LONG ISLAND (TIP) : Indian American surgeon Dr. Venkatesh Sasthakonar has been cleared of all criminal charges by a judge in Nassau County, Long Island, according to news reports.
The well-known surgeon was accused by a nurse of allegedly trying to strangle her with an ‘elastic cord’ following differences over some medical procedures. But a judge exonerated him on Feb. 20, and police said there was insufficient evidence that any crime occurred after examining videos and talking to colleagues at the hospital. The 44-year old doctor is a veteran weight-loss surgeon. He had consistently maintained his innocence. News reports quoted the doctor’s attorney saying the nurse’s story was a complete lie.
Outside the courtroom after the judge pronounced the verdict, Dr. Sasthakonar was surrounded by friends and well-wishers . He occasionally became emotional as he recounted his traumatic experience.
“What happened to me didn’t hurt me,” he is quoted saying in the abc7ny report, adding, “What happened to (my wife) and the kids is what hurt me…I thought being a good person could protect you against bad things happening to you, against evil. I don’t trust that anymore.” Dr. Sasthakonar is married to an internal medicine physician.
“I hope nobody goes through this hell including the person who started all this,” Sasthakonar’s wife is quoted saying in the cbslocal.com report, adding, “What happened in the past month was a nightmare.”
“After thoroughly reviewing this case, interviewing witnesses and analyzing surveillance video, it has been determined there is not enough evidence to support that a crime occurred,” Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for Nassau County District Attorney’s office, is quoted saying in a statement on cbslocal.com.
MICHIGAN (TIP): Ford Motor Company announced on Feb. 21 that Raj Nair, the executive vice president and president, North America, is departing from the company effective immediately.
The announcement follows an internal investigation that was conducted recently after reports of his inappropriate behavior surfaced.
The review determined that certain behavior by Nair, 53, was inconsistent with the company’s code of conduct, Ford said in a statement.
“We made this decision after a thorough review and careful consideration,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett said. “Ford is deeply committed to providing and nurturing a safe and respectful culture and we expect our leaders to fully uphold these values,” he added.
“I sincerely regret that there have been instances where I have not exhibited leadership behaviors consistent with the principles that the Company and I have always espoused. I continue to have the utmost faith in the people of Ford Motor Company and wish them continued success in the future,” Nair, who is of Indian origin, said.
The company did not mention the details of the internal investigation or the reports against Nair, who was often called a rising star in Ford and a potential future chief executive. Ford will divide Nair’s responsibilities among Kumar Galhotra, the firm’s chief marketing officer and head of the Lincoln brand, and Stuart Rowley, the vice president of strategy.
Nair had been working with Ford since 1987 after he graduated from college. He was Ford’s CTO and head of global product development before assuming the executive vice president role in June 2017.
He had been instrumental in changing the focus of Ford towards self-driving cars, phone-savvy infotainment and mobility services, according to Engadget.
The high-level dismissal is one of the most prominent in an industry other than media and entertainment after sexual harassment at workplaces started to be taken seriously. Companies have started enforcing zero tolerance harassment policies, although it is not known if Nair was dismissed over charges of sexual harassment.
COLUMBUS, OH (TIP): “The 36th Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) will be held at the at Columbus Convention Center, OH July 4-8, 2018,” Dr. Gautam Samadder, President of AAPI, announced her, February 18. “The 2018 AAPI Convention offers a rare platform to interact with leading physicians, health professionals, academicians, and scientists of Indian origin,” he added.
Ambassador Nikki Haley, the top American diplomat and US Ambassador to the United Nations, and Ambassador Navtej Singh Sarna, an Indian author-columnist, diplomat and current Indian Ambassador to the US, have agreed to attend the AAPI convention and address the delegates, Dr. Samadder announced.
AAPI’s mission is to provide a forum to facilitate and enable Indian American physicians to excel in patient care, teaching and research, and to pursue their aspirations in professional and community affairs. For 36 years, the AAPI Convention has provided a venue for medical education programs and symposia with world renowned physicians on the cutting edge of medicine.
The annual convention this year is being organized by the Ohio Chapter and is led by Convention Chair, Dr. John A. Johnson, a physician, business executive, private equity/venture capital investor, and philanthropist. A pool of dedicated AAPI leaders are working hard to make the Convention a unique event for all the participants.
“We have been working hard to put together an attractive program for our annual get together, educational activity and family enjoyment. I and the Co-Chairs are fortunate to have a dedicated team of convention committee members from the Tri-State region helping us. We are expecting a record turnout and hence I would encourage early registration to avoid later disappointment,” Dr. Johnson said.
“The preliminary program is in place, the major attractions include 12 hours of cutting-edge CME with renowned speakers, CEO Forum, Innovation Forum, Entrepreneur Forum, Women’s Forum, Men’s Forum, and Product Theaters to highlight the newest advances in patient care and medical technology. Alumni meetings for networking, also an AAPI-India Strategic Engagement Forum to showcase the AAPI initiatives in India like Trauma Brain Injury Guidelines, MoU on TB Eradication in India and recognition of AAPI Award winners will make this Convention unique,” Dr. Ashok Jain, Chair, Board of Trustees, said.
“Many of the physicians who will attend this convention have excelled in different specialties and subspecialties and occupy high positions as faculty members of medical schools, heads of departments, and executives of hospital staff. The AAPI Convention offers an opportunity to meet directly with these physicians who are leaders in their fields and play an integral part in the decision-making process regarding new products and services,” Dr. Yashwant Reddy, Treasurer of AAPI Convention 2018, said.
In addition to the exhibition hall featuring large exhibit booth spaces in which the healthcare industry will have the opportunity to engage, inform and educate the physicians directly through one on one, hands on product demonstrations and discussions, there will be focused group and specialty Product Theater, Interactive Medical Device Trade Show, and special exhibition area for new innovations by young physicians.
Physicians of Indian origin are well known around the world for their compassion, passion for patient care, medical skills, research, and leadership. Not satisfied with their own professional growth and the service they provide to their patients around the world, they are in the forefront, sharing their knowledge and expertise with others, especially those physicians and leaders in the medical field from India.
Representing the interests of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, leaders of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, for 36 years, AAPI Convention has provided a venue for medical education programs and symposia with world renowned physicians on the cutting edge of medicine.
AAPI is an umbrella organization which has nearly 90 local chapters, specialty societies and alumni organizations. Almost 10%-12% of medical students entering US schools are of Indian origin. AAPI represents the interests of over 60,000 physicians and 25,000medical students and residents of Indian heritage in the United States. AAPI, the largest ethnic medical organization in the nation, and serves as an umbrella organization.
The AAPI Convention offers an opportunity to meet directly with these physicians who are leaders in their fields and play an integral part in the decision-making process regarding new products and services.
“Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country and internationally will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year. We look forward to seeing you in Columbus, OHIO!” said Dr. Gautam Samadder. For more details, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org; and www.aapiusa.org
PyeongChang (TIP): One of the toughest things in sports is to be an Olympian. On an average, every four years only 5,000 to 7,000 sportsmen and women qualify to be Olympians and less than 1 per cent of them distinguish themselves and become Olympic medalists.
Naturally, it becomes much tougher to be both Winter and Summer Olympian. Though there are not many instances when athletes have competed in both summer and winter Olympic Games, yet few sportsmen and women, with their hard work and dedication, have scripted success stories in these mega sports events held within two years of each other.
Most recent case is of Kaillie Humphries and Phylicia George of Canada who won a bronze medal at PyeongChang.
Pita Taufatofua decided immediately after finding out he would be Tonga’s flag-bearer that he would wear traditional Tongan dress instead of the usual team uniform at the opening ceremony. Photo / courtesy TODAY
Who does not remember Tonga’s Pita Taufatofua who became a global sensation overnight when he arrived shirtless in freezing cold of the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 winter Olympic Games. He belongs to a select band of those athletes who have competed in successive summer and winter Olympic Games.
He competed in Taekwondo event in the 2016 summer Olympic Games in Rio and finished 114th in 15 km Cross-country skiing here.
