Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi raise their arms upon Netanyahu’s arrival at Air Force Station Palam in New Delhi, January 14, 2018. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/Files
NEW DELHI – After a public embrace of Israel as a strategic partner, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is heading to the Palestinian territories and the Gulf countries on Friday to bolster long-standing political and economic ties.
India was one of the earliest champions of the Palestinian cause but in recent years turned to Israel for high-tech military equipment and anti-terrorism cooperation.
Under Modi, whose nationalist party sees Israel as a natural ally against Islamist extremism, ties have flourished. Modi made the first trip to Israel by an Indian prime minister last year followed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to India last month.
But Indian officials said India continued to support the Palestinian cause and that Modi’s visit is aimed at helping build up the Palestinians’ capacity in the health, information technology and education areas.
“We have de-hyphenated our relations with Palestine and Israel and now we see them both as mutually independent and exclusive and as part of this policy the prime minister is undertaking this visit,” B. Bala Bhaskar, a joint secretary in the Indian foreign ministry, said.
The two sides are building a India-Palestinian technology park in Ramallah, the Palestinians’ seat of government, which will develop IT expertise and generate employment.
Modi is due to arrive in Jordan later on Friday and travel to Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Saturday. During his visit to Israel last year, he did not travel to the Palestinian headquarters as is usually the case with visiting leaders.
“Looking forward to my discussions with President Mahmoud Abbas and reaffirming our support for the Palestinian people and the development of Palestine,” Modi said in a Twitter post.
India was among more than 120 countries to vote in favour of a resolution in December calling for the United States to drop its recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
But the scale of India’s security and commercial ties with Israel dwarfs the engagement with the Palestinians. Israel is among India’s top three arms suppliers, doing business worth millions of dollars each year.
Modi and Netanyahu are now pushing for cooperation in agriculture, energy and cybersecurity in addition to defence.
Modi will also travel to the United Arab Emirates, from where India gets half of its oil, and to Oman, with which India’s navy has built close security ties.
The Gulf is home to nine million Indians who remit $35 billion home each year, sustaining millions of families. The UAE committed an investment of $75 billion in India when Modi visited in 2015 and the two sides will be looking to advance that goal, the foreign ministry said.
A paramedic distributes free medicine provided by the government to patients inside a ward at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai July 12, 2012. REUTERS/Babu/Files
India has launched one of the world’s largest health insurance programs that expects to cover 100 million families or an estimated 500 million people, at an annual estimated cost of some $1.7 billion.
India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the ambitious plan on Feb. 1 as part of the 2018-2019 Budget, saying in parliament, that “This will be the world’s largest government-funded health-care program.”
It also includes the setting up of wellness centers around the country on an unprecedented scale.
While the U.S. is moving away from Obamacare, the program dubbed ‘Modicare ‘by Indian media, will be covering more than one and a half times the size of the U.S. population, akin to the U.S. Medicaid program which provides coverage for the poor, but focused on catastrophic illnesses.
The government plan will cover close to 500,000 Rupees, or roughly little less than $8,000 in expenses for serious illnesses requiring hospitalization.
The government is budgeting $188 million for wellness centers to expand accessibility at local levels, especially for the poor who otherwise have to travel long distances to avail of modern healthcare.
Revenues raised from a 1 percent health access — an add-on to income taxes — is expected to go partway in financing the new deal, with national insurance companies as well as states chipping in to share the cost. The government hopes that as enrollment grows, the program will begin to pay for itself.
The need for universal health care is necessary in India, says Indian-American physician and Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, founder of the Parikh Foundation for India’s Global Development. “It is a great initiative which will, according to the government, cover 40 percent of the needy population (in India),” said Parikh, who is also the joint secretary of the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO), as well as past-president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI). He called it an “long overdue” measure, that would help people access state-of-the-art health services. While the life expectancy in India has risen to 68.3, and infant mortality has dropped from 83 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 34 per 1000 live births in 2016 according to government statistics, and maternal mortality rates have declined, India still has to go a long way improving the health of its citizens.
The program “will be a game changer”, Prathap Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd., and founder president and emeritus advisor of GAPIO, is quoted saying in a Reuters report
Rajiv Kumar, vice chairman of NITI Aayog, (National Institute for Transforming India) the premier government think tank, told Bloomberg News, “If we roll this out enough within this calendar year it will be an absolute game changer,” adding, “It’s a new India that we are giving birth to.” Kumar also said funding of nearly $2 billion a year to meet the expense of health insurance for the poor, would not be hard to meet as more people enrolled in the service.
But Kumar did sound a note of caution, speculating whether state governments would work in concert with the center to make the plan a reality.
Doctors look at the ultrasound scan of a patient at Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi, January 19, 2015. Reuters/Adnan Abidi
Scope of Problem
In 2014, according to the World Health Organization, India spent some 4.5 percent of its GDP on health for a population of 1.3 billion. Meanwhile, data compiled by NITIAayog, shows significant drops in infant mortality in almost every state between 2002 and 2016. However, while India has made significant advances in its health system in the last few decades, the WHO notes that India accounts for 21% of the world’s global burden of disease; the greatest burden of maternal, newborn and child deaths in the world,
Key challenges the WHO identifies in India’s health situation include the need to expedite progress in child health, under nutrition and gender equity problems; High burden of disease (BoD), even though important progress has been achieved with some diseases; and dealing with the emergence of maladies like cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, cancer and mental illnesses, as well as tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, water-borne diseases and sexually transmitted diseases.
NITI Aayog data also reveals the need for more healthcare centers in line with the plan outlined by the government. In 2005, there were 146,026 health “Sub-centers” around the country, rising to 153,655 in 2016; The number of Primary Health Centers rose from a mere 23,236 in 2005 to just 25,308 in 2015; And Community Health Centers rose from just 3,346 around the country in 2005,to 5,396 in 2015, inadequate by a long margin for the population of the country, and it is hoped the $188 million allocated for building Wellness Centers will meet part of the dire health infrastructure needs.
India has a patchwork of health insurance programmes — a network of private health insurance companies that provide private sector employees and individuals, government programs for its employees, Employees State Insurance that covers some workers in the organised sector and programs of some state governments, but the new program put the country on a path to universal coverage by insuring the poor across the country who have no other access to health insurance.
