Healthcare Administration Essay Example

society free of tyranny but Mullahs and all others under the influence of Mullahs interpret our religion to create situations of tyranny (Zulm, Injustice).Do you not see how they create sectarian disharmony and killings? How do you think they end up creating hatred against Shia or Sunni? What we need today is to rid our minds of the influence of Mullahs.

When many of you get "stressed" and warn others not to talk of religion without fully understanding it. It is not "fear of God" it's the psychological fear created by Mullahs, Allah is forgiving but Mullah is not. In the present day world no one can be an Aalam-e-Din without having a command of modern sciences (Biology, Physics and Chemistry even Finance etc) in addition to knowledge of Theology and History.Islam is a Code of Life for all times only because it has the elasticity to adjust with the changing times. - Moeed Pirzada, California AAPI And Its Young President Your cover story on AAPI’s Young Leadership and his vision for AAPI is very inspiring.

Great to have such exceptionally great organizations and the many noble works they undertake. AAPI’s meteoric rise from a basement three decades ago to become one of today's premier ethnic medical associations is a tribute to its past leaders, a network of hardworking committees, and a constituency of 100,000 physicians and medical residents. AAPI has become a force to reckon with.AAPI's stellar role has come in for appreciation with the US political leaders and law makers.

Hope, Dr. Shah is able to build on what he has inherited from its past presidents and take it to new levels of

high achievements and great service to humanity. Rajiv Saxena, Illinois Historic Moment For Indian Americans As Srikant Srinivasan Confirmed US Judge Your report on India’s Chandigarh-born Srinivasan's confirmation as the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, being unanimously approved by the US Senate with 97 voting in favor, is a historically prud moment for all Indian Americans.The 46-year-old has become the first South Asian to be appointed to the top American court amid speculation that he may one day be tapped for the Supreme Court.

Justice Srinivasan has a distinguished and proven record of commitment to public service, and I look forward to his contributions to the bench. And he will offer a unique perspective and added diversity that is long overdue in our justice system. - Hemant Pancholi , North Carolina Well Written Editorial On Corruption Dear Ajay, I went through Asian Era and it is interesting to read and the quality is very good.In your editorial you have written well on world wide corruption with facts and figures. It is interesting to know different levels of corruption. Shijy ; Selvan Albert , Michigan JUL-AUG 2013 Durga Mandir New Jersey No Cash Offerings Appeal to Devotees Respected Devotees: Namaskar, With all the due respect I am making an humble appeal“Not to make any Cash Offerings at Durga Mandir" in Princeton , New Jersey .

Please do visit Durga Mandir for all your ceremonial needs as usual. Under no circumstances this Appeal should be construed as boycott of the Temple .This Appeal is also for Change of Trustees & Executive Committee Members of the Mandir for not providing any services for

youth and Hinduism study. More over these Trustees & Executive members do not believe in honesty, transparency, accountability, democratic functioning and full financial disclosures. Dave Makkar, New Jersey Do Not Grant Visa To Modi Indian Muslim Advocacy Network (ImanNet) which is affiliated with the Coalition Against Genocide (www.

coalitionagainstgenocide. org) has rejected BJP and Overseas Friends of BJP's criticism of the letter written by Indian parliamentarians to President Obama, as hypocritical and without merit.The Indian MPs have written asking that the US visa ban on Narendra Modi not be revoked because of his involvement in the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom. BJP has harshly attacked the MPs for "washing dirty Indian linen outside. " - Dr.

Shaik Ubaid, President of ImanNet TheAsianEra 4 5 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 July-August 2013 THE COMPLETE MAGAZINE FOR THE GLOBAL ASIAN Publisher&CEO Chief Editor Director (Europe Operations) Director (Business Development) Legal Advisor Corporate Advertising Graphic DesignerGinsmon P Zacharia Ajay Ghosh Paul J Murphy Sebastian Joseph Anand Ahuja Esq Dominic Chackonal Jinu John Mathew Inside The Asian Era “India Is A Rising Power:” Joe Biden Says During Visit To India Nisha Desai Biswal Nominated As US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia United Nations Declares Malala Day “The State Of AAPI Is Strong,” Dr. Narendra Kumar Assures New Team Dr. Jayesh Shah & Team Vow To Take AAPI To Next Level Indian Cinema Turns 100 Indian Parliamentarians Discuss Global Challenges at Yale Dr.Kiran Patel: A Story of Success & Sharing Eight Indians Among 50 Top Global Management Gurus BJP Has Sound Plans To Jumpstart The Stalled Indian Economy: Rajnath Singh The first ever CII India Innovation Summit held in Chicago

India, US Are “Best Friends Forever” Heart Disease Is Top Killer Among Indian Americans Pope Francis Named Man Of The Year By Vanity Fair News Round Up Indian Kids Felicitated by Michelle Obama for Cooking Skills Six Among 15 Youths Named 2013 Google Science Fair Finalists Are Indians Chariot Festival Held in Houston Wells fargo Donates $100,00 To Victims in Uttarakhand, India Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay Shares His Literary Journey At Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Asha’s Yale Chapter Plans Fund Raisers US students fall in love with Indian culture Bhaswati Bhattacharya Goes To India To Study Ancient Indian Medical Systems Indian Embassy Spied Upon By NSA India Continues To Be A Tourism Hotspot For WorldTravelers India Bridal Fashion Week 2013 Showcases Best Of The Best In Fashion World “You Cannot Be A Slave Of Both God And Wealth” You Are Happiest When 23 and 69: Studies Say Eating Breakfast Is Best For You: Studies Find You Can Upgrade Your Smartphones After One Year App Makes Raga Identification Fun & Simple To Indian Classical Music Lovers Robert Arnett, Author of India Unveiled, In Conversation With The Asian Era Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya on How to Replicate India’s Growth in Other Developing Countries, in New CFR Book 8 10 12 14 16 20 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 338 40 Published By DELIGHT MEDIA Inc.

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Views Expressed in this Publication are not necessarily those of thePublication and accordingly no liability is Assumed by the publisher thereof. It does not Represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability Of any of the articles and advertisements. INSIDE JUL-AUG 2013 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 62 64 TheAsianEra Nisha Desai Biswal Nominated As US Assistant Secretaryof State for South and Central Asia 10 6 EditorialPoverty Is A Stain On Our Collective Conscience Poverty reduction is a central feature of every country’s agenda and contemporary poverty reduction strategies increasingly focus on “targeting the poor. ” Over the past decades, policies and programs by nations across the globe have not resulted significantly in alleviating poverty.

On the contrary, poverty levels have increased in most parts of the globe, including in the United States. No one can underestimate the correlation between government policies and their impact in poverty reduction or increase. Quoting the Census Bureau report, Ronald Brownstein, a columnist, pointed out that the United States lost ground during George W.Bush's eight years in office. The median household income declined, poverty increased, childhood poverty increased even more, and the number of Americans without health insurance spiked.

Under Bush, the number of people in poverty increased by over 8. 2 million, or 26. 1 per cent. By contrast, the country's condition improved on each of those measures during Bill Clinton's two terms, often substantially.

When Clinton left office in 2000, the Census counted

almost 31. 6 million Americans living in poverty. However, when Bush left office in 2008, the number of poor Americans had jumped to 39. 8 million, the largest number in absolute terms since 1960.President Barak Obama recently acknowledged that inequality is on the rise "even though the economy is growing.

" That growth hasn't helped many people who lost mid-wage jobs during the recession. Half of the U. S. population is now considered poor or lowincome. The U. S.

is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and yet nearly one-quarter of the nation’s residents recently said they had trouble putting food on the table over the past year, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. Income inequality has become a familiar part of American life over the last half-century. Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist David Cay Johnston states, the bottom 90 percent ofAmericans saw their incomes grow by just $59 between 1966 and 2011, where as the average income for the top 10 percent of Americans rose by $116,071 on average over the same period. A recent report from the International Labour Organization says, income inequality in the U.

S. is much worse than it is in other industrialized countries, where it is also an alarming problem. The gap between the rich and the poor is only getting wider as the median wage continues to fall. The top 1% own as much as 80% of the nation’s wealth, whereas the bottom 80% of the people own only 7% of the nation’s wealth. In comparison with the US, the poverty level in India is even more alarming.

The sheer number of people below poverty

line is shocking. Although, the number of people living below the poverty line has shrunk to 21. per cent in 2011-12 from 37. 2 per cent in 2004-05 on account of increase in per capita consumption, the total number of people living below poverty line in a country of over 1.

1 billion is alarming. According to Dean Nelson of The Telegraph, India now has a greater share of the world's poorest than it did thirty years ago. Then it was home to one fifth of the world's poorest people, but today it accounts for one-third, nearly 400 million. Based on a recent study, Nelson states that the number of extremely poor people had declined from half the world's population in 1981 to one fifth in 2010, but it has increased in Sub-Saharan Africa and in India.On an all-India basis, there were 217 million poor in rural areas and 53 million in urban areas in 2011-12, as against 326 million and 81 million, respectively, in 2004-05. This means that roughly every fifth Indian lives below the poverty line.

Thomas Chandy of Save The Children said that while 200 million people had been lifted from poverty in the last two decades, but the recent economic growth had left one third of the population untouched. "India's status has gone down despite the economic growth, inequality has widened which makes the poor poorer. In child mortality, infant mortality and maternal mortality, India seems to have the largest numbers.We would like to see focused interventions [because] the most difficult areas remain untouched," he said. A recent United Nations Flagship report tilted, Combating Poverty and Inequality, based on extensive analysis

of country case studies, found that increases in inequality are linked to a range of economic policies that have dominated the development agenda in recent decades. These include financial liberalization, regressive taxation, privatization in the context of weak regulation, public expenditure policies that fail to protect the poor during crisis or adjustment periods, and labour market policies that lead to precarious forms of flexibility, informalization and an erosion of minimum wages and union bargaining power.

Other causes of rising inequality include disparities in educational attainment, technological change and employment policies that widen wage gaps between skilled and unskilled workers; rural-urban wage differentials in the process of structural change; inequality in asset ownership (including land); and unequal access to credit and basic production inputs, particularly in the agricultural sector. Poverty around the world is very alarming. More than 1. 4 billion people across the globe are reported to be living in poverty so extreme that they can barely survive.

