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HAPPY 4th JULY AMERICAS INDEPENDENCE DAY
The 4th JULY US Independence Day is celebrated with traditional faire, Fireworks and Barbeques and picnics. Though times are hard now, most cities went ahead with the Parades in their towns and held traditional festivities. US celebrates independence from Britan, something people of India share with Americans. The Indian independence from British Rule comes up on August 15th- which also falls on a Saturday.Another interesting thing is that one of the First Political party for India's Independence OUTSIDE India was set up in San Francisco in 1913, with the establishment of the HINDUSTAN GADR PARTY. GADR means Revolution.
So there is a very interesting and important connection of US and India in terms of hostoric politics and the establishment of democracy.
2 INDIAN PITCHERS DEBUT IN PROFESSIONAL US BASEBALL GAME
Following their selection the Indian reality sports show, RINKU SINGH and DINESH PATEL were chosen to be part of US Baseball Develomental Professional teams. Last Saturday, July 4th , the two made their prodessional debut, pitching in the Guld Coast League match.
Both pitched partial games from the Pittsburgh Pirates Developmental Team.
Singh pitched the seventh inning, allowing one run on two hits. He retired the last three batters he faced and threw 20 pitches, striking out one, while Patel threw a scoreless eighth on nine pitches. no hit, struck out 
one and allowed only one batter to reach base on an error by a fielder. Both had qualified from the 2008 show "The Million Dollar Arm," with Singh winning the challenge out of more than 37,000 participants. Singh won $100,000, and both trained with former big league pitching coach Tom House. Patel is 5 11 and a right-hander, and Singh is 6 2 and a left hander. Comments From Major League Baseball
"This is going to be a long process, but they continue to make progress," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. "For young men that have played baseball for less than a year, they have made admirable progress."Huntington said the two will pitch out of the bullpen in the GCL and will probably remain at that level next season. The GM added that Patel and Singh each pitched 17-18 innings during extended spring training. Huntington said he understands the challenge Patel and Singh face in playing a game that was unfamiliar to them about a year ago."The learning curve has been steep, but they are holding their own," Huntington said.
Kyle Stark, the Pirates' director of player development, said that both are still progressing. Patel and Singh are developing rapidly in their baseball intelligence and "slowly but steadily" in their fundamental performance."Learning the game continues, and the greatest challenge then becomes executing during game action," Stark said. "On the mound, both guys are progressing."
US CONGRESS PASSES A RESOLUTION TO RECOGNIZE MAHATMA GANDHI'S LEADERSHIP AND LEGACY of NON VIOLENCE
To commemoraate Mahatma Gandhi's 140th birth anniversary in October 2009, a resolution has been introduced in the US House of Representatives to recognize Gandhi's 'visionary leadership that enhanced the rapidly deepening friendship between the United States and India.'
The resolution introduced by Ros-Lehtinen (Republican, Florida and co-sponsored by five co-lawmakers, including Rep. Jim McDermott (Democrat Washington) notes that Gandhi was 'a great political leader, devout and spiritual Hindu and leader of India's nationalist movement.'The resolution said that all his life Gandhi courageously supported, and gave his life for, the cause of Hindu-Muslim amity and helped make India the largest democracy in the world.
The resolution introduced by Ros-Lehtinen, the first Hispanic woman and first Cuban-American elected to Congress in 1989, June 26, said that Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience has influenced people around the world for the betterment of mankind.
It noted that Gandhiji developed the term satyagraha, meaning vindication of truth, not by inflicting suffering on others but through nonviolent and patient self-suffering and that his autobiography 'My Experiments with Truth' reveals the inner voice of one of history's most spiritual leaders.
Ros-Lehtinen's resolution that has been sent to the sub-committee on Foreign Affairs, noted that Gandhiji counseled the humankind to 'hate the sin, and love the sinner' and urged people everywhere to 'be the change you want to see in the world' and reminded the world that 'freedom is not worth having if it does not connote the freedom to err.'"
Noting that as a result of his timeless legacy, Gandhi's name has come to symbolize freedom and justice around the world, the resolution urged the House to recognize the 140th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi and commend "Gandhi's unique and lasting role in the establishment of India and its democratic institutions which will be revered for generations to come."
Suman Guha Mozumder
Source rediff - http://www.rediff.com/news/report/2009/jul/01/us-congress-to-mark-gandhi-birth-anniversary.htm
Comedian AL FRANKEN Has the last Laugh - After legal case- WINS the 60th US SENATE Seat
Comedian Al Franken of the Saturday Night Live TV show fame, finally won the US Senate Seat from Minnesota after a long and procated bitter battle versus his Republican opponent Norman Coleman. This gives the Democrats in the Senate a 60 seat advantage, enough to defeat a fillibuster and
mass vote by Republicans. The initial election was of course in november 2008 - following which President Obama was elected.The Comedian had the last laugh as first he was declared defeated and then an recount ensued and the margin was close. following an automatic recount, the margin was closer and then some more ballots were "found" and via a long legal court battle- AL Framken was elected by the Minnesota Supreme Court June end 2009
BTW Al franken is also an screen writer, Author of a book " Rush limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot"- one of my favorite titles!
Does all this RECOUNT ahve a familiar ring? Especially Indians I can only say MAKE A NOTE OF THIS
STUFF LIKE THIS HAPPENS IN THE USA AS WELL :-0 I guess in All Democracies!!
"FAILED NATION STATE" Index 2009 Released - Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan in 'TOP 10"
Failed State Index (Foreign Policy Magazine) releases annual list of the Failed State List 2009 The fifth annual Failed States Index—a collaboration between The Fund for Peace, an independent research organization, and Foreign Policy. Using 12 indicators of state cohesion and performance, compiled through a close examination of more than 30,000 publicly available sources, we ranked 177 states in order from most to least at risk of failure. The 60 most vulnerable states are listed in the rankings.
In the Top 25 several South Asian counries figure, with Somalia occupying the dubious TOP honor
1 Somalia
6 Iraq
7 Afghanistan
10 Pakistan
13 Myanmar/Burma
18 Bangladesh
25 Nepal
Links
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/A-failure-called-Pakistan/articleshow/4714325.cms
Foreign Policy.com- Failed State Index 2009
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/22/the_2009_failed_states_index
NPR- All Things Considered
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105735169
King of Pop "Michael Jackson Dead at 50 yrs of Sudden Cardiac Arrest
The unique and brilliant performer Michael Jackson- who electrified Many Many Millions with his Music and Dance and Performance is no More.
Perhaps not too weird for his life and life style, Jackson apparently predicted his won death- saying that he feared his own death a la Elvis Pressly ( who also died suddenly) The person he confided in was his Ex wife Lisa M Presley- the daughter of Elvis Pressly.....and the Legend Lives ON!!
.. All said and Done, micheal Jackson was a fantastic performer with a sad and weird lifestyle and also unsavory.
Micheal Jackson had HUGE fan following of ALL ages and across the globe and everyone MUST have tried to Moonwalk at ;east once :-0With superb performances, Michael Jackson changed the course of music and perofrmance. His early hits as an adult were the ones which stood the test of time like Thriller, Billy Jean, Say say Say, Man in the Miirror etc and the list goes on.
The Boy-Man was always in the public eye right from when he was a child and looks like never grew up or never wanted to grow up. This peculiar situation and also a lack of guidance in his life helped the spiral to disaster, and along with it the strange and unfolding drama and spectacle of his personal family and life style imploding . This was also "open territory" especaially as all his family members were Public figures.
Lets remember his fantastic musical performer hourney from theJACKSON 5 to MOON WALK to his final performance with ONE GLOVE!
RIP MICHAEL JACKSON
Indian Badminton Women Star SAINA NEHWAL wins 1st Grand Slam Title Congrats Jai Ho!
SAINA NEHWAL (19) of Hyedrabad, India became the first Indian to win a Super Series badminton tournament, the game’s equivalent of a tennis
Grand Slam title. She won the Indonesian Open in Jakarta beating world No. 3 Ling Wang of China 12-21, 21-18, 21-9
Following in her strong showing in past 3 years, SAINA has buit her game up to World Class level. Although she did have some injury problems, Saina has maintained a high degree of play. Following in the footsteps of India's Badminton greats like Prakash Padukone who won All England in 1980 and P Gopichand in 2001, Saina has now captired what is hoped to be her first of many such Grand Slam totles in World Badminton competition.
Saina was congratullated by everyone in the Sports world including Prime Minister ManMohan singh and her Coach Pulela Gopichand said, “It’s a huge achievement. The Super Series is the best tournament after the World Cup and the Olympics. It’s like winning the French Open or the US Open in tennis!”
Congrats Jai Ho!
Sarode Artist Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Saheb dies at age 87 at home in San Francisco
One of the most world renowned and beloved Indian Classical musician Sarode artist Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Saheb died in San Anselmo, North San Francisco in Marin county. He was on dialysis for past 5 years and died of kidney failure..
The prolific musical genius and composer artist was declared a "National treasre of India" and his music have legendary status all over the world, His collaborations with Pandit Ravishankar, Ustad Alla Rakha ( Zakir Hussain's dad) and many others in western music also are legendary. In fact famous composer conductor Yehudi Menuhin who called Khan Saheb as "the greatest musician in the world", first invited him to the West- USA in the late 1960's. After performing at many grand locations, and the meet up with musicians like George Harrison, the Beatles, Wooodstock etc, Khan Saheb blessed US with his presence for many years.Living in North San Francisco area, in Marin County, in the city of San Anselmo, Ustad Khan Saheb also set up the ALI AKBAR KHAN SCHOOL of MUSIC in San Rafael, California, which sees a large number of students of all races and national origin undertake quality music training.
Ustad Khan Saheb is one of the rare individuals who were honored with high civilian awards in two countries India and USA, with an award of Padma Vibhushan 1989 and also being declared "National Treasure of India", AND the US National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA in 1997 and also the "Genius Grant" from the Mc Arthur foundation in 1991 and many many more accolades.
Khan Saheb is survived by his current wife Mary Khan and 11 children, including Alam (27), Manik (23) Ms Madina (17). Son Aashish Khan resides in Northern california and is a popular Sarode player in his own right.
