GOPIO NEWS BULLETIN
June 2006
NOTE: GOPIO News is a monthly newsletter of GOPIO International, based in the
CONTENTS
CAMPAIGN TO
SUPPORT US-INDIA NUCLEAR AGREEMENT CONTINUES
INDIAN WORKERS IN GULF COUNTRIES TO GET LEGAL
COUNSELING
BILL
ON NRI VOTING RIGHTS WITH INDIAN PARLIAMENTARY PANEL
GOPIO INTL. AND CHAPTER
NEWS
GOPIO-CT ANNOUNCES ESSAY CONTEST FOR STUDENTS
YOUTH GOPIO TAKES OFF
NRIs/PIOs ACHIEVE
INDIAN
AMERICAN JAY GOYAL WINS
KARAN BILIMORIA
AND KAMLESH PATEL TO BECOME MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF LORDS
INDIAN
AMERICAN TO HEAD
INDIAN AMERICAN STUDENTS WIN TOP PLACES IN NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC BEE COMPETITION
MRIDULA BALJEKAR WINS WORLD COOKBOOK AWARD
KARAN BILIMORIA HONORED WITH
INDIAN AMERICAN STUDENT MADHAVI GAVINI WINS INTEL SCIENCE
FAIR GRAND PRIZE
INDIAN AMERICAN MITA SHARMA IS GOLDMAN SACHS GLOBAL LEADER
PRESIDENT BUSH HONORS TWO
INDIAN AMERICANS FOR VOLUNTARISM
EIGHT
NEWS OF
INTEREST TO NRIs AND PIOs AROUND THE WORLD
INDIAN WORKERS GET COMPENSATION IN
INDIAN DIASPORA MOVIE SPAN ETHNIC BOUNDARIES
GOPIO LIFE MEMBERSHIP AND CHAPTER
FORMATION
EDITORIAL BOARD
CAMPAIGN TO
SUPPORT US-INDIA NUCLEAR AGREEMENT CONTINUES
Global
Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) has been actively engaged in educating
the public officials about the highlights of the agreement. This agreement is in the best interest of
both countries,
Appropriate
bills have been introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives to
facilitate the clearance of the Agreement.
Several
community activists have been involved in convincing the Senators and the
Congressmen to vote for the appropriate bills (Senate Bill: S2429 and the House
Bill: HR 4974). The focus thus far has
been to encourage as many Senators and Congressmen as possible to become
Co-sponsors of the respective bills.
Thus
far ten Senators (all Republicans) and thirty-one Congressmen (Twenty
Republicans and Eleven Democrats) have become Co-Sponsors of these bills. Notable exceptions, who have not yet
supported the deal by becoming co-sponsors are: Senator Hillary Clinton
(Co-Chair of Friends of India in the Senate) and Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
(Co-Chair of India Caucus in the House)
Thousands
of petitions by mail and e-mail have been forwarded to the Congress seeking
support to S 2429 & HR 4974.
GOPIO
leadership has been in the front line along with other organizations such as
US-India Friendship Council, AAPI, AAHOA, and IAFPE in facilitating the
process. Among them were Ashok Mago
(TX), Swadesh Chatterjee (NC), Ken Bajaj (MD), Dr. Piyush Agrawal (FL), Ranvir
Trehan (VA), Narender Reddy (GA), Ramesh Kapur (MA), Nilesh Mehta (NJ), Dr.
Suresh Gupta (MD) Sudhakar Shenoy (VA), Dr. Renu Misra (MD), Dr. Bharat Barai
(IN), Niranjan Shah (IL) Armeane Choksi (DC), Dr. Parthasarathy Pillai (MD),
Dr. Thomas Abraham (CT), Inder Singh (CA)
and Sant Chatwal (NY)
In the
month of May, there was a very successful event Washington Chalo to meet
& confer sessions with Senators and Congressmen. People of Indian Origin from all across the
During
the past few weeks, immigration has become more urgent issue, so there has been
no significant movement on the two bills. We are hoping that after the
Memorial Day recess, both Senate and the House would become more involved in
this issue, said Dr. Piyush Agrawal, US National Coordinator for GOPIO.
