Amid the “massive deportation operation” announced by the US, India on Friday, January 25, reiterated its stance against illegal immigration, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stating it will facilitate the return of Indian nationals “overstaying” or residing without proper documentation in the US or “anywhere in the world”.
During a weekly press briefing here, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We are against illegal immigration, especially because it is linked to several forms of organised crime.”
He said, “Indians, whether in the US or anywhere else in the world, if they are Indian nationals and are overstaying or residing in a country without proper documentation, we will take them back.” He further added that documents are shared with Indian authorities to verify their nationality and confirm that they are indeed Indian citizens.
Jaiswal’s comments came in response to the White House Press Secretary’s earlier announcement that “the largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway”.
Month: January 2025
-
Will facilitate return of Indian nationals overstaying in US or elsewhere: MEA
-
India, Indonesia decide to boost defense and trade ties
New Delhi (TIP)- India and Indonesia on Saturday, January 25, decided to work jointly in defence manufacturing and supply chains, diversify two-way trade basket and boost maritime security ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing the Southeast Asian nation as an “important partner” of New Delhi in the Indo-Pacific. Following wide-ranging talks between Modi and visiting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, at least five pacts providing for cooperation in areas of health, maritime security, culture and digital space were signed.
In his media statement, Modi said both sides are committed to maintain peace, security and a rules-based order in the region and that freedom of navigation must be ensured in accordance with international laws. The assertion came amid China’s growing military muscle-flexing in the South China Sea as well as in the Indo-Pacific.
The Prime Minister also said that both sides emphasised on cooperation in maritime security, cyber security, counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation.
Subianto, who arrived here on Thursday night primarily to grace the Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest, said Indonesia’s partnership with India is “very important” and that he has issued directions to his officials for accelerating the bilateral economic engagement.
In his remarks, Modi said both sides also decided to further strengthen mutual cooperation in areas such as FinTech, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and digital public infrastructure.
Both sides also decided to work together in the areas of energy, critical minerals and science and technology.
“Indonesia is our important partner in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and Indo-Pacific region,” Modi said.
“We both are committed to maintaining peace, security, prosperity and rules-based order in this entire region. We agree that freedom of navigation must be ensured in accordance with international laws,” he said. “In our Act East Policy, ASEAN unity and centrality have been emphasised,” he added.
The Prime Minister said the focus of the “extensive discussion” centred around various aspects of mutual cooperation.
“To increase cooperation in the defence sector, we have decided to work together in defence manufacturing and supply chain. We have also emphasised on cooperation in maritime security, cyber security, counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the agreement on maritime safety and security will further strengthen bilateral cooperation in crime prevention, search and rescue, and capacity building.
“In the last few years, our bilateral trade has grown rapidly, and last year it exceeded USD 30 billion. To further increase it, we have talked about market access and diversifying the trade basket,” he said.
“The private sector is also an equal partner in our efforts. We welcome today’s CEO Forum meeting and the agreements reached in the private sector,” he added. -
Every sacred tenet of Constitution being shredded into pieces: Kharge
New Delhi (TIP)- In a scathing attack on the BJP-led Centre, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged on Sunday that a hateful agenda, immersed in religious fundamentalism, has sought to divide the society over the last 10 years and every sacred tenet of the Constitution is being “shredded into pieces by an authoritarian regime”. He claimed that the ruling BJP practises pseudo-nationalism by making disadvantaged youngsters carry the flag of “nationalism” and “religious supremacy”, but does nothing to get them employment.
In his message to the nation on the 76th Republic Day, Kharge said it is high time that people preserved and protected the ideas and ideals of the Constitution—justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.
“We uphold the values espoused by our founders. Be ready to make every sacrifice to protect the Constitution. This will be the true tribute to our ancestors,” he said.
Kharge added it is also time to reflect upon how the country is witnessing constant attacks on the Constitution.
The ruling party has unleashed a continuous degradation of India’s institutions, built carefully over decades, the Congress chief alleged.
“Political interference in autonomous institutions has become a norm. Exercising control over their independence is being seen as a virtue of power. Federalism is being trampled on a daily basis and the rights of Opposition-governed states are being curtailed,” he further claimed.
“The functioning of Parliament has seen tremendous backsliding due to the tyrannical tendency of the ruling government,” Kharge alleged.
The Congress leader also claimed that universities and self-governing institutions are witnessing constant intrusion.
A large part of the media has been converted as a propaganda tool for the ruling party, he said.
“Strangulating dissent by witch-hunting Opposition leaders has become the only policy of those in power. In the past decade, a vicious, hateful agenda immersed in religious fundamentalism has sought to divide our society,” Kharge alleged.
He further claimed that minorities are being targeted and those who are secular are being tarnished with the paint of “Goebbelsian propaganda”. -
AAP, BJP promise the moon: Delhi assembly elections prove freebies now a staple of electoral campaigns
New Felhi (TIP)- In 1985, when the Tamil Nadu chief minister MG Ramachandran met the then deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Manmohan Singh, to discuss expenditure for a three-year-old mid-day meal scheme for children in his state, it would have been difficult to foretell that four decades hence, such plans would become the mantra to win elections.
In 2025, political sops – disparagingly referred to as freebies – have morphed into the biggest tool for wooing the electorate. The high-stakes Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the country have seen the mainstreaming of freebies as political parties compete in making promises in their manifestos—from mass employment to free electricity and free bus travel for women to cash benefits and subsidised gas cylinders – you name it.
Women-centric schemes seem the favourite of politicians: assembly poll results in Chhattisgarh, MP, Haryana and in Odisha, prompted the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra to do the same, gaining convincingly.
The ruling BJP, once opposed to distributing election freebies, has now outdone the others. After a 63-seat loss in the Lok Sabha in June last year, the party has had a change of heart.
With the 70-strong Delhi assembly elections due early February, it’s raining sops in the national capital. A bird eye’s view of India’s welfarist state.
In Delhi, the AAP has a virtually unbeatable record. Now, in its quest for a third term, the party’s list of welfarism includes raising Mahila Samman Yojana from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,100 per month and a Sanjeevani scheme to provide free health care to those above 60. The party said 1.3 million people had registered for the first and 15,000 for the second.
For autorickshaw drivers, AAP has promised life and accident insurance for Rs 15 lakh, annual uniform allowance of Rs 2,500 and Rs 1 lakh for their daughters’ weddings.
Other promises include a monthly allowance of Rs 18,000 for pujaris and granthis. For Delhi’s residents’ welfare associations, the AAP has promised an unspecified amount as security financing. Waving off ‘inflated’ water bills is another pledge.
The Congress has its own assurances: Rs 8,500 for skill training of the unemployed, Rs 2,500 as pyaari didi yojana and Rs 25 lakh insurance under Jeevan Raksha Yojana for Delhi.
