global markets. Stalin highlighted various initiatives taken by his government, including the ₹1,000-crore Green Climate Fund. He assured all support to the investors and hailed the initiative as first of its kind in the country.
At the event, a multi-crore American Tamil Fund by investors from the Tamil Nadu Diaspora in the U.S. to make investments in Tamil Nadu-based start-ups was announced. The investors presented an intent to invest $2 million (about ₹16.5 crore) by December 2023 to MSME Minister T.M. Anbarasan.
Minister for Information Technology T. Mano Thangaraj, Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and MSME Secretary Arun Roy, FeTNA President Bala Swaminathan, Mission Director and CEO of StartupTN Sivarajah Ranathan were present.
The Madhya Pradesh government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) under the State’s Innovation Medical Knowledge Sharing Mission.
The decision was taken by the State’s Medical Education Minister Vishwas Kailash Sarang, following a discussion on mutual exchange in the field of medical education and research with doctors of the AAPI on the second day of the Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan.
“MoU with the prestigious organization of doctors in America will develop new dimensions in the field of medical education and research. It will help in capacity building and training of medical students and doctors of the state. It will also help in technical cooperation in the establishment of the center of excellence for medical subject expertise,” Sarang said.
He added that AAPI will also conduct online lectures and workshops for medical students and doctors. ACS Medical Education Mohammad Suleman, president of AAPI delegation Dr Ravi Kolli, Dr Manoj Jain, Dr Prakash Satwani, Dr. sampat Shivangi, Dr Leena Gupta, Dr Vijay Maurya, Dr Pramit, Dr Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Dr Satheesh Kathula and other dignitaries were present at the meeting.
India Society of Worcester (ISW), which launched the creative platform “Women Empowering Women” two years ago, is kicking off this year with an event on Jan. 21, 2023 in Shrewsbury, MA.
The free two-hour event, which will celebrate two years of the Women Empowering Women initiative, will start at 4:00 PM at the India Society of Worcester, located at 152 Main Street in Shrewsbury. The mission of the organization is to empower woman by transforming “the I can’t to the I can!”
ISW launched this initiative for women from all walks of life to come together by sharing their life experiences. “Our vision is empowering every woman, to make meaningful contributions to society without anybody’s influence,” said Prof. Snehalata Kadam, founder and chair of the Women Empowering Women. “We believe that every woman deserves an initiative to inspire and elevate their community.
She said the keynote speaker for the event is Dr. Manju Sheth, MD, a physician, and president of INE Multimedia, Women Who Win, and creator of Chai with Manju, NECA Awards, director of Woman of the Year and a past president of Indian Medical Association of New England.
“Women have always been quoted as the real architects of society. They have the power to build strong families and also bring the community together,” said Dr. Sheth. “Women also love to get inspired by achievements of other women so I am thrilled that ISW and a great women’s team led by Snehalata Kadam have taken this wonderful initiative to bring women together so we can learn from each other. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing my journey.”
Prof. Kadam said that as a token of gratitude, members of the first panel will be presented with mementos and all the panelists who have been involved so far will be recognized for their roles in orchestrating the success of the program.
“Our mission is to promote women’s sense of self-worth and their potential to influence social change for themselves. As the global landscape for women’s empowerment is changing, we at ISW envision a community where women are empowered at the workplace, home, and the community,” said Prof. Kadam. “Our past and upcoming events will help women reach their potential by providing recourses to build relationships, network and connections. I am inspired by Malala Yousafzai who once said ‘I raise up my voice not that I can shout, but so that those who without a voice can be heard. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back’.”
Women Empowering Women (WEW) Program Advisor Shiamin Melville said: “One of the panels I attended was on issues faced by entrepreneurs. They openly shared the trials they faced and how it was so important to reach out for additional resources and also be able to pivot when a fresh opportunity came their way.”
ISW President Puneet Kohli congratulated WEW on their second anniversary.
“Congratulations on the second anniversary of the ISW-WEW initiative. This platform provides a guiding path to encourage, enlighten and empower the female diaspora of the community,” said Mr. Kohli.
Celebrity chef and restaurateur Vikas Khanna, who’s now a judge on the reality show, ‘MasterChef India’, shared his fitness secret and what all he includes in diet for his physical and mental well-being.
