Articles and Views

Three Indian-origin teenagers, including identical twin sisters, in the US have bagged a scholarship worth $100,000 in a science competition for their innovative research that will help doctors diagnose health problems like schizophrenia. Shriya and Adhya Beesam, 16, who are grade 11 students in Plano, Texas won the competition in the 17th annual Siemens Math, Science and Technology Competition on Tuesday for their project entitled, ‘Linked Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System: A Novel Approach to Schizophrenia Diagnosis’. Vineet Edupuganti, a senior at Oregon Episcopal School, won the top individual award for developing an ingestible battery that could transform the way doctors diagnose ...

An Indian schoolgirl based in UAE has won this year’s International Children’s Peace Prize for her fight to save the planet. Kehkashan Basu, a 16-year-old schoolgirl, was presented the award by Nobel Peace laureate Mohammad Yunus at a ceremony held in The Hague. At the age of eight, Basu organised an awareness-raising campaign for the recycling of waste in her Dubai neighbourhood. In 2012, she founded her own organisation, Green Hope, which carries out environment-focused campaigns. Basu went on to become the youngest ever Global Coordinator for the Major Group for Children and Youth of the UN Environmental Programme. Basu ...

Nikki Haley was named as US envoy to the United Nations by President-elect Donald Trump, as she scripted history by becoming the first-ever Indian-American to be appointed to a cabinet-level post in any US administration. “Governor Haley has a proven track record of bringing people together regardless of background or party affiliation to move critical policies forward for the betterment of her state and our country,” Trump said, referring to his former critic with whom he had sparred bitterly during the campaign. 44-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants from Punjab, Haley is the first woman tapped by Trump for a top-level ...

This Thanks Giving Day As North America and many other parts of the world celebrate the Thanks Giving Day (though on different dates), we are simply reminded to be grateful for what we have. Virtually all our possessions are gifts from others. It begins with our own parents who gave birth to us, sacrificed their comfort, and offered everything they could to let us become who we are today. The teachers, who gave us both material and spiritual knowledge, set the foundation of our lives and they are directly adjacent to our parents’ contributions. So, paying respect by doing something ...

On November 8, 2016 the Indian Government has announced the so-called demonetization or ban on two Indian Rupee notes: 500 and 1000. The Reserve Bank of India has issued a new 500 Rupee and 2000 Rupee notes. There is no replacement of 1000 Rupee notes. Currencies of all other denominations (1 – 100) are not affected. People living across the world including the PIOs, NRIs and visitors who have returned to their country of residence and possess these notes are not clear on what to do with those. First of all – most Indian banks outside India are not ‘Retail’ banks ...

The entire nation is stumped under the sudden impact of the denomination drive started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. And, the most trending question today is: what to do with your old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes? Both Indians in India and Indians overseas are somewhere content yet confused, you could say. In the state of flux, there has been a great deal of information floating around, that may guide the common man, which includes financial experts and banks have also stepped in to give tips. The answer is clear – according to RBI guidelines, an NRI can deposit ...

Us and Them For months I debated, dissuaded and deliberated on the US elections. Watched in awe, how this country went through the same rhetoric that marred the political scenario in India. Here in the Silicon Valley, we cater to a certain mindset of political correctness – much so, as we come from varied countries and cultures. We try to even it out by appreciating all that is new and unfamiliar – making them a part of our new life in a new land. Most of us, who live in the Valley, studied very hard all our lives, competed with ...

Donald Trump the President-elect was welcomed by President Barack Obama at the White House today who said about him to be ‘unfit’ for the role and was propelled to the office by those who Senator Hillary Clinton called ‘deplorable’. History is made in America again after electing the first black President Obama in 2008. This time not for the first woman President of America but for Trump, who became President without being part of the political establishment and without ever holding any public office. And, who said democracy is the collective voice of people? America is deeply divided as it is ...

Boston and Bharat In the late 1700s and early 1800s, ships from Boston and nearby Salem used to sail up and down the Atlantic, mostly with Ice blocks. These were preserved using saw-dusts and missionaries went to preach to the ‘heathens’ of Bharat, that is India. In those hay days of British colonialism, many exotic items including tea, spices, and artifacts filled the ships in the return journey. The city of Boston and the surroundings in the state of Massachusetts have much historical imprints both for the Americans and the Indians. First of all, the American Revolution took birth here. The Boston ...

With just few days to go before the elections, the race for the Oval Office is getting more and more tight particularly after the recent email controversy. While political pundits and pollsters may be crunching numbers to determine which of the two candidates have the road towards the magic 270 electoral votes, what is significant to understand is that the fundamental nature of the electorate has not changed. United States of America today is lot more diverse and aligns with the ideals of the Democratic Party more than ever before. One just need to look at the numbers Obama was pulling through ...