GOPIO News, August 1, 2009

LORD SWRAJ PAUL AND BARONESS USHA PRASHAR APPOINTED TO PRIVY COUNCIL IN UK

Queen Elizabeth has appointed Lord Swraj Paul and Baroness Usha Prashar as members of her Privy Council, the British monarch's advisory group whose members include the Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers and other eminent personalities. Lord Paul and baroness Prashar are the only Indian origin members of the this prestigious council, which also includes the Prime Ministers of Australia and Canada. The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Office announced on June 23 the appointment which is for life.

A Privy Councilor must be a British subject and has to take oath of allegiance to the sovereign. The 469-year-old institution, once a key part of the executive power, was the supreme legislative body till the 17th century. The judicial committee of the Council acts as the supreme appellate court in the Commonwealth.

INDIAN AMERICAN HIV RESEARCHER MAHAJAN NAMED 2009-10 WHITE HOUSE FELLOW

Anish Mahajan, a Robert Wood Johnson clinical scholar who has developed programs for expanding HIV testing in low-income communities, was named a 2009-2010 White House Fellow June 25.

The year-long program, which begins Sept. 1, will place Mahajan and 14 other fellows with a specific sector of the new administration. The Poughkeepsie, New York native is likely to be placed in the Office of Health Reform or the Department of Health and Human Services, but told India-West he would be equally thrilled to work in Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel's office or with Vice President Joe Biden.

The extremely competitive White House Fellows program - created in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson - named 108 regional finalists in March. Thirty national finalists were selected from that pool and were invited to Washington, D.C., for interviews with the President's Commission on White House Fellowships.

Mahajan completed both his B.A. in public policy and his M.D. at Brown University. He also earned a Masters in International Health from Harvard and a Masters in Health Services from UCLA, where he also completed his residency in internal medicine.

Following his residency, Mahajan was accepted into the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program. During the program, Mahajan designed a pilot program to provide free HIV testing to 10,000 Los Angeles residents and raised $300,000 to support the program. He also successfully countered resistance to new Centers for Disease Control guidelines for expanding HIV testing, and created a coalition of public and private organizations in Southern California to build community consensus on the need for HIV testing.

Mahajan is currently serving a two-year term on the Mid-City West Neighborhood council in Los Angeles.

Since 1964, more than 600 Americans have participated in the White House Fellows program, including CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta. Applications are accepted each February for the following September. Fellows are chosen for their record of professional accomplishments early on in their careers.

NFIA CHAIRMAN RAJAN ANAND APPOINTED AS DIRECTOR OF NUTRITION POLICY AND PROMOTION

US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the appointment of Dr. Rajen Anand as Executive Director of the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. The mission of the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion at USDA is to improve the nutritional status of all Americans by linking research to the dietary needs of the consumer. The Center is best known for the development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the MyPyramid food guidance system.

"President Obama and I are firmly committed to improving the health and nutrition of the American people, and I am pleased to welcome Dr. Anand back to USDA because he has a deep and broad understanding of dietary guidance, nutrition and how public policy is made," said Vilsack. "As a former professor and civil servant, Dr. Anand will be a huge asset to our management team."

Anand will lead a staff comprised of nutritionists, economists, mathematicians, and food and social scientists as well as a new Evidence Analysis Library. The library will evaluate and rank the latest nutrition science for use by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee that is currently charged with reviewing and revising the Dietary Guidelines which will be published in 2010.

Prior to this appointment, Anand joined the Center in 1995 as its Deputy Director and was promoted to Executive Director in 1997. Prior to his work at USDA and in the interim, he served as professor of physiology for 30 years - including 6 years as department chair at California State University, Long Beach. During his tenure at the university, he was honored with the Outstanding Professor Award and twice with Meritorious Performance and Professional Promise Awards.

