“India is going through challenging times and what is more important to the nation is to keep our Institutions intact,” said Sachin Pilot, the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan addressing a gathering of Overseas Congress leaders in Boston. He was in the U.S. to attend the India Conference at Harvard University. “India is at a turning point in history and what is happening to RBI, CBI, Bureaucracy, Judiciary and enforcement directorate and every other institution we hold dear is that they are being systematically dismantled by the Modi Government and it should not be tolerated any longer.
There is tremendous fear in India that there are investigations and snooping going on and the issues like Mandir, Masjid and Love jihad, what one wears, what one eats are all brought up to divide the people and polarize the community. Look at what is happening in Calcutta, the CBI is investigating CBI, and the Enforcement Directorate is investigating the Enforcement Directorate creating doubts and uncertainty among those working for the country. This level of arrogance cannot be allowed to continue. Congress is fighting not to take back power but to preserve the values and principles we hold dear” Mr. Pilot continued. He urged the members of the Indian Overseas Congress to get involved and make a difference in the upcoming election.
Harbachan Singh, Secretary-General of IOC welcomed the Chief Guest. Mr. Mohinder Singh Gilzian, President, detailed the election efforts carried out by its members in the past and offered to continue the same level of support for the upcoming elections. George Abraham, Vice-Chairman, John Joseph, Vice-President, Amir Rashid General-Secretary, Jose George, Treasurer, Pallav Shah, Kulvir Singh, Amit Dixit also spoke. Rajinder Dichpally, General Secretary expressed the vote of Thanks.
Sachin Pilot is the son of Late Sh. Rajesh Pilot. Sh. Pilot was born on September 7, 1977. He is an alumnus of St. Stephen’s College (University of Delhi), where he pursued a Bachelors degree (Hons) in English Literature. After graduating, he worked at the Delhi Bureau of the BBC, and subsequently went on to work for the General Motors Corporation. Sh. Pilot completed his MBA Degree at the Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A), where he specialized in multinational management and finance.
At 26 years of age, he was the youngest MP when he first got elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from the Dausa Parliamentary Constituency of Rajasthan in the year 2004. He has served as a Member of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs, Consultative Committee in the Ministry of Civil Aviation and also Budget Estimates Committee of Parliament.
In May 09, he was re-elected to Lok Sabha from Ajmer Parliamentary Constituency of Rajasthan and he became Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Communication & Information Technology and in 2012 he became Minister of State (Independent charge) of Ministry of Corporate Affairs. During this time, he was the youngest minister in the cabinet. Presently he is serving as President, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee.
As an elected MP and a Minister of the cabinet, Sh. Pilot focused his energies on enabling people to avail better social and economic opportunities. He has emphasized job creation, and improvement in the quality and quantity of health and education services. Realizing the importance of connectivity and information, he has worked hard to bring rural communities closer to the rest of India and the world, by expanding the physical, IT, and telecom infrastructure in their region.
Sh. Pilot travels extensively in India, especially to remote and interior areas of the country. He takes a keen interest on issues that affect the farming community and the youth. Sh. Pilot believes that India must train and educate its youth if we want to real the demographic dividend arising from a disproportionately younger population. He encourages the youth to take an active part in public life, and shoulder greater social and political responsibility.
In recognition of his professional accomplishments and commitment to society, Sh. Pilot was selected as one of the Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum in 2008. Sh. Pilot is fond of flying and received his private pilot’s license (PPL) from NY, USA in 1995. He is a keen sportsman and has represented Delhi State in a number of National Shooting Championships. He has also been commissioned as Lieutenant in the Territorial Army.
(Chicago, IL. February 12, 2019) “Among the many other initiatives, a major theme and focus of the 13th annual Global Healthcare Summit to be held from July 21st -24th 2019, Hyderabad, India, organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) in collaboration with Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO), will be the much needed CPR Training,” declared Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect and Chairman of the GHS 2019.
Dr. Reddy will assume charge as the new president during AAPI’s annual convention in Atlanta over the July 4th weekend. He says that the GHS 2019 will focus on preventive health, targeting rural health, women’s health, and provide special CPR training, that will equip First Responders to help save lives.
“It is the passion, willingness and staunch loyalty towards the former motherland that draws several AAPI members to join this effort & by working with experts in India, AAPI is able to bring solutions that are India centric & takes us closer to our lofty vision of making quality healthcare affordable & accessible to all people of India,” says Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI.
With more than 1.2 billion people, India is estimated to account for 60 per cent of patients with heart diseases. According to the World Health Organization, heart related disorders kills almost 20 million people annually, and they are exceptionally prevalent in the sub-Indian continent. Half of all heart attacks in this population occur under the age of 50 years and 25 percent under the age of 40. It is estimated that India is estimated to have over 1.6 million strokes per year, resulting in disabilities on one third of them. Although there is some level of awareness regarding smoking, dietary habits and diabetes, somehow there is no massive intervention on a national level either by the government or by the physicians.
While coronary artery disease (CAD) tends to occur earlier in life and in a higher percentage of the population in Asian Indians than in other ethnic groups, it has been found that American Southeast Asian Indians typically develop a heart attack 10 years earlier than other populations. Studies also have found that heart disease among Indians is more severe, diffuse, and more likely to be multi-vessel compared to whites despite their younger age, smoking less, and lower rates of hypertension.
India has one of the highest accident rates leading to trauma and head injury. AAPI, in collaboration with leading healthcare institutions in India and the Indian Ministry of Health has embarked on a long-term project to create awareness on the need to prevent, treat, and provide special care and rehab services to those involved in accidents.
“In this context, AAPI’s initiative to educate and prevent deaths by accidents and chronic heart problems is very significant,” says Dr. Sanku Rao Chief Advisor of the GHS 2019. To be presented by leading global healthcare leaders and professionals, the day-long Advanced Resuscitation (Post-Cardiac Arrest) Workshop in collaboration with The Chicago Medical Society will be held at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India on July 22, 2019, Dr. Rao adds.
Dr. Dwarkanatha Reddy, Convener of says, “AAPI has been in the forefront in addressing the accidental deaths, by collaborating with the American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine, and the American Heart Association, with workshop/training (EMTC) trainings to hundreds of first responders, including police, para-medical professional at every GHS in recent years.”
The trainings are aimed at decreasing the number of deaths, especially from road accidents by enabling the first responders to provide life support to victims of accidents. The training, which includes CPI and other medical services are being provided by professional trainers from the US and is being offered to personnel from Police, Traffic Police, and other healthcare professionals from the state.
Dr. Vemuri S. Murthy, MD, MS, FAHA, FICS, Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA, and a team including, Dr. Radhika Chimata, Dr. Srinivas Ramaka, Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, and Dr. K. Manohar will be the lead speakers.
Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, MD, is a Faculty Co-Chair, Pediatric Anesthesiologist, is based in San Antonio, Texas. She currently serves as the Secretary, AAPI & Member, AAPI Global CPR Ad-Hoc Committee. Dr. Ashima Sharma, MD, DA, is the Coordinator at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, and serves as the Head, Department of Emergency Medicine, Nizam’sInstitute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Dr. Murthy says, “The AAPI Resuscitation Workshop 2019 is designed, incorporating the basic and advanced Resuscitation Science (Post-Cardiac Arrest) information including global 2018 updates. The workshop focuses on Indian resuscitation projects to enhance outcomes after sudden cardiac arrests.”
According to Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, the workshop will be an effective way “To share information about recent global advances in Adult and Pediatric Resuscitation; and, to share information about the role of simulation technology in resuscitation training (includes a simulation session).”
The workshop is eligible for AMA PRA Cat. 1 CME Credit for 4.5 Hours (for US Physician Registrants): To be approved by the Chicago Medical Society, Chicago, Illinois, USA. All program registrants will receive Resuscitation Workshop Attendance Certificates from AAPI. Registration is open on a first-come first-served basis. No admittance to the workshop without registration. No on-site registration.
In addition to Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, there will be day long concurrent CPR Trainings at the Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan and Indian Police Academy from 8 am to 1 pm on July 22nd.
Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Vice President of AAPI, says, “The growing clout of the physicians of Indian origin in the United States is seen everywhere as several physicians of Indian origin hold critical positions in the healthcare, academic, research and administrative positions across the nation. Indian doctors have carved a comfortable niche in the American medical community and have earned a name for themselves with their hard work, dedication, compassion, and amazing skills and talents.”
Representing the voice of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, AAPI, the largest ethnic organization of physicians, has been strategically engaged in working with the Union and State Governments of India for the past ten years and has collaborated with more than 35 professional medical associations, pharmaceutical and medical device companies to address the health care challenges of a rapidly developing India.
“With the changing trends and statistics in healthcare, both in India and US, we are refocusing our mission and vision, AAPI would like to make a positive meaningful impact on the healthcare delivery system both in the US and in India,” Dr. Suresh Reddy said. For more information on Global Health Summit 2019, please visit www.aapiusa.org
United States Intelligence has warned that India might see communal violence ahead of the 2019 parliamentary election if the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stresses on “Hindu nationalist themes.”
In a recently released report, 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment Of The U.S. Intelligence Community, Daniel R. Coats, Director of National Intelligence, has said that Hindu nationalist state leaders might “incite low-level violence” to garner votes.
“BJP policies during Modi’s first term have deepened communal tensions in some BJP-governed states, and Hindu nationalist state leaders might view a Hindu-nationalist campaign as a signal to incite low-level violence to animate their supporters,” the report said.…
On Friday, January 25th, the Town of Hempstead Town Hall was busy and bustling with vibrant Indian Tricolors. Outside the town Hall on the pole was Our Tiranga Jhanda ready to be raised. The occasion was 16th India Republic Day Celebrations organized by Hempstead Town Supervisor Honorable Laura Gillen and Board members of Indian American Forum, India Association of long Island and IDPUSA Team…
Laura Gillen, Hempstead Town Clerk Silvia Cabana, Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney, Councilman Mr Dennis Dunn, Councilman Bruce A Blakeman, Edward A Ambrosino, New York State Senators Kevin Thomas and Anna Kaplan, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, Indu Jaiswal Chairperson of Indian American Forum, Lalit Aery President India Association of Long island, Jasbir Jay Singh, president IDPUSA, and several community leaders joined in raising the Flag outside the town Hall followed with Indian national anthem. Ms. Silvia Caban, Hempstead town clerk hosted special breakfast in her office
On January 30, The Board of trustees and, members of Indian American Forum, India Association of Long Island and IDPUSA, organized Sixteenth India Republic Day Celebration at The Historical Old Village Hall, in Hempstead Town Hall. Honorable Supervisor Laura Gillen hosted the Republic Day Celebrations. The town Hall was decorated with Tricolors from Indian flag and patriotic songs were being played all over. Supervisor Gillen was joined with Town Clerk Sivia Cabana and New York State Senator Kevin Thomas, and several elected officers, judges and dignitaries were present and enjoyed this unique evening of celebrations. Supervisor Gillen welcomed everyone and praised the efforts of Indian Americans Community in USA.
New York State Senator Kevin Thomas presented Citations from the New York State to Honorees and Keynote speaker. Indu Jaiswal, Chairperson of IAF, welcomed everyone and acknowledged the presence of all community leaders and support of President IALI Lalit Aery and President Jasbir Singh IDPUSA. And various organizations present and participated in the program.
India Republic Day Awards were presented to: DALIP MALIK, CPA. Mr Malik is well renowned CPA in Tri State are He is also very active in many religious organizations. One of the religious charitable organizations has nine temples in six states with very large following.
Jaspreet S Mayall, partner in the Telecommunications Group at at CertillanBallinAdlerand Hyman, counsels cellular phone companies, master wholesalers and retailers. He is an active member of Nassau County Bar Association and on the Board of America Heart Association, charged with helping the organization build awareness in the South Asian Community.
Dr Raj K Narayan MD, FACS is the Chief of Neurosurgery at North Shore University Hospital and Long island Jewish medical Center and Director of the Northwell Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery. Dr Narayan is also the professor and chairman of Neurosurgery at the Zucker School of medicine at Hofstra Northwell in Hempstead. Dr Narayan discussed importance of celebration of India Republic Day.
Program started with pledge of Allegiance by Tara Choudhry. Indian and American national Anthems by Anjana Moolaaylil . Opening prayers were done by Pandit Amol Misra, priest from Vedic Heritage, Long Island.
Lighting of the lamps coordinated by Past Chairman IAF, Dr Parveen Chopra, Roopam Maini, Saroj Aery and Beena Kothari. Patriotic songs sung by Vijay Banjara, Jyoti Gupta, Indu Gajwani, Sonia Anand and Anju Sharma. And Friends. Cultural program introduced by Sunita Manjrekar and Indu Gajwani. Folk dances and other performances we presented by Students of Shilpa Jhurani, from Arya Dance Academy and Nartan Rang Dance Academy of BVB.
End of the ceremony prayers done by priest Venkamma Ghantasala from Sai Temple Baldwin. Bina Sabapathy and Roopam Maini thanked all the sponsors Meena Chopra from Akbar Restaurant, , Media, Roopam Maini, Rizwan Qureshi, Vijay Goswamy,, Jyoti Gupta, Shilpa Jhurani, Swati Vaishnav, Shilpa Mithaiwala, Saroj Aery, Gobind Gupta, Shashi Malik and all volunteers and supporters
The 15th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2019, a gathering of expatriate Indians, came to a close here in the holy city of Varanasi with the call by Prime Minster Narendra Modi to join hands to build a new India. The theme for PBD 2019 was “Role of Indian Diaspora in building New India”
Noting that love for the soil has “pulled you all to PBD conclave”, Modi called upon “the ambassadors of India” living abroad to motivate at least five families around them to come to India. “Your efforts will play an important role in enhancing tourism in the country.”
More than 5,000 people from over 90 countries, including the United States, heard promises from Modi that are pleasing to their ears, including that the government was making efforts to ease the processes concerning their social security, passport, visa and PIO and OCI cards, and that the work is on to issue chip-based e-passports.
In addition to Modi, President of India Ram Nath Kovind, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, the chief guest at the event, as well as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath addressed the largest-ever diaspora gathering. Modi and his ministers urged them to participate in building a New India, especially in research and innovation.
Among those who attended the event from the U.S. included Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Chairman Thomas Abraham and its president Sunny Kulathakal. GOPIO organized a convention in conjunction with the PBD in Varanasi. Among other U.S.-based NRIs attending the event were Subash Razdan, Chairman of Atlanta-based Gandhi Foundation of USA as well as Dr. Sampat Shivangi, Chairman, Mississippi State Board of Mental Health and president of Indian American Forum for Political Education.
A total of 30 people, including four from the U.S., were given the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards. The awardees included Florida cardiologist and philanthropist Dr. Kiran Patel (in medical science), Chandra Shekhar Mishra, a senior scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), USA (in science), IMF chief Gita Gopinath (in academics) and Gitesh Jayantilal Desai, president of SEWA International’s Houston, Texas chapter, (in structural engineering).
“Today, India is in the position to lead the world in several subjects. International Solar Alliance (ISA) is one such platform. Through this medium, we want to take the world towards ‘One World, One Sun, One Grid’,” Modi said, inaugurating the PBD January 22.
“People used to say that India cannot change,” he said. “We have changed this thinking. We have made changes,” he said. Modi said, alluding to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s comment that only 15 paise of Rs 1 that the central government sends from Delhi reaches the people, no attempt was made by the Congress party government to stop this loot. “The country’s middle class continued to pay taxes honestly, and 85 per cent of this loot continued,” Modi said in what sounded like a campaign speech.
Modi said that the changes that are coming in India are becoming new opportunities. “We have plugged the loopholes in the system with the help of technology. The loot of public money has been stopped and 85 percent of the lost money has been made available and transferred directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. “Our government is moving towards ensuring that the aid given by government is directly transferred to beneficiary accounts through direct benefit schemes,” Modi said.
“In this changing India, you can play a big role in research and development and innovation. The government is also trying to bring Indian start-ups and NRI mentors together on one platform. Defense manufacturing can also be an important sector for you,” Modi said, describing NRIS as India’s brand ambassadors who were the symbols of the country’s capabilities. Modi called this year’s PBD the “most successful” event saying the people of Varanasi, which is his Lok Sabha constituency, have taken ownership of the three-day jamboree.
Mauritian Premier Jugnauth hailed Modi for India’s transformation through initiatives such as the Skill India and the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao schemes. Jugnauth announced that his country will hold a Bhagwad Gita Mahotsav next month and a Bhojpuri Festival next year.
The President of India Ram Nath Kovind, addressed the concluding gathering Jan. 23, stressing the important role Indians abroad played for India as one of the largest diasporas in the world. “India today is a land of a billion ideas. India today is a land of a billion opportunities,” Kovind said.
President Kovind noted the immense cultural wealth of the people who left the country. “In the past, our ancestors travelled to Southeast Asia as merchants and as monks. Much later, many lived and prospered as traders and entrepreneurs along the Silk Route. And more than a century ago, under the indenture system, we witnessed millions of our people crossing the seven seas,” Kovind is reported to have said, according to a press release from his office. “The world has moved a long way since for our diaspora. They are commanding global heights today, while embracing their cultural ethos and diversity. And while they do so, they must also preserve and strengthen their unity as a community.”
The President said the Indian diaspora’s success and hard work have set an example. They are the face of India and its identity abroad. We are proud of them and their achievements. But what really makes their contributions stand out are the values that they espouse and live for. These are values that intrinsically remain Indian.
The Youth PBD along with the Uttar Pradesh State PBD was held Jan. 21, jointly inaugurated by India’s Minsiter for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports. At this event, India’s former Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar Mulay, now secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs for Overseas Indian Affairs, gave the welcome remarks. A plenary session facilitated interaction with members of the diaspora. The gathering was also addressed by Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, who hosted a dinner the same night. Youth delegates at the convention visited Banaras Hindu University on the campus.
On the formal inauguration day, others who addressed the gathering apart from Modi, included Swaraj, Adityanath, Jugnauth, and Singh. A “Bharat Ko Janiya Quiz” Award ceremony was also held. The plenary sessions included, “Role of India Diaspora in Capacity Building for Affordable Solar Power,” and another on “Giving Back to India: Opportunities and Challenges.” Dinner was hosted by Minister Swaraj.
A unique feature of the conclave this year was that the delegates were taken to the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad and from there to Delhi to witness the Republic Day parade on January 26. The trips, officials said, were in deference to the wishes of the delegates. A series of plenary sessions were held during the last day: Indian Community Organizations Working for Indian Nationals in Distressed Situation; Role of Indian Diaspora in Capacity Building for Affordable Waste Management; Indian Diaspora’s Role in Capacity Building of Artificial Intelligence in India: and Developing Cyber Capacity of India.
Pre-election measures and promises made by the Narendra Modi government to support farmers, small enterprises and low-income households will derail the country’s fiscal consolidation roadmap, a global rating agency said on Friday.
Moody’s Investors Service, which has already forecast a slippage in fiscal deficit to 3.4 per cent in the current fiscal against the budgeted target of 3.3 per cent, warns of further slippage in the fiscal consolidation roadmap that the country has planned.
Over the past month, the Indian government has announced a range of policies to support the incomes of small enterprises and low-income households, and it is also considering additional steps to support farmers facing financial distress, Moody’s said.
“In the absence of new revenue boosting measures, the policies will collectively make it harder for the government to achieve its fiscal consolidation objectives.
“If implemented, the proposed measures will cause further slippage from India’s fiscal consolidation roadmap, which targets reducing the central government’s deficit to 3.1 per cent and 3.0 per cent of GDP in fiscal 2019-20 and fiscal 2020-21, respectively,” Moody’s said in its report.
Besides, the effort to meet the short-term fiscal objectives through one-off sources of revenue and cuts in capital expenditure would denote low fiscal policy effectiveness, it said and added that the permanent measures would have a long-lasting impact on public finances.
Despite lower-than-planned expenditure, weakening revenue has resulted in the government already exceeding its full year deficit target for fiscal 2018-19, reaching 114 per cent of the budgeted amount from April to November 2018.
It also said the relief and tax cuts in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will erode the revenue base near term. In January, the GST Council doubled the income tax exemption limit for firms to Rs 40 lakh in annual revenue and adjusted turnover limits under the concessionary GST composition scheme.
“The latest changes are due to take effect in April 2019 and follow several cuts to GST rates since their initial implementation in July 2017,” it said.
In December 2018, the government additionally cut sales tax on more than 20 items. The authorities are also considering reducing personal income tax and corporate tax rates to boost incomes and support growth.
“Doing so would further undermine the Central government’s revenue generation capacity,” the rating agency said.
Besides, income from divestment of government assets has been weaker than budgeted in the current fiscal. From April to December 2018, proceeds from divestment only amounted to 42.7 per cent of the Rs 80,000 crore that the government planned to raise, highlighting the challenges in relying on divestment as a sustained source of revenue.
Moody’s warned that while the government could accelerate stake sales in public sector banks and seek special one-off dividend payments or deferments of subsidy payments to government-related entities, including the Reserve Bank of India, to bridge budget shortfalls, the positive impact on India’s government finances would be short lived.
“Achieving deficit reduction through such unpredictable revenue sources denotes weaker fiscal policy effectiveness than if consolidation were achieved through more durable and predictable revenue sources, such as tax revenue,” it added.
Finally, the global credit rating agency said that the proposals to support farmers’ income, who are facing financial difficulties due to low crop prices, will increase government expenditure.
The government is considering a slew of measures to support farmers, including introduction of a new direct income support scheme, a revamped crop insurance scheme and agriculture crop loans at zero interest rates.
Without other expenditure rationalisation, higher subsidy spending on the agricultural sector will increase future fiscal deficits, the report noted.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas Convention at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh tomorrow on 22 January, 2019.
For the first time, the three day long convention is being organized in Varanasi from 21-23 January, 2019. The theme of PBD Convention 2019 is “Role of Indian Diaspora in building New India”.
In reverence to the sentiments of the larger diaspora to participate in Kumbh Mela and Republic Day celebrations, the 15th PBD Convention is being organised from 21 to 23 January 2019 instead of 9th January. After the Convention, participants will visit Prayagraj for Kumbh Mela on 24th January. They will then proceed to Delhi on 25th January and witness the Republic Day Parade at New Delhi on 26th January 2019.
Prime Minister of Mauritius Mr. Pravind Jugnauth will be the chief guest of the PBD convention. Mr. Himanshu Gulati, Member of Parliament of Norway, will be the Special Guest while Mr. Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, Member of Parliament of New Zealand will be the Guest of Honor at the 15th edition of PBD.
Key events of this edition include-
21 January, 2019- Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas. The event will provide opportunities for the young Diaspora to engage with New India.
22 January 2019 – Inauguration of PBD convention by Prime Minister in presence of Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth.
23 January 2019 – Valedictory Session & Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards by the President of India.
Various plenary sessions are also scheduled during the event. The evenings are marked with cultural programs.
The decision to celebrate Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) was taken by the former Indian Prime Minister, late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The 1st PBD was celebrated on 9th January, 2003 in New Delhi. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate PBD as it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, had returned to India from South Africa.
PBD now celebrated once in every two years, provides a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and reconnect with their roots. During the Convention, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman is conferred on the selected overseas Indians for their significant contributions to various fields both in India and abroad.
14th PBD held during 7–9 January 2017 at Bengaluru, Karnataka was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The theme for the 14th PBD was “Redefining engagement with the Indian diaspora”. In his address, Mr. Modi had said that Indian diaspora represents the best of Indian culture, ethos and values and are respected for their contributions. He underlined the importance of a continuous engagement with the overseas Indian community as a key area of priority for the Government.
India is likely to surpass the United Kingdom in the world’s largest economy rankings in 2019, according to a report by global consultancy firm Pricewater Cooper (PwC). As per the report, while the UK and France have regularly switched places owing to similar levels of development and roughly equal populations, India’s climb up the rankings is likely to be permanent.
PwC’s Global Economy Watch report projects real GDP growth of 1.6 % for the UK, 1.7 per cent for France and 7.6 per cent for India in 2019. “India and France are likely to surpass the UK in the world’s largest economy rankings in 2019, knocking it from fifth to seventh place in the global table,” the report said.
According to World Bank data, India became the world’s sixth largest economy in 2017 surpassing France and was likely to go past the UK which stood at the fifth position. PwC’s Global Economy Watch is a short publication that looks at the trends and issues affecting the global economy and details its latest projections for the world’s leading economies.
“India should return to a healthy growth rate of 7.6 % in 2019-20, if there are no major headwinds in the global economy such as enhanced trade tensions or supply side shocks in oil.
“The growth will be supported through further realisation of efficiency gains from the newly adopted GST and policy impetus expected in the first year of a new government,” said Ranen Banerjee, Partner and Leader – Public Finance and Economics, PwC India.
Mike Jakeman, senior economist at PwC, said India is the fastest growing large economy in the world, with an enormous population, favourable demographics and high catch-up potential due to low initial GDP per head.
“The UK and France have regularly alternated in having the larger economy, but subdued growth in the UK in 2018 and again in 2019 is likely to tip the balance in France’s favour. The relative strength of the euro against the pound is an important factor here,” Jakeman said. The global economy as a whole is expected to slow in 2019 as G7 countries return to long-run average growth rates, the PwC report said.
PwC expects that the pick-up in growth of most major economies seen between the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2018 is now over. As per the World Bank data, in 2017, India became the sixth largest economy with a GDP of USD 2.59 trillion, relegating France to the seventh position. The GDP of France stood at USD 2.58 trillion.
The UK, which is facing Brexit blues, had a GDP of USD 2.62 trillion, which is about USD 25 billion more than that of India, the data showed. The US was the world’s largest economy with a size of USD 19.39 trillion, followed by China (USD 12.23 trillion) at the second place in 2017.
Japan (USD 4.87 trillion) and Germany (USD 3.67 trillion) were at the third and fourth places, respectively.
Syed Shuja of Hyderabad, claiming to be a cyber expert and a former employee of the Electronic Corporation of India Ltd on Monday made a series of unsubstantiated allegations about the vulnerability of electronic voting machines used in India, including in the 2014 general election.
Syed Shuja appeared at a news conference through Skype. He said he was based in the United States, where he got political asylum after fleeing India due to threats to his life and allegedly in a serious medical condition in 2014.
According to Shuja, who said he also went by other names, 200 seats in the 2014 elections that would have been won by the Congress had been rigged in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party by manipulating data transmission through what he called ‘military-grade modulators’ installed in various parts of the country.
The event, organized by the Indian Journalists Association and the Foreign Press Association, was supposed to witness a live demonstration of EVMs being hacked, but Shuja claimed he had been attacked recently, which explained his absence in London, and individuals who were to bring the EVMs from India had been bought off.
Shuja went on to allege that senior BJP leader and former Union minister Gopinath Munde had been murdered because he was about to expose the malpractice when he did not get what he wanted when the Narendra Modi government was formed. He also alleged that journalist Gauri Lankesh was killed because she was about to publish details of the EVMs being hacked.
The brunt of Shuja’s allegations was pointed at the BJP, but he claimed that he had been approached by various parties, including the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party and regional parties had approached him to help hack EVMs during elections.
Present at the press conference was senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, but he refused to comment on the claims made. IJA president Ashis Ray said he had invited leaders of all parties to attend the event, but only Sibal had turned up.
According to Shuja, he and his team prevented EVMs being hacked during the 2015 elections to the Delhi assembly, when AAP won a landslide majority. The recent elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana were also rigged through the EVMs, he alleged.
In Shuja’s perception, he and his team of unnamed individuals in India were trying to save democracy by intercepting transmissions and preventing EVMs being hacked. The team, he added, did not have money or resources, but were doing their best for the country.
Shuja further alleged that the Election Commission had been ‘100 per cent involved’ in the malpractice over the years. When the possibility of EVMs being hacked is raised, he said the commission invariably presents 14 prototypes that he and his team had built at ECIL. Those specific EVMs, he said, cannot be hacked by bluetooth or wi-fi.
Shuja’s status of being granted political asylum in the US could not be verified from the US embassy in London due to Monday being a holiday on Martin Luther King Day, as well as employees not being at work due to the government shutdown.
Responding to the allegations, the Election Commission in New Delhi rejected the “motivated slugfest” and warned of legal action. “It has come to the notice of Election Commission of India that an event claiming to demonstrate EVMs used by ECI can be tampered with, has been organised in London. Whereas, ECI has been wary of becoming a party to this motivated slugfest, ECI firmly stands by the empirical facts about fool proof nature of ECI EVMs deployed in elections in India,” the poll panel said in a statement.
Holding that these EVMs are manufactured in Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited “under very strict supervisory and security conditions and there are rigorous Standard Operating Procedures meticulously observed at all stages under the supervision of a Committee of eminent technical experts constituted way back in 2010,” it said that it was “being separately examined as to what legal action can and should be taken in the matter”.
It just got a lot easier—and more exciting—to visit India in 2019. The government just updated its e-Visa policies, reports The Points Guy, doubling the coverage time from 30 to 60 days. Furthermore, tourists and business travelers will be allowed double entry on a single visa, while people with medical e-Visas can re-enter the country up to three times. In other words? Start planning the best two-month vacation of your life.
First implemented in late 2014, India’s e-Visa system replaced an otherwise bureaucratic nightmare, allowing travelers to apply online for a visa instead of going through the consulate. Needless to say, the system has seen tremendous growth over the past four years. Today, the e-Visa facility issues online visas (within 72 hours) to citizens from 166 countries around the world. It is even estimated that 40 percent of all visas are obtained online—and that number is expected to cross the 50 percent mark soon, according to a recent statement from India’s Press Information Bureau.
To join the e-Visa club, simply visit the Ministry of Home Affairs’s official website and follow the four-step process: Apply online; pay the fee online (ranging from $25 to $100, with a 2.5 percent banking fee); wait for the visa to be emailed to your inbox; then hop on a flight. The complete process takes about 72 hours from application to delivery, meaning you could be landing in Mumbai by this weekend. (Just make sure to check the site for passport and vaccination requirements first.)
India was already a great place to visit in 2019, with a bevy of hot new hotels and the return of Delta’s nonstop flights between New York and Mumbai. But the ability to explore India for a whopping two months throws the doors of possibility wide open—it’s a massive country, after all. By all means, explore the famous “Golden Triangle” of Northern India: The tourist-friendly route connects Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur, allowing you to see sites like the Taj Mahal and stay somewhere like the 230-year-old warrior fort turned boutique hotel, Alila Fort Bishangarh.
After that, use your cushion of time to go farther afield. Southern India, in particular, quietly draws travelers with its dynamic towns and dreamy coasts. Visit the colonial-era city of Chennai for stunning 17th-century temples, or Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) for sleepy streets and delicious breakfasts. Hampi, “the erstwhile seat of the Vijayanagara Empire in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka” is full of stone temples and monolithic landscapes and is blissfully low on tourists—for now, Sarah Khan recently wrote in Traveler. If that doesn’t sound like your type of scene, then pick another direction: Head north to The Oberoi Sukhvilas Resort & Spa in the Himalayan foothills, west to the famed beaches of Goa, or east to the unexpected foodie city of Calcutta. You have 60 days now, so everything is on the table.
US secretary of defense James Mattis, a towering American icon and unparalleled supporter of ties with India, resigned on Thursday, day after the Trump administration abruptly announced the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, and told the president in a resignation letter he deserved someone at the Pentagon “whose views are better aligned with yours”.
Mattis has been the most enthusiastic and influential supporter of ties with India in the Trump administration, according to several Indian and US officials who spoke to Hindustan Times off the record over the past many months.
“His departure is a loss, we lost a champion,” said an Indian official. “This is through and through a Greek tragedy,” wrote Ashley Tellis, an Asia expert with think tank Carnegie, in an email response to a request for comments. “His departure is a big loss for the country: He was a towering center of sanity and the source of reassurance for America’s friends and allies. With him goes the last great champion of strong US-India ties in this administration.”
Mattis, like many other Trump aides and advisers, had opposed the pullout and tried one last time to persuade the president to reverse his decision at a meeting at the White House in the afternoon. But he failed, as the president was not only in no mood to relent but had dug in and was punching back even at close allies who were opposing him on the pullout.
Mattis had emerged as the strongest supporter of relations with India, specially after he urged lawmakers at a congressional hearing to amend a US law to grant India a waiver from sanctions targeting buyers of significant volumes of Russian military hardware.
The lawmakers agreed and changed the law — Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, better known by acronyms CAATSA — but a decision is still awaited. Not for Secretary Mattis though. It was settled issue for him. “We’ll sort out all those issues here today, and in the days ahead,” he told reporters during defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit recently and added, later, “We’ll work everything out, trust me.”
Later that day, Secretary Mattis hosted Minister Sitharaman at Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Asian Art for dinner that officials said was marked by personal touches from him that bore “testimony to his belief” in the relationship.
It was on Mattis’s watch that the Pacific Command of the US military was rechristened Indo-Pacific Command in a nod to growing ties with India and an acknowledgement of the increasing significance of India on the world stage and in America’s world view, with China as a shared challenge.
Benjamin Schwartz, a former Pentagon official who dealt with ties with India, cautioned, however, against overestimating the impact of Mattis’s exit on ties with India. “Mattis was a strong backer for sure, but the geopolitics of Asia incline most US officials responsible for national security to see India as an important partner,” he wrote in an email response.
“One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships,” Mattis wrote in a letter addressed to Trump. “Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.” That’s a resignation, and over differences.
As the results of the state elections in India poured in, the New Jersey Chapter of the Indian Overseas Congress Party sprung into its victory celebration at the Royal Albert Palace on Friday Dec.14, 2018.Mr. Harbachan Singh, Secretary-General of Indian Overseas Congress, USA hailed the crowd of over 100 celebrants and cheered on the Congress Party leader Shri Rahul Gandhi ji and paid a glowing tribute to the Chairman of the Overseas Congress Department of AICC Mr. Sam Pitroda, the Secretary of Indian Overseas Department, Himanshu Viyas ji as well as Madhu Yaskhiji, Ex.MP.for their great leadership. He thanked everyone for their phenomenal work which had yielded the positive results.
