NRI EXAMINES DALAI LAMA AS MAN, MONK AND MYSTIC

Indian American author Mayank Chhaya, who has written a biography of the Dalai Lama, wears his iconoclasm on his sleeve. Recently he floored a group of MIT students with the remark, "I have rejected even nihilism". Yet Chhaya's cynical detachment, seldom concealed, has stood him in good stead as an author. He has written two biographies - the most recent one an authorised biography of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. An earlier biography of technology evangelist Sam Pitroda was a bestseller in India. Man, monk, mystic will be published in India in February, followed in March by releases in the US, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan and Russia.

Random House is the US publisher. Chronicling the life of a spiritual head can be akin to walking on eggshells. But reviewers have been fulsome in their approval. "The end product is balanced - neither debunking nor hagiographic, but taking a Buddhist-style Middle Way toward its subject, even though the author is not himself a Buddhist," said the bible of the publishing industry, Publishers Weekly, in a starred review. Booklist noted "Chhaya carefully presents diverse viewpoints of the Tibet-China conflict while simultaneously drawing an insightful portrait of this enigmatic personage. "Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu has called the book an "engaging portrait".

"Here was this exotic man the world had come to know about," said Chhaya of his first interaction with the Dalai Lama in 1997, "but there was no biography of his that would make him accessible to the uninitiated reader. I wanted to know the man behind the persona."What followed was two years of extensive interviewing, during which Chhaya spent several hours with the Dalai Lama in one-on-one meetings. "We talked about everything - from the Tibetan problem to his Nobel Prize, to his views on celibacy and sexuality," Chhaya said. The greatest aspect of the Dalai Lama's personality, said Chhaya, is his ability to reach out to everyone.

"What is most striking about him is his sense of familiarity in any surrounding, and his ability to reach out to anyone without any intermediary. If I had to describe him in one sentence, I would say he is deceptively profound with a charming sense of humour."Over the years, the Dalai Lama has become a larger than life figure. Several books have been written about him, including his autobiography "Freedom in exile". In 1999, legendary director Martin Scorsese made a film on him - "In search of Kundun" - and this year has seen the release of another documentary "Dalai Lama Renaissance" with a narration by actor Harrison Ford.Nevertheless, Chhaya said his book brought a unique perspective.

"What differentiates this book from others is that it attempts to look at the person of the Dalai Lama from three vantage points - of man, monk and mystic. It attempts to bring this fascinating figure of historic proportions within the grasp of the uninitiated reader," Chhaya said."I believe this is the first definitive biography of the Dalai Lama's life in exile which also puts the Tibetan cause within a modern context and tries to assess its future in the context of the new geo-political realities. The book attempts to make the highly complex issue of Tibet accessible to those who do not generally evince an interest in history," he explained.

Besides interviewing him, Chhaya followed the Dalai Lama's lectures whenever he could. "His stature has only grown. If earlier there were hundreds attending his lectures, now you have to book a stadium. He has emerged as the world's conscience-keeper," he said. Despite numerous films on the spiritual leader, Chhaya is not quite convinced if any of them catches the essence of his persona. "Many of them manage to capture the quintessence, but it is possible that many of them employ cinematic devices to dramatise certain events. The fact that the Dalai Lama's life has been so intrinsically dramatic lends itself to great cinema. I do not recall having seen anything that captures his incredible life so far in a manner of great cinema," he said.

Many young Tibetans today do not see eye to eye with their leader on the wisdom of the 'middle path', Chhaya said. "Many young Tibetan exiles, who were born outside Tibet and have not experienced the kind of hardship and struggle that the older generation has had to endure, display impatience with the Dalai Lama's non-violent middle path approach," the author noted." Although they uniformly respect the Dalai Lama, they believe in some sort of armed uprising. The Dalai Lama has been steadfast in his resolve against any form of violence because he sees the middle path as the only way out.

"The Dalai Lama has also, rather surprisingly, described himself as a half Marxist, half Buddhist. "His fascination with Marxism stemmed from the fact that as a philosophy, it sought equality and justice for all. In that sense it is very similar to Buddhism," said Chhaya.Even to those who are not his followers, there is no denying the Dalai Lama's personal magnetism that Chhaya can attest to. "Call it charisma, call it glow, but the man stands out. One can see why people are so taken up with him."

