CENTRAL ISLIP, NY (TIP): Newsday reported March 8 that despite a late turnover of text messages recovered from the star witness against former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and former Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto, a federal judge said Thursday, March 8, the corruption trial is on schedule to begin next week.
Jury selection will take a day to complete on Monday and opening statements will be Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack said.
Testimony is scheduled to begin Wednesday, most likely with the key witness in the case, restaurateur Harendra Singh, who has pleaded guilty to bribing Mangano and Venditto.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Treinis Gatz said she expected Singh to be on the stand for two days on direct examination, before the defense cross-examines him the following week.
Mangano has been charged with conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and extortion. His wife, Linda, has been charged with making false statements, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Venditto is charged with conspiracy, bribery, securities fraud, wire fraud, making false statements and obstruction of justice.
All three have pleaded not guilty and will stand trial together.
WASHINGTON (TIP): A US Navy veteran, on March 7, pleaded guilty to the murder of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in a racially motivated hate crime at a bar in Kansas City last year that raised fears of growing intolerance in America following President Donald Trump’s tough rhetoric on immigration.
Adam Purinton, 52, pleaded guilty before a Kansas court. He was charged with first-degree murder of Kuchibhotla, 32, and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shootings of his friend, Alok Madasani, and a bystander, who chased Purinton after he fled the Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe city on February 22 last year.
Purinton, yelled, “Get out of my country”, before shooting Kuchibhotla, who later died from injuries sustained in the attack. Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked as engineers at Garmin, a tech company that makes GPS devices.
Kuchibhotla’s widow Sunayana Dumala welcomed the guilty plea. “Today’s guilty verdict will not bring back my Srinu, but it will send a strong message that hate is never acceptable,” she said.
Purinton sentencing is scheduled for May 4.
Prosecutors alleged Purinton committed offences after substantial planning and premeditation, attempted to kill more than one person in a single criminal episode.
WASHINGTON (TIP): On the eve of International Women’s Day, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a USD 170 million project aimed at advancing women’s economic empowerment in four countries, including in India.
Announced on Tuesday, March 6, the investments focused in India, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will target four key priorities — advancing gender equality, spreading digital financial inclusion, increasing job opportunities, and supporting the agricultural sector and women’s support groups.
“One of the most profound ways a woman can make life better for herself and her family is to take control of her economic future,” said Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“When women have money in their hands and the authority to choose how to spend it, they grow in confidence and power. They change the unwritten rules that say women are lesser than men,” she said in a statement.
The investments will build on the foundation’s previous financial commitments to advance progress on gender equality, including USD 80 million for gender data, advocacy and accountability, of which USD 20 million was dedicated to supporting women’s movements, a statement said.
According to the foundation, the data show that when a woman has the option of working outside the home and access to financial services to participate in the formal economy, families break the cycle of poverty and national GDPs rise.
When women have access to financial resources such as cash or mobile money, the ability to control those resources and the ability to make decisions that affect her, and her family’s future, women are empowered in ways beyond economics, it said.
The investments will not only help better understand what works to ensure women are able to fully participate in economies, but also dismantle the barriers that have held women back for far too long, said Sarah Hendriks, director, gender equality at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Our strategy is aimed at giving more women and girls the economic opportunities they need to engage as equals in society,” Hendriks said.
International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8 every year. It commemorates the movement for women’s rights.
WASHINGTON (TIP): US President Donald Trump has agreed to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by May, a top South Korean official announced on Friday, March 9, even as the White House said the two leaders would meet “at a place and time to be determined”.
South Korean National Security Adviser Chung Eui-Yong, who led his country’s delegation to Pyongyang for talks with the North Korean leaders, made the announcement at the White House hours after he briefed Trump and his national security team.
Reading from a prepared statement, Chung said the North Korean leader has expressed his “eagerness to meet with President Trump as soon as possible.”
Chung attributed the North Korean turnaround to Trump’s leadership and his maximum pressure policy together with international solidarity.
In his meeting with the North Korean leader, Chung said Trump is committed to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
“Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue. He expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible,” he said.
“President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization. The Republic of Korea, along with the United States, Japan, and our many partners around the world, remain fully and resolutely committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Chung said.
“Along with Trump, we are optimistic about continuing a diplomatic process to test the possibility of a peaceful resolution,” he said.
“The Republic of Korea, the United States, and our partners stand together in insisting that we not repeat the mistakes of the past, and that the pressure will continue until North Korea matches its words with concrete actions,” the South Korean national security adviser said.
Reacting to the announcement White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, “President Trump greatly appreciates the nice words of the South Korean delegation and President Moon. He will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined.”She added that the sanctions on the reclusive nation must remain.
“We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea. In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain,” Sanders said.
According to a senior administration official, Trump may meet the North Korean leader in couple of months.
Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Kim’s desire to talk shows sanctions the administration has implemented are starting to work.
“We can pursue more diplomacy, as we keep applying pressure ounce by ounce. Remember, North Korean regimes have repeatedly used talks and empty promises to extract concessions and buy time,” he said.
“North Korea uses this to advance its nuclear and missile programs. We’ve got to break this cycle. The United States and South Korea must stand shoulder-to-shoulder in applying the sustained pressure needed to peacefully end this threat. And Beijing must do its part,” Royce said.
US President Donald Trump appeared to be at his wits’ end when he made a rash comment after his chief economic adviser Gary Cohn put in his papers: “Will be making a decision soon on the appointment of new chief economic advisor. Many people wanting the job — will choose wisely!” It is both a confession of his poor judgment and a desire to have a yes-man. This is an ominous sign of rising protectionism that threatens to disrupt global trade. Although, China appears to be in the President Trump’s direct firing line, India needs to be prepared for collateral damage. The signs are there when the US President in an emotional outburst hauled up India for high import duties on the iconic Harley-Davidson motorbike despite its “insignificant” contribution in the total bilateral trade. Indeed, jingoism in any form is irrational.
President Trump’s protectionism may, however, hamper the American economy the most. In a last-ditch effort, adviser Cohn tried to make Trump understand that undue tariff protection to domestic steel and aluminum makers would hurt upstream manufacturers like cars and cans. It is unfortunate that the US, which once championed free trade ring-fenced by WTO, is resorting to unilateral trading barriers instead of sharpening the competitiveness of the domestic industry. Apparently under pressure, India has already started importing energy all the way from America, which makes little commercial sense, especially when such resources are freely available in the neighborhood. Indian airlines have placed orders worth several billions of dollars to purchase more than 300 American aircraft.
President Trump’s decision to impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports is primarily targeted at Canada and China but the impact will be felt by steel and aluminum producers across the world. The decision has the seeds to unleash a global trade war as the US imports steel from more than 100 countries. China has already communicated that it would retaliate if its interests were harmed. For Indian manufacturers, it is the time to become more competitive. Once the US market gets closed, Chinese exporters would turn towards India in a big way.
Aries: Aries is active, energetic, excitable and impulsive,optimistic, and open to change and new experiences. Your magical birthstones are coral and diamonds that attract love, financial success, and bring luck in new ventures. Red, scarlet and carmine are your colors, and geranium is your flower. Iron and steel are your metals, and you incense associations are honeysuckle and musk. The direction most beneficial to you is the east, and you will benefit from the use of candles
Taurus: Taurus is quite affectionate, patient, stable, determined and practical, stubborn, and resistant to change. Turquoise and emerald will protect you against infidelity and deceit, ensure loyalty, and improve memory, pale blue, yellow, pink and pale green are your colors, and your flower is violet. Copper is your metal, and seeds and stones are your natural symbols. The direction most beneficial to you is the south, and your incense association is frankincense.
