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Sam Rao Blog Archives:    (CLICK FOR)   JULY 2006- DEC 2007
JAN 2006 to JULY 2006)   !    2005      !  2003/2004     ! 
SEE BELOW   CURRENT BLOG  JULY 2006 To Present
Sam Rao, Indian-American, Indian Amercan.Org Blog Archives                    Click here for NEWSLETTER

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SLIDE SHOWS-  PHOTO BLOGS 

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Dec 27: Historic US-India Civilian Nuclear Agreement Signed by President Bush Jr.
   After a lot of dilly dallying :-0, both the US Senat and US Congress ratified the historic Us- India Civilain NuclearAgreement ( Nuke Agreement for short)
   Many Indian-American lobbyists and groups in USA played arole in making sure their opinions were heard by  US legislators
   While this has the blessings and impetus from a wide range of folks across the globe including UN watchdogs and IAEA and many countries, there are some misgivings on both US and Indian sides as well.
   In terms of strategic interests, it works well for both US and India  and for all people generally in favor of stuff like democracy, Open Markets and Free trade AND also those opposed to Totalitarian regimes and Islamic jihadis type etc
  Having said that, the unilateral way, the US has bypassed norms and covenants to make an exception in case of India  has been an ominous revelation for many.
    Obviously, the disarmament and Opposers of NuKes in general are against teh Nuke agreement.

      Inspite of NPT ( Non proliferation Treaty) being regarded as unfair to developing nations- many supporters of NPT are also luke warm to this "exceptional" ( opun intended) agreement.
 
 FYI CTBT- which is the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty- and which forces ALL Nuke powers to give up their power ....is opposed by the Nuke nations US, Russia, China etc- who perfer NPT- which allows them to hold on to Nukes but deny any new entrants the right to be officially in the Nuclear Club.

   From a Busines or Coporate POV, for US companies primarily,  the latest Nuke Agreement makes a lot of economical sense- Billions of Dollars in contracts upcoming!.

   Also Note; USA has quitely approved a multi Billion dollar Arms package to Pakistan ( Talk abt Arms Race in South Asia!!)
 
    This again leads one to question the long term strategy of the USA. Afterall Pakistan has ben more and more exposed as  a protector and creator of the Taliban and folks like AQ Khan who sold Nuke secrets and plans to likes of Ghaddafi (Libya), Saudi Arabia and Iran and offered it to Al Qaeda as well!
     Yet there seems to be a "honeymon" relations with Pakistan being called "Close Ally of USA".
  Even the President of Afghanistan- who is NO DOUBT an US Ally(!!) has called Pakistan and taken the Army, ISI- Pakistani Secret Service- to task in NO UNCERTAIN Terms.
  Actually in diplomatic terms, such an unequivaocal statement by a President of a neighboring country- who is also an ally- is the equivalent of a kick in the stomach or some other body part!

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Last Word: Isn't it mazing that there is a BUMPER RECORD CROP of OPIUM/POPPY in the Pakistan/ Afghanistan region- where the Taliban and Al Qaeda are "hiding" and

-Yet Gen. Mushharaff makes a deal with ""Tribal Leaders" JUST IN TIME FOR THE HARVEST SEASON

- WHAT ARE THE Pakistani Soldiers and Ammerican troops doing while Hunting for Al Qaeda- DONT THEY NOTICE THE CROPS OF OPIUM???
  
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Dec 26 Free MP3 JAMES BROWN Concert ~ Indian-American Org Sam Rao

