Category: Community

Yugeshwar Rajkumar, a music business booking agent, has been sentenced to 3¼ -to-6½ years in state prison last week after his guilty plea in March in New York State Supreme Court to grand larceny in the second and third degrees as well as scheme to defraud in the first degree.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced on April 4^th that Rajkumar, who also went by the names “Mateo Rajkumar” and “Matthew Rajkumar,” as well as several entities that he owned and operated in Manhattan, including American Talent Agency, Inc. and Kayvana Entertainment LLC., has been arrested and prosecuted for stealing more than $2 million from clients and promoters by falsely promising to book famous recording artists, including, Akon, Chris Brown, T-Pain, and MC Hammer, for events. In addition to prison terms, he was ordered to pay $1,744,900 in restitution.

Yugeshwar Rajkumar, 45, according to prosecutors, took payments of between $45,000 and $300,000 from clients for the supposed concert bookings for acts including Akon and MC Hammer. He actually just kept the money for himself. The New Jersey-born Rajkumar falsely promised his clients that he would book popular recording artists for overseas concerts, and in exchange for the supposed booking, he charged his clients between $45,000 and $300,000, and directed them to wire payments to bank accounts held by entities based in New York and controlled by Rajkumar.

However, instead of using the money to book the promised artists, the defendant made cash withdrawals and spent the money on rent, car payments, legal fees, and personal debts. In many cases, victims were forced to pay additional fees to secure performances by desired artists who were never booked by Rajkumar.

“The defendant took advantage of his reputation in the music industry to convince his victims to pay him tens of thousands of dollars to secure supposed performances by world-famous recording artists,” said Vance said. “In reality, the defendant never booked the promised artists, resulting in losses to the tune of more than $ 2 million.” Rajkumar pleaded guilty to grand larceny and scheming to defraud in Manhattan Supreme Court on March 4th.

Archna Becker, owner and founder of Bhojanic, an Atlanta, Georgia-based eatery, was recently given the National Restaurant Association award. Becker, who was one of the eight winners honored nationwide, arrived in the U.S. from India at the age of 11.

She began her career three years later in the restaurant industry as a drive-thru worker at a quick service restaurant. She continued to work various industry jobs for another decade before pursuing a career as a business executive.

Becker soon realized her passion was in cooking, opening a catering business in the early 90s and a full-service restaurant a few years later. Today, Becker continues to give back to her community, by serving on the Georgia Restaurant Association Board.

She has employed more than two dozen Bhutanese refugees and has an intense training program to help them learn English and facilitate their transition to the U.S. Becker received the PepsiCo Foodservice’s Faces of Diversity Award, which honors diverse members of the industry who have achieved success in the face of adversity, and who embody the American Dream.

According to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Becker opened her second Bhojanic location in the Shops Around Lenox a little more than a month ago. The first thing that distinguished Bhojanic when it opened some eight years ago, with a selection of small plate “Indian tapas” designed for sampling and sharing.

“The main thing I hated was that you had to buy a lot of large portions,” Becker was quoted as saying of more typical Indian restaurants of the time. “You either ate at a nasty buffet or you ended up buying $200 worth of food and eating it all week.”

Bhojanic’s mostly Northern Indian, Punjabi-style cuisine comes from Becker’s homeland and is cooked homestyle, without butter or cream. The kitchen sources local and seasonal ingredients, and freshly roasted spices are ground daily.

The gruesome murder of law school student Mark Waugh by his best friend Rahul Gupta, an aspiring Indian American biomedical engineer, who was sentenced to life in March 2015, was the subject of the CBS show, “48 Hours,” which was aired on April 2. In the episode, “What Happened in Apt. 1601?,” Richard Schlesinger and “48 Hours” investigate Waugh’s death and the police search for the truth.

Montgomery County, Maryland Circuit Court Judge Richard Jordan gave the maximum sentence to Gupta, then 25, noting that the killer showed no remorse for stabbing and slashing Waugh, 23, on Oct. 13, 2013 in Gupta’s apartment in Silver Springs, Maryland.

On the night of Oct. 13, 2013 – Gupta’s birthday – the two friends along with Gupta’s girlfriend Taylor Gould went out for an evening on the town, heavily drinking at various venues before returning to the apartment where Gupta and Gould lived together. The trio continued drinking there.

At 3:30 a.m., police were summoned to the apartment and found Waugh lying on a bed, covered with blood from multiple stab wounds. Gupta was near him, also covered with blood. The graduate student, who was raised in Virginia, told police he had killed Waugh because he believed his best friend and girlfriend were having an affair.

But in court, Gupta recanted his statement to police, saying he wanted to defend his girlfriend. “I remember thinking how the f*** did this happen. I couldn’t figure it out,” he said. Gupta told jurors that it was Gould who killed Waugh, and said he saw the two walking in from the kitchen with Waugh covered in blood.

“It’s like a horror movie,” said Montgomery County police officer Dean Skiba, according to a press release by CBS, describing the bloody scene in Apt. 1601. “You could see it was up all over the wall, all over the ground.”

CBS described the show this way: Waugh, 23, was stabbed to death in the apartment where his friends, Rahul Gupta, a graduate student, and Gupta’s girlfriend, Taylor Gould, a biomedical engineer, lived. Gupta and Gould, bloody and drunk, according to police, were interrogated immediately afterward. Police thought they would quickly solve the case, especially after Gupta seemingly confessed. “I caught my buddy and my girl cheating,” Gupta told police. “I killed my buddy.”

But then, as the alcohol wore off, everything changed. Gupta insisted he had no idea what transpired. Taylor had a similar story. “I don’t remember what happened,” she told police. “I told you everything I did remember.”

Police struggled to believe Gupta and Taylor completely forgot the events leading up to their friend ending up dead. “They could both remember up until a certain point, but the crucial 45 minutes nobody seems to remember anything,” Detective Paula Hamill says.

Investigators then tried something highly unusual in interrogations that may have changed the face of the case. They put Gupta and Taylor together alone, and monitored their conversations. This conversation ultimately would decide who went home, and who would be charged with murder.

So how does Waugh’s life end? And could anyone figure out who killed him? Schlesinger and “48 Hours” search for answers through interviews with police, investigators, friends and attorneys involved in the case.

After many years of bringing hundreds of lawbreakers to justice, it appears to be the turn of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara now to face the court. A lawsuit filed by an ex-hedge fund founder who claimed his constitutional rights were violated during a sweeping 2010 insider-trading raid can proceed. A  federal court judge in New York has allowed a case against Preet Bharara to go to the discovery stage and denied the “Sheriff “of Wall Street’s motion to dismiss the civil rights claims of a former hedge fund manager targeted but never charged. The plaintiff in the case called the judge’s ruling a “first step’ in holding the government accountable for “troubling conduct.”

Legal experts say this is a rare and unusual case that may require the high profile, nationally recognized U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, some of his assistant attorneys, and the FBI, to submit hundreds of documents to do with the discovery process, in a case that may end up in a jury trial. “The Ganek case presents a relatively rare instance of a plaintiff’s claims prevailing over the defense of qualified immunity,” jdsupra.com, a legal news website, maintained.

On this March 10, federal Judge William H. Pauley permitted the civil rights case against Bharara et al to go forward. “The unusual decision on Thursday means the government must provide evidence about its work to Ganek and perhaps defend itself before a jury,” Bloomberg news reported. “Discovery is now appropriate to ascertain whether this case is about a simple misunderstanding or whether something more troubling was afoot,” Pauley wrote in the 35-page ruling.

David Ganek, a former hedge-fund manager at Level Global Investors LLC, a now defunct company, alleged his civil rights were violated in the course of an investigation; that in effect, as a law-enforcement officer, Bharara did not protect him from the violation; and despite knowing about it, did not clear up a misrepresentation about him, causing his company to fail.

Credited with securing more than 80 convictions after his pledge to crackdown on insider trading when he came into office in August 2009, Bharara, who supervises an office of more than 220 assistant U.S. attorneys, handling cases of domestic and international terrorism, narcotics and arms trafficking, white collar crime, public corruption, gang violence, organized crime, and civil rights violations, is being sued for violating the civil rights of a citizen, an irony not lost on critics of what they see as Bharara’s high-handed prosecutorial tactics.

According to media reports, including jdsupra.com, a November 2010 FBI raid of Ganek’s offices involved search of personal files and mobile phones, in the presence of journalists, causing investors anxiety, despite no resulting charges against Ganek.

The lawyer for Ganek informed Bharara the firm may have to close unless the U.S. Attorney publicly clarified that Ganek was not the target of investigation. Bharara did not make any clarification, the news report says, and the firm closed in February 2011.

Some of the 100 or so white collar cases brought by Bharara have been dismissed. Two years ago, a related case, U.S. v. Newman, was vacated by the Second Circuit on grounds that prosecutors were unable to prove that the two accused hedge fund managers knew that the corporate insider who gave them the information did it for “personal benefit.” Several other convictions were also reversed after this.

Ganek’s case which he filed in February 2015, rested on the affidavit used to get the search warrant for the FBI raid of Level Global offices. The affidavit Ganek claims, was partly fabricated as it related to him; that the research analyst who provided the affidavit, actually told the FBI that he never informed Ganek about the sources of the “inside information,” and that this was known from his testimony at the Newman trial. Which means, according to Ganek, that some parts of affidavit for the search warrant, were manufactured in a bid to get the warrant. This, he says, violated his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights.

Judge Pauley ruled that Ganek had “adequately pled” that the affidavit in question “contained materially false statements and omissions” and therefore met the probable cause requirement regarding violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.

On his Fifth Amendment rights claim of “not to be deprived of liberty as a result of the fabrication of evidence by a government officer” Judge Pauley also ruled that Ganek had pled sufficiently. Furthermore, the judge also upheld Ganek’s “failure to intervene” claim that Bharara and others did not carry out their duty “to protect the constitutional rights of citizens from infringement by other law enforcement officers.” Bharara, the judge said, failed to clarify that Ganek was not the target of the investigation despite learning that the research analyst’s affidavit was incorrect.

Chicago IL: Dvara Magazine, committed to promoting Indian-fusion, celebrated its first anniversary on March 13th, 2016 at Sunda Restaurant in Downtown Chicago. In order to make the celebrations more meaningful and socially-relevant, management of the Dvara Magazine hosted a grand fundraiser aimed at strengthening “Save the Girl Child Program” launched by the Dignity of the Girl Child Organization in Jaipur, India in order to achieve its cherished goals. The event was attended by hundreds of eminent people from different walks of life.

Dr. Meeta Singh, Director of Dignity of the Girl Child Organization, the keynote speaker at the event, said that educational empowerment of a girl brings in its wake a number of beneficial outcomes for her family as well as for the society at large. “A computer-literate girl, for example, can predict weather, advise farmers on the right price for their produce in the market, and thereby emerge as a leader at the grassroots level”, she opined and added that contributing to this process of bringing about a positive and healthy societal change would be the greatest achievement of her life.

Sujata, President and CEO of Chicago Foundation for Women, another key note speaker at the event, said that becoming rich and famous should not be the only goal of one’s life. “While a multitude of people believe in living a king-size life, which involves, among other things, buying a villa in an island, going for a fleet of the most fanciest sports cars, having billions of dollars in secret bank accounts in Switzerland, etc, I deliberately opted for working for a not-for-profit organization calledApna Ghar that is committed to improving the quality of life of immigrant battered women”, she added.

Karthika Gupta and Jayashree Rao, the Chicago-based co-founders of Dvara Magazine and members of its core editorial team, outlined the details of their visit to Khandar, a village near Ranthambore National Park in Jaipur in 2015 to document a story on “Women Empowerment in Rajasthan” for upcoming issue of the Magazine. They said that during the course of their visit, they met with several poor girls and women and were honored to be a part of their daily life.

“Being one among the loving and innocent girls and women gave me an opportunity not only to understand their lives, dreams, and aspirations but also to witness the struggle for their social, educational, and economic empowerment”, said Karthika.

Dvara Magazine, which had a fundraising goal of $2200, successfully raised almost double the amount through the fundraiser. Those who are interested in having more information about Dvara Magazine may visit its website: www.dvaramagazine.com.  They may visit www.dvaramagazine.com/fundraiser for relevant information about the fundraiser, the sponsors of this event, and donations.

M.R. Rangswami, founder of Indiaspora, has been honored in Washington, D.C., with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. China Education Trust, at its inaugural event on March 17th. “The best years are still ahead of me,” said the Indian American venture capitalist, who founded Indiaspora in 2012.

“This is a lifetime achievement award. But I feel like I’m just getting started,” Rangaswami told the media shortly after the event, which was held at the Mayflower Hotel in the nation’s capital.

“I wish I had started the ‘giving back’ part of my journey earlier than I did. It is the most gratifying phase of life,” he said, adding: “Indian Americans need to get more engaged in their communities and politics. We need to also be role models and give more than our fair share to help others who are not as fortunate.”

Indian American philanthropist and entrepreneur Frank Islam introduced Rangaswami at the dinner, noting that he had founded the Sand Hill Group in the San Francisco Bay Area’s Silicon Valley. Founded in 1997, Sand Hill is one of the first software “angel investing” firms.

Islam also noted that Rangaswami in 2007 founded the Corporate Eco-Forum, a by-invitation-only membership organization for Global 500 companies that demonstrate a serious commitment to the environment as a business strategy. Today, the Forum has 70 members. He remarked on Rangaswami’s humble career beginnings at a manufacturing company in the U.S. “That job was not at the top of the totem pole – in fact, it was near the bottom,” said Islam.“For a first meeting, it was very productive,” he said.

James Chao, founder of Foremost Maritime Corporation, was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. His daughter, former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, accepted the award on her father’s behalf.

USCET was founded by former U.S. Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch in 1998 to promote U.S.-China Relations. This was the first year the organization gave out lifetime achievement awards.

Rangaswami was reported to have told the media that the event was designed to begin a U.S./China/India dialogue, which cohesively examines the relationship between the three countries, “going beyond borders and shipping lanes,” he explained.

“We have so many shared values,” said Rangaswami, who founded Indiaspora with the aim of catalyzing the Indian American community to make an impact both in the U.S. and India. He noted that both countries are looking to get more of its citizens into the middle class. “It opened a new window for Indiaspora to look externally for other diaspora organizations to partner with,” he said. “This is the first time there has been a discussion like this.”

Prior to the awards ceremony, USCET brought together former Ambassador Nicholas Platt – who has served in Pakistan, the Philippines and Zambia – and former Indian Ambassador Thomas Pickering – who has also served in Russia, Israel, El Salvador and Nigeria – for a panel discussion on the development of India and China as global economic powerhouses. International security expert Ashley Tellis – who formerly served as a special advisor to the U.S. ambassador to India – joined the discussion, along with Wu Xi, the deputy chief of mission from China to the U.S.

Indicted Indian American restaurateur Harendra Singh is no longer able to pay his business attorney, according to a court filing reported by Newsday, a popular daily from Long Island, NY. Singh has been in jail since December 2015 after he violated his bond conditions by fraudulently submitting a loan application, pending trial.

Smithtown lawyer Howard Greenberg, who has represented Singh for years on many of his business dealings, withdrew as counsel last month on a lawsuit against two of Singhs’ companies by a valet company.

“The defendants are unable to meet present financial obligations to our office for the continuing litigation in this matter and such obligations have been outstanding,” Greenberg said in a court filing asking State Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Mineola permission to withdraw. Greenberg also wrote that Singh’s incarceration since Dec. 16 has “made communication and defense of the case a near impossibility.” Marber granted the request on Feb. 24.

Woodbury-based All Metro Valet Parking, Inc. sued two of Singh’s companies — SRB Catering Corp. and SRB Woodlands, Inc. — in 2014 for $26,378 plus interest on what it claimed were unpaid bills from the fall of 2013 and spring of 2014.

In September, Singh was indicted on 13 federal charges including bribing an Oyster Bay official to obtain $20 million loan guarantees on loans that were supposed to be for capital improvements at the town golf course and Tobay Beach.

Many of Singh’s companies face lawsuits from creditors. The largest pending lawsuit comes from the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which last year sued Singh’s companies in federal court for more than $3.1 million in pension liabilities owed by the company that operated the Water’s Edge in New York City.

Harendra Singh plea deal has made no progress – A federal prosecutor had said in February 2016 that the government and the defense are having discussions aimed at a plea deal that would resolve the bribery case of Long Island restaurateur Harendra Singh.

Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge Sandra Feuerstein, the prosecutor on the case, Catherine Mirabile, had said both sides were “working toward a possible resolution” of the case however no progress has been reported on any kind of deal.

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the decision by Bernards Township in New Jersey authorities for denying application by the community to build a mosque in the township, according to a report by NJ.com

The March 16 report said quoted a spokesman for the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s office in Newark that the civil rights investigation by the Department of Justice will look into whether the township violated the rights of members of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge over its prolonged, and ultimately failed, application to build a mosque on Church Street.

The report about the investigation came after the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, led by the former mayor, Mohammad Ali Chaudry, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Newark earlier in March, accusing the town’s planning board of breaking a law unanimously passed by Congress in 2000 protecting houses of worship from being unduly burdened by land use regulations.