Gemini: Gemini is lively, energetic, versatile and intellectual, lives primarily in the mind rather than the emotions, and is extremely adaptable to new situations. Your magical birthstones are emerald and agate, which will protect you from deception and falsehood; and bestow eloquence (especially in declarations of love). Yellow, slate grey and spotted mixtures are your colors, and your flower is lavender. Your natural symbol is feathers and mercury is your metal. The direction most beneficial to you is the west and your incense is jasmine.
Cancer: Cancer is receptive, sensitive and imaginative, sympathetic, kind, emotional and active, and shrewd with an intuitive mind. Pearl will change bad fortune into good and discord to harmony for you, and brings support from influential people. Your colors are shooting white, opal, iridescent silvery hues, smoky grey, sea green and blue, and your metal is silver. Not surprisingly shells are your natural symbol. Your flower is lily, incense association is patchouli, and the direction most beneficial to you is the north.
Leo: Leo is enthusiastic, powerful, expansive and creative, generous and extravagant. Not surprisingly, gold is your metal, flame is your natural symbol, sunflower is your flower, and your colors are orange, gold, rich shades of yellow and brown. Rubies will protect you against physical injury and ensure faithfulness and will bring you serenity. A rose incense will greatly benefit you and the direction beneficial to you is the eats.
Virgo: Virgo is reserved, modest, practical, discriminating and industrious, analytical and painstaking, seeking to know and understand. Emerald and sapphire bring you tranquility of mind and protect against illness. Shades of green, dark brown, slate and spotted patterns work best for you, as the metal mercury. Pansies are your flower, and your incense is myrrh. The south is most beneficial for you, and grains and seeds are your natural symbols.
Libra: Libra is active, artistic, easygoing, peaceable, diplomatic, polished and very socially inclined, and prizes beauty and harmony. Opal, your magical birthstone, brings financial success, frees you from jealousy and greed and imparts clear sight. Surround yourself with roses, gladioli and other fragment flowers. Your colors are blue and white, metal is cooper and most beneficial direction is west. Firangipani is your incense association.
Scorpio: Scorpio is imaginative, passionate and emotional, subtle and persistent, intense, obstinate and unyielding. Coral and topaz, your magical birthstones, release your occult powers and bring serenity, and also protect from enemies and illness, and your metal is plutonium. Dark red, maroon, crimson and colors of smoky cloud formations are your colors, and the rhododendron is your flower. Sandalwood is your association and the direction most beneficial to you is the north.
Sagittarius: Sagittarius is energetic, ambitious, generous, freedom – loving, and a seeker of challenge, open to new ideas and exploration. Topaz and turquoise, your magical birthstones, attract love and protect from hard. Your colors are rich purple, violet and indigo, the dandelion is your flower. Tin is your metal and sword, your magical tool! Your most beneficial direction is the east, and pine is your incense of choice.
Capricorn: Capricorn is sure – footed, reserved, acquisitive, cautious, disciplined and determined, and seeks security. Your colors are dark grey, dark green, black, dark brown and indigo, and magical birthstone is the garnet that attracts popularity, high esteem and true love. Lead is your metal and your magical tool is spade. Your flower is ivy, though your incense association is lotus. Your most beneficial direction is south.
Aquarius: Aquarius is assertive, independent, progressive, analytical, original and inventive and has strong dislikes and firm opinions. Your magical birthstone, amethyst, brings faithfulness in love and bestows on you the gift of prescience. Aquamarine, turquoise and electric blue are your colors, uranium is your metal. Your flower is the orchid, while license association is vanilla. Your most favorable direction is the west, and chimes are your magical tool.
Pisces: Pisces is receptive, intuitive and emotional, imaginative, romantic impressionable and mystical, adaptable, and very changeable. Cats eye and aquamarine, your magical birthstones, magnify occult powers and bring serenity of mind. Mauve, purple, violet, sea green and silver are your colors, while platinum is your metal. Your magical tool is a mirror and beneficial direction is north. White poppies are your flower, while your incense association is copal.
There is a pattern to mega fraud cases- involvement of bank officials and government
By George Abraham
“At present, the bad debt of these Banks is greater than that of the GNP of the 137 countries in the world
“The data shows that between years 2012-2013 and 2016-2017, Indian banks saw a total number of 22,949 instances of fraud, with total losses to the banks amounting to 10.8 billion dollars.
“The deep mystery surrounding some of the biggest fraud cases is that many of these perpetrators were simply allowed to flee the country, including this one! Nirav Modi and his accomplices appeared to have fled India just before Punjab National Bank filed the complaint with the CBI on 29th January 2018.
“The bankruptcy declarations by jeweler Nirav Modi’s companies — Firestar Diamond Inc, A Jaffe Inc and Fantasy Inc — may offer some clues to where the money went in the ₹12,622-crore Punjab National Bank.
According to a Chapter 11 filing, A Jaffe owes more than $6 million to “unsecured creditors” in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — Pacific Diamonds and Tricolor Diamonds FZE. The CBI FIR names these two as “exporters” who were beneficiaries of the letters of undertaking issued by the PNB employees accused of perpetrating the fraud along with Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi, also a jeweler, and their companies.
“Punjab National Bank, India’s second-largest bank, is known as a Public Sector Bank (PSB) whose major shares are owned by the government. That means, when a bank accumulates NPA (non-performing assets) also known as bad debt, it is the Indian taxpayers and the shareholders that ultimately pay the price.
The fraudulent financial behavior of some of the wealthiest people in India was once again on full display as the diamond jeweler Nirav Modi, a billionaire and the preferred jeweler of celebrities, was accused of orchestrating the biggest banking scam the nation has ever witnessed. He is now a target of the investigation by CBI after Punjab National Bank alleged that Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, defrauded the bank to the tune of 2 billion dollars using the cover of several shell companies abroad.
According to the complaint by PNB, two junior officers of a Mumbai branch of the Bank issued “letters of undertaking” to firms linked to Modi and Choksi for them to obtain credit from overseas branches of other Indian lenders.
A recent NDTV investigation has also unearthed links between money from Indian Banks allegedly embezzled by the Jeweler Nirav Modi and his US-based companies. In its formal charges, CBI claims that the loans Mr. Modi took from Punjab National bank to pay off his overseas suppliers may have been diverted elsewhere.
The latest report from New York also indicates that Firestar Diamond Inc., a registered business by Nirav Modi in the U.S. has filed the Chapter 11 voluntary petition for the protection from its creditors. Prime Minister Modi who claimed to be the ‘chowkidar’ of the country has gone relatively silent on this matter other than to make a general statement.
How is it possible for a businessman in India to defraud a bank of such a large sum of money? Where is the due diligence and what happened to the risk management mechanism? Was the Reserve Bank of India asleep on the wheel? Why there was no oversight by the Finance Ministry dealing with such a huge transfer of reserve currency? Where is the accountability of the Modi government?
The deep mystery surrounding some of the biggest fraud cases is that many of the fraudsters were simply allowed to flee the country, including this one! Nirav Modi and his accomplices appeared to have fled India just before Punjab National Bank filed the complaint with the CBI on 29th January 2018. It was reported that top officials including the Prime Minister were made aware of this case that included 42 FIRs on 22nd July 2016. Why then were these perpetrators not stopped from running away that included Choksi (Nirav’s uncle who ran the ‘Gitanjali Gems’) whose spurious activities were already exposed by a whistleblower and was under active investigation?
This is not the first time since Modi took the reins of the government that a high flying billionaire has evaded justice by escaping abroad before he could be caught. Liquor magnate Vijay Mallya was accused of defaulting on 1.4 billion worth of loans before leaving the country in March 2016. It is not far-fetched to believe that these bad actors might have solicited some inside help that allowed them to leave the country and to stay beyond the reach of Indian jurisprudence.