If official announcements were not enough, charges are flying fast and thick: AAP leaders allege that the BJP is `buying’ votes in Delhi. Allegations of cash-for-votes have already begun.
In the Haryana assembly elections, the BJP announced Rs 2,100 monthly allowance for women, scooters for girl students, free dialysis for patients and two lakh government jobs. For the Maharashtra assembly polls, as many as 146 freebies were given out by the BJP-led NDA. These included a monthly payment of Rs 2,100 to a woman per month costing Rs 46,000 crore to the exchequer, a monthly stipend for students, increased benefit for farmers and a new Akshay Anna Yojana for providing kitchen essentials every month to families.
In Jharkhand, the ruling JMM’s attempt to target 12.8 million women voters in the 2024 November’s assembly elections worked. Source: Livemint -
Google celebrates India’s 76th R-Day with ‘wildlife meets culture’ doodle
A snow leopard in a Ladakhi dress, a ‘tiger’ wearing a dhoti-kurta holding a traditional instrument and a few other animals and birds representing different regions of India and its diversity feature in a special doodle by internet giant Google to mark the 76th Republic Day. The colourfl artwork, which borrows an element of surrealism, depicts the six letters of ‘GOOGLE’ artistically woven into the theme, giving the appearance of a ‘wildlife parade’.
India will showcase its military might and vibrant cultural heritage on the Kartavya Path here on Sunday as it completes 75 years as a Republic.
Sixteen tableaux from different states and Union Territories, and 15 from central ministries, departments and organisations will roll down the ceremonial boulevard as part of the celebrations. The Madhya Pradesh tableau will depict the Project Cheetah and the Kuno National Park. -
Karnataka court accepts closure report in bribery case against CM Siddaramaiah
A special court to try criminal cases against elected representatives has accepted the closure report filed by the Karnataka Lokayukta police in a bribery case involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The case was based on allegations made by a BJP leader, who accused Siddaramaiah of receiving Rs 1.3 crore during his previous tenure as CM in exchange for appointing a steward at the Bengaluru Turf Club (BTC).
In its ruling on January 18, the court stated, “The closure report filed by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Karnataka Lokayukta, Bengaluru, dated 12.9.2024, is hereby accepted.” The court further observed that while records indicated that “Accused No.1 Mr Siddaramaiah had received a sum of Rs 1,30,00,000 from Accused No 2 L Vivekananda, the same cannot be held to be an act of quid pro quo towards his nomination as steward of BTC.” Previously, the special court had instructed the Lokayukta police to reopen and investigate the case. -
Over 40 Pakistanis among dozens feared drowned en route to Spain by boat
ISLAMABAD (TIP): Over 40 Pakistanis are feared dead after a boat carrying 80 migrants, attempting to reach Spain, capsized near Morocco, according to officials.
Migrant rights group Walking Borders on January 16 said 50 migrants may have drowned.
Moroccan authorities rescued 36 people a day earlier from a boat that had left Mauritania on January 2 with 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis.
Forty-four of those presumed to have drowned were from Pakistan, Walking Borders CEO Helena Maleno said on X. “They spent 13 days of anguish on the crossing without anyone coming to rescue them,” she said.
The Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement on Thursday night said its embassy in Morocco was in touch with the local authorities. “Our Embassy in Rabat (Morocco) has informed us that a boat carrying 80 passengers, including several Pakistani nationals, setting off from Mauritania, has capsized near the Moroccan port of Dakhla.
Several survivors, including Pakistanis, are lodged in a camp near Dakhla,”it said. It added that a team from the embassy has been dispatched to Dakhla to facilitate the Pakistani nationals and provide necessary assistance while the Crisis Management Unit in the Foreign Ministry has been activated.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar instructed the relevant government agencies to extend all possible facilitation to the affected Pakistanis.
President Asif Ali Zardari in a statement called for far-reaching and effective steps to stop human smuggling.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought a report on the incident from authorities and said that strict action would be taken against those involved in the heinous act of human trafficking.
Hundreds of Pakistani migrants die every year while attempting to cross into Europe via perilous land and sea routes with the help of human smugglers. (pti) -
Beijing to invest $3.7B in Sri Lankan oil refinery as Dissanayake seeks more Chinese investments
BEIJING (TIP): China has offered to invest USD 3.7 billion in Sri Lanka, stated to be the biggest-ever foreign investment in the island nation, to build a state-of-the-art oil refinery as the two countries signed a new plan to upgrade BRI cooperation during Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s state visit here.
On Thursday, Dissanayake met Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji and pitched for more Chinese investment in his address to Chinese firms.
A day earlier, Dissanayake held talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping following which the two sides signed 15 agreements.
According to a press release by the Sri Lankan President’s media division, his visit marked a significant milestone by securing the largest foreign direct investment to date of USD 3.7 billion Chinese investment to build a state-of-the-art oil refinery at Hambantota.
“This significant achievement was formalised this morning with the signing of an agreement between Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Energy and Sinopec, a leading Chinese international petroleum corporation,” it said.
The refinery will have a capacity of two lakh barrels. China has secured the strategic Hambantota port in the Indian Ocean on a 99-year lease as a debt swap. It has also secured a long-term lease to build an economic zone at Hambantota.
Dissanayake incidentally was a critic of the Hambantota port deal for its long-term lease while he was in the opposition.
It was seen as a balancing act as last year India and Sri Lanka inked a deal to jointly develop 85 Word War II-era oil storage tanks at the strategic Trincomalee port in the eastern region of the country.
Asked for his reactions to Sinopec deal with Sri Lanka at a media briefing here, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and exchanges and collaboration in various fields have delivered fruitful results.
“China and Sri Lanka today have a historic opportunity to build on what has been achieved and take the relationship into the next chapter. It is important to view bilateral relations from a strategic perspective and jointly build a China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future,” he said. As Dissanayake concluded his visit, his second foreign tour after his last month’s visit to New Delhi where he committed not to allow Sri Lanka’s territory to be used against the interest of India, there is no word from both sides yet. (PTI)
Nepal’s top court bars infrastructure in protected areas
Kathmandu (TIP): Nepal’s Supreme Court has scrapped controversial laws allowing hydropower and hotel projects in protected nature reserves, a lawyer said on January 16, calling it a win for the Himalayan republic’s conservationists. A fifth of Nepal’s lands are designated as protected areas. But both hydropower projects and tourism are major earners, and the government passed laws last year to allow infrastructure projects in national parks, forests and other conservation areas, except in highly sensitive zones. “The controversial decision was made with deception,” environmental advocate Padam Bahadur Shrestha, one of the petitioners challenging the changes to the law, told AFP.
“It clearly shows how our government is working just to appease investors because it lacks farsightedness.”
