WASHINGTON – Two senators eager to see Congress start crossing items off its long to-do list are set to introduce a bipartisan plan Monday designed to settle two of the more pressing parts of the immigration debate and let lawmakers move on to other issues.

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Christopher Coons, D-Del., plan to formally introduce a bill that would grant permanent legal status to immigrant “dreamers” and start bolstering security along the U.S.-Mexico border. But the measure would not immediately authorize spending the $25 billion President Donald Trump is seeking to fortify the border with new wall and fence construction. Some Republicans are seeking at least $30 billion.

The McCain-Coons plan also would grant legal status to dreamers who have been in the country since 2013 – a larger pool of immigrants than the 1.8 million Trump supports legalizing.

The bill says nothing about curbing family-based legal migration or making changes to the diversity lottery program – two other priorities for Trump and conservative Republicans.

In a statement, McCain said the bill “would address the most urgent priorities” of legalizing the status of dreamers and make changes to border security – and allow Congress to move on.

“It’s time we end the gridlock so we can quickly move on to completing a long-term budget agreement that provides our men and women in uniform the support they deserve,” he added.

The new legislation comes as Congress has just four days to meet another short-term spending deadline at 12:01 a.m. Friday. Immigration has been a dominant subject of the months-long talks to set new federal spending levels, as Democrats have insisted on enacting changes in immigration policy to win their support ever since Trump announced plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, last September.

The program is set to end March 5, although members of both parties believe that an ongoing federal court case that challenged Trump’s decision could keep the program operational for at least a few more months if Congress fails to act.

Trump, however, appeared to stand firm on his demands to fund the wall as part of any DACA legislation.

“Any deal on DACA that does not include STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time,” Trump tweeted Monday. “March 5th is rapidly approaching and the Dems seem not to care about DACA. Make a deal!”

A three-day partial government shutdown last month was forced in part by Democrats who withheld support for a short-term spending plan until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., agreed to allow votes on immigration legislation if a compromise can’t be included as part of the next short-term spending bill. Negotiators in both parties and both chambers are still working on a potential plan and are expected to continue doing so this week.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., a lead Democratic negotiator on immigration policy, said that “there is not likely to be a DACA deal” this week.

He told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday: “I don’t see a government shutdown coming, but I do see a promise by Senator McConnell to finally bring this critical issue that affects the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in America, finally bringing it to a full debate. That’s what we were looking for when there was a shutdown. We’ve achieve that goal, we’re moving forward.”

Whether the McCain-Coons bill could pass the Senate is unclear – but it is nearly identical to legislation already introduced in the House with wide support. The USA Act, introduced by Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., has 54 co-sponsors – 27 members from each party – and has been the subject of conversations between Trump administration officials and senior congressional leaders trying to sort out the contours of a potential immigration debate.

But conservative lawmakers and some administration officials already consider the plan insufficient because it fails to do more to boost security along the southern border.

Like the House version, the new Senate bill calls for the use of drones and other technology to establish better “situational awareness and operational control of the border.” Rather than immediately spending the billions of dollars Trump is seeking for new wall and fencing construction, the legislation would require the secretary of homeland security to submit to Congress a new southern border security strategy within a year of the bill’s passage. That plan would need to include “a list of known physical barriers, levees, technologies, tools, and other devices that can be used to achieve and maintain situational awareness and operational control along the southern border” and a projected cost per mile for any changes.

“While reaching a deal cannot come soon enough for America’s service members, the current political reality demands bipartisan cooperation to address the impending expiration of the DACA program and secure the southern border,” McCain said.

Coons added that the bill “doesn’t solve every immigration issue, but it does address the two most pressing problems we face: protecting DACA recipients and securing the border.”

McCain is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a leading defense hawk who is furious with the slow pace of negotiations about increased federal spending levels. Supporters of increased military spending in both parties want Congress to enact a budget plan so the Pentagon can work on long-term planning.

He has Stage 4 brain cancer and has been absent from Washington since before Christmas. He is not expected to be on Capitol Hill this week.

Sponsoring this immigration measure is a stark departure from McCain’s aggressive stance on border security. During his 2010 reelection campaign, he vowed to “complete the danged fence” across Arizona’s span with Mexico. In 2013, he was a lead GOP negotiator on a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform plan that passed overwhelmingly in the Senate but fizzled in the House.

Coons is a relative newcomer to the years-long fight over immigration policy – but he has been an eager participant in recent bipartisan talks to end a partial government shutdown and broker a compromise on immigration policy. He is set to share more details about the bill later Monday.

News of the new McCain-Coons bill was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

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NEW DELHI – The BJP and Congress on Monday sparred in the Rajya Sabha with Amit Shah saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put an end to the politics of “dynasty, caste and appeasement” and Ghulam Nabi Azad stating that they wanted the “old Bharat” of Mahatma Gandhi where Hindus and Muslims could give blood for each other.

On a day the House witnessed a lively debate on the President’s address, opposition parties, including Trinamool Congress and NCP, accused the government of failing to fulfill its promise of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.” BJP’s ally TDP said that the Centre was meting out step-motherly treatment to Andhra Pradesh.

BJP chief Amit Shah initiated the debate in the Upper House on the motion of thanks on the President’s address and in his maiden speech countered the Congress over its frequent slamming of the government over jobs and GST.

Shah pitched for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the assemblies and accused the Congress of “opposing” the triple talaq bill which he said Modi had brought to give rights, equality and social security to women.

He took on Congress President Rahul Gandhi over his description of the Goods and Services Tax as “Gabbar Singh Tax” and asked “is this (GST) dacoity?” He said taxes collected under GST go to fund programs for the poor besides soldiers.

Admitting that unemployment was a problem, he claimed it had been created during 55 years of Congress rule. He said BJP was finding a solution through programs such as Skill India, Start-up India, Stand-up India and Mudra loans.

He also slammed Congress leaders for their criticism of Modi over his remarks in an interview that people earning Rs 200 a day selling ‘pakodas’ (fritters) can be considered employed, saying: “Selling pakodas is not shameful but comparing it with begging was.”

“Today if a person is earning livelihood by selling pakodas, tomorrow his son would become a big industrialist. A tea vendor’s son can became the Prime Minister of this country,” he said.

Citing the BJP’s repeated victories in several assembly polls, he said that “people’s mandate” was the best way to judge the performance. On the Gujarat result, he took a veiled dig at Congress saying, “We can’t help it if some people see victory even in their defeat.”

Stating there were “three cancers” – dynastic politics, casteism and appeasement, he asserted that “we can proudly say today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has uprooted all of them from the Indian political system”.

On the issue of simultaneous polls, which found a mention in the President’s address, Shah said that “it will save money and prevent the need of frequent elections”.

Calling for a concerted debate on the issue, he said it might seem the BJP has an advantage today but it can be the advantage of some other party tomorrow.

Terming the GST as the biggest reform ever undertaken, Shah said BJP had never opposed the reform during the UPA government’s tenure but its “opposition was to the manner in which it was being proposed to be implemented”.

Azad made a strong rebuttal of the issues raised by Shah and questioned the government’s vision of “New India”. “We do not want new Bharat, we want old Bharat where there is unity between all religions and Hindus and Muslims give blood for each other. This was old Bharat which you polarized to form government. We want a Bharat where there is no fear,” he said.

He accused the BJP of seeking to polarize people and divide the Muslim community.

“Criminalizing the act of triple talaq is very dangerous. Earlier you (BJP) divided Muslims in the name of Shia and Sunni, now you are trying to divide husband and wife. This community is already poor and backward and are living under fear after incidents of lynchings,” Azad said.

He countered the corruption allegations, saying they had emerged clean in the 2G case. “This government always says that it is a game changer… It is not a game changer but just a name changer. I have a long list of schemes whose names have been changed since 1985.”

Rejecting allegation of dynastic politics, Azad said: “No one from that family (Nehru-Gandhi family) has become the Prime Minister of India for more than 30 years. They have also not been a part of the government…

“Why are you so scared of some leaders that when they are not alive anymore, now you fear their children,” he said.