Nearly 25,000 people die from hunger each day. At the same time, a new billionaire is created every second day. World Bank president Jim Yong Kim said while the overall decline in poverty levels was "remarkable progress, the large number of people living in extreme poverty was "a stain on our collective conscience. ” The call for a global safety net for all human beings has never been so urgent.The sharp and cruel realities of inequality and unjust policies must compel the international community to transform economic priorities and guarantee the universal securing of basic human Ajay Ghosh necessities. Chief Editor Your comments and suggestions may be sent to the Editor: ajghosh@gmail.

com TheAsianEra 7 JUL-AUG 2013 “India

Is A Rising Power:” Joe Biden Says During Visit To India Reiterates US support to India to be a permanent member in the United Nation Security Council By Ajay Ghosh New Delhi: India: US Vice President Joe Biden said India is a rising power, which has risen exponentially over the past two decades primarily because of the bold steps it took in 1991.He was visiting India in July this year, a first by a sitting US Vice-President to India in 30 years. “You took bold steps in 1991. Since then, the phone users grew to 900 million from 5 million.

The exports rose to $300 billion from $20 billion. No contradiction between strategic autonomy and partnership. We have to take it to a new scale,” Biden said. Joseph Biden, a Democrat, said that the US wanted India to be a permanent member in the United Nation Security Council.

The United States would like to see India achieve its cherished goal of a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, as well as take a bigger role in regional leadership, he said.India has long sought to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and the US along with its European partners have expressed Joe Biden during his bilateral talks with Dr. Manmohan Singh support, while China, a permanent member with veto powers has not expressed interest in supporting India’s economic reforms since September 2012, reducing the candidature. restrictions for certain types of foreign investment, but “I would ask you to consider the historic opportunity American officials believe the changes have not gone far that we have here,” Biden said while speaking to a

packed enough.

room at the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai, India’s According to reports, investors from the United States financial capital. Imagine what our two countries can and around the globe once flocked to India, drawn by its achieve together, not only for one another but for the eco- rapid economic growth, gradual economic liberalization nomic and political stability of the region. ” and huge population. But in the last decade, many AmeriIn a speech peppered with colorful phrases, Mr. Biden can companies have found the going far tougher than exidentified four targets: improving economic exchange, pected, and their complaints are beginning to resonate in addressing climate change, collaborating in defense mat- Washington. ters and addressing India’s role in the Asia-Pacific region.

The problems that companies confront here — endemic He spoke at a time when the United States is shifting its corruption, shifting government rules and poor infrastrucfocus in the region toward India, in part to counterbalance China’s rise but also because of Washington’s increasingly problematic relationship with Paksitan, India’s principal foe. Stressing the need for more cooperation between the two great democracies of the world, Biden said, the trade between India and the US could rise five fold. The issues relating to the limit in FDI, inconsistent tax system, barriers to market access and conditions of local content could be negotiated, he suggested. India has introduced many TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 8 8 Vice President Joe Biden during a visit to India ture, among others — seemed less dire when the Indian economy was growing at a blistering rate.

But growth has slowed to 5 percent over the past year, and those

issues have become far greater irritants.Stating that American companies are interested in technology and infrastructure, he said, "We in the US welcome investments by India. The US has benefited due to Indian human capital. " He also said that India's concern on food security needs to be addressed at the upcoming WTO meeting in December. Emphasing the Indo-US relationships, he said, "We already have a co-operation in the nuclear sector. A power project of 6,000 MW can be set up in Gujarat with supply of nuclear reactors from US companies.

" Biden went a step ahead and drew similarities between the US and Indian experiences of 9/11 and 26/11, respectively. He said that the US had been sharing intelligence with India on terror in order to avoid a 9/11 and 26/11-like situation in both the countries.Biden also urged India to address the challenges posed by climate change and begin working toward cleaner energy options. “Unless development is sustainable, the consequences of climate change will seriously undermine the economic progress made by India and risk the very health of the people of the country,” he said, suggesting that the two countries work to reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbons and encourage scientists from both countries to work on green technology options. Vice President Joseph Biden arrived in New Delhi on Monday, July 22nd, and spent a day meeting with India’s top political leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Sushma Swaraj, the Leader of the Opposition.

Biden started his trip with a visit to a memorial in New Delhi to Mohandas K. Gandhi, who is India’s founding father. Biden wrote a

tribute to Gandhi in the visitors’ book, calling Gandhi “one man who changed the world. " Reports here suggest that Biden’s trip was part of a long-term effort to convince India’s officials and people that the days when Pakistan, India’s longtime rival, was US Vice President Joe Biden poses in front of a statue of Mahatama Gandhi in New Delhi, on July 22, 2013.

Biden is on a four-day visit designed to revive flagging diplomatic ties and fire up bilateral trade. the United States’ favorite friend in South Asia are over.Biden’s trip is the first by an American vice president in nearly 30 years, and it comes one month after Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to New Delhi, the capital, to discuss climate change and diplomacy. TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 9 9 Nisha Desai Biswal Nominated As US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia By Giriraj Maken Washington, DC: The minority Indian American community has been recognized by successive US administrations for their skills and resourcefulness.

But, the current Obama administration has broken all records. With nearly three dozen key jobs given to Indian Americans in his administration, president Barack Obama has recognized the growing influence of the fast growing Indian American community.Close on the heels of nominating Srikant Srinivasan to an influential US Court, Obama has nominated a second generation Indian-American woman for the key post of Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, a first for both the community and the administration. Subject to confirmation by the Senate, Nisha Desai Biswal, who is currently the Assistant Administrator for Asia at the US Agency for International

Development (USAID), will replace incumbent Robert Blake.

Biswal's nomination by Obama last month came along with announcements for seven other senior administration level positions. "It gives me great confidence that such dedicated and capable individuals have agreed to join this Administration to serve the American people.I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come," Obama said in a statement. Biswal, who received a BA degree from the University of Virginia, has been the Assistant Administrator for Asia at the USAID, since September 2010.

Although Afghanistan and Pakistan come under the South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department, they, however, are handled by the Special US Representatives for Afghanistan and Pakistan, the designation currently held by Jim Dobbins. Biswal’s appointment was welcomed by the Indian American community, its experts and non-experts. “Great news ... she is a terrific role model,” said a Facebook post.

This is a landmark appointment for Indian-Americans, the first time someone from the community has been chosen for the top diplomatic job dealing with South Asia,” said Sadanand Dhume, an Indian origin expert with conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute. “Nisha Biswal is an excellent choice for the position. She's wellinformed about the region and has many friends and admirers in both the executive and legislative branches of government. ” From 2005 to 2010, Biswal was the Majority Clerk for the State Department and Foreign Operations Subcommittee on the Committee on Appropriations in the US House of Representatives.

From 2002 to 2005, she served as the Policy and Advocacy Director at InterAction.Previously, Biswal had served as the professional staff of the US House of Representatives

International Relations Committee from 1999 to 2002. Biswal served at USAID from 1995 to 1999 in a number of capacities including Special Assistant to the Administrator, Chief of Staff in the Management Bureau and in the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, and the Office of Transition Initiatives. Biswal worked at the American 10 10 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 Red Cross from 1993 to 1995 in the Washington DC headquarters, and as an overseas delegate in Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. She is also a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on the People's Republic of China since March 2011.

I would like to introduce my husband and soul mate, Subrat, and our two spirited daughters, Safya and Kaya, who inspire and challenge me every day. My parents, Kanu and Lata Desai, my in-laws Nilambar and Anu Biswal and my brother, Pinank Desai and his family are also here," she was quoted to have said. "As first generation immigrants, our parents journeyed far from rural India to pursue the American Dream and a better life for their children. We are grateful for their continued sacrifices on our behalf," Biswal had said.

TheAsianEra 11 JUL-AUG 2013 United Nations Declares Malala Day Education is the only solution: The 16-yr old Pakistani girl tells world leaders ducation, also presented Ban Ki-Moon with a petition signed by 4 million people asking for help to deliver education to all children. The speech came as Save the Children released a report based on research by UNESCO revealing that almost 50 million children living in war zones do not attend school at all, and that attacks on education are on the rise,

largely due to the conflict in Syria. Justin Forsyth, Save the Children’s chief executive, said of Malala: “She was speaking for the nearly 50 million children around the world who are currently being denied the opportunity of an education because of conflict. ” He added that the world “should listen” to Malala, who was nearly killed in last year’s attack.

Few, however, managed to watch Yousafzai in Pakistan.Only two of the county’s many news channels showed the speech live. The speech did not get much attention in the days leading up to the event. In Pakistan, she is seen as a hero by many, especially those who oppose the Taliban’s campaign of violence. But for others she has been turned into an object of controversy, shrouded in conspiracy theories wildly alleging that she was “a CIA agent” and that her shooting was “staged”.

These theories have had alarmingly wide purchase among young Pakistanis on the internet. The hostility to the schoolgirl, some observers say, is a measure of the pitch of antiAmericanism in Pakistan, where even the faintest association with the US is attacked. In response, AdnanRasheed, a senior figure in the Pakistani Taliban, wrote her an open letter in which he called her to “come back home, adopt the Islamic and Pashtun culture” In the letter Rasheed asked her, “I ask you and be honest in reply, if you were shot but Americans in a drone attack, would world have ever heard updates on your medical status? Would you be called ‘daughter of the nation? Would the media make a fuss about you? Would General Kiyani have come to visit you and would the

world media be constantly reporting on you? Would you were called to UN? Would a Malala day be announced? ” Delgates at the United Nations Assembly listened spellbound to 16-year-old Malala, who was shot by the Talibans in Pakistan for attending school. Malala urged the governments to ensure free and compulsory education.

