Shraddha Kapoor, who is currently on an all-time career high, believes her journey from Haseena Parkar to Aapa was literally a switch.
Describing further her journey, the ‘Baaghi’ actress in an exclusive chat with ANI said, “When she decides to do certain things which she hasn’t done before. She always helped people in need and maybe sometimes which is a questionable thing, which is still a theory as it’s not proven yet that she had 88 cases against her where she probably used illegal means and ways to get certain things done be it in real estate or anything else and these are all speculations and nothing has been proven yet. So this journey is of somebody who has been shaped by certain events that happened in her life and it can affect you deeply on an emotional level and it was that for all of us involved in the film.”
In ‘Haseena Parkar’, Shraddha plays the role of dreaded ‘aapa’ (as Haseena Parkar was called), who became an underworld ‘Mafia Queen’ after she was tried and persecuted because she was Dawood Ibrahim’s sister.
Parkar, who had 88 cases registered against her, but was taken to court only once in her life, was rumoured to have single-handedly run her brother’s Rs.1000-crore underworld empire in the city. The film shows Haseena’s journey from a 17-year-old teenager to a 43-year-old.
For this, Shraddha underwent drastically different looks by using prosthetics, body suits and heavy make-up.
Siblings Shraddha and Siddhanth Kapoor will be seen playing reel life siblings Haseena Parkar and Dawood Ibrahim respectively in Apoorva Lakhia’s upcoming gangland drama ‘Haseena Parkar.’
It’s for the first time that we will see Shraddha playing a grey character on screen and the film also features Ankur Bhatia, who will essay Haseena’s husband Ibrahim Parkar in the film.
‘Haseena Parkar’ is all set to hit the theatres on September 22.
Actress Rakhi Sawant says she will expose Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a biopic in which she will star as the disgraced Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief’s adopted daughter Honeypreet Insan, who is believed to be now hiding in Nepal.
“Yes, I’m playing Honeypreet as I have known her for seven to eight years. I know everything about her. I believe she is in London right now.
My brother Rakesh Sawant and I are producing the film,” Rakhi told IANS.
“I’m in Delhi right now. We will be shooting here only. Our set will be exactly like his Sacha Sauda. I promise my audiences that ‘Main baba ki sab pol khol ke hi dum lungi’ (I will be relieved only after exposing him),” she added.
The release date of the biopic is yet to be finalised. Source: IANS
NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR (TIP): The government is ready to talk to all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir without preconditions, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who arrived in Srinagar on September( 21 Thursday), said.
“We have said from the beginning and we have maintained that our doors are open to all the stakeholders in the state, they are welcome to come and have a dialogue with the state government as well as whoever wants to talk to the central government, we are open to a dialogue,” Madhav said when asked if talks would be held with separatists in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The question should be asked to those who do not want to go for dialogue,” he said, in what was seen as a hint at the separatists.
Speaking to reporters, Madhav said, “If they (separatists) wish, they can have a dialogue with the state government and they can have talks with New Delhi as well.”
THANE (TIP): Fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim is still in Pakistan, his brother Iqbal Kaskar has told the interrogators from the Intelligence Bureau and the Thane police’s crime branch, said officials.
Thane police arrested Kaskar two days ago in Mumbai in a case of extortion.
“Along with crime branch officials, Iqbal is also being questioned by the IB officials for the last two days and he has provided some vital information related to Dawood and his whereabouts,” said a senior official of Thane police. Kaskar, according to the official, confirmed that his brother, wanted in several cases, including the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, is in Pakistan.
Dawood is of late wary of calling his relatives or his men in India on phone for fear of tapping, he said.
Kaskar also told the interrogators that he has spoken with his other brother, Anees Ibrahim, who lives with Dawood, only four or five times in the recent past.
The information given by Kaskar will help in the investigation of several cases registered against the members of Dawood gang in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane, the official said.
According to the police, Dawood’s drug business has spread to Africa and even South America, while Kaskar looks after his ‘real estate business’ in Mumbai area.
The crime branch has also sent a team to Bihar to probe the present case, as the shooters hired to scare the complainant had been hired from there, the officer said.
Two more persons have come forward to complain about the extortion racket run by the Dawood gang in Mumbai- Thane area since Iqbal’s arrest, and the police are expecting at least a dozen more complaints.
The police are likely to give protection to the complainants, the official said.
Kaskar and his associates had allegedly been threatening a prominent builder in Thane in Dawood’s name since 2013 and had extorted Rs 30 lakh and four flats from him.
“The Rohingya are not refugees… No Rohingya has got asylum in India, nor has anyone applied for it. They are illegal immigrants.” — Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister
NHRC: taken up on humanitarian grounds
New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday said it had taken up the issue of the Rohingya on humanitarian grounds, but refused to comment on the government’s assertion that the “illegal immigrants” would be deported. “We are taking up the case of Rohingya on humanitarian grounds,” NHRC chairman retired Justice HL Dattu said.
Source: PTI
NEW DELHI (TIP): The Centre yet again sent out a clear signal that it will not buy the human rights angle with regard to the Rohingya who have settled in India illegally, and is determined to deport them.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said India was not a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees and hence would be in no breach of any international protocol in deporting them through legal means.
Addressing a seminar on “Good Governance, Development and Human Rights”, organised by the National Human Rights Commission, Singh said those concerned with human rights of others should also be concerned with the rights of Indians.
Referring to the clamour against the deportation, he said: “Do not commit the mistake of categorising the Rohingya as refugees.” They also do not have political asylum in India. “There is a certain procedure to be completed to attain the status of a refugee. The government has not received any application from any quarters to this effect,” Singh added.
