The Indian Panorama

Month: June 2015

  • Pope slams nations which ‘close the door’ to migrants

    VATICAN CITY (TIP): Pope Francis said today that those who “close the door” to refugees seeking a safe haven in Europe should ask God’s forgiveness, as tensions rose in the EU over the migrant crisis.

    A day after European interior ministers failed to agree on how to stem the flow of boat migrants across the Mediterranean or house the thousands of new arrivals, Francis demanded greater respect for “our brothers and sisters who seek refuge far from their own lands”.

    “I encourage those who bring them aid and hope that the international community will act in a united and efficient fashion to prevent the causes of forced migration,” he said.

    “And I invite everyone to ask God’s pardon for those people and institutions who close the door to those who are seeking a family, who are seeking to be protected,” he said.

    Italy has threatened a backlash if other EU states refuse to share the burden of asylum seekers, but even so ministers took no decision to carry out proposals by the European Commission for quotas to redistribute 40,000 refugees.

    European leaders swore action after an estimated 800 migrants died in a shipwreck in April, the worst disaster yet in the Mediterranean in a year in which a total of 1,800 people have died trying to cross from Africa and the Middle East on flimsy boats.

    In one of the largest pledges of assistance so far, France said today it would create an additional 10,500 housing places for migrants.

    More than 100,000 migrants have arrived in Europe this year, 60,000 through Italy alone, according to the EU’s border agency Frontex.

  • Briton pops the question via crossword

    LONDON (TIP): It’s a case of two down: the aisle. A crossword-loving lawyer hid a marriage proposal in The Times newspaper’s daily puzzle. Matthew Dick thought of the cryptic way of popping the question to girlfriend Delyth Hughes, and persuaded the newspaper to agree.

    Tuesday’s Times crossword opened with one across: “Pretty Welsh girl widely thought not to be all there.” The answer: Delyth. Other clues included “‘Will you marry me,’ say, that’s forward also rude.” The answer was proposal. Dick showed Hughes the crossword at breakfast, with some key words underlined, then “reached into my pocket to reveal the ring”.

  • METHANE ON MARS ROCKS SUGGESTS POSSIBILITY OF LIFE

    METHANE ON MARS ROCKS SUGGESTS POSSIBILITY OF LIFE

    NEW YORK (TIP): In a clue to possibility of life below the surface of Mars today, an international team of researchers has discovered traces of methane in Martian meteorites.

    For the study, the researchers examined samples from six meteorites of volcanic rock that originated on Mars. All six samples also contained methane, which was measured by crushing the rocks and running the emerging gas through a mass spectrometer.

    The discovery hints at the possibility that methane could be used as a food source by rudimentary forms of life beneath the Martian surface. On Earth, microbes do this in a range of environments.

    “Our findings will likely be used by astrobiologists in models and experiments aimed at understanding whether life could survive below the surface of Mars today,” said study co-author Sean McMahon from Yale University in the US.

    “Even if Martian methane does not directly feed microbes, it may signal the presence of a warm, wet, chemically reactive environment where life could thrive,” McMahon said. The discovery was part of a joint research project led by the University of Aberdeen in Britain, in collaboration with the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, the University of Glasgow, Brock University in Ontario, and the University of Western Ontario.

    “One of the most exciting developments in the exploration of Mars has been the suggestion of methane in the Martian atmosphere,” said University of Aberdeen professor John Parnell, who directed the research.

    Recent and forthcoming missions by NASA and the European Space Agency are looking at this. However, it is so far unclear where the methane comes from, and even whether it is really there, Parnell said.

    “However, our research provides a strong indication that rocks on Mars contain a large reservoir of methane,” Parnell pointed out.

  • AMSTERDAM TO GET 3D-PRINTED BRIDGE

    AMSTERDAM TO GET 3D-PRINTED BRIDGE

    LONDON (TIP): Will you dare to cross a deep canal on a “printed” bridge? You may get a chance to try that soon.

    A 3D printing company based in Amsterdam has developed a revolutionary robotic 3D printer that can ‘draw’ structures in the air. The developers are now planning to build a bridge over a canal in the city, CNET reported.

    “We research and develop ground-breaking, cost-effective robotic technology with which we can 3D print beautiful, functional objects in almost any form,” wrote the firm MX3D on the project web page.