Ustad Khan saheb comes from a lineage traced to Mian Tansen and his father was also one of the greatest Sarod Player of his time Ustad Allauddin Khan. Khan Saheb's sister Annapurna devi was Pandit Ravishankar's wife.
With a homage and evryday practice to Goddess Saraswati of upto 18 hours while being trained as a musician, starting from about 3 years old- Khan Saheb lived the life of a Genius and Great Man. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan saheb was born in Shivpur, East Bengal on aril 14, 1922 and lived in Malhar, MP India and San Anselmo, Ca died on June 18, 2009 BUT his life, legacy, music and genius lives on. in his music, his students and legacies he left behind.
His funeral is set for Sunday June 21 st at mt Tamapalasi cemebary, San Rafael and instead of flowers donatons to the Ali Akbar Khan School of Music are requested.
Apart from his beautiful msic, I remember runing into him at all the classical music shows and concerts ove the uears and there was no fuss or muss- very humble and gracious, with a trademark namaste or Adaab. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan saheb also stepped in to help an announced concert by Pandit Jasraj- when he couldnot take the stage due to ill health- which was a great gesture on his part. He lives on among us through his profound indluence and music ~ Sam Rao
RIP
CA Hindu Parents Settle Lawsuit get $175,000 from California State Education Board for Bias in Textbooks Case In 2005, the California State Board of Education reviewed social studies textbooks for middle schools. According to several parents and activists, these prescribed textbooks indoctrinate children with “Abrahamic religions and teach biblical events as actual facts while treating Hinduism in a derogatory manner”. This contention coupled with that the CSBE board failed to provide equal opportunities and equal representation to every religion and culture was the basis of a lawsuit filed by California Parents for the Equalization of Educational Materials (CAPEEM), which was formed to represent parents in California in a lawsuit against the CA State Board of Education.
This week following several hearings and submissions, CAPEEM and officials of the California Department of Education and the State Board of Education came to an agreement to settle the lawsuit that was filed in the United States District Court of Eastern District of California in 2006.
CAPEEM had challenged the process by which religious claims were incorporated into the textbooks used by public school students, as well as some of the religious claims, themselves, which had made their way into those texts.
Believing that its points had been clearly understood by the defendants, CAPEEM opted not to prolong the litigation. The State entered into negotiations with CAPEEM and agreed to pay CAPEEM $175,000 in exchange for a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit.
years to go along with 2 Silvers and 4 Bronze Medals. More Details
India Wins 1st Gold in Asian Boxing in 15 years and 2 Silver and 4 Bronze Medals SURANJOY SINGH (Manipur / Indian Navy) Wins Gold
India did a record entry into Asian Boxing, as it won the 1st Gold in 15 years to go along with 2 Silvers and 4 Bronze Medals.
Suranjoy Singh of Manipur and the Indian Navy preformed exceptionally well in 51 kg as he bagged the Gold as he beat Li Chao of China- a hometown favorite in Zhuhai, China
Promising youth boxer Nanao Singh Thokcham of Manipur (48 kg) and Jai Bhagwan of Haryana ( 60 kgs) fought well to get the Silver Medals while World Champions Jitender Kumar (54 kg), Vijender (75 kg), Dinesh kumar (81 kg) and Paramjit Samota (91kg +) got bronze medals, TEAM INDIA was placed 3rd Overall behind China and Uzbekistan.
Indian-American VINAI THUMMALAPALLY Appointed Ambassador to Belize in Central American President Barack Obama nominated his friend and former room-mate and major campaign fund-raiser Vinai Thummalapally of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the next US Ambassador to Belize, in Central America.
When Thummalapally's nomination is confirmed by the Senate it would be the first Indian American ambassador in US history. Along with VINAI, others were named to counries like the Republic of Burundi, The Sultanate of Oman, the Republican of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Suriname. (Previously Bangladeshi American Omar Siddique was appointed by President Clinton as US Envoy to Fiki after Vin gupta an Indian-American removed his nomination from contention.)President Obama said, "Americans will be fortunate to have these distinguished men and women as their representatives abroad.Their talent, experience, and dedication will be invaluable as we continue to strengthen America's partnerships around the world and confront the challenges of the 21st century. I am grateful for their service and look forward to working with each of them."
Thummalapally was in collee with Obama between 1979 and 1985 in Los Angeles at Occidental College and then in New York at Columbia University. Apparently, Obama and his international friends, watched basketball games esp LA Lakers and reportedly enjoyed saouth Indian cuisine.
This era when President jimmy carter and laer Ronald Regan were at th helm surely provided some heady conversation and insights. In the summer of 1980 Thummalapally was President Obama's roomate and they jogged together three miles daily Even after Obama transferred in 1981 from Occidental College to Columbia, Thummalapally kept in touch with Obama, visiting him in New York and even attended his wedding in 1982, and then was on hand in Springfield, Illinois on February 10, 2007, when Obama declared his intent to run for President. Thummalapally relocated to Colorado Springs to start a CD and DVD manufacturing company.
During the campaign, Obama's website, listed Thummalapally as a top fundraiser?those who had raised over $100,000 to $200,000 for the campaign.
VINAI is the President of MAM-A Inc, a manufacturer and distributor of recordable optical discs. Prior to founding MAM-A Inc, he was the plant manager for Mitsui Advanced Media Inc, which also manufactures recordable optical discs.
VINAI received his BS Mechanical Engg. from California State University and has completed post graduate courses in business administration.
BINDESHWAR PATHAK of Indian NGO SULABH Intl Awarded UN Prize
Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International that runs public toilets in India, was honored by the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization at the United Nations in New YorkThe award fwas in part for developing low cost toilet technology to produce energy out of waste products.
Hollywood Actor Darren Moore awarded the prize at a gala and prestigious function
Pathak said "This award means a lot to us because it represents appreciation of the work Sulabh is doing for improving and uplifting the socio-economic and environmental status of communities, This award will spur the organization to strive to render service with greater zeal in the field of sanitation, particularly recycling of human waste,".
Pathak said the continuous and uncontrolled use of conventional fossil and geochemical sources of energy has resulted in its fast depletion and consequently continuous price rise of petroleum products.
Sulabh has designed and promoted a toilet system that organically breaks down human excreta into trapped biogas that can be burned to provide cooking fuel and electricity. This includes an indigenous two-pit toilet technology which is not only cost effective but also produces biogas.
Sulabh is the pioneering organization in the field of biogas generation from public toilet complexes and theor projects have been approved by the Ministry of Non-conventional energy.
Pathak is one of the 12 receipients of 2009 Renewable Energy Awards.
| Leander Paes (India) and Lukas Dlouby (Czech Republic) win French Open 2009 Doubles Laender Paes of India, one of the top most doubles tennis Players in the World won the Frech Open 2009 Doubles title with his Czech partner Lukas Dlouby. They beat Wesley Moore of South africa and Dick Norman of Belgium in atough fight 3-6 , 6-3, 6-2  This is Paes's overall 40th Double crown and the 5th Grand Slam Doubles title. Paes has won the French Open Doubles twice in 1999 and 2001 with another Indian Great and Coach Mahesh Bhupati. Paes also won the Wimbledon doubles ttle with Bhupati in 1999 and the 2006 US Men's Open doubles with partner Martin DammPaes has also won 4 Grand Slam Mixed Doubles title, particularly with tennis great Martina Navratilova CONGRATS ! JAI HO! In an All Russian Women;s Singles, Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Dinara Safina in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain have won their second consecutive French Open women's doubles title by beating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-1, 6-1 Tennis Great and World Number 1 and Roger Federer of Switzerland beat Robin Soderling of Sweden in Mens singles final 6-1 7-6, 6-4. The contest was anticlimactic as Rafael Nadal- Federer's nemesis was beaten in the semi finals by Soderling |
 RAJEEV MOTWANI- Stanford Computer Professor dies in drowning accidentIn an sad twist of fate, brilliant Stanford University Professor of Computer Sciences RAJEEV MOTWANI (47) died in an apparent drowning accident at his home in Atherton/  Palo Alto in SF Bay area. Motwani is survived by his wife Asha Jadeja and two children Naitri and Anya.The popular Indian-American Professor and his wife were active in the SF Bay area community over two decades that each of them were in the area. Paramedics were called in 12 28 pm on Friday and Motwani may have become disoriented and slipped into the pool and drowned as he didnot know how to swim. The family moved into the house only three years ago .Apart from accolades for the progress of the Silicon Valley because of Motwani's efforts, Rajeev, Asha and his family were part of the Indian-Amerocan community and th Non profit world as well Motwani was the acknowledged mentor for the Google founders, both graduate students at Stanford Univ. when they developed the idea for Data Minig, Page ranking etc. Some of the other noteable Moteani was involved also include PayPal etc Rajeev hailed from Delhi and Jammu and studied at the IIT Kanpur and later at the UC Berkeley for his Ph D. in Computer Science |
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JUNE 4 Twenty years ago, china killed thousands of its won students, workers to quell a student led protest. The infamous incident was recorded by several media around the world, as the developing incidents happened months leading to the massacre.Reminds us of the TIANAMEN SQUARE Massacre- @ Beijing China of 20 years ago  As the world watched in horror, Chinese army troops from a different province were brought in - as they couldnot understad the local language - and proceedd to emolish the barricades and use tanks to crush the sleeping students. ( I remember attending student rallies in the US and solidarity with Chinese students in US and in China- the supportive feeling was felt acoss all barriers.) The crackdown has been condemned many times but only periodically does the image of democratic protest and innocent lives come up. Else its business as usual. To the people of China and the Unknown students and people who dared to protest the Totalitarian authorities RIP |
India Chooses 1st Female Speaker of the House Ms Meira Kumar Long after India had chosen the 1st elected prime Minister in 1977 (Mrs Indira Gandhi), this year 2009 saw the installation of the 1st Female Speaker of the Lok Sabha [arliamentary house in an Unanimous vote.  Ms Meira Kumar is a former Indian Diplomat and was posted in diplomatic missions via the Indian Foreign Service and resigned a few years ago to participate in politics.The politician from Bihar was recently elected from Bihar and was selected unanimously in the house. Meira Kumar is the daughter of veteran politician and leader late Jagjivan Ram - who held numerous portfolios in his long tenure as Minster in various governments. a lot has been said of Mr Ram and ms Meira Kumar as hailing from a Dalit (Oppressed) Scheduled Caste- all this is for naught- since Ms Kumar comes from priviledged background. Especially as ms Kumar was the daughter of one of very powerful man in India- the former defence minster Jagjivan Ram. Creating access and equality was the reason for designating Scheduled Castes etc but Ms Kumar has amply demonstrated the positives of gaining equal access and then forging ahead by own merit, hard work etc Congrats and Good Luck Ms Meira Kumar Speaker of Lok Sabha |
13 year Old KAVYA SHIVSHANKAR of Kansa who was tipped as one of the favorites to win the Howard Scripps Spelling Bee Contest, justified the predictions and won the 2009 title. The show was live on Prime time TV hosted by ABC's Tom Bergeron, the host of Dancing With the Stars, hosting this dance with words.