Shrestha said that the verdict, which was issued on Wednesday, offers “justice to preserve ecology and biodiversity”. Kathmandu has been praised worldwide for its efforts to protect wildlife, allowing it to bring several species back from the brink of local extinction, including tigers and rhinos. Nepal’s protected habitat laws have helped to triple its tiger population to 355 since 2010 and to increase one-horned rhinoceros from around 100 in the 1960s to 752 in 2021.
After decades of rampant logging, Nepal also nearly doubled its forest cover between 1992 and 2016.
“The laws should have never been passed,” said Rampreet Yadav, former chief conservation officer of Chitwan National Park, Nepal’s most important conservation area. “If development projects are allowed in protected areas, it will destroy our nature, it will destroy the habitats of animals.” Nepal is eager to develop its hydropower industry after a dam-building spree in the past two decades that has given it an installed capacity of more than 2,600 megawatts.
It signed deals with India and Bangladesh last year to export thousands of megawatts of hydroelectricity. Tourism is also a major earner for Nepal, which saw a million foreign visitors last year after a post-pandemic bounceback, with the government pumping investments into infrastructure including airports. (PTI) -
Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, wife Bushra get prison sentence in al-Qadir Trust case
ISLAMABAD (TIP): A Pakistan court on Friday found former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi guilty of corruption in the 190 million pounds al-Qadir Trust case and sentenced them to 14 and seven years in prison respectively.
Besides jail sentences, Khan was fined Rs 1 million and Bushra Bibi half a million rupees. Failure to pay the fine will entail an additional six months of imprisonment for Khan and three months for Bibi.
The court had also ordered the confiscation of the land of Al-Qadir University set up by them.
Khan is already in jail while Bushra was arrested from the court.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana of the anti-corruption court announced the verdict that had been deferred thrice due to different reasons, last time on January 13.
The judge announced the verdict in a makeshift court set up in Adila jail.
“Today’s verdict has tarnished the reputation of the judiciary. In this case, neither I benefited nor the government lost. I don’t want any relief and will face all cases. A dictator is doing all this,” Khan was quoted as saying by his party.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in December 2023 filed the case against Khan (72), Bibi (50) and six others, accusing them of causing a loss to the tune of 190 million pounds (PRs50 billion) to the national kitty.
However, Khan and Bibi have been prosecuted as all others, including a property tycoon, were out of the country.
The case revolves around allegations that an amount of PRs 50 billion, returned to Pakistan by the UK’s National Crime Agency as part of a settlement with a property tycoon, was misused.
The funds were reportedly intended for the national treasury but were allegedly redirected for the personal benefit of the businessman who helped Bibi and Khan to set up a university.
Bibi, as a trustee of the Al-Qadir Trust, is accused of benefiting from this settlement, including acquiring 458 kanals of land for Al-Qadir University in Jhelum.
The judgment comes amidst the ongoing negotiation between the government and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to address the political instability in the country due to the imprisonment of Khan and several other leaders of his party.
So far three rounds of talks have been held and the PTI has presented its charter of demands in writing to the government.
Khan is facing dozens of cases after his ouster as prime minister in 2022.
He has been jailed since August 2023. (PTI) -
Six Chinese firms including Xiaomi, TikTok hit by privacy complaints in Europe
VIENNA (TIP): Online privacy campaigners said Thursday they had filed complaints in several European countries against six Chinese companies including TikTok, accusing them of “unlawfully” sending Europeans’ personal data to China.
Prominent Austria-based privacy campaign group NOYB (None of Your Business) said it has lodged six complaints against TikTok, AliExpress, Shein, Temu, WeChat and Xiaomi—in its first such action against Chinese companies. The complaints were filed in Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands.
Noyb has launched several legal cases against US technology giants such as Meta and Google, often prompting action from regulatory authorities over violations of the EU’s landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR aims to make it easier for people to control how companies use their personal information.
“Given that China is an authoritarian surveillance state, it is crystal clear that China doesn’t offer the same level of data protection as the EU,” said NOYB data protection lawyer Kleanthi Sardeli.
“Transferring Europeans’ personal data is clearly unlawful –- and must be terminated immediately,” Sardeli said according to a statement.
According to the privacy group, AliExpress, Shein, TikTok and Xiaomi “transfer data to China”, while Temu and WeChat mention transfers to “third countries.”
“As none of the companies responded adequately to the complainants’ access requests, we have to assume that this includes China,” the statement added. Noyb believes that “the rise of Chinese apps opens (up) a new front” for EU data protection law.
A spokesperson for Xiaomi said in a statement that the company was “aware” of the complaint and is “investigating the allegations made therein.”
“By complying with applicable local laws and regulations in the markets where Xiaomi operates, user data is stored and processed in accordance with local laws,” the statement added.
“In the event that a national data protection authority approaches Xiaomi in the future due to this complaint, we will fully cooperate with the authority to resolve the issue.”
TikTok declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
Noyb said it is seeking administrative fines of up to four percent of the companies’ global sales, which could amount to 1.35 billion euros ($1.39 billion) for Temu. (AFP) -
Bootleg alcohol claims lives of at least 30 people in Istanbul while dozens are hospitalized
ANKARA (TIP): At least 30 people have died in Istanbul over the past three days after drinking bootleg alcohol, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported on January 16, as authorities intensified a crackdown on counterfeit drinks.
The dead were among some 80 people who sought treatment in hospitals around Istanbul, Anadolu Agency reported. At least 31 patients were in intensive care units.
Deaths from counterfeit alcohol has become increasingly frequent in Turkey, where the prices of alcoholic beverages continue to rise. Many people, confronted with ever-increasing costs, resort to cheaper alternatives or homemade spirits, increasing the risk of poisoning from toxic substances. A combination of soaring inflation and government taxes has driven beverage prices to all-time highs.
On Wednesday, six people were detained for allegedly selling the counterfeit drinks while two other suspects were charged with “deliberate murder,” the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement.
Authorities also seized 29 tons of bootleg alcohol in raids around Istanbul since Jan. 1 and revoked the licenses of 64 businesses for allegedly selling counterfeit or smuggled alcohol, according to the statement.
“We consider those who cause the death of dozens of our citizens by producing or selling fake alcohol to be no different from the terrorists who kill people,” the statement said. (AP) -
Death toll rises to 87 as standoff between police and miners ends in South Africa
STILFONTEIN, (TIP): The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87, police said Thursday as they wound down a rescue operation that has pulled more than 240 survivors out from deep underground.
National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that 78 bodies were retrieved from the mine in an official rescue operation that began Monday, while another nine had been recovered previously. She did not give details on how those other bodies were retrieved.
Community groups have said they launched their own rescue attempts when authorities said last year they would not help the hundreds of miners because they were “criminals.” The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, although no causes of death have been released. South African authorities have been criticized for their approach, having cut off food and supplies to the miners for a period of time last year in an attempt, as one Cabinet minister said, to “smoke them out” of the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine. That tactic has been called “horrific” by one of South Africa’s biggest trade unions.
