Are you struggling with branding yourself professionally, in order to achieve your dreams and goals? Is your purpose unclear? Then you need How to Be Your Badass Self: A Guide to Using Your Inner Energy for Brand Success! Annie Koshy lays out the steps to turn your mindset and focus to building your brand and growing your business or career.
Start by tackling your mindset and growing your understanding of what you have to offer, as a brand and as a professional. Annie walks you through the process, giving you stories from her personal journey in the world of media and marketing. Get the tools you need to determine your strengths, create a call to action, and build relationships with your clients.
Each stage of building a brand is covered in How to Be Your Badass Self. Annie does not leave anything out, from your thoughts to your habits, and everything that contributes to the energy related to your brand. Once she guides you through the process of building a brand, Annie shares the pitfalls to avoid. By the end of How to Be Your Badass Self: A Guide to Using Your Inner Energy for Brand Success, you will be inspired to be your own badass self!
Award-winning media professional, Annie Koshy is truly a powerhouse to reckon with. Recognized as a multi-talented media and events personality, trained elite speaker and emcee Annie’s work is highly applauded, as she has made a lasting impression within the arts, media, and events arena. She has gained an impressive reputation for bridging opportunities for those in a variety of industries. Through her disciplined work ethic, aptitude for branding and skill in business networking,
Annie is a role model to many within the community. Annie is the author of the book, How to Be Your Badass Self: A Guide to Using Your Inner Energy for Brand Success, released on Amazon August 2020. The book lays out the steps to turn your mindset and focus to building your brand and growing your business or career. Annie walks you through the process, giving you stories from her personal journey in the world of media and marketing. Get the tools you need to determine your strengths, create a call to action, and build relationships with your clients.
As a published model with one of the city’s premier modelling agencies, Annie has garnered mainstream attention through her commercial work. Her ads have run throughout North America, has hosted on multiple stages in Canada, US and India and her voice is frequently used in commercials and films. Most recently, she was featured in a lead role in a short film titled, A Bloody Mess. This film, which is a catalyst to conversations around the stigmatized topic of menstruation has received over 16 nominations and or awards from across the world with a coveted Remi from the Houston Worldfest Film Festival. Her second film is a documentary on her life called F•E•A•R: Face Everything And Rise. Her journey is something thousands of women face on a daily basis with a purpose to inspire minds to believe in themselves.
Weekends don’t slow down this media magnet as she hosts nFocus with Annie Koshy on the mainstream radio station, Sauga 960AM, as part of their Saturday lineup. Premiering on Sept 12, 2020, nFocus with Annie Koshy looks at People and their milestones, places where international changemakers are impacting our world as well as events that bring our communities together. The icing on the cake is that Annie, along with 125 others, were part of a Guinness World Records attempt that was successful. In addition, she, along with the others, are officially published as #1 Amazon bestseller book in five different categories. As a fine example of a multi-disciplinary woman leader in the community, Annie’s story is inspirational and unique to young entrepreneurs and women. Her kernels of truth and words of wisdom are steeped in experience and cultural diversity.
Rutgers astronomers have produced the most advanced galaxy simulations of their kind, which could help reveal the origins of the Milky Way and dozens of small neighboring dwarf galaxies.
Their research also could aid the decades-old search for dark matter, which fills an estimated 27 percent of the universe. And the computer simulations of “ultra-faint” dwarf galaxies could help shed light on how the first stars formed in the universe.
“Our supercomputer-generated simulations provide the highest-ever resolution of a Milky Way-type galaxy,” said co-author Alyson M. Brooks, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. “The high resolution allows us to simulate smaller neighbor galaxies than ever before – the ‘ultra-faint’ dwarf galaxies. These tiny galaxies are mostly dark matter and therefore are some of the best probes we have for learning about dark matter, and this is the first time that they have ever been simulated around a Milky Way-like galaxy. The sheer variety of the simulated galaxies is unprecedented, including one that lost all of its dark matter – similar to what’s been observed in space.”
The Rutgers-led team generated two new simulations of Milky Way-type galaxies and their surroundings. They call them the “DC Justice League Simulations,” naming them after two women who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court: current Associate Justice Elena Kagan and retired Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
These are cosmological simulations, meaning they begin soon after the Big Bang and model the evolution of galaxies over the entire age of the universe (almost 14 billion years). Bound via gravity, galaxies consist of stars, gas and dust. The Milky Way is an example a large barred spiral galaxy, according to NASA.In recent years, scientists have discovered “ultra-faint” satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, thanks to digital sky surveys that can reach fainter depths than ever. While the Milky Way has about 100 billion stars and is thousands of light years across, ultra-faint galaxies have a million times fewer stars (under 100,000 and as low as few hundred) and are much smaller, spanning tens of light years. For the first time, the simulations allow scientists to begin modeling these ultra-faint satellite galaxies around a Milky Way-type galaxy, meaning they provide some of the first predictions for what future sky surveys will discover.
In one simulation, a galaxy lost all its dark matter, and while real galaxies like that have been seen before, this is the first time anyone has simulated such a galaxy. These kinds of results tell scientists what’s possible when it comes to forming galaxies, and they are learning new ways that neighbor galaxies can arise, allowing scientists to better understand what telescopes find.
In about a year, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, recently renamed the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, will begin a survey targeting the whole sky and scientists expect to find hundreds of ultra-faint galaxies. In recent years, surveys targeting a small patch of the sky have discovered dozens of them.
“Just counting these galaxies can tell scientists about the nature of dark matter. Studying their structure and the motions of their stars can tell us even more,” said lead author Elaad Applebaum, a Rutgers doctoral student. “These galaxies are also very old, with some of the most ancient stars, meaning they can tell us about how the first stars formed in the universe.”
Scientists at Grinnell College, University of Oklahoma, University of Washington, University of Oslo and the Yale Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics contributed to the study. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.
In this age of coronavirus, with vaccine experimentation moving at historic pace to the clinical trials phase, the ideal inoculation policy would emphasize age more than work-exposure risk, according to a study involving Washington University in St. Louis economists. There are numerous facets and factors to their modeling, including stay-at-home orders — with or without designating certain occupations as essential — that try to limit the possible spread of workplace infection.For the most part, though, they found the key that unlocks the mystery to potentially optimal vaccine distribution is age: While all employed people age 60-plus would receive the vaccine, in many occupations people would receive the vaccine starting from age 50. In fact, the largest volume of vaccines would be allocated to populations ages 50-59, due to its group size, followed by 60-69. As the researchers focused across the occupation spectrum and not merely age or exposure risks, they found that a 50-year-old food-processing worker would be equally prioritized as a 60-year-old financial advisor. “We expected that age would be a driving factor in allocating vaccines,” said Ana Babus, assistant professor of economics in Arts & Sciences and co-author of “The Optimal Allocation of Covid-19 Vaccines.” “But we have also learned that it may be better to vaccinate, say, a 50-year-old bus driver instead of even a 30-year-old health-care worker, when vaccine doses are limited.” Babus and SangMok Lee, assistant professor of economics at Washington University, joined Sanmay Das of George Mason University in estimating age-based and work-based infection risks, using age-based fatality rates estimated elsewhere. That’s how they emerged at the conclusion that age meant more than occupation. Furthermore, they discovered that designating some occupations as essential doesn’t affect optimal vaccine allocation unless a stay-at-home order also is in effect. COVID-19 won’t die with the first emergence of a vaccine, they learned. Even if a limited vaccine were allocated optimally, their model showed that 1.37% of the employed workforce still would be expected to get infected until a vaccine becomes widely available. That means if, say, the United States used 60 million vaccines on only current members of the workforce, some 2.5 million workers ultimately would get infected. And these numbers are based on a vaccine that’s 50% effective. A vaccine that’s 70% effective could cut that number of 2.5 million infected-workers only by 8%, to 2.3 million, they found. “We easily agree to prioritize high-risk populations,” Lee said. “However, risk level isn’t one-dimensional — it’s exposure and mortality — and putting one person ahead of another by risk isn’t so obvious. The goal of our study is to find which risk dimension to emphasize more. The goal of our study is to find which risk dimension to emphasize more.” While a recent history of vaccinating U.S. schoolchildren greatly decreased the transmission of flu, COVID-19 is a different animal. It kills older adults in far greater numbers, as well as the underrepresented. In this case, the study attempts to provide a best-practice scenario to supplement a vaccine distribution strategy with a targeted stay-at-home order preventing certain age-occupation groups from returning to their workplaces and spreading infection. They tracked eight age-groups — 16-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79 and 80-plus — over 454 occupations, using data from the 2017 American Community Service and a sample thus representative of 60% of the U.S. population (now roughly 330 million). They factored a worker’s contribution to output as measured by GDP, infection fatality rate and age. Using the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics data between March and May, they were able to infer the infection deaths for each occupation group. They related that to U.S. occupations, particularly considering physical proximity — lack of social distance at work — means higher infection risk. They conducted three exercises plugging the data into their model. In essence:The stay-at-home orders in their experimentation lasted two months. The results: In exercises Nos. 1 and 2, the 50-59 and then 60-69 age groups presented the largest volumes of vaccine allocation. In exercise No. 3, the largest age group was 30-39. In the latter sample, teachers taught online from home and more, younger health-care workers were able to get vaccinated.Remove any stay-at-home order, the researchers determined, and all employed people age 60-plus could receive the vaccine. If more occupations work from home, and workers 70-plus were mandated to stay at home, that would allow vaccines to be distributed to, say, nurses and food-preparation workers as young as 20-plus, the researchers found. They realize that their model takes into account solely the possibility of infection exposure at work. If people face the same infection risk in their social and home life, their analysis tilts “even more toward the elderly,” they wrote.
COVID-19 has redefined risky behavior. So how do we know what’s more risky: getting a haircut, eating inside a restaurant, traveling by plane or shaking someone’s hand? Trick question. They’re equally risky to our health, according to a new risk-assessment chart produced by the Texas Medical Association COVID-19 Task Force and Committee on Infectious Diseases. The chart ranks activities by risk level, from opening the mail (low) to going to the beach (moderate) to attending a large music concert (high). The first four activities mentioned above are each rated moderate-high risk, a 7 on a scale of 10. Physician members of the task force and committee established the levels, with the assumption that people are taking as many necessary safety precautions as possible, no matter the activity.Here’s the complete list, from lowest to highest risk: Low Risk: 1 Opening the mail Low Risk: 2 Getting restaurant takeout Pumping gasoline Playing tennis Going camping Low-Moderate Risk: 3 Grocery shopping Going for a walk, run, or bike ride with others Playing golf Low-Moderate Risk: 4 Staying at a hotel for two nights Sitting in a doctor’s waiting room Going to a library or museum Eating in a restaurant (outside) Walking in a busy downtown Spending an hour at a playground Moderate Risk: 5 Having dinner at someone else’s house Attending a backyard barbecue Going to a beach Shopping at a mall Moderate Risk: 6 Sending kids to school, camp, or day care Working a week in an office building Swimming in a public pool Visiting an elderly relative or friend in their home Moderate-High Risk: 7 Going to a hair salon or barbershop Eating in a restaurant (inside) Attending a wedding or funeral Traveling by plane Playing basketball Playing football Hugging or shaking hands when greeting a friend High Risk: 8 Eating at a buffet Working out at a gym Going to an amusement park Going to a movie theater
High Risk: 9
Attending a large music concert
Going to a sports stadium
Attending a religious service with 500-plus worshipers
This is the time of year when parents and kids usually start thinking about going back to school and making shopping lists for new clothes, backpacks and supplies. But this isn’t a usual school year, as school districts and parents struggle to decide what school will look like during COVID-19. To help parents with some advice on how to return to in-person school, we turned to Dr. Virginia M. Bieluch, Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases for Hartford HealthCare’s Hospital of Central Connecticut and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. “I think it is important for parents to talk to their children about how school is going to look different this year with physical distancing, children and teachers wearing masks, and any plans their school has for changes from previous years,” Dr. Bieluch said. Bieluch said an important resource for parents is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s back-to-school planning checklists for parents. The state of Connecticut has also issued guidelines for the safe operation of schools. Parents should also check their local school district’s website for local information and guidelines. And, Dr. Bieluch said, make sure your child is up-to-date with all vaccinations to minimize the risk of your child getting sick with other infections. Unless contraindicated, make sure your child gets a flu shot next year to decrease chances of influenza, another respiratory illness with fever and cough. What should kids bring to and from school?Children should bring items such as water bottles (if allowed by the school), writing utensils, coloring utensils, and they should not share with other children. They should be able to open and close any containers they have without assistance. How do you deal with the children’s school clothing/shoes?These items should be washed frequently but no special treatment is necessary. What are any extras students might need?Find out if water and hand sanitizer will be provided to children. If not, the children will need to bring their own to school daily. An extra mask would be helpful, should the child’s mask get wet or soiled during school. A container, such as a small plastic bag, would be useful for mask storage when masks are removed such as when the child eats. Make sure children know proper hand washing and hand sanitizing methods.Hands should be washed often but especially before eating, after using the restroom or after blowing nose/sneezing/coughing. Hand washing is preferred but use hand sanitizer when washing is not possible. It’s smart to practice these activities well in advance of returning to school, especially with younger children. Hand-washing (5 steps)
Wet hands.
Lather hands on both sides, include fingers and nails.
Scrub 20 seconds (sing happy birthday twice).
Rinse with water.
Dry, using a clean towel or allow to air dry.
Hand sanitizer
Apply gel to the palm of one hand.
Rub hands together.
Rub over all surfaces of hands and fingers until sanitizer is dry, about 20 seconds.
Wearing masksTalk to your children about the importance of wearing a mask (to keep others healthy). Make mask wearing “no big deal” by putting a mask on a favorite stuffed animal, for example.
Practice how to put on and take off a mask without touching the front of the mask.
Find a mask that is comfortable for your child.
Personalize the mask if possible (favorite sports team, TV character, color).
Label mask with your child’s name to identify which mask belongs to your child.
Masks should be worn on the way to and from school when children ride the bus, car pool or walk in groups in which physical distancing is not possible.
New light has been shed on a mysterious and long-standing conundrum at the very heart of our galaxy. The new work offers a potential solution to the so-called ‘Galactic bar paradox’, whereby different observations produce contradictory estimates of the motion of the central regions of the Milky Way. The results are published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The majority of spiral galaxies, like our home the Milky Way, host a large bar-like structure of stars in their centre. Knowledge of the true bar size and rotational speed is crucial for understanding how galaxies form and evolve, as well as how they form similar bars throughout the Universe.
However our galaxy’s bar size and rotational speed have been strongly contested in the last 5 years; while studies of the motions of stars near the Sun find a bar that is both fast and small, direct observations of the Galactic central region agree on one that is significantly slower and larger.
The new study, by an international team of scientists led by Tariq Hilmi of the University of Surrey and Ivan Minchev of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), suggests an insightful solution to this discrepancy. Analysing state-of-the-art galaxy formation simulations of the Milky Way, they show that both the bar’s size and its rotational speed fluctuate rapidly in time, causing the bar to appear up to twice as long and rotate 20 percent faster at certain times.
The bar pulsations result from its regular encounters with the Galactic spiral arms, in what can be described as a “cosmic dance”. As the bar and spiral arm approach each other, their mutual attraction due to gravity makes the bar slow down and the spiral speed up. Once connected, the two structures move as one and the bar appears much longer and slower than it actually is. As the dancers split apart, the bar speeds up while the spiral slows back down.
“The controversy about the Galactic bar can then be simply resolved if we happen to be living at a time when the bar and spiral are connected, giving the illusion of a large and slow bar,” comments Dr Minchev. “However the motion of the stars near the Sun remains governed by the bar’s true, much smaller nature, and so those observations appear contradictory.” Recent observations have confirmed that the inner Milky Way spiral arm is currently connected to the bar, which happens about once every 80 million years according to the simulations. Data from the forthcoming 3rd data release of the Gaia mission will be able to test this model further, and future missions will discover if the dance goes on in other galaxies across the Universe.
Over the centuries, the relationship between science and religion has ranged from conflict and hostility to harmony and collaboration, while various thinkers have argued that the two concepts are inherently at odds and entirely separate.
But much recent research and discussion on these issues has taken place in a Western context, primarily through a Christian lens. To better understand the ways in which science relates to religion around the world, Pew Research Center engaged a small group of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists to talk about their perspectives. These one-on-one, in-depth interviews took place in Malaysia and Singapore – two Southeast Asian nations that have made sizable investments in scientific research and development in recent years and that are home to religiously diverse populations.
The discussions reinforced the conclusion that there is no single, universally held view of the relationship between science and religion, but they also identified some common patterns and themes within each of the three religious groups. For example, many Muslims expressed the view that Islam and science are basically compatible, while, at the same time, acknowledging some areas of friction – such as the theory of evolution conflicting with religious beliefs about the origins and development of human life on Earth. Evolution also has been a point of discord between religion and science in the West.
Hindu interviewees generally took a different tack, describing science and religion as overlapping spheres. As was the case with Muslim interviewees, many Hindus maintained that their religion contains elements of science, and that Hinduism long ago identified concepts that were later illuminated by science – mentioning, for example, the antimicrobial properties of copper or the health benefits of turmeric. In contrast with Muslims, many Hindus said the theory of evolution is encompassed in their religious teachings.
Buddhist interviewees generally described religion and science as two separate and unrelated spheres. Several of the Buddhists talked about their religion as offering guidance on how to live a moral life, while describing science as observable phenomena. Often, they could not name any areas of scientific research that concerned them for religious reasons. Nor did Buddhist interviewees see the theory of evolution as a point of conflict with their religion. Some said they didn’t think their religion addressed the origins of life on Earth.
Some members of all three religious groups, however, did express religious concerns when asked to consider specific kinds of biotechnology research, such as gene editing to change a baby’s genetic characteristics and efforts to clone animals. For example, Muslim interviewees said cloning would tamper with the power of God, and God should be the only one to create living things. When Hindus and Buddhists discussed gene editing and cloning, some, though not all, voiced concern that these scientific developments might interfere with karma or reincarnation.
But religion was not always the foremost topic that came to mind when people thought about science. In response to questions about government investment in scientific research, interviewees generally spoke of the role of scientific achievements in national prestige and economic development; religious differences faded into the background.
These are some of the key findings from a qualitative analysis of 72 individual interviews with Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists conducted in Malaysia and Singapore between June 17 and Aug. 8, 2019.The study included 24 people in each of three religious groups (Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists), with an equal number in each country. All interviewees said their religion was “very” or “somewhat” important to their lives, but they otherwise varied in terms of age, gender, profession and education level.
A majority of Malaysians are Muslim, and the country has experienced natural migration patterns over the years. As a result, Buddhist interviewees in Malaysia were typically of Chinese descent, Hindus were of Indian descent and Muslim interviewees were Malay. Singapore is known for its religious diversity; a 2014 Pew Research Center analysis found the city-state to have the highest level of religious diversity in the world.
Insights from these qualitative interviews are inherently limited in that they are based on small convenience samples of individuals and are not representative of religious groups either in their country or globally. Instead, in-depth interviews provide insight into how individuals describe their beliefs, in their own words, and the connections they see (or don’t see) with science. To help guard against putting too much weight on any single individual’s comments, all interviews were coded into themes, following a systematic procedure. Where possible throughout the rest of this report, these findings are shown in comparison with quantitative surveys conducted with representative samples of adults in global publics to help address questions about the extent to which certain viewpoints are widely held among members of each religious group. This also shows how Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists as well as Christians around the world compare with each other.
One of the most striking takeaways from interviews conducted with Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists stems from the different ways that people in each group described their perspectives on the relationship between science and religion. The Muslims interviewed tended to speak of an overlap between their religion and science, and some raised areas of tension between the two. Hindu interviewees, by and large, described science and religion as overlapping but compatible spheres. By contrast, Buddhist interviewees described science and religion as parallel concepts, with no particular touchpoints between the two.A similar pattern emerged when interviewees were asked about possible topics that should be off limits to scientific research for religious reasons. Many Muslim interviewees readily named research areas that concerned them, such as studies using non-halal substances or some applications of assisted reproductive technology (for example, in vitro fertilization using genetic material from someone other than a married couple). By contrast, the Hindus and Buddhists in the study did not regularly name any research topics that they felt should be off limits to scientists.
The predominant view among Hindus interviewed in Malaysia and Singapore is that science and Hinduism are related and compatible. Many of the Hindu interviewees offered – without prompting– the assertion that their religion contains many ancient insights that have been upheld by modern science. For instance, multiple interviewees described the use of turmeric in cleansing solutions, or the use of copper in drinking mugs. They said Hindus have known for thousands of years that these materials provide health benefits, but that scientists have only confirmed relatively recently that it’s because turmeric and copper have antimicrobial properties. “When you question certain rituals or rites in Hinduism, there’s also a relatively scientific explanation to it,” said a Hindu woman (age 29, Singapore).
While many of the Hindu interviewees said science and religion overlap, others described the two as separate realms. “Religion doesn’t really govern science, and it shouldn’t. Science should just be science. … Today, the researchers, even if they are religious, the research is your duty. The duty and religion are different,” said one Hindu man (age 42, Singapore).
Asked to think about areas of scientific research that might raise concerns or that should not be pursued for religious reasons, Hindu interviewees generally came up blank, saying they couldn’t think of any such areas. A few mentioned areas of research that concerned them, but no topic area came up consistently.
Buddhist interviewees described science and religion in distinctly different ways than either Muslims or Hindus. For the most part, Buddhists said that science and religion are two unrelated domains. Some have long held that Buddhism and its practice are aligned with the empirically driven observations in the scientific method; connections between Buddhism and science have been bolstered by neuroscience research into the effects of Buddhist meditation at the core of the mindfulness movement.
A Pew Research Center survey of Muslims worldwide conducted in 2011 and 2012 found a 22-public median of 53% said they believed humans and other living things evolved over time. However, levels of acceptance of evolution varied by region and country, with Muslims in South and Southeast Asian countries reporting lower levels of belief in evolution by this measure than Muslims in other regions.In discussing scientific research using gene editing, cloning and reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist interviewees raised the idea that such practices may go against the natural order or interfere with nature. As one Buddhist man simply put it: “If you have anything that interferes with the law of nature, you will have conflict. If you leave nature alone, you will have no conflict” (age 64, Singapore). Similarly, a Muslim woman said “anything that disrupts or changes the natural state” goes against religious beliefs (age 20, Singapore). In a U.S.-based Pew Research Center survey, a majority of Christians (55%) said that science and religion are “often in conflict” when thinking in general terms about religion. When thinking about their own religious beliefs, however, fewer Christians (35%) said their personal religious beliefs sometimes conflict with science; a majority of U.S. Christians (63%) said the two do not conflict.
Kelly Moore, a Rutgers mental health expert discusses how to prepare children to return to school, signs of emotional distress and benefits of virtual learning.
Students preparing to return to school — in-person, remotely or both — are facing stresses unique to the type of learning they will engage in this fall. Knowing signs of emotional distress and preparing children to bond with peers and teachers before school begins is important to a successful transition, says Kelly Moore, a licensed clinical psychologist and program manager for the Children’s Center for Resilience and Trauma Recovery at Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare, who discusses how parents and teachers can help children navigate the return to school:
How can students form a bond with teachers and classmates while remote learning?
Students should be as engaged as possible. They should be required to use their video option, so they can be seen and should ask questions or offer comments during class instruction. Teachers should engage students by calling on those who do not often speak up. It is critical that schools ensure that virtual classroom features facilitate this process and that students and teachers know how to use the technology.
Some children have really thrived in this virtual school environment while others have struggled. This difference can be true even with siblings. This type of school situation calls for parents, teachers and school staff to really work together to help students stay connected educationally and socially. Once schools get acclimated to remote learning this fall, having virtual clubs for students would be an excellent idea for student engagement.
Adults likely will need to be more hands-on than ever before to ensure that children connect with peers. Many students use online gaming and social media platforms to stay connected. Parents can arrange for virtual activities – virtual escape rooms and mystery games, for example – that are increasingly available. They also can do activities that strengthen family bonds: puzzles, movie nights or creating a family book club where you read a book and then watch the movie.
What are signs of emotional distress in children?
Parents should watch for changes in their children’s normal mood patterns: Are they withdrawing, irritable, having trouble sleeping or being overly clingy and fearful? Elementary school-age children will often show their emotions through their behaviors. Signs of emotional distress can include regression in behaviors that were once mastered, increased separation anxiety or asking a lot of questions repeatedly.
Teachers may notice students who used to be participatory are being less vocal, turning in assignments late or not at all. If teachers notice shifts in class engagement, work performance or attendance that is a red flag.
In addition to the Covid pandemic, many young people may also be feeling the emotional stress and frustration regarding recent events like the murders of unarmed Black men and women and the increased talk about racism in America. I would encourage all parents to talk to their children about these issues in an age-appropriate manner. We cannot take it for granted that they know how to talk about how it’s affecting them and having to now return to school may just intensify those emotions. And if you don’t know how, read books or articles that give you ideas on how to talk to kids about race.
Therapists are offering free or reduced cost support groups for youth and teens. Introduce children and teens to apps that teach them about meditation, guided imagery and yoga. Learning new stress management skills may become a lifelong practice.
How can adults ease the distress children feel about returning to school or continuing virtual learning?
In an unpredictable world, having accurate information in doses we can tolerate and establishing routines can ease distress. Schools and families with students learning at home should establish a clear structure and routine. Children returning physically to school should understand what to expect and the safety guidelines in place. Children might feel more in control if they can pick out or decorate their own masks to wear each day in the classroom.
If at-home learning is feasible, parents can empower children by including them in discussions about whether to pursue in-person, hybrid or virtual learning, and ask them to list their pros and cons about each option.
What are the emotional pros and cons of virtual learning?
While hybrid or virtual leaning can impact some of the traditional aspects of social and emotional skill building like making friends, speaking in groups or navigating a new building, virtual learning may promote new skills. On these platforms, the student has to stay more engaged, pay attention to facial cues during conversations and improve their technological skills, so they can take advantage of chat and reaction features. As students and teachers become more comfortable with these platforms, students also may speak up more to be recognized and communicate more clearly and concisely. Their typing skills also may improve.
What unique challenges do children in underserved communities face?
Children in these communities are now at a greater risk for food insecurity and falling behind academically. It is critical that they have at least one supportive adult to help ensure they have their basic needs — food, safety, shelter and technology— met so they can keep up with their peers. Schools should enlist their counselors, social workers, nurses and child study team staff in innovative ways to reach these students.
(Kelly Moore is a licensed clinical psychologist and program manager for the Children’s Center for Resilience and Trauma Recovery at Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare)
University of Southern California researchers have found what appears to be the likely order in which COVID-19 symptoms first appear: fever, cough and muscle pain, then nausea and/or vomiting, then diarrhea. Knowing the order of COVID-19’s symptoms may help patients seek care promptly or decide promptly to self-isolate, the scientists say. It also could help doctors rule out other illnesses or plan how to treat patients, according to the study led by doctoral candidate Joseph Larsen and his colleagues with faculty advisers Peter Kuhn and James Hicks at the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience’s Convergent Science Institute in Cancer. The scientific findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health. “This order is especially important to know when we have overlapping cycles of illnesses like the flu that coincide with infections of COVID-19,” said Kuhn, professor of medicine, biomedical engineering, and aerospace and mechanical engineering at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, in a statement. “Doctors can determine what steps to take to care for the patient, and they may prevent the patient’s condition from worsening.” “Given that there are now better approaches to treatments for COVID-19, identifying patients earlier could reduce hospitalization time,” said Larsen, the study’s lead author and a USC Dornsife professor. Determining COVID-19 symptoms can help doctors plan treatments accordingly Fever and cough are frequently associated with a variety of respiratory illnesses, including Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). But the timing and symptoms in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract set COVID-19 apart. “The upper GI tract (i.e., nausea/vomiting) seems to be affected before the lower GI tract (i.e., diarrhea) in COVID-19, which is the opposite from MERS and SARS,” the scientists wrote. The authors predicted the order of symptoms this spring from the rates of symptom incidence of more than 55,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in China, all of which were collected from Feb. 16-24 by the World Health Organization. They also studied a dataset of nearly 1,100 cases collected from Dec. 11-Jan. 29 by the China Medical Treatment Expert Group via the National Health Commission of China. To compare the order of COVID-19 symptoms to influenza, the researchers examined data from 2,470 cases in North America, Europe and the Southern Hemisphere that were reported to health authorities from 1994 to 1998. “The order of the symptoms matter. Knowing that each illness progresses differently means that doctors can identify sooner whether someone likely has COVID-19, or another illness, which can help them make better treatment decisions,” Larsen said.
(Tampa, FL; August 17th, 2020) “India’s not for money but for humanity. We are known to be connected with humanity,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told members of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) and Florida Association of Physicians of Indian origin (FAPI) during a virtual India’s 74th Independence Day Celebrations and day long Medical Symposium on August 15th, 2020.
In his keynote address, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi said. “During this critical times when humanity has been impacted by Corona pandemic, India has been leading the efforts to alleviate people’s sufferings by exporting necessary medicine and medical equipment to 150 countries including to the US. In addition, India is working with 16 nations around the world, helping developing human resources, training them and equipping them to meet the challenges posed by the Covid virus.”
There is a high demand for hydroxychloroquine in the international market including U.S. Responding to this need, India has exported hydroxychloroquine to several nations, including the US, Prime Minister Modi told the Physicians of Indian Origin. “In addition, with other nations, we are working collaboratively towards developing vaccine,” he said.
Highlighting the importance of the ancient Medical Systems that originated in India, Modi said, “India has been leading in research on health and well-being from early civilization onwards. Changes in life style are occurring around world, and people have come to appreciate the benefits of Ayurveda. People are looking upto India for leadership in Medicine and holistic living. Ayurveda has become popular around the world in preventing and cure people of illnesses,” he said. In his address, he pointed “immune promoters and natural healers,” stating that import of Turmeric by the US and Europe has significantly increased in nrecent years.
Prime Minister Modi urged “more collaboration by Physicians of Indian Origin in India’s progress, manufacturing medicine and medical device. We want you to participate more actively in the mission of India in research, manufacture, pharma sector and telehealth, reaching health and well-being to rural India.” Describing that Physicians of Indian Origin are “part of the growth and progress of India,: he acknowledged the sacrifices of Indian Origin physicians, Modi said, “I want to express my sincere gratitude for being the warriors who are committed to save the lives of so many during the pandemic. Stay safe and continue to work hard and contribute to the humanity and make India shine.”
Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu greeted AAPI and FAPI members as “we are commemorating the 74th year of India’s Independence.” Pointing to how the pandemic has changed our lives, he said, “Covid has taken a toll on human lives. I congratulate AAPI and FAPI for organizing this special Medical Symposium.”
Calling the Indian American Physicians as the “real heroes” Ambassador Sandhu said “You are the real heroes who have risked your lives and have been out to assist others. “What is unique about AAPI is that you bring a global perspective to defeat the virus and serve the people. We are proud of the achievements of the 4 million Indians in the United States.” There is a widespread recognition of their contributions in the US, he added. “Indian American Physicians members have greatly contributed risking their own lives.” Expressing his deepest condolences to AAPI and the families of those Physicians, who had lost their lives, the Indian Envoy thanked AAPI for “your support to the Indian Embassy helping Indian students and others stranded here due to the pandemic. Your online Health Desk has helped many Indians in the US affected by the pandemic.”
Praising AAPI for the several charitable works in India, Ambassador Sandhu, said, “India and the US are strategic partners” and pointed to collaboration between the two nations on cutting edge medical research in healthcare sector and science. India is geared up to face the challenges and we have enhanced our capacity to test, trace and treat those affected by the virus,” the Indian Envoy said. “Although the cases in India have been on the rise, the death rate is significantly lower. And recovery rate is high. Drawing on the inherent strengths of the Indian system, we are working to develop vaccines to prevent and eradicate the pandemic,” he said.
With inexpensive medical supplies to 150 countries, India has become “a reliable partner in global supply chain of all healthcare needs.”
Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, Secretary of AAPI introduced Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu as “one of the most experienced Indian diplomats on US affairs, having served in the Indian Mission in Washington DC in various capacities and at the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations, New York.”
COVID-19 has now killed at least 775,489 people worldwide, and the U.S. ranks 10th in the world for deaths per 100,000 people (51.5), Johns Hopkins University says. As of Monday, the U.S. has the world’s highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases (5,403,361) and deaths (170,052). Worldwide, confirmed cases are now at 21,684,349.
“We’ve got to get those numbers down,” stressed Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). “If we don’t get them down, we’re going to have a really bad situation in the fall … as you get indoors and you get the complications of influenza season.” Dr. Fauxi in his address on Covid -9 and Research to combat the pandemic, provided a brief historical overview of the different viruses, their origin the recent past, including Covid that originated in China.
“Covid is the worst the world has seen since 1918 with 20 million infected and 70000 deaths in nthe US alone,” Dr. Fauci said. Drawing the attention of the physicians to the fact that the US has been the worst hit nation by the pandemnic, in comparison with Europe, Dr. Fauci referred to the pattern of responses has been different in each nation and within the US in different regions. Dr. Fauci also referred to India, faced with serious challenges. Impact varies from person to person moderate to severe including death, he said.
In his eloquent presentation, Dr. Fauci educated the physicians on Covid Virus: Physio genetic Trees; Virology of Cocid-19; Clinical Presentation/Symptoms; Manifestations of Severe Covid Disease, which are fare more than what was initially thought to be; Racial/Ethnic Inequalities among those affected by the Virus; Types of Tests administered to diagnose the virus; Treatment Modalities and the currently available drugs to treat the virus, including Remdesivir, which has proven to have 32% faster response rate; Vaccines that are in the making, with the hope that by November/December possible results will be known for the effectiveness of the Vaccines.
Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, President of AAPI, said, “This year India celebrates its 74th Independence Day remembering the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters, political leaders and citizens in order to free the motherland from colonial rule. This year, COVID-19 has eliminated the ability for spectators and celebrations. The virtual world allows celebrations to proceed in a different manner, but this is also an opportunity to be re-inspired by the legacy of the Father of Nation. After all, isn’t service of mankind the best way to celebrate India’s Independence?”
Dr. Rakesh K. Sharma, President, Florida Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (FAPI) welcomed the participants and speakers at the event. He seamlessly coordinated the day long event with speakers and singers from around the world. “The day long Medical Symposium was packed with 8.5 hours of CMEs, with the objectives of educating the physicians on the current standards, laws & rules on prescribing controlled substances; Identify multiple strategies for preventing medical errors; and, Describe the best strategies for managing COVID-19 patients.” Dr. Sharma said.
Dr. Sajani Shah, Chair of AAPI’s BOT, said, “AAPI members are putting their best efforts to help our patients, especially those impacted by COVID. Several of our physicians have been affected in this pandemic. The day long workshop was a way to educate them on the current pandemic and best practice.”
Dr. Anupama Yeluru Gotimukula, President-Elect, AAPI, who will be the President of AAPI in the year 2021-22, says, “We are going through a deadly pandemic now. Our healthcare heroes are putting their lives on frontline and working in every possible way to eradicate COVID-19, through preventive efforts, clinical, therapeutic and research trials, doing philanthropic services and many more other activities to help the community.”
Dr. Ravi Kolli, Vice President,reminded AAPI members that thorugh organizing such events, “We are continuing to make AAPI a more dynamic and vibrant organization playing a meaningful and relevant part in advocating health policies and practices that best serve the interests of all patients and promoting the physician’s role as the leaders of the team based health care delivery.”
Dr. Satheesh Kathula, Treasurer of AAPI, “This is another example of our ongoing efforts to make AAPI a mainstream organization and work on issues affecting physicians including physician shortage, burnout, and credentialing, while leveraging the strength of 100,000 Indian American physcians.”
The participants were treated to an entrainment segment by Bollywood singers, including Anoop Sankar who entertained the audience with renditions in multiple Indian languages dedicating his music to the Doctors who work to save lives, especially during this pandemic. For more details, please visit: http://www.aapiusa.org
The world anxiously awaits the discovery of a vaccine against the novel corona virus which is the only foreseeable hope of restoring the old order and thereby our dreams of a future which has been so brutally and abruptly interrupted by this pandemic.
Vaccines are an integral part of medicine today. Each vaccine contains a small amount of the disease germ or germ particle along with ingredients that provide stability, prevent contamination of multi- dose vials by bacteria or fungi and sometimes substances to boost the immune response. Vaccines are essentially prophylactic in that they prevent or ameliorate the effects of a future infection but can be therapeutic as well, to fight a disease that has already occurred, such as cancer. Upon receiving a vaccine the immune system in the body recognizes that specific disease causing germ in the vaccine as being foreign, responds by making antibodies to that germ for the future for a finite length of time, and remembers the germ so that the immune system is able to rapidly destroy it before sickness sets in.
Naturally acquired immunity that comes from the disease itself can be at the cost of serious and at times lethal complications. Vaccines imitate that infection in a less severe form and cause the immune system to produce T- lymphocytes and antibodies. As the minor side effects such as fever, malaise, aches go away the body is left with “memory” T- lymphocytes and B- lymphocytes that will remember how to fight the disease in the future. This process takes a few weeks and one may develop the disease before protection has occurred.
There are five main types of vaccine:
Live attenuated such as measles mumps rubella and chickenpox /TB vaccine.
Inactivated vaccines such as polio vaccine.
Toxoid vaccine to prevent diseases caused by bacteria producing toxins such as diphtheria and tetanus.
Subunit vaccine that includes only the essential antigenic part of the germ such as the pertussis component.
Conjugate vaccines to fight bacteria that have an outer coating of polysaccharides such as those against meningitis.
Vaccines may need multiple doses or a booster dose after so many years. Some viruses like the flu virus change every season so an annual dose is required. Severe allergy to any component of vaccine is a contraindication. Pregnancy and immunosuppression are contraindications to live vaccines. There are certain precautions for each individual vaccine as well, which must be taken into consideration prior to administration. The bogey of autism secondary to childhood vaccines or their preservatives has been raised in the past, but multiple studies have shown no link and original work that raised this concern was found to be flawed.
The evolution of vaccination is fascinating. There was a concept of immunity as early as 430 B.C when the Greek historian Thucydides noted in his account of the plague that killed a third of the population of Athens, that those who recovered were resistant to future attacks of the same disease. The history of vaccination is intricately connected to smallpox epidemics. The first efforts to vaccinate were in fact variolation which was the practice of using secretions from the pustules of someone with smallpox or variola to infect a healthy individual and create a mild form of the disease. The origin of inoculation is possibly from India where itinerant Brahmins inoculated by dipping a sharp iron needle into a smallpox pustule then puncturing the skin repeatedly in a small circle or perhaps in China where variolation was practiced by nasal insufflation of powdered smallpox scabs. In Africa mothers would tie a cloth around a child’s smallpox covered arm and then transfer the cloth to a healthy child.
In the 18th and 19th centuries the practice made its way to England thanks to Lady Montagu the wife of the British ambassador to Turkey who had observed variolation. New England and other American colonies saw smallpox arrive with cargo ships to Boston with devastating effects. Cotton Mather, an influential minister in Boston was told of the practice of variolation by his slave Onesimus who had experienced variolation in Africa and he took the bold step of introducing this concept despite much resistance.
Variolation did not prevent the disease, it just made it milder, and in some cases, people still developed severe symptoms and died. In late 1700, Edward Jenner noted that milkmaids got cow pox on their hands, but not smallpox. He took fluid from the cowpox and scratched it into his gardener’s son’s arm, a practice now called vaccination from vacca or cow. Two months later he inoculated the boy again, now with smallpox matter and no disease developed and the vaccine was a success. Louis Pasteur’s 1885 rabies vaccine came next followed by development of antitoxins and vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, anthrax, cholera, plague typhoid, tuberculosis, yellow fever, herpes simplex. Middle of 20th century was an active time for the development of vaccines. Noteworthy is the development of the injectable killed virus Salk polio vaccine and the live attenuated oral Sabin polio vaccine amidst the intense rivalry between the two teams. Recombinant DNA technology and new delivery techniques addressed noninfectious conditions such as addiction and allergies. Among the fastest vaccines ever produced was the current mumps vaccine isolated by a scientist Dr. Hilleman who was working for Merck, obtained from the throat washings of his daughter JerylLynn in 1963 with the eponymous vaccine being licensed in 1967. In recent years, the Ebola vaccine though long in development was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation and FDA worked closely with the company and completed its evaluation for safety and effectiveness in six months.
Researchers around the world are developing more than 165 vaccines, and 28 vaccines are in human trial for the novel corona virus. Work began in January 2020 with deciphering the Sars-Co V-2 genome. Phase 1- about 18 vaccines testing safety and dosage, Phase II -12 vaccines in expanded safety trials, Phase III – 6 vaccines in large scale efficacy tests and 1 vaccine has been approved for limited use. Vaccines typically take years of research and testing before reaching the clinics, but scientists all over the world are racing to provide a safe and effective vaccine by next year. Many governments including the US have bank rolled these efforts. Moderna along with NIH have launched a Phase III trial on July 27th, 2020 on a Messenger RNA based vaccine. The final trial will enroll 30,000 healthy people at about 89 sites around US- Moderna has $1 billion in support from the US government. Operation Warp Speed is supporting a portfolio of similar vaccines so that they can meet FDA’s gold standards and reach the public without delay. University of Oxford and Jenner institute is also a front runner with U.K investing $6.5 million along with layers of private and international investors; India’s Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila have started Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. Germany, Russia and China are heavily funding their own trials. Serum Institute of India, Pune, under the chairmanship of Dr. Cyrus S. Poonawala is poised to be a big player in the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine. It will also be a part of Phase 3 Novavax trials in India. One out of every two children in the world is vaccinated by a vaccine from the Serum Institute.
The successful companies will be runaway winners from both humanitarian and financial standpoints. Many ethical challenges regarding cost, prioritization of delivery, transparency of risk- benefit data remain. One thing is clear, there will be no resolution of the Covid-19 Crisis without the utmost harmonious and strategic cooperation of all global participants.
Russia just announced the development of a vaccine – has not been thoroughly tested
(Udita Jahagirdar M.D., F.A. C. O. G. is a Gynecolgist in active practice in Yhe Orlando, FL area)
Don’t salt your own food because you hear someone has low sodium. That could be a catastrophic mistake. You wouldn’t start eating plain sugar because you hear someone suffered hypoglycemia, would you?
Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) usually occurs in someone who is already diabetic. You have to treat with sugar immediately, otherwise it could be fatal. That, however, is not a good reason for everybody else to consume plain sugar to prevent hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is a problem usually in people who already have diabetes.
In the same way, average healthy individuals hardly ever have low sodium. Low sodium, with rare exceptions, is a problem in people who already are on multiple medications, are in renal failure, heart failure, taking chemotherapy or otherwise not in good general health and not able to consume a regular variety of food for any reason. Eating plain sugar and salt will drive you into getting these very problems which in turn can lead to low sodium or low sugar. This phenomenon has been described by multiple authors as “reverse causation”
We should be stepping up efforts to cut salt in our food. You don’t want to risk far too many health problems linked to salt to yourself or your loved ones in the name of “taste”. In case you missed it, high blood pressure, which is only one of the many problems linked to salt, is a bigger health problem when compared to tobacco; declared WHO almost a decade ago. On top of all the health problems we already know that are linked to table salt, we are learning in the last few years, that we are also reducing our defense against infections and increasing self-destructing auto-immune responses
Even Medical professionals need to more aggressively engaged in prevention of salt related health problems. Based on thousands of scientific papers, every medical organization in the world is recommending salt reduction. Yet medical professionals largely on the sidelines specially when it comes to following themselves and leading by example. Please see attached one of many review articles titled “Understanding the science that supports population‐wide salt reduction programs”.
The misunderstanding of low sodium has been in part the reason for this lack of engagement. I urge my colleagues to look little deeper and look at the extensive criticism of these papers focused on the issue of low sodium. Please attached examples references to the criticism of these papers coming from prestigious institutions across the globe written by prominent scientists who have most of their lifetime on this subject. These references come not just from one country, but from America, Canada, Europe and England.
For Example: Prof Francesco Cappuccio: “President and Trustee of the British and Irish Hypertension Society, Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nutrition, member of CASH, WASH, True Consortium – all unpaid”; summarized one of major sources of this confusion as follows:
The PURE study, due to the numerous flaws highlighted in the last few years in international journals, is not fit to address any of the issues regarding salt consumption and cardiovascular outcomes.
Additional quotes from some of these papers are attached below.
Hypoglycemia and symptomatic low sodium have to be treated immediately. But to keep on simply eating salt and sugar may not be the best solution. There are better things you can do about low sodium.
First, rule out medication induced low sodium. Try to aggressively wean off all the non-essential pills. Then reduce the doses of the essential ones to the lowest level or stop entirely for a duration of time under the guidance of a medical professional. Add medications one at a time at the lowest doses as needed.
Low sodium could be an indication of renal, gastrointestinal or endocrine problems. Salt-wasting enteropathies and nephropathies have been described. To look into it, it will require a diligent physician who may order tests that are not the usual run-of-the-mill type, such as urine electrolytes.
