SAJAforum

From SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association

New South Asian stuff every day. Feedback, story ideas to editor Arun Venugopal of WNYC Radio: arunvenu[at]gmail.com. Opinions expressed on SAJAforum don't necessarily reflect those of SAJA or its Board. 

Hear SAJA webcast archives:

See coverage, photos and videos of SAJA's 15th Annual Convention & Career Expo: http://saja.org/convention SAJA WEBCASTS: Listen to famous authors, topic briefings and more SRI LANKA: Resources, sources, webcasts for covering the civil war ADVICE FOR JOURNALISTS: See tips for journos going to South Asia SOUTH ASIA & U.S. MAGS: See 135+ covers, old and new Sign up for our mailing lists: http://saja.org/resources/emaillists Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/sajahq Download the new SAJA application on your iPhone, iPod Touch (search "SAJA" in the App Store) or BlackBerry (FREE): http://saja.polarmobile.com How you can help SAJA: Send us feedback, suggestions: saja[at]columbia.edu Become a member - just $10 a year for students, $20 for journalists, $40 for everyone else. Sign up now. Make a donation - there's a $15,000 matching program right now

UK: BBC Asian Network on the Chopping Block?

When the BBC Asian Network was launched back in 2002 as a nationwide digital radio station throughout Britain, the BBC's then-radio director, Jenny Abramsky, called it "one of the most important things the BBC has ever done."  Since then, the Asian Network has developed a loyal following, both in Britain and, via the internet, around the world.

[Because of immigration patterns, "Asian" is the UK word for South Asians.]

Today, however, the Asian Network's future is very much in doubt. On the eve of British general elections, a strategy review by BBC management proposes major changes in the BBC's operations -- including the closure of the Asian Network (and another network, BBC 6 Music) altogether.

BUSINESS: Ajit Jain in Warren Buffett's annual letter again

The most closely-watched letter issued each year is the one legendary investor Warren Buffet writes to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. Famous for their folksy style and insights into the company (each share of BRK-A is worth more than $100,000 at today's prices), the letters are pored over by millions in the corporate world (see a collection, going back to 1997, here). And in this year's letter, he once again raves about Ajit Jain, who runs one of the his major insurance units (and is considered someone in the running to succeed Buffet one day). From the 2010 letter:

A hugely important event in Berkshire’s history occurred on a Saturday in 1985. Ajit Jain came into our office in Omaha – and I immediately knew we had found a superstar. (He had been discovered by Mike Goldberg, now elevated to St. Mike.)

We immediately put Ajit in charge of National Indemnity’s small and struggling reinsurance operation.

Over the years, he has built this business into a one-of-a-kind giant in the insurance world.

Staffed today by only 30 people, Ajit’s operation has set records for transaction size in several areas of insurance. Ajit writes billion-dollar limits – and then keeps every dime of the risk instead of laying it off with other insurers.

ISLAM: Anti-terrorism fatwa to be issued in London

Salman Ahmad, the lead singer of Pakistan rock band Junoon and author of "Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution," sent along this alert about a potentially big development. Please take a look.

Asked for a comment, Ahmad told SAJAforum: "The fatwa against suicide bombing, terrorism is long overdue and should be widely highlighted by both the Muslim community and the global media. It's about time the terrorists are (religiously) held accountable for their unholy deeds and made clear that Islam condemns their violence in letter and in spirit."

[His book hits some of these same themes. You can read about the book and see interviews with him at http://bit.ly/sajarrj ]

There's contact info below for Quilliam, Britain's first counter-extremism think tank and which sent out the press release. Post your thoughts and updates/news items in the comments section below.

Press Release: Anti-terrorism fatwa launch in London today

CRIME: Gopi Podila among three professors killed in University of Alabama shootings

HELP US COVER THIS STORY WITH MORE INFO, LINKS, ETC, IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. IF YOU HAVE A BETTER PHOTO AND DETAILS, PLEASE E-MAIL SAJA[at]COLUMBIA.EDU

UPDATE (Feb. 14, 2010): Added details below about Amy Bishop's 1986 shooting of her brother and her being a suspect in a 1993 bombing plot - see below.