George Abraham, Vice Chairman of IOC, USA congratulated everyone and thanked them for their efforts and especially the ones who have gone to India and campaigned for the party. He urged everyone to keep up their good work and encouraged them to work harder for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. He drew attention to the fact that the thin margin of victory in two states called for even greater vigilance and renewed double efforts.
Viru Patel, a prominent local elected official and Mr. Rajeshwar Reddy, a local leader, both of whom are also staunch Congress party leaders, also expressed their sincere appreciation to all the supporters. They complimented the hard work of all the voters who by their positive vote has been able to address the growing dissatisfaction of the people. Mr. Harkesh Thakur conveyed the regards of Mr. Ram Gadula who could not be present due to unavoidable circumstances. He and several other leaders who spoke,added that people were now convinced more than ever that only the Congress party under the leadership of Shri Rahul Gandhi ji can lead Congress to victory and save India’s democracy in the upcoming election. The celebration was attended by other prominent leaders Mahesh Patel, Bharath Pij Patel, Dr. Jay Patel, Anil Patel, Ramakant Patel. Bharat Rana and many others. Thanks to media TV Asia H.R Shah, coverage by cameraman Madan.
A delegation representing the Indian film and entertainment industry met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Monday, and pitched for lower and uniform rates of GST for the fraternity.
Actors Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn, filmmakers Karan Johar and Rakesh Roshan, Censor Board chief Prasoon Joshi and Producers Guild of India President Siddharth Roy Kapur were a part of the delegation that met Modi.
According to a PIB statement, the delegation gave Modi an overview of the vast growth potential of the media and entertainment industry in India, and said that this sector is poised to contribute in a significant way towards the Prime Minister’s vision for making India a five trillion dollar economy in the near future.
The film fraternity members even pitched for lower, and uniform rates of GST, for the entertainment industry in India, apart from calling for the development of Mumbai as the global entertainment capital, through various initiatives and proactive approaches.
Modi said the Indian entertainment industry enjoys immense popularity across the world. It is one of the key elements of India’s rising soft power status, globally, he added.
He assured the delegation that the Union Government is supportive of the media and entertainment industry, and would consider the suggestions positively. This is the second such meeting in the year after a delegation met Modi in Delhi in October.
Kapur, who was a part of the past meeting, had told IANS in a recent conversation: “The main agenda to discuss with the PM was what the entertainment industry in India can contribute as a soft power of the nation around the world and how it would be wonderful if the government could encourage this industry in very tangible ways to be able to grow and thrive.”
He said issues like low screen density in the country need to be taken care of. “We are a very underscreened country. The taxation levels in the country are extremely high (they are in the top bracket when it comes to GST), there is double taxation on the film industry because the local bodies have a right to impose their own tax on the industry. So, if all these impediments to the growth of the film and TV industry can be removed, we see a boom in the quality of content being created and in the reach of that content and in our ability for us to take the India story around the world.
“The PM was very open and forthcoming. He did say he believed that this was the case. So, we are very hopeful about this,” Kapur had told IANS on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of India last month. (IANS)
Once every 12 years, the Hills of Munnar in the southern state of Kerala in India, turn blue. People flock in great numbers to view the blooming of the Neelakurinji. Biologists and nature lovers alike mark their calendars for this great event happening now in 2018. It is easily among the most magnificent sights in the world.
From August to October every 12 years, these areas are primed for viewing this natural wonder. 1600 meters above sea level, Munnar is one of the most beautiful locations in Kerala and the world. Its tea plantations, hill ranges, plantation bungalows and a vast variety of rare flora and fauna have enthralled people for centuries.
In a way, the rare flowering marks the blooming of hope for the tourism industry which is the doldrums, following the floods earlier this year. The Hills of Munnar have adorned hues of romantic blue as Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthianus), the once in a 12-year wonder. Though the heavy Monsoons, delayed the flowering season, the meandering valleys and mist clad hills of Munnar have started to amaze one and all with its stunning purple.
The last bloom of Neelakurinji was in 2006. And after a long 12 years the flower is blooming this year and this is why Munnar has been added in the list of ‘Top Places to Visit in Asia in 2018’ by the ‘Lonely Planet.’
Neelakurinji is a rare purple-blue colored flower which only blossoms once in 12 years in the lush hills of Munnar, Kerala. The season starts in July and lasts till October. This year the blooming has started from the first week of September and is expected to extend for a few months.
For people who don’t know, Munnar is a beautiful hill station situated in the Western Ghats mountain range in Kerala. Once in a lifetime, everyone should experience the charm of Munnar, the chill of its hills, the abundant green valleys, the silvery rivers, the cascading waterfalls, fascinating plantations, and every other bit of this place.
There are 250 different types of Kurinji and 46 varieties of Neelakurinji in India, which also includes red and maroon flowers but Neelakurinji is the most famous.
The Muthuvan tribes, who are the original inhabitants of Munnar, determine their age in relation to the number of Neelakurinji blooms they have observed. The Paliyans of Tamil Nadu also use the blooming cycle of Neelakurinji flowers to calculate their age. At the time of blooming season, honey bees gather nectar from the Neelakurinji flowers and this honey is considered to be tastier and healthier than the regular honey we use.
Since these unique flowers bloom only once in every 12 years, they bring a huge number of tourists to the south Indian state. The next flowering season will be in 2030 and that is really a long wait. So if you want to witness the majestic beauty of the Neelakurinji, make your way to Munnar this year.
Munnar is also home to the endangered Nilgiri Tahr whose population is currently being conserved at the Eravikulam National Park. One can even visit the Anamudi Peak, the tallest in South India, which has some of best trekking trails in the country.
People love the view at Top Station, the highest point on the Munnar-Kodaikanal Route. Other places of interest in the area include Marayoor, Echo Point, Anayirankal and Valara Waterfalls. If kurinji is what gets you to Munnar, stay back and let this paradise on Earth take over your senses. It has never disappointed anyone who made the journey.
One of the few events I have always looked forward to attend with my family, ever since we moved to New York two decades ago, and would never want to miss, is the spectacular Miss India Pageants organized by India Festival Committee (IFC).
The annual pageants started in a basement in New York in 1980 with the first ever Miss India New York and Miss India USA, has evolved and expanded, now incorporating and having membership from over 40 countries, that promote Indian heritage and providing a platform for people of Indian origin to unite and showcase their talents, skills and beauty.
Dharmatma Saran, chairman and founder of the New York based India Cultural Festival (IFC) that organizes the trail blazing Miss India Worldwide, is a pioneer in entertainment, holding Indian pageants and fashion shows in the USA and worldwide.
In 1990, Dharmatma Saran, decided to take the pageant one step further to an international level and started The First Miss India Worldwide Pageant to identify and honor beauties of Indian origin the world over and the show graduated to become the top most international Indian pageant on the earth. “For the first time ever, Asian-Indian communities from all over the world came together in New York for this event,” says Saran with a sense of pride. “To the best of our knowledge, no other ethnic organization has ever conducted a pageant of this magnitude on an international level.”
The pageant was an instant success and was acclaimed as “the most glamorous Indian function in the world.”
“When Miss India New York started in 1980, I had perhaps not even in my wildest dreams imagined that in less than twenty years, we would fledge out to be a mass movement with affiliates in over 40 countries, let alone that we would one day have a live internet webcast and broadcast our most prestigious function, the Miss India Worldwide, to an audience of over 300 million people!”
The pageants aim to honor achievement, to celebrate our culture in many ways, among them, the ability to meet people, make friends, to respect and be respected, to continually strive to improve standards, and to live a life as close to the laws of nature.
In line with other prestigious international pageants, IFC started staging Miss India Worldwide in various parts of the world. In 1997, the pageant was organized in Bombay to salute India on its 50th anniversary of Independence. In the year 1998, the pageant was organized, in association with UTV International, in the exotic and beautiful city of Singapore, South Afrcia, Malyasia, UAE, Surinam and several other states in the US.
The IFC selects distinguished local organizations in various parts of the world and authorizes them to conduct national pageants in their respective countries. The India Festival Committee, started in 1974 in a most humble way, has come a long way. While seeking to collaborate with internationally reputed groups, Saran joined hands with the Times of India group’s Femina that runs the beauty pageants in India until 1997.
The contestants in all the pageants are of Indian origin, between the ages of 18 and 28, and are citizens, residents, or born in the country which they represent. The pageant consists of four segments – Evening Gown, Ethnic Wear, Talent and Question-Answer. The winners of all the various national pageants from all over the world vie for the glamorous and prestigious title of the Miss India Worldwide.
Saran and the pageant are “very proud of the fact that we have been able to provide a common platform for the international Indian community through pageantry. We are equally proud of the fact that we have been able to imbibe Indian values, traditions and culture among the youth of Indian origin around the world. We have also been successful in promoting Indian performing arts in the world.”
In fact, motherland, culture and India are the words repeatedly invoked by most contestants. Clearly, this pageant was also about roots and identity. “We will never permit vulgarity and bikini wearing in our competitions. We don’t believe in the axiom, shorter the dress, greater will be the chances of winning the prize. We are very conservative in that. We only showcase the best of Indian culture and not the skin. We strongly oppose exhibiting women in a cheap manner on the dais,” Saran said adding that his shows are always meant for the entire family.
In the year 2016, saran introduced, on popular demand, the First Ever Mrs. India Worldwide, which has been received with enthusiasm from around the world. This is a pageant that provides married Indian women around the world with a platform, where they would get an opportunity to “Make a difference in the world.”
Most of these women have set their sights on professions like medicine, public relations and the law. The contest gave them a chance to take a detour and explore their Indian identities through colorful Indian attire and dance. Many of them have set their eyes on Bollywood and Hollywood, and participating in the pageants is a stepping stone for many to climb up the ladder in the world of fashion, silver screen, politics and charity.
Saran has become an internationally well-known leader in promoting pageantry around the world. Support came from most unexpected quarters. Noted actress, social worker, feminist and leader, Shabana Azmi, who is known to blast all beauty pageants, endorsed Saran’s show as noble as it helped funds for the deserving children.
“The IFC motivates and guides its winners and contestants to take up charitable causes. Many of our past winners have raised substantial amount of money for various charities, especially for handicapped children,” says Saran.
IFC has used the title to raise funds for the poor and the needy. Saran has been successful in combining beauty with charity. It was Saran’s dream that beauty works for a good cause. Bela Bajaria, one of his highly successful beauty queens from Los Angeles, has collected $35,000 each year for the Hand and Heart for the Handicapped for many years to help disabled children in US and India. Another successful Miss India Hong Kong collected $100,000 in a charity ball to help the helpless people.
Saran credits the success of the pageantry to his family and a team of hard working people. “I don’t know how I would have fared but for the unstinted support of Air India. Also my friends former News India editor John Perry; President of Jackson Heights Merchants Association V.N. Prakash; TV Asia Chairman Padmashree H.R. Shah, Bombay Broadcasting’s Giri Raj; and all the successive Indian Consuls General have stood with me.” he recalls with gratitude.
Saran is blessed with an understanding wife Neelam. She has been a source of great strength and support to him from the day one. His two daughters, Neema and Ankeeta have always been of great support and assistance.
Saran contributions to Indian culture has been appreciated and recognized by various organizations around the world and he has been acclaimed as “India’s cultural ambassador to the world.” He has traveled with his wife Neelam to various countries to start Indian pageant.
Recently he was awarded Bharat Gaurav Award held at the headquarters of United Nations in New York.
As Farook Khan, Chairman of Miss India-South Africa Corporation, says, “The Miss India-Worldwide Pageant has developed further into a grandiose platform of unity through culture over the few short years it has been in existence. It has become an event which is boundless and this has become a reality due to the foresight and vision of dedicated men and women who came to the United States of America to start a new life and to carry all that India has to and will continue to offer.”
To quote Khan, “At one time, the pageant was regarded as a beauty contest, it no longer suffers from this narrow reputation. It has fledged out to be a mass international movement which honors the performing arts, develops finesse as a way of life and puts into communities a sense of compassion.”
Saran and his dedicated band of men and women have inspired people around the world to participate in a truly remarkable spectacle that enjoys the status of a truly boundless Festival of good. The Miss India Worldwide is such a hallmark, it is not just a beauty pageant.
Indian Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan has said the high level of greenhouse gas emission was a major concern and reaffirmed that India would play a “positive, constructive and balanced role” in the UN climate summit.
“Our focus is on shifting to renewables,” Vardhan told reporters on the sidelines of the two-week-long UN climate negotiations, known as COP24, that saw governments and delegates from nearly 200 countries in this Polish city.
The talks officially began on Monday with the opening address of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Responding to a question on clean coal, the minister said: “We have an ambitious target of 175GW. We use super critical technology which has comparatively less emissions.
“We have also announced stringent emission standards and we are retrofitting existing coal plants with the latest technology. The ones that can’t be upgraded are being shutdown. Close to 52GW of old plants have been shutdown till date,” Vardhan said.
He added that India wanted to see the UN climate summit as a success. Ahead of India’s second Biennial update report, which was earlier scheduled to be released by Vardhan at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or COP24 on Monday, a projection on India’s progress by US-based The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said India was “on track to achieve the majority of its Paris agreement goals”.
The Paris agreement urged each country outline, update and communicate their post-2020 climate actions, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), reflecting the country’s ambition for reducing emissions, taking into account its domestic circumstances and capabilities.
India’s progress on two of its three Paris agreement commitments were to achieve 40 per cent of electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel by 2030 and to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level.
IEEFA found that India was likely to achieve these two goals 10 years before the 2030 deadline. For the first goal, IEEFA predicted that installed non-fossil fuel capacity in India will exceed 40 per cent by the end of 2019.
And at the current rate of two per cent reduction per year in emission intensity of its GDP, India is likely to achieve 33-35 per cent of emission intensity reduction targets a decade ahead of target.
To a question on the latest assessment on NDCs, Vardhan said: “We are much ahead on delivering our NDCs. We have already achieved 21 per cent emission intensity reduction, including emissions from agriculture, whereas our NDCs exclude agricultural emissions from its scope.”
“We believe we will achieve these goals much before 2022,” he said.
“We have set a target but are not waiting for the deadline… Our aim is to achieve targets fixed by the Prime Minister at the earliest. We are conscious of the targets but are even more concerned to achieve it ahead of time.”
On the forest cover, Vardhan admitted India was slow. “But you must have seen that the forest cover increased by about one per cent. New strategy has been formulated for afforestation and we will achieve this goal as well.”
Questioning developed countries’ commitments, he said: “Our sincerity should not be treated as weakness. All the pre-2020 and other commitments made by the developed countries need to be fulfilled.”
He said India wanted to see COP24 to be successful and added that New Delhi would play a “positive, constructive and balanced role” in the summit.
Earlier, Vardhan inaugurated an India pavilion along with the Indian delegation. It will have around 20 sessions, covering issues related to sectors important for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
“One World One Sun One Grid,” highlighted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during first assembly of International Solar Alliance on October 2, is the theme of India pavilion. (IANS)
In a sign of growing collaboration and partnership between India and the US, the US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said it is time for everyone to support the efforts of the UN, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all those who are trying to maintain peace in South Asia.
In a strong message to Pakistan, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said it is time for everyone to support the efforts of the UN, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all those who are trying to maintain peace in South Asia. Pakistan must take on a substantive role in peace talks with the Taliban if the war in neighbouring Afghanistan is to be ended, he said.
Mattis was responding to a question from reporters about the letter written by President Donald Trump to Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, seeking his support in the peace process in Afghanistan. In his letter, Trump has made it clear that Pakistan’s full support over the issue “is fundamental” to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership.
“We’re looking for every responsible nation to support peace in the sub-continent and across this war in Afghanistan that’s gone on now for 40 years,” he told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday as he welcomed Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for talks.
“It’s time for everyone to get on board, support the United Nations; support Prime Minister Modi’s, (Afghan) President (Ashraf) Ghani and all those who are trying to maintain peace and make for a better world here,” Mattis said. “We are on that track. It is diplomatically led as it should be, and we’ll do our best to protect the Afghan people,” he added.
Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was on an official visit to the United States from 2-7 December 2018, at the invitation of US Secretary of Defence James N. Mattis.
In Washington DC on Monday, she had a meeting with Secretary Mattis, who also hosted a dinner in her honor. Prior to the meeting, on her arrival at the Pentagon, she was received by Secretary Mattis and was accorded the Armed Forces Enhanced Honours Cordon welcome.
During their meeting, discussions were held on the growing partnership between India and US in the defence sphere. Views were also exchanged on a broad range of bilateral and international issues of mutual interest. The Ministers reviewed ongoing initiatives to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between India and USA.
Both sides agreed to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, building on the discussions and outcomes of the 2 plus 2 Dialogue held in September 2018. The Indian Minister highlighted the steps taken by Government of India to promote defence sector manufacturing, under Prime Minister Modi’s “Make in India” flag-ship programme.
Earlier in the day, RM visited the U.S. Department of State, where she signed condolence book for former U.S. President George H.W. Bush. She also paid respects at the ‘Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’ by placing a wreath at the Arlington National Cemetery Memorial.
Following her engagements in Washington DC, Sitharaman will be visiting Reno on 4 December, where she will hold interactions with select leaders of Indian community in the US. Later, she will visit San Francisco where she would address a roundtable meeting at Stanford. She will also visit the Defence Innovation Unit [DiU] of the US Department of Defence and interact with start-ups and venture capitalists associated with this Unit.
From 5-7 December, Sitharaman will visit Honolulu, which is the headquarters of the US Pacific Command (PACOM), recently renamed as INDO-PACOM. During the visit, she will hold meetings with Commander of INDO-PACOM, Admiral Philip S. Davidson. She will also visit Joint Base Pearl Harbour Hickam, where she would board a US Guided Missile Destroyer and will be briefed on INDO-PACOM activities.
New Delhi: At separate meetings with Congress Party leaders, Mohinder Singh Gilzian, President of Indian Overseas Congress, USA debriefed some of the senior Congress Party Leaders in New Delhi on the IOC team effort on behalf of the Party candidates in their respective election bids in Rajasthan and Telangana. He along with many IOC leaders from the United States has already spent weeks accompanying the Congress candidates in these election-bound states, conducting meetings, holding press conferences and meeting with individual voters on the ground.
Mohinder Singh Gilzian visited Anand Sharma, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Department of the AICC, Ashok Gehlot, Ex-Chief Minister of Rajasthan and General Secretary of the AICC, Ahmed Patel, and Treasurer of the AICC and gave an account on the work Overseas Congress members have done during the current campaign. He informed them that the Congress party expectations of victory are very high and the party apparatus is very much in top gear throughout the campaign period. He was very encouraged and pleased with the great response they received from the voters who recalled the significant advancement in education, employment, industries and infrastructure by Congress Party when they were in power. Voters desperately wanted a change from the present regime, and they were pleased that the Congress Party offered better options dealing with pressing issues of the day.
The IOC delegation was guided and directed by Mr. Himanshu Vyas, AICC Secretary in charge of the Overseas Congress Department of AICC. The delegation included Rajeswar Gangasani Reddy (Chairman, NRI Telangana election committee Chair), Pradeep Samala (Co-Chair), Rajender Dichpally (General Secretary), Zameel Roydass and a number of others from various States in the U.S.
Religious freedom activists from across the U.S. have criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his failure to stop the violence carried out by Hindutva groups against religious minorities, including Muslims and Christians.
At an event titled “Religious Freedom in India: A Briefing on Capitol Hill”, organized by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) on the Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the activists urged the Indian prime minister to condemn such violence against religious minorities as well as take all necessary measures to curb the rise of Hindutva extremism and punish the Hindutva groups involved in violence.
“The failure of Prime Minister Modi to definitively condemn and to definitively distance himself from the extreme elements of his party has played a substantial and significant role in bringing about the situation that we see today,” said Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, former Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent bipartisan federal commission tasked with defending religious freedom outside the U.S.
“Inflammatory rhetoric and a conception of India’s national identity increasingly based on religion have contributed to an atmosphere of intimidation, exclusion, and even violence directed at non-Hindus,” she added, saying Muslims and Christians are the “primary victims”.
Dr. Lantos Swett, who is the daughter of Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to have ever been elected to U.S. Congress and who founded the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, said India’s religious freedom violation had a “long-standing pattern of impunity and immunity”.
“We see it in the lack of accountability for large-scale communal violence such as the horrors we know took place in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, and in the more individualized crimes committed against members of minorities faiths,” she said.
The briefing was held in a Senate Building before an audience that also included Congressional staffs, officials from the Department of State and USCIRF, and civil society members.
Jeff King, President of International Christian Concern (ICC), quoted a survey saying 82% of Indian Christians were “very concerned” for their safety, 73% experienced discrimination “at least once” last year, 85% saw an “increase in aggression” by Hindu nationalists, and 84% said minorities were “less protected” under Modi.
“If the prime minister were to condemn acts of aggression and violence and push for prosecution, this [violence] would fairly quickly dry up,” King said. “But it’s not happening.” He asked Modi to “use the bully pulpit and condemn acts of aggression and violence.” King urged the Indian Government to allow a team of USCIRF to visit India on a fact-finding mission.
Matthew Bulger, Legislative Director of the American Humanist Association, a U.S. organization promoting theism and agnosticism since 1941, said that compared to global religious freedom standards, “India is failing”. Several Indian laws and policies “restrict religious freedom rights” and have led to arrests and prosecution of individuals, “which is just unacceptable”.
He criticized Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code as a “relic” of British colonial law and “essentially a blasphemy and anti-religious incitement law “inconsistent with the pluralistic and democratic values India publicly accepts. Laws which restrict religious freedom can serve as a catalyst for vigilante violence, such as that seen in India recently regarding the lynchings by Hindu nationalists of people, most often Muslims, suspected of smuggling or killing cows.”
Bulger noted that although Pehlu Khan, a Muslim dairy farmer murdered by cow vigilantes in April 2017, named six suspects in his “death-bed statement” criminal charges against them were dismissed. “Sadly, this is not an isolated case, as over a dozen similar murders have happened in the last two years alone.”
Rev. Sarah C. Anderson-Rajarigam, a Dalit Christian Lutheran church priest from Philadelphia, said the status of Dalits had worsened under the Modi government. “Modi’s government has deliberately and openly made violence against Dalits a non-issue by offering impunity.”
The perpetrators of violence against Dalits were not only free but “elevated to the status of a hero”, she said, adding: “The patter of violence continues unabated But there is no shame experienced either by the perpetrators or by Prime Minister Modi and other ministers.”
Pawan Singh, a Sikh representing the Organization for Minorities of India, said the “fascist ideology” of the RSS that “a small group of people are born superior to others needs to be checked.” He said: “There is the curtain of democracy that they use, and then go on with their business of killing individuals of dissenting opinion, or because they do not like them.”
Singh said the “pseudo institutions” connected with the RSS, such as the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, the Bajrang Dal and the Hindu American Foundation “were a threat to our freedom”.
Citing the World Hindu Congress organized in Chicago in September, Singh said the spread of Hindutva was “not just India’s problem any more That is what gives me the shivers: these rightwing saffron terrorists [are] roaming in the free world, threatening our free institutions.”
He criticized the U.S. government for giving a visa to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who, he said, “should be tried for crimes against humanity”, and slammed Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamurthy for speaking at the Hindu Congress. “These people are wearing facades, while they carry big knives to kill us, to kill the dissenting opinion, to kill anybody and everybody who will speak for equality, for justice and freedom for all.”
Sunita Viswanath, Co-founder of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, a New York-based nonprofit, said the “chilling repression of open debate and political expression” in India and the violence against Muslims and Christians was alarming. “This repression and violence is taking place in the name of Hinduism, one that we do not recognize and cannot accept,” she said.
Viswanath noted that the police had named the Sanatan Sanstha, an extremist right-wing Hindutva organization, for the September 2017 killing of Gauri Lankesh, a Bangalore-based activist and journalist. “The Sanatan Sanstha was also involved in the killing of other activists,” she said. “Despite this, it has not yet been banned or classified as a terrorist organization.”
Vishavjit Singh, a cartoonist and performance artist from New York, and a survivor of the mass violence against Sikhs in the aftermath of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984, said that violence targeting Sikhs “set the stage for the powers to be – doesn’t matter, BJP, Congress, anybody else – to know [that] you can kill with impunity, as many people as you like, in a democracy, and get away with it.”
Indian American Muslim Council is the largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the United States with chapters across the nation. For more information, please visit our website at: http://iamc.com/
With the Train 18 speeding up to 180 kmph between Kota junction and Kurlasi station during a trial on Sunday, efforts are on to launch the first indigenously-built Trainset on December 25 between New Delhi and Varanasi.
“Christmas Day also happens to be the birthday of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and it would be a tribute to the great statesman if we manage to launch the next-generation train on that day,” a senior railway official told IANS.
Since the input cost of the Rs 100-crore train is high, the fare structure will be also be higher than the normal fare.
However, the official added that the decision on its launch date and fare were yet to be taken as the trial was not yet complete.
According to the tentative plan, the train will start from New Delhi station at 6 a.m. and is expected to reach Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency, at 2 p.m.
For the return journey, the train will start at 2.30 p.m., from Varanasi and reach the national capital at 10.30 p.m.
It was a thrilling experience onboard Train 18 during the various trials on Sunday — including a speed run on a straight track, speed test on one degree curve at 150 kmph, and two degree curve at 140 and 150 kmph — on the 113 km stretch from Kota to Kurlasi under the watchful eyes senior railway officials as well as those from the national transporter’s Research Design and Standards Organisation.
Ladoos were distributed in the train when it clocked 180 kmph. The first sweets were offered to loco pilot Padam Singh Gurjar and his assistant Onkar Yadav.
“We are quite excited to be part of this great occasion,” Padam Singh told IANS after having the sweet. I feel proud to be part of this historic trial,” added Yadav.
It was a smooth ride for those inside — occupying rotating seats to match the direction of the train – as the Train 18 became the first train to touch such high speed on the Indian rail network.
The train started its trial run at 9.30 a.m., from Kota, and returned to the junction at 6 p.m., after negotiating several rivers, bridges and curves. The Trainset does not require a locomotive as it is a self-propelled on electric traction, like metro trains.
Now the Trainset has to undergo what is called a long confirmatory run and also test its emergency braking distance before it gets a clearance from the Commissioner, Railway Safety (CRS), for commercial operations to commence.
“We are expecting the trials to be over in a week and after that we will seek CRS clearance,” said the official.
Although the speed touched 180 kmph during Sunday’s trial run, the Train-18 will only be allowed to run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph in its commercial operations.
After the successful completion of 115 kmph test run on the Bareli-Moradabad section last week, the next-generation train — indigenously developed at Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory — is required to undergo the 180 kmph trial run here till December 4.
Equipped with world class facilities, the Rs 100 crore Trainset aims to take passenger-comfort to a new level with onboard WiFi, a GPS-based information system, touch-free bio-vacuum toilets, LED lighting, mobile charging points, and a climate control system that adjusts the temperature according to occupancy and weather.
The 16-coach train will have two executive compartments with 52 seats each, and trailer coaches will have 78 seats each. (IANS)
On the 10th anniversary of the Mumbai terrorist attack, President Donald Trump on Monday said that the United States stands with the people of India in their quest for justice. In the attack unleashed on November 26, 2008 by 10 LeT fedayeen, 166 people, six of whom were U.S. nationals, were killed.
“On the ten-year anniversary of the Mumbai terror attack, the U.S. stands with the people of India in their quest for justice. The attack killed 166 innocents, including six Americans. We will never let terrorists win, or even come close to winning!,” Trump tweeted.
Donald Trump did not name Pakistan in the tweet he posted last week, but the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has in his statement earlier and Nathan Sales, the counterterrorism czar at the state department had, stressing the need for Pakistan to punish the guilty.
President Donald Trump added his voice to the outpouring of support for India and the condemnation of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai 10 years ago saying the US “stands with the people of India in their quest for justice”, which has meant prosecuting and punishing those who planned and executed it from Pakistan.
The president did not name Pakistan in the tweet he posted late Monday afternoon, but the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has in his statement earlier and Nathan Sales, the counterterrorism czar at the state department had, stressing the need for Pakistan to punish the guilty.
President Trump, who has been tough on Pakistan, pointed in that direction. “On the ten-year anniversary of the Mumbai terror attack, the US stands with the people of India in their quest for justice,” he wrote on Twitter. “We will never let terrorists win, or even come close to winning!”
The president has suspended $1.66 billion in security aid to Pakistan in 2018 after accusing the one-time close ally of giving only “lies and deceit” in return for American assistance and steered it on watch-list of a world watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force, that combats money laundering and terrorist financing.
Just the previous week Trump fulminated in an interview to the news TV channel that Pakistan has “not done a damn thing” for the United State despite all the aid it has received.
On Monday, two Trump White House officials and Ambassador Sales attended an event hosted by Indian ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna at the Indian Embassy to observe the 10th anniversary of the attack. Sarna said, “bilateral cooperation between India and the US in the field of counter-terrorism has perhaps never been more intense and at a higher level that it is.”
Israel has asked Pakistan to “ensure full justice” to the 26/11 terror attack victims.
Michael Ronen, director, South & South East Asia Division at the ministry of foreign affairs of Israel said it was important for the international community, especially Pakistan, to ensure that the perpetrators of the attacks do not go scott free. “It is important to provide justice…,” he said, urging “all governments, including the Pakistan, to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.”
India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh launched the ‘Passport Seva Service’, a new initiative to streamline passport delivery services to Indian citizens living in the United States, with inaugurations in New York, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia, last week. The program will be launched at Indian consulates in Houston, Chicago and San Francisco in the next two weeks.
The Ministry of External Affairs has over the years taken many significant steps to improve the delivery of passport related services. The ‘Passport Rules’ for one, has been simplified to a large extent. The passport services have also been taken closer to the doorsteps of citizens.
Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, Founder and Chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media, presented a copy of the new issue of the magazine US-India Global Review, published by the New York-based Parikh Foundation for India’s Global Development, to India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, at the launch of
the ‘Passport Seva Service’ at the Indian Consulate in New York, on November 21, 2018. (Gunjesh Desai/ nayaface.com)
In India, the Ministry of External Affairs together with the Department of Posts took the decision to start Passport Seva Kendras in Head Post Offices as well. As a result, 236 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras are in operation and many more are in the pipeline. This, when added to 36 Passport Offices and 93 erstwhile Passport Seva Kendras makes a total of 365 Passport Offices available for the public, according to a statement by the government.
The Passport Seva Program since its inception has brought huge transformation towards delivery of passport services in India. The ministry also initiated the integration of Passport Seva Program at all Indian embassies and consulates across the globe.
As part of this initiative, the ministry successfully initiated the pilot program at the High Commission of India, London, followed by the Consulate General of India in Birmingham and in Edinburgh. The Government of India plans to roll out the Global Passport Seva Program at all Embassies/ Consulates globally within the next three-to-four months, according to a press release.
Singh inaugurated the Passport Seva Service at the Consulate General of India in New York on November 21. Over the weekend, he launched it also at the Embassy of India in Washington, DC, and at the Consulate General of India in Atlanta.
Singh also attended a community reception for him at the TV Asia studios in Edison, New Jersey, where he talked about the new service. Present at the meet were several prominent community leaders, including Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, the Founder and Chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media, Padma Shri H R Shah, the founder of TV Asia, and Ramesh Patel of the FIA-Tristate area.
An NRI receives their new passport from India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, at the launch of the ‘Passport Seva Service’ at the Indian Consulate in New York, on November 21, 2018. (Photo by: Peter Ferreira)
Singh explained that apart from significant reduction in time to process a passport, there will be more efficient digital verification process. The service will also provide enhanced tracking facilities, apart from new security features.
In Washington, Singh handed over passports processed under the new project to five Indians, including two children, with the Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna looking on. He did the same to families in New York.
Addressing a gathering after launching the ‘Passport Seva’ project at the Indian Embassy in Washington on Saturday, Singh said the passport offices at Indian missions have been digitally linked with the data centers In India, which would speed up the process of issuing passport.
The Deputy Consul General of India in New York Shatrughna Sinha speaking at the launch of the ‘Passport Seva Service’ at the Indian Consulate in New York, on November 21, 2018. (Photo by: Peter Ferreira)
Earlier this week, the Indian mission at New York issued passports in less than 48 hours. “This is going to happen across the world,” Singh said, handing over passports issued under the new project to citizens abroad, reported PTI.
Asserting that in the coming days India will have the best passport services in the world, the minister said there has been a major simplification of rules and regulations for passport applicants and verification of a lot of information of the applicants would be done digitally.
“This is actually going to quantitatively and qualitatively improve our passport services immensely, both in the scope of the applications that can be handled and also in the way they will be handled and the way they will be integrated into the overall much better consular services,” said Sarna, speaking at the launch, in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Sudhir Parikh, speaking at a community reception for India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, at the TV Asia studios, in Edison, New Jersey, on November 22, 2018. (Gunjesh Desai/ nayaface.com)
The minister said in the next few months, the Indian government will issue a new set of passports, the design of which has already been approved.
The new passports will have all kinds of security features and better printing and paper quality, Singh said. However, “there will be no change in the color of the Indian passport,” he clarified.
Speaking at the inauguration in New York, Singh said the “Passport Seva was in the government corridor for a long time and only the current government has let it happen.”
He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got “a vision” and “big ideas”.
Padma Shri H R Shah, Founder of TV Asia, speaking at a community reception for India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, at the TV Asia studios, in Edison, New Jersey, on November 22, 2018. (Gunjesh Desai/ nayaface.com)
“He has got the capability to take decisions and that is what has helped in bringing the idea of Digital India, and Passport Seva is a part of that. One of the things that the prime minister has emphasized is ‘maximum governance, minimum government’ and Passport Seva is that. We have decentralized it. We have taken it down right to the post offices, we have made things simpler and you do not see something like this in any other governmental department,” Singh said.
“The mission interpretation of the passport services with the Passport Seva Program was much needed. I myself have served as a passport officer and in many cases for people belonging to the Indian diaspora and living abroad for many years, whenever they used to apply for a passport, there would be ordinate delays sometimes because document verification would be delayed, sometimes police verification would be delayed and these delays would be eliminated,” Sinha said.