High Potassium needs immediate attention just like hypoglycemia. However low sodium can be watched to a certain level if there are no symptoms. High potassium in combination with low sodium could be a sign of a deep-rooted kidney problem. A kidney specialist (Nephrologist) should be consulted at this stage.
Some of the most commonly used diuretics (water pills) by design will make the kidney lose potassium as well as sodium. Individualized selection of the right combination of medications may address this problem.
In summary, persistent low sodium needs a deeper look. Given the long list of health problems associated with salt, simply eating salt should be reserved for symptomatic low sodium situations, the same way as hypoglycemia.
Is Reducing Dietary Sodium Controversial? Is It the Conduct of Studies
With Flawed Research Methods That Is Controversial? A Perspective
From the World Hypertension League Executive Committee. Norm R.C. Campbell, MD;1 Daniel T. Lackland, DrPH;2 Mark L. Niebylski, PhD, MBA, MS;3 Peter M. Nilsson, MD, PhD4
The Journal of Clinical Hypertension Vol 17 | No 2 | February 2015
Understanding the science that supports population‐wide salt reduction programs
Jacqui Webster PhD Temo Waqanivalu MBBS, MPH JoAnne Arcand PhD, RD Kathy Trieu MPH Francesco P. Cappuccio MD, DSc Lawrence J. Appel MD, MPH … See all authors
The PURE study, due to the numerous flaws highlighted in the last few years in international journals, is not fit to address any of the issues regarding salt consumption and cardiovascular outcomes. Prof Francesco Cappuccio: “President and Trustee of the President of the British and Irish Hypertension Society, Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nutrition, member of CASH, WASH, TRUE Consortium – all unpaid.”
In our view, papers of poor scientific quality should not be considered as part of the evidence base.” …. Prof Graham MacGregor: “Graham is Chair of Blood Pressure UK (BPUK), Action on Salt and World Action on Salt and Health. BPUK, Action on Salt and WASH are non-profit charitable organizations and Graham does not receive any financial support from any of these organizations.”
salt consumption to prevent cardiovascular disease is strong and such new controversial studies – in particular the PURE Study – are inappropriate to address the complex associations between salt intake and CVD outcomes and should not overturn the concerted public health action to reduce salt intake globally….
A scientific statement from the European Salt Action Network
Newswise — By late March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic unfolded, primary and secondary schools closed in nearly every country, affecting more than 1.5 billion learners, according to UNESCO. In many places, educators quickly shifted to remote teaching with the hope of salvaging the academic year.
Since then, some countries have cautiously reopened schools with mixed results. Others don’t plan to resume in-person classes until 2021. But lack of access to technology and concerns about widening achievement gaps have forced a seemingly impossible decision onto school leaders: reopen their doors and risk new outbreaks of the virus, or continue virtual alternatives that could leave students further behind and suffering from social isolation.
What are the challenges to reopening schools?
Schools have struggled with what to do if a student or teacher tests positive. Most of the dozens of countries that reopened schools earlier in the year reported relatively low numbers of cases of the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, and conducted widespread contact tracing. It remains to be seen, however, if schools can safely reopen in places suffering widespread outbreaks and community transmission, such as in many U.S. communities.
“It is possible to safely reopen schools, but one of the first criteria that needs to be met is that we not have an epidemic that’s spiraling out of control,” says Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University.
The worst-case scenario for many school administrators and public health officials is if schools suffer an outbreak after reopening that sickens dozens of students or teachers, spreads to the community, and causes deaths. When Israel reopened schools in May, the government did not require schools to follow social-distancing guidelines for long, and many classrooms returned to full size with around forty students. Since then, more than two thousand people have tested positive throughout the country’s education system and at least one teacher has died. In Israel and other countries, some parents and guardians have refused to send their children to school out of concern for both their child’s safety and their own.
After its disaster in the spring, Israel is now requiring schools with reported coronavirus cases to close for two weeks and all students and staff to quarantine. Schools in Germany, where infection rates are low, have taken a different approach, keeping classes running and forcing only close contacts of the infected person to quarantine.
Reopening schools is also expensive. Health experts have called on schools to guarantee they have enough personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks and face shields, for students and teachers; cleaning supplies; and other safety materials, including plastic barriers, the costs of which can add up. Some schools have hired more teachers because of smaller class sizes, and others have paid to improve their ventilation systems and build handwashing stations. While primary and secondary schools in the United States have so far received $13.5 billion in federal relief, education policy researchers say it’s not enough for schools that were already struggling with funding. One report estimates that implementing precautions will cost $1.8 million for a U.S. school district with around 3,200 students. For example, reopening all of Maine’s public schools will cost an estimated $328 million.
Pandemic safeguards have also put special burdens on educators. Restrictions have made it difficult to promote collaborative and engaging learning, especially for younger students. In addition to fearing for their own health, teachers in schools that follow a hybrid model of in-person and online learning face the added stress of preparing lesson plans for both approaches.
What health and safety steps have countries taken when reopening schools?
To mitigate the challenges of reopening, schools have implemented many precautions, including the following:
Requiring masks. Researchers have shown that wearing masks can significantly decrease the chances of infection. Many schools have required students and faculty to wear masks while in the classroom. Taiwan’s government, which never closed most schools, provides new masks to all adults and children every two weeks.
Checking temperatures. Manyschools require students to prove on a daily basis that they don’t have a fever, including by checking their temperature and filling out a form at home, entering their temperature into a mobile app, or using a contactless thermometer at the school’s entrance.
Social distancing. Schools have tried to keep students and faculty at least six feet apart by increasing the distance between desks, using plastic barriers in classrooms, and closing group spaces. Most public schools in Hong Kong closed their cafeterias, requiring students to bring lunch. In Denmark, schools are not required to enforce social distancing. Instead students are allowed to play with others in their class “bubbles,” small groups that arrive at school at the same time, use the same classroom and playground area, and are taught by the same teacher to try to prevent a widespread outbreak.
Decreasing capacity. Experts have suggested limiting class sizes to only a dozen students to reduce social contact, creating challenges for schools that usually have more than thirty students in a class. To address this, some schools have tried staggered schedules in which some students come to school on Mondays and Thursdays and others come on Tuesdays and Fridays. In Tokyo, high school grades were divided into two groups, with half attending in morning and half in afternoon.
Prioritizing vulnerable students. Denmark first opened schools and day-care centers for children younger than twelve, reasoning that they are at lower risk from the virus and benefit more from interactive in-person learning than older students. Uruguay allowed students in rural areas and those who had trouble accessing online materials back to school first.
Holding classes outdoors. Some schools have tried occasionally holding classes outdoors, which reduces the risk of transmission. If weather conditions prevent outdoor learning, experts say schools should open windows and filter indoor air. Frequently touched surfaces should be cleaned often.
Virus testing. Routine testing at schools has been rare. However, one school in Germany offers free tests to students and teachers twice a week that they can administer themselves at home. And Luxembourg tested about six thousand high school students and two thousand teachers before classes resumed in May.
What have been alternatives to in-person instruction?
Many countries rapidly transitioned to remote learning as outbreaks took hold in early 2020, and some have chosen to continue this form of instruction—including learning online, through radio and television programming, and via text messaging—until the virus is sufficiently contained or there is a cure.
In India, many states have relied on government-developed e-learning portals since the summer break ended in June, a massive challenge in a country where just 11 percent of households had a computer and 24 percent had internet [PDF] in 2018, though at least one of these portals can be used offline. States are still undecided about when to bring students back into classrooms, particularly as the country recorded its highest single-day increase in coronavirus cases in late July. The Philippines has ordered that in-person instruction not resume until there is an effective vaccine. Education authorities plan to roll out distance learning nationwide when the summer holiday ends in August, but teachers have raised concerns that many of the country’s twenty-seven million school-age children do not have computers or internet at home.
Other countries have suspended instruction altogether. Kenya’s education ministry announced in July that schools will remain closed through the end of 2020, with students expected to repeat the school year. While the government said it is working to make online learning more accessible for Kenyan students and has been broadcasting some school programs on the radio and television, it acknowledged that many households do not have the technological resources to fully switch to remote learning.
What are the risks of keeping students at home?
Education experts warn of severe consequences for students missing out on critical in-person instruction. Researchers project significant learning losses across countries that have closed schools, with even worse consequences expected for children in countries with already low learning outcomes and less resilience to shocks. In a June statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged school leadership to strive to have U.S. students “physically present in school” in the coming academic year, noting that school spaces are fundamental not only for academic instruction but also for children’s nutrition, social and emotional skills, and mental and physical health. The organization later qualified its guidance by saying that “science should drive decision-making” on whether to reopen.
Many educators express particular concern about underserved children, including those in racial minority groups and lower-income communities, where households may not be able to provide meals normally offered at school nor have the technology required for online learning. Teachers have also pointed out challenges for the five million students learning English in U.S. primary and secondary schools. “It was a challenge to get all of our students engaged on a weekly basis,” says Ramya Subramanian, assistant principal of a California charter school, of the switch to remote instruction. “Our students who are English learners had the hardest time being able to access our resources, which are primarily in English; they needed a lot of support.”
At the same time, social workers and child advocates have raised alarm that school closures could lead to a surge in child abuse. While there is no evidence of such a spike, they say teachers and nurses are not able to monitor children for possible cases.
Some critics of long-term distance learning also argue that as parents and guardians return to work, they will not be able to stay at home with their children. Experts have said this conundrum could lead to more accidents and injury among children left home alone, or deeper economic woes for parents who quit their jobs or cut back on their working hours to stay at home. One study in Germany estimated that 8 percent of the country’s economic activity [PDF] would be lost if schools and day-care centers remained closed.
Are children less likely to get and transmit COVID-19?
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children are less likely than adults to contract COVID-19. Across several hard-hit countries, the proportion of cases among people under the age of eighteen ranged between roughly 1 and 2 percent of total confirmed cases. Some children infected with COVID-19 appeared to show no symptoms, but scientists say the prevalence of asymptomatic child cases and whether those cases are infectious is still unknown.
Young children also appear to be less likely to spread the virus to others. However, older children—between the ages of ten and nineteen—appear to transmit the new coronavirus as much as adults, according to one study of more than sixty-five thousand people in South Korea.
Despite the lower infection rate, many parents are fearful of returning their children to classrooms, seeing any risk of them becoming severely ill as too high. Alongside these concerns are worries that millions of older family members living with school-age children as well as a large portion of teachers and school staff—an estimated one in four in the United States—are at high risk of serious infection.
When will U.S. schools reopen?
When and how schools will reopen varies across states and localities. Some school districts, such as those in Chicago and New York City, plan to hold a mix of online and in-person classes. Others, including the Los Angeles and San Diego school districts, will hold all classes online.
Although the federal government and the CDC provided guidelines for schools on how to safely operate, ultimately the decision of what schooling will look like is up to local officials. Most state governors have announced rules school districts must follow to reopen. California’s rules state that schools cannot reopen until the surrounding areas have seen fourteen consecutive days of declining coronavirus cases. It requires students in fourth grade and above to wear masks and forces schools to close if they report a case. In Florida, where cases are surging, the education commissioner signed an executive order that would force public schools to hold classes in person in August. However, some districts are letting parents and guardians decide whether their student will learn in person, strictly online, or through a blended model.
Private schools, which serve an estimated 10 percent of children nationwide, often have more resources to implement state guidelines and can therefore reopen sooner than public schools. They tend to have smaller student bodies, making it easier to limit class sizes, and funds to hire more teachers. Private schools also don’t have the same curriculum requirements and facilities restrictions as public schools, allowing them to be more creative in their reopening plans. In some U.S. cities, parents are hiring teachers to conduct private lessons with small groups of children in their homes, dubbed “microschooling” and “pandemic pods.”
Sadly, there is no risk-free decision about school reopening: Decisionmakers must balance the risks of children contracting and/or spreading COVID-19 with counteracting risks of children falling academically behind and being deprived of social relationships from in-school learning. Decisions as to whether students should return to school in person must be tailored to fit each specific community, school district, and even grade within school. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine this week released a report focused on younger children. Their advice? Open schools for children in kindergarten through fifth grade with well-funded safety measures in place. On the one hand, there is much scientific data to suggest that even our youngest children have already lost academic and social readiness during the COVID-19 slump. This is even more true for children from underserved communities. Science tells us that social relationships with friends and teachers are essential for social and academic learning during early childhood. Children learn, love, and thrive best when interacting with other adults and children. For example, research shows that strong language skills are born in the context of conversations with other people. Interactions between young children, their peers, and adults—real interactions—literally mold areas of the brain that support social bonding, language, and the seeds of literacy. Put simply, social relationships play a critical role in learning and child development. On the other hand, with respect to public health, there is much that we do not know. Data are still evolving and are sometimes contradictory on 1) the level of health risk children with COVID-19 personally face; 2) whether children are more likely to be asymptomatic shedders; and 3) whether children are likely to spread COVID-19 to teachers and parents. According to a recent report based on international data, countries like Denmark and Germany have had fairly safe results. This is to be contrasted with data out of Israel suggesting that school reopening created a spike in cases. It remains unclear what factors (i.e., timing of reopening with respect to national COVID-19 trajectories and other cultural factors) drive these differences. A new study out of Korea examined 65,000 people and concluded that even younger children do catch and spread the virus. Those under 10 are roughly half as contagious. A true unknown is whether the virus has lasting effects on children as they grow up. Importantly, we have yet to know whether young children can follow the safety mandates. Try to envision a group of 4-year olds really keeping a mask on throughout the day. It is as baffling as imagining a team of 3-year-olds who can truly keep six feet apart? Ask any parent or early childhood educator: Preschoolers are not well known for following rules. So, what is a parent to do? What is a teacher to do? What policies should guide decisions about whether, and if so, how to open school? This is the balancing act. In two pieces, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that for young children, returning to school with the right provisions in place would be optimal. In an amendment to their post, they write: “Returning to school is important for the healthy development and well-being of children, but we must pursue reopening in a way that is safe for all students, teachers, and staff.” There is no one-size-fits-all blueprint for reopening, and significant resources will be required. Local conditions are paramount. These include the prevalence of the virus in the community, the health risks for staff (both teachers and custodial staff), whether adequate financial resources are provided for schools to disinfect classrooms, students and employees are screened for symptoms, and academic spaces are reconfigured, such as by setting up tented learning areas for outdoor classes. The risk-benefit calculus is also influenced by individual characteristics associated with student needs. Importantly, children from underserved communities—who are disproportionately racial minorities and immigrants—as well as children with food insecurity and special needs, often receive services that are only provided through schools. The bottom line is that the answer is just not as black and white as many in the media lead us to believe. Decisions about whether and how to reopen schools require a delicate balance of dynamic factors. Surely with such complicated decisions, a scientific response rather than a political one is in order. The scientific data about how children are affected by and spread COVID-19 are accumulating before our eyes. While the health risks are real, they must be balanced with the scientific consensus that children must be around other people. The optimal way for schools to strike this balance is not yet known. But if we empower decisionmakers with the scientific evidence, and update them as it accumulates, we can at least make informed decisions about how to keep our children safe while also feeding them the psychological nutrients to develop in a healthy way.
21-year-old young COVID-19 warrior from India, Meera Mehta, volunteering with the global non-profit Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, has been recognised with The Diana Award – the most prestigious accolade a young person aged 9-25 years can receive for their social action or humanitarian work. Established in memory of Princess Diana of Wales, the Award is given out by The Diana Award charity and has the support of both her sons, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex.
Inspired by the vision and guidance of her spiritual mentor Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai, founder of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, Meera was nurtured with a desire to serve selflessly since a young age. For the benevolent initiatives of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, she has been dedicatedly raising funds to uplift the underprivileged sections since the past 10 years.
“Make compassion your nature, not hobby, habit or mood.” – Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai
Since a tender age of six, Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai inspired Meera to volunteer for various projects undertaken by Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, for the remote communities of South Gujarat, India. Talking about how through this holistic experience, deep virtues of empathy and compassion were sown within her, Meera shares, “I will always remember the day at the first tribal camp I visited. When I gave a tribal child a gift, Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai encouraged me to say thank you to that child and told me that it is a privilege to be able to serve the less fortunate.” Thus, implementing this teaching, she began raising enormous funds for many benevolent initiatives of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care including the health and education projects, including tertiary healthcare for a rural charity hospital, a Science college for the tribal students, primary and secondary education for indigenous communities, an ICU unit for new-born, and a skill development program for rural women.
“What Pujya Gurudevshri taught me changed my entire perspective towards fundraising. While I continue to actively raise funds, I am also studying hard to become a doctor,
and help tribal children in more ways than one.” – Meera Mehta
As a true changemaker, she has inspired and inducted numerous youngsters to volunteer and raise funds effectively. In fact, Meera was also selected as an ‘Inspirational Change Agent’ at the Mumbai Marathon 2019, alongside the eminent boxer Mary Kom, for her impactful fundraising endeavors. Across her 10-year journey, she has raised over Rs. 1.5 crore, garnering massive support from corporates, celebrities and organisations. In addition to several awards and accolades won for fundraising, Meera was also presented the ‘Youth Leader 2015’ award by The Global Education & Leadership Foundation, India for her unique social impact project ‘Poster to Shelter’.
Meera continues to work for the greater good through several endeavours of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care across 5 continents focused on the welfare of mankind, animals, and the environment. Even amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic, she continues to display an extraordinary passion to serve by actively contributing to Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care’s 360-degree COVID-19 Relief Initiatives. These relief activities provide essential resources to front liners, healthcare professionals, daily wagers, and stray animals. Owing to its Mission Statement “Realise one’s True Self and Serve Others Selflessly”, 2500 volunteers are selflessly working in over 50 cities across the world, distinctly catering to each community’s personal needs amidst this crisis.
Having raised over Rs. 33 lakhs to support vulnerable communities during the pandemic, Meera has been instrumental in sponsoring 2 buses for migrant workers to return to their hometown in Bihar, providing over lakhs of meals for daily wagers and support to thousands frontline workers with PPE Kits, masks etc. For Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care’s recent initiative for proving migrants’ workers leaving in Mumbai for their hometown with nutritious meal for their journey, encouraged Meera to prepare handmade meals too.Meera aims to raise Rs. 50 lakhs to support Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care’s extensive Covid relief work, that committedly provides safety and sufficiency to lakhs across the globe.
“We congratulate all our new Diana Award recipients who are changemakers for their generation. We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens.” -Tessy Ojo, CEO of The Diana Award.
With inspiration from her mentor Pujya Guru
21-year-old young COVID-19 warrior from India, Meera Mehta, volunteering with the global non-profit Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, has been recognised with The Diana Award – the most prestigious accolade a young person aged 9-25 years can receive for their social action or humanitarian work. Established in memory of Princess Diana of Wales, the Award is given out by The Diana Award charity and has the support of both her sons, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex.
Inspired by the vision and guidance of her spiritual mentor Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai, founder of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, Meera was nurtured with a desire to serve selflessly since a young age. For the benevolent initiatives of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, she has been dedicatedly raising funds to uplift the underprivileged sections since the past 10 years.
“Make compassion your nature, not hobby, habit or mood.” – Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai
Since a tender age of six, Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai inspired Meera to volunteer for various projects undertaken by Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, for the remote communities of South Gujarat, India. Talking about how through this holistic experience, deep virtues of empathy and compassion were sown within her, Meera shares, “I will always remember the day at the first tribal camp I visited. When I gave a tribal child a gift, Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai encouraged me to say thank you to that child and told me that it is a privilege to be able to serve the less fortunate.” Thus, implementing this teaching, she began raising enormous funds for many benevolent initiatives of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care including the health and education projects, including tertiary healthcare for a rural charity hospital, a Science college for the tribal students, primary and secondary education for indigenous communities, an ICU unit for new-born, and a skill development program for rural women.
“What Pujya Gurudevshri taught me changed my entire perspective towards fundraising. While I continue to actively raise funds, I am also studying hard to become a doctor,
and help tribal children in more ways than one.” – Meera Mehta
As a true changemaker, she has inspired and inducted numerous youngsters to volunteer and raise funds effectively. In fact, Meera was also selected as an ‘Inspirational Change Agent’ at the Mumbai Marathon 2019, alongside the eminent boxer Mary Kom, for her impactful fundraising endeavors. Across her 10-year journey, she has raised over Rs. 1.5 crore, garnering massive support from corporates, celebrities and organisations. In addition to several awards and accolades won for fundraising, Meera was also presented the ‘Youth Leader 2015’ award by The Global Education & Leadership Foundation, India for her unique social impact project ‘Poster to Shelter’.
Meera continues to work for the greater good through several endeavours of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care across 5 continents focused on the welfare of mankind, animals, and the environment. Even amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic, she continues to display an extraordinary passion to serve by actively contributing to Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care’s 360-degree COVID-19 Relief Initiatives. These relief activities provide essential resources to front liners, healthcare professionals, daily wagers, and stray animals. Owing to its Mission Statement “Realise one’s True Self and Serve Others Selflessly”, 2500 volunteers are selflessly working in over 50 cities across the world, distinctly catering to each community’s personal needs amidst this crisis.
Having raised over Rs. 33 lakhs to support vulnerable communities during the pandemic, Meera has been instrumental in sponsoring 2 buses for migrant workers to return to their hometown in Bihar, providing over lakhs of meals for daily wagers and support to thousands frontline workers with PPE Kits, masks etc. For Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care’s recent initiative for proving migrants’ workers leaving in Mumbai for their hometown with nutritious meal for their journey, encouraged Meera to prepare handmade meals too.Meera aims to raise Rs. 50 lakhs to support Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care’s extensive Covid relief work, that committedly provides safety and sufficiency to lakhs across the globe.
“We congratulate all our new Diana Award recipients who are changemakers for their generation. We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens.” -Tessy Ojo, CEO of The Diana Award.
With inspiration from her mentor Pujya Gurudevshri, coupled with the passion of volunteers at Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, Meera Mehta strives to take mighty strides in creating hope and happiness in the lives of thousands.
devshri, coupled with the passion of volunteers at Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, Meera Mehta strives to take mighty strides in creating hope and happiness in the lives of thousands.
International graduates in the US Optional Practical Training (OPT) program may have to deal with OPT suspension soon. This comes as the US government considers further immigration restrictions to manage the devastating impact of COVID-19.
The OPT is a student visa extension which allows eligible international graduates to work in the US for up to 12 months after completing their studies. STEM majors get an additional 24 months. OPT is one of the only options available to graduating international students to stay and work in the United States and suspending OPT would mean that most international students who get a degree from a U.S. college or university would be forced to leave the country after graduating.
News reports suggest the Administration will soon take steps to suspend OPT, the Optional Practical Training program for international students who graduate from U.S. colleges and universities, along with restrictions to other legal immigration channels. This would be a significant mistake that will hurt our economy long term while providing no substantial impact on job or wage growth in the short term.
[Suspending OPT] would be a significant mistake that will hurt our economy long term while providing no substantial impact on job or wage growth in the short term. Research shows that each foreign-born STEM graduate who stays and works in the U.S. creates 2.62 jobs for native-born Americans. Suspending OPT would mean that most international students who get a degree from a U.S. college or university would be forced to leave the country after graduating.
First, the US government took the first step by suspending entry of immigrants deemed risky to the US. Then, it released an executive order directing agencies to “address this economic emergency by rescinding, modifying, waiving, or providing exemptions from regulations and other requirements that may inhibit economic recovery”.
If the Administration immediately ends OPT and stops issuing renewals and extensions, many international graduates, including those graduating this year with pending OPT applications, might no longer qualify for their immigration status and could be forced to leave before having an opportunity to fully contribute to the U.S.
OPT allows international students who are studying at or have graduated from universities and colleges in the U.S. to maintain their student status and be authorized to work for an American employer in their field of study. Approximately 200,000 international students are living in and contributing to the United States thanks to OPT today.
Providing options to stay and work in the country after graduation is critical for retaining U.S. educated graduates, and for attracting future students, as well. Over the last few years, the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to limit legal immigration have contributed to alarming drops in international student enrollment rates, costing the U.S. economy more than $11 billion. Meanwhile, countries like Canada have rolled out more options for international students, and have seen enrollment rates grow as a result.
Because international students typically pay full tuition, their enrollment helps subsidize costs for domestic students and expands teaching and research capacity. However, recent drops in enrollment have cost some universities millions of dollars in lost revenue, and experts are already predicting a 25% drop in international enrollment next year because of COVID-19. Ending OPT could dramatically accelerate these losses.
If graduates are forced to leave, America’s investment in their education will directly benefit our competitors and leave a massive gap in our skilled workforce. With no prospect of employment after graduation, many students would stop coming to study in the first place, sacrificing one of America’s greatest competitive advantages and abandoning our role as the global leader in education and innovation.
International graduates on OPT make critical contributions to America’s national security and economy; that’s why more than 324 employers in trade, industry, and higher education associations wrote to the President, urging him to keep OPT in place.
Recently 21 Republican Members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf ahead of an announcement, urging the Administration to keep OPT intact. The letter explains:
“We urge the administration to publicly clarify that OPT will remain fully intact so we send the right messages abroad about the U.S. as an attractive destination for international students. As countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, China and Australia bolster immigration policies to attract and retain international students, the last thing our nation should do in this area is make ourselves less competitive by weakening OPT. The program is essential to the many international students who desire not just to study in the U.S. but also have a post completion training experience.”
When you go to University, it is very important to be successful. University prepares you for your future job. When you apply for jobs, your future employers will look at your university transcripts. In addition, if you want to go to professional or graduate school, you will need to do well. There are a number of steps you can take to be successful at University, including taking advantage of an essay writing service. Read on to learn how to be successful in school.
Don’t Skip Your Classes
Oftentimes, college students have a budget of how many classes they will cut each semester. It’s easy to think you will get the notes from someone else. However, getting the notes isn’t the same thing as being there, so you will miss some of the content. That will likely affect you when it is time for the exams. You should plan to go to your classes so that you are prepared for your exams.
Use a Planner
When you go to the University, you will not have your parents there to remind you of what you need to do. It will be your responsibility to go to your classes, study, and get things done. The best way to manage this is to have a planner and write out what you need to do every week. You will be more organized, and you will be more successful as well.
Get to Know Your Professors
In addition to teaching your classes, your professors will have office hours throughout the week. This time is specifically set aside to work with students and help them understand material. You should get to know your professors and go over anything you have questions about. Students often don’t realize how easily they can understand concepts if they simply ask the questions. Something that seems ridiculously complicated might be cleared up very easily by asking the questions.
Take Advantage of Essay Writing Services
Sometimes it can be overwhelming to balance all of your courses with work, studying, and writing papers. Some classes will require papers, and you may not have enough hours in the day to get it done. Rather than pulling an all-nighter and stressing out over it, take advantage of an essay writing service. These people know how to get the paper done quickly, and it can be a learning experience for you as well. When you have an example of how the paper should be done, you can learn tips for writing your next paper.
Take One Class Each Semester That Satisfies Your Intellectual Curiosity
In addition to general studies requirements and requirements for your major, you will have electives as part of your courses needed for graduation. Each semester, choose one elective that is something you want to learn about. This will provide balance in your education so that you have something you look forward to doing as a part of your studies.
Study Efficiently
Many students are not aware that a lot of your learning is done outside of the classroom. You will have lectures where your professors discuss concepts and teach you, but it is up to you to read the assigned reading and take notes. You need to plan time every day to devote to studying for your courses. If you wait until the exams, you will not be able to prepare. Taking notes on your reading every week and keeping them organized will make it much simpler when you are getting ready for the final.
Learn About Professors Before You Take Their Classes
It is a good idea to learn as much as you can about professors before you sign up for their classes. You may be able to find an online lecture and ask other students. You can find out whether the professor has a straightforward teaching style or whether he or she is engaging and interesting. You want to learn as much as possible in your classes, so it is a good idea to make sure that you find out if people have had bad experiences with a professor.
Answer the Questions Literally on Exams
Usually professors have planned every question they ask you on an exam, and they will expect you to respond specifically to that question. It may be tempting to fill in other information, but you should look at the question and answer exactly what is asked. Try to draw on your lectures, your reading, and other information and develop an answer based on the question. Most of the time, your professor will have hinted at what kinds of questions will be on the exam during the lectures. Pay attention to what your professor talks about because he or she will spend more time covering topics that are likely to appear on your tests.
Aarogya, a social-enterprise nonprofit created by three President’s Engagement Prize winners and graduating seniors, will bring affordable medicines to low-income people living in India.
Each year, 500 million patients in India living with chronic conditions like diabetes—to name just one—go without medicines they need because they can’t afford them. After witnessing this first-hand as a volunteer two years ago in a private charitable hospital in Bangalore, observing a child with chronic juvenile diabetes walk away without medication, Shivansh Inamdar also saw an opportunity to make an impact.
The idea: leverage pharmacies’ unsold medicines—ones that have not yet reached expiry but have passed their sell-by date—and get them, free of charge, in the hands of people who need them with the help of secure and transparent technology.
Proposing the mission first to Aditya Siroya, a senior in the Wharton School, and later Artemis Panagopoulou, a senior in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the College of Arts and Sciences, they combined skills and perspectives to tackle the problem in the best way they could, and submitted an application for the President’s Engagement Prize.
Founded by Penn President Amy Gutmann in 2015, the 2020 President’s Engagement Prize is intended to empower students to design and undertake post-graduation projects that make a positive, lasting difference in the world. Each prize-winning project receives $100,000, as well as a $50,000 per-student living stipend.
“This seems like such a natural solution to this problem,” muses Inamdar, a senior in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, discussing their winning project. “But the status quo has really not allowed the pharmaceutical companies to be looking for a second distribution channel for these medicines.”
Three to five percent of medicines are returned to pharmaceutical companies’ warehouses each year in India and later incinerated upon their expiry, all at a cost of millions of dollars to store and eventually destroy. Which, too, comes at a global price of 1.5-2.6 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
Aarogya, which is interpreted to mean “freedom from disease” in Sanskrit, will solve the problem of medicine wastage by using a tailor-made digital redistribution platform, with a decentralized blockchain system set up for traceability, to bridge the divide between pharmaceutical companies and charitable hospitals.
“Of course, this is an inefficiency in a sense that you have these unused medicines lying idle when they should be used for what they were made for, which is to treat people,” Inamdar says. “We thought this was a relatively easy inefficiency for us to come in and solve. Which, on an individual company level, is quite small, but across the [Indian] health care system is quite significant.”
Siroya adds that it’s a financial problem that seems minor across each company, but adds up to a much larger problem when considered together—with no one able to individually “devote bandwidth to the problem,” he says.
Through a four-month pilot in a small village in Karnataka, they’ve already gotten $6,300 worth of medicines to 900 low-income people and proven Aarogya’s concept. They also established partnerships, toured warehouses, and spoke with doctors, administrators, and, really, anyone who would allow them to learn more about the problem. They will now take what they’ve learned from the pilot and flesh out their platform—which, they emphasize, is more timely than ever in the COVID-19 pandemic, and can be completed without interpersonal interactions.
The platform itself, they further explain, is designed to accommodate systems already in place in the health care system to ensure there are no added barriers or burdens for hospital administrators, doctors, or pharmaceutical companies. Hospitals list medicines they need, the pharmaceutical companies list information about what medications they have, and an algorithm built into the platform matches the two. A strip with a QR code is used to track the shipments at checkpoints and notify involved parties.
“What we’re asking them to do is just have a small additional step of entering their stock in our platform,” says Panagopoulou. “And then at the same time, on the other side, the charitable hospitals can again list what they need, and then we can use some optimization algorithms given some aspects like distance, quantity, and other [variables] that are a typical supply chain optimization problem, to deliver the medicines through the best possible way and get it where it’s needed most.
“It’s essentially matching supply and demand.”
Mark Pauly, the Bendheim Professor of Health Care Management and Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton School, has been advising the team on their project, pointing out potential concerns from pharmaceutical companies as they’ve continued negotiations, and has largely been delighted by their enthusiasm and research.
“Their knowledge on the ground is of great value, and they came back [from their pilot] even more thoughtful,” says Pauly. “And I like that this team is multinational as well as multi-school. The University’s idea of making [ideas] actually happen in a real-world setting is on display here and I’m excited about it.”
Aarogya will partner with pharmaceutical companies, a charitable institution, and a charitable hospital to provide access to $1.19 million worth of unused medicines and approximately 12,500 low-income patients per day.
“Now more than ever, it is imperative that we find new ways to get life-sustaining and life-saving medicines into the hands of those who need them most,” says Gutmann. “Aditya, Artemis, and Shivansh are harnessing the power of purpose-driven technology to efficiently and ethically ensure that the right medicines reach the right hands in the right place and at the right time.”
The option to perform a job remotely – to telework – may prove to be a financial lifeline for many workers during the COVID-19 downturn, which has shut down large segments of the U.S. economy and caused about 30 million American workers to file unemployment insurance claims since the middle of March 2020.
During the early stages of the outbreak’s economic fallout, 90% of the decrease in employment – or 2.6 million of the total loss of 2.9 million between February and March – arose from positions that could not be teleworked, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of federal government data.
While many workers could no longer wait tables or give haircuts, others – especially those with college degrees – could go online and continue to teach, deliver sermons or trade stocks.
This pattern in jobs lost may change as the economic crisis deepens and spreads across broader swaths of the economy. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the number of employed workers will decrease by nearly 27 million in the coming months, nine times the loss from February to March. Also, signs have emerged that the jobs of many white-collar workers are increasingly at risk. It is possible that being able to work remotely will offer less protection as the COVID-19 downturn nears its trough.
In February, before the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak truly took hold, 40% of American workers, or 63 million, were employed in occupations that potentially could be performed remotely, such as computer programmers, economists and human resource managers. Jobs that could not be performed remotely accounted for 60% of U.S. employment, or 95 million workers. These include jobs such as dentists, carpenters, machinists and other occupations that typically involve interactions with people, working outdoors or handling machinery or equipment, according to a classification system recently developed by researchers at the University of Chicago and adapted for this analysis by Pew Research Center.
Workers’ education level is a key determinant of whether they hold jobs that may be teleworked. In February, 62% of workers with a bachelor’s degree or more education had jobs that could be performed remotely. That is nearly double the share among workers who had completed some college education (33%), including an associate degree, and almost triple the share among high school graduates who did not go to college (22%). Few workers who did not graduate from high school (9%) had the option to telework.
Women were notably more likely than men to have the opportunity to telework, 46% vs. 35%. In part, this is because employed women have higher levels of education – 42% had at least a bachelor’s degree in February, compared with 37% of employed men. But it is also because women were more concentrated in occupations that could be done remotely. For instance, 23% of employed women held jobs in education and administrative support, compared with only 7% of employed men.
Among racial and ethnic groups, 48% of Asian workers and 44% of white workers could potentially telework, compared with 34% of black workers and 26% of Hispanic workers. Differences in education levels are again a factor. In February, about two-thirds (66%) of Asian workers had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 44% of white, 33% of black and 21% of Hispanic workers.
Even so, Hispanic workers across all education levels have somewhat less of an opportunity than U.S. workers overall. In February, 55% of Hispanic workers with a college degree could telework, compared with 62% of all college graduate workers. Differences in occupations also contribute to the telework gap. In February, 18% of Hispanic workers were in either construction or production jobs, compared with 10% of workers overall. Conversely, only 24% of Hispanic workers held management, professional and related jobs, compared with 42% of U.S. workers overall.
Among all the nation’s workers, immigrants lag the U.S. born in the potential to telework. While 31% of foreign-born workers could do their jobs remotely in February, 42% of U.S.-born workers could do the same. This gap is largely driven by the large number of Hispanic immigrant workers, who make up 46% of all foreign-born workers. Of 12.2 million Hispanic immigrant workers in February, only 18% held jobs in which teleworking was feasible, compared with 31% of all immigrant workers. In a coronavirus-driven economic climate, education plays a key role in the endangered job prospects of Hispanic immigrants. Only 18% of Hispanic immigrant workers had a bachelor’s degree or more.
While the ability to work remotely is no guarantee of continued employment, it has become a realistic option for many workers in the internet age. Some 73% of American adults reported having broadband access at home in 2019, and 25% of workers did work at home at least occasionally in 2017-18. The share who work from home may increase for good as workplaces adapt to the post-COVID-19 environment.
There is evidence that teleworking is currently more prevalent than before the COVID-19 outbreak. In a Pew Research Center survey conducted in late March 2020, 40% of adults ages 18 to 64 reported they had worked from home as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. This is the same as the share of American workers who, in this analysis, are estimated to hold jobs that could be teleworked. The potential for the labor market to dampen job losses by turning to telework may already be stretched to capacity. And for some – especially black, Hispanic and lower-income workers – the ability to telework may be affected by access to broadband at home.
Workers who could telework were generally less likely to lose their jobs
As noted, job losses in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak have been concentrated among workers unable to telework. From February to March, U.S. employment decreased by 2.9 million, a loss of 1.8%. This was driven almost entirely by employment falling by 2.6 million (‑2.7%) in jobs that could not be teleworked. Employment in occupations that could be teleworked was essentially unchanged, edging down by 300,000 (‑0.5%).
The safety net offered by jobs that could be teleworked held for most groups of workers. Among women, for example, employment decreased by 3.6% in occupations that could not be teleworked, compared with a decrease of 0.4% in occupations that could be teleworked. Men had a similar experience, except that their losses in jobs that could not be teleworked (‑2.0%) were less than for women.
But employment outcomes varied notably by race and ethnicity. Black workers who could telework saw their employment decrease more sharply (‑4.3%) than black workers who could not telework (‑1.4%). The reasons for this are not clear. One contributing factor may be that the sizable losses for black workers in sales and related occupations, health care and technical jobs were partially offset by gains in architecture and engineering, as well as construction and extraction.
Hispanic workers without the possibility of teleworking saw some of the sharpest decreases in employment (‑5.0%) from February to March. This is traceable to the outcomes for foreign-born Hispanic workers, whose employment fell by 7.5% in these occupations, compared with a loss of 2.4% among U.S.-born Hispanic workers. Meanwhile, the overall employment of Hispanic workers in jobs that could be teleworked increased 3.7%. This reflects the experience of U.S.-born Hispanic workers, whose employment rose by 5.3% in jobs amenable to teleworking.
The favorable outcomes for U.S.-born Hispanic workers relative to foreign-born Hispanic workers and other groups largely reflects a demographic reality. Recent growth in the U.S. working-age population is almost entirely due to growth in the U.S.-born Hispanic working-age population. From March 2019 to March 2020, the U.S. working-age population increased by 1.2 million. Over this period, the growth in the U.S.-born Hispanic working-age population was 1.5 million. As a result, U.S.-born Hispanic workers also accounted for much of the employment growth in the U.S.
Like most other groups, workers at all levels of education appear to have experienced greater losses in employment if they could not telework. But the differences are not always statistically significant. The employment of workers with a college degree was essentially unchanged whether they could work remotely or not. Workers with a high school diploma experienced sizable losses in employment, whether they could telework or not. Foreign-born workers – with Hispanic workers alone accounting for 46% of the immigrant workforce – saw sharper losses than U.S.-born workers, especially in jobs that could not be teleworked.
Indian professor Shobhana Narasimhan from JNU has been elected as an International Honorary Member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Nelson Mandela have been a part of this list.
Professor Shobhana Narasimhan from the Theoretical Sciences Unit (TSU) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology, has been elected as an International Honorary Member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences honours scholars and leaders who have distinguished themselves in the sciences, arts, humanities and public life. The list of previous International Honorary Members includes Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Nelson Mandela.
Prof Narasimhan heads the Computational Nanoscience group at JNCASR. She has done significant work on the rational design of nanomaterials, examining how the lowering of dimensionality and reduction of size affect material properties.
Her work is relevant for a number of different applications, such as nanocatalysts for clean energy applications, and magnetic materials for memory storage.
Her group predicted that the morphology and reactivity of gold nanoparticles deposited on oxide substrates can be tuned by doping the support with electron donors or acceptors.
Prof. Narasimhan has also been very active in the promotion of women in STEM in India and abroad. She was a member of the Working Group for Women in Physics of IUPAP.
Since 2013, she has been co-organizing Career Development Workshops for Women in Physics at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, and the ICTP-EAIFR in Kigali, Rwanda.
She became a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India in 2011 and also received the Stree Shakti Samman Science Award in 2010 and the Kalpana Chawla Woman Scientist Award of the Government of Karnataka in 2010.
Prof. Narasimhan was a member of two committees set up by Govt. of India – the National Task Force on Women in Science, and the Standing Committee on Women in Science, to advise the government on how it can promote the cause of women scientists.
She has been involved with the Quantum ESPRESSO group as well as ASESMA (the African School for Electronic Structure Methods and Applications) in teaching solid-state physics and Density Functional Theory in workshops in Asia and Africa. She is a member of the Executive Committee of ASESMA, and also a member of the Scientific Council of the ICTP-EAIFR (East African Institute of Fundamental Research) in Kigali, Rwanda.
Before joining JNCASR in 1996, Prof. Narasimhan completed her Master’s at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, in physics, and a PhD in physics at Harvard University under the supervision of Prof. David Vanderbilt. She worked as a postdoc at Brookhaven National Lab in New York, USA and then at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, Germany. She was also formerly the chair of the Theoretical Sciences Unit, as well as the Dean of Academic Affairs at JNCASR.
Newswise — Florida Atlantic University’s Cane Institute for Advanced Technologies at A.D. Henderson University School (ADHUS) and FAU High School is doing its part to help stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) by creating 3D printed personal protective equipment (PPE).
Over the last month, students ranging from ages 5 to 18, along with two faculty members, have worked tirelessly to create 3D printed face shields, intubation chambers and ear savers for several local hospitals in Palm Beach County. So far, they have produced more than 650 face shields, more than 500 ear savers and 36 intubation chambers and expect to collect another 350 face shields by the end of the week.
The intubation chambers are a unique form of PPE for hospitals. They provide an extra layer of protection for doctors and nurses when they are intubating patients who need to be put on respirators.
Allan Phipps, district science coordinator at ADHUS and FAU High School, was contacted by Giovana Jaen, a former FAU High student/current third year FAU Schmidt College of Medicine student, about doing this for a local hospital and he agreed without hesitation. He relocated the school’s 3D printing equipment to his personal garage and has been coordinating the Institute’s efforts, as well as manufacturing face shields and intubation chambers with his own children who attend ADHUS.
Phipps along with James Nance, middle school science teacher at ADHUS, host social distancing drive-throughs in front of the school where students can drop off 3D printed face shields and ear savers they created at home. Students are also able to check out 3D printers from the school and get their own personal 3D printers serviced. Local hospital representatives are able to pick up the PPE and ear savers at this location.
“I am so proud of our students for helping our community during this global pandemic,” said Phipps. “This has been a team effort from the start, and we are doing everything we can to support the medical professionals and our local hospitals during this crisis.”
The Cane Institute for Advanced Technologies serves as the school’s epicenter for research, education and technology transfer. It was established in 2018 after a $1 million gift from Daniel and Debra Cane. The Institute’s integrated approach allows students and faculty at all grade levels to explore today’s most complex challenges in areas such as cybersecurity, autonomous vehicles, robotics, virtual reality, augmented reality, automation and artificial intelligence.
FAU has been able to donate this lifesaving PPE as a result of public, private and industry support. For more information or to make a contribution, contact Mickey Zitzmann at mzitzmann@fau.edu.
When everywhere ‘Coronavirus’ outbreak is being associated only with the urban area populous, “Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation” has quietly launched an ambitious initiative against it in rural & tribal areas across India. As for networking and connectivity in such areas, “Ekal” (as it is popularly known) is in very unique position with its presence in over 103,000 such remote hamlets. As the shortage of Masks and Sanitizers became apparent in early March, Ekal tailoring training Ctrs banded together and started stitching face-masks and producing hand sanitizers for Ekal Volunteers, district health authorities and law enforcement personnel. It had been producing 10,000 masks and 1,000 liters of Hand-sanitizers or disinfecting solutions per day as of March-end and supplying them ‘free-of-cost’ to their authorities. Masks and Sanitizers are also being distributed free-of-cost to the poor families. It costs Ekal Rs. 20 each to make it and to distribute it.