An Indian-American professor was among the three professors killed during a Friday afternoon shooting on the campus of the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Professor Gopi K. Podila, chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences and two other faculty members, Maria Ragland Davis and Adriel Johnson, were killed. Three others were also injured in the incident.

A biology professor, Amy Bishop, has been reportedly taken into custody in connection with the incident. It is alleged that she was denied tenure. A Harvard-trained biologist, she was considered a "research star" in the department.

You can follow the story here at Google News.

Details about Alabama governor's response and much more in these stories in the Kolkata Telegraph by SAJAer K.P. Nayar: Feb. 13 and Feb. 16.

UPDATE: In 1986, Amy Bishop shot her brother to death in what was then called an accident. A new investigation is going to take place. 

In 1993, she and her husband were suspects in a bomb plot to kill a Harvard Medical School professor.

And then there's this:

During a search of Bishop's computer, authorities found a draft of a novel that Bishop was writing about a female scientist who had killed her brother and was hoping to make amends by becoming a great scientist, according to a person who was briefed on the investigation and spoke to the Globe on the condition of anonymity.

Excellent coverage at Boston.com, now with a new special section (thanks to Boston Globe's David Beard for the alert).

Podila's site has been taken off line, but the cached version is below.

In April 2007, we covered the shooting death of Prof. G.V. Loganathan in the Virginia Tech shootings; in Jan. 2008, we covered the shooting  death of Duke PhD student Abhijit Mahato; in Dec. 2007, we covered the shooting deaths of Louisiana State University PhD students Chandrasekhar Reddy Kommaand Kiran Kumar Allam.

My personal thoughts, as a professor at an American University for the last 17 years:

DESI SPOTTING: Shahid Khan to Purchase the St. Louis Rams

[Desi Spotting = items with a South Asian connection - see our archive]

We will keep this post updated as we learn more. Please share your comments/updates in the comments section below. We are also looking for folks who know him.

UPDATE: See below for comments from SAJAer Aisha Sultan of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

We did some Desi Spotting earlier this week that allegedly had a sports connection (the first South Asian model in the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue), but here's a real sport story.

Interesting news from the world of NFL football: the owners of the St. Louis Rams have agreed to sell the team to Pakistani-American businessman Shahid Khan (who came to the US in 1967, at age 16). 

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:

Khan, 55, is the president of Flex-N-Gate Corp., an auto-parts manufacturer based in Urbana, Ill. Khan has lived in the Champaign-Urbana area for more than 40 years and is married with two adult children. Khan is a graduate of the School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois.

According to league sources, Khan will purchase the 60 percent of the team owned by siblings [Chip] Rosenbloom and [Lucia] Rodriguez, who inherited the franchise from their late mother, Georgia Frontiere, in early 2008. NFL owners must approve the sale.

BOOKS: Ethan Casey's "Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip"

SAJA member Ethan Casey's second book about the human dimension of recent history in Pakistan will be published independently in March.

Titled "Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip," it recounts a six-week overland journey from Mumbai to Karachi via the Wagah border crossing in early 2009.

SAJA members who would like copies for review should contact Ethan directly at ethan[at]aliveandwellinpakistan.com or 206-226-0509.

Ethan has also begun working on a new book about Haiti before and since the January 12 earthquake, including responses to it by South Asian American physicians and others.

And feel free to forward this message to non-South Asian journalists who might want to review Overtaken By Events. Below are descriptions of all three books, or visit:
http://www.aliveandwellinpakistan.com/books

DESI SPOTTING: This year's Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue

[Desi spotting = items with South Asia(n) connections - see our archive]

I told my wife when we were married 10+ years ago, "Anything you find on my computer, it's research." This post falls under that clause.

Basically, there's nothing I wouldn't do for SAJA or our community, including searching through the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, looking for South Asian connections. After years of making this supreme sacrifice, I am happy to report on the following four items in this year's issue.

DESI SPOTTING: Stanford's Devin Banerjee wins WSJ's Daniel Pearl internship

From a news release from Stanford University:

Devin Banerjee, editor in chief of the Stanford Daily, has been awarded the 2010 Daniel Pearl Memorial Journalism Internship, which will have him working in one of the Wall Street Journal's foreign bureaus this summer.

Banerjee is working toward a degree in management science and engineering, with a concentration in technology and policy. He expects to graduate in 2011.

