India general election 2019: What happened?

May 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

After a long and arduous election, with months of campaigning and voting spread over seven phases, India’s 879 million voters have spoken. And, if not with one voice, then close to it. The Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been handed another historic mandate.

Modi’s 2014 victory was already record-setting — the first time a single party had attained a parliamentary majority in three decades. To win once at that scale was astounding, a black swan event. To win twice means that Indian politics, and India itself, has changed beyond recognition.

For the first decades after independence, India was a democracy but nevertheless a one-‘party state. The Indian National Congress, the party that spearheaded the independence movement, dominated most states and had a stranglehold on power in New Delhi. It was voted out once in 1977, after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi turned towards authoritarianism and was punished by a united opposition. Still, not until the 1990s did the party enter a permanent decline.

At that point, India ushered in an era of coalitions. A patchwork of regional, caste-based and ideologically distinct parties held the balance of power. It’s no surprise that this period also coincided with the growth of the private sector following the liberalization of the economy in 1991. Parties with no monopoly on the state are less likely to seek purely statist solutions.

Modi’s successive victories mark another era of Indian politics. No other political chieftains are holding the balance of power; only Modi matters. Back in the days of one-party rule, a sycophantic Congress politician said of his leader: Indira is India. That was hyperbole. But no politician since Indira Gandhi has had as powerful a claim to be identified with India’s conception of itself as Modi now does.

How has he earned that claim? Multiple explanations for the BJP’s victory have already been trotted out: the organizational strength of the party, its vast advantages in money and resources, the covert and overt backing of supposedly independent institutions — all hallmarks of democratic strongmen globally. Others will point to the weakness of the opposition and its crisis of leadership, or to Modi’s reputation for incorruptibility, his muscular foreign policy and the popularity of some of his welfare schemes.

All these, of course, are factors. But they didn’t determine this election. Neither did the economy. Regardless of the official figures for gross domestic product growth, the economy is under-performing. It’s rare anywhere in the world for incumbents to increase their political strength under such circumstances.

No, India has proved Bill Clinton wrong: It’s identity, stupid. This election was fought and won over identity — the identity of India and the identity of Indians.

Modi is the perfect representative for the young, aspirational, majoritarian, impatient Indians who have put him into office twice now. An overwhelming number of these 400 million voters see in him a self-made man, one who has every intention of asserting India’s centrality to world affairs. More, he appears strong and decisive, and wishes to impose a unity and uniformity on Indian politics. This clarity is comforting for most of his core voters.

The India of the past saw itself as a patchwork of competing identities, represented by the multiple powerful satraps of the coalition era and by the many factions within the umbrella tradition of the Congress prior to that. The BJP, under Modi, permits no such balancing. India is strong if it is united, Modi’s voters feel, and unity requires the welding of these multiple identities into a single one.

Hyper-nationalists on Twitter, as well as cabinet ministers, attack Modi’s opponents as the “tukde-tukde” gang — literally, those who want to break India into pieces. The BJP’s electoral logic has long been incredibly simple: Over four-fifths of India is Hindu and the BJP is the party that best represents Hindu interests. If most Hindus vote for them out of religious solidarity rather than on economic, class or caste interests, then the BJP will win.

The truth is that this is increasingly what Modi and the party have achieved. Their triumph isn’t merely a product of political management. It is a rhetorical and ideological battle, a culture war, which they have won.

All bets are off about India’s future. The West has long seen this country as a natural ally: one that has similar liberal institutions, is outward-looking and acts modestly on the global stage. But that is not the India wanted by the voters who have twice now demonstrated their loyalty to Modi so dramatically. Just as Indians are looking at themselves and their country anew, so the world will have to recalibrate its assumptions about India.

From just two seats in Lok Sabha in 1984 to winning two back-to-back majority in general elections, the BJP now firmly occupies the position of dominance that the Congress once held. The 300+ seats BJP has won in 2019 is the saffron party’s highest ever Lok Sabha tally. It had won 282 seats in 2014.
Narendra Modi is the first non-Congress (and third ever) prime minister in India to return to power after a full five-year term.
In at least 21 states and Union Territories, the BJP has the highest vote share making it a truly pan-India party. BJP’s vote share in rural areas was higher (39.5%) than in urban constituencies (33.9%), which means BJP isn’t just a city-based party either.
The BJP won more than 50% votes in 224 of the 446 seats it contested compared to 136 in 2014. Together with its allies, the party won more than 50% of the votes in 15 states and UTs. In 10 states and UTs, the NDA won all the seats.
In the Hindi heartland, the BJP got over half the votes in 141 of the 198 seats it contested. At least 15 of its candidates won with a margin of over 5 lakh votes. BJP’s victories in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh come within six months of it losing assembly polls in these states. That’s unprecedented.
The party not only kept its core states – the Hindi heartland, Gujarat and Maharashtra – but also posted its biggest victories in West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and the northeast. Only Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh appeared untouched. Even in Telangana, the BJP won four seats.
In 2014, the BJP had won 171 of 185 seats in UP, MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Gujarat. In 2019, though it won a fewer number of 158 seats in these states, its tally outside these states (which account for 358 seats) went up from 111 in 2014 to 142 this year. The BJP also retained over 80% of the seats it won in 2014.
In 2014, BJP’s vote share had gone up by more than 20% in 104 seats making them ‘Modi wave seats’. In 2019, the party has retained 96 of these, making them ‘double wave‘ seats.

BJP Overseas Supporters Celebrate Party’s Win

May 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Editorial, India, Politics 0

After a four-month campaign from 12,000 kilometres away for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Overseas Friends of BJP-USA, known as OFBJP, celebrated BJP win in Indian elections in 20 cities across the United States—from Boston to San Francisco.

BJP supporters from Massachusetts gathered at Brookside Club House in Andover, MA, to celebrate the victory. Overseas Friends of BJP-USA President Krishna Reddy Anugula said celebrations were planned in 20 cities across the United States, including New York, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco.

Anugula told the media that over 1,000 volunteers from his organization participated in phone bank call-a-thons that made more than 1 million calls to people in India asking them to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

During the four months before the elections, the OFBJP also held yagnas, “Chowkidar Marches” and other programs to encourage Indian citizens here to support Modi and to boost the party’s image in India, he said.

As the election trends started trickling in starting at around 11 p.m. on Wednesday night (local time), the OFBJP and the US-based station TV Asia began an overnight election watch in Edison, New Jersey, he said. About 400 Indians and Americans kept vigil overnight watching the results at a community center.

The group in a statement said: “Overseas Friends of BJP-USA congratulates Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party President Amit Shah, BJP leaders, millions of volunteers and volunteers of OFBJP and NRIs4Modi across the globe who toiled hard for this stupendous victory.”

“Millions of voters, including first time voters have participated enthusiastically in this world’s largest democratic elections to elect an able and proven leader, Narendra Modi,” it said.

Reddy asserted that although the BJP did not make a sweep of his home state of Telangana, his party was emerging as the main challenger to the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) improving its position both in the number of votes and seats.

In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the defeat of the Telugu Desam Party showed that the people of the state were ready for change and a corruption-free administration. It presented the BJP future opportunities there, he said.

TV Asia, the largest India-oriented TV operation in the US, held a marathon overnight coverage of the Indian elections for its viewers across the US, News Director Rohit Vyas told IANS.

The news operations, which are separate from the company’s community outreach and is politically independent, had representatives of both the OFBJP and the Overseas Indian Congress, as well as Indian community leaders on its programme analysing the elections, he added.

New India votes for good governance Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas

May 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

The re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a strong mandate is a reflection of emergence of New India. By re-electing BJP and NDA, people of India have endorsed the good governance of Prime Minister Modi, his developmental policy based on Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas and his strong national security policy which has zero tolerance to terrorism.

People of India has shown the door to the opposition party’s negative politics and vetted the positive energy and politics of Prime Minister Modi. It shows that they have no faith in a politics that is based on lie and deception, which was the key aspect of electoral campaign of the Congress-led opposition parties.

In five years 2014-2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a high bar of leadership and governance. In just five years, India has become a bright spot of global economy and a world power that can no longer be ignored. In the next five years Prime Minister Narendra Modi would put fast track India’s development. Under Narendra Modi, I am sure, world’s largest democracy would soon become among world most powerful country and top three global economies.

We non-resident Indians (NRIs) are proud of India’s achievements. It’s a no mean achievement that 1.3 billion people have peacefully elected their leader for the next five years. Now that the elections are over, I hope, the opposition parties would respect the mandate of the people of India. And instead of making baseless allegations against EVMs, opposition parties would join Prime Minister Modi in achieving the aspiration and ambitions of New India.

Exit polls predict second term for India’s PM Narendra Modi

May 21, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, India, Politics 0

If the results of exit polls are to be believed, the BJP led National Democratic Alliance is all set to make a clean sweep at the recently held India’s elections to the Parliament. Private polling commissioned by Indian media outlets points to a second term for the incumbent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), although, given the patchy record of these polls, which have been wrong in past elections, we won’t know for sure until later this week.

It is, however, interesting to note that the most enthusiastic results have been thrown up by exit polls conducted in association with media houses who are perceived widely as cheerleaders of the Modi regime.

But if Modi does return to power, what might Modi 2.0 mean for India? One way of trying to answer that question is to compare campaign 2019 to the one that unfolded five years ago.

In 2014, when Modi first ran for national office — he was already a major regional figure by then, running western Gujarat state for over a decade — his campaign was dominated by his promises to usher in a sort of economic renaissance: Modi spoke of reforms to, among other things, make India an easier place to do business, make it better at generating jobs for the millions of young Indians who enter the workforce each year and to clean house to stamp out corruption.

All exit polls released at the conclusion of the seven-phase 17th general election predicted a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. Most polls indicated minor to considerable setback for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh where it won 71 of 80 seats in 2014, but they were in agreement that the party would firmly hold on to its strongholds in the north and west and make considerable gains in West Bengal.

In southern States barring Karnataka, the BJP is projected to trail far behind opponents. The Congress and its allies are projected to make significant gains compared to the historic low they hit in 2014, but will end up some distance away from the halfway mark of 272 seats in the 543-strong Lok Sabha, according to these polls.

The polls predicted between 242 to 365 for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and between 77 and 164 for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Parties that are unattached to either side, which include the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) whose coalition in Uttar Pradesh is resisting the BJP, could get between 69 and 125 seats, according to various polls.

Exit polls have a long history of going wrong in India. According to Praveen Chakravarty, chairperson of the Congress Data Analytics Department, who compared exit polls with actual outcomes posted on Twitter: “~80% of exit poll seat predictions for all parties in large state elections since 2014 are wrong.” Exit polls are generally considered more accurate than opinion polls conducted before actual voting.

Around the world also, the credibility of opinion polls and exit polls has taken a beating in recent years. Almost all polls in the Australian election last week got the outcome wrong, and similar was the fate of polls during the 2016 U.S. presidential election and Brexit. But what is common between these polls that went wrong was that all of them under-reported the support for conservative and ultra-nationalist positions. Indian exit polls on Sunday uniformly predicted a massive surge in favour of the Hindu nationalist BJP.

The exit poll projections indicate that Mr. Modi’s campaign to turn the election into a referendum on his persona rather than the performance of his five-year term has been successful.

First up is the News 18-IPSOS poll, the results of which say that the NDA is all set for a landslide victory bagging as many as 336 seats with BJP contributing a lion’s share of 276! This poll has restricted the UPA’s tally to a meager 82. The anchor of the show was seen merrily flying over a CGI globe in a VFX helicopter while the results popped up on screen!

Next up is the Republic-CVoter poll that says that the NDA will get 287 seats while the UPA will be reduced to 128. It gives the Mahagathbandhan 40 seats and others 87. But, interestingly, Republic has another poll with Jan Ki Baat, according to which the NDA will bag between 295-315 seats, while the UPA will win between 122 and 12 seats. The BJP alone is set to score between 254 and 274 seats according to this poll. It is still not clear why they needed to conduct two polls. Not to be outdone by News 18’s helicopter, panelists on Republic’s show drove into the studio in swanky cars!

Another poll that enthusiastically predicts the return of the Modi regime is the Times Now VMR poll that gives the NDA 306 seats, while says that the UPA could win as many as 132 seats. Cocking a snook at News 18’s helicopter and Republic’s cars, Times Now roped in a blue CGI Iron Man to do somersaults as results popped up!

The India Today-Axis poll gave BJP and allies a whopping 339-365 seats, while giving the Congress and allies 77-108 seats. The News 24-Chanakya poll is meanwhile predicting a clean sweep for the Modi regime, especially in the heartland with wins in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi. Meanwhile, the News X Neta poll gives the NDA 242 seats while it gives the UPA 162 seats. It gives the SP-BSP-RLD 43 seats while giving others 88 seats.

While almost all polls have written off the Mahagathbandhan, the ABP-Nielen poll is sticking its neck out and predicting a huge victory for the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh, predicting they will win 56 seats! Over all this poll says NDA could win as many as 267 seats, while the UPA will cobble up 127 seats, leaving others with 148 seats.

TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee has rubbished the exit poll results as gossip, tweeting, “I don’t trust Exit Poll gossip. The game plan is to manipulate or replace thousands of EVMs through this gossip. I appeal to all Opposition parties to be united, strong and bold. We will fight this battle together.”

Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha also echoed similar sentiments in his tweet saying,T”he silent voter will be king on May 23 rd 2019. The ‘fear factor’ playing havoc with respondents to pollsters in an ugly polarized election. Ridiculous #ExitPolls , almost laughable. UPA > NDA when the ‘real counting’ happens.”

But given how miserably exit polls have missed the mark in the past, it is best to exercise caution while accepting these results. Also, few journalists today have the grace to apologise like NDTV chief Pronnoy Roy did in November 2015 for getting the Bihar results wrong.

In his brilliant analysis of how and why exit polls get it wrong in The New Indian Express, Shankkar Aiyar writes, “… exit polls can overstate the case of vocal voters and miss the silent vote—and in India, there is an another factor, false responses driven by fear of retribution. Also, a higher turnout can skew assumed weightages, leading to erroneous calls on trajectory and/or tally. In fact, the impact is aggravated when the data is drilled to deliver outcomes at a granular level.” He cites examples on 2004 and 2009, when pollsters got the trajectory and tally wrong. Aiyar further explains, “Exit polls also tend to get it right when there is a clear edge for one side at the outset of the election. On the flip side, exit polls can go haywire in close contests and when a thin sample is extrapolated to generate conclusions.”

In an age where many a newsroom has dedicated itself to being a mouthpiece of the ruling dispensation, equating in the process all voices and acts of dissent as anti-national, it may be surmised that the declaration of positive results is perhaps their way of keeping their political masters happy and curry whatever last few favours they can till the actual results are declared.

GOPIO-CT holds PUBLIC FORUM for ELECTD OFFICIALS IN CONNECTICUT

May 21, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Education, Finance/Economy 0

Indian Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty and Deputy Consul General Shatrugna Sinha were hosted by the Connecticut chapter of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO-CT) on May 3rd in Stamford and Norwalk, Connecticut. Arriving at 2.30 p.m.. Consul General Chakravorty called on to Stamford Mayor David Martin at the Govt. Center in Stamford, along with GOPIO-CT President Anita Bhat, Past Presidents Shailesh Naik and Shelly Nichani and Treasurer Biru Sharma. Later in the afternoon, both called on to Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling along with GOPIO-CT officials and Norwalk’s Indian community leaders including Raj Misra and Anna Duleep as well as representatives of Norwalk’s Sikh Gurudwara.

The discussions were very cordial with both mayors and there were agreements on many new initiatives. Consul General Chakravorty very graciously offered to send various artists and performers from India visiting the USA to come and do shows in both the cities Stamford and Norwalk. Both the Mayors offered full help and cooperation to facilitate such performances. Both mayors and the Consul General are interested in student exchange programs and the Consul General will further work in the same.

Most importantly the Consul General made an offer to the Norwalk Mayor Rilling and the Sikh community to hold a grand 550th Anniversary of Guru Nanakjis birth anniversary. He will contact some eminent academician to come and give a talk on the life of the Guru. This was a major accomplishment and a tribute to our Sikh community. Mayor Rilling offered his full support. GOPIO-CT also proposed an India section at the Norwalk public Library which Mayor Rilling agreed and the Consul General has offered to provide books.

On the economic front, both mayors would like to invite Indian companies to consider Stamford and Norwalk to open their US destination. In this regard, Stamford Mayor Martin will take assistance from the Indian Consulate to invite Indian companies to business expo and investment seminars in Stamford. GOPIO-CT will facilitate such efforts.

Consul General Chakravorty also had a very good discussion with Congressman Jim Himes who is a leading member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Congressman Himes is very supportive of India’s interests and values. CG Chakravorty also had a very informative discussion with Connecticut State Senator Bob Duff, the Majority Leader in Conn. Senate.

In the evening a reception was held at Hampton Inn for the many leaders of Indian diaspora in Connecticut to meet and greet Consul General Chakravorty and Deputy Consul General Sinha. GOPIO-CT President Anita Bhat welcomed the guests. GOPIO-CT Treasurer Biru Sharma moderated the session. Connecticut House Representative Matt Blumenthal, who represents Stamford, also joined the dinner meeting. Rep. Blumenthal was very appreciative of the contribution by the Indian American community in Connecticut.

Consul General Chakravorty gave a very descriptive talk on the election in India and how the country is a well-established democracy. A Q&A session followed where the participants asked questions and expressed their concerns. A donation of $2000 was made to Future 5, an organization in Stamford that takes underprivileged students from local high schools and tutor them in the hours after school.

Trump’s New Merit-Based Immigration Plan

May 21, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Politics, Travel 0

US President Donald Trump has unveiled a plan to reform the nation’s immigration system, intended to favor high-skilled immigrants and restrict family-based migration. President Trump unveiled an outline for reshaping how immigrants are admitted into the country — seeking to promote a more comprehensive approach to immigration ahead of a reelection campaign in which Democrats plan to portray his hard-line approach at the border as racist.

The new proposal, an effort led primarily by his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, appears destined for the congressional dustbin, with no clear strategy from the White House to turn it into law and essentially no support from Democrats who control half of Capitol Hill.

Currently, about two-thirds of the 1.1 million people allowed to migrate to the nation each year are given green cards granting permanent residency because of family ties. Trump’s plan, which does not add protections to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients, is expected to draw little support from Democrats who have railed against the administration’s lack of support for so-called “Dreamers,” who were brought to the United States as children by undocumented parents.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the proposal as “condescending,” signaling that Democrats would not support legislation that does not include a pathway to citizenship. “They say family is without merit — are they saying most of the people that come to the US in the history of our country are without merit, because they don’t have an engineering degree,” Pelosi asked at her weekly press conference on Thursday.

But the White House and its allies on Capitol Hill have emphasized that the plan — few details of which have been publicly released — is primarily to showcase the kind of immigration that Trump and Republicans can support ahead of next year’s elections.

“We are proposing an immigration plan that puts the jobs, wages and safety of American workers first,” Trump said from the White House Rose Garden in front of an audience of Cabinet officials and GOP lawmakers. “Our proposal is pro-American, pro-immigrant and pro-worker. It’s just common sense.”

The president’s bid to sketch out a vision that could appeal beyond his conservative base represented a potentially risky shift at a time when he is eyeing a tough reelection campaign in which he believes immigration will play a major role.

Speaking at the White House, Trump on Thursday said that his plan aims to create a “fair, modern and lawful system of immigration for the US”, Xinhua news agency reported.

“The biggest change we make is to increase the proportion of highly skilled immigration from 12 per cent to 57 per cent, and we’d like to even see if we can go higher,” Trump said. “This will bring us in line with other countries and make us globally competitive.”

“We cherish the open door that we want to create for our country. But a big proportion of those immigrants must come in through merit and skill,” said the president, noting that immigrants, under the plan, will also be “required to learn English and to pass a civics exam prior to admission.”

According to the White House, the proposal would tighten family-based migration to focus on allowing nuclear families who migrate to the US, rather than extended family members.

The effort, championed by Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, also focuses on beefing up border security. Trump has claimed that the nation is being overrun by migrants and asylum seekers and sought to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico by declaring a national emergency so as to bypass Congress and unlock billions of US dollars in funding.

The new White House proposal does not change the net level of green cards allocated each year, but rather prioritizes high-skilled workers over those with family members who are U.S. citizens. It would allow applicants to rack up eligibility based on factors such as age, ability to speak English, job offers and educational background under what Trump called a new “Build America” visa.

But the proposal also sidesteps some major components of the nation’s immigration system that can be far more complex and controversial to resolve, such as the fate of the estimated 11 million immigrants without legal status and visas for temporary, low-skilled workers — issues that have divided the Republican Party and pit the business community against labor unions.

Vision-Aid’s Revathy Ramakrishna is Woman of the Year 2019

May 21, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Editorial, India, Women 0

Revathy Ramakrishna, who was bestowed Woman of the Year Award 2019 by an independent panel of nine judges, said that this award is less about her and more about the cause she is so passionate about: Vision-Aid. The 17th Annual Woman of the Year Awards Gala, which was organized by INDIA New England News on Friday at Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA, was attended about 500 people. World-class Carnatic Music Teacher Tara Anand received the Lifetime Achievement Award 2019.

“On behalf of all the volunteers and visually impaired beneficiaries of Vision-Aid, I gratefully accept the award,” said Ms. Ramakrishna. “I feel so very grateful and honored to be selected from such a talented pool of nominees. When I read the profiles of, and met the other 19 nominees, I honestly thought each of them was so much more accomplished than I was. This decision to confer this award on me was less about me and more about the cause I am so passionate about – Vision-Aid.”

“It was inspiring to learn about the many amazing things our nominees have accomplished. It was a privilege to celebrate them all. As an Indian American, it makes you proud to know that their contributions are making a difference not only in our community but also far beyond,” said Ms. Chandra. “Their work spans the preservation of our cultural roots, working with non-profits in several realms, excellence in the fields of law, business and medicine, to much needed work in refugee resettlement, domestic violence and gender issues.”

She said the committee was thrilled to honor Vision-Aid’s Ms. Ramakrishna. “We are thrilled to honor Revathy Ramakrishna as the India New England Woman of the Year, 2019. She demonstrates focus and passion for an idea she has nurtured for over 15 years along with her professional accomplishments and service work in the local community. The impact of her work at Vision Aid to empower and rehabilitate thousands of visually impaired individuals speaks for itself. It can easily be said that in her case the whole is so much greater the sum of the individual parts,” said Ms. Chandra. “While we could only select one winner in a field with a lot of depth, we wanted to recognize two other individuals – Meena Ramamurti and Meena Subramanyam – who received an honorable mention for their terrific professional achievements and their ability to stitch our community together in magical ways.”

Ramakrishna serves as the volunteer Vice-President for Vision-Aid, a non-profit organization that serves the visually impaired by enabling, educating and empowering them to live their lives with independence and dignity. Vision-Aid has blossomed into an organization which has offered enablement, rehabilitation and skills training programs for thousands of blind and visually impaired across 10 locations in India, besides also running several programs online through the Vision-Aid Online Academy. Ramakrishna dedicated the Woman of the Year Award to visually impaired and volunteers of Vision-Ad.

Judges also selected two out of 20 Outstanding Women for Honorable Mentions: Meena Subramanyam, a scientist and an accomplished Bharatanatyam artist and teacher and Vice President and Global Program Leader in the gastroenterology therapeutic area unit at Cambridge, MA-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals; and Meena Ramamurti, Vice President at the Shishu Bharati School of Indian Languages and Culture.

Ramakrishna, the 2019 Woman of the Year, is an electronics engineer and health informatics professional by training. She works as a Program Manager at Fresenius Medical Care North America, a premier health care company focused on delivering the highest quality care to people with chronic renal conditions. She has been with the company for over 10 years and oversees the Government Reporting and Clinical Informatics program related to specific CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control) government mandated quality and reimbursement initiatives that are aimed at improving the quality of health care and patient outcomes.

Her analytical and technical background, subject matter expertise and communication and collaboration skills help her liaise as effectively with the Medical Office, Clinicians and business team as with the IT and technical teams to build consensus among diverse viewpoints and build high quality systems.

Ms. Ramakrishna says that she feels privileged to serve Vision-Aid alongside so many other community leaders and volunteers and be in the front-row seat of this amazing cause which aims to bring independence and dignity to the visually impaired while also creating a more inclusive world for them through our advocacy efforts.

“I am very passionate about this cause because I have personally experienced the immense challenges posed by visual disability faced by members of my family and have also seen first-hand how these can be mitigated and overcome, when a supportive environment is provided,” says Ms. Ramakrishna. “Unfortunately, even today, in developing countries like India, too many people still lack this kind of support and are turned away when their impairment cannot be cured by modern medicine and surgery.

“When my husband and I first started Vision-Aid it was a small organization running out of my husband’s home town in Vizag, India, benefiting people in that region. At the present time, it is gratifying to see its more expansive scope,” says Ms. Ramakrishna. “In 2019, Vision-Aid is bringing light into the lives of over 1000 visually impaired in 10 different locations across India each year. Our partners include the Aravind Eye Care system, the largest eye care system in the world, Sankara Netralaya of Chennai, Nethra Blind Schools in Hyderabad and Vizag and other leaders in the field.”

U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta rules against Trump in fight over president’s financial records

May 21, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

President Trump on Monday lost an early round of his court fight with Democrats, after a federal judge ruled the president’s accounting firm must turn over his financial records to Congress as lawmakers seek to assert their oversight authority.

Trump called the 41-page ruling from U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta of Washington, D.C. “crazy” and said he would appeal, adding: “We think it’s totally the wrong decision by obviously an Obama-appointed judge.

Lawyers for the president are fighting document and witness subpoenas on multiple fronts, and Mehta’s ruling came hours after former White House counsel Donald McGahn was directed not to appear before a congressional committee seeking testimony about his conversations with Trump.

Congressional Democrats have vowed to fight for evidence of potential misconduct by Trump and those close to him, and the president’s legal team is broadly resisting those efforts. How those fights play out in court in the months ahead could impact the 2020 presidential race.

In his decision, Mehta flatly rejected arguments from the president’s lawyers that the House Oversight Committee’s demands for the records from Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, were overly broad and served no legitimate legislative function.

“It is simply not fathomable,” the judge wrote, “that a Constitution that grants Congress the power to remove a President for reasons including criminal behavior would deny Congress the power to investigate him for unlawful conduct — past or present — even without formally opening an impeachment inquiry.”

Trump has argued those congressional inquiries are politically motivated attacks on the authority of the presidency, while Democrats insist the subpoenas are essential to ensuring no president is above the law.

When the lawsuit was first filed, Trump’s private attorney Jay Sekulow said the president’s team “will not allow Congressional Presidential harassment to go unanswered.”

The company said in a statement that it will “respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations.”

While Democrats scored the first court victory in the fight over the president’s financial records, it’s unclear how many of these disputes will reach higher courts, or how those courts might rule.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the ruling “lets America know that we have ground to stand on and that we have a legitimate argument and the courts support them. . . . I’m glad it was a strong decision, that bodes well hopefully in the future for an appeals process.”

Mehta’s ruling threw historical shade at Trump, drawing comparisons to former president James Buchanan, whom historians have blamed for failing to prevent the Civil War and is generally considered one of the country’s worst leaders. He, too, complained bitterly about “harassing” congressional inquiries.

Judge Mehta noted that Congress also launched an investigation into the conduct of President Bill Clinton before he entered the White House.

“Congress plainly views itself as having sweeping authority to investigate illegal conduct of a President, before and after taking office,” he wrote. “This court is not prepared to roll back the tide of history.”

The judge gave the White House a week to formally appeal the decision, adding “the President is subject to the same legal standard as any other litigant that does not prevail.”

An appeal could test decades of legal precedent that have upheld Congress’ right to investigate — a legal battle that is just one part of a broader effort by House Democrats to examine Trump’s finances, his campaign, and allegations he sought to obstruct justice in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation.

In the Mazars case, Mehta cut down Trump’s lawyers’ complaint that Congress was usurping the Justice Department’s powers to investigate “dubious and partisan” allegations of private conduct, by inquiring into whether Trump misled his lenders by inflating his net worth.

Rather, Mehta said, a congressional investigation into illegal conduct before and during a president’s time in office fits “comfortably”with Congress’ broad investigative powers, which include an “informing function,” or power to expose corruption.]

Trump, his three eldest children and companies also are attempting to block a subpoena, issued by the House Financial Services Committee, seeking Trump’s bank records from Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp. A federal judge in Manhattan is set to hear that case Wednesday. The pace of the president’s legal fights with Congress is intensifying.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said Monday that his panel will vote Wednesday to enforce its subpoena for the redacted portions of Mueller’s report, along with certain underlying materials.

Schiff accused the Justice Department of granting Republican lawmakers’ document requests and denying demands from Democrats.

“The refusal by the department, if it persists, will be a graphic illustration of bad faith and a unwillingness to cooperate with lawful process,” Schiff said.

On Monday, the Justice Department issued a formal legal opinion saying that McGahn, the former top White House lawyer, could not be required to appear before lawmakers in response to a congressional subpoena.

Democrats subpoenaed McGahn to testify Tuesday morning, hoping he would become a star witness in their investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice. As detailed in Mueller’s report, McGahn provided critical testimony about several instances of potential obstruction by Trump.

“The Department of Justice has provided a legal opinion stating that, based on long-standing, bipartisan, and constitutional precedent, the former counsel to the president cannot be forced to give such testimony, and Mr. McGahn has been directed to act accordingly,” said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders in a statement. “This action has been taken in order to ensure that future presidents can effectively execute the responsibilities of the office of the presidency.”

The 15-page legal opinion written by Assistant Attorney General Steven A. Engel argues McGahn cannot be compelled to testify before the committee, based on past Justice Department legal memos regarding the president’s close advisers.

The memo says McGahn’s immunity from congressional testimony is separate and broader than a claim of executive privilege.

The immunity “extends beyond answers to particular questions, precluding Congress from compelling even the appearance of a senior presidential adviser — as a function of the independence and autonomy of the president himself,” Engel wrote.

Trump told reporters the action was taken “for the office of the presidency, for future presidents. I think it’s a very important precedent. And the attorneys say that they’re not doing that for me, they’re doing it for the office of the president.”

Those comments underscore the high stakes of Trump’s current standoff with Congress — if either side loses a legal ruling by an appeals court, or the Supreme Court, the reverberations could be felt far beyond the Trump administration, changing the balance of power between the executive and the legislative branches of government for years to come.

In the fight over McGahn’s testimony, the Justice Department insists that immunity from testimony does not evaporate once a presidential adviser leaves the government because the topics of interest to Congress are discussions that occurred when the person worked for the president.

As a private citizen, McGahn is not necessarily bound by the White House directive, or the Justice Department memo, to refuse to comply with the subpoena. There was no immediate word from McGahn’s lawyer on whether he would comply with or defy the White House.

The move to bar McGahn from answering lawmakers’ questions angered House Democrats eager to hit back at what they view as White House stonewalling. The defiance raises the possibility that the House will hold McGahn in contempt of Congress, as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) has threatened.

“It is absurd for President Trump to claim privilege as to this witness’s testimony when that testimony was already described publicly in the Mueller report,” Nadler said in a statement. “Even more ridiculous is the extension of the privilege to cover events before and after Mr. McGahn’s service in the White House.”

An increasing number of Democrats also want to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump even though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last week privately downplayed the possibility and encouraged her members to focus on their policy agenda.

Some Democrats believe opening an impeachment inquiry will strengthen their hand in trying to force the White House to comply with document requests and witness testimony, including McGahn’s.

House Democrats were hoping to make McGahn their key witness as they seek to unpack the findings of the Mueller report — particularly regarding questions of whether Trump obstructed justice.

Non Violence on Lord Mahavir and Gandhi birth anniversaries

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, U.S. 0

International Ahimsa Foundation USA celebrated Non Violence “A Message of Lord Mahavir” on his 2618th birth anniversary and also commemorated the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The event was held at the Consulate General of India in New York, The Master of Ceremonies were Shanie Persaud, Adeen and Shelly Jain. The event began with the American National Anthem sung by Shruti Goyal and followed by the Indian National Anthem by melodious Dr. Smita Guha.

Over 200 guests attended the event from the Indian American community, foreign press, and diplomatic missions and consulates from Italy, Bangladesh, Japan, Georgia and Indonesia.

The evening was graced by distinguished special guests. Among them were the Hon. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Guest Speaker Professor Lawrence A. Babb of Amherst College, Jessica Schaowski, Mayor’s office representative, Hon. Assemblyman David Weprin, and Hon. NYS Senator John Liu, Hon. NYS Senator Kevin Thomas and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney who introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives to posthumously present the Congressional Gold Medal to Mahatma Gandhi in recognition of his promotion of nonviolence, said Gandhi has been a “truly inspirational leader, historic figure”.

Mahatma Gandhi was “transformational in so many ways” and an inspiration to all Americans and people across the world, Maloney said. She said Mandela and King both attributed their philosophy of non-violence and their leadership to Mahatma Gandhi and both are recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal.

“Already Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King have received the Medal. It’s only right that the inspirational leader for both of them was Mahatma Gandhi and so he should receive this award,” Congresswoman added.

Ms. Maloney, who spearheaded efforts to have the US Postal Service issue the first Diwali Stamp, urged members of the Indian-American community to reach out to the Congress members and friends across the nation to co-sponsor the legislation to honor Gandhi with the Congressional medal.

“We are working to get the Senate sponsor. We must pass it this year and honour his leadership and his gift to the world,” she said, adding that “we should all work together and have a day of National Service in this special year for Gandhi and to remember him, she said.

“There is not enough that we can do to remember and say thank you to Gandhi for his life’s work, for his gift of non-violent ways of handling problems.” Gandhi brought independence to India with non-violence and recognizing his contributions to values in America, Ms. Maloney said she introduced the bill last year to give him the greatest honour that can be bestowed by the US Congress on an individual.

The medal will “honour his leadership” and his gift to the world of inspiring with his principles of non-violence, Maloney echoed. Other keynote speakers were the Hon, Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty and Samani Malay Pragyaji and Samani Neeti Pragyaji of Jain Vishwa Bharati of North America.

Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty said Gandhi himself was deeply influenced by the work and principle of civil disobedience of American poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, emulating it in his life. “Gandhi was deeply influenced by Thoreau and it shows in his life and work. Our freedom fighters were also deeply influenced by the American independence movement and the Constitution,” he said.

Maloney added that India and the US, the world’s largest democracy and the oldest democracies, have several commonalities, share the same values and have been allies across the spectrum. She said that paying homage to the memory and teachings of Lord Mahavir, she said she was not aware that one of Mahavir’s most important message is ‘Live and let live.’ “This slogan is one of the most famous quotes in America.”

The celebration of Non Violence ‘A message of Lord Mahavir and Mahatma Gandhi began with a lamp lighting ceremony with Navkar Mantra by Samani Malay Pragyaji and Samani Neeti Pragyaji joined by the distinguished guest and Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty, Mrs Taruna Chakravorty and Dr. Neeta Jain, President and Founder of International Ahimsa Foundation.

Dr. Neeta Jain gave welcome remarks and reiterated the importance of Non Violence and teachings of Lord Mahavir and Mahatma Gandhi, now more than ever before, and emphasized why and what motivated her to start the IAF organization.

Dr. Jain, the only female Indian-American elected official in New York City, was recently nominated by the Consul General of India in NY, Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, and was honored by the Society of Foreign Consuls in New York, Inc. on International Women’s Day for her tireless work in the South Asian Community. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney was the special guest of the evening, joined Consul General Chakravorty and Dr. Neeta Jain, and other distinguished guests in the lamp lighting ceremony.

Consul General Chakravorty was the keynote speaker and Professor Lawrence A. Babb the guest speaker who delivered special remarks and was honored by IAF and CG of India for his scholarship and research work on India. Special remarks also delivered by Jessica Schaowski, the Mayor’s office representative, Hon Assemblyman David Weprin, Senator John C Liu, Kevin Thomas and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

Samani Malay Pragyaji and Samani Niti Pragyaji of Jain Vishwa Bharati of North America also delivered special remarks and graced the evening with Shanti Ki Preksha (Peace Meditation) chants along with the guests.

The guests were entertained by colorful cultural performances throughout the evening by artists and performers from Manglastak Rhythm Dance Academy by Angel Shah, Saurya Doshi, Siddharth Doshi and Shiv Ajmeri and Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram Mahatma Gandhi’s prayer song by United Nations International School, directed by Ms. Ellen Cava.

Hon. Judge Deborah Taylor of The Honorable Society of the Inner Temple presented a video telecast commentary on Mahatma Gandhi.

Consul General Chakravorty, along with Dr. Jain and Vice President of IAF Dr. Raj Bhayani honored the dignitaries –NYS elected officials and the distinguished guests from the diplomatic community CG of Bangladesh Sadia Faizunnesa, Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the UN Toshiya Hoshino and Mrs. Hoshino, Ms. Annavaleria Guazzieri, Head of Education Section, Consulate General of Italy to NY, Mr. Giampiero Biagioli, Prof of Linguistics at Rutgers University Italian Studies, Civil Servant at Italian Foreign Ministry, Ms. Emanuela Costa, Italian Language teacher, and Selene Candido, Italian language teacher at Scuola d’ Italia with a shawl and IAF Prayer book.

The finale performance Ghoomar was presented by Rhythm Dance Academy. Artists Khushi Ojha, Jigna Ojha, Nidhi Parikh, Aditi Parikh, Krishna Patel, Jedlina Sarita, Ashmita Saha and Krisha Patel captivated the audience. Vice President of IAF Dr. Raj Bhayani delivered acknowledged the presence of Foreign media from Italy, US, Turkey, Germany, Hungary, China, South Africa, Poland and India.

Dr. Jain gave special thanks to the Consul General and his staff who worked tirelessly and gave unprecedented full support to organize and hosted the IAF Non Violence event and the presence of all elected officials and all guests who were present. The event was generously supported by the media sponsors JITO, JAINA, South Asian Times, TV Asia, PTC, ITV Gold and Parikh Media. The evening began with special Jain vegetarian reception and concluded with Jain vegetarian dinner and desserts

International Ahimsa Foundation Inc. was formed in 2012 to spread the message of non-violence and peace from Jain principles to the community. The goal of the foundation has been to promote the teachings of non-violence and peace in thought and action by providing dialogue, peace-building activities, and civic engagement across cultures. The Foundation hopes to encourage students and the community at large to get involved in creating a better world

Religious freedom conditions in India on a downward trend in 2018: US Commission Report

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, India, Politics, U.S. 0

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recently released an annual report that examines the state of religious freedom in several countries around the world, including India. The countries are categorised into two tiers, with India once again being placed in Tier 2, “for engaging in or tolerating religious freedom violations that meet at least one of the elements of the “systematic, ongoing, egregious” standard for designation as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA),” the report states. In its key findings, it notes that India saw religious freedom conditions continued on a downward trend in 2018, noting that last year, “approximately one-third of state governments increasingly enforced anti-con- version and/or anti-cow slaughter laws discriminatorily against non-Hindus and Dalits alike.”

The report adds that, in 2018, “approximately one-third of state governments increasingly enforced anti-con- version and/or anti-cow slaughter laws discriminatorily against non-Hindus and Dalits alike,” and notes that Christians were also the targets were mob violence “under accusations of forced or induced religious conversion.” Moreover, the report notes that in cases involving mob violence against a person over false accusations of forced conversion of cow slaughter, “police investigations and prosecutions often were not adequately pursued.”

In its key findings for India, the report takes note of the Supreme Court of India’s highlighting of “deteriorating conditions for religious freedom in some states” in 2018, stating that the court concluded that “certain state governments were not doing enough to stop violence against religious minorities, and in some extreme cases, impunity was being granted to criminals engaging in violence.” The report also highlights Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on these issues, saying he “seldom made statements decrying mob violence,” and noting that “certain members of his political party have affiliations with Hindu extremist groups and used inflammatory language about religious minorities publicly.” These were some of the points the report notes to explain why India was once again termed a Tier 2 country.

The report outlines recommendations to the United States’ government, saying that it should “press the Indian government to allow a USCIRF delegation to visit the country and meet with stakeholders to evaluate conditions for freedom of religion or belief in India”. It calls for working with the Indian government to formulate a years-long strategy to curb religion-driven hate crimes by “pressing state governments” to prosecute public figures, including government officials, “who incite violence against religious minority groups through public speeches or articles.” The recommendations for this strategy also include bolstering the training and capacity of state and central police forces to prevent and punish instances of religious violence, encouraging the passage of the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2018, and assisting the law ministry to work with states to increase prosecution of hate crimes and hate speech targeting religious minorities, among others.

The report says that the conditions for religious freedom have declined in the last decade, stating, “A multifaceted campaign by Hindu nationalist groups like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sang (RSS), Sangh Parivar, and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) to alienate non-Hindus or lower-caste Hindus is a significant contributor to the rise of religious violence and persecution.” It notes that in 2017, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) “reported that communal violence increased significantly during 2016,” highlighting that human rights organisations criticised the NCRB last year not adequately including data on mob violence or lynching. Given this, “the NCRB delayed its 2018 report to collect data on nearly 30 new crime categories, which will include hate crimes, lynching, and crimes based on fake news,” the report states.

The report notes that in 2018, Minister of State at the Ministry of Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir told Parliament that 111 people were killed and 2,384 people were wounded in 822 communal clashes in 2017. By contrast, in 2016, 86 people were killed and 2,321 were injured in 703 clashes, the report offers, later adding that independent organisations that monitor hate crimes found that 2018 saw more than 90 religion-based hate crimes that resulted in 30 deaths and many more injuries. However, the report also notes that in December 2018, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that communal attacks had declined 12%, compared to the peak in 2017.

The report also notes how “institutional challenges” have contributed to religious freedom concerns, with “the police and courts overwhelmed,” and highlighting how “worsening income inequality has left more Indians suffering from poverty and has exacerbated his- torical conditions of inequality for certain religious and social minorities.”

The report takes note of anti-conversion laws that are in force in seven states in India, noting that the fundamental right to freedom of religion “includes the ability to manifest one’s beliefs through expression intended to persuade another individual to change his or her religious beliefs or affiliation voluntarily.” The report outlines that in 2018, anti-conversion laws were primarily enforced against Christians and Muslims who were proselytising, and says that religious minority leaders and others were also arrested under these laws. It highlights the case of Hadiya, whose marriage had been embroiled in accusations of ‘love jihad’. The report does not mention this phrase, but takes note of “inflammatory allegations of an organized campaign to coerce Hindu women to marry Muslim men and convert to Islam,” stating that the National Investigation Agency investigated this alleged campaign and eventually concluded that there was no evidence for it. Meanwhile, the report mentions ‘ghar wapsi’ ceremonies, in which those born as Hindus who converted to another religion are converted back, stating that “In some cases, these conversion ceremonies reportedly involve force or coercion,” but noting that it is difficult to determine if such conversions are voluntary or not.

Notably, the report, while discussing the role of Hindutva/Hindu extremist groups, highlights that “moderate and extreme forces within the Hindutva movement point to the rise in the Muslim population from constituting 10 percent of the national population in 1951 to 14 percent in 2011, which in their view necessitates “mitigation” against the growing Muslim community.” It later takes note of the fact that numerous cities have been renamed, such as Allahabad and Faizabad, abandoning the names that had been given during the Mughal period, stating that this “has been perceived as an effort to erase or downplay the influence of non-Hindus in Indian his- tory and as an attack on Muslims within India today.”

The report also discusses cow vigilantism, noting that “cow protection” mobs, “a new phenomenon,” have engaged in more than 100 attacks since May 2015 that have led to 44 deaths and around 300 people being injured. “In 2018 alone, cow protection lynch mobs killed at least 13 people and injured 57 in 31 incidents.” It also takes note of hate crimes against religious minorities, including anti-Muslim rhetoric in West Bengal in April 2018, threats against Christians in Tamil Nadu in October 2018.

Per the report, impunity for large-scale incidents of communal violence persists in India, “without proper accountability or recompense.” Probes and prosecution of those allegedly responsible have been “ineffective” or “absent,” and victims have said that the government has not adequately helped in rebuilding “destroyed neighborhoods, homes, and places of worship.” The report emphasises that while the Supreme Court and fact-finding commissions “have noted common characteristics and causes of such violence, including incitement to violence against religious minorities by politicians or religious leaders,” the failure “to address those common characteristics and causes or to hold perpetrators accountable have contributed to a culture of impunity for such violence.”

Other than incidents and threats that are communal, the report also discusses the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 1976, and details how it has been used to target non-governmental organisations “with missionary and human rights portfolios,” who have been banned from operating in India. It notes that in November 2018, the government “demanded that 1,775 organizations provide further explanation for their failure to submit use of foreign funds over the last six years; these organizations included many non-Hindu religious groups, some Hindu trusts managing major temples, and secular human rights groups.” The report explains that some Hindus, including some “Hindutva extremists,” “perceive Christian missionaries converting Dalits to be particularly threatening, as there are nearly 200 million Dalits in India,” adding, “Many observers assert that it was this fear of mass conversion that led to the 2017 shutdown of Com- passion International, a U.S.-based Christian charity, which provided services to nearly 150,000 Indian children.”

The report also has a section on Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC), which has jeopardized the Indian citizenship of more than four million people. “Widespread concerns have been raised that the NRC update is an intentional effort to discriminate and/ or has the effect of discriminating against Muslims, and that the discretion given to local authorities in the verification process and in identifying perceived foreigners to be excluded from the draft list will be abused,” it notes. It also highlights the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, saying that “concerns about the targeting of Muslims through the citizenship process were separately exacerbated” by its introduction and passage in the Lok Sabha; the bill, which would have provided citizenship to migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan “as long as they were not Muslim,” was dropped in the Rajya Sabha in February 2019, after the reporting period.

The report also discusses religious freedom for women, highlighting the Kathua case, in which an eight-year-old child was “abducted, gang-raped, and murdered as a message and threat to her Muslim nomadic community in Kashmir.” It notes that a priest, his son and a special police officer were charged in the case, and other police officials were charged with covering up the crimes. The report notes that while many protested the incident, “several others organized in support of the men charged, including members of the BJP.” It also highlights the Sabarimala Temple case, saying that following the Supreme Court’s ruling that adult women be permitted to enter the temple, “women attempting to enter the temple were physically attacked and others who publicly stated that they would try to enter the temple received hate mes- sages including death threats both online and in-person.”

The report also mentions a handful of positive developments with regards to religious freedom in India, such as the decline in communal violence in 2018, and the Supreme Court’s directive to the state and central governments to tackle mob violence, asking them to “pursue an 11-point plan, including compensation to hate crime victims, fast-tracking prosecutions, assigning senior police officers to deal with communal issues, and other provisions.” The report also mentions some progress in mob violence cases, citing June 2017’s Alimuddin Ansari lynching case, in which 11 accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2018. Per the report, the Ministry of Minority Affairs was also granted a 12% increase in its budget.

Separately, Tenzin Dorjee, chair of the USCIRF, wrote a note in which he disagreed that religious freedom in India was deteriorating, stating, “While India must address issues related to religious freedom, I respectfully dissent on the views that India’s religious freedom conditions continued on a downward trend, the government allowed and encouraged mob violence against religious minorities, and some states are involved in ‘systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.’” He notes that in the 30+ years he spent living in India as Tibetan refugee, he “mostly witnessed the best of India and sometimes worst due to intractable interreligious conflicts.” He acknowledges that “religious divides and power struggles” resulted in the Partition of India and Pakistan, and also “contribute to egregious violations of religious freedom and tragedies,” but says that in spite of these concerns, “India exists as a multifaith and secular country.” Dorjee says that as a Tibetan refugee, “the most vulnerable minority among all minorities” in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, where he lived, he “experienced full religious freedom,” citing China’s systematic attacks on the Tibetan community in comparison. Dorjee also highlighted isolated incidents of religious harmony, such as a Muslim village donating land and money to build a Hindu temple, and a Hindu head priest carrying a Dalit youth on his shoulders into the Chilkur Balaji Temple’s inner sanctum amid cheers from a huge crowd. He takes note of Nathowal village in Punjab, where Hindu and Sikh communities helped rebuild an old mosque, and Muslims and Hindus helped work at a Sikh gurudwara. “People in this village reported to the Times of India that they celebrated together annual multifaith festivals such as Diwali, Dusshera, Rakhi, Eid, and Gurupurab,” Dorjee writes, opining that such “stories speak for India’s multi- faith civilization, religious freedom, and interreligious harmony.” He ends with an appeal to the Indian government “to continuously respect religious freedom and strive to promote India as a vibrant country of and for the multifaith people.”

The complete report may be read here. The section on India is on pages 174-181.
https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2019USCIRFAnnualReport.pdf

Sadhguru To Lead Spiritual Discourse During AAPI’s 37th Annual Convention in Atlanta

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

(Atlanta, GA: May 10, 2019): Understanding the inherent humanity that unites all nations, religions and cultures, Sadhguru is recognized for his pioneering efforts to nurture global harmony, Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of American association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), said today, while announcing spiritual discourse led by Sadhguru during AAPI’s 37th Convention in New York.

The 37th Annual AAPI Convention & Scientific Assembly will be held from July 3rd to July 7th, 2019 at the fabulous and world famous Omni Atlanta at CNN Center and Georgia World Congress Center. Expected to have a record attendance of more than 2,000 delegates including Physicians, Academicians, Researchers and Medical students, “the annual convention offers extensive academic presentations, recognition of achievements and achievers, and professional networking at the alumni and evening social events,” Dr. Parikh added.

“Having Sadhguru at the Convention with his unique ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds, and act as a bridge to the deeper dimensions of life, will make the convention and the delegates from across the nation richer, in so many ways,” said Dr. Sreeni Gangasani, Chairman of the Convention. “His approach does not ascribe to any belief system, but offers methods for self-transformation that are both proven and powerful,” Dr. Gangasani added.

Named one of India’s 50 most influential people, Sadhguru is a realized Yogi and mystic who works tirelessly towards the physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing of all. Sadhguru’s work has deeply touched the lives of millions worldwide through his transformational programs.

“We need to create a culture of Health in society, instead of investing in just healthcare,” Sadhguru says. “What we call feeling healthy, is not just the absence of disease, but having a sense of wholeness within us. If we feel like a complete being in our body, mind and spirit, that is when we are truly healthy.”

An author, poet and internationally renowned speaker, Sadhguru’s wit and piercing logic provoke and broaden our thoughts and perception of life. Sadhguru has been an influential voice at major global forums including the United Nations, World Economic Forum, the UK House of Lords, TED among many others.

Just as he has stated, “Your success in this world essentially depends on how well you can harness the prowess of this body and this mind,” Sadhguru believes in dedicating his life for the service of humanity. He established Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization supported by over three million volunteers worldwide. From powerful yoga programs to large-scale humanitarian projects for rural upliftment, education for the underprivileged, environmental restoration, as well as holistic and healthy living, the foundation’s activities are designed to create an inclusive culture and establish global harmony.

His fundamental vision is to offer the science of inner wellbeing to every human being – a science vitally helping realize the ultimate potential within. From this vision stem a multitude of projects, programs, and methods, all towards the same aim: to raise every human being to the peak of their potential, be exuberant, all-inclusive, in harmony within themselves and the world.

Perhaps Sadhguru’s mission is most succinctly summarized in his own paradoxical words: “I have no mission of my own. It is just that when you see a certain need around you, you do what you can do – that’s all. But I have a dream, that someday, walking on a street anywhere in the world, I would be able to meet lots of enlightened or realized beings. That would be the greatest blessing to happen to the world.”

As though responding to the growing need: “Physician, heal thyself,” especially when there are growing signs of burn out among physicians, AAPI is focusing on themes such as how to take care of self and find satisfaction and happiness in the challenging situations they are in, while serving hundreds of patients everyday of their dedicated and noble profession.

Accordingly, some of the major themes as part of the CME sessions include: Pursuit of Happiness In Medicine; Burnout Prevention and Wellness in Physicians; Easy Life of a Hospitalist: An Illusion; and, Meditation and Mindfulness. Other themes at the CME include: Combining Ancient Sciences and Modern Medicine in the Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases; Mysteries of Type 2 Diabetes in South Asians – the Unresolved Questions; and, Cardio-oncology: Clinical Practice and Echocardiography.

The annual convention this year is being organized by AAPI’s Atlanta Chapter. In addition to offering over 12 hours of cutting edge CMEs to the physicians, CEOs Forum, fabulous entertainment, and women’s leadership forum. The convention will be addressed by senior world leaders, including US Senators, Presidential candidates, Nobel Lauretes, Governors, Congressmen, and celebrities from the Hollywood and Bollywood world.

Representing the interests of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, leaders of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, for 37 years, AAPI Convention has provided a venue for medical education programs and symposia with world renowned physicians on the cutting edge of medicine.

“Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country and internationally will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year. We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta!” said Dr. Naresh Parikh. For more details, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org and www.aapiusa.org

International Media Critical of Modi as Elections in India Nearly Concludes

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

With the election in the largest democracy in the world, coming to a close and the world is awaiting for the crucial results to the Indian Parliament, the media, across the world, is filled with avidity, giving all sorts of analysis and predicting the outcomes. This election is witnessing a headstrong fight between the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the other opposition parties. While the Congress is trying hard to regain its lost ground, the ‘mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance), dominated by Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has been formed, leaving behind their old rivalry, sheerly to ouster Modi.

Media is playing a very significant role in this election along with allegations of being biased and spreading fake news. Even the global media is intently watching the turnarounds in this election. While Modi is being applauded for improving India’s global status and developing bonhomie with the superpowers, the international media is not all praise for the PM.

Some portions of the media are calling Modi an autocratic leader with his only objective being that of imposing his party’s Hindutva ideology on our secular nation while some are portraying him as the only beacon of home.

American news magazine Time has featured Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the cover page of its May 20 issue with a headline that may create controversy across India amid the election season. The headline reads “India’s Divider in Chief” that is and carries a caricature of the Prime Minister criticizing Modi.

This title pertains to the article in the magazine, written by Aatish Taseer with the headline “Can the World’s Largest Democracy Endure Another Five Years of a Modi Government?”

The write up compares former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s idea of secularism with the prevailing social “stress” under Modi,” the article read. Besides, the article has also recalled the Gujarat riots that allegedly claimed lives of scores of people.

It is not the first time when the magazine has come with critical commentary about Modi. In its published article in 2012, the magazine described him as a controversial, ambitious and a shrewd politician.

Referring to the 2014 victory, Taseer writes, “The nation’s most basic norms, such as the character of the Indian state, its founding fathers, the place of minorities and its institutions, from universities to corporate houses to the media, were shown to be severely distrusted. The cherished achievements of independent India–secularism, liberalism, a free press–came to be seen in the eyes of many as part of a grand conspiracy in which a deracinated Hindu elite, in cahoots with minorities from the monotheistic faiths, such as Christianity and Islam, maintained its dominion over India’s Hindu majority.

Modi’s victory was an expression of that distrust. He attacked once unassailable founding fathers, such as Nehru, then sacred state ideologies, such as Nehruvian secularism and socialism; he spoke of a “Congress-free” India; he demonstrated no desire to foster brotherly feeling between Hindus and Muslims. Most of all, his ascension showed that beneath the surface of what the elite had believed was a liberal syncretic culture, India was indeed a cauldron of religious nationalism, anti-Muslim sentiment and deep-seated caste bigotry.”

Paradoxically, in the same magazine, there was another article titled, ‘Modi Is India’s Best Hope for Economic Reform,’ wherein the writer, Ian Bremmer, praises Modi for his bold and much-needed reforms like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the biometric identification system- the Aadhar card, strengthening international ties, uplifting the poor through welfare schemes like Ujjwala Yojana and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, among others. “.. India still needs change, and Modi remains the person most likely to deliver. He has improved relations with China, the U.S. and Japan, but it’s his domestic development agenda that has done the most to improve the lives and prospects of hundreds of millions of people. Consider what he’s already accomplished during five years in charge,” the article read.

In an Opinion article, titled, ‘Modi Reminds India of Indira Gandhi. Will He Share Her Electoral Fate?’ published in The New York Times on May 8, the writer, Gyan Prakash, draws parallels between Modi and the former PM Indira Gandhi based on their autocratic form of ruling. The writer even goes on to say that the election results will show whether the public continues to accept an autocratic ruler or removes him like Indira Gandhi was defeated in the 1977 elections post-emergency. He further accuses Modi of destabilizing the democratic institutions.

