• Indian Classical Treasure-Trove Goes Digital
• A Young Yogi Bridges The Religious Divide
• Tashi is Maaza Miss India New York
• India a Permanent Feature At Prestigious Houston I-Fest
• Sheila Didi Nominated For Nobel Peace Pirze

• Deepa Mehta's Water To Open Toronto Film Fest
• Can a 'Rudraksha' Control Your Heart?
• Two NRIs Get Outstanding Enterpreneur Awards

A million rare manuscripts, palm leaves, copper plates and age-old classical literature are to be digitised under a project jointly undertaken by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the Indian ministry of communications and information technology. CMU will provide proprietary software and hardware to the Digital Library of India (DLI) for $5 million. "In collaboration with the SV Digital Library (SVDL) of the Tirumula Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), we have started scanning as many manuscripts, palm leaves and age-old books to host them on our portals in digitised form," CMU director Kiran Kumar told IANS. "We have scanned about 130,000 documents from 31 digital centres across the country. The target is to reach about a million mark by 2008 so as to preserve our rich cultural heritage for posterity," he added. Using the latest technology, the DLI has also roped in academic experts to translate and document the hoary literary material from 14 digital centres in southern India and upload it on its web sites for browsing by the public free of cost. "Till date, we have digitised about 30,000 books in vernacular languages, including Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and English, with the subject material spanning religion, culture, history, arts and science," Kumar said.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, August 30, 2005

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Stephan Brashear was all set to be a psychotherapist until a friend intrigued him to read a book on yoga. The journey that began, led him to discover the various dimensions of yoga. He has taken it beyond the tenets of asanas and has integrated the principles of yoga psychology with the Baha'i Faith to spread peace and make the world more habitable. Says he, "Yoga is a science and offers a stage by stage approach to reach the divine, while Baha'i Faith believes in progressive revelation over time and somewhere the two meet. It reiterates the fact that science and religion can live in harmony." Probably this conviction helped him recoup from a personal tragedy. Rather than indulging in self pity, the approach has made him less selfish, besides giving him a focus. He was in Bangalore recently as a volunteer for the Baha'i Faith, a service which he insists, made him a better human being. The yogic practitioner propagates concepts like karma yoga (service) gyan yoga (knowledge) and raj yoga (meditation) in his Cincinnati Yoga School in the US. All this became a reality when he found a yoga school through an Internet search. Mission accomplished, he began to make annual visits to Bangalore to train under Master Vishwanth, a follower of Pattabhi Jois. He then learnt to appreciate other religions, with an open mind, starting with the Baha'i School of Thought. It marked the beginning of a fascinating and religiously challenging phase. The Baha'is which is believed to be around 60 years old confirmed the teachings of yoga, which has been around for a much longer time. One thing led to the other and before he knew it, the 36-year-old had imbibed the teachings of Buddhism, Jewish faith and Indian philosophy. Somewhere, the distinction between cross cultural beliefs blurred and he became more aware about the unity of religions. Religious tolerance and acceptance, had a sobering impact on him. All this is translated into a series of Thai Yoga massages in his school, which opens the energy channels and has a soothing effect.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, August 29, 2005

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The Toronto International Film Festival, where a whopping 335 films from 52 countries will be showcased, will host the world premiere on opening night of Deepa Mehta's Water, the final film in her trilogy on the elements. The 30th Annual Festival next month, would close with the feature film Edison, starring Kevin Spacey and Morgan Freeman, the organisers announced yesterday. ``Our lineup reflects the amazing diversity of production from around the world,'' festival co-Director Noah Cowan told a news conference launching the annual event. ``We're extremely proud of the truly international flavor of this event.'' The festival, running from Sept. 8-17, is a place for studios to hawk their big fall releases and academy award contenders, as well as give new talent a chance to shine.

Courtesy: www.financialexpress.com, August 25, 2005

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Tashi Sharma, an Indo-American of Bihari descent, is the new Maaza Miss India New York. A graduate in Computer Science and at present a financial analyst at the Citi Bank in New York, Tashi, 22, was declared winner of the 23rd Miss India New York Pageant by a panel of judges following a competition held at the prestigious Haft Auditorium of Fashion Institute of Technology. Nisha Mirchandani, 24, was declared the first runner-up, while Pooja, 18, as the second runner up. Tashi along with 33 other pageants from various US states would now be competing for the Miss India US being held next weekend at Tampa in Florida. "I do not believe it, that I have done it," Tashi said after being crowned Miss India New York by the outgoing beauty queen, Subrina Dhammi. She has now joined the NBC television as staff reporter. In New York since 1998, Tashi said her grandfather was from Muzaffarpur, while grandmother from Chhapra. "But I have never been to Bihar," she said. Her grandfather was a pilot in Air India and is now leading a retired life in Dehradun. Born in Kathmandu, and having spent most of her life in Mumbai and New York, Tashi - looking gorgeous -- said she was was not averse to joining Bollywood if she got a very good offer. The first Miss India New York, Richa Sharma was selected by none-other than Dev Anand for his film "Hum Navjawaan". Richa later was married to Sunjay Dutt. Tashi, who was also declared winner of the Best Talent and Best Hair, said her goal of life was to become a successful chief executive officer (CEO) of a fortune 500 company. Organized by the the India Festival Committee, the genesis of the pageant is being traced back to 1974 when the committee began its first annual India Festival in the Central Park, of New York. An integral component of the festivals was the immensely popular fashion show, said Dharmatama Saran its founder president. This fashion show, Saran said become so popular by 1979 that it was decided to start the first Miss India Pageant from 1980. New York took lead by organizing the first regional pageant. The same year, they also held the Miss India US. pageant.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, August 17, 2005