“Many people come here on a work visa and they stay here for a long time and after getting many visa extensions, the visas may be valid but the passports become invalid so they come to India for the renewal of their passports. With the Passport Seva Program, they don’t even have to do that anymore,” Sinha explained.
Rajesh Dogra, Project Director of the Passport Seva Program, explained that it is an iconic program. “It is a huge transformational program which has really changed the way passport services are delivered to the citizens of India and TCS is very proud to be associated with this path breaking project of the Government of India. We signed the contract in the year 2008, completed the roll out in 2012 and in the last four to five years we have seen a huge change in the way in which passport services have evolved primarily because of the government’s intention to be more citizen centric with changes in the process, as well as changes in the rules or easing out the rules so that a common person can just walk to the passport office and obtain a passport,” Dogra said.
“This program has helped to demystify the passport services in India and TCS has been partner of ministry right from Day 1. We have set up 77 Passport Seva kendras, along with a call center, the entire system application, which we have developed now, and also the changes in applying for a passport, including an app,” Dogra added. “The program gets a 99.5 percent excellent rating from all of the citizens who use it on a day to day basis in India.”
The government would bring a bill in the coming winter session of the Parliament as part of its efforts to check the menace of NRI husbands abandoning their wives, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said last week.
“We have already launched an institutional mechanism, where you must have seen that 25 passports of such NRI husbands have been revoked. We are also bringing a bill in this session where some more measures are being taken against those husbands,” she told reporters in Hyderabad.
Swaraj, who was in Hyderabad in connection with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign for the December 7 Telangana assembly elections was replying to a query about Non-Resident Indian (NRI) husbands abandoning their wives.
On November 13, the Supreme Court has also sought response from the Centre on a plea seeking mandatory arrest of NRIs deserting their wives and harassing them for dowry.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph issued notices to the Centre on the plea seeking that the deserted women be accorded legal, financial help and their estranged NRI husbands be arrested after the filing of FIRs.
A group women, who have allegedly been deserted by their NRI husbands and subjected to dowry harassment, have moved the apex court seeking reliefs including mandatory arrest of their estranged spouses and consular help in fighting cases in foreign land.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the top advertiser on Indian television, placing ahead of Netflix and Trivago, in the weeks and months leading up the crucial state polls and the 2019 general election.
Citing the latest data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), The Economic Times reported today that BJP beat Vimal Pan Masala in the week ending 16 November, and is ahead of major companies like Amazon and Hindustan Lever.
BJP, which was in the second position in the preceding week, is now ranked number one across all channels, according to the report. The Congress Party does not feature among the top 10 advertisers.
While Chhattisgarh has already voted in November, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram are heading to the polls.
The BJP’s ad aired on television 22,099 times from November 10-16 followed by Netflix, a distant second at 12,951 times, the report said.
The top ten advertisers, according to the report, are: BJP, Netflix, Trivago, Santoor Sandal, Dettol Liquid, Soap, Wipe, Colgate Dental Cream, Dettol Toilet Soaps, Amazon Prime Video and Roop Mantra Ayur Face Cream.
Diplomats in at least nine countries speak at Hindu paramilitary group’s events Following news that the Consul General of India’s Toronto consulate recently keynoted a Hindu nationalist event, evidence is emerging that over a dozen Indian diplomats in nine countries have participated in similar events over the past few years.
Consul General Dinesh Bhatia sparked outrage in some sections for sharing the stage with garlanded pictures of K.B. Hedgewar and M.S. Golwalkar, the first leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Known as Sarsanghchalaks (Supreme Leaders), Hedgewar and Golwalkar wanted India to be a Hindu nation and formed the RSS into a paramilitary to propagate Hindu nationalism. However, an investigation by Organization for Minorities of India (OFMI) reveals that a number of other consular officials have also recently participated in their official capacity in similar Hindu nationalist events.
“From North America to Europe and Asia to South America, Indian ambassadors and consuls have appeared as honored guests, keynote speakers, and even co-hosts of events organized by the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh — the international wing of the RSS — as well as events organized by the RSS’s religious wing, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and occasionally even by the international wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party,” reports OFMI spokesperson Arvin Valmuci. “We have compiled evidence that 15 Indian diplomats in nine countries have spoken at 24 different Sangh Parivar events since 2013, most in just the last two years. On at least two occasions, a diplomat joined a top RSS executive at an event — on another two occasions, a diplomat joined a top executive of the VHP. Our data is not comprehensive and we are certain that Indian diplomats are collaborating with the RSS on a far larger scale than even what we’ve uncovered so far.”
Most recently, on November 4, 2018, High Commissioner Venkatachalam Mahalingam of India’s Guyana commission spoke at an event organized by the HSS in Georgetown. He shared the stage with HSS Sanghchalak (President) Ravi Dev.
On October 27, 2018, Consul General Swati Kulkarni of India’s Atlanta consulate was the chief guest at an HSS-organized event commemorating Hedgewar’s founding of the RSS. She shared the stage with keynote speaker HSS International Coordinator Saumitra Gokhale. According to a biographical sketch of Gokhale, “He worked as a Pracharak (full-time worker) of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) for 4+ years in India. Since 1999 onwards, he has been working as a Pracharak of HSS (Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh) in Caribbean countries, Canada, and the United States of America. Based currently in the USA, he is the global coordinator for HSS activities.”
Ever since the ascendance of BJP to the pinnacle of power in India, a visible campaign against one of the most influential leaders India had ever seen – Jawaharlal Nehru – is underway. One may wonder about this vitriolic campaign waged against a man who has contributed so much to the development of a nation and may ask why now?
As Shashi Tharoor has pointed out in his biography of Nehru “Nehru’s legacy is ours, whether we agree with everything he stood for or not. What we are today, both for good or for ill, we owe in great measure to one man”. He was a true visionary who has not only built many of India’s venerable institutions but also laid the foundation for a pluralistic India. However, many in the opposition today are afraid that Prime Minister Modi’s plan may include dismantling the legacy of Nehru while appropriating the legacy of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, another great leader of the Congress Party.
As Indians, we do take pride in the age-old civilization and culture and its lasting imprint on our lives. However, when the nation gained its independence, India was an impoverished country with 80 percent of the people who could not afford two meals a day. The average life span of an Indian was 31 years with only 20% of people who could read or write.
From that Nehru built a country that is democratic and inclusive uplifting the masses that previously held no hopes of redemption from feudalism and Casteism that plagued the land. He was a great advocate for equity and justice in an unequal society used his superb influence to incorporate those protective provisions into the Constitution.
The constitution of India was amongst the largest in the world with 395 Articles and 9 Schedules. The preamble spells out the underlying philosophy and the solemn resolve of the people of India to secure justice, liberty, equality and fraternity for all its citizens. What Nehru has accomplished through this document with significant help and support from B.R. Ambedkar also is part of his vision to empower marginalized sections of the society.
Nehru was a strong proponent of self-reliance, apparently recognizing that underdevelopment was the result of a lack of technological progress. Consequently, a new Industrial policy was enacted to develop critical industries. While Independent India was in its infancy, he identified the production of power and steel for self-sufficiency and planning. In collaboration with other countries, India built steel plants in Rourkela (Orissa), Bhilai (M.P.) and Durgapur (W. Bengal). Dam projects were undertaken in various places to produce hydro-electric power, including the flagship Dam at Bhakra Nangal, Punjab. The first oil refinery was inaugurated in Noonmati, Assam in 1962 as another leap forward towards industrialization. Nehru called them ‘the temples of modern India’.
He built IITs, IIMs, and AIIMS for higher level education and thousands of Primary, Secondary and higher-secondary schools that have transformed the lives of millions of its citizens and many of those graduates from these prestigious institutions are heading multi-national corporations across the globe today and it is a matter of great pride and joy to India.
Nehru belonged to the privileged class, and he could have carried on while protecting the status-quo, yet he did not. He was a true visionary who saw the dire need to change the direction of the country in order to have a real transformation in the social order. Seventy years later, many of his dreams have come to fruition and at the uppermost; thanks to his stewardship, India remains a vibrant democracy and a beacon to many nations particularly in the developing world.
However, BJP and the RSS are carrying on a campaign to place blame on Nehru and criticize him for his failure on the partition and the current stalemate in Kashmir. They have not forgiven him either for pursuing a policy of non-alignment globally or upholding the values of secularism at home. For the hardcore Sangh Parivar forces, Nehru has become anathema, a legacy that has to be erased.
Since 2014, the status of Nehru Memorial and library has been diminished, and an earnest effort is underway to change the character and focus of the Museum. The Culture Minister in the BJP government not only approves discussions and seminars opposing Nehruvian ideology within its four walls but openly boasts about the place that it is no longer confined to Nehru. To add insult to injury, Mr. Arnab Goswami, a strident critic of Nehru family, has been added as a member of the Board to oversee the museum. According to some sources, the long-term plan may include converting the Nehru Memorial library into a Museum that houses the memory of all Prime Ministers.
The right-wing bodies including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Samaj (RSS) have been on an overdrive to erase Nehru’s name from history books after the BJP government unveiled a new education policy in 2015. In Rajasthan, a BJP-ruled state, references to Nehru has been already removed from textbooks. Students of Class VIII will no longer learn that Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first Prime Minister. Asked about this serious omission, Education Minister Vasudev Devnani said the following” it was the decision of an autonomous body and the government and I have nothing to do with it.”
Prime Minister Modi, in his first Independence Day address to the nation, although he invoked great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, and Jayaprakash Narayan but omitted any reference to Nehru. He also used the occasion to sentence the planning commission as the relics of the past, the signature machinery, Nehru promoted for making five-year plans for the effective use of the resources for development. The new President of India, Ramnath Kovind did not mention Nehru’s name either in his maiden address to the nation.
Times have changed indeed, and some of the policies Nehru has pursued may have become irrelevant. However, critics would be deluding themselves if they are to deny his extraordinary legacy and his outstanding contribution in building a modern India in a traditional society. Nehru’s wisdom was the wisdom of the time, and we may be able to draw many lessons from that today. Our lives are not merely self-made instead we stand on the shoulders of those who have preceded us. Jawaharlal Nehru may have made his share of mistakes as any other human being, and yet, if we are to deny his rightful place in history, we will be doing it at our peril!
(Writer is a former Chief Technology Officer of the United Nations and Vice-Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA)
The unveiling of the Statue of Unity, representing one of India’s most revered leaders, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, in Kevadia, Gujarat, Oct. 31, has drawn worldwide attention to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s quintessential mix of national pride and grassroots politics, including from Indian-Americans. Nevertheless, as expected or even predictable in a democracy, it has become subject to acrimonious party politics inside a country looking to hold general elections in mid-2019,
The unveiling of the 182 meter statue on Sadhu Bet Island in the Narmada river, nearly double the size of the Statue of Liberty (93 meters), and for now considered the highest such monument in the world, surpassing China’s Spring Temple Buddha (153 meters), is not only a fete of engineering but also one that the government of India expects will enhance the tourism potential of the country.
More than 70,000 tons of cement, 18,500 tons of reinforced steel, 6,000 tons of structural steel and 1,700 tons of bronze, were used to build the structure, according to the Indian government.
The video of the impressive yet solemn and simple inauguration ceremony circulating on the Web, shows Modi alighting to the first level (where Sardar Patel’s feet rest) via an impressive escalator, in the middle of a vast open landscape, and conducting a Hindu prayer ceremony, casting flowers in all directions. Helicopters flew over the statue showering petals like confetti from the sky.
The statue is reached by a 17-km-long Valley of Flowers, and also includes a Tent City for tourists, and a museum recounting Sardar Patel’s life and contributions. A viewing gallery at 153 meters allows a panoramic view of the surrounding area including the Sardar Sarovar Dam, and the Satpura and Vindhya mountain ranges.
Dedicating the Statue of Unity to the nation, Modi called on citizens to remain united despite forces of disunity, and hit out at the politicization of a leader who was instrumental in bringing hundreds of princely states together to make the new India a reality back in 1948 as the former Deputy Prime Minister and Union Home Minister.
“Statue of Unity is to remind all those who question India’s existence and its integrity. This country was, is and will always be eternal,” Modi said in Hindi (as translated by Indo Asian News Service), contending that the enormous height of the statue was a reminder to youth of how high their aspirations could go.
“The only mantra to fulfill these aspirations are ‘Ek Bharat-Shresth Bharat’ (One India, Best India). Statue of Unity is also symbolic of our engineering and technological affordability,” Modi said.
Keeping the nation’s unity, diversity and sovereignty intact is one such responsibility which Patel has given to the countrymen, Modi said. “It’s our responsibility to give reply to every effort of dividing the country. We will have to remain vigilant and united as a society,” he said.
“They considered our diversity our biggest weakness but Sardar Patel converted this into our biggest strength. India is moving ahead on the path shown by him,” Modi is quoted saying said.
“If today we are connected from Rajasthan’s Kutch to Nagaland’s Kohima and Jammu and Kashmir’s Kargil to Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari, it is because of Patel’s strong resolve and determination. “Had Sardar Patel not done it, the country would have needed visas for offering prayers at Somnath and visiting Charminar in Hyderabad,” Modi said referencing the late Indian leader’s work in bringing some 550 princely states into the Indian Union after the Partition of 1947.
The United Nations Member States advised caution against the “politicization” of human rights issues today in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), even as some delegates found themselves embroiled in a political discussion on the human rights situations in particular countries — in some cases, calling for an end to juvenile executions, and in other cases urging greater freedom of expression and religious belief.
As part of the general discussion on the promotion of human rights, the representative of New Zealand urged those few countries that continued to execute juvenile offenders to take steps to prohibit that practice. She also addressed the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where extrajudicial executions and torture were reported to be widespread. That country was believed to have imposed severe restrictions on the fundamental freedoms of belief, expression, peaceful assembly, association and religion.
India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN said the work of the Human Rights Council is getting more contentious. The representative of France, speaking on behalf of the European Union, remarked that human rights in the Sudan continued to be flouted, leading him to urge the Government to implement the decisions made by the judges of the International Criminal Court with immediate effect. He also said that it should step up deployment of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur. In Belarus, he noted that the legislative elections in September 2008 had not met the democratic standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), leading him to call on national authorities to address those shortcomings.
The representative of India, expressing a view that was echoed by several other speakers, noted that there had been regular attempts to subject individual countries to intrusive monitoring, so as to point out the failure of the State mechanisms to promote and protect human rights. The international community needed to reflect on whether such action had genuinely improved the human rights situation, she said, adding that instances of gross and systematic violations of human rights anywhere must be addressed collectively by the international community, based on dialogue.
India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Tanmaya Lal, said that even as the Human Rights Council continues to expand with a growing number of resolutions, frequent meetings and special sessions, the effectiveness of its work is not always clear. He was speaking at the UN General Assembly session on the Report of the Human Rights Council on Friday. “While a very comprehensive normative framework of human rights treaties and covenants has evolved, the work of the Human Rights Council and its associated procedures and mandates is, regrettably, getting more contentious and difficult,” Lal said.
Lal said the ineffectiveness of the global governance mechanisms to find commonly acceptable solutions has posed challenges to the “spirit of multilateralism”. “The reasons for many of the difficulties surrounding the discussions on the human rights agenda are not hard to find,” Lal said. “They flow from the often very divergent priorities and concerns of member states in terms of their levels of development, social and cultural contexts and governance systems.”
He said country-specific procedures have largely been counter-productive. “Instances of such mechanisms and offices operating on their own without any mandate and producing clearly biased documents only further harm the credibility of United Nations,” Lal said.
He also raised concerns regarding the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, which he described as having “deteriorated”. All concerned parties should be held responsible for taking concrete measures to guarantee the safety and freedom of movement of civilians and to enable humanitarian organizations to safely carry out their work. Turning to the situation in Zimbabwe, which he said had worsened since the first round of presidential elections, he called on national authorities to re-establish the rule of law. Noting that humanitarian aid to that country had been suspended at around that time, and as the European Union was the largest donor to Zimbabwe, he stressed the importance of maintaining unrestricted humanitarian access.
Ngonlardje Mbaidjol, Director of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who introduced several reports of the Secretary-General on the promotion and protection of human rights earlier in the day, was prompted by a few delegates to defend the accuracy of figures used in some reports, which had come from non-governmental sources. As pointed out by the representative of the Sudan, the Secretary-General’s mandate required him to submit a report based on information provided by Member States and, if information was meant to come from other sources, the mandate would have explicitly asked for “other stakeholders” to be included. Even if other sources were going to be included, it would be necessary to have standard criteria under which the authenticity and credibility of the information would be checked.
Throughout the discussion, delegates from all parts of the world called for better dialogue between States, as well as between States and United Nations human rights procedures mandate holders. The representative of Pakistan, for example, remarked that the Committee had listened to different Special Rapporteurs, but noted that many reports had been presented in a selective manner. There had also been a failure to discuss the criteria on which countries were selected for visits, with the Special Rapporteurs often only selecting invitations to developing countries.
Narendra Modi is a “paradoxical Prime Minister” who has failed the electorate and eroded the voters’ faith in his promises over four and a half years, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday.
Speaking after releasing Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor’s book on PM Modi, Singh said that the Modi government has remained silent in the face of widespread communal violence, mob lynching and cow vigilantism despite promising to be Prime Minister for all of India. The government, he said, has sought to curb academic freedom and the “environment in our universities and national institutions like the CBI is being vitiated and dissent stifled”.
“A fearful population, an economy that has been set back by foolhardy initiatives, a painful lack of jobs, growing distrust among India’s farming communities, a devastating number of farmer suicides, insecure borders, instability in Kashmir and the palpable failure in implementation of even laudable initiatives like Swachh Bharat, skill development, Make in India and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao… this is (what) the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presides over, not secular, plural, free and equal society that our founding fathers had envisaged and envisioned and was built in its first six and a half decades as a free nation,” Singh said.
He said Modi had come to power on the back of many “lofty promises”, but “failed the electorate and eroded the voters’ faith in his words and promises”. Referring to Tharoor’s book The Paradoxical Prime Minister, Singh said, “Modi is a paradoxical Prime Minister.” On the economic front, he said that nothing concrete was done to bring back black money allegedly stashed abroad. While a hastily implemented demonetisation and GST proved to be disastrous, petrol and diesel prices are at a historic high, he said.
“Modi’s rule has not been good for India… Much of what the Modi government is all about has turned out to be a little more than a series of empty gestures and marketing gimmick with very little of substance having been achieved on the ground,” he said, adding that Tharoor’s book is a reminder that the idea of India is under threat today from those who seek to change India’s very heart and soul.
Participating in a panel discussion later, former Union minister P Chidambaram said that Modi is the “embodiment of an illiberal democracy”. Former Union minister Arun Shourie said that Modi’s bad days have begun. “People have begun to understand… I believe he (Modi) has completely lost control over even the administration… what you are seeing in the CBI today… there is an absolute civil war…”
JD(U) leader Pavan Varma said the opposition despite all its criticism could not project an alternative and produce a leader who can be a challenge to Modi. “Why is the opposition in so much disarray?” he said.
Varma said the JD(U), a BJP ally, has no hesitation criticising the BJP government for things it does not approve of. He said that if Modi is an obstacle to the “idea of a composite, plural, united India”, the JD(U) will fight him.
At the outset, one may wonder what Brett Kavanaugh appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court has anything to do with the recent rulings by India’s Supreme Court allowing women between ages of 10 and 50 entries into the Sabarimala temple. It may not have a direct linkage concerning geography or jurisprudence. However, it speaks volume on how the underlying principles involved in these dramas could evoke these spectacles of emotions of raw anger in countries that are separated by Oceans.
As we all have learned throughout the history, elections have its consequences, and President Trump has indeed followed through his pledge of appointing judges to the courts that he termed as ‘strict constructionists.’ The judicial philosophy of the conservatives in this country is that courts should not make laws but to uphold the constitution and laws of the land and interpret them. On the contrary, liberals and progressives love an activist court that creates laws especially in the social arena that may have a transformational impact on the society.
Mark Levin, a conservative author makes a good case for a strict constructionist in his book titled “Liberty and Tyranny’. He has defended the importance of original intent when interpreting or adjudicating the constitution. Levin appeared to have made a genuine effort in illustrating the fine points in the ongoing debate between the strict constructionists and those who want the Constitution to be a “living, breathing evolving” document.
Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist 78, stated that judges have a duty to “guard the Constitution and rights of individuals,” and above all, to be impartial. He was known to have argued that in cases where laws and statutes clash with the Constitution, it is the constitution that must prevail and the Supreme Court has to side with the Constitution.
Liberals and many moderates sincerely believe that the Court’s swing to the right might jeopardize decades of landmark gains on issues from abortion to affirmative action and same-sex marriage. To some legal experts, the addition of Justice Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court could have profound consequences on issues ranging from Women’s reproductive health to LGBT rights.
In today’s high-octane environment, it has become increasingly difficult to reconcile these differing points of view. However, to an independent observer, the Supreme Court relies greatly on precedent that is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that becomes a basis or reasons for future decisions. Therefore, the Court may yet find it difficult in overturning many of those landmark decisions that have long become the laws of the land.
While the Kavanaugh Saga was unfolding in Washington, the Supreme Court of India has made some historical rulings that may have upended some traditional beliefs and customs. According to a new ruling led by the Chief Justice Dipak Misra, women of all ages will be allowed to enter India’s Sabarimala Temple, one of Hinduism’s holiest sites, overturning a centuries-old ban.
The five-member constitutional bench struck down the religious ban on women aged 10 to 50 from entering the temple, ruling it to be discriminatory and arguing that women should be able to pray at the place of their choice. “It is the constitutional morality that is supreme. Prohibition can’t be regarded as an essential component of religion” said the Judge’s ruling. Sabarimala temple is thought to be 800 years old and is considered spiritual home of Lord Ayyappa.
This issue is very complex and multi-layered, however, touches the very core of faith and tradition. That is the reason why this verdict has invoked so much anger and resentment pitting one community against another often inflaming the communal passion waiting to be exploited by the political parties and their narrow interests. For a democratic country that has Secularism written on its preamble of the constitution, India should accord autonomy to religious orders and religious groupings and prevent state interference. It is a matter of pure faith, and the State has a responsibility to stay neutral unless it violates the fundamental rights or causes injury to its citizenry.
If we carefully examine, a severe crisis was created when the Supreme Court took up this issue, and its subsequent ruling has indeed challenged an age-old tradition. Although it is embarrassing to argue about the merit of this tradition in these modern days, the purity of women in their menstrual years, it was a dormant issue for so long that people paid only scant attention. The question then is should the court give rulings on issues that have profound social implications as well as a transformational impact on society?
In a democratic process, it is the people through their representatives in the Legislature who make laws mostly reflecting the will of the majority. That is often done with debating the merit of the legislation with utmost scrutiny from all opposing sides. If the country has followed such a course, we could have avoided this tragic turn of events unfolding before our eyes today. As much as we value the Supreme Court as a vanguard to protect our rights, it would have been prudent to leave these sensitive issues of faith and tradition to the legislatures rather than to the judiciary.
Many Indian Americans, who abhor several of the progressive decisions of India’s Supreme Court in the last few weeks often overturning their beloved traditions, beliefs, and customs, may need to reconsider their stand on an activist court. They generally cheer on legislating from the bench in the U.S. by activist judges and have long enjoyed common ground with progressive forces opposing the appointment of Judges whose philosophy of judicial restraint that is similar to that of Justice Kavanaugh.
As the adage goes, ‘we cannot have the cake and eat it too’! It is time to take a consistent stand in opposing legislating from the bench that often fails to take into account the sentiment of the local people whose tradition, faith and religious practices they hold dear to their heart and supporting the strict constructionist view of the constitution and laws of the land. We have long learned from history that it is judicious to have limited interventions in these matters by the courts given the inexorable relationship in India between religion and public life.
(Writer is a former Chief Technology Officer of the United Nations)
Indian Overseas Congress, USA staged a protest in Richmond Hill, New York on September 30th to highlight the corruption by the Modi Government in the purchase of Rafale jets in the biggest defence scam in history. This protest also expressed grave discontent amongst NRIs who are of the opinion that Hindustan Aeronautical Limited should have been the building partner of the Dassault Aviation rather than Modi’s handpicked friend Anil Ambani who stands to gain 30,000 Crores Rupees in this scam at the expense of the tax-paying public.
Dr. Amee Yajnik, member of the Rajya Sabha while addressing the crowd, expressed grave discontentment with lack of transparency and accountability in this whole affair. “While our farmers are suffering and many of them are on the verge of despair, the Modi Government’s focus is only to increase the coffers of their crony capitalist friends. The money that is supposed to be used for economic and social development is stolen from the people of India” Dr. Yajnik added.
‘Corrupt role played by the Minister of Defense, Nirmala Sitaraman is also of great concern to us, and we are also concerned that she has converted the ministry of defense into a puppet institution which dancing to the tunes of crony capitalists without any concern being shown to the defense establishment of the country along with national security” said Mr. Mohinder Singh Gilzian, President of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA. “The secrecy by which Modi has dealt with this deal tantamount to organized loot, and we are asking for the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister’, Mr. Gilzian added.
George Abraham, Vice-Chairman of IOC, urged the Diaspora to become cognizant of the growing number of scandals plaguing the Modi regime and the secrecy with which Rafale Deal has been conceptualized. United Progressive Alliance first conceptualized the deal in the year 2012 when Government of India had agreed with Dassault Aviation, France to purchase a total of 126 Rafale fighter jet aircraft. This agreement was clinched with a cost of Rs. 526 for each aircraft.
Initial 18 aircrafts were to be purchased on an immediate fly-away condition, and remaining 108 were agreed to bse manufactured in India. Aircraft which were to be manufactured in India were agreed to be manufactured in association with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited under the transfer of technology agreement. However, altering the terms of the contract to benefit the Ambanis may result in the lost employment opportunities which could have benefited the unemployed youth of Karnataka.
Crowd held placards and chanted that “Modi is corrupt – Stop Deception and Corruption”, “End all Corruption – Down with BJP and Crony Capitalism”, “IOC condemns Corruption”, “Rafale, biggest Defense scam”, and “Vigilance should investigate Modi” .
Ravi Chopra, the chairman of the Finance Committee, John Joseph, Vice-President, Mr. Satish Sharma, Chairman of Punjab Chapter, Mr. Charan Singh, President of Haryana Chapter, Mrs. Shalu Chopra, chairperson of the Women’s forum also spoke. Mr. Devendra Vora of the Maharashtra Chapter honored the Chief Guest Dr. Yajnik with a Shawl.
My new book, THE PARADOXICAL PRIME MINISTER, is more than just a 400-page exercise in floccinaucinihilipilification, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said in a Twitter post that had everybody reaching for the dictionary.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday once again introduced Twitterati and the literati to a difficult, near unpronounceable word, describing his new book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “more than just a 400-page exercise in floccinaucinihilipilification”. According to the Oxford dictionary, the word is a noun and means “the action or habit of estimating something as worthless”.
Discussing the usage of the word, the dictionary adds, “Floccinaucinihilipilification is one of a number of very long words that occur very rarely in genuine use.” “My new book, THE PARADOXICAL PRIME MINISTER, is more than just a 400-page exercise in floccinaucinihilipilification. Pre-order it to find out why!” Tharoor said in a Twitter post that had everybody reaching for the dictionary.
The book itself was relegated to the background as the word got Twitterati talking.
“I get a feeling of floccinaucinihilipilification when I don’t know the meaning of floccinaucinihilipilification,” tweeted one of Tharoor’s followers.
“What my English teachers taught was a lie. Won’t order it as I cannot take out the dictionary everytime,” said another person in reply to Tharoor’s tweet.
The book is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.
According to the description of the book on Amazon, “Shashi Tharoor has stitched together a compelling portrait of this paradoxical figure (Narendra Modi). Never before has there been such a superbly written and devastatingly accurate account of the most controversial prime minister India has ever had.”
Tharoor’s love for the language and propensity for little heard and little used words is well known.
In May 2017, the MP from Thiruvananthapuram and author of 17 books got netizens talking when he described the coverage of the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar by a news channel as an “Exasperating farrago of distortions, misrepresentations and outright lies being broadcast by an unprincipled showman masquerading as a journalist”.
In December last year, he used the word ‘rodomontade’, meaning boastful or inflated talk or behaviour. “I choose my words because they are the best ones for the idea I want to convey, not the most obscure or rodomontade ones!” he tweeted. And in February this year, he introduced ‘troglodytes’ to the Twitter world in a response to Vinay Katiyar’s comment on the Taj Mahal.
“We can’t let these troglodytes destroy our country & everything beautiful in it,” he tweeted.
India and other G-4 countries have reaffirmed the need for an early reform of the UN Security Council, including the expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, to enhance the world body’s legitimacy, effectiveness, and representation.
The current composition of the Security Council does not reflect the changed global realities and a reform was essential to address today’s complex challenges, they said in a statement adopted at the end of their meeting in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
The meeting held in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, September 25th, hosted by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, was attended by Brazil Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira, German Foreign minister Heiko Maas, and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.
Hours after U.S President Donald Trump pilloried multilateralism in this address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the meeting called by India declared: “The G-4 Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism. G-4 Ministers stressed that adapting the United Nations to the contemporary needs of the 21st century necessarily required reforming the Security Council.”
Given the American disinterest in the UN and other multilateral bodies, China, one of the five permanent members of the UNSC, has slowed down the move to expand the body, according to diplomats tracking the process. The U.S. has no active opposition to the demand of these four countries to be included as permanent members of the UNSC, but the Trump administration has taken a benign approach to the reform.
In his speech, Trump attacked the UN Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court. “America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism,” Trump said in the speech that made sweeping accusations against multilateral institutions.
G-4 ministers noted that despite an overwhelming majority of UN member states supporting Security Council reform, the negotiations launched in 2009 have not produced substantive progress over the 10 years. “The G-4 Ministers emphasized the need to revitalize process of the Security Council reform, and they tasked their respective officials to consider the way forward to advance the reform,” the statement said.
While there is no active American support for reform Trump’s call for other countries to step up and share the responsibility of managing the UN might support the reform, even in the face of active Chinese opposition, according to an official. Germany and Japan contribute one fifth of the UN budget while the four countries together have one fifth of the world population. The ministers agreed that the “current composition of the UNSC does not reflect the changed global realities and they stressed that Security Council reform is essential to address today’s complex challenges.” They “reiterated their commitment to work to strengthen the functioning of the UN and the global multilateral order as well as their support for each other’s candidatures,” the statement said.
They reiterated their commitment to working with other countries to realise the shared vision of the overwhelming majority supporting the initiation of text-based negotiations in a democratic and transparent manner. In this regard, the ministers recalled the rules and procedures of the General Assembly and reiterated that the world body takes its decisions in a spirit of compromise and through the methods laid out in the UN Charter.
The Ministers emphasized that the G-4 would intensify dialogue with other member states, especially like-minded countries and groups, to achieve meaningful progress in the upcoming Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) session.
India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has called on world leaders at a peace summit at the UN General Assembly to work to end “conflicts, terror and hateful ideologies that are transcending borders”.
In her address on Monday last week, Swaraj named no country or entity but the call against terror has been a continuing and pressing theme for India at the global forum, as the world’s third-most affected country.
She had a busy week at the UN, as she arrived to join the General Assembly debate, holding nine bilateral meetings with counterparts from across the world, including Australia, Spain and Nepal.
“Our world is still beset with conflicts, terror and hateful ideologies that are transcending borders and impacting our lives,” Swaraj said at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit on Monday. “No one should be allowed to support terror or its perpetration.”
India has been at the forefront at the UN to call for an end to terrorism, and especially to prevent member nations from supporting terror and terrorist organizations as a tool of foreign policy. Joined by the US, Britain and France, India has been trying in recent years to persuade a committee appointed by the UN Security Council to designate Masood Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), as a global terrorist to prevent him travelling abroad and to force member nations to freeze his assets and deny him access to weapons.
Batting for Pakistan, where elements support and fund the JeM, China has repeatedly blocked these efforts.
“Our collective survival as a global family requires that the wisdom of pioneering leaders such as Mandela should remain as our moral compass,” Swaraj said at the summit. “We, Indians, consider Madiba (Mandela’s clan name used as a sign of respect) to be one of our own. We are proud to call him a Bharat Ratna — a Jewel of India.”
Among Swaraj’s bilateral meetings was one with foreign minister Marise Payne of Australia, a member of the Quadrilateral security dialogue. The Quad is a group of four nations with the US and Japan that is committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
“Strategic partnership gaining momentum!” external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted about the meeting. “Continuing our frequent engagement at the highest level.”
The themes at the United Nations General Assembly have been varied, but what’s been the main theme at the U.N. General Assembly this year? It’s multilateralism – whether to work closely together or go it alone as nations. In speech after speech pretty much everyone has been talking about it.
While the US has been pushing to end globalism, India has declared that as a firm believer in multilateralism, it was ready to take the lead on climate action. “The world needs a roadmap for finance and technology to achieve the goals set out in the Convention and its Paris Agreement in everyone’s collective interest,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said at a high-level meeting on climate change here on Wednesday.
As an example of India’s leadership, she cited the International Solar Alliance (ISA). Already 68 countries have signed on to the program launched with France that aims to mobilize technology and finance to lower unit costs, she said.
India looks forward to welcoming Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the first General Assembly of the ISA next week in New Delhi, she said. “Our commitment to combat climate change is rooted in our ethos, which considers Earth as Mother.”
Explaining India’s heritage, Sushma Swaraj said that ancient Indian tradition conceives the cosmos to comprise five basic elements, the panchbhutas, which are space, air, water, earth, and fire. “Trouble begins when the equilibrium (among them) is disturbed. From atmosphere to oceans our actions are leading us to unchartered territories with possibly disastrous consequences.”
For its part to fight climate change, she said India has set a target of generating 175 gigawatts of solar and wind energy by 2022 and has installed over 300 million LED bulbs saving $2 billion and 4 GW of electricity.
India is planning to reduce emission intensity of our GDP by 25 per cent over the 2005 levels by 2020 and by 33-35 per cent by 2030, she added.