He said: “I am extremely diet conscious. As I live in New York, I do everything on my own, especially cooking. I plan my meals in advance for the whole week. I eat like a puppy. I eat the same food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
Appearing on ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ along with his fellow judges Ranveer Brar and Garima Arora, he revealed all that he loves to eat the entire day.
“In the morning I eat oats with almond milk and cold coffee. But if I am in Amritsar, then I usually end up eating paranthas as my mother starts emotionally blackmailing me. For lunch, I eat roasted vegetables with less carbs and I often eat dinner early. I try my best to finish it before 9 pm as I believe that we should maintain a gap of three hours between dinner and going to sleep.” The Kapil Sharma Show’ airs on Sony Entertainment Television. (IANS)
The drive from Ranchi to Hazaribagh in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand is only 65 miles, but it takes nearly three hours. We swerve to avoid schoolchildren chatting with friends and meandering down the highway, honk at cows to get out of the way, and accelerate past pickups reconfigured as makeshift transport vehicles overflowing with workers. Men in sandals push bicycles overloaded with bags of coal down the highway, while on the back roads close to Hazaribagh, women carry buckets of the stuff on their heads.
Coal is what brought me to Jharkhand, one of India’s poorest and most polluted states. The pedestrian colliers, illegal miners trying to make ends meet, are just the start. All along the route to our destination, the Topa Open Coal Mine, a caravan of large, colorful trucks filled to the brim with coal barrel toward us in the opposite lane. When we finally reach the mine, I see the source of it all: an explosion has blasted through a wall of rock, opening access to new tranches of coal to feed the country’s fast-growing power and industrial needs. says JK John, the senior mining supervisor on site employed by a subsidiary of the state-owned Coal India Ltd.: “Here, coal is in demand.”
Two flights and more than 900 miles away, the northwestern state of Rajasthan is a world apart. Along a smoothly paved highway from the Jaisalmer airport, wind turbines dot the landscape as far as the eye can see. Farther from the town’s center, we approach a field of solar panels, comprising a 300-MW power plant opened in 2021 by the Indian company ReNew Power, providing electricity for the growing population of the state of Maharashtra, home to Mumbai. Even as the region expands its renewable-energy industry, the atmosphere remains clean and pleasant enough to support a thriving tourist trade.
Jharkhand and Rajasthan, so different in appearance, are being shaped by the same fundamental force: India is growing so rapidly that its energy demand is effectively insatiable. But the two states present starkly different answers to that demand. Historically, fossil fuels from places like Jharkhand powered industrialization. But today, with climate concerns rising, many experts are calling for India to ditch coal as soon as possible and embrace the green-energy model so prevalent in Rajasthan.
Much rides on which approach dominates India’s energy future. In the three decades since reducing emissions became a discussion point on the global stage, analysts have portrayed the U.S., China, and Europe as the most critical targets for cutting pollution. But as the curve finally begins to bend in those places, it’s become clear that India will soon be the most important country in the climate change effort. In December, I spent 10 days in India, visiting coal communities, touring renewable-energy sites, and talking with leaders in the country’s political and financial hubs to understand India’s approach to the energy transition.
The picture that emerged is of a government following an approach uncharted for a country of its scale: pursue green technologies in the midst of industrialization while leaving the fate of coal to the market. “India, as a responsible global citizen, is willing to make the bet that it can satisfy the aspiration for higher living standards, while pursuing a quite different energy strategy from any large country before,” says Suman Bery, who leads NITI Aayog, the Indian government’s economic policy-making agency. India, Bery says, will pursue clean energy while seeking a “balance between energy access and affordability, energy security, and environmental considerations.”
Where that balance is struck could tip the climate scales worldwide. India contributes 7% of the emissions that cause global warming today, a percentage that will expand alongside its economy. This growth will help determine whether—and by how far—the world blows past the goal of keeping global temperatures from rising more than the Paris Agreement target of 1.5°C. Equally important, India’s approach is being watched elsewhere. If it can use low-carbon development to bring prosperity to its 1.4 billion people, others will follow. Failure could lead to a retrenchment into fossil fuels across the Global South.
What the Global North does matters too. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates India needs $1.4 trillion in additional investment in coming decades to align its energy system with global climate targets; that will very likely require reforms at international lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to facilitate the flow of money. The best outcome, observers say, is one where India gets the help it needs to make the best choice for everyone. “India has to do it for itself,” says Rachel Kyte, the dean of the Fletcher School of international affairs at Tufts University. “And India needs to do it for the world.”