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR 0Z SIKH

A Sikh has been given the 2006 lifetime achievement award in volunteering by the New South Wales (NSW) government. Bawa Singh Jagdev became the first Sikh to receive the prestigious award for volunteering which was handed to him by NSW Speaker John Aquilina at the NSW Parliament recently. Jagdev who arrived in Australia in 1975 from Kenya was among the first few to set up Sikh Council of Australia (SCA). The council provides a platform for Sikhs in Australia to liase with government and non-government agencies, according to Indianlink, an ethnic Indian newspaper.
Jagdev defended the kirpan that was threatened by the knife legislation passed by the NSW Government in 1997. He was instrumental in convincing the then NSW premier Bob Carr to amend the legislation to allow an average Sikh to carry the dagger. The 72-year-old former lecturer at TAFE, an adult education organisation in Australia, said SCA plans to build an old age home shortly. This will be in addition to the already existing two Punjabi language schools.

PRAVASI AWARDS RIGGED, ALLEGE OVERSEAS INDIANS

The curtain is barely down on the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas — the government's annual jamboree for overseas Indians — and the guests are grumbling about what a poor show it has been. Indian communities in the state of Illinois and the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), Chicago, say the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman – the awards for overseas Indians who have helped enhance the country's image – were rigged. They have now urged President APJ Kalam to order an investigation into the selection process.

FIA president Babu Patel said he would write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee about the "humiliation" of the Indian Diaspora at the hands of the government. Speaking to HT, Patel said a proper evaluation would have been possible only after back-up information from the community. He alleged that the government ignored the groundwork done by prominent Indians to get the Indo-US nuclear deal through. The FIA, an umbrella of 25 Indian organisations, has also alleged that Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi nominated his friends for the Pravasi awards, including Dr M Anirudhan in the medical category.

But Ravi said he had "nothing to do" with the selection process which was handled by a committee headed by Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. He, however, confirmed that Anirudhan was a friend of his. "I have known him since 1980 and as an MP, stayed with him in Chicago," Ravi told HT. He said some American Indians had personally canvassed for the awards in violation of the selection process. It is also alleged that recommendations made by the Indian embassy in the US were ignored.

Chicago's Consul General Arun Kumar, it is learnt, had recommended Dr Bharat H Barai and Raghu Nayak for their work on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal. Dr Barai told HT from Chicago that Ravi has "cleverly bypassed the merit selection process and substituted the merit list with names of his own friends". The government is also on the mat for keeping major opposition parties and leaders out of the summit. LM Singhvi, who had conceived the idea of a Pravasi Diwas, and JC Sharma, who put together the first two Pravasi events, were not invited. Singhvi said, "I was not invited.

It is a strange commentary on the politicisation of the event."Conceding the slip-up, Ravi said the invitations were indeed sent but they were sent late: "I was ill for a week and the invitations were delayed." Ravi said he had personally written to BJP's LK Advani to chair one of the sessions.

NRIs IN CANADA AND US BOYCOTT PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS

Surrey: About 850 Non-Resident Indians living in Canada and America have boycotted the upcoming Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held in New Delhi from January 7-9 this year. According to the Surrey chapter of the NRI Cell, the unfulfilled promise of providing dual citizenship and right to vote to NRIs living in Canada and America forced the Indo-Canadians and Indo-Americans to boycott the event sponsored and organized by the Indian government. Talking to Indo-Canadian online, Vikram Bajwa of NRI Cell Surrey said, "In 2006, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had promised to present a bill granting dual citizenship and voting rights to People of Indian Origin (PIOs), and nothing has been done so far". He added, "There are a lot of NRIs who still have family and property in India, and unfortunately, any threat to the family and property is never addressed."
“Great Pravasi” Mahatma Gandhi had arrived this week 90 years ago whose memory is honored and celebrate through this historic gathering. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who with his wife Kasturba, walked down the ramp of a ship at Apollo Bunder in Mumbai on the 9th of January 1915, returning to a home where he would for all time be remembered, revered and loved as Bapu. It is in celebration of Gandhiji’s arrival in Mumbai that this meeting is organized at this time of the year for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

NRI VOTING RIGHTS IN NEXT PARLIAMENT

A bill granting voting rights to the NRIs would be introduced in Parliament during the next session, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said on Friday while ruling out a similar facility to the People of Indian Origins (PIOs). Addressing a press conference ahead of the 'Pravasi Bharatiya Divas' to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 7, Ravi said the Bill to amend the Representation of People's Act was earlier introduced but was referred to the Standing Committee.
The Committee had suggested a few amendments which would now be incorporated in the new Bill, he said. Amendments to the RP Act would be made to enable enrolment as voters of the Indian passport holders. But under the Indian Constitution anyone holding a passport of any other country cannot be granted voting rights and there is no proposal to amend it either, he said. Referring to the misuse of marriages by some NRIs, the minister said India was likely to join The Hague Convention on Private International Law.

