The Indian Panorama

Year: 2015

  • Quantico Star Priyanka Chopra’s support for PETA

    Quantico Star Priyanka Chopra’s support for PETA

    New York: PETA has come up with a new campaign to help educate kids about elephants and captivity: a life-sized mechanical elephant named Ellie voiced by Priyanka Chopra, the star of fall’s smash-hit new show Quantico.

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    Schoolchildren will now have the chance to learn about and get up close and personal with an ex-captive elephant.

    The animal rights organization is taking Ellie on the road for a school tour that will take her all over the U.S., Europe, and even India. Ellie will talk to young people about her separation from her mother as a baby, the physical punishment she endured in the circus, and, finally, her happy life at a sanctuary after her rescue.

     

    Priyanka Chopra describes elephants as “magnificent creatures, who desperately need our help and protection.” She adds: “Ellie and I are teaching kids that elephants belong in the wild with their families and that they suffer greatly in captivity, in which they’re kept chained, forced to learn tricks, and deprived of all the things that make them happy, like family and freedom.”

    “I couldn’t be more proud to join PETA in bringing Ellie’s story to life for children everywhere, with the hope of instilling the idea of compassion and kindness for living creatures of all kinds.”

    Elementary school students are already responding with rave reviews and questions about circus life for elephants. One student at Horace Mann Elementary in Oakland, California, asked, “Why don’t circuses just use robots instead?” And a student at Prairie Elementary in Sacramento, California, shouted, “It’s a miracle!” after watching Ellie move.

  • Why Salman Khan is worried!!!

    Why Salman Khan is worried!!!

    A sword is hanging on my head, says Salman Khan

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    Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is a worried man. Despite all the success he has achieved in the film industry and despite the huge fan following, the impending verdict of his court cases is always at the back of his mind.

     

    “What is going to happen to the verdicts. If you add five…five years it comes to 10-15 years. That is a big worry on my parents head…my head. It is a big one. It is not in magistrate court… it is in high court. Whatever will be my life’s journey after that… will take it,” Khan said in an interview.

    “After doing all this you have to do comedy, do ‘Bigg Boss’ but at the same time a sword is hanging on your head, you see parents reacting, and what they are going through,” he added.

    According to the 49-year-old actor, his work cannot save him from the verdict. “The beauty of my job is no matter how much ever good you do, people are insensitive… romancing Sonam, dancing with Jacqueline, going to Poland shooting, earning Rs 600 crore… but they don’t know how much we have (on our plate)… They say he has a case on him but he is enjoying.

    Why Salman Khan won’t Marry?

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    In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, when asked to comment on the rumours of his alleged engagement with Lulia Vantur, Salman said, “There is a lot of buzz about a lot of things about me, which is never true. Yes, I read what is written, hear what is said, and my right answer to your question would be that I am indifferent to all of it. The small things don’t bother me at all, but they bother my parents. And that really bothers me,” he says, continuing, “If they didn’t care about all this nautanki giri, if the judges and public prosecutors laughed off everything that’s written about me, it wouldn’t bother me at all. Sahi jawaab na?” he smirks.

    “I think everyone has their own journey, their own realisation. I deal with my demons and everyone has to deal with theirs,” he says. He further elaborates, “All this nautanki leads to fiveyear-long jail terms and I have to go to work with that sword hanging over my head and be Prem, where I am beautiful and pure. But actually I have 50, 000 things on my mind. My mother’s not keeping well, my dad undergoes a surgery, it’s difficult work my dear,” Salman sighs, adding, “The more you deal with your problems without making a big deal of them, the more people point fingers at you and say, “Yeh dekho court cases hai, lekin isko farak hi nahi padta.”

    Salman Khan, who is known to be the ultimate bachelor of Bollywood and has been in several relationships in the past, has confessed in a Mumbai Mirror interview that he doesn’t believe in love.

    The actor said, “I don’t believe in love. There’s like, care, respect, but that’s not love. Love is what attracts you to someone even if he’s not nice. For me the word is need, but very few people have the same amount of need for each other. One day you’re chasing the person you need to be with, even if he she doesn’t feel the same way. Aap samajh rahi hain? Then pffft, you no longer feel the same way and the other person is like, “What did I do?” The Kick actor, who has recently been talking a lot about marriage reveals that he has just been joking, “That’s just a joke. Today, I say I’m open to an arranged marriage, tomorrow it’s a love marriage and on the third no marriage. It’s not on my agenda, if it has to happen, it will,” Salman concluded.

    According to a report on IANS, the actor was posed with a choice between seeing himself getting married in 2015 or starring in a film along with Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan. The actor chose the former over the latter. The report also quotes the actor as saying that he would rather see himself getting married than seeing the three Khans doing a film together.

    Salman’s Legal Woes

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    Khan is presently undergoing trial in the 2002 hit-and-run case in Mumbai. The actor was convicted on charges of culpable homicide, not amounting to murder, in the case on May 6. His white Toyota Landcruiser ran over the men who were sleeping on pavement in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one and injuring four others.

    Two more cases are pending against him in Jodhpur, one is under arms act for illegal arms possession and the other under the wildlife protection act for poaching blackbucks.

    Khan was sentenced to one year in prison for hunting the blackbuck, an endangered species on 17 February 2006. The sentence was stayed by a higher court during appeal. He was handed a five-year jail term and remanded to Jodhpur jail for three days on 10 April, 2006. He was granted bail in the case.

    Rajasthan high court had finalised charges against Khan and his other colleagues in the case paving the way for start of the trial on 24 July, 2012. And in July this year, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the actor on Rajasthan government’s plea challenging the HC order suspending his conviction.

    “We will see the prayers, wishes. It is for people who believe in prayers. Yes I do (believe in prayers)… lot of people do believe and there are others who do not believe it. And those who have powers do not believe,” Khan said when asked if he believes in prayers and good wishes.

