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INDIAN DIPLOMAT NAMED UN GENERAL SECRETARY’S SPECIAL ADVISOR |
| Indian diplomat Vijay Nambiar has been appointed as Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan with the rank of Under-Secretary General. A veteran in the diplomatic services, Nambiar will advise Annan on a range of issues and represent Annan in the UN and elsewhere at a high level. Nambiar will also liaison with permanent representatives and be a member of the policy committee. |
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BILLBOARD MANIA: IT’S A PATEL |
Dr Dinesh Patel is perhaps the most influential Indian American in Utah. The founding partner and managing director of vSpring Capital, an early stage venture capital firm with $200 million under management, is a close friend of Governor Jon Hustsman and one of his foremost strategic economic advisers; he has served as co-chair of Huntsman’s transition committee and helped the governor put together his administration, particularly his business team.
Patel was also the driving force behind organising the first Diwali celebration in the Governor’s Mansion, hosted by Huntsman last year — an event attended by ambassador Ronen Sen and several senior state officials and legislators in addition to the state’s Indian-American community leaders (India Abroad, November 25, 2005).
Now, in another first, Patel has become the only Indian American in the US to have his face plastered across large billboards all across the metro Salt Lake City area, as part of campaign by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce to promote economic development. Of the 30 billboards placed across the city and its suburbs, five carry Patel’s picture. |
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PADMA LAKSHMI STRIKES IT BIG |
For 25 years, Americans have been used to the Easter tradition of watching Cecile B Demille’s 1956 extravagant classic The Ten Commandments on ABC. This year, there will be one more addition to this tradition — during Easter weekend, ABC will also screen its two-part made-for-series, The Ten Commandments.
Staring in the mini-series is Padma Lakshmi a.k.a. Mrs Salman Rushdie. Ooops, we shouldn’t have said that last bit.
Lakshmi has long tried to show that she stands on her own as a model, cook-book writer and actress. And she certainly was not happy when last month, at the television industry’s winter preview event in Pasadena, CA, a reporter from The Kansas City Star pointed out that her bio in The Ten Commandments press kit failed to mention that the actress is married to Rushdie.
“I don’t see what relevance it has to my career,” an angry Lakshmi responded. So, keep the Mrs Rushdie bit aside. Padma Lakshmi, here, stars as Princess Bithia, who raises baby Moses in a royal Egyptian household. |
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SEEMA SINGH BREAKS NEW LIMITS |
In another indication of the importance he attaches to the Indian-American community, New Jersey governor Jon Corzine has decided to retain Seema Singh as the Ratepayer Advocate. “Seema Singh is a proven leader and capable administrator,” Gloria Montealegre, a spokesperson for the governor, said. She said more Indian Americans might be accommodated at senior levels in the administration. Former governor Jim McGreevey first picked Singh for Public Advocate. But he could not reinstate the post, which was abolished by the State legislature in 1994. Singh was then moved as Ratepayer Advocate. Technically, she remains the first Indian American to hold a cabinet position in the state.
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CANADIAN SCHOOLS PERMIT SIKH STUDENTS TO CARRY KIRPAN |
| Orthodox Sikhs were overjoyed when Canada’s highest court allowed Sikh pupils to carry a small knife (kirpan) which is one of the required articles of their faith. The 2001 case began with Gurbaj Multani, then a 12-year-old suspended from his Montreal school for carrying the kirpan. An appeal was made to the highest courts when a Quebec court in 2004 reinstated the council of commissioners’ decision. |
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BAHRAIN EMPLOYER LOCKS UP 6 INDIAN WORKERS IN FREEZER TRUCK |
| A Bahraini employer who locked up six Indian workers in a freezer truck for 48 hours (with the airconditioner switched off) has been arrested and remanded in custody for a week. He is expected to be presented in court next week for hearing. The six Indians, who had a dispute with their employer regarding their visa status, were rescued when their co-workers alerted the Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF) officials. The workers have filed a case against their employer, Hussain Ali Ahmed, the owner of Waqf Garage. The case has been taken seriously in New Delhi and the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, E. Ahmed, had reportedly called the Indian ambassador, Balkrishna Shetty, for a report on the matter. According to ICRF officials, the Bahraini employer has a bad history of treating his employees. He also beat up other workers after locking up the six employees in the freezer truck. |
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FUSION OF RELIGION AND MEDICINE |
Faith and spiritual life has fascinated Om Lala for over a decade, and his anger at religious bigotry, especially on college campuses, led him to start the Harvard Interfaith Council over three years ago.
Now, Lala, who wants to study medicine, is set to pursue his interest in religion and medicine for a year at Cambridge University and earn a Master’s degree. He was last month named one of the four John Eliot Scholarship Fellows at Harvard University who will spend a year at Cambridge. High academic score and involvement in the community were some of the key factors in the selection of the highly competitive scholarship.
“I had proposed to undertake at Cambridge interdisciplinary courses that focused on the intersection of public health, health policy, and medicine with interfaith dialogue and religious diversity,” he said. His interest in how religion and medicine interact is multidimensional. On the one hand, he wants to study the efficacy of prayer, and the importance for physicians to know about different aspects of their patients’ religious life. On the other, Lala, who has worked in the health policy office of Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy as a legislative intern, is also interested in exploring how non-government agencies concentrating on medicine and relief deal with people of various faiths. |
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INDIA-BAITER MAKING AMENDS |
Not, too long ago, Senator Max Baucus of Montana, who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, was one of the fiercest critics of India over what he perceived was New Delhi’s unfair trade practices. He was among those in the US Congress taking the lead to place India on the Super 301 and Special 301 hit lists of the US Trade Representative for violations of intellectual property rights and had no qualms about arguing for trade sanctions against India. But Baucus has virtually turned a new leaf on the issue after a trip to Bangalore last month; not only has he changed his views about outsourcing and offshoring, but simply cannot hold himself back from raving about India.
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