Obama appoints Indian-American to key post

Indian-American Suresh Kumar, who served as a special adviser to the Clinton foundation and was a news anchor in India from 1970 to 1985, has been appointed to a key administration post by President Barack Obama. Kumar, known for his expertise of public-private partnership, has been nominated by Obama as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service in the US Department of Commerce, the White House said in a statement.

Kumar, President and managing partner of KaiZen Innovation, served as special adviser to the Clinton Foundation where he worked with governments in Sub-Saharan Africa and corporate CEOs to establish private-public partnerships to stimulate economic development in the region. He previously served on the Group Operating Committee at Johnson & Johnson and as Vice President of Consumer Products for Latin America at Warner Lambert/Pfizer.

Kumar has published on global management and served as adjunct faculty member at the Schulich School of Business at Toronto's York University, Bombay University, and has been appointed Professor of International Business at Rutgers University EMBA programme. Between 1970 and 1985, Kumar was a news anchor on national television in India, according to the brief bio-data put out by the White House.

SP Balu Conferred with P.Suseela Award

Noted playback singer, Padma Shri SP Balasubrahmanyam was Conferred with P.Suseela Award on 30 Oct 2009. He is well known as a singer, artiste and dubbing artiste. He sang over 40,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi languages.

Hyderabad woman to head American college of Chest Physicians

The American College of Chest Physicians has elected Dr Kalpalatha K Guntupalli, the only woman president of the American Association of
Physicians of Indian origin, as its first Asian American woman president.

Hyderabad-born Guntupalli is currently tenured full professor at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, considered one of the top 10 medical schools in the US, and also chief of pulmonary/critical care and sleep division at BCM.

She will be inaugurated as the new president of the 75-year-old ACCP Nov 1 in San Diego. With 2010 declared 'Year of Lung' by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, Guntupalli hopes the AACP will take on a leadership role in "contributing to celebrate lung health around the globe".

At home, her priorities are to make the ACCP the 'one-stop shop' "for education, practice, management, performance improvement and monitoring and the advocacy needs of our membership." Guntupalli did her MD from the Institute of Medical Sciences, Osmania Medical College, Hydrabad, before migrating to the US in 1974 to specialise in internal medicine.

She has received numerous awards including the prestigious 'Parker J Palmer Courage to Teach' award for 2007 by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, making her one of just 10 program directors to receive the honour.

She has also been honoured with the World Lung Health award by the American Thoracic Society.

Her particular passion is in the field of tobacco control programmes, and over the years she has developed anti-tobacco material in seven languages besides anti-tobacco cartoons for children, inspiring more than 2,00,000 children in India to spread the message about the acute dangers of smoking and tobacco chewing.

An educational CD titled 'Evils of Tobacco', developed specifically for South Asia and containing a 12-minute video documentary and 186-video augmented power-point slides for medical professionals, has been translated into Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu and Gujarati and is in use in dental schools, elementary and high schools all over India and the US. Guntupalli was also the founding director of SHARE-USA, a non-profit that undertakes several projects in India including outreach, preventive and interventional care in rural areas. She has served on the board of Pratham-USA, a non-governmental organisation that focuses on literacy projects in India for over six years.

US recession ends, unofficially

The US economy grew in the third quarter for the first time in a year, beating market expectations, as consumer spending and new home-building rebounded, signaling the end of the worst recession in 70 years. The Commerce Department, in its first estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product on Thursday, said the economy grew at a 3.5 per cent annual rate, the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2007, after contracting 0.7 per cent in the April-June period. The growth pace in GDP, which measures total goods and services output within US borders, was above market expectations for a 3.3 per cent rate. The economy last grew in the second quarter of 2008.

"Better than expected GDP is confirming that the Great Recession has ended," said Kevin Flanagan, fixed-income strategist for Global Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley in Purchase, New York. "The question going forward is, is this more of a statistical recovery or are we going to get some meaningful momentum on a sustained basis." US stock index futures prices rose after the economic data. The dollar rose against the yen, and US government debt prices extended their decline on the better-than-expected reports.

Recessions in the United States are dated by the National Bureau of Economic Research and the private-sector group often takes months to make determinations. The economy slipped into recession at the end of 2007 and has been in the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The third-quarter recovery was generally broad-based, with solid gains in consumer spending, exports and home construction.
It was also driven by government programs like the popular discount on some new motor vehicle purchases, which stimulated auto sales and production, and a $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.

The auto discount program ended in August and the home tax credit is due to expire next month. In the absence government support, there are fears that the sprouting economic recovery could falter, with rising unemployment also inflicting damage. Consumer spending, which accounts for over two-thirds of US economic activity, surged at a 3.4 per cent rate in the third quarter, the fastest advance since the first quarter of 2007. Spending fell at a 0.9 per cent rate in the previous quarter.

Residential investment, which was the main force behind the downturn, jumped at a 23.4 per cent rate in the third quarter, contributing to GDP for the first time since 2005, after declining 23.3 per cent in the April-June period. The surge in consumer spending and residential investment was likely driven by government stimulus programs. The economic recovery in the third quarter was also supported by a sharp moderation in the pace of inventory liquidation by business. Business inventories fell $130.8 billion, slowing from a record $160.2 billion plunge in the second quarter. The change in inventories added nearly 1 per centage point to real GDP in the third quarter.

Analysts are hoping that the slowdown in the inventory decline by businesses will continue to support the economy in the fourth quarter, even as consumer spending is expected to retreat under the weight of the worst labor market in 26 years. Excluding inventories, GDP rose at a 2.5 per cent rate compared to a 0.7 per cent increase in the second quarter. The weak dollar boosted exports, but a rise in imports subtracted from real GDP during the quarter. Federal government spending contributed to growth, but both state and local governments were a drag.

Business investment fell at 2.5 per cent pace, with investment nonresidential structures dropping 9 per cent, a reflection of ongoing problems in the commercial property market. A separate report from the Labor Department showed the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits dipped by 1,000 last week to 530,000 last week. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast claims to fall to 521,000 last week from 531,000. Continued claims of people still on jobless aid after an initial week of benefits slid by 148,000 to 5.797 million in the week ending October 17. It was the lowest reading since March.

A 22-year-old Indian Sikh attacked in Australia

A Sikh was punched in his head by a group of Australians who also removed his turban while he was sleeping at a bus stop here.
Police said they are investigating the "unprovoked" bashing of the 22-year-old Indian youth who was punched in the head and had his turban removed as he slept at a bus stop. However, the name and other details of the Indian man has not yet been known.
"The Yarraville man was asleep at a stop near Epping railway station in Cooper Street about 12.45 am on Sunday when a bus pulled into the depot and five males, believed to be believed 17 and 19 approached him," 'The Age' reported.
Two of the five youths allegedly bashed the Indian man, while their three companions are believed to have tried to stop the assault, the report said, adding that the 60-year-bus driver and a passenger also tried to stop the attack. The five youths managed to escape from the scene.
"The victim suffered injuries to his mouth but did not need medical attention," the Age reported. Police have appealed for any witness in connection with the incident.

Robbers stab woman to death, decamp with valuables

A woman was stabbed to death and her husband seriously injured after being robbed by two motorcycle-borne men at Parel in central Mumbai today on October 27.The victims, identified as Beena and Jatin Desai, were out for their morning walk at around 0545 hours this morning when the incident occurred, senior inspector R B Poman of Kalachowkie police station said.
The robbers tried to snatch their belongings.When the couple resisted, the robbers attacked them with a sharp weapon, injuring them seriously. The robbers decamped with their belongings, including a gold chain, police said adding the woman was declared dead on arrival to a city hospital while her husband is recuperating.

