Ann Mukherjee Proves You Can Change Liquor Industry From Within

Liquor industry leader Ann Mukherjee makes bold moves to fulfill her passionate belief in return on responsibility. “It’s not enough to be responsible. You have to get a return on it,” says Mukherjee, the 57-year-old chairwoman and CEO of Pernod Ricard North America, the largest operation at the world’s second biggest producer of wine and spirits. It makes Absolut vodka, Malibu rum, Jameson Irish whiskey, and Beefeater gin, among others. “I experienced personal traumas caused by others’ irresponsible drinking. That’s why my responsibility is to lend my voice and humanize issues,” she says.

Mukherjee was born in India, and raised in the U.S. An intoxicated adolescent boy sexually assaulted her at age four. A drunk driver killed her mother when she was a teenager. She held marketing management roles at several consumer product makers before surprising friends and family by joining the booze business.

Now she’s the first woman, person of color, and industry outsider to lead Pernod Ricard’s North American unit, which excludes Mexico. Shortly after her December 2019 arrival at the company, Mukherjee launched an Absolut Vodka campaign targeting sexual consent, and painted “sex responsibly” on her fingernails.

Next up, she will expand a Dallas pilot project that combats binge drinking and impaired driving. The “Safe Night” program, which Pernod cosponsors, hopes to soon add another major U.S. city. “We want to take this nationwide,” she says. A self-proclaimed “acceleration queen,” Mukherjee says she also aims to speed Pernod Ricard’s U.S. growth “to try to make us number one in the world.”

TIME recently spoke with Mukherjee about her employer’s other efforts to prevent drunk driving, the appetizing outlook for ready-to-drink cocktails, “war gaming” product launches, and why she yearns to own a restaurant.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How does return on responsibility improve returns for your investors? Do you avoid taking a public stance on certain controversial issues because your position might hurt Pernod Ricard?

Consumers have a higher standard around brands they trust. They expect those brands to be walking the talk. Return on responsibility is what consumers expect of us. It actually drives return on investment. Making it part of your DNA not only future-proofs your business, it also creates the loyalty you need.

We only go after those issues that drive value, our company values, and our purpose of conviviality. Conviviality is about unlocking this magic of human connections. When somebody gets promoted, you’re celebrating over two flutes of champagne. We stay away if [an issue] isn’t about unlocking that magic.

Employees have asked me to speak against gun violence, a very important issue, but not our mission. So I am not going to [do so].

Why should executives speak out about issues related to their business? After all, most Americans want companies to stay out of social and political issues, some surveys find.

Every company needs to define their value creation model. You’re giving people something to buy into [because] you are a brand standing for timeless values. If sustainability issues are not about how you create value, don’t talk about them. Taking on topics du jour is another form of greenwashing. [Saying] you care about sustainability “because we’re supposed to’’ is not good enough. At Pernod Ricard, we talk about sustainability because nothing we make happens without agriculture. We won’t have a business if we don’t care about our farmers [or] don’t understand water conservation.

The Dallas pilot project epitomizes your return on responsibility commitment by training restaurants and bars to assist customers who drink too much. Given your horrific experiences involving alcohol abusers, why didn’t you initially launch a nationwide campaign against drunk driving?

The project’s approach had never been done before so we wanted to pilot it to make sure we got the right model [before] we start rounding it out to every city. Nationally, we do other things around responsible drinking. You attack it through helping the hospitality industry, education, and legislation. We worked very hard with Responsibility.org on a [relevant] piece of legislation in President Biden’s infrastructure package.

The package the president signed into law contains a provision that any car manufactured in the United States must soon be capable of preventing a drunk driver from operating the vehicle. I got pretty emotional the day that law got signed. I posted a picture of my mom to my family and told them how the provision will reduce drunk driving. It was a way to give her death some meaning.

The ready-to-drink cocktail market is flourishing. How much U.S. revenue might Pernod Ricard get from such cocktails five years from now?

I can’t give any forward-looking numbers, but it is a part of our growth equation. The U.S. market for ready-to-drink cocktails is expected to grow at a rapid pace. People looking for convenience [also] want brands and cocktails they know and trust. So Malibu making a ready-to-drink piña colada makes sense. Absolut making an espresso martini ready to drink makes sense.

It’s important enough for us that we are now investing capital behind it. We’ve installed [our first] ready-to-drink canning line in our Fort Smith, Ark., facility. That $22 million investment is expandable so as that business gets bigger, we have the ability to grow with it.

While chief marketing officer of Frito-Lay North America, you helped introduce biodegradable bags for its Sun Chips. But due to their loud crackling sounds, the bags got withdrawn. What key leadership lesson did that noisy flop teach you?

At that time, the company wanted to make bold statements. While [the bag] did not work, employees said, “Wow, we were willing to take a risk for what we believed in.” But [being] enamored by the technology clouded our better business judgment. Passion, if not done objectively, sometimes is not the smartest thing to do. I learned to have a war game plan ready to go if something goes wrong.

How do you use war gaming to lead Pernod Ricard North America effectively?

We war game to be ready. There could be possible problems involving innovation launches, new marketing campaigns or new technology. And even if it’s a success, what were the lessons learned?

A great example is Jameson Orange, the first real flavored whiskey launched under the Jameson franchise. It was probably the biggest [U.S.] innovation launch the industry saw last year. We war gamed everything. What did this teach us? You got to make sure your innovation is on the shelf before you do all that [promotional] display stuff. It was 100% against industry norms. We’re very excited about the results. We now launch innovation based on learnings around how consumers shop.

You often use nail polish to broadcast your views about hot topics. You painted Black Lives Matter or BLM on your fingernails after George Floyd’s murder in 2020. And you put a Ukrainian flag on your nails following Russia’s invasion last year. What message are you sending to your coworkers?

That it’s OK to be vulnerable. And it’s a way for me to use something illustratively to say, “I care. You matter.’’

You try to unleash gifts that colleagues don’t know they have, so they feel they can do the impossible. What impossible goal have you achieved?

Sitting in the chair I’m in today. I’ve been told, “You should be a homeless drug addict,’’ [because of] my story. I feel very privileged that people believe I can create positive change. Most people can achieve anything they want if they can get out of their own way. I try to get people out of their own way and give them inspiration and hope.

Not long ago, you said you were still trying to decide what you want to be when you grow up. Are you interested in becoming CEO of a publicly held company someday?

Why wouldn’t I be? That’s absolutely in the mix. I get [recruiter] calls. And what a training ground I’m in now! But I’m very happy where I am. I came [to Pernod Ricard] because I wanted to accomplish something from a business and responsibility perspective. Working for a company you believe in doesn’t come around every day.

I would [also] love to open my own restaurant and be the Stanley Tucci of India. Cooking is how I get rid of stress. I read cookbooks like novels. I love fusion cooking, bringing different cuisines together, and understanding culture through food. We [recently took] a three-week food extravaganza tour in Vietnam. I’ve got lots of dreams. Who knows what I’ll end up doing? (TIME.COM)

Dr. Anupama Gotimukula Conferred with The Top 20 Global Woman Of Excellence Award

Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, the immediate past President of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic physician organization in United States was honored with the Top 20 Global Women of Excellence Award during a solemn ceremony On International Women’s Day, March 8th, 2023 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

The event was organized by the Multi Ethnic Advisory Task Force and American Multi Ethnic Coalition Inc., chaired by Congressman Danny K Davis. Among others, who attended the event and presented the awards to the 20 outstanding global women of excellence were: Rep.  Danny Davis, Rep. Raja Krishnamurthy, Rep. Jonathan Jackson, Rep. Delia Ramirez, and Dr. Vijay Prabhakar, Founder of AMEC.

Picture : TheUNN

In her acceptance speech, Dr. Gotimukula, the only 4th woman president of AAPI in 40 years said, “It is a great honor receiving this prestigious award in recognition of my services as a physician and woman leader.” Dr. Gotimukula, while accepting the honor behalf of the fraternity of the physicians, said, “Post Covid pandemic, our physician community is dealing with stress and burnout. At AAPI, we are working on providing education and support on ways to deal with burnout through lifestyle modifications and other means.”

While highlighting some of the major initiatives under her leadership AAPI had focused on, Dr. Gotimukula said, “During my tenure as the President of AAPI, we did Blood Donation Drives across the United States to help replenish Blood Banks deprived of blood products due to Covid crisis, in addition to Fund Raising efforts to help the neediest in India.”

In her efforts in leading AAPI, to honor and serve our motherland India, Dr. Gotimukula said, “On the occasion of India’s 75 years of Independence, we initiated the “Adopt a Village” 75 villages Rural Preventive Health Screening Project in India and completed more than 60 villages for preventive medical services.

Several health screening camps were organized and screened for Non communicable silent killer diseases like Diabetes, Hypertension, Kidney disease, Hyperlipidemia and Anemia/ Obesity issues . The abnormally screened villagers  were provided with  direct physician care and education on lifestyle modifications. All along, our goal has been to emphasize on ‘Prevention care is better than Disease care’ and to help build ‘Indian Preventive Task Force’ guidelines for India.”

Picture : TheUNN

Dr. Gotimukula, a Pediatric Anesthesiologist  from San Antonio, TX said “I dedicate this award to my Family, Friends and my Organization AAPI, which I have served for more than a decade. AAPI has nurtured a woman leader and gave me an opportunity to do several good things in the healthcare sector and help the community.” In 2022, Dr. Gotimukula received the Excellence in Leadership Award from the Indo-American Press Club (IAPC) and  the 2022 Women  Leaders in Medicine  Award from the Bexar County Medical Society, San Antonio, Texas.

Drawing the audience’s attention to the fact that Women in Leadership are still way behind, especially for women of color, Dr. Gotimukula said, “It’s even more challenging to climb up the leadership ladder and be successful. My goal as a woman leader has been to mentor more women leaders, who can do greater things in this world! Congratulations to all the Top 20 women being recognized here today on this platform for your outstanding achievements. My message to all women in the world – Enjoy, Embrace, be Empathetic and be Humble!”

AMEC & MEATF Hosts 11th Annual Congressional International Women’s Day Celebration on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C.

To celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness about discrimination and take action to drive gender parity, each year AMEC (American Multiethnic Coalition Inc) & MEATF (Multiethnic Advisory Task Force) honors Women globally by recognizing them for their contributions. This year AMEC & MEATF hosted its 11th Annual Congressional International Women’s Day Celebration at Rayburn House Building, Capitol Hill at Washington D.C. on March 8, 2023 and celebrated the achievements of 20 women of diverse ethnicities.

The event was presided by AMEC/MEATF Founder and President Dr Vijay Prabhakar, Congressman Danny K Davis, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Congressman Jonathan Jackson, and Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, Tumia Romero – Chief Of Staff at Office of Congressman Danny K. Davis, Brian Pasternak – Administrator, Office of the Foreign Labor Certifications, U. S. Department of Labor, Washington D.C.

Picture : Asia Media

The proceedings began with announcements by hosts, Shree Gurusamy (Secretary General AMEC) and Seeta Bala (Awards Jury Chair). Tumia Romero, the Chief Of Staff at Office of Congressman Danny K. Davis, who is a fierce women’s rights advocate, has also served as a deputy Director of Labor under the previous Gov. Pat Quinn, and she is currently pursuing a doctorate in public policy, in her Welcome Address said, “there were seven continents initially created where all of us come from but the main one is Africa, and then we all spread out everywhere and I am delighted to say that I’m one of those persons whose ancestry is from Africa, like a lot of us! And it’s so great to see so many women here you know of different backgrounds, and we all have different stories to share, and it means something to the fabric of our society and to the people of the United States of America.” She emphasized how we all women are connected with each other and how she along with Congressman Davis has been supporting their causes.

At the event, the call to action was delivered by 8-year-old Samara Karakara from New York, calling for girls’ and women’s leadership in education and technology, making her the youngest Indian American girl to make a call to action at Capitol Hill. A plaque and medallion were presented to Samara.

Founder of AMEC/MEATF, the brain behind the whole thing, an internationally renowned public health expert, the first Asian and person of color acknowledged by President Clinton administration, a creative master strategist Dr Vijay G Prabhakar was invited for his Opening Remarks. Dr Vijay Prabhakar, also fondly known as Dr VGP, in his most unique and inimitable style, delivered a powerful and inspiring message to the audience.

Picture : Asia Media

He acknowledged the contributions of living legend Congressman Danny K Davis for initiating the Global Community Congressional Community Oscars and Congressional Women of Excellence Awards in recognition of ethnic communities, minorities and especially women and appreciated his efforts.  Dr. Prabhakar thanked Tumia Romero, for playing a vital role in bringing this ceremony to Capitol Hill and expressed his content in the continuing of the awards ceremony for the second consecutive year at Capitol Hill. Referring to Samara Karkara, Dr. Prabhakar said he was happy to “[pass] the baton to the next generation,” and her Call to Action “set the tone for today.”  He also welcomed and thanked Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Congressman Jonathan Jackson, Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, Brian Pasternak – Administrator, Office of the Foreign Labor Certifications, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington D.C. and all the guests.

AMEC Commissioner, Richa Chand was invited to introduce the EDWARD & LILY PRABHAKAR CENTENARY AWARDS 2023, instituted by the Global Eye Magazine, a premier worldwide digital publication that reaches 42 million households including 2 million in Chicagoland, to commemorate the Birth Centenary of the parents of Chairman Dr VGP. The Recipients were: Congressman Danny K. Davis, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Jonathan Jackson and Delia Ramirez, Congresswoman all representing Illinois along with President of Chicago Medical Society Dr. Tariq Butt, Vaithilingam Shanmuganathan, South Asia Advertising Executive, The Global Eye, Los Angeles who hails from Sri Lanka and Founder of Dads with Daughters, New York, Ravi Karkara. So far 16 outstanding persons have received the Edward & Lily Prabhakar Centenary Award. The Global Eye Magazine is honoring 100 individuals/ institutions with the Prestigious EDWARD & LILY PRABHAKAR CENTENARY AWARD throughout the Birth centenary year of DR. VGP’s blessed parents from March 1, 2023 to August 22, 2024

As an Event Co-host and Award recipient, Congressman Danny K Davis was invited for his address. He said, “I thank all of you for coming to visit your house, the House of Representatives, and the Senate..it belongs to you!” Appreciating Samara’s leadership qualities, he referred to her talk as “one of the most fascinating speeches” he had ever heard.

During his award acceptance speech, praising the organizers, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said he was happy to be part of the occasion to celebrate women. Referring to the organizers, he said “They do the Lord’s work in terms of helping others in a time when a lot of people need help…so the helpers are the ones that we look to in Congress for leadership.” About Davis, Krishnamoorthi said “he is about the people,” and “community empowerment,” and “if there is a way, he will mean to get it done.”

The Special Guest was a high-ranking federal official Brian Pasternak, Administrator, Office of the Foreign Labor Certifications, U. S. Department of Labor, Washington D. C. who Presented a copy of GSA’s first publication SABD – a collection of poems authored by Dr Saradapurna Sonty to each awardee at the ceremony.

The final segment of the program, honoring TOP 20 GLOBAL WOMEN OF EXCELLENCE 2023, was conducted by Seeta Bala & Shree Gurusamy. Indrani Davaluri also assisted with Award Presentations. The Recipients were:

 

  1. Jennifer Rajkumar, New York State Assembly Woman, Civil Rights Lawyer, NY.
  2. Joanne Hill – Kittle, Deputy Director at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland.
  3. Dr. Twin Green, President & CEO, The Link & Option Center, South Holland, IL.
  4. Dr. Sarada Purna Sonty, Founder & CEO SAPNA
  5. Deila Davis, Deputy Director, National Association of Community Health Centers Inc.
  6.  Sherry Husa, President & CEO, MERIDIAN Health Plan of IL.
  7. Reena Bhardwaj, White House Correspondent for ANI, Washington DC.
  8. Mary Barthelson, Space Systems Engineer
  9. Cynthia Dorsey Edwards, President/CEO, Storehouse of Solutions, LLC, Atlanta
  10. Usha Boddapu, CEO /Founder Esolvit, Austin, TX.
  11. Melanie Fernando, Executive Director, Aetna Better Health of IL, Chicago, IL.
  12. Nicole L Nicky Harvey, Founder & Chair Black Public Safety Alliance, Chicago, IL.
  13. Urmil Tracy Marshall, Mental Health Advocate, Atlanta.
  14. Dr Mercedes Martinez, Psychiatrist, Chicago, IL.
  15. Dr.Rani Yousefzai, CEO – Belleza Med Spa, IL.
  16. Dr.Anupama Reddy, Past president, American Association Physicians of Indian Origin
  17. Zoe Ma, Community Activist, Skokie, IL.
  18. Katherine Thorat, Realtor, Coldwell Banker Realty, Woodridge, IL.
  19. Dr. Cathy Subber, CEO of Advanced Health of Naperville.
  20. Prathiba Jairath, Founder, Vidya Jyoti, USA.

All the outstanding women who received the award were invited to speak at the podium. Past President of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), and Pediatric Anesthesiologist from San Antonio, Texas, Anupama Gotimukula who was one of the 20 Global Women of Excellence 2023 awardees, highlighted AAPI’s contributions during the COVID pandemic. Dr. Gotimukula said  AAPI raised over $5 million in fundraising, supplied oxygen concentrators and ventilators, and provided telemedicine assistance during the acute Delta wave crisis in India. She also talked about AAPI’s national blood donation drive last year, and her ongoing Rural India public health initiative, “Indian Preventive Task Force Guidelines” for preventive health, which has directly benefited 60 villages to-date.

“I work for NASA and diversity inclusion and equity is one of our core values, and I look forward to increasing that through the digital future,” said Deputy Director of NASA Goddard Flight Center, Maryland, Joanne Hill.

Mary Barthelson 2023 Candidate for Virginia House of Delegates and Space Systems Engineer, an advocate for low-income families in Fairfax County, promoter of STEM education, and supporter for the resettlement of refugees, said, “I believe that it is important for women to support and uplift each other and to encourage one another to pursue their passions and goals. By doing so we can create a world where every woman has the opportunity to succeed regardless of their background or their circumstances.”

Community Activist, Zoe Ma who helps underserved inner-city youth with violence prevention, through the Gandhi King Center for Non-Violence in Englewood, IL, said she is a Chinese immigrant who arrived in America alone 28 years ago with just $40 in her pocket. “My personal achievement can inspire young women and single mothers, and the path to empowerment is through entrepreneurship,” she said while advocating fair representation of women and minorities in the government and corporate world for equitable society.

Team AMEC/MEATF would like to acknowledge and thank Dr VGP for his tireless efforts and hard working Team: Our Emcees: Awards Chair Seeta Bala , Event Chair : Shree Gurusamy and Event Co Chair: Richa Chand excelled as usual. AMEC leaders: Indrani Davaluri, AMEC Secretary Virginia , Glory Jeypaul, AMEC Virginia Chair, Ravi Theja, AMEC Pennsylvania Chair, The Global Eye South Asia Advertising Sales Executive, ELP Centenary Awardee from Los Angeles Shan Vaithilingam and Asian Media USA Chair Suresh Bodiwala were equally responsible for the flawless seamless execution of an action packed an hour and half celebration of Women on International Women’s Day March 8, 2023 at the historic Rayburn House Building at Washington D.C.

We salute AMEC Atlanta Chairman Mustafa Ajmeri, Edward Lily Prabhakar Centenary Awardee Ravi KARKARA, President, The Global Eye International Institute of Leadership, New York , Naveen Karna, Chief Information Officer, The Global Eye Magazine, Chicago, Anil Pulla, Chief Operating Officer, The Global Eye, Hyderabad, Top 20 Awardee Kathy Thorat, Director General, GSA India @75 Expo USA, Top 20 Awardee Zoe Ma, AMEC Commissioner, Mundelein, MEATF Councilman Dr Sriram Sonty & Top 20 Awardee “the GSA Phenomenal Woman “Dr Sarada Sonty for their tireless work which resulted in the awesome success of this event.

TAGC Celebrates International Women’s Day As  “Be The Heroine Of Your Life”

The Telugu Association of Greater Chicago (TAGC), The first Telugu association in North America (TANA) in collaboration with American Telangana Sangham (ATS) hosted a successful event to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 5th, 2023. The event was held at Olive Palace Banquets at Mt Prospect. This event has brought together more than 500 women from different parts of Chicago land to celebrate the theme “Be the heroine of your life”. All women beautifully dressed up with sequin and ruffle saree wear.

Picture : Asia Media

Program started with a devotional song by Singer Shruti Thakur and lighting the lamp by President of TAGC 2023, Sri Parameswara Reddy Yarasani, Smt Aruna Sri Yarasani, co-host ATS President Sri Narendra Chamarla, Smt Rajalakshmi Chemarla, Smt Jyothi Madhavaram, Women’s Day Chair Smt Madhavi Rani Konakalla and Co chairs Smt Neelima Boddu, Smt Rachana Koluguri, Smt Vani Rachakonda. All the other TAGC Women Board of Director’s Smt Vinitha Podduturi, Smt Uma Avadhuta, Smt Neelima Cheikicharla, Smt Prasanna Kandukuri, Smt Archana Podduturi, Smt Sirisha Madduri were joined.

Participants at the event also had the opportunity to network and connect with other women in attendance, forming new relationships and creating opportunities for collaboration. The event featured a keynote speech from guest speaker Smt Vidya Nahar, who spoke about the importance of yoga for women. The other speakers were Smt Satya Rangaraju, Smt Subhapriya Lakshmanan also spoke about women empowerment.

One of the highlights of the event was the recognition of several senior women from the Chicago Area Telugu Seniors (CATS) association who have made significant contributions to the Indian communities for many years.

Picture : Asian Media

All the women attended were overwhelmed by events like Fashion walk by over 30 participants, Reels competition, guess and grab a Saree, Kahoot games and many more activities. Evening snacks and Dinner arranged by TAGC Food team Sri Sinivas Reddy Kolli, Sri Rohit Akula along with other TAGC Board of Directors Sri Srujan Nainappagari, Sri Shashi Chava, Sri Ramana Kalva and Mr Srinivas Reddy Nagireddy and Lakshmi Narayana Thota who helped the food team. TAGC Team 2023 thanked Cool Mirchi restaurant for the tasty food.

Anchor Sameera Illendula has brought great energy to the event with her fun lines and witty questions.  Keeping up the TAGC tradition of giving away donations, this year also the participants raised money for a non-profit organization named Suguna Foundation with operations in west Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India which supports care and living for needy seniors and Akshaya Foundation – NGO catering educational needs for children. There was an overwhelming response and contribution this year which is among one of the top fundraising amounts. Regal Jewelers sponsored gold and silver coins for raffle tickets.

Every participant received a return gift sponsored by Kalyani Jonnavithula, owner of PM consulting.  The TAGC Team appreciated all the efforts by the Youth volunteers and made sure that all the members received the return gift.

Speaking to the media, TAGC President Parameswara Reddy Yarasani and women’s day chair Madhavi expressed their hope that the event would inspire attendees to continue to work towards culture and empower more women in their communities. They also expressed their gratitude to the sponsors and partners who supported the event and made it possible.

Celebrating International Women’s Day! Break the Bias! Vidhu Philip

Canadian Malayali writer Vidhu Philip shares her reading experiences of “Sita: Now You Know Me” by Sini Panicker

Sita: Now You Know Me (SNYKM), the debut novel of Sini Panicker, revisits the epic, Ramayana. As the name implies, the central character of the novel is Sita. The well laid out narration takes the readers on a journey through the life of Sita, who turns into a mellowed and matured woman from an innocent seventeen years old girl.

It is quite apparent from the narration and design of the novel, that the author’s aim was to bring out different shades of the personality of Sita which have been overlooked by the traditional text. The ubiquitous all-bearing Sita that we are familiar with is far from the Sita we see in SNYKM. The author has been successful in bringing out a stark contrast between the carefree fun loving daughter of Janaka, and the abandoned powerful wife of Rama in the characterization of Sita.

SNYKM is presented in two layers: the outer layer is the familiar story of Ramayana, and the inner layer digs deep down into Sita’s emotional and psychological self. The narration in the first person enabled the readers to closely follow the inner thoughts and commotions of Sita. Sita was shown as going through a whirlwind of emotions at several occasions. For example, “ I wanted to kill her, right then and there; all I needed was a bow and arrow”, were Sita’s thoughts about Kaikeyi when they had to face her to say goodbye before their exile. It came as a surprise to me that Sita had such thoughts and feelings; all this time I looked at Sita as a dutiful woman who did what was asked of her! SNYKM strikes at all the feminist notes in the characterization of Sita.

The injustice and unfairness faced by Sita has been rightfully presented in the novel. Readers could not help empathize with Sita. The author never attempted to put Sita on a pedestal. Sita reflects the everyday life of common women, which makes this novel appealing to its readers, especially women. Oftentimes, a reader like me would stop to imbibe that Sita’s thoughts and feelings were not different from what I have experienced in life!

In our society, the thoughts and emotions of a woman are not expressed well in general; neither in a novel nor in real life! Until recently, expressing a woman’s feelings and emotions and discussing it in public was a taboo topic. Remarks such as “oh.. Isn’t that what all women do generally?” Or “It is what women are supposed to do” are cliched every day phrases heard around us. Likewise, I realized with a shock that I had been taking Sita for granted all these years before reading SNYKM. I never had a second thought about the inner struggles and turmoil that went through her mind, when  Sita decided to follow her husband in exile or when she was abandoned, until SNYKM pointed them out to me.

Sita’s indignation while being abandoned is rightly justified in SNYKM that the readers would be thoroughly convinced of her reasons for being angry and bitter. Sita knew that there would be a court trial for her, if Ram had to accept her back. However, she did not receive a trial when he quietly and secretly banished her using Lakshman. Although Valmiki’s ashram was only a chariot ride away from Ayodhya, Ram never attempted once in seventeen years to visit Sita or their children. Such simple things that have been overlooked or taken for granted in the reading of traditional Ramayana is brought to light in SNYKM. The pain, the injustice, unfairness Sita had to face are brought out very powerfully.

It is no mistake to call SNYKM a feminist reading of Ramayana. Although, the novel leaves room to explore many more female characters such as Mandodari, Shoorpanaka, Lopamudra, Shruthi etc. in detail, there are glimpses of them as women of power and stature in the novel. A female character that really got my attention was Ram’s elder sister Shanta. She became nothing to her family or to her father, a very powerful king. A contrast is brought out between the upbringing of Sita and Shantha in SNYKM. It was interesting to read how Sita was trained to succeed her father in his old age, how she was taught horse riding and sword fighting, and even to rule  a province. The irony is even though it was not intended, finally Sita was forced to become ‘just a woman’. The author has rightly said in the beginning of the novel “ But fairness evades human life like a master illusionist in the most singularly fragmented moments of one’s existence. Afterwards, a broken life is reflected back from the hundreds of shattered shards, in anguish that is so pure and holy, any judgment or chastisement will be just another ritual to sanctify it”.

Dr. Solymole Kuruvilla Receives Legacy of Caring Award

NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and North Central Bronx CEO Christopher Mastromano announced  that Solymole Kuruvilla, PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, the Associate Director of Occupational Health Services for Jacobi and North Central Bronx, has been awarded the “Legacy of Caring Award” from the National Association of Indian Nurses of America (NAINA).

The award honors outstanding nurses who embody and exemplify excellence in patient advocacy, creativity, compassion, and leadership in the nursing practice.

Picture : TheUNN

Solymole has served at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and North Central Bronx for nearly 30 years, almost immediately upon immigrating to this country from India in 1992. For her first six years, she worked in Jacobi’s Surgical and Medical Intensive Care Units and Coronary Care Unit. During that time, she returned to school, receiving her Master of Science in Nursing from the College of New Rochelle, becoming an Adult-Acute Care Nurse Practitioner.

In 1999, Solymole joined the Occupational Health Services Team, becoming the Associate Director in 2015. In this capacity, she supervises both facilities’ nurse practitioners, nurses, and other support staff. As she puts it, it comes with a significant personal plus- “I get to know everyone in the hospital!”

“Solymole is an important part of the fabric of our facility,” said Mr. Mastromano. “She represents the dedication many of our staff bring to their everyday care of our patients.”

“I find my job very rewarding. I get to make a difference in the lives of our staff. If our employees are not healthy, there is no safe delivery of quality patient care in the hospital,” explained Solymole.

She lives in Westchester with her husband and son. She also holds a Ph.D. in Biblical Counseling and considers her faith a driving force. She also regularly volunteers with NAINA and its local chapter, Indian Nurses Association of New York (INA-NY), hosting numerous virtual forums and talk shows to discuss the importance of vaccinations, particularly the COVID-19 vaccination, within the Nursing and Indian-American Communities.

“I think it’s so important that people, particularly healthcare professionals, get vaccinated,” said Solymole. “We have seen that as vaccination rates go up, mortality rates go down.”

NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi is a 457-bed teaching hospital affiliated with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The facility has earned numerous Center of Excellence designations, accreditation, and recognition for its renowned Level 1 Trauma Center, Burn Center, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, regional Stroke Center, Snakebite Treatment Center, Breast Health Center, Bariatric Surgery Center, and Cancer Service. T

NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx (NCB) is a member facility of the New York City Health + Hospitals system, one of eleven acute care facilities within the City of New York. A 215-bed community hospital, NCBH specializes in women’s and children’s services. It also provides Behavioral Health acute and ambulatory care.  NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation. We are a network of 11 hospitals, trauma centers, neighborhood health centers, nursing homes, and post-acute care centers.

Meet The Women Who Win Board Of Advisors

Women Who Win is excited to announce its newly formed advisory board. We are thrilled to bring this board together to continue our mission in empowering the personal and professional lives of women and girls around the world, We are bringing diverse women leaders across different industries and backgrounds to help drive the Women Who Win mission forward. Each board member represents the deep spirit and multifaceted nature of Women Who Win. Board members come from various backgrounds, from city councilors and state representatives to business innovators, educators, artists, healthcare providers, and community leaders, our Board of Advisors has a strong global footprint.  As we believe in the importance of inclusivity and the power of men and women coming together to empower women, we also included male allies on this board. Meet the board!

Women Who Win is a media platform focused on empowering women . It was Co- Founded by Dr Manju Sheth, Dr Deepa Jhaveri and Shaleen Sheth

Ami Ambani

Ami Ambani has completed her Masters in Business Administration from Bentley College and worked in the capital markets as a Research Analyst, managing clients at Tower Capital And Securities Pvt.Ltd. in Mumbai, India. She is also co-founder of www.mumbaiclasses.com. She now manages her own financial portfolio and is an enthusiast in economics, geopolitics and fitness.  Her passions include reading, cooking, travelling and running. She lives with her husband, Niraj, and two teen sons in Mumbai, India.

Rita Advani
Rita Advani is a board leader and a senior business executive and entrepreneur. In her professional career, she developed strategies to bring new products and services to market and to expand markets for diverse industries worldwide. In the recent past, her focus has been on health care delivery. She has served as a board member  for one of the  largest independent physician organizations in the state, and is currently the Chair of the Board for an organization that brings nursing and hospice care to patients in their homes. One of the themes that has resonated through her life is learning about aspects of the economy that are different from the sectors in which she worked. As an elected official and as an appointed board member she utilized her experience in the business world to make improvements in the state’s funding formulae for education and the education provided to the children of her municipality. As an early adopter of the cause for renewable energy, she chaired the effort to bring a solar power project to the municipality. She is currently working towards making her condo building resilient to the threat of rising seas. Born and educated in India, Rita has lived in Massachusetts since the 1980’s. She loves photographing and showcasing the beauty of nature, the monuments and peoples she comes across on her travels.
Sonica Arya
Sonica Arya graduated from the Academy of Architecture in Mumbai.  She has worked on a variety of projects ranging from residential homes to outhouses, and commercial projects such as banks and hotels.  She conceptualized, designed and executed the showroom design for the designer jewellery brand “Tanishq” of the Tata Group and has a keen interest in remodelling heritage properties such as those in Matheran, outside of Mumbai. She is an avid reader, an art connoisseur and loves travelling, especially places that have a strong historical, cultural and architectural heritage. She lives with her husband and two teen daughters in Mumbai, India.

Brenda Thompson

Brenda has been employed by Atrius Health for over twenty years and in September 2020 was appointed to the position of Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. She is responsible for the Affirmative Action Plan for the entire organization and is now more involved in her passion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion as it relates to the patient population, the workforce, the workplace, and the community.   Brenda is former Vice President of the National Council of Negro Women – Greater Boston Chapter (NCNW-GBS) . Ms. Thompson Stuckey takes great pride in her work both professionally and personally and tries to mesh the two whenever possible. Ms. Thompson has received three Diamond Awards from Harvard Vanguard/Atrius Health for her individual and team contributions and she also received the YMCA Black Achievers Award.  Ms. Thompson Stuckey was also the first person to receive the Greater Boston Business Council’s Member of the Year Award, and as such the first non-LGBTQ recipient. She received this award for efforts, ideas and results produced to promote an LGBTQ inclusive workforce.

Kay Khan

State Representative Kay Khan represents Newton in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 1995, currently serving the 11th Middlesex district. In 2009, she was appointed House Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities, by then Speaker Robert DeLeo and served in this capacity for 12 years. Representative Khan’s legislative portfolio celebrates and promotes diversity; she is an unshakable advocate for equal rights for all individuals, young and old. Recent legislative successes include; a ban conversion therapy to support of the LGBTQ community, legislation to end child marriage under the age of 18, and expanded access to maternal health care with a commission to study inequities in maternal health. She has spent her entire career in the legislature promoting better outcomes for justice-involved youth and women, additionally, she is an adamant supporter of environmental issues, filing legislation this session relative to the electrification of all new and substantially remodeled buildings statewide.  Representative Khan has lived in Newton for more than 50 years where she and her husband raised their three children and now enjoy their seven grandchildren.

Dr. Rollie Lal

An Associate Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University where she teaches Transnational Security, Foreign Policy, and International Political Economy. Her research focuses on organized crime, terrorism, and religious extremism. Previously she was an Associate Professor at the U.S. Department of Defense and a political scientist at RAND. Dr. Lal received her Ph.D. in International Relations and her M.A. in Strategic Studies from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Dr. Kavita Navani

Dr. Navani practiced medicine in Central Massachusetts as a primary care physician for over 20 years. She also holds an MD in OB GYN from India. She is actively engaged in community service such as the Free health stop organized by India Society of Worcester. As an entrepreneur, she helped with the formation and growth of eClinicalworks, an electronic health record company with headquarters in Westborough, MA. Dr. Navani has provided clinical input to the EHR and is available to help with small and big tasks that require her expertise. Dr. Navani also takes active interest in cancer research and has made charitable contributions to research on improving outcomes from infant traumatic brain injuries. She is a big supporter of Ekal Vidyalaya.

Sangeeta Moorjani

Sangeeta Moorjani considers herself a global citizen. She was born in India, lived in Dubai, UAE until high school, pursued her undergraduate degree and MBA in India, started her career in financial services in Toronto, Canada, and has spent the last two and half decades in Massachusetts. She is an executive leader at Fidelity Investments and has held several senior leadership positions within Fidelity’s Workplace and Personal Investing business since joining Fidelity over 25 years ago Currently, she is the Head of Fidelity’s Tax Exempt business and Retirement Solutions, serving over 500 mission-driven institutions and delivering workplace benefits to their 7.5 million employees.Sangeeta believes the impact of strong leadership in financial services is through helping people make decisions about their financial futures. Her leadership style sparks novel thinking and leads people to take action. Sangeeta has a passion for helping people uncover their full potential and takes pride in coaching and developing high performing teams; and focuses on empowering them through servant leadership. The practice of candid conversations, deep curiosity, and building strong relationshipsis her hallmark approach in achieving associate and senior management buy-in and leading complex and critical businesses. She is an advocate for advancing women’s leadership and promotes Asian cultural awareness and inclusion at Fidelity and beyond. She serves on the board of two non-profit organizations; TiE Boston focused on entrepreneurship and Pratham USA focused on literacy and learning for children in India. Sangeeta enjoys traveling and exploring different parts of the world, with her husband. When not traveling, you’ll find her walking, listening to books or trying a new recipe. She is a proud mom to two young adults and her dog – Yogi.

Anusha Nanavati

Anusha is the Founder, lead architect and interior designer at Anusha Nanavati Design Studio. She did her under graduation from Balwant Sheth School of Architecture, Nmims, Mumbai and her Masters in Sustainable and Environmental Design from Architectural Association school of Architecture, London. Her studio specializes in various residential and commercial projects including schools, restaurants, gyms, offices, baby nurseries and furniture. She has completed multiple projects in India and UK. She has also completed 3 years as an assistant professor at Balwant Sheth School of Architecture, NMIMS, Mumbai. Anusha is also a part of the management commîttee  of their family run Institutes and Hospital : Shri Chandulal Nanavati School and Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai. To know more about her work follow her on her Instagram handle: @andstudioofficial

Krupa Sheth

Krupa is one of London’s leading councilors. Borough of Brent. She serves on the Cabinet in Brent as the Lead Member for Environment, Infrastructure and Climate Action. She was elected as a Councilor for the first time at the age of 20, making her the youngest ever Asian to be elected to Post in the Country. She is currently serving her fourth term as a Councilor, and was one of Women Who Win’s first contributing writers.

Dr. Archana Srivastava

Dr. Archana Srivastava is an artist deeply rooted in the Indian history and culture and has, in the last two decades, experimented with different genres like figures, abstracts, landscapes and portraits. Her work has been shown all the world, such as at Shanghai International Art Fair, FIRA INTERNACIONAL D’ART DE BARCELONA (Fira International Art Fair), and Cannes International Art Biennale. Her designing of publicity material of the anti-AIDS campaign of Government of Maharashtra was considered hard-hitting and impactful. She has received numerous awards over the years, including  ‘Make in India Award’ in ‘Creative Art’ category in New Delhi., “Woman of Excellence Award 2020” by Indian Achievers’ Forum, “Collector’s Vision International Art Award” by Contemporary Art Curator Magazine, and “Power of Creativity Art Prize” by Contemporary Art Curator Magazine. She holds doctorate in “Socio-economic History Of Early-medieval India”. She is based in Mumbai, India. Further, she is the Founder and CEO of ArtSage, her startup with a vision is to help artists by providing resources, giving access to the technology to work at a faster pace, helping them upgrade their skills, giving them platform to sell their artworks, creating awareness about the value of their art in public through workshops and symposiums and enrich their lives as a whole.

Yoshika Sherring

Yoshika Sherring was born in New Delhi, India but considers herself a true Bostonian as she has lived in Boston since she was one.  She attended the Rochester Institute of Technology where she earned her B.S. in Biotechnology and then went on to complete an M.B.A. from Bentley University.  She has worked in the biotech / pharma industry for 20+ years having worked in multiple therapeutic areas on several blockbuster brands.  Her experience spans a cross-section of roles that include Marketing, Business Development and Patient Advocacy after starting her career as a Scientist.  Her passion is engaging with patients to help them live healthier lives.  Yoshika is also Chair for the Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island Marketing & Communications Council.  As a Bostonian, she enjoys all the great things New England has to offer including fresh seafood and won’t eat lobster in any other part of the country!

Kathleen Walsh

Kathleen Walsh is the President and CEO of the YMCA Metro North, an association of YMCAs operating eight health and wellness centers and child care facilities in Lynn, Melrose, Peabody, Saugus, and Stoneham. Walsh provides executive leadership to the $28 million association which serves 69,000 people annually and employs 700 staff members. Through Walsh’s leadership, the YMCA of Metro North advances its charitable mission by expanding access to its healthy living and youth-serving programs by providing more than $1.6 million in financial assistance to its community members each year. Walsh serves as Vice Chairperson with the American Red Cross Northeast Board of Directors, Treasurer of the Mass Alliance of YMCA’s, Thrive Committee Member at the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, Former Chairperson of the Lynn Education District Partnership, Board Member of Dept of Children and Family Services in Malden, Member of National Y Shared Services Board, and is a 2023 Fellow with LEADS, a Harvard Business School leadership program. Walsh earned a Master’s of Science from Northeastern University and a B.A. from Providence College. An avid runner, Walsh has completed 61 marathons and was recently awarded a distinguished Hall of Fame alumni award for Cross Country from her alma mater, Bishop Fenwick High School.  She is the proud mother to three young adults –Johanna, Cynthia, and Francis.

We are also honored to welcome two dedicated Male Allies to our Advisory Board, Dr. Dinesh Patel and Dr. Dhrumil Shah

Dr. Dinesh Patel

Dr. Patel was born, raised and educated in India before starting his orthopedic residency training at Mass General Hospital and the HCORP in 1971. In 1976, Dr. Patel co-founded Mass General’s Sports Medicine and Runner’s Clinic. While here, Dr. Patel also created one of the first arthroscopy bio skills laboratories in the country, and integrated the lab with HCORP in order to train new residents in his innovative techniques and retired after 55 years of teaching and practice. He has a series of accomplishments and is a renowned leader in the medical industry, and his contributions in Arthroscopy education have been recognized around the world. He Established Asia’s first center of excellence in healing art Psychomotor skill lab in for Arthroscopy teaching in  Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India He is the co-founder and past President of Indian medical association of New England, and one of the founders of Tie Boston where he was instrumental in establishing the life sciences section. He is a member of Harvard Medical School admission Committee and Senior advisor & teacher to Harvard Med school students He is a member Member and was Chairman of the Board of Registration in Medicine and continued as advisor on many committee’s for many years.  Dr. Patel has been in U.S. news and World reports as one the best doctors. We are honored to bring him onto our advisory board as a male ally.

Dr. Dhrumil Shah

Dhrumil Shah is a family physician and a CMIO at Compass Medical, an independent provider led organization in Southeast Massachusetts. His primary interests and focus areas are Digital health innovation, Data science and Care analytics, Health innovation and Entrepreneurship. Dr. Shah did his Family Medicine training at New Jersey Medical School and subsequently graduated from University of Illinois Chicago completing his Post Masters in Health Informatics. He is actively involved in Health IT space via many of national and regional speaking engagements and collaborative fueling the much needed disruption to redesign Healthcare delivery space. He also leads Greater Boston Chapter of SOPE(Society of Physicians Entrepreneurs) & Past President of IMANE Indian Medical Association of New England.

Pregnancy Kills 1 Woman Every 2 Minutes

Every two minutes, a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth, said a joint report prepared by multiple UN agencies.

The report, Trends in maternal mortality, reveals alarming setbacks for women’s health in recent years, as maternal deaths either increased or stagnated in nearly all regions of the world.

The sorry state

The report, which tracks maternal deaths nationally, regionally and globally from 2000 to 2020, shows there were an estimated 2,87,000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2020.

This marks only a slight decrease from 3,09,000 in 2016 when the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) came into effect.

