Indo-American News: January 6, 2023

Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal celebrated one year of His arrival in Houston with a grand “Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal Vaibhavotsavam” from Dec 24 to Jan 1,

Grand Utsav Celebrated for Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal at Namadwaar

Manvel – Bhagavan enjoys being celebrated by His devotees, especially through kirtan and katha! ‘North America’ Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal celebrated one year of His arrival in Houston with a grand “Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal Vaibhavotsavam” from Dec 24 to Jan 1, amid devotees from all around Greater Houston area, other cities in Texas, a number of other US states, and from India too.

Led by Sri Poornimaji, disciple of HH Maharanyam Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji, from India, there was not a dull moment in the 9 days of Utsav. The highlight was Sri Poornimaji’s unique katha on Sri Venkatesha Vaibhavam, where she spoke of the greatness of Sri Srinivasa Perumal (Lord Venkateshwara), the story of His descent on the Saptagiri hills, His wedding with Sri Padmavathi Thayar, and the stories of many of His great devoteesincluding Thondaiman Chakravarthy, Sri Ramanujacharya, Ananthazhwar, Hathiram Baba, Vasudeva Thatha and others. Another unique event in the Utsav was that after each day’s katha, a special procession was conducted,and the story told in the discourse was depicted visually with props, dialogue and kirtan as part of the procession.

This ‘anukaranam’ (divine enactment) was enjoyed immensely by devotees present there as well as devotees from around the world who watched the live Facebook broadcasts.

Another special event during the Utsav was the daily morning procession where the utsavamurthys Sri Premika Varadan-Madhuri Sakhi (Sri Krishna-Radha) were taken on a yatra to ‘different holy places’ including Madhurapuri, Srirangam, Guruvayur, Pandharpur, Vrindavan and Barsana. During each yatra procession, kirtans by various saint-composers associated with that particular kshetra were sung and devotees also dressed up like devotees in that region (Kerala, Marathi Varkaris, Gopis, etc). On good weather days, the morning procession was held outdoors and Bhagavan was taken to His ‘vana’ (garden) and pond in the Namadwaar premises. One morning He even celebrated ‘vanabhojanam’, eating a variety of dishes with His friends Gopas like a picnic on the banks of the Yamuna.

Other daily events included Srimad Bhagavata Saptaha parayanam, Tiruppavai recitation each morning followed by a brief Mahamantra ‘street’ kirtan, evening cultural programs and performances. A special ‘Nikunjotsavam’ concert was offered to Perumal by Sujanitha Umamaheshwaran, disciple of Vid Nithyashree Mahadevan, accompanied by Pranav Praveen on violin and Anirudha Narayanan on mridangam. Other cultural performers during the week included Pranav Sriram (devotional vocal), Harini Ganesh (Bharatanatyam), Sri Sisters (Madhurageetham vocal), Shreyasi Sundaram (Bharatanatyam), Preethi Ra-

makrishnan and Panchami Gopal (Bharatanatyam), Kimshukapriya Paunarkar (vocal abhangs), Priya Banga and Kavya Santosh (Hari katha), Prerana (Bharatanatyam), Maya and Kishore Iyer (violin duet) with Naga Srinidhi on mridangam. On one evening 32+ children and youth from all around USA and Houston rendered a Madhurageetham (composition of HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji) each as an offering to Perumal. More special highlight celebrations during the week were a grand Janavasam and Radha Kalyanam, Teppotsavam (boat festival) with amazing fireworks, Rathotsavam (chariot festival), and Deepotsavam (lights festival), all conducted with bhajans and kirtans. Most of the singing and instrumental accompaniment for all the bhajans, as well as setup and several sevas throughout the 9 days was by youth from all around the US. Their enthusiasm, energy and camaraderie was very inspiring to all attendees.

The Utsav culminated on Jan 1st with Bhagavad Gita complete parayanam, 11 times Hanuman Chalisa chanting led by Gopa Kuteeram children, and an extremely inspiring and reverberating Mahamantra mass prayer conducted by Sri Poornimaji.

The Utsav was celebrated with grandeur. Sri Krishna-Radha donned new clothes daily. Annadanam was offered four times a day for all devotees, approximately 2800 meals served and a grand Radha Kalyanam meal was served with traditional dishes. Over 50 volunteers and 100s of sponsors from all over the nation made this event a grand success.

To see Facebook broadcasts of some Utsav events, visit “Namadwaar Houston” on Facebook.

For more information about Global Organization for Divinity or Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal Temple, or to join our Houston-wide WhatsApp group for regular updates, please call or whatsapp 281402-6585, email houston.god@godivinity.org or visit houston.godivinity. org.