  • Hafiz Saeed’s security enhanced by Pakistan Govt

    Hafiz Saeed’s security enhanced by Pakistan Govt

    LAHORE: Pakistan’s Punjab province government has enhanced the security of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed following a home department alert that a “foreign intelligence agency” may make an attempt on JuD chief’s life.

    “We have enhanced the security of Hafiz Saeed in accordance with the directive of the home department,” an official of the Punjab government told PTI on Tuesday.

    He said more policemen have been deployed at his residence in Jauhar Town and JuD headquarters Chauburji, Lahore, in the wake of the threat.

    Senior superintendent of police Athar Ismail said the police had “sensitized” the people who are engaged in the personal security of Saeed.

    According to the letter issued by the Punjab home department, a “foreign intelligence agency” has made plans to attack “high-value targets” like Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and JuD chief Saeed to create chaos on a wide-scale.
    Saeed, who orchestrated the November, 2008, Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people were killed, roams around freely in Pakistan despite being a designated terrorist and has made many anti-India remarks and speeches.

    Pakistan has said that there is no case against Saeed and that he is free to move in the country as a Pakistani national.

  • Pakistan bans media coverage of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Falah-e-Insaniyat (FIF) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)

    Pakistan bans media coverage of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Falah-e-Insaniyat (FIF) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)

    ISLAMABAD: Interior Ministry has imposed a ban on the media coverage of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Falah-e-Insaniyat (FIF) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) under the National Action Plan (NAP), media reports.

    It should be noted Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s name has already been included in the list of terrorist organizations by the United States of America and United Nations in December 2008. The United States has also put $10 million bounty on the head of Saeed.

    Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has issued the notification in this regard.

    The National Action Plan was devised in January 2015 after the heinous attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School in which the federal government and military decided to carry out operations in the tribal areas and take action against all terrorist organizations and their facilitators across the country.

    It was not clear whether the move was linked to Prime Minister Nawz Sharif’s assurance to US President Barack Obama last month to take “effective action” against UN-designated terrorist individuals and entities, including LeT and its affiliates, as per its international commitments and obligations under UN Security Council resolutions.

  • Six Indian American Malayalees to be honored by Kerala Center, NY

    Six Indian American Malayalees to be honored by Kerala Center, NY

    The Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center will honor six Indian Americans for outstanding achievement in their field of specialization or for their service to the society.

    The awardees were selected by a committee consisting of four members headed by Kerala Center Board Member and Trustee Dr. Thomas Abraham, according to a press release.

    “Every year we invite nominations and the committee has to make a unanimous choice for a candidate in a category to be selected to receive the award and this year is no different from previous years in terms of their achievements,” said Dr. Abraham, in a statement.

    “For the last 23 years, the Kerala Center has recognized the most outstanding achievers among the Indian American Kerala Community and they are role models for our community,” said Kerala Center President Thambi Thalappillil.

    Kerala-Center-press-releaseThe awardees will be honored at the Kerala Center’s 23rd Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, November 7th starting at 6.30 p.m. at World’s Fair Marina in Flushing (Queens, New York City, address: 1 World’s Fair Marina, Flushing).  The chief guest is Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay, Consul General of India in New York and the keynote speaker is Mr. K. Mohandas, former Secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Indian affairs and Shipping, Govt. of India.

    This year’s honorees are: 
    Recognition for Outstanding Contribution in Engineering – Dr. Navin Manjooran 

    Dr. Navin Manjooran ​is ​the Global Director (Energy) for Siemens AG ​ and ​​is responsible for the​  entire Siemens energy portfolio. He also serves as an engineering professor at Virginia Tech. Navin graduated with a BE degree from NIT (Warangal), a MS from University of Florida (Gainesville, USA), Ph.D. from Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, USA), all with the highest honors and later on completed MBA from University of Chicago. Navin has 11 patents/ disclosures, 9 books, 37 publications and 51 presentations at national/international conferences. He has received several awards including TMS Young Leader, ASM International Leadership Award ​and ​Siemens Performance Award. ​Navin is a Member of the US Technology Advisory Board and ​Virginia Tech Univ. Board  and the Board of Trustees of Univ. of Chicago.

    Recognition for Outstanding Contribution in Information Technology – Dr. Sasi K. Pillay

    Dr. Sasi K, Pillay serves as the CIO of the University of Wisconsin System comprising 26 campuses where he has started several initiatives such as the Innovation Program and Business Intelligence,  while managing a portfolio of shared services totaling $45million.  In his prior roles at NASA, Dr. Pillay oversaw the IT innovation program consisting of global crowd sourcing and the launch of the innovation program which have won several national awards.  He is the recipient of the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the U.S. President’s Rank Award as a Meritorious Executive.

    Recognition for Outstanding Contribution in Medicine – Dr. Prem Soman

    Dr. Prem Soman MD, PhD, FRCP (UK), FACC is Director of Nuclear Cardiology, and Associate Professor of Medicine, and Clinical and Translation Science at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is internationally recognized for his research contributions to the field of nuclear cardiology, with more than 100 publications  and text book chapters. He has coauthored national guidelines on imaging and Appropriate Use Criteria. Dr. Soman is the current chair of the Imaging Council of the American College of Cardiology, Vice-President elect of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, and Immediate Past President of the Cardiovascular Council of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

    Recognition in Journalism and for Community Service – Dr. George M. Kakkanatt

    Dr. George Kakkanatt, a former US Air Force Captain is a professional psychotherapist. George is one of the founding members and former Global General Secretary of the World Malayalee Council (WMC), Green Kerala Foundation, and ALTIUS youth program. He is the President of the South Indian US Chamber of Commerce and also the President of the Houston Chapter of India Press Club of NA.  George is the Managing Director and Editor in Chief of Azchavattom Malayalam News weekly published from Houston. George received several awards for his creative commitment to serve the global community.