Why

Roughly a third of women do not have even four of a recommended eight antenatal checks or receive essential postnatal care.

Some 270 million women lack access to modern family planning methods.

Poorest parts of the world

The poorest regions and conflict zones reported maximum maternal deaths — about 70% in sub-Saharan Africa.

Nigeria had the highest estimated number (82,000) of maternal deaths — 28.5% of all estimated global maternal deaths in 2020.

Nine countries facing severe humanitarian crises reported more than double the global maternal mortality rate — 551 maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births, compared to 223 globally.

What about India?

India was among three countries with more than 10,000 such deaths. India reported 24,000 pregnancy or childbirth deaths, followed by The Democratic Republic of the Congo (22,000) and Ethiopia (10,000).

Where it worsened

In two of the eight UN regions — Europe and Northern America, and Latin America and the Caribbean — the maternal mortality rate increased from 2016 to 2020, by 17% and 15% respectively.

A hope

Two regions — Australia and New Zealand, and Central and Southern Asia — experienced significant declines (by 35% and 16%) in their maternal mortality rates.

10 Outstanding Women Of 2023 To Be Honoured At 20th Annual Woman Of The Year Awards Gala

INDIA New England News, one of the largest online and video magazines serving the Indian American community in the United States, today released the list of 10 Outstanding Women of 2023, who will be honored at the 20th Annual Woman of the Year Awards gala on April 14, 2023 at Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA.

“Woman of the Year awards gala is always a grand affair, but this year is a very special one as we celebrate the landmark 20th anniversary of the Woman of the Year,” said Upendra Mishra, founder and producer of the Woman of the Year Awards and publisher of INDIA News England News, and its sister publications IndUS Business Journal, Life Sciences Times, and the Boston Real Estate Times. “We’re excited to welcome this year’s winners and all the guests in-person, and honor New England’s brightest stars on April 14.”

Picture : TheUNN

In addition to honoring 10 Outstanding Women of this year in various categories, Indian classical dance icon Neena Gulati, founder of the Brookline, MA-based Triveni School of Dance who has taught and performed dances during the last 51 years in the United States, will be bestowed with 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It is truly an honor for me to direct and host the 20th anniversary of the Woman of the Year awards gala,” said WOY Director and Hostess Dr. Manju Sheth, MD. “Winning the Woman of the Year Award myself in 2011 and then directing this for the 10 years have been a huge privilege for me. It has given me an opportunity to work with a great team and superb artists and also meet very talented awardees . Looking forward to welcome everyone and celebrating 20 years of this fantastic Awards that empower women.”

The event is attended by about 400 business and community leaders, philanthropists, and professionals.

Here is a list of this year’s 10 Outstanding Women:

Sumeit Aggarwal, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Finhive LLC

Sumeit is on a mission to empower women to take control of their financial futures. After a successful career working with global companies, Sumeit bid adieu to her corporate career and founded Finhive in 2017. Her company is a social enterprise dedicated to working with women-owned startups in financial planning, strategy, and management of financial risks. She also teaches personal finance to young adults and women. She is deeply passionate about embedding personal values into finance, and frequently presents on related topics including sustainable investing, financial health, and narrowing the gender wealth gap. To give back to her alma maters, Sumeit mentors students at Babson College and Northeastern University. She is now an active angel investor in women owned companies providing them capital at early stages of their startups.

Prior to starting Finhive, Sumeit was a senior executive at leading software and healthcare companies working on consulting, corporate and sales strategy, and business analysis, including Oracle Corporation and Hologic Inc. She is a board member of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce, and advisory board member of American India Foundation New England Chapter where she co-chaired the 2022 gala that raised over $1 million in funds for underprivileged communities in India. Sumeit earned her MBA from Babson College. She holds a Master’s degree in Information Systems from Northeastern University and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Delhi University.

Meena Bharath

Meena Bharath, Chair, Massachusetts Asian American and Pacific Islanders Commission

Meena was named among Boston’s most influential Asian American Pacific Islanders of 2023. She was appointed to the Massachusetts Asian American and Pacific Islanders Commission by Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka. Education and impact of sound education in the lives of young people and society is of deep interest to her. She has served on local, regional and state level educational bodies. She is a strong advocate for personalized education plans for all learners, celebrating strengths, building supports, and varied paths to learning.

Meena has served in many volunteer capacities including as Chair, DESE’s Gifted & Talented Education Advisory Council; Chair, Hopkinton Public School Committee; Member, Education Committee, Christa McAuliffe Charter School; Member, The Education Cooperative (TEC). Through all these roles, she has had an opportunity to learn, collaborate with many wonderful people, and influenced hearts, minds and policies for better outcomes. She takes great pride in her contribution in the formation of AAPI Commission’s first Youth Council, which elevates youth voices and promotes civic engagement. Meena currently works in the financial industry as a Program Manager.

Dr. Ami Bhatt, MD, FACC, Chief Innovation Offic, American College of Cardiology

Ami is the chief innovation officer (CIO) at the American College of Cardiology and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and she has championed heart health awareness within the South Asian community. A graduate from Harvard College and the Yale School of Medicine, Ami completed her medicine and pediatrics residency and cardiovascular fellowships at Harvard, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Children’s Hospital of Boston. She was the inaugural Richard Liberthson Endowed Scholar in Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Director of their ACHD program. She also served as the director of Outpatient and Telecardiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital Corrigan-Minehan Heart Center. She now leads the MGH Elevate Leadership Program aimed at transforming leaders for tomorrow’s healthcare challenges.

She is also the President of the Greater Boston American Heart Association through which she founded and led the “From the Heart: Conversations in South Asian Heart Health,” a global webinar series for culturally relevant patient education. She was the chair for Go Red for Women in 2020 to bring a spotlight to women’s heart health.  Dr. Bhatt has 20 years of experience as a clinician, investigator, and educator with a strong focus on telemedicine and digital health. She founded her first program in cardiovascular virtual care in 2013 and continues to work on creating culturally relevant, personalized virtual cardiovascular care delivery models. She was recently named to Boston Magazine’s Top Doctors list for 2023, HealthTech Magazine’s 30 Healthcare Influencers to follow in 2022 and she also serves on the Forbes Technology Council.

Manorama Choudhury, Poetess, Artist

Manorama Choudhury is a poetess and avid artist. Originally from Berhampur, she has delved into her creative intellectual pursuits through the art of poetry (in Odia/Hindi/English), songwriting, painting, fashion designing, and other visual art mediums.

Manorama had recited poetry on many platforms including Sapne (South Asian Poets of New England), Nabagunjara, Odia literature in North America, Ame Odia Ame Odisha. She often writes non-fiction articles for various E-magazines. She spends a lot of her time on philanthropy work with charities that focus on education and health and wellness programs in rural India.

Parul Doshi, Chief Data Officer, Cellarity

Parul is a well-respected corporate leader. She was named Chief Data Officer for Cellarity after joining just twelve months ago and applies her vast pharma expertise in data, software engineering, and IT.  Cellarity is a therapeutics company that develops medicines by studying and altering the cellular signatures of disease.  Previously, Parul was Head of Digital and Technology at Takeda, a Top 10 Pharma.  She led programs supporting various, highly visible, product launches such as Dengue vaccine, Moderna vaccine distribution in Japan, production of Novavax Covid 19 vaccine in Japan, NINLARO a multiple myeloma drug, and ALUNBRIG for ALK+ Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).  Parul also led IT Integration during the $5B ARIAD’s acquisition.  She led DEI employee resource groups for parents and caregivers at Takeda. Takeda awarded Parul the Takeda Global Award in 2009 and the CIO Award in 2016 and 2017 for her collaborative leadership.

In addition to her corporate leadership, Parul is involved in various community initiatives.  She taught computer literacy at the Waltham Library.  She volunteers for the Indian Family Network (IFNet) summer camps for Indian-American kids.  She continuously coaches and mentors other colleagues to advance their careers. Parul has a BS in Chemistry, Economics, and Applied Statistics, and an MBA in Finance and IT.

Veena Handa, Vice Chair, Vision-Aid

Since retiring, Veena has been volunteering her time and efforts to many causes she is passionate about and that are close to her heart. Her exemplary volunteer work spans across a broad set of social causes including as Vice Chair of Vision-Aid, Member of AIF’s Circle of Hope, Shine Counselor and a Money Manager volunteer for Minuteman Senior Services to advice seniors with their Medicare and Money Management needs.

As a volunteer at Lexington Community Center, she works on multiple projects and has delivered Budget Planning and Retirement Planning talks for Youth and Seniors. Her response to the Covid pandemic was to engage with “Sew We Care” Team which provided over 20,000 masks and scrub caps to Hospitals, Health Centers and Senior Centers and Veena personally made over 1,000 masks and scrub caps as part of this team. However, her efforts at Vision-Aid to educate and empower over 20,000 Visually Impaired with terminal conditions each year, acquire skills needed to lead an independent life are why she is  most worthy of this nomination.

Sunita Kanchinadam, Global Head of Securities Lending, Financing & Collateral Transformation Technology, State Street Bank& Chair: TiECON East 2023

In addition to serving as Global Head of Securities Lending, Financing & Collateral Transformation Technology at Boston-based State Street Bank, Sunita is chair of TiECON 2023, the largest entrepreneurial conference in New England. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Rise of the Intentional Entrepreneur”, focused on the persona of the modern entrepreneur. The objective of the conference is to not only bring rich content and networking opportunities, but also to expand attendees’ networks, tapping into the rich talent emerging from New England academia.

At State Street Bank, Sunita manages the technology organization supporting Global Markets business. She worked in Goldman Sachs prior to it and has had overall 25+ years experience inclusive of financial domain experience in Barclays, Lehman Brothers and in the telecom sectors at Alcatel-Lucent. Sunita holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from Northeastern University as well as a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science.

Jharna Madan, Director, Hindi Manch, Senior Project Manager/ Designer, Officeworks Inc.

Jharna is a well-known community leader who champions and fervently supports a number of social concerns in New England. She works tirelessly to assist the community, going above and beyond with her commitment and hard work. She is praised for coming up with original, inventive ideas that give all of her undertakings style and grace. Jharna is Director and a member of the Steering Committee of the Hindi Manch, one of the largest Hindi organizations in the US. In addition, she is a local freelance reporter of TV Asia and has been co-emcee for the Woman of the Year gala for many years. Professionally, she is Senior Project Manager/ Designer at Officeworks Inc.

During the past ten years, under Jharna’s devoted leadership, Hindi Manch has impacted over 10,000 established non-resident Indian families, hosted over 80 cultural events with over 2,500 performers, worked to educate the next generation, and given over 500 kids a platform. Jharna played a significant role in making the inaugural USA National Hindi Conference, which brought together over 1,500 families from around the US, possible in Boston in 2018. During the pandemic, under her leadership, the first nearly global Hindi festivals were conducted, uniting over 217,000 people from 18 different nations and offering much-needed emotional support. Jharna has worked with and promoted groups such as Ekal Vidyalaya, Care For Janitors, Sew We Care, TV Asia, and India New England in addition to Hindi Manch.

Sahana Purohit, Board of Directors, Discovery Museum, Commissioner, Acton Housing Authority

Sahana is a member of the Board of Directors of Discovery Museum and Commissioner of Action Housing Authority. She believes that local politics is much more important than national politics. And she lives and breathes that in her daily life.  Sahana is an active member of the Acton community, having served in leadership and volunteer positions for many town committees and projects. She most recently served as a member of the Acton Finance Committee. Sahana also served on the Acton 2020 Comprehensive Community Planning Committee and on the Town Manager Search Committee in 2018. She has been a key player in several successful, major outreach projects, securing $17M dollars from the state for the Kelley’s Corner Infrastructure Project and $11M from the town for the North Acton Fire Station project.

Sahana was on the Steering Committee for The League of Women Voters in Acton for 12 years and served as both the League Co-Chair and Education Committee Chair. She has also successfully organized the League’s famous Civics Bee for nine years, a community building activity involving both students and community leaders. In 2020, Sahana was awarded the Commonwealth Heroine Award by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women.

Gitanjali Swamy, Public Policy, Serial Entrepreneur-Investor, Innovator, Thinker, Managing Partner, IoTask

Gitanjali Swamy (Gita) is Senior Legislative & Policy Advisor to the office of Senator Mark at the Massachusetts State Senate. She was previously Senior Legislative and Policy Advisor with the office of Senator Hinds, where she also served as Chief Legal Advisor. Dr. Swamy supports Legislative Policy or Regulation and her special areas of interest are economic development and investment policy

Dr. Swamy (Ph. D) is also a Managing Partner at IoTask, an innovation consulting firm and she has founded, built, served as board director in innovation enterprises, led the investment sourcing, structuring, and transaction of seed to over a billion USD deals, in her investment or professional roles at IoTask, The Carlyle Group and Booz Allen & Hamilton. She is a representative to the EQUALS Global Partnership (a Joint Venture of the ITU, GSMA, UNU, UN Women), Board and Steering Committee member of the MIT Consortium Initiative for DI in Land, Water, Air, in collaboration with The World Bank, Research Fellow & Director at the Private Capital Research Institute, Harvard Business School. She has co-founded 5 successfully acquired startups and the helped found of MIT’s OpenCourseware, the Auto-ID Consortium and the MIT Engine investment vehicle. Dr. Swamy has collaborated on ESG projects with MIT Corporation, United Nations agencies, Fabindia Overseas Pvt Ltd, and several Government P3 ESG efforts. She has also served as faculty at Harvard and Columbia University, where she taught classes in finance and policy. She currently serves on the Board of DFCU, a top 20 credit union bank in Massachusetts that has consistently been voted Best Credit Union” by Banker & Tradesman, and the PAN-IIT Global USA Board.

Dr. Swamy received her B. Tech in Electrical Engineering from the IIT Kanpur, where she was awarded several Academic Proficiency Prizes, her Ph.D. in EECS from the University of
California at Berkeley, where she was an NSF Fellow & President of WICSE, and her MBA from Harvard Business School, where she served as CFO of HBS-SA, and her Juris Doctor (JD) from St. Francis Law, and she a member of the California Bar. Dr. Swamy has over 25 publications and patents in the fields of data, algorithms, technology, and policy. She was recently voted in Ten Most Influential Women in Technology.

Neal Mohan Is New YouTube CEO

Indian-American Neal Mohan will be the new YouTube CEO, as current head Susan Wojcicki has announced to step down after 25 years at the Google-owned company.

Currently chief product officer, Mohan became part of Google, the parent company of YouTube, in 2008. He is a Stanford graduate and earlier worked with Microsoft.

Mohan and Wojcicki have worked together for nearly 15 years. He became YouTube’s chief product officer in 2015.

“Today, after nearly 25 years here, I’ve decided to step back from my role as the head of YouTube and start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about,” Wojcicki said in a blog post late on Thursday.

She has agreed with Sundar Pichai to take on an advisory role across Google and Alphabet.

“This will allow me to call on my different experiences over the years to offer counsel and guidance across Google and the portfolio of Alphabet companies,” she added.

Wojcicki managed marketing, co-created Google Image Search, led Google’s first Video and Book search, as well as early parts of AdSense’s creation, worked on the YouTube and DoubleClick acquisitions, served as SVP of Ads, and for the last nine years, was the CEO of YouTube.

“I took on each challenge that came my way because it had a mission that benefited so many people’s lives around the world: finding information, telling stories and supporting creators, artists, and small businesses,” she noted.

“Mohan will be the SVP and new head of YouTube. I’ve spent nearly 15 years of my career working with Mohan, first when he came over to Google with the DoubleClick acquisition in 2007 and as his role grew to become SVP of Display and Video Ads,” said Wojcicki.

He has set up a top-notch product and UX team, played pivotal roles in the launch of some of the biggest products, including YouTube TV, YouTube Music and Premium and Shorts, and has led the Trust and Safety team. Mohan ensured that “YouTube lives up to its responsibility as a global platform”.

“With all we’re doing across Shorts, streaming, and subscriptions, together with the promises of AI, YouTube’s most exciting opportunities are ahead, and Mohan is the right person to lead us,” said Wojcicki. (IANS)

As Nikki Haley Announces Run For President In 2024, Indian American Community Pledges Support

Indian American Nikki Haley, Former South Carolina Republican Governor and former US ambassador to the United Nations under the Donald Trump administration has announced that she will run for president in 2024, becoming the first major rival to challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination.

“It’s time for a new generation of leadership — to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border, and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose.” Haley said in her video announcement. Haley accused the “socialist left” of seeing “an opportunity to rewrite history.”

“The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again. It’s time for a new generation of leadership to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose,” Haley said in the video.

“China and Russia are on the march. They all think we can be bullied, kicked around,” Haley said. “You should know this about me: I don’t put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you’re wearing heels. I’m Nikki Haley, and I’m running for president.”

Per reports, the former president, who announced his bid last year, recently appeared to bless her entrance into the race, telling reporters that she had called to tell him she was considering a campaign launch and that he had said, “You should do it.”

The Indian American community has expressed support to Haley, a second-generation Indian American, who has risen through the rank and file of the Republican Party by her leadership qualities. “I have known Governor Haley personally for decades and we are delighted that she has announced her candidacy on February 15th, 2023 at her home state, and capital Charleston,” Dr. Sampat Shivangi, a Member of the National Advisory Council, SAMHSA, Center for National Mental Health Services, Washington DC told this writer. “On behalf of the large and influential Indian American community, I wish her well and all the success in the coming days, and pray, she will succeed to be a nominee of GOP in 2024. We will assure our community support in every way,” he added.

Pointing to the many leadership roles she has held, Dr. Shivangi said, “Governor Nicky Haley, who has served in multiple roles in the US and on word stage as the US Ambassador to United Nations, makes all of us proud, specifically Indian Americans, who have given a unique identity as part of the diaspora. A rare quality of Governor Nicky is that she has not forgotten her roots and her ancestral homeland India as she visited India and interacted with leadership in India including meeting our beloved leader Prime Minister Modi.  She is a popular and respected leader, not only in her home state, South Carolina, and across US. She has very close ties with President Trump who she may be running against in GOP primaries. I have learned that President Trump has welcomed her candidacy for the highest office of the land, possibly a place on the world stage.”

Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, opened the video talking about how she felt “different” growing up in Bamberg, South Carolina. “The railroad tracks divided the town by race. I was the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. Not Black, not White. I was different. But my mom would always say your job is not to focus on the differences but on the similarities. And my parents reminded me and my siblings every day how blessed we were to live in America,” Haley said.  If successful in the primary, Haley would be the first woman and the first Asian American nominated by the Republican Party for president.

Haley will likely face stiff competition from other potential GOP candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who are all said to be weighing 2024 runs. Some strategists say a big Republican primary field would be advantageous to Trump, who still enjoys significant support among the party base, and could splinter the vote — allowing him to walk away with the nomination.

AAPI’s Women’s Forum Discusses Ways To “Advancing Women’s Health Through Awareness and Action.”

“Advancing Women’s Health Through Awareness and Action” was the theme at the much-anticipated Women’s Leadership Forum that featured extraordinarily successful Women Leaders representing a diversity of professions, involving public, private and government organizations, during the recently concluded Global Healthcare Summit organized by the American Association of Physici9ans of Indian origin (AAPI) in Visakhapatnam, India from January 6th to 8th, 2023.

Picture : TheUNN

Dr. Smt. Tamilisai Soundararajan, Honorable Governor of Telangana & Honorable Lt. Governor of Puducherry delivered the keynote address at the Women’s Forum virtually. She urged everyone to “Pay attention to little things and how changes can be brought in. Ensure that the much-needed healthcare services reach everyone. There are many plans and programs initiated by the state government, but people need to be made aware of them and be helped to utilize the programs,” she said. She lauded “the great work by AAPI members for promoting health globally, particularly in India and the United States.”

Shri. MVV Satyavathi, Member of Parliament, representing Anakapalli in Andhra Pradesh was the Guest of Honor at the Women’s Forum. In her address, she congratulated AAPI, whose members having been born and educated in India, settled down in the US with success, have come back to India to serve the people of India, and  work together for the betterment of humanity.

While congratulating the members of AAPI’s Women’s Forum and lauding them for some of the major initiatives of the Women’s Forum, Dr. Ravi Kolli, President of AAPI said, “In collaboration with national AAPI, the Forum has successfully organized events like HPV vaccination drive, fundraiser for suicide prevention awareness, scholarship for medical students, and many others.” In the next 2 years, the Forum aims to conduct CPR and AED trainings and install more AEDs in areas such as the railway stations, bus stations, malls, schools,  and colleges. We plan to organize certified training workshops on Neonatal resuscitation, basic life support and emergency medicine for emergency responders and healthcare professionals.

Dr. Udaya Shivangi, Chair of AAPI’s Women’s Committee, in her opening remarks provided an overview of the Forum and the many initiatives by the Forum both in India and the United States.  “It is my privilege and great honor to serve as the Chair of AAPI‘s Women Leadership Forum. We are fortunate to have with us.  leaders and decision makers who have made a significant impact on the society and share a common vision of a healthier and stronger India,” she said.

“Each year, the Women’s Forum has played a significant role in organizing events, fundraisers and service projects that represent the core values of AAPI and our collective mission of giving back to our motherland. These events serve as a platform to expand our resources,  share technological advancements and establish new partnerships, dr. Shivangi added.

Picture : TheUNN

Panelists at the Women’s Forum included: Dr. Suneela Garg, Dir. Professor & Head of Community Medicine at Maulana Azad Medical College; Dr. Anuradha Medoju, Senior Regional Director at Telangana & Andhra Pradesh Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India; Dr. S. Radha Rani, Former Professor and Superintendent, Hospital of Mental Health; and Ms. Meghna Chalasani, Team Lead, Advisory Committees, Program Lead, Science Office Strategies for New Drugs at Center for Drug Education and Research, US Food & Drug Administration.

Dr. Anuradha Medoju, Senior Regional Director at Telangana & Andhra Pradesh Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India spoke about how she is able to work as a mother and government servant. “Working with balance is challenging. We should have boundaries for everything while needing to balance our personal life, our family life and our passion,” she said.

Dr. Suneela Garg, Dir. Professor & Head of Community Medicine at Maulana Azad Medical College pointed out that women are 55% of the total population of India. “We have made progress in so many areas of health indicators and infant mortality. I urge AAPI to come forward to work with local organizations and help spread wellness initiatives among the people.”

Dr. S. Radha Rani, Former Professor and Superintendent, Hospital of Mental Health spoke about why is mental health important and how to improve one’s overall health. “Woman is an important member of the family and the society. Her mental health is vital, as it affects everyone in the family and therefore caring for her mental health is important. Major life events impact women, who in turn affect all other members of the family.”

Women’s Forum is chaired by Dr. Udaya Shivangi and Dr. T. Radha, while Dr. Uma Jonnalagadda is the Advisor and Dr. B. Devi Madhavi is serving as the Co-Chair. Dr. Jonnalagadda, while proposing the vote of thanks, said, “I thank you for being with us today and advocating for women’s rights.” For more details, please visit: www.aapiusa.org

Anoushka Shankar Will Perform At 65th Grammy Awards

Kicking off the proceedings for the 65th annual Grammy Awards, Awards Premiere Ceremony, Anoushka Shankar will be seen making her third performance at the event.

The ceremony will return to the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on 5 February.

The masterful sitar player, producer, film composer, activist and nine-time Grammy Award nominee will perform alongside vocalist Arooj Aftab on their nominated track ‘Udhero Na’ from Arooj’s new album, ‘Vulture Prince’.

Anoushka shared: “I’m genuinely over the moon to be performing at the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony for the third time. This time I’m excited to share the stage with the wonderful Arooj Aftab, playing her beautiful song Udhero Na.”

“I’m grateful my music on this song and on my album Between Usa has been recognised with a nomination again and am proud to represent India and my instrument, the sitar, on this world stage.”

Anoushka enjoys an extensive Grammy history; she was the first Indian woman ever nominated and youngest-ever nominee in the World Music Category for her album Live At Carnegie Hall in 2002, and then went on to become the first Indian musician to perform at the ceremony in 2005, serve as presenter in 2016 and perform for the second time in 2021.

In addition to her fresh eighth and ninth nominations, Anoushka’s previous works Live At Carnegie Hall, Rise, Traveller, Traces Of You, Home, Land Of Goldand Love Letters have all been Grammy nominated.

This announcement coincides with Anoushka’s fresh inaugural empanellment as a Visiting Professor in Music at Oxford University.

Anoushka further added: “What a true honour to be invited as the Inaugural Visiting Professor in Music Business at Oxford University! I’m deeply grateful to embark upon this new journey.”

Sania Mirza Ends Her Grand Slam Career With 6 Titles

“I never thought I’d be able to play in front of my child in a Grand Slam final, so it’s truly special for me.”

Sania Mirza’s final Grand Slam match ended with the runner-up plate but this line from her emotional post-match speech signifies the magnitude of her journey, and her achievement today, despite the loss.

Sania and Rohan Bopanna – still a doubles pair 22 years after they first partnered at the National Championship in India – went down in the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open 6-7(2), 2-6 to the Brazilians Luisa Stefani and Rafael Mataos.

It was a one-sided final for the most part, as the Indians struggled to convert their chances and counter their opponents’ defence. But the story is not just of the loss, it’s also about celebrating how Sania Mirza reiterated how she is a fighter till the end.

At 36 years of age, playing well beyond her original retirement plan in 2022 after yet another injury setback, she somehow gave herself a chance for more silverware on tennis’ biggest stage. This time with her four-year-old son watching, even joining her on court after her last win.

Picture : TOI

Her previous Grand Slam final was back in 2017, also the mixed doubles at the Australian Open, which she lost. Her son was born in 2018 and, despite a fairly successful comeback after giving birth, the pandemic disruption and a number of injuries, she never reached another final.

And yet, when the unseeded, all-Indian pair reached the final beating the third seeds it felt like no surprise, and the loss to a younger pair feels like a disappointment.

It truly puts Sania’s tennis career in perspective. Even when she lost the final, she showed once again why she is India’s greatest woman tennis player. That we had the expectation of a fairytale farewell is also down to all the times she has bounced back, on and off court to prove detractors wrong.

It was an emotional final, perhaps the significance of the moment weighing a bit too heavily on the Indians at times as a string of nervy errors showed.

Sania, who said she is not one to cry in public, was visibly emotional after. “If I cry, these are happy tears. That’s just a disclaimer,” she said on court.

“I’m still going to play a couple of more tournaments but my journey of my professional career started in Melbourne. It started in 2005 when I played Serena Williams in the third round as an 18-year-old and that was, scarily enough, 18 years ago. I have had the privilege to come back here again and again, win some tournaments here and play some great finals amongst you all. Rod Laver Arena has really been special in my life and I couldn’t think of a better arena to finish my career at in a Grand Slam,” she added.

The Australian Open has indeed been a happy hunting ground for her. She made her Grand Slam debut here and was seeded in the singles main draw for the first time – a massive achievement for an Indian player in singles.

She also played her first Major final (mixed doubles 2008), and won her first Grand Slam (mixed doubles 2009, both with Mahesh Bhupathi) here.

It feels like a full circle, yet it isn’t; Sania has been so much more than her sporting success. One cannot talk about her plethora of tennis achievements – she owns almost every milestone in Indian women’s tennis – without mentioning the off-field barriers she had to overcome.

Sania’s fearlessness kept her unfazed on court when chaos surrounded her. And she had her share of scrutiny, perhaps more than a regular Indian sportswoman, due to her religion, life partner and residence. Yet she kept at it, and brought India its most glorious tennis memories in recent times when the sport has found few silver linings.

The numbers we know – six Grand Slams, singles rank as high as No 27, the doubles No 1 for a total of 91 weeks. But to truly celebrate Sania Mirza is to acknowledge her achievements both on and off court. The teen who fought off fatwas, the 35-year-old who couldn’t lift a water bottle without pain last October due to an elbow injury that ended her planned farewell season, the mother who travelled with her toddler to tournaments. For her last dance, she pushed herself back in shape to retire on court, on her terms. The fighter who pushed boundaries and changed the way Indian tennis and sportswomen are seen.

There are a couple of tournaments still left before her swansong next month in Dubai. Till then, let’s continue to enjoy the Sania Mirza forehands and forthrightness that made her stand out like no other. (The ESPN)

Dr. Manju Sheth To Deliver Keynote Address At “Women Empowering Women”

India Society of Worcester (ISW), which launched the creative platform “Women Empowering Women” two years ago, is kicking off this year with an event on Jan. 21, 2023 in Shrewsbury, MA.

The free two-hour event, which will celebrate two years of the Women Empowering Women initiative, will start at 4:00 PM at the India Society of Worcester, located at 152 Main Street in Shrewsbury. The mission of the organization is to empower woman by transforming “the I can’t to the I can!”

ISW launched this initiative for women from all walks of life to come together by sharing their life experiences. “Our vision is empowering every woman, to make meaningful contributions to society without anybody’s influence,” said Prof. Snehalata Kadam, founder and chair of the Women Empowering Women. “We believe that every woman deserves an initiative to inspire and elevate their community.

She said the keynote speaker for the event is Dr. Manju Sheth, MD, a physician, and president of INE Multimedia, Women Who Win, and creator of Chai with Manju, NECA Awards, director of Woman of the Year and a past president of Indian Medical Association of New England.

“Women have always been quoted as the real architects of society. They have the power to build strong families and also bring the community together,” said Dr. Sheth. “Women also love to get inspired by achievements of other women so I am thrilled that ISW and a great women’s team led by Snehalata Kadam have taken this wonderful initiative to bring women together so we can learn from each other. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing my journey.”

Prof. Kadam said that as a token of gratitude, members of the first panel will be presented with mementos and all the panelists who have been involved so far will be recognized for their roles in orchestrating the success of the program.

“Our mission is to promote women’s sense of self-worth and their potential to influence social change for themselves. As the global landscape for women’s empowerment is changing, we at ISW envision a community where women are empowered at the workplace, home, and the community,” said Prof. Kadam. “Our past and upcoming events will help women reach their potential by providing recourses to build relationships, network and connections. I am inspired by Malala Yousafzai who once said ‘I raise up my voice not that I can shout, but so that those who without a voice can be heard. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back’.”

Women Empowering Women (WEW) Program Advisor Shiamin Melville said: “One of the panels I attended was on issues faced by entrepreneurs. They openly shared the trials they faced and how it was so important to reach out for additional resources and also be able to pivot when a fresh opportunity came their way.”

ISW President Puneet Kohli congratulated WEW on their second anniversary.

“Congratulations on the second anniversary of the ISW-WEW initiative. This platform provides a guiding path to encourage, enlighten and empower the female diaspora of the community,” said Mr. Kohli.

Indian Nurses Association Of New York Installs Its New Leadership

Tyson Center in Floral Park, New York witnessed the colorful installation of the incoming governing board of Indian Nurses Association of New York (INANY) for the term 2023-24 in the presence of members of INANY, their families, community leaders and elected Indian American officials.

The executive board and the advisory board lighted the lamp and received Proclamation from Senator Keven Thomas, the only Indian American Senator in New York State senate.

Picture : TheUNN

Dr. Anna George (president), Dr. Shyla Roshin (vice president), Alphi Sundroop (secretary), Dr. Jessy Kurian (joint secretary), Jaya Thomas (treasurer), and Aleyamma Appukuttan (joint secretary) constitute the executive board.  Tara Shajan (chair), Mary Philip, Usha George, Sosamma Andrews, and Honorable Dr. Aney Paul will continue as the advisory board.  The chairs of various committees are Dr. Solymole Kuruvilla (bylaws), Salil Panakal (Awards and Scholarships), Anto Paul (education and professional development), Mary Philip (election), Sini Varghese (advanced practice nurse forum), Paul Panakal (communications), Jessy James (cultural and social programs), Shabnampreet Kaur (membership), Annie Sabu (fundraising and charity), Dr. Ani Jacob (research and grants).  Esthor Devadoss, Grace Alexander, Lyssy Alex and Aleyamma Mathew will be area coordinators.  Mary Philip and Paul Panakal organized and smoothened the ceremonial process followed by Mary Philip’s administration of the oath.

The only Asian elected to New York State senate from district 6 in Long Island was eloquent of his own familiarity with the activities that INANY serves.  He expressed his gratitude of what INANY did for outreach to the underserved individuals and families in his constituency by organizing and conducting health fair and blood drive for the community.  He promised that he would continue to advocate for the nurses who he said, are the people working very hard in hospitals and nursing homes. Tara Shajan, the chair of the advisory board introduced and welcomes the senator.

Picture : TheUNN

The reelected president Dr. Anna George was introduced and welcomes by her student Shabnampreet Kaur.  Dr. George showcased the contributions of INANY to the educational and professional development of nurses, for the mental health of nursing after the pandemic, involvement of the Association in the health of communities in need and the efforts to mitigate the surge of anti-Asian hate incidents since the beginning of COVID-19.

Suja Thomas, the incoming president of National Association of Indian Nurses of America was a keynote speaker.  She was introduced by Anto Paul.  Suja expressed her gratitude for INANY’s professional and social initiatives for health and healthcare both within and outside of the communities.  She, as the leader of the national association, offered and requested support.

Honorable Dr. Aney Paul who took the lead in forming INANY and was the founding president, continues to serve in its advisory board.  As the first Indian nurse ever elected in the United States as a legislator, she always stood for the welfare of nurses and also initiated health related legislations in her county of Rockland.  She currently serves as the vice chair of Rockland County legislature.  She talked about how gratified and happy she was being part of INANY and being experiencing the good things INANY does for both nurses and the society at large.

Picture : TheUNN

Honorable Ragini Srivastava, the recently elected Town Clerk of North Hempstead was introduced by INANY’s outgoing vice president Dr. Solymole Kuruvilla.  Ms. Srivastava who immigrated to the US from India became a successful business woman and rose to become the first Indian American Town Clerk in Long Island.  Ms. Srivastava spoke highly of INANY and the leadership’s concern for the poor and the underserved community.  She praised and thanked the constantly compassionate and empathetic care the Indian nurses in the area provide thousands and thousands of persons and their resiliency they evidenced especially during the pandemic.

The event started with self introduction of the emcees Lyssy Alex and Dr. Solymole Kuruvilla.  Reena Sabu sang a prayer song followed by American national anthem by Ashley Anthony and Indian national anthem by Reena Sabu and Rosy Mathew.  The people were entertained with action song by George, Theresa, Catherine, Jacob, Hanna, Krystal, Santana and Aarin.  Sherly Sebastian and Bency Jamie sang solo songs.  Group dances were performed by Ashley Pulinthanathu, Ashlin Benny, Tessa Lalson, Isabel Jacob, Nicole Manalil, Veena, Ashley and Tina.  Ashwin Antony performed an instrumental music.  Lyssy Alex and Dr. Solymole Kuruvilla, the emcees, moderated the programs smoothly and efficiently.  People used the lunchtime for extended networking.

R’ Bonney Gabriel, Miss USA Is Crowned Miss Universe

R’Bonney Gabriel, a fashion designer, model and sewing instructor from Texas, a Filipino American, was crowned the 71st Miss Universe on Saturday, January 14th, 2023.  Gabriel, who last year became the first Filipino-American to win Miss USA, took the crown ahead of Amanda Dudamel from Venezuela and Andreína Martínez from the Dominican Republic.

The pageant was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, with 84 women from around the world competing for the crown. Gabriel closed her eyes and clasped hands with runner-up Miss Venezuela, Amanda Dudamel, at the moment of the dramatic reveal of the winner, then beamed after her name was announced.

In the Q&A at the last stage of the competition for the three finalists, Gabriel was asked how she would work to demonstrate Miss Universe is “an empowering and progressive organization” if she were to win.

“I would use it to be a transformational leader,” she responded, citing her work using recycled materials in her fashion design and teaching sewing to survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence. “It is so important to invest in others, invest in our community and use your unique talent to make a difference.”

When Gabriel entered the Top 5, she was asked, “Miss Universe recently made an inclusive change allowing mothers and married women to compete this year. What’s another change you’d like to see and why?” Gabriel responded that she hoped the contest organizers would increase the candidate age limit.

“For me, I would like to see an age increase because I am 28 years old. And that is the oldest age to compete. And I think it’s a beautiful thing. My favorite quote is ‘if not now, then when?’ Because as a woman, I believe age does not define us. It’s not tomorrow, it’s not yesterday — but it’s now. The time is now,” she said.

Earlier in the pageant, Gabriel donned a red-orange cape inspired by a rising phoenix with the maxim “if not now, then when,” which she had dyed herself. The words take inspiration from her father’s advice to act on goals, dreams and desires.

In the final question and answer segment of the competition, the Top 3 contenders were asked how they would work to demonstrate Miss Universe as an empowering and progressive organization if they won the title.

Gabriel said she would use the platform to be a “transformational leader” and emphasized her passion as a force for good in the fashion industry by cutting down on pollution and using recycled materials in making clothing pieces.

“I teach sewing classes to women that have survived from human trafficking and domestic violence. And I say that because it is so important to invest in others, invest in our community, and use your unique talent to make a difference,” Gabriel said. “We all have something special and when we plant those seeds for other people in our life, we transform them and we use that as a vehicle for change.”

This year’s pageant was organized for the first time by JKN Global Group PCL, a Thailand-based media distribution company, after tycoon and transgender rights advocate Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip bought the Miss Universe Organization for $20 million in October.

Jakkaphong has been outspoken about her experiences as a transgender woman, and is also the first woman owner of the pageant.

She made an appearance onstage to award the ImpactWayv Challenge winner to Thailand’s Anna Sueangam-iam, honoring her commitments for social good.

Miss Thailand had in the preliminary rounds of the pageant made waves in a dress made of soda tabs — a tribute to her humble beginnings and her parents’ work as garbage collectors.

AAPI Organizes HPV Vaccination Awareness Camp in Visakhapatnam to Prevent Cervical Cancer

(Visakhapatnam: January 7th, 2023) American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), in collaboration with the AAPI India Foundation administered free HPV vaccines to over 100 low income young girls, chosen from several government schools in the region, during a special launch of HPV Vaccination awareness camp organized at the Mahatma Gandhi Cancer Hospital, Visakhapatnam in India on Saturday, January 7th, 2023 with the objective of creating awareness and preventing cervical cancer, a leading cause of cancer deaths among women in India.
“We at AAPI, in keeping with our efforts and initiatives to educate, create awareness and provide support on disease prevention, are happy to be part of the HPV Vaccine Awareness Program,” Dr. Ravi Kolli, President of AAPI said. “It was truly an enriching experience to be present in person and meeting with the young women and be part of this life saving mission.”
Picture : TheUNN

The awareness camp was organized as part of APPI’s 16th annual Global Healthcare Summit (GHS) 2023 and was inaugurated in person by Chief Guest at the Summit, Smt. Vidadala Rajini, Honorable Minister for Health, Family Welfare & Medical Education. In her address, the Minister, praised the efforts and the many initiatives of AAPI in providing the best and efficient healthcare to the most vulnerable sections of the society. She urged AAPI to work collaboratively with the government of Andhra Pradesh to make healthcare affordable and efficient for all.

 While elaborating the objectives of the Summit, Dr. V. Ranga, AAPI BOT Chair said, “In addition to HPV VACCINATION and cervical cancer awareness program, GHS 2023 has provided education on: Chronic diseases which can be prevented- notably diabetes, cardiovascular, hypertension, maternal and infant mortality, lifestyle changes, mental health, management of neurological disorders and blindness prevention.”

 

Picture : TheUNN

 

Attended by nearly 500 delegates, the largest ever to attend the AAPI GHS, from the United States and India, the GHS 2023 is being jointly organized by AAPI and the local organizing committee at Visakhapatnam from January 6th to 8th, 2023. This Global Healthcare Summit, with participation from leading medical professionals, thought leaders, heads of several health industry sectors, and policy-makers  has been instrumental in help create policies and programs that make healthcare delivery in India equitably available to everyone in India.
“In coordination with the local organizers, AAPI donated the funds for the HPV Vaccination, a total of 200 doses for the vaccine for 100 children from the state of Andhra Pradesh,” said Dr. Meher Medavaram, an organizer of the program, and the Secretary of AAPI. “AAPI’s noble initiative through education and awareness programs is aimed at helping save many lives in India,” she added.

The funds for the vaccine has been provided by Dr. Rao Mowa, Dr. Medavaram, Dr. Syed Ahmed, Dr. V. Ranga, AAPI BOT Chair, A T G Tours, and Shri. Sadasiva Rao and others. Prominent among those who attended the event and supported the noble initiative included, Dr. Satheesh Kathula, Vice President of AAPI, Dr. Mallikarjuna, Collector and District Magistrate, Visakhapatnam; Dr. Jagadeeswara Rao, DM & HO, Visakhapatnam; Smt. Chandralekha, DEO; and, Dr. Suresh Reddy, past President of AAPI.

Dr. T. Radha, Chair of AAPI Women’s Forum, who was part of the cervical awareness campaign event said, “If vaccination programs are effectively implemented, approximately 90 percent of invasive cervical cancer cases worldwide could be prevented, in addition to the majority of precancerous lesions.”
Picture : TheUNN

In India, cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer among women and India contributes to the largest proportion of global cervical cancer burden. Cervical cancer is a preventable and curable disease as long as it is detected early and managed effectively. Most cervical cancers are associated with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and the HPV vaccine can prevent most cases of cervical cancer if the vaccine is given before girls or women are exposed to the virus. Prevention through vaccination is one of the pillars of the Global Strategy adopted by WHO for the elimination of cervical cancer.

Dr. Anjana Samaddar, President-Elect of AAPI said, “Cervical cancer could be the first cancer EVER in the world to be eliminated, if 90 % of girls are vaccinated; 70% of women are screened; and, 90% of women with cervical disease receive treatment. This is an important step towards reaching goal,” she pointed out.

Cervical cancer develops slowly over time, and another powerful preventive measure is Pap test screening, a procedure during which cells are collected from the surface of the cervix and examined. The Pap test can both detect cancer at an early stage, when treatment outcomes tend to be better, and detect precancerous abnormalities, which can then be treated to prevent them from developing into cancers.

Dr. Satheesh Kathula, Vice President of AAPI, who was among those who attended the awareness camp, said, “Cervical Cancer is preventable through Vaccination and Early Pap smears and cervical examinations. Justifiably so, one of our preventive campaign goals has been to provide education and prevention of Cervical Cancer in India.”
According to The American Cancer Society, Cervical Cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women. The cervical cancer death rate dropped significantly with the increased use of the Pap test for screening. Cervical cancer is among a number of cancers that can be caused by infections with pathogens – bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

“Through Continuing Medical Education and non-CME seminars by experts in their fields, AAPI provides comprehensive and current reviews and guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of various disease states to reduce morbidity and mortality and achieve cost effective quality care outcomes,” said Dr. Suresh Reddy, past President of AAPI.
Expressing confidence, Dr. Ravi Kolli said, “Together we can all bring awareness in the community to prevent Cervical Cancer in India, which is the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths among women!” For more information and ways to support this noble initiatve, please visit www.aapiusa.org/

Pelosi To Leave House Leadership After 20 Years

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is ending her long leadership tenure with a historic flourish, wrapping up two decades at the top of the party with a string of major victories — political, legislative and diplomatic — that are putting a remarkable cap on a landmark era.

