Eight Indian-Americans get medal for community service

NEW YORK,May19,2012: Eight Indian-Americans are among the recipients of this year's Ellis Island Medal of Honour presented to more than 100 immigrants for their community service. The eight, Peter Bheddah, Ravishankar Bhooplapur, Dr Sanjiv Chopra, Dr Leena N Doshi, Dr Surendra V Jain, Hasu P Shah, Rajendra Singh and Dr John P Thomas were presented the medal at a ceremony on the island in New York. Instituted in 1986 by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations to recognize the contributions made by immigrants, the medals are named after Ellis Island, the gateway through which more than 12 million early immigrants passed. Beddah, who immigrated from Kutch, Gujarat, in 1960, has been helping the less fortunate through the India Association of Long Island and the Interfaith Nutrition Network since 1994. Bhooplapur is president of Xavier University School of Medicine and founder and chairman of Gift of Life. He contributes to several humanitarian causes. Chopra, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a senior consultant at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, is the author of five books, including "The Ten Tenets of Leadership." Mumbai-born Doshi with a medical degree from Bombay University started a radiology practice in 1985 after completing her residency in radiology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Her family runs a number of radiology centres in New York and Florida.
Jain is founding partner and chief medical officer of Buena Park, California-based AppleCare Medical Management LLC, a medical management services organization that manages AppleCare Medical Group and AppleCare Hospitalists Group. Shah is founder of the Philadelphia-based Hersha Hospitality Trust, a co-founder and current president of the India Heritage Research Foundation and a founder of Hindu American Religious Institute. Singh is chairman and CEO of Telcom Ventures and plays a leading role in the development and deployment of emerging wireless technologies. Kerala-born Thomas is the founder of Operation HOPE (Healing Outreach to People Everywhere). A general surgeon in Lubbock, Texas, he has done volunteer work in India, Bolivia, Kenya, Haiti, Honduras, and Iraq.

Indian workers in Angola: Modi, Congress take credit for aiding youth

New Delhi/Gandhinagar, May 19,2012: Congress and BJP today claimed that it was due to their efforts that the central government stepped in to help out the stranded youths from Gujarat in Angola. Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhvadia today said that after senior state party leaders had made a representation to Foreign Minister S M Krishna, the Indian embassy in Angola had swung into action and saved Gujarati youths and other Indians stranded in that country. “The Foreign Ministry has also assured us that those workers who wish to come back from Angola to India will be issued emergency certificate by the Indian embassy in that country to come back to India,” Modhvadia further said.

However, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi also today claimed that his prompt presentation before prime minister Manmohan Singh for safety of the stranded Indian workers including 40 from Gujarat in Angola has paid off. “The Indian ambassador to Angola Debraj Pradhan has informed the Gujarat government’s resident commissioner in Delhi that all the 40 youths are safe. Pradhan has said that Indian embassy has made all the arrangements for those Gujarati youths who want to return back to India,” Modi said in a press statement. The Indian workers who were working at Sumbe cement factory in Angola had opposed the factory management when they were not given salaries on time. The factory management called the local police which then arrested 59 Indian workers. The police had also opened fire. As soon as the Chief Minister Narendra Modi got the news of the plight of these Indian workers, he wrote a letter to the Prime Minister and urged him to take urgent steps for the safety of the workers, the statement said.

Will swiftly resolve Indian workers crisis in Angola: Krishna

New Delhi, May 19,2012: With over 1,100 Indian workers in trouble in Angola, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Friday said all efforts for “swift resolution” of the issues involved were being made.
“I am personally following the issues relating to the problems the Indian workers unfortunately are facing in Angola. It is engaging our most serious attention. I am sure all efforts will be made a swift resolution of the issues involved,” Krishna told reporters here. He also assured those workers wanting to return home to India that all arrangements could be made “without any difficulty and swiftly”. “We have done it before elsewhere, we are going to do it now in Angola,” he said. About their financial compensation, Krishna said India will take it up with the company concerned. “We hope we will be able to resolve the issues,” he added. The Indian workers are employed in a cement factory at Sumbe in the southern African country and there has been a labour unrest at the factory due to non-payment of certain emoluments to them. The $860 million cement factory project employs about 1,260 workers of whom 1,100 Indians were recruited by Dubai-based ETA Star. The issue has been raised with the external affairs ministry by at least two state chief ministers – Gujarat’s Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh’s Kiran Kumar Reddy. The trouble has been festering since February this year, but it took a turn for the worse earlier this month when the Indian workers “became very restive” and clashed with the company officials. This led to local police charging 59 Indians under several offences and initiating prosecution.

