Our fight to secure and complete the only subway elevator in the Richmond Hill/ Ozone Park community has been won, and it is now working! Thanks to all, including the Daily News, the West Indian, Caribbean Life, Queens Chronicle, Times Ledger, Kaieteur News, NY Guyana Chronicle, The Indian Panorama, Stabroek News, Guyana Times, and other media for publishing our petitions and public appeals to deliver and complete this important asset in our community-an absolute necessity for seniors, the physically challenged, babies, kids and pregnant mothers.
This $29 million project, commenced since 2014, was scheduled to be finished since the end of 2016, but excuses have abounded each time we enquired about the completion date. Anyway, better late than never! The MTA must be reminded that prompt and proper maintenance is a necessary component of public transportation and services.
We also wish to remind the Mayor to deliver on his promises to increase the amount of senior centers, deliver better schools, hospitals, city services and personnel, transparency in how benefits are awarded in our neighborhood, and to stop the over criminalization of New Yorkers-like stop making criminals of poor people who cannot afford the fare to travel to work on the trains-while transforming this city into a beacon that is in solidarity with the poor and working-class. He must also audit and scrutinize the many failing city agencies that routinely waste and abuse our tax dollars, while preserving New York as a “sanctuary city.”
(Albert Baldeo is a civil rights activist and community advocate, and his political battles placed previously ignored minority communities like Richmond Hill and Ozone Park firmly on the political and economic map. As the President of the Baldeo Foundation and Queens Justice Center, he has continued to fight for equal rights, dignity and inclusion in the decision-making process. He can be contacted at the Baldeo Foundation: AlBaldeo@aol.com or (718) 529-2300).
The author, who was India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from April 2013 to December 2015, takes a close look at the issues before the United Nations, and lists the priorities for the World Body in 2018. The three priorities, according to him, are “Completion of process of reforming the UNSC”; “accelerated implementation of the socio-economic goals of Agenda 2030”; and “reforming the Human Rights Council to uphold fundamental human rights and freedoms”.
As the United Nations (UN) approaches its 75th anniversary in 2020, the world it represents has changed beyond recognition. From its original 51 founding members, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) today has 193-member countries. While the three “pillars” of the UN continue to be global governance in the political, socio-economic, and human rights areas, there is growing restiveness among the majority of the UNGA member states for reforming the UN to reflect ground realities.
The UNGA’s new assertiveness in influencing decisions on UN functioning was on display during the November 2017 vote in the UNGA on electing judges to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The unscripted situation, in which India’s candidature enjoyed majority support among the countries in the UNGA, was offset by the power play in the UN Security Council (UNSC), orchestrated by the solidarity of its five permanent members, which prevailed on several other non-permanent members to consistently back the candidate of the United Kingdom. This deadlock was finally resolved through mature diplomacy, with the United Kingdom deciding to concede the election in view of the overwhelming preference of the UNGA. India remained the sole candidate for the fifth ICJ seat, which it duly won, being the only name left on the ballot. This outcome has been greeted in many countries as a harbinger of reforming the UNSC itself by the UNGA.
The issue of “UN reforms”, articulated by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and endorsed by President Donald Trump of the United States at their joint meeting in New York in September 2016, has received prominence. However, these are reforms of the UN Secretariat, and reflect the interests of the main financial contributors to the UN budget. The intention is to get more “value” for money, with a parallel attempt to ensure that the interests of financial contributors are reflected in the key managerial positions of the Secretariat.
Member states of the UN represented in the UNGA, on the other hand, are acutely conscious that the UN faces a larger test of its credibility related to its decision-making process and the priorities it gives to its negotiated agendas. In these areas, the impetus for UN reform has to come from the UNGA, and not the UN Secretariat.
The linkage and inter-dependence between peace and development has been woven into the UN Charter since 1945. The perception that the world needs to “sustain” the peace arrived at after the end of the Second World War by “securing” the peace, created the two main organs of the UN under the UNGA. Realpolitik determined that one organ, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), mandated by the UN Charter with the “primary responsibility” for maintaining international peace and security, operated on non-democratic principles. This was essentially due to the privilege given by Article 27.3 of the UN Charter to the five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America) to veto any decision of the UNSC without giving any reason or accountability. The other organ, the Economic and Social Council or ECOSOC, responsible for global socio-economic development, was imbued by the democratic principle of one-country one-vote, and adherence to the UNGA’s process of taking decisions by majority voting.
Due to this dichotomy, the focus of UN reform in the UNGA has been on the UNSC. The emergence of new challenges and threats to international peace and security in the 21st century has been accompanied by the mushrooming of crises across all the continents of the world. These include Europe (Ukraine and Cyprus), Asia (Syria, North Korea, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan), Africa (South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Mali) and Latin America (Haiti and until recently Colombia). The UNSC has been singularly ineffective in resolving these crises, often looking to the UN peacekeeping operations it mandates to perform the role of preventive diplomacy.
The first priority of the UNGA in 2018, therefore, must be to complete the process of reforming the UNSC. The mandate for this reform was given to the UNGA by world leaders at the 2005 UN Summit thirteen years ago. The Summit had declared that “early reform” of the UNSC was needed to “enhance its effectiveness and the legitimacy and implementation of its decisions.”
How can the UNGA implement this objective in 2018? The UNGA has made incremental progress in implementing its mandate for UNSC reform. It has already agreed on five key areas for UNSC reforms, as well as on inter-governmental negotiations to conclude these reforms. In September 2015, the UNGA unanimously agreed to consider a text submitted by 122 countries (including permanent members France and the UK) containing proposals on each of the five areas, which would be integrated into a UNGA resolution.
Before 14 September 2018, when the 72nd Session of the UNGA ends, a minimum of 129 members of the UNGA must table and adopt a resolution amending the UN Charter to reform the UNSC. This will set the timetable for implementing the reforms holding elections to the new seats of the UNSC in 2019, enabling a reformed UNSC to begin operating by 2020, when the UN marks its 75th anniversary.
The opposition to any such attempt will continue to come from the five permanent members of the UNSC. However, in the UNGA these five countries do not have the veto. A two-thirds majority is needed to adopt such a UNGA resolution. This will set the stage for applying the moral power of the UNGA, based on its broad-based interest in reforming the UNSC, to prevail over the status-quo position of the five permanent members. In this context, introducing a multi-stakeholder campaign, including global thought and business leaders, in favor of a UNGA resolution on reforming the UNSC would accelerate the acceptance of such a resolution by the permanent members. Such an approach paid dividends in the UNGA’s success in September 2015 on agreeing on the ambitious UN socio-economic development objectives contained in Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development. A multi-stakeholder approach is also built into the UN’s implementation of the Tunis Agenda for a digital global society.
A second major priority for UNGA member states in 2018 will be to accelerate implementation of the socio-economic goals of Agenda 2030. The overarching goal of this Agenda is the eradication of poverty by 2030. While individual members of the UNGA have agreed to focus on their national socio-economic programs to achieve the targets of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals at the core of Agenda 2030, the time has come for the UNGA to focus attention on two critical “means of implementation” which have been agreed to by all countries to catalyze this process.
These two areas are financing for development and the application of technologies for development. The way forward has been identified by the Addis Ababa Financing for Development Conference of July 2015, and the UNGA High-Level Review of the Tunis Agenda for a World Information Society in December 2015. At its High-Level Political Forum meeting in July 2018, the ECOSOC and the UNGA will have an opportunity to convene a dedicated forum to assess how global commitments on these two areas are being implemented on the ground in individual member states of the UNGA. This effort must be driven by member states, to ensure that the UN is responsive to their aspirations on the ground.
A third priority for the UNGA in 2018 is in the area of human rights. Already, calls have been made by the United States for reforming the HRC. These calls should be addressed within the UNGA framework. The UNGA has demonstrated its ability to address concerns expressed by some countries at the profile of countries represented in the HRC. For example, in 2015, Pakistan was unable to get re-elected to the HRC, as was Russia in 2016.