Nancy Pelosi said that she will not seek a leadership position in the new Congress, ending a historic run as the first woman with the gavel and making way for a new generation to steer the party after Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans in the midterm elections.

The California Democrat, a pivotal figure in U.S. history and perhaps the most powerful speaker in modern times, said she would remain in Congress as the representative from San Francisco, a position she has held for 35 years, when the new Congress convenes in January.

President Joe Biden, who had encouraged Pelosi to stay on as Democratic leader, congratulated her on her historic tenure as speaker of the House. “History will note she is the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history,” Biden said in a statement, noting her ability to win unity from her caucus and her “absolute dignity.”

Pelosi was twice elected to the speakership and has led Democrats through consequential moments, including passage of the Affordable Care Act with President Barack Obama and the impeachments of President Donald Trump.

First elected in 1987, Pelosi was among a dozen Democratic women in Congress. She was long ridiculed by Republicans as a San Francisco liberal while steadily rising as a skilled legislator and fundraising powerhouse. Her own Democratic colleagues have intermittently appreciated but also feared her powerful brand of leadership.

Pelosi first became speaker in 2007, saying she had cracked the “marble ceiling,” after Democrats swept to power in the 2006 midterm elections in a backlash to then-President George W. Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Ukrainian president has, since the Russian invasion began in February, emerged as the global symbol of democratic defiance in the face of the violent authoritarianism of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky’s visit, in particular, carried outsize significance.

“The 117th Congress has been one of the most consequential in recent history,” she wrote to fellow Democrats this week, taking a victory lap. She added that the lame-duck agenda has them leaving on “a strong note.”

During her remarks on the House floor, Pelosi recapped her career, from seeing the Capitol the first time as a young girl with her father — a former New Deal congressman and mayor — to serving as speaker alongside U.S. presidents. “I quite frankly, personally, have been ready to leave for a while,” she said. “Because there are things I want to do. I like to dance, I like to sing. There’s a life out there, right?”

Pelosi To Leave House Leadership After 20 Years

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is ending her long leadership tenure with a historic flourish, wrapping up two decades at the top of the party with a string of major victories — political, legislative and diplomatic — that are putting a remarkable cap on a landmark era.

Nancy Pelosi said that she will not seek a leadership position in the new Congress, ending a historic run as the first woman with the gavel and making way for a new generation to steer the party after Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans in the midterm elections.

The California Democrat, a pivotal figure in U.S. history and perhaps the most powerful speaker in modern times, said she would remain in Congress as the representative from San Francisco, a position she has held for 35 years, when the new Congress convenes in January.

President Joe Biden, who had encouraged Pelosi to stay on as Democratic leader, congratulated her on her historic tenure as speaker of the House. “History will note she is the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history,” Biden said in a statement, noting her ability to win unity from her caucus and her “absolute dignity.”

Pelosi was twice elected to the speakership and has led Democrats through consequential moments, including passage of the Affordable Care Act with President Barack Obama and the impeachments of President Donald Trump.

First elected in 1987, Pelosi was among a dozen Democratic women in Congress. She was long ridiculed by Republicans as a San Francisco liberal while steadily rising as a skilled legislator and fundraising powerhouse. Her own Democratic colleagues have intermittently appreciated but also feared her powerful brand of leadership.

Pelosi first became speaker in 2007, saying she had cracked the “marble ceiling,” after Democrats swept to power in the 2006 midterm elections in a backlash to then-President George W. Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Ukrainian president has, since the Russian invasion began in February, emerged as the global symbol of democratic defiance in the face of the violent authoritarianism of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky’s visit, in particular, carried outsize significance.

“The 117th Congress has been one of the most consequential in recent history,” she wrote to fellow Democrats this week, taking a victory lap. She added that the lame-duck agenda has them leaving on “a strong note.”

During her remarks on the House floor, Pelosi recapped her career, from seeing the Capitol the first time as a young girl with her father — a former New Deal congressman and mayor — to serving as speaker alongside U.S. presidents. “I quite frankly, personally, have been ready to leave for a while,” she said. “Because there are things I want to do. I like to dance, I like to sing. There’s a life out there, right?”

Sitharaman, Harris, Bela Bajaria Among Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Nykaa CEO Falguni Nayar, and three more Indian women featured in the Forbes’ annual list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.

The list was topped by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who played a key role in handling the COVID -19 crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde was in the second position, while US Vice President Kamala Harris was ranked third.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US Vice President Kamala Harris are among Forbes’ 19th annual list of ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ of 2022.

While Harris is ranked third, Sitharaman is at number 36 on the list that was released on Tuesday highlighting “innovators and instigators who are leading on the world stage to redefine traditional power structures”.

This is the fourth year in a row that Sitharaman made it to the list. Last year, she was in the 37th spot, 41st in 2020 and 34th in 2019.

In 2021, Harris became the first woman, the first Black person, and the first South Asian-American to become the American Vice President.

A California native, Harris was born in Oakland to immigrant parents — her mother was from India and father from Jamaica.

Apart from Harris, Bela Bajaria, head of Global TV at Netflix, is another Indian-American on the list who is ranked at number 71.

Bajaria is responsible for hits including ‘Bridgerton’, ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, ‘Lupin’ and ‘Cobra Kai’.

Before joining Netflix in 2016, Bajaria was president of Universal Television, where she made history as the first woman of color to oversee a studio. London-born Bajaria was named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People list in 2022.

Sitharaman was appointed as India’s first female Finance Minister in May 2019. Before her career in politics, she held roles at the UK-based Agricultural Engineers Association and the BBC World Service.

Besides Sitharaman, other Indians on the list include, HCL Corporation CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra — the youngest Indian woman on the list; Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw; Madhabi Puri Buch, the first female chair of the Securities and Exchange Board of India; Soma Mondal, the first woman to chair the state-run Steel Authority of India; and Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar.

Every year, the American business magazine releases a list of 100 powerful women of the world. This year’s list was topped by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen “for her leadership during the Ukraine war, as well as her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic”.

Indian Origin Simone Ashwini Pillai Among AP’s 9 Nine Breakthrough Entertainers Of 2022

Simone Ashwini Pillai, known professionally as Simone Ashley, a British actress is among this year’s nine Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of the Year, a class of talent that flowered in 2022.

“They worked hard, with the rewards coming slowly but surely. Then something came along — often a key role or sometimes a cluster, maybe an album — and it all became next-level, a shift triggering where-did-you-come-from vibes,” a press release issued by AP stated,  “That describes most of They are Sadie Sink, Stephanie Hsu, Tenoch Huerta, Joaquina Kalukango, Iman Vellani, Daryl McCormack, Tobe Nwigwe, Simone Ashley and Danielle Deadwyler.”

She was born to Indian Tamil parents, Latha and Gunasekharan, and has an older brother.Simone Ashley is best known for her roles in the Netflix series Sex Education and Bridgerton. Ashley made her feature film debut in 2018 with a small role in Boogie Man as Aarti and a prominent role in Kill Ben Lyk as one of the characters named Ben Lyk.

Ashley found herself leading season two of the Regency-era period drama “Bridgerton.” She had a role in the series “Sex Education,” but playing the fiercely independent Kate Sharma for Shonda Rhimes was her first lead character in a major production.

Ashley grew up singing classical music and opera and playing the piano. She also later attended Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead for the sixth form and continued to train in acting at the Arts Educational School in London.

Simone Ashley began her acting career in 2006 as Inspector Coliandro on the comedy crime TV show Inspector Coliandro, where she received her first on-screen credit. Carlo Lucarelli produced the episode, which featured Ashley in the role of Veena. Later that year, she starred as Dana in the third season of the BBC American TV series Broadchurch. In the same year, Simone had the chance to play Aarti in Andrew Morahan’s show ” Boogie Man.” Ella-Rae Smith as Kristen, Ramon Tikaram as Deepak, Amy Jackson, Nick Moran as Gerry, Karan Gill as Rama, among others are among the series’ core cast members.

Sink had been on Broadway and worked alongside stars such as Naomi Watts and Helen Mirren. But playing Max Mayfield in the fourth season of “Stranger Things,” she broke through as a brave skater girl who never lets go of her Walkman, who hates pink, plays video games and is a “Dragon’s Lair” champion.

Hsu also was a Broadway veteran with a few TV credits when she was asked to play both a sullen teen and an intergalactic supervillain in the movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” That led to an unforgettable performance that included dressing as Elvis and walking a pig on a leash.

Like many of the others on the list, Kalukango had racked up plenty of Broadway credits when she took a risk and played the lead in a Broadway musical, “Paradise Square.” It led to a best actress in a leading role Tony Award and a stunning moment in the telecast when she sang “Let It Burn.”

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” isn’t one of Huerta’s biggest roles but the Mexican actor suddenly launched a hundred memes as the mutant leader of a kingdom based on Mayan and Aztec influences beneath the ocean for centuries. Huerta, known for roles in the Netflix series “Narcos: Mexico” and the movie “The Forever Purge,” has taken a big step for movie diversity.

Nwigwe, just nominated for a Grammy as best new artist, has been bubbling up with noted appearances on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series and earning a spot on Michelle Obama’s 2020 workout playlist with “I’m Dope.” This year, the Houston-based artist was featured on the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” soundtrack and dropped the EP “moMINTs” to acclaim.

McCormack has worked consistently since 2018 but 2022 seems to have turned into something special with a constellation of roles — “Peaky Blinders,” the buzzy, dark comedy thriller “Bad Sisters,” plus a star-making performance as the title character in the film “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” opposite Emma Thompson.

Deadwyler burst into the awards race this year with her performance in “Till” as Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of teenager Emmett Till, who was lynched in 1955. She has also appeared in “The Harder They Come,” “Watchmen” and the Netflix series “From Scratch” and “Station Eleven.”

Vellani, another member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on this list, is the exception, having had no such slow burn. The 19-year-old actor in “Ms. Marvel” plays a high school student enamored with all things superheroes only to find herself suddenly wielding powers of her own. And Vellani, in real life, is just starting to find her powers, like all the entertainers nominated here.

‘It Took Us A 100 Years, But We Have A Spot At The Table,’ Dr Jasmeet Bains

California District 35’s newly-elected Assemblymember is elated. “It’s an amazing feeling, a very big moment for me and for the community,” she told indica. “We have been here for 100 years and finally, our community gets a spot at the table.”

Jasmeet Bains, a medical doctor from Bakersfield, is that newly-elected Assemblymember – the first South Asian and Sikh American woman in the state legislature. The district’s mid-term election, held on November 8, took exactly two weeks to be decided. In the end, Dr Bains – a Democrat – won 60.5% of the votes to defeat her challenger, another Democrat Leticia Perez, who won earned 39.5% votes. The oath ceremony will be held on December 5 in the state capital Sacramento.

“I have mixed emotions,” Bains, who works at Bakersfield Recovery Services as its medical director, said. “While it is a proud moment, I also wonder why it took over 100 years for our community to be represented.”

She said after breaking this barrier, she will have to make ensure these barriers don’t return. “I cannot be the last.”

She credits the South Asian and Indian American community for her victory. “It is because of their work that made it possible for her to win today.”

Picture : FB

Bains says that one factor that loomed large in the community not getting adequate representation was fear. “The Sikhs mostly migrated to this place to escape persecution. There was always a fear towards a government that held us back. Growing up we were told to be professional and there was never any talk about politics,” she said.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Bains grew up in city of Delano, California. As the eldest sibling, she used to help her father Devinder Bains, who owns an automobile dealership in Bakersfield. She credited her parents for the values they instilled in her.

As an elected representative, Bains said, her top priority for the district will be to resolve the drugs problem and mitigate the impact of the economic downturn. She said workers in her district come from diverse and hard-working families trying to pursue the American dream.

“If we want a healthier community, we want to make sure we foster a healthier economic climate with safer neighborhoods and more awareness about fentanyl,” she said. “Health is our biggest issue. Access to jobs, access to healthcare, access to health insurance, that’s how we will promote a healthier community.”

Bains is clear that District 35 has a labor issue. “We definitely need to do a lot of work on the front lines so that our people have strong jobs, and at the same time, we need to ensure workers’ safety; make sure people have appropriate benefits. Farm workers, law enforcement, firefighters… these are the people that make our community safe. We need to make sure they are taken care of.”

Bains said that she got support from diverse voters – from young kids to grandparents, South Asian Hindus, Muslims, Hispanic leaders – “everyone came out and supported me. We need more, this is just the beginning.”

The doctor is close to her parents and talks about them with reverence and respect. Bains said it was her decision to run, but “like most Indian parents, when it comes to politics, there was a sense of fear about what would happen or how I will be treated.” She said it is natural for parents to worry, “but they never discouraged; they just did not know what would happen.”

She added, “My parents know I am a hard worker. They saw me grow up selling cars and now, I am a doctor and an Assemblymember-elect. They know I will give it my all… my 100%.”

Devinder Bains, Jasmeet’s father, also spoke to indica and shared his feelings of pride for his daughter. “She has made history here in the US, for India, for the Punjabi community, and for all the minorities.”

Bains Sr, who moved with his wife to the US from India in 1978, said Jasmeet being the eldest of the siblings, would always act like a leader. “She would discipline them as well. She has had those qualities from her childhood. She is a born leader,” he told indica.

He said Jasmeet was not just active in class, she also gave back to the community. “She would go and help under-served communities,” he said. “She has visited Kolkata, Panama, Africa and Mexico as part of her Global Healthcare Group. She would take a team of future doctors and train them, so that they understand issues and concerns before they get into this profession.

Devinder recalls that a few months before the primary election, Jasmeet told her parents at the dinner table, “Mom, Dad, I’d like to run for office”. I jokingly said yes, run, run but run against it. Stay away from politics because politics is a dirty game. We are not politicians and you are a physician and you are trained to go and help the community.”

“But she reminded me of my own words, ‘If you want to make a change in the world, you need to change yourself first’. That surprised me, and I realised that my daughter, this young lady, was speaking with such passion. I told her that if you want to do it, I will give you all my support.”

Devinder shared how Jasmeet earned the Latino vote by speaking to them in Spanish. “Her opponent was a Latino, but even then, she broke that language barrier and endeared herself to the community.”

Like most Indian fathers, Devinder said he and his wife are constantly worried about Jasmeet’s matrimonial prospects. “We ask her all the time, but we left her alone during to the campaign. But now that she has won, we will start asking her again,” he laughs. (Courtesy: Indica News)

FB Appoints Sandhya Devanathan As The New India Head

Facebook parent Meta has announced the appointment of Sandhya Devanathan as the Vice President of Meta India. The appointment of Sandhya Devanathan as the new India head follows several high-profile departures in its key overseas markets.We are appointing Sandhya Devanathan as the Vice President of Meta India,” a statement on Meta website stated.

“Devanthan will focus on bringing the organization’s business and revenue priorities together to serve partners and clients, while continuing to support the long-term growth of our business and commitment to India. She will transition to her new role on January 1, 2023 and will report to Dan Neary, Vice President, Meta APAC and will be a part of the APAC leadership team. She will move back to India to lead the India org and strategy.”

Picture : Meta

Devanathan, who joined the firm in 2016 and helped build the company’s Singapore and Vietnam businesses, has been elevated to head and VP of Meta India. In 2020, Devanathan moved to lead the company’s gaming efforts in the Asia-Pacific region.

In her new role “Devanathan will focus on bringing the organization’s business and revenue priorities together to serve its partners and clients, while continuing to support the long term growth of Meta’s business and commitment to India,” Meta said in a statement.

“India is at the forefront of digital adoption and Meta has launched many of our top products, such as Reels and Business Messaging, in India first. We are proud to have recently launched JioMart on WhatsApp, which is our first end-to-end shopping experience in India,” the statement continued.

Meta Platforms appointed Sandhya Devanathan as its India head days after Ajit Mohan quit to join rival Snap Inc. WhatsApp’s India head Abhijit Bose and Meta Platforms’s public policy director in India Rajiv Aggarwal also resigned earlier this week.

Devanathan’s appointment comes at a time when Facebook is facing regulatory challenges in India with government tightening laws governing Big Tech companies.

The company has for years faced criticism for doing little to curb the spread of fake news and hate speech in India.

Devanathan is a global business leader with 22 years of experience and an international career in banking, payments and technology. Sandhya Devanathan will transition to her new role on January 1 next year and will report to Dan Neary, Vice President, Meta APAC and will be a part of the APAC leadership team. She will move back to India to lead the India org and strategy.

Nancy Pelosi Steps Down, Paving Way For Young Leaders To Lead Democratic Party

After leading the Democrats for the last two decades, the House Speaker has announced that she will step down next year from her spot at the top of the party, closing a momentous run for the most powerful woman in U.S. history while clearing the way for a younger generation of up-and-coming lawmakers to climb into the leadership ranks.

“With great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress. For me the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect,” Pelosi said in a speech on the House floor. “I’m grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility.”

Pelosi said she will continue to represent her San Francisco district in the House.

Picture : Rolling Stone

In her remarks, Pelosi warned that democracy is “majestic, but it is fragile” and said voters in 2022 sent a message to Congress that they would not support those who supported violence or insurrection. She also applauded the chamber for becoming more diverse over the course of her 35-year career. When she first entered Congress in 1987 there were 12 women in the Democratic caucus and now there are 90. “And we want more,” she said.

Her decision comes a day after Republicans officially won control of the chamber in the 2022 midterms, and three weeks after the violent assault on her husband, Paul, at their San Francisco home.

The GOP is expected to have a razor-thin majority after the “red wave” never materialized on Election Day. Democrats defied historical expectations and performed better in governor, Senate and House elections than anticipated.

There has been a quiet desire among rank and file Democrats to elect a younger slate of leaders to replace Pelosi, who is 82, and the two other top House Democratic leaders, Rep Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who are also in their 80s.

Following Pelosi’s announcement, Hoyer, who is currently the House Majority Leader, said he will not run for a

Picture : Washington Post

leadership position in the next Congress. “Now is the time for a new generation of leaders,” Hoyer said in a statement, adding that he would support Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jefferies for the top leadership role.

At the top of the list is Jeffries of New York, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Pete Aguilar of California. All three serve in lower-tier leadership roles now and are interested in moving up the ladder.

Jeffries, who is 52, Clark, who is 59, and Aguilar, who is 43, would make an African American, a white woman and a Hispanic the new faces of the party. Reps. Ami Bera and Tony Cárdenas, both of California, have already announced campaigns to run the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democrats’ campaign arm, for the 2024 election.

“I know because I’ve seen her in action during my career as Senator, Vice President, and now as President,” Biden said in a statement following her announcement. “Because of Nancy Pelosi, the lives of millions and millions of Americans are better, even in districts represented by Republicans who voted against her bills and too often vilify her,” the statement reads. “That’s Nancy — always working for the dignity of all of the people.”

Rajan Sawhney Appointed Minister Of Immigration And Multiculturalism Of Alberta, Canada

Indian-Canadian Rajan Sawhney has been appointed as the Minister of immigration and Multiculturalism of Alberta, Canada.

Sawhney was born and brought up in Calgary, while her parents hailed from the village of Wadala, on the outskirts of Jalandhar. She has previously served as the Minister of Community and Social Services in the Executive Council of Alberta, and has been serving as the Minister of Transportation for almost a year. Sawhney has long been an engaged community volunteer who helped raise funds for social causes. Before going into politics, she worked in the oil and gas industry for over 20 years.

Sawhney was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta on April 16, 2019, as the MLA for Calgary-North East.

Born and raised in north east Calgary, Sawhney is a mother of 4, an activist, and an engaged community volunteer. Rajan attended the University of Calgary, earning a degree in Economics and Political Science as well as an MBA.

Rajan worked in the oil and gas industry for over twenty years in a variety of different roles in economics and business development. Prior to her election, she served as the Vice President of Business Development for Fracture Modeling Inc.

As an active volunteer, Sawhney is passionate about community engagement initiatives. She has played a key role in leadership with several non-profit organizations and has also spearheaded several programs and events designed to spread awareness and raise funds for worthy causes. For her community engagement work, Rajan was recognized as a Community Builder by the YWCA for Canada 150.

Rajan Sawhney was sworn in as Minister of Trade, Immigration and Multiculturalism on October 24, 2022.

Jasmeet Bains Is First Indian-American Woman California State Representative

Jasmeet Kaur Bains [above center], a Democrat and daughter of a Sikh immigrant made history, November 8 when she became the first woman of Indian and South Asian origin to be elected to the California Assembly. She won the District 35 seat in a closely contested election.

Jasmeet Kaur Bains, a family physician from Bakersfield, made history by becoming the first Indian-origin Sikh woman to be elected to the California Assembly.

In a Democrat vs Democrat race for the 35th Assembly District in Kern County, Bains took an early lead over her opponent Leticia Perez.

According to the Kern County Election Results website, Bains led the race on Wednesday with 10,827 votes, or 58.9 per cent — while Perez trailed significantly with 7,555 votes, or 41.1 per cent.

Bains is a medical director at Bakersfield Recovery Services, a non-profit that treats adults suffering from addiction.

In her campaign pitch, she said she would prioritise healthcare, homelessness, water infrastructure and air quality.

Bains watched election returns with nearly 100 family members, friends and supporters at Tony’s Firehouse Grill and Pizza, a restaurant in the northern Kern County city of Delano, where she grew up.

“It’s an exciting night… I’m encouraged by the early returns and couldn’t be more grateful for the support we’ve received across Kern County,” she wrote in a text message to the Bakersfield Californian.

“I love being a doctor,” Bains said, explaining why the decision to enter the Assembly contest was not an easy decision.

“If I want to be the physician that I always dreamed of being, I need to make sure that we have the correct legislation in place,” she told Bakesfield Californian.

The 35th Assembly district stretches from Arvin to Delano and includes much of East Bakersfield.

The daughter of immigrant parents from India, Bains watched her father build a business, starting as an auto mechanic and ultimately owning successful car dealerships. After college, Jasmeet worked with her father before pursuing her career in medicine.

When the pandemic hit, Bains was on the frontlines, establishing field hospital sites to treat Covid patients. She has also spearheaded landmark mental health and addiction treatment programmes.

She was awarded the 2019 Hero of Family Medicine by the California Academy of Family Physicians, and the 2021 Beautiful Bakersfield Award from the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce. (IANS)

Indian-American Nabeela Syed Makes History In US Midterm Polls

“My name is Nabeela Syed. I’m a 23-year-old Muslim, Indian-American woman,” she announced in a tweet on Wednesday.

“We just flipped a Republican-held suburban district.”

She added: “And in January, I’ll be the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly.”

And as it invariably happens with these path-breakers, she has notched a few more firsts along the way: first Indian-American elected to the Illinois state House — man or woman of any faith — and along with Palestinian-American Abdel Nasser Rashid, the first Muslim elected to the state legislature.

Syed wears a hijab, and some publications noted it.

Kesha Ram, who is now serving in the Vermont state Senate, probably holds the record for being the youngest Indian-American ever elected to a state legislature. She was only 21 when she was elected to the state’s legislative body. She ran unsuccessfully for Lt. Governor in 2016. She belongs to the family of Sir Ganga Ram, the builder of modern Lahore who has a Delhi hospital named after him.

Syed was born in Illinois, but not much else could be ascertained about her family, other than that her parents, or one of them at least came from India.

Syed’s campaign website says she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in political science and business administration, where she served as the President of a pro-bono consulting organisation assisting local businesses and non-profits.

“It doesn’t seem real, but I am a state representative-elect now and I will be the youngest member of the General Assembly,” she told ABC News.

The 2022 midterm will go down in history as responsible for giving the US the first Generation Z member of the US Congress — Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a 25-year-old Democrat elected to the House of Representatives from Florida. President Joe Biden joined the national celebration of his election by congratulating him in a phone call.

Syed frames her election as part of this effort by youngsters to claim their place in politics, rather than wait for their turn, euphemism for waiting for someone to retire.

“It is so important for us to have a seat at the table, for us to have a voice in the legislative process,” Syed went on to say in the ABC interview.

“People say wait your turn or there is no space for you. We made space,” she added. (IANS)

Aruna Miller Elected Maryland’s Lt Governor

Indian-American Aruna Miller has been elected Lieutenant Governor of Maryland in the midterm elections in which the Democrats wrested the top spots in the state from the Republicans. She and the candidate for Governor Wes Moore won 59.3 per cent of the votes in Tuesday’s election.

They make history in the state, Miller as the first Indian-American or Asian American Lieutenant Governor, and Moore as the state’s first African-American Governor.

The Hyderabad-born Miller is also the first Indian-American to be elected a state Lieutenant Governor, although two Republicans from the community have been elected Governors, Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and Nikki Haley in South Carolina.

The 58-year-old immigrated to the US from India when she was seven.

In a series of tweets, Miller wrote: “Ever since I came to this country in 1972, I’ve never stopped being excited for the promise of America. I will never stop fighting to make sure that promise is available to everyone.

“And this promise begins with a commitment to deliver a Maryland where we Leave No One Behind.”

Thanking her voters, Miller said she wants to build a Maryland where people feel safe in their communities and in their skin.

“Before I ask you for anything, I want to thank you for everything. Thank you for being here today and for being a part of this moment. We need you. We need your hope, we need your stories, we need your partnership, and I can promise you this, we’re only just getting started.

Picture : OPB

“Maryland, tonight you showed the nation what a small but mighty state can do when democracy is on the ballot. You chose unity over division, expanding rights over restricting rights, hope over fear. You chose Wes Moore and me to be your next Governor and Lieutenant Governor,” she added.

Miller had served two terms as a member of the state’s House of Delegates, the lower chamber of the legislature, starting in 2010.

She tried to run for Congress in 2019 but lost the Democratic primary election for selecting the party’s candidate.

Miller has also served as an executive director of India Impact, an organisation that mobilises voters and candidates for offices and supports Asian American candidates.

Miller is married to her collegemate David Miller and they have three adult daughters.

After getting a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology she worked in California, Hawaii and Virginia before moving to Maryland, where she was employed by the department of transportation of Montgomery county.

Governor Larry Hogan, a critic of former President Donald Trump, and Lieutenant Governor Boyd K. Rutherford did not run for re-election.

The Republican Governor candidate Dan Cox is a Trump loyalist and he collected only 37 per cent of the votes, underperforming like many of the candidates backed by Trump. (IANS)

Deepika Padukone Launches Self-Care Brand 82E

A pioneering advocate of mental, physical, and emotional well-being, actor Deepika Padukone launches her self-care brand, 82E (pronounced Eighty-two East) on Thursday. The brand will offer premium, high-performance products that make the practice of self-care a simple, effective, and enjoyable part of everyday life.

The name is inspired by the meridian that runs longitudinally through India and defines the standard time of the country. Eighty-Two East reflects the global Indian icon’s journey and experience as a modern woman who is rooted in India but global in her outlook.

The brand will launch with skincare as its inaugural category this month. Eighty-Two East’s skincare products are formulated by in-house experts, and each product combines an Indian ingredient with a scientific compound into a powerful formula. The products have been thoughtfully designed to make skincare a delightful ritual.

The brand takes pride in being India’s first celebrity-owned self-care brand that is backed by global institutional venture capitalists. On the occasion of launching her very own self-care brand, Deepika Padukone, Co-founder, of Eighty-Two East, says “Wherever I am in the world, practicing simple acts of self-care consistently, helps me stay grounded and enables me to feel my most centred. With Eighty-Two East, I hope to inspire us all to connect with our truest, most authentic selves through consistent and humble self-care practices. The first step in that direction is our range of skincare products that have been rigorously sourced, carefully crafted, and clinically tested so you can build simple, joyful, and effective everyday rituals to care for the health of your skin.”

The launch marks Padukone’s foray into full-fledged entrepreneurship, expanding her mission to leave behind a distinguished legacy and to inspire people to live authentic lives beyond her professional endeavors as an actor, producer, and mental health advocate. (IANS)

Indira Viswanathan Peterson: Enriching Sanskrit, Tamil Literature, Art & Culture and Social History of South Asia

Indira Viswanathan Peterson is Professor Emeritus of Asian Studies at Mount Holyoke College, and a leading scholar of Sanskrit and Tamil literature and Hinduism, as well as South Indian literary, social and cultural history and performing arts, especially classical music and early modern drama.

On Nov. 19, 2022, she will receive New England Choice Awards for Art and Culture at Hilton Woburn Hotel in Woburn, MA.

Her interests include translation, European–Indian culture contact, and comparative literature. Among her books are Poems to Siva: The Hymns of the Tamil Saints (Princeton, 1989), and Design and Rhetoric in a Sanskrit Court Epic: The Kiratarjuniya of Bharavi (SUNY 2003).

Picture : TheUNN

Other publications include: George Michell and Indira Peterson, The Great Temple at Thanjavur: A Thousand Years. 1010 – 2010 (2010); Performing Pasts: Reinventing the Arts in modern South India, co-edited with Davesh Soneji (2008); and Tamil Geographies: Cultural Constructions of Space and Place in South India, co-edited with Martha Selby (2007). Dr. Peterson was the editor of Indian literature for The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces (Expanded 6th Edition, 1995), and The Norton Anthology of World Literature (2002).

Indira Peterson is completing Tanjore Renaissance: King Serfoji II and South Indian Modernity, an intellectual and cultural biography of the royal polymath and innovator Serfoji II.

Here is a Q/A with Prof. Peterson:

INDIA New England News: Tell us about your upbringing. How did it contribute to what happened to you later in life?

Indira Viswanathan Peterson: I am a Tamil-speaking south Indian who grew up in cosmopolitan Bombay, where I became fascinated by diverse languages, cultures, religions, and cultural encounter. My Delhi grandfather taught me Sanskrit. I read widely in my paternal grandfather’s library. My father exposed me to German and Russian cultures. These were formative influences in my choosing literature and cultural history as the subjects of my scholarship and teaching.

INE: Walk us through your journey. How did you end up in New England?

IVP: I landed in New England as a 17-year-old in 1967, as an American Field Service high school exchange student in Concord, MA. I was delighted to immerse myself in New England history and culture. I completed a BA in English at Bombay University, then did a PhD in Sanskrit and Indian studies at Harvard. Serendipitously, I was appointed as a professor of Indian literature in the five college consortium in Western mass. I joined Mount Holyoke college in 1982, and retired from teaching in 2016. I am a dyed in the wool New Englander.

INE: Who is the mentor –or are the mentors—who influenced you?

IVP: My mother, grandmothers and aunts, strong and capable women, are role models for me. My father Dr. R. Viswanathan, a pioneering oceanographer and chemist, showed me that the pursuit of knowledge is boundless. My school and college teachers in Bombay were models of dedicated teaching. P.V. Shankar urged me never to give up singing. My grandfather S. Venkataramanan started me off in Sanskrit, and at Harvard, Professor Daniel Ingalls made me a scholar of Sanskrit.

INE: What was a life changing moment for you?

IVP: Pursuing a PhD at Harvard in the early 1970s was eye-opening. Harvard was a candy store for the humanities, and I seized as many candy bars as I could, exploring Greek, German, Russian, comparative religion, linguistics and folklore as the scaffolding for the study of Sanskrit literature. Those explorations showed me how exciting research could be. I never stopped asking questions, something which has kept my research and teaching fresh for me, and I hope, for my students as well.

I would like to mention the two people who changed my life through their loving presence. My husband Mark was my soulmate. He revealed to me the unity of art and science. Our beloved daughter Maya made us better persons and made the world a better place with her shining life.

INE:  How did the Indian American diaspora support you in your journey?

IVP: When I first arrived in Cambridge in 1967, you could count the number of South Asians even at the universities on your fingers at least metaphorically speaking. We became close friends because there were so few of us. We bought spices in Belmont and watched Hindi films at MIT. Over the years it has been wonderful to see the growth of the Indian American population in New England. I have formed lasting bonds with students from India and south Asia alongside Indian American students at Mount Holyoke college, a nurturing ground for fruitful friendships. I have learned much from the so different yet so familiar experience of my Indian American students. Recently I had the privilege of working with a gifted team of young Indian American performers of Karnatic music. I was bowled over by their cultural poise and creativity. I could not be prouder of our young diaspora.

INE: What life lesson do you want the community to walk away with?

IVP:  My own experience and ideal lead me to suggest this one: Embrace and rejoice in the exciting and irreducible diversity and plurality that form the core of Indian as well as Indian American communities. (Courtessy: INDIA New England News)

Miss World 2021 Runner-Up Shree Saini Implanted With New Pacemaker

Pacemakers are usually given to those who have lived a long life and now their heart needs an extra assistance. For me, I was born with a heart defect,” Shree, 26, wrote.

Indian-American model Shree Saini, who was declared the first runner-up at the Miss World 2021 pageant, recently revealed that she is undergoing heart surgery for a new pacemaker implant as her “current pacemaker batteries have died”. A heart patient, Shree, who got a pacemaker at the age of 12, went on to share that she has to “undergo a total of eight pacemaker replacement surgeries” in her lifetime.

“I would so greatly appreciate your prayers. There will be no visitors allowed at the hospital. I want to thank everyone who has been there for me. For those who may not know, I was born with a complete heart block, where my upper and bottom chambers did not communicate with each other. My block led me to me having a very low heart rate and feel terribly fatigued,” she mentioned in a note on Instagram.

“The pacemaker paces my heart to beat at a normal rate. It does this by using the pacemaker to send electric shocks to my heart which allows it to beat at a normal rate. Average age of a pacemaker recipient is age 80. Pacemakers are usually given to those who have lived a long life and now their heart needs an extra assistance. For me, I was born with a heart defect,” Shree, now 26, penned.

Adding that she is sharing her story to “encourage people to have a greater sense of hope even in their hardships”, she wrote, “Let’s rise up from our challenges with a victor, not a victim mindset.”

Picture: Beauty Pageant

Shree, who was also adjudged Ambassador Beauty With Purpose at the 2021 Miss World, thanked her well-wishers for their constant support. “I still remember being a kid and being so confused, scared while waiting for my initial surgery. I do remember the teachers and peers who were there for me. I will forever be grateful for people who cared, reached out with comforting words and whose love filled me with strength. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. I am the sum of God’s blessings, parents’ unconditional love and the blessings of so many people. So grateful for scientists, doctors for creating this remarkable pacemaker technology, that literally allows me to live today!”

About the size of a pocket watch, artificial pacemakers are implanted under the skin through an incision in the chest. The device is connected to the heart through leads or wires that deliver electrical signals that regulate the heart’s activity. “Pacemakers are small machines placed to generate heart beats. When your heart beats slows down to less than 50-60 beats, with or without heart conduction tissue, it indicates damage to your heart’s wiring system, or in cases of heart failure where a patient’s heart do not beat in tandem to produce a good pulse or output, then the doctor recommends these small machines to improve the quality of life, said Dr Bipeenchandra Bhamre, consultant cardiac surgeon, Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre in Mumbai, adding that ECG and Holter monitoring tests help to determine the need of pacemakers.

According to the expert, two types of machines are widely used — single chamber and dual chamber — depending on the number of heart chambers affected. “Periodic check up, every year, is required to check for battery. Your doctor will recommend the type of machine better for you,” he said.

Dr Pankaj Batra, senior interventional cardiologist, Fortis Escorts Faridabad, told indianexpress.com that the PPI or Permanent Pacemaker Implantation procedure takes about an hour to be completed. “Permanent pacemaker insertion is considered a minimally invasive procedure. Transvenous access to the heart chambers under local anesthesia is the favored technique. It is not a surgery,” said Dr Batra, adding that “in case of congenital heart defects, pacemakers may be preferred for a long life.”

A National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) review also suggested that the primary purpose of such a device is to maintain an adequate heart rate, either because the heart’s natural pacemaker is not fast enough, or there is a block in the heart’s electrical conduction system. “Modern pacemakers are externally programmable and allow the cardiologist to select the optimum pacing modes for patients on a case-to-case basis,” explained Dr Batra and further said that replacement is usually done after 10 to 15 years using a “minor procedure”.

While pacemakers can be temporary in cases of a heart attack, permanent pacemakers are used to control long-term heart issues. “Pacemaker can relieve some arrhythmia symptoms, such as fatigue and fainting. A pacemaker also can help a person who has abnormal heart rhythms resume a more active lifestyle,” mentioned the NCBI review. Agreed Dr Batra and mentioned that pacemakers are needed to “improve the quality of life”, and with minimal heart-related issues. (Courtesy: The Indian Express)

AAHOA Organizes HerOwnership Conference

AAHOA championed its goal to elevate women in hotel ownership at the inaugural 2022 AAHOA HerOwnership Conference & Retreat last week. Nearly 300 attendees gathered at the Radisson Hotel Cincinnati Riverfront to learn about ownership opportunities and create their path to success. The two-day event included a fantastic lineup of panels and speakers, including Executive Coach and Communications Expert Diane Ripstein, who delivered an upbeat and inspiring keynote speech on the steps women can take to become influential leaders.

Attendees heard from AAHOA President & CEO Laura Lee Blake, who empowered the women in the room with techniques to master the art of negotiation. Many women in all stages of their careers still feel uncomfortable with negotiation, but it is essential to doing business in the industry. I thank Laura Lee for helping women become better negotiators.

G6 Hospitality, Choice Hotels, Marriott International, Wyndham’s Women Own the Room, Red Roof, My Place, and Sonesta were also present, spotlighting their support and initiatives to advance women in hotel ownership.

In his address, Neal Patel, AAHOA Chairman, said, “It was an honor to be in a room full of leading women and know that AAHOA is playing an active role in opening doors for women in the industry. The HerOwnership Conference & Retreat was possible thanks to the vision, hard work, and dedication of Female Director Eastern Division, Lina Patel, and Female Director Western Division, Tejal Patel, alongside our fantastic AAHOA team, Officers, local ambassadors, members, speakers, and sponsors. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a huge success. What a way to continue our strong start for Q4 2022! Together, let’s continue to elevate women in our industry by ensuring their voices are heard, their skills are utilized, and that there’s a seat at the table for all.”

Sonal Shah Named CEO Of The Texas Tribune

The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization, has announced the selection of Sonal Shah to serve as its second chief executive officer. Shah will take over for co-founder and founding CEO Evan Smith beginning in January 2023. At the Tribune, Shah will lead the organization into its next phase of growth, overseeing strategy, fundraising and operations, while editor in chief Sewell Chan will continue to run all news operations. Smith will transition into a new role as senior adviser, effective early next year.

Sonal Shah will be taking over the nonprofit news organization from Evan Smith, who has run The Texas Tribune since he co-founded it in 2009. Shah has extensive experience in social innovation and nonprofits, and is currently an interim executive vice president at United Way. She also founded Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, as well as The Asian American Foundation. Previously, she worked as the director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the Obama administration.

While announcing the appointment, Jim Schachter is the chair of The Texas Tribune’s board of directors and the president and CEO of New Hampshire Public Radio, stated: “It’s been a privilege for the board to find someone who embodies all of the qualities and qualifications we identified The Texas Tribune needing in its next leader. Our north star was to find an executive with a passion for the work we do here at the Trib, and a leader with both a deep understanding of the functional and financial needs of a mission-based organization and a track record of high-impact leadership. We’ve found just such a CEO.

“Sonal brings to the Tribune an extraordinary record in fundraising and strategic leadership. A veteran of Google, Georgetown University, Goldman Sachs and the United Way, she has built a career driving social impact and civic engagement. In Sonal, the Tribune will have a business leader who can build on the successes of the past 13 years and work with the staff, board and all our stakeholders on behalf of readers to establish the organization’s path to thriving over the next decade (and beyond),” he added.

“Over my more than 25-year career, the throughline tying together all of my nonprofit, public and private sector experience has been one word: impact. My passion for civic engagement, innovation and the intersection of policy and technology is what drives everything I do, and I am thrilled to bring my experience and expertise to The Texas Tribune. This news organization is truly second to none. With a world-class journalism staff, unmatched reporting and a critical mission, I know that the sky is the limit in terms of what we can continue to build and achieve here for Texans and beyond. Texas is my home, it is where I grew up and I can’t imagine a more important place to be,” said Sonal Shah, incoming chief executive officer of The Texas Tribune.

Founded in 2009, The Texas Tribune’s mission is to promote civic engagement and discourse on public policy, politics, government and other matters of statewide interest. With nearly 4 million monthly unique visitors and more than 175,000 newsletter subscribers, The Texas Tribune is an established leader in digital-first journalism, devoted to informing Texans through in-depth investigations and rigorous enterprise, breaking news and beat reporting backed by data and statewide events. Since its inception, the Tribune has raised more than $112 million and now boasts more than 10,000 paying members.

One of the foremost global leaders on social impact and innovation, Shah has started and led social impact efforts in academia, government, and the private and philanthropic sectors for over 25 years. Currently, she serves as interim executive vice president, worldwide network advancement, at United Way Worldwide. 

Previously, Shah founded The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) in Houston, and also founded and led Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation. She served as director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the Obama administration, as an international economist at the Department of the Treasury, and as national policy director for Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. In the private sector, Shah led technology initiatives and impact investing globally at Google and Goldman Sachs. Shah grew up in Houston, where she graduated from Alief Hastings High School, and went on to earn a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago and an M.A. in economics from Duke University.

Neema Roshania Patel, Washington Post Editor, Dies At 35

Neema Roshania Patel, a founding editor of The Washington Post news site for millennial women, The Lily, and most recently an editor with the Next Generation audience development team working to cultivate a younger and more diverse readership, died Oct. 24 at a hospital in Washington. She was 35.

The cause was gastric cancer, said her husband, Akshar Patel.

After working for print, online and broadcast outlets, Ms. Roshania Patel joined The Post in 2016 as a digital editor before helping launch The Lily the next year. As deputy editor, she helped build The Lily into a website focused on original and curated material for and about women and helped grow the brand in newsletters and social media platforms including Instagram and Twitter.

On the podcast “Motherly,” Ms. Roshania Patel called The Lily “a stopping place on the internet where we could bring together the best stories on women and gender.”

Amy King, The Lily’s founding editor in chief, who is now creative director and deputy managing editor at the Los Angeles Times, called Ms. Roshania Patel a “vibrant” colleague who “found our greatest stories and gave visibility to people and ideas who had long been ignored.”

Among the projects Ms. Roshania Patel shepherded, King said, were the “Anxiety Chronicles” mental health series and a book club that featured literature by female authors, often women of color.