According to Bajrang Lal Bagra, CEO of “Ekal Abhiyan” (umbrella organization of all Ekal satellite endeavors), beginning this month – April – Ekal is launching most ambitious plan to triple its ‘tailoring’ capacity in 28 centers to produce 1 Million cotton Masksby the end of April (2020). These 2-ply masks are being made to WHO’s stringent specifications and Ekal plans to keep on producing them as long as there is need. As part of empowerment and to reduce the dependency on ‘outside food’, Ekal-Villages, have actively started harvesting ‘Poshan Vatikas’ (Nutritional sustaining food items) for the people in their own vicinity on cooperative basis. Keeping up with the governmental directive, although all Ekal field activities were suspended on March 14, according to ‘Lalan Kumar Sharma’, Central co-coordinator of “Ekal Abhiyan”, the awareness campaign against deadly Virus is in motion with full throttle speed with the blessings of the local concerned authorities. Currently, ‘Arogya Sahayikas’ (Health Assistant) and Ekal teachers are, not only, emphasizing critical need for personal hygiene and clean environment in villages, but also, keeping a written tab on cases related to fever, cough and shortness of breath. Social-distancing and repeatedly washing hands with soap is being promoted as part of daily routine. Supporting the efforts of ‘Gram-Panchayats’ (village administrative admin), identifying and quantifying urban visitors or returning villagers from such areas is being diligently carried out. Harish Karat of ‘Ekal-Global’ says, “as a reminder for the precautionary habits that one must adopt to arrest the spread of ‘Coronavirus’, the walls in lot of village-dwellings are being painted with healthcare slogans”. What is interesting is that villagers have enthusiastically endorsed this campaign as one of the safeguards in the current crisis. Ekal volunteers residing in Indian urban areas are helping older, poor people during these clampdown days are providing food or sustenance items wherever possible. For example, in ‘Guwahati’ area in two days, ‘Vanbandhu Parishad’ (an allied Ekal organization) delivered food items to 650 families. Ekal-USA providing assistance to the needy in variety of ways – such as food, mask-making, grocery-items and medical help etc. Ekal volunteers in USA are assisting food-banks, soup-kitchen and delivery of groceries to the elderly. According to Suresh Iyer, President of Ekal-USA, “In the U.S., Ekal has partnered with other non-profit organizations, including ‘Sewa International’, in providing community service at this hour of immense need. It’s times such as these we are seeing the best of humanity and I am confident that we will get through this difficult time soon and come out feeling even stronger”. Though, all the annual fund-raising concerts have been cancelled currently for foreseeable future, ‘Ekal Vidyalaya’ is appealing its loyal Donors and well-wishers who have been consistently helping it to keep supporting its multiple endeavors (projects) in rural areas, including its ambitious initiative to fight ‘Coronavirus’. Kindly Donate at https://www.ekal.org/us/donate and be an active member of defense against the virus in the current crisis. Ekal serves the humanity irrespective of caste, creed, and religion
Akshay Venkatesh, 36, a renowned Indian-Australian mathematician, is one of four winners of mathematics’ prestigious Fields medal, known as the Nobel Prize for Math. The Fields medals are awarded every four years to the most promising mathematicians under the age of 40.
Venkatesh’s journey has been full of achievements and accolades since his early childhood. He moved to Perth, Australia, with his parents when he was two. He participated in physics and math Olympiads the premier international competitions for high school students and won medals in the two subjects at ages 11 and 12, respectively.
He finished high school when he was 13 and went to the University of Western Australia, graduating with first class honours in mathematics in 1997, at the age of 16. In 2002, he earned his PhD at the age of 20. Since then, he has gone from holding a post-doctoral position at MIT to becoming a Clay Research Fellow and, now a professor at Stanford University.
Venkatesh has worked at the highest level in number theory, arithmetic geometry, topology, automorphic forms and ergodic theory. His research has been recognized with many awards, including the Ostrowski Prize, the Infosys Prize, the Salem Prize and Sastra Ramanujan Prize. He is currently teaching at Stanford University. The Indian-origin mathematician is known as someone with broad expertise who has contributed to many areas of math.
The other three winners are: Caucher Birkar, a Cambridge University professor of Iranian Kurdish origin; Germany’s Peter Scholze, who teaches at the University of Bonn and Alessio Figalli, an Italian mathematician at ETH Zurich.
The prize was inaugurated in 1932 at the request of Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields, who ran the 1924 Mathematics Congress in Toronto. Each winner receives a 15,000 Canadian-dollar cash prize.
After a rigorous process, two exceptionally gifted Indian American children and one Indo-Canadian kid were handpicked from 15,000-plus nominees across 45 countries for the 2020 Global Child Prodigy Award.
Tiara Abraham of Sacramento, Calif.; Akash Vukoti of San Angelo, Texas; and Advait Kolarkar of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, were honored alongside 97 other talented kids on Jan. 3 at a gala event in New Delhi, which was attended by several senior parliamentarians, music stalwarts and luminaries from the political and economic world.
Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi was the chief guest at the event where Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi handed out the awards to 100 child prodigies from 18 countries.
The Global Child Prodigy Awards event is a platform to celebrate a child’s talent and power in different categories such as dancing, music, arts, writing, acting, modeling, science, innovation, sports, etc.
Only three percent of the child prodigies can take their talent to the next level and become successful in their domain, so Global Child Prodigy Awards strives to recognize those talents, support them and provide them the global exposure to help them excel in their respective fields.
Soprano prodigy Tiara Abraham, 13, was honored in the ‘singing’ category. Having won numerous national and international solo singing competitions, Abraham, who was recently also honored by the Vatican, released her debut CD when she was 10. The album has nine songs in six different languages.
In April 2019, she wowed a crowd of more than 25,000 when she sang the national anthem at a San Francisco Giants game. The young singer, who has been a college student since she was seven years old, and has completed 42 college semesters in foreign languages, music and dance, had earlier told India-West that when she was six, she started to sing “simple songs” like “Happy Birthday” or the American national anthem in a vibrato style.
Spelling prodigy Akash Vukoti was felicitated for his prowess in the ‘languages’ categories. In 2016, then six, Vukoti became the youngest competitor in the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition. He competed in the 2018 and 2019 editions of the competition as well.
According to his website, he can read and write three languages – English, Hindi and Telugu. He started reading and writing at a very early age and competed in his first spelling bee when he was just 2 years old. He became a member of Mensa at three and a Davidson Young Scholar at the age of 5 years.
In 2018, the ‘spellebrity’ became the youngest celebrity competitor on “Dancing with the Stars: Junior.” Vukoti has been featured on several shows such as “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Steve Harvey Show” and “Fox and Friends.” He has also appeared in many documentaries, including “Breaking the Bee.”
In the ‘arts’ category, five-year-old artistic prodigy Kolarkar, said a press release, has left the world stunned with his art. His abstract paintings have been displayed at exhibitions in Canada, the U.S. and India. In 2018, he became the youngest artist to exhibit at the ArtExpo fair in New York.
His fascination with art, according to his website, began when he was merely three months old. “He would keenly gaze at black objects—wardrobes and curtains — an observation that soon turned into demand,” his website says. Consequently, he took a fascination to art and would spend hours with his sister as she drew on paper.
Originally from Pune, Maharashtra, he now lives in Canada with his parents, software engineer Amit Kolarkar and commercial artist Shruti Kolarkar, and his elder sister Swara. Kolarkar, who began painting when he was eight, said the awards press release, has the talent that “far surpasses the professionals in his domain.
The awardees, who will get to meet eminent leaders, will also be part of other significant international events as speakers or influencers. The “100 Global Child Prodigies Award 2020” book, featuring its awardees, will be distributed to all the “top libraries” of the world. The award is supported by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam International Foundation, and Oscar-winning music director A.R. Rahman, among others.
Most of the 1.5 million homeless schoolchildren stayed with other families or friends after losing their homes. But 7% lived in abandoned buildings or cars, the report by the National Centre for Homeless Education showed.
It is often caused by job insecurity, unaffordable housing, domestic violence and recently the opioid crisis. Living without a fixed address seriously impacts children’s education and health.
Less than a third of homeless students were able to read adequately, and scored even lower in mathematics and science, the report showed.
The research measures the number of children in schools who report being homeless at some point during an academic year as as such does not show the total population of homeless young people in the US.
Why is student homelessness increasing?
Homelessness is a growing problem in the US, usually linked to the national housing crisis.
Millions of people spend more than half their income on housing, and many report they cannot afford to buy a house.
Increasing rents and a housing shortage has forced thousands of people in California to live in caravans or inadequate housing.
A changing economy, with factories closing down or the rise of the insecure gig economy, also leaves parents unable to pay rent.
The opioid crisis, in which almost 2 million people are addicted to prescription drugs, is also causing some families to break up or children to be removed from their homes.
Nearly seven in 10 said that family rejection was a major cause of becoming homeless, and abuse at home was another major reason.
Most homelessness experts say the solution lies in providing more housing at affordable rates, as well as providing support to families who may be affected by trauma or addiction.
“This tiny piece of plastic will transform our world forever, Mr. President” The idea George Gilder proposed as he handed Ronald Reagan one of the world’s first silicon microchips was an impossible one. At the time, most people said he was crazy. Computers didn’t even exist…
But today we know that George’s prediction came true- in explosive fashion. The microchip has gone on to generate trillions in profits and power the greatest economic explosion in the history of the human race. It was even voted by CNN to be the most important invention of all time, decades after his prediction!
But for George Gilder, the rise of the computing era was only one of many accurate predictions he made over his 53 year career. To the surprise of most, George has consistently seen the future.
It’s earned him nicknames like “The Technology Prophet”, “King George” and “The Greatest Stock Picker in The World” During the 80’s, Reagan quoted George more than any other person on the planet.
During the tech boom of the 90’s, Wall Street analysts lined up to get George’s next stock pick. And during the early 2000’s, he was the first to predict companies like Youtube and Netflix would radically transform the media landscape.
You see, George’s looks at the world through a different lens than most- and his predictions are rarely wrong. His ability to see 3 steps ahead of even the biggest thinkers has cemented his status as America’s #1 futurist.
It’s also established him as the advisor Silicon Valley and Wall Street heavyweights consult when they’re facing big problems. Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, said this about George’s predictions: “I listen very closely to what George has to say”
And Ari Emmanuel, arguably the most powerful man in Hollywood, praised George’s forward-thinking by saying: “The internet, mobile and streaming revolutions happened just as George predicted. Watching George’s predictions happen, living through them… I learned that the cycle of innovation doesn’t stop after TV. Surviving the next revolution means connecting the dots early.”
But 17 years ago, after a 3-decade long run, George mysteriously decided to hang up his hat. And since then, he has remained largely out of the game.
Happily resting at his New England estate on the millions in profits he made investing ahead of his predictions over the years. Until a few weeks ago, when George started to make some noise about a new prediction. A breakthrough that challenges everything we know about technology.
It’s been slowly building for 11 years, and now George believes the revolution has reached critical mass. It’s here. According to him this is “So big it will shake our economy to the core.” So to share his prediction before it is too late, George has taken action. The goal- help Americans everywhere prepare for what’s about to come.
To spread the word, he created a special breakdown of his shocking prediction. In this groundbreaking presentation, George explains the revolution he sees coming and shows Americans exactly how they can prepare.
This information may seem shocking, confusing, or simply unbelievable. But it’s not the first time George has predicted something like this…. And anyone familiar with George’s stellar track record would tell you this- it’s worth at least seeing for yourself what he has to say.
HarperCollins Publishers India will be publishing three new books by Amitav Ghosh, winner of the prestigious Jnanpith Award and one of the most acclaimed Indian writers. The first of these, ‘Jungle-nama’, to be published in is a verse adaptation of an episode from the epic of the Sundarbans, the legend of Bon Bibi. The second book is a new collection of essays, while the third one is a work of non-fiction based on his research for the Ibis Trilogy.
Ghosh said, “They will be out in 2020, 2021 and 2022. I am immensely passionate about these books and I hope that my readers will enjoy reading them as much as I have liked working on them.”
Udayan Mitra, Publisher–Literary at HarperCollins India, who acquired the books, added, “Amitav Ghosh is a truly exceptional writer; every new book from him is a publishing event and a delight for booklovers everywhere. It is a great privilege for us at HarperCollins India to be publishing his next three books which are going to make for fascinating reading.”
Amitav Ghosh’s work has been translated into more than thirty languages and he has been honoured across the world for his work.
In 2019, Foreign Policy magazine named him one of the most important global thinkers of the preceding decade.
The same year, the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honour, was conferred on him — making him the first English-language writer to receive the award.
Varshini Prakash—the executive director of the Sunrise Movement has been featured in TIME magazine’s Newt 100 Leaders List. Jay Inslee, Inslee, a Democrat, who is the governor of Washington, wrote in TIME about this young, dynamic and bold New Green Deal Leader, who is spearheading the Sunrise Movement: “Varshini Prakash—the executive director of the Sunrise Movement, which has fiercely advocated for proposals like the Green New Deal—is one of those visionary leaders who are fighting for their futures. I believe that 2019 will be remembered as a turning point for the climate: Varshini and other young leaders have permanently fixed climate change into the nation’s conscience as a moral imperative, an issue of economic justice and a way to create millions of jobs across America. Personally, I find the leadership of Varshini and the Sunrise Movement to be some of the greatest sources for hope in our fight against the climate crisis. The young people are leading this fight, and because of them, we will all win.”
Varshini Prakash was in sixth grade when the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hit Chennai, the city in India where her grandmother lived. She remembers how powerless she felt, watching the footage at home in Acton, Massachusetts. Not knowing what else to do, Prakash gathered cans of food to donate to the Red Cross.
In high school, Prakash was shocked to learn about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and other environmental problems, but aside from joining the recycling club and micromanaging how her friends recycled, she didn’t have an outlet for her anger. She made a pact with herself that college would be different.
At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Prakash became involved in the school’s fossil fuel divestment campaign and spoke publicly for the first time at a rally. “I just fell in love with organizing in a way that I had never imagined,” she says.
But the more Prakash engaged with the issue of climate change, the more frustrated she grew with politicians unwilling to address it. What, she wondered, would an effective political movement demanding a response to the climate crisis look like?
In 2016, she and 11 of her peers started meeting regularly to try to answer this question. For over a year, they studied the civil rights, anti-apartheid, and other movements, creating the blueprint for what would become the Sunrise Movement—a youth-led grassroots effort intent on stopping climate change and promoting a just economic system.
Last November, the group made headlines when it staged a sit-in outside Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s office and (then representative-elect) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez showed up.
Since then, Prakash and other Sunrise activists have held high-profile sit-ins and protests across the country to build support for the Green New Deal. They also work to get candidates for office to forgo fossil fuel donations and commit to making climate change a campaign priority.
“We do the big moments—like at Pelosi’s office—that kind of shift the center of gravity,” Prakash says. “And we use that momentum to build organizing on the ground that won’t peter out.”
This article appeared in the July/August 2019 edition of Sierra Club Magazine,with the headline “Blueprint for Change.”
“Will You Play With Me?” a children’s book by Dr. Chitra Dinakar, a thought leader in the field of food allergy, depicts a series of heartwarming scenarios to model empathy and inclusivity for young children exposed to individuals with disabilities.
In this captivating children’s book, characters subtly embrace each other’s differences and reframe ways to interact meaningfully and play together. The child engaging in the kind and caring action is rewarded by appreciation and fun.
Illustrations in the book are by Akshay Dinakar, who is a product designer who graduated from Stanford University. He is an entrepreneur focused on the intersection of engineering and personal wellness.
Loving children comes naturally to this physician of Indian origin. The opportunity to help care for the health and well-being of children, was compelling and irresistible, which inspired her to take up this noble Medical profession.
On graduating as the valedictorian from high-school, she was fortunate to be selected to join one of the premier medical institutions in India, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER).
Dr. Dinakar is a Clinical Professor at Stanford University and a nationally renowned pediatrician and allergist/immunologist. She believes it is vital to nurture young children, who are naturally accepting and impressionable, to be sensitive to the challenges of disability.
According to Dr. Dinakar, “I wrote this book mainly to spread awareness and encourage empathy, and to raise money for cancer and disabilities research and cure.”
“I have been working on this book with Akshay on this book for some months now. The idea came to me when I was paralyzed from the intrathecal methotrexate toxicity, in July 2019,” says Dr. Dinakar about the origins of the book. “However, I have been mostly in the hospital or infusion centers, and it was hard to make time and energy for this. But we are very excited, Amazon has published the book online.”
Dr. Suresh Reddy, President of AAPI, who led AAPI’s Expedition to Antarctica
Several years of meticulous planning, discussions, and organization, came to fruition as 190 delegates of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) Families and Friends from across the United States and India embarked on the Ocean Atlantic Ship operated by Albatros Expeditions on November 30th, 2019 from Ushuaia, the southernmost town on Earth in Argentina on a voyage to Antarctica, the seventh Continent, known as the Last Horizon on Earth.
The voyagers were welcomed on board by AAPI’s young and dynamic President, Dr. Suresh Reddy, who has been along with Dr. Vandana Agarwal, Chair of AAPI’ Cruise to Antarctica, working very hard, coordinating the efforts with Vinod Gupta from the Travel Agency, ATG Tours, the crew and leadership of the Cruise and the AAPI leaders and members with varied interests and ages ranging from 10 to 90, who had flown in from around the world for this once in a lifetime memorable and historic voyage to the White Continent.
The Ship carrying the sailors began its journey on November 30th, 2019 from the Ushuaia Sea Port with a prayer song to Lord Ganesh, chanted by Dr. Aarti Pandya from Atlanta, GA. Later in the evening, the voyagers sat down for a sit down dinner at the elegantly laid tables at the Restaurant with delicious Indian Cuisine, prepared by Herbert Baretto, a Chef from Goa, India, specially flown in to meet the diverse needs of the Indians who are now the exclusive Voyagers on Ocean Atlantic.
As the sun was still shining beyond midnight, members of the voyage were seen posing and taking pictures on board the ship with the background of the mighty ocean and the scenic mountains of Argentina at the background.
On December 1st morning, AAPI members were alerted to be mindful of the most turbulent Drake Passage, where the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean merge, through which our ship was now sailing with winds gusting through over 50 kms an hour from the south west. The rough with fast moving sea currents contributing to a turbulent weather, several voyagers took shelter in anti-nausea meds.
Throughout the day, there were special safety classes periodically, helping the voyagers on ways to navigate the zodiacs, the kayaks, the walks on the ice and snow once we reach our final destination. They were lectures on different aspects of wildlife on Antarctica, the species, especially the varieties of penguins, the mammals and the birds that inhabit the Continent. The participants were educated on the Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change and Impact, Whale Hunting, and many more relevant topics with scientific data by the Expedition Crew.
The evening was special for the voyagers as the Captain of the ship welcomed the delegates to the Ship and to the Expedition to Antarctica. He introduced his crew leaders to the loud applause from the delegates, as he toasted champagne for a safe and enjoyable journey to Antarctica.
On December 2nd morning, we woke up to milder weather and calmer ocean with the winds subsiding to about 20 kms an hour and ship sailing smoother with the temperatures below 7 degree Celsius. The crew on the ship described the sail to be the smoothest and the weather and wind conditions to be one of the calmest they have ever witnessed. However, the entire day was cloudy with the sun hiding behind the thick clouds upon the ocean.
After sailing across the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans and through the turbulent Drake Passage, and the South Ocean, finally, the day arrived for the Voyagers. The one they had been eagerly waiting for. On December 3rd, our ship, the Ocean Atlantic anchored on Danco Island, off the coast of the 7th Continent, Antarctica, officially discovered in 1820, although there is some controversy as to who sighted it first
The excitement of the voyagers had no bounds as they dressed up in their waterproof trousers, navy blue jackets, with hats and glosses and mufflers. They set out in groups marching off the Ship into the Zodiacs in tens in each Zodiac.
The wind and the ocean were calmer. The sun continued to hide behind the thick clouds. We headed off in Zodiacs to view icebergs, the glaciers, the land on a beach studded with penguins, as the Expedition Crew from the ship drove the AAPI delegates to the shore on the Danco Island, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, for the first time.
The glaciers, mighty mountains covered with pristine and shiny snow, the icebergs in multi-shapes and colors, floating on the Bay, made the Zodiac ride to the shore a memorable experience for each one.
As the voyagers walked to the shore on a narrow path on the soft snow surface, leading up to the snowcapped mountains, it was a dream come true for all. The fresh water melting from the glaciers and the ice and snow on the one side and on the other little rocks and mountains filled with snow, the Danco Island was picture perfect.
Penguins in small colonies of their own seemed unaffected by the voyagers landing onto the Penguin land. Hearing their unique and enchanting voices for the first time, as most of them sat steady, while a few walked from one end to the other, it was a scene everyone long dreamt to be part of, as it was another memorable experience in the life of everyone.
Penguin behavior is endlessly fascinating. We learnt that, in the Antarctic spring, hundreds of gentoo penguins as paraded before us, reestablishing their bonds, mating, staking their claims, and thievishly stealing stones from one another for their nests.
In the afternoon, after lunch and a lecture on the history of Antarctica, the Ocean Atlantic ship, travelling about 25 nautical miles, for the first time ever, landed on the Antarctic Continent as she reached the shores of Paradise Bay, a beautiful island, where the famous Brown Center, the Argentinian Research Station was located.
Trekking up the Hill on the snow and ice filled terrains, even as the serene and picturesque glaciers in vivid shapes and texture, it was mesmerizing and the Bay on either side, was breathtaking.
The following morning, the voyagers got onto the Zodiacs and sailed to Port Lockroy, a sheltered harbor with a secure anchorage on the Antarctic Peninsula since its discovery in 1904. The Port also is home to a Museum and a British Post Office, where the early visitors to the Continent lived and explored the wildlife of the last Horizon. The Museum has preserved the antiques used by the early voyagers, who are an important part in the history of Antarctica.
Bright sun light flashing on the Lamoy Point on our way south towards the northern peninsula of the White Continent greeted us all this morning on December 5th. The announcement over the microphone at 6.15 woke us all up, letting us know of the mild weather conditions with 7 degrees Celsius and 27 km s wind speed with bright sunny day was a welcome change from yesterday.
The wind made the waters of the Bay mildly rough as we set out from the ship. For the first time during the voyage, to the much delight of the AAPI delegates, the sun chose to come out from behind the clouds and shone brightly on the voyagers, making the snow shining and glowing with the rays of the sun filling the surface of the earth. It was delightful to see the Penguins close to the AAPI delegates, some of them walking beside them crossing their pathway.
Upon landing on the shore across from the tallest mountain on the Peninsula, Mount Frances with the height of 2,300 meters high, our zodiacs elegantly cruised through the calmer waters to the mountain range called the Princes and the Seven Dwarfs. We were fortunate to find penguins resting on ice floes, and sometimes had the opportunity to approach closely in Zodiacs for excellent photo ops.
The stunning views of the glaciers and the mountains, and the soft and shiny snow spread across the shore, led us all to the snowy hills, as we trekked to the top.
The opportunity of a lifetime for bird lovers, as we watched the blue eyed Antarctic terns, beautiful black-browed albatross, and other pelagic birds, including fulmars and petrels, nesting, resting, flying above us and trying to reach the bright blue skies. The wandering albatross, with the largest wingspan of any bird, is one of the many wildlife spectacles South Georgia affords.
We found ourselves at the top of the spectacular colony of penguins, and black-browed albatross. Brown Skuas flew over the colony while penguins, albatross, and shags took care of their eggs. We spend a good bit of time photographing the birds and generally taking in such wonderful experience and close views of the wildlife.
Colonies of penguins greeted us with their enchanting voices. We watched in awe as some of the tiny penguins walking up, from the bottom of the hill to the top, flapping their feathers occasionally.
Many of us waited patiently to have an opportunity to view the eggs upon which the Penguins were sitting to hatch their eggs. Some were lucky to photograph a few couples mating while we were trying to figure out the male from female.
Leaving the breath taking landscapes was not an easy choice as we were soon called to embark on the zodiac cruises and return to Ocean Atlantic, our ship, as she was patiently waiting to take us to the next destination of our expedition to the Last Horizon.
After a lunch Barbeque on Deck Seven of the Ship, the Ocean Atlantic took us through the beautiful Lemaire Channel on the Continent. Braving the cold and gusty winds, the voyagers got together for a group picture of the entire voyager group on Deck Eight of the ship, as they were awed by the beautiful glaciers, the mighty snow-caped mountains, and the floating ice bergs.
After journeying about five hours, we reached in the evening at the Melchiors Island, as the bright sun continued to shine upon us. During lunch and on way to the Island, the voyagers were thrilled to spot whales showing up their heads periodically.
The journey through the Bay was another memorable experience with the stunning landscape all along the route especially as the sun continued shine brightly on the snow peaked mountains turning the waters closer to the glaciers from blue to green. We had over an hour of Zodiac cruise exploring the sea life on the Antarctic’s South Ocean.
We climbed up to the top deck of the ship to have yet another amazing experience as the Ocean Atlantic Ship sailed through the Bay filled with Ice Sheet Rocks that are nearly a meter thick, slowly and steadily, slicing the Snow Ice, marching forward towards the Plenau Bay.
It was here at Plenau Bay, 39 brave AAPI members had the unique experience of taking “Polar Plunge” in the Atlantic Continent, which was 0.7 degree Celsius, while the rest of the AAPI delegates watched the brave men and women, taking a memorable dip and swim back to the ship, in the freezing cold waters of the White Continent.
We woke up this morning on Friday December 6th to a bright and sunny day, calmer ocean with 9 kms of wind speed. A picture perfect day for expedition. We went on zodiacs, cruising through the blue waters of the Half Moon Island, a cluster of snowy mountains shaped as a half moon.
Searching for wild life in the ocean with the voyagers looking out eagerly for any seals or whales did not seem to result in success as the sea animals and those on the shore seemed to hide in their resting places. Members of a Zodiac cruise reported of spotting a Leopard Seal swimming not too far from the Zodiac.
Finally, the zodiac captains took us to the shore where for the first time we landed on dark stony surface full of rocks, stones and pebbles. Our expedition crew leader reported that the shore was completely covered with ice and snow in the beginning of the season, barely a month ago.
At the backdrop of the glaciers and the imposing mighty mountains around us, we hiked up the hill intruding sometimes into the Penguin Highways, where we saw colonies of penguins resting under the bright sun. It was delightful to watch a few hopping on tiny rocks from one to another, unnerved by the visitors from the Other Continents on earth.
For the first time we were delighted to watch different kinds of Penguins, Gentoo, Adelie, Chinstraps, in the thousands sitting on a single rock glazing at the ocean waters. The photo ops for the voyagers were simply incredible. And while penguins are delightful in films and nature documentaries, watching the penguin life being lived around you is simultaneously uplifting and humbling.
We spotted a few huge Weddell and Crabeater seals, as well as Antarctic fur seals, whose populations have rebounded since the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and the 1972 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals. They were resting on the rocks unmoved by the voyagers in several zodiacs watching them in awe. The bright sun and the gentle breeze embracing the voyagers, it was a perfect day to cruise and explore the White Continent.
In the afternoon while back on the ship, we were invited to climb up to the Decks 8 and 9 of the ship to view the entrance/passage to the famous Deception Island. And the ship sailed through this narrow path into the Island with majestic dark mountains on our right side, while on the left were the snowcapped mountains overlooking the Bay. As the gusty winds made us shiver, the voyagers standing on the top deck of the South Ocean, posed for pictures. We were lost in the stunning beauty created by the Mother Nature, for all of us to enjoy and cherish forever.
The final landing on the Last Horizon on Friday December 6th afternoon was at the Deception Island for the AAPI Voyagers. An unusually bright shining sky with gentle winds welcomed us to the shore of the black soft sand with little stones spread all along the 36 kms wide island.
The volcanic eruption here over 50 years ago, which reportedly continues to be active event today, has turned the island and the mountains into dark colored. Saw a huge seal on the shore resting with birds and few penguins of the Continent enjoying the mild weather, the voyagers trekked up the hill on the dark sand while the panoramic and breathtaking views on the snowy mountains beyond the Bay hovering over the blue waters of the Last Horizon.
On the Ship, immediately after settling down in each one’s cabin, the voyagers were invited to learn about safety on the ship and participated in a safety drill. Shelli Ogilvy, the Veteran Expedition Leader introduced the 22 Expedition Members with extensive maritime experiences from around the world, and over 60 other crew members to the voyagers.
Nine hours of Continuing Medical Educations (CMEs) were a major highlight of the Cruise to Antarctica. Led and organized by Dr. Krishan Kumar the informative and interactive sessions by experts was much appreciated by the voyagers. AAPI provided a hands on CPR Training on board to the crew of the ship, Ocean Atlantic, educating them on ways to help passengers in case of emergencies.
Each evening at cocktail hour the entire expedition community gathers in the lounge for a ritual, we call Recap. As you enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, various naturalists gave talks, showed videos, and our expedition leader would outline the following day’s schedule.
The evenings were fun filled with members spending time together with their select friends and families, singing, playing cards games, discussing politics to medicine to healthcare and sharing jokes and snippets with one another in smaller groups. The cultural events included live music sung by Dr. Radhika from Chicago, Dr. Aarti Pandya, Dr. Dharmija, and Dr. Madnani, in addition to several local talents of AAPI’s own, leading and vying to win the Anthakshri contest.
On December 7th evening, the voyagers had Black Tie Nite with many of them learning and playing Pokers until the early hours of the morning. As the ship began its return journey back to the shores, Dr. Aarti Pandya led the voyagers in a prayer song dedicated to Lord Hanuman, God of the Winds for a safe and smooth sailing.
After toasting Champagne with the Captain of the ship, the finale on December 8th was a colorful Indian Dress Segment, where the adorable AAPI women and men walked the aisle in elegantly dressed in Indian ethnic wear depicting different states of India.
Earlier, the AAPI delegates had toured the beautiful and serene National Park in Ushuaia, on the world famous Route 3 that runs from Alaska to the southern tip of the world in Argentina. At the Park, Dr. Reddy led the AAPI delegates carrying the AAPI banner, spreading the message of Obesity Awareness, which is a major objective of Dr. Reddy’s Presidency, taking the message of Obesity Awareness Around the World.
Dr. Suresh Reddy thanked Dr. Vandana Agarwal Chair of the AAPI Cruise Committee, Dr. Ravi Kolli, Secretary of AAPI, Dr. Ranga Redy and Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, both past President of AAPI, Dr. Krishan Kumar, and several Regional Chapter Presidents for their hard work and dedication for making the Expedition memorable for all.
Memories of relaxing and rejuvenating morning walk across the island with breath taking views in abundance of Mother Nature, will last a life time for everyone who has been part of the historic expedition to the Seventh Continent. For more details on AAPI and its next voyage to Antarctica in January 2020, please visit; www.aapiusa.org
Ajay Ghosh, who was part of the AAPI Family and Friends Expedition 2019 to Antarctica
Dr. Sampat Shivangi, a physician, an influential Indian-American community leader, Chair of Mississippi State Board of Mental Health, and a veteran leader of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) has been honored as an Outstanding Alumni of Kasturba Medical College at the University of Manipal in India on Saturday, November 16th, 2019.
Considered a rare honor, Dr. Shivangi was honored by the First Lady Mrs. Vasanti Pai, the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor Dr. Subash Ballal, Pro Chancellors, the Dean and faculty in the traditional way of Karnataka. “I am fortunate that I got chance to study Medicine in this prestigious medical school several decades ago,”
Dr. Sampat Shivangi, who was recently appointed by the US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M Azar to serve on the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services National Advisory Council, said. “I have no words to express my words of appreciation and gratitude for this honor. Wish and pray my Alma mater will continue to flourish and spread the knowledge in every field.”
“I always had connectivity to my Alma Mater and kept up with my professors and the pioneers in establishing this Medical College and many other institutions. Since I had the close affinity with my Alma-mater, I took keen interest in establishing and being the president of Kasturba Medical College Alumni which is one of the largest alumni associations in US, UK and many other countries and had kept up communication with these Associations. Kasturba Medical college, I was honored as an outstanding Alumni of Kasturba Medical college, which is a great honor and that I am much grateful to the Academy.”
Dr. Shivangi praised the PAI family of MANIPAL who have transformed a small village into a metropolis attracting thousands of students from across the world. “I had the privilege to work with the Chancellor Dr. Ramdas Pai, a visionary who single handedly transformed this into mega University,” he pointed out.
“Recognizing my zeal to bring fresh ideas to give our college and university an international status, I was honored with my appointment as a member of the Board of Trustee of the Manipal Academy. It is a prestigious appointment first time ever to a past student,” Dr. Shivangi said.
In 2018, Dr. Shivangi was felicitated by the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Mrs.Vasanti Pai (wife of Chancellor Dr. Ramdas Pai). And, he was invited as a speaker at Kasturba Medical college in Mangalore at the graduation ceremony.
In the field of Medicine, Manipal University is internationally recognized as one of the premier academic institutions in Asia, and is a premier institutions close on the heels of All India institute of Medical Sciences. Kasturba Medical College is in existence for close to 65 years and expanded in to many states in India and to Malaysia and ANTIGUA.
Besides being the founding president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian origin in Mississippi, he was also the past president and chair of the India Association of Mississippi and was Advisor to US Department of Health & Human Services at NHSC Washington, DC 2005-2008 during President Bush Administration.
A close friend to the Bush family, he was instrumental in lobbying for first Diwali celebration in the White House and for President George W. Bush to make his trip to India. He had accompanied President Bill Clinton during his historic visit to India.
Dr. Shivangi has held high offices in USA including as a member of the Mississippi state Board of Health by Governor Haley Barbour, and as a Chair of the State Board of Mental Health by the Governor Phil Bryant, a strong supporter of President Trump.
A conservative life-long member of the Republican Party, Dr. Shivangi is the founding member of the Republican Indian Council and the Republican Indian National Council, which aim to work to help and assist in promoting President Elect Trump’s agenda and support his advocacy in the coming months.
Dr. Shivangi is the National President of Indian American Forum for Political Education, one of the oldest Indian American Associations. Over the past three decades, he has lobbied for several Bills in the US Congress on behalf of India through his enormous contacts with US Senators and Congressmen.
Dr. Shivangi is a champion of women’s health and mental health whose work has been recognized nationwide. Dr. Shivangi has worked enthusiastically in promoting India Civil Nuclear Treaty and recently the US India Defense Treaty that was passed in US Congress and signed by President Obama.
Dr. Sampat Shivangi, an obstetrician/gynecologist, has been elected by a US state Republican Party as a full delegate to the National Convention. He is one of the top fund-raisers in Mississippi state for the Republican Party. Besides being a politician by choice, the medical practitioner is also the first Indian to be on the American Medical Association.
Dr. Shivangi has actively involved in several philanthropic activities, serving with Blind foundation of MS, Diabetic, Cancer and Heart Associations of America. Dr. Shivangi has been carrying on several philanthropic works in India including Primary & Middle Schools, Cultural Center, IMA Centers that he opened and helped to obtain the first ever US Congressional grant to AAPI to study Diabetes Mellitus amongst Indian Americans.
Dr. Shivangi has been at the forefront of the powerful American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin and has served as the Secretary and Vice President of the Association, besides representing it at the American Medical Association.
A member of the Executive Advisory Board of the Washington, DC, – based conservative think tank, International Leaders Summit, Joel Anand Samy, who co-founded the International Leaders Summit along with Srdoc, welcomed Shivangi to the group’s Board.
“Dr. Shivangi’s commitment to advancing America’s first principles, his distinguished career as a physician, and a leader at the state and national levels has made a profound difference in the lives of many,” Joel Anand Samy said. “We look forward to working with Dr. Shivangi in his new capacity as an Executive Advisory Board Member of ILS in advancing principled policies in America and strengthening the US-India ties on the healthcare, economic and security fronts.”
Dr. Shivangi, from Ridgeland, Mississippi, is one of the most plugged in and savvy Indian Americans in the South, who has cultivated strong bonds with governors, senators and members of the House and been a fixture at GOP conventions.
Dr.Sampat Shivangi was awarded a highest civilian honor, Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas Sanman award for the year 2016 in Blengaluru, by the Hon. President of India, Shri Pranab Mukhejee. He was awarded with the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor in New York in 2008. He is married to Dr. Udaya S.Shivangi, MD, and his children are: Priya S.Shivangi, MS (NYU); Pooja S. Shivangi who is an Attorney at Law.
November 9, 2019 will remain as the historic day in the annals of “Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (EVF)”. On this day, in star-studded, glamour filled “Future of India” Gala in New York City, Ekal reached 100,000 school milestones within minutes of its beginning. Going into the ‘Gala’, Ekal had 99,200 schools and so the evening was full of anticipated excitement to ring the bell for magical 100,000-school landmark.
As soon as ‘Mohan Wanchoo’, took the reins of the evening as the chairperson of the gala, he took everyone by surprise with his trailblazing announcement. He pledged $1 Million over the period of 5 years patching, with immediate effect, shortfall amount for 800-schools to reach the magical figure of 100,000-schools. These additional schools will be established shortly and will benefit 25,000 children bringing annual literacy total to 2.7 Million children.
Mohan Wanchoo’s pronouncement was not only celebrated with thunderous applause and sparkling ‘fireworks’, but it also set in motion exuberant outpour of generosity, for the rest of the evening. By the end of the evening $3.1Million were raised. This was in addition to Los Angeles Gala were $2 Million were raised.
This year, NYC magnificent Gala was hosted at lavishly decorated majestic ‘Gotham Hall’ and was attended by the elite of the society and Ekal’s dedicated supporters. Although rooted in literacy, Ekal has blossomed into empowerment of rural-tribal folks across India. The evening’s keynote speaker and star-attraction was Bollywood celebrity and philanthropist ‘Vivek Oberoi’.
In addition, distinguished speakers included ‘Raju Reddy’, a successful entrepreneur whose company was acquired by Hitachi, and ‘Ragy Thomas’, leading social-media management & marketing enterprise. ‘Ranjani Saigal’, the Executive Director of Ekal, traced 32-year history of the Ekal, including its transition into a nation building movement. Vivek Oberoi completely stole the show with his pledge to put all his entrepreneur might behind rural issues and spearhead small-scale solar power solutions for energy requirements of villages. He said,” I have already received a commitment of over half a million dollars for such initiative”.
At the conclusion of his captivating speech, he applauded Ekal getting Iconic “Gandhi Peace Prize” from the government of India for its social work in rural-tribal areas with gender equality. This award, which is given to only one organization each year was recently bestowed on ‘Ekal Abhiyan’ by Hon PM Modi and President Ram Kovind. For the benefit of people assembled, the ‘Peace Prize’ itself was ushered on the stage by a select group of people and presented to the gathering by Prakash Waghmare, a member of PR national committee and Suresh Iyer, President of Ekal-USA.
There was a brief panel discussion also moderated by ‘Amrita Saigal’, a young entrepreneur to highlight various aspects of Ekal that appeal to the Donors. Ragy Thomas pledged strong support to education and pledged $100,000 to accelerate its pace. Raju Reddy, partnering with Ekal expressed desire to bring transformation to rural Telangana. ‘Sarva Mangal Family Trust’ and ‘Keshap Group’ confirmed to match technological intervention in education in ‘digital-tablets’ format. A momentous turn occurred when 13-yr ‘Riya’ donated $1000 from a fund-raiser she had at her home.
Vivek Oberoi was so touched by this that he appealed to the gathering to match her cute gesture and the gathering responded by additional $30,000. Several dignitaries were honored, including India Consul General of New York, Sandeep Chakravorty and New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. Ekal also recognized several supporters for their distinctive projects. Among them were Dr Kavita Navani of ‘Sankalp’ for aiding 625 Ekal schools; Himanshu Shah of ‘Shah Capital’ for supporting ‘Gramothan Resource Ctr’; Adish & Asha Jain and Vandana & Vivek Sharma for corroborating in integral village development; Subra & Anu Dravida for promoting digital literacy through ‘Ekal-on-Wheel’ project.
‘Perfection of Man Foundation’ made significant announcement at the end of the evening to support planting of 1 Million trees in Ekal villages. Pradeep Goyal, Chairman of ‘Ekal Abhiyan Trust’ and S.K. Jindal, a Trustee had specially had flown from India to grace this occasion and to boost the morale of everyone to make gala a grand success.
No gala is complete without the musical treat and this was no exception. To preserve the upbeat nature of the Gala’s success, Bollywood singer Shibani Kashyap kept the crowd sizzling with her singing and enticed them to dance to her tunes. Unlike most of such events, the remarkable thing about this event was the participation of young professional in large number. This is an indication that Ekal’s future is on rock-solid foundation.
Prof. Kuzhikkalail M. Abraham, a pioneer in the development of rechargeable lithium and lithium ion batteries, was honored with the Academic Excellence Award at New England Choice Award gala at Westin Hotel in Waltham, MA on Nov. 15, 2019.
Berklee College of Music President Roger Brown, who has promoted Indian music and encouraged Indian musicians through scholarships, was among the other seven Indian American achievers from a variety of fields and a non-profit organization who were awarded the prestigious New England Choice Awards 2019.
About 400 entrepreneurs, corporate executives, philanthropists, educators and community leaders attended the New England Choice Awards gala. INE received over 350 nominations for these awards. A jury of 12 individuals selected the final winners. Click here to meet the 2019 judging committee.
The work Prof. Kuzhikkalail M. Abraham and his research team carried out in late 1970s and early 1980s contributed to the demonstration of one of the first practical rechargeable lithium battery and helped transform Li-ion batteries from a laboratory curiosity to a technology indispensable for everyday life today.
He is also inventor of the ultrahigh energy density non-aqueous lithium-air battery which is under development in many laboratories around the world and has been subject of thousands of journal publications and many symposia in lithium battery meetings world-wide.
“When I started my career forty three years ago, rechargeable lithium battery was a mere laboratory curiosity,” Prof. Abraham said. “Fast forward four decades, they have become household items which we cannot live without as they power all the mobile devices essential for everyday life. I have the extreme satisfaction that I have been able to contribute to the practical realization of this very important technology. I also have the satisfaction of training and educating young colleagues and students in the lithium battery field, and they are now carrying on the work and contributing to the future growth of this important technical field.”
Recalling his past, Dr. Abraham said, he grew up in a modest middle class family in a village in Kerala as the oldest of nine children. College education was not something most young people in that part of the country thought about. “Two close family members inspired me in different ways to become successful. My maternal grandfather with whom I spent a lot of my early life encouraged me to study hard and achieve the highest education I could. Another person who was very important in my early life was my uncle (father’s younger brother) who provided financial assistance for me to attend college. I am pleased that I have been largely able to live up to their expectations.”
The simple principles he uses in his everyday life, Dr. Abraham said, “Firstly, whatever work I am involved with, try to do the best job I can. Secondly, success is not measured by the number of tasks a person starts, but by the number of tasks the person completes. These principles have allowed me to sustain a relatively long work life with enjoyment and with technical and financial success.”
The important thing is to recognize the mistake and figure out what has occurred, Dr. Abraham said. “This happened to me in an experiment my colleague and I were conducting. We recognized that the unexpected results were due to an error in the experimental procedure, but characterizing what had happened led to the invention of the Lithium-air battery, the highest energy density battery presently known.”
“New England Choice Awards has become one of the important platforms to showcase the rewarding work done by Indian Americans in New England and those who contribute to enrichment of our community. It is great to see the bar get raised every year,” INE MultiMedia, a non-profit organization, that organized the event, said
Abhijit Banerjee, an innovative MIT economist, along with his wife Esther Duflo, whose antipoverty research has given new prominence to the use of field experiments in social science, have been named co-winners of the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, along with Harvard University economist Michael Kremer.
Banerjee received his undergraduate degree from the University of Calcutta, and a master’s degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He earned his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 1988. He spent four years on the faculty at Princeton University, and one year at Harvard, before joining the MIT faculty in 1993.
Among other honors and awards, Banerjee was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004, and was granted the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for Development Cooperation in 2009.
The work of Duflo and Banerjee has emphasized the use of field experiments in research, to bring the principles of laboratory-style randomized, controlled trials to empirical economics. They have studied a wide range of topics implicated in global poverty, including health care provision, education, agriculture, and gender attitudes, while developing new antipoverty programs based on their research.
In 2003, Duflo and Banerjee (along with Sendhil Mullainathan, now of the University of Chicago) co-founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a global network of antipoverty researchers that conducts field experiments. J-PAL works to both discern which kinds of local interventions have the greatest impact on social problems, and to implement those programs more broadly, in cooperation with governments and NGOs. Among J-PAL’s notable interventions are deworming programs that have been adopted widely.
Duflo is the second woman and the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel in economic sciences. Duflo received her undergraduate degree from the École Normale Supérieure in Paris in 1994, after studying both history and economics. She earned a master’s degree in economics the next year, jointly through the École Normale Supérieure and the École Polytechnique. Duflo then earned her PhD in economics from MIT in 1999. She joined the MIT faculty the same year, and has remained at MIT her entire career. She is currently the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics.
Previously, Duflo has earned a series of awards and honors, including a MacArthur Foundation fellowship (2009), the John Bates Clark Medal from the American Economic Association (2010), and, also in 2009, the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for Development Cooperation.
Duflo and Banerjee have published dozens of research papers, together and with other co-authors. They have also co-written two books toghether, “Poor Economics” (2011) and the forthcoming “Good Economics for Hard Times” (2019).
Duflo and Banerjee are the sixth and seventh people to win the award while serving as MIT faculty members, following Paul Samuelson (1970), Franco Modigliani (1985), Robert Solow (1987), Peter Diamond (2010), and Bengt Holmstrom (2016).
Three Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and two academic institutions in India were signed as part of a seven-day, six-city trade mission led by Governor Phil Murphy to strengthen economic ties and promote business investments in New Jersey.
Two MOUs were signed with the Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women’s University (SNDT) and one with the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN).
Rutgers and SNDT will collaborate on scientific research in agricultural, nutrition and food technology innovation and pursue the development of an AgriFood accelerator and incubator programs. The agreement with IITGN will promote student and faculty exchanges between the institutions and collaborative research projects, workshops or conferences, according to a press release.
“Rutgers understands the value of international partnerships in fostering academic and research opportunities in today’s interconnected world,” said S. David Kimball, Senior Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Rutgers University. “We look forward to these alliances with SNDT and IITGN and promoting the advancement of academic, research and educational exchanges that will open new doors for faculty and students at all three institutions.”
