Indo-American News: July 10, 2020

Friday, July 10, 2020 | Vol. 39, No. 28

Indo American News

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July 10, 2020

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COMMUNITY

July 10, 2020

India Culture Center Continues Covid-19 Relief Efforts with Local Agencies

By Khyati Mehta

Houston: India Culture Center is continuing its mission to provide face marks and food distribution to assist the needy and first responders throughout the region, including Houston Police Department, City of Stafford and Fort Bend County.

May 5th - Delivered Meals to Houston Police Department were Present were Ajit Patel and ICC President Jasmeeta Singh.

May 8- 1000 Masks Delivered at District F Council Member Tiffany D.Thomas, with ICC board members Gaurav Jhaveri, Parul Fernandes, Nagraj, Sai, Nimesh Assistant, Jasmeeta Singh at the International District.

May 13th- Delivered meals to HPD continuously donating lunch for four days. Present were Nisha Mirani & Ajit Patel.

May 20th- Donated1000 Surgical Masks to Stafford CityElected officials present - Fire Chief of Stafford Center, Larry Dicamillo, and Council Members Alice C Chen, Ken Mathew, Sri Kulkarni, Congresswoman Virginia and the ICC board, at the Stafford City Hall.

May 20th- ICC webinar in collaboration with IACCGH with Commissioner Adrian Garcia from 2-3 pm.

May 29th- Donated 1000 Surgical Masks and homemade masks to City Council Member Jerry Davis to serve the District B for ICC

for food Distribution. Present were board members Parul Fernandes and Jasmeeta Singh June 24th - 1600 Mask Donation at Fort Bend County in collaboration with ICC Partnering organization North South foundation.

Present Elected officials Judge KP George, Judge Juli Mathew, District Attorney Brian Middleton, and President Jasmeeta Singh ICC BOD Parul Fernandes, Pavana Gadde, ICC Partnering org director NSF Sai. ICC is also hosting a free Bhangra and Zumba workshop on Sunday, Jully 12 from 5:30 to 66:30 pm via Zoom video ICC board member Parul Fernandes (left) and President Jasmeeta Singh (right) at a face mask distribution conferencing. with City Council member Amy Peck of District A (center).

COVID-19 collaborative Initiative with CRY org.

Present - ICC Bods- Gaurav Jhaveri, Parul Fernandes, Trustee Manisha Gandhi, President Jasmeeta Singh and the CRY board.

June 24thICC mission of Mask Distribution, collaborating with City Council Member Amy Peck of District A

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COMMUNITY

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July 10, 2020

Dr. S. Jonnalagadda to Lead AAPI to be Stronger, More Vibrant, and United ted to serving the community and help the needy. That gives me the greatest satisfaction in life,” he Atlanta: “I will work to make says with modesty.

AAPI stronger, more vibrant, Ambitious and wanting to united, transparent, politically enachieve greater things in life, gaged, ensuring active participaDr. Jonnalagadda has numerous tion of young physicians, increasachievements in life. He currenting membership, and enabling that ly serves as the President of the AAPI’s voice is heard in the corMedical Staff at the Hospital. And ridors of power,” said Dr. Sudhanow, being elected as the Presikar Jonnalagadda, who will be the dent of AAPI is greatest achieve37th President of American Asment of my life,” sociation of Physicians of Indian AAPI has been able to serve Origin (AAPI). as a platform in helping young Dr. Jonnalagadda, who will be physicians coming from India to administered the oath of office as seek residencies and help them the President of AAPI at the 1st our mission,” he said.

As a very compassionate, goal in settlement and get jobs. Knowever Virtual Oath ceremony on July 11th, 2020, has vowed to take oriented and with strong leader- ing that AAPI’s growth lies with the nearly four decades old organi- ship skills, Dr. Jonnalagadda will the younger generation, Dr. Jonzation to the next level and “bring be assisted by an executive com- nalagadda has made it his priority all the AAPI Chapters, Regions, mittee consisting of Dr. Anupama to support and promote YPS and Members of the Executive Com- Gotimukula, President-Elect; Dr. MSRF, the future of AAPI. As the President of AAPI, the mittee and Board of Trustees to Ravi Kolli, Vice President, Dr. work cohesively and unitedly for Amit Chakrabarty, Secretary of dynamic physician from the state the success of AAPI and the real- AAPI; Dr. Satish Kathula, Trea- of Andhra Pradesh, wants to “deization of its noble mission.” He surer of AAPI, and Sajani Shah, velop a committee to work with children of AAPI members who wants to increase AAPI member- Chair of AAPI’s BOT. “AAPI has given me so much are interested in medical school, ship by offering more benefits and -- networking, advocacy, and to educate on choosing a school opportunities for mem­bers.

Dr. Jonnalagadda will lead AAPI education -- and I am honored to and gaining acceptance; Develop as its President in the year 2020- serve this noble organization. I a committee to work with medical 2021, the largest Medical Orga- sincerely appreciate the trust you residents who are potential AAPI nization in the United States, rep- placed in me as the President of members, to educate on contract resenting the interests of the over AAPI, and I am deeply commit- negotiation, patient communica100,000 physicians and Fellows of ted to continue to work for you,” tion, and practice management; Develop a committee to work Indian origin in the United States, declared Dr. Jonnalagadda.