    “Printing an intricate, ornate metal bridge for a special location to show what our robots and software, engineers, craftsmen and designers can do.” The bridge will be designed by artist and designer Joris Laarman, who helped develop the robotic 3D printer that combined the MX3D-Resin with a welder to be able to “draw” fast-setting metal structures.

    In this technique, small increments of molten metal are welded to the existing structure, creating lines of steel and the same is used to print the bridge out of steel. By printing multiple lines, the printer will be able to create a strong, complex structure that spans the canal – printing its own supports along the way so that it can operate autonomously. The construction of the bridge is scheduled to begin in September this year.

  • ISRO’S ‘GAGAN’ TO PROVIDE NAVIGATIONAL SUPPORT TO RAILWAYS

    ISRO’S ‘GAGAN’ TO PROVIDE NAVIGATIONAL SUPPORT TO RAILWAYS

    AHMEDABAD (TIP): Isro has said it will provide navigational support to the country’s railways through ‘Gagan’ (GPS-aided geo-augmented navigation) system.

    “Isro will provide satellite-generated information to the railways through space technology-based tools that will provide safety at unmanned level crossings,” Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar told reporters here yesterday in reply to a question on how will Isro help the railways in using the navigational support system.

    “There are host of requirements for using Gagan in railways. We are providing some solutions,” Kumar said.

    Gagan is an indigenous navigational guide system developed by Isro on the lines of GPS system of the US.

    Elaborating on it, Kumar said that at some places the railway tracks are under stress. If water accumulation happens, then based on digital elevation model data, other host of information which they generate, can be given.

    “There is specific information provided for aligning the railway tracks, particularly in mountainous regions, and also identifying tracks which are most stable when you are going through tunnels. In all these things, space technology is useful,” he said.

    “We are trying to provide space technology-based tools for enabling them to deal with unmanned level crossings,” he said.

    Gagan was jointly developed by the Isro and Airports Authority of India (AAI) with a view to assist aircraft in accurate landing.

    The Gagan signal is being broadcast through two Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites – GSAT8 and GSAT10.

    With the use of Gagan software system, a train would know the location of any unmanned level crossing and soon a a warning signal can be given.

    As soon as the warning signal will be given, the train’s hooter will automatically start when it comes near an unmanned crossing.

  • World’s thinnest bulb created from graphene

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Researchers have created the world’s thinnest light bulb using graphene, an atomically thin and perfectly crystalline form of carbon, as a filament.

    Led by Young Duck Kim, a postdoctoral research scientist in James Hone’s group at Columbia University School of Engineering, a team of scientists from Columbia, Seoul National University, and Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science said that they have demonstrated — for the first time — an on-chip visible light source using graphene as a filament.

    They attached small strips of graphene to metal electrodes, suspended the strips above the substrate, and passed a current through the filaments to cause them to heat up.”We’ve created what is essentially the world’s thinnest light bulb,” said Hone, Wang Fon-Jen professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia Engineering.

    “This new type of ‘broadband’ light emitter can be integrated into chips and will pave the way towards the realisation of atomically thin, flexible, and transparent displays, and graphene-based on-chip optical communications,” said Hone.

  • HYDEL POWER PUSHES NTPC INTO GLOBAL BIG LEAGUE

    HYDEL POWER PUSHES NTPC INTO GLOBAL BIG LEAGUE

    NEW DELHI (TIP): State-run NTPC has switched on an 800 MW hydel plant to join a select group of global peers who span the entire fuel chain — coal, gas, hydro power and renewables — for generating greener electricity.

    Last week, the country’s largest fossil fuel-based generation utility quietly switched on the last of the four 200 MW units of its first hydel project in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, roughly 145 km before the tourist destination of Manali.

    The development marks fulfillment of a vision, the seeds of which were sown by then chairman C P Jain during early parts of the 2000-2002 period. The hydel foray is part of NTPC’s diversification plan to widen fuel base.

    “The country’s abundant natural water resources provide the cheapest available fuel. We need to tap its potential… The hydel capacity would also help NTPC improve operational flexibility and optimize use of its generation infrastructure in accordance with demand, saving resources. All these will be crucial for corporate health once power sector reforms are completed and market mechanisms are in place,” Jain had said. Those words sound almost prophetic today, given the situation being faced by gas-fired power stations as the high cost of imported fuel have put them beyond the reach of consumers in the absence of cheaper domestic fuel.