King said Ms. Roshania Patel spent months working on a project called “The Jessicas,” which looked at the most popular name for girls born in 1989 and examined their lives and evolving identities as they turned 30. She found 10 diverse subjects, worked with freelancers to tell the stories and oversaw a documentary short that was included in film festivals.

Ms. Roshania Patel spent a year and a half as the top editor of The Lily before moving to Next Generation, a new initiative, in October 2021.

Phoebe Connelly, senior editor of Next Generation, wrote of Ms. Roshania Patel in an email: “What stood out immediately was her desire to collaborate – to take what she had learned running The Lily and infuse it into every department, every article and every project.” She also partnered with the Style section to introduce new advice columnists to The Post.

In April, Ms. Roshania Patel wrote an op-ed for the Poynter media training center about the importance of diverse sourcing – by age, gender and ethnicity, among other categories – to attract and keep a younger demographic of potential subscribers.

“Younger audiences want to see their experiences and the experiences of their peers reflected in the journalism they consume,” she wrote. “They want to see how policy affects the lives of everyday people. And they want to feel personally connected to what they read. Diverse sourcing makes us more trustworthy arbiters of the news.”

“If we don’t include a diverse range of voices we are narrowing those lanes and not reflecting the world we should be covering,” she added.

Neema Prabhu Roshania was born in Maplewood, N.J., on Sept. 28, 1987, to immigrants from India. Her father was an electrical engineer for Metallix, a precious metals recycling company, and her mother also worked for the firm as an accounts manager.

After working for her high school newspaper, she received a bachelor’s degree in economics and journalism from Rutgers University in 2009.

In addition to internships at the business journal NJBIZ and the financial news network CNBC, she spent a few years as a researcher and writer in Washington with Kiplinger’s business newsletters and, from 2013 to 2016, she was a community news editor with WHYY, the public radio station in Philadelphia.

She married in 2014. In addition to her husband, survivors include a son, Abhiraj Patel, both of Kensington, Md.; her parents, Prabhu Roshania and Mira Roshania, of Winterville, N.C.; and a sister. She attended BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, a Hindu temple in Beltsville, Md.

Ms. Roshania Patel told Motherly that journalism appealed to her mostly as an excuse to satisfy her curiosity about the world and was a career that gave her permission and confidence to ask questions of strangers and get answers. “I felt like it was something I would never get bored of,” she said.

Mata Amritanandamayi Devi Appointed As C20 Chairperson

Ahead of assuming presidency of the G20 in December 2022, the Indian government has appointed renowned spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi Devi as the chairperson of the country’s Civil 20 (C20), an official engagement group of the Group of 20 (G20).

Amma as she is fondly known, will serve as the chair of the India C20 Engagement Group , which consists of Sri M from Satsang Foundation as a participant; Sudha Murthy , President of the Infosys Foundation as a participant; Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini as secretary, and Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari as institutional par

C20 is a group of Civil Society Organizations (CSO) around the world to voice non-government and non-business people’s aspirations to G20 world leaders. India will assume the Presidency of the G20 for one year from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023. The pinnacle of events is September 9-10, 2023 when the G20 Leaders’ Summit will take place in New Delhi at the level of Heads of State and Government, it said. But in advance, India will host more than 200 meetings across the country, an endeavour that involves intense work by ministerial meetings, working groups, and engagement groups.

Upon accepting her role as Chair of India’s C20 engagement group, Amma expressed she was grateful to the Indian government for arranging such a high-level representation of the voices of the common people. “Hunger, conflict, extinction of species, and environmental destruction are the most important issues facing the world today. We should put in sincere effort to develop solutions,” Amma said in the initial C20 online meeting. 

If scientists of all fields—computer science, mathematics, physics, engineers, etc—would all work together, then we would be able to create more innovative methods of predicting environmental catastrophes, and thereby we would be able to save so many lives, she said. “Often, we see a lack of multi-disciplinary and integrated effort. This is the need of the hour,” Amma said She explained that poverty in rural areas is a key issue to address in terms of moving ahead as a society overall, especially since it is the people there who grow most of our food. 

The G20 consists of 19 countries plus the European Union, and India has been a member since its inception in 1999. Overall, the G20 accounts for about 80 per cent of gross world product (GWP), 59-77 per cent of international trade, two-thirds of the world’s population, and roughly half of its land area. 

Under the auspices of the G20, C20 engages more than 800 civil societies, representatives, and networks of various countries, including organisations from countries who are not G20 members, to ensure that people of all strata of society are heard at the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Representation of CSOs among G20 member nations began in 2010 and was launched as an official G20 engagement group in 2013.

Women-Led Counter Revolution In Iran Triggers Solidarity In US, Europe

By, Farnoush Amiri And Michael Blood

(AP) — Chanting crowds marched in the streets of Berlin, Washington DC and Los Angeles on Saturday in a show of international support for demonstrators facing a violent government crackdown in Iran, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of that country’s morality police.

On the U.S. National Mall, thousands of women and men of all ages — wearing green, white and red, the colors of the Iran flag — shouted in rhythm. “Be scared. Be scared. We are one in this,” demonstrators yelled, before marching to the White House. “Say her name! Mahsa!”

The demonstrations, put together by grassroots organizers from around the United States, drew Iranians from across the Washington D.C. area, with some travelling down from Toronto to join the crowd.

In Los Angeles, home to the biggest population of Iranians outside of Iran, a throng of protesters formed a slow-moving procession along blocks of a closed downtown street. They chanted for the fall of Iran’s government and waved hundreds of Iranian flags that turned the horizon into a undulating wave of red, white and green. “We want freedom,” they thundered.

Shooka Scharm, an attorney who was born in the U.S. after her parents fled the Iranian revolution, was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” in English and Farsi. In Iran “women are like a second-class citizen and they are sick of it,” Scharm said.

Iran’s nationwide antigovernment protest movement first focused on the country’s mandatory hijab covering for women following Amiri’s death on Sept. 16. The demonstrations there have since transformed into the greatest challenge to the Islamic Republic since the 2009 Green Movement over disputed elections. In Tehran on Saturday, more antigovernment protests took place at several universities.

Iran’s security forces have dispersed gatherings in that country with live ammunition and tear gas, killing over 200 people, including teenage girls, according to rights groups.

The Biden administration has said it condemns the brutality and repression against the citizens of Iran and that it will look for ways to impose more sanctions against the Iranian government if the violence continues.

Between chants, protesters in D.C. broke into song, singing traditional Persian music about life and freedom — all written after the revolution in 1979 brought religious fundamentalists to power in Iran. They sang one in particular in unison — “Baraye,” meaning because of, which has become the unofficial anthem of the Iran protests. The artist of that song, Shervin Hajipour, was arrested shortly after posting the song to his Instagram in late September. It accrued more than 40 million views. “Because of women, life, freedom,” protesters sang, echoing a popular protest chant: “Azadi” — Freedom.

The movement in Iran is rooted in the same issues as in the U.S. and around the globe, said protester Samin Aayanifard, 28, who left Iran three years ago. “It’s forced hijab in Iran and here in America, after 50 years, women’s bodies are under control,” said Aayanifard, who drove from East Lansing, Michigan to join the D.C. march. She referred to rollbacks of abortion laws in the United States. “It’s about control over women’s bodies.”

Several weeks of Saturday solidarity rallies in the U.S. capital have drawn growing crowds. In Berlin, a crowd estimated by German police at several tens of thousands turned out to show solidarity for the women and activists leading the movement for the past few weeks in Iran. The protests in Germany’s capital, organized by the Woman(asterisk) Life Freedom Collective, began at the Victory Column in Berlin’s Tiergarten park and continued as a march through central Berlin.

Some demonstrators there said they had come from elsewhere in Germany and other European countries to show their support.

“It is so important for us to be here, to be the voice of the people of Iran, who are killed on the streets,” said Shakib Lolo, who is from Iran but lives in the Netherlands. “And this is not a protest anymore, this is a revolution, in Iran. And the people of the world have to see it.”(Follow AP’s coverage of Iran at: https://apnews.com/hub/iran)

Women Are More Empathetic And Sensitive To The Feelings Of Others: Dalai Lama

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has greeted Giorgia Meloni on becoming the Prime Minister, Italy’s first woman premier, saying women are more empathetic and sensitive to the feelings of others.

“Over the years,” the Dalai Lama wrote to her, “I have had the pleasure of visiting your country many times and have been touched by the affection and friendship shown to me by Italians from all walks of life. I am also grateful to those Italian brothers and sisters who have consistently supported the Tibetan people’s aspirations for freedom and dignity.”

“I would like to say that I am pleased to see that the new Prime Minister of Italy is a woman, because I believe, and there is scientific evidence to demonstrate it that women are more empathetic and sensitive to the feelings of others. Consequently they show greater warm-heartedness and concern for others’ well-being.”

“These are very challenging times for Italy and the whole of humanity. In today’s highly interdependent world, individuals and nations can no longer resolve the problems they face alone. We are reliant on the wider community to survive, therefore we need to show greater kindness and compassion to one another.”

His Holiness ended his letter by wishing Meloni every success in meeting the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in fulfilling the wishes of the people of Italy and the world. (IANS)

Woman Can Have A Satisfactory Sex Life After Menopause

Menopause is the natural biological process characterized by the cessation or stopping of a woman’s menstrual cycle, marking the end of fertility. The general onset is observed in middle-aged women, i.e., between 40 to 50 years of age. As aging advances, the reproductive cycle slows down and prepares to stop. Ovaries begin to age and produce fewer reproductive hormones altering the menstrual cycle. The body undergoes several associated changes in response to fluctuating levels of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH). These hormonal disturbances stimulate several physical, psychological and emotional changes having varied outcomes as the body adapts to the changing hormonal environment.

Physical Changes:

Irregular Menstruation

Weight gain

Hot flashes and night sweats

Urinary incontinence

Drier and thinner skin and hair

Emotional Changes :

Mood swings

Anxiety and depression

Stress and tension.

Anger and irritability.

A lack of motivation and difficulty concentrating.

Other Associated Changes

Worsening of premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

Changes in libido (sex drive)

A loss of energy and insomnia.

Memory lapses

Headaches

Sexual Well-being during and after menopause

All women experience menopause differently, and many women experience changes in their sex life as they go through menopause. The loss of estrogen and testosterone following menopause induces multiple changes in a woman’s body and influences sexual function. Also, lower levels of estrogen can cause a drop in blood supply to the vagina, which can affect vaginal lubrication, causing the vagina to be too dry for comfortable sex. Moreover, other menopausal symptoms like bladder control problems, sleep disturbances, depression or anxiety, stress, medications, and other health concerns also affect the sexual well-being of the women experiencing menopause.

While the hormonal alteration of menopause may modify the physical and emotional aspects of sexual well-being, specific measures can assist in overcoming adversities and improving sex life. These include:

Raising libido

Changing your attitude towards sex along with talking to your partner about the same is a good way to start. A welcoming attitude towards conversations around sex especially after a certain age is looked at as taboo. So it’s important to change that mindset for yourself and well as for your partner.

Good foreplay- helps increase lubrication

Frequent vaginal intercourse- helps maintain blood supply

Find alternative methods to increase intimacy

Besides the suggestions mentioned above, below suggestions will also aid you to ensure your sexual wellness stays intact –

Manage your depression. Depression is increasingly common in midlife and may notoriously dampen desire. Seek medical help if you notice any symptoms of depression.

Opt for alternate medication. Certain drugs used for treating old-age ailments like diabetes and hypertension may also adversely affect sexual well-being. Ask your physician to help find an alternative medicine if your medication lowers your libido.

Stay healthy. It is essential to stay fit and healthy through regular exercise and healthy eating as it improves your overall health, which boosts your sexual well-being.

Relieve your stress and anxiety. Job pressures, family responsibilities, lack of privacy, and worries about children or aging parents build stress, negatively affecting overall well-being.

Limit Alcohol. Although a glass of wine might enhance your libido, heavy drinking may act reversely on your sexual health.

Keep a check on your health conditions. Diseases affecting blood flow and nerve function, like diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, and multiple sclerosis, may reduce sexual responsiveness. Thus it is important to seek timely medical assistance.

Quit smoking

Dealing with pain

Treat vaginal atrophy. Your physician may advise water-based and longer-lasting silicone-based lubricants to make penetration less painful. Topical estrogen in the form of a cream, a suppository, or a ring can be used to treat vaginal atrophy as it releases the hormone to help plump vaginal tissues and aid lubrication.

Get physical therapy. Physical therapy in the form of exercises and massage may help relax and stretch tissues in the pelvic area and reduce the pain.

Orthopedic problems may cause pain and limit your sexual activities- changes in positions may help.

Although sexual problems can be hard to discuss, it is always good to to consult your doctor. Your doctor may refer you and your partner to a health professional specializing in sexual dysfunction. The therapist may advise sexual counselling individually, with your partner, Collaborative measures involving medical aids, professional guidance, and counseling can help deal with these biological changes and enhance the quality of life. So, even though there may be some physical and mental hardships during menopause, a woman can still enjoy satisfactory sex life. (IANS)

With $3 Million Grant SAKHI Launches South Asian Safe Families Initiative

SAKHI, one of the oldest women’s organizations in the U.S. serving the Indian-American community, announced October 12, 2022, that it has received a “groundbreaking” $3 million award from The Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Foundation, with which it plans to launch the South Asian Safe Families Initiative.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Sakhi said in a press release, which made the $3 million grant spread over the next 10 years, particularly appropriate, noting, “this milestone investment will deepen multigenerational healing for South Asian families experiencing gender-based violence.”

Calling it “The largest gift of its kind to any South Asian American social service organization,” Sakhi said the South Asian Safe Families Initiative will focus on supporting South Asian families “through a culturally rooted approach.”

The trauma experienced by the children and families of survivors is multigenerational, Sakhi noted.

“This bold initiative will take the conversation of healing from a siloed, individual experience to one that will bring families closer together and the restorative ripple effects of this investment will be felt for generations,” Kavita Mehra, executive director of Sakhi for South Asian Women is quoted saying in an earlier press release.

“The South Asian Safe Families Initiative aims to radically transform models of healing for survivors of trauma—for generations to come,” the organization said.

Describing Tulsi Gabbard Leaving Democratic Party As “Unfortunate,” Dr. Sampat Shivangi Says, Gabbard May Join Republican Party, Likely VP Candidate In 2024

Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress, announced October 11, 2022, she is quitting the Democratic Party because it is dividing the country along racial lines. “I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party – which is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness,” Gabbard said in a press release and on a YouTube video.

Tulsi Gabbard said, she is leaving the Democratic Party, denouncing it as an “elitist cabal of war mongers,” while calling upon other “common sense independent-minded Democrats” to exit with her, media reports said.

“I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racialising every issue & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are hostile to people of faith & spirituality, demonize the police & protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, believe in open borders, weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and above all, dragging us ever closer to nuclear war,” Gabbard said, ABC News reported.

Gabbard represented Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District from 2013 to 2021 as a Democrat, and in 2020 she mounted an unsuccessful bid for the party’s presidential nomination. In in a video posted to Twitter on October12th, she claimed that the party she’s exiting stands for the “powerful elite,” not the people, ABC News reported. “If you can no longer stomach the direction that the so called woke Democratic Party ideologues are taking our country. I invite you to join me,” she said.

Chief among the reasons her 20-year stint as a member of the Democratic Party will be cut short, she said, is her fear that “President (Joe) Biden and Democratic Party elites have pushed us to the precipice of nuclear war, risking starting World War III and destroying the world as we know it”. 

Gabbard who is an Iraq War veteran has served in 3 deployments to the Middle East and Africa. She currently serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves working as a Civil Affairs Office.

Gabbard was first elected to public office in the Hawaii State House of Representatives when she was 21 years old, enlisted in the Army National Guard following the 9/11 attacks, and volunteered to deploy to Iraq with the 29th Brigade Combat Team where she served in a medical unit, noted a press release from her office.

After returning home in 2006, Gabbard worked in the U.S. Senate as a legislative aide to the late Senator from Hawaii Danny Akaka, who was Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. She then volunteered for a second Middle East deployment as a Platoon Leader.

“I believe in a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Unfortunately, today’s Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government of, by, and for the powerful elite.” She urged like-minded people to also leave the Democratic Party.

She recently launched a podcast, “The Tulsi Gabbard Show” where she also announced her decision to leave the Democratic Party. Sections of the Indian-American community welcomed her election as the first Hindu to be in the lower house, and she was a frequent invitee to events organized by them.

“It is unfortunate that Democrats are losing a star of the party and a nation,” said Dr. Sampat Shivangi, National President of Indian American Forum. “A US Presidential candidate is leaving her party of several decades, is shocking. Her differences of opinions and strategies with Clintons is an open secret, which ultimately culminated in her departure.  It is not a surprising that she was seen more on Fox News, is no co incident. Many knew her inklings and it was matter of time for her departure from Democratic Party which is no surprise at all.” 

Describing his long association with Gabbard, Dr. Shivangi, a veteran Republican Party leader and physician by profession, said, “I knew her well. She was the only Hindu congresswoman in US Congress a strong supporter of India and close friend of Modiji and India.  It was my honor and proud moment for me to introduce and announce her candidacy as US national Democratic Party Presidential candidate in Los Angels , California. 

Stating his thoughts on Gabard’s future plans, Dr. Shivangi said, “It has been speculated that she may join US Republican Party and opt for top post including as a VP if not a Presidential candidate.  Time will tell.”

Sarah Thankam Mathews In 2022 National Book Awards Shortlist

Indian-American author Sarah Thankam Mathews is among the finalists for the 2022 National Book Awards, which will be announced on November 16 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

Mathews’ debut novel ‘All This Could Be Different’, is listed in the fiction category and tells the story of a young queer immigrant who creates a community for herself while grappling with the oppressive demands of capitalism.

“I simply will never be over this,” Mathews tweeted after her name was announced by The New York Times earlier this week.

Mathews grew up between Oman and India, and moved to the US at seventeen. Her work has been published in places including AGNI, SSENSE, and Best American Short Stories.

She was a 2020 Margins Fellow at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, and the recipient of a Rona Jaffe fellowship at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

“Sarah Thankam Mathews has written one of the buzziest, and most human, books of the year,” the Vogue said. “…an extraordinary novel, spiny and delicate, scathingly funny and wildly moving. Sarah Thankam Mathews is a brilliant writer, one whose every ringing sentence holds both bite and heart,” Lauren Groff, author of Matrix, said.

The twenty-five Finalists for the 2022 National Book Awards for Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature were announced with the New York Times. The five Finalists in each category were selected by a distinguished panel of judges, and were advanced from the Longlists announced in September with The New Yorker.

Between the five categories, there are six writers and one translator who have been previously honored by the National Book Awards: Gayl Jones, a 1998 Fiction Finalist; Scholastique Mukasonga, a 2019 Translated Literature Finalist; Sharon Olds, a 2002 Poetry Finalist; David Quammen, a 2018 Nonfiction Longlister; Yoko Tawada and Margaret Mitsutani, the 2018 Translated Literature Winners; and Jenny Xie, a 2018 Poetry Finalist. All five of the Finalists for Young People’s Literature are first-time National Book Award honorees. Six of the twenty-five Finalist titles are debuts.

Publishers submitted a total of 1,772 books for this year’s National Book Awards: 463 in Fiction, 607 in Nonfiction, 260 in Poetry, 146 in Translated Literature, and 296 in Young People’s Literature. Judges’ decisions are made independently of the National Book Foundation staff and Board of Directors, and deliberations are strictly confidential.

The Winners will be announced live on Wednesday, November 16 at the invitation-only 73rd National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner, in person at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, and broadcast live for readers everywhere. 

Two lifetime achievement awards will also be presented as part of the evening’s ceremony: Art Spiegelman will be recognized with the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, presented by Neil Gaiman, and Tracie D. Hall will receive the Foundation’s Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.

AAHOA Director of Corporate Communications Melissa Stern’s Survivor Story for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, AAHOA Director of Corporate Communications Melissa Stern shares her survivor story in a recent podcast interview. Back in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Melissa was diagnosed with cancer. In this interview, she talks about making a career change, overcoming breast cancer during a global pandemic, and sharing advice based on what she’s learned.

“Cancer changes you. I’ve become a completely different person than who I was before I was diagnosed, and it makes you reconsider what is important in life…I just thought I want to spend every moment that I can of my free time with my family and friends and doing the things that I truly enjoy doing. Obviously, I still work full time but in a different capacity where…I feel like I have more freedom and flexibility to do what I love to do.”

Listen to the full interview  and learn more about Melissa’s battle with cancer and advice for others who’ve received a scary diagnosis. 

Watch Melissa’s cancer journey in this news story.

Lata Mangeshkar Music College Launched On Her 93rd Birth Anniversary

In a fitting tribute, the ‘Bharat Ratna Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar International Music College & Museum’ was inaugurated at the Kalina Campus of the University of Mumbai, here on Wednesday — on the 93rd birth anniversary of the melody queen who passed away on February 6, officials said.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis did the honours in the presence of a large number of ministers, political leaders and music personalities like Usha Mangeshkar, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Meena Khadilkar, Adinath Mangeshkar, Ashok Patki, Sonu Nigam, Anup Jalota, Pankaj Udas, Mayuresh Pai, Taufiq Qureshi, Lalit Pandit, and others.

With this, the University will offer the first six certificate courses of one-year each in Hindustani classical music, Indian flute, tabla, sitar, harmonium/keyboard and sound engineering will be launched with an initial intake of 150 students.

In August this year, the Maharashtra government had handed over a 7,000-square metre plot owned by the Directorate of Libraries in the Kalina campus of Mumbai University for the music college.

However, as a temporary measure, till the college gets its own building and other amenities, it will function from the P.L. Deshpande Academy, Shinde had said.

Lata Mangeshkar desired to start such a music college in memory of her father, Master Dinanath Mangeshkar, and the former Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s former Minister Aditya Thackeray had shown her the plot which she had liked.

After her demise, the ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray had announced that a world class music college would come up in memory of ‘Lata didi’, as she was known during her lifetime.

Later, the government had set up a 14-member expert advisory board for the college courses which included Chairman Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar, Adinath Mangeshkar, Suresh Wadkar, Mayuresh Pai, Zakir Hussain, A.R. Rahman and other personalities.

To start with, the teaching posts will be on an emoluments basis and clerical/ typist jobs will be filled on an external basis, machinery, equipment and other requirements will be purchased, all at a cost of nearly Rs 1.75 crore per month.

This fulfils a commitment made by the state government to start the global music college from the current academic year in memory of Lata Mangeshkar. (IANS)

Giorgia Meloni, First Female Premier To Lead Government In Italy

(AP) — A party with neo-fascist roots won the most votes in Italy’s national election, setting the stage for talks to form the country’s first far right-led government since World War II, with Giorgia Meloni at the helm as Italy’s first female premier, media reports stated.

Italy’s lurch to the far right immediately shifted Europe’s geopolitics, placing Meloni’s euroskeptic Brothers of Italy in a position to lead a founding member of the European Union and its third-largest economy. Italy’s left warned of “dark days” ahead and vowed to keep Italy in the heart of Europe.

Right-wing leaders across Europe immediately hailed 45-year-old Meloni’s victory as sending a historic, nationalist message to Brussels. It followed a right-wing victory in Sweden and recent gains by the far-right in France and Spain.

Still, turnout in the Italian election Sunday was a historic low of 64%, and pollsters suggested voters stayed home in protest, disenchanted by the backroom deals that had created the country’s last three governments and the mash-up of parties in outgoing Premier Mario Draghi’s national unity government.

By contrast, Meloni was viewed as a new face in the merry-go-round of Italian governments and many Italians appeared to be voting for change, analysts said.

The victory of Meloni’s just 10-year-old Brothers of Italy was more about Italian dissatisfaction with the decades-long status quo than any surge in neo-fascist or far-right sentiment, said Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute of International Affairs.

“I would say the main reason why a big chunk of (voters) … will vote for this party is simply because it’s the new kid on the block,” she said.

The election’s sharp swing to the right, “confirms that the Italian electorate remains fickle,″ said London-based political analyst Wolfango Piccoli, noting that an estimated 30% of voters went for a different party than their choice in 2018 elections.

Meloni, whose party traces its origins to the postwar, neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, tried to sound a unifying tone, noting that Italians had finally been able to determine their leaders.

“If we are called to govern this nation, we will do it for everyone. We will do it for all Italians and we will do it with the aim of uniting the people,” said. “shechose us. We will not betray it.”

Near-final results showed the center-right coalition netting 44% of the parliamentary vote, with Meloni’s Brothers of Italy snatching 26% in its biggest win in its decade-long meteoric rise. Her coalition partners divided up the remainder, with the anti-immigrant League party led by Matteo Salvini winning 9% and Forza Italia of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi taking around 8% of the vote.

The center-left Democratic Party and its allies had around 26% support, while the populist 5-Star Movement — which had been the biggest vote-getter in the 2018 parliamentary election — saw its share of the vote halved to 15%.

While the center-right was the clear winner, the formation of a government is still weeks away and will involve consultations among party leaders and with President Sergio Mattarella. In the meantime, Draghi remains in a caretaker role.

The elections, which took place six months early after Draghi’s government collapsed, came at a crucial time for Europe as it faces Russia’s war in Ukraine and related soaring energy costs that have hit ordinary Italians as well as industry.

A Meloni-led government is largely expected to follow Italy’s current foreign policy, including her pro-NATO stance and strong support for supplying Ukraine with weapons to defend itself against Russia’s invasion, even as her coalition allies take a different tone.

Both Berlusconi and Salvini have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. While both have distanced themselves from his invasion of Ukraine, Salvini has warned that EU sanctions against Moscow are hurting Italian industry. Berlusconi has even excused Putin’s invasion as an event foisted upon him by pro-Moscow separatists in the Donbas.

A bigger shift and one likely to cause friction with other EU nations is likely to come over migration. Meloni has called for a naval blockade to prevent migrant boats from leaving North African shores, and has proposed screening potential asylum-seekers in Africa, not Europe.

Salvini has made clear he wants the League to recapture the interior minister post, where he once imposed a tough anti-migrant policy. But he may face an internal leadership challenge, with Meloni’s party outperforming the League even in its northeastern stronghold.

On relations with the EU, analysts note that for all her euroskeptic rhetoric, Meloni moderated her message during the campaign and has little room to maneuver, given the economic windfall Italy is receiving from Brussels in coronavirus recovery funds. Italy secured 191.5 billion euros, the biggest chunk of the EU’s 750 billion-euro recovery package, and is bound by certain reform and investment milestones to receive it all.

That said, Meloni has criticized the EU’s recent recommendation to suspend 7.5 billion euros in funding to Hungary over concerns about democratic backsliding, defending autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orban as the elected leader in a democratic system.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen praised Meloni for having “resisted the threats of an anti-democratic and arrogant European Union.”

Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain’s far-right Vox opposition party, tweeted that Meloni “has shown the way for a proud and free Europe of sovereign nations that can cooperate on behalf of everybody’s security and prosperity.”

Meloni is chair of the right-wing European Conservative and Reformist group in the European Parliament, which includes her Brothers of Italy, Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice Party, Spain’s far-right Vox and the right-wing Sweden Democrats, which just won big there on a platform of cracking down on crime and limiting immigration.

“The trend that emerged two weeks ago in Sweden was confirmed in Italy,” acknowledged Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta, calling Monday a “sad day for Italy, for Europe.”

“We expect dark days. We fought in every way to avoid this outcome,″ Letta said at a somber news conference. “(The Democratic Party) will not allow Italy to leave the heart of Europe.”

Thomas Christiansen, professor of political science at Rome’s Luiss University and the executive editor of the Journal of European Integration, noted that Italy has a tradition of pursuing a consistent foreign and European policy that is bigger than individual party interests.

“Whatever Meloni might be up to will have to be moderated by her coalition partners and indeed with the established consensus of Italian foreign policy,” Christiansen said.

A Business Expo, Mashtal, By Dawoodi Bohra Women Held

The Dawoodi Bohra community of Chicago hosted a two-day event, the Women Entrepreneurs Expo – or “Mashtal” – at their masjid, Burhani Park Complex, at Willow brook, IL from 10am to 6pm, Saturday September 10 & Sunday September 11, 2022.

The Dawoodi Bohras of Chicago have lived and worked peacefully here since the 1950s. They are Muslims who hail from South Asia under the leadership of His Holiness Dr Mufaddal Saifuddin; over 1,000 families worship at Al-Masjid-al-Badri in Willowbrook, IL.

The word “Mashtal” means nursery.  The expo seeks to nurture the business ventures of Dawoodi Bohra women, enabling them to use their talents and skills to develop small-scale businesses.  The word “Bohra” means traders, and Mashtal taps into this deep-seated tradition. And their message is, “Mashtal – Nurture Your Venture!” Their aim is to develop small scale and household businesses of women within the community to use their skills to support their families and help them achieve excellence in their respective fields.

Over 50 committee members, primarily women, came together for over 6 months of planning. Several committees were formed to distribute this immense amount of work including Decor, Food, Accommodations, IT/AV, PR, Marketing, Sponsorships, Infrastructure & Construction, and Flow Management.  Because Mashtal is an international event, the Chicago core committee was in constant communication with the central Mashtal department in Mumbai. Members of His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin’s family attended the event.

US Congressman Raja Krishnamurthy, Representative Jim Durkin, DuPage County Elected Officials, the Mayors of Willowbrook and Glendale Heights were amongst many local VIPs who attended the formal opening ceremony. The names of some of the VIPs present: Karen Yarbrough, Cook County Clerk, Bob Berlin, DuPage County State Attorney, James Mendrick, DuPage County Sheriff, Greg Hart, DuPage County Board Member, Frank Trilla, Mayor of Willowbrook, Chodri Khokhar, Mayor of Glendale Heights, Linda Painter – DuPage County Forest Preserve Commissioner, Greg Boltz – Downers Grove Assessor, Michele Bauman, Avon Township Supervisor, Asif Yusuf, Oakbrook Trustee, Suresh Reddy, Oakbrook Trustee, Theresa Sullivan, Naperville Councilwoman, Quin O’Brien, Gurneee Trustee, Saba Khan, Morton Grove Trustee; Shia Imami Esmaili community President Imran Dhatwani & Mrs Dhatwani, Mr. Sadruddin Noorani, Ms. Madison Signor on behalf of Congressman Sean Casten.

Mashtal Chicago also arranged free seminars ranging on topics such as the practicalities of breast feeding to strategies for a successful career to women’s mental health and tips on overcoming exhaustion.  DIY projects for children to enjoy and a variety of food stalls with Indian street food and traditional barbeque fare were available. Members of the public experienced a wide range of vendors of clothes, beauty products, jewelry designers, and home décor, as well as realtors and travel agents.

Most of the women-owned businesses at the expo were operated by members of the USA community of Dawoodi Bohrs, but women-owned businesses from India, Pakistan, Dubai, and Canada also attended. Ongoing environmentally friendly projects were on display with demonstrations on how to reuse, reduce, and recycle. There were exciting prizes in a fun filled raffle. Overall, there were 70+ stalls, of which about 40 were local vendors, 12 out of country, 30 out of state!

The VIP Reception was emceed by Shabbir Karimi. As is the tradition, the program began with a recitation from the Holy Quran by 11-year old Tameem Al-Qamari, a Hafiz, followed by a beautiful rendition of the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, by Rashida Moosabhoy and Amatullah Morbiwala.

Congressman Raja Krishnamurthy applauded the tremendous efforts put forth by the Bohra community women; he said, “Count me in as an ally, resource and partner in everything that you are doing!”

Mansoor Broachwala, on behalf of Dawoodi Bohra Community, welcomed all the guests to the first ever Mashtal Expo in the Midwest area, and expressed his hope to make it a recurring event. He spoke about Maulatona Khadija, wife of the Prophet Mohammed. a successful businesswoman in her own right 1400 years ago, from whose strength and entrepreneurial spirit Dawoodi Bohra women community worldwide draw inspiration to this day.

Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough said, “A lot is going on out there in the world, but the one thing we have to strive for in the world is peace. Peace, a simple word, but it seems tough for us to get there. So I wish all of you peace today from me from the Cook County Clerk’s office.” She presented a Certificate of Appreciation to the Bohra community from Cook County.

Greg Hart, running candidate for DuPage County Chairman, was also invited to speak. DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick in his speech, praised the community for being very quiet, with zero crime. State Attorney Bob Berlin, who has served DuPage for the past 30 years, shared that 60 percent of all the attorneys in his office are women and he firmly believes in empowering women and fostering a culture of women empowerment.

On Sunday, Sep 11, the Honorable Tariq Karim, Consul General Pakistan in Chicago and Mrs. Aasma Karim were special guests at Mashtal. He said, “First of all I am really thankful to organizers … and all others who have contributed to this event – Mashtal.” He shared that he appreciates the two themes, business and women, because both are critically important for us. He too spoke about the role of Prophet Mohammad’s wife Khadija as an inspiration. He commended the entrepreneurial spirit of the women of the Bohra Community.

He recalled the hosting of Ashara by the Bohra Community in Karachi during the time when Pakistan had started its War on Terror initiative, and the event helped with the opening of business and trade between India and Pakistan and other neighboring countries. Using the platform, he also took the opportunity to appreciate all the Flood Relief efforts and help from the community. He appealed to all Pakistani Americans and the Muslim community at large to come forward and to continue to help the victims of flood affected areas in Pakistan. He reiterated the constructive and productive role of Pakistan’s Bohra community in Pakistan’s success.

The team worked tirelessly to promote the event through social media (IG, Facebook, and Twitter), Flyers, WGN news, and word of mouth. The expo was hosted by Burhani Women’s Association Chicago and Taalebaat ul Mumenaat, the organizations of women students and young adults.

Priyanka Advocates Child Rights At UNGA, Shares Stage With Malala Yousafzai, Amanda Gorman

Actress Priyanka Chopra, who became the Global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2016 and has been associated with the organization for almost 15 years, spoke about children’s rights at a recently held conference at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

She took to her Instagram to share the pictures and videos from the event where she can be seen advocating for the cause and posing with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and US poet Amanda Gorman.

She captioned the set of pictures and videos with a long note: “Walking through the gates of the United Nations this morning to speak at UNGA for the second time, as a proud representative of @unicef, gave me real pause.”

Shedding the light on the agenda of the UN for the year 2022, she further wrote in her note: “At the top of this year’s agenda are the Sustainable Development Goals. Today was all about action, ambition, and hope. It was about what we must do together to make the SDG’s a reality, and we don’t have a moment to lose. A special thank you to Secretary-General @antonioguterres for having me today.”

She also spoke about the importance of education for children – something which is a birthright of every child, “The second moment I had the privilege of participating was the Transforming Education Summit. It’s hard to believe that nearly 2/3 of children across the low- middle- and high-income countries cannot read and comprehend a simple story. The system has failed them.”

“As the US Secretary of Education @seccardona put it so candidly, education is the great equalizer, but if we continue to do what we have done, we are going to get what we have gotten. We owe every child this basic birthright, an equal chance to learn and reach their full potential (sic),” she added.

She concluded her note with the words of Gorman, with whom she posed along with Malala, “And as the incredible Amanda Gorman said, “I dare you to shape our fate. Above all, I dare you to do good, so that the world might be great.”

Giorgia Meloni, First Female Premier To Lead Government In Italy

(AP) — A party with neo-fascist roots won the most votes in Italy’s national election, setting the stage for talks to form the country’s first far right-led government since World War II, with Giorgia Meloni at the helm as Italy’s first female premier, media reports stated.

Italy’s lurch to the far right immediately shifted Europe’s geopolitics, placing Meloni’s euroskeptic Brothers of Italy in a position to lead a founding member of the European Union and its third-largest economy. Italy’s left warned of “dark days” ahead and vowed to keep Italy in the heart of Europe.

Right-wing leaders across Europe immediately hailed 45-year-old Meloni’s victory as sending a historic, nationalist message to Brussels. It followed a right-wing victory in Sweden and recent gains by the far-right in France and Spain.

Still, turnout in the Italian election Sunday was a historic low of 64%, and pollsters suggested voters stayed home in protest, disenchanted by the backroom deals that had created the country’s last three governments and the mash-up of parties in outgoing Premier Mario Draghi’s national unity government.

By contrast, Meloni was viewed as a new face in the merry-go-round of Italian governments and many Italians appeared to be voting for change, analysts said.

The victory of Meloni’s just 10-year-old Brothers of Italy was more about Italian dissatisfaction with the decades-long status quo than any surge in neo-fascist or far-right sentiment, said Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute of International Affairs.

“I would say the main reason why a big chunk of (voters) … will vote for this party is simply because it’s the new kid on the block,” she said.

The election’s sharp swing to the right, “confirms that the Italian electorate remains fickle,″ said London-based political analyst Wolfango Piccoli, noting that an estimated 30% of voters went for a different party than their choice in 2018 elections.

Meloni, whose party traces its origins to the postwar, neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, tried to sound a unifying tone, noting that Italians had finally been able to determine their leaders.

“If we are called to govern this nation, we will do it for everyone. We will do it for all Italians and we will do it with the aim of uniting the people,” said. “shechose us. We will not betray it.”

Near-final results showed the center-right coalition netting 44% of the parliamentary vote, with Meloni’s Brothers of Italy snatching 26% in its biggest win in its decade-long meteoric rise. Her coalition partners divided up the remainder, with the anti-immigrant League party led by Matteo Salvini winning 9% and Forza Italia of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi taking around 8% of the vote.

The center-left Democratic Party and its allies had around 26% support, while the populist 5-Star Movement — which had been the biggest vote-getter in the 2018 parliamentary election — saw its share of the vote halved to 15%.

While the center-right was the clear winner, the formation of a government is still weeks away and will involve consultations among party leaders and with President Sergio Mattarella. In the meantime, Draghi remains in a caretaker role.

The elections, which took place six months early after Draghi’s government collapsed, came at a crucial time for Europe as it faces Russia’s war in Ukraine and related soaring energy costs that have hit ordinary Italians as well as industry.

A Meloni-led government is largely expected to follow Italy’s current foreign policy, including her pro-NATO stance and strong support for supplying Ukraine with weapons to defend itself against Russia’s invasion, even as her coalition allies take a different tone.

Both Berlusconi and Salvini have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. While both have distanced themselves from his invasion of Ukraine, Salvini has warned that EU sanctions against Moscow are hurting Italian industry. Berlusconi has even excused Putin’s invasion as an event foisted upon him by pro-Moscow separatists in the Donbas.

A bigger shift and one likely to cause friction with other EU nations is likely to come over migration. Meloni has called for a naval blockade to prevent migrant boats from leaving North African shores, and has proposed screening potential asylum-seekers in Africa, not Europe.

Salvini has made clear he wants the League to recapture the interior minister post, where he once imposed a tough anti-migrant policy. But he may face an internal leadership challenge, with Meloni’s party outperforming the League even in its northeastern stronghold.

On relations with the EU, analysts note that for all her euroskeptic rhetoric, Meloni moderated her message during the campaign and has little room to maneuver, given the economic windfall Italy is receiving from Brussels in coronavirus recovery funds. Italy secured 191.5 billion euros, the biggest chunk of the EU’s 750 billion-euro recovery package, and is bound by certain reform and investment milestones to receive it all.

That said, Meloni has criticized the EU’s recent recommendation to suspend 7.5 billion euros in funding to Hungary over concerns about democratic backsliding, defending autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orban as the elected leader in a democratic system.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen praised Meloni for having “resisted the threats of an anti-democratic and arrogant European Union.”

Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain’s far-right Vox opposition party, tweeted that Meloni “has shown the way for a proud and free Europe of sovereign nations that can cooperate on behalf of everybody’s security and prosperity.”

Meloni is chair of the right-wing European Conservative and Reformist group in the European Parliament, which includes her Brothers of Italy, Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice Party, Spain’s far-right Vox and the right-wing Sweden Democrats, which just won big there on a platform of cracking down on crime and limiting immigration.

“The trend that emerged two weeks ago in Sweden was confirmed in Italy,” acknowledged Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta, calling Monday a “sad day for Italy, for Europe.”

“We expect dark days. We fought in every way to avoid this outcome,″ Letta said at a somber news conference. “(The Democratic Party) will not allow Italy to leave the heart of Europe.”

Thomas Christiansen, professor of political science at Rome’s Luiss University and the executive editor of the Journal of European Integration, noted that Italy has a tradition of pursuing a consistent foreign and European policy that is bigger than individual party interests.

“Whatever Meloni might be up to will have to be moderated by her coalition partners and indeed with the established consensus of Italian foreign policy,” Christiansen said.

Priyanka Advocates Child Rights At UNGA, Shares Stage With Malala Yousafzai, Amanda Gorman

Actress Priyanka Chopra, who became the Global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2016 and has been associated with the organization for almost 15 years, spoke about children’s rights at a recently held conference at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

She took to her Instagram to share the pictures and videos from the event where she can be seen advocating for the cause and posing with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and US poet Amanda Gorman.

She captioned the set of pictures and videos with a long note: “Walking through the gates of the United Nations this morning to speak at UNGA for the second time, as a proud representative of @unicef, gave me real pause.”

Shedding the light on the agenda of the UN for the year 2022, she further wrote in her note: “At the top of this year’s agenda are the Sustainable Development Goals. Today was all about action, ambition, and hope. It was about what we must do together to make the SDG’s a reality, and we don’t have a moment to lose. A special thank you to Secretary-General @antonioguterres for having me today.”

She also spoke about the importance of education for children – something which is a birthright of every child, “The second moment I had the privilege of participating was the Transforming Education Summit. It’s hard to believe that nearly 2/3 of children across the low- middle- and high-income countries cannot read and comprehend a simple story. The system has failed them.”

“As the US Secretary of Education @seccardona put it so candidly, education is the great equalizer, but if we continue to do what we have done, we are going to get what we have gotten. We owe every child this basic birthright, an equal chance to learn and reach their full potential (sic),” she added.

She concluded her note with the words of Gorman, with whom she posed along with Malala, “And as the incredible Amanda Gorman said, “I dare you to shape our fate. Above all, I dare you to do good, so that the world might be great.”

A Business Expo, Mashtal, By Dawoodi Bohra Women Held

The Dawoodi Bohra community of Chicago hosted a two-day event, the Women Entrepreneurs Expo – or “Mashtal” – at their masjid, Burhani Park Complex, at Willow brook, IL from 10am to 6pm, Saturday September 10 & Sunday September 11, 2022.

The Dawoodi Bohras of Chicago have lived and worked peacefully here since the 1950s. They are Muslims who hail from South Asia under the leadership of His Holiness Dr Mufaddal Saifuddin; over 1,000 families worship at Al-Masjid-al-Badri in Willowbrook, IL.