Reforming the HRC needs to go beyond the representation of countries, and address the ability of the HRC to uphold fundamental human rights and freedoms, as set out in the UN Charter. The UNGA in 2018 must address the actual work being done in the HRC, especially in its Universal Peer Review or UPR process. This process is critical to ensure adherence to the UN Charter’s human rights standards. The fact that the HRC devotes only three hours to the UPR of each of the 193 members of the UNGA is one such issue, since this limited time applied uniformly to all countries being reviewed does not allow either the country being reviewed or the countries reviewing the scope for a focused interactive discussion. Making such reforms in the HRC will enable it to become the main body under the UNGA for human rights issues. This, in turn, will mean that any concern on human rights issues by UN member states should be raised in the HRC, and not in the UNSC, which has been the practice for more than two decades now, resulting in “perilous interventions” in the words of a distinguished Indian envoy to the UN.
While these three priorities should engage the UN in 2018, the fact that the world is impacted by violent conflict and degrading poverty will ensure that “securing” the peace will have to precede “sustaining” the peace. The experience of multilateral diplomacy over the past seven decades has shown that to sustain peace, the focus has to be on resolving disputes peacefully, as set out in Chapter Six of the UN Charter. Any optimism about the success of the UN to become “fit for purpose” must be based on the convergence of the efforts of the UN Secretary General and the UNGA for preventive diplomacy, giving primacy to the diplomacy of peace over the diplomacy of war.
(Asoke Mukerji is a former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in New York. He can be reached at 1955pram@gmail.com)
BENGALURU (TIP): HungerBox, the Growth Story-promoted B2B food-tech company t announced, January 22, the closing of USD $2.5 million in pre-series A funding led by Lionrock Capital and Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder, Infosys.
Started in 2016, HungerBox is a full stack, food-tech company that is focused on the B2B space and operates 100+ digital cafeterias for more than 75 corporate clients including Qualcomm, Microsoft, FirstSource, Accenture, CapGemini, Genpact, ABB, Amazon and McKinsey, across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi/NCR and Jaipur.
“HungerBox’s business has scaled tremendously over the last 15 months with nearly 7 million orders placed on our platform till date. We are clocking more than 120,000 daily orders and expect to scale this to half a million orders per day by end-2018,” said Sandipan Mitra, CEO & Co-Founder, HungerBox. “The funding we have received from marquee investors will boost our ability to scale our operations to keep pace with the traction we are seeing for our digital cafeteria management solution.”
Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder, Infosys commented, “There is tremendous potential for innovation in the B2B food-tech arena as corporate spends on F&B are already massive and growing year-on-year. HungerBox addresses this large space with an easily scalable model and an end-to-end solution that provides a win-win to employees as well as to corporate clients”.
“The B2B food space has plenty of headroom for growth and innovation for years to come. The winners in the sector will be those with a powerful, tech-led offering and the ability to scale in-step with their clients. HungerBox certainly has all the credentials to be a leader in this space,” said Hari Kumar, Founder & CEO, Lionrock Capital.
Spending on F&B in the B2B space alone is estimated to reach US $ 14 billion in India in 2018. The space is growing at ~ 15% per annum.
HungerBox’s seamless, tech-led solution enables end-to-end digital cafeteria management with the company’s proprietary technology platform connecting food vendors to employees within client organizations through a customized mobile app available to each employee.
Using the app, employees can view the F&B menu provided by all enlisted food vendors at their workplace café’s, place orders and track delivery accurately. They can also provide ratings / feedback. HungerBox’s solution provides admin teams at the client organization with the ability to track the entire F&B operation including food consumption, orders, feedback etc., in real-time. More than 50 different payment methods are integrated into the service offering including in-app purchases by an employee, payment via smart cards, m-wallets, self-serve kiosks at the café’s etc.
HungerBox uses latest technology advancements like IoT in its solution to seamlessly connect the vendor side hardware (designed by HungerBox) and employees of corporate. The HungerBox solution also provides features like ‘Personalized Recommendations’ to employees through its AI-driven technology, ‘Health Mode’ for health conscious employees, ability to undertake group-ordering and orders from restaurants in the vicinity when corporate cafés are closed etc.
HungerBox employs 200 staff across India and was started by Sandipan Mitra and Uttam Kumar, who are both veterans of the food tech space in India whose previous stints included global food takeaway ordering service Just Eat’s India operations. HungerBox is promoted by GrowthStory, the venture-builder platform founded by serial entrepreneurs, K Ganesh and Meena Ganesh.
OTTAWA (TIP): A Sikh man was asked to remove his turban in a club in Canada by a woman, who also threatened to “rip” off the headgear and heckled him with racist remarks, according to a media report.
Jaswinder Singh Dhaliwal was playing pool with friends at the Royal Canadian Legion, a Canadian ex-service organization that includes people who have served in military, when the management approached the group and asked him to remove his patka as it was its policy to remove any headgear out of respect for the veterans, CBC News reported.
However, religious garments are exempted from the legion’s policy banning head coverings. The incident took place on January 17th at Tignish town in Canada’s Prince Edward Island.
A video of the incident shows a woman threatening to “rip” off the head covering in response to being filmed and a patron at the bar making an obscene gesture while saying the garment must be removed because “it is the law”.
Legion president Stephen Gallant later said that he plans to apologize to those involved as religious garments are exempted from their policy, the report said.
Mr Gallant said there was some confusion over whether the headdress was a religious garment, and the membership has met to clarify the branch’s policy regarding head coverings.
LONDON (TIP): UK-based Indian origin steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty House Group is set to make an “unconditional and comprehensive offer” for the assets of two flagship French steel businesses.
The offer, to be made in court next week, is aimed at securing the jobs of close to 1,600 employees at six operations across France, as well as many supplier jobs.
Liberty plans to invest more than USD 366 millions over five years to stabilize and grow the business, including capital investment of USD 122 million to upgrade the sites and expand output.
“The market synergies between Asco Industries and our existing specialty steels business are compelling and we know that, by working together and complementing each other in the market, both businesses will grow and prosper,” Mr Gupta said.
He said the move will lead to Liberty, part of a wider GFG Alliance, implementing its GreenSteel and GreenAluminium strategies in France.
“The pro-business policies of the [French President] Macron government make France an exciting and attractive place for industrial investors such as us and we want to be part of the energetic new environment that is emerging,” he noted.
Under the proposal confirmed on the January 19th, Liberty has committed to protect the jobs of over 1,500 permanent employees and around 60 apprentices and pursue a wide-ranging development plan which complements its existing specialty steels business.
The company will apply its GreenSteel sustainable production strategy to the French operations utilizing recycled metal in the manufacture of technically advanced and engineering products.
“We firmly believe that, working together with the Ascometal and Ascoval teams, we can realize our strategy in France and build a globally-recognized manufacturer of specialty steels,” said Chief Executive of Liberty Steel UK Jon Bolton.
Liberty’s latest announcement follows a recent statement that the company has made a binding offer to acquire the 570-worker Aluminium Dunkerque – Europe’s largest aluminium smelter – from Rio Tinto as part of a 2-billion-euro investment that will create thousands of new jobs at the site and in the wider economy.
In common with the Asco strategy, Liberty’s plans for Aluminium Dunkerque are linked in part to projected growth in the international automotive market.
Liberty Specialty Steels’ offer to acquire the Asco Industries and Ascoval businesses will be formally presented to the court on January 24, with a decision expected soon afterwards.
Liberty Speciality Steels, part of the Liberty House Group, is a member of the GFG Alliance, a London-headquartered international group of businesses founded and owned by the Gupta family, with a revenue of over 10 billion dollars and 12,000 staff.
LONDON (TIP): Nus Ghani, an Indian origin parliamentarian in the UK, today became the first female Muslim minister to speak from the British Parliament dispatch box.
Ms Ghani, born in Birmingham to parents who migrated from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, was cheered by her colleagues as she addressed the House of Commons as a junior minister in the Department for Transport.
“Made my debut as @transportgovuk Minister and made a bit of history as the first female Muslim Minister to speak from the House of Commons dispatch box,” she tweeted soon after her first Commons outing in her new role.
Dispatch box is the designated place where ministers stand and speak from in the Commons.
The 45-year-old was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport by British Prime Minister Theresa May as part of her New Year reshuffle last week.
The Conservative Party MP from Wealden was also given the assistant government whip in the reshuffle to oversee party discipline.
