Indian Families Flee California Fires

The raging fires in Southern California has forced a lot of Indian families to flee their homes. India West is reporting

Veenu Puri Vermani and her family, along with three other Indian American families, piled into the Vermani van and headed for Anaheim Oct. 22 as the Witch fire, pushed by strong Santa Ana winds, roared toward their homes in San Diego County.

The Vermanis, who live in Sabre Springs north of San Diego along with an untold number of Indian Americans who live in the nearby Rancho Bernardo, Forest Ranch, Penasquiotos and Scripps Ranch communities were forced to flee their homes

Panthic Weekly reports

The Sikh Gurdwara, at 12269 Oak Knoll Rd, Poway, San Diego was evacuated Monday morning. Five swaroops of Guru Granth Sahib (Holy Scriptures) were safely taken to the residence of Hirdyapal Singh, Carmel Valley, CA.

One Sikh family and 3 other South Asian families have lost their home in Rancho Bernado and over 50 Sikh families are reported evacuated from Poway, Rancho Barnado, 4S Ranch, Saber Springs, Scripps Ranch, Rancho Panasquitos, Carmel Valley, Escondido, Olivenhein, Rancho Santa Fee, Encinitas, Chula Vista, East Lake, Ramona.

NDTV reports

Jagjit Singh Dhesi, 56 who's been a resident of Poway, San Diego for more than 30 years now said he had to evacuate his house in the middle of the night along with his son, wife and parents.

Similarly, Dr. Harjot Singh Gill and Dr Jasbir Singh Deol, who run Animal Hospitals, had to evacuate. ''We had 5 families at our place one night. In the morning there was a mandatory evacuation in our area and we had to move out with our guests to Del Mar'' said Dr. Gill.

Inder Singh, who is the president of Global Organization for the People of Indian Origin or GOPIO and has a wide contact among the community said a large number of India-Americans have left their homes for safer places. ''I have been able to reach most of my contacts except few. We are trying to find out about their safety and whereabouts,'' he said.

Indian Americans living in posh Malibu area have shifted to hotels in safer localities. It is believed that some of the houses owned by Indian Americans were gutted in fire but details were not known immediately.

Our thoughts and prayers are with families who have lost their homes!

Bobby Jindal wins Louisiana Governor's Race

Bobby Jindal has become the First Indian American to be elected as a governor of a US State. Bobby Jindal (36) son of Indian immigrants will become Louisiana's first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction and the youngest U.S. governor in office.

Bobby Jindal received 54% of the votes. In his victory speech Bobby Jindal repeated his election pledge to fight corruption in the state of Louisiana.

"They can either go quietly or they can go loudly, but either way they will go," he said, referring to people who were "feeding at the public trough".

This is where Bobby Jindal will now get to stay (Google Maps View of Louisiana Governor's Mansion - Baton Rouge)

Andrew Symonds subjected to monkey chants by Mumbai Cricket Fans

Andrew Symonds a Australian Cricketer of West Indian Heritage, was the target of racial slurs again. This time it was at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. 4 people were arrested for behaving indecently in public.

Ricky Ponting the Australian Team Captain had this to say

the team was disappointed that the same behaviour had been repeated at various grounds. "Andrew is hurt at the crowd behaviour but we've been told action has been taken," he said. "But some of the stuff that happens is totally unacceptable and leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth. I'm sure there are a lot of people in India that would be embarrassed by the incident."

Yes I am sure lot of people in India must have been embarrassed by the actions of these uncultured folks (look at the faces, they are having a heck of a time enacting monkey chants) (via)

Kolkata, India police go Bananas

Sheikh Mohsin snatched a necklace from a woman in Kolkata, India. Just before being caught by the Kolkata Police he swallows the necklace.

On a X-Ray examination the necklace showed up inside Mr. Mohsin. On advise from the doctors Kolkata Police fed Mr. Mohsin 50 bananas. When the bananas failed to produce the desired effect, police fed Sheikh Mohsin rice, chicken and local bread.

Now you know the rest of the story. But still check out BBC for more details.

Plymouth Township, Farmington and Saline amongst 100 Great American Towns

Michigan towns - Plymouth Township (ranked 37th), Farmington (ranked 55th) and Saline (ranked 59th), make it to the top 100 list of "100 Great American Towns" as mentioned in CNN Money.

That's great, the town I live in - Plymouth Township makes it to the top 50!!

I have mapped out "100 Great American Towns" on Google Maps along with the latest news from each of the 100 towns.

Indian Green Card Applicants resort to Gandhigiri to voice frustration

Angry and frustrated with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, some desis/Indians have resorted to Gandhigiri by sending flowers to USCIS offices in Washington DC. All stems from the fact that USCIS had agreed to process all green card applications received by July 2nd. However on July 2nd USCIS came out with a bulletin which said that it is not possible to process all green card applications as the quota for 2007 has already been reached. Here's a YouTube Video Clip of flowers being sent by Indians to USCIS.