In California, November 2012 will be Sikh-American awareness month

Washington, May 19,2012: The California Assembly has passed a resolution declaring November 2012 as Sikh American Awareness and Appreciation Month. The passage of the resolution in this regard by the California Assembly has been welcomed by the influential Sikh community of the State. “Please join me in declaring November 2012 as California Sikh American Awareness and Appreciation Month,” said Assemblyman Dan Logue. The resolution was introduced by Assemblyman Henry Perea, who could not be present due to his mother’s serious illness. “Every year on the first Sunday of November, Sikh Americans celebrate the coronation of their scriptures. Among the celebrations are Sikh parades, the largest of which is held in Yuba City, which is famous worldwide,” Logue said. “Californians of Sikh heritage deserve to be recognised for their significant contributions to our state. They came here around 100 years ago and have made their mark in agriculture, trucking, medicine, and technology,” he said. Five Assembly Members — Roger Dickinson, Warren T Fururtani, Jim Nielsen, Chris Norby and Bob Wieckowski – spoke on the occasion. Some 20 eminent Sikhs community members were present in the Assembly when the resolution was passed without any opposition. Prominent among them were Pashaura Singh Dhillon, who had initiated the move, Gurjatinder S Randhawa (chairman NRI Front USA), Charanjit Singh Bath, M S Sandhawalia, Gurdip S Nijjar, Nirmal Singh, Dr Onkar Singh Bindra.

Indian-origin Suma Chakrabarti chosen as president of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

London, May 19: A British citizen of Indian origin Suma Chakrabarti was chosen out of a group of five candidates to become the new president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Sixty-three government shareholders of the bank chose Chakrabarti as the new head. ccording to the Wall Street Journal, Chakrabarti is the top civil servant at the Ministry of Justice in UK and prior to that was a top official at the Department for International Development. The outcome marked a rare setback for the French and German governments as they had backed Philippe de Fontaine Vive Curtaz, a French citizen who works at the European Investment Bank. The EBRD was established in 1991 to help countries emerging from Communism make the transition from centrally planned to market economies. Although most of its shareholders are European governments, its largest single shareholder is the US government.

India conveys concerns over workers unrest to Angolan ambassador

New Delhi, May 18: In the backdrop of over 1,100 Indian workers’ protest over pay-related issues in Angola, India Thursday called the southern African nation’s envoy to South Block, the seat of the external affairs ministry, to “sensitise” him on its concerns. Angolan Ambassador to India Manuel Eduardo Dos Santos Silva met India’s external affairs ministry’s Secretary (West) Madhusudan Ganapathi when the government reinforced the issues relating to the Indian workers’ plight, officials said here. Indian embassy officials in Angola are already in touch with government there and local officials to get the issue resolved amicably.

The Indian government is “acting on all fronts” to resolve a crisis faced by its workers at a cement factory in the African country and was ready to assist some of them who intend to return home, an official had said Wednesday. The Indian workers are employed in a cement factory in Angola and there has been a labour unrest at the factory due to non-payment of certain emoluments to them. The $860 million cement factory project employs about 1,260 workers for construction work at Sumbe in Angola and the 1,100 Indians among them were recruited by Dubai-based ETA Star. The issue has been raised with the external affairs ministry by at least two state chief ministers – Gujarat’s Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh’s Kiran Kumar Reddy. The issue has been festering since February this year, but it took a turn for the worse earlier this month when the Indian workers “became very restive” and clashed with the company officials. This led to local police charging 59 Indians under several offences and initiating prosecution.

UAE to set up consulate in Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, May 18: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to set up its Kerala consulate here in the state capital, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said Thursday. “The decision to set up the consulate in Thiruvananthapuram is because of the rule that consulates can be set up only in state capitals. There are certain rules and guidelines and they have to be adhered too,” Ahamed told IANS over phone from New Delhi. The minister said the consulate would start functioning in a few months. The news about the setting up of the consulate was announced last July when UAE’s Ambassador to India Mohamed Sultan Abdalla Al Owais met Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy here.
The new consulate will help people of the state who want to go to the UAE for work. Currently, they have to get their documents certified by the UAE embassy and consulate in New Delhi and Mumbai, respectively.
The new consulate is also expected to boost trade between Kerala and the UAE. More than a million people from the state live and work in the UAE, says a study by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.

First North American Telugu Association convention to be held in Houston

Washington, May 18: India’s Telugu culture will be at grand display in the US during the first North American Telugu Association (NATA) convention to be organised in the Houston city of Texas state June 29-July 1, 2012. The cultural meet will be held in downtown Houston at George R. Brown Convention Centre, which is spread over two million square feet area and is also celebrating its silver jubilee this year.
On this occasion, the convention centre, offering “southern hospitality with a cosmopolitan twist”, will be decorated with a Telugu touch in a bid to take the visitors back to their roots just as they step in, said a release.