The word “Mashtal” means nursery.  The expo seeks to nurture the business ventures of Dawoodi Bohra women, enabling them to use their talents and skills to develop small-scale businesses.  The word “Bohra” means traders, and Mashtal taps into this deep-seated tradition. And their message is, “Mashtal – Nurture Your Venture!” Their aim is to develop small scale and household businesses of women within the community to use their skills to support their families and help them achieve excellence in their respective fields.

Over 50 committee members, primarily women, came together for over 6 months of planning. Several committees were formed to distribute this immense amount of work including Decor, Food, Accommodations, IT/AV, PR, Marketing, Sponsorships, Infrastructure & Construction, and Flow Management.  Because Mashtal is an international event, the Chicago core committee was in constant communication with the central Mashtal department in Mumbai. Members of His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin’s family attended the event.

US Congressman Raja Krishnamurthy, Representative Jim Durkin, DuPage County Elected Officials, the Mayors of Willowbrook and Glendale Heights were amongst many local VIPs who attended the formal opening ceremony. The names of some of the VIPs present: Karen Yarbrough, Cook County Clerk, Bob Berlin, DuPage County State Attorney, James Mendrick, DuPage County Sheriff, Greg Hart, DuPage County Board Member, Frank Trilla, Mayor of Willowbrook, Chodri Khokhar, Mayor of Glendale Heights, Linda Painter – DuPage County Forest Preserve Commissioner, Greg Boltz – Downers Grove Assessor, Michele Bauman, Avon Township Supervisor, Asif Yusuf, Oakbrook Trustee, Suresh Reddy, Oakbrook Trustee, Theresa Sullivan, Naperville Councilwoman, Quin O’Brien, Gurneee Trustee, Saba Khan, Morton Grove Trustee; Shia Imami Esmaili community President Imran Dhatwani & Mrs Dhatwani, Mr. Sadruddin Noorani, Ms. Madison Signor on behalf of Congressman Sean Casten.

Mashtal Chicago also arranged free seminars ranging on topics such as the practicalities of breast feeding to strategies for a successful career to women’s mental health and tips on overcoming exhaustion.  DIY projects for children to enjoy and a variety of food stalls with Indian street food and traditional barbeque fare were available. Members of the public experienced a wide range of vendors of clothes, beauty products, jewelry designers, and home décor, as well as realtors and travel agents.  

Most of the women-owned businesses at the expo were operated by members of the USA community of Dawoodi Bohrs, but women-owned businesses from India, Pakistan, Dubai, and Canada also attended. Ongoing environmentally friendly projects were on display with demonstrations on how to reuse, reduce, and recycle. There were exciting prizes in a fun filled raffle. Overall, there were 70+ stalls, of which about 40 were local vendors, 12 out of country, 30 out of state!

The VIP Reception was emceed by Shabbir Karimi. As is the tradition, the program began with a recitation from the Holy Quran by 11-year old Tameem Al-Qamari, a Hafiz, followed by a beautiful rendition of the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, by Rashida Moosabhoy and Amatullah Morbiwala. 

Congressman Raja Krishnamurthy applauded the tremendous efforts put forth by the Bohra community women; he said, “Count me in as an ally, resource and partner in everything that you are doing!”

Mansoor Broachwala, on behalf of Dawoodi Bohra Community, welcomed all the guests to the first ever Mashtal Expo in the Midwest area, and expressed his hope to make it a recurring event. He spoke about Maulatona Khadija, wife of the Prophet Mohammed. a successful businesswoman in her own right 1400 years ago, from whose strength and entrepreneurial spirit Dawoodi Bohra women community worldwide draw inspiration to this day.

Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough said, “A lot is going on out there in the world, but the one thing we have to strive for in the world is peace. Peace, a simple word, but it seems tough for us to get there. So I wish all of you peace today from me from the Cook County Clerk’s office.” She presented a Certificate of Appreciation to the Bohra community from Cook County.

 Greg Hart, running candidate for DuPage County Chairman, was also invited to speak. DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick in his speech, praised the community for being very quiet, with zero crime. State Attorney Bob Berlin, who has served DuPage for the past 30 years, shared that 60 percent of all the attorneys in his office are women and he firmly believes in empowering women and fostering a culture of women empowerment.

 On Sunday, Sep 11, the Honorable Tariq Karim, Consul General Pakistan in Chicago and Mrs. Aasma Karim were special guests at Mashtal. He said, “First of all I am really thankful to organizers … and all others who have contributed to this event – Mashtal.” He shared that he appreciates the two themes, business and women, because both are critically important for us. He too spoke about the role of Prophet Mohammad’s wife Khadija as an inspiration. He commended the entrepreneurial spirit of the women of the Bohra Community.

He recalled the hosting of Ashara by the Bohra Community in Karachi during the time when Pakistan had started its War on Terror initiative, and the event helped with the opening of business and trade between India and Pakistan and other neighboring countries. Using the platform, he also took the opportunity to appreciate all the Flood Relief efforts and help from the community. He appealed to all Pakistani Americans and the Muslim community at large to come forward and to continue to help the victims of flood affected areas in Pakistan. He reiterated the constructive and productive role of Pakistan’s Bohra community in Pakistan’s success.

The team worked tirelessly to promote the event through social media (IG, Facebook, and Twitter), Flyers, WGN news, and word of mouth. The expo was hosted by Burhani Women’s Association Chicago and Taalebaat ul Mumenaat, the organizations of women students and young adults.

Devika Bulchandani Named Global CEO Of Ogilvy

Devika Bulchandani has been appointed Global Chief Executive Officer Ogilvy, aglobal leader in creative marketing that “inspires brands and people to impact the world.” In this role she will be responsible for all aspects of the creative network’s business across 131 offices in 93 countries and spanning its Advertising, Public Relations, Experience, Consulting, and Health units. She will also join WPP’s Executive Committee as she takes on her new role.

Devika Bulchandani said: “David Ogilvy changed the industry 74 years ago when he founded this iconic agency. As we write the next chapter in the history books of Ogilvy, we will do it together with our clients, using creativity to push the boundaries of what’s possible. I am honored and humbled to take on this role, and to do it with all our incredibly talented people all over the world.”

The Indian origin Devika most recently served as Global President and CEO of Ogilvy North America. She takes the helm from Andy Main who is stepping down as Global CEO and will serve as a Senior Advisor until the end of the year.

Over the last two years the creative network has deepened and grown relationships with current clients while winning new business with brands including Absolut, Enterprise Holdings, World of Hyatt, TD Bank, FEMA, New York Philharmonic, and Audi of America. Ogilvy also played a key role in WPP being named as The Coca-Cola Company’s Global Marketing Network Partner.

Recently Ogilvy earned the coveted position of Network of the Year at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the first time since 2016 and secured the same honor from The One Show and Campaign magazine. Additionally, Ogilvy also became the only agency network to secure top rankings on both WARC’s Creative 100 & Effective 100 lists.

Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: “Over the last two years, under Andy’s leadership, Ogilvy has seen a transformation in its creative and business performance. This stems from the consistently outstanding quality of work from Ogilvy’s teams around the world, the investment in attracting and developing talent across the business, and the strong and more diverse leadership team Andy has built. With the agency’s transformation a year ahead of the schedule we originally envisioned, Andy has decided that now is the right time to seek a new challenge and he is moving on with my personal thanks and best wishes.

“Devika is a champion of creativity who brings passion, purpose, and an uncompromising focus on generating impact to everything she does. In partnership with Andy and Liz Taylor, she has been instrumental in Ogilvy’s recent growth and development. Her love for our industry, deep understanding of clients’ needs, and track record of delivering growth for agencies and brands, make her the perfect choice to lead Ogilvy to even greater success.”

Andy Main said: “When I joined Ogilvy, my goal was to build on the company’s incredible heritage, raise its ambitions, and deliver growth for our clients through work that has impact. Our progress is a testament to all the talented people across the network and our amazing clients for whom I have the deepest gratitude and respect. David Ogilvy spoke about the importance of hiring giants and Devika is truly one of the giants in the industry. It has been an honor being a part of this company’s rich history and I know Devika will continue accelerating the momentum our team has built.”

Prior to joining Ogilvy, Devika spent 26 years at McCann in various leadership roles including President of McCann North America. As a leader who believes in the power of creativity to make a positive impact on society, Dev’s proudest achievements have occurred at the intersection of the social causes she champions and brand-building efforts on behalf of clients. She was the driving force behind Mastercard’s long-running “Priceless” campaign as well as “True Name,” a first-of-its-kind feature launched in 2019 that empowers transgender and non-binary people to display their chosen name on their Mastercard. Known for ideas that capture the cultural zeitgeist, Dev also helped launch “Fearless Girl,” an iconic and beloved symbol of women’s equality; the campaign became one of the most awarded campaigns in the history of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Next month Dev will be honored by New York Women in Communications (NYWIC) at the 2022 Matrix Awards, which honors women who are making a difference, building community, and inspiring the next generation of female leaders in their field. She has previously received a range of other honors including, NY Power Woman by Moves Magazine; US Advertising Agency Head of the Year by Campaign Magazine; Working Mother of the Year by She Runs It; and ADCOLOR Innovator. She has been the recipient of multiple 4As Jay Chiat Awards for strategic planning. Dev serves on the board of the ERA Coalition. She is also a founding member of Times Up Advertising and serves on the boards of the Ad Council, the 4A’s, and the Advertising Club.

Ogilvy inspires brands and people to impact the world. We have been creating iconic, culture-changing, value-driving ideas for clients since David Ogilvy founded the company in 1948. We continue building on that rich legacy through our borderless creativity—operating, innovating, and creating at the intersection of talent and capabilities. Our experts in Advertising, Experience, Public Relations, Health, and Consulting work fluidly across 131 offices in 93 countries to bring forth world-class creative solutions for our clients. Ogilvy is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY). For more information, visit Ogilvy.com

Goan-Origin Suella Fernandes Braverman To Be Next UK Home Secretary

Indian origin UK Attorney General Suella Braverman is tipped to replace Priti Patel as UK Home Secretary in the Liz Truss cabinet.

Braverman would become the third minority home secretary, after Priti Patel and Sajid Javid. Suella Fernandes Braverman traces her roots to Goa.

Braverman stood against Truss in the leadership contest but her ‘anti-woke’ stance and opposition to the European Convention on Human Rights is set to see her promoted from Attorney General to Home Secretary, Daily Mail reported.

Her main task will be to crack down on Channel crossings by illegal migrants and to make sure those who do reach England are deported to Rwanda, which current Home Secretary Priti Patel has failed to do.

During her leadership campaign in July, the attorney general said it was ‘unacceptable’ that a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights had scuppered the first attempt at a Rwanda deportation flight, Daily Mail reported.

Suella Fernandes Braverman’s father Christie Fernandes of Assagao and Nairobi (he married an Indian from Mauritius) stepped off the plane just weeks before Enoch Powell delivered his bilious “Rivers of Blood” speech warning of cultural ruin that would ensue if Indian subjects from Kenya were allowed to settle in the UK, Herald Goa reported.

Suella Fernandes’ mother, Uma Fernandes, a nurse and a local Councillor and was a Parliamentary candidate. Her father, Christie Fernandes, (ex- Nairobi – Dr Ribeiro School – Class of ’63 and Assagao, Goa) a local activist, Goan Voice reported.

She was Chairman of Cambridge Conservatives whilst studing at the University there. She was a post-graduate student at the Paris Sorbonne and speaks fluent French and Spanish. (IANS)

Queen Elizabeth, Longest-Reigning British Monarch Dies At 96

Queen Elizabeth II, who served as the beloved face of the United Kingdom and source of strength for seven decades, died on Thursday, Sep. 8th, 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at the age of 96, Buckingham Palace announced. The Queen’s oldest son Charles has now become King Charles III.

“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow,” the royal family said in a statement posted on its official Twitter account, referring to Charles as the new King for the first time.  The King said in a statement that the Queen’s death was “a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family.”

The Queen was last seen in public on Tuesday, two days before passing away, when she formally appointed Liz Truss as the UK’s new prime minister. A photograph from the audience showed the monarch smiling, standing in the drawing room in Balmoral, carrying a walking stick. Truss is the 15th — and the last — British Prime Minister to be appointed by Elizabeth.

There have been concerns over the Queen’s health ever since a brief hospital stay last October. She has experienced episodic mobility issues, which have at times caused her to withdraw from official engagements.

The royal was preceded in death by her husband, Prince Philip, who spent more than seven decades supporting the queen. The Duke of Edinburgh, Britain’s longest-serving consort, died in April 2021 at age 99. Elizabeth and Philip were married for more than 70 years and had four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

Queen Elizabeth is succeeded immediately by her eldest son, Prince Charles, 73, who has now become the monarch. Charles’ firstborn son, Prince William, 40, is now next in line to the world’s most famous throne, followed by his firstborn son, Prince George, 9.

From the small, curly-haired girl known to her family as “Lilibet” to the gracious, bespectacled great-grandmother who favored broad-brimmed hats, deliberate bright fashion and sensible shoes, the queen was always a favorite with her subjects both at home and in her many visits to Commonwealth nations around the world.

Born April 21, 1926, at her maternal grandfather’s London home and named Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, the future queen was educated privately at home, along with her younger sister, Margaret Rose. Even as a child, she was considered sensible and well-behaved.

In a broadcast to the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she pledged, “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”

When her uncle, Edward VIII, abdicated in 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, Elizabeth’s father became King George VI, and she was next in line for the throne. Elizabeth was on a trip with her husband to Kenya when she received word of her father’s death on Feb. 6, 1952, at age 56. The cause of death was cancer.

On their immediate return to London, Elizabeth, now the queen regnant, and Philip moved into Buckingham Palace, which was to remain her main residence for the rest of her life.

When Queen Elizabeth came to the throne in 1952, some Britons were so thrilled by the young queen they declared it was a second “Elizabethan Age.” Following her coronation at Westminster Abbey, she became known for trying to modernize the monarchy and make more personal contact with her subjects — from garden parties to inviting 100 couples from around Britain who shared her wedding date to join the festivities at her 25th anniversary.

Elizabeth II would come to embody not only the British monarchy but a tradition of doing one’s duty and maintaining a stiff upper lip. If she appeared smiling and cheerful in public, the queen also encountered her share of adversity — from wars to the divorces of three of her four children; the 1997 death of her glamorous daughter-in-law, Princess Diana; and the 1992 fire that severely damaged Windsor Castle, one of her official residences. The constant throughout her life appeared to be a sense of duty and self-discipline.

Queen Elizabeth, the longest-lived British monarch, reigned through 14 American presidents, and just as many British prime ministers, proving herself a savvy stateswoman and a constant leader on the world stage.

“I cannot lead you into battle,” the Queen, summing up her role in a 1957 Christmas broadcast, once told her subjects. “I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else: I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”

The queen, who traveled on more than 271 state visits during her reign, was sometimes the only female on the stage with world leaders, and she always stayed mum on her personal political opinions, proving her mastery of “soft diplomacy.”

As recently as 2021, she met with world leaders at a Group of 7 summit meeting in Cornwall in June, and hosted President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, at Windsor Castle afterward.

In addition to being sovereign of the United Kingdom and 15 Commonwealth realms, she was also the head of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 54 independent countries, that includes India.

Camilla, The Queen Consort Will Wear The Kohinoor Crown

Prince Charles’ wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who will be Queen Consort when he accedes to the throne, will receive the Queen Mother’s famous Kohinoor crown. Following King Charles III’s ascension to the throne after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, his wife Camilla, will from now on be known as Queen Consort, which indicates that she is the spouse of a king, instead of title of queen because members who marry into the royal family can’t inherit the throne.

The last Queen consort was Queen Elizabeth II’s mother, who became known as the Queen Mother after King George VI died and her daughter ascended to the throne. Camilla’s new title expands her role at his coronation, which will likely not come for several months, as per standard royal tradition.

The Kohinoor is a 105.6 carat diamond steeped in history. The diamond was found in India in the 14th century and changed many hands over the course of centuries. In 1849, after the British annexation of Punjab, the diamond was ceded to Queen Victoria. It has been part of the British Crown Jewels since then – but continues to be the subject of a historic ownership dispute among at least four countries, including India.

The Kohinoor diamond is currently set in a platinum crown created for Queen Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mother) for the 1937 coronation of King George VI. It is kept on display in the Tower of London. UK-based Daily Mail said in an exclusive report that the priceless platinum and diamond crown will be placed on Camilla’s head when Prince Charles becomes King.

Previous royal tradition dictated that the title would be given to the king’s wife, but Charles’ divorce from Princess Diana in 1996 complicated the matter. At the time of their separation, the Church of England strongly opposed divorce. Public admiration for Diana was (and remains) strong, causing many to feel that Camilla should not have taken the title out of respect for Diana.

But, the Queen put questions about Camilla’s title to rest in February, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of her reign. In a statement, the Queen Elizabeth II announced that it was her “most sincere wish that, when the time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.” It was the first time the Queen had acknowledged Camilla’s role in the monarchy in this way.

“We are deeply conscious of the honor represented by my mother’s wish,” Charles said, in response to his mother’s statement in February. “As we have sought together to serve and support Her Majesty and the people of our communities, my darling wife has been my own steadfast support throughout.”

“We are deeply conscious of the honor represented by my mother’s wish,” Charles said, in response to his mother’s statement in February. “As we have sought together to serve and support Her Majesty and the people of our communities, my darling wife has been my own steadfast support throughout.”

Royal experts agree that this decision was coordinated to ease Charles’ transition to the throne, especially amid a complicated reputation in the public. “It seems increasingly clear to me that as much as he can claim to be working in the tradition of his mother, carrying out her vision, the better for him,” Arianne Chernock, a Boston University professor, previously told the New York Times.

Camilla and Charles faced criticism for years after their affair was confirmed in the press. Diana, who died in 1997, was globally loved and she blamed Camilla for her failed marriage. Some believed this would prevent Camilla from ever marrying Charles—let alone being called Queen. Following their 2005 marriage, Camilla did not take Diana’s title of Princess of Wales, instead opting for Duchess of Cornwall.

And despite a much improved public opinion of Camilla in the 25 years since Diana’s death, there is still much debate as to whether she deserves to take the title. A May 2022 poll found that just 20% of the British public believed that Camilla should take on the title of queen consort, with nearly 40% believing that she should be called the Princess Consort.

Charles also has big shoes to fill now that he is king. YouGov poll results list Charles as the seventh most popular royal family member, with nearly a quarter of Brits saying they disapprove of him. By contrast, Queen Elizabeth II’s approval rating on the day of her passing was at a high of 75%.

Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-ruling monarch, died at the age of 96 on Thursday. She was earlier placed under medical supervision due to concerns around her health. The official announcement was made by the Buckingham Palace late in the evening after members of the royal family – the Queen’s sons and grandsons – arrived in Balmoral Castle where she was being looked after. After the end of her 70-year reign, Prince Charles is next in line for the throne and with this, another important change will take place that concerns the Kohinoor diamond.

Liz Truss Is U.K.’s New Prime Minister

Liz Truss became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Tuesday, Sepember 6th, 2022. Queen Elizabeth II  formally appointed Truss during a formal ceremony as Britain’s prime minister on Tuesday, September 6th during at her Balmoral estate in Scotland, where the monarch is spending her summer, rather than Buckingham Palace in London.

Liz Truss, the former Foreign Secretary of England was elected to replace Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, marking the end of a bitter summer campaigning and the peak of a political career marked by a rapid climb through the upper echelons of British politics and dramatic changes of opinion.

Truss received 57.4 percent of the vote, beating out rival Rishi Sunak, Britain’s former finance minister, who received 42.6 percent of the vote. Truss was largely viewed as the frontrunner during the campaign. Roughly 172,000 dues-paying Conservative Party members cast ballots in the election after the party’s lawmakers nominated eight candidates and narrowed the ballot list to Truss and Sunak.

The 47-year-old Truss, who is currently foreign secretary, beat former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak after a leadership contest in which only about 170,000 dues-paying members of the Conservative Party were allowed to vote. Truss received 81,326 votes, compared with Sunak’s 60,399.

Truss took over the role from Boris Johnson, who announced his resignation in July as his relationship with Conservative lawmakers soured over his handling of a number of issues. Truss served as foreign secretary under Johnson. “I am honored to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party,” Truss said after the announcement.

“Thank you for putting your trust in me to lead and deliver for our great country,” she continued. “I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy and unleash the United Kingdom’s potential.”

Truss, who promised to increase defense spending and cut taxes during the campaign, will assume the prime minister role as the country faces skyrocketing energy prices and high inflation. She is confronted with the enormous task ahead of her amid increasing pressure to curb soaring prices, ease labor unrest and fix a health care system burdened by long waiting lists and staff shortages.

In remarks, Truss doubled down on her plan to grow Britain’s economy by cutting taxes, also emphasizing her belief in “personal responsibility.”

“During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a conservative, and I will govern as a conservative,” she said. Truss also vowed to take action on the country’s mounting energy issues, characterizing it as a “crisis.”

Annual energy bills for the average U.K. household have already risen by 54 percent this year, and consumers will see another hike in October that brings the gain to roughly 80 percent.

Global oil and gas prices jumped as demand surged from countries recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. Supply strains resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have furthered the imbalance of energy supplies and demand, contributing to price gains and fueling fears of a recession.

Britain’s annual inflation rate hit 10.1 percent in July, a 40-year high that outpaces the U.S. and other places in Europe. “I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply,” Truss said on Monday.

The Conservative Party has maintained a healthy majority since the country’s 2019 elections. Johnson has served atop the party since that year but came under increasing pressure to step aside in recent months over a variety of issues, eventually leading to his resignation announcement in July.

Boris Johnson was accused that he attended gatherings in his office and other government buildings in 2020 and 2021 when the country imposed pandemic restrictions on parties, leading Johnson to become the first sitting prime minister to receive fines. Some in his party later called for Johnson’s resignation over his handling of sexual misconduct allegations against Johnson’s deputy chief whip.

Sunak, Truss’s most formidable opponent in the race, resigned last year amid the scandals, days before Johnson announced he would leave 10 Downing Street.  Truss remained in Johnson’s cabinet and on Monday called him a “friend.”

“Boris — you got Brexit done, you crushed Jeremy Corbyn, you rolled out the vaccine and you stood up to Vladimir Putin,” she said. “You are admired from Kyiv to Carlisle.”

Keir Starmer, the leader of U.K.’s Labor Party, congratulated Truss on her victory. “But after 12 years of the Tories all we have to show for it is low wages, high prices and a Tory cost of living crisis,” Starmer tweeted. “Only Labour can deliver the fresh start our country needs.”

It was the first time in the queen’s 70-year reign that the handover of power took place at Balmoral, rather than Buckingham Palace in London. The ceremony was moved to Scotland to provide certainty about the schedule, because the 96-year-old queen has experienced problems getting around that have forced palace officials to make decisions about her travel on a day-to-day basis.

Truss faces immediate pressure to deliver on her promises to tackle a cost-of-living crisis walloping the U.K. and an economy heading into a potentially lengthy recession.

Throughout her political career, Truss has been compared to Thatcher, who, for many on the right, remains the benchmark for Conservative leaders. Like Thatcher, Truss has come from relatively humble beginnings to dominate a world inhabited largely by men.

Truss was elected to Parliament in 2010. In a relatively short period of time, she has established herself as a political force of nature who pursues her agenda with relentless vigor and unequivocal enthusiasm. She served under three prime ministers in several different cabinet jobs, most recently as foreign secretary.

Since becoming an MP, Truss has gone from being the darling of the liberal Conservative leader David Cameron, who took a personal interest in her career, to the Euroskeptic right’s figurehead.

Truss has been seen by most as the Johnson continuity candidate, and she has enjoyed the backing of many of his loyalists.

Captain Zoya Agarwal, 1st First Indian Woman Fly Aircraft Above North Pole

In 2021, Captain Zoya, an Air India pilot of aircraft Boeing-777, led the first all-women pilot team over the world’s longest air route from San Francisco in the United States to Bengaluru in India, covering the North Pole. Now, Captain Zoya Agarwal, the first Indian woman pilot to fly an aircraft above the North pole, covering a record-breaking distance of around 16,000 Kilometers, made her place in SFO aviation museum for her achievements.

“I was amazed to see that I’m the only living object over there, I am just humbled honestly. I can’t believe that I am a part of a prestigious aviation museum in the USA,” she said. The SFO Museum commemorated her career and her advocacy for promoting women’s empowerment across the world, as she is the first female Indian pilot to be included in their program.

While talking to ANI, Captain Zoya Agarwal informed that she is the only human to have found a place as a pilot in the San Francisco Aviation Luis A Turpen Aviation museum which is commonly known as SFO Aviation Museum.

“I was amazed to see that I’m the only living object over there, I am just humbled honestly. I can’t believe that I am a part of a prestigious aviation museum in the USA,” Captain Zoya told ANI.

Recently, the SFO Museum commemorated the Indian pilot Zoya Agarwal’s extraordinary career in aviation and her advocacy for promoting women’s empowerment across the world, inspiring millions of girls and youth to meet their dreams.

“She is the first female Indian pilot to be included in our program. In addition to her remarkable career with Air India, including her record-breaking flight from SFO to Bengaluru in 2021 with an all-female crew, her positivity about the world and her commitment to helping other girls and women achieve their dreams is deeply inspiring. Being able to record and share Captain Agarwal’s personal history allows SFO Museum to preserve the excitement and the historic nature of her extraordinary career with current and future generations of aviation enthusiasts,” an official from the San Francisco Aviation museum told ANI.

“We are honored by your participation, and we hope to educate and inspire future generations,” the SFO aviation museum added.

Captain Zoya Agarwal also spoke with ANI just after receiving the certificate and being honoured by the SFO aviation museum for her extraordinary career in aviation.

“I can’t believe that I am the first Indian female to be in a museum in the USA, if you ask the eight-year-old girl that use to sit on her terrace, looking at stars and dream about being a pilot. It’s an honour that the US recognised an Indian woman for their museum… it’s a great moment for me and my country,” Captain Zoya said.

Captain Zoya Agarwal is one of the gender equality spokespersons at the United Nations (UN) and she has pioneered encouraging females and youth to fulfil their dreams.

The museum was launched at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in 1980, utilising little more than images on walls as a means to beautify and humanise the Airport’s environment. Since then, it has grown into a dynamic exhibition program with galleries throughout all five terminals and developed an ever-growing collection of objects, now numbering more than 150,000 related to the history of SFO and commercial aviation.

Meanwhile, the participation of women pilots in India has increased rapidly, according to the International Society of Women Airlines, India holds the largest proportion of female pilots in the world. Accounting for around 12.4 per cent of all pilots, compared to 5.5 per cent in the US.

Dr. Sajani Shah, A Second Generation Physician Of Indian Origin Becomes Chair Of BOT, AAPI

Dr. Ami Baxi is the President of YPS, Dr. Kinjal Solanki is the AAPI MSRF President

(Chicago, IL – August 22, 2020) “We are extremely happy that Dr. Sajani Shah, a second generation physician of Indian Origin, and the first ever from the Young Physicians Section, has become the Chair of BOT, AAPI for the year 2020-21,” Dr. Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, President of AAPI announced here. “I am so proud that this historic milestone by AAPI has occurred during my Presidency.”

Dr. Sajani Shah assumed charge as the Chair of Board of Trustees, AAPI during the first ever Virtual Summit on July 12th. Also, Dr. Ami Baxi was sworn as the President of YPS and Dr. Kinjal Solanki as the AAPI MSRF President. In her farewell message, Dr. Seema Arora, outgoing BOT Chair, said, “I congratulate and wish the very best to three incoming Trustees – Dr. Jagdish Gupta, Dr. Raghu Lolabhattu and Dr. V. Ranga, the incoming President, Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda and the incoming BOT Chair, Dr. Sajani Shah and entire AAPI leadership & membership to take AAPI to further heights in the future.”

Dr. Shah is a general surgeon from Boston, MA who specializes in minimally invasive Bariatric Surgery. She earned her executive MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently, she is serving as the Chief of Minimally Invasive Bariatric/Surgery and is the Medical Director of Weight and Wellness, Obesity Treatment Program in New England. Dr. Shah is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine. As the Board Chair, Dr. Shah “will focus on what is best for the AAPI organization by facilitating board leadership and governance by setting the direction and priorities of the board for the upcoming year.”

“An organization can only survive to its fullest potential when it is financially independent,” says Dr. Shah, who lives in Boston with her family and enjoys traveling and visiting her family in New York. “The trustee account from which we have been drawing each past year will deplete someday, therefore, it’s vital that we work on strategies to help strengthen the financial well-being of AAPI.” Dr. Shah promises to focus on academic excellence, without compromising AAPI’s financial well-being or the fact that AAPI is an organization of friends and families.” Dr. Shah wants to “work with her board to help engage the younger generation of physicians to the organization and overall increase in AAPI membership.”

Dr. Sajani Shah, a past president of IMANE, a subchapter of AAPI, has been serving as a member of BOT, AAPI since 2018 and involved in AAPI since the 2007 in several capacities including regional director, co-chair of the academic committee and chair of the women’s forum, “hopes to continue molding the organization’s culture, mission and work ethics.” Working in coordination with She is excited for a wonderful slate of board members and looks forward to actively engaging the board members, building upon each member’s individual strengths to accomplish great things this year.” Dr. Shah is confident that “working collaboratively under the guidance of the AAPI president and his executive team, AAPI will be lifted to new heights. As a second generation Indian and youngest to serve as the Chair of the Board of Trustees, I am truly humbled, honored and excited to start my tenure as the new BOT Chair.”

Dr. Ami Baxi, AAPI YPS President, is a board certified psychiatrist, based in New York City. During Residency, she had served as Chief Resident in her final year, Dr. Baxi has advanced up the chain of hospital administration at Lenox Hill Hospital, a prestigious Upper East Side hospital, part of the Northwell health system.  After serving as Director of Inpatient Psychiatry for five years, Dr. Baxi is now Director of Ambulatory Services within the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Baxi’s keen interest in the training and education of future doctors resulted in an appointment as the Director of Medical Student Education, overseeing medical students and residents from Downstate Medical College, Westchester Medical Center, New York Medical College, and Staten Island University Hospital. Dr. Baxi’s work has not gone unnoticed by her trainees as they have often appointed her Faculty of the Year. Finally, Dr. Baxi also most recently graduated from Northwell’s esteemed Physician Leadership Development Program.

Dr. Baxi has been familiar with AAPI, growing up in a family of physicians and as her own career developed, she naturally took a leadership role as an active member of the Young Physicians Section.  In her first year on the YPS Executive Committee, she served as the convention chair of their Marquee event, the Winter Medical Conference in Las Vegas,  In subsequent years, she served as Treasurer, then President-Elect prior to now being President of YPS.

In her new role, Dr. Baxi wants to “work towards increasing AAPI membership to sustain the future of the national organization while continuing to enhance value to the YPS constituents, and growing the mentorship program so that members may benefit from each other’s experiences and accomplishments.” While recognizing the challenges of unprecedented times, Dr. Baxi is aware that “flexibility is of utmost importance to successfully implement the goals of our organization.  We plan to leverage our networks and work with national AAPI to organize webinars with well-credentialed industry experts to assure the community and physicians from all over the country benefit from the wealth of information that AAPI has to offer.”  In this way, Dr. Baxi hopes to increase YPS’s visibility and value throughout the nation.

“Working in close coordination with AAPI leadership, YPS will remain actively engaged with our contemporaries in India via the Global Health Summit to ensure AAPI’s presence on a global stage while also giving back to our motherland,” says the young physician endowed with a vision to serve India.  “We will continue to be a voice for young physicians at next year’s annual convention in Orlando, Florida.  And, of course, our highly acclaimed 8th Annual Winter Medical Conference will be second to none as we bring our members the best and most current content from the country’s most renowned medical professionals.  We are confident these will all be events not to be missed.”

Dr. Kinjal Solanki, AAPI MSRF President is an Infectious Disease Fellow in New Jersey. “I am honored to take over the role as the president for the AAPI medical students, residents, and fellows. As a first-generation Indian-American and an international medical graduate, I truly believe my multicultural experiences have humbled me, cultivated my cultural awareness, and enabled me to relate to others on both personal and professional levels.”  Giving credit to her Indian heritage in shaping who she is today, Dr. Solanki says, “I am grateful for the opportunity to give back to our Indian-American community through my involvement in AAPI these past four years. This upcoming year, I am excited to help develop AAPI as an organization, further advance its mission, and continue to learn from and work alongside all of the AAPI members.”

In her new role as the MSRF President for the year 2020-2021, Dr. Solanki is looking forward “to working with the YPS team and the AAPI Executive Committee on various projects that will interest and benefit medical students, residents, and my co-fellows. This year presents with both academic as well as professional and personal challenges as the world continues to tackle the COVID-19 global pandemic. We plan to hold a series of virtual seminars to educate, discuss, and navigate these challenges. My main goal for this year is to increase awareness and interest in AAPI via the easily accessible virtual platform. I look forward to a great and productive year ahead.”

“We are so excited that all the three leaders Indian American women leaders, who are passionate about AAPI and its noble mission to be the voice of the over 100,000 Physicians of Indian Origin in the United States,” said Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, another woman leader of AAPI, who will become the president of AAPI in 2021.  For more information about AAPI and the many initiatives of AAPI, please visit www.appiusa.org

Are Women Happier Than Men? Do Gender Rights Make A Difference?

I have been working on well-being and happiness in economics for more than two decades. The research—based on the work of scholars around the world—finds consistent patterns in the determinants of life satisfaction across millions of respondents. These include income (yes it matters but not as much as you might think), health (matters a lot), employment, families and friendships, and age (there is a mid-life dip in well-being that holds across most people and countries around the world). A question that always comes up, though, is “are women happier than men?” The answer is “yes, but it’s complicated”—and at times in surprising ways.

In a 2013 study of happiness and gender, based on Gallup World Poll data for 160 countries, Soumya Chattopadhyay and I explored that basic question. Women around the world report higher levels of life satisfaction than men, but at the same time report more daily stress. And while this finding holds across countries on average, it does not hold in countries where gender rights are compromised, as in much of the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. The gap between women and men’s well-being is greater (e.g., women are that much happier than men) in wealthier contexts, among more educated and older cohorts, and in urban areas. While there seems to be a modest gender difference in life satisfaction, it does not hold when women’s rights are compromised.

We also found that the typically positive links between life satisfaction and marriage were much weaker in the same countries with compromised gender rights, where marriage is often an imposed norm rather than a choice. Indeed, it was the married men who were happier than the unmarried in these countries, not the married women. More generally, the common finding that married people are happier than non-married people is in part due to selection bias: happier people are more likely to get married. By construction most cross-section studies—which are at one point in time—are simply comparing the higher happiness levels of those individuals who married each other versus those who did not marry.

As Claudia Senik and colleagues find, the actual effects of getting married (which we can explore with over-time data on the same people) last approximately 18 months, after which people adapt to their pre-marriage happiness levels. Meanwhile, divorce (in rich countries) is most common when there are asymmetries in happiness levels within couples; in other words it seems that it is better to have two happy people or two unhappy people married to each other, rather than one happy and one unhappy person in the same partnership. Unhappily married women in countries with compromised gender rights, meanwhile, are much less likely to be able to divorce if they would like to.

The logical conclusion, then, is that once women’s rights improve, their life satisfaction levels will increase. Yet while women’s rights undoubtedly improved with a host of changes that occurred during the 1970s, there was a “paradox of declining female happiness” in the decades after gender rights improved, as found by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers. Rafael Levine and Alois Stutzer (2010) discovered a similar pattern in Switzerland, one of the last wealthy countries to give women the right to vote in 1971 (!). A national referendum (common for the Swiss) was passed in 1981 that mandated equal pay for equal work, giving them a natural experiment to explore its effects on gender differences in well-being. The authors were able to compare the differences in cantons that voted for the amendment versus those that did not. One would think that women would be happier in the cantons that voted for equal pay. Instead, the opposite occured and female happiness fell precisely in those cantons, compared to in those that did not vote for equal pay.

What explains this? First, these trends reversed over time. A later study of women’s happiness in the U.S. based on data that covered a later time period—1985 to 2005—by Chris Herbst  found that men’s happiness declined more than women’s in that period, beginning in the late 1980s, while the decline for women slowed down significantly, reversing the gender gap in happiness. And over time in Switzerland, the differences across the cantons also declined. One reason for the initial decline is that when unequal gender rights are amended with legislation, established gender norms lag, and that may be particularly strong within households, creating new tensions, especially for working women.

My own experience, entering the labor force in the 1980s and having children in the 1990s was that being a full-time working mother was often seen as a choice between being a “good” mother and working. Many of my impressive colleagues and predecessors at Brookings—such as Alice Rivlin, Belle Sawhill, and Janet Yellen—no doubt faced even more such challenges in previous decades. By now, that choice seems a straw man. College completion and full-time work are now the rule rather than the exception for most women (at least those with means).

The gaps in well-being between unemployed and out-of-labor-force women and their counterparts in other labor market categories are much smaller than those for men.

Indeed, in the U.S. today, there is much more concern about declining male happiness and, more importantly, hope—particularly among less-than-college-educated white men. Kelsey O’Connor and I, based on data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics for the U.S., find that individuals born in the 1930s and 1940s who reported to be optimistic in their twenties were much more likely to still be alive in 2015 than were non-optimists. While optimism among women and African Americans gradually increased after gender and civil rights improved (again with a lag) the one group that decreased in optimism was less-than-college-educated white men. And since that time, minorities have continued to make gradual progress on both education and health fronts, while discrimination decreased (but certainly did not disappear), and more women entered the labor market.

The decline in men’s well-being began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the first decline of manufacturing, and has continued since. The erosion of stable blue-collar jobs due to both changes in labor market demand and supply (individuals with only a high school education do not have the skills to compete in today’s labor markets) has been a major factor in this trend. The trend is starkest for white men who previously had privileged access to good blue-collar jobs and to a stable middle-class existence—and that existence was very much a part of their identity as breadwinners. Not surprisingly, men suffer greater drops in well-being when they become unemployed than do women.

In contrast, the gaps in well-being between unemployed and out-of-labor-force women and their counterparts in other labor market categories are much smaller than those for men. This is likely due to women’s ability to multitask and to have multiple identities as mothers or caregivers, among other things, in addition to working. While that is often stress inducing, it also seems to be (somewhat) protective of psychological well-being.

These well-being declines matter to life outcomes. Less-than-college-educated white men—and particularly those who are unemployed or out of the labor force—are overrepresented in the crisis of deaths of despair (premature mortality due to suicide, drug overdose, and liver disease) that has taken over 1 million lives in the U.S. in the past two decades.

In sum, in wealthy places women’s happiness is typically higher than men’s, even when they are in less privileged jobs and lifestyles. Yet in many developing countries where women’s rights are compromised, women do not experience that same happiness differential. In addition, strong gender norms—which are preclusive of women giving honest responses—can affect the accuracy of their life satisfaction scores. Malorie Montgomery tests for this bias using vignette research. This approach asks respondents to rank their expected happiness in a series of different scenarios (in this case a range of lifestyles involving different levels of freedom and opportunities for women). She finds that women’s rankings of the desirability of these lifestyles often differ markedly from their general life satisfaction scores. Adjusting for this bias, she finds that the around-the-world gender gap in well-being remains but is substantially smaller, driven by countries where strong gender norms preclude honest life satisfaction reports.

While women’s rights have advanced a great deal in most wealthy countries, there are still many poor women around the world whose lives—and well-being—will remain compromised for the foreseeable future. And, as the trajectory of those countries who have already improved equity in gender rights shows, the process is far from simple and does not end with legal changes alone.

The Rise Of Kamala Harris Is Symbolic Of The Coming Of Age Of Indian Americans

“My name is pronounced “comma-la”, like the punctuation mark,” Kamala Harris writes in her 2018 autobiography, The Truths We Hold. The California senator, daughter of an Indian-born mother and Jamaican-born father, then explains the meaning of her Indian name. “It means ‘lotus flower’, which is a symbol of significance in Indian culture. A lotus grows underwater, its flowers rising above the surface while the roots are planted firmly in the river bottom.”

The Vice Presidential Candidate, Kamala Harris’s public image has been more tied to her identity as an African-American politician, especially recently during the current conversation around race and the Black Lives Matter movement in the US.

But Indian-Americans also view her as one of their own, her candidacy suggesting a potential wider recognition of the Indian and South Asian communities in the country. It is clear that her late mother was a big inspiration for Kamala Harris. Shyamala Gopalan was born in the southern Indian city of Chennai, the oldest of four children.

The speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday created a buzz on social media among the Indian-American and Tamilian community after she gave a special shoutout to her “chithis” while emphasising the importance of family. Tamil word ‘chithi‘ means aunt.

Harris, who made history by being the first Black woman and the first woman of Indian descent to contest US elections on a major party’s ticket, made the remark during her vice-presidential acceptance speech. In her speech, Harris spoke about the importance of family support in shaping an individual.

“She raised us to be proud, strong Black women. And she raised us to know and be proud of our Indian heritage. She taught us to put family first. The family you are born into and the family you choose,” said Harris while talking about her mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris. Describing what family means to her, she said, “Family is my uncles, my aunts, and my chithis”.

For many Tamil Americans, Kamala Harris’s use of the phrase chitti was a small but significant way for the vice-presidential candidate to say, before an audience of millions, that she is one of them, too. As she accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president last week, California Sen. Kamala Harris recounted how she had been taught to “put family first.”

That covers both “the family you’re born into and the family you choose,” she said. Family is her husband, she said, and her two step-kids. Her sister, her sorority, her best friend, her godchildren. And then, she added, “Family is my uncles, my aunts and my chittis.” That last word, a Tamil term of endearment for the younger sisters of one’s mother, was met with a fierce outpouring of pride across social media.

For many Tamil Americans, Ms Harris’s use of the phrase – which can also be spelled out phonetically in English as “citti,” “chitthi” or “chitthi” – was more than just another word for “auntie.” It was a small but significant way for the vice-presidential candidate to say, before an audience of millions, that she is one of them, too. “Americans everywhere are googling ‘chitthi’ but @KamalaHarris we know,” Gautam Raghavan, a former Obama White House staffer, wrote on Twitter. “And we love you for it.”

By now, the basics of Ms Harris’s Black and South Asian identity are familiar: Born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother who met as graduate students, she was raised to appreciate her Black and South Asian heritage but prefers to call herself simply “American.”

Yet less commonly acknowledged in that biography is the regional heritage of her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, in Tamil Nadu, a South Indian state whose majority ethnic group is known for a deep pride in its distinct language and culture.

More than 240,000 people in the United States speak Tamil at home, according to census data, and a growing number of Tamil Americans – including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, actress Mindy Kaling, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. – have risen to national prominence in recent years.