The King of Soul aka The Godfather of Soul passed away during the Christmas holidays. The man with lightning feet who inspired millions ( yes millions) of would be performers ans well as accomplished performers like Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson and Prince as well as entire music genres had  a WORLD WIDE Following.
      James Brown had a career spanning the decades from the 1960's till present, and still evoked a smile and uplifted spirits when his songs were heard or when his songs were "borrowed" by musicians ALL OVER THE WORLD- including many Indian composers- especially digital samples and riffs of his music
        His energy was infectious and raw- and always uplifting, as James Brown gave a 100% in his concerts. Brown lost 2 pounds EVERY concert he performed with his trade mark moves and sweating because of the high energy performances.
     For people who may not realize the legacy of JAMES BROWN-
James Brown career was on upswing in the 60's and he was a vocal spokeperson and performer for Civil rights and the poor.
   He stamped an entire class  genre of music ie Funk which  emerged from a R&B style ( Rythym & Blues) and percolated to Rock & Roll including  the performances of Rolling stones, 80's style popularized by Michael Jackson and Prince and liberally borrowed by others including Hip Hop and Rap!
   Rap style of music also owes a lot to James Brown, whose vocal contribution to music often were primal screams and rythmic vocal cadences
   James Brown also performed at the beginning of the epic Heavyweight fight i Zaire, Africa between Muhammed Ali and George Foreman, a scene which was repeated (fFor readers who are younger), in the boxing bout in the movie ROCKY ( (Slysvester Stallone) 'Living in America' .  This was one his more recent hits which garnered him awards among many awards in his career.
   James Brown was inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-US (1986); Received Lifetime Grammy award (1992); Lifetime Award R& B Music (2000) and prestigious Honor by the Kennedy Center ( 2003)-  FYI This year conductor Zubin Mehta was awarded the honor.

List of his (trademark and good ) songs are exhaustive  but a few are
Please Please Please (1956)
Pap's got a Brand New Bag ( 1965)
I got you- I feel Good ( 1965)- Something many, many will recognize!)

FREE MP 3-  Courtesy of NPR Dec2005 in NYC  ( abt 80 mins)  
LIVE CONCERT

Long Live the king! Rest in Peace RIP
Tags: James Brown, Rock and Roll, R & B, Music, Soul, Indian-American, Indo-American, Asian Indian, Sam Rao

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Dec 18: Sam Rao is the TIME MAGAZINE PERSON OF THE YEAR 2006 - ( at least one of them ) :-0

Well with great sincerety an d humility :-0 , I can announce and publish the fact  - I, Sam Rao, am THE PERSON OF THE YAR oof TIME MAGAZINE 2006!!!       After all ONLY about a million people like me who maintain content on Websites and Blogs and Podcasts ( I do all of the above) :-0  were Awarded the Honor and title by Time Magazine for 2006!  :-0

PS: This comes close on the heels of a HIND RATTAN award I received last year ;-)-  this for real!!
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Great day for Indian-Americans as SUNITA PANDYA WILLIAMS- the 2nd Indian American is part of the NASA Shuttle Crew STS 116
After Conmmander KALPANA CHAWLA, SUNITA PANDYA WILIAMS represents The Indian American community proudly and the Whole World is proud of her achievement.
  I met KALPANA CHAWLA in 1999 when I hosted her community reception in Santa Clara, CA.- after her maiden voyage on the space shuttle.
    Surprisingly, she revealed that NO Indian American organization had hosted her - inspite of the dozens of Parades and functions held at a drop of a hat.

ASIAN WEEK STORY abt KALPANA CHAWLA
http://www.asianweek.com/2003_02_07/news_firstindian.html

   KALPANA CHAWLA was a heroine and so is SUNITA WILLIAMS.  Hopefully, we alla ccord her a much better Welcome and salute her!!!

Sunita Pandya Williams

Indian American Flight Engineer SpecialistSUNITA WILLIAMS is scheduled to spend upto 6 months in Space abroad the Int'l Space Station

Sunita Pandya Williams was born in Euclid, Ohio to Deepak and bonnie Pandya and  moved to Needham, MA which is her hometown. She is married to Michael J. William.
     Sunita was born on September 19, 1965 s. and has a B.S. (Physcal Science)- U.S. Naval Academy 1987; M.S. Engg- Florida inst tech, 1995
     She served in the US Navy during Desert Shield and Provide Comfort as well as relief ops in Hurricane Andrew (Florida). She was awarded teh Navy Commendation Medal (2), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal and various other service awards.
     She has logged over 2770 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft.  She also worked in Moscow with the Russian Space Agency on the Russian contribution to the International Space Station (ISS) and with the first Expedition Crew to the ISS
GREAT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE INDIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY- LIKE KALPANA CHAWLA!
CONGRATULATE NASA SHUTTLE CREW STS 116 ON DISCOVERY SHUTTLE

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Dec 18, 2006 Historic win for Indian Cricket Team in South Africa
SREESANTH’s Celebrates a Challenge by Andre Nel by htiing a Huge Six and then “Cowboy Break dancing”- Malayalee Indian Style!!