The internship was established to commemorate the work and ideals of Pearl, a Stanford graduate and Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002.

In an essay written as part of the application process, Banerjee noted that Pearl rooted his stories in conversations with everyday people, "for it often was their absence from the larger conversation that yielded a nature of misunderstanding – the failure to connect the dots."

Banerjee is from Calabasas, in Southern California, and he has previously held internships at the San Jose Mercury News and the JoongAng Daily in Seoul, Korea.

Pearl, a 1985 graduate of Stanford's Department of Communication, was kidnapped in Karachi on Jan. 23, 2002, while working on a story retracing the steps of "shoe bomber" Richard Reid. A month later, on Feb. 21, his captors released a videotape of his slaying. He was 38.

Congrats to Banerjee (it's also nice to see a South Asian running one of the country's biggest college dailies; and thanks to Peter Bhatia, editor of The Oregonian, and Stanford alum, for the alert).

See an archive of Banerjee's stories.

Daniel Pearl, when he was working in India and Pakistan, was an active member of SAJA's e-mail lists... Since 2002, we pay tribute each year to his memory by presenting the SAJA Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Coverage of South Asia (watch for this year's call for entries shortly).

DESI SPOTTING: Liveblogging the Super Bowl 2010

[Desi Spotting = items with a South Asian connection - see our archive]

Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010: Live-blogging the Super Bowl on this post, looking for South Asian stuff during the telecast - starting 6:45 pm EST. By the way, you can see all the ads, after the game, at CBSsports.com/superbowlads (and see NYT's Stuart Elliot commenting on the commercials here).

• See the 2009 Super Bowl desi live blog here.
• See the 2008 Super Bowl desi live blog here.
• See 2007 post about a single Bud Light ad.

• MEET BRANDON CHILLAR, A SOUTH ASIAN IN THE NFL: Listen to the SAJA webcast from 2010 with Brandon Chillar of the Green Bay Packers, the only South Asian to play in the NFL; his agent, Jim Ivler, his agent; and Kevin Negandhi, ESPN anchor . This year, Chillar and the Packers lost earlier in the playoffs (scroll down at that link, to see a history of South Asians at the Super Bowl).

6:30 pm: When I was a kid, the Super Bowl telecast was a South Asian-free zone. Not anymore...

6:45 pm: JOHN GILL, A SOUTH ASIAN AT THE SUPER BOWL: Turns out John Gill, a player on the reserve squad of the Indianapolis Colts (he may not play), has an Indian father. His full name is John Singh Gill and he told NUsports.com (he's a Northwestern University alum)...

Q: If you could dine with anyone from any period in history, who would it be?
A: Ghandi

[I don't know if the spelling was Gill's fault or NUSports.com's, but it's a common mistake, as we've documented in the past.]

Read the SepiaMutiny coverage of Gill, by Melvin Durai.

BOOKS: Basharat Peer tackles Kashmir in "Curfewed Night"

New York-based Indian journalist Basharat Peer (currently a fellow at the Open Society Institute after a stint at Foreign Affairs following his MA specializing in politics journalism at Columbia J-school), has just had the US edition of his first book published. "Curfewed Night: One Kashmiri Journalist's Frontline Account of Life, Love, and War in His Homeland," came out to major attention in India last year, where it won India's biggest book prize, the Vodafone Crossword Book Award for English nonfiction.

Official description and blurbs:

Curfewed Night is a brave and unforgettable piece of literary reporting that reveals the personal stories behind one of the most brutal conflicts in modern times. Since 1989, when the separatist movement exploded, more than seventy thousand people have been killed in the battle between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Born and raised in the war-torn region, Basharat Peer brings this little-known part of the world to life in haunting, vivid detail.

Peer tells stories from his youth and gives gut-wrenching accounts of the many Kashmiris he met years later as a reporter. He chronicles a young man's initiation into a Pakistani training camp, a mother forced to watch her son hold an exploding bomb by Indian troops, a poet finding religion when his entire family is killed. He writes about politicians living in refurbished torture chambers, idyllic villages rigged with land mines, and ancient Sufi shrines decimated in bomb blasts.

Curfewed Night is a tale of a man's love for his land, the pain of leaving home, and the joy of return -- as well as a fierce and moving piece of reportage from an intrepid young journalist.