“The roles are both exciting and challenging opportunities… Transport is a subject on which I have campaigned passionately since being elected as the MP for Wealden. Alongside my ministerial duties, I will continue to be a strong voice for Wealden and deliver for my constituents,” Ghani had said in a statement.
The minister in charge of her department, transport secretary Chris Grayling, said Ms Ghani’s promotion proved the Tories “were a party of opportunity”.
“We’re the party to provide…the first Muslim woman minister to speak from the government dispatch box – the member for Wealden. I congratulate her – I’m very proud to sit alongside her,” he said.
Ms Ghani worked for charities such as Age UK and Breakthrough Breast Cancer as well as the BBC World Service before first standing as a Conservative Party candidate in Birmingham in the 2010 general election.
In 2015, she became the first Conservative party Muslim female candidate to be elected to Parliament.
After the June 2017 snap election, she made history after she repeated her oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II in Urdu when she was sworn into Parliament.
“My motivation is simple. My parents are incredibly proud that I have been elected to serve as MP and I wanted to honor my mother by speaking in a language she understands and my mother tongue,” she had said at the time.
Soon after, she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the UK Home Office.
Her rapid rise in Theresa May’s government is seen as part of the British Prime Minister’s declared aim of moving away from an all-white middle-aged male Cabinet.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Noted Indian American lawyer Manisha Singh was sworn in to a key administration position in the State Department on January 20th, becoming the in-charge of the US economic diplomacy.
Ms. Singh, 45, born in Uttar Pradesh, is the first woman appointed as the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs.
She was sworn in by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
She is currently the highest-ranking Indian American official in the State Department.
“My honor and privilege to be sworn in by Secretary Tillerson,” Ms Singh said in a tweet
“We will promote American growth and secure our future!” she said.
Confirmed by the US Senate on November 2, Ms Singh formally joined her duties at the State Department on November 28.
“She comes to the department with a wealth of experience that will benefit our economic and business efforts abroad,” said State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert.
She previously served as chief counsel and senior advisor to US Senator from Alaska Dan Sullivan. He was himself a former assistant secretary in the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs.
Ms Singh, who is fluent in Hindi, also previously served as the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs.
“We’re pleased to have her back again at the State Department as she will now lead our efforts to promote prosperity for Americans at home and abroad,” Ms Nauert said.
Ms Singh’s private sector experience includes practicing law at multinational law firms and working in-house at an investment bank.
She earned an LL.M degree in International Legal Studies from the American University Washington College of Law, a JD. from the University of Florida College of Law and a BA from the University of Miami at the age of 19.
Ms Singh, who also studied at the University of Leiden Law School in the Netherlands, is licensed to practice law in Florida, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.
Hollywood star Penelope Cruz says she felt a “responsibility” playing Italian fashion designer Donatella Versace in the series ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ .
The Academy Awards winner’s comment comes just days after the designer expressed her distaste for the new Ryan Murphy series in an interview with Italian press last week, reports dailymail.co.uk.
During an appearance on a TV show, Cruz said: “You feel much more responsibility (playing a real person).
When Ryan called me… I said ‘I need to make (a) phone call and talk to Donatella about this before taking the job’.”
Cruz, 43, only felt comfortable with the role after speaking to Donatella herself.
“She told me if somebody was going to do it, she was really happy that it was me, because she I think she knows what I feel for her and Gianni.
“They’re the most kind people. It’s important to me that when she sees what I’ve done she can feel the love and respect that I have put there (and) how I feel for her.”
Cruz explained how Donatella returned the love by sending her a bouquet of flowers ahead of the Golden Globe Awards ceremony.
Actress Natalie Portman is reportedly in negotiations to replace Reese Witherspoon as the lead in ‘Pale Blue Dot’, about a successful female astronaut.
Reportedly, the makers will now look to find Portman’s male co-star.
Witherspoon had left the role in last November due to scheduling conflicts with season 2 of ‘Big Little Lies’. However, she will continue to produce the project with Bruna Papandrea.
It will be directed by ‘Fargo’ and ‘Legion’ creator Noah Hawley.
‘Pale Blue Dot’ follows a successful female astronaut who, after coming back home from a mission in space, starts to unravel when confronted by her seemingly perfect American dream life. The film explores the theory that astronauts who spend long periods of time in space begin to lose their sense of reality when they return home.
Anushka Sharma’s first film, post her marriage to Indian cricketer Virat Kohli, “Pari” will release on Holi, March 2.
The film, which is Anushka’s third production under her banner Clean Slate Films, is directed by debutante Prosit Roy.
It also features Parambrata Chatterjee, Rajat Kapoor and Ritabhari Chakraborty. The makers also released a motion poster of the film while not revealing much about the plot.
Anushka has previously produced “NH 10″ and “Phillauri”. Both the films featured her in the lead role. “Pari” also has KriArj Entertainment as one of the producers.
In the first look released on June 13 last year, the actor, who played a friendly ghost in “Phillauri”, gave some serious haunting vibes.
Pari is Anushka’s third film as producer (Clean Slate Films) after 2015’s critically acclaimed NH10 and this year’s Phillauri, which wasn’t as successful as NH10. Of the sort of films she wants to produce, Anushka told news agency IANS: “At Clean Slate, our endeavour is to tell stories that are not only meaningful and different, but also push the boundaries.”
Anushka Sharma’s next film, Jab Harry Met Sejal, releases on August 4. The film also stars Shah Rukh Khan and is directed by Imtiaz Ali. In fact, Anushka joined Jab Harry Met Sejal’s promotional exercise a little late as she was busy working on Pari.
Anushka has also signed up for Aanand L Rai’s next, which again features Shah Rukh and actress Katina Kaif. In the film, SRK plays the role of a dwarf.
Apart from this, Anushka also has a small role in Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanjay Dutt biopic, starring Ranbir Kapoor – her Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Bombay Velvet co-star.
Deepika Padukone was spotted shooting for an advertisement in Mumbai, in which she was dressed as a cop – a welcome departure from her ethnic outfits and heavy jewellery during outings and promotions.
We loved that too but a change is always good. And look at how superb Deepika looks in fitted khaki trousers and crisp white shirt with her hair tied in an elegant back bun.
Also just saying, her rumoured boyfriend Ranveer Singh’s cop look in upcoming film Simmba has got nothing on Deepika’s swag.
What say? Fan clubs posted pictures of Deepika Padukone dressed as cop relaxing on the bonnet of a jeep.
Deepika Padukone is currently awaiting the release of Padmaavat, which is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The film’s original release date was December 1 last year, but due to the Central Board Of Film Certification’s delay, the film will now release on January 25.
Padmaavat, which was originally titled Padmavati, was cleared for release with a U/A certificate and five alterations including the title.
Padmaavat faced massive opposition (and continues to face) from Rajput Karni Sena and other fringe outfits which opposed the film’s release over alleged factual inaccuracies.
Several states have also banned the film’s release.
NEW DELHI (TIP): The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has reduced the rates on 29 goods and 53 categories of services, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said following the Council’s meeting on Jan 18.
Against the backdrop of declining GST collections and waning compliance, the Council also discussed in detail various approaches to ease the return filing compliance burden, and the need for the implementation of anti-evasion measures.
Some of the services for which the rates have been cut include tailoring (18% to 5%), admission to theme parks (28% to 18%), and petroleum and natural gas mining and exploration (18% to 12%). The goods on which the rates have been reduced include biodiesel buses used for public transport (28% to 18%), sugar boiled confectionery, biodiesel, drinking water packed in 20 litre containers (all from 18% to 12%), and LPG supplied to domestic consumers by private distributors (18% to 5%). The new rates would come into effect on January 25.
“Rates have again been rationalised on few items, which is a step in the right direction,” Pratik Jain, Leader, Indirect Tax at PwC India, wrote in a note. More cuts to come “One would expect that over the next few months, this process would continue, particularly with respect to 28% category, which should only be for select luxury and demerit products,” he wrote.
Jaitley said that while the latest round of rate reductions would have an affect on the Centre’s revenues, the impact would be small.
CHANDIGARH (TIP): Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has accepted the resignation of power and irrigation minister Rana Gurjit Singh on Jan 18 following a meeting with AICC president Rahul Gandhi.