At the meeting convened by Guterres on the sidelines of the General Assembly session, Sushma Swaraj was seated next to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and they were seen engaged in informal chats.
United States President Donald Trump on Monday, September 24, 2018 exchanged pleasantries with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and asked her to “give regards” from his end to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Both Trump and Swaraj interacted during a high-level event on counter-narcotics hosted by the US President at the United Nations on Monday. As Trump left the podium at the conclusion of the event, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warmly hugged Swaraj and introduced her to the president.
When Swaraj told the US president that she has brought greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump responded, “I love India, give my regards to my friend PM Modi,” Indian diplomatic sources told PTI. Swaraj attended the Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem chaired by Trump as the high-level week of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly began here.
The India-US cooperation is poised to enter a new phase with the United States of America having moved India up into tier-1 of the “Strategic Trade Authorisation” for unlicensed export of sensitive Defence items to India. This is generally reserved for western countries and key allies. Exception for India is, without doubt, a strong political statement by the US and India’s recognition as its major strategic and Defense partner. Clearly, new dynamics are emerging in our bilateral relations. Recent approval by the US for supply of armed Sea Guardian drones to India — which were hitherto sold only to NATO countries — also needs to be seen in that light.
India and the US are the leading democracies in the world. If one traces the evolution of relationship between the two countries at the people’s level, which is important given our democratic traditions, one finds growing resonance and positivity. Almost everyone in India admires the great values of liberty, enterprise and freedom in the US and aspires to send his children there to study and work. There is also considerable goodwill in the US towards India; according to the gallop poll last year, 74 per cent people in the US are favorably disposed towards India.
Ties between the countries too remain somewhat awkward, marked by periods of intense engagement with the promise of elevating relations to a new height – the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy called India a “leading global power”, not the “regional power” it was under President Barack Obama.
More recently, there has been a marked uptick in economic frictions, with Trump’s sharp rhetoric and protectionist measures, including tariffs on steel and aluminium, that have added to a long list of differences over market access and intellectual property rights.
There is also the threat of “secondary sanctions” that could curtail India’s ability to buy oil from Iran, its third largest supplier, and weapons such as the S-400 air defence systems from Russia, a long-time and trusted supplier of military hardware (though there is understanding of India’s concerns on this).
Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert with Wilson Center, said, “Despite the tensions of recent days, the relationship will be fine. There’s plenty of goodwill and trust to see it through the bumps in the road.”
India’s public sector lender Dena Bank reportedly has said, its board has approved the government proposal to merge the bank with Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Vijaya Bank. This is the first of the three state-run banks to approve their proposed amalgamation after it was announced by the government.
On September 10th, the government of India had proposed the merger of the three state-owned banks. The merged entity, comprising two relatively stronger banks and a weak one, will be the third-largest lender in India, after State Bank of India and HDFC Bank Ltd, with total business of ₹14.82 trillion.
A senior Dena Bank executive, who didn’t wish to be named, said the board meeting was the first step. The board’s decision will be forwarded to the government. “The investment bankers will be appointed only after the board meetings of the other banks take place,” said the executive.
Directors of Dena Bank also discussed the broad contours of setting up a steering committee and different coordination committees to work out the bank merger, said another senior bank official.
The committee is expected to be formed within 10 days after the respective boards of Vijaya Bank and Bank of Baroda approve the merger plan. The committee could call for bids from investment banks and look at selecting a banker to chalk out the merger strategy, the official added.
“We are pleased to inform you that the board of directors of the bank, at their meeting held on 24 September 2018, has considered and decided to recommend the amalgamation of our bank with Bank of Baroda and Vijaya Bank, in line with the department of financial services, ministry of finance, Government of India proposal, dated 17 September, 2018,” Dena Bank said in a filing to the exchanges.
The bank management had sent a letter to employees on 18 September, telling them that the merger is a confidence-building measure taken by the government of India, considering the financial position of the bank. Dena Bank’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 10.6% and its gross bad loans comprised 22.7% of its total assets as on 30 June. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had subsequently asked it to stop issuing new loans.
The Dena Bank management had also said in its letter that in the current state, where the banking industry is fragmented with 21 public sector banks, having limited differentiation, coupled with sub-optimal scale of operations and unhealthy competition, “consolidation is inevitable”.
“We would also like to state that Denaites should not have any apprehension on the amalgamation, since no employee will face any adverse service conditions,” said the letter signed by executive directors Rajesh Kumar Yaduvanshi and Ramesh S. Singh. Mint has seen a copy of the letter.
(Dallas, TX – September 11, 2018) Dallas Indian Arts Collective (DIAC), in partnership with Teamwork Arts, proudly presents a Fireside Chat with Indian politician, diplomat and author, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Center Stage, located at 111 Oak Lawn Avenue in the Design District. The conversation will be moderated by Sanjoy Roy, founder and producer of the world-renowned Jaipur Literature Festival.
Tickets are $50 and are available at www.diactexas.org. Both Tharoor & Roy will be available for one-on-one media interviews, upon request, from 5 to 6 p.m. Media RSVP toJitin@JingoMedia.com or 512.773.6679.
In a profound re-examination of Hinduism, one of the world’s oldest and greatest religious traditions, India’s leading public intellectual, Shashi Tharoor, lays out Hinduism’s origins and its key philosophical concepts, major texts and everyday Hindu beliefs and practices, from worship to pilgrimage to caste.
Tharoor is unsparing in his criticism of extremism and unequivocal in his belief that what makes India a distinctive nation with a unique culture will be imperiled if Hindu “fundamentalists”— the proponents of “Hindutva,” or politicized Hinduism—seize the high ground. In his view, it is precisely because Hindus form the majority that India has survived as a plural, secular democracy. A book that will be read and debated now and in the future, Why I Am a Hindu, written in Tharoor’s captivating prose, is a revelatory and original contribution to our understanding of the role of religion in society and politics.
PRAISE FOR WHY I AM A HINDU (available for pre-sale at the event):
“Shashi Tharoor is the most charming and persuasive writer in India. His new book is a brave and characteristically articulate attempt to save a great and wonderfully elusive religion from the certainties of the fundamentalists and the politicization of the bigots.”—William Dalrymple
“[O]ne of India’s most articulate liberals and a leading voice of those who reject the aggressively fundamentalist strains of Hindu nationalism.” —Victor Mallett, Financial Times. “A profound book on one of the world’s oldest and greatest religions.”—Hindustan Times
In the eighteenth century, India’s share of the world economy was as large as Europe’s. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannon, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalized racism, and caused millions to die from starvation.
British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial “gift”— from the railways to the rule of law—was designed in Britain’s interests alone. He goes on to show how Britain’s Industrial Revolution was founded on India’s deindustrialization, and the destruction of its textile industry. In this bold and incisive reassessment of colonialism, Tharoor exposes to devastating effect the inglorious reality of Britain’s stained Indian legacy.
PRAISE FOR INGLORIOUS EMPIRE (available for sale at the event):
“Rare indeed is it to come across history that is so readable and so persuasive.”Amitav Ghosh
“Tharoor’s impassioned polemic slices straight to the heart of the darkness that drives all empires. Forceful, persuasive and blunt, he demolishes Raj nostalgia,
laying bare the grim, and high, cost of the British Empire for its former subjects. An essential read.”— Nilanjana Roy, Financial Times
“His writing is a delight and he seldom misses his target … Tharoor should be applauded for tackling an impossibly contentious subject … he deserves to be read. Indians are not the only ones who need reminding that empire has a lot to answer for.”—Literary Review
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis praised the deepening ties between the world’s two largest democracies after their first joint meeting with their Indian counterparts in New Delhi, after The United States and India signed a major military communications agreement Thursday, September 6th, highlighting the growing partnership between the two nations as they seek to manage a rising China.
The agreement, which had been under discussion for more than a decade, will allow India to receive military-grade communications equipment from the United States and permit the exchange of real-time encrypted information on platforms used by the Indian and U.S. armed forces.
Pompeo and Mattis were in India for their first joint meeting with their Indian counterparts, a conclave aimed at showcasing areas of agreement between the world’s two largest democracies — while downplaying areas of tension.
The relationship between the United States and India has entered “a new era,” Pompeo said, adding that Thursday’s meeting was “symbolic of our increasingly close partnership.”
At a grand strategic level, both the United States and India are eager to develop closer ties. Each views the other as a useful partner in checking China’s ambitions in Asia and as an ally in counterterrorism efforts. Sales of U.S. military equipment to India have increased considerably over the past decade, and the United States is now India’s second-largest arms supplier.
The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement, signed Thursday by Mattis and his Indian counterpart, is a type of foundational accord that the United States uses as a framework for military cooperation with other countries. Washington has such agreements with fewer than 30 nations, Reuters news agency reported.
India had hesitated to conclude the agreement partly out of worries about the United States getting access to Indian military communications.
“If the Indian establishment is willing to move forward with politically tricky but operationally meaningful agreements, I take that as a good sign,” said Joshua White, who served as a senior adviser on South Asian affairs at the National Security Council under the Obama administration.
Indeed, India’s defense minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, sounded ebullient about the prospects for further collaboration. Defense cooperation “has emerged as the most significant dimension of our strategic partnership and a key driver of our overall bilateral relationship,” she said Thursday. The momentum in that arena has “imbued a tremendous positive energy” to U.S.-India relations, she said.
But in realms apart from defense, the relationship has progressed more haltingly. India is one of many targets in President Trump’s crusade to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, and the two countries have imposed tit-for-tat tariffs. The Trump administration is pushing India to increase its imports of U.S. goods and to drastically reduce its purchases of Iranian oil or face sanctions.
Thursday’s meeting was supposed to be held in Washington but was postponed twice by the Trump administration. Pompeo struck a conciliatory tone about the areas of friction between the two countries in remarks to reporters after a half-day of meetings in New Delhi.
Many countries, including India, “are in a place where it takes them a little bit of time to unwind” oil imports from Iran, he said. “We’ll work with them, I’m sure, to find an outcome that makes sense.” The Trump administration has withdrawn from a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and is reimposing nuclear-related sanctions that were lifted as part of the deal.
Pompeo also said the United States would work with India on another area of concern — India’s upcoming purchase of a Russian missile and air-defense system known as the S-400. The purchase will violate sanctions instituted by Congress on arms purchases from Russia, but lawmakers have allowed the possibility of a presidential waiver.
Vinod Prakash has distinct memories of delivering flyers during the freedom movement in India. He was only 9 years old but vividly recalls that the flyers were printed in a concealed room by his brother. In the same breath, he reveals how his sister-in-law (Bhabhi) along with his mother, 3 unmarried sisters and brother offered Satyagraha (peaceful protest) against the British government.
This is the kind of personal history the Founder of India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) Vinod Prakash, now 85, comes from. It would have a tremendous influence in shaping his character, sense of idealism and the life changing decisions he took from quitting a prestigious job at the World Bank, rushing relief measures to a quake hit area or refusing to pay a bribe to a government official.
The youngest of nine siblings, Vinod was born in Meerut, a city northeast of New Delhi. He belonged to a lower middle class business family that ran a publishing house and owned the Prakash Educational Store selling books and stationery.
Vinod’s wife and partner in every social service endeavor, Sarla was born in Bihar Sharif, and is the 7th among 8 siblings. A topper right through, Sarla did her Bachelors from Kanya Gurukul Mahavidyalaya in Dehradun and then joined the DAV College in Kanpur for a Masters in Political Science. While in college, she agreed to meet Vinod at her brother’s request. The two met over a cup of tea at the Kanpur railway station. She liked his “simplicity,” while he appreciated her zest for knowledge.
A brilliant student, Vinod completed his Bachelors in Science and Masters in Mathematics at a local college in Meerut after which he headed to the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata. He joined the Government of India’s Perspective Development Planning program which attracted several global experts from countries such as Australia, UK and the US. Vinod worked with all of them and they would good humoredly refer to him as “a walking Encyclopedia.”
Seeing his potential, they offered Vinod a Fellowship in their countries but he opted for the Ford Foundation Fellowship at MIT. In 1960, he and Sarla left for Boston where Sarla joined Boston University for a Masters in Mass Communication and Vinod pursued his Fellowship at MIT.
The couple returned to Delhi for a brief period where Vinod served as Joint Director of Monopolies and Enquiry Commission – an unusually high position for one so young. However they had to return to the US for treatment for their son who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Vinod secured a Graduate Scholarship at MIT and the family moved back to the US.
He then joined the World Bank and was also heading the India Relief Fund (IRF) for a decade. When the Fund’s purpose was served, Vinod approached the World Bank Executive for India – M. Narasimham and explained that he would like to use IRF to provide relief assistance. Given Vinod’s integrity, capability and sincerity, a special provision was made and from 1977-1987 Vinod took charge of the Fund. The organization swung into action with relief measures when the Morvi Dam collapsed in 1979 and the Bhopal Gas tragedy struck in 1984.
In 1988, almost 20 years later, Vinod retired from the World Bank only to begin working fulltime for IDRF – his nonprofit.
In 1993, when Latur in Maharashtra was crumbling under a 6.2 Richter scale earthquake, IDRF moved swiftly, raised $303,000 with the help of Houstonian Vijay Pallod, and volunteers landed in Latur to provide relief measures.
Sarla, likewise, shared her husband’s idealism. A school for deaf children in Kolkata moved her so much that she asked every friend to contribute $100 dollars. She also invited friends for a $25 sit down luncheon, served different Indian cuisines and raised $1000 dollars for many years. Vinod had jokingly told her he would match whatever she raised. She held him to his word and in her way demonstrated how even a homemaker can support a cause.
IDRF’s emphasis has always been “Putting power, not charity in the hands of the underprivileged.” Vinod’s experience as a developmental economist had taught him that people must be provided with skills to make them self-reliant versus giving handouts. Over time, the organization expanded its focus to 6 key areas: women empowerment, education, health, eco-friendly development, improving governance in urban and rural areas and relief and rehabilitation.
A tax exempt 501 (c) 3 public charity, IDRF’s transparency, accountability and financial health won it a coveted Platinum rating from America’s largest non-profit data resource GuideStar and a four out of four star rating from Charity Navigator for five consecutive years.
IDRF’s efficient use of resources helped the organization rush relief and rehabilitation measures to every major Indian disaster since 1991. When the earthquake struck in Gujarat in January 2001, Vinod describes the donations as “falling from the sky.” In the 1999 tragic Kargil war, the organization presented a check of Rs.51 lakhs to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. They raised $100,000 to aid victims of flooding in Uttarakhand and equipped temporary shelters with beds, mattresses, cooking utensils and solar lanterns.
Over the years, IDRF, in cooperation with local NGOs and partners, built 2500 toilets, focused on education of impoverished tribal girls from the north east, created access to medical services for 50,000 people in the remote villages of Assam and IDRF’s medical van played a key role in improving the lives of the tribal people and in diverting youth from Naxalism to social work.
IDRF also helped construct 127 check dams/ponds and 147 wells putting an end to the daily long trek for water. IDRF helped start the Savitri Soni Vidya Mandir Inter College in Meerut, UP with two teachers and two classrooms under a thatched roof. Today, the school has changed the educational landscape of the region and draws children from 30 adjoining villages.
Since 1988, IDRF has sent over $34 million to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka – and helped thousands of donors give back to their homeland.
This generosity and empathy is imbibed in the family. Vinod and Sarla’s elder son, Sanjay and to-be-daughter-in-law Renu donated all their wedding gifts to Seva Bharati, a residential school for tribal boys in the outskirts of Delhi. Vinod’s younger son Gautam followed suit when he got married. By the time Sarla’s 60th birthday and Vinod’s 75th birthday came around, their friends knew what to expect! All gifts went to NGO’s in India through IDRF.
In 2010, personal tragedy struck when an undiagnosed infection and a doctor’s negligence cost Vinod his vision. Today, he wistfully says he misses seeing the smiles on the faces of his grandchildren and visiting NGOs in India but reflects that the tragedy invigorated his purpose of a life of service.
Vinod and Sarla live in Maryland and their efforts continue to empower Indians in the remotest and poorest regions of India. Visit www.idrf.org for more information or call 301-704-0032
Celebrations have erupted in India after the supreme court unanimously ruled to decriminalise homosexual sex in a landmark judgment for gay rights. A five-judge bench at the country’s highest court ruled that a 160-year-old law banning sex “against the order of nature” amounted to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and was unconstitutional.
The judgment, after 24 years of legal challenges, triggered elation among LBGT Indians and their allies across the country and plans for all-night parties in nightclubs in major cities.
In Mumbai, people marched carrying a giant rainbow banner; in Bangalore they draped themselves in the LBGT flag and let off scores of balloons. In Delhi’s luxury Lalit hotel, run by one of the activists who fought Thursday’s case, and home to one of the city’s furtively gay-friendly nightclubs, staff danced in the lobby.
“Criminalising carnal intercourse under section 377 Indian penal code is irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary,” said the chief justice, Dipak Misra, in his decision, announced last weekout
Misra’s was one of four written judgments agreeing to scrap the ban. The rulings quoted Lord Alfred Douglas (“The love that dare not speak its name”), Leonard Cohen (“From the ashes of the gay/ democracy is coming”), William Shakespeare (“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”) and the German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (“I am what I am, so take me as I am”).
Misra said: “Social exclusion, identity seclusion and isolation from the social mainstream are still the stark realities faced by individuals today, and it is only when each and every individual is liberated from the shackles of such bondage … that we can call ourselves a truly free society.”
Another judge on the bench, Indu Malhotra, said: “History owes an apology to members of the community for the delay in ensuring their rights.”
The judges accepted estimates that up to 8% of India’s population – 104 million people – might be LGBT, one of the largest Tsuch populations in the world. The announcement of the decision drew loud cheers from a crowd gathered on a lawn outside the supreme court.
“Today is a historic day,” said Anand Grover, one of the lawyers who led the case. “The future is for everybody to be included, to realise their fundamental rights of equality, privacy, dignity et cetera. That is what the court has stated and given directions that this be made available and known to everybody.”
The decision appears to mark the end of a fraught path to legalising homosexuality in modern India. Cases filed in 1994 and 2001 bounced back and forth for years between courts reluctant to rule on the issue. The Delhi high court ruled against the ban in 2009 but was that overturned four years later by the supreme court.
Critics of the law say that although prosecutions under section 377 are rare, it was frequently used to blackmail gay and lesbian Indians and contributed to their marginalisation, while also inhibiting efforts to fight diseases such as HIV/Aids. One LGBT group, the Humsafar Trust, said its crisis response team in Mumbai had attended to 18 cases in the past two years of gay men who were being blackmailed by the police or by people threatening to report them to authorities.
It said it had received at least 52 reports of LGBT people experiencing harassment or discrimination in the workplace who were unable to report it because of the ban on homosexuality.
Lawyers working to overturn the supreme court’s 2013 decision had a breakthrough last year. “What changed everything was last year’s privacy judgment,” said Gautam Bhatia, a Delhi-based lawyer and legal scholar. “In August 2017 the supreme court held there was a fundamental right to privacy, and as part of that, five judges said the 2013 decision was wrong. “It was unprecedented. The judges commented on a completely unconnected case to say it was wrong. But once they said it, with the imprimatur of a full bench behind it, section 377 was gone, implicitly if not formally.”
Swami Agnivesh, a Hindu cleric who supported the abolition of section 377, said the Vedas, the scriptures that undergird many Hindu beliefs, contained nothing that barred same-sex relationships.
“According to the Vedas, all human beings constitute one family, irrespective of what country they belong to or their skin colour,” he said outside the supreme court. “If two adults decide to have according to their sexual orientation, to have a relationship in private, why should anyone have an objection?”
Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale visited Russia last week to follow up on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin’s informal summit in May and to lobby for India’s Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership.
NSG is an elite club of countries that deals with the trade in nuclear technology and fissile materials. India is making a renewed bid for getting NSG membership. It expects Moscow to help India get it.
The 48-member NSG works on the principle of consensus for admitting new members. India has not signed the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for an entry into the group.
But New Delhi has maintained it has impeccable non-proliferation credentials that had enabled the country to get a waiver from the grouping to operationalise the India-US nuclear deal and get into nuclear commerce.
There was no Indian statement on Gokhale’s visit on August 24. But Russians said deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov held consultations with him in Moscow.
“The officials discussed the main multilateral export control regimes, including the Nuclear Suppliers Group, cooperation in the framework of BRICS and other topical issues of mutual interest on the international agenda,’’ a Russian statement said.
The NSG is the only major export control regime India is not part of.
India became a part of the Australia Group in January 2018, the Missile Technology Control Regime in June 2016 and the Wassenaar Arrangement in December 2017.
Putin is expected to meet Modi in October for their annual summit. India is expected to take up the NSG membership with the US again during the two plus two dialogue between foreign and defence ministers of the two countries on September 6.
“The issue of getting NSG membership is an important issue for the government. Becoming member of the export control regimes remained the Modi government’s key foreign policy priority,” said an official. “We are now part of three out three export control regimes. That says a lot about India’s non-proliferation track record as well.”
Experts said the improvement in India-China ties could change Beijing’s stance against India’s NSG membership.
“There has been a perceptible change in the bilateral ties after Modi’s meeting with President Xi Jinping in Wuhan on April 27 and 28. So if China withdraws its objection, India could be a member of NSG,” said former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh.
A meeting between external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and her new Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi is “possible” in the US on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly session next month, a media report said on Monday.
This could be the first ministerial-level bilateral meeting since Prime Minister Imran Khan became Pakistan’s 22nd prime minister on August 18.
“Such a meeting (between Swaraj and Qureshi) is possible but no decision (has been taken) yet,” Dawn news quoted a senior Pakistani diplomat in the US as saying.
The external affairs ministry has not announced any such meeting between Swaraj and Qureshi.
In a letter to Khan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed India’s resolve to build good neighbourly relations between the two countries.
In July, Modi had telephoned Khan and congratulated him on his party’s victory in the general elections and expressed hope that both countries will work to open a new chapter in bilateral ties.
The 73rd United Nations General Assembly opens on September 18 in New York.
Swaraj will address the annual high-level UNGA session on September 29, according to the provisional list of speakers released by the UN.
Pakistan is reluctant to confirm its agenda for the UNGA meeting as it is still undecided who will represent the country at the world body, the report said.
Media reports in Islamabad has indicated that Khan may skip the UNGA as part of his efforts to cut down on government expenses. However, several Pakistani diplomats and political commentators have urged him to reconsider his decision.
Pakistani officials feel the prime minister Khan’s presence in New York will add a new dimension to an India-Pakistan meeting, even though he will not participate in minister-level talks, the report said.
Dawn news, quoting diplomatic sources in Washington, said Islamabad would like to see how productive this meeting could be, particularly because India has already said that it is not ready to resume bilateral or formal talks with Pakistan.
They point out that this week, India strongly rejected a suggestion that in his letter to Khan, Prime Minister Modi had expressed interest on resuming talks.
The Indian reaction forced Pakistan to clarify that the suggestion was a media interpretation of the letter and Foreign Minister Qureshi, in his comments on Modi’s letter, never said that “the Indian Prime Minister had made an offer of a dialogue”, the report said.
Last week, a key US official said America welcomes Khan’s statement emphasising the importance of peace on both sides of Pakistan’s borders.
Rupee dives to new closing low against US dollar
The Indian rupee on Monday retreated sharply to hit a record ..
Indian Embassy celebrates India’s Independence Day
India’s 72nd Independence Day was celebrated at the Embassy Residence in Washington D.C. with a flag-hoisting ceremony followed by the singing of the Indian National Anthem.
Thereafter, Ambassador Navtej Sarna read out President Ram Nath Khovind’s address to the nation and handed out prizes to the children who participated in singing of patriotic songs and speech competition on the topic “India of My Dreams.”
Sarna then addressed the guests and read out the Indian president’s address to the nation. He also handed out prizes to the Indian American children who participated in the singing of patriotic songs and a speech competition on the topic, “India of My Dreams,” organized by the Embassy as part of the India@70 celebrations.
Following the prizes, a brief cultural program involving a rendition of patriotic songs by school children was also organized to mark the occasion.
Indians everywhere commemorate the country’s independence from British rule, a long, non-violent struggle headed by Mahatma Gandhi, on August 15th. In Stamford, CT, Mayor David Martin hosted the 72nd Indian Independence celebration at the Stamford Government Center. The Connecticut Chapter of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO-CT) organized the event on Sunday, August 12th. Indian Consul Jaideep Chola, who is also the Head of Chancery, was the chief guest who delivered the Independence Day message emphasizing the importance of India’s independence and its adoption of democracy.
“While your adopted land is the oldest and most powerful democracy in the world, India too has the distinction of having the largest democracy with diversities like religion, caste, creed, region and language and this day is celebrated by every Indian in all parts of India,” Said Chola.
Chola said that India in a short span achieved distinction of competing with the most powerful economies in the world and recently, India has overtaken France as the sixth largest economy in the world.
“We have seen a fascinating transformation that has taken place in India – U.S. relations in the last several decades with deepening of our relationship based on our shared values of democracy, universal human rights, tolerance and pluralism, equal opportunities for all citizens and rule of law, and our bilateral relations have now developed into a Global Strategic Partnership” Chola continued. The U.S. has been our foremost partner, not only in trade and investment, but also in technology, knowledge and development.
The program began with the singing of a patriotic song, followed by a welcome address given by GOPIO-CT President Anita Bhat who gave an account of what GOPIO-CT is doing for the community and the local society. Program Coordinator Shelly Nichani introduced and thanked Mayor Martin for hosting the event. Mayor Martin spoke on the diversity of the City of Stamford and said it enriched the whole city.
Congressman Jim Himes compared the American Independence to India’s Independence, the difference being India got its independence by non-violent methods.
Cultural programs depicting the rich culture of India were performed by children of Indian origin representing the vibrant culture of India.
More than 700 Indian Americans gathered at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Plaza in Irving, Texas to celebrate India’s 72nd Independence Day on Aug. 15, where Dr. Prasad Thotakura, MGMNT Chairman hoisted the Indian flag in the midst of thundering applause of cheering crowds.
Among those who attended were Vice-Consul Ashok Kumar from the Consulate General of India in Houston, Irving City Mayor Rick Stopfer, Sunnyvale City Mayor Saji George, Coppell City Councilmember Biju Mathew and former Director of Irving City Parks and Recreation Ray Cerda.
“We pay rich tribute to all freedom fighters and national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Chandra Sekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and many more who surrendered and sacrificed everything in attaining independence from British rule,” Thotakura said at the gathering.
“We all need to realize that hatred, bigotry, outrage, racism will create an enormous gap among the mankind. Only patience, alliance, tolerance and coherence will bring all people together,” he added.
Rao Kalvala, MGMNT Secretary, said that over the last 70 years, a lot of progress has been made in India and Indians all over the world must unite to progress it further.
Mayor Stopfer expressed that he is very proud and delighted to have many Indian Americans live in Irving City and appreciated all their great contributions for the betterment of the city.
“Irving City always welcomes many immigrants and city officials are always there to help and build a strong relationship with the Indian American community,” Stopfer said.
Sunnyvale City Mayor George said that 242 years back United States declared its Independence and when you compare that to India, you realize how young its democracy is yet it is the world’s largest democracy.
“India got its independence through nonviolence and civilian disobedience, and we are all proud to celebrate India’s Independence Day in the land of the U.S.,” he said.
Kamal Kaushal, MGMNT Co-chair, stated that it was very joyful to see a huge crowd near Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial to celebrate India’s Independence Day.
The unthinkable is now being predicted. Prime Minister Modi could be on a treacherous wicket in 2019. The Lokniti-CSDS-ABP Mood of the Nation Survey published a fortnight back, threw up a faint prospect of the ruling party’s defeat. A few of its top-line findings are astonishingly contrarian.
Modi’s government is about as unpopular right now as the UPA was in July 2013, nine months before its electoral debacle in 2014 – “nearly half (47 percent) of the total 15,859 respondents are of the opinion that the Modi government does not merit another opportunity”.
While minorities like Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs are overwhelmingly against the government, the majority Hindu community is virtually split down the middle over its support/opposition.
Over the last 12 months, “BJP’s popularity is down seven percentage points… if this declining trend continues then the ruling party may well dip below the 30 percent mark in the next few months”
Congress could “net about one in four votes (25 percent) nationally”; and the erstwhile UPA would secure 31 percent of the votes across the country.
Remember, this does not include the Congress’s new-found allies, which are Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, and HD Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular), which could add another 11 percentage points to the ‘new UPA’s’ tally.
One conclusion, however improbable, seems equally inescapable: if the above numbers pan out, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is staring at a defeat in 2019.
Here, then, are the contours of our ‘real-world sample’. After the Gujarat Assembly Elections in December 2017, we’ve had ten parliamentary and 21 assembly by-elections, spread over 15 states, in which over 1.25 crore people have actually cast their votes for nearly 19 political parties.
While the following may still be erroneous or turn out to be exaggerated, they certainly enjoy a stronger ring of truth after the by-elections’ polling data:
Prime Minister Modi is now only marginally ahead of Rahul Gandhi in voter support; his 17 percentage points lead has fallen to only 10 percentage points.
An equal 43 percent like both Modi and Rahul; and since fewer people dislike Rahul, his ‘net likeability’ is actually better than Modi’s.
Rahul has also managed to convince nearly 30 percent of his ‘naysayers’ into becoming ‘supporters’; conversely, Modi has converted 35 percent of his earlier supporters into opponents.
Rahul’s biggest gains have come among middle-aged and elderly voters (those with a higher propensity to go out and vote); Modi’s fall is sharpest among middle and lower class voters.
Confirming the above trend, Congress is recovering quicker in towns and small cities; and beginning to show early traction in big cities.
Shockingly, over 60 percent feel that Modi’s government is corrupt; over 50 percent have heard about Nirav Modi’s scam, and two-thirds of them are dissatisfied with the actions taken, or not taken.
Congress has staged a remarkable recovery amongst Dalits and Adivasis, nosing ahead of the BJP by 1-2 percentage points.
Farmers are deserting Modi at an alarming rate—a fall of 12 percentage points over one year—and the bulk of these gains are accruing to the non-Congress regional parties.
Except for the North, Modi has lost support everywhere, most sharply in South, West and Central India.
The Goods and Services Tax is becoming an albatross around Modi’s neck, its unpopularity getting worse, from 24 percent to 40 percent (January to May).
And this one is impossible to fathom: there isn’t a single issue on which the Modi government is rated positively now!
Indians everywhere commemorate the country’s independence from British rule, a long, non-violent struggle headed by Mahatma Gandhi, on August 15th. In Stamford, CT, Mayor David Martin hosted the 72nd Indian Independence celebration at the Stamford Government Center. The Connecticut Chapter of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO-CT) organized the event on Sunday, August 12th. Indian Consul Jaideep Chola, who is also the Head of Chancery, was the chief guest who delivered the Independence Day message emphasizing the importance of India’s independence and its adoption of democracy.
“While your adopted land is the oldest and most powerful democracy in the world, India too has the distinction of having the largest democracy with diversities like religion, caste, creed, region and language and this day is celebrated by every Indian in all parts of India,” Said Chola.
Chola said that India in a short span achieved distinction of competing with the most powerful economies in the world and recently, India has overtaken France as the sixth largest economy in the world.
“We have seen a fascinating transformation that has taken place in India – U.S. relations in the last several decades with deepening of our relationship based on our shared values of democracy, universal human rights, tolerance and pluralism, equal opportunities for all citizens and rule of law, and our bilateral relations have now developed into a Global Strategic Partnership” Chola continued. The U.S. has been our foremost partner, not only in trade and investment, but also in technology, knowledge and development.
The program began with the singing of a patriotic song, followed by a welcome address given by GOPIO-CT President Anita Bhat who gave an account of what GOPIO-CT is doing for the community and the local society. Program Coordinator Shelly Nichani introduced and thanked Mayor Martin for hosting the event. Mayor Martin spoke on the diversity of the City of Stamford and said it enriched the whole city.
Congressman Jim Himes compared the American Independence to India’s Independence, the difference being India got its independence by non-violent methods.
Cultural programs depicting the rich culture of India were performed by children of Indian origin representing the vibrant culture of India.
An estimated 42,000 people attended the 14th annual India Day Parade hosted by the Indian Business Association (IBA) on Aug. 12 in Edison, New Jersey.
Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher was the grand marshal for the parade. Kher was joined by TV Journalist Richa Anirudh as well as Bollywood actors Niharica Raizada and Prachi Tehlan, along with elected officials and candidates from across New Jersey including Congressman Frank Pallone, Middlesex County Freeholders, Senators Vin Gopal, Patrick Diegnan and Sam Thompson, and many more.
The parade, which made its way along Oak Tree Road, beginning in Edison and ending in Iselin, included 18 floats, a marching band, and a number of walking groups.
Elected officials and candidates from across New Jersey including Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J), State Senators Vin Gopal, Patrick Diegnan, and Sam Thompson participated as well as elected officials from Hudson, Passaic, Essex, Bergen, Middlesex and Monmouth counties and Middlesex County freeholders. A cultural program followed the parade at the review stand in Iselin.
“This whole event was spectacular,” Kher said. “It is great to see India’s culture, history, and tradition is alive and well across the ocean.”
Edison Mayor Thomas Lankey, Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac, Edison Council President Ajay Patil, Edison Councilman Michael Lombardi spoke at the event, as did the president of the IBA Dhiren Amin and the group’s chairman Chandrakant Patel.
Edison Mayor Thomas Lankey was effusive in his praise of the parade and IBA. “The IBA’s great. The organization gets businesses involved, but they do more than that, they also get the community involved” he said.
Edison Council President Ajay Patil said, “Every year the parade gets larger and draws more people to Edison. We are lucky to have the IBA organize such a wonderful event.”
“The IBA does so much good for this town. All the IBA members that I know and have met are wonderful,” Edison Councilman Michael Lombardi added. “This group organizes the best events. Bharat Mata Ki Jai,” said Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac.
“We were graced with beautiful weather, a wonderful Grand Marshall, and the support of over 100 community based organizations. I also want to thank all of our sponsors, especially ShopRite, the title sponsor of the event,” said Dhiren Amin, President of IBA. Over 300 volunteers worked tirelessly to put the event together.
