The Indian Panorama

Year: 2019

  • January 3 New Year Special Print Edition

    January 3 New Year Special Print Edition

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

    Print Replica- Digitally

    E-Editions

    [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”New Year Special Edition ” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Istok%20Web%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindianpanorama.news%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F12%2FTIP-January-3-New-Year-Special-Edition.pdf|||”][vc_single_image image=”98213″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TIP-January-3-New-Year-Special-Edition.pdf”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”82828″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/advertising-media-kit-portal-indian-panorama/”][vc_single_image image=”82829″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/advertising-media-kit-portal-indian-panorama/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Lead Stories This Week” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Istok%20Web%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindianpanorama.news%2F|||”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”mh-sidebar”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

  • December 20 New York & Dallas Print Editions

    December 20 New York & Dallas Print Editions

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

    Print Replica- Digitally

    E-Editions

    [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”New York Edition” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Istok%20Web%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindianpanorama.news%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F12%2FTIP-December-20-NYC.pdf|||”][vc_single_image image=”98162″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TIP-December-20-NYC.pdf”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Dallas, Texas Edition” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Istok%20Web%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindianpanorama.news%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F12%2FTIP-December-20-Dallas-TX.pdf|||”][vc_single_image image=”98161″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TIP-December-20-Dallas-TX.pdf”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”82828″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/advertising-media-kit-portal-indian-panorama/”][vc_single_image image=”82829″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/advertising-media-kit-portal-indian-panorama/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Lead Stories This Week” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Istok%20Web%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindianpanorama.news%2F|||”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”mh-sidebar”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

  • 2019 ‘Diwali – Power of One Award’ Presented to Four Eminent Diplomats

    2019 ‘Diwali – Power of One Award’ Presented to Four Eminent Diplomats

    UNITED NATIONS (TIP): Four prominent diplomats were honored with ‘The Diwali – Power of One’ award in recognition and celebration of their work, especially at the United Nations, for a secure and peaceful world, at a ceremony

    The diplomats who were honored  with the 2019 Diwali Power of One Award at the United Nations, December 6, included  former foreign minister and Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN Kairat Abdrakhmanov, former Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations Nicholas Emiliou, former Chef de Cabinet to the President of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly and Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the UN Frantisek Ruzicka and Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Volodymyr Yelchenko .

    Ambs. Imnadze, Akbaruddin, Diwali Foundation USA Chair Ranju Batra, Amb. Rybakov and Ravi Batra

    The awards, which have come to be known as the ‘Oscars of Diplomacy’, were established by the Diwali Foundation USA, Inc in 2017.Diwali Foundation USA, Inc was established in 2017 to promote a “peaceful and consensus-based process to achieve societal good,” as befitting the “high hopes and ideals of humanity enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

    They are awarded to former Permanent Representatives or high-level UN diplomats or those diplomats who will soon finish their tenure at the world organization for working selflessly “to help form a more perfect, peaceful and secure world for all.’ Diwali Foundation USA Chair Ranju Batra said this year’s awardees, all ‘exceptional world class diplomats’, have well-earned the award ‘by their lifetime of principled efforts to help enhance peace and security by their many victories of ‘good’ over ‘evil’ and ‘light’ over ‘darkness’.’ ‘Whatever the UN Charter dreams of, the Diwali Foundation USA’s Power of One awardees have helped to make it a reality,’ she said during the ceremony at the UN’s the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) chamber.

    India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, in his remarks at the event, said that as a tribute to the power of one to bring about change, as exemplified by the ‘passionate pursuit” by Batra of the Diwali Forever Stamp in 2016, “we have also celebrated the pursuit of excellence at the UN.’ “We annually honor those who have made exemplary contributions in upholding the values that the United Nations stands for,” he said, congratulating UN colleagues who have stood up for the timeless spirit of Diwali. Noting that Diwali is observed as a floating holiday at the United Nations, with no official meetings scheduled for the day, Akbaruddin said celebration of Diwali at the world organization “has also evolved as an expression of our collective commitment to promote peace, prosperity, justice and dignity for all as enshrined in the UN Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights.’ ‘At a more personal level, Diwali is a time to turn inward and introspect. It is a time to rekindle the light of knowledge and truth in our heart and to dispel the dark forces of ignorance,” Akbaruddin said.

    In his message, India’s Consul General in New York Sandeep Chakravorty applauded the efforts of Ranju Batra and eminent Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra ‘for taking the unifying message of Diwali far and wide and for making it truly international.

    2019 Diwali Stamp Power of One Awardee Amb. Volodymyr Yelchenko, Iryna Yelchenko, Ranju Batra, Ravi Batra, 2018 Power of One Awardee Amb. Agshin Mehdiyev.

    The ‘Power of One’ award  institutionalizes the Diwali Stamp effort of Ranju Batra and her partners who worked tirelessly and made it the most popular stamp issued by the US Postal Services, Akbaruddin said.

    Diwali Foundation USA Chair Ranju Batra in her comment on the occasion dwelt on the history of Diwali Foundation and the 7-year struggle to have the Diwali Commemorative Stamp issued.

    Speaking about the Power of One Award, Ranju said “Today’s slate of exceptional world class diplomats have well-earned the Award – by their lifetime of principled efforts to help enhance peace & security by their many victories of “Good” over “Evil,” and “Light” over “Darkness.”  Whatever the UN Charter dreams of, the Diwali Foundation USA’s Power of One Awardees have helped to make it a reality!

    Ravi Batra, in his remarks honoring the four awardees, said that “the world needs diplomacy, and excellence in diplomacy can, and does, enhance peace and security by preventing the start of, or bringing to an end, our present-day endless wars.’ Ranju Batra had spearheaded efforts for nearly seven years to get a commemorative ‘Forever Diwali’ stamp issued by the US Postal Service in 2016, reaching out to the Indian American community members and influential lawmakers, garnering support for petitions for the stamp.

    Previous honorees of the award include former Deputy-Executive Director of UN Women Lakshmi Puri, former Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN Catherine Boura, the Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the UN Mohamed Khaled Khiari,former Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the UN Andrej Logar, Azerbaijan’s former envoy to the UN Agshin Mehdiyev, Vietnam’s former Permanent Representative to the UN Nguyen Phuong Nga and Thailand’s former Permanent Representative to the UN Virachai Plasai.

    The co-organizers of the awards this year were the Permanent Missions of Belarus, Georgia and India to the UN, along with 32 co-sponsors, including the Permanent Missions of Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Viet Nam and the Permanent Observer Mission of State of Palestine.

     (With inputs from PTI )

  • Amneal Pharmaceuticals among major pharmaceutical companies under Federal Investigation

    Amneal Pharmaceuticals among major pharmaceutical companies under Federal Investigation

    LONG ISLAND, NY(TIP): Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , an American publicly traded generics and specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey and with a facility in Long Island  is  among one of the six major pharmaceutical companies against whom Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have launched a criminal probe over the opioid crisis.

    The US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn has issued grand jury subpoenas to manufacturers Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Mallinckrodt, Johnson & Johnson and Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. and distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp. and McKesson Corp., according to documents that the companies filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    According to the filing of one of the companies, Teva, it got a subpoena from Brooklyn prosecutors in August for what “the company understands to be part of a broader investigation into manufacturers’ and distributors’ monitoring programs and reporting under the Controlled Substances Act.”

    A spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn declined to comment. The issuance of the subpoenas to the companies was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

    The companies are already the targets of lawsuits filed by state and local governments alleging that they hold the blame for an opioid epidemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of people over the last two decades, though the companies have denied any wrongdoing.

    Earlier this year, the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan charged the Rochester Drug Cooperative with breaking federal narcotics laws under the Controlled Substances Act, the first time in the US that a pharmaceutical company was hit with charges that are normally used to go after drug traffickers.

    In September, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Department of Financial Services announced that the state is suing drug manufacturers, accusing them of defrauding New Yorkers of $2 billion for peddling opioids that they knew were dangerous.

  • Sri Niketan Organizes International Music Festival

    Sri Niketan Organizes International Music Festival

    8-year-old students Thaarun and Tharuni Recite Shlokas at the opening Ceremony

    NEW YORK(TIP): The performance by dozens of internationally  renowned artists at the International  Music Festival organized by Sri Niketan, a sister of the decades old Shikshayatan run by Purnima Desai, one of the best known promoters of Indian classical music and dance traditions, cast a soothing spell on the audiences who applauded the performances by music maestros and  dance performers.

    The daylong  program at the Ganesha Temple auditorium  in Flushing, Queens was imaginatively crafted.

    Opening ceremony was shloka recitation by 8 years old students Thaarun and Tharuni.

    The morning session started with a renowned Odissi dancer Kaberi Sen who performed very graciously and left a great impression on the audience.  Kaberi ji’s fist performance was Surya Pranam and the second was Anandi Pallavi. The music was composed by Anjan Saha and dance choreographed by herself. She ended the performance with Moksha.

    After that Anjan Saha , a renowned Sitarist accompanied by top Tabla artist Amit Chatterjee gave a splendid  performance.  Anjan Saha sitarist: Alaap, Jod Vilambit Gat and Drut Gat in Teen Taal in Raag Sindhu Bhairavi followed by Jhala, then Dhun in Raag Mishra Pilu.

    Biplab Mukherjee a,  top class vocalist sang classical and light songs in his sweet voice. He was accompanied by Anirban Chakraborty on harmonium and  Dibyarka Chatterjee on tabla.

