The Indian Panorama

Tag: Canada

  • Auto parts industry attracts heavy online traffic: Study

    Auto parts industry attracts heavy online traffic: Study

    Is among the top three sectors on B2B site in terms of the number of buyers it attracted
    from developed and developing countries

    NEW DELHI (TIP): A report by IndiaMART.com, one of India’s largest online B2B marketplaces, has found that the SME-dominated automotive sector is among the top three sectors on the site in terms of the number of buyers it attracted from other countries, both developed and developing. The report, The Automotive Components Sector, reveals that the US emerged as one of the leading countries in terms of the number of its buyers visiting IndiaMART.com’s automotive category for their sourcing requirements — 12.8 per cent of its total buyers did so.

    Over one million SMEs from sectors such as auto components, apparel and fashion accessories, engineering and industrial, home decor, and others are registered with IndiaMART.com, which acts as a B2B matchmaking platform for these suppliers and helps them generate leads from over five million buyers from across the globe.

    Asian countries are also key buyers for auto products from India. The portal’s automotive category had visits from buyers based in Pakistan (8.2 per cent), China (7.6 per cent), Malaysia (7.3 per cent) and Bangladesh (7.2 per cent). Buyers from India alone accounted for 28.3 per cent of online visitors for auto parts.

    The sector also attracted 6.8 per cent of the total buyers from the UK, followed by 6.5 per cent of Canadian buyers, 6.4 per cent of buyers from Germany, and 6.3 per cent of Australian buyers. Other countries from where buyers showed interest in online sourcing of auto components were the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran.

    The importance of the automotive sector was also indicated by the number of suppliers from this sector as a proportion of the total number of suppliers from each key country.

    At the top was Canada, 13.8 per cent of whose registered vendors were from the auto parts sector, followed by Denmark (12.3 per cent), China (12.1 per cent), Australia (7.4 per cent), France and Germany. The report reveals that the most popular product searches were for air pollution control devices, fuel injection parts, digital tachometers, security gadgets, gear parts, and car cables. Information on “buy leads” – buyers’ sourcing inquiries that are aggregated by IndiaMART.com and purchased by interested suppliers, who then contact potential buyers to generate business – reveals that the most number come from Maharashtra, which contributes 25.6 per cent of the total buy leads generated in India.

  • Afghan burqa opponent wins ‘alternative Nobel’

    Afghan burqa opponent wins ‘alternative Nobel’

    STOCKHOLM (TIP): Afghan human rights activist, ex-minister and burqa opponent Sima Samar on Thursday won the Swedish Right Livelihood Award honouring those who work to improve the lives of others. Samar, 55, was honoured “for her longstanding and courageous dedication to human rights, especially the rights of women, in one of the most complex and dangerous regions in the world”, the jury said.

    A doctor by training, she fled to Pakistan in 1984 when her husband disappeared following arrest by Afghanistan’s communist regime. She returned in 2001 to become the first minister of women’s affairs, but had to resign after six months after she criticized sharia law in an interview in Canada. She was in 2002 named the head of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which she still leads.

    Samar shares award with US political theorist Gene Sharp, 84, whom the jury described as “the world’s foremost expert on non-violent revolution”, and Campaign Against Arms Trade, a NGOcompaigning for an end to British arms exports.

    An honorary prize was awarded to 90-year-old Hayrettin Karaca, “considered the grandfather of the Turkish environmental movement,” the jury said.

    Swedish-German philatelist Jakob von Uexkull founded the donor-funded prize in 1980 after the Nobel Foundation refused to create awards honouring efforts in the fields of the environment and international development.

    The three winners share the prize sum of $193,000.

  • Flushing Saibaba temple to hold Gita discoursea

    Flushing Saibaba temple to hold Gita discoursea

    NEW YORK (TIP): The Saibaba temple on Robinson Street in Flushing, Queens is organizing a program on the Bhagavad-Gita on September 22, according to information given out by the temple management.

    The discourse will be given by Swami Bodhananda Saraswati, the spiritual founder-director of the Sambodh Society, which is incorporated in the US.

