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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indian Embassy Advisory for students hoping to study in US

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation, Travel 0

The Indian embassy in Washington issued an advisory urging students hoping to study in the United States to go beyond the usual checks to ensure they were not applying to “fake” universities that law enforcement agencies here have set up in the past to “trap” immigration frauds suspects.

The Indian embassy in Washington issued an advisory Wednesday urging students hoping to study in the United States to go beyond the usual checks to ensure they were not applying to “fake” universities that law enforcement agencies here have set up in the past to “trap” immigration frauds suspects.

“In order to ensure that Indian students do not fall into such “traps”, it is advised that due diligence be exercised while seeking admission in US Universities,” said the embassy advisory.

“The fact that a University is duly accredited by relevant US authorities such as its inclusion in the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVIS), is not an assurance in itself about the bonafides of a University”.

The alert comes in the wake of, and the the advisory mentions them, US authorities apprehending hundred of Indian students enrolled at Farmington University in Michigan, a “fake” university set up by immigration enforcement agencies to ensnare recruiters and students in what was described as a “pay-to-stay” scheme. People enroll only to either stay in the US or extend their stay without any intention of studying, US enforcement agencies have alleged.

The other such institution was University of Northern New Jersey, which was used for the same purpose.

Indian students enrolled in these universities were apprehended and many were deported. They later claimed that they had taken these universities for real, paid their fees and had every intention to study.

“In order to ensure that Indian students do not fall into such “traps”, it is advised that due diligence be exercised while seeking admission in US Universities,” the embassy said.

The mission issued a checklist of steps students could take to ensure they were not duped.

Check if the university function from a campus or merely maintains a website and has administrative premises only? Does it have a faculty and regular instructors/educators? Does it have a a proper curriculum, hold regular classes and actively implement academic or educational activity?

H-1B pays for US College scholarships & trainings, says new study

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation, Science & Technology, Travel 0

The US grants 65,000 cap-subjected H-1B work visas to foreign workers hired abroad every year and 20,000 to foreigners in US institutions of higher education.

The H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreigners, which has been subjected to prohibitive scrutiny by the Trump administration, has earned the US $4.9 billion in employer-paid fees since 1999, which paid for more than 90,000 college scholarships and training, according to a new study.

These collections are from the $1,500 processing fee that the government charges employers for every new H-1B or a renewal, the National Foundation for American Policy, a non-partisan think tank, says in the report, and adds that the total rises to $7 billion, by adding $500 in anti-fraud fees.

The US grants 65,000 cap-subjected H-1B work visas to foreign workers hired abroad every year and 20,000 to foreigners in US institutions of higher education. More than 70% of these visas have gone to Indians, hired by US companies such as Google and Facebook, and Indian firms such as TCS and Infosys.

The application process for 2020, which comes with changes, started on Monday and will typically end in a few days given the demand. More than 190,000 applications were received by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that runs the programme, in 2018 (for 2019), and 199,000 in 2017.

“Few people realize that fees for each new H-1B visa holder fund scholarships and job training for Americans,” said Stuart Anderson, a former immigration services official and executive director of the think tank that released its report on Monday.

The report argued that the role of employer-paid H-1B fees has received scant or no attention in the policy debate around immigration so far. “People on all sides of the immigration debate agree that it is beneficial to train and educate more Americans in STEM fields, yet policymakers rarely note that every company-sponsored H-1B petition provides money for training and STEM education,” it said.

This side of the H-1B visas has indeed received no attention. The focus has been on American workers displaced by outsourcing. And the Trump administration has initiated a series of measures to check abuse and fraud of the programme in line with its “Buy American, Hire American” policies.

Since 1999, H-1B fees paid by employers have been used to educate and train Americans in technology-related fields. And based on data obtained from the National Science Foundation, the US department of labour and the USCIS, the report said approximately 87,890 college students enrolled in mathematics, engineering and computer science courses were granted scholarships ranging from one to four years and of up $10,000 a year.

Money from the collections also funded training of more than 1.5 million school students and teachers in STEM-related fields, and an estimated $2.5 billion of the total collections was used by the department of labor to train US workers.

“The H-1B fees have benefited American students and encouraged through teaching and financial support many individuals to enter science and engineering fields,” said the report.

Rajat Gupta keen to reform US criminal justice system

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation, Health 0

Former head of McKinsey & Company Rajat Gupta, who spent 19 month in a US jail on charges of insider trading, on Wednesday said he would like to work for the reforms in the US criminal justice and prison system.

The management guru said through his experience, he saw the underbelly of US justice system and feels that much needs to be reformed in it.

“There is lot of suffering, lot of unnecessary waste of human capital. There is lot of cruelty and lot of families are destroyed,” said Gupta speaking at the launch of his book “Mind without Fear” at the Indian School of Business (ISB) here.

Gupta, who started many initiatives in education and health, said he had now started thinking about reforms in the criminal justice system as it had a staggering impact.

He said US had the largest number of incarcerated people in the world.

“There are somewhere around 3 million people. If you count them and those who go through the incarceration system again and again and think about their families, it is more than 100 million people impacted by the criminal justice system.

“While I never thought about it before I went through it myself, I have become committed to make a difference in whatever I way I can to reforms in US justice and US prison system,” he said.

Gupta, the driving force behind the ISB, shared his thoughts, his experiences and spoke about his mistakes during a conversation with Founding Dean of ISB, Pramath Raj Sinha and while answering questions from students.

He said he was sent in solitary confinement for no reason. He said people in charge of the prison had unchecked power and they make sure that they kill the spirit of the inmates.

He said he had to spend seven weeks in solitary confinement and it was harsh. According to UN Convention, solitary confinement of than two weeks is a big torture.

Gupta admits that his biggest mistake was to be too busy with too many initiatives. “Although in every situation I was involved in, I could make a positive difference but at the end, it added up to the hell of a lot which means I did not pay attention to many details that I should have and steered clear of something I should have steered clear of,” he said.

Gupta, who rose from being an orphan to an international icon, said he could see many transitions in his career as he never lived in comfort zone. “If you are too much in comfort zone, change it dramatically, get out of the comfort zone. If you get too much into a comfort zone, you get into a rut and you will not be creative and innovative anymore,” he told the students.

About the book title, Gupta said that a mind without fear was an aspiration. “In many instances I took risk without being afraid. Sometimes it failed me as well,” he added.

South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston Celebrates its 15th Anniversary

April 8, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation 0

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.

Why You Don’t Always Need to Adjust to a New Time Zone

April 1, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation, Science & Technology 0

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.

Neha Upadhyaya selected for 2019 ‘World Fellows’ by Yale University

April 1, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation, Youth 0

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.

IITs, DU, JNU Feature In Top 100 World Universities Under QS Rankings List

March 6, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation, India 0

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.

CREATE Foundation Educating children from marginalized backgrounds learn leadership, teamwork, self-confidence and communication skills

February 27, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Education 0

“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.

For more information, please visit: http://www.thecreatefoundation.org or send in your query to foundation.create@gmail.com

MIT India Conference 2019 held

February 27, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Entertainment 0

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 signs MOU with India for visiting lectureship

February 27, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation 0

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’.

India cuts funds to fight child labor Activists warn the problem is getting worse amid government inaction because children cannot vote.

February 27, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Health 0

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 abuse of children is wrong anywhere and anytime: this point is not negotiable’

February 20, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, Education, Health 0

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.

Screen time for children: Good, bad, or it depends?

February 20, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Environment, Health, Social Media 0

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.

Mayor Steve Chirico committed to making Naperville a Model City

February 13, 2019 Asian Media USACommunity, Education, Environment 0

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.

Registration opens for AAPI’s 37th annual Convention in Atlanta Over 2,500 delegates expected to attend Convention in Atlanta, GA from July 3 to 7, 2019

February 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Health, Science & Technology 0

(Atlanta, GA: February 9, 2019): Registration for the historic 37^th 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 1^st, 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.

For more details, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org and www.aapiusa.org

AAPI to Organize 9-City Jai Ho Musical Dhamaka by Bollywood Singer Sukhwinder Singh, accompanied by Ms. Amruta Fadnavis in May 2019

February 6, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Education, Entertainment 0

(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/

After Fake University Bust, Indian Embassy opens hotline for students detained by US authorities

February 6, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Travel, Youth 0

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.

US switches to new H-1B system that favors foreigners in American colleges

February 6, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Travel, U.S. 0

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.

Dr. Kiran Patel receives Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in Varanasi A visionary, cardiologist, businessman, educationist, and philanthropist, devotes substantial sums towards charity and education in India, Zambia, & US

January 29, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Education, Health 0

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 23^rd, 2019.Dr. Patel received the award from the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind at the 15^thPravasi 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 Parikh receives award for philanthropic work

January 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Women 0

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

January 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

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.

PRATHAM AND J-PAL AWARDED CO-IMPACT GRANT FOR AFRICA INITIATIVE

January 29, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation 0

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

The Akshaya Patra Foundation Awarded the Prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize

January 23, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

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

Indian court allows NRIs Doctors to practice Medicine in India

January 23, 2019 Staff ReporterEducation, Health 0

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.

Chandrika Tandon to receive Horatio Alger Award

December 19, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Women 0

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 Foundation has 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 72^nd 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

Why a Leading AI Expert Is So Optimistic About Humanity’s Future

December 13, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

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.”

Yale Prof. Bhart-Anjan Bhullar wins 2018 Vizzies People’s Choice Award

November 25, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Science & Technology 0

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 elected as Student Body President at Harvard

November 25, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

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.

Kilogram gets a new definition Scientists have changed the way the kilogram is defined

November 25, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Science & Technology 0

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.

India sends U.S. its 2nd largest number of foreign students

November 10, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Travel 0

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.

“Ekal Vidyalaya” Galas raise Millions benefitting children’s education in India

October 23, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

By Prakash Waghmare

The week of October 6 -13, 2018, has a special significance in the 30-year history of “Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (EVF)”. In this week, ‘Ekal’ (as it is popularly known), hosted three fund-raising glittering Galas at three strategic places in USA and raised record $5.5 Million in pledges.

This was in addition to $7.5 Million it had already realized through its annual 50+ fund-raising concerts across USA. On Oct. 6 Ekal-Houston, TX hosted a Gala where generous donors collectively gave $1.5 Million. In similar fashion, on Oct.12, Ekal-Washington hosted a Gala in Bethesda, MD and raised $1.1 Million.

A year earlier (2017) New York (NY) region had successfully initiated Gala for high net-worth philanthropic donors, and so all eyes were on magnificent ‘Cipriani-Wall Street’ banquet Hall in NY as the grand finale of this gala-phase and NY did not disappoint anyone. It raised $3 Million. This crowning achievement pushed Ekal’s donation total for Yr 2018, way beyond $10 Million it had initially hoped for. In addition, what was remarkable was all three Galas were completely sold-out affairs.

At the NYC Ekal-GALA, the presence of John Sculley, former CEO of ‘Apple & Pepsi’ and veteran film actor Anupam Kher as two key-note speakers was the highlight of the evening. These two Iconic personalities, not only freely mingled with the crowd during initial social hour but also patiently took time to interact with their fans. Sandeep Chakravorty, Consul General of India was the Chief Guest of this event. Mohan Wanchoo’s opening remarks, after national anthems of USA & India, set the tone for the evening. As the Chairman of the GALA, he touched on aspirations of village folks and what could be done to bring them into the mainstream. Chirag Patel, as the co-chair of the event emphasized urgency to transform villages so that India could tackle challenges of the future.

Ranjani Saigal’s presentation of ‘EKAL’ (with montage of slides, pictures in the background) was a defining moment. She gave several real-life examples of ecliptic rise of some of the Ekal alumnus in 10-12 minutes. This made the first-timers to Ekal, including ‘Key-note speakers’, fairly knowledgeable about crucial aspects of Ekal movement. John Sculley and Anupam Kher were simply amazing as keynote speakers.

John Sculley commended innovativeness of Indians and lauded Ekal’s dedication to bring changes in rural life by empowering women and boasting self-esteem of rural folks, in general. Anupam Kher drew parallels between his life and the life of poor village-folks and elaborated on how he overcame obstacles in his own life by believing in himself. Laminated letters of Ekal-school children at each placement on every guest tables were quite soul-touching. This immediately connected the attendees with the village-based children in India. On this occasion, Ekal India Team – Bajarang Bagra and Naresh Jain – was also felicitated. Honoring them, Mohan Wanchoo said,” we in USA only raise funds for rural folks but the real hard work is done by ‘Ekal-India’.

The pledging process was focused on supporting a variety of projects in the field of education, health and skill development. Inspired by a matching donation from ‘Sarva Mangal Family Trust’ to bring ‘tablets’ to Ekal schools, $150,000 was raised, instantaneously so that it could turn into $300,000 and equip 600 schools for hand-held ‘Tablets’.

Chintu Patel, Co-Founder and CEO of Amneal Pharmaceuticals gave a passionate speech on the importance of supporting the eye initiative of Ekal which he personally promised to support in partnership with ‘Irada’, a foundation started by his family. As of this moment Ekal has 77,000 Ekal-schools across India grooming 2 Million Children – more than half of them girls. PM Modi has given Ekal a goal to establish 100,000 schools by YR 2022 (75th Anniversary of India’s Independence).

The highest bid – $500,000 – came from an anonymous donor who wanted to support the expansion of the schools specifically to reach this target. The overwhelming support that Ekal witnessed in ‘Galas’, it is very likely that Ekal will reach PM Modi’s target 100,000 schools by Yr. 2020 (way ahead of time).

This unprecedented support from patrons has also given confidence to Ekal to revise and aggressively pursue its developmental agenda. Yr 2018 saw the highest ever growth in Ekal’s 30-year history. New schools were opened in 18,000 villages. E-Shiksha – tutoring by ‘Tablets’ – was initiated in 180 schools, as a pilot project. For digital literacy, 10 ‘Ekal-on-wheels’ mobile digital labs have been added.

Each van can educate 5,000 youths, each year, in basic computer skills. Four ‘Gramotthan Ctrs’ that directly benefit 400,000 farmers (indirectly up to 4 Million) have been planned along with ‘Satellite Skill Ctrs’. First ‘Tele-Medicine’ project, with support from ‘John Hopkins Univ’ was undertaken in Odisha to bring expert Medical advice to the doorsteps of remote Villagers. As Bajrang Bagra, CEO of Ekal-India said, “the primary objective of this all-round integrated development is to give dignity and self-esteem to rural-tribal folks of India. For the first time, Ekal went ‘live’ on Facebook and Twitter for this event. This memorable evening concluded with concert by ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ contest singing superstars, ‘Bishakh Jyoti & Suchetana Sinha’.

PRATHAM LOS ANGELES GALA SHINES A SPOTLIGHT ON EDUCATION

October 23, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Keynote speaker Senator Cory Booker emphasizes the importance of giving back at annual fundraiser

LOS ANGELES, CA, October 22, 2018 – On September 29, 2018, more than 250 corporate and civic leaders attended the Los Angeles gala of Pratham, one of India’s largest and most successful education NGOs. Held at the scenic Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach, with its captivating ocean view, the event brought together local supporters to celebrate the achievements made possible through their generosity and generated $2.5 million in commitments for Pratham programs.

In his keynote speech, Senator Cory Booker, a longtime friend of Pratham, engaged the crowd with inspiring words about the importance of education and giving back. “We cannot ever forget that the best way to ensure a great future for humanity is to invest in the education of children,” Booker explained, adding, “Never forget that you owe a debt to others that came before you. You owe a debt that you can’t pay back but you’ve got to pay forward.”

Booker’s comments are exemplified by several longstanding LA-based supporters: the Sudesh and Chitra Arora Family Foundation and the Mody family have been instrumental in empowering indigent youth through their ongoing support of Pratham’s vocational training programs, while the Sarva Mangal Family Trust provided the seed capital to launch Pratham’s digital initiatives. The effectiveness of both programs were on display during the evening. First, in a series of live feeds conducted by Dr. Madhav Chavan, co-founder and president of Pratham, children delighted the room with demonstrations of their tablets from halfway around the world, and participants in vocational training centers across India thanked the chapter for its life-changing support.

Then, in person, Pratham graduate Pranali Kaurati, who has overcome great adversity in her young life and is now thriving as a result of Pratham, shared her experience of the bedside assistance training program. “My dream is to help people who can’t help themselves. I was one of them a few years ago, and now thanks to Pratham and my job, I get to look after patients and assist them with their needs, and this provides me with an incredible amount of satisfaction and happiness.”

Earlier in the evening, guests were treated to a mesmerizing mind reading performance by mentalist Oz Pearlman and enjoyed traditional Indian cuisine provided by Manohar Delhi Palace.

“Tonight is a testament to what we can accomplish when we come together to provide opportunities for young people,” said Pratham LA President Raj Dhami. Thrilled with the chapter’s momentum, he added, “This is our city’s 15th annual gala and another record-breaking year of impact for Pratham. The funds raised will give us the ability to make an even bigger impact on the lives of India’s children.”

Research grant on India inaugurated at University of Pennsylvania

October 23, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

University of Pennsylvania Provost Wendell Pritchett and Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Ezekiel Emanuel today announced the first recipients of the Penn India Research and Engagement Fund (Penn IREF) awards.

Launched in October 2017, the Penn IREF awards represent another milestone in Penn’s engagement in India. During the next two years Penn IREF will award as much as $2 million in matching research grants to Penn faculty to stimulate and support research activity in India.

The inaugural Penn IREF grants, totaling $800,000 in matching funds from the Provost’s Office, support 15 projects involving researchers across eight of Penn’s 12 schools and six centers and institutes which are collaborating with nearly 50 Indian institutional partners, as well as more than 10 international universities and other partner organizations worldwide.

“The first tranche of Penn IREF awards represents Penn’s commitment to the integration of knowledge across disciplines,” said Pritchett. “These cross-disciplinary, highly collaborative projects highlight the breadth of expertise across Penn’s Schools and Centers, and support partnerships with over 40 Indian institutions, universities and organizations, while building on relationships and collaborations with nearly a dozen U.S. and international partners.”

IREF represents a major step for the University’s engagement with India. In addition to the School of Arts and Sciences’ South Asia Studies program and the South Asia Center—both of which entail major India-centric programming—Penn also oversees the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI) and its Delhi-based complement, the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India (UPIASI).

Emanuel expressed optimism about the potential for the IREF awards to bring Penn’s India initiatives to new heights, saying, “As a global University, Penn is intentional about bringing the world to Penn and Penn to the world. Deepening Penn’s engagement in India and expanding partnerships with Indian institutions aids Penn in seeking real-world solutions to some of society’s most challenging issues.” He added that “the Penn IREF awards will spur innovative inquiry, catalyze transformative ideas, and stimulate academic exploration between Penn’s scholars and researchers and our peers in India.”

From “Applying behavioral economics insights to achieve reductions in household air pollution in India” to “Reversing the Digital Divide: Digital Banking in Rural India,” the IREF sponsored projects cover a broad array of issues. They include dairy and water buffalo production and economic development; urbanization; rising sea levels and the future of coastal cities; connections between health, social, behavioral change, and the environment; and improving treatment for disease.

Anuradha Mathur, professor of landscape architecture in Penn’s School of Design, said the IREF awards will bring her work to another level. Mathur’s project, “Reclaiming India’s Nalas,” reimagines the hydraulic infrastructure of Indian cities, and she said that the funds will “facilitate the participation of leading biotic engineers in the U.S. and India on a project in Patna that has implications for other places in India and how we think about design and infrastructure in a monsoon landscape.”

Penn’s connections in India include nearly 2,000 Penn alumni who live in India. Indian students make up a large percentage of Penn’s international undergraduate and graduate student population on campus, and annually, Penn sends many students to India for study abroad programs and internship exchanges. At present, 147 Penn faculty members report activity on more than 230 projects in or relating to India, though the actual figures are certainly higher than this.

A number of the inaugural Penn IREF projects will be featured as part of a research “blitz” at the second annual Penn India Research Symposium Friday, Nov. 2. The symposium from 2 to 6 p.m. at Perry World House is free and open to the public.

A full list of the inaugural Penn IREF awards is at: https://global.upenn.edu/global-initiatives/india-research-and-engagement-fund-recipients.

Prof. Abhay Ashtekar to receive Prestigious Einstein Prize

October 23, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Over four decades after he began his scientific engagement with gravitational science, Professor Abhay Ashtekar, professor of physics, Evan Pugh Professor, Holder, Eberly Chair, and director of the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos at the Pennsylvania State University, has been chosen to receive the prestigious Einstein Prize conferred by the American Physical Society (APS).

The prize for 2018, which carries an award of $10,000, is scheduled to be announced on October 23. Its citation reads: “For numerous and seminal contributions to general relativity, including the theory of black holes, canonical quantum gravity, and quantum cosmology.”

“The prize is special because is it the highest honor bestowed by APS in the broad area of gravitational science,” Ashtekar told IANS in an email interview. Ashtekar’s passion for the physical sciences started while he was in high school in India.

“At first, I knew only Marathi literature. That is my mother tongue, and was the medium of instruction until I was 11. Then I was exposed Hindi and English literature and realized how deeply literature is tied to specific cultures. What is considered great in one language or context could well be mediocre in another. At the same time, I learned Newton’s laws and universality of gravity — what makes the apple fall on earth also makes the planets go around the sun. This was stunning by itself,” he said.

What he found most remarkable was that, unlike art and literature, which are “so tied to human conditions,” Newton’s laws transcend both. “It was striking to me that the same Newton’s laws are taught and admired in India as in China, Japan and the West,” he said.

“Later, in college, fundamental physics seemed to me to be the deepest and purest way to pursue understanding of Nature (the external world). In graduate school, I chose to work in general relativity, cosmology and quantum physics because that is where the most fundamental questions about space, time and the nature of the physical universe are discussed,” he said

Somewhere along the line, he also recognized that although one of the main four forces of nature, gravity is the weakest, yet it is so crucial to the way the universe formed and exists.

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1974 from the University of Chicago, Ashtekar went on to hold influential positions in France, Canada and India. His biography on the National Academy of Sciences, to which he was elected a member in 2016, describes him as someone “best known for initiating the Loop Quantum Gravity program by introducing new variables to simplify Einstein’s equations, for analyzing the very early universe using Loop Quantum Cosmology, and for his contributions to the study of the asymptotic structure of space-time and gravitational waves in full non-linear general relativity.”

After such a long career in a diversity of physics disciplines, he said science is currently in the “truly golden age for gravity.”

“Until about the mid-1960s, general relativity had remained isolated from mainstream science — a pristine and beautiful theory, to be admired from a distance.

“The paradigm has shifted completely and relativistic gravity has moved to center stage of physics and astronomy. Through the big bang, black holes and gravitational waves, we realized that the universe is not a calm, peaceful place that the astronomers believed it to be in much of the 20th century,” he pointed out.

“There are highly energetic explosions sourced by strong gravity that have shaped the history of our universe. Thus, relativistic gravity has completely overhauled our understanding of the cosmos,” he said.

Asked whether physicists in India are producing world-class research, Ashtekar said: “There are extremely talented physicists in India who are making first-rate contributions to pure physics in areas I have first-hand acquaintance with. I am particularly pleased by the ‘LIGO-India’ project that is now placing India firmly in the front ranks of international efforts. The Inter University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, in particular, will play an important role in the major discoveries that will be made with the international network of gravitational wave observatories between five and ten years from now. In this area India is ahead of China, for example.

“My colleagues in other areas of physics, on the other hand, tell me that this is not the case in their field; that there is a lot of good research but not enough ‘great’ research that gets published in the most visible journals,” he said.

Harvard racial admissions trial begins

October 18, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

The case alleging of discrimination of students of Asian origin by a group that claims Harvard’s admissions office discriminates against Asian applicants in order to boost other racial groups, seen as a referendum on affirmative action hiring practices, opened in a Boston federal district court on October 15th.

The case has been brought by a group from the Washington DC area called Students For Fair Admissions, which ultimately wants courts to rule that race-based decisions in education are a civil rights violation.

Harvard is one of the top-rated and most selective universities in the US, admitting about 1,600 freshman students out of 42,000 applicants each year. Harvard disputes the claim and says race is only one small factor in their secretive student selections process.

The lawsuit claims that the elite university unfairly weighs race when considering an applicant, forcing Asian-Americans to meet a higher bar in order to be accepted. They claim Harvard uses a quota system or a system of “racial balancing” – practices that are illegal under federal law – to limit the number of Asian students on campus in an effort to maintain space for other racial groups. The plaintiffs say that if race was not considered, and if admissions were only based on grades alone, twice as many Asian pupils would be admitted because they perform well academically.

Before the trial, groups of protesters took the streets in the city, either opposing or supporting an admissions policy that includes race as a factor. The case is expected to shed light on admissions practices at universities. Courts have previously allowed universities to examine race as a factor in order to promote diversity on campus, a practice known as affirmative action, or “reverse discrimination”.

Some unexpected revelations could also come out of the trial, such as how the university considers the children of alumni or donors, or the applications of other pupils who are not admitted through the typical process.

Harvard says they use a “holistic” strategy to evaluate students, and that race is only one minor consideration. The institution points out that its population of Asians students has been growing, and now stands at 23% of the student body. Harvard University Dean Rakesh Khurana told WBUR that it takes more than just good grades to be chosen.

“We’re looking for people who are genuinely curious. Not just those who do well on exams but actually want to lean and have an integrative capacity,” he said.

Other Ivy league schools and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are supporting Harvard in the case. In an amicus brief – a court filing supporting Harvard – the ACLU argued that “a whole-person, race-conscious admissions process furthers a university’s academic freedom to assemble a diverse student body”.

The Students For Fair Admissions group was formed by conservative activist Edward Blum – who opposes affirmative action, ie the proactive effort to include minorities that have been historically marginalised due to discrimination.

The Justice Department has also launched a probe into whether Yale University discriminates against Asians – something which it denies. The trial is expected to last two to three weeks. But regardless of the outcome, the loser is expected to appeal the verdict to the US Supreme Court.

Drs. Kiran & Pallavi Patel among top NRIs donors giving $1.2 billion to U.S. higher education institutions

October 2, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Drs. Kiran & Pallavi Patel top the list of nearly 50 Indian-Americans who have donated a total of more than $1.2 billion to various colleges and universities as a way of giving back to higher education since the year 2000, according to a study conducted by Indiaspora, a nonprofit organization which says its mission is to transform the success of the community into meaningful impact worldwide.