This would enable protection of the interests of Indian girls who are trapped by the unscrupulous expatriates through marriages. The government has already launched a campaign to create awareness among the vulnerable sections so that they do not get exploited. The campaign would be carried upto village level. Over 1500 NRIs are expected to attend the three-day annual meet where Singapore Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar would be the Chief Guest.

INDIANS OVERWHELM CHINESE IN THE US

If India is shining at home, the diaspora is dazzling in America. What is more, it has stolen a march over the Chinese. Indians founded more engineering and technology firms in the US over the past decade than any other immigrant group, a new study reveals. Between 1995 and 2005, Indian immigrants founded more companies in these sectors than Chinese, Taiwanese and British immigrants put together. A fourth of all engineering companies founded in the US over the past one decade were started by immigrants. In 2005, these companies had sales revenue of $52 billion and employed 45,000 employees.
As many as 26 per cent of these firms had Indian founders. These findings were revealed on Thursday in a study conducted by Duke University's School of Engineering and University of California at Berkely's School of Information. The findings underline again how skilled foreign workers hold the key to the development of technology and engineering industries in the US. Vivek Wadhwa, executive in residence at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering and the author of the report, said many of the huge wave of Indian immigrants who arrived in the US after 1980 were knowledge workers.
This is borne out by two things: the fact that Indians obtained the most number of patents - after the Chinese - between 1995 and 2005; and that nearly half of all Indian-founded companies in the US are in the software sector. "These are the people who give the US its competitive advantage," Wadhwa said. "This shows that when Indians are given the environment, in which they can succeed, they can stand head to head with the best of the best, in Silicon Valley and elsewhere."

HUGE TURNOUT EXPECTED FOR DIASPORA CONCLAVE

Around 950 delegates from India and 42 other countries have registered for the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2007, the annual conclave of the Indian diaspora, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Vigyan Bhavan Jan 7. Over 160 delegates from India alone have confirmed their participation in the event being organised by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)). The event is expected to act as a platform for networking between overseas Indians and their native country. The focus areas in the fifth edition of PBD, which has the theme 'Rooting for the Roots', would be social issues and how Indians abroad can contribute to India's development.

There will be dedicated sessions on education, healthcare, women, youth and investment. Among the prominent overseas Indians coming for this year's event are management guru C.K. Prahalad, who will be a panelist in the plenary session on challenges of India's development in the global context, and Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) chairman Thomas Abraham, who will speak on how to engage PIOs in India's development process. A working session on healthcare in the context of India's development will see Dr. Subramaniam Balasubramaniam, president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), and Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, special assistant on bio-defence to US President George W. Bush, participating.

Malaysia's Works Minister and Malaysian Indian Congress president Samy Vellu, a person of Indian origin, will be the guest of honour in a plenary on 'How to get $1.5 trillion of capital investment into India'. Sam Pitroda, chairman of India's Knowledge Commission, will be the chief guest in a plenary that will look into how India can leverage the knowledge skills of its diaspora. The chief ministers of Bihar, Delhi - the partner state for the event - Haryana and Gujarat will be attending the interactive sessions with states that are being organised with the view to explore partnership and investment opportunities in the states.

This year, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar will be attending the event as the chief guest.Sessions apart, cultural programmes are also being organised in the evening on all three days. This will include an evening on folk dances of India, a dance performance by well-known Malayali cine actress Shobhana, another by Hindi film choreographer Shiamak Davar's troupe and a sarod recital by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash. PBD is the flagship event of the MOIA. It aims to connect the 25 million-strong Indian diaspora spread across 110 countries.

2006: YEAR OF INDIAN DIASPORA

When Sunita Williams soared into space with a container full of samosas, the term 'Indian diaspora' acquired a new meaning altogether. With samosas to munch on and the holy book Gita to read, Williams will be in space for six months where she will be the flight engineer of the International Space Station. So, for the next six months at least, the 20 million or so Indian diaspora will not only be spread across 110 countries of the world, but one of them will be in space as well! Sunita's father is of Indian origin while her mother is Slovenian. "I am half Indian, I'm sure Indian people are looking forward to seeing (another) person of Indian origin (after Kalpana Chawla) flying up in space," she said. With her achievement coming in the last month of 2006, Sunita has capped what has been one big year for the Indian diaspora.
Indian origin people made news in all fields, be it sports, industry, entertainment, politics or literature. In March, Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, popularly known as Monty Panesar, made his debut as a spinner in the England cricket team against India in Nagpur. In the 10 Tests he has played till now, he picked up 32 wickets, including a series-winning display against Pakistan, making him a national icon in England. Only the other day, in the course of the ongoing Ashes series Down Under, the turbaned 24-year-old from Luton became the first spinner to take five wickets at Perth, widely considered a fast bowler's paradise. Nicknamed 'Python', he also signed a 300,000-pound book deal in his very first year in global cricket.
At the FIFA World Cup in Germany, a footballer of Indian origin came under the spotlight. Vikas Dhorasoo took the field for France against Switzerland in a group match, playing in the midfield alongside Zinedine Zidane. In the process, Dhorasoo, whose forefathers migrated from Andhra Pradesh to Mauritius, became the first footballer of Indian origin to play in the World Cup finals.
Also in June, news came involving another member of the Indian diaspora that shook world industry. European steel maker Arcelor, the world's largest steel company, agreed to an euro 26.5-billion takeover bid by NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Narayan Mittal.