    Recognition for Community Service – Leela Maret

     

    Leela Maret has been doing superb job as a volunteer in many community organization for the last three decades. Working as a scientist for last 29 years at New York City’s Environmental Protection, Leela is also adjunct lecturer in Bronx Community College. Leela serves as Recording Secretary of Local Employees Union 375 for the city, delegate for Central Labor Council, FOKANA National Women’s Forum Chair, Vice President of South Asians for Labor and Vice President of INOC. She had served as the President of Kerala Samajam and in other capacities of several other organizations including FOKANA. She has helped to organize Asian Heritage, Diwali function at New York City Hall, Kerala Piravi and other events in Indian Consulate, actively participated in Voter Registration, taught Malayalam at St. John’s University, and took part in the testimony of redistricting of Richmond Hill to unite South Asians. She is the recipient of various Community awards such as NYC Comptroller’s Community Service award, and two Pravasi awards.

    Recognition for Service to the Nation – Captain Jophiel Philips – Service to the Nation

    Capt. Jophiel Philips was born in Queens, New York, were he developed a passion for football leading him to earn a football scholarship at St. Francis Prep High School.  He went on to play four years of college football, where he started at Wide Receiver.  After coaching football at the University level, Capt Philips went to law school where he won numerous academic awards and was chosen to give the commencement speech.  Capt Philips is a Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Air Force.  During his recent deployment, he was awarded the Purple Heart, as well as the Bronze Star, for his actions in protecting service members from harm, after an insurgent attack- where eight of his comrades died.

  • Indian American Penn professor co-creates Artificial Blood Vessels Made with 3D Printings

    Indian American Penn professor co-creates Artificial Blood Vessels Made with 3D Printings

    One of the major challenges in the 3D printing of complex human tissue and complete organs has been the ability to 3D print blood vessels which can deliver oxygen and nutrients to all cells in an artificial organ or tissue implant.

    A team of bioengineers from Rice University and surgeons from the University of Pennsylvania have created an implant with an intricate network of blood vessels that points toward a future of growing replacement tissues and organs for transplantation.

    An Indian American assistant professor Pavan Atluri of surgery at Penn, led by assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice Jordan Miller were able to create a silicon construct with a complex network of blood vessels, using sugar, silicone and a 3-D printer, in which blood was able to flow normally to surgically attached, native blood vessels.

    While tissue engineers have, in the past, implanted engineered tissue and waited for the body to grow its own blood vessels to supply oxygen and nutrients to the tissue, Miller’s team instead opted fabricating the blood vessel network itself. This is one of the keys to As a result, there’s no need to wait for a native network to form, reducing the possibility that cells within the tissue die from a lack of oxygen.

    Detailing the research, Miller said, “We had a theory that maybe we shouldn’t be waiting. We wondered if there were a way to implant a 3D printed construct where we could connect host arteries directly to the construct and get perfusion immediately. In this study, we are taking the first step toward applying an analogy from transplant surgery to 3D printed constructs we make in the lab.”

    “What a surgeon needs in order to do transplant surgery isn’t just a mass of cells; the surgeon needs a vessel inlet and an outlet that can be directly connected to arteries and veins,”

    “They don’t yet look like the blood vessels found in organs, but they have some of the key features relevant for a transplant surgeon. We created a construct that has one inlet and one outlet, which are about 1 millimeter in diameter, and these main vessels branch into multiple smaller vessels, which are about 600 to 800 microns,”  added Miller. 

    Once the proof-of-concept was achieved, the Rice team worked with Atluri’s surgeons to surgically implant the vessel network into a lab rat, used as an animal model, where blood flowed without issue for up to three hours.

    The study was deemed a complete success, with Miller saying, “This study provides a first step toward developing a transplant model for tissue engineering where the surgeon can directly connect arteries to an engineered tissue. In the future we aim to utilize a biodegradable material that also contains live cells next to these perfusable vessels for direct transplantation and monitoring long term.”

    With the ability to pump oxygen and nutrients to these tissues, they may even be able to expand the number of cell types that can be viably supported in the lab, slowly growing their research until they’re able to construct complete bioprinted organs.  At that point, bioprinting will no longer be a tool for research, but for saving lives.

    Other authors on the study were Renganaden Sooppan, Jason Han, Patrick Dinh, Ann Gaffey, Chantel Venkataraman, Alen Trubelja, George Hung and Pavan Atluri, all from Penn.

    The research has been published in the journal Tissue Engineering Part C: Methods

  • Indian American teen Natasha Subhash wins singles and doubles titles at Atlanta ITF tournament

    Indian American teen Natasha Subhash wins singles and doubles titles at Atlanta ITF tournament

    An Indian-American teen may soon feature in International Tennis Federation (ITF) top 200 rankings after she won the girls’ singles and doubles titles at the 2015 Atlanta ITF tournament.

    The first Indian-origin player to achieve the double feat in an international tennis tournament, 14-year-old Natasha Subhash, from Virginia, played on hard courts at the Life Time Athletic and Tennis club at Peachtree Corners in Georgia, The American Bazaar online reported on Monday.

    Subhash won the girls’ singles title in the ITF tournament on Sunday and beat Layne Sleeth of Canada, 14, in straight sets 6-3, 6-1, in the final.

    She clinched the girls’ doubles title on Saturday with her partner Ann Li ( USA) by defeating Ali Collins of Britain and River Hart of Canada in the final 6-2, 6-4.

    Subhash and Li are now on a 10-0 streak in the doubles after they won their second consecutive ITF tournament on Sunday.

    The duo has also clinched the Pan American title as well.

    She dropped only one set in the entire tournament on her way to the singles and doubles championship.

    “I’m happy I won the singles and the doubles title,” said Subhash.

    Earlier this year, Subhash featured in the 2015 US Open after getting a wild card entry.

    She is the first ranked player in Under-14 and Under-16 category in the US and is the youngest Indian-origin player ever to play for the Junior girls title in the Grand Slam event.

    “The US Open gave me a lot of confidence. My movement on court and consistency overall has improved,” she added.

    Subhash was born to Keralite couple Subhash Kongassery and Sulekha Subhash, who migrated to the US in 1997.