Hundreds of marchers, many dressed in the orange, green and white colors of India’s tricolor flag, will stream down Hillside Avenue in Queens on Saturday, Aug. 11, in the third annual India Day Parade organized by The Floral Park – Bellerose Indian Merchants Association.
Several floats, scores of local performing groups and even a trio of Bollywood stars are expected to join the parade stepping off at 2 p.m. just across the city line in Floral Park, Queens. The parade, held annually on the weekend before India Independence Day’s official commemoration on Aug. 15, ends at Padavan-Preller Complex Field in Bellerose, Queens.
The parade “is bringing everyone together on one day to celebrate India’s Independence,” says Hemant Shah of Floral Park, executive vice president of parade sponsor the Floral Park-Bellerose Indian Merchants Association, which represents 100 Hillside Avenue businesses.
Though rain was in the forecast, it did not dampen the spirit of the participants from the more than 25 organizations including the NYPD horse mounted police, NYPD Desi Ground units, Fire Truck with Fire Marshalls Color Guard, Veterans Color Guard, the American marching band and much more.
The parade started at the corner of 263rd Street and Hillside Avenue, proceeding towards 236th Street and ended in Padavan – Preller field.
The event featured a Pledge of Allegiance by Supreme Court Judge, the singing of the American and Indian National Anthems as well as speeches by Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul along with other elected officials and dignitaries.
Speeches were also given by the executive committee of the Floral Park – Bellerose Indian Merchants Association including Chairman Subhash Kapadia, President Kirpall Singh, Executive Vice President Hemant Shah and Vice President Koshy.
“It is a celebration of freedom and a moment of pride,” says Bina Sabapathy of Plainview, a member of the India Association of Long Island. “We are celebrating the day in 1947 when we won our freedom after 200 years of British rule,” Sabapathy explained.
Celebrating India’s 72nd Independence Day gives us an opportunity to reflect on where India is today. There are many achievements the 1.2 Billion people of India are so proud of. Seventy two years ago, when India achieved freedom from the colonial British Rule, India’s thousands of years of growth was at a stand still. Freedom with it also brought division of the nation in the name of Religion, mistrust, war, crimes, poverty, and fear.
Today, India is the world’s largest democracy, one of its most diverse societies, and the economy with growth potential that could rival China’s. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes the $2.6 trillion economy of India is an elephant that is starting to run. Its latest report on India not only reaffirms that the country is “again one of the world’s fastest-growing economies” – accounting for about 15 percent of global growth – but also that India it could be what China previously was for the world economy.
“Real GDP growth is estimated to have bottomed out after the dual shocks of demonetization and disruptions from GST implementation. Growth was 6.7 per cent in 2017/18 and is projected to increase to 7.3 per cent in 2018/19,” said the IMF in its 2018 assessment of the Indian economy.
Seven decades after independence, the miracle of Indian democracy continues to shine like a beacon of hope for those who cherish freedom with its foundations in basic human values. The democratic consciousness of independent India is a reflection of the legacy of our struggle for independence from colonial rule.
Some three decades ago an eminent sociologist called Indian democracy “a secular miracle of the modern world and a model for other developing countries.” On the global stage, India has gained a lot of significance. Decisions are carried out taking India into consideration. Indian companies are going global and competing with other MNCs on equal grounds. Indians shine around the world, making their mark all across and in almost every field.
India is a plural society of immense diversity with different social, religious, cultural and linguistic expressions. It has almost as many ethnic groups as the entire African continent. The Indian Constitution recognizes 22 languages and India is home to over a hundred dialects. The value of currency units is written in 17 different scripts. Adherents of all major religions of the world are present in our citizen body. Religious minorities constitute 19.4 percent of our people.
However, as political and social scientists say, India, in the midst of rapid growth and advancements in almost every field, continues to remain one of the poorest and unequal, with hundreds of millions mired in deep poverty and limited by a rigid caste system that constrains social mobility. The Narendra Modi-led government’s turn to Hindu nationalism has sharpened sectarian tensions and raised questions over the rule of law, dividing the nation on the basis of religion.
We have been facing communalism and regionalism, destroying the social fabric of our tolerant Indian society. Corruption is always a perennial problem with us. Illiteracy and health issues, though being attended to, are still matters which need be dealt more efficiently.
India needs to be a more just and inclusive society, where people of all faiths, caste, and sections of society enjoy and experience equal opportunity to flourish, to grow, and achieve their individual dreams. A strict and just government with fair politics is needed. The political parties are not elected for their adherence to certain castes or creeds, but because they respect and serve the entire population and work towards the greater good of the nation as a whole. This can be possible only if more and more responsible people come out together, working towards strengthening the democracy and the pluralistic nature of the Indian society. More youngsters and people with broader vision for the nation need to join politics and commit to serve the nation. Then only can we proudly say that “Yes! India has developed.”
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.
In eastern Indian state, Meghalaya, a remote village, Mawlynnong, has made headlines around the world. In this village, tidying up is a ritual that everyone – from tiny toddlers to toothless grannies – takes very seriously. This small, 600-odd person town in the Meghalaya region is renowned as the cleanest village in India.
Mawlynnong was first declared the cleanest village in Asia in 2003 and the cleanest in India in 2005 by Discover India magazine. More recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged Mawlynnong as the cleanest village in Meghalaya and a model for the rest of the county in a 2015.
This claim to fame stuck, and the village has become a regional legend and source of pride. Walk in, and all the typical rubbish is mysteriously, miraculously absent. So how do you get a community to become a model of cleanliness and sanitation in a country where this has long been a problem? The answer, it seems, is to start them young.
There’s normal daily cleaning for children and adults, then extra on Saturdays when the village leader assigns out “social work” to be completed for the good of the town. Eleven-year-old Deity Bakordor starts her day around 6:30 am. Her chore, shared with all the village kids, is the beautification of the town. Teasel brooms in hand, the children storm the streets, sweeping up dead leaves and garbage before school. The children are also responsible for emptying the rubbish bins – which are surprisingly pretty, hand-woven, cone-shaped baskets scattered throughout town – and separating organic waste from burnable trash. Leaves and other biodegradable waste are buried (and eventually used as fertilizer); everything else is driven far from the village and burned. There are also dedicated town gardeners who maintain riots of public plants and flowers that line the footpaths, making a walk here incredibly pleasant.
The villagers are of the Khasi people, a traditionally matrilineal society. Perhaps, with women in dominant roles in society, keeping the home and environment orderly also takes on a greater role, Adhikari and I speculated. “We are Christians from more than 100 years back, and cleaning is learned from our elders,” said housewife Sara Kharrymba. “We pass on these skills, from me to my children, from them to their children.” In other words, this isn’t habit, it’s a long-time tradition. Kharrymba’s own day begins by cleaning their entire compound, she said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reaffirmed India’s commitment to multilateralism, international trade and a rules-based world order as he participated in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit in South Africa.
Modi, who arrived in Johannesburg on the last leg of his Africa tour, presented the country statement of India at the BRICS leaders’ closed session.
“At the session with fellow BRICS leaders, I shared my thoughts on various global issues, the importance of technology, skill development and how effective multilateral cooperation creates a better world,” Modi tweeted. He also met Chinese President Xi Jinping, who earlier urged fellow leaders of the BRICS emerging economies to “reject protectionism outright”.
Modi along Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Michel Temer and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa posed for a group photograph on the second day of their meeting. The leaders reiterated their resolve to fight terrorism, but the names of terrorist organisations including the Pakistan-based ones were missing from the joint declaration.
The Xiamen Declaration of the last BRICS summit, which was celebrated last year as a victory for Indian diplomacy, had named Pakistan-based terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
“We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever committed and by whomsoever. We urge concerted efforts to counter terrorism under the UN auspices on a firm international legal basis and express our conviction that a comprehensive approach is necessary to ensure an effective fight against terrorism,” the joint statement said. “We recall the responsibility of all States to prevent financing of terrorist networks and terrorist actions from their territories.”
In his address, PM Modi said India wants to work with the nations on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and called for sharing among them the best practices and policies in the area. The 4IR is the fourth major industrial era since the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. Modi said technological innovations can help enhance service delivery and productivity levels. “High-skilled but temporary work will be the new face of employment. There will be radical changes in industrial production, design, and manufacturing,” he said.
In his address, Xi called for a concerted effort by global institutions such as the United Nations, the G7 and the World Trade Organization to fight unilateralism and protectionism. Xi also called for dialogue to settle disputes on global trade, underlining remarks he made at the opening day, urging a rejection of unilateralism in the wake of tariff threats by US President Donald Trump. Trump’s warnings have given the BRICS nations fresh impetus to enhance trade cooperation, and their leaders found a collective voice championing global trade at the summit.
India stood a poor 100th among 119 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) that was released in October last year.
Decrying persisting malnutrition in the country at “unacceptable levels”, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday last week called for making agriculture nutrition-sensitive to address the problem.
There is no improvement despite the efforts taken by successive governments at Centre and in various states, which is “quite distressing”, he said while addressing the National Consultation on Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition organised by MS Swaminathan Research Foundation.
“A considerable section of the population in our country suffers from malnutrition consisting of under-nutrition, hidden hunger caused by micronutrient deficiencies and obesity…We must make agriculture nutrition-sensitive and it is critical that we explicitly make this vital connection between agriculture and nutrition,” he said, as per a release.
His remarks came against the backdrop of three sisters that were found to have starved to death in east Delhi and doctors held severe malnutrition as the main cause for their deaths.
India stood a poor 100th among 119 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) that was released in October last year.
Naidu further said the central government has adopted The National Nutrition Strategy, which recognises the imperative need to have a relook at the agriculture policy.
He said Indian agriculture must diversify food production by moving away from mono-cropping of major cereals to a system that integrates a variety of food items including small millets, pulses, fruits, and vegetables.
“Millets like jowar, bajra, ragi and little millets like kutki, kodo, sawa, kangni and cheena are known to be nutrient-rich. Since cultivation of millets requires less water, efforts must be to promote their cultivation as part of crop rotation,” he said.
Naidu said that government, civil society, scientists and researchers must share knowledge and expertise with farmers to make agriculture sustainable and nutrition-rich.
State-owned carrier Air India has sought Rs 2121 crore ($309 million) of additional equity from the government for the fiscal year 2018-19 to make pending payments to its vendors, a source at the airline told Reuters on Monday.
Air India owes about Rs 1800 crore to its vendors, including lessors and banks that have demanded payment from the beleaguered airline, after the government’s unsuccessful efforts to find a buyer for its 76% stake.
The airline expects to receive the additional equity within the next 7 to 10 days after which it will be able to clear all dues, the source said, adding that this is above the 6.5 billion rupees it has already received for the year.
India last month shelved a plan to sell a majority stake in Air India due to lack of interest from bidders, in the latest setback in its ambitious efforts to rescue the ailing airline that has survived for years using taxpayer funds.
The government will continue to support the loss-making airline’s financial requirements while it works on alternatives, Junior Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha had said, without giving a specific timeline for a new plan.
Three banks and two aircraft leasing firms have served default notices on Air India over the last few weeks, the Business Standard newspaper reported earlier on Monday, raising concerns about the state-owned carrier’s finances and credit-worthiness.
San Francisco, United States-based Wells Fargo Trust Services and UAE’s state-owned Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) have sent letters of demand for pending rental payments, the newspaper said, citing sources
A DAE spokesman told Reuters that they were not owed $10 million by Alliance Air, and that they had not issued a notice of default to Alliance. Alliance Air is a unit of Air India that operates regional flights to smaller towns and cities in India. Wells Fargo could not be reached outside usual US business hours.
Three lenders from a 22-bank consortium have also written to Air India raising concerns that the company is turning into a non-performing asset, Business Standard said. The three banks are Standard Chartered Bank, Dena Bank and Bank of India Ltd.
The airline has received a notice from banks for non-payment of dues that is being looked into by the government, the source confirmed. A Standard Chartered spokesman in India declined to comment. Bank of India and Dena Bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Indian Overseas Congress, USA will be holding a one-day national conference on this coming Saturday, July 28, 2018, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near JFK airport (138-10 135th Ave, Jamaica, NY 11436). Delegates from across the country are expected to attend. Mr. Sam Pitroda, Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, AICC will be presiding over the conference.
The purpose the conference is to bring together like-minded people from around the country who believe in the values and principles of the Congress party that gained independence for India and helped to build the nation into one of the top economic powerhouses in the world based on a secular democracy that preserved freedom, liberty and justice for each and every citizen regardless of the caste, color, regional or linguistic differences.
The conference will be discussing the current challenges to the democracy in India and exploring the possibilities of strengthening the Overseas Congress Units in the U.S and expanding the cooperation between the NRIs and their motherland. The meeting will also be seeking inputs from the delegates as to how to strengthen the pillars of democracy in India through knowledge sharing in social media and via volunteerism with the upcoming 2019 elections in mind.
Speakers at the meeting include Mr. Sam Pitroda, Dr. Surinder Malhotra, George Abraham, Shudh Prakash Singh, Mohinder Singh Gilzian, Rajinder Dichpally, Harbachan Singh and AICC secretaries Himanshu Vyas and Madhu Yaskhi.
Those who are interested in attending the conference are urged to register at http://www.inocusa.org or call 917-544-4137 or 646- 646-732-5119 or 917-749-8769 for further information.
Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India has been organizing Know India Programmes (KIPs) for the Indian Diaspora youth who have never visited India before. The purpose of conducting KIP is to engage and make the students and young professionals of Indian Diaspora feel a sense of connect with their ancestral roots, to be motivated and inspired by the transformational changes taking place in India and to give them an exposure to various facets of contemporary India’s forms of art, heritage and culture.
Since the current KIP allows participation of young Diaspora representing 3rd generation onwards who have never visited India before and in view of the growing popularity of KIPs, Ministry has been receiving requests from various Indian Associations for organisation of KIPs with no such conditions attached to enable more PIO Diaspora youth to be part of KIP.
In order to meet the aspirations of the Diaspora community, it has been decided to arrange a Know India Programme on Self Financing Basis on the following terms: i) The KIP will be available to PIO/OCI card holders in the age group 18-35 years irrespective of their generation and previous visits to India. ii) The Programme will be organised by the same Event Management Company (EMC) that is approved for the regular KIPs and at the same rates and conditions.
The participants will have to bear the total cost of international and domestic travel, boarding and lodging, management fee of the EMC, international medical insurance, etc. iii) Air-tickets to/ from India and international medical insurance will be purchased directly by the participants. The logistic arrangements in India will be made by the EMC on payment basis and the money will be payable directly by the participants to the EMC. iv) Ministry will identify one or two state(s) to be visited by the participants, draw a structured programme schedule in coordination with the EMC and coordinate with the organisations concerned for waiver of entrance fee to various historic sites. v) Other conditions like provision of gratis visa by the Mission, orientation programme at FSI, deployment of a liaison officer with the KIP group, etc. will remain the same as for a regular KIP.
The portal www.kip.gov.in enables Indian-origin youth to apply online for KIP programmes. In the Application Form, the applicant should indicate his preference for each KIP, in the order or priority. Ministry will attempt to allot the first preference of each applicant to the extent possible. For more details please visit www.kip.gov.in
Spiritual leader Jashan Pahlajrai Vaswani, popularly known as Dada JP Vaswani died at his abode in Sadhu Vaswani Mission in Pune on Thursday morning, just 21 days before his 100th birthday on August 2.
The Mission in a tweet, said, “0901hrs IST July 12 2018, on sacred Guruvaar day, our Beloved Revered Dada J.P. Vaswani passes on, from the seen to the unseen. Ever-loving, ever-giving, may he continue to bless us from the beyond.”
“Dadaji breathed his last at 9.01 a.m. today. He was 99. His body has been kept for final darshan at his ashram, Sadhu Vaswani Mission,” the spokesperson said.
Dada Vaswani was admitted to a city-based private hospital a few days ago and was discharged on Wednesday night. Known for his ardent promotion of vegetarianism and animal rights, his mortal remains will be kept at the Mission till 2pm on Friday for followers to pay their last respect.
The Mission was planning a grand celebration on Vaswani’s 100th birthday in August that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to attend. “I am saddened beyond words on the passing away of Dada JP Vaswani. He lived for society and served the poor and needy with compassion. Blessed with immense wisdom, he was passionate about educating the girl child, cleanliness and furthering peace as well as brotherhood,” Modi said in a tweet.
Born on August 2, 1918, to a Sindhi couple Pahlajrai and Krishnadevi Vaswani of Hyderabad (Sindh) in undivided India, Dada Vaswani – as he was revered by the community – was one among seven children – three sisters and four brothers.
He headed the Sadhu Vaswani Mission – founded by his uncle and spiritual Guru, the late Sadhu T.L. Vaswani in Hyderabad in 1929, which has now branched out all over the world. Following his demise in 1966, Sadhu J.P. Vaswani was anointed his successor and he carried forward the legacy of his Guru’s Mission globally.
A proponent of world peace, vegetarianism, girls’ education, compassion for the poor, among others, Sadhu Vaswani addressed the British House of Commons, Global Forum of Spiritual Leaders in Oxford, World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, Millenium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the UN, and Parliament of World Religions in South Africa,.
He initiated a global peace initiative – The Moment of Calm, when people observe two-minutes of silence to forgive all, on August 2, with eminent personalities like the Dalai Lama joining it. Among various national and international honours conferred on Sadhu Vaswani were the U Thant Peace Award in 1998, jointly with Pope John Paul II.
India’s iconic Taj Mahal has been threatened in recent weeks by insect poo – environmentalists say that bugs from the polluted Yamuna river nearby are invading the monument, leaving greenish-black patches of waste on its pristine white marble walls. Over the years, the 17th Century monument has been threatened by pollution, unabashed construction, a crematorium and even bombs.
India’s Supreme Court has criticised the government for what it calls a “failure” to protect the Taj Mahal. The court said both the federal and state government had shown “lethargy” in taking steps to tackle the monument’s deteriorating condition.
The court’s comments came in response to a petition citing concerns about the impact of pollution on the 17th Century monument. The Taj Mahal is one of the world’s leading tourist attractions. It draws as many as 70,000 people every day.
In May this year, the court had already instructed the government to seek foreign help to fix the “worrying change in color” of the marble structure. The court had said then, that the famous tomb, built from white marble and other materials, had turned yellow and was now turning brown and green.
An invasion of the insect called Chironomus Calligraphus (Geoldichironomus) is turning the Taj Mahal green, says environmental activist DK Joshi. Joshi has filed a petition in the National Green Tribunal – a special tribunal set up by the government to deal with environmental disputes – saying that the “explosive breeding” of the pests in the polluted Yamuna river is marring the beauty of the monument.
“Fifty-two drains are pouring waste directly into the river and just behind the monument, Yamuna has become so stagnant that fish that earlier kept insect populations in check are dying. This allows pests to proliferate in the river,” Mr Joshi told the BBC by phone from the northern city of Agra where the Taj is located.
The stains the bugs leave on the marble are washable and workers from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have been trying to scrub the walls clean, but Mr Joshi says frequent scrubbing can take the sheen off the marble. He says the problem has a simple solution – just clean up the Yamuna.
Built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth, Taj Mahal is often described as one of the wonders of the world. It is also India’s biggest tourist attraction, visited by heads of states, celebrities and millions of Indian and foreign tourists every year. But pollution from the industries in Agra and a nearby oil refinery have seen the white marble yellowing over the years.
To restore the monument’s beauty, the ASI has been applying “mud packs” on its walls to draw out the pollutants.
Pollution, construction and insect dung are said to be among the causes. The government told the court that a special committee had been set up to suggest measures to prevent pollution in and around the monument.
It has already shut down thousands of factories near the monument, but activists say the white marble is still losing lustre. Sewage in the Yamuna River, which runs alongside the monument, also attracts insects which excrete waste on to its walls, staining them.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, during her first ever visit to India as a member of the Trump cabinet, has focused on trade relations, India’s oil imports from Iran, India’s military ties with the US, among other things. In her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, June 27th, the first Indian American to be on US Cabinet, told Modi that it was important that India cut Iranian oil use, but said the United States would work to allow India to use an Iranian port as corridor to Afghanistan. India is one of the largest importers of Iran’s oil.
Haley, considered to be the most powerful Indian-American in the Trump administration, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi June 27 to convey greetings from President Donald Trump. She also met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Haley assured U.S. commitment to fighting terrorism, and that she saw opportunities in developing stronger ties with New Delhi in multiple ways, especially in countering terrorism and building military cooperation.
The U.S. push to curb countries’ imports of Iranian oil comes after Trump in May withdrew from a 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers aimed at stalling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities in return for the lifting of some sanctions. Trump ordered the reimposition of U.S. sanctions that were suspended under the accord.
“Sanctions are coming (on Iran) and we’re going forward on that, and with India and the U.S. building strong relationships we hoped that they would lessen their dependence on Iran,” Haley, a member of U.S. President Donald Trump’s cabinet, told the media after her meeting with Modi in New Delhi.
“There’s a will, a political will, from both sides to figure out how to make this work,” Haley said. “Prime Minister Modi very much understands where we are with Iran, he didn’t question it, he didn’t criticize it, he understood it and he also understands that (India’s) relationship with the U.S. is strong and important and needs to stay that way.”
Despite rising trade tensions between the United States and India, Haley – the daughter of Indian immigrants – said “the idea of a trade war wasn’t even an option.” Bilateral trade rose to $115 billion in 2016, but the Trump administration wants to narrow its $31 billion deficit with India, and is pressing New Delhi to ease trade barriers.
Haley said she also discussed military cooperation with Modi as the Trump administration has launched an effort to deepen military and economic ties with India as a way to balance China’s assertive posture across Asia.
Haley said the implications of Iran-related sanctions would be discussed when the foreign and defense ministers of India and the United States meet shortly. Japan and South Korea, also major buyers of Iranian oil, are in talks with the U.S. government in a bid to avoid the adverse effects of sanctions.
Haley said she also discussed with Modi the Indian-backed Chabahar port complex in Iran, being developed as part of a new transportation corridor for landlocked Afghanistan and which could open the way for millions of dollars in trade and cut Afghanistan’s dependence on neighboring Pakistan.
“In this area, the U.S. is approaching our relationship with Pakistan differently than in the past,” Haley said in a speech June 28 in New Delhi. Indo Asian News service quoted her speech on “Advancing India-U.S. Relations,” which was organized by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
“We know the port has to happen and the U.S. is going to work with India to do that,” Haley said. “We know that they’re being a great partner with us in Afghanistan and really trying to assist the U.S. and trying to do more. The port’s vital in trying to do that.”
“We realize we’re threading a needle when we do that,” said Haley, describing a balancing act of ensuring Indian use of the port in Iran while Washington is at the same time trying to once again cut Tehran off from international markets.
She said both nations have felt the pain of terrorism, both share a commitment to defeat it and the hateful ideology that motivates them. The two countries share an urgent interest to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists, she said.
Modi expressed appreciation for Trump’s South Asia and Indo-Pacific strategies and commended his initiative toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. “Both the dignitaries discussed ways to enhance India-U.S. cooperation, including on counter-terrorism and in multilateral fora. They expressed confidence that strong India-U.S. partnership will continue to be an important factor for global peace and prosperity,” a government statement said.
News reports said Haley and Modi discussed ways to enhance India-U.S. cooperation in various fields. “Whether it is countering terrorism, whether it is the fact that we want to continue our democratic opportunities or start to work together more strongly on the military aspect, there are lots of things that India and the U.S. have in common,” she was quoted as saying in New Delhi.
Besides meeting officials, “Haley also visited the majestic tomb of Mughal emperor Humayun and Save Childhood Movement, a center for rescued children run by 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi,” the Associated Press wrote. At the tomb, Haley said she was in India to strengthen bilateral relations and to continue the democratic bonds.
As she hoped for a free and open Indo-Pacific and protection of sovereign nations from external coercion for peace, stability and commerce, Haley said China is a matter of concern and its failure to respect the rule of law will restrict its relations with the U.S.
“Unlike India, China does not share our commitment to democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental freedoms. This makes China’s expansion of loans and investments in countries in the region a matter of concern for many of us,” she said.
India’s Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has cautioned against practicing intolerance in the name of cow protection, Love Jihad and eating habits, saying such actions spoil the name of the country and people can’t take law into their hands.
“We need to guard against intolerance on the part of certain misguided citizens. We have been occasionally witnessing such words and deeds of intolerance by some citizens in the name of so-called cow protection, Love Jihad, eating habits, watching films.
“Such incidents lead us to the point that individual freedoms can be in full play only when every citizen respects such freedoms of fellow citizens. Post-Emergency, the State apparatus would think twice before riding roughshod over the liberties and freedoms of citizens. But it is enlightened citizens who would enable fuller manifestation of such liberties and freedoms,” Naidu said.
He was speaking at a function organised by Vivekananda International Foundation to release the Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Gujarati editions of the book `The Emergency – Indian Democracy’s Darkest Hour’ authored by A. Surya Prakash, Chairman of Prasar Bharti and a veteran journalist.
The Vice President said such actions of individual intolerance spoil the name of the country. “You cannot take the right to hang anyone. One has to be tolerant of the views of others while one must also be tolerant of the verdict of the people. Dissent also has a place. Freedom must be valued and rights of citizen should be guarded.”
He also referred to the debate over nationalism and patriotism and wondered why some people had problem with even saying “Bharat Mata ki Jai”. The expression is not merely geographical and love for the land but it is love for all opinions, religions, communities and people.
Naidu said India was secular not because of political parties but it was in the DNA of people and added that democracy and secularism were there in the Indian civilization through ages. Referring to the infamous Emergency of 1975, he said no sensible government would dare to resort to Emergency after the resounding pro-democracy verdict of people in 1977. “Now the threat to individual freedoms is from some misguided citizens. The Emergency was clearly a state-sponsored intolerance to democracy and individual freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.”
He asserted that the core Indian values and ethos have no place for intolerance due to which all major religions of the world flourish in India. “On the 43rd anniversary of Emergency, I would like the message to go out that any citizen who violates the freedoms of fellow citizens would have no right to be called an Indian. It is because he is hurting the Constitution of India and all that India stood for.”
Naidu said it was time the “dark age of Emergency” became a part of the curriculum so that the young learnt to value the democratic freedoms they enjoy. “It is time the dark age of Emergency becomes a part of the curriculum so that present generations are ensitized to the dreaded events of 1975-77 and they learn to value the democratic and personal freedoms they enjoy today.
“While our history books and textbooks talk of medieval dark days and the British Raj, the fallacious causes and consequences of Emergency is not made a part of the learning of the young,” he added.
He stressed that a crucial lesson of Emergency was that it was the responsibility of each citizen to uphold liberties and freedom of fellow citizens and that “intolerance” should not be accepted.
The Maharashtra government and a U.S.-India panel have announced three new projects in the state, an official said June 18. The state will sign an agreement with the Network for Global Innovation to develop a clean tech incubator ecosystem in Maharashtra to accelerate adoption of sustainable technologies and encourage trade and investment in these sectors.
The announcements were made during Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ visit to Washington D.C. last week at a public forum co-hosted by the CSIS Wadhwani Chair and India Initiative at Georgetown University, which he addressed.
Fadnavis spoke about his goals to make Maharashtra the first trillion-dollar economy across India, which he will do by leveraging foreign investments in various sectors, the news release added. “We have focused on building infrastructure, which has subsequently opened up lot of opportunities for international investors in the state,” the chief minister said at the forum.
Along with the U.S.-India State and Urban Initiative, it will collaborate on the development and implementation of a ‘High Performance Innovation Ecosystem’ including planning, funding, build-out and ongoing operations, with plans to invite a state-based nominee organization to become a member of the NGIN.
The Georgia Institute of Technology will launch a new pilot research project to understand the consumer dynamics and responsiveness to adoption of new technologies in the state electricity sector. The project, “The Impact of Consumer Behavior on Efficiency and Sustainability in India’s Power Sector,” will be led by Georgia Tech Indian American professors — assistant professor Anjali Thomas Bohlken and associate professor Usha Nair-Reichert — with support from the Strategic Energy Initiative.
Finally, the Pune Municipal Corporation will host an Urban Mobility Lab in August as part of the Lighthouse City initiative launched after a competition last year, jointly with NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute, Colorado.
The Urban Mobility Lab will advance the design, integration and implementation of new solutions for complex transportation challenges and how these ideas can be replicated and scaled. The goal would be to upgrade transportation services to cater to the needs of rapidly growing cities, with operational efficiency, and simultaneous reduction of pollution, congestion and petroleum demands.
Funded by the Department of State, the U.S.-India State and Urban Initiative promotes energy security and energy sector reform through direct engagement between Washington and Indian sub-national entities.
It builds productive partnerships that can help India achieve its energy goals; and establish close, sustainable working relationships among Indian sub-national officials with their US counterparts and other civil society organizations working in the areas of governance and energy, besides roping in the private sector.
The U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum hosted Fadnavis during his trip to the United States, the forum announced in a June 15 news release. The Forum kicked off the chief minister’s roadshow with U.S. investors at a roundtable in New York City, and hosted him the next day at an event with member companies in Washington, D.C., it said.
The state of Maharashtra, with its progressive measures to facilitate investments and investors, has worked towards the goals it had announced during the “Make in India” initiative in 2014, USISFP said.
To continue to be the preferred business destination for foreign investors, Fadnavis has supported private-public partnerships to promote growth through foreign investments across all sectors. He asked USISPF and Friends of Maharashtra in the U.S. to serve as one nodal point for all U.S. investments into Maharashtra. Both organizations will coordinate and liaise with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, the USISPF added.
With an emphasis on further development of Mumbai and other townships, Fadnavis has supported private-public partnerships to promote this growth, and insisted that his state’s objective of job growth, along with economic development, will be fulfilled through investments across sectors, according to USISPF.
“Maharashtra is growing at a rapid pace and the state is the first choice for many of our U.S companies that manufacture in India,” USISPF president and CEO Mukesh Aghi said.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. India on Thursday rejected as “fallacious, tendentious and motivated” the first ever report on human rights in Kashmir released by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (OHCHR).
“India rejects the report. It is fallacious, tendentious and motivated. We question the intent in bringing out such a report,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to a question. “It is a selective compilation of largely unverified information. It is overtly prejudiced and seeks to build a false narrative,” Kumar said.
The 49-page report issued by the OHCHR “details human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line of Control, and highlights a situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces”, a statement issued from Geneva on Thursday said.
“The political dimensions of the dispute between India and Pakistan have long been centre-stage, but this is not a conflict frozen in time. It is a conflict that has robbed millions of their basic human rights, and continues to this day to inflict untold suffering,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in the statement.
Noting the continuing serious tensions in recent weeks, including those stemming from a series of incidents in Srinagar, he called on Indian security forces to exercise maximum restraint, and strictly abide by international standards governing the use of force when dealing with future protests, including ones that could well occur this coming weekend. “It is essential the Indian authorities take immediate and effective steps to avoid a repetition of the numerous examples of excessive use of force by security forces in Kashmir,” Zeid said.
It also called upon India to “urgently repeal” the AFSPA; establish independent, impartial and credible investigations to probe all civilian killings since July 2016 and all abuses committed by armed groups; and provide reparations and rehabilitation to all injured individuals and to the families of those killed in the context of security operations. Similarly, the PSA should be amended to ensure its compliance with international human rights law, and all those held under administrative detention should either be charged or immediately released.
According to the report, the UN Human Rights Office – which, despite repeated requests to both India and Pakistan over the past two years, has not been given unconditional access to either side of the Line of Control – “undertook remote monitoring to produce the report, which covers both Indian-Administered Kashmir and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir”.
Among the issues highlighted in the report is the constitutional relationship of the two distinct territories of “Azad Kashmir” and Gilgit-Baltistan with Pakistan. The “Azad Kashmir” has effectively been controlled by Pakistan throughout its entire history. Pakistan’s federal authorities also have full control over all government operations in Gilgit-Baltistan, and federal intelligence agencies are reportedly deployed across both regions.
The report said India should “urgently repeal” the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act 1990 (AFSPA) and “establish independent, impartial and credible investigations to probe all civilian killings since July 2016 and all abuses committed by armed groups; and provide reparations and rehabilitation to all injured individuals and to the families of those killed in the context of security operations”.
Stating that the report violates India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, Kumar, in his response, said that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. “Pakistan is in illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state through aggression. We have repeatedly called upon Pakistan to vacate the occupied territories,” he said.
“The incorrect description of Indian territory in the report is mischievous, misleading and unacceptable. There are no entities such as ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ and ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’.”
Stating that terrorism is the most egregious violation of human rights, the spokesperson said that yet the authors have conveniently ignored the pattern of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan and territories under its illegal control.
“Cross-border terror and incitement is aimed at suppressing the will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, disrupting its political and social fabric and undermining India’s integrity,” he stated.
“It is disturbing that those behind this report have chosen to describe internationally designated and UN-proscribed terrorist entities as ‘armed groups’ and terrorists as ‘leaders’. This undermines the UN-led consensus on zero tolerance to terrorism.”
Kumar also said that the motivated report deliberately ignores that fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution to every Indian citizen, including in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, are protected also by an independent judiciary, human rights commissions, free and vibrant media and an active civil society.
He said India’s protest and views in the matter have been conveyed unequivocally to the OHCHR. “We are deeply concerned that individual prejudices are being allowed to undermine the credibility of a UN institution,” he said.
“Such malicious reports cannot undermine the will of the people and the government of India to take all measures necessary to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country from cross-border terrorism,” he added.
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.
Nearly 200 people representing several organizations from the tri-state area, including members from Ohmkara, the Gujarat Samaj of New York, the Gujarat Samaj of Baltimore and the Vaishnav Parivar of Connecticut, led by the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA-NY/NJ/CT) came together at the Consulate General of India in New York to celebrate the 58th Gujarat Sthapna Divas on Wednesday, May 2nd.
“I think Gujarat is such a state which inspires our country, which inspires many things in India. The National Anthem was composed in 1919 and Gujarat became a state on May 1, 1960, so even in Rabindranath Tagore’s imagination, Gujarat was very much alive and kicking back then,” said The Consul General of India in New York, Sandeep Chakravorty. “When we celebrate Gujarat Sthapna Divas, we are basically celebrating India’s unity, diversity and cultural rituals,” he added.