August was indeed a big month for the Indian diaspora. On August 14, India-born Indra Nooyi was appointed chief executive officer of $33-billion global convenient foods and beverages company PepsiCo. She became one of only a handful of women to head a top US company. Soon after her appointment, Forbes magazine named the 49-year-old Nooyi as the world's fourth most powerful woman after German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi.
On August 23, Anand Satyanand, a person of Indian origin (PIO), took over as the new governor general of New Zealand. He is the first person of Asian ethnicity to become the Queen's representative in New Zealand. Satyanand began his speech on the steps of New Zealand's parliament in Wellington with a "namaste, namashkar, sat sri akaal, greetings to everyone!"
Soon afterwards, another PIO, Bharrat Jagdeo, was re-elected president of the Caribbean nation of Guyana. This is his third consecutive term in office since he took charge in 1999. And in October, Kiran Desai, daughter of prominent Indian origin writer Anita Desai, created literary history by becoming the youngest woman to win the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction at the age of 35. Desai won the award for her second book, The Inheritance of Loss, described by reviewers as "radiant, funny and moving family saga" and "the best, sweetest, most delightful novel". Born in India September 3, 1971, Desai is currently a student at Columbia University's creative writing course.
Hardly had the euphoria of Desai's achievement died, when India-born Western classical music conductor Zubin Mehta was honoured by the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in December. Born in Mumbai April 29, 1936, Mehta has conducted some of the most prestigious orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Kennedy Center chairman Stephen A Schwarzman called Mehta "a world treasure".
Among other recognitions, Thomas Kailath of Stanford University was inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame; Indo-Canadian scientist Asit K Biswas received the 2006 Stockholm Water Prize, known as the Nobel Prize for environment.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar became the first woman to be made leader of the opposition in Trinidad & Tobago's parliament.
Indian American pioneer Appu Kuttan was awarded the 2006 Champions of Digital Literacy Inspiration Award.
NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul was appointed the inaugural chancellor of University of Westminster; and Lord Karan Billimoria became the first Parsi to enter Britain's House of Lords.

NRIs ARE MORE PRONE TO DIABETES

Indians living in urban areas are far more overweight and abdominally obese than NRIs; however, more NRIs have diabetes than resident Indians, according to a four year study funded by the US Congress to study patterns of obesity and diabetes among NRIs and Indian citizens. The study was commissioned by Texas University and conducted jointly by Indian and American physicians in seven locations in the US, in the capital city of India, New Delhi, and in the rural area of a southern Indian state, Tamil Nadu.
The study found 17.4 percent NRIs were diabetic compared with 13.6 percent in Delhi and 9 percent in rural India. The higher prevalence of diabetes in NRIs is attributed to their lifestyles, a trend fast being adopted by urban India. All 2,146 subjects of the study were over 18 years of age. Of the sample 60 percent from the US, 50 percent from New Delhi and 32 percent from Tamil Nadu were male.It was found that NRIs also had a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS), which is characterised by a set of risk factors that include abdominal obesity, low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol, high blood pressure and insulin resistance. More than half of the patients with MS are at an increased risk of coronary disease.

PAKISTANI FROM NY GUILTY OF FUNDING SIKH MILITANTS

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Pakistani man living in New York was found guilty on Wednesday of wiring money and trying to send a foot soldier to a Sikh militant separatist group opposed to the Indian government. Khalid Awan was found guilty in Brooklyn federal court of transferring $25,000 and trying to recruit Harjit Singh, a former fellow prison inmate, to the Khalistan Commando Force in 2003.
Awan faces a maximum of 45 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 7. He was found guilty of all counts he faced, including providing material support or resources to terrorists and money laundering to promote terrorism. Awan was detained on federal credit card fraud charges as a material witness shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Inside prison he met Singh, who federal authorities say he introduced to Khalistan Commando Force leader Paramjit Singh Panjwar through phone calls placed from the prison -- in the hopes that after Singh's release he would travel to Lahore, Pakistan, to join the group. But Singh turned on Awan, telling federal authorities of his relationship with Panjwar, and Awan was soon being taped talking to the militant leader on the telephone about the $25,000 and Singh's future.
The militant group, formed in 1986, is made up of Sikhs who have tried to violently force India into letting them form their own state in the country's Punjab region. Aside from hundreds of bombings, acts of sabotage and kidnappings committed against the Indian government, the group is responsible for the murder of Chief Minister Beant Singh of Punjab in 1995, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