Rana Gurjit had submitted his resignation to Amarinder a few days ago. But the CM had not accepted it. He had left it to Rahul to take a call. The decision to accept the resignation was taken after a thorough discussion on the issue during a meeting of CM and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi today morning.
While sources said Amarinder was still backing his loyalist, Rahul and other leaders in the meeting are learnt to have prevailed upon the CM. PPCC President Sunil Jakhar, General Secretary Incharge Asha Kumari and AICC Secretary Harish Choudhary were also a part of the meeting.
Rana Gurjit was caught up in a controversy related to sand mine auction in May. His two ex employees had bagged sand mines in the first ever auction done by the Congress-led government. Then CM had then ordered a probe Justice JS Narang (retd) into the case. The commission had however given Rana a clean chit.
WASHINGTON (TIP): The United States has called for Hafiz Saeed’s prosecution “to the fullest extent of the law,” following Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s remark that no action could be taken against the United Nations-designated terrorist.
Abbasi, during an interview to Geo TV on Tuesday, referred to Saeed as ‘sahib’ or ‘sir’ “There is no case against Hafiz Saeed sahib in Pakistan. Only when there is a case, can there be action,” he said when asked why there was no action against Saeed.
US fumes at non-action Reacting strongly to the comments, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the US believed that Saeed should be prosecuted and they have told Pakistan as much.
“We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He is listed by the UNSC 1267, the Al- Qaeda Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is a designated foreign terror organisation,”Ms. Nauert told reporters at her daily news conference on Thursday.
“We have made our points and concerns to the Pakistani government very clear. We believe that this individual should be prosecuted,” she said.
Responding to a question, Nauert said the US has “certainly seen” the reports about Abbasi’s comment on Saeed. “We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well,” she said. Saeed, the chief of the Jamaatud- Dawah (JuD), was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November.
The US has labelled JuD the “terrorist front” for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a group Saeed founded in 1987. LeT was responsible for carrying the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.
Pak need to do more Acknowledging that the US has had some challenging times with the government of Pakistan recently, Ms. Nauert has said the Trump Administration expects Pakistan to do a lot more to address terrorism issues. “That’s something that we’ve been very clear about all along. You know the news that we had that came out a couple weeks ago about our decision to withhold some of the security funding for Pakistan,” she said.
Nauert said the entire administration was on the same page on the issue of USPakistan relationship.
Early this month, the US suspended about $2 billion worth of security assistance to Pakistan accusing it of not doing enough in the fight against terrorism.
In retaliation, Pakistan suspended military and intelligence co-operation with the US.
The State Department on Thursday said it has not received any formal information in this regard from Pakistan.
NEW DELHI (TIP): More cooperation in cyber security and counterterrorism initiatives and facilitating more investment in India’s infrastructure sector will top Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda when he visits the UAE next month, said an official familiar with the plans on condition of anonymity.
Modi is likely to visit the Gulf nation on February 10 and 11. He will also visit Palestine en route to the UAE, home to 2.8 million Indian passport holders.
Modi’s visit to Palestine will come shortly after the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to India.
Modi was the first Indian PM to visit Israel last year, de-hyphenating its relationship with the two countries.
India and the UAE have put together an ambitious agenda to mark the second visit of Modi to the UAE, with which India has a comprehensive strategic partnership aimed at further strengthening their security and business ties.
Cyber security is one area both countries have identified for stepping up cooperation, said the official. New Delhi would like to collaborate with the UAE in setting up a cyber security centre in India. The UAE has had a cyber security centre since 2014 that acts as a nodal agency for protecting data, telecom networks, and which works with similar bodies around the world, the official pointed out.
“Cyber security has emerged as a key area of our bilateral cooperation with other countries. The UAE has some best practices and a centre in this field and the cooperation could be mutually beneficial,” said another official.
The two sides are also looking at stepping up efforts to disrupt terrorist networks, their financing and movements. In this context, India would like the UAE to help track the properties of people in its wanted list. Facilitating more UAE investment to India remains another focus. The two countries plan to step up the proposed $ 75 billion target for UAE investments in India’s infrastructure development.
NEW DELHI (TIP): India Thursday successfully test fired its indigenously built, nuclear-capable missile, Agni-V.
It was conducted off a test range from Odisha’s Abdul Kalam island. The intercontinental surface-to-surface ballistic missile has a range of 5,000 km. Confirming the development, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “We have successfully launched nuclear-capable ballistic missile Agni-V today.”
With the aim to strengthen its nuclear arsenal, the Indian army is modifying the Agni missile to make it capable of carrying nuclear warheads. New technologies are being incorporated into every test in addition to its navigation and guidance system, warhead and engine power.
NEW DELHI (TIP): The four senior judges of Supreme Court who criticised Chief Justice (CJI) Dipak Misra for his administration of the court, including allocation of cases to judges, have recommended the creation of a committee of senior judges that will assign sensitive and important cases, according to people familiar with the matter.
The proposal is being discussed not just by them and the CJI but also, in terms of seniority, judges who stand a chance to be a future CJI, the people familiar with the matter added.
However, the talks remained inconclusive, they said, because the CJI was reluctant to concede to the demands as it would lead to the dilution of the chief ’s power as the master of the roster.
The four judges, the senior most in the Supreme Court after the CJI – justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurien Joseph – met the CJI for the second time this week and put forth their proposal for a just and transparent system to allocate cases.
Three judges, who, in order of seniority, stand a chance of becoming the CJI were asked by Justice Misra to be present during the talks because the issue raised by the four judges relates to the administrative function of the office of the CJI, the people explained.
Currently, cases are marked as per the roster notified by the Supreme Court registry. This is done once the CJI approves it. Though the marking is computer-generated, the CJI has a say when the registry informs him about a sensitive matter in advance. As the administrative head the CJI can either retain the matter, let it be heard by the bench as per the roster or send it to another bench .
It is this discretionary power which the four judges have attacked; their claim is that senior judges were being overlooked when it came to hearing sensitive cases.
Thursday’s meeting between the judges lasted for around 20 minutes, from 10 to 10:20 am after which the judges dispersed to their respective courts.
The people familiar with the matter said the CJI expressed his inability to accept the proposal because it would compromise the Chief Justice’s power, a matter on which a five-judge constitution bench recently ruled.
Justice Misra headed the bench that gave the verdict on November 10, 2017.
Justice Misra is also understood to have cited another SC judgement that in 1997 declared chief justice as the master of the roster. The impasse is likely to continue as Justice Chelameswar left the city on a private visit and i.e. expected back on Sunday night.
If the talks between the senior judges fail then the CJI may have to convene a full court meeting to end the stalemate, one of the people familiar with the matter said. Source: HT
NEW YORK, NY (TIP): As hundreds of Hindi enthusiasts gathered on a chilled Saturday morning to celebrate the International Hindi Day at the Consulate General of India in New York, there were a few important guests the Consul General allowed special hearing. It was a matter of promoting higher education in learning that required special attention of the Indian Diplomat, himself a great listener.
Hindi Sangam Trustee Purnima Desai received a Certificate from the Consul General of India Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty while Ashok Ojha, President, HSF looks on! Photo:-Jay Mandal/On Assignment
Professor Janis Jensen, director of STARTALK projects at Kean University was anxious about the quality of teachers, especially for teaching a critical language, Hindi. “There is a great need to build capacity for the teaching of Hindi in the USA where most Hindi teachers lack formal teacher’s training to teach Hindi to 21st century digital learners”, said Jensen, who appealed the consul General and the Indian community to support the sustainability of the Masters’ Program in Hindi pedagogy at Kean University, the only teacher preparation program aimed at preparing Hindi teachers for teaching in schools or preparing for doctoral programs.