Punjab National Bank, India’s second-largest bank, is known as a Public Sector Bank (PSB) whose major shares are owned by the government. That means, when a bank accumulates NPA (non-performing assets) also known as bad debt, it is the Indian taxpayers and the shareholders that ultimately pay the price.
The data shows that between years 2012-2013 and 2016-2017, Indian banks saw a total number of 22,949 instances of fraud, with total losses to the banks amounting to 10.8 billion dollars. In the last three-and-half years, the government pumped in more than Rs. 51000 crore capital to the public sector banks. They are expected to infuse PSBs with another Rs.2.11 lakh crore in the coming two years. Non-performing assets (bad debt) of the Public sector banks alone are calculated to be around Rs. 7.33 lakh crores as of June 2017, from Rs. 2.78 lakh crore in March 2015.
Further analysis of the data reveals that the bad debt at these PSBs has increased almost fourfold in the last three years. Significant portions of these bank loans are from Corporates who have borrowed and now unwilling to pay back. Recent research brought out by Ernst and Young said the following: “While corporate borrowers have repeatedly blamed economic slowdown as the primary factor behind defaulting on bank loans, periodic independent audits on borrowers have revealed diversion of funds or willful default leading to stress situations.”
How do we explain this massive level of willful default other than systematic manipulation of this institution by the rich and well-connected? We are asked to believe that two junior officers in a Mumbai branch of PNB made decisions to transfer 12000 crores of Rupees to a business entity especially dealing with Diamonds where Banks have little or no expertise!
On the other hand, an ordinary Indian will have such an arduous task on hand if he ventures out into requesting a personal loan from one of these PSBs. Even farmers are often subjected to voluminous paperwork and harsh scrutiny before securing even a small amount in a loan. In case of delay or default, many of them are subjected to harassment, lien attachment on their primary residence and too often have witnessed auctioning off their property. Many of the ongoing suicides are directly attributed to these stressful situations.
In the meantime, the crony capitalists are getting away with murder. They siphon off the taxpayer’s money often presenting bogus project plans using influential connections in the banking as well as in politics facilitating the process. Upon default, they tend to flee the country and spend their time abroad while enjoying the loot. Recently, it was also revealed that Mr. Vikram Kothari, of the ‘Rotomac Pen’ (a company that manufactures various types of pens), is charged with defrauding Rs 3695 crores from the public sector banks!
When these banks finally reach a real crisis mode, the government steps in to ‘recapitalize’ or in other words get ‘bailed out’. The process is said to be as follows: through budgetary allocations, the government may buy so many crores of shares, then the banks will further raise additional crores from the market, and the government may issue Bank recapitalization bonds to buy even more shares of the banks.
Under the Modi regime, the crony capitalism has flourished, and a high transfer of wealth is allowed to take place from the ordinary taxpayers to these wealthy billionaires; many of them hail from Gujarat, Prime Minister’s home state. While poor folks are penalized for not keeping a minimum balance in their government-mandated bank accounts, these so-called industrialists are accorded unprecedented access to public money, without any matching equity, which should have gone to building schools, bridges, health facilities and other infrastructure while creating prosperity for all its citizens.
It is about time; the Modi government takes a serious look at this mushrooming scandal of deceit and plunder which has grave implications for the financial stability and the well-being of the nation. At present, the bad debt of these Banks is greater than that of the GNP of the 137 countries in the world and a thorough audit of many of these large loans for accountability will very much be in order. But it needs will on the part of the government.
(The author is a former UN Technical Officer and is presently the Vice-Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA. He can be reached at gta777@gmail.com)
Pakistan will now have to provide a detailed action plan on actions it proposes to take on curbing funding for UN-designated terrorist groups. It would then be placed on the FATF grey list, where its financial flows would be subject to intense international scrutiny. Pakistan would, thereafter, be placed on the FATF “black list” if it fails to present a credible and comprehensive action plan to the FATF by June. This would virtually end any prospect of it receiving adequate financial flows.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), set up in 1989 by the G7 countries, and with headquarters in Paris, acts as an “international watchdog” on issues of money laundering and financing of terrorism. It has 37 members, including all five permanent members of the Security Council, and countries with economic influence all across the world. Two regional organizations — the Gulf Cooperation and the European Commission — are members of the FATF. Saudi Arabia and Israel are observers. India became a full member of the FATF in June 2010. The FATF is empowered to ensure that financing of UN-designated terrorist organizations is blocked. It has the power to publicly name countries not abiding by its norms, making it difficult for them to source financial flows internationally.
Pakistan is particularly vulnerable to pressures from this task force as the Afghan Taliban, Haqqani network, LeT and JeM — all internationally designated terrorist groups — operate from its soil. Pakistan has long claimed that it has done its best to prevent terrorism emanating from its soil. It has also averred that there is no firm evidence against the LeT and the JeM, even after these groups have publicly acknowledged that they were promoting terrorism in India. Pakistan has also rejected evidence like wireless transcripts of conversations of Jaish terrorists involved in the Pathankot airport and the vast evidence available internationally of the Lashkar role in the Mumbai 26/11 attack. The Americans and their allies have focused attention primarily on Pakistan support for the Haqqani network in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has believed that sooner, rather than later, the Americans would cut their losses and withdraw from Afghanistan, leaving the country open for a Pakistan-backed Taliban takeover. President Donald Trump, however, made it clear that he was determined that the US would not “lose” in Afghanistan. He is augmenting the US troop presence and moving fast to strengthen the Afghan armed forces, including its air force. American economic assistance to Pakistan has been placed on hold. In addition, the US has mobilized its NATO allies to take a tougher line on Pakistan. The NATO allies are also expanding their deployments in Afghanistan. More recently, the US has initiated moves to get the task force to place Pakistan on its “grey list” at its next meeting in June.
The American effort in the FATF on Pakistan funding of terrorist groups predictably ran into problems initially. Pakistan had mobilized support from China, the Gulf Cooperation Council led by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and quite evidently Russia to counter the American-led move. Islamabad banked on Russian support, given the bonhomie that Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov manifested when he invited his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Asif to Moscow on the eve of the FATF meeting. Further, despite parliamentary opposition, Pakistan declared, just over a week before the FATF meeting, that it would be deploying additional troops in Saudi Arabia. It clearly expected Saudi support in the FATF after its decision was announced. The Lavrov bonhomie led the inexperienced Khawaja Asif to proclaim hastily and prematurely that Pakistan had succeeded in prevailing over moves to place it on the FATF “grey list” involving monitoring of its international financial flows.
The Americans responded immediately to these developments. Saudi Arabia and the GCC fell in line with American demands for the FATF to act against Pakistan. European powers like the UK, Germany and France remained steadfast in their determination to corner Pakistan. Russia quietly receded to the background. Recognizing that its support for Pakistan would leave it isolated in the FATF, where it was aspiring to become its vice-chairman at the forthcoming FATF session in June, Pakistan’s “all-weather friend” China pulled back its support for Pakistan. The only country that steadfastly continued supporting Pakistan was Turkey, whose egotistic President Recep Erdogan would certainly not win an international popularity contest today!
Pakistan will now have to provide a detailed action plan on actions it proposes to take on curbing funding for UN-designated terrorist groups. It would then be placed on the FATF grey list, where its financial flows would be subject to intense international scrutiny. Pakistan would, thereafter, be placed on the FATF “black list” if it fails to present a credible and comprehensive action plan to the FATF by June. This would virtually end any prospect of it receiving adequate financial flows. There has been disappointment, anger and frustration in Pakistan at the FATF decision. Hardly anyone in Pakistan is prepared to publicly advise that it is time for Pakistan’s rogue army to end support on its soil to armed terrorist groups, acting against India and Afghanistan. While Pakistan recently claimed it had closed Lashkar offices, it was soon found that only the gates of these offices were closed, while routine activities continued inside.
