Practitioners of old-style diplomacy are yet to catch their breath after the curtains had come down on the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore. No black-suited diplomat sat across the table to thrust and parry, no preparatory meetings of the alphabet soup of security advisory bodies burnt the midnight oil. Yet, by all accounts the summit concluded on a positive note. This is a huge takeaway, for the Korean Peninsula dispute is rated as among the world’s intractable, frozen-in-time animosities that bigger statesmen have opted to tip-toe around. That Kim and Trump, both looked down upon as neophytes among the hard-bitten big boys of global diplomacy, appear to be cracking open a puzzle that eluded past deal makers like Bill Clinton, may well be a pointer to political leaders taking matters into their hands rather than wait for tenured diplomats and intelligence officials to conduct the preliminary spadework.
PM Modi has also tried his hand at springing diplomatic surprises: the invite to all SAARC heads of government at his prime ministerial swearing-in ceremony and the surprise touchdown in Pakistan were meant to unlock a dispute through an informal approach. Modi unlike Trump, however, missed a vital trick — he failed to consult other players who also have equally interested fingers in the South Asian pie. The US and North Korea avoided a pushback or a spoiler attempt like the Pathankot attack by whirlwind diplomacy that drew in Russia and China. PM Modi now seems to be taking a similar approach by long deliberative sessions with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, the two major players in the region.
Old-school diplomats would look askance at these unusual efforts to break ice. But similar acts of creativeness — Indira Gandhi-Bhutto clinching the Simla agreement without aides or Henry Kissinger’s secret visit to Beijing that unfroze the Sino-US deadlock — establish that history is made with acts of political will, with or without the diplomatic entourage. The subcontinent needs one such moment in its backyard. If the Trump-Kim bromance endures, PM Modi won’t be averse to a second informal shot at enduring peace in the neighborhood.
“(It’s an) uplifting musical (with) lovable characters, an emotional heart, rousing tunes and some astonishing dance moves performed by a multi-talented, multi-generational company” – Mark S. Hoebee, Artistic Director
“Age doesn’t matter unless you’re cheese!” – Dori Berinstein, film maker
One Remarkable Dance Team. One Big Chance.
One Small Twist…You’ve Got to Be Over 60!
Half Time, a new musical,wraps another remarkable season of Paper Mill Playhouse!
This East Coast premiere of Half Time, presented by Paper Mill Playhouse of Millburn, NJ, of the new “uplifting musical has something to delight everyone: lovable characters, an emotional heart, rousing tunes and some astonishing dance moves performed by a multi-talented, multi-generational company,” remarks Mark S. Hoebee.
Half Timeis inspired by the documentary film Gotta Dance, directed, written and produced by Dori Berinstein andis based on a true New Jersey story. Half Time’sall-star cast tell the uplifting true story of ten New Jersey seniors with extraordinary dreams.
With book by Bob Martinand Chad Beguelin, music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Nell Benjaminand additional music by Marvin Hamlischand Ester Dean,HalfTimeis produced in association with Dori Berinsteinand Bill Damaschke.
Half Time is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchelland co-choreographed by Nick Kenkelwith music direction by Charlie Alterman. The cast features five-timeEmmy nominee Georgia Engel(“The Mary Tyler Moore Show,”The Drowsy Chaperone) and Tony and Emmy Award winner Lillias White(The Life, “Sesame Street”) along withAndré De Shields (The Wiz, The Full Monty, Ain’t Misbehavin’) and Tony award winner and Broadway legend Donna McKechnie (A ChorusLine).
The cast of Seniors with their younger coaches
Jersey seniors, and determined dreamers, who audition to dance at halftimefor a major basketball team. They have three things in common: they love to dance, they have something to prove, and they are all over 60. Only after making the cut do they learn they won’t be dancing tap, salsa or swing—instead, they will bring down the house with a style that is entirely new to them: hip-hop.
The Hip Hop team makes progress in hip-hop movesThe Hip Hop Half Time team Photos/ Jerry Dalia.
Take the uplifting journey with these dreamers—and the young coaches who inspire them along the way—as they battle self-doubt, stereotypes and even each other for a chance to bust a move at center court in front of 20,000 screaming fans. Together they remind us that in life, when the odds are stacked against you and the challenges seem too great to overcome, it’s not the end of the game—it’s Half Time.
” Age doesn’t matter unless you’re cheese! Grab life…. dive in and go for it… no matter the obstacles or challenges that are standing in your way,” believes Dori Berinstein.
The Hip Hop team gets coached in hip-hop moves
Half Timegoes behind the routines of the senior dreamers to reveal the realistic inner workings of each character and the very touching stories of their personal and family lives.
The principal cast features André De Shieldsas Ron,Georgia Engelas Dorothy/Dottie, Donna McKechnieas Joanne, Lillias Whiteas Bea, who are joined by Haven Burtonas Tara, Lori Tan Chinnas Mae,Nkeki Obi-Melekweas Kendra,Nancy Ticotinas Camilla, Madeleine Dohertyas Estelle, Tracy Jai Edwardsas Alison Prager, Mary Claire Kingas Jenny, Lenora Nemetzas Fran, and Kay Walbyeas Muriel.
Rounding out the cast are Alexander Aguilar, Ken Ard,Sydni Beaudoin, Tami Dahbura, Paula DeLuise, Gabriela Garcia, Talya Groves, Kathryn Kendall, Valton Jackson, Summerisa Bell Stevens, Garrett Turner and Gayle Turner.
Paper Mill Playhouse hosted an online social contest, “Generations,” The Half Time Dance Contestto promote their production of Half Time, the new musical about not acting your age. Participants were required to film a video of multiple generations of their family dancing to whatever music moves them. Contestants uploaded their videos to the contest site https://a.cstmapp.com/p/25418?lc=eng followed by a public voting period from Friday, May 25 until Friday, June 8. Winners were announced on Monday, June 11, 2018.
PRIZES Awarded
First Place Winners: The Stein Family received
Tickets for four to opening night of Half Timeat Paper Mill Playhouse (June 12, 7pm),
Four passes to opening night cast party for Half Timeat Paper Mill Playhouse (June 12, 7pm),
Photo of the winning group on the red carpet on opening night of Half Time, and
A 2018-2019 season subscription for four for Paper Mill’s new season.
Second Place Winners: The Howitz Familyreceived
Tickets for three to opening night of Half Timeat Paper Mill Playhouse (June 12, 7pm),
Three passes to opening night cast party for Half Timeat Paper Mill Playhouse (June 12, 7pm), and
Photo of the group on the red carpet on opening night of Half Time.
Third Place Winners: The Wenson Family received
Tickets for two to opening night of Half Timeat Paper Mill Playhouse (June 12, 7pm),
Two passes to opening night cast party for Half Timeat Paper Mill Playhouse (June 12, 7pm), and
Photo of the group on the red carpet on opening night of Half Time.