Watch Video of “SreeSanth doing the “Cowboy Break Dance- Malaylee Indian styl e!! Click Here Ravi Shashtri & Sunil Commentators Gavaskar’s comments are priceless too

After 14 years, the Indian Cricket team has won overseas on South African soil. This follows a historic win in West Indies a few months ago AND the drubbing in South Africa that India took in the One Day Cricket losing 4-0

   Perhaps the South Africans (Proteas) were over confident and it helped that the Indian team was more focussed- well they better be!
Anyway, the more purposeful Indian team was led by Sreesanth the 22 year old eccentric pace bowler who muuters to himself constantly and often other players take umbrage with this… resulting in a constant play of words!!
      Independently, South African  bowler Andre Nels is known all over the world for his Outspoken emarks and actions on the field- called ‘Sledging’.
       This time it worled in Sreeanth’s favor- as Sreesanth ran through the South African side and helped end their first innings for a mere 84 runs. In reply India scored over
   Captain Rahul Dravid and teammates-  Hope you can keep the momentum up and dtay focussed on and off the field.

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DEC 5: INAUGRATION of ANU Natarajan- 1st indian-American Elected to City Fremont Council
Exclusive Photos  Sam Rao

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DEC 1: World AIDS Day  DEC 1st- What are YOU doing About it??
The theme for World AIDS Day 2006 is Accountability. This is the 25th Anniversary after AIDS was "officially" named as an Epidemic disease

According to UNAIDS-  39.5 Million Adults and children are living with AIDS 4.3 Million became infected in 2006 and 2.9 Million died world wide Anti viral drugs can be accessed only by 20% infected population First officially certified in 1981- over 25 Million have died of AIDS

Scientific Facts on AIDS Status & Challenges ( Source UN AIDS 2006 UN AIDS Org

Q: What Are YOU Doing About AIDS??

NOV 26: CHEER THE VICTORS- WOMENS BOXING TEAM of INDIA- WORLD CHAMPS!!!
At the recently finished 4th World Championship Womens Boxing- The surprise winner INDIA

Three Time WORLD CHAMP Ms MARY KOM of Manipur, India

On November 23- India's Women Boxing team won Team Gold by beating out teams like Russia,  Romania, Korea etc - powerhouses in Boxing! India's final tally of four gold, one silver and three bronze out of 13 weight categories secured them the Title of Best team in Women's  Boxing!!     25-year-old Mary Kom (Three-peat Champ!!) beat Romanian Steluta Duta in the 46 kg for the Gold Medal as did Sarita Devi (52 kg), Ralte Jenny (63 kg) and Kozhummel Lekha (75 kg),a Silver for N Usha (57kg) and Bronze medals for  Chhotu Laura (50 kg), Aruna Mishra (66 kg) and Renu (80kg).     Team India tallied 34 points and beat Russia by Six points!  Yes India as Champs in Women's Boxing!! Of the thirteen countries weight classes, Russia won 3 Gold and 3 Silver and over all EU teams- which are traditionally regarded as the Best in the world- managed only Eight victories. North Korea claimed two Gold and 1 Bronze, while Canada, Turkey, Ireland and France claimed one Gold each in the 13 weight categories championship

CHEER THE INDIA"S WOMEN TEAM IN BOXING Send message

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NOV 26: ANOTHER SPORTS STAR ON THE RISE- INDIA's WOMEN's BADMINTION STAR- SAINA NEHWAL
Ranked 27th in the World after starting this year at 150!!!    Saina Nehwal is now ranked 27th in the World in Women's Badminton- the highest achieved so far!

Great Strides considering that she started the year in 150th place and now is 27th!!     Saina,won the India international tournament in Mumbai before reaching the final of the World Junior Championship,losing to  Chinese counterpart.Earlier she showed her brilliance  by capturing a Bronze a the CommonWealth Games and she created history when she became the first Indian woman player to win a four-star badminton tournament,at the Philippines Open at Pasig City, Manila.   Next comes the Asian Games campaign in Doha. Way to Go Saina. We wish you All the Best! Other Badminton rankings of India ( Men's) : Chetan Anand 31; Anup Sridhar(National champ) 39; Nikhil Kanetkar 43; P Kashyap 46

 

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NOV 26 Boo HOO!  ANOTHER "ABJECT SURRENDER" By INDIA's CRICKET TEAM- in SOUTH AFRICA
In OTHER SPORTS NEWS- CRICKET- "Once More "Abject Surrender" in 2nd One Day Match

The Indian Cricket Team in South Africa seems Undercooked, UnderPrepared and Quite Well Done already!
  What was declared as Abject Surrender in South Africa after the capitulation in the first  ODI... or More to it than meets the Eye??
     The   Indian Cricket team visiting South africa put on a pathetic dislay while losing by a  HUGE margin in One day Cricket.
This was soundly  bythe media and public alike and eservedly so. And fo course many did speak about being a one time thing (!!) etc  But Not quuite!