IITGN also signed academic exchanges with three other New Jersey universities: Rowan University, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), and New Jersey City University (NJCU).
“Globalization is one of the core pillars of IIT Gandhinagar’s educational philosophy. We are excited about partnering with some of New Jersey’s leading public universities to create new opportunities for students and faculty of all our institutions for academic and research collaborations,” said IITGN Director Sudhir Jain.
Pavita Howe, director of the Office of Research and Economic Development’s TechAdvance Fund, represented Rutgers University on the economic mission trip to India as part of the New Jersey delegation that joined Governor Murphy.
“India is a major source of cutting-edge research as well as entrepreneurial creativity, and this business mission was an important first step in developing new relationships that will result in valuable research collaborations and business opportunities,” added Howe.
New Jersey has one of the fastest growing Indian population with nearly 300,000 Indians living in the state according to the Census. The delegation’s mission was to highlight the state’s innovation ecosystem with one of New Jersey’s largest trade and investment partners, cultivate international investment opportunities in the Garden State, and deepen cultural and educational ties between New Jersey and India.
The New Jersey delegation included First Lady Tammy Murphy, Choose New Jersey President and CEO Jose Lozano, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) CEO Tim Sullivan, and other senior administration, Choose New Jersey officials and representatives from NJIT, Rowan, Princeton University, and New Jersey City University.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a leading national research university and the state of New Jersey’s preeminent, comprehensive public institution of higher education. Established in 1766, the university is the eighth oldest higher education institution in the United States. More than 70,000 students and 23,400 full- and part-time faculty and staff learn, work, and serve the public at Rutgers locations across New Jersey and around the world.
(October 8, 2019 – Dallas, TX) Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed Dallas-based, textiles entrepreneur Arun Agarwal to the Medical Board last week. The board’s mission is to protect and enhance the public’s health, safety and welfare by establishing and maintaining standards of excellence used in regulating the practice of medicine and ensuring quality health care for the citizens of Texas through licensure, discipline and education. Agarwal is one of six Texans to receive this appointment; the others are Devinder S. Bhaita, M.D., Vanessa Hicks-Callaway, Satish Nayak, M.D., Jason Tibbels, M.D. and reappointed Robert David
Martinez, M.D. “I am honored and humbled to serve on the Texas Medical Board for the next five years,” said Agarwal. “Texans deserve the best standards in health care, and it will be our duty to regulate the practice of medicine in the state. It will be one of the highlights of my professional career.”
Arun Agarwal of Dallas is Chief Executive Officer of Nextt and has business interests in textiles, cotton trading and real estate. He is on the board of the US India Friendship Council, Big Brother Big Sisters, Texas Public Policy Foundation Education Committee, and the US Global Leadership Coalition. In addition, he volunteers with the Living Dreams Foundation. Agarwal received a Master’s in Business Administration from IMT, Ghaziabad, a Master’s in Computer Information Systems from Southern New Hampshire University and International Business from Harvard University.
Tens of thousands of Americans apply to U.S. medical schools each year. Only a fraction gain admission. The University of Arizona, for instance, posted a 1.9 percent acceptance rate in 2018. UCLA, Florida State University, and Wake Forest accepted fewer than 3 percent of applicants.
Many U.S. medical schools are proud of their microscopic admission rates. But they have negative ramifications for the nation’s healthcare system.
The United States will need up to 121,900 more physicians by 2032 to care for its aging population. U.S. medical schools aren’t producing enough graduates to meet that demand — and don’t have the capacity to expand anywhere close to that degree.
International medical schools are America’s best hope for addressing its physician workforce needs. They’re a crucial alternative for the thousands of qualified students who find themselves on the wrong end of a med school admissions decision as a result of the mismatch between qualified applicants and available seats.
Applying to med school has become a numbers game. In the 2018-2019 cycle, U.S. medical schools received over 850,000 applications from nearly 53,000 students. The average student applies to 16 schools.
Many students who would make terrific doctors fall through the cracks. In a recent interview with U.S. News and World Report, Dr. Robert Hasty, the founding dean and chief academic offer of the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, said, “We hear from high-quality applicants every day . . . and these are people with really high MCAT scores and GPAs, that this is their second year, third year or even fourth year applying to medical schools. And years ago, they would have gotten accepted the first time through, but the demand is just incredible.”
In other words, the status quo is failing thousands of qualified applicants — and the U.S. healthcare system, which needs more doctors.
U.S. medical schools don’t appear capable of growing to address this problem. Enrollment is up only 7 percent over the past five years. That kind of modest growth won’t get us anywhere close to narrowing our nation’s projected shortage of physicians.
International medical schools can address these issues, providing opportunity to talented students and supplying the physicians America needs.
Many international schools provide an education every bit as good as those offered by U.S. schools. For example, 96 percent of first-time test takers from St. George’s University in Grenada — the school I lead — passed Step 1 of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam in 2018. That’s the same rate as graduates of U.S. medical schools.
Research confirms that international schools produce high-caliber doctors. According to one study published by the BMJ, a leading medical journal, patients treated by doctors trained overseas had lower mortality rates than those treated by U.S.-educated doctors.
Internationally trained doctors also practice where the U.S. healthcare system needs them most. In areas where per-capita income is below $15,000 annually, more than four in ten doctors received their degrees abroad.
Americans are increasingly turning to international schools. More than 60 percent of licensed medical graduates of international schools in the Caribbean are U.S. citizens. Three-quarters of the medical students at St. George’s are U.S. citizens.
The odds of gaining admission to U.S. medical schools are growing longer. But bright young Americans don’t have to give up their dreams of becoming doctors. They can turn to top-notch international medical schools. Their future patients will surely thank them.
(Dr. Richard Liebowitz is vice chancellor of St. George’s University (www.sgu.edu). He previously served as president of New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.)
The first round in the lawsuit against Harvard University’s admissions program yielded a decisive victory for the status quo on affirmative action in higher education, with a federal judge ratifying how one of the world’s most prestigious schools uses race and ethnicity to choose a class and rejecting claims of discrimination against Asian Americans.
But the plaintiff, Students for Fair Admissions, which lost on all counts in the judge’s ruling this week, pledged an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. Eventually, the case could reach the Supreme Court. That would provide opponents of affirmative action another potential opening to overturn decades of precedent from the high court allowing race-conscious admissions, in a limited way, without racial quotas.
Most observers read Tuesday’s decision from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston as an endorsement of an admissions system used at many selective colleges. That system, known as “holistic review,” takes race into account as one among many factors in a prospective student’s background.
“It appears to be a slam dunk for Harvard,” Peter McDonough, vice president and general counsel for the American Council on Education, said after the ruling. “It is close to a slam dunk for colleges and universities across the country.” The council, a prominent advocate for higher education, had joined with other groups in a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Harvard model.
McDonough acknowledged that a potential Supreme Court showdown looms. “But for today the story line is the unambiguous nature of the judge’s ruling,” he said. “The judge has taken 130 pages to forcefully say ‘Harvard wins.’ ”
Critics of race-conscious admissions lamented the ruling. They accused Burroughs of shrugging off questions the suit raised about why Asian American applicants tended to receive lower ratings from Harvard admission officers for their personal qualities.
“Today marks a dark day for millions of Asian American children nationwide,” Yukong Zhao, president of the Asian American Coalition for Education, said in a statement. “Our nation has witnessed another immoral attempt by America’s ruling class to continue their institutionalized discrimination against Asian American children and treat them as second-class citizens with regard to educational opportunities.”
Another group applauded the decision as a “critical victory” for Asian American students. “While we must do more to ensure that Asian American students do not face unequal opportunities through harassment, stereotyping and language barriers,” said Aarti Kohli, executive director of Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, “the use of race-conscious admissions policies – which safeguard against discrimination – is an important step.”
Roger Clegg, general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity, which opposes what he described as racial preferences, said the ruling was not a surprise. “I don’t think it’s going to change the trajectory of what I think everybody expects to be a case that ends up before the Supreme Court,” he said. Clegg pointed to survey data from the Pew Research Center showing most Americans don’t support the use of race in admissions.
Affirmative action is not a universal practice in admissions. Several states, including California, ban race-conscious admissions in public universities. But a substantial number of competitive private and public schools acknowledge taking race into account.
Students for Fair Admissions, which says it represents rejected Asian American applicants, filed its suit in November 2014, alleging violations of civil rights law and of Supreme Court mandates. The group claimed that Harvard intentionally discriminated against Asian Americans, that it sought to “balance” its admitted class to meet preconceived targets for racial and ethnic groups, that it leaned too heavily on race as a factor in admission deliberations, and that it failed to give adequate consideration to race-neutral alternatives.
Burroughs rejected all the claims. The judge wrote that testimony from Harvard admission officers denying discrimination was “consistent, unambiguous and convincing.” She also noted that the plaintiff chose not to put an individual face onto its case. There was no individual analogue to Bakke, Grutter, Gratz or Fisher – all surnames of plaintiffs from previous eras who became part of the Supreme Court’s record on affirmative action.
Students for Fair Admissions, Burroughs wrote, “did not present a single Asian American applicant who was overtly discriminated against or who was better qualified than an admitted white applicant when considering the full range of factors that Harvard values in its admissions process.”
The judge wrote that Harvard’s record was not perfect. In a footnote, she wrote that “some slight implicit biases among some admission officers” may have affected the personal ratings of certain applicants. “While regrettable,” she wrote, such biases “cannot be completely eliminated in a process that must rely on judgments about individuals.”
She also admonished Harvard to follow the Supreme Court’s dictate from its most recent ruling on affirmative action, in 2016: that universities must continue to use data to scrutinize the fairness of their admissions programs and “assess whether changing demographics have undermined the need for a race-conscious policy.”
But Burroughs generally accepted the premise behind Harvard’s efforts: that consideration of race was necessary for the university to maintain a diverse campus. The judge cited the experience of Ruth Simmons, former president of Brown University and current president of Prairie View A&M University, as “perhaps the most cogent and compelling testimony presented at this trial.” Born in a sharecropper’s shack in Texas, Simmons became a pioneering African American leader in higher education.
Burroughs quoted Simmons at length in the conclusion of her ruling. “It’s very hard for me to overstate my conviction about the benefits that flow to all of these areas from a diverse undergraduate student body,” Simmons testified. “I know something about the lack of diversity in one’s education. . . . My father was a janitor, my mother was a maid. They had been sharecroppers, they had few opportunities. I lived through that. I remember it. So to me, the benefits that flow to students is they get a better education, a deeper education, a truer education to deal with what they’re going to have to deal with in life.”
The judge then added: “For purposes of this case, at least for now, ensuring diversity at Harvard relies, in part, on race conscious admissions.”
Doha, Qatar – September 18, 2019 – Located in the heart of one of the most advanced media and communication schools in the world, The Media Majlis at Northwestern University in Qatar, which is dedicated to the exploration of journalism, communication, and media in the Arab region, has opened at Northwestern University’s campus in Doha.
The Media Majlis features a multi-screen façade, as well as space where exhibition content and technology converge. The technology elevates visitors’ experience by inviting them to participate in a global conversation on a continually changing media landscape.
Drawing its name from the traditional Arab majlis—or gathering place—the museum seeks to be a vital source of interpersonal communication that connects values of local culture to universal and global concerns. All exhibitions are bilingual in English and Arabic, adding to the museum’s global essence and eliminating language barriers from telling the full story.
“The Media Majlis, a decade in the making, is a space where our students and faculty, as well as the general public can engage with content that examines media influences and impact,” said Everette E. Dennis, dean and CEO at NU-Q. “The museum’s programming, which will explore everything from Arab representations in film, to censorship and identity, underscores the importance of media in society and draws on images and materials from local sources and global collections.”
A group of international media scholars and experts formed a Content Advisory Board that advised the university as it developed this unique museum where its exhibitions and programs are incorporated into the school’s curriculum and all exhibitions and programming is open to the public.
A member of the advisory board, Lisa Corrin, the director of the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University in Evanston, noted the connection between the mission of the Media Majlis and the academic program at NU-Q.
“The museum’s mission is to amplify the raison d’etre of Northwestern University – to be a portal through which young minds can learn to think critically about how the vast media landscapes shape our world and in turn how they can use these platforms to have influence in and beyond Qatar,” she said.
Exhibitions at the Media Majlis are curated so that visitors can journey through media-centric themes, exploring hundreds of images and films, as well as scores of original interviews – developed in-house – with scholars and professionals who are experts on the museum’s current exhibition topic.
The Media Majlis’s inaugural exhibition, Arab Identities, images in film, considers how over a century of film history has shaped and been shaped by notions of Arab identities. The exhibition, which features clips from more than 200 films ranging from the 1880s to the present day, is accompanied by loans posters, lobby cards and drawings from regional private collections in Kuwait and Beirut, as well as international, including a print from 1851 on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The exhibition will be on view through December.
The Media Majlis is surrounded by academic resources and learning spaces. Located in the building that houses Northwestern’s campus in Qatar, it has access to a projection theatre for screening films, a black box for theatrical dramas, and a world-class fully-automated Newsroom, along with an auditorium that seats more than 100.
This space provides the Media Majlis with the opportunity to offer programming tied to each exhibition. Pamela Erskine-Loftus, director of the Media Majlis said, “Our exhibitions are complemented by a series of programs and publications that examine and discuss various angles to provide audiences with a 360-degree engagement experience, leaving them more empowered and knowledgeable to make their own opinion on the subject at hand.”
For the current exhibition, Arab Identities, images in film, programming includes exclusive film screenings with prominent filmmakers such as the director of the Academy Award nominated “Paradise Now,” Hany Abu-Assad; Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir; and the Syrian directors and sisters Soudade Kaadan and Amira Kaadan.
In addition to the screenings, programming also includes panel discussions on topics such as the art of critiquing film, the challenges of becoming an Arab filmmaker, and how the history of the Arab world changes alongside an ever-changing environment of film and journalism.
The Media Majlis was officially dedicated by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of the Qatar Foundation, along with Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad, vice-chairperson and CEO of the foundation; Morton Schapiro, president of Northwestern University; Jonathan Holloway, provost; and Dean Dennis.
Northwestern University in Qatar draws from its parent organization, Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois), a distinguished history, famous programs, and an exceptional faculty. Founded in partnership with the Qatar Foundation, NU-Q provides a framework through which students explore the world and, ultimately, shape its future through its distinguished programs in communication and journalism and strategic communication, and the liberal arts.
Government of India launched a scheme called “Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children” (SPDC), in the academic year 2006-2007, for the wards of Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to assist them in pursuing Under Graduate courses in Indian Universities/Institutes.
Under SPDC scheme financial assistance for specific undergraduate courses in Professional and Non-Professional courses (except Medical and related courses)is provided towards tuition fee, admission fee and post admission services. The scheme is applicable to NRIs and PIOs from 66 countries.
Under the scheme, PIO/NRI students are awarded a scholarship of up to US$4,000 per annum for payment of tuition fee, admission fee and post admission services for Undergraduate courses in Engineering, Technology, Humanities, Liberal Arts, Commerce, Management, Journalism, Hotel Management, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and other courses. The scholarship is applicable to students who have already secured admission in an Indian institution. Admission is permitted only in Central Universities, NAAC “A” Grade Institutions, National Institute of Technologies (NITs), School of Planning & Architecture (SPAs), and Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) as covered under Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) scheme.
In case of any technical assistance, please contact following: SPDC Portal Support Team, EG & IT Division, MEA, 1025, A Wing, Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan, 23-D Janpath, New Delhi 110011, Email: technicalcellegit@mea.gov.in, Tel. +91 11 4901 8371
In case of any assistance/clarification regarding Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children, please contact following: Section Officer, OIA II Division, MEA, 925, Akbar Bhawan, Chankyapuri, New Delhi 110021, Email: so1oia2@mea.gov.in, Tel.: +91 11 2419 7927; Or Visit www.spdcindia.gov.in
A delegation of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) leaders, comprising of Dr. Suresh Reddy, President AAPI, Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, Vice Chair. AAPI Board of Trustees, and Dr. Himanshu Pandya, President of AAPI QLI, visited Antigua on invitation by the American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine last week with the aim to help foster long lasting symbiotic relationship and assist with the already robust educational pathway for the medical students of Indian origin at AUA.
The delegation visited the AUA campus where they were greeted by the distinguished faculty and got a demonstration of the cutting-edge and modern facilities and the amazingly realistic mannequins with medically authentic disease simulation at their skills set labs, that prepare the budding doctors for exposure to clinical rotations in the USA.
AAPI leaders described AUA as a “world leader” in medical education, having the tools, the curriculum, and the faculty to provide a world-class medical education, with its cutting-edge facilities, distinguished faculty, and excellent clinical experiences prepare graduates to practice medicine throughout the United States and Canada. The amazing high-tech simulation lab is a perfect model for medical learning.
AAPI is collaborating with AUA granting scholarships upto $25,000, to Medical Students of Indian origin or descent and are interested in attending medical school at AUA, check out the AAPI Scholarship. For more information, please visit: https://www.auamed.org/admissions/scholarships
During the visit to the island, AAPI leaders met with several prominent international cricket players, most of them from the current and past Indian Cricket Team. Among many others, they met with Sunil Gavaskar, the legend of Indian Cricket, Ravi Shastri, glorious cricketer of yesteryear and the manager of the Indian Cricket team, the charismatic Indian captain Virat Kohli and Dr Reddy presented a plaque from the AAPI congratulating him for his services to the India and contribution to Indian cricket. We formally invited each of them to be part of the Sports Medicine Summit at the AAPI Annual Convention in Chicago next year, which they agreed to, subject to their schedule.
GOPIO-CT organized a program of welcoming new Indian students at the Univ. of Connecticut, School of Business from its Stamford campus with a networking dinner on Friday, Sept. 13th at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Stamford. While it was networking event for the students and the Indian American community, it also served as an interactive session with a high-profile panel of Indian American Corporate Achievers from Facebook, Amazon and Vice Media as well as three other entrepreneurs and businessmen.
The program started with a welcome by GOPIO International Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham and greetings from Ms. Laurissa Berk, UConn’s Associate Director for Risk Management Programs at UConn School of Business. The panelists included Joseph Simon, Chief Technology Officer at Vice Media; Shailesh Naik, President of Charles Manganaro Consulting Engineers; Bhavna Juneja, Senior President of IT Services (Stamford, CT); Terrence Moduthagam, Manager Strategy Partnership at Amazon; Anand Chavan, CEO of GuardX, Inc. and Gaurav Venkateswar, Client Solutions Manager at Facebook. The panel session was moderated by Viresh Sharma, President, Laser Systems, Inc.
The students asked the panelists several questions including marketing themselves to get a job, branding, how to reach out the right person within Corporate America, trends in the job market and difficulty of getting jobs after study completion with a practical training visa.
“It was highly successful program with larger interaction by the new students with the panelists,” said Dr. Abraham. Abraham also told the students that when he came to the country in the 1970s, there was a system of a host family to the foreign students since here was not much communication for the students back home. With advent of new communication with WhatsUp and other social media, the host family concept is already gone. Abraham told the students that the community is the host family for the students. The program was concluded by GOPIO-CT Secretary Prasad Chintalapudi, Vice President of Panzer Solutions.
The largest-ever study of ancient human DNA and the first genome of an individual from the ancient Indus Valley Civilization reveal in unprecedented detail the shifting ancestry of Central and South Asian populations over time.
The research, published online Sept. 5 in a pair of papers in Scienceand Cell, also answers longstanding questions about the origins of farming and the source of Indo-European languages in South and Central Asia.
Geneticists, archaeologists and anthropologists from North America, Europe, Central Asia and South Asia analyzed the genomes of 524 never before-studied ancient individuals. The work increased the worldwide total of published ancient genomes by about 25 percent.
By comparing these genomes to one another and to previously sequenced genomes, and by putting the information into context alongside archaeological, linguistic and other records, the researchers filled in many of the key details about who lived in various parts of this region from the Mesolithic Era (about 12,000 years ago) to the Iron Age (until around 2,000 years ago) and how they relate to the people who live there today.
“With this many samples, we can detect subtle interactions between populations as well as outliers within populations, something that has only become possible in the last couple of years through technological advances,” said David Reich, co-senior author of both papers and professor of genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School.
“These studies speak to two of the most profound cultural transformations in ancient Eurasia—the transition from hunting and gathering to farming and the spread of Indo-European languages, which are spoken today from the British Isles to South Asia—along with the movement of people,” said Vagheesh Narasimhan, co-first author of both papers and a postdoctoral fellow in the Reich lab. “The studies are particularly significant because Central and South Asia are such understudied parts of the world.”
“One of the most exciting aspects of this study is the way it integrates genetics with archaeology and linguistics,” said Ron Pinhasi of the University of Vienna, co-senior author of the Science paper. “The new results emerged after combining data, methods and perspectives from diverse academic disciplines, an integrative approach that provides much more information about the past than any one of these disciplines could alone.”
“In addition, the introduction of new sampling methodologies allowed us to minimize damage to skeletons while maximizing the chance of obtaining genetic data from regions where DNA preservation is often poor,” Pinhasi added.
Indo-European languages—including Hindi/Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Persian, Russian, English, Spanish, Gaelic and more than 400 others—make up the largest language family on Earth.
For decades, specialists have debated how Indo-European languages made their way to distant parts of the world. Did they spread via herders from the Eurasian Steppe? Or did they travel with farmers moving west and east from Anatolia (present-day Turkey)?
A 2015 paper by Reich and colleagues indicated that Indo-European languages arrived in Europe via the steppe. The Science study now makes a similar case for South Asia by showing that present-day South Asians have little if any ancestry from farmers with Anatolian roots.
“We can rule out a large-scale spread of farmers with Anatolian roots into South Asia, the centerpiece of the ‘Anatolian hypothesis’ that such movement brought farming and Indo-European languages into the region,” said Reich, who is also an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Broad Institute. “Since no substantial movements of people occurred, this is checkmate for the Anatolian hypothesis.”
One new line of evidence in favor of a steppe origin for Indo-European languages is the detection of genetic patterns that connect speakers of the Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic branches of Indo-European. The researchers found that present-day speakers of both branches descend from a subgroup of steppe pastoralists who moved west toward Europe almost 5,000 years ago and then spread back eastward into Central and South Asia in the following 1,500 years.
“This provides a simple explanation in terms of ancient movements of people for the otherwise puzzling shared linguistic features of these two branches of Indo-European, which today are separated by vast geographic distances,” said Reich.
A second line of evidence in favor of a steppe origin is the researchers’ discovery that of the 140 present-day South Asian populations analyzed in the study, a handful show a remarkable spike in ancestry from the steppe. All but one of these steppe-enriched populations are historically priestly groups, including Brahmins—traditional custodians of texts written in the ancient Indo-European language Sanskrit.
“The finding that Brahmins often have more steppe ancestry than other groups in South Asia, controlling for other factors, provides a fascinating new argument in favor of a steppe origin for Indo-European languages in South Asia,” said Reich.
“This study has filled in a large piece of the puzzle of the spread of Indo-European,” said co-author Nick Patterson, research fellow in genetics at HMS and a staff scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. “I believe the high-level picture is now understood.”
“This problem has been in the air for 200 years or more and it’s now rapidly being sorted out,” he added. “I’m very excited by that.”
Agriculture origins
The studies inform another longstanding debate, this one about whether the change from a hunting and gathering economy to one based on farming was driven more by movements of people, the copying of ideas or local invention.
The new study reveals a similar dynamic in Iran and Turan (southern Central Asia), where the researchers found that Anatolian-related ancestry and farming arrived around the same time.
“This confirms that the spread of agriculture entailed not only a westward route from Anatolia to Europe but also an eastward route from Anatolia into regions of Asia previously only inhabited by hunter-gatherer groups,” said Pinhasi.
Then, as farming spread northward through the mountains of Inner Asia thousands of years after taking hold in Iran and Turan, “the links between ancestry and economy get more complex,” said archaeologist Michael Frachetti of Washington University in St. Louis, co-senior author who led much of the skeletal sampling for the Science paper.
By around 5,000 years ago, the researchers found, southwestern Asian ancestry flowed north along with farming technology, while Siberian or steppe ancestry flowed south onto the Iranian plateau. The two-way pattern of movement took place along the mountains, a corridor that Frachetti previously showed was a “Bronze Age Silk Road” along which people exchanged crops and ideas between East and West.
In South Asia, however, the story appears quite different. Not only did the researchers find no trace of the Anatolian-related ancestry that is a hallmark of the spread of farming to the west, but the Iranian-related ancestry they detected in South Asians comes from a lineage that separated from ancient Iranian farmers and hunter-gatherers before those groups split from each other.
The researchers concluded that farming in South Asia was not due to the movement of people from the earlier farming cultures of the west; instead, local foragers adopted it.
“Prior to the arrival of steppe pastoralists bringing their Indo-European languages about 4,000 years ago, we find no evidence of large-scale movements of people into South Asia,” said Reich.
Map showing the reconstructed migrations and genetic contributions of people with steppe pastoralist ancestry. Image: Oliver Uberti/Science via Harvard Medical School
First glimpse of the ancestry of the Indus Valley Civilization
Running from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea, the Indus River Valley was the site of one of the first civilizations of the ancient world, flourishing between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago. People built towns with populations in the tens of thousands. They used standardized weights and measures and exchanged goods with places as far-flung as East Africa.
But who were they?
Before now, geneticists were unable to extract viable data from skeletons buried at Indus Valley Civilization archaeological sites because the heat and volatile climate of lowland South Asia have degraded most DNA beyond scientists’ ability to analyze it.
The Cell paper changes this.
After screening more than 60 skeletal samples from the largest known town of the Indus Valley Civilization, called Rakhigarhi, the authors found one with a hint of ancient DNA. After more than 100 sequencing attempts, they generated enough data to reach meaningful conclusions.
The ancient woman’s genome matched those of 11 other ancient people reported in the Science paper who lived in what is now Iran and Turkmenistan at sites known to have exchanged objects with the Indus Valley Civilization. All 12 had a distinctive mix of ancestry, including a lineage related to Southeast Asian hunter-gatherers and an Iranian-related lineage specific to South Asia. Because this mix was different from the majority of people living in Iran and Turkmenistan at that time, the authors propose that the 11 individuals reported in the Science paper were migrants, likely from the Indus Valley Civilization.
None of the 12 had evidence of ancestry from steppe pastoralists, consistent with the model that that group hadn’t arrived yet in South Asia.
The Science paper further showed that after the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization between 4,000 and 3,500 years ago, a portion of the group to which these 12 individuals belonged mixed with people coming from the north who had steppe pastoralist ancestry, forming the Ancestral North Indians, one of the two primary ancestral populations of present-day people in India. A portion of the original group also mixed with people from peninsular India to form the other primary source population, the Ancestral South Indians.
“Mixtures of the Ancestral North Indians and Ancestral South Indians—both of whom owe their primary ancestry to people like that of the Indus Valley Civilization individual we sequenced—form the primary ancestry of South Asians today,” said Patterson.
“The study directly ties present-day South Asians to the ancient peoples of South Asia’s first civilization,” added Narasimhan.
The authors caution that analyzing the genome of only one individual limits the conclusions that can be drawn about the entire population of the Indus Valley Civilization.“My best guess is that the Indus Valley Civilization itself was genetically extremely diverse,” said Patterson. “Additional genomes will surely enrich the picture.”
Early access experiment
The team released most of its data for the Science study in early 2018 on the preprint server bioRxiv. The material has already been used in multiple published papers by other teams as well as a book. Researchers also spotted previously unnoticed patterns in the data.
“We wanted to see what would happen if we allowed other researchers to question our conclusions and come to new insights,” said Narasimhan. “These findings from the community substantially improved the final version of the manuscript.”
“We feel that this experiment in open-notebook and crowd-sourced science was an unmitigated success,” said Reich. “We are eager to find other ways to make data available early so we can leverage the broad interest in this work to make the science even better and to ensure that the conclusions we draw are as robust and nuanced as possible.”
Funding and authorship
“The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia,” Science, 5 September 2019
Narasimhan and Patterson are co-first authors. Patterson conducted the research while a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
Frachetti, Pinhasi and Reich are co-senior authors.
This study was supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (CASI award), National Institutes of Health (GM100233, GM007753), Russian Science Foundation (project 14-50-00036), Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 18-09-00779), European Research Council (ERC-2011-AdG 295733 grant), Ministry of Education and Sciences of the Russian Federation (No. 33.1907 2017/P4, 33.5494, 2017/BP), National Science Foundation (BCS-1460369, BCS-1725067, BCS-1032255), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of the Government of India (NCP fund MLP0117), Max Planck Society, Allen Discovery Center and John Templeton Foundation (grant 61220).
“An Ancient Harappan Genome Lacks Ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian Farmers,” Cell, 6 September 2019
Co-first authors are Vasant Shinde of Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute in Pune, India, and Narasimhan.
Co-senior authors are Niraj Rai of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences in Lucknow, India, and Reich.
This study was supported by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of the Government of India, National Science Foundation (HOMINID grant BCS-1032255), National Institutes of Health (grant GM100233), Allen Discovery Center and John Templeton Foundation (grant 61220).
Considering Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation’s (‘EVF’ or ‘Ekal’) profound impact and rapid growth at the grass-root level, Honorable Indian PM Narendra Modi in 2017 gave ‘Ekal’ a unique goal of establishing 100,000 schools by Yr. 2022. In India’s history, Yr.2022 has a very distinctive significance. It happens to be the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. On this front, the most exciting new development is that EVF is undoubtedly going to ring the ‘target-bell’ by early 2020 itself. As of this moment, Ekal already has 93,000 schools in the same number of villages that are grooming 2.55 million children & youths each year for life’s major challenges.
The most remarkable thing about these staggering numbers is, more than half of them are girls. Moreover, quite a few of its alumni have gone on to become high-caliber teachers, District Officers, company administrators and technocrats in their adult life. Although rooted in Education, Ekal has blossomed into healthcare, integrated village development and economic empowerment. Recently, ‘United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) confirmed that, defying global trend, India is likely to meet 100% child enrolment and school completion target set by them, in 2030. This heartening affirmation is nothing but a consequential endorsement of EVF’s educational mission in rural and tribal areas of India. This year, “Ekal Abhiyan Trust’ (an umbrella Orgz for various off-shoots of Ekal) was bestowed with Iconic National Honor – “Gandhi Peace Prize” – by the Govt of India, for its contribution to Education in remote areas, with gender and social equality. ‘EVF’ is the largest literacy movement undertaken by the Indians and NRIs in dozen countries.
In last one year alone, Ekal has successfully added 20,000 schools. This meteoric rise has been partly due to high-end “Future of India” GALAs that Ekal has started hosting in various metropolitan areas since 2017. Last year, between October 6 -13, it hosted three Galas – Houston, Washington & New York – and raised over $5 Million. This was in addition to $6 Million it had already raised through its annual fund-raising concerts across USA in 55 cities.
This year, two Galas have been planned – one in Los Angeles (LA) area and another in New York City (NYC). LA-Gala is being hosted on Saturday, September 14 at ‘Hyatt Regency’ (200 South Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA), and NYC-Gala is taking place on Saturday, November 9 at the majestic ‘Gotham Hall’ (1356 Broadway, NYC, NY 10018). For details of ticket purchase, sponsorship or special-project enquiry, please check www.lagala.ekal.org OR www.nycgala.ekal.org for respective Galas. At LA-Gala, the keynote speaker is going to be ‘Emily Church’, Exec Dir of ‘XPrize Foundation’ with Bollywood heart-throb ‘Vivek Oberoi’ as the special guest. The entertainment at LA will be provided by Bollywood Comedian ‘Omi Vaidya’ which will be capped by a fusion-music Concert by ‘Nauzad’. ‘EVF’ is a duly registered non-profit Charitable Organization 501(C) in USA and dispenses all its assistance in rural areas irrespective of recipient’s religion, creed, caste and region. Its overhead is hardly around 10%.
Suresh Iyer, President of ‘Ekal-USA’, has confirmed that, so far this year, Ekal has raised almost $5.5 Million. Attributing this stunning achievement to thousands of its devout Donors and dedicated volunteers, Suresh is confident that, with two Galas, Ekal, will once again cut through $10 Million mark by the year’s end. In 2017, Bajrang Bagra, CEO of ‘Ekal Abhiyan Trust’ initiated a special literacy project for ‘troubled spots’ in border region. He recently confirmed that as of now almost 6,000 Ekal schools are in operation in Jammu-Kashmir and that has resulted in establishing peace, tranquility, and life-normalcy in people’s lives there. The schools there are run by the locals under Ekal’s guidance
Navneeth Murali, 13 of Edison, New Jersey correctly spelled the word “flipe” meaning, to strip off by or as if by peeling,” during the 2019 South Asian Spelling Bee finals to clinch the title of national champion and took home a cash prize of $3,000. Hephzibah Sujoe, 13 of Fort Worth Texas along with Pranav Nandakumar, 13 of Austin Texas, and Vayun Krishna, 12 of Sunnyvale, California tied for National Runner-Up position.
The initiative was organized by leading multicultural advertising firm, Touchdown Media Inc. Sony Entertainment Television Asia will broadcast the initiative across the globe in over 120 countries, Kawan Foods returned as the powered by sponsor for the initiative which is now in its 12th year.
“It fills my heart to see such talented young spellers from across the country who make us proud as a community. The initiative is unique in its reach and engagement and with the help of the SAS-Bee program, we were able to give even more spellers the opportunity to win it all and raise the bar even higher. My heartiest congratulations to the winner,” said Rahul Walia, Founder.
The initiative was open to children up to 14 years of age and was held in 5 regional centers across the United States. These areas included, New Jersey, DC Metro area, Dallas, Bay Area, and Charlotte.
Over 600 spellers from these centers participated from which 15 finalists took the stage at the Finals. “We are extremely happy with Naveneeth’s win at the Bee as it goes to show that todays South Asian kids are all well-rounded and highly dedicated to their craft. We produced a special section called “Meet the Spellers where the viewers will have an opportunity to get to know some of the spellers better,” said Tim Tan, Managing Director, Kawan Food, makers of the world’s most popular Roti Paratha Brand in the world – Kawan Paratha.
“It’s amazing to see the pool of talent from our community and am happy for Navneeth Murali’s win and excited to get to know him and some of the other spellers better in the “Meet the Speller” series airing shortly on Sony,” said Jaideep Janakiram, Head of North America, Sony Entertainment Television-Asia.
Touchdown Media Inc. is a specialized South Asian advertising and promotions firm based in New Jersey. Now in its 16th successful year, Touchdown has helped clients, both mainstream and otherwise, reach out to the lucrative South Asian market. Touchdown Media represents more than 35 years of collective experience in this niche market. As a full-service ad firm, Touchdown has helped many clients achieve their media and marketing goals within the South Asian diaspora in the United States.
Registration for 2020 will open in October this year and for more information and to register your child, please visit www.SouthAsianSpellingBee.com. Find us on Facebook & Instagram at South Asian Spelling Bee.
Americans owed about $1.5 trillion in student loans at the end of March 2019, more than two times what they owed a decade earlier. The increase has come as historically high shares of young adults in the United States go to college and the cost of higher education increases.
Here are five facts about student loans in America, based on a Pew Research Center analysis of recently released data from the Federal Reserve Board’s 2018 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking:
About one-third of adults under age 30 have student loan debt. Among adults ages 18 to 29, 34% say they have outstanding student loans for their own education. (This includes those with loans currently in deferment or forbearance, but excludes credit card debt and home and other loans taken out for education.) Looking only at young adults with a bachelor’s degree or more education, the share with outstanding student debt rises to 49%.
Student debt is less common among older age groups. Roughly one-in-five adults ages 30 to 44 (22%) have student loan debt, as do 4% of those 45 and older.
While age differences may partly reflect the fact that older adults have had more time to repay their loans, other research has found that young adults are also more likely now than in the past to take out loans to pay for their education. About six-in-ten college seniors ages 18 to 24 took out loans for their education in the 2015-2016 school year, up from about half in the 1999-2000 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
In 2016, the amount students owed varied widely, especially by degree attained. The median borrower with outstanding student loan debt for their own education owed $17,000 in 2016. The amount owed varied considerably, however. A quarter of borrowers with outstanding debt reported owing $7,000 or less, while another quarter owed $43,000 or more. (Because of changes to the survey questions, it is not possible to determine the amount owed in 2018.)
Educational attainment helps explain this variation. Among borrowers of all ages with outstanding student loan debt, the median self-reported amount owed among those with less than a bachelor’s degree was $10,000 in 2016. Bachelor’s degree holders owed a median of $25,000, while those with a postgraduate degree owed a median of $45,000.
Relatively few with student loan debt had six-figure balances in 2016. Only 7% of current borrowers had at least $100,000 in outstanding debt, which corresponds to 1% of the adult population. Balances of $100,000 or more were most common among postgraduate degree holders. Of those with a postgraduate degree and outstanding debt, 23% reported owing $100,000 or more.
Young college graduates with student loans are more likely than those without loans to report struggling financially. Student loan holders give a more downbeat assessment of their personal financial situation compared with their peers who don’t have outstanding student debt. College graduates ages 25 to 39 with loans are more likely than graduates without loans to say they are either finding it difficult to get by financially or are just getting by (22% vs. 11%). About three-in-ten young college graduates with student loans (32%) say they are living comfortably, compared with 51% of college graduates of a similar age without outstanding loans.
Young college graduates with student loans are more likely to live in a higher-income family than those without a bachelor’s degree. For many young adults, student loans are a way to make an otherwise unattainable education a reality. Although these students have to borrow money to attend, the investment might make sense if it leads to higher earningslater in life.
On average, those ages 25 to 39 with at least a bachelor’s degree and outstanding student debt have higher family incomes – the individual’s income plus that of their spouse or partner – than those in this age range lacking a bachelor’s degree (regardless of loan status). About half of young college graduates with student loans (52%) live in families earning at least $75,000, compared with 18% of those without a bachelor’s degree. However, they are still less likely to earn this level of family income than young college graduates without outstanding student loans (64%). (Family income reflects more than just an individual’s personal returns from higher education, including the fact that college graduates are more likely to marry.)
About half of young adults without a bachelor’s degree (53%) live in families earning less than $40,000, compared with 21% of young college graduates with student loans.
Compared with young adults who don’t have student debt, student loan holders are less upbeat about the value of their degree. About a third (36%) of those ages 25 to 39 with at least a bachelor’s degree and outstanding student loan debt say that the lifetime financial costs of their degree outweigh the benefits. By comparison, 15% of young college graduates without outstanding student loans say the lifetime costs outweigh the benefits.
A new high school in Tampa, Florida, built by and named after a highly successful Indian-American cardiologist, businessman and philanthropist, Dr. Kiran C. Patel, opens its doors this week to some 300 students with a mission to prepare youth for 21st Century knowledge and skills acquired through project-based pedagogy.
The Dr. Kiran C. Patel High School scheduled to open Aug. 12, has an inaugural class of 300 students in the 9th Grade. It has a capacity of just 600 students in total in grades 9 through 12, a press release on its website says.
The tuition-free school will offer an advanced curriculum and focus on the school’s mission statement, which emphasizes up-to-date knowledge and skills, personalized and innovative instruction, partnerships between the school and the community, social responsibility and leadership, the website says.
The school is open to anyone who is close enough to commute, including residents of Pasco County, a news report on neighborhoodnewsonline.net said. “Simply because you belong to a certain neighborhood should not force you to stay in that neighborhood (for school),” Patel is quoted telling Neighborhood newsonine. The report also said Dr. Patel had committed $20 million to launch the school.
“Inquiry and problem-based approaches to instruction will immerse Patel High School students in real-world problems and solutions, cultivating a profound understanding of their civic and leadership responsibilities, both locally and globally,” the school says.
The school’s first head is Principal Marlee Strawn, who has 10 years of experience in the Hillsborough School District. She has in the past taught Advanced Placement World History and European History at Tampa Bay Technical High School, and has received several honors for her service.
The architecture of the school itself is considered a learning tool presenting learning opportunities over the entire campus, including school grounds and landscaping, the website says.
Patel has given to numerous projects and causes in India and the United States. Born in Zambia in 1950, and educated in India and the U.S., Patel completed his specialization in cardiology in Gujarat. His businesses include healthcare, health insurance, and real estate development. Another institution named after him is the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. He is married to Dr. Pallavi Patel. The Kiran C. and Pallavi Patel Family Foundation engages in projects across the globe, particularly in Florida, Africa and India, according to their bio available on nova.edu.
Dr. Kiran Patel received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award from the Indian government this year in recognition of his philanthropic work and achievements.
The husband-wife team of Sanjib Biswas and Anuradha Mazumdar last month opened C0deEX, an Acton, MA-based school to teach coding to kids of age group 6-14; and almost a month-and-a-half later the C0deEX Panther team won the first prize in a major robotics competition.
“On August 9th, 2019 middle school students from the Acton C0deEx Panther robotics team watched their computer program control a satellite on the International Space Station (ISS) during the finals of the Zero Robotics competition,” C0deEX said in a statement. “C0deEx Panther, after winning the State Championship competing against fifteen other teams from around the state on July-27th, 2019 was representing Massachusetts at the ISS (International Space Station) final.”
For the ISS finals, teams from all over the northeast gathered at MIT Stata Center to join a video conference with other teams from around the world. NASA astronauts Andrew (Drew) R. Morgan, Christina Koch and Aleksandar (Sasha) Aleksandrovich Skvortsov Jr. facilitated the competition and provided live commentary which was telecasted live to MIT Stata Center and 16 others physical locations across USA, Russia and Puerte Rico.
Three hundred teams and more than 2,000 students across USA, Russia and PuertoRico participated in this competition. The ground teams watched the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) on the ISS competition.
C0deEx Panther’s code went head on with code written by 16 finalist teams. After being the winner in the Team A bracket, C0deEx Panther also beat the Teams from Team B securing the first position in 2019 International Zero Robotics Competition. The C0deEx Panther team consists of 5 students from Acton/Boxborough and Westford.
Zero Robotics is a summer STEM program for middle school students that “seek to inspire our next generation of great minds by allowing them unprecedented access to space at the middle school level.” The students spend five weeks learning about programming, engineering, and space exploration, while developing code to control satellites known as SPHERES. During this five-week program, the students rely on a simulation environment from MIT to develop their code. After the state finals, the international finalists’ code is tested on physical SPHERES at MIT before being uploaded to the ISS.
The program culminates in a tournament where winning teams’ SPHERES compete aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Middle school participants will get to see the SPHERES operate in space via a live feed from the ISS while NASA astronauts provide real-time commentary. Each year’s game is motivated by a problem of interest to NASA and MIT.
The 13th edition of the annual Global Healthcare Summit (GHS) 2019, organized by the Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) at the Taj Krishna, from July 21st to 23rd, 2019 offered a unique forum for the Physicians of Indian Origin to come together, sharing their knowledge and expertise in their respective medical fields with their fellow physicians from around the world, and to learn from one another.
Through a series of world class Continuing Medical Education (CME) and non-CME seminars by experts in their fields, AAPI provided comprehensive and current reviews and guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases and to reduce morbidity and mortality and achieve cost effective quality care outcomes. At the end of the activity, attendees were able to gain an understanding of the causation, diagnosis and the best clinical practices for the management of the diverse group of diseases discussed during this program.
Dr. Suresh Reddy, president of AAPI, says, “AAPI has been engaged in harnessing the power of Indian Diaspora to bring the most innovative, efficient, cost effective healthcare solutions to India. This conference has been successful in bringing the highest caliber of internationally acclaimed faculty and developed a very robust agenda in collaboration with leading experts from India with enhanced focus on conducting skills enhancement workshops, hands on experience with advanced techniques. It was encouraging to note that overcoming/ignoring minor glitches with audio visual system, the audience were enthusiastic, and were up until 11 pm with no sign of tiredness.”
Dr. Reddy thanked the organizers and the lead clinicians at the CMEs. The scientific program and workshops of GHS was developed by leading experts with contributions by the Scientific Advisory Board and the International Scientific Committee.
The days were filled with back to back CMEs on cutting edge technologies, modern trends in diagnosing treating patients. This CME program has been jointly sponsored by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin and has been designed to meet the educational needs of Primary Care physicians – Internists, Family Practitioners, Pediatricians, and Specialists – Cardiology, Oncology, Endocrinology, Surgery and other specialties involved in the care of patients with Atrial Fibrillation, HIV disease, Diabetes, Dyslipidemia, Depression, Prostate and Hematologic malignancies and Back pain.
Dr. Krishan Kumar, who was the Chair of the CME Committee, said, AAPI organized CMEs during the Pre-Tour to Israel and Jordan, and during the Post Tour and at the GHS in India from July 13 to 24, 2019. The cutting edge 15 hours of CMEs attracted more than 150 AAPI delegates from the US. The topics broadly covered the recent advances in Medicine. The participants were enthusiastic in learning the common topics like management of anaphylaxis, head injuries, stroke, sleep apnea, infections and facial attractiveness etc.
Dr. Suresh Reddy, President of AAPI, educated the participants on the management of stroke and minimally invasive spinal surgery. Dr. Krishan Kumar, Chair of CME Committee, spoke on the management of Anaphylaxis, Snake Bites, Scorpion Bites, and Head Injuries.