He was born in a family of with AAPI medical students, and serving the interests of the Indian American physicians in the US Physicians. Dr. Jonnalagadda’s to provide proctorship to improve and in many ways contributing dad was a Professor at a Medical their selection of medical residento the shaping of the healthcare College in India and his mother cies.”

In his address to the Young Phydelivery in the US for the past 39 was a Teacher. He and his sibyears. “AAPI must be responsive lings aspired to be physicians and sicians Section (YPS) recently, to its members, supportive of the dedicate their lives for the greater Dr. Jonnalagadda told them, “I leadership and a true advocate for good of humanity. “I am commit- am so delighted and proud to be part of this great event and see you, the young physicians of Indian origin today, who are the hope and Competitive compensation, benefits and mutual support. To apply, contact: life, igniting a Lalit Jallan, CLTC, LUTCF bright future for Sales Manager AAPI and for 713-545-9269 the healthcare LalitJallan@financialguide.com delivery in the www.advisors.massmutual.com/lalit-jallan US. As you are aware, Indian Americans continue to come in large numbers and join this Insurance Representative of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), Springfield, MA 011110001, and its affiliated US Insurance companies. Local firms are sales offices of MassMutual, and are not subsidiaries of noble profesMassMutual or its affiliated companies. Insurance products issued by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), Springfield, MA 01111, and its affiliated US insurance companies. Securities and investment advisory services sion. That gives offered through MML Investors Services, LLC, Member SIPC and a MassMutual subsidiary. Supervisory Office: 3 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1800, Houston, TX 77046. 713-402-3800. Financial Services Representatives are independent contractors and us hope that the are not employees of MassMutual, its subsidiaries, or of General Agents with whom they contract. CRN202106-232418

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future of the healthcare is in good, safe and effective hands.”

In order for us to help and support the youngsters who want to pursue Medicine and want to succeed in their dreams to be successful healthcare professionals, “I envisage a plan for young aspiring physicians of Indian origin,” he had told them. “I want to launch a program that will, Educate the Residents from India on ways to negotiate contract with insurance companies and Medical Institutions; Identify Centers/Areas across the US for Clinical Observership Program for aspiring young physicians; and, help Youth who want to pursue medicine as their career, guide them with the skills for par-

ticipating in interviews and ways to succeed in school. This is the first time ever AAPI is embarking on this new initiative.”

Dr. Jonnalagadda wants to emphasize the importance of Legislative Agenda both here in the US and overseas, benefitting the physicians and the people AAPI is committed to serve. According to him, “The growing clout of the physicians of Indian origin in the United States is seen everywhere as several physicians of Indian origin hold critical positions in the healthcare, academic, research and administration across the nation.”

He is actively involved with the Indian community and member of the Asian Indian Alliance.

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July 10, 2020

MTS Celebrates Its Main Temple Anniversary

COMMUNITY

Pradeep Sulhan, P.C.

Pearland: Sri Meenakshi Temple celebrated its Main Temple Anniversary on Sunday July 5th.

This is the 38th year since the main temple was consecrated with the Maha Kumbhabhishekam in 1982. This year, due to the pandemic surge in the Houston area, the temple is closed for the public.

Neverthless, the celebration went on with hundreds of devotees viewing the livestreaming via Facebook. “It was like everyone having the best seat in town” quipped one of the devotees. It was a glorious sight to see the utsava murthies of the four main deities Sundareswara (Siva), Meenakshi (Parvathy), Venkateswara (Vish-

nu) and Padmavathy (Lakshmi) radiating their brilliance at the middle of the Main Temple. The main philosophy of Sri Meenakshi Temple is the principle of Unity among the worshippers of both Maha Vishnu and Siva, and it was amply displayed at this event. The six highly learned and esteemed priests joined together in performing this function with great enthusiasm and devotion. Simutaneous yagams took place and simultaneous abhishekams were performed for all the four deities. This happens generally only once a year, and the devotees were very much delighted with the spectacle. After archanas were performed for all

the four deities, the finale was the grand arathi for all the four deities.

These indescribable moments are captured and archived at the temple website emeenakshi.org.

Kudos to the current board, the priests, the silpis and the staff for making this one of the outstanding events of this year. Youtube video of the event can be found at https:// youtu.be/SV6zPICUihY Also on July 5th evening, 25th anniversary of Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari Prathishtapana was celebrated with Rajitotsava puja. Youtube video of the event can be found at https://youtu.be/ YpDt12_GiBQ

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INDIA

July 10, 2020

5

How US Govt’s New Guidelines for Foreign Students Affect Indians

By Ritika Chopra Washington DC: The United States on Monday announced that international students might have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities moved classes entirely online in the upcoming fall semester. Students attending schools offering “normal in-person classes” can stay, but they cannot take more than “one class or three credit hours online”.

What do the new regulations by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement mean for Indian students?

This, in effect, means Indians currently enrolled in schools or programmes that are entirely online for the fall semester will have to come back home. They can stay back only if they take alternative steps such as a move to a school that offers “in-person instruction” (read contact classes) or choose “appropriate medical leave”.

Students, who had come back to India after the pandemic forced American campuses to shut down, will not be permitted to enter the US if their classes are entirely online. The same applies to prospective (or new) students who were going to join in the fall semester.

“One thing is very clear, students who are going to start an online course will not get a (US) visa till they are actually going on campus,” Sumeet Jain, co-founder of Yocket, told The Indian Express.

Yocket is an online platform for students planning to study abroad.

What about Indian students

enrolled in universities that have announced a hybrid blend of in-person and online classes for the fall semester?

Such students remain in the US, and those who returned to India will be allowed to re-enter the US. They will even be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online. However, the university or college will have to “certify” to the US government that “the student is not taking an entirely online course load for the fall 2020 semester, and that the student is taking the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress in their degree programme”.

This exemption does not apply to F-1 visa students in English language training programmes or M-1 visa students, who are not permitted to enroll in any online courses. International students with F-1 visas pursue academic coursework and students with M-1 visa pursue vocational coursework while studying in the US. Why has the US government announced these changes after giving international students the flexibility to take more online classes during campus shutdown?

International students in the US are required to do most of their

learning through contact classes.

The pandemic and the subsequent campus shutdowns forced the government to provide temporary exemptions for international students to take more online classes.

However, these exemptions were made only for the spring and summer semesters.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), under the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), did not say much on the reasons behind revisiting the above exemptions. Its press statement only said there is “a concordant need to resume the carefully balanced protections implemented by federal regulations” as many universities and colleges are planning to reopen for the fall semester.

Some are seeing this as a pressure tactic to get universities to reopen for the fall semester. The Trump administration has insisted that schools and colleges return to in-person classes as soon as possible. “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN

IN THE FALL!!!”

Trump wrote in a Twitter post on Monday shortly after SEVP released its new guidelines.

How will this affect international enrollment across US universities?

US universities have already made admission offers to international students. The SEVP announcement could encourage prospective students to defer their joining to the next semester. As for the active or enrolled students, they may even consider dropping a semester. Indians are the second-largest group of international students in the US, after the Chinese.

“It’s not going to be easy for universities to now convince students to join (fall semester) online.

Anyway, most of the students were planning to defer their admission to the next term,” Jain said.

A QS survey of international students in June showed that over half the respondents intended to defer or delay their entry into foreign universities until next year due to the Covid-related uncertainties.

The revised US guidelines are only going to cement such intent further, which means revenues of US universities, especially those which have announced an online fall semester, are bound to get hit.

How have the US universities reacted to the new guidelines?

Some universities have been

quick on the uptake and changed their fall semester plans in less than a day of the government announcement. According to news website Poets and Quants, the Harvard Business School has decided against a fully online MBA programme this fall. It will bring all of its students back for classes offered in the hybrid format (inperson and online instruction).

Columbia University reached out to all its international students via email within hours of the SEVP announcement saying its International Students and Scholars Office or ISSO is “parsing the advance notice and is working closely with the schools on its implications”.

What options do Indian students enrolled in US schools have before them?

“The thing we must do now is put pressure on our individual universities and the international student offices housed in those universities for them to do two things: either create a structure that complied with the three different requirements that ICE has given, or ask the universities to lobby extensively for this measure to be rescinded and take this to court, where there’s a big chance it will be contested. These are the things that parents, students and alumni can do sitting at home,” Sudhanshu Kaushik, Executive Director of the North American Association of Indian Students (NAAIS), told /The Indian Express/. NAAIS is the largest and the oldest association of Indian students in the US. -- Indian Express

How Gangster Vikas Dubey Earned the Epithet of ‘Gabbar’ of Bikru Kanpur: Gangster Vikas Dubey’s hawk-like grip over the rugged hamlet in Kanpur district and the ruthlessness with which he crushed any whiff of challenge not only enforced terror, but also invoked the folklore of fear of Chambal, earning him the epithet of Gabbar Singh of ‘Bikru’.

Drawing the ‘Sholay’ parallel and conjuring up its unforgettable villain, Gabbar, was not without reason. Dubey was law unto himself and residents of this predominantly Brahmin village would pay obeisance, not just out of caste compulsion, but also out of dread.

“Nobody dare draw water from the village well without reciting a litany in his name. Any deviation triggers brutal retribution. I was only 10 years old when I was tortured and suspended upside down from a tree when I forgot to sing paeans before fetching water. At least four other villagers have met a similar fate,” said a villager sitting under a tree in outskirts of Bikru.

Terror was unleashed when the few hand pumps in the parched village went dry a few years ago and thirsty villagers began flocking to the well, which was claimed

Gangster has gone on an unchecked two decades- Vikas Dubey was caught in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh long crime spree. after an extensive manhunt.

by Dubey and his family. “Women and children have to queue up in front of his house and plead for water. At times, the Don would make us wait for several hours, but none dares to walk towards the well without a nod from the Dubey household,” said another fear-stricken villager.

The flamboyant gangster would often be on short fuse and his trademark sarcasm would mean a kangaroo court for delivering instant justice. “Cops at the local police station in Chaubeypur were in his payroll. No cop has ever tried to defy his writ,” said Unlike other ganglords, he didn’t

indulge in women, but hated betrayal. And wife Richa remained his able lieutenant, who participated in brainstorming sessions at the master control room of his now razed palatial house in Bikru village.

After the Thursday night bloodbath, mobile surveillance by police, showed that Dubey sent an SOS to his wife two hours before the encounter to pack up and flee with their daughter. Richa, who was in Lucknow on the fateful night, is now a fugitive and on the most-wanted list of UP Police.

On July 3, eight Indian policemen were killed, and seven more

injured, in an encounter with Vikas Dubey’s gang.

Dubey is accused in 60 criminal cases for various offences, including attempted murder. At least one of the injured police officers is believed to be critical.

Police told ANI news agency that the gang members escaped, but two of the men were killed in a separate shootout when officers pursued them. Two policemen were also injured in the second incident.

A deputy superintendent, three sub-inspectors and four constables were among the officers killed in the earlier shootout.

Dubey, who was behind the cold-

Indo-American News • Friday, JUly 10, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com

blooded killing of eight policemen last week, was arrested this morning from a temple in Madhya Pradesh after a nearly week-long chase involving the police across three states. He was caught in Ujjain around the same time two of his aides were killed in separate encounters in UP. His closest aide, Aman Dubey, was killed yesterday.

Vikas Dubey was seen buying prayer offerings at Mahakal temple around 8 am, according to the police. A shopkeeper recognized him and reportedly alerted security guards, they said. When he emerged from the temple, the guards questioned him.

He first tried to mislead them by producing a fake ID card of a much younger man. When prodded further, he hit out at the guards, who dragged him to the police station.

Dubey - charged in 60 criminal cases including murder, kidnapping, extortion and rioting - had allegedly been alerted to the raid by local policemen and had set up an ambush. When the policemen reached the village, Dubey and his men, armed with AK-47s, fired from rooftops.

-- Times of India, NDTV

6

COMMUNITY

July 10, 2020

Infosys Charters Flight to Fly Out 206 Staff, Kin from USA

Dr. Ravi Prakash Aurora (April 26, 1937 – June 23, 2020)

Dallas: Dr. Ravi P. Aurora passed away peacefully on June 23rd, 2020 with love and family all around him.

Dr. Aurora moved to New York in 1967 from India as a young man with his vibrant and departed wife, Suman Aurora, 6 dollars in hand, an education and a hunger to find opportunity.

He obtained a Master’s Degree from Columbia University and a PhD. from the University of Texas at Austin in Structural Engineering. He then went on to enjoy an illustrious career at Marathon Oil Company and ConocoPhillips and was regarded as a pioneer in the Oil and Gas Industry with expertise in Deep Water and the Arctic He enjoyed a rich social life in Houston, Texas and London, England with many friendships spanning over 50 years.

Dr. Aurora devoted his life to his family and his faith. He bestowed

the values of education, faith and generosity towards others and carved the path for his children to enjoy beautiful lives as respected physicians with their precious

families. His three grandsons, Rohan Sanghani, Deven Aurora and Nathan Aurora, made his eyes sparkle and his heart sing.

Dr. Ravi P. Aurora is survived by his daughter, Dr. Rashmi Nisha Aurora and family of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey along with his son, Dr. Vikas Aurora and family of Dallas, Texas. He is also survived by his brother Dr. Raj Arora of Australia and all his nephews and nieces in India, Australia and the United States.

Dr. Ravi P. Aurora taught us that “Life is Not a Straight Line.” Despite his own life’s twists and turns including the premature loss of his dear wife, Suman Aurora, and his personal battle with the debilitating disease Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Dr. Ravi Prakash Aurora never lost his love, his laugh, his faith or his courage.

He will be dearly missed.

San Francisco: Infosys chartered a flight to bring back 76 employees and their families — a total of 206 people — from the US. These are employees whose visas have expired or are nearing expiry.

A Qatar Airways flight with the employees left from San Francisco to touch down in Bengaluru on Monday morning. Most of the employees were on H-1Bs and some on L-1s. Some of them were seeking extensions of their statuses, but immigration lawyers told TOI that extension requests are still paperbased and with the pandemic forcing people to work remotely, Employees stranded aren’t getting any relief. An email sent to Infosys did not elicit a response.

Infosys associate vice-president Sanjeev Bode in a LinkedIn post said, “Some of the Infosys employees were stranded in the US because of their visa expiration.

All international flights were suspended because of the pandemic.

Infosys came to their rescue. The company booked a chartered flight exclusively for over 200 employees and families from the US to India. At the time of writing, the

flight has landed safely in Bengaluru, bringing an end to weeks of dilemma related to the uncertain situation.”

Many employees took to social media to laud the company’s gesture and the management’s efforts to prioritise safety of employees.

Nasscom had requested US authorities for a 90-day grace period for professionals to depart the US following the expiration of their H-1B/L-1 visas. But there’s been no change so far.

Infosys has 17,709 employees in the Americas. Less than 50% of the US employees are on H1Bs and L-1s. H-1B visas allow employees to remain in the US for up to six years as specialty occupation professionals. L-1 visas are used for intra-company transfers, and allow employees to stay for up to five years.

This is not the first time Infosys has used chartered flights for employees. During the Bhubaneswar floods, it had chartered a flight to take over 500 employees critical to their projects to its other centres, including Bengaluru, to avoid disruptions to clients. -- TOI

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INDIA

July 10, 2020

7

Why India’s Bid to Restart International Flights Could Get More Delayed New Delhi: On Sunday night, India overtook Russia to become the country with third highest number of confirmed Covid19 cases behind only the US and Brazil. This could have an impact on India’s plans to restart international operations given that a number of jurisdictions have already indicated their initial unwillingness to allow flights from India into their borders.

What are India’s plans to resume international air travel?

While currently international air travel is restricted to repatriation missions being flown by Indian as well as foreign carriers, the Centre has indicated that it is in discussions with various countries to establish air bridges. These include the US, Canada and several European countries. The concept of air bridges is based on reciprocity with the said countries allowing Indian citizens to fly into their borders and India allowing their citizens to fly into its borders.

Could the rising number of cases also affect domestic travel?

The rise in number of cases in some parts of the country has already concerned some states like West Bengal, which sought ban on domestic flights from airports like Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Chennai. The Ministry of Civil Aviation, based on the request, has suspended flights from these airports to Kolkata for a period of two weeks between

July 6-19. The worsening situation in some states like Telangana and Karnataka could make other states wary of having passengers fly in from these locations despite the quarantine restrictions. Sunday, Karnataka reported 1,925 fresh cases, while Telangana recorded 1,590 new cases. These states, which have been the biggest contributors to the latest spike in the overall Covid19 numbers for the country, now have more than 23,000 cases each. In Telangana, about 9,500 of these have come in the past week, while Karnataka has added over 10,000 during this period.

What can be a hurdle in the way of establishing the international air bridges?

Several countries that have already put in place these air bridges or travel bubbles have done so on the basis of their perception of the ability of the destination country to handle the Covid19 pandemic.

For example, New Zealand, which was completely able to contain the disease was establishing a trans-Tasmanian air bubble with other countries that had managed the virus spread. The three Baltic nations of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia had also established an air bubble among themselves with

virtually no restrictions on travel.

However, the perception of India based on the rising number of cases, especially on account that it has become the country with third highest number of cases, could throw a spanner in the works for

the government trying to establish air bridges.

How is India perceived by countries that are beginning to relax travel restrictions?

As some jurisdictions are opening up their borders for travel, they have left out some major countries including India, the US, Brazil, where the Covid19 spread is still on a rise. A group of 27 European Union countries agreed on an initial “safe list” of 14 countries last week, and travellers from countries in the safe list will be allowed to travel for non-essential purposes. This list is set to be reviewed every two weeks. Additionally, the UK government has also established travel corridors with 59 jurisdictions, from where passengers will be allowed to enter the UK July 10 onwards without having to self-isolate them, unless they travelled to a country not mentioned in the list in the preceding 14 days of their arrival. The UK’s safe list also does not include India.

-- Indian Express

Chemical Co. in Baytown Looking for

Chemical Engineer

Candidates should have an engineering degree and some chemical plant experience Great pay w/ benefits. EOE/AAP Send resume to apply@chemicalsinc.com

Indo-American News • Friday, JUly 10, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com

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ENTERTAINMENT

July 10, 2020

Indo-American Doctors Dance for Black Lives Matter, Covid-19 Relief

By Jordan R. Miller

Houston: As tinny string chords echo through the rooms, an instructor starts her count: “Five, six, seven, to the left!” Dancers move their arms and legs fluidly to the beat, swaying as some whip long hair behind their shoulders.

Although the dancers aren’t all in one studio, they move together on different screens through a Zoom call, during one of the free Bollywood dance classes Anisha Gupta and Sonali Patel have offered since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“Initially, the intent was to reach out to the Houston community and local Houston people. But I think the amazing thing is that we’ve been able to reach out to people, actually, internationally,” Patel said. “We loved it. I think everyone’s been able to take advantage of it and make this a good outlet for them to just stay active and healthy and happy.”

Gupta and Patel are both in the medical field, specializing in endocrinology and emergency medicine, respectively. The duo started the T2 Dance classes in January after meeting through a physicians group. They talked about how they’d performed Bollywood dance their whole lives and wanted to get back into it. But after a few live classes in February, the pandemic pushed their dancing to a virtual format.

“We have kids as young as 4 coming to our classes and then adults over the age of 65 … we have people of all different races, ethnicities, nationalities,” Gupta said. “It’s been really great to just be able to get people involved with something that they’ve done before, or that they’ve never done before and are wanting to learn.

It’s been great to be able to give that back because Sonali and I had so much of that in our childhood.”

Each dance they teach has original choreography, Gupta said, so

T2 Dance Company co-founders Anisha Gupta, 32, and Sonali Patel, 35, at Spotts Park. They are conducting free Zoom Bollywood Dance classes. Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle.

after treating patients and coming home to take care of their families, they’re learning the new dances themselves.

“I started (dancing) probably since I was on my feet; I mean I’ve been dancing since I can remember,” Patel said. “A big part of Indian culture is having dances and performances at special occasions, receptions, anniversary parties, all kinds of things. I’ve been choreographing dances and being a part of those type of dances throughout my whole life.”

Patel’s sister, Monali Patel, has also participated in the classes, even though she practices medi-

cine more than 1,400 miles away in San Diego. She dances in adult classes every other week, and her two daughters — ages 7 and 11 — dance in the children’s classes. On Father’s Day, they booked a special class where her whole family danced together. “(My sister and I) don’t get to connect as much because we’re both busy. She’s a doctor, I’m a doctor and, like, we don’t get to connect, but I feel like this has been able to help us connect as well,” Monali said. “They’ve really been just extremely welcoming, which is nice to see because everyone’s struggling right now.

And to see somebody encouraging you, and taking their time out to just do this out of their passion and their love is kind of endearing to me.”

Patel and Gupta also offer private lessons; they choreographed a first dance for a friend’s wedding in February. The dance was simple, Patel said, with a combination of slow-dance elements and Bollywood moves.

“Indian culture is all about dancing, brightness and movement.

And so, if you’ve ever been to an Indian wedding or an event, there’s all these choreographed dances, and I think that’s some-

thing we’re really excited to do for all of our friends when they get married,” Gupta said. “We could choreograph a flash mob, or we could choreograph a bridesmaids dance and stuff like that. … Whenever people start getting married in real life again … that is something that we’re excited to get involved with.”

Though the classes are currently free, the two instructors have directed donations they’ve received toward philanthropy.

The scholarship’s namesake, Gayle, who passed away at age 30, was the brother of one of Gupta’s friends. She said he was a “huge advocate in politics” and a “really great role model for Black students in the realm of politics.”

“This month, especially with everything that’s going on, we really wanted to highlight the Black Lives Matter movement,” Gupta said in late June. “The goal is to continue to spread it to other schools so that we can get those opportunities to the next generation, because the only way we’re going to make change in politics is looking at the long game. I think that’s the most important thing that Tyrone taught us, and we’re trying to continue his legacy in our small way.”

Monali donated to both of these causes and said T2 Dance’s pledge to these efforts during the pandemic pushes her to continue to support the studio.

“I think they’re just doing this out of the love of doing something they have a passion for and bringing together people that have a passion for it, and doing something good for the world in terms of the times that are going on,” Monali said. “It’s not just the typical business endeavor. It’s people with good hearts that are taking it to the next level and putting in all their hard work, in addition to what they do on a daily basis.”

Jordan R. Miller is a Houstonbased freelance writer for the Houston Chronicle

“Bhonsle”: Manoj Bajpayee is in Top Form as a Retired Cop

By Shubhra Gupta Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Santosh Juvekar, Ipshita Chakraborty, Virat Vaibhav, Abhishek Banerjee Director: Devashish Makhija Rating: Two and a half stars After making headlines for a few months, the migrant ‘story’ has already slid off the front-pages. But we shouldn’t need a pandemic to show us just how vulnerable they are: the cities where they live and work for most of their lives remain hostile, and they can never really go back to the place they call home.

Devashish Makhija’s 2018 Bhonsle uses a Mumbai chawl, which houses ‘native’ Marathi manoos and ‘outsiders’ Bhaiyya log (the derogatory euphemism for people from UP and Bihar),

as a site to revive an old conflict.

The feelings of antagonism on the two ‘sides’ run high, with Vilas (Juvekar) having constant runins with Rajendra (Banerjee, who broke out in Pataal Lok), and the people in the chawl split down the middle.

In the middle of it all is Ganpat Bhonsle (Bajpayee), a 60-year-old freshly-retired cop, whose sole focus is to get himself an extension. He watches the rising animus amongst the residents, staying on the periphery, till an encounter with a couple of new North Indian

arrivals, a nurse (Chakraborty) and her young brother (Vaibhav), changes things.

The insider-outsider conflict in what used to be Bombay and is now Mumbai is a familiar one.

Makhija’s choice of palette makes it seriously dark: overflowing drains, grungy toilets, slushy roads with sinister vans, and the powerful preying upon the meek. Verbal skirmishes and physical punch-ups in the chawl run through the film, with Vilas waiting for a nod from the local leader to feel validated, and Rajendra trying to keep up a blustery front, as they spar over who has more right on Ganpati Bappa, the benevolent god who belongs to everyone.

After a point, the yelling and shouting becomes repetitive, and the ugliness both on faces and in

Indo-American News • Friday, JUly 10, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com

spaces, necessary but a little too deliberate, begins to grate. But the performances hold. And all through, the human Ganpat keeps us with him, and the film. Bajpayee, one of the few Indian actors who uses silence to such effect, has been on a roll for the last few years, raising the bar with each performance.

The last time he internalised a role as much was in the 2017 film Gali Guleiyan, directed by Dipesh Jain. Here he is even better, each crease in his worn face showing a man whose stoicism comes from hard experience, who has seen everything there is to see, and yet is capable of deep empathy. Bhonsle gives us an actor on the top of his game. -- Indian Express Bhonsle is streaming on SonyLIV.

July 10, 2020

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LISTEN ON MUSIC MASALA APP & SPOTIFY PODCAST

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EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY

July 10, 2020

End of a Dream

Stinging China will Sting India’s Growth

By P. Vaidyanathan Iyer

Kuwait’s move to reduce the share of expatriates in its workforce has deepened the spectre of an exodus of Indians from the Gulf. A draft Bill in the National Assembly has proposed that the percentage of Indian citizens in Kuwait should not exceed 15 per cent of its population — nearly 8 lakh Indians may have to leave Kuwait.

The possibility of a migrant exodus from West Asia is not new.

Many countries in the Gulf region have been trying to replace expats in their workforce with locals. Saudi Arabia launched nitaqat — a Saudisation scheme which introduced quotas in the workforce — in 2011. Recently, Oman had proposed a phased reduction of expats in its workforce. Expat workers flocked to Gulf countries to build and run those economies following the oil boom in the 1960s and ’70s. They were welcomed mainly because the local population lacked the necessary skills, or the will, to meet the needs of the new economy. The Subcontinent was a major beneficiary of this economic boom as it exported both skilled and unskilled workers. Kerala, for instance, built on its historic relations with the region to plug in to the Gulf economy. Remittances from the Gulf boosted the Kerala economy, even funding its welfare net, while also helping to check unemployment in the state. There are many pockets in India that have benefited similarly from the Gulf economy. Even before the pandemic, two main factors seemed to be driving a change in this symbiotic relationship that has lasted nearly five decades and benefited both regions. One, the national economies in the Gulf are slowing down, forcing companies to lay off people. Two, these countries now host a large indigenous population in the working-age segment that needs jobs. With no economic revival in sight, these nations may have to reduce dependency on expat workers and enforce quotas in the private sector to provide jobs to local youths.

While the nationalisation of the workforce is an ambitious project, it is doubtful if the emirates, with small populations and even smaller pools of skilled workers, can keep the largely consumption-driven economies afloat without expat workers.

Saudi Arabia’s experience is instructive. However, states such as Kerala are gearing to address the influx of migrant workers from the Gulf. Last week, it announced Dream Kerala, a project to support the returning workers, to augment the existing welfare measures for NRIs. Over 1.5 lakh people have returned from the Gulf countries after the outbreak of COVID-19, of which close to 70,000 have lost jobs. The challenge is enormous and can only get bigger in the coming months.

-- Indian Express

The first thaw in the Galwan Valley is a tentative one and no one’s guessing how it will play out. With the India-China face-off continuing along the border, can it be business as usual for a democratically elected government?

In times like these, it may be instructive to refer to Adam Smith’s treatise, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”. Defending England’s hugely discriminatory Navigation Act of 1651, which required cargo from British colonies to be carried only in British ships, Smith had said that defence is of much more importance than opulence. In simple words, national security takes precedence over welfare or prosperity of the people. This may sound antithetical to what the Scottish economist, philosopher and one of the earliest proponents of free trade stood for.

For India, defence and welfare have always complemented one another. Since 1990-91, when New Delhi, forced by an economic crisis at home, shunned its fourdecade-heavy ideological burdens and walked the difficult path of reforms, growth through openness to trade has remained an unstated sine qua non of national security.

The overhaul of industrial and trade policies, much to the chagrin of a section of domestic industry and many political parties, meant a gradual reduction in average customs tariffs, easing of foreign investment norms, and doing away with many licensing requirements.

This, contrary to fears expressed then, helped the domestic industry achieve scale and become more competitive. It helped India grow.

Higher growth rates meant more people being pulled out of poverty through the last three decades Globalisation stood the country in good stead. Buoyancy in world economic growth coupled with an upswing in global trade helped India clock a trend growth rate of 8-plus per cent a year in the mid

2000s. Take the five-year period 2003-04 to 2007-08, till the Lehman Brothers’ collapse froze global financial markets, and the crisis spilled over to the real economy: India’s GDP growth rate averaged at around 8.7 per cent a year on the back of robust exports which grew an average 25 per cent during the five years. India emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in

the world.

It was this economic success that lent India weight in global geo-politics. As dark clouds gathered over the world economy in the second half of 2008, the then US President, George Bush, called for an emergency summit of the Group of 20 (G20) countries in Washington DC in November.

To a correspondent who reported from three G20 summit venues in the first two years, it was clear that it was the spectacular growth over the previous five years that had catapulted India into the global league. India’s advice was sought, and incorporated, in the G20 final declaration. The trade policy since the 1990s — through its openness — contributed enormously to economic prosperity which acted like the bone and sinew to national security.

There is telling evidence of New Delhi’s rising dependence on Beijing for imports across key sectors.

Both the UPA and NDA did precious little to link trade policy with industrial policy to strategically counter this. The composition of the basket of imports from China over the last 10 years shows nothing has changed. Four of the top five categories of items that India imports from China have remained the same in the decade leading up

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to 2018-19: Electronics, mechanical machinery, organic chemicals, and iron and steel.

Over the past few weeks, India’s coercive diplomacy has seen a turn that is hardly surprising given China’s belligerence and the national mood. A flurry of decisions such as banning Chinese apps, barring Chinese companies from bidding for road projects, stopping imports of power equipment, prohibiting Chinese investment in micro, small and medium enterprises, and blocking their consignments in ports, were taken. The intention is to send a message across that Beijing will have to incur an economic cost for such misadventure.

But such sanctions by India alone will hardly sting China, which has responded in good measure to punitive trade actions by the US. For India, it may work only when there is a broader coalition among big economic powers, including the US, Japan, UK and Australia.

Promoting domestic industry for everything that is imported from China will carry the risk of prompting perverse policy responses and more protectionism, with industry lobbies making the most of it.

The ongoing crisis opens a window for New Delhi to reset relations with China. More than barriers to trade, what is vital for the government is to reduce what TeamLease’s Manish Sabharwal describes as “regulatory cholesterol”. Labour alone presents obstacles to India Inc in the form of 463 Acts, 32,542 compliances and 3,048 filings.

Today, neither can China’s role in the world economy be wished away, nor can its dominant position in the global supply chain be ignored. New Delhi’s trade policy needs to be alive to the imperative of higher growth, which can be achieved only through more, not less, globalisation. Perhaps one way forward in redefining the engagement with China could be in not viewing this relationship in the binary of friend or foe, particularly since India shares a 4,056-km long border with it.

-- Indian Express

SUDOKU/RECIPE Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

Send us the correct answer before July 15, 2020. Email us at indoamericannews@yahoo.com. Please send us your solved Sudoku for your name to be published.

Solution Next Week

Last Week’s SUDOKU Solution

July 10, 2020

Mama’s Punjabi Recipes Nothing beats the morning brunch than a plate of hot puris (fried puffed bread) and either channe (chickpeas) or turri aloo (curried smashed potatoes)! So here is a reprint of Mama’s Puri recipe which is a favorite of kids and grown-ups alike. It is reprinted with some additional information and directions

Puri (Deep Fried Puff Bread)) There is one type of fried bread that elicits great excitement because it is a cross between an appetizer and a meal, but can be eaten as either. You could call it a snack, but puris (deep fried puff bread) can be eaten for breakfast (with aloo sabzi), lunch (with kale channe), dinner (with different sabzis) and even dessert (with halva).

Puris are those wonderfully light, golden brown puffed, usually fourinch round pieces of fried bread that, if you aren’t careful, you can eat a dozen of in one sitting when they come hot off the frying kadai (wok).

The word puri derives from the Sanskrit word purika from pur or filled. Puris are usually made of atta (wheat flour finely milled), but some make them using maida (refined and bleached white flour) and atta mix. The dough is a little harder than the one made for regular rotis (flat bread).

While frying puris, the moisture in the dough expands in all directions so that it puffs up like a round ball. A punctured puri does not puff because the steam escapes as it cooks. Some people put a little oil in the dough as they believe it will make the puri crispy but that in fact, it makes the puris hard after they have cooled down.

Punjabi usually eat puris with kale chole (black chickpeas), but these are not to be confused with the larger and softer bhature (deep fried soft bread) which is similar but bigger and also eaten the same way. Most often puris are eaten for breakfast or as a part of a ceremonial religious ritual.

Uneaten puris can be kept wrapped in aluminum foil for 4 or 5 days and they will not go bad. If they are hard then warm them up in the microwave, and they become soft again.

Ingredients: • 250 gm atta (wheat flour) • 1 measure of pani (water) to make the dough soft • Vegetable oil to fry in

Last Week’s SUDOKU Winners Sharmila Moharir

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Directions: 1. Slowly add water to the flour and knead the dough till it has is semisoft.

2. Put the dough in a bowl, cover it with a light cloth and place it aside

for 30 minutes to let it ferment a little.

3. Grease your palms with some oil so that the dough won’t stick and then break the dough into several 1-inch pieces. Roll them into balls and set aside.

4. In a kadai (deep skillet or wok), heat the oil up till it is very hot.

5. Roll the dough with a valan (rolling pin) till you form a 4-inch round patty. Roll all the patties out and keep to the side for frying.

6. Carefully slide the patty into the hot oil and then see if the patty starts to puff up and then turn slightly brown.

7. Repeat the steps and cook all the dough. As the puris come out, place them on paper towels on an inclined plate to soak up and drain the excess oil. Keep the heat on high until you are done with cooking.

8. Serve hot with the chole, aalo sabzi or halva with your favorite garnishes.

Shakuntla Malhotra is a skilled cook of Punjabi dishes made in the old-fashioned style that she learnt as a young woman in her ancestral home in Lyallpur, India (since renamed Faisalabad) before it became part of Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. People have often admired her cooking for its simplicity and taste that comes with each mouthful. Even in her late-eighties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share her delectable Punjabi recipes for future generations.

MAMA’S TIP O F THE

WEE

K HOW TO CHOOSE FRESH VEGETAB LES

Shopping for fresh ve you are not experie getables can often be a confusin g task if nced in picking th these are the seed e variety. If you happ right ones, especially if have too many se en to select the on eds es since the ripe seed then you will waste a lot of the ve that getable s will have to be re moved.

For kerelas (bitter go kheera (cucumbers urd), bhindi (okra), ghia (bottle squash), ) and baingan (egg pl beans) choose piec es that are not too ant), france bean (green fat (which means too many

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July 10, 2020

हमारी कम्युनिटी के लिए 2020 की जिगणिा पूरी करें। जनगणना 2020 के तहत अमेरिका में िहने वाले हि व्यक्ति की गगनती की जाएगी। आज ही जनगणना पूिी किें औि सिकाि को अगले दस वर्षों तक यह सुगनश्चित किने में मदद किें, गक अिबो डॉलि की सिकािी फ़ंडडंग सवास्य केंद्र, आपातकालीन सेवाओं औि क्िक्ा जैसे क्ेत्रों में गवतरित की जाए। जिगणिा का फ़ॉम्म ऑि​िाइि अथवा डाक द्ारा पूरा करें। फ़ॉम्म पूरा करिे की जािकारी इस वेबसाइट पर प्ाप्त करें: 2020CENSUS.GOV/hi

2020CENSUS.GOV/hi इस सेवा का भुगतान यू.एस. जनगणना बयूिो (U.S. Census Bureau) द्ािा गकया गया है।

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