    Subhash started playing tennis at the age of five and is a big fan of Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer.

  • Turkey election: AKP wins back majority in snap election

    Turkey election: AKP wins back majority in snap election

    The Justice and Development Party (AK party) is set to lead Turkey alone once again after a five-month break, easily regaining its parliamentary majority in what Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called a victory for democracy.

    With nearly all of the votes counted, the ruling party was leading Sunday’s general elections with 49.4 percent of the vote.

    The AK party was followed by the centre-left Republican People’s Party (CHP) with 25.4 of the votes, far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP) with 11.9 percent and the pro-Kurdish left-wing Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) with 10.7 percent.

    With almost all ballots counted, the state-run Anadolu news agency said the AKP had won 49.4% of the vote, with the main opposition CHP on 25.4%.

    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said voters had “shown that they prefer action and development to controversy”.

    The pro-Kurdish HDP crossed the 10% threshold needed to claim seats.

    The nationalist MHP will also take seats in Ankara.

    In a statement, President Erdogan said the electorate had “given proof of their strong desire for the unity and integrity” of Turkey.

    Early on Monday, he called on the world to respect Turkey’s national will.

    Mr Erdogan called the vote after the AKP lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 13 years in June and attempts to form a coalition government failed.

    Speaking from the balcony of the AKP headquarters in the capital, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu welcomed the new result, saying: “You saw the dirty games played in our country, and you have changed the game”.

    With almost all of the results counted, the AKP had won substantially more than the 276 seats needed in order to form a government alone.

    More than 54 million people were registered to vote at some 175,000 stations on Sunday. The participation rate stood at 86.1 percent.

     

     

  • Sonia Gandhi Meets President raises the ‘Tolerance’ Issue

    Sonia Gandhi Meets President raises the ‘Tolerance’ Issue

    New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday, November 2, met President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and, reportedly, raised concerns about “rising intolerance” in a 40-minute one-on-one meeting.

    Ironically, the meeting comes hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi taunted the party on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and said it should “stop lecturing on tolerance.”

    Mrs Gandhi will also lead a delegation of Congress parliamentarians to the President’s House tomorrow to raise the pitch on a subject that is being debated following incidents like attacks on rationalists and mob killings on the suspicion of beef-eating or cow slaughter.

    “Organisations and people of a particular ideology are spreading it to divide people. We are under no illusion that it is an accident. The hate, violence and petty mindedness is being unleashed as part of a pre-determined plan. We will not allow such a diabolical design to succeed… It will shake country’s foundations… We are ready to fight the battle,” Sonia Gandhi had said earlier on October 31.

    Earlier today, the Congress reacted sharply to PM Modi raising the 1984 riots to attack the party, while addressing a rally in Bihar.

    “Doob maro (drown in shame)… Try to remember that day in 1984 when Sikhs were being massacred in Delhi and all over India two-three days after Indira Gandhi was killed. There were serious charges against the Congress party and Congress leaders…,” PM Modi said, referring to the mob killings of Sikhs in the days after the assassination of the former Prime Minister on October 31 that year.

    “And today on November 2, Congress party is lecturing on tolerance,” the PM said.

    The Congress hit back raising the 2002 riots in Gujarat, the state that Mr Modi ruled for 13 years till he took charge as prime minister last year.

    “Like in 2002, Modi has forgotten Raj Dharma in 2015,” said Congress spokesman Anand Sharma, invoking the phrase used by then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

    Alleging that the Prime Minister was an “endorser of intolerance by his studied silence,” Mr Sharma said: “The Prime Minister cannot be given the certificate of excellence on this front….He is all-powerful and not that helpless.”

    The “intolerance debate” has intensified over the past few weeks as writers, artists and filmmakers have returned their awards to express anger over what they believe is PM Modi’s inadequate response to attacks on freedom of speech.

    In more than one speech last month, the President sent out a strong message stressing on  India’s core values of tolerance and diversity.

  • Indian American Researcher at Boston University Wins $150,000 to Study Deadly Skin Cancer

    Indian American Researcher at Boston University Wins $150,000 to Study Deadly Skin Cancer

    Indian American researcher from the Boston University has won a grant of USD 150,000 to study a gene mutation linked to a type of deadly skin cancer. Melanoma is one of the least common type of Cancer, representing about 2 per cent of skin cancer cases, yet, it is one of the most deadly with has no effective treatment till date.

    Anurag Singh, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine, Section of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Boston University in United States is tackling this poorly understood melanoma by studying how NRAS transforms healthy, normal skin cells into aggressive cancerous cells. About 20 per cent of melanomas have a mutated gene called NRAS. He is also a member of The Cancer Center.

    The work has been funded by a three-year, USD 150,000 grant from the Melanoma Research Alliance.

    Mr Singh’s lab studies how two forms of the RAS gene, NRAS and KRAS, interact and cooperate with other genes to form gene networks, analogous to computer circuits.

    RAS genes belong to a family of molecules called G proteins, which are important for much signalling within human cells. RAS genes—named for “rat sarcoma” because that’s where scientists first found them—belong to a family of molecules called G proteins, which are important for much signaling within human cells. There are about 200 G proteins of various shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common: they can become activated and then, after some period of time, automatically turn themselves off.

    Mutant forms of RAS can turn on, but they can’t turn off. The mutant RAS is always on, always signalling, even when other signals order it to cease and desist.

    This nonstop signalling can lead to different effects – sometimes it makes a cell multiply uncontrollably, sometimes it prevents a cancer cell from self-destructing. This makes the mutant forms of RAS common in cancer.

    “The RAS mutation itself is not sufficient to cause a full-blown tumour,” said Mr Singh.

    “It creates a vulnerable state that can progress to a malignant state,” he said.

    “We have identified two major types of NRAS networks in melanoma,” he said.

    “We hypothesise that these subtypes can be treated with selective targeted anticancer agents or precision medicines. We hope to pinpoint vulnerabilities that can be blocked with chemotherapy,” he said.