The New York Times had earlier reported that the story involving the proposal to build the Mosque began in November 2011 when Chaudry, a retired AT&T executive who has also served as the township’s mayor decided with some friends to open a mosque in the township where he has lived for some 40 years and has been on its board of education and has led a task force to create the town’s community center.

But the society could not have its mosque proposal sanctioned by the board as the latter rejected it year after year under one ground or the other. The NYT report said what followed after the initial proposal were 39 public hearings, and nearly four years of demands by town officials and planning board members for one change after another. “Each solution proposed or agreed to by the Islamic Society led to objections on other grounds. Often, members of the public raised issues — some saying that a bucolic area was not the right setting for a mosque, or that it might interfere with a volunteer fire department station across the road,’ the report said.

A leading opponent of the mosque project said that Islamic Shariah law is “one of the greatest threats to American values and liberties,” and led a relentless campaign of challenges to virtually every aspect of the project.

The suit was filed about three months after township planners unanimously rejected the proposal to build the mosque. Among other things, the lawsuit filed the society has called for appointment of a monitor to oversee compliance with all federal laws in all committee and planning board decisions for five years.

New York, NY: Niraj Baxi of Silicon Valley (USA) has been elected as the President of Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) last week. According to a press release, the new international executive council conducted elections electronically for the first time, where 208 of the 223 international delegates from 21 countries cast votes, electing a new team to lead the global organization in the coming years. Other elected officers are: Noel Lal (Sydney, Australia) as Executive Vice President, Mr. Ram Gadhavi (New Jersey, USA) Vice President, Dr. Rajeev Mehta (USA), Dr. Pradip Sewoke (France), Mrs. Suman Kapoor (New Zealand), and Mr. Rajidre Tiwari (The Netherland) as International Coordinators. The election process was supervised by GOPIO Chairman Inder Singh who will continue in that position.

Formed in 1989 at the First Global Convention of People of Indian Origin, GOPIO has now reached most countries with a sizable Indian Diaspora population. Past GOPIO elections were generally held at its biennial conventions wherein only a fraction of the international delegates could participate. However, with new technologies being available, the present election was held electronically with a record participation by 93% of the international delegates.

With India at the threshold of accepting new technologies and business investment, the new team has come up with a motto, “GOPIO Means Business” so as to attract Indian Diaspora entrepreneurs and businessmen to take more interest in investing in India in all spheres, in business, philanthropy, education healthcare and social causes. With an investment and business friendly government in India, we see a lot opportunity for the Indian Diaspora to invest and actively participate in India’s development,” said President Niraj Baxi.

GOPIO Executive Vice President Noel Lal said that GOPIO would reach out all countries where we have the Diaspora presence. Vice President Ram Gadhavi who has brought Gujarati Diaspora writers on a common platform in the US, plans to extend it to all Indian writers on a global GOPIO forum.

GOPIO Founder President Dr. Thomas Abraham, who also serves as the Executive Trustee of GOPIO Foundation said that GOPIO will increase its social and philanthropic activities in India as well as in countries with a large Indian Diaspora population. Baxi further said that he would work towards making GOPIO the voice of any and all NRIs and PIOs and would take initiatives in growing GOPIO all countries and regions of the world.

“In all our internal and external activities, we want to bring about fairness, transparency and accountability; there are many challenges that lie ahead of us and we need good wishes and continued hard work from everyone,” Baxi continued.

In 1984, Niraj visited various countries, becoming the first emissary of the National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA), which sponsored the First Global Convention of People of Indian Origin in 1989. He coordinated NFIA and GOPIO organized the 90th Anniversary of Gadar in San Francisco. Niraj has served as Regional Vice President of GOPIO. Niraj has served in several positions at NFIA and became its President in 2003. He is also active in many civic, political and community service Associations. Professionally, Niraj is a third generation insurance and financial services professional.

Originally from Fiji, Noel came into GOPIO at the 2000 GOPIO Convention in Zurich, Switzerland. Executive Vice President – Noel Lal (Sydney, Australia) served as the Regional VP and International Coordinator for the Oceania region. Noel is also a current Trustee of the Foundation for Educating Needy Children in Fiji. A Justice of Peace in Australia, Noel is an engineer by profession is currently the Managing Director of South Pacific Engineering Pty Ltd.

For four decades, Vice President, Ram Gadhavi (Wayne, New Jersey, USA) has been involved in various community activities, starting with the India Cultural Society of NJ where he served as its Chairman, helped build the Gandhi Mandir, was Secretary/President of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA of CT, NJ & NY) where he organized the 1st India Day Parade, President of Gujarati Literary Academy of NA, Secretary of Bharatiya Vidyà Bhavan (USA), and as founding Co-Convener of the first GOPIO Convention in 1989. A chemical engineering project manager of Lummus Co., Ram, after retirement, started a home building and re-modelling company.

International Coordinator for North America – Dr. Rajeev Mehta (Piscataway, New Jersey, USA) is the Founder President of GOPIO-Central Jersey (and served in this capacity 2008 to 2012). He also served as Co-chair of the GOPIO Health Council (2010-2014), Co-Convener of the 2011 GOPIO International Biennial Convention held in New Jersey, and Chair of GOPIO Health Council 2014 onward. He has organized several health camps on behalf of GOPIO Central Jersey. He is a researcher, clinician and professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. For more information, contact GOPIO President Niraj Baxi at email president@gopio.net or 408-307-9845 or visit www.gopio.net

The City of New York has announced that based on an analysis of seasonally adjusted job numbers for February 2016 provided by the New York State Department of Labor, New York City added 4,500 jobs in February, reaching a record total of just below 4.3 million jobs across all five boroughs.  Since Mayor de Blasio took office in January of 2014, New York City has added 256,700 private sector jobs, an increase of 7.4 percent.

Since Mayor de Blasio took office, the strongest employment gains are in Health Care & Social Assistance, with growth of nearly 48,000 jobs, and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services, with growth of over 38,000 jobs.

“We continue to see an impressive jobs return on smart investments we’re making in the city’s fastest growing sectors that will provide New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs with jobs for decades to come,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen.

“The numbers don’t lie: over last two years, we’ve seen the largest number of jobs in the history of our City,” said NYCEDC President Maria Torres-Springer. “It’s five-borough employment growth that tells us we’re on the right track toward a productive, innovative, and equitable City. But we’re not stopping here. We’re looking forward to getting more New Yorkers access to good-paying, career-building jobs in the years ahead.”

Under the de Blasio administration, New York City has also seen a dramatic increase in the growth of jobs in neighborhoods outside of Manhattan. According to the most recent available data, the number of private sector jobs in boroughs outside of Manhattan increased by 6.4 percent since Mayor de Blasio took office, more than double the rate of the 2.9 percent increase in Manhattan, and significantly higher than the 4.7 percent increase in a comparable timeframe from 2011 to 2013 in the outer boroughs, demonstrating increased economic opportunity for many New Yorkers in neighborhoods that had been previously left behind.

Mayor de Blasio has been particularly focused on creating good middle class jobs that are accessible to New Yorkers from all backgrounds. The Mayor recently announced a suite of initiatives that will grow the city’s industrial and manufacturing economy, including the $150 million NYC Industrial Developer Fund, launched earlier this month, which will help create new space for the next generation of industrial jobs. Last week, Mayor de Blasio announced the 2017 launch of Citywide Ferry Service, which will connect New Yorkers in neighborhoods from Soundview to the Rockaways with good job opportunities in all five boroughs.  Earlier today, the de Blasio administration announced a major expansion of initiatives to support minority and women-owned developers and contractors, including a $10 million loan fund that will allow for real estate development and job creation.

New York City Economic Development Corporation is the City’s primary vehicle for promoting economic growth in each of the five boroughs. NYCEDC’s mission is to stimulate growth through expansion and redevelopment programs that encourage investment, generate prosperity and strengthen the City’s competitive position. NYCEDC serves as an advocate to the business community by building relationships with companies that allow them to take advantage of New York City’s many opportunities.

Seattle, WA: A masked man burst into a 7-Eleven near Seattle early Sunday morning, swinging a hatchet and slicing the store clerk. Before the masked man could seriously hurt anyone, though, a customer who was drinking his morning coffee pulled out a concealed weapon and fatally shot the attacker. Authorities did not name the attacker or the customer, but they did hail the concealed weapon owner as a hero.

“This could have been disastrous,” King County Sheriff Sgt. Cindi West told KIRO7. “Had this guy not shot, who knows what would have happened? We might have a dead clerk right now, and instead we have a dead bad guy.”

The clerk, Kuldeep Singh, suffered minor cuts to his stomach. He, too, thanked the customer for saving his life. “He [was] killing me,” Singh, 58, said of the hatchet-wielding attacker. Singh added that the customer was a “nice guy.”

West said that the incident will be investigated fully but that the 60-year-old customer was currently being considered a Good Samaritan. The “customer, the shooter, is shaken up but from everything that we see right now from the scene – there’s no wrongdoing on his part,” she told King 5. “In fact, he probably saved a life in this case.”

The incident near Burien, Wash., about eight miles south of downtown Seattle, probably will add to the ongoing debate about concealed weapons and their effect on crime.
Concealed-weapon ownership has skyrocketed in recent years as more states have moved to allow it. The percentage of Americans who believe owning a gun will protect them and others also has risen steadily.

There is little consensus on the efficacy of concealed weapons in reducing crime, however. Although supporters of concealed-weapon ownership argue that it discourages crime, some studies have shown it has no effect. Other studies have found it actually increases crime.

Staten Island, NY: Nausheen Rahman, a 28-year-old Indian American woman in New York is being held without bail on a murder charge after police say she gave birth to a girl and threw the newborn away in a garbage can at her home. Rahman was arraigned March 14 on Staten Island.

Nausheen Rahman allegedly told investigators she gave birth to the baby on Friday. She then cut the umbilical chord, and put the baby girl into a plastic bag and into a trash can, according to the criminal complaint. She was then arrested on Saturday at about 11:30 a.m. inside her home on Richmond Hill Road near New Springville. Rahman was charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse. An attorney for her declined to comment.

A source told the New York Daily News that oxygen was found in the baby’s lungs. Investigators believe that finding may mean the baby was alive when Rahman allegedly dumped it, according to an msn.com report.

The infant’s body was discovered unconscious and unresponsive at the New Springville neighborhood home by officers March 12 after responding to a 911 call around 11:30 a.m. Emergency crews pronounced the baby dead at the scene. Police were called to Rahman’s address after she showed up at Staten Island University Hospital March 11, complaining of pain, police sources told the Daily News.

Rahman told authorities that she had given birth but said the baby had died, sources said. Rahman allegedly admitted to throwing the child in the trash before going to the hospital, the Daily News reported.

The New York Police Department said officers responded to a 911 call at the home on Richmond Hill Road in the New Springville neighborhood. The condominium is just a few blocks from the Staten Island Mall. Police found the newborn baby unconscious and unresponsive. Emergency crews pronounced the child dead at the scene

It’s not clear where Rahman gave birth. The medical examiner’s office says the cause of death was pending further study, according to an Associated Press report. Rahman was also charged with unlawful concealment of a corpse. Police continue to investigate.

She was not aware that the sex of the baby was a girl because she threw the baby in a trash bag so quickly that she didn’t take the time to look at the child and assumed it was a boy, according to the district attorney. Rahman allegedly lied to her parents and family about being pregnant and they said they were unaware.

According to a New York Times report, when Rahman appeared in court on Staten Island, her parents sat near the back of the courtroom with their heads in their hands. “The actions of this defendant are so horrendous and so reprehensible that it shocks one’s conscience,” Jane Grinberg, an assistant district attorney, said, according to the Times report. Grinberg said that Rahman had seen a doctor about her pregnancy, but that she kept it a secret from her parents. Her lawyer, Michael Robert Rosas, said he doubted the prosecution’s version of events.

“We’re going to conduct our own investigation and see where it leads,” he said, the Times reported. Neighbors around the Honey Bee Condominiums on Staten Island, where Rahman lived with her parents and two younger brothers, said they had no idea she was pregnant. She often wore traditional clothes from India, they said, and the fabrics hung loose around her frame, reported the Times, adding that Judge Raja Rajeswari ordered her to held without bail.

NEWARK, NJ:  Brunton Bissesar Singh, 55, was fatally shot while walking to work in the Newark early on Sunday., March 13^th.  He was walking to work on the 400 block of Roseville Avenue shortly before 6 am when the fatal shots rang out, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said in a joint statement.

Brunton Bissesar Singh, of Newark, supported his son and wife in his home country of Trinidad and Tobago, according to Roberto Mendez Spaccavento. No arrests have been made. An investigation is ongoing, and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office did not release any details Monday. An investigation by the prosecutor’s office’s Major Crimes and Homicide Task Force remains active.

Singh had been a member of Spaccavento’s nutrition club, Health-Figure & Wellness on Roseville Avenue, for several years and had become a close friend. Lacking relatives in the United States, Singh bonded with the club members. “He has absolutely nobody,” Spaccavento said. “We were his family.”

Singh frequented the nutrition club every day to get a protein shake or a cup of tea and relax in front of the television, Spaccavento said. He said Singh was a popular member of the community. “Everybody in the neighborhood loved him,” Spaccavento said.

Their friendship extended beyond the nutrition club, with Singh helping Spaccavento’s family for two months after Spaccavento had surgery.  “He would come early, he would help my wife clean up the place, help her close the gates and everything,” Spaccavento said. “He was really nice.”

Singh was walking to his job at Pit Stop gas station on Park Avenue and 16th Avenue early Sunday when shots were fired, according to Spaccavento. He said Singh was an hour late to work that day because he had forgotten to change his clocks for Daylight Saving Time.

About 50 of Singh’s friends gathered in front of the nutrition center Sunday evening to remember him. “I put some candles, his picture and flowers,” Spaccavento said. “We all gathered together, and we prayed.”

The homicide is the first in Newark since February 21 when a 32-year-old Irvington man was shot and killed in the West Ward. The city’s total for the year stands at 18, according to an NJ Advance Media count.

New York, NY: The Consulate General of India. organized an evening of Art Exhibition by Mr. Nayan Mitra followed by speech on “Meditations and Arts” by Ms. Nilima Madan on Friday, March 11, 2016 in the Consulate’s ballroom. The program was attended by a large number of Indian community membershe program started with singing of Guru Mantra followed by Durga Stuti, an Orrisi dance. Consul General Ambassador (Mrs) Riva Ganguly Das welcomed the attendees. Mr. Nayam Mitra spoke about his Art work, the inspiration and what it means to him, followed by a speech on Meditation and Arts by Ms. Nilima Madan.

“Think in Hindi before you prepare your document in Hindi”, India’s newly appointed Consul General Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das would like her staff to think in Hindi in order to present better documents in the official language of India. The Consul General was speaking on the occasion of kick-off of the Third International Hindi Conference 2016 at an event held at the Consulate Ball Room on March 14.

“We are doing a lot of work in Hindi. If we think in Hindi we can produce more accurate documentation”, she explained pointing out her support to the cause of Hindi. Emphasizing the commitment of Government of India for promoting Hindi, the consul general said that more opportunities for Hindi learning should be created. She elaborated upon a diverse Hindi program conducted by Indian Council for Cultural Relations, a Ministry of External Affairs initiative that supports Hindi scholars in various countries around the world. The conference is scheduled to be held from April 29 to May 1 at the Consulate Ball Room.

Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs, Government of India,sent a message for the success of the conference. Ashok Ojha, coordinator of the conference, explainedthat the theme of the conference was, “Hindi Language: A Democratic Voice of Complex Issues in Education, Literature, Arts and Media”. According to Ojha Sweden based Hindi scholarHeinz Werner Wesslerhas agreed to deliver his key-note address at the inaugural event on April 29.

Ojha requested conference participants to register online through the link: http://www.hindiconferenceamericas.com/re gister/ He said that a Kavi Sammelan is scheduled onApril 30, the second day of the conference. A Humorous Hindi Play, ‘UdanKhatola’, and a story session, ‘Kahani Manch’, will also be held during the conference.

A number of speakers including Dr. Susham Bedi of Columbia and CUNY, Dr. Seema Khurana of Yale, and Dr. Rakesh Ranjan of Columbia, spoke at the kick off event. According to Khurana she will prevail upon Yale to host the conference in 2018. Others who spoke in favor of Hindi included Prof. Indrajit Saluja, Mrs. Purnmia Desai, head of Shikshayatan cultural organization, Col Veerendra Tavathia and media professional Sunil Hali. A cultural presentation by danseuse Rimli Roy and a poem recitation was performed at the function

New York, NY: Raina Massey of Elmont, New York, was arrested recently for allegedly orchestrating a multi-pronged H-1B visa fraud scheme through her shell Newark-based company, Care Worldwide (CWW). Information was made available to media through a press release by the office of US U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of State of New Jersey.

Raina Massey, 51, is charged by complaint with two counts of wire fraud, one count of visa fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.  She is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark federal court.

Non-United States citizens must have some kind of authorization to work legally in this country.  H-1B visas are non-immigrant visas designed to allow U.S.-based employers to recruit and employ non-U.S. citizen professionals.  H-1B visas are employer, not employee, driven, and are only issued for a specified, limited duration for “specialty occupations.”

