Indian-origin woman scientist wins USD 2,50,000 Heinz award April 27, 2015 09:58
The prestigious Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy, and Employment with USD2,50,000 was given to Indian-origin scientist Sangeeta Bhatia for her work in tissue engineering and disease detection. She has developed artificial human microlivers for drug testing. The prestigious Heinz Awards conferred on individuals for their extraordinary contributions to arts and humanities; environment; human condition; public policy; and technology, the economy, and employment. The MIT scientist has said, “This type of recognition helps to bring science into the public eye so that everyone can appreciate the dedication and innovation that is happening in laboratories all over the country.” Her team has excelled in the fabrication of artificial human microlivers, which are widely used for testing the toxicity of drug candidates by many biopharmaceutical companies. The Indian-origin scientist at MIT is also using the using microlivers in the lab to model malaria infection and test drugs that can eradicate malaria parasites completely. She will receive the award on May 13 at a ceremony in Pittsburgh. The recipients in four other categories include Roz Chast, a best-selling illustrator and cartoonist (arts and humanities); Frederica Perera, an environmental health researcher at Columbia University (environment); William McNulty and Jacob Wood, founders of Team Rubicon (human condition); and Aaron Wolf, a geoscientist and professor at Oregon State University (public policy). All the awardees will be honoured at the event. -Kannamsai
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Indian Woman’s brain has a baby inside with bone, hair and teeth! April 24, 2015 12:20
The medical case of a student from India, Yamini Karanam (26), was shocked the doctors in US, who diagnosed an embryonic twin complete with bone, hair and teeth in her brain. She has approached doctors when she started having trouble in reading and talking. The PhD student at Indiana University faced severe problem at eating and pain from top to bottom. According to the report of Washington Post, she was diagnosed with pineal tumour – a tiny pea-like structure in the centre of the brain. In March last year Yamini went to Hrayr Shahinian, a doctor performing radical 'keyhole' brain surgeries at the Skullbase Institute in Los Angeles. Dr Shahinian strung an endoscope into Yamini’s skull through a natural channel in her brain to the suspected tumor, after making a tiny incision in the back of patient’s head. The doctor then discovered that the tumor was a teratoma (a clump of bone, hair and teeth). According to some medical specialists, teratoma’s are believed to be a twin that never quite develop and are instead absorbed into the surviving baby's body. Dr Shahinian has successfully removed the teratoma and expecting Yamini to get full recovery. The Hyderabadi woman told NBC 4 that she was stunned to learn that her tumour wasn't just a lump of cells, but her "evil twin sister who's been torturing me for the past 26 years". The rare case really worried Yamini and her family. Image Credits: Telegraph.co.uk -Kannamsai
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Indian Beheaded in Saudi Arabia! April 23, 2015 14:43
An Indian man was beheaded by the officials of the Saudi Kingdom for murdering his boss. Two persons were beheaded on Wednesday as per the interior ministry statement. Sajada Ansari, a shepherd, was convicted in the death charges. He was involved in a robbery, where he beaten his boss to death with a hemmer when he was sleeping, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. The other person, Saudi Mater al-Rowaeeli, was punished for shooting his ex-wife and two of their children. Both the executions took place in the kingdom's north. According to the Saudi Kingdom laws, drug trafficking, murder, rape, apostasy and armed robbery are considered as greatest mistakes on the basis of sharia. The number of death penalties (beheadings) by the sword reached to 65, while it was 87 in 2014, according to AFP tallies. -Kannamsai
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Vivek Murthy is Highest Ranking Indian-American in Obama Administration April 23, 2015 10:18
British-Indian American Vivek Hallegere Murthy has sworn-in as the Surgeon General. The oath taking ceremony was administered by Vice President Joe Biden in Virginia on Wednesday. The 37- years old Murthy is youngest-ever in-charge of country’s public health. He is highest ranking Indian-American in the Obama Adminstration. The swearing-ceremony was attended by eminent Indian-Americans and the Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell, and Murthy took the oath on holy Gita. Murthy is an ex-officio Vice Admiral rank holder. Biden said that he was eminently qualified for the job and also described Murthy’s family as an incredible. Murthy felt the job as an honour and profound responsibility; he thanked President Obama for believing in him. He termed his family’s support as an asset for his growth. “My family was never supposed to have left our ancestral village. My father is the son of a farmer in rural India. He was supposed to have been a farmer, as was I. But for my grandfather’s insistence that his son get an education, even if that meant going into debt we might have never left that village to go out in the world and as my grandfather also insisted start fixing what needed fixing,” he said. “We were not supposed to have become Americans. My parents stopped in three other countries including a brutal dictatorship on their journey to get here. They saved up money and scrounged for information about job opportunities, always knowing that America was the destination,” Murthy said. He vowed to improve the public health in the country and said the Affordable Care Act can cover millions of Americans, and also said that much more is there to do. He said public health is an independent area and it is linked to education, employment, the environment and country’s economy. -Kannamai