GOPIO urges the community leadership in
The passage of the nuclear agreement by the US Congress
is very critical. It is therefore very important to educate those who have the
power to change the old laws to accommodate new realities.
To find the name of your senators and congressman,
visit http://congress.org, type your zip code
in the box under Elected Officials and Click: "GO". One can send an
E-mail. However, the preferred choice is to send a fax.
If you like to volunteer in
this campaign, contact the GOPIO National Coordinator Dr. Piyush Agrawal
(Weston, Florida), Tel: 954-389-4465, E-mail: sudhapca@aol.com
or GOPIO President Inder Singh (Tarzana, California), Tel:818-708-3885, E-mail:
gopio-intl@sbcglobal.net or GOPIO Secretary
General Ashook Ramsaran (Fresh Meadows, New York City), Tel: 718-939-8194,
E-mail: ramsaran@aol.com.
The Brussels Conference on 8-9 November 2006 has
started attracting high profile speakers and participants. The Indian
Merchants Chamber (IMC) and Global Organization of People of Indian Origin
(GOPIO) have joined the Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC) to organize the
Conference on the theme Europe meets India:
Economic and Political Dimensions of the EU-India Strategic Partnership
Challenges and Opportunities which will be held on 8-9 November 2006 in Brussels. The
inauguration of the Conference will take place in the Hotel Sheraton on 8
November and the business sessions will be held in the European Parliament on 9
November. The Conference is being organized in association with the Embassy of
India. Although Global Energy Security
and EU-India Energy Co-operation will be the focus of the event during the
business session, the trade and commerce relations between EU and
The EU Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs will
deliver the keynote address on November 9th. Several Members of
European Parliament have given their consent to attend the Conference and some
of them will also address the event. Herve Jouanjean, Dy Director General of
the External Relations will speak on the EU-India Relations. Francisco De
Paula Coelho will give his perspective of the opportunity for seeking
co-operation of the European Investment Bank. High representatives multinationals
such as Shell, KLM, UPS will also speak in the event. Sam Pitroda,
Chairman of the Indian Knowledge Commission will deliver the inaugural Key Note
address on the 8th November and the organizers have invited Indian
Minister for Power as the Chief Guest. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will grace the event
during the inauguration on November 8th.
The Conference offers a great opportunity for
sponsors to make their product and company known to European and Indian
business leaders. Sponsorship is available
for those who are interested in their companys Logo and info to be displayed
in the Conference Brochure and EICC website.
The Chair of the Conference and Secretary General of
the EICC Sunil Prasad can be contacted on Tel. &
fax: 0032 2 469 2677 GSM: 0472-207 338, E-mail: info@eicc.be
or sunil.prasad@coditel.net. For more info about the Theme and details of the Conference
please visit: www.eicc.be
A new Indian museum has opened up in
The museum stands
unique with its collections that include antiques like rare musical
instruments, agricultural objects, cooking utensils, pieces of clothing,
ancient photographs and historical books. Some objects of historical and
aesthetic value, that would find place in the museum, include a sapat (wooden
slipper), jata (grinding stone), boli (gourd bowl), hassawa (grass knife) and
aluminum scoop. The museum is expected to serve as a link between the revered
ancestors and the present generation of people of Indian origin.
The museum's large
collection has been obtained through field trips by administrators of the
institution. Most items have been acquired as gifts and bequests by interested
individuals, families, priests, historians, scholars and collectors of the island
community.
INDIAN WORKERS
IN GULF COUNTRIES TO GET LEGAL COUNSELING
Govt. of Indian had made higher budgetary
provisions for legal counseling to affected Indian wormers in the Gulf
countries, where labor law violations have been increasing.
"This new
concession will be given to Indian workers beginning this month and will be in
the form of once-a-month two-hour sessions open to all Indians," Minister
of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said.
"However, the
problem will be solved if action is taken on both ends. This is what I am
trying to impress upon Gulf governments.
