The Indian Panorama

Month: December 2020

  • Indian American Pramila Jayapal elected  Chair of powerful Congressional Progressive Caucus 

    Indian American Pramila Jayapal elected  Chair of powerful Congressional Progressive Caucus 

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has been elected as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), making her one of the most powerful US lawmakers for the 117th Congress.

    Ms Jayapal, 55, who was elected on Wednesday, said that the caucus is going to advance racial justice, tackle poverty and inequality and help transform the country.

    “As a lifelong organizer, I am honored that my colleagues have elected me to lead the Congressional Progressive Caucus at this pivotal moment,” Ms Jayapal said soon after her election to this most powerful Congressional Caucus, which is slated to play an influential role during the next Biden Administration.

    Joe Biden, 78, is due to take over as the 46th president of the US on January 20.

    We have massive crises knocking at our nation’s door, and the work of the Progressive Caucus has never been more important. The American people need Congress to lead with vision, conviction, empathy, and dedication to people and families in every community who are struggling right now, said Ms Jayapal.

    The incoming Executive Board of Congressional Progressive Caucus is made up of 26 members one Chair, one Deputy Chair, one Whip, two Chair Emeriti, two Special Order Hour Conveners, ten Vice Chairs, one Executive Board Member At-Large and eight Deputy Whips.

    The Congressional Progressive Caucus Executive Board is representative of the diversity within the caucus more than half of Executive Board members are people of color and more than half are women.

    Incoming CPC Deputy Chair Congresswoman Katie Porter said that in 2018, many of her Democratic colleagues and she successfully ran campaigns rooted in progressive values.

    Rather than shying away from our core principles, we embraced them making it clear that a progressive agenda is not only the right policy for America, but also a winning political message, she said.

    CPC Whip Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said, we have a unique opportunity to fight for transformative change in the 117th Congress whether that is addressing the coronavirus pandemic, passing universal healthcare, tackling the climate crisis or reorienting our foreign policy.

    I look forward to continuing to represent my colleagues in building an effect progressive voting bloc in Congress alongside fearless leaders like Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Katie, she said.

    Among others, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna has been elected as Deputy Whip, while Congresswoman Rashida Talib as vice chair for member services.

    We have massive crises knocking at our nation’s door and our work has never been more important. It’s time for Congress to act boldly and restore power to where it belongs: with the people, Ms Jayapal said in a tweet.

    Together, our caucus is going to deliver real relief to families, advance racial justice, tackle poverty and inequality, champion climate justice, and help transform this country so working people can finally get ahead. Let’s get to work, Ms Jayapal said.

  • Indian American astronaut Raja Chari in NASA Moon mission

    Indian American astronaut Raja Chari in NASA Moon mission

    FLORIDA (TIP): Indian American Raja Chari is one of 18 astronauts chosen by NASA to form the Artemis Team and help pave the way for the next lunar missions including landing the first woman and next man on the Moon in 2024.

    Vice President Mike Pence introduced the members of the Artemis Team Wednesday during the eighth National Space Council meeting at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

    “I give you the heroes who will carry us to the Moon and beyond – the Artemis Generation,” said Pence.

    “It is amazing to think that the next man and first woman on the Moon are among the names that we just read. The Artemis Team astronauts are the future of American space exploration – and that future is bright.”

    The astronauts on the Artemis Team come from a diverse range of backgrounds, expertise, and experience.

    Besides landing the first woman and next man on the Moon in 2024, US space agency’s modern lunar exploration program will establish a sustainable human lunar presence by the end of the decade.

    NASA will announce flight assignments for astronauts later, pulling from the Artemis Team. Additional Artemis Team members, including international partner astronauts, will join this group, as needed. Chari, a colonel in the US Air Force, joined the astronaut corps in 2017. Raised in Cedar Falls, Iowa, he graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1999 with bachelor’s degrees in Astronautical Engineering and Engineering Science.

    Chari went on to earn a master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The US Naval Test Pilot School graduate worked on F-15E upgrades and then the F-35 development program, before coming to NASA.

    Currently awaiting flight assignment, Chari’s honors include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Aerial Achievement Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal, an Iraq Campaign Medal, a Korean Defense Service Medal and the Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal.

    Married to Holly Schaffter Chari, also a Cedar Falls native, the couple has three children. His mother, Peggy Chari, lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The astronauts of the Artemis Team will help NASA prepare for the coming Artemis missions, which begin next year working with the agency’s commercial partners as they develop human landing systems, NASA said.

    They would also help in the development of training, defining hardware requirements and consulting on technical development besides engaging the public and industry on the Artemis program and NASA’s exploration plans.

    “There is so much exciting work ahead of us as we return to the moon, and it will take the entire astronaut corps to make that happen,” Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester said.

    “Walking on the lunar surface would be a dream come true for any one of us, and any part we can play in making that happen is an honor.

    “I am proud of this particular group of men and women and know that any of them would do an outstanding job representing NASA and the United States on a future Artemis mission,”  Forrester said.

  • Indian-Origin Raj Chouhan elected Speaker of Canada’s British Columbia Province

    Indian-Origin Raj Chouhan elected Speaker of Canada’s British Columbia Province

    TORONTO(TIP): Raj Chouhan, an Indian-origin legislator in Canada, has been elected as the Speaker of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, becoming first from the community to occupy the post, according to a report. Mr Chouhan, who has represented Burnaby-Edmonds constituency five times in the British Columbia legislature, has served as Deputy Speaker in the previous government and would be replacing retiring Darryl Plecas as Speaker, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News reported on Monday.

    Punjab-born Mr Chouhan immigrated to Canada in 1973 and started working on a farm.

    He was greatly impacted by the plight of other immigrant workers and the wide disparity between the rich and poor in a prosperous country. This contributed to his ongoing advocacy for community and social justice for workers, the report said, citing Mr Chouhan’s biography.

    “I am truly grateful to have been entrusted with this role by all members of the legislative assembly,” Mr Chouhan was quoted as saying in the report.

    “As a proud member of the Indo-Canadian community, I am tremendously proud of this historic occasion and honored to continue my public service in this new role,” he added.

    Mr Chouhan’s selection was the first order of business Monday as British Columbia politicians returned to the legislature for a brief session after the October election that gave the New Democratic Party (NDP) a majority government.

    Former NDP cabinet minister Moe Sihota called Mr Chouhan’s selection “a historic day for British Columbia.”

    “We are in awe of Raj’s accomplishment and what it says about ethnic communities in general, and the degree with which we are beginning to take our place in society,” Moe Sihota said.

  • Two Indian American IITians named PanIIT Institute Life Fellows

    Two Indian American IITians named PanIIT Institute Life Fellows

    NEW YORK (TIP): Two Indian Americans, Sanjiv Goyal, IIT Delhi, and Sunil Hali, IIT Roorkee, are among four eminent IITians given IIT Alumni Council’s Life Fellowship of the PanIIT Institute initiative for their contribution to MarTech and IIT Alumni Council.

    The appointment of Life Fellows across all the key areas of Applied Science and Engineering – starting with Martech or Marketing technology is aimed at institutional strengthening of PanIIT Institute, an independent and autonomous partner alumni organization engaged in the development of an end-to-end deep tech Research Ecosystem in India, a media release said.

    “We have learnt from the IT and BPO services sector that branding is an integral and critical part of the Country’s strategy to build a new sector like Research,” said Ravi Sharma, President and Chief Volunteer of the IIT Alumni Council.

    Goyal, a digital marketing expert, angel investor and PanIIT USA Board Member from Silicon Valley, has been actively associated with Martech in Silicon Valley for over 15 years.

    He has been an active angel investor in the domain and one of his investee companies has done a lot of meaningful pro bono work for the IIT Alumni Movement using digital marketing.

    His work in the US for global companies like Kellogg, Heinz and Gallo Wines is considered path breaking and highly innovative by Silicon Valley standards.

    “I am humbled and honored with recognition and acceptance in the Life Fellowship of the PanIIT Institute, an IIT Alumni Council initiative,” said Goyal.

    “In the new normal, our world has shrunk and more connected than ever. I want to impact a billion lives by harnessing the power of innovation and entrepreneurship” he added.

    Hali, the Indian media expert from New York launched Radio Zindagi – the first coast to coast India focused South Asian Radio Network and The Indian EYE – considered the most hi tech digital print publication.

    “In my own unique way, I have tried to disrupt both print and conventional media like radio to bring in a solid integration of the legacy platforms with a highly personalized online platform,” said Hali, Chairperson of the New York Chapter of the IIT Alumni Council.

    “Radio Zindagi is the first coast to coast India focused radio network. The Indian EYE newsweekly integrates personalized video in a mass distributed print file,” he said.

    “We quickly built a combination of terrestrial, digital, social platforms along with apps on iOS, Android, Alexa and live streaming with Facebook to deliver functionality and reach which neither new media nor old media could provide on its own” Hali added.

    The other two PanIIT Institute Life Fellows are Dr Udaya Dharmalingam, IIT Guwahati, and Sunil Khullar, IIT Bombay.

    Dharmalingam is legendary designer of the Indian Rupee logo as well as the main emblem of the IIT Alumni Council

    Khullar is a visual communication expert who has evolved the overall unifying Brand strategy for all the initiatives of the IIT Alumni Movement, including development of the IIT Font.

    IIT Alumni Council is the largest global body of alumni, students and academicians across all the 23 IITs and partnering Institutes of the India Innovation Network (I2Net). The IIT Alumni Council aspires to catalyze India’s technological renaissance.

  • Indian American Vivek Murthy to bring approach learnt at his immigrant parents’ clinic

    Indian American Vivek Murthy to bring approach learnt at his immigrant parents’ clinic

    WILMIMGTON, DELAWARE(TIP): Chosen to be America’s Doctor again, Vivek Murthy, “grandson of a poor farmer in India” says he will bring to his expanded role to fight the raging coronavirus pandemic an approach learnt at his immigrant parents’ clinic decades ago. Formally introducing his health team in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday, December 8 afternoon, President elect Joe Biden said he had asked Dr. Murthy to serve again as Surgeon General — a role he served under President Barack Obama — but with expanded responsibilities.

    “A son of Indian immigrants, who raised their children to always believe in the promise of America,” Biden said Murthy “will be a key public voice on our COVID response, to restore public trust and faith in science and medicine.”

    “In my new, expanded role,” Murthy said, “I will work to bring a health perspective to our policies across government so that our schools, workplaces, and communities can be forces for strengthening our health and well being.”

    “But the truth is that the best policies – and the best vaccines and treatments – will not heal our nation unless we overcome the fear, anxiety, anger, and distrust so many Americans are feeling right now,” he said.

    “So more than anything, I will come to this role as a doctor — one who learned the most important lessons about medicine not in medical school, but in the clinic my parents opened when they first came to America as immigrants decades ago.”

    “As a child, I saw how they took the time not just to diagnose illnesses, but to ask about their patients’ families and lives, happily poring over photos of children and grandchildren taken from wallets, listening deeply to people’s stories and struggles, often running well over the appointment time,” Murthy recalled.

    “They taught me that the best doctor is not an authority figure who writes prescriptions, but rather a partner in healing, someone who sees patients in their fullest humanity and empowers them to take control of their health,” he said.

    “That is the kind of doctor I have always tried to be,” he said. “And if confirmed, that is the approach I will take as I serve as America’s doctor.”

    “I will dedicate myself to caring for every American, driven always by science and facts, by head and heart- and endlessly grateful to serve one of the few countries in the world where the grandson of a poor farmer in India can be asked by the president-elect to look out for the health of the entire nation,” Murthy said.

    “That is a testament to the promise of America – one that I will work to fulfill every day as Surgeon General.”

    Thanking Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris “for your trust and confidence,” Murthy said, “When I left my role as Surgeon General, I never dreamed I would have an opportunity to serve again.”

    “And in this moment of crisis, when so many Americans have fallen sick and lost loved ones, when people are losing jobs and struggling with childcare, I feel grateful to be able to do everything I can to end this pandemic,” he said.

    “While this is a daunting task, we absolutely have what it takes to get the job done,” said Murthy noting, “We have world class scientists. We have courageous medical professionals who are risking their lives to care for the ill.”

    “We have companies on the cusp of delivering vaccines, and we are blessed with generous, compassionate people all across America who are stepping up to help those who are struggling,” he said.

    “If we all work together, we will overcome this pandemic and return to our lives,” Murthy said. “But covid-19 is not the only health crisis we face.”

    “If anything, it has underscored a host of other epidemics that are devastating families and shortening lifespans: addiction, the opioid crisis, and spiraling mental health concerns; glaring racial disparities and high rates of diabetes and heart disease,” he said.

    “These challenges are both caused and exacerbated by broader societal issues – from the economic strains families face to the disconnection and loneliness many of us feel,” Murthy said.

    Earlier, introducing his “crisis tested” and “world class” health care team, Biden lavished high praise on Murthy calling him. “A renowned physician and research scientist.”

    “A trusted national leader on health care, and for me, a trusted advisor during this campaign and transition,” he said noting, “This will be his second time serving as America’s Doctor, having served in this role under President Obama.”

    “During his tenure, he took on some of the most pressing public health issues we face – from the opioid crisis to threats to America’s mental health,” Biden recalled.

    As “Surgeon General – but with expanded responsibilities,” he said, Murthy “will be a key public voice on our COVID response, to restore public trust and faith in science and medicine.”

    “But he will also be a key advisor to me and help lead an all-government approach to broader public health issues – mental health, addiction and substance use disorders, social and environmental determinants of health, and so much more.”

    “Above all,” Biden said, “A son of Indian immigrants, who raised their children to always believe in the promise of America,” Murthy “will help restore faith in this country as a place of possibilities.”

  • When Chandigarh had a Kisan Nagar

    When Chandigarh had a Kisan Nagar

    By Prabhjot Singh

    A few months before Operation Blue Star in 1984, thousands of farmers made Chandigarh their temporary abode and raised Kisan Nagar. Farmers had set up their kitchens and also set aside places for morning and evening prayers, besides enjoying performances by folk singers and theatre artistes during their free time.

    Not many would know that Chandigarh once had a vibrant Kisan Nagar. Adjoining Punjab Raj Bhavan and spread along the Chandigarh Golf Club, it had kothis of eminent leaders, some of whom are now spearheading the farmers’ agitation. Besides nameplates and wooden television antennas, each kothi was designed in compliance with green and environment-friendly architecture. Interestingly, Kisan Nagar had come up yards away from the then center of power, Punjab Raj Bhavan. Though militancy was at its peak, it was the writ of farmers that ran over Kisan Nagar and its adjoining areas. Punjab was under President’s rule and the administration was under the control of the then Governor, BD Pande. He had a team of advisers to assist him.

    At that time, the Chandigarh Administration was headed by K Banerjee, Chief Commissioner. Raghbir Singh, RK Niyogi and TC Gupta were the DC, SSP and SDM, respectively. The BKU was then headed by Bhupinder Singh Mann and had, among others, Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, Balbir Singh Rajewal and Ajaib Singh Khaira.

    A few months before Operation Blue Star, thousands of farmers made Chandigarh their temporary abode and raised Kisan Nagar. So strong was the week-long siege that the Governor could manage to sneak out once, that too in disguise. Starting on March 12, 1984, Punjab farmers, under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union — at that time, it was the only unified body of farmers — laid siege to Raj Bhavan to demand the withdrawal of a hike in power tariff. It was the culmination of a 14-month-long peaceful agitation in various parts of the state. The siege ended on March 18, when most demands of the ‘special guests of the city’ were conceded.

    Barring the numbers, venue and dates, there were numerous similarities between the 1984 and the 2020 agitations by the farmers.

    It was a new experience for the City Beautiful and its residents. The farmers had set up their kitchens and also set aside places for morning and evening prayers, besides enjoying performances by folk singers and theatre artistes during their free time. At the end, when the farmers decided to lift the siege, they left behind huge stocks of foodgrains, vegetables, fruits, fuel and other items for use by residents in general, and the weaker sections in particular.

    Interestingly, after the initial hostilities, especially from the residents of posh sectors, the farmers had managed to win the hearts and support of their new, though temporary, city mates. Thirty-six years later, this change of heart is reflected by the all-out support to the farmers during the current agitation.

    (The author is a senior journalist. He is executive editor with PTC TV. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)

  • All 50 US States and DC certify their presidential election results

    All 50 US States and DC certify their presidential election results

    – Biden projected to win 306 electoral votes, Trump set to win 232

    – On Monday,, December 14,  the 538-member Electoral College will meet to take forward the election process.

    WASHINGTON (TIP): With West Virginia certifying its presidential election results, all 50 US states and the District of Columbia have now certified the outcome of the November 3 presidential polls, according to a media report on Thursday, December 10.

    President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, is projected to win 306 electoral votes, and incumbent President Donald Trump is set to win 232. It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.

     

    West Virginia became the final US state to certify its presidential election results on Wednesday, December 9, according to CNN’s tally. West Virginia formally declared that President Trump, a Republican, is entitled to the state’s five electoral votes.

    On Monday, December 14,  the 538-member Electoral College will meet to take forward the election process.

    The US president is not chosen directly by the voters, but what is known as the Electoral College. In this process, the states elect the President and Vice President.

    Each US state is allotted a different number of electoral votes, based on how many representatives it has in the House, plus its two senators. While California has the maximum electoral votes with 55, Texas is second with 38 electoral votes.

    The states’ certifications come as Trump, who has not conceded defeat, has baselessly claimed that the election was rigged and sowed doubt about the outcome of one of the most divisive the presidential race. Dozens of lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign challenging the results have been dismissed at the state and federal levels across the country since the election.

    Though Trump initially did not allow the transition process to start, he finally relented on November 23. The Biden team now have access to additional office space inside the agencies and the ability to use federal resources for background checks on Biden’s White House staff appointments and Cabinet picks.

    Each American state has different processes for certifying results, and some states certified their slate of presidential electors separately from state and local election results, according to the CNN report. The next major step in the Electoral College process is the meeting of the electors, who are required by law to convene on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is December 14.

    The electors’ votes are later transmitted to officials and counted in a joint session of Congress on January 6.

    Biden, a Democrat, is scheduled to be inaugurated as the 46th US President on January 20.

    (Source:  PTI)

  • FDA advisers recommend Pfizer-Bio NTech vaccine

    FDA advisers recommend Pfizer-Bio NTech vaccine

    -Biden promises 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days in office

    -US reported record number of 3,300 Covid deaths on December 10

    WASHINGTON (TIP): A panel of independent medical experts voted on Dec. 10 to recommend the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use authorization. UK and Canada have already approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.

    President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday, December 10, welcomed the  news that a regulatory panel endorsed Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, calling the development a “bright light in a needlessly dark time.”

    The group of independent advisers recommended that the Food and Drug Administration grant emergency use authorization for the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech. Although agency approval has not yet been handed down, Biden’s statement inaccurately characterized the panel vote as “approval by the Food & Drug Administration.” A later version corrected that misstatement.

    Biden also repeated a plan of the incoming administration to scale up the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine, assuring 100 million shots are dispersed in the first 100 days in office. He thanked those behind the efforts to create a vaccine for the virus, while taking aim at the outgoing Trump administration because “it didn’t have to be this bad.”

    “We are grateful to the scientists and researchers who developed this vaccine. And, we are grateful to the scientists and public health experts who evaluated the safety and efficacy of this vaccine free from political influence. The integrity of science led us to this point,” Biden said in the statement.

    Meanwhile, for the second day in a row, the United States has reported a record number of covid-19 deaths, topping even the worst days of the spring surge.

    The back-to-back records are dark reminders that, even as vaccines appear to hurtle toward approval, the country is still far from the pandemic’s end. By Thursday, December 10  evening, the daily U.S. toll topped 3,300. The country recorded 3,140 deaths Wednesday, December 9. States in the South and the Midwest, along with California, are contributing most to the increase.

    The steadily rising fatality numbers also come after weeks of soaring levels of infection and coronavirus patients in need of hospitalization. Public health experts anticipate that the country will soon exceed the week’s death milestones nearly every day in the coming two to three months.

    (Source: Agencies)

  • Farmers reject government’s latest proposals:  want ‘concrete solutions’

    Farmers reject government’s latest proposals:  want ‘concrete solutions’

    Doors have not been shut for dialogue, they say

     NEW DELHI (TIP):  Responding to the renewed appeal by the Union government to the farmer unions to consider their proposal for amendments in the three agriculture sector laws, the joint front of the farmer unions maintained that they too had not “shut the doors” for negotiations but the government must come up with a “concrete solution” to end the impasse.

    Reacting to the government’s appeal for talks, Bharatiya Kisan Union (R) president Balbir Singh Rajewal, in a press conference by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha leaders at Singhu border, the proposals sent by the government on Wednesday, December 9,  had been discussed for hours in several meetings and there was nothing new in them.

    He reiterated that the agriculture was a state subject and the three laws were “unconstitutional” and be withdrawn. “The ministers in the press conference today conceded that the laws were for trade and commerce, validating our stand,” Rajewal said. He added that the focus of the government was traders and corporate houses and the farmers did not exist for them.

    Krantikari Kisan Union president Darshan Pal said the farmer unions were, “in principle”, opposed to contract farming, private markets and hoarding, and therefore, the three laws should be repealed. He also alleged that farmers headed for Delhi from neighboring states such as Uttarakhand, were being harassed by the police.

    Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday, December 10,  made an appeal to farmer union leaders to consider the proposals sent by the Central government and continue the dialogue. He was holding a press briefing with the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal on the matter.

    Saying he was “pained” to see that farmers were not able to take decisions despite all their doubts being addressed by the government, Tomar said the government was ready to talk to them with an “open mind”. He added that farmers should soon decide on the next date of talks. Tomar said farmer unions should give up the path of agitation since it was not correct to intensify the stir when talks were on. On the possibility of repealing the three contentious laws, Tomar said that no law was “completely bad”. He reiterated that the government was “ready to discuss with an open mind” any provisions that the farmers felt were against them.

    (The Hindu)

  • World Food Program receives Nobel Peace Prize for combating hunger worldwide

    World Food Program receives Nobel Peace Prize for combating hunger worldwide

    NEW YORK (TIP): The World Food Programme  received Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday, December, in an event very different from the traditional pomp-filled celebration in the Norwegian capital because of the coronavirus outbreak.

    In Oslo, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, gave  a webcast statement, after which David Beasley, the UN agency boss, gave  an acceptance speech from Rome, where it is based. The body was given the prestigious award for efforts to combat hunger. This year, 12 laureates were named across the six categories. All but the Peace Prize have been awarded over the past days at low-key ceremonies across Europe and the United States in the places where the winners live.

    A Nobel prize comes with a 10-milion krona ($1.1 million) cash award — to be shared in some cases — diplomas and gold medals.

    Traditionally, the lavish Nobel ceremonies are all held December 10, the anniversary of the death of prize founder Alfred Nobel, in Stockholm, except for the Peace Prize that is held in Oslo, in neighboring Norway.

    “The pandemic has subjected us all to difficult obstacles. We have been reminded of the importance of cross-border cooperation in resolving humanitarian crises and that, with the help of science, we can find solutions to the challenges we face,” said Lars Heikensten, executive director of the Nobel Foundation. “Since 1901, the Nobel Peace Prize has been presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. It is a grand event held in Oslo’s city hall. In a normal year, it would have been filled to capacity, and you would have been greeted by the royal family, the president and the prime minister,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said via video link from the Norwegian capital. Instead, WFP Executive Director David Beasley received the prize, medal and diploma at the organization’s headquarters in Rome.

    “Famine is at humanity’s doorstep,” he said, accepting the award. “Because of so many wars, climate change and a global health pandemic that makes all that exponentially worse, 270 million people are marching towards starvation. Failing to address their needs will cause a hunger pandemic which will dwarf the impact of Covid.”

  • U.S. continues to watch situation in India ‘very closely’

    U.S. continues to watch situation in India ‘very closely’

    WASHINGTON (TIP): The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent bipartisan committee, had recommended that India be added to the ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ list The U.S. government has and will continue to raise issues like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) with the Modi government, U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback told reporters on Tuesday during a call to discuss the State Department’s annual designation of countries on the basis of their support for religious freedom in their territories. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent bipartisan committee, had recommended that India be added to the ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ [CPC] list –countries with the most egregious violations of religious freedoms. The State Department, which makes its own annual determination of religious freedom across the world, had however rejected the recommendation on India when the list was announced earlier this week. Mr Brownback was responding to a question that asked about the changes to India’s citizenship laws and why India as not designated a CPC.

    Also read: News Analysis | U.S. Commission of International Religious Freedom’s report may prompt concerns

    “There were several recommendations made by the commission that the Secretary did not follow, and this was one of them. And we watch the situation in India very closely. The Secretary’s traveled there multiple times. These issues have been raised in private discussions at the government – high government level, and they will continue to get raised,” Mr. Brownback said.

    “I can’t go into the decision-making process that the Secretary went through. He’s well aware of a lot of the communal violence that’s happening in India; he’s well aware of the statute that has been enacted and the issues associated with the Modi government. And as I said, he’s raised it at the highest levels, but just decided at this point in time not to place them on a CPC or a Special Watch List.”

    On Monday U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had announced that Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, the DPRK, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan would be on the CPC list while Comoros, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Russia were placed on a Special Watch List for having engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom.”

    Responding to another question on whether the U.S. was showing “favoritism” by placing Pakistan, but not India, on the CPC list, Mr. Brownback said that in Pakistan a lot of the religious freedom violations were done by the government, while in India some of it was done by the government but “much” of it was communal violence.

    “Pakistan – a lot of their actions are done by the government. In India, some of them are done by the government and the law that was passed, and much of it’s communal violence. And then when that takes place, we try to determine whether or not has there been effective – been police enforcement, judicial action after communal violence takes place,” Mr. Brownback said. “But Pakistan has – half of the world’s people that are locked up for apostasy or blasphemy are in Pakistani jails…And that doesn’t mean that India doesn’t have problems. The statute that you talked about or that was asked about earlier is a problem. The violence is a problem. We’ll continue to raise those issues, but those are some of the basis as to why Pakistan continues to be on the CPC list and India is not,” he said.

  • Senator Cruz praises slain Sikh police officer Dhaliwal

    Senator Cruz praises slain Sikh police officer Dhaliwal

    US Senate unanimously passed a legislation to name a post office in Houston after Dhaliwal

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Slain Sikh police officer Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal, who was gunned down in the line of duty during a routine traffic stop in Houston a year ago, was a hero and a trailblazer whose commitment to his faith will inspire generations of Sikhs and other religious minorities to serve in law enforcement, a top US Senator has said. Senator Ted Cruz’s remarks came after the US Senate unanimously passed a legislation to name a post office in Houston after him.

    Cruz, the US Senator for Texas, said that Dhaliwal has left a profound legacy on the law enforcement community.

    “That is exactly who Deputy Dhaliwal was, a hero. He was deeply committed to his faith, his family, and to serving others with compassion,” Cruz said in his remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday.

    “Moved by his Sikh faith, Deputy Dhaliwal was a trailblazer. When he was first recruited by the sheriff’s office, Deputy Dhaliwal petitioned the office to allow him to wear his turban and beard while in uniform, becoming the first to be allowed to do so,” he said. “Dhaliwal’s commitment to his faith will inspire generations of Sikhs and other religious minorities to serve in law enforcement and protect our communities,” he said.

    On September 27, 2019, Deputy Dhaliwal, 42, was killed in the line of duty in service of his community.

    In his remarks, Cruz also remembered Dhaliwal’s commitment to love and peace.

    “When Hurricane Harvey decimated the Texas Gulf Coast, Deputy Dhaliwal served meals to Houstonians who were left homeless. In the wake of Hurricane Maria, he travelled to Puerto Rico to assist in the relief efforts there. He also worked to deliver water and supplies to Punjab, India, while the area was suffering from a severe drought,” he said.

    “Dhaliwal leaves behind an unmistakably beautiful legacy of a life marked with faith, devotion, and service to others. I am grateful my colleagues have moved to rename the US Postal Office in Houston the ‘Deputy Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal Post Office Building,’ to ensure Deputy Dhaliwal’s selfless service and heroism is remembered,” Cruz said.

    The US House of Representatives and Senate have passed the bipartisan legislation to rename the post office at 315 Addicks Howell Road in Houston as ‘Deputy Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal Post Office Building.’  The bill is now headed to the White House for it to sign into law by outgoing President Donald Trump.

    The post office named after Dhaliwal in Houston is only the second US post office to be named after an Indian American. The first one was named after the first Indian American Congressman Dalip Singh Saund in Southern California in 2006.

    Born in India, Dhaliwal moved to Houston along with his parents.

    In 2015, Dhaliwal of the Harris County Sheriff’s office became the first Sikh American in Texas to receive a policy accommodation to serve while wearing his articles of faith, including his turban and beard.

    (Source : PTI)

  • AAPI Welcomes Dr. Vivek Murthy’s Nomination as US Surgeon General

    AAPI Welcomes Dr. Vivek Murthy’s Nomination as US Surgeon General

    CHICAGO, IL (TIP): “We congratulate Dr. Vivek Murthy on his appointment as the Surgeon General of the United States” Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, President of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) said here , December 10. He praised the appointment of Dr. Murthy to be America’s top doctor by the administration led by President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, and “offered fullest support” to Dr. Murthy, while describing the choice of Dr. Murthy as “cementing the reputation of physicians of Indian origin have across America.”

    Dr. Vivek Murthy will serve as the US Surgeon General under Biden-Harris administration, a role Murthy held under the Obama administration, President-Elect Joe Biden said here on Monday, December 7th. As he’s set to return to the same position he held from 2014 to 2017, Murthy is expected to have an expanded portfolio, as the President-elect’s team crafts their plans to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

    In addition to Dr. Murthy, Joe Biden nominated Xavier Becerra to lead the sprawling Health and Human Services Department, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  “The appointments Mr. Biden announced on Monday, including other senior officials to the US Health Department, will help round out Biden’s team charged with addressing the pressing COVID-19 crisis, that has taken over 280,000 American lives,” Dr. Sajani Shah, Chair of AAPI BOT said. Last week, Biden announced that Dr. Anthony Fauci would continue his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases while also serving as his chief medical adviser on COVID-19.

    Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, President-Elect of AAPI, that represents over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin in the United States, said, “We are proud of Dr. Vivek Murthy and his many accomplishments and look forward to supporting him throughout the process confirmation to be the US Surgeon General, as the nation and the entire world seeks to find best possible solutions to tackle the pandemic that has taken the lives of millions of people around the world.”

    Lauding Dr. Murthy “who has been a key coronavirus adviser to President-Elect Biden, regularly briefing him on the pandemic during his campaign and the transition,” Dr. Ravi Kolli, Vice President of AAPI said, “Dr. Murthy was part of Biden’s public health advisory committee as the pandemic first took hold in the US and has been serving as a co-chair of the President-elect’s Covid-19 advisory board during the transition. His ethics, quiet leadership style and impeccable credentials make him the smart choice for this leadership role.”

    “Dr. Vivek Murthy represents the next generation of Indian American physicians,” Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, Secretary of AAPI said.  “Dr. Murthy was America’s youngest-ever top doctor, and he was also the first surgeon general of Indian-American descent, when appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014. If confirmed by the Senate, Dr. Murthy would play a key role in the administration’s response to many daunting healthcare issuers, including the pandemic that has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.”

    “Having a wide range of experiences and passion for science-based approach, Dr. Vivek Murthy will bring in new perspectives to the many healthcare issues that require immediate attention and concrete action plan,” said Dr. Satheesh Kathula, Treasurer of AAPI.  Offering fullest cooperation from the Indian American Physician community, he said, “We at AAPI, look forward to working closely with Dr. Murthy and his team to end this deadly pandemic.”

    Dr. Murthy 43 has said Americans need a leader who works with the people for the progress of the country. As surgeon general under Obama, Murthy helped lead the national response to the Ebola and Zika viruses and the opioid crisis, among other health challenges. Dr. Murthy’s commitment to medicine and health began early in life. The son of immigrants from India, he discovered the art of healing watching his parents – Hallegere and Myetriae Murthy – treat patients like family in his father’s medical clinic in Miami, Florida.

    During his prior nomination, Indian American Doctors had lobbied earnestly to have Dr. Murthy confirmed as the US Surgeon General under Obama administration. “The feeling of de ja vu was pervasive, of a triumph over injustice with a hard fought battle by the Indian community during his confirmation, with AAPI playing a major role that secured the prize of the highest position occupied by an Indian American, and that too by one from our second generation,” said Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, who had led a delegation of AAPI leaders to be at the historic oath taking ceremony of Dr. Vivek Murthy as the US Surgeon General at Fort Myer in Virginia across from Washington DC on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.

    “The oath ceremony, a proud moment for Indian Americans, was led by Joseph Biden, Vice President and currently President-Elect, held in a large hall like a school stadium, with flags in abundance rigged in from the ceiling and leaning in from the sidewalls,” recalls Dr. Suresh Reddy, the immediate past President of AAPI, who was present at the oath ceremony in the nation’s capital.

    “I am proud of our community of Indian physicians for all the progress that we have made over the years, and I know that AAPI has been a critical force in making this process possible. The advice you shared and assistance you kindly offered were important pieces of this journey,” Dr. Vivek Murthy, stated in a letter to Dr. Jayesh B. Shah, a past president of AAPI, who along with AAPI’s Legislative Affairs Chair, Dr. Sampat Shivangi and several others had led several delegations to US Senators, lobbying for his confirmation.

    While expressing pride at the nomination of Dr. Murthy, Dr. Jonnalagadda pointed out to US President-elect Joe Biden’s remarks yesterday, describing Indian American nominee for US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy as a “renowned physician” who could help guide Americans safely out of a still ranging coronavirus pandemic. Biden’s remarks came as he spoke to the strength of his “world class” and “crisis tested” health team at an event in Delaware this week.

  • US sues Facebook over its WhatsApp, Instagram acquisition; alleges it crushed smaller rivals

    US sues Facebook over its WhatsApp, Instagram acquisition; alleges it crushed smaller rivals

    • By 2012, WhatsApp had emerged as the clear global “category leader” in mobile messaging

    WASHINGTON (TIP): The US government and 48 states have filed parallel antitrust lawsuits against Facebook, accusing the social media giant of anti-competitive conduct by abusing its market power to create a monopoly and crushing smaller competitors, a move which may force it to sell WhatsApp and Instagram.

    Soon after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 48 state attorney generals on Wednesday, December 9,  sued the California-headquartered company, Facebook’s shares dropped significantly.

     

    The bipartisan coalition led by New York attorney general Letitia James alleged that Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy to eliminate threats to its monopoly.

    This includes its 2012 acquisition of up-and-coming rival Instagram, its 2014 acquisition of the mobile messaging app WhatsApp and the imposition of anti-competitive conditions on software developers.

    According to the federal complaint, this course of conduct by Facebook harms competition, leaves consumers with few choices for personal social networking and deprives advertisers of the benefits of competition.

    “For nearly a decade, Facebook used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users,” James told reporters at a news conference.

    Opposing the lawsuit, Jennifer Newstead, vice president and general counsel of Facebook, described it as revisionist history.

    “This lawsuit risks sowing doubt and uncertainty about the US government’s own merger review process and whether acquiring businesses can actually rely on the outcomes of the legal process.

    “It would also punish companies for protecting their investment and technology from free-riding by those who did not pay for the innovation, making those companies less likely over the long term to make their platforms available to spur the growth of new products and services,” she said.

    The lawsuit is seeking a permanent injunction in federal court that could, among other things: require divestitures of assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp; prohibit Facebook from imposing anti-competitive conditions on software developers; and require the social media behemoth to seek prior notice and approval for future mergers and acquisitions.

    “Personal social networking is central to the lives of millions of Americans. Facebook’s actions to entrench and maintain its monopoly deny consumers the benefits of competition. Our aim is to roll back Facebook’s anti-competitive conduct and restore competition so that innovation and free competition can thrive,” said Ian Conner, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.

    The FTC complaint alleged that Facebook undertook a years-long effort to maintain its monopoly through anti-competitive acquisitions and actions that target potential and nascent rivals.

    According to the complaint, Facebook is the world’s dominant personal social networking service and has monopoly power in a market for personal social networking services. This unmatched position has provided Facebook with staggering profits. Last year alone, Facebook generated revenues of over USD 70 billion and profits of more than USD 18.5 billion.

    The lawsuit alleged Facebook targeted potential competitive threats to its dominance. Instagram, a rapidly growing startup, emerged at a critical time in personal social networking competition, when users of personal social networking services were migrating from desktop computers to smartphones, and when consumers were increasingly embracing photo-sharing.

    Facebook executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, quickly recognized that Instagram was a vibrant and innovative personal social network and an existential threat to Facebook’s monopoly power. So, the company bought Instagram rather than compete with it. The acquisition for USD 1 billion in April 2012 neutralizes the direct threat posed by Instagram as well as makes it more difficult for another personal social networking competitor to gain scale, the complaint alleged.

    Around the same time, it said, Facebook perceived that “over-the-top” mobile messaging apps also presented a serious threat to its monopoly power.

    By 2012, WhatsApp had emerged as the clear global “category leader” in mobile messaging. Facebook chose to buy an emerging threat rather than compete, and announced an agreement in February 2014 to acquire WhatsApp for USD 19 billion. Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp both neutralizes the prospect that WhatsApp itself might threaten Facebook’s personal social networking monopoly and ensures that any future threat will have a more difficult time gaining scale in mobile messaging, the complaint said.

    Meanwhile, top US lawmakers hailed the twin antitrust lawsuits against Facebook, noting that the accountability was “long overdue”.

    Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said in August, she repeatedly asked Zuckerberg about the well-documented instances of Facebook copying, acquiring and killing their competitors.

    However, public policy think tank Information Technology and Innovation Foundation president Robert Atkinson said the antitrust actions “threaten both the US competitiveness and US consumers”.

    Silicon Valley enjoys tremendous success globally in part because US tech firms innovate quickly, including through acquisitions that allow them to bring in new talent, intellectual property, and more users. Companies and investors are going to lose faith in regulators if policymakers want to reverse course on prior decisions and call a mulligan this late in the game, he said.

    (Source: PTI)

  • No ‘gigantic’ inaugural parade, Biden plans scaled-down ceremony to avoid spreading COVID-19

    No ‘gigantic’ inaugural parade, Biden plans scaled-down ceremony to avoid spreading COVID-19

    WASHINGTON  (TIP): US President-elect Joe Biden has said the presidential inauguration on January 20 will not be a “gigantic” event but something closer to what the Democratic convention was like, with a lot of virtual activity across America and an emphasis on safety due to the raging coronavirus pandemic.

    Biden said he expected to be sworn in on January 20 on the platform already being constructed on the steps of the US Capitol but plans to avoid the crowds that typically gather on the National Mall and along Pennsylvania Avenue to view the ceremony and parade that attracts millions of people.

    “My guess is that there probably will not be a gigantic inaugural parade on Pennsylvania Avenue but my guess is you’ll see a lot of virtual activity in states all across America engaging even more people than before. That’s in train now and I’m not in a position to give you an example of exactly what it will look like,” he said when asked about the inauguration planning at a news conference on Friday in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

    “But I promise you, it’ll be available either virtually or in-person for many and my guess is, there will still be a platform ceremony, but I don’t know exactly how it’s all going to work out. The key is keeping people safe,” he said.

    Biden suggested that the festivities could end up looking like the virtual convention Democrats held in August, with online activity in the states.

    “We are in discussion with the House leadership and the Senate leadership as to what they plan for the inauguration, particularly those 200,000 spots they control. But I think you’re going to see something that’s closer to what the convention was like than typical inauguration,” he said.

    The former vice president said his first and foremost objective was to keep people safe but also allow them to celebrate, to celebrate and see one another celebrating.

    “So, we’re in consultation. My team is in consultation with folks who help us put on the convention, as well as with our colleagues, Republican, and Democratic colleagues, in charge of the inauguration,” he said.

    Asserting that he can’t do a super version of the president’s announcement in the Rose Garden nationwide, Biden said it would have to be more imaginative.

    “But, the convention we put on really opened up avenues that we never thought existed and I doubt there will be another at least the Democratic Convention, that it’s straight like it always has been,” he said.

    The swearing-in ceremony and a lunch for the new president and vice president are held at the Capitol.Recent American presidents have been sworn in at an outdoor ceremony at the US Capitol attended by their predecessor.

    US President Donald Trump, who has refused to concede the election, has not said if he will attend the ceremony. The Trump campaign has filed a slew of lawsuits across the United States in an attempt to turn his defeat in the November 3 election into a victory. Except for one, all have been rejected by the courts.

    The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 2,73,000 people in the US and cases and hospitalizations are surging as the winter months approach.

    (Source : PTI)

  • U.S. sets new grim record with over 3,000 COVID deaths in single day

    U.S. sets new grim record with over 3,000 COVID deaths in single day

    The previous single-day record was on May 7 at 2,769 deaths

    WASHINGTON (TIP): The U.S. has set a new grim record of more than 3,000 COVID-19 related deaths in a single day, reflecting a bleak reminder of the pandemic’s devastating toll, even as two coronavirus vaccine candidates appear to be on the verge of clearing the country’s final regulatory hurdles.

    According to The COVID Tracking Project, the U.S. on Wednesday, December 9,  reported as many 3,054 reported deaths — the highest single-day total to date.

    The previous single-day record was on May 7 at 2,769 deaths, it said.

    Overall, there were 1.8 million tests reported on Wednesday, December 9, 210,000 cases, and a record 106,688 COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals, it said.

    The 7-day average for COVID-19 deaths are at an all-time high as deaths are rising throughout the country, it said.

    So far more than 15 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19 and 286,249 people have lost their lives, according to Johns Hopkins University.

    “Based on current production schedules, we expect to have enough doses to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of this year, 50 million total by the end of January, and at least 100 million total by the end of the first quarter,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters at a news conference.

    Within 24 hours of an emergency use authorization (EUA) by the FDA, the vaccine could be shipped out to distribution sites across the United States to make it available to the Americans who need it the most, said Army Gen Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed.

    “Our goal is to make sure that we can ensure the vaccine is delivered in a timely manner, is to be delivered safely, securely, and it’s ready to be utilized to start administering the vaccine as soon as possible,” Mr. Perna said.

    On Tuesday, the FDA released an internal assessment of the Pfizer vaccine’s trial data. The FDA assessment showed that the vaccine was around 95% effective, was efficacious across different groups, including the elderly and people with comorbidities, and did not show any significant safety concerns.

    Mr. Perna said that he had given permission to distribute syringes and needles, alcohol wipes and dilutant, which is required in support of the Pfizer vaccine.

    “We’ll begin that today. The distribution will be completed by Friday, again only to set conditions. And if it sits there for another week or 10 days or whatever, then it does. But planning for success, we wanted to make sure that the states had all that they needed to have,” he said.

  • Biden promises vaccination for100 mn people in his first hundred days in office

    Biden promises vaccination for100 mn people in his first hundred days in office

    WASHINGTON (TIP): US President-elect Joe Biden has said that in the first 100 days of his administration, he would mandate everyone to wear a mask, ensure 100 million Covid vaccinations and reopen the majority of schools. He assured Americans that his “crisis-tested” team of experts would deliver better healthcare and revive the economy. The US is in the midst of a deadly pandemic that has infected almost 15 million Americans and killed 2,86,000. Globally, there are 68.2 million Covid cases and the pandemic has claimed more than 1.5 million lives. Announcing his national health team, Biden asked the Trump administration to act now to purchase the doses it has negotiated with Pfizer and Moderna and to work swiftly to scale manufacturing for the US population and the world.

    “This can be fixed. If it does, my team will be able to get at least 100 million vaccinations done in my first 100 days. Third, it should be a national priority to get our kids back into school and keep them in school,” he said on Tuesday. “If Congress provides the funding we need to protect students, educators, and staff, and if states and cities put strong public health measures in place that we all follow, then my team will work to see that the majority of our schools can be opened by the end of my first 100 days,” he added.

    (Source: PTI)

  • Ekal Foundation’s Unprecedented$6.5 Million Magnificent Gala

    Ekal Foundation’s Unprecedented$6.5 Million Magnificent Gala

    Prakash Waghmare

    NEW YORK (TIP): On Saturday, December 5, “Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (EVF)” hosted a magnificent Star-studded Gala, called ‘Future of India’. This Gala-2020 raised record-setting $6.5 Million in pledges & donations for the special projects. The highlight of this virtual event wasnot only the participation of a galaxy of outstanding personalities, but also, the way they expressed their vote of confidence in‘Ekal’ movement (as “EVF” is popularly known). The celebrities that lent their wholehearted support were iconic cricketer Kapil Dev, Moviestar Vivek Oberoi, Hon. Minister Piyush Goyal, leading entrepreneur Ajay Piramal, Bollywood singer Sanjeevani Bhelande and numerous entrepreneurs. The Gala was chaired by Mohan Wanchu, Chairman  & CEO of EC Info Systems who, like all previous Galas, had ushered the concept in the first place. The main objective of the eveningwas, not only, to raise funds, but also, to acknowledge gratitude to loyal philanthropists who had consistently supported ‘Ekal’ through the years. Earlier in the year, after successfully controlling ‘Covid-19 pandemic in 102,000 rural & tribal villages of India, ‘Ekal’ had raised funds through 10 regional mid-year virtualconcerts for its conventional activitieseven in the current covid-19 pandemic.

    Despite a snowstorm and tornado that created some technical problemsin transmission, the delayed startfor the evening could not dampenthe spirit of generous philanthropists to support their favoriteprojects at Ekal. There was overwhelming support for ‘Integrated Village Development’ (IVD),E-Shiksha, Tailoring Center, Telemedicine, ‘Arogya Initiative’, Ekal-on-wheels’, ‘Gramotthan Research Ctr’ (GRC), Computer Center etc. Among the high net-worth donors, 15 pledged $250,000 or more while Ajay Keshap confirmed donation of cool $1,000,000.

    Mohan Wanchu, welcoming the virtual audienceopened up the evening withan anecdote about a ‘Rikshaw-puller’ and how a ‘Lok-kathakars’ (a cadre of cultural storyteller) from an Ekal village transformed his life for better. Kamlesh Shah, co-chair of Gala started the pledge-drive by contributing $580,000 and appealing donors to raise the bar of Gala-2020 to unprecedented level. Ranjani Saigal, Executive Director of “EVF” gave a brief outline of all Ekal special projects, which was followed by former ZEE-TV CEO & Chairperson of Ekal-Global, Dr Subhash Chandra giving an overview of what Ekal is all about. The person that stole the show was the movie star, philanthropist Vivek Oberoi who also happens to be the Ekal-brand Ambassador. He emphasized that “the donation to Ekal wasn’t a subsidy for the needy, but a divine investment in India’s future”. He further appealed to the youths of India to join ‘inquisitive, creative and passionate organization like Ekal’ to give purpose to their life. Global business tycoon, Ajay Piramal said,” Ekal’s emphasis on dispensing quality education and primary healthcare in rural area is a game changer. No one understands rural-tribal mindset better than Ekal with its widespread presence in villages nor anyone has a committed pool of huge selfless volunteers”. Sajjan Agarwal, not only donated $250,000 for ‘Arogya Sevika’ (Healthcare Assistant) in the villages, but also,appealed other donors to match his willingness to donate additional $250,000. This challenge, in the very next moment, was met by Manubhai Shah. When it comes to healthcare, it is imperative to know that the donation of $250,000 benefits 7,500 people in 150 villages. A new initiative, called ‘GRANE’ (Gramotthan Atma-Nirbharata for Ekal), that is going to change farmer’s life forever, was introduced by Vivek Sharma. It is aimed at bringing E-commerce activities to the villages so as to avail villagers with new profitable economic opportunities. Hon. Minister Piyush Goyal affirmed his own and his family’s long association with Ekal. He lauded Hon PM Modi’s August 15 speech whereby all villages would be interconnected by digital broadband in next 1,000 days. Itis likely to promote widespread digitization of Education & Telemedicine. It is worth noting that Ajay Poddar of ‘Artech Int’L and Himanshu Shah of ‘Shah Capital’ have established “Gramotthan Research Ctr” that would soon circuitously help up to one Million people, at each place with the state-of-the-art information on multiple levels .The evening was interspersed with brief video-clips of Ekal’s outstanding work, its impact on rural lives and its initiatives to empowerrural folks. Kapil Dev was interviewed live for his unique achievements in Cricket. He asserted that, “in life, winning is not everything”. The most endearing memoryto him was the fact that he got to play his game for his beloved country – and not winning the ‘World Cup’ or the captainship of the team etc. He was impressed by Ekal’s infusion of fun-sports in education. Earlier this year in September, Bajrang Bagra, CEO of ‘Ekal Abhiyan’ (umbrella organization of all ‘Ekal’ satellite-divisions) had proposed to keep 102,000 school tallies ‘as is’ and embark on a transformative ‘roadmap’ that would revolutionize rural life in all its aspects. Among the primary goals proposed were to increase parameters of various special project, in next 5 years –forexample : to increase ‘Ekal On Wheels’ vans from current 25 to 85; ‘Integrated Village Clusters’ (30 villages each) from current 12 to 51; ‘Skill Development Ctrs’ from current 33 to 100; ‘Gramotthan Resource Ctrs’ (GRC) from current 16 to 27; ‘Telemedicine’ from current 120 villages to 6,000 villages and ‘Intensive Health Care’ from current 1,200 villages to 6,000 villages. In addition, the most ambitious project that Ekal wants to push hard is that of ‘E-Shiksha’ or digital education. It wants to spread it from current 1,200 villages to 100,000 villages. With the success of Gala-2020, it is quite apparent that Ekal is on the wayto achieve its ambitious goals. For more information to join this organization or to support it, kindly tap into www.ekal.org.

  • Children’s Hope India Gratitude Awards Conferred

    Children’s Hope India Gratitude Awards Conferred

    NEW YORK (TIP):  Children’s Hope India, a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to lifting children from poverty to prosperity in India and the United States, announced, November 28,  the honorees for its first-ever Gratitude Awards, recognizing individuals who have made bold civic and charitable contributions in a particularly challenging year.

     CHI co-founder, board member and journalist, Lavina Melwani, hosted the virtual event on Thanksgiving Day. “In these uncertain times of the pandemic, we may be isolated from our loved ones and unable to share the joy of a Thanksgiving meal in person but we can still warm ourselves by sharing thanks,” Melwani said.

    Children’s Hope India’s inaugural Gratitude Awards honored the heroes around the world who contributed to helping the community weather such uncertain times. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was honored for being the voice of comfort, reason and science.

    Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the CNN show Sanjay Gupta MD and co-host with Anderson Cooper of global town halls throughout the pandemic, for coming into our homes and giving us wisdom and truth. Follow him on Twitter @drsanjaygupta.

    Deepika Padukone, actress, producer and founder of The Live Love Laugh Foundation, for her bold and courageous championship around mental health issues. Follow her on Twitter @deepikapadukone.

    Chandrika Tandon, Grammy-nominated artist, humanitarian, and business leader, for her calming chants and dedication to helping children succeed. Follow her on Facebook @chandrikatandon.

    Hindu Singh Sodha, Rajasthan-based activist working on refugee rights, conflict resolution and peace movements, and founder of the Universal Just Action Society, for his passionate advocacy and support of the refugee communities in Jodhpur, providing them hope for a new life. Follow him on Twitter  @HinduSinghSodh1.

    Dina Pahlajani, Cofounder and President of Children’s Hope India added that this year’s awards were also dedicated to, “the braveheart children of Children’s Hope India for adapting in such difficult times and staying committed to learning despite the challenges of the pandemic.”

    Children’s Hope India launched the Gratitude Awards to showcase the work of individuals around the world who give what they can–whether a monetary contribution, a helping hand or a kind word. The Gratitude Awards will take place annually to recognize the many that truly make our world better and safer, and empower us all to be stronger individuals. In honor of this year’s awards, Children’s Hope India donated gift certificates, turkeys and Thanksgiving meals to families and individuals in Manhattan, Queens and Long Island.

    About Children’s Hope India

    Children’s Hope India was founded in 1992 when a group of professional women in New York gathered to make a difference in the lives of children. Now, as then, the mission of Children’s Hope India is to lift children from poverty to prosperity through education. This is accomplished with a whole child approach that seeks to ensure that each child is healthy, safe, supported, engaged and challenged with comprehensive programming including informal learning and vocational training, critical medical support, and nutrition.

    Today, Children’s Hope India supports more than 20 projects and 300,000 children across India and the United States to improve children’s health and education prospects. To learn more, please visit www.childrenshopeindia.org.

  • A Misnomer Causes Confusion

    A Misnomer Causes Confusion

    • India’s 10- Year Multiple Entry Visa is wrongly termed as Tourist Visa
    • Prem Bhandari recommends entry visa on departure (E-VoD)
    By Prof I.S.Saluja

    My friend Prem Bhandari who is Chairman, Jaipur Foot USA , was at JFK airport in New York on December 2, 2020 where he is a regular visitor to find for himself how NRI’s are being taken care of. Ever Since the government of India launched the Vande Bharat Mission to help stranded Indians to get back to India, Mr. Bhandari has been a regular visitor to extend a helping hand to travelers and Air India. In fact, he led from the front and exhibited rare courage in what he was doing for community at a time when most of us took refuge within the safe four walls of our homes. Undeterred by the raging pandemic, he was out at the airport day after days, helping people.  On December 2, he was, as usual visiting JFK to see if travelers were receiving proper attention of airline offici

    Prem Bhandari at JFK, New York with travelers he helped during Vande Bharat Mission in May 2020

    als when he came across 6 persons who told him they were not allowed to board an Air India flight to India. One of them was a lady with 2 toddlers. Mr. Bhandari, a man well known in India and USA, particularly in New York, as a committed social activist and do-gooder was upset to find the lady in distress for not being able to board the flight.
    Mr. Bhandari who has often raised issues impacting Indian Americans , among others, tried to get at the bottom of the situation. He spoke with the passengers who were denied travel. He spoke with Air India staff present at the JFK airport.
    Mr. Bhandari said the lady was traveling in an emergency to be with her people in India. She was not going for tourism. It was under compelling circumstances that she was going with the two toddlers, aged to India, in extreme weather and under dangerous COVID-19 conditions. Nobody goes to India these days for tourism, anyway. They all travel only driven by a desire to see a family member who may be sick, or to be with family to mourn the loss of a loved one. So it was with the lady.

     

    A travelers’ advisory well publicized in print, electronic and social media can prove educative for travelers

    The Air India people at JFK told the lady to visit the Consulate in New York to get an emergency visa for the kids. Now, this lady who has come from outside New York will need to hire a cab and go to the Indian Consulate in Midtown Manhattan. Pay for the cab. She may not get the emergency visa then and there. She may have to wait for a day. She will need a hotel room for which she will have to pay. If she is lucky, and if there are no intervening holidays, she gets the visa on the next day. Now the flight. She has to wait until she can be accommodated in the next available flight, subject of course to availability of seats. And when finally, the seats are available, she has to pay an extra amount for the change in her flight schedule. She does it. She settles the hotel bill for all these days of stay.
    The next scene now. The lady with two toddlers in tow reaches Delhi. Now she is to go to a different destination in India. She has missed the flight originally booked. Her tickets are canceled. She has to rebook a flight and pay for it, besides waiting, may be, for a day or two to get seats. She spends again, another few hundred dollars on buying tickets and for stay in a hotel. What a colossal loss of time and money!, one may say. No, friends, it is much more than that. It is a stressful experience which may make one sick. It is only loss of time, money, inconvenience, stress, it is a frightening threat of being exposed to rampaging COVID-19.
    Whose fault is it? Government officials will say the travel advisory is posted on website of each embassy and consulate, and travelers should look into guidelines before undertaking travel. Well, nobody can dispute this claim. All embassy and consulate websites carry the advisory.
    The Indian Panorama asked Mr. Bhandari for his comment, because he was much upset to see the plight of the stranded travelers.
    Mr. Bhandari concluded that the villain of the piece was a wrong term used for 10-Year Multiple Entry Visa. It is a misnomer to call this visa a Tourist Visa.
    One can understand the constraint of the airline, which did not permit boarding to any tourist, because tourist visa has been cancelled in the wake of COVID-19.
    In October this year, the Indian government had decided to restore with immediate effect the validity of all existing visas, except electronic, tourist and medical category visas, almost eight months after their suspension following the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent imposition of a nationwide lockdown.

    Mr. Bhandari explained to The Indian Panorama that almost 80% Indians do not apply for OCI card for children. They feel quite comfortable with the 10-Year Multiple Entry Visa which is wrongly termed as Tourist Visa. The denial to board the flight arose out of the fact that the two kids had “Tourist Visa”. And because, government of India had canceled the Tourist Visa , as stated above, the kids could not be allowed to board the flight.
    Mr. Bhandari had enough reason to sympathize with those denied boarding a flight to India, and at the same time think deep how the situation could be rectified. The first thing he did immediately was to call concerned officials in India government in Delhi. He called the Foreign Secretary Mr. Harsha Vardhan Shringla, Mr. Ajay Bhalla, the Home Secretary, and Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Khasola, and apprised them of the suffering of the passengers he had met at the airport. Each one of them appeared to sympathize with the harassed passengers, and assured Mr. Bhandari that a way will be found to remedy the situation. Mr. Bhandari told The Indian Panorama that he was very happy to see the positive attitude of the officials, and that he is grateful to them.
    Mr. Bhandari followed up with an identical letter to each one of them, drawing their attention to the problem, and suggesting immediate solutions.
    In his letter, Mr. Bhandari pointed out that the core of“ the issue is lack of information and deficiency in educating travelers on visa eligibility (visa issued prior to March 12, 2020 are ineligible)”.
    His suggestions to all three Secretaries mentioned above are given below:-
    1. All airlines flying into India under the air-bubble arrangement should proactively verify travelers with foreign passports have eligible visas at time of ticket booking
    2. Key websites in this air-bubble program, namely Air Suvidha, Air India, United Airlines, MoCA, MHA, BOI.gov, MEA, all Consulates, Indianvisa.gov etc. must advertise eligible and ineligible visas
    3. MoCA & AI have been very active in advertising flight schedules in social media. Similarly, it is imperative that the visa eligibility is broadly advertised on the same social platforms.
    As a more considered solution to ease a broad swath of travelers all over the world facing similar situation, I propose the following , Mr. Bhandari wrote:-
    1. Any Indian origin person with either of parents with Indian passport/PIO/OCI card be allowed to travel with their US born minor sons/daughter under the age of 14 with any unexpired visa obtained anytime without applying emergency visa at consulate. As per US federal law, children under 14 cannot be left alone without their legal custodians, which in almost all cases are their parents.
    2. Likewise, all unexpired visas issued in the past should be restored to avoid unnecessary burden as well as expenses of obtaining the emergency visa. It is a fallacy to assume anyone will like to travel to India for tourism during Corona pandemic. This step will alleviate workload on embassy staff, smoothen out travel process for global diaspora and will generate goodwill for the country.
    3. In case it is difficult to carry out above suggested measures, it may be explored to either grant Emergency Visa on Departure (E-VoD) on the line of Visa on arrival OR restore immediate e-Visa process for immediate approval online – travelers can be able to do so digitally from the airport. This small gesture will win heart of the NRI community not only from US but from all over the World.

  • Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana Sangat rallies to support agitating farmers in India

    Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana Sangat rallies to support agitating farmers in India

    Picture of rally organized by Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana

    RICHMOND HILL, NY (TIP): Hundreds of Sikhs participated in a rally organized by the management of Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana, one of the two largest Sikh shrines in New York, December 6. The Sikh community which hails from Punjab in India is deeply upset with the recent farm laws promulgated by government of India which, farmers allege,  go against their interests.

    In India, Punjab farmers have been demanding repeal of these laws since their promulgation in June 2020. When the government of India did not consider their demand, they decided to go to the national capital Delhi to demand justice. They have been on sit in for a fortnight now, joined by farmers from all over India.

    They have made their intentions clear to government of India that they will not be satisfied with anything less than the repeal of the anti-farming and anti-farmer farm laws.

    Punjabis the world over have expressed their solidarity with the agitating farmers I India. In New York and New Jersey, a number of rallies have been held, and more are planned.

  • Pandemic unemployment insurance is running out for New York’s taxi drivers

    Pandemic unemployment insurance is running out for New York’s taxi drivers

    Already burdened by a debt crisis, New York cabbies get shortchanged by government again.

    NEW YORK (TIP): Bright and early this morning, cab drivers gathered in Lower Manhattan to embark on a multi-state caravan to Washington, D.C., where drivers rallied outside the U.S. Capitol for an extension of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program – a federal unemployment benefits program for self-employed workers and independent contractors. That program, which provides assistance to more than 1.5 million people in the tri-state area, is set to expire at the end of this month. As the caravan made its way to the nation’s capital, it also picked up cabbies in Philadelphia and Maryland, creating a long, yellow motorcade down the New Jersey Turnpike.

    To participate in the caravan, drivers sacrificed a valuable day of picking up fares in the city – a difficult task in these days of plummeting fare opportunities. As of last month, revenue for the taxi industry in New York City was down 81% year-over-year. Struggling to pay rent, insurance and loan payments – and, in some cases, even for meals – drivers are being forced to compete for hard-to-find fares just to make a fraction of what they brought in pre-pandemic.

    They may be giving up a day of work, but for Dorothy Leconte, making the trip to D.C. to rally for federal unemployment assistance is worth it. “I get frustrated with this country,” Leconte, a yellow cab driver for over three decades, said. “The trillionaires, the billionaires, the millionaires – they look at little people (like they’re) nothing. They say, ‘You are from a Third World country, you don’t deserve no more than $60 a day to survive.’” Sixty dollars a day in fares has become the norm for some drivers. Before the pandemic – and before increased competition from ride-hail apps like Uber – Leconte said drivers could easily make $60 an hour.

    Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the federal program set to expire in less than three weeks, is meant to cover freelancers, gig workers and other types of self-employed people who aren’t covered by traditional unemployment insurance. Leconte said she made around $220 a week after taxes under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. And while an extra federal unemployment assistance benefit providing another $600 a week helped her stay home from work through most of the spring and summer, that benefit expired at the end of July. Since then, she’s had to go back to driving.

    Leconte has been back at work since August and has yet to make anywhere near enough money to pay her bills. “I have to come to work and risk all of the problems,” she said of the risk of contracting COVID-19 while driving. Leconte’s ex-husband, who was also a cab driver, died from COVID-19 in late March, she said. To supplement her reduced income, Leconte has also taken work driving for Amazon Flex and delivering groceries – but that work is low-paying, demanding and time-consuming, she said.