The 16year old thanked “the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me. In her address, she said, “Today is it an honor for me to be speaking again after a long time. Being here with such honorable people is a great moment in my life and it is an honor for me that today I am wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto. I have received thousands of good-wish Malala Yousufzai, the 16-year-old Pakistani girl, has become a world hero after she was shot at by Taliban for propogating education for girl children in Pakistan United Nations, NY: Malala Yousafzai, who became an icon for education in Pakistan and worldwide, addressed the United Nations on July 12 on the occasion of her 16th birthday, while the United Nations declared that day as Malala Day.

Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed Malala Yousafzai as “the most courageous girl in the world” as the Pakistani schoolgirl who was attacked by the Taliban last year called on world governments to provide free compulsory education for every child in a speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The brave Pakistani national’s address drew a standing ovation at a special Youth Assembly held in the presence of Brown, who is the UN’s special envoy for education, and

the body’s Secretary- General, Ban Ki-moon, who declared it “Malala Day. ” Yousafzai, who was shot in the head in October in Pakistan’s Swat Valley after attracting the ire of the Taliban for raising a voice against its attacks on girls’ 12 12 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 13 13 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 20132013 ards and gifts from all over the world. Thank you to all of them. ” “Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights.

There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for their rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal of peace, education and equality. “Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them. So here I stand, one girl among many. I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights.

Their right to live in peace.Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated.

Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. “They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died.

Strength, power and courage was born. I am

the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. “And my dreams are the same. Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone.

Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. “Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him.

This is the compassion I have learned from Mohamed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

Dear sisters and brothers, we realize the importance of light when we see darkness. We realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced. In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we realized the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns. “The wise saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword. ” It is true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens.

The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The

power of the voice of women frightens them.This is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta.

And that is why they kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were and they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our society. “And I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist: “Why are the Taliban against education? ” He answered very simply by pointing to his book, he said: “A Talib doesn’t know what is written inside this book. ” They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would point guns at people’s heads just for going to school.

“These terrorists are misusing the name of Islam for their own personal benefit.Pakistan is a peace-loving, democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons. Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. It is the duty and responsibility to get education for each child, that is what it says. Peace is a necessity for education.

“In many parts of the world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflicts stop children from going to schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world. In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria.

People in Afghanistan have been affected by extremism. Young girls have to do domestic child labor and are forced to get married at an early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of

basic rights are the main problems, faced by both men and women. Today, I am focusing on women’s rights and girls’ education because they are suffering the most.

There was a time when women activists asked men to stand up for their rights. “But this time we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women’s rights, but I am focusing on women to be independent and fight for themselves. So dear sisters and brothers, now it’s time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favor of peace and prosperity.We call upon the world leaders that all of these deals must protect women and children’s rights.

“A deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable. We call upon all governments to ensure free, compulsory education all over the world for every child. We call upon all the governments to fight against terrorism and violence. To protect children from brutality and harm.

We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of education opportunities for girls in the developing world. “We call upon all communities to be tolerant, to reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect, color, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and equality for women so they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave, to embrace the strength within themselves and realize their full potential. “Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child’s bright future.

We will continue our journey to our destination

of peace and education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for our rights and we will bring change to our voice. We believe in the power and the strength of our words.

“Our words can change the whole world because we are all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools.

“We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future. So let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution.

Education first. Thank you. ” “The State Of AAPI Is Strong,” Dr. Narendra Kumar Assures New Team Stability, Unity, Restoring AAPI’s Image, Excellent Organization of Events, Increased Membership Were Hallmarks of Dr.

Kumar’s Presidency very critical time, especially after a disputed election that had BY Ajay Ghosh During a solemn gala reception attended by over 1,500 delegates from across the nation, Dr. Narendra Kumar, who had assumed charge of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) one year ago, said, “With great pride and happiness that I report that the state of AAPI is strong. ” Accepting a standing ovation

from the audience, Dr. Kumar went on to say that he and his enthusiastic team that had worked together and has been instrumental in restoring its image and stabilizing the finance of AAPI.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your AAPI President, and for also giving me a wonderful group of officers and Executive Committee to work with this term. ” Dr. Jayesh Shah, to whom Dr. Kumar passed on the mantle of leadership during the Chicago convention, while delivering the acceptance speech before an enthusiastic audience, said, “I accept this gavel with reverence, responsibility, humility, weakened this more than three decades old association, tarnishing its image among the public and members of AAPI, combined with instability and infighting leading to the lowering of the morale among most members and past leaders of AAPI .

In less than year, since a new and dynamic team took charge of AAPI, Dr.Kumar as its president can say proudly that, he and his team have been instrumental in restoring its image and stabilizing the finance of this largest ethnic group of physicians of any community in the United States. Dr. Kumar pointed to some of his pioneering efforts in reenergizing AAPI, including the “game-changing Regional AAPI Conferences, the Shreya Ghoshal Nine-City Tour and Educational Programs, the first ever Global Healthcare Summit in Kochi with a record number of participants, a very effective Legislative Agenda and presence on Capitol Hill, creating and developing new strategic long-term alliances with four of the largest healthcare companies, strategic planning phase and transforming the way AAPI is looking at the future. “Together we have created history in the last

11 months, and we are marching forward for even newer heights,” he said.

What was begun 31 years ago by a handful of Indian doctors, today AAPI has grown to be the largest ethnic medical organization of a diaspora, globally, influencing important issues such as graduate medical education, physician work force and shaping health care delivery in the US, Dr. Shah said. “We will continue our mission to bring the best health care to India by working in collaboration with other Indian Physician Associations throughout the world and the Indian government,” Dr. Shah promised. While paying tributes to his predecessors who have contributed to the tremendous growth of this organization, Dr.

Shah, the youngest ever president to lead AAPI said, “I will be taking this awesome responsibility as President at the time when the ‘Affordable Care Act’ will be implemented.I see this as an opportunity, to collectively shape the best health care for the people of US. ” While it’s his leadership style and personal dedication Dr. Kumar presenting the gavel to Dr.

Jayesh Shah, the incoming president as a token of passing on the mantle of AAPI's leadership 14 14 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 and pride for it carries the weight of 31 years of our history, representing 100,000 physicians of Indian origin in the US, and for the privilege of serving every 7th patient in the US, and on behalf of 20% of students who walk the hallowed halls of US medical schools who will one day hold this gavel with pride representing physicians of Indian origin.I accept this gavel with a sense of service to all of you, accomplished physicians and

leaders and your families in our communities throughout the United States. ” Acknowledging the contributions of Dr. Kumar, the new president said, “Thank you for your service to AAPI.

With single minded dedication you have put AAPI on sound financial footing, you set the trend for long term and sustained involvement of sponsors and you have given us a wonderful experience in Chicago. For all that and more please accept a small token of our apDr. Narendra Kumar delivering his final address as the president of AAPI on preciation. ” Dr. Kumar had assumed charge at a Sunday night, while the speakers on the podium look on hat has tremendously contributed to AAPI’s newfound resurgence and enthusiasm, especially by bringing in many young and youthful leaders to the front, Dr.

Kumar is quick to give credit to his team for the success of AAPI, especially in the past year. “It is indeed a privilege to work with a dedicated group of leaders in the Executive Committee and Governing Body,” he said. “It was their hard work and dedication which helped to do conduct the activities for this year. I am most humbled by the trust, confidence and the great opportunity you have given me to serve this organization.

” Rising to be the leader of AAPI, after beinjg a member of this prestigious organization for over two decades, Dr.Kumar said, "It's been a privilege for me to be associated with AAPI because I recognize the tremendous role that is being played by AAPI in promoting friendship between India and the United States. As members of AAPI, we have not forgotten our roots and are engaged

in several activities such as conducting IndoUS Healthcare Summit in Kochi last year that helped us blaze new trail in healthcare sector in India and paved the way for new frontiers in public private partnership. ” Pointing to a new role for AAPI, Dr.

Shah said, “A new era has begun, AAPI will discover her own potential to be a player in shaping the health of each patient with a focus on health maintenance than disease intervention. To be a player in crafting the delivery of health care in the most efficient manner.To strive for equality in health globally. ” Dr.

Shah said, he was confident that with the help and support of all AAPI members, he will be able to take AAPI to new heights. “I hold this gavel today confident that there are many pairs of hands that will not let me falter, who have stood and will stand with me in this journey I embark on. ” 15 15 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 Sitting (Right to Left) Dr. Narendra Kumar, Dr. Seem Jain, Dr.

Jayesh Shah, Dr. Kavita Gupta, Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar. Standing (Right to left) Dr.

Vishweshwar Ranga, Dr. Ashok Choitani, Dr. Sateesh Kathula, Dr. Suresh Reddy, Dr. Vikas Khurana, Dr. Bhushan Pandya and Dr.

Manoj Shah Dr. Jayesh Shah ; Team Vow To Take AAPI To Next Level Committed to AAPI’s continued growth and stability, leading to greater heights TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 By Ajay Ghosh Physicians of Indian Origin in the United States are reputed to be leading health care providers, holding crucial positions in various hospitals and health care facilities around the nation. Leading an

organization that represents more than 100,000 physicians and residents of Indian Origin in the US, and being their voice and providing a forum to its members to collectively work together to meet their diverse needs, is a major challenge. Dr.Jayesh Shah, president of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) and the new team that assumed charge of this large organization during its 31at annual Convention in Chicago, IL last month is all set to take this largest ethnic group of physicians in the United States to the next level of continued growth and stability, leading AAPI to greater heights.

“As the youngest President of AAPI, I bring new ideas for streamlining the functioning of AAPI so that it can be easier for young physicians to get involved in AAPI,” Dr. Jayesh Shah said. “I bring my passion to serve AAPI. I also bring my experience of fifteen years in organized medicine that will help me with my vision to bring AAPI to a next level.

In his efforts to lead this premier ethnic organization, Dr. Shah is being assisted by his dedicated Executive Committee that consists of Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar as President-Elect, Dr. Seema Jain, Vice President; Dr. Kavita Gupta, Secretary; Dr.

Vikas Khurana, Treasurer; 16 16 Dr Jayesh Shah Dr Ravi Jahagirdar Dr Seema Jain Dr Kavita Gupta Dr Vikas Khurana Dr Narendra Kumar TheAsianEra JUL-AUG TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 20132013 Dr. Surendra Purohit, Interim Chair, Board of Trustees; Dr. Ashwin Mehta, YPS President; and Dr. Kinjal Shah, MSRF President.

