NEW DELHI (TIP): An American news satire website’s play of words and comment on the security of women in India, and particularly in Assam, has evoked sharp criticism from netizens. Social media is abuzz with reactions – many believing the satire to be “true news” – after the website published a report headlined, ‘The Assam Rape Festival In India Begins This Week’ on November 3. The report, first published on NationalReport.net, which claims to be America’s Number 1 independent news team, was widely shared on social media. The report was later picked up by many websites and forums. With the frenzy snowballing, a few others tried to explain that the report was indeed a satire although it was not written anywhere on the website that it publishes fake news. On Thursday, Assam criminal investigation department registered a suo motu case against the website for posting the defamatory article. Commenting on Facebook, Arindom Phukan pointed out that the website had nowhere mentioned that the story was a satire. Ironically, the report was shared more than 89,500 times on Facebook and around 1,000 times on Twitter. “Men in India are already beginning to celebrate as the annual Assam Rape Festival is just days away. Every non-married girl age 7-16 will have the chance to flee to safety or get raped,” the write-up said. Commenting on the post, one Terrance believed that the report was true and went on to write, “India is always raping something. Makes me sick!” Cursing the male gender, one Hannah wrote, “God have mercy on these innocent women… what kind of tradition is this. All you have to know is that God is watching you and you are going to pay for your sins.”
Tag: Facebook
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US firm to launch outcomebased learning in India
CLEVELAND (TIP): People Educating Society (PES) in Karnataka, an educational conglomerate with universities, colleges and high schools has chosen USA Cleveland-based Club VA Social Enterprise Platform to implement outcome-based learning methodology and also to link faculty, students, industry and alumna under one web based platform. The platform will assist in assessment of students and teachers, evaluation and recruitment of students for jobs to enable the group to become a leader in the education field, said Sudhir Achar CEO of Vantage Agora in Cleveland, Ohio. To help achieve this target PES has engaged with Vantage Agora (VA) and the programs will be implemented in the Club VA platform for all their campuses. Ajoy Kumar COO, PES Educations said, “We have a vision to become the top educational and research institution. To enable this we need a collaborative and contextual platform to control and execute our vision. We believe the new entity PES Chronicles will enable us to get there.
The goal is to use Club VA and create a new way of thinking based on outcome-based learning.” PES Chronicles (Club VA) will be the system of control that will help management, faculty, students, alumni, industry all be on the same platform to share and collaborate information in a way that has never been done before in the industry anywhere in the world, said Sudhir Achar. In 1972, PES was founded with just over 40 students in a rented gymnasium at Bangalore. Today, PES has more than 8,000 students spread across three different campuses. Club VA is a secure informationcentric platform architected to accelerate operational excellence through corporate social collaboration, helping companies become a learning organization. Club VA offers integrated communication harnessing the power of controlled social networking and uses consumer software like Facebook and Twitter, but is designed for company collaboration, file sharing, and knowledge exchange and team efficiency, Achar said. In the high-octane world of modern business, the idea is simple enough by implementing practices that help employees feel confident, capable, and in control of the outcome of their work, they feel empowered to do that work effectively and without excessive oversight or micromanagement. Ideally, this ensures commitment to the company’s core mission and vision, which results in greater productivity over the long term, Achar said.
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Indian American Actor Vivek Shah jailed for 7 Years for Extorting Hollywood Movie magnate Harvey Weinstein
LOS ANGELES (TIP): Indian American actor Vivek Shah, who sent extortion threats to several high-profile people including Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, has been sentenced to seven years and three months in prison. The 26-year-old actor, who did small roles in television series “Outsourced” and “Bones,” as well as romantic comedy “Our Family Weddings,” was arrested in August 2012 for threatening to kill relatives of several prominent businessmen unless they wired money to an offshore account. The West Hollywood-based Shah had hoped to raise $120 million through his elaborate extortion bid. Besides Weinstein, he targeted Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh, Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky, Playtone owner Gary Goetzman, oil heiress Dannine Avara and Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula. Shah pleaded guilty in May to one count of transferring threatening communications in interstate commerce and seven counts of mailing or sending threatening communications through the mail, said the Hollywood Reporter. “Imagine how terrifying it would be to open the mail and find a threat to kill your spouse or your children,” Attorney Booth Goodwin said in a release. “This defendant carried out a carefully-planned scheme designed to frighten his victims out of more than $120 million. It was an extraordinarily brazen crime and I’m pleased, for the victims’ sake, that we were able to put a stop to it so quickly,” Goodwin added.Shah’s Facebook page showed photos of him posing with Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise and Sofia Vergara.
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Shooting at US Navy yard: Gunman’s mother apologizes to victims
WASHINGTON (TIP): The mother of the gunman who shot dead 12 people at a US navy base this week said september 19, she doesn’t know why Aaron Alexis opened fire, but she is glad he can no longer hurt anyone else. Cathleen Alexis read a brief statement inside her New York home, her voice shaking. She did not want to appear on camera and did not take questions. “I don’t know why he did what he did, and I’ll never be able to ask him why. Aaron is now in a place where he can no longer do harm to anyone, and for that I am glad,” Cathleen Alexis said. “To the families of the victims, I am so, so very sorry that this has happened. My heart is broken.” Her son was killed in a shootout that ended a rampage that lasted more than half an hour. His motive was not known. Law enforcement officials and others have said Aaron Alexis, 34, heard voices and believed he was being followed. He recently told police in Rhode Island he heard voices harassing him, wanting to harm him. He couldn’t sleep.
He believed people were following him, using a microwave machine to send vibrations to his body. He was a naval defense contractor, and on Aug. 7, police alerted officials at the Newport Naval Station about his call. But officers didn’t hear from him again. By August 25, Alexis had arrived in the Washington area, continuing his work as an information technology employee for a defense-related computer company. He suffered from serious mental problems and was undergoing treatment from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the law enforcement officials. But Alexis wasn’t stripped of his security clearance, and he kept working. On Septmber 14, he visited a gun range in Virginia, not far from the nation’s capital. He rented a rifle, bought bullets and took target practice, then bought a shotgun and 24 shells, according to the store’s attorney. On September 16, Alexis entered the sprawling Washington Navy Yard, which is protected by armed guards and metal detectors where employees must show IDs to get past doors and gates. He had his pass for base access _ and the shotgun, a Remington 870 Express.
The shotgun was brought into the building disassembled and pieced together by Alexis once inside, according to a law enforcement official and a senior defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. He opened fire around 8:15 a.m., shooting down from a fourth-floor overlook and third-floor hallway into a glass-walled cafeteria. Alexis also took a handgun from an officer. He fired at police and workers in gun battles that lasted more than half an hour. The FBI says the average mass shooting is over within minutes and often ends once police arrive. Alexis was killed in a shootout. The Navy said the military installation would reopen for business for Mission Essential personnel only Wednesday. In a posting on its Facebook page, the Navy said the yard remains an active crime scene. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the Pentagon to review the physical security of all US defense facilities worldwide and the security clearances that allow access to them. “Where there are gaps, we will close them,” he said.
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Legendary Bollywood stars to perform at the Iconic ‘Diwali at Times Square’
NEW YORK, NY (TIP): The iconic and history-making ‘Diwali at Times Square’ on Sunday, September 22, 2013 will witness participation of some of the biggest stars of Bollywood, the organizers, Event Guru and ASB communications, announced here on September 12. The event is sponsored by Maharashtra Tourism, Air India, MoneyGram, Royal Albert Palace, Wells Fargo and Bank of Baroda. So do mark September 22nd2013 in your calendar because that is the day when you will get to experience and savor the cultural potpourri that is India in Manhattan when Times Square celebrates Diwali. First time ever this historic event is being celebrated at the largest and the most popular cross road of the world – Times Square.
The first-of-its-kind international initiative to promote Indian culture, heritage and diversity will span Broadway from West 45th to West 47th street. The event will take place from 11am to 6pm, followed by the ‘Light Up Times Square’ concert which will showcase live performances from some of the biggest names in Bollywood. All present will get a peek at the cultural kaleidoscope that is India by savoring Indian music, dance, food and films. The Title Sponsor of the show Maharashtra Tourism will be showcasing the much talked about and looked forward to Deccan Odyssey train through a re-creation of the same. All present will also be given an opportunity to take home a little bit of the Indian culture through an interactive exercise by the presenting sponsor Air India, wherein, they could learn how to drape the saree. Apart from this they will also get an opportunity to learn how to wear a turban or even learn how to play the dhol (Indian drum). A spokesperson for the organizers, giving details of entertainment segment said, “To kick start entertainment we shall have the melodious and ethereal voice of Shankar Mahadevan resonate in Times Square and enthrall all those present with his most popular songs medley.