It may be more than a dream for those who make it. It is the reality for a number of athletes from Canada who are competing here at PyeongChang. Two of them, Phylicia George and Seyi Smith, moved from track and field to Bobsleigh, an event that has also attracted some African athletes, including all-woman Nigerian team, to Winter Olympic Games.
“I started cross country skiing in 2017 and the training was perhaps the hardest I have ever done in my life,” Pita told media. “Races where we hope we could do well were getting cancelled and we had to book last minute one way ticket to the race where myself and German Madrazo of Mexico could finally qualify for PyeongChang 2018.”
Pita’s story is for those who after setting a target stay determined to achieve it.
“I was one of those people who thought I could sort of walk on and continue doing what I was doing before,” says Canadian track and field star Smith, who competed in the 4 x 100m relay at London 2012. “The overlap between track and bobsled is not as much as people think.”
Phylicia George, who competed in the 100m hurdles at London 2012 and Rio 2016, echoes Smith’s sentiment about bobsleigh being a whole lot more than just running fast on ice.
“The biggest thing was getting stronger, lifting a lot heavier,” says George. “I think I did not respect how much strength played a role and how much stronger I needed to get to be able to find the positions that I needed behind the sled.”
Seyi Smith, moved from track and field to Bobsleigh
Beyond the need for physical strength, Smith and George also needed to dip into their reserves of psychological strength to overcome the inevitable obstacles of adapting to a whole new athletic discipline.
For Smith, though, there was never serious thought given to abandoning the quest.
“Everybody warned me when I first started out, saying, ‘You better watch out, Seyi, this is not track, there is not the glamour, you are going to be working in the cold and lifting sleds,’’” says Smith.
“It has been quite the opposite. Every month I have liked it more and more. I told one of the guys that the only time I actually said that I was having fun out loud is right before we crashed in training. So, I don’t say it out loud anymore. But inside, I am still enjoying myself quite a bit.”
George fared a bit differently, having competed at the Summer Games less than two years ago, and still being active in track and field. She says getting started in bobsleigh was “very rough” and she definitely second-guessed her decision.
But having been recruited to bobsleigh by Kaillie Humphries, the two-time reigning Olympic champion in the two-women event, it was perhaps inevitable that George’s competitive spirit would eventually win the day.
“There definitely were days when I was like, ‘man, what am I doing out here?’” says George. “But seeing myself get better and being a part of a team was a really cool and interesting aspect for me, where I’m used to being an individual. … I am really happy I stuck with it and saw my potential through.”
Kaillie Humphries (right), and Phylicia George after winning bronze in women’s bobsleigh on Wednesday, February 21
It is not a usual combination that would end on Olympic podium. While one had two Olympic medals to her belt, she gets a new partner who happens to be veteran of two summer Olympic Games, and the new combination ends with Olympic Bobsleigh bronze.
The pair is none other than mentor Kaillie Humphries and her new partner Phylicia George, otherwise Hurdler in Track and Field.
For Kaillie it has been her third straight Olympic bobsleigh medal.
With this medal, Canada has taken its tally to 21 with nine golds and is currently placed at overall number three position.
Humphries and George had been in fifth place after the first two runs, but were just four-one hundredths of a second out of a podium position. They made up that ground in their third run, moving into third place with a cumulative time of 2:32.12. That gave them a buffer of 0.05 on fourth-placed Americans Jamie Greubel Poser and Aja Evans.
In the final run, Humphries steered the sled down the track in 50.77 seconds for a four-run total time of 3:22.89, ensuring a podium finish with just the two leading tandems to go.
Humphries came to PyeongChang as the two-time reigning Olympic champion. She is now the first Canadian bobsledder to win three Olympic medals.
For George, it is her first Olympic medal and it comes in her Winter Olympic debut after she competed at two Summer Games in the 100m hurdles, making the final at both London 2012 and Rio 2016. She began bobsleigh training late last summer and competed in her first international race just this past November. She and Humphries won World Cup gold and silver together in January.
Slovenian Ice Hockey player tests positive for doping
As the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games are inching towards a close, another case of violation of doping controls saw a Slovenia Ice Hockey player voluntarily accepting the charge and offered to quit the Olympic village.
The Anti-doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) at the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games (OWG) announced that it has registered a new case.
Further to a request from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and based upon the agreement of the parties, the CAS ADD has issued the following decision:
Zika Jeglic, Ice Hockey, Slovenia, tested positive in-competition test with fenoterol (beta-2 agonist; specified substance). He accepted an anti-doping rule violation. As a consequence, the athlete is suspended from competing in the remainder of the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018; the athlete will leave the Olympic Village within 24 hours; the procedure will continue and the CAS ADD will issue a final award after the conclusion of the Games.
At the start of the second week of the Games, the Anti-doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, started procedure involving the athlete Aleksandr Krushelnitckii (mixed curling; OAR).
Though a date has been fixed for hearing, yet no further information is being provided at this point.
Earlier, a Japanese athlete also tested positive for doping and was suspended.
NORTH CAROLINA (TIP): The Rev. Billy Graham, counselor to presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history, has died at age 99.
Graham died on February 21st morning at his home in Montreat, North Carolina.
He had been treated in recent years for cancer, pneumonia and other ailments. His wife, Ruth, died in 2007. Graham reached more than 200 million through his appearances and millions more through his pioneering use of television and radio.
Unlike many traditional evangelists, he abandoned narrow fundamentalism to engage broader society. His message and service to U.S. presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush earned him the nickname “America’s Pastor.” In 1995 his Evangelistic Association designated his son William Franklin Graham III as the ministry’s leader.
Illinois (TIP): Indian American Vandana Jhingan, the Republican Hindu Coalition-backed candidate , has been removed from the official list of Republican primary ballot in Illinois’ 8th Congressional District.
Jhingan was one of the two Indian American Republicans vying for the GOP nomination to run against the incumbent Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi in the November election.
Jhingan was disqualified after a constituent, Steven Anderson, filed a complaint that many signatories to her nomination were not residents of the district.
Nonresidents, who are not registered voters, cannot be considered as signatories while filing the nomination.
According to election general counsel, Ken Menzel who spoke to the local Daily Herald, a second complaint was also filed against the Jhingan alleging improper circulation of the petition.
The paper said she lacked enough signatures and thus failed to make it to the official ballot.
Jhingan, a Chicago-based journalist, is the Midwest Bureau Chief of the Indian American cable network TV Asia.
Another Indian American candidate Jitendra Digavker is on the ballot in the Republican primary. He is a businessman and runs a successful credit card process firm based in Schaumburg, which provides processing services to all types of businesses.
Krishnamoorthi, an attorney-turned-businessman, was elected to the US House of Representatives from the district in November 2016, defeating Republican Peter DiCianni.
LONDON (TIP): An Indian origin woman was found murdered in her Wolverhampton home, in the West Midlands region of England , after what is suspected to be a burglary gone wrong.
Sarbjit Kaur’s body was discovered by her family members at their home in the town of Wolverhampton on February 16th .
West Midlands Police said they are keeping an open mind on the motive of the 38-year-old’s murder as it released the victims name on February 19th as part of a public appeal for information.
Kaur was attacked inside her own home. This is a shocking case, the likes of which are extremely rare, and we have a team of officers working on this murder inquiry to establish what happened and to finding the person or people responsible, said Detective Chief Inspector Chris Mallett, who is leading the West Midlands Police Homicide Teams murder investigation.
He confirmed that early inquiries have revealed that some items were taken from the home but added that the motive so far remains unclear as his team continues to investigate several lines of inquiry, including whether this was a random burglary or if the address or Kaur were deliberately targeted.
The interior was in an untidy state – which could indicate it had been searched – and we believe that some items are missing. We are working with the family to understand exactly what items were taken, Mallett added.
Police have carried out CCTV and house-to-house inquiries as well as conducted an extensive forensic examination of the scene as they try and piece together Kaur’s movements throughout the day.
Kaur was assaulted during the attack and pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem has proved inconclusive on the precise cause of her death, with further tests being carried out by pathologists.
Offenders convicted of having sexual intercourse witha minor below 14 years old can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
SINGAPORE (TIP): Three Indian Origin men have been jailed in Singapore for their involvement in sexual acts with a 13-year-old girl in 2016, a media report said today.
Gill Gurjant Singh, 25, and Surjeet Singh, 29, were each sentenced to 15 months in prison for the crime, The Straits Times reported.
Jugraj Singh, 33, was jailed for eight months for committing an indecent act on the Singaporean minor.
Offenders convicted of having sexual intercourse with a minor below 14 years old can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned, according to the report.
All the three men are Indian construction workers, the report said.
They had met the girl in May 2016 in Little India, a precinct of shops, eateries, pubs, motels and hotels, where she was hanging out with her friends, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jesintha Veijayaratnam said.
The girl’s mother approached the police after which a complaint was registered.
HOUSTON (TIP): Indian American , Sanjay Patel has announced that he will run for the US House of Representatives from Florida district. He will run against incumbent Republican Bill Posey.
Patel, a resident of Satellite Beach, announced his candidacy this week at a meeting in Viera of the Brevard County Democratic Executive Committee that was attended by about 400 people.
On his campaign website, Patel is described as “an activist, change-maker and organizational transformation consultant”.
He says he believes in economic justice for all.
If elected, Patel promises to work to build prosperity for communities on the Space and Treasure Coasts by supporting policies that ensure large companies pay employees fairly, and that help small businesses launch, compete fairly and thrive.
“I will work to build prosperity for Florida’s families; guarantee health care for all Americans; protect our land, air and our water; and reform our immigration policy to reflect America’s deepest values,” Patel wrote on his campaign website.
“I am the American Dream, a first-generation immigrant, the son of parents who have barely a high school education, a graduate of UCLA with a degree in economics who has built a small business and a nonprofit, and led transformative efforts in business, philanthropy and politics,” Patel said.
He said he’d take his skills and experiences to “transform our collective sadness and outrage into justice for all”.
“I believe it’s time to cultivate a real conversation on the Space and Treasure coasts about economic, social and environmental justice for all people,” Patel said.
A graduate of UCLA with a degree in economics, Patel began his career in technology, with strategy and consulting roles at Deloitte, Genentech and the Santa Clara County Social Services Agency.
He then launched a small consulting business in San Francisco; and subsequently co-founded a nonprofit, Epic Change, that used social media to raise funds for change-makers across the globe, according to his campaign site.
Patel was one-year-old when his family arrived in America. His father worked at a 7-11 and his vegetarian mother worked at a McDonald’s, while raising four children, including Sanjay.
“My parents’ hard work for other companies earned little wealth for our family, and even less for our community,” he said on his campaign site.
Patel is half of a Brevard Democratic Party power couple. His wife, Stacey Patel, chairs the Brevard County Democratic Executive Committee. Both were elected Bernie Sanders delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Maryland (TIP): Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has endorsed Indian American Democrat Aruna Miller, who is running for Congress from Maryland’s 6th congressional district.
“I am proud to endorse Aruna Miller to be the next Congresswoman from Maryland,” he said. “In the years that I have known her, she has had an exemplary commitment to the people of Montgomery County and has dedicated herself to serving every individual she represents. Her record of votes and constituent services demonstrate that she is the right person for the job. We will all benefit having Aruna Miller in Congress.”
Thanking Leggett, Miller, who is a Maryland statehouse delegate, said, “County Executive Leggett is a legend here in Montgomery County but also across the state. Every day he has made our state and our region a vibrant, thriving place to call home. His work will benefit generations of Marylanders and I am lucky enough not only to have him as my County Executive but also as a mentor, my former boss and as my friend. Ike’s leadership has inspired me in my own public service career.”
According to the Miller campaign, the Indian American has received endorsements from Maryland statehouse Speaker Michael Busch and Chairwoman Maggie McIntosh, in addition to many of her colleagues in the Maryland House of Delegates. “I am so fortunate to work with leaders like Ike Leggett who exemplify government service at its best,” Miller said in a press release.
Leggett, a Vietnam War veteran who served as the chairman of Maryland Democratic Party, is retiring as the county executive later this year.
Miller moved to the US from India in 1972 following her parents and lived for a while in Poughkeepsie, New York, then moved to St. Louis, Missouri with family. She went to engineering school in Missouri University and is a civil engineer — a transportation engineer.
She married her college sweetheart and moved to Montgomery County, Maryland in the 1990s. The couple has three daughters. Two of them have graduated and they are working in New York City. And the youngest is a freshman in University of Maryland, College Park.
The mission of the institute is to be a hub for collaborations between AI scientists from top global institutions, social-impact organizations, and governments by creating and curating high-quality open-access datasets to foster innovation.
TIP: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 18th inaugurated the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence on the Kalina campus of the Mumbai University.
The Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence, a nonprofit independent research institute that aims at developing AI technologies for social gain, will help improve productivity and lead to equitable development, said Modi during his speech.
Founded by Indian American tech entrepreneurs Romesh and Sunil Wadhwani, the institute will work in domains of societal importance, including agriculture, health, education and infrastructure.
“With each wave of new technology, new opportunities arise,” said Modi. “It opens an entirely new paradigm of opportunities. New opportunities have always outnumbered old ones.”
“This optimism spells from my firm faith in the ancient Indian thinking that blended science and spirituality and found harmony between the two for the greater good of mankind,” he added.
The institute is the first of its kind in India that focuses on further developments in artificial intelligence and is supported by the state government of Maharashtra.
The institute will have 10 data scientists from across the world in the initial stage.
The mission of the institute is to be a hub for collaborations between AI scientists from top global institutions, social-impact organizations, and governments by creating and curating high-quality open-access datasets to foster innovation.
The research team at the Wadhwani Institute is collaborating with MIT, Stanford, University of Southern California, NYU, University of Washington, CMU, Alan Turing Institute, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras and IIT Delhi, among other institutions.
In addition to providing space for the institute, the Government of Maharashtra has also offered to provide a test bed for piloting our projects.
“The institute will develop AI-based solutions to serve the bottom 20% of society. Unique initiative!” tweeted CEO of Niti Aayog Amitabh Kant.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian American Rajiv Joshi, a scientist from IBM, has been felicitated for 2018 IEEE in recognition of his work in memory chips and integrated circuits.
A research scientist and key technical lead at IBM, Mr. Joshi was felicitated with the prestigious Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Daniel E Noble award at the 2018 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference early this month.
He won the award for his contributions to predictive failure analytics,very-large-scale integration memory design, and chip interconnect technology .
The annual award recognizes outstanding contributions to emerging technologies in recent years.
It is named in honor of Daniel E. Noble, who is significantly known for the design and installation of the nation’s first statewide two-way radio communications system. The system was the first in the world to use FM technology.
An IIT Bombay alumni, Mr. Joshi’s inventions of novel materials, processes, and structures provided the way for the industry to achieve low resistance and high reliability contacts and interconnects to meet the requirements for contacting smaller transistors in higher speed integrated circuits.
His inventions created a paradigm shift in the way interconnect technology is used, enabling Moore s Law to continue to be valid for today s microelectronics technology.
These key innovations are cited in one of the 100 icons of IBM.
He has led successfully predictive failure analytic techniques for yield prediction. Several novel algorithms were developed to predict rare failure events which are orders of magnitude fast and accurate over conventional techniques.
Such algorithms have potential applications in financial sector, health science and other data analytics applications related to cognitive, Internet of Things (IoT).
He pushed technology-circuit co-design concept from bulk, SOI to FinFET technologies to generate novel high performance, low power storage memories.
Virginia’s Outstanding STEM Awards are for the contribution and deep commitment towards the betterment of human health globally.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian American researchers have been selected for Virginia’s Outstanding STEM Awards for their contribution and deep commitment towards the betterment of human health globally.
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Arun J Sanyal and Parthik Naidu are among six people selected by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam for the 2018 Outstanding STEM Awards.
While Sanyal has developed training programes in liver disease diagnosis and treatment, Naidu,18, has developed a machine learning software to study 3D interactions of the cancer.
Celebrating the academic excellence and entrepreneurial spirit of these Virginians helps showcase how STEM innovations tie in to our everyday lives, said Governor Northam.
It also highlights the profound contribution that STEM makes to Virginia families and our economy. I thank these extraordinary awardees and everyone who works hard to make Virginia a leader in these important fields, Mr. Northam said.
Sanyal is a pioneer in identifying the mechanisms, clinical outcomes and management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NASH) and metabolic syndrome, a disease of increasing prevalence and global consequences.
To address this, he has developed training programes in liver disease diagnosis and treatment, and works to incorporate them in primary care settings.
He was selected for the Virginia Outstanding Scientist award for his deep commitment to the betterment of human health globally via science, education and public policy.
Naidu was selected as a STEM Phenom for his sharing of knowledge with others to inspire those around him to become change makers in addition to his application of STEM principles, a statement said.
He developed a machine learning software to study 3D interactions of the cancer when he was 17 years old.
The computational tool called DNALoopR is faster, less expensive and more accurately analyses the biological patterns of cancer DNA than laboratory tools that currently exist.
DNALoopR gives unprecedented insight into the inner workings of cancer, thus helping doctors create personalized treatments for millions of patients.
Naidu is currently a freshman at Stanford University studying computer science.
New York (TIP): The American India Foundation will honor Chintu Patel and Chirag Patel, cofounders, co-chairmen and co-CEOs of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, at its Philadelphia fundraising gala, which will be held at the National Constitution Center on February 25.
The two executives will be recognized for their “outstanding leadership in business and philanthropy,” AIF said in a press release.
“We are proud to support the important work of the America India Foundation, an organization that strives to improve the lives of millions of citizens of India through the provision of healthcare, livelihoods, and education,” Chintu Patel and Chirag Patel said in a joint statement. “Although there is great need in India, we are confident that together, under the leadership of organizations like the AIF and our own Niswarth and Irada Foundations, we can produce impactful improvements that improve countless lives.”
Counsel General in New York to India Sandeep Chakravorty and AIF CEO Nishant Pandey will be among prominent speakers. The Gala Chairs are Raj Gupta, retired chairman and CEO of Rohm and Haas Company, and Steven Collis, president and CEO of AmerisourceBergen Corporation.
A number of dignitaries, including business leaders, entrepreneurs and academics will attend the gala, which will support the organization’s Maternal and Newborn Survival Initiative (MANSI).
The MANSI program, which is designed to reduce maternal and child mortality in rural, impoverished areas, utilizes a public-private partnership model to provide the resources and support required to empower local communities to care for their mothers and children while improving the local health system.
The program provides preventative and curative care for both mothers and newborns all the way from the individual household to government health facilities to ensure new mothers and infants have the care they need to prepare for, survive, and thrive during and after pregnancy.
Aftab Pureval is one amongst the twenty Indian Americans who are running for Congress this year.
Ohio (TIP): Indian American Aftab Pureval, a rising politician in Ohio, has emerged as one of Democratic Party’s best hopes flipping a congressional seat in the Buckeye State.
Pureval, who became the first Democrat to get elected as the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts in more than 100 years, is running from Ohio’s first congressional district. If he wins the primary, he will take on incumbent Steve Chabot, a Republican.
He became the 20th Indian American to run for Congress this year. Puravel’s father was from India and his mother was a Tibetan refugee living in India before they both moved to the United States.
“This wasn’t an easy decision and I never planned to do it, but these are extraordinary times,” Puravel said while announcing his candidacy on social media recently. “If we don’t like the direction of our country, then it’s on us to change it.”
So far two other Democrats have also announced their candidacy: Robert Barr and Laura Ann Weaver.
Many believe that Pureval is the strongest of the three, who can take down Chabot, who has been representing the Republican leaning district for more than 20 years.
Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley is one of them.“He is the right kind of moderate that I think fits the district and can help move the political center of gravity back to the middle from its right-wing trajectory in Washington,” he told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“Even Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor, a Republican, called Pureval ‘refreshing’ and “a perfect example of somebody who could have gone in a lot of different directions and decided to become a public servant.”
During his period as the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, Pureval is credited with ending nepotism and making the office more professional.
Born and brought up in southwest Ohio, Pureval went to public schools. He received a bachelor’s in political science from the Ohio State University in 2005. There he served as a student body president. During his tenure, he pushed the Ohio state legislature for increased funding for higher education.
After college, Pureval went to University of Cincinnati College of Law. There he worked in the Domestic Violence Clinic representing women who were victims of violence. Later he moved to Washington, D.C., to join White & Case LLP, one of the largest law firms in the country.
Four years later, he returned to Hamilton County where he worked as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Dept. of Justice.
Puravel’s father worked his way up from bagging groceries to becoming a manager at Lockheed Martin. The candidate says it was his father who taught him the importance of hard work and devotion to family.
Illinois (TIP): An Indian American Sikh Uber driver was allegedly held at gunpoint by a passenger who said “I hate turban people” and asked racial questions regarding his nationality and his allegiance to the US, media reports said.
The sheriff’s office in Illinois is investigating the assault on Gurjeet Singh, the Uber driver, who reported the incident to police on January 29, the Washington Post reported.
The advocacy organization Sikh Coalition says that the passenger pointed a gun on the driver and said, I hate turban people. I hate beard people, the report said.
After meeting with Rock Island County Sheriff Gerry Bustos on February 14th the leaders of the organization expressed frustration, that the passenger has not been arrested since the attack.
Bustos told the Post that he expects to charge the suspect with aggravated assault and perhaps further charges by week’s end, after he receives information that the sheriff’s office has requested from Uber through a search warrant, it said.
Investigators have interviewed the driver, the suspect and another passenger who was in the car, Bustos said.
He said that the driver picked up the two passengers together in Moline, Illinois and began to drive them toward their destination.
The male passenger and the driver got into an argument, he said.
The argument was about where people’s loyalties lie. There was an argument over where people were from, he said.
The Sikh Coalition said that the male passenger started asking Singh, the driver, a series of questions: What is your status here? Which country do you belong to? Do you serve your country or do you serve our country?
Singh, a legal US resident who does not speak fluent English, said he serves the United States and India, because his parents live there. Then, Singh said, the passenger put a gun to his head and said he hated turban people, the report said.
A nationwide million-dollar campaign was launched by Sikhs in the US to spread awareness and address the collective misunderstanding over the minority community amid a spike in hate crimes against them in the country.
The “We are Sikhs” campaign was launched by the National Sikh Campaign (NSC), a non-profit organization.
Gandhi, a longtime community leader, promised to continue his focus on improving the lives of residents in the thriving community.
Sugar Land TX (TIP): Indian American Himesh Gandhi has filed for re-election to a city council in the US state of Texas.
He is a three-term incumbent of the At-Large Position 1 post on the Sugar Land, Texas, City Council and is seeking a fourth and final term in the May 5 election.
Gandhi, a longtime community leader, promised to continue his focus on improving the lives of residents in the thriving community.
“Sugar Land has been my home for most of my adult life. It is a diverse, growing city where we are successfully merging cultures, ideas and values,” Gandhi told PTI.
“I am committed to maintaining quality development and robust city services while following smart spending practices,” he said.
Himesh, first elected in 2012 at the age of 35, was the youngest councilman to be elected in a citywide vote. He has served on numerous City Council committees and was also a member of the task force that spearheaded development of the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land—an iconic concert and performance hall that opened last year.
Other successes and projects launched by the city during his previous term include the successful annexations of Greatwood and New Territory, the acquisition of a former prison site for re-development, the completion of drainage projects and the return to normal operations after the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey.
“As a member of City Council, I will continue to listen to my constituents and work with my fellow council members and the city staff to ensure that Sugar Land remains a premier city with a solid vision for the future,” Gandhi said.
“Together, with our forward-looking residents, we can accomplish even more great things for this city,” he said.
Gandhi is an attorney and shareholder with the law firm ‘Roberts Markel Weinberg Butler Hailey PC’. He is board certified in commercial real estate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has served leading roles in numerous community organizations.
In 2015, he was honored by the Houston Business Journal as one of the region’s 40 Under-40 young leaders.
HOUSTON, US (TIP) : Indian American Ravinder Bhalla, who became the first Sikh mayor of New Jersey’s Hoboken city, agrees to receiving death threats against him and his family recently.
In a statement issued February 16th afternoon following a security breach at City Hall, Mr. Bhalla said the city is working with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force to improve security at City Hall.
“This incident, along with death threats to me and my family, is an unfortunate reminder that we need to take security seriously,” Ravinder Bhalla said, without elaborating on the threats.
“The Joint Terrorism Task Force has evaluated City Hall, and we have been working to implement their recommendations for physical and procedural changes to improve security for all employees in the building,” he said.
According to city spokesman Juan Melli, a man entered City Hall and told security he needed to use the restroom after going through the metal detectors.
While Mr. Bhalla was not in his office at the time, his deputy chief of staff, Jason Freeman, observed the man throw a bag with an object in it towards the administrative assistant’s desk before running out of the office, Mr. Melli said in a statement.
Hoboken Police Chief Kenneth Ferrante added that the department takes these matters very seriously.
“We take incidents like these incredibly seriously and will continue working to ensure the security of the mayor and everyone who visits City Hall,” he said.
Ravinder Bhalla became the first ever Sikh to hold office in New Jersey after stiff competition that turned ugly when he was called a “terrorist” on Twitter by a known supporter of Donald Trump.
LONDON (TIP): A senior Indian origin metropolitan police officer is running for the charge of Britain’s anti-terrorism chief .The Scotland Yard’s National Lead for Counter Terrorism resigns next month.
Neil Basu, currently Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner and Senior National Coordinator for UK Counter Terrorism Policing, is tipped to take over one of the British policing s toughest jobs from Mark Rowley, The Sunday Times reported.
Mr Basu, whose father is of Indian origin, is a former Met Police commander overseeing organized crime and gangs. He has specialized in anti-terrorism policing for the past three years and is currently Rowley’s deputy.
He has been vocal about cracking down on British nationals who joined the ISIS terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.
In a recent interview with the Combating Terrorism Centre in New York, he said that exclusion powers would be applied to about 200 of the 300 fighters in the war zone as he revealed that about half of the 850 who travelled from Britain to join ISIS had already returned and more than 100 were dead. Of the remaining 300, two-thirds would be blocked from the UK.
Like other countries, we operate on the principle that we don’t want you back, and therefore we will deprive you of your British passport for those among these who end up coming back, we are absolutely waiting for them. That’s the bottom line, he said.
The big threat for us now is the ideology that’s been diffused onto the internet and the calls for attacks by its followers in the West by ISIS online. The caliphate may have been defeated militarily, but it has now become a virtual network, he warned.
Other possible candidates for the post of Britain’s anti-terror chief include Helen Ball, a Met Police assistant commissioner, and Dave Thompson, the West Midlands chief constable, from whose area numerous terrorist plots have emerged in the UK.
“Do you see a correlation in getting the innocent Hindus to develop anti-Muslims sentiments through the communal riots, leading into to complete takeover of the Uttar Pradesh? The likes of which were done here in the United States. Did Russia pay for those riots through the Sangh Parivar organizations to weaken the Indian Democracy? Both Modi and Trump have a special affection for Putin; and both of them want to emulate Putin”, says the author.
Deepa Seetharam, a reporter from Wall Street Journal called me and asked if I spoke in a rally at White House in September 2016? I said no, and then she reminded me that my name was a listed as a speaker.
Seetharam wrote in WSJ’s October 30, 2017, publication, “Representatives from the Facebook page “United Muslims of America” asked Mike Ghouse, an interfaith activist, to speak at a Sept. 3, 2016, event in Washington, D.C. billed as “a peaceful rally, to make mosques and their neighborhood safe!”
The group sent Mr. Ghouse placards they intended to use that included anti-Trump messages, causing him to back out, he said. “I said they should be more pluralistic, more inclusive because there’s no need to attack Trump,” Mr. Ghouse said. “They wouldn’t, so I didn’t go.” Obviously, I did not speak there either.
“Some events stoked public discord. At the rally in front of the Islamic center in Houston, about a dozen protesters gathered, some waving confederate flags or holding a sign that said “#WhiteLivesMatter,” according to video footage.”
Russians had an elaborate plan of pitting one American against the other, their end goal was to weaken democracies and create discord within each nation – their logic was; for Russia to shine, other countries have to be weakened, and Russia will stand out as the strongest nation in the world with a strong man running the nation. Putin is the Czar under his skin.
CNN reports that “80 times Trump talked about Putin.” Indeed, “Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump consistently broke from political orthodoxy in his effusive praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin. His glowing statements on Putin have become central in stoking the suspicion that he and his campaign were somehow connected to Russian interference in the election.”
Narendra Modi in Russia praises President Vladimir Putin’s family for sacrificing lives for the country. Modi praises Putin’s effort in convening 1st Tiger conservation Summit.
Both Modi and Trump think Putin is awesome, someone to be modeled after, as they want to dictate to the public.
Senator John McCain said in an interview that Putin is determined to prove to the world that Democracies don’t work. Indeed, that is what the fascists think about democracies – they get their devoted slaves to do whatever they want – attacking others as Sikularist and calling the news that goes against them as fake news. It’s amazing how many people buy that stuff in India and the United States.
Both Modi and Trump have resorted to divide and rule policies; they are determined to pit one Indian against the other in case of Modi, and one American against the other by Trump.
Russians staged “Anti-Trump rallies’ in the name of American Muslims. Perhaps, that may be the reason Trump is so anti-Muslim. Some of the rallies were held against Hillary to give the impression that it is the work of public, and some were devised against Trump just to make it look real.
What happens in India? Manohar Joshi writes in the Wire, “The fact that communal violence is rising in India is not hidden. Even the government acknowledges that there has been a steady uptick in communal incidents. In response to a question in parliament on Tuesday (February 6), minister of state Hansraj Ahir disclosed that as many as 111 people were killed and nearly 2,500 injured in 822 communal incidents in 2017, as compared to 751 incidents in 2016 that took the life of 97 people and 703 in 2016 when 86 were killed.”
Did the Russians stage these events? Did they pay these men to stage communal riots and murder people?
The fake encounters set up by the Gujarat police earned further support for BJP from an average innocent Hindu. Of course, Musharraf’s Kargil invasion strengthened the hold of BJP in power.
Putin failed in France and Germany but succeeded in Austria, India,United States and other nations.
Most Indians will resist the idea of an investigation; they simply do not want to believe that the Indian Elections may have been rigged. They are afraid of even exploring the possibilities. If they have lost their loved ones, they would want to know if Russia is paying the goons to create chaos. Is Yogi Adityanath paid agent of Russia? The purpose of the investigation is to find the truths if they are clean, that would be good news. What if they were not? Should they continue in governing India and continue to pit one Indian against the other?
Do you see a correlation in getting the innocent Hindus to develop anti-Muslims sentiments through the communal riots, leading into to complete takeover of the Uttar Pradesh? The likes of which were done here in the United States. Did Russia pay for those riots through the Sangh Parivar organizations to weaken the Indian Democracy? Both Modi and Trump have a special affection for Putin; both of them want to emulate Putin.
Neither Trump nor Modi was expecting to win; all the surveys, reports and polls indicated the win for Congress in India and Democrats in America. Both the men were surprised with the win, let alone land-slide wins.
The Russians publicized or financed at least 60 events – on all sides of most polarizing issues – before and after the 2016 election. What about India’s 2014 election?
Is it worth investigating Russian hand in the mess that is created in India? Should we save the nation from divisive men? These men will come and go in one or two terms, but it is the common men and women in India that will bear the brunt of their karma.
(The author is an Indian-American committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. As we learn to respect the “otherness” of others and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of us, conflicts will fade and solutions emerge. He is the president of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC.)
COMMENTS
Dr. Ghouse’s article invited a quick reaction from a reader. Here is the unedited comment of Desh D Kapoor (desh.kapoor@gmail.com) received at 11.07 A.M., a few minutes after the article was published.
“This is just a piece of trashy writing based on nothing but conjectures and hyperbole! Amazed. In fact, if at all, with Cambridge Analytics (firm that helped Trump) working for Congress, 2019 will be where Foreign meddling (Mani Shankar Aiyar’s home meeting with Pakistani officials – a Trump Tower moment?!) will be tested.
“In fact, Modi has NEVER appealed on religious basis. Even the honest Pakistani commentators say that clearly (check Najam Sethi’s analysis post 2014). But how do you stop the ideologically compromised Indian Muslim commentators who would rather use religion for their own purpose than for the good of the community! Reminded of the Tata Nano move, where Mamata created issues and Modi brought that in to Gujarat. The villages near the plant were predominantly Muslim. And within 4-5 years, their land prices went up 25 times making everyone a millionaire. When indiscriminate development happens – there is no color. But who can explain to the ideologically compromised who still hold Mamata as the paragon of virtues as she keeps everyone poor.
So excuse me, but this Machiavellian piece is not even worth the paper it was probably published on.”
********
We received a rejoinder from Dr. Ghouse at 12.30 P.M. nearly an hour and a half after Mr. Desh D. Kapoor’s comment, which is being published here, without being edited.
Desh,
“I wrote the essay as an Indian, and not as a Muslim. I wish you learn to hold on to your communalism and see the validity of the argument.
“Thank God, none of your relatives or mine were killed by the extremists in Muzaffar Nagar and other riots, but you should be human enough to have empathy for those whose families have suffered. If Russia had paid the goons to lynch and harass fellow Indians, then don’t you think it should be investigated? Are you against finding the truth?
“The success of a nation hinges on its two solid feet; economic prosperity which brings sab ka Vikas, not just mitron ka Vikas, and the other is sab ka saath, every Indian should feel included – that is a cohesive India, where no Indian feels excluded or lives in apprehension. Both the economy and social fabric must remain intact, one will not happen without the other, otherwise what we will witness would a langda India and ultimately everyone will suffer. Injustice to one is injustice to all.
“Mani Shankar Aiyar’s meeting at his home has been clarified, you still give it a religious color to it and Modi was too eager to paint it for electoral gains.
“A true patriot is the one who criticizes the government incessantly to keep them on the toes, on the other hand, if you toe the line of the government and kiss-ass of the leaders, you are not serving the nation.
“We need to rise about the pettiness and start looking to every Indian as an Indian and be patriotic Indians who think of making India and all her people successful and included.”
Mike Ghouse
Mr. Desh D Kapoor commented at1.04 P.M. 02/19/ 2018. (Unedited)
“Mike, excuse me, but I don’t give you the right to create your own Halos and abuse others. From where I see, you are always talking as a Muslim and not as an Indian. Further, I don’t see you as a secular at all. I think this self-congratulatory stuff should end if you even want to hold any dialog. Just like ‘Allah is the ONLY God…” Or “Jesus is the ONLY Savior..” are a non-starter to any useful discussion and inherently Supremacist in ethos – your fetish for constructing your own halo and calling other communal is damning for any dialog and shows your real self. So, time to stop the tricks!
“Like I said, I have never ever seen Modi say anything even remotely communal. If you have any evidence, then talk. On the other hand, AIMIM, Congress, Samajwadi and Trinamool folks are rabidly communal.
“And that leads me to another point – criticizing someone’s Muslim appeasement is not communal. To be an apologist for Jihad and acting as apologist for communal people in India is inherently Hinduphobic.
“It is this realization that has led to the awakening in India. What you see in the US, is also something similar. Where the rabid apologists for Islamism in the US left are being trashed all over. The problem in the US is a little different – because the challenge to Islamic Supremacism (which is what you represent however you may try to camouflage) is actually now coming from the White Supremacists, because left has chosen to back one end of Supremacism (between White/Christian Supremacism and Islamic Supremacism).
“In India, most folks who feign Secularism like John Dayal and Taslim Rehmani – are either Christian fanatics (check his hinduphobic testimonies in US) or Islamic fanatics (check how Rehmani declares “We ruled over Hindus for 1000 years”). And, most common laymen who were not into any religious debate are now waking up to the war of boiling the frog slowly.
“So, nice try, Mike. but you cannot construct your own Halo and wear it.”
Dr. Mike Ghouse at 2.27 P.M. 02/19/2018 replied to Mr.Deepak. (Unedited)
“Desh,
“Here you go again, you are “assuming’ this, ” Just like ‘Allah is the ONLY God…” Or “Jesus is the ONLY Savior.”
“You also made an assumption I support ” AIMIM, Congress, Samajwadi and Trinamool folks are rabidly communal.” I don’t, they are indeed communal, except the Congress which has a few rats in it, but the party as such is secular.
“BJP, on the other hand, is very communal – of the 400 plus candidates they gave tickets to run as their member, there may be one or two Muslims. They found a way to dupe innocent Indians – play the religion card, they fooled once, but could not do it again, but they staged communal riots, ghar wapasi and other tricks to pit one Indian against the other. You are a journalist, track down the history – the communal riots have occurred with the clear presence of RSS in the town, where they are not, there are fewer clashes.
“Let me be clear – the problem is not with Hinduism or Islam, Hindus or Muslims, it is the extremist positions that BJP has taken with their fascist political ideology – they want to force what you eat and what you believe down the throats.
“Modi’s fake reference to Pakistan collusion was communal politics, he generated ill-will among Hindus by the way he presented Mani Shankar Aiyar’s meeting
Modi wore every headgear wherever he went but clearly refused to wear a cap given by a Muslim.
“Would you agree that a cohesive India is what we need to work for – that requires that everyone minds his own business, and every Indian would be free to breathe, eat, drink, wear and believe whatever he or she wants to. Is that the India you want?
“Mike Ghouse”
Mr. Desh D. Kapoor countered at 2.47 P.M. 02/19/2018 . (Unedited)
“Mike, Again – lots of assumptions and lots of “I am Good- You are bad” attitude.
I never said that you support those parties. I said they are communal because they practice appeasement and their politics is purely casteist and communal.
There is no reason to believe that BJP is communal. Looking at candidates purely from religious angle is a sickness and something that plays along with Jinnah’s idea of Equal representation which caused partition. So, not looking at representatives from their religious affiliation is the right and secular way.
Ghar Wapasi is Communal and Conversions / Evangelism is Secular? Really?!! like i said stop the tricks, please.
RSS and riots: I have read about the riots pretty carefully and I don’t know of a single evidence to say that RSS started any riot.
ban on Beef is a law that BJP did NOT create. It was and you are trying to say that someone should not follow the law? Are you for lawlessness? I think you need to clear your stand please.
Reference to Pakistan for Collusion by Congress – was “Communal politics”?!! Wow, Really?!! So you equate Pakistani with Indian Muslims? From how I and most people saw it was – Pakistan means PAKISTAN.. the COUNTRY! Period! You see how your slip shows through? :)
“I want a cohesive India. But like MLK Jr said “I want White man to be my brother, not Brother in law”. From where most Hindus see now – Kalma and the Creed are at the root of Communal violence in India and around the world. Change the supremacism and peace will follow. if you try to hood-wink and play such tricks and play vote bank politics (how many Muslims candidate type), then the vote bank of today will go against that politics.
“I want an India where development is indiscriminate and blind to the religion or caste. Where transformation is at the grass root. And that is where Modi is working on. So, I will back him to back the India that is the future of the world. Not one of Congress or pseudo-Seculars who see Muslim communalism in references to Pakistan. Amazed honestly!!!”
The Indian Panorama invites readers to participate in the debate.
It was a colossal blunder, wrote Chief Justice Stephen J. Markman. “This case involves a remarkable confluence of what appears to be both medical and legal dereliction,” he wrote, “resulting in an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.”
Michigan (TIP): When Bimla Nayyar dislocated her jaw in January 2012, her family took her to a Dearborn, Michigan, hospital for what was supposed to be a routine surgery. But things went horribly awry after doctors wheeled the 81-year-old grandmother into the operating room.
At some point during their preparations, staff at Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center mixed up Nayyar’s x-ray records with another patient’s, as the hospital’s lawyers would later concede in court. Instead of operating on her jaw, surgeons bored into her skull in search of brain bleeding that wasn’t there. She died of complications related to the surgery two months later.
In 2015, a jury awarded Nayyar’s family a staggering $20 million. But Michigan’s highest court says they can’t collect a penny – all because of an apparently bad legal gamble.
In a short, sharply-worded order last week, the Michigan Supreme Court faulted the family’s lawyers for arguing that Nayyar’s death was the result of ordinary negligence, a claim that places no limits on the amount of money plaintiffs can be awarded.
An earlier ruling in the case had effectively barred the lawyers from pursuing an ordinary negligence claim, the justices wrote. Instead, they should have argued medical malpractice, under which financial awards are capped. They didn’t, so the award had to be voided, according to the order.
It was a colossal blunder, wrote Chief Justice Stephen J. Markman.
“This case involves a remarkable confluence of what appears to be both medical and legal dereliction,” he wrote, “resulting in an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.”
The order leaves in place a lower court ruling that overturned the $20 million award.
The lead attorney for Nayyar’s family, Geoffrey Fieger, pleaded with the court to restore the award, noting that the hospital had admitted negligence during the proceedings.
“This court would have to suspend all concepts of fair play, justice and truth to ignore the gross injustice that has occurred here,” Fieger and co-counsel said in a filing, according to the Associated Press. “For God’s sake, do something about it.”
But Markman said the attorneys poisoned their case when they “repeatedly asserted” during trial that the claim being litigated was ordinary negligence, even though that claim was already off the table.
“To summarize,” the justice wrote, “plaintiff now has no negligence claim and no medical malpractice claim, all despite the fact that (a) defendant-hospital openly admitted negligence, (b) a jury determined that this negligence constituted the proximate cause of plaintiff’s death, and (c) a jury awarded plaintiff a $20 million verdict.”
Oakwood’s attorneys said the family’s counsel erred by making an “all or nothing . . . bad bet” on a negligence claim, according to the Associated Press.
Fieger was not immediately available to discuss the case on February 15th .
One of Michigan’s most prominent trial attorneys, Fieger is known for taking on high-stakes, headline-grabbing lawsuits and criminal cases.
When Bimla Nayyar’s family retained him after her death in 2012, Fieger called her case “the most shocking abuse I have ever seen” in nearly four decades of practice, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The family’s lawsuit initially alleged ordinary negligence, but a trial court dismissed that claim, according to the Michigan Supreme Court’s order. In turn, the family refiled the lawsuit as a medical malpractice action, and the hospital “conceded negligence so that the case proceeded to a jury only on the issues of causation of death and damages,” the order noted.
But during trial, the family’s attorneys continued to present the case as ordinary negligence in an attempt to win a judgment that was, in the high court’s words, “unmoored” from the cap on financial damages. That was the move that ultimately cost the family its $20 million award. Under Michigan law, the family could have received an award of several hundred thousand dollars if lawyers had successfully argued medical malpractice.
Nayyar left behind a husband, two daughters, a son and several grandchildren, according to the Detroit Free Press. Relatives spread her ashes in the River Ganges in India, her home country.
At the end of his order, Markman, the chief justice, signaled again that he sympathized with Nayyar’s family: “The decedent’s husband’s plaintive inquiry nonetheless resonates loudly: ‘How is [this] possible in a just and fair world . . . ?’ There is no satisfactory answer, in my judgment, only that further review of this matter might well be pursued in an appropriate action.”
When an alarm went on for the second time on Wednesday afternoon, Shanthi Viswanathan shut the doors to her algebra classroom, made the students crouch on the floor and covered the windows, keeping them out of the reach and sight of the gunman, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Florida (TIp): An Indian American math teacher, Shanthi Viswanathan is being appreciated for saving the lives of her students like a super woman during the shooting rampage at a Florida high school on February 14th that left 17 dead.
When an alarm went on for the second time on Wednesday afternoon, Shanthi Viswanathan shut the doors to her algebra classroom, made the students crouch on the floor and covered the windows, keeping them out of the reach and sight of the gunman, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
“She was quick on her feet. She used her knowledge. She saved a lot of kids,” Dawn Jarboe, the mother of one of Ms. Viswanathan’s students, told the newspaper.
When an elite police contingent known as a SWAT team came and knocked on the door asking her to open it, “Viswanathan took no chance that it wasn’t a trick by the gunman to get in” the newspaper said.
“She said, ‘knock it down or open it with a key. I’m not opening the door,’” Dawn Jarboe quoted her as telling the police.
“Some SWAT guy took out the window and cleared our room,” Dawn Jarboe’s son, Brian, texted his mother, the newspaper said.
A former student of the school, Nikolas Cruz, is in custody and being charged for the hideous crime.
Florida (TIP): Indian American Danny Gaekwad has been appointed by Governor Rick Scott to the University of Central Florida Board of Trustees. Gaekwad has been appointed for a five-year term starting February 2, 2018, through January 6, 2023. Scott announced Gaekwad’s new position with 11 other appointments on February 2.
The twelve appointments to state boards announced by the Governor include 7 reappointments.
Ocala, Florida,-based Digvijay “Danny” Gaekwad is a first-generation Indian American businessman. A serial entrepreneur with more than three decades of experience in setting up successful businesses, Gaekwad is the founder and CEO of NDS USA Information Technology, an IT firm, and Danny G Management that runs a chain of restaurants and hotels across Florida. He has founded businesses in diverse fields such as convenience stores, real estate, hospitality and information technology.
Born in Baroda, Gujarat, Gaekwad has served on several boards including Enterprise Florida, Inc., Visit Florida, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Marion County Visitor and Convention Bureau, Marion County Tourism Development Council, Marion County Planning and Zoning Commissioner, Space Florida, Independence National Bank, and Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.
A graduate in political science from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India, Gaekwad has several accolades to his credit. Among these are Asian American Hotel Owners Association Chairman’s Award, ‘One Million Jobs’ certificate, Lion of the Year Award, Leaders Leader Award and Glorious India Chairman’s Award.
Gaekwad lives in Ocala with his wife Manisha Gaekwad, and two sons Karan Gaekwad and Kunal Gaekwad.
England (TIP): Six Indian Americans are among 35 students from the US selected for the prestigious Gates Cambridge scholarship as reported by Gates Cambridge on Twitter on February 16th .
Under a $210 million endowment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the scholarship enables outstanding graduate students from over 100 countries around the world to study at the University of Cambridge.
Gates Cambridge has begun the selection process for our class of 2018. After interviews in Seattle, WA in late January the Gates Cambridge Trust has awarded scholarships to 35 outstanding candidates from across the United States. Names of the candidates from other countries would be announced in April 2018.
The Indian Americans are Neil Davey, Ayan Mandal, Pranay Nadella,Vaithish Velazhahan, Kaamya Varagur and Monica Kullar.
This is what they have to say about their selection and road ahead:
Neil Davey writes ,”Visiting India each summer as I grew up in Maryland, I not only developed a deep appreciation for the beauty of Sanskrit and the rhythm of the Tabla, but also a keen interest in the issue of access to healthcare technology in resource-limited settings. As an undergraduate at Harvard studying Applied Mathematics/Economics with a secondary in Global Health & Health Policy, I founded UniDx, an organization focused on the early-stage diagnosis of infectious diseases using microfluidics-based technology. I traveled to both Peru and India to conduct clinical studies on the low-cost device for individuals with malaria. While there, I found that pure technological solutions were simply not enough to remedy pressing global health problems; rather, a more integrated approach addressing the relevant social, political, and economic barriers was required. Through an MPhil in Technology Policy at Judge Business School, I hope to learn how to better launch technologies in developing countries with a strong understanding of the countries’ local contexts. While at Cambridge, I am particularly excited to interact with faculty who research access to care, as well as be in a community of scholars who will challenge my beliefs and allow me to rethink my perspectives on healthcare. I am so grateful to be joining the Gates Cambridge community, and very eager to be surrounded by a group of intellectuals who are committed to improving the lives of others through scholarship and community engagement.”