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Mumbai University's Institute of Chemical Technology will carry out research on the effects of 'Rudraksha' beads on patients suffering from cardio-vascular problems under an agreement signed with Rudralife, a firm dealing in sale of the beads. The research, which would receive Rs 85,000 as financial assistance from Rudralife, would also try to establish the effects of Rudraksha on stress and enhancement of memory power, Rudralife partner Tanay Seetha told reporters on the inaugural day of an eight-day Rudraksha exhibition here today. The research findings would be submitted to Rudralife, a dealer in Rudraksha beads, within the next three months. "We have also located an institution for setting up a laboratory to do scientific testing of Rudraksha," he said but did not elaborate. Since its inception in 2001, Rudralife had held 100 exhibitions across the country. On the exhibition, he said a special item on view was a collection of very rare hybrid Nepalese beads and the Rudraksha 'mala' comprised one to 21 "Mukhis". The cost of this 'mala' was Rs 36 lakh, he said, adding it was not for sale. The cost of Rudrakshas available for purchase at the exhibition ranged from Rs 80 to Rs 36,000.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, August 11, 2005

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From being a spotlight country, India gets a Zone at the prestigious Houston International Festival (I-fest). Organizers of the I-fest - Houston Festival Foundation, Inc. - have decided to allocate an exclusive India Zone at the annual event. The decision, follows the grand success of the I-fest held early this year where India was a spotlight country. Organizers attribute the visit of more than 200,000 people - a record number - to the exotic appeal of India, its rich cultural heritage and food. The I-fest was held in two phases spread over two weekends April 23-24 and April 30-May 1. It is because of this large crowd thronging the I-fest venue in Houston down town that for the first time in few years the Houston Festival Foundation Inc. made a profit. Eager to attract the similraly large crowd in coming years, the organizers then approached the Indian Consulate with their decision to have "exclusive" India Zone at the I-fest every year. "This is a prestigious thing. We accepted the proposal. So India would be now showcased at Houston International Festival every year," the Consul General of India at Houston, S. Tayal, told HindustanTimes.com before leaving on his new assignment as ambassador of Uzbekistan last week. Tayal said this was one of the rare privilage for India, as this is for the first time that any country has been offered the opportunity to have its permanent zone at the I-fest. Normally, a nation is selected as a spotlight country every year and zones are exclusively reserved for various regions of the world. As of now, there are only three zones at the I-fest: Africa Zone, Carribean Zone and Latin American Zone and from next year onward India would become the fourth zone. Tayal said, there was a massive community participation in making the "India Spotlight" at the I-fest a success. The festival had an Icredible India Zone which was designed like an Indian village with two stage for live music. The Taj Mahal created by Artist Sudarshan Patnaik from Orissa with 25 tonnes of sand was a huge draw with people lining up for taking pictures against its background. The Centre Stage was Bollywood which include musical extravaganza of costumes, music, dance and bhangra on both weekend of the festival. This was for the first time in the 34 years history of the festival that India was selected as a spotlight country, according to Jim Austin president of the festival because of India's emergence as an emerging major global economic player and also due to the increasing interest of the people of Houston for India.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, August 10, 2005

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Two Indian Americans were honoured with "Outstanding Entrepreneur and Community Service Awards" by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH). Paul Likhari, CEO and owner of Bioassay Laboratory Inc., and Yogi Patel, co-founder of an NGO which works for children in urban slums, were given the awards in view of their outstanding and tireless work as entrepreneur and for community service. The awards were presented by Indian Ambassador to US Ronen Sen and Tom DeLay, House Majority Leader (R-Texas), at a glittering function here last night organised to celebrate the achievements of the Indian-American Community. Likhari, who served as president of the Indo-American Charity Foundation of Houston, has been instrumental in raising funds for various organisations. Hailing from Udaipur, Likhari has served on the Board of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce and American Heart Association besides offering his service as a member on Dean's Advisory Council for Pharmacy School at University of Houston. Patel, a former chemical engineer and co-founder of Pratham, an NGO which reaches out to over two lakh underprivileged children in 30 Indian cities, providing them pre-school education, is also the founder of the Mahatma Gandhi Center and Sanskar Kendra, which teaches Indian music. IACCGH works for bringing about economic development of the Indian-Americans and fostering business between India and the United States.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, August 09, 2005

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Injustice and discrimination are not repressed by geographic boundaries, vouches Sheila Didi who has fought injustice against women, communal violence and discrimination in Kenya and India. Born in 1928 in Kenya, Sheila Didi is a witness to turbulent times, "first in Kenya and later in India during the Partition and much later when Punjab grappled with militancy". A nominee for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Sheila Didi recalls her tryst with struggle for ending injustice. "We were in school and an Englishwoman who was our principal saw us put up a picture of Subhas Chandra Bose and instantly called him a namak haram (dissenter). The next day all of us of Indian origin put up pictures of Nehru and Azad along with Bose". Activism became her middle name and Sheila Didi emerged as a front-runner whether it was seeking respect for Indian freedom fighters in South Africa or as a students' leader during her college days in England. Having lost her son-in-law during the insurgency in Punjab, Sheila Didi along with members from Shakti Vahini travelled through villages to hold meetings to encourage peace.

Courtesy: www.tribuneindia.com, August 07, 2005

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