Dr. Vani Vijayakumar and Dr. Sreenivasan Vijaykumar, Dr, Saraswathi Muppana, Dr. Raj Bhayani, Dr. Sarvam Terakonda, Dr. Nikhil Bhayani, and, Dr. Srinagesh Paluvoi were the other speakers at the CMEs. Dr. Sarvam Terakonda educated the speakers on Perception of Beauty and Facial Attractiveness.
Dr. Krishan Kumar, and Dr. Udaya Shivangi, the Co-Chair of the CME Organizing Committee and thanked AAPI, especially Dr. Suresh Reddy, Dr. Seema Arora, Dr. Dwarakanath Reddy, and Dr. Sreeni Ganagsani, for giving the opportunity to lead and organize the CME sessions for the entire year.
India has crowned its latest billionaire, a 37-year-old former teacher from a small village in Kerala. Byju Raveendran received the coveted title this month after his seven-year-old education app Byju’s raked in $150 million in its latest funding round.
The deal gives Raveendran’s eponymous business a valuation of $5.7 billion, sending his own personal wealth over the billion-dollar threshold. Raveendran holds a 21% stake in the education technology company, which is backed by investors including the Qatar Investment Authority, Tencent and Mark Zuckerberg.
The entrepreneur’s feat sees him become one of India’s youngest billionaires, joining the country’s recent wave of newly-minted millennial unicorn founders such as Flipkart’s Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal.
It’s some achievement, especially given Raveendran’s humble beginnings.
The son of math and physics teachers, Raveendran grew up in the village of Azhikode in South India before going on to university. But, once working as an engineer, he discovered his own knack for teaching and helping friends with their entrance exams to engineering and management schools in his spare time.
So, in 2011, alongside fellow twenty-something co-founder Divya Gokulnath, he founded Byju’s — The Learning App, an online education platform for children aged five to 16. Built around interactive videos, games and quizzes, the platform helps students with everyday classes as well as exam preparation.
In the seven years since, Raveendran’s young start-up — which has 35 million users in India, 2.5 million of whom pay an annual fee of $145 to $290 — has become the world’s most valuable ed-tech company, according to the company’s website. The Bengaluru-based company became profitable in March.
The new billionaire now has his sights set on global expansion, targeting the U.S. and the U.K. following a recent partnership with Walt Disney Co.
Raveendran, who has said he wants to do for education what Disney did for entertainment, said the collaboration will help children learn with the help of their favorite characters by featuring them in their interactive content.
“Kids everywhere relate to Disney’s Simba or Moana, who grip kids’ attention before we take them through the loop of learning,” CEO Raveendran told Bloomberg recently.
“We are customizing Disney Byju’s to the American and British school curriculum,” Raveendran said. “The characters have universal appeal.”
India receives $64.37 billion foreign investment in FY19, $286 billion in 5 years
Riding the foreign direct investment policy liberalisation and reforms in the last financial year, the country received $64.37 billion FDI in 2018-19.
According to a report by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), it was up from $60.97 billion received in FY18.
“The country registered the highest FDI inflow of $64.37 billion during 2018-19. FDI worth $286 billion has been received in last five years,” DPIIT said in its annual report 2018-19.
“FDI brings in resources, the latest technology and best practices to push economic growth on to a higher trajectory,” it said. The central government has been carrying out FDI “liberalisation and simplification”.
The DPIIT, set up in 1995, was reconstituted in 2000 with the merger of the Department of Industrial Development. Earlier, DPIIT was earlier called Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and was renamed DPIIT in January 2019. (IANS)
Government of India launched a scheme called “Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children” (SPDC), in the academic year 2006-2007, for the wards of Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to assist them in pursuing Under Graduate courses in Indian Universities/Institutes.
Under SPDC scheme financial assistance for specific undergraduate courses in Professional and Non-Professional courses (except Medical and related courses)is provided towards tuition fee, admission fee and post admission services. The scheme is applicable to NRIs and PIOs from 66 countries.
Under the scheme, PIO/NRI students are awarded a scholarship of up to US$4,000 per annum for payment of tuition fee, admission fee and post admission services for Undergraduate courses in Engineering, Technology, Humanities, Liberal Arts, Commerce, Management, Journalism, Hotel Management, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and other courses. The scholarship is applicable to students who have already secured admission in an Indian institution. Admission is permitted only in Central Universities, NAAC “A” Grade Institutions, National Institute of Technologies (NITs), School of Planning & Architecture (SPAs), and Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) as covered under Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) scheme.
In case of any technical assistance, please contact following: SPDC Portal Support Team, EG & IT Division, MEA, 1025, A Wing, Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan 23-D Janpath, New Delhi 110011, Email: technicalcellegit@mea.gov.in, Tel. +91 11 4901 8371
In case of any assistance/clarification regarding Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children, please contact following: Section Officer, OIA II Division, MEA, 925, Akbar Bhawan, Chankyapuri, New Delhi 110021, Email: so1oia2@mea.gov.in, Tel.: +91 11 2419 7927; Or Visitwww.spdcindia.gov.in
Chicago IL: About one hundred members from G Pulla Reddy Engineering College (www.gprec.ac.in) alumni and friends from all cities of the United States, travelled to Chicago on weekend of July 7, 2019 to join the GPREC Alumni Association North America conference held at Fairfield Marriott, 700 National Pkwy, Schaumburg, IL.
This growing community of engineers and professionals from North America region, enjoyed two such events in the past including the first grand inauguration of GPREC Alumni North America Chapter in 2014 at Silicon Valley, CA & Washington DC followed by one in Dallas in 2017. Apart from this special event the Alumni events were previously held in NATA convention as well.
Local Chicago chapter members Mr. Naveen Aduma and Mr. Achyut Kodali welcomed the guests and Mr. Siva Shankar Reddy form Washington DC metro area, conducted the all-day program. The program started with a speech by Mr. KV Reddy, President of the Association explaining the vision, mission of the Association and the distinguished members of the first batch from the institution Mrs. Surekha Nadella, Mr. Srinivas Chada, Mr. Venkatarami Reddy Yerrabolu(2nd batch) & 3rd batch Mr. Raju Datla, Mr. Nagendra Singamsetty, Mr. Veer Karri, Mr. Venu Pajjuri, lighted the lamp and remembered the GPREC founder Late Sri G Pulla Reddy, his vison to provide affordable and quality professional education to all.
The association recognized several successful professionals and business leaders of the community, including Mr. Raju Datla & Mr. Veer Karri of Vistex, Mr. Venkat Pasula of R3 Technology, Mrs. Malathi Karri from the State of Wisconsin, Mr. Kiran Vankamamidi of Driscoll.
The afternoon program was packed with fun and professional activities like speed connect, Technlogy and Leadership Panel Discussion, and recognition of Women in Engineering. The festive all-day program was concluded by Mr. Guru Charan Chitna with recognition and acknowledgements to GPREC Chicago team members Mr. Ajit Gurajala, Mr. Rajeev Gunukula, Mr. Anil Chitreddy, Sreedhar Babu. The Schamburg/WoodField event center was filled with GPREC College atmosphere for the weekend and concluded with a Tech Toast celebration honoring the members worked in the formation of GPREC Alumni North America Chapter.
The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO)-Connecticut Chapter will honor outstanding achievers of the Indian American community in Connecticut and those provide service to the community or the society at large at its Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, July 27th at the Stamford Marriott Hotel, Stamford, CT starting at 6 p.m. Six Indian Americans are honored for their achievements in profession and service to the nation.
Chief Guest at the banquet is Indian Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty. Other honored guests include US Senator Richard Blumenthal, Norwalk Mayor Harry Rillings; New Canaan First Selectman Kevin Moynihan; CT State Senators Carlo Leone and Tony Hwang and CT State Representatives Dr. Prasad Srinivasan and Raghib Allie-Brennan.
The 2019 awardees are: Connecticut State Representative Raghib Allie-Brennan for achievement in Political involvement; Dr. Ravi Dhar is George Rogers Clark Professor of Management and Marketing, Yale School of Management and Professor of Psychology at Yale University for Business Management; Dr. Sathya Motupally, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Doosan Fuel Cell America for Engineering; Dr. D.R. Nagaraj, Principal Research Fellow at Cytec Solvay for Applied Sciences and Dinyar Wadia, Principal of Wadia Associates for Architecture. In addition, GOPIO-CT President’s Award for a young professional will be presented to Dr. Asha Kapoor Shah, Associate Hospital Epidemiologist and Associate Director of Infectious Diseases at Stamford Hospital.
Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan – Achievement in Political Involvement
Community advocate and former Congressional advisor Raghib Allie-Brennan is the State Representative of Connecticut’s 2nd Assembly District which includes the towns of Bethel, Danbury, Redding, and Newtown. His father immigrated to Queens, NY from Guyana and Raghib was raised in Bethel. As a former Congressional adviser in the U.S. House of Representatives, Mr. Allie-Brennan developed policy knowledge on energy and environmental issues, emergency response, foreign policy and civil rights. He had drafted environmental protection legislation that received bipartisan support, served as a lead staffer in efforts to secure Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding, and has testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights regarding environmental justice issue. Raghib graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a Bachelor’s in International Studies.
Dr. Ravi Dhar – Achievement in Business Management
Dr. Dhar is George Rogers Clark Professor of Management and Marketing, Yale School of Management; Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology, Yale University; Director, Center for Customer Insights. Professor Dhar has been involved in pioneering work in understanding the different factors that influence how consumers think and decide. Ravi has published more than 70 articles and serves on the editorial boards of several of the leading marketing journals. A consultant to dozens of Fortune 100 companies, the American Marketing Association has ranked Professor Dhar as the second most productive scholar publishing in premier journals from 2009 to 2016. His research and teaching has been honored with various awards including the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the Society for Consumer Psychology, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Management, and the Yale School of Management Alumni Association Teaching Award.
Dr. Sathya Motupally – Achievement in Engineering
Dr. Motupally is Chief Operating Officer (COO), Doosan Fuel Cell America reporting to the Chief Executive Officer and handles Research and Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Service and Installation, striving for seamless integration across the organization to deliver world-class clean energy solutions to customers. Dr. Motupally has over 17 years of experience in multiple Fortune 50 companies. Prior to Doosan, Dr. Motupally was Head of R&D at UTC Power, a division of United Technologies Corporation and at the Gillette Company. Dr. Motupally has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of South Carolina and DuPont Central R&D and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Motupally has authored over 50 papers and patents in the areas of materials, electrochemical engineering and mathematical modeling. He and his team have won numerous international awards for their ground-breaking work in commercializing fuel cells and has been recognized with many awards.
Dr. D.R. Nagaraj – Achievement in Applied Sciences
Dr. Nagaraj is Principal Research Fellow at Cytec Solvay. He started his career at American Cyanamid in 1979 after his doctorate from Columbia University, and held various positions in Cyanamid/Cytec over the years, but never far from science, research, and education which are his passions. Nag has degrees in both chemistry and metallurgy. He has over 100 journal publications and over 30 patents. Nag has been a part-time educator throughout his career. He is an Adjunct professor at Columbia University, and was a visiting professor for 5 years at JKMRC of University of Queensland, Brisbane. Nag was elected into the National Academy of Engineering in 2006 and inducted into the International Mining Technology Hall of Fame in 2016. Nag is a Distinguished Member of SME.
Dr. Asha Kapoor Shah – President’s Award for Young Professional for Achievement in Medicine
Dr. Shah is a Board Certified Infectious Diseases specialist and has been with Stamford Hospital and the Medical Group for 7 years. She did her Internal Medicine training at the University of Pennsylvania followed by an Infectious Diseases fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center. She received her Masters of Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Health. She is currently the Associate Hospital Epidemiologist and Associate Director of Infectious Diseases at Stamford Hospital. She has been a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society since 2007 and received the Rookie of the Year Award from the Stamford Hospital Department of Internal Medicine during her first year as an attending. She has been a co-author for a few invited poster presentations at national medical conferences on topics ranging from HIV prevention, C. dificile reduction, and Aspergillosis. She is an active member on numerous committees in the hospital and is also involved in teaching the medical house staff.
Dinyar Wadia – Achievement in Architecture
Dinyar is Principal of Wadia Associates, an architectural firm in New Canaan, CT. Dinyar developed his love of architecture and unerring eye for distinction as a child growing up in Bombay (Mumbai) with the infrastructure of magnificent public buildings erected by the British during their colonization of India. After a bachelor’s degree at the MS University of Baroda, Dinyar and his wife Gool came to the US in 1968 and Dinyar enrolled for a graduate degree at the School of Architecture, Columbia University. After graduating as a William Kinney Fellow, he then went to work for one of his professors, Victor Christ-Janer, at his architectural firm in New Canaan, CT, beginning his career in the modern vernacular. However, Dinyar found himself drawn to the beauty and charm of the traditional buildings in New Canaan and the surrounding towns of Fairfield County. Determined to heed his passion, he decided to strike out on his own in 1975 to design traditionally inspired homes. Over the past 30 years, he has demonstrated a remarkable versatility and adaptability that has solidified his position as the areas’ leading classical architect. With holistic approach to design. Dinyar has been recognized with numerous architectural and landscape.
Commenting on the award selection, GOPIO-CT President Anita Bhat said, “We select the awardees, who have made an impact in our society and/or those who provide outstanding service.” GOPIO International Founder President Dr. Thomas Abraham and Chairman of GOPIO-CT Awards Committee said, “These awardees are role models for our new generations and GOPIO-CT has a done great job in building up a good image of India and Indian Americans in Connecticut.”
Over the last 13 years, GOPIO-CT, a chapter of GOPIO International has become an active and dynamic organization hosting interactive sessions with policy makers and academicians, community events, youth mentoring and networking workshops, and working with other area organizations to help create a better future. GOPIO-CT serves as a non-partisan, secular, civic and community service organization – promoting awareness of Indian culture, customs and contributions of PIOs through community programs, forums, events and youth activities. It seeks to strengthen partnerships and create an ongoing dialogue with local communities.
The awardees will be honored at GOPIO-CT’s 13th Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, July 27th at the Stamford Marriott Hotel in Stamford. CT. The program includes dignitaries, entertainment and Bollywood DJ. For reservation or to buy tickets, call Anita Bhat 203-524-2935 or send an e-mail to abnewyork71@gmail.com.
Continuing its quest for the best speller in the community, the 2019 South Asian Spelling Bee (www.SouthAsianSpellingBee.com) traveled to California, Maryland, North Carolina, Washington DC and New Jersey these past two weekends.
With a huge turnout this year, the Bee attracted some top talent as well as young and new spellers that competed for the coveted prizes and titles. In Bay Area, Nidhi Vadlamudi of Santa Clara was the regional champ and Vayun Krishna of Sunnyvale, California was the first runner up.
In DC, Aryan Nindra of Leesburg Virginia along with Nilla Rajan of Chillicothe, Ohio were named co-champions.
In Charlotte, Maya Jadhav from Fitchburg, Wisconsin was the regional champ and Ekansh Rastogi of Heathrow, Florida was the first runner up.
In Dallas Pranav Nandakumar of Austin, Texas was the regional champ and Hepzibah Sujoe of Fort Worth, Texas was the first runner up.
In New Jersey, Navneeth Murali from Edison, New Jersey was the regional champ and Advitiya Jadhav of Princeton Junction, New Jersey was the first runner up.
The event is open to children of South Asian descendants up to 14 years of age. It will give South Asian children a chance to test their spelling skills in their core peer group. Interested spellers need their parent or guardian to register them online at: www.southasianspellingbee.com
Organized by Touchdown Media Inc., the South Asian Spelling Bee is celebrating its 12thanniversary this year.
“For the past twelve years, the Bee has consistently provided a firm platform for the community to come together and hone their craft. It’s become a family activity that contributes towards the overall development of the child. We are proud to have concluded our twelfth consecutive year with wonderful spellers,” said Rahul Walia, founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee and CEO of Touchdown Media Inc.
Within the past year the South Asian Spelling Bee has been exhaustively featured in the documentary, “Breaking the Bee”, an exclusive story on VICE News that followed the journey of South Asian Spelling Bee spellers and the importance of the South Asian Spelling Bee platform being a vital step in their spelling journey and various mainstream media platforms across the country.
The top two spellers of each regional competition advance to the finals to be held in New Jersey on August 8th and the championship prize is $3,000.
This year, the Bee is proudly powered by Kawan- the world’s most popular Roti paratha brand and as always, Sony Entertainment Television ASIA, is the exclusive broadcast partner for the South Asian Spelling Bee and will be airing the series across 120 countries.
“Kawan is proud to return as a sponsor and we have tremendous faith in contributing towards crucial family time for the community. We look forward to getting to know the spellers and their families through this wonderful journey,” said Tim Tan, Managing Director Kawan Food.
“Year over year, the South Asian Spelling Bee has made for great programming that gels with our ethos of compete family entertainment. We are all about family values and encourage platforms such as these that highlight the talent of our community,” said Jaideep Janakiram, Head of Americas, Sony Pictures Networks.
Yogesh (Yogi) Surendranath, an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Paul M. Cook Career Development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been nominated for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) by the Department of Defense for the year 2019.
President Trump announced the recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) earlier this month. Indian-Americans dominated the list from all across the country.
The Surendranath Lab is focused on addressing global challenges in the areas of chemical catalysis, energy storage and utilization, and environmental stewardship.
PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government to outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology.
Established in 1996, the PECASE acknowledges the contributions scientists and engineers have made to the advancement of science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) education and to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, and community outreach. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy coordinates the PECASE with participating departments and agencies.
Yogesh (Yogi) Surendranath holds dual bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and physics from the University of Virginia and a PhD in inorganic chemistry from MIT.His research group aims to use renewable electricity to rearrange chemical bonds by controlling interfacial reactivity at the molecular level. Professor Surendranath has authored over 50 publications and is the recipient of young investigator awards from the NSF, DOE, Air Force, and Toyota. He is also a Sloan Foundation Fellow and Cottrell Scholar.
One in nine people on the planet lack access to safe drinking water and three in nine lack access to adequate sanitation leading to more than 3.5 million deaths each year. Water quality and sanitation can be significantly improved in resource-constrained locations such as rural India by developing distributed technologies for generating hydrogen peroxide, a potent clean oxidant that is ideal for water purification, waste water treatment, and broad-spectrum sanitation. The Surendranath Group is developing a new portable technology that uses solar or wind electricity to generating hydrogen peroxide from water and air. The Group is actively collaborating with Prof. Alan Hatton (MIT Chemical Engineering) to advance the technology to the prototype stage on an aggressive timeline.
India, like many countries around the globe, is facing a crisis in the field of medicine. According to reports, the country is facing a shortfall of approximately 600,000 physicians. That’s a ratio of one government doctor for every 10,189 people—a far cry from the World Health Organization’s recommended ratio of 1:1,000.
The need for qualified physicians may never have been greater, and American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine—the only international medical school granted “preferred” status by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI)—is proud to play a part in helping solve this shortage, both in India and abroad. Approximately 42 percent of AUA’s students are Indian-Americans or of Indian descent, according to institutional records.
“Out of the international medical schools I have reviewed, AUA’s program is undoubtedly the finest,” said past AAPI President Dr. Narendra R. Kumar. “I am proud to bestow our highest honour upon this institution.” This prestigious designation was granted after an intensive review of the university’s facilities, curriculum, faculty, and graduate outcomes.
AUA was founded in 2004 to address the coming physician shortage and to help under-represented minorities obtain a medical education and become licenced physicians. In partnership with the AAPI, AUA has established the Scholarship for Students of Indian Descent—a financial award granted to students of Indian descent to help offset the costs of a high-quality medical education.
“AAPI has united Indian-American physicians with a common goal – to foster a better healthcare system around the world,” said AUA President Neal Simon. “We are honored to have this coveted distinction associated with our university.”
In addition, AUA has a unique relationship with Manipal University. High school graduates can begin their medical education at Manipal via a premedical program, followed by two years of Basic Sciences at AUA and two years of clinical rotations, in the U.S., India, and Canada.
This year, AUA alumni attained residencies in specialties such as neurology, pathology, and anesthesiology, in addition to primary care disciplines like internal medicine, paediatrics, and family medicine. In 2018, 91 percent of first-time eligible graduates secured a residency position—one of the strongest residency attainment rates in AUA’s history. The Class of 2019 joins a growing alumni network of 2,600+ graduates worldwide.
About American University of Antigua College of Medicine
American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine is a fully accredited international medical school dedicated to providing an academic experience of the highest quality. Via a holistic admissions approach, AUA selects students with the potential for medical school success and provides them with the resources they need to earn highly competitive residencies and move on to successful careers in medicine.
AUA awards the Doctor of Medicine degree after students complete a two-year Basic Science curriculum on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean, followed by clinical rotations in the United States, Canada, India, or the United Kingdom at affiliated teaching hospitals.
Harvard Business School (HBS) and Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) announced a new joint master’s degree program that aims to prepare future leaders at the interface of life sciences and business.
The two-year, full-time program begins in August 2020 and will confer both a Master of Business Administration from HBS and a Master of Science from GSAS, through Harvard’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (HSCRB).
The new MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences Program equips students with approaches to the science and medical aspects of entrepreneurial activities and will empower them to build organizations with the potential to transform human health. The curriculum emphasizes an understanding of effective, sustainable structures for discovery and development, the ethical implications of new therapeutics, and equitable access to the fruits of therapeutic discovery.
“The world needs more leaders able to bridge science and business,” said HBS Dean Nitin Nohria. “We aim to provide graduates of this new program with tools to understand the most modern biomedical science issues, as well as knowledge of scientific methodologies and timeframes, so they can be effective leaders in this domain.”
Students in the program will receive life-science training in HSCRB, a joint department between Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Medical School.
“This is a collaborative effort from several schools across Harvard to fill a unique need we see in the industry,” said Emma Dench, dean of GSAS. “Currently there is no systematic educational approach to train leaders in this field but students yearn for an opportunity to become conversant in biomedical science and business together. Nearly half of HSCRB graduates are now entering careers in biotech/pharma, biomedical consulting, and finance. We want to prepare them to be leaders in these fields, while helping others that may gravitate towards leadership roles in government and non-profits involved in the life sciences.”
The Master of Science degree component is led by world-renowned Harvard scientists and clinicians who have extensive biotechnology and pharmaceutical experience. They will give students distilled, focused exposure to a wide range of modern science and show them potential ways to deploy their learnings strategically for the discovery of novel therapeutics.
The MBA component is directed by business school faculty members who are experts in biotechnology leadership, financing, and social ramifications. The seamless integration of all these elements will prepare students for leadership in the biotechnology-related arena in a manner that is not currently available through traditional programs.
MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences students will complete their degree requirements over two years, augmented by coursework during August at the beginning of the program and during both January terms. Students will have the summer available between Year 1 and Year 2 to pursue an internship in the life sciences or biotech space.
The program aims to attract a diverse group of outstanding students who have an undergraduate degree in life sciences or medicine or significant workplace experience in biotechnology or life sciences. Admissions officers will consider students applying with non-STEM undergraduate degrees provided they have substantial background preparation in the life sciences. This may include advanced coursework in the biological sciences or independent laboratory experience. These admission requirements will be in addition to those of the HBS MBA Program.
“Strong candidates will combine a passion for life science and a determination to build sustainable business models around the science,” said Chad Losee, Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at HBS. “They seek to drive impact at the interface of biological science and society to effect the greatest health outcomes.”
This is the second joint MS/MBA degree program Harvard has offered, following the inaugural MS/MBA launched in 2017 from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), GSAS, and HBS, which confers both a Master of Science in Engineering Sciences and a Master of Business Administration.
Key facts about the program:
In its first year, the program will be highly selective, with a cohort of 7-10 students.
The first MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences cohort will matriculate in August 2020.
Applicants must meet HBS MBA Program admission requirements.
Applicants with non-STEM undergraduate degrees must have substantial background preparation in the life sciences (i.e. advanced coursework or independent laboratory experience).
Candidates can apply in either Round 1 (September 4, 2019) or Round 2 (January 6, 2020).
HBS and GSAS will release admissions decisions in mid-December (Round 1) and March (Round 2).
Interested students can receive updates on the program by indicating their interest through the HBS admissions website.
“Teach kids coding and logic and problem-solving in a fun environment”
Naperville IL: You already know that your kids understand computers better than you, but did you know they can write computer code too?
Say the words “video game” and kids are bound to stop and listen. At Code Ninjas, they are coding and building their own games.
Code Ninjas in Naperville celebrated its Grand Opening at 1305 S Naper Blvd. in Naperville, IL. on Saturday, June 1, 2019. It was packed with kids from ages 7 to 14. New faces and current enrolled families joined to celebrate this location’s official opening. It is one of over 300 locations across the country.
The mission of Code Ninjas is to teach kids coding and logic and problem-solving in a fun environment. Kids who sign up for membership are ninjas. The coaches are sensei’s. And the classroom is their dojo.
As ninjas progress, they earn belts, just like they do in martial arts. The program is fun and motivating for kids with little wins along the way. When they advance to the next belt there is a “Belt-Up” celebration! By the time kids are a black belt (the last belt), perhaps four years down the road, they have all the knowledge needed to publish their own app.
Two sisters I met that are enrolled were excited to share that by the end of the first day in the dojo they were able to complete a multitude of games.
“Honestly, I wish I had this,” says a parent. “It’s intimidating looking at all the lines of code.”
Code Ninjas has other fun and engaging methods to teach kids about all different kinds of coding. The day I was there, a sensei was demonstrating how some coding was used to fly a drone around the room, to the delight of kids. Code Ninjas offers camps during school breaks where kids engage in topics different from curriculum.
The Naperville location is owned and operated by Kalyan Anandula and Preethi Kundoor. With a background in technology and application development, they were looking for STEM related activities for their own children and found that Code Ninjas offered the perfect environment for learning in a fun environment with other students who have the same interest.
“I always felt that if I had a better understanding of coding or STEM, it would have helped me in my corporate career, even as a business professional,” Kalyan says.
Code Ninjas is essentially an after-school STEM program. Ninjas can drop in from 4 to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10:00 to 2:00 p.m. on weekends. They also can join summer camps.
“We don’t want kids to come here feeling like this is a class,” Kalyan says. “They’re here to build video games and have fun. We disguise the curriculum.” Code Ninjas accomplishes this with a consistent game-based curriculum developed within nine belts. Membership includes a portal for parents where you can see what games your child is building and track their progress — or you can play the game they built yourselves.
A future career in coding could happen for any child who walks through the doors of a Code Ninjas location. Code Ninjas, though, is not just for kids who want to pursue STEM careers, Preethi emphasizes.
“Our mission is to expose kids to STEM and coding, so those two words aren’t intimidating anymore,” she says. “We hope that kids can make informed decisions when they choose their majors in college. The logic and problem-solving skills gained from our curriculum are helpful for various career paths.”
I spoke with the Center Director and local educator Lori Gehrke. She is excited to see so many children come into the center who are interested in gaining exposure to coding at such as young age. “We are providing children with skills that will help them gain access to jobs that currently do not exist, but with a foundation in coding and the critical thinking skills, they will be prepared for anything that comes their way in the future.”
Coding is important to help kids learn the critical skills that they need for their success. Code Ninjas Naperville provides the atmosphere of fun and learning with parents seeing results. For more information about the Code Ninjas Naperville location, please visit codeninjas.com/locations/il-naperville or call 630-300-3636 to schedule a center tour
Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Virtusa Corporation organized the grand finale of the Second Edition of Carbon Zero Challenge, an All-India innovation and entrepreneurship contest, on campus today (7th June 2019). Its objective is to identify and curate practical innovative and indigenous solutions with a sound business case at scale to solve energy and environmental problems in India.
The challenge aims to create a global impact by combining three powerful factors of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Energy and Environment and Youth to protect future generations. The winners were announced on June 07, 2019 during the Grand Finale.
Circular Economy Domain: A self-sustained integrated closed cycle coconut shell activated carbon production process by Pristine Energia, a student team from IIT Madras (Members: Muthu Kumar K, Syed Mughees Ali, Mentors: Prof. Varunkumar S, Thileepan Panchatsaram, Dr. Shantha K Shankar)
Electric Vehicle Domain: Electric powertrain solutions for E-commerce logistics by Clean Electric, a startup from IIT-BHU Varanasi (Team Members: Akash Gupta, Praveen Kumar Yadav, Mentor: Laltu Chandra, SK Sharma, KS Ramanujan)
Clean Energy Domain: A tubular PEM Fuel Cell that is open-cathode and air-breathing, developed by Elicius Energy, an IIT Madras-incubated startup (Team Members: Sam Pearn-Rowe, Suseendiran Ravichandran, Amit Bhosale, Rishaban Radhakrishnan, Niyas Attashery; Mentor: Prof. Raghunathan Rengaswamy)
Two projects received a special mention from the Jury
1. Agriculature Domain: An agricultural dehydrator to increase the shelf life of fruits, vegetables and spices by Carpro Technologies, a startup from Coimbatore (Member: Uthayakumar. K., Surendran. PB, Mentor: Sriram Sankaran)
2. Electric Vehicle Domain: an Electric Kick Scooter by IngoElectric, a startup from Bengaluru (Team members: Nikhil Gonsalves, Manjunath Panthangi, Anirudh SC, Kartik KV and Mentor Philip Mathias)
Sending a message for this occasion, Shambhu Kallolikar IAS, Principal Secretary to TN Government, Environment and Forests Department, said, “Innovations can bring about a paradigm shift in tackling energy and environmental challenges by providing affordable, low-carbon, scalable and industry-acceptable solutions. I believe Carbon Zero Challenge contest is a significant step in the right direction in encouraging home-grown technology to solve the nation’s problems.”
Further, Shambhu Kallolikar added, “The Government of Tamil Nadu is keen to encourage startups and innovation in the state and committed to support sustainable solutions. The state will also welcome green entrepreneurs and provide the necessary support for a startup in this sector to grow in Tamil Nadu, creating both solutions to problems and jobs.”
CZeroC19 started with 996 applications from 25 states across India. After a rigorous process of shortlisting by business experts and technical experts, 24 teams were selected. These shortlisted teams received training and mentoring in addition to the financial support of up to Rs.5 lakhs over a period of 6 months to build their prototypes and evolve their business models.
Checking the progress
The progress of the teams were closely monitored throughout the contest with staged fund release, monthly progress reports, and a one-on-one mid-term review by a panel of judges. The contest culminated in a three-day exhibition launched on World environment day, June 5, 2019 during which 21 experts headed by a three member jury panel from industry and academia evaluated the teams
Why is it important?
The challenge is a one-of-its-kind contest and a pioneering initiative by IIT Madras and fully supported by Virtusa Corporation. The program’s uniqueness lies in the fact that it is one-of-its-kind initiative in its category that focuses on the energy and environment technological innovations at a national level and supports the eco-entrepreneurs in the 5 thematic areas.
The larger goal is to foster a sustainable ecosystem wherein clean technology ideas can emerge and develop into long-term solutions.
Speaking on the occasion as Guest of Honor, Sundararajan Narayanan, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, Virtusa Corporation said, “For the second year in a row, we are proud to collaborate with IIT Madras in the Carbon Zero Challenge 2019. Our goal is to promote sustainable opportunities and inspire young entrepreneurs to drive sustainable development. Given this rapid pace of change, Virtusa is aptly positioned in the market to leverage our digital engineering heritage to innovate and help reduce environmental footprint, demonstrate ethical maturity and encourage a cohesive and mutually respectable corporate culture for its workforce.”
Selection process
An expert panel of Screening Committee from the thematic areas and clean technology fields evaluated the initial set of 996 applications and the top 84 teams from all over India were shortlisted for Interviews. The shortlisted 84 teams pitched their project ideas to a Panel of Expert Jury on October 26 and 27, 2018. From this, a total of 24 teams tackling agriculture, environment, energy, water and societal problems were selected to go to the next phase of CZeroC.
Apart from funding support of the order of Rs. 5 lakh per team provided to build prototypes, the shortlisted teams received continued training and mentorship from experts from both India and abroad.
Purpose at large
Launched on June 5, 2018, this 2nd edition of the Cleantech Innovation Contest attracted teams comprising students/early entrepreneurs and/or startups from across 25 states. The name ‘Carbon Zero’ signifies the collective humanitarian goal of minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, providing clean air and water and sustainability. Seeking out innovative solutions to address these is a small step towards achieving this objective.
Take a note!
Prof. Indumathi Nambi, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, and Coordinator Carbon Zero Challenge, said, “A recent report indicates India is the third most polluted country in the world and 600 million people face extreme water crisis. Innovations & entrepreneurship in cleantech domains; water, waste, energy is the need of the hour. Motivating young minds to ideate, innovate, incubate should be the top priority of every academic institute. This is the motto for Carbon Zero Challenge”
The Bee kicked off Tuesday, May 28th with its biggest field ever, and the co-champions bested 557 other contestants ranging in age from 7 to 14 in Thursday night’s prime-time finals. The result was the first time more than two co-champions were named, with winners from five different states.
Seven Indian-origin kids, along with an American, were declared co-champions of the US National Spelling Bee after the tie among the eight couldn’t be broken even after 20 rounds of the finals.
The unprecedented decision to declare eight co-champions was taken Thursday night after the organisers ran out of their selection of difficult words to challenge them further.
The 10-year monopoly of Indian-origin children was finally broken with a non-Indian girl from Alabama, Erin Howard, becoming a co-champion.
They are: Rishik Gandhasri, 13, of California; Erin Howard, 14, of Alabama; Saketh Sundar, 13, of Maryland; Shruthika Padhy, 13, of New Jersey; Sohum Sukhatankar, 13, of Texas; Abhijay Kodali, 12, of Texas; Christopher Serrao, 13, of New Jersey and Rohan Raja, 13, of Texas.
The eight champions were more than great spellers – they were the best. Each will receive the $50,000 prize that is usually reserved for just one champion. After the Bee, the winners said they were pulling for each other in the final round, spelling each word silently from their seats at the side of the stage.
“It feels amazing that I’m here with all these amazing spellers,” Abhijay said after the Bee. ” I’m speechless.”
With each correct response in the 20th and final round, a roar went up from the audience. When the last of the eight surviving finalists, Rohan Raja, spelled his word correctly to assure that all eight were winners, the ballroom shook and confetti rained down on the stage.
“We will soon run out of words that will possibly challenge you,” Jacques Bailly, the Bee’s longtime official pronouncer, said at the end of the 17th round, calling the eight winners “the most phenomenal assemblage of spellers in the history of this storied competition.”
The 94-year-old competition has become increasingly competitive, with contestants training with coaches and some parents paying to bypass the traditional path to qualify for the annual contest, which takes place at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland.
In the past only two co-winners were declared – most recently Indians in 2014, 2015 and 2016 – making the eight this year a record. The national level contest held in a Washington suburb is broadcast nationally on the sports channel ESPN, giving it the aura of a major sports event and a big audience. The contest is sponsored by the media company, EW Scripps.
The groundbreaking finals capped a day of intense competition that began at 10 a.m. with the field of 50 spellers meant to be narrowed to about a dozen finalists by 2 p.m. In a sign of what was to come, the contestants proved more resilient than ever before.
By 3 p.m., the Bee’s organizers resorted to what Shalini Shankar, a professor at Northwestern University, called a “lawn mower” round of extremely hard words intended to winnow the remaining field. It worked, with spellers knocked out by head-spinning words such as Wundtian, coelogyne and yertchuk. Yet other spellers vanquished the likes of huiscoyol, bremsstrahlung and ferraiolone to advance to the finals.
The day’s high drama mirrored the most nerve-racking moments in sports, a point underscored by a video on ESPN’s big screen that juxtaposed Colette Giezentanner successfully inching her way through the word “choledoch” with Kawhi Leonard’s four-bounce game-winner against the Sixers in the NBA playoffs. When the judge uttered “correct,” the audience erupted in cheers.
Much has changed since Bailly himself won the Bee in 1980. The winning words from that bygone era – croissant in 1970, incisor in 1975, luge in 1984 – would make today’s finalists laugh.
Ansun Sujoe, a 2014 co-champion whose sister Hephzibah reached this year’s finals, said that just five years later, he barely recognizes the event. “What I went through at this phase was two rounds and it lasted less than two hours,” he said. “This lasted five hours. It tells you how much smarter these kids are. My sister knew way more words than I do, and I was like, ‘Wow, good job!’”
Experts say many of the contestants who made it to the final 50 have personal coaches and spent practically every waking hour studying in preparation for this moment. The result is an unprecedented field of master spellers.
Another game-changing development is the new invitational program known as “RSVBee,” now in its second year. In the past, spellers reached the national event only by winning a regional bee and securing a sponsor, often a newspaper, to cover expenses. But with the advent of RSVBee, which supplied 292 of this year’s 565 contestants, families who can afford a $1,500 entry fee – plus six nights at the $300-a-night Gaylord and other expenses – can bypass the traditional path to the Bee.
“It’s made the field balloon in an unprecedented way,” said Shankar, who is also the author of “Beeline: What Spelling Bees Reveal About Generation Z’s New Path to Success,” adding that the pay-to-play model may “change the character of the Bee and who gets here.” But she noted that even the kids who compete under the aegis of a sponsor typically have the help of a paid coach, “so it’s rare that you see someone of really humble means making it here anymore.”
Scott Remer, a New York-based tutor and author of a spelling bee textbook, coaches three of the 16 finalists. He said winning the Bee takes more than rote memorization. His students study word roots and how to spell sounds in Latin, Greek, German, Japanese and several other languages.
“A good speller knows a lot of words,” Remer said. “A great speller is able to spell pretty much any word that you throw at them because they’re able to use this process to break the word down and come up with a very well-educated guess.”
The Spelling Bee opens in school and the winners go on to contests at the next levels and those champions go to the national competition, along with some who meet other criterion for selection. The Spelling Bee is open to students in eighth grade and below.
In addition to children from all the 50 US states, students also participate from the Bahamas, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan and South Korea.
Indian Ambassador to the United States Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that there are more than half a million Indian students studying abroad, with USA as the most favored destination.
He said more than two hundred thousand Indian students are currently pursuing their higher studies in the Unites States. UK, Australia, Canada are other choice destinations for Indian students.
Speaking at the Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI), a not for profit organization from India, Mr. Shringla said the Indian education system is vast in size, as well as its academic offerings.
“However, it is important to note that for half a million students studying aboard, there are more than 30 million students pursuing higher education in India. The Indian Education system is the world’s third largest Higher Education System with 907 universities, 43,000 colleges and a capacity of enrolling more than a whopping 30 million students,” Mr. Shringla said his speech. “Higher Education Institutions in India offer courses/degrees that are competitive in the world market in terms of quality but are delivered at one-fourth the cost.”
He said a vibrant and diverse education system means a wide variety of courses are available: from the modern and cutting edge to the traditional.
“Indian education ranges from exposure to the latest advancements of science and technology like Virtual and Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Computing to Yoga, Ayurveda, Sanskrit, languages, and classical music and dances,” said Mr. Shringla. “This vastness of the Indian education system directly translates to enhanced opportunities for its students and global learning for an all-round academic and personal development.”
He said a burgeoning IT and Services sector has led to a robust placement oriented education as about 200 of the Fortune 500 companies hire regularly from Indian campuses. India has been and continues to be home to innovation, creativity and leadership.
“The strength of India’s education system may be gauged from the fact that the world’s leading companies are being led by students of Indian education system,” said Mr. Shringla, giving examples that Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft is an alumni of Manipal Academy of Higher Education; Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google Inc studied at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur; Ajaypal Singh Banga, President and the CEO, MasterCard, is graduate from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University; Rajeev Suri, CEO of Nokia has studied in Manipal Academy of Higher Education; and Indira Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi Co is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
“Some of the leading world leaders and diplomats have graduated from Indian colleges and universities. Aung San Suu Kyi, incumbent state counsellor of Myanmar, Hamid Karzai former President of Afghanistan, William Kwasi Akuffo former Head of the State of Ghana, Olusegun Obasanjo former President of Nigeria, John Samuel Malecela former PM of Tanzania are few examples,” Mr. Shringla said.
Shringla also said that India witnessed its best phase of macro-economic stability in the past five years. “From being the 11th largest economy in the world in 2013-14, we are heading to become fifth largest economy in the world by end of this year. In Purchasing Power Parity terms, today, India is the third largest economy in the World, after China and USA,” Mr. Shringla said. “India is poised to become a Five Trillion Dollar Economy in the next five years and aspires to become a Ten Trillion Dollar Economy in the next 8 years thereafter.
Due to a stable and predictable regulatory regime, growing economy and strong fundamentals, India could attract massive amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the last 5 years – as much as $239 billion. This period also witnessed a rapid liberalisation of the FDI policy, allowing most FDI to come through the automatic route. The last five years also witnessed a wave of next generation structural reforms, which have set the stage for decades of high growth.”
He said India also enjoys a distinct demographic advantage.India’s demographic cycle is about 10-30 years behind that of the other countries, indicating that the next few decades present an opportunity for India to catch up to their per capita income levels.
“India will be the world’s youngest country by 2025 with 985 million people in the workforce. (That is, people in the age group of 15-64 years),” Mr. Shringla said.
Hundreds of thousands of students around the world walked out of their schools and colleges Friday in the latest in a series of strikes urging action to address the climate crisis. According to event organizers Fridays for Future, over 1664 cities across 125 countries registered strike actions, with more expected to report turnouts in the coming days.
The “School Strike for Climate” movement was first started by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who began her strike outside the country’s parliament in Stockholm in August 2018 and has said that she will continue to strike until Sweden is aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Since then, her singular action has spread into an international climate movement, organized by young people around the world. This strike followed the last co-ordinated event on March 15, which saw over 1.6 million people across 133 countries turn out at demonstrations according to organizers.
Thunberg was recently profiled on TIME’s global cover as a Next Generation Leader, along with nine other people shaping the world’s future. “This is not about truancy or civil disobedience, this is about the climate and the ecological crisis, and people need to understand that,” Thunberg told TIME in Stockholm, a couple of weeks ahead of the global strike.
“May 24 is the last chance to affect the E.U. elections. Politicians are talking about the climate and environmental issues more now, but they need more pressure,” she said. Voting across the European Union takes place May 23-26, where the 751 representatives of the European Parliament will be elected by citizens across the continent. Recent polling suggests environmental issues and policies tackling climate change are high on the agenda for voters considering who to elect. The school strike movement has emerged in tandem with other environmental movements worldwide. The British-based direct action group Extinction Rebellion occupied major locations in London for ten days in late April, and their first demand, for the British government to declare a state of “climate emergency,” received approval from parliament on May 1. And in the U.S., the young activists of Sunrise Movement have pushed to transform climate action into a political reality by calling for a Green New Deal, attracting the support of several legislators and 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.
While Thunberg is well-known worldwide, she says it is the strike organizers in each country that she looks up to. “Young people who are in developing countries are sacrificing their education in order to protest against the destruction of their future and world,” she told TIME. “They are the real heroes.” Photos and videos from strikers in the eastern hemisphere started flooding social media in the morning, ranging from Seoul, South Korea to Auckland, New Zealand, and later in the day images of crowds surfaced in European cities such as Berlin and Paris, where organizers say an estimated 23,000 turned out to demonstrate.
Here is a look at some of the places around the world where young people are taking action on May 24.
Thousands of students and young people took part in Friday’s strike marching through the streets of Stockholm. When TIME travelled with Thunberg from London to her hometown in April, she and other young organizers from the Fridays for Future movement were planning and preparing the actions for May 24.
“I’m just going to continue school striking every Friday until Sweden is aligned with the Paris Agreement,” Thunberg told TIME. “It will not take weeks, it will not take months: It will take years, most likely and unfortunately.”
While there’s an acknowledgement that the strikes have placed the climate crisis back on the agenda in Sweden, for Thunberg it is not enough — her focus is on the global carbon emissions, which continue to rise. However, in the nine months since she first started her strike, her cause has galvanized support from a wide cross section of Swedish society, with grandparents and scientists turning out to support the strike on May 24.
India
In Delhi, schoolchildren marched carrying a banner referring to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. In October 2018, the IPCC stated that the impact of a 1.5C increase in global temperatures over pre-industrial levels would “disproportionately affect disadvantaged and vulnerable populations through food insecurity, higher food prices, income losses, lost livelihood opportunities, adverse health impacts, and population displacements”.
For India, which is projected to be the world’s most populous country by 2024, growing inequality and extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods and cyclones put its people particularly at risk
Asian Americans are the fastest-growing major racial or ethnic group in the United States. More than 20 million Asians live in the U.S., and almost all trace their roots to 19 origin groups from East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.
Significant differences exist by income, education and other characteristics among the nation’s largest 19 Asian origin groups. These differences have been central to debates about how much data governments, colleges and other groups should collect about Asian origin groups, and whether it should be used to shape policies.
Here are some key differences between Asian origin groups in the U.S. and how they compare with Asian Americans overall.
1Six origin groups – Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese – accounted for 85% of all Asian Americans as of 2015. These groups together largely shape the overall demographic characteristics of Asian Americans. The remaining 13 origin groups each made up 2% or less of the nation’s Asian population. These groups have a variety of characteristics that can differ greatly from the largest groups.