In her fourth appearance at the annual spelling marathon, Kavya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas won the 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee competition, Aishwarya Pastapur (13( of Chatham, Illinois and Tim Ruitter (12) of Centreville, Virginia wre her competitors in the final round.In the final round, Pastapur misspelled 'menhir' as 'mynheer' and Ruitter spelt 'maecenas' as 'mycenas'., while Shivshankar spelt 'phoresy' right As per rules, Shivshankar had to correctly spell one more word to win the crown, which she did - 'phoresy'- with her trademark sile amidst the comemntator and her family and the audience breaking into applause. The word 'laodicean', meaning lukewarm in religion or politics, won her the title in the 10th round, Shivshankar is not a stranger to winning spelling Bee's as she had finished 4th last year and had a top 10 finish for past three years.
Last year's 2nd place finisher Sidharth Chand(13) of Beverly Hills, Michigan, fell Round 2 of the finals, when he misspelled 'apodyterium' as 'apodeiterium' and and the popular teen was given a standing ovation in mid round, even in a losing effort. Similarly, Neetu Chandak, got 'derriengue' which she spelt as 'deriengue.' and earlier in the finals, Tussah Heera misspelt 'herniorrhaphy' as 'herniorhaphy.' and in Round 5 of the finals, Ramya Aurprem misspelt'amarevole' as 'amarevile' and Anamika Veeramani as 'fackeltanz' 'facultaans'Shivshankar received the Howard Scripps trophy from Rich Boene, chairman and CEO of Scripps and a $30,000 cash prize from Scripps, a $2,500 US Savings bond and a complete reference library from Merriam Webster, a $5,000 scholarship from Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation, and a $2,800 in reference works and the Britannica Test Prep Precocious Program valued at $799 from Encyclopedia Britannica.
Shivashankar is an 8th grader at California Trail Junior High School in Olathe, is the first student from Kansas to win the trophy and said that Nupur Lala 199 Champ also an Indian -American was her role model. Ms Lal was the subject if a documentary movie on the contest. She plans to become a neurosurgeon,and enjoys playing the violin, cycling, swimming and learning Indian classical dance.
Third place finisher Pastapur, also in eighth grader represented Glenwood Middle School in Springfield, Illinois,won a $7,500 cash prize and also, as did all the other 11 championship finalists, the 51-volume Britannica from Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Britannica Discover America and the 2008 Encyclopaedia Britannica Student Edition DVD.
With 41 in the semi-finals, of which 14 were Indian Americans, 7 in the finals out of 11, Indian-American kids have dominated the event. in fact this is the two in a row for Indian-amerians with the popular sameer Mishra 2008. Earlier Nupur Lal 200 and George Thamy 2000 had a similar run for Indian-Americans, as did Pratyush Buddiga in 2002 followed by Sai Gunturi in 2003 Other desis winning the spelling bee were Ragashree Ramachandran 1988 and Anurag Kashyap 2005. The one to sort of set this trend was Balu Natarajan 1985
CONGRATS! JAI HO
MAY 26 2009
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INDIAN JUNIORS SCORE GOLD IN JUNIOR SHOOTING SHOTGUN competition in Ormitilla, Finland, On May 28 promising Junior shooter, Sangram Dahiya won the the individual gold medal by scoring 178 (139+39) in the double trap event on the opening day of the first Junior Shotgun Competition This helped Team India to win the Crown as well. Other shooters were Chetan Sansanwal (113) and Shyan Masood (107) team Italy (120+41) won the silver and Hosts team Finland (118+42) won the the bronze medal CONGRATS! INDIA CABINET SELECTED With 59 Ministers inducted with various Charges, India's Prime Minister ManMohan Singh has incldued several young faces and retained some veterans as well See More |
US AMBASSADOR TO INDIA - Ex Congressman TIM ROEHMER of Indiana US President Barack Obama named ex Indian Congressman TIM ROEHMER as US Ambassador to India. This position will have to be confirmed in the Senate and House. US President Obama is moving along with a slew of changes from the debacle the President George Bush Junior and his administration left him and all of us. Its been 4 months and along with India, Ambassadors to Brazil, Britan, African Union, Iceland etc The Ambassadors will "strengthen our partnerships abroad at this critical time for our nation and the world," Obama said in a statement.  Roehmer was tipped for an imporatant and strategic position, as he was one of the early Obama supporters and also his stint in the commission investigating the 9/11 attack in the US. He has also served in the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation and Terrorism, a bi-partisan commission and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Presidential Task Force on Combating the Ideology of Radical Extremism, and the National Parks Second Century Commission. He represented the 3rd District of Indiana for six terms as a US Congressman, from 1991 to 2003.He is terned as a Distinguished Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University Roemer holds a Bachelor of Art Degree from the University of California, San Diego and a Masters of Art and Ph D from the University of Notre Dame. |
Guru Nanak and others after him in the Sikh religion followed Buddha and many Hindu Religious leaders in rejecting the Caste sysytem- which became rigid more as a political tool. Even in recent times, seperate Gurdwaras are seen for each community and the term Dalit sikhs- an oxymoron.
The latest violence which led at least one dead and many injured, was in Vienna, Austri as Sants from the Dera Sach kand were attacked by a group of six men- from a fundamentalist group. Shame
Sikhism which was formed to protect humanity and specifically hindus against maurading Mughals and invaders has already been used to settle scores before- one of the worst was the Nexus of Terrorist Sikhs and the Pakistani jihadis and ISI- which resulted in decade of violence in India. the whole cooperation of Orthodox Sikhs with Islamic elements in Pakistan was shocking. (While some police and goonda elements in India DID perpertrate violence against innocent Sikhs, the violence was confined to Punjab, Haryana area with reports of deaths and dissapperances in the 10,000 to 20,000 range i the 1980's. Contrast this with 1 million killed during partition by Islamic elements in Pakistan!!)
The concept of Dalit Sikhs and upper Caste Sikhs ALSO exists but one more dimension at stake is the financial implications of Smuggling humans into EU via religious and other visas- which means lucrative income for many involved.
It is time for Good sikhs to step up and SHOW and EMBRACE the so called Dalit sikhs and demonstrate the true nature of SIKHISM
Mar 23 CONGRATS! Eleven Indian Climbers Scale mount Everest in One Day!
Setting a record, a team of Indian climbers, including a woman and a 19-year-old girl, scaled Mount Everest on Thursday May 19. also setting a superb record was team member Apa Sherpa , who climed the peaka record 19th time.
Indian climbers were from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkhand and were in 2 teams of fuve members each achieveing the climb starting 0500. NIM principal Col Mangal Murthi Masur led the teams including Ms. Krishna Patil (19) from Pune, the first woman from Maharashtra to achieve the feat, and Kavita Budathoki of Uttarkhand was the other woman in the expedition. of the Asian Trekking' team Team members include Naik Subedar Dinesh Singh Rawat, Naik Subedar Pratap Singh Bisht, Naik Subedar Surinder Singh, Subedar Sital Singh, Inspector Love Raj Singh, Vishweshwar Prasad Semwal, Vinod Singh Gosain, Kushal Singh Rana and Dashrath Singh.
With fair weather prevailing nearly 200 climbers will attempt to scale the peak this month, with several including 11 Indians, a Couple from Britan, 2 teens from USA, 3 woman from Singapore already suceding. to conquer the 8848 meter peak.
CONGRATS!
INDIA SWEARS IN PM ManMohan Singh and Core Cabinet and includes Veterans -To Expand Soon
President Pratibha Patil administered the oath of office and secrecy to Dr. Singh
and his new core team at Rashtrapati Bhavan,in New Delhi Friday evening Indian standard Time.Portfolios will be allotted over the week-end May 23-24
The core cabinet, with veterans will be expanded in the next few days, with Ministers of State independent portfolios, Union Ministers of State etc appointed then
The Cabinet-rank ministers sworn in are: Pranab Mukherji, Sharad Pawar, A.K. Antony, Kamal Nath, P.Chidambaram, Mamata Bannerji, S.M. Krishna, Meera Kumar, Murali Deora, Kapil Sibal, Ambika Soni, Gulam Nabi Azad, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Veerappa Moily, S. Jaipal Reddy, Vayalar Ravi, Bijoy Krishna Handique, Anand Sharma and C.P. Joshi.
This is the second consecutive term for PM Singh who has members if previous cabinet with him like, Pranab Mukherji past finance minister; P. Chidambaram past home minister, A.K. Antony past defense minister, and S. Jaipal Reddy past Urban Development Minister. ( some reshuffling is likely)
New inductees were Ms Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress; C.P. Joshi, Congress party president Rajasthanand Veerappa Moily, All India Congress Committee general secretary and S.M. Krishna, former chief minister Karnataka.