Foreign workers admitted under the H-1B program are known as “beneficiaries” of the visas. To obtain an H-1B visa, an employer has to apply on behalf of the beneficiary and complete various forms required for the visa to be approved. One of those forms is U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Form I-797C, which is used to memorialize, among other things, that an application for an H-1B visa has been successfully filed on behalf of an H-1B beneficiary and that the application has been vetted by the U.S. government. Beneficiaries do not have to pay any fees in connection with the visa application and are not responsible for finding their own employment.

From February 2012 through March 2015, Massey and others are reported to have executed the fraud scheme through her company, CWW, which purported to be a clinical research company, but was actually a shell company that did little to no legitimate work of any kind. Massey and others sought out and advertised for qualified foreign professionals, purportedly to work for CWW in clinical research positions as beneficiaries of H-1B visas. These beneficiaries became victims of the scheme because the advertised positions did not actually exist.

Massey and others are reported to have demanded and took illegal payments from victims in exchange for purportedly filing H-1B visa applications on behalf of the victims.

Each wire fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; the visa fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; and the aggravated identity theft count carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, to run consecutive to any sentence imposed on any other count. Each count carries a potential fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the U.S. Department of State, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge David Schnorbus of the New York Field Office, and investigators from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Supervisory Criminal Investigator Thomas Mahoney, for the investigation leading to today’s arrest.

New York, NY: Friends and colleagues of journalist Arthur J. Pais, who died in January this year in New Jersey at the age of 66, fondly remembered the legendary Indian-American scribe during a memorial service at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in midtown Manhattan, New York City.

Arthur, an Editor at Rediff.com and India Abroad — the Indian-American newsweekly owned by Rediff.com — was 66. After a distinguished career in Indian journalism, Arthur and his wife Betty moved to the United States in the early 1980s.

He was a prolific writer and no subject — films, literature, social trends, news — escaped his attention. His insatiable curiosity and diligence enlivened every feature he wrote and his loss is an irreplaceable loss to all of us at Rediff.com

Tributes to Arthur from colleagues and friends in the US and India were posted on Facebook. When informed about Arthur’s passing, Salman Rushdie replied: ‘This is sad news indeed. My condolences to his family and to all of you, his colleagues. Thanks for letting me know.’ Actress and cook book writer Madhur Jaffrey wrote: ‘Very sad to hear the news.’

“Today we have gathered here to celebrate the life of Arthur,” Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the co-founder of South Asian Journalists Association said at the outset of the memorial service. Many of Arthur’s former colleagues from India Abroad weekly where he worked as an editor till his death packed the auditorium, sharing their memories of Arthur described by journalist Lavina Melwani, as “our community’s story-teller.” Sreenivasan described the event as a “lovely, joyous celebration of a man who made us all smile.”

Besides his friends and admirers, Arthur’s wife Betty Pais and some of her relatives, were present as well. Some shared anecdotes about Arthur who was a writer, a foodie, a movie aficionado and mentor for some, and above all a friend of almost everybody who came to know him. Some described Arthur as a man who lived for the story.

Among those who paid tributes to Arthur included Aseem Chhabra, Rediff.com columnist and contributor, Suleman Din, Managing Editor, Sourcemedia Investment Advisory Group, P Rajendran, Deputy Managing Editor, India Abroad, and Arun Venugopal of WNYC. The memorial which was webcast live were watched by an estimated 30,000 people.

New York, NY: Indian American former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta has been released after completing his two-year prison term, weeks after a U.S. court agreed to rehear his appeal to throw out his 2012 insider-trading conviction. Gupta, 67, was “released” on March 11, according to his record at the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

While Gupta’s prison term was to end on March 13, since the date fell on a Sunday, he was released on Mar. 11, four years after he lost his insider trading trial and suffered multiple legal setbacks to overturn his conviction. The Harvard-educated executive was convicted in his 2012 trial of passing confidential boardroom information to his one-time friend and business associate Raj Rajaratnam.

Apart from the two-year prison term, he was fined $5 million, and the Securities and Exchange Commission also slapped a $13.9 million penalty against him. Gupta started out his prison term in 2014 at FMC DEVENS, an administrative security federal medical center with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in Ayer, Mass.

Ever since his conviction in June 2012, Gupta filed several appeals, including to the U.S. Supreme Court, to overturn his conviction and prison term, but the courts rejected his arguments and affirmed his sentence.

However, it was only early last month, just weeks before his prison term was to end, that he had some legal respite when the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to rehear an appeal to throw out his insider-trading conviction.

The minimum-security prison camp where Gupta did his time is about 40 miles (60 kilometers) west of Boston and formerly the site of a military base. Rajaratnam, who is serving 11 years for trading on inside tips, is at an adjacent medical center because he has diabetes and kidney disease. Gupta completed the last two months of his prison term at his home in Manhattan, after being released on Jan. 5 from the Devens correctional facility.

Even though he was not in the prison center, he remained a federal inmate until his release on March 11. He was confined to his Westport, Conn., home and was required to wear an ankle bracelet that monitored his movements.

According to AP, Gupta’s lawyers said in their latest appeal that his 2012 conviction on conspiracy and securities fraud charges should be tossed because he was innocent and the jury was improperly instructed.nHis attorney Gary Naftalis says he is pleased with the court’s ruling and believes there are meritorious issues to present on appeal.

A former McKinsey & Co. managing partner, Gupta is the highest-profile executive convicted in a U.S. crackdown on insider trading at hedge funds. Gupta was found guilty in 2012 of passing illegal tips to Rajaratnam, a co-founder of the Galleon Group LLC hedge fund. He told Rajaratnam about Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs and the bank’s financial results for two quarters in 2008. Since August 2009, federal prosecutors in New York won 80 convictions.

New York, NY: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. announced “Zeal for Unity,” a peace initiative to bridge the gap between India and Pakistan through cultural experiences Mar. 15. The initiative took off at the Wagah Border with six Indian and six Pakistani filmmakers coming together and showing their support in a token gesture. We use the word “token,” because they have already supported the initiative and the 12 films are ready.

The channel feels that this is a momentous step toward changing the way people across India and Pakistan see, feel and think about each other. Though the Border Security Force is said to have denied the media permission to be there at the Wagah Border at the last moment (this had been announced in the itinerary and was the unique selling point of this trip for the media contingent), the photographers were taken for a photo-op showing the filmmakers meeting and greeting each other — on the Indian side but not AT the border. Like a photographer told this reporter, “Good you guys did not come! It was a complete anti-climax!”

At the main press conference held at the Sarhad Restaurant a kilometer away from Wagah, the filmmakers mentioned how the concept, along with the freedom to choose what films they would like to make, fired their enthusiasm, and they agreed instantly to ZEEL’s proposal that came via phone calls from Shailaja Kejriwal, chief creative of special projects, ZEEL. Punit Goenka, managing director of ZEEL, and Sunil Buch, chief business officer of ZEEL, were also present.

Sharing his thoughts about the initiative, Goenka said, “The Zeal for Unity initiative is in line with our corporate brand philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The World is My Family.’ The objective of this initiative is to bring together creative minds, filmmakers, cultural exponents and thought leaders from both India and Pakistan to facilitate an apolitical exchange environment of peace and harmony.”

Kejriwal, while thanking her bosses as well as her team, added, “The 12 films, especially created to celebrate this historic initiative, will be simultaneously showcased in both the countries. As we progress, we aim to continue this cultural dialogue between people from both sides of the border through varied forms of art.”

Buch, explaining the logo that was unveiled with the tag-line ‘It Takes Two,’ said, “To do anything constructive in life, it takes more than a single individual or a solo effort. It takes two to move ahead, always. And that is the value proposition that we have chosen. A simple yet powerful thought that it takes two to bring change, and sustained change can only be brought about through concentrated efforts of people from both countries. ‘Take Two’ also fits in intrinsically with all art media, especially films, where it is multiple takes that bring to life the creative imagination and aspiration of storytelling that indelibly changes the hearts and minds of people. Also, the symbol as it is designed also indicates the ‘V’ or Victory sign.”

(Dallas, Texas – March 17, 2016) Five Dallas-based women have joined forces to create an organization aimed at empowering and mobilizing less fortunate women entrepreneurs on the international level. Called “Mahila,” which is a Hindi word that means “woman,” the group consists of powerful female community leaders: attorney Bina Palnitkar Patel, architect Purva Jain, media and lifestyle guru Priya Bhola Rathod, cultural advocate Preeta Monga and social entrepreneur Ami Doshi.

“Mahila, at its core, is an organization formed by women for women,” said Bhola Rathod. “Our goal is to best share our strength with underprivileged women to bring about meaningful, lasting change. Empowering ONE woman means impacting her family, her society and, ultimately, her world.”

The organization is hosting its inaugural event on April 7th to raise funds for struggling, low-income women living and working in India by supporting Milaap USA’s microloan program. Milaap USA’s mission is to promote financial inclusion for individuals and families through access to low cost funds in the following sectors: enterprise development, clean energy, water and sanitation, education and vocational training and healthcare. One hundred percent of the proceeds raised from this event will go directly towards Milaap’s work in India, and every year Mahila will choose a different women’s organization to support through fundraising.

“We believe philanthropy is providing a ‘hand-up versus a hand-out,’” said Doshi, Founder of Milaap USA. “By empowering hundreds of thousands of India’s working poor to gain financial stability for themselves, we are able to tackle one of India’s most challenging causes of poverty – financial exclusion.”

WHO: Mahila, “Open Doors,” inaugural fundraising event for Milaap USA is scheduled for Thursday, April 7 at DEC on Dragon, 1414 Dragon Street, Dallas, TX 75207. Tickets to the event can be purchased at: http://www.mahiladallas.org/tickets

Chicago IL: On Monday, March 7^th, 2016, devotees celebrated the festival of Maha Shivaratri, in the Hari Om Mandir, with great joy and enthusiasm. Monday, is the day of Lord Shiva, and every week, several devotees visit the temple to offer Water and Milk to the Shiva Lingam. However, this Monday, the auspicious 7th of March was SPECIAL!!! This was the Day of Lord Shiva’s wedding with Maa Gauri (Parvati), popularly called the Maha Shivaratri, when people observe fast and perform special Poojas.

As per the Hindu tradition, devotees bathe the Shiva Lingam with Holy Water, Milk, Honey and offer Chandan, Bel Patra amidst chanting of prayers, mantras and the resonating sound of Om Nama Shivaya….called the “Rudra Abhishek”. Living up to the tradition, thousands of devotees came to the Hari Om Mandir to perform the rituals and sing the glory of Lord Shiva.

For the convenience of the people, the Temple authorities had made special arrangements to perform these Poojas at two stations. The Mandir Priest, Pandit Dinesh Kumar recited the holy Mantras and helped devotees to perform the special “Rudrsabhishek Pooja” at the regular Shiv Darbar, which is also open every Monday. Another station was set up with a huge Brass Statue of Lord Shiva, the Shivling & Nandi raised on a tall pedestal, shining bright amidst lights, exhibiting HIS Glory, Charm and Might. The whole ambience of this set up reminded people of the Heavenly Abode of Shiva on the Kailash Parbat!!! The Snakes, the Rudraksh mala, the half Chandrama, the Ganga on Shiva’s forehead, the Trishul, the Damrus…all enhanced the Divine environment of the Mandir.

This year, was a record breaking attendance at the HOM on this occasion….almost 3000 people came to the temple to do the Pooja. People started coming in as early as 7.30am, and by the evening, long unending lines were seen at both the stations. Devotees waited patiently in que for their turn to do the Rudra Abhishek and seek blessings from their Lord Shiva. A special Bhajan Sandhya was organized in the evening, where two well-known singers of the Midwest region: Padmini and Uma Nath mesmerized the audiences with their soulful Bhajans. As the melodious “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” echoed in the hall, the entire congregation seemed to have transformed into a Trance! People were overwhelmed with joy and started dancing. Others who joined the musical group included Sukaran Atwal, Vijay Ghai, Subhash Sharma, Madhu Salwan, Sonia and Chawla on the drum/Dholak from the DJ Group Dhamaka.

The President of the Temple EB, Mr. Vipan Wadhera took a moment to thank ALL his team members and the Volunteers who had worked hard to make appropriate arrangements for this day. Jeetu Patel (Incharge Special Events) along with his team Garima, Jayanthi and Anita Rawal decorated the Mandir for the festival. Mr. Anil Saxena, Ramesh Bhardwaj and their team helped to manage the traffic and parking on this busy evening. Thanks to all: Manager Hardev & Pushpa Raj, Gopal & Sadhna Tiwari, Amar & Usha Singla, Shubh Sharma, Sham Taxali, Ram Verma, Ravi Kalia, Brij Sharma, Satpal Salwan & Ayodhia Salwan, who helped in managing the heavy inflow of devotees and provided their services in different areas. Last but not the least, a big thank you to the Priest, Pandit Dinesh Kumar, who recited the Shiv Mantras nonstop, all day, did Poojas and helped the Bhakt Jan who came to the temple, to seek solace and peace in the lap of their Lord Shiva on this pious day of Maha Shivaratri.

The Sikh Coalition was honored at the New York University Islamic Center’s 3rd Annual Benefit Gala on February 21, 2016. The Sikh Coalition received the Community Choice Award for its commitment to advocacy for all people, including the Muslim American community. Executive Director Sapreet Kaur and Board Member Manmeet Kaur accepted the award on behalf of the Sikh Coalition during the event. The Sikh Coalition was honored alongside leaders in the Muslim American community.

The Sikh Coalition is a community-based organization that works towards the realization of civil and human rights for all people. The Coalition serves as a resource on Sikhs and Sikh concerns for governments, organizations and individuals.

Jayendra Baldevbhai, an Indian-American store manager from Flushing, New York, says he is proud of suing the New York City Police Department for wrongful arrest and that it is not about the money. Jayendra Baldevbhai, was arrested May 20 last year for allegedly selling name-brand Burberry umbrellas. The charges were dropped after 3 hearings, but the store manager felt wronged and got an attorney, Samuel Cohen, a civil rights lawyer, to take up his case, which was filed March 7 in the Southern District Court in New York.

When he was arrested that day before his surprised customers, and taken to the Fifth Precinct, he was fearful, The Daily News reported. He was charged with third-degree trademark counterfeiting, and though the charges were dropped, Baldevbhai was evidently deeply affected by what he saw as an injustice. “That’s why I am suing the NYPD. I am feeling really proud of myself for it,” he said. “It’s not about the money. It’s the wrongful arrest – innocent people being arrested for nothing.”

Baldevbhai told the media that he could not reveal the amount of money he was demanding as compensation on the advice of his attorney. According to the lawsuit, NYPD plainclothes officers walked into his store and spent half an hour examining the goods, specially the umbrellas being sold at his store, the New York Daily News reported. Even though the umbrellas were clearly marked with another name Baldevbhai was handcuffed and taken away on grounds he was selling fake Burberry umbrellas.

Pictures of the umbrella show it is a combination of blue, white, and red plaid, very different from the classic Burberry colors that are dark brown, light brown combination of Tartan plaid. The blue and white umbrellas were clearly marked ‘Conch Umbrellas America Corp’ the lawsuit claims. Despite that, an officer asked Baldevbhai to quote a price on it and arrested him when he replied.

“I said ‘$7.99,’” Baldevbhai told New York Daily News, “He said, ‘You’re under arrest.’” Despite repeatedly telling the cops that these were Conch umbrellas with a prominent label declaring that, the officers “just basically ignored all my answers,” Baldevbhai is quoted saying.

The lawsuit also alleges that the NYPD officers had no warrant but did have an affidavit from a Burberry representative stating that the company held a trademark for a particular Tartan plaid, but did not specially identify the umbrellas at Spring Mart, the news report said.

Born and brought up in Gujarat, Baldevbhai is married with three children ages 13, 12, and 10, he said. He came to the U.S. 20 years ago. His lawyer, Samuel Cohen told New York Daily News the lawsuit was meant to prevent similar incidents in the future. Cohen is a civil rights attorney and works on cases involving excessive force and false arrest litigations, also representing and counseling individuals and small businesses in various matters. He could not be reached by press time. The New York City Law Department told the New York Daily News no comments were available until Baldevbhai’s allegations were reviewed.

March 5, 2016 (Washington D.C.) – In a landmark decision on Thursday, a federal judge defended a decorated Sikh American soldier and ruled that the Department of Defense could not subject him to unfair and biased testing on account of his religious beliefs. The message from the court was crystal clear: the United States Department of Defense cannot discriminate and make up new rules to prohibit individual soldiers from serving in the U.S. military.

Earlier in the week, the Sikh Coalition, in conjunction with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and McDermott Will & Emery, sued the United States Department of Defense on behalf of Captain Simratpal Singh. The lawsuit demands that the U.S. military accommodate Captain Singh’s religious articles of faith and abandon the impromptu, discriminatory testing procedures imposed upon Captain Singh.

The testing that the military planned to impose on Captain Singh is not required of any other soldier, even the tens of thousands with medical or religious accommodations, and including previously accommodated Sikhs. Given that Captain Singh has passed the standard safety tests, further testing would clearly be discriminatory.

“We have been advocating for the simple, straightforward, equal right to serve for years, and held onto the belief that the military would correct this injustice once they realized their mistake,” said the Sikh Coalition’s Legal Director, Harsimran Kaur. “The military’s treatment of Captain Singh, a decorated soldier, makes it clear that they deliberately want to squash diversity and religious freedom in their ranks; that is not something that any court, or American, should ever tolerate.”

