Padamsee warrier, an Indian American, has been appointed as the new Chief Technology Officer of Cisco systems, the leading supplier of networking equipment.
Warrier 47, stated she is looking forward to joining a world class organisation poised to lead the next era of Internet evolution. Warrier is an MS in chemical engineering from Cornell University and has a BS in chemical engineering from IIT Delhi. In 2007 she was awarded doctor of engineering, Honoris Causa from New York's Polytechnic University. She was executive VP at Motorola.

PNC MENON, who made it to the list of Forbes' magazine's 2007 billionaires, has decided to provide healthcare, education, water and employment to 80,000 people of two panchayats in Palakkad, Kerala where he was born.
Menon who is now an Omani national, and Chairman of the Sobha Developers group of companies, headquartered in Dubai, has an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion, and is ranked at 754 on the list of the world's 946 richest people. 
His social humanitarian Foundation known as the Sri Kurumba Trust provides wedding trouseaus and expenses for dowryless marriages, as well as care for senior citizens, widows and their children.

BENGALI DIASPORA

NRI scientist Santosh Mukherjee has started a project to launch Santech Research Valley through tie ups between US-based Santech International and various international organisations and foreign varsities.
Santech's Sanlab USA, operates from New Jersey and is an R&D company dedicated to the emerging fields of nanoelectronics and telecommunications. Mukherjee is to apply for the status of a special economic zone to set up the ambitious research valley off Rajarhat near Kolkata airport.
The valley will be the first of its kind in Asia in the field of semiconductor applied nanotech with an investment of $225 million. Work on is to start early in 2008.
The valley will have four towers for companies to conduct research and development and one tower for San Lab's own research wing that will have a lab for scientific research of international standards. It will have residential premises for foreign and Indian scientists, malls, clubs, golf courses, swimming pools and gyms. It is projected that some 10,000 people will be employed once the valley becomes operational.
The organisation is also in the process of tying up with two US universities for advanced research in nanotechnology and telecomms, with deals pending with EDC, New Jersey and the College of Nanoscience and Engineering of a New York university.

TELGU DIASPORA

Vegesna Foundation, working with rehabilitation of extremely poor and handicapped Indian children, has raised more than $250,000 through a concert tour in 33 US cities. 
The concerts titled 'Ghantasala Aradhanotsvaalu' (to mark the 85th birth anniversary of the legendary Telugu singer Ghantasala), began in Atlanta on September 23 and ended in Cleveland on December 15. 
Well-known singer G.V. Pabhakar and reputed multi-language Houston singer Mani Sastry performed in all the cities. 
Vegesna Foundation is registered in Hyderabad and was set up by Vamsee Ramaraju in 1988 with the help of NRI friends from New York and New Jersey. 
"We take exclusive care of children who are not only very poor, but are also physically handicapped, mentally retarded, hearing impaired or blind," Ramaraju, who was in Houston, said, adding, "We pick up these children from bus-stops, trains, villages, and doorsteps of temples." 
The foundation shelters over 400 kids, giving them education, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, surgical corrections and vocational training.

Vivek Rangnekar, a researcher at the University of Kentucky, US, led a team to create mice that are resistant to certain aggressive types of cancer.
The resistance in the mighty mice comes from a tumour suppressor gene in prostate called Par-4, discovered by Rangnekar, professor of radiation medicine at the UK College of Medicine, who along with his team discovered that the Par-4 gene kills cancer cells, but not normal cells.
The implications for humans could be that through bone marrow transplantation, Par-4 molecules could potentially be used to fight cancer cells in patients without the toxic damaging side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
Rangnekar sees the discovery as a major breakthrough that is happening in the animals, and admits there is more work to be done before the research can be applied to humans, but stated that it is a logical next step.
Funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Rangnekar's study is unique in that mice born with the gene are not developing tumours.

BIHARI DIASPORA

Naveen Kumar Sharma based in the US is to set up India's first multimedia museum at Nalanda, the ancient site of Buddhist learning in Bihar.
Sharma's Bangalore-based company Prachin Bharat Tourism is setting up the museum at a cost of $2.5 million, which will open in January. 
The museum will showcase the heritage of Nalanda and will have six sections providing detailed information about the heritage of the town. This will be the first formal investment by an NRI in the state whose government has been working to attract foreign investment.

Kaushal Choonee was awarded the Nicholas Battersby Prize by the Imperial College of London on Commemoration Day. The prizes are given to students with a record of exceptional achievement in scholarship. Choonee is an Indo-Mauritian, and his forefathers left the shores of Calcutta for Mauritius. They hailed from Bihar. Choonee was honoured with the Associates of the City and Guilds of London Institute and Masters of Engineering. In 2007, Imperial celebrated its centenary with activities marking 100 years of living science. Sir Richard Sykes, Rector, Imperial College, applauded the achievement of Choonee and fellow students. Imperial was ranked the world's ninth best university in the 2006 times High Education Supplement university rankings.

RAJASTHANI DIASPORA

Mahendra Gupta, who is originally from Bharatpur, Rajasthan, announced his grant of over a million dollars (Rs 4 crore) to the University of Rajasthan, at a function held there to felicitate him.
He has offered the financial assistance aimed at developing the necessary infrastructure for technical education. The grant is the largest ever received by the University of Rajasthan. Gupta graduated from the Maharaja College of Rajasthan University and is now the president of Health Care Systems, America.

HIMACHALI DIASPORA

Nisha Dogra, a senior lecturer at the University of Leicester, has won the Leaders for Change award from The Health Foundation, an independent charity.
Nisha is one of 12 health care professionals to receive the competitive award that will help achieve long-term upgrades in the quality of health for people in the area.
Nisha will work on her winning project to implement assessment and outcome standards to improve the quality of child and adolescent mental health service provisions. She will work on child management at Lancaster University Management School near London.