2About half of Asians in the U.S. ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or more in 2015, a higher share than other races and ethnicities, but this share varies greatly by origin group. Those of Indian, Malaysian or Mongolian origin, for example, were more likely than other Asian origin groups to have at least a bachelor’s degree. By comparison, fewer than 20% of Cambodians, Hmong, Laotians and Bhutanese had a bachelor’s degree or more. Roughly a third of all Americans ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or more.
The differences in educational attainment among origin groups in part reflect the levels of education immigrants bring to the U.S. For example, 72% of U.S. Indians had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2015. Many of them already had a bachelor’s degree when they arrived in the U.S. with a visa for high-skilled workers, such as an H-1B visa. Half of H-1B visas, which require a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, have gone to Indians since 2001.
3Seven-in-ten U.S. Asians ages 5 and older speak English proficiently. Large majorities of Japanese (84%), Filipinos (82%) and Indians (80%) spoke English proficiently in 2015. By contrast, Bhutanese (27%) and Burmese (28%) had some of the lowest rates of English proficiency.
4Income inequality is rising more rapidly among Asian Americans than other racial or ethnic groups, reflecting wide disparities in income among Asian origin groups. Asian households in the U.S. had a median annual income of $73,060 in 2015, higher than the $53,600 among all U.S. households. Only four Asian origin groups had household incomes that exceeded the national median for Asian Americans overall: Indians ($100,000), Filipinos ($80,000) and Sri Lankans and Japanese (both $74,000). By contrast, most of the other 15 origin groups were well below the national median for Asian Americans, including the two with the lowest median household incomes – Nepalese ($43,500) and Burmese ($36,000).
5As with education and income, poverty rates vary widely among Asians in the U.S. Asians overall had a poverty rate of 12.1% in 2015, 3 percentage points lower than the U.S. poverty rate (15.1%). Bhutanese (33.3%) and Burmese (35.0%) had the highest poverty rates among all Asian origin groups – more than twice the national average and more than four times the poverty rates among Filipinos and Indians (both 7.5%).
6Immigrants make up a higher share of some Asian origin groups than others. Among all Asians in the U.S., nearly six-in-ten were foreign born in 2015, significantly larger than the immigrant share among Americans overall (13%) and other racial and ethnic groups that same year.
Some Asian groups arrived as immigrants more recently than others. For instance, 85% of Burmese in the U.S. are foreign born, and many of them arrived as refugees starting in 2007. Eight-in-ten Burmese immigrants (81%) have been in the country for 10 years or less.
But not all U.S. Asian groups have high foreign-born shares. For instance, the first Japanese immigrants came to the U.S. in the 19th century as plantation workers in what is now the state of Hawaii. More recently, fewer Japanese immigrants have arrived to the U.S. compared with other Asian origin groups. This history is reflected in the low share of Japanese Americans who are immigrants (27%). Additionally, among Japanese immigrants, two-thirds (64%) have been in the country for more than 10 years.
7Among Asian immigrants, 58% have become U.S. citizens, though naturalization rates vary widely. Nearly eight-in-ten Hmong and Vietnamese immigrants are U.S. citizens (77% and 75%), the highest shares among U.S. Asian groups. Differences in naturalization rates reflect how long immigrants have lived in the U.S. Large numbers of Vietnamese and Hmong arrived in the U.S. as refugees starting in the 1970s and have had more time to naturalize. By contrast, many Bhutanese have arrived in the U.S. as refugees starting in 2008 (98% of Bhutanese immigrants have been in the U.S. for 10 years or less) and only 6% have naturalized, the lowest share of any group.
For more information on Asians in the U.S., see Pew Research Center’s detailed fact sheets for each national origin group and the methodology for the analysis.
Indian Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty and Deputy Consul General Shatrugna Sinha were hosted by the Connecticut chapter of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO-CT) on May 3rd in Stamford and Norwalk, Connecticut. Arriving at 2.30 p.m.. Consul General Chakravorty called on to Stamford Mayor David Martin at the Govt. Center in Stamford, along with GOPIO-CT President Anita Bhat, Past Presidents Shailesh Naik and Shelly Nichani and Treasurer Biru Sharma. Later in the afternoon, both called on to Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling along with GOPIO-CT officials and Norwalk’s Indian community leaders including Raj Misra and Anna Duleep as well as representatives of Norwalk’s Sikh Gurudwara.
The discussions were very cordial with both mayors and there were agreements on many new initiatives. Consul General Chakravorty very graciously offered to send various artists and performers from India visiting the USA to come and do shows in both the cities Stamford and Norwalk. Both the Mayors offered full help and cooperation to facilitate such performances. Both mayors and the Consul General are interested in student exchange programs and the Consul General will further work in the same.
Most importantly the Consul General made an offer to the Norwalk Mayor Rilling and the Sikh community to hold a grand 550th Anniversary of Guru Nanakjis birth anniversary. He will contact some eminent academician to come and give a talk on the life of the Guru. This was a major accomplishment and a tribute to our Sikh community. Mayor Rilling offered his full support. GOPIO-CT also proposed an India section at the Norwalk public Library which Mayor Rilling agreed and the Consul General has offered to provide books.
On the economic front, both mayors would like to invite Indian companies to consider Stamford and Norwalk to open their US destination. In this regard, Stamford Mayor Martin will take assistance from the Indian Consulate to invite Indian companies to business expo and investment seminars in Stamford. GOPIO-CT will facilitate such efforts.
Consul General Chakravorty also had a very good discussion with Congressman Jim Himes who is a leading member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Congressman Himes is very supportive of India’s interests and values. CG Chakravorty also had a very informative discussion with Connecticut State Senator Bob Duff, the Majority Leader in Conn. Senate.
In the evening a reception was held at Hampton Inn for the many leaders of Indian diaspora in Connecticut to meet and greet Consul General Chakravorty and Deputy Consul General Sinha. GOPIO-CT President Anita Bhat welcomed the guests. GOPIO-CT Treasurer Biru Sharma moderated the session. Connecticut House Representative Matt Blumenthal, who represents Stamford, also joined the dinner meeting. Rep. Blumenthal was very appreciative of the contribution by the Indian American community in Connecticut.
Consul General Chakravorty gave a very descriptive talk on the election in India and how the country is a well-established democracy. A Q&A session followed where the participants asked questions and expressed their concerns. A donation of $2000 was made to Future 5, an organization in Stamford that takes underprivileged students from local high schools and tutor them in the hours after school.
Indian American Rep. Ami Bera (D.-Calif.) has called to institutionalize the U.S.-India strategic partnership across various sectors, vowing to bring in legislation to bring the tow nations closer than ever before. Bera, 53, predicted that this legislation, once enacted, would make India as much an ally of the U.S. as are its NATO partners and other close allies such as Japan and South Korea.
Speaking at the Capitol Hill 2019 Spring Conference of the U.S.-India Friendship Council last month, he said the legislation would “codify the importance of the U.S.-India partnership,” and while acknowledging that some of the aspects of the pending legislation “exists in other places, we’d like to incorporate language about the U.S.-India Enhanced Cooperation Act, which already exists, but put it into a comprehensive bill that will put India on a par with other major allies.”
Bera pointed out that necessarily anchoring this comprehensive legislation would be the growing U.S.-India defense and military partnership, which has grown to be the crown jewels of the strategic partnership between the two countries, which has led to “us increasingly recognizing India as a strategic partner.”
He said in the legislation, “We would look at how we can work with India to develop technologies like artificial intelligence, etc., so that you can get Indian companies and U.S. companies working together in a strategic fashion.
“We’d like to authorize the DOD (Department of Defense) to assist India reducing purchases from countries we may mutually view as adversaries and certainly those we view as adversaries,” Bera said, and added, “and we’d also like to assist India to increase its own capacity in self-defense.”
He also said that “we’d require the Department of Defense to conduct regular military engagements and dialogues with India, particularly in the western Indian Ocean region, where we already recognize India as having a vital role in protecting the Indian Ocean and keeping those lanes of commerce open.
“We see that partnership as critical and we already conduct major naval and defense exercises,” with India, he said.
Bera said that this comprehensive legislation would also push for the State Department to “advance India’s membership into APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum because we believe this is an important vehicle by which India can continue to seek its free and open trade across Asia.
“We also think it’s important to authorize and work with India in partnership to help advance and promote aid in third nations, and the countries in Africa is an example,” he said.
Bera pointed out that “India has much deeper and older relationships with Africa, and our understanding is that we can work together with USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) and other partners with India and go into those third developing countries — that could be a critical partnership for both countries.”
He also said another vital sector that he would like to see institutionalized would be in the education sector because already, each year, we know that hundreds of thousand of Indian students come to the U.S. to study.”
Bera said by the same token, “It will be in our interest to foster this partnership — where more American students go and study in India. “And, again, these planks would continue to move the U.S.-India partnership forward together,” and help institutionalize it, he added.
Bera said that “as we introduce this legislation, we would be looking to the U.S.-India Friendship Council and other organizations to help work with us as we move this legislation forward. “We still believe that the U.S.-India relationship can be that defining relationship in the 21st century and certainly a strategic relationship,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), in this remarks, lauded Swadesh Chatterjee, the founder and chair of the Friendship Council for “your incredible guidance and mentorship over the years.
“You have been a trail-blazer for the Indian-American community, when it was hard to get appointments with (Congressional) staff assistants, let alone getting members of Congress elected,” he said, turning to Chatterjee.
Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, continued that “that kind of dedication is something that I’ve never forgotten in terms of the commitment that people like Swadesh have shown and we’ve grown on the sacrifices that people like you’ve made.”
He recalled that it “took people like Swadesh and Ramesh Kapur, who were willing to speak out of turn, who were willing to chase down members of Congress down the hallways, just trying to get a word in. They refused to be passive observers of democracy, but were willing to get into people’s faces in Congress to move forward.”
Khanna continued, “I’ve always believed that their generation and the sacrifices that they’ve made for this country and the community, will always be far more than my generation.”
He said that thanks to this older generation, “Our generation was handed a lot of good opportunities in life — good families, good education, and it’s never lost on me how many people have paved the way for our being able to be in public service.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D.-Ill.), speaking at the evening reception, pointed out to the scores of political and community activists who were on hand spanning three generations, that it was the U.S.-India Friendship Council led by Chatterjee and a handful of other community leaders who were catalytic in lobbying the Congress to pass the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement in 2008, which was a transformational moment in the history of the relationship between Washington and New Delhi.
He said that “really showed the Indian-American community coming of age in terms of building those bridges between the U.S. and India that will last.”
Krishnamoorthi also made a strong pitch for more members of the Indian-American community to run for public office, including the U.S. Congress and help swell the ‘Samosa Caucus,’ of four Indian- American lawmakers in the House.
“If you dream it, you can do it,” he said, and added, “The fact that a guy like me with 31 letters in his name that 99 percent of my constituents cannot pronounce is testament to the greatness of this country and the fact that anyone can do anything they want to do in this country.”
On Saturday, April 20, 2019, more than 900 guests attended the annual Houston gala, which commemorated 20 years of Pratham’s presence in the US. Held at the Hilton Americas, the event raised $4.5 million—the largest amount ever by a local Indian-American charity—to support our education programs.
The enormous impact we’ve made on the education sector in India was reflected in the evening’s program. A touching video tribute to gala honoree Vijay Goradia, who established Pratham USA in 1999 after visiting a small preschool in the slums of Mumbai, was followed by an insightful conversation between Goradia and Pratham co-founder and president Dr. Madhav Chavan, a former University of Houston professor.
“Like I would bet on an established company over a startup, by investing in an NGO like Pratham, I am investing in the future of tens of millions of children,” explained Goradia, who pledged $1 million at the benefit. “It has a proven track record, continues to be well managed and grow.”
Local luminaries and gala underwriters Bimla and Swatantra Jain, who were also recognized for their longstanding commitment to education, made a commitment of $1 million to support the construction of a vocational training center in North India.
“This is our city’s 20th annual gala, and every year we see an increase in participation and
Celebrity guest Anil Kapoor was visibly moved by the tremendous show of support. “It’s a privilege, it’s an honor, it’s an emotional moment for me to be here listening, observing, absorbing emotionally the kind of work Pratham has done for 20 years!” exclaimed the Bollywood superstar. “I’m feeling really very small compared to all of you and all the people who have done so much for such a noble cause and for such a great organization. It proves that Pratham is one of the world’s best organizations.”
“It’s an easy sell,” explained Joe Patterson, senior vice president of Bank of America, who has been part of the Pratham family for close to two decades. “The efficiency of what Pratham does for really small dollars, what it can achieve in these villages and the way it pulls together the Houston community is very powerful.”
Among the many prominent community leaders and philanthropists in attendance were Dr. Anupam Ray (consul general of India), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Illinois congressman), Andrea and Bill White (former mayor of Houston), and Anne and Albert Chao.
The event, hosted by mistress of ceremonies Nicole O’Brian Lassiter, featured an inspirational speech from Ali Dhanani, who supports a Pratham vocational training center in Hyderabad; a heartfelt message from Pratham beneficiary Mamta Dawar; and lively entertainment from the dance group Rhythm India as well as a fashion show by leading Indian designer Anita Dongre presented by Raaz.
The evening’s success would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of gala co-chairs Peggy and Avinash Ahuja, Indrani and Hemant Goradia, and Shital and Bhavesh Patel and the generous support of sponsors, including Wells Fargo, Ascend Performance Materials, Packwell, Amegy Bank of Texas, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Family Office Services, and PKF of Texas, all of which have been supporting Pratham’s transformative work for a decade.
Dr. Durga D. Agrawal, a longtime Houston resident, is well known for giving back to the community particularly to his alma mater – the University of Houston. One 26th April 2019, the University recognized his sizable and generous gift by renaming the Engineering building as the Durga D. and Sushila Agrawal Engineering Research Building. A floor is also named after the couple and the gift will provide ongoing support for faculty, students, research and building operations.
Chancellor Renu Khator, Consul General of India Dr. Anupam Ray, members of the Indian community, students, faculty, Dr. Agrawal’s children, grandchildren and colleagues were present at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
In his remarks, Dr. Agrawal credited several people for his success. He expressed his admiration and respect for his professors at UH like Dr. Rhodes (who was present at the ceremony), Dr. Donaghey, Dr. Dawkins and Dr. Elrod who “put their heart and soul” into teaching students including some like him who had trouble understanding both the language and the American accent. He traced his values of compassion, giving back and respect for education to his parents and acknowledged his wife Sushila’s support and patience without which, he said, he would not have completed his doctorate or built his business.
UH, he concluded, “has a very special place in my heart. We must keep the torch of knowledge, excellence and innovation growing and glowing.”
Chancellor Dr. Renu Khator tweeted: “Today, we named the new Engineering building after Dr. and Mrs. Durga Agrawal, our alum and regent to celebrate their generosity. Your gift will inspire our students and alumni for many generations! Thank you.
Over the years, Dr. Agrawal, who is 74, has been providing endowments, scholarships and internships for UH students. In 2013, he was named a member of the UH System Board of Regents by Texas Governor Rick Perry. He hopes his contributions “will encourage additional donors and attract high-caliber students, especially since many UH students are from the Houston area and will most likely stay here upon graduation to pursue their careers.”
The building today bears no resemblance to the one Dr. Durga studied in but has been rebuilt on the same piece of land. UH’s engineering college boasts of more than 4,200 students, including over 1,150 graduate students, enrolled in 10 engineering disciplines, as well as several interdisciplinary graduate programs.
Dr. Agrawal’s kindness and generosity isn’t limited to giving donations but also comes across in small gestures. When Houston was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey, Dr. Agrawal and members of his family showed up at the campus with vans to transport stranded students to other locations and even took many home.
His deep seated value for education probably stems from his own early struggles for educational opportunities. He was born in Lakhanpur, a small village in Madhya Pradesh in India with a population of 700. The village did not have a water supply system, electricity or high school which meant that he had to cycle or sometimes even walk to the high school 13 miles away. He was also the bookkeeper for his father’s prosperous business from the time he was in elementary school and reveals that “when you work in the family business, you learn a lot.”
Encouraged by his parents, he attended one of the best engineering schools in India, IIT, New Delhi. In 1968, he came to Houston to pursue his Masters in Industrial engineering and in 1974 added a Doctorate to his resume, both from the UH Cullen College of Engineering. He attributes his present success to the two institutions equally and gives back unstintingly to both. As he says “giving back to the community is important and there’s no other field where money invested gives back more returns than education.”
In 1975, Dr. Durga put his entrepreneurship skills to the test by building his company Piping Technology and Products from scratch, out of his garage. The company is today one of the leading providers of pipes for industrial and construction needs and employs over a 1000 people.
Dr. Agrawal also earns high marks for his spirit of community service. He was the first major donor and Founding president of India House, a community center that offers free services and community programs. As the founder and first President of the Indo American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, he has been part of many delegations to promote trade and the exchange of educational and medical resources between Houston and India. No stranger to high ranking elected officials, he was once introduced by President George Bush as “my good friend from Texas” at a State Dinner for Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Capitol Hill.
A regular practitioner of yoga, Dr. Agrawal is a key contributor to the S-Vyasa Yoga Center that was recently inaugurated in Houston.
TiE Boston, one of the region’s largest and oldest organizations supporting the Massachusetts entrepreneurial ecosystem and connecting entrepreneurs, executives and venture capitalists, announced today the four keynote speakers who will feature at its annual conference, TiECON East. The day-long conference will be held on May 7, 2019 at the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel in Boston and will feature artificial intelligence and digital health as central themes.
The four keynote speakers spanning morning to evening sessions are: legendary investor, founder and CEO of Breyer Capital Jim Breyer, Kronos CEO and author Aron Ain, Veracode CEO Sam King and Seema Kumar, Vice President of Innovation, Global Health and Policy Communication at Johnson & Johnson.
“We are very excited that four giants of the new economy have joined TiECon East 2019 as keynote speakers,” said TiECON Chair Sanjay Jain. “In addition, we will have about 40 speakers who are experts in their fields. TiECON East will give you the facts and knowledge that you need to make vital business decisions.”
Breyer, who has led investments in household names including Facebook, Didi, Spotify and Etsy, will talk about his new focus on AI-driven companies. His recent investment, Boston-based AI fintech startup Kensho, was acquired by S&P Global for $550 million.
Interviewing Breyer will be another VC heavy-weight and author, Hemant Taneja of General Catalyst. Taneja, whose investments include Snapchat and Stripe, recently authored “Unscaled: How AI and a New Generation of Upstarts are Creating the Economy of the Future”. The conference’s AI & Robotics track will feature several Boston-based leader and unicorn companies including Teradyne, DataRobot, RapidMiner and Cambridge Mobile Telematics.
Ain, CEO of Lowell-based software giant Kronos, will be another prominent keynote. Under his leadership, Kronos has grown to a stunning $1.4 billion in revenue, while creating an exemplary work culture. In 2018, Kronos topped Boston Globe’s “Best Places to Work” list. Mr. Ain, who recently published “WorkInspired: How to Build an Organization Where Everyone Loves to Work” will discuss how company culture is central to building an enduring business.
The third keynote speaker is Sam King, CEO of Boston-based cybersecurity giant Veracode and a recognized expert in cybersecurity, the emerging practice of DevSecOps and business management. As a founding member of the Veracode team, Sam helped lead the establishment and growth of the application security category working with industry experts and analysts. In addition to security and technology, Sam is also passionate about developing leaders and creating positive work environments that foster creativity and personal growth.
The final keynote speaker is Seema Kumar, Vice President of Innovation, Global Health and Policy Communication at Johnson & Johnson. From acquiring robotics startup Auris for $3.4 billion, launching JLAB incubators in 13 global locations, to investing through JJDC, Johnson & Johnson is a player to reckon with in Digital Health. Ms. Kumar will walk the audience through JNJ’s major push in entrepreneurship globally.
In addition to AI, digital health will be another prominent theme at TiECON East 2019.
Leaders from Veritas Genetics, IBM Watson, Amazon, Virtusa and John Halamka of BIDMC, amongst others, will discuss how new entrants like Amazon, technologies like big data and AI, and upstart companies are rapidly changing healthcare as we know it.
“No other conference in Boston comes close to the quality of speakers and depth of discussion than TiECON East. This is because our conference is put together by domain experts – our members who are founders and executives of leading companies in their fields,” said TiE Boston President Nilanjana Bhowmik. “As a not-for-profit, we keep ticket prices low to make such a high-quality event accessible to a broad range of attendees including engineers, founders, and executives in tech and health care.”
Sanjay Raman, associate vice president for the Virginia Tech National Capital Region and president and CEO of the Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation, has been named the new dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The announcement was made by John J. McCarthy, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. Raman begins his new duties at UMass Amherst in August.
McCarthy said, “I’m delighted to welcome Sanjay Raman as our next dean of the College of Engineering. He possesses an outstanding combination of skills in academic leadership, research and development, and collaborating with colleagues across academia, industry and government. We look forward to drawing upon his rich experience in establishing collaborations within and outside the university.”
Raman succeeds Timothy J. Anderson who served as UMass Amherst’s dean of the College of Engineering from 2013-18. Anderson is a Distinguished Professor in chemical engineering and remains on the faculty.
At Virginia Tech, Raman is a tenured full professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering based at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington, Va. From 1998-2009, he was assigned to the Virginia Tech main campus in Blacksburg.
As the associate vice president (AVP) for the Virginia Tech National Capital Region (NCR), Raman is responsible for planning and executing region-wide initiatives to enhance the university’s research, education, and outreach missions, focusing on cross-cutting themes of data and decision science, integrated security, intelligent infrastructure, global systems science, policy, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Since July 2016, he has also served as the president and CEO of the Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation, a 501(c)(3) university affiliated research organization whose mission is to deliver analytic and technology solutions to the university’s government and non-government customers, extending the brand and impact of the Virginia Tech Research and Innovation enterprise.
From 2007-13, Raman served as a program manager in the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), on loan from the university under Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignments. He is also a graduate of the Virginia Tech Executive Development Institute.
Raman earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1998 and joined the ECE faculty at Virginia Tech. Prior to his doctoral studies at the University of Michigan, Raman served as a nuclear-trained submarine officer in the U.S. Navy from 1987-92. He earned a bachelor’s of electrical engineering degree, with highest honors, from Georgia Tech in 1987.
Raman is a founding member of the Virginia Tech Multifunctional Integrated Circuits and Systems (MICS) group, focused on innovative research in analog, mixed-signal, and RF/microwave/mm-wave IC designs, optoelectronics, and RF interfaces. Raman is an Elected Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for leadership in adaptive microwave and millimeter-wave integrated circuits. He is also an elected member of the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society.
April 22 is Earth Day, an annual event that highlights environmental concerns and encourages civic action. This year’s Earth Day comes amid widespread global concern about climate change. The way people perceive and respond to climate changes depends on one’s ideology, location, income and education, among the many other factors.
A 2018 Pew Research Center survey on how people evaluate eight potential threats, as well as other polls conducted by the Center, has some surprising conclusions.
Majorities in most surveyed countries say global climate change is a major threat to their nation. In fact, it’s seen as the top threat in 13 of 26 surveyed countries, more than any other issue the survey asked about. People in Greece express very high levels of concern, with 90% labeling climate change a major threat (similar to the 88% there who cite the condition of the global economy). People in South Korea, France, Spain and Mexico also express strong concerns. Eight-in-ten or more in each of these countries say climate change is a major threat.
Americans are less likely to be concerned about climate change, with 59% seeing it as a serious threat. About as many people in the United States cite climate change as point to ISIS (62%) and North Korea’s nuclear program (58%). Americans most frequently cite cyberattacks as a major threat. People in Russia (43%), Nigeria (41%) and Israel (38%) are the least likely to say climate change is a major threat to their nation.
Substantial shares see climate change as a minor threat or not a threat at all. Not all people in the surveyed countries consider climate change to be a major threat. A median of 20% across these countries consider global warming a minor threat, while 9% say it is not a threat. About half or more in Israel and Russia say global climate change is a minor threat or not a threat (58% and 51%, respectively). In the U.S., roughly a quarter (23%) believe climate change is a minor threat, while 16% say it is no threat at all.
Concerns about climate change have risen significantly in many countries since 2013. The share of people expressing concern about the threat of climate change around the world has grown since 2013, when Pew Research Center first asked respondents whether they see it as a major threat to their nation. In 2013, a median of 56% in 23 countries said climate change was a major threat; in the Center’s most recent Global Attitudes survey, a median of 67% in the same countries hold this view. And in 10 countries, the share of people who see global warming as a major threat has grown by at least 10 percentage points. For example, 83% of people in France say this, up from 54% in in 2013, an increase of 29 points. Mexico has seen a similar increase, from 52% to 80%, or 28 points.
Americans have also grown more concerned about climate change, even if their overall level of concern is lower than in some other countries. Nearly six-in-ten Americans see climate change as a major threat (59%), up 19 points from 2013.
People with more education tend to be more concerned about climate change; in some countries, women and younger people are also more concerned. Education, gender and age are related to evaluations of climate change as a threat. In most countries surveyed, those with higher levels of education are more likely than those with less education to see climate change as a serious threat. For instance, Hungarians with a postsecondary or higher education are 11 percentage points more likely than their less-educated counterparts to say that climate change is a major threat. Women are more likely than men to be concerned about climate change in nine of the 26 surveyed countries. In Canada, for example, 72% of women consider climate change a major threat, compared with 59% of men. Age is also associated with views of climate change in some countries. In the U.S., 71% of those ages 18 to 29 say climate change is a threat, compared with half of Americans 50 and older.
In the U.S., there’s a wide partisan gap about climate change.Among American adults, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are less likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to express concern about climate change. Roughly a quarter (27%) of Republicans say climate change is a major threat, compared with more than three-quarters of Democrats (83%) – a 56 percentage point difference. Democrats have also grown more worried about climate change since the question was first asked five years ago, while Republican opinions on climate have remained roughly the same. This trend is consistent with wide and growing political divides among Americans on a range of beliefs about climate issues.
The Indian embassy in Washington issued an advisory urging students hoping to study in the United States to go beyond the usual checks to ensure they were not applying to “fake” universities that law enforcement agencies here have set up in the past to “trap” immigration frauds suspects.
The Indian embassy in Washington issued an advisory Wednesday urging students hoping to study in the United States to go beyond the usual checks to ensure they were not applying to “fake” universities that law enforcement agencies here have set up in the past to “trap” immigration frauds suspects.
“In order to ensure that Indian students do not fall into such “traps”, it is advised that due diligence be exercised while seeking admission in US Universities,” said the embassy advisory.
“The fact that a University is duly accredited by relevant US authorities such as its inclusion in the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVIS), is not an assurance in itself about the bonafides of a University”.
The alert comes in the wake of, and the the advisory mentions them, US authorities apprehending hundred of Indian students enrolled at Farmington University in Michigan, a “fake” university set up by immigration enforcement agencies to ensnare recruiters and students in what was described as a “pay-to-stay” scheme. People enroll only to either stay in the US or extend their stay without any intention of studying, US enforcement agencies have alleged.
The other such institution was University of Northern New Jersey, which was used for the same purpose.
Indian students enrolled in these universities were apprehended and many were deported. They later claimed that they had taken these universities for real, paid their fees and had every intention to study.
“In order to ensure that Indian students do not fall into such “traps”, it is advised that due diligence be exercised while seeking admission in US Universities,” the embassy said.
The mission issued a checklist of steps students could take to ensure they were not duped.
Check if the university function from a campus or merely maintains a website and has administrative premises only? Does it have a faculty and regular instructors/educators? Does it have a a proper curriculum, hold regular classes and actively implement academic or educational activity?
The US grants 65,000 cap-subjected H-1B work visas to foreign workers hired abroad every year and 20,000 to foreigners in US institutions of higher education.
The H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreigners, which has been subjected to prohibitive scrutiny by the Trump administration, has earned the US $4.9 billion in employer-paid fees since 1999, which paid for more than 90,000 college scholarships and training, according to a new study.
These collections are from the $1,500 processing fee that the government charges employers for every new H-1B or a renewal, the National Foundation for American Policy, a non-partisan think tank, says in the report, and adds that the total rises to $7 billion, by adding $500 in anti-fraud fees.
The US grants 65,000 cap-subjected H-1B work visas to foreign workers hired abroad every year and 20,000 to foreigners in US institutions of higher education. More than 70% of these visas have gone to Indians, hired by US companies such as Google and Facebook, and Indian firms such as TCS and Infosys.
The application process for 2020, which comes with changes, started on Monday and will typically end in a few days given the demand. More than 190,000 applications were received by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that runs the programme, in 2018 (for 2019), and 199,000 in 2017.
“Few people realize that fees for each new H-1B visa holder fund scholarships and job training for Americans,” said Stuart Anderson, a former immigration services official and executive director of the think tank that released its report on Monday.
The report argued that the role of employer-paid H-1B fees has received scant or no attention in the policy debate around immigration so far. “People on all sides of the immigration debate agree that it is beneficial to train and educate more Americans in STEM fields, yet policymakers rarely note that every company-sponsored H-1B petition provides money for training and STEM education,” it said.
This side of the H-1B visas has indeed received no attention. The focus has been on American workers displaced by outsourcing. And the Trump administration has initiated a series of measures to check abuse and fraud of the programme in line with its “Buy American, Hire American” policies.
Since 1999, H-1B fees paid by employers have been used to educate and train Americans in technology-related fields. And based on data obtained from the National Science Foundation, the US department of labour and the USCIS, the report said approximately 87,890 college students enrolled in mathematics, engineering and computer science courses were granted scholarships ranging from one to four years and of up $10,000 a year.
Money from the collections also funded training of more than 1.5 million school students and teachers in STEM-related fields, and an estimated $2.5 billion of the total collections was used by the department of labor to train US workers.
“The H-1B fees have benefited American students and encouraged through teaching and financial support many individuals to enter science and engineering fields,” said the report.
Former head of McKinsey & Company Rajat Gupta, who spent 19 month in a US jail on charges of insider trading, on Wednesday said he would like to work for the reforms in the US criminal justice and prison system.
The management guru said through his experience, he saw the underbelly of US justice system and feels that much needs to be reformed in it.
“There is lot of suffering, lot of unnecessary waste of human capital. There is lot of cruelty and lot of families are destroyed,” said Gupta speaking at the launch of his book “Mind without Fear” at the Indian School of Business (ISB) here.
Gupta, who started many initiatives in education and health, said he had now started thinking about reforms in the criminal justice system as it had a staggering impact.
He said US had the largest number of incarcerated people in the world.
“There are somewhere around 3 million people. If you count them and those who go through the incarceration system again and again and think about their families, it is more than 100 million people impacted by the criminal justice system.
“While I never thought about it before I went through it myself, I have become committed to make a difference in whatever I way I can to reforms in US justice and US prison system,” he said.
Gupta, the driving force behind the ISB, shared his thoughts, his experiences and spoke about his mistakes during a conversation with Founding Dean of ISB, Pramath Raj Sinha and while answering questions from students.
He said he was sent in solitary confinement for no reason. He said people in charge of the prison had unchecked power and they make sure that they kill the spirit of the inmates.
He said he had to spend seven weeks in solitary confinement and it was harsh. According to UN Convention, solitary confinement of than two weeks is a big torture.
Gupta admits that his biggest mistake was to be too busy with too many initiatives. “Although in every situation I was involved in, I could make a positive difference but at the end, it added up to the hell of a lot which means I did not pay attention to many details that I should have and steered clear of something I should have steered clear of,” he said.
Gupta, who rose from being an orphan to an international icon, said he could see many transitions in his career as he never lived in comfort zone. “If you are too much in comfort zone, change it dramatically, get out of the comfort zone. If you get too much into a comfort zone, you get into a rut and you will not be creative and innovative anymore,” he told the students.
About the book title, Gupta said that a mind without fear was an aspiration. “In many instances I took risk without being afraid. Sometimes it failed me as well,” he added.
The South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston, known as SABA GB, celebrated its 15th Anniversary earlier this month. The event was sponsored and held at Sullivan & Worcester, LLP’s Boston office. The evening featured a keynote address from Justice Sabita Singh, an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
Justice Singh is a founding member and the first President of SABA GB. Justice Singh also served as the third president of the South Asian Bar Association of North America.
In her address, Justice Singh reminisced about the early days of the organization when the founding members identified South Asian attorneys through the Massachusetts Lawyers Diary and Manual (i.e. a directory for the approximately 40,000 attorneys in the Commonwealth).
Today, SABA GB has over one hundred active members and supports the development of hundreds of law students and attorneys. Justice Singh remarked on her immense sense of pride in the organization’s growth and the accomplishments of its members since the organization’s humble beginnings.
In addition to Justice Singh’s address, the 2019 SABA GB President Keerthi Sugumaran spoke about her hopes for the organization’s continued growth. She highlighted the success of SABA GB’s mentorship program for South Asian law students and the award-winning Know Your Right’s program for the South Asian community. In addition, she announced new initiatives to support and advance the career development of mid-level attorneys and South Asian women attorneys.
As part of the celebration, SABA GB recognized the contributions of the Advisory Board Members and Former Presidents.
The Advisory Board includes Navjeet Bal, Rachna Balakrishna, Rajeev Balakrishna, Manisha Bhatt, Councilor Mehreen Butt, Aloke Chakravarty, Mark Flemming, Chairwoman Sunila Thomas George, Samia Kirmani, the Honorable Maynard Kirpalani, Ameek Ponda, Annapoorni Sankaran, the Honorable Sabita Singh, and the Honorable Neil K. Sheering.
The Former Presidents include Justice Singh, Annapoorni Sankaran, Samia Kirmani, Natasha Varyani, Sa’adiyah Masoud, Manisha Bhatt, Gauri Punjabi, Hinna Upal, Saraa Basaria and Rashima Shukla. SABA GB sincerely appreciates the tireless efforts of these individuals to grow the organization and to advance the interests of South Asian attorneys and the South Asian community as a whole.
Settling into a new time zone is no joke. The faster you sync your body with a local sunrise, the sooner you’ll be able to sidestep jet lag and fully enjoy your trip (without feeling like you need a coffee close to bedtime or lunch when it’s time for breakfast). But W. Christopher Winter, M.D., president of Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine and author of The Sleep Solution, tells Condé Nast Traveler that in certain circumstances, actively trying to not adjust to a destination’s local time can work in your favor.
Bear with us. Living in your home time zone during a trip often makes sense if you’re flying far away for, say, a short business trip. Of course, you have to consider the purpose of your travels, too. “I think it’s probably less of a threshold of how many days you’re going to be away and more about what your objective is,” says Winter. If you’re in Paris for a conference for 24 hours and you’re speaking at said conference, you likely have to be on, and would benefit from adjusting. But if you’re simply required to attend and face a full week of work when you return home, resisting the urge to adjust to a new time zone could work in your favor. “If you work hard to adjust and then come back, you’ve got to readjust and the first few days you’re back, you’re going to feel kind of rough,” says Winter.
So for quick trips that don’t require you to live like the locals, consider these techniques for staying on your home clock.
Eat meals at the wrong times.
Research finds that when and what you eat can affect your internal biological clock. “No one is going to wake up at 3 a.m. and have breakfast,” admits Winter. But having an earlier breakfast if you travel West or a later one if you’re headed East can help keep things regular. Keep your iPhone on the time at home and try your best to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner close to when you’d be dining at home.
Shy away from sunlight.
If you’re a New Yorker in Europe, commit to room service in a hotel room with the shades drawn. Waiting to see the sun for the first time can trick your body into thinking the sun isn’t rising until later in the day. Dark sunglasses can come in handy, too, says Winter. You might wear them throughout the day, taking them off in the late afternoon when the sun would be rising at home.
Plan around 4 p.m. your time.
Most of us athletically and cognitively peak around 4 p.m. in the time zone our body thinks we’re in, says Winter. “The chemicals that make us feel sleepy have not accumulated enough to make us sleep, so it’s a sweet spot of sorts right in that middle point.”
The longer you stay in a place, the more you’ll adjust to local time, but when you first arrive, “your brain doesn’t know you’ve traveled for some time,” he says. That means if you’re in London for 24 hours traveling from the East coast, a late client dinner could work in your favor (you’ll likely feel your best around 9 p.m). If you’re in Honolulu coming from the East coast, think about breakfast (alertness will likely peak around 10 a.m.).
If you’re a sleep-on-the-plane kind of person, an overnight return flight delivers you directly to your destination where you’ll wake up to natural sunlight and a full day ahead. “I find this helps people fall asleep quickly when they go to bed that night,” says Winter.
A social entrepreneur from India, Neha Upadhyaya, has been selected by Yale University as one of their 2019 ‘World Fellows.’ The Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellows Program enables extraordinary individuals, from across the globe and from diverse disciplines, to increase their capacity to make the world a better place. Each year, the Program selects 16 World Fellows to spend four months together in residence at Yale University to grow intellectually, share knowledge, strengthen skills and expand networks.
“World Fellows are people of character, integrity, energy and talent. They are dynamic, creative, disruptive and innovative. They are selfless leaders who serve, inspire and motivate others. They have demonstrated impact, they are on the rise in their careers, and they are ambitious to grow to their full potential,” say a statement by Yale University.
Established in 2002, the Program now has a network of over 300 World Fellows contributing to their communities in 90 countries, connected to each other and to Yale.
Upadhyaya is a social entrepreneur based in New Delhi. In 2014, she founded GUNA Organics, which provides ethically-sourced organic food products grown by rural female Indian farmers.
GUNA’s vision is to empower these farmers through vertical integration of organic farming and solar technology. Previously her focus was working with children suffering from various health issues including diabetes, autism, and ADHD.
Curious about alternatives to western medicine, she trained at Daylesford Organic School, Wholefood Harmony, and Navdanya Bina Vidyapeeth.
She was the recipient of Future Leaders Connect (2018) and Social Impact India (2017) awarded by the British Council. She has won several prototype grants and awards, including Entrepreneur Excellence award by I.I.T. Delhi (2017), and was awarded a full scholarship to study sustainability and responsible leadership from the Government of Sweden in 2017. With a strong commitment to environmental sustainability, she envisions an inclusive, equitable, and healthy society where men and women support each other in every aspect of life and enjoy their right to realize their full potential.
This year marks the 18th cohort of World Fellows. Apart from Upadhyaya, a total of 21 Indians, including actress Nandita Das and economist and activist Chetna Sinha have been selected as Yale World Fellows since the program started in 2002, according to PTI.
Emma Sky, director of the Maurice R Greenberg World Fellows Program, said the courage, ingenuity and passion of the World Fellows will be an inspiration to all at Yale.
Prestigious educational institutions in India such as the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, Mumbai and Madras, Delhi University, Jawaharlal University and the Indian Institute of Science have been listed among the top hundred in a latest global subject-wise rankings of the universities, reports Hindustan Times.
The ranking has been done by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), which is one of the world’s leading academic ranking agencies. The QS subject-wise lists, which were released on Wednesday (27 February), ranks universities on 48 different subjects ranging from art and design to engineering disciplines.
The ranking is dominated by the institutions from United States and United Kingdom. The US institutions have topped the list 28 times, which is followed by UK institutions dominating on 13 disciplines. Though, none of the Indian institutions could secure top ranks but few of them were featured in the top 100 lists.
According to the report, Delhi University has secured 37 rank in the Development Studies subject while Jawaharlal Nehru University had been ranked in the 51-100 bracket in both sociology as well as history.
IITs Delhi and Mumbai has been placed in the 51-100 bracket when it comes to civil and structural engineering. Both the institutes also figure in the top 100 to study computer science and information systems.
In the electrical and electronic engineering discipline, IITs at Bombay, Delhi and Madras figure among the top hundred while IIT Kanpur and IIT Kharagpur make it to top 150.
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, along with the IIT Bombay is among the top 100 institution to study chemical engineering. They both also figure among top 100 when it comes to studying material sciences.
“My journey with Create Foundation began with my first ever show “Mahatma – Come find the Gandhi in you”. I performed in front of a huge audience at The National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai as a lead dancer for the Show, and from then on there was no stopping me,” says a former student at CREATE Foundation. “Under the Create program, I have grown in self-confidence, grooming, and communication. Create Foundation feels like my second home. I got an opportunity to perform on stage in front of such an elite audience, my own personal green room, my first character role and a chance to meet so many amazing people and actors. I made tons of friends and so many memories.
“People stop me in the street and ask me “Weren’t you the lead dancer in that show?” When such incidents happen, I feel like I’m living the life of a star, not a life of a child from a low income house and of a backward class.
“I still can’t believe I’m in Gujarat for “Roots of Dancing- Season 3” and that too on a scholarship. I want to thank the entire team of Create Foundation and Raёll Padamsee for giving me this opportunity to prove myself.”
The above testimony by a former student at CREATE Foundation summarizes in a nutshell what this Foundation stands for. CREATE foundation was established in loving memory of theatre veteran Pearl Padamsee, as a Charitable Trust in 2002 with the objective of addressing the needs of local communities from mid to low economic sector for soft skill education and empowerment providing them the platform to enhance their communication and soft skills. This improves their chances of employability resulting in a higher salary scale.
PEARL PADAMSEE was a bundle of energy. She was witty without being sarcastic, solemn without being sombre, and human without being preachy and moralistic. If she was not profound, she was not frivolous either. There was no malice, no rancour in her. She was real, despite spending almost all her life in the absurdly unreal.
Many of us who take these opportunities for granted because of our family of origin, where we have been blessed with opportunities to develop the talents and potential, millions of children in India, who are born in poor families lacking resources, care and time to develop such talents. “Going to school daily is a dream for many. And joining an acting school a school for developing skills in leadership, communications, team work, self confidence and self esteem is beyond the reach of hundreds of milli0ns of children. Their talents and skills stay and die with them, because they cannot afford and there is no one to encourage them and giving them an opportunity to develop them.
Raёll Padamsee, Pearl’s daughter was instrumental in founding the CREATE Foundation. Raëll a vibrant, versatile, dynamic, well-known theatre personality. She says “We want to make learning come alive. One of the ways we do this is through this Foundation.”
CREATE foundation works with children and youth from this sector, who strongly desire to achieve their dreams and live an empowered life with dignity and respect. CREATE Foundation provides various creative platforms for self development and life skills. It aims to “CREATE a world that holds equal opportunity for all irrespective of backgrounds and disadvantages. The children go through extensive rehearsals and are trained by the best in the business of creative expertise, be it singing, dancing or acting and are given an equal opportunity to perform. This strengthens their talent providing tremendous exposure and boosts their overall personality and confidence.”
CREATE aims to create a more equal society which is actually great as this foundation is giving opportunity to every child and helping in bringing out their talents – Priti Sonar, 16 years, Salam Bombay. Providing an inclusive world where every child irrespective of their challenges and economic background has access to equal opportunity to become productive members of society, the Foundation provides opportunities to To empower and educate children from marginalized backgrounds with leadership, teamwork, self-confidence and communication skills through the medium of drama and the creative arts.
Sabira Merchant, a Trustee at the Foundation, is India’s finest etiquette trainer. She specializes in transforming youth into savvy personalities. She says “Teaching manners & soft skills to teenagers gives them the extra edge to excel at interviews and lands them better jobs to function and succeed as adults.”
Raёll says, the result s of their programs are seen in an impressive impact study conducted by Sattva Consultancy Pvt Ltd depicting the improvements before and after the CREATE program. This was conducted with all the stakeholders comprising of children, parents, non-profits and staff.
Where to name a few categories:
Their confidence increased by 57%
Discipline increased by 23%
Team Work increased by 49%
Creative Thinking increased by 40% and
Leadership qualities increased by 49%
CREATE Foundation is urging all those who are committed to make a difference in the lives of poor and marginalized children by: Volunteer – By giving your time to the CREATE Foundation; Donate – By Cheque in favour of Create Foundation – For Wire Transfer & Foreign contributions – please log on to https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/soft-skill-training-for-450-children-for-a-year/ where you get various options to sponsor – The education of a classroom of 30 students or 60 students, As The Create Foundation is a partner at Global Giving, donors who donate are eligible for US(501 (c ) 3 and UK tax benefits (Gift aid) and Spread the word – Refer a friend to contribute to the CREATE foundation.
MIT India Conference 2019, organized by the MIT India team that included the lead Chairs, namely Aditi Shankar, Neil S. Gaikwad, Kritarth Yudhish and lead vice presidents, Amit Kumar, Anchal Goyal, Anupam Jena and many others, was held on Saturday, February 16, 2019.
Several eminent speakers from different fields of life and a large group of audiences that comprised especially of students, young professional and startup entrepreneurs attended the event. Melanie Mala Ghosh, Managing Director, MIT-India & MIT-South Asia, and Prof. S.P. Kothari, the Gordon Y Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance, MIT Sloan School of Management were the advisors of the conference. The theme of the 2019 conference was “India’s Competitive Edge” that aimed at reflecting on what unique factors have allowed India to thrive in science, sports, art, literature, and technology despite fewer resources at its disposal.