Indian cos hiring activity picks up 4.1%

India Inc's hiring activity picked up 4.1 per cent in September with IT, BPO and real estate sectors turning bullish after a long time, a report by job portal naurkri.com has said.
The naukri.com's monthly 'JobSpeak index' increased to 729 in September from 701 in August this year.

"The secular trend is positive across sectors. Had it not been for an early festival season we may have seen further improvement in the index.

"The good news is that the IT and BPO sectors which are big employers especially at entry and junior levels seem to be in positive territory after a long time," Info Edge (owner of naukri.com) COO and Director Hitesh Oberoi said.

Moreover, on the three-month moving average, the index inched up to 719 in September from 715 in August.

Last month, companies' hiring activity saw a positive trend with 14 out of 41 sectors covered showing a double digit rise in hiring activities.

The IT-enabled services (ITeS) and BPO, real estate and retail sectors saw a significant push in September as compared to August, the report stated.

The ITeS/BPO sector, saw an increase of 18.3 per cent in hiring activity in September, while real estate and retail saw a rise of 36.8 per cent and 12.2 per cent, respectively.

Foreign airlines welcome to India

Indians are now among the world's biggest travellers but this has hardly helped our home-grown airlines, thanks to the government's lop-sided policy that appears to favour foreign airlines over desi ones. As a result, in region after region, the lion's share of seats are taken up by foreign carriers while the Indian carriers are left with a fraction.

The reason for this pro-foreign bias is a cabinet decision to allow only those Indian carriers to fly abroad that have an experience of flying for five years and has a fleet of at least 20 aircraft. However, foreign carriers can fly into India even if they are start-ups and have just one or two aircraft. Check this out. Mihin Lanka is a two-year-old Lankan airline with just one plane, and it flies into Varanasi, Gaya and Tiruchirapalli. RAK Airways is another two-year airline from UAE with two planes. It flies to Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Bangladesh's United Airways, is two years old, has three planes, and flies to Kolkata. There are several such examples.

In contrast, Spicejet started in 2005 and has 19 aircraft but can't fly abroad. Nor can Indigo which started in 2006, has a fleet of 22, and holds the best on-time record among Indian aviation companies. It's the same story for Paramount and Go, both four-year old airlines. Never mind that they fly longer routes within India than many overseas routes -- the Delhi to Trivandrum route, for instance, is longer than Mumbai to Dubai -- but they can't still fly overseas.

The net result: the seat entitlement of foreign airlines has gone up from 22.8 to 77.5 million seats per annum from January 2004 to December 2008 -- an increase of 239.5%. The beneficiaries of this largesse include little-known new airlines like Air Arabia, Tiger Airways, Jazeera and Air Asia. As a matter of fact, nearly two-thirds of the international traffic in and out of India has been cornered by foreign airlines. Only three Indian companies can fly overseas routes -- Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher. The other airlines have spare seats because there is overcapacity in the domestic market. So they would, if they could, deploy their spare planes on lucrative routes to Gulf or Southeast Asia.

Foreign airlines, especially from the Gulf and Southeast Asia, have now deployed single aisle planes to fly out of a large number of Indian cities. Air Arabia, for instance, flies from 13 Indian cities to Sharjah. These passengers reach hubs like Dubai, Doha, Qatar, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in time to fill up the wide-bodies of home airlines that go to all parts of the globe, including far away Rio and Buenos Aires. So profitable is the Indian market for foreign airlines that a Gulf airlines applied for permission to fly into five cities, including three metros, even before starting operation! "Some foreign new airlines' first flight is into India while we have the five-year, 20-aircraft restriction. In a free market, this rule is illogical and hurts our own companies," says Paramount Airways MD M Thiagarajan.

The founder of low cost flying in India, Captain G Gopinath, said rules should be such that they allow entrepreneurs to come in and break the old order. "Putting restriction like these will mean established players will continue to enjoy their monopoly and stagnate growth. Newcomers with ideas and innovations must be given a chance," Gopinath said. The aviation ministry in UPA-I had proposed to change the rule and allow airline to fly abroad on a "case-to-case" basis. The matter was then referred to a group of ministers. But then attention strayed from this as Air India's battle for survival came on the sarkari front-burner. The ministry is getting flak as AI's poor health is being partially attributed to the huge grant of bilaterals under which foreign airlines have flooded India.

The Indian aviation industry is obviously worried. The three Indian carriers that fly overseas -- Air India, Jet and Kingfisher -- are in varying degrees of financial trouble. And by the time other airlines start meeting the norm to fly abroad next year, it's feared that foreign airlines would have strengthened their grip on the Indian market through the twin means of low pricing and connectivity to rest of world from their hubs. In the past one year, though, hardly any new bilateral has been given. "India is very strategically located between the west and the east. The one reason our airlines' share in international traffic did not go up was due to lack of hub airports. Our airlines can take passengers from here to a few points in Europe, US, Gulf and southeast Asia but not provide connectivity from there to passengers like an Emirates, Qatar, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa or Air France-KLM combine," said a senior aviation ministry official. He said that once "hubs get ready, we would need a strategy wherein as many Indian carriers can get passengers from nearby areas to these hubs from where the big Indian carriers will take them to all parts of the world." But Indian airline operators fear that by then the stranglehold of foreign carriers over the Indian market will become virtually unshakeable. "You need to act right now,” said one of them who did not want to be identified.

Mewar, Goa express collide near Mathura; 10 dead

The Goa Express crashed into the stationary Mewar Express near Mathura early on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people and injuring about 20. The toll could rise with several passengers still trapped inside the wreckage. Among the trapped are some children. "Some passengers are trapped and are being rescued," Sri Prakash, member, traffic, Railway Board said. Divisional Railway Manager, Agra, R D Tripathi, who was at the spot, said prima facie the train driver of the Goa Express was at fault since he ignored signals.

The Goa Express hit the Mewar Express from behind at 4:50am, Rajesh Vajpayee, CPRO North-Central Railway, told PTI. An unreserved compartment of the Mewar Express was damaged in the accident that took place between Mathura and Vrindavan. Gas cutters are being used to break open bogies. As many as 6 trains have been diverted and 5 trains cancelled. The 2909 Bandra-Nizamuddin Express, 2723 AP Express, 2627 Karnataka Express, 9325 Indore-Amritsar Express, 2951 Mumbai Rajdhani and 2192 Jabalpur-Delhi Express have been diverted. Agra-Nizamuddin Intercity Express 4211 stands cancelled. Trains are moving on Delhi to Agra route after upline was restored. The injured have been shifted to Mathura and Vrindavan hospitals. Police say the Army may have to be called in for rescue operations. Railway minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered an inquiry into the mishap.

By 2010, India will have most no. of diabetics

NEW DELHI: Only 7 out of every 100 adult Indians are diabetic.

This may appear to be a blessing, given that we do almost everything possible -- from sedentary lifestyle, faulty diet to high stress -- to attract such an affliction.

The global projections by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) also show that India has a much lesser prevalence of the disease than most other countries including US.

But that is just about the only satisfying bit of statistics unveiled in IDF's latest Diabetes Atlas.

IDF, which tracks the global spread of this scourge, says that by next year, the country will be home to 50.8 million diabetics, making it the world's unchallenged diabetes capital. And the number is expected to go up to a whopping 87 million -- 8.4% of the country's adult population -- by 2030.

China stands second in this infamous table with 43.2 million diabetes cases at present, which is expected to increase to 62.6 million by 2030.

The disease will prove costly for India, both in terms of lives lost and money wasted. In India, it will kill around 10.07 lakh people in the age group of 20-79 years every year -- the majority being women (5.81 lakh) from 2010.

Diabetes will cost the world economy dear -- $376 billion in 2010, or 11.6% of total world healthcare expenditure. Though India will spend only 1% of the total diabetes spending worldwide, the amount itself is staggering -- $2.8 billion. US, on the other hand, will account for $198 billion or 52.7% of the total diabetes spending worldwide. By 2030, diabetes is expected to cost the world economy $490 billion.

According to the latest figures released on Tuesday night at Montreal, Pakistan, which now stands 7th in the "top 10 worst affected countries with diabetes" list with 7.1 million diabetics, will jump three places by 2030 to become the 4th worst affected with 13.8 million diabetics.

Another of India's neighbours, Bangladesh, which at present does not figure in this list, will make an entry in another two decades, to claim the 7th worst affected country slot with 10.4 million diabetics.

Globally, the number of diabetes patients has risen sharply. While in 1985, 30 million people had diabetes, the number rose to 150 million in 2000. In 2010, 285 million people (6.6% of the global population in the age group 20-79) were found to be diabetic. However, by 2030, an estimated 435 million people are expected to suffer from this disease -- 7.8% of the adult population.

Dr Anoop Misra, director of the department of diabetes at Fortis Healthcare, told TOI from Montreal, "It is certain that India is on the ascending curve of the diabetes epidemic. The effort to prevent it in India must, therefore, start early with proper nutrition in pregnancy, prevention of low birth weight and proper physical activity from 10 years of age."

IDF president Prof Jean Claude Mbanya said, "The data from the atlas shows that the epidemic is out of control. No country is immune and no country is fully equipped to repel this common enemy."

Region-wise, Western Pacific records the highest number of diabetics at present (77 million), followed by South-East Asia (59 million).

Age-wise, the IDF report says, the worst affected are the 40-59-year-olds. By 2010, 132 million people in this age group are expected to suffer from diabetes. However, by 2030, this number will increase to 188 million.

The report points out another interesting trend -- women are the worst affected by this disease. In 2010, one million more women than men have diabetes (143 million women as against 142 million men). The difference is expected to increase to six million by 2030 (222 million women against 216 million men).

The urban population, as expected, has a higher incidence of the disease. By 2010, the number of people with diabetes in urban areas will be 113 million compared to 78 million in rural areas. By 2030, it is expected that this discrepancy will increase to 228 million people with diabetes in urban areas and 99 million in rural communities.

Globally, by 2010, four million deaths in the 20-79 age group will be due to diabetes -- 6.8% of global all-cause mortality in this age group. Majority of these deaths will be in India, China, US and Russia.

Wall St scam pits desi vs desi

Preet Bharara made headlines and photos in the New York press, the national media, and in the Indian community in America last Tuesday when he was sworn in as the US Attorney for Manhattan. There are only 93 US Attorneys in the country, and each one is a prized presidential appointment, none more than the one for Manhattan, whose chief government prosecutor (Bharara's job) will try some of most high-profile cases in the US. His predecessors in the Manhattan office include Rudy Giuliani, who went on to become a national hero, and Louis Freeh, who became the FBI Director. Few expected Bharara, 40, would be making even bigger headlines before the week ended.

Although President Obama had announced his appointment months earlier and he had been vetted in a Senate hearing since, the speed with which the India-born Bharara moved to bust an alleged insider trading racket within days of his swearing in has upheld the widespread previews that he's a man on a mission. The fact that the bust involved at least three 'desis,' including Sri Lankan billionaire Raj Rajaratnam and Indian-Americans Anil Kumar and Rajeev Goel in what Bharara says is a $20 million scam, has only added to his already considerable allure.

A naturalized American, Preetinder S Bharara was born in Ferozepur, Punjab, and moved with his parents to the US in 1970 when he was an infant. He grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Harvard in 1990 and Columbia Law School in 1993, before embarking on a legal and political path where he was marked as a rising star very early in his career.

After a legal track lasting eight years in two Manhattan law firms, Bharara joined New York Senator Charles Schumer as his chief counsel, a job which brought him into prominence in Washington DC, especially after his fearless exposure of political vendetta in the Bush administration's justice department. The case won him widespread praise and admiration for his even-handed, non-partisan approach. When Schumer then recommended him to Obama for appointment as a US attorney, it was a shoo-in especially since he had already worked as a prosecutor in the Manhattan DA's office early on in his career.

But on Friday, Bharara rocked Manhattan by going after Raj Rajaratnam, the Sri Lankan billionaire boss of the hedge fund, Galleon Group and serving notice to corporate America, whose reputation is at an all-time low after a string of white collar crimes. "This case should serve as a wake-up call for Wall Street," Bharara said at a news conference, sounding an ominous note to the bastion of world finance.

The charge against Rajaratnam is insider trading. As head of the Galleon Group, Rajaratnam aggressively pursued insider information that many fund managers pride themselves on getting to stay ahead of the curve and make money for clients. But there are grey areas here, and according to the prosecution, Rajaratnam crossed some red lines in getting non-public information from insiders who were allegedly in in breach of their fiduciary duty.

One of the defendants in the case is Rajiv Goel, an Intel executive, who, as the company's Director of Strategic Investments allegedly gave insider information to Rajaratnam about the chip-maker's investment in a company called Clearwire. This enabled Rajaratnam to make more than $ 500,000 in profit. Anil Kumar, a McKinsey executive who was working on reorganization in the chipmaker AMD, likewise figures in another episode. Rajaratnam, whose net worth of $ 1.3 billion ranks him as the 559th richest person in the U.S, has denied the charges and confidently asserted that he is innocent. It now remains to be seen if Bharara has bitten of more than he can chew in the Big Apple where he first cut his legal teeth.

US robbers targeting Indian homes for gold

Police in the US have found a disturbing trend of Indian-American homes being targeted by burglars for gold, which guarantees the robbers of better money, thanks to the soaring price of the precious metal, rather than traditional electronic items. Since high quality gold jewellery—of 22 carats or more—is found mostly in homes of Indians in particular and South Asians in general, the police say the robbers have increasingly started targeting such homes, a media report said.

The Washington Post said several cases of burglars breaking into Indian homes and making off with gold have been reported in neighbourhoods in and around Washington, which has a sizeable Indian population. "The burglars are discerning. They have taken 22-carat pieces but left behind sterling silver and well-crafted costume jewellery. They have sifted through floor-length gowns lovingly stored in closets and plucked every custom-made sari threaded with gold worth thousands, disdaining saris worth only hundreds," the report said.

Last Thursday at least three such cases were reported in Loudoun county, Virginia. Burglars broke into six Indian homes in Fairfax too. Another 16 burglaries between January and August were reported in Reston, Centreville and Fair Oaks, the daily said. It added that unsolved crimes mirrored a pattern of 93 burglaries in Houston, 37 in central Illinois and several near St Paul, Minnesota. Police had yet to figure out how the burglars so successfully identify homes with large gold caches, the paper said. Victims and police had eliminated obvious links like churches, temples, or even grocery stores where they could have been tracked, it added.

