Indo-American News: May 8, 2020

Friday, May 8, 2020 | Vol. 39, No. 19

Indo American News

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May 8, 2020

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Arya Samaj Helping Needy Various teams of Arya Samaj Houston are distributing free non-perishable vegetarian foodstuff to needy and vulnerable people – at a very short notice.

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CORONAVIRUS

May 8, 2020

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‘We Are Not Essential. We Are Sacrificial.’ Life Will Change as We Wait for a

“I’m a New York City subway conductor who had Covid-19. Now I’m going back to work.”

By Sujatha Gidla New York: When I heard that a co-worker had died from Covid-19 — the first in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — on March 27, I thought, “It’s starting.” More deaths followed in quick succession, frequently more than once a day. Some of those people I used to see every day and fist bump.

On Facebook, when bad news comes, my co-workers and I express grief and offer condolences to the families. But our spontaneous response is the numb curiosity of an onlooker. We knew this was coming. We knew many among us wouldn’t make it through the pandemic.

Every day I see posts on the M.T.A. workers’ group pages striking a jaunty tone: “Oh Lord, here we go. I got the symptoms, see you all in 14 days. Or not.”

We work at the epicenter of the epicenter, with a mortality rate substantially higher than that of first responders. Common sense tells you that subway trains and platforms are giant vectors of this virus. We breathe it in along with steel dust. As a conductor, when I stick my head out of the car to perform the required platform observation, passengers in many stations are standing 10 inches from my face. At other times, they lean into the cab to ask questions. Bus drivers, whose passengers enter right in front of them, are even worse off.

My co-workers want doors locked on the two cars where the crew rides. Bus drivers want to let passengers enter through the back doors. We want hazard pay and family leave for child care.

In mid-March, a bulletin came out mandating that conductors make an announcement every 15 minutes. Wash hands, soap and water, sanitizer, elbow-sneeze.

“Together we can help keep New York safe.”

The irony was that we didn’t have soap and water. At my terminal at that time, the restrooms were closed for three days after a water main break. Most employee restrooms are in similarly bad shape The M.T.A. takes stern action

against workers seen without goggles or cotton knit safety gloves.

Yet we had to work without protection against the coronavirus.

At first we were warned not to wear masks. The M.T.A. said it would panic the public. It said masks were dangerous for us.

Later it said we could wear masks we bought ourselves. But by then there were few masks for sale.

One week after the pandemic was declared, a vice president of TWU Local 100 came to my terminal to give a talk. I rose to my feet in outrage and asked why we weren’t receiving masks. I was told healthy people didn’t need masks and that doctors needed them more. Aren’t doctors healthy? No answer. How about rubber gloves and hand sanitizer? No answer.

Finally, the M.T.A. agreed to supply us with personal protective equipment. When signing in, we get an N95 mask and three small packets of wipes the size of those used before a shot at the doctor’s office. This is meant to last three days. We also get a small container to fill with hand sanitizer from a bottle in the dispatcher’s office.

The masks are cheaply made.

My co-workers complain that the masks pinch their noses. The straps break easily. Many masks must be secured with duct tape.

Or so I have heard. Two days after the vice president’s visit, I developed severe body aches, chills and a dry cough. On March 27, I woke up at 6 a.m. to go to the bathroom and collapsed. I made a quick call to a close friend and then dialed 911. An ambulance took me to NYU Langone Medical Center, where I was treated and discharged. I stayed isolated for 14 days, after which I felt better. My co-workers told me about a place where I could get tested. On April 15, I tested positive. Further quarantine. My direct-deposit statement shows $692: less than half my wages for the first pay period

and nothing thereafter. (I had used up all of my sick days).

The third death I heard about was a black co-worker I used to see every day who once saw me reading Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow.” He wanted to know why a woman from India was interested in the condition of black people. From then on, whenever we ran into each other we hugged and cheek-kissed.

I used to talk to another co-worker across the platform when his N train and my R train reached Atlantic Avenue. He was one of only two Orthodox Jews in the rapid transit operation. A train buff, he once noticed that a cable that connects one car to another had come loose and was hanging dangerously near the third rail. He may have saved lives that day. Now he’s dead, too.

We are stumbling upon dead bodies. I know of two cases. A train operator nearly tripped over one while walking between cars.

The other person was sitting upright on a bench right outside the conductor’s window and discovered to be dead only at the end of an eight-hour shift after my coworkers kept noticing the person on each trip.

The conditions created by the pandemic drive home the fact that we essential workers — workers in general — are the ones who keep the social order from sinking into chaos. Yet we are treated with the utmost disrespect, as though we’re expendable. Since March 27, at least 98 New York transit workers have died of Covid-19. My coworkers say bitterly: “We are not essential. We are sacrificial.”

That may be true individually, but not in our numbers. Hopefully this experience will make us see clearly the crucial role we play in keeping society running so that we can stand up for our interests, for our lives. Like the Pittsburgh sanitation workers walking out to demand protective equipment.

I took my second test on April 30. It was negative. Tomorrow, I will go back to work.

Sujatha Gidla, an M.T.A. conductor, is the author of “Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India.”

Coronavirus Vaccine, Experts Say

As coronavirus sweeps across the nation, with some states seeing drops in numbers while hot spots emerge in others, experts warn it’s unlikely a vaccine will be ready this year.

These are the “plain truths” about the coronavirus pandemic, according to a former CDC director.

Over 73,000 people have died of coronavirus and more than 1.2 million are infected in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Vaccines to prevent coronavirus infections are racing through development at unprecedented speeds. But scientists won’t know if they can prevent infection until April or May next year, said Dr. Mark Mulligan, director of the Vaccine Center at New York University’s Langone Health.

The first phrase of a vaccine trial determines if it is safe, he said, which typically takes three to four months.

“That’s actually the most important first question, and then we want to know if it’s tolerated well and if it produces an antibody response that might be protective after those first three or four months,” Mulligan said.

“You go onto the question: Does it protect? And that’ll take several months as well,” he added. “I do really think we’re talking about getting through to the end of the year and into early next year before we would have a definitive answer.”

President Donald Trump had said a vaccine would be available

by December, then appeared to back off his claim this week. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has said

it’s possible to have a coronavirus vaccine by January.

There are more than 100 vaccines under development across the globe, according to the World Health Organization.

Among the companies searching for one is Moderna Inc., which announced Thursday it would soon begin a phase 2 study for its potential vaccine after getting approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

The company’s candidate was the first US vaccine to start clinical trials in the United States after receiving a green light from the FDA in early March.

Phase 2 of Moderna’s study will include 600 participants, the company said, up from the 45 volunteers in phase 1.

Vaccine clinical trials involve three phases, per the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Moderna is currently finalizing the protocol for the study’s phase 3, which could begin in early summer, the company said in a news release.

Meanwhile, life will look different for the next 12 to 18 months, as the world waits for a vaccine, an expert warned. “I don’t think we’re all going to have to stay home for 12 to 18 months,” said epidemiologist Caitlin Rivers, a senior scholar and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “I think there will be a period where we are able to shift from everyone having to stay home to slow the spread, into these case based interventions.”

That means contact tracing and isolation and quarantine of people who could spread the virus. -CNN

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COMMUNITY

May 8, 2020

Arya Samaj Greater Houston Distributes Groceries & Masks on Sundays

India’s Consul General in Houston, Aseem Mahajan (second from right), and Councilwoman Martha CastexTatum (fourth from right), and Sewa International President Gitesh Desai (first from right) were present when protective gear was distributed to San Jacinto Sheriff officials.

call Sanjay Jain @832-598-5246 to lend support. To stay tuned to its functions and for further information, please visit www.aryasamajhouston.org, subscribe to newsletter, or call 281.752.0100.

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Houston: Last week saw various teams of Arya Samaj Houston functioning in unison in wartime urgency mode. Indeed, the challenge was to convert the idea into reality – to distribute free nonperishable vegetarian foodstuff to needy and vulnerable people – at a very short notice. And, it succeeded with flying colors. There were initial murmurs of apprehensions – who will come and why; how the word will get to those recently laid off; how many packets to prepare; and so on. But the common determination was the hallmark of the success. And it was a bewildering success that so many needy people came to collect. Encouraged by the response, Arya Samaj Houston commits itself to the drive even at a larger scale for the rest of May, and maybe, even beyond. Come on Sunday, between 12-1 pm at 14375 Schiller Road, Houston, TX 77082.

Teams were formed for procurement, packing, and distribution on the D-Day! Our youth members of the Arya Yuva Mandal are always there. And, it was a pleasant surprise to see that the largest fraction of beneficiaries was from the immediate neighborhoods that must have been the most affected in the aftermath of the pandemic due to the economic slowdown such as those working in restaurants, small businesses, and so on. Many have been laid off at a very short notice.

As expected, there were seniors too, fearing the crowded grocery

stores. Mindful of the current ‘new normal’, every food packet included some face masks as well.

The scene last Sunday must have been very deceptive for a newcomer – rather quiet in the entire campus that otherwise used to be a bustling sight. However, the fact is that the activities at the Arya Samaj Houston have increased and moved online. Its flagship Sunday Satsang takes place every Sunday 9:45-10:30 (Sandhya & Havan) followed by Pravachan at 11 am. Various adult classes include Geeta, Sanskrit, Vedic Principles Q&A, Study of Satyarth-Prakash, Patanjali Meditation, Yoga & Meditation, etc. – there are now additional classes catering to the community needs when the people are more at home than outside.

All our links appear in the weekly newsletter – another instance that we have gone overboard in the current phase, the monthly newsletter has become weekly.

Both schools, DAV Montessori & Elementary School and the Sunday School of Arya Samaj Houston – DAV Sanskriti School – have moved online. Enrollment for both the schools for the next academic year 2020-’21 are currently on.

Their phone numbers: DAVMES: 281-759-3286 and DAVSS: 832874-3376.

Donations for various noble activities of Arya Samaj Houston, particularly this food drive are humbly solicited. Checks can be sent by mail. One may donate online by visiting the Arya Samaj website and using the credit card or

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Arya Youth volunteers ( L to R - Siddhant Ahuja, Anrav Sood & Aditya Jain) with food bags.

Indo-American News • Friday, may 8, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com

BUSINESS

May 8, 2020

India Using Low Crude Prices to Stockpile 32 Million Tonnes of Oil

New Delhi: India has stored as much as 32 million tonnes (mt) of oil in underground storages, tanks, pipelines, and on ships to create a stockpile using low global oil prices to its advantage, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday.

India is the world’s third-biggest oil importer and is reliant on foreign nations to meet 85 per cent of its oil needs.

In a Facebook talk on mitigating challenges in times of COVID-19, Pradhan said globally oil demand has evaporated due to lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. “This is an unprecedented situation in the energy sector. Such a situation hasn’t been witnessed ever before.”

This has led to a crash in oil prices, with crude in the US market even slipping into negative territory, he said.

India is, however, using this crash to its advantage by stocking oil for use at later date. “Taking advantage of low global oil prices, we decided to fill up our strategic reserves,” he said.

The purchases from Saudi Ara-

bia, the UAE, and Iraq helped fill up the 5.33 million tonnes underground strategic reserves that India had built as insurance against supply and price disruptions. Besides, 7 million tonnes of low priced oil has been stored on floating ships, he said.

“Similarly, 25 million tonnes of oil has been kept at inland depots and tanks, refinery pipelines and product tanks,” he said. “The oil stored is equivalent to 20 per cent

of India’s demand.”

He said the slump in oil prices would lead to a reduction in the country’s oil import bill while the evaporating consumption due to coronavirus lockdown will impact central and state government revenues.

While the 5.33 million tonnes of emergency storage -- enough to meet India’s oil needs for 9.5 days -- was built in underground rock caverns in Mangalore and

Padur in Karnataka and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh by the government, state-owned oil firms have crude oil and product tanks at refineries and other locations.

Also, pipelines have some storage capacity.

Before the oil prices crashed to a low of $20 a barrel, the storages at Mangalore and Padur were halfempty and have now been filled by buying oil from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iraq.

“Thanks to the initiative of the government of India we have successfully filled Padur SPR at very low crude oil prices as per schedule,” the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd (ISPRL) - the entity that manages the country’s strategic petroleum reserves (SPR), said in a tweet.

Mangalore storage has a total capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.

Of this, half had previously been hired by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) to store its crude oil. The remaining half has now been filled by oil brought by stateowned oil firms.

Padur, the biggest of the three storages, has a total capacity of

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2.5 million tonnes (about 17 million barrels). ADNOC had in November 2018 signed up to hire half of this capacity but never actually stored oil in it. It was half full and now 1.25 million tonnes of crude oil sourced from Saudi Arabia have filled it up.

The 1.33 million tonne Visakhapatnam storage had a small amount of unfilled space that has been filled with Iraq crude oil.

Pradhan said 2 million tonnes of oil was bought and filled in SPR in the last three days.

While the oil to be stored in the three caverns will belong to the government, it isn’t paying for it. State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) as well as Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) have been asked to source oil from the Middle-East countries for storing the caverns, sources said, adding the government will reimburse them of this cost at a later date.

India meets 85 per cent of its oil needs through imports. Its refiners maintain 65 days of crude storage.

Vizag Gas Leak: Fumes from LG Polymers Factory Affects 2,000 Residents Visakhapatnam: Reminiscent of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, gas from LG Polymers factory on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh leaked in the wee hours of Thursday killing at least eight persons.

The gas leak from the factory located at RRV Puram near Gopalapatnam, about 15 kms from Visakhapatnam, affected at least 2,000 residents in five villages located around the factory. Panicstricken residents of RRV Puram, Venkatapuram, BC Colony, Pad-

mapuram and Kamparapalem fled the area and many fell unconscious on the roads.

Police and NDRF teams evacuated several factory workers. Hundreds of people in unconscious condition or breathing difficulties were brought to the King George Hospital. Children and elderly were most affected. An official at KGH said that death toll may go up.

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Industries Minister M Goutham Reddy said that the factory was to reopen today after the lockdown.

The workers were preparing to restart the work when the gas started leaking in the wee hours.

“We have issued guidelines and protocol to all industries for safe reopening of factories. Our initial information is that workers were checking a gas storage tank when it started leaking. Only a thorough investigation will reveal what exactly happened,” Reddy said.

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1800 tonnes of styrene in the storage tank. He said that due to stagnation and changes in temperature it could have resulted in auto polymerization which could have caused vapourisation. “We are investigating the incident. Right now there is no leak as it has been contained. We will observe the facility for another four hours and give an all clear after a thorough inspection,’’ he said. -- Indian Express

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COMMUNITY

May 8, 2020

Divine Association During Social Isolation with Global Organization for Divinity Manvel, Texas: In this time of social isolation, uncertainty and distress, the panacea to find peace is constant association with divinity. And the best and simplest way to associate with divinity, especially when our minds are agitated, is to listen to inspiring Bhagavad Katha, discourses on Bhagavan’s glories, which grow faith, devotion and inner strength regardless of circumstances in the world around us.

Sri Ramanujamji, disciple of His Holiness Maharanyam Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji, is currently in Namadwaar Houston under the auspices of Global Organization for Divinity. Every weekday, through online discourses on several spiritual topics including Srimad Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, he reminisces the immense qualities of Bhagavan starting from His compassion and love for us, thus inspiring faith and divine love for God in all the listeners. On the weekends, Ramanujamji speaks on “Intelligent Living”, more secular, inspirational talks that are extremely eye-opening and provide unique perspectives that make us re-look at the way we think, communicate and connect with others.

Devotees from all around Houston, the US and other countries too, are immersing themselves in this shower of divine nectar. Archives of the discourses can be viewed on Namadwaar Houston YouTube channel https://www. youtube.com/channel/UCooxIP-

Online satsang with Sri Ramanujamji during May 2020.

cRqYHhCBaU6Fiq4Jg. Below is the current schedule for the daily discourses. The evening discourses are preceded daily by

30 minutes of Vishnu Sahasranamam chanting and 30 minutes of Mahamantra Nama Kirtan. Please join this whatsapp group for Zoom

and YouTube links, and regular future updates about Global Organization for Divinity’s Online satsangs during this time of Covid

shutdown - https://chat.whatsapp. com/KfWjSAOHNGO8ErrfEtTjZu Currently scheduled topics (week of May 4, 2020): Sri Krishna Hridayam – Talks on Bhakti Yoga from Bhagavad Gita

by Sri Ramanujamji - Daily 5:30 AM CT (this series is archived on Namadwaar Australia YouTube channel) Srimad Bhagavatam Katha by Sri Ramanujamji – May 4-8 – 6 PM CT Intelligent Living Weekend Series – “Is Praying a Weakness?”

by Sri Ramanujamji – May 9-10, 6 PM CT Just like the virus has no boundaries, the compassionate Bhagavan has made uplifting Katha during this time also boundary-less!

Anyone, anywhere can tune in and benefit. It is extremely rare to get this fortune, and we are all indeed blessed.

For more information, please call 281-402-6585 or email houston.god@godivinity.org.

Physician to Study if Prayers Could Heal Covid-19 Patients Kansas City: An Indian-American physician has begun a study to find if something called “remote intercessory prayer” might initiate God to heal those infected with the coronavirus. Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy launched the four-month prayer study on Friday, which involves 1,000 coronavirus patients who are in intensive care.

In the study, none of the patients’ prescribed standard care will be changed. They will be divided in two groups of 500 each and prayers will be offered for one of the groups. Also, neither group will be informed about the prayers.

The four-month study will investigate “the role of remote intercessory multi-denominational

prayer on clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients,” according to a description provided to the National Institutes of Health.

Half of the patients, randomly chosen, will receive a “universal” prayer offered in five denominational forms -- Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism -- while the other patients

will constitute the control group.

All the patients will receive the standard of care prescribed by their medical providers and Lakkireddy has assembled a steering committee of medical professionals to oversee the study.

“We all believe in science, and we also believe in faith,” Lakkireddy said.

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COMMUNITY

May 8, 2020

“Vande Bharat Mission” to Bring Back Indians Stranded by Covid-19

Washington DC: In perhaps world’s second largest evacuation mission, India is all set to bring back tens of thousands of Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus, including in the US, by air and by sea from Thursday.

The ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ as India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called it in a tweet, would bring back over 14,800 Indians in 13 countries by 64 flights in the first week.

The repatriation drive will cover only Indian citizens and OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card holders would be excluded.

Those taking the special flights will be charged around Rs 50,000 from Europe and Rs 100,000 from the US. Each flight will have between 200 and 300 passengers to ensure social distancing.

The Indian Air Force has prepared about 30 aircraft, including Boeing’s C-17 Globemaster and Lockheed Martin’s C-130J Super Hercules, for the mission.

In addition three Naval warships — INS Shardul, INS Magar and INS Jalashwa — have set out to bring back Indians stuck in West Asia and the Maldives.

This is the biggest exercise since India’s national airline Air India flew back 1,70,000 people during the first Gulf War. On the first day of evacuation on May 7, ten flights will bring back 2,300 Indians stranded because of airspace closures by various countries to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Over the next few days, India will operate ten flights to the UAE, seven each to the US and UK, five flights to SaudiArabia, five flights to Singapore and two flights to Qatar.

There will also be flights to

Malaysia, Bangladesh, five flights each to Kuwait and Philippines and two flights each to Oman and Bahrain.

“Commenced preparations for Vande Bharat Mission. Planning underway for stranded Indian nationals to return home starting 7th May,” tweeted Jaishankar urging “them to keep in regular touch with their Embassies.”

“Coordinating arrival arrangements with state governments.

Confident that our collective efforts will make this a success,” he said in another tweet.

Meanwhile, Indian Embassy in Washington advised Indian nationals in the US who seek to travel back to India to fill a registration form in the following link: https://indianembassyusa.gov. in/reg_indian_nationals Medical screening of passengers would be done before boarding the flight and only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel, the embassy advised.

All passengers on arrival in India would be medically screened and would have to register on Arogya Setu app, it said.

All passengers will need to undergo

a 14-day mandatory quarantine either in a hospital or in an institutional quarantine on payment basis on arrival in India as per the protocols framed by Government of India.

COVID test would be done after 14 days and further action would be taken according to applicable health protocols, the embassy said.

The passengers who arrive in India with negative RT-PCR report will be allowed home quarantine and monitored by the State Government team for a period of 14 days and will self-monitor their health for another 14 days as per protocol.

The cost of travel from designated airport in the USA to the designated airport in India will be borne by the passenger.

All passengers would have to follow the protocols and procedures including Health Protocols issued by the Government of the USA on departure and by the Ministry of Health, Ministry of CivilAviation and other concerned authorities of Government of India before, during the journey and on arrival in India.

All passengers

will be required to sign an Undertaking, which will be collected from them before boarding the flight, the embassy said.

Indiabannedallinternationalflights beginning March 23. IndianPrime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockout March 24 to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic. It was first extended till May 3 and then again till May 17.

On April 7, 600 Indians formed a Facebook group called “USA TO INDIA EVACUATION FLIGHTS”.

On April 15, the group handed a petition to the Indian embassy in the US, asking for it to evacuate them to India.

The group now has more than 2,100 members. It consists of senior citizens, pregnant women, travelers

New Delhi: The government Tuesday suspended all visas granted to foreign nationals, barring a few categories, till flight operations remain shut owing to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

All existing visas granted to foreigners — except those belonging to diplomatic, official, UN international organisations, employment and project categories — shall remain suspended till prohibition on international air travel of passengers from and to India is lifted by the government, an order by the Ministry of Home Affairs read.

The ministry also said it has kept in abeyance multiple-entry life-long visas given to Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders till international travel remains suspended. However, the OCI card holders who are already in India can stay in the country for “any length of time”, it said.

In a separate order, the Centre also extended on ‘gratis’ basis the visas of foreigners stranded in India due the lockdown for a period of 30 days beyond opening of international travel in the country.

All commercial flights, international and domestic have been sus-

pended in the country since March 24 when the initial lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Air and rail services continue to remain suspended with the extension of the lockdown on April 14 and May 2, till May 17.

Regular visa, e-visa or stay stipulation of foreign nationals whose visas have expired post-midnight February 1 or would expire during the ban on international air travel from India would be extended on ‘GRATIS’ basis just on submission of an online application.

Such extensions would be for a period up to 30 days from the date of lifting of prohibition on international air travel without any overstay penalty, it said. Exit to such foreign nationals, if so requested by them, will also be granted on the same lines, it said.

All foreign visas were first suspended on March 11, the day the World Health Organisation first categorised COVID-19 a global pandemic.

The country’s borders has essentially been closed since then, barring essential transportation of

who have overstayed their tourist visas, students, and workers who have been furloughed and made jobless -- including Indians who have lost their H1B work visas, for workers in specialty occupations There are an estimated 4 million Indian-born American citizens, as well as a million Indians working on visas in the US and 200,000 Indians studying there.

As ofApril 27, at least 2,468 Indian nationals had been evacuated by the Indian government from countries severely affected by the virus, such as China, Iran, Italy and Japan -- but the majority of those evacuations happened before the lockdown.

The Indian government has also facilitated the repatriation of more than 58,000 foreign nationals from its territory to 72 countries.

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India Bans Entry by OCI Card Holders goods and evacuation of stranded citizens abroad.

In one of the largest evacuation exercises, named “Vande Bharat Mission”, the government will operate 64 flights from May 7 to 13 to bring home nearly 14,800 Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the coronavirus lockdown.

As many as 3,900 new COVID-19 cases and 195 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours in the country, the biggest spike in a single day. The total number of cases now stand at 46,433 including 1,568 deaths and 13,160 recoveries.

Indo-American News • Friday, may 8, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com

7

8

ENTERTAINMENT

May 8, 2020

Online Star-studded Concert ‘I for India’ Raises Rs 52 Cr for Covid Relief

Mumbai: The home-to-home digital concert “I for India”, held to raise funds for the frontliners working round-the-clock to contain the coronavirus pandemic in the country, has raised an amount of over Rs 52 crore donations for relief.

Facebook collaborated with some of the biggest names in Indian entertainment industry, including Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Hollywood names like Mick Jagger, Will Smith and Sophie Turner for the fundraiser concert on Sunday.

Taking to Twitter, filmmaker Karan Johar on Monday shared an image according to which the concert had become world’s biggest live fundraiser on Facebook by raising Rs 4.3 crore online (and counting) with donations from corporate and philanthropists amounting to Rs 47.77 crore, and counting.

“From our hearts to yours.

Thank you for watching. Thank you for responding. Thank you for

Jonas Brothers, Amaan Ali, Ayaan Ali, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Sonu Nigam, Arijit Singh, Badshah, Rekha Bhardwaj and others.

Filmmakers such Farah Khan,

Vishal Bhardwaj, and personalities from the field of sports such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Saina Mirza also took part in the event. -- Indian Express

Documentary on Honey Hunters

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan broadcasting from his home studio in Mumbai.

donating. #IForIndia started out as a concert. But it can be a movement. Let’s continue to build a safe, healthy & strong India. I For India. Please donate,” he wrote.

All the proceeds from the fundraiser concert will go to the India COVID Response Fund, managed by GiveIndia, to support onground relief.

The concert also featured Kareena Kapoor Khan, Vidya Balan,

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Shabana Azmi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Arjun Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Diljit Dosanjh, Dulquer Salmaan, Katrina Kaif, Vicky Kaushal, Anushka Sharma, Ayushmann Khurrana, Mindy Kaling, Jack Black, among others.

Besides singing and poetry reading, the celebrities addressed plight of migrant workers, daily wage earners, hunger in times of COVID-19, child abuse and domestic violence, both of which have been on a rise since the lockdown began in India from March 25.

They also encouraged the audience to treat stray animals affectionately and develop eco-friendly habits going forward.

The music fraternity saw the presence of Bryan Adams, AR Rahman, Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, Jay Sean, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan,

Decades after his last honey hunting expedition, Chumbi Megeji still has everything that he needs today: the basket to collect the honey, the indigenous rubber which seals its insides, the headgear to protect him from the bees, and also, the will.

But the former 83-year-old honey hunter of Arunachal Pradesh’s Sherdupken tribe knows that age is not on his side. Gone are the days, when he would set out on days-long expeditions into deep forests, make ladders from wild vines, hanging precariously from cliffs, to collect the sweetest of honey, as swarms of bees buzzed threateningly around him.

Today, there are only six honeyhunters left in all — the practitioners of a tradition at the risk of fading into oblivion. They are now the subject of a documentary, Chi Lupo, which recently won ‘best documentary’ at the 10th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival Awards

2020 announced on April 30.

“Only three out of six honey hunters are active,” says Kezang D. Thongdok, on the phone from Rupa, a town in Arunachal Pradesh, “Give it two years, and this tradition will disappear.

That is why I thought it was imperative to make this film, documenting the last of the honey hunters.”

Honey-hunting is an age-old skill practised by the Sherpduken tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, which primarily resides in twelve villages of the state’s West Kameng district. As the 26-minute-long documentary portrays, the skill involves the Chi Lupo or honey hunters (‘Chi’ means honey, and ‘Lupo’ means hunter in Sherdupken) taking courageous journeys into the forests to collect a special kind of honey, found only on hives hanging from rocky hilltops.

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EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY Flattening the Curve in Kerala

May 8, 2020

9

Less Debt, Disease, and Devastation

By Ela R. Bhatt

With containment strategies in place even before the first case of novel coronavirus was detected on January 30, Kerala appears to have finally hammered the curve flat. On May 1, for the first time, the State reported zero new cases, and again on two consecutive days — May 3 and May 4. Zero fresh cases on three days in May appear to be more than a blip. If in April there were early signs of Kerala gaining an upper hand over the virus, its control became clear from the fourth week of April.

Since April 22, except on four days, the number of new cases reported has remained either the same or fewer than the number of recoveries. The small number of cases reported so far — 499 — demonstrates how excellent its containment efforts have been. What is more remarkable is that 462 of those infected have fully recovered, including an elderly couple, aged 93 and 88 years, and there have been just three deaths — a case fatality rate of 0.6% against the national average of 3.3%. The containment success can be traced back to how Kerala did not wait for directions from the Centre but instead led from the front. When the number of cases increased to 12 on March 10, a day before WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic, Kerala shut down all educational institutions and entertainment centres, banned large gatherings and appealed to people to avoid visiting religious places. If it realised the merits of containing virus transmission by quickly tracing all the contacts during the 2018 Nipah outbreak, it repeated that to perfection this time.

Little wonder that on May 2, the ICMR lauded the State for the “unparalleled” containment and testing strategies and referred to it as the “Kerala model”. But under no circumstances can the State lower its guard as the outbreak can resurge by exploiting the weakest link, as was seen in the sharp spike in Singapore, in dormitories.

Kerala has very good health-care infrastructure in place, down to the primary health-care centres. But what sets it apart from the other States is the manner in which it followed textbook epidemiology protocols to the tee, and beyond, and well before the ICMR advocated them, as well as the entire health-care infrastructure working in tandem despite being decentralised.

Political leadership, and the close and complete involvement of the government at all levels with the bureaucracy and local community have been a huge advantage. The very different health-seeking behaviour and high literacy too have played a pivotal role in the war against the virus. While active involvement of all the stakeholders who complement each other especially during the crisis has worked in Kerala’s favour, these are not measures put in place to fight coronavirus but what has been a legacy of the State. It is a success born out of decadesold social revolution and development. This is also the reason why other States, even if they emulate the measures adopted

by Kerala to fight the virus, may not be able to achieve the same level of success.. -- The Hindu

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call for every country, big and small, rich or poor, developed or developing. It has opened our eyes to the fragility of our healthcare systems, the instability of our economic structures, rising communal hatred, and to the vulnerabilities of our societies. How well we cope with this crisis will depend on how we respond to local — not only global — realities, and how well we recover from the crisis will depend on how willing we are to reorganise our priorities when we rebuild.

In the face of a highly contagious virus, the need to act is acute. Yet in a country like India, where the urban poor live on the streets, in slums, or cheek-by-jowl in one and two-room housing; where their limited supply of water must be fetched from community water taps; and where hundreds use the few neighbourhood toilets, it is nearly impossible to implement what is paradoxically called social distancing, vigorous hand washing and vigilant decontamination.

Similarly, for millions of dailywage earners, migrant workers, and self-employed workers, staying home is just not an option. A day without work is a day without food. Daily-wage earners have negligible savings to fall back on, so they must borrow to survive.

Extended periods of borrowing reduces the likelihood of recovery, almost exponentially. How is a large, vulnerable population, caught in a spiral of debt, to build a healthy economy? They are victims of two pandemics, one medical and the other economic.

Have we not known that our working poor have hardly any effective and adequate safety net?

As a nation, we have yet to achieve large-scale results and put in concerted efforts to build systems and structures to support them. As a result, pre-existing poverty has exacerbated the impact of the pandemic and compounded the problems we are left to deal with.

So what can we do differently and more to go forward? How do we build a better society that is not as susceptible to debt, disease, and

devastation after the pandemic?

We begin by investing in the three basic needs of people — food, water, and shelter — and provide three primary basic services — healthcare, education, and banking — that people and societies need for their well-being.

By focusing on these six needs and services, we can make sure that our post-pandemic society is both sustainable and equitable.

Any doctor will tell you that the key to good health is nutritious food, clean water, fresh air, and physical and mental exercise. In short, after the pandemic, we need to invest heavily in preventive measures that care for and nurture the not-sick. Let us build local food networks that make fresh, local grain, milk, and vegetables affordable and available to every last citizen. Because food is a healthcare issue. Let us provide clean water to urban and rural communities by building tanks, harvesting rainwater, digging ponds, and cleaning our existing water bodies. Because water is a healthcare issue. Let us take this opportunity to clean our environment by building toilets, by recycling our industrial waste, composting our organic waste, planting trillion trees, and by using solar and other renewable energies to meet our fuel needs. Because fresh air is a healthcare issue. And let us make all work decent work, that provides a good income, life insurance, disability assistance that can sustain the worker — especially the migrant worker, her family

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

Indo-American News • Friday, may 8, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com

and her community. Because work is a healthcare issue.

Let us facilitate the young and vulnerable self-employed in their entrepreneurship by providing access to local markets, capabilities and training, sustained capital, and nimble credit so they do not sink into debt and despair. Therefore, banking too is a healthcare issue.

Let us nurture education inside and outside the walls of a schoolroom, promoting literacy, and hands-on learning, and skill development that enriches the minds and hearts and promotes wellbeing. In this way, education is also a healthcare issue.

Lastly, let us remind ourselves of the lessons the pandemic is teaching us. When one member of the family falls sick, the entire family is affected, and soon the community is affected, the nation is affected, and then other communities in other nations. The wellbeing of one individual has an impact on people on the other side of the globe. This is true of every action of ours. What we eat, what we buy, what we think, and what we do has reverberations and repercussions on all life on earth.

It is this anubandh, this interconnectedness, that sustains all life on earth. We are all in this together, whether we choose to see it or not.

-- Indian Express The writer founded SEWA in 1972 and was its general secretary till 1996. She is presently Chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapith.

10

ENTERTAINMENT/CUISINE

May 8, 2020

Mindy Kaling’s “Never Have I Ever”: Coming to Terms with My ‘Indian-ness’

“Never Have I Ever”, now streaming on Netflix, is the creation of Comedienne Mindy Kaling, who first gained fame as an actor on the TV series “Office”.

Actor-creator Mindy Kaling says her latest show Never Have I Ever gave her a chance to reflect on her own Indian-ness while putting fellow nerds from minority communities, the typical side characters in American shows, in front and centre.

The Netflix show revolves around an academically competitive but hot-headed teenager Devi, played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, trying to catch the eye of the school heartthrob while secretly grieving the sudden death of her father. As someone who has always balanced two cultures, Kaling said the coming-of-age story helped her further explore her roots and religion.

“My coming to terms with my Indian-ness is a big part of the show. I was born in the US, raised in a pretty white area, without speaking any Indian languages, so culturally I always felt I straddled the lines of two cultures,” Kaling told PTI in an email interview.

The writer, who co-created the show with Lang Fisher, said a lot of Devi’s conflict and insecurities about her Indian roots are inspired by her growing up experience as a first generation Indian-American.

So much of Devi’s relationship with her faith is inspired by my relationship with Hinduism. I consider myself Hindu, but I also feel insecure about my understanding of my own religion,” she said, adding that the birth of her daughter made her “look at my faith and culture in a new way”. “… because I really want her to identify as Indian, and that’s kind

of up to me, Kaling said about showing the cultural and generational conflict in the show through a gentle gaze.

It was also by design that Devi’s two friends Eleanor Wong (Ramona Young), Fabiola Torres (Lee Rodriguez) and even the school heartthrob classmate Paxton HallYoshida (Darren Barnet) belong to minority communities.

“So many of my fellow nerds in high school were minorities, yet we don’t often see them on TV as leads. I wanted to put those typical ‘side characters’ front and centre,” she said.

Some of the best scenes in the show are between Devi and her dermatologist mother Nalini, (Poorna Jagannathan) a strong headed, nononsense woman finding hard to connect with her daughter.

Kaling, 40 said she had the most fun writing the mother-daughter scenes.

“I love Nalini and Devi’s relationship. My favourite scenes with them are when Nalini threatens her with casual violence, like when she says she’s going to give Devi one smack!’ that she would never actually act upon. That felt like something that a white audience might be spooked by but felt very authentic to their relationship,” she said.

In Devi, Nalini and cousin from India, Kamala (Richa Moorjani), Kaling shows three different Indian women and their engagement with their culture.

“It seemed like a great way to tackle different perspectives on

women’s relationship with their culture. I loved being able to write for so many different diverse women, she said.

Ramakrishnan, an Indian-Canadian, was chosen to play the lead after an international casting call and from among thousands of candidates.

Kaling said she found the 18-year-old perfect as Devi because of her natural confidence.

“Maitreyi was the perfect choice for so many reasons. I loved that she was south Indian, like me, which you don’t get to see that often. She’s also just so naturally funny and comfortable in her skin.”

“To be the lead of a show, to really anchor it, you either need experience or to be naturally confident, and she was the latter,” she said.

There were certain challenges in creating the ever-evolving world of teenagers for Kaling, like getting to know about Tik-Tok but young people on her writing staff, young Indian women in particular helped her keep the language and dialogue current to show how teenagers sound these days, she said.

The season one of Never Have I Ever started streaming on Netflix from April 27.

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Houston Chef is James Beard Finalist

One of two Houston chefs nominated is Anita Jaisinghani.

Chicago: Two Houston chefs have been named finalists for the James Beard Foundation’s firstever Best Chef Texas award. A drinking establishment is the only other Texas finalist for this year’s prestigious restaurant and chef awards, announced Monday.

Anita Jaisinghani, chef-owner of the all-day Indian diner Pondicheri, and Trong Nguyen, chef-owner of the Vietnamese classic Crawfish & Noodles, are among five Texas chefs who will compete for the title in the newly designated standalone region. The others are Kevin Fink of Emmer & Rye in Austin; Michael Fojtasek of Olamaie in Austin; and Steve McHugh of San Antonio’s Cured.

Anvil Bar and Refuge, the groundbreaking Houston cocktail bar founded by Bobby Heugel, is in the running for Outstanding Ba. Jaisinghani’s restaurant remains

Indo-American News • Friday, may 8, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com

open for takeout, delivery and no-contact pickup at curbside, with ingredients, masala mixes, T-shirts and more available from Pondicheri’s online shop. Jaisinghani has been hosting online virtual cooking classes from the premises, having closed her New York outpost in late January. Her streamlined takeout menu offers a constellation of the inventive flatbreads, seasonal curries and breakfast items that have won her a following here.

Jaisinghani, a five-time semifinalist, said she was thrilled to get to the finals for the first time. “I finally made it through,” she said.

“I’m very proud.”

Jaisinghani said she has been focused on keeping her business afloat during the shutdown. “I’ve been in the kitchen cooking every day,” she said. “That’s what we do.” -- Houston Chronicle.

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 May 13, 2020. Email us at indoamericannews@yahoo.com or mail to 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 212, Houston, TX 77036. Please send us your solved Sudoku for your name to be published

Solution Next Week

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Sharmila Moharir

May 8, 2020

11

Mama’s Punjabi Recipes

Hari Mirch De Pakore

(FRIED GREEN CHILLI FRITTERS) What could be more tempting for the typical Indian palate than fried food and hot, hot chilli pakoras? One thing is for sure, so many Indians love hot, spicy food that there are contests even for the hottest chilllies in the country. Chillies come in many colors – green, purple, yellow, orange - depending on the variety.

When dried almost all will turn to red, and have more concentrated sugars and lose their fresh, grassy scent, especially the green ones.

Chillies originated in the West Indies and quickly spread elsewhere.

There are about 300 known species of chillies, and they all contain the active ingredient capsaicin which affects the respiratory system, blood pressure and heart. Capsaicin causes the heat that stimulates the palate and increases blood circulation which makes the body sweat, which in turn has a cooling effect. This is why chillies are so dominant in tropical areas.

The flavor and heat levels (indicating the concentration of capsaicin) of different types of chillies is addictive as endorphins are released to deal with the heat. Some chillies produce rapid, sharp sensations at the back of the throat while others ignite a lingering, low-intensity burning on the tongue and middle palate.

Generally, the smaller the chilli or thinner the skin, the more intense it will probably be.

The seeds and membranes contain the most capsaicin, a peppery compound produced by ripening chillies to ward off insects that attack the fruit and bush. Capsaicins can spread very easily through casual contact and can burn sensitive skin areas and damage your eyes, so gloves should be worn when cutting chillies.

Drinking water will only intensify the burning sensation in your mouth; instead, breathe through your nose and take some salt, milk, yoghurt, cucumber or mint leaves.

Chickpea flour is also called besan and come from dry roasted garbanzos (or chickpeas) which is then ground.

Besan is high in carbohydrates, but contains no gluten and has a higher protein content than other flours.

To most people, pakoras (or pakore) are an inexpensive fried snack that combines the flavor of a vegetable, fish or chicken with a spicy batter and is eaten with some chutney, and served mostly as an appetizer. In many Indian cities, it is

eaten as a snack, often from a hawker stand on the street corner or from the neighborhood halwai (pastry cook), coming hot, straight from the boiling cauldron, Ingredients: • 1.5 cups besan (chickpea flour) • 1 1/2 cups pani (water), enough to make running paste • 1 dozen hari mirchi (green chillies) • 1 tsp dhaniya (coriander) powder • ½ tsp namak (salt) • ½ tsp lal mirch (red pepper) • 1 tsp amchoor (mango powder) Directions: 1. Wash the chillies and then towel dry them. You can leave the stems on.

2. Combine the spice ingredients in a small bowl.

3. Cut a sit lengthwise in each chilli and stuff a small amount of the spices in them and set aside.

4. Mix in namak and mirch into 1.5 cups of besan and water till it becomes a soft, running paste.

5. Heat the oil in a karahi (wok).

Throw in a small dab of batter to make sure the oil is very hot. Take

a chilli, dip it into the batter to coat it then release it into the hot oil. Keep doing this till the surface of the oil is covered with battered pieces.

6. When one side is slightly brown, turn it over using a sieved spatula and turn over a few times to make sure both sides are cooked. Be careful that they do not become dark brown. Take them out and place on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil.

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 early-nineties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share her delectable Punjabi recipes for future generations.

MAMA’S TIP O F THE

WEEK DON’T MAKE PAK O R AS IN VERY HOT For most Indians OIL who were brou

ght up of the favorite activ ities on a damp, co in the Old Country, one ol rainy Monsoon have a cup of tea (some prefer mas ala chai) with strai day is to cauldron hot pako ght off the ra soon turns into a fu s and samosas. What starts out as a snack ll-fledged, stomac h over some delight ful conversation wi filling and satisfying meal th friends and fam But when making ily. of the oil in the ka the pakoras, be sure to moderate th dai (or wok). If yo u slide in the batte e heat etables in very ho red vegt oil, then the pa koras will immed dark brown and iately will sure the oil is mod lose their appeal. For best results turn erately hot by testi , ng with a few drop make s of bat-

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12

May 8, 2020

MA TUMHE PRANAM HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

Celebrating 175 years of caring for our community

Jesal Patel ARPC, CLTC, LUTCF

Financial Adviser* Eagle Strategies LLC CA Ins. # 0F53803 Agent, New York Life Insurance Company 3200 Southwest Freeway, Houston, Tx 77027 Ph:281-221-5061/713-499-7670 Website:www.jesalzpatel.com

Your Life Insurance Agent and Financial Adviser *Financial Adviser offering investment advisory services though Eagle Strategies LLC, A Registered Investment Adviser. Registered Representative offering securities through NYLIFE Securities LLC-Member FINRA/SIPC, Smru #1852830(04/15/2022) Indo-American News • Friday, may 8, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com