In these circumstances, India should urge members of the European Union and Japan to join the US and end providing concessional credits to Pakistan. Given its precarious foreign exchange position, Pakistan will inevitably have to go to the IMF for a bailout in a few months. Institutions like the IMF, World Bank and Asian Development Bank need to be persuaded to withhold providing concessional credits to Pakistan, even if it takes some token measures to claim it has acted against UN-designated terrorist outfits. India should urge that no concessional credits should be provided to Pakistan till it dismantles the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil irrevocably. China will not follow suit; but its “aid” for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will only increase Pakistan’s already heavy debt burden.
The withdrawal of Chinese support in the FATF has shaken the Pakistan establishment’s belief that Chinese support to “contain India” has no limitations. China recognizes that backing Pakistan unconditionally in the FATF would not only earn it the ire of the mercurial Donald Trump but would also sully its image internationally. At the same time, this does not mean that there will be any change in China’s policies on issues like declaring Jaish chief Masood Azhar an international terrorist. Moreover, we should also clearly recognize that President Trump’s actions are primarily in response to Pakistan’s support for the Haqqani network in Afghanistan. They are not highly or significantly focused on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on Indian soil. That is a battle that will have to be fought primarily by us.
(The author is an Indian career diplomat. He was High Commissioner of India to Pakistan in 1998-2000)
“(This year) we have been able to incorporate films from more (countries) and have been able to hone in on specific social issues in more depth.”
Nora Armani, SRFF’s Founder-Artistic Director
Founder-Director Nora Armani interview on Red Carpet Photo/ SRFF ™(Top left) Apne Aap’s Ruchira Gupta with other panelists on Spotlight Panel Photo/ SRFF ™
The SR Socially Relevant Film Festival™ 2018 New York (SRFF 2018) kicks off its Fifth Season at Cinema Village in downtown Manhattan, New York and neighboring venues such as SVA Social Documentary Film Campus and CRS (Center for Remembering and Sharing), March 16 – 22, 2018.
What is SR?
The SR Socially Relevant™ Film Festival New York was founded by award-winning actress Nora Armani. Its mission is to shine the spotlight on filmmakers who tell compelling, socially relevant™, human interest stories, across a broad range of social issues. The festival was created as a response to the proliferation of violence and violent forms of storytelling in media and entertainment. SR™ believes in the power of cinema in raising awareness towards social issues and promoting positive social change.
Festival Founder and Artistic Director Nora Armani says, “SRFF 2018 is very happy with our fifth year’s selection. We have been able to incorporate films from more (countries) and have been able to hone in on specific social issues in more depth. This year’s festival goes back to basics: the filmmakers, the films, and the issues, with a number of interesting partners and sponsors accompanying us.”
The Official Selection to be screened in the heart of Greenwich Village covers a diverse mix of five narrative features, 15 documentaries, 38 shorts, and more. There will also be a script-writing contest with readings from finalist scripts. The Festival includes expert panels on film industry and social issues. The films represent over 22 countries.
Opening night will take place Friday, March 16, 2018, 7:00 PM with the narrative feature film Lou Andreas-Salomé: The Audacity to be Free (Germany). A stunning period piece on the 19th-century female novelist, poet, and essayist, the film follows Salomé as she shuns traditions in pursuit of intellectual perfection.
Among the other selected narrative feature films are:
Darcy (USA), Find Your Voice (Australia, New Zealand), Hot Country, Cold Winter (Armenia, The Netherlands, Germany).
Highlights from the selected documentary features include Cause of Death: Unknown (Norway), Sands of Silence: Waves of Courage (Mexico, USA), Shiners (Canada, Japan, USA), Stitching Palestine (Lebanon), Talien (Italy), Tampon, Our Closest Enemy (France).
Themes for selected short film groupings include Ageing Gracefully, Dreamers Having a Nightmare, Sustainable Communities, Where is Home? Whose Disability?
Spotlight Panel: Women | Gender Equality | Human Trafficking
Monday, March 19 features a keynote evening event celebrating women, in partnership with Apne Aap – an organization that rescues women and girls in India from sex-trafficking – including a series of films from India and elsewhere that promote empowering women and young girls. A panel discussion follows, lead by Ruchira Gupta.
A number of workshops and panels complement the film screenings as the educational component of the festival, and these touch upon such topics as editing, distribution, pitching for film projects, filming in New York from the Governor’s Office for Film, Low Budget Film Production at SAG-AFTRA, Measuring the social impact of films, and others.
The script writing competition features readings with actors, in the presence of the scriptwriters, from the seven finalist scripts. Other workshops and panels include industry forums, an engaged theatre workshop, a live music performance to silent films, and more.
Presented with Gear VR provided by Samsung, the festival presents cutting-edge VR/360º experiences that push the boundaries of immersive storytelling. Among the six selected pieces is The Great – a VR Great White Shark Experience, which shows firsthand the grace and beauty of this misunderstood and endangered creature.
The festival will close on the evening of March 22 with a glistening Awards Ceremony and screening of the winning films at Cinema Village, and party for the filmmakers at Doux Supperclub featuring appearances from NYC local filmmakers and industry veterans.
The winners of each category are awarded special prizes in the form of trophies created by support from individuals and film industry and professional partners.
Spokespersons and guests of SR Socially Relevant™ Film Festival NY include Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, Erin Brockovich, Martin Sheen, Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning writer Robert Schenkkan, prolific and best-selling French novelist Marc Levy, Academy Award Nominee and Emmy Award Winner Guy Davidi, American TV commentator and author Gretchen Carlson, and Liaison Officer of Tibet and the Dalai Lama, Kunga Tashi.
Partner organizations and schools receive substantial discounts. Contact ratedsrfilms@gmail.com, if interested.
For more information on the Film Festival, or to purchase tickets, visit www.ratedsrfilms.org.
NJSO presents MOZART’S REQUIEM
Xian Zhang conducts NJSO Photo/NJSOMontclair State University (MSU) Choir Photo/NJSO
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) and Music Director Xian Zhang present Mozart’s Requiem, March 15–18 in Newark, Princeton and Morristown. A trio of vocal pieces, including a pair of a cappella works performed by the Montclair State University Singers, open the program.
Performances take place on Thursday, March 15, at 1:30 pm and Saturday, March 17, at 8 pm at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark; Friday, March 16, at 8 pm at the Richardson Auditorium (RICHAUD) in Princeton; and Sunday, March 18, at 3 pm at Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) in Morristown.
Continuing a multi-year partnership with the Curtis Institute of Music to present its finest student musicians, the NJSO welcomes a quartet of vocal soloists from the Institute—soprano Emily Pogorelc, mezzo-soprano Kendra Broom, tenor Roy Hage and baritone Doğukan Kuran—for Mozart’s masterwork.
The program opens with Mozart’s Ave verum corpus, followed by Joseph Rheinberger’s Abendlied and Ben Parry’s Flame—two a cappella works showcasing the Montclair State University Singers under the direction of Heather J. Buchanan.
NJSO Accents include #ChoraleYou—a “sing in” in NJPAC’s lobby following the March 17 concert, when audience members will get to give their own performance of the NJSO concert’s opening piece—Mozart’s Ave verum corpus. Montclair State University’s Heather J. Buchanan will conduct a brief rehearsal and performance that is open to all ticket-holders. More information is available at www.njsymphony.org/choraleyou.
The Orchestra hosts its annual food drive and will collect non-perishable food donations at all performances. More information is available at www.njsymphony.org/fooddrive.
For more information on the concerts and to purchase tickets online, visit www.njsymphony.org, or call 1. 800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).
(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Health and Wellness, and Spirituality)
Ambassador Sandeep Chakraborty, wife Taruna Chakraborty graced the event as guests of honor
Councilmember Paul Vallone joined with wife Anna Marie Vallone
NEW YORK CITY (TIP): The Indian Panorama, the leading Indian American English weekly newspaper on the East Coast hosted a lunch to celebrate the Indian festival of colors-Holi, on March 4 at Zaika Restaurant located on 44th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, New York City.
The guests were received in a traditional Holi style with a tilak (mark) of gulal (color) on the forehead.
Ambassador Sandeep Chakraborty extending Holi greetings Photo/ Jay Mandal on assignment
Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Sandeep Chakraborty described Holi as one of the most popular festivals of India, next to Diwali. In a lighter vein he observed that while in India celebration of festivals like Holi and Diwali is a matter of half a day or a day, in USA, a celebration span is days together.
Councilmember Paul Vallone offered to host next Holi in his district Photo/ Nisha
Councilmember Paul Vallone offered to have the festival of Holi celebrated in his district. He praised the Indian American community for their contribution to America in a number of ways. He said there was a large presence of Indian American community in his district and he loved to meet with them.
Air India Regional Manager Vandana Sharma exhorted the Indian American community to patronize Air India Photo / courtesy Davinderpal
Air India Regional Manager Vandana Sharma promptly offered Air India’s sponsorship for such an event. She also spoke of Air India as the airline of Indians and exhorted the Indian American community to patronize Air India which she claimed offered the best services comparable with any airline.
Prof. Indrajit S Saluja, editor/ publisher of The Indian Panorama, who hosted the event extended a word of welcome and proposed toast to the festival of Holi, the guests present, particularly to the two month old Aleesha Ananya Steele, niece to Vandana Sharma, Ashishpal Saluja, Prof. Saluja’s eldest son who turned forty, to Resham Sharma, his foster sister, and to Zaika and its partners Mandeep Oberoi, Mohan Ahluwalia, Ramanuj and Pooja Patel.
The event was graced by Ambassador Sandeep Chakraborty, Consul General of India, and wife Dr. Taruna Chakraborty as guests of honor. Councilmember Paul Vallone, who represents 19th District of the New York City Council, which incidentally, has a large presence of Indian Americans, attended with wife Anna Marie Vallone.
Present on the occasion were guests from all walks of life. They included officials from Indian Consulate, Permanent Mission of India, various government of India enterprises, including Air India and banks, officials of various organizations, physicians and surgeons, professionals from IT and finance industry, businessmen and businesswomen, film makers, artists, and journalists.
The gathering Photos/ Nisha
Ms Vandana Sharma, Regional Manager, Air India, with her sister, brother in law and nieces, Consuls from the Consulate- Mr. Devadasan Nair with his spouse, Mr. L. Krishnamurthy with his spouse, Mr. Vipul Kumar Mesariya with his spouse, and Mr. Devi Prasad Misra; Counsellar Anjani Kumar from Permanent Mission of India; and Mr. Sunil Sharma, Chief Executive of Bank of India, with his wife graced the occasion.
The gathering Photos/ Nisha
Dr. Ajay Lodha who was present with his physician wife, is a past President of Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) International. Dr. Jagdish Gupta who attended with his physician wife is currently President of AAPI-QLI, Gunjan Rastogi, President of the oldest association of Indians on Long Island- IALI- was present with her spouse. Also present was Mr. Andy Mansukhani, President of Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation. Dr. Satyajit Bhattacharya, a Molecular Geneticist and Cancer Research Scientist and Founder, President & CEO of Harlem Children Society, Brooklyn, New York attended.
Dr. VK Raju, a world-renowned ophthalmologist and Chairman of the Eye Foundation of America who came all the way from Morgantown, WV attended with his physician daughter Leela Raju. Dr. Raju has only recently signed a MOU with Andhra Pradesh State to set up a Children’s Eye Hospital in Amaravati.
The gathering Photos/ Nisha
A well-known educationist and promoter of Indian culture through her institutions Shikshayatan Cultural Center and Sriniketan Foundation, Purnima Desai graced the occasion.
Neeta Bhasin, well known in the community for Diwali at Times Square was present.
The gathering Photos/ Nisha
Anu Jain, a finance consultant, painter and community activist, attended the event, as did Mr. Dave Makkar and his daughter Prachi Makkar.
Harjit (Harry) Panaser, a lobbyist, attended with wife Dr. Manjeet and two daughters Ajooni Kaur and Alicia Kaur. Also present were Tejbir Singh and his wife.
Malini Shah, a diamond merchant , a political and social activist, and a passionate promoter of Indian Classical Art forms who works closely with Councilmember Paul Vallone; Mr. Harpreet Singh Toor, a Sikh community leader and community liaison to Assemblyman David Weprin; and Mr. Jarnail Singh Gilzian, a Sikh Community leader and a businessman, were also present.
Prominent Film maker Tirlok Malik attended with his wife, as did TV anchor Ashok Vyas with his spouse.
Ace photographer Jay Mandal; Mr. Davinderpal Singh and Jaya Sharma from PTC TV, Sandra Peddie from NEWSDAY, Bidisha Roy from The Indian Panorama with her banker and painter spouse Krish Sengupta, The Indian Panorama photographer Nisha, journalist Anjali Sharma and photo journalist Gloria Kins also attended.
Ashok Vyas reciting his poem, much to the delight of the gathering. Photo/ Nisha
Ashok Vyas who is a writer and a poet, besides being a TV anchor recited a couple of couplets from his compositions, much to the delight of the gathering.
The gathering Photos/ Nisha
Also present were Mrs. and Mr. Jack Pohani with their daughter Anika and son Aman.
The staff of Zaika
Guests were full of praise for the ambience of Zaika. The food and service received the appreciation of all.
MARYLAND (TIP): Maryland Democrat Aruna Miller, who is running for Congress from the state’s open 6th district, won a straw poll held after the “Our Revolution” candidate forum on March 3.
Miller, a Maryland statehouse delegate, thanked the party faithful who attended the forum. “It’s exciting to see so many people come out on a Saturday(March 3) afternoon to hear from candidates running in a Congressional primary,” she said. “It’s even more exciting to see that our message is resonating with these engaged voters.”
“After a vigorous 3-hour debate involving six candidates, Delegate Miller won the post-debate straw poll,” the campaign said in a press release on March 6.
The campaign also announced reaching the $1 million donations. It said the $1 million mark was reached as of February 28, 2018.
The Miller campaign said more than 97 percent of the contributions have come from individuals and it has “far outpaced her rivals in both the number of contributions (1,723) and individual donors (1,402).”
“By comparison, in 2017, the other six Democrats in the CD6 race as a group only had raised approximately $600,000 in donations from 500 individual supporters and political action committees,” the campaign said.
“Our campaign is continuing to gain momentum and strong support,” Miller said. “While the million-dollar milestone is notable, l am most excited about taking my issue-oriented message directly to the voters when the Maryland legislative session ends next month.”
The campaign also cited a series of high-profile endorsement it received. Among the Democrats who endorsed Miller are Montgomery County Executive lke Leggett, former Maryland Democratic Party Chair Terry Lierman and Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch.
HOUSTON , TX (TIP): Indian American Sri Preston Kulkarni finished first in the Democratic primary in Texas’ 22nd congressional district with nearly 32 percent of the vote.
He will now have to face fellow Democrat Letitia Plummer in the May 22 runoff to earn the right to take on the incumbent GOP Rep. Pete Olson.
According to Texas election law, if a candidate doesn’t get more than 50 percent of the votes, there will be a runoff between the top two finishers.
With all the 129 precincts reporting, Kulkarni received 9,466 votes, while Plummer got 7,230 votes (24.3 percent). Mark Gibson, the Democratic nominee in 2016, finished last in a field of five, with 3,046 votes (10.2 percent). The other two candidates in the race, Steve Brown and Margarita Johnson, received 6,246 (21 percent) and 3,767 (12.7 percent) votes, respectively.
Olson, who has been representing the district since 2009, was the winner of the Republican primary, trouncing his nearest rival by nearly 65 percentage points.
Kulkarni, a former US diplomat who served in Iraq and Russia, among other places, had expressed cautious optimism ahead of the primaries.
But his acknowledgement, two weeks before the election, that he was arrested at the age of 18, in 1997, for possessing less than a gram of cocaine may have denied Kulkarni outright victory on March 6th night.
The charges were dropped after a two-year probation — which is usual for first-time drug offenders.
Acknowledging the incident, the candidate said it was due to youthful indiscretion and he did it at a time when his father was terminally ill and he was going to through a difficult time.
“We should not be stigmatizing our youth for the rest of their lives,” Kulkarni said.
His father Venkatesh Kulkarni, a professor and novelist, died in 1998 after battling leukemia for a year. His mother Margaret Preston Kulkarni is from West Virginia.
If elected, the biracial Kulkarni will become the first Indian American congressman from the state of Texas.
He is one of the nearly two-dozen Indian Americans who are running for Congress this year.
MANCHESTER, UK (TIP): A UK court has prohibited an Indian origin family from flying their baby daughter to India because she is at risk of being subjected to an “utterly unacceptable” genital mutilation procedure.
A judge at Manchester County and Family Court ruled that the child, who will turn two this year, is at risk because religious and cultural pressure had overridden her mother’s “maternal instinct”.
Social workers in the UK believe three other girls from the family, which cannot be named for legal reasons, had been subjected to a similar procedure.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision, involves ritual intimate cutting, sometimes without anaesthetic, and has been banned in the UK.
Judge Robert Jordan made an “FGM protection order” in Manchester after a private family court hearing, ‘Manchester Evening News’ reported.
The judge was told that the baby’s three older sisters had previously been taken to India so that FGM could be carried out on them. He made the protection order after concluding that the little girl was also at risk and needed protecting.
“The effect of the cultural pressure overrode the mother’s maternal instinct. As a consequence of religious and cultural pressure the mother facilitated the mutilation of her children,” he noted.
“That cultural pressure still exists in their country of origin – and undoubtedly in this country,” he added.
FGM protection orders came into force in Britain three years ago and give police and local authorities power to intervene to prevent such procedures. Parents can be barred from taking children abroad and passports can be seized and face prosecution if they breach it.
According to UK research, FGM is less common in India and is more prevalent in around 28 African countries and in parts of the Middle and Far East.
In Britain, communities that have been identified as at risk of FGM include Somali, Kenyan, Ethiopian, Sierra Leonean, Sudanese, Egyptian, Nigerian, Eritrean, Yemeni, Kurdish and Indonesian women and girls.
It is believed to be a way of ensuring virginity and chastity and is used to safeguard girls from sex outside marriage and from having sexual feelings.
Although FGM is practised by secular communities, it is most often claimed to be carried out in accordance with religious beliefs.
LONDON (TIP): Two truck driver have been accused and one was found guilty of causing the deaths of eight Indians in one of Britain’s worst road accidents last year.
The victims from Nottingham’s Malayali community and their relatives named as Panneerselvam Annamalai, Rishi Ranjeev Kumar, Vivek Baskaran, Lavanyalakshmi Seetharaman, Karthikeyan Pugalur Ramasubramanian, Subramaniyan Arachelvan and Tamilmani Arachelvan were on their way to London to catch a bus to Disneyland in Paris. Among them were IT professionals employed by software major Wipro.
Ryszard Masierak, a 31-year-old Polish national, was convicted at the end of a trial at Reading Crown Court. The jury heard that he was two times over the legal drink-drive limit and had stopped in the inside lane of the highway when he was involved in the crash with a minibus and another truck near Newport Pagnell in southern England on August 26.
He had denied the charges of causing the deaths of Nottingham-based Keralite minibus driver Cyriac Joseph and seven of his passengers all Indians.
The 52-year-old had been hired to drive his passengers from Nottingham to London to join a European holiday tour group when they met with the fatal accident.
The jury is yet to pronounce its verdict on David Wagstaff, a 53-year-old British citizen who was driving the second truck involved in the collision, and will continue deliberations on March 7.
However, it reached a unanimous verdict on the guilt of Masierak, who was also convicted of four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, in relation to injuring four other passengers including a four-year-old girl orphaned by the crash.
The trial was told that a drunk Masierak had stopped for 12 minutes in the slow lane of the highway just before the crash. His truck caused an obstruction on the motorway forcing others to slow down before moving around him.
As Joseph waited with his hazard lights on for a chance to go around the heavy goods vehicle (HGV), a second truck driven by Wagstaff smashed into the back of the van, forcing it to crash into and then go under Masierak’s truck, the court was told.
“In Mr Wagstaff’s case, on a hands-free call, his lorry on cruise control and he on auto-pilot, completely failing to notice what was ahead of him in full view for some time, inattention on a gross scale,” said Prosecutor Oliver Saxby.
The sentencing in the case will take place after the jury has decided on both accused later this week.
(TIP): Rakesh Gangwal, is the richest Indian American. The cofounder of India’s budget airline Indigo is worth $3.3 billion, according to Forbes’ latest list of The World’s Billionaires, which was released on March 6.
Information technology entrepreneur and philanthropist Romesh T. Wadhwani, who led the list last year, is the second richest Indian American, with a net worth of $3.1 billion.
The latest Forbes list, which has a record 2,208 members, has two new Indian American billionaires: Niraj Shah, CEO and cofounder of e-commerce company Wayfair, and Arista Networks CEO Jayshree Ullal.
According to Forbes, the 44-year-old Shah, a second generation Indian American based in Boston, is worth $1.6 billion. Ullal, who was born in London and raised in Delhi, is worth $1.3 billion.
Other Indian Americans billionaires are venture capitalist Vinod Khosla (who is worth $2.3 billion); venture capitalist and Google investor Kavitark Ram Shriram ($2.1 billion); Vista Equity Partners cofounder Brian Sheth ($2 billion); pharmaceutical executive John Kapoor ($1.8 billion); software executive and investor Aneel Bhusri ($1.6 billion); and Syntel cofounder Bharat Desai ($1.1 billion).
The wealth of Gangwal, who owns more than a third of IndiGo, increased by a whopping $1.2 billion in the past year. Sheth, the youngest Indian American billionaire at 42, saw his wealth go up by $900 million, while Khosla’s net worth increased by $700 million. The net worth of Wadhwani, Shriram, Kapoor and Desai increased by $100 million each in the past 12 months.
The combined net worth of Indian American billionaires is $20.2 billion.
The richest South Asian American is Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, who has a net worth of $7.2 billion.
LONDON (TIP) : An Indian origin Birmingham man, Harry Athwal, who risked his life to help a fatally injured young boy in the last year’s Barcelona terror attack, has been selected for this year’s ‘Pride of Birmingham’ award.
Harry Athwal, a project manager from Great Barr area of north-west Birmingham, was in Spain on holiday with a group of friends and family, including his sister Kinde Dehr, when a terrorist drove a van into pedestrians on Barcelona’s famous Las Ramblas tourist spot, killing 13 people and injuring hundreds.
