Indian-Americans are making a dent in New Jersey politics but will they break through as a formidable force on Nov. 7, is up for debate

For Indian-Americans, the Nov. 7 elections in New Jersey that go down-ballot from the governor to township councils, is a test watched keenly by the community nationwide as an example of whether they can make a breakthrough as a formidable force future politicians have to deal with. While they may be “flexing their muscle” as a New York Times report contends, even some politically active Indian-Americans rail about low voter turnout and lack of interest among sections of this community, are the Achilles heel of what is considered the most educated and highest income-earning group in the country, often touted as the ‘model minority’.

According to rough estimates by people involved in number-crunching for candidates, like Ritesh Shah, co-founder of South Asian Registration Initiative, there are some 370,000 Indian-Americans living in New Jersey, the highest of any state, up from the nearly 300,000 (292,000) in the 2010 Census. He is committed to making them more visible on the ballot in his county.

When his SARI activists fanned out to households in Montgomery County’s District 11, he found the numbers of Indian-Americans living there was much higher than the Census count or what the organization had earlier estimated. “We thought we had some 1,800 Indian-Americans, but we registered 30 percent more,” he told News India Times. That could make a difference to an important race being fought in District 11, involving an Indian-American candidate.

Rising Star

That’s the district of Vin Gopal, a rising star on the Democratic Party pantheon, a small businessman who has risen through party ranks and staked a claim to the State Senate seat in a swing district where few Indian-Americans live, and which is held by a Republican for some time now.

But Gopal contends it’s a ’50-50′ (Democratic and Republican) district and he has a chance of defeating incumbent Republican Jennifer Beck whose coffers may be heavy, but in a district that turned two Assembly seats from red to blue, he could be the one to switch the seat in the upper house.

And that is not without precedent. Historically, Indian-American candidates have done well in districts around the country where the population is majority white – the earliest of them all, Kumar Barve in Maryland who continues to represent Montgomery County in the House of Delegates since 1990; Satveer Chaudhary who first won his seat to the Minnesota House of Representatives (2001-2003) and then to the state Senate (2003-2011); Swati Dandekar in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2003-2009 and the state Senate from 2009-2011; The same goes for state races like former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley, and former Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal. Not least of all, the significant victories at the national level in 2016, that catapulted one Indian-American, Kamala Harris, to the U.S. Senate, and four to the U.S. House – Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois; Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington; Ro Khanna, D-California; and Ami Bera, D-California.

Gopal also has the benefit of riding the coattails of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy who is also from Monmouth County, and has vigorously courted Indian-Americans. Gopal told News India Times he was doing well, raising money, and he has some 1,000 volunteers at his beck and call. Even at 9 pm, some 30 were operating phone banks at his campaign office as he spoke to this correspondent.

Amit Jani, director of Asian American outreach for Murphy, says there’s a lot of excitement in the Indian-American community to bring about a change of guard at the state level, and Murphy’s focus on the economy, the tech sector, and job creation appeals to it. “There are a lot of folks in their 20s and 30s who are drawn to politics this campaign season, So are older Indian-Americans, ” Jani says, not least because of candidates fielded up and down the ballot. “They are putting in time at the grassroots level and I hope they will come out in force November 7,” he said. “We are seeing more Indian-Americans run for office- maybe the highest number to date,” hazards Gopal.

Raj Mukherji, the only Indian-American in the New Jersey legislature after former Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula lost a Congressional election in 2014, seems certain, Gopal ‘my best friend in the world’ will win. Mukherji is expected to win re-election from District 33, Hudson County.

Long Way Off

“But Vin’s victory will merely double the number of Indian-Americans in the State legislature,” Mukherji says. A far cry from the right number according to his math. “There are about 350,000 Indian-Americans in New Jersey out of a population of 8.9 million. So that’s 4 percent of the state. If you round that up with the number of legislators – 40 Senators and 80 Assembly members – We should have at least 5 Indian-American legislators in New Jersey,” Mukherji said.

“So while we may be flexing our muscle, we have a long way to go from the minimum appropriate representation,” Mukherji added emphasizing his key words. Yes, he conceded there are a number of other local races that Indian-Americans have won and are running for – viz. Hoboken Councilman Ravi Bhalla running for Mayor; Sangeeta Doshi for Cherry Hill township council; Sapna Shah who is on the Edison City Council but not running for re-election; Rupande Mehta for Denville City Council; Middlesex County Freeholder Shanti Narra; and Ayesha Krishnan Hamilton for West Windsor City Council; and Vibhadra Patel on the Woodbridge Township Council, among others.

“So we are rising at the municipal and county level, but we are nowhere close at the state level,” Mukherji insists. “But I am sad that not even one of the five Indian-American lawmakers elected to the U.S. Congress is from the state with the highest percentage of Indian-Americans,” mourns Mukherji.

He is looking to Indian-Americans bringing out the vote in the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia. “The Indian-American community has a chance to prove itself. We need to show our turnout can match our population because that is what parties track.”

Millennials Move

Dr. Sudhir Parikh, publisher of News India Times, and a recipient of India’s Padma Shri award, who has consistently encouraged the rise of Millennials in politics, has a longer range view of the evolution of the Indian-American electorate in the country. “We have come a long way from the 1990s. Even organizations like the Washington Leadership Program, that he has supported, which sends interns every Summer to Capitol Hill offices, has produced political activists at local and state levels. And he argues, even if the 4 percent of Indian-Americans do not have matching elected representatives, “Candidates of every ethnicity or race have to take stock of this community.”

Yet, Parikh admits, some Indian-Americans don’t exercise their franchise. “They are so self-absorbed. It is a sad story,” Parikh bemoans. “But I am very optimistic of the younger generation.”

Ritesh Shah of SARI also concedes it is hard to get Indian-Americans to the ballot box. “They have salaries in six figures and are doctors and business persons,” says Shah. Yet every Saturday when SARI makes calls to the Indian-American homes in District 11 in Monmouth County, N.J., “We get responses like – ‘I’m not interested,’ even though there is an Indian-American running as State Senator from here,” he says with some frustration in his voice urging everyone to get active by finding out where every cent of their taxpayer money goes, if for no other reason.

Assemblyman Mukherji echoes Shah’s disappointment with the low voter turnout. “While I appreciate the attention to the community (in news media), no one should be celebrating – because our voter turnout lags behind other communities,” he says. “If we don’t wake up to secure our place at the table, we are going to be on the menu,” Mukherji portends.

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Donald Trump Jr., the son of the President plans to continue with two building projects in the near future in Kolkata and Gurgaon, according to The Washington Post.

The two projects were signed before President Trump was elected to office and according to the report, the Trump Organization lent its name to five project in India for high-end luxury residences, costing a maximum of $765,000 in Kolkata and starting at $1.8 million in Gurgaon, where an office is also planned; the other two are in Pune and Mumbai.

“We are long-term, extremely bullish on India,” the Trump Organization said in an emailed statement to The Washington Post. “The success of our existing projects and the strong inquiries that the teams are seeing from upcoming projects even before launch has been incredible. We are optimistic about the future and very proud of our existing presence in the market.”.6 million and $11 million in royalties over three years.

The family company of Maharashtra state lawmaker Mangal Prabhat Lodha is in charge of building the Mumbai tower; The Gurgaon project is in the hands of Basant Bansal, the co-founder of M3M India.

The Post cites an analyst’s report which it says shows the Kolkata project has 428 unsold units in the $460,000 range, and the Mumbai one has 17,478 units.