He also made a veiled reference to the sudden rise in the turnover of a company associated with Jay Shah, son of Amit Shah.

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Mumbai Customs celebrated International Customs Day ‘2018 with great zeal and enthusiasm on January 27, 2018. The formal function was organised at Y.B Chavan Centre, Nariman Point, Mumbai at 10.00 AM. Shri Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao, Honourable Governor of Maharashtra was the chief guest on the occasion.

Maharashtra Minister for Housing Shri Prakash Mehta, Flag officer Commanding in chief Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Girish Luthra and Ms. Zia Mody, Founder & Managing Partner ABZ & Partners were the other guest who graced the occasion. Senior officers of the department Shri Rajeev Tandon, Chief Commissioner of Customs Zone-I, Shri Vivek Johri, Chief Commissioner of Customs, zone-II and Shri Amrit Pal Suri, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone-III were also present on the Dias along with the guests.

This year the World Customs Organization (WCO) theme was “Security of the Business Environment”. Shri Rajeev Tandon, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Zone-I, Mumbai, welcomed the Chief Guest and the other Guests present on the dais and also gave introductory speech on the subject. Thereafter Vice Admiral Shri Girish Luthra and Zia Mody gave his speech on the topic “Security of the Business Environment”.

Shri Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao, Honourable Governor of Maharashtra lauds the Customs department for its role in preventing smuggling, contraband goods and fake currency entering the country. He also hailed the department in generating revenue, in nation building and making Indian economy safe and secure. He also laid emphasis in improving infrastructure and simplification of procedure by the customs department.

Serving and retired officers and staff were also facilitated by the Honourable Governor. Among the special awardees Shri Bharat Gade, Superintendent of Customs, New Custom House, Mumbai who have been conferred the President’s award for the year ‘2018 for his outstanding contribution to the Customs Department was felicitated by Honourable Governor of Maharashtra on the occasion. Mumbai Customs Coffee Table Book was also released by Honourable Governor of Maharashtra on this occasion.

Further, the cultural programme was organised in the evening at Shanmukhanand Hall, Sion, Mumbai. In this event, several prominent personalities including Bollywood stars “Shahrukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Karan Johar, Ranveer Kapoor, Ritesh Deshmukh, Alia Bhatt, Anushaka Sharma, Sushmita Sen, Annu Malik, Annu Kapoor, Bappi Lahari were present and enthralled the crowd. GST song which was sung by Smt. Amruta Devendra Fadnavis was also launched on the occasion. Music CD for the same was inaugurated by Smt. Amruta Devendra Fadnavis, Shahrukh Khan, Shri Rajeev Tandon, Chief Commissioner of Customs Zone-I, Mumbai, Shri Vivek Johri, Chief Commissioner of Customs, zone-II, Mumbai and Shri Amrit Pal Suri, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Zone-III , Mumbai on the occasion.

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Aashita Joshi, a 9-year-old Indian American in Edison, New Jersey, recently won a gold medal in the America’s Cup in January and has won many other roller skating tournaments since 2015.

According to the Team USA website, the America’s Cup is a USA Roller Sports (USARS) that is recognized by the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) as the National Governing Body of competitive roller sports in the U.S.

“I go to roller skating practice about four to five times a week including Saturdays and I try my best during each tournament,” Aashita told News India Times.

“When she was 3-years-old, she just woke up one day and told us that she wanted roller skates from Santa. At first I was scared because no one in our family had ever pursued roller skating before, but I eventually got the plastic roller skates from WalMart so that she could skate around the house at least,” Vandana Joshi, Aashita’s mother, told News India Times.

Vandana said that she gets very emotional when it comes to Aashita’s roller skating because she when she began roller skating, Vandana was afraid that Aashita would fall and get hurt, but now she can’t believe that her daughter is actually winning tournaments left and right today.

Aashita, a fourth grader at James Madison Intermediate School in Edison, New Jersey, said that she loves roller skating so much that she wants to continue it for the rest of her life.

“When I grow up I want to be a roller skating coach as well as a public health professional like my dad,” she said.

“I think every child’s talent should come out,” said Ashish Joshi, Aashita’s father, who told News India Times that he deals with students on a daily basis as the Associate Dean of Student Affairs and an Associate Professor of Population Health Informatics at the Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy at City University of New York.

Aashita and her family moved to New Jersey from Nebraska in 2014 and she started taking part in roller skating tournaments the year after, today she coaches’ younger children who are interested in the sport.

“I really wanted to teach younger children how to roller skate, so I asked my coach if I could help out,” Ashita said.

When asked whether or not she has lost or has not done so well during her tournaments, Ashish said “it’s not about winning or losing. You need to fall in order to get up,” adding that roller skating for Aashita is more of a passion than a competition.

“As parents, I feel we should enable and show our children the right path. I want her to inspire others,” Ashish said.

“She is a very determined child. She works hard to get what she wants,” Vandana added.

Besides roller skating, Aashita loves art and her favorite subjects in school are math and science.

Here is a list of all the tournaments that Aashita has won:

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At least 800 Indian-Americans participated in a march outside of the White House on Saturday, Feb. 3, in support of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to implement a “merit-based” immigration system in the country along with demanding the discontinuation of India’s country quota for Green Card approvals, according to a PTI report.

According to the PTI report, Indian-Americans marched with signs saying “Trump Loves Hindus,” “Trump Loves India,” “Trump bringing Ram Rajya” and “Indians Love Trump,” under the banner of the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC), an organization led by Chicago-based businessman Shalabh Kumar who happens to be close to Trump.

These marchers were all IT professionals and workers who had come from all over the U.S. including California, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, Illinois and New York.

Krishna Bansal, the National Policy and Political Director of RHC, told PTI that “Trump’s proposal to end family unification immigration would open up more space for Indian skilled workers.”

According to the PTI report, nearly half of the one million Green Cards which are issued every year go to close relatives of American citizens regardless of their skills and the Trump administration wants to restrict this practice.

“Thirty per cent of the country’s skilled immigrants come from India, but they have to wait several decades before being eligible for Green Cards. These are people who are already here, contributing to the economy, paying their taxes and raising their families,” he told PTI.

Bansal added that the group also supported several other proposals including; building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, ending the diversity lottery program for Green Card allotment and the ending of ‘chain migration.’

According to PTI, Indian applicants are often at disadvantage when it comes to acquiring a Green Card as the current country approval rate for India in 7 percent allowing 9,800 people to receive them every year while more than 50,000 people join that queue each year.

The Trump administration has not indicated its views on this issue, but marchers in front of the White House told PTI that the president’s declared preference for “merit-based” immigration would tilt the balance in their favor, according to the PTI report.

Krishna Mullakuri, whose Green Card application has been pending for five years, agreed with the view and told PTI that the emphasis on merit as the primary criteria for allowing new entrants into the country would work to India’s advantage.

According to PTI, Saturday’s march was not only kept to endorse Trump’s immigration proposal but also to highlight the issues concerning the legal residents who are already in the country.

“While the current discussion is primarily focusing on those who illegally entered the country, we are working with the lawmakers to get some attention on this group that reached this country legally but face uncertainty now,” Bansal told PTI.

Another immigration issue which was brought up on Saturday was about the protection of ‘dreamers,’ or undocumented residents who were brought into this country illegally as children.

According to PTI, protection is provided for them under an Obama era executive action which will end in March if new legislative action is not taken as the Trump administration has offered a path to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented residents if Democrats agree to tougher restrictions on legal immigration and enforcement.

The Indian American marchers on Saturday supported this policy saying “Dreamers Pay for the Wall” and “Make American Strong Again” as Bansal told PTI that since the President’s proposals were generous, those being offered a path to citizenship would be happy to pay any fees that would help fund the building of the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

But it was the future of their children which many marchers were concerned about as upon turning 21, their children would lose their dependency status and will have to be deported back to India.

“These are legal dreamers. Colleges are reluctant to admit them as their visa status has to be changed midway through the course. And once they are graduates, they go back to the end of the queue, again starting with an H-1B application,” Ramesh Ramanath told PTI.

“While they address the issue of dreamers, this question also should get priority,” he added.

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Kashyap Patel, an Indian American lawyer, is reportedly the primary author of a politically charged memo which was released on Friday by the committee chairman, Representative Devin Nunes, over the opposition of the F.B.I. and the intelligence community, accusing federal officials of bias against President Trump, according to a New York Times report.

According to The New York Times, the memo known as the “Kash memo,” portrays the FBI in a negative light, alleging that the agency tried to help the Democratic party and its presidential candidate Hillary Clinton win against Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

However, the office of Congressman Nunes where Patel was a committee staff member, disagree with the fact that Patel wrote the memo and asserted that it was “a collective and team effort,” according to a Lockport Press report.

In an email to the New York Times, even Damon Nelson, the committee’s staff director, wrote that “no single member was responsible for the memo and that its creation was a ‘team effort’ that involved investigators who had access to source material.”

“The clamor to identify ‘an author’ is indicative of an alarming trend by opponents of our investigation, which is to promote spurious allegations against committee embers and staff. They will not impact the committee’s focus and commitment to continue this investigation,” Nelson wrote adding “we value Kash’s dedication and his contributions to the committee’s oversight efforts.”

This is not the first time though that Patel has caught himself in a controversy.

According to the New York Times, he had previously entered and dropped out of a charity bachelor auction after a blogger had pointed out that his license to practice in the Florida had expired.

In 2016, as a counterterrorism prosecutor for the Justice Department, he was berated by a federal judge who then issued an “Order on Ineptitude,” which he won while over the summer he traveled to London, where he tried unsuccessfully to meet with Christopher Steele, the author of the dossier that purported to details links between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to the New York Times.

According to the New York Times, Patel, 37, grew up in Garden City, New York and graduated from the University of Richmond in 2002.

According to his Facebook page, Patel earned a certificate in international law from the University College London Faculty of Laws and graduated from Pace University’s law school in 2005, spending part of his career in the Miami area as a federal public defender in Florida before taking a job at the Justice Department in 2014.

According to the New York Times, in early 2016, Judge Lynn N. Hughes of Federal District Court was infuriated with Patel for using internet credentials of another lawyer to give notice that he would be involved in a terrorism case, and then did not like how he was dressed.

“The last thing I need here, Mr. Patel is a bureaucrat who flies down here at great expense and causes trouble rather than actually is a productive member of the team,” the judge said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

After working on counterterrorism cases at the Justice Department, Patel joined the Intelligence Committee last spring as a senior staff member and has been at the forefront of Nunes’s inquiry into whether the F.B.I. and the Justice Department abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, according to the New York Times.

According to the New York Times, over the summer, Nunes dispatched Patel and another member of the committee’s Republican staff to London, in an attempt to meet Steele, a former British intelligence official, however failed to do so.

After Trump became president, Patel tried to get a position in the white house however, when it went to someone else, he left the Justice Department for a position on the committee in April 2017 where the Russia probe has been the dominant focus of Patel’s work, according to a Daily Beast report.

The Daily Beast also reports that the memo reportedly “discusses that dossier’s alleged role in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s application for an extension of a surveillance warrant on former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page and is said to accuse Rosenstein of not telling a judge that Democrats helped fund the research project that the Steele dossier grew from.”

On Friday morning, just hours before the memo was expected to be released, President Trump tweeted; “The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans.”

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The American Chemistry Council (ACC) announced today that Bhavesh (Bob) V. Patel, the Chief Executive Officer of LyondellBasell Industries had become the Council’s Chairman of the Board on Jan. 1.

“Advancing the understanding, value, and need for science- and risk-based decision-making in both the marketplace and public policy is central to our mission at ACC. As chief executive of one of the world’s largest plastics, chemicals, and refining companies, Bob possesses the insight and expertise to drive the continued expansion and prosperity of American chemistry in a global manufacturing future. His fiscal, strategic, and operational discipline; together with his leadership, will help ensure ACC’s continued success as we navigate an increasingly challenging political and regulatory environment,” Cal Dooley, President and CEO of ACC, stated in a press release.

Patel will chair his first ACC board meeting at the Council’s Washington D.C. headquarters on Feb. 7.

Patel became an officer of the organization in 2016 and served as the vice chairman of the board and the chairman of the board Finance, Audit, and Membership Committee.

Patel was first elected to ACC’s board of director’s in 2015, when he served as a member of the executive committee and became the chairman of the executive committee last year.

“Our industry is critical to advancing solutions to many of today’s most challenging global issues like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road today. This is an exciting time and I am honored to help tell our story and advocate for sensible policies that encourage growth and further competitiveness around the world,” said Patel.

As CEO of LyondellBasell, Patel has focused on the development and implementation of the next phase of the company’s long-term growth strategy.

Patel has overseen major capacity expansions at the company’s sites in the United States, including the construction of the company’s industry-leading Hyperzone high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in La Porte, Texas, and the world’s largest propylene oxide and tertiary butyl alcohol (PO/TBA) plant in Channelview, Texas – the largest single investment in the company’s history.

Under Patel’s leadership, LyondellBasell was named to Fortune Magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list for the first time this year.

Patel joined LyondellBasell in March of 2010 as the senior vice president of Olefins and Polyolefins – Americas, where he was one of the leaders who helped position the company to take advantage of the shale gas expansion in the U.S.

He was then promoted to executive vice president of Olefins and Polyolefins – Europe, Asia and International in October 2013 and appointed CEO in January 2015.

Prior to joining LyondellBasell, Patel worked for Chevron Corporation and its affiliates for more than 20 years.

He is a board member of the Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, the U.S.-India Business Council and the Greater Houston Partnership.

He is also a member of the external advisory council of the College of Engineering for Ohio State University and a member of the dean’s advisory council for the Fox School of Business at Temple University.

Patel earned a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Ohio State University and he also holds a Master of Business Administration from Temple University.

In 2015, LyondellBasell was named a Responsible Care Company of the Year by ACC for the company’s outstanding achievement in health, safety and environmental performance.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals, and refining companies in the world.

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Hoshin Gupta, an Indian American hydrology scientist at the University of Arizona was among three scholars at the university to be inducted as Regents’ Professors on Jan. 11.

Regents’ Professors, the state’s highest faculty honor, are expected to exemplify the highest objectives and standards of the university through their scholarship, research or creative activities and teaching.

They are approved by the Arizona Board of Regents and only 3 percent of faculty members can be Regents’ Professors.

According to the University of Arizona’s Institute of the Environment’s website, Gupta is a hydrologist, systems theorist and philosopher with strong technical skills in complex algorithm development and his ideas, methods and vision have set the standard in his field for 30 years and enhanced the ability to use models for learning and prediction in hydrology.

Gupta was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2009, Tucson Electric Power Fellow of the Galileo Circle of the UA in 2013, awarded the European Geophysical Union’s 2014 Dalton Medal and honored by the American Meteorological Society with the 2017 RE Horton Lecture Award.

According to a university press release, Gupta has published 10 books and more than 170 peer-reviewed papers; his work is among the most cited in the field of hydrology, in fact, one of his papers has been cited more than 1,500 times and the total amount of citations for all of his work exceeds 27,000 in Google Scholar.

Additionally, Gupta has been working on improving the integration of hydrologic science into decision-making and policy.

In 2006, he was named the Salt River Project Professor of Technology, Public Policy & Markets for his work on evaluating hydrological impact of potential climate change.

According to a university press release, Gupta was recently a principal investigator of the first European Union-funded project in efforts to strengthen ties between European and U.S. based researchers in the social and natural sciences related to water,

Gupta is a professor of systems analysis in the Department of Hydrology & Atmospheric Sciences and has been selected by students as the winner of the department’s annual award for teaching excellence on five separate occasions.

He was also recognized by the UA with the 2014-2015 Graduate College Graduate and Professional Education Teaching and Mentoring Award.

“Being a member of the UA community for almost 34 years has been a rewarding and enriching experience. To be recognized and valued in this way is very gratifying, not to mention extremely motivating,” Gupta said in a statement.

The other two professors who were named regents professors include Alison Hawthorne Deming and Pham Huu Tiep.

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Menlo Park Lions Club 16J is organizing a very special Valentine’s Day activity for children ages 3 to16 as well as for children with special needs, which will be graced by the Mayor of South Plainfield Borough Matthew Anesh.

‘Love, Peace and Harmony’ is an art competition which will be held on Sunday, Feb. 18 from 11a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lil’ Big Ones Childcare and Learning Center on 134 Durham Avenue in South Plainfield, New Jersey.

“This year Lions Club International is celebrating its centennial year and the Menlo Park Lions Club is committed to following International President Lion Dr. Naresh Aggarwal’s theme ‘We Serve.’ Therefore, Menlo Park Lion Club 16J is catering to and serving at least 100 children at this competition,” said club President Lion Prashant Karnik.

The competition is in its fourth year and has been gaining popularity with the increasing number of participants each year.

This is also a great opportunity for young artists to showcase their drawing skills and express their support for love and peace.

We encourage everyone to come, explore, and be actively involved in this humanitarian mission through this competition.

Menlo Park Lions Club 16J was formed in 2014 with 32 charter members and the idea for this project was instilled by then Charter President Lion Varsha Naik.

Since then the competition has become a signature service activity for children because children are our future.

The proceeds from this activity will support the Lions International Humanitarian Cause and will be donated to the Lions International Foundation (LCIF).

For participation information please contact: Lion Varsha Naik at 732 485 7161 or send an email at email-lionvarsha@gmail.com.

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After the success of its direct flight from New Delhi to San Francisco, this summer Air India may soon introduce a direct flight from Mumbai to San Francisco, According to a PTI report.

A senior official told PTI that Air India currently flies to San Francisco six-times a week from New Delhi, which will go up to nine flights a week with three services being planned from Mumbai as part of the airline’s summer schedule.

“All our flights to the US are making money barring the one which is to Newark via London. We’ve been seeing consistently good passenger load factor on the US routes. The San Francisco flight is also clocking over 80 per cent seat factor since the launch in December 2015. This has prompted to us to connect Mumbai directly with San Francisco and we plan to launch a flight service to the Silicon Valley from the coming summers,” the official told PTI.

According to PTI, the proposed Mumbai to San Francisco flight will operate three times a week with a Boeing 777 aircraft from late March to late October

Besides, San Francisco, there are daily flights to New York and Chicago from New Delhi and to Newark from Mumbai, as well as three flights a week to Washington from New Delhi and flights to Newark via London from Ahmadabad.

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NEW DELHI – Ranveer Singh starrer “’83”, a film on the story of India’s incredible 1983 cricket World Cup victory, will release on August 30, 2019, its makers announced on Sunday.

The film is being made by Reliance Entertainment and Phantom Films in association with Vibri Media and Kabir Khan Films.

“Mark your calendar! ‘83 will be releasing on August 30, 2019. ‘83 stars Ranveer Singh. Directed by Kabir Khan,” read a tweet by Reliance Entertainment.

Ranveer, who is on a roll with the response to “Padmaavat”, plays star cricketer Kapil Dev in “’83”.

The film follows how, under the captaincy of then newbie Kapil Dev, the Indian cricket team defeated West Indies. It tracks the coming-of-age of not just a cricketing team, but of a young nation in the eyes of the world.

Earlier, the makers were planning an April 2019 release for the film.

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MUMBAI – Indian tennis star Sania Mirza says that being a private person herself, she will take time to open up about her life when a biopic will be made on her.

“There are a lot of talks going on about it but there’s nothing solid right now. But when there will be, being the private person that I am, it will take me some time to open up a little bit about myself and my life,” Sania told IANS when asked if she is comfortable watching her life journey on the big screen.

Director Rohit Shetty showed his interest on making a film on Sania on Karan Johar’s chat show.

Talking about it, the Padma Bhushan recipient said: “I’ve seen and heard a few people say that they would want to make the film but there’s nothing concrete right now. We are in talks with them.”

And who can portray her personality onscreen?

“As far as who’s going to play is concerned, I think that will depend on many factors so because there’s so many amazing leading actresses in our country and I’m sure most of them can do justice and play the part really well so we’ll just have to wait and watch,” said Sania, who is also the proud recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

There were many films made on sports personalities in the past and in present, the very recent is Amole Gupte’s biopic on star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal that features actress Shraddha Kapoor.

Sania walked for designer Anushree Reddy on day four of Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Summer/Resort 2018. The designer unveiled her bridal collection titled – Pink “The Navy Blue of India” at the fashion gala.

Talking about how fashionably updated she is, Sania said: “Honestly, I don’t understand fashion so much. I definitely like looking good and I’ve had a really good team around me and they’ve made my life really easy. I love dressing up and experimenting with fashion but like I said I don’t really understand fashion so I’m very grateful to my sister who is one of my stylists and Ami Patel (her stylist) as well as the rest of my team for making me look good.”

Many consider her as one of the bestdressed sports personality so does she enjoy such tags?

“Well, thank you for the compliment. But I just dress how I feel comfortable,” said Sania.

“For me that is the most important thing so that is what I try to do. Obviously dressing well is important but comfort for me is number one,” added the sports star.

And does criticism bother her as a person?

“Not necessarily always but at some level we are conscious about the fact that there’s so many social media websites and there’s so much said about what we wear every single day as celebrities so I do read it sometimes but don’t always take them to heart both good or bad,” she said.

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An Indian-American owner of two IT staffing and consulting companies in the tri-state area, admitted Feb. 1, to using phony documents to fraudulently obtain H1-B visas for foreign workers and submitting false tax returns.

Sowrabh Sharma, 33, of New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court to a superseding information charging him with conspiracy to commit visa fraud and subscribing to false tax returns.

Sharma faces a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison on the visa fraud conspiracy count and three years in prison on the tax fraud count. Both charges carry a maximum $250,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for May 30, 2018.

“For years, Sharma and others working at SCM Data and MMC systems lied about hiring full-time foreign workers in order to secure H1-B visas,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito is quoted saying in a press release Feb. 1. “In reality and contrary to immigration laws, these workers were often ‘benched’ without pay while the companies created false documents to cover-up the scheme. This investigation, which has resulted in the conviction of an owner and several employees, including an  immigration attorney, shows that businesses that use the H1-B visa program better do so with the utmost adherence to this nation’s immigration and labor laws.”

According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court, SCM Data Inc. and MMC Systems Inc. offered consultants to clients in need of IT support. Both companies recruited foreign nationals with purported IT expertise, often student visa holders or recent college graduates, and sponsored them for H-1B visas with the stated purpose of working for SCM Data and MMC Systems’ clients throughout the United States.

Sharma admitted Feb. 1, that from 2010 through April 2015, he and others falsely represented to U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) that dozens of foreign workers had full-time “in-house” positions, and would be paid an annual salary, as required to secure the visas. But authorities say, Sharma and his companies only paid the foreign workers when they were placed at a third-party client, or a company that entered into a contract for services with SCM Data and MMC Systems.

Sharma also admitted that in some instances, foreign workers who were “benched” between projects and not working were told that if they wanted to maintain their H-1B visa status, they would need to come up with what their gross wages would be in cash and give it to SCM Data and MMC Systems to generate phony payroll checks.

In addition, Sharma also admitted that he intentionally overstated and claimed false expenses pertaining to SCM Data and MMC Systems on his individual tax returns for 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, resulting in a tax loss to the government of approximately $1,114,824.

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NEW YORK – The National Young Arts Foundation has nominated 60 talented high school seniors as 2018 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts, out of which is an Indian American student from Ohio, Shreyah Mohanselvan.

Mohanselvan, a student of Columbus Academy from Gahanna, Ohio, has been nominated in the Indian classical dance discipline.

The U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts is one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students who exemplify academic and artistic excellence.

The 60 high school seniors represent 25 states and 9 artistic disciplines, including acting, dancing, singing, classical music, photography, filmmaking, visual arts, designing and writing.

According to a press release, the students have been nominated to the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program for their artistic achievement on the heels of the organization’s annual signature program, National YoungArts Week, which concluded in Miami, Florida on Jan. 14.

Candidate applications will then be reviewed by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and 20 high school seniors will be selected to be recognized as U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts for their academic and artistic accomplishments, demonstrated leadership, community service and outreach initiatives as well as overall creativity.

“The National YoungArts Foundation is proud to partner with the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program to acknowledge our nation’s most talented graduating high school seniors. These young leaders excel in everything that they do, from their artistry and inquisitiveness, to their academics and activism. YoungArts congratulates each of the nominees on their accomplishments, and we look forward to announcing the selected arts scholars this spring,” said Carolina García Jayaram, YoungArts President and CEO.

In June, the 20 arts scholars will join the other 141 U.S. Presidential Scholars from across the country in Washington, D.C. for the National Recognition Program in which all of the scholars will receive a Presidential Medallion presented on behalf of the President of the United States and participate in several other recognition activities.

They will also be presenting their work at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts through a special exhibition managed by YoungArts Exhibition Manager Luisa Munera and will take part in a performance directed by YoungArts alumnus and Theater National Selection Panelist Michael McElroy.

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Land

College students can save more than 50 percent on a Costa Rica package. The Pura Vida 2018 deal costs $1,075 per person double and includes five nights split between Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa in Arenal and El Mangroove resort on the Gulf of Papagayo (you can do the math); two nights at Hotel El Presidente in San Jose; daily breakfast; unlimited entry to the thermal experience at Tabacon; eight-day car rental; 20 percent spa discount at Tabacon; and taxes. Book by April 15 at sales@tabacon.com. Use promo code GRAD2018; valid college ID required. Travel May 1-June 20. By comparison, summer rates at Tabacon average $338 a night and rates at El Mangroove go for $220 a night. Info: 855-822-2266, tabacon.com

Preferred Hotels & Resorts is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a hotel credit or free 50-minute activity at more than 200 participating properties. For example, at the Royalton Park Avenue in Manhattan, receive a $50 credit for the hotel’s restaurant, Asellina; rates are from $320 a night, with taxes. At Galeria Plaza Reforma in Mexico City, guests can participate in a Mexican cooking lesson at its restaurant, Almara; rates are from $148 a night, with taxes. The credit is for $50 or 50 euros or pounds, depending on the local currency. Book by Dec. 31; stay through March 31, 2019. Info: 866-990-9491, preferredhotels.com/offers/golden-anniversary-offer

The Red Lion Inn, in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, is offering a Winter Hibernation Special, with savings of 30 percent. For example, a weekend night in early March starts at $216 (plus $21 tax); usual rate is from $309. Book by Feb. 11; travel through March 29. Info: 413-298-5545, redlioninn.com/travel-accommodations-offers

Sea

American Cruise Lines is offering savings on select departures aboard its new 175-passenger American Constitution, which is scheduled to launch in April. For example, save $1,200 per stateroom on the Nov. 8 and Dec. 23 departures of the 10-night American Revolution itinerary, which sails round trip from Baltimore. Rate starts at $4,705 per person double, plus $330 port charge. The ship stops in Washington; four ports in Maryland, including Cambridge, a first-time cruise destination; and three places in Virginia. Info: 800-460-4518, www.americancruiselines.com

Princess Cruises has an anniversary sale with up to $600 in onboard credits plus one free night at a specialty restaurant. The deal applies to select cruises and cruisetours departing summer 2018 through spring 2019. Credit amount varies by trip length and cabin category. For example, book an interior or oceanview cabin on a cruise lasting six to nine days and receive $150 per stateroom. For the $600 credit, reserve a balcony, mini-suite or suite on a cruise of at least 13 days. The specialty dining perk applies to all four guests sharing a cabin. Cruise rates vary. For example, the seven-day Voyage of the Glaciers departing Vancouver on May 26 starts at $614 per person double for an interior cabin. Dining choices on the Star Princess include the Crown Grill (normally $29 per person) and Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria ($25) Add $205 in taxes and port charges. Book by Feb. 14. Info:800-774-6237, princess.com

Air

Buy a round-trip international ticket to Japan and receive discounted flights within Japan on All Nippon Airways. The ANA Experience Japan deal offers three tiers of discounted round-trip fares – $105, $144 or $203 – depending on route. For example, the round-trip fare between Tokyo and Shonai is $105, down from $303. Travel through March 24; book at least three days in advance. Travelers must reside outside of Japan and can book the international ticket on any airline. Prices may fluctuate due to exchange rates. Info: ana.co.jp/en/us/promotions/share/experience_jp.

Package

Ritz Tours is offering early-booking savings on its 2018 vacations. For example, save $100 per person on the Discover Vietnam tour, which starts at $2,800 per person double. Trip includes air from New York to Hanoi, with return from Ho Chi Minh City; two domestic flights; eight nights’ hotel in Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City; overnight cruise on Halong Bay; 24 meals; tours with entrance fees; motorcoach transport and tour guide; airport transfers; travel insurance; and taxes. Also, use promo code RITZ2018 to receive an extra $50 off. Book by Feb. 28. Info: 888-345-7489, ritztours.com

THE WASHINGTON POST

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On the Ground in India: Perspectives from American India Foundation’s Clinton Fellows*

For me, monitoring & evaluation is a push and pull between being social—getting to know the program team whose work I’m studying; and remaining solitary—reading, analyzing, writing. I’m fairly comfortable with the solitary side thanks to years of practice keeping my distance when evaluating organizations, and being introverted anyway. But this is my first time studying a social justice program (Bhasha’s Vasantshala, an alternative education program to address gaps for out-of-school children from tribal families) while living and working closely with the people who carry it out. On the one hand, the closer a relationship there is, the better you can understand the staff’s process and identify challenges and changes that make sense. On the other hand, building relationships takes a lot of time and is hard to ‘schedule,’ and being embedded makes me feel like I’m making trade-offs between doing objective research and feeling like a part of a team. I also find that the closer I get to the program, the more I question my research questions.

Let me back up a bit. My project is with Bhasha, known in Gujarat as Bhasha Sansodhan Prakashan Kendra (Language Research and Publication Center). Bhasha works with tribal and adivasi (indigenous communities) in India. There are about 104 million adivasis across the country, and about 60 million Indians fall under what is called nomadic or “denotified” Tribe – meaning they were at one time officially designated as criminal gangs by the British and often subjected to forced labor and migration (Devy, 2013). Although the designation has been dropped in the Indian constitution, the denial of tribal communities’ civil rights and stigmas against their cultures have persisted. My goal during the AIF fellowship is to learn from tribal communities about their worldview, and their local approaches to solve problems.

Bhasha works to help tribal communities accomplish their goals, as well as educate the public – Indians and non-Indians, tribals and non-tribals, about tribal culture. Bhasha staff research and conduct advocacy about social, religious, and agricultural practices of tribal communities and are documenting tribal and Indian languages. Beyond its thought leadership, Bhasha also manages an alternative education program (Vasantshala), a local health clinic, a library and a museum. Vasantshala educates children from tribal families who have dropped out of the government school system or have gaps in their education. While government school teachers generally teach in Gujarati state languages (Gujarati and Hindi) at school, some of Vasantshala’s students may not speak either at home or are only familiar with the language of their tribe. The Vasantshala teachers are mostly from tribal communities themselves and incorporate tribal languages and traditions familiar to the students.

My project is to study the extent that this model can help prepare out-of-school tribal children to return to school and continue successfully. My project is to study the extent that Vasantshala prepares its students to transition to government schools, and that such schools make use of Bhasha’s tribal language materials. My usual route has been to spend hours in the overflow library room that is my part-time workspace, get a grasp on education theories and promising practices in India, and compile data on past Vasantshala students, which is tedious but necessary. I can also observe the teachers’ classes and gain insight into how they and students interact, but there are language barriers. But recently, ‘work’ has shifted to playing games with the kids, lending my phone so they can take pictures, opening a blank document on my laptop so they can type their names. I can venture through the campus’ open spaces, interact informally with the teachers, and perhaps very slowly crack open our language and cultural divides. Maybe in this way I can better understand what the teachers value about their work, and what motivates or really enables kids from tribal families to stay in school.

I know time spent on research will bring tangible benefits. So will interacting with the teachers and staff, but sometimes the benefits are harder to see. The time passes so quickly! How do you fit research between the spaces of roaming and relationship-building? Then again, there is a limit to how many inquiries about their processes I can make in a day. I can feel a quiet but perceptible drawbridge rise after a certain number of questions. I find myself wondering, how much is this due to their unwillingness to cooperate, or to me stumbling to build trust without speaking the same language?

Feeling thwarted in my attempts to get answers to my questions reminds me of a scene from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Rowling, 2005). In it, Harry takes a ‘luck’ potion that lasts for one night. In his quest to master a difficult task, which is also to get information from someone, he takes fortuitous detours, such as attending a social gathering. I have also found that turning my feet to walk through shared spaces on campus has led to experiences I couldn’t have predicted, though the outcomes are not yet known to me.

On one Saturday, a workday at Bhasha, I sat down on a bench in a patch of sun in the courtyard. After a few minutes, a few of the students told me they were going to a local temple (mandir) near Koraj Hill and asked the teachers if I could come. It was much more tempting than shutting myself in the library overflow room, so I left my backpack behind and came along. The teachers and students led me to new experiences: I tried to crack a coconut on a rock to give my offering to the temple, pushed my hands into birds’ nests woven as tightly as sweaters, spied two enormous bee hives hanging from one tree branch, and used a kickball to play volleyball. I also learned where the teachers pursued their post-graduate work. Nothing except the last part seemed relevant to my project. But, perhaps, something in that experience is shaping our trust for each other, or will manifest itself somehow in my work.

Another challenge (for me) is the manifold approach of Vasantshala. Vasantshala is an alternative, remedial and multilingual education program specifically for children at risk of remaining at the margins of society. In the 1920s, the Bengali writer and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore started an alternative education program of his own, called Siksha Satra. In Tagore’s words: “Here an attempt is being made to give an all-round education to village children and provide them with training which will not only enable them to earn a decent livelihood but also to equip them with the necessary training and creative imagination with which they help to improve the rural life of Bengal in all its aspects” (Kupfer, 2015, “Siksa-Satra”). The setting of his idea was on the opposite coast of India, but his note of idealism felt very familiar to me in Bhasha’s work. I recently visited Siksha Satra in Sriniketan, West Bengal to learn about the school’s approach currently. While a well-rounded curriculum continues to be valued, it no longer primarily serves children from families who are marginalized or face economic disadvantages. This isn’t to say that there aren’t other alternative education programs comparable to Vasantshala out there. But I’m having trouble drawing patterns from Vasantshala’s multi-faceted model.

I also want to focus on my research questions but understand the context as fully as possible. For example, I want to better understand how Vasantshala’s unique, yet complex, teaching approach prepares students to transition to an appropriate grade level at a government school. But there’s a broader context of not so great learning outcomes for the average student in a rural school in India, regardless of whether she is from a tribal family or has gaps in her schooling. Is it fair to expect Vasantshala students to excel academically beyond their peers? Also, from talking to friends who are teachers back home, teaching is hard. Teachers are asked to shape children and young people into ethical, hard working and critically thinking individuals. Maybe it’s too much to ask, and some teachers don’t try. In my experience, the Vasantshala teachers do try. Beyond academic outcomes, they want their students to be able to think for themselves. In monitoring and evaluation, sometimes the objectives get repeated so many times that you start to forget the people behind them. This is the first time that I’m having the opposite problem.

References:

Devy, Ganesh N. “Culture and Development, an Experiment with Empowerment.” Field Actions Science Reports, Special Issue 7: 2013, Livelihoods. <https://factsreports.revues.org/2404> Accessed 22 October 2017.

Kupfer, Christine. 2015. “Rabindranath Tagore’s Educational Ideas and Experiments.” The Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies. Retrieved January 24, 2018 from http://www.scots-tagore.org/education.

Rowling, J.K. 2005. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. New York: Scholastic.

—
About the Author
Lina is excited to join Bhasha in its efforts to advance the goals of tribal communities, including helping educate kids in a nurturing environment and prepare them for a bright future. She is looking forward to meeting children, parents, and everyone else in her community, and using her limited Bengali to begin learning other Indian languages. Prior to joining the AIF Clinton Fellowship, Lina assessed U.S. federal programs in international trade, security, and environmental restoration for the Government Accountability Office, and supported monitoring and evaluation of democracy assistance programs for the National Democratic Institute. She has also volunteered with kids education programs in Washington, DC, and with a water pipeline project with Engineers Without Borders in Cameroon.

*A previous version of this article was originally published on 02/03/2018 at American India Foundation.

AIF’s William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India builds the next generation of leaders committed to lasting change for underprivileged communities across India, while strengthening the civil sector.

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Indian-American physician, philanthropist and publisher, Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh of Parikh Worldwide Media, LLC, was honored with the Vishwa Gujarati Samaj’s top award for a non-resident Indians Feb. 1, in Ahmedabad.

Gujarat Governor O. P. Kohli presented the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vishwa Pratibha International Personality Award 2017 to Dr. Parikh on behalf of the Vishwa Gujarati Samaj (VGS), at a ceremony held in the Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and attended by more than 300 people from the business world, professionals, academia, and government, as well as leading Gujaratis from United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany.

The Governor also awarded VGS’s Kanjibhai Desai Gujarat Pratibha Award 2017 to Dr. Ashok Vaidya, a Mumbaibased physician engaged in research popularizing Ayurveda and other systems of medicine.

Besides the citation, a memento and shawl, the award to Dr. Parikh included and a check of Rupees 250,000, which Dr. Parikh donated to the Vishwa Gujarati Samaj for carrying on its children and women’s empowerment projects. “You have been doing excellent work in helping underprivileged children and women find a better footing in life. I hope my donation will help further this cause. So please accept this with my deepest regards,” Dr. Parikh said in his speech at the awards function.

Congratulating the award winners, Gov. Kohli praised them for their social work and dedication to uplifting the poor. He exhorted those present to not only to help their children get a higher education but teach them to use their talent in the interest of society at large and repay the debt to the nation.

Krishnakant Vakharia, president of the Vishwa Gujarati Samaj, in welcoming the Governor and others, outlined the VGS’s social welfare and other activities.

Dr. Parikh expressed his gratitude and said he was proud to be in the company of other non-resident Indians who have received the award in the past, like U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams, and Chicago businessman Sam Pitroda, Raj Mohan Gandhi, Lord Meghnad Desai, and Lord Bhikhu Patel.

“When you think of Gujarat and Gujaratis, it’s the entrepreneurial spirit of the community that comes first to mind. Wherever the community has settled, created roots, they have been admired for their business acumen,” Parikh said. He praised the Vishwa Gujarati Samaj for its work. “Not only are they helping provide a platform for Gujaratis globally, they are ensuring that the next generation stays in touch with their roots, heritage and traditions,” he said.

Parikh, who has received the Padma Shri in 2010, the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman award before that in 2006, as well as the Knight of the Ecumenical Hospitaller Order of St. John Knights of Malta, in 2012, said he cherishes the Vishwa Gujarati Samaj award because “it comes from the topmost Gujarati organization in the world, to a fellow Gujarati.”

Besides his chain of newspapers, Dr. Parikh recently launched the think tank, Parikh Foundation for India’s Global Development, aimed at discussing and spreading awareness about India’s emerging global role, and to discuss U.S. and India policy issues, as well as relations with other countries. He also disclosed that he will soon launch a new television news and entertainment channel in the U.S.

“He has done a lot of services not only for the Gujarati community but humanity at large,” Vakharia, president of the VGS, told Desi Talk, referring to Dr, Parikh. “He helped at the time of the earthquake, the tsunami, and he has done humanitarian work in other countries,” Vakharia added. He also credited Dr. Parikh for furthering U.S.-India relations. “In our view, the United States is the only great power now, and that relationship is very important for any country,” Vakharia said.

Dr. Vaidya, in his speech, dwelt on spiritual development being an intrinsic part of any development work, and Gujarat with its historical links to leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Dayanand Saraswati who were born in Gujarat.

Some other noted guests who attended the ceremony included Krishna Pujara, leader of the National Congress of Gujarati Organizations in the U.K., and eminent architects Hemant Naik and Kalpana Naik from Brisbane, Australia. Himanshu Patel, representative of the Germany Gujarati Samaj, also attended.

Parikh Worldwide Media LLC is the largest Indian-American print media publishing group in the United States, Dr. Parikh’s noted. The group publishes “News India Times,” a national weekly newspaper; “Desi Talk in New York,” a weekly newspaper serving the New York- New Jersey-Connecticut region; “Desi Talk in Chicago,” a weekly newspaper serving the Greater Chicago area and the Midwestern states; “The Indian American,” a national bimonthly feature magazine; “Gujarat Times,” a Gujarati language weekly. It also recently launched the magazine U.S.-India Global Review (usindiaglobalreview.com).

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NEW YORK – The Karachi, Pakistan-born artist Huma Bhabha, who now calls Poughkeepsie, New York, home, has been named the artist for the Met’s 2018 Cantor Roof Garden Commission, an annual staple of the city’s artistic and cultural tradition, and a huge commercial draw for the museum. Bhabha’s work will be the sixth in a series of commissions for the outdoor space with stunning 360 degree views of Manhattan.

The site-specific installation for the Met’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, entitled ‘We Come in Peace’, will be on view from April 17 through October 28, 2018.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a book published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press.

Bhabha’s work addresses themes of colonialism, war, displacement, and memories of place. Using found materials and the detritus of everyday life, she creates haunting human figures that hover between abstraction and figuration, monumentality and entropy.

Bhabha, who received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and her MFA from Columbia University, has been the subject of numerous national and international exhibitions, including Unnatural Histories at MoMA P.S.1, New York; All the World’s Futures at the 56th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, Italy; Players at the Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy; Intense Proximity at La Triennale, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France; 2010 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the 7th Gwangju Biennale, Korea.

In 2008, she received The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum Emerging Artist Award, and in 2013 she was awarded the Berlin Prize, Guna S. Mundheim Fellowship, by the American Academy in Berlin.

“Huma Bhabha’s work is powerful and arresting, informed by a deep and sophisticated engagement with art history, architectural space, an interest in popular iconographies and keenly responsive to political narratives, both historic and current,” Shanay Jhaveri, an assistant curator of South Asian art at the Met, told The New York Times, adding, “which makes her the right artist at this time for the commission.”

For the multipart installation, ‘We Come in Peace,’ Bhabha has “choreographed a dramatic mise en scene” of monumental sculptures, Jhaveri said.

Bhabha is the second Pakistani-origin artist to be commissioned for the Cantor Roof Garden. In 2013, Imran Qureshi was the chosen artist. His landscape of visceral red blooms painted in situ – detailed works on paper that he made in the style of the miniaturists who worked for the Mughal court – also echoed the verdant foliage of Central Park; a green space conceived in the nineteenth century to function as a site of respite and tranquility in the midst of the chaotic and cacophonous city.

Qureshi’s works are loaded with political connotations. The use of red acrylic in his installation were in response to brutal bombings and violence in Lahore, but he had then said it was also a pointer to fresh dialogue and hope, for a better tomorrow.

It’s likely that Bhabha’s work will resonate with a similar theme, present the face of moderate Islam, at a time where Islamophobia is growing globally.

Last year, Argentinian artist Adrián Villar Rojas’ ‘The Theater of Disappearance’ had transformed the Cantor Roof. Sixteen sculptures that fused human figures with replicas of nearly 100 objects from the Museum’s collection, occupied a new black, white, and gray tiled floor. It was also an environmental transformation of the space, including an extension of the existing pergola and new plantings, public furniture, and a newly designed bar.

This writer’s favorite commissioned installation at the Met was a large-scale 30-feet sculpture ‘Psycho Barn’ by British artist Cornelia Parker, in 2016, inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper and by two emblems of American architecture – the classic red barn and the Bates family’s sinister mansion from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho.

The sculpture, simultaneously authentic and illusory, was fabricated from a deconstructed red barn and seemed at first to be a genuine house, but was is in fact a scaled-down structure consisting of two facades propped up from behind with scaffolding.

TIBET’S GLORY AT THE ASIA SOCIETY

The Asia Society will exhibit ‘Unknown Tibet: The Tucci Expeditions and Buddhist Painting’, from February 27-May 20, 2018. It will comprise of more than 50 stunningly beautiful paintings collected by Italian scholar Giuseppe Tucci during his 1926–1948 expeditions to Tibet, along with a selection of striking photos depicting Tucci’s travels.

Works in the exhibition span the 13th through 19th centuries, and are on loan from the Museum of Civilisation-Museum of Oriental Art “Giuseppe Tucci,” Rome. The exhibition marks the first time they are on view in the United States.

One of the first Westerners to travel to the Tibetan plateau, Tucci led eight expeditions in search of remote monasteries and sacred sites. His extensive knowledge of Tibetan history and religion, and his mastery of Asian languages, including Tibetan and Pali—the language of earliest Buddhist literature—informed his acquisition of artworks. Paintings in the exhibition come from eastern, western, and central Tibet, and show a range of styles and subjects.

The majority of the paintings in the exhibition are religious paintings, intended to aid Buddhist practitioners on their path to enlightenment. Recent conservation of the paintings, many of which had been obscured by exposure to blackening soot and grease in their original temple and monastery settings, has restored much of their original luminescent beauty, sumptuous colors, and gold embellishments.

Among the most visually stunning works in the exhibition is a group of 14 images from a set of 17th century Arhat paintings, in the “Path of the Sutra” section of the exhibition. The large, beautifully painted works feature striking blue and green landscape elements and highly individualized portraits of important followers of the Buddha.

(Sujeet Rajan is Executive Editor, Parikh Worldwide Media. Email him: sujeet@newsindiatimes.com Follow him on Twitter @SujeetRajan1)

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NEW YORK – A gas station as well as The Pitt Stop convenience store, both owned by Indian American Gary Singh, in South Portsmouth, Kentucky, was vandalized overnight Wednesday, according to a WSAZ report.

According to a Daily Independent report, the vandals spray-painted vulgar phrases and symbols such as “white power,” swastikas, and other vulgar language across the storefront in red, including crudely-lettered markings that appeared to say “leave.”

“I’m just really shocked that somebody is doing that,” Singh, a Sikh by religion, told WSAZ, adding that he got a call from an employee named Alley, early Thursday morning who had discovered the vandalism.

Alley told the Daily Independent that their regular customers aren’t ones who would usually vandalize.

“I’ve been here a year and I’ve never seen anything like this,” she told the Daily Independent.

According to the Daily Independent report, the store had been vandalized before back in 2014 and the culprits happened to be former employees who were caught by Singh, stealing items.

Security footage shows a person wearing a ski mask approaching the store just after 11:30 p.m., according to the WSAZ report.

“I was really nervous about that. It happened to me for the first time in this store in four years time. I’ve never done wrong to the community here. I try to help the community all the time,” Singh told WSAZ.

Customers coming into the store Thursday say they were just as disturbed by what they were seeing.