INDIAN ACCUSED OF FRAUS IN AUSTRALIA

An Indian businessman in Australia accused of faking his mother's death to claim a $1 million insurance policy may not be extradited to the country until cleared by the Indian police. Pavan Shivnani, 35, of East Perth and the former chief of grain trader Australian Foods Company, is alleged to have taken out a life insurance policy on his mother's behalf with Norwich Union Australia in 2003, naming himself as the beneficiary.
Investigators claim that both Pavan and his wife Kanchan Shivnani, 31, who is also a co-accused in the case, obtained a fake death certificate from a doctor in India in 2004 and faxed the insurance company to cash in the policy. But an inquiry by the insurance firm found that Pavan's mother was alive, reported the Australian newspaper.
Kanchan appeared in Perth District Court on Tuesday, and will apply in February to get her charges heard separately from her husband, who is presently in India. Pavan is facing a police case in India resulting from a traffic accident and has had his passport confiscated. "My client is facing charges over a serious traffic crash in India. He is also being sued over a business debt incurred in India," Pavan's lawyer Paul Meyer said.
"The director of public prosecutions is trying to get extradition proceedings in place but it could take another year," Meyer said. Pavan is facing a further fraud charge over allegations he defrauded the Commonwealth Bank in 2003 by using false documents to obtain more than $450,000. The finance related to an Australian Foods order with a Taiwan company for a barley shipment.

NRIs URGED TO INVEST IN ORISSA

Describing Orissa as a state blessed by god, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi on Saturday called upon the Indian diaspora, especially Oriyas, to invest in the state to further its economic growth. Inaugurating a two-day convention of non-resident Indians (NRIs) and Oriyas from outside the state, Ravi said Orissa is a forward-looking state and has rich natural and mineral resources.
"Proper management of these resources would ensure that Orissa graduates to the level of a developed state," the minister said at the convention titled 'Emerging Opportunities in Orissa'. Hoping the convention would give an opportunity to NRIs for new initiatives and investment in Orissa, Ravi said that society could be fully developed only with social justice and equal opportunity and Orissa also could go ahead with this principle for development. Pitching for investment in the state, Orissa's Minister for Energy, IT and Culture Suryanarayan Patra said the atmosphere in the state was perfect for new projects. "In Orissa, we work as one - politicians, bureaucrats, government," he said.
Former chief justice of India GB Patnaik, addressing the gathering, said: "In this age of liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation, if the government does not come forward, then we can build our state with private enterprise, provided we have the will power." Orissa has seen high levels of investment in recent years. The state received 11 percent of the total foreign direct investment that has flowed into India this year, and, according to experts, there is potential for $30 billion worth of investment in the state.
Managing director of Posco India, the South Korean steel maker that is setting up a plant in Orissa, also gave a presentation of his company's plans. Three seminars - on IT and business process outsourcing (BPO), tourism and hospitality and on health and education - are being held during the convention. A five-day Orissa Utsav is also being organised at Dilli Haat from Dec 17-21. Around 100 delegates, including 40 from overseas, are attending the convention.

INDIANS BOOST CHURCH ATTENDANCE IN BRITAIN

In a role reversal of history, Indian priests are not only meeting the shortage of priests in churches in Britain, but Christian migrants from India, particularly from Kerala, are helping boost dwindling church congregations. Western missionaries in the 19th century trekked to remote tribal areas of India and converted tribes, who are now returning the favour by moving to places such as Wales to meet a shortage of priests there.

One of the first Indian priests to arrive in Wales to preach Christianity was Rev Hmar Sangkhuma, from the Diocese of Mizoram in northeastern India. Mizoram has a majority Christian population that was initially converted by missionaries from Wales between 1840 and 1960.Sangkhuma has been offering spiritual guidance to the local Welsh population in Maesteg, near Bridgend. Some time ago, a Methodist church in Swindon had its first Indian minister, Rev Ajay Singh.On taking over, Singh remarked that he was surprised that the congregation was not larger. "One of my aims while here will be to increase the size of the congregation; not to just fill the church, but for them to accept god," he had said.