In 2015, the comic Aziz Ansari featured lengthy snippets of Tamil dialogue during a much-celebrated episode of “Master of None,” when his real-life parents appeared on the show to played his fictional ones. But there’s nothing quite like prime-time politics.

“A Tamil word in an acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. Still blows my mind,” wrote Hari Sevugan, the former deputy campaign manager for Pete Buttigieg. “Despite this president, ‘only in America’ is still a thing.”

As her multiracial heritage challenges American notions of identity, and some have accused Harris of playing down her South Asian roots – or merely not playing them up as much as her Black identity – her use of “chittis” was a swift reproach.

“My Indian mother knew she was raising two Black daughters,” the candidate told the Los Angeles Times in 2015. “But that’s not to the exclusion of who I am in terms of my Indian heritage.”

After her parents’ divorce in the early 1970s, Harris often traveled as a child to visit relatives in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu city where her maternal grandparents had settled. She wore saris to family events and spoke Tamil with her relatives, the Times reported.

In her autobiography, Kamala Harris described how her mother would often use Tamil around the house to express “affection or frustration.” Her use of the word chitti is a reflection of the family structures and specific language used by Brahmin Tamils, a group that includes Gopalan and her family in India, said Vasu Renganathan, a lecturer in Tamil at the University of Pennsylvania.

The combination of linguistic Tamil roots that mean “little mother,” it can also be used to refer to a stepmother or even a friend of one’s mother who is a bit younger than her. A popular Tamil soap opera called “Chitti,” which first aired 20 years ago, tells of the relationship between a young girl who loses her mother and the woman she begins to treat as a maternal figure.

Hours after Harris’s speech, Renganathan told The Washington Post he was disappointed that Harris did not sprinkle in more Tamil phrases.

“Tamils are passionate about their homeland, and many want to identify themselves as Tamil in order to distinguish from North Indians or other South Indians,” he said. “She could have at least talked about her ‘amma,’ her own mother.” But, he added, it’s only a matter of time before she uses more Tamil on the campaign trail.

Women Have More Sex Partners Than Men In Several Indian States

The National Family Health Survey which was conducted among 1.1 lakh women and 1 lakh men showed that the number of sex partners on average for women was higher than men in many states and Union territories.

Women on average have more sex partners than men in 11 states and UTs but the percentage of men who had sexual intercourse with someone who was neither their spouse or lived with stood at 4 per cent, much higher than that of women at 0.5 per cent, according to the NFHS data.

The National Family Health Survey which was conducted among 1.1 lakh women and 1 lakh men showed that the number of sex partners on average for women was higher than men in many states and Union territories.

These states and UTs are Rajasthan, Haryana, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu. Rajasthan had the highest number of women who had on an average 3.1 sex partners as against the 1.8 for men.

But the percentage of men who had sexual intercourse with someone who was neither their spouse or live-in partner, in the 12 months preceding the survey, stood at 4 per cent. For women, the number stood at 0.5 per cent.

A marginally larger share of rural women than urban women and those currently married than of those never married, divorced, widowed, or separated said they had sex with two or more partners in the 12 months preceding the survey.

However, according to the NFHS data, a larger population of men (3.6%) than women(0.5%) have had sexual intercourse with those who were neither their spouses nor those with whom they have lived together just 12 months before the survey.

The National Family Health Survey-5 conducted during 2019-21 surveyed 707 districts of the country from 28 States and eight UTs. The national report also provides data by socio-economic and other background characteristics, useful for policy formulation and effective programme implementation.

AAHOA Launches Elevateher Women’s Initiative To Highlight And Support Women Hoteliers And Leaders In The Industry

AAHOA, the nation’s largest hotel owners association, with nearly 20,000 members who own 60% of the hotels in the United States, announced the launch of ElevateHER, an initiative aimed at elevating, educating, and empowering the women hoteliers of AAHOA and across the industry.

“AAHOA has been proud to celebrate the important work women are doing at every level of hospitality, and this initiative further underscores our commitment to the women of AAHOA and elevating their contributions to the industry,” said AAHOA President & CEO Laura Lee Blake. “While there’s still much work to be done, AAHOA recognizes the significant strides women have made to be seen at industry events, heard in the boardroom, and valued in the workplace – ElevateHER celebrates these accomplishments and will further drive our association’s work around elevating and supporting women in the industry.”

In what has been a predominantly male-dominated industry, AAHOA understands how important it is to foster, promote, and empower women entrepreneurs – and the impact that ElevateHER can have to help women shatter the glass ceiling and pursue their own entrepreneurial journey.

“Women play an active role in all areas of hospitality – from welcoming guests at the front desk to providing the best in housekeeping services to owning and operating hotel properties, women hoteliers continue to step up to leave their mark in the industry,” said AAHOA Female Director Eastern Division Lina Patel, CHO. “I’m proud to work alongside the entire AAHOA Team to launch the ElevateHER program and give women hoteliers the chance to learn from and inspire each other, and set everyone up for years of progress and success.”

AAHOA’s ElevateHER program will offer networking and educational opportunities for women hoteliers and hospitality industry professionals, and elevate AAHOA to be the foremost resource and advocate for women in the industry. This initiative will ultimately support all women in their endeavors and ensure more stability and opportunities for generations to come.

“Women are the backbone of this industry, and AAHOA recognizes the importance of helping advance women’s initiatives in our industry and beyond,” said AAHOA Chairman Neal Patel, CHO, CHIA. “I’m proud to see more and more women hoteliers in top leadership positions within the association, and the industry at large. AAHOA’s ElevateHER initiative further highlights our organization’s commitment to encouraging women hoteliers to take an active role in hospitality with a program created to elevate them in every way.”

As part of our initial launch of this initiative, AAHOA is hosting a Women Hoteliers ElevateHER Conference, October 26-27, 2022, in Cincinnati, OH, which will focus on bringing together AAHOA’s engaged community of women hoteliers for education, inspiration, and empowerment.

“AAHOA has long been an advocate of amplifying women’s voices within the industry, and the brand-new ElevateHER program invites more and more women to shape the future of hospitality and advance their careers,” said AAHOA Female Director Western Division Tejal N. Patel, CHIA, CHO. “Additionally, the 2022 Women Hoteliers ElevateHER Conference will aim to expand women hoteliers’ scope and view of what is possible professionally and personally in hospitality. I could not be more excited for all that will be accomplished thanks to ElevateHER and AAHOA’s renewed focus on elevating women leaders in the industry.”

Aarya Walveka From Virginia Is Crowned As Miss India USA

As many as 74 contestants representing 30 States from across the United States participated in three different categories – Miss India USA, Mrs. India USA and Miss Teen India USA held in New Jersey

Aarya Walvekar, 18, from Virginia was crowned Miss India USA 2022 during a glittering pageant held at the Royal Alberts Palace, Edison in New Jersey on Friday, August 5th, 2022. Saumya Sharma, a second year premedical student at the University of Virginia, was declared the first runner-up and Sanjana Chekuri of New Jersey was the second runner-up.

As many as 74 contestants representing 30 States from across the United States participated in three different categories – Miss India USA, Mrs. India USA and Miss Teen India USA. Akshi Jain from Washington State has crowned Mrs. India USA and Tanvi Grover from New York was crowned Miss Teen India USA.

During the talent competition, the contestants performed Bollywood dances and songs on stage, gave motivational speeches, did mono acting, sang popular American songs, performed hip hop, and did paintings. Esha Kode – The First Ever Miss Teen India Worldwide and Navya Paingol – the reigning Miss Teen India USA were emcees for the pageant. Nishi Bahl was the choreographer, and was assisted by Shilpa Jhurani and Anushree Shah. Tabulation was done by Nilesh Choksi CPA.

Neelam Saran and Dharmatma Saran, chairman and founder of the New York based India Cultural Festival (IFC) that organizes the trail blazing Miss India Worldwide, are pioneers in entertainment, holding Indian pageants and fashion shows in the USA and worldwide. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the pageant, which is the longest-running Indian pageant outside of India. The pageant was presented by Morgan Stanley and was supported by  TV Asia and Royal Albert’s palace.

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. Winners of all three categories gets complimentary tickets to Mumbai to take part in worldwide pageants, also organized by the same organization, early next year.

“It has been my childhood dream to see myself on the silver screen and work in films and TV,” said Aarya who is an aspiring actress. The Bollywood fan also shared on Instagram that she got the opportunity to showcase herself in front of leading playback singers from the 80s and 90s. “It was an honor to open the show for Bollywood legends Kumar Saanu, Alka Yagnik, and Udit Narayan. Forever grateful,” she wrote. Her hobbies include exploring new places, cooking and debating.

Attended by over five hundred participants from across the nation, the beauty pageant began with an opening dance number for all contestants choreographed by Shilpa Jhurani and followed by Ethnic costume and talent performances by the top five and the finale was the question/answer segment.

Dharmatma Saran presented an appreciation plaque to Padmashree Dr. H.R. Shah – Chairman of TV Asia and Albert Jasani of Royal Albert’s Palace for their continued support. Judging panel included Bollywood singer Shibani Kashyap, Swathi Vimal – the reigning Mrs. India Worldwide, Gietanjali Thakoer – National Director of Worldwide Pageants from Suriname, Sachin Mally CEO of Lucid Technologies, Sonika Krishna – Vice President of UST Contineo Health and Diamandi Devereaux – Hollywood actor and model. Sumathi Narayanan, State Director of Connecticut, was awarded “State Director of the Year” award.  Khushi Patel, the reigning Miss India Worldwide, attended the pageant as the Special Guest.

Saran said, he is “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 around the world.”

Most People Have Confidence In Kamala Harris Across 18 Surveyed Countries

By, Aidan Connaughton At PEW Research

A median of 55% of adults in these countries have confidence in Harris to do the right thing regarding world affairs, including half or more who hold that view in 14 countries. Confidence in Harris is particularly high in Sweden, where 77% of adults view her positively.

Trust in Harris is lowest in Hungary, where only 23% say they have confidence in the vice president to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Hungary is also the country where the greatest share did not answer the question (36%).

Confidence in Harris is roughly comparable to international confidence in U.S. President Joe Biden, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. A median of about six-in-ten have confidence in each of those three leaders to do the right thing regarding world affairs – slightly more than the median of 55% who have confidence in the U.S. vice president. Harris’s ratings far outpace those of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is seen positively by a median of 18% of adults, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is seen positively by a median of just 9% across the surveyed countries.

Harris has taken on a variety of internationally focused responsibilities during her time as vice president. Those responsibilities have included a high-profile trip to Europe at the beginning of the war in Ukraine and coordination of relations with Central American leaders to stem the flow of migrants coming to the southern border of the United States.

Confidence in Harris is tied to gender in some countries, with women significantly more likely than men to express confidence in her handling of world affairs. For example, 68% of Canadian women have a positive view of Harris, while only about half of Canadian men (51%) say the same. Significant differences between men and women also appear in Singapore, Australia, Italy, Malaysia, Sweden and the Netherlands.

In some countries, older people are more likely to have confidence in Harris than younger people. This age gap is largest in Belgium, where 73% of those ages 50 and older have confidence in Harris, compared with just 51% of 18- to 29-year-olds. Older people are also more likely to have confidence in the U.S. vice president in Canada, France, Germany and Greece. In Singapore, Poland and Malaysia, the opposite is true: Younger people report more confidence in Harris than older people. Older adults in Malaysia are also less likely to provide a response to the question.

Ideology is also related to views of Harris in some places. In six countries, those who place themselves on the ideological left are significantly more likely than those on the right to have confidence in Harris. Greece is the only country where the reverse is true: 54% of Greeks on the ideological right are confident in Harris, compared with just 32% of those on the left.

In addition to gender, age and ideological differences in some places, views of Harris are closely related to views of the U.S. president.

For example, people in Sweden, the Netherlands and Poland report some of the most positive views of Harris, with around seven-in-ten or more saying they’re confident in her to do the right thing regarding world affairs. People in these countries also report some of the highest levels of confidence in Biden. On the opposite end of the spectrum, people in Hungary are the least likely to express confidence in both Harris and Biden.

Most People Have Confidence In Kamala Harris Across 18 Surveyed Countries

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris draws mostly positive reviews across 18 countries surveyed by Pew Research Center this spring.

A median of 55% of adults in these countries have confidence in Harris to do the right thing regarding world affairs, including half or more who hold that view in 14 countries. Confidence in Harris is particularly high in Sweden, where 77% of adults view her positively.

Trust in Harris is lowest in Hungary, where only 23% say they have confidence in the vice president to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Hungary is also the country where the greatest share did not answer the question (36%).

Confidence in Harris is roughly comparable to international confidence in U.S. President Joe Biden, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. A median of about six-in-ten have confidence in each of those three leaders to do the right thing regarding world affairs – slightly more than the median of 55% who have confidence in the U.S. vice president. Harris’s ratings far outpace those of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is seen positively by a median of 18% of adults, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is seen positively by a median of just 9% across the surveyed countries.

Harris has taken on a variety of internationally focused responsibilities during her time as vice president. Those responsibilities have included a high-profile trip to Europe at the beginning of the war in Ukraine and coordination of relations with Central American leaders to stem the flow of migrants coming to the southern border of the United States.

Confidence in Harris is tied to gender in some countries, with women significantly more likely than men to express confidence in her handling of world affairs. For example, 68% of Canadian women have a positive view of Harris, while only about half of Canadian men (51%) say the same. Significant differences between men and women also appear in Singapore, Australia, Italy, Malaysia, Sweden and the Netherlands.

In some countries, older people are more likely to have confidence in Harris than younger people. This age gap is largest in Belgium, where 73% of those ages 50 and older have confidence in Harris, compared with just 51% of 18- to 29-year-olds. Older people are also more likely to have confidence in the U.S. vice president in Canada, France, Germany and Greece. In Singapore, Poland and Malaysia, the opposite is true: Younger people report more confidence in Harris than older people. Older adults in Malaysia are also less likely to provide a response to the question.

Ideology is also related to views of Harris in some places. In six countries, those who place themselves on the ideological left are significantly more likely than those on the right to have confidence in Harris. Greece is the only country where the reverse is true: 54% of Greeks on the ideological right are confident in Harris, compared with just 32% of those on the left.

In addition to gender, age and ideological differences in some places, views of Harris are closely related to views of the U.S. president.

For example, people in Sweden, the Netherlands and Poland report some of the most positive views of Harris, with around seven-in-ten or more saying they’re confident in her to do the right thing regarding world affairs. People in these countries also report some of the highest levels of confidence in Biden. On the opposite end of the spectrum, people in Hungary are the least likely to express confidence in both Harris and Biden.

AAPI’s Cervical Cancer Vaccination Program Concludes In Hyderabad

“The HPV Vaccination Initiative to prevent HPV related cancers including Cervical cancer was started by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), in collaboration with Tanvir Foundation concluded successfully in Hyderabad with a virtual program attended by leadership of AAPI and local participation by leadership of IMA Telangana on July 17th,” said Dr. Ravi Kolli, President of AAPI. “It was heartening to be part of this noble initiative’s concluding ceremony virtually,’ he added. 

The first of a kind program administered free HPV vaccines to the poor and underserved adolescent girls at the local Tanvir Hospital in Srinagar Colony, Hyderabad in India with the objective of preventing HPV related cancers, including cervical cancer, which is a leading cause of cancer deaths among women in India. The initial launch of the program was held on January 9th, 2022, during the 15th annual Global Healthcare Summit in Hyderabad at Tanvir Hospital, Hyderabad, India under the leadership of Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, Immediate past president of AAPI. “AAPI is happy to initiate the HPV Vaccine Program, We at AAPI, in keeping with our efforts and initiatives to educate, create awareness and provide support on disease prevention,” Dr. Gotimukula, past-president of AAPI said. 

The HPV vaccination program requires two doses of the vaccine to prevent cancer. The 2nd phase of the free vaccination camp was conducted on July 17th, 2022 at Tanvir Hospital, Hyderabad, with the lighting of the traditional lamp by  Dr. Sampath Rao, Presidentn of  IMATelangan, Dr. Raghunandan, President  of IMA North,  Dr. Surendranath, Secretary of IMA Telangana, Dr. Meeta Singh, and Dr. Naunihal Singh of Tanvir Hospital who administered second dose of HPV vaccine to the 100 adolescent girls, completing the vaccination program

AAPI Advisor Dr. Dwarakanatha Reddy said, “If vaccination programs are effectively implemented, approximately 90 percent of invasive cervical cancer cases worldwide could be prevented, in addition to the majority of precancerous lesions.”  

Usually, cervical cancer develops slowly over time, and another powerful preventive measure is Pap test screening, a procedure during which cells are collected from the surface of the cervix and examined. The Pap test can both detect cancer at an early stage, treatment outcomes tend to be better. 

 Dr. V. Ranga, Chair, Board of Trustees pointed out: “Once a leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States, today, screening and prevention have greatly reduced the impact of this form of cancer. Increasing screening and prevention are key components of the effort to eradicate cervical cancer.” Since almost all cases of the disease are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, vaccines that protect against the virus could prevent the vast majority of cases. 

Dr. Anjana Samaddar, President-Elect of AAPI said, “Cervical cancer could be the first cancer EVER in the world to be eliminated, if: 90 % of girls are vaccinated; 70% of women are screened; and, 90% of women with cervical disease receive treatment. This is an important step towards reaching goal,” she pointed out. 

While elaborating the objectives of the Summit, Dr. Satheesh Kathula, Vice President of AAPI, said, “In addition to Cervical cancer, GHS 2022 provided education  on: Chronic diseases which can be prevented- notably diabetes, cardiovascular, hypertension, COPD, oncology, maternal and infant mortality, lifestyle changes,  geriatrics, management of neurological emergencies, ENLS, a certification course”. 

“In coordination with the local organizers, AAPI donated the funds for the HPV Vaccination, a total of 200 doses for the vaccine for 100 children from the state of Telangana,” said Dr. Meher Medavaram, an organizer of the program, and the Secretary of AAPI. “AAPI’s this new initiative through education and awareness programs is aimed at helping save millions of lives in India,” she added. 

According to The American Cancer Society, Cervical Cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women. The cervical cancer death rate dropped significantly with the increased use of the Pap test for screening. Expressing confidence, Dr. Udaya Shivangi, Chair of AAPI’s GHS in Hyderabad, said, “Together we can all bring awareness in the community to prevent Cervical Cancer in India which is 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths in women!” 

 “Through Continuing Medical Education and non-CME seminars by experts in their fields, AAPI provides comprehensive and current reviews and guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of various disease states to reduce morbidity and mortality and achieve cost effective quality care outcomes,” said Dr. Sumul Raval, Treasurer of AAPI. 

Dr. Ravi Kolli, President of AAPI believes, “Cervical Cancer is preventable through  HPV Vaccination and Early Pap smears and cervical examinations. Justifiably so, one of our preventive campaign goals has been to provide education and vaccination for prevention of Cervical Cancer in India.”  For more information, please visit www.aapiusa.org

UN Report Says, Women In Healthcare Paid 24% Less Than Men

Although women represent 67 per cent of workers in the healthcare sector globally, they are paid 24 per cent less than their male counterparts, according to the first-ever global sectoral gender pay gap report co-developed by the International Labour Organisation and the World Health Organization.

The report documents a raw gender pay gap of roughly 20 percentage points which jumps to 24 percentage points when factors such as age, education and working time are taken into account.

It noted that Covid-19 shone a light on the critical importance of health and care workers, who were applauded and celebrated. But the pandemic also laid bare the extent of inequalities, notably the gender pay gap, that workers in this highly feminized sector have been facing for decades.

While much of this gap is unexplained, the UN agencies said it is perhaps due to discrimination towards women. The report also revealed that wages in health and care tend to be lower overall when compared with other sectors, which is consistent with the finding that wages often are lower in areas where women are predominant.

“The health and care sector has endured low pay in general, stubbornly large gender pay gaps, and very demanding working conditions. The Covid-19 pandemic clearly exposed this situation while also demonstrating how vital the sector and its workers are in keeping families, societies and economies going,” said Manuela Tomei, Director of Conditions of Work and Equality Department at the ILO, in a statement.

The report also found a wide variation in gender pay gaps in different countries, indicating that these gaps are not inevitable and that more can be done to close the divide.

Within countries, gender pay gaps tend to be wider in higher pay categories, where men are over-represented, while women are over-represented in the lower pay categories.

Mothers working in the health and care sector also appear to suffer additional penalties, with gender pay gaps significantly increasing during a woman’s reproductive years and persisting throughout the rest of her working life.

A more equitable sharing of family duties between men and women could lead to women making different job choices, according to the report.

Tomei expressed hope that the report will spark dialogue and policy action as there will be no inclusive, resilient and sustainable post-pandemic recovery without a stronger health and care sector.

“We cannot have better-quality health and care services without better and fairer working conditions, including fairer wages, for health and care workers, the majority of whom are women,” she said. (IANS)

Naureen Hassan Appointed President Of UBS Americas

Swiss financial services giant, UBS has confirmed that Naureen Hassan, an Indian American will succeed UBS Americas’ long-time chief, Tom Naratil as the President of UBS Americas in October this year. Currently, Hassan is the first VP and Chief Operating Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. UBS Americas is a subsidiary of Switzerland-based UBS Group, one of the word’s largest wealth managers. 

Tom Naratil, an industry veteran who spent more than two decades at UBS, will step down from his current role as Co-President of Global Wealth Management and President of UBS Americas. Additionally, the financial firm noted that Naureen Hassan will succeed Naratil as the President of UBS Americas while Iqbal Khan will join UBS as the President of Global Wealth Management.

Hassan began her career as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company, and prior to joining the New York Fed, she was the Chief Digital Officer of Morgan Stanley. The details shared by UBS show that Naureen Hassan, who will become a member of UBS’ Group Executive Board on 3 October 2022, will play an important role in the expansion of the company in the region. Hassan will join UBS from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York where she has been working as the First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since March 2021.

“I am delighted to welcome Naureen Hassan to UBS as President UBS Americas and to congratulate Iqbal on his expanded role as sole President Global Wealth Management. I also want to personally thank Tom for his leadership and significant contributions to UBS over the past four decades. He’s been a champion of our strategy and transformation and a vocal advocate of our diversity initiatives. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors,” Ralph Hamers, the Group Chief Executive Officer at UBS, said.

Effective 3 October 2022, Khan will become the sole President of Global Wealth Management at UBS. Khan has been associated with UBS since 2019. In the recent announcement, the Group CEO of UBS highlighted the strategic importance of the Global Wealth Management business for the company’s growth.

“Our Global Wealth Management business and our Americas region are strategically important, and both offer significant growth opportunities for us. I am confident that Naureen and Iqbal will build upon Tom’s success and continue to deliver for our clients and achieve our strategic ambitions,” Hamers added.

Mandovi Menon Among Asia Society’s Class of 2022

Mandovi Menon, creative director, writer, and media entrepreneur from India is among the Asia Society’s 40 young leaders from across the world who will form the newest class of the Asia 21 Young Leaders Network, joining an unparalleled network of over 1,000 individuals in politics, business, arts, education, sustainability, and technology. 

The Class of 2022 features a diverse mix of leaders representing 26 different countries and includes journalists, human rights advocates, entrepreneurs, fiction writers, politicians, and more. Together, they will form an integral part of the Asia Society family as the newest cohort of its signature young leaders initiative, embody the organization’s mission to navigate shared futures, and actively contribute in taking the network to new heights. 

“Drawing on their personal expertise and leveraging the collective power of the Asia 21 network, the class of 2022 will actively contribute in shaping a more peaceful, prosperous, and secure future for all,” said Asia Society President and CEO Kevin Rudd. “We are delighted to play our part in connecting individuals who share common values and desire to make this world a better place.”

Other members of the incoming class include Hajra Khan, captain of Pakistan’s national football team and founder of the Fortis Sports Academy; Fumino Sugiyama, restaurateur and LGBTQ activist and co-representative of Tokyo Rainbow Pride; Si Thura, executive director of Myanmar’s Community Partners International; Mandovi Menon, creative director, writer, and media entrepreneur from India; Sopheak Chak, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights; Alexandre Chenesseau, managing director at Evercore; Guo Dong, associate director of the Research Program on Sustainability and Management at Columbia University; and James Griffin, minister of the environment, New South Wales, Australia. You can access biographies of all 40 members of the Class of 2022 at AsiaSociety.org/Asia21.

After a two-year hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the annual Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit will resume this year with an in-person convening hosted by Asia Society Japan from December 2 to December 4, 2022. The conference, centered around the theme of “leading in a world of competing values,” will include panel discussions, lectures, and special events in Tokyo, and will feature members of the new class as well as Asia 21 alumni. They will share best practices in leadership and explore opportunities to work collaboratively across borders and sectors to create positive impact. The sessions will also address diversity, equity, and integration through art, education, policy, leadership opportunities, and entrepreneurship.

According to LinkedIn, Mandovi is a creative director, writer and media entrepreneur who is passionate about using innovative storytelling to spark meaningful change. She believes that expressing creativity freely, with integrity, is at the heart of building a more inclusive world.

She is best known for having built multiple digital platforms and campaigns of repute over the past decade, which continue to create social impact and shape Indian youth culture significantly. In 2013, she co-founded her first media company, Homegrown—a pioneering platform that changed the way we speak to and about young Indians. Under her leadership, the platform earned a reputation for diverse, original storytelling that wasn’t afraid to take on the taboo, while continuously tackling pressing issues like juvenile justice, women’s rights, and sexual health. She conceptualised and led many digital campaigns and IPs for development sector clients like UNICEF, Dasra, & No Country For Women, as well as leading brands like Nike, adidas, HDFC Life and Puma (amongst others) during her time here.

Since moving on, she’s built three other first-of-its-kind media platforms, two of which focus specifically on children’s rights. One is Apalam Chapalam—a multi-lingual storytelling channel that caters to urban, underprivileged children in lockdown. In under a year, stories have been watched 200000+ times, and reached thousands of children in need. The second is ‘The Minor Project’—a dynamic public dialogue initiative to help end violence against children for Unicef India and Leher NGO. The third is a contemporary print publication from India called ‘The Dirty Magazine,’ where she helps create its vision as its Creative Director (Culture) & Features Editor.

Mandovi also continues to pursue various independent projects developing branding, identity & strategy for clients, as well as her own work as an artist and children’s book writer. She has a series of commissioned children’s stories and poetry due to be published in the coming year.

As a creative leader, she’s been honoured on Forbes Asia’s 30 under 30 list, Vogue Global Network’s ’50 Young Trailblazers Around The World,’ Lured Magazine’s ’15 Creatives Defining the New India’ amongst many other well-known publications for her work in Media, Communications and Culture-Building in India. She’s also regularly tapped as a credible source for how youth culture & youth identity is evolving in India today.

Vatican Names 3 Women To Office That Vets Bishop Nominations

Pope Francis on Wednesday named three women to serve as members of the Vatican office that vets bishop nominations, in another first for women to have a say in Catholic Church governance.

The new members are Sister Raffaella Petrini, who already holds a high-ranking Vatican position as the secretary general of the Vatican City State, which runs the Vatican Museums and other administrative parts of the territory.

Also named was Sister Yvonne Reungoat, former superior general of the Daughters of Mary the Helper, a religious order also known as the Salesian Sisters; as well as a laywoman, Maria Lia Zervino, president of a Catholic women’s umbrella group, the World Union of Female Catholic Organizations.

The dicastery’s members, who include cardinals, bishops and now women, meet periodically to evaluate proposed new bishops whose names are forwarded by Vatican ambassadors.

The Dicastery for Bishops oversees the work of most of the church’s 5,300 bishops, who run dioceses around the world. The dicastery’s members, who include cardinals, bishops and now women, meet periodically to evaluate proposed new bishops whose names are forwarded by Vatican ambassadors. The ambassadors usually come up with three candidates for each opening after consulting with local church members.

The pope still makes the final call and can bypass candidates proposed by his ambassadors and then vetted by the dicastery. But the addition of women into the consultation process is nevertheless significant and a response to calls to break up the all-male clerical hierarchy of the Holy See and demands that women have a greater say in church decision-making.

Church doctrine reserves the priesthood for men, given Christ’s apostles were male. Women have often complained they have a second-class status in the church, even though they do the lion’s share of its work running schools, hospitals and passing the faith from generation to generation.

Pakistan Is 2nd Worst Country On Global Gender Gap Index

Pakistan has been ranked as the second-worst country in terms of gender parity, placed 145 out of 146 states, in the latest Global Gender Gap Report released by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, Dawn reported.

The report ranks 146 countries, of which the top five are Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden, while the five worst ones are Afghanistan, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran and Chad.

According to the report, the global gender gap has been closed by 68.1 per cent in 2022. “At the current rate, it will take 132 years to reach full parity. This represents a slight four-year improvement compared to the 2021 estimate (136 years to parity).”

However, the report noted that in the trends leading up to 2020, the gender gap was set to close within 100 years.

Pakistan was among the five countries with a gender gap greater than 5 per cent, with the other countries being Qatar, Azerbaijan, China and India, Dawn reported.

The report stated that Pakistan has closed 56.4 per cent of the gender gap in 2022 — the highest overall level of parity the country has posted since the report launched in 2006.

Pakistan was also ranked as the second-worst country in the region. According to the report, Bangladesh, which is ranked 71 globally, is the top country in the region, followed by Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Dawn reported.

South Asia has the widest gender gap on the economic participation and opportunity subindex, having closed only 35.7 per cent of it, the report stated. While the overall score improved compared to last year, “considerable country divergences” downgraded South Asia’s ranking among regions.

“Highly populated countries are for the most part driving variation within this subindex. For example, increases in the share of women in professional and technical roles were most notable in Nepal, Bangladesh and India. On the other hand, the shares in Iran, Pakistan and Maldives regressed, with less impact on overall regional performance.”

South Asia has one of the lowest regional gender parity scores for the health and survival subindex, at 94.2 per cent, the report stated.

“In this subindex, only Sri Lanka has closed its gender gap, while Afghanistan, Pakistan and India are among the worst-performing countries globally.

South Asia has the fourth-highest regional performance on the political empowerment subindex, having achieved 26.3 per cent of gender parity. The movement stems in part from the reduction of gender gap scores in countries where women’s share of years in political leadership for the past 50 years is reduced, for example in India, according to the report, Dawn reported. (IANS)

Reema Rasool From Long Island Runs for U.S. Congress on Democratic Ballot

Just as the first Muslim American female, Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel, uses her super powers to take the world by storm in the Marvel Comic Universe on Disney+, real-life Muslim American superhero Reema Rasool fights against inequality and advocates for justice on behalf of her almost 800,000 constituents on the Northern Shore of Long Island and Northeast Queens. 

Rasool is a first generation American, the daughter of Drs. Shama and Ayaz Rasool, who immigrated to NY-3 from Srinagar, Kashmir in 1974. A life-long NY-3 resident, Rasool is a serial entrepreneur and successful business woman who advocates for small business owners. A mother of two teenage boys, Rasool is the FIRST Muslim American woman on the ballot for the Nassau County Democrats on Long Island, where she ran for the Oyster Bay Town Board in 2021.

Rasool is a graduate of New York University and the founder of South Asian Young Women Entrepreneurs (SAY WE), a national not-for-profit trade association that educates, supports, and advocates for women in business. Rasool is also the founder and principal of LUXE Consulting Groupe, an international financial marketing firm that specializes in the niche field of U.S. infrastructure investments by foreign nationals. LUXE has offices in India and the UAE.

Rasool is running for Congress to lower taxes, support small business owners by redefining the tax code, fight for education equity for children, keep communities safe, and ensure healthcare for all. The Democratic Primary for New York’s 3rd Congressional District is slated for Tuesday, August 23, 2022. Rasool is running against FIVE other candidates. To better understand her campaign platforms, please click HERE.

Kanchana and Jagadeesan V. Poola Honored as The South Asian Times-Couple of the Decade By Mayor Bill de Blasio

Kanchana and Jagadeesan V. Poola have been declared as “The South Asian Times-Couple of the Decade” during the 35th Annual Federation of Tamil Associations in North America (FeTNA) Convention in Queens, New York on July 2nd, 2002.  FeTNA is an umbrella organization of all Tamil Sanghams in North America.

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio presented the award and acknowledged the couple for their social, cultural, and philanthropic deeds for the larger society in the USA. 

Kanchana Poola, a community leader and philanthropist, best described as the unassuming power-house of the Indian community, along with her husband, Jagdish, a highly successful businessman, were honored for their accomplishments, and service to the larger Indian American community. 

During the solemn ceremony attended by community leaders, diplomats, political leaders and hundreds of community members, including the President of FeTNA V. Caldwell, President-elect Bala Swaminathan, NYTS President Ram Mohan, NYTS leaders Ranga Purushothaman, K Kumaraja, The SA Times-Person of the year 2020 Ravi Bhooplapur, Eric Kumar, Anusuya, Amudha, and Anand Poola along with Nimmi and Kamlesh Mehta on the glittering stage of St. John’s University. The guest also includes Members of Parliament in India from Tamil Nadu. Over 1700 delegates attended the convention.

Kanchana Poola, who had served as the President of New York Tamil Sangam (NYTS) for several years, currently serves as an advisor of the decades old Tamill Sangam. She is a Life member of FeTNA and has been associated with American Tamil Entrepreneurs Association. 

Among the several philanthropic initiatives, Kanchana and Jagadeesan Poola have contributed generously to the Harvard Tamil Chair Fund.  They are Co-Chairs of The Asian Era and Aksharam magazines. In her acceptance speech, Kanchana Poola said her father instilled in her the value of giving —  for education, for the poor and the needy. The Poola couple were also honored by the NYTS.

“We are pleased to announce Smt. Kanchana and Shri Jagadeesan V. Poola as “The South Asian Times-Couple of the Decade” recognizing and honoring their exemplary and significant contributions to the community at large over the years. This week the South Asian Times also came up with a Special Section featuring the ‘Couple of the Decade’,” Kamlesh Mehta, Publisher of the South Asian Times said.

Nimmi Mehta presented flowers and Rajasthani bandhej saree to Kanchana Poola, and Kamlesh Mehta presented a shawl and flowers to Jagadeesan Poola as they welcomed them for the honor. Ex-Mayor De Blasio presented the plaque to Couple of the Decade. Mr. and Mrs. Poola gracefully accepted the recognition thanking The South Asian Times, FeTNA, New York Tamil Sangham, and Ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Kamlesh Mehta, in his vote of thanks, appreciated FeTNA for providing the facility, Ex-Mayor DeBlasio for taking the time out, Eric Kumar and Mrs. Totee for extending the help in organizing the event and the Founding Editor Parveen Chopra for the special feature and profiling the Couple of the Decade.

Ketanji Brown Jackson, 1st Black Woman Is Now A US Supreme Court Justice

Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in Thursday, June 30th as an associate justice to the United States Supreme Court, making history as the first Black woman on the highest court in the nation.

Jackson, 51, joins the court as its 116th member amid a time of heightened scrutiny of the court over recent decisions and the American public’s low confidence in the Supreme Court.

“With a full heart, I accept the solemn responsibility of supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States and administering justice without fear or favor, so help me God. I am truly grateful to be part of the promise of our great Nation,” Jackson said in a statement.  

In April, she was confirmed 53-47 by the Senate to the high court after a series of contentious hearings, where Republicans tried to paint her as soft on crime and Democrats praised her judicial record. During the confirmation hearing, she vowed to be fair and impartial as justice in deciding the law. 

“I have been a judge for nearly a decade now, and I take that responsibility and my duty to be independent very seriously. I decide cases from a neutral posture. I evaluate the facts, and I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me, without fear or favor, consistent with my judicial oath,” she said in her opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I know that my role as a judge is a limited one — that the Constitution empowers me only to decide cases and controversies that are properly presented. And I know that my judicial role is further constrained by careful adherence to precedent.”

President Joe Biden, who nominated Jackson but was not in attendance during her swearing in as he returned from the G7 and NATO summits in Europe, said in a statement later Thursday that “her historic swearing in today represents a profound step forward for our nation, for all the young, Black girls who now see themselves reflected on our highest court, and for all of us as Americans.”

Standing on the shoulders of her role models

Born in Washington, DC, on September 14, 1970, Jackson was raised in Miami, where she attended high school and participated in debate tournaments. Her love for debate led to her Harvard University, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1992 and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1996. She was also supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review.

After college, the Harvard Law graduate not only clerked for Breyer but also Judge Bruce M. Selya, a federal judge in Massachusetts, and US District Judge Patti Saris in Massachusetts. She also worked as an assistant special counsel for the United States Sentencing Commission from 2003-2005 before becoming an assistant federal public defender and later vice chair and commissioner of the commission. In 2013, she was confirmed a United States District Judge under then-President Barack Obama before being confirmed a judge for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 2021. 

As a judge in DC — where some of the most politically charged cases are filed — Jackson issued notable rulings touching on Congress’ ability to investigate the White House. As a district court judge, she wrote a 2019 opinion siding with House lawmakers who sought the testimony of then-White House Counsel Don McGahn. Last year, she was on the unanimous circuit panel that ordered disclosure of certain Trump White House documents to the House January 6 committee.

A former federal public defender, Jackson sat on lower US courts for nearly a decade. As a judge, some other notable cases she has in her record are a 2018 case brought federal employee unions where she blocked parts of executive orders issued by then-President Donald Trump, and a case where she ruled against Trump policies that expand the categories of non-citizens who could be subject to expedited removal procedures without being able to appear before a judge.

Jackson penned more than 500 opinions in the eight years she spent on the district court.

During her Senate confirmation hearings, Republicans heavily scrutinized Jackson’s record, asserting she was too lenient in sentencing child pornography cases in which Jackson and Democrats forcefully pushed back on the accusations. At one point during the hearings, Jackson became visibly emotional and wiped away tears as New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, talked about her path to the nomination and the obstacles she has had to overcome.

“My parents grew up in a time in this country in which Black children and White children were not allowed to go to school together,” Jackson told Booker after the senator asked what values her parents had impressed upon her. “They taught me hard work. They taught me perseverance. They taught me that anything is possible in this great country.”

After her confirmation to the high court, Jackson marked her historic nomination in a speech at the White House in which she celebrated the “hope and promise” of a nation and said her confirmation “all Americans can take great pride” in.

“I am standing on the shoulders of my own role models, generations of Americans who never had anything close to this kind of opportunity, but who got up every day and went to work believing in the promise of America. Showing others through their determination and, yes, their perseverance that good, good things can be done in this great country,” Jackson said. Quoting the late poet Maya Angelou, she continued, “I do so now while bringing the gifts my ancestors gave. I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”

She has emphasized her family and faith, saying her life “had been blessed beyond measure.” She has been married to Patrick, whom she met in college, for 25 years and they have two children, Leila and Talia. (Courtesy: CNN.COM)

Khushi Patel From UK Is Crowned Miss India Worldwide 2022

Khushi Patel, a biomedical student from England was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2022 during a glittering ceremony of the longest-running Indian beauty pageant outside of India, on Sunday, June 25th, 2002 at the Royal Alberts Palace in New Jersey, organized by the India Festival Committee (IFC), which has been running the competition for the past 29 years.

Vaidehi Dongre of Michigan was declared the first runner-up, while the second runner-up title went to Shrutika Mane of Australia. The top 12 competitors at the pageant were the champions of other international competitions.

Patel, a biomedical sciences major with a psychology minor, expressed her happiness at having won the Miss India Worldwide 2022 competition. The model, who also has a clothing company, intends to participate in numerous charity events and support developing nations throughout the course of the upcoming year.

The Miss Teen India Worldwide 2022 title went to Roshani Razack from Guyana, while Navya Paingol, a University of Michigan, Ann Arbor student was the first runner-up. The second runner-up award went to Chiquita Malaha of Suriname. School teacher Swathy Vimalkumar of Connecticut won the Mrs. India Worldwide title.

Patel, who is majoring in biomedical sciences and minoring in psychology, expressed her happiness at winning the Miss India Worldwide 2022 competition. The model also has a clothing company, and “intends to participate in numerous charity events and assist third-world countries over the next twelve months,” as reported by the Press Trust of India. Over the next one year, the model, who also owns a clothing store, plans to do a lot of charity events and help third-world countries.

This year’s pageant was hosted three years after the last one, which was held in September 2019 at the Leela Hotel in Mumbai. “Pandemic has changed the way we think and live,” said IFC chairman Dharmatma Saran.

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, DharmatmaSaran, 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 organi¬zation 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.”

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, nowincorporating and having membershipfrom 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.

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.

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.

Most of these women have set their sights on professions like medicine, public relations and the law. The contest gives 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 andguides 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.

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.”

“AAPI has created a great track record, initiating several programs benefitting AAPI members and the larger community,” Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, Declares in Her Farewell Address

(San Antonio, TX. June 26, 2022) “This year, AAPI has created a great track record,” declared Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, the immediate Past President of AAPI in her farewell presidential address on the final day of her Presidency during the 40th annual convention of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) in San Antonio, TX on June 25th, 2022. “Our leadership team has worked diligently on so many wonderful projects and activities including educational, philanthropic, legislative, networking, and many more activities benefitting our members and communities. This has been possible because of the incredible work and support from the dedicated team of leaders, members, and our supporting office staff,” the only 4th woman President of AAPI in the four decades long history of AAPI, said.

During a solemn ceremony, she handed over the presidency to Dr. Ravi Kolli as the next President of AAPI, the largest Ethnic Medical Organization in the United States, representing over 120,,000 physicians of Indian Origin, who have grown stronger and have become a powerful force and stronger voice  in the United States making a unique identity for themselves. Dr. Gotimukula gave the gavel to Dr. Ravi Kolli during the presidential induction ceremony attended by over 1,000 AAPI delegates and distinguished guests.

In her inaugural address a year ago, Dr. Gotimukula, the leader of the largest ethnic medical organization in the United States, had said: “I like to hope. I am a passionate people-person with a smiling calm personality. I strive to be an empathetic team leader and good listener, always seeking and doing my best in achieving the set goals. Thanks  Dr. Gotimukula had promised “to make AAPI a premium  healthcare leader, working towards reforms to the current healthcare system to help reduce the healthcare costs. I want to build a strong support system to protect the IMG physicians and their issues and help with physician burnout. I will further the existing educational goals and charitable goals and engage member physicians to support these goals.”

At the end of her Presidency, this soft spoken, gentle and visionary leader, Dr. Gotimukula, the only 4th woman president in the four decades old history of AAPI, has been proud that under her presidency, AAPI has been strengthened and grown, and reached newer heights.