"A passionate and important book -- a brave and brilliant report from a conflict the world has chosen to ignore." -- Salman Rushdie

MOVIES: "Kavi" gets Oscar nomination for Short Film and "Burma VJ" for Documentary Feature

After last year's Oscar success of "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Smile Pinki" (the OTHER Oscar-winning film about poor children set in India, for Best Documentary), it will be a quiet year for South Asia at this year's Academy Awards.

I've found two South Asia-related nominations (are there others?). One is "Kavi" for Short Film (Live Action). From the movie site:

Did you know slavery still exists? There’s more slavery today than the entire 400 years of the transatlantic slave trade. Click the photo to see the “Kavi” trailer & learn more. Kavi is a boy in India who wants to play cricket and go to school, but instead he is forced to work in a brick kiln as a modern-day slave. Unsatisfied with his fate, Kavi must either accept what he’s always been told, or fight for a different life even if he’s unsure of the ultimate outcome.

KaviTheMovie.com has more info, including contact information for the director, Gregg Helvey.

The other is "Burma VJ" for Documentary (Feature). From the movie site:

MOVIES: Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in "My Name is Khan" + webcast

[Part 1 and part 2 of the video of the conversation above. The entire 1.5-hour audio webcast, with an in-depth discussion of their films and the state of Bollywood in India and the US, is available below.]

SAMMA, South Asians in Media, Marketing and Entertainment and SAJA, South Asian Journalists Association, present the latest in their series of high-profile webcasts - via BlogTalkRadio - with some of the leading South Asian achievers in global media and entertainment...

Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, two of the biggest stars in Bollywood, are promoting "My Name is Khan," which opens in U.S. theaters Friday, Feb. 12, 2010.

You can talk to them live during this SAJA-SAMMA call-in show:
Monday, Feb. 1, 2010
11:30 am-1 pm NY time
see local time around the world here: http://timeanddate.com/s/1jt8

Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2010/02/01/shah-rukh-khan-and-kajol
(you can set an e-mail reminder for yourself at that link)

Or call-in to listen and/or talk to him at +1-347-324-5991.

Two entertainment writers on SAJA's board, Aparita Bhandari and Aseem Chhabra (@chhabs & host of AseemChhabraShow), will be interviewing the actors. We are not exactly sure which part of the 1.5 hours Khan and Kajol will be available (they have a busy day, including ringing the opening bell at the NASDAQ). During the rest of the time, the hosts will discuss the actors' work and careers, the backdrop of this movie, and taking your live comments and questions. Many thanks to SAJA & SAMMA's @GiteshPandya for setting up these - and so many other SAJA-SAMMA events.

BOOKS: Salman Ahmad's "Rock & Roll Jihad" + webcast

Watch a recording of a live SAJA Twitcam video of Salman Ahmad's talk with Daljit Dhaliwal of PBS WorldFocus. Watch him sing by at the 58-minute mark. The event, as part of Islam Awareness Week, took place at Columbia Journalism School and was co-sponsored by ASMA & MSA on Wednesday, Feb. 17. 2010 (you can grab an embed code at the link above).

==> Listen to a recording of a SAJA/SAMMA webcast with Salman Ahmad on Jan. 28, 2010, which was also simulcast on Radio Pakistan:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2010/01/28/music-salman-ahmad-muslim-rock-star-on-a-rock-roll-jihad

- - -

Every author likes to think his or her book is one of a kind, but Salman Ahmad's truly is - and not just because it is the first South Asian book to feature a foreward by Melissa Etheridge, Grammy-winning American singer.

"Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution," is by Ahmad, the lead singer of Pakistan's most famous living musician (the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan used to hold that title) and has the lofty goals of affecting changing  in Pakistan, the Muslim world  and in West. From the Simon & Schuster website:

COMEDY: "Desi OC" and "Bobby Khan's Ticket to Hollywood"

There’s Hollywood. There’s Bollywood. Then there’s Bobby Khan.

Bobby Khan will try, fail, and try again to crossover from Bollywood to Hollywood when Raising Desi Production’s "Bobby Khan’s Ticket to Hollywood" debuts this year.