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Indian Passport Ranked at 48 ! April 22, 2015 18:14
Indian passport is one among 50 most powerful documents in the world, it came at 48th place in a survey conducted by Germany-based Go Euro travel comparison website on the basis of passport's eligibility for visa-free entry, cost of application as well as number of hours worked to acquire the document. Among the list Sweden stood in first place, and Iraq and Afghanistan came at 49th and 50th position, while our neighbor Pakistan has not even placed in the list of 50 countries. India offered visa-free entry to 52 countries and $ 24 and 87 hours of working time. The topper in the list Sweden has 174 visa-free countries, costing $ 43 and just one hour of working time. Sweden, Finland, Germany, the UK, and the US came in top five respectively. Passport plays a vital role in International travel and it is an authentic identity card in abroad. -Kannamsai
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NRIs are Proud of PM, says Lord Swraj Paul April 21, 2015 19:27
NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarkable initaiatives in connecting NRIs globally. He said that the new government has been moving in right direction and striving to uplift the poor. "PM is moving in the right direction. He has raised the profile of India and Indians all over the world. From an NRI's point of view, he is the first PM after 35 years who has recognised the strength and ability of NRIs. For that, NRIs are proud of Modi," Paul said, as per media report. The Chairman of UK-based Caparo Group, Mr Swaraj Paul, said that Modi has lots of ideas, desire and dynamism to strengthen the country. He lauded the government which created a buzz all around with good initiatives. He also extended his support to empower the education in Gujarat, India. He visited Caparo Group’s plant in Sanand, after meeting with Chief Minister Anandiben Patel. The Indian-born Paul has set up Ambika Paul Foundation in memory of his daughter. Recently the foundation has donated one million pounds (Rs 10 crores) to the University of Wolverhampton. -Kannamsai
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Big immigration reforms impossible April 20, 2015 12:36
Marco Rubio once backed an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws, but now says, such major reforms are no longer a political possibility. "We can't do it in a massive piece of legislation. And I know, 'cause I tried," the Florida senator who's one week into his 2016 presidential campaign said during an appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation." Rubio said Republicans "understand that we have to deal with 12 million human beings that are in this country, that have been here for longer than a decade." The influx of undocumented workers must be stopped first so that "this will never happen again" he added. His comments come as he faces criticism from Democrats for backing off a Senate-passed overhaul of U.S. immigration law that never gained traction in the House and is anathema to conservatives. "He took a principled, courageous stand on immigration reform and we passed a comprehensive bill in the Senate — and then the minute his party's base started chewing on him about it, the minute Rush Limbaugh criticized him, he folded like a cheap shotgun," Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said. "That's old politics. That's not what we need right now," she said. "That is the stalest trick in the book. That is shirking on your principles because of the political necessities of your party." By Premji
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Two Indians, among Yale University’s list of 2015 World Fellows April 18, 2015 13:22
The prestigious Yale University has announced the names of 16 people for its 2015 World Fellows, where two Indians are included. The university will enable these persons to learn from and exchange with the University community and to develop strong relationships with like-minded peers through this global leadership development initiative. Zeena Johar and Rahul Pandita will arrive at the varsity later this year for an intensive four-month period of academic enrichment and leadership training. Zeena Johar is the founder of SughaVazhvu Healthcare (SVHC) and IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health (ICTPH) to create a primary- care delivery network through rural clinics. The clinics provide the healthcare to rural populations of India by relying on affordable healthcare technologies and highly trained Indian medical practitioners. Johar, who is currently pursuing Program for Leadership Development at the Harvard Business School, was a PhD in Molecular Diagnostics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. She had collaborated his ICTPH with University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing for developing India's first certificate program for Indian medical practitioners. She is a member of the Governing Board at Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Bangalore. The New-Delhi based Pandita has popular for his extensive reports on conflicts in Iraq and Sri Lanka, and is known for his reportage on Maoist insurgency in central and eastern India, and on the turmoil in Kashmir, according to Yale. He is a recipient of the International Red Cross Award for conflict reporting, and was the editor of the Opinion and Special Stories at the Hindu. Since the commencement of the programme in 2002, 18 Indians have been selected among the 273 Yale World Fellows from 84 countries. -Kannamsai