Dr. Shah rose to the top of this large organization by beginning to work at a young age. Through hard work and innovative research,

Dr.Shah has emerged as a budding scientist, and has published numerous articles, scientific papers, and chapters. Today, he is sought after to deliver lectures nationally and internationally on the subject of Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine. His clinical work has gained him reputation in the City of San Antonio and across the US.

Shah graduated from Baroda Medical College, Gujarat, and after completing his residency at St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital center in New York, relocated to Texas in 1996. On his vision and goals for the next one year for AAPI, Dr. Shah says, “We need to structure one of the best administered organizations that will be responsive to its members, supportive of the leadership and a true advocate for our mission. He plans to develop a Policy and Procedure Manual for day to day functioning of AAPI, and establish a 5 year strategic plan for AAPI that can sustain change in leadership, while utilizing AAPI’s membership strength to create and lobby for meaningful legislative agenda at the federal level.

“AAPI members should be at the table during implementation stage of the health care reform,” he says. “I want AAPI members to remember -If you are not at the table, then you are most probably on the menu. ” Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, the current President-Elect of AAPI, is an Urologist practicing in Orlando, Florida for more than 25 years. He specializes in Robotic Surgery of the Kidney, Bladder and Prostate, and in Male and Female Prosthetics. After graduating from Seth G.

S.Medical College and KEM Hospital, University of Bombay, he completed his M. S. (General Surgery), and added his Urology training from Tulane University in New

Orleans and Charity Hospital of Louisiana. He is married to Udita, a Gynecologist. According to Dr.

Jahagirdar, his vision for AAPI has been summarized in what AAPI stands for: “Achievements: consolidate on the past as we accept new challenges. Anticipate, and respond to the rapid changes in healthcare. Professional Education, Research, and Community Service. And, Integration with other healthcare organizations, here and globally. ” With over two decades of dedicated service to the cause of Indian origin doctors in the US as an AAPI member, Dr.Seema Jain brings to table wealth of experience, and vision clubbed with infectious zeal and unwavering integrity and commitment.

Currently the Secretary of AAPI, her motivation for joining the organization in 1987 was that "AAPI needed young charismatic leaders that had the service and leadership qualities needed to unite and bring Indian physicians to new levels in American society. " Dr. Seema Jain wants to “develop a stronger relationship with AMA for preserving our interests in the healthcare policy. ” She is focused on “creating a global health forum for exchange of ideas and information with other healthcare organizations around the world. Creating corporate relationships for funding local chapters, establishing working relationships with political leaders at local and national level, developing and strengthening future leaders of AAPI, creating evidence based accountability for AAPI leadership, and rewarding AAPI Patron members for their contributions are some of the areas she wants to work. Dr Kavita Gupta, probably is the first ever physician who is born and raised in the US, to hold a national position at AAPI.

Dr. Gupta is “the first second generation Indian physician to serve as national Secretary of

AAPI. ” A prominent practicing pain physician from the southern New Jersey Tri state region, Dr.Gupta had started out as an engineer but pursued a medical degree “with a mindset to help others. ” As an active member of AAPI for 18 years, Dr.

Gupta had, as a medical student helped found MSRF Chapter at her medical school. Born in Washington, DC Dr. Gupta after graduating from University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey (UMDNJ) pursued her residency in rehabilitation medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia where she served as Chief resident. She partnered with her husband Dr Sanjay Gupta with the development of Healthtime TV, a weekly TV show on NBC Philly featuring health topics engaging leading healthcare professionals nationally.Recognizing the need to bring in more second generation Indian American physicians to AAPI, Dr. Gupta says, “I see myself as a true liaison with our younger, 2nd generation leaders.

” Stating that she brings “a new perspective and also a second generation rationale to the issues we face as Indian American physicians,” Dr. Gupta would like to see that “my efforts go to building a strong association focusing on leader development and strengthening our professional rela- 17 17 tions. ” Dr. Vikas Khurana was elected Treasurer of the organization last month.

A medical graduate of the Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi (1992) and a business graduate of the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania (MBA-2008), Dr.Khurana has been a member of the National Finance Committee for American College of Gastroenterology and has experience in handling finances in a big organization. He wants to bring the same rigor and accountability to AAPI. Being a

graduate from India and USA he understands the need and aspirations of multiple generations in a unique way. Dr Khurana says, “I have stood firm for democratic transformation of AAPI at various governing body meetings and the “one person one vote.

” “As an organization we need to strive to give importance to ideas and not people,” Dr. Khurana says. “I wish to strive to make AAPI an organization where people feel proud to contribute their time and energy for the greater good of the members and the society. ” Dr.Khurana wants to make “AAPI a platform to cherish their achievement and creating a platform to further enhance and provide opportunities to our budding physicians to be successful in academic medicine. ” He will endeavor to create “opportunities in which physicians can contribute not only fund but more valuably their skills.

Providing cleaner opportunity to contribute to society is a role AAPI should take a leadership role. ” Dr. Ashwin Mehta, president of YPS says, “This year, the Young Physicians of AAPI are poised to continue the tremendous success of our prior leadership and contribute our dynamic talents towards the AAPI mission. Our primary objective in the coming months is to increase our YPS patron members. We will also play a pivotal role in the Childhood Obesity Awareness Campaign and help raise funds.

” Dr.Mehta says, “The involvement of Young Physicians is critical to the success of AAPI. This year, the Young Physicians of AAPI are poised to continue the tremendous success of our prior leadership and contribute our dynamic talents towards the AAPI mission. ” Dr. Narendra Kumar, who passed on the mantle of

leading this decades old organization, is confident that Dr. Shah will carry on the mission of AAPI in an effective manner: fu “Dr.

Shah is a great leader, hard worker, with enormous potential, talent and willingness to devote time and energy for the good of the organization. I have full confidence in his ability and will bring in great strides for AAPI,” Dr.Kumar affirms. Summarizing the mission of AAPI’[s new team under his leadership, Dr. Shah says, “AAPI has a mandate to help disseminate our medical knowledge, our expertise and technological advances to the rest of the world, and to India in particular. ” And the new team under his leadership is ready to take on the challenges and ushering in anew era of cooperation, stability and sustained growth for AAPI and all of its members.

For more information on AAPI and its many programs and vision for the upcoming year, please visit: www. aapiusa. org The AsianEra Classifieds 18 18 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 19 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013Turns 100 Celebrating A Century Of Tre m e n d o u s G ro w t h o f B o l l y w o o d Wo r l d The Asian Era news Service One hundred years, ago, in 1913, Raja Harischandra, the first ever feature film in Hindi, was released in India. Produced by Dadasahed Phalke, the movie told the legendary king Harischandra’s story.

Phalke, dubbed as the Father of Indian Cinema, might have never imagined then that the silent film he had made would pave way to a flourishing industry, making hundreds of films every year in India.

French might have introduced the concept of moving images, but little did anyone know that India would one day become the largest film industry in the world.It's a miracle that Indian cinema has withstood the test of time despite the vast cultural differences in the past 100 years. Indian cinema has an identity that is very unique and unmatched.

Bollywood, known as the Hindi cinema world, is just one aspect of the much larger Indian Cinema industry. The language spoken is Hindi, although some newer films are in ‘Hinglish’, a mixture between Hindi and English. The Indian cinema industry consists of movies made in several regional languages, such as Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Oriya, Gujarati, and Assamese, just to name a few. Each linguistic movie made in an ethnic Indian language showcases its own unique regional sub-culture and the life and aspirations of the people of each region.One hundred years of film is a long period, especially for an industry that can boast of producing 1,200 films in a year. Its appeal is not only in India and among the vast Indian Diaspora around the world, but also in very part of the globe even among mopn Indians.

Their successes can be measured in terms of their wide reach and the money it generates. Several modern Indian movies are simultaneously released in several cities not only in India but in every major city around the world. In 2012 alone, nine movies made more than 1 billion Rupees ($15 million) each at the box office. While its influence creeps into Western film world, there are hundreds of millions of people around the world who

admire and whose only entertainment are Bollywood movies.To understand the gradual growth and reach of Indian cinema, we need to go back to the early decades of Indian cinema. After the success of his film 'Raja Harishchandra', several filmmakers in Bombay and Madras began making silent films.

By the mid 1920s, Madras had become the epicenter for all film related activities. Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, SS Vasan, AV Meiyappan set up production houses in Madras to shoot Telugu and Tamil films. The silent era came to an end when Ardeshir Irani produced his first talkie, 'Alam Ara' in 1931. If Phalke was the father of Indian cinema, Irani was the father of the talkie. The talkies changed the face of Indian cinema.Apart from looks, the actors not only needed a commanding voice but also singing skills, as music became a defining element in Indian cinema.

The year also marked the beginning of the Talkie era in South Indian films. The first talkie films in Bengali (Jumai Shasthi), Telugu (Bhakta Prahlad) and Tamil (Kalidass) were released in the same year. The forties was a tumultuous decade; the first half was ravaged by war and the second saw drastic political 20 20 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 Amitabh Bachan changes all over the world. In the middle of the Second World War in 1945 came 'Kismet' starring Ashok Kumar which became one of the biggest hits in the history of Indian cinema. It had some bold themes - the first antihero and an unmarried pregnancy.