The issue is also related to the country’s security on which this government cannot compromise.
The government has submitted its affidavit to the court. In this context, he said, Bangladesh was facing trouble on account of influx of the Rohingya. He said the government had extended help to Bangladesh to tide over the crisis on humanitarian grounds. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, Myanmar has made its intention of taking back the Rohingya clear. He wondered why even then people were building a case against their deportation.
Batting for human rights as a noble concept, he said it should not be misused for vested interest.
Drawing a distinction between the concept of human rights understood in the West and in India, he said while in the country it was conceived out of a sense of duty, in the West it was conceived in the backdrop of bloodshed, violence and struggle. Source: The Tribune
NEW DELHI (TIP): The Modi government may introduce in Parliament the Women’s Reservation Bill, which seeks to reserve one third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies for women.
A senior BJP leader said top echelons of the government and the party have been brainstorming over the Bill, which had polarised the political class whenever various governments introduced it earlier.
Asked if the government will bring the Bill in its original form orincorporate some changes, he said the matter is still being debated.
On being asked if the Bill will be introduced in the Winter Session, the leader, on condition of anonymity, said, “It may be introduced. But a final call has not been taken yet.”
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had on Wednesday written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to introduce the Bill passed in the Lok Sabha by taking advantage of the BJP’s majority in the House.
BJP leaders claimed that Gandhi was doing politics over the matter and said the UPA government did not introduce the Bill in the Lok Sabha as it could not overcome opposition from within its own ranks.
The Bill is unique in the way it has polarised opinions as despite getting public support from all major national parties, including the BJP, Congress and the Left, it has drawn fierce opposition from some regional outfits and MPs from backward classes.
Many OBC MPs cutting across party lines, including the BJP and the Congress, believe that such a law will give advantage to women from upper castes, who are better educated and more resourceful.
Regional satraps like Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav have also opposed it bitterly, demanding reservation for OBCs and minorities within the quota for women and also that the quantum of reservation should be far less than 33.33 per cent. A strong view within the BJP is that if its government succeeds in getting this constitutional amendment bill passed in Parliament, then it can upend conventional political faultlines and boost its prospects ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll.
CHANDIGARH (TIP): The Bharatiya Janta Party on Sept 21 (Thursday) announced Swaran Singh Salaria as its candidate from the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency, which fell vacant after the demise of actor-turned-politician Vinod Khanna in April this year.
The BJP central election committee picked Salaria for the by-election to the parliamentary constituency of Gurdaspur.
Salaria is a businessman from Chauhana village of Bhoa Assembly constituency. Meanwhile four candidates on Thursday filed their nominations for the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency by-poll, to be held on October 11.
An official spokesperson said those who filed nominations include Aam Aadmi Party candidate Suresh Khajuria and his covering candidate Taripata Kumari, besides Rajinder Singh of Hindustan Shakti Saina and Santosh Kumari of Megh Deshm Party. The Congress on Wednesday nominated its Punjab unit president Sunil Jakhar, a loyalist of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, to contest Gurdaspur Lok Sabha by-election scheduled on October 11. Jakhar (63), a threetime MLA from Abohar and a former Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader, was pitted in the intra-party battle against Amarinder’s bête noire and former PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa, whose wife was a claimant for the same ticket.
CHENNAI (TIP): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sept 21 met veteran actor Kamal Haasan and hailed him for coming out against communalism and corruption amid mounting speculation that the latter would take a political plunge.
Kejriwal also said that the 62-year-old multilingual actor should enter politics.
Today’s interaction, where the two men expressed mutual admiration for each other, was the second high-profile meeting Haasan had with a political figure in three weeks. The actor had recently called on Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram.
“It is important at this point when the country is facing strong forces of corruption and communalism, all likeminded people should talk to each other on these issues and work in tandem,” said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief with Haasan by his side.
Emerging from an hour-long meeting at the actor’s office-cum-residence at Alwarpet here, Kejriwal told reporters that Haasan should enter politics and added that the two would continue to meet in future.
Haasan, who has of late been dropping hints on taking the political plunge, showered praises on Kejriwal, saying the Delhi Chief Minister had a national profile of fighting against corruption and communalism. “I also have a similar reputation and it is no wonder we decided to have a dialogue on the existing situation (in the country and Tamil Nadu),” he said.
Stating that he was honoured by Kejriwal’s visit, Haasan said his endeavour was to seek advice from anyone fighting against communalism and corruption.
Kejriwal said he had always been a great fan of Haasan both as an actor and as an individual. “Kamal Haasan ji enjoys a reputation of integrity and courage,” he added.
“There are rare people who have the courage to stick their neck out. And Kamal Haasanji happens to be one of them, who has stuck his neck out and he has decided rather than curse from outside that he should enter politics,” Kejriwal said. Earlier on his arrival, Kejriwal was received at the airport by Haasan’s younger daughter Akshara.
NEW DELHI (TIP): In line with their contract obligations, French major Dassault Aviation has said it was coordinating between French suppliers and Indian companies to manufacture Rafale fighter jets in India.
Rafale International comprising Dassault Aviation, Safran and Thales has met over 100 French Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Paris. Indian and French Defence Ministry officials, too, were at these meetings. The French Aerospace Industries Association is the nodal agency producing systems and sub-systems for Rafale.
French SMEs were being encouraged to set up production activities in India alongside Dassault Aviation, Safran and Thales as part of the Rafale programme to help the company meet its obligations, said a Rafale spokesperson in India. The move comes two days after a US business chamber expressed its concerns over sharing hi-end technology with Indian companies.