Over 130 individual vendors will set up their stalls during the convention in the centre’s huge exhibition hall. The scrumptious Telugu food will be cooked on site in the state of the art kitchen and served fresh in two huge dining rooms for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Two cultural stages will showcase talent from India and the US with well over 100 cultural items, literary events and a grand concert by three music directors.
With 100 meeting rooms under the roof, there will be something going on to meet every attendee’s taste, may that be business, women’s interests, medical, youth, spiritual, sports, literary or any other events related to Telugu.

Suicidal Indian origin woman detained in UK mental hospital

London, May 18: An Indian-origin woman, who miraculously escaped after jumping in front of a train with her five-year-old son last year, has been ordered to be detained indefinitely in a mental hospital in London.
Radhika Sharma, 35, jumped before an oncoming train at the Stratford station in east London in June last year with her son, but escaped after both fell into a gap between the tracks. The driver applied the emergency brakes and the train passed over the two at low speed before coming to a halt. Both mother and son escaped with minor injuries. Sharma was convicted of attempted murder and child cruelty following a two-week trial at the Snaresbrook Crown Court in April. She has now been sentenced to be detained indefinitely in a mental hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983. Psychiatrists said Sharma was delusional and believed she was being followed by a man called Binka. Sharma, who will receive treatment at a specialist centre, will only be released when the Home Secretary decides she no longer poses a risk to the public. Psychiatrist Philip Baker, who is treating Sharma, told the media that her mental illness could have been triggered by a traumatic incident when she was a teenager in India. Sentencing Sharma, Judge David Radford told her, “It is my view that it was only by the grace of God that you and the boy were not killed or seriously injured by contact with the train. Very fortunately, the boy’s injuries were only slight though there is clear evidence that he suffered real psychological harm from what happened to him. Happily as time passes it is to be hoped that harm is dissipating.” “The guidelines make clear that even if an offence like this is not premeditated and there was no injury caused, an offender can expect to be sent to prison for a significant number of years. Had it not been for the clear medical evidence that you had been suffering from mental illness and continue to suffer, such a sentence would have to have been passed,” the judge said. Train driver Richard Roscoe said, “I saw an Indian woman standing fairly close to the yellow line on the platform. As I approached, she started walking straight ahead as if she was going to board the train. I didn’t see anyone else there. She walked straight up to the yellow line, looking straight ahead, then just stepped out.” “She went down into the tracks, I did think I’d hit her, I didn’t feel any bump or hear any noise. I put the train straight into emergency mode so the brakes locked. First I knew about the boy was when the paramedics said he was still alive,” the driver said.

Indian-origin Abdul Razak Osman is first Muslim Lord Mayor of UK town

London, May 18: Indian-origin councillor Abdul Razak Osman has become the first Lord Mayor of the Islamic faith to hold the high office in the multi-cultural town of Leicester, which has a large minority of Indian origin people. Osman was born in Kenya and arrived in the UK in 1971. His late father Yousuf Razak worked on the East African Railway, and worked for a local engineering firm after moving to Leicester.
The Lord Mayor is Leicester’s first Citizen and has a high profile role maintaining and promoting the interests of the city and its citizens, by attending a variety of civic engagements during the year. Leicester previously had Hindu and Sikh Lord Mayors, but Osman is the first Muslim to hold the high office.

Incidentally, the office of the Deputy Lord Mayor of Leicester is also held by an Indian-origin councillor, Mustafa Kamal, who hails from Ferozepur, Punjab. Osman has worked with several charity organisations and was instrumental in fundraising to build two villages and a school in Kutch, Gujarat for orphaned children, following an earthquake in 2011. Osman, who joined the city council in 1996, takes over from Councillor Rob Wann. Osman said after being sworn in at the Town Hall last night: “It’s an important year, with the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, so it’s a privilege for me to hold office with everything that’s going on”. He added: “I want to focus on visiting the communities and raising the profile of the office of Lord Mayor. I’m proud to be the first Muslim councillor to hold the position – we’ve had Christian, Hindu, Sikh and now I’m able to bring the Islamic faith to the office which is a great honour”. Osman, who previously held the office of High Bailiff and Deputy Lord Mayor, is married to Shaina, who will serve as the Lady Mayoress. The couple have two children. The term of Leicester’s Lord Mayor is one year, and runs from May to May. Each year the longest serving City Councillor is offered the role. Leicester has had a Mayor since the year 1209. From 1928, the Mayor became a Lord Mayor. The town also has a separately elected Mayor, currently Peter Soulsby (Labour).