It clearly showed that the filmmakers of the era were bolder than the times in which they were living in. A close relationship

between epic consciousness and the art of cinema was established. Around the middle of the century, Indian parallel cinema saw a move away from the traditional Bollywood film, focusing on life in newly-independent India and the problems faced by those who lived there. Critically-acclaimed new wave trilogies include Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, which depicted rural Indian life, and Meghe Dhaka Tara, which portrayed the struggles of refugees of the partition of the Indian subconitent. Do Bigha Zameen, which is based on Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves, was the first Indian film to win an international award. 975 film Sholay is the earliest example of masala film, as well as being considered one of the greatest Hindi films ever. A 205-minute-long caper, Sholay follows two petty thieves as they try to capture a bandit for an ex-policeman, with romance, gunfights and tragedy. Interestingly, the film was a flop at the box office, but became an overnight sensation after the release of its soundtrack, becoming the hit of the seventies. It remains one of the highestgrossing films in Indian cinema. Sholay was a watershed Kamal Hassan moment for scriptwriters too, bringing professionalism to this previously poorly paid trade. Mother India, released in 1957, is another classic. Like Sholay, it still ranks among the all-Indian box office hits or telling the story of Radha, a poverty-stricken single mother who raises her sons in a village as the ideal Indian woman. Although it was a remake of the director Mehboob Khan’s earlier film Aurat, it was inspired by Mother India, a 1927 book written by Katherine Mayo which caused effigies to be burned due to her damning of Indian

men. Despite this, Mother India triumphed in dealing with the representation of a self-sacrificing Hindu woman and the notion of the Mother country, which was pertinent 10 years after India’s independence from British rule. It was against this backdrop that filmmakers like V. Shantaram, Bimal Roy, and Raj Kapoor made their films.In the meantime, the film industry had made rapid strides in the South, where Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films were taking South India by storm. By the late 1940s, films were being made in various Indian languages with religion being the dominant theme. 1940s to late 1950s was also the golden era of music. Shankar Jaikishan, O. P. Nayyar, Madan Mohan, C. Ramchandra, Salil Chaudhury, Naushad, S. D. Burman all had their distinctive style. Each vied with the other to produce some of the The Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire crew on Hollywood 21 21 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 2013 Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol Mehta Mohan Lal most unforgettable melodies India has ever known. The 50s and 60s were considered as the Golden Age of Indian cinema.Filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Guru Dutt, Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan, K Asif, Raj Kapoor, KV Reddy, L V Prasad and Ramu Kariat made waves in their respective film industries and they went on to make classics like Pather Panchali, Madhumati, Do Bheega Zameen, Shree 420, Awaara, Pyasa, Mother India, Mughal E Azam, Mayabazar and Chemmeen among many other films. In the south, N. T. Rama Rao, M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, Rajkumar, Prem Nazir dominated the film industry for more than three decades before making way for the next generation of actors like Rajinikanth, Kamal

Haasan, Mammootty, Mohanlal, Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna. The 70s completely changed the way films were made, especially in Hindi film industry. Changing social norms and changing economies influenced movies and the companies that made them. The narrative style changed. The story structure changed. Characters changed. Content changed. Masala films were the demand of the time.The genre promised instant attraction and had great entertainment value. It was the age of the angry young man and Amitabh Bachchan rose to prominence thanks to the success of Sholay, Zanjeer and Deewar. While Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Jitendra, Anil Kapoor, and Dharmendra continued to bask in the glory of back to back hits, the actresses were not far behind. Right from the time of Savitri, Vyjayanthi Mala, Nargis, Waheeda Rahman and Sharmila Tagore to Sridevi, Rekha, Smita Patil, Hema Malini, several actresses became heartthrobs of the nation. While Indian commercial cinema enjoyed popularity among movie-goers, Indian art cinema did not go unnoticed.Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Ritwik Ghatak, Aravindan, Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, Shaji Karun and several other art film directors were making movies that gave India international fame and glory. The eighties saw the advent of women film makers such as Vijaya Mehta ('Rao Saheb'), Aparna Sen ('36Chouwringhee Lane', 'Parama'), Sai Pranjpye ('Chashme Baddoor', 'Katha', 'Sparsh'), Kalpana Lajimi ('Ek Pal'), Prema Karanth ('Phaniamma') and Meera Nair ('Salaam Bombay'). It was also the decade when sultry siren Rekha wooed audiences with her stunning performance in 'Umrao Jaan' in 1981. Cinema went into decline in the '80s mainly due to the emerging video market. After a decade of action films, Indian cinema desperately needed a change.Mansoor Khan's Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, a film celebrating

puppy love released in 1988, introduced one of today's current stars in Aamir Khan. The biggest box office hit of the year, it breathed new life into glossy teen romances shot in advertising styles. The introduction of Salman Khan followed two years later in Maine Pyar Kiya and Mahesh Bhatt's Aashiqui reignited the importance of songs within Indian cinema. Shahrukh Khan debuted in 1991 and made a sensational impact with his portrayal of a cold-blooded killer in Abbas Mastan's Baazigar a year later. And then in 90's, it was a mixed genre of romantic, thrillers, action and comedy films. A stark upgrade can be Amir Khan 22 22TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 Freida Pinto Aishwarya Rai 23 23 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 20132013 seen on the canvas as technology gifted the industry Dolby digital sound effects, advanced special effects, choreography and international appeal. The development brought about investments from the corporate sector along with finer scripts and performances. It was time to shift focus to aesthetic appeal. And stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Rajnikanth, Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Chiranjeevi, Juhi Chawla, Aishwarya Rai Bachan, and Hrithik Roshan began to explore ways to use new techniques to enrich Indian cinema with their performances.Today, Shah Rukh Khan is regarded as the biggest star in Bollywood. Fans would argue the same for Salman Khan and Aamir Khan; all three stars are still dominating the box office as they approach their half century. Contemporary Bollywood films can be more accessible, with shorter run times and more English spoken. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a 2011 coming-of-age film based in Spain, which can be easily understood without

subtitles. Actress Sridevi has been compared to Meryl Streep after her performance as an Indian housewife adapting to Manhattan life in 2012 film English Vinglish. Amitabh Bachchan has emerged as the greatest Bollywood star in a UK poll celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema.The multi-award winning actor of countless classics bagged major share of votes from critics, fans and the film fraternity to be named on top in the survey '100 Greatest Bollywood Stars' published by a British Asian weekly newspaper. In a career spanning an incredible 40 years, 70-year-old Bachchan is also credited with bridging the gap between Bollywood and TV by hosting popular game show'Kaun Banega Crorepati'. Referred to as Big B by his fans, Bachchan was also the first Bollywood star to be honoured with a statue at Madame Tussauds and recently represented India as the Olympic torch-bearer at the London 2012 Games. Indian cinema has evolved throughout the decades and like any other industry has experienced peaks and troughs.Classic Bollywood films can be lengthy – up to four hours – each movie featuring around 10 song-and-dance scenes with an interval. However, modern Bollywood films have a smaller musical element – although the first to be completely without songs was Kanoon, a 1961 court drama. In recent years, Hindi cinema has undergone a massive change due to the emergence of new age filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap, Rajkumar Hirani, Dibakar Banerjee and Vishal Bhardwaj. Of late, Tamil and Marathi cinema has witnessed similar changes with several new filmmakers coming forth to cater to a niche audience. Traditionally, the Indian censor board cut portrayals of sex, nudity, social unrest and violence from Bollywood films.

The first film seriously to portray a gay relationship as Dunno Y Na Jaane Kyon, released in 2010, and on screen kisses still land a film with an adult rating. Director Baldev Raj Chopra was one of the first to break Bollywood’s taboos of divorce and prostitution, as well as portraying rape for the first time in 1980 film Insaaf-kaTarazu. Bollywood films remain fairly conservative because they play to a wide group of people, who may all have different views of morality: while some customers won’t mind seeing an on-screen kiss, others might. Social issues and violence also come under scrutiny: star Bollywood director Dibaka Banerjee was made to delete two scenes about inter-caste murder from his 2012 film Shanghai.The best moment for the Bollywood world was when Slumdog Millionaire, a 2008 British drama film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan, and having casts who were until then unknown to the filmi world, made history by winning eight Oscar awards and numerous international filmi awards, Composer and music director A R Rahman became instantly popular around the world. Among the numerous national and international awards she has won, the multi-talented Vidya Balan, who is leading the India Day Parade in New York this year, took home the Best Actress award at International India Film Academy Award 2013 last month in Macau for her portrayal of a pregnant woman n search of her husband in the movie, Kahaani. 100 years and on Indian cinema is a global commodity and appeals to every culture and country around the world. Labelled 'Bollywood' by the West in the '90s –

a term that has helped to globalise an industry that churns out in excess of 300 films a year - Bollywood is today not only an industry but a tradition and culture. Its influential stars are fervently followed by their idolising fans and there are certain celebrities such as Bachchan who are regarded as God-like figures. Indian cinema, despite all its peculiarities, has been a reflection of the socio-economic, political and cultural changes that took place in the country.Here's hoping that Indian movies continue to entertain us the way they've been doing since 10 decades. As the world has become a global village, the Indian film industry has reached out further to international audiences. Apart from regular screenings at major international film festivals, the overseas market contributes a sizeable chunk to Bollywood's box office collections. Regular foreign Investments made by major global studios such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros put a stamp of confirmation that Bollywood has etched itself on the global podium. Indian Parliamentarians Discuss Parliamentarians Yale Global Challenges at Yale India Trinamool Congress, and the Shiv Sena.The first six rounds of the India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Programs were held in October 2007, June Washington, DC: The upcoming general elections 2008, June 2009, June 2010, June 2011, and June 2012 in India, the future of Afghanistan and Pakistan after the respectively, with different delegations of Indian parUnited States’ military withdrawal in 2014 and the US liamentarians. In total, more than eighty members of culture of innovation and entrepreneurship dominated India’s Parliament have participated since the program the 7th India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program late was created seven years ago. “The India-Yale Parliamen-tary