A venture of California-based Atif Mirza and Tarun Shetty, Raising Desi Productions has gained popularity through its online show, "Desi OC" (short for Orange County in California), attracting at least 1 million hits online.

With the standard sunshine, palm trees and pretty faces of a young adult drama, Desi OC follows young South Asian Americans and their friends through the dating scene, family life and career woes.

“We essentially go off of what we’ve been experiencing ourselves,” Mirza said.

WEBCAST: Jay Sean, chart-topping singer/songwriter/producer

Listen to the recording: hit the play button above! - - -

SAMMA, South Asians in Media, Marketing and Entertainment and SAJA, South Asian Journalists Association, present the latest in their series of high-profile webcasts with some of the leading South Asian achievers in global media and entertainment...

A conversation with UK-born Jay Sean, chart-topping singer/songwriter/producer and first solo male artist of Indian origin to top the Billboard Top 100 at #1 with "Down" (featuring Lil Wayne).  Along with Jay Sean's management and partners, Jeremy Skaller and Anjula Acharia-Bath, CEO/co-founder, Desi Hits!

You can watch the "Down" video on YouTube; read about him in the SAJAforum post on his hitting #1; read his official site; and read his Wikipedia entry. (PHOTO: Jay Mandal/On Assignment).

Friday, Jan. 15, 2010
Noon-1 pm, New York time
5-6 pm, London time (where he's calling in from)
See local time around the world: http://timeanddate.com/s/1j40

==> Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2010/01/15/music-jay-sean-who-hit-1-on-the-billboard-charts-w
(you can set an e-mail reminder for yourself at that link)

Or call-in to listen and/or talk to him at +1-347-324-5991.

Send your questions/comments via e-mail to saja[at]columbia.edu (subject = webcast) of via Twitter  @sajahq. You can also use the chatroom that will be open at the link above to ask live questions. You can also post your questions in the comments section below.

===> As always, you are welcome to quote from anything said during the FREE, WORLDWIDE webcasts (50+) at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja

DOWNLOAD TO iTUNES: These audio webcasts are also available as downloadable MP3 files for your personal collection and on-the-go listening. If you want to subscribe to these as podcasts on iTunes, go to "Advanced" within iTunes, then select "Subscribe to podcast" and type in http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/feed and hit OK.

RECENT SAJA MUSIC WEBCASTS:

• A.R. Rahman, music maestro
  http://www.sajaforum.org/2008/12/webcast-ar-rahman.html
• George Mathew, classical music conductor and philanthropist
  http://www.sajaforum.org/2008/12/music-george-mathew-.html

WEBCAST: Ram Gopal Varma, a leading Bollywood director

[COMING Friday, Jan. 15 (noon EST), SAMMA/SAJA webcast with Jay Sean, who hit #1 on the Billboard charts with "Down" - WEBCAST LINK: http://bit.ly/sajammajay]

SAMMA, South Asians in Media, Marketing and Entertainment and SAJA, South Asian Journalists Association, present the latest in their series of high-profile webcasts with some of the leading South Asian achievers in global media and entertainment...

A conversation with Ram Gopal Varma, director of "Rann," a fast-paced drama set in the world of media in today's India; starring Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal and Ritesh Deshmukh.

Varma is a leading Indian film director, screenwriter and producer and a voice of the new Indian popular cinmena. Varma has directed, written and produced films across multiple genres— psychological thrillers, underworld gang warfare, politician-criminal nexus, and musicals —and in a number of languages, including Telugu and Hindi. His biggest movies include "Rangeela" (1995); "Company" (2002) and "Satya" (1998). Join us for what promises to be a lively discussion about Bollywood, cinema and the changes happening in the world of Indian arts and beyond. Follow him on Twitter: @RGVZoomin

Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010
10-10:30 am, New York time
8:30-9 pm, Mumbai time
See local time around the world: http://timeanddate.com/s/1j41

==> Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2010/01/14/films-ram-gopal-varma-bollywood-filmmaker
(you can set an e-mail reminder for yourself at that link)

Or call-in to listen and/or talk to him at +1-347-324-5991.

Send your questions/comments via e-mail to saja[at]columbia.edu (subject = webcast) of via Twitter  @sajahq. You can also use the chatroom that will be open at the link above to ask live questions. You can also post your questions in the comments section below.