India's Taj Mahal one of the New 7 Wonders of the World

India's Taj Mahal gets voted into the exclusive club of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

Want to know where all the 7 wonders of the world is located?

I have mapped out the modern day 7 wonders of the world on Google Maps at mibazaar along with video clips from YouTube.

Pooja Chauhan from Rajkot, India walks semi-nude to protest against dowry

You go girl!! Pooja Chauhan from Rajkot, India walks semi-nude and bare foot through the streets of Rajkot to protest against her in-laws' dowry demand. The result! Police arrest her husband and in-laws. (more at Times of India and BBC)

H-1B Visas - Goal is not to find a qualified and interested US worker

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates can go up to the US Congress and argue that US needs more foreign workers with IT skills. It will be interesting to see him and the IT industry in US defend what is being said in this video. An immigration attorney has this to say about green cards to foreign IT workers

Our goal is clearly not to find a qualified and interested U.S. worker," he said. "And that, in a sense, sounds funny, but it's what we are trying to do here.

(more at Computerworld)

Latest News from the Indian Sub-Continent

Here's a Google Maps View of the Latest News (via Google News RSS Feeds) from major cities in the Indian Sub-Continent.

Sudan Red - Have you'll heard about it?

Has anyone heard about a industrial dye called "Sudan Red". I came across this Wall Street Journal Article (May 9th) titled "Unsafe Food Additives Across Asia..." (link).

Quoting the article:

In Asia, unsafe additives in foods for human consumption have long been a problem. Some street vendors use an industrial dye for textiles called Sudan Red to make their coconut and sugar-cane drinks look more attractive. "You could just see the beverages, they sort of glow, because these dyes are really quite intense," says the WHO's Mr. Moy. Last November, Chinese authorities discovered that poultry farmers in Hebei province had been using one of the Sudan Red dyes, believed to cause cancer, to color the feed of their ducks and redden the yolks of the eggs, which sell at a premium price.

In 2003, Sudan Red was found in hot-chili products imported from India to the U.K. Products containing the dye were also recalled in Canada and South Africa. Over the next two years, the contamination snowballed. By March 2005, 580 products had been withdrawn in the U.K.

So what's the guarantee that the pickle or tandoori paste or spices which say at the back "Made in India or Made in Pakistan" does not have "Sudan Red" in it. Does FDA check these products?

Something to think!

India gets its first "Condom Bar"

India's first Condom Bar opens up in Chandigarh, India. The Condom Logo is splattered all over the place. BBC reports:

All drinks are served in tumblers with a specially designed condom logo that also finds a place on almost everything else, including the waiters' uniforms.

Happy Employees of the Condom Bar


Circular placemats on the bar tables have useful advice for the young revellers expected to frequent the place.

Instead of small change while paying their bills, customers are offered packs of condoms or a choice of other souvenirs like mugs, t-shirts or caps - all bearing the by now familiar condom logo.

Indian Professor and an Indian Student killed in Virginia Tech Massacre

IN MEMORIAM - VIRGINIA TECH
Indian Professor GV Loganatghan - age 51 was one of the 33 killed at Virginia Tech.
Quoting Times of India:

Loganathan is from Tamil Nadu and completed his BE from Madras University. He later did his MS from IIT Kanpur and PhD from Purdue University.

Loganathan was the professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He had received the Dean’s award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998.

Minal Panchal a 26 year old Indian Student was also one of the 33 killed at Virginia Tech.
Quoting NDTV.com

Called 'Minu' by her friends, 26-year-old Minal Panchal went to Our Lady Of Remedy High School in Mumbai and later graduated from the Rizvi college of Architecture in Bandra, Mumbai.

She was very sensitive student, very hardwoking and sincere. But most importantly, she was a highly cultural and refined person; very soft spoken and very sensitive.

She was a very promising young architect. She was concerned by humane issues, cultural values and one of the rare students who was committed to sustainable architecture. We'll really miss her tremendously, said Professor Chauhan, Principal, Rizvi College of Architecture.

Infosys Founder - "Indian National Anthem would embarass foreigners"

Oh Mr. Murthy what were you thinking when you said "Indian National Anthem would embarass foreigners". That was like pulling a Don Imus on Indians.

Co-founder of Infosys NR Narayana Murthy, made those statements about Indian National Anthem at a function in Infosys's complex at Mysore, India. Guess who was there at the function? The function was presided over by President of India ABJ Abdul Kalam.

Mr. Murthy has since apologized. (More on this at BBC)