During the colonial era, Christian missionaries were encouraged to spread the gospel in India's tribal areas, including the northeast. Much of the work was undertaken by missionaries from Wales, Ireland and Scotland. The Mizos consider the Welsh Presbyterian Church the "mother church'.Wrote former Home Secretary B.P. Singh in his book, "The Problem of Change: A Study of North-East India": "(The) impact of Christian missionaries on the tribal population was spectacular. "The Nagas, Mizos and Khasis in particular have undergone profound changes as a result of the spread of Christian ideals among them. Christianity taught these tribes the value of peace, tolerance and co-existence.

"The familiarisation of these tribes with new ideals, coupled with the subsequent independence and democratisation of the polity, have taken them into the modern world, with all its strengths and dangers. Church sources say that attendance in churches has been progressively dwindling in various parts of Britain. The 2001 census showed that fewer than one in 10 people in Wales regularly attended church or chapel that also faces a shortage of priests. The latest to report this is the county of Staffordshire, where recent migrants from various countries, including India, are helping boost congregations.

According to reports from Stoke, Staffordshire, the Holy Trinity Church in Hartshill hosts two groups of worshippers from North Staffordshire's Malayali community, who hail from Kerala.They meet on Sunday afternoons and evenings in the church hall. Their meetings boost church attendance. About 100 people in total attend the normal Sunday services, whereas around 80 Malayalis attend the two group sessions.

Roy Wilshaw, a churchwarden at Holy Trinity, said the new members were really making a difference to the church. He said: "It is lovely. We are in conversation with one another and we invite each other to special functions. It is good for us and good for them. It makes for a better relationship between the two communities."Mammen Philip, 34, said the Malayali community had used the Holy Trinity church hall free of charge for the last two years. Once a month the mass is held in the Malayalam language.

A priest travels from Birmingham to take the service at Holy Trinity. Philip said: "I think most British people are not very religious. There are 150 to 200 families from Kerala in North Staffordshire and most of them here are Christians, with 90 percent being Catholic. We are all religious."Every week, we go to church. When we came here we wanted to follow our customs and religion and teach our children how to grow in faith."Others boosting the church congregations in Staffordshire hail from Fiji and Poland.

FIRST GENERATION NRIs HEAD FOR INDIA

They are the first generation Indians in the United States who migrated in the early 1960s. But even after spending nearly five decades in the fabled melting pot, they have not completely disconnected from India. This group of US citizens has found a way to get literally the best of both worlds - post retirement; they spend six months in their mother country and six months in their adopted country. Meet Shahmat Khan, Affiliate Research Professor at George Mason University, living in a sprawling bungalow in a Washington suburb. His wife and he have also bought a house in NOIDA and are in the process of transporting some of their exclusive stuff from their home in Washington to their new home in India.
Even as his wife calculated the cost of transportation, Khan tried to get answers to obvious questions such as the money required to lead a comfortable life in India. "Do you think with a monthly intake of a lakh of rupees, we will be able to live comfortably?" he asked. He is also not sure whether they should buy furnishings in India to deck up their NOIDA house to their American taste or to carry everything, from A to Z, from the US. "We are very excited as we will able to keep in close touch with our family and friends in India without distancing ourselves from our children," he added.
And they are not the only ones. Many Indians living in the suburbs of Washington, New York and elsewhere in the US or even Canada are now leading dual lives. After passing out from London School of Economics decades back, Liaqat Ali's obvious destination was the World Bank. On way to India for his six-monthly sojourn Ali said, "I landed in Washington DC in 1964 to work as an economist at the World Bank. We were only six Indians then. In those days Americans used to look at us with great puzzlement, they used to ask silly, inquisitive questions which often made my wife Sehba very angry." Liaqat retired after a distinguished career and has shifted base to Toronto after over 40 years in Washington. But he always spends six months in India.
He is happy maintaining two establishments, but is not sure how long this will remain feasible. He is involved in social work for his community in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh while his poet wife gets to mingle with her like-minded friends. "She loves the cultural life of UP, but at times gets furious over the frustrations of daily living in India. You need to know someone to get things done, unlike in the US where the system works. The phenomenon is raising eyebrows among Americans, who always believed their country could absorb people of every colour and background into one America. And here is a section of their population which is determined to preserve its own ethnic identity. (HT)