Education has been a key area where Dr. Gotimukula’s focus has been during her year-long Presidency. “More than 45 CME credit hours have been provided by outstanding speakers all year and provided cutting edge CMEs to members.” She thanked the Chicago Medical Society, Dr. Vemuri Murthy, Dr. Amit Chakraborty, CME Chair  and Dr. Sagar Galvankar, & Co-Chair for their diligent efforts. In addition, AAPI members were offered Financial educational sessions on ways to wisely invest and improve their financial health. Thanks to our sponsors who supported these sessions. Dr. Sunita Kanumuri and team  were instrumental in organizing Healthcare Reforms Webinars, addressing health equity and disparities and physician burnout.

“Latte with Legislators” has been a new and pioneering program under Dr. Gotimukula’s leadership. Senator Dick Durbin, the High Ranking Senator from Illinois along with Rep. Mary Newman, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthy, Rep. Danny Davis, Rep. Don Young, Rep. Alma Adams, and Rep. Frank Pallone addressed the AAPI members exclusively and answered questions on healthcare reforms and ways to make healthcare affordable, addressing the Medicare payment cuts for physicians, IMG issues of Green Card Backlogs, etc. Dr. Suresh Reddy and Dr. Sumul Raval organized these productive sessions for members.

“The Leadership Seminar on “Advocacy as a Critical Component of Patient Care: Why Physician Advocacy Matters and How to Succeed it” was addressed by Clarence Brown, MD, and Erin O’Brien, was coordinated by Dr. Meher Medavaram and the Illinois State Medical Society,’ said Dr. Gotimukula. The AAPI Women’s Committee organized two-panel discussions with motivational speakers on the “Domestic Violence Awareness” and “Women’s Health and Wellbeing,” which were coordinated by Dr. Seema Arora and the entire women’s committee.

Under her leadership, AAPI had two Family CME Trips: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania in July 2021, and to Peru in April 2022. “Both were beautiful rejuvenating breaks for our hardworking physicians and their families. We provided a total of 10 CME credits to the attendees during these trips,” Dr. Gotimukula said.

The Global Health Summit held in Hyderabad in January 20022 has been a major achievement under Dr. Gotimukula, focusing on “Prevention is better than Cure.” The GHS included a well-organized CEO forum with a panel of eminent healthcare leaders from the US and India, reinforcing the need for preventive care rather than disease management, to control the non-communicable diseases which are the biggest silent killers.

Dr. Gotimukula said, “AAPI presented a report to the Prime Minister of India with an emphasis on initiating an “Indian Preventive Health Task Force” with the development of Annual Preventive Healthcare Screening Guidelines for early disease detection and prevention, emphasizing disease prevention as more vital than disease cure. GHS organized panel discussions on medical education reforms to help establish Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Palliative Medicine specialty PG courses in every medical college and to change the examination pattern from essay questions to all MCQ testing. The Women’s Forum with the theme ‘Women Who Inspire’ with inspirational speakers who came from both continents was outstanding under the leadership of Dr. Udaya Shivangi and Dr. Dwaraknatha Reddy Duvvuru.”

Dr. Gotimukula led AAPI leadership was able to establish Collaboration and multiple medical organizations – ACP – FSMB – ECFMG – NMC (India) – IMA (India)  GAPIO – UNICEF – Red Cross Society – CWC – Lifestyle Medicine – MDTok – Apollo 2nd Consult. “These connections and collaborations are vital for us to stay connected and make a powerful impact on our communities,” Dr. Gotimukula  assured.

A major theme under Dr. Gotimukula  has been initiating programs and activities that benefit not only AAPI members, but also the larger society. “It’s been an immense satisfaction to me leading AAPI’s charitable activities this year with service as one of our motto Dr. Gotimukula said. “Despite the Covid challenges of Delta and Omicron waves, in spite of limited resources, AAPI blood donation drives were done in over 30 cities with several of them organizing multiple events. . The same cities remained motivated and doing another round of blood donation drives. With the Red Cross Society partnership, we can reach many more cities in near future and continue the good work.”

Dr. Gotimukula had special emphasis on “Adopt a village” Rural Preventive Healthcare Screening Initiative in India, where free health screening camps with free physician consultations were done in 29 Indian rural villages in the middle of Delta and Omicron waves with additional 25 villages are pending to get initiated soon in all states. In her efforts for “Free for Life” Fight Human Trafficking in India, AAPI raised and donated $75,000 during the Fall Fund Raising Gala with the AAPI Nashville host chapter at our Fall GB meeting, Dr. Dotimukula said.

During the Global Health Summit in January 2022, an Awareness and Prevention Initiative for Cervical Cancer in India was conducted. AAPI donated 100 free HPV vaccinations to needy children in India. During the Spring GB meeting and Gala an awareness for Women’s Breast Cancer was conducted. Spring Fundraising gala along with IAMA/ IAMA CF-supported free Mammograms for underserved women in Chicago was also completed. AAPI supported “H2H Foundation” (Founded by Padma Shri Padma Bhushan, Little Master Sunil Gavaskar) to perform heart surgery for the poor and needy children. Each surgery costs $2,000. Fundraising for this event is done during the AAPI convention in San Antonio to support 25 – 50 needy below poverty kids born with congenital heart disease.

Continuing the efforts towards the Covid-19 Fund – Post-Covid Relief Activities, AAPI has raised over $5 million during the delta wave in India. “The ongoing Covid-19 relief work in India is in progress, donating lifesaving equipment to support critically ill patients – Biochemical Analyzers, Ventilators, Oxygen Flow Meters, and Oxygen Plants,” Dr. Gotimukula pointed out. “The funds will continue to support Covid patients in rural hospitals. AAPI is prepared to support and help any deadly Covid wave in near future in India.”

Describing it to be a “historic 40th annual convention celebrating 40 years of AAPI and India’s 75 years of Independence in collaboration with the Indian Consulate / Embassy with invited dignitaries from the US and India,” Dr. Gotimukula expressed gratitude to “the entire AAPI leadership and members for their participation in AAPI activities, making AAPI stronger than ever and bringing a strong impact to the communities we live in and globally as well.”

The leadership team under her Presidency included: Dr. Ravi Kolli, President-Elect of AAPI; Dr. Anjana Samaddar , Vice President; Dr. Satheesh Kathula Secretary; Dr. Krishan Kumar, Treasurer of AAPI. Dr. Kusum Punjabi served as the Chair of BOT. Dr. Gotimukula honored Dr. Udaya Shivangi, Dr. Sujeeth Punnam, Dr. Dwarkanath Reddy and AAPI’s Legal Advisor with Presidential Awards for their dedication and support during her presidency.

Dr. Anjana Sammadar, who has been serving AAPI as the Vice President in the current year also did not face elections, as she automatically becomes the President-Elect of AAPI for the coming year. Dr. Ravi Kolli will have a dynamic and diverse team comprising of Dr. Anjana Samaddar as the President-Elect, Dr. Satheesh Kathula as the Vice President; Dr. Meherbala Medavaram as the Secretary; Dr. Sumul Raval as the Treasurer; Dr. V. Ranga – as the Chair, Board of Trustees; Dr. Pooja Kinkhabwala – President, Young Physicians Section; and, Dr. Ammu Susheela, President, Medical Student/Residents & Fellows Section. Dr. Gotimukula will continue to guide AAPI as the Immediate past President of AAPI. For more details, please visit:  www.aapiconvention.org  and www.aapiusa.org

Dharmatma Saran Plans Miss/Mrs./Teen India Worldwide 2022 In New Jersey

Imbibing Indian values, traditions and culture among the youth of Indian origin through Worldwide Pageants, under the dynamic leadership of Dharmatma Saran, chairman and founder of the New York based India Cultural Festival (IFC), the 29th annual Miss India Worldwide, the 5th Mrs. India Worldwide and the 2nd Miss Teen India Worldwide is being organized at the Royal Alberts Palace in Edison, New Jersey on Friday, June 24th, 2022.

To be attended by dozens of talented and adorable young women of Indian origin from around the world, the pageants will be a treat to the hearts and souls of all participants, showcasing their talents, skills and love for art, music, philanthropy and Indian culture.

The young beauty queens will come together on stage to celebrate Indian culture and traditions during the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence, after a weeklong intense practice with celebrity Bollywood choreographers Sandip Soparrkar and Aleysia Rau, New York City Tour and pre-contests.

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 organi¬zation 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 associa¬tion 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 con¬testants. 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 de¬tour 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 char¬ity. 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 perform¬ing 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 bound¬less Festival of good. The Miss India Worldwide is such a hallmark, it is not just a beauty pageant.

Sopen Shah Nominated By President Biden As U.S. Attorney For Wisconsin

Sopen Shah has been named as a US Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, which includes Madison, and other areas in the state and will be based in Milwaukee.  As per a White House statement, Shah and the other nominees were chosen for their “devotion to enforcing the law, their professionalism, their experience and credentials, their dedication to pursuing equal justice for all,

Shah was among the attorneys nominated by the bipartisan Wisconsin Federal Nominating Commission, headed by Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh. She would succeed Scott Blader as the Madison U.S. attorney. Blader, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, resigned in 2021. Longtime Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim O’Shea is currently in charge of the office on a temporary basis.

Shah is a 2015 graduate of Yale Law School and an associate attorney in the Madison office of the law firm of Perkins Coie, where she specializes in business litigation and in appeals, issues and strategy, according to the firm’s website. Last year, she represented the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin in a voting case which, in a span of three weeks, went from U.S. District Court in Madison to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Shah also served as a law clerk for Judge Debra Ann Livingston on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Amul R Thapar on the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Shah has been a Counsel at Perkins Coie LLP since 2019. Previously, she was a deputy solicitor general of Wisconsin from 2017 to 2019. If Shah is confirmed by the US Senate, she would be only the second woman to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Madison after Peg Lautenschlager, who led the office during the presidency of Bill Clinton, from 1993 to 2001.

Elizabeth II’s 70 Years As Queen Of England And Head Of The Church Of England

If you want to understand a nation, listen to its national anthem. “The Star-Spangled Banner” urges Americans to look out for the flag that waves over “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” “La Marseillaise,” the anthem of republican France, calls its citizens to arms. But the UK’s national anthem is a prayer, urging God to “save” — grant long life to — the queen.

It’s a clear sign that in Britain, the head of state, the country and faith are inextricably linked. This week “God Save the Queen” has been ringing out across Britain as the country has marked the 70th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth II, the longest-serving English monarch.

When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1952, Britain was still being rebuilt after the end of World War II and its heavy bombing campaigns; Winston Churchill was prime minister and the country still had an empire. The young queen’s coronation suggested a new era — as the millions of television sets purchased to watch the live broadcast of the ceremony from London’s Westminster Abbey signaled.

But the coronation itself was steeped in tradition and confirmed the continuing intertwining of the monarchy and religion. The ceremony can be traced back more than 1,000 years and involves the anointing of the monarch who commits his or herself to a life of service to God and the people through sacred promises. One of those, to uphold the Protestant religion, is also a reminder of the religious divisions of the past.

The queen’s two titles of Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England, given to her at her accession, also owe their existence to Reformation history. Defender of the Faith was first bestowed on Henry VIII by a grateful pope for the English king’s rebuttal of the teachings of Martin Luther, a title that Henry defiantly held onto even after breaking with Rome to found the Church of England. He made himself head, while his daughter, the first Elizabeth, called herself Supreme Governor of the Church of England, saying Jesus Christ was its head.

Today, the role of Supreme Governor indicates the British monarch retains a constitutional role regarding the established Church of England but does not govern or manage it. The modern Elizabeth has left that to the bishops, although she addresses general synods and has a role as a listener and guide to her primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

But while Defender of the Faith has been over the years an inherited title and little more, Elizabeth II appears to have embraced it and made it her own, speaking out very openly in recent years about her own Christian faith and explaining how it has provided the framework of her life.

She has done this mostly through the medium of her annual Christmas message, a tradition begun by her grandfather, George V, in 1932, and continued by her father, George VI. Her early Christmas Day broadcasts were platitudinous — the holidays as an occasion for family was a frequent theme. In 2000, however, she spoke of the Millennium as the 2,000-year anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, “who was destined to change the course of our history.”

She went on to speak very personally and frankly about her faith: “For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.” Similar sentiments have been aired at Christmas ever since.

God did get significant mention along the way. In 1947, when she was 21 and six years from becoming queen, Elizabeth broadcast a public commitment, saying: “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service … God help me to make good my vow.”

As she planned her coronation with dress fittings, selecting music and getting the crown jewels from their display in the Tower of London, there were also sessions with then-Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher, who provided her with a book of special prayers — a volume she keeps to this day among her most treasured possessions.

The spiritual foundations of the British monarchy are to be found in Scripture’s ideas about humility and wisdom being the great virtues of kings. Then there are the Gospels, with accounts of Jesus, the servant king, who has come to serve others. Key passages on this theme, from the Gospels of John and Matthew, are read at a Maundy Thursday service where the queen distributes gifts to elderly people, an ancient ceremony meant to imitate Christ serving his disciples by washing their feet.

The queen also leads the nation at regular services honoring the war dead, or offering thanksgiving for her jubilees, but worship is not, for her, only a public show. She has attended church regularly throughout her life and is said to have an uncomplicated, Bible and prayer-book based faith.

That love of the Bible was something she shared with the American evangelist Billy Graham, whom she invited to preach for her on several occasions (though the close friendship the Netflix series “The Crown” suggested between them seems far-fetched). She relies on the deans of Windsor — the clerics who run St George’s Chapel, at Windsor Castle, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married — for spiritual solace.

Her husband, the late Duke of Edinburgh, and her son, Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, always displayed a more intellectual curiosity about religion, including a great interest in both other Christian denominations and other faiths. Over the years, as Britain has become increasingly diverse, Elizabeth has expressed an increasing openness as well. She has encouraged members of all faiths to be present at great church occasions during her reign and in the annual Commonwealth Day service held at Westminster Abbey. She regularly meets different faith leaders, including five popes — a remarkable turnaround for a monarchy that once broke so spectacularly from Rome — though she has not gone so far as to ask other religious leaders to play any sort of role for her, such as be a chaplain.

There has been talk of disestablishment of the Church of England, even in Anglican circles, with some concern it privileges one religious group above others in an increasingly diverse nation. Disestablishment would unravel the connection between the monarch, the Church of England and the state, which survives in Britain since the time of the Reformation. Change would mean the removal of Church of England bishops from the House of Lords, although there has been little call for this from other faiths. Rather, they prefer representation of faith at the highest levels of the British Parliament.

But that issue of privileging seemed apparent when the queen spoke at Lambeth Palace in 2012, suggesting the Church of England might act as a sort of umbrella under which other faiths might shelter, by saying Anglicanism “has a duty to protect the free practice of all other faiths in this country.”

The importance of other faiths was expressed Friday morning at the Platinum Jubilee thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral, in London, where not only leaders of Christian denominations but of other faiths were present, including Buddhists and Jews.

One major difference at today’s thanksgiving service compared to previous ones for her reign’s major anniversaries was the frequent references to looking after God’s creation. In the twilight years of her reign, she is coming to share Prince Charles’ interest in the environment, but placing it firmly within her Christian concerns.

Attention is inevitably turning now to the next reign, with speculation about how much of an Anglican ceremony the next coronation will be. The Church of England will undoubtedly take the lead, but just as Princess Diana’s Westminster Abbey funeral combined tradition and innovation, as Commonwealth Day services have done for years, the next coronation will most likely offer that blend, too.

Charles once said he would become Defender of Faith, rather than Defender of the Faith, expressing concern that he needed to recognize the changing religious nature of Britain. He has since retracted this, indicating he will adopt the traditional title. Even so, he has engaged frequently with other faiths, particularly Judaism and Islam.

His interest in Islam has in part been aesthetic, with a particular appreciation for Islamic art and architecture, but he has also commented on its metaphysical, holistic view of the world and humanity’s place in it, even as he has also expressed concerns about the radicalization of young people. While this interest in Islam and an awareness of the growing population of Muslims in Britain has led to his support for Islamic organizations, such as the Centre for Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford, in more recent years he has reined back on it a little and instead become far more outspoken about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.

The Prince of Wales has undoubtedly been innovative in his work, creating charities that work with young people, and championing the environment. But he likes tradition, too, be it church music or the Book of Common Prayer. All signs are that his coronation will be like the man, with an innovative sheen on ancient tradition and a sincere regard for faith in diverse Britain.

 Catherine Pepinster is the author of “Defenders of the Faith – the British Monarchy, Religion and the Next Coronation,” published by Hodder and Stoughton.

Pamela Kwatra From New Jersey Honored With The Lifetime Achievement Award

Pamela  Kwatra, a trailblazer and the only Indian American woman recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor award in 2008, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award during a solemn awards ceremony jointly organized by The Consulate General of India in New York and The Indo-American Press Club (IAPC), the largest organization of Indian descent journalists operating in North America , at the Indian Consulate, New York, NY on Saturday, May 21st, 2022.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was the guest of honor at the IAPC Induction Ceremony and the Awards Nite Gala presented the award at the Grand Ballroom of the Consulate in New York, which was attended by several community leaders, elected officials, diplomats, media personnel and professionals.

Calling her a “highly accomplished leader” Mayor Bill de Blasio praised her contributions to the larger American society and to the Indian American community. Mayor Bill de Blasio showered praises on Ms. Kwatra for taking up on herself a key role in his election campaign that no other individual has been able to do.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, while congratulating Pam Kwatra on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, described her as “a trailblazing businesswoman, a community leader, and a political force with executive chops. No wonder she worked on important projects in my administration at my request. I also came to know that her involvement with the community spans across culture, art & literature – preserving and promoting abroad the rich and varied culture of India.”

While extending his greetings to IAPC, the Mayor said, “Congratulations are due to IAPC for doing a good job, to Kamlesh Mehta, its new Board Chairman, new committee members and all the honorees. We will continue to support this media organization.”

Eric Kumar, a major supporter to IAPC introduced Mayor Bill DeBlasio. In his address, he described how closely Mayor Bill DeBlasio worked with the Indian American communities and made a law to support Ethnic Media.

Ambassador Randhir Jaiswal, Consul General of India, who was the chief guest presented the award to the other awardees with the Lifetime Achievement Award, including  Dr. Thomas Abraham, Dr. Sudhir Parikh, and Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, President of AAPI.

The awards ceremony was part of the Induction Ceremony of IAPC’s new office bearers, including Chairman Kamlesh C Mehta and Secretary Ajay Ghosh of IAPC Board of Directors, and members of the IAPC National Executive Committee led by President Aashmeeta Yogiraj and General Secretary CG Daniel.

In her acceptance Speech, Ms. Kwatra said, “I am truly honored to be chosen by the Indo-American Press Club for the Life Time Achievement Award. Your presence and this special occasion, receiving this honor makes its truly a memorable moment and I want to thank Kamlesh ji and the entire IAPC office bearers for bestowing this honor on me today, and wishing you, all the very best.”

While urging the media to a more active role, Ms. Kwatra said, “While the political and racial differences divide us, the role of the media is all the more important in keeping us all aware of and educating us about the need for a just and equitable world.”

While commenting on one of the hot button issues that is deeply diving the nation, Ms. Kawatra said, “We are concerned about the media reports about the Supreme Court draft to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide, based on the Constitution that protects a pregnant woman’s right to choose abortion without excessive government restriction. We are worried about women being denied the right to her own health needs.”

She called upon Media to play a very critical role, “especially in these challenging timers, as the world is faced with the once in a century health crisis with the ongoing pandemic.  Organization such as the IAPC can play a major role in helping heal and unite the nation. Wishing you all the very best. Congratulations to all honorees today and best wishes to the new leadership of IAPC.”

Pam Kwatra has a proud record of civic-social and professional accomplishments and recognition. She was the first woman to launch an Indian American advertising, marketing and PR company, Kripari Marketing in 1992. Pam always keeps the interest of the community and society above personal interest. She has supported numerous community projects for decades and has personally supported many Indian victims of domestic violence in the US.  A member of and leader of several Indian American organizations,  active in politics and grass root organizations, Ms. Kwatra is a graduate of Delhi University.

Under “South Asians 4 Better New York” (SA4BNY) founded by her, she has held fundraisers for Gov. Cuomo, Public Advocate “Tish” James, Congresswoman Grace Meng, District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, John Liu, and NYC Council candidate Ali Najmi. Her involvement with the community also spans across culture, art & literature – preserving and promoting the rich and varied culture of India, abroad.

Ms. Kwatra has served on NYC boards like Mayor’s Fund, City Center of Music & Drama Inc., New York City Ballet, David H Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. She was also nominated to the NYC Democratic National Committee 2016 Convention. Pam has launched several successful cultural programs and dance dramas at the United Nations. She also organized two book reading events at the UN – Kiran Bedi’s biography and Kathleen Kennedy’s “Failing America’s Faithful”.

She is the recipient of “Mother Teresa Award” in 2011 in India. Special Recognition at the event was given to: Ambassador Randhir Jaiswal, Consul General of India in New York for his vision, dedication and community service; Mayor Bill De Blasio, Former Mayor Of New York City, for Excellence in Public Service and Leadership; Dr. Prabhakar Kore, Member of Parliament, India, for his distinguished services in Education and Public Services; and Kevin Thomas, New York State Senator For excellence in Community Service and leadership.

The induction ceremony was attended by elite members and community leaders, including, Padma Shri Dr. Nori, Kenny Desai of FIA,  Girish Patel of BAPS, Girish Shah of Jain Samaj, Babu Stephen, former Chairman of IAPC, Shashi Malik of Long Island Association. Harish Thakkar of the American Indian Association, Ravi Bhooplapur of Xavier University,  Dr. Neeta Jain, Nilima Madan, Darshan Singh Bagga, Arvind Vora of Shanti Fund,  and Vipul Dev, the Consular  at CGI.

At AAPI’s Popular Women’s Forum Trailblazing Titans To Share Their Tales

“During the 40th annual convention in San Antonio, Tx leading women leaders in pharmaceuticals, academic and private settings will inspires us with how they tackled the hurdles,” said Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, the only 4th Woman President of AAPI in the four decades-long history, a Woman Leader, who has made huge contributions to AAPI in her own unassuming manner, while taking AAPI to newer heights.

Organized by the Texas Chapter of AAPI, the 40th Annual Convention and Scientific Sessions of the American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI) will be held from June 23-26, 2022 in the historic city of San Antonio, Texas

The Women’s Forum organized by The Convention Committee led by Dr. Chaithanya Mallikarjun, Chair with its Members: Dr. Heta Javeri, Dr. Ruchi Kaushik, Dr. Hetal Gadhia, and Dr. Dharam Kaushik, has put together a galaxy of successful women, who will share with the AAPI delegates their own stories of growing up and facing challenges with conviction and courage, and have today become role models for other women around the world.

Dr. Chaithanya Mallikarjun, Chair of Women’s Forum Convention Committee, while announcing that the much anticipated Women’s Forum will be held on Saturday June 25th said, “The Women’s Forum will have a panel of “Women Who Inspire” from all walks of life who have achieved extraordinary feats in each of their phenomenal lives. This exhilarating forum has been organized with the objective of bringing together some of the most accomplished women under one roof who are role models for all other women around the world.”

The confirmed panelists at the prestigious Women’s Forum include: Dr. Juby A. Jacob-Nara, a Public Health Physician, Vice President and Head of Global Medical Respiratory Allergy & Gastroenterology (Sanofi-Genzyme) who has been a part of over 50 new medicines successfully launched including vaccines in the US and globally; Dr. K. Guntupalli, Endowed Professor for Pulmonary Disorders, Baylor College of Medicine; Dr. Sowjanya Mohan, Group Chief Medical Officer, Texas Group/Tenet Health; and, Ms. Rosemary Hickman, Semmes Foundation Education Manager at the Mcnay Art Museum.

Dr. Seema Arora, Chair, AAPI National Women’s Committee, a Past Chair Board of Trustees of AAPI, said, “The Women’s Forum will have a panel of “Women Who Inspire” from all walks of life who have achieved extraordinary feats in each of their phenomenal lives. This exhilarating forum is being organized with the objective of bringing together some of the most accomplished women under one roof who are role models for all other women around the world.”

Dr. Udaya Shivangi, Advisor to AAPI Women’s Forum underscored the importance of the Women’s Forum in AAPI Convention and how it has evolved and today it’s one of the much sought after event, with distinguished panelists on the Forum. “The Women’s Forum is where successful and powerful women come and share their life’s dreams, challenges and this empower and inspire other women. Today’s Forum is about how career changes by women affect t them and the larger society.”

Dr. Jayesh Shah, Convention Chair and past President of AAPI said in Texan style. “It is with great pleasure that I, along with the San Antonio -2022 Convention Team, welcome you to the 40th AAPI Annual Convention in San Antonio, the 8th largest city in the US. I still have vivid memories of inviting you to San Antonio in 2014. This is going to be the 4th convention in Texas.”

Representing the interests of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, leaders of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, for 40 years. For more details, please visit:  https://aapisummit.org/www.aapiusa.org

Priyanka Chopra Blasts ‘Shameful’ Indian Body Spray Ad Promoting Rape Culture

A television commercial for a male body spray has been taken off the air in India, after critics said it made light of gang rape.

Bollywood celebrities including Priyanka Chopra, Richa Chadha and Farhan Khan are among those to have lambasted the commercial for Layer’r Shot, a brand of male fragrance, calling it “shameful,” “disgusting” and “incredibly tasteless.”

Its controversial advert shows four men appearing to stalk a frightened-looking woman in a store before cutting to one of the men saying, “We’re four, there’s one, who takes the shot?”

Only when the woman turns round does it become clear they are talking about the body spray — which one of the men then takes from a store shelf and uses.

The commercial caused a storm on social media, where critics including various celebrities blasted its innuendo as making light of rape.

Many said the timing of the advert made it particularly insensitive, as it was broadcast just a week after a case in which a 17-year-old was allegedly raped by five men in the southern city of Hyderabad — the latest in a series of high-profile crimes against women and minority groups across the country.

“This advertisement is clearly promoting sexual violence against women and girls and promoting a rapist mentality among men. The advertisement is cringeworthy and should not be allowed to be played on mass media,” wrote Swati Maliwal, chairwoman of the Delhi Commission for Women, to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday.

Within 24 hours, the ministry had taken the commercial off the air and asked Twitter and YouTube to remove it from their platforms.

In an email to Twitter, the ministry said the videos were “detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency and morality” and violated the digital media ethics code.

In a statement Monday, Layer’r Shot apologized for the television advertisements, saying that they “never intended to hurt anyone’s sentiments or feelings or outrage any woman’s modesty or promote any sort of culture, as wrongly perceived by some.”

The brand said it had voluntarily asked all its media partners to stop broadcasting the advertisements from Saturday with immediate effect.

Even after the commercial was taken down, it continued to cause a controversy. Actress Richa Chadha was among those registering her disgust, calling the makers of the commercial “filth.” “Creatives, script, agency, client, casting… does everyone think rape is a joke?,” Chadha tweeted.

Responding to Chadha’s Tweet, Quantico star Priyanka Chopra called the ad “shameful and disgusting” and said she was glad that the ministry has taken it down. Film writer and director Farhan Khan also slammed the advertisement.

“What incredibly tasteless and twisted minds it must take to think up, approve and create these stinking body spray ‘gang rape’ innuendo ads. Shameful,” tweeted Khan, who is also a United Nations Women’s Goodwill Ambassador.

Actress Swara Bhasker said both the perfume brand and its marketing agency had been “tone deaf” given the alleged gang rape of the teenager in an upscale part of Hyderabad last Saturday.

The case has shocked the state of Telangana, of which Hyderabad is the capital. Telangana’s home minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali said on Saturday that “strong action will be taken against all the offenders, irrespective of their background.”  It was “a ghastly incident,” the minister tweeted on Saturday.

Sudha Acharya Honored By New York’s Queens Borough President At AAPI Heritage Month Celebration

Sudha Acharya, Executive Director of South Asian Council for Social Service was honored by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards at the office’s first ever in-person AAPI Heritage Month celebration on May 19th. The celebrations held at Queens Borough Hall was attended by several and community members, who enjoyed diverse performances and remarks from local leaders.

Sudha was honored for her leadership and positive impact on the AAPI community as part of her work with SACSS, along with fellow AAPI leaders: the Coalition of Asian-American IPA, Nurse Potri Ranka Manis, and Peter Yoon, President of the Korean American Association of Greater New York.

Sudha Acharya has been active in the community for forty years. Twenty-one years ago, she co-founded SACSS and led the organization’s growth from a one-room organization with two staff to a thriving community center with more than 20 staff.

Acharya’s work has been recognized with many awards, including the Union Square Award, the India Abroad Gopal Raju Award for Community Service, and the Change Maker Award from Domestic Harmony Foundation. She has a Master’s Degree in English Literature and Financial Management.

“Her 35 years of active work in the community tells a story of grueling work towards betterment of the South Asian immigrant population and ensuring their basic needs to food and information don’t go unrepresented,” wrote SEEMA, a magazine that profiled her work recently.

Acharya has served in the city and state level health coalitions, and held many leadership positions. These include being president of the Federation of Indian Associations of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut (FIA), and chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA).

SACSS responds to the needs of South Asians and all immigrants, many of whom do not speak English, are unaware of services available to them, and experience isolation after arriving in the US. Acharya represents the interests of these immigrants and advocates at the City and State level for them.

SACSS currently focuses on healthcare access and literacy, senior support, civic engagement, and food security, offering services in 18 languages. In 2016, SACSS started the first food pantry to serve culturally appropriate food. Under Acharya’s leadership, SACSS was one of the most influential organizations that kept thousands of people fed and connected to critical services during the pandemic.

Acharya represents the All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) at the United Nations, where AIWC has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Acharya works at the international policy level on issues affecting women’s physical, economic, and social well-being. The staff at SACSS speak 18 languages, 12 of those being South Asian. “If one family comes out satisfied, they spread the word. And that’s how we grow. This year, we have
already assisted 30,000 families,” Archaya told the media.

The ASHA Workers Won A Huge WHO Honor. They’d Like A Raise, Too

India’s task force of over a million female health-care workers has won a prestigious award from one of the highest institutions in global health. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a cash prize. “Awards don’t fill stomachs,” says Archana Ghugare, 42, a health-care worker from Pavnar, a village in the state of Maharashtra.

Ghugare works as an ASHA, short for Accredited Social Health Activists. It’s a program run by India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that provides health care to rural and low-income communities in the country. They are not medical professionals but are entrusted with a long list of crucial health-care responsibilities, from advising new mothers about breastfeeding to raising awareness about COVID vaccines.

On May 22, the ASHA workers were named one of six recipients of the World Health Organization’s Global Health Leaders Awards — sharing the honor with such luminaries as the late Dr. Paul Farmer. The annual prize, created in 2019, recognizes individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to global health.

But while an honor is satisfying, the pay for these workers is not. They earn around $60 a month on average and have few benefits. In recent years, the government has raised monthly pay by a few tens of dollars, but workers say this is still too low. Many ASHAs, as the workers are known, and those in the global health community hope this moment can put pressure on the government to bump up their salaries, among other job improvements.

Indeed, pay equity has been an ongoing issue. Over the past two years, ASHAs across India have held several protests, including one during the pandemic in 2020, demanding better wages and safer working environments.

“Let’s hope the award draws attention to their working conditions,” tweeted Jim Campbell, director of the WHO’s Health Workforce program.

Despite their dissatisfaction with pay, many ASHAs take great pride in their work. True to the spirit of their acronym (asha means “hope” in some Indian languages), the workers represent hope for better health care, particularly for many of India’s underserved populations.

NPR spoke to three ASHAs about their day-to-day tasks and aspirations — and their reaction to the WHO honor.

‘We aren’t asking for much’

Ramrati Chauhan, a community health worker from the city of Palwal, keeps a diary of inspiring stories about the people she’s helped. She reads it when she feels disheartened about her job.

Ramrati Chauhan, a 42-year-old ASHA from the city of Palwal in Haryana state, says she gets very attached to the pregnant women she assists.

One time, a woman suddenly went into labor. Chauhan, who is not a midwife, couldn’t reach the woman in time to get her to a hospital — and the woman lost her baby due to complications. “I felt deep remorse” for not being able to help her, says Chauhan.

So when the woman became pregnant again, Chauhan made sure to visit her every day for the entire nine months of her pregnancy — and counseled her repeatedly about childbearing do’s and don’ts. There were complications during that delivery too — but this time Chauhan was there to get the woman to the hospital on time, and she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

“When I pass their house now, the woman points to me and tells her son, ‘That’s your mother too. She saved your life,’ ” says Chauhan. Chauhan says she writes down important moments like these in a diary to read when she feels disheartened about her job.

“We have to struggle [with the government] to get a raise of even $20 to $25” a month, she says. She currently makes about $100 a month. Payment varies across states and depends on how many additional duties a worker carries out.

And when the pandemic first started, she says the government didn’t give her much safety equipment — even though she had to check on people who had tested positive for COVID. “We sewed our own masks,” she says.

The WHO award isn’t a first for ASHAs, says Chauhan, adding that local governments and municipalities have honored them several times. True recognition, she says, would be if the government recognizes ASHAs as full time workers instead of volunteers, and provides them with a steady salary, pension and other benefits.

“We aren’t asking for much,” Chauhan says. “Only what is commensurate with our hard work.”

‘People trust me because I’m an ASHA worker’

When the ASHA program began in 2005, the health workers were envisaged as volunteers working about 2 to 3 hours a day and a bit extra on some days, according to the National Health Mission, a program that’s part of India’s Ministry of Health. But over the years, ASHAs say their responsibilities have increased multifold.

At the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, Archana Ghugare says she was working 14 hours a day. And even today, she’s got a full workload. She’s been going door-to-door to identify people in the community who have a variety of medical needs, from pregnant people to kids under the age of 14 eligible for COVID vaccinations.

“If the government is getting so many things done from us, shouldn’t we get something in return?” asks Ghugare. Payments are frequently late, she says, sometimes by as much as 6 months. She’s worried about how she’ll pay for the education of her two daughters, one of whom has a speech and hearing disability.

In tough times Ghugare tries to remember why she started doing this job in the first place. Several years ago, a dying HIV-positive woman told Ghugare her last wish — for Ghugare to take care of her young daughter. After the woman’s death, Ghugare didn’t adopt or raise her, but gathered donations from villagers to fund the girl’s education. Now she’s 22 and studying to be a nurse, says Ghugare. “People trust me because I’m an ASHA worker, and that trust shouldn’t be broken,” she says.

‘We are being exploited’

Veena Dyani says there’s so much work she has to do as an ASHA that she sometimes asks her older children to help her complete her paperwork.  Veena Dyani, a 37-year-old ASHA from Nainidanda at the foot of the Himalayas, has a packed schedule.

Her day typically starts at 4 a.m. After preparing meals for her three older children and her in-laws who live with her, she sets out for home visits. Routine duties include weighing newborns and handing out vitamin and folic acid tablets to pregnant women.

To do her job, she sometimes has to enlist the aid of others. In the hilly jungles around Dyani’s remote village, there’s risk of attacks by wild animals. So whenever she has to walk through the woods to visit households on the other side, she pays a villager from her own pocket to accompany her for safety.

And if her kids don’t have schoolwork, they help out, too. At the end of the workday, Dyani has to organize the data she’s collected on her patients — what ailments they have, what treatments they need and demographic details, for example. Her children, ages 15, 17 and 20, sometimes write the data in notebooks to be submitted to her bosses.

Lately, her boss has been asking her to file this information online and take photos of the health-care meetings she holds in the community.

This frustrates her. “How [are we supposed to] do this online work? Not all ASHAs have money to buy a good enough smartphone,” says Dyani, who uses a basic cellphone. Only some states provide ASHAs with smartphones. Many years ago a politician in her state had promised to provide tablets to the ASHAs — but that hasn’t happened, she says.

To make matters worse, the last time she received a payment, about $65, was in February. She’s a widow, so she really needs the money to support her family.

“We are being exploited,” she says, adding that she could probably make more as a day laborer. But she sticks around, she says, because she likes the work.

When news of the WHO award broke, her WhatsApp group of ASHAs lit up with congratulatory messages. Recognition or no recognition, she says she will continue to do her job — and raise her voice for her rights. “The ASHA herself [can’t] lose hope,” she says.

Deepika Padukone In A Fusion Saree At Cannes 2022

The red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival is one of the most glamorous in the world of showbiz and Deepika Padukone, who was a jury member this year, had multiple occasions to showcase her sartorial picks. And so for the final leg of her this year’s Cannes festivities at the closing ceremony on Saturday, May 29th the actress made it count and how.

For the closing ceremony, the actress showed up in a ruffled white saree by Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla. She accessorized with an equally stunning pearl necklace. Her kohl rimmed eyes, contoured cheeks finished off the look.

Deepika Padukone, who is serving on the jury of the 75th Cannes Film Festival, said in an exclusive interview to ‘Variety’ that it “gives me goosebumps every single time I walk into the Palais and we leave — it gives me goosebumps because every single person on that seat is there to celebrate cinema”.

Deepika was familiar with the work of some of her fellow jurors, including Asghar Farhadi and Rebecca Hall, but not all. “I wasn’t entirely familiar with all of them, as is the case with all of the jurors,” Deepika told IANS. “I think what all of us did was to actually read up on our fellow jury members and watch some of their work. So, even when you deliberate, you understand where they’re coming from, or what kind of cinema speaks to them.”

The actor sees being on the Cannes jury as a natural progression of her journey, but at the same time being invited came as a surprise to her. “They (the festival management) seem so convinced about why they made that decision. And it makes me sit back and think sometimes maybe I’ve not given myself enough credit,” she said, adding: “If I’ve landed here today, without even realising it, I must be doing something right.”

The actor has just wrapped Siddharth Anand’s “Pathaan”, alongside Shah Rukh Khan and John Abraham, and is working on “Project K” by Nag Ashwin. Next up is the Indian remake of “The Intern”, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, which she is also producing via her KA Productions along with Warner Bros. and Sunir Kheterpal for Athena.

Cannes, meanwhile, is going to become a regular mid-year holiday destination for Deepika and her husband, Bollywood star Ranveer Singh, reports ‘Variety’. Her jury service allows them access to the jury box in future years.

“We just come here for two weeks, nobody needs to know,” Deepika said. “Watch movies, sneak in, sneak out. We’ll be like kids in a candy store.”

Actress Deepika Padukone has worked towards normalizing mental health to enlighten everyone that mental illness is not always critical, but can be the reason our daily lives includes so much stress.

The actress now features in a Yoga Campaign, Yoga Make Space, leveraging an initiative which revolves around mental health and fitness. adidas and Deepika together celebrating what brings different people to the mat, no matter their background, ability, or reason to practice.

The Yoga Make Space collection has been consciously crafted, inspired by the elements of nature and aims to support through every move and practice, with apparel for women and men.

When did you start practicing yoga?

Deepika: I started practising yoga with consistency about two years ago after what felt like a deep inner calling. At around the same time, I was also offered a movie where I was given the role of a yoga instructor. In short, it was an inner calling mixed with the professional requirement that eventually pushed me to look for the right instructor and get going on my yoga journey.

What is the connection between nature and practising yoga?

Deepika: The beauty of yoga, apart from its numerous benefits, is that you can practice it in absolutely any space, in any part of the world. We often talk about being self-reliant. Yoga is one such practice. All you need is your mind and your body.

What are your thoughts on the benefit of practising yoga?

Deepika: I have, over the years, been exposed to many different types of workouts, exercises and practices. However, practising yoga, makes me feel the most centred, balanced and grounded. Feeling alive and connected from within, like I am in control, is something I have never experienced in any other practice, except for in yoga.

What does ‘make space’ means to her?

Deepika: adidas’ Yoga Make Space has not only given me a chance to talk about fitness but it is also giving me a space to discuss mental health which society still feels afraid of. When I hear the term ‘make space’ it reminds me of postures that I hold for a minute. Sometimes more. And when you truly tune in, you feel your body opening up and oxygen running into your bloodstream. That, for me, is making space within my body.

Geetanjali Shree’s “Tomb Of Sand” Becomes First Novel Translated From Hindi To Win International Booker Prize

Geetanjali Shree’s ‘Tomb of Sand’, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell, has won the International Booker, the first novel translated from Hindi to win the coveted
£50,000 prize.

Shree and Rockwell winning the prize not only marks the award’s first Hindi winner, but also the first time a book originally written in any Indian language has won, reports the Guardian.

Titled ‘Ret Samadhi’ (Rajkamal Prakashan) in Hindi, the book centers around a north Indian 80-year-old woman who slips into a deep depression after the death of her husband and then resurfaces to gain a new lease on life. Her determination to fly in the face of convention – including striking up a friendship with a transgender person – confuses her bohemian daughter, who is used to thinking of herself as the more ‘modern’ of the two.

To her family’s consternation, she insists on travelling to Pakistan, simultaneously confronting the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences of partition, and re-evaluating what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a woman, and a feminist.

For someone who stormed the Hindi literary scene with her debut novel ‘Mai’, as a writer, it becomes part of one’s unconscious and subconscious to look, hear, smell, and see stories around you, in you. “So there is some, still inarticulated, but full life, circulating inside you all the time. And the moment happens, not quite by your choice when the muse bends over you and something begins to unravel and pen comes to paper.

Many variables come together and a work emerges, triggered by any small or big thing. In the case of ‘Ret Samadhi’, the image of an old woman lying with her back turned to everyone in a joint family and apparently with no interest in living any longer, set me off. My curiosity grew as to is she turning her back on the world and life or preparing to get up into a rejuvenated, reinvented new life! From there the novel took off. It was a long journey full of fun, pain, joy, anxieties, the works,” Geethanjali said in an earlier interview.

The author is clear that writing must never be extraneously motivated or influenced. “I write to express as best as I can, as creatively and sensitively as I can, and that is the only expectation I am propelled by. I let no one tell me what, when, how I must write.”

Adding that awards, praise and are extraneous to this basic activity, and are incidental, she said: “Of course, if they are positive, it adds a new dimension to my happiness and fulfilment, but, they are not and never will be my impetus.”

Shree, whose works have been widely translated into different languages including French, German, Korean and Serbian, feels that translation is dialogue and communication. It is never a fixed, frozen and complete exchange. “It is ongoing, live and enriching – some things are explained better, some remain confounding, just as in any communication. Some things may also get lost, but some things also get added. Just as when two people talk, they enrich each other and enlarge each other’s way of seeing, being, and experiencing, so is also the communication underway in translation.

The gains of it are immense. One cannot fear it for the risks that may be in there too. Communication is worth it, risky or not! Dialogue, which is what translation is, is the best thing in human life and the way forward.”

Stressing that it is extremely important that the author and translator share a rapport, Shree said: “You need a rapport which establishes that both of you share the same wavelength, sensibility, values. If a fanatic, narrow-minded, purist picks up my book for translation, it is, without doubt, a recipe for disaster.”