Soon came the latest second ODI- which ended today Sunday nov 26th and South Africa did expose the flaws in all aspects of the Indian Cricket team....
..... Basically Undercooked, Underprepared yet Papmered team at the whims of a Coach and Selection committee whch has crammed in a scedule barely fiving time for the cruiclkceters to relax, rehab from their individual nagging injuries.
     The idea about pay on performance makes sense especially when Cricket garners all the lucrative commercial and advertising contracts- while other sports are awy behind! With Indian and the Indian Sub continent being one of the largest market and revenue producing nation, the impending trouble between the Int'l ICC and local Indina Cricketing Board will  hopefully take into acount players welfare and scheduling issues- which seems to be affecting the Indian Cricket team more than others.
    With India's Cricket Coah Greg Chappel lauded when Indian was winning 5 day tests, the problems of the Indina team in playing the limited over One day cricket has again surfaced.   Remember Pakistan folowing Sri Lanka etc?
READ MORE
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Nov 15: US ELECTION 2006
NOV 15:ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL Join me in Congratulating ANU NATARAJAN - City Councilmember of Fremont in SF Bay Area, California.
  This is the FIRST Time that an Indian-American has been ELECTED to City Council of a major city in Sf Bay area. And  a Strong Woman at that!!! Yay!!
    The Best part was ANU managed to forge a Broad based support spanning across ALL communities and ethnicities AND THE BEST PART- SHE MANAGED TO BRING ALL FACTIONS OF INDIAN-AMERICANS TO THE SAME ROOM! and be UNIFIED & SHOW SUPPORT!!!      Me thinks - This is one of the best achievements I must say- along the lines of Assemblymember Upendra Chivakula of New Jersey!

HEAR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Podcast of ANU NATARAJAN HERE SEND CONGRATS TO ANU NATARAJAN- CLICK HER

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US ELECTIONS 2006:  A Momentous decision indeed- as in any election.   However, this mid term election was especially monumental as last two times, the US Elections were actually quite deadlocked and with controversy.....  Remember 2000 with a tie for George Bush Jr and Al Gore Jr!!  and them the Florida controversy  and with Kerry and the rest... anyway, with the Theme this time being " Its the War Stupid" - people clearly spoke AGAINST the Unilateralism of Dick Cheney, George Bush and Rumsfeld  and its clear that DONALD RUMSFELD was left out to dry.    About time too...  Now I wonder how much of arrogance and spunk is left in the Bush Cheny admistration or should I say mean spiridtedness! for after al they have 2 more years to govern albeit with a Democratic controlled House & Senate.

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CONGRATULATE THE  INDIAN AMERICANS
 WIN in 2006 ASSEMBLY and CONGRESS
Bobby Jindal R-  Congress Louisiana
Satveer Chaoudhary D-- State Senate-- Minnesota
Kumar Barve- D-  Assembly - Maryland
Swati Dandekar D- Assembly - Iowa
Nikki randhawa- R- Assembly - South Carolina
Jay Goyal- D- Assembly- Ohio
Raj Goyle- D- Assembly - Kansas-
and a few more in local races across the country