STAY TUNED
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SINNGGHH is KINNGG -Congress Comfortable as NDA & Left Decimated |
Prabhakaran dead, LTTE Decimated. One Phase of terror comes to an end After choking the supplies to the terrorist rganization, with the help of the International community, Sri Lanka destroyed the LTTE by slowly strangling them in their erstwhile stronghold in North and Eastern Sri Lanka. This led to the demise of the Marxist outfit, which convieniently called itself "Hindu" when it suited them. In a telling move TAMIL NADU, INDIA also VOTED OUT all the hardcore supporters of LTTE, although retaining sympathy for the Tamil people of Sri Lanka- who are caught between two vicious grips. All said and done, LTTE and their totalitarian officers did themselves a great disfavor by assasinating like common gang hoodlums and attacking people outside their country's border and waging war against civilians. Any sympathy from India was lost when LTTE attacked IPKF and assasinated Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, perhaps emboldened by their successful assasination in India's soil of rival Tamils. Even Prabhakaran and others admitted that this was one of their biggest mistakes. Prabhakaran was killed "trying to escape" and didnot swallow a cyanide pill like 1000's of his cadres. Whil its likely that Sri Lanka will limp back to normalcy- with a positive attitude of the Sri Lankan Government- especially as the common people of Sri Lanka would welcome PEACE Unfortunately this cannot be said of the Expatriate Sri Lankans especialy Tamils ( and the reactionary Sri Lankans outsidetheir country) Many of the disconnected Sri lankan Tamils, especially who "escaped" the carnage have a lot of bitter memory without really having to live presently in Sri Lanka- these folks are likely to fan the flames which is a shame! INDIA ELECTS May 2009  700 Million Voters in India May 2009  Voters show Marked Finger after voting Some Figures and Facts -There are 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, directly elected lower house ie the House of the People. Elections take place every five years- unless the coalition govt collapses -There have been 15 national elections since India became independant in 1947 and a Republic in 1950. -There are 730 million registered voters in India, (increase of 40 million since 2004.) -Voting will be conducted at 800,000 polling booths and 1,368,430 electronic voting machines. - More than two million security personnel are deployed. Hence the cancellation of the IPL Cricket tournament- for which security couldnot be guaranteed. |
SINGERS in ANNAMACHARYA KIRTAN CONCERT IN SECUNDARABAD.
Hyderabad, India: Silicon Andhra organized a Guiness World record breaking performance in India on occassion of 601 Anniversary of Saint Composer ANNAMACHARYA - Anand Kuchhibhotla and Dilip Kondiparti of Silicon Andhra, a non profit organization promoting Indian heritage, Art, Music Dance and Culture were the main organizers of the event in Secunderabad Parade grounds. The event was co sponosred by the Dept of culture- givernment of Andhra Pradesh and the Tirumala Tirupathi devasthanam. CONGRATS This breaks a record for choir/chorus singing, whoch has stood since 1937- held by a Choir in Germany.
The event in Andhra Pradesh was witnessed and certified by Raymond Marshal of the Guniess book of World Records, who presented organizers with the authentication. Stalwarts of the Classical Music industry and Singers from all walks of life participated to make this momentour occassion come to life by singing 7 kirtans in unison.
One of the more ambiyious projects of Silicon Andhra, the 601 Annamacharya Kirtana was also celebrated across the World, also at the behest of Silicon Andhra and connected via Webcasts
In Silicon Valley, SF Bay area- where Silcon Andhra organization is from, hundreds of children took part in the 601 st Annamacharya Day by performing kirtansa and performing classical dances to his compositions.
A Great achievement and fabntastic way to propogate Indian Classical Heritage! CONGRATS
Photo courtesy Indian Express
INDIA ELECTS  or  PM ManMohan Singh LK ADVANI (BJP) UP's MAYAWATI TN's JAYALALITHA INDIA ELECTS WHOM? This is the Million Dollar ( or 50 Million Rupee Question) and ALL BETS ARE OFF No genuine political analyst will be able to pick with pin point accuracy the results for the upcoming end of May 2009 elections in India. With a massive 700 Million people voting and regional parties holding sway- no clear cut majority is still expected. WHAT IS CERTAIN ..- IS THAT THERE WILL BE A COALITION GOVERNMENT IN INDIA Let the Horse Trading begin The tenuous Coalition of the past government - United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came unravelled, as the Left parties esp. Communists pulled their support for the Congresss led UPA Indian Givernment on their objection to the US India Civilian Nuclear Agreement. Now with the elctions back again, the Communists have come Full circle- tentatively reaching out to Congress to once again form the givernment- subject that they can muster up the require number of seats (There are indication that the Communists may LOSE in West Bengal and Kerala too) The seat allocation, power sharing is all subject to how the regional parties perform and how they can leverage their Member of Parliament seat block into cabinet and possibly prime Minister etc positions. While interesting scenarios have emerged, with MAYAWATI- the current Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister as a potential major power broker- forces from many sides have apparently worked to try keep hher out of power in any eventuality. )among other things Mayawati is a Dalit meaning belonging to a Scheduled Caste and that apparently is taboo to a lot of politicians) In her vision, Mayawati has actually garnered strong support from Brahmins in her state!!! Jayalalitha from the Southern State of Tamil Nadu could be a major power broker- IF she wins about 40-50 seats. Tamil Nadus current government is led by Karunanidhi and may be on their way out. The mix of Politics is such that various Fronts other than the two Major National parties BJP, CONGRESS have emerged but such coalitions seem very fragile, even before they form! Methinks that EITHER THE PM (Chidambaram) or Deputy PM WILL BE FROM SOUTH INDIA. Only because of PM singhs health and if UPA forms a Government. The Deputy PM is likely even if BJP forms a givernment SALUTE TO INDIAN DEMOCRACY- Where people vote IN and OUT of Office in a massive display of civics |
India Elections 2009- A massive Display of Democracy Starts Apr 16th
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CELEBRATE MONTH of MAY: ASIAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH
or ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH The Pacific term is esential to include the vast number of smaller countries in the Pacific Rim who have substantial population and a SPECIAL SALUTE TO ASIAN INDIAN AMERICANS
The Asian Pacifi American Month was inspired by Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Week etc and in June 1977 after a lot of grassroots work, Representative Frank Horton (R-NY) and Norman Y. Mineta (D-CA) introduce Pacific/Asian Heritage Week (House Resolution 540) in the House of Representatives for Pacific/Asian Heritage Week. And in July 19, 1977, Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduce SJ Res. 72 into the Senate, October 5, 1978 President Jimmy Carter signs the Joint Resolution.
On May 6, 1991 President Bush SR. signed a proclamation designating May 1991 and May 1992 as "Asian Pacific American Heritage Month." and on October 23, 1992 President Bush signed legislation into law to designate May of each year as "Asian Pacific American Heritage Month." The law (HR 5572), introduced by Rep. Frank Horton (R-NY) and Norman Mineta (D-CA) was approved unanimously by the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 102nd Congress.
One note, in popular parlance- the community STILL identifies "Asian" as only Chinese or Japanese or or "Oriental" descent.
eg India being the 2nd most populous nation in Asia and with Millions more in the diaspora of Indian-Origin and with at least 5000 years of culture and civilization!!!!....... have not been completely accepted as Asian esp by America. Duh!)- who by the way have been arriving in US since 1900's!!.
So Here is a SPECIAl SALUTE TO ASIAN INDIAN AMERICANS- Yay and Jai Ho!! and Congrats all ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS Yay and Jai Ho!!
ISRO LAUNCHS SATELLITE TO WATCH BORDER RISAT 2 was launched as the sole passenger on an indian PSLV-CA launch vehicle together with a small piggy-back satellite.
This successful launch of an all-weather Israeli-built spy satellite will help security agencies keep a watch on the borders. The Indian Space Research Organisation rocket launched into clear sky at 6.45 am from Sriharikota and placed its first Radar Imaging Satellite and micro-educational satellite ANUSAT into orbit about 19 minutes later.The 300 kg RISAT-2 will primarily keep an eye on the country's borders round-the-clock and help in anti-infiltration and anti-terrorist operations.
ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said, "The year 2009 has started off well. The final moments of the launch were more thrilling than a cricket match as we hit a few boundaries and bowled some googlies. Again, we have set a record. As in the past, we declared the launch date, time and we made it happen,
RISAT2 has all-weather capabilities to take images of Earth and would also be beneficial in mapping and managing natural disasters, such as floods and landslides. The 40 kg micro satellite ANUSAT, the co-passenger of RISAT 2, has been built by Anna University, to demonstrate the technologies related to message store and forward operations. ANUSAT, the first satellite built by an Indian University, is a 'store-and-forward' communication satellite RISAT2 has a lifespan of three years and ANUSAT, one year. RISAT2 uses Synthetic Aperture Radar, equipped with many antennas, to receive signals which are processed into high-resolution pictures. The SAR, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, equips RISAT with defence capabilities. The SAR payload can take images during day, night and in all weather conditions, including under cloud cover, a capability that Indian satellites do not have. Nair said ISRO has 'big goals' to achieve this year, referring to the line up of ISRO launches.
Dr APJ ABDUL KALAM AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS HOOVER MEDAL in USA
Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam was awarded the prestigious Hoover Medal for 2008 for his services to humanity at a ceremony at Columbia University in New York. He is the first Asian to be bestrowed the honor. The award is given every year since 1930 by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He was feted by Beatrice Hunt, chair of the Hoover Medal Board.'I am delighted to receive the 2008 Hoover Medal. My greetings to the members of the Hoover Medal Board of Award and distinguished guests assembled here. I would like to thank the selection committee of the Hoover Medal Board for the honor bestowed upon me,' When I think of Hoover, I recall his belief in the 'Efficiency Movement' and that a technical solution existed for every social and economic problem. I consider it as a great honor to me for being awarded the Hoover Medal,' Kalam said in his acceptance speech
The Hoover Medal founded in 1929 was established to recognize 'great, unselfish, non- technical services by engineers to the humanity.
Dr APJ A Kalam, was recoginzed as 'a pre-eminent scientist and gifted engineer and a true visionary' is being recognized for making state-of-the-art healthcare available to the common people in India at affordable prices, bringing quality medical care to rural areas by establishing a link between doctors and technocrats, using spin-offs of defense technology to create state-of-the-art medical equipment and launching telemedicine projects that connect remote rural-based hospitals to the super specialty hospitals in India.