    Biplab Mukherjee sang Raga  Sudhha Sarang and Komal Aangi Kafi and Tarana and after that divine song. He totally mesmerized the audience with his melodious voice.

    Part two , the afternoon session  saw  great sarod player Apratim Majumdar with Amit Chatterjee on Tabla give a stellar performance. Their Jugalbandi was unique which won applause from the  audience. Apratim Majumdar sang Raga Jatagi and Kirwani.

    Pandit Sanjoy Banerjee accompanied by Namami Karmakar on harmonium sang  Raag Madhuwanti, Raag Kafi, and a  Meera Bhajan .

    Sixteen  students from Chandrika Kurup , principal instructor and choreographer of  Noopura Institute of  Indian classical dance s, performed various classical dances of India like Bharathanatyam, Kuchipudi and Mohini Yattam. They stole the hearts of all with  their extraordinary performances. Their first performance was Pushpanjali;  second item was Shanmuga Kautuvam in which the dancers praise Lord Murugha. The third item was Neeradha in Mohini Yattam style and the fourth  was Tillana.

    Abhik Mukherjee a well-known sitarist and Jay Gandhi on flute had the best Jugalbandi. In the third round . Abhik  Mukherjee and Jay Gandhir sang  Raaga  Puria Dhyaneshri.

    Kankana Banerjee a very famous vocalist sang ragas accompanied by Dibyarka Chatterjee.  Kankana ji sang Raga Bageshri (par karo mori naiya prabhuji) in Vilambit Taal Jhumra followed by Drut  Teen Taal   ( guniyana aage sir jhukau)  and then a Meera Bhajan  (payoji maine ram ratan dhana payo.).  Kankana also sang a bhajan in Raga Bhairavi (maa bhavani dayani)  and she also sang another bhajan (araj suno mori banke bihari)  written and composed by her. She is a disciple of Ustad Amir Khan and Pandit Pratap Narayan.

    A Manipuri Dance  by Sanjib Bhattacharya with his troupe  mesmerized the audience. It was a creation of Guru Bipin Singh. Along with  Jagannath Leiranjam, Krishnakali Dasgupta and  3  local new students  presented Yugal Nartan, Kanduk Tanum, Pung Cholom, Radha Roop Varnan, Manjira Nnartan, Dhole Cholam, Geet Govind, Mridang Vadan. they showcased traditional Raslila, Pravandha, Festival and Sankirtan (drum-pung and dhol) tradition of Manipur.

    The entire program was admired by one and all in the audience.  All artists were recognized for their extraordinary performances. The Sangeet Mahotsava will long be remembered  for the variety of artists and their soulful presentations.

    (Based on a Press Release)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Impeachment Hearing Helped President Trump Make Significant Political Gains in Electoral College States

    Impeachment Hearing Helped President Trump Make Significant Political Gains in Electoral College States

    By Ven Parmeswaran

    The Constitution has made the President of the United States Chief of the Executive Branch, Commander-in-Chief and the most powerful official in charge to protect and defend the United States.  Therefore, President of the USA, though not above the law, has every right to initiate and conduct foreign relations as he deems fit.   I have reviewed the history of American Presidents from Franklin D Roosevelt to Donald J Trump.  Whatever President Trump has done in respect of Ukraine has many precedents.  Every President has used foreign policy as a weapon and based on quid pro quo.  President Trump decided to suspend military aid to Pakistan to pressure them to withdraw their support of Taliban in Afghanistan and curb the home-grown terrorists of Pakistan such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and others.    Pakistan has not delivered and therefore is has been deprived of military aid.  I can cite many examples.  Trump is succeeding in trade negotiations because of quid pro quo. 

    Fortunately, for President Trump, the US economy is very robust with unemployment at 3.5%, 50 year low, wages are going up, and the minorities – blacks, Latinos, and the Asians all have a record employment.

    President Trump’s national average approval is now at 45%, a gain of 5%.  In electoral college States of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio he is scoring from 48% to 52%, again a significant gain.   This must be read with the national polls against impeachment at 51%.

    All the leading contenders for the Democratic Party Presidential race were beating President Trump before the impeachment hearings.  Now Trump is beating all of them including Joe Biden, Sanders, Warren and others by a margin of 5%.     Polls are changing fast daily in favor of President Trump because of impeachment.

    The question is -Why?

    The two articles for impeachment have no basis.  The Democrats have failed to marshal evidence. It is a political impeachment which is  strictly partisan.   Not a single Republican or Independent is in favor of impeachment.   Impeachment of Nixon and Clinton was bipartisan and provided tangible evidence.

    Another reason, the process has been called a sham because Adam Schiff, Chairman, Intelligence Committee held a secret proceeding and did not allow the Republicans to call witness or participate fairly giving equal time.   Whistle blower was misused by Adam Schiff.  He and or his staff had been consulting with the Whistleblower and concocting an artificial basis for impeachment.  Thus, Adam Schiff having first relied on the Whistleblower to start the impeachment has abandoned that source without giving any reasons.

    The Constitution has made the President of the United States Chief of the Executive Branch, Commander-in-Chief and the most powerful official in charge to protect and defend the United States.  Therefore, President of the USA, though not above the law, has every right to initiate and conduct foreign relations as he deems fit.   I have reviewed the history of American Presidents from Franklin D Roosevelt to Donald J Trump.  Whatever President Trump has done in respect of Ukraine has many precedents.  Every President has used foreign policy as a weapon and based on quid pro quo.  President Trump decided to suspend military aid to Pakistan to pressure them to withdraw their support of Taliban in Afghanistan and curb the home-grown terrorists of Pakistan such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and others.    Pakistan has not delivered and therefore is has been deprived of military aid.  I can cite many examples.  Trump is succeeding in trade negotiations because of quid pro quo.

    The Democrats and the holdovers from Obama administration have been leaking secrets to the media.  In the name of investigations, Trump administration has been forced to share secrets with the investigators and the Congress, who have been leaking to the media. Unlike the conventional Presidents, Trump has been slow in planting his own loyal political appointees as ambassadors . Adam Schiff has selected junior level bureaucrats disloyal to President Trump to give testimony.    These witnesses have no credibility.  Secondly, they testified in secret. There was no witness who had direct contact with Trump. In other words, Adam Schiff was manufacturing alleged abuses of Trump administration.

    Trump in his telephone communication with the Ukraine President was seeking a favor for the United States and not for himself personally.  He did not say “Do me a favor”.   Adam Schiff has twisted this and misquoted him.  Adam Schiff read a made up of Trump’s phone transcript.

    Before the United States extend military aid to Ukraine, President Trump has every right to investigate corruption in Ukraine to make sure our aid is not wasted.  In fact, Obama had delegated his V.P. to investigate corruption in Ukraine long before the 2016 election.  His son was given a job with a salary of almost a million dollars per year because of Biden’s official position as Vice President.  In 2016, Biden was not a candidate for election.  He started running for the Primaries in 2019 and nobody knows he would be a candidate.   Kamala Harris was running but she is no longer a candidate. Therefore, accusing Trump that he was trying to get dirt on Biden is wrong.    As soon as the hearings started in public, public opinion changed in favor of Trump.     Biden’s son himself has admitted on  TV  during an interview that he was able to get such a highly paid job because of his dad’s position.   So, Trump is trying to prove that Biden and his son are involved in the corruption in Ukraine.

    Ever since Trump became duly elected President, he has not been allowed to function and discharge the duties of the President of the United States.  He has been hampered 24/7 by the mainstream media orchestrating against him with the Democrats using the leaked information.   I have been an eyewitness to American history from President Eisenhower to present.  No President has had to go thru what President Trump has been subjected to from day 1 because of non -stop investigations.  When the Democrats failed to catch Trump in Mueller investigations they  resorted to political impeachment!

    PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS BEEN EMPEROR WITHOUT CLOTHES

    The Democrats and their mainstream media have succeeded in exposing the Presidency of the United States.  This has created a serious national security problem for President Trump.   American people and the voters cannot be fooled.   Now because of the public hearing, public opinion is favoring President Trump.    No head of the foreign governments will have confidence and trust in President Trump because of the fear that their communications would be leaked.   The Democrats have succeeded in arrest  of foreign policy making.    President Reagan ended 50- year cold war with the Soviet Union. Now the Democrats have forced Trump to start a cold war with Russia. Why?

    SPEAKER PELOSI COMPROMISES WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP BY GIVING SUPPORT FOR TRUMP’S USMCA TRADE PACT REPLACING NAFTA.  WHY?

    Nancy Pelosi is concerned that she may not be able to woo all the Democrats to vote for impeachment. Those new Democrats elected from Trump’s 2016 constituencies are not fully sold on the impeachment because it is 100% partisan and even some Democrats had voted against inquiries for impeachment.  To pacify them and curry their favor, it became politically expedient for Nancy Pelosi to compromise with Trump although it would help Trump politically.  Thus, politics has come to gutter level!     In as much as the national poll is going against impeachment, Nancy Pelosi is not sure today how the 2018 elected democrats would vote.

    If the present trend continues, it is possible that Trump’s approval rating will keep going up steadily and he could become a very formidable opponent in 2020.  The trials in the Senate chaired by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts will also result in giving Trump frost on his cake. Fortunately, for President Trump, the US economy is very robust with unemployment at 3.5%, 50 year low, wages are going up, and the minorities – blacks, Latinos, and the Asians all have a record employment.     The problem for the Democrats today is they have not yet been able to identify a winning candidate.   Hillary Clinton wants to run again because she claims she is more popular and superior to all the current candidates. There is so much uncertainty in the Democratic camp. But, surely, no such thing with Trump.

