Indian American artist, Vidya Iyer, more popularly known as Vidya Vox, recently became a YouTube sensation when she mixed Indian and Western beats to create memorable tracks.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Vox’s recent video featured Arjun, a Sri Lankan-born British singer with a large YouTube audience and was shot in Joshua Tree and Palmdale with choreography done by Indian American Kavita Rao, who lives in West Hollywood and contained dancers of various backgrounds including a Vietnamese, two women from Delhi, two guys from California and a hip-hop-jazz man from New York.

Vox recently released her album “Kuthu Fire,” which includes six songs that she co-wrote with her musician-producer boyfriend Shankar Tucker, who too like Vox doesn’t want to sacrifice the Indian component of his sound.

“I love mixing Indian and Western,” said Vox who learned Carnatic music as a child in Chennai and listened to hip-hop and electronic beats on her school bus after her family moved to the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Vox has been creating hybrids, mixing the music of Taylor Swift with A.R. Rahman’s, leading to nearly 300 million views on YouTube. More than 3.5 million subscribers on her Vidya Vox channel.

“It just grew, I didn’t even have time to think between 1 million and 2 million subscribers,” she told Los Angeles Times, adding that the songs and videos are meant to attract potential producers, managers, concert promoters and record labels which would feature fusion artists like her.

The eclectic musician’s first YouTube hit was in 2011, a rendition of the Indian classical song “Nee Nenaindal” after which, she made her own remix of A.R. Rahman’s “Taal Se Taal Mila,” which however was not well received.

“People said, ‘how dare you do this’ and I was like this is a Bollywood song, please relax. It’s not a devotional or religious song. It’s a movie song talking about love. I didn’t violate anything sacred here,” Vox exclaimed adding that she “couldn’t get out of bed for a day and a half” because she “was so depressed” from all the comments she received.

Vox also told Los Angeles Times that she has gotten offers to become a Bollywood actress, “people say, ‘Oh, you gotta go to Bollywood and sing these movie songs.’ That for them is the epitome of achievement. You get a song with any of the composers there and you’ve made it,” but she worries that doing so will force her to lose her creativity and she will have to sacrifice her independent music career, “maybe it’s a mistake but I’m not accepting acting offers.”

Vox met Tucker, a clarinetist raised in Massachusetts, while attending George Washington University and when she graduated in 2012, she planned to go to medical school but was drawn to music and returned to India, where Tucker was studying classical styles and had already started his ShrutiBox channel on YouTube. Shortly after Vox and her sister, Vandana, started singing classical Indian compositions which were produced by Tucker, “I thought, oh, this is cool, you can put your music out on YouTube and get messages from all over the world,” Vox exclaimed.

Later she started putting up Indian and Western mash-ups and her fan base grew mostly with viewers from India, about 70 percent. But being a YouTube artist has also meant pulling videos from her channel after copyright issues were raised by Indian publishing houses, the news report said. Today, about 50 percent of her followers are Indian and the rest from the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Trinidad and other countries, according to the Times.

They have chosen Los Angeles over New York and London as their base because video studios are plentiful as are multicultural musicians and producers and they feel artistic tolerance in the city was higher.

The post “I love mixing Indian and Western”: YouTube sensation Vidya Vox appeared first on News India Times.

EDISON, NJ – Keith Hahn knows what’s wrong in Edison, NJ, and he knows how to fix it so he’s running for Mayor against Tom Lankey who is currently filling the position part-time.

“I have been a police officer in town for 23 years and after fighting with the administration and the current mayor to accomplish some things, they asked me to run on the republican side and after thinking about it for a while; my wife came to me and said that it’s time that you either stop complaining about everything or shut up and do something about it,” Hahn said, speaking at a meet in Edison on Monday, adding that he wants a community center for kids where “we can also hold festivals like Navratri, Diwali and Christmas so they don’t have to go to Raritan Center which is basically the back of a warehouse.”

“If you don’t have stuff for the kids to do and keep them out of trouble they’re going to find stuff for themselves to do and not be productive,” he added, mentioning that the schools are overcrowded and that a new one needs to be built.

“The town is building more houses, bigger houses, and they are not planning for that in the schools. The freshman class at J.P. Stevens High school this year has over 725 students and the school was build to hold under 2,000 students, so by the time they become seniors there will be over 3,000 students in the school,” Hahn stated, saying that this can be solved only if they get state aid since Edison is receiving very little and wants the superintendent and the mayor to work together for that as “we are the fifth largest town and have the fourth largest school district.”

Hahn also wants to provide a better senior center and update their facilities and although the Edison community is pretty safe and does not face a lot of violent crime, he still wants to install stationary and surveillance cameras in certain areas of town to stop crimes like robbery.

The post Keith Hahn running for Mayor in Edison appeared first on News India Times.

EDISON, NJ – Indian American Samip Joshi is running for Town Council in Edison, NJ, under the Democratic ticket and is encouraging millennials and others to be a part of the political process.

“I think it’s extremely important for everyone to be a part of the political process,” said Joshi who has been in it since he was 14-years-old.

“I was born and raised in Edison my entire life so I see that there is a cultural, generational and therefore an ideological gap within both Edison Township as well as in the United States. Edison township has such a diverse community, we have every demographic representative of every ethnic race, economical background and educational background and the problems that have rose in Edison are very well reflected in the greater United States as a whole and I believe that as someone who is the child of an immigrant, I would be able to work to bridge those types of differences,” he said, at a meet on Edison, on Monday, adding that he “can relate to various communities being form a different generation.”

He added: “In addition, having been born and raised in Edison my entire life I have seen the township change drastically and one of the things I would like to do is to represent our community much better.”

Joshi wants to build a community center as well as public library where he can “see people taking part and feel like they are part of the community” as “Edison is the fifth largest municipality in the state of New Jersey and it is the largest township in the state.”

Born and raised is Edison, Joshi is a proud product of the public school system, having graduated from J.P. Stevens High School and Rutgers University.

He has served on the town’s zoning board of adjustment and the townships’ fair rental housing authority along with working in police department as a dispatch and interning in the mayor’s administration, which have all allowed him to learn a lot about the township and if elected, would be the first Indian American to be born and raised in Edison and elected in the Edison township.

“I want to make an impact on society and I want to make sure that people feel like their voices are heard I want to see people believe that there is leadership that stands out for the people and not their own personal interests. I always believe that society can be a better place if the right leader is in place and I think that is necessary and I think that I would bring a voice to our community and Edison as a whole and I hope to carry that forward,” Joshi stated.

The post Samip Joshi running for Town Council in Edison appeared first on News India Times.

NEW YORK

The Consulate General of India in New York and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) hosted India’s Union Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, at a business dinner in New York City, on October 20.

The event took place at White and Williams, a multi-practice law firm founded in 1899 and located near Times Square. At the dinner were select business executives, entrepreneurs and representatives, along with attorneys from the firm.

USISPF President Dr. Mukesh Aghi opened the proceedings by introducing Tom Butler, one of the law firm’s partners, who welcomed the guests.

The Consul General of India in New York Sandeep Chakravorty praised Prasad’s work ethic, having attended this event immediately after another meeting the day before in the Bahamas over the Diwali holiday. Chakravorty pointed out how Prasad is a “political institution in his own right” with a varied background in technology and legal matters.

In his opening remarks, Prasad stated that “India’s digital initiative is designed to bridge the digital divide between digital haves and digital have-nots.” He stressed that the technology employed must be affordable, developmental and inclusive for all. In a deliberate understatement, Prasad said that India had a population of only 1.3 billion, yet is home to 1.21 billion mobile phones, just under half of which are smart phones. Domestically, there are now 104 factories producing 170 million mobiles annually, many for export.

Prasad went on to quote other equally impressive statistics regarding the “Digital India” campaign to help better Internet infrastructure and access throughout the country. In the last three years, the current Indian government has laid 244,000 kilometers of the National Optical Fiber Network, which was instituted to provide broadband connectivity to villages and small towns.

Three hundred million electronic bank accounts have been opened for the poor and underprivileged, and linked to the Aadhaar (“Foundation”) Card, the universal biometric ID using fingerprint and iris recognition, which India has been using since 2009.

As an example, Prasad produced his own Aadhaar Card, noting that it costs just $1, is produced with locally developed technology and contains only a photo, name, gender and permanent birth address, nothing else which can allow for profiling. The card facilitates everything from patients accessing hospitals to farmers negotiating prices for crops at different markets to defendants seeking legal advice from pro-bono lawyers. It can also be used to get travel visas and make digital payments more easily.

According to Prasad, India’s emerging digital economy offers a very promising area of business, in areas such as communication, IT services, e-commerce and cyber security. Prasad added that the Indian government’s objective is to capture a one trillion dollar economy within the next 3-5 years.

Wrapping up his presentation, Prasad related how top graduates of the Indian institutes of information technology used to que up for an opening at Google, but now they are keen to form startup companies. On a concluding note, he invited the attendees to come to India and explore “India’s digital story”.

Afterwards, there was a Q&A, where a number of audience members commented on different topics such as setting up multiple “Silicon Valleys”, further biometric implementation, deadline dates for technology roll-outs, making the governmental regulatory environment more competitive and implications of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) on business revenue in India. Prasad was gracious in replying to all queries and carefully recorded any issues that needed further attention.

Parikh Worldwide Media Founder and Chairman Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh engaged Prasad with a question about including individual blood group information on the Aadhaar Card, since auto accidents are the number one cause of death in India.

Prasad replied that because the card is a general platform, the government wouldn’t want it to have any kind of indication that could be used in profiling the card-holder, highlighting the need to balance privacy with availability. Dr. Parikh’s suggestion, however, was noted by the Union Minister for future consideration.

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum is a non-profit organization committed to creating a strategic partnership between the U.S. and India, by promoting bilateral trade and bringing business and government together in new ways, to provide meaningful opportunities that have the power to change the lives of citizens.

The post Ravi Shankar Prasad touts India’s progress in IT infrastructure, at NY meet appeared first on News India Times.

NEW YORK – An Annakut or a Grand Feast was offered to Bhagwan Shri Krishna, Shri Nathji, on October 22 at the Vraj Temple in Pennsylvania in the presence of more than 3,500 Krishna devotees who had come from as far away as Florida, Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto, Canada.

The celebration began at 10 a.m. with a Govardhan Pooja followed by circumambulating the temple which was accompanied by the temple singers and Vaishnavs.

Many of Vraj’s board members attended the Annakut Darshan, including the Great Grand Benefactor Trustee Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, the Founder and Chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media, as well as Vraj Paramarshak Pramod Amin, Vraj Chairman Vrajesh Desai, Vraj President Suresh Patel, Vraj Alderman Kiran Desai and Dipak Shah and Vice President Vijay Shah, who all addressed the assembly.

“This year we decided to decorate the temple with lights, both inside and outside and for the first time in history, it was actually warm during the Annakut celebration whereas every year it is always cold,” said Hasmukh Shah, a board member of Vraj, in a phone interview to Desi Talk New York, who also said that the weather brought more devotees than they were expecting.

“We were expecting about 2,000 devotees and more than 3,500 showed up,” he added.

The Annakut Darshan was managed exceptionally this year with devotees enjoying the variety in shopping, tasty snack items along with a cup of hot tea/coffee and a stroll along the Yamuna Lake during lunch.

The Annakut tradition began in Vaishnav temples ages ago, with the first one taking place for Bhagwan Krishna himself when he was only seven-years-old.

As mentioned in Shrimad Bhagwat Maha-Puran, as a child Bhagwan Shri Krishna was able to convince his parents and other elder residents of Gokul to stop offering tributes to the Rain-God Indra-Dev as he was always tormenting their livelihoods and instead make offerings to Mount Govardhan.

Upon hearing this, Indra-Dev decided to create a rain storm, so Krishna lifted Mount Govardhan allowing all the residents to take shelter thus convincing them that it is Mount Govardhan that they should make offerings to and not Indra-Dev.

This occasion marked the first Annakut which was offered to Shri Krishna by the residents of Vraj known as Vrajvaasis and taught them an important lesson which is to respect and preserve the environment and to have total faith in himself and no other God.

Today, the Annakut celebration extends beyond Vaishnavism and is offered within a few days after Diwali.

Vraj is a temple in Pennsylvania which was established in 1988 and is dedicated to Bhagwan Shri Krishna or Shri Nathji, whose more than 200,000 devotees make a pilgrimage to each year.

The magnificent Haveli for Shri Krishna is 60 feet tall, three stories high which features an assembly hall and an auditorium, able to seat more than 700 devotees at a time and is built on the more than 300 acres of land surrounded by the grandeur of the hills accentuated by the tranquil wooded valley, serene lush green meadows and placid Yamuna Lake, mimicking the spellbinding natural ambiance augments the glorious beauty of the Haveli built in the rich tradition of royal Rajasthani palace architectural mystique, according to a press release by the organizers.

Vraj was founded by Golokvasi Shri Govindkaka Shah and Vraj Paramarshak Shri Pramodbhai Amin along with a dedicated group of Vaishnavs who had a dream of building a ShriNathji Haveli at Vraj in Pennsylvania in 1988 and today Vraj has over 350 trustees and over 1,000 members of the Vraj Family that is growing and financially and morally supports several ongoing religious, spiritual, educational, social, cultural and humanitarian activities, said the press release.

The post Annakut Darshan bring more than 3,500 devotees to Vraj Temple in Pennsylvania appeared first on News India Times.

The British director of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and its sequel is back in India, this time as the jury head at the Mumbai Film Festival.

John Madden, whose credits include the Oscar-winning “Shakespeare in Love” (1998), spoke to Reuters about film festival juries and whether getting along with other jurors is essential.

Q: Have you been on many festival juries before?

A: Yes, I have. I was president of the jury at the London Film Festival a number of years ago, and before that I was on the jury of the San Sebastian film festival.

Q: What is it like being on a festival jury?

A: It is extraordinarily stimulating. In one sense, to be in a darkened room, watching three films a day can sound like an arduous task, but I find it exhilarating. In the situation I am in, in Mumbai, it is particularly interesting and exciting to see 12 debut films I think have already garnered a reputation. It is so fascinating to watch those films with peers and to get to talk about them and deconstruct them. The only part which is difficult is to select a winner. Because films can be so many different things and it implies by selecting one that the others are disqualified and that is a difficult process.

Q: A festival jury is also about your other jurors. Is getting along the criteria for a good jury?

A: I think you have to respect and welcome each other’s views. I have also had the experience of being a jury in the judicial sense, in the UK and that is an even more onerous task. In the case of a festival, you are dealing across cultures, which is completely fascinating. This is a very particular example of it, and a very stimulating one.

Q: What happens when you are on the other side, as in when your film is competing at a festival?

A: Well, there is BAFTA. Even now, the majority of awards given out there, other than the two acting awards and the Best Film award, are decided by jury and large juries of peers. I am very used to that part of the process. I was in competition with “Mrs Brown” at Un Certain Regard in Cannes and with “Shakespeare in Love” at Berlin … the answer is that it’s exciting if you win, and it is still an honour if you don’t. You don’t feel resentful. The most extreme example is that of “Shakespeare in Love”. None of us had any expectation that it would win the kind of nominations that it did or that it would win what it did.

Q: Would the criteria for a film at festivals be different from one competing at an award ceremony? Would you judge a film differently depending on where you were judging it?

A: Not from where I was judging it, definitely. At the Mumbai Film Festival, I am in the jury [for] the international competition. So by definition, they come from all over the world. Also, they are debut films. So when one assesses those films, you are looking for the distinctiveness of a voice. You don’t come with any preconceptions about what the film or what the filmmakers’ reputations might be, which is the purest and cleanest way you can approach a film. Basically, just try and keep aside any preconceptions you might have and see the film for what it is.

Q: What do you make of the rule that the international competition this year has only films from debut filmmakers?

A: I think what you are asking is: should there be a competition which has a wider remit, considering all the films that would be considered elsewhere? I think it is totally welcome that the international competition focuses on debut films. It’s more exciting to identify distinctive voices at the beginning of someone’s career. I can see that from the point of view that Mumbai’s presence on the festival map might be heightened by a competition that is considering the same films as other major festivals all over the world. But the London Film Festival, for example, doesn’t see itself that way. The competition in London is not the most significant thing about the festival. In some ways, it is more like Toronto. It has some awards, but they are not what capture the imagination of the public.

REUTERS

The post John Madden on heading the Mumbai Film Festival jury appeared first on News India Times.

Actress Priyanka Bose says “Lion” has paved the way for more diverse roles for her as well as helped the Indian film industry take note of her range as a performer.

The Garth Davis-directed “Lion”, which had bagged six nominations for the 89th Academy Awards and five nominations for the BAFTA awards, will premiere on Indian television on &Prive on Sunday.

Priyanka played the biological mother to the film’s central character Saroo.

Asked if “Lion” has given a push to her career, Priyanka told IANS: “Primarily because of the team that got together… Garth Davis has by far been my first big director. It was also his first feature film, but obviously he is going to go around doing bigger projects. So, to put myself on the map, yes, ‘Lion’ has done that and a lot of people from the film industry here have taken notice of my work, and the range of my work.

“It’s not something so bankable where the forces come together, the right team comes together or the producers come together and it’s a fair shot like where it’s going to go… You can’t expect that… There are a lot of independent actors like me who just want to keep working and do different things. So, ‘Lion’, yes, in that sense, commercially has done well for me and in terms of my actor’s range, it’s done well for me.

“Everything else that I did before it was probably practice to that. I guess with ‘Lion’, I am extremely proud of what it’s done.”

“Lion” features child actor Sunny Pawar, Deepti Naval and Tanishtha Chatterjee. The real life tale is based in India and Australia, and is a poignant tale of a five-year-old boy Saroo who loses his way from home far away in Kolkata, later to be adopted by an Australian family.

Around 25 years later, Saroo finds himself on a quest using Google Earth to find his way back home.

The post Indian film industry noticed my work after ‘Lion’: Priyanka Bose appeared first on News India Times.

NEW DELHI

Known for his portrayal of realistic characters in hard-hitting films, National Award winning actor Manoj Bajpayee says he only does commercial films when it is a matter of maintaining a relationship. Otherwise, he is not tempted to do ‘masala’ entertainers.

Nevertheless, he doesn’t mind watching such movies.

Asked how he balances working in both commercial and parallel cinema, Manoj told IANS over phone from Mumbai: “Commercial films happened not by choice, but by accident. ‘Satya’ became hugely successful and many more films became like that though they were middle-of-the-road or independent in nature, but they became successful and that has given the market some kind of a reason to have me in those commercial films.

“But not all commercial films which are offered to me, I touch… I do commercial films only when it is a matter of relationship… Otherwise, I don’t feel tempted enough to do a commercial film.”

But would he like to star in an out-and-out entertainer?

“I don’t think so. I dont mind watching them. Featuring in them is something which doesn’t occur to me so frequently,” Manoj said.

The actor praised filmmakers such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkummar Hirani and Neeraj Pandey for their body of work.

“Sanjay Leela Bhansali makes his films in a grand way or Rajkumar Hirani… Theirs are the commercial films I feel I might be comfortable doing. Other than that, people I admire from that area are the people who are balancing it very well in their filmmaking or script-writing, and that is Neeraj Pandey.

“That, for me, is a definition of a mainstream cinema that I am very comfortable with being part of it.

IANS

The post Don’t feel tempted enough to do commercial film: Manoj Bajpayee appeared first on News India Times.

Wesley Mathews, father of the missing Indian-American toddler Sherin Mathews, was arrested on Tuesday, Oct. 24, after he admitted to police Monday that he had dumped the child’s body in an open drain, after he had watched Sherin choke on her milk while he “physically assisted” her.

Police told The Washington Post that “she was coughing and her breathing slowed. Eventually, Wesley Mathews no longer felt a pulse on the child and believed she had died” and then remSherin’s body from the house.

According to an NBC report, authorities used search dogs to find Sherin’s body, which was in an open drain near the Mathews’ home in Texas and the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that the body was Sherin’s using dental records, although cause of death is still pending.

Wesley had previously claimed that Sherin, his adopted daughter, went missing on Oct. 7 at 3 a.m. after he had punished her for not drinking her milk and sent her out alone into an alle; That when he checked up on her 15 minutes later, she was gone. He also said he then went back into the house to do some laundry hoping that she would come back but when she didn’t return five hours later, he reported her missing at 8 a.m.

Authorities then began searching for the 22-pound girl who was last seen wearing a pink top, black pajama bottoms and pink flip-flops, by searching the Mathews house midweek and subsequently announced that someone left in the family’s sport-utility vehicle about 4 a.m. on the day she disappeared and returned home within the hour.

Wesley was arrested on child abandonment and endangerment charges but was released on bail and forced to wear an ankle monitor along with having his passport confiscated; while Sherin’s mother, Sini was not arrested because she was asleep during the incident and had cooperated with authorities in trying to help identify Sherin’s body.

On Monday night when authorities said they had “most likely” found the girl’s body using search dogs, Wesley came to the Richardson Police Station with his attorney and asked to speak with detectives, news reports said. The new details contained in an affidavit quoted by The Washington Post, reveal Wesley will be charged with first-degree felony, which carries a maximum sentence of ife in prison; He is currently being held on a $1 million bond, the report said.

The Washington Post also reported that the Mathews’ attended a court hearing earlier in the day on Monday to determine whether they could regain custody of their biological daughter since she had been taken into custody by Child Protective Services and placed in foster care after Sherin was reported missing.

Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for CPS told the Associated Press that the judge postponed the hearing until Nov. 13 to give Mathews time to hire a civil attorney. However, Gonzales added, “we do have the names of some relatives who have expressed interest in taking care of her and we can begin looking into those relatives, but it is entirely up to the judge where she is placed.”

Mathews and his wife adopted Sherin about two years ago from an orphanage in India. Mathews told police that Sherin was malnourished and had to be on a special diet to gain weight.

The post Indian-American father confesses to watching his adopted daughter Sherin choke on milk appeared first on News India Times.

NEW YORK

A fundraiser was held for Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, hosted by Bhavesh Patel, Pragnesh Patel and Dan Patel.

Bhavesh Patel in his speech said this was not about just a fundraiser, it’s also how the “community live together in Jersey City like one community.”

Bhavesh Patel, a veteran community leader, praised Fulop, saying, he “runs the best city in the nation”.

Fulop also had warm words for his hosts, and praised the efforts of Bhavesh Patel for the fundraiser, which was held on a Sunday afternoon, but saw a sizeable gathering.

The elections are on November 7.

The post Fundraiser for Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop appeared first on News India Times.

BAPS Charities has donated $165,000 to plant 100,000 trees to support the Plant-a-Billion Trees Initiative by The Nature Conservancy(TNC), through Walk Green 2017, a series of walkathons in BAPS centers across the country.

On October 7, BAPS Charities presented TNC executives and program leadership with a check for $165,000. BAPS Charities volunteers and Board members presented The Nature Conservancy’s Troy Ettel, Director of Forest Conservation; Myriam Dormer, Urban Conservation Director; Rachel Holmes, Urban Forester; Maria Fisher, Donor Stewardship Officer; and Erin Daly, Donor Relations Manager with the check which was followed by a tree-planting ceremony.

Over the last six months, BAPS Charities hosted their annual walkathons across North America. This year’s national partner and beneficiary, the Nature Conservancy, continues a partnership between BAPS Charities and the Conservancy from 2016.

This year, over 22,000 individuals participated in the walks. These annual walks have grown to 63 centers participating this year nationally. The Nature Conservancy’s efforts focus on protecting habitats and preserving biodiversity across the world.

In addition to targeted conservation efforts, The Nature Conservancy also invests in research related to conservation and climate change to drive their international efforts.

“Participating in the BAPS Charities Walkathon is a tradition for my family. Every year we come together and use the opportunity to support the causes that BAPS Charities carefully selects.” said 16-year-old Aayush Patel.

Last year, BAPS Charities organized Walkathons nationally, helping plant a total of 70,000 trees across the country to contribute to a broader goal of planting a billion trees by 2020.

“BAPS Charities activities reinforce the importance of serving others, raising awareness about important causes, and this year, protecting the planet through practice is important to my family and me,” said Anand Mehta, a participant in the day’s activities.

BAPS Charities uses these opportunities to instill a spirit of service and commitment to preservation and environmental responsibility in community members. Through participation in events and fundraising activities like Walkathons, participants are actively engaged in conversations and action around sustainability and conservation, becoming owners rather than bystanders.

More widely in its operations, BAPS Charities participates in energy efficiency planning through prioritizing the use of solar power, efficient fiber optics, and efficient lighting fixtures. This culture of environmental responsibility is at the core of BAPS Charities’ work and culture in promoting natural harmony.

The post BAPS Charities donates $165,000 to plant 100,000 trees appeared first on News India Times.

REUTERS – Anthem Inc. reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings as its Obamacare individual insurance business broke even and forecast a slight 2018 profit for the government plans despite uncertainty about the market’s future.

Anthem’s outlook takes into account President Donald Trump’s efforts to undercut former President Barack Obama’s health reform law, which he has described as “dead.”

Trump has cut off subsidies that help low-income consumers afford out-of-pocket costs and slashed government outreach on the program ahead of the 2018 enrollment period.

Anthem’s shares were up 5.8 percent to $206.57 on Wednesday.

Anthem Chief Executive Officer Joseph Swedish said on a conference call that the health of its individual customers was better than expected, contributing to lower medical costs, and it has reset expectations.

The company said the percentage of paid premiums that were spent on claims, a key industry measure, rose during the quarter, but would have gone higher if not for improved medical cost performance in the individual and large employer business.

Anthem, which runs Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states, said it had cut in half the number of areas where it will sell individual plans in 2018, which will reduce enrollment by 70 percent next year and help profits.

The company raised its 2017 adjusted earnings forecast to $11.90 to $12.00 per share, from more than $11.70.

“The big unknown … is the stability in the individual marketplace. And that is a story that is going to unfold in the coming 12 to 18 months,” Swedish said.

It is unclear if the U.S. government will re-establish cost-sharing subsidies, or try to remove the insurance mandates for individuals and employers.

The Trump administration also wants to introduce health plans with fewer covered benefits to compete with the more expensive Obamacare plans and has reinstated a 3 percent industrywide health insurance tax that the industry wants to end.

Republican and Democratic senators are working on a bill to reinstate subsidies and make other market changes, but Republicans are also mounting a competing effort to change the law.

NET INCOME RISES

Anthem’s net income rose to $746.9 million, or $2.80 per share, in the third quarter, from $617.8 million, or $2.30 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned $2.65 per share, ahead of analysts’ expectation of $2.42 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Total revenue gained nearly 5 percent to $22.43 billion, above analysts’ estimate of $22.05 billion.

Anthem said on Tuesday it will acquire America’s 1st Choice, a privately held for-profit Medicare Advantage company, expanding its presence in Florida.

Medicare Advantage, an alternative to standard fee-for-service Medicare in which private insurers manage health benefits, is the fastest growing form of government healthcare.

The post U.S. insurer Anthem says Obamacare business improving; stock jumps appeared first on News India Times.

Amazon.com Inc. has plans to drop off packages directly into shoppers’ homes.

The world’s largest online retailer on Wednesday announced Amazon Key, a lock and camera system that users control remotely to let delivery associates slip goods into their houses. Customers can create temporary passcodes for friends and other services professionals to enter as well.

The move, in the works for more than a year, may help Amazon capture sales from shoppers who could not make it home to receive an order in person, and did not want the package stolen from their doorstep. It also signals Amazon‘s ambitions in the growing market for home security devices, where Alphabet Inc’s Nest Labs competes.

“This is not an experiment for us,” said Peter Larsen, Amazon vice president of delivery technology, in an interview. “This is a core part of the Amazon shopping experience from this point forward.”

Members of Amazon‘s Prime shopping club can pay $249.99 and up for a cloud-controlled camera and lock that the company offers to install. Delivery associates are told to ring a doorbell or knock when they arrive at someone’s house. If no one greets them, they press ‘unlock’ in a mobile app, and Amazon checks its systems in an instant to make sure the right associate and package are present.

The camera then streams video to the customer who remotely can watch the in-home delivery take place. The associate cannot proceed with other trips until the home is again locked.

It is unclear if such protections will persuade customers that the service is safe to use.

Larsen said theft was “not something that happens in practice,” based on early tests of theAmazon Key program.

He added that if a problem arises, “You can call customer service, file a claim and Amazon will work with you to make sure it’s right,” reimbursing customers in some cases.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Amazon‘s biggest retail rival, has similar plans. It said last month it would test delivering grocery items “straight into your fridge” with August Home, a smart lock business that Assa Abloy AB said it will acquire.

Amazon‘s new service goes live on Nov. 8 in 37 U.S. locations, the company said. The “Cloud Cam” is also available by itself for purchase, it said.

The post Amazon to sell smart locks so it can slip packages into your home appeared first on News India Times.

WASHINGTON – A pair of Republican senators sounded an alarm Tuesday about President Donald Trump’s fitness for office and warned that his actions were degrading and dangerous to the country – an extraordinary breach that threatens his legislative agenda and further escalates the civil war tearing apart the Republican Party.

Delivering an emotional speech from the Senate floor announcing that he would not seek reelection next year, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said Trump’s behavior is “dangerous to our democracy” and summoned fellow Republican leaders to speak out about the president’s conduct.

“It is time for our complicity and our accommodation of the unacceptable to end,” Flake said. He added, “Politics can make us silent when we should speak, and silence can equal complicity.”

The charged remarks from Flake – a totem of traditional conservatism who has repeatedly spoken out about his isolation in Trump’s GOP – came hours after Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., questioned the president’s stability and competence, reigniting a deeply personal feud with the president.

Corker, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee who also will not run for reelection, told reporters in assessing Trump’s nine-month tenure, “I’ve seen no evolution in an upward way. As a matter of fact, it seems to me it’s almost devolving.”

With their distress calls, Flake and Corker joined a chorus of mainstream political leaders newly emboldened to excoriate Trump. Last week, former presidents George W. Bush, a Republican, and Barack Obama, a Democrat, both indirectly rebuked Trump’s deportment and warned of peril for the nation under his watch, as did Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who thundered about the rise of what he called “half-baked, spurious nationalism.”

The raw candor from two retiring senators came on a day when Trump made a rare trip to the Capitol for an intended show of party unity, lunching privately with Republican senators to rally support for his plan to cut taxes.

For a Republican Party that has been riven by internal turmoil for nearly a decade, the Flake-Corker rupture with Trump exacerbated the ferocious war between the party’s seasoned leaders and its anti-establishment forces, now rallying under the banner of Trumpism. Polls show the overwhelming majority of Republican voters back Trump, and that fact that two of the president’s most vocal critics in the Senate are retiring underscores how dangerous it is for politicians seeking reelection to break with the president and risk the wrath of his loyal supporters.

Flake’s 18-minute speech was perhaps the most sweeping indictment of Trump delivered by a Republican to date. Flake, 54, spoke with bewilderment and sadness, his voice cracking at times, about what he viewed as the withering of morality and civility in the national dialogue.

“We must never regard as normal the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals,” Flake said. “We must never meekly accept the daily sundering of our country. The personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms and institutions, the flagrant disregard for truth and decency.”

Flake added, “We must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. They are not normal. Reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior has become excused and countenanced as telling it like it is when it is actually just reckless, outrageous and undignified.”

Some Republican elder statesmen who have been deeply critical of Trump celebrated Flake’s remarks and called on other elected Republicans to further distance the party from the president.

“Am I concerned about what are we supposed to do for the next three-plus years with this man in the White House? Yes, I’m very concerned,” said John Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “But the best I can think of right now is simply making it clear to the American people that the Republican Party is what it has been in the past, and that is not Donald Trump.”

Still, Danforth said he is concerned that by giving up their seats, Flake and Corker were “leaving the field open” to insurgent candidates inspired by former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, who is leading a rebellion against establishment Republicans.

Already, a crop of Bannon-inspired conservative outsiders is emerging nationally. From Alabama to Mississippi to Nevada, these contenders are hoping to disrupt the 2018 midterm elections. They could determine whether the GOP maintains its narrow majorities in both the Senate and House – and whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., hold their leadership positions.

Bannon claimed victory with Flake’s departure. “Many more to come,” Bannon predicted in a text message to The Washington Post.

Andy Surabian, a Bannon associate who advises Great America Alliance, a pro-Trump political group, said, “This is a victory for President Trump and all of his supporters across the nation. Jeff Flake was America’s top ‘Never Trumper,’ so getting his scalp is a signal to Never Trumpers everywhere that their time is up.”

At the White House, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Flake and Corker’s comments were “petty” and suggested that they were retiring because they could not win reelection. She boasted from the briefing room lectern that Trump was more popular in Arizona and Tennessee, both states he carried in 2016, than the two departing senators.

“The voters of these individual senator states are speaking in pretty loud volumes,” Sanders said. “I think that they were not likely to be reelected, and I think that shows that the support is more behind this president than it is those two individuals.”

At the Capitol, meanwhile, Republican leaders reacted cautiously on Tuesday, eager to offer support to their colleagues but fearful of breaking their fragile bonds with a president who has been quick to explode at personal slights.

Following Flake on the Senate floor, McConnell thanked him “for the opportunity to listen to his remarks” and honored the Arizonan, who he called “a very fine man, a man who clearly brings high principles to the office every day.”

Tuesday’s thunderclap exposed the threadbare relationship Trump has with the GOP. At the closed-door lunch, Trump received a standing ovation from Republican senators. Yet for months, many of these lawmakers privately have seethed at the president’s actions and language, as Flake and Corker did publicly in concluding that Trump is an unstable presence in American political life.

“This is the ice beginning to crack,” said Peter Wehner, a Trump critic who has advised several past Republican presidents. “This is an extraordinary moment because the members of the president’s own party know that he is not fit in some fundamental way to be the president. These views that they’ve kept in the shadows are now being exposed to the light.”

Democrats balked at the notion that Republicans were somehow unsullied because two GOP senators rapped Trump.

“Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress remain in lockstep with the Trump agenda and silent in the face of the president’s disgraceful behavior,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement.

Flake’s Tuesday speech was the surprise culmination of more than a year of simmering criticism of Trump and the direction the party has taken under him. Flake published a best-selling book this summer, “Conscience of a Conservative,” that chastised the president’s character and ideology, stunning his colleagues and stoking Trump’s anger. The president vowed to work to defeat him if he sought reelection in 2018.

Recent polls showed Flake trailing the leading Democratic Senate candidate, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., as well as potential primary rivals.

The emerging Republican field is robust and includes Kelli Ward, a former Arizona state senator and hard-line conservative known for incendiary statements. Several members of the state’s congressional delegation, including Reps. Martha McSally and David Schweikert, are also considering bids, according to Arizona Republicans.

Flake said Tuesday that he was not comfortable making the policy concessions on issues like trade and immigration – or withholding criticisms of Trump’s behavior – that he felt he would have to make to satisfy Republican primary voters galvanized by anger and grievance.

“Sustained incumbency is certainly not the point of seeking office, and there are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles,” Flake said. “Now is such a time.”

Flake, who once ran the Goldwater Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Phoenix and named for the late Republican senator Barry Goldwater, won a seat in the House in 2000 and served there for a dozen years before being elected to the Senate in 2012.

As Flake spoke on the Senate floor, a handful of colleagues from both parties sat grimly across the chamber. When he concluded, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., a sometime-critic of Trump, clapped loudly, prompting others to stand and applaud.

McCain spoke a few minutes later and called his colleague “a man of integrity and honor and decency and commitment,” saying Flake’s service to the country is “one of honor, of brilliance and patriotism and love of country.”

Asked later by reporters if he thought other senators should speak in the same terms about Trump as Flake had, McCain demurred.

“It’s up to every senator,” he said. “It’s not up to me.”

For Corker, he quickly unburdened himself Tuesday of his feelings about Trump – first in a trio of television network morning show interviews, then in a tweet, and then in a hallway gaggle with reporters.

Corker said Trump was “utterly untruthful” and called him “the L-word;” expressed hope that he would stand down to let Congress formulate a tax plan without him; said he should “leave it to the professionals” to handle the North Korea nuclear crisis; said he was not a role model for children; and urged West Wing aides to “figure out ways of controlling him.” Corker also said he would not support Trump for election again.

The succession of brittle comments seemed to enrage Trump, who responded with several tweets, calling the short-statured senator “liddle” and “a lightweight,” as well as “incompetent.”

Republican leaders were also quick to dismiss Corker’s comments as mere distractions, insistent upon showcasing party cohesion despite the evident disorder.

“All this stuff you see on a daily basis – Twitter this and Twitter that? Forget about it,” Ryan told reporters.

“There’s a lot of noise out there,” McConnell said. “We have a First Amendment in this country; everybody gets to express themselves. But what we’re concentrating on is the agenda the American people need.”

The post GOP senators issue blunt warnings on Trump appeared first on News India Times.

The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about President Donald Trump’s connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, people familiar with the matter said.

Marc Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, to conduct the research.

After that, Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community, according to those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Elias and his law firm, Perkins Coie, retained the company in April 2016 on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC. Before that agreement, Fusion GPS’s research into Trump was funded by an unknown Republican client during the GOP primary.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC, through the law firm, continued to fund Fusion GPS’s research through the end of October 2016, days before Election Day.

Fusion GPS gave Steele’s reports and other research documents to Elias, the people familiar with the matter said. It is unclear how or how much of that information was shared with the campaign and the DNC and who in those organizations was aware of the roles of Fusion GPS and Steele. One person close to the matter said the campaign and the DNC were not informed by the law firm of Fusion GPS’s role.

The dossier has become a lightning rod amid the intensifying investigations into the Trump campaign’s possible connections to Russia. Some congressional Republican leaders have spent months trying to discredit Fusion GPS and Steele and tried to determine the identity of the Democrat or organization that paid for the dossier.

Trump tweeted as recently as Saturday that the Justice Department and FBI should “immediately release who paid for it.”

Elias and Fusion GPS declined to comment on the arrangement.

A DNC spokeswoman said “[Chairman] Tom Perez and the new leadership of the DNC were not involved in any decision-making regarding Fusion GPS, nor were they aware that Perkins Coie was working with the organization. But let’s be clear, there is a serious federal investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, and the American public deserves to know what happened.”

Brian Fallon, a former spokesman for the Clinton campaign, said he wasn’t aware of the hiring during the campaign.

“The first I learned of Christopher Steele or saw any dossier was after the election,” Fallon said. “But if I had gotten handed it last fall, I would have had no problem passing it along and urging reporters to look into it. Opposition research happens on every campaign, and here you had probably the most shadowy guy ever running for president, and the FBI certainly has seen fit to look into it. I probably would have volunteered to go to Europe myself to try and verify if it would have helped get more of this out there before the election.”

Some of the details are included in a Tuesday letter sent by Perkins Coie to a lawyer representing Fusion GPS, telling the research firm that it was released from a client-confidentiality obligation. The letter was prompted by a legal fight over a subpoena for Fusion GPS’s bank records.

People involved in the matter said that they would not disclose the dollar amounts paid to Fusion GPS but that the campaign and the DNC shared the cost.

Steele previously worked in Russia for British intelligence. The dossier is a compilation of reports he prepared for Fusion GPS. The dossier alleged that the Russian government collected compromising information about Trump and that the Kremlin was engaged in an effort to assist his campaign for president.

U.S. intelligence agencies later released a public assessment asserting that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to aid Trump. The FBI has been investigating whether Trump associates helped the Russians in that effort.

Trump has adamantly denied the allegations in the dossier and has dismissed the FBI probe as a witch hunt.

Officials have said that the FBI has confirmed some of the information in the dossier. Other details, including the most sensational accusations, have not been verified and may never be.

Fusion GPS’s work researching Trump began during the Republican presidential primaries, when the GOP donor paid for the firm to investigate the real estate magnate’s background.

Fusion GPS did not start off looking at Trump’s Russia ties but quickly realized that those relationships were extensive, according to the people familiar with the matter.

When the Republican donor stopped paying for the research, Elias, acting on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC, agreed to pay for the work to continue. The Democrats paid for research, including by Fusion GPS, because of concerns that little was known about Trump and his business interests, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Those people said that it is standard practice for political campaigns to use law firms to hire outside researchers to ensure their work is protected by attorney-client and work-product privileges.

The Clinton campaign paid Perkins Coie $5.6 million in legal fees from June 2015 to December 2016, according to campaign finance records, and the DNC paid the firm $3.6 million in “legal and compliance consulting” since November 2015 – though it’s impossible to tell from the filings how much of that work was for other legal matters and how much of it related to Fusion GPS.

At no point, the people said, did the Clinton campaign or the DNC direct Steele’s activities. They described him as a Fusion GPS subcontractor.

Some of Steele’s allegations began circulating in Washington in the summer of 2016 as the FBI launched its counterintelligence investigation into possible connections between Trump associates and the Kremlin. Around that time, Steele shared some of his findings with the FBI.

After the election, the FBI agreed to pay Steele to continue gathering intelligence about Trump and Russia, but the bureau pulled out of the arrangement after Steele was publicly identified in news reports.

The dossier was published by BuzzFeed News in January. Fusion GPS has said in court filings that it did not give BuzzFeed the documents.

Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said that Steele was respected by the FBI and the State Department for earlier work he performed on a global corruption probe.

In early January, then-FBI Director James Comey presented a two-page summary of Steele’s dossier to President Barack Obama and President-elect Trump. In May, Trump fired Comey, which led to the appointment of Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel investigating the Trump-Russia matter.

Congressional Republicans have tried to force Fusion GPS to identify the Democrat or group behind Steele’s work, but the firm has said that it will not do so, citing confidentiality agreements with its clients.

Last week, Fusion GPS executives invoked their constitutional right not to answer questions from the House Intelligence Committee. The firm’s founder, Glenn Simpson, had previously given a 10-hour interview to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Over objections from Democrats, the Republican leader of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes, Calif., subpoenaed Fusion GPS’s bank records to try to identify the mystery client.

Fusion GPS has been fighting the release of its bank records. A judge on Tuesday extended a deadline for Fusion GPS’s bank to respond to the subpoena until Friday while the company attempts to negotiate a resolution with Nunes.

The post Clinton campaign, DNC tied to Russian dossier appeared first on News India Times.

The post President Trump’s claim that he’s done more ‘by far’ than President Obama in the fight against ISIS appeared first on News India Times.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, on his first visit to India as a cabinet member, discussed expanding and solidifying U.S.-India security and strategic cooperation in various regions of the world, including North Korea, as well as in trade, economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his meeting with Tillerson, praised Washington for the upward trajectory of bilateral relations between the two democracies and shared the resolve “on taking further steps in the direction of accelerating and strengthening the content, pace and scope of the bilateral engagement,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement reported by Indo Asian News Service.

While in New Delhi, Tillerson continued exhorting Pakistan for harboring terrorist groups within its borders. “There are too many terrorist organizations that find a safe place in Pakistan from which to conduct their operations and attacks against other countries,” Tillerson said at a joint press conference with Swaraj, according to the video available on the MEA website. These terrorist groups threatened Pakistan’s own stability, he added, reiterating what he had said in a major foreign policy speech before embarking on his tour to several countries including India and Pakistan.

At the same media interaction, Swaraj said she had broached Tilleron about New Delhi’s embassy in North Korea serving as a conduit for Washington to conduct any exchange with Pyongyang. Tillerson, she said appreciated the suggestion. Washington has placed new and stiffer trade sanctions against entities and countries conducting trade with North Korea.

Swaraj told media New Delhi had greatly reduced trade with North Korea to a “minimal” level and that the Embassy had a “very small” presence in that country. Tillerson and she “frankly discussed” North Korea, Swaraj said, and on the embassy, “I said to Secretary Tillerson that we should maintain that, so that U.S. could conduct (any talks) and know that there is a friendly country there which could be a conduit,” Swaraj said in Hindi. “Secretary Tillerson expressed appreciation for that,” she added.

On H1-B visas that concern hundreds of thousands of IT professionals in the U.S., Swaraj said New Delhi was pursuing the matter on both the administrative and legislative front with the United States, but noted, “Till now there has been no (new) development on H1-B.” She conceded that if certain bills making their way through Congress, were passed, it would negatively affect Indian H1-B visa holders. She has reiterated those concerns at various occasions, Swaraj said, adding she had told Tillerson that “between two such close friendly countries, professionals should not feel unwelcome (endangered). “We are working with Congress and the White House on this,” Swaraj said, and those were the only way to proceed.

During his meeting with Modi “They affirmed that a strengthened India-US partnership is not just of mutual benefit to both countries, but has significant positive impact on the prospects for regional and global stability and prosperity,” the PMO said in its statement reported by Indo Asian News Service.

Both Tillerson and Swaraj noted the recent first shipment of U.S. crude oil to India, in the last 40 years,

Modi noted the common objectives shared by the United States and India, to eradicate terrorism and the infrastructure that supports groups carrying out heinous acts, as well as bringing peace to Afghanistan. The two also discussed Tillerson’s meetings in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the PMO statement said.

During his Pakistan visit immediately prior to landing in New Delhi, Tillerson reiterated President Trump’s warnings about facing the consequences of what Washington saw as inadequate efforts by Islamabad to fight the scourge of terror groups operating from within its borders. The Prime Minister of Pakistan assured Tillerson his country would cooperate in anti-terror efforts.

“The U.S. can rest assured that we are strategic partners in the war against terror and that today, Pakistan is fighting the largest war in the world against terror,” Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told Tillerson, in statements before the closed-door talks began, The Washington Post reported.

Tillerson’s India sojourn appeared in marked contrast to his time in Pakistan, according to The Washington Post. “Tillerson’s warm welcome in India – where he toured a memorial to revered freedom leader Mohandas Gandhi – was a contrast to the chilly reception he had received in Pakistan’s capital the day before. There, one prominent politician said Tillerson was “acting like a viceroy,” a reference to leaders of the British Raj,” the Post reported.

In New Delhi, Tillerson said he had outlined “certain expectations” as well as “mechanisms of cooperation” during his meeting with Pakistan’s interim prime minister and intelligence and army officials on the issue of providing “safe havens” to terrorists.

Swaraj noted the recent devastating attacks in Afghanistan calling them proof of Pakistan’s safe havens, and said she conveyed India’s extreme concern over the situation. “Any stare that gives succour to terrorists should be prevented from doing so (rough translation) and should be held accountable,” Swaraj said, adding, “We believe Pakistan should act immediately” against terrorism.

The post Tillerson Meets Modi, Swaraj; discusses H1 visa, terrorism, trade, technology, Indo-Pacific appeared first on News India Times.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced to the Indian American community at a Diwali Celebration at the Governor’s Mansion in Austin on Sunday, that he is planning to take a trade delegation to India next year as part of his effort to further increase trade and economic ties between India and the United States, according to PTI.

His part of the mission will focus on increasing trade and investment between Texas and India in a range of sectors.

More than 30 Indian American community members were present at the Diwali Celebration which featured the lighting of the ceremonial Diwali Lamp.

“Diwali lamp has found a permanent home at the governor’s mansion in Austin, this is the third year in a row. Diwali and India community’s spirit of victory over evil, light over darkness inclusiveness is very similar to the values of the Americans,” Abbott said.

The governor also expressed his admiration and appreciation for the Indian-Americans who contributed and volunteered their time in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

The PTI reported that approximately 700 Indian-American volunteers came together and dedicated more than 24,000 hours to those who were affected by Hurricane Harvey throughout the state, putting together and distributing over 28,000 meals to the locals in need.

Governor Abbott was pleased by the fact that race did not get in the way of rescue efforts during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and Consul General Anupam Ray thanked the governor and the first lady of Texas for opening the doors of their mansion to the Indian American community on Diwali.

Ray also highlighted the various accomplishments made by the Indian-American community in Texas this year, including honoring Ian Grillot, hosting the first successful Houston-India conference in March where Texan and Indian businesses as well as think tank, experts came together in efforts to increase bilateral trade and investment.

Other accomplishments include India’s purchase of $1 billion worth of gas from the state, the purchase of $100 billion worth of defense equipment and helicopters and the partnership between the Indian-American firm Cambridge Education and Texas community colleges to work on the Skills India mission.

The post Texas Governor announces trade delegation to India next year at Diwali Celebration appeared first on News India Times.

President Donald Trump has honored two Indian-American businessmen, Sharad Thakkar and Karan Arora, in recognition of their small but significant contribution to the United States economy, according to the PTI.

Thakkar and Arora were honored along with seven other minority businesses owners in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday, where Trump congratulated them and said he is “proud of” minority businesses and their contributions in creating jobs in the country, adding that his administration is deeply committed to empowering minority business owners and told PTI, “we’re working to lift government barriers so that you can thrive, prosper, and grow.”

The PTI reported that Thakkar is president of Polymer Technologies in Ohio which works with the individuals of the plastic industry, to transform their throwaway scrap plastic into valuable raw material.

Polymer Technologies has received the award for the Minority Energy Firm of the Year, and has a proven track record of providing long-term solutions in automotive, home care and lawn care product lines.

He came to the United States from Baroda, Gujarat, 30 years ago and is “very proud that this country gave me this opportunity.”

Thakkar told PTI that “Indian-Americans are making great contributions to the US economy” and added that Trump’s “tax reform, would not only simplify the process, but also put more money into businesses.”

Arora is the director of Natural Vitamin Labs in Florida which is a family-owned business with 25 years of experience in supplying natural health products to industry partners worldwide and is the recipient of Minority Export Firm of the Year award.

According to the PTI, the facility is equipped with a manufacturing practices system and fully automated packaging machinery that allows precision and error minimization, resulting in high speed production.

He came to the United States in 2000 from Mumbai, he told PTI that “the opportunities that we had have been fantastic, tremendous.”

Arora praised Trump’s policies saying that businessmen like him need to spend more time on “business planning rather than tax planning” and that his policies are reviving America’s manufacturing base adding that he simplification of tax code would come out as a great boon for small family-owned businesses like him.

“There is a big demand (globally) for US-made products, which have more value anywhere in the world,” Arora told PTI.

Both of them received their awards from the Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at an event in Detroit on Monday where Ross told PTI that there were 996,246 minority-owned firms with paid employees last year throughout the nation, which is a 4.9 percent increase from the prior year and these minority-owned businesses produced $1.1 trillion of annual revenue.

“They employ eight million people, but only 22 percent of them have 10 or more employees. So, there’s plenty of room to grow. But we know that minority entrepreneurs are up to the task,” he told PTI.

The post Two Indian-American businessmen honored by Trump appeared first on News India Times.

Indian American hotel owner Manishkumar B. Patel, 49, is facing burglary charges after guests caught him sneaking into their room while they were sleeping at Bushnell Inn in Florida, according to ABC News.

The guests told deputies that they heard a noise and found Patel crawling on the floor next to the bed after which they confronted him while he ran out of the door with a sheet over his face.

ABC News reported that deputies reviewed surveillance video showing a man nearing the room of the victims before entering his own, the guests confirmed it was Patel.

Authorities say they had arrested Patel back in 2014 on sexual battery charges.

A CBS report states that he set to go to trial in that case in November and his bond has since been revoked, he is also facing charges of evidence tampering.

The post Indian American hotel owner faces burglary charges after sneaking into guests’ room appeared first on News India Times.