In a bitter irony, coal-rich Jharkhand cannot provide reliable electricity even to hospitals, schools, and other essential service providers. India’s second poorest state may be an extreme example, but such problems pervade every corner of the country and are the crux of its energy and climate challenge. It is, fundamentally, a developing nation, and its leaders do not want to write off any fuel source while energy demand continues its meteoric rise. As the country’s population swells to as high as a projected 1.8 billion over the next 40 years, and its economy grows at an even faster rate, the country will need to add a power system equivalent in size to that of the entire European Union, according to the IEA.
Historically, development at that scale happened one way: fossil fuels built a country’s industrial base, and then leaders pivoted to a lower-carbon, service-oriented model. China, one of history’s most successful examples of rapid modernization, built its industrial capacity by relentlessly adding coal-fired power plants and now boasts the second largest economy in the world, run primarily on coal. With that base established, the country has recently begun its full-fledged expansion of renewable energy.
India, with its abundant coal resources, could simply do the same. While research shows that a rapid expansion of renewable energy could provide the country with reliable electricity given adequate investment, no other country has tried it at India’s scale. Attempting a renewable revolution comes with some inevitable risks, like technical challenges and vulnerability to foreign supply chains. Meanwhile, coal is tried and tested. Above all, leaders in India insist that they have the right to power up using coal. In the lingo of the climate world, every country has its own population-based “fair share” of emissions it can produce before the world hits unsafe levels of global warming. In this formulation, the U.S. and European countries have already far exceeded their limits; India, on the other hand, has contributed only 4% of global emissions since 1850, despite being home to 18% of the world’s population, according to a 2019 U.N. report.
Whatever the reasoning, no one I spoke with in India, from academics to renewable-energy executives, would endorse a swift transition away from coal. “India’s not married to coal,” says Rahul Tongia, a senior fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress in New Delhi. “It’s just that’s what India’s got.” Instead, government officials are working to promote renewable energy without actively working to shut down coal.
At the center of this approach sits Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi, whose support for solar power extends back to his time as the top official in the state of Gujarat in the 2010s, has set bold renewable-energy targets, saying at COP26 in 2021 that the country would install 500 gigawatts of renewable-energy capacity by 2030. That’s equivalent to 15 times California’s current renewable capability.
To get there, the Modi government has merged its renewable-energy and clean-technology objectives with its policy of liberalizing the economy and boosting the private sector. Bery, of NITI Aayog, describes the government’s approach as market-based: creating a context for clean technologies to “edge out coal in the market” rather than relying on government mandates. India, he tells me in his New Delhi office, should be “backing all these other technologies, so that it’s a pure commercial choice, rather than a regulatory choice to phase out coal.”
Industry insiders say this approach is working. The government-backed Solar Energy Corp. of India, for example, all but eliminated the risk that states would renege on their agreements—a significant worry for the banks that finance such projects—by serving as an intermediary between private-sector developers and states. If states don’t pay, the agency can essentially force them to do so—an innovation that has played a “fundamental” role in allowing the industry to grow, says Sumant Sinha, who has led ReNew Power since 2011. Using policy to drive private-sector investment is the norm in places like the U.S., but it’s new for India. For decades, electricity production and distribution in India was controlled by state-owned enterprises, from state-owned coal mines to state-owned power plants to the state-owned grid. With the new approach, the private sector deploys clean-energy technologies, and the government facilitates.
This is a fundamental, ideological change in Indian governance. The preamble to India’s constitution declares it a “socialist” state. But the investment in renewable energy that has led capacity to double since Modi took office has come almost entirely from private companies—and it isn’t slowing down. “The most natural thing for India to meet this burgeoning electricity requirement is to meet it through renewable energy, because it’s the cheapest, most commercially sound thing to do,” says Sinha. The IEA projects that solar power will make up around 30% of India’s electricity generation by 2040, matching coal’s share. This private-sector vitality was on full display in Rajasthan, where I saw massive wind and solar farms that belong to the country’s biggest private players, including the mega-corporations Tata and Adani.
But the focus on markets also reflects hard politics. Driving around Jharkhand, a state of 33 million people, it’s impossible to miss how entrenched the coal industry has become. Livelihoods depend on it, from educated supervisors running the show to indigent locals scrounging for scraps of coal. On the outskirts of the Topa mine, I saw an entire village abandoned to make way for miners to open a new coal seam.