As if that wasn’t enough we shall have Ranbir Kapoor, the heart throb of India, the maverick superstar whose lineage boasts of the likes of Prithviraj Raj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor. “Ranbir Kapoor will perform and interact with the audiences present about his new film Besharam. And over and above all this pulsating entertainment we will get to see the most popular Bollywood couple Neetu and Rishi Kapoor accompany him on stage too. Pallavi Sharada, the debutante heroine of the film, will also perform on a song from Besharam. If this isn’t enough to give you an adrenaline rush then you will be jolted into a musical culture shock by the famous group from Canada Culture Shock. So do come one and all and share in this fantastic free for all experience of Dilwali at Times Square on 22ndSepetmber 2013. For further inquiry do visit www.diwalitimessquare.com and facebook.com/DiwaliTimesSquare
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18 Dead, 280 Hurt In Beirut Car Bomb Blast: NEWS AGENCY
BEIRUT: BEIRUT (TIP): A powerful car bomb tore through a bustling south Beirut neighborhood that is a stronghold of Hezbollah on August 15, killing at least 18 and trapping dozens of others in an inferno of burning cars and buildings in the bloodiest attack yet on Lebanese civilians linked to Syria’s civil war. The blast is the second in just over a month to hit one of the Shiite militant group’s bastions of support in years, and the deadliest in decades.
It raises the specter of a sharply divided Lebanon being pulled further into the conflict next door, which is being fought on increasingly sectarian lines pitting Sunnis against Shiites. Syria-based Sunni rebels and militant Islamist groups fighting to topple Syria’s President Bashar Assad have threatened to target Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon in retaliation for intervening on behalf of his regime in the conflict.
August 15 explosion ripped through a crowded, overwhelmingly Shiite area tightly controlled by Hezbollah, turning streets lined with vegetable markets, bakeries and shops into scenes of destruction and burning cars. Dozens of ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion and fire fighters used cranes and ladders in trying to evacuate dozens of residents from burning buildings. Some terrified residents fled to the rooftops of buildings and civil defense workers were still struggling to bring them down to safety several hours after the explosion.
The blast appeared to be an attempt to sow fear among the group’s civilian supporters and did not target any known Hezbollah facility or personality. Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV and Red Cross official George Kattaneh said the death toll was at least 18 and said more than 280 were wounded. The army, in a statement, said the explosion was caused by a car bomb. It called on residents to cooperate with security forces trying to evacuated people trapped in their homes. Syria’s conflict has spilled across the border into its neighbor on multiple occasions in the past two years.
Fire from Syria has hit border villages, while clashes between Lebanese factions backing different sides have left scores dead. But direct attacks against civilian targets were rare until Hezbollah stepped up its role in Syria. Since then, its support bases in southern Beirut have been targeted. Since May, rockets have been fired at suburbs controlled by the group on two occasions, wounding four people.
On July 9, a car bomb exploded in the nearby Beir al- Abed district, wounding more than 50 people. However Thursday’s explosion was much deadlier than those, the bloodiest single attack in south Beirut since a 1985 truck bomb assassination attempt targeting top Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah in Beir al-Abed left 80 people dead. It came despite rigorous security measure taken in the past few weeks by Hezbollah around its strongholds, setting up checkpoints, searching cars and sometimes using sniffer dogs to search for bombs.
It also came a day before Hezbollah leader’s was scheduled to give a major speech marking the end of the month-long 2006 war with Israel. The explosion occurred on a commercial and residential main street in the Rweiss district, about 100 meters (yards) away from the Sayyed al-Shuhada complex where Hezbollah usually holds rallies. Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who has lived in hiding since his group’s 2006 month-long war with Israel, made a rare public appearance at the complex on Aug. 2, where he addressed hundreds of supporters.
He was to speak again on Friday from a location in southern Lebanon, but his speeches by satellite are often transmitted to followers at the complex. Panicked Hezbollah fighters fired in the air to clear the area and roughed up photographers, smashing and confiscating some of their cameras following the explosion. Sunni-Shiite tensions have risen sharply in Lebanon, particularly since Hezbollah raised its profile by openly fighting alongside Assad’s forces. Lebanese Sunnis support the rebels fighting to topple Assad, a member of a Shiite offshoot sect.
The group’s fighters played a key role in a recent regime victory in the town of Qusair near the Lebanese border, and Syrian activists say they are now aiding a regime offensive in the besieged city of Homs. A previously unheard-of group calling itself Aisha the Mother of Believers Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack in a video posted on YouTube, saying it is the second “message” they sent since last month’s blast in the area. The authenticity of the claim could not be independently verified.
Our second message was strong and astounding,” said a masked man who read the statement, flanked by two other armed and masked men. He called on civilians to stay away from Hezbollah strongholds in the future, saying the militant group is “an agent for Iran and Israel.” Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar called the blast a “terrorist” attack and called for restraint among the group’s supporters. He suggested the group’s political rivals in Lebanon were responsible for creating an atmosphere that encourages such attacks.
Politicians within Lebanon’s Westernbacked coalition have slammed the group for its involvement in Syria and called for its disarmament. The U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly strongly condemned the bombing. In comments posted on the embassy’s Facebook page, Connelly called for all parties to exercise calm and restraint. The British Foreign Office official in charge of Middle East policy, Alistair Burt, also condemned the attack.
Terrorism and extremism have no place in Lebanon. I call for the Lebanese state to investigate this urgently and bring the perpetrators to justice,” he said in a statement. Outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati declared Friday a day of mourning for the victims of the attack.
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Historic Mayoral Town Hall on August 6
AARP, Hispanic Federation, Asian American Federation NAACP, & NALEO Join Forces to bring Voting Powerhouses’ Issues to Center Stage In partnership with WXTV Univision 41, WABC, Amsterdam News, and SinoTV/1380 AM, Town Hall will focus on Issues Critical to Most Powerful Voting Groups in NYC
NEW YORK, NY (TIP): New York City powerhouse voting groups announced July 31 that they are holding a historic Mayoral Town Hall. AARP, Hispanic Federation, Asian America Federation, NAACAP, and NALEO will team up with WXTV Univision 41, WABC, Amsterdam News, and SinoTV/1380 AM to host a New York City Mayoral Town Hall on Tuesday, August 6th at Hunter College, from 10 a.m. to noon.The town hall will be the first time the groups have combined their voter engagement muscle to hold an event. To date, Mayoral hopefuls Sal Albanese, Aldofo Carrion, John A. Catsimatidis, Joe Lhota, John Liu, George McDonald, Erick Salgado, Bill Thompson, have all confirmed their participation. Hispanic, Asian, and African American/Black/Caribbean voters 50+ in New York City will account for about 47 percent of ballots cast in the upcoming election and according to a recent AARP analysis, roughly half of all voters in the elections will be AARP members.
WXTV Univision 41, the leading Spanish-language television station in the New York area, will moderate and broadcast the town hall. A media panel including journalists from WABC, Amsterdam News and SinoTV will ask the Mayoral candidates a series of questions with several additional questions coming from the expected crowd of over 1,000. Together, the groups have key issues they are looking for the candidates to address including: jobs and the economy, housing affordability, sandwich generation issues such as caring for aging parents and older children, as well as how to make NYC a better place to live, work and age.
“There’s a lot of noise in this election, our goal is to bring together some of the most powerful voting groups to help cut through it, and give the candidates the opportunity to tell where they stand on New York City voters’ kitchen table issues,” said Beth Finkel, State Director for AARP in New York State. “The multicultural communities are no longer a minority, and are on the way to becoming a majority of the vote in NYC – we want to be sure their issues are front and center for the candidates.”
While AARP does not endorse candidates, have a PAC, or give money to campaigns or political parties, the non-partisan membership organization does provide straight-forward information on the issues to 50-plus voters, the media and the general public. Follow us on Twitter: @AARPNY and Facebook: AARP New York AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of more than 37 million, that helps people turn their goals and dreams into real possibilities, strengthens communities and fights for the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare, employment and income security, retirement planning, affordable utilities and protection from financial abuse.