“Encouraging French SMEs to come to India is a key condition to participate in the ‘Make in India’ initiative of PM Narendra Modi and will benefit both French and Indian industries,” the spokesperson said.
Rafale is looking towards creating opportunities for establishing a full-fledged aero-defence manufacturing ecosystem in India, said Eric Trappier, Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO and GIFAS chairman.
The GIFAS is a trade body of 382 members ranging from major prime contractors and system suppliers to small specialist companies.
LUCKNOW (TIP): In signs of fresh strains in the Samajwadi Party (SP) ahead of its state and national convention, its patron Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday removed Akhilesh loyalist Ram Gopal Yadav from the post of secretary of the Lohia Trust and appointed his brother Shivpal Yadav in his place.
SP is holding its state convention on September 23 in Lucknow while its national convention is scheduled on October 5 in Agra.
“At a meeting of the trust held here, Ram Gopal was removed from the post of secretary and I was given the responsibility to take forward the ideology of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia,” Shivpal, the warring uncle of Akhilesh, told reporters.
Asked whether he was invited to attend the SP state and national conventions, he said, “I have not received the invitation so far and I am unlikely to attend them.”
On his future course of action after being sidelined in the SP by his nephew, Shivpal said, “Netaji (Mulayam) will hold a press conference on September 25. He will make some announcements.”
He, however, did not elaborate, leaving media persons wondering as to whether the party patriarch will part ways with the SP and announce a front, reports about which were doing the rounds in the political circles.
In a meeting of the trust last month, Mulayam had sacked four Akhilesh loyalists who were its members, but had retained Akhilesh and cousin Ramgopal Yadav.
The Lohia Trust is an affiliate of the Samajwadi Party and Mulayam is its chairperson.
Shivpal, Akhilesh and Ramgopal Yadav, who is also the SP national general secretary, are members of the trust.
Mulayam had terminated the trust membership of Ramgovind Chaudhary, the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Ahmed Hasan, Usha Verma and Alok Shakya at its annual meeting last month.
Deepak Mishra, whom Akhilesh had expelled from the SP, was been made a member.
Mishra is a close Shivpal aide and president of the Samajwadi Chintan Sabha. Shivpal’s other confidants Ramsewak and Ramnaresh from Etawah and Rajesh Yadav from Hardoi too were made new members of the Lohia
NEW DELHI (TIP): The Congress-led Opposition feels it has found an ‘inclusive narrative’ against the government in the looming economic slowdown, after highlighting issues such as ‘lynching’ and ‘intolerance’ in the last two years.
As the government works on providing stimulus to boost the economy, the Opposition camp calculates that highlighting against the economic slowdown and its potential social and economic fallout will cut across divisions — poor, jobless youth, distressed farmers, unhappy middle class, traders, small & medium enterprises and industry — and give it a pan-India plank that has minimum ‘polarising’ risk while it questions the Modi government’s development record.
Over the past few days, senior Congress leaders have reached out to leaders of like-minded Opposition parties, informally discussing ways to convert ‘economic distress’ into a new collective plank along with ‘social distress’, that a 16-party national committee is pursuing in various parts of the country by holding ‘save our composite culture’ stirs.
Congress insiders said, the Opposition will hold a joint meeting to announce an agitation to highlight ‘economic mismanagement’, ‘flawed development model’ and demand solutions. Soon after the RBI data on demonetised currency was out, ET had reported Congress president Sonia Gandhi could call a meeting of Opposition parties to work out a strategy to highlight the government’s ‘betrayal’.
The analysis given to the Congress leadership by in-house experts such as Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and Anand Sharma predicts further trouble for the economy. These parties think after demonetisation, the heralding economic slowdown along with teething problems can pose the biggest challenge to the regime. “The painful fallouts of economic slowdown have turned off those social segments, the youth, middle-class, traders and industry which had intensely rallied behind the BJP during the 2014 polls,” said an AICC functionary.
WASHINGTON (TIP): The U.S. India Business Council welcomed the U.S. Senate’s inclusion of a provision to advance defense cooperation between the U.S. and India in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.
This legislation further institutionalizes the U.S. government’s focus on the U.S.-India security relationship by requiring that the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, develop a strategy for advancing defense cooperation, promote defense job creation, further articulate the benefits of Major Defense Partner status, promote the competitiveness of U.S. defense exports to India, and designate a U.S. government official explicitly tasked with meeting these responsibilities.
“Senators Warner, Sullivan, Cornyn and Cruz deserve praise for maintaining Congress’s focus on this essential defense partnership – a relationship with tremendous commercial and strategic imperatives,” said Khush Choksy, acting president of the U.S.-India Business Council.
“This amendment sends an important message to both the executive branch and the Indian government, reaffirming that as a Major Defense Partner, the U.S. government elevates defense trade and technology cooperation to a level commensurate with the closest of allies and partners,” said Ben Schwartz, senior director for Defense and Aerospace for the U.S.-India Business Council.
“American industry understands and appreciates that this facilitates technology sharing between the two countries.” Marc Allen, president of Boeing International said, “The Boeing Company strongly supports this bipartisan amendment to enhance U.S.-India ties with one of our most important strategic relationships around the world.”
“As the world’s largest democracies, the United States and India share many common values and have many overlapping interests, especially in defense,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK). “I’m pleased to be able to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to continue highlighting the close defense cooperation between the U.S. and India. I am also happy to see that the National Defense Authorization Act, which just passed the Senate, included language demonstrating support for trilateral cooperation between the U.S., India, and Afghanistan. This collaboration will help strengthen the sovereignty and security of Afghanistan, which is both a regional and global interest.”
“India plays a critical role in our long-term national security interests, not just in the region, but around the globe. Our measure helps define the goals of that strategic partnership and the benefits of deepening U.S.-India defense cooperation,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA). “I’m pleased it was included in the defense authorization bill that passed the Senate. I look forward to our language being included in the final defense authorization bill and being signed into law so that the administration has clear guidance in how to continue to foster this important relationship.”
WASHINGTON (TIP): US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) hosted a dinner reception for a delegation of youth political leaders from India this week. The upcoming young politicians are here to learn US best practices in political and civic engagements, building political cadres and the role of media in governance. During their visit, the delegation will meet US lawmakers and discuss strategies for developing political organizations, through leadership training, organizing infrastructures, and campaigning methods, examine the role of the media, traditional and social, in political campaigning and governance and discuss challenges and impact of engaging youth in political and civic activism.
Invitees to the reception included Indian youth political leaders; Rizwan Arshad, Member of Legislative Council, Government of Karnataka, Raghav Chadha, National Spokesperson, Aam Aadmi Party, Raunaq Jain, Head, Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament Fellowship, Vinay Bidre, National General Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Abhishek Matoria, Member, Legislative Assembly, Rajasthan, Bhushan Penchalwar, National General Secretary, National Students Union of India, Lakshmanan Ramamurthy, Member, Rajya Sabha, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Party, Tanvir Sadiq, Political Secretary and Advisor to Former Chief Minister and Working President of National Conference, Omar Abdullah, Sachin Madhavrao Sawant, General Secretary and Chief Spokesperson, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, Nikhil Vyas, General Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Mumbai, along with some distinguished Indian Americans of the region.
During the reception, USINPAC provided an historic overview of its role in the growth of U.S-India bilateral relations, the strengths and aspirations of the Indian American community and ways to foster investment and engagement with its counterparts in India. The visitors had many questions regarding the American experience in building youth cadres, job creation with skill development and renewable energy initiatives etc. Sachin Sawant and Dr. Lakshmanan spoke about the agrarian crisis involving rising farmer suicides in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Tanvir Sadiq had questions relating to renewable energy, namely hydro-electric power generation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mr. Sanjay Puri, the host of the reception remarked, “India and Indian Americans should move from the myopic focus on H1B programs, instead tackle the larger forces of globalization and automation that are rapidly changing the global economic climate. We have to look to the future. USINPAC will continue to support and foster exchanges that will maximize benefits for both the US and India.”
SAN DIEGO, CA (TIP): UC San Diego celebrated the dedication of a new building for the divisions of Biological and Physical Sciences on Sept. 12 with a special announcement. The cutting-edge science building will bear the name Tata Hall for the Sciences, or Tata Hall, in recognition of a $70 million gift from the Tata Trusts, which was committed last year to create the binational Tata Institute for Genetics and Society.
The Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, established as a collaborative partnership between the university and research operations in India, will occupy the fifth floor of Tata Hall. The institute’s mission is the advancement of global science and technology through socially conscious means to develop solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, from public health to agriculture.
“It is my privilege to dedicate this building in recognition of the Tata Trusts’ leadership and collaboration with UC San Diego, and the Tata family’s pioneering philanthropy and singular impact to bring about societal change,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “Tata Hall exemplifies UC San Diego’s tradition of non-tradition, inspiring cross-disciplinary collaboration among researchers and the next generation of innovators. This building will embody the spirit of the many shared values of UC San Diego and the Tata Trusts to benefit our global society.”
Trustees of the Tata Trusts were on hand at the dedication of Tata Hall and participated in the ceremonial signing of a beam that will be incorporated into the construction. The building is slated for completion in 2018.
“I am very proud of being associated with this great institution,” said Tata Trusts Chairman Ratan N. Tata, who recounted his thoughts from when he first visited UC San Diego. “I realized that here in San Diego, I had seen a gold mine of intellectual capacity and enthusiasm. I kept feeling that there is something happening at UC San Diego that would make a difference in the years ahead. What we are doing is a big thing for mankind in our part of the world … and I look forward to this involvement as just a first part of what we can do together.”
Further underscoring the growing impact and scope of the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, UC San Diego also announced the four inaugural chair holders of the Tata Chancellor’s Endowed Professorships. These chairs are the first in a series of 10 endowed faculty chairs that were established by UC San Diego to attract and retain top scientists and faculty focused on research that aligns with the institute’s goals.
NEW YORK CITY, NY (TIP): Fifty-Two Indian Americans have adopted their native villages to turn them into smart villages. The venture was the result of a 15,452-km road journey taken by Jagat Shah, an Ahmedabad-based trade and business consultant, from June to September this year. The aim was to connect entrepreneurs of the two countries with each other in a bid to encourage investments and create jobs.
Shah traveled across 35 cities in 24 states of the U.S. in 78 days as part of his multi-nation mission called Mentor on Road (MoR). The marathon, which had the theme Great America–New India, started on June 4 and ended on Sept. 17.
“Even former Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, who interacted with us at one of our events in the U.S., has adopted his native village,” Shah was quoted as saying at the concluding ceremony of his journey held at New York on Sept. 19.
“When the foundations of the way and ease of doing business started changing since 2014, it was the call from the nation that change and awareness at grass-root level is a must. With the new vision of “Digital India”, “Stand Up India – Start Up India”, “Skill India”, “Smart Cities” and “Swacch Bharat (Clean India)”, I decided to go to the grassroots of India to realize this audacious dream gifted to us by Hon. Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi. I have completed the India tour of 35 cities in 25 states driving 9500 KMs and met 10,000+ companies to understand their challenges & offer solutions on a global scale”, he wrote on Mentor on Road website.
The initiative was undertaken with the sponsorship of the US Commercial Service (USCS); Startup India, a mission of the Indian Ministry of Commerce; the US-India Importers’ Council; and Etihad Airways.
During the journey, Shah interacted with nearly 4,400 small and medium entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs and startups in the United States to make them aware of business opportunities and ease of doing business with India in different sectors.
His presentation included the following topics:
Firsthand information on Indian market dynamics
Best prospect sectors in India for a U.S. exporter
Impact of Demonetization and Goods and Service tax (GST) on the U.S. exporters
Jagat Shah studied MBA (International trade) graduating from Delhi University & is a certified cluster development practitioner, trained & certified by United Nations – UNIDO at Turin, Italy. He has additionally graduated in Diamond technology from Indian Diamond Institute (IDI), Surat. He is a certified management consultant (CMC) from ICMCI, USA.
NEWARK, NJ (TIP): A New York man of Indian origin was sentenced on Sept 19 to 24 months in prison for his role in one of the largest credit card fraud schemes ever charged by the Justice Department, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.
Raghbir Singh, 61, of Hicksville, New York, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Judge Arleo imposed the sentence in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Singh was originally charged in February 2013 as part of a conspiracy to fabricate more than 7,000 false identities to obtain tens of thousands of credit cards. Members of the conspiracy doctored credit reports to pump up the spending and borrowing power associated with the cards. They then borrowed or spent as much as they could, based on the phony credit history, but did not repay the debts – causing more than $200 million in confirmed losses to businesses and financial institutions.
The scheme involved a three-step process in which the defendants would make up a false identity by creating fraudulent identification documents and a fraudulent credit profile with the major credit bureaus; pump up the credit of the false identity by providing false information about that identity’s creditworthiness to those credit bureaus; finally, run up large loans.
The scope of the criminal fraud enterprise required the defendants and their conspirators to construct an elaborate network of false identities. Across the country, the conspirators maintained more than 1,800 “drop addresses,” including houses, apartments and post office boxes, which they used as the mailing addresses of the false identities.
Singh admitted he helped obtain credit cards in the name of third parties – many of which were fictional – then directed the credit cards to be mailed to addresses controlled by members of the conspiracy. He also admitted he knew the cards would be used fraudulently at businesses.
In addition to the prison terms, Judge Arleo sentenced Singh to three years of supervised release and fined him $1,000.
(Source: DOJ- U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey)
STANFORD (TIP): Stanford anesthesiologist Vanila Singh has been named Chief Medical Officer for the office of the Assistant Secretary of Health at the Department of Health and Human Services. Health Secretary Tom Price, who appointed Singh, congratulated the Stanford anesthesiologist on her new role via twitter Aug. 25. Vanila Singh will serve as the primary medical advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health on the development and implementation of HHS-wide public health policy recommendations. Dr. Singh’s portfolio includes issues related to pain medicine, including opioid use and misuse; medical ethics; and public health. “I feel very honored to go into public service, and feel very fortunate that the president and Secretary Price have chosen such important priorities,” said Dr. Singh.
Singh graduated from the University of California, Berkeley where she double-majored in economics and molecular and cell biology and completed her M.D. in medicine from the George Washington University Medical Center. Dr. Singh has served as a clinical assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center and as a clinical associate professor at Stanford University Medical School for anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine. Dr. Singh received a master’s degree in academic medicine through the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine in 2016.
Dr. Singh has been active in national medical organizations, serving as the Vice Chair of the National Physicians Council on Health Policy; an editorial board member of the Pain Physician Journal for the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians; and a member of the California Medical Association’s (CMA) House of Delegates. In 2014 with various Republican endorsements, Singh contested against incumbent Democrat Mike Honda as the US Representative in California’s 17th District (Silicon Valley) in 2014.
KANSAS (TIP): Indian American Entrepreneur Anita Malik, a Democrat, announced her candidacy to run against Congressman David Schweikert in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District.
The daughter of immigrants from India, Anita was born in Kansas City, Missouri. When she was 7, her family moved to Arizona. Her father, a mechanical and computer engineer, instilled in her the importance of leading with empathy and listening; her mother, a stay-at-home mom with a passion for the arts, taught her to appreciate the journey. She attended Scottsdale schools, graduating from Chaparral High School in 1994.
Anita went on to graduate summa cum laude with degrees in both computer information systems and finance from Arizona State University. She later earned her master’s in journalism from the University of Southern California in 2002.
Anita started her career in the early days of Arizona tech, working for MicroAge as a business analyst. She went on to work at the The Arizona Republic, and was Deputy Director of ASU’s Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. More recently, Anita was COO of marketing tech startup, ClearVoice. Over the years, she developed a unique blend of content and technology experience that put her at the forefront of digital media.
Anita’s entrepreneurial projects have often struck a chord nationally. In 2004, she founded East West Magazine, a national publication celebrating the pan Asian-American life. She was featured on FOLIO’s “40 Under 40” list for her ability to eloquently promote and support a multicultural America. Anita was also a regular guest on NPR’s “Tell Me More.”
Her more recent projects include BrideRush, an online booking tool for event planning; ListenforHer, resources to help women at work; and process consulting for local startups and government agencies.
Anita’s motivations in business changed when she lost her father to cancer in 2003. No success in business matters, he reminded her, if you don’t have your health. Since then, Anita’s energy has been focused on creating healthy, compassionate and balanced workplaces. She hopes to continue this mission with legislation to support affordable childcare options, wellness programs and equal pay.
CHICAGO, IL(TIP): Suzy’s Place hosted, September 8, its formal Inauguration of its service facility at 6425 N Rockwell Street, Chicago, IL, located in the diverse Rogers Park neighborhood.
The event was attended by esteemed government officials – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Secretary of State Jesse White, and Alderman Carrie Austin. Also in attendance were our partners- Kate Lawler from Swedish Covenant Hospital, Lillian Cartwright from The Chicago Battered Network, Syed Nizami from US Bank and Eugene Williams from (NOBEL) – National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
Co-Founders Arshia Hasnain and Shahida Khan welcomed a room full of over 150 attendees and explained to them the importance of working together to help make a positive impact in the lives of women and children who are subjected to domestic violence. Together we can make our Chicago community safer and productive.
Suzy’s Place is a 501c3 nonprofit organization registered in the state of Illinois.
Suzy’s Place provides emergency and transitional housing, emotional support, and a diversified continuum of services focused on safety, empowerment, and self-sufficiency. Through community partnerships, Suzy’s Place raises awareness, provides services, and educates community about domestic violence issues. Now with our service facility almost complete we will be providing weekly classes to not only empower the women in our shelter but to all the women in the neighborhood. The classes we offer will help to strengthen the body, mind and soul. Our yoga, art, dance, music and self-esteem therapy classes will benefit every woman.
Suzy’s Place is a startup and needs all your support. We know how hard it is to run a shelter and we have accepted the challenge. But we really need your help. Please donate generously by going to our website at www.suzysplace.org and press the donate button. You can also visit us on Facebook and follow our activities on social media at https://www.facebook.com/Suzys-Place-232412787223842/ Your donations will help to empower these survivors of Domestic Violence.
CHICAGO, IL (TIP): Dr. Vemuri S. Murthy, a Chicago-based Anesthesiologist and resuscitation expert has become the 169th President of the prestigious Cook County Medical Organization, The Chicago Medical Society (CMS) in a well-attended inauguration ceremony @ Maggiano’s Banquets in Chicago on September 12, 2017. He is an alumnus of Guntur Medical College and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (New Delhi) in India and Rush Medical Center in Chicago.
The Chicago Medical Society is one of the largest county medical societies in the nation, representing approximately 17,000 physicians offering their services to about 5 million people.
Dr. Murthy has served the organization in different capacities since 1983. He is the Founder of the CMS Community CPR project SMILE (Saving More Illinois Lives through Education) in raising awareness of sudden cardiac arrests with CPR education throughout the greater Chicago communities for several years. SMILE is the first community CPR project offered to the public by a Medical Society in USA. The training participants included the US Congressmen, Illinois and Chicago legislators and members of the Chicago Consular Corps including Indian Consulate.
A past Chairman of the Anesthesiology department @ West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois and past President of the Indian American Medical Association, Illinois (IAMAIL), Dr. Murthy has been a veteran volunteer of the American Heart Association for many years and is a member of the International Committee. A pioneer of resuscitation education in Indian Medical Colleges, he is an advisor to the training centers and a visiting University Professor. A “Champion of Global Health” and recipient of several national and international awards for his contributions involving resuscitation and public health education, he is leading a national Hands-only community CPR project in India involving the University of Illinois @Chicago, IAMAIL and Share India.
In his inaugural address, Dr. Murthy stressed the need for more active physician participation in organized medicine through the Medical Societies in this age of rapidly changing healthcare arena affecting physician practices and patient care. He also encouraged the younger physicians including medical students and residents to become members of a medical society even before they start their medical practices. He mentioned the advantages of CMS membership such as advocacy, education, informational exchange and networking. Chicago Medical Society has been serving the interests of physicians in Cook County and promoting quality patient care for several decades and as the incoming President, Dr. Vemuri S. Murthy is committed to this mission!
NEW YORK CITY, NY (TIP): Virendra Pandit has published his second book” Return of the Infidel” which was launched in New York on September 18. The gathering included, besides others, Dr. VK Raju who recently launched his book “Musings on Medicine, Myth, and History: India’s Legacy”, Mentor on the Road Jagat Shah, Mrs. Shah, Harinder Singh Panaser, Sunil Hali, publisher of Indian Express, Prof. Indrajit S Saluja, editor-publisher of The Indian Panorama.
A view of the gathering. Mr. Virendra Pandit is seen second from right
About “Return of the Infidel”
The book deals with the question of rise, decline, fall and revivification of nations and civilizations, which are organic entities like us and our institutions. The author has raked up some interesting questions and essayed to answer them.
*How and why Christianity and Islam are retreating across the world?
*How and why did Gandhi push Pakistan out of India?
*Why is Jinnah Father of the Indian subcontinent?
*And, how have Japan, India and China, in that order, revived like phoenix in the last two centuries?
Virendra Pandit presents a copy of the book to Harinder S Panaser
In author’s own words,” What does a business do to survive when it turns stagnant? It retires debt, sheds flab, invites technological up-gradation, undergoes financial reconstruction and tries to regain its market share. Or, what do we do when our vehicle breaks down midway? We call in the serviceman to repair the dysfunctional automobile and help us resume our journey.
“A similar pattern is observable in the rise, decline, fall and revivification of nations and civilizations, which too are organic entities like us and our institutions. They also follow a similar incremental organic evolutionary process through natural selection and mutation to survive, shed excess baggage of the past, and bounce back as the fittest. There is a difference though: while uncompetitive and ageing humans die, their societies mostly survive through regeneration by inducting disruptive catalysts for mutation.
“How and why do nations, and civilizations, rise and fall with such regularity and clock-wise precision? The answer: when societies and nations turn dysfunctional due to stagnation, they allure alien catalysts to revive themselves.
“Return of the Infidel is about how ancient cultures and civilizations like India, China and Japan did so: Christianity and Islam, the contemporary disruptive catalysts, came to revivify these menopausing societies. Since India, due to its proximity to these catalysts from West Asia (and Europe), had to struggle the hardest until 1947, the book explains this saga in greater detail; but the story of China and Japan, and that of many other breaking-out nations in Asia, Africa and South America, is similar and waiting to be told.
“On the other hand, most Christian nations, after the Crusades, shed surplus population, outgrew Christianity, and embraced Renaissance and modernity. Muslim countries, too, are following the same path: Islamic terrorism is their struggle to remain relevant, eliminate surplus male population within and usher in their own Renaissance.
“The ancient countries used Christianity and Islam only as catalysts to revive their contemporary civilizations, and slowly made these overstaying guests retreat during what we call decolonization. Since our heroes, like our gods, are crystallization of our societies’ collective consciousness and aspirations, these Asian nations incrementally conceived leaders like Gandhi, Mao and Tojo who led their countries to push out the erstwhile catalysts-turned-colonizers. Proselytizing and evangelizing faiths like Christianity and Islam viewed these non-Abrahamic people as ‘Infidels’—and they are Returning now! This return to global reckoning began with Japan in 1905, and is ongoing now with China; interestingly, Japan was the force-multiplier to the bigger and real players, India and China!
“This is the biggest power-shift in the organic world of Homo sapiens in the last 2,000 years!”
Dr. VK Raju presents his book “Musings on Medicine, Myth, and History: India’s Legacy” to Mentor on the Road Jagat Shah
About Virendra Pandit
Virendra Pandit is a professional journalist since 1983. He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree and a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Economics from the University of Indore. He has contributed articles on diverse subjects to newspapers, magazines and online publications. Since 2006, he has been working with The Hindu Group of Newspapers as a business journalist.
He is a passionate student of biology and the other sciences, philosophy and psychology, religions and technology, history and culture, linguistics and music, international politics and diplomacy, besides mathematics and cosmogony. His first book, The Biology of History: Ascent of Women, published on Amazon and then by Partridge-Penguin, was welcomed with rave reviews.
He lives in Ahmedabad, India, with his wife, Kalpana.
NEW YORK, NY (TIP): With headlines filled with examples of rage, violence and disaster in every news cycle, New Yorkers took a moment on the International Day of Peace to celebrate some of the people and organizations that make communities safe and livable, and remind citizens that everyone has a stake in keeping neighborhoods, cities and countries peaceful.
Two leading peace organizations, the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), and Outward Bound Peacebuilding (OBP) brought together eight civic organizations in a colorful ribbon display that brought to life the Positive Peace framework. The Positive Peace framework includes eight pillars derived by IEP using statistical analysis to identify the factors that contribute to peace. The eight pillars include: a well-functioning government, a sound business environment, the equitable distribution of resources, low levels of corruption, high levels of human capital, the acceptance of the rights of others, the free flow of information, and good relations with neighbors.
“Peace is much more than a lack of violence,” said Michelle Breslauer, Program Director from the Institute for Economics and Peace. “Understanding what contributes to building trust and cohesion is key to peaceful societies. While these eight factors sustain peace, they cannot be viewed independently. It is crucial that we understand how they relate to each other and how the entire system can be strengthened. Today we are bringing this system to life,” she continued.
“Sustaining and investing in peace is a shared responsibility,” said Ana Patel, Executive Director of Outward Bound Peacebuilding. “That’s why we are bringing New Yorkers together today to connect to and learn from these eight pillars of peace. This is a call to action for all New Yorkers to become peacebuilders.”
Eight leading civic organizations were selected to represent each of the pillars:
SOUND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT: Dr. Jasmin Cowen, President, Rotary Club of New York
WELL-FUNCTIONING GOVERNMENT: Jerry Weinstein and Ray Shah, Co-Founders, The Freedom Threat Index
EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES: Matthew Botwin, Board Member, CAMBA
FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION: Daniel Hyslop, Research Director, Institute for Economics and Peace
GOOD RELATIONS WITH NEIGHBORS: Laura Gonzalez-Murphy, Director, New York State Office for New Americans
HIGH LEVELS OF HUMAN CAPITAL: Professor Tom Hill, Director, Initiative for Peacebuilding through Education, Center for Global Affairs, New York University and Elizabeth Bishop, Director of Curriculum and Outcomes, Global Kids
ACCEPTANCE OF THE RIGHT OF OTHERS: Alex Rizio, Supervising Attorney & Co-Coordinator of the Unaccompanied Latin American Minors’ Project, Safe Passage
LOW LEVELS OF CORRUPTION: Zoe Reiter, Representative to the US and Senior Project Leader, Transparency International
The Positive Peace activity builds on a successful collaboration in May 2017 between IEP, OBP, and Rotary International that saw 300 Mexican youth map the eight pillars.
Each year, the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. It was established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution, to provide a globally-shared date to commit to building a culture of peace.
About the Institute for Economics and Peace
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is a global think tank dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress. IEP has offices in New York City, Sydney, Mexico City, and The Hague. It produces the annual Global Peace Index, the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness.
About Outward Bound Peacebuilding
Outward Bound Peacebuilding (OBP) uses the Outward Bound approach of experiential learning in the outdoors to challenge and inspire leaders in divided societies to build peace. OBP works with partners around the world to design programs that embrace traditional Outward Bound values and approaches to learning by doing, with a special emphasis on compassionate leadership, cooperative learning, and creative action. OBP calls this Experiential Peacebuilding. Since 2009, Outward Bound Peacebuilding has challenged and inspired more than 200 peacebuilding leaders from 25 countries throughout the world.
UN Women and corporate leaders join forces to advance gender equality as an enabler and accelerator to address global challenges
NEW YORK (TIP): In a high-level event organized by UN Women in the context of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, Melinda Gates, Co-Chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Jack Ma, Executive Chair of the Alibaba Group and Nirvana Chaudhary, President of the Chaudhary Group and Chair of the Foundation and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women for a strategic conversation on how collective action can scale-up opportunities for women and girls.
The dialogue among a select group of business and foundation leaders focused on the transformative role that companies and foundations can play to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 5 on gender equality. It highlighted new initiatives, such as the Unstereotype Alliance convened by UN Women with major advertisers and communications industry leaders to promote a more realistic and aspirational portrayal of women; the “Making Every Woman and Girl Count” initiative to generate, prioritize and use gender data for evidence-based and targeted policies; and the Global Innovation Coalition for Change aiming to make innovation work for women’s empowerment.
Participants at the event agreed that gender equality is a force to enable and accelerate achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and that empowering women is central to addressing the 21st century’s global challenges such as poverty, inequality, and violence. Yet, deep financing gaps for women and girls pose significant barriers and deter progress.
“We are very clear that the private and philanthropic sectors are essential partners for our work as we move forward with implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Their support is fundamental to UN Women endeavors, including building the Women’s Empowerment Principles, calling for and leading the investment in gender data analysis, eliminating gender stereotypes in advertising, and boosting ways in which innovation and technology can work better for women and girls,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director. “This is everyone’s business, and I call on both current and potential partners to join this movement to drive the transformative changes needed,” she added.
Financial commitments made at the event will support UN Women’s efforts towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by expanding women’s economic opportunities, promoting innovation, developing effective gender data metrics, addressing regressive norms and stereotypes and improving safety for women and girls globally.
“We have learned from our partners that if we don’t look at the gender piece of our work, we will never achieve our goals and lift people up,” said Melinda Gates. “We have a lot of anecdotal evidence about women in terms of their lives and livelihoods, and now, we are finally doing the research and gathering data to inform policies and programs. Gender matters. If we are serious about achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, we have to invest in gender data. It is at the heart of what we do.”
“The importance of women and girl child equality and livelihood is ever more important in this world. Chaudhary Foundation has 40 plus initiatives addressing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals with focus on women and children at its center-stage. We are excited about embarking in to gender data work in Nepal in partnership with UN Women,” shared Nirvana Chaudhary, Chair of Chaudhary Group Foundation.
Global business and philanthropy leaders pledging support to deliver on gender equality at today’s event included: Melinda Gates, Co-Chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Jack Ma, Executive Chair of the Alibaba Group; Nirvana Chaudhary, Chair President of the Chaudhary Group and Chair of the Foundation; Her Royal Highness Princess Lamia Bint Majed Al Saud, Secretary-General of Alwaleed Philanthropies; Carolyn Tastad, Group President of Procter & Gamble North America; Wang Guangfa, Chairman of the Board and President of Beijing Fazheng Group; Andrea d’Avack, President of Chanel Foundation; Keith Weed, Unilever Chief Marketing and Communications Officer; Deepak Premnarayen, Executive Chairman and founder of ICS Group; José Caetano, People Management Director of Banco Di Brazil; Kofi Appenberg, Chair of the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees; Anka Wittenberg, SAP Diversity & Inclusion Officer; and Elfrun von Koeller, Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group; among others.
The Unstereotype Alliance and the Global Innovation Coalition for Change were represented by companies such as Alibaba, ANA, AT&T, Citi, Facebook, General Electric, Google, IPG, Mars, Microsoft, Publicis, P&G, SAP and Unilever.
Follow the hashtag #Planet5050 and @UN_Women on Twitter for updates. Watch the forum on Facebook Live: https://facebook.com/unwomen/videos/10154845898991905.
UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. For more information, visit www.unwomen.org. UN Women, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, New York. Tel: +1 646 781-4400. Fax: +1 646 781-4496.
US President Donald Trump lived up to his reputation as America’s most volatile and impulsive President ever during his maiden address to the UN General Assembly. Even the most clairvoyant analyst would not have predicted that he would not just threaten to totally destroy North Korea and mock its President but also disparage the efforts of those trying to get Kim Jong-un see reason. Trump has shown his disregard for institutions and their processes right from his inauguration by sacking nearly four dozen ambassadors. The result: India does not have a US envoy while the tiny Sri Lanka has one. Having already sent the normal channels of conducting diplomacy in a tailspin, his single sentence damning North Korea, besides Russia and China, may be the biggest blow to US diplomacy yet.
The offensive tone of President Trump’s speech is unlikely to persuade China and Russia to support more sanctions on North Korea and may even persuade them to lend back-handed support to Pyongyang. None of his allies are also going to be on board for a nuclear weapon-led military action that will impose horrendous casualties in the Korean Peninsula as also on Trump’s fellow citizens and the Japanese if Kim opts for preemptory strikes. If Kim was guilty of dangerous overreach by sending missiles over Japan, Trump has joined him in the dunce’s corner.
By making the ultimate threat of use of nuclear weapons, Trump has also inadvertently strengthened Kim domestically. Trump has gifted the North Korean enough domestic political capital to ride over the hardships of the fresh round of sanctions. And if Trump also tries to go back on the Iran nuclear deal, both China and Russia would have enough reasons to suspect that the neo-Con vision of a unipolar world is once again in play. Instead of continuing to assist the US, they would be more inclined to let Trump stew in the embarrassment of the world’s most powerful nation not being able to carry out a threat broadcast no less from the global high table against the world’s economic and political basket case.
(Tribune India)
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