Millions Attend Pramukh Swami Maharaj Centennial Celebrations

The month-long grand celebration for Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s Centenary is underway in Ahmedabad. Over 2 million visitors have visited the colossal Pramukh Swami Nagar in the first two weeks.

The last week of December 2022 at Pramukh Swami Nagar featured the following themes: “Familyunity Day: Celebrating Family Values,” “Education Day: Celebrating values-based education,” “DarshanShastra Day: Celebrating Timeless Wisdom.”

On December 31, Pramukh Swami Maharaj was conferred the honor of ‘Sanatan Dharma Jyoti’ for his countless contributions to protect, foster and nourish the timeless wisdom of Hinduism and his continuous encouragement to preserve and promote the Vedic scriptural tradition. The award was presented to His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj by more than 30 eminent scholars who had gathered from all over India to pay tribute to Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s unprecedented services to Indian philosophy. The ceremony occurred in the presence of tens of thousands who had gathered to commemorate ‘Darshan-Shastra Day: Celebrating Timeless Wisdom’.

When announcing the award, Professor Vijaykumar CG, Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Panini Sanskrit and Vedic University, Ujjain, explained, “Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s life was dedicated to the moral and spiritual uplift of society. He inspired Mahamahopadhyay Bhadreshdas Swami to create a historic set of commentaries on the Prasthanatrayi to explain AksharPurushottam Darshan. Earlier this month, all the vice-chancellors of India’s various Sanskrit universities gathered to discuss how we could honor such a magnanimous personality like Pramukh Swami Maharaj on his centennial birth celebrations. We unanimously decided to confer upon Pramukh Swami Maharaj the title ‘Sanatan Dharma Jyoti’ along with a proclamation of honor on a copper plate signed by all the vicechancellors of all the Sanskrit universities of India. We feel blessed by being able to offer our respects at the holy feet of Pramukh Swami Maharaj.”

Earlier in the week, on December 29, 2022, His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj and several dignitaries

paid homage to Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s efforts to strengthen family unity in millions of homes around the world as tens of thousands gathered to commemorate ‘Family Unity Day: Celebrating Family Values’ at Pramukh Swami Maharaj Nagar. To pay tribute to the unique gift of ghar sabha given by Pramukh Swami Maharaj on the occasion of his centenary celebrations, Mahant Swami Maharaj inspired a large-scale Family Unity Campaign between January 31 to April 15, 2022, to transmit the message of family harmony throughout society. Over 72,000 male and female volunteers spent 7.2 million hours personally visiting 2.4 million homes and inspiring family harmony among 6 million individuals in over 10,000 villages and cities across 17 states of India. As a result of this unprecedented campaign, 1.9 million families pledged to have at least one meal together daily, over 1 million families decided to perform daily prayers together, and over 400,000 families were inspired to conduct a regular family home assembly (ghar sabha).

On December 30, His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj and dignitaries paid homage to Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s visionary leadership and tireless efforts in establishing educational institutions and student hostels to foster value-based education before the tens of thousands who had gathered to commemorate ‘Education Day: Celebrating Value-based Education .’Aware of the importance of education for the

individual and the nation, and inspired by Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s instruction to foster the propagation knowledge, Pramukh Swami Maharaj established nearly 40 educational institutions and student hostels to nurture the educational and character development of over 22,500 students annually. In addition, his unparalleled educational services include the reconstruction of 55 schools in disaster-affected areas, providing financial assistance to 23 other educational complexes, and annually supporting over 5,000 students in need of scholarships.

Leaders and experts in education attended the important event. Padma Shri T.V. Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education (Manipal University) shared, “To resolve the challenges of humanity, we must learn from Pramukh Swami Maharaj, who taught us to live together as human beings, to be compassionate, to care for our children, and to care for nature. He established temples worldwide to inspire countless people to live in peace, to care for everyone, and to harm no one in society. I am confident that inspired by the teachings of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, BAPS will carry on their extraordinary work of educating humanity on how to live in this new world, find peace within, have compassion for others, take care of our planet, and make sure that all of us leave a better world for our children.”

In closing, the present BAPS spiritual leader,His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj stated, “Character

deficiencies cause tremendous problems, so only value-based education that fosters character will ultimately bring success and happiness to a person’s life.”

In support of these efforts, Pramukh Swami Nagar features experiences for the whole family, including a children’s section with interactive exhibits, games, and rides conducted mostly with the volunteer efforts of youths. There is a great deal of entertainment to experience, along with thought-provoking shows for children and adults, sowing and nurturing seeds of values. While we see the world cynically, heading in a negative direction and wonder about the destiny of future generations, Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s life was dedicated to character-building of future generations of educated global citizens guided and anchored in spiritual values and altruistic motives.