We advocate for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name as well as help our members obtain discounts on a wide range of products, travel, and services. A trusted source for lifestyle tips, news and educational information, AARP produces AARP The Magazine, the world’s largest circulation magazine; AARP Bulletin; www.aarp.org; AARP TV & Radio; AARP Books; and AARP en Español, a Spanish-language website addressing the interests and needs of Hispanics.
AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity of AARP that is working to win back opportunity for struggling Americans 50+ by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today: housing, hunger, income and isolation. AARP has staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Check Cashing Company In NJ Failing To File Proper Reports Ordered To Pay Over $ 1 Million
CAMDEN, N.J. (TIP): GB Check Cashing LLC, a check cashing company licensed in New Jersey, pleaded guilty Thursday, July 11, and was ordered to forfeit more than $1 million for failing to file currency transaction reports as required by law. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The co-owners of GB Check Cashing, Dalwinder S. Ghuman, 45, and Talvinder S.
Ghuman, 53, both of Mount Laurel, entered the plea on behalf of GB Check Cashing before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kluger in federal court. Following the guilty plea, Judge Kluger sentenced GB Check Cashing to one year of probation and ordered the company to forfeit $1,086,894. According to court documents, GB Check Cashing is a money service business which the Ghumans have coowned and operated since 2003.
The business has four storefronts located in Pennsauken, Delran, Carteret and East Windsor. Under federal law, such companies are obligated to file a currency transaction report whenever they are involved in a transaction for the payment, receipt or transfer of more than $10,000. From September 2010 through June 2011, an individual, referred as “CC” in court documents, operated a check cashing business in New Jersey without the appropriate license.
CC brought several checks from customers of the unlicensed business to GB Check Cashing and exchanged them for cash, less a one percent fee. Because the value of those checks was usually greater than $10,000, so was the amount of cash CC received. GB Check Cashing documented each transaction to make it appear as though CC’s customers went directly to GB Check Cashing to cash their checks.
In all, GB Check Cashing cashed approximately $1.15 million of CC’s customers’ checks, paying approximately $1.09 million to CC in increments greater than $10,000. GB Check Cashing did not file currency transaction reports for any of those transactions. You may also visit us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, or access this news release on your mobile device.
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Indian-American Nominated For Key Post In Obama Administration
WASHINGTON (TIP): US state department’s heavy hitter for India will be an Indian origin bureaucrat, Nisha Desai Biswal, a first for both the community and the administration. President Barack Obama on Thursday, July 18, sent a proposal to the senate to appoint Biswal assistant secretary of state for South Asia, top US diplomat for India.
If confirmed Biswal will replace Robert Blake, an impossibly gangly career diplomat who liked to joke at India-US events his speeches were almost always the same as Indian ambassador’s. Biswal’s appointment was welcomed by the Indian American community, its experts and non-experts. “Great news … she is a terrific role model,” said a Facebook post.
“This is a landmark appointment for Indian- Americans, the first time someone from the community has been chosen for the top diplomatic job dealing with South Asia,” said Sadanand Dhume, an Indian origin expert with conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute. “Nisha Biswal is an excellent choice for the position. She’s well-informed about the region and has many friends and admirers in both the executive and legislative branches of government.”
Biswal is currently assistant administrator for Asia at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a position she has held since September 2010. At USAID, her boss was administrator Raj Shah, another Indian American. who remains the senior most Indian American in the Obama administration. From 2005 to 2010, Biswal was the Majority Clerk for the State Department and Foreign Operations Subcommittee on the Committee on Appropriations in the House of Representatives.
Biswal and her husband Subrat Biswal have two daughters. The position of assistant secretary of state – roughly the equivalent of additional secretary – is a crucial one, with responsibilities including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It wasn’t clear from the White House announcement if she would also hold charge of Central Asia, as was Blake’s brief, along side South Asia. She would most likely. But South Asia will not include Pakistan and Afghanistan, which have been entrusted to a special representative since the creation of that office in 2008, with Richard Holbrooke in charge.
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MoneyGram Hosts Iftar
MoneyGram Iftar Food Trucks hit New York, New Jersey and Chicago and serve free Iftar to the community
NEW YORK (TIP): During the last two weekends in Ramadan, MoneyGram branded food trucks will give out free Iftar to the Muslim community in Chicago, IL, Brooklyn, NY, Jackson Heights, NY, Harlem, NY, New York City and Jersey City, NJ. First 500 people will get a free iftar courtesy of MoneyGram as a sign of their respect and commitment to the Muslim community and to share in the spirit of giving that is very significant in this month of fasting.
ChicagoJULY 26TH
Islamic Foundation
Address: 300 W. High Ridge Road, Villa
Park, IL 60181 T: 630.941.8800
Timing 7:30 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.
JULY 27TH
Khan Barbeque Restaurant
Address: 2401 W Devon Avenue,
Chicago, IL 60659 T: 1.773.274.8600
Timing: 7:30 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.
JULY 28TH
Sabri Nihari & Jama Mosque
Address: 2502 W Devon, Chicago, IL
60659 T: 1.773.465.3272
Timing: 7:30 P.M. – 9:00 P.M
New Jersey/New York
AUGUST 2ND
Jamia Mosque
Address: 294 Grove Street, Jersey City,
NJ 07302 T: 1.201.333.2500
Timing: 7:30 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.
AUGUST 3RD
Gourmet Sweets, Brooklyn, NY
Address: 1107 Coney Island Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY 11230 T: 1.718.421.4100
Timings: 7:30 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.
AUGUST 4TH
Gourmet Restaurant, Jackson Heights,
Address: 72-08 Broadway, Jackson
Heights, NY 11372 T: 1.718.533.8700
Timing: 7:30 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.
AUGUST 5TH
AR RAHAMAN Mosque
Address: 15 West 29th Street, NYC, NY
10016
Timing: 7:30 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.
AUGUST 6TH
AQSA MOSQUE – MGI Agent/ Petit
Paris Fashion
Address: 2136 8th Avenue, Harlem, NY
10026 T: 1.212.316.9803
Timing: 6:00 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.
AUGUST 7TH
CHAAND RAAT – MGI Agent
Address: Coney Island Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY 11230
Timings: 10:00 P.M. – 12:00 MIDNIGHTAs a global money transfer provider that helps people financially connect with family and friends around the world, MoneyGram is embracing the culture of its customers during the time of Ramadan and Eid. MoneyGram recently launched a global Ramadan and Eid media campaign across the United States and Canada along with the Iftar Food Trucks that will be making their way from Chicago to New York starting July 26th.
“This is an important time of the year to send money for our Muslim customers and we want to make sure MoneyGram makes it easy for them with our fast, efficient service and competitive exchange rates’ – says Zainab Ali, Senior Marketing Manager. Please visit moneygram.com/iftartruck for more details about the Iftar truck and come join us for Iftar if you live in New York or Chicago. About MoneyGram MoneyGram, a leading money transfer company, enables consumers who are not fully served by traditional financial institutions to meet their financial needs.
MoneyGram offers bill payment services in the United States and Canada and money transfer services worldwide through a global network of more than 300,000 agent locations – including retailers, international post offices and financial institutions – in 196 countries and territories. To learn more about money transfer or bill payment at an agent location or online, please visit moneygram.com or connect with us on Facebook.
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MORSI OUSTED, under house arrest
CAIRO (TIP): Mohammed Morsi, in office only a year as the first democratically elected leader of Egypt, was rousted from power by the military July 3 as a euphoric crowd in Tahrir Square cheered his exit. The former leader was placed under house arrest at the Republican Guard Club, a senior adviser to the Freedom and Justice Party and spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood said. Most members of the presidential team have also been placed under house arrest. Egyptian security forces also arrested the head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and another of the movement’s top leaders.
The commanding general of the armed forces, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said on Egyptian television that the military was suspending the constitution, which Morsi pushed through and which many Egyptians saw as slanted toward Islamists. “The armed forces couldn’t plug its ears or close its eyes as the movement and demands of the masses calling for them to play a national role, not a political role as the armed forces themselves will be the first to proclaim that they will stay away from politics,” al-Sisi said.