The United States Department of Defense, which had granted and then extended Captain Singh’s temporary religious accommodation until March 31, 2016, is scheduled to make a final decision on Captain Singh’s permanent accommodation by that deadline. Captain Singh, who is a West Point graduate, Ranger, and Bronze Star Medal recipient, has successfully passed the safety tests required of his unit.

“I have so much pride in my Sikh identity and service to my nation,” said Captain Singh last December after receiving his temporary accommodation. “To feel spiritually whole, while continuing my military career, has always been the dream.”

Last year, 27 retired U.S. Generals called on the U.S. Department of Defense to eliminate the ban on observant Sikhs. These generals join 105 Members of Congress, 15 U.S. Senators, and 21 national interfaith and civil rights organizations, who have previously signed letters in support of American Sikhs’ right to serve.

“The U.S. Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act make it crystal clear that Captain Singh’s right to practice his faith and serve in our military are not mutually exclusive,” said Amandeep Sidhu, Partner at McDermott Will & Emery. “We are grateful that the court is on the right side of religious freedom with its ruling, which begs the question: does the world’s largest employer really want to be on the wrong side of history?”

Adnan Rashid, 34, of New Jersey has been charged with a 20-count indictment by a federal grand jury in Peoria for alleged tax evasion, filing false tax returns, and mail fraud. Rashid was the sole owner of two Peoria area Marathon gas stations and partial owner of two additional Peoria Marathon stations.  The federal charges stem from an investigation conducted by the Illinois Department of Revenue, Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service.

The indictment alleged that Rashid submitted false sales and used tax returns to the State of Illinois from January 2007 to January 2013.  Rashid allegedly defrauded the State of Illinois of $1.2 million in tax revenue by failing to report approximately $16 million in sales.

Rashid was additionally charged with tax evasion for personal taxes for the 2009 and 2010 tax years, and with the filing of false federal corporation income tax returns for three of the gas stations for the 2009 and 2010 tax years.

“We take allegations of tax fraud very seriously.  Not only does tax fraud deprive the State of critically needed revenues but it also puts businesses that play by the rules at an unfair disadvantage,” Connie Beard, Illinois Department of Revenue Director said.  “I thank our criminal investigation division for their hard work and cooperation with the federal government in bringing forth this indictment.” If convicted, the statutory maximum penalty for mail fraud on 12 counts is 20 years in prison.

Washington, DC: March 7, 2015: In a first of its kind lawsuit, a decorated Sikh-American soldier has sued the U.S. military, alleging that because of his religious beliefs he is being subjected to “discriminatory” testing that no other soldier in the U.S. Army goes through.

Captain Simratpal Singh, 28 was in December of last year granted a temporary religious accommodation to serve in the U.S. Army while maintaining his Sikh turban, unshorn hair and beard.

The accommodation, a rare exception, was scheduled to remain in effect until March 31, but, in an unprecedented step backward, the U.S. Army recently ordered Singh to report on March 1 for “extraordinary, non-standard additional testing as a precondition for remaining in the Army,” international law firm McDermott Will & Emery, representing Singh, said in a statement.

The firm, along with the Sikh Coalition and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, filed the federal lawsuit against the Department of Defense on behalf of Singh, who has earned a Bronze Star for clearing explosives from roads in Afghanistan, and received numerous other military accolades in various positions.

Singh is scheduled to be sequestered for three days to undergo testing that no other soldier in the U.S. Army has ever been subjected to, including the soldiers permitted to maintain beards for medical reasons and previously-accommodated Sikh soldiers, the law firms said.

The New York Times said the tests seek to determine if his helmet would fit over his long hair and if his gas mask could seal to his face.

The lawsuit, which is the first of its kind on behalf of a Sikh officer, demands that the U.S. military continue to accommodate Singh’s Sikh turban, unshorn hair, and unshorn beard and “abandon its unfair and discriminatory” testing.

“For years we have worked to avoid litigation under the guiding belief that the U.S. military would finally do the right thing,” said Amandeep Sidhu, partner at McDermott Will and Emery.

“The U.S. Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act make it clear that Captain Singh has the right to practice his faith in the military and we are confident that the court will agree,” said Sidhu.

Once the testing is enjoined, Singh seeks a further ruling directing the Army to make his religious accommodation permanent.

“I have so much pride in my Sikh identity and service to my nation,” Singh had said in December after receiving his temporary accommodation. “To feel spiritually whole, while continuing my military career, has always been the dream,” he had said.

Rajendra Pachauri, the U.N. climate panel’s former chairman, has been charged with stalking and sexually harassing a woman who worked at the New Delhi environmental think tank he’s headed for more than three decades. Police filed the case in a Delhi court after investigating a complaint by one of Pachauri’s colleagues at The Energy Research Institute, Press Trust of India said.

Police have charged Pachauri, 75, with sexual harassment, stalking and criminal intimidation of the 29-year old woman. Pachauri had headed the four-decade-old think-tank for the last 34 years, when it emerged as a global center for research in efficient utilization of energy and sustainable use of natural resources. It has affiliate institutes in London and Washington.

Pachauri chaired the climate panel — considered the world’s authority on climate science — since 2002, and had accepted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on its behalf. The panel shared the award with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

Pachauri has denied the allegations, but had resigned last year from both the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and from TERI after the researcher’s allegations were published in Indian newspapers. The allegations caused a public uproar in a country where women face a stigma against discussing issues such as sexual harassment in the workplace.

His appointment last month to another top post at TERI renewed outrage, and a second woman, who had worked there for a year, came forward with additional allegations. The court scheduled an initial hearing on April 23.

Separate from the police investigation, TERI’s internal complaints committee examined the evidence presented by the researcher, and questioned nearly 50 other employees, and concluded that the allegations of sexual harassment leveled by the researcher were valid.

In his resignation letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Pachauri said he’d planned to step down on Nov. 2 last year after the release of the final portion of the panel’s fifth climate report, but “close friends and colleagues advised me against that action and to continue with outreach efforts worldwide.”

Pachauri also had colleagues on the panel who had, privately, been eager for new leadership for years. One reason was his habit of mixing personal advocacy with the authority granted by his position.

Chicago IL: On the auspicious occasion of Maha Sivarathri, Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, IL, organized a devotion filled cultural program on Saturday, March 5th in the temple auditorium.  Maha Sivarathri is one of the most important religious festivals for those who follow Sanatana dharma.  This is the time that Lord Siva protected the world by drinking the poison that arose from the churning of the great sea by devas and asuras.  This is the time, in gratitude, Hindus fast, chant, pray, stay awake all night and perform abhishekams with great devotion.

“Om Namah Shivayah” was a unique program consisting of chanting of slokas, classical music and dance performances by featured artists, professional teachers of Chicagoland and their senior students. The classical Indian dance forms of Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Odissi have been presented in the Veluchamy auditorium.

The event began with a fervent invocation – Lingashtakam, Ananda Natamaduvar and Siva Panchakshari Stotram by young students of Smt. Devaki Janakiraman of Noopura Dance Academy. Further setting the devotional mood, students of Smt. Rama Gurupalli of Rama Advanced Music Academy rendered Sambhomahadeva, Mamavasadajanani and Mahaganapatim and students of Smt. Maragatham Mani of Ganalahari School of Music and Culture rendered Bhajans on Lord Siva.

The first of four featured presentations was next, with an exquisite Bharatanatyam performance by Ms. Swetha Ravishankar from Portland, Oregon.   With grace and expertise, she explored the romantic love of mother Parvathi for Lord Siva through Shir Dandayudapani Pillai’s composition and Theruvil Vaarano.  She also presented the item Mallari.

Soorya Dance School under the artistic director Jinoo Varghese presented Ardhanareeswara, a beautiful ragamalika, depicting the union of Lord Siva and Mother Parvathi.  Mudra Dance Academy students, and artistic Director Kshama Shah gave an energetic and inspiring performance of Siva stuti and Natarja Natanam, with beautiful Siva costumes.  Students of Smt. Mahalakshmi Varadhan of Noopura Dance Academy presented Bho Shambho, Nataraja Anjali and Ardhanarishwara Stuthi, which was well received.

The second featured Performance was an enthralling presentation of Bharatanatyam by Ms. Madhavi Reddi of Washington DC.  With finesse and passion she presented beautifully choreographed pieces – Siddi Vinayakam, Adidum Arase and Shankara Shrigiri.

Sushmita Arunkumar of Nrithyanjali School of Dance gave a thrilling presentation of the thunderous descent of river Ganga from her celestial world on to the earth and how Lord Siva effortlessly contains her in his locks, in Thunga tarange gange.  Her students presented Natamadum Nadanadi with ease.

The third featured presentation was a vibrant Kuchipudi performace by Ms Aparna Satheesan, artistic director of Samyoga from Indiana.  With beautiful expression and precise foot work, she presented Ganesha Pravesha Daravu and Ganapathy Kauthuvam in praise of Lord Ganesha and Shiva stuthi where she explored the stories of Markandeya, and Tripurasura and the swallowing of halahala by Lord Siva.

Dr. Hemalatha Burra a Sanskrit scholar and a retired professor of Sri Satya Sai University, India, made a unique sloka presentation.  While her young students rendered Ardhanareeswara stortram and Sivatandava stotram with accurate pronunciation, amazing discipline and musical precision, a group of ladies chanted beautifully Adi Sankara’s Soundaryalahari with English commentary.

The fourth and final featured presentation was by Sri Pabitra Pradhan’s Odissi dance.  His grace of movement, energetic foot work, astounding sense of balance as he rendered Sivapanchaka and Pancha bhuta captivated the audience.

Students of Smt. Sowmya Kumaran of Nrithyasangeeth presented Kapalini beautifully and was well appreciated.  Guru Anupama Rajesh, artistic director of Nrithya Geethanjali Dance Academy, along with her students presented Deva Stuthi, and Idadu padam with great ease and beauty.  A special mention of the item Andanal Ini varumo by Pravalika Bhagavatula, a special needs child, was appreciated by one and all.  This was followed by the concluding presentation of Guru Poonam Mahesh of Nrityanant Performing Arts, and her students show casing Siva kirtanam and Sambho stuti. The beautifully coordinated costumes were pleasing to the eye and the dance was enthralling.

This Sivaratri 2016 event was coordinated by the Balaji temple cultural team.  The emcees – Janaki Madugula and Saroja Ravi were marvelous at their job and were successful in keeping the interest of the audience sustained.  Sri Azad Sunkavalli and Sri Kumar handled the audio. Welcome words and vote of thanks were given by Viji Susarla, co-chair of the cultural committee.

Chicago IL: American Telugu Association [ATA] hosted a grand ATA Day Gala pervaded by palpable excitement and soaring spirits permeating the evening  with overflowing guests packed to the capacity at the grand ballroom in Sheraton Hotel in Lisle, Illinois on Saturday, February 27, 2016. This ATA Day gala was held as a reaffirming precursor leading up to the magnificent milestone silver jubilee ATA Convention to be held in July 1-3, 2016 at Rosemont Convention Center in Chicago, IL.

The highlight of the ATA DAY gala was the huge haul of overflowing donations of over $812,000 from inspired donors touching a groundbreaking milestone to help host grand ATA Convention on an unparalleled scale and magnitude.  The glittering evening   was replete with music, dance, singing enhanced by the presence of prominent Tollywood/Bollywood actress Tapsee Pannu. The central objective of the evening gala was eloquently articulated to inspire Telugu families all across to converge for the milestone 25-years ATA Convention in Chicago and make it a runaway success.  The evening attracted the attendance of prominent ATA pioneering, intermediary and contemporary leaders from all across the country with Democratic front runner for the United States Congress Raja Krishnamoorthi stepping in as an honored guest and spelled out his robust support to the large growing constituency of Telugu people and complimented them for their soaring success in America.

After the lighting of the auspicious lamp by prominent ATA leaders, there was a presentation of an artistically choreographed invocation dance by young children which set the grand ATA Day gala in motion with series of inspiring remarks each convincingly motivating to host one of the most memorable conventions in the annals of the history of American Telugu Association.

ATA Silver Jubilee Convention Convener Chandrasekhar Reddy Palvai welcoming the guests earlier ardently thanked for their spirited pledge of participation in supporting ATA Convention with their resource and urged each Telugu family to be a valued partner in coming together to host the most memorable silver jubilee convention in ATA’s history. Chandrasekhar Reddy Palvai lasted on the podium passionately beseeching the potential donors to rise up to donate generously and identifying the donors and acknowledging them for their support.

Hanumanth Reddy, ATA Founder visibly excited at the unprecedented gathering and the groundswell support from all corners of the country thanked the guests for their proactive support.

Presiding over the fundraising facet, KK Reddy, Convention Director in his persuasive eloquence inspired the guests to step forward to donate.  KK Reddy appealed to the better angels of the spirit of altruism seeking support to help host magnificent ATA convention and the charitable causes ATA is so passionately espouses.  KK Reddy continued to emphasize on the significance of financial partnership from the individuals, organizations and corporations in building a sound financial foundations to unveil a spectacular ATA convention and, in addition, also to build enduring fiscal reserves for ATA’s humanitarian mission projects.

Kamala Chimata, Convention Coordinator spelled out the goals of the convention. Convention Co-Convener Krishna Mushyam conducted the program event with his interspersing introductions; while Jagan Bukkaraju, Convention Co-Convener, Radhakrishna Reddy, Dr. Meher Medavaram Venkat Tudi, Ramana Abbaraju, Uma Katki, Sujatha Appalaneni, Karumuri brothers rendered valuable assistance in conducting program management.  Ramesh Garapaty introduced the cultural programs.

Keerthi Kumar Ravoori made a rousing summation on the grand plans being undertaken to host a massive convention. Among the donors, Srinivas Reddy Sarikonda, Satish Velpuru emerged as one of the highest donors. President-elect Karunakar Asireddy, who spoke on the occasion along with Anil Bodireddy represented a strong contingent of Atlanta ATA team of eight. Some of the key ATA members at the gala include Dr. Murthy Chimata, Yedavalli Ramanamurthy, Ramesh Tummuru, Amar Nettem, Venu & Ramana Abbaraju, venkat Tudi.

Tollywood/Bollywood actress: Taapsee Pannu in her remarks made a stirring pitch for ATA convention and laid- out the significance of paying back to the community, society and the country through financial resources. Actress Tapsee Pannu paid glowing tributes to ATA leaders for their steadfast devotion in promoting humanitarian causes.  To the great amusement of the guests, actress: Taapsee performed an impromptu dance which received sustained applause and cheering.

Some of the convention committee chairs who attended include Srinivas Pedamallu, Mohan Manne, Dr Prakasam Tata, Mani Tellapragada, Usha Pariti, Prasuna Vootkur, Sundar Dittakavi, Raghav Jatla, Sujatha Appalaneni, Satish Chilla, Govind Vundru, Dr. Vijaya Susarla, Srinivas Reddy, Karunakar Reddy Doddam, Jayadev Mattupalli, Sarada Mettupalli, Chalama Reddy Bandaru, Sai Yendamuri, Mohan Kakarlapudi, Srinivas Voruganti, Dr. Viswanatham Susarla, Mahidhar  Musukula, Krishna Rangaraju, Ramesh Poola, Hari Raini, Maruti Ram Gudavalli, Dr. Uma katiki , Bhanu Swargam, Saipriya Reddy, TanviShri Jatla, Harsha Vardhan Reddy, Sarath Yettapu and Saimithra Reddy

Vindya of MAA TV anchored the program; while Rahul Sipligunj crooned late into the night to the captive enthralled audience. ATA hosted a grand evening dinner arranged by Tamarind Restaurant. For more information, please visit ATA website:www.ataworld.org

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Strong ties to the community and a bond between neighbors can help areas affected by natural disasters recover faster, according to a survey conducted by Purdue University students and faculty. Satish Ukkusuri, professor of civil engineering, said that it is important to consider physical infrastructure – the power grid or roads – but it’s also important to understand people and encourage strong neighborhood and community ties that will be instrumental in helping people recover.

The Resilient Communities Research Team found that having a dense social network helps speed the recovery process, said Arif Sadri, graduate student in civil engineering. The team surveyed almost 400 people from the rural southern Indiana communities of Henryville, Marysville, New Pekin and Chelsea, all of which were in the path of deadly EF3 and EF4 tornadoes in March 2012. The survey was part of the project, “Resilient Communities: Strengthening Post-Disaster Recovery by Understanding Interdependent Social and Physical Networks.” Sadri presented the research at the RES/CON Student Research Expo in New Orleans on March 1-3.

The brief survey asked residents to provide information on when, where and how they evacuated the area, and whether it was before, during or after the tornadoes hit on March 2-3, 2012. It also asked about each household’s connection to the people around them and the extent to which those people came to their aid during the recovery process. Sadri said they found that those who were able to rely on their neighbors and community for help were able to bounce back from the disaster a bit faster than those who were not.

Seungyoon Lee, associate professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication, said that there is much to learn about post-disaster recovery. “Very little is understood about how people draw upon their social connections after a disaster and how we can encourage strong neighborhood and community ties that will be instrumental in helping people recover,” she said. “We encourage community leaders and policymakers to consider the importance of social, neighborhood and community factors as they prepare for disasters.”

