The Indian Panorama

Month: March 2018

  • “Hard Rock” sells “Hindu Pizza”, upsetting Hindus

    “Hard Rock” sells “Hindu Pizza”, upsetting Hindus

    NEW YORK (TIP): Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) has a “Hindu” pizza on its menu containing “chicken tikka masala with yogurt, cilantro and mint”, which has upset the Hindus.

    Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement to The Indian Panorama from Nevada termed it as a trivialization of the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought.

    Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged Orlando (Florida) headquartered Hard Rock International ((HRI), whose tagline is “Love All, Serve All”; to immediately rename the “Hindu” pizza, and its Chairman Jim Allen to offer a formal apology.

    Rajan Zed pointed out that Hindus were mostly vegetarian and selling a meat topped pizza in their name was highly inappropriate. No faith, larger or smaller, should be taken frivolously and mishandled for mercantile greed, Zed added.

    Zed suggested that HRI and other companies should send their senior executives for training in religious and cultural sensitivity so that they had an understanding of the feelings of customers and communities when introducing new products or launching advertising campaigns.

    “Hindu” pizza was available at the Pizzeto restaurant (in HRI’s largest property located in Punta Cana) which opens daily from 12pm to next day 7am and has a “Dress Code”.

    HRI, whose history goes back to 1971, owns-operates restaurants, hotels, live performance venues and casinos globally and sells collectible fashion and music-related merchandise. It claims: “no one does hospitality like us” and it recently launched “Rock Om”; “an in-room yoga experience, energizing the body and soul through the power of music.” It delivers “Rock Om yoga kit” to each hotel room free of charge. Select HRI hotels also reportedly offer live, on-site yoga classes.

  • India’s Reliance Sells Texas Shale Assets For $100MM

    India’s Reliance Sells Texas Shale Assets For $100MM

    MUMBAI (TIP): Reliance Industries Ltd said on Tuesday, March 27, its unit would sell some of its shale assets in the United States to privately held Sundance Energy Inc for $100 million, as the Indian oil-to-telecom conglomerate moves closer to exit U.S. shale investments.

    The sale includes Reliance’s interest in the assets in the Eagle Ford shale in Texas, it said in a statement.

    U.S.-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co, which was a partner in the asset, also exited the blocks.

    In November 2014, Reliance and Pioneer announced exiting their stake in shale oil and gas transportation and distribution joint venture, which analysts had said was a precursor to Reliance’s move to exit U.S. shale operations.

    The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, is the second such sale by the Mukesh Ambani-backed Reliance in the United States.

    In October, the Reliance sold a similar asset block in the Marcellus shale region in northeastern and central Pennsylvania.

     

  • Texas Gov. Abbott’s ‘historic’ talk with Indian prime minister includes defense, health care, energy

    Texas Gov. Abbott’s ‘historic’ talk with Indian prime minister includes defense, health care, energy

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Gov. Greg Abbott met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an hour and five minutes on Wednesday at Modi’s official residence.

    Abbott later said the two leaders discussed numerous subjects, including defense, terrorism, energy, technology, trade and health care.

    The Republican governor called it a “historic meeting.”

    In Modi’s nearly four years in office, he had not met before Wednesday with a sitting U.S. governor, Abbott’s office has said.

    “I just got through with a historic meeting with Prime Minister Modi here in New Delhi, getting to visit about an array of topics,” Abbott said at a gaggle with his traveling press pool, conducted across the road from the spacious grounds of Modi’s residence. The complex was heavily fortified, and security was tight.

    “Frankly, the conversation was historic in the sense of the length of time,” Abbott said. “According to the diplomat in charge, it was the longest meeting that he’d had with a guest visitor from a foreign country like that.”

    He was referring to Marykay L. Carlson, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

    “I was shocked” that Modi carved out so much time, Abbott said.

    Until early this week, Abbott’s aides were unsure if the meeting would come off.

    “You have a busy man who has a lot to do,” Abbott said of Modi.

    He said the prime minister opened their talk by mentioning anxiety India felt for the people of Indian heritage who live in parts of Texas that were ravaged by Hurricane Harvey last August.

    Modi spoke of “gratitude that he had for Texans’ doing such a great job of helping the Indian-American community in the region respond to the challenges they were facing.”

    Abbott said he assured Modi, “We will take care of the Indian Americans.” In facing hardship, Texans and Indians exhibit “a similar resiliency,” he said.

    As he has throughout his entire nine-day, business-recruitment trip, Abbott touted how India and Texas are connected not only because many Indians have emigrated to the state but also because the two places share many traits.

    “We’re focused on the same concepts such as entrepreneurship … a vibrant, strong and growing economy … empowering the private sector … being democratic countries based on value systems,” Abbott said.

     

     

  • SPOTLIGHT: Women, Gender Equality & Human Trafficking

    SPOTLIGHT: Women, Gender Equality & Human Trafficking

    By Mabel Pais

    Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. It is tied with arms trafficking as the second largest criminal industry in the world, after drug trafficking” – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

    The fifth annual rapidly-growing Socially Relevant Film Festival (SRFF) held March 15 to 22 at Manhattan’s Cinema Village Theater, hosted its spotlight program of 5 short films and a panel discussion on Women, Gender Equality & Human Trafficking.  This was presented in partnership with UN Media and Apne Aap Women Worldwide.

    The program began with a screening of a curated selection of short films in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and specifically SDG 5 (gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls).  Four films from the UN Media: India – Girls For Sale; Lebanon – Women Carve Their Destinies; Canada – A History Of Violence; Iraq – Saving Women’s Rights in Iraq; and, Dr. Ruchira Gupta’s Emmy award-winning movie, The Selling of Innocents, were screened.

    “Ruchira Gupta is one of the leading voices in the world on this subject (human trafficking)” – Ambassador Swanee Hunt

    The Spotlight Panel followed the screenings, moderated by Nora Armani, Festival founder-director and headed by Dr. Ruchira Gupta, founder-president of the anti-human-trafficking organization Apne Aap Women Worldwide.

    The other 4 panelists were Ambassador Swanee Hunt: Founding Director of the Women and Public Policy program, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government,

    Simone Monasebian: Director, New York United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Felicia Greenfield: Actress-Activist (Films: Homeland, House of Cards), and

    Jessica Vale: Filmmaker-Activist-Documentarian (Film: Small Small Thing),

    Gupta’s own journey had begun 21 years ago in making the documentary film, The Selling of Innocents, as a journalist.  She confesses that as a journalist she had covered war, famine, hunger and conflict but she had never seen and felt so chilling an experience as human trafficking: the exploitation of one human being by another.  Today, 21 years later, she feels the same about prostitution.

    She said that based on current statistics – in India, there are 16 million victims of human trafficking now of which 10 million are victims of sexual exploitation.  The average age of a girl being pulled into prostitution in India is between 9 and 13 years.  In the US, she understands, the sexual exploitation is between 13 and 15.  So, there is not a very big difference!

    The average age of a woman who’s prostituted, dying, is between 30 and 35.  So one can imagine the trauma, the victimization, the brutality!  Today, this industry is packing in more and more girls today into prostitution.

    When she made the movie 21 years ago, there were no laws, no UN protocol of looking at prostitution as a form of trafficking. But today, we do have those laws, and protocol and framework.

    After the Selling of Innocents was screened in New York, 21 years ago, at which Ambassador Swanee Hunt was a member of the audience, the demand of Gupta and Hunt was that laws and protocol be created.

    Gupta, along with the support of Ambassador Hunt and the UNODC, emphasized that after 20 years of activism, they are moving onwards.

    But the perpetrators and are more organized than the anti-trafficking NGOs. So, the NGOs and the public need to work harder, faster and go to each last girl they can think of, every last girl to prevent her from being trafficked.