Thousands of children currently volunteer their time at Pramukh Swami Nagar while simultaneously pursuing their studies. What a life he must have led to motivate and inspire thousands of youths to turn away from worldly offerings, sacrifice personal time, and serve for the benefit of others. When inquired about their source of inspiration, one hears countless stories of lives personally touched by Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s constant travels and sacrifice. Think of a future with such leaders and doers shaping communities and nations.

The month-long celebration is His

About BAPS

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) is a spiritual, volunteerdriven organization dedicated to improving society through individual growth by fostering the Hindu ideals of faith, unity, and selfless service. Its worldwide network of 3,800 centers supports these character-building activities. Under the guidance and leadership of His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, BAPS aspires to build a community that is free of addictions as well as morally, ethically, and spiritually pure. For more details, please visit www.baps.org.

About Pramukh Swami Maharaj Pramukh Swami Maharaj was the fifth spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Under his leadership, BAPS grew into an international spiritual and humanitarian organization with over 3,300 centers worldwide. He dedicated his life to the well-being of others, traveling throughout the world to foster love, peace, harmony, righteousness, faith in God, and service to humanity. With genuine care and compassion, he reached out to all members of society irrespective of class, color, or age. Recognized and respected as one of India’s greatest spiritual teachers, he lived by and promoted the principle: “In the joy of others, lies our own.”

About Mahant Swami Maharaj

His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj is the sixth and current spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. He was ordained a swami by Yogiji Maharaj in 1961 and named Sadhu Keshavjivandas. As he was appointed the head (Mahant) of the Mandir in Mumbai, he became known as Mahant Swami. His devout, humble, and service-focused life earned him the innermost blessings of Yogiji Maharaj and Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Mahant Swami Maharaj travels throughout the world inspiring people through his insightful spiritual discourses and disciplined conduct. His virtuous lifestyle and profound devotion to Bhagwan Swaminarayan and gurus are ideals toward which devotees strive. Mahant Swami Maharaj became the guru and President of BAPS upon Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s passing in 2016.

Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj’s vision to provide inspiration from the life, efforts, teachings, actions, and contributions of Pramukh Swami Maharaj.

Millions attend Pramukh Swami Maharaj Centennial Celebrations

Pramukh Swami Maharaj was conferred the honor of ‘Sanatan Dharma Jyoti’ for his countless contributions to protect, foster and nourish the timeless wisdom of Hinduism.

Biden Aministration Proposes Higher Fees for Employment Visas

MuMbai: The Biden administration has proposed significantly higher fees for many non-immigrant employment-based visas such as H-1B and also L visas (for those on intra-company transfers). These fees are borne by the US employer and will increase the costs of hiring immigrant employees. Those seeking investmentlinked green cards, will now have to cough up $11,160 for the initial application itself – a rise of 204%.

The fee-proposals released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), late night on Tuesday, are contained in an exhaustive document running into 469 pages.

However, the fee hike will not be introduced immediately.

As per the administrative procedural requirement there is a 60-day period for inviting public comments, the entire process running up to the actual implementation of the revised fees could take a few months.

Nearly 96% of the funding is derived by USCIS from such filing fees. The pandemic had dented its revenue stream - plagued by staffshortages, processing backlogs at the immigration agency had increased manifold. “The proposed fee rule is the result of a comprehensive fee review at USCIS. This review determined that the agency’s current fees, which have remained unchanged since 2016, fall far short of recovering the full cost of agency operations,” states

a release.

“This proposed rule allows USCIS to more fully recover operating costs for the first time in six years and will support the Administration’s effort to rebuild the legal immigration system,” said Ur Jaddou, director, USCIS.

Costs for US employers who sponsor immigration employees will increase, if the fee proposal goes through. Since 2019, sponsoring US employers are required to electronically register the beneficiaries (employees whom they wish to hire under the H-1B route). H-1B cap applications are then required to be filed only for those beneficiaries selected in the lottery process. The E-registration fee at a mere $ 10 led to some malpractices, it is now proposed to be hiked by 2050% to $215. At the second stage, the filing fee for H-1B applications, is proposed to increase to $780 from $460 – a 70% increase.

Kripa Upadhyay, immigration attorney, told TOI, “Last year, we witnessed a run on the E-registrations filed by employers. A fair amount of these were speculative in that there was no work available but at a mere $10 per registrations, there was little to stop an unscrupulous employer from filing 20-50 applications in the hope that even half of those would be approved. Raising the registration fee amount, I hope, negates this scourge of multiple frivolous applications that adversely impact deserving employees and employers.”