Engaging senior citizen and civic groups in disaster planning scenarios and encouraging neighborhood events that could build or strengthen social ties are a few ways the team suggests community leaders could better incorporate social factors into disaster preparedness, said team member Megan Sapp Nelson, associate professor of library science.

The research team included Sadri; Lee; Sapp Nelson; Rosalee A. Clawson, professor and head of the Department of Political Science; Abhijit Deshmukh, professor and James J. Solberg head of industrial engineering; Daniel Kelly, associate professor of philosophy; Justin Seipel, associate professor of mechanical engineering; Satish Ukkusuri, professor of civil engineering; and Daniel P. Aldrich, professor of political science at Northeastern University.

The team conducted its study as part of an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant and the 21st Century Grand Challenges project, an initiative created by President Barack Obama in 2013 to harness science, technology and innovation to solve important national or global problems. The $538,000 grant was issued to Purdue in March 2014 for a project titled “Catalyzing the Involvement of Humanists and Social Scientists in Grand Challenge Initiatives.”

March 2, 2016 (Los Angeles, California)  – The Inglewood District Attorney’s Office filed a hate crime charge Tuesday against defendant K.C. Tard, who brutally attacked Balwinder Jit Singh, a turbaned Sikh L.A. County bus driver.

On November 6, 2015, Mr. Singh was called a “terrorist“ and “suicide bomber,” and was accused of hijacking the bus while being viciously assaulted.  The crime left Mr. Singh in the hospital with a disfigured face and infection in his eye that has required weeks of recovery.

Local police initially failed to take into account the hateful slurs used against Mr. Singh, instead classifying the crime as a simple misdemeanor assault. Nearly two months after the incident, the Sikh Coalition urged the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to investigate the case as a hate crime and used the local media to increase public pressure on the case.  The joint legal and communications advocacy resulted in a felony count of Battery on Transit Personnel with a felony hate crime enhancement against Mr. Tard yesterday.

“I was attacked because of my Sikh religious appearance, and the only reason authorities re-examined my case and brought hate crime charges was because of the Sikh Coalition,” said Balwinder Jit Singh.  “I’m grateful to the Sikh Coalition for working with law enforcement, to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, and to the DA’s office.”

The Sikh Coalition was joined in support by nine other civil rights organizations, led by the local L.A. chapter of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, who wrote a letter underscoring the importance of charging this case as a hate crime.

“Mr. Singh’s case sheds light on the failure of law enforcement agencies to recognize and respond appropriately to hate crime cases and the extraordinary efforts required to get them to reverse course,” said Senior Staff Attorney Gurjot Kaur. “We will continue to push for law enforcement agencies to properly identify and investigate hate crimes, and ensure that individuals who resort to racist violence are held accountable.”

In December and January, the Sikh Coalition sent letters to law enforcement agencies and school superintendents in all 50 states about remaining vigilant in protecting the rights of the Sikh community.

In February, www.ReportHate.org was launched to further ensure that all cases of backlash and bias get reported by Sikhs across the United States. “The Sikh turban stands for justice and equality,” said Ms. Kaur. “It should be celebrated, not feared, and we will continue to work tirelessly to further educate Americans while protecting Sikh rights.”

Please notify law enforcement of any threats or violence, and contact the Sikh Coalition at 212-655-3095 or online here. In addition, we urge community members to review our FAQ guide on hate crimes, hate speech and how to report incidents to the authorities and to the Sikh Coalition. Also please view our printable hate crime poster, which is in both English and Punjabi.

Manisha Nagrani, 40, an Indian American woman who raised thousands of dollars online allegedly posing as a victim of a rare blood cancer, was arrested here Feb. 26, and charged with five counts of felony fraud.

Nagrani is currently being held in San Francisco County Jail, on a no bail warrant from Santa Clara County, Max Szabo, a spokesman for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, told India-West. She is scheduled to be transferred to Santa Clara County to appear on outstanding warrants from 2011.

According to her booking record, Nagrani has been charged with false personation; receiving or buying stolen property; 2nd degree commercial burglary; and acquiring access cards without the cardholder or issuer’s consent.

When she was arrested Feb. 26 afternoon in downtown San Francisco, she was initially transported to San Francisco General Hospital for medical treatment and then booked into jail, a San Francisco Police Department spokeswoman told India-West.

Nagrani was previously arrested in 2006 and served time before being released on parole. In 2009, the San Francisco Chronicle referred to her as an “accidental entrepreneur” who – after losing a job in public relations – founded a matchmaking business, which introduced over 40 couples who got married.

Sometime around 2014, Nagrani began posting on her Facebook page that she had been diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndromes, a blood disorder affecting stem cells in bone marrow. (ABC’s “Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts also suffered from MDS, a rare blood cancer.)

Nagrani – who used the profile Manisha MN and also allegedly used several fake profiles including Matt Marc – stepped up her game on May 27, 2015, posting a lengthy, heart-rending post about her struggle with a terminal disease.

“Twenty days ago I received the news that no one wants to hear – my body is failing at its fight against the MDS. I received an ‘official’ expiration date,” wrote Nagrani.

“Three to four months I was told; one hundred days, give or take. That barely takes me to my birthday – barely makes it to the half marathon I’d plan to walk instead of run because of my failing health and strength.”

“If my doctors are right I won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving again, I won’t see my God-children celebrate their next birthdays, I won’t have the chance to experience some beautiful dreams on my bucket list,” wrote Nagrani.

Supporters immediately began raising funds for Nagrani’s treatments, creating campaigns on the web portals gofundme.com; youcaring.com; and giveforward.com. Nagrani’s fundraising pages are no longer visible on gofundme and youcaring, but her giveforward page shows donations of $17,552, with many donations of over $1,000.

Victims have created an investigation sheet on google docs – Nagrani Investigation Data Sheet – which donors can use to report their complaint. Reports can also be made by calling (415) 553-1754.

People searching for something can find it faster if they know what to look for. But new research suggests knowing what not to look for can be just as helpful. Although previous studies concluded that attempting to ignore irrelevant information slows people down, Johns Hopkins University researchers found that when people are given time to learn what’s possible to ignore, they’re able to search faster and more efficiently.

The results, which offer new insight into how the mind processes difficult information, are forthcoming in the journal Psychological Science and now available online. “Individuals who explicitly ignore distracting information improve their visual search performance, a critical skill for professional searchers, like radiologists and airport baggage screeners,” said lead author Corbin A. Cunningham, a graduate student in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences’ Attention and Perception Lab. “This work has the potential to help occupations that rely on visual search by informing future training programs.”

In two experiments, researchers asked participants to search for certain letters on a computer screen. They had to find either a capital “B” or an “F,” among other letters of assorted colors. Sometimes, the participants were told the “B” or “F” would not be a certain color, like red. Other times they were given no color hints.

When participants were given one color to consistently ignore throughout the experiment, their reaction time slowed at first, but after extended practice, about a hundred trials, they were finding the target letters significantly faster than participants who weren’t given a color to eliminate. In fact, the more information participants were able to ignore, the faster they found the target.

Although trying to disregard distractions might initially slow people down, the researchers concluded that over time, people are more efficient when they know what’s not worth paying attention to. The ability to ignore is a key part of the ability to pay attention, the researchers said.

“Attention is usually thought of as something that enhances the processing of important objects in the world,” said co-author Howard Egeth, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins. “This study, along with some recent work in which we measured brain activity while subjects responded selectively to stimuli presented in the midst of competing stimuli, highlights the importance of active suppression of those competing stimuli. It’s what I think of as the dark side of attention.”

This work was supported by Office of Naval Research Grant N000141010278, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship DGE-1232825, and the Johns Hopkins University Science of Learning Institute.

SAN FRANCISCO: An Indo-Canadian Toronto-based Sikh comedian and YouTube and Vine star, Jasmeet Singh — better known online as ‘JusReign’ alleged that he was forced to take off his turban at the San Francisco airport during a security check, weeks after a Sikh-American actor was barred from boarding a flight in Mexico for refusing to take off his turban.

Although airline officials provided a private room for him to remove his turban so that it could be X-rayed, Singh said they would not provide a mirror for him to retie his turban, and suggested that Singh walk through the airport terminal bareheaded to find a public restroom in which to retie his turban.

“Pretty much the vibe that I was getting was that we’ve done our business, we’ve taken care of our security measures,” Singh told NBC News, “and you’re not our problem anymore. We’re not going to accommodate you now that we’ve done what we need to do.”

“Like any Sikh man in my position, it was demoralizing and embarrassing, to be sent out after being forced to remove my turban,” Singh, whose YouTube channel has nearly 700,000 subscribers and more than 99,000,000 views, said. “I’ve done YouTube videos where I have shown my hair and I have shown how to tie a turban, so I’m more comfortable in the public space, but if it was anyone else in my position — another Sikh man or maybe a woman in hijab — to force them to walk out to use a bathroom to tie their turban or hijab again, it’s kind of ridiculous. Just bringing a mirror to the private screening room will allow them to put it on again, which is not that big of a hassle on their end.”

In response to Singh’s experience, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) told NBC News that they contacted the Department of Justice (DOJ) and TSA as soon as they heard about what happened.

“We are disappointed but unfortunately not surprised by the situation faced by JusReign,” SALDEF Executive Director Jasjit Singh said. “TSA policies have been created to prevent this sort of humiliation. We need more trainings to ensure that security officials on the ground are aware of the policies.”

Harmann P. Singh, a policy fellow at SALDEF, added that SALDEF has worked to conduct trainings with TSA agents in 34 cities, and has trained agents who have served in hundreds of locations across the country. Since Singh began tweeting Sunday night, fans and others have spoken out on Twitter in support.

Prasad Moparti traveled all the way from his native Hyderabad to Sacramento, California, to attend his daughter’s wedding reception in January this year. Last week, police found his body floating in a river a few miles from the reception at historic Grand Island Mansion in Walnut Grove.

Law enforcement officials were unsure as to what had happened to the 55-year-old man who reportedly disappeared from the wedding reception on February 13, or how he landed in river water. He was reported missing that day by his relatives, who told authorities that he had left on foot and never returned.

Reports said quoting family members that he walked away about 4 p.m. from his daughter’s wedding reception at the Grand Island Mansion, a popular waterfront wedding resort in the region’s delta region about 30 miles south of Sacramento. He was reported missing a few hours later.

“Our only focus is to get our father back,” a local Fox affiliate quoted his daughter Durga as saying,’ according to an earlier report by Washington Post. She said she and the family will continue efforts until Moparti was found and brought back home.

But by the time Moparti was found, he was dead. News reports said the Sacramento County coroner confirmed that authorities had found the body of Moparti, Feb. 22 in a waterway about five miles downstream from the wedding reception where he was last seen alive Feb. 13.

The Washington Post earlier said Sheriff’s officials searched for three days for Moparti “utilizing all resources” to find Moparti who was not familiar with the area, but in vain, but the officials said at that time that no foul play or suspicious circumstances were suspected.

Sgt. Tony Turnbull, a sheriff’s department spokesman, told the Post after he went missing that Investigators believed Moparti was suffering from “some kind of depression.” His daughter, however, said that her father was an active participant in the wedding events.

At the wedding itself, “our dad was really very happy,” she said, according to Sacramento Bee. “He was dancing. He was really joyful.” Investigators said they have not determined whether Moparti’s died accidentally. “We may never know what happened,” Turnbull was quoted as sayin

The American Telugu Association (ATA), a 25-year old premier national organization of Telugus in North America, is gearing up to unveil its Grand ATA Conference to mark the celebrations of its silver jubilee on an unprecedented scale.

It will showcase the rich enduring Telugu culture in the form of art, music, dance, literary, religious, social, economic, health forums during July 1-3 in Chicago at Rosemont Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

ATA’s top-tier team from across the country has converged at Westin Hotel in Princeton, New Jersey and 70 important committees have been set up to host this mammoth convention.
The Telangana government will send a 15-member cultural troupe to augment the ATA festivities.

Kamala Chimata, conference coordinator, said the goal of the convention was to promote literary, cultural, educational, religious, social, economic, health and community activities of the people of Telugu origin.

Iftekhar Shareef, Reception Chair, disclosed the plans to rope in VIPs, dignitaries and elected officials both from India and the United States to grace the convention and added that some had already expressed a keen interest in attending.

Sudhakar Perkari, ATA president, Chandrasekhar Reddy Palvai, conference convener, K.K.Reddy, conference director and Hanumanth Reddy, ATA founder, spoke on the occasion.

Washington, DC: K.P. Yohannan, a Kerala-born Indian-American missionary, who founded and runs Gospel for Asia — one of the largest U.S.-based Christian mission agencies — has been charged with fraudulently soliciting hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable donations, and misdirecting the money for personal use.

A class action lawsuit filed Feb. 8 in a U.S. District Court in Arkansas alleges that K.P. Yohannan and other agency officials misrepresented how funds would be spent and funneled vast amounts of the hundreds of millions of dollars the organization has collected into for-profit businesses and an expensive headquarters, the Christian Post reported.

Gospel for Asia according to the lawsuit is a global missionary organization that operates in South Asia, primarily within India. The organization tells potential donors that it supplies the “poorest of the poor” with food, provisions, and a Christian message, but lead attorney Marc R. Stanley said in a statement that the agency has been exploiting the goodwill of Christians.

Matthew and Jennifer Dickson, who are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, charge defendants with violations of RICO and the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as fraud and unjust enrichment. The plaintiffs allege that Gospel for Asia (GFA), Yohannan, and other GFA officials misrepresented to donors how, when, and where charitable donations would be spent, and funneled vast amounts of the hundreds of millions of dollars the organization has collected into for-profit businesses and an expensive headquarters.

“K.P. Yohannan and his Gospel for Asia inner circle have been exploiting the goodwill and generosity of devout Christians around the country for years. Gospel for Asia should return all the money it’s taken from donors who thought they were contributing to charity,” said Stanley.

According to the lawsuit: “Between 2007 and 2013, GFA solicited over $450,000,000 in donations from the United States alone, where the majority of GFA’s donors reside. Well over one million unique donations are made to GFA each year from tens of thousands of donors who give one time or on a recurring, sponsorship basis. However, despite repeated, explicit guarantees from GFA to donors, only a fraction of the donated money supports the people and causes for which it was donated, as Defendants redirect it for their own purposes.” GFA is present in numerous countries, including Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Laos and Thailand.

Protests against the violation of civil rights at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, where its student body’s president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested last week on charges of alleged sedition, based on a complaint by the ABVP, a student’s body linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, reverberated in the United States this week with Indian-American advocacy groups condemning the incident.

The Alliance for Justice and Accountability, a broad coalition of Indian American organizations working to safeguard pluralism and democracy in India, along with prominent Dalit organizations such as the Ambedkar Association of North America and the Dalit History Month issued a joint statement condemning the “arbitrary arrests and the open violation” of civil rights of the protesting students, according to news reports.

Kumar was arrested Feb. 12 for raising allegedly anti-India slogans at an event organized by students on JNU campus to commemorate the death of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was executed in 2013.

His arrest has triggered widespread outrage among students and teachers and drawn severe criticism from non-BJP political parties, many of which felt this was yet another instance of the ruling party’s growing intolerance of different opinions and views that do not follow party lines.

The university teachers had rallied behind its protesting students, who had gone on strike, and questioned the administration’s decision to allow the police crackdown on the campus. They however, appealed to students to call off the strike.

“Use of sedition laws belongs to the colonial era, not to a modern democracy. It makes a mockery of the freedom of speech provisions of the Constitution”, Two circles Net quoted Umar Malick of Indian-American Muslim Council, as saying. “It clearly points to the penchant of the government to use the law, even archaic ones, as a political tool to silence student protests,” he added.

“We unequivocally condemn the action of the government and the portrayal of student protests as seditious. All citizens that value democracy should be concerned at this development and raise their voice in demanding that government and police stay out of campus politics. This is a direct assault on democracy,” read the statement.

The Indian Diaspora is keenly following these developments in recent months and is alarmed by the labeling of student protests and challenge to BJP allied ABVP as ‘anti-national’ activity. “An India without the freedom of speech is not a democracy,” said Bhajan Singh, founding director of the Organization for Minorities of India. “Students with differences of opinion are the natural byproducts of a vibrant and healthy atmosphere in education, which should be encouraged and not stifled by the ruling party in government,” he was quoted as saying.

The Indian-American organizations have demanded a judicial probe into the civil rights violations of the students and the role of Hindutva organizations in fomenting trouble by framing students as anti-nationals.

The Indian National Overseas Congress, USA also condemned the attack on Anand Sharma, former Union Minister and party leader who went to the campus after the arrest. “This attack is another illustration of growing intolerance in the country to the basic principles of a liberal democracy and the BJP-led Government seemed to have perfected the art of stifling dissent, shutting down debates especially on campuses and bringing sedition charges to silence any opposition”, George Abraham, chairman of the INOC, USA, said in a statement in New York.

The arrest has been widely criticized by political parties, including the Communist party of India (Marxist), and Bahujan Samaj party. Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of CPI(M), and himself a JNU Alumnus, reacted to the strict action taken by Delhi Police under the instruction of Centre against the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University. “What is happening in JNU? Police on campus, arrests and picking up students from hostels! This last happened during the Emergency,” Yechury said.