Leadership Program last month. The 2013 cohort of 11 members of India’s Parlia- underscores Yale’s longstanding commitment to edument came to the Yale University campus in New Ha- cating our students for service and leadership.We have ven, Connecticut, to complete a six-day leadership pro- now gone a step further to include emerging and midcareer leaders,” gram with the Yale President university faculty Richard C and was compleLevin said. mented by a “The profour-day program will program of meetvide the parliaings, discusmentarians sions, and interwith opportuniactions in New ties to critically York that inthink about the cluded visit to the challenges of New York Stock leadership and Exchange, the to explore United Nations freely, away Security Council from the legisand the New lative arena, the York Times ediissues facing torial board. India,” Levin Yale Universaid. ity, widely recIn the acaognized for edudemic program cating leaders in on the Yale government, campus, the business, and Indian Parliamentarian at Yale University, New Haven, CT in July 2013 delegation parcivil society worldwide, launched the India-Yale Parliamentary Lead- ticipated in discussions with Yale faculty on nuclear ership Program in 2007 in collaboration with the Fed- non-proliferation, the democracy movement in the Arab eration of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry world, women’s empowerment, elections theory and and the India -US Forum of Parliamentarians. The 2013 practices, political and economic developments in China, program was held in a new partnership with the Gover- campaign finance reform, the environmental impact of nance and Public Policy Initiative of the Center for Policy shale gas development, Afghanistan and Pakistan after Research in New Delhi. Till now, more than eighty mem- 2014, pharmaceutical innovation and

patent law and bers of India's parliament have participated in the pro- climate change mitigation. The participating 2013 parliamentarians included gram.The 2013 participants were drawn from five differ- among others Bhubaneswar Kalita (Congress Rajya ent national and regional political parties in India, and Sabha member from Assam) VP Singh Badnore (BJP included the vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan), Shadi Lal Batra Smriti Irani, and the vice president of the Telugu Desam Rajya Sabha( Congress Rajya Sabha member from Party, C. Ramesh. In addition to BJP and TDP, there Haryana) and Smriti Irani (BJP Rajya Sabha member were also representatives from the Congress Party, All from Gujarat). The Asian Era News Service 24 24 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 25 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 DR. KIRAN PATEL: A STORY OF SUCCESS ; SHARING A visionary, cardiologist, businessman, and philanthropist, Dr. Patel devotes substantial sums towards charity and education in India, Zambia and US BY Ajay Ghosh Born in Zambia to Asian-Indian parents, educated in India, Dr. Kiran Patel arrived in the United States Thanksgiving Day, 1976.He returned home to attend medical school, where he met his wife, Pallavi, a fellow student, but ultimately decided to return to the U. S. permanently. "I wanted to make sure my children had a better future, and the political climate in Africa at the time was a bit challenging," he says. Dr. Patel was educated under the British Educational System in Zambia and then got his diploma in Cambridge University and The University of London. He came down to India to study medicine in Gujarat University in India and did his Internship in

Africa. Dr. Patel did his residency in Internal Medicine in New Jersey in 1980. He completed a fellowship in the Cardiology program affiliated with the Columbia University of New York in 1982.He moved to Tampa, Florida in 1982 and began his practice in Cardiology. He was very successful and became a distinguished cardiologist in that area. He developed a physician practice management company and expanded to places adjoining Tampa Bay area diverging into 14 practices including Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Cardiology. Dr. Patel was also in partnership with sveral point-of-service locations to form multi-specialty networks. This network helped patients to access most medical services conveniently. He has actively engaged himself in managed care contracts and has expanded so much that it provides care for more than 80,000 patients.Apart from this he has developed good associations with several HMOs and hospitals. His success in managed care contracts led a group of doctors to seek his services to help them with an HMO in New Port Richey, Florida. Dr. Patel took up the project after discussing a pre-determined purchase option of the company. It was called the Well Care HMO, Inc. (Well Care). In 1992, Dr. Kiran Patel, along with Rupesh Shaw, CEO, and Pradip Patel, President, started a Medicaid managed care company. This company became the largest Medicaid provider in the state of Florida. He helped to bring around the struggling HMO, WellCare of New York and Connecticut.While turning aqround the company, he worked with more than 95 hospitals and a few hundred physicians in settling past due medical claims. Dr. Kiran Patel provided an additional $15 million in equity through Conversion of Brow

and infused $10 million of new capital and acquired 55 percent of the publicly held Well Care Management Group. Between 1995 and 2002, Dr. Kiran Patel built it into a billion-dollar company, providing services to more than 450,000 members, employing more than 1,200 employees and operating in Florida, New York and Connecticut. He is presently serving as Chairman of Visionary Medical Systems. He believes that the Visionary Office will reduce the paperwork for the physicians and give them more time to devote on their patients.He is a member on the following organizations: Fellow of American College of Cardiology; American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, American Association of Physicians from the South East Asia, Past Chair Scholarship Committee. On the challenges he had to face upon arrival here in the US, Dr. Patels says, “There are many challenges when you come from an Eastern culture to the Western world. It's a tougher transition for children than for us. I have a rigid personality … as a parent I have firm expectations on behavior, certain etiquette and rules. My children all got used to it, in a good way. They know I am there for them and they for me, but I'm not a warm, fuzzy type of guy. Born in India Dr. Pallavi Patel did her undergraduate degree from M. G. Science College, Gujarat University, and attended Municipal Medical College of Gujarat University in Ahmedabad. She did her internship from St. Barnabas Hospital in New Jersey, School of Medicine Dentistry of New Jersey and Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, in affiliation with Columbia University in New York. She started her private practice in Kabwe,

Zambia, from 1974 to 1978 and worked as a part-time consultant physician from 1974 to 1978 for Kabwe Industrial Fabrics, Ltd. and Kapiri Glass Products, Ltd. A cardiologist, visionary, businessman and philanthropist, Dr.Kiran Patel, along with his wife devotes substantial sums towards charity and education both in India, Zambia as well as in the United States. A 50-bed charity hospital serving 100,000 villagers in India was established by her along with her family; provision of funds for annual scholarship for underprivileged children to obtain a college education; funding for the construction of the USF Charter School for Underprivileged Children in Hillsborough County; sponsoring of 25 orphans from India to visit and perform a cross-cultural program in the United States. In 2003, the Patels sold their majority of his interest in their business, and Dr. Patel turned his attention to the family's many philanthropic endeavors.That same year, he became chairman of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). It was from this vantage point that he began to tackle several significant humanitarian projects in India, including the construction of numerous hospitals, a diabetes research study, and improved health care access for poor and rural citizens. In 2001, a major earthquake had devastated villages throughout Gujarat, India, killing thousands, collapsing buildings and homes and leaving masses of crippled people and orphaned children. Dr. Patel united the Tampa Bay community 26 26 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 27 27 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 20132013 nd AAPI and led an effort that eventually rehabilitated the villagers' homes, constructed an orphanage and model school and created four modern hospitals. As the Patels were in India opening the

fourth of the earthquake relief hospitals, a devastating tsunami struck Asia. Moving into action, they organized fundraising efforts and secondary relief plans to build schools and clinics along India's devastated eastern shore. This effort is on-going thanks to a generous response from the Tampa Bay community matched by the Patels' own money. Planning and overseeing the charitable works, according to Dr. Patel has “Two approaches: direct involvement in the areas of Zambia, East Africa and India. I oversee the utilization of the funds to the penny. What you have seen in the Tampa area is a legacy gift.To impact as large a group as possible, we have entrusted a responsible institution to perpetuate our mission, such as the performing arts center and University of South Florida. ” The Patels believe that “education gives the maximum impact. In my father's village, we built a school that has transformed a generation. Uplifting a single student will uplift five or 10 families. ” Recently, the couple’s gift of $12 million to the University of South Florida, resulted in converting the Patel School of Global Sustainability to the Patel College of Global Sustainability. “It was important to create a college to be a perpetual institution that creates students and scholars who are going to change the world dramatically,” Dr. Patel says. “I believe it will create champions of the profession.Most people don't understand sustainability; they think it's just a problem for third world countries. They don't realize the U. S. and Europe are most guilty of consuming resources. At the current rate the Western world uses natural resources, we would need six Earths to provide the rest of the

world the same lifestyle. We must change. ” Another area of focus for the Patels is health. n“Intellectual capability without physical capability, you still have a problem. Arts and culture are more in the luxurious category, which it should not be, but I feel that way. It can play a unique role in integrating people, but if someone is starving, he's not going to think of the arts,” he says. Dr.Pallavi serves on many boards and is a member of sveral organizations. She is president and CEO of Stat Care and Bay Area Primary Care Association, Inc. with five locations across Tampa. She is also a founder, trustee and administrator for the India Cultural Center. She is a member of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center Board of Trustees, Shakti Krupa Charitable Foundation Board of Directors and the ICC Hope Scholarship Foundation Board of Directors. In 2003 the couple set up a nonprofit Foundation for Global Understanding Dr. Kiran Patel and Dr. Pallavi Patel not only earned a respected reputation as physicians, but also gained a unique vision of the future of the medical care.Rather than shunning the growing trend toward managed health care, they began to develop solutions that made sense from the physician’s point of view. Dr. Kiran C. Patel serves as the chairman and Dr. Pallavi Patel is president of the Patel Foundation for Global Understanding, a non-profit organization that develops and funds a wide variety of programs in health, education, arts and culture. Together they have made possible the USF/Dr. Kiran C. Patel Charter School along with the Dr. Pallavi Patel Pediatric Care Center at the school as well as the

highly celebrated Dr. Pallavi Patel Performing Arts Conservatory. Recognitions came their way with several awards and honors from around the country.Volunteers of America, one of the nation's largest and oldest human services charities, presented its highest honor – the 2012 Ballington and Maud Booth Award – to Drs. Pallavi and Kiran Patel on during the organization’s national conference at the Hyatt Regency Tampa. On New Year’s day in 2007, Dr. Patel was honored with the “Glory of Gujarat” award from the Chief Minister of his home State in India. In May 2007, Dr. Patel received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for Exceptional Immigrant Patriots. Both Dr. Kiran Patel and Pallavi Patel were inducted into the Tampa Bay Hall of Fame in 2010 by the business community of Tampa Bay. Dr. Pallavi Patel was honored as the Business Woman of the Year in 2006 for her outstanding role in the community.In 2007, she was awarded Woman of Distinction by the Girls Scouts of Florida, and in 2008 she was inducted into the prestigious Florida Women’s Hall of Fame. The Patels were selected for the 2012 Booth Award because of their generous philanthropic work to support programs in health, education, arts and culture, both in the Tampa area and around the world. Their foundation supported the Pepin Heart Hospital Research Institute in Tampa as well as the Dr. Pallavi Patel Conservatory for Performing Arts. In 2011, the Dr. Kiran C. Patel for Global Solutions, based at the University of South Florida, was established to develop solutions to some of today’s major global problems. In 2003, Dr. Kiran Patel was appointed by Florida's governor to the University