"There is targeting due to gold prices. That’s how we are talking about it, rather than ethnicity," Fairfax police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings said. Raman Kumar, whose house was burgled recently, said the thieves took away a gold statue of Lakshmi while left other electronic items including laptop. "Here is the thing: If you know our customs, you know we carry a lot of gold," he was quoted as saying. The Post said thieves operate with a notable precision, not only in choosing houses but also on sorting the take. "Vindhya Kommineni lost her most expensive saris made for her wedding, her wedding rings and a sterling dinner set that included gold inlay as part of an October 6 burglary that was one of two that day on a block in Fair Oaks. Not all of her gowns were taken, nor were all of her silver utensils," the daily said.

RIL among top 25 Global Champions

India's most valued company, Reliance Industries, has been named among the top 25 global champions for 2009 which managed to outperform the competition in midst of meltdown in the financial markets. Reliance Industries is the only Indian company in the 25 A T Kearney Global Champions for 2009 list, which has been topped by Japanese firm Nintendo, followed by US-based Google and Apple at the second and the third positions respectively.

Even as the proportion of companies headquartered in emerging countries has dropped from 40 per cent in 2008 to less than a third (33 per cent) in this year's list, Reliance Industries along with Mexico's America Movil managed to maintain their status as Global Champions, A T Kearney said. RIL has been ranked in the 11th position ahead of global biggies like Jacobs Engineering, World Fuel Services, ABB, Amazon.com and America Movil.

The list includes firms which managed to outperform the competition in the midst of the meltdown in the financial markets, as they combined long-range strategic planning with nimble execution. "The financial crisis has greatly accelerated the rate of change in underlying global business conditions. Companies that were able to align a disciplined growth-oriented strategy to the transformed economic landscape were the ones that dominated," A T Kearney chairman and managing officer Paul Laudicina said.

All smiles on Leicester's Golden Mile at Diwali celebrations

Spectacular fireworks, music and dancing entertained thousands from across the country as Leicester staged the biggest Diwali celebrations outside India.
Families and friends, from toddlers to great grandparents, came from far and wide to see the city's Belgrave Road – known as the Golden Mile – burst into life on Saturday night.
Earlier in the evening, thousands of people filled Cossington Street Recreation Ground, off Belgrave Road, to see and hear performances of classical and contemporary Indian music and dance.
They were welcomed with Diwali messages from deputy Lord Mayor of Leicester Councillor Manjula Sood and president of the Leicester Hindu Festival Council Maganbhai Patel.
After the speeches, dance troupes wearing colourful costumes performed everything from modern Bollywood numbers to Punjabi and Gujarati folk dance.
Then, shortly before 9pm, a huge firework display lit up the sky over the park.
Diwali – the Festival of Lights – marks the start of the Hindu new year, but is also celebrated by Sikhs and followers of the Jain religion. It is an official holiday in India.
Among those enjoying the entertainment was Jay Singh, 18, of Belgrave, who went to see the fireworks and take in the atmosphere with college friends.
He said: "It's been really good to see so many people from different backgrounds join together. Some of my friends have never been to a Diwali celebration before.
"With all the lights, fireworks and lasers, it's pretty a pretty impressive sight."
Santokh Kaur, 54, of Rushey Mead, Leicester, has celebrated the festival of lights on the Golden Mile for almost every one of the 22 years that festivities have been held there.
He said: "Every year I come along thinking it can't get any bigger or better but still it does. The fireworks were breathtaking and I'm sure there are even more people here than last year."
The Odedra family had travelled from Manchester to attend the event.
Sid Odedra, 47, wife Nita, 43 and daughter Kira, 14, were celebrating Diwali day in Leicester for the fifth time.
Mr Odedra said: "It's just wonderful. There's a real feel-good party atmosphere here and it's great to see so many people out celebrating.
"We have family in Leicester so it is a good time for us all to get together and enjoy these fantastic celebrations."
Some 6,500 lamps have lit up 1,000 metres of Belgrave Road for the past two weeks since the city's Diwali lights were switched on.
Councillor Veejay Patel, chairman of the city council's Diwali working party, said: "We are very proud of our Diwali celebrations in Leicester."
Saturday's spectacle marked the end of a week of Diwali celebrations across the county.
Over the weekend shoppers at Highcross Leicester created a huge Diwali-inspired rangoli – floor artwork – during a workshop staged in the lower mall, while the Bollywood Brass Band paraded through the centre on Saturday afternoon.
On Thursday, staff and customers of HSBC Bank, in Grove Park, Enderby, held an evening of Diwali fun when about 200 people were treated to a selection of Indian food and music at the bank's conference centre.

Fort Collins balloon saga.. absolute hoax

The police investigated the family who produced the high drama of flying balloon that carried a 6-yr old kid and concluded to be a hoax call. The Heene's family is in trouble now for upto 6years of jail and $500,000 of fine. As per the investigations, they found that the family is trying to win a reality-television show of their own, and have been planning for over 2 weeks. All the family members know of this pre-planned saga, and acted really well till the end.

Don't talk on phone while in Cheyenne - File upto $750

Next time when you get into Cheyenne, be alert not to take calls while driving. The grace period for Cheyenne's new ordinance that bans using hand-held cellphones while driving is over, and motorists now face a $750 fine if caught. Cheyenne police say they issued more than 40 citations during the grace period that ended last week that was intended for public education and to allow time for placement of signs at city entrances. A petition to put the ordinance to a citywide vote has been turned into the city clerk's office.

Rama - The Archer King in Denver Art Museum

The Southeast Asia gallery at the Denver Art Museum features several important and beautiful stone sculptures from various ages in the history of the Khmer empire in Cambodia. The monumental torso depicted here represents Rama, the hero of the Reamker, the Khmer version of the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. Rama was considered the ideal Hindu king. By the mid-sixth century he came to be regarded as a god, and ultimately the tenth avatar of Vishnu. The image’s power and strength is conveyed through its stance and great size. Its size and the drapery style identify it with the ancient site of Lingapura, the capital of the Khmer under king Jayavarman IV, who ruled from 928 to 941 CE.

Although headless, there is no doubt that this imposing figure represents the god Rama, who was extremely popular among the Khmer. He is famous for his archery skill and is the only major deity who is habitually associated with archery. Although not visible in this view, Rama is identified by the quiver hanging on the back of the right shoulder of the figure. To date, this torso appears to be the only existing large-scale Khmer sculpture of Rama. He is lavishly adorned with jewelry, consisting of a pectoral, two body bands, armlets, and bracelets. The pleated garment Rama wears is a sampot can kpin, and the double fishtail in front is formed by the extremities of a scarf worn beneath the sampot’s over-fold.

The quiver itself is cylindrical and appears to have a domed cap that would have prevented the arrows from falling out. A wide strap around the shoulder is used to suspend the quiver. The remains of the right arm indicate that is was bent and may have held an arrow. Whether the figure would have originally held a bow in the left hand is unclear, since the arm and the base on which it might have rested have been broken off. A very small stone strut connects the right arm at the elbow to the body, and the remains of another strut are visible on the opposite of the body, an unobtrusive way of stabilizing the appendages of a large sculpture.

Visit the Asian Art Department’s Southeast Asia gallery at the Denver Art Museum to see this and other sculptures from the magnificent Khmer empire. For more information on the Asian Art Department or its support group, the Asian Art Association, log onto http://exhibits.denverartmuseum.org/asianart.

Article written by Emma Bunker for Asian Avenue Magazine. Permitted for publication.

Obama marks Diwali, reaches out to Asian Americans

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday lit a lamp to celebrate the Hindu holiday Diwali as he reached out to Asian Americans with a new initiative aimed at expanding opportunities.

Obama became the first US president to personally take part in a White House ceremony for the festival of lights, lighting a "diya" oil lamp inside the executive mansion and bowing respectfully before a Hindu priest.

"While this is a time of rejoicing, it's also a time for reflection, when we remember those who are less fortunate and renew our commitment to reach out to those in need," Obama said.

Obama used the occasion to sign an executive order setting up a commission, comprised of 20 members from a wide range of government agencies, to conduct a two-year study of how to assist Asian Americans.

The executive order saluted the success of many Asian Americans but pointed out that some communities -- Americans of Hmong, Cambodian and Malaysian descent -- suffer high rates of poverty.

One in five Asian Americans lacks health insurance, in part because more than one million of them are sole proprietors of businesses, the order said.

"It's tempting, given the strengths of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, for us to buy into the myth of the 'model minority' and to overlook the very real challenges that certain Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are facing," Obama said.

He also pointed to health disparities such as higher rates of diabetes and Hepatitis B, along with barriers to employment and workplace advancement.

Previous presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush had also launched initiatives for Asian Americans.

But some community activists were upset that Bush's initiative, run under the Commerce Department, was tightly focused on business development rather than a range of issues.

Obama "has restored its broad mission to ensure that all federal agencies are addressing the needs of underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander communities," said Representative Mike Honda, who heads the community's caucus in Congress.

Nobel winner Ostrom's work relevant for India

The concepts of people's management propounded by political economist and this year's Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom may find relevance in India a country that has suffered for many decades from an inefficient handling of basic natural resources and from looking askance at their privatisation for a better delivery, academicians and researchers said on Tuesday.

The Indiana University researcher has demonstrated through her lab-tests and elaborate proposition that if people' are made the owner-managers of a nation's resources which she calls commons' the results are more likely to be better than when the management of these resources was left entirely to the government or to private sector, the scholars told TOI.

Ostrom showed how common resources forests, fisheries, oilfields, grazing lands and irrigation systems can be managed successfully by the people who use them, rather than by governments or private companies. "What we have ignored is what citizens can do and the importance of real involvement of the people as opposed to just having somebody in the country's capital... make a rule," Ostrom had told reporters in a brief session in Bloomington, Indiana after the prize was announced.

Deepa Gupta, director of Symbiosis School of Economics, said Ostrom's views can be extended to Indian conditions in looking at moving the management of natural resources from a government mechanism such as Gram Panchayat to people's groups. "In a country as vast as India, smaller and sharply local groups of people will be able to plan the use of resources to optimise them," Gupta said. Ostrom's work challenges economist Milton Freidman's argument that oligopolies (many business units that have an equal knowledge of opportunities and equal capability to tap them) will not work in the long run, Gupta pointed out, adding that implying the initiative of local people in planning will help optimise resources such as irrigation.

Rashmi Tripathi, economist with the Bank of Maharshtra, said the very fact that a woman's work in economics is recognised for such a high honour has proved that women are no inferior to men when it comes to complex areas such as economics and this will inspire many young girls in our country.

Calling Ostrom's getting the Nobel prize a great achievement, Vallery Rath, researcher and chief economist at public sector Indian Bank said community management and local area planning is important in a populous country such as India. "Ostrom's research has a very high scope for implementation in our country where poverty and illiteracy are big hurdles in people's involvement in development. This is one of the important approaches to taking planning to the grassroots," Rath said.

Ostrom's proposition does not, however, hold out as a magic wand for India and may not work as a total replacement of the current system. The thesis put forth by Ostrom has the potential to transform rural India though we need to examine how we can mould it to suit the local context, Rath said. "We need to particularly study how the organisational infrastructural for management of public resources by people can be developed or the funding aspects of the concept. However, Ostrom has certainly provided us with the guiding light," she concluded.

Rs.5,000 crore to be infused in Air India: Patel

Talking tough on cost-cutting measures at Air India which posted losses of Rs.7,200 crore last fiscal, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here Wednesday that a major revamp would be taken to save the national carrier, including infusing additional equity of around Rs.5,000 crore.

Addressing reporters after separate meetings with the Air India management and representatives of staff unions, Patel said the aim would be to reduce costs by Rs.3,000 crore annually and generate additional revenue of Rs.2,000 crore.

The options for this were infusing additional equity and restructuring of existing high-cost debts, he said, making it clear that it would be difficult for the carrier to survive without these measures.

While a proposal on infusing additional equity in the carrier has been submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the cost-cutting measures would include retiring leased aircraft and leasing out some of the new ones.

'Though air traffic has improved over the past six months and there is a slight improvement in the overall market scenario in the last couple of months, the aviation industry appears headed on a road to recovery,' the minister said.

He reiterated that the government would help the carrier only if it cut costs drastically and at the same time, generated additional revenues that would put it on the path to recovery in a few years.

In this regard, Patel said the airline has deferred by two years taking delivery of six new Boeing 777 aircraft it had ordered. It has also shelve plans to take on lease new aircraft, including the long-range Boeing 777. The minister described as 'positive' his meetings with representatives of Air India's 14 unions and said they appreciated the airline's problems.

In his meetings, Patel had sought their cooperation and suggestions on cost-cutting measures to help turn around the AI.

India urges China to stop projects in Pakistan Kashmir

India urged China on Wednesday to stop building projects inside the Pakistan-ruled part of the disputed Kashmir region, the latest salvo prompted by a decades-long border dispute between the Asian giants.

The sharp exchanges between the two sides underline the fragility of their relations despite a warming of ties in recent years, primarily on the back of burgeoning trade. The two sides fought a brief but bloody war in 1962.

"We hope that the Chinese side will take a long-term view of the India-China relations, and cease such activities in areas illegally occupied by Pakistan," an Indian foreign ministry statement said. India was reacting to a comment by Chinese President Hu Jintao reported by the official new agency Xinhua that China was "glad" to carry on the Pakistani projects.

It came a day after Beijing said it was "seriously dissatisfied" at a visit by India's prime minister to the disputed Himalayan region of Arunachal Pradesh that is controlled by India but claimed by China.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled to the mountainous state, twice the size of Switzerland, earlier this month to woo voters ahead of a state assembly election.

Both countries jostle for resources and influence as they seek a global role. India has several anti-dumping cases against China pending with the WTO.

There has been a flurry of reports in Indian media of Chinese incursions along the border -- shrugged off by both governments -- and India this month protested against a Chinese embassy policy of issuing different visas to residents of Kashmir.

Beijing lays claim to 90,000 sq km (34,750 sq mile) of land in Arunachal Pradesh, and had already expressed its anger about a planned visit by the Dalai Lama in November. New Delhi sees Beijing as backing Pakistan and says Chinese involvement in Pakistan-held Kashmir was to undermine India.

India holds 45 percent of the disputed Himalayan region while Pakistan controls a third. China holds the remainder of Kashmir.

India and Pakistan, which claim Kashmir in full, have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since their independence from Britain in 1947.

"The Chinese side is fully aware of India's position and our concerns about Chinese activities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir," the Indian statement said.

China is helping build a hydro-electric power plant and highways in Pakistan-ruled Kashmir.

New Delhi also expressed concern on Wednesday over increased incursions by Pakistan-based militants into Indian Kashmir that has led to sudden spurt of separatist violence in the region.

Infosys reports 7.5% profit rise, lifts outlook

India's Infosys Technologies Friday said an improvement in the business climate and easing pressure on billing rates helped the software services firm post better-than-expected growth in quarterly profits. The Indian software bellwether also lifted its earnings and revenue outlook for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, helping its shares rise in a downbeat stock market in Mumbai. Infosys /quotes/comstock/15*!infy/quotes/nls/infy (INFY 47.47, -2.01, -4.06%) was recently up 0.5% in Mumbai, where the 30-stock Sensex fell 0.6% to 16,735.26.

President Barack Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

President Barack Obama on Friday won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. "Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the committee said. "His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

Obama's name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president. The committee said it attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons. "Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play."

SEWA International USA appeals for Andhra-Karnataka Flood Relief Fund

San Francisco, CA, October 5, 2009 - More than 200 people have been killed in Karnataka and neighboring Andhra Pradesh (AP) in heavy rain since Wednesday September 30. Army boats and air force helicopters Friday began to rescue hundreds of marooned people, waiting on rooftops and higher ground. Thousands more have been rendered homeless. 'Over 40,000 houses have been damaged,' a spokesperson for the Karnataka revenue ministry told IANS. He said five helicopters and 40 boats have been deployed for rescue and relief operations. Over 85 relief centers have been set up, he added. The famous Raghavendra Swamy temple in Mantralaya, Kurnool District, AP is under considerable water. In Vijayawada, AP the water levels are at dangerous levels threatening the Prakasam Barrage. The cause of these unseasonably heavy rains has been identified as a major depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Rivers Krishna and Tungabhadra are in spate. Reservoirs are full with the reservoirs at Srisailam and Nagarjunsagar releasing large amounts of water that could result in low-lying villages downstream coming under water. Over 500 villages have already been inundated in AP while 1406 villages are marooned in Karnataka. Nearly 1.8 million affected and half a million rendered homeless.

SEWA International, USA supported NGO Seva Bharati, Youth for Seva, and Jana Sankshema Samiti volunteers in India have already launched relief camps in those towns of AP & Karnataka where food, medicine and essential items are being provided to the people. Seva Bharati volunteers from Adoni went to Mantralaya cleaned Mantralaya temple and cleared the dead bodies of cows of goshala, deer and other animals. Many of the dead are pilgrims to the Mantralaya Temple. Volunteers have removed these bodies and handed them over to the police. In addition, Seva Bharathi has created a Flood relief kit consisting of 3 sets of cooking utensils, two plates and glasses, 10kg rice, 1kg dal, 1/2 kg tamarind, 1/4 kg masala powder, 1 blanket and 1 mat, costing $25 (Rupees 1,200). Working round the clock the volunteers are rescuing, distributing relief materials, providing food and essential health care.

Announcing an immediate relief of $10,000 from general funds towards flood relief, SEWA International USA President, Professor Sree N. Sreenath said, "The tragedy that has unfolded through nature's fury is unimaginable. Our volunteers on the ground are working very hard under adverse conditions. Public support through donations will help mitigate the sufferings of poor people. We exhort our donors to check with their employers for matching contributions. We even have a capped dollar-to-dollar matching program for large donations from institutions such as temples and cultural associations. Many Telugu and Kannada Associations are working with us in raising awareness and helping."
Further Prof. Sreenath continues, "Immediate concern is relief, but lurking behind is the more challenging rehabilitation. Many people have lost their livelihood and homes. Sewa International recognizes experientially that in the longer term we need to rebuild homes, schools, medical clinics, and not the least – damaged lives. Our volunteers on site are assessing the damage and planning rehabilitation already. Sewa International is in this for the long term."

Sewa International USA is a non-profit organization with international presence. It has over 25 years of experience and has the capability to develop volunteers from the local population. Sewa International USA helps victims regardless of caste, class, creed, color or religion. Sewa International USA funds project in the area of health care, education, women empowerment, environment and disaster relief and rehabilitation in India, USA, Sri Lanka, Caribbean countries and South America.

SEWA USA is soliciting tax-deductible contribution for the support of these victims. Donate online at http://www.sewausa.org or make check payable to 'SEWA' & mention 'AP/Karnataka Floods' in the memo. Mailing Address: Sewa International USA
PO Box 14622
Fremont, CA 94539. Contact: info@sewausa.org, (440) 941-2525. For up to date information on relief work visit the website.

Air India flight crew in mid-air punch-up

Perhaps a patch of turbulence on your next flight doesn't merit a complaint after all. Consider the ordeal passengers went through on an Air India flight early Saturday when one of the plane's pilots and a cabin crew member spilled out of the cockpit trading punches, a scrap some reports say left the cockpit unmanned for a brief period. While Air India denies the cockpit was ever unmanned and insists passenger safety was never compromised, India has been spellbound by the incident since news broke of the mid-air fracas on flight IC-844.

The fight started at about 4 a.m. local time, just after the pilots informed the 106 Delhi-bound passengers they were flying over Pakistan. Moments later, one of the pilots allegedly groped a female flight attendant after she resisted his advances.
The pilot then threw her out of the cockpit, setting the stage for a fight with a male flight attendant that wound up in the passenger cabin. The flight, which originated in the United Arab Emirates, landed safely in Lucknow, India, after the pilots threatened to land in Karachi, Pakistan.

Air India, which just suffered a morale-sapping month, said it has grounded the pilots and crew members involved and has started an inquiry. Komal Singh, a 24-year-old female flight attendant, says flight commander Ranbeer Arora was upset over her takeoff announcement and summoned her to the cockpit. Both Arora and co-pilot Aditya Chopra chastised her. Singh was made to feel "uncomfortable as a woman," media reports say.

Singh told flight purser Amit Khanna what had happened and the two returned to the cockpit. That's when the pilots pushed Singh out, allegedly injuring her, and setting the stage for the dust-up between purser and pilot. According to local media reports, Arora has said he merely spoke to Singh about routine takeoff procedures.
Moments later, Arora alleges, Khanna started beating on the cockpit door. After the brawl and the stop in Lucknow, Singh and Khanna continued on the flight to Delhi. As Air India moves forward with its internal investigation and police decide whether to pursue a criminal case, prominent national organizations are jumping into the fray.

Shailendra Singh, president of the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association, says it's not fair to blame the pilots, who "maintained their cool." "There is a certain hierarchy in the cockpit that has to be followed." The National Commission for Women has also said it will investigate Singh's claim. "She came here and sat with me for six hours. She has filed a complaint with me," commission chair Girija Vyas said Wednesday. "We have written to Air India to inquire into the matter and also informed them about the Supreme Court guidelines on sexual harassment at the workplace."

India has the largest number of Muslims living as a minority community

Apart from having the third largest number of Muslims at over 160 million after Indonesia and Pakistan, India also has the largest number of Muslims living as a minority community, says a new study conducted in 232 countries.

While 80 per cent of the world’s 1.57 billion Muslims live in countries where Muslims are in the majority, significant numbers – about one-fifth of the world's Muslim population (or 317 million) - live as religious minorities in their home countries, according to the Forum on Religion and Public Life, a part of a US-based organisation, Pew Research Centre.

Of the roughly 317 million Muslims living as minorities, about 240 million live in five countries: India (161 million), Ethiopia (28 million), China (22 million), Russia (16 million) and Tanzania (13 million). Two of the 10 countries with the largest number of Muslims living as minorities are in Europe: Russia (16 million) and Germany (4 million).

"These minority populations are often quite large. For example, India, a Hindu-majority country, has the third-largest population of Muslims worldwide. The Muslim population of Ethiopia is about as large as that of Afghanistan. China has more Muslims than Syria; Russia is home to more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined; and Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon," said the Pew report released yesterday.

"Of the 232 countries and territories included in this study, 50 are Muslim-majority. Out of these, however, more than six-in-10 (62 per cent) have a smaller Muslim population than do Russia and China individually," added the report.

The report also found that the Middle East-North Africa region contains the highest percentage of Muslim-majority countries compared with other regions. Of the 20 countries and territories in the region, 17 have a population that is more than 75 percent Muslim, with Israel, Lebanon and Sudan being the only exceptions. In comparison, only 12 of 61 countries in Asia, 10 of 50 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and two of 50 countries in Europe (Kosovo and Albania) are 75 percent or more Muslim.

The report observed that more than 300 million Muslims, or a fifth of the world's Muslim population, live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. It also said that while Muslims are found on all five inhabited continents, more than 60 per cent of the global Muslim population is in Asia. Indonesia and Pakistan have over 200 million and 174 million Muslims respectively.

Of the total Muslim population, 10-13 per cent are Shias and 87-90 per cent are Sunnis, said the report, adding that most Shias, between 68-80 per cent, live in just four countries, namely Iran, Pakistan, India and Iraq.

India-US Military Relations Growing Rapidly

For decades, India mostly depended on, first, the Soviet Union and then Russia for its military supplies. But as the Cold War ended and India's relations with the United States began improving during Bill Clinton's presidency, New Delhi gradually increased its military cooperation with Washington. Both New Delhi and Washington have said their relationship is not aimed against India's arch-rival Pakistan. Today, besides holding joint military exercises with the U.S. military, India has also been buying U.S. armaments worth billions of dollars.

The latest India-U.S. defense deal is the sale of this Airborne Early Warning Air Craft, Hawkeye E-2D, developed by American arms manufacturer, Northrop Grumman. Woolf Gross, the corporate director at the company, says the reconnaissance plane has yet to be introduced in the U.S. Navy. Its sale to India, he says, is a symbol of how close India/U.S. military relations are. "So they [the Indians] could have advanced Hawkeyes in India about the same time that the U.S. Navy becomes fully operational with the same aircraft," he explained. During Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to India in July, the two countries agreed on the terms of such high technology sales to India.

India's Ambassador to Washington, Meera Shankar is optimistic about future cooperation.

"Our militaries once unfamiliar with each other now hold regular dialog and joint exercises in the air and on land and sea. We coordinate anti-piracy efforts and have worked together on humanitarian missions. Our defense trade was negligible a decade ago. We placed orders worth $3.5 billion last year and it could grow even more in the future," Shankar said.

Since joint exercises between the two countries are expected to grow, it is better for India to buy equipment that is compatible with the U.S. military, says Walter Andersen at Johns Hopkins University. He says India imports most of its oil and gas and other merchandise by sea, and India is in favor of holding more joint naval exercises.

"And there is real and present danger from growing threats of piracy both on the eastern and western ends of the sea lanes coming out of the Strait of Hormuz carrying oil and gas. And also on the Horn of Africa as well as the Somalia coast where there have been real problems," Andersen said.

In the wake of last year's Mumbai terror attacks, Andersen says India is also keen to get help from the U.S. on how to combat terrorism. India blamed the attacks on a Pakistan based militant group known as Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The group is still intact and determined to repeat the Mumbai terror attacks, says Michael Leiter who heads the Counter-terrorism Center in Washington."I think it is worth noting that in Pakistan, Lashkar-e- Taiba, an al-Qaida ally, continues to pose a threat to a variety of interests in South Asia. The group continues to plan attacks on India that could have major geo-political consequences for the U.S. fight against terrorism," Leiter said.

The Mumbai terror attacks were a "wake up" call for India, says Woolf Gross at Northrop Grumman. He says as India shores up security on its coasts, it will also be a large market for U.S. anti-terrorism equipment. "Speed boats to patrol the coasts in very short range and larger ships further out on the sea constituting a better and broader-based patrol capability as well as operation centers that are geared to share information and provide information back and forth," Gross said.

Military analysts say the ongoing military cooperation between India and the United States is bound to grow as India plans to spend billions of dollars for modernizing it defense capabilities. India, they say, is preparing for short term threats from Pakistan and long-term deterrence against China.

Oops! British Airways offers $40 round-trip from U.S. to India - by accident

Consumers who got this deal must have been flyin' high! British Airways accidentally offered a $40 round-trip airfare for flights between India and the U.S., the L.A. Times discovered. The super-inexpensive airfare, which was available during a two-hour window, was the result of a computer glitch. "We were filing for a $40 increase in fares between the U.S. and India," British Airways spokesman John Lampl told the paper. "Somewhere in that process, they eliminated the 'plus' sign."
"We sincerely apologize," Lampl said. "We're trying to figure out how to best rectify the situation." Lampl said the airline might remedy the error on a case-by-case basis with refunds and/or credits for another flight. An e-mail to travel agents shed more light on what the airline would do. "As these fares were so clearly below the normal fare levels, British Airways is unable to honor these bookings," an e-mail from British Airways to travel agents said. "We have cancelled all affected bookings made during this two-hour window, and will make a full refund for any paid for and issued ticket."

Pepsico appoints India-origin Jaya Kumar as Quaker Foods President

Soft drinks and beverages major Pepsico has appointed India-origin Jaya Kumar as the President of its Quaker Foods & Snacks division. Based in Chicago, Kumar would lead the $2 billion operating unit that has Quaker hot cereals and Chewy granola bars, Life and Quaker Oatmeal Squares ready-to-eat cereals among others in its portfolio.
He would report to PepsiCo Americas Foods CEO John Compton, the company said in a statement. Pepsico is led by India-origin CEO Indra Nooyi. Kumar, who joined PepsiCo in 2005, received his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India. "Jaya (Kumar) brings a powerful combination of innovation, marketing and retail capabilities to his new role at Quaker. "... Jaya's passion for growth, coupled with his deep expertise in consumer and shopping insights, is an unbeatable recipe for taking Quaker through its next chapter of growth," Compton said. Prior to joining PepsiCo's Frito-Lay business, Kumar had 18 years of international and domestic brand management and sales experience with a number of consumer goods companies including Kraft Foods.

Conoco moving ahead on Louisville campus

Now that demolition of the buildings on the former StorageTek campus in Louisville is complete, ConocoPhillips is focusing on architectural planning and getting the necessary approvals to start construction. Since ConocoPhillips started preparing the 432-acre campus for construction last November, it has recycled 1 million pounds of concrete and removed refrigerants, chiller water, lighting systems and furnishings, said Tracy Harlow, a spokeswoman for the company. "Metals and concrete were sorted and recycled," she said. "We've been using the term 'deconstruction' because it indicates we looked at every opportunity for recycling."

Over the next 18 months, the company will be working on its master plan for the campus with St. Louis-based planning and design firm HOK. It has not yet determined the budget for the project. It is targeting occupancy for 2013. "They're going full-bore ahead, working with the city of Louisville and the state of Colorado and the county of Boulder to make sure this happens," Louisville Mayor Chuck Sisk said. "They're working as a partner." While the company doesn't know exactly how many people will work on the campus, it has said it plans to seek approval from Louisville to accommodate at least 7,000 over the next 20 years.

The company plans to locate a new global technology center and corporate learning center on the site. It will bring a core group from its Houston headquarters, but most of the employees will be hired locally. The jobs will include scientists, researchers, trainers and managers. ConocoPhillips also will build an incubator to create space for small businesses with niche technologies. The company will help launch and partner with the businesses. "ConocoPhillips has been very vigilant about meeting with city of Louisville staff and keeping them apprised of what they are doing," Sisk said. "They have not submitted a development plan or any formal documentation. "Officials from the energy company were scheduled to meet with the Louisville City Council on Tuesday night.

Missing Sikh girl in US found with brother-in-law

Police in Nevada state say they have found a 16-year-old Sikh girl who went missing last week. Karamjit Kaur, 16, was with her
brother-in-law Parvinder Singh in Indiana state.

The two were traced to a hotel in Merrillville city in Indiana. No reasons have been given why she disappeared with her brother-in-law.

The girl was last seen on her bike September 30.

Kaur, who had moved to the US months ago with her family from India, told her family that she was going out on a bike ride.

But she never returned. Her bike was found the next day at a skateboarding park.

Police said they were investigating the case and hadn't ruled out criminal charges. But they confirmed that the brother-in-law was visiting Reno before Kaur disappeared.

Disappearance of newly arrived Indian girls and brides in the US and Canada is not uncommon.

There have been a few cases when the girls, who married NRI grooms based in Canada or the US, disappeared after coming here.

Indian scientists want Nobel laureate 'Venky' to tour country

Indian scientists are elated at Venkatraman Ramakrishnan winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry and want him to tour the country to inspire
young students towards studying science.

"It is a wonderful piece of news," said Thirumalachari Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology.

Ramasami, himself a renowned leather scientist, said Ramakrishnan's achievement needs to be showcased across the country to inspire the youth to take up science.

"It is a great day for Indian science," Samir Brahmachari, Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) said pointing out the Ramakrishnan was a product of the Indian education system of the 1970s when resources were scarce in the country.

"We all are very delighted," said M Vijayan, President of the Indian National Science Academy.

Ramasami reminisced about the days when Ramakrishnan had visited Chennai in 2001 to deliver the G N Ramachandran lecture. He had impressed the scientific community who believed that he was "high quality material", Ramasami said.

"He is more like a guy next door and more closer to home," the DST Secretary said adding that it was notable that the Nobel Prize came at a relatively young age.

"We can use his goodwill in the country to attract more students to science," Ramasami said.

Better known as Venky among his friends, Professor Venkatraman Ramakrishnana, an India-born US scientist, won this year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry jointly with Thomas E Steitz (US) and Ada E Yonath (Israel).

U.S. immigrant population flat, Census numbers show

After nearly 40 years of recorded increases, the number of immigrants living in the United States remained flat between 2007 and 2008, recent statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau show. According to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the U.S. foreign-born population represented about 12.5 percent of the population in 2008, down from 12.6 percent in 2007. Taking into account the margin of error, it was possible that the immigrant population remained even.

"Between '07 and '08 there really wasn't that much of a change," said Elizabeth Grieco, chief of immigration statistics staff at the Census Bureau.

But given the steep upward trend in the foreign-born population since 1970, no change is big news.

The American Community Survey collects data from about 3 million addresses each year, and provides one of the most complete pictures of the population, according to the bureau.

The survey doesn't give a reason for the leveling off, but experts pointed to the economic downturn and the resulting high unemployment as factors behind the shift.

"The recession has had a significant effect on immigrants' decisions on whether to come to the U.S.," said Michelle Mittelstadt, director of communications at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.

Would-be unauthorized immigrants and legal temporary workers are mostly the ones who have decided to stay put in their home countries for now, Mittelstadt said.

The largest declines in the foreign-born population were in states that were hardest hit by the recession, including California, Florida and Arizona.

Mittelstadt noted, however, that those immigrants already in the United States appear to be staying.

A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center concluded that emigration from Mexico, the largest source of immigrants to the United States, slowed at least 40 percent between mid-decade and 2008, based on national population surveys in the United States and Mexico, as well as Border Patrol apprehension figures.

The Mexican-born population in the United States dropped by about 300,000 between 2007 and 2008, according to census data.

The new Census statistics show that for the first time since the American Community Survey was fully implemented in 2005, the number of noncitizens decreased, Grieco said.

There were about 21.6 million noncitizens in 2008, down from 21.9 million in 2007. The label noncitizens includes both legal residents and illegal immigrants.

Along with the decline in the noncitizen population, however, there was a notable increase in the number of naturalized citizens, Grieco said.

The number of individuals who are naturalized citizens increased to 43 percent of the foreign-born population in 2008 from 42.5 percent in 2007.

The Census survey matches reports from the Department of Homeland Security on the rise of naturalization applications.

"Naturalizations grew at a record pace between 2006 and 2008, with a total of 2.4 million immigrants becoming new citizens in the United States," according to a DHS statement.

A significant fee increase imposed in 2007 for naturalization applications and an awareness of citizenship brought on during voter registration drives for the 2008 election help explain the increase, Mittelstadt said.

Colorado economy predicted to rebound quickly

Colorado, one of the last states to succumb to the U.S. recession, appears poised to be among the first states to escape its grasp, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder's leading economist.

"We may be one of the first states out," Richard Wobbekind told a gathering of clients of Denver-based financial-planning firm Sharkey, Howes & Javer on Thursday in Denver.

If technology and business spending fuel the recovery, as some analysts expect given anemic consumer spending, then Colorado is in a strong position to benefit, Wobbekind said.

The higher energy and commodity prices that accompany a recovery should benefit Colorado, especially the more rural areas in the state.

A broader U.S. recovery will also result in more goods being transported, which will benefit Colorado.

Retail sales in the state, which are expected to fall 10 percent this year, are expected to rise 4.4 percent next year, Wobbekind predicted.

Forecasts call for the state's job growth to return to a positive 0.4 percent next year, fourth-best among all states.

Colorado, which experienced negative job growth this year, ranked 29th among states on that measure after being among a handful of states to see job gains in 2008.

Any recovery will be sluggish at best, Wobbekind cautioned. But unlike some economists, he doesn't expect a second downturn or double-dip recession later in 2010 or 2011.

"We think we have enough momentum to stay positive," he said.

The Leeds Business Confidence Index, which measures expectations of business leaders in the state, also is showing more positive signs.

Business leaders said they expect to see sales increase next year, although increasing profits remain a more questionable prospect.

Rio wins right to host 2016 Olympics

Finally, South America gets an Olympics. The 2016 Games are going to Rio de Janeiro. In a vote of high drama, the bustling Brazilian carnival city of beaches, mountains and samba beat surprise finalist Madrid, which got a big helping hand from a very influential friend. Chicago was knocked out in the first round—in one of the most shocking defeats ever in International Olympic Committee voting.
Even Tokyo, which had trailed throughout the race, did better—eliminated after Chicago in the second round.

Rio spoke to IOC members' consciences: the city argued that it was simply unfair that South America has never hosted the games, while Europe, Asia and North America have done so repeatedly. "It is a time to address this imbalance," Brazil's charismatic president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, told the IOC's members before they voted. "It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country."
The bearded former union leader disappeared into a huge group hug with the joyous Rio team after IOC president Jacques Rogge announced that the city won. Football great Pele had tears in his eyes.

Madrid's surprising success in reaching the final round came after former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch made an unusual appeal for the Spanish capital, reminding the IOC's members as he asked for their vote that, at age 89, "I am very near the end of my time."