    “That’s what I think about: how can we effectively treat patients with mutations in the RAS genes,” Singh says. “Ultimately, we’re all in the business of trying to advance therapeutics to benefit patients.”

     

  • Russian airplane crashes in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula

    Russian airplane crashes in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula

    CAIRO: A Russian passenger plane with 224 people on board crashed in a mountainous part of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, leaving no survivors, officials said. The chartered plane had taken off from the south Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh bound for Saint Petersburg and lost contact with air traffic control 23 minutes later before crashing in the restive peninsula.

    Victor Sorochenko, the head of Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee, said it was too early to conclude what caused the crash on Saturday, October 31. He told reporters debris was found across a 20sq km-wide area of Sinai. So far 163 bodies have been found. The plane’s black boxes have been found and sent for analysis, officials said.

    Mr Sorochenko spoke after visiting the site of the debris, near the village of Hasana. The head of Russia’s Air Transport Agency, Aleksandr Neradko, said that “all signs attest to the fact that the aircraft disintegrated in the air at a high altitude”.

    Russian airliner 'broke up in mid-air'

    ISIS UNIT CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY – Read More 

  • Police Apologize to Sikhs Over Conduct at London Protest

    Police Apologize to Sikhs Over Conduct at London Protest

    LONDON:  The London police have apologised for their treatment of Sikh protesters during a demonstration outside the Indian embassy in the British capital last month, a media report said on Sunday.

    Mak Chishty, Metropolitan Police’s chief of community engagement, said concerns had been raised by Sikh representatives about the actions of some officers at the October 22 protest, the Evening Standard reported.

    The Sikhs were protesting over the recent deaths in Punjab and related incidents.

    “An incident occurred where a Met Police officer is seen to take a flag sporting a religious symbol from a protester, snap the stick and throw it to the floor. This is deeply disrespectful to the Sikh community and is not acceptable.

    “I understand the distress and hurt that has been caused and I sincerely apologise to our Sikh community for this,” Chishty was quoted as saying.

    A total of 20 people were arrested when the peaceful demonstration of a “small group of protesters turned violent towards police”.

    “I am also aware that ‘kirpans’ were removed from two people once they had been arrested. This was against the direction of the senior officer present who immediately apologised during the protest,” the officer said.

    He added that officers deployed during future protests involving Sikhs would be briefed on the significance of the religious symbol and ‘kirpans’.

    “I would like to reassure the Sikh community that no disrespect or offence was intended and apologise for any distress, hurt or offence that has been caused,” Chishty said.

  • Sixth Grader Indian American Sells cryptographically Secure Passwords

    Sixth Grader Indian American Sells cryptographically Secure Passwords

    NEW YORK:  An enterprising 11-year-old Indian-origin girl in the US has started her own business selling cryptographically secure passwords generated by dice rolls at USD 2 each.

    Mira Modi, a sixth grader in New York City, runs a small business at www.dicewarepasswords.com where she helps customers to have stronger and more secure passwords by generating passphrases by hand. As the name implies, she uses the system known as “diceware” which involves rolling “real” six-sided dice in order to generate random numbers which she then matches to an English word from a list that she keeps in a binder.

    Diceware is a well-known decades-old system for coming up with passwords. It involves rolling a dice as a way to generate random numbers that are matched to a long list of English words.

    “You roll a die 5 times and write down each number. Then you look up the resulting five-digit number in the Diceware dictionary, which contains a numbered list of short words,” as explained on her official site.

    When an order comes in, Modi would roll the physical dice and then look up for the words in her Diceware list, which she even labeled with the words “top secret” on the front page. After finding the word, she writes it down by hand. Once she has completed the string of words (6 words to be exact), she sends the copy to the customer by postal mail. She assures the safety of sending the copy through mail by stating that it cannot be searched without a warrant.

    Those words are then combined into a non-sensical string that exhibits true randomness and is therefore difficult to crack. These passphrases have proven relatively easy for humans to memorise.

    “This whole concept of making your own passwords and being super secure and stuff, I don’t think my friends understand that, but I think it’s cool,” Mira told ‘Ars Technica’.

    “I think [good passwords are] important,” said Modi. “Now we have such good computers, people can hack into anything so much more quickly. We have so much more on our social media. We post a lot more social media – when people hack into that it’s not really sad, but when people [try to] hack into your bank account or your e-mail, it’s really important to have a strong password. We’re all on the Internet now.”

    Mira’s mother, Julia Angwin, a veteran journalist and author of Dragnet Nation, employed her daughter to generate Diceware passphrases as a part of research for her book.

    That is when Mira had the idea to turn it into a small business.

     

  • BAD GUYS ARE GREAT TO HAVE AFFAIR WITH, SAYS RICHA CHADDA

    BAD GUYS ARE GREAT TO HAVE AFFAIR WITH, SAYS RICHA CHADDA

    Bollywood versatile actress Richa Chadda, who will be seen as a flirtatious law student in Main Aur Charles opposite lead actor Randeep Hooda discussed about bad guys vs. good guys.

    When asked does she find bad guys more attractive and good guys boring, the Fukrey actress exclusively told ANI, “Bad guys are great to have affair with but it’s the good guy you want to marry.” The talented Bollywood actress then added that it would be wrong to say that good guys finish last.

    Main Aur Charles is based on the infamous ‘bikini killer’ Charles Shobhraj, who is currently serving his life imprisonment in Kathmandu Jail, Nepal.

    The movie is directed by Prawaal Raman and is all set to enthrall audience on October 30.

  • DEEPIKA, RANVEER WRAP UP BAJIRAO MASTANI

    DEEPIKA, RANVEER WRAP UP BAJIRAO MASTANI

    The upcoming epic flick Bajirao Mastani is all set to hit the theaters as the real-life couple Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh is done with the shooting.

    The Piku actress took to Twitter, sharing “And it’s a wrap on my most incredible film experience…!#MASTANI #BajiraoMastani
    #18thDecember”, along with her still shots from the movie.