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     As one can tell overall with a Democratic Wave overwhelmed many Republicans especially who got crossover votes in the last two major elections....
    Which brings us to WILL THE REAL DEMOCRAT STAND UP? and WHo are th Real Democrats and Their Platform?    Kudos to Howard Dean and his forward loking DNC for bringing a consensus out of people but will policies also follow suit??
   Good Luck Nancy Pelosi- The first Woman speaker of The House ( Ma is USA Behind the times) and Senator Harry Reid from Nevada and rest of the Gang and God Help US And US ALL!
READ MORE
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Nov 5How Convienient! Saddam sentenced to death 2 days before the US Elections! 
Just 2 days before the US Elections Nov 7th- Sadddam and cronies get a death sentence.      While there is No Love lost for Saddamm and his cronies,   its really telling what Bush, Chceny et all think of the American Public
   Stagemanaging just in time to bolster up the elections polls- where all analysts predict a strong show AGAINST the present quagmire in Iraq- ehihch the currrent admisntration has put US into!
   Saddam and his cronies would probably have been killed by his own countrymen in any case and deservedly so!
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  Reading the tea leaves, Methinks evn the CIA/Pakistani attack on the Taliban school- where abt 80 Taliban were killed- was a targetted attack on a "High Value taget"- was a reaching out by Bush admin for good press.
    Seems the same guy who had hosted Mullah Omar couple of years ealier was the host of this Taliban "secret" meeting and the CIA Drone was on top of them.
So with missle attack the US did finish the job this time but even after searching the rubble , the US concluded that Mullah Omar was not around
PS: Pakisan helicopters reportedly came AFTER the missle attack, shooting at nothing

Nov 3:  Help Select the Name for Cute Male Baby Indian Elephant- Free Entry

Sundar or Janu ?? CLICK to Vote

NAME THAT BABY ELEPHANT @ Houston Zoo Entries being Accepted. The Cute Male Baby Elephant has 5 Choices-  2 Indian Names ( SUNDAR  OR JANU )

US TROOPS RESPONSE TO John Kerry's remark about Uneducated US Troops

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Nov2:   Sulekha.Com gets $10 Milion from NorWest Venture Partners
Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) invested $10 million in Sulekha.com Inc., one of the ost visited Indian online social media The site caters to people of Indian origin and local commerce site for people in or from India.
   NVP ‘s  investment is Sulekha's first institutional round of funding. < style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">Sulekha.com has grow over the years offering a variety of interactive services in the areas of social media such as blogs, groups and networking and local commerce such as classifieds, yellow pages and events in 25 cities worldwide, including eight in India.
     NVP said Sulekha.com has more than 2 million unique visitors to its site each month, and features over 10 million pages of content, almost all of it contributed by members.
   .Sulekha.com plans to use the new capital to extend business development and marketing, primarily through alliances, and expand its service offerings into new vertical markets.   
   Serial entrepreneur Promod Haque, managing partner at NVP, has joined the Sulekha board of directors, as part f the deal.
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Oct 30- Top and bottom SAFEST Cities in the USA 2006  by FBI (caveat only cities which reported crime make the list)

SAFEST       CITY		MOST DANGEROUS CITY		NOTABLE CITY RANKINGS	NOTABLE CITY RANKINGS	NOTABLE CITY RANKINGS
<>1. Brick, N.J. 2. Amherst, N.Y. 3. Mission Viejo, Calif. 4. Newton, Mass. 5. Troy, Mich. 6. Colonie, N.Y. 7. Irvine, Calif. 8. Cary, N.C. 9. Greece, N.Y. 10. Coral Springs, Fla.		361. Richmond, Calif. 362. Gary, Ind. 363. Youngstown, Ohio 364. Oakland, Calif. 365. Cleveland 366. Birmingham, Ala. 367. Camden, N.J. 368. Compton, Calif. 369. Flint, Mich. 370. Detroit 371. St. Louis For a complete List  CLICK HERE (Text doc)		23. Edison, N.J. 38. Sunnyvale, Calif. 50. Boca Raton, Fla. 51. Livermore, Calif. 53. Fremont, Calif. 56. Tracy, Calif. 57. Bellevue, Wash. 67. Santa Clara, Calif. 68. Daly City, Calif. 73. Alexandria, Va. 74. Virginia Beach, Va. 75. Ann Arbor, Mich. 112. San Jose, Calif. 113. Honolulu, Hawaii 132. Chesapeake, Va.	142. Concord, Calif. 145. New York City 158. Austin, Texas 162. Raleigh, N.C. 172. Lexington, Ky. 186. San Diego, Calif. 216. Louisville, Ky. 220. Spokane, Wash. 221. Reno, Nev. 247. Salt Lake City, Utah 248. Jacksonville, Fla. 249. Portland, Ore. 250. Los Angeles 262. Seattle 270. San Francisco 300. North Las Vegas, Nev.	302. Las Vegas, Nev. 303. Denver 314. Boston 316. Tampa, Fla. 317. Jersey City, N.J. 318. Milwaukee 319. Miami Beach, Fla. 320. Indianapolis, Ind. 321. Shreveport, La. 322. Sacramento, Calif. 325. Houston 336. Stockton, Calif. 343. Philadelphia 350. Newark, N.J. 353. Washington 354. Cincinnati 355. Atlanta