INDIAN HELD FOR FRAUD IN UK

An Indian employed with Britain's National Health Service (NHS) has been jailed for 18 months on charges of defrauding the service of thousands of pounds by exaggerating the number of women patients who went in for smear tests. Vinod Thapar, 62, was general practice manager with NHS. Thapar, of Cockfosters, north London regularly asked staff to falsify patients' medical records to show that women had received smear tests. The practice received extra money from the local primary care trust by claiming an exaggerated number of screenings, according to the Guardian.
"Changing the dates of smear tests meant screenings that may have detected cancer would have been delayed," Scotland Yard said. "Vinod Thapar's actions not only resulted in public finances being fraudulently obtained but they were also reckless with the health of the women whose records were falsified," said detective constable Grahame MacFarlane.
In October, Thapar pleaded guilty to four specimen charges of obtaining property by deception, costing the NHS 37,500 pounds. Police said it was impossible to estimate the total figure defrauded from the NHS. Thapar was also ordered by the court to pay 37,500 pounds compensation to a local Enfield and Haringey Primary Care trust on Friday.
The NHS was set up in 1948 and is the largest organisation in Europe. It is the 'public face' of the three publicly funded health care systems of Great Britain. The NHS provides the majority of healthcare in Britain, from general practitioners to accident and emergency departments, long-term healthcare and dentistry. It was founded in 1948 and has become an integral part of English society, culture and everyday life. It is recognised as one of the best health services in the world by the World Health Organisation.

GOOD ENGLISH IMPROVES MENTAL HEALTH OF ASIAN AMERICANS

Indian and other Asian men with good or excellent English skills are less likely to have mental health problems than those with poorer English proficiency, according to a new study of immigrants to the US. Asian Americans in general have lower rates of psychiatric disorders than American-born Asians and other native-born Americans with English-language proficiency the main variable among men and birthplace the key factor for women.

Asian-American immigrant women were far less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, substance abuse or psychiatric disorder in their lifetime than were US-born women, according to this first national epidemiological survey of the community. "Compared to all Americans, Asian Americans had lower lifetime rates of any disorder," said David Takeuchi, a sociologist and University of Washington social work professor and lead author of the study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

"Roughly 48 percent of Americans will have some kind of a lifetime disorder. In our study, less than one in four Asian-American immigrants will have a disorder. However, that won't necessarily be the case for their children and grandchildren. If trends continue, rates for them will go up and that suggests that more investment is needed for prevention programmes. "The researchers used a questionnaire designed by the World Health Organisation to find out about incidents in the past year and lifetime of depression, anxiety, phobias, post traumatic stress disorder, substance and alcohol abuse and eating disorders.

The questionnaire was available in six languages, although nearly three-quarters of the interviews were conducted in English. The study also found that there were no significant differences among the main immigrant groups, the Chinese, Filipinos and Vietnamese. Asian immigrants who came as elementary school-age children have an easier time learning English than older children, but are more at risk to develop a substance abuse problem.

American-born women are twice as likely to have a depressive disorder than Asian-born women.Among men, those born elsewhere are less likely to have a substance abuse problem than Asian-American men born in the United States. The study also raised a number of questions that Takeuchi said the researchers want to look at in the future.

He said they would like to compare the circumstances of immigrants who voluntarily migrate and those who are refugees." Someone who is a voluntary immigrant doesn't typically suffer the severe trauma that a refugee who is fleeing persecution or war does." And because social relationships can enhance or deter social mobility, the researchers also want to examine how discrimination is associated with mental health among Asian Americans.

Other papers in the journal look at the mental health of Latino and Black Caribbean immigrants to the United States. In general, all of the papers suggest that immigrants have lower rates of mental disorders than native-born Americans.

Data from the Asian-American paper was drawn from the larger National Latino and Asian American Study. For this paper, the researchers interviewed nearly 2,100 native-born or immigrant Asian Americans who were 18 or older. Participants included 600 Chinese, 520 Vietnamese, 508 Filipinos and 467 other Asians including Japanese, Koreans and Asian Indians.

"RUSSIA IS UNSAFE FOR INDIAN STUDENTS"

Hindustan Times spoke to Anjangi after she was attacked in Russia. She is a student there.

Tell us about the attack on you?
Anjangi: It was April 19, just before Hitler’s birthday and people were afraid , something might happen. I was coming home after having dinner with my sister. Just as I was entering a darkened archway right in front of our hostel, I felt someone was following me. I started walking faster, but one boy suddenly rushed up behind me and pushed me down. A second one then came from the other side and slit my throat. It happened very fast. I tried to chase them, but realised that I was bleeding profusely I staggered into the . hostel, and fellow students called the ambulance. I then underwent an operation that saved my life.

The attack on your fellow student last Sunday was very similar, wasn’t it?
Anjangi: He just went out to buy bread around 8 pm. In the same archway where I was attacked, five boys wearing black headbands stabbed him seven times. He managed to get into the hostel. People tried to help him. But he died from an excessive blood loss.