Ayan Mandal writes, “In high school, I was interested in the questions surrounding psychology, but more satisfied with answers utilizing biology. Naturally, this predicament led me to neuroscience. At Georgetown University, while pursing majors in Neurobiology and Physics, I studied how different disease states could affect the connectivity of the nervous system. Most of my work centered on stroke, where we investigated how damage to neural structures, particularly white matter tracts, affected language abilities in patients. I also conducted in vitro electrophysiology research and characterized the functional connectivity of neuronal networks corresponding to APOE4, a high risk gene for Alzheimer’s Disease, in comparison to APOE3, the neutral allele. At Cambridge, I will be applying my growing expertise in network neuroscience analysis to uncover brain networks corresponding to states of cognition in patients with brain tumors. We hypothesize that when important pieces of cognitive networks are resected to remove the tumor, predictable surgically induced cognitive deficits will result. This work could inform neurosurgical planning before tumor resection in the future. Ultimately, I hope to become a physician-scientist dedicated to translating key advances in research into the clinic. I am truly honored to join a community of motivated scholars focused on bettering the human condition.”
Pranay Nadella writes, “I grew up in suburban New Jersey as the son of two immigrants from southern India. My father is from a small village called Pedapulivarru, which inspires my passion for health equity in low-resource settings. Growing up, I devoted much of my time to community service. My experience volunteering at a free medical clinic in New Jersey showed me that the same health disparities in my father’s village exist around me in New Jersey. As an undergraduate student at Harvard University, I study Biology and Statistics in order to refine my lens on pressing public health challenges. Through global health coursework, I’ve become very passionate about maternal and child health. As a result, I spent time in Tanzania investigating contributors to delayed vaccination. I lead Harvard’s Partners in Health Engage chapter, which meets with legislators and fundraises to advocate for lifesaving global health programs. Striving to address maternal and child health disparities at home in the U.S. as well, I served as a leader of the National Youth Council of the March of Dimes, a U.S.-based non-profit focused on preventing preterm birth. At Cambridge, I will study the MPhil in Public Health and continue to focus on improving public health programs for vulnerable mothers and children. I’m excited to join the diverse, inspiring and passionate Gates Cambridge community.”
Vaithish Velazhahan writes,” As an undergraduate at Kansas State University double majoring in Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, I worked in the lab of Dr. Kathrin Schrick where I pursued multiple independent projects. I used biophysical tools to characterize direct targets of dietary flavonoids, which are abundantly found in fruits and vegetables and are known to possess anti-cancerous properties. This project emerged from my quest to understand protein-flavonoid interactions. As the only person conducting this research, I had to teach myself a lot of different techniques and face numerous challenges, but in the process I developed a great love and appreciation for the visualization of protein structures. During my PhD in the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), I will be using electron cryo-microscopy to uncover new structures of activated states of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Over 40% of commercially available drugs target GPCRs; therefore, it is important to understand their structures to design new drugs to treat a variety of human diseases. I am very excited to contribute to advances in electron cryo-microscopy, and I am grateful for this opportunity to work alongside and learn from world-class scientists in the LMB. Besides science, I enjoy working towards bridging global health disparities. I have worked with MEDLIFE in Peru and Ecuador, and I also run my own non-profit WE SAVE in India where we are developing technology to connect doctors with underserved patients.”
Kaamya Varagur writes,” I am a scientist and singer pursuing an MPhil at the Cambridge Centre for Music and Science. At Princeton University, I majored in neuroscience with a certificate in vocal performance. As a student of both neuroscience and music, I have always been interested in the scientific study of music’s effects on mind and body. While a dominant narrative within music and medicine focuses on music’s therapeutic effects during the illness state, I am interested in further exploring its impact on healthy individuals, from the perspective of music as a tool to enhance community health. One of the most unique stages of life during which music can exert its effects is in early infancy, when mothers and families of infants can expose their children to an enriching musical environment, which has been shown time and again to have benefits for infants along various developmental avenues. At Cambridge my research will specifically examine the reciprocal effects of infant-directed singing on mother and child, looking at how such music modulates physiological arousal/stress. I plan on pursuing a medical career and hope to engage with community music programs that operate out of healthcare settings throughout my life. In my time at Cambridge I also look forward to participating in its vibrant choral tradition.”
Monica Kullar writes, “I completed my B.Sc. in Psychology at University of California, San Diego, where I trained across diverse labs within psychology and neuroscience. After graduating a year early, I joined Stanford University as a research assistant in the departments of Psychology & Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. I explored how neural systems and personal traits are involved in the formation of social networks, as well as how neural mechanisms underlying self-regulation of emotion and cognition may predict positive lifestyle and mood-related changes in depression and obesity. At the University of Cambridge, I aim to conduct research on the effectiveness of down-regulating negative emotions in stressful real-world contexts, and elucidate further on neurobiological models of emotion regulation across both healthy and vulnerable populations. My goal is to advance our understanding on the complexities of managing our emotions and address ways to improve emotional and mental health. Ultimately, my ambition is to pursue an academic career within the growing field of social and affective neuroscience by leading my own laboratory and continuing to drive translational and applied research.”
DALLAS (TIP): The 4th annual Dallas/Fort Worth South Asian Film Festival (DFW SAFF) entertained, engaged and enthralled more than one thousand North Texans who attended sold-out screenings of 19 shorts, documentaries and feature films over the four-day period (February 8 to 11 at Highland Park Village Theatre and AMC Village on the Parkway in Addison). Addison Mayor Joe Chow attended the festival and addressed the cinephiles who packed the opening night screening.
Festival Coordinator Nisha Bhatt, Festival Director Jitin Hingorani, Artistic Director Ambica DevActress Priyanka Bose (DEVI) with Director Faraz Ansari (SISAK)Q&A with CHUMBAK team – From L to R: co-writer Saurabh Bhave, producer Naren Kumar, director Sandeep Modi and moderator Jim Falk (World Affairs Council)From L to R: Jitin Hingorani, Actress Suchitra Pillai (DANCE LIKE A MAN & THE VALLEY), Director Saila Kariat (THE VALLEY), AVS’ Raju Sethi and Actor Alyy Khan (THE VALLEY)From L to R: Jitin Hingorani, Director Faraz Ansari (SISAK), Actress Priyanka Bose (DEVI) and Actor/Writer/Producer Shawn Parikh (KHOL)
Filmmakers and actors who attended the festival included:
With one world premiere, six international premieres, two U.S. premieres, nine Texas premieres and one Dallas premiere, festival director and founder Jitin Hingorani says, “We received a lot of positive feedback about our programming this year, as the issues raised in our films ranged from father/son relationships to child slavery and sex education in India to teenage depression in the U.S. to the plight of South Asians living in Europe. At the end of the day, our audiences keep coming back because of the strong content we showcase, and we are already preparing to incorporate audience and jury awards in the 5th iteration of our festival.”
Clockwise from top left: Opening Night Films WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY (feature) and MEHRAM (short), Centerpiece Film ABU and Closing Night Film CHUMBAK
For the complete festival lineup, including trailers & synopses, please go HERE!
JINGO Media, a Dallas and New York-based PR and events management company, created DFW SAFF four years ago, and in 2017, the festival was recognized by Texas Governor Greg Abbott as one of the “Most Innovative Small Businesses” in the state of Texas.
Wells Fargo has been the main sponsor of the festival since its inception. “At Wells Fargo, diversity and inclusion are a business imperative that lets us take advantage of the creativity and innovation that comes from multiple perspectives. It helps us understand our customers more fully, see business opportunities in new ways and succeed in serving the needs of all customers,” said Region Bank President for Greater Dallas, Scott Wallace. “For this reason, we value and promote diversity in every aspect of our business and at every level of our organization. It is only fitting for us to be supporting and celebrating the South Asian culture of Dallas-Fort Worth, while embracing the amazing contributions and legacy of the South Asian artistic community through this incredible festival.”
Other major sponsors included: Skypass Travel Group, Hotstar, Mercedes Benz of Plano, Town of Addison, Parish Episcopal School, UTD – Naveen Jindal School of Management, World Affairs Council, EarthxFilm, Margaret and Trammell Crow Collection of Asian Art & Dallas Film Commission.
For more information about the festival, please visit www.dfwsaff.com
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