Police and the mine owners are also accused by community members and civic groups of taking away ropes and dismantling a pulley system the miners used to enter the mine through one shaft and send supplies down from the surface.
A court ordered authorities last year to allow food and water to be sent down to the miners, while another court ruling last week forced the government to launch a rescue operation.
Many say the unfolding disaster underground was clear weeks ago, when community members sporadically pulled decomposing bodies out of the mine, some with notes attached pleading for food to be sent down.
“If the police had acted earlier, we would not be in this situation, with bodies piling up,” said Johannes Qankase, a local community leader. “It is a disgrace for a constitutional democracy like ours. Somebody needs to account for what has happened here.”
He said he was saddened “seeing so many pathology vans coming to get bodies of dead people.”
South Africa’s second biggest political party, which is part of a government coalition, called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to establish an independent inquiry to find out “why the situation was allowed to get so badly out of hand.”
“The scale of the disaster underground at Buffelsfontein is rapidly proving to be as bad as feared,” the Democratic Alliance party said. (AP)
South Korea plane crash investigators find feathers in engines
SEOUL (TIP): Investigators probing the Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people last month have found feathers in both engines, according to South Korean media reports, with a bird strike being examined as one possible cause.
The Boeing 737-800 was flying from Thailand to Muan, South Korea, on December 29 carrying 181 passengers and crew when it belly-landed at Muan airport and exploded in a fireball after slamming into a concrete barrier. It was the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil. “Feathers were found in both engines,” the government-linked National Institute of Biological Resources told South Korean broadcaster MBN, without specifying who gave them the information. “We have completed the analysis of a total of 17 samples, including feathers and blood,” it said. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport declined to confirm the report when asked by AFP. -
Three lawyers of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny jailed by Russian court
PETUSHKI (TIP): Three lawyers who once represented the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were convicted by a court Friday as part of the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent that has reached levels unseen since Soviet times. Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser were already in custody and were given sentences from 3 1/2 to five years by a court in the town of Petushki, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Moscow.
They were arrested in October 2023 on charges of involvement with extremist groups, as Navalny’s networks were deemed by authorities.
The case was widely seen as a way to increase pressure on the opposition to discourage defense lawyers from taking political cases.
At the time, Navalny was serving a 19-year prison term on several criminal convictions, including extremism. He died in a Russian prison camp in February 2023.
The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Kobzev said in his final statement in court on Jan. 10 that “we are being tried for transmitting Navalny’s thoughts to other people.”
The independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported three journalists attending the sentencing were detained and taken to a police station.
Navalny’s networks were deemed extremist following a 2021 ruling that outlawed his organizations — the Foundation for Fighting Corruption and a network of regional offices — as extremist groups.
That ruling, which exposed anyone involved with the organizations to prosecution, was condemned by Kremlin critics as politically motivated and designed to stifle Navalny’s activities.
According to Navalny’s allies, authorities accused the lawyers of using their position to pass information from him to his team.
Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner and outspoken opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was arrested in 2021 upon his return from Germany, where he was recuperating from a nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. He was ordered to serve 2 1/2 years in prison.
After two more trials, his sentence was extended to 19 years. He and his allies said the charges were politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of seeking to jail him for life.
In December 2023, Navalny was moved from a penal colony in the Vladimir region east of Moscow to one above the Arctic Circle, where he died in February at the age of 47 under still-unexplained circumstances. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and members of his team alleged he was killed on orders from the Kremlin. Officials have rejected the accusation.
Two other Navalny lawyers, Olga Mikhailova and Alexander Fedulov, are on a wanted list but no longer live in Russia. Mikhailova, who defended Navalny for a decade, said she was charged in absentia with extremism.
Kobzev, Liptser and Sergunin have been deemed to be political prisoners, according to human rights advocates from Memorial, Russia’s most prominent rights group that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. The group demands their immediate release.
Independent Russian media reported Friday that Konstantin Kotov, an activist accused of donating to Navalny’s organization, left Russia before he was due to appear in a Moscow court Friday. He told Mediazona he decided to leave after a heart surgeon, Ivan Tishchenko, was jailed for four years for donating around $34 to Navalny’s organization. (AP) -
Impeached South Korean president arrives for arrest warrant hearing
Seoul (TIP): Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived at court for the first time Saturday to attend a hearing that will decide whether to extend his detention as investigators probe his failed martial law bid.
Yoon, who has claimed his arrest is illegal, threw the nation into chaos on December 3 when he attempted to suspend civilian rule, citing the need to combat threats from “anti-state elements”.
Yoon’s die-hard supporters gathered outside the court building Saturday, even trying to surround the blue van carrying the suspended leader, AFP reporters saw.
Yoon’s martial law bid lasted just six hours, with lawmakers voting it down despite the president ordering soldiers to storm parliament to stop them.
Yoon was subsequently impeached by parliament and resisted arrest for weeks, holed up in his guarded residence until he was finally detained Wednesday in a dawn raid.
South Korea’s first sitting president to be detained, Yoon has refused to cooperate during the initial 48 hours detectives were allowed to hold him.
But the disgraced president remains in custody after investigators requested a new warrant Friday to extend his detention.
A judge at Seoul Western District Court was set to review the request at a 2:00 pm (0500 GMT) hearing, with her decision expected Saturday night or early Sunday.
Before the hearing, Yoon’s lawyer Yoon Kab-keun told AFP the president would attend “with the intention of restoring his honour”.
If approved, the new warrant would likely extend Yoon’s detention by 20 days, giving prosecutors time to formalise an indictment.
The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) is probing Yoon for insurrection, a charge that could see him jailed for life or executed if found guilty.
– Detention silence –
Yoon said Wednesday he had agreed to leave his compound to avoid “bloodshed”, but that he did not accept the legality of the investigation.
His supporters have gathered in front of the court since Friday, holding South Korean and American flags and demanding judges dismiss the request to extend the president’s detention.
The court closed its entrance to the public Friday evening, citing safety concerns.
Yoon has refused to answer investigators’ questions, with his legal team saying the president explained his position when detained on Wednesday.
The president has also been absent from a parallel probe at the Constitutional Court, which is mulling whether to uphold his impeachment.
If the court rules against Yoon, he will lose the presidency and elections will be called within 60 days.
He did not attend the first two hearings this week, but the trial, which could last months, will continue in his absence.
Although Yoon won the presidential election in 2022, the opposition Democratic Party has a majority in parliament after winning legislative polls last year.
The Democratic Party has celebrated the president’s arrest, with a top official calling it “the first step” to restoring constitutional and legal order.