In his acceptance speech Kalam said 'I thought if I talk on the transforming billion people to prosperity it may reflect the 1/6th of the world's population and derive similarities for the other part of many nations.What a phenomenal transformation that has taken place in the society during the 20th century, as we see now! Science and Technology have revolutionized our ways of life, transportation, communication, healthcare, education delivery, judiciary and in general human advancement. While nations are working to improve the lot of people and leap frog in development, there are forces at work to impede by way of extremism and terrorism. Society has to be dynamic to make progress and prepare itself for the challenges of the future" Kalam said advances in genetics show that 'the limbic brain' perhaps is the cause for all conflicts within and outside. 'So far human society, from origin until now has always been at war within and between groups and has led to two World Wars. Presently, terrorism and low intensity warfare are affecting many parts of the world, Simultaneously the brain is intelligent to understand the price that humanity has paid because of such conflicts and if only this attention is diverted to development, the human civilization would have taken a shape leading to peaceful co-existence, We have to analyze why wars have occurred so far in the human history and see, how do we avoid future conflicts. Paucity of resources, inequitable growth within countries and different parts of the world, deprivation, depleting resources, and ego are among the reasons for conflicts along with remnants of hatred from historical fights, So it becomes necessary to analyze potential sources of conflicts in the 21st century for us to spot problem zones and avoid conflicts, as far as possible. Man is fighting a war on all fronts --environmental degradation and diseases on one side and terrorism on the other side, How science and technology can find solution to these problems? Science, technology and humanities bring diverse groups across the world and challenge is to take up new avenues of research for finding a suitable solution in the evolving times of the world. The technology has expanded physical travel and connectivity to a large extent, beyond any realm of imagination in the past centuries. This kind of non linear growth of technology and its improvement of quality of human life across the world is in the best interest of the entire humanity,
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Pres. Barack Obama nominates Indian-American Rajiv Shah for Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics , United States Department of Agriculture  Rajiv J. Shah is the Director of Agricultural Development in the Global Development Program for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation where he manages the Foundation's Agricultural Development program - including grant-making portfolios in science and technology, farmer productivity, market access, and policy and statistics - with the goal of helping the world's poor lead healthy and productive lives. Shah joined the Foundation in 2001 and previously served as the Foundation's Director of Strategic Opportunities and Deputy Director of Policy and Finance for Global Health. In these roles, he helped develop and launch the Foundation's Global Development Program and the International Finance Facility for Immunization - an effort that raised more than $5 billion for child immunization and hopes to save more than five million lives around the world. Prior to joining the Foundation, Shah was the health care policy advisor on the Gore 2000 presidential campaign and a member of Governor Ed Rendell's transition committee on health. Shah is the co-founder of Health Systems Analytics and Project IMPACT for South Asian Americans. In addition, he has served as a policy aide in the British Parliament and worked at the World Health Organization. Currently, Shah serves on the boards of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa , the Seattle Public Library, and the Seattle Community College District. Dr. Shah earned his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and Master of Science in health economics at the Wharton School of Business. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the London School of Economics and has published articles on health policy and global development. In 2007, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.Otherindividuals also nominated for key administration posts: Christine M. Griffin, Deputy Director of Office of Personnel Management; Kevin Concannon, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, United States Department of Agriculture; Rajiv Shah, Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, United States Department of Agriculture; Michael Nacht, Assistant Secretary of Defense (Global Strategic Affairs), Department of Defense; Mercedes Márquez, Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development; Raymond M. Jefferson, Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment and Training, Department of Labor; Robert S. Litt, General Counsel, Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and William F. Brinkman, Director of the Office of Science, Department of Energy. President Obama said, " I am grateful that these fine individuals have made the admirable decision to serve their country. Their expertise and dedication will be a valuable asset both to my administration and our nation as we work to bring about the real change that the American people need today." |
India Elections 2009- A massive Display of Democracy Starts Apr 16th
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A MASSIVE display of People's Participation takes place in India starting April 16th. and Elections will be conducted in 5 Phases Over 700 million eligible voters turn up for the elections, 40 mil more than 2004, and the population is vigorously involved in the electoral process in the months leading up to the vote. The spectacle of the task at hand and the willingness of the people to go through great personal sacrifice is to be commended. Note that many of those voting have to stand in line and exercise their franchise- which means often losing their days livelihood and wages! Often these folks have to travel literally miles to cast their vote- And they do that time and Again. The vibrancy of Democracy and Peoples Choice for the most part is noteworthy and Time and Again the voters have VOTED OUT incumbents and thrown out under-performing political parties. Recently the Election Commission of India also has weighed in and after intense pressure from all quarters a better enforcement of Law on Unparliamentary ways, illegal candidates etc have been taking place. No the system is NOT perfect but Small Wins lead to Final Victory. The Name of the game has been Coalition politics and Coalition government for the past decade and with the Ascendancy of Regional and State issues and political parties in India Once more the country is gearing up for a brokered and Coalition Government. And with the multi party system in place and also strong regional trends- coming up with a final scenario for the future is beyond any Analyst of Pundit. But for sure One of the two Major Political Parties- with a National presence ie The INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (Congress) and BHARATIYA JANTA PARTY (BJP) will figure in the eventual Government of India 2009 with help of Coalition and some Third Front partners! Some Figures and Facts -There are 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, directly elected lower house ie the House of the People. Elections take place every five years- unless the coalition govt collapses -There have been 15 national elections since India became independant in 1947 and a Republic in 1950. -There are 730 million registered voters in India, (increase of 40 million since 2004.) -Voting will be conducted at 800,000 polling booths and 1,368,430 electronic voting machines. - More than two million security personnel are deployed. Hence the cancellation of the IPL Cricket tournament- for hich security couldnot be guaranteed. Congrats to the People-Aam Aadmi ki Jai HO! or Sashan Janta ke dwar Government on your doorstep STAY TUNED |
HAPPY BAISAKHI /VAISAKHI or VISHU- Malayalee or PUTHANDU-Tamil New Year or NABA BARSHA (Bengal/ N.E States of India) Apr 13/14
- The Celebration of Solar Hindu New Year = Vaisakhi or Baisakhi is celebrated on same day with different names in all parts of India. The traditional age old HARVEST festival is also the Solar New Year for a lot of the agrarian communities of India and falls on April 13/14 - based on Solar calendar.
In Punjab and vicinity, it is Vaisakhi or Baisakhi, in Kerala VISHU, and PUTHANDU -the Tamil New Year and is also the Sinhala New Year in Sri Lanka. With signifcant Tamil and Hindu populations this day is also celebrated in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand etc
As the multitude of deieties exist in the worship faith, in Himachal Pradesh and other hilly areas, Hindu Goddess Jwalamukhi is worshipped. In Bihar, Sun-god Surya and in Assam Rongali Bihu are celebrated, while in Bengal and North Eastern States it is celebrated as Naba Barsha or Pohela Boishakh (Bengal, Assam and Tripura). Vaisakhi is popular in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. and celebrated at the rest of counry/ temples as well
Commomerating this auspicious day, the establishment of Khalsa or Sikhism was launched on Vaisakhi day at Anandpur Sahib in 1699, by 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh on this day, adding to one more significant celebration for Indians everywhere.
NOTE Over the years, Yug Adi follows the Lunar Cycle and comes just a few days earlier and also celebrated all over India and all Temples ( see Below )
CONGRATS Sania Mirza- Wins WTA Doubles Tennis MPS Group Championship with Partner Chia-Jung Cheng Unseeded Chia-Jung Chuang( Taiwan) and Sania Mirza (India) upset top-seeded American Lisa Raymond and Kveta Peschke 6-3, 4-6 10-7 to win the doubles title. The Taiwanese-India pair-Chuang and Mirza picked up $11,000 for the win at the WYA tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Sania Mirza of Hyderabad,India earlier won the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi in January 2009. This marks a great comeback for Sania who underwent major reconstructive surgery on her wrist in 2007-2008.
Chuang, from Taiwan, and Mirza, raced to a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker and withstood a charge from Raymond and Peschke who are top seeded in the tournament, and ended by winning 10-7 for the doubles title.
Sania Mirza said, "In the tiebreak, it's anybody's match.We played the important points well. This was our ( Chuang-Mirza) second tournament together, so we have had a lot more match practice together. Kveta and Lisa have been playing for a long time and they’re really experienced, and we’re really happy to have beaten them.�
This marks the eighth doubles title for Sania Mirza. Prior to the Mixed Doubles win at the Australian open in Jan 2009, she last won a doubles title in August 2007 with Italian Mara Santangelo at New Haven, Connectiutt, USA. CONGRATS SANIA MIRZA CHIA-JUNG Tennis Jai HO!
Prez Obama appoints Indian-American Actor kal Penn as Asian American Liaison President Barack Obama appointed Indian-American actor KAL PENN aka Kalpen Suresh Modi as Associate Director in the White House office of Public Liaison.He is tasked with connecting the Obama administration with the AAPI- Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and arts and entertainment groups. Penn is the only such appointee for the Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities. Penn was born in Montclair, New Jersey,and is of Gujarati origin.He was active in the SAFO campaign and was a spokesperson for Obama candidacy for many AAPI functions.He was also a member of Obama's national Arts Policy Committee. Penn is perhaps best known for his movies of Harold and Kumar fame - and as kumar he has become a cult favorite among the young crowd. He has acted in several TV shows and also in Hollywood movies ike American Desi, The Namesake, Superman Returns, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. His TV apperaances range from bit parts to recurring roles in shows like NYPD Blue, Law and Order, House, All About Andersons and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. The popular show HOUSE has Penn acting as a Doctor and interestingly, his character committed suicide this week Tuesday Apr 6th- and that lets Penn concentrate on his new career as the Liaison to the AAPI community. CONGRATS KALPEN "KAL PENN" Jai HO! |
 CONGRATS Team India Cricket 1st win in NewZealnad after 40 yearsTeam India Cricket- with one of the best teams in hostory, after beating winning the 20/20 World Cup, beating Sri Lanka and avery good run in One Day Cricket beat New Zealand comprehensively. Led by Captain MS Dhoni the team has a mix of Veterans and youngsters- which bodes well for indian cricket in the future. With stars like Sachin Tendulkar,Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh clicking- youngsters like Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel did quite well with tewwners Viru Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh and others doing well in the One Day version as well CONGRATS Team India Cricket Jai HO! |
The Yug Adi as the name implies in Sanskrit is The Beginnning of a New Era and is celebrated throughout India and its sub cultures. The New Year is Navreh in Kashmir, Gudi Padwa in Mahasrashtra and Goa Konkan area, Yugadi or Ugadi in Andhra Karnataka Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu. Cheti Chand is in sindh and since its a Lunar derived festival- celebrated at the equinox rest of counry/ temples as well
Santa Clara / Silicon Valley Shooting Murder by Indian American Shocks Everyone
A seemingly well settled software engineer Devan Kalathat in the US for past 15 years, working at Yahoo! after a stint at Microsoft apparently shot his entire family of four people and his brother in law and wife and an infant son before killing himself. His wife shot 5-6 times has survived and is in critical condition.Devan Kalathat aka Raghavan Devarajan 42 shot and injured his wife(Abha ) and killed his 11-year-old son Akhil Dev and 4-year-old daughter N(M)egha Dev. Also killed were his brother-in-law Ashok Appu Poothemkandi, 35, his wife Suchitra Sivaraman, 25, and their 11-month-old daughter Ahana Ashok.