    That’s why Leconte and other drivers – along with groups that represent them such as the New York Taxi Workers Alliance – are calling for a “people’s stimulus” from the federal government that would include extending Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, reinstating the extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits, and approving another round of stimulus checks, along with other measures.

    Leconte also said drivers need debt forgiveness to address the crippling medallion loan payments that taxi medallion owners such as herself are still burdened by. Drivers have organized other caravans during the pandemic – creating similarly striking “seas of yellow” that shut down the Brooklyn Bridge – to rally for medallion debt relief, a separate, though not unrelated crisis facing the industry.

    Congress continues to hammer out the details of a coronavirus relief bill and, as of today, the proposal appears to include an extra 16 weeks in all pandemic unemployment insurance programs, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. That may provide some relief for cab drivers and other self-employed workers, but it’s not close to what workers are asking for to help them survive the crisis. “I feel disappointed with the government,” Leconte said. “The treatment the government is giving poor people is very bad.”

    (Source: City & State)

  • December 11 New York & Dallas E-Edition

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    E-Edition

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  • A Misnomer Causes Confusion

    A Misnomer Causes Confusion

    India’s  10- Year Multiple Entry Visa is wrongly termed as Tourist Visa

    Prem Bhandari recommends entry visa on departure (E-VoD)

    I.S. Saluja

    My friend Prem Bhandari who is Chairman, Jaipur Foot USA , was at JFK airport in New York on December 2, 2020  where he is a regular visitor to find for himself how NRI’s are being taken care of. Ever Since the government of India launched the Vande Bharat Mission to help stranded Indians to get back to India, Mr. Bhandari has been a regular visitor to extend a helping hand to travelers and Air India. In fact, he led from the front and exhibited rare courage in what he was doing for community at a time when most of us took refuge within the safe four walls of our homes. Undeterred by the raging pandemic, he was out at the airport day after days, helping people.

    On December 2, he was, as usual visiting JFK to see if travelers were receiving proper attention of airline officials when   he came across 6 persons who told him they were not allowed to board an Air India flight to India. One of them was a lady with 2 toddlers. Mr. Bhandari, a man well known in India and USA, particularly in New York, as a committed  social activist and do-gooder was upset to find the lady in distress for not being able to board the flight.

    Mr. Bhandari who has often raised  issues impacting Indian Americans , among others, tried to get at the bottom of the situation. He spoke with the passengers who were denied travel. He spoke with Air India staff present at the JFK airport.

    Prem Bhandari at JFK, New York with travelers he helped during Vande Bharat Mission in May 2020

    Mr. Bhandari said  the lady was traveling in an emergency to be with her people in India.  She was not going for tourism. It was under compelling circumstances that she was going with the two toddlers, aged  to India, in extreme weather and under dangerous COVID-19 conditions. Nobody goes to India these days for tourism, anyway. They all travel only driven by a desire to see a family member who may be sick, or to be with family to mourn the loss of a loved one. So it was with the lady.

    The Air India people at JFK told the lady  to visit the Consulate in New York to get an emergency visa for the kids. Now, this lady who has come from outside New York will need to hire a cab and go to the Indian Consulate in Midtown Manhattan. Pay for the cab. She may not get the emergency visa then and there. She may have to wait for a day. She will need a hotel room for which she will have to pay. If she is lucky, and if there are no intervening holidays, she gets the visa on the next day. Now the flight. She has to wait  until she can be accommodated in the next available flight, subject of course to availability of seats. And when finally, the seats are available, she has to pay an extra amount for the change in her flight schedule. She does it. She settles the hotel bill for all these days of stay.

    The next scene now. The lady with two toddlers in tow reaches Delhi. Now she is to go to a different destination in India. She has missed the flight originally booked. Her tickets are canceled. She has to rebook a flight and pay for it, besides waiting, may be, for a day or two to get seats. She spends again, another few hundred dollars on buying tickets and for stay in a hotel. What a colossal loss of time and money!, one may say. No, friends, it is much more than that. It is a stressful experience which may make one sick. It is only loss of time, money, inconvenience, stress, it is a frightening threat of being exposed to rampaging COVID-19.

    Whose fault is it? Government officials will say the travel advisory is posted on website of each embassy and consulate, and travelers should look into guidelines before undertaking travel. Well, nobody can dispute this claim. All embassy and consulate websites carry the advisory.

    A travelers’ advisory well publicized in print, electronic and social media can prove educative for travelers

    The Indian Panorama asked Mr. Bhandari for his comment, because he was much upset to see  the plight of the stranded travelers.

    Mr. Bhandari concluded that the villain of the piece was a wrong term used for 10-Year Multiple Entry Visa. It is a misnomer to call this visa a Tourist Visa.

    One can understand the constraint of the airline,  which did not permit  boarding to any tourist, because tourist visa has been cancelled in the wake of COVID-19.

    In October this year, the Indian government had decided to restore with immediate effect the validity of all existing visas, except electronic, tourist and medical category visas, almost eight months after their suspension following the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent imposition of a nationwide lockdown.

    Mr. Bhandari explained to The Indian Panorama that almost 80% Indians do not apply for OCI card for children. They feel quite comfortable with the 10-Year Multiple Entry Visa  which is wrongly termed as Tourist Visa.  The denial to board the flight arose out of the fact that the two kids had “Tourist Visa”. And because, government of India had canceled the Tourist Visa , as stated above, the kids could not be allowed to board the flight.

    Mr. Bhandari had enough reason to sympathize with those denied boarding a flight to India, and at the same time think deep how the situation could be rectified. The first thing he did immediately was to call concerned officials in India government in Delhi. He called the Foreign Secretary Mr. Harsha Vardhan Shringla, Mr. Ajay Bhalla, the Home Secretary, and Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Khasola, and apprised them of the suffering of the passengers he had met at the airport. Each one of them appeared to sympathize with the harassed passengers, and assured Mr. Bhandari that a way will be found to remedy the situation. Mr. Bhandari told The Indian Panorama that he was very happy to see the positive attitude of the officials, and that he is grateful to them.

    Mr. Bhandari followed up with an identical letter to each one of them, drawing their attention to the problem, and suggesting immediate solutions.

    In his letter, Mr. Bhandari pointed out that the core of  “ the issue is lack of information and deficiency in educating travelers on visa eligibility (visa issued prior to March 12, 2020 are ineligible)”.

    His suggestions to all three Secretaries mentioned above are given below:-

    1. All airlines flying into India under the air-bubble arrangement should proactively verify travelers with foreign passports have eligible visas at time of ticket booking
    2. Key websites in this air-bubble program, namely Air Suvidha, Air India, United Airlines, MoCA, MHA, BOI.gov, MEA, all Consulates, Indianvisa.gov etc. must advertise eligible and ineligible visas
    3. MoCA & AI have been very active in advertising flight schedules in social media. Similarly, it is imperative that the visa eligibility is broadly advertised on the same social platforms.

    As a more considered solution to ease a broad swath of travelers all over the world facing similar situation,  I propose the following , Mr. Bhandari wrote:-

    1. Any Indian origin person with either of parents with Indian passport/PIO/OCI card be allowed to travel with their US born minor sons/daughter under the age of 14 with any unexpired visa obtained anytime without applying emergency visa at consulate. As per US federal law, children under 14 cannot be left alone without their legal custodians, which in almost all cases are their parents.

    1. Likewise, all unexpired visas issued in the past should be restored to avoid unnecessary burden as well as expenses of obtaining the emergency visa. It is a fallacy to assume anyone will like to travel to India for tourism during Corona pandemic. This step will alleviate workload on embassy staff, smoothen out travel process for global diaspora and will generate goodwill for the country.

    1.  In case it is difficult to carry out above suggested measures, it may be explored to either grant Emergency Visa on Departure (E-VoD) on the line of Visa on arrival OR restore immediate e-Visa process for immediate approval online – travelers can be able to do so digitally from the airport. This small gesture will win heart of the NRI community not only from US but from all over the World.

     

     

     

     

  • Government of India continues to play its game to derail farmers movement

    Government of India continues to play its game to derail farmers movement

    By Prof. Indrajit S Saluja

    Continuing with their tactics of delaying acceptance of the demands of farmers to repeal the farm laws enacted in June, 2020, government of India has once again engaged the agitating farmer leaders in an exercise in futlility. It is quite clear that government, as usual, believes the agitators will get tired and will turn against their leaders spearheading the struggle for securing justice for the farming community, and also for the consumers of farm products across the country. It is well known how government of India is well versed in the art of dividing people. One can discern it in their characterization of the struggle as a Sikh or Punjabi struggle which is so untrue. It is struggle of all farmers regardless if their faith. Again, government is trying to project it as a struggle of a people of a region- Punjab. A blatant lie. It is a struggle if farmers of all regions in India. I know the farmers’ leaders leading the struggle are a mature people. But I must remind them that they must not fall to the machinations of the government which is hell bent on failing the people’s movement , the like of which no government has witnessed in more than half a century, since the movement under Jai Prakash Narayan during Indira Gandhi’s emergency days.

    It should remind this government which is so insensitive to the people of the country that no government is strong enough to face the onslaught of  the collective power of a united people. Hope, better sense will prevail with the power drunk government of India before it is too late.