    (Ven Parameswaran, Scarsdale, N.Y. was President & CEO, First Asian Securities Corporation, NYC. His email: vpwaren@gmail.com)

     

  • In the name of a majority

    In the name of a majority

    By Anupama Roy

    The reality of imposing a national order of things, through a CAB and an NRC, in non-national spaces will unfold in future but Assam has given us adequate evidence of the risks involved. It can only be hoped that the judiciary and civil society are able to restore constitutional and democratic politics through an exercise of counter-majoritarian power in a context where electoral gains have determined political choices.

    The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), passed in both Houses this week, promises to give the protection of citizenship to non-Muslims who fled to India to escape religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. While religious persecution is a reasonable ground for protection, the problem with the CAB is that it does not include all communities that suffered religious persecution, and explicitly excludes Muslims who suffered persecution in the specified countries and other non-Muslim majority countries like Myanmar.

    This majoritarian notion of religion-based citizenship, although intrinsic to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s idea of India, is not shared by the majority of people in this country. In addition, such a view is alien to the constitutional consensus which emerged in 1950, embodying the idea of a people who committed themselves — and those governing on their behalf — to a constitutional order. Those in support of the CAB have rallied around the argument that it is non-discriminatory and its objectives are justifiable. In doing so, they have often invoked the moral imperative of correcting a perceived past wrong — in this case the Partition. In the process, the CAB changes completely the idea of equal and inclusive citizenship promised in the Constitution.

    Changes in citizenship law

    The CAB cannot, however, be seen in isolation. It must be seen in tandem with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and other changes in the citizenship law, which have preceded it. The Home Minister and the Law Minister have clarified that the CAB and the NRC are distinct — the NRC protects the country against illegal migrants and the CAB protects refugees. This, however, is incommensurate with the election speeches made by BJP leaders. For instance, speaking in Kolkata earlier this year, Amit Shah had promised an NRC in West Bengal, but only after the passage of the CAB to ensure that no Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Christian refugee is denied citizenship for being an illegal immigrant. In a triumphal note after the passage of the CAB in Lok Sabha, Mr. Shah declared that a nationwide NRC would follow soon.

    Despite their seemingly disparate and adversarial political imperatives, the CAB and the NRC have become conjoined in their articulation of citizenship. Indeed, the two represent the tendency towards jus sanguinis in the citizenship law in India, which commenced in 1986, became definitive in 2003, and has reached its culmination in the contemporary moment. In 2003, the insertion of the category ‘illegal migrants’ in the provision of citizenship by birth became the hinge from which the NRC and the CAB later emerged.

    The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules of 2003 made the registration of all citizens of India, issue of national identity cards, the maintenance of a national population register, and the establishment of an NRC by the Central government compulsory. Under these rules, the Registrar General of Citizen Registration is to collect particulars of individuals and families, including their citizenship status, through a ‘house-to-house enumeration’. In an exception to the general rule, Assam has followed a different procedure of ‘inviting applications’ with particulars of each family and individual and their citizenship status based on the NRC 1951 and electoral rolls up to the midnight of March 24, 1971. The purpose of the NRC is to sift out ‘foreigners’ and ‘illegal migrants’, who were referred to at different points as ‘infiltrators’ and ‘aggressors’, and a threat to the territory and people of India.

    Exempting minority groups

    The second strand emerging from the 2003 amendment has taken the form of the CAB, which exempts ‘minority communities’, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians, from three countries — Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan — from the category of ‘illegal migrants’. The CAB brings the citizenship law in line with exemptions already made in the Passport Act 1920 and Foreigners Act 1946 through executive orders in September 2015 and July 2016. It sets a cut-off date of December 31, 2014 as the date of eligibility of illegal migrants for exemption.

    It must be noted that a PIL filed by the Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha pending before the Supreme Court has contested the deviation in the cut-off date set for Assam by the Citizenship Amendment Act 1986, March 24, 1971, from the date specified in Article 6 of the Constitution, i.e., July 19, 1948, which applies to the rest of the country. The CAB is applicable to entire India and takes the cut-off date forward by several years.

    The claim that the CAB does not violate the Constitution is reflective of the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). The JPC was advised by constitutional experts to use a broader category, ‘persecuted minorities’, to protect the Bill from the charge of violating the right to equality in Article 14. The CAB uses the category ‘minority communities’ and goes on to identify them on the ground of religion. The notifications of September 2015 and July 2016, which changed the Passport and Foreigners Acts, had mentioned the term ‘religious persecution’. The consideration of religious persecution for making a distinction among persons, the JPC argued, could not be discriminatory, because the distinction was both intelligible and reasonable — satisfying the standards laid down in the Supreme Court judgment in State of West Bengal vs. Anwar Ali Sarkarhabib (1952) to affirm adherence to Article 14.

    Test of reasonableness

    The JPC appears, however, to have overlooked the substantive conditions that the Supreme Court laid down in the same verdict. These require that the criteria of intelligibility of the differentia and the reasonableness of classification, must satisfy both grounds of protection guaranteed by Article 14, i.e., protection against discrimination and protection against the arbitrary exercise of state power. In 2009, the Delhi High Court judgement in Naz Foundation vs. Government of NCT of Delhi referred to “a catena of decisions” to lay down a further test of reasonableness, requiring that the objective for such classification in any law must also be subjected to judicial scrutiny. The restraint on state arbitrariness, according to the judgment, was to come from constitutional morality, which as B.R. Ambedkar declared in the Constituent Assembly, was the responsibility of the state to protect.

    It remains a puzzle as to why the government wishes to change the citizenship law to address the problem of refugees. The JPC refers to standard operating procedures for addressing the concerns of refugees from neighboring countries. In the case of refugees from the erstwhile West Pakistan who deposed before the JPC in favor of a CAB, the standard operating procedure was the grant of long-term visas leading to citizenship. One wonders how these refugees will benefit from a law which will put them through an arduous process of proving religious persecution. Immediately after Partition, ‘displaced persons’ constituted an administrative category, and citizenship files of 1950s tell us how district officials expedited their citizenship in the process of preparation of electoral rolls.

    The focus in the recent parliamentary debates, for various reasons, was the eastern borders. States in the region have resisted the CAB, and simultaneously asked for an NRC. West Bengal has been an exception. The reality of imposing a national order of things, through a CAB and an NRC, in non-national spaces will unfold in future but Assam has given us adequate evidence of the risks involved. It can only be hoped that the judiciary and civil society are able to restore constitutional and democratic politics through an exercise of counter-majoritarian power in a context where electoral gains have determined political choices.

    Anupama Roy teaches at the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

  • The day of Boris: Labour lost because it fought a Brexit election as if it were just another general election

    The day of Boris: Labour lost because it fought a Brexit election as if it were just another general election

    The decisive victory the Conservative Party clinched in Thursday’s elections to Parliament gives British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who built his campaign around the promise to “get Brexit done”, a clear mandate to take the U.K. out of the European Union without further delay. Initial results show that his party is set to win 364 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, the greatest performance of the Conservatives in over three decades. The Labour, led by veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn, is expected to win 203 seats, its worst performance in decades. It is Mr. Johnson’s victory. He is the one who called for an early election after reaching a new divorce deal with the EU. He turned the poll into a de facto Brexit referendum, arguing that only a stable Conservative government could take the U.K. out of the EU quickly and end the lingering political standoff. His strategy was to consolidate the pro-Brexit vote, get a fresh mandate in Parliament and then quicken the divorce process. The Labour Party, on the other side, has been ambivalent on the question of Brexit. Mr. Corbyn promised another referendum and declined to state what his position would be during that vote. His focus was on the economy. He promised a radical expansion of the state, with plans to tax the rich, increase public spending and nationalize utilities. The Labour leader may have hoped that his radical economic agenda would cut through the Brexit narrative. But it did not. In the end, Labour fought a Brexit election without articulating a clear position on Brexit. Unsurprisingly, it lost even its traditional working class districts in the Midlands and north of England that had overwhelmingly voted to leave in the 2016 referendum.

    Mr. Johnson is now confident that he could push his withdrawal agreement through Parliament at the earliest so that Britain could leave the union before the January 31 deadline. But a big victory or a timely exit does not mean that the road ahead is smooth. His Brexit agreement itself is controversial; once implemented, it could erect an effective customs border between Britain and the island of Ireland. The question is what impact Mr. Johnson’s deal will have on the Good Friday agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland and to the unity of the Kingdom in general. Second, a more difficult part of the Brexit process is negotiating an agreement on the U.K.’s future relationship with the EU. Mr. Johnson has promised to finish the negotiations during the 11-month transition period, but it could take years. Lastly, more than Brexit, the poll results pose administrative and constitutional challenges to the Prime Minister. In Scotland, the Scottish National Party’s landslide victory — it is poised to win 48 out of the 59 Westminster seats — has already rekindled calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence. This will put the SNP on a warpath with the Tories who are opposed to a new referendum. Mr. Johnson might go down in history as the Prime Minister who took the U.K. out of the EU. But at what cost is the question. The answer will be known in bits and pieces in the coming days.