of South Florida Board of Trustees.In 2004, the Patel were awarded the Cultural Contributor of the Year Award by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. The Foundation also support a yearly U. S. scholarship fund for underprivileged youth and the IMAGINE Project, which teaches philanthropic entrepreneurism to young leaders. USF CHART-India Program, another innovative foundation project, works aggressively to provide HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention and education programs throughout India's rural and urban populations. 8 Indians Among 50 Top Global Management Gurus Nitin Nohria Pankaj Ghemawat Vijay Govindarajan Vineet Nayar Nirmalya Kumar Sudhir Chowdury Rakesh Khurana The Asian Era News Service Innovations in businesses and technologies shape the future of the world in many ways.But, who shapes the future of global business? The executives in the boardroom, the shareholders or the business gurus? Global lead players and organizations have some powerful brains that guides them to attain success. In fact their ideas and thoughts are influencing the businesses and managers across the globe for more than a decade. According to the Thinkers50 List, published once every two years, management innovators and business professors are the real thinkers, who shape the future of world through their creative thin king and innovative ideas. . These are people known little to the general public but revered throughout the business world.In 2009 C K Prahalad, the Indian-born professor of corporate strategy at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business was the winner. The recognition speaks volumes about business-led approaches to sustainability around the world. Prahalad’s work on harnessing the power of markets and capitalism to help the poor has been one of the driving intellectual forces of WRI’s NextBillion. net

web site and blog since 2002, when he co-published an article titled The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. He also reviewed the recent WRI/IFC publication,The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid. ‘Thinkers 50’ is the first- ever global ranking firm for management thinkers. Business Today’ has listed those 8 Indian personalities among the top 50 whose thinking has influenced the global business. These personalities might not be well known to the common people, but they are admired and appreciated in the world of business for having made a mark. Top among the eight Indians, but ranking 3 among the world’s 50 is Vijay Govindarajan, an Earl C Daum 1924 professor of international business at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Cnsidered to be one of the leading experts in strategy and innovation, Govindarajan, known as VG, has written and published nine books which include the famous book of Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators.His most recent book, The Other Side of Innovation focuses on how to turn an innovative idea into a successful commercial business. Govindarajan is also responsible for posing the question that sparked a global challenge to build a $300 house. VG has worked with Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electricals to write “How GE is Disrupting Itself”, in his blog ‘Harvard Business Review’. Nitin Nohria, ranked 13 is the current Dean of the Harvard Business School. Infact, he is known as the second Dean who is a non- American after John H. McArthur. Nohria graduated from St. Columba's School in New Delhi and went to Mumbai to

pursue his Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology and later completed his Ph. D. rom MIT Sloan School of Management. After completing his studies, Nohria started work- 28 28 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 ing with fellow professors like Rakesh Khurana from Harvard University and later joined as a junior professor at HBS. He has also made his contribution with publishing books that he has co-written and co-edited. Moreover he had been an author for more than 60 articles and teaching notes. Ranked Number 26 is Nirmalya Kumar is the current Professor of Marketing and Co-Director of Aditya Birla India Centre at London Business School, whose work focuses on marketing and the rise of India as an economic force.Author of several books, more recently, he has written about India and its rise to economic superpower status. In India's Global Powerhouses: How They Are Taking on the World (2009), Kumar provides an insider's guide to doing business with Indian leaders and companies. Kumar became a prominent figure after introducing a new culture to the world of business called ‘3Vs,’ which stands for valued customer, value proposition and value network. It was explained very well in one of his notable books ‘Marketing as Strategy: Understanding the CEO's Agenda for Driving Growth and Innovation’. He was listed under the World's Best B-School Professors, and 50 Most Influential Business School Professors in the world.Next in line as the 27th most influential guru is Pankaj Ghemawat, the Anselmo Rubiralta Professor of Global Strategy at IESE Business School, in Spain. Ghemawat went to Harvard College at the age of 16. He was later allowed to take up his

Ph. D programme in the same school at the age of 19. Prior to that he was the youngest full professor ever appointed at Harvard Business School. Best known for his work on globalisation, Ghemawat's books include ? Games businesses play: Cases and models (1997);Creating value through international strategy (2005); Redefining global strategy; Crossing borders in a world where differences still matter (2007); and Strategy and the business landscape (2009). He refutes the idea that there is a single global economy.We live, he says, in a semi-globalized world at best. Regional differences exist and matter, argues Ghemawat, and the unevenness and differences that exist from region to region are a potential source of commercial advantage. After working at McKinsey & Company, Ghemawat spent 25 years at Harvard Business School as a full- time professor. In 1991, he was recognized as one of the youngest professors in the history of HBS. From 2006, Ghemawat has been the Anselmo Rubiralta Professor of Global Strategy at IESE Business School in Barcelona. Ranked as Number 40 is Vineet Nayar, Chief Executive Officer, HCL Technologies, a global information technology services company based in India.After completing his Engineering and Management Degree, Vineet Nayar started his career with HCL technologies in 1985. He worked at different stages in the company as a Product management, Sales, and Marketing executive for seven years. Later on in 1994, he found ‘HCL Comnet’ to provide IT infrastructure and many networking services. Nayar's success has been fuelled by his unconventional management philosophy of putting his employees first, and customers second. 29 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 BJP Has Sound Plans To Jumpstart The Stalled Indian Economy: Rajnath Singh BJP

has a consensus PM candidate, He Tells Audience in New York The Asian Era News ServiceNEW YORK, NY: “The BJP-led NDA government created 67 million jobs in less than five years whereas the Congress led UPA created less than 2. 7 million jobs between 2004 and 2009. These figures are from the data collected by the federal government controlled agencies and not a figment of imagination”, Rajnath Singh said. He was speaking on what BJP will do to jumpstart the stalled Indian economy at a function organized by IndiaAmerica Chamber of Commerce on July 25th. Rajnath Singh who was in Washington for three days said he had discussions with the Congressmen and administration officials on the issue of difficulties faced by candidates in H1B and L1 visa to work legally in the US. The GDP cost burden will go up by 0. 3 to 0. 4 percent due to increase in fees.Dressed in his trademark white dhoti kurta with a striped dark blue Nehru jacket, he came to the National Press Club in Washington, just a couple of blocks away from the White House, Rajnath Singh addressing a Wednesday, to explain his press conference in New York mission US to the Indian media over breakfast. But even as Indian journalists, writing for both Indian and American publications, offered to let him talk in "Hindi or English, whatever you are comfortable with," the first question after the customary introductions inevitably focused on Modi. Choosing to speak in Hindi with journalists hailing from Bihar to Kerala also making it a point to pose questions in India's national language, he tried hard to dispel the impression that he

had "virtually anointed Modi as BJP's prime ministerial candidate" or that he had come to the US to get the Gujarat chief minister a US visa. Reports that he had rojected Modi as such during his first interaction with the media in New York Saturday were just a creation of the media, said Rajnath Singh denying that he had ever suggested that he would take up the issue of denial of US visa to Modi with US lawmakers. "This is a US administration issue, not our issue," he said. Rajnath Singh said that his party has reached a consensus on who its prime ministerial candidate will be, but has stopped short of naming the person. In an interview given to a television channel here, Singh, who is on a nearly week-long visit to the United States, there was no need for speculating on the issue, and the name of the individual would be announced at the appropriate time.Though the name of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is actively doing the rounds, the BJP is reluctant to formalise it currently, as it anticipates the ruling Congress Party making political capital out of it in the run-up to the 2014 general elections. “We had lodged our protest against the comprehensive immigration reforms bill and they had raised the issue of patents and compulsory drug license issues. There was only one case under these CDL whereas Indonesia had six cases and Canada four cases,” he added. The US would do well to share its latest technology on green energy with nations such as India so that it can benefit the humanity. Once these inventions are ashared, they would

help us more in a very rapid manner, he said. The BJP government will strengthen the village economy as over 70 percent of the people live in rural areas.We will do our best to stop urbanization and create more jobs in the rural areas as was done in the previous NDA government under the PURA scheme. More than 55 percent of the jobs for youth are in rural areas and there is a need to strengthen this sector. Turning to climate change, the BJP leader said while US that has been preaching, has a carbon emission rate of 20 ton per capita per annum, India has only 1. 5 per ton per capita per annum. The global avThe issue of Rajnath Singh virtually erage is only 4. 5 "anointing" Narendar Modi as prime ton per capita per ministerial candidate daunts him during annum. You now decide who is on his recent visit to USA the right side and who is not.Addressing the members of the India- America Chamber of Commerce in Manhattan, he said India is now facing a serious financial crisis of grave magnitude despite the fact that no one in the global economy can ignore India. The economy of India is not something that makes us feel comfortable or feel proud of. But India was regarded as third largest economy of the world, he said. When the NDA government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee stepped down in 2004, the fiscal deficit was 2. 5 percent and current account deficit was surplus. The revenue deficit was less than one percent. The economy witnessed a boom period during 1999 to 2004 when the country was

ruled by the NDA and the slide started in 2004. “The boom that we created lasted till 2008 and then we are now witnessing is one of the worse economic downturns,” Singh said. When I mentioned to the Speaker of the House yesterday at Washington that we had a surplus current account when we left power, he was surprised. There was a revenue deficit that went up from 4. 5 percent to 6 percent in 2008. The current account of deficit shot to 6 percent. We passed the fiscal responsibility bill in the parliament and hence were able to bring some fiscal discipline. Inflation is now hovering around 7. 7 percent,” he said. The rupee value has depreciated drastically to the US dollar from Rs 37 a dollar in 2008 to Rs 60 in 2013 almost doubling in five years. We thought this would be offset by increase in exports and that also did not happen; it went up by just one percent.It’s very unfortunate that savings that have been the biggest strength of India as it provided capital is now falling at a very rapid rate. 30 30 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 31 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 The first ever CII India Innovation Summit held in Chicago Expansion, Excellence and Equity – Key Drivers for Innovation in India: Sam Pitroda Hope to see fruitful partnerships from the CII India Innovation Summit: Chandrajit Banerjee By Shuchita Sonalika ting across country borders,” he said. The MSME Ministry was one of the agencies that also had an exhibit booth at the Summit, which had on display their various initiatives that facilitate innovation among smaller companies.Other agencies