Displacing such a colossus, policymakers say, cannot be done with a regulation here and there. “The minute you say ‘no coal’ there will be political implications. There will be riots,” says Amitabh Kant, who is leading India’s G-20 conference this year. “But if coal becomes commercially nonviable, that will be acceptable because the market will do it.”
A smooth transition matters not only for India but also for the rest of the world—it is a test case for how to implement an energy shift in developing countries while supporting their economic growth.
India’s leaders are keenly aware of the global stakes. Wherever I traveled there, I saw signs celebrating India hosting this year’s G-20, the annual forum for the world’s largest economies, at which the host is keen to make climate a central topic. India will tout its efforts to spur behavioral change among consumers, and its nascent use of hydrogen as an energy-storage medium. The meetings, Kant says, could lead countries to come to agreement on how to reform institutions like the IMF and World Bank so they can help developing countries decarbonize. The energy transition globally will cost untold trillions of dollars, and most countries now agree that these international financial institutions need to create instruments to make investing in places like India less risky for private financiers.
To actually deliver on such an agenda, though, India must first convince the rest of the world that its model for low-carbon development can work. Modi and others have already begun a campaign to show the rest of the world how serious it is—and to point out Western hypocrisy. At COP27, the annual U.N. climate conference held in November in Egypt, India lobbied for countries to agree to phase out “all fossil fuels” rather than just coal, an implicit challenge to the U.S. and other Western countries that are rich in oil. “Why should only coal be phased out?” Kant asks me rhetorically. And Modi’s LiFE campaign, which focuses on the role behavioral change can play in cutting emissions, stems from a recognition that India’s per capita emissions are just 40% of the global average.
India’s energy future remains India’s “choice.” But for all of the country’s insistence on sovereignty, by marrying its energy policy to its economic liberalization it has chosen a path of interdependence. In leaving the speed of its green transition to the whims of the market, India has accepted a dependence on price signals, investment choices, and economic trends far beyond the control of New Delhi or Mumbai. “The political signals, the policy evolution, or even the international commitments are also contingent on how quickly the market participants are able to respond,” says Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, an Indian environmental NGO.
Which means our future on the planet, once again, depends on a collective choice. Political leaders across the Global North and South can reform the institutions that govern the global economy, ensuring that the market decisively favors clean energy over fossil fuels. Or, we can all bid farewell to global climate targets and gird ourselves for the far more costly dangers that come next. (With reporting by Solcyre Burga and Leslie Dickstein/New York: https://time.com/6246057/india-coal-solar-power-climate-fight)
(AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an unsecured office in Washington dating from his time as vice president.
Robert Hur, a onetime U.S. attorney appointed by former President Donald Trump, will lead the investigation and plans to begin his work soon. His appointment marks the second time in a few months that Garland has appointed a special counsel, an extraordinary fact that reflects the Justice Department’s efforts to independently conduct high-profile probes in an exceedingly heated political environment.
Both of those investigations, the earlier one involving Trump and documents recovered from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, relate to the handling of classified information, though there are notable differences between those cases.
Garland’s decision caps a tumultuous week at the White House, where Biden and his team opened the year hoping to celebrate stronger economic news ahead of launching an expected reelection campaign. But the administration faced a new challenge Monday, when it acknowledged that sensitive documents were found at the office of Biden’s former institute in Washington. The situation intensified by Thursday morning, when Biden’s attorney said an additional classified document was found at a room in his Wilmington home — later revealed by Biden to be his personal library — along with other classified documents in his garage.
The attorney general revealed that Biden’s lawyers informed the Justice Department of the latest discovery at the president’s home on Thursday morning, after FBI agents first retrieved documents from the garage in December.
Biden told reporters at the White House that he was “cooperating fully and completely” with the Justice Department’s investigation into how classified information and government records were stored.
“We have cooperated closely with the Justice Department throughout its review, and we will continue that cooperation with the special counsel,” said Richard Sauber, a lawyer for the president. “We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake.”
Garland said the “extraordinary circumstances” of the matter required Hur’s appointment, adding that the special counsel is authorized to investigate whether any person or entity violated the law. Federal law requires strict handling procedures for classified information, and official records from Biden’s time as vice president are considered government property under the Presidential Records Act.