As challenges against the embattled leader mount, parliament passed a bill late Friday to launch a special counsel probe into Yoon over his failed martial law bid. (AFP) -
Sikh couple scales Mt Vinson, places Nishan Sahib at Antarctic peak
‘We view mountains as our teachers, imparting invaluable lessons about life’: Cheemas
MICHIGAN/CHANDIGARH (TIP): On January 7, when the clock struck 17.32, Sikh couple Harpreet Singh Cheema and Navneet Kaur Cheema from the US made a history by becoming the first to plant the Nishan Sahib at the summit of Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, and the sky echoed with the sound of “Bole So Nihal, Sat Shri Akal.’
On May 23, 2024, they reached Mount Everest (8848m), the world’s highest mountain. Both Harpreet and Navneet had set a goal to complete seven summits of the world together and since then, with great perseverance, they have been working to accomplish the same.
Their journey started when they first climbed 5,895 m high Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain in 2019. After that, they climbed Mt Elbrus in 2022, Mt Aconcagua in 2023, Mt Denali in 2023. Mt Puncak Jaya in Indonesia is the only one left. The couple has a Doaba connection as they got married in Hoshiarpur.
Sharing their experiences with The Tribune they said their passion for mountaineering began as an extension of their love for marathons, cycling and triathlons. “What started as a way to explore new challenges quickly grew into a deep love for the mountains and the tranquility of nature,” shared Harpreet who is working as senior vice-president of Strategy for Common Spirit Health, the second largest healthcare system in the US.
His wife, Navneet, is a computer Science Engineer working at Expedia Group (the largest online travel company).
The couple shared that climbing Mount Vinson was a test of endurance, demanding both physical and mental strength. In many ways, it felt like a mirror of Denali, one of the toughest of the seven summits, they said.
“The daily ascent of nearly 3,000 ft, carrying heavy backpacks and sleds weighing over 50 kg, requires extensive training and resilience. Throughout the challenge, the presence of Nishan Sahib was a constant source of strength,” the proud couple told The Tribune.
Reaching the top or achieving something big certainly doesn’t come easy. Climbing at such high altitudes carries significant risks, including the potential for injury, frostbite, and other unforeseen dangers. The couple shared their tough and emotional moments as well.
“While we have seen fellow climbers giving up on their summit bids because of severe frostbites, HAPE or HACE, witnessing death and bodies on Mt Everest sent shivers down our spines. Nearing the Hillary Step, we encountered a Kenyan triathlete and strong climber in distress. Sadly, he succumbed to exhaustion shortly after. Witnessing this loss was devastating,” they said.
It takes a lot to prepare to achieve such a feat. Their workouts are specifically designed to enhance rock climbing, core strength and hiking endurance.
For the couple, on Mt Everest, the seven weeks spent enduring extreme conditions were a true test of both mental and physical resilience. They faced the harshest environments, dealing with bacterial and viral infections, diarrhea and pneumonia. “At one point, I was on three different antibiotics and paracetamol tablets. Your mind screams to quit, your weakened body craves the comfort of home, but the key is mental strength — to resist the urge to give up, and outlast the weakness. It was Guru Nanak Dev’s teachings on resilience and strength that continued to inspire and guide them through every step of this extraordinary journey.
They have two children a 15-year-old daughter, Chaaniyaa Kaur Cheema and a 7-year-old son Huqmaay Singh Cheema. Both children enjoy hiking trips with their parents.
(Source: TNS) -
Indian Origin Sunita Williams steps out on spacewalk after 7 months in orbit
It was the first spacewalk by NASA astronauts since an aborted one last summer
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): One of NASA’s two stuck astronauts got a much welcomed change of scene on Thursday, January 16, stepping out on her first spacewalk since arriving at the International Space Station more than seven months ago. Indian-origin Sunita Williams, the station’s commander, had to tackle some overdue outdoor repair work alongside NASA’s Nick Hague. Plans called for Williams to float back out next week with Butch Wilmore.
Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule last June on what should have been a weeklong test flight. But Starliner trouble dragged out their return, and NASA ordered the capsule to come back empty. Then SpaceX delayed the launch of their replacements, meaning the two won’t be home until late March or early April—10 months after launching.
It was the first spacewalk by NASA astronauts since an aborted one last summer. US spacewalks were put on hold after water leaked into the airlock from the cooling loop for an astronaut’s suit. NASA said the problem had been fixed. This was the eighth spacewalk for Williams, who has lived on the space station before.
-
Indian American CEO Satya Nadella unveils new ‘AI habitat’ Microsoft 365 Copilot
SAN FRANCISCO (TIP): Microsoft has unveiled new AI-driven features for its Microsoft 365 suite on Wednesday, January 15 aiming to enhance user productivity and streamline workflows. In a LinkedIn post on Jan. 15, CEO Satya Nadella introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat, tools designed to integrate advanced AI capabilities directly into popular applications like Word, Excel, and Teams.
“This is a big step forward in making AI accessible to every employee in every business. It’s not just about having access to Copilot—it’s about unleashing a swarm of intelligent agents to supercharge your productivity and unlock the full ROI of AI,” said Nadella in a video introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat.
Nadella emphasized that these innovations are set to “transform work and unleash creativity,” highlighting the company’s commitment to leveraging AI to improve user experiences.
“We continue to rapidly add new capabilities like Copilot Actions to tackle people’s biggest pain points at work,” the company said in a statement.
The Copilot system combines large language models with user data from calendars, emails, and documents, enabling it to generate content, summarize information, and automate repetitive tasks.
Copilot Chat, a conversational AI assistant, allows users to interact with their data more naturally. By inputting commands or questions, users can receive detailed responses, insights, and suggestions, facilitating more efficient decision-making processes.
The Copilot Chat includes web-grounded chat with GPT-4o to do market research, write a strategy document, or prepare for a meeting. Using natural language, anyone can easily create agents to automate repetitive tasks and business processes—directly in Copilot Chat.
Copilot Chat also includes foundational capabilities of the Copilot Control System, including enterprise data protection (EDP) for data privacy and security and the ability to govern access and manage the usage and life cycle of Copilot and agents, as well as measurement and reporting.
These announcements align with Microsoft’s broader strategy to incorporate AI across its product lines, aiming to redefine the future of work by making sophisticated AI tools accessible to a wide range of users. -
Indian American venture capitalist Nisha Desai sues PayPal for racial discrimination
NEW YORK (TIP): Nisha Desai, an Indian American entrepreneur and the founder of Andav Capital, has filed a lawsuit against PayPal, alleging racial discrimination in its minority investment program. The case, brought before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, challenges the criteria of PayPal’s $530 million initiative launched in 2020 to support minority-owned businesses.
Desai contends that the program unfairly excluded her firm by prioritizing Black and Latino-owned investment funds. She alleges that this exclusion has caused her venture capital firm, which focuses on early-stage tech-enabled companies, to lose millions in potential investments. The lawsuit claims that PayPal’s actions violate anti-discrimination laws, including the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1964, as well as New York State and city human rights statutes.