===> As always, you are welcome to quote from anything said during the FREE, WORLDWIDE webcasts (50+) at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja

DOWNLOAD TO iTUNES: These audio webcasts are also available as downloadable MP3 files for your personal collection and on-the-go listening. If you want to subscribe to these as podcasts on iTunes, go to "Advanced" within iTunes, then select "Subscribe to podcast" and type in http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/feed and hit OK.

RECENT SAJA MOVIE WEBCASTS:

NONPROFITS: Udai Tambar named new executive director of SAYA

And they say you can't go home again. Udai Tambar, one of the most experienced and dynamic South Asian leaders in the nonprofit space, is returning to the organization where he began his NGO career. New York-based South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!) has announced that Tambar is going to be the organization's next executive director (succeeding Annetta Seecharran and the organization's founder, Sayu Bhojwani). 

SAJA has long been a supporter of SAYA, which, the press release describes as "the only organization in the nation that provides non-sectarian comprehensive youth development services to the South Asian American community." Translation: they do some amazing work with middle-, lower-middle-class and low-income and other South Asian kids in places like Queens and Brooklyn, far from the fancy Desi success stories on Wall Street, big corporations and the like.

Incidentally, he'd never mention it in his bio, but one of his more visible achievements has got to be the fact that he was responsible for coordinating the two-year community efforts that resulted in the Diwali parking holiday in New York City (which is now a permanent part of the official city calendar). 

Please see the full press release below and post your comments. Board co-chair Harsha Marti is coordinating press requests. 

TRAVEL: Sri Lanka #1, Nepal #31 in NYT's list of 31 places to visit in 2010 (India figures, too)

The New York Times travel section names "31 Places to Go in 2010" in its lead story this week.

The South Asia mentions:

#1: Sri Lanka. EXCERPT: For a quarter century, Sri Lanka seems to have been plagued by misfortune, including a brutal civil war between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority. But the conflict finally ended last May, ushering in a more peaceful era for this teardrop-shaped island off India’s coast, rich in natural beauty and cultural splendors.

#4: Mysore. EXCERPT: You’ve completed 200 hours of teacher training, mastered flying crow pose and even spent a week at yoga surf camp. What’s next? Yogis seeking transcontinental bliss head these days to Mysore, the City of Palaces, in southern India.

#13: Mumbai. EXCERPT: On the one-year anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, citizens painted a one-kilometer stretch of wall in South Mumbai with murals to show their love and hope for the city. The initiative, by a group of organizations that included the Mumbai Arts Project (MAP), which is dedicated to creating public art projects, is just one sign that Mumbai’s art scene is on the rebound.

#31: Nepal. EXCERPT: San Francisco, Amsterdam and Provincetown? Been there. Mykonos and Ibiza? Done that. Looking for the next gay destination? How about the Himalayan country of Nepal? Yes, Nepal.
In the roughly two years since the nation’s supreme court ordered that gay, lesbians and transgendered people be afforded equal rights, this conservative, mostly-Hindu country appears to be moving ahead full throttle.

The entry on #22, South Africa, mentions the new Taj Hotel opening there: Already known for its stunning beaches, mouthwatering cuisine and sophisticated night life, the city is welcoming high-end hotels, including the recently opened One & Only Cape Town and the forthcoming Taj Cape Town (www.tajhotels.com/capetown). Set to open this month, the Taj will have 166 rooms, many with views of Table Mountain.

See the full list here, along with a useful list of 10 Ways to Cut Travel Costs This Year.

Post your comments below.

Earlier on SAJAforum: Maldives #7 on "53 Places to Go in 2008."

JOB: Roving foreign correspondent for WashPost

In late 2009, SAJAforum posted jobs for Pakistani bureau chief of Reuters and Islamabad correspondent for the Washington Post. Here's a brand-new posting for what looks like an amazing opportunity for a journalist with the right experience, temperament, hunger, and frequent-flier miles.

DON'T FORGET: SAJAforum tips for American journalists going to South Asia for the first time.

Job Posting: Foreign Correspondent
   With the war in Aghanistan likely to intensify in the next year, we're planning to create a new, roving job on the foreign staff to help strengthen our coverage. Its  responsibilities will stretch from Iraq to Pakistan, and the duties will keep a correspondent on the road for at least seven months a year, dividing time between our bureaus in Baghdad, Kabul and Islamabad. The correspondent could be based in Washington or abroad.