Professor Jennifer Eddy, Queens College, CUNY, guest speaker at Hindi Day event, January 13 at Indian Consulate, NYC Photo:-Jay Mandal/On Assignment
Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty told Jensen that he would extend all possible support to keep her program running. He repeated this resolve before the gathering of community folks, who were attending the Hindi Day event that it was time to supplement our talk to support Hindi to really act by supporting meaningful teaching and learning programs outside of India. Chakravorty patiently listened to the other speaker Dr. Jennifer Eddy, who made a presentation about NYS Teacher Certification for Hindi 7-12 grades. She emphasized that the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Critical Languages Education is a program of initial and professional certification combined into a 39-credit master’s program that was designed for teacher candidates who will be responsible for designing their new language program. Professor Eddy said that the program was offered at Queens College located amidst the residential hub of people of Indian origin and was ideal for those interested in teaching Hindi. Chakravorty promised the support of Government of India for promoting Hindi outside of India.
The event proved to be very special for parents who left home as early as 6 am in order to reach the Consulate premises in time. “It was a rare occasion for students to showcase their skills in Hindi speaking at the Consulate”, said Anil Dadheech, whose daughter Ria, a millennium kid who is very savvy using online tools while learning Hindi and practicing Indian culture. Ria performed a ‘Ghumar’ dance and recited the popular ‘Jhansi ki Rani’ poem. Other students representing Educators Society for the Heritage of India, Hindi USA and Hindi Sangam Foundation STARTALK program expressed a great sense of pride and self-confidence as the presented their song and dance items. Nehal, a two-time Sangam Franklin STARTLK student reflected her classroom learning in real life as she summarizes with reasons her favorite destinations to visit in India. “I learned at STARTALK program what are the important places I must see and why? It inspired me to think and express my own list of favorite places”, Nehal articulated. “Our goal at STARTALK programs is to prepare our students innovate and use their classroom learning into expressing their viewpoints in real life situations. That is why presentations at events like this become so important. It offers our students real life experience to interact with native speakers of Hindi”, said Mamta Tripathi, who serves as the lead instructor at Hindi programs in Franklin, Marlboro and Montgomery Townships.
Ria Dadheech, a student of Sangam-Franklin STARTALK students performing at the Hindi Diwas Celebration on January 13 at the Consulate General of India, New York, NY. Photos by Jay Mandal- on assignment
Consul General Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty distributed certificate to all participating students who came from various places in the New York Metro area. The participating students and accompanying teachers represented many schools including those run by Hindi Sangam Foundation, Educators Society of India, Yuva Hindi Sansthan and Hindi USA. Ashok Ojha, coordinator of the event elaborated upon his efforts to work together with language experts, officials and the Consulate for strengthening the forum of Hindi in USA. He thanked the Consul General for his support in promoting Hindi and helping to organize the Fifth International Hindi Conference in September 2018. Teachers and students led by Mamta Mamta Kandpal Tripathi, Akila Sekhar, Mainu Maino Murmu and Hema Ojha presented spectacular performance. HSF Trustee and Vice-Chairperson Purnima Desai Desai delivered a vote of thanks.
LONG ISLAND, NY (TIP): The newly elected Executive Council of India Association of Long Island held its Oath Ceremony on 9th January 2018 at Merrick Golf Course, Merrick, Long Island. Congratulations to the newly elected President Mrs. Gunjan Rastogi and her Executive Team of extremely talented individuals, who are experts in their own fields.
At 7:00 pm, team members welcomed the guests with piping hot Masala Chai with cookies. The program officially began at 8:00 pm by singing of American and Indian national anthems, followed by swearing-in of the new President and her Executive Team by Honorable Dr. Neeta Jain, District Leader, District 25. The ceremony was witnessed by big turnout which included, past Presidents, dignitaries, community leaders, IALI members and invited guests. The event was well covered by media – TV Asia, Jus Punjabi, PTC, Indian Express to name a few.
A view of the gathering
Past President, Mr. Satnam S. Parhar gave a fabulous introduction to the newly elected President, followed by the President’s speech, where she expressed her vision for IALI 2018, by continuing current popular programs and launching Child Enrichment Program, which will help children with science projects and their homework and enhancing Sports Forum with indoor activities. Furthermore, she intends to use diverse means of technology (e.g. Social media, Emails etc.) to get in contact with each and every potential member for building a stronger, larger IALI network and disseminate information to the members in timely manner. She also wants to partner with other non-profit organizations to build a bond with the community.
Last but not the least, Gunjan Rastogi’s speech directly touched the hearts and minds of the audience when she used a quote from President J F Kennedy’s inaugural address:
“My dear Team, do not ask what IALI can do for you but rather what can you do for IALI.
And our dearest Members, tell us, what we (IALI) can do for you?”
Program came to an end at 8:45 p.m. and delicious Indian Dinner was served to all attendees, which everybody relished.
The Executive
Oath Ceremony program was hosted by IALI Executive council 2018 and team members. New Team: President-Gunjan Rastogi, Vice President-Lalit Aery, Secretary-Shashi Malik, Treasurer-Hargovind Gupta, Members at Large: Kuljeet Ahluwalia, Rajeev Chaudhary, Ekta Singh Dass, Sushil Khanna, Surin Manaktala, Balaji Nagaraj, Sujata Seth, Mohinder Singh, Event Advisor-Jyoti Gupta, Finance Chair-Vimal Goyal, Cultural Chair-Amita Karwal, Co-chair-Dr. Ujwala Shah, Membership Chair-Pradeep Tandon, Women’s ForumChair-Veena Lamba, Co-chair-Lalita Mansukhani, Shalini Pawa, CommitteeMembers: Ravi Kanta Verma, Rachna Shahdadpuri, Rizwana, Sangeet Forum Chair-Anjana Kashyap , Co-chair-Saroj Aery, Senior Forum Nassau County-Vijay Goswamy, Co-Chair Surinder Kade, Senior Forum Suffolk County-Kanta Dutta, Co-Chair- Neena Sawe, Meditation Chair-Narinder Kapoor, Co-chair-Sujata Seth, Outreach Program: Mukesh Modi, Co-Chair– Dr. Jag Kalra, Child Enrichment Chair – Neeru Bhambri, Committee Member -Hargovind Gupta , Public Relations-Ratna Bhalla, Communication Chair-Rajeev Chaudhary, Kids Forum Chair-Ekta Singh Dass, Hospitality Chair-Sushil Khanna, Sports Chair-Surin Manaktala, Media Chair-Indu Shyam Gajwani.
NEW YORK CITY, NY (TIP): On Sunday Jan 14th, Press conference was hosted at the Indian Consulate in New York announcing the Launch of the much awaited and the historic North American Tour of Bollywood Music Legend Pritam Chakraborty dedicated to the cause of Opioid Epidemic awareness in America. With more than 600 songs in 120 movies to the Music Maestro #Pritam Credit, this tour will be the grandest Bollywood musical journey America has ever seen with eight singers and extraordinary performers in seven cities across North America.
Dr. Kavita Gupta addresses
“We are extremely pleased that Legendary Pritam Chakraborty is dedicating this historic tour to the awareness of opioid Epidemic Awareness, which as we all know is America #1 Crisis and a national emergency as declared by our President. With more than 500,000 American deaths, the message need to reach all youth to abstain from drugs. Indian kids are especially susceptible given the high pressure to succeed and we are glad that Pritam Da is so involved in this cause.
Said Dr Sanjay Gupta, President American Pain Association who along with Dr. Kavita Gupta, President AAPI East Coast, Karl Karla with Live2u and Anand and Sona Dawda from Cinema on stage organized this press conference.
Dr Sanjay Gupta thanked Ambassador Chakravorty to be part of this initiative from the very beginning last year when Dr Gupta presented the initiative to the now New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Ambassador Chakravorty at Dr. Gupta home along with Dr. Kavita Gupta.
Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty addressing the gathering
Ambassador Chakravorty speaking at this occasion stated that drugs are killing more people than traffic accidents and guns in America and is a major concern. He felt that unfortunately this issue is not discussed and kept under a rug and has become a silent epidemic. We need more and more awareness and this tour will be a great platform to reach Indian Diaspora. He thanked Dr. Sanjay and Kavita Gupta in taking this initiative and felt that involvement of Bollywood is one of the best way to penetrate young minds and hearts.
Dr Kavita Gupta stated that we have more than 100,000 Indian Physicians in America and together we can help eradicate this deadly epidemic which is affecting our kids and youth. We all need to take it seriously and put whatever effort we can, as safety and future of our next generation is at stake. We have one 9/11 happening every 3 weeks and it is time to stop this before more youth is killed.