“This case is about fairness and equality,” said Desai’s legal representatives at Consovoy McCarthy, a firm known for challenging diversity initiatives. Desai argues that the program’s focus on certain minority groups, to the exclusion of Asian Americans, represents unlawful racial bias.
Nisha Desai is a seasoned venture capitalist with a career spanning multiple industries. As the founder and General Partner of Andav Capital, her firm has invested in areas such as frictionless commerce, marketplaces, and enterprise software. Before establishing her firm, Desai held leadership roles at Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan, where she managed high-profile projects, including global restructuring programs and crisis management efforts.
Desai’s journey began as the daughter of Indian immigrants expelled from Uganda during Idi Amin’s regime. She pursued higher education, earning an MBA from The Wharton School and a B.S. with Honors in International Politics from Georgetown University. Desai is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and has been recognized as one of the “2021 FinTech Women Money Movers.”
In addition to her work in venture capital, Desai has contributed to the startup ecosystem as an advisor and mentor with organizations such as Techstars and Google for Startups. Her professional experience includes roles at Google, Sweetgreen, and as staff for civil rights leader Congressman John Lewis.
PayPal’s initiative was introduced in the wake of widespread calls for social justice following the death of George Floyd. The program aims to provide funding to minority-owned businesses. While the company has not commented on the pending litigation, the lawsuit has sparked broader discussions about the criteria and execution of corporate diversity programs.
Desai’s lawsuit seeks damages and injunctive relief, aiming to challenge what she views as a flawed and discriminatory approach to supporting minority businesses.
The case, which was widely reported by mainstream American media, has drawn attention to the debate on inequities in implementing diversity initiatives. -
Indian American Dr. Harsha Sahni loses medical license, faces prison for harboring undocumented women
TRENTON, NJ (TIP): Dr. Harsha Sahni, an Indian American rheumatologist from Colonia, New Jersey, has permanently lost her medical license and is facing a 27-month federal prison sentence for harboring two undocumented women from India as household servants for low wages.
The New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners announced the revocation of Dr. Sahni’s license on Wednesday following her guilty plea earlier this year to charges of conspiracy and filing a false tax return. Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin called Sahni’s actions a betrayal of her professional and ethical responsibilities.
Dr. Sahni’s license had been suspended since September 2023. The State Board determined that her actions, which included exploiting vulnerable women and evading taxes, demonstrated a severe lack of judgment and moral character.
In a Verified Complaint and other documents filed with the Board, the State alleged that Sahni required Victim 1, who resided in the doctor’s home, to work from approximately 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. for roughly $240 to $600 a month, which Sahni paid to Victim 1’s family in India.
Additionally, the State alleged that Sahni defrauded various entities into providing free and reduced-cost medical care to Victim 1.
In 2016, Sahni falsely claimed that Victim 1 had been abused by her husband to scam a domestic violence charity into providing Victim 1 with free dental treatment. Knowing that Victim 1 could not speak, read, or write English, Sahni allegedly completed the entire charity application form, including those portions which were to be completed and verified by the patient.
Sahni identified herself as a medical professional on the charity’s “Advocate Form,” listing her medical office’s address and phone number, and signing a certification confirming that she believed Victim 1’s dental problems were the result of domestic violence. Based upon the application allegedly falsely certified by Sahni, Victim 1 was treated by a volunteer dentist who was not compensated for his work. The value of the donated services was $6,000.
Sahni allegedly misrepresented Victim 1’s income, housing, and employment status, resulting in Victim 1 receiving services for a reduced fee from another charity.
Sahni also allegedly prevented Victim 1 from receiving treatment for a life-threatening brain aneurysm. According to the Verified Complaint, when Victim 1 began developing headaches following an auto accident in 2014, Sahni told the woman that rest was not permitted and if Victim 1 had a headache she should take Tylenol and complete her work. As the headaches worsened, Sahni allegedly told Victim 1 that seeing a doctor would be too expensive and since Victim 1 did not have any paperwork showing she was in the United States legally, she could not be treated.
Sahni allegedly treated Victim 1’s increasingly severe headaches with Tylenol and unidentified pain medications until 2021, when the headaches became debilitating and threatened to keep Victim 1 from performing her daily work. At this time, Sahni finally brought Victim 1 to an emergency room where she falsely presented herself as Victim 1’s sister and served as her translator, according to allegations contained in the Verified Complaint.
When a CT scan of Victim 1’s head revealed an unruptured aneurysm in her brain, doctors advised Victim 1—through Sahni—that immediate surgery was indicated and that failure to do so could lead to Victim 1’s death.
The State alleged that even with her medical knowledge and sworn Hippocratic oath, Sahni put her own needs before a medically compromised person by encouraging Victim 1 to leave the hospital against medical advice. Once home, Sahni allegedly required Victim 1 to work the rest of the evening, completing her regular tasks.
Sahni was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner in Trenton federal court on October 28, 2024. In addition to the prison term, Judge Castner sentenced Sahni to two years of supervised release and ordered restitution of $728,327. Sahni must also pay up to $200,000 for specific medical bills. -
Indian origin British MP renews UK Parliament call for Bluestar probe
LONDON (TIP): British Sikh Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has renewed his call in the House of Commons for an independent inquiry into the extent of the involvement of the then Margaret Thatcher-led Conservative government in Operation Bluestar in June 1984.
The MP from Slough in south-east England called on the Labour Party government elected last year to launch the probe after previous Tory governments had “tried to brush the issue under the carpet.”
In response to his parliamentary intervention on Thursday, Leader of the Commons Lucy Powell agreed it was a matter of “great importance to the Sikh community in the UK.”
“In 1984, the global Sikh community suffered catastrophic collective trauma when the then Indian government ordered the storming of the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, which led to devastating destruction and bloodshed, with thousands of innocent people losing their lives,” said Dhesi.
“Thirty years later, to our shock, new documents exposed that the Thatcher government had helped their Indian counterpart by providing advice prior to that military operation. In its pursuit for the truth and transparency, the British Sikh community duly launched a campaign for an independent inquiry to establish the extent of that involvement,” he said.
“While previous Conservative governments have tried to brush the issue under the carpet, Sikhs expected the new Labour government to establish that promised independent inquiry. When will that be initiated?” he questioned.
The first demand for an independent inquiry arose a few years ago when it emerged that British military advice was given to Indian forces before Operation Bluestar. The then British Prime Minister, David Cameron, had ordered an internal review into this discovery, which led to a statement in Parliament declaring that Britain’s role had been purely “advisory” and the Special Air Service advice had “limited impact” on Operation Bluestar.
Dhesi has previously also raised the issue in Parliament and last week Powell said he was “absolutely right” to continue to raise it on behalf of the country’s Sikh community.