    Interestingly, there were news surfacing over the internet that Ranveer continued shooting for the film despite falling extremely sick in Wai, Maharashtra. Bajirao Mastani is set to be released on 18 December.
    BAJIRAO MASTANI : The tale of romance between an Indian General, Peshwa Baji Rao I & his second wife, Mastani.

    Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
    Writers: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (story), Prakash Kapadia (screenplay)
    Stars: Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh

  • GWYNETH PALTROW GETS STYLE ICON AWARD

    GWYNETH PALTROW GETS STYLE ICON AWARD

    Actress Gwyneth Paltrow was honoured with the Style Icon award at this year’s InStyle Awards by her friend and actress Kate Hudson.

    Welcoming Paltrow on stage, Hudson said: “From the first moment I laid eyes on this woman it was love at first sight.”

    Paltrow replied: “I don’t have a little sister by birth, but if I had one, she’s the incarnation of my beautiful, carefree, spirited little sister who brings music and spontaneity, and an incredible unselfconsciousness and all of this fire into my life.”

    The Mortdecai actress was seen in a floor-length low cut black dress, which was embellisehed with jewels, at the event which was held on Monday, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

    At the party, Kim Kardashian flaunted her blooming baby bump in a flowing white caped dress whilst singer Selena Gomez wowed in a short monochrome party dress.

    Other winners included Zoe Kravitz, who was named Breakthrough Style Star of the Year, and Ansel Elgort, who received the award for Man of Style of the Year.

  • SHAANDAAR – Movie Review & Story (or the lack of it)

    SHAANDAAR – Movie Review & Story (or the lack of it)

    STORY: A Punjabi girl and a Sindhi groom are to have a destination wedding in Britain. Simultaneously, the bride’s sister also gets romantically entangled with the wedding planner.

    REVIEW: Shaandaar has a fun plot. However in his attempt to spoof destination weddings of the bankrupt and the famous, Vikas Bahl, (who also directed that gem, Queen) forgot to take a script along.

    You can defend the director’s indulgence or even forgive him for borrowing Tarantino’s Kill-Bill, part-animation, part-live narrative style to tell you the tale of an orphan girl who is given shelter by an affluent businessman, Bipin (Pankaj Kapur). The tycoon’s harridan mum (Sushma Seth) and ambitious wife (Nikki Aneja) do not take a shine to the child. Even worse, the bechari anath is an insomniac. The story-telling attempt is wearisome. Years later, Bipin’s belligerent mother decides to get his daughter, Isha (Sanah Kapur) married into a rich Sindhi family called Fundwanis (howlarious!). This ‘deal’ has to go through or they will remain cash-strapped for life. Everyone is scared shit of ‘mummyji” so they abide by what she says.

    The ridiculous plot, allows one real romance to also blossom. This one is between Alia (Alia), who we later discover is Bipin’s illegitimate daughter (damn, one should have known) and the wedding planner, Jagjinder Joginder, JJ (Shahid).

    A happy coincidence—like Alia, JJ also suffers from a sleep disorder. So the two of them take midnight swims, befriend a frog, go horse-riding, and befriend bugs or even better, they dance to an array of songs— like the catchy ‘Gulabo’ or the all-time favourite 50s ditty, ‘Eena meena deeka.’

    If you think this review is incoherent, feel free to blame it on the film. Apart from some LOL jokes when the characters resort to abbreviations like PP (pairi pauna) or FTB (father-of-the-bride), this film serves up trite. Shahid, Pankaj and Sanah (the Kapur khandaan) went along for an all-expenses-paid vacation. And Alia, who saw Queen before she boarded the flight, was none the wiser.

    Seriously, how was anyone to guess that this is a cruel joke played by Bahl on his investors and perhaps on an unsuspecting audience.

  • GOPIO’s New York Meeting Seeks Protection of NRIs’ Properties in India

    GOPIO’s New York Meeting Seeks Protection of NRIs’ Properties in India

    NEW YORK (TIP): The Global organization of People of Indian Origin – New York chapter organized a community meeting where many issues of NRIs buying, selling and owning properties in India were discussed. It was jointly organized by the Indian American Kerala Center at its auditorium in Elmont, New York.

    The speakers included  New York Attorney Anand Ahuja who is also the President of GOPIO-New York and Mr. Pambayan Meyyan, Senior Vice President of Forest Hills Financial Group. The meeting was chaired by GOPIO Founder President Dr. Thomas Abraham.

    Several issues were brought out at this meeting especially buying, selling and owning real estate properties by NRIs/PIOs in India. It was pointed out that there have been growing number of scams against NRIs/PIOs hereditary, residential and commercial properties and due to these reasons, NRIs/PIOs are being greatly discouraged to invest in India

    “NRIs/PIOs are at a great disadvantage to contest property issues in courts in India due to the length of the time (10-20 years) it takes, and/or due to the fact that in both civil and criminal cases NRIs/PIOs need to be present on many occasions before the court,” said Dr. Abraham. The meeting requested GOPIO to take up this issue with Govt. of India to have Fast Tack Courts.

    The meeting also called upon the Government of India to enact another legislation to provide Title Insurance to ensure that their ownership in real estate is protected against forged signatures on the deed and for any such fraudulent transfer of their properties.

    It was also pointed out that NRIs and PIOs are subjected to higher TDS (tax deducted at source) than resident Indians for capital gains and while selling properties. GOPIIO meeting passed a resolution covering all these issues and plans to present it at the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held in Los Angeles on November 15th.

    GOPIO-NEW YORK – KERALA CENTER SEMINAR RESOLUTION

    Investments in Properties & Disputes 

    • WHEREAS many NRIs/PIOs are keeping their emotional ties alive to their motherland by maintaining their hereditary property; and
    • WHEREAS NRIs/PIOs are committed to contribute financially and otherwise to the growth and progress of India; and,
    • WHEREAS many NRIs/PIOs have substantially invested and/ or are in the process of investing in residential and commercial real estates; and,
    • WHEREAS there has been a growing number of scams against NRIs/PIOs hereditary, Residential and Commercial properties; and,
    • WHEREAS due to growing property scam NRIs/PIOs are being greatly discouraged to invest in India; and,
    • WHEREAS one of the main reasons for these growing scams against NRIs/PIOs is that the NRIs/PIOs are at a great disadvantage to contest property issues in courts in India -due to the length of the time (15-20 years) it takes, and/or due to the fact that in both civil and criminal cases NRIs/PIOs need to be present on many occasions before the court, and
    • WHEREAS despite several attempts to bring this problem to the attention of the Central Government Agencies and Ministers no corrective measures have been taken so far.
    • THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that GOPIO urges the Government of India to enact legislation to designate Fast Track Courts for NRIs/PIOs for the speedy settlement of their property issues in India, and enact another legislation to provide Title Insurance to ensure that their ownership in real estate is protected against forged signatures on the deed and for any such fraudulent transfer of their properties.
  • Senator Chuck Schumer Endorses Rita Kestenbaum for Town of Hempstead Supervisor

    Senator Chuck Schumer Endorses Rita Kestenbaum for Town of Hempstead Supervisor

    NEW YORK (TIP): “I am proud to endorse former Councilwoman Rita Kestenbaum for Town of Hempstead Supervisor,” said Senator Schumer. “Rita has been a community activist and civic leader for many years and will be an independent voice who will fight to deliver a more affordable and transparent government.”

    “Rita and I have been friends for many years, but came together in most recent years to fight for common-sense gun reform after the tragic death of her own daughter to a senseless act of gun violence. Rita Kestenbaum doesn’t just have the experience and know how to lead the Town of Hempstead, she has the heart to lead it, too,” Senator Schumer said.

    “I am humbled by Senator Schumer’s confidence in me to serve the great people of Hempstead as their Supervisor. The Town of Hempstead has been fortunate to have such a great friend in Senator Charles Schumer,” said Rita Kestenbaum.

    “Because of his great advocacy, so many of the Town’s residents were able to get what they needed to rebuild after superstorm Sandy. There is no greater advocate for Hempstead residents than Senator Schumer and I can’t wait to work together with him as Supervisor to ensure that we are making our Town safer and more affordable for all.”

    Rita Kestenbaum is a mom and grandmother and has been married for thirty five years, living in Bellmore for the past thirty years. She is a community volunteer and has been president of the Bellmore PTA and her temple, vice president of the Long Island Crisis Center and was a member of the Hempstead Town Board.

  • ROCK THE KASBAH

    ROCK THE KASBAH

    STORY: Richie Lanz (Murray) is a down-on-his-luck manager of musicians. While claiming to have once had a glowing roster of stars, the best he can now do is to book his sole act, Ronnie (Deschanel) to sing in dive bars. His life changes one day, when he ends up in Afghanistan, discovers a talented Pashtun singer named Salima (Lubany), and has her participate in reality show Afghan Star.

    REVIEW: Richie runs his artiste management business from a makeshift office in a Van Nuys motel. A hustler at heart and in desperate need of cash, he’ll manage even the worst possible singers who are tone deaf, in a desperate bid to cover his costs. Ronnie helps him out as his secretary in the hope that he’ll steer her in the right direction, career-wise. So when a promoter asks him to get Ronnie to tour Afghanistan, Lanz’s sold on the idea.

    Cut to Afghanistan and a disastrous turn of events leaves him lost, in every sense. But deliverance arrives in the form of Salima, and Lanz gets a shot at reviving his self-esteem by managing her in the face of all odds, like for example, her father’s bitter opposition to her being a singer.

    The issue with this movie is that it tries to be too many things. Murray has his comedic turns. He works best in concise, well-paced doses but an entire film’s worth of Bill Murray gets a bit too much.

    A commentary on female emancipation is also attempted, but looks insincere. Then there’s a side-story about Afghan tribal politics that only distracts from the main story. Except for Lanz’s driver friend Riza (Moayed), the other Afghans come across as perpetually-angry, fanatical caricatures. Hudson’s campy prostitute character seems completely unnecessary; it adds nothing to the film.

    Furthermore, the idea that a reality TV show can unite a war-torn country and make the Afghans forget their concerns, comes across as farcical. While the film’s basic premise is unusual and in parts interesting, it loses steam in the second half, with a fairly bland conclusion.

  • SOFIA VERGARA DENIES BEING BILL COSBY’S SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM

    SOFIA VERGARA DENIES BEING BILL COSBY’S SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM

    Actress Sofia Vergara has denied the claims made by a Spanish-language radio show of her being one of the victims of sexual assault by comedian Bill Cosby.

    The 43-year-old Modern Family took to Twitter to ask the show to respect her privacy, reported Aceshowbiz.

    The radio show made the claim after a video of Cosby interviewing Vergara on The Late Show back in 2013 was circulated online.

    “A video of an interview of Bill Cosby and a young Sofia Vergara came out. It’s rumoured if she could be one of his victims,” the radio show tweeted in Spanish.

    In reply to the tweet, Vergara wrote, “Respect people. Stop inventing nonsense.”

    Till now there have been more than 50 women, who have accused 78-year-old Cosby of sexual assault.

  • China ends one-child policy, allows couples 2 kids

    China ends one-child policy, allows couples 2 kids

    BEIJING (TIP): China announced the end of its hugely controversial one-child policy on Oct 29, with the official Xinhua news agency saying that all couples would be allowed two children.

    It cited a communique issued by the ruling Communist Party after a four-day meeting in Beijing to chart the course of the world’s second-largest economy over the next five years.

    China is “abandoning its decades-long one-child policy”, Xinhua reported.

    The policy restricted most couples to only a single offspring, and for years authorities argued that it was a key contributor to China’s economic boom.

    But after years of strict, sometimes brutal enforcement by a dedicated government commission, China’s population – the world’s largest – is now ageing rapidly, gender imbalances are severe, and its workforce is shrinking.

    The concerns led to limited reforms in 2013, including allowing a second child for some couples in urban areas, but relatively few have taken up the opportunity.

    The Communist leadership met in Beijing to discuss ways to put the country’s stuttering economy back on a smooth growth path as it struggles with structural inefficiencies and social policies left over from an era before it embraced market reforms.

    Known as the fifth plenum, the conclave discussed the next Five-Year Plan for China – the 13th since the People’s Republic was founded in 1949.

    Over four days of meetings the 205 members of the Central Committee, plus around 170 alternates, examined the specifics of the plan, which was largely worked out through a process of national consultations before the leaders even set foot in the capital.

    The country’s rubber-stamp legislature will officially approve the resulting document next year.

    The world’s most populous country has enjoyed a decades-long boom since the ruling party embraced market economics and opened up to the rest of the world from the late 1970s.

    The process has transformed the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people and propelled the country to global prominence.

    But growth has been slowing for several years, and analysts say the party needs to embrace further liberalisation to avoid falling into the stagnation of the “middle income trap”, when developing countries fail to fulfil their full potential.

    The meeting reiterated the Communist Party’s goal to double 2010 GDP by 2020, as part of its aim to achieve a “moderately prosperous society” by the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party’s founding.

  • UK may deport Indians languishing in British jails

    UK may deport Indians languishing in British jails

    LONDON (TIP): With Indian PM Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to UK slated this November, Britain has said it will negotiate with New Delhi “on every opportunity” to pack off Indian prisoners serving time in their jails.

    PM David Cameron’s Indian diaspora champion Priti Patel told TOI that UK and India share a voluntary prisoner transfer agreement. “We have foreign criminals housed in jails for breaking our laws. They however should not be housed in our prisons at the expense of the British taxpayer.” This should worry New Delhi as prisons in India are already packed to the seam. Almost one in every five Asian prisoners held in jails across England and Wales are Indians.

    Latest data shows Indians (407) make up the second highest number of prisoners among Asians, after those of Pakistani (509) origin.

    British jails at present harbour 11,127 prisoners of foreign nationality of which 2233 are Asians. UK recently has decided to pack off 300 Jamaican prisoners serving time in its jails back to Jamaica to serve their sentences. Britain says deporting them would also mean unclogging British prisons which the government says is “quite full”.

    Cameron recently said, “It is right that foreign criminals who break our laws are properly punished but this shouldn’t be at the expense of the taxpayer. That’s why this agreement is so important. The agreement provides for the transfer of prisoners who have received sentences of 4 years or more and who have 18 months or more left to serve in custody.”

    The average annual cost of a prison place in the UK is £25,900. Britain’s ministry of justice says in the last 10 years, the number of foreign nationals in prison has doubled and represents over 14% of the total prison population in England and Wales. (Source: TNN)

  • UK rejects new ‘mega mosque’ plans in London

    UK rejects new ‘mega mosque’ plans in London

    LONDON (TIP): The UK government has rejected plans by an Islamic group to build a new 290,000-square-foot “mega mosque” in east London, citing a
    “conflict” with authorities’ local plans for the borough.

    Tablighi Jamaat’s mosque with 190-foot minarets near the Olympic Park would have accommodated up to 9,300 worshippers in two main gender-segregated prayer halls and a further 2,000 in a separate hall.

    The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has dismissed appeals against the refusal of planning permission for the mosque in Newham area of the city.

    A DCLG spokesperson said: “The decision was based on concerns that include local housing provision and conflict with the council’s local plan for the borough.

    “It also took account of the evidence from all parties and is in line with the council’s original determination and advice from the independent planning inspector on the main appeal.”

    The project proposed by Tablighi Jamaat – referred to by a number of names such as Abbey Mills Markaz, London Markaz, Masjid-e-Ilyas or the Riverine Centre – was rejected by the local Newham Council back in December, 2012, with councillors saying the building was too large and would harm their plans for a mixed-use neighbourhood.

    Tablighi Jamaat had appealed, taking the application to a three-week public inquiry last year.

    The inquiry inspector’s report was submitted to the DCLG in January this year and the decision this week concludes a long-drawn battle over the project.

    The group had bought the site in 1996, which was a chemical works until it was decommissioned in the late 1980s.

    A temporary mosque known as the Riverine Centre, with a capacity of 2,500 people, was built on the site soon after.

    The new mosque was to have been its new headquarters with residential facilities, a library, visitor centre and sports centre, besides the mosque.

    The conservative Tablighi Jamaat has been accused of links with Islamic radicalism, which is hotly disputed, with many experts saying it is peaceful and non-political.

  • UK’s population to grow by 10m in 25 years: Study

    UK’s population to grow by 10m in 25 years: Study

    LONDON (TIP): UK is all set to overtake France by 2030 and Germany by 2047 to become Europe’s most populous country if current population trends continue.

    Britain’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed on Thursday that UK’s population will increase by almost 10 million over the next 25 years. The ONS has also predicted that more than one in 12 people will be aged 80 or over by 2039 in UK.

    The number of people living in UK will increase from 64.6 million in mid-2014 to 74.3 million in 2039.

    Estimates say almost 51% of this increase will be caused by foreigners settling in UK. Over the next 10 years till 2024, the UK population is projected to increase by 4.4 million to 69 million. ONS said, “The population is projected to continue ageing with the average (median) age rising from 40 years in 2014 to 40.9 years in mid-2024 and 42.9 by mid-2039.”

    The latest figures come after ONS recently revealed that 1 in every 3 children in UK was born to foreign mothers in 2014. A decade earlier, only one in six new mothers were born abroad. Birth data showed that India is the third commonest country of birth for non-UK born mothers between 2010 and 2014, after Poland and Pakistan.

    Pakistan interestingly became the most common country of birth for non-UK born fathers between 2008 and 2014, followed by Poland and India.