Pharmacists dispense free medication, provided by the government, to patients at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai July 12, 2012. Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu, one of two Indian states offering free medicine for all. The state provides a glimpse of the hurdles India faces as it embarks on a programme to extend free drug coverage nationwide. Picture taken July 12, 2012. To match Analysis INDIA-DRUGS/ REUTERS/Babu (INDIA – Tags: SOCIETY DRUGS HEALTH) – RTR357H6
Solutions Tried
Anup Karan, associate professor at the Public Health Foundation of India, speaking to News India Times via Skype, said India has tried government health insurance in various forms since the middle of the last decade, and noted that there are both concerns as well as positives about the latest initiative. While the history of state-level and national health service efforts is checkered, the new initiative will have to take into account that 60 percent of health issues in India are treated in outpatient care, according to Karan’s findings, and the new insurance program covers only hospitalization.
Karan noted the “huge success” of the 2007 “pioneering” effort by Andhra Pradesh’s state funded wellness plan, Rajiv Arogyasri; the 2008 Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana which saw very low enrollment ratios and huge operational issues; and the 2010 launch of state-level health insurance by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra covering only tertiary and surgical conditions, with mixed results, where Tamil Nadu experienced “very great success.”
“The new scheme announced February 1, is an enhanced version of the National Health Protection Scheme launched in 2016, in terms of coverage and funding,” says Karan. He worries that because poor people use mainly outpatient care, the new program’s hospitalization coverage may not help them as much; in addition, he worries that when the poor did access the new plan, healthcare providers may tend to “overprescribe and overtreat” the poor who may not be adequately informed about the details of the coverage.
“But at least there is a scheme and maybe gradually these points will be considered as it matures and outpatient healthcare will get covered,” Karan said. He hopes to see results by the second or third year of implementation.
Vinay Aggarwal, former president of the Indian Medical Association, gave a positive reading to The Washington Post, saying, “Before this, hardly 5 percent of Indians were covered by health insurance. If you take into account private health care, it’s hardly 10 percent. Now we’re addressing 45 percent.”
Parikh said, “On behalf of AAPI and GAPIO, I want to congratulate the Prime Minister on this initiative and hope it will be successful and eventually lead to universal healthcare,” an objective Jaitley says is achievable if the new initiative goes according to plan.
NEW YORK – The “Raj whatever-his-name-is” – as christened by CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, had his biggest career moment, on February 8, when he took to the lectern of the White House press briefing room, held forth a ‘stonewalling’ session; warded off an aggrieved press corps who relentlessly questioned the integrity of the Trump Administration on the issue of staffer Rob Porter’s controversial exit after allegations of domestic abuse.
The Deputy White House Press Secretary Raj Shah, standing in for his boss Sarah Huckabee Sanders, put on his best game face. He grimly faced a fusillade of questions ranging also from evicted reality star Omarosa’s attack on President Trump, Green Cards for skilled legal immigrants who have taken to the last resort of demonstrating outside the White House, strategy on North Korea, and investigation of chemical weapons in Syria.
The sublime moment was not lost on anyone, least on Shah, who joined the Trump Administration in 2016, after a stint of digging dirt on Hillary Clinton with ‘America Rising’, an opposition research project funded by the Republican National Committee: he created history, became the first Indian American to be the official face of the US administration.
It might be unfathomable for many that Shah, 33, who grew up in Connecticut and is also officially Deputy Assistant to President Trump, would rise to this position considering his foibles in the past. He was arrested on a DWI charge, fired from his then job as campaign spokesman for New Mexico Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez, in 2010. He has also committed the sin of dissing on Trump, calling him disparagingly as a “deplorable”; applauded the release of Trump’s ‘Access Hollywood’ tape; even helped get embarrassing footage of Trump to use in a Jeb Bush commercial.
On the way to his meteoric rise, Shah has also faced an identity crisis of sorts; well, at least created by CNN. Apart from Cuomo’s dismissive and derisive remark, the network also put up a photo of former Obama Administration USAID chief Dr. Rajiv Shah, to pass off as Raj Shah. Both men are handsome enough, but that’s not the point.
Shah’s biggest moment in the limelight now comes with plenty of baggage, though.
Unlike his backstage, surreptitious work of the past, Shah’s every word is now recorded for posterity. In his line of work, that means few accolades, plenty of rebukes, become a willing scapegoat. His words, his defense of others, like an inept, unprepared attorney, could haunt him on a daily basis. And perhaps, in that lies the biggest headache for Shah, who realizes too that his high-profile glamor job is as futile as a woodpecker trying to saw off a redwood tree.
The fact is that in the new age world of Trump, the job of spokespersons like Shah is totally diminished and trivialized; made a mockery of. It’s almost a theater of the absurd, for the media to pick holes, cast aspersions on the Trump administration, instead of treating it as a meaningful exchange of information of sorts. The deep skepticism by the press corps is met with ridiculously stoic, blasé answers, by a spokesperson like Shah. It’s as if a heavyweight boxer takes to the ring in full gear and seriousness, allows a 5-year-old child to pummel him, without hitting back.
Forget nasty questions from the press. The true hidden danger to a Trump Administration spokesperson’s sanity lurks in comments from Trump that may come forth in unexpected ways, unexpected hours from the now-profitable Twitter. Shah, no doubt, must be wary of this every time he opens his mouth.
Despite being pummeled by the press for some ridiculous answers to the questions posed to him – apart from a moment of candor, when he said that the White House could have dealt with the Porter issue better, Shah’s true pat on the back came at night from Trump real official spokesperson, he himself, through Twitter.
Trump wrote: “Time to end the visa lottery. Congress must secure the immigration system and protect Americans.” This was in response to Shah’s comments when asked on faster Green Cards for skilled workers waiting in line: “The President wants to see legal immigration reforms. He wants to see us move from a process currently existing in law, of extended family chain migration toward merit-based legal immigration reform. We want to ensure that people coming in the country are the best and the brightest regardless of nationality, creed, religion or anything else in-between.”
Shah’s best moment though on his debut press day was a smart retort to a question on Omarosa’s animosity towards Trump: “Omarosa was fired three times on ‘The Apprentice,’ and this is the fourth time we let her go. She had limited contact with the president while here, and she has no contact now,” he said.
A real whippersnapper of a sound bite that one! Congratulations to you Raj Shah!
Perhaps, Shah might be wise to ponder this comment too from Omarosa, on her disillusionment with Trump, as he looks back on the day’s play: “I didn’t realize that by being loyal to him, it was going mean I was going to lose 100 other friends.”