He ran to help seven-year-old Julian Alessandro Cadman, who was among those hit, and defied police orders to evacuate the area to keep holding on to him until the emergency services arrived.
The boy, who had dual British and Australian nationality, died on the spot but his family have since thanked Mr. Athwal for being there for him.
“I am a Sikh, and in Sikhism it is my duty to go and help somebody who is hurt or who is being bullied. That, in a sense, overtook me. I didn’t have time to think,” Mr Athwal said.
“At that moment you have a split second to decide what you are going to do. It was my instinct that I had to go and help somebody. I had to do something. It’s in my DNA,” he said.
The 45-year-old has since been in touch with the boy’s grandparents, Noreen and Tony Cadman, who have thanked him for his heroic actions.
He had arrived in Barcelona on August 17, 2017, the day of the attack along with his sister Kinde Dehr and a group of friends.
A week ago, he was in Barcelona for a family holiday with his wife Harjinder and two sons, 19-year-old Deirnn and eight-year-old Khye, to celebrate his younger son’s birthday.
The group was having lunch at a restaurant overlooking Las Ramblas when he heard people screaming and saw a van ploughing through them. He rushed down to the street to try and help.
“The noise was phenomenal as it [van] hit people thump after thump after thump. Straight away, I realized it was a terrorist attack,” he recalled.
Mr. Athwal says he is speechless to be selected for the Pride of Birmingham’s Outstanding Bravery Award. The annual awards, organized by the Birmingham Mail newspaper and partners TSB, to recognize courage, caring, compassion and community.
Mr. Athwal is among 11 winners who will be presented with their awards at a ceremony at the University of Birmingham on March 8.
LONDON (TIP): Senior Indian origin Scotland Yard officer Neil Basu has been appointed as the counter-terrorism chief, as announced in an official statement said.
Mr. Basu, currently the Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner, will be promoted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations.
He will take charge as the force’s National Lead for Counter Terrorism (CT) and the Head of the Met Police’s Specialist Operations following the resignation of incumbent Mark Rowley on March 21.
Mr. Basu, whose father is of Indian origin, said “it is a privilege to be asked to join the management board of the Met and to lead for CT policing at such a point in our history. It is both a challenge and a duty that I accept with humility and a sense of great purpose.”
“I will lead to the best of my ability, the most extraordinary people I have ever worked with as they work night and day to counter terrorism,” he said in a statement.
HOUSTON (TIP): An Indian American attorney, Shampa Mukerji, is running for a judge seat in the US state of Texas.
Ms. Mukerji launched her candidacy for the seat in the 269th Civil District Court of Harris County, Texas.
The Democratic candidate said she is running for the seat because she believes she can make a great contribution to the civil courts in the county.
“I will uphold the laws of the state of Texas and be fair and equitable to all parties that come before me,” she said on her campaign site.
“I believe in the Seventh Amendment, the right to a trial by jury and access to the courts for all,” she said.
Mukerji has received the endorsement from several people and organizations, including Harris County Labor Assembly COPE, AFL-CIO, and South Asia Bar Association.
Mukerji said she is a believer in equality and wants “to make a difference in my community in the most effective way.”
“I have always been a true believer that the Constitutions of the United States and Texas create an equal playing field for all individuals and entities. I believe the next step in my journey is to make a difference in my community in the most effective way I am able and bring a unique perspective to the local judiciary,” she said.
Daughter of immigrant parents from India, Mukerji is a native Houstonian. For over a decade, she has successfully practiced in multiple areas of civil litigation representing individuals, corporations, small business owners, and other civil litigants. Mukerji has worked for the Mostyn Law Firm, where she focused on first party insurance litigation. Thereafter, she moved to the Mukerji Law Firm where she manages over 500 personal injury cases.
“When Shampa told me she was running for Judge in Harris County, I immediately knew that the people of Harris County would have such a huge asset at the courthouse,” said Rene M. Sigman, Attorney, and Regional Litigation Manager, Merlin Law Group, P.A. “Shampa is the perfect fit for the job. I worked with Shampa for 6 years representing individuals and businesses in Harris County fighting to get them justice at the courthouse.”
Mukerji attended Northwestern University in Illinois where she completed her bachelor’s degree in Communications in three years. She then returned home to Houston to attend the University of Houston Law Center. In law school, Mukerji served on the Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy as an Editor and as Chief Justice of the Honor Court.
WASHINGTON (TIP): US lawmakers have greeted Indian Americans on Holi .The festival is celebrated as the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over the evil.
“For Indians, Hindus, and others celebrating across the world, Holi is a joyous festival of colour. Each year, we come together to celebrate the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over evil. To those celebrating across the world – including those in my district – I wish a very happy Holi!,” Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said.
Noting that Holi is a time of spiritual renewal celebrated by Hindus and people of all backgrounds across the country and around the world, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said, Holi represents the victory of good over evil, the onset of spring, and gratitude for the many blessings in lives.
“Holi is a joyous celebration of light vanquishing darkness and the triumph of good over evil. This new spring season, let us recommit to spreading love and tolerance within our own communities, and celebrate the ties that bind us closer together. From my family to yours, have a very happy Holi! Be well,” Indian American Congressman Ami Bera said.
Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley said the festival of Holi, known as the Festival of Colors, is a time for communities to come together to celebrate the arrival of spring.
“The festival has become a tradition celebrated by many in New York City and around the country. I wish a happy Holi to all those celebrating this joyous festival,” Crowley said.
Holi is a very special time for families and friends to commemorate the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil, said Congresswoman Grace Meng.
“To all who observe, I send my very best wishes for a joyous and colorful holiday,” she said.
Holi, the Festival of Color, marks the beginning of spring. It’s a celebration of the renewal of life and rebirth, said Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, adding that it is a time of hope for a more loving and accepting future.
OLATHE, KS (TIP): Indian American Srinivas Kuchibhotla’s killer who shot dead the techie in Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe city last February in a racially motivated hate crime could enter into a plea deal, media reports have said.
A US Navy veteran , Adam Purinton, 52, has been charged with with first-degree murder of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe city last February.
Purinton is also accused of shooting two others, Alok Madasani, a co-worker of Kuchibhotla at Garmin and Ian Grillot, who chased Purinton after he fled the bar.
An entry in the Johnson Country District Court online shows that a plea hearing has been scheduled for Purinton on March 6, reports said.
According to court documents, Purinton’s plea hearing was originally scheduled for May 8 but later it was moved to March 6.
During a preliminary hearing, Puritan pleaded “not guilty”.
Witnesses said Purinton yelled at the two Indian men to “get out of my country” before pulling the trigger.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Purinton committed the offences after substantial planning and premeditation, attempted to kill more than one person in a single criminal episode, and knowingly created a grave risk of death to others on the scene.
Purinton faces a maximum penalty of death or life in prison.
(TIP): Indian stars Shashi Kapoor and Sridevi, who passed away in recent times, featured in the In Memoriam section at the 90th Academy Awards on March 4th .
The In Memoriam segment of the Oscars pays tribute to artistes who have passed this year.
Shashi Kapoor, besides his Bollywood superstar persona, was an active figure in international cinema working in films such as “The Householder”, “Shakespeare Wallah”, “The Guru”, “Bombay Talkie” and “In Custody”.
Sridevi, a pan Indian star, died on February 24 in Dubai suddenly, leaving fans and family shocked. She was 54.
Others who featured in the section include James Bond star Roger Moore, Mary Goldberg and Johan Johansson, John Heard and Sam Shephard.