He added that the head of the constitutional court, Adli Mansour, would be the acting president, with new elections to be held later. The general said that the military did not have designs on controlling the country’s politics but would “never turn a blind eye to the aspirations of the Egyptian people.” He spoke alongside a leading Sunni Muslim cleric and the head of Egypt’s Coptic Christians, as well as a prominent political opponent of Morsi — Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. nuclear weapons agency. Armored vehicles, tanks and troops deployed throughout the Egyptian capital, including near the presidential palace. The army seized the headquarters of the state television and the state-run newspaper, which reported that Morsi had been told he was no longer president.
A statement on Morsi’s Facebook page described the army’s move as a “military coup.” Mansour will be sworn in as interim head of state on July 4. The United States will continue to monitor the “very fluid situation” in Egypt, President Barack Obama said in a statement Wednesday night. “We are deeply concerned by the decision of the Egyptian Armed Forces to remove President Morsy and suspend the Egyptian constitution,” the statement read. “I now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process, and to avoid any arbitrary arrests of President Morsy and hisU.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm and restraint, as well as the preservation of rights such as freedom of expression and assembly. “Many Egyptians in their protests have voiced deep frustrations and legitimate concerns,” he said in a statement that did not condemn the Egyptian armed forces’ ouster of Morsi.
“At the same time, military interference in the affairs of any state is of concern,” he added. “Therefore, it will be crucial to quickly reinforce civilian rule in accordance with principles of democracy.” Security forces, meanwhile, raided the Cairo offices of Al Jazeera’s Egyptian television channel and detained at least five staff members. Four were later released, the channel said. Karim El-Assiuti, a journalist at the station, told Reuters his colleagues at the Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr channel were arrested while working in the studio. The station was prevented from broadcasting from a pro-Morsi rally and its crew there was also detained, he said. Authorities also shut down three Islamistrun TV stations, including one operated by the Muslim Brotherhood. The State Department warned U.S. citizens to defer travel to Egypt and told Americans already living in Egypt to depart “because of the continuing political and social unrest.” Morsi was elected a year ago after Egyptians ousted Hosni Mubarak, the autocrat who had ruled for almost three decades. Egyptians hoped he would build a more pluralistic and tolerant country.
Instead, Egyptians have been frustrated by a struggling economy and poor services and infuriated by what they see as power grabs by Morsi — stifling the judiciary and forcing through a constitution that favored Islamists and ignored minorities. “Now we want a president who would really be the president of all Egyptians and will work for the country,” Said Shahin, a 19- year-old protester in Tahrir Square, told The Associated Press. The ouster will remake the politics of the Middle East at a volatile time. Egypt is the most populous country in the region, has a peace treaty with Israel and is a partner of the United States. On july 2, Morsi gave a loud, passionate, 45- minute speech to the country, blaming loyalists of Mubarak for fighting against democracy and refusing to step down.
He vowed to die for his cause. “I am prepared to sacrifice my blood for the sake of the security and stability of this homeland,” he said. On July 3, as the military appeared to be taking control of parts of Cairo, advisers to Morsi said the generals were staging a coup and subverting the will of the people. In Tahrir Square, however, the military announcement hours later was greeted with jubilation reminiscent of the first days of the Arab Spring two years ago. Tens of thousands of people shot fireworks, sang, danced, chanted and waved Egyptian flags. Before they deposed Morsi, Egyptian military officials assured the U.S. that the military would not assume long-term control of the government, and ensured the safety of the U.S. Embassy, personnel and all Americans in Egypt, U.S. officials told NBC News.
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Social Media And Our Responsibility: Individual And Collective
While the Social media has undoubtedly revolutionized our communication and brought the world together, there are also multiple fallouts.
Social media, especially the Facebook, Twitter and their multiple avatars, undoubtedly is a great revolution today. Perhaps, one of the greatest that humankind has witnessed. While we are yet to comprehend the impact of this media, the strides it has taken so far have been enormous – both on positive and negative aspects.Social media is not like any other media – print and electronic. It is unique and has revolutionized the interpersonal relationship and communication. Cutting across all boundaries – natural and manmade, the Social media today is in a different league, not affected by any of the limitations of print and electronic media. In fact, the evolution of technology in the recent decades, and the easy use of it by everyone is absolutely mind boggling.
Consider the last three decades – perhaps from the early 1990s till this day. The introduction of mobile phones in the early 1990s and its subsequent wide use reduced the gap between us. Gone are those days when we patiently waited in STD/ISD shops, or the Post Office to make a phone call and speak to the other – either officially or personally. The growth of mobile phone and its reach is so much, that the telegrams today have become totally irrelevant and outdated.
After being in use since the 1850s, the BSNL in India has officially decided to close down its telegram operations; those who would like to get nostalgic about sending and receiving telegrams, please try one last telegram before 14 July. Remember those days – sending telegrams on the arrival of new ones in our families, or the departure of older ones; marriage wishes; a happy note getting new job or promotion; intimation to our bosses of late returning to the work from our native village after being on leave and related multiple stories? Of course, we can’t blame the BSNL for closing it down.
According to an estimate, today there are only 5000 telegrams sent all over the country every day, when compared to six million in 1985! Obviously, we have other means to reach out – to convey our personal and professional messages. From birth to death, from “I love you” to “Sorry, this will not work”, from “punctured tire; will be coming late to office,” to “seriously unwell. Give me leave”, the SMS has transformed our communication – both personal and official.
Next came the internet, again in the 1990s, yet another communication revolution. It has thoroughly broken all the barriers of communication. Do we remember reading a newspaper from neighboring country or the region, on real time before the 1990s? Remember our personal letters and official communication before the 1990s? Remember our first leave letter, or the love letter? Remember our inland letter or the postcard to our father, asking for five hundred or thousand rupees extra for the month? Remember the long letters from our grandparents? Remember waiting for the postman? Today, the keyboards have taken over our handwriting skills; and never worry about your vocabulary or spelling; all you have to do is a right click! Today, we do not even have to remember our residential address. Emails and SMS will do the necessary communication.
It has drastically revolutionized the way we communicate – in real time. A daughter can Skype (communicate on Skype) from any part of the world to her parents, with less or no cost. And parents witness the marriage of their children in Canada or Australia online! Then came the Social media during the last decade. Unlike the print media or the electronic media, where there is a gap between the speaker and the audience – physical and emotional, the social media puts the two directly in touch, that too in real time.We don’t have to wait to write to newspapers to get our response published; we send our responses immediately.
All we need is a computer or a lap top, connected with the internet. However, the biggest revolution of the above three – is the complete merger of them, in terms one using the other. The mobile phones are connected to the internet; today we are talking about the super speed 3G connections and the use of Facebook and Twitter on our mobile. What this means is, we don’t have to wait to reach our computer or laptop, and ensure there is internet and electricity, before starting communication.
If the internet has made us to access the rest of the world, the Facebook and Twitter are getting the world into our mobile network.We don’t have to read the newspapers in print, or even access their websites; they are delivered to us. Social media, does one thing even better; it enable us directly to contact someone who is sitting in a remote corner in Africa or Antarctica! All you need to do is to send a friend request. The Social media has completely broken any barrier that man has taken since the Treaty of Westphalia to distance each other.We can sit in the washrooms and keep communicating to our beloved ones.
We can sit in front our parents in the dining table or in a classroom in front our teacher, yet messaging to our friends without anyone noticing. (And, where do children learn to message, keeping the phone below the table, but looking at you?). While the Social media has undoubtedly revolutionized our communication and brought the world together, there are also multiple fallouts. One great problem is the parenting; the children are hooked onto the Social media. In fact, this should be considered as one of the greatest dope that man has ever invented.
We are addicted to the Social media; if anyone has a doubt, please notice, what the rest of us are doing while you travel next time in a public transport – either in train or bus. Second, there is a greater tendency to trivialize ourselves today. More than the event or experience, we would like to get that feeling across into our Facebook or Twitter. This has become common today: Oh, I should change my profile picture with this; wow, this picture will get more likes on my Facebook; I should have this in my twitter… It appears, instead of the Social media helping us to reach out to the other, is dangerously taking us in a path of reorienting our self.
From “having a haircut” to “overcooked my chicken”, we seem to be in the path of becoming narcissistic, with ease and élan. Third and the most important aspect is the mayhem that it could create in distancing the people. As we could see in some of the recent conflict situations in Myanmar and Northeast, the Social media wreaked havoc in venting our anger and offending the other. Since Social media gives us the luxury to remain anonymous, and post any kind of messages, without realizing the impact. What is its greatest strength – the real time connectivity and mobility, is also the greatest liability in spreading hatred and venom.
I can sit calmly in my washroom, yet create mayhem thousand miles away, without revealing my identity. I can tweet a harsh note, tweak a picture and pass it as real, and yet remain anonymous. Undoubtedly, Social media is a great revolution today; it has bulldozed all barriers between us in terms of distance and time. However, we also have a responsibility, to ensure that this revolution brings us closer, than divide us.
The State cannot and should not attempt to regulate this; it should be left to our individual and collective conscience.We have a huge responsibility.
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Moneygram Gives U.S. Consumers Chance To Watch ICC Champion’s Trophy Final
Promotion lets MoneyGram users enter for a chance to win all-expense-paid trip to Birmingham, UK, for the final
NEW YORK (TIP): It was an easy, nostrings- attached deal: U.S. consumers who sent money to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal between April 19 and May 19 were entered to win a trip to watch the 2013 ICC Champion’s Trophy Cricket final. The ICC Champions Trophy match runs June 6 through June 23, and is second only in importance to the Cricket World Cup (the winners of this year’s trophy will snag an estimated $2 million, the most since the game’s inception).The final game will be held June 23. All agent locations and online sends qualified for entry (consumers could also mail-in entry without purchase). The more transactions consumers made the more chances they had to win. Harmesh Lal from Bellerose, NY is the lucky winner. He sent money to his family in Hoshiarpur, India and was thrilled to learn that he would get a chance to experience the game up close.
The transaction was sent at one of our top agent locations (Jai Hind) in the New York area, home to many immigrants using our services. The contest gave MoneyGram a chance to remind South Asian immigrants living in the U.S. that we are the official money transfer partner of the ICC. Plus, it promoted the sweepstakes and will send the lucky winner packing for one of the biggest games of the year.
“Contests like these are a great way for MoneyGram to bring our consumers closer to the game of cricket and the memories they have of watching it in their home countries – it allows us to relate to our customers and give back to them a piece of what they might have left behind. It’s a way of thanking them for being a loyal consumer and increasing our brand awareness while doing so” says Zainab Ali, senior marketing manager.
About MoneyGram MoneyGram, a leading money transfer company, enables consumers who are not fully served by traditional financial institutions to meet their financial needs. MoneyGram offers bill payment services in the United States and Canada and money transfer services worldwide through a global network of more than 300,000 agent locations – including retailers, international post offices and financial institutions – in 196 countries and territories. To learn more about money transfer or bill payment at an agent location or online, please visit moneygram.com or connect with us on Facebook.
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MoneyGram joins NASDAQ
NEW YORK, NY (TIP): MoneyGram International, Inc. (NYSE: MGI), a leading global money transfer company, moved its stock listing to the NASDAQ Global Select Market from the New York Stock Exchange, effective May 13, 2013. The Company will continue trading under the ticker symbol “MGI.””Upon being listed on the NASDAQ, MoneyGram joins the world’s most innovative companies,” said Pamela H. Patsley, chairman and chief executive officer. “NASDAQ is a global leader in advanced trading technologies, which will provide our shareholders with cost-efficient trading opportunities. MoneyGram will also benefit from reduced listing fees. As an innovative leader in the money transfer and payments industry, we are excited to be a part of the NASDAQ.” “We welcome MoneyGram to our growing list of leading companies that are innovators in their industries,” said Bruce Aust, executive vice president, NASDAQ OMX. “MoneyGram brings its customers closer by helping them send funds almost anywhere in the world through cash, bank account, online and mobile. Their versatility and forward thinking culture is perfectly aligned with NASDAQ’s family of listed companies.”
About MoneyGram International
MoneyGram, a leading money transfer company, enables consumers who are not fully served by traditional financial institutions to meet their financial needs. MoneyGram offers bill payment services in the United States and Canada and money transfer services worldwide through a global network of more than 310,000 agent locations – including retailers, international post offices and financial institutions – in 197 countries and territories. To learn more about money transfer or bill payment at an agent location or online, please visit moneygram.com or connect with us on Facebook -
MOVIE REVIEW – I Don’t Luv U
Cast: Ruslaan Mumtaz, Chetna Pande
Direction: Amit Kasaria
Genre: Romance
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutesSTORY: You don’t value ‘true love’ until you lose it. The ‘Facebook’ generation portrayed in the film learns this the hard way. MOVIE REVIEW: Yuvaan (Ruslaan Mumtaz) and his friends have nothing better to do except for looking up girls’ skirts and ogling their cleavage. The boys even scan the ladies and their assets mentally, in order to identify them. Their offensive behaviour takes a backseat when Yuvaan gets attracted to Londonreturned Aayra (Chetna Pande).
Just when love and commitment are about to happen, an MMS clip changes their life and beliefs forever. While the performances, cinematography, songs, production value are all decent, what disappoints the most is the director’s uncertainty about the topic he wishes to highlight. The need of teenagers to upload everything online, craving for sex early in a relationship, TV news channels and their obsession with TRPs, victims of media’s sensationalism…too many issues have been addressed.
This mishmash elongates the film, without letting it become as effective as it could have been. The film works fine as a campus romance but that track too gets disrupted by the MMS scandal, which comes painfully late in the movie. Also, the moment you start feeling for the characters, the film enters the ‘media bashing’ phase, thereon entering altogether different territory. The inconsistency concerning the story disappoints. Ruslaan Mumtaz and Emma Watson-esque Chetna Pande are easy on the eyes and act well.
Ruslaan in particular is impressive in emotional scenes. Hope he gets better films to showcase his talent. We wish his character was defined better. The film has a lot to offer, especially for youngsters but mentions of too many moralistic issues leave you frustrated. The film tries too hard to cater to the young generation and their dilemmas. The narrative keeps beating around the bush for way too long.
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Bangladesh Garment Factory Collapse Death Toll Hits 1,021
DHAKA (TIP): The death toll from a garment factory building that collapsed more than two weeks ago outside the Bangladeshi capital soared past 1,000 on May 10, while the list of the dead from a fresh fire at a sweater manufacturer showed the entanglement of the industry and top Bangladeshi officials. Officials said 1,021 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of the fallen factory building as of Friday morning.
There was no sign of where the toll might finally settle as more bodies were being found, but it is already the world’s deadliest garment industry disaster and one of the worst industrial accidents. The disaster has raised alarm about the often deadly working conditions in Bangladesh’s $20 billion garment industry, which provides clothing for major retailers around the globe.
Unlike the collapse at the Rana Plaza building, which was blamed on shoddy construction and disregard for safety regulations, the fire at the Tung Hai Sweater factory appeared to have conformed to building codes. A top fire official said the deaths in Wednesday night’s fire – including a senior police officer, a Bangladeshi politician and a top clothing industry official – were caused by panic and bad luck. “They are really unfortunate,” Mamun Mahmud, deputy director of the fire service, said on Thursday.
The fire engulfed the lower floors of the 11-story factory, which had closed for the day. The smoldering acrylic products produced immense amounts of smoke and poison gas and the victims suffocated as they ran down the stairs, Mahmud said. The building appeared on first inspection to have been properly built, though fire inspectors would conduct further checks, he said.
It had two stairwells in the front and an emergency exit in the back, he said. Those inside probably panicked when they saw smoke and ran into one of the front stairwells, he said. Had they used the emergency stairwell, they would have survived, he said. “Apparently they tried to flee the building through the stairwell in fear that the fire had engulfed the whole building,” he said. They also would have likely survived the slow-spreading fire had they stayed on the upper floors, he said.
“We found the roof open, but we did not find there anybody after the fire broke out. We recovered all of them on the stairwell on the ninth floor,” he said. The dead included the factory’s managing director, Mahbubur Rahman, who was also on the board of directors of the powerful Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. Along with him was senior police official Z.A. Morshed and Sohel Mostafa Swapan, head of a local branch of the ruling party’s youth league.
Independent TV, a local station, reported that Rahman had plans to contest next year’s parliamentary elections as a candidate for the ruling party and had been meeting friends to discuss his future when the fire broke out. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, which began soon after the factory workers went home for the day and took three hours to bring under control.
Mahmud speculated it might have originated in the factory’s ironing section. Officials originally said the building also housed several floors of apartments, but later said it was just a factory. The Facebook page of the Tung Hai Group claimed it was a sprawling enterprise with a total of 7,000 employees at its two factories and the capacity to produce well over 6 million sweaters, shirts, pants and pajamas every month. The group claimed it did business with major retailers in Europe and North America.
The country’s powerful garment industry has been plagued by a series of disasters in recent months, including a November fire at the Tazreen factory that killed 112 and the building collapse. More than two weeks after the building in the suburb of Savar collapsed, workers with cranes and other heavy equipment were still pulling apart the rubble and finding more bodies. On Friday, authorities said the death toll had risen to 1,021 and it was unclear how many more people remained missing. More than 2,500 people were rescued alive after the April 24 accident.
Maj. Ohiduzzaman, an army official who uses only one name, said 100 decomposing bodies have been kept at a makeshift morgue at a school and were to be sent to hospitals in Dhaka for DNA testing to identify them. A total of 648 bodies have so far been handed over to the families, he said. Some of those who authorities have been unable to identify have been buried by the government.
Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus said in an article published in Bangladeshi newspapers Thursday that the tragedy was a “symbol of our failure as a nation.” “The crack in Rana Plaza that caused the collapse of the building has only shown us that if we don’t face up to the cracks in our state systems, we as a nation will get lost in the debris of the collapse,” he said, urging the government and citizens to work together for reforms.
He also urged global brands not to abandon the country, saying that the workers in the factories – which often subcontract from the well-known brands – should be seen as de facto employees of those companies. The European Union’s delegation to Bangladesh urged the government on Wednesday to “act immediately” to improve working conditions in the country’s garment industry.
Abdul Latif Siddiqui, head of special Cabinet committee to inspect garment factories that was formed days after the Rana Plaza collapse, said the government has closed 18 garment factories in recent days for failing to meet work and safety standards. He did not say whether the closures were temporary or permanent.
Officials say the owner of Rana Plaza illegally added three floors and allowed the garment factories to install heavy machines and generators, even though the structure was not designed to support such equipment. The owner and eight other people, including the owners of the garment factories, have been detained.
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Second Edition Of Oak Tree Shopping Festival
ISELIN, NJ (TIP): Touchdown Media Inc. announced April 19 the second outing of the popular OAK TREE SHOPPING FESTIVAL. Scheduled for the weekend of May 18 and 19, 2013, this 2-day extravaganza will be held in the heart of the original ‘Little India’ in Iselin NJ. Developed by Touchdown Media, the event is being organized to boost local business and bring all that Oak Tree has to offer to the forefront and once again establish it as the premier South Asian shopping destination.
Featuring deep discounts and special deals at Oak Tree Road’s finest shops and restaurants, this second Annual Festival promises to draw a crowd of families from the East Coast and beyond. Merchants will offer discounts anywhere from 30% to an unprecedented 70% on clothes, jewelry, fashion along with a unique promotion on food – a Restaurant Weekend with varied specials for the throngs of shoppers. A $5 loyalty card can be purchased on the website www.OakTreeShoppingFestival.com so customers can get FREE items at participating restaurants at each visit. “Encouraged by the astounding success last year, we are yet again bringing this festival for the people and the businesses to get a jump start on the shopping season,” says Rahul Walia, Founder of the Oak Tree Shopping Festival and CEO, Touchdown Media Inc.
Food Application – Mypref and Malaysian Paratha major Kawan are the Associate Sponsors for the event along with local merchants Raj Jewels and Sona Jewelers. Star Plus and Life OK along with Radio Zindagi (100.7FM & 104.7FM) and Parikh Worldwide Media are the supporting media partners for the festival. Star Plus will add to the excitement, by bringing in favorite soap stars from India to shop at this exclusive event. The attendees will be availing these exceptional discounts, all the while hobnobbing and shopping with their favorite celebrities! The Oak Tree Shopping festival promises to deliver a one-of-a-kind shopping experience for its attendees.
So whether you’re a regular or visiting Oak Tree Road for the first time, be sure to join the festivities at the Oak Tree Shopping Festival this May 18th and 19th! This event will be free to attend and open to the public May 18th and May 19th, 1pm – 6pm. For more information and details on exclusive deals, please visit www.OakTreeShoppingFestival.com. Like us on Facebook at Oak Tree Road Shopping Festival 2013. (Based on a Press Release issued by Touchdown Media, Inc.)
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Missing Indian- American student Sunil Tripathi is confirmed dead
Missing Indian- American student Sunil Tripathi is confirmed dead WASHINGTON (TIP): Sunil Tripathi, a Brown University student missing for more than a month, is dead. Rhode Islands medical examiner on April 25 said the body found in a river on April 23 is that of Sunil Tripathi. Health Department spokeswoman Dara Chadwick said the body was identified through a forensic dental exam.
The cause of death has not been determined yet however. Tripathi, a 22-year-old philosophy student, was last seen on March 16. The body was found in Providence River behind the Wyndham Garden Providence Hotel at around 6 p.m. The coach of Brown’s rowing team, which practices in that area, saw the body floating in the water. The police waited for medical examiner to make the final determination. The family said in a statement on “Help us find Sunil Tripathi”, a Facebook page they had set up to help the search, they felt “indescribable grief” and were grateful for all-around support. Tripathi became the became the target of intense internet speculation last week if he was Suspect No 2 wanted for the Boston marathon bombings.
Many thought it was him from the visuals released by the FBI. The Facebook page set up by his family to help in the search was hit by a storm of nasty hate messages. “It was outrageous, what they had to say,” Sunil’s father Akhil Tripathi told Hindustan Times. Reddit, a site that allows users to post news, apologized to the family for its role in it. The Tripathis are from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Akhil Tripathi, an engineering graduate from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur, came to the US in 1968.
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Navjot Sidhu suffocated by politics, says wife
AMRITSAR (TIP): Amritsar BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife, Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, on April 11 said her cricketer-turned-politician husband feels “suffocated in the system for his honesty and this has led to his alienation within the party”. She said Sidhu isn’t even allowed to select his own people in BJP’s Amritsar unit.
Kaur, who is a BJP MLA, said, “Being in a system, you need to be given liberty to choose your people, and if you don’t get that then the system suffocates you.” Earlier in the day she had posted a Facebook comment saying, “Sidhu has returned to the profession where he is respected”; in other words cricket – triggering speculation that he was ending his political career. Asked whether Sidhu would quit politics, Kaur said, “A person lives where he gets respect; we are in politics for respect and we don’t need anything more than that.” Kaur said she was reacting to messages on Facebook saying, ‘Sidhu gum gaya, gayab ho gaya’ (Sidhu has disappeared). “That was the trigger. I wanted to convey that he has not disappeared, he felt suffocated and has gone back to cricket and television,” she said. “He was suffocated because he couldn’t adjust his own trusted people even in the Amritsar BJP,” said Kaur.
For the past six months, Sidhu has remained largely out of Amritsar. Recalling how Sidhu was pulled out of a TV reality show and asked to campaign in Gujarat, she said, “He suffered a loss of Rs 6 crore for the party. He wanted to live in Amritsar, serve the people of his constituency and make his own team… If he has gone away, there must be some strong reason. He is not an irresponsible man.” Asked how long Sidhu would remain away from politics, she replied that it was for the party to decide. If he gets honour, it’s alright. Else he is happy with his cricketing career. Rejecting the possibility of switching political parties, Kaur said, “We both are not politicians. It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee who brought Sidhu into politics. We are not going to forget that.” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the party had nothing to say in light of her “clarification”. When TOI contacted Kaur, she said she stood by her day’s statements.
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Immigration Reform in Sight
Immigration Reform Bill on anvil is a welcome news. A bipartisan group of senators, known as the “Gang of Eight,” has apparently worked in close cooperation for months now and the reports emanating suggest there is an agreement on specific border security provisions in the legislation which are likely to be released in the next few days. Obviously, the senators have concluded that the border security must come first and the question of amnesty for 11 million odd undocumented aliens must follow it.
According to the information available with us the legislation would call for surveillance of 100 percent of the U.S. border with Mexico and apprehension of 90 percent of people trying to cross in certain high-risk areas. People living here illegally could begin to get green cards in 10 years but only if a new southern border security plan is in place, employers have adopted mandatory electronic verification of their workers’ legal status and a new electronic exit system is operating at airports and seaports.
The contours of the tough new border security plans emerged as senators moved closer to unveiling sweeping legislation that would put some 11 million immigrants living here illegally on a path to citizenship and allow tens of thousands of high- and low-skilled workers into the country on new visa programs, in addition to securing the border.
Lawmakers and aides said all the major elements were about complete. A final deal was near on a new visa for agriculture workers. There were small details to be dealt with on visas for high-tech workers, but Sen. Dick Durbin, DIll., said it wasn’t enough to hold up the bill.
“We are closer now than we have been in 25 years for serious immigration reform,” Durbin told reporters Wednesday after he and other Democrats in the Senate negotiating group briefed members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. “This president is behind it, and there is a strong, growing bipartisan effort in the Senate to support it. We hope that the House will do the same.”
Support for an immigration reform has also come from Facebook Chief Mark Zuckerberg who said the U.S. needs to fix a “strange” immigration policy that prevents promising but undocumented students from contributing to the country’s future and doesn’t provide enough visas for foreign workers with advanced skills.
“We have a strange immigration policy for a nation of immigrants. And it’s a policy unfit for today’s world,” the 28- year-old founder of the world’s largest Internet social network said in an opinion column in The Washington Post on Thursday, April 11.
The Gang of Eight hopes to introduce a piece of legislation very soon. However, it remains to be seen how fast the Senate and the House move on it.
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The ‘Epidemic’ of Sexual Harassmentand Rape-in Morsi’s Egypt
Since the “Arab Spring” came to Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood assumed power, sexual harassment, abuse, and rape of women has skyrocketed. This graph, which shows an enormous jump in sexual harassment beginning around January 2011, when the Tahrir revolts began, certainly demonstrates as much. Its findings are supported by any number of reports appearing in both Arabic and Western media, and from both Egyptian and foreign women. Hundreds of Egyptian women recently took to the streets of Tahrir Square to protest the nonstop harassment they must endure whenever they emerge from their homes and onto the streets. They held slogans like “Silence is unacceptable, my anger will be heard,” and “A safe square for all; Down with sexual harassment.” “Marchers also shouted chants against President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood group from which he hails,” wrote Al Ahram Online.
The response? More sexual harassment and rapes.
One woman recently appeared on Egyptian TV recounting her horrific experiences. On the program, she appeared shaded, to conceal her identity-less because she felt personal shame or guilt at what happened and more to protect her and her family from further abuses. She recounted how she saw a Facebook notice that Egyptian women were going to protest the unsafe conditions for women on the Egyptian street and decided to join them on their scheduled march in Tahrir Square on January 25, the anniversary of the revolution. “I did not realize I would become the victim,” she lamented. When it started to get dark, her group heard that “strange looking men” were appearing and that it was best to leave the area. During some chaos she was lost from her group. One man told her “this way,” pretending to help her to safety-“I was so naïve to believe him!”-only to lead her to a large group of men, she estimated around 50, who proceeded to encircle and rape her. “This was the first time someone touched me” quietly recounted the former virgin: “Each one of them attacked a part of my body.” Several pinned her down while others pulled off her pants and stripped her naked, gang-raping her for approximately 20 minutes.She explained how she truly thought she was going to die, and kept screaming “I’m dying!” In response, one of her rapists whispered in her ears: “Don’t worry. Take it,” even as the rest called her derogatory names she would not recite on the air. Considering that in late November last year, when many Egyptians were protesting President Morsi’s Shariaheavy constitution and the Muslim Brotherhood responded by paying gangs and thugs to rape protesting women in the streets, anecdotes like the above are becoming commonplace. Indeed, to appreciate the regularization of sexual harassment and rape in Egypt, consider the words of popular Salafi preacher Abu Islam, who openly, and very sarcastically, blamed the victims: “They tell you women are a red line.
They tell you that naked woman-who are going to Tahrir Square because they want to be raped-are a red line! And they ask Mursi and the Brotherhood to leave power!” Abu Islam added that these women activists are going to Tahrir Square not to protest but to be sexually abused because they had wanted to be raped. “They have no shame, no fear and not even feminism. Practice your feminism, sheikha! It is a legitimate right for you to be a woman,” he said. “And by the way, 90 percent of them are crusaders [i.e. Christian Copts] and the remaining 10 percent are widows who have no one to control them. You see women talking like monsters,” he added. No doubt some will argue that Abu Islam is just a “radical” who speaks for himself. Yet many more formal bodies made similar observations, including the new Egyptian parliament’s Shura Council’s “human rights committee,” whose members said that women taking part in protests bear the responsibility of being sexually harassed, describing what happens in some demonstrators’ tents as “prostitution.” Major General Adel Afify, member of the committee representing the Salafi Asala Party, criticized female protesters, saying that they “know they are among thugs.
They should protect themselves before requesting that the Interior Ministry does so. By getting herself involved in such circumstances, the woman has 100 percent responsibility.” These sentiments are widely shared in Egypt. A study by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights said that 98% of foreign female visitors and 83% of Egyptian women have experienced sexual harassment. Sixty-two percent of men admitted to harassing women, while 53% blame women for “bringing it on.” Even non-Egyptian women are becoming increasingly familiar with this phenomenon. After describing her own personal experiences with sexual harassment in Egypt, Sarah A. Topol asserts that “Sexual harassment – actually, let’s call it what it is: assault – in Egypt is not just common. It’s an epidemic. It inhabits every space in this society, from back alleys to the birthplace of the newest chapter of Egyptian history.… For the 18 days of protest last year, for me, Tahrir Square was a harassment-free zone. I noticed it, everyone did. But as soon as President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, the unity ended and the harassment returned.”
Journalists Sophia Jones and Erin Banco also elaborated on the epidemic of sexual harassment in Egypt:
It’s difficult to write about sexual harassment and assault in Egypt without sounding like Angry White Girls. But as journalists, it is not merely our job to report in such an environment, it is an everyday psychological and sometimes even physical battle.We open our closets in the morning and debate what to wear to lessen the harassment-as if this would help. Even fully veiled women are harassed on Cairo’s streets. As one young Cairo-based female reporter recently remarked, “it’s a f-ked-up reality that we will be touched.”…. Like hundreds of other countries around the world, sexual harassment and assault happens every day in Egypt. It happens to both Egyptian women, and to foreign women. It happens at all times of the day, despite what some may think, at the hands of men-young boys, grown men, police officers, military officers, and almost everyone in between.The journalists then offer an all too familiar story:
Nor is this merely limited to sexual harassment, but it often, under the right circumstances-few witnesses, the availability of dark allies-culminates into full-blown gang rape. For example, Natasha Smith a young British journalist covering Tahrir Square, was dragged from her male companion into a frenzied mob in the hundreds. “Men began to rip off my clothes,” she wrote on her blog. They “pulled my limbs apart and threw me around. They were scratching and clenching my breasts and forcing their fingers inside me in every possible way … All I could see was leering faces, more and more faces sneering and jeering as I was tossed around like fresh meat among starving lions.” All this is yet one more example of the true nature of the Obamasupported “Arab Spring.” -
USCIS Revises Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9
Revisions include new user-friendly instructions for completing Form I-9
WASHINGTON (TIP): U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today published a revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 for use. All employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each employee hired in the United States. Improvements to Form I-9 include new fields, reformatting to reduce errors, and clearer instructions to both employees and employers. The Department of Homeland Security has published a Notice in the Federal Register informing employers of the new Form I-9.Effective 03/08/13:
” Employers should begin using the newly revised Form I-9 (Rev. 03/08/13)N for all new hires and reverifications. ” Employers may continue to use previously accepted revisions (Rev.02/02/09)N and (Rev. 08/07/09) Y until May 7, 2013. ” After May 7, 2013, employers must only use Form I-9 (Rev. 03/08/13)N. The revision date of the Form I-9 is printed on the lower left corner of the form. Employers should not complete a new Form I-9 for current employees if a properly completed Form I-9 is already on file. A Spanish version of Form I-9 (Rev. 03/08/13)N is available on the USCIS website for use in Puerto Rico only. Spanish-speaking employers and employees in the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories may use the Spanish version for reference, but must complete the English version of the form.The revised forms are available in English and Spanish online at www.uscis.gov. For more information, please call 888-464-4218. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. USCIS maintains a website, I-9 Central, to support Form I-9 users. USCIS has also scheduled free webinars to help employers learn about the new form. To order forms, call USCIS toll-free at 1-800-870-3676. For downloadable forms and information on USCIS programs, immigration laws, regulations, and procedures, please visit www.uscis.gov. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@uscis), YouTube (/uscis) and the USCIS blog The Beacon.
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Family of missing Indian-American student issues appeal
WASHINGTON (TIP): The anxious family of 22-year-old Indian-American student Sunil Tripathi, who went missing on March 16, has issued a passionate plea for him to return home. “Sunil please come home, we all love you, we miss you very much,” Akhil Tripathi, father of Sunil told media hoping his youngest of the three children would heed his message and come back home. Security agencies, including the local police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have been making frantic effort to find Sunil, but have not been able to get any “solid lead” so far, said Mr. Tripathi. An undergraduate student from the Brown University, Sunil went missing on March 16. He left his cell phone, ID and wallet in his room, where he was last seen by his room-mate at 11 am on March 16. “We are all questioning that. I wish we knew. It has never happened. His cell phone, his ID card, his wallet everything was in his room,” the father said.
Born and brought up in Kanpur, Sunil lives in Pennsylvania where he runs a software company. Ever since his son went missing, Mr. Tripathi has been living at a temporary accommodation provided by the Brown University along with his family. “No real news. They (investigating agencies) are following up every lead and info they get. There is no solid positive lead yet,” he said. He had last spoken to Sunil on March 12, while on March 15 night, a day before he went missing he spoke with his grandmother. The police and the FBI which has been investigating the case, he said, have not found any real clue or lead so far. “They do not suspect there is a foul play, but nothing is being ruled out,” Mr. Tripathi said.
Meanwhile, support for Sunil has been growing among the public. While scores of his friends are personally involved in his search operation, the Facebook page ‘Help us find Sunil Tripathi’ has attracted more than 1.1 million views in last six days. Police are receiving an increasing number of tips on Sunil’s possible whereabouts, including calls from across New England and as far away as Illinois. The businesses in Providence have been volunteering support by reviewing their surveillance videos to find any footage of Sunil. “From grocery store and coffee shop owners who are posting flyers to the waves of complete strangers who have volunteered to search the parks and canvass the streets, the community’s willingness to pitch in to find Sunny has been really remarkable,” said Ravi Tripathi, his elder brother.
“We want to thank the whole Providence, RI community for coming together to help, with private businesses stepping forward to offer well wishes and support, from posting flyers to reviewing their private surveillance footage from the weekend of March 15, 2013,” his family said in a statement. According to the Facebook Page set up by his family, Sunil missing from his Angell Street residence since Saturday morning, is 6’0, 130 pounds, with brown eyes and short brown hair. He left wearing blue jeans, a Philadelphia Eagles beanie, and a black sweatshirt. He is essentially off the grid since he does not have his ID, wallet, or cell phone. “Sunil has been struggling with depression since he took a leave of absence from Brown last year.
A note suggestive of suicidal intent left behind in his apartment has his family extremely worried,” the family said adding that they are currently in Providence, helping the police search for him. “Sunil is a kind, gentle, and shy young man. All we want is for him to return safe and well,” the family said on its Facebook Page. Sunil, a philosophy major, was on approved leave from the University. “Early on Sunday afternoon, March 17, Brown’s Department of Public Safety received a report of a missing person. Sunil Tripathi, a Brown student on an approved leave, was last seen on Friday, March 15, at about 7:30 pm,” the Brown University said in its statement. “The missing person report is being handled by the Providence Police Department with the full cooperation of Brown police officers and University staff. The Office of Student Life has been in touch with Sunil’s family, and our concerns are first and foremost with Sunil and his family. Any further questions about the investigation would need to be directed to Providence Police,” the university said.
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Us Entices Future Techies With H-1b Visas, Green Cards
WASHINGTON (TIP): The United States is poised to turn the so-called outsourcing visa into a skill importing programme. American lawmakers are on the verge of overhauling immigration laws, including the infamous H-1B visa, which critics say has been widely misused by bodyshoppers and outsourcing giants to bring in underspaid foreign (mainly Indian) technology workers to displace Americans from the workforce.
Under new proposals being considered by a senate panel, the number of H-1B visas will actually be doubled from the current 65,000 to 130,000 to address the continued shortage of specific skilled workers in the US. But the primary beneficiaries will not be outsourcing firms who rotate workers between the US and home countries, but foreign students who come to study in America, who will be enticed to stay back, work here, and contribute to the US economy. Industrious foreign students who pay top dollar to graduate from US universities in science, technology, engineering and math ( STEM) subjects will literally have H-1B visas – eventually leading to Green Cards – stapled to their degrees, if the proposals go through. Over 100,000 Indians students are enrolled in US universities at any given time, with thousands coming in each year. The student inflow is already said to contribute more than $3 billion annually to the US economy. In the process, family members of US citizens waiting to immigrate to America may get shafted.
Among the proposals under consideration is one which will reduce the number of green cards to siblings, parents and grown children of immigrants who have become US citizens. The restriction will not apply to spouses and underage children. In effect, Washington is gradually shifting its immigration policy from being “family unification” centered to economic and skill-based immigration. In other words, prospective immigrants will have a better chance of moving to America if they have a required skill set rather than just having a relative in the US.
Tough negotiations are going on in the Congress on all aspects of the visa makeover. Powerful technology giants such as Microsoft, IBM, and Google want foreign workers because they say there is a genuine skills’ shortage in the US and they have benefited from infusion of foreign talent. In a letter to President Obama and lawmakers last week, a number of high-profile CEOs, including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, said that being able to hire more high-skilled workers and retain foreign students enrolled in US schools is key to keeping American companies globally competitive.
Tech companies fear that American schools are failing to produce enough graduates with advanced science and engineering degrees. But lawmakers are also buffeted by a vicious anti-immigrant sentiment on the ground, including some directed against the H1-B visa program and Indian workers. Not that pro-H1B groups are keeping quiet. A Washington Post story on the subject elicited hundreds of comments, many of them xenophobic and borderline racist.
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Show Is Off For Valley’s All-Girl Rock Band After Online Slur
SRINAGAR (TIP): The musical journey ofKashmir’s first and only all-girl rock band hascome to an abrupt end after an online hate buzz.The brainchild of three teenagers from theValley, ‘Pragaash’ — a Kashmiri word meaning‘from darkness to light’ — arrived on the musicscene like a whiff of fresh air in a state plaguedby violence for the last two decades. The 16-years-old made their first and last publicperformance at the ‘Battle of Bands’ here lastDecember where they gave bands that mostlycomprise of boys a run for their money.But days after their debut, the band decided tocall it quits.
The reason: a vile barrage ofabuses and hate messages about them and theirfamilies on the Internet, strong enough to forcethe young teen into hiding and abandoning theirdream.One of the girls, who talked to The Tribune onthe condition that she would not be named, saidthe band had “ended”, but was reluctant to givereasons for the decision. “We have closed. It justended… we had to hear so much from societythat is why… I don’t want to tell anyone thereason,” she said.
The girl’s mother said she cried through thenight after reading comments about the band ona social networking site. “The girls’ pictureswere uploaded on a Facebook page and opinionswere sought on whether making a band waswrong or right for our girls.Some people wrote that the girls’ families hadno food, which is why they were out to earn.After reading the comments, my daughter gotvery upset and cried all night. She decided notto do it again,” said the girl’s mother, addingthat the family tried to talk her out of herdecision.
According to the girl’s mother, someposts appreciated the band; others didn’t. “Ourreligion does not allow this, our society doesn’tallow this,” she said. ‘Pragaash’ was a milestonein Kashmir’s music history for being the firstrock band where the guitarist, drummer andvocalist were all girls. Women have enjoyedsuccess in Kashmir singing folk songs, mysticpoetry and romantic songs, but what set‘Pragaash’ apart was its genre.Band guitarist Aneeka Khalid, however, saidthe band had not been disbanded.