According to a press release, Indiaspora has created the Monitor of University Giving, which it says is a “living database” to keep track of donations given to universities and other higher education programs by Indian Americans.

Fifty different donors made the 68 donations that were analyzed for the study, the first in a series conducted by Indiaspora, a nonprofit organization that aims to transform the success of Indian Americans into meaningful impact worldwide. The study showed that about 47 percent of the donations are from repeat donors who had also given $1 million or more to either the same or a different university or college.

The goal of this database is to illustrate how Indian-Americans are giving back to higher education in their adopted homeland. However, it only keeps track of donations amounting of $1 million or more, which it says would could cause an under-reporting of the results.

Some of the other prominent among those who have donated to the cause of education are: Sumir Chadha, Desh Deshpande, Kris Gopalkrishnan, Raj Gupta, Deepak Raj, Anand Rajaraman, and Sanjay Swani.

The largest-ever donation by an Indian American to a U.S educational institution was made by Pallavi and Kiran Patel, a $225 million donation in 2017 to Nova Southeastern University in Florida to build a new medical school in Clearwater.

The Patels followed in the footsteps of Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon, who in 2015 gave $100 million to New York University’s engineering school. “The imagination and inventiveness of the students and faculty as they worked together on real world problems; the cutting-edge work being done both within the school and collaboratively across schools in such diverse areas like the arts, medicine, education, incubators; the entrepreneurial spirit that pervades the place — all this inspired us so,” said Chandrika Tandon, as quoted in the Indiaspora report.

Dubai businessman Rajen Kilachand is also one of the largest donors to a U.S. educational institution. In 2017, Kilachand made a $115 million gift to Boston University’s Science and Engineering Schools.

The Indiaspora report also noted donations made by Indian Americans to universities that were not their alma maters. Rangaswami cited the $61 million donation of Ram Shriram, an early backer of Google, to create the Shriram Center for Bioengineering & Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. Shriram attended the University of Madras and Loyola College.

Similarly, Kris Gopalakrishnan, a co-founder of Infosys, graduated from IIT Madras, but has donated $1.8 million to Carnegie Mellon University to conduct research on brain function, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s Disease.

His donation also funds research in disciplines such as machine learning and imaging technology to attempt to address important questions concerning neuro-degeneration and the aging process, according to the Indiaspora report.

Nearly half of the donations are by individuals who donated more than once, “indicating how passionately Indian Americans feel towards giving back to American institutions of higher education, in many but not all cases, their alma maters,” Indiaspora says.

According to the study, a total of 37 different colleges received these donations and while private universities received more than one donation, public universities received $5 for every $2 donated to them.

The five universities which received the most donations were University of California, Los Angeles, Harvard University, Boston University, the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania.

“While Indian Americans continue to donate time and money towards causes in India, our community also believes that charity begins at home. Indian Americans are acutely aware of the vital role played by American Institutions of Higher Education in their professional success stories, and many of us consider it a moral obligation to give back and pay it forward for the next generation of Americans,” M.R. Rangaswami, founder of Indiaspora, is quoted saying in the press release.

Business schools received the largest share of gifts – 23.5 percent – followed by medicine – 20.6 percent – and South Asian studies – 17.6 percent. Surprisingly, donations to support engineering schools received slightly less than 12 percent of donations; computer science and technology schools received negligible sums.

Gifts to support schools of humanities were also negligible – 1.5 percent. One notable donation for this field was businessman Anand Mahindra’s $10 million donation in 2011 to found the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard. Mahindra received his MBA at Harvard in 1981.

IISc Bengaluru tops India in global list of best institutes

October 2, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

No Indian institution figures in the top 250 of the Times Higher Education’s (THE) world university rankings 2019, though the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, has retained its position as the highest-ranked centre in the country, while the Indian Institute of Technology-Indore has risen to the highest position behind it.

The rankings, released on Wednesday last week, show Oxford continues to hold the first place, Cambridge second, and Stanford third. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology rose one place to number four.

There was some good news for India: number of Indian institutions in the rankings increased from 42 last year to 49, making it the fifth best-represented nation. India is the most-represented country in the table when those in the top 200 are excluded.

The India group in the ranking was again led by the Indian Institute of Science, which retained its position in the 251-300 band. But IIT-Indore became India’s second highest-ranked university – and a global top 400 institution – with its strong score for research volume and research impact.

It overtook the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, which slipped from the 351-400 band to the 401-500 band.

Pradeep Mathur, director of IIT-Indore, told THE: “Our efforts in making research the focus of the institute is now reflected in the form of citations and other impact metrics of research. We continue to make research the focus of all our programmes which is why you see even our undergraduate students are active participants of research projects and collaborations within India and internationally too.”

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (headquartered in Tamil Nadu) saw a rise, from the 801-1000 band to the 601-800 band this year, with a particular improvement in its citation impact (research influence) score.

However, while some institutions gained this year, the majority of India’s universities remained static or declined, struggling amid increased global competition, according to the global list.

77.5% of people of Indian origin had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2016

September 27, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Education levels have generally risen since 1980 among the largest U.S. immigrant-origin populations. More than three-in-four immigrants ages 25 and older from India (77.5%) had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2016 – the highest share of any top origin country – up from 66.1% in 1980.

Overall, the estimated 44 million immigrants in the United States are better educated than ever, due in part to rising levels of schooling in many of the countries they came from and an influx of high-skilled workers to the U.S. in recent years, especially from Asia, a Prew Study found recently.

In 2016, 17.2% of immigrants ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree and another 12.8% had attained a postgraduate degree, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Both shares are up since 1980, when 7.0% held a bachelor’s degree and another 8.7% held a postgraduate degree.

Compared with the U.S.-born population, immigrants are about as likely to hold bachelor’s and postgraduate degrees, though this varies by country of origin. In 2016, 30.0% of immigrants ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 31.6% of the U.S. born.

The educational attainment of U.S. immigrants has improved in recent decades for a variety of reasons. Each year, thousands of immigrants temporarily work in the U.S. under the federal government’s H-1B visa and Optional Practical Training programs, the two largest sources of new temporary high-skilled immigrant workers. Each requires some level of college education. More broadly, education levels have increased in many parts of the world as nations have invested in their educational systems. One result is that global literacy rates among people ages 15 and older have increased from 56% in 1980 to 85% in 2014.

It remains to be seen how changes to H-1B visa application reviews enacted in 2018 – and any other possible changes to the nation’s immigration system – will shape the U.S. immigrant population in the future.

Changes in the origins of U.S. immigrants in recent years have also contributed to the increased share with a college education. In recent years, Asia has surpassed Latin America as the largest source of newly arrived U.S. immigrants, in large part because immigration from India and China has increased steadily while immigration from Mexico has declined sharply. This follows one of the largest mass migrations in modern U.S history, during which more immigrants came to the U.S. from Mexico than any other country in the world. Overall, 11.6 million Mexican immigrants and 11.7 million South and East Asia immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2016.

More than half of immigrants from South and East Asian countries (52.1%) had a bachelor’s degree or more in 2016, which is in part explained by Asian countries being the largest source of foreign college graduates who stay to work in the United States.

Asian immigrants also make up a majority of H-1B visa holders and foreign students. Latin American immigrants, by contrast, tend to have lower levels of education. The vast majority of Mexican immigrants (81.2%) and Central American immigrants (74.6%) had a high school degree or less, the lowest educational attainment level of any origin region.

Immigrants from Korea, which is second to India, have had the biggest increase in educational attainment among those ages 25 and older. The share of Korean immigrants with a bachelor’s degree jumped from 34.4% in 1980 to 53.6% in 2016, a 19-percentage-point increase.

By contrast, the share of Mexican immigrants with a bachelor’s degree or higher has increased by only a few percentage points since 1980, reaching 6.2% in 2016. However, the share of Mexican immigrants ages 25 and older with a high school degree has more than doubled, from 11.4% in 1980 to 25.2% in 2016.

Today, the U.S. has more immigrants than any other nation in the world. About 13.5% of the U.S. population was foreign born in 2016. This share has been on the rise since 1970, when it was at a historic low of 4.8%, but it remains below the record of 14.8%, reached more than a century ago in 1890.

Devesh Kapur Named Director-Asia Programs at Johns Hopkins International Studies School

September 17, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) has appointed Dr. Devesh Kapur as Starr Foundation Professor of South Asian Studies and Director of Asia Programs.

“It is my pleasure to welcome Dr. Devesh Kapur to the school’s faculty,” said Dean Vali Nasr. “We will benefit immensely from his extensive scholarship in the study of India and South Asian politics, and his pioneering research on how local-global linkages affect political and economic change in development countries. We look forward to Dr. Kapur’s leadership in deepening the school’s expertise on Asia and expanding the cross-disciplinary nature of Asia Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS,” said Nasr.

Kapur is the author of Diaspora, Democracy and Development: The Impact of International Migration from India on India (Princeton University Press), which earned him a 2012 Distinguished Book Award of the International Studies Association and The Other One Percent: Indians in America (with Sanjoy Chakravorty and Nirvikar Singh) for which he received a Choice Outstanding Title of 2017.

Before joining Johns Hopkins SAIS, Devesh was a professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India, holding the Madan Lal Sobti Chair for the Study of Contemporary India at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to his tenure at Penn, he was Associate Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Frederick Danziger Associate Professor of Government at Harvard. Kapur received the Joseph R. Levenson Teaching Prize, awarded to the best junior faculty at Harvard College and Outstanding Teaching in Political Science by the American Political Science Association, in 2005. Devesh holds a doctorate from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota, and a bachelor’s from the Indian Institute of Technology at Varanasi.

Shruti Naik, Priyanka Sharma win 2018 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

September 9, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Health, Science & Technology 0

Shruti Naik, an Indian American scientist, who works as an Assistant Professor in the New York University School of Medicine, has been chosen to receive the prestigious 2018 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists.

Another Indian American researcher, Priyanka Sharma, a postdoctoral researcher at Stony Brook University, received honorable mention in the “Chemistry” category. She was recognized for her pioneering work on the low-cost conversion of untreated biomass to carboxycellulose nanofibers, which have applications in biomedicine and water purification.

Instituted by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences, the awards support outstanding postdoctoral researchers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Naik was nominated in the Life Sciences category for demonstrating that skin stem cells retain a “memory” of previous inflammatory experiences, allowing for a more robust and rapid response to subsequent injury, according to a press release.

Since skin tissue is sustained by pools of long-living epithelial stem cells, Naik discovered that the exposure of these stem cells to noxious stimuli can induce an inflammatory “memory” that alters stem cells’ genetic landscape and makes them respond more quickly and robustly to a subsequent insult.

According to a press release, Naik has also found that exposure to inflammation increases the accessibility of the cell’s DNA in regions that are associated with stress responses and in turn, these “poised” stem cells more quickly trigger inflammatory gene expression after a second injury. This discovery may help the development of better treatment for a variety of skin conditions in the future.

According to a press release, 125 nominated researchers competed for the total 9 awards at stake this year. The winners and finalists will be honored at the New York Academy of Sciences’ annual gala in New York on November 5, 2018. The winners will be awarded $30,000 and finalists will be awarded $10,000.

“These outstanding, early-career scientists are highly innovative and inspirational,” said Len Blavatnik, founder and chairman of Access Industries and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, and member of the President’s Council of the New York Academy of Sciences. “We are proud of their contributions to science and excited to observe how their current and future discoveries will make the world a better place.”

Ellis Rubinstein, president and CEO of the Academy and chair of the Awards’ Scientific Advisory Council, said: “The New York Metropolitan area’s scientific eco-system is a melting pot of scientific ideas and research disciplines. This year’s winners and finalists have taken risks, stepped ‘outside of the box’ of their traditional fields, and drawn from methods and applications beyond their strict disciplines, forging new ideas in the process. Their research and dedication is promising for the future of our world.”

The Blavatnik Family Foundation, founded by industrialist and philanthropist Len Blavatnik, supports educational, scientific, cultural, and charitable institutions in the United States and other parts of the world.

The New York Academy of Sciences, a 200-year-old nonprofit, advances scientific research, education, and policy.

Harvard illegally discriminated against Asian-Americans

September 3, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Harvard University’s admissions policy has illegally discriminated Asian-American applicants, the United States Department of Justice stated last week. In a statement issued, the Justice Department said Harvard’s admission process “significantly disadvantages” Asian-American students compared to other racial groups.

“No American should be denied admission to school because of their race,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “As a recipient of taxpayer dollars, Harvard has a responsibility to conduct its admissions policy without racial discrimination by using meaningful admissions criteria that meet lawful requirements.”

A group, Students for Fair Admissions, filed a lawsuit in 2014 claiming that Harvard uses “racial balancing” as part of its admissions formula and that the practice is illegal. Harvard has challenged those claims, saying the group is misinterpreting data it released about how it selects students.

Students for Fair Admission said in a June court filing, Asian-Americans would account for more than 43 percent of the students admitted to Harvard, rather than the 18.7 percent.

In its court filings, Harvard accuses the group of painting “a dangerously inaccurate” picture of its admissions process, saying it also considers personal essays and teacher recommendations.

“Harvard College does not discriminate against applications from any group in its admissions process,” the universitysaid in a statement, vowing to “vigorously defend the right of Harvard and other universities to seek the education benefits that come from a class that is diverse on multiple dimensions.”

Justice Department lawyers said the group has presented “compelling evidence” that Harvard’s factoring of race into admitting students does discriminate against Asian-Americans. Furthermore, they argue that Harvard agrees not to discriminate on the basis of race as a condition of receiving millions of dollars in annual taxpayer funding.

Furthermore, the Justice Department said the government has a vested interested in the case because Harvard receives millions of dollars in taxpayer funding on the condition it won’t discriminate based on ethnicity.

Harvard uses a “personal rating” that includes subjective factors including “likability” and whether someone is a “good person” with “human qualities,” according to court documents. The school has admitted that, on average, it has ranked Asian-American applications lower on these qualities, the Justice Department charges in its court filing.

The Justice Department lawyers said Harvard has not provided any meaningful criteria to explain how it weighs race against the other factors in a application, a requirement under Supreme Court of the United States precedent.

In June, both sides filed motions for summary judgment, seeking to head off a potential trial scheduled for October in a Massachusetts federal court. The Justice Department’s motion asks the court to deny Harvard’s motion for summary judgement.

The American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday it will be filing a brief in support of Harvard, accusing the Justice Department of seeking to dismantle “progress in racial equity.”

“While the DOJ’s brief does not challenge Supreme Court precedent granting universities the right to freely select their own student body … the Trump administration has advocated for ‘race blind’ policies, which Harvard and virtually all other universities have found are demonstrably insufficient to achieve meaningful diversity, given the reality of historic and continuing racial discrimination in this country,” the ACLU said in a statement.

“Ekal” Targeting $10 Million with Dazzling Galas

September 3, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

After last year’s phenomenal success of magnificent fund-raising gala – ‘Future of India’ – “Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (EVF)”, this year, is launching the most ambitious plan to host three Galas, at three strategic locations in USA. In sold-out Yr.2017 Gala at majestic art-deco ‘Cipriani-Wall Street” banquet hall, ‘Ekal’ raised $2 Million for its Literacy, Healthcare and Integral-Development projects for rural India. It was Ekal’s first ever attempt at gathering generous individuals for its nation-building cause. According to EVF-USA President, Suresh Iyer, this unprecedented show of support from philanthropists brought the year-end tally of donations to $8 Million.

Every year, Ekal’s hosts over 50 fund-raising events in major metropolitan centers across USA, by bringing famous ‘Bollywood Artistes’ for concerts. Earlier this year, Ekal had invited two groups of talented performers for this purpose. One group was headed by Kathak dancers Aditi Bhagwat & Kunal Tavri and another group was headed by Kaushik & Pranita Deshpande. They each were the star-attractions in 23 and 30 concert-events, respectively. The response to these concerts was so overwhelming that the events were sold-out at most of the places in advance. Over the years, Ekal’s progress has been consistently exponential. Now with three forthcoming Ekal galas planned for high net-worth supporters, Ramesh Shah, the Chairman of EVF-USA has no doubt that Ekal in 2018, is going to hit $10 Million magical mark for the first time.

As of now, Ekal has 72,000 schools under its wings, grooming 1.92 Million children annually – more than half of which are girls. Hon. PM Modi, in his clarion call to eradicate illiteracy from every small corner of the nation, wants Ekal to establish 100,000 schools by year Yr. 2022 – 75th anniversary of India’s independence. The primary objective of glittering galas is not only to raised funds for this task of national concern, but also, to encourage every sphere, every strata of Indian diaspora to invest itself in India’s future. Three eagerly-awaited galas, are all taking place in October – Houston, TX on October 6; Bethesda MD on October 12 and in New York City NY on October 13. For details of venue, tickets and sponsorship kindly tap into <http://www.nycgala.ekal.org/> OR <www.ekal.org>. The distinguished speaker at all three galas will be Media Moghul Dr Subhash Chandra (Chairman, Essel Gr of Companies that includes ZEE-TV). In addition, at NYC gala iconic former CEO of Pepsi and Apple, John Sculley, is going to grace the evening as a Chief guest speaker. This NYC gathering will also be entertained by ‘Indian Idol’ competition winner – ‘Sreeramchandra’. In Houston, along with Dr Subhash Chandra, another highlight of the evening is going to be renowned motivational speaker, Shiv Khera.

As the largest grass-root educational movement undertaken by Indians and NRIs, Ekal is socially conscientious, wherever it operates. Last year during ‘Hurricane Harvey’, Ekal volunteers not only worked along side ‘Sewa International’ in rescue and rehabilitation efforts in Houston region but also raised money for the victims. As the catastrophic destruction is currently unfolding in Kerala due to torrential rain and floods, ‘Ekal-India’ is actively involved there too with “Sewa Bharati”. Bajrang Bagra, CEO of ‘Ekal-India’ says,” the whole Ekal movement is all about giving dignity and self-esteem to rural-tribal folks of India”.

Bharat Anand appointed as Harvard’s vice provost for advances in learning

August 22, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Harvard’s efforts to leverage technology to create more effective teaching tools, strategies, and resources will have a new leader this fall, with the appointment of Harvard Business School Professor Bharat Anand as the University’s new vice provost for advances in learning (VPAL).

Anand, the Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration, will take over in October from Peter Bol, the Charles H. Carswell Professor of East Asian Languages, who has held the post since its launch five years ago. Bol, a scholar of Chinese history, plans to return to teaching and research.

Since 2013, Anand has been the faculty chair of HBX, the Harvard Business School digital learning initiative that he helped to create. Anand said that he is looking forward to the challenge and opportunities of his University-wide role.

“Harvard has been a hotbed of innovations in pedagogy and learning during the last few years,” he said. “It’s a good time to take stock of what we’ve learned from these various projects and how this might inform our future efforts, while also recognizing that we are still probably in the early stages of imagining and shaping what the future of higher education will eventually look like. I’m looking forward to working with the many colleagues across the University who care deeply about these questions, and seeing how I can help with those efforts.”

In announcing the appointment, Provost Alan Garber cited Anand’s experience with HBX and said that he has been among the most dedicated contributors to the University’s efforts to explore innovations in learning.

“He is a distinguished scholar of organizational strategy and digital change, and he is an accomplished teacher, having twice received the HBS Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence,” Garber said in his statement. “Over the years that I have known Bharat, I have been continually impressed by his leadership and strategic insight, his ability to innovate and collaborate, and his deep analytic skills.”

According to Bol, Anand was instrumental in establishing HBX as a model for excellence in online business education, and was also helpful to Bol during his own years as vice provost.

“Bharat Anand has been an invaluable adviser during my term as VPAL,” Bol said. “I know of no one who has a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges of open-access online learning. His book ‘The Content Trap’ is the most important I have read in the field. He had great success in establishing HBX as the very best platform for online business education.”

The office of the vice provost for advances in learning was established in 2013 to oversee initiatives such as HarvardX, the University’s online learning platform. HarvardX is Harvard’s contribution to the edX collaboration, in which more than 100 universities, nonprofits, corporations, and international organizations provide free online courses to students around the world. Today, edX offers 1,900 courses that reach 14 million learners.

The vice provost for advances in learning also oversees the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT), whose aim is to catalyze innovation and excellence in learning and teaching, in part by offering grants and programming to support efforts by individual faculty members, programs, centers, and other University affiliates.

In addition, VPAL has a research function, performed by the Advances in Learning Research Group, which explores how students learn and examines data from online platforms. A fourth major VPAL component is DART, or Digital Assets for Reuse in Teaching, a tool that enables instructors to search all existing audio and video resources on HarvardX for possible reuse in other classes.

Anand said that the University’s various efforts to leverage technology to improve education have already been impressive, particularly in reaching and engaging learners far beyond campus. He also highlighted three areas of priority going forward — amplifying and supporting existing efforts while continuing to innovate; second, exploring how these projects across the University can not only achieve their own specific goals, but also support those of other initiatives; and third, examining how these advances can be extended and applied to the on-campus residential educational experience.

Statement of IIT Bombay Students Against Invitation of Narendra Modi in Convocation

August 11, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, India, Politics 0

As IIT Bombay students, we are proud that this institution has now stepped in its Diamond Jubilee year and has occupied a prominent place among the other well-known institutes of learning in this world. However, invitation of Mr. Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, as a guest of honour in the convocation of this year, has raised some concerns among several students which we would like to share with the larger body of students, academicians and people in general. We would like to question the contribution of the ruling government, whose head is PM Narendra Modi, in higher education and in other vital social issues affecting the social harmony and fundamental rights of a substantial section of the Indian population. Visit of politicians and ministers is not new for academic institutions, but, the motive behind this is also a matter of concern. whereas nobody would be stopping the Prime minister from entering the campus, or delivering his speech, there are questions, which we would like to raise here. There are the issues which affect even the privileged students in IITs as well as the other students from more neglected institutions . Such issues should at least be raised, if not addressed by the authorities.Let us begin with the question of poor public expenditure in higher education.

Expenditure of the Indian government in education is abysmally low, and it is almost negligible in higher education, compared to many other countries. Budgetary expenditure in higher education is in a steep decline for the last few years as more and more private universities are coming up and public universities are compelled to hike their fees, leading a large number of students to difficulties and forcing many out of higher education.

Public Expenditure in Higher Education in India

Kundu,P. 2017: Education Budget lacks imagination, Economic and Political Weekly. Vol. LII. No.27

This ever declining public expenditure in education, is making us question the higher education policy of the ruling government, and naturally we wonder, whether Mr. Modi wants higher education for all, or whether he is promoting the Brahmanical idea of education only for a few people, belonging to upper caste and upper class backgrounds. Even out of this limited education budget, the share of the IIT’s alone is more than half. Academia in social sciences is facing acute shortage of funds. We fear, scraping of Non-NET fellowship in central universities or scraping of GOI-PMS scholarship (for SC, ST and OBC students) in TISS,are just the beginning. Further fee hike and scraping of scholarships are expected if the present system is allowed to continue. Of course, the worst sufferers would be the underprivileged students coming from non-upper caste backgrounds. Already the General Financial Rules (GFR) of the MHRD and UGC are about to be implemented in the central universities, and if these rules are implemented, a substantial expenditure of the central universities has to be raised from the fees paid by the students.This will automatically lead to fee hike. Is it wrong for us to question, what happens to the state universities? Is it wrong to think this to be an attack on the entire academic community of the country in general? Incidentally IIT Bombay has already complied with GFR and recently a massive fee hike was announced. This is true in every other institutions despite how privileged they are. Shouldn’t we ask here what happens to the students who are not able to meet this increased financial burden of higher education without economic assistance from the state? Why shouldn’t we ask that this abysmally low budget in public education be raised immediately, and education be made inclusive?

The next set of concerns obviously arises with the HECI Bill (Higher Education Committee of India Bill), which is proposed to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the main body regulating funds given to the institutes of higher education. Since the power to control funds will remain with the MHRD under the new act and HECI will have the power to punish or even shut down any institution which will not meet its guidelines,as researchers and students we suspect this to be an attack on the autonomy of the universities. Also without grants, the universities are expected to repay the ‘loans’ they have taken from the MHRD, which will automatically lead to further hike in fees, making the higher education spaces exclusionary for students. Already specialized centres like Centres for Study of Social Exclusion or Centres for Women studies, which deal with social exclusion and raise criticisms are dissolved in universities like JNU and TISS. HECI can regulate this to a far greater extent and totally curb the autonomies of the universities in selecting which courses they are willing to offer. Will it be wrong for us to question the prime minister why his government is hell bent on destroying the educational institutions of this country? Will it be wrong for us to ask, why the government is scared of higher education and freedom of teachers and students in selecting what they want to study?

The next very important concern is that of employment. Despite our privileged status as students of IIT Bombay, we are indeed concerned about the falling rate of employment across the country. The government has managed to create very little number of jobs over the last few years.The employment generation speed faced a six-year low in 2015 as only 135,000 new jobs were created compared to 421,000 jobs in 2014 and 419,000 in 2013, as per a quarterly industrial survey conducted by the Labour Bureau under the Labour Ministry.Jobs in the IT sector have dwindled to 1.5 lakh annual recruitments from over 3 lakh recruitments in previous years. After a survey conducted by job site Naukri.com, the report said, “The overall job market saw an 11 percent fall in new jobs, with IT-software industry most hit. IT-Software industry was hit the most with a 24 percent decline in hiring in April as compared to April 2016.” Besides,as per Labour bureau figures, India added just 1.35 lakh jobs in eight labour-intensive sectors in 2015, compared to 9.3 lakh jobs that were created in 2011. Whereas recruitment in government sector is almost negligible and employment in other sectors are falling, we are rightfully concerned about the validity of the entire ‘Make in India’ narrative and how much it actually guarantees. Without presence of any reservation for SC/ ST or OBC candidates in the private sector, more than 50 % of the Indian population with higher education, are likely to be pushed out of the job market as well. The prime minister is expected to answer for this exclusion in the employment sector.

As researchers and students, we believe that academia is not something disconnected from the society. We condemn all the hate crimes happening across the country in name of religion, caste, ethnicity and race. Somehow, the ruling government has found out a way to defend or be silent about most of such occurring. As we write this, we condemn the rape and murder women across the country, particularly of those, who were targeted because of their Dalit, tribal or Muslim identities. We question how the perpetrators of such heinous crime could get all solidarity from the ruling party. We condemn all the atrocities committed on Dalits and Muslims over the last few years in the name of religion and aggressive upper caste pride. We question how beef becomes so important an issue that living human being could be killed for it, and the murderer would get perfect impunity from the state. We question how the government could so easily decide who is a citizen and who is not on basis of their religious identities. But finally we would like to question Mr. Modi’s silence on all these issues. As a prime minister, we demand that he takes a positive stand and condemn all the hate crimes committed and supported by his party members.

Students of IIT Bombay

Secret to Happiness: Stop Trying to be Happy

August 11, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Health 0

The Declaration of Independence guaranteed Americans the right to pursue happiness, and we haven’t stopped looking for it since. But despite the college courses, research labs and countless self-help books dedicated to that search, only 33% of Americans actually said they were happy in a 2017 survey. A new research may help explain why: We’re trying too hard.

The research, published in the journal Emotion, found that overemphasizing happiness can make people more likely to obsess over failure and negative emotions when they inevitably do happen, bringing them more stress in the long run.

“Happiness is a good thing, but setting it up as something to be achieved tends to fail,” explains co-author Brock Bastian, a social psychologist at the University of Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences in Australia, in an email to TIME. “Our work shows that it changes how people respond to their negative emotions and experiences, leading them to feel worse about these and to ruminate on them more.”

“When people place a great deal of pressure on themselves to feel happy, or think that others around them do, they are more likely to see their negative emotions and experiences as signals of failure,” Bastian says. “This will only drive more unhappiness.”

Bastian says the study isn’t a condemnation of trying to be happy; rather, it underscores the importance of knowing and accepting that feeling unhappy sometimes is just as normal and healthy.

“The danger of feeling that we should avoid our negative experiences is that we respond to them badly when they do arise,” Bastian says. “We have evolved to experience a complex array of emotional states, and about half of these are unpleasant. This is not to say they are less valuable, or that having them detracts from our quality of life.”

In fact, recent research has suggested that experiencing negative emotions can ultimately boost happiness, and another new study finds that stressful or unpleasant situations may help people process bad news. Bastian also adds that failure can be invaluable for learning and growth.

“Failure is critical to innovation, learning and progress,” he says. “Every successful organization knows that failure is part of the road to success, so we need to know how to respond well to failure.” Doing so will likely take a culture change. A society that embraces messy emotions and experiences, Bastian says, is one that is poised for better mental health.

Nothing from Nothing: The Invention of ZERO

August 11, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Science & Technology 0

The invention of zero was a hugely significant mathematical development, one that is fundamental to calculus, which has made physics, engineering and much of modern technology possible.

The invention of the zero was a hugely significant mathematical development, one that is fundamental to calculus, which made physics, engineering and much of modern technology possible. But what was it about Indian culture that gave rise to this creation that’s so important to modern India – and the modern world?

The mathematical zero – ‘shunya’ in Sanskrit – may have arisen from Shunyata, the Buddhist doctrine of emptying one’s mind. Buddhist and Hindu religions that have origin in India embrace the concept of nothingness as part of their teachings. Dr Peter Gobets, secretary of the Netherlands-based ZerOrigIndia Foundation, or the Zero Project, which researches the origins of the zero digit, noted in an article on the invention of zero that “Mathematical zero (‘shunya’ in Sanskrit) may have arisen from the contemporaneous philosophy of emptiness or Shunyata [a Buddhist doctrine of emptying one’s mind from impressions and thoughts]”.

In addition, the nation has long had a fascination with sophisticated mathematics. Early Indian mathematicians were obsessed with giant numbers, counting well into the trillions when the Ancient Greeks stopped at about 10,000. They even had different types of infinity.

Mariellen Ward of the BBC writes, the earliest known example of zero written as a digit can be found in the temple inside an 8^th century Gwalior Fort in India. Indians, unlike people from many other cultures, were already philosophically open to the concept of nothingness. Systems such as yoga were developed to encourage meditation and the emptying of the mind, while both the Buddhist and Hindu religions embrace the concept of nothingness as part of their teachings.

Although Gwalior has long been thought to be the site of the first occurrence of the zero written as a circle, an ancient Indian scroll called the Bhakshali manuscript, which shows a placeholder dot symbol, was recently carbon dated to the 3rd or 4rd Centuries. It is now considered the earliest recorded occurrence of zero.

Marcus du Sautoy, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, is quoted on the university’s website as saying, “[T]he creation of zero as a number in its own right, which evolved from the placeholder dot symbol found in the Bakhshali manuscript, was one of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of mathematics. We now know that it was as early as the 3rd Century that mathematicians in India planted the seed of the idea that would later become so fundamental to the modern world. The findings show how vibrant mathematics have been in the Indian sub-continent for centuries.”

But equally interesting are the reasons as to why the zero wasn’t developed elsewhere. One theory is that some cultures had a negative view of the concept of nothingness. For example, there was a time in the early days of Christianity in Europe when religious leaders banned the use of zero because they felt that, since God is in everything, a symbol that represented nothing must be satanic.

So maybe there is something to these connected ideas, to the spiritual wisdom of India that gave rise to meditation and the invention of zero. There’s another connected idea, too, which has had a profound effect on the modern world.

The concept of zero is essential to a system that’s at the basis of modern computing: binary numbers. The concept of zero is essential to binary numbers, the system at the basis of modern computing. Bengaluru may even overtake Silicon Valley, with predictions suggesting it could become the single largest IT hub on Earth by 2020, with two million IT professionals, six million indirect IT jobs and $80 billion in IT exports. It’s binary numbers that make this possible.

Modern-day digital computers operate on the principle of two possible states, ‘on’ and ‘off’. The ‘on’ state is assigned the value ‘1’, while the ‘off’ state is assigned the value ‘0’. Or, zero.

“It is perhaps not surprising that binary number system was also invented in India, in the 2nd or 3rd Centuries BCE by a musicologist named Pingala, although this use was for prosody,” said Subhash Kak, historian of science and astronomy and Regents Professor at Oklahoma State University. And yet all of this started in India… from nothing.

Indian priest discovers proof of long-lost galaxy. He’s also an astronomer

July 31, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Science & Technology 0

The Indian Catholic priest and astrophysics researcher who found conclusive evidence of a long lost galaxy, the third biggest after Andromeda and the Milky Way, said that like many others before him he nearly gave up on the search.

Speaking to the media from the University of Michigan USA, where he made the discovery, Fr Richard D’Souza said the journey seemed destined for disappointment until they made the breakthrough.

“People had given up on this and had moved to other problems. We kept plodding along, and finally we had a breakthrough. We realised that we had to unlearn and abandon so many things we thought we knew,” Fr D’Souza said.

Part of the problem lay in the fact that a galaxy like Andromeda was expected to have consumed hundreds of its smaller companions. The researchers thought this would make it difficult to learn about any single one of them.

More importantly this discovery and its method will now pave the way for the discovery of other galaxies that have been cannibalized by other larger galaxies.

“We knew we could recover some information from the existing data, but it also gave us a way forward to solving similar problems with other galaxies,” he said.

Using new computer simulations, the scientists were able to understand that even though many companion galaxies were consumed by Andromeda, most of the stars in the Andromeda’s outer faint halo were mostly contributed by shredding a single large galaxy.

D’Souza, a Jesuit priest who hails from Goa’s Mapusa town and is a staff astronomer attached to the Vatican observatory in Rome, is currently pursuing his post-doctoral research at the University of Michigan’s Department of Astronomy.

He along with fellow researcher Eric Bell hit upon conclusive evidence of galaxy named M32p that was “shredded and cannibalised” by the Milky Way’s galactic neighbour Andromeda about two billion years ago.

This disrupted galaxy was the third-largest member of the local group of galaxies, after the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. Using computer models, D’Souza and Bell were able to piece together this evidence, revealing this long-lost sibling. Their findings were published in Nature Astronomy earlier this month.

Discovering and studying this decimated galaxy will help astronomers understand how disk galaxies like the Milky Way evolve and survive large mergers. “This project was a big risk, but I am glad it paid off. The main thing is that we learned a lot, and we had great fun doing the project,” he said.

Their discovery could alter the traditional understanding of how galaxies evolve. The duo realized that the Andromeda’s disk survived an impact with a massive galaxy, which would question the common wisdom that such large interactions would destroy disks and form an elliptical galaxy.

The timing of the merger may also explain the thickening of the disk of the Andromeda galaxy as well as a burst of star formation two billion years ago, a finding which was independently reached by French researchers earlier this year.

Offensive NJ Radio Comments Offer Opportunity to Educate

July 31, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Social Media 0

Last week in a radio broadcast, hosts at NJ 101.5 repeatedly referred to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal as “turban man,” and added, “If that offends you, then don’t wear the turban and maybe I’ll remember your name.” In response to these ignorant comments about Mr. Grewal and the Sikh community, the Sikh Coalition immediately urged for a public apology from the hosts and station, provided media resources on Sikhi for the entire radio station and offered cultural and religious sensitivity training for all staff members. As the station takes our guidance and recommendations, we will provide updates.

The Sikh Coalition’s media and communications rapid response work helped bring local and national attention to the media-amplified offensive language in a climate in which our communities are subject to discrimination, harassment and violence, including news coverage in the Associated Press, ABC News, NPR station WHYY, and PIX11. In addition, NJ.com published Executive Director Satjeet Kaur’s op-ed on turning this incident into an educational opportunity. The station moved to suspend the two hosts and issued a public apology to Mr. Grewal and the Sikh community.

“We applaud the station’s swift action in suspending the two radio hosts while conducting an investigation – not because the action was punitive, but because it sets a precedent for what is not acceptable in our society,” said Executive Director Satjeet Kaur in the op-ed. “This is especially important at a time when racism and xenophobia are becoming increasingly normalized.”

Earlier this year, Mr. Grewal made headlines as the first Sikh attorney general in the United States. His appointment joined a number of Sikhs achieving recent groundbreaking political successes across the United States, including in the states of New Jersey, Washington and California.

“We will continue to do whatever we can to ensure that the radio station is held responsible and that we turn this ugly incident into an opportunity for awareness and education,” said Senior Manager of Policy and Advocacy Sim J. Singh.

The Sikh Coalition continues our tireless work to combat bigotry in all its forms through legal, policy, education, media and community empowerment work.

Globalization, Inequality, Convergence, Divergence

Vivek Murthy Among 2018 Honorees of Association of Recovery in Higher Education Awardees

July 25, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Former Indian American U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy was recently honored by the Association of Recovery in Higher Education, among 15 others.

Murthy served as the 19th U.S. Surgeon General during President Barack Obama’s administration from 2014 to 2017.

Murthy received the Spectrum Award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of recovery, at a July 9 event, themed “The Art of Recovery,” held at the University of Houston.

According to his website, in 2017, Murthy focused his attention on chronic stress and isolation as prevalent problems that have profound implications for health, productivity and happiness.

He then partnered with the Veterans Health Administration and led a meeting that brought together leading thinkers, researchers and practitioners to identify scientifically proven ways we can cultivate emotional well-being and fitness to help us thrive among the most challenging circumstances.

In addition to his role as America’s ‘top doctor’ as the vice admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Murthy commanded a uniformed service of 6,600 public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations in over 800 locations domestically and abroad.

Murthy received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and his medical degree and M.B.A. from Yale University.

Murthy completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and later joined Harvard Medical School as faculty in internal medicine.

Trisha Shetty among inaugural group of Obama Foundation Scholars at Columbia University

July 25, 2018 Staff ReporterBusiness, Education 0

Trisha Shetty, founder and CEO of SheSays, a nonprofit that provides Indian women with the resources to act against sexual violence, is among the 12 rising social change-makers from around the world selected as the first class of Obama Foundation Scholars at Columbia University in Manhattan.

The university said in a release June 28 that the scholars from Asia, Africa, South America, South Asia, and Europe, have each shown a commitment to finding practical solutions to complex challenges facing society.

“When President Obama left office, he challenged us to believe — not in his ability to bring about change, but ours,” said Obama Foundation CEO David Simas. “Through our partnership with Columbia with this new scholars’ program and through all of the foundation’s work, we are living this call to action. I am incredibly impressed with the talented young leaders who will be joining Columbia and the Foundation this fall and looking forward to helping support and scale their work,” Simas said.

According to its website, SheSays aims to end gender based discrimination and advance women’s rights in India by engaging with the youth and activating them as agents of social change to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“Equality, Safety and Autonomy should be a guaranteed right and reality for women around the world,” the organization says. Shetty holds India’s leaders to account as evident from a SheSays post on Facebook post April 15, which read – “”We are asking for accountability. We are asking for answers.” Our Founder, Trisha Shetty vehemently condemns all politicans who have failed the girls and women of this country.”

Portraying an activist grassroots agenda, the Facebook post goes on to say, “We cannot be mere bystanders anymore. We cannot let politicians get away with making abhorrent statements. We deserve more from our representatives. Speak up. Take to the streets. Find out where protests are taking place in your area and lend your voice and your support.”

The new, year-long academic program based at Columbia hopes to strengthen the expertise and knowledge of individuals who have demonstrated the ability to be transformative leaders in their communities, nations, and the world. The goals are consistent with the Obama Foundation’s mission to inspire, empower, and connect the next generation of civic leaders, the University says.

“When President Obama left office, he challenged us to believe — not in his ability to bring about change, but ours. Through our partnership with Columbia with this new Scholars program and through all of the Foundation’s work, we are living this call to action. I am incredibly impressed with the talented young leaders who will be joining Columbia and the Foundation this fall and looking forward to helping support and scale their work,” Obama Foundation CEO David Simas is quoted as saying in the press release.

The 12 Obama Foundation Scholars at Columbia University will have the opportunity to interact with the separate but affiliated Obama Foundation Scholars cohort based at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

The program will include a core seminar led by Columbia faculty that will run the length of the academic year, an experiential learning component that will engage the Scholars in the work of policy development and implementation, involving the Obama Foundation and Columbia World Projects, an initiative designed to apply the best evidence-based academic research to the creation and application of practical solutions to real-world challenges and a non-core seminar coursework that will provide Scholars with the flexibility to select one or two courses at Columbia, according to the press release.

World Sanskrit Conference recognizes Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s Akshar-Purushottam Darshan as distinct Vedanta tradition

July 17, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, Education 0

The 17^th World Sanskrit Conference, the premier international forum for Sanskrit scholars, recognized Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s Akshar-Purushottam Darshan as the first new independent school of Vedanta since the 16^th century. The recently authored ground-breaking Sanskrit works on the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan, the Swaminarayan Bhashyam and the Swaminarayan Siddhanta-Sudha by Sadhu Bhadreshdas of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, were also launched in the conference’s inaugural session on 9 July 2018 in Vancouver, Canada.

More than 600 eminent Sanskrit scholars and educators had gathered from over 40 countries for this historic event. The triennial World Sanskrit Conference, which for the last half-century has been bringing the finest minds in the world of Sanskrit together to advance understanding of Sanskrit language and literature, was held for the first time in Canada, at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. World Sanskrit Conference organizing committee member and senior Sanskrit scholar from the University of British Columbia, Professor Ashok Aklujkar said, “Bhadreshdas Swami is one of the most amazing personalities of the religious traditions of India that I have ever met. His scholarly genius is jaw-dropping, and his commentaries on the Prasthantrayi are a truly great achievement. I think all of us at the World Sanskrit Conference are fortunate to have a bhashyakar in our midst. Just as Śrī Kāśī Vidvat Parisad acknowledged Swaminarayan Bhagwan’s Akshar-Purushottam Darshan as a distinct darshan in the Vedanta tradition, we are honored to do the same from the platform of the World Sanskrit Conference.”

Mahamahopadhyaya Bhadreshdas Swami, an eminent Sanskrit scholar and ordained swami of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, completed the Swaminarayan Bhashyam, a five-volume comprehensive Sanskrit commentary on Hinduism’s three Vedic canonical texts (Prasthanatrayi) – the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahma Sutras – in 2007. These three texts form the foundation for the philosophical beliefs of Hindu Vedanta (commentarial) traditions. In 2017, Bhadreshdas Swami also completed the Swaminarayana-Siddhanta-Sudha, a classical Sanskrit dialectic treatise that offers an exposition, justification, and defense of the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan’s theological and philosophical principles.

The significance of Bhadreshdas Swami’s achievement was highlighted by Professor Deven Patel of the University of Pennsylvania. He said, “The World Sanskrit Conference is proud to honor this new and truly historic achievement in the world of Sanskrit philosophical culture. It is the first Sanskrit commentary on the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita in nearly 200 years and the first commentary on the complete set by a single acharya in over 1200 years. This five-volume commentary, known as the Swaminarayan Bhashyam, interprets the Prasthantrayi through the lens of Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s Akshar-Purushottam Darshan. We are fortunate to have present before us today, in Bhadreshdas Swami, the acharya who, in the tradition of Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka, Vallabha, and others, has composed these commentaries.”

World-renowned Sanskrit scholar from the University of Pennsylvania, Professor George Cardona aptly detailed the importance of Bhadreshdas Swami’s work in establishing Akshar Purushottam Darshan saying, “This is a very important classical Sanskrit commentary that very clearly and effectively explains that Akshar is distinct from Purushottam.”

In the conference’s inaugural address, Bhadreshdas Swami explained the principles of the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan, the classical name of this distinct school of Vedanta. This darshan was revealed by Bhagwan Swaminarayan in the 19th century and propounded by His Holiness Shastriji Maharaj, the third spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and the founder of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. Bhadreshdas Swami further explained: “The essence of Akshar-Purushottam Darshan is to offer devotion to Purushottam, the supreme being, with loving servitude having qualitatively realized oneself as Akshar, who takes the form of the exemplary living guru.”

This was followed by the blessings of Ishwarcharandas Swami, the International Convener of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, who appreciated the great work of the World Sanskrit Conference and encouraged Sanskrit research and learning.

The World Sanskrit Conference’s inaugural session concluded with all the assembled scholars collectively recognizing Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s Akshar-Purushottam Darshan as a distinct school of philosophy in the Vedanta tradition.

On the morning of Tuesday, July 10, a special darshanic scholarly session was held on the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan in which professors and learned Swamis presented papers. Bhadreshdas Swami spoke on “Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s Akshar Purushottam Darshan: Ontology, Soteriology, and Identity”; Paramtattvadas Swami presented a paper on “Deconstructing ‘brahmajignasa’ in the Brahmasutra-Swaminarayan-Bhashya: A Study of Grammar, Hermeneutics, and Theology”; Aksharananddas Swami presented a paper on “The Akshar-Purushottam Darshan and the Gita Verse: ‘Brahmabhutah Prasannatma…’”; Prof. Deven Patel of the University of Pennsylvania presented a paper on “The Role of the Guru Within the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan”, and Aksharvatsaldas Swami presented a paper on “The Tradition of the Shikhara Within Mandir Architecture – A Study Based on Ancient Treatises and the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan.”

In the evening, Akshar-Purushottam Darshan Vidvat Goshti, a scholarly forum in Sanskrit and English was held on the significance of the Swaminarayan Siddhant Sudha, composed by Bhadreshdas Swami. Several of the world’s foremost experts on Sanskrit, including Prof. George Cardona (University of Pennsylvania), Prof. Sadananda Das (University of Leipzig), C. Rajendran (University of Calicut), Staneshwar Timalsina (San Diego State University), Shrikant Bahulkar (Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute), and Bhadreshdas Swami discussed the impact of the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan.

Harvard accused of ranking Asian-American applicants lowest on “personal qualities”

June 19, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

Harvard consistently rated Asian-American applicants lower than others on traits like “positive personality,” likability, courage, kindness and being “widely respected,” according to an analysis of more than 160,000 student records filed by a group representing Asian-American students in a lawsuit against the university, The New York Times reported.

Asian-Americans scored higher than applicants of any other racial or ethnic group on admissions measures like test scores, grades and extracurricular activities, according to the analysis commissioned by a group that opposes all race-based admissions criteria. But the students’ personal ratings significantly dragged down their chances of being admitted, the analysis found.

The documents came out as part of a lawsuit charging Harvard with systematically discriminating against Asian-Americans, in violation of civil rights law. The suit says that Harvard imposes what is in effect a soft quota of “racial balancing.” This keeps the numbers of Asian-Americans artificially low, while advancing less qualified white, black and Hispanic applicants, the plaintiffs contend.

The court documents, filed in federal court in Boston, also showed that Harvard conducted an internal investigation into its admissions policies in 2013 and found a bias against Asian-American applicants. But Harvard never made the findings public or acted on them.

Harvard, one of the most sought-after and selective universities in the country, admitted only 4.6 percent of its applicants this year. That has led to intense interest in the university’s closely guarded admissions process. Harvard had fought furiously over the last few months to keep secret the documents that were unsealed last week, The Times reported.

Harvard and the group suing it have presented sharply divergent views of what constitutes a fair admissions process. “It turns out that the suspicions of Asian-American alumni, students and applicants were right all along,” the group, Students for Fair Admissions, said in a court document laying out the analysis. “Harvard today engages in the same kind of discrimination and stereotyping that it used to justify quotas on Jewish applicants in the 1920s and 1930s.”

Harvard vigorously disagreed, saying that its own expert analysis showed no discrimination and that seeking diversity is a valuable part of student selection. The university lashed out at the founder of Students for Fair Admissions, Edward Blum, accusing him of using Harvard to replay a previous challenge to affirmative action in college admissions, Fisher v. the University of Texas at Austin. In its 2016 decision in that case, the Supreme Court ruled that race could be used as one of many factors in admissions.

“Thorough and comprehensive analysis of the data and evidence makes clear that Harvard College does not discriminate against applicants from any group, including Asian-Americans, whose rate of admission has grown 29 percent over the last decade,” Harvard said in a statement. “Mr. Blum and his organization’s incomplete and misleading data analysis paint a dangerously inaccurate picture of Harvard College’s whole-person admissions process by omitting critical data and information factors.”

In court papers, Harvard said that a statistical analysis could not capture the many intangible factors that go into Harvard admissions. Harvard said that the plaintiffs’ expert, Peter Arcidiacono, a Duke University economist, had mined the data to his advantage by taking out applicants who were favored because they were legacies, athletes, the children of staff and the like, including Asian-Americans. In response, the plaintiffs said their expert had factored out these applicants because he wanted to look at the pure effect of race on admissions, unclouded by other factors.

Both sides filed papers asking for summary judgment, an immediate ruling in their favor. If the judge denies those requests, as is likely, a trial has been scheduled for October. If it goes on to the Supreme Court, it could upend decades of affirmative action policies at colleges and universities across the country.

Harvard is not the only Ivy League school facing pressure to admit more Asian-American students. Princeton and Cornell and others also have high numbers of Asian-American applicants. Yet their share of Asian-Americans students is comparable with Harvard’s.

White applicants would be most hurt if Asian-American admissions rose, the plaintiffs said. On summary sheets, Asian-American applicants were much more likely than other races to be described as “standard strong,” meaning lacking special qualities that would warrant admission, even though they were more academically qualified, the plaintiffs said. They were 25 percent more likely than white applicants to receive that rating. They were also described as “busy and bright” in their admissions files, the plaintiffs said.

‘Daughters of Destiny: The Journey of Shanti Bhavan’ a recipient of TV Academy Honors

June 12, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Entertainment 0

Daughters of Destiny, the Netflix documentary chronicling the lives of five young Shanti Bhavan women, has been selected for the prestigious “Television with a Conscience” award by The Television Academy Honors! Honorees were recognized at a special presentation and reception held May 31 at NeueHouse Hollywood in Los Angeles, Calif. “Daughters of Destiny” is directed by Oscar winner Vanessa Roth, with music by acclaimed artist A.R. Rahman.

“Daughters of Destiny: The Journey of Shanti Bhavan,” chronicles the lives of five Indian girls from impoverished families brought up at the Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project in Tamil Nadu, has been chosen by the Television Academy for “leveraging the dynamic power of television to inspire social change.” The Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project is a residential education program built to uplift children from India’s lowest socioeconomic class. The school’s children come from families earning less than $2 a day, who have been trapped in poverty for generations.

The 2018 honorees were selected from a record number of submissions and represent some of the most meaningful and relevant series, programs and documentaries of the past year, including: Andi Mack, Daughters of Destiny, Forbidden: Undocumented & Queer in Rural America, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, LA 92, One Day at a Time, and 13 Reasons Why.

Television Academy Honors celebrates programming across numerous platforms and genres that addresses the complex challenges and important social issues facing society in a compelling and impactful way. Showrunners and producers are honored for channeling the power of television to explore these issues via captivating and thoughtful storytelling that advances positive change. Established in 2008, this prestigious award is separate and distinct from Emmy’s recognition of television excellence.

The four-part series is among the recipients of the Television Academy’s 11th Annual Television Academy Honors, which celebrates and recognizes programming that creates awareness, enlightens, educates and/or positively motivates audiences.

Indian American businessman Abraham George founded the school in 1997, and his son, Ajit George, now serves as the director of operations of the innovative school, which takes in low-income children at age four and supports their education until they have graduated from college.

This documentary chronicles the lives of five girls from the “untouchable” caste balancing their lives between poverty at home and modern upbringing at Shanti Bhavan. Over the course of seven years of filming, the girls’ stories, according to the Television Academy, explore fate, free will, human potential and the universal common longing for opportunity, purpose and meaning.

The series, it adds, also delves into issues of education, equity, social justice, gender roles, adolescence, identity, social discrimination, poverty alleviation, human rights, leadership, citizenry and community empowerment.

Karthik Nemmani is Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion

June 6, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Profiles 0

Karthik Nemmani, was declared champion of the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee, winning on the word “koinonia” and surviving what was arguably the most intense competition in the contest’s 93-year history.

The 16 spellers took the stage at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Centre in Maryland to battle it out for the title of champion on Thursday, May 31st night. “I’m just really happy,” he said moments after his victory. “This has just been a dream come true.”

The 14-year-old emerged the top speller from a record-shattering 515 contestants at the national bee, compared with 291 last year, after organizers expanded eligibility with a new wild-card program. Nemmani also continued a longtime trend by becoming the 14th champion or co-champion of South Asian descent the bee has had in 11 consecutive years, The Washington Post reported.

The top three winners of the contest are of South Asian origin and representing the Dallas region, with Modi and Kodali finishing second and third, respectively. Paluru of West Lafayette, Ind., tied for third with Kodali.

The 16 finalists ranged in age from 11 to 14 and include nine girls and seven boys. The winner of the bee receives $40,000 and a trophy from the Scripps Bee, a $2,500 cash prize (and a complete reference library) from Merriam-Webster, trips to New York and Hollywood. For finishing second, Modi won a $30,000 prize. Kodali and Paluru won a $15,000 prize for taking third place.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee has been around for nearly a century, and if not for a new rule put in place this year, the 2018 champion would not have even been a finalist. An important factor set Nemmani apart from most of this year’s competitors: While some had been on the national stage earlier and others had won regional bees, the McKinney, Texas teen had neither a regional win nor a county win. A wild card entry landed him on the national stage — and he did what he knew best: spell.

Indian American kids accounted for the final six spellers, including Nemmani, Modi, Kodali, Paluru, Navneeth Murali and Sravanth Malla. The five spellers who scored the highest on the test were among the 16 finalists: Nemmani, Modi, Sravanth Malla, 14, of Haverstraw, New York.; Shruthika Padhy, 12, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey.; Aisha Randhawa, 12, of Corona, California.

Entering the finals, Shruthika Padhy, a 12-year-old from Cherry Hill, N.J., was considered the favorite by many. However, Padhy, who tied for 22nd place in 2016 and tied for 7th in last year’s bee, was bounced from the competition at 12th place when she misspelled “paillasson.”

According to reports, Nemmani, who was competing at his first national bee, displayed the poise of a veteran, seeming to sail through his words: “condottiere” (knight or roving soldier available for hire), “miarolitic” (of igneous rock), “cendre” (a moderate blue), “ankyloglossia” (limited normal movement of the tongue), “grognard,” “passus,” “shamir” (tiny worm capable of splitting the hardest stone) and “jaguey” (an East Indian tree).

When it was down to two contestants, him and 12-year-old Naysa Modi, Nemmani remained calm as Modi misspelled “Bewusstseinslage”. He then knocked out “haecceitas” (the status of being an individual) before receiving the word that would clinch his win: “koinonia”, meaning the Christian fellowship or body of believers.

Earlier, Nemmani, of McKinney, Texas, had finished third in the regional spelling bee in the Dallas area, finishing behind Modi, 12, of Frisco, Texas, and 11-year-old Kodali, of Flower Mound, Texas. “I had confidence but I didn’t really think it would happen,” he said. “I’m just really happy, this is a dream come true.”

Adam Symson, president and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company, presented the championship trophy to the winner. “Karthik showcased not only broad knowledge of the English language but also incredible poise under pressure,” said Symson of Nemmani, an 8th grader at Scoggins Middle School. “This is a grueling competition that takes years of preparation and then challenges the participants all week long. Karthik handled it with grace and maturity. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a national treasure, and we take great pride each year in seeing the inspiration it brings to audiences across the U.S. – and the world.”

3 NRI students win ‘World of 7 Billion’ Video Contest

June 6, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Three Indian American kids from across the country were among the 18 winners announced by Population Connection on May 8th in its international “World of 7 Billion” video contest. The victors topped the more than 5,000 students in grades 6 through 12 from 50 countries and 44 U.S. states and territories who participated in the competition.

Ayush Iyer of Lancaster, Pa., came in first in the Feeding 10 Billion middle school category for the video titled, “Feeding 10 Billion People on Earth.”

In the Advancing Women and Girls high school category, Ramya Iyer of Omaha, Neb., was the first-place winner. Iyer’s video was titled, “Child Marriage: There Is a Solution.”

Arjun Agarwal of Lawrenceville, N.J., for the video “Eating Up by Thinking Up,” was the top winner in the high school Feeding 10 Billion category.

Ayush is an eighth grader at Manheim Township Middle School. He heard about the contest from his Excel (gifted) teacher and created his video as an independent project outside of his school work, his bio said.

He chose Feeding 10 Billion as the subject of his video because he cares deeply about global hunger, and says if he “could solve one world problem, that would be it.” He’s written multiple essays, research papers, and presentations on the subject before he entered the World of 7 Billion contest, Population Connection added.

The videos explored population growth as it relates to one of three challenges: Feeding 10 Billion, Preventing Pollution, and Advancing Girls and Women. The contest was organized and promoted during the 2017-18 school year by Population Education, a program of Population Connection. A panel of 61 judges including college and high school educators, filmmakers and topic experts selected the winners.

Population Connection is a national grassroots population organization that educates young people and advocates for progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by earth’s resources.

First- and second-place winners were named in three categories each for middle school and high school levels. The three high school first-place winners each received a $1,000 cash prize, while the three second-place winners each received $500. Six honorable mentions each received $250. Middle school students who claimed first and second place received $500 and $250, respectively.

Ayush was aware of population and its impact, but says that his research for the video made him think more deeply about the future implications for people, the planet, and the demands on our food systems, it said.

He is also a passionate advocate for vegetarianism. He’s raised awareness about the ecological benefits of switching to a plant-based diet by making speeches and producing films for his fellow students. Ayush likes using PowToon and other animation styles to create his videos.

Ramya Iyer is in the ninth grade at Westside High School. The World of 7 Billion contest was forwarded to her in an email, and without any prior filmmaking experience she submitted a winning video, her bio said.

She said it was often difficult to read the stories and experiences of child brides, but it also motivated her to translate their hardship into her video and inspire people to take action. Ramya herself was particularly struck by the fact that over 1 billion women will have been child brides by 2050, according to Population Connection.

As for the population connection, Ramya shared that she never thought about the link between human numbers and women and girls, but it became clearly apparent after doing research for her video, it said.

She recognized that the “symbolism should be strong” in her video because she wanted to represent child brides everywhere but knew she couldn’t “show every child that has gone through this.”

The four faceless girls in her film represent the many millions of girls married off before age 18 worldwide and to accurately portray them, Ramya studied the cultures and proper dress of child brides from different countries, it added.

Arjun Agarwal, a ninth grader at Lawrence High School, found out about the contest through involvement in his school’s STEM club. He felt inspired to tackle the challenge of Feeding 10 Billion with his film because he saw hunger firsthand while traveling in India with his parents, his bio said.

In addition to educating viewers about their chosen topic and how it relates to human population growth, students in the contest had to include at least one idea for a sustainable solution. “These aren’t just great young filmmakers,” said John Seager, president of Population Connection, in a statement. “All of the winners are inspirational voices for a sustainable and compassionate future.”

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal seeks active role in ED investigations

June 6, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, U.S. 0

New Jersey state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the first Sikh American Attorney General in the U.S., voiced concern May 17 about the Department of Education effectively shutting down investigations into fraudulent activity by private universities in the U.S., and offered to take over.

“If the federal government will not pursue these investigations wherever the facts and the law take them, let us pick up where you leave off,” wrote the Indian American. “Give the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office access to your department’s files,” he stated.

Gurbir Grewal, has sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Betsy Devos in which the NJ AG invites the ED to work with his office “to ensure that any investigations of fraudulent activities by educational institutions are completed properly, rather than ended prematurely or allowed to grow dormant.”

The New York Times noted in a May 13 story that members of a special team at the Education Department, who had been investigating widespread abuses by for-profit colleges, have been marginalized, reassigned or instructed to focus on other matters.

The NJ AG indicates that his invitation is intended to put to rest recent reports that the ED has discontinued investigations into potentially fraudulent activity at several large for-profit colleges and restricted communications between the ED’s staff and state AGs about such investigations. He asserts that “[a]bandoning the Department’s cooperative relationships with State Attorneys General could only harm the public interest we should be working together to serve.”

The NJ AG asks the ED to let his office partner with the ED if it continues to pursue the investigations it “reportedly has (or had) in progress” or, if the ED will not pursue such investigations, to let his office “pick up where you leave off” and give it access to the ED’s files (claiming that his office can arrange to protect the confidentiality of any shared investigative files.)

Young adults from India comprise a majority of the student population at several of the private universities under investigation. Fraudulent universities – such as the now-shuttered Tri-Valley University in Pleasanton, Calif., and suspected ‘visa mill’ Silicon Valley University in San Jose, Calif., – have often hastily been shut down leaving Indian students stranded, out of status, and deportable.

In a May 17 letter to DeVos, Grewal referenced The New York Times report, and added that the DoE has stymied state attorney generals’ efforts to investigate the sham colleges. “As you know, students and taxpayers alike are harmed when educational institutions fail to deliver what they advertise,” wrote Grewal in the letter to DeVos. “Too often, students spend their hard-earned money and take out significant loans only to find they did not receive the education they paid for and cannot get jobs to pay off their loans,” he said, noting that student loans are now the second-largest form of debt for Americans, overtaking auto loans and on pace with mortgages.

Grewal noted that the DoE has – in recent times – not cooperated with states’ efforts to get relief for students who are victims of their university’s malfeasance. He urged the secretary to “begin reviving our past cooperation.”

In his letter, Grewal said: “I hold out hope for the Department of Education to counter any perception it has abdicated its anti-fraud role by working with my office to ensure that any investigations of fraudulent activities by educational institutions are completed properly, rather than ended prematurely or allowed to grow dormant.”

According to a report on northjersey.com, Grewal asserted that New Jersey should be allowed to intervene in the suit as a defendant because terminating the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, would directly harm New Jersey and its residents. More than 17,000 New Jersey residents currently benefit from the program, whose participants are often referred to as “Dreamers.”

Share & Care raises $70,000 for programs to empower rural India

June 6, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Health, India, Women 0

Share & Care Foundation held its inaugural Make a Difference 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at Overpeck County Park in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.

The event raised over $70,000 for Share & Care’s programs to empower rural India with opportunities for gender equality, healthcare, education, and sanitation and hygiene.

More than 340 people ages 1 to 80 participated in this family-friendly 5-kilometer race, which also included a 1K (1 kilometer) Kids Walk/Run, yoga and other wellness activities, and a charity drive benefiting two local nonprofits.

Attendees received complimentary T-shirts, and each child who participated in the 1K Kids Walk/Run received a medal. Additionally, the top runners in each category were honored during an awards ceremony.

“This is perhaps one of the most unique events held under the Share & Care banner in a long time,” says Victor Gurunathan, a member of Share & Care’s Board of Trustees. “The 5K has clearly emerged as a platform to usher in the much-needed participation of a younger generation of volunteers who can carry our mission into the future. Kudos to Share & Care Foundation members Shreya Mehta, Vipul Shah, Saumil Parikh, and their wonderful team of volunteers who worked tirelessly to pull off this joyous event with clinical precision, even under inclement weather.”

“The goal of any event organized by a nonprofit organization is always twofold,” Gurunathan explains. “One is to generate funds to support its causes and the other, no less important, is to propagate awareness of its purpose to many with the hope they will be fans and benefactors. The 5K has amply succeeded in both respects, which was clearly demonstrated by the huge number of registrants and participants along with the funds raised.”

The entire Share & Care team would like to express our sincere gratitude to the 45 volunteers and 30 sponsors who contributed time, energy, funds, and in-kind donations to make this event possible. Because of their help, and because of the support of everyone who attended despite rain and cloudy skies, the Make a Difference 5K Walk/Run accomplished what it was designed to do — make a positive difference for marginalized women, children, and families in rural India.

Anyone interested in volunteering at future events or becoming an ambassador for Share & Care in their own community (e.g., at a high school or university) is invited to contact Administrative and Operations Director Tejal Parekh at (201) 262-7599 or via email at tparekh@shareandcare.org.

Axovant Strengthens Management Team and Completes Organizational Restructuring in Preparation for Pipeline Expansion

June 6, 2018 Staff ReporterBusiness, Education, Science & Technology 0

Axovant Sciences (NASDAQ:AXON) has announced that Gavin Corcoran, MB BCh, FACP, will join the Company as Executive Vice President of Research & Development, and Michael Hayden, MB ChB, PhD, FRSC, has been appointed as a senior scientific advisor to the company and Chairman of Axovant’s newly established Scientific Advisory Board.

“I am pleased to welcome Gavin and Michael to the Axovant team,” said Pavan Cheruvu, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Axovant. “Since starting as CEO in February, I have been focused on transforming Axovant into a leaner organization, introducing heightened standards of quality and excellence throughout the business, and establishing a new pipeline strategy. We are now poised for growth, and I am excited to have Gavin and Michael join us as we look toward expanding our pipeline in the coming months.”

“I am very excited to join Axovant at this turning point,” said Dr. Corcoran. “I look forward to working closely with Pavan and the senior management team to bring new investigational medicines into the portfolio as we build upon Axovant’s capabilities in research and development. We have a wonderful opportunity to develop life-changing medicines for patients with CNS diseases. I am also eager to leverage the Roivant platform to accelerate the development of Axovant’s pipeline.”

“I share Pavan’s vision of rebuilding the company on a foundation of transformative science and I look forward to expanding Axovant’s Scientific Advisory Board,” said Dr. Hayden. “I have been very impressed with the caliber of the Axovant team and am excited about the future growth of the company.”

Dr. Gavin Corcoran has overseen successful drug development across multiple therapeutic areas including neurology and psychiatry. He currently serves as Chief Medical Officer at Allergan plc, and previously served as Chief Medical Officer of Actavis. Dr. Corcoran was Executive Vice President for Global Medicines Development at Forest Laboratories prior to the acquisition of Forest Laboratories by Actavis. In addition, Dr. Corcoran served as Head of Late Stage Clinical Development for Inflammation and Immunology at Celgene, and as Chief Scientific Officer and head of R&D at Stiefel Laboratories. Earlier in his career he held leadership roles in clinical development and regulatory affairs at Amgen, Schering-Plough, and Bayer. He received his MB BCh from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and completed his clinical training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Dr. Michael Hayden is one of the world’s leading experts in the genetic basis of movement disorders and CNS drug development. He recently served as President of Global R&D and Chief Scientific Officer at Teva. Prior to Teva, he founded multiple biotechnology companies, including Aspreva Pharmaceuticals. He currently serves as Killam Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia and Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine. Dr. Hayden played a key role in the discovery and development of GLYBERA®, the first approved gene therapy product in the Western world, and has received numerous awards including the Order of Canada, granted for his contributions to the understanding of Huntington’s disease and other genetic disorders. In 2008 he was named Canada’s Health Researcher of the Year and in 2017 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Dr. Hayden received his MB ChB, PhD in Genetics, and DCH Diploma in Child Health from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He completed his clinical training in internal medicine and clinical genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Beginning in February 2018, Axovant initiated an organizational restructuring to simplify its organization, reduce costs, and streamline business processes in preparation for future business development activities.

As part of the restructuring plan, Axovant enhanced its capabilities in clinical research and business development, while reducing the size of its global commercial team. Overall, internal headcount has decreased by approximately 43%, and Axovant has increased its use of the Roivant platform to supplement internal capabilities. Forward-looking G&A expenses are expected to decrease in the current fiscal year. Most of the affected employees were transferred to roles within the Roivant family of companies.

“Roivant supports Axovant’s plans for pipeline expansion and organizational transformation,” said Vivek Ramaswamy, Chief Executive Officer of Roivant. “We are committed to hiring and developing high-caliber talent, and we were pleased to support many of Axovant’s employees in finding new roles within the Vant family. I am excited about the new direction that Axovant is taking.”

Axovant is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing innovative treatments for patients with serious neurologic and neuropsychiatric conditions, and turning promising therapies into lasting solutions for patients. Axovant is committed to developing and commercializing a pipeline of product candidates by identifying and developing novel treatments for unmet needs in neurology and psychiatry.

Roivant Sciences is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on reducing the time and cost of the drug development process to improve the lives of patients and their families. Roivant partners with innovative biopharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to ensure that important medicines are rapidly delivered to patients.

The only Indian university in THE world rankings this year

June 6, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

In 2011, the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru featured on Number 92 in the top 100 Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings. Seven years later, it makes a comeback in the 91 to 100 band.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru has made it to the list of top 100 in the Times Higher Education (THE) World Reputation Rankings 2018. The last time it was featured was in 2011.

The annual ranking highlights the top 100 global university brands, which now includes IISc in the 91 to 100 band. Commenting on the rankings, Phil Baty, editorial director of Global Rankings for THE, said, “Only 100 institutions in the world make it to this annual list of the most powerful university brands, so it is a highly significant achievement to be included — and fantastic to see an Indian presence this year.”

The list was compiled from a globally representative survey of more than 10,000 senior academics. IISc was the only Indian institute to have made it this year.

“That prestige — that ‘brand’ — is vital for any university in attracting the necessary talent to allow it to compete and thrive, as well as drawing in strategic partners, philanthropy and investment. As initiatives to improve and internationalise the nation’s higher education system gain momentum, I hope to see a strengthened Indian presence in this table in future years,” Baty said.

Overall, the US continues to dominate, with Harvard University taking the top spot for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University at second and third place, along with 41 other US institutions, that made it to the top 100.

The top 20 comprised of 13 American universities, four from the UK, two from China and one from Japan.

Baty maintained the US had strengthened its position with more institutes moving up the rankings this year — despite fears that the US was suffering a ‘Trump slump’ in terms of its global reputation.

Europe claimed 33 spots with nine from the UK, six from Germany, and five from the Netherlands. The World Reputation Rankings 2018, however, saw all London-based universities losing ground.

“Particularly worrying is the decline of all London universities in this list. London is one of the world’s most dynamic and international capital cities, and has traditionally been the leading city in the world for outstanding higher education and research — drawing talent from across the globe. If this data turns out to be the beginning of a trend of decline, the damage could be significant.”

In the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, 23 institutions were placed in the top 100, in which six institutions from China were featured (the same number as last year) and two in the top 20. Japan had five institutions in the top 100 (down from six) and two in the top 30.

In all, 21 countries were represented in the top 100 rankings.

Indian American Family Donation Establishes ‘Gangal Family Endowed Scholarship Fund’ at Florida Atlantic University

June 6, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Youth 0

Florida Atlantic University May 24 announced that its College of Engineering and Computer Science has received a $500,000 gift from the Gangal family’s nonprofit foundation to establish an endowed scholarship fund for engineering graduate students with an emphasis on bioengineering research.

The “Gangal Family Endowed Scholarship Fund” will support talented students as they prepare for professional careers in STEM, the university noted in a news report.

“There is a tremendous need to fill an increasing number of available jobs in engineering and high technology fields,” said Stella N. Batalama, dean of FAU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, in a statement.

“This most generous gift we have received to establish the ‘Gangal Family Endowed Scholarship Fund’ will help us to develop a robust talent pipeline in this region and beyond to meet the needs of 21st century economy, where STEM-related jobs will be in high demand.”

Shiva and Sneh Lata Gangal established their nonprofit foundation in 2014 in Coconut Creek. Indian American entrepreneur Shiva Gangal served as CEO of Tri State Engineering & Management Company from 1983 to 2001, an engineering design and construction company in West Virginia. He received his master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Science in 1957.

Sneh Lata Gangal also served as secretary and treasurer of Tri State Engineering & Management Company from 1983 to 2001 and received her B.S. degree from Agra University. Their daughter, Anjali Gangal, is vice president of Branch Banking & Trust Co., operating two banking branches in Fort Lauderdale.

“We are very excited to partner with FAU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science to support their talented students as well as their innovative research and engineering programs,” said Shiva Gangal in the university report. “In an increasingly complex world, we must ensure that Florida and the United States will be able to provide our STEM workforce and leaders with the knowledge and skills they need to help solve challenging problems that impact us globally.”

FAU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science offers 21 degree programs on the Boca Raton campus. Master’s degree programs include bioengineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and ocean engineering.

The college’s doctorate programs include computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and ocean engineering. In addition, the college offers special master’s degree offerings including an M.S. in information technology and management; an M.S. in civil engineering with a minor in business; an M.S. in computer engineering and computer science with a minor in business; an M.S. in mechanical engineering with a minor in business; and an M.S. in ocean engineering with a minor in business, according to the university.

Venkat Ranjan wins National Geographic Bee Indian Americans Sweep Top Three Prizes

May 28, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Youth 0

Indian American wiz-kids dominated this year’s National Geographic Spelling Bee held in Washington, D.C., on May 23^rd taking home the top three honors. An eighth-grader from California, Venkat Ranjan beat nine other finalists to take home the title at the 30th annual National Geographic Bee on May 23 by correctly answering “Paraguay.” The question was: Which South American country has a population size most similar to Lebanon?

That response edged him past Anoushka Buddhikot of New Jersey, who incorrectly answered Guyana. Vishal Sareddy, 14, of Suwanee, Georgia, an eighth-grader at Riverwatch Middle School.

As the national champ, Ranjan will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavour ll. Buddhikot an eighth-grader at Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School in New Jersey, the second place winner, will receive $25,000 college scholarship. Vishal Sareddy, the third place winner will take home a $10,000 college scholarship.

This year, apart from the top three winners, five Indian-Americans were among the Top 10 finalists. Other championship finalists included Indian and South Asian Americans Nihar Janga, 13, of Houston; Gayatri Kaimal, 13, of Arizona; Atreya Mallanna, 11, of Massachusetts; Saket Pochiraju, 13, of Ohio; and Ashwin Sivakumar, 13, of Oregon. Sean Cheng, 14, of New Hampshire, and 14-year-old Jonathan Song of North Carolina.

Ranjan, who has been competing in the bee since 2015, also enjoys playing piano, the National Geographic reported. Buddhikot also enjoys reading and playing the violin and hopes to one day write a novel about a National Geographic-style explorer.

In recent past, Indian American kids have been taking home the top honors at this prestigious national contest. Last year, Pranay Varada of Irving, Texas, won the title, after finishing at sixth place the previous year.

Nearly 2.6 million students in the fourth through eighth grades competed in more than 10,000 schools across the country on their knowledge of geography and world affairs in this year’s 30th bee hosted by journalist and humorist Mo Rocca. The contestants were competing for a total of $85,000 in college scholarships. Students had to answer such questions as whether a map of the U.S. shows homelessness or the literacy rate, the range of the black bear or a pon-derosa pine, and ferry boardings versus minimum wage.

In a test of their analytical and communication skills, contestants were asked to choose one of three rivers as the best choice to focus a plastic cleanup effort to reduce the amount of waste going into the ocean. All three finalists chose China’s Yangtze River, explaining that the area’s high population and plastic consumption and limited collection and recycling infrastructure, made it the prime target.

During the competition, students had to answer such questions as whether a map of the U.S. shows homelessness or the literacy rate, the range of the black bear or a ponderosa pine, and ferry boardings versus minimum wage, National Geographic explained in a news release. Contestants were asked to name the U.S. state capital on the Pearl River, Sweden’s largest island, and the currency of Denmark, it added.

After stiff competition, 54 finalists rose to the top, representing winners of each state and overseas territories of the United States. The 54 competitors were reduced to 10 by May 23. Each of them will receive $500. Buddikot was among four girls out of the 54 finalists, with news reports and experts saying that schools and parents should do more to deal with the gender imbalance.

“All of you have demonstrated an impressive commitment to geography and maps, and today we’re rewarding that commitment,” National Geographic Society chair Jean Case told the audience at the event. At National Geographic, “we consider ourselves map geeks,” Case added. “But we understand geography is about so much more than just memorizing places on a map.”

Since the bee started, some 120 million students have participated with more than 90 scholarships doled out totaling $1.5 million to date. “The bee goes right to the heart of what we are all about here at National Geographic,” said Case. “We are about furthering understanding of the world and the people in it. We live in an ever-connected world.”

New USCIS Draft Policy tough on International students

May 28, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Travel 0

International students may become deportable on the first day after they finish their course of study, in a new draft policy unveiled by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on May 11. The proposed policy memo would change the way in which international students are found to accrue “unlawful presence,” a determination that could lead to them being barred from the U.S. for three to 10 years.

“USCIS is dedicated to our mission of ensuring the integrity of the immigration system. F, J, and M nonimmigrants are admitted to the United States for a specific purpose, and when that purpose has ended, we expect them to depart, or to obtain another, lawful immigration status,” said USCIS director L. Francis Cissna in a press statement unveiling the draft policy. “The message is clear: These nonimmigrants cannot overstay their periods of admission or violate the terms of admission and stay illegally in the U.S. anymore,” said Cissna.

Doug Rand, former assistant director for entrepreneurship in the Obama White House who helped implement policies that affect foreign students, told India-West: “This is a pretty dramatic change that could affect more than 1.5 million people per year.”

“For generations, America has been the top destination for students from around the world, many of whom go on to contribute their talents to our economy and even become Americans over time. We should be welcoming the best and brightest — if our country loses its luster, we will lose out on this extraordinary competitive advantage,” stated Rand, the co-founder of Boundless, a technology company that helps families navigate the immigration process. Rand said the proposed policy creates “massive uncertainty” for students who have no “nefarious reasons” for overstaying their student visas.

“I don’t think that anyone believes that the government should turn a blind eye on visa overstays. There are ways to deter the relatively small percentage of students who deliberately and unambiguously overstay their visas, however, without creating major uncertainty for the vast majority who are trying in good faith to play by the rules,” he said.

International students are typically admitted to the U.S. for what’s known as “duration of status,” which means they do not have to leave by a specified date but instead can stay in the U.S. as long as they are do not violate the terms of their immigration status, such as by failing to attend classes or working without authorization. Individuals on J exchange visas — a category that encompasses not only students but also visiting scholars and other types of exchange visitors ranging from au pairs to interns — can either be admitted for a specified time frame or for duration of status, depending on which type of J visa they’re on.

Currently, “unlawful presence” is accrued only after the Department of Homeland Security identifies an international student who has overstayed his F, J, or M visa. But under the new draft policy, individuals in F, J, or M status who fail to maintain their status on or after Aug. 9, 2018, will start accruing unlawful presence on the earliest of any of the following:

The day after they no longer pursue the course of study or the authorized activity, or the day after they engage in unauthorized activity; The day after completing the course of study or program, including any authorized practical training plus any authorized grace period; The day after the I-94 (arrival and departure record) expires; or, The day after an immigration judge, or the Board of Immigration Appeals orders them deported or removed, whether or not the decision is appealed.

Under the new policy, students who have already overstayed their visas and don’t have a pending application to change their status will begin accruing unlawful presence on Aug. 9. Individuals who accrue more than 180 days of unlawful presence in a single stay before departing the U.S. can be barred from returning for a period of three to 10 years.

India and China have the highest number of students enrolled in U.S. universities, but relatively low rates of visa overstays. According to reports, Indian students have a low rate of overstaying their student visas, data released by the Department of Homeland Security said. In 2016, almost 99,000 Indian students studying in the U.S. were expected to depart after finishing their studies; 4,575 overstayed their visas, according to DHS data.

Those subject to the three-year, 10-year, or permanent unlawful presence bars to admission are generally not eligible to apply for a visa, admission, or adjustment of status to permanent residence, said USCIS in the draft memo.

Meanwhile, on another front, the executive branch is planning to make sweeping new changes to the U.S. legal immigration system, including the H-1B visa program and work permits for H4 spouses —quietly and without waiting for Congress. Together these changes could impact the Indian immigrant community in the hundreds of thousands.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is making finishing touches on a proposal to block future work permit applications by H-4 visa holders. There are some 100,000 of these spouses of H-1B workers—mostly Indian women—whose long-term plans have been upended in anticipation of this change.

This whole process can take months or years to complete, and the status quo policy doesn’t change in the meantime. But even just the expectation of future changes can affect people’s lives today.

The U.S. companies and universities are nervous about the official DHS plan to tighten up Optional Practical Training (OPT), a program that currently allows foreign students (predominantly from India and China) to stay in the United States for up to three years of on-the-job training after graduating with a degree in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM).

All of these plans, first unveiled in the Unified Regulatory Agenda last fall, would effectively nullify prior Obama-era regulations. But the Trump administration has also declared its intention to break entirely new ground through the regulatory process. Many of the heaviest H-1B users are Indian IT outsourcing companies, which have not fared particularly well as targets of Trump administration criticism.

Trump administration’s to-do list keeps growing. Newly announced regulatory plans on the agenda this month include: Making it mandatory to use a new electronic filing system for green card renewals (Form I-90) and naturalization applications (Form N-400), plus other visa application forms in the future, which could affect millions of people seeking visas or U.S. citizenship.

Tightening up eligibility criteria for B-1/B-2 visa applications, which could affect millions of tourists and business travelers hoping to visit the United States. Requiring certain U.S. citizens to provide photographs or other biometric data upon entering or departing the United States. Eliminating the rule that USCIS has only 30 days to process an asylum applicant’s request for a work permit.

Today, Congress remains unlikely to take action on immigration matters (although some moderate House Republicans appear to be doing their level best). And so the Trump administration will seek to transform the legal immigration system through slow-moving but far-reaching regulations—plus a continued flurry of operational changes that aren’t exactly trivial, like a recent policy memo that could generate tremendous uncertainty for some 1.5 million foreign students each year.

$1.84 million raised for children’s education in India at AIF’s NYC gala

May 8, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

More than 500 guests, including business executives, investors, entrepreneurs and community leaders, who had attended American India Foundation’s annual gala, helped raise $1.84 million to support AIF’s poverty-disrupting work on the ground in India on April 30, at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City.

The fund raised will be used to support the organization’s Learning and Migration Program (LAMP), In India each year, 70 million people migrate from their villages to find work, bringing their children with them to hazardous work sites like saltpans, brick kilns and sugar plantations, where they are vulnerable to child labor and trafficking. These children are pulled out of school for as much as eight months at a time. They fall severely behind, and often dropout – if they are lucky enough to go to school at all.

One of highlights of the evening was a presentation by one of the beneficiaries of the Learning and Migration Program (LAMP). Sunita Koli, who grew up in Gujarat as the daughter of two parents who worked in the saltpans, shared how the program had an impact on her life. As a child, Sunita worked long days on the hot saltpans of Gujarat for up to eight months a year. Because she migrated to the saltpans with her parents, she wasn’t able to go to school and learn.

One day, Sunita learned of an opportunity to stay in her community – and in school – through AIF’s Learning and Migration Program. She found studying difficult at first, but within a few years, had completely transformed.

Sunita became the first girl in her community to graduate 10th grade, and a few years later, to graduate college. Today, she is studying for the Public Service Exam so she can help other girls like herself succeed.

AIF believes that education can break the cycle of poverty and migration that traps individuals and families in menial and exploitative work. Its Learning and Migration Program does just that, by empowering children affected by migration with a quality education.

Sunita Koli said, “I look at this country and all the facilities here and I don’t know if you can understand what it means for someone from my community to go to college. How difficult it is. How many barriers we have to overcome to make this happen. I am proud that I was able to achieve this.”

“Other girls in my community saw me and they realized that there was life outside this village. They wanted to do something and be something in life. My younger sister followed my footsteps and there are other girls from my community who are now going to college,” she said.

Sunita’s story illustrates the impact of the Learning and Migration Program. Now she is a role model and mentor for other girls in her village, said AIF. AIF CEO Nishant Pandey shared the opportunity LAMP has provided to young girls in rural India.

The evening also featured remarks from other prominent leaders who lauded AIF on its continued success in fighting poverty for the most marginalized people in India. These leaders included Raj Gupta, former Chairman & CEO, Rohm & Haas Company, Ajay Banga, President & Chief Executive Officer, MasterCard, and Lata Krishnan, Chief Financial Officer, Shah Capital Partners.

Actress Reshma Shetty engaged the audience throughout the evening as the Master of Ceremonies. The event honored Andrew Liveris, Chairman & CEO of The Dow Chemical Company and Director & Former Executive Chairman of DowDuPont, and Shikha Sharma, Managing Director & CEO of Axis Bank.

AIF Vice Chair, Harit Talwar, Head of Digital Finance at Goldman, Sachs & Co., thanked supporters for their generosity and encouraged those in attendance to continue contributing to the American India Foundation. Talwar said, “With your support, AIF continues to serve as the innovative source of opportunity for those who need it most”.

Prominent speakers included Raj Gupta, retired Chairman and CEO of Rohm & Haas Company; Ajay Banga, President and Chief Executive Officer of MasterCard; and Lata Krishnan, Chief Financial Officer at Shah Capital Partners.

The event honored Andrew Liveris, Chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company and Director & Former Executive Chairman of DowDuPont, and Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank.

Silicon Valley college, called ‘Visa Mill’ for Indian Students, shuts down with millions missing

May 8, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Travel 0

Silicon Valley University, one of the most popular institutions in California for foreign students from South India, was abruptly shut down last month, amid rumors that it was a “visa mill.” Silicon Valley University was seen by some strivers abroad as a ticket into one of America’s hottest job markets, through its ability to back student and work visas. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee recently asked if it might be a “visa mill” — a term used for sham operations where students get visas but a poor education, if any.

In his March 22 letter, Grassley specifically mentioned SVU as a “highly suspect” visa mill. He noted that in 2015, “hundreds” of Indian students, many admitted to SVU, were denied entry to the United States by Customs and Border Patrol.

State regulators have abruptly shut down the nonprofit college in San Jose that until recently enrolled nearly 4,000 students, mainly from other countries, after Chronicle reporters showed that the school had lost its accreditation months ago.

The move came after Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter March 22 to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, complaining about the lax oversight of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows students from foreign countries to enroll at accredited U.S. universities. In his letter, Grassley stated that several universities with large bodies of primarily foreign students were in fact “visa mills.”

The SEVP program is designed to offer foreign students three years of curricular practical training, which allows them to get work permits for U.S.-based employment. However, Grassley noted in his letter: “Some institutions offer little, if any, educational opportunities to tuition-paying foreign students seeking work opportunities.”

“These ‘visa mills’ profit from the foreign student tuition and face little governmental oversight when issuing work visas under the program, which is not available to American students. Employers also benefit from hiring foreign student over American workers, as neither the employer nor the foreign students is required to pay payroll taxes for the work,” stated Grassley.

“News reports suggested that the school might be operating as a visa mill, and in candid interviews students admitted to working “at gas stations, retail outlets, and even restaurants as part of ‘CPT’ to earn a quick buck,” wrote Grassley, adding that the school has nevertheless retained its SEVP certification “sponsoring thousands of aliens for student visas and approving unknown numbers for alien-only ‘training’ programs.”

SVU lost its accreditation last December but continued to operate. The accrediting agency, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, is itself under investigation, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report. ACICS noted it was revoking its accreditation of SVU for failing audited financial statements and an annual financial report. SVU had asked for several extensions for both documents, according to the ACICS letter, and had asked for yet another extension, prompting the accrediting agency to revoke the university’s accreditation.

California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education also filed a complaint against SVU Dec. 27 for 15 violations of its accreditation. The founders of the non-profit university have been accused of spending large sums of the school’s revenue for personal expenses, including buying homes. SVU charged a tuition of about $45,000 per year.

In an undated and un-signed letter on the home page of its Web site, SVU noted: “Due to the loss of our accreditation from the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), the Bureau for Private Post-Secondary Education (BPPE) has notified Silicon Valley University not to conduct any classes or exams at this time, effective immediately.”

India sends 2nd highest number of students abroad to study

May 8, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Travel 0

With about 211,703 Indian students attending various American universities, India has become the second largest source country of foreign students in the U.S., according to a PTI report.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations have claimed China as number one with 377,070 students.

India sends the second highest number of foreign students to educational institutions in America, said US Consulate General, Public Affairs Officer, and Director of the American Centre, Jamie DragonThe report also states that 49 percent of the female to male student population in the United States is from India and China with interest growing in non-immigrant student visas, the F-1 visa and the M-1 visa.

The F-1 visa is for student who want to attend an American university for academic studies or language training program and the M-1 visa is for who want to attend an American university for non-academic or vocational studies.

From March 2017 to March 2018, both India and China saw a proportional growth of between 1 and 2 percent, with India sending 2,356 more students and China sending 6,305 more students to the U.S. and the level of participation from both countries makes Asia the most popular continent of for international students with 77 percent.

The PTI reports that even though there is a steady growth from both the nations, there was a slight decrease in the number of students coming from Asia to study in the U.S. from countries such as Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Yemen, outweighing the rapid growth from countries such as Pakistan, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The total number of SEVIS records for active female and male students decreased from 1,208,039 in March 2017 to 1,201,829 in March 2018.

Also, the J-1 exchange visitor population has increased from 201,408 in March 2017 to 209,568 in March 2018. The J-1 visa offers cultural and educational exchange opportunities in the United States through a variety of programs overseen by the U.S. State Department.

“Engineering and business are the two most popular subjects among foreign students at our institute. We have about 4,500 international students. Every year we get about 500 to 600 fresh international students. China is number one and India is number two in terms of sending foreign students to our institute,” said Katherine Mangum, coordinator of international recruitment for Iowa State University.

5 Indian Americans named Dell Scholars

May 8, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Five Indian American high school students have been named 2018 Dell Scholars by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Sita Bhandari of Richland Collegiate High School of Math Science in Dallas, Texas; Amrit Chauhan and Manjot Singh, both from River Valley High School in Yuba City, California; Harleen Kaur of Sunnyside High School in Fresno, California and Pooja Patel from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida, were among 500 high school students who have demonstrated the drive to succeed and persist toward achieving a bachelor’s degree.

Dell Scholars has supported more than 4,300 students from across the country over the last 14 years and announced its largest scholars class of 500 this year.

“Our success – 75 percent of our scholars obtain a degree within six years – is primarily attributable to our students’ hard work, perseverance and ability to overcome the substantial obstacles that often derail low-income, first-generation college goers,” Todd Penner wrote on the foundation’s blog.

“As we welcome this new class, we are humbled by working with such amazing students and proud of all they have achieved so far. It’s our mission to provide them with the support they need to complete college and earn their degrees,” he added.

The Dell Scholars program offers $20,000, a laptop and textbook credits along with services and solutions for students and their families, addressing individual and systemic issues that can create major barriers to student success.

The program is looking for students who showed grit “by overcoming personal challenges in your life related to your family, school or community,” potential by participating in college readiness programs, and “seeking out academic rigor” and ambition by “dreaming of obtaining a college degree,” and it will work with students to ensure they have the tools needed to complete college with a degree in hand.

Rajesh Wadhawan Chair for Development Economics at University of Rochester

May 8, 2018 Staff ReporterBusiness, Education, Finance/Economy 0

The Simon Business School at the University of Rochester announced the establishment of the Rajesh Wadhawan Chair for Development Economics, according to a report in BusinessWire. The investiture is in commemoration of the WGC Group’s Indian American founder and his vision of economic equitability.

Over the last three decades, the WGC Group has been at the forefront of developing solutions for financial inclusion of the marginalized sections. The Chair is a part of its social investments to enable opportunities for the transformative progress of these communities. It is aimed to be a critical driver of new insights and enabling wisdom in the understanding of development economics. The WGC Group will continue to support the Chair’s curriculum by offering internships and other associations to students across its Group companies’ offices in India and the UK.

“Through the investiture of the Rajesh Wadhawan Chair, the Wadhawan family and the WGC Group reinforce their commitment towards creating a more equitable society. Their generosity will enable us to channelize analytical research towards solutions for inclusive growth. Through this partnership, we are hopeful of deepening our participation in the global dialogue for financial inclusivity,” remarked Dean Andrew Ainslie of Simon Business School.

Kapil Wadhawan, chairman of the WGC Group, said, “The Rajesh Wadhawan Chair reinstates our founder’s legacy of doing business with purpose. As we take our partnership with the Simon Business School to the next level, we aim to shape a future of equitable progress and create a larger impact globally.”

The Wadhawan family, represented by Mrs. Aruna Wadhawan, wife of late Rajesh Wadhawan, and son Kapil Wadhawan, his wife Vanita and daughter Tiana and son Kartik, were present at the plaque ceremony at the campus.

Prof. Gregory H. Bauer, Associate Dean of Full-Time Programs, Simon Business School, has been nominated as the permanent faculty for the Chair. He was associated with the Bank of Canada as the Senior Research Director for Financial Markets. Bauer has taught at the Simon School for 22 years. He is a four-time winner of the Superior Teaching Award from the Simon MBA program and a multiple winner of awards from the Executive MBA program. His research concerns international capital flows and the origins of financial crises.

Simon Business School is the business school of the University of Rochester and one of the world’s top graduate business institutions. It offers an education that attracts students who value analytic bias. The school believes strongly in the value of economics and statistics in the analysis of all business problems, and it is reflected in its ranking as a top five school for economics and finance.

University of Rochester is one of the top-tier research universities in the US. The private, non-profit university was founded in June 1850. It offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional degree programs. University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester’s Headquarters are located at 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, New York, USA 14642.

Wadhawan Global Capital is a leading financial services group head-quartered in India. The group manages $22 billion of assets through its lending, asset management and insurance businesses. WGC Group has partnered with leading financial institutions such as the International Finance Corporation, Washington, and Prudential Financial Inc., in transforming the lives of millions of customers.

WGC is the parent company for some of the top brands in India such as DHFL, Aadhar Housing Finance Company, Avanse Financial Services Ltd., DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company Ltd., Arthveda Finance, Wadhawan Wealth Managers, DHFL General Insurance and DHFL Pramerica Asset Managers Private Ltd. The company has a London-based wholly-owned subsidiary Wadhawan Global Capital (UK) Ltd.

Project to Transform Cold Storage in India by Duke University Team vying for Hult Prize

May 8, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Finance/Economy, India, Science & Technology 0

The mPower student team at Duke University led by Indian Americans Saheel Chodavadia and Harshvardhan Sanghi has advanced to compete for the $1 million Hult Prize with their project that aims to address cold storage in India.

Hult Prize, a global competition, advertises itself as “a benchmark program for social entrepreneurs.” Each year, aspiring social entrepreneurs at Duke get the chance to participate by first competing in Hult Prize @ Duke, which is co-hosted by the Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative and the NET Impact Club at The Fuqua School of Business.

Hult Prize hopefuls are given a different challenge each year, and they must create a social enterprise addressing the challenge. This year, teams were tasked with harnessing the power of energy to transform the lives of 10 million people by 2025. There’s a lot at stake: The final prize is $1 million to fund the winning social venture.

At Duke, five teams were chosen from the semi-finals round to advance to the finals round, held on a recent evening at Fuqua. After each team completed a six-minute pitch and a round of questioning from the judges, a winner was announced.

That winner was mPower, a team of four sophomores that aims to fill India’s shortage of agricultural cold storage solutions by offering a novel product and distribution network that compensates farmers and simplifies the supply chain.

The team, also comprising Sherry Feng and Jason Wang, initially won the university competition and pitched the idea of their business in Mexico City at the regional competition, winning there to advance to the final in London. By winning the regional, the team will take part in an eight-week summer start-up accelerator alongside 50 other teams at Ashridge Castle in London.

Traditionally, Indian farmers must sell their produce to middle men for a much lower price than its actual market value — around 25 percent lower, by some estimates, a Duke University report said.

mPower plans to change this by purchasing produce directly from farmers, storing the produce with its cold storage technology, and distributing it to markets, it said. This can create new jobs and empower existing communities, the team explained during its pitch, the report added.

The team’s cold storage technology is a custom solar-powered modular refrigeration unit. Their units’ design focuses on passive cooling, reducing energy consumption and differentiating their product from others on the market, the university said.

mPower was especially equipped to answer this year’s challenge on energy because of their involvement in the energy space at Duke. Sanghi and Wang both live in the Duke Smart Home, and Sanghi regularly takes part in Duke University Energy Initiative programs, is a member of Duke’s Energy Club for undergraduates, and is working on energy access research through a Bass Connections project, the university said.

Sanghi, who is from India, and Chodavadia, who has family living there, knew firsthand of energy access challenges and inefficient agricultural processes in that country. They decided to target this population with their Hult Prize project, it said.

“Energy access is broader than just giving people energy,” Sanghi said in the report, pointing out that their solution also addresses poverty and agriculture. “Energy affects all aspects of a person’s life.”

Team mPower’s approach has evolved throughout the course of the competition. After winning at Duke, they made adjustments to achieve greater scalability and a more impactful approach. They branched out from a traditional business model scalability and added the modular refrigeration strategy, the report said.

“Our network of mentors helped us flesh out minute details within our business model, clarify logistics, and improve the viability of our proposed technology,” Sanghi added. The experience of competing at regionals was also instructive, the report noted.

“At regionals, we were exposed to different perspectives and made friends from 17 other countries who were gathered to solve similar challenges and make an impact on the world,” said Chodavadia. “It was also extremely encouraging to hear from the CEO of Hult Prize, Ahmad Ashkar, that our idea could be the next big thing,” he added.

The team, according to the report, is eagerly anticipating the accelerator program, where global experts will lead them through an eight-week MBA course covering topics like risk assessment, partnerships, marketing, sustainability and launch strategy. After this accelerator, the top six teams are invited to pitch at the United Nations for the chance to win $1 million.

Dr. Nana Banerjee appointed as President, CEO of McGraw-Hill Education

May 2, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Dr. Nana Banerjee has been appointed as president and chief executive officer of McGraw-Hill Education. Dr. Banerjee, 47, will be based in New York and succeeds Lloyd G. “Buzz” Waterhouse, who became interim president and CEO in October of 2017 having previously served as president and CEO from June 2012 through April 2014.

“After a thoughtful and thorough search, we chose Nana for his outstanding leadership and stellar management skills. Nana’s deep knowledge of analytics and artificial intelligence, his lifelong passion for education and his demonstrated ability to deliver value for global employees, customers and investors will be instrumental in growing our businesses. He will continue our journey as a learning science company focused on helping students achieve better outcomes,” Larry Berg, senior partner with Apollo Global Management and chairman of the Board of McGraw-Hill Education, said in a press release.

Prior to his appointment Dr. Banerjee was the group president of Verisk Analytics where he had a proven track record of driving global growth and exceptional performance in both public and private companies.

“Nana is a great choice to lead McGraw-Hill Education. His strengths dovetail with exactly what we need as we look ahead – a seasoned leader who understands the critical role that data and technology can play in education. As a learning science company, we are at the forefront of innovation in K-20 and professional education, and Nana’s extensive experience will be invaluable in deepening our relationships with educators,” Waterhouse said in a press release

Dr. Banerjee has also served as the head of Citibank’s credit card business in the United Kingdom as well as the vice president of marketing at GE Capital. He began his career forecasting housing starts at The McGraw-Hill Companies’ FW Dodge unit.

Dr. Banerjee has a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the State University of New York; a master of science degree in mathematics from the Indian Institutes of Technology, Delhi; and a bachelor of science degree with honors in mathematics from St. Stephens College, Delhi.

“I am honored and excited to be a part of McGraw-Hill Education. This iconic brand is founded on the reputation of its people, its content, and its tools, as the finest in the industry. I am looking forward to teaming up with our colleagues and fulfilling the promise of our vision to unlock the full potential of each learner with enhanced access and better quality learning solutions, enabled with scaled technologies and advanced analytics,” Dr. Banerjee said.

GOPIO-CT organizes Wellness and Beyond, elects new Team to lead

May 2, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Health 0

Since 2017, the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO)-Connecticut Chapter took a new initiative for health and wellness of the society at large. Recently, GOPIO CT hosted the second part of the Health & Wellness Seminar Series titled “Beyond Wellness” for the benefit of its members and communities – a sequence of continuing education on healthy living.

The speakers were Dr. Jaya Daptardar, Dr. Alka S. Popli and Yashasvi Jhangiani, who spoke about understanding of and appreciation for preventive medicine, routine screening, age appropriate immunization, and lifestyle modifications as the key to healthy living and aging. They incorporated their expertise in allopathy, homeopathy, and ayurvedic specialty in their highly informative discussion – it was gratefully appreciated! Dr. Daptadar said, “The goal of this health and wellness seminar series is to provide information of modern medicine, alternative and complementary health and wellness approaches to the community to pick up the least risky treatment menu with the most effective results.”

GOPIO CT president Anita and Health chair Dr. Jaya want to promote health and wellness series for the CT communities and it will be held in different cities.

Dr. Babu Stephen, Ajay Ghosh among 7 honored with Excellence Award by NAMAM

May 2, 2018 Staff ReporterBusiness, Community, Education, Health, Science & Technology, Youth 0

A community activist & leader, a successful businessman, an industrialist, a scientist, a renowned musician, two young prodigies, an organ donor, and a journalist were honored at a colorful bi-annual NAMAM Excellence Award 2018 ceremony held at the Royal Albert Palace, Edison, New Jersey on April 28th, 2018.

What stood out at the long-awaited historic event was that among the 7 honorees, two are leaders of the Indo-American Press Club (IAPC). Dr. Babu Stephan, current Chairman, and Ajay Ghosh, founding President of IAPC, were the recipients of the NAMAM awards for their contributions and successes in the business and media world, respectively. IAPC, founded 6 years ao, has been serving as a platform to raise the voice of Indian Americans journalists in North America.

Dr. Stephen is the CEO of DC Healthcare Inc, and the president of SM Reality LLC in Washington, and has been politically well-connected in both Washington DC and Kerala. He has dabbled in media and having arrived in America almost 4 decades ago, and has been among the first generation of Indian community builders here. In his acceptance speech for the award for excellence in business, he recounted the Indian American community’s landmark achievements in all walks of life here – and we have only started!

Ajay Ghosh was chosen for his contributions in media. He has founded the Universal News Network (UNN), a news portal as chief editor, and has been associated with news publications including India Tribute, Indian Express (North American edition), NRI Today and Asian Era magazines. And since 2010, he has been the media consultant of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). In addition, he has taught Social Work Seminar and guided students at the Graduate School of Social Work at Fordham University in New York City since 2006 and works as a Primary Clinician at Yale New Haven Hospital, serving patients with behavioral health issues. Mr. Ghosh dedicated his award to the journalists of Indian origin, who work tirelessly to inform, educate and create awareness on issues that affect the peoples of the world.

Other awardees included, a world renowned community leader and activist, Dr. Thomas Abraham; T. S. Nandakumar, a renowned and versatile Carnatic music percussionist; Ramadas Pillai, President/CTO of Nuphoton Technologies, Inc; Rekha Nair, who has been an advocate for organ donation; Tiara Thankam Abraham, a 12-year-old soprano prodigy and a child genius; and, Child Genius Tanishq Mathew Abraham, a 14-year-old senior completing his biomedical engineering degree at Univ. Of California, Davis. He will be the youngest engineer to graduate in June 2018.

Dr. Thomas Abraham highlighted the need for bringing together the Indian Diaspora under the banner of GOPIO and how it has become a powerful force in raising our voices against discrimination and injustice. In her acceptance speech, Rekha Nair, who stunned the world by donating one of her kidneys at a young age to save the life of a woman she barely knew at the time last year, made an impassioned appeal for organ donation and blood donation.

Of the two siblings, Tanishq, 14-year-old senior (4th year) completing his biomedical engineering degree, could not come down from California, so his younger sister Tiara, 12, accepted the award on his behalf too. She also gave a performance and showed why she is considered a prodigy soprano.

NAMAM, or the North American Malayalees and Associated Members, founded by Madhavan B. Nair, has been honoring its best and brightest at biennial events. Madhavan Nair, in his welcome address, described it as, “an unforgettable evening as we honor extraordinarily accomplished individuals, who have made valuable contributions to the Indian-American community with the NAMAM Excellence Awards.”

The evening program was studded with dance and live music performances, both Indian classical and contemporary/Bollywood. Among the 350 attendees at the event were many prominent members of the community and guests from India.

Founded in 2010, NAMAM has been reaching out to the community with cultural programs, social gatherings and humanitarian aid efforts. Madhavan Nair summed up the essence of the awards nite and the goals of NAMAM: “It is our priority to pass a deep awareness about our rich heritage, unique customs and eclectic culture of Kerala to the younger generation in the USA, so that they can appreciate and take pride in their genealogy.”

Trump Admin sides with Asian American students in Harvard Admissions suit

April 25, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

The Trump administration April 6 backed an Asian American student group that claims Harvard University has discriminated against the Asian American community in the admissions process.

A judge April 6 has decided to make records of Harvard’s admissions public, according to a CNN report. The move by the Justice Department forecasts the emerging fault lines in what could serve as the first major affirmative action case of the Trump administration, the report said.

The fight surrounding the secrecy of Harvard’s competitive admissions process stems from a 2014 lawsuit brought by Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit organization that argues race-conscious admissions policies are unconstitutional, the report said.

The group includes over a dozen students who claim they were rejected from Harvard because it engages in “racial balancing” by capping the number of Asian Americans it admits each year, it said.

As part of pre-trial discovery in the case, the group obtained a mountain of high school applicant files and detailed information on the inner workings of Harvard’s admissions process, much of which it wants to use as evidence as the lawsuit moves ahead, CNN reported.

The institution says the materials are “highly sensitive” and “highly proprietary,” and has asked the judge to shield the records from public view if used in court filings, the report added.

The Justice Department has not formally joined the students’ current lawsuit in federal court, but has a keen interest in making the admissions data a matter of public record now: the department is embroiled in a parallel case over Harvard’s policies as it investigates a similar 2015 complaint filed by a coalition of Asian American associations, CNN noted.

Justice Department lawyers wrote April 6 that the lawsuit “overlaps with the legal and factual bases undergirding the United States’ investigation and could directly bear on that investigation.”

The department could eventually bring its own lawsuit against Harvard based on its findings, or decide to simply join the students’ ongoing case as a “friend of the court,” the report said.

The university in an April 6 statement said it would continue to protect prospective student’s personal information.