HOUSTON (TIP): NEW DELHI (TIP): Indian American doctor Christo Thomas Philip moved the Delhi High Court after his Overseas Citizen of India or OCI card was cancelled by the Indian Consulate at Houston, US in August last year for alleged missionary activities in Bihar leading to unrest and law-and-order problems.
After being asked to approach the government and presenting his case before an appellate authority, which upheld the consulate’s decision, Dr. Philip filed a fresh petition challenging the authority’s decision. He also challenged the consulate’s decision as well as the ‘look out circular’ issued against him. Additionally, he has sought directions from the court to the authorities to permit him to visit his family members living in Kerala.
The Delhi High court has issued a notice to the Indian Consulate and sought a response before the next hearing on July 18. Born in Kerala, Dr. Philip was granted the OCI status and a lifelong visa in November 2012. He claimed that he had visited India several times and volunteered at the Duncan hospital in Raxaul, Bihar until he was “unlawfully deported” on April 26, 2016 from the Delhi Airport. On the cancellation of his OCI card, Dr. Philip claims the consulate’s action against him was taken without evidence and the charges against him have no basis.
The OCI cards allow holders to travel to India visa-free and also grants them rights of residency without having to report to the local authorities periodically. It also gives them the right to participate in commercial and educational activities.
MARYLAND (TIP): Indian American Deep Sran, who announced his candidature for the Virginia 10th Congressional District last summer, has announced that he is ending the campaign for the Democratic party nomination.
In a press release posted on his official website, Sran thanked his supporters and family for helping him run the campaign.
“I want to thank my wife, daughters, friends, staff, and community for all of their sacrifice and work. Together, we ran a campaign that was about listening to the people of the 10th District,” he said. “I was able to talk about vision and long-term solutions in a time of anxiety and division. And I had a chance to share how important a positive, shared vision is to the future of this country.”
Sran, a teacher, technology entrepreneur and a lawyer, said the decision to run was made with a strong will and with a vision for the future and it is with the same optimism that he has decided to end the campaign.
“I was able to talk about vision and long-term solutions in a time of anxiety and division. And I had a chance to share how important a positive, shared vision is to the future of this country,” he said.
“I will continue to work for true education reform through innovation and greater equity, to prepare the next generation of leaders and to build a better world,” Sran said. “I will also continue to work for more representative government, so minority and marginalized communities are engaged and heard. I will build on the work we’ve done to show that politics must be about finding common ground to implement policies that leave our children and grandchildren a better world.”
Sran was born and raised in Montgomery County, Maryland.
PRINCETON, NJ (TIP): Sumir Chadha, an alumnus of Princeton’s University, has established a center at the school to bring scholars and students form myriad field of studies to understand modern India.
The MS Chadha Center for Global India, which is named after Sumir Chadha’s grandfather, will broadly explore the current economic, political and cultural circumstances that prevail in India.
MS Chadha, a distinguished physician, served as the director general of Health Services for India.
Sumir Chadha, who earned a BSE in computer science as an undergraduate, is the co-founder and managing director of WestBridge Capital Partners, a leading investment firm focused on India.
The center will be led by a distinguished scholar to be announced at a later date, the university said.
“India’s development since I attended Princeton University 25 years ago has been remarkable in many areas — economic progress, entrepreneurship, innovation and the arts,” said Chadha in a press release.
“Applying Princeton’s world-class scholarship to the study of India will be of great benefit to India, Princeton and the world at large,” he said. “I am grateful to President Eisgruber for his leadership in extending Princeton’s global reach through this important initiative. It also gives me tremendous pleasure to honor my grandfather, who was a great human being and mentor to me, by naming this center for him.”
In addition to Chadha, six other alumni of Princeton have made substantial gifts to the university, providing it with more ability to study India and its increasing impact on the world, the release said.
Sanjay Swani, a member of Princeton’s Class of 1987, and his wife, Preeti, have endowed a professorship in India studies and established a global seminar that will take a group of students to India in the summer to learn about the nation and culture firsthand.
Developing and disseminating a better understanding of India — the world’s largest democracy — has been identified as one of the university’s strategic priorities designed to keep Princeton at the leading edge of teaching and learning now and in the future.
Other former students that have announced support for Princeton’s various India programs are Sheila Patel of the Class of 1991; Aliya Nedungadi of the Class of 1997 and her husband, Ajit Nedungadi; Kush Parmar of the Class of 2002 and his wife, Princess Padmaja Kumari Mewar; and Peter Wendell of the Class of 1972 and his wife, Lynn Mellen Wendell of the Class of 1977.
“India is at a pivotal moment in its history. A deeper understanding of its culture, economic growth and status as the world’s largest democracy is essential both to scholars and to the students who will become leaders of our global society,” said President Christopher L. Eisgruber, who traveled to India in 2016, where he met with alumni, parents and friends, including leaders in business, education and public policy. “Sumir Chadha and Sanjay Swani have worked tirelessly to help position Princeton as the premier center for the study of this tremendously influential nation. They have the University’s deepest gratitude, as do all who have helped to make this center possible.”
Chadha is a member of the advisory council of the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS), and of President Eisgruber’s advisory council. He has served as the chairman of the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and serves on the India Advisory Board of Harvard Business School, where he earned his MBA.
Swani, who earned an A.B. in molecular biology at Princeton, is the chair of the advisory council of PIIRS and a member of the Bridge Year committee. He has had a long career in private equity, most recently as a general partner at the firm of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe for 17 years. He also holds graduate degrees from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“The combination of classroom study and firsthand experience is more powerful than either of those on its own,” said Swani. “Princeton students will now be able to learn from stellar faculty in the classroom, and travel to India to see their academic work brought to life. I am very happy to support this extraordinary educational experience.”
“India is a key to the world of tomorrow — precisely what we’re educating our students for,” said Stephen Kotkin, Princeton’s John P. Birkelund ’52 Professor in History and International Affairs and director of PIIRS. “These far-seeing gifts will allow us to meet increasing demand for opportunities to learn about India, and deepen even more our collaborative relationships with Indian institutions and scholars. I extend my deepest gratitude to the visionary alumni who have created the center, and have formidably enhanced our teaching and scholarship on and our networks in India.”
NEW JERSEY (TIP): Indian American businessman Hirsh Singh, who ran for the New Jersey governor last year, has announced his candidacy for the state’s open 2nd Congressional District.
Singh, a Republican, has pledged to defend President Donald Trump’s agenda, while making the announcement.
Rep. Frank LoBiondo, who has been representing the South Jersey district since 1992 unexpectedly announced his retirement on Election Day after serving 24 years in Congress.
Trump carried the district in the last presidential election by more than 3 percentage points—only the second time a Republican won the district in the past seven presidential elections.
“South Jersey deserves a conservative champion in Congress – someone who will defend the President’s agenda, fight to bring our fair share of tax dollars back to South Jersey, and stand up to Nancy Pelosi and the radical left,” he said. “The president’s agenda of slashing regulations, cutting taxes, and returning decision-making to state and local governments is working to grow the economy and must be supported.”
Other candidates include former Atlantic County Freeholder Seth Grossman, Somers Point City Councilman James Toto, former FBI agent Robert Turkavage, defense and aerospace contractor Brian Fitzerhert and activist Mark McGovern.
Last year, Singh had finished third in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
He has also pledged to challenge House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), if elected to Congress.
Singh holds a degree in engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He has worked with several top government organizations such as NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Pentagon, and the United States military.
“In the coming weeks, I look forward to meeting with the residents of the 2nd Congressional District, listening to their concerns and sharing my vision for a stronger and more prosperous South Jersey,” he said in a statement. “We need a new voice in Washington who will fight for all of the residents of South Jersey.”
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