Fourth Place: The Stefanelli Family and Fifth Place: The Morcilio Family, each received
Two tickets to a performance of Half Time(June 27 to July 1).
Accessibility Performances for Half Time
Paper Mill Playhouse, a leader in accessibility, will offer audio-described performances for Half Time on Sunday, June 24, at 1:30pmand Saturday, June 30, at 1:30pm.Prior to these performances at noon, the theater will offer free sensory seminars. Sensory seminars offer an opportunity for patrons with vision loss to hear a live, in-depth description of the production elements of the show and hands-on interaction with key sets, props, and costumes. There will be a sign-interpreted and open-captioned performance on Sunday, July 1, at 7:00pm.
Free Audience Enrichment Activities for Half Time
Conversation Club: Join Paper Mill Playhouse’s Education team on Thursday, June 21 evening, one hour before curtain for an informal, informative gathering. You’ll learn more about the performance you’re about to see.
Q&A with the Cast:After the matinee on Saturday, June 30, stick around for a lively Q&A with cast members directly following the performance.
HalfTimeopened on June 12. Performances continue untilSunday, July 1, 2018at Paper Mill Playhouse at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, NJ.
Canada has emerged as a coveted destination for India’s diaspora
NEW YORK(TIP): Indians appear gung-ho about Canada’s Express Entry program which invites top ranked candidates — under the country’s point-based immigration system — to take up permanent residency. Express Entry is Canada’s flagship program for key economic migration.
Under the scheme, out of the 86,022 invitations sent in 2017, nearly 42% (or 36,310) were to those holding Indian citizenship. The total number of invitations sent in 2017 was more than double the previous year — 33,782.
In 2016, the number of invites sent to those having Indian citizenship in Canada was merely 11,037, showing an increase by more than 200% a year later.
Wait for Green Card sends desis to Canada
According to the Express Entry Year-end Report, 2017, issued recently by the Canadian government’s immigration division, a little over one lakh applications were received for permanent residency under the Express Entry program in 2017, 86,022 invitations were sent, and 65,401 permanent residents and their families were admitted into Canada.
Nearly 40% of this total or 26,000-plus Indians became permanent residents in Canada.
Among those applicants who had job offers and were admitted as permanent residents, occupations like information system analysts, software engineers and designers, computer programmers and university lecturers topped the charts.
These statistics, showing an increase in number of Indians opting for Canadian permanent residency, strengthen the belief that many H-1B visa holders, tired of the backlog and infinite wait for a green card in the US—a green card grants permanent residency on American soil—are now heading towards Canada.
Currently, more than three lakh Indians in the US are waiting for a green card, CATO Institute, a Washington-based think tank, states that given the green card backlog, the waiting period for Indians with an advanced degree (those in the EB-2 category) could be as much as 151 years.
NEW DELHI(TIP): Rattled by the growing complaints of desertion of women by their NRI husbands, government is considering changes in the law to enable confiscation of an absconding NRI husband’s share of joint property and prevention of alienation of commonly held land to build pressure on delinquent spouses who refuse to answer court summons.
Spurred by reports of several cases, many from Punjab, of “NRI husbands” who marry women promising an attractive lifestyle but turn deserters soon after, a group of ministers has shortlisted possible measures that will act as a deterrent and also help deliver justice to wives in distress.
These measures include a dedicated website for putting up unanswered summonses which will be set up by the ministry of external affairs. If husbands facing legal action refuse to answer or evade summonses, these will be deemed to have been served once they appear on this website. This is to deal with offenders who move countries and sometimes change identities to evade the legal process.
Also, under consideration are strict measures like revocation of passports in case of husbands who fail to respond to summonses and declaring them absconders.
Compulsory registration of NRI marriages within 48 hours of a wedding being solemnized is another measure that will be put on fast track now.
The development is significant as the Group of Ministers (GoM), comprising of senior ministers like Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh, Maneka Gandhi and Ravi Shankar Prasad, felt that there is a strong need to find solutions, even innovative ones, to tighten the law and bring the non-resident Indian offenders to book. Singh chaired the deliberations.
The move will take the shape of a Cabinet proposal after legal scrutiny. The GoM, which had considered the legal tenability of measures, is understood to be in agreement of the changes in the law that will be required. According to officials, there will be a need to amend the code of criminal procedure (CrPC), the marriage registration act and passport rules.
The Chicago-based Vibrant Media Group in its lawsuit against the Bollywood artists, their agents alleged ‘breach of contract’.
NEW YORK(TIP): Superstar Salman Khan and a host of other Bollywood artists including Katrina Kaif, Sonakshi Sinha, Ranveer Singh and Prabhu Deva have been sued by an Indian-American promoter, which alleged that they refused to perform at a concert in the US despite having taken money from it.
The Vibrant Media Group in its lawsuit against the Bollywood artists and their agents Matrix India Entertainment Consultants Private Limited and Yashraj Films Private Limited alleged “breach of contract”.
According to the complaint, in 2013 the Vibrant Media Group had hired the artists to appear live and perform at the concert ‘Celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema’, which was to be held on September 1, 2013.
The show had to be cancelled as Salman Khan was unable to leave India due to legal troubles in Rajasthan. The Vibrant Media Group had agreed to postpone the event, the lawsuit said.
The Vibrant Media Group, according to the lawsuit, recently learned that Salman Khan and the other artists, instead of keeping their promise or even offer to return the deposits they had received for the performance, had agreed to perform with another promoter.
“All calls to Mr Khan, his agents, and other artists, for the return of the funds have gone unanswered,” the group said as it sought damages of at least USD 1 million.
According to the complaint, Vibrant Media paid more than USD 200,000 to Salman Khan in advance of the concert to be held at the Sears Centre in Chicago on September 1.
Katrina Kaif was paid USD 40,000 and Sonakshi Sinha USD 36,000. None of these funds have been returned, it alleged.
The lawsuit, filed by Chicago-based Vibrant Media Group before a Northern District Court of Illinois, Eastern Division on June 10, has been assigned to District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.
Others sued by the promoter include superstar Akshay Kumar besides singers Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Usha Mangeshkar.
The lawsuit seeks $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties
NEW YORK(TIP): New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood sued President Donald Trump and his charitable foundation on Thursday, June 14 alleging that the president and his adult children illegally used it for personal, business, and political expenses.
The lawsuit alleges illegal activity that took place over more than a decade, including “extensive unlawful political coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing transactions to benefit Mr. Trump’s personal and business interests, and violations of basic legal obligations for nonprofit foundations,” according to a statement from the attorney general’s office.