Speaking about her process, the author, who has also been actively associated with theatre – in 1989, a group of theatre artists, writers, musicians and painters got together to form ‘Vivadi’, said: “My writing is the process. Except that I must work regularly and for long hours, there are no rules about it. I have no set formula and like to let the dynamics of unfurling a beginning and issues it throws up take over and take me across a variegated terrain.”

Deriving her characters from the physical world and space within — “a mix of both. And such a mix that even if they relate to recognisable things/people somewhere, they are fictional,” she feels that there is a need not just for translations into English but also and as much for translations across South Asian languages.

“Is English going to be the only language in which all other literature has to be accessed? One, what about those who are not well versed in it; two, we surely want a multilingual, multicultural scene where many languages are in dialogue with many others, not English alone becoming the overarching big language and all others aspiring to get access within it.”

The author, who has also finished another novel, said: “For some years it has been sitting on my table, ready and waiting. One of these days I will pick it up and hand it to the publisher.”

Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, President Of AAPI Presented With The Lifetime Achievement Award By IAPC

Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, President Of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award during a solemn awards ceremony jointly organized by The Consulate General of India in New York and The Indo-American Press Club (IAPC), the largest organization of Indian descent journalists operating in North America , at the Indian Consulate, New York, NY on Saturday, May 21st, 2022.

Ambassador Randhir Jaiswal, Consul General of India, who was the chief guest presented the award at the Grand Ballroom of the Consulate in New York, which was attended by several community leaders, elected officials, diplomats, media personnel and professionals.

Other awardees who were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award included:  Dr. Thomas Abraham, Dr. Sudhir Parikh, and Pamela Kwatra. The event, which was attended by several dignitaries, including former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio; Dr. Prabhakar Kore, Member of Parliament, India;  Kevin Thomas, New York State Senator; and several other elected officials.

The awards ceremony was part of the Induction Ceremony of IAPC’s new office bearers, including Chairman Kamlesh C Mehta and Secretary Ajay Ghosh of IAPC Board of Directors, and members of the IAPC National Executive Committee led by President Aashmeeta Yogiraj and General Secretary CG Daniel.

Dr. Anupama Gotimukula is the only 4th Woman elected to be the President of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin in its nearly four decades-long history.

A resident of San Antonio, TX, Dr. Gotimukula  is a board-certified Pediatric Anesthesiologist, practicing since 2007, and is affiliated with Christus Santa Rosa, Baptist and Methodist Healthcare systems in San Antonio.

In her acceptance Speech, Dr. Gotimukula shared with the audience about the many initiatives AAPI has taken up during the past one year. Under her dynamic and inspiring leadership, “AAPI has grown and reached new heights. The Global Healthcare Summit in Hyderabad, held under challenging Covid situations has been historic in nature. The Blood Donation Drive in 75 Cities across the US commemorating the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence has been highly praised by all,” she said.

Her goals on “Prevention is better than Cure” are resonating in India through the “Adopt a Village” preventive healthcare screening initiative of non communicable diseases. A report from AAPI was submitted to the Indian Government to establish the “Indian Preventive Health Task Force “ to help frame screening guidelines for all non communicable diseases like Diabetes, Hypertension, cancer screening etc., sje said.

Under her leadership, several new programs have been initiated, benefiting AAPI members and the larger communities in the United States and India. Dr. Gotimukula urged the media to focus on the many positive things that are happening around the world, rather than focus on negativity that destroys human freedom, liberty and unity.

The closing ceremony included scintillating dances traditional folk dances and fast moving Bollywood dances by The Arya School of Dance and was followed by a sumptuous dinner. The hybrid event was also streamed simultaneously on social media platforms.

WHO Honors 1 Million ASHA Volunteers

India’s one million all-women ASHA volunteers were honored by the World Health Organization on Sunday, May 21st for their “crucial role” in providing direct access to healthcare facilities in rural areas and their indefatigable efforts to rein in the coronavirus pandemic in the country. They were praised for their contributions in providing basic health care services to the rural population of India.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced the group of over a million government volunteers, as one of the six recipients of the World Health Organization Director-General’s Global Health Leaders Awards recognizing their outstanding contributions to advancing global health, demonstrated leadership and commitment to regional health issues.

Dr Tedros decides on the awardees for the World Health Organisation Director-General’s Global Health Leaders Awards. The ceremony for the awards, which were established in 2019, was part of the live-streamed high-level opening session of the 75th World Health Assembly.

“Among the honorees is ASHA, which means hope in Hindi. The more than 1 million female volunteers in India were honored for their crucial role in linking the community with the health system, to ensure those living in rural poverty get access to primary health care services, as shown throughout the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. PM Modi also hailed the selfless service of the Asha Volunteers and congratulated them as their efforts were recognized by WHO.

Accredited Social Health Activists — or ASHA volunteers — are Indian government’s affiliated health-care workers who are the first point of contact in rural India. Most of them gained spotlight during the peak of the pandemic in India for conducting door-to-door checks to trace coronavirus patients. ASHA – means ‘hope’ in Hindi. These health workers provide maternal care & immunization for children against vaccine-preventable diseases; community health care; treatment for hypertension & tuberculosis & core areas of health promotion for nutrition, sanitation & healthy living.

Americans’ Views On Abortion, 1995-2022

While public support for legal abortion has fluctuated some in two decades of polling, it has remained relatively stable over the past several years. Currently, 61% say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 37% say it should be illegal in all or most cases.

Views on abortion by religious affiliation, 2022

About three-quarters of White evangelical Protestants (74%) think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

By contrast, 84% of religiously unaffiliated Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, as do 66% of Black Protestants, 60% of White Protestants who are not evangelical, and 56% of Catholics.

Views on abortion by party identification, 2022

Six-in-ten Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party (60%) say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. By contrast, 80% of Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Views on abortion by political party and ideology, 2022

Conservative Republicans and Republican leaners are far more likely to say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases than to say that it should be legal (72% vs. 27%). Among moderate and liberal Republicans, 60% say abortion should be legal, while 38% say it should be illegal.

The vast majority of liberal Democrats and Democratic leaners support legal abortion (90%), as do seven-in-ten conservative and moderate Democrats (72%).

Views on abortion by gender, 2022

Majorities of both men and women express support for legal abortion, though women are somewhat more likely than men to hold this view (63% vs. 58%).

Views on abortion by race and ethnicity, 2022

Majorities of adults across racial and ethnic groups express support for legal abortion. About three-quarters of Asian (74%) and two-thirds of Black adults (68%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, as do 60% of Hispanic adults and 59% of White adults.

Views on abortion by age, 2022

Among adults under age 30, 74% say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, as do  62% of adults in their 30s and 40s. Among those in their 50s and early 60s, 55% express support for legal abortion, as do 54% of those ages 65 and older.

Views on abortion by level of education, 2022

Two-thirds of college graduates (66%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, as do 63% of those with some college education. Among those with a high school degree or less education, 54% say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 44% say it should be illegal in all or most cases.

Source:  The PEW Survey conducted March 7-13, 2022. Trend lines show aggregated data from polls conducted in each year. Data from 2019 and later come from Pew Research Center’s online American Trends Panel; prior data from telephone surveys. See report for more details on changes in survey mode. Question wording can be found here, and information on the Pew Research Center’s polling methodology can be found here. White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.

Aishwarya Rai’s Cannes Designer Says, ‘Petal’ Dress Represents Hope, Birth, And Beauty

For her second walk on the red carpet on the second day of the 75th Cannes Film Festival in Paris, Bollywood icon Aishwarya Rai Bachchan chose a shell pink and silver Gaurav Gupta couture gown.

Inspired by the birth of Venus, the goddess of beauty and love, the gown celebrates pure artistic couture and creates an unforgettable fashion moment on the red carpet. Keeping the hair and make up minimal, the Bollywood actress choose to wear her tresses to one side and kept her look natural.

Gaurav Gupta, who designed Aishwarya’s dress, which featured a mermaid-style silhouette and a shell-shaped structure on its back, has now revealed the thought process and the hard work that went into designing the unique dress.

He said that he wanted to create something special for Aishwarya, as Cannes 2022 marked her 20th year at the festival. The designer said that with Aishwarya’s gown, he wanted to share a message of hope, birth, and beauty after the tough times the world has faced in recent years.

Gaurav told PTI, “We wanted something which denotes hope, birth and beauty.

After all the world has gone through in the past few years, we wanted to celebrate life and art.” The designer also noted that the gown was his interpretation of Italian also Sandro Botticelli’s famous painting Birth of Venus, with the shell like structure behind the shoulder symbolising Venus’s rise from the scalloped shell.

He said, “Aishwarya is a complete woman and a beautiful person. As I got to know her through the process, I discovered a wonderful, spiritual person who is really connected to her soul and is elegant. That purity in the absolute sense of beauty inspired me to think of the concept of the Birth of Venus.”

The designer reported that it took 20 days and over 100 craftspeople to create the outfit as they made sure not to disappoint ‘one of the most beautiful women in the world.’ He added that Aishwarya herself was involved in the creative process right from the beginning.

Talking about Aishwarya’s stardom at the festival, Gaurav said, “The frenzy, the love, that Aishwarya receives here, it’s almost madness. People couldn’t stop screaming her name out loud and the fanfare was insane. So just to see that frenzy, it fills you with joy… She is a phenomenon in Cannes. It’s like a real-life film in itself.”

After attending the Cannes Film Festival, Aishwarya returned to Mumbai with her husband Abhishek Bachchan and daughter Aaradhya Bachchan on Saturday night. She will next be seen in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan.

Recently, musical sensation Cardi B. also choose to wear the Indian designer’s creation in her latest music video and single release.

Indian-American Women Launch Digital Platform To Screen Films

A group of Indian-American entrepreneurs launched a video conference platform, where filmmakers from Hollywood and Indian cinema can screen their own cinematic content.

The USP of this initiative, ‘We Must Meet’ is that it can live stream political events, Town Halls, sports events, and concerts, which can be accessed by up to 30,000 people at the same time.

‘We Must Meet’ content will comprise international as well as regional projects. It will be driven by an annual subscription model and is being launched in India and globally.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, former US President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign adviser, has announced her involvement with ‘We Must Meet,’ a new digital platform launched by a group of women of Indian descent. The technological initiative is said to be the first video conferencing platform that can also function as an OTT platform, allowing Hollywood and Indian filmmakers to screen their own cinematic content.

Elaborating on the platform, Manju Mason, who has conceptualized ‘We Must Meet’, said in a statement: “The software has been entirely developed in the United States and is community-based. It will change the way people will meet and host business meetings.”

The platform is powered and managed by the technology company Iotum. The company announced that We Must Meet is soon going to launch We Must Meet Theme Parks, Boutique Hotels, resorts, and restaurants under the same brand.

The move comes at a time when India’s OTT market is growing fast and has the potential to become the largest in the world.

Google Picks Archana Gulati As India Policy Head

Alphabet Inc’s Google has hired a new public policy head in India, Archana Gulati, who previously worked at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s federal think-tank and the country’s antitrust watchdog, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

A number of Indian government officials have been hired by Big Tech companies which are battling tighter data and privacy regulation, as well as competition law scrutiny, under Modi’s federal government.

Gulati is a long-term Indian government employee, having worked until March 2021 as a joint secretary for digital communications at Modi’s federal think tank, Niti Aayog, a body that is critical to government’s policy making across sectors.

Before that, between 2014 and 2016, she worked as a senior official at India’s antitrust body, the Competition Commission of India, according to her LinkedIn profile.

A Google India spokesperson confirmed the development to Reuters, but did not elaborate. Gulati did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The source declined to be named as the hiring decision was not public.

India’s antitrust watchdog is currently looking into Google’s business conduct in the market of smart TVs, its Android operating system as well as its in-app payments system.

Last year, Meta Platforms Inc hired Rajiv Aggarwal – who spent years working in India’s federal and state governments – as its head of policy.

Another former Indian antitrust and federal government official, Anand Jha, in 2019 joined Walmart as India public policy officer. He currently manages government relations for Blackstone in India.

A French Nun Who Enjoys Chocolate And Wine Is The Oldest Living Person

A 118-year-old nun living in a nursing home in southern France has become the world’s oldest living person, according to the Guinness World Records.

Sister André is also the oldest nun ever, according to a statement released by Guinness on Monday, April 25th.

Born as Lucile Randon on February 11, 1904, Sister André has dedicated most of her life to religious service, the statement said. Before becoming a Catholic nun, she looked after children during World War II and then spent 28 years caring for orphans and elderly people at a hospital.

Sister André, who lives near the French city of Toulon, is also the world’s oldest Covid-19 survivor. The Guinness World Records statement said she tested positive for the virus at the beginning of 2021, but recovered fully within three weeks, just in time for her 117th birthday.

In an interview with the French TV channel RMC Story on Tuesday, Sister André appeared to have mixed feelings about becoming the new oldest living person.

“I feel I would be better off in heaven, but the good Lord doesn’t want me yet,” she said, calling the title a “sad honor.” However, she also expressed her joy at being “pampered” by her family.

Sister André enjoys chocolate and wine — and drinks a glass every day — her nursing home, Résidence Catherine Labouré, confirmed to CNN.

When she turned 118 earlier this year, the elderly nun received a handwritten birthday note from French President Emmanuel Macron — the 18th French president of her lifetime — according to a tweet from the nursing home. There have also been 10 different Popes presiding over the Catholic Church since she was born.

Sister André became the world’s eldest following the death of Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman previously certified as the world’s oldest person, who died at the age of 119 on April 19.

World’s oldest person, Kane Tanaka, died in Japan aged 119. The title of oldest person ever recorded also belongs to a French woman. Born on February 21, 1875, Jeanne Louise Calment’s life spanned 122 years and 164 days, according to the Guinness World Records statement.

Rachna Sachdeva Nominated As Ambassador To Mali

President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American diplomat Rachna Sachdeva Korhonen as his envoy to Mali, the White House said on April 15th.

A career member of the US Foreign Service, Korhonen currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary and the Executive Director of the combined Executive Offices of the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.

She has previously had assignments at the US Embassy in Kuwait and the US Consulate General in Mumbai. She was the Consul General and Principal Officer of the US Consulate in Dharan, Saudi Arabia.

She also led the Management Section of the US Embassy in Colombo, and, in Washington, she served as a Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Management.

Among her other assignments, Korhonen was the Supervisory General Services Officer and Senior Human Resources Officer at the US Embassy in Riyadh, and the Political Chief of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kirkuk, Iraq.

A New Jersey native, Korhonen has a bachelors in Computer Science and Mathematics and worked in the corporate sector before joining the State Department.

Korhonen’s is the third nomination of an Indian American to the office of Ambassador. Biden has also nominated Puneet Talwar to Morocco and Shefali Razdan Duggal to the Netherlands.

Youth Icon’s Fight For Rights Among India’s Destitute

Pooja Shukla, 25, a socialist candidate, has lost her maiden elections to the provincial parliament in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India. But Shukla is no loser.

A day after the results were announced on March 10, Shukla was back to a rousing reception in her constituency in North Lucknow to thank her supporters for polling 1,04,527 votes for her.

She was with the people again on March 18 on Holi, the festival of colour held annually to celebrate the end of winter and in anticipation of new beginnings.

Shukla told the IPS that she was hoping to win. Of course, she is disappointed, but electoral defeat would not stop her from continuing her struggle to get economic and social justice for the people of her constituency.

Although Shukla belongs to the upper caste community of Brahmins, she has worked hard to develop a personal connection with a cross-section of those who live in North Lucknow, one of the city’s nine constituencies. Lucknow is the capital of UP, the country’s largest, but economically and socially, it is one of its least developed states. More than 400,000 voters are registered in North Lucknow, nearly half of whom are impoverished women.

The constituency is home to Muslims, upper-caste Hindus and thousands of impoverished people belonging to communities who have been living for decades in makeshift shanties, often on the bank of open drains. Some are daily wage earners, and others are without paid work.

Shukla won hearts because she has knocked on every door in North Lucknow and continues to spend time with citizens.

“I have visited every single home in every single neighbourhood in North Lucknow. I will continue to do so as I really care for members of all communities that reside within my constituency,” Shukla adds.

This first-time contestant had faced Dr Neeraj Bora, a seasoned politician from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing party. Despite the formidable challenge, Shukla was leading on the day the votes were counted. She was ahead before her rival finally defeated her by 33,985 votes until noon.

Out of 403 seats in the UP-state parliament, the socialists won 111 seats. The Samajwadi Party (SP) of socialists came a distant second to BJP’s 255 seats, but the party has emerged as the largest opposition party in UP.

This was a golden opportunity to strengthen democracy by converting the numbers won by the SP into a viable opposition to the ruling party, Shukla believes. A well-meaning, vocal opposition is needed, she says, when the ruling party seems to want to wash its hands of all its social responsibility in favour of outsourcing businesses and privatising even essential services like education, health, and employment opportunities.

“Democratic values strengthen when the opposition to the ruling party is strong,” says Shukla, who believes that elections are held to elect representatives who will provide affordable homes, education, and health facilities to voters.

Shukla feels that socially conscious people don’t have to be Marxists to dream of justice in society. The desire to want to see all citizens cared for fairly and equally by the state is a desire of all decent human beings.

Shukla was the youngest candidate in the polls, nursing a constituency that is a sprawling, chaotic cluster of college campuses, traffic jams, markets spilling from every corner and rows of slums with open drains that overflow and swallow up lives during rainfall.

Her dream is to invite educationists to open model public schools for the majority of the poor people in her constituency. She wants low-cost houses for the poor and free health services. She says that time is on her side. She will find many more opportunities to contest elections.

“To win elections is important for me as I want to be a lawmaker and make sure that people-friendly legislation is passed in parliament to protect the interest of the most vulnerable in the country,” Shukla says.

Until she makes it to parliament, she plans to work tirelessly to raise literacy in her constituency and lower the poverty rate. She wants clean drinking water, cleaner drains, and better roads. Women’s safety is her priority, as is a regular and fair wage for the many communities of artisans like potters and weavers.

Shukla has witnessed the police lathi-charge citizens who dared to ask the government for jobs. Social activists have been jailed, kicked around, and beaten in lockdown for participating in protests and questioning the government in UP. There are countless incidents of gruesome crimes perpetrated against women.

Most political parties want women’s votes but are reluctant to share power with them. Therefore, politics in UP today is a constant struggle for any woman who joins the male-dominated world of politics. Shukla’s biggest strength is her belief in herself.

The daughter of a small property dealer, Shukla, learnt to be fearless from Beena, her mother. At first, Beena wanted her to marry a suitable Brahmin boy. However, the constant cry to marry died down after she decided to contest the elections.

Her parents suggested that Shukla choose a more respectable profession like teaching instead. The parents were pained when she was jailed in 2019, and countless criminal cases were filed against her for participating in street demonstrations.

Shukla is the eldest of three sisters, and she feels responsible for her siblings. The family reminded her she was a role model, but she refused to give up her politics. Her determination to remain engaged in public life is less frowned upon now. At least her immediate family members and neighbours are supportive. She is no longer considered a black sheep within the Brahmin community that sees itself as exceptionally respectable.

Shukla has been in the limelight since 2017 when she and fellow students waved black flags at the motor convoy of those in power. She was part of a group of students protesting against the use of Lucknow University funds for a political party event.

She was angry when jailed for protesting peacefully. After 20 days in jail, the University refused her admission for postgraduate studies. Shukla started a hunger strike and forced the University to allow all the students to continue their studies.

Today she is a youth icon. She has emerged as a leader and a role model not just for her siblings but for thousands of other youngsters, students, women and some male members of society.

Shukla says that she stands for a democratic, secular and inclusive India. How will she realise her dream in the cutthroat political culture where all that matters is power and money?

There is no substitute for commitment and hard work, she says with a smile. (IPS UN Bureau Report)

Ketanji Brown Jackson Will Join More Diverse And Conservative High Court

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will join a Supreme Court that is both more diverse than ever and more conservative than it’s been since the 1930s.

She’s likely to be on the losing end of a bunch of important cases, including examinations of the role of race in college admissions and voting rights that the high court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, will take up next term.

Jackson, 51, is the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court following Thursday’s 53-47 vote by the Senate. She won’t join the court for several months, until Justice Stephen Breyer retires once the court wraps up its work for the summer — including its verdict on whether to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights.

When Jackson takes the bench as a justice for the first time, in October, she will be one of four women and two Black justices — both high court firsts.

And the nine-member court as a whole will be younger than it’s been for nearly 30 years, when Breyer, now 83, came on board.

Among the younger justices are three appointees of former President Donald Trump, and the court’s historic diversity won’t obscure its conservative tilt.

In Breyer’s final term, the conservative justices already have left their mark even before deciding major cases on abortion, guns, religion and climate change. By 5-4 or 6-3 votes, they allowed an unusual Texas law to remain in effect that bans abortions after roughly six weeks; stopped the

Biden administration from requiring large employers to have a workforce that is vaccinated against COVID-19 or be masked and tested; and left in place redrawn Alabama congressional districts that a lower court with two Trump appointees found shortchanged Black voters in violation of federal law.

Jackson’s replacement of Breyer, for whom she once worked as a law clerk, won’t alter that Supreme Court math.

“She’s just going to be swimming against the tide every day. That’s a lot to take on,” said Robin Walker Sterling, a Northwestern University law professor.

But Jackson’s presence could make a difference in the perspective she brings and how she expresses herself in her opinions, said Payvand Ahdout, a University of Virginia law professor.

Jackson, who was raised in Miami, may see the high court’s cases about race “from the lens of being a Black woman who grew up in the South. She has an opportunity early on to show how representation matters,” Ahdout said.

During her Senate confirmation hearings, Jackson pledged to sit out the court’s consideration of Harvard’s admissions program, since she is a member of its board of overseers. But the court could split off a second case involving a challenge to the University of North Carolina’s admissions process, which might allow her to weigh in on the issue.

“Historically, the court goes to some length to try to get as much participation as possible. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see the two dealt with separately,” said Ahdout, who was a clerk to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg the last time the court dealt with race in college admissions, in 2016. Just seven justices took part in that case, because Justice Antonin Scalia died before it was decided and Justice Elena Kagan had been involved as a Justice Department official before joining the court.

For now, Jackson might not have much to do. She remains a judge on the federal appeals court in Washington, but she stepped away from cases there when President Joe Biden nominated her to the Supreme Court in February and will continue to do so, a White House official said.

That could reduce the number of times Jackson has to recuse herself from any of her old cases that later make their way to the Supreme Court.

Breyer said in January that he would retire once his successor had been confirmed, but not before the end of the term. With a bare Senate majority, Democrats didn’t want to risk waiting until the summer for confirmation hearings and a vote.

That leaves Jackson in a situation that is “unprecedented in modern times,” said Marin Levy, a Duke University law professor who studies the federal judiciary.

Most new justices begin work a few days after they are confirmed, Levy said. Justice Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in to the court just a few hours after his tumultuous Senate vote.

Jackson could spend time arranging for her clerks and other staff for the Supreme Court, and closing down her current office.

But she won’t have to find new housing or upend the lives of her husband and children. Her new workplace is less than a mile from the court of appeals.

Veena Reddy Assumes Charge As USAID Mission Director to India

Veena Reddy, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, has arrived in New Delhi to take charge as the new Mission Director for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in India.  In her role as the Mission Director, Reddy will lead USAID’s operations in India and Bhutan.

In connection with her appointment, Reddy stated, “For the past seven decades, USAID has partnered with the people and Government of India to build a peaceful and prosperous society. During that time our partnership has evolved, and I look forward to further strengthening our relationship.  The challenges faced by all during the COVID-19 pandemic have taken an enormous human and economic toll on India and beyond.  I am confident that with the strength and warmth of the U.S.-India partnership, we will continue to move forward on the road to prosperity.”

Interim US Ambassador to India, Atul Keshap expressed his pride and admiration that another Indian American will lead a critical Mission component, reflecting the accomplishments of Indian Americans in all walks of life in America.

Reddy brings with her a rich background in development and diplomacy.  Born in Andhra Pradesh, India, she is the first Indian American to lead USAID in India and Bhutan.

Reddy has had an extensive career as a U.S. foreign service officer, serving as USAID’s Mission Director in Cambodia; USAID’s Deputy Mission Director in Haiti; and in Washington, D.C. as an Assistant General Counsel, covering legal matters for USAID’s programs in Asia and the Middle East.  Before embarking on a career of federal government service, Ms. Reddy was a corporate attorney in New York, London, and Los Angeles.  Reddy holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Columbia University School of Law and an M.A. and B.A. from the University of Chicago.

“USAID is committed to supporting India in achieving its development goals, supporting clean energy and environmental reform, combating climate challenges, improving health, encouraging inclusive economic growth, and bolstering the COVID-19 response,” said a press release issued by the organization.  Recognizing India’s leadership, USAID is working with the Government of India, the private sector, and civil society to test and scale innovative development solutions in India, as well as regionally and globally.

Chai With Manju Celebrates 10th Anniversary

“Chai with Manju” a celebrity series of interviews and features, one of the most watched in the New England region, where she featured celebrities and spiritual leaders such as Sadhguru, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the Kennedys and the like, is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Over the past decade, Dr. Manju Sheth’s popular show, “Chai With Manju” on digital platforms, including on www.theunn.com with  celebrity interview series, has become one of the much talked about media features, bringing a wide range of exciting guests.

With hundreds of interviews and millions of viewers–first in the print and later in videos—Chai with Manju has spotlighted guests from almost every aspect of life: from musicians and spiritual leaders to academics and entrepreneurs and from politicians and diplomats to local heroes.

A physician by profession, having a passion for the media and with a deep commitment to serve the larger humanity and with a special focus on women’s empowerment, Dr. Manju Sheth is a Board Certified Internist, currently serving patients at Beth Israel Lahey Hospital.in the Boston Region in Massachusetts.

Dr. Sheth wears many hats to her credit. A multi-tasker and with full of energy, Dr. Sheth says, “If you want to do something in life then you will find a way.” It has not been easy to be “a physician, mother, media personality, and be involved in our vibrant New England community and the media world, but each of my involvements is truly important to me, and I give my full heart and energy to each of them. I always remind myself, that anything worth having has to be worked for.”

As the celebrity show Sushil Tuli, founder and CEO of Massachusetts-based Leader Bank, said that the Chai with Manju team over these years has done commendable work in bringing to its viewers and readers information, reports and opinions so vital in this age of media on social, business and cultural developments.

“Chai with Manju joins the pantheon of radio/TV programs such as Larry King Live and Fresh Air by Terry Gross,” said Brian Pereira, President, CEO and Board Member of Visterra Inc, and a member of the Board at American India Foundation, known as AIF.  “Ten years have passed in a blink of the eye, and we look forward to be educated and entertained for 10 more years.”

Desh Deshpande, a philanthropist, mentor, a successful serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author of “On Entrepreneurship and Impact”, urged Dr. Sheth to continue her “excellent work and bring us the insights of amazing people in the world.”

“It is a bold step for a doctor to venture into media.  Dr. Manju Sheth jumped in ten years ago and has brought many in-depth conversations with many distinguished individuals to us,” said Mr. Deshpande. “I cannot think of a single distinguished person who has stepped on the Boston soil and have not had Chai with Manju.”

“Chai with Manju has been a significant part of Indian Community in USA and around the world,” Mr. Tuli said. “I would like to congratulate Dr. Manju Sheth on their 10th anniversary of Chai with Manju. Dr. Manju Sheth has always been very enthusiastic about presenting personalities/speakers to keep the community informed about what is happening around us in this world”. Tuli asked Dr. Sheth to continue bringing the good stories and keep expanding viewership. TiE Boston President Anu Chitrapu said that Chai with Manju has evolved into a world-class series during the last 10 years.

Dr. Sheth was the co-founder and CEO of INE MultiMedia, a non-profit organization devoted to promoting and supporting charitable organizations, art, culture, education and empowerment through workshops, seminars and multimedia. Dr. Sheth is a former trustee of the Indian-American Forum for Political Education. Dr. Sheth is very dedicated to the education of the community about health related issues, and is also the producer and chair of the annual free mega Health & Wellness Expo.

Chai with Manju is created and hosted by Dr. Manju Sheth, MD, a physician at Beth Israel Lahey Health and Atrius Health, and is produced by Upendra Mishra, publisher of INDIA New England News, IndUS Business Journal, Life Sciences Times and Boston Real Estate Times.

“Manju’s eclectic selection of interviewees, thorough preparation ahead of the show and deft handling of the conversation has made her show a must-listen for the New England Indian community and beyond,” added Mr. Pereira.

“I want to extend my gratitude to my producer, Upendra Mishra, for always having faith in me and to all my viewers/readers for their love and welcoming me into their homes through my videos,” said Dr. Sheth. “I am so thankful to all the celebrities who have let me have a window into their life with these special interviews. We are looking forward to having a big celebration soon.”

Do Women Live Longer Than Men?

The numbers don’t lie: women tend to live longer than men. The average American man will live to age 76, according to the latest CDC figures, while the average woman in America will live to age 81.

And a woman’s extra years tend to be healthy ones. The World Health Organization’s HALE index, which calculates the number of years a man or woman can expect to live without a major disease or injury, finds that American men can look forward to 67 healthy years, while American women will enjoy 70 years of “full heath.”

This male-female lifespan gap is not a new phenomenon; experts have known about it for decades. It’s also not restricted to Americans. “This gender gap in life expectancy is true for all societies, and it is also true for the great apes,” says Dr. Perminder Sachdev, a professor of neuropsychiatry at the University of New South Wales in Australia who has studied human longevity.

Why do women tend to outlive men? Sachdev says there are a few popular theories—some to do with biology, and some to do with behavior.

“Men are more likely to smoke, drink excessively and be overweight,” he says. “They are also less likely to seek medical help early, and, if diagnosed with a disease, they are more likely to be non-adherent to treatment.” On top of all that, he says, men are more likely to take life-threatening risks and to die in car accidents, brawls or gun fights.

There’s evidence that a man’s biology—namely, his elevated levels of the male sex hormone testosterone—may lead him into the kind of trouble that could shorten his life. Research from Duke University has found that elevated testosterone levels are associated with risky behaviors.

Experts say testosterone may abbreviate a man’s lifespan in other ways. “Male sex hormones decrease immune function and increase the risk for cardiovascular diseases,” says Kyung-Jin Min, a professor of biological sciences at Inha University in South Korea.

In a 2012 study published in the journal Current Biology, Min and his colleagues examined the historical health records of 81 Korean eunuchs: men who were castrated as children, and who therefore stopped producing much testosterone. They found the eunuchs tended to live about 14 to 19 years longer than uncastrated men who shared their same socio-economic status.

While the links between testosterone and immune function aren’t clear, Min’s study points to lab research showing that testosterone may block the release of some disease-fighting immune cells. On the other hand, there’s also a good amount of research linking low levels of testosterone to heart disease and poor health outcomes in men, so the relationships between testosterone and a man’s health are complex.

It may well be that a man’s hormones aren’t to blame; instead, a woman’s hormones may offer her some added lifespan benefits.

“Estrogen appears to be protective—it has been shown to have an antioxidant role,” says Sachdev. A 2013 review in the International Journal of Endocrinology found evidence that estrogen can prevent the kind of DNA damage that leads to disease. That review also turned up evidence that estrogen can help maintain normal, healthy cell function.

These sorts of findings help explain the male-female longevity gap. But why would evolution and natural selection instill women, but not men, with these life-extending attributes?

“All this is entirely speculative,” Sachdev says, but it may have to do with a female’s historical role as child-rearer. “Once children are born, men are disposable,” he says. “But the robust body of the mother is important for the survival of the offspring.” A woman’s body has evolved to withstand and bounce back from the physical trauma of pregnancy and childbirth, as well as the demands of breastfeeding—challenges to which a male’s body is never exposed. As the saying goes, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. And for women, that strength may translate to a longer, healthier life.

Youth Icon’s Fight for Rights Among India’s Destitute

Pooja Shukla, 25, a socialist candidate, has lost her maiden elections to the provincial parliament in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India. But Shukla is no loser.  A day after the results were announced on March 10, Shukla was back to a rousing reception in her constituency in North Lucknow to thank her supporters for polling 1,04,527 votes for her.

She was with the people again on March 18 on Holi, the festival of colour held annually to celebrate the end of winter and in anticipation of new beginnings. Shukla told the IPS that she was hoping to win. Of course, she is disappointed, but electoral defeat would not stop her from continuing her struggle to get economic and social justice for the people of her constituency.

Although Shukla belongs to the upper caste community of Brahmins, she has worked hard to develop a personal connection with a cross-section of those who live in North Lucknow, one of the city’s nine constituencies. Lucknow is the capital of UP, the country’s largest, but economically and socially, it is one of its least developed states. More than 400,000 voters are registered in North Lucknow, nearly half of whom are impoverished women.

The constituency is home to Muslims, upper-caste Hindus and thousands of impoverished people belonging to communities who have been living for decades in makeshift shanties, often on the bank of open drains. Some are daily wage earners, and others are without paid work.

Shukla won hearts because she has knocked on every door in North Lucknow and continues to spend time with citizens. “I have visited every single home in every single neighbourhood in North Lucknow. I will continue to do so as I really care for members of all communities that reside within my constituency,” Shukla adds.

This first-time contestant had faced Dr Neeraj Bora, a seasoned politician from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing party. Despite the formidable challenge, Shukla was leading on the day the votes were counted. She was ahead before her rival finally defeated her by 33,985 votes until noon.

Out of 403 seats in the UP-state parliament, the socialists won 111 seats. The Samajwadi Party (SP) of socialists came a distant second to BJP’s 255 seats, but the party has emerged as the largest opposition party in UP.

This was a golden opportunity to strengthen democracy by converting the numbers won by the SP into a viable opposition to the ruling party, Shukla believes. A well-meaning, vocal opposition is needed, she says, when the ruling party seems to want to wash its hands of all its social responsibility in favour of outsourcing businesses and privatising even essential services like education, health, and employment opportunities.

“Democratic values strengthen when the opposition to the ruling party is strong,” says Shukla, who believes that elections are held to elect representatives who will provide affordable homes, education, and health facilities to voters.

Shukla feels that socially conscious people don’t have to be Marxists to dream of justice in society. The desire to want to see all citizens cared for fairly and equally by the state is a desire of all decent human beings.

Shukla was the youngest candidate in the polls, nursing a constituency that is a sprawling, chaotic cluster of college campuses, traffic jams, markets spilling from every corner and rows of slums with open drains that overflow and swallow up lives during rainfall.

Her dream is to invite educationists to open model public schools for the majority of the poor people in her constituency. She wants low-cost houses for the poor and free health services. She says that time is on her side. She will find many more opportunities to contest elections.

“To win elections is important for me as I want to be a lawmaker and make sure that people-friendly legislation is passed in parliament to protect the interest of the most vulnerable in the country,” Shukla says.

Until she makes it to parliament, she plans to work tirelessly to raise literacy in her constituency and lower the poverty rate. She wants clean drinking water, cleaner drains, and better roads. Women’s safety is her priority, as is a regular and fair wage for the many communities of artisans like potters and weavers.

Shukla has witnessed the police lathi-charge citizens who dared to ask the government for jobs. Social activists have been jailed, kicked around, and beaten in lockdown for participating in protests and questioning the government in UP. There are countless incidents of gruesome crimes perpetrated against women.

Most political parties want women’s votes but are reluctant to share power with them. Therefore, politics in UP today is a constant struggle for any woman who joins the male-dominated world of politics. Shukla’s biggest strength is her belief in herself.

The daughter of a small property dealer, Shukla, learnt to be fearless from Beena, her mother. At first, Beena wanted her to marry a suitable Brahmin boy. However, the constant cry to marry died down after she decided to contest the elections.

Her parents suggested that Shukla choose a more respectable profession like teaching instead. The parents were pained when she was jailed in 2019, and countless criminal cases were filed against her for participating in street demonstrations.

Shukla is the eldest of three sisters, and she feels responsible for her siblings. The family reminded her she was a role model, but she refused to give up her politics. Her determination to remain engaged in public life is less frowned upon now. At least her immediate family members and neighbours are supportive. She is no longer considered a black sheep within the Brahmin community that sees itself as exceptionally respectable.

Shukla has been in the limelight since 2017 when she and fellow students waved black flags at the motor convoy of those in power. She was part of a group of students protesting against the use of Lucknow University funds for a political party event.

She was angry when jailed for protesting peacefully. After 20 days in jail, the University refused her admission for postgraduate studies. Shukla started a hunger strike and forced the University to allow all the students to continue their studies.

Today she is a youth icon. She has emerged as a leader and a role model not just for her siblings but for thousands of other youngsters, students, women and some male members of society.

Shukla says that she stands for a democratic, secular and inclusive India. How will she realise her dream in the cutthroat political culture where all that matters is power and money?

There is no substitute for commitment and hard work, she says with a smile.

11th Outstanding Women’s Achievements Awards Gala Held On Long Island, NY

Honorable Jennifer Desena, Supervisor Town of North Hempstead, Town Clerk Ragini Srivastava, Senior Council woman Dorothy Goosby, Town of Hempstead, Nassau County Legislator Rose Walker, Glen cove Mayor Pam Panzenback  and  several elected officials, Bobby Kumar Kalotee, Founding Member of IAF, and Community Leaders, joined in the Metropolitan in Glen cove  for Eleventh Outstanding Womens Achievements Awards Gala on a cool Sunday  Evening, March 27, 2022.

Everyone present at the auditorium felt the pride and achievements regarding the theme of the program. The attendance of Honorees and members of Indian American Community filled up the Ballroom, with extremely accomplished and elite members, who is who of the society gathered for one singular purpose, to be the part of and to celebrate 11th Outstanding Women’s Achievements Gala, part of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day Celebrations

IAF (Indian American Forum) led by Indu Jaiswal, known for her strong commitment and dedication to the community cause was the organizing force behind the gala.  This year well known Community Leader Shammi Singh was the Chairperson of the Gala. Shammi Singh was represented by Rohini Singh in her remarks welcomed all the guests congratulated all the honorees and praised their efforts in achieving such success. American National Anthem and Indian National Anthems started the program. Mistress of Ceremonies Aashmeeta Yogiraj Sandhu from JUS PUNJABI. Made the evening enjoyable.

Program started with Ganesh Vandana sung by Vandana Jauhar, Dance performances presented by students of Nartan Rang Dance Academy, well-known Choreographers Swati Vaishnav and Mukthambar Fine Arts Inc., Tribute paid to Late Lata Mangeshkar Jee by Sunita Sadhnani. Chanbir Kaur Sethi, Roopam Maini, Inesha Singh, Rohini Singh and Dr Prachi Dua, Dr Pallavi Manvar Singh and Mrs Ratna Bhalla, coordinated a brief Q&A session with the honorees discussing and emphasizing their accomplishments.

Several Elected officials present congratulated the honorees on their achievements and success, also presented them with citations. congratulated all honorees and acknowledged the efforts of IAF Team. Seven distinguished women who had excelled in their profession and community services were presented with Outstanding Women’s achievements Awards

NISHA KUMAR BEHRINGER is strategic, and shareholder focused Chief Financial Officer, independent Director, and merger acquisitions executive with over two decades track record. She is formerly a Managing Director and the Chief Financial and Chief Compliance Officer of Greenbriar Equity Group L.P. a private equity firm for investments.

KALPANA BHANDARKAR currently residing in Nassau County has nearly twenty years of experience in Health Care and civic engagement.  Kalpana has dedicated her professional career in improving access to Quality health care for people living in low resource setting. Over past several years Kalpana has focused her work with Long Island based organizations, serving as co-chair of the Board of ERASE Racism, an advocacy organization focused on fair housing and equitable education for all residents statewide

NEETA BHASIN is the President of ASB Communications, the power of multicultural marketing company. ASB Communications is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this Year. Neeta Bhasin has served the Community through her TV shows, NEETA BHASIN SHOW on social media since last two Years. She started Event Guru Worldwide, the company that created history in 2013 by conceptualizing and producing the 2nd biggest event after New Tear’s eyeball drop-in Times square> DIWALI at Times Square

BEENA KOTHARI having lived in Long Island for over 30 years. Her association, interactions contributions with Indian and American communities has been very extensive, valuable, and memorable and inclusive of all. She has several accomplishments within various social and cultural nonprofit leadership capacities. She firmly believes sin VASUDHAIVA KUTUMBAKAM meaning the world in ONE Family.

DR PREETI MEHTA is the founder of Digestive Disease Care, one of the Largest Gastroenterology [ practices expanding from Queens to Nassau and Suffolk, she is well renowned in the field of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Charitable work and giving back to the communities’ top priorities of Dr Mehta., She supports Charities dedicated for children and women education

RAGINI SRIVASTAV Town Clerk. Town of North Hempstead. Is serving her first term as Town Clerk of Town of North Hempstead, a time honored and historic function for the township since its founding in 1784.Town Clerk Srivastava is proud of The Town of North Hempstead and the unique characteristics of our villages and services

MALINI RUDRA is a junior at Williams College. She is 21 Years old, graduated from Syosset High School, she is Co-Captain of the Williams College Golf Team, which is ranked no 1 in NCAA Div. 111 Athletics. Malini has tremendous success in Golf. She won or placed top 5 in numerous tournaments locally as well a nationally Since 7th grade Malini was selected as part of the Syosset Girls Varsity Team, she is winner of Several Golf Championships. Malini also serves as a Board member of the Children’s Hope Teen Chapter and helped raise funds for under privileged in Long Island. Malini acknowledged the award with a video message. She was playing in a Golf Tournament in California.

Senior Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby from Town of Hempstead was all in praises for the efforts of Indian American Forum and Indian American Community. She congratulated all honorees and stressed the importance of role women are playing in this world.  Citations of behalf of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, Nassau County Legislator Ms. Rose Walker, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino and Suffolk County Executive Steve Vallone. Were presented to all Honorees

Among those present during the event were Bobby Kumar Kalotee Founder of IAF and Chair of Nassau County Human right Commissioner, Board of Trustees, Dr Azad Anand,  Dr Urmilesh Arya, Dr Bhupendra Patel, Mr Mohinder Singh Taneja, Board members Beena Kothari, Bina Sabapathy, Jyoti Gupta ,Indu Gajwani  Anu Gulati,, Roopam Maini, Chanbir Kaur Sethi, Rohini Singh, Anuj Rihal, Inesha Singh, Dr Prachi Dua, Dr Pallavi Manvar Singh, Ratna Bhalla, Anju Sharma, Sanju Sharma Mr Sunny Thakkar , Jasbir Jay Singh, Indu Gajwani, Bina Sabapathy and  Gala Chairperson Shammi Singh, Volunteers, sponsors , Media Partners  and Many others helped in making the event a grand success.

It was indeed a highly successful evening, showcasing and honoring outstanding women achievers, who are successful in business, cultural, professional, education, medical. Community and social services.

-+=