New York City that boasts of people from almost all the nations as being its citizens has rolled a programs to support and protect abused illegal immigrants within its City limits. Out of roughly 11.3 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, 535,000 are reportedly living in the City of New York City. Due to their undocumented status, many immigrants do not report crimes such as domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking for fear of deportation.

In a bid to provide undocumented immigrant survivors of crime and human trafficking, the New York City last week announced a new initiative to provide them with services in court so that they can have “equal and just protection” under the law without fear of deportation.

According to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Commissioner and Chair of the New York City Commission on Human Rights Carmelyn P. Malalis, the new initiatives will help such illegal victims of crime and human trafficking to remain in the U.S. during investigation and provide them a pathway to legal permanent residence

“Today, New York City announced that it has expanded its capacity to meet the needs of immigrant communities. U and T visas serve undocumented immigrants who have suffered abuse and encourage them to report the crime regardless of their immigration status. By providing an additional avenue for immigrants to report unlawful activity, the Commission is creating a more fostering environment for immigrant communities,” said Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Nisha Agarwal.

Undocumented immigrants in New York City who are arrested will no longer face the threat of being deported or held at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) centers for undetermined periods of time. The Big Apple has been generous with illegal immigrants for long. Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a law in November 2014 that severely reduces the city’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities and removes ICE agents from Rikers Island.

“What these bills do is protect undocumented immigrants, or visa holders, and legal permanent residents alike, all of whom have suffered under the previous approach, and ultimately prevent families from being torn apart,” de Blasio said at the bill signing held on the steps of a Our Lady of Sorrows church in Corona, Queens, which provides assistance for local undocumented residents. The bills, Intro. 486-A and Intro. 487-A were introduced by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito in October 2014.

The U. S. Congress created both the U and T visas in 2000 as part of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act to encourage undocumented immigrants to come forward and report crimes, and to aid law enforcement in investigations and prosecutions of criminal activity.

The U visa allows undocumented immigrant victims of crime to temporarily remain in the U.S. for up to four years while assisting law enforcement in investigations and prosecutions, and provides them with a chance to legally work, integrate into their communities and get on a pathway to lawful permanent residence.

The T visa, which applies only to undocumented immigrants who have been trafficked into the United States, allows victims to remain in the U.S. for up to three years to assist in the investigations or prosecutions of trafficking crimes, and also provides a pathway to lawful permanent residence. Certification by a law enforcement agency is the first step in the visa process and applicants must submit their certification to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for approval to receive a visa.

NEW YORK CITY: Mayor Bill de Blasio of new York City has pledged that the city would spend more than $9 million in “language access” programs including translation and interpretation services in 2016, and that the city’s ad buys in community and ethnic media, which tripled in 2015 from 2013, were on track to outpace last year’s level of $1.3 million.

According to him, the members of the community and ethnic press would gain more ready access to city officials, noting that three seats would be reserved for community and ethnic media representatives at the City Hall press room. The City Hall press office clarified that “three available desks will be rotated to accommodate different outlets, based on request volume.

While saying that he wanted to be careful about making a “blanket pledge” about meeting any and all requests from the ethnic media, Mayor de Blasio said that the city was dedicated to “deepening” its relationship with these diverse media outlets. “My goal is to consistently do more,” he said.

“We are the ultimate city of immigrants. We honor that fact and know that it’s essential to our greatness and that means we need to communicate with people” in a way that they trust, said the mayor. In the past, he said, “New York City government too often attempted to basically communicate with the people of New York City only through traditional mainstream media and didn’t understand the power of community and ethnic media.”

Now, he said, “we’re going to start changing that reality and we’re going to deepen these changes over the next few years. We aim to reach all of the people with everything we do.” On matters from pre-K seats to IDNYC to taking advantage of the earned income tax credit, de Blasio said, the city wants people in diverse communities to be well-informed, and the way to ensure that is through “pushing out more information to all of you than we have in the past.”

With City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito on his right and the Commissioner for Immigrant Affairs Nisha Agarwal to his left, the mayor addressed and took questions from more than 50 members of the community and ethnic press in a standing room-only briefing held in the Blue Room at City Hall. Mark-Viverito and Agarwal also addressed the group.

Mark-Viverito said she understood the role that community and ethnic media play in the city, and was “very passionate” about developing a strong partnership with that media, since she is bilingual and bicultural, gets her information from many media, and herself was once a journalist at WBAI. She noted that she had named the first-ever director of media diversity relations for the City Council, Juana Ponce de Leon. The Council speaker said she was “very excited” about the city’s efforts, that this is “just a beginning” and conceded that “it’s overdue – let’s be clear about that.” During questioning from the community and ethnic press, the mayor took notes and told some individual reporters that he would be sure to have their particular questions or complaints about prior inattention addressed. Agarwal, who described some of the city’s new initiatives to improve language access, such as inviting residents to dial 311 with complaints if interpretation services were found wanting, said that “we want to be held accountable in how we are bridging the language barrier.”

ANDOVER, MA—Members from all four centers of growing Chinmaya Mission Boston family are getting ready to kick off the celebration of Swami Chinmayananda’s 100th birthday with a great fanfare on May 8. The young and the young at heart from Chinmaya centers in Andover, Newton, Metrowest, and newest center in Dover, NH, will participate on this joyous occasion. n May 8, 1916 in Ernakulam, Kerala, India, was born a baby boy named Balakrishna Menon who was destined for greatness. His innate curiosity for the truth led him to the sanyasis residing in the Himalayan Mountains from where he returned as Swami Chinmayananda, an enlightened soul, with a mission to share the knowledge of ancient Hindu scriptures with the masses of India.

In 1953, Swami Chinmayananda’s devotees established Chinmaya Mission to accelerate and amplify his work. The goal of the organization is simple yet profound – “To provide to individuals from any background the wisdom of Vedanta and the practical means for spiritual growth and happiness, enabling them to become positive contributors to society.” Swami Chinmayananda, or Gurudev, as he is lovingly referred to by Mission members, was the perfect embodiment of this goal every moment of his life until he attained Samadhi in August 1993.

“Unto Him Our Best” – that is the motto for the yearlong celebration of Swami Chinmayananda’s Centenary. And that is what members of Chinmaya Mission Boston have been offering to Gurudev – their best in their efforts towards spiritual unfoldment, and in service the community.

On Sunday, May 8th, the day will start with a formal offering of our pranams to Gurudev. Given the abundance of talent among Chinmaya members, the organization has a great line-up of musical, dance and theatrical performances throughout the day.

From the traditional/classical genres to more contemporary styles, the performances will be an offering to Gurudev. Some members of Chinmaya Mission of Boston have had the great fortune of having interacted closely with Gurudev.

“We will mark this day by partaking of their experience as they reminisce about his immense spiritual knowledge, his compassion, his wit and his great sense of humor,” organizers of the event said.

In parallel with the cultural program, several interactive display booths and activities will be on hand that will showcase the myriad different initiatives Chinmaya Mission is involved in worldwide. From elementary education to technology colleges, from women’s empowerment initiatives to hospitals, from preservation of our ancient Hindu scriptures to serving the needy, the Mission does it all.

“What a great way to learn about the Mission all under one roof! Want to get a quick primer on The Holy Gita or brush up on your knowledge of it? Then you will not want to miss “18 Chapters in 18 minutes”! Younger visitors will have several opportunities for fun games and craft projects. And for those wanting to de-stress, Yoga sessions will be offered by trained professionals,” organizers said.

They added: “Of course, no celebration would be complete without some delicious food! Just as Gurudev criss-crossed India spreading the wisdom of ancient Hindu philosophy, we plan to have delicacies from Kerala to Uttarkashi, from Mumbai to Calcutta, to satisfy every palate. “

The Chinmaya Mission family extends a warm invitation to one and all to join them in celebrating the life of a great Mahatma, and in the process, learn a little something about his teachings, his life’s mission, and about the Boston chapter.

For more information about the Centenary Celebrations and Chinmaya Mission Boston, please contact: info@chinmaya-boston.org.

New York, NY: Riva Ganguli Das, presently India’s ambassador to Romania, Albania and Maldova, has been named to succeed Indian Consul General in New York, Ambassador Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay, according to news reports.

“She is likely to arrive in the next few days. Till the time she arrives, the Deputy Consul General Manoj Mohapatra will hold the fort,” media reports stated. Mulay has been appointed to head the newly formed ‘India Diaspora Division’ in India’s Ministry of External Affairs incorporating the Ministry hitherto known as Ministry of Overseas India Affairs.

Ambassador Das Mrs. Riva Ganguly Das joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986. She is a Post Graduate in Political Science from Delhi University. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, she was a Lecturer at Delhi University, according to Indian embassy website in Romania.

Das was first posted in Spain. Thereafter, she was at the Headquarters dealing with External Publicity, Nepal and Passport/Visa work. She was Head of the Cultural Wing of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. After her return from Dhaka, she took over as Director at the United Nations Economic and Social Affairs Division and participated in environmental negotiations, particularly climate change.

She was the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India, The Hague. She was also the Alternate Permanent Representative of India to the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons at The Hague. She served as Consul General of India in Shanghai from 2008 to 2012. After her return from China, she headed the Public Diplomacy Division in the Ministry of External Affairs. Before coming to Bucharest, she was in charge of the Latin America & Caribbean Division in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Los Angeles, CA: The body of Praveen Galla, 23, a second-year engineering student of California State Fullerton University, who had gone missing since February 1st, has been found floating in the waters off Newport Pier in Orange County in the state of California on February 9th.

Media reports quoting police said that body of Galla from Tirupati, India, was found by lifeguards at the beach and the county coroner’s office identified it to be Galla. He was reported missing by his roommates after he failed to return home. The Los Angeles Times reported that Galla had taken an Uber ride on from Fullerton to the campus and arrived there at 5:06 p.m. A friend reported receiving a “check-in” notification on his cell phone later that Galla had been in the Newport Beach area, the report said quoting police.

Authorities believe, the report said, that Galla took a bus from Fullerton to Newport Beach.The body of Galla was found 1,000 feet from the pier in Newport Beach, according to the Orange County coroner’s office which will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death. It was immediately not clear what led to his death.

The LA Times report said quoting police that his friends told university police that it was unusual for Galla not to return home and that he was depressed lately about the status of his student visa. “His friends said he wasn’t suicidal, but was depressed about it (the situation)” a police official was quoted as saying.

In an e-mail to the Cal State Fullerton campus community, California State University president Mildred Garcia said that Praveen was a bright young mind and a valued member of our campus. “While we are still learning details of the circumstances surrounding his death, we do know that he will be missed.”

Washington, DC: Sohail Kaskar, 36, Dawood Ibrahim’s nephew, has been caught in the US for conspiring to commit narcoterrorism, providing material support, and unlawfully selling missile launching systems to Colombia’s FARC (Spanish acronym for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).

An old associate of Dawood’s gang said the wanted gangster is upset that Sohail went about his dealings without keeping him or other seniors in the loop. His nephew’s arrest is a major “embarrassment” for Dawood, who, a source said, tried his best to keep Sohail at arm’s length from the law.

Sohail and two Pakistani nationals were arrested by the US’s dreaded Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in December 2015 after extradition from Spain, but Dawood and his cronies used all their might and connections to suppress the news to prevent Dawood’s “international image” from getting tarnished, sources were quoted to have said.

Sohail, alias Ali Danish, is Dawood’s deceased younger brother Noora’s older son. Sources said Dawood has engaged a top lawyer for Sohail, who, if convicted, can face a maximum sentence of life in jail and a mandatory minimum term of 25 years in prison.

The lawyer, Tom Keniff, is representing him in the Manhattan federal court, which charged him in December 2015 for supplying surface to-air missiles to FARC and for bringing drugs, mainly heroin, into the US from Pakistan.

Sohail and the Pakistani nationals, identified as Pirzada Hameed Chisti, alias Benny, and Abdul Wahab Chisti, alias Angel, were arrested in Spain in June 2014 on the request of the US government. After extradition, they were taken into custody by the DEA’s New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment and the underlying complaint at the Manhattan court, from 2013 till the date of their arrests, the two Pakistani nationals and Sohail participated in a conspiracy to import heroin into the US, to distribute the drug, and to support FARC.

During meetings in Spain and elsewhere, the trio agreed to sell large quantities of heroin to individuals they believed were from FARC, but who in reality were undercover DEA agents. Sources said there is a tapped conversation in which Hameed Chisti can be heard forwarding Sohail’s bank account information to an undercover DEA officer to facilitate payment for SAMs.

According to the indictment, in April 2014 the Chishtis arranged for the delivery of a kilogram of heroin to the undercover DEA agents in the Netherlands, for transport to the US. After enough proof, the Chishtis and Sohail were arrested.

San Francisco, CA: The lives of millions in this great nation of immigrants changed for ever ever since the nation was attacked on The 9/11 by terrorists. Especially, the lives of the South Asian Americans have indelibly changed who now live in a daily climate of fear and suspicion, said long-time Indian American community activist Deepa Iyer during a reading of her new book, “We Too Sing America” on January 20, 2016.

The 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., was a “watershed moment” for Iyer, who was working at the time as an attorney in New York. “I heard immediately from Sikhs and Arabs and Muslims who were being harassed.”

“Safety is elusive even in our mosques, temples and gurdwaras. We receive messages that we are diluting the culture of America,” said the writer before reading from her book, which chronicles the violence against South Asian Americans in the 15 years since 9/11.

An audience of more than 70 people gathered at The Booksmith in San Francisco’s iconic Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, which had sparked a revolution 50 years ago. Four local community activists joined Iyer for a panel discussion after the reading.

Iyer co-founded South Asian Americans Leading Together shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and served as the organization’s executive director for 12 years before stepping down in January 2014. In 2009, Iyer and SAALT developed the National Coalition of South Asian Organizations, an umbrella group of 43 community-based organizations.

She is now a senior fellow at the New York-based Center for Social Inclusion. Iyer, who was born in South India, but moved to Kentucky when she was 12, said she had always experienced episodes of “racial confusion.”

“We entered a process of double grieving for the victims of 9/11 and for the scape-goating our community was facing,” she told her audience. Her goal in writing the book, published by The New Press, was to “document the life experiences of post 9/11 America” and to expose the links between Islamophobia and xenophobia and racial anxiety. Iyer called upon her audience to become “bridge builders” to other communities of color.

New Mexico: Pawankumar Jain, an Indian-American physician in New Mexico, whose license was revoked in 2012, pleaded guilty Feb. 11, to health care fraud that involved unlawfully dispensing drugs and health care fraud. Prosecutors alleged that some of his prescriptions led to the death of several patients.

Jain, 63, entered a guilty plea in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M. He has been in federal custody since April 2014, and his detention will continue until the sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Jain will be sentenced to a prison term within the range of 42 to 108 months followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Jain was initially charged in a 111-count indictment filed in April 2014, including 61 counts of unlawfully dispensing controlled substances and 50 counts of healthcare fraud. A 138-count second superseding indictment filed in June 2015 added new charges for a total of 79 unlawful dispensing charges and 59 healthcare fraud charges, including allegations that his conduct resulted in the death of four patients, a press release from the U.S. Attorney for District of New Mexico said.

The superseding indictment alleged that Jain committed the offenses charged between April 2009 and June 2010, in Doña Ana County, N.M. During that time, he was a licensed physician with a neurology subspecialty who operated a pain management medical practice in Las Cruces. Jain’s medical license was suspended in June 2012, and subsequently revoked in Dec. 2012 by the New Mexico Medical Board.

Jain pled guilty to one count of unlawfully dispensing a controlled substance and one count of health care fraud. In his plea agreement, he acknowledged that in his treatment of one patient identified as “M.E.B.,” he conducted “cursory exams and [that he] did not document a therapeutic benefit from the narcotics he was prescribing for her.” When he last saw that patient on Nov. 25, 2009 Jain said, he “… wrote two prescriptions, each for 270 tablets of methadone 10 mg, one dated November 25, 2009, and the second dated December 23, 2009. M.E.B. filled each of these prescriptions, which were issued outside the usual course of medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. . . . Two days after she filled the second prescription, M.E.B. died on December 25, 2009.”

Jain also admitted committing health care fraud in connection with his treatment of M.E.B. Jain’s plea agreement states that he knew M.E.B. was insured by Medicare and that claims to cover the costs of the medication he prescribed for her would be submitted to Medicare for payment. Prescription drug abuse is a leading cause of heroin addiction and overdose deaths in the United States. It has resulted in more than 44,000 deaths in the past year.

San Francisco, CA: A rent increase reportedly asked for by an Indian-American landlord in San Francisco may be the reason why two French-speaking nuns have been serving hundreds of homeless people in the poor Tenderloin neighborhood with home-made lunch from their popular soup kitchen may have to join the people that have giving service to since 2008.

According to Washington Post, Sisters Mary Benedicte and Mary of the Angels have offered the homeless people a refuge from the streets with their baked goods and home cooking.

They devote most of their time to running the kitchen, while seeking donations and selling French pastries to farmer’s markets on the side of their modest space at Fraternite Notre Dame Mary of Nazareth House in San Francisco. The nuns sleep in a tiny back room and prepare daily lunches for hundreds of homeless people.