    The swami is popular both in the US and India, and has written commentaries and delivered spiritual talks focusing on the Gita and other holy texts. He was born in Mattatur, Kerala, about 50 kilometers from Kalady village, the birthplace of Adi Sankaracharya-the great Indian philosopher of the Eighth Century and the best-known exponent of the Advaita philosophy. The swami has been spiritually inclined since his childhood and decided to lead a life of sanyasi in later years. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Christ College, Irinjalkuda, Kerala. It was during the time when he was studying for his master’s that the swami decided to take the spiritual plunge.

    The swami began his spiritual journey to the US in 1997. New York was one of his first stops, along with Michigan, Illinois and California. After that visit the swami and his disciples incorporated The Sambodh Society, a non-profit and religious, charitable organization to teach meditation and vedanta to Indian-Americans and Americans at large.
    Since that first visit to the US, the swami has visited the country every year. Aside from his teachings to the public, the swami taught himself about the culture and traditions of different peoples of the New World through reading and observing.

    The year 2000 was a turning point when the swami made his most extensive tour of the US and Canada visiting devotees in more than 25 cities. In November a 32-acre parcel of land near Kalamazoo, Michigan, was bought on which the swami’s first center and headquarters in the US was set up.

    The swami gave discourses not only in Hindu temples, but also in Christian churches. Libraries, homes, workplaces and educational institutions have also played host to his spiritual talks, which generally focus on the Gita and the Upanishads.

    At the Saibaba temple in Flushing, the swami will speak on the Gita and answer queries of devotees with his engaging conversation laced with lively humor. He will also talk about applying the age-old tenets in the holy book to the modern-day context. The program is scheduled for Saturday, September 22 in the afternoon/evening.

    The two-session program begins at 4:30PM with a half-hour break at 6:30PM, according to the temple.

  • Indian American director’s thriller wins another US

    Indian American director’s thriller wins another US

    Washington (TIP): “9 Eleven”, a Bollywood-style thriller by Indian American director Manan Singh Katohara, has won the Best Narrative Feature Award at the 2012 Third World Independent Film Festival (TWIFF).

    The San Francisco festival celebrates established and emerging filmmakers from third world countries and filmmakers from developed countries whose topics deal with issues of the developing world.

    The film, which earlier won the Best Feature and Best Director awards at the 2012 World Music & Independent Film Festival (WMIFF) in Washington, is set for its West coast premiere Sep 22.

    Written and directed by Katohora, who also won the 2012 Rising Star Award for the film at Canada International Film Festival, the fast paced thriller with undertones of terrorism, poses the question how does one survive collectively in meeting the growing phenomenon of terrorism head on.

    It portrays the life of 11 people terrorised to the core by an unknown entity in an unfamiliar place. Each individual is petrified and is hesitant to talk or take each other into confidence for one simple reason: The fear of the unknown!
    Earlier “9 Eleven” won the Best Feature Film award at the Peoples Film Festival (TPFF) in New York showcasing extraordinary films using different media formats.

    Silicon India has listed it as one of the 10 outstanding movies by Indian American filmmakers.

  • As I See It: PHASING OUT CANADIAN STUDIES PROGRAM

    As I See It: PHASING OUT CANADIAN STUDIES PROGRAM

    Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) has lately announced that it will phase out the funding for the International Canadian Studies program, which lasted for about forty years. I received this announcement with mixed feelings.

    I strongly believe that instead of phasing it out, its money should be channeled into other programs. The five million dollars that Canada invests every year in Canadian Studies programs in 55 countries is a huge amount that can be used in better ways to promote Canadian Literature abroad.

    Before touching the issue of better ways, I would like to say something about myself and personal experiences.
    I am an Indo/Canadian writer who has been in Canada for the last about fifty years. Since 2010, I have been to India thrice on the invitations of two or more universities, each time as a special guest at their national and international conferences of teachers of English at college and university levels. In those conferences, I met knowledgeable lecturers and professors. Once within India, I was invited further usually by more campuses to talk to their students at the master’s level where their teachers and scholars at the doctorate level were also present. I was also a paid life member of the Indian Association of Canadian Studies. I am convinced that I am in a position to state my observations about the impact of International Canadian Studies program in India.

    I support the decision of Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) because I had frustrated experiences where the Canadian Studies existed. On the other hand, I had positive experiences where the Canadian Studies did not exist. I can share those experiences if anyone would like to know.