Music Legend Pritam Da stated “I am extremely happy to be associated with this extremely important cause and will help in whatever way I can with this tour and even otherwise in fighting this epidemic. He felt that wrong messages are being given to young minds about drugs and using drugs is becoming a part of popular and Hip culture. A large part of this epidemic is due to ignorance of harmful effects of drugs.”
Pritam talk about the 8 singers who will be singing many of his compositions which are the top Bollywood hits. The singers include Harshdeep Kaur, Nakash Aziz, Shilpa Rao, , Sreerama Chandra, Antara Mitra, Shalmali Kholgade, Amit Mishra and Amanat Ali.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta thanked Cinema on Stage founders Anand and Sona Dawda for conceptualizing and producing this amazing and historic show and Karl Karla and the entire National team for bringing the tour across North America. The national team includes Jaweria Khan , Raj Uppal ,Gaurang Patel, Jagmohan Nanda Bobby Bajaj Ajay Mittal Padma Mishra Dr. Bharat Patel Manish K Sood Bikram Jeet Singh Ray Sharma and Gaurav Sharma.
PRITAM National Tour in North America will take place in April 2018 as follows- April 6th Chicago, 7th New Jersey, 8th Toronto, 13th Dallas, 14th Los Angeles, 20th Washington D.C., 21st San Jose.
Mr Karl Karla thanked the entire national team for worked hard in making the dream to reality and bringing one of a kind mega show to American public.
Mr Anand and Sona Dowda mentioned that production of the legendary Pritam show was a longtime dream and it is an amazing feeling finally see it as a mega show.
The press conference was compered by Mamta Narula from Ultimate media and Dr. Kavita Gupta. The Press Conference was also attended by Physicians and community leaders along with media representatives.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta in his closing remarks felt that wrong messages from Hollywood and Bollywood are part responsible for creating this epidemic and now they can play a major role in reversing it. India is a country with a large young population and this epidemic is growing fast in India, but nobody wants to talk about it . It is sad to see the country of strong characters like swami Vivekananda and Narendra Modi falling prey to wrong messages. We are happy to see the support of Hollywood, Bollywood Artists and Sports Athletes in this initiative and hopefully together we will be able to turn this deadly tide .
Community organizations are powerful engines of action. From culture to politics, they are the ones to bring the community together in a meaningful relationship, promoting amity and cordiality among the community members, projecting Indian values -social, cultural, religious and moral. They also play an effective role in bringing the mainstream American communities closer to their groups. And, on top of it, they are the bridges between their country of origin and the country of their adoption. These organizations, in fact, empower the community.
The Indian Panorama approached some of the organizations to know from them about their vision of 2018. We are glad that most responded. And response, indeed, has been, overwhelming. We wish to carry all responses, but find it difficult to carry them all in one go. We are, therefore, serializing. We request our friends who do not find their response published to wait for the next issue of The Indian Panorama on January 26.
Anu Jain
Actively involved in various organizations, including Rajasthan Association of North America, Jain Center of America, Vegetarian Vision, Indian Association of Long IslandAnu and associates with Laura Curran, Nassau County ExecutiveAnu with IALI group
Wishing a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year to all the readers of one of the most prestigious newspapers–The Indian Panorama. My name is Anu Jain and I am an accountant/finance controller and based in Long Island. I am also involved in community work and holding different positions with some of the prestigious non-profit organizations like Rajasthan Association of North America, Jain Center of America, Vegetarian Vision, along with my involvement with the Indian Association of Long Island, two years back.
I am involved in the social organizations, Rajasthan Association of North America, Vegetarian Vision and Indian Association of Long Island with the purpose serving the respective communities. Similarly, being involved in Jain Center of America, a religious organization, I have the goal of promoting Jainism which is represented by the “Live and Let Live” principle, along with non-violence, peace, and love.
Through my efforts along with the organizations ’support, I am able to achieve many of my goals such as providing scholarship and advisory support to students for them to excel in their education and career, supporting and serving the underprivileged. In addition to, promoting our rich Indian traditions and spreading awareness of Indian culture and its values between American Indians and the members of the other ethnicities. We also celebrate our Indian festivals with everyone in the community to enhance the feeling of “Home Away From Home”. Inspiring the new generation/youth to get involved with their new ideas to help people in need, whether locally or back in the villages of India and other countries. Forming strong connections with our roots and our traditions to learn and keep the values of our rich culture alive, along with educating others about health benefits of being vegetarian.
Indian American Forum Inc. (IAF)
A picture of one of the events the IAF organized to honor women for their excellent achievements
Indian American Forum Inc. (IAF) is a non-for-profit organization of Asian Indians in America to promote the cultural, secular heritage and values of India as well as the furtherance of friendship and understanding with people of other cultural backgrounds.
Since 1997, IAF is striving to provide a forum for fostering a mutual and better understanding through its socio-cultural activities and enjoys a very cordial relationship amongst local associations and communities.
IAF various activities that include India Republic Day, Indian American Night; Celebrating India Independence Day, Outstanding Women’s Achievement Gala, International Children Day, Senior Programs, Yoga and Health awareness camps and others are organized as self-funded activities. These have been possible through our motivated and dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly to make each of the activity as a success.
IAF aims to have Asian Indian community’s participation to promote local socio-cultural interactions through charitable and educational activities and to help them become a part of the mainstream American life. IAF truly believes that each person of Indian American decent is a true ambassador to promote cultural, secular heritage and values of India.
STRAY THOUGHTS
Satish Gupta, President & CEO SB International, Inc., Dallas, Texas- Community leader and Philanthropist
Our company headed by our flagship company SB International, Inc. has been in business for the past almost 37 years and has had its upticks and downticks in the cycles of it business. We have concentrated on Energy, Metals and International Trade from the start of our company to develop a sound growth oriented business.
While succeeding in business, I have never lost focus on propagating the message for creating the awareness and richness of our heritage and culture. At any given opportunity, I have put forth my views on the various lessons one can learn from them, be it from Swami Vivekananda or from Mahatma Gandhi, as some leading examples.
These thoughts continually fire me up to make continuous efforts to contribute to numerous community related projects which can going forward make a difference individually to human lives and the country in the bigger context. One can notice that organizations are facing a lot of pressures to broaden their identity and mission to ensure social and environmental aspects are focused on along with their usual economic value creation. This is something I have always focused on right from the beginning.
To ensure I continue to meet the above, my business goal is to create a much more sustainable and meaningful organizations in our group which can carry my message forward for creating a balanced social & environmentally correct process with a sound economic value, to reach our business and community service targets. On a long-term basis, I feel Corporate Social Responsibility should be an important aspect for any organization which is purpose driven to give a meaningful purpose both for its owners and their employees.
Some of the characteristics one needs to develop to support the above thought processes that I follow are: care about doing the right thing with appropriate transparency, have strong and visible morals and values, demonstrate through actions my beliefs, identify the passions in the team and see how it can be made to work towards the goals and build meaningful relationships. Last but not the least I try to make each member of the team to contribute in such a way to be perceived as making a difference both to the business and doing good for the society.
INDIA ASSOCIATION OF LONG ISLAND: A Historical Perspective
By Rajeshwar Prasad
Gunjan Rastogi, President, IALI
It was mid -seventies in the last century when a group of enthusiastic and concerned Indian professionals at the Central Islip State Hospital joined hands and started deliberations for developing an association. This informal group was celebrating Indian festivals and other special events while planning for an organization. In late seventies and early eighties their well-conceived dream came true and the India Association of Long Island (IALI) was formed and incorporated as a nonprofit entity. IALI is the only broad-based grassroots organization in Long Island, aimed at fostering unity among Indians from all regions of India, sustaining our cultural and social values, and above all to have one effective voice.