    We're seeking an experienced war correspondent who has already spent time covering either the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan, if not both. Any candidate should be mindful of the dangers inherent in covering conflict zones, and should be prepared for long stretches away from home. We're seeking a minimum commitment of one year for the job, beginning no later than April 2010.

     A strong candidate would be an agile, self-starting reporter and a generous colleague eager to parachute into a new story every month or so. A strong internal candidate has already emerged, but we're eager to hear from others interested in this job or in other opportunities on the foreign staff. Applicants should contact Douglas Jehl jehld[at]washpostl by Jan. 18.

January 4, 2010

Please use code "SAJA" so they know you heard about it here.

REQUEST: Ways you can help SAJA - not all involving money

A note I sent to the SAJA e-mail lists....

Folks:

It's been another busy, newsy year at SAJA - our 15th. Sure, our achievements, as outlined below by SANDEEP JUNNARKAR, our president, are very impressive. But what might be most miraculous is that a desi organization made it to 15 years without spinning off any rival groups!

Thank you for everything you have done to support us. A reminder of several things you can do right now to continue to help SAJA (many not involving money!):

* READ SANDEEP'S NOTE BELOW: Am sure he'd appreciate your feedback - sandeep@saja.org

* MAKE A DONATION TO SAJA, PLEASE: Yes, your inbox is filled with year-end requests for donations, but we hope you will keep us in mind, too. The amount isn't as important as getting as much participation as possible from all of you. You can pay online or by check at http://bit.ly/saja2009

* BECOME A PAID MEMBER, OR RENEW: If you haven't paid or renewed, please do so - the best rates for any journo org in the U.S. and Canada.
 $10/year for students;
 $20/year for journalists;
 $40/year for non-journalists
 Lifetime membership for journalists is just $250! Non-journalists: $400.
SIGN UP OR RENEW TODAY: http://www.saja.org/membership
Membership questions to sajamember@gmail.com

* SHARE YOUR IDEAS, PLEASE: We've just elected a new board, with fresh blood infusing our leadership: DC-based writer Ambreen Ali and MSNBC "Morning Joe" producer Sovy Azhath (more to come on the 2010 office bearers at the end of January, after our first board meeting). We need your ideas for events, programming, speakers - please e-mail saja@columbia.edu

* VOLUNTEER, PLEASE: SAJA needs volunteers throughout the year for various projects. Most volunteers can help coordinate our online projects (including our webcasts, Facebook groups, SAJAforum.org, stylebook - http://www.saja.org/resources/stylebook - and more). We also need volunteers for various chapter events around the U.S. and Canada. No matter what your talents and interests, there are ways in which you can contribute to SAJA. Please write to saja@columbia.edu and we'll get back to you (tell us about you, what you do, what you can do, where you live, etc).

* TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT SAJA, PLEASE: Another easy, no-money way you can help SAJA is by telling your friends about SAJA and what we do. Please send them this link and ask them to sign up for one or more of our lists: http://www.saja.org/resources/emaillists

* FOLLOW OUR WORK, PLEASE: In addition to SAJA's presence on SAJA.org and SAJAforum.org, we are also on Facebook and Twitter. Please join us:

Main SAJA group: events, convention info and more
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2205192872

SAJA Students group: discuss jobs, schools and more
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204784603

SAJA Professors group: for profs of journalism and mass communications and those who'd like to teach one day
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6350819197

SAJA Toronto group: events, networking and more
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5607833067

7. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: Just go to http://www.twitter.com/sajahq and hit "follow"

Sandeep's letter is below. Thanks, everyone - and have a great new year! //sree//

MUSIC: Vijay Iyer's "Historicity" most acclaimed jazz album of the year + webcast

LISTEN TO SAJA-SAMMA WEBCAST WITH VIJAY IYER:

Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010
9 am-10 am, New York time
See local time around the world: http://timeanddate.com/s/1k3f

==> Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2010/02/09/music-vijay-iyer
(you can set an e-mail reminder for yourself at that link)

Or call-in to listen and/or talk to him at +1-347-324-5991.