“This appointment underscores for the public the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters, and to making decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law,” Garland said.
Hur, in a statement, said: “I will conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial and dispassionate judgment. I intend to follow the facts swiftly and thoroughly, without fear or favor and will honor the trust placed in me to perform this service.”
While Garland said the Justice Department received timely notifications from Biden’s personal attorneys after each set of classified documents was identified, the White House provided delayed and incomplete notification to the American public about the discoveries.
Biden’s personal attorneys found the first set of classified and official documents on Nov. 2 in a locked closet as they cleared out his office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, where he worked after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until he launched his presidential campaign in 2019. The attorneys notified the National Archives, which retrieved the documents the next day and referred the matter to the Justice Department.
Sauber said Biden’s attorneys then underwent a search of other locations where documents could have been transferred after Biden left the vice presidency, including his homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Garland said that on Dec. 20, the Justice Department was informed that classified documents and official records were located in Biden’s Wilmington garage, near his Corvette, and that FBI agents took custody of them shortly thereafter.
A search on Wednesday evening turned up the most recently discovered classified document in Biden’s personal library at his home, and the Justice Department was notified Thursday, Garland revealed.
The White House only confirmed the discovery of the Penn Biden Center documents in response to news inquiries Monday and remained silent on the subsequent search of Biden’s homes and the discovery of the garage tranche until Thursday morning, shortly before Garland announced Hur’s appointment. Biden, when he first addressed the matter Tuesday while in Mexico City, also didn’t let on about the subsequent document discoveries.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted that despite the public omissions, Biden’s administration was handling the matter correctly.
“There was transparency in doing what you’re supposed to do,” she said, declining to answer repeated questions about when Biden was briefed on the discovery of the documents and whether he would submit to an interview with investigators.
Pressed on whether Biden could guarantee that additional classified documents would not turn up in a further search, Jean-Pierre said, “You should assume that it’s been completed, yes.”
The appointment of yet another special counsel to investigate the handling of classified documents is a remarkable turn of events, legally and politically, for a Justice Department that has spent months looking into the retention by Trump of more than 300 documents with classification markings found at the former president’s Florida estate.
Though the situations are factually and legally different, the discovery of classified documents at two separate locations tied to Biden — as well as the appointment of a new special counsel — would almost certainly complicate any prosecution that the department might bring against Trump.
New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said of the latest news, “I think Congress has to investigate this. Here’s an individual that sat on ‘60 Minutes’ that was so concerned about President Trump’s documents … and now we find that this is a vice president keeping it for years out in the open in different locations.” Contradicting several fellow Republicans, however, he said, “We don’t think there needs to be a special prosecutor.”
The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee has requested that intelligence agencies conduct a “damage assessment” of potentially classified documents. Ohio Rep. Mike Turner on Thursday also requested briefings from Garland and the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, on their reviews by Jan. 26.
“The presence of classified information at these separate locations could implicate the President in the mishandling, potential misuse, and exposure of classified information,” Turner wrote the officials.
(IPS) – When Megha Jacob, who had been applying for a doctoral degree at various overseas universities, received an offer from the Australian National University’s Department of Chemistry to do a fully funded PhD, she was thrilled and immediately accepted the position.
It was January 2022. She submitted her visa application and resigned from her job at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. One year later, she is still waiting for her visa to be processed.
Several international Indian students enrolled in doctoral degree courses in Australia’s leading universities have been waiting for their visas to be approved for months, some for up to two years. “The protracted delays have put our lives on hold. We seek clarity and a definitive timeline so we can plan our future,” say students from one of the WhatsApp groups formed by Indian doctoral students facing Australian visa processing delays.
Since the easing of Australia’s stringent COVID-19 restrictions, these students allege, the visa processing time for doctoral degree students has increased. “The median processing time for offshore student visa application was 18 days for the Postgraduate Research Sector in November 2022,” an Australian Department of Home Affairs (DHA) spokesperson tells IPS. However, the most recent processing time on the DHA website for 500 – Student visa (subclass 500) Postgraduate Research Sector shows 90 percent of applications are processed in 10 months.
Processing times will take some time to improve as the department works through older applications in the backlog, according to DHA. Processing times can vary due to applicants’ circumstances, including how long it takes to perform required checks on the supporting information provided by the applicant; and how long it takes to receive information from external agencies. This particularly relates to health, character and national security requirements.