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OCT 27: Ex Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh Heckled

Ex Foreign Minser Jaswant Singh, presumeably on his book promotion tour, was hecked and protested by a group of Sikh and other activists at UC Berkeley's International House. While the Sikh group protested BJP's " allege interfenence in Sikh matters and repreented the Mann faction in Punjab India- others wanted to protest Gnocide in Gujarat- re: the communnal riots of 2002.

Some protested Sikh causes Some against Gujarat riots of 2002

Jaswant Singh Looks amused as Protestors are allowed to address audience

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Hijab wearing Afghani Woman shot Dead in Fremont SF Bay Area   A Hijab (head covering) wearing Afghani woman was shot dead in Fremont in broad daylight at abot 3PM.  Th motive is not clear but chillls has gone down the immigrant community and community at large.  First a killing in broad daylight is bad esp in a "safe city" like Fremont     Second, if a Hate Crime- ALL Asian and Miidle Easterna and NOT JUST Muslim Women are targets. As Indian Muslim women as wel as many other wear Hijabs. plus Amny Hindus, Sikhs wear Salwar Punjabi dress- with head covered.   It should be apparent to most people that the hate Crime perpertrators are really not the most knowlegeable- so they would easily "mistake" their targets.   This was clear at the Memorial service and also as many calls and community action to counter this has started taking pace   READ MORE

Alia Ansari Memorial, Fremont, CA

OCT 27th Sunnyvale Diwali draws 10,000
  Sunnyvale Diwali on Friday Oct 21 to Sunday Oct 23- drew about 10,000 .
 Though the daytime activities were sparsely attended, attendance picked up each evening for the Bollywood music show.
Singer Debojit on Friday went well with audience tho' star Abhijeet was his arrogant self on Saturday and sang ONLY his won songs but redeemed himself with the audience by accepting requests etc and singing Old Kishore Kumar, Rafi favorites asw ell.

Unfortuneately, seem most of the NRI's with kids and ffamily continue to view the Bollywood dose including the Childrens programs- which has an overdose of Bollywood songs and dances- as the ONLY CULTURAL & HERITAGE FIX of INDIA.
  Most almost 75% of the audience did not even bother to go to the Temple portion and were content to stay in the Mela and concert portion of the premises.
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MORE IMAGES ( Click)

OCT 27: Spoony Singh- Hollywood Pioneer dies
Spoony Singh (83) died few days before his 84th birthday. Singh was the proud owner for over 40 years of the Hollywood Wax museum on Hollywood Blvd.The museum was open Feb 10, 1965 and remained an very popular tourist destination
Although peoples fascination with wax figures is sort of wierd but is accepted as normal because of museusms like Spoonys andd Madam Taussad's

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OCT 24: India's Finance Misiter  Chidambaram visits Silicon Valley followed by  Ex Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh
 Silicon Valley will see couple of powerful Indian politicians and lawmakers visit this weekend.

Current Finiace minister (before any reshuffle that may take place)- is in preset Cabinet and oversees the emergence of Indian as a potential Superpower in the near future.

  The same week, Ex Foreign minister Jaswant Singh- will be making his rounds aswell- in time to promote his book- whch was a sunject of a small well planned "controversy".
    Singh- who speaks in clipped British accented English- is known for his command of the klanguage and not much else- esp he is known to say a lot and not convey much.  This wa pointed out in no uncertain terms bu the US officials- when important discussions were often siderailed by Mr Singh- who seemed to love his oen voice.
    Fieldi ng a lot of flak from his own political party for never being elected (rather being appinted< Singh further alienated people with his dislcosure of "inner secrets" of a Working Mole spy" in the Indian Cabinet!