The suit accuses the president, along with Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., of violating multiple counts of state and federal law. The New York attorney general’s office began looking into the Trump Foundation in the summer of 2016, following an investigation by The Washington Post into the then-candidate’s philanthropy.
Barbara Underwood, the attorney general, asked a New York state judge to dissolve the Donald J. Trump Foundation and to ban Trump, his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, and his daughter Ivanka from holding leadership roles in New York charities.
Underwood said her office’s 21-month investigation, begun under her predecessor Eric Schneiderman, uncovered “extensive unlawful political coordination” by the foundation with Trump’s campaign, as well as “repeated and willful self-dealing” to benefit Trump’s personal, business and political interests.
Among the transactions the lawsuit cited as illegal was a $10,000 payment to the Unicorn Children’s Foundation for a portrait of Trump purchased at a fundraising auction in 2014, and $100,000 paid to another charity to settle a legal claim in 2007.
The lawsuit, in the Supreme Court in Manhattan, seeks $2.8 million of restitution, a 10-year ban on Trump serving as a director of a New York nonprofit, and one-year ban for his children.
NEW DELHI(TIP): India has asked the UK to clarify whether fugitive jeweler Nirav Modi has permission to stay indefinitely in that country even as the Enforcement Directorate plans to file extradition requests with multiple countries as Modi has changed his location frequently in the past few months.
Sources said India has asked the UK home office if Modi has been granted an ‘ILR’ (indefinite leave to remain). That would be a critical piece of the jigsaw puzzle.
An ILR is like a long-term visa that grants a person legal protection against deportation. In simpler terms, Modi’s status in the UK would, with an ILR, be similar to that of Vijay Mallya, and would require India to file for extradition under the bilateral treaty.
If, however, Modi has not been granted such a privilege, India would be on much stronger ground to seek his deportation. The UK has not yet responded to the query.
The government had revoked Modi’s passport in February. However, he had more than one passport and is believed to have travelled to the UK and Belgium on a different Indian passport. His second passport has also been revoked.
Modi does not qualify for asylum, sources said, because India doesn’t feature in the list of countries which persecute their citizens enabling them to seek asylum in other countries. In addition, it has been established that Modi did indeed commit large-scale fraud, which would also rule out any grant of asylum.
Meanwhile, the ED is ready with legal paperwork for its extradition requests, having filed a chargesheet against Modi and obtaining a non-bailable warrant from a special Mumbai court two days ago. The agency has received information about Modi’s presence in Belgium after his recent trip to London.
However, a source said it was contemplating filing extradition requests with multiple countries since the diamantaire was constantly switching locations.
Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi of Geetanjali Gems are accused in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB swindle. Both fled the country with their family members just before PNB filed a case against them with the CBI. Immediately after, the ED registered a money laundering case against them under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The ED has received information that Modi travelled to the UK multiple times using his revoked Indian passport in March. The ED had given details of Modi’s six passports to the foreign ministry. However, it could not be ascertained how he travelled on a revoked passport.
The ED has also approached Interpol through the CBI for a red corner notice against Modi. The agency has seized assets worth over Rs 3,000 crore belonging to Modi and his associates. A source said Mehul Choksi is currently in the US and a similar extradition request against him will be filed after the ED files a chargesheet against him.
WASHINGTON(TIP): According to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday, June 13, just over half of all Americans say they approve of how President Donald Trump has handled North Korea, but only a quarter think that his summit this week with Kim Jong Un will lead to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, according to a
In a joint declaration following their meeting in Singapore on Tuesday, June 12 the North Korean leader pledged to move toward complete denuclearization of the peninsula and Trump vowed to guarantee the security of the United States’ old foe. Forty percent of those polled said they did not believe the countries would stick to their commitments.
Another 26 percent said they believed the United States and North Korea would meet their commitments, while 34 percent said they did not know whether they would follow through.
Thirty-nine percent believe the summit has lowered the threat of nuclear war between the United States and nuclear-armed North Korea, slightly more than the 37 percent who said they did not believe it changed anything.
Trump has pursued what he calls a “maximum pressure” campaign” against Pyongyang to force it to give up its nuclear weapons. He toughened up international sanctions to further isolate North Korea and then agreed to meet directly with Kim after South Korea’s president convinced him that the North was committed to giving up its nuclear weapons.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll suggests the Republican president has broad support for one of his biggest foreign policy efforts, despite criticism from non-proliferation experts that Trump had exacted few concrete commitments from Kim on Tuesday on dismantling his nuclear arsenal.
Republicans appear much more enthusiastic than Democrats about the potential benefits of the summit. The poll found that Republicans were twice as likely as Democrats to say that the meeting lowered the threat of nuclear war, and they were three times as likely to say that both sides would follow through on their commitments.
Democrats typically give Trump low approval ratings – only 12 percent approve of his overall job performance. But about 30 percent said they approved of his handling of North Korea.
Trump, who returned to Washington early on Wednesday, hailed the meeting with Kim, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, as a success that had removed the North Korean nuclear threat. Their seemingly friendly meeting was in sharp contrast to their tit-for-tat insults and bellicose rhetoric late last year while Pyongyang carried out its biggest nuclear and missile tests.
In the poll, Trump received a 51 percent approval rating for his handling of North Korea and also led the list of leaders who should take the most credit for the summit and the joint pledge. Forty percent say the former real estate developer should take the most credit, followed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in with 11 percent. Kim was third with 7 percent.
Trump has repeatedly touted his role in bringing the reclusive North Korea to the negotiating table, a feat that he says his predecessors were unable to pull off.
SURREY(TIP): Snnehal Vijay, a schoolgirl aged 11 just has achieved the highest possible score in a Mensa IQ test, even surpassing that of famed scientists Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein.
The student, from Stanwell, Surrey, shocked her parents by scoring 162 on the Cattell III B paper, something only one per cent of all entrants achieve.
Although her score is higher than Einstein’s, there is a catch. Adults can only score a maximum of 161 while children can get 162.
Snnehal’s parents, Swatantra and Nitika, said they were ‘over the moon’ when they opened the letter containing her exam score.
It turns out that Snnehal has also been accepted into Henrietta Barnett School, one of the country’s top-performing grammar schools, where she will begin in September.
Swatantra said he had the idea of entering his daughter for the Mensa test after seeing her revise for the pre-entry exams into Henrietta Barnett.
The Cattell III B test, which examines verbal reasoning, is one of two Mensa use in their entry exams.
The other test, called Culture Fair, is a diagram-only test which is more suitable for people who do not have English as their first language or who are dyslexic.
KUALA LUMPUR(TIP): Indian origin Tommy Thomas, a top ethnic lawyer was appointed Malaysia’s new Attorney General on June 5thby the King, who appealed to Malaysians not to “create religious or racial conflict” over the decision, amid protests from Islamic groups against his nomination.
A palace statement said Sultan Muhammad V has approved terminating the current Attorney General Mohamad Apandi Ali and replacing him with Mr. Thomas, who is the first person from the minority community to hold the post in 55 years in the Muslim-majority nation.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had recently proposed to nominate Mr. Thomas, 66, as the Attorney-General, the official agency reported.
The king called on all Malaysians to accept that the appointment of the Attorney-General should “not create religious or racial conflict as every Malaysian should be fairly treated regardless of race and religion.”
The appointment of Mr. Thomas as the top legal officer would not affect the special rights and privileges of the Malays and Bumiputeras, as well as the status of Islam as the federal religion, the agency said.
The King also expressed his disappointment and worry about “inaccurate and negative” media reports of late which could threaten peace and harmony in the country, it said.
Mr. Thomas is best known as a constitutional law expert and a civil litigator in court cases in matters as varied as administrative law, banking, finance, corporate and commercial law.
He has been a lawyer in Malaysia for 42 years, having been called to the Bar in the United Kingdom in 1975 and called to the Malaysian Bar in 1976.
Kuala Lumpur-born Thomas is also an alumni of Victoria Institution, the University of Manchester and the London School of Economics.
He had also served the legal community in peninsular Malaysia through the Malaysian Bar’s governing body Bar Council, which he was a member of during 1984-1988 and 1993-2001 – including a stint as Bar Council secretary from 1995-1997.
The appointment of Tommy Thomas has caused division among the Malaysian public as petitions – both objecting and supporting his nomination – have cropped up.
Parti Islam Se-Malaysia’s information chief on May 2ndalso protested against the government’s pick, saying that the candidate should be an individual “who can protect Islam as the official religion of the country”.
The Malaysian government had defended its nomination of Mr Thomas, saying that it would be the right signal to send to Malaysians and the rest of the world that the new administration was serious about reforming the country’s institutions.
SACRAMENTO(TIP): Indian American Shubham Goel, who has his roots in Uttar Pradesh is the youngest candidate running for governor of California, Mr. Goel calls for “fresh voices to change the state government”. He was born and raised in California and campaigns for need for practical solutions to problems that the state faces.
A virtual reality manager by profession, the 22-year-old has been using social media platforms to reach out to the public. His campaigns show him on the streets of California with a megaphone in hand, advocating transparency in the political system.
In a video he posted on Twitter, the young techie in a dark blue t-shirt is seen asking people at a carnival to support him, while one of his aides is standing beside him holding a big, white placard to pitch his candidacy for California governor.
Mr. Goel will contest alongside 27 other candidates, according to a two-page state governor contest list that shows he does not have a party preference.
Another video posted on his Twitter profile shows him campaigning on virtual reality or VR platforms. “Technology has been able to fix a lot of issues. I want to run for governor just to implement technologically feasible platforms,” he said.
Shubham Goel recently graduated from the University of California or UCLA and holds a degree in economics and film studies. Calling himself an “everyday person,” soon after he announced his candidacy, he tweeted, “California is struggling and this is the moment for change!”
According to Mr. Goel, the primary reason for running for office is that one needs no political backing or funding to bring about change. “I wanted to run to show that in state-wide offices, it is presumed that to run for office, you need loads of money and fame and loads of political backing. I want to show that all you need is efficiency, platforms and conviction,” he said.
If elected, Mr. Goel hopes to take California back to its Gold Rush period, arguably one of the most significant events to shape American history.
Mr. Goel campaigns on a seven-point platform that includes a handbook for the governor that talks of creating centralized and digitalized profiles on social media for office-holders. The profiles will show their economic interactions for the past 10 years with regards to money and donations they have received from any source.
ILLIONOIS(TIP): Lovely Varughese, the mother of Indian American Pravin Varughese will finally see the man accused of killing her son after four years as the trial begun on June 4th.
Gaege Bethune, who faces a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Pravin Varughese, appeared in the court on Monday, June 4thto face the trail. His final pre-trial hearing was held last month.
Varughese, a student of Southern Illinois University was on his way home from a party, but he never reached his townhouse near the campus.
The teenager placed a desperate call to a friend around 12.30 a.m., during which he reportedly sounded out-of-breath.
Varughese’s body was found in the woods in an area roughly three miles from the SIU campus after an intense search for nearly six days.
The accused Bethune, a resident of Eldorado, Illinois, is not a student of Southern Illinois University, where Varughese was a student at the time of his death. But the indictment report says he admitted that he delivered “multiple punches to the head and face, rendering (Varughese) ‘dead weight.’”
After the final pre-trial hearing Lovely Varughese had told media “I’m pretty confident on the evidence they have, and I’m just waiting for the jury to hear the evidence.”
She had also added that the family was all prepared for the trial of Gaege Bethune.
According to the statement provided by Bethune to police, he gave Varughese a ride on a frigid February night. He also admitted that he was drunk but said the deceased was the first to start an altercation and refused to get out of the car.
He also added that when the Illinois state trooper approached, Varughese escaped into the woods.
The case was almost closed after the Jackson County State’s Attorney Michael Carr approved the police finding that Varughese died of hypothermia.
After the relentless follow-through of Lovely Varughese, who even accused the Illinois police of foul play, a second autopsy was conducted, and it revealed that there were at least three major injuries to his head from blunt trauma, and his eye was badly damaged. The victim also looked to have tried some sort of a defensive move.
In March 2015, Carr stepped down from the case and turned it over to Patrick Delfino, a special prosecutor in the Illinois State Appellate Court.
LONDON(TIP): An Indian origin UK based DJ has been jailed for three months after being found guilty of contempt of court for exaggerating the effect of his relatively minor injuries in a bid to defraud the National Health Service of over 837,000 pounds. Sandip Singh Atwal, known as Sunny, was filmed dancing and working as a courier after claiming that “negligent” treatment he received from the UK’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS) for minor injuries had left him unemployed and dependent.
The 33-year-old was found in contempt of court on 14 counts at a hearing in April and was sentenced at the UK High Court on June 1st.
“It needs to be clearly understood by everyone that false and lying claims undermine the administration of justice in a number of serious ways. The senior courts have made it clear that those who make false claims and get caught must expect to go to prison,” Justice Spencer said during sentencing.
“There is no other way to underline the gravity of such conduct to those who attempt to make such claims,” he noted.
In June 2008, Atwal, who was working in his family’s taxi firm, was injured in an attack with a baseball bat and went to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for treatment. He was treated for fractures to the index finger of his right hand and the ring finger of his left hand, and a laceration to his lower lip.
He later brought a claim for negligent treatment, which was admitted by Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust, who offered GBP 30,000 to settle the case.
Atwal asked for GBP 837,109, including very substantial sums for future loss of earnings and future care, on the basis he was unable to work and grossly incapacitated. In order to justify the much larger claim, Atwal said he was suffering from disability, self-consciousness about his lip and hands, had becoming a social recluse, suffered alcohol dependence and reliance on pain killers and was unable to work as a DJ or a courier between 2010 to 2015.
But the NHS trust was suspicious, put Atwal under surveillance and investigated his social media postings which “gave the lie” to much of what he was asserting, noted Justice Spencer.
Surveillance footage showed Atwal working and lifting heavy items, with no visible signs of discomfort, leading the trust to accuse him of fraudulent exaggeration.
NHS Resolution, on behalf of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, said the case should be seen as a demonstration of its commitment to combating fraud – but should not deter genuine claimants.
SINGAPORE(TIP): A 28-year-old Indian origin in Singapore has been sentenced by a court there for attempting to spike his flat mate’s drink and subsequently rape her, according to reports.
Annadurai Prabakaran, who worked in Singapore for more than seven years as a private hire bus driver, had earlier started to think of having sex with his 21-year-old flat mate, who is also an Indian origin residing there, court documents suggest.
Prabakaran bought two tablets for two Singapore dollars, of what he assumed to be sleeping pills, to spike his flat mate’s water bottle.
“He planned to drug her and have sexual intercourse with her while she was asleep,” according to a report, citing court documents.
He then carried out a small test by using one of the pills to see whether it would become colorless when dissolved.
Three days later, on December 12, he dissolved the other pill in his flat mate’s bottle, when she left it unattended.
When her 21-year-old flat mate took a sip of water, she spat it out when she realized the water tasted bitter, according to reports.
The woman, upon seeing that the water was cloudy, suspected Prabakaran and called a friend of her uncle’s. Her friend, also a woman, turned up at the apartment with a male friend.
Prabakaran confessed to spiking his flat mate’s water and then pleaded for forgiveness, according to the court documents.
He then grabbed the water bottle from the man, who was holding it at that time, and dropped it on the floor.
The man proceeded to call the police, which sent the bottle to the Health Sciences Authority or HSA for analysis.
A small amount of water had remained in the bottle. The HSA’s toxicology report revealed the spiked water to not have the chemicals inside a sleeping pill, but instead Sildenafil, a drug that is used to treat erectile dysfunction. Sildenafil’s side effects include nausea and headaches.
Prabakaran pleaded guilty for obstructing justice, with his lawyer pleading to the court for Prabakaran to be given the lightest sentence possible.
The court sentence handed out to Prabakaran was for two years and 10 months. He was also sentenced to three strokes of the cane.
Singapore permits judicial caning and its caning laws are said to be one of the most severe in the world.
SACRAMENTO, CA(TIP): Indian American Democrats Ami Bera and Ro Khanna have won their primaries in their bid to hold on to their congressional seats in California.
Bera, the longest serving Indian American in the US House of Representatives, polled nearly 52 percent of the total votes cast in the California District 7 on June 5th. He will face Republican Andrew Grant, who finished second with 33 percent votes.
Ami Bera was first elected in 2012, when he defeated incumbent Dan Lungren by two percentage points. Since then both his reelection runs were very competitive.
Freshman congressman Ro Khanna finished first in District 17, winning 59 percent of the votes. Republican Ron Cohen, who received 25 percent of votes, will challenge the Indian American in the November election.
Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, entered Congress by beating incumbent and fellow Democrat Mike Honda in 2016.
In the statewide elections, Indian American Vivek Viswanathan, who ran for treasurer, finished third.
The former Hillary Clinton aide, who ran an innovative campaign by running on his sneakers from one end of the state to the other, polled nearly half a million votes. Fellow Asian American Fiona Ma received more than 1.6 million votes (43 percent) — nearly double the votes polled by his nearest rival, Republican Greg Conlon.
In California, there is only one primary, and candidates from all parties compete, with the top two finishers advancing to the general election.
Last month, two Indian American Democrats won primaries in Texas and Arkansas.
Sri Preston Kulkarni won the runoff for Texas’ 22nd Congressional District, while school teacher Chintan Desai won Arkansas’ first congressional district Democratic primary unopposed.
With India recalibrating its relations with other powers, the India-U.S. equation is not quite balancing out
By Suhasini Haidar
At his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last week, billed as a major foreign policy statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of India and the U.S.’s “shared vision” of an open and secure Indo-Pacific region. Yet his words differed so much from those of U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, who spoke at the same event, that it seemed clear that New Delhi and Washington no longer see eye-to-eye on this issue, and several others as well.
Oceanic gulf
To begin with, Mr. Modi referred to the Indo-Pacific, a term coined by the U.S. for the Indian and Pacific Oceans region, as a natural geographical region, not a strategic one, while Mr. Mattis called the Indo-Pacific a “priority theatre” and a “subset of [America’s] broader security strategy” for his military command, now renamed the Indo-Pacific Command. While Mr. Modi referred to India’s good relations with the U.S., Russia and China in equal measure, Mr. Mattis vowed to counter China’s moves in the Indo-Pacific and referred to the U.S. National Defense Strategy released this January, which puts both China and Russia in its crosshairs as the world’s two “revisionist powers”.
The divergence in their positions, admittedly, are due more to a shift in New Delhi’s position over the past year than in the U.S.’s, when Mr. Modi and President Donald Trump met at the White House. A year ago, the Modi government seemed clear in its intention to counter China’s growing clout in its neighborhood, especially post-Doklam, challenge the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and back a Quadrilateral grouping of India, the U.S., Japan and Australia to maintain an open Indo-Pacific. Today, the Doklam issue has been buried, the BRI isn’t as much a concern as before, and the government’s non-confrontational attitude to the Maldives and Nepal indicates a softened policy on China in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Mr. Modi now essays a closer engagement with Chinese President Xi Jinping and a relationship reset with China after the Wuhan meeting.
The Quad formation, which is holding its second official meeting today in Singapore, has also been given short shrift. India rejected an Australian request to join maritime exercises along with the U.S. and Japan this June, and Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said quite plainly last month that there was no plan to “militarize” the Quad. Contrast this with India’s acceptance of military exercises with countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Russia-China led grouping it will join this week in Qingdao, and one can understand some of the confusion in Washington. Pentagon officials, who had come to accept India’s diffidence on signing outstanding India-U.S. foundational agreements, are now left scratching their heads as India publicly enters the international arena in the corner with Russia and China, while proclaiming its intention to continue energy deals with Iran and Venezuela in defiance of American sanctions.
Era of summits
In a world where summits between leaders have replaced grand strategy, the optics are even clearer. Mr. Modi will have met Mr. Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin four-five times each by the end of the year, if one counts informal and formal summits, as well as meetings at the SCO, BRICS and G-20. In contrast, nearly half the year has gone in just scheduling the upcoming 2+2 meet of Indian and U.S. Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs.
Trade protectionism is clearly the other big point of divergence between India and the U.S., which have in recent months taken each other to the World Trade Organisation on several issues. There has been a surge in disputes between the two countries: on the new American steel and aluminum tariffs, the proposed cuts in H1B professional visas and cancellation of H4 spouse visas, on India’s tariffs and resistance to U.S. exports of dairy and pork products, on Indian price reductions on medical devices, and Reserve Bank of India rules on data localization on Indian servers for U.S. companies.
The row over Harley-Davidson motorcycles is a case in point, where what should have been a small chink in the relationship has ended up denting the discourse quite seriously. When Mr. Trump announced to Harley executives and union representatives in February last year that he would stop countries “taking advantage” of them, no one in New Delhi paid much attention. Over the year, Mr. Trump grew more vocal in this demand, including twice during meetings with Mr. Modi in Washington and Manila, calling for India to scrap its 75-100% tariffs, given that the U.S. imposes zero tariffs on the import of Indian Royal Enfield motorcycles. Mr. Modi tried to accommodate U.S. concerns, and even called Mr. Trump on February 8 this year to tell him that tariffs were about to be cut to 50%. But after Mr. Trump divulged the contents of their conversation publicly, trade talks were driven into a rut. Officials in Washington still say that if India were to slash its rates, it would see major benefits in other areas of commerce, while officials in New Delhi say that with Mr. Trump having gone public with Mr. Modi’s offer, it would be impossible to back down any further. In fact, a new cess has taken tariffs back up to 70%.
The biggest challenges to a common India-U.S. vision are now emerging from the new U.S. law called Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal with the threat of more secondary sanctions. Both actions have a direct impact on India, given its high dependence on defense hardware from Russia and its considerable energy interests in Iran. In particular, India’s plans to acquire the Russian S-400 missile system will become the litmus test of whether India and the U.S. can resolve their differences. Clearly the differences over a big-ticket deal like this should have been sorted out long before the decisions were made; yet there is no indication that the Trump administration and the Modi government took each other into confidence before doing so.
In the face of sanctions
Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s avowal of the S-400 agreement, and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s open defiance of U.S. sanctions on Russia, Iran and Venezuela at separate press conferences this month couldn’t have helped. It also didn’t help that owing to Mr. Trump’s sudden decision to sack Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State in March, the 2+2 meeting in April, which may have clarified matters, was put off. The truth is, building a relationship with the Trump administration in the past year has been tricky for both South Block and the Indian Embassy in Washington, as more than 30 key administration officials have quit or have been sacked — they have had to deal with three National Security Advisers, two Chiefs of Staff, as well as two Secretaries of State as interlocutors.
It is equally clear that the India-U.S. equation isn’t balancing out quite the way it did last year, when Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump first announced the idea of the “2+2” dialogue. Ms. Swaraj, Ms. Seetharaman and their American counterparts have their work cut out for them during their upcoming meeting in Washington on July 6. If a week is a long time in politics, in geopolitics today a year is an eternity.
(The author is Deputy Resident Editor & Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu. She can be reached at suhasini.h@thehindu.co.in)
Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s Representative greeted by Ambassador Tanmay Lala, Dy Permanent Representative to the UN as she and her Military Attache join the celebration of UN Peacekeeping Day at the UN. Also, in the Pic, Col Sanjeev Kapoor. (right) to the United Nations. Photo /Jay Mandal/On AssignmentUN Secretary-General António Guterres delivers his statement during UN Peacekeeping day event at the UN, hosted by Indian Mission to the UN. in NY. Photo /Jay Mandal/On Assignment
NEW YORK CITY(TIP): The Eye Foundation of America (www.eyefoundationofamerica.org) held a fundraiser, May 23 in Downtown here. Around a hundred well wishers and patrons of the Foundation gathered to support the Foundation which aims at “preventing the avoidable blindness”.
Ashok Raju speaks about the Eye Foundation of AmericaDr. Leela Raju speaks about various projects
Ashok Raju and Leela Raju spoke about the Foundation’s work in the last three decades and expressed their gratitude to the patrons of the Foundation who have been regularly funding the various projects of the Foundation.
The Madullas, Srinu and Tulsi who are regular donors received special recognition, as did the Maddalis, the Panchals, and the Modaks for their generous pledges.
Ms Neeta Bhasin, CEO of ASB Communications and Chair of Diwali at Times Square making announcement of having the Eye Foundation as a partner at the October 2018 Diwali at times square
A highlight of the event was an announcement by Ms Neeta Bhasin, CEO of ASB Media and Chair of Diwali at Times Square that the Eye Foundation of America will be a partner in Diwali celebrations in October 2018.
Prasanna and ensemble performingOrganizers and Prasanna EnsembleMaster of Ceremonies Kulraaj Bhushan Anand
Prasanna and his ensemble which included his singer wife Shalini cast a spell with their soulful music and won the admiration and appreciation of the gathering.
The fundraiser netted $350,000.
The Foundation has planned a fundraising event in NJ on Sept 22 at Royal Albert Palace.
The Foundation is also considering a tour with Prasanna in Chicago and San Francisco, and maybe at some other locations also, given the fact that the gathering felt hugely entertained by his ensemble.
Dr. VK Raju, founder of the Eye Foundation of America chose no to speak on the occasion. His wife and he kept themselves busy looking after the guests.
The organizers thanked Prasanna and his ensemble, Joe’s Pub, the Master of Ceremonies Kulraaj Bhushan Anand, Gloria and the Society and Diplomatic Review, and Prof. Indrajit Saluja and The Indian Panorama for their support.
BJP president Amit Shah is busy making pilgrimages to places he had rarely bothered to visit while his party logged a steady record of victories in state elections. His first port of call was Matoshree, home to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to be followed by a closed-door meeting with the Badals in Chandigarh. His boss, PM Modi is on a pacifying and reconciliation mission too: an olive branch to party veteran LK Advani after studiously ignoring him all these years and there is talk of rapprochement with other estranged party elders as well.
A walk-back in politics, as in war, is an accepted tactic to cut the losses and recoup energy. The message from the high-value losses in UP and Karnataka seems to be that the BJP’s brand of ethno-religious political activism and the Modi charisma may not be adequate in a bipolar competition in 2019. It is also a realization that the NDA needs to again summon the spirit of 2014 but with a slight twist in the arrangement: it is no longer the rising tide of Modi’s populism and antipathy to the Congress that unconditionally brought allies to the BJP’s fold.
The Congress’ readiness to take the backseat in Karnataka and play the understudy to the BSP and SP in UP have also brought a matching pressure on the BJP to be accommodative to its allies as well. However, power brings in its own complications. The BJP has a much harder task on hand in trying to separately renegotiate the terms of alliance with its partners. For its allies of UP and Bihar, the BJP needs to allay their fears of abandonment and emasculation; with Akali Dal and Shiv Sena, conciliation is easier on the back of decades of association but the ball game in the South is different: the BJP may have invested in the wrong AIADMK faction in Tamil Nadu, is without a partner in Karnataka and divorced but not separated with the TDP in Andhra. J&K also requires a greater flexibility of alignment. A helping hand from the sidelined elders could make this arduous task easier.
CHICAGO, IL(TIP): The Uttar Pradesh Association of Greater Chicago (UPA) held its annual Hindi Hasya Kavi Sammelan on Sunday, May 27, 2018 at Ashiyana banquet hall in Downers Grove, Illinois
The Sammelan was a huge success with over 400 plus guests attending the program from all over Chicagoland and neighboring areas.
This is a signature event of UP Association which is organized every year in close collaboration with International Hindi Association (IHA). UPA is the only organization that organizes this very popular Kavi Sammelan every year and brings acclaimed poets from India to promote and celebrate richness of our motherland language through kavi sammelan.
Three famous poets, Mr. Sarvesh Asthana, Mr. Gaurav Sharma and Dr. Sonroopa Vishal, currently on tour of Unites States and Canada, entertained audience with hasya, vyang and geet. The Kavis’ were a perfect combination- where Mr. Asthana’s comic poetry and Sharma’s two liner comic poetry kept the audience roaring in laughter, at the same time, Dr. Vishal’s geet and Gazals mesmerized the audience with her melodious voice. The performances by three poets were outstanding and the hall echoed with loud laughter and clapping with great hasya and satire poems presented by Mr. Ashthana and Mr. Sharma. Dr. Vishal’s geet/gazals on love and family relationship and importance of women in shaping our society filled our hearts with pride and she received standing ovation. Overall, combinations of three poets was well appreciated by the audience. Mr. Asthana presided over the kavi sammelan with his unique and impressive style of poetry presentation.
The Sammelan started with welcome remarks by Dr. Subhash Pandey, who is Chairman for the Board of Trustees of the Association. He said that we are pleased to have three honorable poets from India and he emphasized that poets with his or her power of writing contribute greatly to shape our culture and heritage. He highlighted the Association’s history and accomplishments to the audience and thanked them for constant support. Dr. Pandey said that UP Association since its inception has engaged in promoting Hindi by organizing the several successful Kavi Sammelan. He then introduced poets one by one and highlighted the accomplishments of each poets and their popularity in India. He also highlighted many recent accomplishments, thanked immediate past president of UPA, Mr. Vivek Varma and his team for their dedication and an outstanding service. He then introduced and welcomed newly elected president Mrs. Taruna Gupta, who have been associated with UPA for last several years. Mrs. Gupta gave her warm welcome to guests, visiting poets and audience. She thanked organization for giving this opportunity to serve Indian community of Chicago in promoting Indian culture and most importantly UP state of India. Dr. Pandey also introduced and welcomed all newly elected members of executive committee and board of trustees. Dr. Pandey also invited guest of honor, Mr. OP Meena, Consul and head of chancery, Chicago Indian Consulate General office for his remarks on this occasion. Mr. Meena appreciated association’s outstanding work in promoting Hindi and also welcomed visiting poets from India. He also announced the plan of consulate for the celebration of international Yoga day on June 16th, 2018 at Millennium park and invited everyone to attend.
A view of the audience
A large number of audience attended this year’s Hasya Kavi Sammelan that focused on geet and gazals. Refreshments consisted of delicious snacks with hot tea that were served during the intermission by Ashiyana banquets. On behalf of UPA, Dr. Subhash Pandey thanked Mr. Surendra Jain, owner of Ashiyana banquets, for the delicious food and his support. His service was greatly appreciated by everyone who attended the program. Dr. Pandey also thanked the media personnel particularly Mr. Suresh Bodiwala, Asian media USA, for his superb service of the Indian community. He also thanked Ms. Vandana Jhingan for her service to community and covering the event for TV Asia and Mr. Jatinder Bedi of Hello NRI for his support. The Association’s outgoing President Mr. Vivek Varma thanked the poets, audience, committee members, board of trustees and volunteers to make this program a great success. The memorable night ended with presenting the poets with small gift of appreciation by the guest of honor, Mr. OP Meena and office bearers of UP association.
As quoted by Dr. Subhash Pandey, “The credit of grand success of Kavi Sammelan goes to the immense talent of Kavis’ who kept the audience glued to their chairs and engaged for four hours and also the hard work and dedication of the U.P Association’s executive Committee and board of trustees who worked tirelessly for the program”.
As quoted by Mrs. Taruna Gupta, “We are very pleased with the interest and positive feedback from audience about the program and the credit of success goes to all the attendees for coming and showing their support for our Indian Culture and love for Hind language”
(Photographs and Press release by Asian Media USA)
CHICAGO, IL(TIP): A Media conference was held by Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago (JSMC) on Saturday, June 2 at JSMC temple, 435 N Route 59, Bartlett, IL 60103
The Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago (JSMC), Bartlett Illinois, is preparing for a grand celebration of the 25th Anniversary of its temple from June 22 to July 1, 2018 in Bartlett, IL. More than 4000 people are expected to witness this historical celebration. This will be the first Jain temple in North America with “Shikhar” or dome to complete 25 years. A number of dignitaries, speakers, and faith leaders from US and India will grace the occasion. With the mission of preserving and sharing Jain way of life, JSMC has grown great with 1900+ proud life members (families) and expanded its facilities in a 17.5-acre lot with a monumental temple and Community Center.
Since 1970s, Chicago has experienced tremendous growth in population. A great part of this growth has come about as Chicago has become more international in character. Story of Jains in Chicago parallels that of Chicago. During this brief period, Jain population exploded from less than thirty families to more than nineteen hundred families. Jains built a beautiful eighty-four thousand square feet Jain Center and Temple at 435 North Route 59, on the northeast corner of Route 59 and Route 20 in Bartlett, Illinois. President of JSMC executive committee Mr. Vipul Shah is very excited and mentioned that, “This is a milestone year for all Jains in and around Chicago and indeed the whole of US. We have put in a lot of planning to ensure that all our guests have a great experience.” Chairman and Board of Trustees of JSMC, Mr. Atul Shah added, “Our unity, dedicated volunteers, visionary leaders and generous donors, over the last 25 years is the main reason that we are a role model Jain society in North America.”
The ten- day celebration includes various religious, cultural, educational and entertainment events to keep the audience enthralled. There is also a separate track of activities for youth and young adults. Planning for the celebration has been going on for the last 6 months and has now reached a feverish pace with over 200 volunteers working to put finishing touches with the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees leadership.