Prakash writes, “Mr. Modi has ruled India with the iron will reminiscent of Mrs. Gandhi. He brooks no dissent and projects the personality cult of a strong Hindu nationalist warrior combating the nation’s internal and external enemies with “surgical strikes….While Mrs. Gandhi resorted to emergency rule to survive a political crisis, Mr. Modi’s regime thrives on Hindu majoritarian militancy. He stokes majoritarian resentments against the minorities to further his rule. Dissent is denounced as treason, and Hindu nationalists deride critics as elites guilty of “rootless cosmopolitanism.”

He further writes, “Riding to power in 2014 with an overwhelming majority for his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr. Modi quickly moved to centralize power. His government bypassed the Parliament and issued ordinances to advance his policies. Civil society organizations have faced investigations. Unqualified Hindu nationalists were foisted on educational and cultural institutions. A law was instituted to exert greater control over the appointment of judges.”

In an interview, with the Financial Times’ South Asia Bureau Chief Amy Kazmin and South Asia Correspondent, Stephanie Findlay, discuss the 2019 elections. They start the interview by saying, “India’s election has turned into an ideological battle pitting an inclusive vision of a multi-faith nation against the view that Hindus should have sway.” They even talk about how the 2014 election was fought on the promise of economic development which clearly wasn’t fulfilled. Thus, Modi is fighting the 2019 elections on the basis of national security, by creating an atmosphere of threat and promising that the Modi-led government will protect India as it did through the Uri and Balakot strikes. They have further accused Modi of playing the Hindu nationalism card to seek re-election.

Though the global media is divided in its opinion about Modi and his re-election, one thing which is common across all the sections is the lack of alternate leader for the Indian voters which gives Modi an upper hand in this fierce battle. Taseer rightly says, “Modi is lucky to be blessed with so weak an opposition–a ragtag coalition of parties, led by the Congress, with no agenda other than to defeat him.”

This election has become a fight to uphold our Constitutional principles and our democratic institutions. It is a battle to ensure that religion doesn’t overtake the ideals of justice and equality for all. As rightly described by Prakash, “With an authoritarian, hyper nationalist warrior asking for their support, Indian voters are tasked with making a consequential choice for India’s future. As B.R. Ambedkar, the great Dalit leader and the architect of India’s Constitution, once remarked, Indians were particularly susceptible to “bhakti,” or devotion. This was fine in religion, but in politics, he warned, it is “a sure road to degradation and eventual dictatorship.”

Taseer argues that To understand the deeper promptings of this enormous expression of franchise – not just politics, but the underlying cultural fissures – one needs to go back to the first season of the Modi story because only then “one can see why the advent of Modi is “at once an inevitability and a calamity for India.”

He says the India offers a unique glimpse into “both the validity and the fantasy of populism” and “forces us to reckon with how in India, as well as in societies as far apart as Turkey and Brazil, Britain and the U.S., populism has given voice to a sense of grievance among majorities that is too widespread to be ignored, while at the same time bringing into being a world that is neither more just, nor more appealing.”

But Taseer notes that Modi is lucky to be blessed with so weak an opposition – a ragtag coalition of parties, led by the Congress, with no agenda other than to defeat him. Even so, doubts assail him, for he must know he has not delivered on the promise of 2014.

“It is why he has resorted to looking for enemies within. Like other populists, he sits in his white house tweeting out his resentment against the sultanate of “them. And, as India gets ready to give this willful provincial, so emblematic of her own limitations, a second term, one cannot help but tremble at what he might yet do to punish the world for his own failures,” he says.

The article also recalled the Gujarat riots of 2002. Taseer describes Modi’s record on women’s issues as “spotty” and calls Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath a “hate-mongering priest in robes of saffron”.

In the wake of the article, reactions on social media were galore with people commenting in favor or against Modi depending on their political persuasions with some calling it a biased article against Modi’s popular government while others welcoming it as an objective thoughtful essay on the divisive politics of the Modi era.

France strongly supports India for UN SC Permanent Member

May 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India 0

India and nations like Germany, Brazil and Japan are “absolutely needed” as permanent members of a reformed and enlarged UN Security Council to better reflect contemporary realities and the addition of these key members to the UN high-table is among France’s “strategic” priorities, the French envoy to the UN has said.

India is at the forefront of efforts at the UN to push for the long-pending reform of the Security Council, emphasizing that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member.

“In terms of policy, France and Germany have strong policy which is to work together to enlarge the Security Council and to succeed in terms of the negotiations that should lead to the enlargement of the Security Council that we consider absolutely needed to better reflect the world as it is. There is no question about it,” France’s Permanent Representative to the UN François Delattre told reporters here last week.

Speaking along side German envoy to the UN Christoph Heusgen at the end of Germany’s Presidency of the Council for April, Delattre emphasised that France considers that “Germany, Japan, India, Brazil and a fair representation of Africa in particular are absolutely needed at the table to get towards a fairer representation of the Security Council. This is for us a matter of priority.”

He underlined that Paris believes the enlargement of the Security Council with the addition of a few key members is “one of our strategic priorities.”

Noting that when France and Germany launched their alliance for multi-materialism, he said it signifies that the two nations strongly believe in the UN as the core of today’s global governance and that they strongly believe in “multi-lateralism and means that we are actively working to reform and in some respects to refound, reinvent multi-lateralism so that it is really efficient for the decades to come.”

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, speaking at the informal meeting of the Plenary on the Intergovernmental negotiations on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council earlier this year, had said that on the issue of ‘Categories of Membership’, a total of 113 Member States, out of 122 who submitted their positions in the Framework Document, support expansion in both of the existing categories specified in the Charter.

“In short, more than 90 per cent of the written submissions in the document are in favour of expansion in both categories of membership specified in the Charter,” he had said.

Akbaruddin had said that while reform at the UN is a process rather than an event, “there is no process known to us here that has traversed winding pathways in the manner as this process of the Reform of the Security Council.” “In terms of inertia too, it has no peer. While the world is not what it was when we began the process, the objections to moving forward remain the same. While the global challenges of the 21st century have multiplied, we remain divided even about the process to adopt in order to move forward,” he had said.

France has maintained that if the crises of recent times have confirmed the centrality of the UN, they have also reinforced the need to make the organisation more effective and more representative of the current balances in the world.

“That is why France pushes for the expansion of the Security Council by supporting the accession to a permanent seat of Germany, Brazil, India, Japan, as well as a greater presence of African countries,” according to the Permanent Mission of France.

Immigration Reform and Physicians Shortage Takes Center Stage at AAPI Legislative Day – US Lawmakers Praise AAPI’s Growing Clout in Advocating for Effective Health Care in US

May 7, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Health, Politics 0

(Washington, DC: May 1st, 2019) Healthcare continues to be at the center of the national debate, especially after the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle Affordable Care Act, and to do away with the Individual Mandate, affecting almost everyone in the country. Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, representing over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, wants to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill and around the nation, particularly on issues relating to healthcare.

Indian-Americans constitute less than one percent of the country’s population, but they account for nine percent of the American doctors and physicians. One out of every seven doctors serving in the US is of Indian heritage, providing medical care to over 40 million of US population.

AAPI leaders and members brought to the fore some of the major concerns of the Indian-American community, particularly those affecting the physicians and their patients during AAPI’s Legislative Day on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., on April 30th, 2019.

Attended by several key leading Congressmen and women from both the major political parties, the event held at the Rayburn House Office Building, highlighted key issues affecting physicians and the country in general. House Majority Leader, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Rep. Ami Bera, (D-CA); Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, (D-Illinois); Rep. Tulasi Gabbard (D-HAWAI) , Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS); Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC); Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ); Rep. Phil Roe, MD (R-TN); Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD); Rep. Andy Harris, MD (R-MD) and several other leading lawmakers addressed the AAPI delegates and listened to their concerns and promised support.

A White Paper outlining the concerns of the fraternity was submitted to lawmakers who addressed the delegates. Some of the issues outlined in the White Paper included, Increased Residency Slots, Immigration Reform, Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursements, Tort Reform, Repeal of the Individual Mandate, Lowering the Cost of Prescription Drugs, and, The South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2017.

In his welcoming remarks, Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI, stressed the importance of young physicians in AAPI, who are the “future of AAPI.” He highlighted the efforts of the current team under his leadership” to make AAPI financially sound and stable for the years to come.”

“We are pleased with the enormous turnout of both AAPI members and the showing of bipartisan members of Congress at this year’s Legislative Day,” said Dr. Parikh, AAPI President. “It is a testament to the strength of AAPI’s reputation as strong leaders, with our physicians proudly serving as health care providers in all 50 states. With this event, we are building a strong foundation for future advocacy and legislative successes at both the federal and state level,” said Parikh.

In his opening remarks, AAPI Legislative Chairman – Dr. Vinod K. Shah, said, “AAPI is once again in the forefront in bringing many burning health care issues facing the community at large and bringing this to the Capitol and to the US Congress. This is an exciting time for Indo-US relations. Each of us, as part of AAPI, the largest ethnic organization, representing over 8,0000 Indian American Physicians have a unique role to play in strengthening the relationship between India, the largest democracy and the US, the greatest democracy in the world.”

Dr. Vinod Shah, who immigrated to the US 55 years ago, shared his own inspiring personal experiences, as to how he began his career as a cardiologist in a tiny remote region over a half a century ago, and today, he is proud to own and manage a series of large clinical practice serving millions of people across the state of Maryland.

“This immensely successful event, including our partnership with the Indian Embassy, has showcased AAPI’s strength relationship building and maintaining ties with our elected officials,” said AAPI Legislative Co-Chair – Dr. Sampat Shivangi. He emphasized “AAPI contributions in issues like lowering drug costs, strong advocacy on Immigration reforms, especially for physicians working in rural areas of the US and their long decades of waiting in acquiring Green Cards.”

Dr. Shivangi, a veteran of several decades of service to AAPI and to the nation, highlighted the “many important issues that were discussed at the event, including the need to increase in Residency slots, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements issues. Dr. Sampat Shivangi raised the issue of US-India trade relations, especially President Trump’s remarks where he has called India as king of Tariffs, with several U S congressmen. Dr. Shivangi emphasized the importance of public awareness to discuss this issue, among others, to do away with some misgivings, with the help of think tanks and open dialogue with experts on this issue. .

In his keynote address, Ambassador Hon Harsh Vardhan Shringala praised AAPI’s lobbying efforts on some of the issues affecting the broader Indian American community and other immigrant groups is also a testament to its growth and reach. Being one of the oldest Indian American organizations, it’s also among the most influential, as was evident from the number of members of Congress who took time out of their busy schedule to address the group.

“I believe all of you will have an important role to play in contributing to this. All of you in a sense are permanent Ambassadors here. You have an understanding of the US. You have an understanding of India and Indian society. So based on this understanding and the network that you have you will be in a position to take forward this relationship in different areas,” the Indian Envoy said.

Jason Marino – American Medical Association Senior Assistant Director, AMA Congressional Affairs, emphasized the need for more collaborative efforts between AAPI and AMA to have greater voice in healthcare policy making efforts on Capitol Hill.

In a detailed Report on Green Card delays affecting Indian American physicians, the Green Card Backlog Task Force pointed out that there are over 10,000 Physicians waiting for Green Card for decades. AAPI members would like to see the Green Card backlog addressed, which it says has adversely impacted the Indian American community. They stressed the need for bipartisan support to pass the Bill S-948 that will provide Green Cards to those serving in America’s under-served and rural communities. The measure has garnered support from leading members of the Congress and seeks to remove the 7 percent cap on Green Cards on every country regardless of their size. It “will address many of the concerns facing the Indian American community,” AAPI said in its list of demands.

The bipartisan members of Congress discussed ways to reform health care delivery, to ensure its cost-effectiveness, and the negative effects of defensive medicine, which has driven up the cost of health care. AAPI members told the gathering of both Republican and Democratic congressmen how important it was to increase the number of residency positions to address the upcoming physician shortage.

According to AAPI, there is an ongoing physician shortage, which affects the quality of care provided to American patients. There are patients who face lengthy delays in various specialties, a situation which will worsen over time. Legislation was introduced in previous sessions of Congress that would add 15,000 residency slots, training up to 45,000 more physicians, AAPI points out in its White Paper. “By adding more residency positions today, Congress can train more physicians to treat patients in the future,” AAPI stated.

Rep. Steny Hoyer underscored the need for reforming the entire immigration process and make it equitable and fair. “We need to deal with the issue of H-1B and J-1 visas” and expand opportunities for highly skilled foreign workers and students, he told the gathering. “I still believe and always will that the United States will continue to grow. We need the best, the brightest and the bravest”, he said.

About India-US relations, Hoyer, affirmed, “I believe it is the most important alliance of this century. We are in the second decade and we have seen incredible progress. I know that will continue”, he said referring to shared values including a dedication to the rule of law and democracy.

Rep. Krishnamurthy, who is a physician himself praised AAPI’s leadership’s lobby Day for all Americans. “You are very influential and we very much appreciate and we look to your guidance on healthcare policy and programs,” he told a packed audience of American leaders and members. Reminding them that he is aware of the many issues affecting the physician community, the Indian born Congressman said, “You touch the lives of 13 percent of Americans, while serving 1 out of every 7 patients.” The powerful orator urged AAPI leaders to continue their civic engagement, encouraging them to consider running for political office. “If you dream it you can achieve it,” he told AAPI delegates.

Rep. Ami Bera pointed to the strides the Indian community has made in the past few decades. “It took less than a decade to have four Indian Americans in the US Congress,” he said. Describing it as the “natural progression to be part of the success story of USA,” he urged for the need to have more physicians of Indian origin to be in US Congress. He pointed to the Bill in the US seeking to elevate the relationship between India and the US to the next level. Endorsing his whole hearted support for Green Cards for physcians, he said, “We should give them Green Card with their Diplomas.”

Rep. Joe Wilson shared about his lkong association with India. He praised India’s vibrant . democracy and told of his dad’s visit to the Taj Mahal in 1944. Endorsing AAPI’s demand for more H1/J1 visas, he said, “we need more Doctors to serve our patients.” Rep. Dan Taylor from Texas lauded the fast growing Indian community in Texas and was appreciative of the contributions of Indian Americans.

Rep. Frank Pallone told of the large number of Indian Americans, 353000 in his home state, New Jersey, which is the 3rd highest in the nation, among whom are 120000 in his district. He offered whole hearted support for AAPI’s demand for increased Residency slots with no cap on country-based Green Card.

Rep. Andy Barr from Kentucky pointed to physicians shortage in rural areas is acute and of the shortage of 120,000 by 2030. “We need to come together on Green Card/J1-H1 Visas based on skills.” Rep. John Sarbanes said, “I want to salute AAPI for your advocacy. No one rivals you in medicine. Healthcare remains a central to public policy and is challenging. Need to strengthen ACA. Your presence makes a huge difference.”

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, the first Hindu lawmaker to serve on Capitol Hill and current Democratic co-chair of the House India Caucus, told the AAPI gathering, “It’s been wonderful to see over the almost six years that I’ve been here in Congress how the relationship between our two countries has progressed. It has only continued to grow stronger and stronger. The commitment to continuing that momentum exists between both Democratic and Republican members of Congress and we’ve seen it cross between a Democratic administration and now a Republican administration,” she said.

Nissim Reuben – American Jewish Committee (AJC) Assistant Director: Asia Pacific Institute called to make strategic alliance and network with Lawmakers “trading the good will” between India and Jews to politically supportive of India’s favor, harnessing the good will Israel has for the benefit of India and the NRIs.

Nuala Moore – American Thoracic Society Associate Director, Government Relations and David Bryden & TB Advocacy Officer, shared about the efforts in eradicating TB in India and across the globe. With 8,000 new cases of TB everyday in India, they pointed to the United Nations Meeting where India’s Prime Minister Modi committed to the goal of eliminating TB by 2025, through education by involving Bollywood stars.

Joel Anand Samy Co-Founder and President, International Leaders Summit invited AAPI leaders to join in at the 4th summit to be held in Jerusalem in November this year, which will strengthen the strategic alliance between USA and India.

Kapil Sharma, Esquire Vice President, Government and Public Affairs, Wipro North America, pointed out that Wipro has donated $7 Billion, making it the 4th largest Foundation, and Azim Premji is today the biggest philanthropist outside of India. Highlighting the tremendous work the Indian companies do in the US, he stressed “for the need to recognize and appreciate our contributions in our adopted country. The US need to acknowledge what our contributions are to the US, especially investing in terms of money, man power, community services. He called on AAPI to to collaborate with WIPRO in its efforts for in-service teaching.

Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Vice President of AAPI hopes that “AAPI will discover her own potential to be a player in shaping the health of each patient with a focus on health maintenance than disease intervention. To be a player in crafting the delivery of health care in the most efficient manner. To strive for equality in health globally.”

Dr. Sreeni Gangasani, AAPI’s Atlanta Convention Cahir and Vice Chair of Board of Trustees, enthusiastically provided an update on the upcoming convention and urfged all AAPI members and Congressmen to attend the convention in Atlanta. “The convention team is working incredibly hard to provide a delightful 4 days of events packed with educational CME credits, world-class entertainment, leadership seminars, networking opportunities, exhibits, and more,” Dr. Gangasani said. “This meeting offers a rich educational program featuring the latest scientific research and advances in clinical practice. In addition, physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country will convene to develop health policy agendas and encourage legislative priorities for the upcoming year.”

“The growing influence of doctors of Indian heritage is evident, as increasingly physicians of Indian origin hold critical positions in the healthcare, academic, research and administrative positions across the nation,” said Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect in a message. “With their hard work, dedication, compassion, and skills, they have thus carved an enviable niche in the American medical community. AAPI’s role has come to be recognized as vital among members and among lawmakers and the larger society,” he added.

Later in the evening, Ambassador Hon Harsh Vardhan Shringala hosted a dinner in honor of AAPI delegates and guests, where he recognized AAPI ‘s contributions. Dr.Naresh Parikh, Dr. Vinod Shah and Dr. Sampat Shivangi thanked the Ambassador and assured to continue to work in co operations with the Embassy to strengthen US-India relationships.

“We had a very fruitful discussion and we are very hopeful that Congress will act on the issues raised in our white paper,” Dr. Parikh, President of AAPI, summarized the day long event and the impact it has for the future of the growing Indian American community, healthcare providers and the healthcare industry. For more information on AAPI and its programs and initiatives, please visit: www.aapiusa.org

Jagruti Panwala: Chairwoman of AAHOA, World’s Largest Hotel Owners Association

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Finance/Economy, Profiles, Women 0

Pennsylvania hotelier Jagruti Panwala is the new chairwoman of AAHOA, the world’s largest hotel owners association. Panwala became chair during the association’s 2019 Convention and Trade Show which was held at the San Diego Convention Center. Panwala is the first woman to lead the association in its thirty-year history.

“I am humbled and honored to serve the more than 18,500 hoteliers of AAHOA as Chairwoman. As an association, our success is a collective effort, and we will continue to build on AAHOA’s thirty years of industry leadership. We are at the strongest point in our association’s history. I am confident that we will continue to grow by inviting more hoteliers into the fold, expanding our vast educational offerings, and bringing industry partners and hoteliers together.”

Over the next year, Panwala said she will focus on bolstering AAHOA’s advocacy efforts at the state and local level, building out the association’s political action committee, and encouraging more hoteliers to seek leadership roles within AAHOA and the hospitality industry. “We must speak with a collective voice against those who seek to harm the foundations upon which our industry is built. America’s hoteliers face significant challenges. Short-term rentals are seeking special laws, such as secret tax agreements, that fly in the face of free enterprise. Unscrupulous lawyers intent on exploiting small business owners continue to abuse the ADA by filing frivolous lawsuits against hoteliers. We will fight for a level playing field with short-term rentals and work with a diverse coalition of hoteliers and disability rights advocates to address drive-by lawsuits. AAHOA will continue to advocate for smarter laws and regulations that benefit hoteliers, guests, and our communities.”

In her inaugural address to AAHOA members, Panwala thanked AAHOA’s founders, past chairs, and members for their decades of dedicated work. “You are responsible for all that AAHOA is today and will become in the future.”

Chairwoman Panwala joined AAHOA in 2001 and served on the AAHOA Board of Directors as Female Director Eastern Division. AAHOA members elected her as Secretary in 2016. She is the President & CEO of Wealth Protection Strategies. Panwala is an AAHOA Certified Hotel Owner (CHO). She is a graduate of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania and holds a degree in economics and finance.

“We are fortunate to have our new Chairwoman, Jagruti Panwala, leading the way as AAHOA enters its fourth decade as the voice of America’s hotel owners,” said AAHOA Interim President and CEO Rachel Humphrey. “Her success in the hospitality and financial services industries is a testament to the determination and relentless pursuit of excellence with which she approaches her work. From testifying before Congress to collaborating with brand executives and industry partners, Jagruti’s knowledge of the hospitality industry and understanding of hoteliers’ needs will serve our association well.

India wins global support in naming Masood Azhar’s terror tag

May 7, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Editorial, India, Politics 0

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar was on Wednesday designated a global terrorist by the UN after China withdrew its long-standing block to the move, marking a major diplomatic and political victory in the Indian government’s efforts to counter cross-border terrorism.

Azhar was listed by the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee for his association with al-Qaeda and his role in financing, planning and facilitating terrorist acts by the JeM, shortly after officials announced in Islamabad that Pakistan would no longer object to his designation – a sign to iron brother China to lift the “technical hold” it had placed on four attempts to sanction Azhar.

Hindustan Times first reported on Tuesday that China was expected to lift its hold on listing Azhar at the UN on May 1.

Following the designation, Pakistan will be required to take three steps – freeze the funds and financial assets of Azhar, enforce a travel ban on him, and cut off his access to arms and related materials.

India’s permanent representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, informed Sanjeev Singla, private secretary to PM, about the listing and asked him to “brief the boss”. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been inquiring about the matter since morning, he could not be directly informed by Singla as the premier was in the midst of an election rally.

Singla is believed to have informed National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who rushed to the PMO from Sardar Patel Bhawan and informed Modi of the development on a secure line.

Shortly after the February 14 suicide attack in Pulwama that killed 40 Indian troopers and was claimed by JeM, France, with the backing of the US and the UK, moved a proposal at the 1267 Sanctions Committee to sanction 50-year-old Azhar. After a 10-day period to consider the matter, China blocked the proposal on March 13 by saying more time was needed to discuss the issue.

This angered the US, which threatened to take the matter to the UN Security Council, where discussions are held in public, unlike consultations held behind closed doors by the sanctions committee. The heavy lifting was done by the US as it wanted the terrorist tag for Azhar during consultations on April 23, but China and Pakistan wanted it to happen after the Indian elections as they didn’t want the listing to benefit Modi, people familiar with developments said.

The date was then moved by the US to April 30, though China was insisting on May 15. A compromise of May 1 was reached after the US hinted it would take the matter to the Security Council, the people said.

India and its Western allies also continued to work with China throughout this period. During a visit to Beijing last week, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale shared evidence on the role of Azhar and JeM in terrorist attacks with Chinese officials, including foreign minister Wang Yi.

A fifth proposal to sanction Azhar was moved by France, the US and UK last month. In an apparent face-saving measure for Pakistan at the behest of China, this proposal didn’t contain references to the Pulwama attack and terrorism in Kashmir, the people said.

The statement issued by the UN on Azhar’s listing referred extensively to his links with al-Qaeda, its slain chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban, and his role in supporting and facilitating these terrorist entities and providing them arms but made no mention of Kashmir, where JeM has carried out several devastating attacks, or Pakistan, where Azhar is based.

The statement referred to Azhar’s role as former leader of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen but made no mention of this group’s activities in Kashmir. The statement also referred to Azhar’s activities only till 2008, with no mention of attacks such as the 2016 assault on Pathankot airbase blamed on JeM.

Joe Biden Enters 2020 Democratic Presidential Race

April 29, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Politics, U.S. 0

Former Vice President Joe Biden announced his presidential candidacy on Thursday, April 25^th by pointing to a “battle for the soul of this nation,” in what may be the last major addition to a sprawling lineup of Democratic candidates competing to challenge President Trump in 2020.

The former vice president and Democratic senator from Delaware announced his candidacy in a three-and-a-half-minute video released Thursday, April 26th. His first rally as a presidential contender is scheduled for Monday at a union hall in Pittsburgh.

Biden, 76, had been wrestling for months over whether to run. His candidacy will face numerous questions, including whether he is too old and too centrist for a Democratic Party yearning for fresh faces and increasingly propelled by its more vocal liberal wing.

“We are in the battle for the soul of this nation,” Biden said in the video. “I believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an aberrant moment in time. But if we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”

Biden hopes that he can win back white, working-class voters in Midwestern states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He rarely misses a chance to tout his blue-collar hometown of Scranton, and aides believe he is one of the few candidates in the race who could claw back rural counties that Trump won in a landslide in 2016.

Recent polls by Harvard-Harris and Monmouth University showed Biden with the strongest support among voters without a college education in the Democratic field.

The Wall Street Journal reports, Biden has sought to secure commitments for large-dollar donations in the weeks before his announcement. His plan, the Journal reported, was to announce a similarly large fundraising haul as candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke, without the small-dollar donor network of some of his rivals.

Critics say his standing in polls is largely a function of name recognition for the former US senator from Delaware, whose more than four decades in public service includes eight years as President Barack Obama‘s No. 2 in the White House.

Known for his verbal gaffes on the campaign trail, Biden failed to gain traction with voters during his previous runs in 1988 and 2008. He dropped his 1988 bid amid allegations he plagiarized some of his stump oratory and early academic work. But his experience and strong debate performances in 2008 impressed Obama enough that he tapped Biden as his running mate.

Biden decided against a 2016 presidential bid after a lengthy public period of indecision as he wrestled with doubts about whether he and his family were ready for a grueling campaign while mourning his son Beau, who died of brain cancer in May 2015. His son had urged him to run.

Biden’s candidacy will offer early hints about whether Democrats are more interested in finding a centrist who can win over the white working-class voters who went for Trump in 2016, or someone who can fire up the party’s diverse progressive wing, such as Senators Kamala Harris of California, Bernie Sanders of Vermont or Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

As former Vice President Joe Biden entered the 2020 presidential race Thursday, he immediately looked past the vast field of Democratic rivals and threw down the gauntlet toward President Trump, casting the race as a “battle for the soul of the nation.” His strategy amounts to a bet that ideology and policy matter less to Democratic primary voters than their desire for victory over a president who has upended social and political values that liberals hold dear.

Kanchana Poola Given Life Time Achievement Award at IAPC Induction Ceremony

April 29, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Entertainment, Profiles, Women 0

Kanchana Poola, a community leader and philanthropist, best described as the unassuming power-house of the Indian community, was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Induction Ceremony of the Indo-American Press Club (IAPC) last month on Long Island at the at the popular Antun’s by Minar in Hicksville, NY.

A recipient of numerous honors, Kanchana was honored in New Jersey by the community organization Golden Elephants Events group for her dedicated service to the Indian community in USA, her unconditional support to educational institutions run for orphanage children in Tamil Nadu and to other notable charities as well. Kanchana was one of the ten women selected in NY/NJ/CT tri-state area to receive the award known as “Woman of Achievement Award.”

Kanchana was honored for her tireless service to the Tamil community living in USA especially in the New York area. Kanchana was the first woman president of New York Tamil Sangam (NYTS) – the first ever Tamil Association started in North America forty years ago for the cause of Tamils living in New York. Her contributions to the Tamil community towards art, literature, culture and the language are countless. Kanchana was one of the main driving forces behind the successful completion of the three-day celebrations of Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America in July 2006 at Manhattan Centre in New York City. Kanchana was the longest serving Woman President of NYTS proving her able leadership qualities with exemplary service to the community.

Kanchana and Jagadeesan Poola have contributed 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.

During the solemn ceremony attended by community leaders, diplomats, political leaders and hundreds of community members, a new Team led by Sunil J. Koozhampala as the President of IAPC assumed charge for the coming year.

Sunil J. Koozhampala took the oath of office as IAPC President along with his Executive Committee for 2019. New Board members were also inducted and executive committees for New York Chapter & Philadelphia Chapter installed. Sunil is the publisher and MD of Rashtra Deepika Ltd and Deepika, a reputed Malayalam newspaper from Kerala. He also has hospitality interests in the US and Costa Rica. He called IAPC founder chairman Ginsmon Zacharia a visionary leader.

In its mission to offer a common platform for media professionals of Indian origin and improve their working conditions, Indo-American Press Club received encouragement from over 250 community leaders and dignitaries as it celebrated 6 years of growth & expansion and held a induction ceremony for its 2019 team.

Others who were honored at the colorful ceremony included:

* Dr. Neeta Jain, Democratic Party and Civic Community leader

* Mr. Devadasan Nair, Consul Community Affairs, Indian Consulate, New York

* Mr. Ashok Vyas, Program Director of ITV Gold

* Mr. Ven Parameswaran, Senior Columnist, Writer & Critic

* Mr. Varkey Abraham, Business Entrepreneur

* Guruji Dr. Dileepkumar Thankappan, Renowned Yogacharya

* BCB Bank – Manager Roopam Maini

* Mr. Mohan Nannapaneni, Co-Founder of non-profit organization TEAM Aid.

* Sujeet Rajan, Executive Editor, Desi Talk and News India Times

The Indo-American Press Club was formed in 2013 with lofty ideal of providing a common platform to journalists of Indian origin living in the United States, while fostering closer bonds and cooperation among an extensive network of journalists across the nation, who are committed to professionalism and have the well-being of the larger society, For more details, please visit: https://www.indoamericanpressclub.com/

Dr. Jacob Eapen Committed to Serving Humanity and to Help People Live Healthier Lives

April 29, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Health 0

Dr. Jacob Eapen of Fremont, California, was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award by his Alma Mater, Trivandrum Medical College in Kerala at a solemn ceremony on February 16th, 2019. Dr. Eapen, born and raised in Trivandrum, Kerala, in southern India, said, “This award takes you back to your heritage.”

A Pediatrician by profession, this compassionate and gentle soul spends countless hours through the years doing community services. When he hasn’t been serving on various Boards in or near Fremont, his home since the mid-1980s, he has provided medical assistance nationwide and overseas. In all, Dr. Eapen has spent nearly four decades, giving back to a world too often in need.

Dr. Eapen earned his M.D. at the University of Kerala Medical College and his Master’s in Public Health from UC Berkeley. He completed his residency in pediatrics at Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.

Dr. Eapen completed his Medical Degree from Trivandrum Medical College in India in 1976 and Pediatric training at Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India.

The native of Kerala, did not limit his talents and skills to benefit himself and family alone. His mission to bring health to all, and particularly on preventive medicine took him to several continents, serving the poor, the needy, the weak and the sick.

Eapen says, “At 15, when I started my pre-medicine education, it wasn’t because of any passion for medicine but more due to the influences by my parents. My father was an engineer with the Kerala government services. We had many doctors in the family even going back two generations. Once I obtained my medical training, I practiced pediatrics in both Tanzania and Nigeria and that gave me a different perspective in health care.”

Dr. Eapen left his kith and kin, the security and familiarity of the country that he was born and brought up and reached the shores of Africa, where he worked as the Director of Pediatric Unit in Agha Khan Hospital in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania in 1980. In pursuit of his passion for reaching out to many more, he accepted an offer to teach in Sub-Sahara, Nigeria in Africa without neglecting to practice for the undernourished children and their parents. While he was working at the Nigerian hospital, Dr. Eapen saw hundreds of children die from diseases brought on by malnutrition. Since then, he has dedicated his career to pediatric services for the underprivileged. He also mastered two native languages– Swahili and Hausa.

In 1988 Dr. Eapen was appointed Health Advisor by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (IJNHCR) to the Republic of the Philippines. He accepted this new challenge to cater to the needs of nearly 30,000 Indo-Chinese refugees in the Philippines Refugee Processing Center, Battan.

Dr. Eapen had to reinvent himself in this new world meeting new challenges and coping with stress of work. He endeared himself to the refugees, created meaningful relationships with the staff and addressed himself to learning more and more. With his expertise and long standing experience, Dr. Eapen crafted a health proposal for the underserved Filipino indigent population that lived around camp at Morong, Battan.

Herman T. Laurel, Adminstrator at the Refugee Processing Center wrote: “No other Medical advisor before him has figured as positively in Health Services group affairs, nor shown as much commitment to its mission, for which he has earned our respect and high esteem.” Sylvia Bitler, the nursing coordinator of World Relief Council (WRC) paid him tribute as he was leaving the Philippines in the following words, “This brilliant and compassionate man literally hides a world of expertise behind his unassuming manner. Our loss is certainly the gain of his next associates.”

In 1990 Dr. Eapen was appointed Director for Research and Public Health Programs at International Health Services, Mountain View, California. The objective of this not-for- profit organization was the development of appropriate but low-cost diagnostic kits for use in developing countries.

Dr. Eapen also conducted a USAID-supported clinical trial in India on a simple device to test for tuberculosis. While serving as the Director of International Affairs for Stop Aids Worldwide (SAW), Dr. Eapen met Mother Theresa at Calcutta, India, to promote the work of this organization in India.

Since 2012, he has been serving as the Medical Director of Alameda Health System (AHS), Oakland, CA. Alameda Health Systems is one of the largest public health systems in the state of California. It acts a safety net for the residents of Alameda County (1.5 million people). Employed as a pediatrician with AHS for 25 years and currently also serves as the medical director of the Ambulatory of the AHS.

Dr. Jacob Eapen was at the helm of the Newark Wellness Center as medical director. Since 2004, he has served on the board of directors of Washington Hospital in Fremont, where there are as many as 600 Doctors serving tens of thousands of patients daily. The Hospital has been ranked among the top 100 best hospitals in the country.

The Indian American physician has also served two terms on the State Association of California Health Care Districts Board, and on the board of directors of KIDANGO, a private nonprofit agency providing child development programs in Alameda, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties.

Dr. Eapen has also brought his expertise in the health problems of children in developing countries to the doorsteps of many centers of learning. He has lectured on Primary Health care and Health Issues in a Refugee Camp, to students at Stanford and UCSF Medical schools as well as at the School of Public Health at Berkeley. Good medical practice comes in myriad forms, but good doctors share one trait: they are truly present in their clinics, deeply engaged with their patients and their area of specialization.

During his long career, Dr. Eapen has received several honors and has served in numerous leadership roles across the world. That seemingly endless work has earned him national and global recognition. Dr. Eapen’s commitment to the healing ministry and his compassion for the poor, and his ability to touch individuals through his personal and professional achievements, has earned him numerous awards.

Dr. Eapen was given the 2017 Sainik School (Kerala, India) Lifetime Achievement Award. He was honored by the Federation of Malayalee Associations of Americas 2010 Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding Achievements and Contributions in the Field of Medicine and Public Health. He received the FIJIAID International Award in May, 2010.

He is a 2007 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, a prestigious honor given annually by the New York-based National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations. The medal celebrates the immigrant experience and seeks to honor Americans from a wide variety of backgrounds for their positive and lasting imprint on our society.

Dr. Eapen stated, “The US is a melting pot of immigrants where, everyday people strive to achieve the American Dream. I have attained many reputed recognitions here, and then to be recognized by my adopted country as one of the outstanding citizens who have made positive contributions to the community is a very humbling experience and this, at the same time, makes me proud of my roots.”

In 2004, Jacob Eapen was awarded the First Physician Recognition Award from the Medical Board of California. The California Medical Board, which licenses physicians throughout the state, created a Physician Recognition Task Force to begin an annual program to recognize physicians for outstanding service. He is also a recipient of the Congressional Record of Honor and the City of Newark Mayoral Commendation.

Dr. Eapen was honored by Stanford Medical School, and was selected as one of the 40 outstanding Stanford Medical Alumni from among 7,000 graduates of the last 60 years, and was profiled in a book commemorating 40 years of the Stanford Medical School in Palo Alto.

In 1999, Dr. Eapen was recognized as the Spectacular Care Giver of 1999, “in recognition of your outstanding patient service, consistently superior level of performance and reliable contributions to the team at NewarkJ-Health Center,” Alameda County Health Services. In 2001, he was bestowed with the Global Awards & Golden Honor from Kerala Kala Kendram, associated to Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy (Fine Arts Council of Kerala.)

Dr. Eapen is the first Indian American to win 5 public general elections in America. He serves as the board of director of a large community hospital in California. He also served in the advisory board of school of public health University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Eapen was elected to the California State Hospital Association, and Association of California Health Care Districts, and was appointed to the board of directors of KIDANGO, a private, nonprofit agency providing child development program in Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Francisco Counties in Northern California. He is the recipient of the first physician award from the Medical Board of California.

In 2007, he was bestowed with the Mother Theresa award – Humanitarian of the year, by the Friends of the South Asian American Communities (FOSAAC).

He was recognized as the Spectacular Care Giver of 1999 “in recognition of your outstanding patient service, consistently superior level of performance and reliable contributions to the team at Newark Health Center” by the Alameda County Health Services

Currently, Dr. Eapen serves as Pediatrician for Alameda County Health Services where he reaches out to the poor children in Oakland and Newark, and the juveniles in their retention center in San Leandro. California is fortunate to have the services of Dr. Eapen, taking into account the numerous uninsured and indigent people that populate the area.

Good medical practice comes in myriad forms, but good doctors share one trait: they are truly present in their clinics, deeply engaged with their patients and their area of specialization. Dr. Eapen says, “I have embraced Public Health Services in an explicit and deliberate attempt to foster more appropriate and effective policies, and practices, to benefit the community especially the disadvantaged and underserved population.”

Dr. Jacob Eapen, who serves as a Treasurer and Director of Washington Township Health Care District, where has worked nearly two decades, says, most of the center’s patients are lower income and transitory, so it’s important to have as many services as possible at one facility. He noted half of the pediatrics services done at the center are sick child care, but the other half is “well child care.”

Dr. Eapen has been the commissioner of public health in Alameda County, California, for more than four years. Currently, he serves as Pediatrician for Alameda County Health Services where he reaches out to poor children in Oakland and Newark, and the juveniles in their detention center in San Leandro. California is fortunate to have the services of Dr. Eapen, taking into account the numerous uninsured and indigent people that populate the area.

He served as an adviser to “Every Child Counts” Commission, Alameda County. He is an important speaker against the potential closure of clinics in Alameda County, because of costs. He was awarded the Spectacular Care Giver of 1999 by the Alameda County Health Services “in recognition of (his) outstanding patient service, consistently superior level of performance and reliable contributions to the team at Newark Health Center.”

Dr. Eapen is currently serving as a board member of Washington Hospital in Fremont, California. He was one of the first Indo Americans ever to win a general election in Northern California. He is also a member of several California State boards: The Association of California Health Care Districts (ACHD) (representing about 44 district hospitals in California Governance Forum), The California Hospital Association (CHA) (representing more than 500 hospitals in California) and The Advisory Board of California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation.

He is dedicated to improving access, removing both logistic and insurance barriers, expanding outreach services and reducing Emergency Room waiting time. Dr. Eapen is also pressing for better investment in preventive care through cost effective health programs. For him, minimizing disparities in community health care is an important priority.

As a member of the board he envisions minimizing the disparities in immunization rates, incidence in obesity, diabetes and hypertension as well as increasing open communication and enhancing the image of the hospital as a patient friendly place. In addition to Dr. Jacob’s outstanding performance, he is thankful for the support of his family. Tremendous appreciation goes to his family’s understanding for his numerous commitments to his objectives and social engagements.

Acknowledging self as “a leader, educator and practitioner in Public Health in Alameda County,” Dr. Eapen says, he is deeply aware of the community health needs. “With my national and international experience in the field of medicine and technology,” Dr. Eapen is committed to continuing his life-long mission to usher in a new sensitivity to the medical needs of the diverse population in his community and around the world, where his expertise and skills are needed.

Dr. Eapen has devoted his medical expertise to the health problems of undernourished children in developing countries and to poor and disturbed juveniles in the United States. Time and again, he has demonstrated his commitment to the healing ministry and to improving public health for the underserved worldwide. In the words of Hon. Fortney Pete Stark, “he has embraced Public Health Services in an explicit attempt to foster more appropriate and effective policies to benefit poor, undeserved patients”

The awards, honors and recognitions, take Eapen back to experiences that may fuel his charitable view on life: the many years he spent in sub-Saharan Africa as a teacher and physician. Eapen recalled some days in Africa where he would arrive at the medical clinic at 8 a.m. to find 150 people already waiting in line for medical help, including some who had walked for hours. Dr. Eapen recalls, “You experience that and you value life more. You realize that life is so fragile.”

This brilliant and compassionate physician literally hides a world of expertise behind his unassuming manner. Mrs. Annamma Eapen, his 95-years-old mother, lives in Trivandrum. Dr. Eapen is married to Shirley Jacob, who works for Amgen, a biotech company. They have two grown children, Dr. Naveen and Dr. Sandhya. Dr. Sandhya is married to Dr. Ryan, and the couple are blessed with a 3 months old son, Issac. Dr. Naveen is married to Dr. Stephnie. To quote Dr. Jacob Eapen: “The world needs to advance in compassion.”

GOPIO-NEW YORK ORGANIZES SUCCESSFUL HEALTH CARE SYMPOSIUM

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Health 0

Global Organization of People of Indian Origin – New York Chapter (GOPIO-New York) organized a community Health Care Seminar on April 20 , 2019 at the Indian American Kerala Center in Elmont, New York. The event was once again, a grand success. Seven prominent physicians and healthcare providers, each an expert in their specialized field served as speakers and panelists.

The program started with an inaugural session with welcome greetings and messages from Kerala Center Vice President Alex Esthappan, GOPIO-New York President Beena Kothari, GOPIO International Coordinator-at-Large Lal Motwani and GOPIO International Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham. The first speaker was Dr. Jagamohan Kalra, M.D. Hematologist, Oncologist, and Internist – triple board certified, who identified and addressed various types of cancers and concluded that modern health care is our best wealth.

Dr. Prachi Dua , M.D. an ophthalmologist spoke in details about the cataract surgery and provided information on modern cutting edge technology available for the best eye care . Dr. Ketan Laud , M.D. a famous and prominent Retina specialist, treats all medical and surgical conditions, talked about Diabetes and Retinal health in great details.

Dr. Parinda Dave, DDS, who practices general and family dentistry, spoke about the importance of Oral Health care. Dr. Dua said that if regular dental care is not done, could lead to many serious health hazards including heart issues.

Registered world famous Nutritionist/Dietician Rita Batheja , M.S., RDN,CDN, FAND, AFMCP , eloquently informed the audience about the balance diet and importance of green raw vegetables in our daily diet. Community activist and dietician Indu Jaiswal further reinforced importance of diet in one’s health.

Distinguished Chiropractor Dr. Michael Posner, who is also internationally certified instructor of Tai Chi-Chi Young, meditation and weight loss spoke about how great posture empowers your level of energy, create better health and wellbeing, while reducing stress .

Dr. Yousuf Syed , M.D.MPH. a Pathologist , was the moderator who introduced the speakers , encouraging robust discussion of event’s agenda and topics and moderated Q&A session.

“With a well-attended program, our community is very much interested in such programs and GOPIO New York will continue to do health educational seminars,” said GOPIO-New York President Beena Kothari. GOPIO’s next health related seminar is titled Aging Gracefully with Proper Health Care in early June.

The symposium was co-sponsored by Alliance of Global Sindhi Associations, India Day Parade (IDP), Indian American Forum (IAF) and Long Island Ladies Council (LILC). GOPIO-New York can be contacted at beena.kothari@gmail.com, Tel: 631-988-1280.

Forum on “Understanding Hate Crimes and Protection of Places of Worship” Held

April 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

On 6th April, Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH) hosted a first-of-its-kind Forum on “Understanding Hate Crimes and Protection of Places of Worship” for faith based and community leaders to learn how to prevent and respond to hate crimes against places of worship. Facilitated by the United States Department of Justice Community Relations Services (CRS), it held presentations by representatives from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Harris County District Attorney’s office, FBI Houston Field Office, Department of Homeland Security and Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

About 40 faith based organizations attended the forum which was held at the Houston Durgabari Society. The event touched on four issues: Hate Crimes Prosecutions Overview, Hate Crimes Statistics and Symbols of Hate, Preventing and Responding to Active Shooter Situations and a Panel Discussion on Protecting Places of Worship by Interfaith leaders.

A brain child of HGH Past President Partha Krishnaswamy, the forum sought to educate custodians, caretakers and members of temples, churches, synagogues, gurudwaras and mosques on tackling the uptick in hate crimes against places of worship.

Almost all the presenters pointed out that expressing hate, name calling and the display of offensive symbols, no matter how vile, are not in-and-of-themselves criminal. The Constitution is bound to protect the rights of even those who indulge in hate speech. It has to rise to the level of a criminal act before law enforcement agencies can take action.

Recent attacks against religious sites include the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh; Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston, S.C.; Victoria Islamic Center, Victoria, Texas, the Oak Creek, Wis., Sikh temple; and the Overland Park Jewish Center in Kansas.

Moderator Harpreet Singh Mocha and Kim Milstead, both from the US Department of Justice were instrumental in putting the program together.

Deputy Chief US Attorney Office of Southern District of Texas, Sharad Khandelwal kicked off the program by highlighting the January 28th 2017 attack on the Victoria Islamic Center, a mosque about 80 miles in Victoria, Texas. Residents around the center woke up to a fire that engulfed the entire mosque and raged for hours eventually burning down the mosque to the ground. It was emotionally devastating for its congregation but Khandelwal noted the outpouring of support from the community. A prayer vigil was attended not just by Muslims but by other local communities with churches and synagogues providing their premises for worship until the mosque was rebuilt.

A squad of law enforcement agencies such as the ATF, FBI, Victoria Fire and Police Department used “every single law enforcement method and technology to crack the case.” The perpetrator was charged with a hate crime that got him 24 years of prison time. This was the repeated assurance offered by Khandelwal that in the event of a hate crime, the Department of Justice will not hesitate “to call it a hate crime and make sure justice is served.”

Bureau Chief-Special Crimes Harris County District Attorney’s Office Ruben R. Perez who works for Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg also reiterated that their office was there to help and protect people and would prosecute all cases of arson, graffiti, theft, vandalism and aggravated assault on a place of worship. He encouraged the gathering to dial 911 as a first responder if they saw something that was out of the ordinary, or call CrimeStoppers with tips and speak up if they notice an overt display of hate speech against a community or race on social media.

FBI Houston Supervisory Special Agent Tricia Sibley recommended two sites helpful in understanding hate crimes, hate symbols and their incidence – Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program FBI and StopHoustonGangs. In a recent report, Federal Bureau of Investigation logged 7,175 hate crimes in 2017, a 17% increase from the prior year that was caused by growing attacks against racial and religious minorities. The number represented the third consecutive year that hate crimes went up and the biggest year-by-year increase in hate crimes since 2001. Due to an increase in attacks on Hindu temples and individuals, the FBI began tracking hate crimes against Hindus since 2013.

FBI Houston Supervisory Special Agent Chris Johnson offered some broad based guidelines and resources on securing places of worship and how to survive an active shooter. Since 2014, 1016 hate crimes motivated by religious bias were reported and occurred at churches, temples, mosques, gurudwaras and synagogues.

While entering to a place of worship should be a welcoming experience, some easy security measures he suggested were: Invite local law enforcement personnel to your building during larger prayer services or meetings. Other than the main access points, all other access points should be locked during services. Fire alarm and sprinkler systems should be tested regularly

Ushers can be the first line of defense. They should be positioned at the main access points and trained to spot “something that doesn’t add up” such as nervous behavior, excess clothing or constant adjusting of clothing. Have ushers greet and talk to newcomers in the congregation Install surveillance cameras in conspicuous and inconspicuous places. The perception of surveillance could change someone’s behavior and help law enforcers apprehend the perpetrator. 74% of active shooters enter through the main access point. If you have only one camera, install it at the main access point.

Security cameras should employ good lighting.

In case of a suspicious item, do not touch or tamper with it. Dial 911 immediately.

In case of a threat by phone, do not hang up. If possible record the conversation, ask questions and write down the exact wording of the threat.

In case of a suspicious person, note down license plates, write down descriptions of what the person looked like and what they did. Such evidence is critical for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute if necessary.

A case of vandalism, no matter how minor, must be reported. Follow up with the appropriate officer regularly on the progress of the case. “See something, say something.” Call 911 if you spot suspicious behavior. Develop a plan and educate members of the congregation on the plan.

In case of an Active shooting:

In the wake of the 2012 shooting at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek Wisconsin, Special Agent Johnson noted a dangerous trend in that the attacks are getting deadlier almost “as if the shooters are trying to outdo the previous shooting.”

A study of 160 active shooters in the US from 2000-2013 showed that 3.8% or 6 of them were at places of worship. 69% of the 160 incidents ended in 5 minutes or less. Law enforcement response time was 3 minutes and 67% of the incidents ended before the police arrived.

Some do’s and don’ts:

In case of an active shooter, evacuees should leave all personal belongings behind.

Avoid using elevators and escalators to escape. He recommended viewing a film on YouTube called “Run. Hide. Fight. Surviving an Active shooter.” During an active shooting, the three basic response actions are Run, hide or fight. Individuals can run away from the shooter, seek a secure place where they can hide or incapacitate the shooter with improvised weapons such as fire extinguishers or chairs. When hiding, silence electronic devices like cell phones, lock and barricade the door with heavy furniture, turn off lights and remain silent.

Provide first responders with a site plan including information about door and window locations as well as locks and access controls.

Commander Criminal Intelligence Division Houston Police Department M. Wyatt Martin clarified that the average response time after a 911 call is 5 minutes. He also encouraged the gathering to call Stephen Daniel at 713-308-3246 for a site security assessment and training in how to protect the place of worship.

Developing a strong relationship with the local commander is important in helping protect a place of worship. One can also text 911 now for emergencies while the non-emergency number is 713-884-3131.

Officer Martin strongly suggested the need for a plan of action, a plan of evacuation and a security committee to create a security plan. A good idea when entering a public place, he cautioned, is to check out the exits on the property. In a concluding panel discussion, representatives from Interfaith ministries – Rev. Gregory Han – IMG Interfaith, Dr. Zahra Jamal – Rice University, Jason Plotkin from the Synagogue, Kedar Thakker – BAPS Mandir and Morris Grunill from the Fort Bend Church shared the security protocols they utilize to protect their place of worship.

Security is a high priority for the BAPS Mandir. Ketan Thakker stated that BAPS looked at security through 2 perspectives – IT and people perspective. Since they host several events a year which sometimes attract almost eight thousand people, they take precautionary steps such as installing several cameras that are monitored, invite law enforcement to temple events, have officers present but in the end, he emphasized that “human vigilance is best.”

The Fort Bend Church has a carefully thought out multilayered system of security. Members are first greeted by parking lot attendants, then greeters and ushers. Security Officers are present on campus. During the week only one entrance is used except Sundays when all 6 entrances are used. An in house security committee meets once a year to review and revise security measures.

Other suggestions included conducting fire drills or exercises to make a quick departure from the space, “using proactive fellowship” to check out newcomers, monitoring social media for hate feeds, asking first time people to stand and be acknowledged, knowing the people in your immediate vicinity and “finally educate and create awareness without creating panic.”

The Hindu American Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group based in Washington D.C., has been actively working for years with the Department of Justice, law enforcement, and legislators across the country to track and address bias motivated attacks on Hindus and other religious and ethnic minorities. HAF also requests help in tracking incidents of identity-based or bias-motivated intimidation, threats, harassment, and violence being experienced in our communities by filling out the Bias-Motivated Crime Data Collection Form, if they or someone they know has experienced or witnessed an incident. Contact HAF for assistance at info@hafsite.org or 201-223-8222.

FEMA had a grant program of $150,000 to enhance the security of religious centers that are at risk for hate crimes. Organizations can apply at https://www.fema.gov/nonprofit-security-grant-program.

Other resources:

Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service (CRS) Visit justice.gov/crs

Find your regional FBI office at fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices

Learn about the FBI’s hate crime reporting process and statistics at fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes

Find hate crime data collection guidelines and a training manual at ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime-data-collection-guidelines-and-training-manual.pdf

Protector Security Advisor Program (PSA) provide voluntary security surveys and assessments of facilities. Visit dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/PSA-Program-Fact-Sheet-05-15-508.pdf.

Federal Emergency Management Agency: www.fema.gov/protecting-houses-worship

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AAPI’s Legislative Day 2019 on Capitol Hill on April 30th To Be Addressed by Dozens of Key US Lawmakers

April 25, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Health 0

(Washington, DC: April 21, 2019) Healthcare continues to be at the center of the national debate, especially after the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle Affordable Care Act, and to do away with the Individual Mandate, affecting almost everyone in the country. Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, representing over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, wants to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill and around the nation, particularly on issues relating to healthcare.

Continuing with its mission and objective to have its collective voice heard on the corridors of power, AAPI is organizing its annual Legislative Day on April 30th, 2019 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. With participation from dozens of key Congressmen and Senators, the event will be a unique opportunity for AAPI to be part of the decision making process on matters related to healthcare.

“AAPI has been seeking to collectively shape the best health care for the people of US, with the physician at the helm, caring for the medically underserved as we have done for several decades when physicians of Indian origin came to the US in larger numbers,” says Dr. Naresh Parikh, president of AAPI. “During the annual Legislative Conference, among others, AAPI will discuss: Increased Residency Slots, Immigration Reform, Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursements, Tort Reform, Repeal of the Individual Mandate, Lowering the Cost of Prescription Drugs, and, The South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2017,” he added.”

“AAPI is once again in the forefront in bringing many burning health care issues facing the community at large and bringing this to the Capitol and to the US Congress,” says Dr. Vinod Shah, Chair of AAPI Legislative Affairs Committee. “As Congress has now passed a repeal of this part of the Affordable Care Act, which takes place in 2019, what does this mean for the average physician practice if patients drop their health care coverage and how will this impact premiums? AAPI will have an opportunity to hear from the Congressmen on their perspectives on this critical issue,” added Dr. Shah.

AAPI urges US Congress to support and implement the H.R. 3592, The South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2017. This legislation introduced in the last session of Congress, would provide for research and grants to improve the cardiovascular health care of South Asian Americans, Dr. Shah said.

Dr. Vinod Shah urged his “AAPI colleagues and everyone interested in or connected with providing health care to attend this event and ensure that our concerns and needs are heard by our lawmakers and ensure that they act on them.”

“AAPI Legislative day is a flagship annual event that is eagerly awaited to rekindle and renew our energy in bringing up the issues that we need to bring to the attention of national policy makers and leaders of the US Congress on Capitol Hill,” said Dr. Sampat Shivangi, Co-chair of AAPI Legislative Affairs Committee. “A tradition of more than two decades which has brought many important transformations in National Health policies that have helped Physicians of Indian Origin, now, it is the need of the day to renew our friendship with new leadership and brief on our issues.”

According to Dr. Shivangi, “Even though our major issues of uniform licensing laws and reciprocation, discrimination in residency have been done away with to some extent, we need to be still vigilant with the issues of Foreign Medical graduates in residency allotment, increase in Medicare funding so as to increase the Residency slots. The most burning issue of all at present time is H1 Visa, waiver and decades of wait for Green Card that affects Indian Physicians. It is also time to welcome our new Indian Ambassador to USA Hon. Harsha Vardhan Shringala to AAPI. I look forward to see many of our friends in Washington, DC on April 30th, 2019.” Dr. Shivangi added.

Stating that the US is currently experiencing a physician shortage, which will be exacerbated by retiring baby boomers, affecting thousands of patients’ access to a physician, and ultimately the health care they need, AAPI strongly supports, the much needed “Immigration Reform, particularly with the focus on H-1 and J-1 visas are used by many South Asian American physicians, playing an important role in providing critical health care across the country,” Dr. Suresh Reddy President-Elect of AAPI, pointed out. “Combined with the Green Card backlog consisting of more than 4 million people, we are very concerned about the impact immigration reform will have on the South Asian American community,” Dr. Reddy added.

“The conference will focus on Immigration Reform and ways for AAPI members to be part of the process in the implementation of the health care reform in this country,” adds Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Vice President of AAPI. “While medical school enrollment has climbed 2% annually over the past five years through new schools and expansion of existing schools, the number of residency slots funded by Medicare has been capped at about 100,000 since 1997. Congress can act by passing legislation adding 15,000 more residency slots, which will help to train up to 45,000 more doctors in the next two decades,” he added.

AAPI is committed to Tort Reform, says, Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, Secretary of AAPI. “In order to reduce the practice of defensive medicine, bring down the overall cost of health care, and limit the number of meritless lawsuits, tort reform will bring fairness into the court system and better serve both the doctor and patient communities.”

In its efforts to help patients struggling with higher healthcare cost, AAPI will urge the lawmakers to help lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs. The exorbitant cost of prescription drugs is a critical health care issue, as some life-saving drugs are too expensive for many patients. As physicians, we want to ensure that the medicines their patients need are affordable and will be taken, to ensure a high quality of life, reduction of chronic ailments, and effective treatment today to prevent increased health care costs in the future.

Pointing to the fact that Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursements have not kept up with the cost of care and the growing populations utilizing them, AAPI wants the Congress to review reimbursement schedules. Failure to do so will result in patients’ inability to find a physician in their community who accepts Medicare and/or Medicaid patients.

Dr. Naresh Parikh says that “AAPI continues to discover her own potential to be a player in shaping the healthcare of each patient with a focus on health maintenance than disease intervention. To be a player in crafting the delivery of health care in the most efficient manner. To strive for equality in health globally. The annual Legislative Day is another way to impact Healthcare policy and programs in a most effective way. Come and join us on Capitol Hill on April 30th.” For more information on AAPI and its several noble initiatives benefitting AAPI members and the larger society, please visit: www.aapiusa.org

Sri Lanka Terror Attacks: ‘International network’ linked to bombings

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

A wave of bombings that killed 290 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday was carried out with the support of an international network, Sri Lankan officials said. The government has blamed a little-known local jihadist group, National Thowheed Jamath, although no-one has yet admitted carrying out the bombings. Over 500 others were injured in the suicide attacks on churches and hotels.

Sri Lankan authorities were warned about a bomb threat from National Thowheed Jamath a full two weeks before the attacks, cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said at a press conference. He said that the warnings were not passed on to the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, or his cabinet. Wickremesinghe acknowledged that security services had been “aware of information” but had not acted on the information.

Sri Lanka’s Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said, was a result of “colossal intelligence failure” as there was prior information about the attack. He demanded the resignation of the Inspector General of Police. “As a government, we apologize to families and other institutions. The problem is that even when we met the Prime Minister at the Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister was also in the dark,” he said.

The emergency declaration by the Sri Lankan Government will give police and military extensive powers to detain and interrogate suspects without court orders. Police have arrested 24 people in a series of raids and the president’s office declared a state of national emergency.

Four Indians were among those killed in the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, while many others, including a leading Tamil actress, had a narrow escape.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj quoted the Indian High Commission as saying that it had been informed by the National Hospital in Colombo about the death of three Indian nationals — Lakshmi, Narayan Chandrashekhar, Ramesh. “We are ascertaining further details,” the Minister said.

Islamist extremists carried out the first six major suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, The Daily Mirror reported. Investigators said that two terrorists had on Saturday checked into Room 616 of The Shangri-La hotel, one of the three Colombo hotels where blasts took place in quick succession, the English language daily reported.

Close circuit television camera (CCTV) footage revealed that the suspects detonated the bombs in the cafeteria and on the corridor of the hotel, it said.

Investigators suspect that C-4 explosives weighing 25 kg were used for the bombings at the hotel, it said.

The investigators who broke into the room found materials used by “radical Islamic extremists”, the daily quoted sources as saying. It was unclear if the bombers were locals or international terrorists who arrived on tourist visa to the island nation.

On Monday, another blast rocked a street near a church in the capital, Colombo. Police were attempting to defuse explosives in a vehicle used by the attackers when it blew up. It is not yet known if anyone was hurt.

On Monday, 87 detonators were found from the main bus station at Pettah in Colombo while a bomb the security forces were trying to defuse exploded near the St Anthony Church in Colombo, triggering panic in the area.

An improvised explosive device (IED) was also detected near the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on Monday morning and was defused in controlled explosion by the Sri Lanka Air Force, according to the Daily Mirror.

Police said that they had seized a van and its driver who allegedly transported some suspects into Colombo and also raided a safe house used by the attackers.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the bloodbath, Senaratne told the media: “NTJ was involved. It is a local organisation. We don’t know whether they are linked to outsiders. All those arrested are locals.” But he too admitted that without an international network, “these attacks could not have succeeded”.

The first of the eight blasts took place on Sunday morning in three luxury hotels — Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-la, Kingsbury — in the heart of Colombo and in a church each in Colombo, Negombo, 30 km from here, and in the Tamil-majority Batticaloa town in the island’s east that was once a Tamil Tiger stronghold.

Later in the afternoon, another blast hit a guest house near the zoo in Dehiwala in Colombo, killing two persons, and a housing complex at Dematogoda in the city leaving three policemen dead.

Sri Lanka’s National Security Council on Monday announced plans to impose a “conditional state of Emergency” from midnight. It said the measures would target terrorism and would not limit freedom of expression.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said that terrorist groups continued to plot possible attacks in Sri Lanka and urged Americans visiting that country to exercise increased caution.

Mueller’s report is worse for Trump than Barr had us believe

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s 448-page report, made public las week in redacted form has had President Trump furious at what those pages have revealed to the public. Nearly half of those pages show how the president reacted to and fumed over the Russia probe, seeking to undermine it, curtail it, and even fire the special counsel himself.

That the contents of the Mueller report diverge so sharply from Barr’s portrayal has long seemed possible, based on his initial summary and subsequent appearance before Congress.

The attorney general Barr has implied that Mueller left that choice to Barr. In truth, the report makes clear that Mueller felt constrained by the Justice Department policy that a sitting president could not be indicted.

Barr was appointed as the nation’s AG after writing a memo casting the Mueller investigation as illegitimate.

Democrats want Robert Mueller, the man who collated the report, to publicly testify before congress about the work he has done. It comes after a redacted version of the document was released on Thursday.

Democrat congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in a joint statement said the report painted a “disturbing picture of a president who has been weaving a web of deceit, lies and improper behavior”.

The party has begun moves to try to obtain the full, unredacted document and to have Mueller testify before Congress. There is a growing division in the Party as to impach the President or leave it to the people to decide on the fcate of the President in the next elections in 2020.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted March 25 and March 26 (after the Barr letter summarizing the Mueller findings) found that the Barr summation did not move the needle on public opinion. Forty-eight percent said they believed “Trump or someone from his campaign worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election.” This was down 6 points from the same question asked a week earlier, before the report was sent to the Attorney General.

And 53 percent said “Trump tried to stop investigations into Russian influence on his administration,” down 2 points from the same question asked a week earlier. Responses to the questions fell predictably along party lines, with Democrats believing in the President’s guilt and Republicans believing in his innocence. Barr’s comments today will be greeted as complete vindication by the President’s supporters and as a whitewash by his opponents.

But what everyone, supporters and opponents alike, seem to agree on is that they want to make their own decision. The Quinnipiac poll conducted from March 21-25 found that 84 percent of the general public wanted the Mueller Report made available to the public.

According to the report, Trump reacted to Mueller’s appointment as special counsel in May 2017 as follows: “Oh my God, this is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.”

Trump’s legal team has said it completely exonerates the president. But while the report does say the Muller Team was unable to prove that president had colluded with the Russians, it did not come to a firm conclusion on the issue of obstruction of justice.

It also reveals several occasions when Trump tried to hinder the investigation itself – including attempting to have Mueller removed.

The 448-page redacted document is the result of a 22-month investigation by Mueller, who was appointed to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

There may be something in the redacted report that changes public opinion, but as Trump’s former aid Steve Bannon once noted, the president’s firing of FBI Director James Comey may go down as the biggest mistake in “maybe in modern political history.”

The first section of the Mueller report details Russia’s efforts to upend the 2016 presidential campaign, and scrutinizes the many interactions between Trump associates and Russia. But it’s in the second half, which provides a litany of instances in which Trump may have obstructed justice, that the real bombshells await.

And then, as Mueller lays out in sometimes lurid detail, in at least 10 episodes over the ensuing months Trump sought to block or stop that very investigation. He did so even as Mueller doggedly made public the “sweeping and systematic fashion” in which the Russian government attacked the 2016 presidential election, and brought serious criminal charges—and won guilty pleas—from a half-dozen of the president’s top campaign aides.

“If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state,” the report says. “Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgement.

“Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

The report says that potential obstruction of justice by the president only failed because members of his administration refused to “carry out orders.” Investigators viewed the president’s written responses to their questions as “inadequate” but chose not to pursue a potentially lengthy legal battle to interview him.

Mueller then points to Congress, not the attorney general, as the appropriate body to answer the question of obstruction. As Mueller wrote in what seems to be all but a referral for impeachment proceedings, “The conclusion that Congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president’s corrupt exercise of the powers of office accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law.”

After Fire Destroys Parts of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Macron says new cathedral will be ‘more beautiful’

April 25, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

In the latticed shadows of the medieval masterpiece that was Notre Dame de Paris, centuries of history unspooled: two calamitous world wars, bubonic plague, revolution, the sprawling, messy intricacies of daily life. Its mighty bells clanged at momentous junctures — when Paris was liberated from the Nazis in 1944, in tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A massive blaze at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris devastated large parts of the 850-year-old church. The fire is now out, but the cathedral’s iconic spire fell during the hours it took to battle the blaze. French President Emmanuel Macron, in an address to the nation, promised Parisians that they will “rebuild this cathedral together.”

Onlookers wept and gasped in horror as more than 400 firefighters fought the ferocious and fast-moving blaze, which broke out about 6:45 p.m., destroying large parts of the 850-year-old Gothic monument.

Firefighters said the roof had been mostly destroyed, and at one point they feared the entire structure could collapse. Flames licked up the tall spire, which eventually buckled and collapsed in on itself, but by midnight, with the fire’s intensity finally fading, officials at the scene said the cathedral structure, including the two towers on the main facade, had been saved.

On Monday, it was the bells of Paris’ other churches that tolled — in an anguished, prayerful gesture of solidarity and support for the burning cathedral.

The cathedral was minutes away from total destruction, officials say.

But despite Mr Macron’s pledge experts say its reconstruction could take decades.

Fifty people will investigate the cause of the fire. Paris public prosecutor Rémy Heitz said there was no obvious indication of arson and that the blaze was being treated as an accident.

A combined €800m ($902m; £692m) has already been pledged by a number of companies and business tycoons to help rebuild the Unesco World Heritage site.

In a televised address on Tuesday evening, President Macron suggested he wants it rebuilt by the time Paris hosts the Summer Olympics in 2024.

“We’ll rebuild Notre-Dame even more beautifully and I want it to be completed in five years, we can do it,” said Mr Macron, who had already pledged to launch an international fundraising scheme for the reconstruction.

“It’s up to us to convert this disaster into an opportunity to come together… It’s up to us to find the thread of our national project.”

But Eric Fischer, head of the foundation in charge of restoring the 1,000-year-old Strasbourg cathedral, told AFP the Notre-Dame may take “decades” to rebuild.

Frédéric Létoffé, the head of the group of companies for the Restoration of Historic Monuments, put the timescale at between 10 and 15 years, warning substantial work would be needed to secure the site before restoration can begin.

The blaze – which was discovered at 18:43 (16:43 GMT) on Monday and was fully extinguished almost 15 hours later – destroyed most of the cathedral’s roof and led to the collapse of its iconic spire.

Experts have not yet been allowed on site to assess the damage and firefighters have sent a drone to survey the scale of the destruction.

The main structure, including the two bell towers, was saved in a time window of 15 to 30 minutes by a team of 400 firefighters, he said.

In his speech Mr Macron heaped praise on the fire services, saying they took “extreme risks” to tackle the blaze.

Dharmatma Saran & Shree Saini Win At The Global Beauty Awards

April 17, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Fashion, Profiles 0

Dharmatma Saran, Chairman and Founder of Miss/Mrs. India Worldwide and Shree Saini, the reigning Miss India Worldwide, won awards as the Director/Producer and Best Title Holder respectively at the Second Global Beauty Awards held on April 7 at Snoqualmie Casino in Seattle, Washington State. The Global Beauty Awards has been acclaimed as the Academy Award (Oscar) of beauty pageant industry. The event was attended by beauty pageant leaders from around the world. Sarah Rose Summers, the reigning Miss USA, was Emcee for the gala event.

Dharmatma Saran who is the pioneer in starting Indian beauty pageants in the USA and the world was honored for creating Miss India USA thirty eight years ago and also the only international Indian pageant – Miss India Worldwide with affiliates in over 40 countries. “He provides exceptional opportunities to his winners,” said the citation, “many of whom have gone to become Bollywood celebrities and the Who’s Who of the Indian community worldwide.”

Dharmatma Saran in his acceptance speech thanked Maureen Francisco and David Van Maren, Producers of the awards, for this honor. He also thanked Ekta Saini for nominating him and his wife Neelam Saran who has been a source of strength in his thirty eight years of pageant journey. Saran got this award out of 15 other influential nominees from around the world.

Shree Saini, the reigning Miss India Worldwide, was awarded as The Best Pageant Titleholder, out of 15 nominees from all over the world. The citation for Shree said ” As Miss India Worldwide, Shree saini has spoken at hundreds of events in over 70 cities, 11 states and 5 countries, al while being a full-time college student. She has collaborated with Governor, the Secretary of State, College Presidents, Mayors, and dozens of nonprofits, and her work has been published in over 500 newspapers.” Shree in her acceptance speech thanked her parents and Dharmatma Saran, Chairman of Miss India Worldwide, for their continued support.

Beautiful, compassionate, talented, ambitious, gentle, humble, determined and dedicated to achieving the lofty goals she has set before herself at a very young age, Shree Saini is a woman with a golden heart. Shree from the state of Washington was born in India. She immigrated to the United States as a toddler.

A woman with a noble mission, what the 22-year-old University of Washington student, is aspiring to achieve in her life, is to create awareness on a number of pressing social issues through her organization, and through her web-portal. “I began my nonprofit at age 15. I work on raising awareness and raising funds for several nonprofits including anti-human trafficking and anti-bullying,” the young visionary says. “I am very passionate about my non-profit and want to lead a life of service,” she says. “I want to help end human trafficking and work to promote the importance of emotional well-being in our society.”

Dharmatma Saran, chairman and founder of the New York based India Cultural Festival (IFC) that organizes the trail blazing Miss India Worldwide, is a pioneer in entertainment, holding Indian pageants and fashion shows in the USA and worldwide.

In 1990, Dharmatma Saran, decided to take the pageant one step further to an international level and started The First Miss India Worldwide Pageant to identify and honor beauties of Indian origin the world over and the show graduated to become the top most international Indian pageant on the earth. “For the first time ever, Asian-Indian communities from all over the world came together in New York for this event,” says Saran with a sense of pride. “To the best of our knowledge, no other ethnic organization has ever conducted a pageant of this magnitude on an international level.”

The pageant was an instant success and was acclaimed as the most glamorous Indian function in the world. “When Miss India New York started in 1980, I had perhaps not even in my wildest dreams imagined that in less than twenty years, we would fledge out to be a mass movement with affiliates in over 40 countries, let alone that we would one day have a live internet webcast and broadcast our most prestigious function, the Miss India Worldwide, to an audience of over 300 million people!”

The pageants aim to honor achievement, to celebrate our culture in many ways, among them, the ability to meet people, make friends, to respect and be respected, to continually strive to improve standards, and to live a life as close to the laws of nature.

In line with other prestigious international pageants, IFC started staging Miss India Worldwide in various parts of the world. In 1997, the pageant was organized in Bombay to salute India on its 50th anniversary of Independence. In the year 1998, the pageant was organized, in association with UTV International, in the exotic and beautiful city of Singapore, South Afrcia, Malyasia, UAE, Surinam and several other states in the US.

In addition, she uses the many social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, among others, to enhance her life’s mission. Through Shree Saini YouTube page, she wants to spread her message by creating short videos of discussions on social issues, college life, raising awareness of important organizations and human rights, as well as anything to help the community.

Shree won the Miss India USA after many years of focus and practice, participating and winning in several pageants. Shree has competed in a number of pageants within the Miss America organization. She was the first runner-up at Miss Moses Lake 2014, Miss Seattle 2016 and Miss Seattle 2017. She also won the Miss Seattle People’s Choice Award in 2016 and 2017, and Miss Congeniality, Highest Fundraiser, Director’s Award. All her pageant exposure has served as a platform for what she truly loves, in spreading awareness against bullying and other social issues. As Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, says, “Shree has used her platform to spread her story of perseverance, tolerance and heart health.”

Miss India USA was started by the New York-based community leaders Dharmatma Saran and Neelam Saran, under the banner of the India Festival Committee around 36 years ago, Miss India USA is the longest running Indian pageant outside India. “It has evolved over the years. Earlier, the participants of pageants presented their talent around Bollywood dance and songs and classical dances. But now pageant participants come out with their own innovations,” Dharmatma Saran said.

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.

Optimism persists, but concerns about terrorism and Pakistan loom large among Indian Voters

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

Polls in the largest democracy in the world opened earlier this month. As many as 900 million people, are expected to cast their ballots to elect a new government at the end of the weeks long electoral battles across the states of India. In April and May 2019, Indians will go to the polls to elect a new Lok Sabha, the 545-seat lower house of the Indian Parliament. When it comes to specific aspects of their democracy, Indians voice strong frustrations about elections and elected officials.

The elections to the Indian Parliament follow a year in which most Indian adults showed dissatisfaction with the nation’s progress on issues including unemployment, inflation and the efficacy of elections. Even prior to the Pulwama attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, majorities of Indians voiced concern about terrorism and the threat posed to their country by Pakistan. But despite these worries, most Indian adults are satisfied with the direction of their country and the economic prospects of the next generation, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted among 2,521 respondents in India from May 23 to July 23, 2018.

Here are 12 takeaways about public opinion in India that provide context about the public’s views leading up to the national elections.

1. Indian public opinion on national conditions

1Indian adults certainly recognize that their personal economic well-being has benefited greatly from strong national economic performance: Indian economic growth has averaged 7.3% per year since 2014. Roughly two-thirds (65%) say the financial situation of average people in India is better today than it was 20 years ago. Only 15% say things are worse.

But there are signs of public unease. About two-thirds of Indians (66%) believe that today’s children will be better off than their parents. But that optimism is down 10 percentage points since 2017.

Similarly, a majority of Indians (55%) are happy with the way things are going in their nation today. But that is down 15 points from 70% in 2017 and marks a return to the level of public satisfaction in 2015, the first full year of Narendra Modi’s government. Still, Indians’ mood remains much higher than in the last two years of the previous government of Manmohan Singh.

2. Lack of employment opportunities is seen by the public as India’s biggest challenge

Lack of employment opportunities is seen by the public as India’s biggest challenge, with 76% of adults saying it is a very big problem – little changed over the past year. In 2018, despite an estimated 3.5% formal unemployment rate, 18.6 million Indians were jobless and another 393.7 million work in poor-quality jobs vulnerable to displacement, according to estimates by the International Labor Office.

Other aspects of the economy are also at the top of the public’s concerns. More than seven-in-ten (73%) believe rising prices are a very big problem.

About two-thirds of the public says corrupt officials (66%), terrorism (65%) and crime (64%) are very big problems. In each case, such concern is down significantly from 2017 – by 20 percentage points in the case of crime, 11 points for terrorism and 8 points regarding officials’ corruption.

Indians with at least a secondary education are significantly more worried about corrupt officials than the less educated. Notably, there is little partisan difference in views of these problems.

On one very personal aspect of crime, more than half (54%) of Indians say the statement “most people live in areas where it is dangerous to walk around at night” describes India very or somewhat well.Roughly half of the public believes the gap between the rich and the poor is a very big problem (51%) and a similar share complains about poor-quality schools (50%). But while the latter sentiment has not changed since 2017, concern about inequality is down 10 points. More than four-in-ten are very concerned about air pollution and health care (both 44%), but these views are also down 10 points.

Notably, incidents of communal violence are higher than they were in 2014, according to Indian Ministry of Home Affairs data, but only about a third of Indians (34%) see this as a very big problem facing the country.

3. When asked whether various challenges facing India have gotten better or worse in the past five years, a time frame that largely encompasses the term of the current Modi government, few Indians voice a positive judgment. Just one-in-five (21%) say job opportunities have gotten better, while 67% think things have gotten worse (including 47% who say much worse). A similar share believes prices of goods and services (19%), corruption (21%) and terrorism (21%) have gotten better.

Meanwhile, 65% say prices have gotten worse, 65% are of the opinion that corruption has worsened (including again 47% who say it is much worse) and 59% think terrorism is worse. (This survey was conducted roughly nine months prior to the Pulwama attack, later claimed by Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad.) Roughly one-in-four think the gap between the rich and the poor has narrowed (27%) and that air quality has gotten better (27%). In both cases, more than half the public thinks these things have gotten worse. And just 28% say communal relations have improved, while 45% say they have gotten worse.

As the Lok Sabha election nears, there is a decidedly partisan take on the direction of the country and the challenges facing India. Members of the opposition Indian National Congress party (Congress) are 21 percentage points more likely than backers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to say that job opportunities have worsened and 17 points more likely to say the same about air pollution. Congress adherents are more likely than BJP supporters to believe inequality has gotten worse (by 17 points), that corruption has worsened (12 points) and that terrorism and communal violence has become more of a problem.

4. As Indians head into election season, more than half (54%) are satisfied with the way democracy is working in their country. However, satisfaction has declined 25 percentage points from 2017, when 79% voiced approval. Men are more likely than women to give Indian democracy a thumbs-up, though one-in-five women decline to offer an opinion. Indians with a secondary education are more likely than those with less than a secondary education to be satisfied with their democracy, though one-in-six (17%) less-educated Indians offer no opinion. Such satisfaction is a partisan affair: 75% of BJP supporters, but only 42% of Congress adherents, are satisfied with how Indian democracy functions.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) say most politicians are corrupt (including 43% who very intensely hold this view). Notably, nearly seven-in ten (69%) of both BJP supporters and Congress backers share the view that elected leaders are corrupt.

Another 58% voice the opinion that no matter who wins an election, things do not change very much. This includes a majority of both BJP and Congress adherents.

And only 33% of Indian adults believe elected officials care what ordinary people think. Men are more likely than women to believe that officials don’t care, but almost a third of women (32%) decline to voice an opinion.

5. At the same time, the public thinks that the Indian state allows democratic values to flourish.

By more than two-to-one (58% to 26%), Indians say their rights to express their own views are protected very or somewhat well. Those with more education are more likely than those with less education to say freedom of speech is protected, although, again, a significant share of the less educated (22%) voice no opinion.

A similar proportion (56% to 27%) says most people have a good chance to improve their standard of living in India. People living in urban areas are more likely than those in rural parts of India to believe in such opportunities. BJP supporters (66%) are more likely than Congress adherents (53%) to say Indian democracy delivers economic opportunity.

A plurality (47%) believes the court system treats everyone fairly, a perception held especially among young people.

6. Globalization and India

Indians (71%) overwhelmingly believe trade is good for their nation.Support for trade, in principle, is roughly comparable to that in Japan (72%) and the United States (74%), but lower than that in the European Union (85%), according to a recent international survey by Pew Research Center. And the share of Indian adults who say growing trade and business ties between India and other countries is very good has nearly doubled, from 25% in 2014 to 49% in 2018.

The rise in intense Indian support for trade reflects a widely shared perception that international commerce benefits individuals. Contrary to public opinion in the U.S., Europe and Japan, a majority of Indians believe trade with other countries leads to an increase in wages (57%) and creates jobs (56%). And such sentiment is up slightly from 2014. Few Indian adults believe trade kills jobs (15%) or undermines wages (13%). At the same time, roughly half of Indians (52%) say trade increases prices, a sentiment that is widely shared in other emerging markets yet is contrary to economic theory that international commerce should lead to falling prices.

Educational attainment plays a role in Indian views of trade. Of those who offer an opinion, adults with at least a secondary education are far more likely than those with less education (86% vs. 63%) to say that trade is good for India. They are also more likely to believe that trade creates jobs (72% vs. 49%) and boosts wages (71% vs. 50%), but also to think that trade leads to higher prices (65% vs. 46%). Less-educated Indians are roughly three times as likely as more educated Indians to voice no opinion about the impact of trade, highlighting the significance of education in shaping public views of globalization.

For those who provided a response, there is also a generational difference in public opinion about the impact of globalization. Young Indians, those ages 18 to 29, are more likely (59%) than older Indians, those ages 50 and older (50%), to believe that trade generates new employment. And young Indians (55%) are more likely than their elders (45%) to say trade raises prices. Older Indians are, however, more likely than their younger compatriots to have no view, or less willing to share that view, on the personal impacts of trade.

BJP supporters are more likely than Congress backers to think trade creates jobs and raises wages, but they are also more likely to believe that trade raises prices.

7. With more than 1.35 billion people, India is home to the world’s second-largest population and nearly a fifth of the total world populace. India also happens to be the top source of international migrants – one-in-twenty migrants worldwide in 2015 were born in India. In 2017 more than 16 million Indians were living abroad, with high concentrations in the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Still, this constitutes only about 1% of India’s birth population, putting the nation well under the 3% average emigration rate for other countries around the world.

When asked if people leaving for jobs in other countries posed a problem for India, more than six-in-ten (64%) said this type of emigration was a problem, including nearly half (49%) saying it is a very big problem. Although outmigration itself may not be viewed favorably, in 2016 Indian migrants abroad collectively sent nearly $63 billion worth of remittances back to family and friends living in India, or roughly 3% of total gross domestic product.

At the same time, Indians show little enthusiasm for expanding immigration into their country. Roughly three-in-ten Indians (29%) say their government should allow fewer immigrants, with an additional 16% volunteering that there should be no immigration at all.

Just 13% think more immigration into India should be encouraged, and 11% think immigration levels should stay about the same as they are now. In 2017, just over 5 million people (or less than 1% of the population) living in India were born in other countries, with most of them coming from neighboring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.

8. When thinking about why people move abroad, Indians say it is to advance careers and pursue educational opportunities. Roughly three-quarters think finding better jobs and furthering education are important reasons why people in India move to other countries. Roughly half see uniting with family living in another country as an important reason why Indians relocate abroad, while only about a quarter think Indians move to escape violence.

More than eight-in-ten Indians with higher incomes and educational attainment cite the pursuit of better career and education opportunities as reasons people move to other countries, while fewer cite fleeing violence or joining family abroad. Indians in both urban and rural areas also see following better prospects for learning and working abroad as important reasons people in India emigrate.

9. India-Pakistan relations

Most Indians see Pakistan, their neighbor to the west, as a threat. When asked how serious of a danger Pakistan poses for India, about three-quarters in India (76%) say Pakistan is a threat, including 63% who say it is a very serious threat. Only 7% of Indians do not see Pakistan as a danger for their country. (This survey was conducted roughly nine months prior to the Pulwama attack, later claimed by Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad, and retaliatory Indian air strikes in Pakistani territory.)

Indians from many walks of life share in this sentiment. Those in rural areas and urban centers, supporters of the prime minister’s BJP and supporters of the opposition Congress party, as well as Indians across age groups, all agree that Pakistan threatens their nation.

Indians who express confidence in Narendra Modi are more likely (70%) to see Pakistan as a threat than are those with less confidence in the prime minister, although even among this latter group about half view Pakistan as a danger (51%).

One source of historical tensions between these two nations lies in Kashmir, a region in the Indian subcontinent whose possession has been disputed since the Partition of India – the creation of the modern Indian and Pakistani states – in 1947.

A majority of Indians (55%) see the situation in Kashmir as a very big problem. When asked how this issue has changed over the past five years, more than half (53%) say circumstances in Kashmir have gotten worse. Only 18% think things have gotten better, and just 6% believe conditions are the same.

When asked about the government’s strategy in dealing with the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, a majority believes the Indian government should use more military force than they are currently using. Equal, though small, shares think the military should use either less or about the same amount of force (both 7%).

10. Global views of India

Throughout Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s term in office, international perceptions of India have been mostly positive. Majorities in all five Asia-Pacific countries surveyed have a favorable view of India, with such positive judgement ranging from 64% in South Korea to 57% in Indonesia and Australia. Half the American public also shares this upbeat opinion of the world’s largest democracy.

Compared with 2014, the year Modi first came to office as prime minister, views of India abroad have largely remained stable. Favorable views have increased by a negligible 5 percentage points in South Korea, while they have decreased by the same amount in Japan, Indonesia and the U.S. The Philippines holds more positive views today than four years ago, with a 13-point increase in Indian favorability over that time.

11. There is a notable gap between how Indians see their country’s global stature and how others around the world see it. While 56% of Indians believe their country is playing a bigger role in world affairs than a decade ago, a median of just 28% across 26 nations polled agree. Pluralities in six countries believe India’s role has grown over the past 10 years, with notable shares saying India’s stature has increased in advanced economies, including France (49%), Japan (48%), South Korea (48%), Sweden (47%) and the UK (46%).

Fewer (a median of 22%) think India’s global role has diminished in the past decade. In particular, South Africans (37%) and Brazilians (32%) see India as a less important global power. The most common view across the nations surveyed (a median of 34%) is that India’s role is about the same as it was 10 years ago.

In many European countries, people with higher levels of education and income are more likely to think India plays a larger role today than it did 10 years ago. For example, roughly six-in-ten in France (59%) and the UK (58%) with a postsecondary degree or more say India’s power has grown, compared with about four-in-ten of those with less education.

Views of India’s relatively stagnant role on the world stage compared with 10 years ago diverge from international evaluations of China – a median of 70% in 25 countries say Beijing is playing a more important role in world affairs than 10 years prior. (For more comparisons between countries, see Chapter 3 of “Trump’s International Ratings Remain Low, Especially Among Key Allies.”)

12. Across the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in the U.S., the share of the public who express confidence in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi exceeds the share who lack confidence in him. A majority in the Philippines give the leader a vote of confidence for his handling of world affairs, as do more than four-in-ten in Japan, Australia and South Korea.

The U.S. shows some division in perceptions of the Indian prime minister, with slightly more of the public saying they have confidence in Modi than do not (39% vs. 32%, respectively).

More than a third of Indonesians (37%) express confidence in Modi, though an equal proportion offer no opinion. Roughly a quarter (26%) have no confidence

Will Julian Assange be extradited to USA to face legal actions?

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Wikileaks is at the center of major questions in Robert Mueller’s investigation, including whether anyone involved in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign assisted the organization in releasing hacked materials. But the charge in the one-count indictment against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange unsealed on Thursday shortly after his arrest doesn’t speak to those questions or broader First Amendment issues.

In an indictment dated March 6, 2018, the United States charges Assange with one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. The indictment alleges “that in March 2010, Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on U.S. Department of Defense computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network, a U.S. government network used for classified documents and communications.”

Conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, which violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, is the “meat and potatoes” in the world of computer crime, says Paul Rosenzweig, who teaches at the George Washington University School of Law and was deputy assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “Almost everybody that you see who’s charged with a computer fraud of some sort gets a charge that’s somewhere like this.”

This fits with the typical prosecutorial strategy of charging someone with a smaller, more easily provable crime in what could be a larger criminal context. “The conspiracy component of it can be pretty easy to prove, that there had to be some degree of coordination of efforts and action,” says Thomas Holt, a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University who is an expert in computer hacking. “So conspiracy is a way to… treat it as low-hanging fruit where you can at least demonstrate through email and other communications that they were working in some degree in concert to produce an outcome.”

Limiting the indictment against Assange to this one, narrower charge and not charging him with espionage leaves aside any First Amendment questions that could have been raised about Wikileaks publishing classified material. “There has been a lot of speculation that the U.S. would indict Assange merely for distributing classified material,” former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti wrote on Twitter. “You have heard a lot of concern about that, and it is justified. Many legitimate press publications in the U.S. distribute classified material at times.”

This indictment does not implicate press freedom in any way. It is a crime for any person, whether you sell hotdogs or write for newspapers, to agree to help someone hack into a protected computer server in the United States. I prosecuted non-journalists for that crime myself.

There has been a lot of speculation that the U.S. would indict Assange merely for distributing classified material. You have heard a lot of concern about that, and it is justified. Many legitimate press publications in the U.S. distribute classified material at times.

But this indictment does not charge Assange with a crime related merely to the publication of the material. Rosenzweig offers this analogy: If a journalist has sources offering classified documents, the journalist can publish those documents and this indictment against Assange has no bearing on that. But if a source tells a journalist there are documents behind a locked door, and the journalist offers to help pick the lock, that’s when it becomes a crime. “You as a journalist have become engaged in a criminal enterprise in a way that’s different from normal journalist behavior,” Rosenzweig says of that scenario.

This is where relevance to Mueller’s Russia investigation comes in. In 2016, hackers that the U.S. government believes to have been directed by the Russian government hacked the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta. Batches of the hacked emails were released by Wikileaks. Mueller indicted Russian intelligence officers for crimes related to this operation, but he did not charge Assange.

There are two key relevant questions in Mueller’s investigation. The first is how the hacked material made its way from Russia’s Internet Research Agency to Wikileaks, and whether Trump advisor Roger Stone or anyone else associated with the campaign was in that chain of custody. The second, related question is whether Stone or anyone else in the campaign assisted in targeting the hacking or selecting and timing the release of hacked material. (Stone has been charged with lying to Congress and obstructing an investigation into his communications with Assange. Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen also testified that he was present for a July 2016 phone call during which Stone informed Trump that Assange was planning to publish hacked Democratic emails.)

As in Rosenzweig’s analogy, if Stone or another member of the campaign simply knew about the information in advance, that likely wouldn’t be a crime. But if they conspired in the hack, that could be.

Attorney General William Barr has said Mueller’s investigation did not establish that anyone on the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to influence the election.

For now, this single-count indictment against Assange for activity from nine years ago doesn’t seem to have direct bearing on lingering questions from the Mueller investigation. And Mueller hasn’t recommended any more charges to come directly from his office. But Assange and Wikileaks loom over multiple aspects of Mueller’s investigation, and more details may surface in the coming days when Barr releases a redacted version of the report.

BJP government’s approval ratings sink as elections begin in India

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

The net approval rating of the Narendra Modi government has dropped 12 points between March 12 and April 12, according to the CVOTER-IANS tracker.

The performance rating of the Central government had peaked in the days after the Balakot air strike on February 26, touching the highest level of 62.06 on March 7.

After remaining in the 50s till March 22, the approval ratings have come down to 43.25 on April 12, a day after the first phase of polls held for 91 Lok Sabha seats.

Exactly a month ago on March 12, the approval rating of the government was 55.28.

The tracker findings are based on survey of people who were asked if they are “very satisfied”, “satisfied to some extent”, “not satisfied” and “Dont’ know/can’t say” about the performance of the Central government led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

On March 7, 51.32 per cent of the respondents had said they were very satisfied with the performance of the government. However, the net approval rating, taking into account all the responses, has been in constant decline and is settling into the pre-Pulwama levels.

The government’s net approval rating was 32.4 on January 1 and remained between 30 and 40 for the entire month before rising steadily after the mid-February when the Pulwama attack took place which was followed by air strike against Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Balakot resulting in sharp rise. Around half of the voters surveyed by CVOTER-IANS continue to be very satisfied with the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The poll tracker interviewed 12,050 voters on April 4 and found that 50.95 per cent of them said they were very satisfied with the performance of the Prime Minister while another 22.49 per cent said they were satisfied to some extent. There were 25.29 per cent voters who said they were not happy with him at all.

The satisfaction level with the Prime Minister remained high mostly after the air strikes on the terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakot whose momentum on the voters has sustained despite a slight dip. The latest findings of the tracker poll has come just three days ahead of the first phase of polling on April 11.

The Prime Minister had the best approval rating of over 55 per cent on March 6, 7 and 8. But the sample size on those days was half of what it was on April 4. There has also been a marginal rise in those who are not at all satisfied with the Prime Minister from around 20 per cent in the first week to March to around 25 per cent in the first week of April. (IANS)

Pope falls to the knees in South Sudan, a dictator falls in Sudan

April 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

Pope Francis on Thursday last week knelt in front of political leaders of South Sudan and kissed their boots. “I express my heartfelt hope that hostilities will finally cease, that the armistice will be respected, that political and ethnic divisions will be surmounted, and that there will be a lasting peace for the common good of all those citizens who dream of beginning to build the nation,” the Pope later said.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011, ending Africa’s longest-running civil war. But that did not bring peace in the new nation. In 2012, South Sudan and Sudan fought over the control of an oil-rich region, until an agreement was signed six months later. But later, South Sudan fought among itself, after President Salva Kiir sacked the cabinet and accused Vice-President Riek Machar of planning a failed coup. That civil war has displaced over 2 million people and killed thousands. A ceasefire was declared in June 2018, but a UN report says “hostilities have persisted“.

In Sudan, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was ousted by the nation’s military on Thursday, after nearly four months of protest, dozens of deaths at the hands of the security forces and endless chants of “revolution!”. al-Bashir had ruled the impoverished nation for 30 years and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for playing “an essential role” in a genocidal purge in Darfur.

Yet, the protesters did not get the revolution they were hoping for, as Lt. Gen. Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, the defence minister, took charge. He announced the new terms: Political prisoners will be released, but Sudan will undergo a two-year “transition” under the military, during which the Constitution will be suspended. There are similarities to this in Algeria, where President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had to resign after 20 years in view of protest earlier this month, only to be succeeded by interim leader Abdelkader Bensalah, the upper house speaker.

Neeta Bhushan Rids Indian Consulate of Corruption

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Profiles 0

CHICAGO – A high profile Indian Foreign Service Officer, Neeta Bhushan is a woman of steel. Currently she is the Consul General of India at Chicago. Her legacy as CG will be that corruption shall not revisit Chicago’s Indian Consulate, and it shall forever remain a “guardian” to the NRIs.

“Consulate is your guardian,” she had announced to the community the very 1st day on her arrival to this Chicago posting. Now 3-years later, one sees a transformed Consulate. Its doors stay open to public. From all over, the NRIs look up to it for support, guidance and advice. Organizations seek “legitimacy.” Destitute women seek solace. This unique achievement is truly a feather in her cap; it’s something that her predecessor miserably failed at.

A great organizer, she put into effect numerous great initiatives all through. Many of these shall go into annals of history for having far reaching positive consequences for India. Transfer of ?600 crore worth of the state-of-the-art ‘Seed Development Technology’ to India’s Andhra Pradesh is one such example. The research facility is coming come up at Kulnoor. Neeta Bhushan was singularly instrumental in getting this high profile pact through. Not only it included the transfer of seed genetics, but the techniques at ‘genetic modification’ as well. India, now a seed-importer, will soon be exporting seeds world over, including to US, over and above its national seed demands.

NB is her initialism. NB means Neeta Bhushan. It also means ‘Neat Business.’ As if the Pied Piper of Hamlin, the economist in Neeta Bhushan drove entire Midwest commerce India-wards. The trade from the 9 US states that she commands shot up to 7036 Million US Dollars. It increases as we read. Illinois alone, where she is headquartered, contributes $2482 Million to this. Her neighbor at Chicago, the Boeing, is supplying 205 aircraft to SpiceJet in India; and another 75 to Jet Airways. Neeta Bhushan’s domain, Midwest, is America’s hub of Meat and Food Industry. It be emphatically mentioned that 53,445.78 Kilos of poultry meat and 21627 units of live poultry have been exported to India. These figures form a roaring introduction to Neeta Bhushan’s endeavors that have resulted in reduction of the trade deficit between US and India.

From the very onset, Neeta Bhushan started with a bang! Yoga Day was her very first signature event that startled the community. Organized in a huge arena, the day-long celebrations were attended by who’s-who of the Midwestern United States. These included several Congressmen, Senators, Corporate Magnets, and Religious leaders. On her behest, a Local Chicago leader reinforced the Yoga Day with a 15-minute long live interview on significant National Public Radio.

In the history of Indian Embassy, Neeta Bhushan has the singular honor of hosting the Presidential visit to Chicago. She hosted the sitting Vice President of India while ensuring full-fledged protocol and impregnable security bubbles. The arrangements involved a series of impossibles that don’t event meet an ordinary eye. It needs an emphatic mention that Neeta Bhushan’s behind-the-scene set-ups contributed big time towards the flawless conduct of the first ever World Hindu Congress that was held in Chicago. Delegations from over 18 countries had sent participated that included a dozen of International leaders; one a ‘Head of a State.’

On Commerce front, the India Business Conference that Neeta Bhushan organized has been a trendsetter for the local leadership-aspirants. Its roaring success with over 450 businessmen in attendance was a road-map for reluctant business organizations to do things the right-way. In a span of few hours, Consul General Neeta Bhushan delivered an introduction to almost all Indian states and their industries, and also have American corporate houses participate in Panel Discussion to seek their way of doing business with India.

Much to the awe of many, Neeta Bhushan has been omnipresent. That way she has been a community person. There has been no organization, whose event Neeta Bhushan has not attended. Such has been her zeal, as I would find her presiding-over over three functions a day, after attending the full day of her office. More so, none has ever been denied her audience. A regular visitor to the Universities and Academic Institutions, Neeta Bhushan has handled the academia with a astute diplomatic skills.

Neeta Bhushan is an eagle-eyed officer. She knows the community threadbare. She wont delegate the accountability to the experience-lacking untrustworthy. But same time she wont annoy them. She knows how to message whose ego, and when. She could maintain a delicate balance amongst the perpetually warring factions of the community. Her this officer-attribute has resulted in Neeta Bhushan being center of attraction all over the Midwest. She has been the favorite of the elderly and the students alike.

Memory be the measure, Neeta Bhushan has been the most photographed amongst the Consul Generals. Her friendly persona has helped her make deep inroads into region’s Politco-Bureaucratic circles. No wonder she could set a new trend by hosting India’s national functions at Chicago’s venues be it Millennium Park or Harris Theatre pro bono.

But her affable persona shrouds an iron-lady. Neeta Bhushan carries an iron hand with a velvet glove on it. Rather than looking the other side, she would catch the bull by the horns and pin it down. One can define her as a “No Non-sense Officer.” And rightly so! After all she hails from a family of legendary bureaucrats. That way she inherited Administration skills as a ‘Sense of Fact’ from her IAS father. When the need arose, she put these to use as her second nature. Neeta Bhushan was quick to catch the chronic corrupt practices from within the Consulate, pinpoint the responsibility, and execute remedial measures. Such was the wrath of her actions, that the offenders tended to take refuge in the lap to local disparaging rowdies. The Result: Consulate rid of malpractices; and Neeta Bhushan victorious in her stance.

With over 25 years experience in her haversack, Neeta Bhushan is a diplometese personified. Pauses and silences are part of her vocabulary. She masters non-answers, and answers alike. She wont answer when its not needed to. But when she does, her responses are extensive, elaborate and accurate.

She is a prolific speaker. In her speeches she supports her arguments with extensive statistics and data. Neeta Bhushan has been the most sought after in the region as a Key Note Speaker. Recently, she was the keynote speaker at the prestigious Allen Lerner Lecture Series at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Besides, she has also addressed Booth School of Business at University of Chicago; University of South Dakota; and the Purdue University. Alongside US Senator Dick Durbin, US Senator Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and several Congressmen, Neeta Bhushan had the honor of breaking ground for Chicago-located Fermi Lab’s new accelerator project (See the top banner photo). This PIP-II Particle Accelerator project comprises construction of a 4-story Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment a mile below the earth’s surface with significant components manufactured and contributed by India. This tech know-how will assist India in its domestic accelerator program especially Indian Spallation Neutron Source Initiative.

All said and done: ‘Sagacious’ is her one word definition. Sagacious she is, didactic not. What could be a her teaching, I pondered! ‘Carry the ordinary along, but don’t settle for the ordinary,’ I deduced.

Pope Francis blames Europe, US weapons for children killed in wars

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

Pope Francis blamed Europe and the United States for the deaths of children in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, saying Saturday that wealthy Western countries fuel conflicts by selling weapons in war zones.

Speaking to students and teachers of Milan’s San Carlo Institute, Francis said the reason there are so many wars around the world is “the rich Europe and America sell weapons … used to kill children and kill people.”

Without such firepower, the pope added, there wouldn’t have been war in countries such as Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria. .

“A country that produces and sells weapons has on its conscience the death of every child and the destruction of each family,” Francis said.

Talking about the need for countries to welcome and integrate migrants, the pope refuted the crime concerns governments cite to keep out asylum-seekers.

Foreigners aren’t the source of most crime in Italy because “we also have lots of them,” Francis said.

“The Mafia has not been invented by Nigerians. Mafia is ours,” he said. “All of us have the possibility of being criminal. Migrants bring us wealth because Europe has been made by migrants.”

Pope Francis arrives in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican for a audience with students and teachers of the San Carlo Institute of Milan, Saturday, April 6, 2019.

IAPC Confers Life Time Achievement Award on Kanchana Poola IAPC receives full-throated support of Indian community at Induction Ceremony

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, India, Profiles 0

Kanchana Poola, a community leader and philanthropist, best described as the unassuming power-house of the Indian community, was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Induction Ceremony of the Indo-American Press Club (IAPC) on March 31st here on Long Island at the at the popular Antun’s by Minar in Hicksville, NY.

Kanchana Poola served as the President of New York Tamil Sangam (NYTS) for several years and currently serves as an advisor of the decades old Sangam. She is a Life member of FeTNA and has been associated with American Tamil Entrepreneurs Association. Kanchana and Jagadeesan Poola have contributed 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.

Others who were honored at the colorful ceremony included:

* Dr. Neeta Jain, Democratic Party and Civic Community leader

* Mr. Devadasan Nair, Consul Community Affairs, Indian Consulate, New York

* Mr. Ashok Vyas, Program Director of ITV Gold

* Mr. Ven Parameswaran, Senior Columnist, Writer & Critic

* Mr. Varkey Abraham, Business Entrepreneur

* Guruji Dr. Dileepkumar Thankappan, Renowned Yogacharya

* BCB Bank – Manager Roopam Maini

* Mr. Mohan Nannapaneni, Co-Founder of non-profit organization TEAM Aid.

* Sujeet Rajan, Executive Editor, Desi Talk and News India Times

IAPC, which was founded by a group of Kerala origin group of media persons, felt overwhelmed by the presence of crème de la creme from other communities as well–Tamil, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Telugu, Punjabi…. you name it. The official business of induction ceremonies was interspersed with presenting plaques to the evening’s honorees, speeches by the Guests of Honor and entertainment.

“The ceremony was a sure sign of the strong support from the Indian community,” said Ginsmon Zachariah, Founder Chairman of IAPC. “The presence of IAPC leaders, past and present, leaders of various community organizations as well as many accomplished people in their fields, not to speak of the media professionals, were in attendance, was indeed encouraging for the member sof IAPC to move forward with courage and pride.”

Indeed, IAPC already has 12 chapters and has become the fast growing syndicate of print and electronic media professionals of Indian origin working in USA, Canada and Europe. It is committed to enhance the working conditions of journalists, offering educational and training opportunities to its members. It has hosted 5 International Media Conferences in USA, with topnotch media professionals coming from as far as India and Australia.

The incoming General Secretary Mathewkutty Easow in his welcome speech said: “Like any other successful organization, IAPC is forging ahead with 7 “P’s” – Purpose, Pathway, Passion, Perseverance, Positivity, Patience and Principles to become a source of pride to its members and envy to other organizations.”

Kamlesh Mehta, IAPC Board Member and Publisher of The South Asian Times, called IAPC a strong platform for Indian ethnic journalists who are not well paid and do not enjoy benefits like a pension plan. He asserted that IAPC is working toward providing some security to them with support from the community.

Neeta Jain, Democratic District Leader of NY’s 25^th assembly district (Part B) and Civic Community Leader, in her acceptance speech said that the media’s role is important because “your pen and words can make a big change in the world.”

Devadasan Nair, Consul – Community Affairs with the Indian Consulate in New York gave this advice to IAPC in his speech: “Media shall always bring the truthful and right news to the public. IAPC should attract and include media persons hailing from all regions of India and it shall grow to be an internationally renowned organization.”

From the Guests of honor, Dr. Toshiya Hoshino, Japan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, in his address highlighted the strong ties between Japan and the US and Japan being a partner country of India. Deepak Misra, Minister, Permanent Mission of India to the UN, graciously attended the entire proceeding of the evening.

Congressman Tom Suozzi and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino sent messages of good wishes to IAPC. Kevin Thomas, New York State Senator, was held up with the state budget work.

As for the prominent attendees, here are just a few names: Bobby Kumar, Bhuvana Rao, Dr. Raj Bhayani, Jagdish Sewhani, Nagendra Gupta, Shaker Nelanuthala, Sunil Hali, Sharanjit Singh, Dr Raj Uppal, Lalit Aery, Arvind Vora, Rajesh Shah, Sunil Modi, Rizwan Qureshi, Dr. Thomas Mathew, Thomas Koovalloor, Sibi David, Gunjan Rastogi, Beena Kothari, Bina Sabapathi, Nilima Madan, Pinki Jaggi, Dilip Chauhan, Ravi Bhooplapur, Andy Bhatia, Shiv Dass, Arjen Bathija, Dave Sharma, Indu Gajwani, Rashmi Sinha, Roopam Maini, Davendra Vora, Anand Ahuja, Dr M.N. Krishnan & Sashikala, Dr Bala Swaminathan, Dr & Mrs Kasinathan, Gobind Munjal, and Dr Syed Yousuf.

Dr. Parikh complimented IAPC for its six-year journey during which it has moved “from strength to strength,” and thanked the organization for honoring two people from his organization. He complimented IAPC for going from strength to strength over 6 years.

Air India’s Regional Manager – Americas Bhuvana Rao told ITV Gold in an interview at the event that the Indian media plays a constructive role as it contributes to bringing the Indian community together as well as India and US closer as partners.

A coffee table book titled ‘Global Religions’ compiling seven issues of the interfaith journal, One World Under God, was released at the event. It is published by Global Interfaith Foundation, which was started last year by Darshan Singh Bagga, a real estate developer, and is edited by Parveen Chopra, the Managing Editor of The South Asian times.

Scintillating entertainment was provided by a group displaying Chenda Melam drum art of Kerala, and Soormay bhangra group. Dance performance was given by Sowparnika Dance Academy headed by Ms. Malini Nair.

Vineetha Nair, Director IAPC Board, kicked off the meeting and handed the mike to young emcees Jinu Ann Mathew and Andrew G Zacharia. The vote of thanks was given by Biju Chacko, National Secretary. IAPC Chairman Babu Stephen Could not attend because of family emergency.

Trump Retreats on Health Care After McConnell Warns It Won’t Happen

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Health, Politics 0

President Trump backed off plans to introduce a Republican replacement for the Affordable Care Act after Senator Mitch McConnell privately warned him that the Senate would not revisit health care in a comprehensive way before the November 2020 elections.

Reversing himself in the face of Republican consternation, Mr. Trump said his party would not produce a health care plan of its own, as he had promised, until after the elections, meaning he will only try to fulfill his first-term promise to repeal and replace his predecessor’s signature program if he wins a second term.

The president’s abrupt about-face, announced on Twitter on Monday night after talking with Mr. McConnell, all but ensured that health care will take a central place in next year’s campaign, elevating an issue Democrats consider one of their strengths. But it may take the legislative heat off Republicans exasperated by Mr. Trump’s unexpected push to devise a wholesale replacement for President Barack Obama’s health law in the coming months.

“I made it clear to him that we were not going to be doing that in the Senate,” Mr. McConnell, the majority leader from Kentucky, said on Tuesday. “He did say, as he later tweeted, that he accepted that and that he would be developing a plan that he would take to the American people during the 2020 campaign.”

The latest scuffle over health care shows a sea change in the Republican stance heading into 2020.

The president’s last attempt to replace Mr. Obama’s health care program blew up in 2017 when his party controlled both houses of Congress. Democrats seized the House in last year’s midterm elections in part on a promise to defend the most popular parts of the Affordable Care Act, so when Mr. Trump revived the issue last week, it distressed Republicans who consider it a political liability.

Mr. Trump had surprised allies by ordering his administration to ask a federal court to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act and then promised a Republican replacement. Democrats, consumer groups, doctors, hospitals and insurance companies have said that 20 million people could lose health coverage if courts accept the administration’s argument.

Mr. McConnell said he spoke with Mr. Trump on Monday afternoon to explain that the Senate would not return to the issue in a broad way before the next election. “I pointed out to him the Senate Republicans’ view on dealing with comprehensive health care reform with a Democratic House of Representatives,” Mr. McConnell said.

But if that warning was meant to quiet the president, it did not work. Hours later, Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter, “The Republicans are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than Obama Care.”

Elections in India crucial for safeguarding India’s Democracy& pluralism

April 9, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

As India heads to the polls in April/May 2019 a wide cross-section of Indians gathered on Saturday, April 6, 2019 at the Indian Consulate in New York City (NYC) to stand in solidarity with people fighting to defend the Constitution, democracy and human rights in India. The NYC “Defense of Democracy” rally brings together the rich diversity of the Indian diaspora in the United States – scientists and engineers, service workers and computer professionals, artists and doctors, Hindus, Sikhs, Dalits and Muslims, policymakers, activist, left and liberal intellectuals and community leaders.

Some 900 million people can cast their ballot is, predictably, a source of anxiety and excitement on all sides of the political spectrum, and on this side of the globe. Traveling in a car en route to his next meeting with voters in India, Sam Pitroda, Chicago-based telecommunications entrepreneur and former advisor to India’s Prime Minister, shares his concerns about the heated election environment. Chicago based telecommunications entrepreneur and former cabinet minister and advisor to Indian Prime Ministers, was at an event celebrating the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Those belonging to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and their supporters in the U.S., are enamored of Prime Minister Modi. Those in other parties, including the largest, Congress Party, complain of the loss of secular values and rise of Hindu chauvinism. Others are sprinkled in between, joining either side or exercising their independence.

Hundreds of Indian residents in the U.S., and a sizable number of Indian Americans have left or are planning to leave in the next few days and weeks, to participate in campaigns of parties they support, and even vote if eligible.

From the Overseas Friends of BJP to the Indian Overseas Congress and regional parties with U.S. chapters, like Telangana Rashtriya Samithi, or the Samajwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh, or former U.P. Chief Minister Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, and Shiromani Akali Dal, Telugu Desam, members and supporters living abroad, are engaging the Indian electorate, whether by participating in phone banks from New Jersey to California, or by being physically present in India.

“In the last three days alone we have been holding more than 16 ‘Chai Pe Charchas’ and ‘Chowkidar’ marches around the United States,” Krishna Reddy Anugula, president of the Overseas Friends of BJP, told the media. He also pointed to the organization Sikhs of America, which held a car rally in support of Modi in Maryland on March 31. Members of Sikhs of America had not returned calls by press time.

Commenting on the lynchings and targeted attacks on Muslims and Dalits that have increased exponentially since the coming to power of Narendra Modi in 2014, Sarah Anderson-Rajarigam of Dalit Solidarity Forum, one of the co-sponsors of the rally said, “Dalit Solidarity Forum deplores the heavy targeting of Dalits and other marginalized communities. We unite our voices with Dalits and other minorities in their fight for freedom and support them in their efforts to uphold the constitution.” 97% of all the lynching incidents since 2010 by so-called ‘cow-protection’ mobs have taken place between 2014 and 2018 since the BJP came to power.

The organizers of the rally said, the BJP government has also been responsible for systematic erosion and weakening of democratic values and institutions. It has been attacking and weakening constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission, Supreme Court, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI). BJP ministers as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief have given statements indicating that they would like to change the constitution to implement their fundamentalist agenda. The CBI and Income Tax department have also been used to intimidate media organizations critical of the BJP government.

Sunita Viswanath of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, said, “We are Americans of Hindu faith, many of us Indian, who stand opposed to the ideology of Hindutva and the atrocities against minorities and dissenters being committed in the name of Hinduism. We stand with all the people of India who are calling for an end to this regime that threatens democracy, disregards the dignity and safety of minorities, and has declared war on the poor.”

The BJP has significantly increased corruption and corporate plunder. To distract people from its record of failed governance, the BJP has increased war mongering and is busy dividing the people along communal lines. When Muslims, Dalits, and the Left have resisted or spoken up against the injustice, they have either been imprisoned using draconian laws such as Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Adivasi (indigenous) people and landless laborers, who have been fighting for land and forest rights, have been arrested and harassed. Workers, who have been struggling against the government’s increased privatization and casualization of work, have been fired or put in prison. With the emboldening of patriarchal forces, in many instances, the attacks on women’s rights and safety have been led by BJP ministers and leaders.

Mohammad Jawad, National General Secretary of Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), speaking on why IAMC has joined the rally said, “The people of India will eventually recognize the divisiveness and hate the current BJP/RSS government is spreading and will unite to preserve our constitution and defeat this government.”

The Defense of Democracy rally called for:

Ensure Free and Fair Elections! Election Commission must guarantee election freeof violence, intimidation, and rigging
Stop the witch-hunt! Release all UAPA arrestees and drop allcharges
Stop the lynching of Dalits and Muslims! Arrest and Prosecute theperpetrators
Stop culture of fear! End the attacks and intimidation of activists, artists,workers, women

Dr. Jacob Eapen Honored By His Alma Mater, Trivandrum Medical College Committed to Serving Humanity and to Help People Live Healthier

April 1, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Health 0

Dr. Eapen completed his Medical Degree from Trivandrum Medical College in India in 1976 and Pediatric training at Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India.

In 2007, he was bestowed with the Mother Theresa award – Humanitarian of the year, by the Friends of the South Asian American Communities (FOSAAC).

The awards, honors and recognitions, take Eapen back to experiences that may fuel his charitable view on life: the five years he spent in sub-Saharan Africa as a teacher and physician. Eapen recalled some days in Africa where he would arrive at the medical clinic at 8 a.m. to find 150 people already waiting in line for medical help, including some who had walked for hours. Dr. Eapen says, “You experience that and you value life more. You realize that life is so fragile.”

This brilliant and compassionate physician literally hides a world of expertise behind his unassuming manner. Mrs. Annamma Eapen, his 95-years-old mother, lives in Trivandrum. Dr. Eapen is married to Shirley Jacob, who works for Amgen, a biotech company. They have two grown children, Dr. Naveen and Dr. Sandhya. Dr. Naveen is married to Dr. Stephnie, and the couple are blessed with a 3 months old son, Issac. Dr. Sandhya is married to Dr. Ryan. To quote Dr. Jacob Eapen: “The world needs to advance in compassion.”

After Barr Letter, Overwhelming Majority Wants Full Mueller Report Released

April 1, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Days after US Attorney General William Barr released his four-page summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation report, overwhelming majorities of Americans want the full report made public and believe Barr and Mueller should testify before Congress, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

Only about a third of Americans believe, from what they’ve seen or heard about the Mueller investigation so far, that President Trump is clear of any wrongdoing. But they are split on how far Democrats should go in investigating him going forward.

“People clearly want to see more about the report,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the poll. “They want it released publicly, are eager to see the principals — Mueller and Barr — testify, because they want to see how the sausage was made. They want to see how we got to this point.”

At the same time, 56 percent said Mueller conducted a fair investigation, and 51 percent said they were satisfied with it. That included 52 percent of independents who said they were satisfied with the investigation. It’s one of the rare questions in the first two years of the Trump presidency in which a majority of independents sided with Republicans instead of Democrats on a subject.

The other prominent area where independents have sided with Republicans is on impeachment. An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll last year found that pushing impeachment would not be a winning issue for Democrats.

The summary “could be somewhat of a blessing in disguise for Democrats,” Miringoff said, “because there’s no massive pressure saying, ‘Look at this report, look at this summary — we have to move forward with impeachment.’ “

Overall, three-quarters said the full Mueller report should be made public. That included a majority of Republicans (54 percent). Just 18 percent overall said Barr’s summary is enough. Two-thirds (66 percent) also said they want Mueller to testify before Congress, and 64 percent said the same for Barr.

Almost six in 10 (56 percent) said that questions still exist, with just 36 percent saying Trump is clear of any wrongdoing. That latter figure is close to where Trump’s approval rating has been throughout his presidency.

In this poll, Trump’s approval rating is 42 percent. That’s up slightly (but within the margin of error) from January, when it was 39 percent and unchanged from December.

But that doesn’t mean the public wants Democrats to go far down the collusion or obstruction-of-justice rabbit hole of investigations.

On the issue of obstruction, the Mueller report, as summarized by the Barr letter, noted that Mueller did not come to a conclusion on whether charges should be brought against the president. But Mueller said his report did not “exonerate” the president either. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided against charging the president.

The country was split 48 to 46 percent on whether Barr’s decision not to charge the president should stand or if Congress should continue to investigate obstruction of justice by the president.

What’s more, the country was similarly split, 48 to 45 percent, on whether Democrats should hold hearings to further investigate the Mueller report or end their investigations.

“I think they’re on safe footing to want the full report released” and to bring in Barr and Mueller, Miringoff said, adding, “But don’t start saying there’s still collusion, don’t go for obstruction of justice, because then they’re barking up the wrong tree.”

Mueller enjoys an overall positive rating among Americans, with 38 percent favorable, 25 percent unfavorable and roughly a third (37 percent) unsure or never heard of him. That’s a big change from December, when Mueller was viewed more negatively (33 percent) than positively (29 percent).

Overall, views of Trump are generally where they have been. In addition to the consistency of his approval rating, about the same percentage of people compared to last July think he did something either illegal or unethical in his dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin — 57 percent now compared to 53 percent then.

What’s more, 54 percent of registered voters said they are definitely voting against him in 2020. That is about where it was in January, when 57 percent of registered said so. And, remember, in the 2016 election, 54 percent of people voted for someone other than Trump.

Of Trump’s standing and the political climate, Miringoff put it this way: “Despite the two years of attention, focused on Russia and the convictions and all that, it pretty much is exactly where it was.”

(Courtesy: NPR)

12 Credit Hours of CME Offered to Participants At AAPI’s 37th Annual convention in Atlanta

April 1, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity 0

(Atlanta, Georgia: March 29, 2019) The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) that represents more than 100,000 Indian American Physicians, reflects the range of physician specialties seen in the physician community at large with 61% in Primary Care, 33% in Medical sub-specialties and 6% in surgical sub-specialties. Medical specialty representation includes pediatrics, psychiatry, anesthesiology/pain management, cardiology, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, oncology, gastroenterology pathology, endocrinology, nephrology, rheumatology along with many other fields.

Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI, says, “The 37th Annual AAPI Convention & Scientific Assembly to be held from July 3rd to July 7th, 2019 at the fabulous and world famous Omni Atlanta at CNN Center and Georgia World Congress Center, will afford an intimate setting that will facilitate our ability to convoy cutting-edge research and CME, promote business relationships, and display ethnic items. Atlanta is one of the world’s favorite destinations for families and conventions and so we are expecting a record crowd to attend this convention.”

It’s a well-known fact that physicians of Indian origin excel in their respective areas of work and continue to play key roles in patient care, administration, academics and medical research. In order to cater to its diversity of medical specialties, AAPI continues to use a multi-disciplinary conference format. “The essence of AAPI is educational,” Dr. Naresh Parikh, president of AAPI, while describing the purpose of CME said.

According to Dr. Parikh, “That translates into numerous Continuing Medical Education and non-CME seminars by experts in their fields. CME will provide 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. At the end of the activity, it is expected that attendees will gain an understanding of the causation, diagnosis and the best clinical practices for the management of the diverse group of diseases discussed during this program.”

12 Credit Hours of CME Offered to Participants At AAPI’s 37th Annual convention in Atlanta

The annual convention this year is being organized by AAPI’s Atlanta Chapter, headed by Dr. Sreeni Gangasani. “The convention team is working incredibly hard to provide a delightful 4 days of events packed with educational CME credits, world-class entertainment, leadership seminars, networking opportunities, exhibits, and more,” Dr. Gangasani added. “This meeting offers a rich educational program featuring the latest scientific research and advances in clinical practice. In addition, physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country will convene to develop health policy agendas and encourage legislative priorities for the upcoming year.”

“Many of the physicians who will attend this convention have excelled in different specialties and subspecialties and occupy high positions as faculty members of medical schools, heads of departments, and executives of hospital staff. The AAPI Convention offers an opportunity to meet directly with these physicians who are leaders in their fields and play an integral part in the decision-making process regarding new products and services,” Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect of AAPI, added.

The 37th annual AAPI Convention, while providing physicians of Indian origin an opportunity to come together in an atmosphere of collegiality, it will enable them to retrace and appreciate their common roots, culture and the bond that unites them as members of this large professional community. Giving them a platform to celebrate their accomplishments, the annual convention to be attended by nearly 2,000 physicians of Indian origin, it will also provide a forum to renew their professional commitment through continuing medical educations activities.

“The 2019 AAPI Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly offers an exciting venue to interact with leading physicians, health professionals, academicians, and scientists of Indian origin,” says Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Vice President of AAPI. “Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year.”

The AAPI convention will offer 8-12 hours of CME credits. Scientific presentations, exhibits, and product theater presentations will highlight the newest advances in patient care, medical technology, and practice management issues across multiple medical specialties. The multidisciplinary CME conference during the convention allows specialists and primary care physicians to interact in an academic forum. World-renowned speakers will discuss gaps between current and best practice of wide-ranging topics of CME sessions, says Hemant Yagnick, MD, Academic Chair for the Convention.

Dr. Manoj Shah, Convention Treasurer says, Guests will be treated to true Southern hospitality in one of the country’s fastest growing cities—bustling with restaurants, night life, shopping and more. We look forward to welcoming you and your family and thank you for your support in making this convention a great success.”

AAPI organization is a dynamic body, spearheading legislative agendas and influencing the advancement of medical care not only in the US, but internationally. AAPI’s impact is seen in areas such as advocating for the increasing physician work force, participating in national health initiatives such as obesity prevention, and investing in global health education. Whether practicing in medically underserved areas such as inner cities and rural communities or participating in cutting edge research & academics, Indian physicians form an impressive group.

Almost 10%-12% of medical students entering US schools are of Indian origin. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, AAPI represents the interests of over nearly 100,000 physicians, medical students and residents of Indian heritage in the United States. It is the largest ethnic medical organization in the nation.

“The 2019 AAPI Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly offers an exciting venue to interact with leading physicians, health professionals, academicians, and scientists of Indian origin. Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year. We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta, GA!” says Dr. Naresh Parekh. For more details and registration for the convention, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org and www.aapiusa.org

U.K. Rejects Brexit Deal for 3rd Time, Leaving the Plan for Exiting the E.U. in Tatters

April 1, 2019 Staff ReporterFinance/Economy, Politics 0

U.K. lawmakers on Friday rejected the government’s divorce agreement with the European Union for a third time, leaving Britain just two weeks to decide between a long delay to Brexit and an abrupt no-deal departure from the bloc.

The House of Commons voted 286-344 against the withdrawal agreement struck between Prime Minister Theresa May and the EU, rebuffing her plea to “put aside self and party” and “accept the responsibility given to us by the British people” to deliver Brexit.

Amid business warnings that a no-deal Brexit could mean crippling tariffs, border gridlock and shortages of goods, a visibly frustrated May said the vote had “grave” implications. “The legal default now is that the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on 12 April — in just 14 days’ time,” she said. “This is not enough time to agree, legislate for and ratify a deal, and yet the House has been clear it will not permit leaving without a deal. And so we will have to agree an alternative way forward.”

Had the deal been passed, Britain would have left the EU on May 22. The EU said the rejection of the divorce terms made a no-deal Brexit “a likely scenario” and called an emergency summit for April 10 to decide what to do next.

An EU Commission official said the 27 remaining EU nations were “fully prepared for a no-deal scenario at midnight 12th of April” — Britain’s deadline to chart a new course. Almost three years after Britain voted in June 2016 to leave the EU, and two years after it set its departure date for March 29, 2019, British politicians remain deadlocked over Brexit. Like the country as a whole, they are split between those who want a clean break, those who want to retain close ties with the bloc, and those who want to overturn the decision to leave.

Last week, to prevent Britain from crashing out, granted an extension to May 22 had the divorce deal been approved by Friday — or to April 12 if rejected.

The 58-vote margin of defeat for the deal Friday was narrower than in previous votes in January and March, but it still leaves the government’s blueprint for exiting the bloc in tatters.

May’s deal was voted down even after the prime minister sacrificed her job in exchange for Brexit, promising to quit if lawmakers approved the agreement and let Britain leave the EU on schedule. With the deal’s rejection, she will face pressure to step aside and let a new Conservative leader take over negotiations with the EU.

The government had also warned pro-Brexit politicians that rejecting May’s deal could see Brexit delayed indefinitely.

May’s arguments moved some previously resistant Brexit-backers to support the deal. Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson — a likely contender to replace May as Conservative Party leader — tweeted that rejecting it risked “being forced to accept an even worse version of Brexit or losing Brexit altogether.”

But the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, with 10 seats in the House of Commons, refused to back the agreement because it treats Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the U.K.

Parliament voted on the legally binding, 585-page withdrawal agreement that May struck with the EU late last year, setting out the terms of Britain’s departure — but not on a shorter declaration on future ties that was also part of the accord between the two sides.

Congress Party in India Pledges Income for 50 Million Families

April 1, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics 0

India’s Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi has pledged to create “the world’s largest minimum income scheme” if his party wins election. The aspiring Prime Ministerial candidate from the “First Family” of India, that ruled nearly 50 years of India’s 72 years long Independence history since 1977, Rahul Gandhi said, the Congress Party would guarantee an income for 50 million of India’s poorest families.

Describing it as a “fiscally prudent” scheme that would “eliminate poverty”, Rahul Gandhi said, that the poorest 20% of Indian households would receive 72,000 rupees ($1050) yearly as part of the scheme, which is called Nyay (Justice).

But the governing BJP said India’s poor was receiving more support under existing schemes. “If you are sure about your defeat, you can promise [the] moon,” party general secretary Ram Madhav tweeted.

Congress had revealed a minimum income policy would be part of its election manifesto in January, but had not released details until last week. Gandhi said, 50 million families – or 250 million people – would directly benefit. “The final assault on poverty has begun. We will wipe out poverty from the country,” he said, adding that Congress had been advised by “many economists”. The scheme could cost up to $52bn.

French economist Thomas Piketty, noted for his work on income inequality, had been rumored to be advising Congress on the scheme. But he told the BBC he had “not been directly involved in the design of this proposal”.

“But I certainly support all efforts to reduce income inequality in India, and especially to move away the political debate from caste-based political to class-based redistribution of income and wealth.”

There has been much discussion in recent years over whether India can introduce a Universal Basic Income (UBI) – a regular cash payment from the state for all or most citizens without any conditions.

In 2017, the Indian government’s economic survey suggested that a scheme benefitting 75% of the population could significantly reduce poverty. Such schemes have been trialed at small-scale all over the world, including in Finland, Kenya and the Netherlands.

The Congress policy, while not a UBI, is seen as a limited version of such a scheme.

The announcement is seen as a bid to fire up voters who will head to the polls in April and May, but economists have warned the policy will be hard to implement in a country as vast as India.

It remains unclear what data would be used to determine eligibility for the Nyay scheme. There have been various estimates on the exact number of poor in India, and the counts have been mired in controversy.

Gandhi did not specify how the scheme would be funded.

Finding the money to support tens of millions of families would require scrapping existing government subsidies on food and fertilisers, and removing certain tax incentives, economic commentator Vivek Kaul told the BBC.

However such measures would be unpopular with wide swathes of the population.

It has been estimated that a true UBI could cost India some 5% of its yearly gross domestic product. “This is a watered-down version and it’s good that it’s a watered-down version,” Mr Kaul said. “At some level, you need to start small and see how you are going to finance it, and then see if you want to grow a little bigger.”

Some economists have voiced criticism of basic income schemes, saying they reduce the incentive to work.

India already has more than 900 federally-funded welfare schemes, including cheap food, fertiliser subsidies, a rural jobs guarantee and student scholarships.

But Congress has insisted its plan is workable. “A lot of thinking and working has gone into the income scheme,” Praveen Chakravarty, head of the data analytics department of the Congress party, told the BBC in January. “It is fiscally doable without drastic reduction of existing welfare schemes.”

Bob Mueller Wraps Up Investigation, Submits Report To Barr

March 24, 2019 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S. 0

Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III turned in the much anticipated final report of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election on Friday, March 22^nd to Attorney General William P. Barr, who will decide how much to tell Congress or the public now.

Mueller, nearly two years after he was appointed to look into possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, delivered a full report of his findings and recommendations to the attorney general, as required by Justice Department regulations.

Under Justice Department regulations, Barr can decide that public interest demands full disclosure, or he can hew to rules that protect privacy for people who are investigated and not charged. Although Barr has the authority, President Trump, his lawyers and congressional Democrats will also join the fight over transparency or privacy.

There’s pressure from Trump’s presidential rivals and from Congress— the House recently voted unanimously for its release. The president himself has said he favors putting it out. And there’s a long history of government documents, from the Pentagon Papers to the Iran/Contra report and the Starr report, making their way into the public domain through authorized release, congressional dump and just plain old leaking.

President Trump’s near-daily campaign to mock and discredit Robert Mueller’s “witch hunt” has lasted longer than his campaign for the White House. The NY Times writes, “His shameful, conspiratorial attacks on the “deep state,” and on the integrity of those who have devoted their lives to upholding the rule of law, have damaged the institutions of federal law enforcement and may have gotten him in even deeper trouble.”

While there has been calls from across the spectrum to have the entire report released, Trump also joined a remarkably bipartisan House of Representatives, along with a vast majority of the American public, in calling for the release of Mueller’s report. “Let people see it,” he said on Wednesday. “There was no collusion. There was no obstruction. There was no nothing.”

For the past two years, Trump has kept repeating his mantra of “no collusion” because it’s true. But even if Mueller has found in the end that Trump did not knowingly conspire with Russia — and it is profoundly to be hoped that the report settles that question, one way or the other — that doesn’t mean this inquiry has been a witch hunt.

The fact remains that throughout the 2016 campaign and transition cycle, Trump and many of his top officials and advisers reportedly had more than 100 contacts with Russian nationals and WikiLeaks, or their intermediaries. These contacts were apparently so unmemorable that many Trump advisers forgot all about them, even when asked under oath.

Mueller has already demonstrated the first way to publicize his findings: by filing charges in federal court. The indictments and pleas have laid out details of what Mueller found involving Russian activity, lies about contacts with Russians and more. The work has led to criminal charges against 34 people, including six former Trump associates and advisers. Mueller’s work has also spawned cases that are being pursued in other jurisdictions.

Several of Trump’s inner circle policy advisors and leaders of his campaign and administration have been charged on multiple counts and are serving or on way to jail sentences. Michael Flynn, the president’s first national security adviser; Rick Gates, the deputy campaign chairman; George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser on the campaign; and Michael Cohen, the president’s longtime personal lawyer and fixer, are only some of those charged. Paul Manafort is also accused of lying repeatedly to investigators, but that’s the least of his problems.

Trump’s ties to Russia have been intensely scrutinized. The public and the investigators are aware Trump’s shifting positions in four areas: His relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his stance on Russian election interference, his knowledge about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting and his business interests in Russia.

“Without an indictment against him, Trump is going to hammer home the waste of time, taxpayer money and resources to prove that he was right all along and that he did nothing wrong,” said Ron Bonjean, a veteran Republican strategist who helped shepherd Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch through the Senate confirmation process.

But without seeing the report, it’s hard to know at this time whether the decision not to prosecute amounts to a vindication for Trump, said former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance.

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for example. They, along with Manafort, met on June 9, 2016 at Trump Tower with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya and several other Russians. The meeting occurred after Trump Jr. was promised it would yield dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. That meeting was a focal point of Mueller’s investigation, but the fact that no one has faced charges for it, would it suggest, Mueller’s team didn’t think it amounted to a crime?

“If Mueller declined to prosecute because there was insufficient evidence, that’s hardly exoneration,” she said. “And if he didn’t indict Trump only because of the (Justice Department) policy against indicting a sitting president, that’s as far from a clean bill of health as you can get.”

Justice Department policy also holds that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Evidence about Trump could be included in the confidential report to the attorney general but may not be made public.

No matter what Mr. Mueller’s efforts have turned up, the fact that he is now presenting his findings free of presidential interference is a bit of good news for the rule of law in America. Now all Americans deserve the chance to review those findings and reach their own conclusions.

Miss Universe Sushmita Sen honors Shree Saini

March 24, 2019 Ajay GhoshEntertainment, Fashion 0

Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen honored Miss India Worldwide Shree Saini, an Indian-American, with the “Woman Hero” award at the South Asian Women Empowerment Gala held in New York on March 19. Sen, a Bollywood star, was the chief guest at the program. When she called Saini to the stage to present the award, the audience rose to its feet in applause, according to a press release.

Saini announced at the gathering that she was off to Johannesburg for the Miss India Gauteng Pageant. “Pageantry improves the lives and confidence of women throughout the world,” she is quoted saying.

Both Sen and Saini were honored with citation by the 18th District Nassau County Legislator Joshua A. Lafazan. According to the press release, the citation presented to Shree Saini read, “In recognition of your service to the community, neighbours and families; And in recognition of your leadership and dedication to enriching the lives of others, I, Joshua A. Lafazan, Nassau County Legislator recognise (sic), honour and congratulate Shree Saini.”

In 1994, Sen became the youngest woman to be selected Femina Miss India Universe at that time. A few days later she was crowned the 43rd Miss Universe at the age of 18, the first Indian to win that title. Other distinguished women who were honored at the March 19 event included Urmil “Tracy” Marshal, Sangeeta Mudnal and Dr. Uzma Syed, according to the press release.

Indian-American Shree Saini was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2018 at a glittering pageant held at the Royal Alberts Palace, in Fords, New Jersey on Friday, December 14, 2018. Shree, 22, who was told by the doctors that she can never dance after being installed with a pacemaker at the age of 12, said one should never give up. “I truly believe your legacy is defined by how you make others feel and the positive difference you make in your lifetime,” said Shree, who started her non-profit organisation, when she was 15. Shree said it was her dream to compete for a world title, which was started when she was in the elementary school.

Shree Saini has been in a public profile for years. She literally can make her choice on how she wants to mould her image and pave the way for her future. Shree Saini, an undergraduate student at the University of Washington pursuing a double degree in public administration and business, wants to “lead a life of service.” When asked between the many engagements around the nation, where she finds the time to study, Shree says, “I study on the plane, while waiting for flights, as almost every weekend, there is an event I need to attend.”

Regarding her future goals and ambitions, Shree is candid about her choices. If good offers come her way, Shree is open to acting in movies, whether it be in Bollywood or Hollywood. Another effective way to showcase her talents and still more importantly, another way to champion and spread her message for a better, just and peaceful world. “Meanwhile, I want to continue working on my nonprofit and become an ambassador of emotional health by continuing to visit as many places as possible, spreading my positive message of hope,” Saini says.

Amruta Fadnavis, First Lady of Maharashtra, is Lead Singer with Bollywood Singer Sukhwinder Singh at AAPI’s 10-City Jai Ho Musical Dhamaka

March 24, 2019 Ajay GhoshEntertainment 0

Amruta Fadnavis, a trained classical singer, a social activist, a banker, and the First Lady of the state of Maharashtra, will be the lead singer along with award winning Bollywood singer Sukhwinder Singh at the Ten-City Jai Ho Musical Dhamaka this spring, performing in Ten Cities around the United States.

After mesmerizing musical lovers all across the world with his enchanting voice, Sukhwinder Singh, a top Bollywood singer, accompanied by Amruta Fadnavis, is now on yet another tour across North America.

Organized by American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the proceeds from the 10-city musical tour will support some of the noble initiatives of AAPI, says Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI. “We are requesting all AAPI members, all doctors of Indian origin, all south Asians to rally and support this amazing opportunity of the 10-city musical tour to promote awareness and raise funds for supporting the many programs to address the rapidly growing problem of cardiovascular diseases in south Asians and minorities living in the United States and Lymphoma & Leukemia in India.”

Coupled with three honorable causes addressing cardiovascular disease, lymphoma and leukemia, this is truly a worthy and honorable effort that enhances AAPI’s commitment to major health issues and its strong support to eradicate them, Dr. Parikh added.

Amruta Fadnavis, married to the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri. Devendra Fadnavis, is the youngest First Lady in the history of Maharashtra. Currently she serves as the Vice President – Transaction Banking with Axis Bank.

The beautiful and talented young artist has represented India at the National Prayer Breakfast – 2017, an International peace initiative presided over by US President Donald Trump. She has perfectly blended her life as a working woman and a socialite to nurture her interests and passions. She chose to have her own individuality rather than wrapped herself under the covers of first lady of Maharashtra and which is definitely an inspiration for many women today.

A major objective of this program is to bring together various local Chapters, says Dr. Parikh. National coordinators of the program, Drs. Narendra Kumar. Hemant Dhingra, Raj Bhayani. Amit Chkrabarty, Anjana Samadder, and Gautam Samaddar, as well as and the entire AAPI team and leadership enthusiastically received this idea and the net result of our collaboration and dialogue is the 10-city grand mega concert, he added.

With the whole hearted support and enthusiastic responses from senior leadership and several past Presidents and leaders and members of AAPI, this mega event across the nation is going to bring AAPI and its members closer, Dr. Parikh says. “I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Narendra Kumar, Dr. Sanku Rao, Dr. Vinod Shah, Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, Dr. Ajay Lodha, Dr. Jayesh Shah, and Dr. Vijay Koli, all past Presidents of AAPI for their senior advisory role in making this mega event a grand success.”

Describing the process leading to the Tour, Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect of AAPI, recalls, “Realizing that it takes a lot of coordination and tremendous effort, we were successful in involving dozens of AAPI office-bearers of various Chapters and Executive Committee members. Each of them is committed to work hard, coordinate with the local leadership, while committing to have the funds raised would be given to AAPI, the local Chapters, and the many philanthropic endeavors organized by AAPI and its Charitable Foundation.”

The spectacular musical program combined with educational and networking opportunities for AAPI members, supporters and sponsors, is being organized with the objective of bringing CME and non-CME sponsored medical lectures, exhibits, Gala Dinner, community outreach talks and lively musical nite in each of the 10 cities across the country.

The 10 city musical and educational tour will debut on Friday, May 10th in Tampa, Fl; and will be followed by Atlanta on May 11th and in Washington DC on May 12th. Sukhvinder and his team will perform in Charlotte, NC on May 17th, in New Jersey on May 18th and in Dallas, TX on May 19th. In the final weekend, the popular artists will begin the tour in Milwaukee, WI on May 24th, in Columbus, Ohio May 25th in Columbus, Ohio; in Hollywood City, Los Angeles on May 26th; and, the grand finale will be in Fresno, CA on May 27th, 2019.

“Following the past successes of multi-city musical tours organized by AAPI, I am inspired by the concept and how such events have helped in strengthening the relationship between the AAPI Chapters and national office, in addition to help raise funds for the many noble programs for AAPI and the local Chapters” says Dr. Narendra Kumar, past President of AAPI.

Dr. Hemant Dhingra, Entertainment Chair of AAPI provided a detailed description of the planned 10-City Tour by popular Bollywood star, Sukhvinder, which is a way to raise funds for AAPI and its many local Chapters. Dr. Dhingra, who has close relationship with the Entertainment Industry, worked with Sukhwinder Singh and team to put together the mega event.

Anwar Feroz Siddiqi, Chief Strategy Adviser says,, “We are now poised to take our commitment to newer heights, the 10-City Musical Tour by world renowned Bollywood artist Sukwinder accompanied by an icon of women leadership, the first lady of Maharashtra. The presence of Ms. Amruta Fadnavis is a very well-known personality, a great singer and an amazing community leader that continues to pursue her career with her spouse being in the most powerful office in Maharashtra, is a true demonstration of great leadership and commitment for AAPI and its noble causes.”

Sukhwinder Singh, an internationally recognized Bollywood playback artist, best known for singing “Chaiyya,” for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards, in association with composer A.R. Rahman has resulted in numerous hit songs. The list includes Chaiyya from Dil Se, Ramta Jogi, Ni Main Samajh Gayee, Taal Se Taal Mila and Nahin Samne from Taal, Ruth Aa Gayee Re, Raat Ki Daldal Hain and Yeh Jo Zindagi Hain from Earth, Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai from Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, Aayo Re Sakhi, Bhangari Morori and Piya Ho from Water, Chinnamma Chilakkamma from Meenaxi, Thok De Killi from Raavan and the most popular Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire.

The song “Jai Ho”, sung by Singh, composed by A.R. Rahman and written by Gulzar, was nominated as a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Song and won an Oscar Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media in 2010.

Amruta Fadnavis was born, as Amruta Ranade on April 9th, 1979 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, to Dr. Sharad Ranade, an Ophthalmologist and Dr. Charulata Ranade, a Gynaecologist. She grew up in a household where education and independence for women was essential. She initially studied at St. Joseph Convent School, Nagpur. She graduated from G.S. College of Commerce and Economics. Later she pursued MBA in finance and studied taxation laws from Symbiosis Law School, Pune. Along with studies she also participated in sports and an excellent sports person. She was a state level under 16 tennis player.

“Entertainment was only just one component of the entire program,” Dr. Parikh adds. “The idea is to put together mini seminars, networking and strengthening the relationship between members and the national office. “Due to popular demand from several physicians on the need for enhancing scientific component at AAPI meetings and allowing greater number of members to participate, AAPI is now organizing the 13-city programs to make it easy for physicians to participate locally avoiding extensive travel and time away from practice,” he explains.

“Many of our industry partners liked this concept where they could get prime time with a few hundred doctors in each location for product promotion/theater, non CME lectures, exhibits, booths,” Dr. Narendra Kumar, national coordinator of the event, says. “These multi-city mini-seminars are a novel concept for education and recreation that will raise funds for the local chapters of AAPI, the national AAPI and the AAPI Charitable Foundation.”

The Seminars, CMEs, and workshops will be led by accomplished faculty of leading Physicians, Industry Leaders, Cardiologists, Cardiovascular Surgeons and Psychiatrists. Each of the nine medical educational programs is expected to have an audience of 250-400 Physicians, which will be followed by an annual gala event and entertainment with an expected 2,500+ audience at each location.

Dr. Parikh promises to “make the musical tour both transparent and successful, and we hope it becomes an annual event. Many of our industry partners have also shown great interest in this concept, where they can receive prime time with a few hundred doctors for product promotion, theater, non-CME lectures, exhibits and booths. Because of this, we hope to have a significant number of national sponsors for this program.”

This extensive Musical/Educational Tour program put together by Dr. Parikh and his Team is a step towards reaching the message of AAPI across the globe and help AAPI realize its noble mission. “I am calling on all AAPI members, all doctors of Indian origin, all South Asians to rally and support an amazing opportunity of the 10-city musical tour to promote awareness and raise funds for supporting essential programs to address the rapidly growing problem of cardiovascular diseases in South Asians and minorities living in the United States and Lymphoma & Leukemia in India.” For more details on the Musical Tour and for sponsorship opportunities, please visit: http://www.aapiusa.org/ https://www.aapievents.com/

Preet Bharara’s “Doing Justice” Released

March 24, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

By the one-time federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, an important overview of the way our justice system works, and why the rule of law is essential to our society. Using case histories, personal experiences and his own inviting writing and teaching style, Preet Bharara in his new book, “Doing Justice” shows the thought process we need to best achieve truth and justice in our daily lives and within our society.

Preet Bharara has spent much of his life examining our legal system, pushing to make it better, and prosecuting those looking to subvert it. Bharara believes in our system and knows it must be protected, but to do so, we must also acknowledge and allow for flaws in the system and in human nature.

The book is divided into four sections: Inquiry, Accusation, Judgment and Punishment. He shows why each step of this process is crucial to the legal system, but he also shows how we all need to think about each stage of the process to achieve truth and justice in our daily lives.

Bharara uses anecdotes and case histories from his legal career–the successes as well as the failures–to illustrate the realities of the legal system, and the consequences of taking action (and in some cases, not taking action, which can be just as essential when trying to achieve a just result).

Much of what Bharara discusses is inspiring–it gives us hope that rational and objective fact-based thinking, combined with compassion, can truly lead us on a path toward truth and justice. Some of what he writes about will be controversial and cause much discussion. Ultimately, it is a thought-provoking, entertaining book about the need to find the humanity in our legal system–and in our society.

Preet Bharara first became well-known for his efforts to curb Wall Street corruption as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. But it was only after he forced President Trump to fire him that he became a rock star. He was dismissed in March 2017 when he refused to provide his resignation, following an about-face by a new Trump administration that had previously asked him to stay on as U.S. attorney.

In his new book, “Doing Justice,” Bharara does not write explicitly about his conversations with Trump. But the president’s shadow hangs over the book, even when Bharara declines to use his name. “It was all a giant, gold-plated charade,” Bharara writes of one fraud defendant – a sentence that can’t help but conjure up visions of Trump Tower.

Bharara positions “Doing Justice” as a treatise on “the rule of law and faith in the rule of law” at a time when both are under threat. The contrast with Trump, and his contempt for the rule of law, is inevitable. Beyond simply rebutting the president, though, Bharara seeks to present the justice system Trump disdains as a source of inspiration for a healthier politics. His reflection on the role of the justice system in America is an effort both to make the inner workings of that system accessible to people unfamiliar with what criminal justice looks like from the perspective of law enforcement, and to suggest how people might apply ideals and habits honed in the courtroom to the patterns of everyday life.

The Southern District of New York has a reputation for thinking highly of itself, which Bharara cheerfully acknowledges and does nothing to dispel. The justice system, as he describes it, rests on discretion, but the nature of the world is such that some discretion will be abused, and even good-faith attempts to do the right thing will sometimes end poorly. “Every element of the law is dependent on the fateful choices of unpredictable and imperfect human beings,” he writes, “from the cops to the lawyers to the judges to the cooperators. It is the human factor that makes the attempt to deliver justice uncertain.”

Bharara wrote “Doing Justice” in part to “help people make sense of what has been happening in America,” he writes in the preface. Nowhere is this clearer than in his description of the criminal trial as a counterintuitive model for how to “search for truth and justice in our society as well”: Trials, he argues, “are object lessons in persuasion, truth, and even civility.”

“Doing Justice” does its best to communicate what Bharara sees as the fundamental good faith of many law enforcement officials. The real interest and innovation of the book, though, is in Bharara’s effort to offer that model of engagement with the world as a political theory for his fellow citizens.

Celebrating Ambassadors of Change for Children’s Rights

March 24, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

CRY, Child Rights & You America [CRY America], a 501c3 non-profit that works towards ensuring underprivileged children their basic rights, hosted their Annual Gala Dinners across Houston, Long Island & New Jersey in March 2019 to bring people together for the cause of children’s rights.

The CRY Gala Dinners were organized in Houston on March 3 at the Marriott Town Square, on March 7 at the Hilton Melville, Long Island and on March 8 at the Crystal Plaza in Livingston, NJ. Speakers included New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, Houston Consul General Anupam Ray & Special Guest Tanishaa Mukerji who joined Shefali Sunderlal, President of CRY America, to amplify the voices of underprivileged children.

The 3 Gala’s were attended by 800 guests and raised over $260,000 which will be directed towards grass roots Projects working on critical children’s issues. Apart from raising awareness for the cause, guests enjoyed the evening with dinner, cocktails, auctions, bollywood entertainment, music and dancing. Performances by Rhythm India in Houston, Kanushree Jain in Long Island and the Satrangi School of Dance in New Jersey added spark & were much appreciated by all the guests.

Auction items donated by famous Indian artists included beautiful paintings by Late Badri Narayan, Solanki, Prakash Deshmukh, Datta Thombare, Suresh Gulage, Sachin Sangare, Dinkar Jadhav, Anuradha Thakur; fashion ensembles donated by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, Anita Dongre; evening clutch bags donated by Sabyasachi; Jewelry donated by Sia Art Jewellery, Shillpa Purii; Cricket bats signed by Saurav Ganguly & Sehwag were popular and sold out quickly. Our Dinner Committees in each city played a key role in enabling sold out & successful events! We thank our event sponsors, donors & volunteers for their generous contributions.

Event sponsors included BCB Indus American Bank, Navika Capital, Software People Inc, Moghul Caterers, Farmers Insurance, Enigma Salon, Mint, AMRINJ, KW NJ Metro Group, Objectwin, Vantive Inc, Wisemen, Wells Fargo, Shipcom, Ailings, A&B Systems & KW Points North. A special shout out to the media for your ongoing support – TV Asia, Star TV, Hum Hindustani, Voice of Asia, Meena Dutt Radio, Indian Panorama, South Asian Times, South Asian Insider.

Millions of children are denied their rights on a daily basis. CRY America works with grass-root Projects, communities and local government bodies to ensure children have quality education, healthcare, and protection from child labor, child marriage and issues which hinder their development.

Shefali Sunderlal says, “CRY America believes that “YOU” can empower children’s dreams and be ambassadors of change for children’s rights. Your support allows us to ensure that thousands of children are able to go to sleep educated, healthy and protected. With the support from over 25,000 donors & 2,000 volunteers, CRY America has transformed the lives of over 716,386 children across 3,755 villages and slums.”

She appealed for people to join CRY America as donors, volunteers and supporters and visit http://www.america.cry.org for more information. For more information on the CRY Gala Dinners in Houston, Long Island & New Jersey contact: support@cryamerica.org or call us on 617-959-1273 or visit america.cry.org

About CRY America: CRY – Child Rights and You America Inc. (CRY America) is a 501c3 registered non-profit that is driven by its vision of a just world in which all children have equal opportunities to develop to their full potential and realize their dreams. With the support of over 25,000 donors and 2,000 volunteers, CRY America has impacted the lives of 716,386 children living across 3,755 villages and slums through support to 73 Projects in India and USA. All donations to CRY America are tax deductible.

Pope Francis Affirms Importance of Meeting Sustainable Development Goals

March 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

International Conference ‘Religions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Listening to the cry of the earth and of the poor’

Courtesy: Zenit News Service

Pope Francis on March 8, 2019, affirmed the importance of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approved by more than 190 nations in 2015. His remarks came in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, where he received in audience the participants in the International Conference “Religions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Listening to the cry of the earth and of the poor”, organized by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, taking place in the Vatican’s New Synod Hall from March 7-9.

“Solutions are what I hope will emerge from this Conference: concrete responses to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor,” the Holy Father said. “Concrete commitments to promoting real development in a sustainable way through processes open to people’s participation. Concrete proposals to facilitate the development of those in need, making use of what Pope Benedict XVI recognized as ‘the unprecedented possibility of large-scale redistribution of wealth on a world-wide scale’. Concrete economic policies that are focused on the person and that can promote a more humane market and society. Concrete economic measures that seriously take into consideration our common home. Concrete ethical, civil and political commitments that develop alongside our sister earth, and never against her.”

In particular, the Pope stressed the need to involve all people in the creation and implement of the goals. He especially stressed the important contribution to be made by indigenous people.

The following is the Pope’s address to those present:

Address of the Holy Father:

Your Eminences, Your Excellencies,

Dear Leaders of world religious traditions,

Representatives of International Organizations,

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

I greet all of you gathered for this International Conference on Religions and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Sustainability and Inclusion

When we speak of sustainability, we cannot overlook how important it is to include and to listen to all voices, especially those usually excluded from this type of discussion, such as the voices of the poor, migrants, indigenous people. the young. I am pleased to see a variety of participants at this conference bringing a wide range of voices, of opinions and proposals, which can contribute to new paths of constructive development. It is important that the implementation of the sustainable development goals truly respect their original nature, which is inclusive and participatory.

The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, approved by more than 190 nations in September 2015, were a great step forward for global dialogue, marking a vitally “new and universal solidarity” (Laudato Si’, 14). Different religious traditions, including the Catholic tradition, have embraced the objectives of sustainable development because they are the result of global participatory processes that, on the one hand, reflect the values of people and, on the other, are sustained by an integral vision of development.

Integral Development

Nevertheless, proposing a dialogue on inclusive and sustainable development also requires acknowledging that “development” is a complex concept, which is often manipulated. When we speak of development we must always ask: Development of what? Development for whom? For too long the conventional idea of development has been almost entirely limited to economic growth. Indicators of national development have been based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indices. This has led the modern economic system down a dangerous path where progress is assessed only in terms of material growth, on account of which we are almost obliged to irrationally exploit the environment and our fellow human beings.

As my predecessor Saint Paul VI rightly highlighted, to speak about human development means referring to all people – not just a few – and to the whole person – not just the material dimension (cf. Populorum Progressio, 14). Any fruitful discussion of development, therefore, should offer viable models of social integration and ecological conversion, because we cannot develop ourselves as human beings by fomenting increased inequality and degradation of the environment.[1]

Rejecting negative models, and proposing alternative ways forward, applies not only to others but also to us. We should all commit ourselves to promoting and implementing the development goals that are supported by our deepest religious and ethical values. Human development is not only an economic issue or one that concerns experts alone; it is ultimately a vocation, a call that requires a free and responsible answer (cf. Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 16-17).

Goals (Dialogue and Commitments)

Solutions are what I hope will emerge from this Conference: concrete responses to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. Concrete commitments to promoting real development in a sustainable way through processes open to people’s participation. Concrete proposals to facilitate the development of those in need, making use of what Pope Benedict XVI recognized as “the unprecedented possibility of large-scale redistribution of wealth on a world-wide scale” (ibid. 42). Concrete economic policies that are focused on the person and that can promote a more humane market and society (cf. ibid. 45, 47). Concrete economic measures that seriously take into consideration our common home. Concrete ethical, civil and political commitments that develop alongside our sister earth, and never against her.

Everything is Connected

I am also pleased to know that the participants in this conference are willing to listen to religious voices when they discuss the implementation of the sustainable development goals. All those involved in dialogue on this complex issue are invited in some way to go beyond their areas of specialization to find a shared response to the cry of the earth and of the poor. Those of us who are religious need to open up the treasures of our best traditions in order to engage in a true and respectful dialogue on how to build the future of our planet. Religious narratives, though ancient, are usually full of symbolism and contain “a conviction which we today share, that everything is interconnected, and that genuine care for our own lives and our relationships with nature is inseparable from fraternity, justice, and faithfulness to others” (Laudato Si’, 70).

In this respect, the United Nations 2030 Agenda proposes integrating all the goals through the ‘five Ps’: people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership.[2] I know that this conference is also focusing on these ‘five Ps’.

I welcome this unified approach to these goals, which can also help to save us from an understanding of prosperity that is based on the myth of unlimited growth and consumption (cf. Laudato Si’, 106), where we depend only on technological progress for sustainability. There are still people who stubbornly uphold this myth, and who tell us that social and ecological problems will solve themselves simply by the application of new technologies, without any need for ethical considerations or profound change (cf. ibid. 60).

An integral approach teaches us that this is not true. While it is certainly necessary to aim for a set of development goals, this is not sufficient for a fair and sustainable world order. Economic and political objectives must be sustained by ethical objectives, which presuppose a change of attitude: what the Bible would call a change of heart. Already Saint John Paul II spoke about the need to “encourage and support the ‘ecological conversion’” (Catechesis, January 17, 2001). This word is powerful: ecological conversion. Religions have a key role to play in this. For a correct shift towards a sustainable future, we must recognize “our errors, sins, faults and failures” which leads to a “heartfelt repentance and desire to change”; in this way, we will be reconciled with others, with creation and with the Creator (cf. Laudato Si’, 218).

If we want to provide a solid foundation for the work of the 2030 Agenda, we must reject the temptation to look for a merely technocratic response to the challenges – this is not good – and be prepared to address the root causes and the long-term consequences.

Indigenous Peoples

The key principle of all religions is the love of neighbor and the care of creation. I wish to draw attention to a special group of religious persons, namely indigenous peoples. Although they represent only five percent of the world’s population, they look after about twenty-two percent of the earth’s landmass. Living in areas such as the Amazon and the Arctic, they help protect approximately eighty percent of the planet’s biodiversity. According to UNESCO, “Indigenous peoples are custodians and practitioners of unique cultures and relationships with the natural environment. They embody a wide range of linguistic and cultural diversity at the heart of our shared humanity”.[3] I would also add that, in a strongly secularized world, such peoples remind us all of the sacredness of our earth. This means that their voice and their concerns should be at the center of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and at the heart of the search for new paths for a sustainable future. I will also be discussing this with my brother bishops at the Synod for the Pan-Amazon Region, at the end of October this year.

Conclusions

Dear brothers and sisters, today, after three and a half years since the adoption of the sustainable development goals, we must be even more acutely aware of the importance of accelerating and adapting our actions in responding adequately to both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor (cf. Laudato Si’, 49) – they are connected.

The challenges are complex and have multiple causes; the response, therefore, must necessarily be complex and well-structured, respectful of the diverse cultural riches of peoples. If we are truly concerned about developing an ecology capable of repairing the damage we have done, no branch of science or form of wisdom should be overlooked, and this includes religions and the languages particular to them (cf. ibid. 63). Religions can help us along the path of authentic integral development, which is the new name of peace (cf. Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 26 March 1967, 76-77).

I express my heartfelt appreciation for your efforts in caring for our common home at the service of promoting an inclusive sustainable future. I know that, at times, it can seem far too difficult a task. And yet, “Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start” (Laudato Si’, 205). This is the change which present circumstances demand because the injustice that brings tears to our world and to its poor is not invincible. Thank you.

[1] When, for example, due to inequalities in the distribution of power, the burden of immense debt is placed on the shoulders of the poor and poor countries, when unemployment is widespread despite the expansion of trade or when people are simply treated as a means for the growth of others, we need to question fully our key development model. In the same way, when in the name of progress we destroy the source of development – our common home – then the dominant model must be called into question. By questioning this model and re-examining the world economy, participants in the dialogue on development will be able to find an alternative global economic and political system. However, in order for this to happen, we must address the causes of the distortion of development, which is what in recent Catholic social teaching goes by the name of “structural sins”. Denouncing such sins is already a good contribution that religions make to the discussion on the world’s development. Nonetheless, alongside this denunciation, we must also put forward feasible ways of conversion to people and communities.

[2] Cf. United Nations, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2015.

[3] UNESCO, Message from Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, 9 August 2017.

Bollyball Diplomacy: Dilip Chauhan introduces Indian Heritage at US basketball game

March 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Entertainment 0

Community leaders and Indian Dy CG attend Nassau Veterans Coliseum game as Indian groups perform before the game – Prime Time and at half-time, it’s such a great occasion for Indian Community to be a part of major basketball game at Nassau Coliseum

In a unique display of “Bollyball diplomacy”, Dilip Chauhan, the former Deputy Comptroller of Nassau County,and Co-Chair Raj Shah created history recently by organizing an event where India’s cultural prowess, especially the Indian cultural performances was on full display and the Indian community showed their commitment to a mainstream game. The event, Indian Heritage Night, was held on Wednesday, February 27, at NYCB LIVE’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, where — for the first time — Indian community was invited to jointly participate at a major basketball game between two big teams — Long Island Nets and Delaware Blue Coats.

It was the first time in the history of basketball in Nassau Coliseum that Indian groups performed at the Prime Time as well as during the half-time as Nassau Veterans Coliseum gave a special permission to the media to cover the Indian segments of the event.

Indians are rare as an audience at the Coliseum. But on this daya large number of community members people turned out to watch the game and celebrate Indian culture as colorful clothes made the young children look like cultural ambassadors of India while a massive audience applauded their performance at the arena.

The evening began with an announcement by the Emcee. “Today’s memorable event is a brainchild of Dilip Chauhan, the President of New York South Asian Chamber of Commerce. He has in a very unique and sophisticated way weaved this program to a grand success,” he said, inviting Dilip Chauhan, along with Raj Shah, Indian Deputy CG Shatrughna Sinha, Ruchika Chauhan, Roopa Sridhar and Anil Shah to lit the traditional lamp.

After the Indian diplomat was joined by the prominent Indians in the lighting of lamp amid chanting of mantra, the Emcee called on the audience to observe 30-seconds silence in the memory of the martyrs of the recent terror attack atPulwama in Jammu & Kashmir.

Then Dilip Chauhan was invited by the officials to address the august gathering in the arena. “It is an honor and privilege to welcome and greet you at the First Indian Heritage Night in Nassau County. India’s culture is rich, colorful and vibrant. We are delighted this evening to offer a taste of our heritage, our dance, costumes, traditions, purely to share with you and enjoy. It is my privilege to introduce you to the Organizer of Indian Heritage Night. Please welcome my co-chair Raj Shah and the Indian American Advisory Committee for putting this event together. Thanks to more than 20 Indian American Organizations for your support, honored guests and media,” Dilip Chauhan said in his opening remarks.

“Today is indeed a very special and inspiring day for Indians in Long Island as we are celebrating the India Heritage Night at the Prestigious Nassau Coliseum,” he added.

Dilip Chauhan also used his speech as an opportunity to make an important appeal as he asked people to register themselves to vote. “I also wish to appeal to each of you. This is something very personal to my heart. Each and everyone, if you are not registered to vote, please register to Vote.And if you are already registered, please make sure you cast your vote. Please remember ‘If you don’t vote you lose a right to complain’,” he said. “God bless America and India.”

In his address to the gathering, the Deputy Consul General of India said that it was a great venue to showcase rich heritage ofIndia. “This kind of activities makes our relationship stronger. “The beauty of this event is such a large number of children and youth participation said Shatrughna Sinha.

During the Prime Time, regional folk dances of India and Bollywood by young children as well as women groups were performed. The first performance was done by Arya Dance Academy. It was followed by a performance by theNartan Rang Dance Academy.

The game ball deliver ceremony was performed by the Winner of 2018 Miss Teen Bharat New York, Kahini Chauhan.

At the half-time, there was a 6-minute performance by the Navatman Indian Art Institute. “Let us applaud Nartan Rang Dance Academy, Arya Dance Academy and Navatman Art Institute for their immense support in making this event possible,” said Dilip Chauhan in his address.

“It is central to our core value system as the Long Island Nets to be ‘More Than A Game,’ and to provide a platform of diversity and inclusion for our community,” said Alton Byrd, VP of Business Operations, Long Island Nets. “We are pleased at the success of our first collaborative effort to bring Indian Heritage Night to life at a Long Island Nets game for the first time ever.”

It was an historic event for the Indian community which has grown manifold in Nassau County in the past few years. Dilip Chauhan has been instrumental in injecting community professionals in the local administration. Also, working with community, Dilip Chauhan has been championing the cause of “Be counted” with register and vote because as the community gets empowered.

In a show of the community’s growing footprint in the social sector, Sudhir Vaishnavi was honored for his contribution to the community in last three decades who has served many leading NGOs promoting India. Co- Chair Raj Shah applauded community participation to make this event grand success grand success.

The event was hosted by Indian American Advisory Committee of NYCB LIVE’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseumand members names are – Raj Shah, Hiren Chauhan, Sreedhar Shanmugam, Hitesh Patel, Amita Karwal, Dr. Sheetal Desai, Bina Kothari, Roopam Maini, Ragini Srivastava, Dr. Himanshu Pandya, Farah Vaswani, Jay Shah, Mahavir Chavda, Neil Trivedi, Rajeev Chaudhary, Raksha Parekh, Sanjay Sura, Sudhir Vaishnav, Roopa Sridhar, Rajeev Modi, Rizwan Querishi, Rajiv Mody, Harry Malhotra, Swati Vaishnav.

8th Annual Women’s Achievement Awards Held on Long Island, NY

March 17, 2019 Staff ReporterWomen 0

As Town of Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth ,Nassau County Legislator Rose Walker, New York State Assembly woman Judy Griffin l (Among many other VIP’s) walked into Akbar’s Ballroom in Garden City, on Friday March 1,2019,, they all very well felt the pride and achievement in the air. The Grand ball room was full of so many accomplished and elite, who’s who of the society gathered for one singular purpose, to be the part of and to celebrate 8th 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. And of course the hall was beautifully decorated with spring flowers theme courtesy Sunita Sadhnani of Glamorous Event Planners. Evening started with lighting of the lamp. Shammi Singh Chairperson, of Gala in her remarks welcomed all the guests congratulated all the honorees and praised their efforts in achieving such success.

American National Anthem sung by Gurbani Kaur Sethi and Indian National Anthem sung by Roopam Maini. Master of Ceremonies Mr Anuj Rihal and Chanbir Kaur Sethi made the evening enjoyable. Chanbir Kaur, Roopam Maini , Rohini Singh, Isha Rihal and Inesha Singh coordinated a brief Q&A session with the honorees discussing and emphasizing their accomplishments

Mr Sant Singh and Mrs. Daman Chatwal congratulated all honorees and acknowledged the efforts of IAF Team. Five distinguished women who had excelled in their profession and community services were presented with Outstanding Women’s achievements Awards

Sonia k Bain a transactional commercial real estate lawyer who represents developers, retail companies, hotel groups and several other types of real deal estate properties in New York City. , Sonia Bain is named to 2019 Notable woman in Law by Crain’s New York Business and several other professional achievements

Sylinthia Burges Is Nassau County Veterans Service Agency, First woman Veteran Counselor. Ms. Burges served in the active duty in Army in Lebanon war, at Camp Casey, in Korea, at present she is working with Veterans and several agencies to assist veterans and clients. She is named to The New York State Veterans hall of Fame by Senator Kemp Hanon.

Judge of New York State Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant was elected to New York State Supreme Court, becoming the first woman of Indian decent in New York State to become the Supreme Court judge. She now presides over criminal; cases in Queens County.

Dr Subhadra Nori is currently the regional Director for the combined departments of Rehabilitation medicine at Elmhurst and Queens Hospital Centers. She is an Associate professor at the Icahn School of medicine, Mount Sinai New York. She has held leadership positions at several National Societies in her specialty Along with her Husband Dr Nori, she helped to establish two Shirdi Sai temples centers one in New York Baldwin and one in Iselin New Jersey. Dr Nori is considered by her peers as an outstanding physician, excellent educator and researcher and a superb administrator.

Manu Saluja a well-known Artist and painter in New York and has a Master’s degree in painting from The New York Academy of Art. Her work includes stunning historical portraits as well as recent paintings inspired by her life as a New Yorker. She has been commissioned Portrait. Manu is on the faculty of both New York University Academy of art in Tribeca and the Long Island Academy of Fine Art.

Stephanie Benedictus Young Achiever is currently a senior at Syosset High School. She has been a part of YICG since childhood and attended Vedic, Shloka and Bollywood dance classes Stephanie values the YICG message and and has become a co teacher of Bollywood Dance. She has a deep appreciation for her culture and works very hard to instill this appreciation. Stephanie wants to be a Physician and wants to continue to help the community.

Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth, 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. And presented them with citations. Citations of behalf of Nassau County Executive Laura Curran the town of Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen, Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladin, Congressional recognition from Congress man Thomas Suozzi, and From Nassau County Legislature Rosemarie Walker. Were presented to all Honorees

Among those present during the event were Bobby Kalotee Founder of IAF, Nassau County Human right Commissioner Sharanjit Singh Thind, Zahid Syed, Mr and Mrs. Sant Chatwal, Dr Rajinder Uppal, President of International Punjabi Society, Shashi Malik, Vice President of India Association of Long Island, Sher Madra , Peter Bheddah, Board of Directors of Nargis Dutt Foundation, , Haseena Mooppan Domestic Harmony Foundation, Dr Anila Midha, President of SAWA, Rizwan Qureshi from HAB Bank, Roopam Maini from Indus American Bank, Jasbir Jay Singh, President IPD USA, Kamal Dandona, Smiti Khanna , Dr Urvashi and Anoop Kapoor, Sudhir and Swati Vaishnav and several other dignitaries were present

Dance performances presented by students of well-known Choreographers Swati Vaishnav and From New York Kathak Festival and Stephanie Benedictus. Mr Mohinder Taneja gave special thanks for all of our sponsors and media partners. Well known Artist Sabina Himani donated painting Child Bride and Manu Saluja Donated Maharaja Ranjit Singh Painting for Silent Auction.

Board of Trustees Dr Azad Anand, Surinder Rametra, Dr Ved Kawatra, Animesh Goenka, Dr Urmilesh Arya, Dr Bhupendra Patel, Bobby Kalotee, Board members Beena Kothari, Bina Sabapathy, Nirmala Rametra, Anu Gulati, Dr Meena Jaiswal, Vijay Goswamy, Tejal Kamath, Rohini Singh, Anuj Rihal, Inesha Singh, Gala Chairperson Shammi Singh and Many others helped in making the event a grand success. It was indeed a very successful evening, showcasing and honoring outstanding women achievers, who are successful in business, cultural, professional, education, and medical. Community and social services.

American Telugu Association celebrates Women’s Day

March 17, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

American Telugu Association, ATA, a 28 year old Telugu organization serving the interests of Telugu people across North America celebrated Women’s day weekend with much fervor & gusto. International Women’s Day Celebrations were held on a grandeur scale with events across Washington DC, New Jersey, Delaware, Detroit, Nashville, Austin, Dallas and Raleigh areas.

Women’s day theme concept of #BetterforBalance focused primarily on addressing the immediate needs and challenges of modern day Indian women and how to strike a balance between eastern and western cultures. Scores of saree clad Indian women enjoyed the festivities across various cities. Fashion shows and thought provoking discussions enthralled the audiences. Sumptuous lunch with various delicacies from both the Telugu states was served.

International Women’s day event in Washington DC included Panel discussions with elite panelists from legal, medical, social, civic engagement and business areas to ignite a sense of awareness amongst women regarding Work-Life Balance, legal rights, financial knowledge, Health & Family. ASHA for Women organization explained how women going through domestic violence can get help.

Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton was the chief guest of the Event. Cultural Programs were the highlight of the evening and enthralled the audiences. ATA President elect Bhuvanesh Boojala & Team spearheaded the event in DC Metro. New Jersey Women’s day event included seminars on homeopathy, yoga & business entrepreneurship. Immigration Attorney Prashanti reddy was felicitated for her contribution to the Indian community especially in matters related to the immigration issues. In Dallas International women’s day event offered prayers to the fallen and wounded Indian soldiers of Pulwama attack. Panel discussions were held on the causes of depression, addiction in kids and precautionary measures to be taken to avoid such situations.

Awareness sessions on financial planning was conducted. Raleigh doctors educated women about breast cancer menace along with statistics and mammograms,. Organizers dedicated time to honor pioneering women and to discuss several serious issues women face on a daily basis. Prominent Teachers of regional Indian languages were felicitated in Greater Nashville area. Free for Life’ international organization shared details about worldwide Human Trafficking and funds were raised via silent auction for helping Women victims.

ATA President Parmesh Bheemreddy garu along with Lt.Governor of Delaware Bethany Hall Long inaugurated the event by lighting the lamp in Delaware. ATA President congratulated women for their outstanding contributions to the society and quoted that ATA has always been a front runner in protecting women’s rights and believes in Women Empowerment.

Bheemreddy was proud to announce that current team has 25 positions held by women in various capacities and some of the past presidents were Women as well. ATA President encouraged & welcomed more participation of women in community related activities. Past President Karunakar Asireddy Reddy garu announced that ATA is raising funds for a Girl empowerment projects in India. ATA executive team recognized the sponsors, appreciated the local organizations & volunteers for their continuous support.

Indian Consulate, FIA Celebrate Women’s Day

March 17, 2019 Staff ReporterWomen 0

International Women’s Day was celebrated at The Consulate General of India, New York on 8th March 2019, which was organized by Federation of Indian Association along with the Consulate General of India, New York.

The event was graced by the presence of distinguished celebrity guests – National Award winning Bollywood actress Ms. Neetu Chandra, popular TV host and of Emmy award-winning show Equitrekking – Ms. Darley Newman, Mrs. Taruna Chakarborty, distinguished community member as well as more than 150 members from across the tri-state area majority of them women.

The event marked the annual International women day by honoring women and their resilience and perseverance. Distinguished women addressed the gathering and shared their experiences and struggles and what distinguished them and made them leaders. Consulate General of India, New York, Mr. Sandeep Chakravorty also graced the occasion and spoke about leadership in women and the need of equal rights.

Mrs. Sukhminder Kaur, Mrs. Sheetal Trivedi, Mrs. Arun Anand, and Mrs. Rina Shah were honored by the consulate general and FIA committee for their distinguished achievements and contributions to the society.

FIA president Mr. Alok Kumar along with the FIA executive committee members, Chairman Ramesh Patel joined the felicitation of all celebrities, annual honorees including the all-women crew of Air India, along with Mrs. Bhouvna Rao, RM Americans for Air India.

Trump Proposes to End Special Trade Treatment for India

March 6, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics, U.S. 0

President Trump says he wants to kick India and Turkey out of a program that gives the countries special trade treatment. Trump announced his decision on Monday this week, saying he wants to remove the countries from the Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP — which allows developing countries to send certain products to the United States duty-free.

Last year, the United States began reviewing India’s eligibility for the program. Countries with GSP designation must meet certain criteria and can graduate from the program. In a statement, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Turkey is “sufficiently economically developed” and should no longer benefit from preferential market access.

In a letter to Congress, the president accused India of shutting out American businesses. “I am taking this step because, after intensive engagement between the United States and the Government of India, I have determined that India has not assured the United States that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets of India,” the president said in the letter.

“India has implemented a wide array of trade barriers that create serious negative effects on United States commerce. Despite intensive engagement, India has failed to take the necessary steps to meet the GSP criterion,” said a USTR statement.

The Indian Commerce Secretary reportedly said benefits of the exemptions were “minimal and moderate,” adding up to about $190 million on exports of $5.6 billion.

Trump slammed India over the weekend, calling it a “high-tariff” nation at the Conservative Political Action Conference, adding: “When we send a motorcycle to India, it’s a 100% tariff. They charge 100%. When India sends a motorcycle to us, we brilliantly charge them nothing.”

Richard Rossow, senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Yahoo Finance he wasn’t surprised by the move — and he didn’t think the Indian government was surprised either.

“Tensions and frustration were clearly boiling over,” said Rossow. “This isn’t part of, I think, the overall package of the Trump administration initiating trade wars globally. India had actually done a number of things that kind of warranted this review.” Rossow pointed to India’s increased customs duties, expanded mandatory local content rules for production and price controls.

‘The Trump administration is not likely to back down from a trade fight.’

India will still be able to export goods to the U.S., but will be subject to higher customs duties.

Rossow said the real risk for India is losing market share. “That narrow price differential of pre-GSP and post-GSP — can other countries’ exporters fill in that gap?” said Rossow. “The customs duties themselves, you’re talking about a couple hundred million bucks, maximum. That’s survivable…but if actually the exporters themselves begin to lose out to competing companies and manufacturers in other countries— that’s where India begins to feel direct damage to the economy.”

India was one of the countries hit by Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum last year. While India announced retaliatory tariffs, they have not been enacted. Rossow said he does not think India will want to escalate the situation.

“I do think the [Narendra] Modi government does very much understand that the Trump administration is not likely to back down from a trade fight,” said Rossow. “The United States is one of only two countries among India’s largest trading parters with which India has a surplus — so India has a great deal to lose in this trade relationship with the United States if this thing begins to escalate further.” USTR says no changes will go into effect for at least 60 days.

Why Trump-Kim Summit Failed?

March 6, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics 0

Amid much anticipation and no small measure of skepticism, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Hanoi, Vietnam, this week to further discussions of denuclearization of North Korea. With little concrete information released ahead of time, speculation swirled. Would the U.S. ease sanctions? Would North Korea agree to halt nuclear fuel production at Yongbyon? Would international inspectors be allowed in? Would the leaders sign a peace declaration, formally ending the Korean War?

In the end, the meetings closed with even less certainty than before. Negotiations wrapped early, with a signing ceremony abruptly canceled and no deal put on the table. “Sometimes you have to walk,” Trump said in a press conference, explaining that Kim pushed for sanctions lifted in their entirety — an impossible deal, he explained. (North Korea’s foreign minister later disputed that in a rare press conference, stating they wanted sanctions only partially lifted.) Nevertheless, Trump characterized the meetings as “very productive.” Others were less sure.

Below is a round-up of takeaways from the summit from the Asia Society. Updates from the discussion:

‘By Failing To Prepare, You Are Preparing To Fail’

Daniel Russel, vice president of international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said in an interview with Reuters the outcome was of little surprise, given the lack of planning.

The Hanoi Summit validates Benjamin Franklin’s axiom that “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. The hard diplomatic work of narrowing differences and exploring options had simply not been done, so it is not surprising that the two leaders encountered insurmountable differences.

Kim Jong Un is not testing ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs at the moment, but he is testing Donald Trump. Kim may have wanted to see if Trump’s domestic legal and political woes made him desperate enough to take any deal he could get.

‘You Don’t Send the Boss Unless You Have the Deliverables in Hand’

Lindsey Ford, Director of Political-Security Affairs for the Asia Society Policy Institute and Richard Holbrooke Fellow, said the apparent lack of preparation for the meeting and attendant fallout would make restarting staff-level negotiations extremely difficult.

I think it proves that there’s no substitute for preparation. It’s pretty apparent that both Kim and Trump were gambling that they would get a better deal in person than they thought they would get by having people do the staff work. But when you look at the text — at least what North Korea says was on the table and that folks walked away from — nothing is terribly surprising about what the proposal was. And that’s the thing negotiators ought to have been able to talk about and put on the table and suss out whether it was good enough months in advance so that you don’t waste your president’s capital by sending him halfway around the world during an emerging nuclear crisis elsewhere to come back with nothing. The 101 golden rule of government staff work is you don’t send the boss unless you have the deliverables in hand.

Trump clearly believed that at the end of the day his personal negotiating skills could eke out a better deal than what anybody else could get and he was willing to gamble on that. Now, I guess we have to give credit for the fact that he didn’t bite on something that his advisor said wasn’t worth it for the sake of having anything. Maybe that’s a low bar but we should give credit there because it could have been worse and we could have had worse outcomes from this summit. But at the same time it’s completely unclear at this point what Plan B there is and I think it’s going to be exponentially harder to now restart a staff level, working level negotiation process that should have been there from the get go after you walk away from the deal that was on the table.

It’s still unclear at this point exactly what was offered on both sides and it also unclear who precisely walked away first. At the end of the day it’s probably moot. But, both sides have an obvious interest to spin this in a way that makes them look like the more reasonable and aggrieved party. Both of these leaders have the potential to be embarrassed and have egg on their face over the way this went down. On Kim Jong Un’s part, it would look like he took a huge risk, made concessions to the Americans and walked away with nothing. And similarly on Trump’s part it will also look like he made this huge gamble that has not paid off in the slightest. They have to tell this story to the audience at home in both capitals in a way that puts them in the best light. To be clear, I’m not trying to say either side is lying, or that the president is lying. But we’re watching the post-debate spin right now.

‘I’m Not Sure How We’re Going To Move Forward’

Speaking from South Korea, political economist June Park, a lecturer of Global Affairs and Government at George Mason University Korea and an Asia 21 young leader, said a media frenzy had whipped up impossible expectations for a deal. With Trump’s antipathy toward re-starting U.S.-South Korean war exercises, concern is now mounting over their own bilateral relations.

From a South Korean perspective, too much attention on the summit led people to believe there would be a substantial outcome. It’s as if the media drove people to think there would be a result. We shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of a deal, but are surprised because expectations were so high. What realistically could have happened? I did see they exchanged a very friendly handshake before departure. At a very personal level, those two individuals have found some comfort in the similarity in their character.

Kim Jong Un came on strong by saying we need complete lifting of sanctions (according to Trump that’s what he said, we don’t know exactly unless we see a full verbatim record of what was said, but this is what we have so far). [EDITOR NOTE: North Korea has since said it was seeking only a partial lifting of sanctions.] This was also a game played by Kim Jong Un. He thought that at the current stage, if it is Donald Trump and not anyone else, he could actually win this. But given what was happening domestically — with the Cohen hearing and the briefings by Ambassador Robert Lighthizer on the U.S.-China trade talks — it didn’t really look like Mr. Trump would have his mind really set on this Vietnam summit.

But Trump did make it very clear that the military exercises with South Korea will not be continued. He didn’t say those literal sentences but he said it costs millions and millions of dollars.

In some ways this represents a deal — though one few could cheer and with dangerous implications for the region as a whole.

It makes me think — perhaps even if not signed on paper — what we have at this moment is if Kim Jong Un doesn’t test further, the U.S. and South Korea won’t have exercises either. So there is no provocation on either said. Maybe that’s the best balance we have as of yet. Until something happens and one side provokes the other.

From the North Korean perspective, they still have had those two summits, diplomatic encounters with the U.S. that never really happened previously. From the U.S. side this was a rapprochement, but it wouldn’t have happened had it not been from an individual like Mr. Trump. It wouldn’t have happened had it not been for his own character and his peculiar presidency. It was interesting to watch this but it was not going to give us a guideline forward.

What I’m more concerned about is how this kind of uncertainty will just lag on. And how U.S. engagement in the region will be severely weakened as time goes on. Complete denuclearization was never a goal that could be achieved. I’m not sure how we’re going to move forward.

Already the U.S.-South Korea alliance is not what it used to be, so that is my concern. There used to be a reason for retaining this alliance not just in terms of security but in terms of history and camaraderie, that bond that kept the two countries together. But clearly it’s just not there anymore. Being here I can sense that.

‘I Do Not Think This Is a Bad Result’

Asia 21 young leader Jieun Baek, a Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy at the University of Oxford and author of North Korea’s Hidden Revolution: How the Information Underground is Transforming a Closed Society, said that the lack of a result represented a relatively positive outcome.

I expected the Trump-Kim Hanoi summit to be a continuation of the Singapore 2018 summit — spectacular summitry theater, vague commitments to denuclearization (a term and normative reality that both parties still do not agree on), and the creation of more false hope for a denuclearized North Korea resulting in a more peaceful world. While I was surprised to learn that the Hanoi summit prematurely ended without an agreement, I do not think this is a bad result. Given that several major issues have not been resolved, I believe that President Trump and his team were wise in walking away from a bad deal that would have potentially constituted the lifting of comprehensive sanctions before North Korea makes any substantive concessions regarding taking substantive steps towards denuclearization.

On the human rights front, Baek said that the continued omission of any mention of Pyongyang’s atrocities represents a failure of negotiations thus far.

The absence of public discussion about North Korea’s human rights situation between the two leaders since the Singapore Summit has been worrying. There must be widespread recognition that denuclearization and the improvement of human rights in North Korea are inextricably linked. Kim clearly wants to pursue economic development for his country. He must recognize that foreign companies and investors will continue to be barred from investing in North Korea given the countries’ egregious human rights violations. Secondly, if Kim is genuinely interested in a path towards verifiable denuclearization, he must provide access to international inspectors in the future. International inspectors cannot carry out the necessary inspections within the currently extremely closed, tightly controlled, and repressive climate.

Given the historically volatile U.S.-North Korea relationship, who knows what the short-term future has in store for the two leaders’ relationship and its effect on North Korea’s (supposed) pursuit of denuclearization. But what we do know is that the United States isn’t bound to a premature agreement that would have inevitably sparked another bout of false hope of a more peaceful world with a denuclearized North Korea.

‘Worst Possible Thing Trump Could Have Said for Human Rights’

Human rights lawyer Sylvia Kim co-founded Canada’s largest human rights organization for North Korean human rights. The Asia 21 young leader said she too has been struck by the absence of discussion on North Korea’s brutal rights record.

The concern for the human rights advocacy community is that human rights have been left off the agenda completely — whether it was this summit or the Singapore summit or the inter-Korean summits. Leaving human rights off the agenda brings legitimacy to this regime making it harder to bring accountability in the future for the human rights atrocities the regime is known to have carried out.

From a human rights perspective, Trump’s press conference after the summit was actually worse for human rights than if he hadn’t said anything at all. For those of us who have been documenting and monitoring human rights violations in North Korea, there is no doubt in any of our minds that the regime did not know what was happening in these gulag-like prison camps. What Trump said about Otto Warmbier, an American citizen whose family sued the regime, how he felt Kim Jong Un didn’t know what was going on in the prisons and that he takes Kim Jong Un at his word — was probably the worst possible thing he could have said for human rights.

From that perspective, I understand the frustration of many defectors. Most people want peace and know that military options will not lead to a happy outcome for anyone. At the same time, you don’t want to forget that we’re working with a brutal regime that oppresses its people and deprives them of so many of the rights and freedoms that are enshrined in universal norms and international conventions. For defectors and human rights advocates, it’s a hard balance of knowing we don’t want war but at the same time how far do you go with the antics of pageantry and theatrics to please this dictator.

When you see a superpower like the U.S. having these leader-to-leader talks and legitimizing diplomatic relations without any reference to human rights, it becomes easier for other countries to think that human rights is not a priority for the U.S.. The enforcement in human rights doesn’t often come from the actual enforcement of international laws and conventions; the power of human rights comes in the form of monitoring and ‘naming and shaming’ from the international community. Legitimizing Kim Jong Un, greeting and treating him like a rock star, buries the human rights issues and makes it easier for others to brush it aside.

Indian-Americans hold vigils for Indian soldiers killed in blast in Kashmir

March 6, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India 0

The Indian American community across the United States has come together to pledge their support and pay homage to the fallen Jawans in the terror attack that killed dozens in the state of Kashmir last month. A number of Indian-Americans continued to gather across the country in major U.S. cities, to hold candle light vigils and mourn the killing of the Indian soldiers, in what has been described as the worst terror attacks in nearly three decades.

A Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in. At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Jawans were killed and dozens of others injured in a blast in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, February 14th. The blast was triggered by militants who had targetted vehicles carrying the CRPF Jawans in the north Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir.

Several temples in the Greater Washington Area also held prayer meetings for the victims of the and scores of Indian-Americans also congregated in front of the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 17 in support of India and to express their outrage over Pakistan’s continuing support for terrorist groups that target India.

“We gathered on the lawns of Capitol Hill to offer our Shraddhanjali to martyred heroes of Pulwama terrorist attack,” said Adapa Prasad of the Overseas Friends of BJP-USA, which organized the gathering. Prasad said the Indian-American community of the greater Washington, D.C. area was also coming together on Feb.24 for a “Shraddhanjali Sabha” to pay tribute “to the Pulwama Amar Jawans” at the Rajdhani Mandir in Chantilly, Virginia.

OFBJP-USA president Krishna Reddy Anugula said, “The Indian diaspora has profusely thanked President Trump’s and his Administration’s unequivocal stand against terrorism which is emanating from Pakistan. The community also expressed gratitude and thanked the National Security Advisor John Bolton’s statement on Indian’s right to self-defense and help India in these difficult times.”

In New Jersey, over 600 Indian-Americans, including representatives of various community groups, attended a candle light vigil to pay tribute to the martyrs. The Feb. 21 event was hosted by the Federation of Indian Associations (NY, NJ ,CT) at the Royal Albert’s Palace in Fords. Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac and Councilwoman Nancy Drumm as well as Consul Head of Chancery, Jaideep Chola, attended the event.

On the West Coast, over 200 Indian-Americans living in the Greater Sacramento area gathered at the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Sacramento, Feb. 20, to pay tributes to martyred soldiers. Speaking on behalf of all attendees, Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost said: “We, the citizens of Sacramento, hereby pledge that we denounce the terror in any format, in any part of the world.” Others who spoke included Sumati Rao, Consul (Community affairs, Information & Culture) from the Consulate General of India in San Francisco, Easan Katir of the Hindu American Foundation and Indian Association of Sacramento president Dr. Bhavin Parikh.

In Houston, Texas, more than 300 Indian-Americans gathered at the India House to express their solidarity and mourn the killing, the Press Trust of India reported. The meeting was organized by India Culture Center Houston and Indian-American Community of Greater Houston. Also in attendance were Deputy Consul General of India in Houston Surendra Adhana, district representatives of Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, representatives of Reps. Al Green and Dan Crenshaw and Fort Bend county Judge K. P. George.

In Atlanta, Georgia, the Federation of Indian Associations organized a candlelight vigil and prayer meeting at Ashiana Global Mall in Norcross, Ga., Feb. 17. Consul (Administration) Asim Kumar and Consul (Head of Chancery, Community Affairs, Protocol, Security, RTI) Shailesh Lakhtakia represented the Consulate General of India in Atlanta and addressed the gathering along with prominent members of the community and religious leaders.

U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, who represents Illinois’ 8th District, said in a statement: “We come together to send a message of healing and of unity. Together, we mourn those brave lives lost in Pulwama in the face of terror. We stand united against terrorism, and we must defeat terrorism,” he said. “This was an act of terror, an act of pure evil. We must be firm in the face of evil and terror,” he said. “That said, we honor the fallen by not letting the terrorists change what we are or our way of life.”

Indian students at the University of Maryland in College Park, in a statement strongly condemned the attack. “We strongly condemn this dastardly attack and mourn the loss of life and extend our heartfelt condolences to the victims’ families and people of India,” the statement said. In a mark of solidarity various student organizations in the university came together at a silent candle light vigil on Feb. 21.

“American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI), wants to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to the United States Administration, the Lawmakers and the public, who have overwhelmingly expressed their deep concerns of the ongoing terrorist activities, particularly the most recent heinous terrorist attack on CRPF personnel in Kashmir today,” said Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI in a statement here.

Members of the community also held protests outside the Pakistani consulates in New York and Chicago to condemn the attacks. The Indo-Asian News Service reported that at the protest in New York on Feb. 22, police stopped 400 protesters from approaching the consulate building and cordoned them off next to Central Park, across the avenue.

“They protested peacefully for over two hours shouting ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘God Bless America’ along with slogans denouncing Pakistan’s support for terrorism,” the IANS report said, adding that “a delegation went to the consulate to handover a memorandum demanding ‘credible and visible’ action against the perpetrators of the Pulwama carnage.”

OFBJP-USA president Krishna Reddy Anugula told IANS that “the diplomats at the consulate refused to accept the memorandum,” which demanded freedom for Kulbhushan Jadav, who has been sentenced by a Pakistani military court as a spy, and for handing over JeM chief Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, who is wanted for 1993 terrorist bombings in Mumbai, to India.

In Chicago, Indian-Americans bearing Indian and American flags with placards of denouncing Pakistan for promoting terrorism, walked through the Michigan Avenue corridor with a protest rally in front of the Consulate General of Pakistan in Chicago as well as the Chines Consulate General.

Dr. Bharat Barai, a prominent member of the Chicago Indian-American community, in his remarks welcomed the Indian-Americans and thanked them for their outpouring support and their unfailing patriotic spirit. Barai chastised Pakistan for its continued mayhem with their repeated murderous rampage.

The protest rally was largely led by, among others, Hemant Patel, Nirav Patel, J.D. Digvanker, Shamkanth Sheth, Prasad Yelalmanchi, Amar Upadhyay, Nitin Garg, Pandya, Chirayu Parikh and Amitabh Mittal. Each of them articulated messages that summarized that Pakistan is a hub of terrorism and is constantly manufacturing company of terrorist; while harboring and nurturing them to be the dark men of death.

In a statement, Hemant Patel said, “Terrorism in not only a political issue; it is also an ideological war, which is affecting the entire humanity.” From there, the protesters went to the Chinese Consulate where a memorandum was delivered.

Protesters showed placards denouncing China’s double talk on terrorism. “On one side, China denounces all terrorism. On the other side, China has consistently blocked UN Security Council from proscribing the Pakistani terrorist organizations. Lashkar e Taiba and its leader Hafiz Saeed; Jaish e Muhammed and its leader Masood Azhar have been responsible for many terror attacks including Mumbai terrorist attack killing 176 people and recent Pulwama attack killing 40 people,” the memorandum said.

The Indo-American Kashmir Forum, a long-standing organization comprising Kashmiri Pandits, founded by Dr. Vijay Sazawal, and the Hindu American Foundation, also came together, urging the U.S. to take strong action against the Pakistani-based terrorist organizations, including the JeM and the Laskshar-e-Tayiba, and also the Pakistani government, which continues to support and provide safe havens to these groups that target India.

The two groups, also handed over a joint statement to the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, a former governor of Kansas and a U.S. Senator, who once chaired the Foreign Relations Committee, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback urging “the U.S. government to condemn in all international fora the role played by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and China in providing physical and diplomatic cover to terrorists like Masood Azhar that have wreaked havoc in Kashmir.”

Sazawal, reading out the joint statement before Brownback and the participants of the International Religious Freedom held at the U.S. Capitol on Feb.19, declared, “there is a cultural genocide happening in Kashmir.

“The environment of intolerance at the grassroots level only feeds into the ecosystem which breeds terrorists like Masood Azhar who then carry out such transnational attacks in Afghanistan and India,” said Jay Kansara, Washington director of the HAF.

NRIs Protest in New York

March 6, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India 0

Hundreds of people of Indian American community in sub zero temperature gathered outside United Nations in New York to protest against Pakistan for its cross border terrorism in India and Afghanistan and sponsorship of Global Terrorism that affected many countries around the world.

They were also joined by Hindus from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Indian Americans from various organizations, seniors and professionals, students from universities also joined to express their Anger and disgust at the continued state sponsorship of terrorism by Pakistan across the world. They raised slogans about all major terrorist attacks originating from Pakistan such as Mumbai 26/11 attacks, Pulwama and URI attacks, 2001 Indian Parliament attack, 9/11US attacks, Kabul US Embassy attacks, London bus and subway.

Addressing the Media, Jagdish Sewhani, President of The American India Public Affairs Committee said that that Pakistan is still shielding Terrorists and is refusing to crack down on Terrorists. Pakistan army continues to support terrorist establishment such as Al-Qaeda, Lakshar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Haqqani network. Enough is enough. Time has come to give befitting reply to Pakistan in a language they understand. Pakistan can not be trusted. There should be continued pressure on Pakistan and Modi Government should continue the preemptive strikes on Terrorist network in Pakistan till the last Terrorist is eliminated.

Sewhani urged the Prime Minister Modi to remove article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. Sewhani praised the visionary, dynamic and tough Leadership Of Prime Minister Modi , under whose Leadership the Indian Government for the first time has demonstrated that it will not restrain and if need arise it will cross LOC to eliminate Terrorists.

Aruna Miller named executive director of Indian American Impact Fund

March 6, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics 0

Former Congressional candidate and erstwhile Maryland state legislator Aruna Miller has been named the new executive director of the Indian American Impact Fund, which seeks out and endorses and funds Indian-American candidates running for public office at the local, city, county, state and federal levels.

The Hyderabad-born Miller, who immigrated to the U.S. at age eight and is a civil engineer by training, having served in Montgomery County’s Transportation Department for more than two decades, will replace Gautam Raghavan, a former senior Obama administration official, who left Impact in January to serve as Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s (D.-Wash.) chief of staff.

In June last year, much to the disappointment of the Indian-American community, Miller lost to multimillionaire David Trone in the Democratic primary for the vacant seat in the state’s 6th District, who then went on to win the general on Nov.6.

The Miller-Tronerace, was perhaps the most closely-watched primary by the Indian-American community, who considered her the community’s best bet for another Congressional seat, but Miller failed in her bid to become only the second Indian American woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives after Jayapal, because if she had prevailed over Trone, she would have been a shoo-in in the general election in the heavily Democratic district.

Raj Goyle, co-founder of Impact, a former Kansas state legislator, who also made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Congress from the state’s 4th District in 2010, losing to Republican Mike Pompeo, now the U.S. Secretary of State, said, “As a former candidate and elected official who has actually campaigned, won votes, and served in office, Aruna is the ideal person to lead Impact. She has the perfect combination of skills and personal experience to take this organization to the next level,” he predicted.

Goyle said, “As an Indian-American woman, immigrant, candidate, and elected official, Aruna has been a pioneer and trailblazer in our community. We know she will not only provide smart guidance and strategic counsel to Indian American candidates running for office at every level from coast to coast, she will also inspire many more to consider running themselves. Anyone who has met, worked with, or voted for Aruna knows her future is bright. We are excited to have her at the helm of Impact,” he added.

Deepak Raj, entrepreneur and philanthropist, also a co-founder of Impact, said, “When we started looking for a new executive director, it was vital that we find someone who understands both politics and public service, has a demonstrated track record of advocating for our community, and brings fresh thinking and vision to the important work ahead.” He added: “We found all of those traits, and more, in Aruna, and we are thrilled she will lead Impact at this critical time for our community.”

Raj, who is also the chairman of Pratham USA, said, “Impact is well positioned to harness the energy, excitement, and success of a historic 2018 election cycle in which an unprecedented number of Indian-Americans ran for office across the country.

“In the coming months, we look forward to recruiting and training candidates, broadening our reach and support, and shaping the 2020 political landscape,” he added. Raj said that “Aruna shares our passion for building political power in the Indian American community so that our voices are heard in the halls of power,” and predicted, “With her leadership, we will continue building Impact into an organization that will be extraordinarily helpful to future generations of our community.”

Tensions Between India & Pakistan Rises As India Retaliates Against Terror Attack

February 27, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India 0

With the Indian Jets firing terrorist camps in Pakistan, reports describe the current tensions as “the worst flare of tensions between India and Pakistan in two decades.” Indian fighter jets bombed Pakistani-controlled territory on Tuesday, February 26th, 12 days after 40 Indian paramilitary police were killed in a suicide bombing on Feb. 14 in the Pulwama district of Kashmir. It was the deadliest attack in the insurgency that has raged for 30 years in the contested Himalayan region that borders the two countries.

Modi government took a hard line in response to the suicide bombing that caused the deaths of 42 Indians on Feb. 14. “The blood of the people is boiling,” he said before Tuesday’s airstrikes, pledging that Pakistan would “pay a heavy price” for the attack.

The two sides gave contesting versions of events on Tuesday. India said that “a large number” of militants were killed by the Indian air strike, which it said was targeted at a training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed, the terrorist organization that claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 suicide bombing.

Indian Air Force fighter planes dropped laser-guided bombs at a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp well across the Line of Control in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa’s Balakote early on Tuesday morning, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said on Tuesday.

The IAF used Mirage-2000 jets with laser-guided 1,000 pound bombs causing an estimated casualty of 200-300, the sources said. The laser guided bombs are built with Israeli technology and were first used in Kargil. The air strike happened around 3.30 am.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale described the strike as “a non-military pre-emptive action”. Union Minister Prakash Javdekar said the action, which comes almost two weeks after a terror attack killed 40 CRPF jawans in Jammu and Kashmir, was a “necessary step”. “Our army has demonstrated extreme bravery”, said Union Minister Prakash Javdekar in the first comment by a senior government functionary on the cross-border strike.

“The entire country is standing with the armed forces, he said, around the same time Prime Minister Narendra Modi met senior ministers and advisors for a review at a top security meet.

The camp, New Delhi said, was in Balakot — an area inside territory that both sides agree to be Pakistan. The Associated Press quoted residents from a village nearby who said they heard explosions.

But Pakistan rejected India’s description of the attack, instead saying that the Indian jets were forced into a “hasty withdrawal” by the Pakistani air force, and that the bombs were dropped onto an open area, causing no casualties. Pakistan released pictures on social media showing what appeared to be a blast site in a forested area.

The office of Imran Khan, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, said India had justified Tuesday’s bombing using a “fictitious claim.” A spokesperson said in a statement, “India has committed uncalled for aggression to which Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing.”

With Indian elections approaching this spring, India’s retaliation threatens to escalate tensions which are already at boiling point. India and Pakistan already went to war over Kashmir back in 1999, and now, each is ready to point nuclear missiles at the other.

Analysts say, the situation is more fraught than it has been for decades. On Feb. 21, India threatened to cut off water supply to Pakistan, and two days later said it would send 10,000 extra troops into Indian-administered Kashmir. At least 40 incidents of violence against Kashmiris were recorded across India in the days following the attack.

With Indian elections approaching in April and May, the events in Kashmir have taken on a political charge. Analysts say Modi, who is seeking reelection for a second term, stands to benefit from the warlike atmosphere.

“For Modi, this is an opportunity to do what he likes to do most — project the aura of ‘strong leadership’,” says Sumantra Bose, Professor of International and Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics.

“This kind of militarized, hyper-nationalist atmosphere pretty much makes it impossible for any opposition party to take a stand that is more sane, or more conducive to peace and dialogue,” says Nitasha Kaul, of the University of Westminster’s Center for the Study of Democracy. “Essentially there’s an atmosphere in which there is no political voice that is asking the question that needs to be asked, which is: How does this make anyone more secure?”

The attack, Kaul says, also looks set to take the wind out of a growing feeling of momentum against the BJP in the runup to the election. “The BJP lost in three state elections at the end of last year, and there has been a huge wave of protests by farmers,” Kaul says. “So there was this pressure on the BJP and this feeling that they might not come to power again. And the events of the last three weeks have undone so much of that momentum.”

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India’s main opposition Congress Party, posted one tweet after the air force bombing on Tuesday: “I salute the pilots of the IAF [Indian Air Force].”

What’s the background to the attack?

Kashmir has been a contested region ever since the partition of British India in 1947. The Muslim-majority state is claimed by both India and Pakistan, and has been divided between the two countries by a “line of control” ever since a 1971 ceasefire agreement. India’s airstrikes on Tuesday marked the first time since the end of that war that India has sent planes over the line of control.

An insurgency in Kashmir has been raging since 1989, and violence has escalated since the BJP came to power in 2014, including widespread protests in 2016-17 in which thousands of civilians were injured. Groups calling for Kashmiri independence, or even accession to Pakistan, regularly square off against Indian armed forces, which are often referred to as occupants by Kashmiris. “Anyone who has been there should not be in any doubt about the level of alienation,” Kaul, who is from Kashmir, says. “When there are pitched gun battles between Indian security forces and militants, the villagers come out and pelt stones at the soldiers.”

Kashmir, which under India’s constitution is granted a “special status” of more autonomy from central government than other states, has been a used by Prime Minister Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a political symbol for decades. The state has become a byword for Indian national unity and strength against Pakistan, even as its alienated citizens turn out to vote in single-digit turnouts and 41% of adults suffer from depression.

The Hindu nationalist BJP believes that the “special status” of Jammu and Kashmir must be abolished, arguing that Hindu-majority India must not bend its constitutional rules for Muslim-majority Kashmir, and instead follow the principle of “one country, one constitution.” This approach, tapping into long-running hostility between India and Pakistan and tensions within Indian society between Hindus and Muslims, has historically played well with Hindu nationalists in elections.

The situation could deteriorate further. But nuclear war, analysts reckon, is still only a fringe possibility. “The costs of that — mutually assured destruction — are prohibitive even if this escalates further,” says Bose.

“The whole point of nuclear weapons is that they’re meant to be a deterrent,” says Kaul. “But one doesn’t know if these kinds of things are always under control.”

Major General Asif Ghafoor, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s armed forces, had a message for Indian leaders Tuesday. “It is your turn now to wait and get ready for our surprise,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s National Command Authority, which controls Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, would meet on Wednesday.

India and Pakistan were firing mortars across the line of control on Tuesday night local time, the Guardian reported. “The worst case is another war,” Kaul says. “But short of the worst case, too, this is not going to make anything better for Kashmir.”

Nikki Haley wants all aid to Pakistan to end until it stops harboring terrorists

February 27, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, India, Politics 0

Pakistan has a long history of harboring terrorists and America should not give Islamabad even a dollar until it corrects its behavior, Indian-American former US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley has said as she praised the Trump administration for wisely restricting financial assistance to the country.

Haley, who has founded a new policy group ‘Stand America Now’ that will focus on how to keep the US safe, strong, and prosperous, wrote in an op-ed that when the US provides aid to nations, “it is more than fair to ask what the U.S. gets in return for our generosity” but instead Pakistan routinely opposed the US position at the UN on several issues.

“In 2017, Pakistan received nearly USD 1 billion in US foreign aid, the sixth most of any country. Much of the aid went to the Pakistani military. Some went for road, highway, and energy projects to assist the Pakistani people,” Haley wrote in the op-ed ‘Foreign Aid Should Only Go To Friends’.

“On all key votes at the UN, Pakistan opposed the American position 76 per cent of the time. Much more troubling, Pakistan also has a long history of harbouring terrorists who have killed US troops in Afghanistan,” she said. Haley, the former Governor of South Carolina, added that the Trump Administration has “already wisely restricted assistance to Pakistan, but there is much more to be done.”

Haley, who had stepped down as the US envoy to the UN at the end of last year, has previously strongly criticized Pakistan for continuing to harbor terrorists that turn around and kill American soldiers while taking billions of dollars in foreign aid from the US.

In an interview to US magazine ‘The Atlantic’ in December, Haley had said the US did not need to give money to countries that wish harm to America, go behind its back and try and “stop us from doing things”. “The one example I’ll give you is, look at Pakistan. Giving them over a billion dollars, and they continue to harbor terrorists that turn around and kill our soldiers —that’s never okay. We shouldn’t even give them a dollar until they correct it. Use the billion dollars. That’s not a small amount of change,” she had said.

Last September, the Trump administration cancelled USD 300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups active on its soil. Trump had defended his administration’s decision to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Pakistan, saying Islamabad does not do “a damn thing” for the US and its government helped late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Haley’s new policy group aims to promote public policies that strengthen America’s economy, culture, and national security. The group will provide information to grassroots Americans, to highlight the dangers and the opportunities they face domestically and internationally. It will advocate the policies that strengthen the US at all levels of government and in the broader media and culture.

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

February 27, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Education 0

“My journey with Create Foundation began with my first ever show “Mahatma – Come find the Gandhi in you”. I performed in front of a huge audience at The National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai as a lead dancer for the Show, and from then on there was no stopping me,” says a former student at CREATE Foundation. “Under the Create program, I have grown in self-confidence, grooming, and communication. Create Foundation feels like my second home. I got an opportunity to perform on stage in front of such an elite audience, my own personal green room, my first character role and a chance to meet so many amazing people and actors. I made tons of friends and so many memories.

“People stop me in the street and ask me “Weren’t you the lead dancer in that show?” When such incidents happen, I feel like I’m living the life of a star, not a life of a child from a low income house and of a backward class.

“I still can’t believe I’m in Gujarat for “Roots of Dancing- Season 3” and that too on a scholarship. I want to thank the entire team of Create Foundation and Raёll Padamsee for giving me this opportunity to prove myself.”

The above testimony by a former student at CREATE Foundation summarizes in a nutshell what this Foundation stands for. CREATE foundation was established in loving memory of theatre veteran Pearl Padamsee, as a Charitable Trust in 2002 with the objective of addressing the needs of local communities from mid to low economic sector for soft skill education and empowerment providing them the platform to enhance their communication and soft skills. This improves their chances of employability resulting in a higher salary scale.

PEARL PADAMSEE was a bundle of energy. She was witty without being sarcastic, solemn without being sombre, and human without being preachy and moralistic. If she was not profound, she was not frivolous either. There was no malice, no rancour in her. She was real, despite spending almost all her life in the absurdly unreal.

Many of us who take these opportunities for granted because of our family of origin, where we have been blessed with opportunities to develop the talents and potential, millions of children in India, who are born in poor families lacking resources, care and time to develop such talents. “Going to school daily is a dream for many. And joining an acting school a school for developing skills in leadership, communications, team work, self confidence and self esteem is beyond the reach of hundreds of milli0ns of children. Their talents and skills stay and die with them, because they cannot afford and there is no one to encourage them and giving them an opportunity to develop them.

Raёll Padamsee, Pearl’s daughter was instrumental in founding the CREATE Foundation. Raëll a vibrant, versatile, dynamic, well-known theatre personality. She says “We want to make learning come alive. One of the ways we do this is through this Foundation.”

CREATE foundation works with children and youth from this sector, who strongly desire to achieve their dreams and live an empowered life with dignity and respect. CREATE Foundation provides various creative platforms for self development and life skills. It aims to “CREATE a world that holds equal opportunity for all irrespective of backgrounds and disadvantages. The children go through extensive rehearsals and are trained by the best in the business of creative expertise, be it singing, dancing or acting and are given an equal opportunity to perform. This strengthens their talent providing tremendous exposure and boosts their overall personality and confidence.”

CREATE aims to create a more equal society which is actually great as this foundation is giving opportunity to every child and helping in bringing out their talents – Priti Sonar, 16 years, Salam Bombay. Providing an inclusive world where every child irrespective of their challenges and economic background has access to equal opportunity to become productive members of society, the Foundation provides opportunities to To empower and educate children from marginalized backgrounds with leadership, teamwork, self-confidence and communication skills through the medium of drama and the creative arts.

Sabira Merchant, a Trustee at the Foundation, is India’s finest etiquette trainer. She specializes in transforming youth into savvy personalities. She says “Teaching manners & soft skills to teenagers gives them the extra edge to excel at interviews and lands them better jobs to function and succeed as adults.”

Raёll says, the result s of their programs are seen in an impressive impact study conducted by Sattva Consultancy Pvt Ltd depicting the improvements before and after the CREATE program. This was conducted with all the stakeholders comprising of children, parents, non-profits and staff.

Where to name a few categories:

Their confidence increased by 57%

Discipline increased by 23%

Team Work increased by 49%

Creative Thinking increased by 40% and

Leadership qualities increased by 49%

CREATE Foundation is urging all those who are committed to make a difference in the lives of poor and marginalized children by: Volunteer – By giving your time to the CREATE Foundation; Donate – By Cheque in favour of Create Foundation – For Wire Transfer & Foreign contributions – please log on to https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/soft-skill-training-for-450-children-for-a-year/ where you get various options to sponsor – The education of a classroom of 30 students or 60 students, As The Create Foundation is a partner at Global Giving, donors who donate are eligible for US(501 (c ) 3 and UK tax benefits (Gift aid) and Spread the word – Refer a friend to contribute to the CREATE foundation.

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

“Period. End of Sentence” by Sneha and Suman wins Oscar

February 27, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Entertainment, Profiles 0

Period. End of Sentence, featuring Sneha and Suman, won an award at the Oscars on Sunday, last week deals with the stigma of menstruation in India. Period. Kathikhera, a small village in Hapur district, hogged the limelight on Monday after a documentary, Period. End of Sentence, which tackles the stigma of menstruation in the country, created history at the 91st Academy Awards after winning in the best documentary short category.

Indian film producer Guneet Monga is elated about winning an Oscar for her co-production “Period. End of Sentence”, which highlights the stigma around menstruation. She says the accolade adds more power to her mission to “change the world”.

The 26-minute film follows girls and women in Hapur in northern India and their experience with the installation of a pad machine in their village. The film, backed by Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment, is about women in India fighting against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation and delving upon the work of real life ‘Pad Man’ Arunachalam Muruganathan.

“Thank you to the Academy for the highest honour and for recognising the efforts of the young girls from Oakwood school in LA to Kathikera in UP in helping us shatter the glass ceiling,” Monga said in a statement.

The film was nominated along with Black Sheep, End Game, Lifeboat and A Night At The Garden in the category. Winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Short was not an easy task for the makers of India-based documentary Period. End of Sentence as it required hard work and struggle of 20 years, said Sneha and Suman, who have featured in the short film.

“This was not a day’s struggle, the award bears testimony to 20 years of hard labour. Shabana, Usha, Shashi, Shushila and Anita. Our unit team included seven workers — Sneha, Rakhi, Sushma, Rinki, Preeti, Ruksana and Arsi. It would have been difficult to make this film and fight for this cause without them,” Sneha told ANI.

“We have received success today on a topic on which we can’t even talk about in public. Periods, which are looked down upon in the society, we have been able to work towards raising awareness about it. Our aim is not just to sell sanitary napkins. Our aim is to make people accept cleanliness during periods. We want all women to understand this and take care of their hygiene. If our voice reaches to a single girl, then we feel we have received success,” Suman added.

The 26-minute short documentary, co-produced by Guneet Monga and directed by 25-year-old Rayka Zehtabchi, follows a group of women in Hapur, India who lead a quiet revolution as they fight against the stigma of menstruation that is deeply rooted in society.

For generations, the women of the village did not have access to sanitary pads, which lead to health issues among them. When a sanitary pad is installed in their village, the women learn to manufacture and market their own pads, naming it ‘FLY.’

Sneha’s family also expressed their joy over the win. Sneha’s brother Kapil while speaking to ANI, said, “It is based on my sister’s life, but not just my sister, everyone related to the film should get credit for the film’s win. The director and actors of the film, all deserve the award. It’s a very happy moment for all of us.”

Sneha’s friend and co-worker Sushma also expressed her happiness and said, “I am feeling very happy and proud. We come from a small village and we didn’t know about this earlier. We had worked very hard on this and so we are feeling very proud. We are very happy that the movie based on our company and our work has got an award.”

Besides them, Bollywood too erupted with happiness. From Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Vicky Kaushal and Neha Dhupia to Dia Mirza and Mini Mathur, various B-Town celebrities took to Twitter to congratulate the film’s team on the big win.

“Periods are normal and in no way do they stop us from achieving anything. This has been more than 10 years of work of Action India, run by Gauri Chaudhary, on educating reproductive rights on the ground in many villages. Feminist Majority Movement and Girls Learn International have been pushing this cause in the US,” she added.

The 26-minute documentary is based on the work being done by two village women, Sneha (22) and her sister-in-law Suman (37), who dared to raise the issues of periods and menstrual hygiene in a conservative society and installed a sanitary pad making machine in their house.

The two women also set up a sanitary pad vending machine in the village where other women also learned to manufacture and market their own pads. They named their brand ‘FLY’.

Sneha and Suman themselves feature in the documentary that has been directed by 25-year-old Rayka Zehtabchi and co-produced by Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment, which has backed films like The Lunchbox and Masaan.

“It is an honour for the entire country and Hapur district. I congratulate the villagers for extending their support to us,” said Sneha’s father and Suman’s father-in-law Rajendra Tanwar.

“Sneha and Suman are currently in the US to attend the Academy Awards ceremony and have shared their success with the family over phone,” said a beaming Tanwar.

Suman and Sneha are associated with a women’s welfare group Mahila Sabla Sangh. Two years ago, NGO Action India approached them to educate women and girls about menstrual health and hygiene, and making sanitary napkins was a part of the project.

“Sneha and Suman decided to take up the project and agreed to install a sanitary pad making machine in their house. It was installed in a small room. Even the family members were not aware about the work they were doing initially,” said Tanwar.

They started contacting girls and women of the village to educate them about the importance of sanitary napkins in maintaining proper health.

In this conservative village, with a population of 4,500 where Gujjar community is dominant, Sneha and Suman developed a support group and succeeded in convincing a few village girls and women to work with them.

Directed by award-winning Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi, the film is created by The Pad Project, an organization established by an inspired group of students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles and their teacher, Melissa Berton.

Monga has a message for girls all around the world. “Every girl in India or anywhere around the world needs to know this and hear this loud and clear. Period is an end of a sentence, but not a girl’s education.”

“Mandakini Kakar from Sikhya was on the floor working with the film and is the voice of the film too. And thank you Stacey Sher and Lisa Taback for supporting this massive dream. And thank you Netflix (for) truly putting us on the map.” She wants “every girl to know that each one of them is a goddess. Now, that we have an Oscar, Let’s go change the world.”

Kim Kumari is Miss India USA 2019; Esha Kode is Miss Teen India USA; Vidhi Dave is Mrs. India USA

February 27, 2019 Staff ReporterEntertainment, Fashion 0

Kim Kumari, 18, from New Jersey, who is planning to be Optometrist and help Third World Nation Children learn about the importance of eye care, was decalred the winner of the prestigious Miss India USA 2019 on February 17^th here at Royal Alberts Palace, Edison, NJ. Kim also won the Best Talent Award for her performance of Lavni (Maharashtra folk dance) with a fusion of Bhangra.

Mrs. India USA, Vidhi Dave, 31, from Connecticut has a Data Scientist degree from Harvard University is a Project Manager with an IT company. Her hobbies include all kind of dancing including Bharatnatyam, Folk and Bollywood. She wants to be a social activist and become a voice for women’s empowerment.

Esha Kode, 16, from New Jersey was crowned Miss Teen India USA who also got the Miss Talented Award. Esha aspires to be a top fashion model and movie star and academically pursue to be a pediatric surgeon. Kim and Vidhi will represent USA in the Miss & Mrs. India Worldwide 2019 to be held in Mumbai in September of this year. The three won the crowns out of 75 finalists from all over USA. The annual pageant which also celebrated thirty seventh anniversary of Miss India USA had a record number of participants and was attended by hundreds of people from across the USA.

Renuka Joseph from New York and Aanchal Shah from Florida were declared Fist and Second Runners Up respectively in the Miss India USA section. Amrita Chehil from Ohio and Sowmya Saxena also from Ohio were declared First and second runner ups respectively in the Mrs.India USA section. In the Teen section Aishwarya Vallem of Georgia and Tanvi Gujral also from Georgia were respectively declared first and second runner ups.

Organized by the New York based India Festival Committee (IFC) and chaired by Neelam & Dharmatma Saran is the longest running Indian pageant outside of India.” I am overwhelmed with the great response this year, said Dharmatma Saran, “with a record number of 75 contestants representing 26 states from the United States.”

The pageant started with a stunning performance by all the contestants led by the outgoing queens Shree Saini and Kavita Malhotra Pattani and choreographed by Shilpa Jhurani. All contestants presented their best in the Indian and the Evening Gown segment after which the top ten were selected. The top ten contestants from Miss Section then amazed the audience with their talent which included Bollywood dances, Indian classical and folk dances, singing and speech.

Dharmatma Saran, Chairman & Founder, presented Lifetime Achievement Award to Bollywood legend Meenakshi Seshadri for her contributions to Indian Motion Picture and performing arts.Meenakshi Seshadri also served as Chief Judge along with Bollywood Choreographer Sandip Soparrkar, Indian Latin Actor Prabhakar Sharan, Miss India Worldwide 2017 and a rising singing star Madhu Valli and Dr. Binod Sinha from New Jersey.

IFC partnered with Ketto, a NGO based in Mumbai, and started by Bollywood actor Kunal Kapoor and Varun Sheth, to raise funds for PURNATA who works with stopping human trafficking. With the help of all Mrs. Contestants over $8000.00 was raised with Mrs. Nikita Shah from Florida raising the maximum amount and was awarded as Miss Philanthropist.

“We are very proud of the fact that we have been able to imbibe Indian values, tradition, culture and performing arts among Indian origin youth across the world” with our motto “bringing India closer,”said Dharmatma Saran, Chairman and Founder of the pageants.

Nikkitasha Marwaha – Miss India Worldwid 2009 and Bollywood actor and Anuradha Maharaj – former Miss India Trinidad were emcees for the function and Nishi Bahl was the choreographer assisted by Shilpa Jhurani. This year pageant was presented by 27th Investments and supported by TV Asia and Royal Albert’s Palace.

Bernie Sanders announces candidacy for U.S. presidency in 2020

February 20, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics 0

Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and 2016 Democratic primary runner-up, whose populist policy agenda has helped push the party to the left, announced on Tuesday, February 19th that he was running for president again, embarking on a bid that would test whether he could retain the anti-establishment appeal he enjoyed with many liberal voters three years ago.

A self-styled democratic socialist whose calls for “Medicare for all,” a $15 minimum wage and zero college tuition and higher taxes on the rich, have become pillars of the party’s left wing, Mr. Sanders is among the best-known politicians to join an already crowded Democratic field and one of the most outspoken against President Trump, whom he has repeatedly called a “pathological liar” and a “racist.”

“Hi, I’m Bernie Sanders. I’m running for President,” Mr. Sanders said in a video and email sent to supporters on Tuesday, in which he also asked them to be part of an “unprecedented grassroots campaign”. Mr. Sanders had raised some $230 million, mostly through small donations in 2016.

“Our campaign is not only about defeating Donald Trump, the most dangerous President in modern American history,” Mr Sanders said in the video. “ It is not only about winning the Democratic nomination and the general election. Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.”

“Three years ago, during our 2016 campaign, when we brought forth our progressive agenda we were told that our ideas were ‘radical’ and ‘extreme,’” Mr. Sanders said on Tuesday in an early-morning email to supporters, citing those health, economic and education policies as well as combating climate change and raising taxes on wealthy Americans.

“Well, three years have come and gone. And, as result of millions of Americans standing up and fighting back, all of these policies and more are now supported by a majority of Americans,” he said.

The nature of the race has changed markedly in just three years. In 2016, Mr. Sanders was pushing progressive policies and his main opponent for the Democratic nomination, Hilary Clinton, was an establishment candidate. In 2020, Mr. Sanders will run in a less ideologically unique space — a result of his own policy agenda and presence on the national stage.

At least two of those who had endorsed Mr. Sanders previously — Tulsi Gabbard, Congresswoman from Hawaii, and author Marianne Williamson — will now compete with him for the Democratic ticket.

Sanders will start with several advantages, including the foundation of a 50-state organization; a massive lead among low-dollar donors that is roughly equivalent to the donor base of all the other Democratic hopefuls combined; and a cache of fervent, unwavering supporters. A coveted speaker, he is still capable of electrifying crowds in a way few politicians can. He enjoys wide name recognition, and several early polls on the 2020 race had Mr. Sanders running second behind former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

“Our campaign is about taking on the powerful special interests that dominate our economic and political life. I’m talking about Wall Street, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry, the military-industrial complex, the private prison industry, and the large multinational corporations that exert such an enormous influence over our lives,” said Mr. Sanders, who has projected himself as a candidate for working class Americans and against entrenched Washington interests.

Mr. Sanders referred to e-commerce giant Amazon paying “nothing in federal income taxes” and the “grotesque” income inequalities in American society. He called for an end to racism, sexism, homophobia, religious bigotry and an end to voter suppression and gerrymandering [manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency in an electorally strategic manner].

“We are running against a President who is a pathological liar, a fraud, a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe, and someone who is undermining American democracy as he leads us in an authoritarian direction,” Mr. Sanders said.

If he wins, Mr. Sanders , at 77, will be the oldest candidate on the Democratic ticket. Yet, he is highly popular among young voters and won the under-30 vote in 2016 against Ms. Clinton. However, Mr. Sanders fared badly last time with African American and women voters. Ms. Clinton won South Carolina — where some 60% of Democratic voters are black — by almost 50 points. Mr. Sanders visited South Carolina on Martin Luther King Jr. day at the end of January and met with lawmakers and others, and delivered a speech in honour of Dr. King.

There are other vulnerabilities in the Sanders campaign. His opponents will likely bring up his voting record on gun control — he received support from the NRA as a Congressman in 1990 for voting against wait times for those wanting to buy handguns. Mr. Sanders is also likely to be challenged on reports of harassment of female workers by their colleagues and pay disparities in the Sanders campaign in 2016.

“I certainly apologize to any woman who felt she was not treated appropriately, and of course, if I run we will do better the next time,” Mr. Sanders had said.

A recent Morning Consult nationwide poll of democratic primary voters put Mr. Sanders in second place, winning 22% of primary voters and behind former Vice-President Joe Biden (29%). Indian and African American candidate Kamala Harris came in third at 13%.

Condemnation of bomb attack that killed 44 CRPF personnel in Kashmir shows how united the world is against terrorism

February 20, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, India, U.S. 0

The terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 44 soldiers of the Central Reserve Police Force, has been roundly condemned by world leaders across the globe. From the White House to Congress, to state level lawmakers, activists and non-governmental organizations in the United States, took to social media to express their condemnation. Almost all major countries from all the continents, including the European, African, Asian and Australian countries have strongly condemned the attack.

The incident took place at Lethpora, about 20 miles from Srinagar on the Jammu-Srinagar highway around 3.15 pm on February 14th. Jammu and Kashmir police spokesperson has confirmed that it was an improvised explosive device (IED) blast. The explosion was followed by gunshots aimed at the security forces in Pulwama district of the state.

India’s prime minister warned Friday of a “crushing response” to the suicide bombing of a paramilitary convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir, an attack killed 44 and is now the deadliest in the kashmir region’s volatile history.

“The United States condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack by a Pakistan-based terrorist group that killed over 40 Indian paramilitary forces and wounded at least 44 others,” the White House said. Expressing “deep condolences” to the victims’ families, the Indian government, and the Indian people for the loss of life, the White House hauled up Pakistan.

“The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region. This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India,” the Trump administration asserted.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee (@HouseForeign) tweeted the response of its Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel, D-NY, saying, “I strongly condemn the terrorist attack in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state today and send my condolences to the families of the victims. Countries must not allow terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed to operate with impunity. #kashmirterrorattack”

Numerous other members of Congress from both parties, took to social media expressing unequivocal condemnation. “I strongly condemn the terror attack in Kashmir. The United States stands with our friends in India, and I send heartfelt condolences to the families that lost loved ones,” Democratic Party leader Chuck Schumer said.

Sen. John Cornyn, Republican co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, called it the “deadliest attack in 30 years” by “a radical Islamist terrorist group,” adding, “I send my deepest condolences to the soldiers injured and killed in this senseless attack, to their families, and to India, a critical ally in the global war on terror.”

“The United States stands with our Indian allies against those behind this heinous act of terrorism,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, co-chair of the Senate India Caucus.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu woman to be in the U.S. Congress who is running for the 2020 presidential race, said, “We stand with the people of India in condemning the terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir, and send our condolences and prayers to the victims families. We must all stand up against these jihadists and their ideology.”

Indian-American lawmakers on Capitol Hill also condemned the attack. Rep. Ami Bera, D-California, tweeted, “My thoughts are with the victims and their families today. America stands with the Indian people and strongly condemns this senseless violence.”

“I condemn the terrorist attack in Pulwama in the strongest terms, and I send my heartfelt condolences to the victims of this attack and all those touched by it. We must all stand united against terrorism,” tweeted Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois.

“Heartbreaking. My thoughts are with the families of the victims of heinous terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir today. We must confront terror and defeat it, wherever it occurs. #KashmirTerrorAttack,” tweeted Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington. The tweet was retweeted by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California.

Ohio State Rep. Niraj Antani, a Republican running for the state Senate, made a strong statement on the Kashmir attack, tweeting, “Forty soldiers in India were killed during a terrorist attack by the self proclaimed “Army of Muhammad.” Radical Islamic terror is a global threat to democracy, freedom, & the American way of life. The United States must stand with India to combat terror.”

“I strongly condemn this cowardly terrorist attack which targeted Indian soldiers in Kashmir. My thoughts and prayers to the families of the soldiers,”New York State Senator Kevin Thomas, said in a tweet.

Non-profit Indian-American organizations also came forward. The Hindu American Foundation released a statement from its Managing Director Samir Kalra, saying, ”

“This latest attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed is sadly another example of how Pakistan’s intelligence services continue to sponsor terrorist incursions into India. While it’s heartening to see that a wide swath of the international community is unequivocally condemning the attack, such statements of solidarity must be backed up by actions which help bring to an end the ability of such terrorist groups to kill with impunity and destabilize the region.”

Jeff M. Smith, an expert on South Asia, at the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center, tweeted, “It’s LONG past time for Pakistan’s establishment to root out these fanatic groups, many of which operate in the open and with the support of elements of the Pakistani state. It’s unacceptable. And it’s outrageous the world didn’t draw a collective red line on this a long time ago.”

“American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI), the premiere ethnic medical organization in the United States, condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack on CRPF personnel in Kashmir today,” said Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI in a statement here.

While thanking the members of India’s armed forces who brave hostile conditions on the Indo-Pak borrder, protecting the nation from acts of terrorism and enemy attacks, Dr. Parikh said, “The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire AAPI family is united with them and their families in this hour of need. I want to convey our deepest condolences to the families of our martyrs.” While describing terrorism to be a cancer in the society, Dr. Parikh called on the international community to come together, to make collective efforts to root it out.

Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect of AAPI, said, “Attack on the CRPF personnel in Kashmir is despicable. We at AAPI strongly condemn this dastardly attack. Sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. We strongly urge all members of the international community to support India’s efforts to root out terrorism.”

The Indian American Muslim Council condemned in the strongest terms the dastardly act of terror in Kashmir that has claimed the lives of 40 personnel from India’s Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The brave CRPF personnel who laid down their lives reflected the diversity of India united in their ultimate sacrifice for the nation. IAMC called for a thorough investigation and bringing the perpetrators to justice. IAMC also demands that swift action be taken against the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed that has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Indian Overseas Congress, USA, condemned the dastardly acts of terrorism perpetrated in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district by Jaish-e-Mohammed Group operating from Pakistani base. Harbachan Singh, Secretary- General of IOC, USA called on Pakistan to immediately stop providing “safe haven” to these operatives and cease giving them any support. He added that this incident has undoubtedly strengthened our resolve. India will take aggressive, decisive and forceful action to rid this menace at its borders. The Indian nation owes the deep condolence and sympathies to the families of the fallen soldiers as we sincerely appreciate and recognize how greatly indebted, we are for the unstinting and ultimate sacrifice that they made for India and its people.

‘Open Embrace: India-U.S. Ties in the Age of Modi and Trump’ by Varghese K. George released

February 20, 2019 Staff ReporterIndia, Politics, U.S. 0

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have built their politics on the promise of making their countries great again. Placing India and the US as leaders on the world stage is the stated objective of their respective foreign policies, based as they are on the assumption that both inherited a mess from their predecessors.

As Trump sets out to potentially reorient his own country and the world, Varghese K. George, in Open Embrace, provides a quick overview of the changes occurring in America s relations with the world under the Trump presidency and what it means for India. Trump s alignment with Modi s world view what George calls the Hindutva Strategic Doctrine and America’s changing relationships with India s neighbors, Pakistan and China, form a crucial part of this narrative.

In the introduction, George states that the book is a “broad exploration” of the question of whether Trump and Modi can “find common ground,” and on what happens to India-U.S. ties “when both countries appear to be under the spell of ultranationalism? Or, in Trumpian language, can Modi and Trump make a deal?”

But, he notes that what the book is not is a thesis of the strategic interests and calculations of the two countries, “or on the technical questions related to military equipment and tactics, the minutiae of trade deals and disputes, or on geopolitics.”

Open Embrace, according to George, is an attempt to offer “an unconventional approach to understanding strategy.”

Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament showers kudos on Open Embrace, describing it as “an outstanding work—a superb analysis of the state of Indo-U.S. relations in the Modi-Trump era, with a lucid explication of the Hindutva Strategic Doctrine and detailed discussions of Indian and U.S. policy differences on China, Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

Walter Andersen, Senior Adjunct Professor of South Asian Studies at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and a former longtime State Department official, who co-authored ‘The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism,’ says Open Embrace “addresses the impact of a growing nationalism in India and the U.S. on their conduct of diplomacy,” and lauds George’s “riveting” analysis of the foreign policy implications of Trump’s “Make America Great” and Modi’s Hindu nationalism.

Varghese K. George is the associate editor and US correspondent for The Hindu. Earlier, he was the political editor of the daily, based in New Delhi. He has written extensively on politics, political economy, society, and the foreign policy of India and the US, particularly on the rise of Modi in India and Trump in America.

Prior to joining The Hindu, he was chief of bureau at Hindustan Times. He has also worked for the Indian Express in various roles. His reports have won several awards, including the Ramnath Goenka Journalist of the Year, the Prem Bhatia Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Reporting, the Transparency International Award for fighting corruption and the International Press Institute Award for Excellence in Journalism.

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

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

The Major Superiors of Religious Orders and Congregations (USIG/USG) on February 19, 2019, issued a statement in advance of the February 21-24 Vatican Summit on the Protection of Minors, with the message: “The abuse of children is wrong anywhere and anytime: this point is not negotiable.”

The statement pledges the support of the superiors for the initiative of Pope Francis in calling the meeting and addressing the abuse crisis.

“In our work as religious, we come across many situations where children are abused, neglected, maltreated and unwanted,” the statement said. “We see child soldiers; the trafficking of minors; the sexual abuse of minors; the physical and emotional abuse of minors. They cry out to us. As adults, as Christians and as religious we want to work so that their lives are changed and that the situations in which they are brought up are improved…

“We bow our heads in shame at the realization that such abuse has taken place in our Congregations and Orders, and in our Church…We need a different culture in the Church and in our wider society. We need a culture where children are treasured and where safeguarding is promoted…

“For our own part, we commit to do our best to listen better to survivors, humbly acknowledging that that has not always been the case. We will implement what is decided at this meeting in terms of the accountability required of those in authority.”

The Full USIG/USG Statement:

As the meeting on safeguarding and protection of minors begins we, the Major Superiors of Religious Orders and Congregations around the world, unite in support of this initiative of Pope Francis.

In our work as religious, we come across many situations where children are abused, neglected, maltreated and unwanted. We see child soldiers; the trafficking of minors; the sexual abuse of minors; the physical and emotional abuse of minors. They cry out to us. As adults, as Christians and as religious we want to work so that their lives are changed and that the situations in which they are brought up are improved.

The common theme across all of these issues is vulnerability. Children are the most vulnerable in our societies. Children who are poor, who are disabled or destitute, or who are on the margins, who belong to lower social classes or castes may have a particular vulnerability. They are considered dispensable, to be used and abused.

Sexual abuse in the Church

This particular meeting focuses on the sexual abuse of children and the abuse of power and conscience by those in authority in the Church, especially bishops, priests and religious. It is a story stretching back for decades, a narrative of immense pain for those who have suffered this abuse.

We bow our heads in shame at the realization that such abuse has taken place in our Congregations and Orders, and in our Church. We have learned that those who abuse deliberately hide their actions and are manipulative. By definition, it is difficult to uncover this abuse. Our shame is increased by our own lack of realization of what has been happening. We acknowledge that when we look at Provinces and Regions in our Orders and Congregations across the world, that the response of those in authority has not been what it should have been. They failed to see warning signs or failed to take them seriously.

Our hopes for this Meeting

Our hope for this meeting is that the Holy Spirit will work powerfully during these three days. A three-day meeting is a short time. However, we believe that with the winds of change blowing through our Church and with goodwill on all sides, important processes and structures of accountability can be started and the ones already in place can be supported. New steps forward can be imagined and decisions can be made so that implementation can follow speedily and universally with proper respect for different cultures. The abuse of children is wrong anywhere and anytime: this point is not negotiable.

The Holy Father

The leadership of the Holy Father is key. He has shown the way in so many of these areas; he has acknowledged the pain and guilt; he has met with survivors; he has acknowledged his own mistakes and his need to learn from these survivors. We join with him in his mission to humbly acknowledge and confess the wrongs that have been done; to reach out to survivors; to learn from them how to accompany those who have been abused and how they wish us to hear their stories.

For our own part, we commit to do our best to listen better to survivors, humbly acknowledging that that has not always been the case. We will implement what is decided at this meeting in terms of the accountability required of those in authority.

A culture of Safeguarding

We need a different culture in the Church and in our wider society. We need a culture where children are treasured and where safeguarding is promoted.

– Education and Health Care: Through the schools and the hospitals which many of us run, we can make a difference. Those institutions now have a heightened awareness of the issue of abuse and better protocols and higher standards of protection are in place. Children in these places are more secure than ever before. Sometimes, although admittedly not in all cases, our practices can be a model for others.

– Formation: we will integrate the protection of minors and vulnerable adults into our formation programmes, ensuring that, at every stage, appropriate instruction and education is given to both formators and those in formation. Cultural assumptions must be challenged. As said earlier, it must be clear that whatever the culture and background, the abuse of children is never permitted or tolerable.

– Spirituality: We will ask our Spirituality Centres to develop special outreach to any survivor who wishes to find help in their struggles with faith and meaning. Finding Jesus in a personal way is something that can heal us all. But we understand, too, that those who have been abused by priests or religious may want to stay far distant from the Church and from those who represent the Church. We do know that there are some survivors who want to make this journey of healing and we will try humbly to journey with them. A spirituality that emphasizes personal growth and healing is for many survivors a special gift and grace. Traditional ways of speaking of sin need particular attention. Those who have been abused often carry a sense of guilt, shame, and even sin. In reality, however, they are the ones who have been sinned against.

These and other steps are ways in which our work as religious can help the efforts of the Church.

Conversion

Pope Francis rightly attacks the culture of clericalism which has hindered our fight against abuse and indeed is one of the root causes. In addition, the strong sense of family in our Orders and Congregations – something usually so positive – can make it harder to condemn and expose abuse. It resulted in a misplaced loyalty, errors in judgment, slowness to act, denial and at times, cover-up. We still need conversion and we want to change. We want to act with humility. We want to see our blind spots. We want to name any abuse of power. We commit to engage in a journey with those we serve, moving forward with transparency and trust, honesty and sincere repentance.

Resources

Resources are always an issue. A glance at societies that have put child protection practices in place shows that even government health services struggle with providing adequate resources. We need to collaborate with each other in this area so that resources are used effectively and efficiently. The UISG and USG will work to ensure that Congregations cooperate so that we reach out in the most effective way to survivors in their journey of healing. Formation and ongoing formation can perhaps be the best areas where we can work together. The screening of candidates who join religious life is also something we can collaborate on, identifying best practices. This screening should be compulsory and of the highest quality.

A plea for the Involvement of parents and of women

We ask the help of parents in our fight against abuse. They have a natural instinct for the protection of children that is indispensable. Their advice, their support, their expertise and their challenge to us will be particularly welcome. In particular, we underline the role of mothers. It is fair to say that if women had been asked for their advice and assistance in the evaluation of cases, stronger, faster and more effective action would have been taken. Our ways of handling allegations would have been different, and victims and their families would have been spared a great deal of suffering.

A message to Survivors

Lastly, but most importantly, we want to send a message directly to survivors and their families. We acknowledge that there was an inadequate attempt to deal with this issue and a shameful lack of capacity to understand your pain. We offer our sincerest apologies and our sorrow. We ask you to believe in our goodwill and in our sincerity. We invite you to work with us to put in place new structures to ensure that the risks are minimized.

This meeting will focus on the Protection of Minors. However, recent media attention has also focused on the abuse and exploitation of religious sisters, seminarians, and candidates in formation houses. This is a matter of grave and shocking concern. We pledge ourselves to do all in our power to find an effective response. We want to ensure that those who generously apply to join religious orders or who are trained in seminaries live in places of safety where their vocation is nourished and where their desire to love God and others is helped to grow to maturity.

As the meeting on safeguarding starts, we ask pardon of all for our failures and repeat that we stand with the Holy Father. We commit our efforts to working with him so that the Church can move forward in a coherent, credible and unified way, a way that is genuinely healing, truly renewed, with new eyes to see and new ears to hear.

Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla accorded warm welcome by Top US Lawmakers

February 13, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics 0

Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the new Indian envoy to the US, was accorded a warm welcome reception by the members of the Senate India Caucus and the House Caucus on India and Indian Americans on February 7^th on Capitol Hill.

Attended by an unprecedented large number of lawmakers and hundreds of Indian Americans from across the country, Ambassador Shringla stated that it’s an undeniable reflection of the goodwill and natural affinity towards India.

Elated by the warm reception and the record participation of US lawmakers, the envoy said it reflected “the strong bipartisan support for India” in the US Congress and among the American people. “You need only look around this room to see the enthusiasm of your constituents who have flown in from all parts of the United States to be with us here today,” he told members of the Senate India Caucus, co-chaired by Mark Warner (Democrat-Virginia) and John Cornyn (Republican-Texas), and its counterpart on the Hill, the House India Caucus, headed by George Holding (Republican-North Carolina) and Brad Sherman (Democrat-California). The event was co-hosted by both the India caucuses, a great goodwill gesture befitting New Delhi’s top diplomat in Washington.

The envoy in thanking the co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus and the House Caucus on India and Indian Americans for hosting “the warm welcome,” noted that “as the world’s oldest and largest democracies, the U.S. Congress and the Indian Parliament express the will of our people and the strong bipartisan support for the relationship in the U.S. Congress is reflected in the goodwill and natural affinity toward India among the American people.’

Shringla said, “We also look forward to adding in many new members to the India Caucus, which is something that has been mentioned by the co-chairs,” and noted, “with the number of new members to the House, this would be a welcome addition to our Caucus.”

He said, “In my first few weeks in D.C., I have had the opportunity to meet with senior members of Congress who recalled fondly that they were champions of the India-U.S. relationship long before it became fashionable. In fact, in the House of Representatives, the Caucus was founded 25 years ago, in 1993 by Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey and Congressman Bill McCollum of Florida. In the Senate, the Caucus was founded by Senator Cornyn and Senator Hillary Clinton in 2004.”

“Since then, at every step of the way, we have counted on your understanding and support as we continue to steer our countries ever closer,” he said. “Many in this room will recall the sterling role played by the India Caucus in getting us past the finish line on the landmark civil nuclear agreement.”

Shringla also said, “The designation of India as a Major Defense Partner was also codified into law by the U.S. Congress in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017, thanks to the unstinting support of the members of the India Caucus.”

Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the Joint Session of the US Congress on June 8, 2016 that “our relationship has overcome the hesitations of history,” and that “comfort, candor and convergence define our conversations,” the ambassador said, “I will look forward to the same comfort, convergence and candor as we work closely with members of Congress, particularly members of the India Caucus to build upon the tremendous progress already made.”

A seasoned, skilled and affable diplomat, he described the people-to-people ties between India and the US as “one of natural affinity and mutual attraction. Almost every American I have met has told me how he loves Indian food and almost every Indian you meet would tell you how they love Netflix, shopping on Amazon, and posting updates on Facebook,” he said.1

“Our synergies and similarities are immense, our values and love of freedom identical. The spirit of entrepreneurship, innovation and high regard to family and community defines the best of both of our peoples,” he said.

Shringla said the “people to people contacts are a very important part” of the growing trade, defense and diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Washington, and reiterated that “India and the U.S. are countries that have a natural affinity and mutual attraction.”

In showering kudos on the Indian American community, he said, “We are very grateful to our many Indian Americans who are here,” and pointed out that “some have come from the west coast, some have come from the southern part of the United States, and some have come from far north, and all of them have come with the same objective to see how they can encourage us to take this relationship forward.”

Shringla said they were all committed to “help us in connecting with their elected representatives and how we can together strengthen that very valuable relationship.”

“I am confident that with your continued support, we will realize the immense potential the relationship holds–the defining one for the 21st century.”

Women’s Empowerment Campaign Chicago Hosts US Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard

February 13, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics, Women 0

The Women’s Empowerment Campaign (WE) hosted Congresswomen and Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard at a networking event on Saturday February 9th, 2019 in Naperville, IL. The Women’s Empowerment Campaign was designed to create the largest networking & empowerment platform for Indian women in Chicagoland. Some of the important goals identified by the group include supporting entrepreneurship in the Indian women community, showcasing & highlighting women business-owners and professionals, raising awareness of existing resources & services in the community, celebrating successful Indian women & supporting women leaders in the community. The initiative was founded in November 2017 and currently has 1500+ members. They have executed 3-4 successful events since inception including the first women’s business awards, women’s business expo, women’s job fair and a big gala to celebrate international women’s day in an Indian way.

The principals of the campaign include founders Rita Singh, Shital Daftari & Dr. Anuja Gupta who are prominent businesswomen & community members in Chicagoland. “We had reached a point in our lives where we felt blessed by the community support we had and wanted to do something to give back to the community” says Dr. Anuja Gupta who is a physician and real estate developer of Verandah Retirement Community. Shital Daftari who is an e-commerce business owner of Saris and Things had a different perspective, “We wanted to do showcase how powerful Indian women were. I also wanted to inspire women to take the first step to living a life of their dreams and reaching their highest potential”. Rita Singh who is an IT business owner and also has experience in show business says, “I had a very gratifying experience mentoring other people who wanted to start their own business and wanted to do it on a larger scale thru this platform. I wanted to make a meaningful difference in the Indian community”.

Hosting Tulsi Gabbard was a big accomplishment for the group. Tulsi who is a congresswoman from Hawaii announced her run for US President in January 2019. She is the first Hindu woman to run for president. Hosting leaders such as Tulsi fits in with the group’s goals of supporting women community leaders. This visit of Tulsi Gabbard was the first outside of Hawaii after her announcement. Tulsi served in the military and was deployed in two wars. She is currently a major in the marine corps. “The greatest attribute that anyone could have is love for their country because that is truly beyond themselves and not related to any other self-interest. When I promised to serve my country in the military I really meant it” said Tulsi Gabbard. One remarkable moment in her political career came when she asked to use the Gita instead of the usual Bible for her swearing-in ceremony to the US Congress. “As women’s empowerment advocates and as Hindu women we could not be prouder to support Tulsi” added WE Founder Dr. Anuja Gupta.

US lawmakers reach border security deal averting another shutdown

February 13, 2019 Staff ReporterPolitics 0

A group of Democrats and Republicans in the US House and Senate have reached an agreement in principle over border security to fund the US government and avert another partial shutdown.

The agreement contains only a fraction of the money President Donald Trump wants for his promised border wall and does not mention a concrete barrier. The deal still needs to be approved by Congress and signed by the president.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Trump said of the deal: “I can’t say I’m happy, I can’t say I’m thrilled.”

He told reporters he would have a meeting about the agreement later on Tuesday.

The Democrats – who now control the House of Representatives – have refused to approve the $5.7bn for Mr Trump’s wall on the border with Mexico, one of his key campaign pledges.

Lawmakers expressed optimism that a bill would be approved by Friday when funding runs out for some federal agencies. The previous shutdown – the longest in US history – lasted 35 days and cost the country’s economy an estimated $11bn.

Details have yet to be released but aides familiar with the negotiations say it includes $1.375bn in funding for 55 miles (88km) of new fencing at the border, a small part of the more than 2,000 miles promised by the president.

The barrier would be built in the Rio Grande Valley, in Texas, using existing designs, such as metal slats, instead of the concrete wall that Mr Trump had demanded.

There was also an agreement to reduce the number of beds in detention centers to 40,250 from the current 49,057, reports say.

The talks had reached an impasse earlier with Republicans strongly rejecting Democrats’ demands for a limit to the number of undocumented migrants already in the US who could be detained by immigration authorities.

The deal was struck in a closed-door meeting in Washington on Monday evening after several hours of talks.

“We got an agreement on all of it,” Republican Senator Richard Shelby said. “Our staffs are going to be working feverishly to put all the particulars together. We believe that if this becomes law, it’ll keep open the government.”

But, by Monday night, some of the president’s conservative allies had already denounced the deal, with Fox News commentator Sean Hannity calling it a “garbage compromise”. House Freedom Caucus leader Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina said the agreement failed “to address the critical priorities outlined by Border Patrol Chiefs”.

In a crowded stadium with banners saying “Finish the Wall” in El Paso, in Texas on Monday night, Mr Trump told supporters: “Walls work… Walls save lives.”

He repeated that a border fence in the city, opposite Ciudad Juárez in Mexico, “made a big difference”, even though critics reject his claim as exaggerated and based on misleading data.

“We need the wall, and it has to be built,” said Mr Trump, who has previously threatened to declare a national emergency and fund the wall without Congress.

The idea, however, is disliked even by some fellow Republicans, and Democrats are likely to challenge it in the courts.

The president has backed away from calls to make Mexico pay for a concrete wall, a point he repeatedly made during his presidential campaign, and has already acknowledged that the barrier to be built may not be made of concrete.

Millions descend to the Ganges for the Holy Dip at Kumbh

February 13, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

Between now and March organizers of the Kumbh Mela in the holy city of Prayag, expect about 120 million pilgrims to bathe at the Sangam – the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati Rivers in northern India.

Hindus believe that doing so will cleanse them of their sins and help them attain “moksha”, setting them free from the cycle of birth and death. Kumbh Melas have been held for centuries but became huge only in recent decades. The 2001 festival at Allahabad was seen as the first “mega mela”.

Every six years, tens of millions of Hindus pour into the northern Indian city of Prayagraj to take a holy dip in the Ganges River. The festival is called the Kumbh Mela, and in its different forms it is consistently the biggest gathering of humanity on the planet.

This year’s festival is an “ardh Kumbh” – a “half-size” version that falls mid-way between two Kumbhs – but there’s nothing diminutive about it. In fact, it’s much bigger than the last full Kumbh held in 2013.

The mela (Hindi for fair) is held in the northern city of Allahabad (recently renamed Prayagraj) every 12 years. The festivities and the rituals are expected 15 to 20 million visitors daily. On February 4^th, the most auspicious bathing day, there were as many as 30 million pilgrims. The festival ends on 4 March. Over 49 days, visitors totaling more than the combined populations of Britain and Spain are expected to visit.

Some 6,000 religious and cultural organizations have been allotted land on which to put up a city of tents to accommodate visitors from India and across the globe.

With the general election to the Indian Parliament round the corner, political parties, particularly, the ruling party of Narendra Modi, has made every effort to attract pilgrims towards the saffron party/

The Bharatiya Janata Party which rules both at the federal and the state of Uttar Pradesh where Prayag is located, has turned this Kumbh into the biggest, most lavish and most expensive in Indian history, using it to please their political base and deflect from their growing troubles.

“It is nearly impossible to take 20 steps along the pilgrimage route without passing a huge sign featuring Mr. Modi’s face or the grinning visage of his close ally, Yogi Adityanath, the monk turned chief minister of this state, Uttar Pradesh,” writes The New York Times. “They aren’t technically campaign ads, but billboard after billboard trumpets their accomplishments in all areas of life.”

Pilgrims are provided with regular video-streams during this holy festival, publicizing “about his Clean India campaign, the bluish glow lighting up countless pilgrims sleeping on the ground. There’s Mr. Adityanath grinning from the side of a water truck, welcoming visitors — an estimated 35 million of them on Monday alone.”

The Kumbh Mela is one of the holiest events on the Hindu calendar, its date determined by astrology, its auspiciousness derived from a certain line up of Jupiter, the moon and the sun. It is celebrated in four different Indian cities, each on their own 12-year Kumbh cycle, and it usually lasts several weeks.

But this year’s festival in Prayagraj, which started in January and runs until early March, is not even a full Kumbh — it is considered a half Kumbh. The half Kumbh tradition started years ago when Hindu holy men would meet every six years, halfway between the full Kumbhs, to keep their dialogue going.

The most recent full Kumbh, held in 2013 in Allahabad, was also a Maha (or great) Kumbh, which happens every 144 years (after 12 full Kumbhs). It attracted an estimated 100 million visitors

The name Kumbh Mela comes from the Sanskrit word, kumbha, for pot or water pitcher, and mela, meaning festival. In a cherished myth, a Hindu god was carrying the nectar of immortality in a khumba and spilled drops in four different places — the four cities where the Kumbh is held.

Priyanka Chopra can’t believe how much her Madame Tussauds wax figure looks like her

February 13, 2019 Staff ReporterEntertainment 0

Priyanka Chopra’s look from the 2016 Emmy Awards has been immortalised at Madame Tussauds wax museum in New York City. The statue will also be unveiled in Australia, UK and Asia. The actress, who married singer Nick Jonas in December, unveiled the first statue in New York on Thursday, last week.

The Indian American star made quite a mark when she appeared at the 2016 Emmy Awards in red and her famous look from the evening has now been immortalised at Madame Tussauds wax museum in New York City. The statue was recently unveiled in Priyanka’s presence, and she was left in awe.

Priyanka Chopra has been hitting global headlines constantly, and here’s another piece of exciting news about the actress. PeeCee is being immortalized at Madame Tussauds museums in four different cities of the world.

The Quantico star will have four different statues across New York City, London, Sydney and Asia. Other actresses normally get only one. Singer Whitney Houston was the highest earlier with three statues.

The actor, who is currently in New York, unveiled her Madame Tussaud’s wax statue there. Priyanka, who added another feather to her cap, looked lovely as ever as she inaugurated the figure.

Priyanka wore a corset-styled off-shoulder top with black flare pants for the occasion. She left her hair open and went with mauve lips and black pumps to round off her ensemble.

This is Priyanka Chopra’s first wax statue at Madame Tussauds. Many Indian celebrities including Kareena Kapoor, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan have their wax statues at the London branch of the museum. The Delhi branch of the museum also hosts various Bollywood celebrities

Priyanka is presently busy promoting her upcoming film Isn’t it Romantic. She was recently seen on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and The Ellen DeGeneres Show where she spoke about her lavish wedding ceremony with Nick Jonas.

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

February 6, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Education, Entertainment 0

(Chicago, IL. February 4, 2019) After mesmerizing musical lovers all across the world with his enchanting voice, Sukhwinder Singh, a top Bollywood singer, accompanied by the first lady of Maharashtra, Ms. Amruta Fadnavis, is now on AAPI’s Nine-City Jai Ho Musical Dhamaka this spring, performing in Nine Cities around the United States.

Organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI), the spectacular musical program combined with educational and networking opportunities for AAPI members, supporters and sponsors, is being organized with the objective of bringing CME and non-CME sponsored medical lectures, exhibits, Gala Dinner, community outreach talks and lively musical nite in each of the 9 cities across the country.

Dr. Hemant Dhingra, Entertainment Chair of AAPI provided a detailed description of the planned 9-City Tour by popular Bollywood star, Sukhvinder, which is a way to raise funds for AAPI and its many local Chapters. Dr. Dhingra, who has close relationship with the Entertainment Industry, worked with Sukhwinder Singh and team to put together the mega event.

The 9 city musical and educational tour is being launched on Friday, May 10 Columbus, Ohio and will be followed by Atlanta on May 11th and in Washington DC on May 12th. Sukhvinder and his team will perform in Charlotte, NC on May 17th, in New Jersey on May 18th and in Dallas, TX on May 19th. In the final weekend, the popular artist will begin his tour in Milwaukee, WI on May 24th, in San Jose, CA on May 25th and the grand finale will be in Hollywood City, Los Angeles on May 26th.

“A major objective of this program is to bring together various local Chapters, says Dr. Parikh. “National coordinators of the program, Drs. Narendra Kumar. Hemant Dhingra, Raj Bhayani. Amit Chkrabarty, Anjana Samadder, and Gautam Samaddar, as well as and the entire AAPI team and leadership enthusiastically received this idea and the net result of our collaboration and dialogue is the 9-city grand mega concert.”

Senior leadership and several past Presidents and leaders of AAPI have extended their whole-hearted support in organizing this mega event across the nation, Dr. Parikh says. “I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Narendra Kumar, Dr. Sanku Rao, Dr. Vinod Shah, Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, Dr. Ajay Lodha, Dr. Jayesh Shah, Dr. Vijay Koli, Mr. Anwar Feroz Siddiqi and all past Presidents of AAPI for their senior advisory role in making this mega event a grand success.”

Anwar Feroz Siddiqi, Chief Strategy Adviser says, “We are now poised to take our commitment to newer heights, the 9 City Musical Tour by world renowned Bollywood artist Sukwinder accompanied by an icon of women leadership, the first lady of Maharashtra, Ms. Amruta Fadnavis, a very well know personality, a great singer and amazing community leader that continues to pursue her career with her spouse being in the most powerful office in Maharashtra, a true demonstration of great leadership.” Coupled with three honorable causes addressing cardiovascular disease, lymphoma and leukemia, this is truly a worthy and honorable effort that enhances AAPI’s commitment to major health issues and its strong support to eradicate them.

AAPI has established itself as the most successful and premiere ethnic medical organization in the United States. AAPI-Charitable Foundation, the crest jewel of AAPI, is committed to serve the poorest of the poor in remote areas of India and USA.

Since 1992, the Foundation has been providing an infrastructure support system for needy patients in India with two main goals: enabling AAPI members to commit their time and resources to support the clinics for the indigent; and to monitor effectively the clinics’ progress and be accountable for the overall success of the project.

Proceeds from the 9-city tour will support some of the noble initiatives of AAPI, says, Dr. Parikh. “We are requesting all AAPI members, all doctors of Indian origin, all south Asians to rally and support this amazing opportunity of the 9-city musical tour to promote awareness and raise funds for supporting programs to address the rapidly growing problem of cardiovascular diseases in south Asians and minorities living in the United States and Lymphoma & Leukemia in India.’

Ms. Amruta Fadnavis was born, as Amruta Ranade on 9 April 1979 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, to Dr. Sharad Ranade, an Ophthalmologist and Dr. Charulata Ranade, a Gynaecologist. She grew up in a household where education and independence for women was essential. She initially studied at St. Joseph Convent School, Nagpur. She graduated from G.S. College of Commerce and Economics. Later she pursued MBA in finance and studied taxation laws from Symbiosis Law School, Pune. Along with studies she also participated in sports and an excellent sports person. She was a state level under 16 tennis player.

Dr. Parikh promises to “make this event both transparent and successful, and we hope it becomes an annual event. Many of our industry partners have also shown great interest in this concept, where they can receive prime time with a few hundred doctors for product promotion, theater, non-CME lectures, exhibits and booths. Because of this, we hope to have a significant number of national sponsors for this program.”

This extensive Musical/Educational Tour program put together by Dr. Parikh and his Team is a step towards reaching the message of AAPI across the globe and help AAPI realize its noble mission. “I am calling on all AAPI members, all doctors of Indian origin, all South Asians to rally and support an amazing opportunity of the 9-city musical tour to promote awareness and raise funds for supporting essential programs to address the rapidly growing problem of cardiovascular diseases in South Asians and minorities living in the United States and Lymphoma & Leukemia in India.” For more details on the Musical Tour and for sponsorship opportunities, please visit: http://www.aapiusa.org/ https://www.aapievents.com/

In Abu Dhabi, Pope Francis Reminds Faithful They are Blessed

February 6, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

You are blessed. This was the simple but profound message Pope Francis brought to a crowd of some 180,000 on February 5, 2019, in his homily at Mass in Zayed Sports City in the kingdom of Abu Dhabi. It was a mostly expat crowd with workers in the United Arab Emirates hailing from more than 100 foreign countries. And it was an enthusiastic crowd.

“Blessed: this is the word with which Jesus begins his preaching in Matthew’s Gospel. And it is the refrain he repeats today, as if to fix in our hearts, more than anything, an essential message: if you are with Jesus, if you love to listen to his word as the disciples of that time did, if you try to live out this word every day, then you are blessed,” the Pope proclaimed. “Not you will be blessed, but you are blessed; this is the first truth we know about the Christian life. It is not simply a list of external prescriptions to fulfill or a set of teachings to know.

“The Christian life, first and foremost, is not this; rather, it is the knowledge that, in Jesus, we are the Father’s beloved children. The Christian life means living out the joy of this blessedness, wanting to live life as a love story, the story of God’s faithful love, he who never abandons us and wishes to be in communion with us always.”

The Holy Father reminded the faithful present that the joy of being a Christian cannot be taken from us, no matter what our circumstances. He cited the Beatitudes, in which those called blessed are not the rich and powerful but the poor, the meek, and those who are persecuted.

This is the reason for our joy, a joy that no one in the world and no circumstance in our lives can take from us. It is a joy that gives peace also in the midst of pain, a joy that already makes us participate in that eternal happiness which awaits us. Dear brothers and sisters, in the joy of meeting you, this is the word I have come to say to you: blessed!

“Who is correct here: Jesus or the world?” the Pope asked. And he answered: “To understand this, let us look at how Jesus lived: poor in respect to things, but wealthy in love; he healed so many lives but did not spare his own. He came to serve and not to be served; he taught us that greatness is not found in having but rather in giving.”

The Holy Father noted that “living out the Beatitudes does not require dramatic gestures.” He pointed out that Jesus left nothing written, built nothing imposing, and didn’t ask his followers to build great works or draw attention to themselves. He said those who follow the Beatitudes are the meek and those who are peacemakers.

“The Beatitudes are not for supermen, but for those who face up to the challenges and trials of each day,” Francis explained. “Those who live out the Beatitudes according to Jesus are able to cleanse the world. They are like a tree that even in the wasteland absorbs polluted air each day and gives back oxygen. It is my hope that you will be like this, rooted in Christ, in Jesus and ready to do good to those around you. May your communities be oases of peace.”

Pope Francis arrived at the Presidential Airport of Abu Dhabi where the farewell ceremony took place prior to leaving the United Arab Emirates. Upon arrival, the Pope was received by the Crown Prince, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Holy Father and the Crown Prince were then greeted by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin; Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches; Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; H.E. Msgr. Edgar Peña Parra, substitute of the Secretariat of State; H.E. Msgr. Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J., secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; the United Arab Emirates delegation and local dignitaries. Pope Francis then boarded an Etihad B787 to return to Italy.

On Tuesday, the last day of his 40-hour visit to the United Arab Emirates, Pope Francis came to speak to them directly. “I have goose bumps,” said Khristina Garcia, a 32-year-old emergency room nurse from the Philippines who has lived in Abu Dhabi for five years. She was one of the roughly 135,000 Catholics, many of whom had received a state-sanctioned day off work, who filled the stands and surrounded Zayed Sports City Stadium on a warm and bright Tuesday afternoon. “I feel blessed,” she said.

The Mass, which was also attended by 4,000 Muslims in keeping with the visit’s emphasis on interreligious dialogue, was the largest public celebration of a Christian rite in the history of the Muslim country, where the worship of other faiths is tolerated, but only in private under normal circumstances.

Inside the stadium, tens of thousands of faithful clad in white hats bearing the trip’s emblem of a dove applauded as Francis rode around in his Popemobile.

The crowd at the Mass represented the asylum seekers and economic migrants Francis has spent years defending, but with a twist. “It is most certainly not easy for you to live far from home, missing the affection of your loved ones, and perhaps also feeling uncertainty about the future,” Francis said in his homily, which he delivered in Italian. “But the Lord is faithful and does not abandon his people.”

He sought to encourage the Christians here in their lives and faith, assuring them that if they continued on, the Lord would provide a way forward. “He can even open paths in the desert,” the pope said.

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

January 29, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Education, Health 0

Kiran Patel, chairman of Tampa, Fla.-based Freedom Health and a pioneering Cardiologist, was accorded the highest national honor given to any person of Indian origin living outside of India, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman on Wednesday, January 23^rd, 2019.Dr. Patel received the award from the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind at the 15^thPravasi Bharatiya Divas in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, which concluded last week.

The other three chosen fro the award from the US included, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath, Illinois-based scientist Chandra Shekhar Mishra and Michigan resident Gitesh Jayantilal Desai. Besides the four Indian Americans, 24 other prominent personalities from the Indian diaspora worldwide received the awards.

Dr. Patel has generously contributed his fortune for several noble causes in India, his country of origin, the United States, his adopted country, and Zambia, the country of his birth. Dr. Patel is also the Chairman and President of Optimum Healthcare, Inc.

All philanthropic campaigns, contributions and projects have resulted from his passion for health, education and charity. That’s why he has also commissioned Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Global University, a 120-acre institute under construction in India.

Sharing his own experiences of investing in the state of Gujarat and in the United States, Dr. Patel, said, with the state requiring more trained personnel to support the growing needs, he is willing to establish a Medical College in Rajasthan.

Dr. Patel, a very soft spoken physician of Indian origin, said the projects combine his passions for health education and charity. In his first venture in running a university, he hopes to fulfill a need for competent doctors in the area while also educating generations of physicians who can serve in underprivileged areas across the globe.

Dr. Patel had purchased the former Clearwater Christian College property with a goal of developing an osteopathic medical school in his home-state, Florida. The Indian American physician closed on the $12 million purchase of the 25-acre campus overlooking Old Tampa Bay at the west end of the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

In 2014, Patel broke ground on the $175 million, 448-room Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach resort, creating a successful and modern hospitality business.

In July, the city of Clearwater purchased the 111 acres of wetlands and submerged lands surrounding the campus for preservation and restoration projects. If his plans are fulfilled, Patel will develop the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, catering to both domestic and international students, especially from India and Africa, who otherwise could not afford medical training.

“One goal,” he said, “is to train doctors who can return to their home countries and treat underserved communities. It is not easy — there are a lot of challenges — but if somebody’s heart is there and doing the right thing, the right results will follow,” Patel said.

The hope is for the school to serve upwards of 150 students by the fall of 2018 or early 2019, following the credentialing and certification process. Patel estimates it could cost $50 million to launch the school, most of which will come from his own pocket, although having existing classroom infrastructure and dormitories significantly reduces costs.

Mayor George Cretekos of Tampa described Patel’s proposed development as a “boom for the city.” “I think it’s a good fit and goes with what we were wanting to see with that property,” Cretekos said, according to the Tampa Bay Times report. “The potential to benefit the entire area is just amazing.”

Planning and overseeing the charitable works, according to Dr. Patel has “Two approaches: direct involvement in the areas of Zambia, East Africa and India. I oversee the utilization of the funds to the penny. What you have seen in the Tampa area is a legacy gift. To impact as large a group as possible, we have entrusted a responsible institution to perpetuate our mission, such as the performing arts center and University of South Florida.”

Born in Zambia to Indian American parents, educated in India, Dr. Kiran Patel arrived in the United States on Thanksgiving Day, 1976. He returned home to attend medical school, where he met his wife, Pallavi, a fellow student, but ultimately decided to return to the U.S. permanently. “I wanted to make sure my children had a better future, and the political climate in Africa at the time was a bit challenging,” he says.

Dr. Patel was educated in Zambia and then got his diploma in Cambridge University and The University of London. He came down to India to study medicine in Gujarat University in India and did his Internship in Africa. Dr. Patel did his residency in Internal Medicine in New Jersey in 1980. He completed a fellowship in the Cardiology program affiliated with the Columbia University of New York in 1982.

Dr. Pallavi Patel did her undergraduate degree from M.G. Science College, Gujarat University, and attended Municipal Medical College of Gujarat University in Ahmedabad. She did her internship from St. Barnabas Hospital in New Jersey, School of Medicine Dentistry of New Jersey and Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, in affiliation with Columbia University in New York. She started her private practice in Kabwe, Zambia, from 1974 to 1978 and worked as a part-time consultant physician from 1974 to 1978 for Kabwe Industrial Fabrics, Ltd. and Kapiri Glass Products, Ltd.

The Patel family moved to Tampa, Florida in 1982 and Dr. Kiran Patel began his practice in Cardiology. His dedication, compassion, and skills made him very successful at the very early stage of medical practice, and was soon a distinguished cardiologist in that area. He developed a physician practice management company and expanded to places adjoining Tampa Bay area diverging into 14 practices including Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Cardiology.

Dr. Patel was also in partnership with several point-of-service locations to form multi-specialty networks. This network helped patients to access most medical services conveniently. He has actively engaged himself in managed care contracts and has expanded so much that it provides care for more than 80,000 patients annually. Apart from this, he has developed good associations with several HMOs and hospitals. His success in managed care contracts led a group of doctors to seek his services to help them with an HMO in New Port Richey, Florida.

Dr. Patel took up the project after discussing a pre-determined purchase option of the company. It was called the Well Care HMO, Inc. (Well Care). In 1992, Dr. Kiran Patel, along with Rupesh Shaw, CEO, and Pradip Patel, President, started a Medicaid managed care company. Not long after, this company became the largest Medicaid provider in the state of Florida.

He helped to bring around the struggling HMO, WellCare of New York and Connecticut. While turning around the company, he worked with nearly a hundred hospitals and a few hundred physicians in settling past due medical claims. Dr. Kiran Patel provided an additional $15 million in equity through Conversion of Brow and infused $10 million of new capital and acquired 55 percent of the publicly held Well Care Management Group.

Between 1995 and 2002, Dr. Kiran Patel built it into a billion-dollar company, providing services to more than 450,000 members, employing more than 1,200 employees and operating in Florida, New York and Connecticut. Dr. Patel subsequently entered the managed care industry and was the Chairman of WellCare of Florida.

He had served as Chairman of Visionary Medical Systems. He believes that the Visionary Office will reduce the paperwork for the physicians and give them more time to devote on their patients. He is a member on the following organizations: Fellow of American College of Cardiology; American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, American Association of Physicians from the South East Asia, Past Chair Scholarship Committee.

A cardiologist, visionary, businessman and philanthropist, Dr. Kiran Patel, along with his wife devotes substantial sums towards charity and education both in India, Zambia as well as in the United States. A 50-bed charity hospital serving 100,000 villagers in India was established by her along with her family; provision of funds for annual scholarship for underprivileged children to obtain a college education; funding for the construction of the USF Charter School for Underprivileged Children in Hillsborough County; sponsoring of 25 orphans from India to visit and perform a cross-cultural program in the United States.

In 2003, the Patels sold their majority of his interest in their business, and Dr. Patel turned his attention to the family’s many philanthropic endeavors. That same year, he became chairman of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). It was from this vantage point that he began to tackle several significant humanitarian projects in India, including the construction of numerous hospitals, a diabetes research study, and improved health care access for poor and rural citizens. His enormous contributions during and after national calamities in India are very remarkable.

Dr. Patel united the Tampa Bay community and AAPI and led an effort that eventually rehabilitated the villagers’ homes, constructed an orphanage and model school and created four modern hospitals, and was able to utilize generous contributions from the Tampa Bay community, and often matched them with his own money.

One of the leading philanthropists in America, the Patels also sponsor 25 orphans from India to come annually to the United States and participate in cross-cultural programs.

On the challenges he had to face upon arrival here in the US, Dr. Patels says, “There are many challenges when you come from an Eastern culture to the Western world. It’s a tougher transition for children than for us. I have a rigid personality … as a parent I have firm expectations on behavior, certain etiquette and rules. My children all got used to it, in a good way. They know I am there for them and they for me, but I’m not a warm, fuzzy type of guy.”

The couple’s gift of $12 million to the University of South Florida, resulted in converting the Patel School of Global Sustainability to the Patel College of Global Sustainability. “It was important to create a college to be a perpetual institution that creates students and scholars who are going to change the world dramatically,” Dr. Patel says. “I believe it will create champions of the profession. Most people don’t understand sustainability; they think it’s just a problem for third world countries. They don’t realize the U.S. and Europe are most guilty of consuming resources. At the current rate the Western world uses natural resources, we would need six Earths to provide the rest of the world the same lifestyle. We must change.”

Another area of focus for the Patels is health. “Intellectual capability without physical capability, you still have a problem. Arts and culture are more in the luxurious category, which it should not be, but I feel that way. It can play a unique role in integrating people, but if someone is starving, he’s not going to think of the arts,” he says.

The family has become renowned in the Tampa Bay area and beyond for their openhanded philanthropy: The suburbs of Tampa is home to one of the largest single-family estate in the United States, according to property assessment records obtained by the Tampa Tribune. Dr. Kiran and Dr. Pallavi Patel, along with their son, daughters, and grandchildren, live inan elegantly built beautiful house with the combined square footage of the buildings within the estate amounts to 35,000 square feet, with the main residence contributing 15,000 square footage of the total. Each of the six satellite homes is more than 7,000 square feet.

Dr. Pallavi serves on many boards and is a member of several organizations. She is president and CEO of Stat Care and Bay Area Primary Care Association, Inc. with five locations across Tampa. She is also a founder, trustee and administrator for the India Cultural Center. She is a member of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center Board of Trustees, Shakti Krupa Charitable Foundation Board of Directors and the ICC Hope Scholarship Foundation Board of Directors.

In 2003 the couple set up a nonprofit Foundation for Global Understanding. Dr. Kiran Patel serves as the chairman and Dr. Pallavi Patel is president of Foundation that develops and funds a wide variety of programs in health, education, arts and culture. Together they have made possible the USF/Dr. Kiran C. Patel Charter School along with the Dr. Pallavi Patel Pediatric Care Center at the school as well as the highly celebrated Dr. Pallavi Patel Performing Arts Conservatory.

The Patels not only earned a highly cherished reputation as physicians, but also gained a unique vision of the future of the medical care. Rather than shunning the growing trend toward managed health care, they began to develop solutions that made sense from the physician’s point of view.

Recognitions came their way with several awards and honors from around the country. Among the honors and awards that he has received is the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Southeast United States, Jefferson Award for Public Service-National Media Award, Community Leader Award-Community Development Corporation of Tampa, Lions Clubs International Academy Award for Humanitarian Service, and Ike Tribble Award from National Urban League.

Volunteers of America, one of the nation’s largest and oldest human services charities, presented its highest honor – the 2012 Ballington and Maud Booth Award – to Drs. Pallavi and Kiran Patel on during the organization’s national conference at the Hyatt Regency Tampa.

On New Year’s day in 2007, Dr. Patel was honored with the “Glory of Gujarat” award from the Chief Minister of his home State in India. In May 2007, Dr. Patel received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for Exceptional Immigrant Patriots. Both Dr. Kiran Patel and Pallavi Patel were inducted into the Tampa Bay Hall of Fame in 2010 by the business community of Tampa Bay.

Dr. Pallavi Patel was honored as the Business Woman of the Year in 2006 for her outstanding role in the community. In 2007, she was awarded Woman of Distinction by the Girls Scouts of Florida, and in 2008 she was inducted into the prestigious Florida Women’s Hall of Fame.

The Patels were selected for the 2012 Booth Award because of their generous philanthropic work to support programs in health, education, arts and culture, both in the Tampa area and around the world. Their foundation supported the Pepin Heart Hospital Research Institute in Tampa as well as the Dr. Pallavi Patel Conservatory for Performing Arts. In 2011, the Dr. Kiran C. Patel for Global Solutions, based at the University of South Florida, was established to develop solutions to some of today’s major global problems.

In 2003, Dr. Kiran Patel was appointed by Florida’s governor to the University of South Florida Board of Trustees. In 2004, the Patel were awarded the Cultural Contributor of the Year Award by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. The Foundation also support a yearly U.S. scholarship fund for underprivileged youth and the IMAGINE Project, which teaches philanthropic entrepreneurism to young leaders. USF CHART-India Program, another innovative foundation project, works aggressively to provide HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention and education programs throughout India’s rural and urban populations.

The Patels believe that “education gives the maximum impact. In my father’s village, we built a school that has transformed a generation. Uplifting a single student will uplift five or 10 families.” And the noble mission goes on with no boundaries, benefitting millions of deserving people across all continents.

Miss India New England 2019 brings out personality and tradition

January 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Entertainment, Fashion, Profiles 0

The 7th annual ‘Miss India New England’ 2019 held on January 19, was a unique blend of talent and a celebration heritage providing a platform to bring out both traditional and modern elements of Indian society.

Participants included women and girls of Indian origin from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Each had to complete four rounds – Evening Gown, Ethnic Dress, Talent, and On-stage Question. There were three categories of contestants -Miss India, Miss Teen or Mrs India, a press release from organizers said.

Those crowned for the top spots included – Sivani Jonnalagadda, Miss India New England 2019; Mihika Abraham – Miss India Teen New England 2019; and Mrs India New England 2019 Deepa Jayavelu. The pageant was directed and produced by Ruchika Arora who is also state director of Miss India USA.

Organizers with Miss India New England 2019 winner and past winner at Jan. 19 pageant held in Foxborough, MA. (Photo: Miss India New England) of the Miss India New England pageant held

The Miss India New England pageant is designed to identify and support talented young Indian American people and promote culture, traditions of India in United States for modern generations, the press release said.

The Miss India New England 2019 pageant on Jan. 19, attracted participants from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, who had to compete in four rounds – Evening Gown, Ethnic Dress, Talend, and On-stage Question. (Photo: courtesy Miss India New England)

“The inspirational women introducing themselves on the stage represent strength of Indian American girls/women and community when they talk about their educational background, professional achievements and aspirations” organizers said, thanking all the sponsors, supporters and friends including Neelam and Dr Dharmatma Saran of Worldwide Pageants. Crown sponsors were Tewarie Enterprises.

Deepa Jayavelu, Mrs India New England at the Jan. 19, pageant held in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo: Miss India New England)

List of 2019 Winners:

Miss India New England -Sivani Jonnalagadda

Mrs India New England – Deepa Jayavelu

Miss India Teen New England-Mihika Abraham

Viewer’s Choice NE -Aradhana Surapaneni

Miss India Massachusetts- Ann Varghese

Mrs India Massachusetts- Madhurima Agrawal

Miss India Teen Massachusetts- Trinjan Kaur

Miss India Rhode Island- Sai Kurapati

Mrs India Rhode Island- Medha Rastogi

Miss India New Hampshire- Zaina Ahmed

Mrs India New Hampshire- Preeti Potdar

Mrs India Photogenic- Suruchi Sinha (NH)

Miss India Teen New England 2019 Mihika Abraham. (Photo: Miss India New England)

Teen Awards:

Miss India Teen Catwalk- Aishwarya Narayanan

Miss India Teen Talented- Shruthi Puranik

Miss India Teen Photogenic- Nandini Mandaloju

THE LEAST OF THESE Hosts NYC Red Carpet World Premiere on 20th Anniversary of Historic Event

January 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Entertainment 0

Dallas-based production company, Skypass Entertainment, hosted VIPs and stars for the red carpet world premiere of its debut film, THE LEAST OF THESE, last night at the SVA Theatre in New York City, prior to the film’s nationwide release on February 1, 2019. The event took place 20 years to the date of the untimely death of Australian missionary Graham Staines, on whom the movie is based.

THE LEAST OF THESE stars Stephen Baldwin (THE USUAL SUSPECTS), actress Shari Rigby (OCTOBER BABY), and Indian cinema star Sharman Joshi (3 IDIOTS), all of whom attended the red carpet premiere.

“I’m speechless,“ said Executive Producer Victor Abraham during a Q&A following the film’s premiere. “It is a humbling experience as an ordinary man that I got the privilege to produce the story of an extraordinary life.”

Shot on location near Hyderabad, India, THE LEAST OF THESE is told through the viewpoint of a fictional character, Manav Banerjee (Joshi), who moves with his pregnant wife

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 23: Victor Abraham and Sheryl Abraham attend the red carpet premiere of Skypass Entertainment’s “The Least of These” at SVA Theater on January 23, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Pont/Getty Images for Skypass Entertainment)

to Orissa, India, seeking a job as a journalist with the local newspaper.

When speculation mounts that Graham Staines (Baldwin) is illegally proselytizing and converting leprosy patients to Christianity, Manav, hoping to make a better life for his new family, agrees to investigate undercover, hoping to catch Staines in the act. What Manav finds is a series of revelations that are difficult to fathom and even harder to explain, forcing him to make a choice between his own ambition and the truth. In the end, a tragic event and a surprising reaction from the Staines family will change Manav forever.

“This has been a project five years in the making, so to be here tonight is incredible,“ said Director Aneesh Daniel. “This was only made possible by the numerous teams working across five continents to bring this story to life.”

THE LEAST OF THESE is being released by Skypass Entertainment. Abraham serves as Executive Producer with Daniel as director. The screenplay was written by Andrew E Matthews.

The film features an impressive soundtrack with an original film score composed by Bruce Retief and performed by the Hungarian Orchestra, original songs from Nicole C. Mullen and Michael W. Smith and tracks from award-winning artists such as Toby Mac, Keith & Kristyn Getty and Anthony Evans. The soundtrack will be available for download on February 1st on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon.

“Our ultimate desire is to take this film to every part of the world, including India,” said Abraham. “We want everyone to see this film because it has a message for all. Each one of us harbors bitterness in our lives toward others but here is a powerful story about forgiveness.”

Prior to the film’s Feb. 1 national release, Fathom Events will host a special showing at theaters across the U.S. on Jan. 31, which includes an exclusive recorded conversation with Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, actress Shari Rigby and the film’s spiritual consultant, Krish Dhanam. For more information about THE LEAST OF THESE, visithttp://www.theleastofthese.movie.

After caving in, Trump signs bill ending Govt. shutdown

January 29, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics 0

President Donald Trump signed a bill Friday, January 25th ending the government shutdown, capping off the longest ever US Government shutdown, and reinstating funds until February 15.

After 35 days, Trump backed a deal to fund federal agencies for three weeks, but it includes none of the money he has demanded for a US-Mexico border wall. The Republican president previously vowed to reject any budget unless it included $5.7bn to fund his signature campaign pledge.

But Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, flatly refused. The House and the Senate voted Friday to end the government shutdown, extending funding for three weeks, following a deal being reached between Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The US economy lost $11 billion during the month-plus hiatus because of lost productivity and business, according to a finance industry estimate – more than the $5.7bn of taxpayer funding the president demanded for his long-promised wall along the US-Mexico border but failed to get Congress to agree to.

The decision marked a significant climb-down by the president. Less than 24 hours before he spoke in the White House Rose Garden, Trump demanded that any solution from Congress should include a “large down payment” for his long-promised wall along the southern border.

On Friday, however, intensifying delays at airports across the north-east and fresh polling that revealed mounting public frustration provided new urgency for efforts to break the impasse.

“We have reached a deal to end the shutdown and reopen the federal government,” Trump said, despite there being no fresh offer from Democratsthat could be termed a “deal”.

But he reminded Americans he had a “powerful alternative”, threatening to declare a national emergency if a deal for wall funding is not reached before the next deadline to fund the government.

“Let me be very clear,” Trump said, “we really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier. If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on 15 February again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the law and the constitution of the US to address this emergency.”

Sen. Kamala Harris, 1st ever Indian American, announces bid for US president

January 23, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Politics 0

Kamala Harris, 54, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, has announced her decision to enter the crowded political field of Democratic candidates, seeking to unseat incumbent, President Donald Trump.

Kamala Harris announced Monday, January 21^st, that she is running for president in 2020, arguing that the time has come to fight against what she views as the injustices of the past two years of the Trump presidency.

Harris chose to announce on Monday to honor the legacies of two of her heroes. Forty-seven years ago this week, Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman ever to run for president, launched her campaign. And Martin Luther King Jr. has been a role model for Harris throughout her life in what she views as his “aspirational fight for progress.”

In a brief video from her campaign that was released on social media Monday morning at the same time she appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Harris called on her supporters to join with her to “claim our future.”

“Justice. Decency. Equality. Freedom. Democracy. These aren’t just words. They’re the values we as Americans cherish. And they’re all on the line now,” Harris said in the video, teasing her official kickoff in her birthplace of Oakland next Sunday.

“The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values,” the Democratic California senator said. “That’s why I’m running for president of the United States. “I’m running to lift those voices, to bring our voices together.”

Harris is the first African-American woman and the first Indian American to announce a run for the White House in 2020, and the fourth woman in the field. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu seeking the highest office, also announced earlier this month that she is running, and Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have both announced exploratory committees, a step that Harris is skipping.

In a 2020 field that now includes four women, her allies believe that her life’s work as a prosecutor — from her start in Alameda County trying grisly crimes such as sexual assault to felonies including homicide — will help set her apart. The style developed over those years helped her build a national following when she grilled President Donald Trump’s nominees, including Brett Kavanaugh when he was a Supreme Court nominee.

Her book tour earlier this month served as a soft launch for her presidential bid, showcasing her strong appeal among women, minorities and millennials — as well as the criticism she will face over aspects of her long and complex record as a prosecutor, district attorney of San Francisco and attorney general of California.

Harris sought to use the anecdotes in the new book to demonstrate her toughness, including how she took on the big banks as California’s attorney general after the foreclosure crisis and held out for a $20 billion settlement for California homeowners. The clear subtext throughout her appearances was that she would not be bullied by anyone, including Trump.

While avoiding directly engaging Trump, Harris has accused the President of stoking racist and xenophobic rhetoric, while aligning his administration with white supremacists at home, and cozying up to dictators abroad.

She has argued that the needs of the middle class have been ignored, citing the federal shutdown over the President’s “vanity project” — a border wall — as the latest example.

Harris’ campaign will be headquartered in Baltimore — giving aides an East Coast hub in a racially diverse city that has struggled with wide income disparities — and Oakland, where Harris was born to immigrant parents who came to the US to advance their academic careers.

The former prosecutor chose yellow and red for her campaign logo in a nod to Chisholm’s bid for president with its red and yellow campaign buttons. Her signs will carry her campaign theme “Kamala Harris for the people,” the words that she spoke each time she rose in the courtroom as a prosecutor.

Juan Rodriguez, the strategist who managed Harris’ successful campaign for Senate in 2016 and advised California Gov. Gavin Newsom in his recent campaign, will be her campaign manager. Her sister Maya Harris, who advised Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, will serve as her campaign chair. She will continue to be guided by her longtime strategists Sean Clegg and Ace Smith.

Prime Minister to inaugurate 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas Convention in Varanasi on 22 January, 2019

January 23, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, India, Politics 0

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas Convention at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh tomorrow on 22 January, 2019.

For the first time, the three day long convention is being organized in Varanasi from 21-23 January, 2019. The theme of PBD Convention 2019 is “Role of Indian Diaspora in building New India”.

In reverence to the sentiments of the larger diaspora to participate in Kumbh Mela and Republic Day celebrations, the 15th PBD Convention is being organised from 21 to 23 January 2019 instead of 9th January. After the Convention, participants will visit Prayagraj for Kumbh Mela on 24th January. They will then proceed to Delhi on 25th January and witness the Republic Day Parade at New Delhi on 26th January 2019.

Prime Minister of Mauritius Mr. Pravind Jugnauth will be the chief guest of the PBD convention. Mr. Himanshu Gulati, Member of Parliament of Norway, will be the Special Guest while Mr. Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, Member of Parliament of New Zealand will be the Guest of Honor at the 15th edition of PBD.

Key events of this edition include-

21 January, 2019- Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas. The event will provide opportunities for the young Diaspora to engage with New India.

22 January 2019 – Inauguration of PBD convention by Prime Minister in presence of Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth.

23 January 2019 – Valedictory Session & Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards by the President of India.

Various plenary sessions are also scheduled during the event. The evenings are marked with cultural programs.

The decision to celebrate Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) was taken by the former Indian Prime Minister, late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The 1st PBD was celebrated on 9th January, 2003 in New Delhi. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate PBD as it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, had returned to India from South Africa.

PBD now celebrated once in every two years, provides a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and reconnect with their roots. During the Convention, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman is conferred on the selected overseas Indians for their significant contributions to various fields both in India and abroad.

14th PBD held during 7–9 January 2017 at Bengaluru, Karnataka was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The theme for the 14th PBD was “Redefining engagement with the Indian diaspora”. In his address, Mr. Modi had said that Indian diaspora represents the best of Indian culture, ethos and values and are respected for their contributions. He underlined the importance of a continuous engagement with the overseas Indian community as a key area of priority for the Government.

The longest ever US Government Shutdown

January 23, 2019 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics 0

The partial US government shutdown has passed full one month, which makes it the longest gap in American government funding ever. That beats the previous record, under President Bill Clinton in 1995, of 21 days.

In total, there have been 21 gaps in government funding since 1976, though the level of shutdown has varied. The current federal shutdown is a partial one, as many agencies were already funded through this fiscal year, which ends in September.

The roots of today’s dysfunction date back to some critical decisions starting in the 1970s. Here’s a look at why the American government has lurched into crisis over the budget so often since then.

Before the 1970s, the federal government would in some cases spend money without prior congressional approval, said Jim Broussard, the director of the Center for Political History at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa

A 1974 law reorganized the budgeting process, shifting power from the executive branch to Congress. Tense disagreements quickly emerged.

In 1977, the House of Representatives and the Senate fought over whether Medicaid should be used to pay for abortions. That led to three separate instances in which the government could not provide funding for the Departments of Labor and Health, Education and Welfare. The shutdowns added up to a total of 28 days that year.

Another gap in funding the following year, when President Jimmy Carter took issue with a costly public works bill and defense spending, lasted 17 days.

Two legal opinions issued by the United States attorney general, Benjamin R. Civiletti, in 1980 and 1981, made shutdowns much more severe.

Until that point, most agencies could continue to operate even if funding bills hadn’t been passed, with the understanding that money would eventually be approved. But Mr. Civiletti argued that it was illegal for the government to spend money without congressional appropriations. The few exceptions included work by federal employees to protect life and property, he wrote.

That, in turn, prompted an increased frequency of small shutdowns as politicians struggled with deadlines, said Roy T. Meyers, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who has written about the history of shutdowns.

In November 1981, President Ronald Reagan, in a fight with Congress over $8.5 billion in budget cuts he wanted, ordered the furlough of 241,000 government employees. It was the first time a shutdown of that size was ordered.

A congressional subcommittee estimated that the two-day shutdown cost taxpayers between $80 million and $90 million, including administrative costs, such as figuring out who could and couldn’t work and paying workers who didn’t work.

Shutdowns that included furloughs in 1984, 1986 and 1990 cost taxpayers at least $128 million, according to government estimates. The longest previous shutdown came in 1995. At issue was a long-term budget backed by Republicans, who won control of both the House and the Senate halfway through Mr. Clinton’s first term.

Their plan limited spending for Medicare and turned Medicaid and most other welfare programs over to the states. House Republicans, in particular, were keen on using a shutdown to get Mr. Clinton to sign their bill.

A five-day shutdown in November was followed by the record-breaker — 21 days — starting in mid-December. That conflagration helped pave the way for the 2013 shutdown over President Barack Obama’s health care law.

The 2013 shutdown lasted for 16 days and ended amid dire warnings from the Treasury Department that it was about to run out of money. Having failed in their bid to defund Obamacare, Republicans leaders eventually worked with their Democratic counterparts on a plan to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. “We’ve got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis,” Mr. Obama said at the time.

Indra Nooyi being considered to lead World Bank

January 23, 2019 Staff ReporterBusiness, Community 0

Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of global beverage giant PepsiCo, is being considered by the White House for the new World Bank president, according to a leading American daily. Nooyi, 63, stepped down as PepsiCo’s chief last August after leading the company for 12 years.

The Indian born business leader “has been courted as an administration ally by Ivanka Trump, the President’s eldest daughter who is playing a role in the selection of a nominee,” The New York Times said.

The report, which cited several people familiar with the process, said the decision-making process for the top post at the World Bank is “fluid and in its initial stages and early front-runners and candidates often fall off the radar, or withdraw from consideration, before the president [Donald Trump] makes his ultimate pick”.

It is unclear whether Ms. Nooyi would accept the nomination if chosen by the Trump administration. The first daughter, who has tweeted that she views Ms. Nooyi as a “mentor + inspiration”, has floated her name as a potential successor.

World Bank’s current president Jim Yong-kim had earlier this month announced that he would step down from his post in February to join a private infrastructure investment firm. His unexpected departure came nearly three years before the end of his term.

The NYT report said that the process of choosing Mr. Kim’s successor is being overseen by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Ms. Ivanka, whose role in the process was announced by the White House last week.

Ivanka’s “role in the process drew some criticism from ethics watchdogs on Monday, which said it could pose a conflict of interest for the President’s daughter to be involved in international economic matters when she has not completely divested from her assets,” the report said.

The group was expected to begin the interview process on Tuesday, in order to present President Trump with recommendations for a nominee.

Nooyi joined Mr. Trump’s business council, which was disbanded after many chief executives quit following the President’s comments blaming “many sides” for white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, in August 2017.

The report, however, added that negative comments made by Ms. Nooyi after the 2016 election, during which she did not publicly endorse any candidate, are seen as a potential roadblock to her nomination.

Following Mr. Trump’s win, she said at The NYT’s DealBook conference in 2016 that “Our employees are all crying. And the question that they’re asking, especially those who are not white: ‘Are we safe?’ Women are asking: ‘Are we safe?’ LGBT people are asking: ‘Are we safe?’ I never thought I’d have had to answer those questions”.

A spokesman for PepsiCo had told Fortune magazine that “Ms. Nooyi misspoke. She was referring to the reaction of a group of employees she spoke to who were apprehensive about the outcome of the election. She never intended to imply that all employees feel the same way”.

Other candidates

Other candidates being considered for the position of World Bank head are under secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs David Malpass and president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation Ray Washburne.

The U.S. President cannot install the World Bank leader, who must be approved by the bank’s board, but has traditionally placed his nominee in the job. Trump has already faced harsh criticism for appointing his daughter as a senior White House adviser.

Ivanka is a successful businesswoman, fashion designer, author and reality television personality. She has her own line of fashion items, including clothes, handbags, shoes, accessories which are available in all major U.S. departmental stores.

Early Bird Registration For AAPI’s 37th annual Convention in Atlanta Ends On April 1st Convention To Be Held at Omni Atlanta at CNN Center and Georgia World Congress Centre (GWCC) in Atlanta from July 3 to 7, 2019

January 22, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity 0

(New York, NY: January 17, 2019): The Early Bird Special Registration for AAPI’s 37^th annual convention to be held at the Omni Atlanta at CNN Center and Georgia World Congress Centre (GWCC) in Atlanta from July 3 to 7, 2019, will end on April 1^st.” Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI, declared here today. “We are expecting to have a record attendance of more than 2,000 delegates including Physicians, Academicians, Researchers and Medical students at the convention. The annual convention offers extensive academic presentations, recognition of achievements and achievers, and professional networking at the alumni and evening social events,” he added.

The annual convention this year is being organized by Georgia Chapter of AAPI. Dr. Sreeni Gangasani, Vice Chair of AAPI BOT and Convention Chair, said, “We have been working hard to put together an attractive program for our annual get together, educational activity and family enjoyment. I and the Co-Chairs are fortunate to have a dedicated team of convention committee members from the region helping us. We are expecting a record turnout and hence I would encourage early registration to avoid later disappointment.”

Registration for the 37^th annual AAPI Convention will begin on February 1^st. Early Bird Registration fee for the delegates will be $100 less than the regular rates, said, Dr. Gangasani. Also, you get to pick your own choice of seats at the galas as soon as you register for the convention. The sooner you register the better the chances for getting the seats of your own choice with the ability to sit closer to the podium and with your friends/families.

A pool of dedicated AAPI leaders are working hard to make the Convention a unique event for all the participants, he said. Among them are: Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Vice President, AAPI; Dr. Syamala Erramilli, President of GAPI; Dr. Asha Parikh, Chair of GAPI BOT; Convention Co-chairs: Dr. Raghu Lolabattu, Dr. Piyush Patel, Dr. Subodh Agrawal and several Convention Team members.

In addition to offering over 12 hours of cutting edge CMEs to the physicians, the event will have more than 12 hours of product theaters/promotional opportunities, plenary sessions, CEOs Forum, and a women’s leadership forum. The convention will be addressed by senior world leaders, and celebrities from the Hollywood and Bollywood world.

“The AAPI Convention offers an opportunity to meet directly with these physicians who are leaders in their fields and play an integral part in the decision-making process regarding new products and services,” Dr. Asha Parikh, Women’s Forum Chair, said.

Dr. Syamala Erramilli, President of GAPI says, in addition to the exhibition hall featuring large exhibit booth spaces in which the healthcare industry will have the opportunity to engage, inform and educate the physicians directly through one on one, hands on product demonstrations and discussions, and special exhibition area for new innovations by young physicians.

“The 37^th AAPI Atlanta Convention is where you can reach your target audience of several thousand under one roof,” said Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect of AAPI.

“Some of the major attractions include Alumni meetings for networking, also an AAPI-India Strategic Engagement Forum to showcase the AAPI initiatives in India like Trauma Brain Injury Guidelines, MoU on TB Eradication in India and recognition of AAPI Award winners will make this Convention unique,” Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda said.

“AAPI members represent a variety of important medical specialties. Sponsors will be able to take advantage of the many sponsorship packages at the 37th annual convention, creating high-powered exposure to the highly coveted demographic of AAPI‘s membership,” Dr. Dr. Raghu Lolabattu said. “The 37^th AAPI Atlanta Convention is where you can reach your target audience of several thousand under one roof. Register now and aggrandize your marketing plans,” Dr. Piyush Patel added.

“Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country and internationally will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year. Do not miss on the Early Bird Special. We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta!” said Dr. Naresh Parekh.

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

AAPI Will Host Global Healthcare Summit in July, 2019 in Hyderabad Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect of AAPI, Announces During Kick Off Event in Hyderabad

January 15, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Health 0

(Hyderabad, India. January 4^th, 2019) “The 13th edition of the annual Global Healthcare Summit will be held in Hyderabad in India in July 19th to 21st, 2019,” Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), during a Kick Off Dinner Event, here at the Hotel Daspalla, Kavuri Hills, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad on January 2nd.

Dr. Suresh Reddy, Chair, Global Health Summit 2019, urged all AAPI leaders, local organizers and sponsors to fully participate in order to make the next edition of AAPI’s Global Healthcare a more effective one, serving the many healthcare needs of our mother India. Dr. Reddy, who will assume charge as the President of AAPI in July this year at the convention in Atlanta, USA, said, the GHS 2019, planned to be organized by AAPI in collaboration with BAPIO & GAPIO, as well as Host Alumni Chapters, including OGKTMA, ATMGUSA, KAMCOSA, and GMCGA, will focus on preventive health, targeting Rural Health, Women’s Health, and providing special CPR Trainings, that will equip First Responders to help save life.

Dr. Raghu Lolabhattu, Co-Chair, Global Health Summit 2019, in his felicitation address, said, “We flew away from India decades ago. However, our hearts are still in India.” He said, GHS 2019 will focus on several relevant issues to serve the many healthcare needs and delivery of healthcare in India. For the first time, AAPI will organize Medical Jeopardy with cash prizes to winners, he said. He praised the local community and organizers for their enthusiastic support.

Anwar Feroz Siddiqui, Chief Strategic Advisor, AAPI, in his address, complimented Dr. Suresh Reddy for his great leadership, especially his ability to choose and delegate responsibilities to top AAPI leaders. Mr. Siddiqui, who has been working with GHS since its beginning a dozen years ago, lauded AAPI and its members for their willingness, passion, and generosity to give back to their motherland.

Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Vice-President 2018-19, pointed to the uniqueness of the next GHS, pointing to the 1st ever GHS to be held in the state of Telangana, after the state attained full statehood. “AAPI has capped the voluminous achievements of the past 37 years with a clear vision to move forward taking this noble organization and its vision for better healthcare to newer heights,” he said. He said, under his leadership, the 14th edition of GHS 2020 will be held in Visakhapatnam in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, AAPI’s Secretary 2018-19, and a key organizer of the event, reminded the audience of the passion and dedication for their motherland that brings them back to India every year. She enumerated several contributions/outcome from the past 12 GHS organized by AAPI across several cities in India.

Dr. Gotimukula said, “AAPI has made significant contributions towards addressing several issues affecting the healthcare system in India. We have addressed the issue of Traumatic Brain Injury – the scourge of young India, and helped with the development of management guidelines thereby helping prevent deaths due to road traffic accidents, raising the importance and awareness on smoking cessation, Adopt a Village program and taking the initiatives to make quality healthcare accessible universally to village and taluka and district levels, and most recently a strong collaborative on making India TB Free with the signing of a MOU with USAID. Ten city pilots are well under way and significant progress is being made,” he told a captive audience,” she said.

Dr. Sanku Rao, a past President of AAPI presented the 37 year old history of AAPI and the evolution of GHS.in the past dozen years and the many accomplishments/contributions in the delivery of healthcare in US and in India. AAPI is the largest ethnic medical organization in the United States, and has been in existence for nearly four decades. The Association has almost 130 local chapters, specialty societies and alumni organizations under its purview, and represents the interests of over 70,000 physicians and 15,000 medical students and residents of Indian heritage in the United States, Dr. Rao said.

Sreeni Gangasani. Chair of AAPI Convention, provided an overview of the upcoming AAPI Convention in Atlanta, GA, and urged all to join in to experience a historic at the next annual convention. “To be attended by over 2,000 delegates from across the United States, the 37th Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) will be held at the fabulous Omni Atlanta at CNN Center and Georgia World Congress Centre (GWCC) in Atlanta from July 3 to 7, 2019,” he said.

Dr. Satish Kathula, referred to the highly impactful ADOPT A VILLAGE Program, spearheaded by Dr. Jagan Ailinani, a past President of AAPI, and Dr. Alok Aggarwal, who has adopted a village in the state of Telangana as examples of the good work done by AAPI. He said, AAPI provides a platform for many individuals who want to give back to their motherland.

Dr. Manoj Jain, Chair and spearheading the TB-Free India Movement, spoke about AAPI’s collaborative efforts with several non-governmental organizations and the USAID, with a commitment to strengthen its initiatives to “make every city, ever district, every village in India TB free.” Dr. Jain pointed to the planning/review session held during GHS in Mumbai on Building on Local Roadmaps for a TB-Free India – A Combined effort of AAPI and CETI under guidance of Government of India, USAID, where the progress in the 10 cities, where the program has been on for several months, was reviewed through a live webcast from each of these 10 cities. He said, Hyderabad will be joining the efforts to make its citizens TB-

Free.

Dr. Dwarakanatha Reddy, Overseas Convener, AAPI Global Health Summit 2019-20 and several Alumni Medical School leaders from the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were felicitated at the kick off event. Dr. Sushma Nakka, Presdient of KAMCOSA- USA served as the MC for the evening, while Dr. Ravi Kolli delivered the vote of thanks.

A Press Conference at the famous Hyderabad Press Club was organized on January 3rd to officially announce the Global Healthcare Summit planned to be held in Hyderabad from July 19th to 21st this year. Attended by dozens of local and national reporters from the media world, the Press Conference was addressed by the top leadership of AAPI and local organizing committee members.

Packed with strategic planning sessions such as the much anticipated CEO Forum, Women’s Forum, Launching of Free Health Clinic, First Responders Training, CMEs, promote Emergency Medicine and Family Medicine Education, Research Contest, Medical Quiz, Fashion Show, Cultural Events, pre and post visits for delegates, the GHS 2019 is expected to be one with the greatest impact and significant contributions towards harnessing the power of international Indian diaspora to bring the most innovative, efficient, cost effective healthcare solutions to India, Dr. Suresh Reddy said.

One in seven Americans is touched by a physician of Indian origin. There is an equally large percentage of medical residents, fellows and students in the USA serving millions of Americans. AAPI’s GHS has provided a venue for medical education programs and symposia with world-renowned physicians on the cutting edge of medicine.

Representing the interests of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, leaders of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, for 37 years. For more details, please visit: https://aapisummit.org/www.aapiusa.org

AAPI’s Historic Global Healthcare Summit 2018 in Mumbai Concludes with Commitment to Give Back to Mother India

January 15, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Health 0

The 12th edition of the annual Global Healthcare Summit at the glamour capital of India, Mumbai concluded here on December 30^th with Physicians of Indian Origin rededicating themselves to work and collaborate towards bringing in high quality, innovative, preventable, cost-effective ways to the delivery of healthcare to millions of people in India.

In his inaugural address, the President of India said, AAPI is “more than just a platform of doctors and medical practitioners, the Indian President told the nearly 500 delegates who had come from around the world to attend the landmark Summit in Mumbai. “It is a link between two vibrant and democratic societies, both of which have addressed major public health challenges in their own way.”

The Indian President praised AAPI and the over 100,000 Physicians of Indian Origin in the United States for their great contributions. “The professional-ism and goodwill of Indian doctors in America has won them – won you, I should say – a well-deserved reputation,” he told the AAPI leaders. “In fact, it has occasionally led to diplomatic gains for India for which your Association must be appreciated.”

The President of India urged AAPI to continue its efforts in the prevention and management of life-style diseases, diabetes and obesity, where physicians of Indian origin can bring in “traditional Indian wellness practices to modern medical systems. Please see what your Association can do in this area,” he told AAPI delegates

Dr. Naresh Parikh, President AAPI in his opening remarks, provided an overview of some of the major contributions of the past 11 Summits organized by AAPI. “Over the past 12 years AAPI physicians have collaborated with several professional medical associations, academic institutions, Government of India, and have made significant contributions towards addressing diabetes with the launch of Sevak program, CPR-AED training for first responders with expert faculty from the American University of Antigua, Traumatic Brain Injury – the scourge of young India, and development of management guidelines thereby helping prevent deaths due to road traffic accidents, raising the importance and awareness on smoking cessation, Adopt a Village program and taking the initiatives to make quality healthcare accessible universally to village and taluka and district levels, and most recently a strong collaborative on making India TB Free with the signing of a MOU with USAID. Ten city pilots are well under way and significant progress is being made,” he told a captive audience.

Packed with strategic planning sessions such as the much anticipated CEO Forum, Women’s Forum, Launching Free Health Clinic, First Responders Training, CMEs, Research Contest, Fashion Show, Cultural extravaganza, pre and post visits to Kerala and Goa, the GHS 2018 has promised to be one with the greatest impact and significant contributions towards harnessing the power of international Indian diaspora to bring the most innovative, efficient, cost effective healthcare solutions to India.

Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, Chairman for GHS 2018 said that with a view to help the delivery of healthcare to millions across the nation, said, “AAPI has capped the voluminous achievements of the past 37 years with a clear vision to move forward taking this noble organization and its vision for better healthcare to newer heights.” Dr. Jahagirdar and his wife Dr. Udita Jahagirdar contributed funds towards the Burns Unit Seth G.S. Medical College and Hospital in Mumbai and the Unit was dedicated during GHS 2018.

With a view to encourage and recognize research by upcoming generation of physicians, AAPI organized a Young Investigator Research Competition as part of the GHS 2018 at G.S. Medical College and Hospital in Mumbai had several dozens of participation from Medical Students from across the nation. Winners were recognized and awarded at the Gala on December 28^th.

Leading Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country and internationally converged onto Mumbai to further the exchange of knowledge and best practices on recent global medical advances, to develop vibrant and viable health policy agendas, and address growing healthcare challenges.

“The focus of the 12^th Global Health Summit was an India-centric approach, with special events such as, Global Impact and India’s contribution in providing cost effective medicines, addressing global shortages of healthcare professionals, Young Investigators Research contest, Women’s Leadership Forum, with focus on stopping violence against women and round tables to develop practical solutions for strengthening TB Free India initiative and addressing non-communicable diseases,” Anwar Feroz, AAPI’s Strategic Advisor said.

The many themes chosen for CMEs included, Healthcare, Career and Commerce, with the focus on Women’s Healthcare, including high priority areas such as Cardiology, Maternal & Child Health, Diabetes, Oncology, Surgery, Mental Health, HIT, Allergy, Immunology & Lung Health, Gastroenterology, Transplant and impact of comorbidities.

Neal Simon, President of AUA commended the efforts of AAPI and its collaboration with The American University of Antigua (AUA) and P D Hinduja Hospital for successfully conducting First Responders Training, including CPR-AED and BLS for more than 150 Mumbai Police Officers on December 22^nd, 23^rd& 24^th after successfully completing training in Jharkhand, Rajasthan and West Bengal to provide assistance to accident victims and save lives.=.

Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Founder GAPIO has envisioned the evolution of developing a united front for all NRI physicians to develop strong and effective programs that can be implemented with precision to face the challenges posed by Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

Dr. Ramesh Mehta, President GAPIO in his opening address said that AAPI GHS 2018 is the beginning of a strong collaborative approach along with the Global Association of Physicians of Indian origin (GAPIO) that together will make constructive and tangible ways of ensuring that healthcare is affordable and accessible to millions of people in India.

The CEO Forum, addressed by leaders from Indian Pharmaceutical Companies, including Dr. Preetha Rajaraman, Health Attaché, US Government; Dr. Shailesh Ayyangar, MD Sanofi; Sudarshan Jain. Former MD Abbott; Madan Rohini Krishnan, MD Medtronic India; Dr. William Pinsky. President ECFMG; Neal Simon, President AUA; DG Shah, Secretary Indian Pharmaceutical Allianc;, Dr. Gurpreet Sandhu, President CHPF; Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI; Dr. Vinod Shah, AAPI Past President; Dr. Raj Bhayani, Co Chair, GHS; and, Dr Ravi Jahagirdar, Chairman GHS.

The Forum discussed ways to ensure that lower cost and effective medicines with the highest quality continue to make India the world leader in this field. The CEO Forum focused on identifying ways to successfully implement “AYUSHMAN BHARAT” – a brainchild of the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, whose vision is to provide quality healthcare to India’s billion people – a project that is being watched intently across the Globe for emulation, these sessions are designed to complement the enormous effort by several agencies and Government of India, said Anwar Feroz Siddiqi, Chief Strategy Adviser , AAPI, Honorary Adviser GAPIO and BAPIO.

The Women’s Forum had Amruta Fadnavis, First Lady of Maharashtra and Vice President of Axis Bank; Deana Uppal, Entrepreneur & Winner Miss India U; Dr. Nandita Palshetkar, President FOGSI; Dr. Ratna Jain, Former Mayor Kota, Rajasthan; and, Sangita Reddy, Executive Director, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospital Group as panelists. Dr. Asha Parikh, Chair, AAPI Women’s Forum and Dr. Udaya Shivangi, Vice Chair, AAPI Women’s Forum led the panelists to a lively discussion on ways to prevent and address violence against women.

Building on its collaborative efforts with several non-governmental organizations and the US-AID, AAPI committed itself to strengthen its initiatives to “make every city, ever district, every village in India TB free.” The planning/review session at the GHS was an Introduction and Review of Building on A Roadmap for a TB-Free India – A Combined effort of AAPI and CETI under guidance of Government of India, US-AID, where the progress in the 10 cities, where the program has been on for several months, was reviewed through a live webcast from each of these 10 cities.

Participants at the strategic planning session included, Dr. Naresh Parikh MD, President of AAPI; Anwar Feroz, AAPI’s Strategic Advisor; Dr. Salil Bhargava, CETI; Reuben Seamineken from US-AID; Vikas Sheel, IAS, Joint Secretary of Health, Indian Government; Kush Sachdeva, Deputy Director General of TB, Government of India; Dr. Manoj Jain; Dr. Rajesh Deshmukh; and, Dr. Thakor G. Patel.

AAPI had already launched the TB Free India project in April 2018 in strong association with Ministry for Health, WHO, CETI, USAID and industry partners such as Johnson & Johnson and Mylan. AAPI and the TB Free India collaborative is implementing pilot projects in 10 cities across India. The initial findings were presented during the GHS 2018 in Mumbai under the leadership of Dr. Manoj Jain and Dr. Thakor Patel. The special pilots in Varanasi and Nagpur are supported by Dr. Raj Bhayani, Co-Chair AAPI GHS and Dr. Surendra Purohit, Senior Adviser AAPI. Dr. SampatShivangi and Dr. Vinod Shah, past AAPI Presidents have served as the senior advisors and have contributed immensely to the success of the GHS.

Dr. Naresh Parikh praised the dedication, contributions and efforts of Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, Chair of GHS 2018, Dr. Vinod Shah, Chair of AAPI Legislative Committee, Dr. Sampat Shivangi, Co-Chair of GHS 2018, Dr. Raj Bhayani, Co-Chair of GHS 2018, Anwar Feroz, AAPI’s Strategic Advisor, Dr. Asha Parikh, Women’s Forum Chair, and his entire Executive Committee consisting of Dr. Suresh Reddy, President-Elect; Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, Vice President; Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, Secretary; Dr. Anjana Samadder, Treasurer; and Dr. Ajeeth Kothari, Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

GHS 2018 provided the participants and world leaders in the Healthcare industry a rare platform to interact with and listen to leading physicians, healthcare professionals, academicians, scientists, and leaders of the hospitals, technology, medical device and pharmaceutical companies to develop solutions that will make cost effective and quality healthcare accessible to all Indians.

Dr. Suresh Reddy invited all delegates to the 13^th edition of Global Healthcare Summit planned to be held from July 19^th to 21^st in Hyderabad, India. Organized by AAPI in collaboration with BAPIO & GAPIO, as well as Host Alumni Chapters, including OGKTMA, ATMGUSA, and GMCGA, the GHS 2019 will focus on preventive health, targeting women’s health, and providing special CPR Trainings, Dr. Reddy, who will assume charge as the President of AAPI in July next year at the convention in Atlanta, said.

Representing the interests of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, leaders of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, for 37 years. For more details, please visit: https://aapisummit.org/www.aapiusa.org

Captions for Pictures

1. Shri Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, delivering inaugural address at AAPI’s 12 Annual Global Healthcare Summit in Mumbai

2. Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI, delivering welcome address at the 12^th annual GHS 2018

3. AAPI leadership with President of India and other political leaders form India

4. AAPI leaders and collaborators recommitting to render India TB Free by 2025

5. Women’s Forum panelists with AAPI leaders

6. CEO Forum addressed by world renowned health leaders

7. A section of the audience at the inaugural event of AAPI’s GHS 2018 in Mumbai

A Galaxy of Women Leaders Address AAPI’s Women’s Forum during GHS in Mumbai “A Strong Woman Cannot Be Stopped:” Amruta Fadnavis Tells at AAPI’s Women’s Forum

January 15, 2019 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Women 0

“When a strong woman is born, she cannot be stopped,” Amruta Fadnavis, First Lady of Maharashtra and Vice President of Axis Bank, told a packed audience at the Women’s Forum during the 12th annual edition of Global Healthcare Summit at the Trident Hotel, Narimon Point, Mumbai, India on the final day of GHS, December 30^th, 2018.

Organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) the Women’s Forum had a galaxy of successful women, who shared 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.

The Women’s Forum had Amruta Fadnavis, First Lady of Maharashtra and Vice President of Axis Bank; Deana Uppal, Entrepreneur & Winner Miss India UK; Dr. Nandita Palshetkar, President FOGSI; Dr. Ratna Jain, Former Mayor Kota, Rajasthan; and, Sangita Reddy, Executive Director, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospital Group as panelists. Dr. Asha Parikh, Chair, AAPI Women’s Forum and Dr. Udaya Shivangi, Vice Chair, AAPI Women’s Forum, led the panelists to a lively discussion on ways to prevent and address violence against women.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Asha Parikh, Chairwoman of the Women’s Forum, described violence against women as a “burning issue” around the world. While praising AAPI for making efforts to focus on this crucial issue affecting women across all continents, she urged everyone to “identify ways to collectively address this issue.” Reminding the audience about the tradition of woman being considered a goddess in the Indian tradition, she urged everyone to respect women in all places.

Amruta Fadnavis, who was the keynote speaker at the Women’s Forum, is a trained classical singer, a social activist and a banker. Married to the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri. Devendra Fadnavis, she is the youngest first lady in the history of Maharashtra. Currently, serving as the Vice President – Transaction Banking with Axis Bank, Ms. Fadnavis has represented India at National Prayer Breakfast – 2017, an International peace initiative presided by US President Donald Trump. She has perfectly blended her life as a working woman and a socialite to nurture her interests and passions. She chose to have her own individuality rather than wrapped herself under the covers of first lady of Maharashtra and which is definitely an inspiration for many women today.

Ms. Fadnavis grew up in a household where education and independence for women was essential. Being a wife, mother, businesswoman, artiste, each role she plays is so demanding. But, Ms. Fadnavis, who shared about her supporting parents and family, while growing up, said, she was able to plat all of these roles effectively, because she has a very understanding husband, who encouraged her to work towards the realization of her personal and professional goals.

“It’s smart economics to invest in a girl as much as one would in a boy,” Ms. Fadnavis said. “It’s very important to help girl child to be independent.” She stressed the need for women to be more educated than men. “Men feel threatened when women do not adhere to what men wants them to do,” she said. Pointing to many non-governmental programs she has initiated and supported, Ms. Fadnavis drew the attention of how with the trainings provided to police, more women have come forward to report violence than in the past.

Dr. Nandita Palshetkar shared with the audience about her own advocacy role she and FOGSI, her noble organization working with women are doing in Maharshtra. Describing violence against women as “most shameful,” Dr. Palshetkar stated, the prevalence of violence against women is a global phenomenon. She called for the need for education towards gender sensitization. Working with schools, health workers across the country, this can be achieved, she said. According to her, “The biggest challenge is to keep fighting. Women need to support each other and applaud each other’s victory. If you are not doing it no one is going to do it for yourself,” she told the audience.

Deana Uppal, another panelist, while acknowledging that there is discrimination in the glamour world of Hollywood and Bollywood, said, in choosing lead roles and when it comes to payments, men are always preferred over women. “We have come a long way. Changes are taking place,” she said. “There are questions raised when such practices are seen happening.” She allured to the effect of MeToo# Movement and its impact on the ability for “more people to speak out against any type of discrimination.” Stressing the need for equality, she said, “I strongly believe in promoting equality. You are the role models for all of us here. Keep fighting and support one another.”

Dr. Ratna Jain, who was elected Mayor of Kota in Rajasthan at a very young age, recommended that “Be sure of what you want to be and be passionate about what you want to achieve. Believe in yourself and go ahead and do it.” While acknowledging of the many social evils that are prevalent across India, Dr. Jain said, “When women are educated, things will be better for everyone. Many of these social evils will be eliminated.” Stressing the need for literacy, she said, “Small efforts by everyone can do wonders.”

Ms. Sangita Reddy, who moderated the panel discussion pointed out how women are being judged differently than men in almost every aspect of life. She stated that there are as many as 70% of the healthcare jobs are held by women, but only a handful of jobs in Board “There is an unconscious structural bias. There is a need for looking within and identify ways to move forward in order to be agents of change from within.

Dr. Udaya Shivangi, Co-Chair of Women’s Forum, stressed the need for enhancing professional growth without compromising one’s family, values and interests in life. She shared with the audience how her mother inspired her to dream and work towards realizing her dreams.

The three-day historic event, inaugurated by the Honorable President of India on December 28^th at the Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai, was for the first time, jointly organized by American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) and Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO), from December 28th – 30th December 2018 at Hotel Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai. Earlier, Dr. Naresh Parikh, President AAPI in his opening remarks, highlighted the importance of Women’s Forum, which has come to be a much sought after event at ever Convention and GHS.

Representing the interests of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, leaders of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, for 37 years. For more details, please visit: https://aapisummit.org/www.aapiusa.org

Indian Americans in CT Celebrate Christmas

December 26, 2018 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Culture/Religion 0

It’s that time of year again. December has come and with it all the joys of Christmas and that it means to everyone. Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God.

Christmas is a season of praise and thanksgiving for the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ, which begins with Christmas Eve (December 24 after sundown) or Day and continues through the Day of Epiphany. The name Christmas comes from the season’s first service, the Christ Mass. Epiphany comes from the Greek word epiphania, which means “manifestation,” when Christ made known to the world as the Savior when Three Kings/Magi visited Baby Jesus in Bethlehem.

But what is the real meaning of Christmas? Is it the gifts under the tree, the lights in the windows, the cards in the mail, turkey dinners with family and friends, snow in the yard, stockings hanging in the living room, and shouts of “Merry Christmas” to those who pass us in the streets? Is this really Christmas?

Christmas has now more associated with sharing of gifts, parties and carling. The Indian American community here in the US has brought with them some of the traditions they have cherished back home in India.

Continuing with the tradition of singing Carols and spreading the message of Christmas around the community, members of Our Lady of Assumption Syro-Malabar Catholic Mission in Norwalk CT went around houses across the southern Connecticut, singing Christmas carols and bringing in the joy of Christmas and sharing blessings with members and families and friends of the newly formed Catholic Church in Fairfield County during the weekends of December 15-16, 2018.The caroling began with the carol, ‘O Come All Ye Faithful.’

Meanwhile, Trumbull Party Timers, a group of families in the Trumbull region shared the joyous Christmas blessings with children leading the Carol singing in each house in the region. “It was fun and while we had a good time we are glad we are able to share with one another the spirit of Christmas; Love, Joy, Peace, and Sharing,” said the youth who were the lead carolers of the group.

A Grand Christmas celebrations in Chicago unveils the essence & spirit of Christmas

December 26, 2018 Asian Media USACommunity, Culture/Religion 0

With the symphonic choir presenting melodious Christmas carols eclipsed only by the grand entry of huge convoy of Kerala Drum beats headed by fully attired dancing Santa Claus kicked-off a spectacular Christmas Nite Banquet at the colorfully decked Meadows Club on December 14, 2018 in Rolling Meadows, IL.

The mesmerizing high-decibel sounds of Kerala drum beats reverberating the hall joyfully unveiled the grand evening of great festive fervor which was followed by dazzling dance performances and musical carols each heartwarmingly unveiled the profoundly beautiful story of Christmas spectacularly depicted through songs, dance and music.

The Christmas Nite Banquet hosted under the aegis of South Asian Christian Cultural Association [SACCA] attracted a great host of elected officials headed by U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, State Senator-elect Ram Villivalam, Oakbrook Mayor Dr. Gopal Lalmalani, Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath, Air-India’s Chief Malini Vaidyanathan, Redberri Corp CEO Deepakant Vyas joined by large number of business and community leaders including SBI Manager Amit Jihngran, PM Mortgage CEO Ashok Lakshmanan, Joyallukas Jewelers Manager Justin Joseph, SBI-VP Deepa Nath, Ajeet Singh, Harish Kolasani, Prachi Jaitley and Dhitu Bhagvakar.

The glittering banquet set off in motion with lamp lighting ceremony lead by U.S.Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi who in his remarks applauded the organizers and extolled the spirit of Christmas, which he emphasized, fosters peace, goodwill and love. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi who inspired a new generation of new leaders added that he would like to see a public figure emerging from the south Indian Christian community. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi publicly acknowledged and thanked Gladson Varghese and Keerthi Kumar Ravoori and his team for hosting this grand event celebrating the essence of Christmas.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi presented special plaques of appreciation to Mr. Ashok Lakshmanan, Mr. Amit Jhingran, State Bank of India and Joseph of Joyallukas Jewelry. Malini Vaidyanathan of Air-India was honored with floral bouquets for her outstanding support to the community events and projects.

State Senator Ram Villivalam [elect] presented seasons’ greetings and thanked the community for all the support he has received in his electoral victory as the new State Senator in the 8th Senatorial district.

Bishop Jacob Angadiath gave an uplifting Christmas sermonette that presented the central theme of the birth of Jesus Christ, which he said, is very foundation of Christmas. Bishop Angadiath said Christmas exemplifies love, peace, joy and hope. Anto Kavalackal presented an introduction to Bishop.

The highlight of the evening was ethereally melodious carols and anthems presented by the acclaimed St. Thomas Marthoma Church choir with over 30 singers directed by Choir Director Jacob George in a repertoire performance enhanced by candlelit ambience with a sparkling collection of timeless carols evoked sustained applause and some standing ovation. Young dancers who put grace, beauty and emotions in their dances illustrating the story of Christmas beautifully presented the evening’s dance presentations from Kala Dance Academy choreographed by Ruth Varghese and Surya Dance Academy.

Earlier, Gladson Varghese, Chairman welcomed the elected officials and thanked the gathering of families of all faiths for unitedly celebrating Christmas with a greater sense of appreciation, love and understanding. Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, Banquet Convener presiding over the evening’s banquet served as the emcee, introduced the chief guests, and elected officials. Keerthi Ravoori called the Christmas banquet a celebration of inter-faith unity during this festive season. Emmanuel Neela, President SACCA presented seasonal remarks and outlined future programs; while Vasanth Charles presented an overview of the history of South Asian Christian Cultural Assn [SACCA] and Satish Dadepogu proposed a vote of thanks. Margaret Sanyogita Charles, Shirley Kalvakota & Persis Dadepogu led the lamp-lighting ceremony and intermittently took to the stage in the honoring ceremonies presenting shawl and flower bouquets to Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi in appreciation of his gracious presence and support; to State Senator [elect] Ram Villivalam on his recent electoral victory and to Shree Guruswamy for presenting beautiful cultural dance presentations and Oakbrook Mayor Dr. Gopal Lalmalani.

Johnson Kodipally, Merari Bushpaka, Vijay, Michael Konda, Tony Chettupally, Mohit, and Sheetal & Komal Panchal presented the Telugu carols; while Rev. Rajamani Gonu, Rev. Dr. David Vidyasagar, Rev. Omega Verma, Dan Williams, and Prem presented the closing Christmas Skit with musical score by Michael Konda.

A Better World With Hope For Future Generations

December 19, 2018 Ajay GhoshEditorial 0

Our world that we have inherited is a beautiful place. Nature, in its abundance has bestowed on us numerous blessings. The people in our lives, the opportunities that come on our way to learn, to grow, to flourish, and to share, are all miracles that we enjoy and cherish every day of our lives.

However, our world has its own challenges. We are witnesses to hatred, wars, violence, divisions, epidemics, uncertainties, natural calamities, injustices, discriminations, and fear. Our faith in humanity can sometimes be overshadowed by doubt, despair and a sense of defeat.

The ongoing wars around the world between nations, religious, ethnic, and ideological groups, threats to human existence by terrorist groups and piling up of nuclear and biological weapons, as well as through the mindless destruction of the resources of the planet earth, have made us lose hope in ourselves and the world.

For nearly seven decades since the end of the Second World War, the United States played a key leadership role for the world. It’s interventions in Korea, Vietnam, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and many other parts of the world, including efforts to thwart communist insurgencies, dictatorships and other threats to peace, were aimed at sustaining a balanced world order.

Taking office in 2009, newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama lost no time in spelling out his new vision for America’s role in the world. “Leading from behind” was to become America’s new role on the world stage. A decade after this new approach, leading to many actions or inaction, had its consequences.

There are dozens of hotspots around the world that calls for immediate attention and action. The Middle East remains a seething cauldron of unrest and instability. Years of painstaking negotiations between Israel and Palestine has not produced a breakthrough, resulting in an ongoing war in Gaza that has caused the death and destruction of lives of thousands across the borders.

Despite more than a decade of warfare and more than a trillion dollars spent, Iraq is disintegrating into civil war. Afghanistan is still a hotspot with uncertainty over government formation years after the elections. Threats from Al-Qaeda affiliates around the world have posed constant threat to the safety of the world.

China continues o flex its muscles with almost all the nations on its borders, including with Japan, Taiwan, India and Tibet, contributing to unrest and tensions among the nations of the world. After Syrian president Bashar al-Assad used poison gas to kill hundreds of Syrian civilians, a clear violation of international law, and having no consequence has emboldened him and Assad continues to slaughter and displace hundreds of innocent civilians. Half a Million people, mostly civilians, have died in Syria’s continuing civil war, and the world seems powerless to stop the carnage.

Wars and sectarian violence in Yemen, Sudan, Congo, Nigeria, Pakistan, and parts of Central American nations continue to cause the deaths of thousands of people every year. Terrorism has become a real threat to the entire humanity, with the brutal murder of innocent people.

Russia does not seem to help build peace in the world. It brazenly fomented discontent and among the majority Russian-leaning citizens of the Ukrainian province of Crimea, then simply annexed the region. Human right violations and interfering in the democratic processes of free nations around the world, including the United States, have been dealt with muteness.

Stephen Hadley, President George W. Bush’s national security adviser, stated that it would be harder to recover from this cold war era tactics than in the past because Bladimir Putin is effectively rejecting the international order established after the collapse of the Soviet Union.”If Not a Cold War, a Return to a Chilly Rivalry,” he was said.

Natural calamities around the globe, in response to man-made global warming, and short-sighted and narrow vision for political gains by leaders around the world, have become a common feature killing tens of thousands of people every year, and causing destruction of places, properties and nature itself, in hundreds of Billion Dollars every year.

The mindset of millions of people to radicalism, racism, and violence is a major threat to the whole world and its continuance of the current civilization. We are often not concerned because these tragedies are often not occurring in places and people closer to us. Many of us seem to be unconcerned about these threats until they come our way. And they continue to happen, and soon all of us will be consumed by these violent forces that have become a threat to humanity.

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it,” stated Albert Einstein decades ago. Looking around us we have every reason to be concerned that the world we live in has become more dangerous to the current generation than it ever has been. The advancement in technology, innovations, more open and broad minded society of the 21st century have not ushered us into a safer world. No, it has exposed humanity and the entire world to more dangers than ever been before.

The policies and programs of Donald Trump, President of the US, allegedly delivering for a faithful base of supporters who voted for him as the ultimate anti-globalism, abdicating America’s responsibilities as the world leader, and leading to trade war between nations, anti-Islamist and anti-Immigrant policies, deregulation of environmental and monetary policies that were created to safeguard the nature and common man, have pushed the US and the world to the brink of destruction.

However, there is hope in the midst of all these. Initiatives of small and large by individuals, groups and nations give us hope for a better world. Technological advances that help fight diseases, protect the earth, and keep the peoples around the world connected with one another instantly through the social media give rise to hope.

I have personally met and been enriched by the examples of several individuals and small groups who have made it a commitment to share their riches, resources, skills, talents, time, and their lives to bring hope in this hopeless world.

The beginning of the New Year 2019 is a perfect time to take stock of our lives. It may be helpful at this time to reflect on the achievements of the past year, congratulating ourselves for both personal growth and goals met, and setting our agendas for the New Year.

It’s the time to make or re-evaluate our own hopes and dreams for the year, thus providing a basis to guide our year. Creating a plan for our year and something to strive for enables us to become more and more successful in our own lives.

As we celebrate Christmas, the festival of peace, joy, and love, we dedicate this issue to those who continue to bring hope and peace, making a positive changes in the lives of people, for the greater good of humanity, to make our world a better place than the one we inherited, and to give our children and for generations a better future.

Merry Christmas And A Bright, Healthy, Joy-filled, And Prosperous New Year To All.

Send in your thoughts/comments/ideas to: ajghosh@gmail.com

Shree Saini is Miss India Worldwide 2018

December 19, 2018 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Entertainment, Fashion 0

Indian-American Shree Saini was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2018 at a glittering pageant held at the Royal Alberts Palace, in Fords, New Jersey on Friday, December 14, 2018.

Shree, 22, who was told by the doctors that she can never dance after being installed with a pacemaker at the age of 12, said one should never give up. “I truly believe your legacy is defined by how you make others feel and the positive difference you make in your lifetime,” said Shree, who started her non-profit organisation, when she was 15. Shree said it was her dream to compete for a world title, which was started when she was in the elementary school.

Indian-origin girls from as many as 17 countries participated in the annual beauty pageant on the final day, while nearly 40 women from as many countries from around the world had competed fro the coveted title. Organised by the New York-based India Festival Committee (IFC), the pageant is said to be the oldest and largest event for the Indian Diaspora community.

Sakshi Sinha from Australia and Anusha Sareen from United Kingdom were respectively declared first and second runner ups in the 27th annual global pageant for people of Indian origin.

India’s Mandeep Kaur Sandhu, who hails from Haryana, was crowned Mrs India Worldwide 2018. A mother to a boy, she lost her husband in a road accident in the first year of her marriage. “I decided to stay single to show to all those who told me that I cannot raise a child alone being a widow. I am here to represent all the widow women. If I can do it, you can do it,” Mandeep said. Jeya Priya Pandian from Malaysia and Kavita Malhotra Pattani from USA were declared the first and second runner ups of the Mrs India Worldwide 2018 respectively.

The next edition of the Miss India Worldwide will be held in Mumbai in 2019, said Dharmatma Saran, chairman and founder of the India Festival Committee that organises the pageant.

“We are proud of the fact that we have been able to imbibe Indian values, tradition and culture among Indian origin youths across the world,” he said. “We have also been successful in promoting Indian performing arts in the world,” Saran said.

Being uprooted from one’s culture and dear ones was undoubtedly a major challenge. She had to experience hardships while in high school, where she was bullied. Young Shree fought bravely a heart ailment which required her to use a pacemaker. Shree, who had a pacemaker implanted at the age of 12 and was told that she would never be able to dance, is an inspiration for all. “I practice dance almost every day for several hours,” Shree says, pointing to the pacemaker she carries with her all the time.

After doctors diagnosed her with a congenital heart defect at the age of 12, Saini recalls how she struggled to adapt to the life-changing situation of needing a pacemaker while still in middle school, especially when other students did not treat her kindly as a result.

“I have been the target of brutal emotional bullying. I was ridiculed in the most subtle ways, which is why I so often talk about ‘nonverbal’ bullying. For example, there were many instances where I was left out of events or edited out of pictures, and daily ‘whispered about’ by others. As a result of this treatment, there were many times when I would cry in my school’s restrooms or come home in tears after dance class… yet I persevered.

“My family helped me endure,” she explains. “My mom said, ‘the way people treat you has nothing to do with you, but has everything to do with them.’ She empowered me to step up and be even more compassionate towards those who hurt me, and to never give up on my true belief in always being kind.”

In order to reprogram her brain towards more positive thoughts and reach an understanding of how she could find inner peace in spite of all the negativity, she read extensively. “I read books and essays on achieving a more powerful mindset, responding to acts of hate with compassion, and the true value of emotional fitness and what can be done to address the lack of education around it. From what I have learned, I have formed my personal mantra: ‘Giving powerful responses to life’s struggles while being a positive contributor to every situation.’”

These experiences did not deter young Shree from pursuing her life’s mission. “My journey went from a silent sufferer to a bitter person and finally an enabled victor,” she says. “If anything, the physical challenges and social pressures fueled her – all the way to the Joffrey Ballet and beyond, including winning the title of Miss India USA.”

Shree created the website www.ShreeSaini.com to educate people about her experiences. “It was created based on my personal struggles during my high school,” Saini says. Her hope is that it would inspire others to emulate and face the world with confidence and love. Her former tormentors are now her fans. Via social media, she’s received their congratulations – and apologies.

“I am so incredibly honored, overjoyed, humbled and excited to be chosen as your “MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2018”! God’s amazing grace has surpassed all the words I may have to express this fete. I am astonished by the blessings showered over me,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Her passion for education started when she was very young. Even in high school, her drive led Shree to graduate with the highest number of high school credits (46, although only 26 were required). “I know education is vital to solving any of the world’s problems, and have therefore always stayed curious and dedicated myself to obtaining life skills, like public speaking, as well as gaining more knowledge by studying political science at Harvard University, and establishing my own emotional wellbeing startup at Stanford University.”

Pointing to the hard work she had to put in, Shree says, the Acting Program she attended at Yale was a very intensive conservatory program for actors comprised of 12+ hours of classes daily, which were then followed by rehearsals. With my heart condition, I had to work extra hard (just as I need to do in dance or as a UW student) in order to match the performance level of other physically-able actors. And, she succeeded through determination and hard work.

Shree’s ambition to learn and conquer what she is set to achieve in life has taken Shree to some of the most prestigious schools across the United States. Saini, who studied journalism at UW and has attended as a visiting student at Harvard, Yale and Stanford, aspires to push legislation through local governments.

After dealing with her own personal experiences, Saini penciled her thoughts in a journal, which she said helped change her from a victim to an empowered young woman. The journals in her diary turned to newspaper clippings in local papers in Washington. “In a society mainly obsessed with physical fitness, emotional problems are dismissed,” noted the young activist. “Emotional well-being is necessary to have a healthy body and mind,” she says.

Shree is working on pushing through a Bill nationwide that will help implement emotional well-being classes for K through 12. “The classes will help start at a young age to build self-esteem.” Saini hopes to follow up her undergraduate degree with graduate courses at an Ivy League school, where she intends to study public administration or policy making and nonprofit management.

A brilliant student and learner, Shree believes that children learn what they live in their own households. “Parents need to radiate kindness, and be generous enough to overlook minor offenses, while still raising responsible kids who will heal our societies.”

Shree gives credit to her parents, Sanjay and Ekta Saini, who have not only supported her dreams, but have gone beyond to help her succeed at every step of the way. Pointing to her mother, Ekta, Shree says, “My mother is my role model, who has been with me, supported me and have encouraged me to work hard and realize my dreams.”

As the reigning Miss India Worldwide, “I believe I will be able to make even more of an impact. During my reign, I am responsible for reaching out to individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and schools to make at least 100 appearances during the next 12 months. At every event, I strive to raise public awareness about the value of emotional fitness. I find I am able to engage audiences by asking them my most powerful question: ‘What is more important to you than your own emotional wellbeing?’ I also share my personal story of receiving a pacemaker at age 12, being brutally bullied, and then having to build myself back up emotionally.” She is committed to live a life of service where she intends to teach people about love, harmony and tolerance.

AAPI-QLI Celebrates 23 Years of Excellence 5 Distinguished Physicians Honored During Annual Convention

December 13, 2018 Ajay GhoshCommunity 0

Long Island, NY: December 14th, 2018: Nearly 500 people from across the country came together to celebrate the contributions, achievements and growth of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin of QUEENS and LONG ISLAND (AAPI-QLI) during the 23rd annual convention here at the Hilton Huntington, Long Island, NY on Saturday, December 8^th, 2018. Entertainment, CME lectures, Exhibition, Business Forums, Networking, Recognition of five distinguished physicians for their achievements and contributions, Gala and Dinner were only some of those made the convention historic on this colorful and eventful day.

In his presidential address, Jagdish K. Gupta, M, President of AAPI-QLI, describing the convention as a historic event gave an overview of how the organization, and its trajectory of growth over the past 23 years and how it has become today to be one of the most powerful ethnic Physician organizations in the country. “AAPIQLI is fortunate to have a strong foundation made by its founding members. AAPI-QLI was started in June 1995 to represent the interests of all physicians of Indian origin in Queens and Long Island area and now has grown to become the largest ethnic physician organization of approximately 800 members, one of the largest chapters in National AAPI.”

Enumerating some of the programs under his able leadership AAPI-QLI initiated, Dr. Gupta said, AAPI-QLI has been providing a forum for monthly meetings for Continuing Medical Educations on Sunday, monthly sessions with discussions on current trends and changes on a range of topics in healthcare, wealth management, and practice management issues on Wednesday. “AAPI-QLI is also engaged in charitable activities for the benefit of our community at large in the form of donations to ROTACARE, INN- Soup Kitchen, Shankar Nethralaya, CRY foundation and many others. The organization also conducts many Health Camps at our religious institutions, providing free flu vaccine, eye care, dental care and preventive medical care including anti-obesity campaigns in the

elementary schools and for Veterans of our nation.” AAPI-QLI also participates with other organizations, like IALI and AIA in sponsoring Health Fairs during India Fest and Deepavali Celebrations at South Street Seaport, Dr. Gupta said.

In his address, Dr. Ajay Lodha, Chairman of BOT-AAPI-QLI, and past national President of AAPI, said, “Under the leadership of Dr. Gupta, r AAPI-QLI has raised the bar higher than ever. We have been able to expand our reach to all parts of the state and improve the educational and charitable experience of our members. We want to create a strong relationship with various organizations within our community that reflect our vision and mission. AAPI-QLI will discover her own potential to be a player in shaping the health of each patient with a focus on health maintenance than disease intervention.”

Dr. Lodha described AAPIQLI as the most vibrant and powerful subchapter of national AAPI which represents more than 100,000 physicians and more than 20,000 residents and fellows of Indian subcontinent. “My friends, you do not know your own power. When AAPI speaks, people in Washington listen. AAPI has been in the forefront in shaping legislation in a number of complex challenges confronting the medical/healthcare system,” he said. He thanked and praised the hard work an

The Distinguished honorees of the Gala this year included: Dr. Alan Guerci, President & CEO, Catholic Health services, Long Island; and, Dr. Jason Naidich, Senior VP & Regional Executive Director of Northern Region at Northwell Health and Chairman of Radiology at Zucker School of Medicine.

AAPI-QLI honored there of its own members for their dedicated services and contributions as awell as their achievements in the field of Medicine and Health. Dr. Satish Anand was honored with Lifetime Distinguished Services to AAPI-QLI Award. Dr. Manjeet Chadha received the Distinguished Physician Innovation in Research Award; and, Dr. Gaddam Reddy was honored with Distinguished Physician Clinical Services Award.

In his address, Congressman Thomas Suozzi, chief guest at the event, praised the contributions of Indian Americans to the larger American society. “In this room, you represent the future of New York and the USA. I see an immense pool of talents among you. We are very lucky to have you. You do so much for the nation,” he said. Describing India’s relationship with the United States to be “the most important in the next 50 years” for both the democracies, Suozzi said, “India shares the same democratic values like the United States.”

“We take pride in our diversity,” Nassau County Executive, Steven Bellone, in his felicitation address, said. “Indian American Physicians have earned the admiration and respect of those in their community, working diligently to provide vital programs and services that contribute to the quality of life in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties in New York.”

Dr. Viny Jayam, Convention Chair, welcomed the audience to the gala and thanked the tireless efforts of the committee members for their hard work and dedication. Dr. Rakesh Dua, Immediate Past President of AAPI, congratulated the team under the leadership of DR. Gupta for their dedication and leadership. The event came to a close with a live musical performance by leading Bollywood stars, and a grand dinner.

