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After Superman, Kal Penn’s career takes off |
Indian American actor Kal Penn has joined the cast of Fox TV’s popular series "24". Penn will star in a recurring role as a villain in the sixth season, which starts in January 2007. He will play a guy who is somehow involved with the Islamic guru running the neighbourhood mosque and might be the key to a terror plot. First aired in November 2001, “24” covers the events of a 24-hour period in the life of federal agent Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, as he tries to prevent one or more domestic terrorist attacks, set largely in Los Angeles. Penn, whose most recent credits include the feature Superman Returns and ABC’s untitled Danny Comden comedy pilot, next stars in the feature comedy Van Wilder 2: Rise of the Taj, a sequel to the 2002 film Van Wilder film centred on Penn’s character Taj.
Born of Indian ancestry in Montclair, New Jersey, Penn is a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles, where he double majored in film and sociology.
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Lentil shortage makes news in US
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| A shortage of dal (lentil) in the US that has been agitating Indian Americans for the last couple of months has made its way to the mainstream US media. “A ban on Indian lentil exports is causing global prices to soar and Indian expatriates to stock up on the tiny peas,” said the Washington Times, noting that New Delhi had banned all lentil exports on June 22 to stabilise domestic prices. The announcement sent area Indian Americans scrambling for lentils before prices skyrocketed. Stores are limiting the number of bags of lentils each family can buy as supplies run out. In the US, prices for Indian lentils have increased by 100 per cent or more in recent months.
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TV channel for Indian diaspora
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The Indian government has launched a television channel, called PIO TV, meant for the Indian diaspora that will now be able to connect with its motherland in real time. The channel will be available through the Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) platform, which was also launched by the minister here.
Said Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi: “We look after the interest of the 20 million people of Indian origin (PIOs) and non-resident Indians (NRIs) who reside overseas. Hence I am delighted to launch this new platform that will connect the expatriates with instantaneous news and information from India,” Ravi said. “This service could further enhance the fast-growing relationship between overseas Indians and India,” he added.
The service provider for the channel is India Broadcast Live (IBL), a global entertainment and media company based in the US. “PIO TV is the first-ever ethnic channel for any expatriate community,” said Munish Gupta, president of
IBL.
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Indians top Taiwan degree list
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Indian students top the list of foreign students who have enrolled for the Taiwan International Graduate Programme (TIGP), the first scheme in the country offering doctoral degrees to foreigners.
There are 37 Indians among the 203 enrolled for the programme, offered by Academia Sinica, according to a report from Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA). “Indian students make up 18 per cent of our student body, which ranks No. 1 among 25 foreign countries,” Hong Seau-feng, TIGP executive secretary for student affairs, said.
Vietnam and Malaysia, with eight and seven students respectively, follow India. Local students comprise 56 per cent.
Besides TIGP, which started in 2002, the Taipei-headquartered Academia Sinica offers eight such programmes, with degrees issued from partner universities such as National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University. |
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Indian to head US institute on racial justice
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An Indian American women’s rights activist has been promoted president and executive director of Applied Research Centre (ARC), a public policy institute advancing racial justice in the United States through advocacy, research and journalism.
According to a posting on the ARC website, Rinku Sen will immediately take over the leadership role vacated by founding director Gary Delgado who steps down in August.
Delgado will continue as president emeritus of the institute, which he had founded in 1981 and headed till date.
“This is an important time for the nation to recommit itself to racial justice,” the New York-based Sen, who served as the centre’s communications director prior to this promotion, said. “From immigration and health care to education and national security, we must craft solutions to pressing political problems by confronting the legacy of racial inequality in this country,” she said. |
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NRI wins global digital champion award |
An Indian American pioneer in digital education, Appu Kuttan, has won the prestigious 2006 Champions of Digital Literacy Inspiration Award for making the most contributions globally to bridging the digital divide over the years. Kuttan, chairman and founder of CyberLearning, the global non-profit leader in digital education, was presented the award by David Saedi, president and CEO of Certiport, at a ceremony at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
“This award is given in recognition of exceptional vision and leadership in bridging the digital divide. We selected Appu Kuttan unanimously for this prestigious award because of his outstanding leadership efforts and contributions towards bridging the digital divide by advancing digital literacy in many countries over many years,” he said.
Kuttan was chosen for the Inspiration Award from 13 Champions of Digital Literacy award recipients. |
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