    (The Hindu)

  • Ravi Batra Writes to Chairman Engel Voicing Disagreement over Pramila Jayapal’s Resolution Urging India to End Restrictions on Communications in Kashmir

    Ravi Batra Writes to Chairman Engel Voicing Disagreement over Pramila Jayapal’s Resolution Urging India to End Restrictions on Communications in Kashmir

    Dear Chairman Engel,

    Thomas Jefferson’s June 28, 1776 draft Declaration of Independence – had sequentiality built into what’s more important as in – “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” – in that order. That is what I testified to on October 22, 2019 in the Sub-Committee, and thereafter, timely supplemented. Sequential rights is the key to good and proper governance, as defined by Lincoln’s Gettysburg recipe, which I paraphrase with affection: “of, by and for” the people.

    After 9/11, there is a 24/7/365 days-a-year blackout – a freeze of communication, cell and internet, including, the instruction not to use the phone – in the immigration area so as to enhance public safety and thwart Terror. Since communication is a necessary “trigger” for Terror, it’s interruption in necessary to enhance public safety. While all good people want normalcy returned to Kashmir ASAP, and I’m a strong proponent of same, I don’t second guess the decisions made on the ground in real time that affect life and death, to prevent the avoidable and unfortunate swap between them. While I welcome a CoDel to Kashmir since my testimony, and hope India will accept my urging, it ill-serves to willy nilly beat up one of the most important and vibrant bilateral relationships that will not only define the 21st Century, but extend more American Freedoms to more of humanity.

    As such, Rep. Jayapal’s Resolution is ill-advised at best, and misguided at best. That she is unfamiliar with Terror, as all New Yorkers and Indians are after serial Terror attacks, or she is unfamiliar with, and has never had the duty to provide public safety is visible in her utopia-based resolution. Terror is real; utopia, a book written by Sir Thomas More in 1516, is still a dream. I attach a copy of an article, citing Thomas Jefferson,  that reports my urgent concerns to avoid a bilateral mishap.

    I urge in lieu of such misguided action, that we, the United States, as an honest friend of the Sub-Continent use our good offices, and you, Mr. Chairman, have global reach and impact as a result of your principled and deliberative action, enriched with infinite calibration, help change the cross-border ground reality to aid in fastest return to normalcy. The internal matters of foreign sovereigns are always helped by genuine well-wishers, rather than opportunistic interlopers.

    As a patriotic American, proud of my ancestry,  India’s several-millennia history of religious freedoms – not just to pray, but for new faiths to be born, and secular, and India’s vital role in the American Revolution, I urge bipartisan restraint on a bilateral relationship important on a bipartisan level. If needed, I am happy to come testify and add knowledge and nuances that wisdom requires.

    Unlike a jury, creating policy – especially foreign policy – requires expertise and nuance – and hence, being non-sequestered helps. Two weeks ago I was in Delhi, and had a conversation with our Amb. Ken Juster at a dear friend’s event; I’ve spoken to good folks, with a Pakistan-centric or India-centric view. I applaud State SCA’s A/S Alice Wells’ efforts to keep things “normal,” even as prompting an early return to a new normal,  that is Terror-Free. A CoDel will do more good than an intrusive and ill-advised resolution.

    https://indicanews.com/2019/12/11/disagreement-over-pramila-jaypals-resolution-urging-india-to-end-the-restrictions-on-communications/

    Respectfully,

    Ravi Batra

  • December 13 New York & Dallas Print Editions

    December 13 New York & Dallas Print Editions

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

    Print Replica- Digitally

    E-Editions

    [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”New York Edition” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Istok%20Web%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindianpanorama.news%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F12%2FTIP-December-13-NYC.pdf|||”][vc_single_image image=”98116″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TIP-December-13-NYC.pdf”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Dallas, Texas Edition” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Istok%20Web%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindianpanorama.news%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F12%2FTIP-December-13-Dallas-TX.pdf|||”][vc_single_image image=”98115″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TIP-December-13-Dallas-TX.pdf”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”82828″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/advertising-media-kit-portal-indian-panorama/”][vc_single_image image=”82829″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/advertising-media-kit-portal-indian-panorama/”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Lead Stories This Week” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Istok%20Web%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindianpanorama.news%2F|||”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”mh-sidebar”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

  • IRS selects new advisory council members for 2020

    WASHINGTON (TIP): The Internal Revenue Service announced  December 12  the appointment of 12 new members to the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council.

     

    The IRSAC, established in 1953, is an organized public forum for IRS officials and representatives of the public to discuss various issues in tax administration. The council provides the IRS commissioner with relevant feedback, observations and recommendations. It will submit its annual report to the agency at a public meeting in Nov. 2020.

     

    The IRS strives to appoint members to the IRSAC who represent the taxpaying public, the tax professional community, small and large businesses, tax exempt and government entities and information reporting interests.

     

    The following persons were appointed to serve three-year appointments on the council beginning in 2020:

     

    Walter “Ted” Afield – Afield is director of the Philip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic and associate clinical professor of law at Georgia State University in Atlanta. He is a member of the American Bar Association Tax Section, the Florida Bar Association and the Atlanta Bar Association.

     

    Martin Armstrong – Armstrong is vice president of Payroll Shared Services with Charter Communications, Inc., in Charlotte, N.C. He is also currently the accounting and finance area chair for the University of Phoenix. Armstrong is a member of the American Payroll Association and the National Association of Tax Professionals.

     

    Sharon Brown – Brown is a partner with Barclay Damon LLP in New York. She is a member of American Bar Association Tax Section and Affordable Housing and Community Development Section, the New York State Bar Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers.

     

    Robert Howren – Howren is tax director/assistant treasurer for BlueLinx Corporation in Marietta, Ga. He is a member of the Tax Executives Institute, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Georgia Society of CPAs.

    Denise Jackson – Jackson is the vice president of tax preparer development with the State Employees’ Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C, where she supervises and coordinates the training program for over 3,000 tax preparers for the credit union’s 267 branches. She is an enrolled agent and CFP practitioner.

    Kathleen Lach – Lach is a partner in the business and finance department of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, in Chicago. She is a member of the American Bar Association Tax Section, the Women’s Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women.

    Kelly Myers – Myers is a tax consultant with Myers Consulting Group, LLC, in Owens Crossroads, Ala. He is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents, the National Association of Tax Professionals, the National Society of Accountants and the National Society of Tax Professionals.

    Joseph Novak – Novak is vice president of taxes for Abbott Laboratories in Abbott Park, Ill. Novak has served in Abbott’s corporate tax organization since 2004 in a variety of roles, including leadership positions in the income tax accounting, transfer pricing, planning and compliance groups. He is a licensed certified public accountant and member of the Tax Executives Institute.

    Robert Panoff – Panoff is a tax attorney in Miami. He is past chair of both the tax section and the continuing legal education committee of the Florida Bar, past president and current member of the Greater Miami Tax Institute, and member of the Miami International Tax Group. He is a recipient of the tax section’s Gerald T. Hart Outstanding Tax Attorney of the Year Award.

    Nancy Ruoff – Ruoff is the Statewide Payroll and Collections Manager for the State of Kansas in Topeka, Kan. She is a certified public accountant and member of the American Payroll Association’s Strategic Payroll Leadership Tax Force Government/Public Sector Subcommittee and the National Association of State Comptrollers’ Payroll Information Sharing Group.

    Katherine Sunderland – Sunderland is assistant general counsel of tax law at the Investment Company Institute in Washington, an association representing regulated funds globally. She is also involved in OECD’s Business Advisory Group to the OECD’s projects on the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), Tax Relief and Compliance Enhancement (TRACE) and the Digital Economy.

    Kevin Valuet – Valuet is senior payroll consultant for PayTech, Inc. He is a member of the American Payroll Association Government Relations Task Force, Strategic Payroll Leadership Task Force and Certification Item Development Task Force.

    The 2020 IRSAC Chair is Diana Erbsen, a New York-based tax partner at DLA Piper. She previously served as deputy assistant attorney general for appellate and review for the tax division of the U.S. Department of Justice from Nov. 2014 until Jan. 2017. Erbsen has been an IRSAC member since 2018.

    For more information on IRSAC, please visit the Facts page on IRS.gov.

    (Press Release)

  • Lok Sabha passes Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

    Lok Sabha passes Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there, a little past midnight on Monday, December 9, after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours.

    The Bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha with 311 members favoring it and 80 voting against it, will now be tabled in the Rajya Sabha for its nod.

    Several amendments brought by opposition members, including one by a Shiv Sena MP, were defeated either by voice vote or division.

    According to the proposed legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31, 2014 facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

    In a hard-hitting reply to the debate on the proposed legislation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said people belonging to any religion should not have any fear under the Modi government as he asserted that the bill will give relief to those minorities who have been living a painful life after facing persecution in neighboring countries.

    Shah also said the Modi government will definitely implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) across the country and when it will be done, not a single illegal immigrant will remain in the country.

    Shah said there is a difference between illegal immigrants and those who have come after facing religious persecution in the three neighboring countries.

    “No one should have any fear of being persecuted under the Narendra Modi government,” he said after nearly seven-hour-long debate which was marked by fiery speeches by MPs belonging to both the opposition and the ruling alliance.

    The home minister said had India not been divided on religious lines in 1947, there was no need for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

    “Muslim population in India has increased from 9.8 per cent in 1951 to 14.8 per cent in 2011 while the Hindu population has decreased from 84 per cent in 1951 to 79 per cent in 2011.

    “Whereas, the minority population in Pakistan has decreased from 23 per cent in 1947 to 3.7 per cent in 2011. Similarly minority population in Bangladesh has decreased from 22 per cent in 1947 to 7 per cent in 2011,” he said, adding India does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of religion.

    The home minister said the Citizenship Bill will give relief and constitutional respect to those who have been living a painful life after facing persecution in neighboring countries.