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The U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum formed by a group of leading American entrepreneurs and private sector executives who quit the U.S. – India Business Council, announced the addition of Richard Verma, the Obama administration’s Ambassador to India, to its Board Oct. 26. Recently, another top Indian-American, former Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal, took over as head of the U.S.-India Business Council which is part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Ambassador Verma, the 25th U.S. Ambassador to India, brings a wealth of experience to his position on the Board, the USISPF said in a press release, noting Verma’s “impactful strides” in defense, trade and clean energy sectors during his tenure as ambassador during the Obama presidency. Verma is currently vice chair of the The Asia Group where he leads the consulting firm’s South Asia group. Verma is also a Centennial Fellow at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and co-chairs the U.S.-India Task Force at the Center for American Progress.

Verma oversaw 9 meetings between President Obama and Prime Minister Modi which led to – more than 100 new initiatives and more than 40 government-to-government dialogues, the release said. In addition, Verma was the first U.S. Ambassador to India to visit all Indian states during his time in the role.

Prior to serving as Ambassador to India, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs at the State Department. On Capitol Hill, he served for many years as the senior advisor to the Senate Majority Leader. He was also a National Security Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a member of the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Commission, where he was a co-author of their landmark report, “World at Risk.” He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and his military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal. Verma has also served in the private sector, as a partner in a major law firm, and at a Washington-based consulting firm.

“Rich Verma is one of the most profoundly influential individuals for U.S.-India relations, and we could not be more honored and excited to welcome him to the USISPF Board,” Mukesh Aghi, president of USISPF, is quoted saying in the release.

Ambassador Verma called the USISPF a “critical platform to advance commercial ties, adding,  “While serving as Ambassador to India, I saw first-hand the exciting work that U.S. companies are doing across India and in cooperation with domestic partners.”

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., USISPF has offices in New York, Silicon Valley, Mumbai, and New Delhi.

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Tensions between Republicans and Democrats over the investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election intensified Sunday, with President Donald Trump demanding to know why his campaign is under federal scrutiny while his former opponent Hillary Clinton is not.

The president’s latest outburst over the inquiry led by special counsel Robert Mueller surfaced on Twitter as his administration braced for the possibility that the first batch of charges in the case could be publicly announced as soon as Monday. CNN reported that a federal grand jury had approved an indictment, although details of the possible charges and the name of a defendant remained unclear.

Trump issued four tweets over 24 minutes, attacking the Mueller probe as unfair and citing various Clinton controversies that he said warranted investigation.

“Instead they look at phony Trump/Russia, ‘collusion,’ which doesn’t exist,” the president said. “The Dems are using this terrible (and bad for our country) Witch Hunt for evil politics, but the R’s are now fighting back like never before. There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!”

Later in the morning, Trump added: “All of this ‘Russia’ talk right when the Republicans are making their big push for historic Tax Cuts & Reform. Is this coincidental? NOT!”

On Sunday talk shows, Republicans rallied around Trump and questioned how CNN could have received information about secret grand jury proceedings.

“There are very, very strict laws on grand jury secrecy, so depending on who leaked this to CNN, that’s a criminal violation, potentially,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, R, a longtime friend of Trump’s, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “For us to have confidence in this process, we’ve got to make sure that the grand jury process remains confidential, remains secret, so that the special counsel can work effectively to be able to get to the bottom of all that he’s looking into.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., cast doubt on the objectivity of Mueller’s team, noting that the prosecutor’s staff includes “a lot of individuals, attorneys who played in politics, who’ve given money on the Democratic side.” Of the eight attorneys on the team who have been publicly identified, four made donations to Democrats, including President Barack Obama and Clinton.

“This president won the election solely on the idea that he connected with the American people. No other influence involved,” McCarthy said on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “But the idea of what I’ve watched, of what the Democrats have been doing, it sure raises a lot of questions.”

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, came to Mueller’s defense and said that he doesn’t agree with Republicans who are calling for Mueller to resign or stop his investigation.

“I would encourage my Republican friends – give the guy a chance to do his job,” Gowdy said on Fox News Sunday. “The result will be known by the facts, by what he uncovers. . . . I would say give the guy a chance to do his job.”

Democratic lawmakers mostly stayed out of the Sunday fray after a week in which Clinton’s 2016 campaign came under fresh scrutiny. The campaign funded political opposition research into Trump that helped create a highly publicized “dossier” on the Republican candidate and fueled some allegations now under scrutiny by Mueller.

The 35-page dossier is composed of 17 memos containing raw intelligence, some of it highly salacious and not independently confirmed. It relies on Kremlin-linked sources and alleges that the Russian government had been trying to support Trump’s candidacy while gathering compromising information that could be used as blackmail. The dossier was published in full by BuzzFeed in January.

It’s unclear how much the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee paid for the opposition research by Fusion GPS, a Washington, D.C., firm that conducts investigations for private clients. The Clinton campaign paid $5.6 million in legal fees to a law firm 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. 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.

Trump tweeted Sunday morning that the dossier, which he called “Clinton made Fake Dossier,” could have cost as much as $12 million, although he did not explain how he reached that number.

Compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, the dossier mirrors a separate conclusion reached by U.S. intelligence agencies that the Russian government intervened in the U.S. election in an effort to bolster Trump and harm Clinton, such as through hacking the DNC and distributing materials to WikiLeaks to publish at key moments.

Fusion GPS, which hired Steele to gather information, was first employed to investigate Trump during the Republican primaries by the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative publication that receives financial support from billionaire GOP donor Paul Singer, according to two people familiar with Singer. The Beacon said in a statement that its research ended before Fusion GPS hired Steele and that none of the research that it commissioned is included in the dossier.

In April 2016, an attorney representing Clinton’s presidential campaign and the DNC hired Fusion GPS, which then hired Steele. Brian Fallon, a former spokesman for the Clinton campaign, said he learned about Steele and the dossier after the election. People familiar with the matter told The Washington Post that the Clinton campaign and the DNC did not direct Steele’s activities.

Rep. Adam Schiff, Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said Sunday that “a lot” of the information in the dossier has been corroborated.

“I certainly would have liked to know who paid for it earlier, but nonetheless, that’s just one factor to be considered,” Schiff said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “It doesn’t answer the ultimate question, which is: How much of the work is accurate? How much of it is true? And my colleagues don’t seem particularly interested in that question, but that is really the most important question for the American people.”

Schiff said he has not been told anything about any impending indictments in Mueller’s investigation, noting that such notification would not have been appropriate.

Trump also tweeted Sunday about Clinton’s involvement in what he called the “Uranium to Russia deal,” demanding that the matter receive greater scrutiny.

The 2010 deal approved by the Obama administration while Clinton was secretary of state allowed a Russian nuclear energy agency to acquire a controlling stake in a Canadian-based company that had mining licenses for about 20 percent of U.S. uranium extraction capacity. The company cannot export the uranium.

Earlier this month, House and Senate Republican leaders announced they would investigate the uranium deal, and the House Oversight Committee launched a probe into how the FBI investigated Clinton during the campaign. In the latter investigation, Republicans say they want to know why then-FBI Director James Comey publicly announced that the bureau was investigating Clinton but waited months before making a similar announcement about its inquiries into the Trump campaign.

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A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging the Indian-American owner of several Milwaukee-area gas stations with forced labor and sexual assault involving his business. The crimes are said to have occurred between 2009 and 2011.

United States Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad announced Oct. 30, that Harshinder Bhatia, 58, was charged with one count of harboring an alien for financial gain, one count of forced labor involving aggravated sexual abuse, and one count of document servitude. He was arraigned on these charges on Oct. 24.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

According to the indictment, Bhatia employed an Indian woman using force and threats of force that made her believe that if she did not perform such labor and services, she would suffer serious harm. The indictment charges that this alleged crime involved aggravated sexual abuse and was made more possible because Bhatia possessed the victim’s passport.