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Indian Man Kills His Wife in US? April 15, 2015 18:47
A 24 year old Indian Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel allegedly had beaten his wife Palak Bhadreskumar Patel to death inside the kitchen of a Dunkin Donuts restaurant in Maryland in US. Both wife and husband were the employees in that restaurant. According to the police, the victim was found beaten to death and her husband as the suspect. As the suspect fled away, police are now taking the help of public, "We are treating this as domestic-related, not random. Again, they were husband and wife and lived together in the area here," CBS-Baltimore quoted Justin Mulcahy, Anne Arundel County police as saying. The police actually came to know about the incident when a customer who noticed none inside the Dunkin Donuts on Arundel Mills Boulevard. The CC cameras captured the couple while entering the restaurant. A manhunt and offer of USD 2,000 announced for any information leading to the suspect. Image Credits: NY Daily news -Kannamsai
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Indian-American Couple donates USD 1mn to University of Arizona April 15, 2015 10:05
An Indian-American couple has donated $1 million for the construction of a cancer treatment center at the University of Arizona in memory of late Dr Mandira Jalajakshi. Dr Ram, an orthopedic surgeon and his wife Meera Krishna have donated the amount towards the construction of the UA Cancer Center at St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center outpatient facility that would provide comprehensive cancer services, along with infusion, radiation oncology, diagnostic imaging, endoscopic radiology, a prevention center, clinical lab space and several specialized cancer clinics. The five-story premises will have 2,20,000 square-foot facility in partnership between the varsity and St Joseph's Hospital, which is under construction in Phoenix city. The facility would be opened in September. The couple has chosen the UA as their two daughters graduated from the varsity and wanted to support UA medical education and research. "I was very impressed with President Hart's vision, and we wanted to give back. Education and research in the medical field are very important to us," a press statement quoted Ram as saying. The new center will have the name of the late Dr Mandira Jalajakshi, who was a physician practicing in England when she passed away in 2012. Mrs. Meera Krishna has recollected her sister Jalajakshi’s contribution in the field of health services. -Kannamsai
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17-year-old Indian Origin girl got admission in all 8 ivies! April 13, 2015 18:22
It is generally considered to be great achievement for any to get into Ivy college or university, as the universities carry that much craze in academics. An Indian-origin student from Virginia could able get admission in all eight ivies, which has become a greatest milestone. The Virginia girl, Pooja Chandrashekar (17) secured 4.57 grade-point average, scored a 2390 (out of 2400) on the SAT and topped in all her Advanced Placement exams, the Washington Post reported. She decided to apply for all the eight Ivies as the admissions were unpredictable. Fortunately she got listed in all the successful candidates’ board. The girl has to choose one among the Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania. Besides the above list of universities, she got admission six other including Stanford and MIT. According to the reports she has finalized the list to Harvard, Stanford and Brown as there she can get into a programme that ensures her admission to the university's medical school. Pooja Chandrashekar also founded a national non-profit organisation that encourages middle-school girls to participate in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs. The girl has remarkable academic and technical achievements records, readers can go through her website poojachandrashekar.com -Kannamsai
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The Indian-origin Bombshell Bandit gets 66 months jail term April 10, 2015 18:48
"The Bombshell Bandit" was sentenced to 66 months imprisonment and fined tens of thousands of dollars for robbing the banks in state of Arizona. The 24 year old Indian-origin nurse, Sandeep Kaur was convicted in the robbery cases, where she robbed four banks by threatening the staff. On June 6 last year, she had robbed USD 21,200 at a Bank of the West branch in Valencia, California. That was her first time robbery. And in her second robbery at a bank Lake Havasu City in Arizona she grabbed USD 1,978. And in her third the nurse robbedUSD 8,000 at bank San Diego, before her strike on a St George bank which led to her capture in July, eight weeks after her crime spree began. Kaur was actually given up to 20 years in federal prison on each of the four charges against her, as well as fines of USD 250,000, and three years supervised post release on each charge. Defense attorney Jay Winward pleaded for lighter sentence of four years in prison, citing the challenges of Kaur's upbringing. "She is educated, she has great worth to society ... and she does want to make amends," Winward said. District Judge Ted Stewart shed some light on the closed discussions when he noted that Kaur had gone into debt with "a loan shark" and robbed banks to repay him. "She amassed a large gambling debt and, in order to repay a loan shark, she robbed the banks," Stewart said. FBI dubbed the California nurse "The Bombshell Bandit" after robberies last year she did in which a well-dressed woman approached and threatened the bank tellers and threatened to detonate a bomb. -Kannamsai
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