that participated in the exhibition included the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC). CII President S Gopalakrishnan, who was leading a CII CEOs delegation to the Summit, said that the need of Chiacgo, IL: “Diversity has always been the backbone of innovation in India. In solving the challenges of development, demography, and disparity, will need expansion, excellence and equity. Today, as a nation of a connected billion, a first in the history of the world, we need to leverage emerging technologies, including social media, to help alleviate the enormous problem of poverty,” said Dr.Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation, in his keynote address at the India Innovation Summit organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) last month. The Summit, organized in partnership with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA), the US-India Business Council (USIBC), PanIIT Alumni Association and TiE Midwest, brought together creative minds, experts and entrepreneurs, financing institutions and economic development officials, packing the halls with tremendous energy and enthusiasm. Discussions encomSpeakers and guests at the CII India Innovation Summit held on passed key policy interventions, funding mechanisms, and partnership opportunities between In- 18 July in Chicago dia and the U. S. in the innovation space. he hour is to empower a large number of people using Madhav Lal, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and mobile connectivity and cloud computing platforms and Medium Enterprises (MSME) emphasized leveraging col- make them a part of the knowledge revolution, which would laborations to scale up innovations, and the growing role ultimately contribute to economic

growth. “Innovation of technologies to enable this cross-sector engagement. generates economic value, new jobs and a culture of en“I would like to see more collaborative networks between trepreneurship. By virtue of its relationship with competithe governments, industry, academia and institutions, cut- tiveness, innovation emerges as a factor in promoting economic growth,” he said. Stressing the need to enhance Public-Private Partnership (PPP), Vikram Kirloskar, Chairman, CII Innovation Council andVice Chairman, Toyota-Kirloskar Motor said, “Mutual trust will lead to mutual benefit. The public and private sector cannot be working in isolation. ” He further elaborated on the recent formation of the Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA), which manifested as PPP-model based, a non-profit company jointly incorporated by the Technology Development Board (TDB) of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India and CII. On enabling innovation in education, Dr. Naushad Speakers at the Inaugural session of the CII India InnoForbes, Chairman, CII National Committee on Higher Eduvation Summit held on 18 July in Chicago. Standing LR: Mr.Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII; Dr. cation and Director, Forbes Marshall highlighted two maSam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public jor areas of engagement: to build capacity in the adminisInformation Infrastructure and Innovation and Mr. Kris trative leadership in higher education institutions and conGopalakrishnan, President, CII and Co-founder & Ex- necting Indian companies with leading U. S. universities. “As Indian companies invest more in Research and Develecutive Vice Chairman, Infosys Ltd. opment, there is a heightened need to connect them to 32 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 leading research institutions and universities,” he said.The Government of India has declared 2010-2020 as the decade of innovation, and the upcoming

launch of the India Inclusive Innovation Fund seeks to catalyze the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, targeted at innovative solutions for the bottom of the pyramid. In this context, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII expressed that U. S. -India collaboration presents a huge opportunity. “A lot remains to be done in India on the innovation front, and we believe that the power of collaboration between India and the U. S. – two countries with a diverse, democratic and creative people – would yield tremendous results. We are delighted to hold the India Innovation Summit for the first time ever in Chicago, and hope to see many fruitful partnerships emerging from this interaction,” he said. A message at the CII India Innovation Summit plays over videolink from Mr.Robert Hormats, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment. The AsianEra Classifieds To advertise in The AsianEra Classifieds Contact: 516-776-7061, 516-882-7246 e-mail: myasianera@yahoo. com 33 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 India, US Are “Best Friends Forever” Indo-US Ties: Defining Relationships Of The 21st Century nomic and intelligence purposes and freedom around the world. The Indian-American community has never betrayed Since India attained Independence from its colonial rulers the trust of the American public — and that’s huge,” he added. Secondly, India’s economy has been growing at rates that in 1947, the most apt description of the U. S. India relationship rival the boom in China. According to the World Bank, India’s was “estranged democracies. ” However, there has been a gradual warming up leading to a transformation of relation- gross domestic product rose from $1. 2 trillion in 2008 to more ship between India and the United

States. As Karl Indurfurth, than $1. 8 trillion in 2012 – a rise of 50 percent during a time and expert on South Asian Affairs, describes it, “Today, in the when much of the world was going through the worst ecoabbreviated world of text messaging and twitter, estrangement nomic hardship for decades. “Europe, unfortunately, is flat on its back economically is being challenged by the oncept of BFF (for the uninitiated, and China is also having challenges with their economy,” said “Best Friends Forever”). ” Somers, of the U. S. -India Business Council. “The United States Some believe the and India need to be deworld’s two biggest developing a greater ecomocracies will ultinomic partnership now mately “shape the desmore than ever. ” The tiny of the 21st cenamount of two-way trade tury. ” However, accordbetween India and the ing to Ian Johnston, of United States has quathe NBC News, India drupled in just seven has come to play a years -- from $25 billion prominent role in in 2006 to about $100 bilAmerica, due to lion in 2013, he said. money, military hardIndia is a key ally in ware and a shared love the war on terror, espeof freedom — to paracially after suffering its phrase the opinions of own terrorist attacks. a number of experts. ” Three months after the Her describes five reaSept. 11, 2001, attacks on sons as to why India is the United States, India’s feeling the love from Parliament in New Delhi the United States: was stormed by terrorIndia is a bastion of ists, killing at least 10 democracy. It is a partpeople. And in 2008, 166 nership based on

“depeople were killed when mocracy” and “a love, gunmen attacked a Jewdemand and insistence ish center and two fiveon freedom,” Obama star hotels in Mumbai. aid the relationship beIndia has blamed the attween India and the tack on Pakistan-based U. S. would be one of the militants. “defining partnerPresident Barack Obama and India's Prime Minister In addition to the key ships” of the 21st cenManmohan Singh embrace during a news conference in New role India plays in Aftury while visiting the ghanistan, a senior Delhi, India, on November 8, 2010. Obama has described the country in 2010, praisObama administration relationship between India and the U. S. as one of the "defining its tradition of tolofficial said co-operation ing partnerships" of the 21st century. erance and its free marwith India on “maritime ket economy.Ron security” and “counter Somers, president of the terrorism” would be one U. S. -India Business Council, who said, “These are beacons of freedom and democracy on opposite sides of the planet and of the issues at the top of the agenda. He spoke of a “strategic we’ve got to stick together with our close friends and believe convergence” between India and the U. S. US sees India to be a counterweight to China. India and in these principles. ” the United States are the world’s two biggest democracies, Jody Venkatesan, national political director for the Republican Indian Committee in the U. S. , said India’s importance but the world’s most populous country is China Award-winhad been recognized by George W.Bush during his time in ning historian Margaret MacMillan says, the extended diplooffice. “The Bush administration made great overtures to the matic push

aimed at New Delhi might be a way of sending a Indian-American community and toward India in general,” he message to Beijing. “It suggests to me the great Asian pivot said. “I think India has a strategic importance in terms of eco- with improved relations with China has turned out to be a bit By Ajay Ghosh 34 34 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 2013 35 35 TheAsianEra JUL-AUG TheAsianEra JUL-AUG 20132013 of a bust,” said MacMillan. However, she said the U. S. would probably try to avoid picking a side and stay in the middle.According to a Pew Research Center survey of Indian attitudes toward the United States, a solid majority 58% of Indians living in cities have a favorable view of the United States, seeing America in a more favorable light than any of the other major world powers. Still more, 60% of Indians have confidence in President Barack Obama. Contrast this with India’s former Cold War supporter Russia receiving a 48 percent favorable rating; the European Union, 38 percent; and China, 33 percent. The Times of India wrote: “The numbers are so good for the US president that he might want to move to India. ” This transformation has many factors to thank for. US government officials regularly refer to the Indian diaspora as an important partner in driving U. S. -India relations, which the Obama administration has described as a “defining partnership of the 21st century. The Indian-American community is increasingly vocal on local issues and in U. S. -India relations writ large, and according to one recent article in The Times of India, “…what they lack in numbers they contribute

in some measure in money and activism. No other ethnic group outside white, AfricanAmericans, and Latinos…have as many political heavyweights. ” Traditionally, the community has come together to push for a policy viewed as extremely important to the U. S. -India relationship. Since the 1980s, the community successfully organized over issues like protesting the sale of F-16s to Pakistan, fighting a possible decrease in foreign aid, and lifting the 1998 sanctions on India (in reaction to India’s nuclear tests).Most recently the community coalesced behind the 2005 U. S. India civilian nuclear agreement, allowing India to engage in full civil nuclear cooperation with the United States and subsequently other countries. One important issue does remain high on the list of bilateral concerns. Many diaspora members lament the fact that the United States and India do not have a more innovative approach to the freer movement of people between the two countries. The community’s longstanding dissatisfaction with the current U. S. visa regime, not just in the realm of H1B or L1, but also with regard to skilled professionals, entrepreneur visas, and tourist visas, is widespread and well known.Today, however, the foreign affairs focus of the diaspora seems to be moving from single-issue bilateral concerns to broader categories of interests, such as trade and commerce, people-to-people exchanges, and philanthropy. Several observers attribute this shift to a growing maturation of the diaspora, one that closely tracks the maturation of the overall U. S. -India relationship. According to Mitul Desai, senior adviser to Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake, “As the U. S. -India relationship has grown to cover a broad range of

areas, so too has the diaspora’s engagement with India grown to be multifaceted in nature. Indian-Americans are contributing to U. S. India projects across everything from medical research and clean energy to higher education and space cooperation. And the community is thinking strategically about how to increase U. S. -India trade between states and cities and in the SME space. ” Of equal importance is the diaspora’s desire to engage with and act as a bridge to India’s health care sector. IndianAmericans are prepared to devote time, talent, and money in order to build capacity and expand the delivery of health services in India—something the government of India is attempting to do as well. Engaging and cooperating with the Indian government as well as India’s health care sector could facilitate mutually