(Sujeet Rajan is Executive Editor, Parikh Worldwide Media. Email him: sujeet@newsindiatimes.com Follow him on Twitter @SujeetRajan1)
Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Opening ceremony – Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium – Pyeongchang, South Korea – February 9, 2018 – Shiva Keshavan of India carries the national flag. (Photo: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach)
PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA
Indian luger Shiva Keshavan’s 20-year Olympic odyssey comes to an end at the Pyeongchang Games this weekend with a familiar lament about the country’s winter sports apathy.
A teenage Keshavan shot down the luge track on a borrowed sled at Nagano in 1998 and at the age of 36, he will compete in his sixth consecutive Games at the Olympic Sliding Centre.
There will be few compatriots to wish him well in the preliminary runs on Saturday, with cross-country skier Jagdish Singh the only other athlete to qualify from the country of 1.25 billion.
For Keshavan, the face of Indian winter sports for two decades, it has ever been thus.
He was the nation’s sole athlete at the 1998 and 2002 Games and has never had more than a handful of team mates since.
Four years ago at Sochi, he was unable to compete under his country’s flag due to an IOC ban of the Indian Olympic Association for electing corruption-tainted officials.
The ban was lifted during the Games after the Association held another election but not until after Keshavan’s event.
Born to an Indian father and Italian mother in a hamlet in the Himalayas, the luger has relied more on hand-outs than government support to fund his Olympic dreams.
There will be a “little melancholy” involved when he takes his last four runs at the Olympic Sliding Centre.
“It’s hard to give up the sports lifestyle and the Olympic movement, I love it and what it stands for,” he said on Friday.
“But I‘m sure I’ll stay involved in the sport because I want to build it up in India now and focus on that.”
Keshavan will carry India’s flag for a fifth time in the opening ceremony later on Friday but his team mate Singh had not yet arrived in Pyeongchang.
There was no certainty he would even make it in time to march.
“It’s part of the bigger problem, let’s say, for sports, and especially winter sports, in India, and it’s why I think it’s time for me to take a step back as an athlete and go and give a much-needed push, because there is no reason why we should not be having a big team and not doing well,” said Keshavan.
Since debuting at the 1964 Games, India has never come close to claiming a Winter Games medal and are unlikely to break the drought in Pyeongchang.
“We have the natural resources, we’re not a poor country, we have a big enough talent pool and there’s a lot of passion as well but something is missing,” Keshavan added.
“We don’t have the culture or the tradition of winter sports so I think I can fill in that role a little bit.”
NEW YORK – Ravi Ragbir, the executive director of the immigrant rights group New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City, has been granted temporary stay in the country, according to several news reports.
According to the New York Post, Ragbir, an Indian American, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a routine check-in on Jan. 11 which sparked protests leading to nearly 20 arrests.
According to amNewYork, a judge had ordered his release from detention on Jan. 29, ruling that it was “unnecessarily cruel.” However, he was ordered to report to ICE for deportation on Saturday, Feb. 10.
But on Friday, Feb. 9, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan agreed to grant Ragbir a temporary stay as many local and nationwide advocacy groups filed a First Amendment lawsuit accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other officials of targeting immigrant-activists for deportation, according to Patch.com.
ICE has denied such allegations stating: “ICE does not target unlawfully present aliens for arrest based on advocacy positions they hold or in retaliation for critical comments they make. Any suggestion to the contrary is irresponsible, speculative and inaccurate.”
“Like so many people who are living in this country under the threat of deportation, I know how important it is to raise our voices against the injustices in the system. This lawsuit is not just about me, it is about all of the members of our community who are speaking out in our struggle for immigrant rights,” Ragbir said in a statement.
Now Ragbir will only appear for a check-in with ICE at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City on Saturday, according to several news reports.
“Justice was restored today, at least temporarily, as Mr. Ragbir is now able to remain in the United States and free until the Court reviews his constitutional claims,” Ragbir’s attorney R. Stanton Jones told the New York Post.
According to an earlier News India Times report, Ragbir had come to the United States from Trinidad in 1991 and obtained a green card in 1994.
He was then convicted of wire fraud in 2001 and was detained in 2006 for nearly two years after a judge ordered deportation because of his conviction.
However, he was released as ICE determined that he wasn’t a danger to the community and he got married to Amy Gottileb in 2010 after which according to a Washington Post report, he received work authorization and four stays of removal.
According to Patch.com, Ragbir will also be appearing in a New Jersey federal court on Friday in an attempt to overturn his criminal conviction and see whether or not a judge there would also put a stay on his deportation.
According to the court order, Ragbir and other plaintiffs on the lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other officials, will have until Monday to file any additional paperwork while the defendants will have until Mar. 1 to file a response to which the plaintiffs must file a reply by Mar. 14.
Activists will likely celebrate Ragbir’s temporary stay at a rally on Saturday morning in Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, according to amNewYork.
NEW YORK – Indian American Devesh Vashishtha, a fourth year medical student at the University of California in San Diego, has been awarded two national fellowships, one in family medicine and the other in environmental stewardship, according to a university press release.
Vashishtha is one of six medical students in the country to be selected for the 2017 Pisacano Scholars Leadership Program, which awarded by the American Board of Family Medicine in order to foster the professional development of individuals identified as being future leaders in family medicine.
Vashishtha was also awarded a 2017 Switzer Fellowship from the Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation, the only medical student to receive the award in order to support his interest in environmental justice and public health, according to the press release.
“My end goal is to shape health policy. The issues that inspire me are improving people’s access to primary care, disease prevention and early interventions that can both improve public health and lower the total cost of health care,” Vashishtha stated in the press release.
“We need primary care to address public health crises like obesity and diabetes, and we need physician payer models that incentivize keeping patients healthy,” he added.
The press release states that Vashishtha gained his interest in environmentalism from his parents, who are both scientists with a passion for protecting the natural world for future generations.
“I grew up in an environmentally conscious household. My dad went to unusual lengths to protect the environment. He would take glass containers and cups to parties so we didn’t use Styrofoam. Environmentalism is in my consciousness and upbringing,” Vashishtha told the university.
Vashishtha is also one of the founding members of the 2015 Hindu Declaration on Climate Change, which calls out to Hindus worldwide to “lead lives in harmony and balances with the natural world” as well as the U.C. San Diego chapter lead for Student Physicians for Social Responsibility, which seeks to highlight the medical problems caused by environmental degradation, among other topics and has lobbied in Washington, D.C. for clean power policies, according to the university press release.