    The Koldam project on Sutlej will provide peaking capacity to the northern grid and annually generate 3,054 GWh electricity at 90% capacity. Besides cheap electricity, the project is expected to enhance the life of Bhakra reservoir considerably by trapping the sediments of Sutlej in Koldam. But the going has not been easy. The project encountered several challenges during its construction due to geological surprises and environmental obstacles. But present chairman Arup Roy Choudhury held his team steady on course and NTPC finally managed to start filling up the reservoir in December 2013.

  • Honda recalls 1.39 million cars with passenger-side Takata air bags

    DETROIT (TIP): Honda Motor Co Ltd said it will recall 1.39 million Accord and Civic model sedans with potentially faulty front passenger-side air bags made by Japan’s Takata Corp.

    This will bring to about 2.3 million the number of Accord and Civic sedans with Takata’s front passenger-side air bags that have been recalled, the automaker said.

    Models affected by the Monday announcement include 2001 to 2005 Civic sedans and 2003 to 2007 Accord sedans sold in the United States.

    The Accord and Civic model sedans in this latest recall have already been recalled previously for front driver-side air bags, a Honda spokesman said.

    The total number of Honda vehicles recalled, however, did not increase from about 6.3 million as a result of Monday’s announcement.

  • GREEK PM TEARS INTO LENDERS AS EURO ZONE PREPARES FOR ‘GREXIT’

    ATHENS (TIP): Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Greece’s creditors of trying to “humiliate” Greeks with more cuts as he defied a growing drumbeat of warnings that Europe was preparing for his country to leave the euro.

    The unrepentant address to lawmakers after the collapse of talks with European and IMF lenders at the weekend was the clearest sign yet that the leftist leader has no intention of making a last-minute U-turn and accepting austerity cuts needed to unlock frozen aid and avoid a debt default within two weeks.

    Financial markets, for months indifferent to wrangling over releasing billions of euros of aid for Greece, reacted with mounting alarm.

    European stock markets hit their lowest level since February and the risk premium on bonds of other vulnerable euro zone states leapt in one of the sharpest episodes of contagion since the height of Europe’s debt crisis
    in 2012.

    The White House warned that agreement was needed to avoid shaking financial markets further and Tsipras assured U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that Athens aimed to bridge the differences with creditors.

    But with senior German lawmakers now openly discussing the once-taboo prospect of a “Grexit” from the single currency area, his fiery words suggested confrontation rather than reconciliation.”I’m certain future historians will recognize that little Greece, with its little power, is today fighting a battle beyond its capacity not just on its own behalf but on behalf of the people of Europe,” he said in a televised speech to legislators in his Syriza party, drawing loud applause.

    Tsipras charged that the lenders were politically motivated in demanding pension cuts and tax hikes that hurt the poor, and their aim was to “humiliate not only the Greek government – this would be the least important – but humiliate an entire people”.

    European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reacted angrily, accusing the Greek prime minister of misleading the public and insisting that he had made clear that he was personally against hiking taxes on power and pharmaceuticals. “And the prime minister knows that,” he said.

  • India reaches for the Sun, raises solar capacity target five times to 100,00 mw

    NEW DELHI (TIP): It’s official now. The government is reaching for the Sun by raising the target for adding solar power capacity five times to 100,000 mw by 2022. The Cabinet’s panel on economic affairs on June 16 put its stamp on the grand plan that is estimated to cost Rs 600,000 lakh crore.

    The Cabinet’s economic committee also approved a plan to set up 2,000 mw grid-connected solar capacity this year with viability gap funding under Phase-II of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

    So is India poised to emerge as a solar powerhouse?Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad would believe so. “This is a giant step and India will become the biggest producer of solar power in the world,” he told reporters after the Cabinet’s meeting.

    But one would have to watch out for China and Japan, apart from the US, before India can rightfully stake its claim to the numero uno position in this regard.

    The Centre would provide Rs.15,050 crore as capital subsidy. “The ministry of new and renewable energy intends to achieve the target of 100,000 mw with three schemes of 19,200 mw… Apart from this, projects with investment of about Rs 90,000 crore would be developed using bundling mechanism with thermal power,” a government statement said.