The gory scene was discovered by policeman who arrived on the scene after neighbors spotted a bleeding woman on the sidewalk of the quiet Rivermark neighborhood where the family had recently moved in. ( Latest reports April 3 have revealed that the surviving wife Abha had called Sunnyvale Poolice in 2004-5, when she was abandonded in a public park by Devan and her passport and ID had been taken away by her husband! While this matter was resolved at that time, obviously there was domestic turmoil in the family)
That the alleged perpertrator possessed two legal handguns used in the attack was as much a shock as that he used to murder his own 11 year old boy, 4 year old daughter and his 11 month old niece.
As the news traveled fast, Indian media interviewed the father-in-Law 80 year old Appu Master , who divulged that there were domestic problems in the family.
The small Indian community (abt 250,000) in the SF Bay area was shocked as were the mainstream with the tragedy.
With multiple qualifications and well established in the Tech industry, Devan wasnt ever suspected of being capable of Domestic violence and some soul searching has taken place as to why and how and where does this leave the community.
Domestic Violence is always a hidden crime and such a violent incident does not occur out of the blue. The fact that Devan bought 2 handguns, one more recently than the other suggests a little more depth to the story and also planning.
What a shame that so many lives were lost including children, who very often are the major victims in any Domestic violence incidents- even those not ending in such a brutal and violent manner.
The MANCA Malayali Association of Northern California http://www.mancaonline.org/ is doing its bit and working with the Indian Consulate SFO to raise money and send bodies back to India. If you wish to donate/ help out CLICK HERE
HAPPY UGADI or YUGADI- The Celebration of Hindu New Year
The Yug Adi as the name implies in Sanskrit is The Beginnning of a New Era and is celebrated throughout India and its sub cultures. The New Year is Navreh in Kashmir, Gudi Padwa in Mahasrashtra and Goa Konkan area, Yugadi or Ugadi in Andhra Karnataka Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu. Cheti Chand is in sindh and since its a Lunar derived festival- celebrated at the equinox rest of counry/ temples as well
Lord Jagganath Installed at Fremont Hindu Temple
The Deity of Lord Jagganath with his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra were formally installed at the Fremont Hindu Temple March 6th. The week long celebrations of and Prana Pratistha was attended by hundreds of families A special ‘Go puja’ with a live cow and calf was performed by Pandit Srinivasan of Fremont and Pandit Bhabhani Prasad Tripathy of India. Children and youth presented Indian Classical dances and a special dance drama on Lord Jagganath and a Rath Yatra depiction
Gandhiji Treasure Items Bought by Liquor BaronDekh Tere Sansaar me kya hogaya Bhagwan itna Badal Gaya Insaan
Recently a peace activist who had encountered Gandhiji and a;sp acquired some of Gandhiji's items decided to sell the items in a Sotheby Auction. While the items were to fetch a decnt sum for helping more 'Peace Efforts' by the activists, a massive PR campaign and Media leaks- made sure that the price was driven up.
With The Givernment of India getting sucked in or should we say suckered in- the bidding was bound to go HIGH!!! Especially when India's Prime Minister ManMohan Gandhi deputed the Minister of Cultural Affairs Ms Ambika Soni to ensure the dafety of IIndia's Heritage etc...
.. So in a not too well concealed move(s), Couple of NRI's bid in this auction- which also saw anonymous bids from overseas!!
Some of the luminiaries bidding for the auction items included VIJAY MALLAYA The Liquor Baron- Kingfisher and kingfisher Airlines etc and also SANT CHATWAL= businessman and hotelier and ex "associate" of State Bank of India etc
The final result, the items fetched a whopping $1.2 Million or something which would have fetched perhaps $100,000!!!
The Irony is that a LIQUOR BARON - A MAN WHO MADE MONEY by SELLING LIQUOR BOUGHT GANDHI JIS ITEMS!!
Dr Mallaya is Im sure a nice guy but the irony shouldnt ne lost on observors.
PS The Peace activist had earlier offered the same items to Govt of India in return for a promise that the annual budget would be increased for Welfare of poor and Peace and Non violent Studies and initiatives! But I guess from GOI Point of View $1.2 Million is better than $50 billion by this deal!!!!
CHEERS!! (pun Intended) and WHERE WAS MUNNA BHAI WHEN YOU NEEDED HIM!!!
Vivek Kundra appointed CIO Chief Info Officer for Obama Administration
Vivek Kundra was named as the Federal Chief Information Officer at the White House on March 5 by President ObamaThe Federal CIO directs the policy and strategic planning of federal information technology investments and is responsible for the supervision of federal technology spending. The Federal CIO establishes and oversees enterprise architecture to ensure system interoperability and information sharing and to ensure information security and privacy across the federal government. The CIO will also work closely with the Chief Technology Officer to advance the President's technology agenda.
President Obama said, "Vivek Kundra will bring a depth of experience in the technology arena and a commitment to lowering the cost of government operations to this position. I have directed him to work to ensure that we are using the spirit of American innovation and the power of technology to improve performance and lower the cost of government operations. As Chief Information Officer, he will play a key role in making sure our government is running in the most secure, open, and efficient way possible.
Kundra said he was "truly humbled and honored and thrilled with this great opportunity to serve my country,"
All presidential appointees have to be formally approved by cleared by the White House communication office before they can speak directly to the press.
Kundra was one of the team leaders for the Obama Presidential Transition Team, along in information and technology development and worked on the recovery.gov website recently.
Another transition member was Aneesh Chopra, Secretary, Technology, Commonwealth of Virginia,
Sri Lanka Cricket Team Attacked in Pakistan terror Attack. Players injured Policemen dead
<>In a brutal terror attack about 10 12 men armend with AK 47 and Granades attacked a terror attck on the visiting Sri Lanka Cricket team bus as they were enroute to the Gaddafi Stadium. The Pakstan Cricket team was delayed by 5 mins and escaped the attack- whichh was partially thwarted by security and police personnel. Several Sri Lankan cricketers and team support mebers were hurt including a local umpire. Several policemen were killed and hurt in the attack.
- Old Sanskrit/Jungle saying "When you raise a snake as a pet, it is likely that you will be stung"
What do you expect? The handwriting has been on the wall for a long time.
Interestingly, Many Pakistani commentators, officials have expressed surprise that Cricketers were targeted- almost as if they were given assurances by the Terrorists ahead of time. (Read/See LOCAL news outlets)
Ex cricketer and Coach Javed Miandad said, ""It has never happened before in Pakistan, sports persons haven’t been targeted. The world will have to stay united and fight terrorism. I hope they just don’t say they won’t tour Pakistan. If we do that we will only support the terrorists’ cause."" Nice Statement but also Javed is son in Law of Dawood Ibrahim-the Smuggler Wanted by Interpol and Government of India for Mumabai bomb blasts 1993 and absconding in Paksitan ( NOTE InterPol and UN have named him)
All in all- What a shame Hope this gives the decent Pakistani people and leadership more strength to voice their strong and vocal opposition to terrorism instead of explaining away and rationalizing the violence as representation of some "freedom struggle"
MARCH 3, 2009 is A SQUARE ROOT DAY as its 3- 3 - 09
A calender occurcnce only rarely, the 3 3 09 will be followed only by 4 4 2016 ie 4 416
Earlier one was 2 2 04 Hence dubbed SQUARe ROOT DAY
CONGRATS SOURABHEE The INDIAN IDOL 4 Year 2008-2009- The 1st FEMALE WINNER
She hails from the NorthEast State of Tripura surrounded by Bangladesh- and with an ancient history with mentions in Ramayana and Mahabharta epics of 1000’s years ago.
Sourabhee (which means fragrance in Sanskrit) Debbarma or Dev Varma or Dev Burman- ring a bell! Yes Dev Burman is the same as the greats from Tripura music directors S.D. Burman or R. D Burman, and also recently rising Indian tennis star Somdev dev Varman.
Sourabhee is a 22 year old crooner who was very consistent in the tournament- with great stage presence after overcoming initial jitters and some diction- pronounciation problems. She beat out KAPIl THAPA- a great personality with above average voice and a great story- as he is a member of the Indian Armed Forces.
KAPIL THAPA was a strong favorite given his large fan base and that he is of Nepali cultural ancestry- and this community had particular success in voting in the last years winner PRASHANT TAMANG- Indian idol 3 who hails from Darjeeling and is a member of the Indian Police Force.
Sourabhee came across as a sweet girl and very much Indian- with visits tp hindu temple to boot and a visit to the Maharaja of Tripura- who was present at the award ceremony along with sourabhee’s parents- (dignified government officer and housewife resp)- who had given up long back trying to reform the girl and gt her to concentrate on studies!
The second place went to Kapil Thapa and Torsha Sarkar finished third- possibly losing votes dur to her evident sour puss attitude. Each will be rewarded with some album and show for sure as will some other contestants like Rajdeep Chatterjee, Prashant Kosambi, and others who were popular and marketable. Remo Ghosh(15), Annaya Mishra(16), Bhavya Pandit(16) etc also deserved to be in top but lost because of young age factor etc.