After the registration and breakfast activities, in the opening session, the co-chairs addressed the audiences by welcoming them warmly and requesting them to observe a 30 second silence for the Indian soldiers who died in the Pulwama terrorist attack on 14th Feb 2019. They also highlighted the objectives and plans of the conference. Prof Mala Ghosh made her remarks about the MIT India Program and announced awards and honored Professor S.P. Kothari and Shri Vikram Kirloskar for their outstanding contribution to their fields and community.
Opening remarks of conference were made by Prof. S. P. Kothari this episode was followed by his Fireside Chat with Shri. Vikram Kirloskar ’81’. Prof. S. P. Kothari received award for his contributions to student community, faculty, and business enterprises and for building strong partnership between India and MIT. He also shared his forthcoming plans for making contributions in his fields of interest.
Shri. Preetish Nijhawan’s presentation on the Impact of MIT and India on Entrepreneurship was followed by the fireside chat with Shri. Robin Bose. Shri. Nijhawan said that Indians dominate the immigrant’s eco-system in Silicon Valley and startup eco-system is thriving in India. India and Indians have bright future.
For the Session 1: Gearing India for the future through policy and institutions, Dr. Subramanian Swamy joined the session through a video conference and presented his brilliant insight about India’s Economic Positioning in the Global Perspective. He said that India is doing good in many economic, finance, and business areas and suggested some beneficial measures for the government to make a rapid progress in these areas. Prof Kothari moderated and Q&A and emcee Kritarth Yudhish presented the session on schedule and kept the audience engaged.
Smt. Shereen Bhan presented her powerful views on Indian Media: Tussle Between Accountability & Freedom. She said that media should always present its honest stories based on the ground level facts. emcee Aditi Shankar diligently conducted the session along with the Q&A session of Smt. Bhan as well.
In the Session 2: Business frontiers: opportunities and challenges, two eminent businessmen presented their very interesting talks. Shri. Satish Reddy talked about India’s Competitive Edge in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Shri. Reddy spoke about how healthcare industry in India is booming through low-cost discoveries and how they deal with FDA rules, prices of generic drugs and other issues. Shri. Sanjay Mehta spoke about Building Sustainable Businesses for a Healthier Planet. He said that he adheres to the values of his company, its relationship with consumers, customers and the Hindustan Unilever’s community-based programs at large.
The Fireside chat of this session was moderated by Shereen Bhan. Both speakers answered all the questions of the audiences and the moderator very intelligently and honestly. After this, in a brief video conference, Shri. Anil Kumble talked about his personal experiences on being Time on and off the cricket field. He said that he enjoys not only playing and coaching of cricket but also being an engineer, he wanted to accept the new startup opportunity with Microsoft and succeed in this new endeavor.
Both emcees Neil Gaikwad and Kritarth Yudhish showed their smartness at the deportment of this thought stimulating session. Shweta Aprameya and Raju Goteti’s presentations on Introducing New Scholarship to Support Entrepreneurship for Social Impact and TCS-Co-Innovation Network – India Story respectively were very encouraging for the graduate students who are looking for the opportunities for the advancement of their learning and real world experience.
In the Session 3: STEAM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics), Shri. Anupam Kher spoke on, Evolution of Indian Cinema. What’s Next. He talked about not only about evolution Indian Cinema but also about his own evolution as an actor in the Bollywood and Hollywood industries with his all-time humorous style. He answered all the questions of the audiences in a witty and funny manner under Fireside chat with Prof. Kothari. Smt. Arundhati Katju spoke about Strengthening Human Rights: Breaking the Colonial Closet. She talked about various challenges that she faced as an attorney while fighting for the rights of LGBT group in India.
Prof. Priyamvada Natarajan from Yale University presented her very interesting presentation on Deciphering the Invisible Universe. She talked about cosmology, gravitational lensing and black hole physics. Smt. Indrani Medhi Thies spoke on Designing Technologies for Global Social Inclusion. She talked about her primary work at Microsoft Research which has been in the area of User Interfaces for low-literate and novice technology users. She said that her recent work is focusing in the user experience of conversational agents, mainly chatbots. Fireside chats with Smt. Arundhati Katju and Smt. Indrani Medhi Thies were carried on by the moderator, Prof Danielle wood very diligently. Emcees of the session were Aditi Shankar, Neil Gaikwad did their commendable work.
After the tea break, Session 4: Culture and Innovation started with a speech by Manasi Kirloskar on Education in Free India. She talked about the necessity of introducing new approaches in the field education and about her community service which now has been registered as her own non-profit venture “Caring with Color” thus becoming an youngest social entrepreneur. Ami Shroff spoke about Empowering Women Artisans through Social Entrepreneurship. She is continuing her mother’s organization Shrujan, as a project coordinator in Kutch area and works at the grassroots level and leads the Design Center on Wheels project for the organization, the first of its kind and scale in India. This was followed by the Fireside Chat of Smt. Manasi Kirloskar and Smt. Ami Shroff with Prof. Mala Ghosh with very interesting questions and answers. Emcee Ms. Aditi Shankar coordinated very well all these talks.
Shri. Anil Kumar Gupta talked about Creating Knowledge Networks to Fuel Grassroots Innovations. He talked about how the emergence, recognition, and diffusion of grassroot innovations help trigger experimental self-design ethic and reduce dependence on the government for solving local problems. He also said that creating hotspots for machinery inventions are not the same in every field of life. Shri. D. R. Mehta’s presentation on Affordable Healthcare: Role of Entrepreneurship and Technology created very genuine curiosity about his projects and self-less volunteer work. He set up Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) in Jaipur in 1975 and it has emerged as the largest organization for the handicapped in the world, providing artificial limbs/calipers and other aids and appliances for free. More than 1 million people have been its beneficiaries so far. He also talked about its projects with MIT and Stanford University.
This episode was followed by Fireside Chats with Anil Kumar Gupta and D.R. Mehta which was moderated by Smt. Pooja Wagh. She asked very intriguing questions to know more their works and impending plans for the enhancement of their services. Emcee Kritarth Yudhish harmonized the session very well with all the speakers. Prof. Urmi Samadar, Director of Action Learning, MIT Sloan School of Management, moderated the Fireside chat with Farhan Akhtar by asking her own questions along with audiences’ questions about his initial career, roles, and movies and awaiting plans.
Lastly, a short-pre-recorded video message of Shri Prakash Javadekar, the current government’s Union Minister of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), was shown to all the audiences. In his message he talked many governments policies that are going to help to shape his ministry’s schemes and projects. In the closing session, the co-chairs of the conference thanked everyone in the audiences for attending this event and making it a grand success. Mr. Gaikwad proposed his heartfelt thanks to all the sponsors, co-chairs, vice presidents, conference finance, marketing, operation, outreach team members, and advisors for their support, help, and dedication. He also thanked MIT Media Lab for proving them the well-equipped venue. In addition, he thanked the food and security services for their kind services.
Gold sponsors of this conference included Adani, SARDA, Tata Consultancy Services, MIT Management Action Learning, MIT India, MIT Management Student Life, AU Welfare Foundation and Silver sponsors were Bharat Dak-India Post, Atomic Launch, India New England News, Lokvani, Diya, Indus Business Journal, Network Capital, CNBC TV18. MIT India is the founder and Partner.
Rutgers University, N.J. which has a significant number of Indian and Indian-American students, signed a memorandum of understanding Feb. 21, with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, to establish an ICCR Visiting Lectureship in Contemporary Indian Studies.
The MOU will remain in force till 2023, a press release from the Indian Consulate in New York, said, adding that this agreement “marks a new phase in academic exchanges between India and Rutgers University.”
ICCR had earlier established a Chair at Rutgers School of Management & Labor Relations in 2017. The new MoU will facilitate “focused short term” visits of reputed experts at Rutgers University.
“The chair is likely to draw immense interest from the student community at Rutgers University in view of the increasing interest in India studies as well as large concentration of Indian diaspora in New Jersey,” the press release said.
The Consul General of India in New York Sandeep Chakravarty, signed the MoU on behalf of ICCR; Rutgers’ Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara A. Lee and Chancellor Christopher J. Molloy, signed the MoU on behalf of Rutgers University.
Consul General Chakravorty welcomed the signing of the MOU and noted that the focus of Rutgers University on India has increased significantly in recent months. He also extended the help of the Consulate to connect students of Rutgers University to Indian companies present in the U.S. for both jobs and internship opportunities.
Chancellor Molloy welcomed the signing of the MOU and noted that Rutgers is ready to further intensify its partnership with India.
Both sides also welcomed the launch of the 1st ICCR-Rutgers India Conference scheduled for Feb. 22, and expressed confidence that this will become an annual feature. The theme of the Feb. 22 conference will be “Delivering DemocracyThe Indian Experience’.
Church officials in India have joined rights activists criticizing a drastic government budget cut to an allocation for the rehabilitation of child laborers.
The nation in 2011 had 10.1 million child laborers aged 5-14, according to census records. The estimate now is that there are 12.7 million toiling without access to a proper education.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, run by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in a budget handed down earlier this month reduced funding to help stem child labor to US$14 million from last year’s US$17 million.
This will adversely impact the federal National Child Labor Project that aims to offer free education, meals and health care to these children, according to church leaders and rights activists.
“Is there any other problem greater than this in India at present?” asked Bishop Alex Vadakumthala, who heads the Indian bishops’ office for labor.
Just because children cannot vote should not mean they don’t deserve to be able to have a decent existence, Bishop Vadakumthala said, adding that there was no clue as to why the budget allocation was reduced.
India has a law that prohibits employing children below the age of 18. But with lax enforcement, children continue to work in roadside restaurants and small-scale industries, the bishop said.
“There have been no steps to seriously implement the law,” Bishop Vadakumthala said. “The problem is that the government isn’t taking the issue seriously.”
The law has provisions to punish those who employ children with jail terms of up to two years and a fine or US$715 or both.
Puja Marwaha, chief executive of the non-government organisation Child Rights and You (CRY), told ucanews.com that the government’s 2030 Vision goal to make India a developed nation had failed to adopt a comprehensive response to combating child labor.
The February budget was the last one before national elections due in April-May, but it had no specific scheme for the welfare of children who constitute some 40 percent India’s 1.2 billion people, she said.
Balbier Singh, also a child rights activist, said the actual number of child laborers in India could be double the official estimate.
Fear of punishment or of being stopped from going to work force parents and even children to lie about their actual age and employment, Singh said.
“You can find children working everywhere in the country; be it in construction, vehicle repair, domestic work, carpet making, selling cigarettes on the roadside,” Singh said. “But, ironically, the government isn’t acting to end this.”
J.P. Dutta, a social activist based in Jammu, said government alone cannot address the issue effectively and that social mobilization and community participation remain vital for the eradication of child labor.
“There has to be a public interest,” he said. “An extensive awareness campaign is needed, and budgetary provisions must be made for it.”
Father Jaison Vadassery, secretary of the Indian bishops’ labor office, told ucanews.com that church people in India are already conducting awareness campaigns to educate people against tolerating child labour.
However, he believes that a more effective government system is needed to eradicate the social evil. “Until steps are taken to strictly implement the ban on child labour, the situation will not change for the better,” Father Vadassery said.
The Major Superiors of Religious Orders and Congregations (USIG/USG) on February 19, 2019, issued a statement in advance of the February 21-24 Vatican Summit on the Protection of Minors, with the message: “The abuse of children is wrong anywhere and anytime: this point is not negotiable.”
The statement pledges the support of the superiors for the initiative of Pope Francis in calling the meeting and addressing the abuse crisis.
“In our work as religious, we come across many situations where children are abused, neglected, maltreated and unwanted,” the statement said. “We see child soldiers; the trafficking of minors; the sexual abuse of minors; the physical and emotional abuse of minors. They cry out to us. As adults, as Christians and as religious we want to work so that their lives are changed and that the situations in which they are brought up are improved…
“We bow our heads in shame at the realization that such abuse has taken place in our Congregations and Orders, and in our Church…We need a different culture in the Church and in our wider society. We need a culture where children are treasured and where safeguarding is promoted…
“For our own part, we commit to do our best to listen better to survivors, humbly acknowledging that that has not always been the case. We will implement what is decided at this meeting in terms of the accountability required of those in authority.”
The Full USIG/USG Statement:
As the meeting on safeguarding and protection of minors begins we, the Major Superiors of Religious Orders and Congregations around the world, unite in support of this initiative of Pope Francis.
In our work as religious, we come across many situations where children are abused, neglected, maltreated and unwanted. We see child soldiers; the trafficking of minors; the sexual abuse of minors; the physical and emotional abuse of minors. They cry out to us. As adults, as Christians and as religious we want to work so that their lives are changed and that the situations in which they are brought up are improved.
The common theme across all of these issues is vulnerability. Children are the most vulnerable in our societies. Children who are poor, who are disabled or destitute, or who are on the margins, who belong to lower social classes or castes may have a particular vulnerability. They are considered dispensable, to be used and abused.
Sexual abuse in the Church
This particular meeting focuses on the sexual abuse of children and the abuse of power and conscience by those in authority in the Church, especially bishops, priests and religious. It is a story stretching back for decades, a narrative of immense pain for those who have suffered this abuse.
We bow our heads in shame at the realization that such abuse has taken place in our Congregations and Orders, and in our Church. We have learned that those who abuse deliberately hide their actions and are manipulative. By definition, it is difficult to uncover this abuse. Our shame is increased by our own lack of realization of what has been happening. We acknowledge that when we look at Provinces and Regions in our Orders and Congregations across the world, that the response of those in authority has not been what it should have been. They failed to see warning signs or failed to take them seriously.
Our hopes for this Meeting
Our hope for this meeting is that the Holy Spirit will work powerfully during these three days. A three-day meeting is a short time. However, we believe that with the winds of change blowing through our Church and with goodwill on all sides, important processes and structures of accountability can be started and the ones already in place can be supported. New steps forward can be imagined and decisions can be made so that implementation can follow speedily and universally with proper respect for different cultures. The abuse of children is wrong anywhere and anytime: this point is not negotiable.
The Holy Father
The leadership of the Holy Father is key. He has shown the way in so many of these areas; he has acknowledged the pain and guilt; he has met with survivors; he has acknowledged his own mistakes and his need to learn from these survivors. We join with him in his mission to humbly acknowledge and confess the wrongs that have been done; to reach out to survivors; to learn from them how to accompany those who have been abused and how they wish us to hear their stories.
For our own part, we commit to do our best to listen better to survivors, humbly acknowledging that that has not always been the case. We will implement what is decided at this meeting in terms of the accountability required of those in authority.
A culture of Safeguarding
We need a different culture in the Church and in our wider society. We need a culture where children are treasured and where safeguarding is promoted.
– Education and Health Care: Through the schools and the hospitals which many of us run, we can make a difference. Those institutions now have a heightened awareness of the issue of abuse and better protocols and higher standards of protection are in place. Children in these places are more secure than ever before. Sometimes, although admittedly not in all cases, our practices can be a model for others.
– Formation: we will integrate the protection of minors and vulnerable adults into our formation programmes, ensuring that, at every stage, appropriate instruction and education is given to both formators and those in formation. Cultural assumptions must be challenged. As said earlier, it must be clear that whatever the culture and background, the abuse of children is never permitted or tolerable.
– Spirituality: We will ask our Spirituality Centres to develop special outreach to any survivor who wishes to find help in their struggles with faith and meaning. Finding Jesus in a personal way is something that can heal us all. But we understand, too, that those who have been abused by priests or religious may want to stay far distant from the Church and from those who represent the Church. We do know that there are some survivors who want to make this journey of healing and we will try humbly to journey with them. A spirituality that emphasizes personal growth and healing is for many survivors a special gift and grace. Traditional ways of speaking of sin need particular attention. Those who have been abused often carry a sense of guilt, shame, and even sin. In reality, however, they are the ones who have been sinned against.
These and other steps are ways in which our work as religious can help the efforts of the Church.
Conversion
Pope Francis rightly attacks the culture of clericalism which has hindered our fight against abuse and indeed is one of the root causes. In addition, the strong sense of family in our Orders and Congregations – something usually so positive – can make it harder to condemn and expose abuse. It resulted in a misplaced loyalty, errors in judgment, slowness to act, denial and at times, cover-up. We still need conversion and we want to change. We want to act with humility. We want to see our blind spots. We want to name any abuse of power. We commit to engage in a journey with those we serve, moving forward with transparency and trust, honesty and sincere repentance.
Resources
Resources are always an issue. A glance at societies that have put child protection practices in place shows that even government health services struggle with providing adequate resources. We need to collaborate with each other in this area so that resources are used effectively and efficiently. The UISG and USG will work to ensure that Congregations cooperate so that we reach out in the most effective way to survivors in their journey of healing. Formation and ongoing formation can perhaps be the best areas where we can work together. The screening of candidates who join religious life is also something we can collaborate on, identifying best practices. This screening should be compulsory and of the highest quality.
A plea for the Involvement of parents and of women
We ask the help of parents in our fight against abuse. They have a natural instinct for the protection of children that is indispensable. Their advice, their support, their expertise and their challenge to us will be particularly welcome. In particular, we underline the role of mothers. It is fair to say that if women had been asked for their advice and assistance in the evaluation of cases, stronger, faster and more effective action would have been taken. Our ways of handling allegations would have been different, and victims and their families would have been spared a great deal of suffering.
A message to Survivors
Lastly, but most importantly, we want to send a message directly to survivors and their families. We acknowledge that there was an inadequate attempt to deal with this issue and a shameful lack of capacity to understand your pain. We offer our sincerest apologies and our sorrow. We ask you to believe in our goodwill and in our sincerity. We invite you to work with us to put in place new structures to ensure that the risks are minimized.
This meeting will focus on the Protection of Minors. However, recent media attention has also focused on the abuse and exploitation of religious sisters, seminarians, and candidates in formation houses. This is a matter of grave and shocking concern. We pledge ourselves to do all in our power to find an effective response. We want to ensure that those who generously apply to join religious orders or who are trained in seminaries live in places of safety where their vocation is nourished and where their desire to love God and others is helped to grow to maturity.
As the meeting on safeguarding starts, we ask pardon of all for our failures and repeat that we stand with the Holy Father. We commit our efforts to working with him so that the Church can move forward in a coherent, credible and unified way, a way that is genuinely healing, truly renewed, with new eyes to see and new ears to hear.
This is not the first time when technological advances have created a virtual riot in homes, schools, and offices. When telephones were first introduced in the late 1800s, debates ensued about whether they would interfere with office comradery and whether clients would find a call more off-putting than a face-to-face conversation. Television caused a similar stir as scientists and families debated whether the old-fashioned definition of screen time would create a generation of couch potatoes who could no longer think or communicate. So, the current spat over a more modern “screen time” that includes television, smartphones, tablets, and the varied media developed on these platforms is really nothing new. Yet, the debate rages on: Is screen time in its modern guise bad or good for children—and for us?
The past few weeks have seen a flurry of new pieces speaking to the hazards or benefits of screen time. In January, Jordan Shapiro released his new book, “The New Childhood: Raising Kids to Thrive in a Connected World.” In this beautifully written text, Shapiro argues that screen time is here to stay and that children must merely learn how to navigate it well so that they do not overdose or view content that is not healthy for development. Again—not new. Similar discussions were popular as televisions became an indispensable feature of home life. The science, however, reassured us. If time on the tube could be monitored and we could ensure that our young children were not watching gunfire and gang fights, some kids could even benefit from educational TV. In short, the results suggested that “Sesame Street” and “Blues Clues” were great, and the nightly news should be avoided. However, the picture that emerged was more nuanced than “Is television bad or good?” and the answer to the question became “It depends.”
The crop of papers that appeared in the past few weeks suggest this more nuanced approach for digital screen time. On the one hand, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in London noted that children between the ages of 11-24 were spending approximately 2.5 hours on the computer, 3 hours on their phone, and 2 hours on the television per day. Did that amount of viewing hurt them in some obvious and measurable way? Looking at 940 research abstracts, the Royal College did find associations—though not causal links—between screen time and a less healthy diet, less energy, and higher obesity rates. There were also data linking screen time to poorer mental health. Yet, in the last week, a report also suggested that even these associations are weak at best, with new data touting that teen engagement with social media (screen viewing) is not associated with depression.
The inconclusive results and contradictory findings led the Royal College to conclude that a causal chain between screen watching and bad outcomes could not be established. It thus recommended that we find balance between screen and non-screen time—a balance that is dependent on the nature of the child (temperament), the child’s age, and the content in question.
This advice is consistent with Shapiro’s take. In the past few weeks, however, we have also seen several new studies that continue to raise a red flag. In one, we learn that increased face-to-face interactions emerge when we put Facebook use on hold for a year. In another, we learn that when we carry our phones in our pockets, have them on a desk in front of us, or have them more distant from us—in another room—we get different results on cognitive tasks. As you might guess, we do better when our phones are in another room. And at the end of January, we were told by author Sheri Madigan and her colleagues in the pediatric journal JAMA that screen time at 24 months of age relates to lower outcomes at 36 months and that screen time at 36 months relates to lower performance on a developmental screening task when the same children were 60 months of age. This latter study suffered from a few limitations that the authors themselves own: They lumped all screen time—computer, gaming systems, television—together and the effects they report, while significant, were not strong. Nonetheless, the results were suggestive: More screen time does likely reduce other activities children need to participate in to learn and grow.
What are educators and parents to do with this flurry of messages? Perhaps it is time for that more nuanced approach. Screens—be they television or computers—can transport us to places we have only imagined. They can present narratives that enrich our understanding of the world. At the same time, they can eat up precious time and draw our attention away from important human-to-human contact.
To date, the science cannot definitively say that there is a threshold for screen time use after which it is harmful for children. What the science can tell us, however, is that face-to-face interactions are critically important for development and that sometimes the digital technology gets in the way. When adults model poor screen manners by picking up a phone call in the middle of a conversation and fail to teach children how to wisely choose among social media options, then they do so at their own risk. It is our job as adults to help children wisely choose which programs to watch and for how long. Shapiro suggests that when we do this, we will need less surveillance of our children and their digital habits. We can become more like mentors, guiding children to make smart choices until they are old enough to do so—all while protecting their time to engage in crucial human relationships and generate their own imaginative worlds.
Naperville IL: Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico, running for re-election, kick-started his campaign on Thursday, January 24th at Features Bar and Grill. In addition to free admission, attendees enjoyed cocktails, appetizers and speeches from elected officials and community leaders. The strong support of his campaign co-chairs, Pam Davis, Kristin Fitzgerald, Scott Wehrli and John Zediker combined with the enthusiasm of the diverse Host Committee drew a crowd of more than 400 residents and supporters.
In his inspiring address, Chirico stated that during his 3.5 years as Mayor of Naperville he conceptualized and executed strategic initiatives to ensure that Naperville thrives as a vibrant business hub, a role model for neighbourhood safety and a destination for quality education.
Chirico spoke at length about the quality school districts, spacious parks, great restaurants, citizen-friendly property taxes, responsible fiscal policy, strong local economy, progressive police department, competent fire department and significant efforts toward pro-environmental sustainability.
The Mayor also highlighted the Connect for Life Program – a great community resource. Chirico shared that with the Connect for Life program, Naperville Police are able to help those with prescription drug addiction. “There will be no arrests and no charges. The police department is not about arresting people or giving tickets in this situation…they are there to help, educate and share resources,” he added.
Chirico assured that in his second term as Mayor, he will continue his work to diversify the tax base through economic development initiatives and will focus on next steps to ensure Naperville can retain our senior population and attract young professionals.
“Mayor Steve Chirico is easily accessible, business-friendly, and, above all, he a friend of our community. He will, therefore, be an asset as the Naperville Mayor”, said one of the community leaders.
“Naperville’s heritage has helped shape the values of our community and Steve firmly believes in the same values. He, therefore, will lead us into the next generation of prosperity”, stated by one of the Naperville resident.
“The worth-emulating and multifaceted development of Naperville, under the enlightened leadership of Steve Chirico as the mayor, is a sure guarantee of his success in his second term too”—opined a large number of his die-hard supporters belonging to different walks of life from the Naperville community.
(Atlanta, GA: February 9, 2019): Registration for the historic 37th annual convention by American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) to be held at the Omni Atlanta at CNN Center and Georgia World Congress Centre (GWCC) in Atlanta from July 3 to 7, 2019 has begun since February 1st.
“We are excited about the enthusiasm shown by the AAPI members from across the nation,” says Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI. “Over 2,500 attendees, delegates including Physicians, Academicians, Researchers and Medical students, along with guests are expected to gather at the 37th Annual AAPI Convention in Atlanta, GA.”
“With the Early Bird Special Registration for the convention to end on April 1st, we are seeing an increased interest among AAPI members to secure their seat at the convention,” says, Dr. Sreeni Gangasani, Vice Chair of AAPI BOT and Convention Chair. Early Bird Registration fee for the delegates will be $100 less than the regular rates, says Dr. Gangasani. Also, one gets to pick your own choice of seats at the Galas as soon as you register for the convention. The sooner you register the better the chances for getting the seats of your own choice with the ability to sit closer to the podium and with your friends/families.
Being organized by Georgia Chapter of AAPI, the convention offers unique opportunities for
extensive academic presentations, recognition of achievements and achievers, and professional networking at the alumni and evening social events.
A dedicated pool of Physicians, led by Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Vice President, AAPI; Dr. Syamala Erramilli, President of GAPI; Dr. Asha Parikh, Chair of GAPI BOT; Convention Co-chairs: Dr. Raghu Lolabattu, Dr. Piyush Patel, Dr. Subodh Agrawal and several Convention Team members, are working hard to make the convention a memorable experience for all.
In addition to offering over 12 hours of cutting edge CMEs to the physicians, the event will have several hours of product theaters/promotional opportunities, plenary sessions, CEOs Forum, and a women’s leadership forum. The convention will be addressed by senior world leaders, and celebrities from the Hollywood and Bollywood world.
The AAPI Atlanta Convention is where sponsors and advertisers can reach their target audience of over two thousand under one roof. The convention offers a variety of ways to reach physicians and their families. It provides access to nearly 2,500 health professionals who are leaders and decision-makers regarding new products and services, as wells as to national and international health policy advisors.
The venue is the fabulous Omni Atlanta at CNN Center and Georgia World Congress Center. This world-class facility will afford an intimate setting that will facilitate our ability to convoy cutting-edge research and CME, promote business relationships, and display ethnic items.
“Exhibitors and Corporate Partners remain our priority as we work together to provide a world-class forum for increased interactions between physicians, sponsors, exhibitors, and all other attendees,” says Dr. Syamala Erramilli.
Dr. Asha Parikh adds, “The unique layout of the Exhibit Hall will promote positive discourse between all and various planned activities will ensure their visitation to the Exhibit Hall and maximize attendance. The ease with which members and attendees can move between the Exhibit Hall, conference and ballrooms, and their hotel rooms will ensure maximum attendance and visibility for Sponsors and Exhibitors.”
Dr. Raghu Lolabattu says, “Given that a physician of Indian origin sees every 7th patient in this country and every 5th patient in rural and inner city Georgia, the reach and influence of AAPI members goes well beyond the convention. Urging all corporate and local sponsors not to miss the opportunity, Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect of AAPI, says, “Take advantage of our sponsorship packages at the 37th Annual AAPI convention to create high-powered exposure to the highly coveted demographic of AAPI’s membership.”
“AAPI offers customized and exclusive sponsorship packages to meet your needs. These can include keynote speaker opportunities (non-CME), awards and recognition at breakfast, lunch and dinner, roundtable meetings with AAPI leadership, premium exhibit booth selection, etc,” Dr. Piyush Patel. “We also offer corporate identity packages that utilize our registration area, Internet kiosks, plasma display panels, the souvenir book, and audiovisual screens during CME hours and events to display your company name,” Dr. Subodh Agrawal.
“We have convened a fantastic group of people to meet the needs of the 2019 convention and are very excited about next year. Please reach out to any one of the representatives from the Atlanta team with questions or comments,” Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda. “They are flexible and can accommodate specific products, services, target market goals, brand requirements, and budgetary limits. If the packages below do not meet your needs, please contact us, and we will create a package that will!”
Representing the interests of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, leaders of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, for 37 years, AAPI Convention has provided a venue for medical education programs and symposia with world renowned physicians on the cutting edge of medicine, says Dr. Subodh Agrawal.
“The 2019 AAPI Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly offers an exciting venue to interact with leading physicians, health professionals, academicians, and scientists of Indian origin. Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year. We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta, GA!” says Dr. Naresh Parekh.
(Chicago, IL. February 4, 2019) After mesmerizing musical lovers all across the world with his enchanting voice, Sukhwinder Singh, a top Bollywood singer, accompanied by the first lady of Maharashtra, Ms. Amruta Fadnavis, is now on AAPI’s Nine-City Jai Ho Musical Dhamaka this spring, performing in Nine Cities around the United States.
Organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI), the spectacular musical program combined with educational and networking opportunities for AAPI members, supporters and sponsors, is being organized with the objective of bringing CME and non-CME sponsored medical lectures, exhibits, Gala Dinner, community outreach talks and lively musical nite in each of the 9 cities across the country.
“Following the past successes of multi-city musical tours organized by AAPI, I am inspired by the concept and how such events have helped in strengthening the relationship between the AAPI Chapters and national office, in addition to help raise funds for the many noble programs for AAPI and the local Chapters” says Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI.
Dr. Hemant Dhingra, Entertainment Chair of AAPI provided a detailed description of the planned 9-City Tour by popular Bollywood star, Sukhvinder, which is a way to raise funds for AAPI and its many local Chapters. Dr. Dhingra, who has close relationship with the Entertainment Industry, worked with Sukhwinder Singh and team to put together the mega event.
The 9 city musical and educational tour is being launched on Friday, May 10 Columbus, Ohio and will be followed by Atlanta on May 11th and in Washington DC on May 12th. Sukhvinder and his team will perform in Charlotte, NC on May 17th, in New Jersey on May 18th and in Dallas, TX on May 19th. In the final weekend, the popular artist will begin his tour in Milwaukee, WI on May 24th, in San Jose, CA on May 25th and the grand finale will be in Hollywood City, Los Angeles on May 26th.
“A major objective of this program is to bring together various local Chapters, says Dr. Parikh. “National coordinators of the program, Drs. Narendra Kumar. Hemant Dhingra, Raj Bhayani. Amit Chkrabarty, Anjana Samadder, and Gautam Samaddar, as well as and the entire AAPI team and leadership enthusiastically received this idea and the net result of our collaboration and dialogue is the 9-city grand mega concert.”
Senior leadership and several past Presidents and leaders of AAPI have extended their whole-hearted support in organizing this mega event across the nation, Dr. Parikh says. “I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Narendra Kumar, Dr. Sanku Rao, Dr. Vinod Shah, Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, Dr. Ajay Lodha, Dr. Jayesh Shah, Dr. Vijay Koli, Mr. Anwar Feroz Siddiqi and all past Presidents of AAPI for their senior advisory role in making this mega event a grand success.”
Anwar Feroz Siddiqi, Chief Strategy Adviser says, “We are now poised to take our commitment to newer heights, the 9 City Musical Tour by world renowned Bollywood artist Sukwinder accompanied by an icon of women leadership, the first lady of Maharashtra, Ms. Amruta Fadnavis, a very well know personality, a great singer and amazing community leader that continues to pursue her career with her spouse being in the most powerful office in Maharashtra, a true demonstration of great leadership.” Coupled with three honorable causes addressing cardiovascular disease, lymphoma and leukemia, this is truly a worthy and honorable effort that enhances AAPI’s commitment to major health issues and its strong support to eradicate them.
“Entertainment was only just one component of the entire program,” Dr. Parikh adds. “The idea is to put together mini seminars, networking and strengthening the relationship between members and the national office. “Due to popular demand from several physicians on the need for enhancing scientific component at AAPI meetings and allowing greater number of members to participate, AAPI is now organizing the 13-city programs to make it easy for physicians to participate locally avoiding extensive travel and time away from practice,” he explains.
“Many of our industry partners liked this concept where they could get prime time with a few hundred doctors in each location for product promotion/theater, non CME lectures, exhibits, booths,” Dr. Narendra Kumar, national coordinator of the event, says. “These multi-city mini-seminars are a novel concept for education and recreation that will raise funds for the local chapters of AAPI, the national AAPI and the AAPI Charitable Foundation.”
Describing the process leading to the Tour, Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect of AAPI, recalls, “Realizing that it takes a lot of coordination and tremendous effort, we were successful in involving dozens of AAPI office-bearers of various Chapters and Executive Committee members. Each of them is committed to work hard, coordinate with the local leadership, while committing to have the funds raised would be given to AAPI, the local Chapters, and the many philanthropic endeavors organized by AAPI and its Charitable Foundation.”
AAPI has established itself as the most successful and premiere ethnic medical organization in the United States. AAPI-Charitable Foundation, the crest jewel of AAPI, is committed to serve the poorest of the poor in remote areas of India and USA.
Since 1992, the Foundation has been providing an infrastructure support system for needy patients in India with two main goals: enabling AAPI members to commit their time and resources to support the clinics for the indigent; and to monitor effectively the clinics’ progress and be accountable for the overall success of the project.
The Seminars, CMEs, and workshops will be led by accomplished faculty of leading Physicians, Industry Leaders, Cardiologists, Cardiovascular Surgeons and Psychiatrists. Each of the nine medical educational programs is expected to have an audience of 250-400 Physicians, which will be followed by an annual gala event and entertainment with an expected 2,500+ audience at each location.
Sukhwinder Singh, an internationally recognized Bollywood playback artist, best known for singing “Chaiyya,” for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards, in association with composer A.R. Rahman has resulted in numerous hit songs. The list includes Chaiyya from Dil Se, Ramta Jogi, Ni Main Samajh Gayee, Taal Se Taal Mila and Nahin Samne from Taal, Ruth Aa Gayee Re, Raat Ki Daldal Hain and Yeh Jo Zindagi Hain from Earth, Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai from Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, Aayo Re Sakhi, Bhangari Morori and Piya Ho from Water, Chinnamma Chilakkamma from Meenaxi, Thok De Killi from Raavan and the most popular Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire.
The song “Jai Ho”, sung by Singh, composed by A.R. Rahman and written by Gulzar, was nominated as a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Song and won an Oscar Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media in 2010.
Proceeds from the 9-city tour will support some of the noble initiatives of AAPI, says, Dr. Parikh. “We are requesting all AAPI members, all doctors of Indian origin, all south Asians to rally and support this amazing opportunity of the 9-city musical tour to promote awareness and raise funds for supporting programs to address the rapidly growing problem of cardiovascular diseases in south Asians and minorities living in the United States and Lymphoma & Leukemia in India.’
Ms. Amruta Fadnavis was born, as Amruta Ranade on 9 April 1979 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, to Dr. Sharad Ranade, an Ophthalmologist and Dr. Charulata Ranade, a Gynaecologist. She grew up in a household where education and independence for women was essential. She initially studied at St. Joseph Convent School, Nagpur. She graduated from G.S. College of Commerce and Economics. Later she pursued MBA in finance and studied taxation laws from Symbiosis Law School, Pune. Along with studies she also participated in sports and an excellent sports person. She was a state level under 16 tennis player.
Dr. Parikh promises to “make this event both transparent and successful, and we hope it becomes an annual event. Many of our industry partners have also shown great interest in this concept, where they can receive prime time with a few hundred doctors for product promotion, theater, non-CME lectures, exhibits and booths. Because of this, we hope to have a significant number of national sponsors for this program.”
This extensive Musical/Educational Tour program put together by Dr. Parikh and his Team is a step towards reaching the message of AAPI across the globe and help AAPI realize its noble mission. “I am calling on all AAPI members, all doctors of Indian origin, all South Asians to rally and support an amazing opportunity of the 9-city musical tour to promote awareness and raise funds for supporting essential programs to address the rapidly growing problem of cardiovascular diseases in South Asians and minorities living in the United States and Lymphoma & Leukemia in India.” For more details on the Musical Tour and for sponsorship opportunities, please visit: http://www.aapiusa.org/ https://www.aapievents.com/
As many as 129 Indians are among the 130 foreign students arrested for enrolling at a fake university allegedly to remain in the US. The university in Detroit’s Farmington Hills was part of an undercover operation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designed to expose immigration fraud, according to federal prosecutors who announced charges in the case. The arrest of such a large number of students has created panic among the Indian students.
Officials said all of them face deportation, besides being put under detention. A number of students have been put under some kind of house arrest with tracking device on their ankle, that prohibits them from moving out of a designated area in their neighbourhood.
As part of its investigations, early this week, the ICE arrested eight recruiters on criminal charges. From their names it appears that all of them are either Indian nationals or Indian-Americans. “These suspects aided hundreds of foreign nationals to remain in the United States illegally by helping to portray them as students, which they most certainly were not. HSI remains vigilant to ensure the integrity of US immigration laws and will continue to investigate this and other transnational crimes,” said Special Agent Charge Francis. According to the ICE, in 2017, as many as 249,763 Indian students were enrolled in the various American universities. Students from China topped the list with 481,106 in 2017.
On its website, the University of Farmington advertised an innovative STEM curriculum that would prepare students to compete in the global economy, and flexible class schedules that would allow them to enroll without disrupting their careers. The Michigan-based school touted the number of languages spoken by its president (four) and the number of classes taught by teaching assistants (zero.) Photos of the campus showed students lounging around with books on a grassy quad, or engaged in rapt conversation in its brightly-lit modern library. Tuition was relatively reasonable – $8,500 a year for undergraduates and $11,000 a year for graduate students.
“Located in the heart of the automotive and advanced manufacturing center of Southeast Michigan, the University of Farmington provides students from throughout the world a unique educational experience,” the site informed prospective applicants.
But there were no classes taking place at the university, which employed no instructors or professors. In court filings that were unsealed Wednesday, federal prosecutors revealed that the school’s employees were actually undercover agents working for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The fake university had been set up in 2015 as part of an elaborate sting operation aimed at ensnaring foreign nationals who had initially come to the United States on student visas. Its “campus” consisted of a small office in a corporate park in the northwestern Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, Michigan, with no quad or library in sight.
The phony university was “being used by foreign citizens as a ‘pay to play’ scheme,” prosecutors allege. After forking over thousands of dollars, students would provide immigration authorities with evidence that they were enrolled in a full-time educational program. They could then continue to live and work in the United States under a student visa. But since the University of Farmington didn’t actually exist, they didn’t have the hassle of writing papers, taking tests or showing up to class.
Students knew that the scheme was illegal, “and that discretion should be used when discussing the program with others,” prosecutors wrote in their indictment, which was filed Jan. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
According to the Detroit News, which first reported on the undercover operation, dozens of University of Farmington students were arrested on immigration violations on Wednesday as part of a massive nationwide sweep, and are now potentially facing deportation. In addition, eight people who allegedly worked as “recruiters” for the school and collectively helped at least 600 students to remain in the country under false pretenses now face federal conspiracy charges.
The Department of Homeland Security’s list of certified schools where international students can enroll includes the University of Farmington. And the school made some pretense of being a legitimate institution. Before Wednesday night, when the school’s Facebook and Twitter accounts were abruptly deleted, posts on social media notified students about school cancellations due to an ice storm, and advertised an upcoming admissions fair. It had a Latin motto – “Scientia et Labor,” meaning “Knowledge and Work” – and a handful of positive online reviews from people claiming to be satisfied alumni.
But no one enrolled at the university was making progress toward a degree, the indictment said. The “unique educational experience” promoted on the school’s website apparently consisted of not going to school at all.
There were some clues that not everything was aboveboard. The school’s website never said how many enrolled students it had, though it claimed that they came from all 50 states and 47 countries. It didn’t name the university’s president or the year when the school was founded. As the Detroit News’s Robert Snell noted on Twitter, a photo showing a diverse group of students deep in concentration came from Shutterstock. The university claimed to be accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, but did not appear in an online directory of accredited institutions on the organization’s website.
According to prosecutors, students were well aware that the school was a fraud. They allegedly chose to enroll anyway because doing so would allow them to remain in the country on F-1 nonimmigrant visas, which allow foreign citizens to temporarily reside in the United States while studying accredited academic institutions.
Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for ICE in Detroit, told local news station WXYZ that the students had entered the United States legally on F-1 visas after being accepted to legitimate schools, and had later transferred to the University of Farmington.
The federal indictments name eight people in eight states who allegedly worked as recruiters for the school. All have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud and harboring aliens for profit. They face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The eight recruiters allegedly helped create fraudulent records, including transcripts, that students could give to immigration authorities. Authorities contend that they collectively accepted more than $250,000 in kickbacks for their work, not realizing that the payments were actually coming from undercover agents who worked for Homeland Security Investigations, a division of ICE.
“We are all aware that international students can be a valuable asset to our country, but as this case shows, the well-intended international student visa program can also be exploited and abused,” Matthew Schneider, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said in a statement emailed to media outlets on Wednesday.
This isn’t the first time that the feds have set up a fake university with the goal of rooting out visa fraud. Calling “pay to stay” a national security threat, officials announced in April 2016 that they had charged 21 people with recruiting international students who paid to enroll at the made-up University of Northern New Jersey so that they could get student visas. More than a dozen students who partook in the scheme later told the New York Times that they felt they had been deceived by the government.
Many of the students who enrolled at the University of Farmington appear to be Indian nationals who belong to the Telugu ethnic group. The American Telugu Association said in a Wednesday statement that “scores of Telugu students nationwide” had been arrested in early-morning raids, and that the organization was attempting to provide them with legal guidance.
As the News noted, the undercover investigation seems to have ramped up one month after President Trump took office. While the fake university was set up in 2015, it wasn’t until February 2017 that HSI agents began posing as university officials, the indictment said. The undercover operation, nicknamed “Paper Chase,” continued until earlier this month.
The Indian embassy has appointed a nodal officer to handle and coordinate all issues related to helping Indian students affected by the busting of the “pay-and-stay” racket run by a group of Indians that has put some 600 students under trouble.
The Indian embassy in the US has opened a 24/7 hotline to assist 129 Indian students arrested by the American authorities in the “pay-and-stay” university visa scam, officials have said. The two numbers – 202-322-1190 and 202-340-2590 – would be manned by senior embassy officials round the clock, officials said on Friday. The arrested students, their friends and family members can contact the embassy at cons3.washington@mea.gov.in.
The US announced that starting April 1, it will switch to a new system for processing H-1B petitions that will give priority to foreign workers with advanced degrees from an American institution of higher education, over those hired abroad, in India, China and other countries.
The new system will also introduce electronic registration of petitions, which, however, will be suspended for the upcoming H-1B 2020 season that will typically kick off from April 1.
The United States has announced that starting April 1, it will switch to a new system for processing H-1B petitions that will give priority to foreign workers with advanced degrees from an American institution of higher education, over those hired abroad, in India, China and other countries.
The new system will also introduce electronic registration of petitions, which, however, will be suspended for the upcoming H-1B 2020 season that will typically kick off from April 1.
The switch in the selection process is expected to increase the number of beneficiaries with advanced degrees from US institutions by an estimated 16% (or 5,340 workers). It is in line with President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions in support of merit-based immigration.
Francis Cissna, director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which runs the H-1B visa programme, gave a nod to Trump in a statement announcing the new rule and said, “US employers seeking to employ foreign workers with an American masters or higher degree will have a greater chance of selection in the H-1B lottery in years of excess demand for new H-1B visas.”
Trump had himself signalled the new rule in a tweet earlier this month in which he had said “changes are soon coming which will bring both simplicity and certainty to your stay, including a potential path to citizenship”. And, he had added, “We want to encourage talented and highly skilled people to pursue career options in the US.”
The US grants 65,000 visas to foreigner workers hired abroad for speciality professions sponsored by American employers every year under a congressionally mandated cap. Another 20,000 visas are granted to foreigners with advanced degree from US colleges and universities.
More than 70% of the total visas go to Indian beneficiaries hired by both US companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google, and US arms of Indian outsourcing giants such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro.
Kiran Patel, chairman of Tampa, Fla.-based Freedom Health and a pioneering Cardiologist, was accorded the highest national honor given to any person of Indian origin living outside of India, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019.Dr. Patel received the award from the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind at the 15thPravasi Bharatiya Divas in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, which concluded last week.
The other three chosen fro the award from the US included, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath, Illinois-based scientist Chandra Shekhar Mishra and Michigan resident Gitesh Jayantilal Desai. Besides the four Indian Americans, 24 other prominent personalities from the Indian diaspora worldwide received the awards.
Dr. Patel has generously contributed his fortune for several noble causes in India, his country of origin, the United States, his adopted country, and Zambia, the country of his birth. Dr. Patel is also the Chairman and President of Optimum Healthcare, Inc.
All philanthropic campaigns, contributions and projects have resulted from his passion for health, education and charity. That’s why he has also commissioned Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Global University, a 120-acre institute under construction in India.
Sharing his own experiences of investing in the state of Gujarat and in the United States, Dr. Patel, said, with the state requiring more trained personnel to support the growing needs, he is willing to establish a Medical College in Rajasthan.
Dr. Patel, a very soft spoken physician of Indian origin, said the projects combine his passions for health education and charity. In his first venture in running a university, he hopes to fulfill a need for competent doctors in the area while also educating generations of physicians who can serve in underprivileged areas across the globe.