Jacob says, “I have been submitting additional information, such as published research papers, but the last updated date on my visa application page on the DHA portal is still nine months old! I wonder if there is a technical glitch in the system or has my application fallen through the cracks.”
“When I called the DHA last month, I was told that waiting time for 90 percent of applicants is nine months [now its 10 months], and for the remaining 10 percent of applicants, we do not know how long it’s going to take. Presumably, some of us are in that 10 percent. But we don’t know why and what has placed our application in that category,” she adds.
Many students in the WhatsApp group have individually reached out to the DHA through email, the complaints section or via phone, but they have received only generic responses. “I have even written to the Commonwealth Ombudsman and received a similar reply that they are conducting necessary background checks, which can take several months,” says Deepak Chahal, who has a master’s from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala).
Chahal, who enrolled as a doctoral student in Macquarie University’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics in December 2020, has been waiting for the past two years for his visa to be processed. He says, “I had begun working remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions, but I can’t continue remotely anymore as I need access to Australian observatories to collect data and the lab to analyse it. I’ve already spent two years doing the research, so abandoning it now is not an option.”
For students in the field of applied science, technology and engineering, working remotely is not an option as they require access to a host of resources –laboratory, equipment, data, fast internet connectivity, and availability of supervisors to oversee their experiments.
“We are losing precious research time as we don’t even know if our visa application will be successful after all this waiting. Our lives are hanging in the balance,” says a 26-year-old applicant from Mumbai (Maharashtra), enrolled in The University of Sydney’s School of Chemistry, who requested anonymity. He applied for his visa in August 2022, as his date of joining was October 1. [Students can submit their application no later than six weeks before their course starts and no earlier than 12 weeks.] He has had to defer his research until his visa application is finalised.
Indian High Commissioner to Australia, Manpreet Vohra, tells IPS, “Many Indian doctorate students with admissions secured at various Australian universities have indeed been waiting for a very long time for their visas to be issued. This has delayed their research and, in some cases, has also jeopardised the grants that have been assured to them. We have been raising this matter regularly with Australian authorities and have urged them for early redressal of the difficulties that the doctorate students are facing.”
The DHA data shows that the higher education sector visa grant rate for 2022-2023 was 76.5 percent to November 30, 2022.
One beacon of hope, these students say, has been the support from Australian universities and the faculty. Dr Clement Canonne, Lecturer at the University of Sydney’s School of Computer Science, recently Tweeted on his personal account: “My hope for 2023 is not to have to raise the PhD and Postgraduate Research #AustralianVisas processing delays issue anymore, and to see not only the current backlog processed, but also increased transparency & communication from @ausgov for applicants.”
There were 1608 Indian nationals enrolled in Doctoral Degree courses out of the 96,005 Indian international students enrolled across all education sectors as of the year-to-date October 2022, according to a spokesperson for the Australian Government’s Department of Education. International students from India across all education sectors contributed $3.729 billion to the Australian economy in the 2021-22 financial year.
Speaking in his personal capacity and not expressing an official university viewpoint, Canonne tells IPS, “Students from India’s premier STEM institutes have many other options. When they, and Chinese and European students, choose to come to work with us, it’s because the research aligns. It’s really disheartening when these exceptional students are accepted, we work hard to apply for funding and get the grant, but then we can’t use the money to do the research for which it is meant because the students’ visa applications are pending for months, even years.”
The Department of Education data shows that in 2019, internationals accounted for 61 percent of Higher Degree Research students in engineering and related technologies and 57 percent in Information Technology.
“We chose Australia because it was a “perfect fit” when it came to the high ranking of Australian universities, professors in our field of research, lab facilities and other resources, full scholarship and shorter duration to complete a PhD in 3.5 years as against five years in most other countries,” says Parkarsh Kumar from Ranchi (Jharkhand), who is enrolled in UNSW Sydney’s Department of Material Science.
He says, “I completed my master’s degree from National Taiwan University on a scholarship and had two job offers, which I declined because I wanted to do a PhD and one day become a professor in an Indian institution. I was a role model in our family and community, but now everyone jokes that don’t be like him because I am sitting at home since January 2022 waiting for my visa application to be processed.”