  • OZ FIRMS TO INVEST US$100 MILLION

    VADODARA (TIP): Australian firms will invest US $100 million in Vadodara region between Surat and Ahmedabad. This investment will generate close to 10,000 jobs. This was claimed by New South Wales (NSW) Labour Party secretary Hassan Kureshi here on Wednesday.

    “The investments will be made in five sectors including pharmaceutical, chemical, electrical, tourism and education,” he said. Kureshi said the proposals are in their final stage and are awaiting the final nod from the central government.

    A three-member delegation including members of NSW parliament – leader of opposition in NSW parliament Luke Foley and Labour upper house and NSW parliament member Daniel Mookey – along with Kureshi met chief minister Anandiben Patel on Tuesday.

    Projects based on nine proposals have been identified as the starting point of an improved trade relation, Kureshi said during his visit to the city.

    “During the Vibrant Gujarat summit of 2014, as many as 383 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed between the two countries. We are hoping to put 43 MoUs in effect, of which these nine will be the first to go on the floors,” Kureshi said.

    “Gujarat and New South Wales can be sister states. Vadodara region is an ideal point to start because of the student base and it already has an industrial set-up which has been explored enough globally,” he added.

    The NSW delegation also announced the setting up of special skill development and training centers in the region. Kureshi said, “The centers will focus on producing globally accepted skilled labour.

    They will be based on the Industrial Training Institutes that India has.”

    “The plans include a Narmada museum near Sardar Sarovar Dam along with a state-of-art water treatment laboratory. Multiple spots along Narmada will be developed to offer water sports. The pilgrim sites on the Reva belt on Chandod-Karnali belt will also be developed,” he said.

    Indian companies are also planning to approach the Australian government with export proposals including pharmaceutical and chemical products.

    Federation of Gujarat Industries will be the nodal point in these deals.

  • Roger Federer stays on track for eighth Halle title

    HALLE (GERMANY) (TIP): Roger Federer kept his chances of an eighth title at Halle on track when he overpowered Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday to breeze into the quarter-finals.

    The 33-year-old, 17-time Grand Slam winner was pushed to three sets in the previous round by German hope Philipp Kohlschreiber but had fewer problems with Gulbis.

    He will now meet Germany’s Florian Mayer who defeated American Steve Johnson 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

    Federer has reached the final of the last nine editions of the grasscourt Wimbledon tune-up, winning seven.

  • Leander Paes records win on his 42nd birthday

    LONDON (TIP): Leander Paes on June 17 celebrated his 42nd birthday by reaching the quarterfinals of the ATP Aegon Championships with Canadian partner Daniel Nestor at the Queen’s Club.

    The third seeded Indo-Canadian pair fought off the challenge of unseeded Viktor Troicki and Roberta Bautista Agut 7-6 (3), 3-6, 10-7 in the opening round of the Euro 1,696,645 grass court tournament.

    It took Paes and Nestor an hour and 21-minutes match to douse the challenge of their unseeded rivals. They next face the Spanish pair of Marc Lopez and multiple singles Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.

    The two pairs broke each other once before Paes and Nestor sealed the opening set via tie-breaker. In the second set they could convert none of the six chances they got and dropped serve one time which was enough for Troicki and Roberta Bautista Agut to draw parity in the match.

    However, Paes and Nestor used all their experience to prevail in the Match tie-breaker.

  • White man guns down 9 at black church in US

    White man guns down 9 at black church in US

    WASHINGTON (TIP): A young white gunman opened fire in a historically black church in South Carolina on June 17 night killing nine African-Americans in what was said to be hate crime, one of the worst in US history. The gunman, still at large at the time of writing, reportedly spared one woman so that she could ”go and tell the world what happened.”

    It was little after 9pm on June 17 when the group of African-Americans congregated at the 150-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church for their weekly Bible studies. The gunman, who was described as wearing a gray hoodie, blue jeans, and Timberland boots, is said to have come into the church and sat down with the group before opening fire and fleeing.

    Police teams with sniffer dogs arrived quickly on the scene and cordoned off the area before putting the whole city, which witnessed massive protests following a white cop-killing-a black man case some weeks ago, into a lockdown.

    There are concerns about further violence from the fugitive gunman and possible retaliatory attacks in a state that has a deep history of racism, but yet has successfully elected an Indian-American, Nikki Haley (nee Nimrata Randhawa) as the governor. Haley condoled the tragedy, saying, ”Michael, Rena, Nalin, and I are praying for victims and families touched by tonight’s senseless tragedy” and adding, ”While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we’ll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another.”