In the last almost four decades, IALI has made its dent not only in Long Island but in the entire NY/NJ metropolitan region. There have been ups and downs, but the strong foundation laid by dedicated and committed community leaders has withstood turmoil and continued moving ahead. Today the IALI, started just with 30 members, has close to 1700 subscribing members. Over the years IALI has undertaken activities such as Valentine Dinner Dance, Holi Festival, Tennis Tournaments, Family Picnics, Youth Activities including Disco Dancing, Celebration of India’s Independence through India Day Parade, Food Drive through Interfaith Nutrition Network, IndiaFest – a showcase of Indian Arts and Crafts, Diwali Festival, Senior Citizen Forum and Women Forum (including monthly get-togethers). The annual Fund-Raising Dinner initiated in 1979 has honored over 130 individuals of Indian origin for their accomplishments in fields such as science, medicine, social and community work, business and entrepreneurship. The association toyed with some other programs such as Info-India Project, Essay Competition among children on “India as I Know It.” It has participated in Breast Cancer Walk-a-thon; Multicultural activities and Kite Flying competition at Indian American Night at the Eisenhower Park with the help of Indian American Forum. It has also participated recently in the Vegetarian Vision event, founded by Mrs. Malti and Harshad K. Shah, who were honored also by IALI last year. The event is held in Manhattan where thousands of people show up. IALI continue to collaborate with scores of other Indian and American associations.
Over the years, IALI developed working relationship with teaching institutions such as Dowling College, Old Westbury College, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Farmingdale University, and Hofstra University in various activities. It also established liaison with and representation on Institutions such as Police Departments, Offices of District Attorneys, American Jewish Congress (Center for Prejudice Reduction), Human Rights Commissions, Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN) and many more. Nassau County and Suffolk County Executives cherish IALI and participate in celebrations of Indian festivals such as Diwali and National holidays such as India’s Independence Day. It also has maintained close working relationship with many Indian community organizations such as Federation of Indian American Associations (FIA), Association of Indians in America (AIA), American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), and the National Indo-American Association for Senior Citizens (NIAASC). It had also interacted with the Town of Huntington in 2005 in celebrating diversity where about three dozen countries participated. It has played an active role in celebration Asian American Festival sponsored by the Town of North Hempstead. For the last four years it has played a leading role and joined many other organizations in displaying its accomplishments through India Day Parade in Long Island.
IALI has come forth to support humane causes in USA, in India and other places. It has collaborated with other entities to support victims of earthquake in India. It also joined many other organizations to condemn acts of violence as projected by an attack on September 11, 2001 and prayed for the victims and their families. IALI initiated fundraising for Tsunami victims and earmarked entire raffle collection from Valentine Dinner/Dance for this purpose in 2005. It arranged an interfaith prayer gathering for the Mumbai tragedy in November 2008 where leaders of different faiths spoke and prayed for peace.
During the last two years IALI has been consolidating its activities in its HOME, bought just recently in Hicksville. The association has come a long way, but it is still challenging to visualize the future path in light of changing demographics and environment. IALI has a daunting task to develop resources and facilities for seniors so that they stay in Long Island, and other generations can utilize their rich and valuable experiences in moving forward.
All these IALI accomplishments have been possible due to the commitment of its members and that of the Indian community at large. It is expected that Indian Americans living in both the Counties will enhance its professional impact and make in-roads in the broader and diversified community structure of the region by playing more active role in its economic, social and political spheres.
(Rajeshwar Prasad is past president of IALI, co-founder and president of NIAASC, former Human Rights Commissioner of Suffolk County. He has now moved with his wife, Prem, to ShantiNiketan in Tavares, Florida).
VISION OF WORLD PEACE
By Ashok Parulekar
Goa is a beautiful place. Sri Chinmoy’s statue in the capital city Panaji enhances the beauty and adds to the divinity. His aphorism at the statue reads:
There shall come a time when the world of ours will be flooded with Peace.
Who will bring that radical change? It will be you, you and your sisters and brothers who are an extension of your reality existence.
This aphorism expresses Sri Chinmoy’s vision for world peace and encourages everybody to participate in it. Even if a single person becomes peaceful, it will be a significant contribution for the World Peace as we all are connected, and we are a part of the Universal Consciousness. Meditation makes one peaceful. Soulful music is another thing next to meditation.
Sri Chinmoy dedicated his life for the world peace and for the fulfilment of unlimited potential of human spirit. He established meditation centers in more than 60 countries and one at The United Nations. He wrote 1600 books and composed 22,000 soulful songs. He encouraged sports and athletics. Sri Chinmoy created a vast outpouring for art. His paintings are exhibited at the galleries worldwide. Through all his activities he was conveying the message of oneness of humanity. He travelled extensively and took India’s ancient message, “The world is one family” to the far corners of the world. In 1987 Sri Chinmoy founded the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run. The longest relay runs for peace inspiring millions in more than 140 countries.
Inspired by Sri Chinmoy’s work his students around the world are offering free meditation classes and musical concerts. Sri Chinmoy Marathon team is world’s leading organization for the ultra- run events. The vision is – World Peace and Self-transcendence leading to spiritual progress.
For more information see www. srichinmoy.org
Indian American Intellectuals’ Forum
Arish Sahani, President
Every nation has a history and people living on that land has created own special culture.
One billion Hindus have a great history and culture.
But Hindus have not yet realized their future is dark if they have no Hindu Nation.
No culture can expand or stay alive without support of a nation.
Today in last 1400 years many nations are have lost their own roots own culture.
Many poor and uneducated locals in different land have adopted the culture of the enemy who invaded them.
These local converts have now become enemy of their own root cultures.
Today all convert nations are on war path. Every convert has forgot their roots and busy killing each other.
Converts in each nation are busy destroying own land, roots culture and history.
Its shame our media and intellectuals are not helping these converts to look back into the history ever to find their lost culture and why and how they should shed the adopted culture to live a better life.
They all need to come back and live a better life.
If media and our historian don’t speak the truth to educate the masses.
We will soon be in another world war and see major destruction.
Some cultures are not peaceful.
Some cultures teach hate and freedom and right to destroy other cultures.
Some cultures are so peaceful they have not united them self to save from these evil cultures.
But I am hopeful 21 century eras of information, freedom of press and liberty will soon expose these evil forces and Good will unite and destroy evil cultures.
Our organization Indian American Intellectuals forum bring yearly seminar to expose these evil forces.
Its time more people should joined expose these evil cultures and find a way to expose and help the followers to leave and go back to their own root culture of ancestors,
Everyone should look for his own roots.
Our roots depend on where we come from and based on our DNA.
Find Your DNA in 2018 and look for you roots and reeducate yourself to live in peace and prosperity.
Aries:Ganesha says the scope of your activities, especially professional ones, will narrow. This phase is all about money and money matters. Income, assets and all sorts of monetary gains are your major pursuits. The desire to have a larger income overshadows all your other considerations and activities. Your working life will hover around business issues, acquisitions, capital, funds, and so on. Yes, this is a good time to launch a project, finish pending work, take on new assignments.
Taurus: Life has taught you, in recent times to assign realistic goals and priorities. Once again, the focus is on the material plane. You are looking at providing comfort, security and protection for both yourself and your loved ones. Many issues need to be resolved. Real estate property, renovation and family matters are uppermost in your mind. You also need to get your way without hurting others and that is a tightrope walk.
Gemini: This interesting and reasonably profitable phase is all about money and honey. The highlight is personal and shared finances. Love, passion and romance, partnerships and trade also flourish. Ganesha says that you have a very hectic time ahead and your plate will be full of professional and emotional demands. But, you are determined to enjoy it all and give your very best to the situation. I assure you that in the long haul this will pay dividends.
Cancer: You change tack. Pretty dramatically this period you will also have more time to pursue hobbies and interests that are close to your heart. Here, love needs to be mentioned in particular. This is where you register your greatest and most pleasing gains. Loved ones, your spouse / partner, in particular, will get special attention. There may be more than one person who falls in the ambit of your love interests.
Leo:The highlight of the period is a true and genuine reaching out to people. This period sets the trend for a sudden and pleasing shift of interests. Communications – whether phone calls, the media, or just dealing with correspondence, building up fresh contacts – will be the highlight of this period. You are satisfied with concrete gains and there will be pleasing fellowship with those you meet. You may even reach out in friendship to complete strangers!
Virgo: This will be a great period. With your money worries and issues resolved, you turn to the arts, theatres, music, fun and enjoyment at parties, find occasions for happy times with children and also for pursuing your own interests and hobbies. Leisure is at the forefront; you are not slogging away. You are also more resolute in all your domestic affairs and make some important decisions now. You have the resources and style to make a success of anything you enter into, even if it is falling in love.