What do you feel about the atmosphere for Indian students in Russia?
Anjangi: I want to say this to all the students in India who are thinking of coming to Russia: it is very dangerous. You get the highest quality education over here, but there is no security for foreigners. There is a lot of fascism, and it is growing. The Russian government is doing nothing about it. There is no guarantee of one’s life.

STS-116

STS-116, the next Space Shuttle mission on the shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch on December 7, 2006. What makes this launch special is Sunita Williams, Flight Engineer on the mission. Yet another Person of Indian Origin to be proud of.

Kalpana Chawla made Indians proud as being the first Indian woman in space. Her last shuttle mission, however, ended in a tragedy. Women of Indian origin whether born in or out of India are clearly doing a great job.
In addition to being on the Space Shuttle Mission STS-116 Sunita Williams will join Expedition 14 (already in progress) on the International Space Station. So she will soon be first person of Indian origin to actually live in Space.

Sunita William's Bio:

This is what she will be eating during the mission:

And here is an interview:

Now, this leads me to a different debate altogether... I wonder whether India stands to gain by collaborating with the US in these space missions. India's first astronaut went to space with the help of the soviets. Should we try to send another via the US shuttle missions? Is there any value to such a collaboration?

INDIAN ORIGIN IN FRAY FOR TOP FOOTBALL POST

A former Indian origin player of the Seychelles football team is among three candidates in the fray for the post of president of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA). Suketu Patel, re-elected as chairman of the Seychelles Football Federation Wednesday, a post he has held since 1994, will face 1988 African Footballer of the Year and Zambian legend Kalusha Bwalya and Namibia High Court judge Petrus Damaseb in Saturday's election for the post of COSAFA president.

The election is being held after Botswana's Ismail Bhamjee stepped down from the post after being involved in a World Cup 2006 ticket sale scandal.Patel, 54, a former Seychellois goalkeeper, has also served in the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). He was also a member of the organising committee of FIFA world under-17 championships.Patel got a shot in the arm for his race to the COSAFA presidency with South Africa expressing its support for him.

"I have trust and faith in that man (Patel)," South Africa Football Association president Molefi Oliphant told the News 24 website."I sat with him on the CAF executive committee while he was the chairperson of the finance committee of CAF."COSAFA has to be strong and progress so we support the individual who we believe will push the region to a higher level," Oliphant was quoted as saying.

Zambia's Bwalya has also expressed confidence of winning the election.Now a businessman and TV analyst, Bwalya told BBC Sport: "With 25 years of playing the game which transcends across the globe, I have ensured all the stakeholders understand where I am coming from and what I am bringing."COSAFA is a powerful football body comprising countries in the southern Africa region.Its 13 members are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

SINGHS A ROARING SUCCESS IN SINGAPORE ARMY

General JJ Singh became the mascot of the Sikh community when he took over the reins of the army last year. And now the Singhs are roaring out loud in Lion City, Singapore, making their presence felt in the island-nation's Armed Forces (SAF).
Ravinder Singh has become the first Sikh to rise to the rank of brigadier general and assume the command of a frontline formation - the 6th Singapore Division. This is one of the SAF's three Combined Arms Division that has elements of infantry, armour, artillery, combat engineers, signals and air defence artillery.
SAF's web publication cyberpioneer quotes Ravinder Singh as saying, "Having enjoyed the challenges my career has given me, this promotion is really the icing on the cake. Work hard, do your best, and the SAF will definitely reward you accordingly - with challenging duties and ample recognition."
The SAF has a career military force of about 20,000, supplemented by 30,000 personnel on active national service and almost three lakh reservists. The ethnicity in Singapore's population is sufficiently reflected in the armed forces, which account for almost 8-10 per cent soldiers of Indian origin.
Singh's leap into prominence only re-emphasises the contribution these soldiers have made to the SAF. Singapore's first defence adviser in India, Colonel Perdit Kumar Tiwari, is also of Indian origin.
The genius of a battery of officers who trace their roots to India is shining brightly in the SAF. Lieutenant Colonel Deep Singh, for instance, served as Singapore's first military consultant to the United Nations.
In 2003, Lieutenant Colonel Sukhvinder Singh Chopra led an SAF contingent to the Middle East, as part of Singapore's contribution to multinational reconstruction effort in Iraq. More recently, Lieutenant Colonel Jaspal Singh Sidhu was the 'Mother Goose' responsible for controlling the fighter aircraft display at the National Day Parade 2006.
It's evident that ethnic background does not matter in the SAF - there are equal opportunities for the Chinese, Malays and Indians.