    But city authorities appeared certain it is a hate crime.

    ”I do believe this is a hate crime,” Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said at a news conference, without explaining the basis for his conclusion. ”This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience. It is senseless, unfathomable…we are going to do everything in our power to find this individual, to lock him up, to make sure he does not hurt anyone else…”

    Mayor Joe Riley, who like Mullen is also white in a city that is 25% African-American, backed him, saying, ”The only reason someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate. It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine.”

    The shooting came just days ahead of two big back-to-back political rallies in the city, first by Republican Presidential candidate Jeb Bush (which has now been cancelled) and followed by one by Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton, who tweeted her condolences but did not say anything about the rally.

    Police initially apprehended a young white photographer who happened to be in the vicinity because he matched the description of the gunman. But he only happened to be interviewing strangers for a project he was detailing on Facebook.

  • Study sees success in training women to prevent rape

    Study sees success in training women to prevent rape

    MIAMI (TIP): A programme that teaches university-age women how to avoid rape has shown some success in reducing the numbers of women in Canada who are sexually assaulted, according to a study.

    Previous research has suggested that as many as one in four young women are raped or are victims of attempted rape while attending college.

    The findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine are based on a group of nearly 900 women at three Canadian universities.

    The first-year students were randomly assigned to either look at brochures on avoiding campus rape or to complete the training course.

    During four separate three-hour sessions, the women learn “information, skills and practices to assess risk from acquaintances, to overcome emotional barriers in acknowledging danger and to engage in effective verbal and physical self-defense,” the study said.

    Instructors also helped students “explore their own sexual values, desires, boundaries and rights,” according to the study.

    The programme, known as the Enhanced Assess Acknowledge Act Sexual Assault Resistance Program, has been in development for over a decade by Charlene Senn of the University of Windsor.

    One year after completing the training, 23 women in the EAAA programme reported having been raped, compared to 42 in the group that browsed brochures on rape prevention.

    Researchers found 46 per cent fewer rapes and 63 per cent fewer attempted rapes in the group that followed the training programme.

    “We found that the one-year risk of completed rape was significantly lower for the women in the EAAA resistance group than in the control group,” said Senn.

    “What this means in practical terms is that enrolling 22 women in the EAAA resistance programme would prevent one additional rape from occurring.”

    The programme is the first developed in North America to show some success against preventing rape beyond a few months, said Senn.

  • Let us Celebrate Yoga

    Prime Minister of India , Narendra Modi  is known to be deeply steeped in the Hindu tradition. Imbibing pristine Hindu values early on in his life through his association with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) , Modi well understands the significance  of traditional values  and  the importance of culture.

    Ever since he came in to politics, and more particularly, on the national political scene, India has witnessed  a clear inclination on the part of the government to promote  the tradition and values of the age old Hindu culture. Modi’s concern is pretty obvious the way changes are sought to be brought about in the domain of education and culture.

    Moving on to Yoga, a distinct mark of Hindu way of life  from olden times, Yoga has always  been placed on a high pedestal and considered to have  a formative and curative power. In the words of one of the earliest and the greatest practitioners of Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar, “Yoga means union – the union of body with consciousness, and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the way of maintaining a balanced attitude in day to day life, and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions”.

    Yoga is health giving- an aspect of Yoga which is the most popular one. And it is this aspect which more or less gets emphasized and proves attractive to people.

    Thus, on the suggestion of Prime Minister of India, during his address to the UN General Assembly in October, 2014 , 177 member  nations  of the United Nations adopted unanimously a resolution to observe June 21 as International Day of Yoga.

    It is heartening to know that an old science of India has received such overwhelming  support among the nations of the world who are now all set to celebrate the day this coming Sunday.

    On the purely material side, Yoga holds promise of a multi-billion dollar business. A Yogi Harbhajan not only created  a large following in the US but also made a lot of money through Yoga. One can expect great job opportunities for thousands of yoga instructors and gurus who would  reach over to distant parts of the world, and like Yogi Harbhajan, create their own empires. One can expect these people to bring to India a lot of foreign exchange. Yoga then would be a sound business proposition and Prime Minister Modi understands business well, as he himself has claimed.

    Let us celebrate, them, with all enthusiasm and zeal, the first International Day of Yoga, this coming Sunday, June 21, 2015.