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at American Immigration Council, an advocacy think-tank points out, “USCIS proposes to charge all new employment-based immigrant and non-immigrant petitions (ie: Form I-129 and Form 1-140 applications) a sum of $ 600 to fund the asylum program. This is on top of other fee increases.”

In several instances, the proposed fees have a different structure for online filing and filing in physical format (in paper). It is expected that USCIS may be widening the scope of online filing for various categories of applications. To illustrate, an application for an employment authorisation document will cost $555 (35% hike) if filed online, but $ 650 (59% hike) if filed physically. The application fees for citizenship remain static irrespective of the nature of filing, with a proposed fee of $ 760 (a hike of 19%).

The biggest increases are for EB-5 investors - the investmentlinked green card program, The investors will now pay $11,160 for their initial I-526 petitions, and $9,535 for their I-829 petitions to remove conditions on permanent resident status.

In this context, Upadhyay points out that, “Applications filed in 2018 are still pending, yet the immigration agency now wants want $11,160 per application with no guarantees as to adjudication time and no option to file for premium processing. Same issue applies for applications to remove the conditions.” “The fees are being increased while adjudications have slowed down to such an extent that multiple investors have had to pay additional sums to file mandamus actions to force the service to take action on their cases,” she adds.

Immigration attorneys also point out that USCIS proposes to extend

the premium processing adjudication period from 15 calendar days to 15 business days, a change that will effectively prolong premium processing adjudications by one week.

Garcetti Renominated as US Ambassador to India

Washington DC: US President Joe Biden has renominated Eric Garcetti as his envoy to India, with the White House exuding confidence that the former Mayor of Los Angeles would be confirmed by the Senate this time.

Garcetti, 51, is a close aide of President Biden. He has been Mayor of Los Angeles since 2013.

The move came as the White House began renominating candidates who were not confirmed in the last Congress.

In July 2021, President Biden nominated Garcetti as his Ambassador to India. His nomination was initially blocked by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley because of allegations of inappropriate behaviour by one of his senior staffers.

Though the hold on his nomination had been lifted, he could not be confirmed by the last Congress.

“We will continue to seek the confirmation of Mayor Garcetti, who has — who was voted out of committee unanimously and with strong bipartisan support to serve as ambassador to India,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Pune: (ESPN Cricinfo) Sri Lanka 206 for 6 (Shanaka 56*, Kusal 52, Malik 3-48, Axar 2-24) beat India 190 for 8 (Axar 65, Suryakumar 51, Shanaka 2-4, Rajitha 2-22) by 16 runs

Axar Patel tried his absolute best with both bat and ball, but Dasun Shanaka continued his all-round domination of India to bring up a 16-run win for Sri Lanka in what turned out to be a thrilling contest at MCA Stadium in Pune.

Batting first, the visitors, helped

by some shoddy Indian bowling, including seven very costly noballs, racked up 206 for 6 in their 20 overs. Kusal Mendis (52 off 31) and Shanaka (56* off 22) were their top-scorers.

The Sri Lankan bowlers then got broke India’s back, reducing the hosts to 57 for 5 in the 10th over. The chase seemed to be done and dusted at that stage, but Suryakumar Yadav and Axar staged a fightback for the ages, adding 91 runs off 40 balls for the sixth wicket. Even as

Suryakumar fell, Axar and Shivam Mavi kept the game in the balance. However, with India needing 21 to win off the final over, Shanaka picked up the ball for his first over, took two wickets and helped his side get over the line.

Dasun Shanaka and Axar Patel were outstanding on the night.

Pakistan Introduces Measures to Cut Energy Costs in Face of Economic Default COMMUNITY

islaMabaD: Faced with a crippling fund crunch, Pakistan on Tuesday introduced a slew of measures to cut down on energy costs and decrease dependence on imported oil, including shutting down markets and wedding halls early, and asking government employees to work from home.

Pakistan’s cabinet passed the National Energy Conservation Plan a day after the National Security Committee agreed that the revival of the economy is essential for national security.

No lights in cabinet meeting

Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif, who made the announcement during a press conference flanked by other cabinet ministers, said the plan to save energy “is being enforced immediately”.

‘No other option’ but to implement IMF deal: Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif

“The country is passing through a critical situation. The nation cannot afford to sustain the current levels of power consumption,” he said, adding: “All government buildings and offices will also reduce use of energy under the plan, and a policy to work from home will be completed in 10 days.”

“No lights were on in the cabinet meeting today. The meeting was held in full sunlight,” he said, providing an example for the country to follow.