“It’s sad that in America in this day and age we’re still doing this. It should not be happening,” Barb Glockner, a frequent customer told WSAZ.

“He’s a wonderful member of our community, and no one deserves this. Especially not Gary,” Glockner added.

Singh told WSAZ that he came to America in the early 1990s to pursue the American dream, but what happened at his store is more of a nightmare.

Kentucky State Police told WSAZ that they are investigating the case as criminal mischief but do plan on working with county prosecutors to discuss a possible hate crime charge.

Customers hope that the disturbing images and the hateful act do not reflect on their community.

“I think if they put themselves in Gary’s place, would you want somebody doing that to you? We live by the golden rule. We do unto others and evidently they do not live by that rule,” Glockner told WSAZ.

According to the Daily Independent report, Singh spent more than two and a half hours scrubbing off the mess from the windows, but other areas are still covered.

However, Singh did tell WSAZ that he possibly could forgive the vandals despite the hateful comments they left on the walls of his gas station and hopes that they do not strike again.

“Please don’t do it to anybody else. Don’t hurt anybody’s feelings. Let them work and enjoy their life,” Singh told WSAZ.

Police say that they are still working on identifying a suspect.

The post Sikh businessman’s gas station, store vandalized with racial slurs in Kentucky appeared first on News India Times.

On February 5, the City confirmed two influenza-related pediatric deaths; the flu shot remains the best way to protect against the influenza virus and its severe symptoms and complications; those with flu-like symptoms should see their medical provider immediately; vaccine is widely available; to find a vaccine, New Yorkers can call 311, visit nyc.gov/flu for the Flu Vaccine Locator or text “flu” to 877877

As influenza continues to spread across New York City, Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett and Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Lorelei Salas reminded New Yorkers that they can limit the spread of influenza by seeking care from a medical professional and staying home from work if they are sick. Thanks to NYC’s Paid Sick Leave Law, New Yorkers have the right to stay home and care for themselves or their family, regardless of immigration status. They also reminded New Yorkers that there is still time to get a flu shot. A flu shot, administered even after influenza season has arrived, can still provide immunity and mitigate the symptoms and complications should one contract the virus. The vaccine remains readily available; to find a vaccine, New Yorkers can call 311, visit nyc.gov/flu for the Flu Vaccine Locator or text “flu” to 877877.

“This administration has made it easier for New Yorkers to stay home and care for themselves and their loved ones should they get the flu,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Herminia Palacio. “We strongly encourage all New Yorkers to look out for their neighbor by taking charge of their health, getting their flu shots and making use of the NYC’s comprehensive paid sick leave to ensure that our City can be strong and healthy all winter long.”

“If you are sick with the flu, avoid contact with others and stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett. “The flu shot is the safest and most effective way to protect yourself and your neighbors against the influenza virus. The vaccine remains readily available at doctor’s offices and pharmacies. To prevent the spread of the virus, New Yorkers should cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when they cough or sneeze, and clean their hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.”

“New Yorkers don’t have to choose between their paycheck and caring for themselves or their loved ones if they have the flu—they have the right to sick leave,” said DCA Commissioner Lorelei Salas. “Don’t spread the flu, stay home and get better. I’d also like to remind businesses that they legally have to provide sick leave. Workers whose employers don’t provide sick leave, or employers with questions about how to comply should contact us by calling 311 or visit nyc.gov/PaidSickLeave.”

Yesterday, the Health Department also confirmed the first two pediatric deaths of this flu season. Every year, more New Yorkers die from influenza and pneumonia than from any other infection. In 2015, 2,094 New Yorkers died from influenza and pneumonia, which is a common complication of influenza. About 90 percent of influenza-related deaths are among people aged 65 years and older. For the 2016-17 influenza season, there were 106 influenza-associated pediatric deaths nationally, including six influenza-associated pediatric deaths in New York City.

“This year’s flu season has severely impacted New Yorkers, sending thousands to the hospital and tragically claiming the life of two children. I strong encourage New Yorkers to use the resources at their disposal to protect themselves and our community from this highly contagious and debilitating virus. Whether that means getting vaccinated to prevent getting sick or exercising your rights under the NYC Paid Sick Leave Law to fully recuperate at home before going back to work, we can each play a role in helping prevent the spread of this virus,” said State Senator Gustavo Rivera.

“With flu cases on the rise in New York, you should take extra precautions and stay home if you are not feeling well or if a family member is not well. If you need to care for a family member, thanks to the City’s Paid Sick Leave Law, your rights are protected, and you also protect the health of others,” said Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Health.

Under the NYC Paid Sick Leave Law, employers with five or more employees who are hired to work more than 80 hours per calendar year in New York City must provide paid sick leave. Employers with fewer than five employees must provide unpaid sick leave. Accrual begins on employee’s first day of employment and employees can begin using accrued leave 120 days after. On the first day of employment, employers must provide the Notice of Employee Rights in English and, if available on the DCA website, their primary language. Domestic workers who have worked for their employer for more than one year must be provided two days of paid sick leave, which is in addition to the three days of paid rest under the New York State Labor Law. For those employers who do not frontload sick leave on the first day of a new calendar year, you must carryover up to 40 hours of unused sick leave from one calendar year to the new calendar year. Additionally, you must allow an employee to accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 accrued hours in a calendar year.

Employers and employees can visit nyc.gov/PaidSickLeave or call 311 (212-NEW-YORK outside New York City) for more information; the required Notice of Employee Rights; one-page overviews for employers and employees; FAQs; DCA’s paid sick leave training presentation; and the complaint form. DCA also developed tools to help employers keep track of employees’ hours worked and sick leave used as well as model forms for verification of authorized sick time used, intention to use sick time and request to make up missed work as an alternative to using sick time.

In October, the Health Department launched a citywide awareness campaign, “I Got My Flu Shot…Not the Flu,” reminding New Yorkers that the flu vaccine is the best protection against influenza and its terrible symptoms.

While annual flu vaccination is recommended for all people aged six months and older, it is especially recommended for those at risk of developing influenza-related complications. Those at risk include: children under 5, pregnant women, people with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart or lung disease, and those over 65 years of age. Health care workers and people who live or work with people at high risk of influenza complications also need a flu vaccine to avoid infecting others.

The flu vaccine can help prevent the pain and misery of influenza. It has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalizations among several high-risk groups, including people with diabetes, chronic lung disease and those over 50 years of age and to reduce pediatric influenza-related deaths. Pregnant women have a four-fold higher risk of being hospitalized if they get influenza. A flu vaccine can protect them and their infant by passing on protective antibodies to their infants until they can get their own vaccine at six months.

Tips for parents:

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

Wash your hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

If you or your child is sick with influenza, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them and seek care. There are antiviral drugs that a health care worker can prescribe that can treat influenza, reducing the time that you are ill and preventing some of the more serious complications of this infection.

If your child is at high risk for influenza complications, you should speak to your medical provider about antiviral medication if they develop influenza-like symptoms.

If a child has a condition like asthma, call a doctor if they show influenza-like symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities.

The NYC Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) protects and enhances the daily economic lives of New Yorkers to create thriving communities. DCA licenses more than 81,000 businesses in more than 50 industries and enforces key consumer protection, licensing, and workplace laws that apply to countless more. By supporting businesses through equitable enforcement and access to resources and, by helping to resolve complaints, DCA protects the marketplace from predatory practices and strives to create a culture of compliance. Through its community outreach and the work of its offices of Financial Empowerment and Labor Policy & Standards, DCA empowers consumers and working families by providing the tools and resources they need to be educated consumers and to achieve financial health and work-life balance. DCA also conducts research and advocates for public policy that furthers its work to support New York City’s communities. For more information about DCA and its work, call 311 or visit DCA at nyc.gov/dca or on its social media sites, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

The post Departments of Health and Consumer Affairs remind New Yorkers: Fever, headache, cough,body aches… use your sick leave, and stay home if you have the flu appeared first on News India Times.