  • Keen to work with Tamil diaspora for reconciliation, says Sri Lanka foreign minister

    COLOMBO (TIP): Sri Lanka is keen to engage all diaspora groups including Tamils in reconciliation efforts, foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera has said stressing the new government does not want the country to return to another bloody conflict.

    Responding to opposition criticism of the recent talks held in London with the diaspora, Samaraweera said the government considered it is a vital need to engage with diaspora groups, especially those who hold extremist views.

  • Malaysian oil tanker goes missing with 22 crew members

    KUALA LUMPUR (TIP): A Malaysian tanker carrying nearly 7.5 million litres of petrol has gone missing with 22 crew members on board in the waters off southern Johor state’s east coast. Officials said the MT Orkim Harmony was sailing from Malacca to Kuantan when it disappeared on Thursday.

    Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) operation director (southern region) Ibrahim Mohamed said the fuel that weighed some 6,000 tonnes was worth around 15 million ringit. The tanker had on board 22 crew members – 16 Malaysians, five Indonesians and a Myanmar national. The search area now covered 20,000 sq km from Tanjung Penawar in Kota Tinggi to Mersing as well as the maritime territories of Singapore and Indonesia, the official said.

    Prime Minister Najib Razak expressed his concern for Orkim Harmony and its crew. “I am distressed by the news of a missing Malaysian-owned tanker. I pray for the safety of the 22-strong crew of which 16 are Malaysians. My thoughts are with their families. The Government will deploy our resources to locate it,” he said. Earlier, in his Twitter account, Najib said the tanker was ‘hijacked’.

  • Dallas June 19 Edition

    Dallas June 19 Edition

    A New Way to Read This Week’s Print Edition

    Reimagined for the Web
    Volume 3 Issue 18

    Desktop Edition

    VOL 3 ISSUE 18

  • NY June 19 Edition

    NY June 19 Edition

    A New Way to Read This Week’s Print Edition

    Reimagined for the Web
    Volume 9 Issue 24

    Desktop Edition

    Page 01

  • 30,000 Expected at New York’s International Yoga Day Celebration

    30,000 Expected at New York’s International Yoga Day Celebration

    As the world celebrates International Day of Yoga on Sunday in a unique event that is in many ways an endorsement of the Indian way of life, more than 30,000 people are expected to participate in a mass demonstration of the ancient art in the city’s Times Square after global leaders and diplomats from around the world launch the observance at the UN headquarters.

    Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is to deliver the keynote address at the start of the day’s celebrations at the UN headquarters in an open plaza along the East River, India’s Permanent Representative Asoke Kumar Mukerji told reporters in New York on Tuesday. General Assembly President Sam Kutesa and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj are slated to speak on the occasion along with representatives of some of the nations that co-sponsored the International Day of Yoga resolution.

    Sri Sri Ravishankar, the founder of the Art of Living Foundation is to give a lecture on the benefits of yoga and lead a demonstration by several hundred people at the UN and, through a video link, the thousands on Times Square, which is known as “the crossroads of the world.”

    The UN celebrations are to be webcast on the UN network and also shown on the NASDAQ market building’s giant, seven storey-tall video screen and others on Times Square.

    “Yoga offers a simple, accessible and inclusive means to promote physical and spirtual health and well-being,” Ban Ki-moon said in his message for International Day of Yoga. “It promotes respect for one’s fellow human beings and for the planet we share.”

    He said that he had tried out yoga by doing the tree pose or Vrksasana and “appreciated the simple sense of satisfaction that yoga can bring.”

    A manifestation of the universal value of “vasudhaiva kutumbakam” — the world is one family, the UN General Assembly resolution for International Day of Yoga was co-sponsored by 177 nations and adopted by acclamation by the 193-member organisation, Mr Mukerji said. This was the largest number of co-sponsors ever for such a resolution, he added.

    The idea of an International Day of Yoga was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the General Assembly last September, calling yoga “a holistic approach to health and well-being” and to finding “the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature.”

    “Yoga embodies the unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfilment; the harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature.”

    For yoga day to be observed starting this year, Mr Mukerji said the resolution for it had to be passed by the General Assembly before the end of last year but the calendar had already been set with no room for fresh items.

