MUMBAI DIASPORA

UK
INDIA-BORN author Salman Rushdie claims a new record by signing 1,000 books in 57 minutes at a recent promotion tour, setting off a spat with the writer whom he surpassed. 
In a letter to The Guardian, Rushdie, who last month won the ‘Best of Bookers’ award, said he had broken wine writer Malcolm Gluck’s record for book signings.
Gluck claims his record is 1,001 copies in 59 minutes, set at a wine warehouse in London in 1998.
“His record is toast,” Rushdie crowed, in a letter to the newspaper.
Rushdie was on a tour in the US to promote his latest book The Enchantress of Florence.
The Guardian said it was Gluck who started the controversy, questioning whether Rushdie could possibly have signed as many books as he had claimed, or whether he had just scribbled his initials.
Rushdie said he had signed 1,000 copies recently in Nashville, US, in 57 minutes.
“Let me be clear, I did not initial the books, but signed my full name,” said Rushdie.
“I did have the support of experienced staff at Ingrams book distributors in Nashville, who will confirm that among the fastest present-day signers of books are former US president Jimmy Carter, the novelist Amy Tan, and myself.”

MARWARI DIASPORA

US
JAY GOYAL, 27, who was the first Indian and Asian American to be elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 2006 has been named the young democrat of the year 2007.
Goyal represents Richland County that has a majority population of blue collar workers and is seeking re-election to the Ohio ­assembly.
The Indian American believes that the Indo-US nuclear deal is a key area where benefits can be exchanged and says 
that the non-ratifying of the deal by the Indian parliament could create hesitation in future deals. 
Goyal who is originally from Indore came to the US with his parents in the 1970s.

UK
STEEL BARON Lakshmi Mittal has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs Group. One of the oldest companies, founded in 1869, it is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a range of services to diversified clients worldwide.
Mittal will serve on the audit, compensation, corporate governance and nominating committees of the Board. He is Britain’s wealthiest man and the fourth richest person in the world with a personal fortune of $45 billion.

MALAYALEE DIASPORA

US
RICHARD MENON, who abandoned his job in Big Pharma to become a maker of pornographic movies, is now going to reveal the secrets of his craft through two glossy books entitled The Art of Erotic Film-Making and The Indian Playboy.
The books are to be published in New York in the summer. Copies will also be distributed in India.
Menon states he has many fans in India who think of him as a sex guru. 
“My books can be inspirational for Indians with an American dream, but I will never sell my adult movies in India. I don’t want to be known as the guy who brought porn to India. It is also illegal. In the US this business is completely legit,” said Menon, who films all his movies in California’s San Fernando Valley which is the bustling US adult film-making hub. 
Menon started EcstasyVision Inc in 2006 by raising equity against his house.
Friends also pitched in with loans ranging between $5,000 and $15,000. “It is virtually impossible for a non-American to break into the industry. I was lucky,” says Menon. 
Menon is also organising New York’s first International Erotic Film Festival later this year.

INDIA
KERALA GOVERNMENT organisation Norka Roots that caters to the needs of NRKs and NRK returnees is to start a boarding school in Trivandrum.
A feasibility study for a Rs 150 million school exculsively for children of NRKs is underway. The ruling left front stated the school will be built near the Indian Space Research Organisation campus at Vailyamala and that the Government will provide land and will admit the first batch of students in the coming academic year and will follow the CBSE syllabus.
The school will charge some Rs 3000-5000 in fees each month and will have separate hostel facilities for girls and boys. It will focus also on sports and games and include a pool and equestrian course.

US
SANTUSHT PERERA, removed a portion of the right lung of Richard Flagg 60, when he should have been removing a tumour in his left lung. When Flagg woke up from surgery he wondered why his right side hurt though he was told his left lung was affected by a tumour. When he asked surgeon Perera, the doctor lied that a larger tumour had been detected in his right lung.
Perera has now been barred from practising for two years and slapped with an $81,000 fine for the dreadful mistake.
State officials suspended his licence for two years for the mistake and then lying and altering documents in an attempt to cover up his mistake.