“Climate change will increase the global burden of infectious diseases such as malaria, Zika and Lyme disease. We are also seeing changes in pollen patterns and increases in asthma diagnoses. We know that the poor and people of color will be the hardest hit. My interest in climate change is closely tied to my interest in public health and disease prevention,” he told the university.
Vashishtha is a U.C. medical scholar and former U.C. regents scholar who earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree at UCSD, he is also a singer of traditional Indian music and avid student of the Hindu Vedanta philosophical tradition, according to the press release.
According to the press release, Vashishtha has interned with Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to help pass the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, which guarantees that private-sector workers earn paid sick leave.
Vashishtha has served as a legislative contact for the California Academy of Family Physicians as well and most recently advocated for increased funding to medical residency programs in underserved areas.
Upon completing his medical degree, Vashishtha plans to begin a three-year residency in family medicine. His goal is to eventually run for public office.
Aruna Miller (Courtesy: arunamillerforcongress.com)
The Indian American Impact Fund, a recently launched political action committee, announced Feb. 8, that it has endorsed two candidates for the U.S. Congress, whose races will be watched closely in the run-up to the November elections, as well as an Indian-American running for the state senate.
Maryland State Delegate Aruna Miller is running from Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, currently represented by Rep. John Delaney, a Democrat, who declared he will not run for re-election. Miller, who has the most cash-on-hand of the five Democratic candidates vying for their party’s endorsement in teh June 26 primary. An engineer by trade, Miller has served in the Maryland State House since 2010 where her focus has been in STEM education, streamlining the regulatory process for small businesses, and bringing 21st century jobs to Maryland. Miller has been endorsed by EMILY’s List, 314 Action, all four sitting Indian American members of the House of Representatives, and a number of state and local elected officials. If elected, Miller will be the second Indian-American woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives.
Aftab Pureval (Photo: Hamiltoncountydems.org)
The second candidate Impact is endorsing is Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval in Ohio, who recently announced his run for the U.S. Congress from the 1st District, currently represented by Republican Rep. Steve Chabot. Pureval will have to defeat Laura Ann Weaver, in the May 8 Democratic primary, before going on to challenge Chabot. Ballotpedia lists this as a ‘safe Republican’ seat. Democrats are banking of Pureval’s past performance. In 2016, Pureval won an upset victory, defeating an incumbent who had a storied family name. The seat had been held by Republicans for a 100 years, Impact noted. A former federal prosecutor and attorney for Procter & Gamble, Pureval, is credited with overhauling the Hamilton County Courts website, expanding its hours, opening a legal help center, and streamlining operations in order to return over $800,000 to the county’s general fund, Impact said.
Ram Villivalam running for Illinois State Senate seat, with his wife Elizabeth. (Photo: Ramforsenate.com)
Ram Villivalam is making his bid for Illinois 8th State Senate District. The open primary is on March 20. Villivalam takes on incumbent State Senator Ira Silverstein, a Democrat. The 8th State Senate District has the highest percentage of Asian Americans in the state of Illinois, according to Impact. According to Ballotpedia, another Indian-American, Zehra Quadri, is running for the same seat. Villivalam has earned the endorsements of several members Congress, Impact says, including U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, and U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna, D-California, as well as constituency groups such as the Sierra Club and Equality Illinois PAC. If elected, Villivalam would be the first Indian-American ever elected to the Illinois state legislature.
“Not only do these individuals showcase the talent and patriotism of the Indian American community, they also represent the next generation of American political leadership,” Deepak Raj, co-founder of Impact and chair of the Impact Fund is quoted saying in the press release. “Voters are hungry for fresh faces and new ideas. These candidates are well-positioned to be part of a new wave of national and state leaders who will help fight back against xenophobic rhetoric and regressive policies and fight for economic opportunity and a stronger, fairer economy.”
In addition, Impact Fund has endorsed for re-election all four Indian American Members of the U.S. House of Representatives: Ami Bera, D-California; Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington; Krishnamoorthi; and Khanna.
Indian Americans Ajay Agarwal and Samir Kaul, among 18, have been named to the inaugural group of Rock Venture Capital Partners of the Harvard Business School’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship and will be providing in-person mentoring to the school’s student entrepreneurs, according to a press release.
According to the press release, Agarwal is the managing director of Bain Capital Ventures in Palo Alto, California, where his work focuses on early stage software, mobile, and internet investing; he received his MBA in 1995.
According to Bain Capital Ventures’ website, he joined the company in 2003 and prior to that he was an early employee at Trilogy, where as head of sales and marketing he grew annual revenues to $300 million; before that he was a consultant with the Los Angeles office of McKinsey & Company.
Agarwal has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, which he received in 1995, according to Bain Capital Ventures’ website.
According to Bain Capital Ventures’ website, he also holds a patent for the “Method and Apparatus of Configuration Solutions” and was named to the Forbes Midas List of Top 100 Venture Capital Investors in 2012 and 2013.
Agarwal also serves as the National Board Chair for BUILD, a not-for-profit dedicated to helping underprivileged high school students attend college, according to Bain Capital Ventures’ website.
According to the press release, Kaul is a cofounding general partner at Khosla Ventures in the San Francisco Bay area, where he focuses primarily on renewable energy, clean technologies, food and health, Samir Kaul and life sciences investing.
According to Khosla Ventures’ website, Kaul holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Michigan and also studied biochemistry at the University of Maryland with a concentration in gene regulation and expression; he also holds an MBA from Harvard University which he received in 2002.
Khosla is also an active philanthropist and has been a longstanding member of the leadership committee of the Tipping Point Community as well as being a board member at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and a Forbes Midas List member, according to Khosla Ventures’ website.
“The Rock VC Partner Program brings leading managing and general partners from the top early stage VC firms to Harvard Business School to build relationships with student founders. We are delighted to have these outstanding venture capitalists share their wisdom and insights with student entrepreneurs. Thanks to this program, HBS students will have unprecedented access to feedback from top investors regarding their ideas, testing plans, fund-raising activities, and more,” Jodi Gernon, the Director of the Rock Center, said in the press release.
According to the press release, the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship supports faculty and their research in the field of entrepreneurial management along with helping students and alumni, create ventures in the realms of for-profit and social enterprise and brings leading managing and general partners from the top early stage VC firms to Harvard Business School to build relationships with student founders.