    The Indian Mission found a way around this by invoking the association of PM Modi made between health and yoga, Mr Mukerji said. They had the Yoga Day resolution introduced as part of the health agenda that was already on the calendar for December, he said.

    The Mission brought the full force of multilateral diplomacy to bear on the project, he said. The Indian diplomats were able to have the 18 co-sponsors they initial had snowball to reach a total of 177 co-sponsors. And when both the United States and China signed on, the effort gained momentum.

    Asked by a reporter about the role of Muslim countries as co-sponsors and the controversies raised in India by some Muslims, Mr Mukerji said yoga was presented as a health matter with no religious undertones and he pointed out that 47 of the 56 members of the Muslim grouping, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, joined as co-sponsors. While Pakistan and Saudi Arabia did not co-sponsor, they did not object to the resolution either.

  • 2 Indian Americans Appointed to Key Republican Positions

    2 Indian Americans Appointed to Key Republican Positions

    Two Indian-Americans have been appointed to key positions in the Republican party with the mandate to involve community leaders within the party fold.

    Niraj Antani, a Ohio State legislature, and Janak Joshi, a Colorado State legislature, were yesterday appointed to the board of the 2015-2016 Future Majority Project of the Republican Party.

    The Board is chaired by TW Shannon, Chair, former Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

    According to a media release, the Future Majority Project seeks to recruit, train and elect Republican candidates from diverse communities on the state level who better represent the full diversity of America.

    In 2013-2014, FMP recruited hundreds of new candidates and elected 43 new leaders to office. With this cycle, FMP aims to recruit 250 new, diverse candidates and see 50 of those candidates appointed or elected to office.

    “As someone who has served in the trenches of state government, I understand the importance of recruiting the right candidates with the right message in every district and state across the country,” said Shannon.

  • Why I will not waive my gas subsidy

    Why I will not waive my gas subsidy

    You have asked the rich and affluent people of India to waive off their share of subsidy on gas cylinders used by them in their homes and help in nation building.

    I, for one would definitely prescribe to your view and gladly do so. In return, I would like all of you esteemed gentlemen and ladies who run our great country to also reciprocate our generous offer.

    If only, every corporator, MLA, MP, and Minister could also waive off his gas subsidy, we the people of India would be very proud of you and salute you.

    You would be setting an example to the citizens of India. Most of you have declared incomes running into a few crores while contesting the elections.

    When will the day come when you will think of our poor brethren and waive off all the perks that you enjoy because of your position.

    When will you stop voting unanimously for a pay hike for yourselves, while bitterly fighting against all other issues in Parliament?

    When will we see you act as responsible citizens and fight over issues rather than take party based decisions?

    Let me tell you, dear Sir, the Chancellor of a super power like Germany Ms. Angela Merkel rides on a public train to work, whereas in our country everyone from the Prime Minister, to the Members of Parliament, even down to the Zilla Panchayat President is allocated a car which is paid for from the coffers of our country which is filled generously by the tax payers money.

    You incur thousands of rupees worth of telephone bills, electricity bills, free accommodation in luxury bungalows, avail free travel on public transportation, go on foreign jaunts on flimsy excuses and we the people of India pay for it.

    When will you be a proud Indian and pay for all these facilities availed by you?

    You get admitted to luxury hospitals for even a headache and especially when a probe is launched against you for any misdemeanor. Even there, you get the best beds and facilities free of charge.

    Pray, tell me, Sir “When will you pay for these privileges?”

    You travel in air conditioned railway coaches and fly first class in planes even when you are not on official duty. It is us, the citizens of India who pay the fare for you.

    Everyone, who is anybody, stakes his claim to fame by clamoring for “Z Class” security when the actual risk assessment for that person is zero. We, the people of India pay a fortune for your security.

    Alas, what a travesty of our times! That you who should be protecting the nation are being protected by the common man at his cost.

    There are people in India who cannot even afford one meal a day and do not even have the strength to complain about it. Sadly, while you enjoy a cup of coffee bought at a princely sum of Rupees One or a full meal at Rupees Twelve at the Parliament canteen in air conditioned comfort and cannot be bothered about these trivial issues.

    When shall you pay the full cost of a meal without passing on the bill to your countrymen?

    Sir, I am just an ordinary citizen of India who dutifully pays his Income tax, Service Tax, Value Added Tax, Wealth Tax, Corporation Tax, Automobile Registration Tax and Property Tax which goes up to nearly 50 percent of our hard earned money while you enjoy the benefits of these taxes and live a privileged life because every citizen of India pays for your privileges.