A graduate of the University of California, Davis, Anand holds a doctorate in human physiology, nutrition and biochemistry and a second doctorate in veterinary medicine. He has published over 40 scientific articles in national and international journals and made presentations at numerous professional meetings worldwide.

DISTINGUISHED FRENCH AWARD GOES TO PRITHWINDRA MUKHERJEE

French Government has announced the decoration of Prithwindra Mukherjee with the insignia of the "Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres." The ceremony was attended by eminent members of French and Indian communities including Ambassador Ranjan Mathai, Mr. Gerard Pedraglio "Officier de la Legion d'Honneur", Dr. Bikas Sanyal "Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur", Professor Pierre-Sylvain Fillioza "Membre Institute de France" and Dr Vimal Khosla "President of GOPIO-France".

Prithwindra Mukherjee, was born in Calcutta in 1936. He was only eleven when he joined Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry where he learnt several Indian and European languages, studied the philosophy of the Samkhya, the Vedanta and Heraclitus, and practised Hindustani, Karnatik and Western music.

Before the age of twenty, he was mentioned in the manuals and the anthologies of the Indian Academy of Letters as a poet.

In 1966 he received a scholarship from the French Government and was appointed lecturer by the University of Paris III (Langues Orientales) and soon after by the Department of Philosophy in Paris XII University.

During the creation of Bangladesh, he published a full page of "Poems from Bangladesh" in the French newspaper LE MONDE and in 1979 he published his first collection of verses in French LE SERPENT DE FLAMMES.

In 1974 he registered in the University of Paris IV for a "Doctorat d'Etat" thesis on "Intellectual Roots of India's Freedom (1893-1918)", received a Fulbright scholarship to work on this thesis in the United States Archives and got his doctorate degree in 1986.

In the mean time, in 1981 he represented Radio-France at the Festival of Rennes (France) and recorded the Drums from Burundi, Dervish songs from Turkey, the diphonic yodling from Mongolia. He joined CNRS (France) in 1981 in the Department of Ethnomusicology and worked on the scales of Indian music. He has published about four hundred articles in Bengali, French and English, as well as a dozen LPs and CDs and two documentary films released by CNRS.

Among other recognitions as a poet he was invited to dinner twice by the former Prime Minister of France Dominique de Villepin a lover of poetry and poets.

In 2003 he took retirement but he has continued to work on the projects that had remained unfinished during his CNRS life.

GOPIO OFFICIAL PIYUSH AGRAWAL STARTS A DEGREE COLLEGE NEAR AGRA

Despite more than six decades of independence of India, opportunities for higher education for girls are very limited especially in the rural areas. Also, culturally, parents do not like to send their daughters for education outside of their communities. This situation warrants that the education facilities have to be taken to them if girls have to be educated. There is an old saying that an educated mother can do a better job of nurturing, cultivating proper values and sacraments among children than ten fathers.

These considerations led GOPIO USA National Coordinator and North American Regional VP Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal to build a Degree College in the memory of his parents in the village where he was born. He met the village people in January of 2006 and made the commitment for the building of the Girls College. It took more than three years to get the building ready and receive all the permissions from the Department of Education of the State and the University system. Though the process through the red tape was a learning lesson, it was worth the effort. Likewise, to deal with the local village politics was not an easy task.

GOPIO Vice president for North America opens girls college near Agra

At last, in July 2009, the doors of the Babu Ramchandra Chameli Kiran Agrasen Kanya (Girls) Mahavidyalaya (College) are open for admission to the B.A, B.Sc. (Mathematics) and B.Sc. (Biology) for the First Year class. The college is located in the town of Kagarol, about 16 miles south of the City of Agra where the world famous Taj Mahal stands. The formal inauguration ceremony took place on June 25 - an auspicious day according to the Hindu Calendar. More than one thousand people attended the event on a hot summer day (116 degrees F). But, the enthusiasm displayed by the people and especially by the younger generation was quite contagious. The smile and pride displayed by some of the girls who were looking forward to join the college was extremely rewarding to the founders of the college.