Measures to cut energy costs

Markets will close at 8.30pm while wedding halls and restaurant would shut doors by 10.00pm. “This will save us PKR 60 billion,” said Asif

Manufacturing of incandescent bulbs will be stopped from February 1, while production of inefficient fans will be stopped from

July. Asif said these measures would help save another PKR 22 billion

The government will make the use of conical geysers mandatory within a year, which by using less gas would save PKR 92 billion.

Alternative use of street lights would save another PKR 4 billion.

The government also plans to conserve 30% of the electricity used by government departments, which would save PKR 62 billion.

Electric motorcycles will be introduced by the end of this year to reduce dependence on imported oil.

Earlier this year, Pakistan’s government had introduced rolling blackouts and increased power costs because it could no longer secure enough fuel. The move followed other South Asian nations, including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that announced such steps as part of energy austerity measures.

The Pakistan government estimates the latest austerity steps will

Indo American News

FounDer: Dr. K.l. sinDWani Publisher: JaWahar Malhotra

eDitor: PraMoD KulKarni

CorresPonDent: sanChali basu

®All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the written consent of the publisher. Deadline for advertising and articles is 4 pm on Monday of each week. Please include self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of all unsolicited material. Published at 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 212, Houston, Texas 77036.Tel:713-789-6397, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com, website: www. indoamerican-news.com

reduce power demand by about 9,000 megawatts per day or about half of the current consumption.

Will Pakistan default?

The energy austerity plan comes on the heels of several organisations warning that Pakistan was dangerously close to default.

Pakistan’s economic situation is facing “severe headwinds” with inflation being forecast to stay high between 21%-23% (compared to 9.81% in the same period last fiscal) and the country’s fiscal deficit widening by more than 115% in the first four months (July-October) of the current fiscal year.

Pakistan’s central bank says its foreign exchange reserves have fallen to $6.7bn, its lowest level in nearly four years as the country battles an economic crisis.

Thursday’s announcement by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) came as the country is in dire need of foreign aid to reduce its current account deficit as well as ensure enough reserves to pay its debt obligations for the next financial year.

The bank’s data show forex re-

serves have declined by $784m since late November, with the commercial banks holding another $5.8bn.

The last time forex reserves fell below $ 7bn was in January 2019 when they stood at $6.6bn.

In an interview on Thursday, SBP governor Jameel Ahmad said Pakistan’s economic crisis was mainly caused by this year’s catastrophic floods, the continuing Ukraine war and a rise in food prices globally.

Ahmad said Pakistan last week made a $1bn payment against its maturing bonds and other external debt repayments, which resulted in the depletion of foreign reserves.

Pakistan has to pay nearly $33bn to its foreign lenders in the coming financial year.

The central bank chief said the country received $500m from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to offset its payment last week. He added that the government is negotiating to seek $3bn from a “friendly country”, without giving further details.

In a related development, Saudi Arabia’s finance minister Mohammed al-Jadaan on Thursday said his country “will continue to support Pakistan as much as we can”. Local media reports said Pakistan is likely to receive a $4.2bn package from Riyadh.

Meanwhile, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) review for the release of $7bn in a bailout package for Pakistan has been pending since September. -- Times of India and Al Jazeera

Guru Nanak Jayanti, also known as ‘Guru Nanak’s Prakash Utsav’ and ‘Guru Nanak Gurpurab’, marks the significance of the birth of the first Sikh Guru – Guru Nanak. This day (celebrated like a festival) falls in the month of Kartik (November) according to the Hindu calendar.

Sikhs across the world celebrate birthdays of all of their ten gurus as Gurpurab. Guru Nanak Jayanti marks the birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji. He was the first Sikh Guru who laid the foundation of Sikhism.

He was born in 1469 in Talwandi, a village near Lahore. He travelled extensively to spread the message of peace and love. According to Hindu Lunar Calendar, Guru Nanak Jayanti falls on the

Purnima (full moon night) of Kartik month. This year, Guru Nanak Jayanti will be celebrated on November 8, 2022.

The celebration of the festival begins two days prior to the Guru Purab. Devotees across the world read the holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, in the Gurudwaras which is called Akhand Path. A day before the festival, Sikhs hold processions at several places with a palanquin of the Granth and the flag.

On the celebration day, people visit Gurudwaras to offer prayers. Devotees read ‘paath’ from Guru Granth Sahib at about 4 AM at Amrit Vela and organise many other events. Dressed in traditional attires, people pray with pure hearts.

Guru Nanak Dev firmly believed that an individual could connect to

God through sincere prayers. He didn’t encourage traditions that included sacrifices. His teachings can be found in the sacred Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib -a vast collection of verses recorded in Gurmukhi. It is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru.