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First
Hindu-Maya Cultural Dialogue in Guatemala
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The
Mayans of Guatemala - representative
of the Maya civilization that flourished
during the first millennium AD in
Central America - believe their ancestors
came to this part of the globe 20,000
years ago from the East. One of the
most dominant ethnic groups, Kekichi
Maya, has always had special attraction
for India in the past as their forefathers
have told them that the "Naga tribes
of Nagaland" were one of the four
original branches of the Maya civilization.
It is for these reasons and the similarities
between the Aryan and Mayan civilizations,
the people of Guatemala for long have
been trying to establish contact with
Indians and have a cultural dialogue.
The first such dialogue formally gets
going at Maya Village, Lake Atitlan
in Guatemala on May 29. Lake Atitlan
is famous for its natural beauty and
colourful Mayan villages. A 16-member
delegation of intellectuals, academicians
and scholars from six countries -
mainly people of Indian origin - left
Houston in Texas for the Guatemala
City on May 27 to participate in the
two day conference on "Hindu -Maya
Cultural Similarities". The conference
is organized by the Council of Elders
of the Sacred Mayas, Guatemala in
collaboration with the International
Centre for Cultural Studies, a non-profit
organization based in the US. The
Council of Elders is an umbrella organization
of all the 23 different Maya groups
in Guatemala and is responsible for
controlling the tribal life of the
people. "The conference would look
at similarities in these cultures
and traditions, besides conducting
workshops on ceremonies of these traditions,"
Yashwant Pathak, global coordinator
of International Centre for Cultural
Studies said. Giving details of the
conference, Pathak said on May 29
the Hindu delegation comprising of
members from countries like India,
the US, Britain, Trinidad and Guyana
would be given a traditional Mayan
welcome followed by lecture on the
culture and tradition of their civilization.
"On the second day, we would present
our papers, besides show them how
a traditional Hindu welcome is with
tilak and aarti. Later in the afternoon,
we would also conduct a Vedic yagna.
We are taking all the necessary things
with us for the conference," Pathak
said.Before the conclusion of the
two-day conference, members of the
two delegations would tie "Rakhi"
to each other. "This would represent
the permanent brotherhood between
the two ancient civilizations of the
world and also that we would protect
tradition and culture of each other,"
Pathak said. The Hindu-delegation
is also scheduled to meet the Noble
peace prize winner, Rigoberta Menchu,
a Mayan Indian. In 1992, she won the
prize in recognition of her work for
social justice and ethno-cultural
reconciliation based on respect for
rights of indigenous people. After
the conference, the Hindu delegation
would proceed on a five day tour of
the Guatemala Mayan attractions, he
said. Pathak said the Hindu and the
Maya traditions and cultures are one
of the ancient in the world. "There
are many similarities in these two
great traditions. While, they date
back thousands of years; they believe
in One God with manifestations in
different forms. Both believe in philosophy
for human being in totality and total
humanity," he said.
Courtesy:
Hindustan Times, May 28, 2005
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Indian
Americans get MS Fellowship
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Microsoft
Research has named two Indian Americans
amongst the first five recipients
of its New Faculty Fellowship Awards,
a new program that honours early-career
university professors who demonstrate
exceptional talent for novel research
and thought leadership in their discipline.
The two Indian Americans Subhash Khot
and Radhika Nagpal were selected from
a pool of 110 nominees representing
universities across the United States.
Khot and Nagpal, along with three
other fellows, will receive a $200,000
cash grant to pursue their innovative
research work in computer science.
The winners are also given the opportunity
to explore collaborations with some
of the top researchers working in
their area of interest at Microsoft
Research. "We have much to learn,
and much to gain, from today's talented
young minds," said Rick Rashid, senior
vice president of Microsoft Research.
"Even early in their teaching careers,
these award winners are pushing the
boundaries of computer science research
in exciting new directions. The intellectual
curiosity, creative drive and thought
leadership they demonstrate is exactly
the sort of initiative we seek to
encourage in developing programs like
the New Faculty Fellowship Awards."
Subhash Khot is a first-year assistant
professor in the College of Computing
at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Khot's research tackles fundamental
questions regarding which problems
can and cannot be solved quickly on
a computer.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, May 27, 2005
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Indian
to be Pathfinder for Bush
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US
President George W Bush is intending
to nominate Indian American Ashok
G. Kaveeshwar as the administrator
of the research and innovative technology
administration at the Department of
Transportation, the White House has
announced. Kaveeshwar, an Ujjain University
graduate, currently serving as president
of Orange Technologies Inc., a small
business that provides information
technology to government and commercial
customers, is living in Maryland.
For any such appointment, there are
four stages. First the President announces
intent to nominate. Then comes the
nomination. After that it goes before
the relevant committee of Congress.
The committee recommends the candidate
to the full senate for approval and
after senate approval comes the swearing-in
and induction into office. Kaveeshwar
previously served as senior vice president
of Raytheon Technical Services Company.
Earlier in his career, he was president
and CEO of Hughes STX Corporation,
a subsidiary of Hughes Electronics
Corporation. He received his PH.D
from the State University of New York
at Buffalo.
Courtesy:
www.financialexpress.com, May 25,
2005
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Indian
Doc Gives US Varsity $18.5 mn
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An
Indian emigre has donated $ 18.5 million
to put a modest American university
on the international map, making him
one of the largest known contributors
from the Indian-American community
for any single cause. Tampa Bay cardiologist
Kiran Patel's largesse is also the
single biggest donation to the University
of South Florida. The bonanza will
eventually help USF raise $ 62.5 million
with matching state grants and other
contributions. The money will go towards
building the Kiran C. Patel Center
for Global Solutions, a school for
researchers to study issues such as
global hunger and international trade.
USF is hosting a one day meeting today
(Thursday) with the, officials, faculty
and scholars to discuss the donation.
"I'm excited and anxious...excited
because it is a major committment...anxious
because unlike a Kennedy Institute
or Baker Institute we do not have
a brand name and we have to work hard
to establish our reputation," Patel
told TNN in an interview over the
phone as he drove to the USF campus
for the meeting. Patel, who was born
in Zambia, studied medicine in Ahmedabad,
Gujarat, where he met his future wife
Pallavi, also a physician. The couple
has built a $ 1 billion health care
business in Florida and...
Courtesy:
The Times of India, May 21, 2005
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India
Poised to be an Innovation Leader
in Manufacturing Sector
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Two
Indian scientists, Dr. R. Chidambaram
and Professor V.S. Ramamurthy, on
Sunday unveiled their vision to take
India in to the "developed nations'
group" in the next quarter of the
century. "India can become an innovation
leader, particularly in the manufacturing
sector, provided we have proper technology
foresight to make the right technology
choices in a national perspective,"
said Dr. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific
Advisor to the Government of India.
To achieve this goal, India should
introduce "coherent synergy in science
and technology related activities."
He added that the S&T system, if it
was to contribute the maximum to national
development, required a variety of
efforts, notably human resource development,
research and development privatisation,
academia-industry interaction, and
international collaboration, and most
importantly coherent synergy among
all these factors. Professor Ramamurthy,
Secretary in the Department of Science
and Technology, said that the biggest
challenge was to translate one billion
mouths to feed into one billion practising
brains. "Once we do that through education,
I have no doubt we will be in the
leading group of developing nations."
Prof. Ramamurthy said India was now
in globalised company and there could
not be any going back. Competition
was going to be one of the most challenging
tasks. "Can we compete globally by
creating a better value for the same
resource? In this, science and technology
would play a big role." He said that
even the traditional Ganesha idols
were being made in China and people
were buying these products, irrespective
of where they were made. India had
the advantage of low cost, labour
and raw material. If it could make
use of this unexploited advantage,
it could be in the forefront of the
developing countries. Though the country
was facing tough competition and,
initially, had problems, there was
a newfound confidence in the people,
he said.
Courtesy:
The Hindu, May 09, 2005
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Nobel
Laureate Amartya Sen will be given
the Tagore Peace Award of the Asiatic
Society for 2004 in recognition of
his creative contribution to the development
of human understanding towards global
peace.
Courtesy:
The Hindu, May 07, 2005
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Indians
Top Asian List of US Naturalised Citizens
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Indians
are the fastest growing Asian community
in the United States. The US Census
Bureau puts Indians as the second
biggest foreign community in the US,
after Mexicans, to gain citizenship
by way of long years of their legal
residence. In the fiscal year 2003,
a total of 29,790 Indians registered
their names as new citizen of US as
against 56,093 by the Mexicans. In
the previous years, the majority (54
per cent of all) of persons naturalising
were female. With this Indians have
overtaken Philippines (29,081) by
a marginal number. It is estimated
that half of the Indians in the United
States are eligible for citizenship,
but only one-third of them have acquired
this right. It is difficult to imagine
the community becoming an influential
force in American politics if a majority
of the community cannot fulfil the
most basic of civic responsibilities.
While Indian-Americans are already
leaving their mark as the "model minority"
with the highest levels of education
and high-income levels, their increasing
presence in the US as citizens can
also become an influential force in
American politics.
Courtesy:
Hindustan Times, May 07, 2005
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'Indians
Are Smarter, Cleverer'
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Indian
students are the prized target that
international universities are competing
among themselves to hit on, if one
goes by the recent spate of visits
by heads of universities from various
countries. One such visit is that
by Prof. Robert Boucher, vice-chancellor
of the University of Sheffield, United
Kingdom, who spoke to The Asian Age
on Wednesday about the boom in India-UK
education ties. "The USP of Indian
students is their command over English
and their ability to integrate with
people of different cultures. Of course,
Indian students fare very well on
their intellectual capacity too. Compared
to students of other countries, Indians
are smarter and cleverer," Prof. Boucher
said. When other countries like the
United States and Australia are also
rushing to attract Indian students,
what is it that the United Kingdom
has to offer to Indians to stay ahead
in the competition? "The greatest
advantage that the UK has over other
countries, say the US or Australia,
is that our courses are shorter. While
it takes four years to complete a
bachelors programme in the US, it
takes three years for the same in
the UK," said Prof. Boucher.
Courtesy:
The Asian Age, May 05, 2005
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10
Indian-American Students Chosen as
Presidential Scholars
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Ten
Indian American students are among
the 141 outstanding American high
school seniors have been named as
the 2005 Presidential Scholars. The
2005 Presidential Scholars will be
honoured for their accomplishments
in academics or the arts, for their
leadership, character and civic contributions
that were judged during the programme's
national recognition events in Washington
DC. Broad academic achievement, essays,
school evaluations and transcripts,
as well as evidence of leadership,
community service and demonstrated
commitment to high ideals were the
basis of their selection. The Indian
American students chosen for this
prestigious honour are Aman I Kumar,
California; Suguna P Narayan, Colorado;
Arvind R Nagarajan, Michigan; Anish
Mitra, Nebraska; Veena Venkatachalam,
New Jersey; Dhruv Maheswari, New Jersey;
Vivek Viswanathan, New York; Anuraag
A Chigurupati, Ohio; Kanya Balakrishna,
Tennessee and Shaily Pandey, Virginia.
A 28-member Commission appointed by
President George W Bush made the final
selection from a pool of 500 semifinalists
The 141 winners include one young
man and one young woman from each
state, the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico, and from US families
living abroad, as well as 15 chosen
at large and 20 Scholars in the Arts,
US Secretary of Education, Margaret
Spellings, said while announcing the
list. "The President and I are proud
of these special young men and women
and we want to ensure that all high
schools students have the opportunity
to succeed as these scholars have."
Over 5,000 of the nation's top students
have been honoured as Presidential
Scholars since this prestigious programme's
was founded 41 years ago.
Courtesy:
The Hindu, May 05, 2005
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Indians
High IQ Asset in US
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Indians
have emerged as the leading source
of imported intellectual capital for
the United States, with a growing
number of students enrolling in American
universities even as overall foreign
enrolment dropped, according to a
media report. The good news comes
from India whose students were overtaking
their Chinese counterparts as the
largest group of foreign students
enrolled in us universities, the San
Jose Mercury News reported, adding
their numbers continued to rise. In
2003-04, the number of foreign students
from India rose to 79,736 compared
with 61,765 from China, the report
said. At Stanford University, the
number of students from India had
risen to 461 in the current academic
year, up 23 per cent from two years
ago, while the number of Chinese students
slipped to 545 from 553. At San Jose
State University, Indian student numbers
grew 21 per cent over the past two
years to 254, while the population
of Chinese students shrank by 35 per
cent to 68. However, some quarters
in the United States have expressed
concern over the overall decline of
foreign enrolments in the country's
universities. Silicon Valley, which
has welcomed foreign students to fill
the jobs and help the US maintain
its technical edge in the world, was
concerned that the declining number
of foreign students could jeopardize
an important source of brainpower.
The total number of foreign students
dropped by 2.4 per cent in the 2003-04
academic year. "We could lose some
of the extremely talented people who
have come here and contributed," said
Arthur Bienenstock, vice-provost and
dean of graduate research at Stanford.
The significance of foreign students
was underscored by a University of
California in Berkeley study which
found that in 1998, Chinese and Indian
computer scientists and engineers
operated 25 per cent of high-tech
firms in the San Francisco Bay region
- and accounted for more than 58,000
jobs and almost $17 billion in sales.
According to the report, much change
in mix appeared to be related to tougher
screening of visa applicants after
the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack
and the differing ways they were handled
at embassies and consulates abroad.
Courtesy:
www.financialexpress.com, May 03,
2005
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