According to the Post quoting San Francisco Chronicle and agency reports, the sisters have been threatened with eviction if they do not pay increased rent as demanded by landlord Nick Patel. The sisters are part of the greater Fraternite Notre Dame religious order, which was founded in France in 1977. According to the San Francisco chapter’s website, they feed more than 300 people every day.

However, the lawyer for Patel was quoted as saying that no eviction was going forward. “The owner of the building is currently in India, and plans to meet with Mary Benedicte and Mary of the Angels when he returns,” the Post quoted the lawyer as telling the Associated Press.

HICKSVILLE, NY: Responding to a long term need of the Indian American community, Dr. Himanshu Pandya, with his partners Kirit Panchamia and Hiren Patel, announced the creation of My Home at a press conference, held at the center, 256-C W. Old Country Road, Hicksville on February 10

Dr. Pandya said that the Social adult day care programs are designed for those who are well enough to live at home but need daily supervision. The mission is to provide better quality of life for afflicted individuals while maintaining their dignity in our homelike, warm environment. The primary purpose of this program is the promotion of optimum health, prevention of disease and maintenance of participant’s ability to continue residence at home. He stated:” With the support of caring, dedicated and qualified staff, we are committed to providing the best to seniors living in the area”.

Bobby Kumar Kalotee, who spoke about the necessity of the adult care daycare center, relating to his visiting mother in the United States. She just wanted to go back to India, as there was nothing for her to do the whole day, in terms of daily social activities. He encouraged all to serve the seniors in one or the other way. Bobby thanked the participating, majority of Indian Television and Print Media, community leaders and prominent people who made it possible to attend the event at a very short notice.

The Daycare will serve people more than sixty years of age, or the one who are affected by permanent chronicle illness at no cost to individuals. The vegetarian meals with the approval of certified nutritionist will be served. According to the management, structured program of daily activities will include; arts & crafts, yoga, meditation, light exercise, games anda lot more. The Center has door to door transport available at no cost to seniors.

My Home will have an Open House for the next 2 weeks, starting immediately, between the hours of !0 AM and 5 PM.

Amid continuing attacks on journalists, media representatives from around the world will meet in the French capital this week to discuss how to reinforce the safety of those working in the sector.

Organized and hosted by the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, this “unprecedented” meeting between media executives and the agency’s members states on Feb. 5 is an attempt to “improve the safety of journalists and tackle impunity for crimes against media professionals”, UNESCO said.

“As everyone knows, the problem has been increasing over the past five years of killing of journalists in different parts of the world, and the UN system as a whole has become more concerned about this in parallel,” said Guy Berger, director of UNESCO’s Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development.

He told IPS that the UN has been putting “a lot of effort” into trying to get more action against these killings and that UNESCO has been working to create greater cooperation among various groups concerned with journalists’ safety.

But Berger said that the conference wanted to focus on what media organizations themselves could do “to step forward” and bring attention to the matter.

The day-long meeting – titled “News organizations standing up for the safety of media professionals” – will “foster dialogue on security issues with a view to reducing the high number of casualties in the profession”, UNESCO said.

The number of media workers killed around the world totaled 112 last year, according to the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), whose president Jim Boumelha will speak at the conference.

The IFJ, which represents some 600,000 members globally, said that among the deaths, at least 109 journalists and media staff died in “targeted killings, bomb attacks and cross-fire incidents”. This number marks a slight decrease from 2014 when 118 media personnel were killed.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a group that defends freedom of expression, said in its report that the deaths were “largely attributable to deliberate violence against journalists” and demonstrates the failure of initiatives to protect media personnel.

The slayings included those of cartoonists working for the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in January 2015. Following those attacks, UNESCO organized a conference then as well, under the heading “Journalism after Charlie”.

In the year since, many other media workers have lost their lives, in both countries at peace and those experiencing civil war.

Calling on the UN to appoint a special representative for the safety of journalists, RSF’s Director General Christophe Deloire says that the creation of a specific mechanism for enforcing international law on the protection of journalists is “absolutely essential”.

Deloire will present a safety guide for journalists at the conference, in association with UNESCO. This is part of the aim to “share good practices on a wide range of measures including safety protocols in newsrooms … and innovative protective measures for reporting from dangerous areas”, according to the UN agency. Some 200 media owners, executives and practitioners from public, private and community media are expected to attend the conference, UNESCO said.

“The diversity of media represented, in terms of geography, size and type of threat encountered, is unprecedented and should contribute to the conference’s ability to raise awareness of and improve preparedness for the full range of dangers the media face worldwide,” the agency added.

Berger will moderate the first session, while debates in the second will be led by Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent for the broadcaster CNN and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Freedom of Expression and Journalism.

Diana Foley, founder and president of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, is also scheduled to be among the speakers. The institution honours the work of American journalist James Foley, her son, who was abducted while covering the Syrian war and brutally killed by his captors in 2014.

One of the conference’s high-level sessions will focus on “ending impunity together” and will comprise “dialogue” between the media industry and UNESCO member states, according to the programme.

UNESCO says it has been advocating and implementing measures to improve the safety of journalists and to end impunity for crimes against media workers. The agency’s Director-General issues press releases to condemn the killing of journalists and media workers, for instance.

In addition, UNESCO publishes a biennial report that takes stock of governments’ replies to the organization’s request for information about “actions taken to pursue the perpetrators of these crimes”.

In its 2015 report, “World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development”, UNESCO noted that some member countries were not submitting requested updates on investigations into attacks against the media. However, the response rate had still risen to 42 percent (24 out of 57 countries) from 22 percent in 2014.

Ritu Sachdeva, 17, an Indian American teenager was found dead Jan. 31 in her Murphy, Texas home, on the same day a school friend’s body was found in nearby woods. Ritu died of an overdose of multiple medications, Murphy Police Chief Arthur Cotten told India-West. Sachdeva’s parents found her dead body in her bedroom and called police, said Cotten. Within several hours, the remains of Hillary Kate Kuizon, 17, were found by Murphy officers. Kuizon died by hanging in an apparent suicide, said Cotten.

Both girls attended Plano East Senior High and knew each other, said the police chief, noting that investigators are still trying to determine if there is a connection between the two deaths. Sachdeva’s parents gave no indication as to what might have occurred before their daughter died, said Cotten, adding that police had not previously been called out to the home. Both deaths continue to be an open investigation, pending final reports from the medical examiner.

No evidence of foul play has been detected in either case, said Cotten. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the two families,” said the police chief in a press statement. “We are treating these two cases with the care and compassion they deserve, and will continue to seek answers for the families.”

Prachi Sachdeva, Ritu’s mother, told India-West she was not yet ready to talk about her daughter’s death. The family has set up a Facebook memorial page and will hold a memorial service for Ritu on Feb. 7, 2 p.m., at Charles W. Smith and Sons Funeral Home in Sachse, Texas.

“Everyone loved Ritu so so so much,” Suchi Sachdeva, Ritu’s older sister, wrote on her Facebook page. “She was so bright, beautiful, quirky, and just all around amazing, inside and out. Gone too soon, only 17 years young.”

“It’s going to be extremely difficult to move on from this tragic loss. Nothing is going to be the same; her birthday, holidays, going to restaurants, going on family vacations, etc. I’ll always be thinking of her when doing anything good,” said Suchi Sachdeva.

Autumn Hinze, a friend of Sachdeva’s, has set up a $2,000 gofundme.com page called “Flowers for Ritu,” with the aim of filling Sachdeva’s home with flowers and aiding a suicide prevention organization. A sum of $1,926 had been raised in a single day.

“Ritu Sachdeva changed all of our lives. Her bold, beautiful personality infiltrated our hearts and now we are all feeling her loss. I know I can’t process her being gone and I’m sure many feel the same,” said Hinze.

“Even if you didn’t know her that well, you probably know how her personality could fill a room and how she could make a joke about anything. She was a vital member of every group she was ever in and it will take us a very long hard time to feel normal again,” she said.

In 2014, Sachdeva won an honorable mention in the Medicine and Health sciences division for her entry at the Beal Bank Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

Teen suicide is on the rise in the Asian American community. One out of every ten children struggles with mental health issues, reports the National Alliance on Mental Health, noting that Asian American teenage girls have the highest rates of suicide of any U.S. population. (IW, July 10, 2013)

While there is a lack of data related to depression in the South Asian American community, a study released by the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum reported that a higher percentage of South Asian Americans, especially between the ages of 15 to 24, tested positive for symptoms of depression. However, South Asian Americans are the lowest users of mental health services because of the perceived cultural stigma attached to mental health issues, noted the APIAHF report.

Mitesh Patel, a young Indian American was killed on  January 29 during an armed robbery at the Bossey Drive-in Dairy he owned in San Bernardino, Calif. Mitesh Patel, 31, leaves behind his wife, Bhavika, and his three-year-old daughter, Vrisha. A memorial page –gofundme.com/miteshpatel – has been set up to establish a college fund for Vrisha.

Desmond Keyontre Stevenson of San Bernardino, 25, and Robert Almond Green of Highland, 23, were arrested Jan. 31 in connection with the murder. According to police reports, Stevenson and Green entered the store at 9:48 p.m., armed with a rifle and a handgun and wearing masks. The pair demanded money from Patel, who gave them all the money in the register — $200 – but then fired a single round which hit Patel in the chest and killed him almost instantly.

San Bernardino Police Lt. Richard Lawhead told India-West that Patel’s brother-in-law – who is not being identified – was also in the store, but in the bathroom during the shooting. When he emerged from the bathroom, the assailants pointed the gun at him and took his cell phone but did not shoot, before fleeing in a get-away car, he said.

Lawhead said the pair then went down the street to another convenience store, which they also tried to rob, but could not, as the cashier was protected by bullet-proof glass. Because they were masked, there was initially some difficulty in finding and capturing the suspects.

Police got an identification of the get-away vehicle – a white Mercedes Benz SUV – which had some distinctive features on the front end, and special wheels. Another officer – who used to work on the city’s gang abatement force – recognized the vehicle. Police then identified the owner, who had sold the car to Jason Allen, 25, who drove the get-away car. Allen was arrested at his home Feb. 1 and is being held on $1 million bail. Stevenson, suspected to be the shooter, is being held without bail. Green is also being held without bail. Both are being held on charges of murder, robbery and street terrorism. All three have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Lawhead said Green and Stevenson are documented gang members. Stevenson was released from prison Dec. 23, 2015, having served eight months of a 16-month prison term on weapons charges.

Asked if there was any indication that the shooting may have been a hate-motivated crime, Lawhead said there was no evidence to indicate the incident was anything other than a robbery.

The Southern California South Asian American community has faced a surge of hate-motivated attacks in the aftermath of the Dec. 2, 2015 massacre in San Bernardino, when Muslim Americans Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people at a rehabilitation center for handicapped people.

“Mitesh Patel was a beloved father, son, husband, brother, and friend to all who knew him. He was taken away from us far too early in a horrible tragedy that reminds us all how fragile life is,” wrote family members on Patel’s memorial page, which has raised almost $15,000 for Vrisha’s college funds in the five days since it was launched. Donors grieved for the family and “the senseless tragedy.”

The family thanked donors for their support. “Thank you to everyone for your unwavering support during this difficult time. It is very consoling to know that the world is filled with good people who can overcome the kind of hatred that led to this tragedy.” Regular customers at the store described Patel as a generous man.

SANTA CRUZ, CA — The body of Shireen Ahsan, a 19-year-old has been found in Wilder Ranch State Park near Santa Cruz, CA. Shireen Ahsan, a student who went missing after being swept into the sea on January 18. A mountain biker first spotted the body on remote Strawberry Beach about 5:45 pm.  Ahsan’s family was notified shortly after the identification was completed next day, according to Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Payne.

The search for one of her companion that day, 25-year-old Solaiman Nourzaie of San Jose, continues with watercraft and aircraft. Sheriff’s Lt. Todd Liberty said Ahsan’s body was discovered when the mountain biker, cycling the coast trail above Strawberry Beach, noticed what appeared to be human remains below. He alerted authorities and emergency personnel, who responded to the scene.

Ahsan’s body was retrieved about 7:30 pm. in one of the least-visited parts in Wilder Ranch State Park. A mountain bike trail runs along its lip, and a remote trail cuts down to the beach and through nearby agricultural fields.

Ahsan and Nourzaie were part of a group of five students who climbed down a rope to reach a rocky outcrop south of Bonny Doon Beach on January 18. In 10- to 15-foot surf, Ahsan, Nourzaie and another man were swept off a rock into the ocean. The other man made it to shore uninjured, but Ahsan and Nourzaie disappeared into the sea.

Tasneem Diwan was captured on January 29th at a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and was returned to East Windsor, New Jersey, to face charges of bludgeoning her mother-in-law to death. According to a press statement from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the victim, 75-year-old Safia Diwan, was found deceased by East Windsor police – who followed up on a 911 call — at about 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26, in a front office of the home she shared with Tasneem Diwan. Police did not say how long Diwan may have been dead or who made the 911 call. Police also did not say whether there were other people in the home, when police arrived.

An autopsy report indicated that Safia Diwan died of blunt force trauma to the head. The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office has accused Diwan of striking her mother-in-law in the head several times with an unknown object. She has been charged with one count of murder, one count of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon. She is being held on bail of $1 million, and had not posted bail as of Feb. 2 afternoon.

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office reported that a hunt for Diwan began after Safia’s body was found at the home. Diwan was observed late Jan. 29 evening in the bus terminal area of the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City. She was detained there by security officers and Atlantic City police. Members of the Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the East Windsor Township Police Department transported Diwan back to East Windsor to continue the investigation.

Before she was captured, Diwan was last seen driving a green 2000 Nissan Quest minivan with New Jersey license plate JYY16P. Police described her as “distraught.”

According to 6abc.com, the victim’s son and the woman’s husband, Dr. Nauman Diwan, is an internist. The report added that sources say Tasneem suffers from mental health issues, which her neighbors say they were unaware of.

Long Island, NY: Hempstead Town Supervisor Anthony J. Santino and the entire town board hosted Long Island’s largest India Republic Day Commemoration on January 28, 2016. This holiday marks the establishment of India as a republic and its liberation from British rule.

“The Town of Hempstead is happy to once again join with the Indian community in commemorating an historic occasion that recognizes India’s enduring commitment to democracy and freedom, the same values that Americans hold so dear,” said Santino. “Indian Americans are a vital part of the fabric of our nation, greatly enriching us with their gifts of art, culture, cuisine, intellect, values and abiding warmth. I am proud that we are able to host today’s ceremony here in an area where so many people who trace their roots to India have settled.”

For Hempstead Town’s 13th Annual India Republic Day Ceremony, Santino presented Raji Kuncham and Anand Ahuja, two distinguished Indian-Americans, with special awards in honor of their community involvement.

Raji Kuncham, of North Bellmore, is president of Telugu Literacy and Cultural Association, one of the oldest Indian organizations in the country. Through that organization, Raji has helped promote Indian culture, women’s leadership and strong community partnerships. She also volunteers with the Art of Living Foundation, Interfaith Nutrition Network and the India Association of Long Island.

Anand Ahuja is an attorney with multiple specialties including international business law, domestic violence and women’s rights, trademarks, as well as entertainment and media law. He has represented celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan in her $100 million lawsuit against E*Trade and has been quoted in media outlets including People Magazine, National Enquirer and OK Magazine. He works with many not-for-profit organizations and has been recognized for his dedicated pro-bono work.

Dr. Ajay Lodha, president-elect of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, one of the largest physician organizations in our country, served as keynote speaker for the historic event.
The ceremony, which was co-sponsored by the Indian American Forum, also offered many cultural features including a number of traditional Indian songs and dances. Akbar Restaurant provided Indian delicacies for attendees to enjoy after the ceremony.

“America is the home of choice for many who emigrate from India, and Hempstead Town is especially blessed with a growing number of Indian American residents,” noted Santino. “We are happy to celebrate with one of the most dramatically growing communities in the area and acknowledge how much our culture has been enriched by our Indian neighbors.”

Several Non Resident Indian Groups have welcomed a recent India’s Supreme Court ruling that has opened the door to equal rights for gay, lesbian and transgender citizens. Citing the “constitutional importance” of a petition to reverse its 2013 ruling upholding Section 377 of India’s Penal Code — which criminalizes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” — the three-judge panel decided to refer the petition to a five-judge panel headed by India’s chief justice.

Section 377, which dates back to 1861, has rarely been enforced, but it has been used to harass and blackmail gays, lesbians and transgender people. In 2009, the Delhi High Court struck the law down, ruling that Section 377 violated the rights to liberty and equality enshrined in India’s Constitution. But in 2013, the Supreme Court voided the lower court’s ruling, saying it was up to India’s Parliament to change the law. So far, attempts to do that have failed.

In December, Shashi Tharoor, an opposition member in Parliament, introduced a bill that would have rewritten Section 377 to limit the criminalization of private sexual acts to nonconsensual sex and sex with minors, but it was voted down by a large margin.

Mr. Tharoor says he will resubmit his bill this spring — if only to spur public debate on gay rights. But India’s gay, lesbian and transgender citizens should not have to wait for lawmakers to repeal this antiquated and unjust law. When the five-judge panel convenes (no date has yet been set), it should reverse the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision and consign Section 377 to India’s colonial past, where it belongs.