    The day all of you forego and waive all the unnecessary perquisites bestowed upon you by laws enacted by you would be a proud one in our nation’s history.

    The day, you gentlemen who have been elected to power by the people to govern our nation become responsible citizens of INDIA will be a milestone in our history. That day, all of us will definitely waive off our gas subsidy.

    Yours sincerely,

    An honest and dutiful citizen.

    (Sumith S. Rao is a well known Mangalore based businessman and a former President of the District Small Scale Industries Association.)

    (Source: Mangalore Today News Network)

  • Nestle to burn $50 million worth of noodles

    Nestle to burn $50 million worth of noodles

    New York (TIP): Nestle has issued multiple statements some contradicting their own top executive in the last few days. It is yet to be ascertained whether Nestle’s decision to burn Maggi packets recalled from the Indian Market & in its factories is a result of the Indian ban or Australia’s suspension of import from India.

    As per Nestle’s global website, Nestle India currently exports small quantities of Maggi noodles to the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Singapore and Kenya.

    Nestle has said it will burn $50 million worth of Maggi noodles in concrete incinerators after they were banned by India’s food safety regulator for containing too much lead.

    The food regulator has accused Nestle of not complying with food safety laws.

    Nestle continues to insist that the noodles are safe and that the ban is the result of issues with the interpretation of the law.

    It has however started to recall the product and burn it in incinerators at five cement factories across the country.

    According to the Indian paper AFP live, Nestle has 8 factories across India, five of which produce Maggi noodles.

    Nestle has 38 distribution centres, where products are stored before being sent to distributors

    63 Percentage of the noodle market owned by Nestle. Nestle dominates the Indian noodle market, according to Euromonitor. Nestle has been the market leader there since 2009.

    Almost 28,000 tonnes, or $32 million-worth, of Maggi noodles were in the market on June 5, when the product was decided to be recalled. Another $17 million-worth of noodles are still in factories.

    50 million dollars-worth of noodles will be burned. “These are broad estimates because it is impossible to calculate the final figure while the withdrawal is taking place,” Nestle said. It added that additional costs from bringing stock to the market and transporting it to incinerators to be destroyed had not yet been accounted for.

  • Top Indian American Doctor Shot Dead

    Top Indian American Doctor Shot Dead

    HOUSTON, TEXAS:  Renowned Indian-American cardiologist Suresh Gadasalli, who performed the world’s first simultaneous hybrid revascularisation, was shot dead by his friend and business associate who then committed suicide in Odesaa in the US state of Texas, police said.

    Dr Gadasalli, 53, was shot dead by 60-year-old patient and business associate Ayyasamy Thangam at the ‘Healthy Heart Centre’ on Thursday, according to a release issued by the Odessa Police Department.

    Thangam then closed the door of the room the two men were in and witnesses heard another, single gunshot, it added.

    According to Corporal Steve LeSueur, the two men were close friends and business associates.

    Dr Gadasalli’s brother-in-law said that the two families knew each other for a decade, and that the last rites will be held in Odessa likely on Wednesday.

    The incident shocked the city, popular for Laura and George Bush’s home city of 2.5 lakh people.

    LeSueur on Friday declined to release a possible motive for the killings and the police had no information on why Thangam was being treated.

    Dr Gadasalli hailed from Bangalore and was educated at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Belgaum, Karnataka, before studying at the Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the University of Wisconsin Medical School and the Sinai Samaritan Centre in Milwaukee.

    He was recruited by Medical Centre Hospital in Odessa, Texas in 1994.

    The Healthy Heart Centre profile mentions that Dr Gadasalli was recognised as a leading physician of the world by the International Association of Cardiologists.

    He was named “super doctor” by Texas Monthly in 2008.

    In 2005, he performed the world’s first simultaneous hybrid revascularisation, which involved two major procedures – coronary artery bypass and stent replacement, using a robotic system known as the Da Vinci Surgical System.

    Gadasalli was previously investigated in a federal court case on a currency structuring charge. The FBI began their investigation into the Healthy Heart Center in June of 2012.

    He was accused of violating federal law in structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements, according to previous reports.

    According to court records, Gadasalli’s case was closed on January 22, 2014.