Dr. Sudhir Parikh, founder and chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media shared with the audience as to how May 1 is not only Gujarat Day but International Labor Day as well. “May 1 is not only Gujarat Day but it is also International Labor Day which is being celebrated since the 19th century. For Gujaratis who are known globally for their entrepreneurship and hard work, it is an honor to have Gujarat Day held on the same day,” he said, adding, “I am very proud and privileged to mention that the founder of the state of Gujarat was Indulal Yagnik, who started his Gujarat movement from my home in Nadiad.”
Dr. Parikh also touched upon the importance of keeping the Gujarati culture and traditions alive by the diaspora. “As NRIs, it is our duty to help Gujarat in whatever way we can. A small philanthropic effort can help change the lives of many underprivileged people, so we should step up our effort to reach out with a helping hand. Gujaratis make up to 33 percent of the Indian population worldwide and the United States has the second largest population of Gujaratis,” he said. Dr. Parikh was felicitated also at the meet, for his contribution to the Gujarati community.
Air India recently launched a new flight from Newark to Ahmedabad, which brought plenty of cheer for the Gujarati community, especially for those on the East Coast. “This is a tribute to your success and support that after decades, we have started a new flight to Ahmedabad from Newark via London. Gujarat is such a vibrant part; when every state prospers then India prospers. Air India is the only airline that operates to the most cities within Gujarat,” said a representative from Air India.
Others who spoke at the occasion included Ramesh Patel, the chairman of FIA; Srujal Parikh, the president of FIA; Yogesh Patel, a BJP MP from Gujarat; Pinakin Pathak, the chairman of Ohmkara; Vishnubahi Patel of the Gujarat Samaj of New York; Rajiv Desai of the Vaishnav Parivar of Connecticut; Rupal Shah of the Gujarati Samaj of Baltimore and Smita Miki Patel of the Indian Performing Arts Center.
Cultural performances including colorful dancers from the Indian Performing Arts Center, Foram Shah and Umesh Bhatt were enjoyed by one and all. A Gujarati dinner was provided by Rajbhog Foods.
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.
Indian model Smriti Subs has become the first Indian to win the title of ‘World Swimsuit Model of the Week’, according to a press release. This svelte model from Bangalore was chosen as the winner of an online talent hunt platform, sponsored by gaming major Supabets.
After ruling the ramps both nationally and internationally, the biotech engineer now has another achievement to her credit. She is the only Indian to be crowned World Swimsuit Model of the Week, an online talent hunt platform sponsored by gaming major Supabets, the Daily News & Analysis reports.
Her sharp chiseled features, long lean body and brown eyes, distinguishes Subs from the rest, DNA says. She has been featured in the October 2017 issue of the Lifestyle Journalist magazine, as well as in Vogue and Elle India.
After being selected as one of the finalists at the prestigious Femina Style Diva 2015, Subs has modeled for leading fashion events in India and for several leading designers.
A brand ambassador of Bling Vine Jewelry, she was one of the faces of Araaish 2018 – a multimedia campaign that straddled platforms. There’s no doubt that this aspiring actress, who loves meeting new people, will make a name for herself in both modeling and acting.
“Emerging as ‘World Swimsuit Model of the Week’ in the face of intense international competition is a huge accomplishment,” Subs said in a statement. “I am looking forward to winning the grand finale of World Swimsuit 2018 by Supabets as it will open doors for me with respect to several international assignments and opportunities.”
Subs went on to share that she has been blessed with a lean body but to ensure she stays fit and in shape, she exercises regularly and plays various sports.
Her bigger aim, she said, is to “show the world that Indian swimsuit models have the discipline, commitment and professionalism to make it big on the global stage.” She has modeled for all the leading fashion weeks in India, including Lakme Fashion Week, Amazon India Fashion Week, India Beach Fashion Week, etc.
For the first time since the British left and India became a free country, its judicial system is being questioned, with opposition and civil society groups accusing the pro-Hindu ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the judiciary for its own political purposes.
On April 21, seven opposition parties led by Congress met Vice-President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu and handed him a notice to impeach Chief Justice Dipak Misra, accusing him of misbehavior and abuse of authority.
“We have mentioned in our notice how the chief justice is choosing to send sensitive matters to particular benches by misusing his authority as master of the roster with the likely intent to influence the outcome,” Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters in New Delhi.
Rights activist Ravi Nair says the judiciary is facing a serious threat. “Never in the past has it been tested on its loyalty to the Indian constitution and its adherence to due process of law as it is being done now,” said the executive director of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre.
Rights groups and opposition politicians claim the ruling BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, influences courts for favorable judgments in cases where BJP members and Hindu groups are accused.
Nair said in several cases where Hindus were accused of cow-related lynchings of Muslims “courts have failed to prosecute the killers speedily.”
Violence linked with cows, a revered animal in Hinduism, has claimed at least 25 lives since 2010, and 21 of them were Muslims, according to a recent report by IndiaSpend, a data website. Most were based on rumors of them transporting or storing beef.
Judges trigger crisis
The crisis in the judiciary intensified in January when four senior Supreme Court judges went public to accuse the chief justice of partisan conduct.
The immediate trigger for the rebellion was a case related to the death of B.H. Loya, a Mumbai-based judge who reportedly died of a heart attack in 2
The United States and India are natural allies and the two countries need to take full potential of the relation by further expanding economic and military cooperation, former US Ambassador to India Richard Verma said Ambassador Richard Verma, while delivering the 3rd New India Lecture at Consulate General of India in New York on April 23, 2018. Ambassador Verma spoke on “US- India: Natural Allies-Absent the Alliance.”
Verma emphasized that there is need for an international system that reflects India’s role in the world today. He lamented that India is not on the UN Security Council, is not a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and doesn’t play the kind of role that it probably should on the G-20 bloc of nations or in other international Institutions.
“The US needs to pave the way forward for India so that it actually has the seat at the table in this century, a seat that is appropriate for a country of the size and stature of India. We have to be working very hard for that,” he said.
While commenting on Pakistan, the US has made it clear to Pakistani leaders that their “continuing support and facilitation” of terror groups along the border to create a “perpetual state of conflict” with India is “not sustainable”, former American Ambassador to India Richard Verma has said. He stressed that the US can’t lose the connections to all the people and moderate voices in Pakistan that want peace with India and a better future for their children.
During the course of the lecture, he walked the audience through the history, present and future of US-India relationship. Verma, who is currently the Vice Chairman and Partner of The Asia Group, said that both countries should engage each other amidst the “Make in India” and “America First” rhetoric.
P Vaidyanathan Iyer, a Edward Mason Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and a journalist with The Indian Express, moderated the lecture. Iyer said Verma was “brilliant in summing up 71 years of India-US ties in two minutes. A rapid fast forward till 2018!”
“ Many of the Colonial Nations that gained independence from their Colonial masters faltered because they failed to build Institutions. However, India under the leadership Nehru, built institutions that provided security, safety, and justice for all its citizens” said George Abraham, Vice-Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress. He was addressing the All India Congress Committee Plenary session which was held in New Delhi in March 2018.
“Today, these revered Institutions are under growing threat, and it is time for us to wake up and deal with it. Freedom of Conscience is fundamental to all freedoms. It is innate and God-given; nobody has any right to trample it” he was alluding to the growing attacks on people of faith and other minorities in the country. “The NRI community is indeed concerned about these and other issues plaguing the country, and we will work together with AICC to coordinate our actions while working as goodwill ambassadors in the U.S. to help to forge stronger ties” added Mr. Abraham.
Abraham also thanked Soniaji for inaugurating the Overseas Congress in 2001 and applauded the appointment of Mr. Sam Pitroda as the Chairman of the newly created ‘Overseas Congress Department’ under AICC.
“In the Western imagination, India conjures up everything from saris and spices to turbans and, temples—and the pulsating energy of Bollywood movies,” the prestigious Smithsonian Institute stated recently. “But in America, India’s contributions stretch far beyond these stereotypes. From the builders of some of America’s earliest railroads and farms to Civil Rights pioneers to digital technology entrepreneurs, Indian Americans have long been an inextricable part of American life. Today, one out of every 100 Americans, from Silicon Valley to Small town, USA, traces his or her roots to India. Breakthroughs in business, the arts, medicine, science, and technology, and the flavorful food, flamboyant fashion and yoga of India have become a central part of our national culture.”
In 1997, when I had landed in Milwaukee, WI to pursue my journalism degree, it was rare to find Indian Americans in the city. Today, everywhere I go, at work, shopping malls, sports arena, theaters, churches, schools where my 3 daughters attend, and in my neighborhood where I live, there is a growing number of Indian Americans. There has been an influx of Indian Americans across the nation, especially in the past couple of decades.
According to The Economist, “Three-quarters of the Indian-born population in America today arrived in the last 25 years.” The present Indian population can be explained from the nearly 147,000 immigrants that India provides to the country on a yearly basis, reported Huffington Post.
In the early 20th century just a few hundred people emigrated from India to America each year and there were only about 5,000 people of Indian heritage living in the United States. Today Indian-born Americans number over 3.8 million and they are probably the most successful minority group in the country. Compared with all other big foreign-born groups, they are younger, richer and more likely to be married and supremely well educated.
The modern immigration wave from Asia is nearly a half century old and has pushed the total population of Asian Americans—foreign born and U.S born, adults and children—to a record 18.2 million in 2011, or 5.8% of the total U.S. population, up from less than 1% in 1965.
Pew Research study has found, “Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States. They are more satisfied than the general public with their lives, finances and the direction of the country, and they place more value than other Americans do on marriage, parenthood, hard work and career success.”
Indians have always been rising in America. As James Crabtree of Financial Times suggests, “More than any other group of outsiders, it was the Indians who figured out that, to make it in startup land, it helps to have a social network of your own.”
The less than four million Indian Americans appear to be gaining prominence and have come to be recognized as a force to reckon with in this land of opportunities that they have come to call as their adopted homeland. They are the most educated population in the United States, with more than 80 percent holding college or advanced degrees, as per a report by Pew Research Center. They have the highest income levels, earning $65,000 per year with a median household income of $88,000, far higher than the U.S. household average of 49,000, according to the survey.
Although disparities persist with nearly nine percent of Indian Americans live in poverty, they have made a mark in almost every field in the United States through their hard work, dedication and brilliance. Notching successes in fields as diverse as poetry and politics, the fast growing strong Indian American community packed more power and influence far beyond their numbers in the year gone by.
“While the Indian-American community has been the wealthiest, most-educated minority in the U.S. for some time now, they’re only more recently experiencing wide-scale recognition in public life,” Forbes magazine stated.
Indian Americans are just one percent of the American population, but 3 percent of its engineers, 7 percent of its IT force, and 8 percent of its physicians and surgeons. Some 10-20 percent of all tech start-ups have Indian founders. Indeed, a joint Duke University-UC Berkeley study revealed that between 1995-2005, Indian immigrants founded more engineering and technology companies than immigrants from countries like UK, China, Taiwan and Japan combined. They have risen to the top ranks in major companies like Satya Nadella in Microsoft, Sundar Pichai in Google and Indra Nooyi in Pepsico.
Indians for decades have been playing an important role in global technology landscape. Indians, especially in Silicon Valley, are growing in prominence, influence, and sheer population. The fact that Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, and Nikesh Arora lead some of the most prominent tech world giants is an example of their importance to the larger world and the significant contributions they continue to make.
Rajeev Suri is leading Nokia. Hyderabad-born Shantanu Narayen is the leader of Adobe, while Sanjay Jha ids the CEO of Global Foundries. George Kurian became the CEO and president of storage and data management company NetApp in June 2015. Francisco D’Souza is the CEO, Cognizant, and Dinesh Paliwal is the president and CEO of Harman International, and Ashok Vemuri is the CEO, Conduent Inc, the Xerox’s sibling business services. These are only a few of the success stories of Indians in the US, leading the tech industry in the US.
The surge in Indians moving to America was intimately linked to the rise of the technology industry. In the 1980s India loosened its rules on private colleges, leading to a large expansion in the pool of engineering and science graduates. Fear of the “Y2K” bug in the late 1990s served as a catalyst for them to engage with the global economy, with armies of Indian engineers working remotely from the subcontinent, or travelling to America on workers’ visas.
Today a quarter or more of the Indian-born workforce is employed in the tech industry. In the Silicon Valley neighborhoods such as Fremont and Cupertino, people of Indian origin make up a fifth of the population. Some 10-20% of all tech start-ups have Indian founders; Indians have ascended to the heights of the biggest firms, too.
If Indians are a powerful force in the tech sector, they have also begun to show their power in the political arena. There have been several Indian Americans who have been elected and appointed to important positions at national, state and local level offices.
A record five Indian-Americans serve in the US Congress, scripting history for the minority ethnic community that comprises just one per cent of America’s population. Congressmen Ami Bera, Raja
Photo by: Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx 4/14/16 Dr. Vivek Murthy (U.S. Surgeon General) at The National Action Network Conference. (NYC)
Krishnamoorthy, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal have been elected to the US Congress while Kamla Harris represents California in the US Senate.
Kamala Harris, a rising star, the first Indian American and first black senator from California, the Huffington Post has suggested Harris could be “the next best hope for shattering that glass ceiling=,” by becoming the first female President of the greatest democracy in the world. Pundits have compared her rise to that of former President Obama.
Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a fast-rising Democratic star, has featured in the Politico magazine’s “Power List for the year 2018” for having assumed the mantle of a House “leader of the resistance.”
Over the past several months, there have been a number of articles in the national press, speculating whether former South Carolina Governor and the current US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley might consider a presidential run in 2020. Some say her efforts and clear leadership as governor and ambassador to the United Nations have put her in a strong position to possibly become this nation’s first female president.
In the most recent elections, Indian Americans made huge victories across the nation. Last November, Indian American politician Ravinder Bhalla made news by being the first Sikh mayor of the New Jersey city of Hoboken, as well as one of the first public officials in the US to wear a turban. The occupational profile presented by the Asian Indian community today is one of increasing diversity. Although a large number of Asian Indians are professionals, others own small businesses or are employed as semi- or nonskilled workers.
Forbes wrote recently about the new additions to the Trump administration: “two Indian Americans, Raj Shah and Manisha Singh, the latest instance of a relatively new, larger trend: the growing participation — and success — of Indian Americans in public service.”
Trump appointed Raj Shah principal deputy press secretary — who also continues to hold his post as deputy assistant to the president. US assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, Manisha Singh, 45, is a noted lawyer from Florida.
As the chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission, accomplished attorney Ajit Pai works on a wide variety of regulatory and transactional matters involving the cable, internet, TV, radio and satellite industries.
A respected legal scholar, Neomi Rao is the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the White House. Seema Verma is the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Vishal Amin is Trump’s intellectual property enforcement coordinator. Neil Chatterjee is chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
While several Indian Americans are now key players in pushing the Trump White House’s conservative agenda, the Indian-American community in general has long leaned left. Politically, they are more Democratic leaning than any other group as a whole in the nation. A whopping 84 per cent Indian-Americans voted for President Barack Obama in the general election in 2012. Compared with other US Asian groups, Indian Americans are the most likely to identify with the Democratic Party; 65 percent are Democrats or lean to the Democrats, 18 percent are Republicans.
In the Obama era, they were recognized by the Democratic Party with important jobs in Washington, DC as never been before. “It is very exciting to serve in an Administration that has so many great Indian-Americans serving,” said Raj Shah, former Administrator of USIAD, the highest ranking Indian-American in the Obama Administration.
In 2012, a record 30 Indian Americans fought to win electoral battle with Republican Nikki Haley and Democrat Kamala Harris handily winning back their jobs as South Carolina governor and California’s attorney general respectively. Amiresh ‘Ami’ Bera, the lone Indian American in the US House of Representatives, repeated history by winning a tight California House race.
Dr. Vivek Verma won an uphill battle against the powerful Gun Lobby and won the majority support at the US Senate. President Barack Obama appointed Richard Rahul Verma as the first envoy from the NRI community to India. Nisha Desai Biswal was heading the State Department’s South Asia bureau. Puneet Talwar took over as assistant secretary for political-military affairs to serve as a bridge between the State and Defense departments, while Arun Madhavan Kumar became assistant secretary of commerce and director general of the US and Foreign Commercial Service.
Subra Suresh was inducted into the Institute of Medicine (IOM), making him the only university president to be elected to all three national academies, while Sujit Choudhry, a noted expert in comparative constitutional law, became the first Indian American dean of the University of California-Berkeley, School of Law, a top US law school. Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe won the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest after 52 years and for just the fourth time in the contest’s history. Indira Nooyi, another person of Indian origin has been leading as the CEO of Pepsi, one of the largest corporations.
Former US attorney Preet Bharara made history by going after small and big law breakers in the nation. Among many judges of Indian origin, Sri Srinivasan stole the headlines with his unanimous support from the US Senate to the US Federal Court in DC.
In the glamor world of the nation, Indian Americans are not far behind. Aziz Ansari, the Master of None star won the Golden Globe this year for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Several others have found leading roles in the highly competitive Hollywood movies and on TV.
Priyanka Chopra has been voted the “Sexiest Asian Woman” in the world in an annual UK poll released in London last week. From splashes of red and black to purple velvet, with models that defied tradition both in size and age, Indian-American fashion designers showed their metal at the New York Fashion Week that was held in New York City in February this year. They included Bibhu Mohapatra, Prabal Gurung, Misha Kaura, Naeem Khan, Sachin & Babi, and the MacDuggal brand.
Like all immigrant groups, Indians have found niches in America’s vast economy. Half of all motels are owned by Indians, mainly Gujaratis. Punjabis dominate the franchises for 7-Eleven stores and Subway sandwiches.
Ten richest of all Indian Americans have made it to the Forbes List 2018, The World’s Billionaires on March 6th. The richest Indian American on the list is Rakesh Gangwal, the co-founder of the airline Indigo and is worth $3.3 billion, after he made an extra $1.2 billion in the past year. Romesh T. Wadhwani, an IT entrepreneur and philanthropist, closely follows him, with a net worth of $3.1 billion, who ended up topping the list last year. Forbes list this year has a record of 2,208 members including two new Indian Americans, Niraj Shah who is worth $1.6 billion and Jayshree Ullal who is worth $1.3 billion. Shah is the CEO and co-founder of Wayfair while Ullal is the CEO of Arista Networks.
Again, quoting Pew Research, Indian Americans are the highest-income and best-educated people in the United States and the third largest among Asian Americans who have surpassed Latinos as the fastest-growing racial group, according to a new survey. Seven-in-ten (70 percent) Indian Americans ages 25 and older, have obtained at least a bachelor’s degree; this is higher than the Asian-American share (49 percent) and much higher than the national share (28 percent), the survey found.
Indian Americans generally are well-off. Median annual household income for Indian Americans in 2010 was $88,000, much higher than for all Asian Americans ($66,000) and all U.S. households ($49,800). In 2010, 28% of Indian American worked in science and engineering fields; according to the 2013 American Community Survey, more than two-thirds (69.3%) of Indian Americans 16 and older were in management, business, science and arts occupations.
They are the largest segment of any group that entered the country under the H1-B visa program, which allow highly skilled foreign workers in designated “specialty occupations” to work in the U.S. In 2011, for example, 72,438 Indians received H1-B visas, 56% of all such visas granted that year.
Indian Americans have quietly permeated many segments of the American economy and society while still retaining their Indian culture. Most Asian Indian families strive to preserve traditional Indian values and transmit these to their children. Offsprings are encouraged to marry within the community and maintain their Indian heritage.
Indian Americans stand out from most other US Asian groups in the personal importance they place on parenting; 78 percent of Indian Americans say being a good parent is one of the most important things to them personally. Indian Americans are among the most likely to say that the strength of family ties is better in their country of origin (69 percent) than in the US (8 percent).
Nearly nine-in-ten (87 percent) adult Indian Americans in the United States are foreign born, compared with about 74 percent of adult Asian Americans and 16 percent of the adult US population overall. More than half of Indian-American adults are US citizens (56 percent), lower than the share among overall adult Asian population (70 percent) as well as the national share (91 percent).
More than three-quarters of Indian Americans (76 percent) speak English proficiently, compared with 63 percent of all Asian Americans and 90 percent of the US population overall. The median age of adult Indian Americans is 37, lower than for adult Asian Americans (41) and the national median (45).
Although over four fifths of Indians belong to Hindu religion in India, only about half (51%) of Indian Americans are Hindu, while nearly all Asian-American Hindus (93%) trace their heritage to India. 18% of Indian Americans identified themselves as Christians; 10% said they were Muslim.
More than seven-in-ten (71 percent) adult Indian Americans are married, a share significantly higher than for all Asian Americans (59 percent) and for the nation (51 percent). The share of unmarried mothers was much lower among Indian Americans (2.3 percent) than among all Asian Americans (15 percent) and the population overall (37 percent).
The first Asian Indians or Indian Americans, as they are also known, arrived in America as early as the middle of the nineteenth century. By the end of the nineteenth century, about 2,000 Indians, most of them Sikhs (a religious minority from India’s Punjab region), settled on the west coast of the United States, having come in search of economic opportunity. Other Asian Indians came as merchants and traders; many worked in lumber mills and logging camps in the western states of Oregon, Washington, and California, where they rented bunkhouses, acquired knowledge of English, and assumed Western dress.
Between 1910 and 1920, as agricultural work in California began to become more abundant and better paying, many Indian immigrants turned to the fields and orchards for employment. For many of the immigrants who had come from villages in rural India, farming was both familiar and preferable. Some Indians eventually settled permanently in the California valleys where they worked. Because there was virtually no immigration by Indian women during this time, it was not unheard of for Indian males to marry Mexican women and raise families.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, about 100 Indian students also studied in universities across America. A small group of Indian immigrants also came to America as political refugees from British rule. The immigration of Indians to America was tightly controlled by the American government during this time, and Indians applying for visas to travel to the United States were often rejected by U.S. diplomats in major Indian cities like Bombay and Calcutta. The Asiatic Exclusion League (AEL) was organized in 1907 to encourage the expulsion of Asian workers, including Indians.
In July 1946, Congress passed a bill allowing naturalization for Indians and, in 1957, the first Asian Indian Congressman, Dalip Saund, was elected to Congress. Like many early Indian immigrants, Saund came to the United States from Punjab and had worked in the fields and farms of California. He had also earned a doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley. While more educated and professional Indians began to enter America, immigration restrictions and tight quotas ensured that only small numbers of Indians entered the country prior to 1965. Overall, approximately 6,000 Asian Indians immigrated to the United States between 1947 and 1965.
From 1965 onward, a wave of Indian immigration began, spurred by a change in U.S. immigration law that lifted prior quotas and restrictions and allowed significant numbers of Asians to immigrate. Between 1965 and 1974, Indian immigration to the United States increased at a rate greater than that from almost any other country.
This wave of immigrants was very different from the earliest Indian immigrants—Indians that emigrated after 1965 were overwhelmingly urban, professional, and highly educated and quickly engaged in gainful employment in many U.S. cities. Many had prior exposure to Western society and education and their transition to the United States was therefore relatively smooth. More than 100,000 such professionals and their families entered the U.S. in the decade after 1965.
Almost 40 percent of all Indian immigrants who entered the United States in the decades after 1965 arrived on student or exchange visitor visas, in some cases with their spouses and dependents. Most of the students pursued graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines. They were often able to find promising jobs and prosper economically, and many became permanent residents and then citizens.
The 1990 U.S. census reported 570,000 Asian Indians in America. In general, the Asian Indian community has preferred to settle in the larger American cities rather than smaller towns, especially in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. This appears to be a reflection of both the availability of jobs in larger cities, and the personal preference of being a part of an urban, ethnically diverse environment, one which is evocative of the Indian cities that many of the post-1965 immigrants came from.
Indian Americans are more evenly spread out than other Asian Americans. About 24 percent of adult Indian Americans live in the West, compared with 47 percent of Asian Americans and 23 percent of the US population overall. More than three-in-ten (31 percent) Indian Americans live in the Northeast, 29 percent live in the South, and the rest (17 percent) live in the Midwest.
Despite their successes, they have been also subjected to discrimination and racist attacks. According to a recent report called “Communities on Fire” by the Washington, DC-based group South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), hate crimes against Indian Americans and other South Asian Americans surged 45% from November 8, 2016, to November 7, 2017. The group recorded 302 incidents during that period, 213 of them being direct physical or verbal assaults
The Indian American community continues to play an important role in shaping the relationship between India, the largest democracy and the US, the greatest democracy in the world. “The model minority stereotype stems from the “non-threatening nature” of the Indian immigrant — a label bestowed by the white counterpart. The Indian American community is seen as “successful” – a prototype to be followed by fellow minorities,” Huffington Post wrote.
“Indian-Americans are tremendously important and we hope they would be increasingly visible not only in the government, but also in all parts of American life,” said Maya Kassandra Soetoro-Ng, maternal half-sister of Obama, adding that the President was very proud of the community. “It is certainly a reflection of how important India is and how important Indian-Americans are to the fabric of the nation. I would just like to celebrate all of the contribution artistic, political and so much more of the community. It is time we come to recognize fully the contribution of the Indian-American community here,” said Maya.
Human rights NGO Amnesty International India launched an interactive data website for keeping a track of and documenting hate crimes across the country. “The first step to ensuring justice and ending impunity for hate crimes — where people are targeted because of their membership of a particular group — is to highlight their occurrence,” said Aakar Patel, Executive Director, Amnesty International India.
In 2017, an alarming number of alleged hate crimes — including assault, rape and murder — were reported against people from marginalized groups, especially Dalits and Muslims, the Amnesty International said as it launched the website named ‘Halt the Hate’.
“Our website aims to draw attention to some of these crimes by tracking and documenting them. Dalits have been attacked for merely sporting moustaches, and Muslims lynched for transporting cattle. Dalit women have been branded as witches, and raped and killed,” Patel said.
‘Halt the Hate’ documents alleged hate crimes against Dalits, Adivasis, members of racial or religious minority groups, transgender persons, and other marginalised people which are reported in mainstream English and Hindi media.
It documents 141 incidents of alleged hate crimes against Dalits and 44 against Muslims in 2017, including 69 incidents of killings where at least 146 people were killed. 35 incidents were found where women from these groups or transgender persons faced sexual violence.
The website documents alleged hate crimes from September 2015, when Mohammad Akhlaq was killed in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly possessing beef. Cow-related violence and so-called ‘honour killings’ were among the common instances of the hate crimes.
Uttar Pradesh was the state with the most such incidents in 2016 and 2017. In 2016, 237 alleged hate crimes were recorded. Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat recorded the most incidents. Patel said that the extent of hate crime in India is unknown because the law – barring some exceptions – does not recognize hate crimes as specific offences.
“The data on our website is just a snapshot of alleged hate crimes in India. Many incidents are not reported in the media. While criminal investigations have been initiated in some cases, too many have gone unpunished,” he said.
He said police needed to take steps to “unmask any potentially discriminatory motive” in a crime, and political leaders must be “more vocal” in denouncing such violence.
The Coalition of Indian Organizations of Long Island celebrated the 69th Republic Day of India on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at Clinton G. Martin Hall in New Hyde Park, NY. The celebration was attended by Consul General of India in New York Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, judges of the New York Supreme Court, public officials at the local and state level and other prominent members of the Indian American community in Long Island.
The event, organized by the Chairman of the Indian American Voters Forum Varinder Bhalla, brought 14 Indian organizations of Long Island under one umbrella as well as the largest gathering of the American dignitaries.
The organizations that were present include: Dr. Urmilesh Arya and Gobind Munjal of the Association of Indians in America; Arya Veer Mukhi of the Samaj of Long Island; Gobind Bathija of Asa Mai Temple; Anjani Persaud of the Brahmakumaris of Long Island; Thomas Oommen of the Federation of Malayalee Associations; Minesh Patel of the Gujrati Samaj of New York; Dr. Rakesh Dua and Dr. Ajay Lodha of the Indian American Physicians of Long Island; Gunjan Rastogi of the India Association of Long Island; Varinder Bhalla of the Indian American Voters Forum; Dr. Rajinder Uppal of the International Punjabi Society; Dr. Ajey Jain of the Rajasthan Association of North America; Dr. Himanshu Pandya of SPARK Youth Club of New York; Rakesh Bhargava of World Spiritual Awareness Forum Inc.; and Koshy Oommen of the World Malayalee Association.
New York Supreme Court Justices Denise Sher and Ruth Balkin were present to represent the judiciary while New York Senator Elaine Phillips presented a Senate Proclamation to Ambassador Chakravorty.
Legislature Majority Leader Rich Nicolello and Legislator Tom McKevitt were there to represent Nassau County as well as Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman. Hempstead Township was represented by its Town Clerk Sylvia Cabana and Supervisor Laura Gillen, who hoisted the Indian flag at Town Hall on Jan. 26.
Gillen also presented a Citation to Ambassador Chakravorty honoring the 69th anniversary of the India Republic Day and another Republic Day Citation was also presented to the Ambassador on behalf of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino.
Niketa Bhatia, who successfully petitioned the Syosset School District to have Diwali be designated as an official holiday, was honored with a Citation from the Oyster Bay Township. Many Indian American children performed in the cultural show whose highlight was a performance by the artists of the Surati for Performing Arts, a nationally acclaimed group which has performed at the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and the United Nations, among others.
The pageantry of the Republic Day event was enhanced by bagpipers of Nassau County Firefighters Band who has also played at President Donald Trump’s Inauguration in Washington D.C. and in Europe on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
Indian Overseas Congress (IOC, USA) expresses grave concern over the tone and content of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the Parliament denigrating the legacy of Nehru and attacking the Nehru-Gandhi family that includes the two who have even sacrificed their lives in serving the nation. “It is unfortunate that the leader of the ruling party was engaged in a tirade against history instead of dealing with the current economic downturn caused by the errant policy implementations of this administration,” said George Abraham, Vice-Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA.
“Ever since Narendra Modi came to the office of Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru became his favorite punching bag with a deliberate effort and calculated campaign to tarnish his legacy and diminish his accomplishments. It is very consistent with a pattern of behavior from his ruling party to rewrite history and misinform the public to further its political ends” Mr. Abraham added.
IOC, USA understands the frustration of Mr. Modi after having promised to create 10 million jobs a month and improve the lives of those rural folks, not only that he failed on both of those scores, but the country has also been witnessing a depressed job market in the IT sector and increased farmer suicides.
Modi’s speech in Parliament where he conveniently twisted history when he said that had Sardar Patel been the first PM, all Kashmir would have been ours. All available facts of history disprove Modi’s theory in this regard, and he may probably need a history lesson to refresh his memory. Rajmohan Gandhi in his biography “Patel: A Life (Page 407-8,438)” talks about Patel’s thinking of an ideal bargain: if Jinna let India have Junagadh and Hyderabad, Patel would not object to Kashmir acceding to Pakistan.
Moreover, it is not only the Separatists in Muslim League that drove India to the tragedy of partition but also Hindutva zealots who demanded a Hindu State to replace a secular India. RSS rejected the whole concept of a composite nation and made it easy for the British Colonialists to drive the final nail of their divide and rule strategy on an emerging free country.
Instead of addressing serious problems at hand, Modi’s whole exercise in the Parliament has been an attempt to smear the opposition and divert attention away from his failure to keep his promises to the voters that he made in 2014. IOC requests the Prime Minister to respond to the questions raised by the President of the Congress party and the nation is eagerly waiting!
India has launched one of the world’s largest health insurance programs that expects to cover 100 million families or an estimated 500 million people, at an annual estimated cost of some $1.7 billion.
India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the ambitious plan on Feb. 1 as part of the 2018-2019 Budget, saying in parliament, that “This will be the world’s largest government-funded health-care program.”
It also includes the setting up of wellness centers around the country on an unprecedented scale. While the U.S. is moving away from Obamacare, the program dubbed ‘Modicare ‘by Indian media, will be covering more than one and a half times the size of the U.S. population, akin to the U.S. Medicaid program which provides coverage for the poor, but focused on catastrophic illnesses.
The government plan will cover close to 500,000 Rupees, or roughly little less than $8,000 in expenses for serious illnesses requiring hospitalization. The government is budgeting $188 million for wellness centers to expand accessibility at local levels, especially for the poor who otherwise have to travel long distances to avail of modern healthcare.
Revenues raised from a 1 percent health access — an add-on to income taxes — is expected to go partway in financing the new deal, with national insurance companies as well as states chipping in to share the cost. The government hopes that as enrollment grows, the program will begin to pay for itself.
The need for universal health care is necessary in India, says Indian-American physician and Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, founder of the Parikh Foundation for India’s Global Development. “It is a great initiative which will, according to the government, cover 40 percent of the needy population (in India),” said Parikh, who is also the joint secretary of the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO), as well as past-president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI). He called it an “long overdue” measure, that would help people access state-of-the-art health services. While the life expectancy in India has risen to 68.3, and infant mortality has dropped from 83 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 34 per 1000 live births in 2016 according to government statistics, and maternal mortality rates have declined, India still has to go a long way improving the health of its citizens.
The program “will be a game changer”, Prathap Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd., and founder president and emeritus advisor of GAPIO, is quoted saying in a Reuters report Rajiv Kumar, vice chairman of NITI Aayog, (National Institute for Transforming India) the premier government think tank, told Bloomberg News, “If we roll this out enough within this calendar year it will be an absolute game changer,” adding, “It’s a new India that we are giving birth to.” Kumar also said funding of nearly $2 billion a year to meet the expense of health insurance for the poor, would not be hard to meet as more people enrolled in the service.
But Kumar did sound a note of caution, speculating whether state governments would work in concert with the center to make the plan a reality.