A court hearing over how the confidentiality of the documents will be treated was held April 10 at the U.S. District Court in Boston, at which Judge Allison D. Burroughs ruled that, within the next two months, lawyers for Harvard University and advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions must file two near-identical sets of previously confidential Harvard admissions documents—one unredacted set to be filed under seal and one redacted version of the set to be filed publicly, reported The Harvard Crimson. Essentially, a small, redacted portion of more than 90,000 pages of Harvard admissions documents—including applicants’ files and internal correspondence between admissions officers—will become public information in coming months.

Students of Columbia University hold a candlelight vigil to protest the heinous rapes in Kathua and Unnao and send an Open Letter to the Prime Minister of India

April 25, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

Students and faculty from schools across Columbia University were joined by members of the South Asian diaspora from across New Yor City to sign an open letter to the Prime Minister of India condemning the recent cases of sexual violence and political inaction by the ruling dispensation this Friday in the Columbia University campus in New York City. Over 120 students, representing several schools of Columbia University, carried out a candlelight vigil under the banner ‘SILENCE NO MORE’ to express solidarity with the victims and demanded immediate action against the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity.

The event was supported by the Indian Students at Columbia (ISAC), a student body comprising of students from India who are currently studying across engineering, public policy, management, law and several other disciplines across Columbia University. Several other schools like the Columbia Journalism School, Law School, Business School, Teachers College, Columbia College and School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) were represented by students and faculty present.

The group marched from the iconic Earl Hall to the Butler Library where they expressed their protest through theater, dance and music which was followed by remarks by students, faculty members like Prof Shayonee Mitra and Prof Gauri Viswanathan and scholars and activists from other universities Ruchira Gupta, Biju Matthew and Sujatha Gidla, among others.

The students then released a letter to the Prime Minister demanding swift action against the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. The petition was also signed by students from other Universities in New York and is currently being circulated across campuses in the United States to gather more signatures, although the written document is being released now. The students demanded that the Prime Minister put to action his promises made on several forums to end violence against women and ensure stringent action against and strict condemnation of his own party members in perpetrating crimes against women.

Documentary on Indian American Spelling Bee Champs Debuts at Film Festivals

April 24, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Entertainment 0

A soon-to-be released documentary on the rise and dominance of Indian American kids in spelling bee competitions across the United States will be making the major film festival rounds starting this month.

The “Breaking the Bee” documentary will be shown on April 6 and 8 at the Cleveland International Film Festival, followed by a screening at the New York Indian Film Festival in New York City May 12.

“Breaking the Bee” follows four second-generation Indian-American children, ages 7 to 14, over the course of a year, or “bee season,” as they train to reach (and win) the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee (see earlier India-West story here). It’s an inside look at studying, family life, competing in qualifying bees, and being a kid with big dreams. Some are in their final year of eligibility while others are just beginning their spelling careers.

With expert commentary from CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Fareed Zakaria, comedian Hari Kondabolu, ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi, and past Scripps winners, the film offers an analysis into what drives this trend, while exploring the ups and downs of chasing a dream and pondering just how long this incredible trend can last, according to a press release.

The film is directed by Sam Rega and produced by Chris Weller, both of whom worked at Business Insider when they got the idea to produce the film.

Since 1999, all but four contest winners have been Indian American, and of the 285-plus children who make it to Scripps each year, roughly 25% come from families of Indian descent. This is something of an anomaly, as Indian Americans make up just 1% of the United States population.

The perfect storm has been brewing for decades — from the 1965 immigration law that eliminated quota systems for Indian immigrants, thus driving a wave of highly-educated individuals to come to the United States, to the formation of Indian-only spelling bees, to the explosion of mainstream interest in competitive spelling, ever since ESPN began broadcasting the Scripps Bee in 1994.

The film details the South Asian Spelling Bee’s contribution to this phenomenon with interviews with its founder, Rahul Walia. The SASB was started in 2008; since then, many of its winners have gone on to win at Scripps as well.

“It’s the gold standard of the Spelling Bee,” said Usha and Ganesh Dasari, parents of the spelling bee duo Shobha and Shourav. Shourav is one of the four spellers followed in “Breaking the Bee.”

Srinivasan Seshan Named Computer Science Department Head at Carnegie Mellon

April 24, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Carnegie Mellon University has appointed Srinivasan Seshan as head of the Computer Science Department, effective July 1.

Andrew Moore, Dean of the School of Computer Science, selected Mr. Seshan to succeed Frank Pfenning, who will return to teaching and researching full-time.

“…we are all excited about Srini Seshan’s new role as head of CSD,” Mr. Moore said in a release. “He is an outstanding researcher and teacher, and I’m confident that his expanded role in leadership will help the department reach even greater heights.”

Seshan joined the Computer Science Department in 2000. His research is centered on improving the “design, performance and security of computer networks, including wireless and mobile networks,” per the release.

In essence, that means he and his research group have developed ways to more efficiently transfer video content over the internet and have created new architectures to ensure the internet is more trustworthy.

The Computer Science Department is the school’s oldest and largest department.

The School of Computer Science was recognized this month by the U.S. News and World Report’s latest rankings on the “Best Graduate Computer Science Programs,” as the top-rated program in artificial intelligence.

Seshan has been honored for his work a number of times. Among his honors include the three-year Finmeccanica Career Development Professorship in computer science, which supports outstanding young SCS faculty members; two IBM Faculty Partnership awards; and the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development, or CAREER, Award.

A majority of U.S. teens fear a shooting could happen at their school, and most parents share their concern

April 24, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

In the aftermath of the deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, a majority of American teens say they are very or somewhat worried about the possibility of a shooting happening at their school – and most parents of teens share that concern, according to new Pew Research Center surveys of teens ages 13 to 17 and parents with children in the same age range.

Meanwhile, when it comes to what can be done to prevent this kind of violence, far more teens view proposals focused on mental illness, assault-style weapon bans and the use of metal detectors in schools as potentially effective than say the same about allowing teachers and school officials to carry guns in schools.

The surveys of teens and parents were conducted in March and April 2018, following the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School – one of the deadliest mass school shootings in U.S. history. Seventeen people were killed in the attack and more than a dozen others were injured. The surveys also come as the nation prepares to mark the 19th anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.

Overall, 57% of teens say they are worried about the possibility of a shooting happening at their school, with one-in-four saying they are very worried. About three-in-ten (29%) say they are not too worried about this, and just 13% say they are not at all worried.

Nonwhite teens express a higher level of concern than their white peers. Roughly two-thirds (64%) of nonwhite teens, including 73% of Hispanics, say they are at least somewhat worried about this, compared with 51% of white teens.

School shooting fears differ by gender as well: 64% of girls say they are very or somewhat worried about a shooting happening at their school, compared with 51% of boys.

Parents of teenagers express similar levels of concern as teens themselves, with 63% saying they are at least somewhat worried about the possibility of a shooting happening at their child’s school. And there are similar patterns when it comes to race and gender, with nonwhite parents and mothers expressing more concern. Lower-income parents are particularly worried – in fact, 82% of parents with annual household incomes under $30,000 say they are at least somewhat worried that a shooting could happen at their teen’s school, compared with 64% of those with incomes between $30,000 and $74,999 and 53% of those with incomes of $75,000 or more.

Some policies seen as more effective than others

Against the backdrop of organized school walkoutsand marches calling for new legislation to address gun violence, teens see more value in some proposed measures than others. Asked to assess how effective various measures would be at preventing school shootings, 86% of teens say that preventing people with mental illnesses from purchasing guns and that improving mental health screening and treatment would be effective, including majorities who say each of these proposals would be very effective. Roughly eight-in-ten teens (79%) say that having metal detectors in schools would be effective and 66% say the same about banning assault-style weapons.

By contrast, a much smaller share of teens (39%) say that allowing teachers to carry guns in schools would be very or somewhat effective at preventing school shootings; 35% of teens say this would be not at all effective.

Black teens are far less likely than white and Hispanic teens to say allowing teachers to carry guns in schools would be at least somewhat effective: 23% of black teens say this, compared with 44% of white teens and 39% of Hispanic teens.

Views on the effectiveness of banning assault-style weapons also differ by race and ethnicity. About eight-in-ten black teens (80%) and Hispanic teens (79%) say this would be at least somewhat effective; a smaller share of white teens say the same (59%). And while teens across racial and ethnic groups are about equally likely to see metal detectors as effective, black teens are far more likely than their white and Hispanic counterparts to say this would be very effective (59% vs. 39% and 41%, respectively).

Teens’ views on proposals to prevent school shootings mirror those of the general public, for the most part. Among all adults, opinions on arming teachers and banning assault-style weapons diverge sharply along party lines, according to a separate Pew Research Center survey also conducted in March and April. (The survey of teens did not ask respondents for their partisan affiliations.)

About eight-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (78%) say that allowing teachers to carry guns in schools would be very or somewhat effective at preventing school shootings, compared with just 24% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. Democrats, on the other hand, are far more likely than Republicans to say that banning assault-style weapons would be at least somewhat effective (81% vs. 35%).

But there are some points of partisan agreement – substantial majorities of both Democrats and Republicans say that proposals directed at mental illness and having metal detectors in schools have the potential to be at least somewhat effective in preventing school shootings.

‘Language proficiency is essential for your dream to work or study abroad.’

April 17, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

A vital pre-requisite in all companies and educational institutions is proof of English language proficiency. Therefore, all aspirants should take a language test to learn the right kind of skills, says Vikas Singh, Managing Director, Pearson India.

Vikas Singh, Managing Director of Pearson India, a leading education company, discusses the importance of English language proficiency for all those planning to work or study abroad.

The decision to go abroad for study or work is generally a tough call. What is a key factor that one should consider?

A vital pre-requisite in all companies and educational institutions is proof of English language proficiency. English language skills are considered to be an essential requirement in addition to all other requirements to work or study abroad, as it strongly relates to people’s ability to integrate into the community and workplace. Therefore, by taking an English language test, the aspirant is able to learn the right kind of skills which demonstrate their true proficiency and help them succeed.

How should an aspirant approach the test?

The test should assess the aspirant’s English language proficiency based on their ability in four key areas—speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Classically, aspirants face challenges in terms of not having a truly conducive environment to take the test. Additionally, human interventions / biases can affect the score outcome, apart from the anxiety of taking the test.

How does PTE Academic address these challenges?

PTE Academic (Pearson Test of English Academic) is a computer-based language test that offers students and employment seekers a fast (results typically in five business days), fair (accurate computer marking with no potential for examiner bias), and flexible (test sessions 360 days of the year) way of proving their English language proficiency. Since there is no examiner or human intervention in the test-taking process, the accuracy is higher. Our state-of-the-art test centres are soundproof and enable test takers to perform to their best potential. Additionally, advanced security systems like digital biometrics incorporating palm-scanning, digital signatures, randomized test formats, and CCTV cameras ensure that aspirants can appear for the test in a controlled and secure environment

Salman Rushdie honored with doctorate degree by Indiana University

April 17, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Critically acclaimed author Sir Salman Rushdie has been conferred with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during his visit to the Indiana University Bloomington campus March 29. Rushdie was in Bloomington as part of the university’s semester-long “India Remixed: Global Arts and Humanities Festival.”

In his address, Rushdie compared eastern and western fiction, discussing how eastern fiction is less likely to have some kind of moral revelation at the end than western fiction and how kids have too much independence in western stories.

“They don’t guarantee the triumph of virtue,” he said of eastern tales as he recalled listening to many stories as a child and urged the audience of 1,000 in Indiana University’s auditorium, to write unrealistic stories as they have a more powerful meaning. “Write what you know, but only if what you know is really interesting. I’m in favor of continuing to make things up. We are all dreaming creatures, so dream on paper,” Rushdie said.

“For more than four decades, Sir Salman Rushdie has been a teller of truths. Through the conferral of an honorary degree upon Sir Salman Rushdie today, we acknowledge and recognize that the extraordinary works for which he is renowned constitute major contributions to world literature, advancements of our culture, and that they shed light on the truth of what it means to be human,” McRobbie said about Rushdie.

Rushdie has written 13 novels, including “Midnight’s Children” and “The Satanic Verses,” for which the Islamic Republic of Iran leader issued a fatwā against him, calling for Rushdie to be punished by death as the Islamic spiritual leader called the book “blasphemous and insulting toward Muslims.”

The fatwā ended up creating violence around the world and Rushdie had to live under police protection for a few years though he continued to write and publish his books during that time. Rushdie was born in India and his work primarily focuses on writing fictional stories that explain the difficulties of reality.

Meera Komarraju Named Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor at Southern Illinois University

April 17, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Meera Komarraju, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, will become the university’s interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs pending approval of the university’s Board of Trustees.

SIU Chancellor Carlo Montemagno said Komarraju’s appointment, which will be effective April 13 if approved, fills an important gap in the university’s leadership. The provost’s responsibilities have been divided among other members of the provost’s office since the retirement of previous interim provost Susan Ford in June 2017.

The university’s provost oversees the academic colleges, library affairs, the graduate school, off-campus programs, the honors program, information technology and the centers for international education and teaching excellence.

“Dr. Komarraju is well-qualified to move the revitalization of our academic programs forward,” Montemagno said. “She is highly respected across campus as an administrator, teacher and researcher who has displayed a strong commitment to SIU throughout her career. She possesses the experience and skills needed to succeed as interim provost.”

As dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Komarraju currently oversees the largest academic unit on campus. She came to SIU as a lecturer in 1986 and has served as director of the Department of Psychology’s undergraduate program, chair of the department, and associate dean for student and curricular affairs in the College of Liberal Arts before her 2015 appointment as dean.

She is a professor of psychology and holds a doctoral degree in applied social psychology from the University of Cincinnati and doctoral and master’s degree in industrial-organizational psychology from Osmania University in India. She also holds a master’s degree in sociology from Osmania University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, philosophy and English literature from Nizam College in India.

Komarraju is widely published in her field and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association. She is a past recipient of the university’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.

“If approved by the Board of Trustees, I would be deeply honored to serve SIU Carbondale and advance it in partnership with our students, staff, faculty, campus administrators, alumni and community members” Komarraju said.

“We have an extremely strong base with outstanding academic programs as well as talented faculty members and resourceful staff members who are devoted to our students,” she added. “We will continue to work towards raising our academic profile, recognizing that strong academic programs, high quality research and excellent teaching are at the heart of the university.”

Akhil Kondepudi wins National Brain Bee Championship

April 3, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Youth 0

Akhil Kondepudi from St. Louis, Missouri, has won the Eleventh USA National Brain Bee Championship which was held at the University of Maryland in Baltimore from March 15 to 18.

Winners from 54 Chapter competitions in 37 states gathered to test their knowledge of the human brain.

The national competition tests high school students on a range of topics covering all aspects of neuroscience, including intelligence, emotions, memory, sleep, neurodegenerative diseases, schizophrenia, addictions and the senses.

The competition involved a neuroanatomy laboratory practical exam with real human brains, patient diagnosis with patient actors, neurohistology, brain MRI imaging identification and orals, and was sponsored by the Department of Neural and Pain Sciences of the University of Maryland’s School of Dentistry.

Kondepudi will represent the United States at the World Brain Bee Championship hosted by the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies in July. Besides a monetary prize Kondepudi was also given an 8-week internship in a neuroscience laboratory, a donation was given to the Disabled American Veterans as well.

Six other Indian Americans were among the top 10 winners: Hemanth Asirvatham of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Sehej Bindra of Piscataway, New Jersey; Sneha Shinde of Rootstown, Ohio; Aayush Setty of Atlanta, Georgia; Lasya Kambhampati of Kansas City, Kansas; Veda Chanda of Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The USA Brain Bee is an Official Regional Brain Bee of the International Brain Bee which is lead by a Board of Directors from the Society for Neuroscience, the American Psychological Association, the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, The International Brain Research Organization, and the Federation of European Neurosciences Societies.

Currently there are about 200 Brain Bee Chapters in about 50 countries in 6 continents. Each Chapter conducts a competition involving many high schools, those winners represent their cities at their respective National Championships and each National Champion is then invited to compete in the World Championship held every year in a different city.

kondepudi, for taking the top prize, was awarded with $1,500 and an eight-week internship in a neuroscience lab, and will represent the U.S. at the World Brain Bee Championship in Berlin in July. Indian American Hemanth Asirvatham of Minneapolis, Minn., took second; and Sehej Bindra of Piscataway, N.J., took third and were awarded $1,000 and $500, respectively.

Khan Academy founder wins 2018 Visionary of the Year award

April 3, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

Salman Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, has won the 2018 Visionary of the Year award from The San Francisco Chronicle.

According to a San Francisco Chronicle report, Khan received his award at a gala that was held at the War Memorial Veterans Building in San Francisco, California, which was attended by about 150 people, including Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, former Secretary of State George Shultz and his wife, Charlotte Shultz.

Khan was nominated among five other finalists and will be granted $25,000 as part of the award.

In 2008, Khan quit his day job in finance to start Khan Academy, an educational website where he delivered tutorials in math by posting videos on YouTube.

Soon enough the Silicon Valley entrepreneur became a celebrity as he had impacted many children and their families who were struggling in school. Today Khan Academy has more than 62 million registered users in nearly 200 countries where his voice is widely recognized as he narrates many of the tutorials.

According to San Francisco Chronicle, students and parents have often stopped him on the street to thank him for his virtual assistance in their work. Khan Academy features coursework in various fields from art to science at all levels from kindergarten to college as well as SAT instruction and personal finance.

Khan’s Mountain View nonprofit has more than 150 employees now and he still continues his mission to provide “world-class” education to anyone anywhere at no cost.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Google and Bank of America are just few of Khan’s supporters and he has been featured on “60 Minutes” and the “Colbert Report”. He has written a book called “The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined,” according to a San Francisco Chronicle.

Khan accepted his award as he recalled the first student he had helped out; his cousin Nadia.

“As I tell everyone, this is just something I fell into. I thought it was a dumb idea at first,” he said.

The Impact of Migration and Diet on Food Allergy Development

April 3, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education, Health 0

Food allergy is a potentially life-threatening immunologic reaction to food protein upon consumption of food. It affects 8% of children in the United States, while almost 40% of children with food allergy experience a severe reaction.1 Common symptoms include hives, vomiting, dizziness, shortness of breath, and wheezing. Past studies demonstrate that food allergy prevalence is on the rise,2 yet factors contributing to food allergy development are still not well understood.

Major hypotheses for food allergy development include, but are not limited to, birth via caesarian section, the hygiene hypothesis, and infant eczema. Previous literature suggests that environmental changes upon migration to a new country may contribute to peanut allergy development among immigrant populations. When observing a group of Australian infants, peanut prevalence among infants with both parents born in East Asia was 7.7%, 6.7% for infants with one parent born in East Asia, and 2.3% for infants with both parents born in Australia.3

There is a burgeoning prevalence of food allergic disorders in individuals of Asian origin residing in the USA. Review of the scarce literature published on this topic4 reveals the possibility that Asians have higher odds of food allergy compared with Caucasian children, but significantly lower odds of formal diagnosis.

In addition to environment, distinctive cultural practices and dietary cuisine may contribute to food allergies. South Asian diets are often different from Western diets. A study on food allergy among Indian adults in Karnataka, South India suggested that cow’s milk and apple were among common food allergens.5 Other sources also suggest that eggplant, melon, and legumes like chickpea are commonly reported food allergens for Indian adults. A pilot study exploring food allergies among individuals in Kansas City, Missouri of Asian Indian descent revealed that Indian Americans have ‘different’ food allergens (such as chickpea flour, capsicum, eggplant and Indian lentils) in addition to the classic “Top 8” allergens reported in the USA (milk, egg, wheat, soy, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish).6

To study the potential impact of environment and diet on food allergy development, a team of researchers from Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and Stanford University School of Medicine are conducting a survey exploring food allergies in adults and children of Asian Indian descent in the United States. Information from this voluntary and anonymous survey will be used to advance knowledge regarding allergies among individuals of Asian Indian origin. For more information and to access the survey, please visit:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SouthAsianFoodAllergySurvey

Or visit: http://www.ruchigupta.com/current-study-recruitment/

Ruchi S. Gupta, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, and is the Director, Science and Outcomes of Allergy & Asthma Research, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine (SOAAR); Mary Ann & J Milburn Smith Senior Scientist in Smith Child Health Research Outreach and Advocacy Center

Stanley Manne Research Institute, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Clinical Attending, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

Dr. Ruchi Gupta MD, MPH has more than 15 years of experience as a board-certified pediatrician and health researcher. She is nationally recognized for her groundbreaking research in the area of food allergy and asthma epidemiology; especially for her research on childhood food allergy prevalence.

Dr. Gupta has also significantly contributed to academic research surrounding economic costs, pediatric management of food allergy and asthma, ED visits and hospitalizations, quality of life, and community interventions in schools. In addition to being the author of The Food Allergy Experience, Dr. Gupta has written and co-authored over 70 original peer-reviewed research articles and has had her work featured in major TV networks and print media. She continues to make meaningful improvements in population health outcomes and the lives of children and their families.

References:

Gupta RS, Springston EE, Warrier MR, et al. The Prevalence, Severity, and Distribution of Childhood Food Allergy in the United States. Pediatrics. 2011.

Prescott SL, Pawankar R, Allen KJ, et al. A global survey of changing patterns of food allergy burden in children. World Allergy Organization Journal. 2013;6(1):21.
Koplin JJ, Peters RL, Ponsonby AL, et al. Increased risk of peanut allergy in infants of Asian-born parents compared to those of Australian-born parents. Allergy. 2014;69(12):1639-1647.

Arakali SR, Green TD, Dinakar C. Prevalence of food allergies in South Asia. Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. 2017;118(1):16-20.
Mahesh PA, Wong GW, Ogorodova L, et al. Prevalence of food sensitization and probable food allergy among adults in India: the EuroPrevall INCO study. Allergy. 2016;71(7):1010-1019.

Motiani R, Dinakar C. A survey to explore the types of food causing food allergic reactions among adults and children of Asian Indian Origin. Journal of Investigative Medicine. Feb 2013; 61(2): abstract 320.

Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai in first visit to Pak, urges for women’s empowerment

April 1, 2018 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Education, Youth 0

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai made her first visit to Pakistan on March 29th, 2018, since she was shot by Taliban militants in 2012 near her home in the northern Swat Valley. The 20-year-old became the first teenager to win the Nobel Peace Prize four years ago and is currently studying at the University of Oxford.

Soon after her arrival in her native country, Yousafzai met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the capital Islamabad. Local television showed the education activist leaving Islamabad airport in the early hours of the morning amid heavy security for what is expected to be a four-day visit.

Yousafzai gave an emotional, heartfelt speech on her return to her country of birth, where she is still under threat of violence. “I’m not very old but I’ve seen a lot,” she said following a meeting with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. “I couldn’t control what happened, if it was my choice I wouldn’t have left my country at all. I had no choice, I had to leave for my life.”

In a speech in which she often had to pause for tears, the activist hailed the fact “more than 6 million dollars” has been invested on education in Pakistan in recent years, adding she hoped “we all join hands for the betterment of Pakistan for our future, to empower our women so they can earn and stand on their own two feet.”

Abbasi said he was “so happy that our child who has earned so much fame internationally has come home. You represent us in the world and especially of the youth and girls and the work you’ve done for education of girls,” he said. “It is our dream and prayers that you are successful, our prayers with you. Welcome home Malala!”

“I have always dreamed of coming back to Pakistan — we need to empower women,” Yousafzai said in a speech in Islamabad with tears in her eyes. “If I wanted I would have never left my country, for further treatment I had to go out.”

At just 11, Malala began writing an anonymous diary for BBC Urdu about her life under Taliban rule. She later became a vocal advocate of female education amid militant suppression in Pakistan. While traveling to school by bus in October 2012, she was shot in the head in retaliation for her campaign for girls to be given equal education rights in the conservative country, defying threats from militants in her hometown of Mingora.

The bullet struck just above her left eye, grazing her brain, and Yousafzai was flown to the U.K. for emergency treatment. Malala’s shooting caused international outrage and came amid a bloody struggle between the Pakistani state and Islamist militants. The Pakistani Taliban said at the time that they shot her because she was “pro-West” and “promoting Western culture in Pashtun areas”.

Lauded internationally, Yousafzai gained global recognition after pledging to continue her struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism. However, her return has received a mixed reaction in her home country. Many in the South Asian nation see her as part of a Western conspiracy against Pakistan.

Her return brings home the change that has occurred in Pakistan. The military in Pakistan has neutered some insurgent groups who target the country domestically and tourists are now returning to areas including picturesque Swat, which is known locally as the Switzerland of Pakistan.

Security in the country has greatly improved in recent years, with the number of attacks carried out by militants drastically reduced. Nevertheless it’s unclear if she will visit her home region in the Swat Valley, where her foundation recently opened a school for girls.

News of her arrival has been received enthusiastically here. But some Pakistanis have long been critics of Malala, favoring conspiracy theories claiming she is “a Western agent” or was actually shot by the CIA. For many others Pakistanis, though, Malala is a source of great pride, and now she’s finally come home.

Malala’s visit “gives the message that extremism can be challenged and defeated if one stands up against it,” said Farzana Bari, a human rights activist and former head of the Gender Studies department at Islamabad’s Quaid-i-Azam University. “This will help promote peace and girls’ education in Pakistan as we still have large areas where girls and women are discriminated against,” she said.

Chair for Tamil Language at Harvard

March 26, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

“Tamil is one of the world’s major languages, and the only South Asian language to have evolved continuously from a very ancient past while remaining a living contemporary language spoken by tens of millions of people. Its literary tradition is among the nest in human civilization, encompassing marvelous love poetry, epic, philosophical texts, reflexive sciences of grammar, logic, and poetics, historiography, and an enormous religious literature,” said reputed indologist David Shulman.

The antiquity of the language whose richness still awes scholars is just one of the many reasons that have encouraged Tamils in the US to pitch for a permanent chair (professorship) for the language at the Harvard University. “Besides livelihood, the purpose of education is also to create an intelligent and civilised society, teach cultural values and develop scholars,” says S T Sambandam, one of the initiators of the campaign, explaining the significance of such a chair to Tamils.

With institution of the chair estimated to cost around 6 million USD, the fundraising committee so far has just crossed the halfway mark, collecting close to 3 million USD. “Being one of the classical languages, Tamil draws the interest of foreigners. The interest for the study of Sangam and other literary works has also grown in recent times. The demand for the study of Tamil would also facilitate translation of Tamil books into other world languages,” says Soma Illangovan, who has been living in the US for the past 40 years.