AAPIQLI represents more than 2,000 Physicians residing in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk serving the community of New York and its Counties. These practicing physicians are dedicated to provide highest quality of care to their patients and are also serving in most prominent positons at their medical institutions, including Administrative, Program Directors, Heads of Department, and Teaching. These leaders are making decisions about medical and Pharmaceutical Products, devices and equipment and practice related services at multiple levels in hospitals, medical school, outpatient centers, and health care facilities. For information, please visit: http://aapiqli.org/about-aapiqli/

AAPI to launch a 9-City Jai Ho Musical Dhamaka by Bollywood singer Sukhwinder Singh in May 2019

December 13, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity 0

After mesmerizing musical lovers all across the world with his enchanting voice, Sukhwinder Singh, the top Bollywood singer is now on AAPI’s Nine-City Jai Ho Musical Dhamaka next Spring, performing in thirteen cities around the United States. Organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI), the spectacular musical program combined with educational and networking opportunities for AAPI members, supporters and sponsors, is being organized with the objective of bringing CME and non-CME sponsored medical lectures, exhibits, Gala Dinner, community outreach talks and lively musical nite in each of the 9 cities across the country.

“The concept of this program to bring together various local Chapters closer has been in my mind for several months. National coordinators of the program, Drs. Narendra Kumar. Hemant Dhingra, Raj Bhayani. Amit Chkrabarty, Anjana Samadder, and Gautam Samaddar, as well as the entire AAPI team and leadership enthusiastically received this idea and the net result of our collaboration and dialogue is the 9-city grand mega concert.” Dr. Dhingra, who has close relationship with the Entertainment Industry, worked with Neha and her team to present an evening of cultural entertainment in each of these thirteen cities.

Senior leadership and several past Presidents and leaders of AAPI have extended their whole-hearted support in organizing this mega event across the nation, Dr. Parikh says. “I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Narendra Kumar, Dr. Vinod Shah, Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, Dr. Ajay Lodha, Dr. Jayesh Shah, and Dr. Vinod Koli, all past Presidents of AAPI, for their senior advisory role in making this meg event a grand success.”

The Cities where the mega shows planned to be held include: Atlanta, San Francisco; Los Angeles; New Jersey, Columbus, OH, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Boston, Washington, DC, Orlando, Charlotte, Dallas, and Houston.

Sukhwinder Singh, an internationally recognized Bollywood playback artist, best known for singing “Chaiyya Chaiyya,” for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards, in association with composer A.R. Rahman has resulted in numerous hit songs. The list includes Chaiyya Chaiyya from Dil Se, Ramta Jogi, Ni Main Samajh Gayee, Taal Se Taal Mila and Nahin Samne from Taal, Ruth Aa Gayee Re, Raat Ki Daldal Hain and Yeh Jo Zindagi Hain from Earth, Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai from Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, Aayo Re Sakhi, Bhangari Morori and Piya Ho from Water, Chinnamma Chilakkamma from Meenaxi, Thok De Killi from Raavan and the most popular Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire.

Dr. Hemant Dhingra, Entertainment Chair of AAPI provided a detailed description of the planned 9-City Tour by popular Bollywood star, Sukhvinder, which is a way to raise funds for AAPI and its many local Chapters. The event will have its finale with Sonu Nigam joining the 60 member live artists in Atlanta, GA.

“Entertainment was only just one component of the entire program,” Dr. Parikh adds. The idea is to put together mini seminars, networking and strengthening the relationship between members and the national office. “Due to popular demand from several physicians on the need for enhancing scientific component at AAPI meetings and allowing greater number of members to participate, AAPI is now organizing the 13-city programs to make it easy for physicians to participate locally avoiding extensive travel and time away from practice,” he explains.

“Many of our industry partners liked this concept where they could get prime time with a few hundred doctors for product promotion/theater, non CME lectures, exhibits, booths,” Dr. Raj Bhayani, national coordinator of the event, says. “These multi-city mini-seminars are a novel concept for education and recreation that will raise funds for the local chapters of AAPI, the national AAPI and the AAPI Charitable Foundation.”

The Seminars and workshops will be led by accomplished faculty of leading Cardiologists, Cardiovascular Surgeons and Psychiatrists. Each of the nine medical educational programs is expected to have an audience of 250-400 Physicians, which will be followed by annual gala event and entertainment with an expected 2,500+ audience at each location.

Kamala Harris ranks No. 2 among 2020 Democrats to run against Trump

December 13, 2018 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Politics 0

As the mid-term elections have come to a close, the official launch of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary season has begun. Over a dozen prospective candidates will start making moves or even launching campaigns to challenge President Donald Trump.

According to a CNN report published recetly, Kamala Harris, the Senator from California ranks 2nd among the 10 potential aspirants to the White House among the Democrats. She comes after Sen. Elizabeth warren of MA among the 10 ranked by CNN. In June this year, The Washington Post ranked the Indian Origin Senator from the Golden State 3rd after Sen. Warren and Sen. Bernie sanders of Vermont.

The popular FiveThirtyEight.com wrote recently, “Sen. Kamala Harris has not officially said she is running in 2020, but she hasn’t denied it, either, and she’s showing many of the signs of someone who is preparing for a run, including campaigning for her Democratic colleagues in key races and signing a deal to write a book.”

Harris recently told MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt that she’s “not ruling out” a 2020 presidential run. But her actions may speak louder than her words. She was the first lawmaker to call for Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to resign over the Trump administration’s family-separation policy. She has also somewhat recently written off accepting money from corporate PACs.

According to CNN, “ Harris clearly saw the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings as a chance to showcase her prosecutorial mettle. And like Booker, what you took from Harris’ performance during the hearings is likely determined by what you thought of her before the hearings. But if you are looking at what the 2018 primaries have taught us, it’s that a candidate with a profile like Harris’ — liberal record, the first Indian-American in the Senate and first black senator from California — could be just what Democratic primary voters are looking for.”

In 2017, Kamala D. Harris was sworn in as a United States Senator for California, the second African-American woman and first South Asian-American senator in history. She serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on the Budget.

Kamala has spent her life fighting injustice. It’s a passion that was first inspired by her mother, Shyamala, an Indian-American immigrant, activist, and breast cancer researcher.

Growing up in Oakland, Kamala had a stroller-eye view of the Civil Rights movement. Through the example of courageous leaders like Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, and Charles Hamilton Houston, Kamala learned the kind of character it requires to stand up to the powerful, and resolved to spend her life advocating for those who could not defend themselves.

After earning an undergraduate degree from Howard University and a law degree from the University of California, Hastings, she began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

In 2003, Kamala became the District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco. Among her achievements as District Attorney, Harris started a program that gives first-time drug offenders the chance to earn a high school diploma and find employment.

Having completed two terms as the District Attorney of San Francisco, Kamala was elected as the first African-American and first woman to serve as California’s Attorney General. In this role, she worked tirelessly to hold corporations accountable and protect the state’s most vulnerable people.

Over the course of her nearly two terms in office, Kamala won a $25-billion settlement for California homeowners hit by the foreclosure crisis, defended California’s landmark climate change law, protected the Affordable Care Act, helped win marriage equality for all Californians, and prosecuted transnational gangs that trafficked in guns, drugs, and human beings.

In the United States Senate, Kamala’s mission remains unchanged: fighting for the rights of all communities in California. Since taking office, she has introduced and cosponsored legislation to raise wages for working people, reform our broken criminal justice system, make healthcare a right for all Americans, address the epidemic of substance abuse, support veterans and military families, and expand access to childcare for working parents.

Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to United Nations, to leave office end of 2018

December 13, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Politics 0

United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, said on October 9, 2018 that she would resign at the end of the year, marking a high-profile departure of one of the few women in the president’s cabinet.

Ms. Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, had been an early and frequent critic of Mr. Trump; when he named her to the United Nations job weeks after his election in November 2016, the appointment was seen as an olive branch. As ambassador, Ms. Haley has been an outspoken and often forceful envoy — someone whom foreign diplomats looked to for guidance from an administration known for haphazard and inconsistent policy positions.

“It was a blessing to go into the U.N. with body armor every day and defend America,” Ms. Haley, seated next to Mr. Trump in the Oval Office, told reporters. “I’ll never truly step aside from fighting for our country. But I will tell you that I think it’s time.”

“I think you have to be selfless enough to know when you step aside and allow someone else to do the job,” she added.

White House staffers were caught off guard by the announcement, which Ms. Haley and Mr. Trump had kept closely under wraps. But the president said Ms. Haley had informed him roughly six months ago that she wanted to take a break after finishing two years with the administration. He said he hoped Ms. Haley would return in a different role, and would name her successor within the next two or three weeks.

“She’s done a fantastic job and we’ve done a fantastic job together,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re all happy for you in one way, but we hate to lose you.”

Ms. Haley, the first cabinet-level United Nations ambassador for a Republican administration since the end of the Cold War, quickly made clear she saw the position as a steppingstone to a higher political office — a possibility that Mr. Trump may have resented. She became a far more visible face of American foreign policy than her first boss at the State Department, former Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson. Mike Pompeo, Mr. Tillerson’s replacement, has recently reasserted the secretary of state’s traditional role.

Time magazine celebrated Ms. Haley’s ascendance by putting her on a cover as one of the women who are “changing the world.”

But Ms. Haley, who has long been seen as a potential presidential candidate, said on Tuesday she had no intention of running for president in 2020, as has been speculated. Instead, she said, she plans to campaign for Mr. Trump’s re-election.

Stepping away now could be a logical end point if Ms. Haley wants to preserve her own political future. But in the short term, people familiar with her thinking said that she is likely to work in the private sector and make some money.

For the moment, few Republican strategists believe that Ms. Haley is inclined to challenge Mr. Trump in 2020. But those who know her believe that she is likely to run, whether in 2024, or even in 2020 — should the president not run again.

”An open presidential race is a better chance to show off her incredible political skills, rather than some quixotic primary effort,” said Matt Moore, who was the Republican Party chair in South Carolina when Ms. Haley was governor there.

The daughter of immigrants from India, Ms. Haley favored free markets and global trade and earned international attention when she was governor for speaking out against the Confederate battle flag in the aftermath of the 2015 massacre at a black church in Charleston. During Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, she sharply criticized his demeanor and warned what it might mean for American diplomacy — even suggesting that his tendency to lash out at critics could cause a world war.

As ambassador, Ms. Haley acknowledged her policy disagreements with the president in an op-ed in the Washington Post last month when she criticized an anonymous senior administration official who penned an opinion piece in The New York Times, describing a chaotic administration in which many of the president’s aides disagreed with their boss.

Possible successors include Dina Powell, a former deputy national security adviser to the president, and Richard A. Grenell. Mr. Grenell, the American ambassador to Germany, served as spokesman for John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, when he was ambassador to the United Nation under former President George W. Bush.

Dharmatma Saran: “India’s Cultural Ambassador to the World” Imbibing Indian values, traditions and culture among the youth of Indian origin through Miss India Worldwide Pageants

December 13, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Culture/Religion, India, Profiles, Youth 0

One of the few events I have always looked forward to attend with my family, ever since we moved to New York two decades ago, and would never want to miss, is the spectacular Miss India Pageants organized by India Festival Committee (IFC).

The annual pageants started in a basement in New York in 1980 with the first ever Miss India New York and Miss India USA, has evolved and expanded, now incorporating and having membership from over 40 countries, that promote Indian heritage and providing a platform for people of Indian origin to unite and showcase their talents, skills and beauty.

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 IFC selects distinguished local organizations in various parts of the world and authorizes them to conduct national pageants in their respective countries. The India Festival Committee, started in 1974 in a most humble way, has come a long way. While seeking to collaborate with internationally reputed groups, Saran joined hands with the Times of India group’s Femina that runs the

beauty pageants in India until 1997.

The contestants in all the pageants are of Indian origin, between the ages of 18 and 28, and are citizens, residents, or born in the country which they represent. The pageant consists of four segments – Evening Gown, Ethnic Wear, Talent and Question-Answer. The winners of all the various national pageants from all over the world vie for the glamorous and prestigious title of the Miss India Worldwide.

Saran and the pageant are “very proud of the fact that we have been able to provide a common platform for the international Indian community through pageantry. We are equally proud of the fact that we have been able to imbibe Indian values, traditions and culture among the youth of Indian origin around the world. We have also been successful in promoting Indian performing arts in the world.”

In fact, motherland, culture and India are the words repeatedly invoked by most contestants. Clearly, this pageant was also about roots and identity. “We will never permit vulgarity and bikini wearing in our competitions. We don’t believe in the axiom, shorter the dress, greater will be the chances of winning the prize. We are very conservative in that. We only showcase the best of Indian culture and not the skin. We strongly oppose exhibiting women in a cheap manner on the dais,” Saran said adding that his shows are always meant for the entire family.

In the year 2016, saran introduced, on popular demand, the First Ever Mrs. India Worldwide, which has been received with enthusiasm from around the world. This is a pageant that provides married Indian women around the world with a platform, where they would get an opportunity to “Make a difference in the world.”

Most of these women have set their sights on professions like medicine, public relations and the law. The contest gave them a chance to take a detour and explore their Indian identities through colorful Indian attire and dance. Many of them have set their eyes on Bollywood and Hollywood, and participating in the pageants is a stepping stone for many to climb up the ladder in the world of fashion, silver screen, politics and charity.

Saran has become an internationally well-known leader in promoting pageantry around the world. Support came from most unexpected quarters. Noted actress, social worker, feminist and leader, Shabana Azmi, who is known to blast all beauty pageants, endorsed Saran’s show as noble as it helped funds for the deserving children.

“The IFC motivates and guides its winners and contestants to take up charitable causes. Many of our past winners have raised substantial amount of money for various charities, especially for handicapped children,” says Saran.

IFC has used the title to raise funds for the poor and the needy. Saran has been successful in combining beauty with charity. It was Saran’s dream that beauty works for a good cause. Bela Bajaria, one of his highly successful beauty queens from Los Angeles, has collected $35,000 each year for the Hand and Heart for the Handicapped for many years to help disabled children in US and India. Another successful Miss India Hong Kong collected $100,000 in a charity ball to help the helpless people.

Saran credits the success of the pageantry to his family and a team of hard working people. “I don’t know how I would have fared but for the unstinted support of Air India. Also my friends former News India editor John Perry; President of Jackson Heights Merchants Association V.N. Prakash; TV Asia Chairman Padmashree H.R. Shah, Bombay Broadcasting’s Giri Raj; and all the successive Indian Consuls General have stood with me.” he recalls with gratitude.

Saran is blessed with an understanding wife Neelam. She has been a source of great strength and support to him from the day one. His two daughters, Neema and Ankeeta have always been of great support and assistance.

Recently he was awarded Bharat Gaurav Award held at the headquarters of United Nations in New York.

As Farook Khan, Chairman of Miss India-South Africa Corporation, says, “The Miss India-Worldwide Pageant has developed further into a grandiose platform of unity through culture over the few short years it has been in existence. It has become an event which is boundless and this has become a reality due to the foresight and vision of dedicated men and women who came to the United States of America to start a new life and to carry all that India has to and will continue to offer.”

To quote Khan, “At one time, the pageant was regarded as a beauty contest, it no longer suffers from this narrow reputation. It has fledged out to be a mass international movement which honors the performing arts, develops finesse as a way of life and puts into communities a sense of compassion.”

Saran and his dedicated band of men and women have inspired people around the world to participate in a truly remarkable spectacle that enjoys the status of a truly boundless Festival of good. The Miss India Worldwide is such a hallmark, it is not just a beauty pageant.

Former President George H.W. Bush laid to rest in Texas

December 8, 2018 Staff ReporterPolitics, U.S. 0

Thousands waved and cheered along the route as funeral train 4141 — for the 41st president — carried George H.W. Bush’s remains toward their final resting place in Texas on Thursday, December 6, 2018, his last journey as a week of national remembrance took on a decidedly personal feel in an emotional home state farewell.

Some people laid coins along the tracks that wound through small town Texas so a 420,000-pound locomotive pulling the nation’s first funeral train in nearly half a century could crunch them into souvenirs. Others snapped pictures or crowded for views so close that police helicopters overhead had to warn them back.

Bush’s final resting place is alongside his wife, Barbara, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukemia at age 3.

The scenes reminiscent of a bygone era were a far cry from a serious and more somber tone at an earlier funeral service at a Houston church, where Bush’s former secretary of state and confidant for decades, James Baker, addressed him as “jefe,” Spanish for “boss.” At times choking back tears, Baker praised Bush as “a beautiful human being” who had “the courage of a warrior. But when the time came for prudence, he maintained the greater courage of a peacemaker.”

Baker also provided a contrast with today’s divisive political rhetoric, saying that Bush’s “wish for a kinder, gentler nation was not a cynical political slogan. It came honest and unguarded from his soul.”

“The world became a better place because George Bush occupied the White House for four years,” said Baker.

Bush’s remains were later loaded onto a special train in a car fitted with clear sides so people could catch a glimpse of the casket as it rumbled by. The train traveled about 70 miles in two-plus hours — the first presidential funeral train journey since Dwight D. Eisenhower’s remains went from Washington to his native Kansas 49 years ago — to the family plot on the presidential library grounds at Texas A&M University.

At the funeral service in St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, where Bush and his family regularly worshipped in Houston, the choir sang “This is My Country,” which was also sung at Bush’s presidential inauguration in 1989. Those gathered also heard a prayer stressing the importance of service and selflessness that the president himself offered for the country at the start of his term.

Grandson George P. Bush, the only member of the political dynasty still holding elected office, as Texas land commissioner, used a eulogy to praise the man the younger generations called “gampy.”

“He left a simple, yet profound legacy to his children, to his grandchildren and to his country: service,” George P. Bush said.

Earlier Wednesday, at Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital, there was high praise for the last of the presidents to have fought in World War II — and a hefty dose of humor about a man whose speaking delivery was once described as a cross between Mister Rogers and John Wayne. Three other former presidents and Donald Trump watched as George W. Bush eulogized his father as “the brightest of a thousand points of light.”

The cathedral service was a tribute to the patriarch of one of the nation’s most powerful political families — they occupied the White House for a dozen years — and to a faded political era that prized military service and public responsibility. Like Baker’s address Thursday, it included indirect comparisons to Trump but was not consumed by them, as speakers focused on Bush’s public life and character — with plenty of cracks about his goofy side, too.

“He was a man of such great humility,” said Alan Simpson, former Republican senator from Wyoming. Those who travel “the high road of humility in Washington, D.C.,” he added pointedly, “are not bothered by heavy traffic.”

Trump sat Wednesday with his wife, the trio of ex-presidents and their wives, several of them sharp critics of his presidency and one of them, Hillary Clinton, his 2016 Democratic foe. Apart from courteous nods and some handshakes, there was little interaction between Trump and the others.

George W. Bush broke down briefly at the end of his eulogy while invoking the daughter his parents lost in 1953 and his mother, who died in April. He took comfort in knowing “Dad is hugging Robin and holding Mom’s hand again.”

Bush’s death makes Carter, also 94 but more than 100 days younger, the oldest living ex-president.

Dr. Vemuri S. Murthy honored by US Congressmen as a “Global Champion of Resuscitation”

December 8, 2018 Ajay GhoshHealth 0

Dr.Vemuri S. Murthy, a well-known resuscitation educator and trainer, a veteran US and international volunteer of the American Heart Association (AHA) for more than three decades, and current faculty member of the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois @ Chicago, was honored by the US Congressmen Honorable Danny K. Davis (Democratic US Congressman, Illinois District 7) and Honorable Peter J.Roskam (Republican US Congressman, Illinois District 6) with a Medal of US Congress as a Global Champion of Resuscitation.

The award was presented at the 38th Annual Gala Banquet of the Indian American Medical Association, Illinois in Willow Brook, IL on November 17, 2018. The Medal was presented by the two Congressmen with the plaque (citation) signed by them “in recognition of his life’s mission to enhance the Global Resuscitation Outcomes with ongoing community and physician education and training”.

“I am deeply humbled to receive this honor,” Dr. Murthy said in a statement, in response to being chosen to receive this honor. “I believe it recognizes the efforts of millions of global volunteers and many organizations such as the American Heart Association (AHA) that dedicate themselves to saving precious lives that would otherwise be lost to sudden cardiac arrest.” AHA has recognized him for “outstanding support and contributions in advancing the mission of the AHA”.

Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) lauded Dr. Murthy’s commitment to Global Resuscitation Outcomes. “He is the Chairman of AAPI Global CPR Ad Hoc Committee for a life-saving global health project of AAPI initiated in 2018 with a mission to enhance the outcomes after sudden cardiac arrests in the US and India through ongoing community hands-only CPR training and AED awareness with multi-organizational affiliations, Dr. Parikh said. “AAPI is proud to represent thousands of U.S. physicians of Indian origin who make contributions to the motherland and to the adopted homeland,” he added.

Dr. Murthy, who is considered “a pioneer of resuscitation education in Indian Medical Colleges” for initiating mandatory resuscitation training courses in all medical colleges affiliated with Dr. NTR University of Medical Sciences, Andhra Pradesh, has commended AAPI for its life-saving Community CPR training project for India and the US and thanked members of the CPR Committee.

Dr. Murthy, a life-member of AAPI for several years, has been a speaker at the CME events and conducted the first AAPI-AHA Advanced Cardiac Life Support Certification Program in Ahmedabad, India in 2014 as the Chairman of the AAPI-AHA liaison committee.

“I am thankful to the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, the Chicago Medical Society, the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, the Indian American Medical Association, Illinois, and several other organizations in the U.S. and India for their commitment to Community CPR training,” said Dr. Murthy. “I also thank the Medical Council of India for including resuscitation training in the medical curriculum”. “I hope to see the expansion of the current emergency medicine residency programs to all teaching hospitals in India” he added.

A visiting Medical University Professor and Advisor of the Medical University Resuscitation Training Programs in India, Dr. Murthy established a wide network of Physician resuscitation instructors in India. His community CPR information has been translated into several Indian languages. He has initiated an ongoing Community CPR project in India affiliated with the University of Illinois @ Chicago involving US medical residents. An International AHA faculty for resuscitation courses, he chaired programs at Annual Resuscitation Symposia in the USA, conducted resuscitation seminars and lectured at prestigious Medical Institutes in the USA and India. He is instrumental in establishing some of the AHA International Training Centers in India.

Dr. Murthy is the current President of the historic Chicago Medical Society (CMS) founded in 1850 and is the Founder of the Society’s Community CPR awareness Project SMILE (Saving More Illinois Lives through Education) in 2011, which is the first Medical Society-initiated Community CPR training project in the US. Dr. Murthy’s training participants included the US Congressmen, Illinois State and Cook County Legislators including the Speaker of the Senate, and Consul-Generals of the Chicago Consular Corps. His contributions to community health initiatives and leadership of organized medicine were commended by the US Congressmen, and State and County leadership and the former Governor of Illinois. The Mayor of Chicago and Chicago City Council recognized (2018) his contributions during a proclamation of March 30 as the “Chicago Medical Society Day”. Dr. Murthy is also the past President of the Indian American Medical Association, Illinois (1998) and a current member of the Board of Directors.

Dr. Murthy is the recipient of several prestigious awards and recognitions from the Professional Societies, Academic Institutions and Organizations in the USA and Internationally such as the Chicago Medical Society’s Henrietta Herbolsheimer Public Service Award, Global Health Champion Award of Global Health Consortium, Distinguished Physician Award and Lifetime Achievement Award of the Indian American Medical Association, Illinois, among others. He was honored by the US Congressmen, Former Health Minister of India, Indian Medical Association (India), American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, American Association of Cardiologists of Indian Origin, Cardiological Society of India, etc.

Dr. Murthy says, his motivation as a community CPR volunteer is “linked to my decades of professional practice, reviving victims of cardiac emergencies and rescuing one of my own family members.”

At record high global carbon emissions, planet earth in peril

December 8, 2018 Staff ReporterEnvironment, Health 0

Global emissions of carbon dioxide have reached the highest levels on record, scientists projected last week, in the latest evidence of the chasm between international goals for combating climate change and what countries are doing.

Between 2014 and 2016, emissions remained largely flat, leading to hopes that the world was beginning to turn a corner. Those hopes have been dashed. In 2017, global emissions grew 1.6 percent. The rise in 2018 is projected to be 2.7 percent.

The expected increase, which would bring fossil fuel and industrial emissions to a record high of 37.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, is being driven by nearly 5 percent emissions growth in China and more than 6 percent in India, researchers estimated, along with growth in many other nations throughout the world. Emissions by the United States grew 2.5 percent, while emissions by the European Union declined by just under 1 percent.

As nations are gathered for climate talks in Poland, this stark message is unambiguous: When it comes to promises to begin cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change, the world remains well off target.

“We are in trouble. We are in deep trouble with climate change,” United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said this week at the opening of the 24th annual U.N. climate conference, where countries will wrestle with the ambitious goals they need to meet to sharply reduce carbon emissions in coming years.

“It is hard to overstate the urgency of our situation,” he added. “Even as we witness devastating climate impacts causing havoc across the world, we are still not doing enough, nor moving fast enough, to prevent irreversible and catastrophic climate disruption.”

In October, a top U.N.-backed scientific panel found that nations have barely a decade to take “unprecedented” actions and cut their emissions in half by 2030 to prevent the worst consequences of climate change. The panel’s report found “no documented historic precedent” for the rapid changes to the infrastructure of society that would be needed to hold warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels.

The day after Thanksgiving, the Trump administration released a nearly 1,700-page report co-written by hundreds of scientists finding that climate change is already causing increasing damage to the United States. That was soon followed by another report detailing the growing gap between the commitments made at earlier U.N. conferences and what is needed to steer the planet off its calamitous path.

Coupled with Wednesday’s findings, that drumbeat of daunting news has cast a considerable pall over the international climate talks in Poland, which began this week and are scheduled to run through Dec. 14.

Negotiators there face the difficult task of coming to terms with the gap between the promises they made in Paris in 2015 and what’s needed to control dangerous levels of warming — a first step, it is hoped, toward more aggressive climate action beginning in 2020. Leaders at the conference also are trying to put in place a process for how countries measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions to the rest of the world in the years ahead.

But while most of the world remains firmly committed to the notion of tackling climate change, many countries are not on pace to meet their relatively modest Paris pledges. The Trump administration has continued to roll back environmental regulations and to insist that it will exit the Paris agreement in 2020. Brazil, which has struggled to rein in deforestation, in the fall elected Jair Bolsonaro, who has pledged to roll back protections for the Amazon.

The continuing growth in global emissions is happening, researchers noted, even though renewable energy sources are growing. It’s just that they’re still far too small as energy sources.

“Solar and wind are doing great; they’re going quite well,” said Glen Peters, director of the Center for International Climate Research in Oslo and another of the Global Carbon Project authors. “But in China and India, the solar and wind are just filling new demand. You could say if you didn’t have solar or wind, emissions could be higher. But solar and wind are nowhere near big enough yet to replace fossil fuels.”

The biggest emissions story in 2018, though, appears to be China, the world’s single largest emitting country, which grew its output of planet-warming gases by nearly half a billion tons, researchers estimate. The country’s sudden, significant increase in carbon emissions could be linked to a wider slowdown in the economy, environmental analysts said.

“Under pressure of the current economic downturn, some local governments might have loosened supervision on air pollution and carbon emissions,” said Yang Fuqiang, an energy adviser to the Natural Resources Defense Council, a U.S. environmental organization.

The United States is the globe’s second-largest emitter. Scientists have said that annual carbon dioxide emissions need to plunge almost by half by the year 2030 if the world wants to hit the most stringent — and safest — climate change target. That would be either keeping the Earth’s warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius — when it is already at 1 degrees — or only briefly “overshooting” that temperature. But emissions are far too high to limit warming to such an extent. And instead of falling dramatically, they’re still rising.

“India is providing electricity and energy to hundreds of millions of people who don’t have it yet,” Jackson said. “That’s very different than in China, where they are ramping up coal use again in part because their economic growth has been slowing. They’re greenlighting coal-based projects that have been on hold.”

In the United States, emissions in 2018 are projected to have risen 2.5 percent, driven in part by a very warm summer that led to high air conditioning use and a very cold winter in the Northeast, but also by a continued use of oil driven by low gas prices and bigger cars. U.S. emissions had been on a downturn, as coal plants are replaced by natural gas plants and renewable energy, but that momentum ground to a halt this year, at least temporarily. In Europe, cars also have been a major driver of slower-than-expected emissions reductions.

Despite the overwhelming challenges, Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, still holds high hopes for the talks in Poland.

“I’m an optimist because of human nature,” Espinosa said in an interview. She suspects the spate of ominous climate news might have prompted a tipping point, where societies begin demanding aggressive actions from their leaders to stave off the most disastrous effects of climate change.

“I think we have kind of reached the limit,” she said. “When we are facing the limit, I think we need to come up with something more creative, more ambitious, stronger and bolder.”

Climate change is a global phenomenon that requires global solutions. Fortunately, we already have platforms for multilateral action such as the United Nations and forums such as the G20.

World leaders are meeting at the Climate Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, December 2-14th, to finalize the rulebook to implement the 2015 landmark Paris Agreement on climate change. In the agreement, countries committed to take action to limit global warming to well under 2°C this century. At the conference in Poland, the UN will invite people to voice their views and launch a campaign to encourage every day climate action.

Meanwhile, thanks to the media and to rapid communications, people are increasingly aware of what is happening in other parts of the world. They see how migration, trade and technology are making us more interdependent than ever before.

Although we do see a backlash against global integration in some parts of the world today, I am convinced that the sense of international solidarity will only grow in the years to come. An increasing awareness that we have a shared destiny on this fragile planet will help to strengthen inclusive multilateral action in the years to come.

200 nations gather in Poland to plan to prevent catastrophic climate change

December 8, 2018 Staff ReporterEnvironment 0

With the direst warnings yet of impending environmental disaster still ringing in their ears, representatives from nearly 200 nations gathered Sunday in Poland to firm up their plan to prevent catastrophic climate change.

Representatives of almost all the countries on the planet are gathering in Katowice, Poland, for the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They will set the course for action on climate change by discussing the implementation plan for the 2015 Paris Agreement which aims to coordinate international effort to halt warming at 1.5°C.

The UN climate summit comes at a crucial juncture in mankind’s response to planetary warming. The smaller, poorer nations that will bare its devastating brunt are pushing for richer states to make good on the promises they made in the 2015 Paris agreement.

In Paris three years ago, countries committed to limit global temperature rises to well below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and to the safer cap of 1.5C if at all possible.

But with only a single degree Celsius of warming so far, the world has already seen a crescendo of deadly wildfires, heatwaves and hurricanes made more destructive by rising seas.

In a rare intervention, presidents of previous UN climate summits issued a joint statement as the talks got underway in the Polish mining city of Katowice, calling on states to take “decisive action… to tackle these urgent threats”.

“The impacts of climate change are increasingly hard to ignore,” said the statement, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. “We require deep transformations of our economies and societies.”

In Katowice, nations must agree to a rulebook palatable to all 183 states who have ratified the Paris deal. This is far from a given: the dust is still settling from US President Donald Trump’s decision to ditch the Paris accord.

G20 leaders on Saturday agreed a final communique after their summit in Buenos Aires, declaring that the Paris Agreement was “irreversible”.

But it said the US “reiterates its decision to withdraw” from the landmark accord.

Even solid progress in Katowice on the Paris goals may not be enough to prevent runaway global warming, as a series of major climate reports have outlined.

Just this week, the UN’s environment programme said the voluntary national contributions agreed in Paris would have to triple if the world was to cap global warming below 2C.

For 1.5C, they must increase fivefold. While the data are clear, a global political consensus over how to tackle climate change remains elusive.

“Katowice may show us if there will be any domino effect” following the US withdrawal, said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a main architect of the Paris deal.

Brazil’s strongman president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, for one, has promised to follow the American lead during his campaign.

Even the most strident climate warnings — spiralling temperatures, global sea-level rises, mass crop failures — are something that many developed nations will only have to tackle in future.

But many other countries are already dealing with the droughts, higher seas and catastrophic storms climate change is exacerbating.

“A failure to act now risks pushing us beyond a point of no return with catastrophic consequences for life as we know it,” said Amjad Abdulla, chief negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, of the UN talks.

A key issue up for debate is how the fight against climate change is funded, with developed and developing nations still world’s apart in their demands.

Poorer nations argue that rich countries, which are responsible for the vast majority of historic carbon emissions, must help others to fund climate action.

But wealthy states, led by the US, have so far resisted calls to be more transparent in how their contributions are reported — something developing nations say is vital to form ambitious green energy plans.

“Developed nations led by the US will want to ignore their historic responsibilities and will say the world has changed,” said Meena Ramam, from the Third World Network advocacy group.

“The question really is: how do you ensure that ambitious actions are done in an equitable way?”

The first COP meetings held in the 1990s led to the creation of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which set binding emissions targets for developed countries over two “commitment periods” (2008-2012 and 2013-2020). However, the Kyoto agreement failed as the US did not ratify it and because several inconclusive conferences followed its implementation.

COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009 also failed to yield any agreement on binding commitments for the second commitment period. A few major countries agreed to a short accord recognising the need to limit global temperature rises to 2°C, but there were no substantial guidelines on how to do so.

Similarly, COP19 in Warsaw four years later did not finalise any binding treaty. It only recognised “a flexible ruling” on differentiated responsibilities and loss and damage. In Warsaw, the international community failed to take essential steps for the future. Some even think that the 2013 conference cast some doubt on the capacity of the Polish government to successfully lead COP24 in 2018.

Against this backdrop, COP21 in Paris in 2015 appeared to generate the most optimistic outcome in two decades of international climate negotiations. In Paris, the world leaders agreed on a general action plan that legally binds countries to have their progress tracked by technical experts.

The countries who signed up also agreed on a “global stocktake” – a process for reviewing collective progress towards achieving the long-term goals of the agreement. However, lots of details about the Paris Agreement still have to be nailed down. This is precisely what the international community seeks to do this December in Poland.

The major objective for COP24 is to agree upon the so-called Paris “rulebook” – the details of how nations should implement the Paris Agreement and report their progress. Three major areas of political discussion will receive most attention: finance, emission targets, and the role of “big” states.

In 2015, richer countries pledged US$100 billion a year by 2020 for poorer nations to mitigate the effects of climate change. However, the climate funding is still about US$20 billion short. COP24 delegates will need to discuss in more detail on when the rest of the money will be generated before committing to the rulebook.

Perhaps even more importantly, rules for where that money comes from, and particularly whether international loans are acceptable, still have to be agreed on. Because finance is closely linked to issues of justice and fairness in the international system, it is unlikely that this discussion will lead to more generous levels of climate aid – although there is space for improvement, and some past conferences have actually provided small but significant advances on this front.

COP24 also needs to set some form of flexible yet comparable rules that will govern the Paris Agreement. One groundbreaking feature of the Paris Agreement is that all parties agreed to commit to national contributions to climate action. In other words, the agreement is based on a bottom-up process in which countries largely determine their own contributions, and then act upon them.

This COP may settle on some basic strategies for verifying climate actions, but it is very unlikely that the international community will agree on any mechanisms for delivering sanctions to states that do not meet their targets, because of the high sensitivity towards financial costs for non-abatement.

Finally, while “small” countries will have an important role to play at the negotiations as usual, there are several question marks around the large countries that need to bear a lot of the efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

It will not help that President Donald Trump, who intends to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement, decided in 2017 to cancel climate funding for poor nations. The US position at COP24 will also affect China and India, which are likely to continue disagreeing with rich countries on some fundamental issues. Additionally, the domestic politics of Russia and Brazilpoint to more uncertainty for cooperation.

The urgency to reach key milestones in the Paris Agreement and deal with climate change puts a lot of high expectations on COP24. Unfortunately, many challenges stand ahead of international climate cooperation.

Approaching the negotiations with the right level of reason and determination will be critical to manage expectations and avoid any media “hysteria”, as media coverage can hurt the climate talks by shifting attention from the policy issues to unproductive discussions of whether climate change is influenced by humans.

For a credible and valid rulebook, we need frank conversations about energy transition and compensating the “losers” of climate policies, such as people working in high-emission sectors.

There might be the opportunity to do so in Katowice, an industrial hub and coal-mining city. We will see if this COP will highlight the necessary transition from fossil fuel industry to renewable solutions as the negotiations unravel.
History shows that when the human race decides to pursue a challenging goal, we can achieve great things. From ridding the world of smallpox to prohibiting slavery and other ancient abuses through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we have proven that by joining together we can create a better world.
There are many success stories in all regions and all sectors that demonstrate the enormous potential of climate action. To start with, a growing number of cities and regions have adopted targets to achieve zero net emissions between 2020 and 2050. These targets are often developed in collaboration.

Just one example: Nineteen city leaders from the C40 coalition signed the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Declaration to ensure that all new buildings operate with a neutral carbon footprint by 2030.

The rise of inclusive multilateralism, where not only national governments but local and regional governments as well as a diverse array of associations and organizations work closely together, is a powerful force for climate action.

Collaboration is also taking place among actors in particular economic sectors. Earlier this year, the global transport sector, which is responsible for some 14 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, created the Transport Decarbonisation Alliance.

We also see a growing list of individual corporations adopting emissions targets. Many have signed up to a Science Based Target to ensure that they are in line with the 1.5-2°C temperature limit enshrined under the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

To date, over 700 leading businesses around the world have made strategic climate commitments through the We Mean Business coalition’s Take Action campaign.

There are so many more inspiring examples from a wide range of actors. Their efforts, more than anything else, is what gives me hope that we can achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement and minimize global climate change and its risks. Their stories should inspire all of us to contribute more energetically to climate action.

(Originally published by the SDG Media Compact which was launched by the United Nations in September 2018 in collaboration with over 30 founding media organizations)

Hospital in Gujarat built by Dr. Ashok Patel named after Dr. Kiran C. Patel

December 8, 2018 Staff ReporterHealth 0

A large four-building hospital being built in the dang District in the Indian state of Gujrat by Dr. Ashok Patel, DMD, a dentist based in Nashua, NH, is being named after Indian-American philanthropist and donor, Dr. Kiran C. Patel.

“After Dr. Kiran Patel’s firm commitment to complete the remaining construction of the building and timely financial help, I have decided to name the facility after Kiranbhai’s approval as: Dr. Kiran C Patel Multi-Specialty Hospital,” said Dr. Ashok Patel. “The facility is just about to be completed…The usual norm in India is to name the facility after a principal donor.”

Dang district is a circular area of less accessible terrain that includes hilly jungles and dense forest wedged between Gujarat and Maharashtra. It has a population of about 4 lakhs including 50,000 school-aged children, with practically no or very limited health care services. We have identified very high incidence of sickle cell anemia, oral cancer, and severe eye related problems. The lack of coordinated healthcare has resulted in a high rate of infant deaths and poor health of pregnant women.

Dr. Kiran Patel, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a Zambia-born India-educated cardiologist, who has initiated and funded several noble projects in India, the US and Africa.

Dr. Ashok Patel said that there is another significant reason of naming the facility besides financial help and that is the role NSU has played in taking the project to newer heights.

Back in December 2014, first medical team from NSU came to Ahwa in the Dang district of Gujrat for a week long medical camp and noticed a facility being built keeping in mind medical and dental norms of USA. NSU has since then committed to send a team every year in December. NSU medical school is now renamed after Dr. Kiran Patel’s unprecedented financial gift, as Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine.

“It makes perfect sense to me to name the facility in Dang, India, after his name. It is very likely that the hospital in Dang will become a rotation site for interns and residents and researchers from NSU KCP COM,” said Dr. Patel. “Keeping in mind there are a large number of medical students, interns, residents, and faculty members in many University Medical schools of USA, there is always going to be sustained interest in participating in the welfare of poor tribal people using the world class facility in Dang. Not only it is a great learning experience but a great gratifying one and an eye-opening cultural experience also.”

Dr. Ashok Patel, founder of Nashua, NH-based Nashua Implant Reconstruction Center, started the project after one of his patients, Richard Condorell, had died and left a will, giving away his entire savings of $100,000 to Dr. Patel.

The hospital, is nearly complete and is scheduled open to the public in 2019. Located in Ahwa in the Dang district, the hospital aims to benefit thousands of underprivileged and poor people in the area.

Dr. Ashok Patel said that Dr. Kiran Patel committed the financial assistance that was needed to complete the remaining construction of all four buildings of the complex. “Accurate estimates were obtained from the Architect, engineer, contractors and dealers and were verified by a close friend in India. A time line to complete the remaining construction and accurate cost was presented to Kiranbhai. He has donated every month from February, 2018 to October, 2018, the required amount needed to take construction a step further,” said Dr. Ashok Patel. “Till to date his individual contribution for the project is a huge amount of $ 546,000. Without Kiranbhai’s timely generous help, it would have been very difficult to expedite remaining construction.”

He said the project is developed in a way to change the entire healthcare scenario of the impoverished and neglected tribal communities of Dang district and surrounding areas. The fully functional clinic and several camps along with village outreach programs have already started show tremendous amount of difference.

“It is our hope that the government of India will consider this as a model project and implement in other needy tribal areas of the country. The project certainly has the merit and support from USA as well as India to be considered as a national mandate for the benefit of millions of poor tribal people of India,” said Dr. Ashok Patel. “Our emphasis is on prevention and community based programs. The functional clinic next to the building, several medical camps, village outreach programs and school health program for 53,000 school children of Dang district have already started showing very positive and promising changes.”

It is our desire to provide very well coordinated and documented preventive, corrective, and long term healthcare to 50,000 school going children and other needy adults. The task is vast, demanding, and expensive, but sustainable through compensation from various government initiatives and programs for the betterment of the tribal population, as well as private donations from industrialists in India and from healthcare professionals in India and the USA alike.

The project will provide a tremendous opportunity to young, aspiring American students entering the healthcare field to do community work, retiring physicians/dentists to do unlimited amount of research activity, and active physicians and AAPI members to provide their services and expertise when visiting India. Dang is a very scenic region with unparalleled natural beauty. The only hill station of Gujarat is Saputara, which is some 35 kms from the project site and located at the southern tip of Dang.

The project has some philanthropic value as one of the goals is to use the facility to train 25-30 high school graduated tribal girls as Dental Assistants, Nursing Aides, X-ray Technicians, etc. and to find them employment opportunities at both the facility and other locations. There is a severe shortage of well trained auxiliary staff in hospitals, private clinics, and government establishments in deep tribal areas. Our efforts can bridge a gap between providing a talented tribal girl (who has otherwise no future) proper training and helping our healthcare friends/colleagues with a decent well trained auxiliary person. It may help the government reduce the financial burden and uplift the tribal area with renewed prospects of opportunities.

NFIA Elects First Woman President in Four Decades of its Existence

December 1, 2018 Staff ReporterCommunity, Women 0

A three-day convention was organized in metropolitan Washington DC during November 16, 2018 – November 18, 2018 weekend by the country’s one of the oldest associations of Indian American Associations – an umbrella group – the National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA). All delegates from different states gathered at Sheraton Tyson corner, under the presidency of Sudip Gorakshakar. The convention was organized by convener Pooja Thomre of San Diego who was assisted by four Co-conveners, Angela Anand, now elected first female president of NFIA from Nation’s Capital, Pat Patnaik from California, Yogendra Gupta from Maryland and Raz Razdan from Georgia.

The convention started with the White House briefing, organized by then Vice President, Angela Anand, on Friday afternoon at EEOB. Mr. Stephen Peter Munisteri, Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Public Liaison was contacted by Angela Anand to arrange the briefing and also to speak to the delegates along with his assistant Melissa Fwu. Mr. Munisteri is a retired attorney from Houston, Texas, who from 2010 to 2015, was chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. In 2016 he joined the Rand Paul for President campaign. In 2017 he was appointed to the White House staff to manage the office of the Public Liaison for the President Trump.

For more than one hour, all delegates assembled at the Diplomatic Reception room of the White House – Eisenhour Executive building and received briefing from the Political appointees inclusive of Raj Shah, who is the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary and Deputy Assistant to President, along with Stephen Peter Munisteri, Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Director of the Office of Public Liaison and Martha Fwu also of Public Liaison office along with Pranay Udutha, another appointee, who spoke on the Health Initiatives of the President. All speakers, one by one, and in the interactive session gave opportunity to delegates to ask questions. Delegates asked questions on health and drug issues and administration policies on pricing of drugs and long research and development process of drugs along with companies using prime time to advertise drugs on television, press and media messages of networks regarding administration’s policies, education, transportation, presidents’ economic and business policies.

The speakers stated that President Trump has good relations with India and he will visit India when time permits and not for Republic Day event as he has scheduling conflicts. It was also said that reaching out to the Indian community is very crucial but Indians as whole are not reaching out to the present administration due to some pros and cons. He has done well for the economy, pay rises for people and better benefits for all but the news is not reaching out correctly to everyone due to media bias. Pranay Udutha, who works with Kelly Ann Conway said the administration is training families to request doctors to give shorter time for the use of opioids for medical conditions rather than 90 days and stacking up the medicines. The session ended with a tour of some historical areas of the selected portions of the White House.

In the evening, all delegates were hosted by the Indian Embassy and the event was organized by Yogendera Gupta. All officials including DCM Mr. Santosh Jha, Community Minister Anurag Kumar, Visa section chief and press personnel of the Indian Ambassador to U.S. Navtej Sarna, greeted all the delegates warmly and provided opportunity for networking reception. At this meeting, Community Minister Kumar offered the NFIA officials to speak and also ask questions.

The morning of second day of the convention, seminars were held on the topics: health and fitness – diabetes, yoga, Ayurveda, philanthropy (NGO – Snehalya), business and entrepreneurship along with Technology 20-20 seminars were held. “Did we bite more than what we could chew” – Technology 20-20 had distinguished gentlemen and technologists, a token female– one on the softer side of technology, i.e. software training, Angela Anand was engaged in this seminar. The seminar was moderated by Nanotechnology expert and a well-known community personality, Dr. Thomas Abraham, NFIA Founder and currently serving as chairman of GOPIO, who owns a market research firm Innovative Research and Products in Stamford, Connecticut. Panelists were Digvijay “Danny” Gaekward, Founder and CEO of NDS USA Information Technology; Vijay Lakshman, a serial entrepreneur, video gamer, designer, author of books; who is in technology management at present and Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy, Chief Data Scientist at Halliburton, Founder of Reignite Strategy and an adjunct faculty of several educational institutions.

The awards banquet on Saturday evening started with a cocktail hour followed by the award ceremony starting with American and Indian national anthems followed by a cultural program. Students of Natya Marg Bharat Natyam dance school performed dance along with their artistic director Indrani Davaluri and a fellow dancer Sulochana on pots and plates carrying lighted lamps. Students of Nrityaki performed kathak dance and vocalist Kshama Garg entertained by her melodious voice old and new songs from Bollywood. A Fashion show organized by Indrani Davaluri delighted all in the audience and so did the music of Aloke Das Gupta on Sitar. He was gracious and has played for Beetles.

At the banquet, Dr. Michael Griffin, Under Secretary of Defense; Congressman Todd Rokita (Indiana – R), Dr. John Anderson, Curator, Air and Space Museum, along with Swami Deerananda Ji, from Chinmaya Mission, spoke to an audience of NFIA delegates from across the country and leaders of the community from the Nation’s Capital. Gerald Connolly, a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia’s 11th congressional district whose district the convention was held sent a congratulatory message as he was on nation’s business traveling out of the country.

The NFIA elections were held after the General Body meeting and was conducted by the Election Committee Chair Dr. Thomas Abraham along with members past NFIA President Radha Krishna and NFIA Executive Director Harihar Singh. The following were elected as new team for 2019.

President – Ms. Angela Anand; Exec Vice President – Ms. Lavanya Reddy; Vice Presidents – Dr. Yogendra Gupta, Mr. Ashok (Pat) Patnaik and Mr. Subbarao Makam; Secretary – Ms. Rachel Verghese; Joint Secretary – Dr. Satish Misra; Treasurer – Mr. Ajoy Dube; Directors-at-Large – Ms. Pooja Thomre, Mr. Satheesan Nair, Dr. Om Sharma, Ms. Padma Gupta, Mr. Babu K Patel, Dr. Lalita Kaul and Ms. Aparna Hande;

Regional Vice Presidents – Mr. Kamlesh Munshi (Capital), Ms. Vasu Pawar (South Pacific), Ms. Raj Razdan (South East) and Mr. Amrik Kamoh (North Pacific).

The newly formed NFIA Board appointed the following for various positions; Chairman NFIA Foundation – Mr. Sudip Gorakshakar, Executive Director Admin – Dr. Hari Har Singh and Second Executive Director – Mr. Kewal Kanda.

Commenting on the election, NFIA Founder Dr. Thomas Abraham said, “Indian American women involved in the community activities have made history at the NFIA convention when all the positions for which elections have been conducted gone to women, which shows women power in our community.”

“We hope that the new team will reach out to all Indian American community and professional organizations and make a truly representative body for the whole 4.5 million community,” added Dr. Abraham.

Outgoing President Sudip Gorakshakar and NFIA Founder President Dr. Thomas Abraham complimented Convention Convener Pooja Thomre for taking the responsibility to organize a successful convention.

NFIA awarded nine individuals, selected nationally for different categories and disciplines by a committee of five, chaired by NFIA Past President Inder Singh. The award ceremony was conducted by Dr. Thomas Abraham, who is chairman of GOPIO. The following were selected to receive the awards in person:

Dr. Ajay Kothari – Engineering, Digvijay “Danny” Gaekwad – Business & Entrepreneurship, Shweta Misra, Classical Dance Artform – Performing Arts, Dr. Aman Mann – Health Sciences, Umi Mukherjee – Service to Indian American Seniors, Koshy Thomas – Media, Arti Manek – Folk and Classical Dance Art Forms, Aloke Dasgupta – Performing Arts, Sitar playing in Classical Tradition and Nami Kaur – Service to Non-profit Institutions.

Dr. Ajay Kothari is President and Founder of Astrox Corporation. His PhD and MS in Aerospace Engineering are from University of Maryland. He has over 50 professional publications, has been interviewed on TV about Space more than 10 times and authored more than 20 articles in news outlets. He has managed more than 30 contracts from Air Force, NASA and DARPA. He was awarded National Merit Scholarship, was awarded the “Engineer of the Year” award by ASEI, was the president of ASEI National Capital Chapter from 2014-2015, and was on Board of WHEELS Charity Foundation in 2016-2018.

Digvijay “Danny” Gaekwad is the founder and CEO of NDS USA Information Technology. During the last three decades, Danny has built over a dozen small-and medium-sized companies, in diverse fields, such as convenience stores, real estate development, hospitality industry and information technology. His companies have created thousands of jobs in Florida and other parts of the United States, contributing millions of dollars to the economy. In 2016, Gov. Rick Scott recognized him with the “One Million Jobs” certificate of appreciation for his contribution “in helping Florida job creators add 1 million jobs between December 2010 and December 2015.”

Multi-talented Shweta Misra is a well-known Kathak dancer in the DC area and operates Nrityaki Dance Academy to teach Kathak dance artform. Her dance school is affiliated with a university in India – Prayag Sangeet Samiti, through which students can obtain Master’s degree in Kathak. She and her dance academy students have performed at prestigious locations such as White House, Kennedy Center, and Indo-American Galas. She has a MS Degree in Computer Science from Virginia Tech and works as a Senior Software Engineer. She became Mrs. India Virginia 2015 and is Mrs. India DC 2018.

Dr. Aman Mann is a Research Faculty at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. Aman’s research expertise span different fields of neuroscience including neurotrauma (TBI) and neurodegenerative conditions (Multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease). His discoveries in the laboratory support the development of new disease-modifying drug candidates for brain injury and Alzheimer’s disease which are currently being developed at AivoCode. Aman is the founder and Chief Operating Officer of AivoCode Inc., in La Jolla, California. He completed his Bachelors in Bioengineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and received his PhD in Nanomedicine from University of Texas.

Umi Mukherjee – Service to Indian American Seniors, says, “About 27 years ago, I started a Seniors’ club in Southern California. I used to pick up and drop them off at their homes on Tuesday afternoons. After 5 months, I changed the venue to a more central place and the membership increased manifold. I paid for the rental of the hall, snacks & lunches for first 4-5 years. The membership has always been FREE and we have about 250 seniors at monthly meetings. For the last few years, I have been getting sponsors for monthly meetings. We take seniors to overnight trips also. For me, it is the biggest achievement of my life when I can make seniors happy.”

Koshy Thomas, publisher and CEO of Voice of Asia Group, the parent corporation for the weekly publication, Voice of Asia, which has served as the authoritative voice of the South Asian community in Texas for over 30 years. Mr. Thomas created Voice of Asia to nurture and promote the political, economic and cultural ambitions of the South Asian community in Texas. Mr. Thomas and his wife Moani have three daughters and three grandsons.

Arti Manek – Folk and Classical Dance Art Forms. Dancing, performing and teaching has been Arti’s passion since childhood. Arti learnt Indian Classical kathak dance from the renowned Guru, Abhay Shankar Mishra, in England culminating in the establishment of Shankara Dance Academy, now flourishing in Los Angeles. Legendary Pt. Birju Maharaj attended the first Rang Manch Pravesh of her student as the chief guest. Arti also achieved immense acclaim in folk dance, getting numerous awards in FOGANA competitions and productions of mega dance drama shows including Ramayana with Pujya Morari Bapu as chief guest.

Aloke Dasgupta – Performing Arts, Sitar playing in Classical Tradition. Aloke Dasgupta studied under the guidance of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and has performed with V.G. Jog, the LA Philharmonic and the Rolling Stones, Gwen Stefani, among others. He composed for movie “Out Source” and for “Ocean of Pearl” received award. He has performed extensively in India, Japan, the USA, and Europe. He played for Lincoln Center, Hollywood Bowl, Ford Theatre. Finally with “Cheap Trick” he performed 36 shows in Vegas “ Recreation of Sgt. Pepper by Beatles. He founded the Raga Ranjani School of Music in 1986 and has been teaching sitar ever since.

Nami Kaur – Service to Non-profit Institutions. Nami Kaur donates her time/skills to non-profit organizations, following a corporate career at IBM Corporation. She serves as: Executive Board Member – Children’s Hope India (CHI); a New York based non-profit. At CHI, she led the development of its new website and manages outreach initiatives with dignitaries; Chair – GOPIO Media Council. Manages communication with the South Asian media and Editor – monthly Newsletter, GOPIO International; Board Director – Riveredge Coop; Her focus, has been to improve communications between the Board, Property Management and the Resident Shareholders and Volunteer – New York Botanical Garden. Nami holds MBA in Marketing and MS in Mathematics.

Kamala Harris is ‘Glamour Woman of the Year 2018’

December 1, 2018 Staff ReporterFashion, Politics, U.S. 0

When Kamala Harris took the stage at Glamour‘s 2018 Women of the Year Awards on Monday, November 12th in New York City, she stressed the importance of one thing: truth. In what’s proven to be a categorically challenging year for women in the U.S.

Senator Harris (D-Calif.) directed her acceptance speech at the women in the room, explaining the importance of speaking up in a nation that’s becoming increasingly divided in the face of political polarization. In her address, Harris pleaded with those watching to take their frustration to the polls, inspiring the room to take action and ultimately leaving the ball in the voters’ court.

“The truth and speaking it is a powerful thing. And speaking truth can often make people quite uncomfortable. But if we are going to be a country that engages in honest conversations with the point of getting beyond where we are and seeing what we can be unburdened by what we have been, we must speak truth—and speak the truth uncomfortable and difficult though it may be to hear,” Glamour quoted her as saying.

“You speak the truth, the honorees tonight, about the need for women—particularly women of color—to be seen and heard and for their stories to be told, from the Senate floor to movie sets to concert stages…You speak the truth about gun violence… (about what) tears our communities apart and takes away our children, from Parkland to Chicago to South Los Angeles…You speak the truth about America’s history—in all of its greatness and in all of its complexity.”

Harris said that this is an “inflection” moment in the history of America. “This is a moment where there are powerful forces trying to sew hate and division among us. And if we’re going to deal with where we are in this inflection moment, we must speak all these truths,” she said. “…And years from now, people are going to look in our eyes, each one of us, and they will ask us, ‘Where were you at that inflection moment?’ And what we’re all going to be able to say is we were here together and we were fighting for the best of who we are.”

According to Glamour magazine, these women, which include actress Viola Davis, 97-year-old National Park Service Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, model-author Chrissy Teigen, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, young female activists of March for Our Lives, the women who took down Larry Nassar, Saudi Arabian women’s rights activist Manal al-Sharif, and singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe, “aren’t waiting for the world to change; they’re getting the job done themselves.”

TheUNN Corporation

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