    Shah dismissed the suggestions that the Bill is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality for everyone, as it aims to give citizenship to persecuted people only.

    “This Bill is not unconstitutional and not in violation of Article 14 and has nothing to do with Muslims in India,” he said but made it clear that Rohingya Muslims, coming from Myanmar, will not be given Indian citizenship.

    The home minister countered the Congress charges that the bill is communal in nature, by taking a dig at the opposition party, saying “Congress is such a secular party which partners Muslim League in Kerala and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra”.

    “Modi government’s only religion is the Constitution,” he asserted.

    He also said India doesn’t need a refugee policy as the country has enough laws for the protection of refugees.

    Earlier, initiating the debate, Shah said the bill has the endorsement of India’s 130 crore citizens as it was part of the BJPs’ election manifestoes in 2014 and 2019.

    Opposition leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Saugata Roy, N K Premchandran, Gaurav Gogoi, Shashi Tharoor and Asaduddin Owaisi opposed the introduction of the bill, saying it was violative of various provisions of the Constitution, including move to grant citizenship on the basis of religion.

    While defending the introduction of the bill, Shah said the Congress had “divided” the country on the basis of religion that is why it was necessary to bring the bill and added that it was brought on the basis of reasonable classifications provided under the Constitution.

    The tabling of the emotive bill through division of votes came in the wake of protests and incidents of violence in Northeastern states with most of the student unions and regional political parties opposing it, saying it will nullify the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985, which fixed March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for deportation of all illegal immigrants irrespective of religion.

    “We will have to differentiate between intruders and refugees. Citizenship amendment bill does not discriminate against anyone and does not snatch anyone’s rights,” Shah said while initiating the debate on the contentious bill.

    Trying to allay apprehensions of people of the Northeast, Shah said the Narendra Modi Government is committed to protect the customs and culture of people of the region and informed that Manipur will be brought under Inner Line Permit regime, where the proposed law will not be applicable.

    The home minister said under the proposed legislation, citizenship will be granted to refugees coming from the three countries after facing religious persecution there even without documents, including ration cards.

    Noting that India has given similar rights to people in the past, Shah said Manmohan Singh and L K Advani could become prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively due to this after they came from present-day Pakistan.

    “This bill is not even .001 per cent against Muslims. It is against infiltrators,” he said earlier while introducing the bill.

    During the debate, which was marked by heated arguments, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also tore the bill, saying it was aimed at making Muslims “stateless” and will lead to another partition.

    Opposing the bill, Congress MP Manish Tewari said the bill is “unconstitutional” and “contrary to the spirit of the Constitution which is secular”.

    “Equals cannot be treated as unequal. When a person comes to India, he is a refugee. You cannot discriminate against him on the basis of religion,” he said during the debate.

    “The bill is against the Constitution, against the spirit of Constitution and against the ideology propounded by Babasaheb Ambedkar,” Tewari said.

    Discrimination on the basis of religion, he further said, was not in tune with the Preamble of the Constitution which specifically mentions the word ‘secularism’.

    “Secularism is embedded in the Constitution,” he said.

    Supporting the bill, BJP MP Rajender Agarwal said the country cannot ignore the suffering of the people who have come here after facing religious persecution.

    He said Pakistan has failed to protect its minorities under the Nehru-Liaquat pact.

    While NDA allies the JD(U) and the LJP extended support to the bill, fence sitters, including the BJD and the YSRCP also supported the bill while suggesting that Muslims should also be included in the bill.

    Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the NRC and the CAB will never be allowed in Bengal as long as the TMC is in power.

    “It’s a divisive bill and shall be opposed at any cost,” she said in Kharagpur while claiming that at least 30 people have committed suicide in the state due to panic over the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

    Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said the government was trying to create impression that by opposing the legislation, the party was anti-Hindu.

    “We are opposing the bill because it is discriminatory in nature. It wreaks havoc on the very foundations of the Constitution. This is a step towards Hindu Rashtra. India should maintain the essence of humanity,” Chowdhury said.

    Surpriya Sule (NCP) said the perception is that every Muslim is feeling insecure and the largest minority community should not be felt left out.

    Referring to DMK MP K Kanimozhi, Sule also asked, “What happens to those who practice atheism?”

    As per the bill, “on and from the date of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, any proceeding pending against a person under this section in respect of illegal migration or citizenship shall stand abated on conferment of citizenship to him.”

    “Provided that such person shall not be disqualified for making application for citizenship under this section on the ground that the proceeding pending against him and the central government or authority specified by it in this behalf shall not reject his application on that ground if he is otherwise found qualified for grant of citizenship under section.”

    The BJP-led NDA government had introduced the bill in its previous tenure and got Lok Sabha’s approval. But it did not introduce it in Rajya Sabha, apparently due to vehement protests in the Northeast and lack of majority in the House. That bill lapsed following the dissolution of the last Lok Sabha.

    (Source: PTI)

  • IUDF opposes dividing the Indian American community by Hindutva groups

    NEW YORK (TIP): The Indo-US Democracy Foundation (IUDF), a newly formed think tank, deplores the attack on elected representatives in the U.S. by a cadre of people belonging to the Hindutva group, who support ideologies opposed by America.

     They are virtually threatening U.S. Representatives like Ro Khanna (California) and Pramila Jayapal (Washington) for not towing their line of Hindutva politics, which want to reshape India as a Theocracy or Hindu Rashtra. They even threatened Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York, a good friend of the Indian community, for demanding the restoration of democracy in Kashmir.

    The Hindutva forces in the U.S. follow the ideology of RSS, a militant organization in India, who want to make India a Hindu Rashtra and keep the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and others as second class citizens, denying them equality in their ancestral land. It is not acceptable. It is un-American to profess such a fascist ideology in this land of the free.

     Rep. Khanna’s grandfather was a freedom fighter for India’s independence struggle and suffered greatly in jail for many years. Rep. Khanna rightly says that his grandfather fought for all Indians, and he cannot support divisive ideologies now. Rep.  Jayapal, too, demanded democratic rights for Kashmiris, who are citizens of India.

     The Hindutva forces in the U.S. may have money, power, and numbers; however, they forget that they have reached this level of success because of the democratic, secular, and tolerant fabric of this great country. While they enjoy the freedom and great opportunities in this nation, they are working hard on the sideline to deny these same rights and liberties to minorities and lower castes in India.

    These wolves in many garbs are busy trying to influence policies in Washington, often masquerading as champions for the Indian community in America.  Moreover, many Asian Indians in this country remained quiet for too long, under the false impression that India needed lobbying by these Hindutva groups for a better bilateral relationship. However, upon careful examination, these folks are exposed as more militant and strident in their voices than their so-called mentors in India, which is sad. It appears that they have brought their whole baggage of racism and bigotry to these shores and are working hard to convert others into the same.  In internet forums and discussion groups, they attack and denigrate anyone who is opposed to their ideology, often calling them traitors. Traitors to whom? These people seem to forget that their behavior is inconsistent with the values and traditions of this great country and is un-American.

     It is quite astonishing that some of these folks who are highly educated and better positioned in the social strata, denigrate Christianity and attack Islam in heinous terms. To intimidate others, they often use the legal system and also threaten actions from the Government of India, such as visa denial or cancellation of OCI Card.

    The Indian Diaspora is diverse and comprises many religions, regions, and languages. According to a Pew Research poll, 50% of the Indian Diaspora consists of Non-Hindus. And the majority of the Hindus in this country may also want to live in peace with one another. However, it is unfortunate that a small band of radical Hindutva supporters in this country is in the process of ruining the peace and harmony for everyone else.

    Here is a quote from the editorial of the Indian Panorama newspaper that captured the essence of the sentiment of the majority of the Indians who live here: “There is no harm in exercising one’s democratic rights in a democratic country. For long, Khalistanis have been demanding a Khalistan in India. It does not make a difference that there are people here who want a Hindu Rashtra. If the Khalistanis demanding Khalistan are anti-India and enemies of the nation, the same yardstick could be applied to those demanding a Hindu Rashtra. What is the difference? The demands of both the Khalistanis and the Hindutva supporters are divisive and against the interests of India and its 1.3 billion people.

     It is unfortunate that Indians who now are citizens of America should attempt to create hatred among people of Indian origin and divide them here in the U.S., where hundreds of ethnicities have learned to live in brotherhood and peace. Aren’t they committing a crime against America and American people? Nobody should be allowed to take advantage of the freedoms offered by the greatest nation on the earth. Nobody should be allowed to practice any form of terrorism in the greatest democracy in the world, which prides itself on the values of freedom and fraternity. President Trump, who has been bold enough to deal with the terrorism of all shades, should find a way to lock up people of foreign origin who promote hatred and create divisions and are a threat to the American National Security.

     Nobody should be allowed to take advantage of the freedoms offered by the greatest nation on the earth. Nobody should be allowed to practice any form of terrorism in the greatest democracy in the world, which prides itself on the values of freedom and fraternity. President Trump, who has been bold enough to deal with the terrorism of all shades, should find a way to lock up people of foreign origin who promote hatred and create divisions and are a threat to the American National Security.”

    Ref: https://www.theindianpanorama.news/other-stories/from-defending-a-diplomats-statement-to-advocating-hindutva-and-demanding-a-hindu-rashtra/

    https://indicanews.com/2019/09/07/ro-khannas-statement-against-hindutva-riles-bjp-supporters-but-is-hailed-by-others/

     

     

  • USCIS Announces Implementation of Electronic H-1B Registration Process

    USCIS Announces Implementation of Electronic H-1B Registration Process

    WASHINGTON (TIP): U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services  announced on December 6, 2019  a requirement for employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, to first electronically register and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee before filing a petition for the fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap.

    USCIS will open an initial registration period from March 1 through March 20, 2020.

      • During this initial registration period, prospective petitioners or their authorized representatives must electronically submit a separate registration naming each alien for whom they seek to file an H-1B cap-subject petition.
      • If a sufficient number of registrations are received, we will randomly select the number of registrations projected as needed to reach the H-1B numerical allocations after the initial registration period closes and no later than March 31, 2020. Prospective petitioners with selected registrations will be eligible to file a cap-subject petition only for the alien named in the registration.

    Once the H-1B registration system has been implemented, and when registration is required, the agency will not consider a cap-subject petition properly filed unless it is based on a valid registration selection for the same beneficiary, and the appropriate fiscal year. Additionally, although petitioners can register multiple aliens during a single online submission, duplicate registrations for the same beneficiary in the same fiscal year will be discarded.

    During the past few months, USCIS conducted usability testing for the H-1B registration system. We incorporated feedback from those sessions into redesigns of the system. After completing the current development phase, USCIS will conduct further outreach and training prior to the initial implementation of the registration system to allow the public the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the electronic registration process. USCIS will provide guidance on how to use the registration system and prepare registrations before opening the registration system for the initial registration period.

    DHS intends to publish a notice in the Federal Register in the coming weeks to formally announce implementation of the H-1B registration process.

    (Press Release)

    WASHINGTON (TIP): U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services  announced on December 6, 2019  a requirement for employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, to first electronically register and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee before filing a petition for the fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap.

    USCIS will open an initial registration period from March 1 through March 20, 2020.

      • During this initial registration period, prospective petitioners or their authorized representatives must electronically submit a separate registration naming each alien for whom they seek to file an H-1B cap-subject petition.
      • If a sufficient number of registrations are received, we will randomly select the number of registrations projected as needed to reach the H-1B numerical allocations after the initial registration period closes and no later than March 31, 2020. Prospective petitioners with selected registrations will be eligible to file a cap-subject petition only for the alien named in the registration.

    Once the H-1B registration system has been implemented, and when registration is required, the agency will not consider a cap-subject petition properly filed unless it is based on a valid registration selection for the same beneficiary, and the appropriate fiscal year. Additionally, although petitioners can register multiple aliens during a single online submission, duplicate registrations for the same beneficiary in the same fiscal year will be discarded.

    During the past few months, USCIS conducted usability testing for the H-1B registration system. We incorporated feedback from those sessions into redesigns of the system. After completing the current development phase, USCIS will conduct further outreach and training prior to the initial implementation of the registration system to allow the public the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the electronic registration process. USCIS will provide guidance on how to use the registration system and prepare registrations before opening the registration system for the initial registration period.

    DHS intends to publish a notice in the Federal Register in the coming weeks to formally announce implementation of the H-1B registration process.

    (Press Release)

  • Four eminent diplomats honored with 2019 ‘Diwali – Power of One Award’

    UNITED NATIONS (TIP): Four prominent diplomats were honored with ‘The Diwali – Power of One’ award in recognition and celebration of their work, especially at the United Nations, for a secure and peaceful world, at a ceremony

    The diplomats who were honored  with the 2019 Diwali Power of One Award at the United Nations, December 6, included  former foreign minister and Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN Kairat Abdrakhmanov, former Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations Nicholas Emiliou, former Chef de Cabinet to the President of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly and Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the UN Frantisek Ruzicka and Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Volodymyr Yelchenko .

    The awards, which have come to be known as the ‘Oscars of Diplomacy’, were established by the Diwali Foundation USA, Inc in 2017. Diwali Foundation USA, Inc was established in 2017 to promote a “peaceful and consensus-based process to achieve societal good,” as befitting the “high hopes and ideals of humanity enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

    They are awarded to former Permanent Representatives or high-level UN diplomats or those diplomats who will soon finish their tenure at the world organization for working selflessly “to help form a more perfect, peaceful and secure world for all.’ Diwali Foundation USA Chair Ranju Batra said this year’s awardees, all ‘exceptional world class diplomats’, have well-earned the award ‘by their lifetime of principled efforts to help enhance peace and security by their many victories of ‘good’ over ‘evil’ and ‘light’ over ‘darkness’.’ ‘Whatever the UN Charter dreams of, the Diwali Foundation USA’s Power of One awardees have helped to make it a reality,’ she said during the ceremony at the UN’s the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) chamber.

    India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, in his remarks at the event, said that as a tribute to the power of one to bring about change, as exemplified by the ‘passionate pursuit” by Batra of the Diwali Forever Stamp in 2016, “we have also celebrated the pursuit of excellence at the UN.’ “We annually honor those who have made exemplary contributions in upholding the values that the United Nations stands for,” he said, congratulating UN colleagues who have stood up for the timeless spirit of Diwali. Noting that Diwali is observed as a floating holiday at the United Nations, with no official meetings scheduled for the day, Akbaruddin said celebration of Diwali at the world organization “has also evolved as an expression of our collective commitment to promote peace, prosperity, justice and dignity for all as enshrined in the UN Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights.’ ‘At a more personal level, Diwali is a time to turn inward and introspect. It is a time to rekindle the light of knowledge and truth in our heart and to dispel the dark forces of ignorance,” Akbaruddin said.

    In his message, India’s Consul General in New York Sandeep Chakravorty applauded the efforts of Ranju Batra and eminent Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra ‘for taking the unifying message of Diwali far and wide and for making it truly international.

    The ‘Power of One’ award  institutionalizes the Diwali Stamp effort of Ranju Batra and her partners who worked tirelessly and made it the most popular stamp issued by the US Postal Services, Akbaruddin said.

    Ravi Batra, in his remarks honoring the four awardees, said that “the world needs diplomacy, and excellence in diplomacy can, and does, enhance peace and security by preventing the start of, or bringing to an end, our present-day endless wars.’ Ranju Batra had spearheaded efforts for nearly seven years to get a commemorative ‘Forever Diwali’ stamp issued by the US Postal Service in 2016, reaching out to the Indian American community members and influential lawmakers, garnering support for petitions for the stamp.

    Previous honorees of the award include former Deputy-Executive Director of UN Women Lakshmi Puri, former Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN Catherine Boura, the Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the UN Mohamed Khaled Khiari, former Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the UN Andrej Logar, Azerbaijan’s former envoy to the UN Agshin Mehdiyev, Vietnam’s former Permanent Representative to the UN Nguyen Phuong Nga and Thailand’s former Permanent Representative to the UN Virachai Plasai.

    The co-organizers of the awards this year were the Permanent Missions of Belarus, Georgia and India to the UN, along with 32 co-sponsors, including the Permanent Missions of Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Viet Nam and the Permanent Observer Mission of State of Palestine.

     (With inputs from PTI )

  • Indian Overseas Congress, USA calls for ‘Bharat Bachao’ rally in New York on December 14

    NEW YORK (TIP): The Indian Overseas Congress, USA  has called for a ‘Bharat Bachao’ rally in front of the  Indian Consulate office (3 East 64th St, New York) on Saturday, December 14 at 1PM to protest the BJP Government’s anti-people policies especially economic slowdown, farmer’s distress, and rising unemployment.

    IOC USA is following the call by the AICC to stage protests across the globe where NRI supporters of the Congress party are concerned about the deteriorating economic situation in India and to stand in solidarity with their fellow citizens in India. The protests will be held across India on the same day, and similar protests are also in the plans by the IOC Units in London, Sydney, and Berlin.

    ‘While the country is going through a severe economic crisis, the Modi-Shah government is attempting to focus on divisive and polarizing issues to divert attention away from the real issues affecting people’s lives,’  said Mohinder Singh Gilzian, President of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA. “We are inviting all those who love India and are concerned about the future of the republic to join us to make our voices heard,” added Mr. Gilzian.

    For further information, please contact 646-732-5119.

     

  • Observance of World Human Rights Day 2019

    Observance of World Human Rights Day 2019

    NEW YORK (TIP): The Indian Diaspora Council International (IDC), in collaboration with its global membership and affiliates is  joining  with other organizations, associations, agencies and individuals in observance of the 71st anniversary of World Human Rights Day on December 10, 2019 stipulating universal values and a shared standard of achievement for everyone in every country, Mr. Ashook Ramsaran of IDC said in a press statement.

    Human Rights Day “commemorates the day the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UDHR is one of UN’s major achievements as well as the first enunciation of human rights across the world. Adopted on 10th December 1948, the Declaration stipulates universal values and a shared standard of achievement for everyone in every country”.

    “The Declaration of Human Rights has inspired over 60 human rights instruments making it a common standard of human rights and is the most translated document around the globe in over 500 languages.

    “The year 2018 of Human Rights Day marked the beginning of a year-long celebration of 70 years since the international community adopted the Declaration – celebrating all our inalienable rights and freedoms including a right to education, a decent living, health care and a right to live free from any form of discrimination among others. Despite the efforts to protect human rights, the hostility toward human rights and those who defend them continues to rise.

    “As a result, this year’s Human Rights Day advocates for everyone to stand up for their rights and those of others – civil, economic, political and cultural rights. Additionally, the day aims to enlighten us about how our rights are a foundation of sustainable development and peaceful societies. The day also acknowledges the advocates and defenders of human rights around the world.