Doctors look at the ultrasound scan of a patient at Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi, January 19, 2015. Reuters/Adnan Abidi. In 2014, according to the World Health Organization, India spent some 4.5 percent of its GDP on health for a population of 1.3 billion. Meanwhile, data compiled by NITIAayog, shows significant drops in infant mortality in almost every state between 2002 and 2016. However, while India has made significant advances in its health system in the last few decades, the WHO notes that India accounts for 21% of the world’s global burden of disease; the greatest burden of maternal, newborn and child deaths in the world, Key challenges the WHO identifies in India’s health situation include the need to expedite progress in child health, under nutrition and gender equity problems; High burden of disease (BoD), even though important progress has been achieved with some diseases; and dealing with the emergence of maladies like cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, cancer and mental illnesses, as well as tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, water-borne diseases and sexually transmitted diseases.
NITI Aayog data also reveals the need for more healthcare centers in line with the plan outlined by the government. In 2005, there were 146,026 health “Sub-centers” around the country, rising to 153,655 in 2016; The number of Primary Health Centers rose from a mere 23,236 in 2005 to just 25,308 in 2015; And Community Health Centers rose from just 3,346 around the country in 2005,to 5,396 in 2015, inadequate by a long margin for the population of the country, and it is hoped the $188 million allocated for building Wellness Centers will meet part of the dire health infrastructure needs.
India has a patchwork of health insurance programmes — a network of private health insurance companies that provide private sector employees and individuals, government programs for its employees, Employees State Insurance that covers some workers in the organised sector and programs of some state governments, but the new program put the country on a path to universal coverage by insuring the poor across the country who have no other access to health insurance.
Anup Karan, associate professor at the Public Health Foundation of India, speaking to News India Times via Skype, said India has tried government health insurance in various forms since the middle of the last decade, and noted that there are both concerns as well as positives about the latest initiative. While the history of state-level and national health service efforts is checkered, the new initiative will have to take into account that 60 percent of health issues in India are treated in outpatient care, according to Karan’s findings, and the new insurance program covers only hospitalization.
Karan noted the “huge success” of the 2007 “pioneering” effort by Andhra Pradesh’s state funded wellness plan, Rajiv Arogyasri; the 2008 Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana which saw very low enrollment ratios and huge operational issues; and the 2010 launch of state-level health insurance by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra covering only tertiary and surgical conditions, with mixed results, where Tamil Nadu experienced “very great success.”
“The new scheme announced February 1, is an enhanced version of the National Health Protection Scheme launched in 2016, in terms of coverage and funding,” says Karan. He worries that because poor people use mainly outpatient care, the new program’s hospitalization coverage may not help them as much; in addition, he worries that when the poor did access the new plan, healthcare providers may tend to “overprescribe and overtreat” the poor who may not be adequately informed about the details of the coverage.
“But at least there is a scheme and maybe gradually these points will be considered as it matures and outpatient healthcare will get covered,” Karan said. He hopes to see results by the second or third year of implementation.
Vinay Aggarwal, former president of the Indian Medical Association, gave a positive reading to The Washington Post, saying, “Before this, hardly 5 percent of Indians were covered by health insurance. If you take into account private health care, it’s hardly 10 percent. Now we’re addressing 45 percent.”
Parikh said, “On behalf of AAPI and GAPIO, I want to congratulate the Prime Minister on this initiative and hope it will be successful and eventually lead to universal healthcare,” an objective Jaitley says is achievable if the new initiative goes according to plan.
XLeaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathered in New Delhi for the summit that experts said was held with an eye on China’s growing assertiveness in the region. Leaders of all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) had gathered in New Delhi on Thursday for the summit that experts said was held with an eye on China’s growing assertiveness in the region. The leaders also attended the Republic Day celebrations on Friday as the chief guests – a first for India.
The landmark event was closely followed in China, which has forged close economic and strategic ties with Asean despite differences with several of its members. On Thursday, China had officially said it was “pleased” to see the development of relations between India and Asean members.
A day after a groundbreaking India-Asean Summit, China’s state-controlled media on Friday described New Delhi as a “beginner” in geopolitics that is using a “bluff” to exaggerate its importance in the region.
But in an editorial titled “India’s geopolitical bluff baffles China”, the nationalistic Global Times tabloid said on Friday: “Some members of the Indian elite enjoy engaging in geopolitical bluster. But they cannot truly gauge the reality of India’s comprehensive strength and diplomatic experience. They are beginners playing at geopolitics.”
The editorial added, “Repeated reports by some Indian media that New Delhi has launched a diplomatic offensive against Beijing are baffling to the Chinese public. “India and Asean have the right to hold the summit, which exerts no negative effect upon China. However, some Indians are tenacious in exaggerating the meeting’s implications to China.”
The editorial described the Sino-Asean relationship as “sound and solid” and said: “In spite of territorial disputes, Beijing-Hanoi (Vietnam) trade volume exceeds that of Beijing and New Delhi. The China-Asean relationship is inclusive and surpasses traditional geopolitics.” The editorial was dismissive of India’s ties with the Asean countries.
“In fact an examination of the China-Southeast Asia relationship suggests that the situation is not like that the Indian media depicts. Asean’s trade volume with China is more than six times that of India, and China’s investment in the region is 10 times that of India,” it said.
The editorial scoffed at India’s apparent efforts to counter China through its ties with other countries.
“China never compares itself to the US, because its GDP is only two-thirds that of the US. However, New Delhi, with a GDP only one-fifth that of China, has been striving to prevail over Beijing in almost all aspects,” it said.
It added: “Honestly speaking, Chinese people are not occupied by India. New Delhi is not Beijing’s major trading partner, and, despite border disputes, is not an imminent security threat to us Chinese.”
The editorial further said China and India should set an example to the world by cooperating without limits despite their territorial disputes. “We hope India has the same will and confidence as China to realise this goal,” it said.
India’s Prime Minister Modi should spend less time abroad telling foreigners how well India is doing and more time at home asking people how they feel about his administration, the popular Forbes magazine wrote.
While quoting a research by Gallup, Forbes wrote, Indians think they are worse off than they were three years ago. The study found a big decline in the percentage of Indians who rate their lives positively enough to rate it as “thriving” since Modi assumed office.
“The survey findings provide a different picture from that which one gets when looking at India’s financial markets. In fact, they have been soaring, up close to 50% in the last two years,” Forbes wrote. Nonetheless, only 3% of Indians consider themselves thriving in 2017 compared to 14% in 2014.
“India’s largely rural population initially led the decline in life evaluations, with thriving dropping from 14% to 7% between 2014 and 2015, and edging even lower to 4% and 3% in the years after that,” according to Gallup. “Declines among urban Indians have been much more gradual, although they are down in the past year, dropping from 11% to 4%.”
These findings may come as a surprise to some. Modi has maintained a stable political and macroeconomic environment, reformed the tax system, and fought corruption with demonetization. These policies have helped India’s economy outperform most emerging markets in per capita GDP growth, and improved the country’s business environment, as inflation has dropped.
That’s how India became the world’s fourth-fastest-growing economy in the world in 2017, according to the World Bank’s latest edition of Global Economic Prospects.
Meanwhile, international agencies have lifted India up in a number of global rankings. Like World Bank’s 2017 ranking of “ease of doing business,” where India climbed from the 130th position last year to the 100th position this year.
Still, Modi’s policies have yet to touch the masses. Living Wage Family in India remains almost flat in the 17300-17400 INR/Month range over his tenure. Meanwhile, wages paid to low-skilled labor decreased to 10300 INR/Month in 2017 from 13300 INR/Month in 2014.
Forbes also pointed to persistence of corruption, the rise of nonperforming loans in state-owned banks, high taxation, poor public health, and chronic income inequality which continues to be on the rise. “All these could explain the misalignment between the high hopes of the Indian people for their economy and what they are personally experiencing,” Forbes wrote.
“The people had high expectations, and those expectations have not been satisfied. GDP growth is still above 5 percent, but it has slowed down sharply from past rates of 8 and 9 percent,” says Udayan Roy, an Economics Professor at LIU POST.
“And even the above-5 percent GDP growth is not creating jobs fast enough,” he continues. “There’s this phenomenon of ‘jobless growth.’ India is demographically quite a young nation. And the young people are entering the labor force at too fast a rate compared to job creation. So, these young people are getting frustrated.”
After all, as the Gallup survey concludes, “when people see their lives headed in the wrong direction, they want change.” That should be of great concern to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Relatives refuse to accept their breadwinners died in Cyclone Ockhi as poverty increases in the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Hundreds of families remain anxious and living in poverty in the fishing villages of southern India as they wait for the homecoming of some 300 fishermen who went missing after Cyclone Ockhi hit them seven weeks ago.
Fear and trauma are keeping fishermen on land as families hope for their men to return, refusing even to file missing person reports with police as it would be tantamount to accepting them as dead.
“We can’t accept that my father is dead,” said 35-year-old Treesa Rajan, whose 62-year-old father Thomas Benjamin of Valiathura village has not been seen since the cyclone hit the southern tip of India from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5.
“He’s a brave man. He doesn’t fear the sea and has decades of experience. He will come back if he got carried away to some distant unknown shores,” she said.
“If we (the family) have to accept him as dead, then we have to bury his body according to our Catholic faith.” Portuguese missionaries brought Catholicism to the region in the 16th century.
Rajan said 12 bodies in the mortuary have yet to be identified. “We will wait until all are identified,” she said, asserting that without funeral rites they cannot consider her father as dead.
Like her father, thousands of fishermen were at sea unaware of the impending cyclone. A month after the tragedy, government officials put the number of missing at more than 600. But church officials say the number has come down.
Father Eugene Pereira, vicar general of Trivandrum Archdiocese that covers the area, told ucanews.com that 324 people are missing from the southern coastal tip, which includes areas under Tamil Nadu and Kerala states.
Kerala government records show 71 people have died and 105 are missing in Kerala. Parliament was told on Dec. 27 that 400 people were missing from Tamil Nadu. The government has not released any renewed figures since then. Father Pereira agreed that official government records do not tally with Church data.
Local media reports said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has asked officials to prepare a final list of the missing and dead before Jan. 22 when the state’s Legislative Assembly begins.
“Our men are traumatized after the cyclone as they suffered irreparable destruction. Most deep sea fishermen are still haunted by the effect of the cyclone,” said Augustine Kanippily, archdiocesan public relations officer. He said those who survived the disaster are not yet ready to go fishing.
Local people say the sea has become erratic. “Since the 2004 Asian tsunami, there have been a lot of changes happening in the sea,” said Robert Panippilla, a researcher. He said fishermen are seriously afraid of the sea after the cyclone. The last cyclone on the coast was about 70 years ago, he noted.
Hunger and poverty have increased since the cyclone as families do not allow their men to venture out to sea, he said. “This is not the sea we saw growing up as children. It has become unpredictable for us. It’s much more polluted and unclean,” Panippilla said.
Trivandrum Archdiocese has assigned doctors and counselors to help traumatized fishermen and family members. “But it will take at least a few months for people to recover. People in trauma can’t exactly say what is haunting them and what is going on within them,” said Carlos Pius, a social worker among fishing people in Poovar village.
The Kerala government has provided free rice, other provisions and a monthly grant of 2,500 rupees (US$39) to all families in the affected area. The government has also distributed 2.2 million rupees each to 29 families whose members died in the disaster.
Aadhaar Card enrolment is presently available to residents in India. Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Cardholders who stay in India for a long time (over 182 days in twelve months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment) and have an Indian address can also enroll for Aadhaar Card in India. Non Resident Indians (NRIs), although they are citizens of India, are not eligible for Aadhaar Card if they have not stayed for more than 182 days or more in the last 12 months. Upon completion of 182 days of their stay in India in the last 12 months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment, NRIs can apply for Aadhaar Card.
“As per Section 139AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, every person who iseligible to obtainAadhaar number shall, on or after the 1st day of July, 2017, quote Aadhaar number— (i) in the application form for allotment of permanent account number; (ii) in the return of income. The above provisions apply to persons who are eligible to get Aadhaar. Under section 3 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, only a resident is entitled to get Aadhaar. Therefore, the provisions of Section 139AA quoted above regarding linking of Aadhaar to PAN or the requirement of quoting the Aadhaar number in the return shall not apply to a non-resident, who is not eligible to get Aadhaar.”
The civil aviation ministry of the Indian Government has said it would invite expressions of interest in buying Air India Ltd after the budget. The government has relaxed FDI norms in various sectors such as single brand retail and allowed foreign airlines to invest up to 49% in Air India through approval route ahead of its proposed privatization.
In a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government, however, clarified that substantial ownership and effective control of Air India shall continue to be vested in Indian nationals. “Foreign investments in Air India including that of foreign airlines shall not exceed 49% either directly or indirectly,” the government said in a statement. Existing rules allow foreign airlines to own as much as 49% in an Indian airline, with the exception of Air India.
According to media reports, the Cabinet also approved 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail through automatic route. It also tweaked the local sourcing norm by allowing such entities to meet the mandatory 30% local sourcing norm incrementally within a period of five years of opening their first store in India.
The civil aviation ministry reported last wek that it would invite expressions of interest in buying Air India Ltd after the budget — indicating the government’s resolve to push the process even as a large section of the political class and stakeholders are opposed to it.
A parliamentary panel has asked the government not sell to Air India and recommended that the airline’s accumulated debt be written off and that it “function like a public sector undertaking with less government control.”
The transport panel of Parliament cited a report by the government auditor, the comptroller and auditor general (C&AG) that noted that Air India has been able to cut 10% of its variable cost between 2012 and 2016. It also argued that the airline pays Rs 4,000 crore as interest on an accumulated loss of Rs 40,000 crore.
The House panel, which asked the government to give five more years to the ailing airline for a turnaround, argued that it earns 60% of its revenue in foreign currency and that this money could end up going to foreign airlines of Air India is privatised. It also expressed concern about the possible job loss for 3.34 lakh people including 50,000 directly.
The panel also pointed out that three of the airline’s five subsidiaries (AI Express, the ground handling wing and the engineering branch) are making profits, and questioned the rationale for their divestment.
CEOs Forum, Women’s Forum, Launching Free Health Clinic, First Responders Training, CMEs, Research Contest, Fashion Show, Cultural extravaganza, Touring Dubai, UAE Assam, Kolkata, & Bhutan Major Highlights
(Kolkata, India: January 1st, 2018) The 11th edition of the annual Global Healthcare Summit organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), USA concluded here at the historic City of Joy, Kolkata in West Bengal, India on December 31st at the famous JW Marriott with CEOs Forum, Women’s Forum, Launching Free Health Clinic, First Responders Training, CMEs, Research Contest, Fashion Show, Cultural extravaganza, Touring Dubai, UAE Assam, Kolkata, & Bhutan to be major highlights of the Summit.
At the valedictory event presided over by India’s Vice President, Shri Venkaiah Naidu, he urged Physicians of Indian Origin to return to India and rededicate their lives for the wellbeing of their motherland, India, as all the opportunities are now available here.
“I would be happier if you people can come back to India and do something to help the society. Earlier the opportunity was very less here so people went to different parts of the globe for work. But now everything is available in India,” Naidu said. “Apart from conducting CMEs, seminars and workshops, AAPI must consider collaborating with various governments and other private organizations in establishing a state-of-the-art healthcare facility in each district of the country where affordable treatment is dispensed,” the Vice President of India told the delegates.
The Governor of West Bengal, Shri Keshri Nath Tripathi, the Minister for Urban Development, West Bengal, Firhad Hakim and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. GHS 2017 was attended by the over 1000 leading experts from several countries, and focusses on sharing best practices, developing efficient and cost effective solutions for India.
In his welcome address, Dr. Gautam Samadder, President of AAPI, said, “This GHS has promised to be one with the greatest impact and significant contributions towards harnessing the power of international Indian diaspora to bring the most innovative, efficient, cost effective healthcare solutions to India,” described Dr. Samadder. “AAPI has capped the voluminous achievements of the past 34 years with a clear vision to move forward taking this noble organization to newer heights.”
According to Dr. Naresh Parikh, President-Elect of AAPI, who had proposed the vote of thanks, the scientific program of GHS 2017 was developed by leading experts with the contributions of a stellar Scientific Advisory Board and International Scientific Committee, while the event featuring plenary sessions, interactive round-tables, clinical practice workshops, and meet the expert sessions.
Dr. Ashok Jain, Chairman of AAPI’s BOD, in his address, summarized some of the achievements of AAPI including the 16 free healthcare clinics, AAPI’s legislative initiatives in the US, and the ongoing collaboration with the government of India and the state governments and several NGOs in helping healthcare efficient and cost effective.
The Vice President of India praised AAPI and its noble “mission for India is to play an important role in making quality healthcare accessible and affordable to all people of India. It is indeed a laudable objective as both accessibility and affordability are the need of the hour, especially in a vast developing country like India with a huge population of middle class and lower middle class.”
The Conference was organized in partnership with the ministry of overseas Indian affairs and ministry of health and family welfare, along with collaboration with over 15 professional associations from all over the world.
The GHS 2017 featured some of the biggest names in the healthcare industry, especially at the 6th annual CEO leadership forum with leaders from across the globe. GHS 2017 was attended by over 100 opinion leaders and expert speakers from many countries across the globe to present cutting edge scientific findings as these relate to clinical practice, representing major Centers of Excellence, Institutions, and Professional Associations are represented by the invited chairs and speakers.
Offering trainings to First Responders, a CEO Forum by a galaxy of CEOs from around the world, inauguration of AAPI-sponsored clinic, CMEs, cultural events, Dinner Cruise on the Ganges, interactive roundtables, clinical practice workshops, scientific poster/research session and meet-the-expert sessions, Women’s Forum by internally acclaimed successful worm from India, a special session on Public-Private Partnership featuring AAPI Healthcare Charitable showcase & innovation, and Town Hall sessions resulting in a White Paper on helping create policies benefitting the people of India, are only some of the major highlights of the Healthcare Summit, Dr. Samadder said.
AAPI, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Madhyamgram Metropolitan lunched a healthcare clinic offering medical care to the much need people of the region at the Prajapati Bhavan, Basunagar, Madhyamgram in the outskirts of Kolkata on December 29th, 2017.
Over 30 physicians of Indian origin, led by Dr. Gautam Samadder, President of AAPI and Dr. Madhu Aggarwal, Chairwoman of the AAPI Charitable Foundation attended the free one day healthcare clinic at the suburban center, and treated over 200 patients during the day long clinic.
“This is the first ever clinic sponsored by AAPI in the state of West Bengal and this is the 15th across the nation,” Dr. Samadder told during a welcome reception organized by the local Rotary Club in honor of the physicians who had travelled early in the morning on a bus to serve the much needed patients at the clinic. “AAPI provides financial assistance and medical care by AAPI members to the people of this historic city,” he added.
During a press conference attended by the media at the Hotel, members of the leading print and electronic media interacted with AAPI leaders, including Dr. Samadder, President of AAPI, Dr. Sampat Shivangi, chair of AAPI’s Legislative Committee, Anwar Feroz, AAPI’s Strategic Adviser, and Dr. Chandan K Sen, Chairman, AAPI Global Healthcare Summit – Kolkata.
Dr. Chandan K Sen, Chairman, AAPI Global Healthcare Summit – Kolkata, said, “It has been a privilege to serve you as the Chairman of this XI AAPI Global Healthcare Summit. Americans with Indian heritage are uniquely positioned to enrich the United States as well as India through collaborative efforts utilizing the strengths unique to each of the two countries. I welcome you to Kolkata, where intellectual curiosity is woven deep into the fabric of its society.”
According to Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Secretary of AAPI, the scientific program of GHS 2017 was developed by leading experts with the contributions of a stellar Scientific Advisory Board and International Scientific Committee, while the event featuring plenary sessions, interactive round-tables, clinical practice workshops, and meet the expert sessions.
The GHS Young Innovators Research Competition at the famous Calcutta Medical College helped facilitate dissemination and exchange of best practices among the upcoming young physicians of Indian origin from around the world. The winners of the Research Paper Competition conducted under various categories, were awarded with a citation, cash award and trophy at the inaugural gala this evening.
A special unique to the GHS 2017wais a session on the Impact of Cinema on Public Health and awareness with a live conversation with Bollywood stars and producers, including Dr. Kapasi, Shekar das, Dipankar Banerjee, who shared their personal experiences of making movies on social themes that imparts education on various social topics.
The Women’s Leadership Forum was coordinated by Dr. Udaya Shivangi, and had featured Bollywood star Sharmila Tagore. The Forum addressed as to how empowering women and educating them will help reduce infant mortality.
The Healthcare Forum, addressed by leading industry leaders, including Sudhanshu Pandey. Joint Secretary, Department of commerce, Indian Government; Dr. Gautam Samadder; Jayshree Mehta, Mediacl Council of India; Dr. Sanku Rao, GAPIO; Dr. Girdhar Gyani, Hospital Association of India; Dr. B R Shetty; Dr. Sangita Reddy; Dr. D C Shah of IPA: Dr. Naresh Parikh; Preetha Rajaraman; Dr. Pradeep Majhajan; Dr. Rajeev Mehta of BAPIO; Dr. Kali Pradip Chaudhury; Dr. Shubnum Singh; Dr. Anupam Sibal; and Jonathan Ward of the US Consulate in Kolkata.
In collaboration with the American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine, AAPI organized a 3-day workshop/training (EMTC) training over 150 first responders, including police, para-medical professional at the KPC Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata as part of the GHS.
Choreographed and designed by famous fashion designer, Nachiket Barve, AAPI members and leaders catwalked on the ramp, showcasing their talents, exquisite taste for the finest clothing and attire, proving yet again the Indian American physicians are not only famous for their brilliant healthcare, but also could be leaders in the fashion world.
The theme chosen for the GHS this year was Healthcare, Career and Commerce, with the focus on Women’s Healthcare, including high priority areas such as Cardiology, Maternal & Child Health, Diabetes, Oncology, Surgery, Mental Health, HIT, Allergy, Immunology & Lung Health, Gastroenterology, Transplant and impact of comorbidities.
The Summit had offered delegates a taste of delicious food each day and live music concerts by popular Bollywood singers Usha Uthup, Alka Ygnik who kept the audience spell bound for over two hours each with their melodious singing and live interaction with the audience.
Indian Americans comprise of 4 million people, representing around 1.25% of the U.S. population as of 2015. Indians contributed 17% of total earnings in the US from foreign students totaling $6.5 billion last year. An estimated 10% of all physicians and surgeons in the US are of Indian origin. An estimated 100,000 physicians and fellows of Indian origin currently serve in the US. In biological and biomedical sciences studies workforce, data from 2015 show that people of Indian origin in the US account for 14.6% of the total workforce holding 72000 jobs.
Earlier, as part of the GHS, AAPI delegates had a memorable visit from December 24-27, to the city of Dubai and the kingdom of Abu Dhabi, where they were greeted by the local high ranking officials, who have expressed interest in collaborating with the physicians of Indian origin in the Gulf Region. The delegates, apart from visiting the city and its major tourists attractions, had a fruitful visit to the famous NMC Hospital, Abu Dhabi and meeting with the founder and chairman, Dr. Shetty. The pre-summit tour to Dubai provided the AAPI delegates with a unique Christmas Dinner Cruise, City tour to Palm Island, Khalifa Tower, Burj Hotel, Dubai mall, Dubai Museum, etc.
Desert Safari including camel ride and belly dancing shows.
The Post GHS TOUR to the heavenly Bhutan from January 1-4, 2018, will take delegates to the world renowned and ancient Takshang Monestary, Hike in Tiger’s Nest, Buddha Dordenma, National Heritage museum & Dochula. For those who want to enjoy the beautiful Assam, can tour this beautiful state of Assam from January 4-8, 2018, touring Kaziranga National Park including Rhino Park, Nehru Stadium, Assam Rajyik State Museum, Guwahati Market, Kamakhya Temple and dinner at the Governor’s Mansion. The Summit will also offer everyday Guided Tours and Evening Entertainments to the delegates, and will conclude with a special New Year’s eve gala party, welcoming the New Year 2018 with family, fun and entertainment.
Founded in 1984, the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) represents one of the largest health care forum in the United States with the goal to facilitate and enable Indian American Physicians to excel in patient care, teaching and research and to pursue their aspirations in professional and community affairs. AAPI-Charitable Foundation is committed to serve the poorest of the poor in remote areas of India and USA. AAPI has always been present when calamities strike whether it is hurricane Harvey, Tsunami, Katrina, or earthquakes of Gujarat and Maharashtra. AAPI has hosted ten Indo-US/Global Healthcare Summits and developed strategic alliances with various organizations both in the US as well as in India. These summits are aimed at sharing of expertise towards improvement of healthcare in the US as well as in India.
AAPI has been strategically engaged in working with the Union and State Governments of India for the past ten years and has collaborated with more than 35 professional medical associations, pharmaceutical and medical device companies to address the health care challenges of a rapidly developing India. “It is the passion, willingness and staunch loyalty towards the former motherland that draws several AAPI members to join this effort & by working with experts in India, AAPI is able to bring solutions that are India centric & takes us closer to our lofty vision of making quality healthcare affordable & accessible to all people of India,” said Dr. Gautam Samadder.
“With the changing trends and statistics in healthcare, both in India and US, we are refocusing our mission and vision, AAPI would like to make a positive meaningful impact on the healthcare delivery system both in the US and in India,” Dr. Samadder said. For more information on Global Healthcare Summit, please visit www.aapiusa.org
India’s relationship with the United States is expected to continue to grow in the New Year, analysts say. The new US security plan released last week said: “We will deepen our strategic partnership with India and support its leadership role in the Indian Ocean security and throughout the broader region.” Washington also pledged to increase quadrilateral cooperation with Japan, Australia and India. “We welcome India’s emergence as a leading global power and stronger strategic and defence partner. We will seek to increase quadrilateral cooperation with Japan, Australia and India.”
After US President Donald Trump gave a leadership role to India in his new “America First Security Strategy”, New Delhi voiced appreciation for Washington laying importance to the bilateral relationship.
“We appreciate the strategic importance given to India-US relationship in the new National Security Strategy released by the US,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said last week. “As two responsible democracies, India and the US share common objectives, including combating terrorism and promoting peace and security throughout the world,” Kumar said.
In November, India, the US, Japan and Australia held a quadrilateral meeting in the Philippines on the sidelines of the East Asia and Asean Summits to discuss the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region.
This assumes significance given China’s aggressiveness in the South China Sea and attempts to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean. Kumar said: “A close partnership between India and the US contributes to peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as to the economic progress of the two countries.”
Trump’s security strategy also stated that the US would continue to push Pakistan to speed up its counter-terrorism efforts. “We will press Pakistan to intensify its counter-terrorism efforts, since no partnership can survive a country’s support for militants and terrorists who target a partner’s own service members and officials,” it said.
The India-US relationship is going to get stronger and better under the Trump administration in a wide range of areas, including regional security issues, trade and economy, terrorism, a senior White House official has said.
“India is a natural ally of the United States, because of the shared commitment to democracy and to counterterrorism, and because the region is so vital to the US security,” Raj Shah, the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, told a group of India . Shah’s comments came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump held their second bilateral meeting in Manila on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.
The two countries are going to have a “strong relationship and it’s going to get stronger” under this president, Shah, the highest-ranking Indian-American ever in the White House press wing, told a group of Indian reporters last week.
“India is a natural ally of the United States, because of the shared commitment to democracy and to counterterrorism, and because the region is so vital to the US security,” he said. Shah said that the US-India relationship should stand on its own leg and “not be contingent” on any other relationship.
There are a lot more in common between India and the US than that between the US and China, he said. “The relationship with Modi is his relationship with Modi. He likes (him),” he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the United States on 25-26 June at the invitation of the new President of the United States Donald trump. This was Modi’s first meeting with Trump, although the two leaders had spoken to each other on three occasions after Trump won the election. One call was made by Modi and two by Trump, the last one being by Trump in end-March to congratulate Modi for the emphatic victory of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh elections.
The Christian community in Agra and Mathura on Sunday alleged police high-handedness over the arrest of seven people in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district on what it said were “fabricated charges of religious conversion”.
The seven accused, now in judicial custody, were picked up by police from a house in a village after locals complained to the police that “outsiders” were fomenting trouble by resorting to forced conversion.
The charge was denied by the accused, who told the police that it was a private family affair involving relatives. But a local activist alleged that the police came under pressure from “Hindutva groups” to act against the Christians.
Ahead of the Christmas celebrations, the community says this was an attempt to hurt their religious sentiments by rounding up people without any investigation and on flimsy grounds.
“We may have to approach the Chief Justice of India to grant us all anticipatory bail as we may be arrested when we go out singing carols,” said an agitated Christian leader in Mathura not wanting to be identified. “Imagine, in the court some lawyers called us terrorists,” he added.
Groups of lawyers mounted pressure when the bail application came up for hearing on Saturday, forcing adjournment till Tuesday, some lawyers said.
A C Michael, a community leader, told IANS that he had been trying to mobilize support and explain to police officials and also the local minister the real truth of the case. “Of the seven arrested persons, two are Hindus. So how could they be involved in religious conversion? Our community is living in fear in Agra and Mathura, ahead of Xmas.
“But we are lining up support and lawyers and have full faith in our judiciary. It was a family programme. Outsiders were provoked and they interfered, making all kinds of charges,” he added. Christian leaders in Agra have met the parish priests, the Archbishop and other officials of different denominations.
Independent lawyers in Mathura indicated that the court had been virtually forced by the slogan-shouting brigade to postpone the decision till Tuesday. A press conference scheduled for Sunday was called off as some supporters, fearing police action, backed out. A Hindu priest also chickened out, after initially agreeing to come out in their support.
Christian community leaders said their work was confined to providing healthcare and running schools. “Some vested interests are deliberately trying to create differences and tarnish our image,” said one of them who did not want to be identified by name.
The hearing of the bail application of the seven will take place on Tuesday. On Saturday evening, lawyers headed by Mathura Bar Association President Braj Gopal Sharma and Secretary Trilok Chandra Sharma wanted the District Court to be fully satisfied with the sources of funding for “such religious activities”.
The seven accused have been in judicial custody for the past 14 days. Police officer Baij Nath Singh of Surir where the case was registered told IANS: “The seven were taken into custody after some villagers complained about religious conversion in a house.”
According to the complainants, the accused were not only conducting religious ceremonies but also abusing Hindu gods. Hindutva groups said there have been repeated attempts in Mathura, Hathras and Etmadpur areas to bring poor Hindus into Christian fold.
Superintendent of Police Aditya Shukla in Mathura told IANS: “It is entirely up to the court to decide the bail plea and judge the merits of the charges… The police have no role and we should not be accused of acting unfairly.”
In an appeal urging support and prayers for those illegally artrested, AC Michael, said, “Bail application in Mathura case came up on 16th Dec. The other side, which consisted of almost all of the members of Local Bar Association including its President & Secretary asked for more time to submit their intervention. According to them Christians are same as ISIS and are on conversion spree across the country, using foreign money. The DM should investigate the use of this foreign money. Therefore, they want to submit a report on Conversion activities by Christians. Till then they do not want the hearing on this case to take place.
“To that the Judge remarked “Your malafide intention can be seen clearly. Even though the bail application was filed on 7th; till now you have not filed your submission.” He went on to say “If it was your client you would have been prepared to take up the matter on a holiday too.” Since the Court would not be functioningon Sunday and Monday, next date of hearing was fixed for 19th Dec.
“Dr. John Dayal, Advocate Pramod Singh and the undersigned were scheduled to address a press conference in the evening. Since we did not get bail, it was decided to cancel the press conference as the matter was considered sub judice. There are some miss-understandings that the Methodist Church withdrew its premises for the press conference. All Churches and Christians of Mathura City are united and are extending full support. In fact, many were in the court. If the opposition was about 50 in numbers we were about 25 inside the court room. Our lawyers matched their arguments which compelled Judge to be on the right side of law.
“Our lawyers moved an application seeking correction in the previous order dated 12/12/17 to record the presence of our lawyers in court, which judged agreed to take up at next hearing. We shall keep you updated. Thanks & regards,” wrote AC Michael.
The Latin Church has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a Rs 3,500 crore Central package for Ochki relief measures. A Church delegation led by Archbishop Soosa Pakiam met the Prime Minister on Dec 19 evening and petitioned for central assistance.
The Church said over 6,030 fishermen were directly affected by the cyclone. “Among them 70 fishermen in Kerala are dead and 108 men in Kanyakumari district are reported dead. Several are still missing.
The 39 coastal villages in Kerala and the sea coast of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu are heavily eroding due to the unscientific constructions in the sea which resulted in loss of several houses in the past and during the cyclone,” the petition said. The delegation raised a number of demands, including forming a Central ministry to coordinate and effectively manage coastal and fisheries affairs in the country.
Other demands include – declaring Ochki cyclone and other sea disasters as natural calamities, introducing auto piloting systemised crafts for search operation and establish joint operation units in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, satellite-based tracking system in fishing boats in collaboration with ISRO and starting a Wireless Personal Communication (WPC) office in Thiruvananthapuram.
They said central assistance would be needed for sustainable compensation fund for the deceased, the missing families and permanently disabled families (300 crore), Satellite Tracking System and VHF Radio Sets (80 crore), Marine Ambulances (70 crore), compensation for lost vessels and replacement of small vessels (800 crore), integrated housing with basic amenities (1,250 crore), coastal protection measures (750 crore) and disaster preparedness and rescue operations (250 crore).Appreciating the rescue and relief measures carried out by the Central Government, the Church sought imminent action on the special package.
Modi spoke to over a dozen fisherwomen, fish workers’ representatives and Church leaders. He assured them that all fishermen who have been stranded in the sea will be brought back before Christmas.
The Prime Minister said the Navy and Coast Guard vessels would continue to step up surveillance to rescue the remaining fishermen. Also, efforts would continue to recover the bodies of those who have died in the cyclone.
Members of the Indian American Community organized a grand Victory celebrations in New York on Tuesday, December 19th, 2017 in Long Island, NY. On a working day large number of community leaders and people attended the celebrations at Hicksvile, New York.
In his Key Note Address Jagdish Sewhani, president American India Public Affairs Committee said that People of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have out rightly rejected the politics of casteism, appeasement of minorities and corruption.
They have endorsed good governance and voted for development. The proof is that the BJP has been re-elected for a record sixth time. In Himachal Pradesh they have totally rejected corrupt Congress government and gave BJP a 2/3rd majority.