LA Yoga Guru Bikram Choudhury fined $8000 by Los Angeles City
Bikram Choudhury- the LA Yoga Guru who specializes in teaching "HOT YOGA" was fined $8000 by Los Angeles City officials     
  The HOT Yoga teacher was convicted of Operating without a permit and Business licence and cited for a variety of violations in his studio.  However, the lawyers of Chiudhury (Yoga Inc.) filed a "No-Contest" plea- where they accept the judgement/fine but without admission of guilt.
  The settlement is for paying the fine of $8000 and all other charges were ropped.
  Last reports indicate that Bikamji will move to Hawaii.  Earlier he had reconted that LA officials had a "vendetta" against him
  It may also be recalled that Bikram Chudhury- who has massed millions teaching Yoga to Wetserners and  Hollywood celebrities etc- tried to "patent" and "copyright" 26 Asanas which he teaches.  This was in an effirt to collect franchise fees from his diwnlie teachers of Bikram Hot Yoga.  The arguements AGAINST Choudhury - taken up by seevral including Yoga Collectives was that one cant copyright a 5000 year old heritage  ( DUH!!)
  This case was also settled out of court.  (Sorry Hawaii)
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Oct 18th- Mumbai Cricketer Wears West Indies Uniform
In case you didnt catch it- In India Cricket hstory was made when an severely under manned West Indies team used a LOCAL CRICKETER as a fielder for the West Indies Team!
  In a rare incient, Mumbai wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant, donned the West Indies colors as a sustitute when 4 players were indisposed during the Australia vs West Indies Champions Trophy 2006 in India.
  With Collymore back to W. Indies, Chandrapaul injured, Lara's back cramps- when Runako Norton wanted to go off field, W. Indies were left with only 10 players ( almost like Mumbai Gully Cricket- where we would use a "jack" or "Spare" or "Tapori"  :-0

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SUNDAY OCT 8th-  ISLAMIC SOCIETY of EAST BAY ( ISEB)  Holds Open House in Fremont and Santa Clara
In an effort to Engage and Educate the community at large, the ISEB Masjid (Sunni Muslims) in Fremont and Santa Clara  held an open house. Reacting to the post 9/11 backlash and to dispel streotypes, the Muslim community in SF Bay area held Open House at two mosques in Santa Clara (Sat, Oct 7th)and Fremont ( Sun Oct. 8th), the ISEB Mosque in North Fremont is attended by majority of Muslims from India, although several others from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and some African countries also attend

ISEB MOSQUE OPEN HOUSE FREMONT

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SEPT 30th GANDHI DAY-"Gandhi Giri" Alive & Well in SF  Bay area
 CLICK FOR MORE INFO.   GRAND SUCCESS- Nearly 300 Attend  ALL ETHNICITIES. ALL AGES  ( 3 year old to 20 years to 69 years old!)  Children, Adults, Parents All join in.  "Gandhi Giri" Alive & Well in SF  Bay area

MP3 INTERVIEWS-  REACTION/COMMENTS- on "What Gandhi Means to me"  - from Indian-Americans- SF BAY AREA

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SEPT 23rd & OCT 7th Navratri Dandia Raas Garba- DANCE in SF Bay Area
 In a testament to young adults and others "partying for a cuse" syndrome- there has been a proliferaton of Navratri celebrations by the Way of DANCE EVENT- Dandia Rass Garba...With every non profit/ India centric cause ready and eager to "celebrate" the onset of the Hidu ew Year of Diwali- the season for DANCE - EVENT of Dandia Raas Garba - which is primarily what most attendees "celebrate"

So starting Septb 16th- early for Navratri!!!- the leftist AI.D ( Association for India's development) LITERALLY JOINED THE BAND WAGION by hosting a Dandia Raas Garba - Next came Sankara Eye Foundation- the 3000 revelers at the Santa Clara Convention center for Sankara Eye Foundation on Sept 23 and Oct 7th as well  In between came the VIBHA- a Childrens Rights group- at Palo Alto and San Jose  and in between a host of others led by the local Gujarati Associations GCA and ICA and the jain community and each of the temples abt 6 of them hosting their own program.

Sankara Eye Foundation DANDIA 2006 3000 Dancers @ Santa Clara Conv Ctr

NOTE: VIBHA- comprised of mostly young IT folks and their patrons- who dont pretend to know much about the projects VIBHA supports or about India's Cilture & Heritage (Which is sad) are hosting a DISCO DANDIA this season  so kudos for them a least being honest and raising funds for their pet cause that way. COMMENT: The way things work in America, althoughreligious festivals are supposed to coincide with auspicious time and date - these are unfortunateky  pre poned or postponed for convienience ... so that even events with religious significance suppose d to fall on Full moon (Purnima) end up being celebrated on Amavasyas (New Moon)- whic for the spiritually inclinded is a BIG NO! NO!! :-0 .....but methinks the NRI's dont KNOW or CARE beacuse these folks are as "Westernized" as an "Westerner" could ever hope to be (proably more so !)

LAST WORD: Samll Word of Advise- U can mess with mortals and get away with it BUT DONT mess with God  :-0 (SR)

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SEPT 9th and 10th: CELEBRATE FREMONT 50th MULTI CULTURAL BASH- Lake Elizabeth- Fremont
The city of Fremont Celebrated its 50th Anniversary this year. Following a serieso f year long celebrations, on Sept 9th & 10th, Fremont threw itself a GRAND PARTY-FESTIVAl.
- Dont know if ALL the organizers anticipated the GRAND showing of MULTICULTURAL population of Fremont! The day was bright and the people were multi hued in every sense- pointing to the vibrant FUTURE of Fremont- which is already 55% Asians and other Ethnicities.....Somesee a Coorelation between THIS and that Fremont is in the TOP 10 of Livable Cities andTop Ten SAFEST as well!!
HANDS ACROSS THE LAKE ( photo below) drew abt 3,500 people and the 2 days fest included all variety of Music-Dance- Entertainment - Services and Educational faire.
See Below Indian-American Sikh offering of GHATKA- The Martial Arts of the Sikhs ( Photos Below)
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HINDU SANGAM 2006   De Anza College-Cupertino
The Hindu Sangam was attended by about 10,000 people. This One day event featured a host of activities including a 50 Booth Mela Festiaval
Perhaps the best part was the CHILDRENS THEME PAKE- Based on Hindu Mythological Characters and Offerings (PHOTOS)
-The attempt to have Seminars or Tracks was a fine attempt = though not as well attended as te te other "fun stuff".
-A special Prayer Fire Yagna ( Agni Yagna) fror the victims of the 9/11 terror incident was offered by eminently qulified priest from Seattle, Wa Dr DeekSheet (PHOTO)
Click on piture for MORE IMAGES

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GANESHA UTSAV 2006  -Fremont- 200 Kids and their parents took part in Ganesh Pooja Prayers on Ganesha Utsav.
-Organized by the local HSS, the same program event was also organized in Cupertino (Qunlan Center) with almost 400 children and parents
-In Sunnyvale, Calif., another group SILLICOON ANDHRA (www.siliconandhra.org) had about 50 chldren perfor the pooja AFTER the kids and parents actually made the Clay Ganesha idols. This interesting event was enjoyed by all the kids
SEE PHOTOS

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SANKARA EYE FOUNDATION WALK   Shoreline Park, Mt. View Aug 26, 2006
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW     MP 3  =Ms. SANIA MIRZA- Tennis #1 India World #40
MP3  file   Click Here for Interview

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14th Festival Of India 2006  Fremont CA  Aug 12/13th    MORE IMAGES-  CLICK HERE

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JULY 30th-- EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW With MOHINDER KHANNA- Coordinator 14th  Festival of India-Fremont   MP 3 File

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JULY 22-23rd:  BAy Area Telugu Association - BATA CRICKET CUP 2006-  Click for Images

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JULY 9th Vibha 2006 Walk/Run Shoreline Park, Mountain View

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JULY 4, 2006  4th July Parade @ 5 Corners Road., FREMONT
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JUNE 4, 2006    ANTI- RESERVATION PROTEST (June 4)
Sunnyvale, CA

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May 29, 2006    Asian-Indian-American day2006  (May 27)
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MAY 20, 2006   ICICI QUIZ 2006
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MA Y 7, 2006  ILP Walk Run 2006
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May 27 2006 Asian Indian-American Day 2006    GREAT SUCCESS!!  Cultural; Music; Demonstration; Info tables
Held at the Milpitas Public Library -a celebration of Heritage of India and contribution to social fabric of USA and California.

Click for more Images Hi Res Photos available - Frree to Individual and Non Profit use

GREAT SUCCESS!! Cultural; Music; Demonstration; Info tables Asian Indian-American Day 2006 Milpitas Public Library -a celebration of Heritage of India and contribution to social fabric of USA and California.   May 27 2006 Sam Rao Photo CONTACT

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