The ceremony started with a traditional yagna (hawan) performed by the Chief Guests for the occasion Dr. & Mrs. Piyush C. Agrawal and other invited guests and then by lighting of the auspicious Diya (signifying light destroying the darkness). The main motto was to start this college to educate the rural women and empower them so the social oppression can be minimized and their lifestyle can gain some independence. The environment of the college shall weave the cultural aspect throughout the college curriculum. Social activism and volunteerism is expected to be encouraged for development of the society and consequently of the country.

Dr. Agrawal in his remarks delivered in the local dialect announced that he will try to find ways to have two female senior class students spend at least one semester in USA as part of their education. After this announcement, the public went wild with their happiness.

This is the opportune time for the NRIs and the PIOs to do some service to mother India by getting involved to the extent they can. If anyone interested to start such a venture in India, contact Dr. Agrawal as follows.

Contact: Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal, E-mail: sudhapca!@aol.com, Tel: 954-389-4465.

REAL MEDICINE FOUNDATION APPEALS FOR SUPPORT TO ERADICATE MALNUTRITION OF TRIBAL CHILDREN IN MADHYA PRADESH

Real Medicine Foundation is a Registered 501c3 Non-profit organization in the State of California. Presently operating in 13 countries on four continents, The Real Medicine Foundation provides humanitarian support to people living in disaster and poverty stricken areas. "We believe that "real" medicine is focused on the person as a whole by providing medical/physical, emotional, economic and social support."

Dr. Martina Fuchs, CEO and Founder Mobilized by the urgency of the situation in Madhya Pradesh, Real Medicine Foundation has acted swiftly to align with the necessary government departments and active NGO's on the ground to coordinate its efforts to deliver critical services to the children in MP suffering from acute malnutrition and establish a long term program to serve the poorest tribal communities.

Our team in India has met with Digvijay Singh, Secretary of the Congress party and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Department of Women and Child Development, the local civil society, and NGOs such as UNICEF and UNFPA, all who are in full support of our efforts. Funding is urgently needed to support our efforts. To make a donation please visit: http://realmedicinefoundation.org/donors/ . Please state that the donation is for Malnutrition Eradication in Madhya Pradesh.

Presently:

46% of children under 5 in India, upwards of 60 million children, are malnourished.

Madhya Pradesh is the country's most heavily burdened state, with 60% of children under 5 underweight. 1.3 million children have severe acute malnutrition, another 1 million have moderate acute malnutrition, and an additional 4 million have mild malnutrition. Children are most vulnerable to malnutrition in the summer months from June to October when monsoons bring water-borne diseases, diarrhea, malaria, and stocks of last season's crops begin to run dry.

Real Medicine Foundation's Approach to Malnutrition Eradication

RMF's approach begins and ends with the community and is based on the fact that malnutrition can be detected and treated earlier at the village level, making our approach not only more effective than traditional centralized approaches and less risky to patients, but also more cost effective.

Through micro-engagement with the communities we serve, we work with individuals, government health workers, self-help groups, NGOs, and local businesses to identify, treat, and prevent malnutrition. By working from both the community and facility angles we strengthen the continuum of care in between, strengthening the existing systems, structures, and management capacity of government partners at the village level to address the root causes of malnutrition.

How one can help
During this monsoon season RMF urgently needs support with helping us to identify and treat children with severe acute malnutrition who are in danger of death at the village level. For this life-saving intervention we require additional monetary support to cover the costs of RUTF for treatment of severe acute malnutrition and to support human resources, enabling us to send more staff to remote villages to identify children with malnutrition, support their treatment, and work with the community to prevent more children from becoming malnourished.