The minister also said companies recruiting
workers fraudulently in
Stressing that his ministry's first priority
is the Gulf region because of the large number of Indians working there, Ravi
said the scenario here is totally different from that in the
"The problems of Indians here are
different from those in the West. My government attaches a great deal of
importance to the region.
I had a meeting with eight ambassadors in
Ravi who visited three Gulf countries -
BILL ON NRI
VOTING RIGHTS WITH INDIAN PARLIAMENTARY PANEL
A bill to extend voting rights
to non-resident Indians (NRIs) has been referred to the parliamentary panel for
examination, Law and Justice H.R. Bhardwaj told the Rajya Sabha (the Upper
House of Indian Parliament) that the new bill sought to confer voting rights to
Indian citizens who are away from their place of ordinary residence in India
for employment, education or otherwise.
"The bill has been referred to the department-related parliamentary standing
committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice for examination and
report," he told the house in a written reply. Voting rights for NRIs were
promised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during
The prime minister had said the demand for such rights had a
"convincing political basis" and assured the delegates that his
government would take appropriate measures in this regard.
The union cabinet later approved the tabling of the Representation of the
People (Amendment) Bill, 2006 in both houses.
GOPIO INTL.
AND CHAPTER NEWS
GOPIO-CT ANNOUNCES ESSAY CONTEST FOR STUDENTS
A
new essay contest for all tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT) high school and
undergraduate students was announced today. The topic is How Does Democracy Arise, Survive and Thrive.
There are two prizes for each of two age categories up to 18 years old; and 18
to 22 years old. The winner in each category will receive $1,000 and the
runner-ups will receive $500 each.
This
contest is sponsored by GOPIO-CT Chapter. GOPIO Global Organization of
People of Indian Origin is a worldwide organization dedicated to community
service and working with people locally to coordinate activities of common
interest nationally and on a global scale.
The
essay subject is both topical and timeless. We believe itll drive the
younger generation to actively think about it and participate in the contest.
said Sangeeta Ahuja, President of GOPIO-CT.
The
essay competition will be coordinated by a committee headed by Abhijit Nagaraj,
2006 High School graduate from
The
GOPIO website www.gopio.net
provides details of this Essay Contest which ends on July 10th,
2006. The winners will be presented at an awards dinner in Mid-August 2006 in
Contact:
Sangeeta Ahuja, Tel: (203) 329-9744 or visit www.gopio.net
YOUTH
GOPIO TAKES OFF
Youth
Gopio had an event this Friday May 19th consisting of over 80 High
School going teens. Other than networking with other High School students,
Youth GOPIO's goal is to donate sufficient funds for charitable causes such as
education and to help out poor in villages in
Launched
in
Youth
GOPIO presented Dance Dhamaka-06 on Friday May 19th, in
NRIs/PIOs ACHIEVE
INDIAN AMERICAN
JAY GOYAL WINS
Indian American, Jay Goyal, has won the Democratic primaries for the Ohio House
of Representatives. The 25-year-old won the primaries by securing 61.06 per
cent of the votes compared to 38.94 per cent of his opponent Ellen K. Haring on
Tuesday. Elections for the state house are scheduled in November.
A resident of
He says he will apply his real world experiences in his political office if
he gets elected. Current incumbent Bill Hartnett's term ends this year.
"Access to healthcare is a priority, especially to our seniors and
children. Similarly, excellence in our schools and opportunities for higher and
continuing education are of critical importance," says Goyal,
who returned to
KARAN BILIMORIA
AND KAMLESH PATEL TO BECOME MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF LORDS
British Indian entrepreneur Karan Bilimoria, the founder and
chief executive of Cobra Beer, is set to be appointed to
Hyderabad-born Bilimoria's name along with that of
Prof Kamlesh Patel, an academic and government advisor with expertise in mental
health, drugs and ethnicity, has been recommended by the House of Lords
Appointments Commission to be made peers, it was officially stated Wednesday.
The seven-member list will go to
Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has promised to accept the Commission's
recommendations and pass them to the Queen.