Two things- having followed American Idol and Sa Re Ga Ma /PA programs- I can say that the programs are inconsistent AND also that over all Indian contestants esp Sa Re Ga MA KIDS and even Indian Idol are better talent than American idol.( period) but Marketing in US is out of this world- and here in lies a difference in making it big in the market- after a reasonable show at the contests.
Congrats Sourabhee
ANCIENT HUMAN FOOT PRINTS FOUND 1.5 Million Year Old!!! in Kenya
The earliest footprints have been unearthed in Kenya. The footprints reveal evidence of modern human foot anatomy and gait as opposed to humanoid or ape like walkThe prints have been dated to 1.5-million-year-old and show a pronounced arch and short, aligned toes, and the size etc are similar to modern humans, The report was published in Science journal by Professor Matthew Bennett of Bournemouth University, UK and others
Earlier footprints have been dated to 3.7 million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis prints found in Laetoli, Tanzania, in 1978 but analysis show more ape like or humanoid gait.
This exciting find showed two sets of footprints, one five meters deeper than the other, separated by sand, silt, and volcanic ash and the archeologists determined that two layers of prints were made at least 10,000 years apart via radio isotope dating methods.
According to the scientists, the finding is a critical clue for mapping out the evolution of modern humans, both in terms of physiology and also how H. erectus fared in its environment, perhaps helping to navigate and forage better in the landscape at that time.
ACADEMY AWARDS OSCARS 2008-09 SWEPT By Slumdog Millionaire
Music director A R Rahman Bags Two Oscars as does Resul PooKutty for Sound Mixing/Editing
"Smile Pinki" wins Oscar for Best Documentary Short
The glitzy Academy awards- OSCARS- this year were a bit predictable as the Feel Good ( with a bit of controversy) picture SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE captured 8 Oscars. SMILE PINKI also an India based story about a poor rural gril born with a Cleft lip also won an Oscar for best documentary
COMPLETE LIST OF OSCAR WINNERS HERE
Barring Penelope Cruz for Best supporting Actress and perhaps Sean Penn for Best Actor in Milk- the rest awardees were as expected.
| SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE CAST/CREW |
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE |
SMILE PINKI documentary Shory Wins Oscar |
The short documentary "Smile Pinki" focuses on a girl in rural India whose cleft lip has made her a social outcast, has a chance for a new life when she meets a dedicated social worker who helped change her life by setting her up with a program called Smile Train an NGO which offers free corrective surgery.
A real life person Pinki Sonkar, an Indian girl is the focus of the film on children born with cleft palates Smile Train is the NGO program that provides free corrective surgery. The documentary is about Pinki’s transformation, from her village in rural Northern Uttar Pradesh to the hospital and back home again.The film's director is US Based Megan Mylan and is a first time Oscar winner.
Pinki Sonkar was ALSO at the Oscars in Los Angeles and missed the glare of Hollywood celebrities and celebrations on Feb 22 – most of whom focused on Slumdog Millionaire.
Pinki was born with a cleft lip, and like millions of other children born with the lip deformity in developing countries, Pinki had to live with it and suffer the social consequences as the family could nt afford surgery.
While everyone including media and Indians- who should know a little more of the actual conditions- are falling over one another to celebrate a fictional account in "Slumdog Millionaire" for the Oscars, the real life documentary story is of a girl who faced ridicule, teasing and marginalization in real life and the intervention of a few good Samaritans which has helped chang a life while giving hope and aspirations to thousands of similar children, her fellow villagers and millions of fans and supporters around the world.
Pinki is now full of energy and confidence, and a great smile too after the ride on the Smile Train, which teaches doctors in their own countries to operate on cleft lips.
QUOTES
 RESUL POOKUTTY Sound Mixing/EditingThis is unbelievable. We can't believe this. Ladies and gentlemen... sorry... I share the stage with two magicians, you know, who created the very ordinary sounds of Bombay, the cacophony of Bombay, into a soul-stirring, artful resonance called Slumdog Millionaire. I come from a country and a civilization that given the universal word. That word is preceded by silence, followed by more silence. That word is 'Om.' So I dedicate this award to my country. Thank you, Academy, this is not just a sound award, this is history being handed over to me. My sincere and deepest gratitude to my teachers, Danny Boyle [Images], Christian Colson, Paul Ritchie, Pravesh... and everybody who has contributed to this film, Glenn Freemantle and all the sound mixers. I dedicate this to you guys. Thank you, Academy. Thank you very much. ( Along with Richard Pryke, Ian Tapp)  |
 A R RAHMAN 2 Oscars- Best Song (Jai Ho) and Original scoreAward Song with Writer Gulzar Before coming, I was excited and terrified. The last time I felt like that was during my marriage. There's a dialogue from a Hindi film called "Mere paas ma hai," which means "I have nothing but I have a mother," so mother's here, her blessings are there with me. I am grateful for her to have come all the way. And I want to thank the Academy for being so kind, all the jury members. I want to thank Sam Schwartz, I/D PR, all the crew of Slumdog, Mr Gulzar, Raqueeb Alam, Blaaze, my musicians in Chennai and Mumbai [Images]. And I want to tell something in Tamil, which says, which I normally say after every award which is... "God is great." Thank you. |
"Smile Pinki" wins Oscar for Best Documentary Short Father Rajendra Sonkar said, "I am so happy that my daughter's lips have been repaired, I hope that the movie will inspire people to help children whose families can't afford the surgery.� "She has absolutely and totally changed," said Pinki's Surgeon, Dr. Subodh Kumar. "Pinki was a depressed, sad, lonely, shy, young little girl, growing up on the periphery of the society in a little village," Satish Kalra, director of Smile Train's South Asian region |
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Jan 31 AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2009 TENNIS CHAMPS- Indians = Sania + Bhupati & Yuki Bhambri
| CONGRATS SANIA & BHUPATI (Mixed Doubles) Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi won the Mixed Doubles title at the Australian Open Tennis 2009, beating Nathalie Dechy (France and Andy Ram (Israel) 6-3, 6-1 in the final at Melbourne on Sunday Feb 1st.   The Hyderabadi lass picked up her 1st Grand Slam title, while Bhupati picked up his 7th Mixed Dobles title. Last year Sania's former coach Bhupati w/ Sania lost in the finals of the Australian Open Congrats Both And Here's to seeing Sania Mirza back soon in World Single digit ranking !! |
CONGRATS YUKI BHAMBHRI (Junior Boys) Indian Junior Tennis Ace Yuki bhambhri beat Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas of Germany in the Junior Boys Tennis at the Australian Open 2009 in Melbourne on Saturday., January 31st 6-3, 6-1 in 57 minutes   This is Yuki's first Grand Slam singles title. The Delhi ite Bhambri becomes only the 4th Indian to win a Junior Grand Slam singles title in the boys' final in Melbourne on Saturday. The other Indian Grand Slam winners are Ramanathan Krishnan (1954 Junior Wimbledon) , Ramesh Krishnan (1970 Wimbledon & French Open Juniors) and Leander Paes (1990 Junior Wimbledon & Junior US Open). Congrats india Tennis looks bright with Yuki bhambri and Others like Somdev Devvarman and Prakash Amritraj |
With well over 1.5 Million people making the trip to Washington DC and Millions more watching all across the USA, the historic inauguration of President Obama and VP Biden was completed January 19, 2009.Interestingly the milestone came the day after the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr Anniversary - the visionary Civil Rights leader, who was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi to adopted Non violent and Civil disobedience to rebel and fight against Unjust and Racist laws in the USA.
The day also marked the 100th anniversary of the formation of the NAACP- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The great joyous occassion saw a sea of people of ALL COLORS and signified a clear benchmark in US history, as people CAME TOGETHER- inspired by a symbol of the nation of USA- a nation of immigrants and populated by peoples of all races and all colors and ethnicities.
INDIAN-AMERICANS NEAL KATYAl & PREETA BANSAl APPOINTED by PRES OBAMA (Click for details)
With everyone waiting for the historic and much awaited inauguration of the 44th President of the United States and his Cabinet, the occasion is
doubly significant as it follows the anniversary of Martin Luther King junior,This includes the tattered US economy, the poor status of US in the eyes of rest of the world and the loss of the moral compass of the USA and some of the shining examples that set US as a beacon of hope for protection of human rights, Free speech, the due process of law etc
President Barrack Obama, VP Biden and his team have their work cut out for them and us. There will be a “honeymoon “ period and after that the time tested method of vilification and dragging down will start, especially as Obama and others will have to go after the entrenched establishment and probably tighten the belt and postpone dome of the promises made during the campaign- all a legacy of the unilateral and destructive vision and execution of the Cheney-Bush administration.
Don’t forget the Al Qaeda and Afghan – Pakistan war was shelved and a costly and destructive war in Iraq ( I-RaK) was pursued, only to create an absolute mess, loss of thousands of lives and a costly mess for the whole world.
Now President Obama will have his hands full and Make Change Happen
Wish him Well Wish him Luck ..After all there is no way further down..we can ONLY go up and better.
Jan 30 Martin Luther King Jr Day 2009 50th Anniversary
An historic occasion especially this year of 2009, as the first US President of African American descent takes office a day after the celebration of MLK day. With a bruising elections concluding in November 4th 2009, not too long ago quite a fw people –including Democrats- were still voicing their doubts and reservations if Obama would be able to pull it off in the finals!But with Cheney-Bush legacy hard to escape, John McCain compounded by bringing in Sarah Palin and her folksy ( try trailer park) style and the GOP imploded.
Wonder MLK in his wildest dreams imagined such a scenario- although visionaries like him have to be commended for setting a pace that is based on Good- Truth and Best for Humanity.
President Barrack Obama has brought Hope, Change and an Upliftment of peoples’ aspirations- all the spirit and
ideals that MLK embodied and he would no doubt be proud of the Chosen one - Mr Barrack Obama and family as we all should be.Here is also details of MLK and his wife Coretta King’s visit in 1959 to India.