    2019 Theme: Youth Standing Up for Human Rights

    “After a year marked by the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which culminated on 20 November, 2019, our plan is to capitalize on the current momentum and spotlight the leadership role of youth in collective movements as a source of inspiration for a better future. Under our universal call to action “Stand Up for Human rights,” we aim to celebrate the potential of youth as constructive agents of change, amplify their voices, and engage a broad range of global audiences in the promotion and protection of rights. The campaign, led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), is designed to encourage, galvanize, and showcase how youth all over the world stand up for rights and against racism, hate speech, bullying, discrimination, and climate change, to name a few”.

    IDC’s focus on: Human rights for children, women, gender equality, religious and political rights, ethnic origin ad heritage, senior and the elderly, social equality and justice, guaranteed legal protection and rule of law, refugees and displaced populations, persons with disabilities and compliance with guaranteed rights under own constitutions and UN Charter (Human Rights), human rights for Romani people.

    For more information, please contact Ashook Ramsaran @ ashookramsaran@gmail.com

    Indian Diaspora Council International (IDC), established in 1997, is an international non-profit organization with global affiliates and membership in 21 countries with the objective to embrace, engage, and enhance the shared heritage, aspirations, and interests of persons of Indian origin with optimum inclusivity.

  • From defending a diplomat’s statement to advocating Hindutva and demanding a Hindu Rashtra

    It  started as an attempt to defend the  Consul General of India at New York’s statement he made on  Kashmir at a private gathering of some Kashmiri  Pandit families in New York at which  film actor Anupam Kher, a Kashmiri Pandit ,  was also present, a couple of days ago. There was a lot of sympathy for the good natured and amiable Consul General of India in New York  who most felt was unnecessarily targeted by media for his utterances. A few well-meaning friends of his formed a group to defend him. Initially, it was the CG, Kashmir and the rogue neighbor Pakistan  creating  trouble in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir.

    However, the  Hindutva  elements who have been advocating a Hindu Rashtra  saw their opportunity and jumped  into the group. Over the last of couple of days they succeeded in  transforming the agenda of the group. The group  does not any more   speak about defending the CG’s statement. The only cry is the Hindu unity and the Hindu Rashtra.

    There is no harm in exercising one’s democratic rights in a democratic country. For long Khalistanis have been demanding a Khalistan in India. It does not make a difference that there are people here who want  a Hindu Rashtra. If the Khalistanis demanding Khalistan are anti-India and enemies of the nation, the same yardstick could be applied to those demanding a Hindu Rashtra. What is the difference? The demands of both the  Khalistanis and  the Hindutva supporters are divisive and against the interests of India and its 1.3 billion people.

    It is unfortunate that Indians who now are citizens of America should attempt to create hatred among people of Indian origin and divide them here in the US  where hundreds of ethnicities have learnt to live in brotherhood and peace. Aren’t  they committing crime against America and American people?  Nobody should be allowed to take advantage of the freedoms offered by the greatest nation on the earth. Nobody should be allowed to practice any form of terrorism in the greatest democracy in the world which prides itself in the values of  freedom and  fraternity.  President Trump who has been bold enough to deal with terrorism of all shades  should  find a way to lock up people  of foreign origin who promote hatred and create divisions and are a threat to the American National Security.

     

  • Holiday Dreams, A Spectacular Holiday Cirque!

    Holiday Dreams, A Spectacular Holiday Cirque!

    By Mabel Pais

    “A delicious confection of charm, sparkle and talent by the sleighload and so full of energy it could end our dependence on oil”

     – The New York Daily News

    “I remember being very young, growing up in Europe and watching my father perform in an amazing circus and it was magical!”

    – Fernando Quevedo, Creator, Producer and Director

     

    Tired of the same old holiday show? Bring the family to “Holiday Dreams,” a jaw-dropping holiday cirque! You’ll marvel at the death-defying acrobats, aerialists and daredevils.

    Watch as a gigantic gingerbread house gets “built” in seconds or marvel at the incredible moving textures and computer-generated graphics that amaze and trick the eye.

    You’ll be dazzled by holograms, projection mapping, computer animation and interactive lasers. You’ll ooh and ahh at this high-tech winter wonderland that takes the phrase “the magic of Christmas” to a whole new level, in every performance!

    The Team: Award-Winning Cirque Performers

    Underneath all these amazing elements is a strong foundation of talented actors, acrobats, cirque artists and specialty performers.

    Fernando Quevedo: Creator, Producer and Director

    Fernando Quevedo grew up in a circus. An acclaimed performer himself with over 40 years of experience performing in the most prestigious stages in the world curates the most prestigious and award-winning talent that forms the cast of “Holiday Dreams.”

    He says, “I remember being very young, growing up in Europe and watching my father perform in an amazing circus and it was magical! The artists came from all over the world and performed incredible acts that mixed entertainment as well as daring routines.”

    “’Holiday Dreams,’ A Spectacular Holiday Cirque! was created with a loving belief that people can come together and experience the magic of the Holidays in a fun, exciting and technologically advanced show for the whole family.”

    After coming to America, inspired by the grandiosity and lavishness of the Vegas show, Fernando Quevedo thought why not create a show for the whole family? That’s when “Holiday Dreams” was born.

    Fernando  is the owner of Q Productions Las Vegas. At age 9 he was performing for President Jimmy Carter. After receiving critical acclaim for his act, Los Huincas Gauchos, Fernando with his family moved to Las Vegas. Here, Fernando cultivated his talents as a performer, music composer, writer, and choreographer.

    Among several other national and international awards, his specialty Act, Los Huincas Gauchos, received the Specialty Act Of The Year Award in Las Vegas. Besides his many achievements, Fernando has composed music for the Las Vegas Civic Ballet as well as several productions.

    Kelly Hamilton

    Kelly Hamilton, award-winning, is Vice President and Creative Producer for Q Productions Las Vegas. She is involved in all aspects of a project from production coordination, talent, creative concepts, costuming, staging, lasers and logistics. Her work blending lasers with performance has led her to appear on several television shows and she recently won 2 First Place ILDA (International Laser Display Association) awards for her programming and choreography.

    Michael Licata

    Michael Licata has been a force in the entertainment industry for over 20 years. As a manager, agent, drummer, writer, producer and musical director, he has been involved and responsible for multi-million-dollar projects for major recording artists. Michael has performed in internationally recognized music videos, on prestigious concert stages and has been awarded 16 Platinum/Gold records.

     Dario Vazquez

    Dario Vazquez is a 6th Generation circus performer born in Mexico City.

    Being a member of the prestigious Vazquez Circus family, his love for the circus arts is reflected in every project he is involved in. Dario’s encyclopedic knowledge of rigging along with 30 plus years of experience ensure that safety is second to none and that the audience gets a thrilling experience.

    To learn more, visit holidaydreamsshow.com

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

     

  • HOLIDAY FAMILY FUN at NJPAC!

    HOLIDAY FAMILY FUN at NJPAC!

    By Mabel Pais

    “’Hip Hop Nutcracker’ brings a generous dose of contemporary spirit, sure to heat up even the most restless and wintry of souls” – The New York Times

    “It turns “The Nutcracker” on its head, in the coolest possible way!”
    –CBS

    Start a hip-hop holiday tradition with your family!

    “The Hip–Hop Nutcracker” with MC Kurtis Blow on Friday, December 20, 2019 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, December 21, 2019 at 2 p.m.

    A holiday mash-up for the whole family, “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” is back and better than ever. Directed and choreographed by Jennifer Weber, The “Hip Hop Nutcracker” is a contemporary dance spectacle set to Tchaikovsky’s timeless music. A unique and joyful event, this evening-length production is performed by a supercharged cast of a dozen all-star dancers, a DJ, a violinist, and MC Kurtis Blow, one of hip hop’s founding fathers, who opens the show with a short set.

    Just like the original, in “The Hip Hop Nutcracker,” Maria-Clara and the Nutcracker Prince go on a dream adventure battling a gang of mice, visiting the land of sweets and learning the lessons of the holiday season. Innovative digital graffiti and visuals transform the landscape of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s beloved story from traditional 19th Century Germany to the vibrant, diverse sights and sounds of contemporary New York City.

    Kurtis Blow
    Photo / Courtesy NJPAC

    Through this re-mixed and re-imagined version of the classic, the dynamic performers of “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” take us on a journey that celebrates love, community and the magic of the holiday season.

    Last year, NJPAC’s production of “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” completed its fifth national tour, spread out across 28 U.S. cities, earning acclaim from critics and audiences from coast to coast.

    “’Hip Hop Nutcracker’ brings a generous dose of contemporary spirit, sure to heat up even the most restless and wintry of souls.”
    –The New York Times

    “It turns “The Nutcracker” on its head, in the coolest possible way!”
    –CBS

    Special Guest:  MC Kurtis Blow

    The Creative Team

    Meet the amazing creative team behind the scenes of The Hip Hop Nutcracker.

