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Indian-American lottery winner’s body exhumed

US authorities have exhumed the body of an Indian-American million dollar lottery winner who died last July just a day after he was issued a cheque for about $425,000 after taxes.

Initially, doctors ruled that 46-year-old Urooj Khan died of natural causes. But a week later, an unnamed relative called the medical examiner’s office.

Toxicology results of a second examination showed he died of cyanide poisoning.

An autopsy was performed on the exhumed body of Hyderabad-born Khan, who ran a dry cleaning business in Chicago, Dr. Stephen Cina, Cook County medical examiner, told reporters.

It will take a few weeks for testing results and he could not predict the results, he said. Cyanide can evaporate after death, and it’s possible it may not be present, he was quoted as saying by CNN.

Cina said, “We’ve already determined it was a homicide, and nothing we’ve seen today would change that.”

Chicago police is investigating the July death of Khan as a murder. He won the lottery playing a scratch-off game a month earlier.

On the day he died, Khan’s wife said she made dinner at home and then he went to bed. A little less than an hour later, his screams of agony woke her up. His family rushed him to a hospital, but it was too late.

Sikh Americans favour tougher gun laws

The Sikh-American community has lauded President Barack Obama’s push for tougher gun laws in the wake of December massacre of 20 children and six teachers at an elementary school in Connecticut.

The Sikh community supports Obama’s initiative to take measures to stop the proliferation of deadly weapons in the American society, said Rajwant Singh, Chairman of the Sikh council on Religion and Education (SCORE).

“Too many innocent people have become victims of these senseless killings,” said the community leader who was among the invitees at a recent White House event where the President unveiled the most sweeping gun control proposals in two decades.

Urging the Congress to step in and show real leadership in this hour of need, Rajwant

Singh said “it’s a moral obligation to create safety for all particularly our young ones”.

The Sikh community will observe Feb 5, marking six months of the August shooting at a Sikh Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin that left six worshipers dead, as a day of prayers for all victims of gun violence in America and will ask congregants to contact their representatives to support gun control legislation.

Rajwant Singh was among 12 faith leaders, including a representative of the Hindu American Foundation invited to meet Vice President Joe Biden, who headed a task force set up by Obama to examine gun control steps after the Newtown shootings.

Biden’s recommendations formed the basis of the package of proposals announced by President Obama.

Rajwant Singh he had suggested to Biden a major educational initiative to teach children against indiscriminate violence with a major push at the state and the federal level.

The Sikh community was looking forward to work with the “Obama administration and Congress to find the comprehensive solution that makes our society more secure where we can raise our children free from any fear of violence,” he said.

Now Ramayana in Polish language

Ramayana, the great Indian epic, is now available in Polish language, courtesy Janusz Krzyzowski, an Indologist in Poland who has translated the monumental work.

Though few episodes of Ramayana were translated into Polish in 1816, these were mere translation of western writers. In the 20th century, some attempts were made to translate a few more chapters.

It seems Krzyzowski collected the material from dozens of books and presented in a coherent manner so that a reader could sustain his interest while going through different chapters. The original was penned by Maharishi Valmiki in Sanskrit.

“My main purpose was to translate this epic into many chapters in a story format so that laymen and particularly Polish children could enjoy the book as well as they should be aware of the great Indian mythological tradition,” Krzyzowski told IANS.

“Ramayana and Mahabharata are two great epics which cannot (be) compared with other epics. Even Greek epics come out as pale shadows when we see the canvas of the Indian epics. They are almost unique in the history of mankind,” he added.

The book’s effect was visible when a group presented a two-hour show on the pattern of Ramlila. In May, the group will visit few cities in Poland to enact Ramlila for Polish schoolchildren with the help of the Embassy of India in Warsaw.

“He has done great justice to promote India in his nation. He deserves all our praise and we feel proud that such a gem is with us in Poland,” Indian ambassador Monika Mehta told IANS.

Krzyzowski has been a prolific writer on India since 15 years. His love for India has roots since his university days when he enrolled for a master degree in philosophy after a medical degree. This interest turned him into an automatic Indophile. His books on Ashoka and Tansen were well-received along with books of Urdu masters like Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Ghalib, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Faiz Ahmad Faiz that he translated with Surender Zahid, an Urdu poet in Warsaw.

Krzyzowski is the president of IndiaPoland Cultural Committee since its inception in 2004.

Indian nurse’s family hasn’t got reply to questions

The family of Indian-origin nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who was found hanging after taking a hoax phone call about the Duchess of Cambridge, said they are yet to receive answers from her hospital to 40 questions over her death.

The Telegraph said Saldanha’s widower and her two children were also waiting to hear from radio show bosses in Australia after the nurse was duped by two radio presenters who impersonated Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles to ask questions about Kate who was being treated for morning sickness.

The 46-year-old nurse was found dead in her quarters three days after she transferred the call from 2Day FM hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian to a colleague at London’s King Edward VII’s Hospital who then described Kate’s condition in detail.

Saldanha left two notes in her room and had marks on her wrist when her body was discovered, a court in London heard.

The 40 questions prepared by her family on Saldanha’s death will only be answered following an internal inquiry led by hospital chairman Lord Glenarthur, the daily said.

Indian-origin Labour MP Keith Vaz, who has supported the family since the death, said he was “disappointed that it will take such a long time for the results to be made available to the family”.

“Despite the fact that the family have sent a list of 40 questions to the hospital they still seem unwilling to answer them,” Vaz said.

The Australian radio station’s parent company, Southern Cross Austereo, also received a list of questions from Saldanha’s family.

In a letter to Vaz, hospital chief executive John Lofthouse said “no disciplinary action was being contemplated” against Saldanha.

“We regarded her as the victim of a cruel hoax,” he was quoted as saying.

Punjab announces high-level panel for NRIs

With NRIs from Punjab settled in various countries coming forward with problems and issues that they face in their home state, the Punjab government has said a high-level panel would be formed to safeguard their interests.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced the formation of the highlevel committee on NRI affairs comprising five senior cabinet ministers and an equal number of Punjabi NRIs settled across the globe as representatives.

He assured that the recommendations of the committee would be implemented in a time bound manner.

Most of the issues raised by the NRIs relate to property that they own in Punjab.

Badal said: “Our government is committed to ensuring the security of hardearned property of the NRIs so that they can live and work peacefully in the countries of their adoption.”

He said the state government has come out with a landmark legislation which makes compulsory the registration of marriages to check the menace of fraudulent and fake marriages.

Another legislation, Human Trafficking and Smuggling Act, has been brought to prevent the illegal practice of emigrating innocent youth to other countries by the unscrupulous travel agents and dumping them later, he added.

Badal also announced the setting up of three more NRI police stations for quick disposal of complaints related to NRIs. With this, the total number of NRI police stations across Punjab will go up to 11. He also announced the setting up of a fast-track court for NRI affairs in the state to ensure quick dispensation of justice.

IANS