INDIAN AMERICAN
TO HEAD
He will serve as
president-elect of the society till April 2007, when he will take over as
President. Over the next two years, until April 2008, Dr Mukkamala
will help improve the health care system in the state by implementing the
society's report titled "The Future of Medicine: Leading the Way to a
Better Health Care System."
Dr Mukkamala studied at
He is head of the
Radiology Department at
Dr Mukkamala has been closely involved in development and
charitable activities in
INDIAN
AMERICAN STUDENTS WIN TOP PLACES IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BEE COMPETITION
Indian-American
students have made a clean sweep of this year's National Geographic Bee by
winning the top three places in the prestigious quiz contest. Twelve-year-old Bonny Jain of
Jain managed to
answer 26 out of the 27 questions posed to him. For the winning question, he
was asked to name the mountains that extend across much of
Jain, who
represented
Nearly five million
kids take part in the Bees organized by the National Geographic Society every
year at schools across the
However, various
surveys have pointed to "an astounding lack of geographic knowledge"
on the part of the American public. A recent study by the National
Geographic-Roper Public Affairs found that half of Americans between 18 and 24
could not locate the state of
MRIDULA
BALJEKAR WINS WORLD COOKBOOK AWARD
Great Indian Feasts, the latest cookbook by Britain-based celebrity chef Mridula Baljekar, has won the 'Gourmand World Cookbook Award' in
the 'Best Asian Cuisine Cookbook' category. Baljekar, who runs the
popular
Books from 65
countries were in the running for this year's prestigious Gourmand awards and
were judged by a panel of high profile judges. To be a 'best in the world' cookbook, usually entails a strong author,
excellent publishing standards and user-friendliness.
As cookery writer, Baljekar has several other titles to her credit, including
"500 Indian Recipes", "The Low-fat Indian Vegetarian
Cookbook", "Curries of the World", and "Secrets of an Indian
Kitchen".
KARAN BILIMORIA HONORED WITH
Karan Bilimoria, founder
and CEO of Cobra Beer, has been honored with the 'Man of the Year' award at the
2006 UK Drinks Business Awards. Bilimoria's Cobra
Beer also won the highly coveted Business Excellence Award for the second year
running, an official release said on Wednesday.
The judges commended
the company for its "continuing high level of innovation and
creativity" in recent product launches of Cobra including Cobra Lower Cal
and King Cobra.Cobra Beer also finished runner-up in
the 'Best Consumer Campaign' category for CobraVision
and the 'Best Design and Packaging' category for King Cobra.
The Drinks Business Awards,
hosted by leading premium drinks trade magazine 'The Drinks Business', rewards
high- performing companies and individuals within the UK drinks industry.
INDIAN
AMERICAN STUDENT MADHAVI GAVINI WINS INTEL SCIENCE FAIR GRAND PRIZE
The 2006 Intel International Science and Engineering
Fair (ISEF) offered some $4 million in scholarships, internships, science
trips, and other prizes to a field of nearly 1,500 competitors. The students from 47 countries participated.
Setting the pace
were the three winners of the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award. The
fair's top honors and $50,000 scholarships went to Madhavi Gavini
of the
Inspired by her
grandmother, who practices holistic medicine called Ayurveda,
Gavini, 16, examined extracts of the herb Terminalia chebula,
a relative of the walnut that has been used as an antiseptic. Gavini found that the substance kills the drug-resistant
infectious bacterium Pseudomonas, which can be fatal to people with
compromised immune systems. According to Gavini, no
treatment currently on the market can do that.
INDIAN
AMERICAN MITA SHARMA IS GOLDMAN SACHS GLOBAL LEADER
An Indian American college student Mita Sharma of
PRESIDENT BUSH HONORS TWO INDIAN AMERICANS
FOR VOLUNTARISM
As part of the Asian American Heritage
Month Celebration, President Bush honored five Asian Americans with volunteer
service awards. Among them are two Indian Americans Ravi Sankar of
Sankar is 19th
grader and has been recognized for helping students study for their college
entrance examination by tutoring them in Math at the
Padithurai is a executive with the Salvation Army, and helps families
prepare their taxes and create retirement plans.
EIGHT
Among the 141 Presidential Scholars 2006
are eight Indian American students. They are: Raj G. Ranade of
NEWS OF
INTEREST TO NRIs/PIOs AROUND THE WORLD
In the recently held
The opposition Fiji
Labor Party (FLP), led by former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, a PIO who was ousted in a 2000 coup by armed Fijian nationalists, won 31
seats in the tightly contested election. Labor has the support of two lawmakers
from the allied United Peoples' Party. FLP has decided to join the new
government under Prime Minister Qarase. According to
the agreement, FLP will have nine ministers in the new cabinet.
Indo-Fijians
comprise 44 per cent of
INDIAN
WORKERS GET COMPENSATION IN
A
Judge
Eagan wrote, "Defendants recruited Indian workers in
The
verdict, first reported by the Tulsa World, came more than four years after the workers left the
If
divided equally, each worker might receive more than $20,000. Federal
attorneys, who joined the lawsuit on the side of the workers, had asked the
judge for $5.5 million in back wages and damages.
Lead
plaintiffs' attorney Ken Felty said while his clients
did not get that amount, the judgment still ranks as the first million-dollar
verdict in a case of this kind.
John
Pickle Co. ceased operations shortly after the Indian employees left the
company and filed the lawsuit. After the workers left and throughout the trial,
the company maintained its innocence. The men, 52 in all, received help from
members of a nearby Pentecostal church, and have since scattered across the
On Saturday
April 1 and Sunday April 2,
This year the festival also added to
Holi Mahotsav 2006s cultural performances featured
traditional classical dance styles, folk dances, traditional music, and modern
Bollywood bands and music. Bhavan
already lived the dreams of many sporting youngsters by representing NSW and
.The contentment derived from showing
respect, as Bhavan Australia launched its Seniors
Program and honored Mr Sid Verma (who is actively
involved in business at age 97+, and holds a current drivers license) and Dr
Nana Badve, a distinguished community elder.
INDIAN
DIASPORA MOVIE SPAN ETHNIC BOUNDARIES
Indian born
businessman living in
A proud and
enthusiastic Samtani stated that "it was important for this film to be
made in
The movie has been
receiving rave reviews and critical acclaim. It is being entered in the GOA
FILM FESTIVAL in
GOPIO, LIFE
MEMBERSHIP AND CHAPTER FORMATION
GOPIO is a non-partisan,
non-sectarian global organization with chapters in several countries, actively promoting
the interests of people of Indian origin worldwide by monitoring and addressing
current critical issues of concern, and by enhancing cooperation and
communication between groups of Indians living in various countries.
GOPIO Individual Life membership
is open to all who believe in the mission of GOPIO. The one- time fee is $5,000
for Platinum Life Membership, $2,500 for Gold Life Membership and $1,500 Silver
Life Membership and half the amount for each category for those from developing
countries and
GOPIO is looking forward to
opening chapters in all major cities of the world so as to network people of
Indian origin all over the world. If you do not have chapter in your city,
please visit GOPIO website (www.gopio.net) and
get details of chapter initiation (visit http://www.gopio.net/chapter_initiative.htm).
Process involves sending a letter of intent to start a chapter by a committee
of five people or more. For more
information, contact:
GOPIO President Inder
Singh,
GOPIO Secretary General
Ashook Ramsaran, Fresh Meadows,
To become a Life member of
GOPIO, visit http://www.gopio.net/membership_form.htm,
print and fill up the form and send it with a check to: GOPIO,
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Chief Editor: Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman, GOPIO (
Webmaster: Prashant Gupta (
Contributors of this issue: Inder Singh (USA), Sunil
Prasad (Belgium), Ashook Ramsaran (USA), Dr. Piyush Agrawal (USA), Gambhir Watts (Australia)
GOPIO NEWS welcomes NRI/PIO
related stories from all over the world. Be a volunteer correspondent or
reporter. Contact Dr. Thomas Abraham, Tel: 203-329-8010, E-mail:
Visit GOPIOs Official site
at www.gopio.net or www.gopio.com