    Directed & Choreographed by:  JENNIFER WEBER

    Adapted by:  MIKE FITELSON
    Based on “The Nutcracker” by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Production Stage Manager:  JAMES STEELE

    Lighting Designer:  BURKE WILMORE

    Video Designer:  MOE SHAHROOZ

    Company Manager:  REBECCA EASTON

    Original Beats and Remixes:  DJ BOO

    PRODUCTION STAFF CREDIT
    Associate Director/Choreographer:  RANDI FREITAS
    Original Company Associate Director/Choreographer:  TAEKO KOJI
    Original Costume Design:  WHITNEY ADAMS

    Additional Casting:  MEISHA LEE AND JANET LANGER

    Produced by
    NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
    John Schreiber, President & CEO
    David Rodriguez, Executive Producer
    Julia Kraus, Producer

    Executive Producer:  Eva Price

    General Management:  MEP

    Exclusive Tour Direction:  InHouse Booking

    View a video of the performance at https://youtu.be/FLiqBhlfmCA

    For more, visit hiphopnutcracker.com

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

     

  • All Four Hyderabad Rape accused killed in police encounter

    All Four Hyderabad Rape accused killed in police encounter

    HYDERABAD (TIP): The four men accused of raping and murdering a veterinarian in Hyderabad were killed in an encounter in the early hours of Friday, December 6,  Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar told  PTI.

    The encounter took place around 3.30 am, when the accused were trying to flee while being taken to the murder site to reconstruct the sequence of events, reported Hindustan Times. The accused allegedly snatched a weapon and fired at the police. They tried to run towards a deserted pathway, an unidentified official told The Indian Express.

    “They fired upon the police team and we retaliated in self-defense,” unidentified officials told PTI. “Two of our men are also injured in the incident.”

    The accused – Mohammed, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu – were arrested on November 29 for allegedly raping and killing the woman by smothering her. They burned her body. The four were under judicial custody and lodged in high security cells in Cherlapally Central Prison.

    The father of the veterinarian expressed his gratitude. “It has been 10 days to the day my daughter died,” he told ANI. “I express my gratitude towards the police and government for this. My daughter’s soul must be at peace now.”

    (Source: PTI)

     

     

  • Diwali 2019 Power of One Awards announced

    Diwali 2019 Power of One Awards announced

    NEW YORK (TIP): 2019 “Power of One” Awards have been announced.  The awards this year are cohosted  by the Permanent Missions of Belarus, Georgia and India to the United Nations, and Diwali Foundation USA, Inc.

    The 2019 Exceptional Awardees will be presented on December 6, 2019 ( 4.5.30 PM ) at   ECOSOC COUNCIL CHAMBER, UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK .                              .

    The recipients of the coveted awards are H.E. Kairat Abdrakhmanov, former Foreign Minister & Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN; H.E. Nicholas Emiliou, former Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations, NY; H.E. Frantisek Ruzicka, former CDC to PGA 72 & Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the UN; and  H.E. Volodymyr Yelchenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations

    The list of speakers at the event includes H.E. Syed Akbaruddin, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations,  H.E. Kaha Imnadze, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations,

    H.E. Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations, H.E. Mansour Al-Otaibi, Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations,   H.E. Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations,   H.E. Michal Mlynár, Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the United Nations,  H.E. Darja Bavdaž Kuret, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations,  Ms. Ranju Batra, Chair, Diwali Foundation USA, Inc and  Mr. Ravi Batra, Chair, National Advisory Council South Asian Affairs.

    H.E. Valentin Rybakov, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the United Nations will moderate.

    The  event is cosponsored by  the Permanent Missions of Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Oman, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Permanent Observer of State of Palestine and NY Office – IAEA.

    The “Power of One” Award, aka “Oscars of Diplomacy,” established by Diwali Foundation USA, Inc in 2017, is to celebrate and highlight the important work done in a peaceful manner, especially at the United Nations.

    The inaugural “Power of One” Awards event, held on December 11, 2017 at the UNHQ, recognized some of those honorable individuals. To be eligible for the Award, one has to be a former Permanent Representative or former High-Level member of UN Secretariat, or soon to be “former,” who has toiled selflessly to “help form a more perfect,” peaceful and secure world for all. The 2017 Inaugural Awardees were H.E. Maged Abdelaziz (Egypt), H.E. Ion Botnaru (Moldova), H.E.Lakshmi Puri (India), H.E. Matthew Rycroft (United Kingdom), H.E. Nawaf Salam (Lebanon), and H.E. Yuri Sergeev (Ukraine).

     

  • Michael Bloomberg: Trump should be impeached and doesn’t understand he works for the public

    Michael Bloomberg: Trump should be impeached and doesn’t understand he works for the public

    NEW YORK  (TIP): Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said he thinks President Trump should be impeached, despite his prior reservations. The former New York City mayor sat down with “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King in Colorado on Thursday, December 5,  for his first TV interview since joining the race for the Democratic nomination.

    “Do you think Trump should be impeached?” King asked.

    “I think it’s a very serious thing but it — and I was before opposed to it but after looking at all of the evidence, I think yes. Sad, but yes,” Bloomberg said.

    “What is the biggest thing that troubles you about him?” King asked.

    “He does not seem to understand that he is an elected official whose job it is to work for the public rather than for himself,” Bloomberg said.

  • Pakistan govt to sell unused state properties at Dubai Expo

    Pakistan govt to sell unused state properties at Dubai Expo

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): The Pakistan government has decided to sell its precious unutilized state properties at the Dubai Expo to attract foreign and Pakistani investors, according to media reports on Thursday, as the cash-strapped country tries to overcome a ballooning balance-of-payments crisis and bolster its public finances.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the precious government properties will be sold for better utilization of funds on public welfare projects.

    The funds generated through the exercise will be spent on public welfare schemes related to education, health, food and housing, Dawn newspaper reported.

    “These unutilized state properties will be marketed at the Dubai Expo to attract foreign and Pakistani investors to buy these assets,” Privatization Secretary Rizwan Malik informed the prime minister.

    “Unfortunately, criminal negligence was done by the previous governments as they did not utilize these valuable properties. Despite billions of rupees’ assets, various federal government institutions are bearing losses of billions of rupees every year,” Khan said.

    Khan also warned that stern action would be initiated against officers found to be creating hurdles in the identification of non-utilized government-owned properties, The News International reported.

    The International Monetary Fund in July approved a three-year USD 6 billion loan for Pakistan with tough conditions to address its balance of payment crisis and help the country’s ailing economy return to “sustainable growth”.

    Pakistan approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in August 2018 for a bailout package after the Imran Khan government took over.

    Pakistan has also received billions in financial aid packages from friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

    (Source: PTI)

  • Nancy Pelosi okays drafting of impeachment articles against Donald Trump

    Nancy Pelosi okays drafting of impeachment articles against Donald Trump

    WASHINGTON DC (TIP): Alleging that US President Donald Trump has abused power undermining national security and jeopardizing the integrity of the elections, Speaker of House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, December 5,  said they are going ahead with the process to impeach him.

    The Democratic Party, which enjoys a comfortable majority in the House, is most likely to get through the motion of impeaching President Trump, making him only the third president in American history to face removal by Congress.

    “Our Democracy is what is at stake. The President leaves us no choice but to act, because he is trying to corrupt, once again, the election for his own benefit,” Pelosi said ramping up her charges against Trump.

    She said: “The President has engaged in abuse of power undermining our national security and jeopardizing the integrity of our elections. His actions are in defiance of the vision of our Founders and the oath of office that he takes to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the US.”

    “Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our Founders and our hearts full of love for America, today, I am asking our Chairmen to proceed with articles of impeachment,” Pelosi said.

    Trump and the White House slammed the Democrats for their latest announcement on impeachment.

    “…This will mean that the beyond important and seldom used act of Impeachment will be used routinely to attack future Presidents. That is not what our Founders had in mind. The good thing is that the Republicans have NEVER been more united. We will win!” Trump tweeted soon after Pelosi’s announcement.

    In a live televised address from the US capitol, Pelosi said the President’s actions have seriously violated the Constitution – “especially when he says and acts upon the belief, ‘Article II says, I can do whatever I want’.”

    Pelosi, 79, has been leading the Democratic Party’s effort to oust Trump from the White House through the Constitution approved impeachment process. The success of her efforts depends on the support from at least a few Republican Senators in the Senate, where the GOP enjoys a majority.

    Over the past few weeks, she said, through the Intelligence Committee working with the Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees, the American people have heard the testimony of truly patriotic career public servants, distinguished diplomats and decorated war heroes: some of the President’s own appointees.

    “The facts are uncontested: the President abused his power for his own personal, political benefit at the expense of our national security, by withholding military aid and a crucial Oval Office meeting in exchange for an announcement of an investigation into his political rival,” she asserted.

    “If we allow a president to be above the law, we do so surely at the peril of our republic. In America, no one is above the law,” she said.

    Trump and the White House have described this as an impeachment hoax. White House asserted that the president has done no wrong.

    “The Do Nothing, Radical Left Democrats have just announced that they are going to seek to Impeach me over NOTHING,” Trump tweeted.

    “They already gave up on the ridiculous Mueller ‘stuff,’ so now they hang their hats on two totally appropriate (perfect) phone calls with the Ukrainian President,” he said.

    Pelosi and the Democrats “should be ashamed,” said White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham. Trump “has done nothing but lead our country – resulting in a booming economy, more jobs & a stronger military, to name just a few of his major accomplishments,” she tweeted.

    “We look forward to a fair trial in the Senate,” Grisham said.

    Earlier in the morning, Trump challenged the Democrats to impeach him.

    “The Do Nothing Democrats had a historically bad day yesterday in the House. They have no Impeachment case and are demeaning our Country. But nothing matters to them, they have gone crazy,” he said.

    “Therefore I say, if you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business. We will have Schiff, the Bidens, Pelosi and many more testify, and will reveal, for the first time, how corrupt our system really is. I was elected to “Clean the Swamp,” and that’s what I am doing!,” Trump tweeted.

    (Source: PTI)