“We need to get to the bottom of what happened, and I will ensure that the ministers responsible are in touch with him to discuss the matter further,” she said.
-
BAPS Hindu Mandir in Los Angeles mobilizes for Los Angeles Wildfires; donates thousands of items across 15 shelters and resource centers
LOS ANGELES, CA (TIP): As the Palisades, Eaton and other fires continue to devastate communities across the Los Angeles area, the BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Mandir through its charitable arm BAPS Charities, has stepped forward to provide critical relief and recovery support to thousands of displaced families. In collaboration with local authorities, emergency response teams, and mutual aid organizations, BAPS Charities is ensuring that aid reaches those who need it most.
Among the dedicated volunteers leading the charge are Yogin Patel and his wife, Hetal Patel—evacuees from Pasadena themselves. Despite being displaced by the fires, they have channeled their energy into helping others in need.
“We know firsthand how overwhelming it feels to leave everything behind,” said Yogin Patel. “That’s why we wanted to give back. Volunteering with BAPS and BAPS Charities has allowed us to turn our personal challenge into a way to support others.”
Hetal Patel shared, “Even though we are facing uncertainty, it gives us strength to be part of something bigger. Every supply delivered, every person helped, is a step closer to rebuilding our community.”
Since the fires erupted, within 24 hours BAPS Charities launched its #SOCALSTRONG relief efforts and deployed teams of volunteers to procure and deploy essential supplies to resource hubs, evacuation centers, and first responders. BAPS Charities also dispatch volunteers to the field to support shelters and organizations in their efforts. To further amplify efforts, BAPS Charities has conducted a “Wildfire Donation & Volunteer Drive” on Saturday, January 11, 2025, at its Los Angeles headquarters at the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Chino Hills, CA. In addition to procuring items, community members donated thousands of high-priority items. Since January 9th, the BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Mandir through its charitable arm BAPS Charities, has donated the following items to 15 shelters and resource centers in the Los Angeles and Pasadena/Altadena area:
“The road to recovery will be long, but standing together as a community makes it possible,” said Yogin Patel. “The BAPS Hindu Mandir and BAPS Charities embody that spirit of unity and service, and we’re proud to be part of this effort.”Donations were made across 15 sites in the Los Angeles, Pasadena and Altadena area. Donation sites include: It’s Bigger Than Us, Pasadena Convention Center, Nativo, The Good Karma Los Angeles, Dena Donation Center, Inner City Struggle, Los Angeles City Council Distribution Center, NoRes Gourmet, Holy Assembly Church, West Angeles Church, Tarzana Fire Station, Snoop Dogg’s Snoopy Clothing Store Distribution Center, Los Angeles County Altadena Drive, Friendship Church, Altadena Girls, East Valley YMCA, Westchester Los Angeles City Council Distribution Center.
BAPS Charities urges the community to join the relief efforts by donating or volunteering. Contributions will directly support the purchase of critical supplies and long-term recovery efforts for wildfire victims and first responders.
Visit bapscharities.org/socalstrong to make a donation or learn more about upcoming initiatives.
About BAPS Charities Los Angeles
BAPS Charities is the charitable arm of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (LA Hindu Temple) in Chino Hills, CA off the 71 freeway. Working in five key areas, BAPS Charities aims to express a spirit of selfless service through Health Awareness, Educational Services, Humanitarian Relief, Environmental Protection & Preservation, and Community Empowerment. For more about our work in the Los Angeles Area, please visit https://www.bapscharities.org/usa/losangeles/ or follow us on social media @bapslosangeles
-
Battery Dance gets NEA Grant
NEW YORK (TIP): Battery Dance announced that it is thrilled to announce a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts supporting the 44th annual Battery Dance Festival, August 12-16, at Rockefeller Park. The Battery Dance Festival is New York City’s longest-running free public dance festival, drawing a combined audience of over 12,000 in-person and over 35,000 virtual viewers each year.
-
AAPI’s Share-the-Warmth Program to Bring Comfort to the Needy
CHICAGO, IL (TIP): “Continuing the tradition of providing comfort and warmth to the needy and the homeless in the United States during this winter season, with the overwhelming support from dozens of Chapters, we at the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) are relaunching the Share-the-Warmth program that will benefit thousands of people across the nation through the generosity of AAPI members, ” Dr. Satheesh Kathula, President of AAPI said.
For several years, AAPI at the national level and various local Chapters at the state levels have been jointly leading efforts to bring warmth and comfort into the lives of the needy across the United States. Launched in 2019, this noble initiative has now become an annual tradition of giving by AAPI to local communities. AAPI’s “Share-The-Warmth” project has donated thousands of blankets to the poor and the needy in several homeless shelters across the nation every year.
“We are immensely happy to state that our AAPI’s ‘SHARE THE WARMTH’ program has been highly successful this year,” said Dr. Raghu Lolabhattu, Chair, Share-The-Warmth program. “Holiday season is here again! Time to care and share again!! Last few years AAPI along with several local chapters and some of our members made tremendous effort and helped numerous needy people by DONATING A BLANKET and proud to say that this was very well received by the targeted communities.”
Dr. Malti Mehta, Co-Chair of the Share-the-Warmth program said, “AAPI launched the Share-A-Blanket project in 2019 during the presidency of Dr. Suresh Reddy to bring warmth to the needy around the nation. Dr. Binod Sinha, founder President of AAPI Chapter in New Jersey organized and conducted it successfully that year, and since then it has been held annually by AAPI and local Chapters of AAPI.”
Praising the concerted efforts of several other AAPI Chapters, Dr. Lolabhattu said, “I am happy to share those thousands of homeless and other needy citizens benefited from this program in the past. Hence this year, AAPI as an organization under the leadership of our President Dr. Satheesh Kathula wants to continue this ongoing and much needed tradition.”
“We at AAPI are extremely grateful for the opportunities we have been blessed with to serve the communities we live in and work in,” said Dr. Sunil Kaza, Chair of APPI BOT. “As a token of our appreciation and gratitude, we believe we are happy to be able to give back and serve the less fortunate in our society in times of their need.”
“This has been a one-of-a-kind experience for the teams of physicians and young volunteers alike who have generously volunteered their time and resources to bring joy to the less fortunate. I want to thank all the State Chapter leaders for their commitment and their enthusiastic participation,” said Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, President-Elect of AAPI.
“Realizing how this initiative benefits several needy in the community, gives us the motivation to organize many such events and give back to the local community. We are very happy to say that the purpose of the program has been accomplished by AAPI working with so many state Chapters and hope more things will happen in the future,” Dr. Meher Medavaran, Vice President of AAPI said.
Dr. Raj Bhayani, Secretary of AAPI urged “all AAPI members to make this program a grand success and make AAPI and our local organizations proud. We request that every one of you make a generous donation for this fund and your contribution would surely give a great comfort to a needed person.” Dr. Bhayani expressed his appreciation and gratitude to “Mr. Steven M. Fulop, the Mayor of Jersey City in the state of New Jersey, who will join in with the New Jersey Chapter of AAPI in our annual Blanket Donation Drive this year.”