Indian American Vandana Gopikumar will be receiving the 2018 Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health along with a $100,000 cash prize, at the University of Pennsylvania on Mar. 21, for her work in helping women with mental health problems in India, according to a press release.
Gopikumar is the Co-Founder of The Banyan, which was started as a response to the visible gaps in care and attention for homeless women with mental health problems and The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health, which focuses on developing partnerships with the government, civil organizations, universities, and individuals to further the development of mental health services in the region, according to a press release.
“Dr. Gopikumar embodies the very essence of The Renfield Award, which is given to an individual who demonstrates leadership in improving women’s health. Over the past 25 years, she and her team have helped more than ten thousand people with mental health issues in India to reintegrate into society. Her devotion to helping this community is steadfast and tireless. We are happy to recognize her and The Banyan with this much-deserved award,” said Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel of FAAN.
“It is my honor to have nominated Dr. Gopikumar for the Renfield Award owing to her landmark contributions to the field of mental health and social vulnerabilities in India. Her determination has been instrumental in The Banyan’s journey. It is because of her innovative spirit that new models of mental health care have been created, myths have been erased, and stigmas have been shattered,” said Nachiket Mor, the Director of the India Country Office of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“At The Banyan, the social ecology of mental disorders and the intersections between poverty, gender, other structural barriers and mental health is taken into cognizance, as care packages are customized and models developed, for persons poor and homeless,” Gopikumar states in a press release.
“I’m glad that we are able to influence future strategic direction collaboratively with users of mental health services, local governments and partners who share our vision, to focus on integrated mental health care approaches and emphasize the need for social inclusion,” she continues.
“I hope the Renfield Award, and the large scale awareness it will generate, will influence policy makers around the world by highlighting the correlation between the achievement of sustainable development goals and mental health,” she added.
Georgia Tech professor, Indian American Santosh Pande, is a part of a team of researchers from the campus’ School of Computer Science who has been awarded $7.5 million from the Office of Naval Research to develop a customized attack-resistant software stack, according to a press release.
According to a press release, the team is developing a technique for reducing what’s known as “the attack surface,” or the total number of ways in which a program can become vulnerable to being exploited and Pande’s work on the team will focus on compilers to help determine what essential code must be loaded for each user during software execution.
Most general-purpose software includes code that not every user needs and unused code can create an opportunity for exploitation by attackers, thus through this research, users will be able to run software in which unneeded code is removed, thus decreasing the vulnerability of the programs they use, according to a press release.
According to Georgia Tech’s website, Pande’s primary interest is investigating static and dynamic compiler optimizations on evolving architectures and his research philosophy involves tackling practical problems which are relevant and important to the current issues in systems research and propose foundational solutions to them for good impact.
Pande has published more than 40 papers in journals and conferences which include ACM Programming Language Design and Implementation (PLDI), IEEE Real Time Systems Symposium (RTSS) and Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing (JPDC) and IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems (TPDS) and has also done extensive compiler development and is a part of SUIF collaborative program amongst universities, according to Georgia Tech’s website.
According to Georgia Tech’s website, Pande served as a co-guest editor for the special issue of Journal of Parallel and Distributed Systemson `Compilation Techniques for Distributed Memory Systems’ published in December 1996 and also for the special issue of the Parallel Processing Letters journal on `Challenges in Compiler Optimizations for Scalable Parallel Systems’ published in December 1997.
He has also served on program committees of many conferences and has co-chaired ACM LCTES ’01 as well as an IEEE Distinguished Visitor from 1996 to 2000, according to Georgia Tech’s website.
CHICAGO – The baffling and paradoxical life of Dr. Abdus Salam, the first Pakistani and Muslim to win a Nobel Prize for Physics, is a subject of a compelling documentary by New York-based Indian American filmmaker Anand Kamalakar.
Salam (1926-1996) is a dichotomous figure in the world of science. He once said: “I would never have started to work on the subject (physics) if I was not a Muslim.” Yet, in his lifetime, not only was he shunned by Pakistan, the place of his birth, because he belonged to the outlawed Ahmadiyya sect, but had the misfortune of standing up for science in a country that had no particular interest in it.
He received his Ph.D in quantum electrodynamics at 24 and went on to do pioneering work in physics. It was only because of Pakistan’s strategic interest in developing nuclear weapons, in whose early development Dr. Salam played a crucial role, that he had a brief period of official patronage.
The documentary �Salam’ — produced by Omar Vandal, a doctorate in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenes, and Zakir Thaver, a science/education media producer — was screened at the Mumbai International Film Festival on January 29. Kamalakar answered email questions from IANS. Excerpts:
Q: What prompted you to chronicle the life of Dr. Abdus Salam?
A: The producers Zakir and Omar have always been troubled by the fact that Abdus Salam was not given his rightful place in Pakistan’s history because of his religious beliefs. They have been attempting to make a film to shine a light on his illustrious career since their youth. After almost 10 years of collecting archival material � they approached me through an acquaintance and I was taken by their commitment and the layered story of Salam.
Q: When did you discover that science, particularly physics, and Islam were not necessarily adversarial in Dr. Salam’s estimation but, in fact, complementary?
A: I discovered this while viewing the archival interviews. This aspect always fascinated me about his story. Salam went through a complicated evolution on this subject. We have tried to reveal the best we can on where he stood on this at various stages in his life. He was contradictory and controversial on this subject at many stages in his life.
Q: I ask specifically because that is at the core of his ironic and even somewhat tragic life. Here was a man who considered himself devout Muslim and precisely for that reason, chose to pursue physics, but his own country and culture, revolving around Islam, rejected him so thoroughly. How did you approach that strange dichotomy?
A: This aspect is what drew me to make this film. How did Salam reconcile working in an area of physics, which essentially attempts to prove the absence of god, and here he is, a devout Muslim who attributes his talents to his belief in Islam and god� In this sense, Salam was a bit ambivalent but found a way to rationalise this approach. We reveal this duality in many instances in the film� But we wanted to respect his position and give it credence as he was able to walk that line and be a man of science and religion at the same time.
Q: Were you surprised to discover that he saw no contradiction between a pure physicist and a devout Muslim?
A: More than surprised I was fascinated. One of the reasons the producers and I found common ground is because we are all rationalists. We subscribe to the logic of science more than anything. So when we found that Salam saw no contradiction but in fact believed that the religious text in fact encouraged science and informed his explorations, and reality did not reflect that, it was an intriguing area to explore, especially in a time when Islam is often viewed as a regressive religion in the mainstream.
Q: Since you were dealing with a very sensitive theme, what kind of challenges did you face in obtaining archival audio-visual material as well as interviews?
A: We really did not face any great difficulty in procuring archival material as such. We did face difficulty though in interviewing people with the extreme point of view on the Ahmadi issue. We ended up using clips from YouTube to show the extremist view. I was denied a visa to visit Lahore. I had to hire a cameraman there and manage the shoot remotely. We never received a clear answer why I was denied a visa, even though I am a US citizen. We concluded probably because this issue is still controversial there and I am of Indian origin.
Q: Have you been able to resolve the extent of Salam’s involvement in Pakistan’s nuclear bomb? Journalist and author Tariq Ali says it is not clear whether Salam was involved in Pakistan’s nuclear bomb. Both sides — the Ahmadiyya and the Pakistan establishment — have their own reasons to deny it.
A: I think this is answered in the film quite succinctly. He definitely was involved in the initial stages but then changed his mind.
Q: In the light of the way Salam was treated how do you think it impacted the future of science in Pakistan?
A: We address this is in the film with great emphasis. I think this is the greatest tragedy of his life. The younger generation of Pakistan has suffered the most and science in general has taken a back seat as a result of Salam being exiled. The casualty of any kind of intolerance towards knowledge, intelligence and brilliance are the young. Pakistan has suffered irreparable damage by distancing Salam and his legacy. At its core, this is what the message of our film is. Any kind of intolerance is damaging to the human spirit and soul.
Logos of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are displayed at the venue of the annual general meeting of the software services provider in Mumbai, June 29, 2012. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/Files
MUMBAI – Global software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Monday said it has been ranked among the top three employers in the US by the Netherlands-based Top Employers Institute.
“The Institute has also recognised TCS as one of the world’s best places to work for the fourth consecutive year,” said the city-based tech firm in a statement here.
The Amsterdam-headquartered independent organisation certifies employers the world over for excellence in creating a total work environment for their employees.
The criteria in assessing TCS employee offerings included talent strategy, workforce planning, on-boarding, learning and development, performance management, leadership development, career and succession management, compensation and benefits and company culture.
“As employees are our strong asset, we are committed to enabling their growth and development through programmes to build digital skills, enable career advancement and retain the best talent,” said TCS President, North America and Europe, Surya Kant in the statement.
TCS has also been among the top two recruiters of the US and Canadian IT services talent over the past five years.
“Optimal employee conditions ensure that people can develop personally and professionally on their own. Our research concluded thata-TCS provides an outstanding employment environment and offers creative initiatives, from secondary benefits and working conditions, to performance-management programmes,” said the Institute Global Business Director Dennis Utter.
As a flagship company of India’s Tata group, the $17.6 billion TCS has 390,000 techies across 36 countries worldwide.
Avinash Gupta, vice president of BJANA, presents a plaque of sincere appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey (Courtesy: BJANA)
NEW YORK – Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, the CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), was the center of attention at the Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America’s (BJANA) first ever “BJANA Talk Show” held in Freehold, New Jersey on Friday, February 9.
Since UIDAI is the main agency of the Government of India which is responsible for implementing Aadhaar, the talk show focused on questions about Aadhaar, the complexity of maintaining privacy and implementation, and how it will reach to 1.2 billion Indians.
The talk show was attended by over 50 BJANA members and streamlined live on Facebook.
Vinay Singh, the president of BJANA, introduced Pandey giving a brief background of his education and success with Aadhaar.
The Facebook live was broadcasted to over 1,000 viewers who actively participated by sending their questions in for Pandey.
In the past, Pandey has addressed the questions and concerns of Indian Americans about banking in India, property inheritance without Aadhaar and handling financial and investment accounts.
Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey talks about Aadhaar (Courtesy: BJANA)
Indian Americans also raised concerns about the impact of Aadhaar in their lives and how their financial transactions and other processes, where Aadhaar is needed, could be simplified and how they could benefit from Uniform Identity.
Pandey then told the Indian American attendees and viewers that Aadhaar is not required for Non Resident Indians (NRIs) but mentioned that he will bring up the raised concerns to the respective Indian government departments.
At the end of the talk show, the vice president of BJANA Avinash Gupta presented a plaque of sincere appreciation and gratitude to Pandey.
BJANA plans to bring the Indian American community together by hosting more talk shows which will cover topics that will benefit everyone.
The event was hosted at the residence of Anjali Prasad, the former president of BJANA and Pratap Sahay, the former general secretary and an advisory committee member.
BJANA committee members who volunteered to make this event successful were Alok Kumar, Anil Singh, Aditi Mohan, Anil Agarwal, Anurag Kumar, Pranit Singh, Prabish Chourasia, Sanjay Gupta, Sanjeev Singh, Shaily Jha, Sudhakar Raj, Vandana Kumar and Vishal Sinha.
NEW YORK – NASA has named Priyamvada Natarajan, an Indian American-origin professor of astronomy and physics at Yale University, to lend her expertise on gravitational waves and astrophysics for the upcoming mission, LISA, which stands for Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, according to a YaleNews report.
According to the report, LISA is a space-based, gravitational wave observatory that will be composed of three spacecrafts which will be separated by millions of miles; the mission is scheduled for the early 2030s and is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the LISA consortium.
Natarajan is also a member of the NASA LISA Study Team.
“The detection of gravitational waves in 2015 by the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) collaboration is one of the major scientific breakthroughs of this century. The tremors they identified in space-time, produced by the collision of two stellar-mass black holes, was extremely challenging to detect. The more massive cousins of these black holes are supermassive black holes that reside in the centers of most, if not all, galaxies,” Natarajan told YaleNews.
Natarajan explained to YaleNews that supermassive black holes are likely to have been built up by mergers as “the cosmic earthquakes produced during these collisions cannot be detected from the Earth and require a LIGO-like interferometer in space as these events will be detectable at much lower frequencies.” she said.
“The LISA mission plans to detect these gravitational waves from space-based detectors. The mission will test our fundamental understanding of how supermassive black holes form and grow,” she added.
According to the YaleNews report, Natarajan’s research focuses on understanding the formation of the first black holes and the accumulation of mass in the most massive black holes in the universe.
“We currently believe that black holes grow both via direct consumption of gas and stars in their vicinity, as well as via mergers with other black holes. The detection of gravitational waves from colliding supermassive black holes by LISA would validate and calibrate the relative importance of mergers versus accretion,” Natarajan told YaleNews.
“My research group at Yale is extremely active and we are working at the leading edge of these questions combining theoretical models, numerical simulations, and the most up-to-date multi-wavelength observations,” she added.
Natarajan’s research into black holes was also prominently featured in an episode called “Black Hole Apocalypse” in the PBS science documentary series “NOVA,” on Jan. 10, according to the YaleNews report.
NEW YORK – C. Mauli Agrawal, an Indian American, was appointed as chancellor of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, starting June 20, according to a university press release.
Agrawal is currently the interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas in San Antonio.
“I’m thrilled that Dr. Agrawal has agreed to serve as the next chancellor of UMKC, and I’m confident that the university will reach new heights of success in research, education and outreach through his leadership. UMKC has an outstanding team of administrators, faculty, staff and alumni supporters who will work closely with him to achieve our collective vision,” University of Missouri System President Mun Choi stated in the press release.
“We had a very strong finalist pool, but what made Dr. Agrawal stand out was his combination of strong academic credentials with proven entrepreneurial skills. He understands the mission of UMKC, but he also knows that mission can only be fulfilled through innovative approaches and risk; he is not a status quo leader,” David Steelman, the chair of the University of Missouri Board of Curators, added.
Choi introduced Agrawal to the Kansas City campus on Friday, Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. at the Spencer Theatre in the Olson Performing Arts Center and the event was streamed live on the university’s website, according to the press release.
“I’m very grateful for the work of the search committee members who spent countless hours reviewing and interviewing candidates. I’m also extremely appreciative of Dr. Barbara Bichelmeyer, who has made important contributions as interim chancellor and provost at UMKC. Dr. Bichelmeyer will continue in her role as interim chancellor during the transition period and will return to her provost role when Dr. Agrawal arrives in June 2018,” Choi said.
“I will work closely with Dr. Bichelmeyer to make the important and necessary changes during the transition period. We are indebted to her for her work in continuing to move UMKC forward. She will be a great asset to Dr. Agrawal as he moves into this position,” Choi added.
“I’m excited to partner with Chancellor-designate Agrawal and look forward to his arrival in Kansas City. His background and experiences complement the mission and vision of UMKC – and together, with all the great partners on this campus and in this metro area, we will keep the momentum going as we grow UMKC into the great university this region needs,” Bichelmeyer said.
Before his appointment at the University of Texas in San Antonio, Agrawal served as the vice president for research and dean of the College of Engineering and was also a professor of orthopedics and bioengineering at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
He earned his bachelor’s degree of technology from IIT-Kanpur in India, has master’s degree from Clemson University which he earned in 1985 and obtained a doctorate from Duke University in 1989.
“I’m very excited to be chosen to help lead this great university. The potential for the University of Missouri-Kansas City is immense and exciting. UMKC has all the elements necessary to make a great university. With strengths in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, business, engineering, arts and theater, the university is an exceptional anchor for economic development in the Kansas City region. I’m looking forward to working with UMKC’s faculty and staff as well as Kansas City’s civic leaders who are passionate about higher education and are constantly working to make Kansas City a great place to live, learn and work,” Agrawal stated in the press release.
During his tenure as dean, Agrawal managed to increase in student enrollment at the UTSA College of Engineering by 40 percent, faculty by 50 percent and research funding by 400 percent.
In 2010, he worked closely with the city of San Antonio and Mayor Julian Castro to establish the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute at UTSA, which received a $50 million pledge of support from CPS Energy, the city-owned utility operation.
“Mauli is a beloved member of the San Antonio community who has earned admiration and respect from the university community, the business community and civic leadership. I certainly wish him the very best at UMKC. You have an absolute gem of a man to lead the university forward. He understands the important role that a university plays in the civic life of a city and has a unique skill set of translating that role into meeting the needs of the university. His skill set is one of a kind,” said the current San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, in a press release.
Agrawal has also served on the editorial boards of various scientific journals including the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Tissue Engineering, the Journal of System of Systems and the Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, and has written more than 300 scientific publications while holding 29 patents.
His research specializes in the areas of orthopedic and cardiovascular biomaterials/implants.
Agrawal is a Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and has served as president of the Society for Biomaterials in 2006.
NEW YORK – Four94, a student-led initiative at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) recently launched the Scratchpad Fellowship, a four-week fellowship developed and written by Avni Patel Thompson, an Indian American Harvard Business School graduate.
The fellowship program offers mentorship, business resources, tutorials and a community for prospective entrepreneurs, to help young women develop more entrepreneurial confidence, according to a Harvard press release.
According to a recent report from CrunchBase, women start twice as many businesses as men but nearly 90 percent are sole proprietorships, rather than high-risk startup ventures and only 17 percent of startups have a female founder.
According to the co-founder of Four94 Janet Chen, the fellowship is about Patel Thompson who recently launched her second company, Poppy, after she endured the failure of her first venture.
Chen and co-founder Risham Dhillon, a computer science concentrator, and also an Indian American, met Patel Thompson while interning in Seattle.
“After her first startup failed, she had only about $200 left to devote to her ventures. Anvi said ‘Okay, I’m going to give myself four weeks to see if this idea is viable. If it fails, I’ll go back to my normal job and move on. Given that time and limited resources, she become more scrappy, finding creative solutions that ended up proving her idea’s viability faster and with fewer resources than she thought possible. We thought, how great would it be to bring this test-drive experience to college students?” Chen told Harvard.
The students at Harvard added mentorship and community to create the fellowship where each of the five selected fellowship teams was paired with a mentor with relevant experience, for example if a team needed help with design, then they were matched with a mentor from the design firm IDEO.
The program also involved weekly calls, video chats, and a Facebook group where fellows shared ideas, questions, and encouragement with one another.
“For women, saying what our goals are, just putting it out there, can be very intimidating. We’re not always encouraged to be risk takers or pioneers. It was powerful to be in a community of women who shared their goals honestly. I had to face my fears and insecurities about all the things that could go wrong and focus on what I really want to do,” Tariana Little, a DrPH candidate at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health who entered the fellowship seeking a push to launch her second startup, FooFii, an app that provides resources for food insecure families, told Harvard.
Alisha Ukani, also a computer science concentrator, told Harvard that the fellowship helped her focus on the concept for her startup, which seeks to help people threatened with eviction and used the time to learn as much as she could, visiting homeless shelters, speaking with lawyers, and sitting in on an eviction mediation process.
During weekly group chats, Ukani and Little discussed challenges of user research groups and shared scripts. Bouncing ideas off other women entrepreneurs helped her build confidence, Ukani told Harvard.
According to Harvard, the fellowship also served as a four-week test for Four94, which the students launched in September with a conference for aspiring women entrepreneurs.
Four94 takes its name from the 4.94 percent of venture capital deals in 2016 that included a woman serving in a startup leadership role.
Inspired by the success of this year’s program, the co-founders have already begun tweaking elements of the fellowship for next year.
“The goal is not to grow a big startup. The goal is not even to show that your idea is a good idea. Rather, the goal is to learn. We want these fellows to believe that they can pursue an idea and that launching a startup is all very possible,” Chen said.
NEW YORK – Indian American actress Mindy Kaling, along with Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon, have their own Barbie dolls now, according to news reports.
According to ABC News, Mattel has created these dolls similarly to that of the characters Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Who, played by all three actresses in their upcoming film “A Wrinkle in Time.”
While the film will release on March 9, the Barbie dolls will be available in stores on February 23 and are currently available for pre-order online, for $50 apiece, according to ABC News.
“When Disney makes Barbies of your movie’s characters and you just want to stare at them all day in disbelief because you loved Barbies as a girl but never had any like these,” director Ava DuVernay tweeted.
According to Teen Vogue, each of the dolls is modeled to look uncannily similar to her inspiration.
Kaling’s doll, Mrs. Who, “sports an ornate blue-and-gold gown, has symbols tattooed up and down her arms, carries her magic spectacles on her wrist, and wears her hair in a curly beehive that’s held together by a golden rope.”
Winfrey’s doll, Mrs. Which, “wears a crinkly silver top, silver wire corset, and burgundy textured skirt. Her hair is done in a long blonde side braid, has matching blue eyeshadow and nail polish, and rocks oversize metallic jewelry.”
Witherspoon’s doll, Mrs. Whatsit, “models a flowing pink top over a dramatic blue ocean-like skirt, wears her hip-length bright red hair in an otherworldly half-up hairdo, and tops the look with electric-blue lipstick.”
According to the Barbie website, the dolls are meant “for the adult collector” and will be available for a limited time only.
According to ABC News, “A Wrinkle in Time” is based on the 1962 fantasy novel by Madeleine L’Engle and stars Storm Reid as Meg Murry, a girl who travels through time and space to find her missing father, played by Chris Pine.
NEW YORK – The Boston headquartered online home giant Wayfair has removed the “Birchwood Golden Ganesha Elephant Cutting Board” which was selling for $34.99, and has apologized within less than 24 hours after some Hindus protested, calling it “highly inappropriate.”
“We sincerely apologize that this item appeared on our site. Thank you again for bringing this to our attention,” Susan Frechette, Wayfair’s Associate Director of Corporate Communications, wrote today in an email to Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, who spearheaded the protest asking for withdrawal of this objectionable product.
Zed thanked Wayfair for understanding the concerns of Hindu community which thought that image of Lord Ganesha on a cutting board was trivializing and insensitive.
Zed also suggested that Wayfair and other companies should send their senior executives for training in religious and cultural sensitivity so that they have an understanding of the feelings of their customers and ethnic communities when introducing new products or launching advertising campaigns.
Zed added in a statement that Lord Ganesha is highly revered in Hinduism and is meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines, not to “chop, dice and slice” meat, vegetables and cheese and that the inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda is not acceptable as it hurts the sentiments of the devotees.
Zed noted that Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion in the world with about 1.1 billion adherents with a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously; and thus, symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled in such ways.
NEW YORK – The American India Foundation (AIF) Orange County chapter is expecting to raise $500,000 at their fifth annual gala on March 17, at the Pasea Resort in Huntington Beach, California.
The gala will also be celebrating AIF’s contribution to India for 16 years under their five programs of education, livelihood, public health, leadership and gender focus.
The gala is expected to draw a crowd of over 300 local community professionals and will honor the achievements of Orange County contributors and highlight the success made by the OC contributions to the programs.
The evening will be filled with traditional Indian cuisine, a live performance by Molodi Live (as seen on Good Morning America) and a live auction featuring International travel packages, exclusive sporting opportunities, wine and culinary experience.
AIF’s Orange County Chapter was launched in the summer of 2013 with the aim of accelerating AIF’s mission of catalyzing social and economic change in India. Last year they raised over $400,000.
AIF is committed to catalyzing social and economic change in India and building a lasting bridge between the United States and India through high-impact interventions in education, livelihoods, public health, and leadership development.
Its programming seeks to achieve gender equity through developing inclusive models that focus on and empower girls and women.
AIF was founded in 2001 by then President Bill Clinton following a suggestion from then Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee and says it has impacted the lives of 3.1 million people.
GOPIO-CT Youth Networking organizers with speakers and some of the participants at the annual program. (Courtesy: GOPIO-CT)
NEW YORK – The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin of Connecticut (GOPIO-CT) held their annual Youth Networking program, which was attended by over 40 youth and young professionals on December 23, 2017 at The Hampton Inn and Suites in Stamford, Connecticut.
The objective of this event was to inculcate education into the youth of Connecticut and to give them an opportunity to network amongst their peers, students and alumni of various universities and companies in the U.S.
Vedant Gannu, a a senior at Stamford High School was the youth chair and organizer for the event, where GOPIO officials, professionals and alumni from various industrial verticals and universities were invited to address and advise the youth about their education and participation in public and professional services.
Thomas Abraham and Anita Bhat of GOPIO advised the youth on the availability of beneficial education in public service and the options for financing their education through different scholarships which are provided.
“If you enjoy your career, you won’t feel like you are working. You’ll be having fun,” said Ajay Manchanda, CTO of The Navigators Group, who spoke about evaluating career choices.
“The way to make the most of your career is to step out of your comfort zone,” said Ruchir Padya of the NBA, who spoke about the various career opportunities in his field.
Vinod Kumar, the CEO of SKYi, spoke on the availability of International education opportunities and scholarships.
Namrata Gannu of UBS spoke about the importance of networking in the industry saying “it’s important to start building a good online profile and presence in LinkedIn in order to network and maximize career opportunities.”
Nupur Daptardar spoke on the admission process of various state colleges while Isha Dalal from Yale University spoke about high school experiences and college activities.