With around 10,000 schools students currently studying Tamil as a second language in the US, Vijay Janakiraman, co-initiator of the Harvard Tamil chair campaign says the chair will encourage more students to take up Tamil, leading to a cascading effect on Tamil communities living across the world.

While raising funds for the chair is no joke, what keeps fund raising committee members going is the success story of the Tamil chair at the University of California in Berkeley. The chair was instituted in 1996 after Tamil communities in North America successfully raised 425,000 USD. Some of the major activities of the chair has been starting Tamil font encoding schemes and partly funding digitalization of ancient literary works including those from the Sangam era. The chair also invites Tamil scholars from different parts of the world for lectures.

While Sambandam and Jayasankar have jointly contributed 1 million for the chair, major contributions have come from Tamils in Toronto and Canada and from NRIs in other communities. Tamil cinema personalities like Suriya, R Madhavan, Mysskin and GV Prakash Kumar too have done their bit. Kanchana and Jack Poola, members of BOT of The Asian Era have contributed to the cause.

“Tamil is one of the world’s major languages, and the only South Asian language to have evolved continuously from a very ancient past (some 2000 years of astonishing cultural activity) while remaining a living contemporary language spoken by tens of millions of people,” said Prof. David Shulman of Harvard.

“Its literary tradition is among the finest in human civilization, encompassing marvelous love poetry, epic, philosophical texts, the reflexive sciences of grammar, logic, and poetics, historiography, and an enormous religious literature. An infrastructure for Tamil already exists at Harvard; a chair in Tamil will formalize this humanistic field there and impact upon the study of South Asian civilization in other major academic centers throughout the world,” he added.

Committee members, however, rue that no support has come from the Tamil Nadu government yet, although former chief minister J Jayalalitha had promised to contribute 50% of the required funds for the proposed chair. They feel help should come without much delay. Lest the Harvard Tamil chair committee fails to raise the required funds before June 2018, the Harvard University would cancel the proposal for the chair. The million dollar question is would the Tamil Nadu government pitch-in in time to fulfill Jayalalitha’s commitment and the dreams of the Tamil diaspora.

Students across the United States lead the fight against gun violence

March 26, 2018 Ajay GhoshEducation 0

The adults failed. The politicians have no motivation to act. Gun violence across the United States continues to take the lives of innocent students and others almost daily. Fed up with political inaction and seeing their loved ones targeted by gun violence the students, High Schoolers from around the nation took the streets around the country on March 23rd.

People gathered in cities across America on Saturday for massive student-led protests to demand stronger gun control measures. Hundreds of thousands took part in large “March for Our Lives” protests. They took place in major cities including Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago and Parkland, Florida. Parkland was the site of the February 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead. Some international cities also held demonstrations.

The protests were organized by students after the Parkland shooting. One of the largest took place in Washington D.C. Several survivors of the Stoneman Douglas tragedy spoke to the crowd from a stage set up on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Building on the momentum of last week’s National School Walkout, these members of a generation raised with gun violence have mobilized Americans with impassioned pleas for stricter gun control laws while honoring the 17 students and faculty members killed February 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Though Washington hosted the main event, more than 800 sister marches were held across the country, from Boston to Los Angeles, and around the world. Students, teachers, parents, survivors of school shootings and celebrities took their defiant message against gun violence and the gun lobby to the seats of power.

“Politicians who sit in their gilded House and Senate seats funded by the NRA telling us nothing could have ever been done to prevent this, we call BS,” Emma Gonzalez, who survived last month’s shooting, said in during a speech that went viral. “They say that no laws could have been able to prevent the hundreds of senseless tragedies that have occurred. We call BS,” she added.

Gonzalez is one of many students who has taken to social media and the streets to call for stricter gun control after a gunman opened fire on students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month, killing 17 people and injuring more than a dozen others. According to police documents, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz confessed to the shooting.

The tragedy in Florida leads all to ponder on a bigger problem — frequent shootings at schools — almost one gun incident every month — remain a nightmare for children and parents even if most have few fatalities or only injuries. Some recent horrific incidents stand out: Columbine High School, Colorado, where 15 were killed in 1999; Red Lake Senior High School, Minnesota in 2005 with 10 fatalities; and Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut, in 2012 with 28 dead.

The survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., have broken through a decades-long stalemate in the gun-control debate in ways that no other group of survivors has been able to.

They’ve pressured President Trump to order a Justice Department crackdown on bump stocks and propose tougher background checks on gun buyers. They’ve persuaded Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to buck the party line and call for congressional hearings.

They’ve persuaded the GOP-controlled state Legislature to consider gun-control measures once deemed off-limits in Tallahassee and sparked marches, protests and school walkouts around the country.

The US, the most advanced nation has the most number of deaths due to gun violence. For Indian-Americans, who come from a country without a gun culture, the contrast between India and the United States in firearms ownership and gun deaths is often shocking. GunPolicy.org that is hosted by the Sydney School of Public Health, the University of Sydney, gathered data that showed that there were 3,655 total gun deaths in 2014 in India which has a population of 1.3 billion, or three gun deaths per million people showing a decline from a total of 12,147 or 12.3 per million in 1999.

In contrast, there were 33,599 gun deaths in the U.S. in 2014, nine times more than in India. The United States tops the world in the number of guns owned by civilians, with 310 million. That amounts to 101.05 guns for every hundred people in the U.S., giving it the top rank in the rate of gun ownership, while India which ranked next after U.S. in number of guns owned by civilians at 40 million, had just 3.36 guns for every hundred people, because its population is about times bigger than the U.S.

Against this backdrop, the Indian-American community is looking at the gun control issue, which has again risen as a topic of national discussion because of the Parkland shooting. These incidents have changed life in schools and the lives of millions of people across the great nation, the United States.

“To the leaders, skeptics and cynics who told us to sit down, stay silent and wait your turn, welcome to the revolution,” Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Cameron Kasky told the throngs in Washington, where the march turned into a thunderous, standing-room-only rally. “Either represent the people or get out. Stand for us or beware.”

Renu Khator 2018 is the Recipient of Mentor Award

March 19, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

The American Council on Education has named Renu Khator the recipient of the 2018 Council of Fellows/Fidelity Investments Mentor Award on March 11th. Khator, Indian American University of Houston System chancellor and University of Houston president, was honored with the award during the 100th annual ACE meeting.

The Council of Fellows/Fidelity Investments Mentor Award is bestowed annually to acknowledge the substantial role of mentors in the success of ACE Fellows Program participants, according to a council news release.

Since its inception in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program has strengthened institutions and leadership in American postsecondary education by identifying and preparing nearly 1,900 faculty and administrators for senior positions in higher education leadership, it said.

More than 80 percent of Fellows have gone on to serve as chief executive officers of colleges or universities, provosts, vice presidents and deans, the council noted. Between 2005 and 2018, Khator has mentored five Fellows. Her commitment to mentoring diverse professionals helps expand the pipeline to the presidency to include high-achievers from minority communities.

And her mentees all agree: She is authentic, attentive, thoughtful, transparent and personable, according to the news release. “Her stellar career aside, president Khator has proven an invaluable asset to the ACE Fellows Program,” said Sherri Lind Hughes, assistant vice president of ACE Leadership, in a statement. “As a mentor, she finds teaching moments in all aspects of her presidency and doesn’t shy away from hardships or obstacles as opportunities for her mentees to learn something new.”

The UH System’s first woman chancellor and the first Indian American to head a comprehensive research university in the United States, Khator assumed her current post in January 2008, according to her bio.

She now oversees a four-university system that serves nearly 71,000 students, has an annual budget that exceeds $1.7 billion, and has a $6 billion-plus impact on the Greater Houston area’s economy each year, the news release said.

During her tenure, UH has experienced record-breaking research funding, enrollment, and private support. As part of an ongoing $1.5-billion campus construction program, UH launched its 74-acre Energy Research Park, opened its 40,000-seat TDECU Stadium and increased student residence hall capacity to 8,000.

In 2015, UH was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, one of fewer than 300 schools to earn that designation from the prestigious national honor society. In 2011, UH earned Tier One status, the Carnegie Foundation’s top category of research universities, the release said.

Khator is a past chair of ACE’s Board of Directors and serves on numerous other boards, forums and councils. Prior to UH, Khator held various positions at the University of South Florida. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Kanpur University and her master of arts and doctorate from Purdue University.

Since 2008, Fidelity Investments has been a generous supporter of the ACE Fellows Program, enabling the council of Fellows to provide support for the discretionary fund of the Mentor Award winner’s institution as well as the Fellows Fund for the Future, which provides stipends to defray costs of sponsoring a Fellow for qualified institutions.

A Student-Led Celebration of South Asian Culture at Harvard Annual cultural show has pooled hundreds of students’ talents for 30 years

March 11, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

The Harvard South Asian Association celebrated 30 years of its annual cultural show, Ghungroo, with four performances in February. More than 300 students came together to direct, produce and perform a variety of dances, musical selections, dramatic pieces and poetry inspired by the traditions of South Asia. Billed as Harvard’s largest student- run production, Ghungroo brings both experienced and less experienced performers together into a large dance, whether or not they are part of the South Asian community.

Every spring, the South Asian Association produces a show called Ghungroo, which is an enormous celebration of South Asian culture through manifold acts of dance, music, and drama entirely directed, choreographed, and performed by undergraduate students. Ghungroo began in 1988, and is the largest student-run production at Harvard! Any undergrad at Harvard can participate, and students from so many different backgrounds and cultures come together to sing, dance, act, or help produce the show – no prior experience necessary!

This year’s production, directed by Menaka Narayanan, Aditi Sundaram, and Ivraj Seerha, focused on the creation of Ghungroo, tracing its trajectory since its inception. Performances highlighted what it means to be a part of the show and how it brings the community together.

Students from a variety of backgrounds and majors presented music and dance performances from a classical fusion orchestra to raas and a Bollywood dance featuring the latest South Asian hit songs. The half-hour grand finale was the combined effort of 117 members of the Harvard Class of 2018.

Harvard South Asian Association co-presidents and Ghungroo co-producers Simi Shah and Ayman Mohammad, the highlight of the performances was to have Harvard alumni — including some founding members — who returned to campus to see how the show has evolved.

“It was truly remarkable sharing this experience with alumni, be it the founding members of Ghungroo or the directors and producers who mentored us our first year as college students,” Shah said. “Having over 60 alumni come back over the course of the weekend speaks to the significance of Ghungroo and what it means to the broader community of South Asians who take this experience beyond Harvard.”

Nearly 1/5th of less Indian students came to U.S. for Computer Science, Engineering Grad Programs

March 11, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

International student enrollment in graduate science and engineering programs in the US dropped in 2017 after several years of increases. Science and engineering fields saw a 6% decrease in international graduate students from the fall of 2016 to the fall of 2017, and almost all of that decrease was concentrated in two fields: computer science and engineering.

This follows steady increases from 2005 to 2015 and comes at a time when demand for tech workers outstrips supply — and foreign-born students are increasingly filling a gap left by declining numbers of American citizens studying science and technology at the graduate level.

The biggest drop came from Indian students, whose numbers fell by 19% in 2017. Saudi Arabia, Iran and South Korea also sent fewer students in 2017. The figures were released in the 2018 Science and Engineering Indicators report from the National Science Foundation’s governing body, the National Science Board.

“In the U.S., (international students) are tremendously important,” said Geraldine Richmond, a member of the National Science Board and chemistry professor at the University of Oregon. “Over 50% of our graduate students in technical areas are from outside the country.”

Students from India enrolled in all degree programs has seen a drastic drop, with a 17.7 percent drop in students coming to the U.S., going from 117,540 to 96,700. Additionally, there was a 19.2 percent drop in Indian students coming to the U.S. specifically for computer science and engineering programs. In 2016, there were 95,950 in such programs, and only 77,500 in 2017.

Within all other programs, there was a 10.8 percent decline of Indian students, dropping from 21,590 to 19,260. Overall, the 4 percent drop saw 840,160 enrolled foreign students in 2016 to 808,640 students enrolled in 2017, the National Science Board showed.

The data of the NSB analyzed the government’s student visa data in a report last month, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.

“The U.S. government policy, such as the Trump administration’s announced plans to restrict the ability of international students to work after graduation, could accelerate any negative trends,” the report said.

Concerns about staying in the U.S. after graduation have been rising as the Trump administration increases its scrutiny of H-1B visas, which are work permits that allow foreigners to live and work in the U.S. for a period of time, the publication said.

“We have a research engine that needs to be fueled, and that fuel is really our graduate students,” Richmond said. “So, as we continue to try to attract the best and brightest in our country, we also seek to attract the best and brightest from these other countries.”

Graduate programs also feed, in part, into hubs like Silicon Valley, where more than half of tech workers are foreign-born.

“There is an insatiable demand. There’s more jobs than we can fill with the current slate of talent,” said Michael Morell, a founder of the tech recruiting firm Riveria Partners.

“The way we talk about it internally is, if you are an average or above-average engineer with core skills as a computer scientist, that is probably a negative unemployment rate.”

Princeton University establishes M.S. Chadha Center for Global India to Expand Study

March 5, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Education 0

Princeton University announced last week that it has established the M.S. Chadha Center for Global India thanks to a gift provided by 1993 Princeton graduate Sumir Chadha. The center, which is named after Chadha’s grandfather, who is a distinguished physician who served as the director general of Health Services for India, will bring together scholars and students from all disciplines to broadly explore contemporary India, including its economy, politics and culture, the university said.

“India’s development since I attended Princeton University 25 years ago has been remarkable in many areas — economic progress, entrepreneurship, innovation and the arts,” said Chadha in a statement.

“Applying Princeton’s world-class scholarship to the study of India will be of great benefit to India, Princeton and the world at large,” the Indian American added. “I am grateful to president Eisgruber for his leadership in extending Princeton’s global reach through this important initiative. It also gives me tremendous pleasure to honor my grandfather, who was a great human being and mentor to me, by naming this center for him.”

Additionally, six other Princeton graduates provided gifts to strengthen the university’s ability to study India and its increasing impact on the world, it said. Sanjay Swani, a member of Princeton’s class of 1987, and his wife, Preeti, have endowed a professorship in India studies and established a global seminar that will take a group of students to India in the summer to learn about the nation and culture firsthand, the university said.

Developing and disseminating a better understanding of India has been identified as one of the university’s strategic priorities designed to keep Princeton at the leading edge of teaching and learning now and in the future.

“The combination of classroom study and firsthand experience is more powerful than either of those on its own,” said Swani. “Princeton students will now be able to learn from stellar faculty in the classroom, and travel to India to see their academic work brought to life. I am very happy to support this extraordinary educational experience.”

Sheila Patel of the class of 1991; Aliya Nedungadi of the class of 1997 and her husband, Ajit Nedungadi; Kush Parmar of the class of 2002 and his wife, Princess Padmaja Kumari Mewar; and Peter Wendell of the class of 1972 and his wife, Lynn Mellen Wendell of the class of 1977, have also provided essential support to Princeton’s exploration of India, the university news release said.

“India is at a pivotal moment in its history. A deeper understanding of its culture, economic growth and status as the world’s largest democracy is essential both to scholars and to the students who will become leaders of our global society,” said president Christopher L. Eisgruber in a statement.

Eisgruber traveled to India in 2016 where he met with alumni, parents and friends, including leaders in business, education and public policy. “Sumir Chadha and Sanjay Swani have worked tirelessly to help position Princeton as the premier center for the study of this tremendously influential nation,” the university president added. “They have the university’s deepest gratitude, as do all who have helped to make this center possible.”

Chadha earned a bachelor’s in computer science as an undergraduate and is the co-founder and managing director of WestBridge Capital Partners, a leading investment firm focused on India. He is also a member of the advisory council of the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies and of Eisgruber’s advisory council. He has served as the chairman of the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association and serves on the India Advisory Board of Harvard Business School, where he earned his M.B.A.

Swani, who earned an A.B. in molecular biology at Princeton, is the chair of the advisory council of PIIRS and a member of the Bridge Year committee. He has had a long career in private equity, most recently as a general partner at the firm of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe for 17 years. He also holds graduate degrees from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“India is a key to the world of tomorrow — precisely what we’re educating our students for,” said Stephen Kotkin, Princeton’s John P. Birkelund ’52 professor in history and international affairs and director of PIIRS.

“These far-seeing gifts will allow us to meet increasing demand for opportunities to learn about India, and deepen even more our collaborative relationships with Indian institutions and scholars,” Kotkin added. “I extend my deepest gratitude to the visionary alumni who have created the center, and have formidably enhanced our teaching and scholarship on and our networks in India.” The center will be led by a distinguished scholar to be announced at a later date.

Musings on Medicine, Myth, and History: India’s Legacy Paperback

February 24, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Health 0

Musings on Medicine, Myth, and History: India’s Legacy is a collection of fourteen short essays. It presents a holistic view of ancient medical history and Indian developments in ophthalmology, the authors’ medical specialty. Deep respect for their homeland is apparent, as is their concern for sighted and visually impaired patients at home in the United States or on service trips abroad. Readers may be surprised to learn that cataract surgery was first described and performed in India nearly three thousand years ago. Much of current practice in ophthalmology can be traced to medical pioneers in Ancient India. This book is sure to broaden your perspective of India’s contributions to modern health care. But also, in the process, you will become better acquainted with many other aspects of India, which was once the world’s leading economic “superpower.”

This book of twelve small essays by a highly recognized Ophthalmologist also known for his free services to underprivileged children with eye problems across the world gives a wonderful overview of the cultural heritage of India from ancient times with particular reference to Medicine.

If you are an M.D or some other Medical Professional, you will be especially thrilled that you discovered it. The Co-author Leela Raju. M.D is his own daughter.

Starting with a brief reference to the ancient Vedas and the Upanishads, the author begins with the publication of Susruta Samhita by an ancient surgeon known as Susruta who lived sometime during the period 800 to 600 BCE. Then comes the publication of Charaka Samhita by the ancient physician Charaka who is believed to have lived sometime during the period 300 BCE to 100 CE. We can relate to this part of India’s Legacy in Medicine in terms of modern Allopathy by remembering the contributions of the Surgeon William Halstead and the Physician William Osler both of whom made their contributions in the middle part of the 19th Century.

Then around 400 BCE, Sage Patanjali publishes his Yoga Sutras laying the foundations for a stage by stage of eight stages procedure for transcendence beyond our minds leading to our Soul’s union with God. Of these, today what we are emphasizing are only the Asana (Postures), Pranayama (Regulated Breathing Routine) and a little bit of meditation at the end. Still, the benefits of Yoga are as powerful as or even more powerful than Physical Therapy or Chiropractic manipulations.

Last but not the least is the evolution of Ayurveda with its foundations based on the discovery that a proper balance of three personality traits Vata, Pita and Kapha is essential for the proper functioning our bodies and minds. Imbalances among them came to be recognized as causes for disease and all treatments are based on correcting these imbalances. We can make sense in this concept in terms of Modern Medicine by equating it with the notion of Homeostasis when we try to restore vital parameters such as temperature, blood pressure, sugar levels etc. to normal values.

Once you browse through it for the first time, you won’t put the book down till you read it from page to page. Thereafter, you will treasure it as a valuable addition to your home library. That is because of the highly researched end notes and references to the author’s other publications that it contains.

This collection of fourteen essays by Vadrevu K. “VK” Raju presents information in a relaxed style that fosters reader enjoyment while imparting fascinating history, present-day facts, and supported opinions. Learning about India’s legacy and continued relevance in an increasingly connected world has expanded my knowledge and kindled increased awareness of important global issues. I found MUSINGS ON MEDICINE, MYTH, AND HISTORY: INDIA’S LEGACY very readable with important ideas presented succinctly.

Part I serves as an introduction to Hinduism and Ayurvedic principles. How refreshing to learn that a primary facet of Hinduism is one of respect and good will toward the beliefs of others.
Part II of this delightful book presents the astonishing tale of Susruta, sometimes called the Father of Surgery, who compiled the Susruta Samhita, an ancient medical text which among other things, gives practical techniques for various surgeries, particularly for disorders of the eye.
Part III informs of the 1890 accidental discovery of the Bower Manuscript, the oldest surviving manuscript on Ayurveda.

The last, and perhaps most inspiring section of this book (Part IV), is entitled: “The State of the Nation: India’s Medical History, Colonialism, and Independence.” This section deals with the subjugation of Indian physicians during the nineteenth century. Essay eleven examines medicine in modern India and increases understanding of how and why medical care in developing countries suffers. Astounding is the fact that three-fourths of the world’s blind children live in developing countries. Non-profit organizations and individuals from around the world are helping. One is the Eye Foundation of America established by Dr. V. K. Raju. The foundation’s goal is to eliminate avoidable blindness, particularly among children.

“It is an easy read that gives one a look at India’s history – past, present and future.
It’s is written by an internationally know ophthalmologist and explains that India’s medicine and science was far advanced of Western civilization. There is much wisdom and we can learn much from India’s culture ,” George Bohigian MD, wrote of the book.

Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel donate additional $25M to Nova Southeastern University

February 17, 2018 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Education 0

Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel, philanthropists of Indian origin, based in Florida, have donated an additional $25 million to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Nova Southeastern University. The donation comes months after the Patels committed to donate $200 million to NSU for the institution to build a new medical school. The commitment is the largest donation to an institution by an Indian American.

Kiran Patel said Nova Southeastern University has been receptive to his vision of a medical curriculum with a truly international focus. “Somebody has to believe in that, and that’s what I find very heartwarming and encouraging, that we both share a common vision,” Patel said in an interview this week. The Patels’ gift will go toward scholarships for needy students at NSU’s College of Allopathic Medicine, where students earn MDs.

A ceremony for the groundbreaking of the new medical center will be held in March. This latest gift from the Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel Family Foundation, announced Jan. 27, also brought Nova Southeastern within reach of its $250 million fundraising campaign.

Pallavi Patel said the reason she and her husband did this was to have medical students 10, 20 and 30 years from now feel like they belong somewhere, according to a WLRN.org report.

“We always wanted to help a lot of people who want to be medical professionals, and who are struggling or looking for a place where they have a happy and healthy environment to flourish their dream,” she said in the report.

Their previous commitment — a $150 million real estate investment and a $50 million gift — went toward NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and is funding the creation of a Tampa Bay Regional Campus in Clearwater, where the osteopathic program will expand. Now both M.D. and D.O. programs will be named for Kiran Patel. “I just felt that it will be appropriate for my partnership with Nova where all medical graduates come out of one college called the Patel college,” he said.

Patel, a former cardiologist who runs the Tampa-based managed health care company Freedom Health, made most of his fortune 15 years ago when he sold another HMO, WellCare Health Plans, for a reported $200 million. He and his wife turned to philanthropy, donating many millions to the University of South Florida, local hospitals and the arts.

Physician by profession, and a successful entrepreneur, Dr. Kiran Patel, said, he is also planning a medical college each in both India and Zambia. He wants to expose American students to the world and bring international students to the U.S. for their education, according to the report.

Between the colleges at NSU and those international plans, he said he envisions producing thousands of doctors who will send ripple effects of their care out into the world, the publication said. “The opportunity I have been given, be it at USF, be it at Nova or other places I’m creating … I just consider myself extremely fortunate and blessed to be able to do something for others,” he said in the report.

37th annual gala of The Society of Indo-American Engineers and Architects held

February 17, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation, Science & Technology 0

The Society of Indo-American Engineers and Architects (SIAEA) held its 37th Annual Gala on December 16th, 2017 at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan. Honorable K. Devadasan Nair, India’s Consul for Community Affairs, NYS Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte, Metro-North Railroad Acting President Catherine Rinaldi, NYC Small Business Services Commissioner Gregg Bishop, NYC EDC Executive Vice President Patrick Askew and NYS Director of Immigration Affairs & Special Counsel, Jennifer Rajkumar, were honored by SIAEA President, Shailesh Naik.

The evening began with the cocktail hour followed by a fun-filled evening, commenced by the singing of the American and Indian National Anthems by Shimul Sheth. A two minute silence was observed in honor of the late Past President Bansi Shah. The traditional lamp lighting ceremony was led by Meenakshi Varandani, Chitra Radin and Anita Asokan, followed by the unveiling of the Gala Souvenir by honored chief guests. Picking up on the New Year’s focus of resilient infrastructure, the Souvenir covered articles on the subject and endorsements from dignitaries and SIAEA sponsors. The souvenir featured letters from the Consul General of India, New York, Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, NY State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, CT State Governor Dannel Malloy, NY City Mayor Bill DeBlasio, US Senator Richard Blumenthal, NY City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer and NYS Senators Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Roxanne J. Persaud, who expressed their support and best wishes for SIAEA. The remainder of the evening included energetic Bollywood performances by Namrata Dance School, Achievement Awards and Scholarship Presentations to eleven deserving students, Dinner, Raffle and Dancing.

The Gala Chair Yatish Sharma and President Shailesh Naik welcomed everyone and shared the year’s accomplishments and highlights. President Naik then thanked the Executive Committee and Gala Co-chairs, Yatish Sharma and Avinash Chauhan, for bringing together a successful event, celebrating the achievements of professionals of Indian origin and reinforcing the importance of working collaboratively.

During the evening recognition plaques were presented to gala sponsors Judlau OHL Group, V.J. Associates, Boileroom, Signs and Decal, MP Engineers and Wire and Plastic. Beautifully sculptured Honoree Awards were presented to nine distinguished professionals of Indian origin: Bogram Setty, Mahendra Patel, Manish Chadha, Nimesh Shah, Raj Shah, Rakesh Narang, Ramesh Patel, Umesh K. Jois, and Vineet Jain. 2017 Scholarships were awarded to students of Indian origin pursuing degrees in engineering or architecture: Anish Jain, Apurva Sawant, Darshan Kataria, Ellisa Khoja, Gaurav Rana, Ishan Shah, Karan Patel, Madhuri Surve, Naiya Patel and Prem Gandhi. This year a new student scholarship was awarded to SaiAdiVishnu Sanigepalli, named after the late Mr. Bansi Shah, to honor all his accomplishments and community contributions.

In the past year SIAEA has hosted many networking events, participated in several industrial conferences which allowed for the exposure of member firms, and offered multiple technical seminars and training sessions on varying topics including “Codes and Controls”, “Pumps and Controls”, and “People, Our Planet and Water”. Some seminars offered Continuing Education Credits, and all were free for members. SIAEA continues to work with City and State officials on policies affecting engineers and architects of Indian origin.

Among the more than 500 attendees of the Gala were representatives from the public and private sector covering a spectrum of professions and trades that support the construction industry including engineers, architects, and construction managers, bonding agents, material suppliers, specialty vendors, insurance agents, chartered accountants, bankers and attorneys. It was hosted in an elegant space in the Grand Hyatt, Empire State Ballroom, creating a lively ambiance appropriate for the occasion. Keeping up with the Indian hospitality, guests were graciously served a variety of savory appetizers and delicacies from India. The mood was upbeat and the strong show of support demonstrated the vitality of the Indo-American community and its commitment to serve.

SIAEA provides a platform for professional development and collaboration for its members who comprise of professional engineers and architects of Indian Origin, including second and third generations who are born in the United States of America, collectively representing the public as well as private sectors in consulting and construction related services. Information on SIAEAs professional seminars and networking events is posted online at www.SIAEANY.org and members are kept updated via emails.

The Executive Committee meets monthly to coordinate activities for its members. Members are encouraged to actively participate and play an informed role within the organization. SIAEA encourages participation of youth and women professionals in the industry, and seeks diversified representation.

Top colleges like Yale are teaching students to prioritize happiness—not money and power

February 17, 2018 Ajay GhoshBusiness, Education, Finance/Economy 0

It takes a lot of hard work to get into places like Yale and Stanford. But once students make it to the Ivy League, many find that while they’re ready to tackle Shakespeare and comparative political systems, they’re lost when it comes to building emotionally rich, and balanced lives.

To that end, a growing number of top universities are offering courses that aim to put students on the happiness track. A week after Yale opened registration for its debut course “Psychology and the Good Life” this January, a quarter of the undergraduate population—more than 1,180 students—had signed up, making it the most popular course ever at the university. Meanwhile, one in six undergraduates at Stanford take a course that teaches students to apply design thinking to the “wicked problem” of creating fulfilling lives and careers. And at McGill University, in Montreal, Quebec, students have flocked to “Lessons of Community and Compassion,” a course on social connectedness and belonging—precisely the things they may have sacrificed to get into one of Canada’s top institutions.

“I think students are looking for meaning,” Peter Salovey, president of Yale, told Quartz at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Salovey, an early pioneer in research on emotional intelligence, says that while students today are more sophisticated and worldly than previous generations, they seem to be much less resilient. Their sense of vulnerability is driving them to search for purpose, in academic courses and beyond.

Laurie Santos, the psychology professor teaching the Yale class, says the message behind her course—helping students figure out what it means to live happier, more satisfying lives, and teaching them scientifically-tested strategies to achieve that goal—resonates with kids who are only now realizing the toll that academic rigor has taken on their sleep, mental health, and sense of social connectedness.

“Our intuitions about what to do to be happy are wrong.” “Our intuitions about what to do to be happy are wrong,” she says. We think we want to achieve high-powered positions or make a lot of money, even if that means sacrificing the things that make us balanced and sane—human connection, exercise, rest, and activities that allow us to recharge. “This is a great moment when we have rigorous research on positive psychology—what makes us happy, but also on behavioral change,” says Santos. Her course covers practical topicsranging from the psychological benefits of charitable giving to how to pick a meaningful career. And because science shows that grade-seeking can undermine happiness, she encourages the students to take the course pass-fail.

Mental health issues among young adults are on the rise at universities around the world. “I was really surprised at the levels of anxiety and depression students face,” Santos says. A 2013 report by the Yale College Council found that more than half of undergraduates sought mental health services during their time on campus. A 2009 survey of 80,121 students, conducted by the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment, showed that 39% of college students felt hopeless during the school year, and 25% felt so depressed they found it hard to function. Nearly half (47%) reported feeling overwhelming anxiety, and 84% said they felt generally overwhelmed by all they have to do.

Teaching students how to be happier isn’t just about helping them as individuals—it can also be about helping them be better citizens. In the course “Lessons of Community and Compassion: Overcoming Social Isolation and Building Social Connectedness through Policy and Program Development,” McGill University professor of practice Kim Samuel introduces students to some of the most socially isolated people on the planet—refugees and migrants, indigenous communities, families struggling with food insecurity; the displaced, disabled, and disconnected. One of the goals of her course, she says, is to teach students what it feels like to have a sense of safety and community in their own lives, so that they can help build connectedness in more disadvantaged populations. “All students have experienced some degree of social isolation in their lives,” she says, “and that recognition is the royal road to reciprocity.”

“We’re adding the ‘life’ component explicitly back to the college experience.” Many of her students say it’s a life-altering experience. Jeremy Monk, who took Samuel’s course and is now a graduate student at Columbia University, says, “I think a lot of us down the road, when we look back on where we started … this is going to be the place that we started, and where our ideas started to blossom, and where we really were given the chance to feel like we can make a difference and we are the leaders of change.”

Stanford’s “Designing Your Life” course, meanwhile, is taught by Bill Burnett, head of Stanford’s design program, and Dave Evans, who led the design of Apple’s first mouse and co-founded the gaming company Electronic Arts before becoming a lecturer in the design program.

Evans says everyone is trying to answer the question posed by poet Mary Oliver: “What is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?” “None of us got the manual explaining how to figure out the answer,” he adds. Soon-to-be graduates are facing that question with immediacy, and under pressure. “They’ve been wonderfully trained to get into and attend schools for 22 years—but not how to live in the world and to determine what “a life” means to them,” Evans says. He notes that being good at school is not the same thing as being good at life.

The Stanford courses have been such a success that the university’s Life Design Lab, co-founded by Evans and Burnett, now helps other colleges and universities to develop their own versions of the program. Evans says similar courses are now being taught at Northwestern, University of Vermont, Dartmouth, University of Michigan and MIT. “We’re adding the ‘life’ component explicitly back to the college experience,” Evans says. “It’s attractive because the need is great, the priority is high, and there’s little offered to help.”

The pursuit of happiness is, of course, hardly a new development. “Plato was talking about this,” Santo says. Scores of people have bought best-selling books on achieving happiness, from Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project to Dan Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness. And as the New York Times notes, courses on positive psychology are a popular draw for college students; 900 students enrolled in a Harvard lecture titled Positive Psychology in 2006.

What’s new is the growing body of scientific research on what actually makes people happy—and a sense from universities that today’s undergraduates are particularly in need of guidance.

Parents hold some responsibility for students’ lack of resilience, says Salovey. Parents’ laser-sharp, lifelong focus on getting their kids into top universities means that students are terrified of messing up. “It’s a kind of parenting that’s focused on college admissions and mitigating risks. We have to help students develop their own voice, to pick themselves up after failure.”

“We have to help students develop their own voice, to pick themselves up after failure.” There’s another advantage to offering classes on happiness: They underscore that mental health and emotional balance aren’t things that young people can afford to keep putting off. According to Sonja Lyuboirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside and author of the The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want, 40% of our happiness is conscious, intentional, and under our control. “It takes the work you have to put in to be a great violinist, it takes work every day,” Santos says. Happiness is never a lost cause, but the science does suggests that becoming a happy person is not a quick fix. Taking a college course on the subject may be the best short cut there is.

Santos will only teach one semester of the Yale course. But a five-part seminar-style series, “The Science of Well-Being,” will be available in March, for free, on the online education site Coursera.

So far, Santos has taught five sessions of “Psychology and the Good Life.” She says the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. “They are taking these ideas to heart in a way I did not expect,” she says. Alumni are already writing her to request a copy of the syllabus, as are kindergarten teachers and PTA heads. It’s not just young people who need help with happiness, she notes: “This is a human problem.”

Twinkle Khanna meets Malala for Pad Man promotion at Oxford University

February 1, 2018 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Indian actor Twinkle Khanna met Malala Yousafzai at Oxford University while promoting her husband Akshay Kumar’s upcoming movie ‘Pad Man’. The two ladies posed with other students and faculty members of the prestigious university while holding sanitary pads. (Above pic)

During media interactions, the Pakistani women’s activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner praised the movie theme which revolves around menstrual awareness and women hygiene. Malala said that Pad Man has an inspiring message. She said, “I’m really excited to see the film Pad Man… because the message behind the film is truly inspiring.”

Twinkle also spoke to the Oxford students in her speech. She complained that Indian school girls in villages have to sit with a rag cloth or a rolled-up sock or even wadded up newspaper between their legs. “Pads are still seen as a luxury item. It is odd that pads are taxed at 12 percent in India but brooms are tax free,” she resented.

Pad Man is Twinkle’s maiden production. It stars Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte. Pad Man will now release on February 9, 2018. Pad Man is a fictionalized account of Padmashri Arunachalam Muruganatham, the man who revolutionized the manufacture of the low cost sanitary napkin in India. Lakshmi is a newly married, humble welder from a rural village in the heart of India. Lakshmi’s incredible journey starts when he is shocked to discover that his wife uses an unhygienic cloth during her periods. Unable to afford a branded pad, he decides to make a sanitary pad himself. After several attempts, his irate wife refuses to be a part of his experiments. Lakshmi’s love and concern for his wife, his determination to make the pad, leads him into situations that cause so much shock and embarrassment that it compels his wife to leave him and his village to banish him.

Lakshmi doesn’t give up. His simplicity of thought, his resilience, his focus and his complete disregard for convention finally leads him to his destiny. A machine that can make a pad! The revolution that follows…from spreading menstrual hygiene, to empowering women, to starting mini cooperatives, to a vision of making India a 100% Pad using country, to accolades, to international glory and to a final resolution of his personal life, makes the rest of the feature “PAD MAN”. His journey to make India a 100% pad using country goes on…even today.

Pad Man aims to raise the curtain on all myths, taboos and beliefs around periods and menstrual hygiene, which have held women and girls back from empowerment for centuries. The curtain raiser gives us some of the exciting insights into what Pad Man has in store for us. It opens with an awestruck Sonam Kapoor trying to come to terms with the fact that how can a man be so obsessed with ‘chumming,’ as menstruation is commonly called. We are then taken to a festive scene in Akshay Kumar’s village where a celebration takes place in honor of a young girl getting her first period.

The video also gives us a glimpse of Akshay Kumar’s character Lakshmikanth at the United Nations who draws a comparison between pads used to protect the legs of cricketers and sanitary pads used by women, strongly making a point that there is a need for menstrual hygiene. Sharing the video on social media Akshay Kumar said, “#PadManCurtainRaiser from all the myths, taboos and beliefs. Here’s to unveiling the future with innovations together!”

Dubbed ‘Superhero hai yeh Pagla’, Pad Man is the world’s first feature film on menstrual hygiene inspired by the story of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential entrants Arunachalam Muruganantham, a rural welder from India with a unique, eccentrically mad edge who turned incredible inventor by providing women with access to high-quality and affordable sanitary pads 20 years ago.

Produced by Mrs Funnybones Movies, SPE FIlms India, Kriarj Entertainment, Cape of Good Films and Hope Productions, Pad Man is written and directed by ad-man turned film-man R Balki (Paa). It is billed as the most progressive family entertainer yet, starring international megastar Akshay Kumar (Toilet: Ek Prem Katha) who assumes the titular role of Arunachalam Muruganantham to once again showcase his commitment to social entertainers. He is joined by critically acclaimed actresses Sonam Kapoor (Neerja) and Radhika Apte (Kabali). One for the mad ones, the ones who are crazy enough to change the world, Pad Man is the one-of-a-kind feature film, tackling the taboo and stigmas attached to menstrual hygiene through the art of entertainment.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/seqok8s9jimby54/AACo_R5n_QfinOvN-Xcjiu8Ha?dl=0

Tamil professorship at Stony Brook University

December 21, 2017 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Prof. Bala and Prabha Swaminathan have created a Tamil professorship at Stony Brook University in honor of Bala’s parents, called the Anandavalli and Dr. G. Swaminathan Endowed Research Professorship. “Tamil language is more than something to speak. It harbors a culture’s history and traditions, and perpetuates identity and pride. Ultimately, when its wisdom is shared, Tamil language creates better cross-cultural understanding and cooperation,” said Bala.

The University also has a very successful India Studies Center, which recently celebrated its 20th year. The couple has established the Tamil professorship in the College of Arts and Sciences to leverage interdisciplinary, scholarly research collaborations with linguistics, anthropologists, musicians and sociologists.

“I have a very high regard for Stony Brook’s research capabilities. I expect the professor in Tamil will be an active contributor on campus, publishing many papers, offering Tamil language classes and creating the new knowledge that will perpetuate and celebrate the language that still has so much to teach us,” Bala added.

Bala said that one of Tamil’s oldest texts, the Kural, inspired him as his father “lived by” the text while he was growing up in the South Indian town of Madurai. The Kural is written by the 4th century BCE poet and philosopher Valluvar and is one of the highly acclaimed texts of secular ethics as well as the most widely translated works in the world.

“Whatever we earn is to provide for others who do not have the same opportunities,” Bala recalls his father saying to him as he used to follow the Kural to help him be generous before becoming a well-known doctor.

Bala founded the New York Tamil Academy for school children and he and Prabha have two sons, Isai Maran and Kavin Mathi. Bala and Prabha’s decided to create the professorship in Tamil at Stony Brook University to help sustain the language and culture that have served them so well.

“Offering an endowed faculty appointment, such as the Anandavalli and Dr. G. Swaminathan Endowed Research Professorship in Tamil, helps us attract the most talented teachers and researchers,” said Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr.

“We are grateful to Bala and Prabha for their incredible leadership in keeping Tamil and the ideas of the Kural alive for future generations,” he added.

Stony Brook University in New York Dec. 11 announced that Bala and Prabha Swaminathan have established a new endowed professorship which will offer Tamil language studies at the university’s College of Arts and Sciences.

The Tamil language is nearly as old as Hebrew, and stands next to Chinese as the most enduring classical language still spoken today, according to a university news release. Despite the language standing the test of time, only a handful of colleges and universities offer Tamil as a language study, it said.

In a quest to change that, the Swaminathans created the Anandavalli and Dr. G. Swaminathan Endowed Research Professorship in Tamil at Stony Brook University in honor of Bala’s mother and father.

“Tamil language is more than something to speak,” said Bala Swaminathan in a statement. “It harbors a culture’s history and traditions, and perpetuates identity and pride. Ultimately, when its wisdom is shared, Tamil language creates better cross-cultural understanding and cooperation.”

While the university is also home to a thriving India Studies Center, the Swaminathans deliberately established the Tamil professorship in the college of arts and sciences to leverage interdisciplinary, scholarly research collaborations with linguistics, anthropologists, musicians and sociologists, according to the university.

“I have a very high regard for Stony Brook’s research capabilities,” Swaminathan added. “I expect the professor in Tamil will be an active contributor on campus, publishing many papers, offering Tamil language classes and creating the new knowledge that will perpetuate and celebrate the language that still has so much to teach us.”

It was the wisdom of one of Tamil’s oldest texts, the Kural, that first captivated Swaminathan as he grew up in the southern Indian town of Madurai, Stony Brook said. His father “lived by” the Kural. Written by the 4th century BCE poet and philosopher Valluvar, the Kural is one of the most venerated texts of secular ethics and most widely translated works in the world. Coincidentally, Valluvar was also born in Madurai, preceding Swaminathan by more than 2,000 years, it said.

Before Swaminathan’s father became a prominent doctor, he had little to give to others. Still, his father followed the Kural precept to be charitable, once explaining to his son, “Whatever we earn is to provide for others who do not have the same opportunities,” the university noted.

While creating a successful career in the U.S. and founding the New York Tamil Academy for school children, Swaminathan says he’s most proud of the life of purpose and meaning he shares with Prabha and their two sons, Isai Maran and Kavin Mathi, according to the news release.

The Indian American couple hopes the professorship will help sustain the language and culture that have served them so well. “Offering endowed faculty appointments, such as the Anandavalli and Dr. G. Swaminathan Endowed Research Professorship in Tamil, helps us attract the most talented teachers and researchers,” said Stony Brook University president Samuel L. Stanley Jr. in a statement. “We are grateful to Bala and Prabha for their incredible leadership in keeping Tamil and the ideas of the Kural alive for future generations.”

NRI student from Stanford to Present Scientific Work at Nobel Ceremony

December 21, 2017 Staff ReporterEducation, Entertainment 0

Stanford freshman Prathik Naidu is one of three U.S. student representatives who are traveling to Stockholm to present their original research at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony this Sunday. Naidu earned this honor through his award-winning entry in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2017.

Stanford freshman Prathik Naidu will present his scientific work at the Nobel ceremony in Stockholm. (Image credit: Courtesy Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology)

Naidu’s research involves machine learning algorithms to identify three-dimensional interactions between segments of DNA in cancer cells – a process that Naidu said is challenging through lab-based methods.

“Rather than using experimental techniques, you can do this kind of research on the computer,” Naidu said, pointing out that while expensive, slow and sometimes unreliable lab tests exist, his program, called DNAloopR, can be run quickly from his laptop.

While genes are encoded along a linear strand of DNA, some segments interact in three dimensions, changing the way those genes turn on and off. In cancer cells, that 3-D structure can be altered, leading to unregulated growth and other effects. Researchers haven’t been able to easily and quickly understand the process or identify DNA segments that might be responsible.

Naidu has been working on this project for over a year and a half, through his senior year of high school and now into his freshman year at Stanford. He cites high school biology and biotechnology classes for sparking his interest in cancer genetics and the Broad Institute for helping him test his ideas on large sets of data, but said that he spent much of his time working independently to perfect his algorithm.

He entered his algorithm in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles last May. “I wanted to answer a cool question and support it with data,” he said, “and I think that my entire process over the last couple of years has been about that.” He thinks that his commitment to tangible results attracted the attention of the judges.

“I think they were also pretty excited about how this was a problem that was very different from conventional health care problems. I’m trying to understand it from a very fundamental level,” Naidu said.

When his project was selected as best in category in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Naidu was also chosen to represent the United States in Stockholm this week, where he will give a formal presentation.

“Did you know there’s something fancier than a tuxedo?” he asked. On his last night in Stockholm this Sunday, he’ll be present in white tie and tails for the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony itself.

Naidu will then return to Stanford and his classes. He said that his favorite so far has been his computer vision class, which is directly in line with his ambition of pursuing the intersection between advanced technology and health care.

“I’ll be back just in time for finals.”

IIT-Bombay: 20% hike in overseas job offers

December 13, 2017 Staff ReporterEducation 0

The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, which witnessed a good placement season, also saw a 20 per cent hike in international offers this year compared to last year. In the first three days of placement, 47 offers were made to students for international postings. Including the pre-placement offers, 60 students have offers from offshore companies, which is 20 per cent higher than last year. For the same period last year, 50 students had offers for international positions.

The placement team claimed that the number of offers for US-based positions has increased. Last year, owing to uncertainty over visa laws in the US, fewer offers were rolled out. This year, however, US-based companies returned to the campus and made offers, but with caveats. In case the visa laws do not turn in favour of the students, parallel offers have been made for domestic positions. This year, the number of Japanese firms has also increased, said sources in the placement team. Japanese manufacturing company Murata, IT giant Yahoo Japan, and IT company NEC Japan were some of the recruiters that made the highest number of offers and offered high packages. At least 15 Japanese firms are expected to participate in campus placements at IIT-B. Last year, too, a Japanese firm – Works app – had made the highest offer of 60 lakh Japanese Yen (JPY) per annum, a repeat of the year before.

Indian American STEM Academy to launch in India

December 13, 2017 Staff ReporterEducation, Science & Technology 0

An Indian American STEM Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, will be opening a “Center of Excellence” in Delhi in January that will introduce the STEM program to middle and secondary school students along with training and certifying teachers.

According to a PTI report, the STEM program, which educates students in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, will be launched in selected schools across India from January 1 and will be available for students enrolled in grades four through 10.

“The Academy’s mission is to ignite the innovative trait in young Indian students and create a new generation of youngsters who will think out of the box,” Amitabh Sharma, a co-founder of the Academy, told PTI.

Sharma added that the initiative goes along with former U.S. president Barack Obama’s drive to ‘Educate to Innovate’ as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visions of ‘Make in India,’ ‘Digital India’ and ‘New India.’

The program is targeted to students enrolled in schools affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE), State School Boards and International Baccalaureate.

“It is an interdisciplinary way of teaching math and science, integrated with day-to-day engineering and technology,” Sharma added.

Sharma has an MBA, a law degree and a doctorate in marketing and has had experience in the oil and gas, information technology and education fields.

Being the founder of the American India Foundation’s Atlanta Leadership Council, Sharma told PTI that “STEM based learning in India has been limited due to apparent lack of structure and the STEM Academy of USA has developed a unique implementation strategy for India.”

“The world has acknowledged the strength and significance of practical project based learning. Perhaps it is time to move away from traditional rote learning to out-of-the-box creativity oriented learning that nurtures well rounded leaders. Indian youngsters then will well be on the path to becoming capable world citizens and catapulting India to its inventive best,” Sharma added. MPower Global STEM Education will be outreaching and implementing the program to the Indian schools.

Challenges Facing Academia — Restoring Understanding and Harmony

November 30, 2017 Staff ReporterEducation 0

Dr. Ravi P Bhatia – TRANSCEND Media Service

20 Nov 2017 – After schooling, students have to decide what stream or subjects they should pursue in higher education. There are broadly four streams of studies for College students in many countries including India: Liberal Arts comprising Languages—English, Hindi and world languages such as German, French, Russian etc., Philosophy, Psychology etc.

Mathematics and Science subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology etc. Commerce and Economics comprising these subjects in addition to Business Economics or Management. Social sciences consisting of Political Science, History, Sociology, Geography

The classification is not fixed – there may be variation in some of these areas but generally science and Mathematics also comprise engineering subjects, Statistics, Computer Science; related fields in Biology include bio-physics and environmental biology among others.

Again, Mathematics is generally excluded for students of liberal arts as also from social science subjects. The rationale is that first these subjects do not really require its knowledge except a very perfunctory one and secondly if students started devoting time to study of Mathematics, they would not be able to devote concentrated time to the main subjects of their study. Some people also argue that study of these liberal arts subjects require skills that are not compatible with Mathematics skills and the reverse is also true.

These arguments or rationale have some validity but as educational knowledge and academic competencies spread, one has to come out of the box thinking and make appropriate changes.

Take the example of economics – while its knowledge requires that students study formal courses in micro, macroeconomics, international trade relations and so on, the contemporary situation is that everybody is affected by the economic policies of the government — issues of wages or salary, price rise (inflation), taxes and interest rates and so on. In other words, willingly or otherwise, we must have a basic knowledge of the subject so that we may be able to adjust to the prevailing economic situation and live comfortably in our wages or salary or earnings failing which we could go into debt or be unable to meet our basic requirements. Of course, this basic knowledge also demands a minimal idea of mathematics in order to understand the concept of savings or of inflation, and so on.

Thus, basic knowledge of mathematics – beyond counting and percentages is also required by College or University students in order to better appreciate the situation that we see around us. To take another example, in today’s world, elections are a regular feature of our lives. We would like to know what various parties are promising in their manifestos and how their vote share is increasing or decreasing in the elections. Many graphical and quantitative techniques – pie charts, bar diagrams and similar devices are being increasingly used by commentators in newspapers or television programs to inform the public about the chances of victory of any political party or of the various candidates in the elections – local, state or national that occur frequently. Again a general idea of quantitative techniques and a broad understanding of numbers and percentages and graphics helps to understand the electoral scene better.

On a lighter side, a senior professor of Political Science whom I know, always gets confused between the numbers million or billion and the corresponding numbers used in India – lakh (one hundred thousand) one crore (ten million) etc. When one explains the relationship between these numbers he begins to understand but after a few days is again confused about the relationship. To continue in the lighter vein, familiarity with numbers and basic mathematics also helps in the solution of the Sudoku puzzles.

Similarly, other subjects – sociology or even history are increasingly utilizing quantitative techniques for explaining the situation at hand. For example, the outstanding French sociologist Emile Durkheim took the help of tables and charts to explain the problems of suicides being committed by people belonging to different religions and different regions – urban or rural in Europe. Texts apart, these charts and figures have helped students as well as lay persons to understand the concepts related to suicides that Emile was trying to discuss and explain. Again, the subject of geography, especially agricultural, also has to take recourse to simple mathematical concepts for better understanding of the issues involved.

Environmental pollution that includes pollution of air, rivers or seas and soil has become a very serious issue that is resulting in global warming, climate change as well as in adverse effects on the health of people especially children. In many countries of Asia especially India and China, the air quality today is extremely poor leading to aggravating asthma and lung problems as well as in advancing the risk of cancer and other diseases. Many species of plants birds or animals are also facing extinction as a result of these factors. Social media informs us that this (pollution) is due to excess CO — Carbon Monoxide in the air and particulate matter of certain thickness (PM 2.5 or PM 10). Understanding these statements – about gases or numbers in mm or microns again necessitates a certain amount of knowledge of Chemistry and mathematics respectively.

Simple ideas of Science and Technology (S and T) have also penetrated our lives although these subjects are abstract and technical. We are flooded with technical devices in our lives – home appliances, cars or bikes or smart phones based on advanced technologies resulting in our unconsciously acquiring some ideas of these subjects. Then there is the question of atomic energy and atomic bombs that are talked of in our newspapers and social media. Any person who is mildly curious tries to understand why atomic bombs are dangerous – acquiring in the process an idea of minerals such as uranium and plutonium and radioactivity. Pakistan, India and China in Asia all have atomic or nuclear bombs that this makes the region particularly dangerous and unstable politically. Whether we are students of science or of politics, the issue of nuclear weapons and how to curb their proliferation have become crucial.

Thus a clear cut demarcation of various subjects and the topics to be studied is no longer desirable or possible in today’s educational scene. An idea of mathematics, simple economics, science or S and T etc. helps us to better face the challenges we encounter in everyday life.

The foregoing situation is interesting as well as poses academic challenges as to how to modify or adjust the curricula and syllabi of different subjects in order to give a more grounded and balanced idea of the changes in local situations in diverse fields occurring in the contemporary world. These challenges are new but similar problems have occurred earlier also that scholars and academics have successfully overcome. An idea of our earlier efforts at adapting our academic curricula to the changing social scenario will help us to meet the new challenges we are facing academically. This may require a study of mathematics or science for liberal arts students or basic economics or S and T for students of other disciplines in order to promote better understanding and harmony and more fruitful lives.

A vital pre-requisite in all companies and educational institutions is proof of English language proficiency. Therefore, all aspirants should take a language test to learn the right kind of skills, says Vikas Singh, Managing Director, Pearson India.

TheUNN Corporation

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