    Ambassador Hunt said most people think of trafficking outside the United States.  But in actuality, American women and girls too are trafficked.  In the US in fact, 1 in 5 men in a southern city, have admitted to have bought a woman or girl, online.  She believes that we have to get down to the whole prostitution segment in order to get to the trafficking part…. because it’s embedded there.

    Simone Monosebian said that in December 2013, owing to the efforts of the former US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, under President Barack Obama, we have for the 1st time an actual Security Council Presidential Statement on human trafficking of persons.

    Monosebian pointed out that among other forms of human trafficking like forced labor and slavery, sex trafficking is the most public and exploitative form of human trafficking.

    Based on a bi-annual (every 2 years) UN Security Council Report on human trafficking the statistics was scary.  The last report of 2016 stated that in 40% of countries, 10 or less convictions in human trafficking were reported.  In 15% of the countries there were 0 convictions.

    She urged the audience to put pressure on her, then, the further she can go to put pressure on the UN Security Council to take action.When Felicia Greenfield was out one day with her 2-year-old daughter, she saw a brochure for a fundraiser for ECPAT-USA (the 1st US-based non-profit to work on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children).  Greenfield was shocked that this was happening in the USA!  Carol Smolenski, Director, ECPAT-USA, opened Greenfield’s eyes that human trafficking was happening everywhere, in all 50 States, in the big cities, in the suburban towns, in rural areas, in our own backyard.

    She is working on this subject with the film, Good Girls Gone that she wants to be honest, truthful and respectful.

    Jessica Vale, documentary film maker, was in Liberia for another reason.  But when she stumbled on the plight of Liberian young girls and mothers who had been raped and exploited, she and her co-producer set out to make the film “Small Small Thing” about the Liberian story, released in 2013.

    The movie opened up a conversation in schools, in universities, all over the US.  They also realized that it’s happening in the US just as much!

    Nora Armani, Founder-Artistic Director of the Festival ended the program on an upbeat note by awarding Dr. Ruchira Gupta with the Empowering Women and Girls Award in Memory of Vanya Exerjian.

    For more information on the Socially Relevant Film Festival or to get involved, visit www.ratedsrfilms.org.

    (Mabel Pais writes on Social Issues, The Arts and Entertainment, Health and Wellness and Spirituality)

  • Frisco Native American Museum & Natural History Center

    Frisco Native American Museum & Natural History Center

    By Surinder Dhillon
    By Surinder Dhillon
    In the museum there are many displays which show the way of life for Native Americans. Displays like; art work, pictures of animals, weapon and combat, natives and food, dresses, police and peace medals, pottery, code talkers, weaving, canoes and kayaks and much more. There is a gift shop in the museum which is called, Now Natural History Center. It features work from over 30 Native American artists and from where you can buy unique handmade crafts. They ship all over the world. There is a natural trail in the facility too.

    Frisco Native American Museum & History Center is a nonprofit educational foundation created for the purpose of preserving Native American artifacts, art, culture, and language.

    It can also teach people about native perspective and how to treat the Earth, said MS Ronnie Francisco, Assistant director of the museum. This Museum is located on Hatters Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

    When you enter the museum, the message is on the wall in the shape of a poster entitled “The Earth on Turtle’s Back”. Many Native Americans refer to North America as Turtle Island,which comes from the belief that all of the Earth was water until a large

    turtle emerged to support plant and animal life on its back. This teaching tells us, “where Turtle goes, there is life and water is precious”. Since we are dependent upon the earth, we must treat our ‘Island’ home with respect and honor all of the beings in the natural world. As you walk among the exhibits, look for teachings from “Turtle Island “indicated by the turtle symbol.

    According to MS Ronnie, the museum had its beginning over seventy years ago. It started in the heart of museum founder, Carl Bornfriend,when he was just a young boy. When many people did not realize the importance of preserving native artifacts, Carl frequently saw beautiful items carelessly treated. Though his own resources were limited, he often made sacrifices to become a keeper of the heritage. When Carl moved to Hatters Island he met Joyce and they discovered a mutual love for historical preservation. They married in 1986, and they brought more than a half century of experience as educators to the task of creating the museum, MS Ronnie said. Carl was a full-time teacher; but, he used every spare moment developing exhibits. He opened the museum in 1987 as a non-profit educational foundation.

    MS Amber Roth of the museum said, “We have a lot of visitors that say we have a completely different feel. Instead of it being a very sterile, far away from you feel, the culture feels more alive.

    When you are here, you can reach out and feel that you are being embraced with it and from it. Rather than it just being distancing over here and not really there anymore.We bring more culture to life.”

    In the museum there are many displays which show the way of life for Native Americans. Displays like; art work, pictures of animals, weapon and combat, natives and food, dresses, police and peace medals, pottery, code talkers, weaving, canoes and kayaks and much more. There is a gift shop in the museum which is called, Now Natural History Center. It features work from over 30 Native American artists and from where you can buy unique handmade crafts. They ship all over the world. There is a natural trail in the facility too.

    The earlier inhabitants of the North Carolina Outer Banks were Hatters Indians tribe of Native Americans.

    (The author is Chesapeake VA based journalist. He can be reached at sdhillon@hotmail.com)

  • March 30 New York & Dallas Print Editions

    March 30 New York & Dallas Print Editions

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  • A Mesmerizing International Cultural Evening with Indian and Peruvian dance performances at the Indian Consulate

    A Mesmerizing International Cultural Evening with Indian and Peruvian dance performances at the Indian Consulate

    NEW YORK CITY, NY (TIP): Guests at the Indian Consulate in New York on March 27 were simply electrified to watch the Indian and Peruvian artists performing with superb finesse the dances of India and Peru.

    The stars of the evening- Nandini Chakravorty (left) with her Guru Ananga Manjari Malatesta Gonzalez of Peru
    Nandini (left) and Ananga gave a superb performance of Bharatnatyam, a classical dance of India
    Mudras and Bhangimas play a major role in Bharatnatyam. Ananga is seen here in two different mudras.

    The Peruvian dance was full of vigor and grace. The two female dancers simply bowled over the gathering with their performance. The artist who played trumpet cast a spell as did the drummers and the artist on guitar.

    Mudras and Bhangimas play a major role in Bharatnatyam. Ananga is seen here in two different mudras.
    A scintillating Peruvian dance performance had all spellbound

    However, the show was completely stolen by the duo of disciple and her teacher. Nandini Chakravorty who is daughter of Sandeep and Taruna Chakravorty, gave an outstanding performance with her Guru Ananga Manjari Malatesta Gonzalez of Peru. Ananga is one of the best known Bharatnatyam dancers and has very lovingly groomed Nandini. One does not come across such superb performance of Bharatnatyam, which is considered to be one of the most difficult dance forms. Bharatanatyam style is noted for its fixed upper torso, legs bent, or knees flexed out combined with spectacular footwork, a sophisticated vocabulary of sign language based on gestures of hands, eyes and face muscles.

    In his brief welcome note, Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, who grew nostalgic about his tenure as India’s ambassador to Peru underlined the importance of cultural exchanges between different people and nations. He thanked the Consul General of Peru Maria Teresa Merino de Hart for her cooperation in organizing an international cultural evening.

    Consul General of Peru Maria Teresa Merino de Hart said she was happy to be at the Indian Consulate for the cultural evening

    Ambassador Maria Teresa Merino de Hart said it was a great idea to have the artists of various countries coming together too exhibit their cultures. She said she was pleased to be at the Indian Consulate for the cultural evening, with Indian and Peruvian dancers performing.

    A view of the gathering. Seen in front 9right) is First Lady of the Indian Consulate Taruna Chakravorty with Consul General of Peru Maria Teresa Merino de Hart, to her right
    Consul General of India Sandeep Chakravorty, Consul General of Peru Maria Teresa Merino de Hart, and Taruna Chakravorty with performers. (L to R): Two Peruvian artists, Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, Nandita Chakravorty, Ananga Manjari Malatesta Gonzalez, Ambassador Maria Teresa Merino de Hart, and Taruna Chakravorty
    Photos / Jay Mandal on assignment

     

    Guests were treated to delectable Peruvian cocktails, beer and delicious Peruvian food.

  • The Indian American Impact Fund endorses Sri Preston Kulkarni and Hiral Tipirneni

    The Indian American Impact Fund endorses Sri Preston Kulkarni and Hiral Tipirneni

    DALLAS (TIP): The Indian American Impact Fund has endorsed Sri Preston Kulkarni and Dr. Haral Tipirneni, two Indian American Democrats running for the United States House of Representatives.

    Kulkarni, who finished first in the Democratic primary in Texas’s 22nd Congressional District with nearly 32 percent of the vote, will be facing fellow Democrat Letitia Plummer in the May 22 runoff. If he wins, he will challenge the incumbent Republican Pete Olson.

    A majority-minority district, the Texas 22nd also includes the Houston suburb of Sugar Land, which is home to a large Indian American community.

    Dr. Tipirneni, who won Arizona’s 8th Congressional District special primary election with 60% votes in February, is running to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Trent Franks in the elections to be held on April 24th.

    Tipirneni is an emergency room physician, cancer research advocate, and community leader. Last month, she won her primary decisively with 60% of the vote.

    “In an incredibly competitive year for Congressional candidates, Sri and Hiral have demonstrated the passion, tenacity, and drive it takes to run, win, and lead,” said Raj Goyle, co-founder of Impact and a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives. “Now it’s up to all of us to help them across the finish line.”

    The Impact Fund had earlier endorsed two other Indian American candidates — Aftab Pureval in Ohio and Aruna Miller in Maryland.

    According to an official release from Impact Fund, it continues to closely monitor the campaigns of over 60 Indian Americans on the ballot in 2018 and will issue further endorsements in coming weeks.

    “As a community, we are extraordinarily proud of the four Indian Americans already serving in the House of Representatives,” said Deepak Raj, co-founder of Impact and chair of the Impact Fund. “By electing Sri and Hiral, in addition to Aftab and Aruna, we will double our ranks in Congress this November and send a powerful signal that the Indian American community has truly arrived.”

    A political action committee, Impact Fund works with experienced operatives, campaign strategists, and donors to endorse candidates based on their viability and commitment to advocating for the needs and values of the Indian American community.

    Last week, the Fund celebrated its first victory of the 2018 cycle when its endorsed candidate Ram Villivalam won his primary for the Illinois State Senate.

     

     

  • Indian Origin Man in UK Sentenced for 13-Years for Killing 3 Teenage Boys

    Indian Origin Man in UK Sentenced for 13-Years for Killing 3 Teenage Boys

    LONDON (TIP): Indian origin Jaynesh Chudasama, drunk-driver in the UK, who hit and killed three teenage boys as they walked to a birthday party in London, has been sentenced for a 13-year jail term. The victims’ parents, reacting to the sentencing, said the jail term was “an insult to the lives of their children”.

    Jaynesh Chudasama, 28, had admitted to driving at more than two-and-a-half times over the alcohol limit on January 26 when the fatal collision occurred near a bus stop at Hayes, West London.

    The court heard that traces of cannabis had also been found in his car hire worker’s system.

    Chudasama had pleaded guilty to charges of three counts of death by dangerous driving after the road collision that killed three teenage boys.

    Harry Rice, 17, George Wilkinson and Josh McGuinness, both 16, were instantly killed as they were hit by Chudasama’s speeding car.

    “It is obvious that nothing any court can do can measure the loss of Josh, Harry and George for the obvious reason that their loss is immeasurable,” said Judge Wendy Joseph, during the sentencing hearing.

    The judge also disqualified Chudasama from driving for 13 years and six months.

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the drunk-driver had refused to say what he had been drinking but was estimated to have had a blood alcohol concentration of about 213 milligrams per 100 milliliters at the time of the crash.

    The legal limit for driving in the UK is 80 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood.

    “The decision by Jaynesh Chudasama, to drink far in excess of the legal limit and then drive his car at such a speed, needlessly ended the lives of three young men,” said Sally-Anne Russell of the CPS.

    “Anyone who drives a motor vehicle whilst under the influence of excess alcohol should know they are putting not only their own lives at risk, but those of other motorists and pedestrians too. Chudasama faces the consequences of causing the fatal collision,” she said.

    Chudasama was driving at 71 mph in a 60 mph zone and ended up mounting the pavement in his car as he attempted a dangerous man oeuvre to overtake another vehicle, killing the three teenagers walking home with five other friends from a birthday party.

    The grieving families are planning online petitions to demand the conviction be reconsidered and a charge of murder applied to the dangerous driving charge, which would involve a tougher sentence.

     

  • Indian American restaurant chain Dharani expands to New Jersey and Virginia

    Indian American restaurant chain Dharani expands to New Jersey and Virginia

    WESTBOROUGH, MA (TIP): Indian American Dharani has opened two new outlets in New Jersey and Virginia, expanding its presence to seven states across the nation.

    Dharani opened its latest dine-in and takeout restaurant on Oak Tree Road in Edison, New Jersey on March 24, it said in a press release. Two more are scheduled to open in the coming days in Dayton and Spotswood, respectively.

    Dharani opened its Virginia location in Herndon last month.

    “My team is very excited for this opportunity to bring our time-tested recipes to New Jersey and Virginia,” said Bhasker Rednam, CEO of Westborough, MA-based Dharani. “We have successful operations in many locations in the northeast and with expected success in New Jersey and Virginia, we will expand our operations to other areas.”

    He added that the restaurant is “customer-focused” and “will remain customer-focused.”

    “We take on the challenge to cater to our customers’ needs with pride, to provide cuisine from any part of India,” he said.

    The press release said Dharani is one of the very few restaurants in the United States to have its own food research facility in Massachusetts, which has internationally acclaimed chefs creating dishes that are served across all Dharani chains.

    The restaurant partnered with local investors in New Jersey to open the locations in the state.

    The goal of Dharani is to provide high-quality Indian cuisine that is consistent every time, clean, flavorful and at a reasonable cost.

    According to the release, customers visiting the new branches of Dharani will receive a discount for the first four weeks.

    The other states where Dharani, which is headquartered in Westborough, MA, has operations in are Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Texas. Dharani restaurants offer both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food with a variety of dishes.

  • Indian American passengers allege discrimination by Aeroflot staff at Moscow airport

    Indian American passengers allege discrimination by Aeroflot staff at Moscow airport

    NEW YORK  (TIP): According to the complaint filed by Indian American passengers Marc Fernandes, Shahana Islam, Sabiha Islam, Bakiul Islam, and Anshul Agrawal, they were stranded during a stopover in Moscow when their connection Aeroflot flight to JFK got canceled due to heavy snowfall in New York. A complaint was filed on March 22 before the Department of Transportation Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings in Washington, DC .

    They allege that while rest of the passengers — mostly White Americans — were transported to their destination in an alternate flight, approximately 20-25 South Asian passengers, many of them young children and babies, were asked to board a flight back to Delhi by an Aeroflot official, saying that they have no alternate arrangements.

    The complaint filed by the passengers says an Aeroflot representative named Mikhail, informed them that no seats were available on alternate flights and that the airline would not be issuing them transit visas, which means the travelers will have to leave Moscow within 24 hours.

    He instructed them to fly back to India on the next flight and threatened with deportation back to India if they fail to accept his terms.

    The complainants allege that despite them showing their American passports, the Aeroflot representative addressed them as Indians and threatened with civil and criminal sanctions, including forfeiture of their Aeroflot tickets if they don’t accept they are Indians.

    Another Aeroflot employee, who has been identified by the name tag “Kitora”, in the absence of Mikhail, told the Indian American passengers that other passengers who were stranded have been provided with an alternate route that would fly them to JFK in return flights via Europe. She also assured them that US citizens will not be deported to India and also assured that they will get priority on the next available flight. But, as she continued speaking with the passengers, Mikhail appeared and handed them their boarding passes to India.

    When they tried to reason with him he apparently got furious and rude to the passengers.

    Concerned about the situation, the passengers frantically called the United States embassy in Moscow but the Aeroflot employees refused to speak to them and yet again threatened them with deportation and a heavy fine.

    The embassy officials on the phone advised the passengers to take any step to avoid deportation as it could have serious legal ramifications.

    On landing in Delhi, the complaint says the passengers were not assisted by a single Aeroflot staff on what alternate arrangements have been made. On reaching the office of Aeroflot in Connaught Place, an employee told the passengers that Aeroflot would only refund half the cost of the tickets and that flights booked through non-Aeroflot airlines would not be reimbursed at all.

    As the next Aeroflot flight to Washington, DC, or New York was not available until January 15, passengers flew on another carrier, by paying close to $1,000 per ticket.

    The complaint questions Aeroflot’s actions stating that airline employees repeatedly and systematically targeted and discriminated against the South Asian travelers, in clear violation of federal law. It also requests the DOT to conduct a full and thorough investigation into Aeroflot’s actions to ensure that the airline be held accountable for its mistreatment of US citizens

    The complaint was filed by Muslim Advocates and Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC.

  • Defense outsourced

    Defense outsourced

     By Ajay Banerjee

    Despite various govts going slow on hi-tech defence acquisitions, it now emerges that India is the largest weapons importer. This is ‘inglorious’ in the face of stridency over ‘desi’ production. And as we struggle, our neighbors find ways to forge ahead with new defence partners, a fact we can ignore to our peril.

    Buying weapons to protect over 1.34 billion people and secure borders with seven nations — with a land frontier of over 15,000 km and a coastline extending to over 7,500 km — is a good idea. But the thought to be dependent on foreign defense supplies (India imports some 70 per cent of its equipment) is unsettling, self-defeating even.

    Accessing national data as to how we acquire the high-tech weapons and meet our defense needs could be a daunting task, given veils of secrecy. Yet an international resource on global security, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), regularly comes out with general figures indicating, among others, the scale to which our defense import has risen. On March 12, SIPRI released its data, reconfirming that India, yet again emerged as the biggest importer of weapons in the world. Clearly, there is a lack of ‘strategic autonomy’ ideally desired by a nuclear armed nation with the third largest armed forces.

    The SIPRI’s annual report ‘Trends in international arms transfers’ makes an assessment for a five-year block (2013-2017). It said: “India was the largest importer of major arms and accounted for 12 per cent of the global total.” SIPRI has been studying the conflict and arms sales for over 50 years. It compared this five-year block with the previous 2008-2012’s to conclude: “India’s imports increased by 24 per cent”.

    That means New Delhi was importing 24 per cent more military equipment, pointing at the sluggish ‘Make in India’ besides the failure to make its own cutting-edge weapons, equipment and war-fighting arsenal.

    For defense experts, that foreign component accretion over the decade is ‘inglorious.’ Amit Cowshish, former financial advisor, Ministry of Defense, says “It will keep on happening till India can have its own capacity to produce equipment.”

    Ambitious plans & realities

    On March 22, the Ministry of Defense laid out a draft defense production policy. It is ambitious at its best as it talks about making India among the top five countries in aerospace and defense industry.

    It also talks about self-reliance in key technologies by 2025 and puts India on the exporter-track. It sets a target of Rs 1,70,000-crore ($26 billion approx) turnover in defense goods and services involving additional investment of nearly Rs 70,000 crore (US $10 billion approx). It looks at achieving exports of Rs 35,000 crore (US $5 billion approx) by 2025. Commodore C Uday Bhaskar (retd), now director, Society for Policy Studies, terms this plan as “incongruous,” saying “India is living in a make-believe world.”

    Domestic defense production for 2016-17 stands at Rs 55, 894 crore, up from the Rs 43,746 crore in 2013-14. Efforts, so far, to make a military-industrial base have remained sluggish, hampered by budgets and a lack of cutting-edge technology. Lt Gen KJ Singh (retd), a former Western Army Commander avers: “It appears everyone has good intentions, sadly, that is not translating into action.”

    Successes & ironies – There are a few, take a look:

    Nuclear submarines of the Arihant class, made from scratch, in India; or the Scorpene class submarines made at Mazagon Docks Limited Mumbai.

    Supersonic BrahMos, Agni, Akash or the Prithvi missiles.

    Strangely, the country is struggling to produce a good rifle. Some 11 lakh of various types are needed for which Indian private companies have been allowed to have a tie-up with foreign partners and put up their proposals. Light combat aircraft Tejas faces delays and slow production rates (Only 6-8 planes are produced per annum, the need is for 16-20).

    Artillery guns produced jointly by the Defence Research and Development Organization and private companies — Tata Power SED and Bharat Forge — have been a success.

    The next version of the Arjun tank needs modifications, but the delay is due to the Army frequently changing the requirements.

    The Dhruv helicopter and its variants have finally been accepted as ‘superb’ machines.

    Budget pains

    In a report on March 13, a parliamentary panel said the defence budget for the year 2018-2019 was ‘inadequate’ and ‘barely enough’ to cater for inflation. Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd), a BJP MP from Uttarakhand, heads the panel. “Capital budget allocation for the Army had dashed hopes as it was barely enough to cater to the rise in expenses on account of inflation, and did not even cater for the taxes,” the Vice Chief of the Army told the panel.

    For 2018-19, the Army projected a need for Rs 44,572 crore, it got Rs 26,815 crore. The Navy wanted Rs 35,695 crore but got only Rs 20,003 crore. The IAF is managing with Rs 35,770 crore against its need for Rs 77,694 crore.

    The Army today has 68 per cent of equipment in the ‘vintage category.’ Around 25 projects identified under Make in India may be foreclosed due to inadequate budget, the report said.

    “For a country that seeks strategic autonomy, the tag for being the largest importer of weapons and equipment is a contradiction,” says Commodore Bhaskar.

    The government has lined up a mix of private-public sectors. The hint lies in the numbers and the expansion of the nine defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs). In the financial year ending March 31, 2017 these companies collectively made a profit of Rs 5,482 crore. A report of the parliamentary panel says, “no budgetary support is being given to the DPSUs.” These nine companies are being modernized.

    “The best way to break the mould is to move away from the existing procedures of acquisition,” says Lt Gen KJ Singh

    Private sector potential

    To give a hint at the potential, the hull of the nuclear submarines series is being made by L&T. Amit Cowshish, former financial advisor, Ministry of Defence, has a word of caution: “The new draft production policy merely talks about private and public participation. In reality, it could take years for it to get rolling.”

    The Modi government has liberalized FDI and touted it as a major policy-shift to okay up to 49 per cent stake for foreign companies when partnering Indian companies. Now another tweak to the FDI is coming up. The Draft DPP-2018 says: “FDI regime in defence will be further liberalized. The FDI up to 74% under automatic route will be allowed in niche technology areas.”

    India needs…

    400 fighter jets

    1,700 tanks

    800 helicopters

    18 more

    Indigenously produced

    Tejas: HAL is making the first 40 Tejas. Upgraded 83 Tejas too will come. Another 201 Tejas Mark II are on the drawing board

    Artillery guns: The Dhanush gun is a copy of the Bofors gun, will go for final user trials in May. Both will fill the need for more than 2,700 guns over the next decade

    Copters: The biggest success story. Forces need some 800 copters. Some 200, Advance Light

    Helicopters, the Dhruv, are flying

    Arjun Mark-II: Two regiments of Arjun tanks were inducted. The Army wanted 93 improvements. Arjun Mark II is an improved version

    Aircraft carrier Vikrant: It is set to be commissioned 2020. The making of the ship takes the country into an exclusive league of nations

    BrahMos/Agni: The BrahMos is an Indo-Russian venture that adorns lead warships of the Navy. It’s deployed along Pak border. N-tipped Agni missiles have propelled India into the exclusive club of countries — US, UK, Russia, France & China.

  • Kim in Beijing: His visit strategically brings China into North Korea’s hectic diplomatic calendar

    Kim in Beijing: His visit strategically brings China into North Korea’s hectic diplomatic calendar

    The timing of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to China, his first foreign trip after assuming power in 2011, is not lost on anyone. After travelling to Beijing this week in an armored train, he held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and re-emphasized his commitment to the “denuclearization” of the peninsula, weeks before his scheduled April 27 summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. In May, Mr. Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to meet for a historic summit. By visiting Beijing now, Mr. Kim is sending a clear message: that he is serious about his offer of talks. The visit has also helped repair relations between Pyongyang and Beijing, which had come under some strain. China was not particularly happy with the North’s nuclear tests. Mr. Xi was under pressure from the West to exercise influence on Mr. Kim’s regime. And Beijing’s support for stringent UN sanctions on North Korea that have cut its exports of coal, seafood and other goods to China has dealt a blow to its already isolated economy. Mr. Kim reportedly rejected overtures from Beijing and purged officials who had close ties with the Chinese. But now, both leaders appear to have decided to set aside their differences.

    China has historically played a role in inter-Korean relations. In 2000, Mr. Kim’s father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, had visited China shortly before a summit with South Korea. In 2003, China launched the Six-Party Talks aimed at peacefully resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, which eventually failed. Mr. Kim’s visit to Beijing has reinstated China’s central role in talks over the Korean crisis, which both countries see as mutually beneficial. For the Kim regime, China’s experience and guidance could come in handy when it is preparing to engage with two of its biggest rivals. China, for its part, would not like to be bypassed by the U.S. and the North in any diplomatic process. If the Kim regime’s fundamental objective is its own survival, China’s interest lies in a peaceful resolution to the crisis in a stable political environment in its neighborhood. This enables convergence of interest for both in the diplomatic process. But there is still much uncertainty over the peace process. Mr. Trump may have agreed to meet Mr. Kim. But since then he has inducted into his team two officials with hawkish views on North Korea — Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State and John Bolton as National Security Adviser. As of now, it is anybody’s guess what the U.S. would do next if the Trump-Kim summit fails to produce a breakthrough. In such a volatile context, robust multilateral intervention would be needed to stay the diplomatic course. The Xi-Kim meet could be a step in that direction if China agrees to be a balancing force and a facilitator of talks between the North and the U.S.

    (The Hindu)

  • India in Trumpland needs to cut Trade Deals with US to keep afloat

    India in Trumpland needs to cut Trade Deals with US to keep afloat

    By Arun Kumar

    “The businessman-author of The Art of the Deal, who looks at every issue as a transaction, would also be in no hurry to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, Pompeo or no Pompeo. For him, threat is a negotiating tactic. So, India has little to lose sleep on this count”.

    Washington is said to be in turmoil sending shock waves across the world from New York to New Delhi, with a mercurial President Donald Trump firing aides left and right and courting controversy with his fiats.

    Will his new incoming hawkish National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has in the past advocated military strikes against both Iran and North Korea, push his boss into another war and upend the proposed summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un?

    Or would CIA director Mike Pompeo, another hardliner set to replace moderate Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, spur the President to make good on his campaign promise to tear up the “disastrous” Iran nuclear deal forcing nations like India into yet another balancing act?

    And would Trump’s imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs, essentially aimed at China, set off a trade war catching India in the crossfire?  Or perhaps the brash billionaire would implode in a clash of wills with special counsel Robert Mueller, former FBI director, probing alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and any collusion with the Trump campaign?

    Or maybe the juicy tales of alleged dalliances with a porn star and a Playmate would finally prove the undoing of “The Donald”, as the first wife of the thrice married former reality TV star lovingly called him?

    As pundits on either side of the political divide fill the airwaves with such kite flying, “There is no news anymore. It’s all Trump,” as noted TV host Larry King lamented ripping into TV channels going after eyeballs and newspapers savoring the circulation windfall.

    With Trump setting the agenda, there is hardly any attempt to look at the issues dispassionately and give the devil his due. For instance, when the President ordered the expulsion 60 Russian diplomats in response to nerve agent attack on a former Soviet spy in Britain, Los Angeles Times, among others, had a different take.

    “Trump quiet as US expels 60 suspected Russian spies,” read the Times’ headline, even as the liberal daily acknowledged lower down that it was the “most aggressive diplomatic slap down since the end of Cold War”.

    Thus, contrary to instant analysts’ fears there is little danger of Trump, who in 2004 described the Iraq war as a “big fat mistake”, leading the US into another conflagration as his “America First” policy leaves no room for “regime change” or “nation building” abroad.

    The businessman-author of The Art of the Deal, who looks at every issue as a transaction, would also be in no hurry to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, Pompeo or no Pompeo. For him, threat is a negotiating tactic. So, India has little to lose sleep on this count.

    North Korea too would likely be a different story. Trump has often been painted as getting his strategic advice from TV shows, particularly Fox News, and influenced by the last man he sees before making up his mind. But contrary to conventional wisdom, the President keeps his own counsel. Witness the number of men who have been shown the door. These include Steve Bannon, his former chief strategist, who was once portrayed by influential Time on its cover as “The Great Manipulator” and “The second most powerful man in the world”.

    Trump surprised the world by accepting an invitation for nuclear talks with Kim in May after trading childish barbs with the “little rocket man” about the size of their nuclear buttons as he threatened to respond with “fire and fury” to any provocations from Pyongyang.

    Ahead of the crucial summit that he agreed to despite telling Tillerson that “our wonderful Secretary of State was wasting his time trying to negotiate” with Kim, Trump has scored his first victory on the tariff issue with South Korea.

    Under the significant one-on-one deal, Seoul has agreed to limit its steel exports to the US and ease US auto imports. Pundits concede that Trump might well pull a rabbit out of his hat at the summit. Henry Kissinger, the legendary architect of Richard Nixon’s opening up to China, has endorsed the summit attributing it to Trump’s unique style. As he told the New York Times that it may not be what “we traditionalists would have recommended in the first place” but “it could restore a political initiative to us, and could compel a conversation with countries (who may not otherwise want one).”

    During the presidential campaign, Trump had vowed to be a “true friend” to and “best friends” with India.

    But that has not prevented him from slamming India’s “high” import duties on Harley-Davidson bikes. His administration has also taken India, which has a $24 billion trade surplus with the US, to the WTO, challenging export subsidies that benefit $7 billion Indian exports. But given Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bonhomie with Trump, they too could well work out a deal like South Korea.

    Indians are also concerned about the Trump administration’s plans to restrict H-1B visas for professionals, which are largely cornered by Indians, and limiting visas to relatives to immediate family. But his plans to introduce a point-based merit system for immigration may well work to the advantage of Indians in the long run.

    Other than that, thanks to bipartisan political support, Trump has continued to consolidate ties with India that have been growing stronger under three previous Presidents — Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama. As he told Modi last June, “The relationship between India and the United States has never been stronger, never been better.”

    His national strategy unveiled last January also welcomes “India’s emergence as a leading power and stronger strategic and defense partner” as a counterbalance to China in the Indo-Pacific Region.

    With the fight against terrorism emerging as an important area of convergence, the Trump administration also did something unprecedented in suspending security assistance to Pakistan after several warnings to Islamabad to stop supporting terrorists fell on deaf ears.

    Indian interests may be safe in Trumpland, but the ongoing Russia probe has been hanging like a cloud on Trump with all his Russia-related actions viewed as suspect. He has been itching to fire Mueller to end what he deems as the “single greatest witch-hunt in American political history”.

    Republican leaders have cautioned him against sparking a constitutional crisis by firing Mueller with Lindsey Graham, former Republican presidential rival turned supporter, warning that it would be “the beginning of the end of his presidency”.

    But Trump being Trump, he may well do the unthinkable — and yet survive!

    (The author is an expert on India-US relations)

  • Shekhar Kapur to head the jury for 65th National Film Awards

    Shekhar Kapur to head the jury for 65th National Film Awards

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Veteran director Shekhar Kapur has been appointed chairman of the central panel of the 65th National Film Awards, sources in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said on Wednesday, March 28.

    The central panel comprises a chairperson and 10 other members, including five regional chairpersons who head the respective regional panels.

    Film writer Imtiaz Hussain, known for his works in films like Astitva (2000) and Parinda (1989) will be the regional chairperson of South I panel. Mehboob, who penned the lyrics for the Hindi (dubbed) version of 1995 Tamil romantic drama Bombay, has been appointed as the regional chairperson of South II panel, the sources said.

    Actor Gautami Tadimalla, who is known for her work in Tamil films, is the regional chairman of the North panel, while director Rahul Rawail known for films like Love Story (1981), Betaab (1983), Arjun (1985) and Jo Bole So Nihaal (2005), was chosen as the regional chairperson of the Western panel, they said.

    Director P. Sheshadri, a known name in Kannada cinema, is the regional chairperson of Eastern panel.

    Other members of the panel include Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, a Bengali and Hindi film director; playwright Tripurari Sharma; dialogue and script writer Rumi Jaffery; Ranjit Das known for the critically acclaimed film Pratyavartan; and film writer, director and producer Rajesh Mapuskar, the sources added.

  • East Coast, Texas employ highest number of H1B workers: Report

    East Coast, Texas employ highest number of H1B workers: Report

    WASHINGTON (TIP): East Coast and Texas metro areas in America employed the highest number of H-1B visa workers, majority of them Indians, between 2010 and 2016, a Pew report has said, debunking the popular presumption that the Silicon Valley had such a distinction.

    According to the Pew Research Centre, an American think-tank, about 247,900 H-1B visa approvals–29 per cent of the nation’s total–went to employers in the New York City metro area from fiscal 2010 to 2016, the most in recent years for which data are available at the metropolitan level.

    “The employment of high-skilled foreign workers with H-1B visas has centered on large East Coast metropolitan areas for fiscal years 2010 to 2016. In addition, these foreign workers have made up a significant part of the workforces in several Texas metro areas,” it said in an analysis of the previously unpublished metro-level government data of H-1B visa approvals on Thursday.

    The figures were obtained by the center through a public records request.

    The Dallas and Washington metro areas got 74,000 and 64,800 approvals respectively, the next highest totals along with Boston’s 38,300 approvals.

    The data, obtained from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, include details of those approved for an H-1B visa.

    When looking at the footprint of high-skilled foreign workers by metro area, Texas’ College Station stands far above the rest, with about 32 H-1B approvals per 100 workers.

    According to report, more than 99 per cent of the metro area’s H-1B approvals went to employees of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, whose US headquarters are in College Station.

    No other metro area had more than five H-1B approvals per 100 workers.

    “The San Jose, California metro area, home of Silicon Valley, trailed the leading metro area on these measures, despite being home to some of the world’s most famous technology companies. The San Jose metro area had 22,200 H-1B approvals from fiscal 2010 to 2016, which amounted to two approvals per 100 workers,” the report said.

    The US government approved more than 859,600 applications in fiscal 2010-2016.

    While nationwide, foreign workers approved for H-1B visas earned an average of USD 80,600 in fiscal 2010-2016, Bridgeport in Connecticut had the highest average salary of USD 100,200 of all metro area, followed by Seattle with USD 98,100 and Phoenix USD 97,100.

    In College Station, the Texas metro area with the greatest concentration of H-1B workers in its workforce, the average salary in 2010-2016 was USD 82,600, the report said.

    About half (49 per cent) of H-1B approvals in recent years have gone to foreign workers with an advanced degree (Master’s, professional or doctorate) earned either in the US or internationally, it said.

    The H1-B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

    (Source: PTI)

  • It’s Tit for Tat: Russia to expel 60 US diplomats, close US consulate in Saint Petersburg

    It’s Tit for Tat: Russia to expel 60 US diplomats, close US consulate in Saint Petersburg

    MOSCOW (TIP): Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday, March 29, that Moscow would expel 60 U.S. diplomats and close its consulate in Saint Petersburg in a tit-for-tat expulsion over the poisoning of ex-double agent Sergei Skripal.

    Mr. Lavrov said the U.S. ambassador had been informed of “retaliatory measures”, saying that “they include the expulsion of the equivalent number of diplomats and our decision to withdraw permission for the functioning of the U.S. consulate general in Saint Petersburg”.

    Washington earlier ordered the expulsion of 60 diplomats and shut down the Russian consulate general in Seattle.

    Mr. Lavrov added that Russia would also issue tit-for-tat responses to the other countries that have expelled diplomats in a mass show of support for Britain which has blamed Moscow for the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a nerve agent in the city of Salisbury.

    “As for the other countries it’s also all symmetrical measures as to the number of people who will be leaving Russia from diplomatic missions, and that’s all so far,” Mr. Lavrov said.

    He added that Russia was reacting to “absolutely unacceptable actions that are taken against us under very harsh pressure from the United States and Britain under the pretext of the so-called Skripal case.”

    He accused London of “forcing everyone to follow an anti-Russian course.”

    He said Britain had informed Moscow of the state of health of Yulia Skripal on Thursday and that Russia had asked again for access to her as a citizen.

    Mr. Lavrov vowed at the briefing in Moscow that “we want to establish the truth” over the poisoning and accused Britain of “making mockery of international law.”

    He said that Russia had asked for a meeting with the executive council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Tuesday to ask questions to “establish the truth.”

    “We are counting on our Western partners not evading an honest conversation,” Mr. Lavrov said.

    (Source: AFP)

  • In yet another ouster, Trump fires Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin

    In yet another ouster, Trump fires Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin

    WASHINGTON (TIP): US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, March 29 fired his Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and nominated White House physician, Admiral Ronny Jackson as his replacement.

    Trump made the announcement on Twitter and later issued a separate statement thanking Shulkin for his services.

    “I am pleased to announce that I intend to nominate highly respected Admiral Ronny L. Jackson, MD, as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs….,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

    “I appreciate the work of Dr. David Shulkin and the many great things we did together at Veterans Affairs, including the VA Accountability Act that he was helpful in getting passed. He has been a great supporter of veterans across the country and I am grateful for his service,” Trump said in a later statement.

    Early this month, Trump had unceremoniously fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and nominated Mike Pompeo, the CIA Director, for the top diplomatic position in his cabinet.

    Both the cabinet positions need to be confirmed by the US Senate.

    “In the interim, Hon. Robert Wilkie of DOD will serve as Acting Secretary. I am thankful for Dr. David Shulkin’s service to our country and to our GREAT VETERANS!” Trump said in another tweet.

    Trump said Jackson was highly trained and qualified.

    “As a service member himself, he has seen firsthand the tremendous sacrifice our veterans make and has a deep appreciation for the debt our great country owes them,” he said in a separate statement.

    Wilkie, who will serve as the Acting Secretary for the department, is currently the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Department of Defense and overseas health affairs, welfare and quality of life for military families.

    Jackson has served as the White House physician during the past three administrations of Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

    Since arriving at the White House, he has directed the Executive Health Care for the President’s Cabinet and Senior Staff, served as physician supervisor for the Camp David Presidential Retreat, held the position of physician to the White House and led the White House Medical Unit as its director.

    A native of Texas, and a graduate from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology; Jackson began his active duty naval service in 1995 and went on to become the honor graduate of the Navy’s Undersea Medical Officer Program in Groton, Connecticut.

    The opposition Democratic Party expressed concern over the firing of Shulkin.

    Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called Shulkin’s dismissal “a troubling step in the Trump Administration’s ultimate goal of VA (Veterans Affairs) privatization”.

    “From day one of this administration, the president has openly encouraged and embraced Koch Brothers-led forces as they work around Congress and behind closed doors to dismantle veterans’ health care,” Pelosi said.

    She urged the members of Congress to join hands against any effort to privatize VA.

    Senator Johnny Isakson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said Shulkin had made a tremendous impact toward improving the lives of veterans during his time at the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

    “He has been instrumental in all that we have accomplished in the last year, and I thank Dr. Shulkin for his dedicated service to our country and our veterans,” he said.

    Concerned Veterans for America executive director Dan Caldwell said Shulkin made significant headway in reforming the department, but ultimately became a distraction from the important task of improving health care for the veterans.

    “The Trump administration has made great progress over the last year reforming and fixing the VA, however there is still much work to be done,” he said.

    (Source:  PTI)

  • Narendra Modi’s U.K. visit in April signals new goals

    Narendra Modi’s U.K. visit in April signals new goals

    ‘Bharat ki baat, sabke saath’ event on April 18

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second visit to the U.K. in less than three years is due to take place in April, with a community event in central London planned alongside bilateral engagements, and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

    A publicity campaign for the ‘Bharat ki baat, sabke saath’ event on April 18 kicked off on Wednesday, March 28. “A unique niche event… it will be a one of its kind live interactive conversation,” tweeted the BJP’s Vijay Chauthaiwale.

    The event will be held in central London, as against the Wembley Stadium, where Mr. Modi addressed a gathering of around 60,000 people, and will be a smaller affair, with around 1,500 to 2,000 people.

    Within the first hours of the website for free registration going live, the number of registrations had already exceeded this figure.

    The planned format highlights the different tone of the current visit and the audience Mr. Modi hopes to focus on — while the Wembley event was pitched very much as a “diaspora” event, with community performances — the April event is targeted at a more global audience, matching the aspirations of the visit, which is pegged around the ambitions of taking the Commonwealth to a new level. India’s active engagement is seen as key to the revival of the Commonwealth during the heads of government meeting on April 19 and 20, and the preceding Commonwealth Business Forum.

    Visiting London earlier this year, Suresh Prabhu touted the leadership role that India could adopt in the organization.

    However, others are hopeful the visit will also provide an opportunity for the U.K. government to express concerns over a number of developments in India. Earlier this month Foreign Office Minister Mark Field, responding to a debate in the House of Commons Westminster Hall, during which MPs expressed concerns, said the government would raise the issue of the treatment of Christian and Sikh minorities in India in the “appropriate manner” during CHOGM to ensure that Parliament’s voice was “properly heard.”

    “He will appreciate that diplomacy sometimes needs to be done behind closed doors, rather than with megaphones,” he told MPs.

    With the government of Theresa May touting a free trade deal with India as one of the ambitions of a “global” post-Brexit Britain, the visit will be a crucial, though sensitive one for the UK.

    Earlier this year Britain and India agreed to the terms of a memo on the swift return of Indian illegal immigrants from the U.K. – an issue that has repeatedly been raised by the British government and seen as an obstacle to immigration reform on the British side.

    India’s action will park the ball back in Britain’s court and strengthen calls for change from the U.K. when it comes to immigration and visa issues, particularly for business travelers, students and those in professional services.

    Protests and rallies are also expected to take place, as they did during Mr. Modi’s last visit. The Sikh Federation, U.K. said it expected large numbers to turn out for a protest rally during the visit. The protest will raise issues including the detention of U.K. citizen Jagtar Singh Johal by Indian authorities last year.

    (Source: The Hindu)

  • Indian Origin Man Crashes Into US Air Base

    Indian Origin Man Crashes Into US Air Base

    NEW YORK (TIP) :  Hafiz Kazi, an Indian origin man, who drove through the main gates of a major US air base carrying propane tanks and gas cans on March 21st, died as his vehicle caught fire. The FBI on March 24th denied any terror angle in the incident so far on March 24th

    Hafiz Kazi, 51, was living in the US since 1993 and was a legal resident, FBI Special Agent Sean Ragan said at a news conference, adding that he was originally from India.

    He apparently lived in the San Francisco area and had worked as a cab driver, Ragan said.

    Around 7pm on Wednesday, Kazi drove his minivan through the main gate of Travis Air Force Base in Northern California. The vehicle soon veered, crashed and started burning and by the time first responders broke through its locked doors, Kazi was dead, said Regan.

    No shots were fired during the fiery crash, he said, adding investigators discovered five propane tanks, three phones, gas cans, several lighters and a gym bag inside the car.

    “Authorities have not announced a motive but the security breach does not appear at this point to be terrorism-related,” Ragan said.

    “We don’t have any nexus to terrorism at this point,” he said but added that Kazi’s phones and social media were being searched for any possible connections.

    Officials said the investigation is ongoing and there are no current known threats to the base or community. “The main gate has reopened and all other facilities are operating as normal,” the base officials added.

    Travis Air Force Base is home to 10,000 military personnel and is a major hub for logistics and military cargo in the Pacific.The base is located in Solano County and is midway between Sacramento and San Francisco.

  • PAK AMBASSADOR TO INDIA RETURN FROM ISLAMABAD

    PAK AMBASSADOR TO INDIA RETURN FROM ISLAMABAD

    NEW DELHI (TIP): A week after he was called back for consultations amid raging row between India and Pakistan over harassment of diplomats, Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood will return from Islamabad late in the evening and be present at Pakistan national day functions on Friday, a diplomat said.

    The ambassador will host a series of events to mark the ‘Pakistan National Day’ at the country’s mission in New Delhi, including a dinner reception. The envoy will also hoist the flag and deliver a speech, they said. Mahmood was called back to Islamabad for consultations after alleged incidents of “harassment” of its diplomatic staff in New Delhi with Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal claiming that the Indian government failed to take notice of the increasing incidents of intimidation of Pakistani diplomats, their families and staffers by its intelligence agencies.

    India and Pakistan have accused each other of harassing diplomats and their families in Islamabad and New Delhi respectively.

    Source: HT

  • Arvind Kejriwal on apology spree: 3 down, 30 more to go?

    Arvind Kejriwal on apology spree: 3 down, 30 more to go?

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been humble pie.

    Kejriwal’s spree of apologies has generated mixed reactions, with some amused, some piqued and others downright infuriated.

    The AAP chief, with 33 defamation cases against him in 22 states, has crossed three cases off his list by saying sorry to the complainants.

    Kejriwal has tendered a series of apologies, starting with Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, followed by Union minister Nitin Gadkari, and subsequently Congress leader Kapil Sibal and his son.

    Deputy chief minister of Delhi and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia justified the apologies. “We are here to work for public. If someone is hurt by our remarks, we will apologise. We do not have time for courts. We do not want to indulge in battle of ego,” he said.

    In contrast to the moral high ground by AAP leaders in Delhi, cracks appeared in party’s Punjab unit after Kejriwal apologised to Majithia with AAP’s Punjab chief Bhagwant Mann quitting from the post in protest. Lok Insaaf Party, AAP’s alliance partner in Punjab, said it will snap ties with Kejriwal-led party.

    Kejriwal’s apologies have provided readymade ammunition to the Opposition to target AAP. Congress, taking a dig at the Delhi Chief Minister, said that Kejriwal should change his name to “Arvind Sorry Kejriwal”. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari slammed Kejriwal for being a “regular and habitual offender”. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh dismissed Kejriwal’s apology as an “antic”.

    Kejriwal’s apology episode is the latest in a series of recent events that have earned the party criticism from several corners and could hurt its public image in the long run.

    However, things will be difficult for Kejriwal in the case involving Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

    According to the sources, Kejriwal sent one of his newly inducted Rajya Sabha MPs as an emissary to Jaitley to discuss the possibility of an apology.

    “The finance minister hasn’t agreed with the apology proposal,” a source said.

    It’s also learnt that Jaitley wanted to know whether Kejriwal could ensure apologies from other AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpai against whom defamation case has been filed.

    The finance minister had filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit against Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders. A civil defamation case was filed in Delhi High Court and a criminal defamation suit was filed in lower court in Delhi.Besides, a separate defamation case was filed against Kejriwal after certain remarks were made by his lawyer Ram Jethmalani during the trial. Kejriwal wanted to take the apology route with Jaitley as the next hearings in the high court and lower court are respectively on 3 April and 8 April.

  • Iraq deaths: Cong moves privilege notice against Sushma, VK Singh N

    Iraq deaths: Cong moves privilege notice against Sushma, VK Singh N

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Congress members from Punjab on March 22 gave a breach of privilege notice in the Rajya Sabha against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her colleague MoS VK Singh, accusing them of “deliberately misleading Parliament and the country on the status of 39 Indians who went missing in Iraq in 2014”, repoted The Tribune.

    Moving the notice, MPs Ambika Soni, Shamsher Singh Dullo and Partap Singh Bajwa said, “The External Affairs Minister and her colleague VK Singh deliberately misled families of 39 individuals who were slain in Mosul. For a period spanning between June 2014 and March 2018, the minister continued to state as a matter of fact that the individuals are not only alive, but that the government is also undertaking steps for their rescue. As such claims were made on the floor of Parliament and outside, this is a serious breach of Parliament privilege and a stringent action must be taken against the members for their gross acts of dereliction of public duty.”

    The Congress leaders said the government actively worked to conceal the truth from the families of those killed in Iraq. The trio said the information about the death of slain Indians came out at least seven months ago, but the government still did not disclose that. “It is a tragic and inexcusable breach of duty that the External Affairs Minister, being in possession of this information (of the killing of Indians), failed to share the same with the grieving families. In fact, it is now clear that the only reason the government has disclosed the information now is compulsion because the Iraqi government would have otherwise done so,” they said.

    Bajwa said, “It is also sad that Swaraj waited to come to Parliament to make the tragic announcement on March 20 when she knew it already. This could have been made known outside Parliament.”

    Family members grieve by a portrait of one of the 39 Indian workers from Amritsar killed in Iraq by ISIS. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Rajya Sabha stated that the 39 bodies exhumed from a mount in Badoosh in Iraq have been identified.

    On March 20, Swaraj said that the 39 missing Indians in Iraq have been killed. She was speaking in Rajya Sabha. Forty Indians, mostly from Punjab, were originally abducted by terrorist organisation Islamic State from Mosul, Iraq. One of them escaped by posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh, Swaraj said in a statement in Rajya Sabha at 11 am, as soon as the House convened. The remaining 39 Indians were taken to Badoosh and killed. Swaraj said search operations led to a mound in Badoosh where locals said some bodies were buried by the ISIS. Deep penetration radars were used to establish that the mound indeed was a mass grave, she said, adding the Indian authorities requested their Iraqi counterpart to exhume the bodies.

    The external affairs minister added that the mass grave had exactly 39 bodies, with distinctive features like long hair, non-Iraqi shoes and IDs. The bodies were then sent to Baghdad for DNA testing.DNA testing by Martyrs Foundation has established identity of 38 Indians while there has been 70 per cent matching of the DNA for the 39th person, she said. Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh will be flying to Iraq to bring back the bodies on a special flight.

  • GOPIO-Central Jersey 10th Anniversary, Seeking Award Nominations and GOPIO-CT Appeal to support MISSION 12 NASA TEAM PROJECT

    GOPIO-Central Jersey 10th Anniversary, Seeking Award Nominations and GOPIO-CT Appeal to support MISSION 12 NASA TEAM PROJECT

    EDISON (TIP):  GOPIO-Central Jersey is pleased to announce the 10th Anniversary Celebrations with a Gala Banquet and Award Ceremony to be held on Sunday, June 3rd starting at 4.30 p.m. at Ember Banquets, Monmouth Junction, New jersey. As part of the celebration we will honor those achievers in different fields (Basic or Applied Science, Social Sciences, Arts and Letters, Performing Arts, Education, Engineering and Technology, Entrepreneurship/Business, Corporate Management, Medicine and Health Services, Journalism and Mass Communication, Community Service) from Indian American community residing in New Jersey. Please block your calendar for that day.

    We seek nominations from Indian American residents in New Jersey who are outstanding achievers and/or those who have made notable contributions to the society or provided community service. We are also seeking nominations for a “Friend of India Award” to be presented to an American (non-PIO) who has done outstanding work in promoting the Indian community in the US or in furthering Indo-American relations. A young Indian American (age below 35) will also be recognized at the banquet.

    Please send in nominations of any achievers residing in New Jersey right away, but not later than April 15, 2018 to dinesh1018@gmail.com.

    GOPIO-Central Jersey is also seeking sponsors for the banquet and advertisers in program booklet. More details are attached. You may contact GOPIO-Central Jersey President Suresh Reddy at 732-259-9331, or e-mail: sureshr@attglobal.net.

    (Based on a Press Release)

  • Another Hindu Temple approved in Connecticut

    Another Hindu Temple approved in Connecticut

    MILFORD, CT (TIP): Planning and Zoning Board of the City of Milford in Connecticut has reportedly unanimously approved the proposal to establish a Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Milford.

    Besides worship services, it also plans to undertake various cultural activities and community events. The proposed Temple building sits on 1.77 acres, reports suggest.

    Meanwhile, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed commended the efforts of temple leaders and area community towards realizing this temple complex.

    Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that it was important to pass on Hindu spirituality, concepts and traditions to coming generations amidst so many distractions in the consumerist society and hoped that this temple would help in this direction. Zed stressed that instead of running after materialism; we should focus on inner search and realization of Self and work towards achieving moksh (liberation), which was the goal of Hinduism.

    Milford, whose history goes back to 1639 and which calls itself “A Small City with a Big Heart!” and claims to be a meticulously maintained “town green”, is known for its annual Milford Oyster Festival. Benjamin G. Blake is the Mayor.

    Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about 1.1 billion adherents. There are about three million Hindus in USA.