    I believe that the program should be phased out in its present structure, but not its money. I would suggest channeling its money to other related programs because the Canadian Studies Program did not work as it was expected. This program has given rise to politics among some university teachers who look for positions in associations related to Canadian Studies to travel abroad to attend meetings. Those days when elections for office bearers took place were horse trading gatherings.

    To get better results, this money should be used to sponsor Canadian authors widely for literary tours abroad, and for more translation grants to foreign book publishers. I would suggest that:

    1. Canadians who are invited abroad by at least two universities in one tour should be sponsored with only to and fro air tickets and some travel allowance. Once the invitee is in a foreign land, most domestic expenses should be met by the host organizations. It would help authors more than the present Canadian Studies program did.

    2. Canadian universities should be encouraged more to give grants to foreign students to study Canadian literature. Any grant given to foreign students remains within the country.

    3. More funds should be available to foreign book publishers to translate and sell Canadian authors in their languages, and to attend foreign book fairs. It should be based on cost sharing.

    I would like to repeat that the International Canadian Studies Program has given rise to filthy politics among university teachers in India. I heard that the Indian Association of Canadian Studies has been split into two factions and both claim to be the real representative of Canadian Studies Program. This has less to do with Canadian Studies and more with dollars and going abroad for official meetings. Some universities which had Canadian Studies refused to buy Canadian authored books because they received them free from the Canadian Government. It certainly did not create awareness about Canadian Literature, considering the amount that was spent. The money would be used more fruitfully if Canadian authors are widely and partly sponsored to visit universities abroad. Also, more incentive should be made available in the form of translation grants to foreign publishers.

    It is notable that overseas literary tours and translation grants are available in some shape even now. However, it is shrouded in mystery that who gets benefits and how often they have been benefited. I would suggest that the overseas literary tours should be handled also by organizations like the Writers Union of Canada for their members. I would also suggest that the present Canadian reading program handled also by the Writers Union of Canada should include the entire North America.

    ( The author is an eminent writer and has written a number of books, most of them literary. More information on him can be obtained from www.stephengillcriticism.info; )

  • Renita Bakshi receives the “Best President” Award

    Renita Bakshi receives the “Best President” Award

    Renita was presented the award by the world acclaimed innovator, Sam Pitroda

    NEW YORK (TIP): New York based Renita Bakshi, the Co-President of Network of Indian Professionals New York 2012 (NetIP-NY) was recognized as the “Best President-Large City” and “Best Officer” out of 20 chapters and 167 officers that are a part of the Network of Indian Professionals across North America. Renita was presented the award by the world acclaimed innovator, Sam Pitroda. Renita has been instrumental in revitalizing and rebranding the New York chapter. When she had stepped up to the Co-President role in January, the chapter was on the verge of collapsing. Since then Renita has more than tripled the number of paid members for the chapter and is hosting four events a month. She is focused on making the NetIP-NY the premier professional networking organization out there that unites the community to create an impact.

    Under Renita’s leadership, NetIP-NY has introduced some fantastic initiatives that include NY’s first everyearlong charity campaign in partnership with UNICEF’s School’s for Asia program to raise funds to build educational environments for children in need. The chapter has re-strategized its efforts with regards to pillar-focused events. NetIP-NY is partnering with established professional development organizations such as SAMBA (South Asian MBA Association) and TIE NYC (The Indus Entrepreneurs’) to help attendees build lasting business relationships. Furthermore, NetIP-NY is dedicated towards educating the community about how political decisions can impact their lives and what this year’s elections will mean. The political awareness series was launched with Preet Bharara , the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in a conversation about ethics.

    About NetIP

    The Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP) is a professional, non-profit organization dedicated to the overall achievement and advancement of South Asian professionals. The primary focus of the organization is to foster a bond among South Asian professionals to unite and support each other locally, as well as to give back and contribute positively to the communities in which they live and work. Today, the organization includes over 5,000 members and more than 40,000 subscribers in 24 cities across United States and Canada. NetIP has become a premier networking brand over the years. It is the unequivocal voice for an emerging group of South Asians who excel in every aspect of western society, from business to politics to the arts. The rise of NetIP and its affiliated chapters reflects a general “Coming of Age” by South Asian professionals.

    For more information
    visit www.newyork.netip.org or contact Renita Bakshi at president@netip-ny.org
    (Based on Press Release)