Many of these students had left their jobs to pursue research, some against the wishes of their parents and elders. The long visa processing delays have caused them mental and financial stress. “If I apply for a job, I am asked why have I not worked for the past 10 months. If I say it’s because I am waiting for my Australian student visa, they immediately reject, stating that then there is no certainty on how long you will work for us,” says Jacob, who has socially isolated herself because while her family is very supportive, the societal pressure of being constantly asked, “When are you going to Australia?” is too much for her.
The long visa delay is prompting some to apply for a PhD in other countries or get a job. The Group of Eight (Go8), representing Australia’s leading research-intensive universities, in its submission dated December 16, 2022, to Australia’s 2023-24 Permanent Migration Program inquiry, noted that “visa backlogs are not just about the number of applicants in the queue, but about the critical expertise that Australia is missing out on, or stands to lose, because of avoidable processing delays.” It urged the DHA “to consider ways to improve and streamline visa assessment processes to facilitate migration in areas of priority or strategic need.” (IPS UN Bureau Report)
Nine in 10 adult social media users admitted to participating in cyberbullying in their lifetime, while only 6 per cent said they would never commit the act, a research conducted in the US and India found.
The recent study by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) showed 94 per cent of respondents admitted to participating in some form of cyberbullying in their lifetime.
Among the 313 respondents from the US and India, more than half said they often do cyberbullying while only 6 per cent said they had never committed cyberbullying.
Educated and married people, irrespective of their gender, were most likely to commit cyberbullying more frequently, but demographics were not the only factors at play, according to the research.
Published in the International Journal of Information Management, the study found other characteristics such as being outgoing or deceptive ultimately contributed to a person’s likelihood of becoming a cyberbully.
It also highlighted two of the most prevalent characteristics of a cyberbully — higher education and psychopathy.
Lead researcher Dr Mohammad Hossain of RMIT said that men, between the age groups of 23-30, were more likely to cyberbully than women.
“We found less agreeable educated married males with high psychopathy and sadism are most susceptible to committing cyberbullying.
“Alternatively, a less-educated introvert female with high emotional stability and low psychopathy is less-likely to engage in cyberbullying,” Hossain said.
However, he added that cyberbullies “possess a unique combination of characteristics that do not work in isolation”.
The study indicated that people’s online behavior from the two countries were similar.
“The research focused on two social media platforms, Facebook and YouTube, and found the distribution of those committing cyberbullying was consistent between the US and Indian sample, and between Facebook and YouTube users,” said Hossain.
He told ABC News that the two countries were intentionally chosen due to their “cultural and political differences, as well as differences in cyber law policies and implementation”.
To prevent this toxic online behaviour, the study suggested that a combination of personality and demographic factors should be considered in designing actionable and proactive policymaking to address the challenge of cyberbullying.
It added that while designing programs to reduce cyberbullying, more attention needs to be given to the users with certain combinations of characteristics. (IANS)
India and the US discussed the excessive delay in the issuance of business visas to Indians, and the Americans showed good receptivity to the issue, according to visiting Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal.
Addressing a press conference after participating in the 13th India-US Trade Policy Forum in Washington, the minister said, “We found very good resonance to our request that issuance of business visas which is taking a long time back home in India is an area which needs to be expedited, so that business persons interested on both sides, need to have faster processing of business visas so that trade, investment does not suffer.”
“We found very good resonance to our request that issuance of business visas which is taking a long time back home in India is an area which needs to be expedited so that business persons interested in both sides — the US and India — need to have faster processing so that trade and investment and business does not suffer,” Goyal said at the conclusion of the India-US Trade Policy Forum meeting, which he co-chaired with Katherine Tai, USTR Ambassador.
“India has made the request to the US that they may speed up the issuance of regular business visas where people come in for short trips to pursue their trade and business interest,” he added as quoted by ANI.
Goyal further underlined that the movement of students, skilled workers, professionals, investors, and business travelers is expanding between the two countries.
He also said India is grateful that the US was able to process the student visas on an expedited basis so that in the post covid scenario, Indian students would come to the US to pursue their studies in the fall of 2022 semester.
Piyush Goyal is on an official visit to New York and Washington DC from 9-11 January to participate in India-US Trade Policy Forum. His visit included delegation-level talks and a one-to-one meeting with US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai.
This request to expiate business visas comes a week after State Department said that the US embassy and consulates in India have broken their record as nearly, 1,25,000 student visas were issued in the fiscal year 2022.