Dr. Patel had purchased the former Clearwater Christian College property with a goal of developing an osteopathic medical school in his home-state, Florida. The Indian American physician closed on the $12 million purchase of the 25-acre campus overlooking Old Tampa Bay at the west end of the Courtney Campbell Causeway.
In 2014, Patel broke ground on the $175 million, 448-room Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach resort, creating a successful and modern hospitality business.
In July, the city of Clearwater purchased the 111 acres of wetlands and submerged lands surrounding the campus for preservation and restoration projects. If his plans are fulfilled, Patel will develop the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, catering to both domestic and international students, especially from India and Africa, who otherwise could not afford medical training.
“One goal,” he said, “is to train doctors who can return to their home countries and treat underserved communities. It is not easy — there are a lot of challenges — but if somebody’s heart is there and doing the right thing, the right results will follow,” Patel said.
The hope is for the school to serve upwards of 150 students by the fall of 2018 or early 2019, following the credentialing and certification process. Patel estimates it could cost $50 million to launch the school, most of which will come from his own pocket, although having existing classroom infrastructure and dormitories significantly reduces costs.
Mayor George Cretekos of Tampa described Patel’s proposed development as a “boom for the city.” “I think it’s a good fit and goes with what we were wanting to see with that property,” Cretekos said, according to the Tampa Bay Times report. “The potential to benefit the entire area is just amazing.”
Planning and overseeing the charitable works, according to Dr. Patel has “Two approaches: direct involvement in the areas of Zambia, East Africa and India. I oversee the utilization of the funds to the penny. What you have seen in the Tampa area is a legacy gift. To impact as large a group as possible, we have entrusted a responsible institution to perpetuate our mission, such as the performing arts center and University of South Florida.”
Born in Zambia to Indian American parents, educated in India, Dr. Kiran Patel arrived in the United States on Thanksgiving Day, 1976. He returned home to attend medical school, where he met his wife, Pallavi, a fellow student, but ultimately decided to return to the U.S. permanently. “I wanted to make sure my children had a better future, and the political climate in Africa at the time was a bit challenging,” he says.
Dr. Patel was educated in Zambia and then got his diploma in Cambridge University and The University of London. He came down to India to study medicine in Gujarat University in India and did his Internship in Africa. Dr. Patel did his residency in Internal Medicine in New Jersey in 1980. He completed a fellowship in the Cardiology program affiliated with the Columbia University of New York in 1982.
Dr. Pallavi Patel did her undergraduate degree from M.G. Science College, Gujarat University, and attended Municipal Medical College of Gujarat University in Ahmedabad. She did her internship from St. Barnabas Hospital in New Jersey, School of Medicine Dentistry of New Jersey and Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, in affiliation with Columbia University in New York. She started her private practice in Kabwe, Zambia, from 1974 to 1978 and worked as a part-time consultant physician from 1974 to 1978 for Kabwe Industrial Fabrics, Ltd. and Kapiri Glass Products, Ltd.
The Patel family moved to Tampa, Florida in 1982 and Dr. Kiran Patel began his practice in Cardiology. His dedication, compassion, and skills made him very successful at the very early stage of medical practice, and was soon a distinguished cardiologist in that area. He developed a physician practice management company and expanded to places adjoining Tampa Bay area diverging into 14 practices including Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Cardiology.
Dr. Patel was also in partnership with several point-of-service locations to form multi-specialty networks. This network helped patients to access most medical services conveniently. He has actively engaged himself in managed care contracts and has expanded so much that it provides care for more than 80,000 patients annually. Apart from this, he has developed good associations with several HMOs and hospitals. His success in managed care contracts led a group of doctors to seek his services to help them with an HMO in New Port Richey, Florida.
Dr. Patel took up the project after discussing a pre-determined purchase option of the company. It was called the Well Care HMO, Inc. (Well Care). In 1992, Dr. Kiran Patel, along with Rupesh Shaw, CEO, and Pradip Patel, President, started a Medicaid managed care company. Not long after, this company became the largest Medicaid provider in the state of Florida.
He helped to bring around the struggling HMO, WellCare of New York and Connecticut. While turning around the company, he worked with nearly a hundred hospitals and a few hundred physicians in settling past due medical claims. Dr. Kiran Patel provided an additional $15 million in equity through Conversion of Brow and infused $10 million of new capital and acquired 55 percent of the publicly held Well Care Management Group.
Between 1995 and 2002, Dr. Kiran Patel built it into a billion-dollar company, providing services to more than 450,000 members, employing more than 1,200 employees and operating in Florida, New York and Connecticut. Dr. Patel subsequently entered the managed care industry and was the Chairman of WellCare of Florida.
He had served as Chairman of Visionary Medical Systems. He believes that the Visionary Office will reduce the paperwork for the physicians and give them more time to devote on their patients. He is a member on the following organizations: Fellow of American College of Cardiology; American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, American Association of Physicians from the South East Asia, Past Chair Scholarship Committee.
A cardiologist, visionary, businessman and philanthropist, Dr. Kiran Patel, along with his wife devotes substantial sums towards charity and education both in India, Zambia as well as in the United States. A 50-bed charity hospital serving 100,000 villagers in India was established by her along with her family; provision of funds for annual scholarship for underprivileged children to obtain a college education; funding for the construction of the USF Charter School for Underprivileged Children in Hillsborough County; sponsoring of 25 orphans from India to visit and perform a cross-cultural program in the United States.
In 2003, the Patels sold their majority of his interest in their business, and Dr. Patel turned his attention to the family’s many philanthropic endeavors. That same year, he became chairman of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). It was from this vantage point that he began to tackle several significant humanitarian projects in India, including the construction of numerous hospitals, a diabetes research study, and improved health care access for poor and rural citizens. His enormous contributions during and after national calamities in India are very remarkable.
Dr. Patel united the Tampa Bay community and AAPI and led an effort that eventually rehabilitated the villagers’ homes, constructed an orphanage and model school and created four modern hospitals, and was able to utilize generous contributions from the Tampa Bay community, and often matched them with his own money.
One of the leading philanthropists in America, the Patels also sponsor 25 orphans from India to come annually to the United States and participate in cross-cultural programs.
On the challenges he had to face upon arrival here in the US, Dr. Patels says, “There are many challenges when you come from an Eastern culture to the Western world. It’s a tougher transition for children than for us. I have a rigid personality … as a parent I have firm expectations on behavior, certain etiquette and rules. My children all got used to it, in a good way. They know I am there for them and they for me, but I’m not a warm, fuzzy type of guy.”
The couple’s gift of $12 million to the University of South Florida, resulted in converting the Patel School of Global Sustainability to the Patel College of Global Sustainability. “It was important to create a college to be a perpetual institution that creates students and scholars who are going to change the world dramatically,” Dr. Patel says. “I believe it will create champions of the profession. Most people don’t understand sustainability; they think it’s just a problem for third world countries. They don’t realize the U.S. and Europe are most guilty of consuming resources. At the current rate the Western world uses natural resources, we would need six Earths to provide the rest of the world the same lifestyle. We must change.”
Another area of focus for the Patels is health. “Intellectual capability without physical capability, you still have a problem. Arts and culture are more in the luxurious category, which it should not be, but I feel that way. It can play a unique role in integrating people, but if someone is starving, he’s not going to think of the arts,” he says.
The family has become renowned in the Tampa Bay area and beyond for their openhanded philanthropy: The suburbs of Tampa is home to one of the largest single-family estate in the United States, according to property assessment records obtained by the Tampa Tribune. Dr. Kiran and Dr. Pallavi Patel, along with their son, daughters, and grandchildren, live inan elegantly built beautiful house with the combined square footage of the buildings within the estate amounts to 35,000 square feet, with the main residence contributing 15,000 square footage of the total. Each of the six satellite homes is more than 7,000 square feet.
Dr. Pallavi serves on many boards and is a member of several organizations. She is president and CEO of Stat Care and Bay Area Primary Care Association, Inc. with five locations across Tampa. She is also a founder, trustee and administrator for the India Cultural Center. She is a member of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center Board of Trustees, Shakti Krupa Charitable Foundation Board of Directors and the ICC Hope Scholarship Foundation Board of Directors.
In 2003 the couple set up a nonprofit Foundation for Global Understanding. Dr. Kiran Patel serves as the chairman and Dr. Pallavi Patel is president of Foundation that develops and funds a wide variety of programs in health, education, arts and culture. Together they have made possible the USF/Dr. Kiran C. Patel Charter School along with the Dr. Pallavi Patel Pediatric Care Center at the school as well as the highly celebrated Dr. Pallavi Patel Performing Arts Conservatory.
The Patels not only earned a highly cherished reputation as physicians, but also gained a unique vision of the future of the medical care. Rather than shunning the growing trend toward managed health care, they began to develop solutions that made sense from the physician’s point of view.
Recognitions came their way with several awards and honors from around the country. Among the honors and awards that he has received is the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Southeast United States, Jefferson Award for Public Service-National Media Award, Community Leader Award-Community Development Corporation of Tampa, Lions Clubs International Academy Award for Humanitarian Service, and Ike Tribble Award from National Urban League.
Volunteers of America, one of the nation’s largest and oldest human services charities, presented its highest honor – the 2012 Ballington and Maud Booth Award – to Drs. Pallavi and Kiran Patel on during the organization’s national conference at the Hyatt Regency Tampa.
On New Year’s day in 2007, Dr. Patel was honored with the “Glory of Gujarat” award from the Chief Minister of his home State in India. In May 2007, Dr. Patel received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for Exceptional Immigrant Patriots. Both Dr. Kiran Patel and Pallavi Patel were inducted into the Tampa Bay Hall of Fame in 2010 by the business community of Tampa Bay.
Dr. Pallavi Patel was honored as the Business Woman of the Year in 2006 for her outstanding role in the community. In 2007, she was awarded Woman of Distinction by the Girls Scouts of Florida, and in 2008 she was inducted into the prestigious Florida Women’s Hall of Fame.
The Patels were selected for the 2012 Booth Award because of their generous philanthropic work to support programs in health, education, arts and culture, both in the Tampa area and around the world. Their foundation supported the Pepin Heart Hospital Research Institute in Tampa as well as the Dr. Pallavi Patel Conservatory for Performing Arts. In 2011, the Dr. Kiran C. Patel for Global Solutions, based at the University of South Florida, was established to develop solutions to some of today’s major global problems.
In 2003, Dr. Kiran Patel was appointed by Florida’s governor to the University of South Florida Board of Trustees. In 2004, the Patel were awarded the Cultural Contributor of the Year Award by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. The Foundation also support a yearly U.S. scholarship fund for underprivileged youth and the IMAGINE Project, which teaches philanthropic entrepreneurism to young leaders. USF CHART-India Program, another innovative foundation project, works aggressively to provide HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention and education programs throughout India’s rural and urban populations.
The Patels believe that “education gives the maximum impact. In my father’s village, we built a school that has transformed a generation. Uplifting a single student will uplift five or 10 families.” And the noble mission goes on with no boundaries, benefitting millions of deserving people across all continents.
Dr. Sudha S. Parikh, an anesthesiologist in tri-state area, was awarded the Nari Udyami Award for her philanthropic work at a ceremony in India on Jan. 23. On the concluding day of the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Varanasi, at an event entitled “She The Change: Nari Udyami Award” several pravasi Indians were recognized for their work relating to women’s empowerment.
Dr. Sudha Parikh received the award for her work with girl’s education and women’s empowerment through various non-profits like Akshay Patra, Share and Care, and Project Life. Dr. Sudha Parikh is the wife of Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, founder and chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media and ITV Gold.
Dr. Sudha Parikh, philanthropist and vice chairperson of ITV Gold, 9th from left in back row, holding the award along with other’s recognized during the “She The Change: Nari Udyami Award 2019” event in Varanasi, Jan. 23, organized by the Beti & Shiksha Foundation. The event was held on the last day of the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas.
“I feel great and humble to get this award … along with very accomplished women. I thank the BS Foundation (Beti Shiksha Foundation) for recognizing my work and inspiring me to do more work helpful to the community,” Dr. Sudha Parikh said in an interview to ITV Gold. “Women’s education is the most important because if one woman is educated in the family, she will educate a whole family and she can uplift a whole family,” she said.
Dr. Sudha Parikh, who is also the vice chairperson of ITV Gold, urged other social workers and those interested in philanthropy to join in helping to empower women and children through education and with other needs such as health services, and training in skills so that they can earn a living.
“I am connected with a few organizations like Share and Care and Akshay Patra,” which raise funds to help with children and women’s empowerment, and hot school lunches that keep kids in school, she noted.
Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, founder and chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media and ITV Gold, seen at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Jan. 23, in Varanasi, with Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, the daughter of the youngest son of Mahatma Gandhi, Devadas, and daughter-in-law, Lakshmi Gandhi. She has been dedicated to the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, and also works for rural women and children with the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust established by Mahatma Gandhi.
Dr. Sudhir Parikh praised the Beti & Shiksha Foundation for its work and said he felt “very humble and very grateful” for the recognition accorded to Dr. Sudha Parikh. “Because this kind of recognition encourages us to work harder for women’s empowerment , women’s education, and women’s health.”
These kinds of recognition, “is like an adrenalin for us to keep working in our senior age. We are both in our 70s, but we are working relentlessly on these kinds of philanthropic work,” Dr. Sudhir Parikh said.
He reiterated his belief that “The more you give the more you become,” and that giving to society was a “double pleasure.”
A performance by Deepak Maharaj, son of Birju Maharaj, at the ‘SheThe Change: Nari Udyami Award” ceremony Jan. 23, in Prayagraj (Varanasi) on the last day of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
“When you are giving, it is a pleasure for you, and when you look at the person receiving it, look at his smile and satisfaction, that gives us another pleasure,” he said.
“I would encourage people to support female members of the family to go out and help the poorest of the poor and children in society because it lifts the whole family,” Dr. Sudhir Parikh said.
The B & S Foundation was founded in 2008, because of the “persistent gender inequalities in India and the sheer need of finding non-traditional, high-return livelihood options for poor women,” in urban and rural areas, according to the website. The organization operates in Delhi, as well as in Jammu & Kashmir and North-Eastern states in India. “Our aim is to level the employment field for disadvantaged women by providing livelihoods options that enhance women’s economic status, dignity, and decision-making within their families.” It does this through its WE-SHAKTI program aimed at empowering women with minimal economic and social capital to become professional commercial drivers.
Renu Gupta received the She The Change – Nari Udhyami Sanman 2019 for her lifelong efforts in bringing about a positive change in the lives of people in India and the US. The award, conferred by the Beti & Shiksha Foundation in Varanasi, India was presented by Tara Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi and Baby Rani Maurya, Governor of Uttarkhand. While happy at the honor, Renu downplays her achievements and says there are many people who are doing as much work as she is and she just “happened to be lucky” that she was recognized.
This is typical of the friendly no nonsense awardee who doesn’t believe in doing “anything that doesn’t make sense to her,” but will do whatever it takes to help someone in need.
Renu, 61, spent her growing years in Rajasthan where she completed her studies in Sanskrit and English. Marriage to Dr. Arun Gupta, a scientist, brought her to the US where she plunged into a job, studies and community activities.
She credits two strong influences in her life. Her maternal grandmother who instilled the values of Hindu dharma and her paternal grandfather from whom she absorbed the spirit of selfless service. The appeal of Hindu Dharma, observes Renu, is its “universality, logic and its step by step direction for self-realization.” She is “very comfortable being a Hindu in the US” and accepts other religious traditions with the same openness.
A member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad America for the last 36 years and now serving as VP of Seva in VHPA, Renu spearheaded a group of 15 likeminded women for “Seva, Shakti and Sadhana.” All activities are geared towards this mission such as organizing spiritual retreats, workshops and serving the community. In 2008, she received a call from a Catholic Service coordinator who asked for help in rehabilitating 50 refugee Bhutanese and Nepali families. Over the course of 10 years, the VHPA group worked with the refugees to set up their homes, taught them to clean houses and drive so they could find employment, file taxes and helped their children enroll in school.
Five years ago she took up the “Support A Child” project – a VHPA initiative that was languishing for want of attention. The initiative raises funds for the education and boarding of under privileged children in India and her efforts helped the support grow from 700 children to 2500 children. Renu makes it a point to visit the Ekal schools and the SAC hostels every year to supervise its operations personally. Plans for the future include increasing the number of children in the program from 2500 to 5000.
One of the original volunteers of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, Renu was elected as the first woman to become the chairperson of the Board. Renu’s husband Dr. Arun Gupta, is equally engaged in Ekal and serves as a Board Director.
Renu also spends time teaching Hindi and Hindu culture to children in Cincinnati, Ohio where she is based. Role models, for our children, she inserts, must be characters like Mirabai, Shivaji, Maharana Pratap and Laxmi Bai. Playing on the word “Hindi medium” she enjoins Indian American parents to “raise their children through the Hindu medium and teach them values of Hindu dharma.”
Growing up, Renu was often buried in books thanks to a friend’s father who owned a bookstore. Writing came naturally and she has several books to her credit. Her experiences and observations in America served as fodder for her books. Close to her heart is “Mrityorma Ma Amritam Gamay” and deals with a friend’s battle with cancer while her latest book “Sansari Sanyasi” is a biography of Hanuman Prasad Poddar, a saintly personality who played a key role in her spiritual journey.
Renu, along with her husband and son is also actively engaged in running the dozen franchisees of Great Clips – the hair salon chain they own.
Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) Africa, a joint venture between Pratham and MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), has been named one of five recipients of an $80 million commitment from the global philanthropic collaborative Co-Impact. Selected from a pool of more than 250 projects, the grant was awarded to change-makers with proven strategies in education, health and economic opportunity.
Despite progress worldwide in school enrollment, millions of children are not acquiring basic foundational skills. Pioneered by Pratham, the TaRL methodology significantly raises children’s basic learning levels in a short period of time. The approach uses a simple tool to assess children’s ability to read and do arithmetic, grouping them by level rather than grade and advancing them to the next learning group as they progress and continue to grow.
Six randomized control trials conducted in India by J-PAL-affiliated researchers over the past two decades have shown that the approach, whether delivered by Pratham staff or trained teachers in government-run schools, has led to some of the largest, most cost-effective learning gains of any primary education program evaluated.
“Using Teaching at the Right Level,” explains Dr. Rukmini Banerji, CEO of Pratham, “we have helped millions of children to read and to do basic math in India. Together with J-PAL, we are excited to have the opportunity to work in Africa with many partners. Foundational skills can transform a child’s life and unlock their potential to do so much more in education and in life. We are grateful for Co-Impact’s support for this partnership.”
The multi-year grant from Co-Impact will support Pratham and J-PAL in building the capacity of governments and other partners in multiple countries across Africa, including Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Zambia, to design and scale TaRL-like approaches that will help three million primary school children learn to read and do basic arithmetic.
“This grant is a true validation of Pratham’s efforts in pioneering innovative, cost-effective learning solutions,” asserts Pratham USA Chairman Deepak Raj. “While our focus remains on addressing India’s education crisis, we are proud to see Pratham’s methodology replicated in other countries, where it will have a lasting impact on millions of children.”
Shifting the focus from school enrollment to learning outcomes in Africa will require critical support at all levels. This includes adjusting the approach to local contexts, training and assisting on-site mentors and continually assessing progress while empowering government officials and teachers to act on the evidence generated.
According to Iqbal Dhaliwal, Executive Director of J-PAL, “This grant represents the critical importance of using evidence from rigorous impact evaluations to drive decision-making. Our partnership with Pratham is based on innovation, learning, and a unifying vision—shared with Co-Impact—of creating systems-level change. Through investing in rigorous research and evidence-backed approaches, we can disrupt the status quo and transform lives. We have a lot of work ahead of us and are putting together an outstanding team to lead and execute this exciting initiative.”
Co-Impact, the global philanthropic collaborative formed in 2017 by Olivia Leland with commitments from Richard Chandler, Bill and Melinda Gates, Jeff Skoll, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Rohini and Nandan Nilekani, aims to drive social change through investment in proven solutions that are ready to be scaled even further. “We know that investing in the lives of the poorest families and children around the world is probably the highest return on investment we can make,” says Rockefeller Foundation President Rajiv Shah. “We’ve designed a project where as philanthropists, we’re standing on each others’ shoulders to scale the hardest and highest walls in philanthropy.”
Pratham is an innovative learning organization. Set up almost 25 years ago, Pratham believes that every child should be in school and learning well. Pratham means ‘first’ or “primary” in Sanskrit. As one of the largest non-governmental organizations in the country, Pratham facilitates India’s well-known Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) exercise, which has been providing estimates of reading and arithmetic skills every year for every rural district in India since 2005. For more information, visit prathamusa.org.
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific e
On January 16, 2019 the esteemed Gandhi Peace Prize was conferred upon Akshaya Patra for their contribution in providing mid-day meals to millions of school children in India. The International Gandhi Peace Prize, named after Mahatma Gandhi, is awarded by the Government of India to individuals and institutions for their contribution towards social, political and economic transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.
The jury under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and comprising of Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the Chief Justice of India; Smt Sumitra Mahajan, Speaker of Lok Sabha; Shri Mallikarjuna Kharge, Leader of the single largest Opposition Party in Lok Sabha; Shri L.K. Advani, Member of Parliament unitedly announced the award.
Prime Minister Modi applauded the dedicated work of Akshaya Patra in saying, “The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s determined efforts ensure nutritious meals for many. Their outstanding work has also ensured more children go to school. I congratulate them for the Gandhi Peace Prize, 2016.” The award is an annual prize but no winner had been conferred the honor since 2014.
The announcement of the award on January 16th encompassed 2015-2018. The award was instituted in 1995 during the commemoration of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It carries an award of Rs one crore along with a citation and plaque. Previous winners of the Gandhi Peace Prize include Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Vaclav Havel, Ramakrishna Mission and other venerable individuals and organizations.
Extending humble gratitude, Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation said, “Thank you Prime Minister Modiji for the Gandhi Peace Prize. Your constant patronage for Akshaya Patra’s mission from beginning days as Chief Minister of Gujarat and as Prime Minister has been a big strength.” ABOUT THE AKSHAYA PATRA FOUNDATION Akshaya Patra means the unlimited bowl of abundance and sustenance. Started in 2000, the pilot program served 1500 children daily in 5 schools. Today the organization feeds 1.76 million school children daily in 14,702 schools across 12 states. The state of the art kitchens provide fresh, nutritious hot meals to counter the issues of malnutrition and support the right to an education for children from socio-economically deprived backgrounds. To learn more about The Akshaya Patra Foundation, please visit www.FoodForEducation.org
New Delhi judge sets precedent by saying Indian-American doctor’s work at hospital not a breach of law. Delhi High Court recently quashed an order to deport a Christian doctor, India-born U.S. citizen Christo Thomas Philip, by ruling he has the right to practice his faith and offer his services for free, even if that involves propagating his faith.
Christian leaders and activities have hailed the Jan. 8 order as a landmark decision at a time when hard-line Hindu groups are trying to project Christian missionary services as a violation of the law and contrary to the national interest.
The Protestant doctor has “a right to practice his faith, and his rendering medical services, even if it is for the furtherance of his religion, cannot be denied,” the court said in its ruling.
The deportation order for the doctor was issued “on the assumption that such (missionary) activities are against the law of the land” but such assumptions “are fundamentally flawed,” the court said.
Philip was ordered to leave the country back in April 2016 after authorities decided that the services he was providing at a hospital in eastern Bihar state amounted to “evangelical and subversive activities.”
Philip, 36, completed his medical degree specializing in emergency medicine in the United States and was granted U.S. citizenship 2012.
That same year, Delhi granted him the immigration status of Overseas Citizen of India, permitting him to live and work in India indefinitely with a de facto visa for life.
Philip moved to India with his family in 2013 and began working at the hospital in Raxaul, a busy town on the India-Nepal border in Bihar.
Things proceeded smoothly until he was detained in the wake of an overseas conference in April 2016, after which he was deported.
The government counsel told the court his visa had been cancelled by the Consulate General of India in Houston, Texas, because the doctor was found to have been indulging in “evangelical and subversive activities.”
Anti-conversion laws are now actively enforced in at least seven of majority-Hindu India’s 29 states. Uttarakhand became the seventh state to follow suit in May 2018 when state governor Krishna Kant Paul signed the bill into law on April 18.
Penalties for those who breach the law range from fines of up to 50,000 rupees (US$735) to a maximum prison sentence of three years.
These laws make conversions a criminal offense if they are done through “forcible” or “fraudulent” means, or by “allurement” or “inducement.” Christian leaders say their services rendered in education and health care cannot be construed as a violation of these laws.
In Philip’s case, the consulate also recommended that his Overseas Citizen of India status be revoked.
Yet the court dismissed those contentions, arguing that Indian law does not forbid people from practicing their faith.
“The (government) has not produced any law that proscribes missionary activities” in India, it ruled.
“It has perhaps escaped their attention that India is a secular country. All persons in this country have a right to practice their faith in the manner they consider fit, so long as it does not offend any other person,” the judgment said.
“If the petitioner’s faith motivates them to volunteer for medical services at a hospital, there is no law (certainly not of this land) that proscribes him from doing so,” the court observed.
“This is a landmark judgment,” said Tehmina Arora, director of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)-India, which has taken on Philip’s case.
The judgment “protects the rights of foreign nationals working in Christian organizations to freely live out their faith in India,” Arora told ucanews.com.
The court held that the Ministry of Home Affairs “had acted without any complaints of law and order problems,” said A. C. Michael, a Christian leader based in New Delhi.
The ministry falls under the sway of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Modi’s pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been accused of tacitly supporting Hindu groups that oppose missionary activities in several Indian states in a bid to further Hinduize the nation.
The latest judgment has set an important precedent by establishing the right to practice one’s Christian faith by offering voluntary service, said Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary-general of the Indian bishops’ conference.
The charter guarantees Indian citizens the right to profess, practice and propagate any faith of their choice, he said.
“If one’s faith motivates one to volunteer for social service, one is free to do so. There is no law in India that stops people from doing so,” he said. Phillip is now living and practising medicine in Texas, U.S.
Indian American business leader Chandrika Tandon will be receiving the 2019 Horatio Alger Award, among 12 others, from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals and encouraging youth to pursue their dreams through higher education.
Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals and encouraging youth to pursue their dreams through higher education, has announced that Chandrika K. Tandon, Chair and Founder of Tandon Capital Associates, Soul Chants Music, and the Krishnamurthy Tandon Foundationhas been selected for membership in this prestigious organization.
For more than 70 years, the Horatio Alger Award has been annually bestowed upon esteemed individuals who have succeeded despite adversity, and who have remained committed to higher education and charitable endeavors throughout their lives.
Ms. Tandon was born the first daughter of a traditional family in Chennai, India. Raised from an early age to make a good wife, her only exposure to the world at large was through music and the poetry and literature her grandfather shared with her. Though she dreamt of making music her life’s work, she was discouraged, as it was not considered a respectable profession at the time. Ms. Tandon instead pursued business, not knowing that music would find her again later in life. Fighting for her dreams against the narrow future her family envisioned, she went on hunger strikes to be allowed to leave home for college and business school. In 1973, Ms. Tandon graduated with a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Madras Christian College, and went on to attend the prestigious Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad for her MBA. Immediately thereafter, she began her career for Citibank, starting in war-torn Beirut.
At age 24, Ms. Tandon immigrated to the United States to work for McKinsey and Company, becoming the first Indian woman hired, and all without an American education. She found herself advising CEOs on their biggest problems even though she didn’t own a business suit, didn’t know how to drive, and was totally new to American culture. With a dogged determination to create impact for businesses and clients, coupled with a fearsome work ethic, she made partner at the firm within a few years. In 1990, she risked her life savings to found Tandon Capital Associates, a financial advisory company, restructuring preeminent financial institutions worldwide, and creating billions of dollars of market cap. This decision quickly catapulted her to a new echelon.
At the pinnacle of her career, despite all the trappings of success, Ms. Tandon became increasingly tormented by life’s bigger questions. She was compelled to reevaluate her definitions of success, and self-reflection led her to remember that the happiest moments of her childhood were tied to music. Ms. Tandon decided to pursue singing as an extension of her professional life, often leaving home at 4:00 a.m. for lessons on Saturdays so that she could learn from artists she idolized. Her dedication to the craft has since gained admiration around the world, allowing her to perform for millions, release four albums, and in 2011, garnering her a Grammy nomination for her album, Soul Call.
“Chandrika is a visionary who took control of her future at a young age,” said Matthew Rose, president, Horatio Alger Association and 2013 Horatio Alger Award recipient. “Despite barriers, she never lost sight of her goals, and fought for the life she wanted and deserved. We are delighted to welcome Chandrika as a lifetime Member, and I look forward to sharing her story of triumph and accomplishment with our Scholars.”
In the past 20 years, Ms. Tandon has used her business skills and resources pro bono to better humanity and commit to a life of public service. Through the Krishnamurthy Tandon Foundation, she strategically directs resources to create pathways to economic, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being for all. As one of the largest Indian-American donors to American higher education, Ms. Tandon and her husband have given $100 million to the New York University (NYU) Polytechnic School of Engineering, renamed the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. She serves as Vice Chair of the NYU Board of Trustees and sits on the boards of the NYU Langone Health System, the NYU Stern School of Business and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. From 2002 to 2008, she served as NYU Stern’s Distinguished Executive in Residence, where she lectured about business transformation and leadership, and earned the Walter Nichols Medal in 2009. In 2016, she received the university’s highest honor, the Gallatin Medal.
“I spent my life working hard to create impact for businesses and society,” said Ms. Tandon. “But I know I would not be where I am today without the teachers and supporters I’ve had – especially my grandfather. My love for music has been an important outlet for me in finding myself, and for that, I am forever grateful. I hope I can help to advocate for our young Horatio Alger Scholars as they fight for their professional and personal passions, just as I did.”
Through its Members, Horatio Alger Association aims to educate young people about the limitless opportunities afforded to them by the free-enterprise system. To further this mission, the organization awards scholarships to outstanding high school students who are committed to pursuing higher education and giving back to their communities. Like Association Members, Horatio Alger Scholars have faced significant adversities, but have also displayed unmatched resilience in overcoming their challenges. Since the scholarship program was established in 1984, Horatio Alger Association has provided more than $159 million to students in need, all of which has been funded solely through the generosity of Association Members and friends.
“Ms. Tandon defines tenacity and boldness – characteristics that many of our Scholars also embody,” said Terrence J. Giroux, executive director, Horatio Alger Association. “Her business acumen, dedication to service and passion for education will serve our Association well. I’m certain she will be a tremendous role model for the young men and women we support.”
Ms. Tandon and the Member Class of 2019 will be formally inducted into the Association on April 4-6, 2019, during the Association’s 72nd Horatio Alger Award Induction Ceremonies in Washington, D.C. The annual three-day event honors the achievements of both Members and National Scholars, affording both groups the opportunity to meet and interact as well as exchange stories of hardships and triumphs.
For more information about Horatio Alger Association and its Member Class of 2019, please visitwww.horatioalger.org
Who’s afraid of artificial intelligence? A lot of people, it turns out. The late Stephen Hawking predicted in 2015 that man-made machines would, within a century, become more capable than people, making one wonder whether they’ll tolerate our presence on earth. Silicon Valley entrepreneur Elon Musk — not one normally given to technological doom and gloom — is only slightly less pessimistic when he claims that AI poses a greater threat to humanity than North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
Even those who don’t believe machines pose an existential crisis for humanity agree that AI represents a hugely disruptive force for the global economy. Autonomous vehicles are likely to render professions like long-haul truck driving and taxi driving obsolete. Robots could replace humans who clean homes and wash dishes for a living. High schoolers from the mid-21st century may receive extra help from machine-based, not human, tutors.
These changes will present governments around the world with an acute problem: what to do about the millions of people whose jobs will disappear and never come back. According to Kai-Fu Lee, a longtime expert on AI, job-displacing artificial intelligence will force people to look beyond work in order to define who they are.
“We were all brainwashed by the Industrial Revolution-era value that our work equals the meaning of our life,” he said in a recent talk at Asia Society in New York. “Perhaps AI is a wakeup call, for us to realize that there’s something else. That there’s love, compassion, empathy, and human-to-human relations.”
That Lee himself is saying this is something of a surprise. The Taiwan-born venture capitalist and entrepreneur is known for his Herculean work ethic: When he served as president of Google China, Lee would wake up at 2 a.m. and again at 5 in order to check and send emails. “I did that so my American colleagues knew I was responsive,” he said. “And to set an example for my Chinese employees.” And in 1991, while his wife was in labor with their first child, Lee made plans to leave her bedside in order to finish work on a presentation — only to be spared this decision when his daughter arrived earlier than expected.
Lee’s perspective changed in 2013 when he was diagnosed with lymphoma, which has since gone in remission. “I realized my priorities were upside down,” he said. “Whatever remaining days I had, continuing to work was no longer something I wanted to do. Much more important was loving the people I wanted to love, and giving back to the people who loved me. [I wanted to pursue] things I was passionate about.”
One of these subjects is artificial intelligence — a field that Lee has studied since his graduate school days at Carnegie Mellon University in the 1980s. In his new book AI Superpowers, he sketches a vision of the near future in which artificial intelligence transforms key economic sectors like transportation, health care, and personal finance. The typical office worker of 2040 — or perhaps even sooner — will travel to work via a public, self-autonomous vehicle that will not get stuck in traffic, cause accidents, or need to park anywhere. A patient displaying troubling symptoms will receive an accurate, instant diagnosis from a machine more knowledgeable than any human doctor. And a bank officer reviewing a loan application will consider more than just an applicant’s income and credit score: variables like one’s propensity to let a cell phone battery die, for instance, will matter, too.
In his talk at Asia Society, Lee said that the rise of machines in the workforce will allow humans to devote themselves to professions which depend on innate human characteristics like compassion and empathy. Far fewer people in the middle of this century will be employed as factory workers, for instance — but more will be needed in elderly care, a job that Lee believes cannot be performed by robots. “Elderly people don’t want a robot,” he said. “They want other people.” And while doctors will no longer dispense diagnoses, they’ll be repurposed as workers whose interpersonal skills matter more than medical knowledge — a medical therapist, if you will.
Managing this transition will require government intervention on a scale that is difficult to fathom. Policymakers in places like Finland have experimented with universal basic income (UBI), a program that provides no-strings-attached payments to everyone, regardless of their employment situation. Lee is skeptical that such an approach will be suitable everywhere and instead prefers government subsidies for modestly-compensated professions, like teaching, that will need to attract more workers. Either solution will require political cooperation that does not seem feasible in today’s hyperpolarized climate. But Lee is adamant that for all its potential for trouble, artificial intelligence will allow humans to transcend our current paradigm that one’s work is one’s life.
“I can imagine our maker is very frustrated with us,” he said. “After thousands of years of evolution, we’re stuck here, like rats on a wheel, doing the same routine jobs every day, and not spending time on what we’re passionate about and with people we love. … Maybe our maker is so frustrated that he threw AI at us to take away all of the routine jobs, so we have time to think, and to love.”
Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, an Indian American professor at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, was one of the two individuals who was selected by the National Science Foundation for its 2018 Vizzies People’s Choice award for photography.
Along with Bhullar, graduate student Daniel Smith, an assistant professor and assistant curator in geology and geophysics, was also named among the recipients.
According to a university press release, both of their winning image show a Madagascar ground gecko embryo after 12 days of incubation in the egg, where areas in red (muscles) and grey (nerves), indicate how much development of these structures has taken place in such a short time. The image was taken by an LSM880 confocal microscope and is made up of 12,000 individual images.
The award comes with a cash prize of $500 and the winning image will be featured on both the NSF’s website and on PopSci.com, the press release adds.
According to his bio on the university’s website, at Yale, Bhullar’s group focuses on great transitions in the history of vertebrates both in the field and in the lab by using the geological record of life to guide questions about major transformations across vertebrata, especially at the origins of extant radiations such as birds, mammals, tetrapods and gnathostomes.
To address the nature and mechanism of pivotal events at crucial points in evolutionary history, Bhullar’s lab brings to bear a full range of modern biological and geological techniques, especially molecular developmental biology and functional biology, coupled with advanced three-dimensional imaging and geometric analysis, however, they maintain a surpassing commitment to the discovery of new fossils in the field, Bhullar mentions in his bio.
The Vizzies is sponsored by NSF and Popular Science magazine, and it honors scientific visualizations that help create a universal language enabling people around the world to better understand scientific ideas and phenomena, a press release said.
Sruthi Palaniappan, 20, an Indian American student, has been elected as the president of the Harvard University Undergraduate Council. Her running mate Julia Huesa, 20, was elected as vice president, according to an announcement by the Undergraduate Council Election Commission, According to the Harvard Crimson.
Palaniappan and Huesa plan to work on improving the Council’s communication with the student body in their initial days in office.
“I think from the onset, better structuring the way we communicate with students is something that we need to already set the tone and plan for. I think we’re going to work on it before we even leave for break and just get off the ground running,” Palaniappan told Harvard Crimson.
Palaniappan was also the youngest delegate at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July 2016. Palaniappan is currently the council’s education committee chair and she will replace outgoing president Catherine L. Zhang.
Last week, researchers meeting in Versailles voted to get rid of it in favour of defining a kilogram in terms of an electric current. The decision was made at the General Conference on Weights and Measures.
But some scientists, such as Perdi Williams at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK, have expressed mixed feelings about the change. “I haven’t been on this project for too long but I feel a weird attachment to the kilogram,” she said.
“I think it is such an exciting thing and this is a really big moment. So I’m a little bit sad about [the change]. But it is an important step forward and so the new system is going to work a lot better. It is also a really exciting time, and I can’t wait for it to happen.”
Currently, it is defined by the weight of a platinum-based ingot called “Le Grand K” which is locked away in a safe in Paris.
Le Grand K has been at the forefront of the international system of measuring weights since 1889. Several close replicas were made and distributed around the globe.
But the master kilogram and its copies were seen to change – ever so slightly – as they deteriorated.
In a world where accurate measurement is now critical in many areas, such as in drug development, nanotechnology and precision engineering – those responsible for maintaining the international system had no option but to move beyond Le Grand K to a more robust definition.
How wrong is Le Grand K?
The fluctuation is about 50 parts in a billion, less than the weight of a single eyelash. But although it is tiny, the change can have important consequences. Coming in is an electrical measurement which Dr Stuart Davidson, head of mass metrology at NPL, says is more stable, more accurate and more egalitarian.
“We know from comparing the kilogram in Paris with all the copies of the kilogram that are all around the world that there are discrepancies between them and Le Grand K itself,” he said.
“This is not acceptable from a scientific point of view. So even though Le Grand K is fit for purpose at the moment, it won’t be in 100 years’ time.”
How does the new system work?
Electromagnets generate a force. Scrap-yards use them on cranes to lift and move large metal objects, such as old cars. The pull of the electromagnet, the force it exerts, is directly related to the amount of electrical current going through its coils. There is, therefore, a direct relationship between electricity and weight.
So, in principle, scientists can define a kilogram, or any other weight, in terms of the amount of electricity needed to counteract the weight (gravitational force acting on a mass).
There is a quantity that relates weight to electrical current, called Planck’s constant – named after the German physicist Max Planck and denoted by the symbol h.
But h is an incredibly small number and to measure it, the research scientist Dr Bryan Kibble built a super-accurate set of scales. The Kibble balance, as it has become known, has an electromagnet that pulls down on one side of the scales and a weight – say, a kilogram – on the other.
The electrical current going through the electromagnet is increased until the two sides are perfectly balanced.
By measuring the current running through the electromagnet to incredible precision, the researchers are able to calculate h to an accuracy of 0.000001%.
This breakthrough has paved the way for Le Grand K to be deposed by “die kleine h”.
What are the advantages of the new system?
Every few decades, all the replica kilograms in the world had to be checked against Le Grand K. The new system, now that it’s been adopted, will allow anyone with a Kibble balance to check their weights anytime and anywhere, according to NPL’s Dr Ian Robinson.
“It feels really good to be at this point. I feel it is the right decision. Once we’ve done this it will be stable for the foreseeable future,” he said.
Common Sense Media to Honor Khan Academy Founder Sal Khan at 2018 Awards Gala Common Sense Media announced it 2018 award recipients, including Indian American Sal Khan, who will be recognized at its 15th annual awards gala.
Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, will be recognized as the Educator of the Year. Other winners include “Black Panther” as the Great Family Media Award winner; March for Our Lives with the Advocacy Award; and Bill Price with the Common Sense Leadership Award.
Common Sense Media said the evening will honor the visionary media creators, educators and policymakers who are helping kids thrive in our rapidly changing digital world.
Despite restrictions on visitors to the US by the Trump administration, foreign students seeking higher education continue to rise. India is the second largest source country of foreign students in the United States after China, according to a new official report.
The biannual report on international student trends, released Oct. 28 by the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that India was the second largest source country of foreign students in 2017, with 249,763 students from the country studying in American universities. China sent 481,106 students.
The total number of students from India and China studying in the U.S. was out of a total of over 1.5 million international students studying in various educational institutions in the U.S. in 2017.
“Forty-nine percent of the F and M student population in the United States hailed from either China (377,070 students) or India (211,703 students), and interest continues to grow,” the report said.
“Over the reporting period, both China and India saw proportional growth between 1 and 2 percent, with China sending 6,305 more students and India sending 2,356 more students. It is this level of participation from China and India that makes Asia far and away the most popular continent of origin. In fact, 77 percent of all international students in the United States call Asia home,” the report noted.
China and India together accounted for nearly half of the foreign students in America, followed by three other Asian countries — South Korea (95,701), Saudi Arabia (72,358) and Japan (41,862) — in the top five. Other countries in the top 10 are Canada, Vietnam, Brazil, Taiwan and Mexico.
Despite being second in the overall standing, India topped the list of students with STEM OPT authorization.
While India topped the list of STEM OPT authorization with 50,507 students, China came in second with 21,705 students. They were followed by South Korea (1,670), Taiwan (1,360), and Iran (1,161).
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Optional Practical Training (OPT) program is a 24-month extension of OPT for qualifying students with STEM degrees.
The biannual report, however, said the total number of SEVIS records for active F and M students decreased by 0.5 percent, from 1,208,039 in March 2017 to 1,201,829 in March 2018. The J-1 exchange visitor population increased by 4 percent from 201,408 exchange visitors in March 2017 to 209,568 visitors in March 2018.
Of the four major regions within the continental United States, the Northeast and South hosted the largest number of F and M students and were the only two regions to experience growth over the reporting year. The Northeast welcomed 2 percent more F and M students, while the international student population in the South grew by less than a percentage point.
Annie is a role model to many within the community. Annie is the author of the book, How to Be Your Badass Self: A Guide to Using Your Inner Energy for Brand Success, released on Amazon August 2020. The book lays out the steps to turn your mindset and focus to building your brand and growing your business or career. Annie walks you through the process, giving you stories from her personal journey in the world of media and marketing. Get the tools you need to determine your strengths, create a call to action, and build relationships with your clients. 
Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu greeted AAPI and FAPI members as “we are commemorating the 74th year of India’s Independence.” Pointing to how the pandemic has changed our lives, he said, “Covid has taken a toll on human lives. I congratulate AAPI and FAPI for organizing this special Medical Symposium.”
Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, Secretary of AAPI introduced Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu as “one of the most experienced Indian diplomats on US affairs, having served in the Indian Mission in Washington DC in various capacities and at the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations, New York.” 
Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, President of AAPI, said, “This year India celebrates its 74th Independence Day remembering the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters, political leaders and citizens in order to free the motherland from colonial rule. This year, COVID-19 has eliminated the ability for spectators and celebrations. The virtual world allows celebrations to proceed in a different manner, but this is also an opportunity to be re-inspired by the legacy of the Father of Nation. After all, isn’t service of mankind the best way to celebrate India’s Independence?”
Illustrations in the book are by Akshay Dinakar, who is a product designer who graduated from Stanford University. He is an entrepreneur focused on the intersection of engineering and personal wellness.
Penguin behavior
“I always had connectivity to my Alma Mater and kept up with my professors and the pioneers in establishing this Medical College and many other institutions. Since I had the close affinity with my Alma-mater, I took keen interest in establishing and being the president of Kasturba Medical College Alumni which is one of the largest alumni associations in US, UK and many other countries and had kept up communication with these Associations. Kasturba Medical college, I was honored as an outstanding Alumni of Kasturba Medical college, which is a great honor and that I am much grateful to the Academy.”
Besides being the founding president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian origin in Mississippi, he was also the past president and chair of the India Association of Mississippi and was Advisor to US Department of Health & Human Services at NHSC Washington, DC 2005-2008 during President Bush Administration.
Dr. Sampat Shivangi, an obstetrician/gynecologist, has been elected by a US state Republican Party as a full delegate to the National Convention. He is one of the top fund-raisers in Mississippi state for the Republican Party. Besides being a politician by choice, the medical practitioner is also the first Indian to be on the American Medical Association.
“Dr. Shivangi’s commitment to advancing America’s first principles, his distinguished career as a physician, and a leader at the state and national levels has made a profound difference in the lives of many,” Joel Anand Samy said. “We look forward to working with Dr. Shivangi in his new capacity as an Executive Advisory Board Member of ILS in advancing principled policies in America and strengthening the US-India ties on the healthcare, economic and security fronts.”