Send your questions/comments via e-mail to saja[at]columbia.edu (subject = webcast) of via Twitter @sajahq. You can also use the chatroom that will be open at the link above to ask live questions. You can also post your questions in the comments section below.

2009: The year British-Indian R&B artist Jay Sean topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts with "Down" and the year Indian-American jazz musician Vijay Iyer and his Vijay Iyer Trio's "Historicity" album was the most honored jazz album of the year. The latest accolade: He topped the fourth annual Village Voice Jazz Critics' Poll. From the VV article by Francis Davis:

HOLIDAYS: Santa tracked going by the Taj Mahal

NoradSanta.org's Santa tracker on Christmas Eve featured glimpses of Santa Claus as he traveled over South Asia en route to North America. Here are the relevant tweets that went out over Twitter.com/NoradSanta along with a video:

One of the 7 Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal in India is a beautiful sight. It’s one of Dancer’s favorites :)

Santa's journey continues - he just zoomed through Dhaka, Bangladesh!

Santa is at the top of the world - Mt. Everest, which is 8,848 meters (29,029 ft) above sea level!

TV: Glenn Beck attacks India's medical system

Controversial TV host Glenn Beck attacks India's medical system in this video on Fox News.

Post your comments below.

POLITICS: Q&A with Dr. Manan Trivedi, congressional candidate

Congressional candidate Dr. Manan Trivedi seems to have a suspiciously fine-tuned resume: not only is he a war veteran in a nation at war, but a physician and health care policy wonk to boot. He's running for Congress in the 6th district of Pennsylvania. SAJA blogger Zeeshan Aleem spoke with him by phone about identity politics, serving in Iraq, and his mother's work for the Obama campaign.

Tell us about the history the your district you’re running in, and why you think a Democrat will be able to win it even though it's elected a Republican Congressman for the past four terms.

The district is a Democratic-leaning district -- it has at least 20,000 more Democrats registered than Republicans. The incumbent built up a moderate Republican base, and was a fairly decent campaigner, and would win by the skin of his teeth every year. He had some name recognition, and that’s why he won in a democratic district. Now he’s gone; he’s not running again.

It’s an open seat, and most pundits predict that this is going to go to the Democratic nominee. The shifting demographics of this district has a lot of younger, more progressive people moving in from the Philly region, the demographics are shifting more toward the blue side -- as is the entire north east 

We are a nation at war, and we are a nation with an ailing health care system. You have served in the military, and you are a doctor.  It’s likely that you have an intuitive grasp of two of the most important – and visceral – issues that dominate the American political landscape.

I do feel I have a unique perspective on these two very pressing issues. Health care is something I’ve worked on passionately for the past 15 years, my entire professional career. And I am very much in favor of this health care reform legislation. Regardless of what happens with this attempt at reform, this is just the first step – we need to continue to fight to get a truly efficient, high quality, low-cost health care system in America …

I served in Iraq with the marines as part of the very first ground forces to enter Iraq in 2003; that experience was quite formative for me. I learned a lot about myself, a lot about my country, and a lot about what it really means to go to war. That experience made me determined that we need people in Congress to assure that we never take that decision lightly again, which I think we need in 2002-3, when we made the decision to go to war in Iraq. I don’t think we went in with the right incentives, we definitely didn’t go in with the right armor, and we didn’t go in there with the right intelligence either.

AFGHANISTAN: Anup Kaphle/The Atlantic on Gurkha warriors in Afghanistan

I don't think I've blogged a word in about six months. Such are the harsh terms of my parole agreement. But I wanted to post this great video from SAJAforum-ist Anup Kaphle (whom, it should be noted, is no longer with the Atlantic, but with the Washington Post).

Anup, who is originally from Nepal, traveled to Afghanistan with reporter Graeme Wood and shadowed the Nepali Gurkha regiment, which has fought for the British since 1815. The crucial point of this report is the cultural familiarity that these Nepali soldiers bring to Afghanistan: watch as they trade jokes and songs with the Afghans, and establish a rapport that I suspect is much harder for Westerners to achieve. I also loved watching them dance with British soldiers to Lady Gaga. By the way, Anup and Graeme were able to do their reporting because they won a SAJA Reporting Fellowship.