Libra: This is not the phase for flights of fancy; it is certainly not the phase for light romance and fantasies. You focus more on the physical. You plunge headlong into love, passion, the pleasures of sex, and are yet firmly entrenched in the more pragmatic pursuits of funds and loans, legacies and money matters. This is very interesting period. You will also be captivated by meditation, and religious and spiritual practices.
Scorpio:There is a natural and logical progression from last period. But there is a change here – you will seek spiritual solace, metaphysical truths and deeper insights into life. After the frantic pursuits of the previous period, the mood is somber, even meditative. Work issues will have to be resolved during this period of introspection. You are interested in genuine and strong bonding but the pressures of work will create an equally strong contrary pull.
Sagittarius: You have somewhat lost track of your priorities, or perhaps focus, with all the thinking and introspection of recent times and it is now necessary to get back to what you love best – people and your interactions with them. You will be bonding with family like never before. They will be your strength, solace, comfort and above all, your inspiration to get ahead in life. Loved ones and the family take centre stage, and you are more rooted in domestic matters.
Capricorn: Your family will be the centre of attention in every way. But it may not all be hunky dory; there will be negative trends too. You will continue working hard but are drawn into family and property matters, house and home and renovations of all kinds. Ganesha says that family and work are the twin themes that will require probably twice as much involvement and effort.
Aquarius:You carry on and make the most of all your powers and skills. It is an action-packed time. The focus is on research, discoveries, inventions and new fields of study. There will also be meetings and conferences, interviews and committees. You will be on the move, reaching out in every conceivable way. A journey may also prove rewarding. Travel for both business and pleasure is almost definitely foretold and it will be productive, lucrative and rewarding – both financially and intellectually.
Pisces: You need to curb your ego and get more tactful and diplomatic if you want to relate better with people, which is actually the need of the hour. This is a welcome realisation. Your sense of your self-image intensifies and diversifies to include not only how you see yourself but also how others see you. While reviewing both your public and personal image and person it is also time to weigh, evaluate and assess what you have achieved.
NJSO Celebrates Immigrant Composers at Winter Festival 2018
“This season, it (NJSO) celebrates the inspiration that is America, showcasing musical works by immigrants and foreign visitors…” Gabriel Van Aalst, President & CEO, NJSO
“These composers speak to me because their story is my own. While I had a wonderful musical education at the Conservatory in Beijing, I needed to come to the United States to follow my dream of becoming a conductor”. Xian Zhang, NJSO Music Conductor
“(Xian Zhang’s) conducting gestures reveal a passion, a precise knowledge of the score and a constant attention to detail. Her relationship with the musicians is producing great music and the orchestra members respond beautifully” …..The Asbury Park Press
By Mabel Pais
At the NJSO, January is always a busy month with the Winter Festival. “This season, it (NJSO) celebrates the inspiration that is America, showcasing musical works by immigrants and foreign visitors who drew their stimulation from America’s wide-ranging impacts” said Gabriel Van Aalst, President and CEO of the NJSO, who opened the Winter Festival on January 11.
The 2018 Winter Festival highlights the myriad ways America has inspired not only those who call it home but also those who have visited its welcoming shores. Leveraging the power of art to transcend differences, a series of NJSO Accents and special events further explore the immigrant experience and how foreign artists have illustrated American inspiration in their work.
Spanning three weekends, January 11–28, the Winter Festival includes orchestral performances at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick, Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and Bergen PAC in Englewood.
The NJSO Chamber Players perform a special chamber music concert at St. George’s-by-the-River Episcopal Church in Rumson and Calvary Episcopal Church in Summit.
Week I: America, Inspiring: Respighi & Prokofiev
Xian Zhang_Music-Conductor Photo credit Benjamin EalovegaXian Zhang-conducts-the-NJSO Photo credit Fred StuckerXian Zhang-at-NJPAC Photo credit Fred StuckerXian Zhang at NJPAC Photo credit Fred Stucker
Music Director Xian Zhang conducted NJSO premiere of Che Yi’s Ge Xu and Respighi’s Fountains of Rome. George Li performed Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto. Zhang, the orchestra’s 14th music director, is the first woman to hold the position.
In a nod to Zhang’s own journey to America and New Jersey, she led Respighi’s Pines of Rome—a work she conducted in her first-ever performances with the NJSO in 2010. Chinese pianist George Li, the 22-year-old silver medalist of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition, performed Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto.
Performances took place on Thursday, January 11 at Bergen PAC in Englewood; Saturday, January 13 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark; and Sunday, January 14, at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick.
WEEK II: America, Inspiring: Ravel & Rachmaninoff
George Li, Pianist Photo credit Simon FowlerTerrence Wilson, Pianist
Andrew Constantine, conductor
Terrence Wilson, piano
MARTINŮ Thunderbolt P-47 (NJSO Premiere)
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G Major
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances
Fri, Jan 19, at 8 pm | Richardson Auditorium in Princeton
Sat, Jan 20, at 8 pm | State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick
Sun, Jan 21, at 3 pm | NJPAC in Newark
NJSO ACCENTS:
Panel Discussion—Fri, Jan 19, at 6:45 pm and Sun, Jan 21, at 1:45 pm
Host Naomi Lewin and a panel of experts discuss the political climate in Europe that drove so many of the Winter Festival’s composers to come to America.
Wine Tasting—Sat, Jan 20, before the concert
Join wine and music expert Ron Merlino in an exclusive tasting of wines made of old-world grapes in new-world soil. For reservation and tickets, visit www.njsymphony.org/grapes
Performance & Painting—Sun, Jan 21, after the concert
Watch creative inspiration in action as artist Ken Ahlering (www.ken-ahlering.com) paints in response to a performance by the NJSO Chamber Players.
Full concert information is available at www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/america-inspiring-ravel-rachmaninoff.
America, Inspiring: Special Chamber Music Concert
Violinist Eric Wyrick, Concertmaster of NJSO Photo credit Tristan CookViolinist Chloe Hanslip, international artist of distinction
Tue, Jan 23, at 3 pm | St. George’s-by-the-River Episcopal Church in Rumson
Thu, Jan 25, at 7:30 pm | Calvary Episcopal Church in Summit
NJSO CHAMBER PLAYERS
Eric Wyrick, violin
Brennan Sweet, violin
David Blinn, viola
Na-Young Baek, cello
TAN DUN Eight Colors for String Quartet
BARTÓK String Quartet No. 2
DVOŘÁK String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, “American”
A free pre-concert reception begins at 2 pm on Jan 23.
Full concert information is available at www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/america-inspiring-special-chamber-music-concert.
ISLAMABAD (TIP): The US has conveyed to Pakistan that the military training component of the aid will continue despite suspension of the security assistance package, media reports said on Thursday, January 18.
Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua informed the Senate’s foreign affairs committee on Wednesday that the US will continue funding the aid components that support their national interest, including the International Military Education and Training (IMET) part, Dawn reported.
The IMET program, which focuses on military education, is meant to establish a rapport between the US military and the recipient country’s military for building alliances for the future.
Under this program, Pakistan Army officers have been trained in the US at a cost of $52 million over the past 15 years and an allocation of another $4 million has been made for the current year.
While the IMET would continue, the US has frozen the aid provided under the programs that are more important to Pakistan, particularly the Foreign Military Financing (FMF).
The recipients of FMF can use the funds under this program for procurement of defense hardware produced by the US.
Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, while briefing the lawmakers on the current state of Pak-US relations, said the relationship was not going “very smooth” and problems were persisting. “We have to stand up to those who accuse us of harboring terrorists,” Asif remarked.
Early this month, Trump accused Pakistan of giving nothing to the US but “lies and deceit” in return for USD 33 billion aid and said Islamabad has provided “safe haven” to terrorists.
Lies and deceit
Pakistan army officers have been trained in the US at a cost of $52 million over the past 15 years
An allocation of another $4 million has been made to train Pakistan military officers for the current year
The US will continue funding the aid components that support their national interest, including the International Military Education and Training (IMET) part.
(With inputs from IANS)
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