“After experiencing the generosity of AAPI members, we strongly feel that we can accomplish much more with support and participation from all our AAPI physicians led by the local Chapters,” said Dr. Shirish Patel, Treasurer of AAPI.
Dr. Kathula, while expressing gratitude and appreciation to the AAPI Chapters for organizing the Drives around the nation, said, “Knowing that such measures benefit several needy in the community gives us the motivation to organize more such events and give back to the local communities where we live and serve. We strongly feel that we can make more such accomplishments with support and participation from all our generous AAPI physicians.”
American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), founded in 1982 is the largest ethnic medical organization in the United States, representing the interests of over 120,000 physicians of Indian origin. In addition to several programs in India, AAPI has been in the forefront, advocating for the interests of the medical fraternity and organizing regular CME programs, health & wellness events, and financial workshops for its members and outreach, public health education, and advocacy activities for the community both locally and internationally. For more details and to join the Share-A-Blanket Drive in your state/community, please visit: www.aapiusa.org
-
Haven’t decided on post-inauguration Chicago raids, Homan says
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): President-elect Donald Trump’s handpicked “border czar” Tom Homan said in an interview Saturday, January 18, that the incoming administration is reconsidering whether to launch immigration raids in Chicago next week after preliminary details leaked out in news reports, the Washington Post reports.
Homan, the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Washington Post that the new administration “hasn’t made a decision yet.”
“We’re looking at this leak and will make a decision based on this leak,” Homan said. “It’s unfortunate because anyone leaking law enforcement operations puts officers at greater risk.”
ICE has been planning a large operation in the Chicago area for next week that would start after Inauguration Day and would bring in additional officers to ramp up arrests, according to two current federal officials and a former official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal law enforcement planning.
Homan said he did not know why Chicago “became a focus of attention” and said the incoming administration’s enforcement goals are much broader than one city.
“ICE will start arresting public safety threats and national security threats on day one,” he said. “We’ll be arresting people across the country, uninhibited by any prior administration guidelines. Why Chicago was mentioned specifically, I don’t know.”
“This is nationwide thing,” he added. “We’re not sweeping neighborhoods. We have a targeted enforcement plan.”
The seesawing reports of possible raids in Chicago can stir up fears that advance the administration’s broader enforcement goals, even if operations are postponed or shifted to other cities. Homan and other Trump aides say they want immigrants living in the United States illegally to once more fear arrest and choose to leave the country on their own, or “self-deport.”
All administrations have made arresting criminals a top priority, and ICE officer teams typically develop target lists of immigrants who have disregarded deportation orders. Officers may also arrest other immigrants who cannot prove they have legal status, a tactic the agency refers to as “collateral arrests.” Biden largely banned such arrests in hopes that Congress would pass a law-making undocumented immigrants eligible for citizenship.
Despite Homan’s protestations, he and other incoming Trump officials have said repeatedly that they are planning to immediately switch into enforcement mode, and that any of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States illegally could be a target.
The Wall Street Journal, which was first to report on the possible raid, wrote that Homan said at a holiday party last month in Chicago that the administration would start raids “right here” and threatened to prosecute Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) for harboring undocumented immigrants if he got in the way.
Homan declined to confirm details about a possible deployment in Chicago and said operational plans are left up to regional ICE offices. It would be unusual for an administration to be involved in law enforcement planning operations before the presidential transition is complete, though Homan acknowledged he has engaged in some preliminary discussions about enforcement.
“We just told them: Put your boots on,” Homan said.
News of next week’s raids leaked after the Chicago City Council decisively rejected an effort to allow city police to cooperate with immigration enforcement. “We intend to stand by and protect Chicago’s immigrant communities against threats from ICE,” Johnson said Wednesday after the vote. In a television appearance on Friday, Fox News host Jesse Watters asked Homan if he was “blowing your cover” by asking him about a “big raid” planned for Chicago next week.
“Or do you want people to know?” Watters mused. “Maybe they can self-deport?”
“There’s going to be a big raid all across the country. Chicago is just one of many places,” Homan said with a short laugh. “ICE is finally going to do their job. We’re going to take the handcuffs off of ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens. That’s what’s going to happen.”
Homan was one of the nation’s most strident critics against advertising immigration raids ahead of time under the Trump administration in 2018. He called the Oakland, California, mayor “reckless” and “irresponsible” for alerting city residents that ICE was planning a raid when he was the agency’s deputy director. He noted then that after the report leaked, ICE made 150 arrests but were still missing 864 fugitives.
John Sandweg, an acting director for ICE during the Obama administration, said he was surprised to see discussion of the operations ahead of time.
“Historically this is something we kept very close wraps on for officer safety reasons,” he said, adding that fugitives “start hiding. It completely undermines the effectiveness of the operation by telegraphing that you’re coming.”
He said it is also unusual for ICE to start planning an operation before the new leadership is sworn in. Official policies remain under Biden’s control, and he has barred immigration agents from arresting people merely because they are undocumented, preferring to focus on serious offenders and recent border crossers.
“It’s incredibly unusual. This isn’t like policymaking or briefings, the normal stuff you see in transition,” Sandweg said. “This is an actual operational planning for an operation to take place on the first day of an administration. That’s weird.”
ICE typically arrests immigrants on civil immigration charges after local police have taken them into custody for a crime. Immigration officials prefer this approach because it gives them a better chance of finding possible threats to public safety, and because it is safer for an officer to arrest someone inside of a jail than out on the street.
Illinois is one of several states that fall under the supervision of ICE’s Chicago field office, and the state has passed laws severely restricting police cooperation with ICE.
Chicago City Council members Raymond Lopez and Silvana Tabares, both Democrats, sought to pass a measure Wednesday that would have allowed police to work with ICE to deport some criminals. Lopez did not respond to an interview request, but in a letter to the Chicago Tribune, he said that helping federal agents detain criminals could help protect other undocumented immigrants from harm. “Would it not keep thousands more safe from being collateral captures of the Trump administration?” he wrote. “I believe so. So does Homan. That is exactly what he stated to me when we met in December.”
Advocates in Chicago said rumors of raids began circulating on social media Wednesday. A Spanish-language post in WhatsApp groups warned that a “trusted source” had confirmed that ICE would be “patrolling” the city from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Inauguration Day and the next day to “detain people heading to work or home.”
“We wrestled with whether to share it,” said Eréndira Rendón, vice president of immigrant justice for the Resurrection Project, who noticed fewer people out shopping in her neighborhood after the rumors began. “We anticipated Chicago would be a target, but the message is the same: ‘You should be as prepared as possible.’”
(Source: Washington Post)