Sharing his personal story, Sewhani said when he was growing up in Gujarat there was long hours of power cuts were norm of the day, every year there were riots and workers went on strike. Ever since BJP has come to power they have changed the face of Gujarat. It is the most developed and industrial State of the country. It has set a gold standard of development in the country. Gujarat now has surplus power. It is now riots and strikes free. There is internet even in villages.
Gujarat has reached this development because of a stable and powerful BJP government for nearly last two decades.
This is the Gujarat Model, we need to follow. If we want a developed and powerful India – which is peaceful and strong – the vision of New India that honorable Prime Minister has envisioned, we need a stable and strong government in Delhi for at least for the next three decades.
India is on its way to Congress Mukt Bharat. BJP/NDA is now in 19 states. The credit of Victory goes to our Dynamic Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modiji, who in last 3 1/2 years has given clean government, set a standard for good governance. India is now marching ahead…. We do not want to be stopped.
As such we need to work in a mission mode for the 2019 general election. Our objective should be not only to re-elect BJP, but also target 450 Lok Sabha seats and 50 percent of the popular votes. Such a strong mandate and popular government is essential to accelerate the pace of development march on the path of New India that we all dream of.
The vision of New India requires uninterrupted power to BJP and Modiji. Modiji firmly believes in Politics of Development and Sabh ka Sath and Sabh Ka Vikas . There was lot of excitement in the audience. They were again and again Chanting Modi/Modi. The victory celebrations finally concluded with a new slogan of Modiji Jeetega Bhai Jeetega Vikas Hee Jeetega.
Catholic fishing communities in Kerala demand search operations continue as death toll lifted to 56.
The number of people in southern India listed as missing has increased to 600 a fortnight after cyclone Ockhi struck the coast, which includes many Catholic villages.
However, this figure is expected to fall significantly as many of them went out deep-sea fishing in large boats, rather than in vulnerable small coastal craft. The recovery of more bodies has lifted the death toll to 56 in Kerala state.
Church officials in Kerala’s Trivandrum Diosece list 232 people as missing, much higher than the government figure of 98 missing. Some 10,000 people, mostly Catholic fisherfolk, marched through the streets of Kerala’s state capital, Thiruvananthapuram (formerly Trivandrum), on Dec. 11.
They demanded that search operations be continued as well as provision of greater compensation and rehabilitation assistance. Neighboring Tamil Nadu state was also hit by Cyclone Ockhi between Nov. 30-Dec. 3. In Tamil Nadu, at least 462 people are officially listed as missing.
However, of the missing, 427 had gone in bigger boats for deep-sea fishing, while only 35 had headed out in 13 smaller boats. The number of missing was expected to fall as most of those involved in deep-sea fishing were expected to return. The state government was continuing search operations in collaboration with federal agencies as well as the Indian navy and air force.
Father Justin Jude, priest of the badly affected Poonthura St. Thomas parish, said families of the dead were being cared for by local communities. Voluntary agencies and clubs such as Rotary were also providing food and temporary financial help to victims’ families, Father Jude said.
Church agencies such as Caritas India and Save-a-Family are coordinating distribution of relief supplies. Some locals said the emphasis should be on ‘livelihood’ programs so people could start rebuilding their lives, including through the provision of boats and fishing equipment.
Rahul Gandhi, vice-president of the Congress Party was elected unopposed as president of the Indian National Congress here on Monday, December 11th, 2017. Gandhi’s appointment was confirmed on Monday, days after he filed his nomination papers for the post. There were no other contenders. He will officially take over as the President of the oldest Indian national Party on December 16th.
Briefing reporters, the party’s central election authority chief Mullappally Ramachandran said Gandhi will formally take over on December 16. “Since the withdrawal of date/time is over and as there is only one candidate (Rahul), as per Article XVII (d) of the Constitution of Indian National Congress, I hereby declare Shri Rahul Gandhi elected as president of the Indian National Congress,” Ramachandran said.
At the party headquarters, 24 Akbar Road, slogans such as “Agla pradhan mantri kaisa ho, Rahul Gandhi jaisa ho,”(Who would be our next PM, Rahul Gandhi!) and crackers rent the air as Mr. Ramachandran made the announcement. Supporters gathered in huge numbers waving Congress flags.
He is the 16th president of the Congress since Independence and sixth from the Nehru-Gandhi clan to take over the party reins. Mr. Gandhi has been vice-president of the party since 2013.
Among other senior politicians, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated him. “I congratulate Rahulji on his election as Congress President my best wishes for a fruitful tenure,” he tweeted.
The Congress, the country’s largest opposition party, which has ruled India for most periods since Indian gained independence from the British Raj in 1947, won less than 20% of the popular vote in the seismic 2014 general elections which catapulted Narendra Modi’s BJP to power. It secured just 44 – or 8% – of the 543 parliamentary seats in its worst performance ever.
Since then, the Congress has lost elections in half-a-dozen states, and is now in power in only two big states – Karnataka and Punjab – and three other smaller ones. Its prospects in two imminent state elections – Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh – look mixed.
Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said even before taking over, Gandhi had rattled the BJP. “After three decades, we have a Congress president in the mid-40s. Of course his father took over at a younger age. In the last four-years, Rahul Gandhi has worked hard and we can see the results today. He is leading the Congress campaign alone in Gujarat and the BJP is countering him with their 80 Cabinet Ministers, 12-15 Chief Ministers, and State Ministers,” Azad said.
The incumbent president Sonia Gandhi is expected to hold a designated role as an overall guide and mentor of party. According to sources, a new post of a party patron may be constituted to accommodate her. There is no clarity yet on whether she will resign from the post of parliamentary party chief or not.
The new Congress president has to live up to the expectations of his colleagues who hope that he would arrest the slide in the party’s electoral fortunes. “In 2014, we were in a weak spot. We have been on a path of recovery since then. Despite a measly 44 MPs, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi we have forced the government to roll back anti-poor measures in GST and the Land Acquisition Bill,” Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said.
Monday’s announcement has to be ratified by the Congress plenary session. The plenary will also elect the new Congress Working Committee. People across the Indian continent hope that Gandhi, 47, will change the fortunes of his enfeebled party.
He entered public life 13 years ago, when he stood and won in his family seat of Amethi. Since then, the fifth-generation scion has been seen as a reluctant politician, aloof and disinterested in the hurly burly of politics.
Gandhi’s elevation to the party’s second most senior leader – after his mother Sonia Gandhi – in 2013 didn’t improve things. He tried to reform his party by holding primaries, revitalize its flagging youth wing and running it like a corporate office. But the results have been less than impressive, and the party’s slide has continued.
After his initial reluctance and poor show at election rallies, Gandhi, the son of late Rajiv Gandhi and grand son of late Indira Gandhi, has come around and has begun establishing himself as a mass leader in his own name.
Gandhi went on a well-received tour of the US, meeting students, think-tank experts, government leaders, and journalists and took questions from them. He was self deprecating about his limitations – he told students at University of California, Berkeley that Mr Modi was a “better communicator” than him.
His social media campaign has finally begun packing a punch. Mr Gandhi is now being seen as more open and refreshingly amusing – he tweeted a health update about his mother’s illness and a video featuring his dog, which caused a sensation.
With Rahul Ganshi assuming office, the highest decision-making body of the party is expected to see a few changes. Gandhi is likely to bring in some new faces. The plenary session may be held in mid-January either in Delhi or Karnataka.
Gandhi’s burst of enthusiasm appears to have energised the party’s rank and file somewhat, but he will need a lot more political nous and strategy if he’s to start winning elections.
He will need to articulate a compelling economic vision to young Indians who are tired of confusing reformist platitudes. He will have to find and encourage charismatic and clean local leaders, forge winning alliances with regional parties, and make sure his party runs better governments in the states it rules.
NRIs and PIOs are not required to link bank accounts and other services with Aadhaar, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said today while instructing various implementation agencies to work out a mechanism to verify the status of such individuals.
It said the Prevention of Money laundering Rules 2017 and the Income Tax Act clearly stipulate that the linking of bank accounts and PAN respectively, “is for those persons who are eligible to enroll for Aadhaar.”
It said all central ministries and departments, state governments and other implementing agencies should bear in mind that Aadhaar as an identity document can be sought only from those eligible for it under Aadhaar Act and that most NRIs/PIOs/ OCIs may not be eligible for its enrolment.
GOPIO has been campaigning on this issue with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and several members of the parliament during their visit to New York.
The Aadhaar-issuing body said several representations had been received about problems faced by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Person of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) where Aadhaar was being demanded with regard to various services and benefits.
It said that some Departments and implementing agencies were asking NRIs/OCIs/PIOs to submit or link their Aadhaar for availing services and benefits, despite the fact that they were not entitled to the 12-digit biometric identifier.
“The laws regarding submitting/linking of Aadhaar for availing the services/benefits apply to the residents as per the Aadhaar Act 2016… Most of the NRIs/PIOs/OCIs may not be eligible for Aadhaar enrollment as per Aadhaar Act…,” the UIDAI said in a note dated November 15 to central ministries and states.
Aadhaar Card enrolment is presently available to residents in India. Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Cardholders who stay in India for a long time (over 182 days in twelve months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment) and have an Indian address can also enroll for Aadhaar Card in India. Non Resident Indians (NRIs), although they are citizens of India, are not eligible for Aadhaar Card if they have not stayed for more than 182 days or more in the last 12 months. Upon completion of 182 days of their stay in India in the last 12 months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment, NRIs can apply for Aadhaar Card.
“As per Section 139AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, every person who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number shall, on or after the 1st day of July, 2017, quote Aadhaar number— (i) in the application form for allotment of permanent account number; (ii) in the return of income. The above provisions apply to persons who are eligible to get Aadhaar. Under section 3 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, only a resident is entitled to get Aadhaar. Therefore, the provisions of Section 139AA quoted above regarding linking of Aadhaar to PAN or the requirement of quoting the Aadhaar number in the return shall not apply to a non-resident, who is not eligible to get Aadhaar.”
Former US President Barack Obama during his first visit to India after leaving office as the President of US, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week and discussed ways to further strengthen the US-India relationship.
While addressing the youth in India at a Town Hall Meeting, Obama was reminded of his speech at Siri Fort auditorium on January 27, 2015 — the last day of his last visit to India as US President — in which he sounded caution “against any efforts to divide ourselves along sectarian lines” and pointedly asked if the message was directed at the Modi-led BJP government.
He said the message was meant for “all of us” and “the same thing” was told “in private to Prime Minister Modi. If you see a politician doing things that are questionable one of things as citizens you can ask yourself is am I encouraging or supporting or giving licence to the values? If communities across India are saying we are not going to fall prey to division then that will strengthen the hands of those politicians who feel the same way.”
Asked how Modi responded to his message on religious tolerance particularly in the wake of Western media highlighting incidents of lynching in the name of cow protection and love jihad cases, Obama dodged a direct reply saying his goal was not to disclose his private conversations with other leaders.
But, he said, Modi’s impulses recognize the need for unity in India “to advance to the great nation status that India possesses and will continue and amplify in the years to come”. He said he had shared the concern in public in the United States of America, in Europe “because people feel worried and insecure about all the changes some of which are economic but some of which are cultural and social”.
“There are demographic changes taking place. Migration. People start looking different. There is a collision of cultures. People see much more vividly the differences between people.”Earlier in the day, Obama addressed the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. His Obama Foundation also organized a town hall meeting with young Indian leaders.
As a debate rages over growing intolerance in the country, former U.S. President Barack Obama disclosed that he had privately told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India must not split on sectarian lines and that it must cherish the fact that Muslims here identify themselves as Indians.
“Particularly in a country like India where you have such an enormous Muslim population that is successful, integrated and thinks of itself as Indian and that is unfortunately always not the case in some other countries where a religious minority nevertheless feels a part of. I think that is something that should be cherished, nurtured and cultivated.
“And I think that all farsighted Indian leadership recognizes that but it is important to continue and reinforce that,” he said speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. In an interactive session punctuated with humor and loud applause from the audience that included Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Obama said all humans inherently try to make distinctions to make themselves feel more important than others.
And these distinctions, he said, “are sometimes based on races, on religion, on class and always based on gender”. He said a counter narrative had always been taking place at all times in the world but has become louder now.
“It sometimes happens in Europe, in America and sometimes you see it in India where those old tribal impulses re-assert themselves.” He said some elected leaders try to push back against those impulses and some try to exploit them. Obama also spoke of how he admired Modi and his predecessor Manmohan Singh alike for their “political courage”.
Asked about his relationship with Prime Minister Modi, Obama paused a bit and said: “I like him and I think he is that he has a vision for the country that he is implementing and is in many ways modernizing the bureaucracy.”
He heaped praise on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has come under attack from the ruling BJP, saying he was a great support in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. “But I really was also great friends with Singh, and when you look at the work and the steps that Singh took to open up and modernize the economy and launch what I think was really the foundations for the modern Indian economy. That is also important.
“Here is the bottom line. Because India is a democracy, it has politics. And that is a healthy thing. As a non-Indian and as US President my job was to work with whichever party was in power. Keep in mind that Singh was primary interlocutor with me when we were saving the country from a global financial meltdown. “But, Prime Minister Modi was the primary partner in unlocking the Paris Accord. Neither of those things was easy and both required some political courage back here in India.”
The event was organized by the Obama Foundation, created in 2014 to continue the popular president’s work after he left office. The Foundation is headquartered on Chicago’s South Side, where Obama worked as a community organizer before beginning his political career.
“As one of the most culturally, religiously, linguistically, and ethnically diverse nations on earth, India’s democracy shows us the collective strength of engagement within and across communities,” noted the Obama Foundation in a press release announcing the town-hall meeting in New Delhi.
“Most of India’s one billion people are under 35 years old, an engaged and passionate generation that includes Members of Parliament, village Sarpanchs, scientists, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, and civic leaders who are finding innovative ways to create positive change across India — change that benefits the world.”
India’s first Madame Tussauds wax museum opened its doors here on Nov. 30 with 50 life-like figures spanning across history, sports, music, films, and politics, for the public at the iconic Regal building in central Delhi.
“This is truly an exhilarating and emotional feeling to finally see Madame Tussauds in Delhi. Guests will be encouraged to interact, perform and even reflect with our figures in unique and immersive settings within the attraction,” Anshul Jain, General Manager, and Director, Merlin Entertainment Pvt Ltd, said here.
Madame Tussauds has been a successful tourist attraction in places like London, Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, San Francisco and Hong Kong. Its maiden facility here has wax statues of Indian personalities like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cinematic icon Amitabh Bachchan and Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, along with many Hollywood celebrities.
The Delhi facility is the 23rd edition of Madame Tussauds. Some other personalities here include Katrina Kaif, Madhuri Dixit, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Salman Khan, Will Smith, David Beckham, Kim Kardashian Justin Bieber, Beyonce Knowles, Asha Bhosle, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Sharma, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Ranbir Kapoor. It will be open for all seven days with tickets priced at Rs 960 for adults and Rs 760 for children.
The Golden Temple has been awarded the ‘most visited place of the world’ by ‘World Book of Records’ (WBR), a London-based organisation that catalogues and verifies world records. General secretary of India chapter, Surbhi Kaul, and president of Punjab chapter, Randeep Singh Kohli, gave this award to SGPC chief secretary Roop Singh and other senior officials at Teja Singh Samundari Hall, on Friday.
Kaul said her organisation gives the award after every three months and the Golden Temple has been conferred this award on the basis of observations made from September onwards.
“Lakhs of devotees visit this holy shrine, and the footfall is increasing by the day. This is why the WBR has awarded it,” she said, adding, “So far, eight places, including Shirdi Sai Baba, Vaishno Devi and Mount Abu, have received this award.”
Kohli said the Punjab chapter recommended Golden Temple for this award two months ago to Santosh Shukla, president of WBR’s India chapter. “This award is like paying obeisance here”, said Shukla.
Kohli said they are planning to give these awards to Durgiana Temple at Amritsar and Attari-Wagah border, which also witnesse a huge footfall.
The WBR team, however, could not give satisfactory answers to questions regarding the criteria that determine this award.
Speaking on the occasion, the SGPC chief secretary said though the shrine has been hugely popular ever since its foundation, the footfall has increased since the live telecast of gurbani kirtan. He said on average more than one lakh devotees visit the shrine every day.
“The heritage street, a project of the SAD-BJP government, has contributed a lot to attracting devotees and visitors to this holy shrine,” he added.
He said the SGPC was trying its best to facilitate the devotees under the guidance of its president Kirpal Singh Badungar. Later, he honoured the WBR team with ‘siropas’ and a model of the Golden Temple.
Archbishop Thomas Macwan of Ganshinagar in the state of Gujarat in a letter says “secular and democratic fabric of our country is at stake” and terms the election as “significant” for the “course of our country”.
Ahead of Gujarat assembly election, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar has written a letter urging Christians across India to “pray” for the victory of “humane” leaders to “save” India “from nationalist forces”.
In the letter dated November 21, Archbishop Thomas Macwan said the “secular and democratic fabric of our country is at stake” and termed the election as “significant” for the “course of our country”.
Without naming any party, the letter states, “… The results of this election are significant and it will have its repercussion and reverberation throughout our beloved nation. It will influence the future course of our country. We are aware that the secular and democratic fabric of our country is at stake. Human Rights are being violated. The constitutional rights are being trampled.
“Not a single day goes without an attack on our churches, church personnel, faithful or institutions. There is a growing sense of insecurity among the minorities, OBCs, BCs, poor etc. Nationalist forces are on the verge of taking over the country. The election results of Gujarat State Assembly can make a difference!”
The letter adds, “The Bishops of Gujarat state request you to organize prayer services in your parishes and convents so that we may have such people elected in the Gujarat State Assembly who would remain faithful to our Indian Constitution and respect every human being without any sort of discrimination.”
With seven out of 16 awards, India bagged the highest number of awards among all the participant nations in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Asia Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation for 2017.
While the award for merit was given to three Indian historical sites, the others four sites were given honorable mentions in the UNESCO awards, announced on November 1. Four of the awards winning structures are in Mumbai.
The award recognizes work done by individuals and organizations to restore adapt and conserve structures and buildings of heritage value.
Recognizing this, UNESCO seeks to encourage private sector involvement and public-private collaboration in conserving the region’s cultural heritage for the benefit of current and future generations.
The Awards of Merit were given to Christ Church in Mumbai’s Byculla, the Royal Bombay Opera House in Mumbai and Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Tiruchirappalli.
Byculla’s Christ Church opened to worship in 1833. This Neo-Classical church structure was restored in two phases.
According to the UNESCO report, the church had suffered from earlier inappropriate repair works that disguised and diminished its cultural value. The panel appreciated the fact that Artisan skills were revived during the renewal of the elegant interior with its gilded columns, memorial stained glass windows and lath and plaster ceiling.
Royal Bombay Opera House was restored from a near-derelict state. It opened in 1916 and was called the finest theatre in the East; the century-old building was shut down over two decades ago.
The panel acknowledged the extensive restoration of its decorative features using expert knowledge and research, to ensure that India’s only surviving opera house could make its mark again.
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple has revived through a major public-private initiative. It is said that the use of traditional methods in renovating temple structures and re-establishment of rainwater harvesting and historic drainage system, to augment water and prevent flooding, were the main reasons for the temple to achieve the award.
Honourable mentions were given to the Bomanjee Hormarjee Wadia Fountain and Clock Tower in Mumbai, the Wellington Fountain in Mumbai’s Colaba, Gateways of Gohad Fort in Bhind and Haveli Dharampura in Delhi.
“The Jury was impressed by the heroic nature of the conservation projects, especially those that underscore the importance of protecting the heritage that is rooted in the least powerful segments of society,” said Duong Bich Hanh, Chair of the Jury and Chief of UNESCO Bangkok’s Culture Unit. The 16 winners of the UNESCO award are from six countries: Australia, China, India, Iran, New Zealand and Singapore.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, on his first visit to India as a cabinet member, discussed expanding and solidifying U.S.-India security and strategic cooperation in various regions of the world, including North Korea, as well as in trade, economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his meeting with Tillerson, praised Washington for the upward trajectory of bilateral relations between the two democracies and shared the resolve “on taking further steps in the direction of accelerating and strengthening the content, pace and scope of the bilateral engagement,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement reported by Indo Asian News Service.
While in New Delhi, Tillerson continued exhorting Pakistan for harboring terrorist groups within its borders. “There are too many terrorist organizations that find a safe place in Pakistan from which to conduct their operations and attacks against other countries,” Tillerson said at a joint press conference with Swaraj, according to the video available on the MEA website. These terrorist groups threatened Pakistan’s own stability, he added, reiterating what he had said in a major foreign policy speech before embarking on his tour to several countries including India and Pakistan.
India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a thorough probe into adoption process of the three-year-old Indian American girl Sherin Mathews who has died in Texas last month.
Sushma Swaraj tweeted that she has requested Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi “for a thorough investigation into the adoption process of Baby Saraswati Sherin Mathews who has been killed by her foster father Wesley Mathews in the US.”
She also said that she has asked Anupam Roy, Consul General of India in Houston, to ensure that the murder of Sherin was taken to a logical conclusion. Police in Texas charged Wesley Mathews after he admitted that the child choked while he was making her drink milk and died in their home in Texas, according to court documents.
He had earlier told police that Sherin disappeared when he made her stand in a lane behind their house in Richardson city at 3 a.m. on October 7 as punishment for not drinking milk. After nearly two weeks of searching by police using drones, her body was found on Sunday in a ditch near their house in the city near Dallas. While the search was going on, Mathews stuck to the story about Sherin’s punishment and mysterious disappearance.
Mathews, who was arrested on Monday, was charged with causing injury to a child which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. He was being held in jail with bail set at $1 million. Mathews, 37, who works in IT, is of Indian origin. He and his wife Sini, a nurse, had adopted Sherin from an orphanage in Bihar.
According to court documents, Mathews came to the police with his lawyer and said that he “physically assisted” Sherin with drinking milk in the garage of their house after she had earlier refused to drink it. The child began coughing and choking, her breathing slowed and then there was no longer any pulse, he told police.
In separate tweets, Sushma Swaraj also said that in view of the Sherin Mathews case, “we have taken a decision that passports for adopted children will be issued only with prior clearance by Ministry of Child Development in all cases.”
India says it is looking forward to a visit by US secretary of state Rex Tillerson to New Delhi next week to further strengthen a partnership based on a shared commitment to a rule-based international order. External affairs ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar welcomed a recent statement by Tillerson calling for an expansion of strategic ties.
“We appreciate his positive evaluation of the relationship and share his optimism about its future directions,” Kumar said. In an address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank on October 18th, Tillerson has said the world needs the U.S. and India to have a strong partnership as he pointedly criticized China, which he accused of challenging international norms needed for global stability.
He said the United States and India shared goals of security, free navigation, free trade and an international rules-based order which is increasingly under strain.
Tillerson’s remarks come as a boost to India at a time when its ties with China have suffered a setback following a recent border standoff. Declaring, “We share a vision of the future,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has unveiled a centennial roadmap marking a “profound transformation” in United States-India cooperation “in defense of a rules-based order” with New Delhi “fully embracing its potential as a leading player in the international security arena.”
The Secretary pointed to what he considered a “more profound transformation that’s taking place, one that will have far-reaching implications for the next 100 years: The United States and India are increasingly global partners with growing strategic convergence.”
“Our nations are two bookends of stability – on either side of the globe – standing for greater security and prosperity for our citizens and people around the world,” he said. “President (Donald) Trump and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi are committed, more than any other leaders before them, to building an ambitious partnership that benefits not only our two great democracies, but other sovereign nations working toward greater peace and stability,” he said.
The speech gave form and substance to the administration’s policy towards India and not just South Asia, but the broader Indo-Pacific region stretching from the vulnerable western flank of the U.S. It touched on a wide range of areas of cooperation ranging from military and defense to economics and trade, and from promotion of democracy to freedom of navigation.
“Tillerson’s speech was one of the most thoughtful and forward leaning speeches from this administration,” asserted Jeff M. Smith, research fellow on South Asia at The Heritage Foundation. The core of the cooperation between the U.S. and India and New Delhi’s enhanced role that Tillerson outlined lies in the Indo-Pacific region where the “world’s center of gravity is shifting” — an area where the Washington and its allies confront China, which he said “subverts the sovereignty of neighboring countries and disadvantages the U.S. and our friends.”
In effect, President Donald Trump’s point-man for foreign policy, just dramatically ratcheted up U.S. support for India’s role in the Indo-Pacific region vis-a-vis Beijing, delivering a clear message of preference for the democracy just as the Chinese Communist Party Congress was getting underway in Beijing, and days before Trump’ was scheduled to visit China.
India, Tillerson said in no uncertain terms, weighed heavier on the scale of strategic security and economic cooperation in Asia. “We’ll never have the same relationship with China, a nondemocratic society, that we have with India,” asserted Tillerson during questions and answers after a speech. Tillerson outlined the game-plan for an Indo-Pacific region where Washington was already engaged with India and Japan, and hopes to rope in Australia to make a quartet countering China’s aggressive stance in the South China Sea.
“We need to collaborate with India to ensure that the Indo-Pacific is increasingly a place of peace, stability, and growing prosperity – so that it does not become a region of disorder, conflict, and predatory economics,” clearly pointing at China.
“The emerging Delhi-Washington strategic partnership stands upon a shared commitment upholding the rule of law, freedom of navigation, universal values, and free trade,” he said, asserting further that, “Our nations are two bookends of stability – on either side of the globe – standing for greater security and prosperity for our citizens and people around the world.” Experts see this as the clearest statement of U.S. objectives vis-a-vis Asia and India, coming from this or previous administrations.
Reserve Bank of India has said linkage of biometric identity number Aadhaar with bank accounts is mandatory. The RBI clarification followed media reports quoting a reply to a Right to Information+ (RTI) application that suggested the apex bank has not issued any order for mandatory Aadhaar linkage with bank accounts.
“The Reserve Bank clarifies that, in applicable cases, linkage of Aadhaar number to bank account is mandatory under the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 published in the Official Gazette on June 1, 2017,” the central bank said in a statement. These rules have statutory force and, as such, banks have to implement them without awaiting further instructions, it said.
The government in June had made Aadhaar mandatory for opening bank accounts+ as well as for any financial transaction of Rs 50,000 and above. Existing bank account holders have been asked to furnish the Aadhaar number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) by December 31, 2017, failing which the account will cease to be operational, the government notification had said.
There were reports in media quoting an RTI query in which RBI had said it “has not issued any instruction so far regarding mandatory linking of Aadhaar number with bank accounts”.
The government in Budget 2017 had already mandated seeding of Aadhaar number with Permanent Account Number to avoid individuals using multiple PANs to evade taxes. The notification issued amending the Prevention of Money- laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005, mandated quoting of Aadhaar along with PAN or Form 60 by individuals, companies and partnership firms for all financial transactions of Rs 50,000 or above.
Madhu Valli, an emerging hip hop artist and a student of criminal law at George Mason University in Virginia, was crowned as Miss India Worldwide 2017 during a glittering pageant that drew crew contestants from around the world at the 26th edition of the beauty pageant held at the Royal Albert’s Palace in Fords, New Jersey on Sunday on October 8th. “I want to be the next biggest bridge between Bollywood and Hollywood,” Valli said a day after winning the pageant. She bested 16 other contestants to get the crown from the last year’s winner, Karina Kohli.
Another Indian-American, Sarita Pattnaik, an interior designer from Texas, was declared Mrs. India Worldwide; the mother of two, said she wants to be a social activist and become a voice for women’s empowerment.
Stephanie Madavane from France was declared runner up Sangeeta Bahadur from Guyana took the third spot at the pageant that had contestants from 18 countries. Canada-based Guyanese and humanitarian Sangeeta Bahadur also secured for herself the Miss Congeniality Award.
Valli, 20, released her latest album, “High School,” a day before the pageant. “I want to be the next biggest bridge between Bollywood and Hollywood,” Valli said. She said her dream is to be a recording artist, and music is her passion. Valli started learning vocals at the age of eight. The beauty pageant attracts people of Indian origin from across the world. It provides a platform to showcase how Indian culture has been preserved thousands of miles away, she said.
Organized by New York-based India Festival Committee, Miss India Worldwide is the only international Indian pageant with affiliates in over 35 countries and considered among the top ethnic pageants in the world. Last year, it also launched the Mrs India Worldwide, which provides a platform for married women of Indian origin.Namita S. Dodwadkar of Boston won the first Mrs India Worldwide crown, while Karina Kohli of New York won the Miss India Worldwide title in 2016.
“I definitely want to speak to a lot of young Indian American women about women empowerment and positive self- image,” Valli said. “I love both my countries, India and the US and I always wanted to discover a way to be a leader in both!” she said. The beauty pageant attracts people of Indian origin from across the world. It provides a platform to showcase how Indian culture has been preserved thousands of miles away, she said.
“This past week has been the craziest yet happiest week of my life,” Madhu, centre, wrote on Instagram. “Last night, I walked in as your Miss India USA, but I walked out as your new Miss India Worldwide 2017 with France as my 1st runner-up and Guyana as my 2nd runner-up, both who I love dearly.
“I still can’t believe it. All that was going through my mind throughout the whole week was ‘USA BABY!!’ I love both my countries, India and US and I always wanted to discover a way to be a leader in both! Cheers to dreams that come true and cheers to God, who loves us enough to make those dreams come true.”
Miss India Worldwide draws contestants from India and from among the members of the Indian diaspora residing in other countries. It is conducted by India Festival Committee (IFC), founded and headed by Dharmatma Saran in New York City.
A total of 18 contestants from different countries participated in the international pageant and Fairfax-resident stole the show which also witnessed a stunning performance by TV actress Shiny Doshi. The judges of the event were Fashion Choreographer Sandip Soparrkar, Host Aman Yatan Verma and supermodel/ramp trainer Jesse Randhawa. The pageant started in 1990 and Valli is the eighth Indian American to win the crown followed by the 2016 winner Karina Kohli.
The beauty pageant attracts entrants of Indian origin from across the world, organizers say.. It is yet another forum for Indian living abroad to showcase how they have preserved Indian culture thousands of miles away from their original homeland, organizers believe.
Congratulating the contestants and winners at the pageant, Dharmatma Saran, chairman and founder of the New York based India Festival Committee that organizes the trail blazing Miss India Worldwide, said, “We have used the title to raise funds for the poor and the needy. We made the beauty work for a good cause. We are pioneers in organizing Indian pageants and fashion shows in the USA and other parts of the world, of which the Miss India Worldwide has been acclaimed as the “most glamorous Indian function in the world.” And, of course, the Miss India Worldwide is the only international Indian pageant.
“When Miss India New York started in 1980, I had perhaps not even in my wildest dreams imagined that in less than twenty years, we would fledge out to be a mass movement with affiliates in over 40 countries, let alone that we would one day have a live internet webcast and broadcast our most prestigious function, the Miss India Worldwide, to an audience of over 300 million people!” Saran recalls.
“We are very proud of the fact that we have been able to provide a common platform for the international Indian community through pageantry. We are equally proud of the fact that we have been able to imbibe Indian values, traditions and culture among the youth of Indian origin around the world. We have also been successful in promoting Indian performing arts in the world,” he says.
“I sincerely hope that our website will provide all information regarding Indian pageants in the world. We plan to include many more channels, especially of interest to the youth, and believe this will become the one-stop website for Indian youths around the world,” Saran hopes.
“India’s largely rural population initially led the decline in life evaluations, with thriving dropping from 14% to 7% between 2014 and 2015, and edging even lower to 4% and 3% in the years after that,” according to Gallup. “Declines among urban Indians have been much more gradual, although they are down in the past year, dropping from 11% to 4%.”
“I would be happier if you people can come back to India and do something to help the society. Earlier the opportunity was very less here so people went to different parts of the globe for work. But now everything is available in India,” Naidu said. “Apart from conducting CMEs, seminars and workshops, AAPI must consider collaborating with various governments and other private organizations in establishing a state-of-the-art healthcare facility in each district of the country where affordable treatment is dispensed,” the Vice President of India told the delegates.
In his welcome address, Dr. Gautam Samadder, President of AAPI, said, “This GHS has promised to be one with the greatest impact and significant contributions towards harnessing the power of international Indian diaspora to bring the most innovative, efficient, cost effective healthcare solutions to India,” described Dr. Samadder. “AAPI has capped the voluminous achievements of the past 34 years with a clear vision to move forward taking this noble organization to newer heights.”
The Vice President of India praised AAPI and its noble “mission for India is to play an important role in making quality healthcare accessible and affordable to all people of India. It is indeed a laudable objective as both accessibility and affordability are the need of the hour, especially in a vast developing country like India with a huge population of middle class and lower middle class.”
AAPI, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Madhyamgram Metropolitan lunched a healthcare clinic offering medical care to the much need people of the region at the Prajapati Bhavan, Basunagar, Madhyamgram in the outskirts of Kolkata on December 29th, 2017.
Other demands include – declaring Ochki cyclone and other sea disasters as natural calamities, introducing auto piloting systemised crafts for search operation and establish joint operation units in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, satellite-based tracking system in fishing boats in collaboration with ISRO and starting a Wireless Personal Communication (WPC) office in Thiruvananthapuram.
Valli, 20, released her latest album, “High School,” a day before the pageant. “I want to be the next biggest bridge between Bollywood and Hollywood,” Valli said. She said her dream is to be a recording artist, and music is her passion. Valli started learning vocals at the age of eight. The beauty pageant attracts people of Indian origin from across the world. It provides a platform to showcase how Indian culture has been preserved thousands of miles away, she said.
“This past week has been the craziest yet happiest week of my life,” Madhu, centre, wrote on Instagram. “Last night, I walked in as your Miss India USA, but I walked out as your new Miss India Worldwide 2017 with France as my 1st runner-up and Guyana as my 2nd runner-up, both who I love dearly.
The beauty pageant attracts entrants of Indian origin from across the world, organizers say.. It is yet another forum for Indian living abroad to showcase how they have preserved Indian culture thousands of miles away from their original homeland, organizers believe.