Visit http://realmedicinefoundation.org/donors/ to make a donation to Malnutrition Eradication Initiative in Madhya Pradesh. Also, feel free to contact the Director of the Malnutrition Eradication Initiative in India, Caitlin McQuilling, anytime with questions, comments, or suggestions, Caitlin.McQuilling@realmedicinefoundation.org or contact, Michael Lear, Director, International Relations in the NY area at michael@realmedicinefoundation.org and +1.484.542.0249. For more information on Real Medicine Foundation's Global Activities, please visit www.realmedicinefoundation.org.

PRIME MINISTER'S GLOBAL ADVISORY COUCIL AND DATA BANK OF INDIANS ABROAD ANNOUNCED

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has decided to set up a high level panel called the Global Advisory Council which will include the best Indian brains abroad. The 23 member Council
chaired by the Prime Minister would develop an inclusive agenda for engagement between India and the top Indian brains abroad. Economist Amartiya Sen, business tycoon L.N. Mittal and Pepsico CEP Indra Nooyi are among the members of the Council. Others include Citi group CEO Vikram Pandit, NRI entrepreneur Karan Bilimoria, Economist Jagdeesh Bhagavati and technologist/educationist Sam Pitroda.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will also be its member. Announcing this in the Lok Sabha,
Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi, who will also be the member of the Council said, the Council would consider methods to access the skills and knowledge of the Indian Diaspora to meet the country's development goals and facilitate investment by overseas Indian in the country.

The Council, Ravi said, will serve as a platform for the Prime Minister to draw up on the experience, knowledge and wisdom of the best Indian minds wherever they may be based.

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) has also launched an ambitious project to create a data bank of all those going abroad to ensure their well-being, a move triggered by incidents of attacks on Indians abroad. The project, the first of its kind, was taken up after the ministry realized that there was no statistics available with the government to keep track of its citizens abroad to ensure their well-being and safety in view of the recent violent attacks on Indian students in Australia.

Starting initially with the students, the data bank will have all the details about them, such as the name of the city where they are residing name of the college/university they are studying at and place of their work. Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said in an interview. The data bank is being created as a part of efforts to institutionalize mechanism for safety and well-being of the Indian students studying abroad. "The project is aimed at knowing how many students are going abroad in a year, where they are going and which are the institutions they are studying, among others," Mr. Ravi said. At present, the government does not have any proper data bank about students who go out of the country to pursue higher education.

NOMINATIONS INVITED FOR BHARATVANSHI GAURAV SAMMAN

New Delhi : Nominations are invited for the Bharatvanshi Gaurav Samman from eminent personalities and organizations of Indian Diaspora by Antar-Rashtriya Sahayog Nyas (Trust for International Co-operation). The Award carries Rs. One Lakh in cash, a citation, a plaque and a shawl. The nominations along with detailed bio-data are to reach the Nyas Office at 'Pravasi Bhawan', 50-Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi - 110002 latest by 15th October, 2009.

The Antar-Rashtriya Sahayog Nyas was created with the objective of maintaining close contacts with the Indian Diaspora and to acknowledge and appreciate their achievements by publicly honouring at least one person every year to be selected for excellence for working for the Indian Diaspora.

The Nyas honoured Shri Ranjith Ramnarain of South Africa in 2005, Shri Satnarayan Maharaj of Trinidad & Tobago in the year 2006, GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham of United States in January, 2008 and Human Service Trust, Mauritius for outstanding work for the people of Indian origin in January, 2009 at New Delhi for their contribution to the Diaspora.

The Selection Committee includes prominent members of the Indian Diaspora such as Sir Aneroodh Jagnauth, President of the Mauritius Republic, Shri Mahendra Choudhry, former Prime Minister of Fiji, Shri Basdeo Pandey, former Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, Dr. Ved P. Nanda, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Denver University, USA, Shri Subhash Chandra, Chairman & Managing Director Zee Telefilms Ltd., and Shri R. P. N. Singh, Chairman S. S. R. Medical College, Mauritius. Shri J. C. Sharma, former Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs is the President of the Nyas.