If convicted, Bhatia faces up to 5 years in prison on the charge of document servitude; up to 10 years in prison on the charge of alien harboring, and up to life in prison on the charge of forced labor.

The indictment also notifies Bhatia that the government was going to go after his properties, those that were allegedly used to help commit the offenses or were acquired as a result of proceeds made from these offenses.

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BENGALURU – Green energy like solar power would power India as 175 gigawatt (GW) of electricity is expected to be generated from renewable sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Sunday.

“By 2022, when India will be celebrating 75 years of independence, 175 GW of renewable energy will be generated. The government is working towards meeting 40 per cent of the country’s energy needs from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2030,” said Modi at a public function in the Palace Grounds here.

He was addressing several thousands of people at the grounds, who had gathered for a mass recital of Soundarya Lahari, a set of shlokas (verses) composed by eighth century Indian philosopher Adi Shankaracharya.

Modi said over Rs 11,000 crore were spent by the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the renewable energy sector in the past three years, against a mere Rs 4,000 crore by the Congress-led UPA.

India is capable of generating a total 750 GW of energy if it puts all of its resources to work, Modi said, adding: “We need to work towards that.”

He said people could save hugely through over 27 crore LED bulbs distributed to households across the country as part of the Ujala scheme.

“LED bulbs earlier cost Rs 350 and through Ujala scheme they cost just Rs 40-45. Around Rs 7,000 crore was saved in the country by this price cut. These bulbs also helped in cutting down the electricity bills for the households. With just a different approach, we could make a huge difference,” he said.

Asserting that the future is not of diesel and petrol, Prime Minister said startups should look at innovations that help the country’s population.

Through Ujjwala scheme, over three LPG connections have been distributed to the poor in the country, he said. “This has contributed to a positive difference in the lives of the rural women, but also to gave way to a cleaner environment.”

“Bengaluru is the land of startups. I invite entrepreneurs to join in a movement in creating solar-based stoves that are inexpensive. Innovation should be in that direction that can help Indian population,” Modi said.

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NEW DELHI – Located in a dingy and dirty lane, there’s hardly any scope for the sun’s rays to penetrate into Surjeet Singh’s 50 sq yard home. The two room set is the only shelter for him, his wife, four children and widowed mother, to whom the house was allotted after his father was killed in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 — when he was just eight at the time.

“You can see how we are surviving. It has been now more than three decades of the 1984 riots, but seems our lives have remained stagnant. Forget justice, our condition of living has rather deteriorated. The riots shut our doors to a better life,” Surjeet, now 40, told IANS.

The Widow’s Colony in West Delhi’s Tilak Vihar was established by the government and allotted to the widows who survived as a part of the compensation to victims of the anti-Sikh riots that broke out on October 31, 1984 on the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. However, the present condition of the colony is extremely miserable; power lines hang low, garbage is littered over the narrow lanes and the drains are left uncovered.

Around 3,000 widows were allotted houses in Tilak Vihar but now only a countable are left. Many went back to Punjab while few have settled in other parts of Delhi.

Sixty-five-year-old Kuldeep Kaur, one a widow who has been residing in the colony since its inception, said that she has now learned to live with the traumatic and harrowing past pain but was worried about the future of her children and grandchildren

“I am old now and have accepted whatever was written in my destiny. The riots not just took away life of my husband but permanently closed the scope of leading a secured and decent life. My three children saw their father being burnt alive in front of their eyes; they didn’t attend school. And now, my son drives an e-rickshaw; what future will he give to his children,” Kuldeep Kaur lamented.

Surjeet Singh, who is a freelance photographer by profession, said he saw his father murdered by angry and violent mobs but was too young to understand what was happening. “Imagine a life without a father, how difficult it must have been for the widows to continue their lives with the sole earning member gone. At that time, women were not so educated to get a job. The situation after the riots was very bad,” he voiced.

The riots had majorly affected the children of the widows living in the colony; they got involved in addictions — started taking drugs and surrendered themselves to alcohol –and left schooling.

“Nobody could afford school, even though some went to school they couldn’t complete their education because the dreadful past was too difficult to forget and difficult to concentrate on studies. The boys of Tilak Vihar are actually useless but you cannot blame them,” Surjeet Singh pointed out.

Kuldeep Kaur recalled how their lives changed in a blink; she and her children had no roof to shelter them and had to spend many days hungery. Being less educated, she couldn’t get a job so took up a stitching work to continue her livelihood.

“And this is not just what I have gone through but tale of all the widows in Tilak Vihar. Kamane ka zariya khatam ho gaya hain (our medium of earning a livelihood is closed). Now they (the survivors of the riots) either run autos or have small shops of their own,” she further added.

The survivors pitched that despite knowing under what circumstances they live, there has been no help from the government.

“Its all gimmick by the political parties, whosoever comes to power. They leaders show their face either before the elections or during this time. They show their sympathy, give us false promises and then vanish, no sign of them for a year,” Surjeet Singh pointed out.

Kuldeep Kaur lamented that even the compensation amount which was offered by the government has not yet been fully given to them. She said: “Kishto mein milta hai (we get in installments). Had we got the money in time, our children could have at least completed their education, got a decent job and settled well.”

Surjeet Singh said that he doesn’t expect any monetary compensation — all that he wants is a better life for his children and doesn’t want them to struggle for a living.

“Only those who have gone through this knows the pain. But now, our hunger for justice have also died. We have lost all hope for the culprits to be punished. Every year many journalists turn up, they talk to us, express their grief and gratitude, but nothing fruitful comes of it,” he replied.

“An earnest request,” Singh paused before adding: “Please do write something that forces the government to take up our case seriously.”

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NEW DELHI – Chudails roaming around in a purani haveli to Bollywood songs — that’s not a scene from a Hindi movie, but a setting for Halloween celebration.

Halloween, known for spooky traditions, takes place on October 31 annually. People mostly get together and plan fun activities and events to scare one another, including trick or treating. The international concept is gradually getting popular in India.

Many of the places are holding special parties to honour the global tradition, but some places have taken a step further and gave an Indian twist to it.

Delhi-based Lord of the Drinks is having a ‘Fright Night’ through which the outlet is rolling out ‘desi’ dishes like the killer pumpkin halwa. It’s going to be a Bollywood party.

“We decided to give Halloween a ‘desi’ twist while staying true to our roots and brought a combination of Indian and western. We all have a Bollywood side to us and the Halloween night will be a perfect opportunity to embrace it completely,” Priyank Sukhija, Owner, CEO and Managing Director of First Fiddle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd, told IANS.

From having ‘nagins’ to quintessential white sari clad spirit, the Kaama, Lower Parel, Mumbai, also hosted a ‘desi’ party with DJ Aqeel.

“The spooky Indian version with grooving Bollywood music, is something people can expect in the coming years. Unlike any party done till date, we plan to keep ‘desi’ element in coming Halloween parties,” said Haimanti Bhattacharya, Chief Operating Officer at Kaama.

Bhattacharya says youngsters like new and innovative things.

“Desi Halloween being very new in town attracts a lot of people who want to experience something new… Aao Kabhi Purani Haveli mai is the theme of this year. We want the customers to experience more than draculas, vampires and Adam’s Family.”

According to Sneha Shetty, Head of Brand and Business at The Stables, Andheri East, Mumbai, there are many factors like customer and market trend, that decoded the theme of the event each year.

“Today not only the youngsters but also the 27 plus want to dress up and attend such parties and are always up for something that’s new and innovative. Thus our aim is to make Halloween more palatable to mature crowd as well. This we intend to do by acquiring knowledge of customers’ liking and then over all market/consumer trend. The global trend will also be taken into consideration,” Shetty said.

There is a business angle to the story too.

“Halloween being a billion dollar business globally, which means the global market is warming up with this trend. Thus, we are utilising this trend to keep up with the global trend, this will not just boost the business but also lead to evolution of brand philosophy,” Shetty added.

Karan Dharod, partner at LightHouse Cafe in Worli, Mumbai, also mentioned that celebrating Halloween “affects restaurant business positively”.

Shisha Bar Stock Exchange also hosted ‘Darr Night’ in full Bollywood style with DJ Siana Catherine.

Apart from Bollywood, some places are taking notes from popular international series and turning it into their theme.

From having a “Game of Thrones” inspired menu and decor to planning a ‘Stranger Things: Gateway to the Upside Down’, TabulaBeach from Delhi is adding a glitzy touch to the celebrations,.

For the ‘Stranger Things: Gateway to the Upside Down’ event, which will be held on November 3, the interiors will be transformed into the alternate universe with strange creatures walking around. They are also providing make-up, face painting and special effects by celebrity artist Aradhana Khanna and Neha Dhara.

As a different activity, celebrity make-up artist Elton J. Fernandez, Kavya Trehan – singer-songwriter and one-half of indie pop band Mosko and Shaan, electronic DJ and music producer, joined Budweiser’s “Join the Fearless” campaign, which urged people to face fears on their own terms.

So, ignore the fact that Halloween is coming in the beginning of the week, and enjoy a ‘spooky’ night out.

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NEW YORK

Sony Pictures Networks announced today that their upcoming crowdfunding- based reality series “Meet the Drapers” will premiere across the United States on November 19, 2017 at 6pm (ET) on Sony Entertainment Television (SET).

In this innovative show, produced & directed by Sarika Batra, three generations of venture capitalists from one of the most prominent families in Silicon Valley: Bill Draper, Tim Draper, and Jesse Draper, come together to hear hot, up-and-coming startups pitch their ideas. Each episode will feature three exciting startups trying to convince the Drapers to invest in their company and simultaneously convince millions of viewers to fund them through their crowdfunding page on the Republic platform. Episodes will also feature a guest judge, who is a legendary success in his/her their respective field.

Bill Draper began his venture capital career in 1959 and is one of America’s first venture capitalists. Currently, he is Managing Director of Draper Richards L.P and Draper International. He serves as the Co-Chairman of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation. Mr. Draper is also author of the book, The Startup Game:Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs.

Bill’s son, Tim Draper has been named one of Worth Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful People in Finance and is the founding partner of Draper Associates and DFJ. His original suggestion to use viral marketing as a method for spreading a software application from customer to customer was instrumental to the success of Hotmail, Skype, and others. Tim also received the World Entrepreneurship Forum’s “Entrepreneur for the World” in 2015.

Tim’s daughter, Jesse Draper followed in the family footsteps, betting big on female founded and led companies through her new venture capital fund Halogen Ventures. Through Halogen Ventures, Jesse spearheads early stage seed investing in female founded consumer technology startups; some of her portfolio companies include: Laurel & Wolf, Move Loot, Carbon38, BlockCypher, Beautycon & Sugarfina.

Tim Draper shares: “It is finally possible for the individual investor to participate in the funding of exciting young ventures. ‘Meet the Drapers’ allows viewers to watch us interview entrepreneurs and then, invest in companies that have the potential to change the world. We are thrilled to have created a unique show, that invites viewers to become investors in exciting new startups. We’ve been blown away by the entrepreneurs we’ve met so far, and believe viewers will be too.”

Guest judges for “Meet the Drapers” include successful serial entrepreneurs Naveen Jain; business executive, entrepreneur and the founder and former CEO of InfoSpace, Vivek Ranadive; founder and former CEO of TIBCO, a multimillion-dollar real-time computing company, and Jyoti Bansal; founder and former CEO of AppDynamics, which he sold to Cisco for $3.7 billion.

“South Asians are a vibrant part of the Silicon Valley startup culture.” said Jaideep Janakiram, Head of the Americas at Sony Pictures Networks. “We created this show to showcase these trailblazing entrepreneurs, VCs and angels, and to allow SET viewers to participate in their ventures.

Pitching companies will be accepting investments via Republic – a leading equity crowdfunding platform that makes startup investing available to anyone. Republic is the easiest way to become an investor in breakout early-stage startups for as little as $10.

To participate in crowdfunding for selected ventures, viewers are encouraged to watch “Meet the Drapers” on Sony Entertainment Television every Sunday at 6pm (ET), starting November 19th, 2017.

About Sony Entertainment Television:
Sony Entertainment Television (SET), one of India’s leading Hindi general entertainment television channels is a part of Sony Pictures Television (SPT) backed Sony Pictures Networks, which is India’s leading television network. Since its launch in October 1995, SET has created a unique space for itself in the Indian Television industry. Pioneering new waves in television programming, with blockbuster movie premieres, big format non-fiction shows and an impressive array of fiction shows like Sabse Bada Kalakar, Super Dancer, The Kapil Sharma Show, Indian Idol, Kaun Banega Crorepati, Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanuman, Beyhadh, Kuch Rang pyre Ke Aise Bhi, Bajirao Peshwa, CID, Crime Patrol Bade Acche Lagte Hain, Bharat Ka Veer Putra Maharana Pratap and Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyar. SET is known for its innovative concepts and exciting formats and is the most preferred family entertainment channel which has been providing strong platforms for more than 700 brands to reach over 93 million households in India. In addition, Sony Entertainment Television is also available in the US, UK, Africa, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Malaysia, Indonesia, Fiji Islands and Seychelles. In total, SET influences over 332 million viewers in the Indian sub-continent, and the South Asian Diaspora worldwide.

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An Indian-American from the University of Michigan, along with his team of researchers, has discovered the specific mechanism that the body’s T-cells need to use in order to kill bacteria, preventing illnesses.

According to a University of Michigan report, Sriram Chandrasekaran, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at UMich, and Judy Lieberman from Harvard have discovered a key difference between the way immune cells attack bacteria and the way antibiotics do.

As drugs typically attack with a single process within bacteria, T-cells attack a host of processes at the same time and the study shows that there is a potential for drug-resistant pathogens to kill a projected 10 million people annually across the globe by the year 2050.

The possible applications of the new findings on T-cells run the gamut from the creation of new medications to the repurposing of previously approved drugs, the UMich report says.

“We have a huge crisis of antibiotic resistance right now in that most drugs that treat diseases like tuberculosis or listeria, or pathogens like E.coli, are not effective. So there is a huge need for figuring out how the immune system does its work. We hope to design a drug that goes after bacteria in a similar way,” Chandrasekaran is quoted saying in the news story.

Killer T-cells, formally known as cytotoxic lymphocytes, attack infected cells by producing the enzyme granzyme B, but how this enzyme triggers death in bacteria has not been well understood, Chandrasekaran said.

Chandrasekaran and his team monitored how T-cells deal with three different threats: E. coli, listeria and tuberculosis, using Proteomics, a technique that measures protein levels in a cell, along with computer modeling, this allowed them to see granzyme B’s multipronged attack targeting multiple processes.

“When exposed to granzyme B, the bacteria were unable to develop resistance to the multipronged attack, even after exposure over multiple generations. This enzyme breaks down multiple proteins that are essential for the bacteria to survive. It’s essentially killing several birds with one stone,” Chandrasekaran added.

World Health Organization officials describe antibiotic resistance as “one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development today” and each year, an estimated 700,000 deaths are linked to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, projections show that the number is to rise to 10 million by 2050.

The UMich report quotes Sally Davies, England’s top health official warning recently that the lost effectiveness of antibiotics would mean “the end of modern medicine. We really are facing—if we don’t take action now—a dreadful post-antibiotic apocalypse. I don’t want to say to my children that I didn’t do my best to protect them and their children.”

In fact, there are only a few new antibiotics in the pipeline now as the heyday of new antibiotics occurred between the 1940s and 1960s, and coming to a halt at the end of the 20th century.

“We’ve reached a point where we take what antibiotics can do for granted, and we can’t do that anymore. We’re taking inspiration from the human immune system, which has been fighting infections for thousands of years,” Chandrasekaran said.

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BRIDGEWATER, NJ – The New Jersey Chapter of the Akshaya Patra Foundation USA raised $500,000 at their first annual charity benefit gala held on Saturday, October 28, at Martinsville Gardens, with Narayana Murthy, founder and chairman emeritus of Infosys Ltd., a star presence at the meet.

Other attendees at the gala included Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, founder and chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media, and his wife Dr. Sudha Parikh; Padma Shri H. R. Shah of TV Asia; Kiran Kothari; Dr. Anand Kulkarni; Dr. Rachana Kulkarni; Dr. Kusum Punjabi, who hosted the evening; Ankita Narula, the Director of Development on the East Coast for Akshaya Patra; and Emily Rosenbaum, the CEO of Akshaya Patra.

Murthy was joined by Akshaya Patra Board chairman of Akshaya Patra USA, Desh Deshpande, in a fireside chat along with Indian American mathematician Manjul Bhargava.

The chat was conducted by Deshpande who asked Murthy and Bhargava what would be the advantages and disadvantages of technology in the future.

“The future is big data and machine learning,” said Bhargava, who was agreeing to what Murthy had to say. “The big thing that everybody is talking about and some population has already made considerate stride, is in the area of big data, machine learning and automation,” he said.

“There are predictions that a lot of jobs, like truck driving, will all become autonomous. Any deterministic task can be executed by a machine and the good thing about these machines is that they don’t get tired, they don’t make mistakes and they listen to what you say,” he added.

Murthy mentioned that the industrial revolution in the United States took away 98 percent of jobs from the agriculture sector and that may happen again due to a the rapid advancement of technology.

“So the issue is, how do we ensure that we retrain all of these people to use better judgment to provide human touch, to bring the benefit of human feelings and human warmth to jobs that require people to feel even more attracted to populations,” he said.

“Every area of human endeavor is being taken over by an area of machine learning, machine learning is a way in which a computer does something over and over again, experiments, until it gets better and better,” Bhargava added. “Computers are going to take away all of the materialistic jobs but those jobs that require creativity, that require programming the computer to make it do what humans do, that is where the future is going to be.”

Deshpande has been an entrepreneur for the last 30 years and was appointed by former President Barack Obama as the co-chair to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He is currently the President and Chairman of Sparta Group LLC and the Chairman of Tejas Networks as well as the Chirman of Akshaya Patra USA since 2008.

“Sometimes you lose compassion as you try to keep up in the competitive world, you forget about the people, about the their environment, about everything else around you; non profits have that compassion, so if you use that execution excellence towards non profits, you can do amazing things,” Deshpande told the audience.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a non-profit organization which employs about 5,800 employees who use the organization’s model of combining good management with innovative technology and smart engineering to prepare and distribute one mid-day meal to 1,675,008 children every day, in 13,839 government schools throughout 12 states in India from 32 kitchen locations.

These meals are made fresh every day and are catered to the palette of the children depending upon the area they live in.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation believes that by providing one nutritious mid-day meal to less fortunate children, will give them the motivation to come to school every day, wanting to learn and eventually further their education.

In fact the program has increased school enrollment, especially for girls, and has increased school attendance as well as retention and has improved the performance and health of children.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation was formed in 2000 and began as a pilot program which fed 1,500 children every day in five schools, today it is the world’s largest non-profit school meal program and has 19 chapters in the United States.

The New Jersey chapter was founded by Drs. Rachana and Anand Kulkarni, both cardiologists in New Jersey.

Rachna got involved in Akshaya Patra because of her childhood friend, her maid’s daughter, who died at the age of 23 due to domestic abuse because she did not get the education she needed to fulfill her dream and thus could not support herself.

“She never got the education because her parents had to make a hard choice between food and education and Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal program lets parents choose education,” she said.

“It is eye-opening to know that even today, millions of kids and their parents in India have to choose food over education and this lack of education can change the trajectory of their lives forever and they are unable to break the cycle of poverty that they are stuck in and as a parent we all know how difficult it is, it is such a tough choice for any parent to deny their kid an opportunity to better their lives. Akshaya Patra makes that choice easy for parents,” Rachana added.

Anand got involved because he said that his father had chosen education over food when he decided to go to the city to pursue further studies.

“My father left his ancestral village at the age of 12 to come to a bigger city for education. He had the intelligence, desire and ability to do hard work however; he had no money, not even for his daily meals and when he went to the school headmaster to seek admission, the headmaster wrote a letter and told him to circulate it among the staff members. The letter stated that ‘the young lad is seeking admission to the school’ but does not have money for meals so if anyone would like to help him out please do so and everybody volunteered,” he said.

“When I found out about the fabulous work that Akshaya Patra is doing, I knew that I have found the right medium to extend my helping hand and pass on the kindness shown to my father,” he added. “No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.”

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We had the opportunity to sit down with Ms. Falguni Patel, “Fal” as friends call her, who is running for the Board of Education (BOE) position in Edison Township. My first impression of Fal is that she is warm, friendly, soft-spoken person who deeply believes making a difference in education and children’s lives.

Falguni, please tell me about this election?

Please call me Fal. I am running for the Board of Education (BOE) position in Edison Township. Voters will be selecting four (4) board members from a field of eleven (11) candidates on Tuesday, Nov 07, 2017 – three for 3-year term and one for 1-year term. I am running with 3 other amazingly qualified team members for a these are: Mr. Jingwei (Jerry) Shi (column H-3) re-election, 3-year term; myself (column H-5) 3-year term; Ms. Beth Moroney (column H-7) re-election, 3-year term; Mr. Paul Distefano (column H-10) re-election, 1-year term. I am requesting voters to vote Column H for me and other candidates on my team as mentioned earlier.

What are the most pressing issues for BOE in this election?

There are several and I plan to work with the BOE team to address all these:

Overcrowding: This will require creative ideas, open communications and dialog between diverse communities to adopt creative solutions.

School infrastructure: We need to extend existing school, identify, fix, replace or add as needed Air conditioner, additional fields, etc.

Addressing growth: There are ways to address this, potentially redistricting to distribute the load evenly, add new schools or additions to existing schools. I will work hard with the BOE, Township leadership, parents and teachers to achieve that.

What attracted you to pursue candidacy for BOE position?

Growing up, education was very important in my parents’ home and they instilled in me the value of education from early childhood. I believe that our public school system is the very backbone of our society and country and we need to continue strengthening it. With my higher education background, I feel I have a well-rounded view point and I am suitable to make a difference at BOE in making the right decisions.

Can you share more about your educational background and how it will help you in BOE position?

I have always valued education. My parents, teachers and above all the NJ school system in general had a lot to do with where I am today. Early successes from elementary to middle to high school led me to pursuing my undergraduate in Psychology and Political Science at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. After that I pursued my law degree at Western New England University, Springfield, MA in 2010. My educational background and experiences provide for a unique perspective on where education is and where the educational industry is potentially heading.

Which area of law do you practice and how will that help you in BOE?

At Law school, I was attracted to Corporate and Immigration Law and that is what I am practicing today as an attorney since 2010. Being a corporate attorney, I help my clients oversee, negotiate and contest all kinds of agreements. Being a BOE board member for Edison Township with such a large multi-million dollar budget, as a practicing corporate attorney, I will bring same rigor to the BOE position as well for the benefit of Edison parents and children. I will be a tremendous asset to the board and above all to Edison Township.

What about your other involvements outside of work?

I am an avid advocate for Women and Children – this will also be a huge asset because BOE members have to make critical decisions keeping children and parents issues in mind. I have been community organizer and active volunteer in multiple non-profit organizations. In the last elections, I was elected to a Committeewoman position in Edison District 53. I am an active member of MA Bar Association.

Can you mention anything other unique things about you that would be of interest to voters?

Edison Township is one of New Jersey’s towns with the largest South Asian population – with the result that almost 40% of the school going children is of South Asian background. As an Indian American female who was born raised and schooled in New Jersey, I understand firsthand both the American and the Indian American perspective on what it is like to be in an American school system. One can read about it but can’t substitute what I have experienced myself; I can personally relate. It is important to have BOE board members that bring that experience, perspective, know-how and will to make decisions that are in-line with children and parents’ needs, I will be that person.

What do you think is the most critical issue currently facing our Schools?

Although others see our unique school system challenges negatively, I see the upside and unique opportunity for us to address creatively the challenges while we continue to maintain the higher standard we have come to live with recently. The impact has been positive:

Edison school system is ranked among some of the best, not just in NJ but also in the country.

Edison Township was recently ranked 19 best places to live by Time Magazine and the bulk of the credit goes to Edison School system.

Housing property values have continued to rise, giving economic benefits to township residents

More and more families want to move in to Edison Township.

Once elected, how would you envision your role as a BOE member?

I do believe that a BOE board member should interact with following members of the community as follows:

School Students: It is important to focus on what is best for all the students’ achievements and implementing policies that will ensure success for all, to the best of their abilities, in a safe and supportive environment.

Parents: To openly discuss and review parents’ concerns and ideas at the board.

Staff: To support public education at all levels: local, state and national.

Fellow BOE members: To work well and respect fellow board members in developing creative and practical ideas.
.
Community: To keep open communications with the community through dialog and debate.

Thank you Fal for your precious time answering my questions which should help voters.

Well, thank you for your precious time and thanks for bringing this information to my voters so they can make their informed decisions on Tuesday, Nov 7, 2017. I would like to request voters to vote Column H for me and my team as mentioned earlier, which is: Mr. Jingwei (Jerry) Shi (column H-3) re-election, 3-year term; myself (column H-5) 3-year term; Ms. Beth Moroney (column H-7) re-election, 3-year term; Mr. Paul Distefano (column H-10) re-election, 1-year term.

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Director James Ivory’s film Shakespeare Wallah (1965) will be screened next month in New York, in a brand new 2K scan and restoration from the original camera negative and magnetic soundtrack, and featuring a new 5.1 audio mix from the stereo 35mm mags.

Shakespeare Wallah is part of the Cohen Film Collection, which has acquired a 30-film library of movies directed and produced by the James Ivory-Ismail Merchant filmmaking team.

Elegiac and atmospheric, Shakespeare Wallah was the feature film that really put Merchant Ivory Productions on the international movie map, winning them great critical acclaim and now recognized as a classic.

Starring Shashi Kapoor, Madhur Jaffrey, and a young Felicity Kendal, the film’s inspiration lies in the real-life adventures of Kendal’s family as a traveling theater group in India during the final days of English colonial rule.

The ‘Buckingham Players’ try to uphold British tradition by staging Shakespeare plays for the general public, boarding schools, and local royalty, but are unable to compete with the wildly popular Bollywood film industry. Through their travels, we see the changing face of India as the old is replaced by the new.

The film also traces the developing relationship between the acting troupe’s young ingénue, Lizzie (Kendal), and Sanju (Kapoor), a wealthy Indian playboy. But their romance is beset by hindrances, not the least being the machinations of Manjula (Jaffrey), a fiery Indian film star who is also in love with Sanju.

In the 1940’s & 1950’s, Geoffrey Kendall, his wife, Laura Lidell, their daughters Jennifer and Felicity, and their traveling theatre troupe, Shakespeareana, travelled around the towns and villages of India giving performances of Shakespeare plays from shabby village halls to opulent maharajas’ palaces, often joined by a variety of young local actors who later earned international cinematic acclaim.

While mostly Shakespearean plays, there were also those of Sheridan, Shaw and Wilde. Kendal was publicly anointed “Shakespeare Wallah” after the 1965 Merchant Ivory film of the same name. In the film – which also featured his wife, daughters and son-in-law, (Shashi Kapoor) – three members of an English theatrical family “play” themselves.

Part of Cohen Media Group, the Cohen Film Collection was created in 2011 by Charles S. Cohen, upon acquiring the Rohauer Library collection of hundreds of rare and classic movies, spanning from the silent film era to present day. Cohen has added movies to the Collection, including classic British and French films from filmmakers such as Ken Loach, Claude Chabrol, Patrice Chereau, Maurice Pilat and Merchant/Ivory. The Collection’s holdings are being restoredfor the theatrical and home markets.

Shakespeare Wallah will open at the Quad Cinemas in New York on November 10.

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Film: “Villain”; Language: Malayalam; Director: Unnikrishnan; Cast: Mohanlal, Vishal Krishna and Manju Warrier; Rating: ***

The thing about Mohanlal is, he sees things that others can’t. And he makes us see things that other actors cannot. Last year, in the very watchable thriller “Oppam”, he played a blind man whose powers of perception far outstripped those blessed with eyesight.

Since “Oppam”, Mohanlal has done five other films. I missed four of them. But I am glad to catch up with the amazingly prolific and versatile actor in this thriller with balls and heart where he is a cop on the verge of retirement, yanked back to duty after a series of murders rocks the city.

This is not a novel premise to work a thriller around. Dozens of Hollywood suspense thrillers have its cop-protagonist reluctantly getting into the investigative mode just when they would like nothing better than to put up their feet in their living rooms with a bowl of popcorn and watch DVDs of old Clint Eastwood or Mohanlal flicks, depending which way your taste swings.

“Villain” works fine as long as it doesn’t begin to lean on Hollywood prototypes. The indigenous strain is well woven into the thriller. There is an element of inextinguishable anxiety in Mohanlal’s recent performances, a man calm on the surface only because the other option is so terrible it could induce a catastrophic emotional geostorm.

“Villain” builds on Mohanlal’s power to express rage and grief without letting go.

This time, he plays his cat-and-mouse game on a sleek chessboard where the pieces are laid out neatly, a little too neatly, with all the plot points and emotional tropes indicated to us from afar. We really don’t need to strain our intellect or tap into our literary resources, although William Shakespeare is casually brought up in a conversation.

For company, Mohanlal has Vishal Krishna, a remarkably engaging and intelligent actor who makes the bumpersticker wisdom of his rhetorical dialogues sound like lines borrowed from the latest episodes of “Everybody Loves Raymond”. I am not too sure if everybody would love Vishal Krishna’s Shaktivel, a smooth-talking doctor, and a portrait of moral ambivalence who stores some surprise that he lets out in the later portions of the plot.

This is a strong part for a co-star in a Mohanlal film and Vishal makes the best of it.

The female lead Manju Warrier has less to do. Don’t they always? Still, Warrier’s character kind of joins the dots, fills up the pauses and bridges the lacuna.

The director never lets his characters lose track of their place in the jigsaw. We really don’t need to look too closely for motives in this murder mystery. It’s all kind of worked out in advance and then allowed to continue building up as it moves forward to a climax that is not entirely unexpected.

“Villain” is not among the very best works of Mohanlal. But it is very handsomely mounted and shot. And it has a certain grip to its narrative. Although it thrusts at profundity amidst the bouts of homicidal assault are to be taken with a pinch of salt, it nonetheless exudes a distant sophistication in its storytelling.

IANS

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The Consulate General of India in New York hosted a meet to celebrate the birthday of Sardar Vallabhai Patel (Oct. 31, 1875 – Dec. 15, 1950), the former Deputy Prime Minister of India.

Consul General of India in New York Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, and Srujal Parikh, the Executive Vice President of the Federation of Indian Associations – Tristate area, were among those who spoke at the meet.

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More than 2,000 devotees attended the annual Annkut celebration held by the Geeta Temple, in Elmhurst, NY, on Sunday, October 29.

The Annkut celebration was a part of the temple’s Diwali celebration and all of the devotees experienced the divine darshan of Lord Shrinathji to begin their new year and were offered mahaprasad.

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More than 46 million turkeys are eaten on Thanksgiving Day and with the never-ending list of side dishes and desserts, it is by far the largest and most stressful meal many consumers prepare all year, leaving room for mistakes that can make guests sick.

“We receive an increase of calls on the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline around Thanksgiving because people are stressed and have a lot of questions about thawing and cooking their turkey,” said Marianne Gravely, senior technical specialist at USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. “Since this is such a large family feast, we want to make sure people prepare their food in a safe manner to avoid foodborne illness.”

Follow these tips and use these resources to help make this Thanksgiving feast a safe and healthy one.

Fresh or Frozen
If buying a fresh turkey, purchase one to two days before you plan to cook it and place it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook. Do not buy fresh, pre-stuffed turkeys. If not properly handled, harmful bacteria that may be in the stuffing can multiply quickly.

Frozen turkeys should be thawed in the refrigerator. Allow 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds. For example, if you purchase a 12 to 16 pound turkey, it will need three to four days to thaw in the refrigerator. A pre-stuffed frozen turkey should not be thawed. Follow the packaging directions and cook directly from the frozen state.

Don’t Wash the Bird
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 68 percent of people wash their turkey before cooking; however, USDA does not recommended it because washing raw meat or poultry can splash bacteria around the sink, across countertops and into already prepared foods. Cooking turkey to the correct internal temperature of 165ºF will kill any bacteria, making washing an unnecessary step. The exception to this rule is brining. When rinsing brine off of a turkey, be sure to remove all other food or objects from the sink, layer the area with paper towels and allow a slow stream of water to avoid splashing.

Use a Food Thermometer
The only way to determine if a turkey (or any meat, poultry or seafood) is cooked is to check its internal temperature with a food thermometer. A whole turkey should be checked in three locations: the innermost part of the thigh, the innermost part of the wing and the thickest part of the breast. Your thermometer should register 165°F in all three places.

Clear out Fridge for Leftovers
A day or two before the holiday, be sure to clear out any old food taking up space in your refrigerator. If you aren’t sure if it’s still good to eat, download our Foodkeeper app. It’s available for download on Apple and Android devices, the app provides storage times for more than 400 food items. Once your refrigerator is clear, you will have room to store all of those Thanksgiving leftovers. Do not leave leftovers on the table or countertop for people to graze, because food will enter into the danger zone (temperatures between 40ºF and 140ºF) where bacteria multiply rapidly. Instead, place food in shallow containers and place them in the refrigerator.

Have Questions? Call the Hotline
If you have questions about your Thanksgiving dinner, call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) to talk to a food safety expert. You can also chat live at AskKaren.gov, available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, in English and Spanish. If you need help on Thanksgiving Day, the Meat and Poultry Hotline is available from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET.

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Land

Honua Kai Resort & Spa on Maui has a whale-watching package with savings of at least $500. The Tons of Fun Whale Package starts at $2,260 for five nights in a one- or two-bedroom suite, daily breakfast for two and a choice of a traditional whale-watching boat tour or rafting tour. Each excursion includes a gift pack with binoculars, sunscreen, a Honua Kai logo cap, a beach bag, drinks and snacks. Add up to 14 percent in taxes. Book Nov. 1-March 31; travel Dec. 1-April 2. Holiday blackout dates apply. Info: 844-341-8509, honuakai.com

Ace Hotel is reducing rates by up to 25 percent at seven U.S. properties, plus London. Save 25 percent at the Pittsburgh hotel; 20 percent at properties in London, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Chicago and Palm Springs. Calif.; and 10 percent at the outpost in Portland, Ore. Rates vary. For example, with the discount, rates at the Ace Hotel Chicago start at $158, with taxes. Book by Nov. 3; travel dates and restrictions vary by property. Use promo code WINTERAGOGO. Info: acehotel.com

Save $875 on Kuoda Travel’s Best of Peru Folklore trip. The eight-night, independent tour costs $3,485 per person double and includes accommodations in Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu; daily breakfasts; lunch at a Relais & Chateaux property; private driver and local guides; train from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu; round-trip flight between Lima and Cusco; daily tours; airport transfers; and taxes. Depart daily from April 2-Sept. 30 Info: 800-986-4150, www.kuodatravel.com/mountains-sing-best-peruvian-folklore

Sea

Celebrity Cruises is offering the World Is Open for the Holidays promotion in December. The first two passengers sharing a cabin choose two free perks: prepaid tips, unlimited Internet, a $150 onboard credit or classic beverage package. Also, up to two additional guests sharing an oceanview or higher-category cabin receive half-price fares. The deal applies to 12 sailings departing Dec. 19-31. For example, the seven-night Western Caribbean cruise departing Miami on Dec. 30 starts at $1,549 per person for the first two passengers and $424 each for the third and fourth passengers. Add $132 taxes per person. On a seven-night cruise, the savings are $770 for the beverage package, $398 for Internet and $230 for prepaid tips. Book by Nov. 1. Info: 877-812-4739, celebritycruises.com

Air

South African Airways has sale fares from Washington Dulles to several cities in South Africa. Round-trip air to Johannesburg starts at $829; to Cape Town, from $859; and to Durban, from $869, including taxes. Travel through Dec. 9 or depart Jan. 10-March 31 and return by April 15. Restrictions include a minimum Sunday-night stay. Other airlines are matching. Book by Oct. 31 at flysaa.com

Package

Out Island Promotion Board in the Bahamas is offering a $250 air credit per booking. The deal applies to stays of four nights or longer at more than 40 properties, including Hilton at Resorts World Bimini, Green Turtle Club Resort on Abaco, and the Marina and Chester Bonefish Lodge on Acklins. Prices vary. For example, four nights at the Green Turtle starts at $984, including taxes. Book by Nov. 13; travel through June 30. Travelers who prefer to travel by fast ferry from Miami also receive a $250 credit. Info: www.myoutislands.com/bahamas-vacation-packages/250-air-credit

Save $400 per person on Gate 1 Travel’s Classic South Africa with Robben Island tour. The 12-day package starts at $2,279 per person double for the Sept. 26 and Oct. 3 departures. Price includes round-trip air from New York to Cape Town; flight from Cape Town to Durban; nine nights’ lodging in South Africa (Cape Town, Hluhluwe, Hazyview and Johannesburg) and one night in Swaziland; 17 meals; motorcoach transport; game drives; tours; airport transfers; and taxes. Book by Nov. 5. Use promo code WPSAF400. Info: 800-682-3333, www.gate1travel.com/africa/south-africa/2018

THE WASHINGTON POST

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CHICAGO, IL

The Indian Consulate in Chicago, in collaboration with Electronics & Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) organized a presentation and discussion session on GLOBALSOFT on Oct. 25 at the consulate premises. The event was attended by more than 100 IT professionals from Chicagoland and the Midwest, according to a press release from the Consulate.

The guests included Nalin Kohli, chairman, Indiasoft – Globalsoft Committee and past chairman Electronics and Software Export Promotion Council; Prasad Garapati, chairman, Electronics and Software Export Promotion Council; and D.K. Sareen, Executive Director of ESC joined the session from India. Consul (Commerce) O.P. Meena, welcomed the guests and introduced the representatives of the council.

Consul General Neeta Bhushan gave the keynote address highlighting major aspects of the Indian economy and highlights of the consulate’s efforts towards promoting trade and commerce between India and the U.S., with a focus on the Midwest. During the Narendra Modi government, foreign direct investment has set new records, she said, adding that with the introduction of Goods and Services Tax, compliance issues had been simplified and multiple taxes done away with. Demonetization has helped the Indian economy and provided an edge to the digital landscape of India, she said.

In their presentation Kohli and Sareen focused on the IT opportunities in India, the world’s third largest start-up eco-system. Programs like Digital India, Start-up India, Skill India, Smart City launched by the Government of India offer enormous business opportunities for the Global Technology Companies, they said. Also ephasized was the GLOBALSOFT 2018 exhibition is scheduled to be held in Bangalore Jan 24-25, where investors and exhibitors could tap opportunities, and connect with key government officials in several important Indian States for various projects including e-Governance, Cyber Security, Smart Cities, Energy, Defense and Homeland Security etc.

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NEW YORK – Authorities said Wednesday that the 29-year-old man accused of mowing down pedestrians and cyclists on a Manhattan bike path, killing eight people, had plotted for weeks before carrying out the attack in the name of the Islamic State.

Officials identified the suspected attacker as Sayfullo Saipov, a legal permanent resident of the United States who arrived in the country from Uzbekistan in 2010. They said Saipov was influenced by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and its violent tactics after he came to the United States.

Saipov left notes pledging his allegiance to the group, also known as ISIS, authorities said, though they have not identified any direct connections between Saipov and the organization.

Saipov’s notes were handwritten in Arabic and contained a combination of symbols and words saying essentially “that the Islamic State would endure forever,” John Miller, the deputy New York police commissioner for intelligence and counter-terrorism, said at a news briefing on Wednesday.

“He did this in the name of ISIS,” Miller said. “He appears to have followed almost exactly to a T the instructions that ISIS has put out in its social media channels before with instructions to their followers on how to carry out such an attack.”

Saipov, a legal permanent resident of the United States, came to the country in March 2010 and moved from New Jersey to Ohio and Florida, according to authorities. Officials say Saipov climbed into a rental truck on Tuesday afternoon and careened down a bike path along Hudson River, slamming into numerous people before he was wounded by police and taken into custody.

While driving southbound “at a high rate of speed,” it appears Saipov specifically targeted cyclists and pedestrians, Miller said.

The eight people killed – which included five Argentines and a German – made the violent episode New York’s deadliest terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001. Twelve more people were injured, some critically, along an extended path of carnage in Lower Manhattan.

The route, which remained a crime scene on Wednesday, had been strewn with bodies, wreckage and scattered personal items such as purses, backpacks and shoes, resembling similar scenes after attacks in Berlin, London, Barcelona and other places scarred by violence when vehicles were used as weapons.

Investigators had spoken to Saipov, who remained hospitalized and in custody Wednesday, but officials declined to publicly reveal what he said. They also continued to scour his background and life for clues, which included carrying out search warrants and interviewing people who knew him.

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, D, said authorities believe Saipov was a lone wolf who became “radicalized domestically” while living in the United States.

“The evidence shows . . . that after he came to the United States, is when he started to become informed about ISIS and radical Islamic tactics,” Cuomo said during an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” earlier Wednesday. “We have no evidence yet of associations or continuing plot or associated plots, and our only evidence to date is that this was an isolated incident that he himself performed.”

Video from the scene of the attack appeared to capture Saipov as he jumped out of the wrecked vehicle brandishing what appeared to be handguns. Some witnesses said he shouted “Allahu akbar,” meaning “God is great” in Arabic.

The Islamic State, which has called for supporters to use vehicles as weapons, did not immediately claim responsibility for the New York attack, though its supporters cheered what happened, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity. The militant group frequently asserts responsibility for attacks, doing so in some cases where there is little clear indication of its involvement.

A key difference between this attack and others that have occurred: Authorities took Saipov alive, meaning investigators could gain firsthand information from him rather than relying solely on the trail he left behind.

After identifying Saipov as an immigrant from Uzbekistan, officials were trying to confirm further details on him and his background. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the president of Uzbekistan, promised to use all resources to help in the probe.

The attack could intensify the political debate over immigration and security. President Donald Trump tweeted several times about the vehicle attack on Tuesday and Wednesday, writing at one point about keeping the Islamic State out of the United States. In another tweet, Trump said he had urged the Department of Homeland Security to “step up” its vetting program for foreign nationals, though he did not elaborate on what that meant.

Trump on Wednesday also shifted his focus to Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., tweeting that Saipov had entered the country through a visa program he blamed on the senator.

Trump has argued for much tougher screening of immigrants to prevent terrorism, and opponents of those policies have sought to block his efforts in the courts. Uzbekistan was not among the countries named in any version of the president’s travel ban, which largely targeted a number of majority-Muslim countries.

Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, D, said Wednesday that neither man had received a phone call from Trump. Both elected officials said they were not bothered because two senior Trump administration officials had called them, but both men also expressed umbrage at what they described as attempts to politicize the attack.

“The president’s tweets I think were not helpful,” Cuomo said at the briefing Wednesday. “I don’t think they were factual. I think they tended to point fingers and politicize the situation.”

In the aftermath of the attack, throngs of New Yorkers went out to celebrate Halloween, with many attending the city’s annual parade, which officials extolled as a show of the city’s resilience. Police also said New Yorkers would see a beefed up law enforcement presence in the coming days.

Cuomo, who described the truck attack as a “failed” effort to scare and terrorize people, reiterated that he felt like responses such as Trump’s were not the right way to react.

“You play into the hands of the terrorists to the extent you disrupt and divide and frighten people in this society,” he said.

As the sun rose over New York on Wednesday, the bike path remained blocked off by police tape between Houston and Chambers streets. Dozens of police officers guarded the perimeter while crime scene investigators wearing white suits slowly searched the length of the path. Police closed streets Wednesday around the area near the West Side Highway.

Saipov, who had been living in New Jersey, rented the Home Depot truck there before driving into Manhattan, officials said.

His rampage down the path continued until he eventually collided with a school bus, injuring more people, at which point he emerged from the truck, according to the police narrative. A stream of 911 calls soon came in reporting the injuries, the bus accident and a man with a gun in the street.

An officer from the 1st Precinct, who was at a nearby high school for an unrelated call, approached Saipov and shot him in the abdomen. The weapons he was brandishing turned out to be a pellet gun and a paintball gun, police said.

Dilnoza Abdusamatova said that when Saipov moved to the United States, he stayed with her family in Cincinnati for his first two weeks in the country because their fathers were friends.

Abdusamatova, 24, said Saipov then moved to Florida to start a trucking company. Her family members think he got married about a year after arriving in the United States and may now have two children. Around that time, she said, he cut off contact with them. “He stopped talking to us when he got married,” Abdusamatova said.

Uber said Saipov had been a driver from the service, though he was banned from the app in the wake of the attack. He passed the Uber background check, according to the company. Uber is reviewing Saipov’s history as a driver, and so far it has not identified any worrisome safety reports, company officials said.

At the bike path in New york, two men holding coffee cups approached the line police tape early Wednesday.

“I don’t see what happened,” one said.

“You don’t know what happened? Yesterday. Someone drive a truck into people,” the other said.

“Did people die?”

“Yeah,” said the man. “People died.”

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