JSMC Members
PR & Media co-leads Mr. Hemant Shah (past Chairman) and Dr. Mukesh Doshi (past Chairman) also explained, “We are building on a very successful legacy of 48 years of JSMC.” Chicago is very fortunate to have remarkable history of the first Jain who landed 125 years ago – when Shri Virchand Raghavji Gandhi pioneered Jainism in western world and represented Jains in first parliament of World religious conference held in Chicago in 1893. Therefore, the roots of Jain religion were already planted. Since 1970, this society is standing on contributions of generous donors, dedicated volunteers and passionate leadership of visionaries. We are humbled to be part of this society that is regarded as symbol of Unity and harmony among all Jains.
About Jain Center of Metropolitan Chicago (JSMC)
Founded in 1970, JSMC caters to the religious, educational, cultural and community needs of Jains in and around Chicago. After building North America’s first Jain temple with Shikhar in 1993, the organization undertook a major expansion in 2008-09. With more than 1900 families as life members, JSMC has maintained its unity of Shwetamber, Digambar, Sthanakvasi and Shrimad sects over the years and has continued to inspire the Jain values of non-violence, multi-pluralism and non-possessiveness.
These members engage in various religious, cultural, educational, social and community activities on close to 160+ days in a typical year. Over 500 students register in the Pathshaala that meets every 1st and 3rd Sunday. The Center has also become a preferred location to host other events – given its state of the art community hall and dining facility available on rental. A 7-person elected Board and a 13-person elected Executive Committee manage JSMC with support from many /committees.
Jainism is a religion and a way of life for Jains around the world. The primary purpose of JSMC is to increase the awareness of the principles of Jainism, achieve the unity of all Jains, provide a platform wherefrom to project the voice of Jain religion, promote the feeling of amity and unity among Jains and to promote inter-faith understanding. Jainism, which originated in India, at least five thousand years ago, has largest number of followers (about 4 million) in India. It has nonetheless, influenced the world peace through its message of non-violence and forgiveness. Jainism indirectly influenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, as he followed the example and non-violent methods of Mahatma Gandhi in his struggle for equality and civil rights for all minorities in USA.
Jains have been on a path of Non-Violence, Non-Absolutism (Anekantvad), and Non-possession (Aparigrah) for thousands of years. And Science is walking hand in hand with us on this path. For thousands of years, Jains have believed in meditation, yoga, animal compassion, vegetarianism, environmentalism, equal rights for women, respect for other cultures and forgiveness. Jains believe that universe is eternal and that Jain religion, which explains the rules of the universe, is therefore eternal, with no beginning and no end. Last perfected soul known (Tirthankar) to us is Lord Mahavir, who was born in 599BC, near Patna in Bihar, India.
(Photographs by: Asian Media USA. Press release by The Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago (JSMC))
PORTLAND, OREGON(TIP): This past Memorial Day Weekend several Sikh organizations including Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Seva Foundation, Ghadar Memorial Foundation, SAVA, and SikhLens, along with the local Sikh community organized a program in celebration of Dr. Bhagat Singh Thind’s service and activism.
The event took place prior to the Portland Oregon Memorial Day Parade. LTC Kamal Singh Kalsi and Johanna Ogden spoke about history and service. The program included elements of film, music, dance, and discussion. After the event attendees went to the Portland Oregon Memorial Day Parade were the Sikh community created a float in honor of Sikhs in Service.
SALDEF Regional Director SatHanuman Singh Khalsa organized the important event.
Trump has offered India 100% access to all US Technologies and treat India as the closest ally
By Ven Parameswaran
“Close alignment with the US will strengthen India’s national security and protect its sovereignty. China will think twice before threatening to attack India. Future wars will be won by whoever has superior technology”, says the author
The US spends half a trillion dollars a year on scientific research—more than any other nation on Earth—but China has pulled into second place, with the European Union, third and Japan, a distant fourth. China is on track to surpass the US by the end of this year, according to the National Science Board. In 2016, annual scientific publications from China outnumbered those from the US for the first time.
“There seems to be a sea change in how people are talking about Chinese science,” said Alanna Krolikowski, a Chinese science expert at Missouri University of Science and Technology. Foreign observers, many of whom were once condescending, now “are rather in awe at what the Chinese policies have accomplished.”
The scientific advances are a small piece of China’s larger ambitions. President Xi Jinping aims to supplant the USA as the world’s economic superpower within three decades. In October Xi vowed to produce “a world-class army by 2050.” Meanwhile, China is spending more on infrastructure than the US or Europe, and the middle class has ballooned – making relocation more attractive.
India was ahead of China in nuclear development and could have tested before 1964, when China tested. India was foolish to wait for China to test first; and tested only in 1974. The US punished India with severe sanctions. Indian scientists were shut off from all international scientific conventions. India further tested in 1998 and the US punished with more sanctions. Thanks to George W Bush for offering India civil nuclear agreement that lifted the sanctions of 3 decades. India was shut off for 30 years. Nehru may be held responsible for enabling China to advance ahead of India.
There is something dangerously wrong with Indian policies. After 71 years of independence, India is unable to deliver water and electricity 24/7 to all Indians. Why? The Indian Institute of Technology is branded No.1 in the world. At least 50,000 of IIT alumni have settled in the US. As citizens of the USA many of them have performed par excellence in different fields.
Prime Minister Modi must take aggressive steps to transform India from backwardness to modernization. He should liberalize policies to encourage the USA to invest and participate in the Indian economy. Modi physically embraced Trump at the White House. He must follow up by India embracing the US and seek full alignment with the USA. Chester Bowles, American Ambassador to India during Truman’s and Kennedy’s era fell in love with India and recommended a strong partnership with the USA. But Nehru turned down the offer. India pretended nonalignment, but it was aligned with the Soviet Union.
Prime Minister Modi must capitalize on the opportunity President Trump has offered to India in technology, defense, and economic development. If India gives carte blanche to the USA, India will be modernized within the shortest possible time enabling the US to import consumer and industrial products from India instead of from China.Full access to the latest U.S. technology and investing in research and development can make India compete with China. India is the youngest country in the world. India is also the largest English speaking country in the world, second being the USA. India should be able to create huge employment opportunities for its large supply of engineers, scientists and management professionals.
Close alignment with the US will strengthen India’s national security and protect its sovereignty. China will think twice before threatening to attack India. Future wars will be won by whoever has superior technology. In this context, India should continue to align with Israel, besides, of course, its close alignment with the US.
(The author, 64 year resident of USA; MBA, Columbia Business School, is a Diplomat-in-Residence and Senior Adviser to Imagindia Institute. a think tank in New Delhi. He can be reached at vpwaren@gmail.com)
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