Long Island, NY: Hempstead Town Supervisor Anthony J. Santino and the entire town board hosted Long Island’s largest India Republic Day Commemoration on January 28, 2016. This holiday marks the establishment of India as a republic and its liberation from British rule.

“The Town of Hempstead is happy to once again join with the Indian community in commemorating an historic occasion that recognizes India’s enduring commitment to democracy and freedom, the same values that Americans hold so dear,” said Santino. “Indian Americans are a vital part of the fabric of our nation, greatly enriching us with their gifts of art, culture, cuisine, intellect, values and abiding warmth. I am proud that we are able to host today’s ceremony here in an area where so many people who trace their roots to India have settled.”

For Hempstead Town’s 13th Annual India Republic Day Ceremony, Santino presented Raji Kuncham and Anand Ahuja, two distinguished Indian-Americans, with special awards in honor of their community involvement.
Raji Kuncham, of North Bellmore, is president of Telugu Literacy and Cultural Association, one of the oldest Indian organizations in the country. Through that organization, Raji has helped promote Indian culture, women’s leadership and strong community partnerships. She also volunteers with the Art of Living Foundation, Interfaith Nutrition Network and the India Association of Long Island.

Anand Ahuja is a attorney with multiple specialties including international business law, domestic violence and women’s rights, trademarks, as well as entertainment and media law. He has represented celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan in her $100 million lawsuit against E*Trade and has been quoted in media outlets including People Magazine, National Enquirer and OK Magazine. He works with many not-for-profit organizations and has been recognized for his dedicated pro-bono work.

Dr. Ajay Lodha, president-elect of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, one of the largest physician organizations in our country, served as keynote speaker for the historic event.
The ceremony, which was co-sponsored by the Indian American Forum, also offered many cultural features including a number of traditional Indian songs and dances. Akbar Restaurant provided Indian delicacies for attendees to enjoy after the ceremony.

“America is the home of choice for many who emigrate from India, and Hempstead Town is especially blessed with a growing number of Indian American residents,” noted Santino. “We are happy to celebrate with one of the most dramatically growing communities in the area and acknowledge how much our culture has been enriched by our Indian neighbors.”

Dr. Anjali Ramkissoon, a Florida neurologist of Indian origin, who was caught on video last week accosting an Uber driver, has come to justify her action on the ground of her personal afflictions that day, including breakup with her boyfriend. Dr. Anjali Ramkissoon, 30, a fourth-year resident with Jackson Health System in Miami, was seen throwing tantrums at him and cursing the driver after he refused to give the apparently drunken woman passenger a ride because she tried to take the fare from someone else.

Ramkissoon  has since been suspended by the hospital. The video showed the pint-sized doctor berating the Uber driver who pulled up to pick up another ride. An irate Ramkissoon jumped in the car, threw things at the driver and tried to knee him in the groin. “I’m a 5-foot girl that weighs 100 pounds,” she screamed at the driver. “I’m getting really like belligerent right now!” she said.

She was reported to have told ‘Good Morning America’ reacting to the video that went viral after being posted on January 17 that just minutes prior to that altercation with the Uber driver the previous evening, she and her boyfriend of two years had just broken up. Besides, she said her father was hospitalized earlier in the day and that she had been drinking lot.

After cops showed up Ramkissoon apologized to the driver who didn’t seek to have her arrested or charged. The New York Post report said that Ramkissoon told the TV show in her defense that that she was extremely stressed out that day. “It was probably one of the worst days of my life and I was caught at my lowest moment,” she was quoted as saying.

“There’s absolutely no excuse for my actions,” she said, only after GMA host George Stephanopoulos called her out for making excuses. “I’m ashamed, I’m so sorry. I’ve hurt so many people with this – my family, my friends, my job, the Uber driver. No one deserves to be treated that way and that’s not me.” Ramkissoon begged for the public’s forgiveness and said she cannot  stomach watching the video of herself. “I see a person that is not me. I’m ashamed,” Anjali Ramkissoon said of the YouTube video that shows her berating the driver of another customer’s Uber. “I still can’t watch the entire video.”

Tampa, FL: Punishing companies that bring in cheap labor from India and other developing nations to cut the cost of labor, the US workers are beginning to act against such practices. Disney World has been hit by two class action suits accusing it and two outsourcing firms of conspiring to replace workers with less costly foreign ones using H-1B visas, mostly from India.

As per reports in Orlando Sentinel, the lawsuits were filed in a Tampa Florida federal court by Leo Perrero and Dena Moore, who were among 250 Disney tech workers laid off from their jobs at Walt Disney World in Orlando in January 2015.

A furor over the layoffs in Orlando last January brought to light many other episodes in which American workers said they had lost jobs to foreigners on H-1B visas, and had to train replacements as a condition of their severance, an NY Times report stated. The Congress has set a quota of 85,000 H-1B visas each year.

Perrero and Moore said they were told they had 90 days to train their replacements with foreign workers with H-1B visas for high-skilled workers. If they didn’t agree, they weren’t eligible for bonuses or severance packages. Defendants include HCL Inc and Cognizant Technologies, two outsourcing companies, known for submitting a high volume of H-1B petitions each year, according to CNN Money.

“These lawsuits are based on an unsustainable legal theory and are a wholesale misrepresentation of the facts,” Disney said in a statement. The company said it hired more than 100 people back into other roles and offered Moore another position at comparable pay.

Noting that hundreds of employers use H-1B visas, Disney said it complies with all applicable employment laws. The lawsuits were brought by attorney Sara Blackwell, who also brought the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filings on behalf of former Disney workers.

Blackwell said Disney was not the only company using outsourcing firms to hire immigrants to replace American workers. But they’re one of the first to be caught: Typically, companies require employees to sign a severance agreement preventing them from suing or speaking out about the firm. She said some companies will offer as much as $20,000.”Disney didn’t have that. They failed to put the ‘You can’t sue, you cant talk’ clause,” Blackwell told CNN Money.

The New York Times, which first reported the news, said Perrero spent his final months at Walt Disney World in Orlando training a temporary immigrant from India to do his work. He still hoped to find a new position in the vast entertainment company, it said. But Perrero discovered that despite his high performance ratings, he and most of the other 250 tech workers Disney dismissed would not be rehired for at least a year, and probably never.

Bilal Ahmed, a Georgetown dentist, was arrested by New York authorities recently at John F. Kennedy International Airport after deplaning a flight from Pakistan. Ahmed, 43, of Rockville, Md., was released after posting $50,000 bail in New York to return to the District for his first court appearance. Bilal pleaded not guilty in D.C. Superior Court on Thursday, last week to charges that he sexually assaulted a man who was under anesthesia to have a tooth removed.

In court records, prosecutors say the alleged offense occurred May 21, 2014, at Ahmed’s practice, Universal Smiles, at 2311 M St. NW. According to documents, the man went to Ahmed’s practice for a cracked tooth. Ahmed told the patient that the tooth had to be extracted and that he had to use nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, to sedate the patient during the procedure. The patient was told that his insurance did not cover the nitrous oxide and that he would have to pay out of pocket.

According to the documents, Ahmed had an assistant in the room with them when the gas was being administered. But later, the assistant left the room and closed the door, leaving Ahmed and the patient in the office.
The patient said he woke to find his mask askew and the dentist forcing him into oral sex, according to the court papers. Ahmed then escorted the patient back to the recovery room, the papers said, and the man left Ahmed’s practice two hours later.

After contacting police, the patient called Ahmed six days later in a recorded phone call arranged by a detective. During the call, Ahmed asked the patient how he was feeling. The two spoke about meeting for lunch. The patient, with two officers listening, described what he remembered happening. “You know I’m not crazy,” the patient told Ahmed. “No, not crazy,” Ahmed responded, according to the documents.

At one point, the dentist laughed and said hallucinations can happen when using nitrous oxide, the documents say. At another point, when the patient asked whether he had been hallucinating at the time of the alleged incident, Ahmed said, “No.” At the hearing, Judge Renee Raymond ordered Ahmed’s release but required him sign up for GPS monitoring as part of the court’s intensive supervision.

Raymond also ordered Ahmed, the married father of six children, to have no contact with the victim and not to practice dentistry. Ahmed’s next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 17.

After the hearing, Ahmed, his wife and his attorneys declined to comment. D.C. police are asking anyone with information about Ahmed to call the sexual assault unit at 202-727-3700 or the police command center at 202-727-9099.

Los Angeles, CA: January, 30, 2016: After ordering celebrity yoga guru Bikram Choudhury to pay $924,500 in compensatory damages in a lawsuit for sexually harassing and firing a female employee, a U.S. court has told Choudhury to pay $6.47 million in punitive damages.

Plaintiff Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, Choudhury’s former legal adviser, said in the lawsuit he inappropriately touched her and wrongfully fired her in 2013 after she began probing sexual abuse claims from other women. “I feel elated and vindicated,” Jafa-Bodden told the New York Daily News after the Jan. 26 verdict that was handed down by a Los Angeles jury consisting of six women and three men.

Meanwhile, 69-year-old Choudhury, Kolkata-born founder of Bikram Yoga – a form of hot yoga – testified that he is “almost bankrupt”. Choudhury told jurors he had no income at all last year and his collection of more than 30 luxury cars has been promised to California Governor Jerry Brown for a children’s school dedicated to automotive engineering.

Jafa-Bodden filed her lawsuit in 2013 claiming Choudhury sexually harassed her with a barrage of misogynistic comments and threatened her and her daughter’s lives when she raised questions about sexual abuse claims brought by numerous women. Jafa-Bodden testified earlier in the trial that Choudhury made her life a living hell after she moved to the U.S. from India to act as his personal lawyer. In one dramatic account, she said Choudhury ran his finger across his throat when she asked about accusations he sexually assaulted a teacher during a training program in Acapulco.

In his closing argument Jan. 26, one of Jafa-Bodden’s lawyers, Mark Quigley, called Choudhury’s treatment of women “shocking”. He highlighted trial testimony from the former White House lawyer who worked for Choudhury after Jafa-Bodden and filed her own wrongful termination lawsuit in August last year.

The lawyer, Petra Starke, told jurors earlier this month that Choudhury presided over a “crazy” work environment with a “sexually charged atmosphere”, Quigley was quoted as saying. Choudhury gained fame by popularizing his sweat lodge-style yoga system which uses a 26-pose routine in a room heated to nearly 38 degree Celsius or more.

Starke testified that she instituted strict sexual harassment policies and training when she took over as CEO and was shocked when she later witnessed Choudhury receiving oral sex from a teaching student in a limo, Quigley said.

The yoga guru also is facing lawsuits by several other women who claim he sexually assaulted or raped them. Choudhury’s lawyers, however, say their client is innocent and that prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges in connection with the women’s claims.

New York, NY: January 24, 2016: Shan Anand, 25, an Indian-American Sikh, his friend Faimul Alam, 23, of Bengali origin, and two others identified only by their initials, M.K., 29, also of Bengali origin, who manages his father’s construction company, and W.H., 23, a Syrian-American, a pharmacy student with his own clothing line, from New York, have filed a lawsuit against American Airlines for $6 million as compensation for being discriminated against and offloaded a plane from Toronto to New York City because the captain felt “uneasy” about them. All the four are reportedly U.S. citizens. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, on January 18. They are demanding a jury trial and asking for $1 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

According to reports, on Dec. 8, American Airlines and its affiliates, “disgracefully engaged in the discrimination of Plaintiffs based upon their perceived race, color, ethnicity, alienage and/or national origin by dramatically removing Plaintiffs, who not only paid for their flights but paid for upgrades as well, from American Airlines flight 4471,” says the complaint filed by the four passengers, a copy of which was made available to the media by their attorney Tahanie Aboushi.  This case “to deter future behavior like this,” attorney for the four plaintiffs, Tahanie Aboushi told the media. “That’s really the push and objective for this lawsuit.”

After they boarded the flight Anand and Alam changed seats with some strangers on the plane in order to be near their friends W.H. and M.K. who had earlier upgraded their seats from economy to Business class. Shortly thereafter, a stewardess “dramatically” woke up W.H. and told the two friends to exit the plane immediately with their belongings. Shan and Alam, sitting close by, realized their friends were encountering some problem.

“Passengers surrounding Alam and Anand made bigoted and racist comments and held their children and belongings close to their person as if something was going to happen,” the lawsuit says. As passengers were watching the scene, the stewardess hurriedly rushed to Alam and Anand and demanded they also exit the aircraft “in a hostile manner” the complaint alleges. “Several passengers stared in fear and hate at Alam and Anand during this ordeal. Said passengers appeared prepared to physically assault Alam. Alam and Anand feared for their safety,” it adds. When Anand and Alam asked what the problem was the stewardess told them to leave “peacefully” and for all of them to return to the gate where boarding originated.

“Seeing a mother holding her child closer to her, looking at you in fear…those stares stay in your head,” Anand is quoted saying in a CNN report. “When I was coming off the plane, I kept thinking, ‘What did we do?’ But it was just because we looked a certain way,” he said. The young men told CBSNews they had never personally experienced racial profiling. “You just hope things change and people are still not, like, this ignorant toward these things, but then when it happens to you, you see it from a different light,” Anand is quoted saying in a CBSNews report.

Rights organizations are up in arms about yet another act of what they allege is profiling of Sikhs and Muslims. While acts of violence against Sikhs and Muslims manifested in several cases of violent, even deadly cases of backlash, discrimination of the type being alleged against American Airlines has been a persistent phenomenon, they contend. That includes bullying of Sikh children in schools.

“We think airlines are going to see more of these lawsuits if they continue to profile actual or perceived Sikhs or Muslims,” Gurjot Kaur, senior staff attorney at the Sikh Coalition said in a prepared statement.

“The airline industry has far too much discretion and power to discriminate — frankly it’s outrageous — and we applaud the plaintiffs for taking action.” Kaur has handled numerous hate crime and profiling cases, a spokesman for Sikh Coalition said.

“It’s this whole thing where the flight crew is uncomfortable or the passengers are uncomfortable. Why are they uncomfortable? Because of a perceived faith and ethnicity that leads to them being thrown off planes. It’s very troubling,” Ibrahim Hooper, the national director of communications for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told CNN. These types of incidents are going to continue he said.

An Indian-origin businessman claiming to be a Hindu monk who performed healing rituals has pleaded not guilty after being ordered to stand trial on charges of sexually assaulting three women.

The Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Maren Dermody said Jan. 21 ‘Swami’ Gokula Nanda of West Hills, Calif., was ordered to stand trial on Dec. 4 last year for six counts of sexual battery.

Nanda, 63, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Feb. 29 at Los Angeles County Superior Court, Torrance branch, a media release said Jan. 21. Owner of Hari-Om India Market in Santa Clarita, Calif., Nanda was arrested on May 13 following allegations that he sexually assaulted female clients in Torrance and Santa Clarita.

He was released in July on a $100,000 bail pending further court proceedings. According to testimony at the preliminary hearing, Nanda sexually abused the victims while claiming to be a swami by performing healing rituals at various locations, including his Eastern medicine store in Santa Clarita and a park in Torrance between April 2011 and April 2015.

He faces a possible maximum sentence of 19 years in state prison if convicted as charged.

The case remains under investigation by the Torrance Police Department.

According to his Facebook page, Nanda studied at Sivananda Ashram at Vedanta Forrest Academy. He hails from Kalapathara in Orissa.

Two teenagers were last week arrested in connection with the Jan. 16 attack on Majibur Rahman, a Bangladeshi Muslim who was beaten up by the duo on a Bronx street as they yelled “ISIS”, “ISIS” at him. News Reports said a 14-year-old, and a 15-year-old were arrested Jan. 22 and charged with misdemeanor assault and harassment as a hate crime, The names of the teenagers were not released by police because of their age.

Rahman, 43, who was wearing traditional Muslim attire, was picking up his nine-year-old niece from school on Watson Avenue and Pugsley Avenue, a heavily South Asian neighborhood, around 5:30 p.m. when the two suspects attacked him, WPIX 11 TV reported.

The boys punched him in the head and knocked him onto the ground where they kicked him several times, police sources were quoted as saying by WPIX 11 TV. Rahman’s niece was physically unharmed but was “emotionally traumatized” by the attack, according to N.Y. State Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda.

“I was dressed like a Muslim,” Rahman told the Post. “That’s why I was attacked. This has never happened before. I hope and wish this doesn’t happen in the future to anyone else,” he said.

Gothamist said in a report that the teens suspected of carrying out the attack were arrested after the younger boy’s mother overheard them bragging about the assault. She turned in her son, who in turn named the older boy.

“The community is happy that the suspects were caught,” said state Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda (D – Bronx).“Now it’s time for healing and praying for these two kids. It’s a sad day in our society when teenagers attack people because of their religious belief,” he said.

Meanwhile, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on the FBI to join the hate crime investigation of the attack on Rahman. “The FBI should add its resources to the investigation of this disturbing incident in order to send a clear message to bigots that attacks on American Muslims will not be tolerated and that perpetrators of such attacks will face the full weight of the law,” said CAIR-NY Director of Operations Sadyia Khalique, according to a CAIR press release.