Rare transcripts and his speeches were recently recovered in India MP3
MLK was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his anthem of Non Violence
(Courtesy Embasy of India Washington DC) Press release
CONGRATS Music Director 'AR RAHMAN WINS GOLDEN GLOBE for Movie "Slumdog Millionaire.
Jan 20
Congrats and Good luck Mr President Barrack Obama- VP Joe Biden
With well over 1.5 Million people making the trip to Washington DC and Millions more watching all across the USA, the historic inauguration of President Obama and VP Biden was completed January 19, 2009.Interestingly the milestone came the day after the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr Anniversary - the visionary Civil Rights leader, who was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi to adopted Non violent and Civil disobedience to rebel and fight against Unjust and Racist laws in the USA.
The day also marked the 100th anniversary of the formation of the NAACP- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The great joyous occassion saw a sea of people of ALL COLORS and signified a clear benchmark in US history, as people CAME TOGETHER- inspired by a symbol of the nation of USA- a nation of immigrants and populated by peoples of all races and all colors and ethnicities.
INDIAN-AMERICANS NEAL KATYAl & PREETA BANSAl APPOINTED by PRES OBAMA (Click for details)
With everyone waiting for the historic and much awaited inauguration of the 44th President of the United States and his Cabinet, the occasion is
doubly significant as it follows the anniversary of Martin Luther King junior,This includes the tattered US economy, the poor status of US in the eyes of rest of the world and the loss of the moral compass of the USA and some of the shining examples that set US as a beacon of hope for protection of human rights, Free speech, the due process of law etc
President Barrack Obama, VP Biden and his team have their work cut out for them and us. There will be a “honeymoon “ period and after that the time tested method of vilification and dragging down will start, especially as Obama and others will have to go after the entrenched establishment and probably tighten the belt and postpone dome of the promises made during the campaign- all a legacy of the unilateral and destructive vision and execution of the Cheney-Bush administration.
Don’t forget the Al Qaeda and Afghan – Pakistan war was shelved and a costly and destructive war in Iraq ( I-RaK) was pursued, only to create an absolute mess, loss of thousands of lives and a costly mess for the whole world.
Now President Obama will have his hands full and Make Change Happen
Wish him Well Wish him Luck ..After all there is no way further down..we can ONLY go up and better.
Martin Luther King Jr Day 2009 50th Anniversary
An historic occasion especially this year of 2009, as the first US President of African American descent takes office a day after the celebration of MLK day. With a bruising elections concluding in November 4th 2009, not too long ago quite a fw people –including Democrats- were still voicing their doubts and reservations if Obama would be able to pull it off in the finals!But with Cheney-Bush legacy hard to escape, John McCain compounded by bringing in Sarah Palin and her folksy ( try trailer park) style and the GOP imploded.
Wonder MLK in his wildest dreams imagined such a scenario- although visionaries like him have to be commended for setting a pace that is based on Good- Truth and Best for Humanity.
President Barrack Obama has brought Hope, Change and an Upliftment of peoples’ aspirations- all the spirit and
ideals that MLK embodied and he would no doubt be proud of the Chosen one - Mr Barrack Obama and family as we all should be.Here is also details of MLK and his wife Coretta King’s visit in 1959 to India.
Rare transcripts and his speeches were recently recovered in India MP3
MLK was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his anthem of Non Violence
(Courtesy Embasy of India Washington DC) Press release
Jan 2009
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CONGRATS Music Director 'AR RAHMAN WINS GOLDEN GLOBE for Movie "Slumdog Millionaire. 'Slumdog Millionaire' wins four Golden Globes Los Angeles, Beverly Hills: “Slumdog Millionaire'' won four Golden Globe awards at the 66th annual Globes,, winning the Best Picture, Best Director (Danny Boyle/ LovelTandan), Best Drama, and Best Musical Score (AR Rahman). The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 90 reporters covering show business for overseas outlets. Music Genius AR Rahman created history by winning the Golden Globe Award. Rahman bagged the Golden Globe for his song 'Jai Ho', penned by lyricist Gulzar. After nearly decades of work in Bollywood, the award brings international recognition to the great music director who said, "Unbelievable..! I thought, I would not win, so anyways thanks to the almighty God for bringing me here... Danny Boyle, Fox pi  ctures, all my musicians in Chennai, Mumbai, and the billion people from India."BEST MUSIC COMPOSER A R RAHMAN from INDIA `Slumdog Millionaire,'' had an unknown cast in the story adapted from Vikram Swaroop's novel "Q & a".  The story is about an orphan boy in Mumbai who rises from terrible hardship to become a champ on Kaun Banega crorepati, while trying to reunite with a lost love from his childhood. Simon Beaufoy, script writer adapted from Vikas Swarup's novel ``Q & A.''Indian Origin Actors Dev Patel of London and Frieda Pinto from Mangalore and Bollywood superstar Anil Kapoor of Mumbai are main actors in the Movie Other acting winners included Keith Ledger ( posthomous), Sally Hawkins as musical or comedy actress for her role in ``Happy-Go-Lucky''; Kate Winslet as supporting actress for ``The Reader,'' in which she plays a former Nazi concentration camp guard in a romantic fling with a teenager; and Colin Farrell for musical or comedy actor for ``In Bruges,'' in which he plays a hit man laying low in a Belgian tourist town. Winslet, who also nominated for best dramatic actress at the Globes with ``Revolutionary Road,'' is a five-time Oscar nominee but has never won.``You have to forgive me because I have a habit of not winning things,'' Winslet said as she opened what she acknowledged was a long acceptance speech. The robot romance ``WALL-E'' won for best animated feature- Director Andrew Stanton - Pixar Animation ``Vicky Cristina Barcelona'' won the award for best musical or comedy film. Steven Spielberg was honored with the Globes' Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement Bruce Springsteen received the best song prize for the title track to ``The Wrestler.''' The foreign-language film prize went to Israel's ``Waltz With Bashir,'' director Ari Forman's animated documentary about a soldier struggling to recall suppressed memories of his involvement in the war with Lebanon. Among TV categories, ``30 Rock'' won best comedy series, with stars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin earning the acting Globes in a musical or comedy. Last year's Globe show was cancelled due to the strike by the Writers Guild of America, Many of the awardees are expected to also score big at the OSCARS which will be held Feb. 22. CONGRATS SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE and A R RAMAN and the Recognition it brings India's Movie Industry Official IMDB SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE click here National Kindergarten CHESS Champion Arun Khemani Sam Rao Exclusive Meet Arun Khemani Khemani, who won two significant Chess titles in the month of December this year. Khemani was crowned as the Kindergarten champion at both the CalChess Grade Level chess Championship in Stockton, California on December 6th and added the prestigious National K-12 Chess Championship in Orlando, Florida on December 14th as well. At the championships, Arun bounced back from a first round loss with six wins to bring Bay Area a National Championship!" In the last round, Arun defeated the top seed, Awonder Liang from Wisconsin, in a battle between two 1000+ rated 5 year olds.The other top winner at the Lake Buena Vista, Florida National K-12 Championships, was Kyle Shin (1st 5th grade). Parents Gul and Kiran are very proud as is Arun’s coach Ted Castro, as in spite of difficult competition, two of his stars won 1st place trophies at the championship and the rest of the team had pretty good success too. While many from the SF Bay area had creditable finishes, some included Samuel Sevian (#1 age 7), Tanuj Vasudeva (#5 age 7) NM Nicholas Nip (#1 age 10) Yian Liou (#3 age 11), FM Daniel Naroditsky (#1 age 12) and Vignesh Panchanatham (#8 age 8) , while Armaan Kalyanpur, Kesav Viswanadha, Rohan Agarwal, Adarsh Konda dinished in the top 25 in their age groups. Kiran, Arun's mom first introduced him to the game and soon Arun asked for a chess set for his 5th birthday. His father Gul then taught him further with help of ChessMaster software and as he progressed rapidly, Arun joined some chess clubs and after school programs. “Arun now has an excellent chess coach Ted Castro and otherwise enjoys playing with friends and also Basketball, Soccer, Board games,, Computer Games, His success has already started influencing his classmates at the Stockelmeir Elementary school,’ says dad Gul Khemani. Some of his other clubs that he participates regularly include Intel Chess Club, also his first chess club, Newark Chess Club, BayAreaChess forum. With a strong immigrant presence in the SF Bay area, Chess remains popular and several clubs and after school programs abound. Arun has his own heroes in life as well, and yes, World Champions and International Grad Masters Vishwanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov figure high in his list. Already, the Khemani’s are grooming Arun’s brother Neel, who at 2 years can name all the chess CONGRATS JAMMU & KASHMIR INDIA Dec 2008 TRIUMPH OF DEMOCRACY OVER TERROR!!!! The people have spoken with near 60 per cent Voter turn out The Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir saw a free and fair election in 2008, which no one except Islamic jihadi separatist groups were against.  The People of J & K Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and everyone else in the state decided to go take their voice to the ballots and the triumph of democracy over terror is now history.The statewide elections conducted in several phases were relatively very free of violence- which is amazing. Even the leaders of the separatist and Pakistani-inspired groups expressed amazement and frustration, as their call for Boycott of the elections were largely ignored. The Indian democracy has one again shown how resilient it is and the people of India, with thousands of years of shared culture and heritage have clearly demonstrated how living in peace is possible in present time by choosing pluralistic, proven cultural values- as has been the case for thousands of years in the nation. With 87 seats at stake in Jammu & Kashmir, National Conference NCP gained 28 while the Congress 17 and People Democratic Party PDP 21 and BJP 11 NC is the party of former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, his son abdullah and now grandson Omar abdullah. Indications are that NCP will join Congress to form the government in Jammu & Kashmir. The same NCP party won 57 seats out of total 87 in 1996- which was disputed by many as having been rigged elections-. In 2002, National Conference won only 28 seats. Well at least for now, things have come full circle and an endorsement for people of Jammu & Kashmir being an integral part of India NC 28 PDP 21 Cong 17 BJP 11 Others 10 Total 87  SAM RAO's RADIO INTERVIEW - Stanford KZSU 90.1FM (It's Diff Show Wed 6-9 AM)
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