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ACCIDENT: Six killed in car crash in Pennsylvania

Six Indian citizens heading to Niagara Falls from Troy, Michigan were killed in a car crash Saturday.  The crash took place on Interstate 90, in Pennsylvania, and claimed 4 co-workers and 2 of their wives. From the Detroit Free Press:

The driver, Kaushik Deb, 26, of Troy, died on impact.

James identified the passengers killed as Manoj Jharia, 35; Mili Jharia, 28; Nitin Agrwal, 29; Swati Singhal, 25, and Subham Choudhary, 24. The Jharias, Agrwal and Singhal were from Jabalpur, Choudhary from Indore and Deb was from Calcutta, but they all appeared to live in communities throughout Oakland County.

Deb, Choudhary, Manoj Jharia and Agrwal were Syntel software writers.

The Jharias were married, as were Agrwal and Singhal, James said. Neither couple had children.

The only survivor, Nitin Gupta, 28, was in the front passenger seat, police said. He was treated and released from a hospital.

According to the Erie Times-News, the exact cause of the crash is unknown, but the minivan they were in crossed the median, rolled and was hit by a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. All six bodies will be sent back to India.

The families of all the victims in India have been notified, Jonathan James, a spokesman for Syntel Inc., said Sunday.

BUSINESS: BBC on India's Pashmina Goats at Risk

Due to heavy snow in the Indian-administered region in Kashmir, thousands of goats that provide the famous (and expensive) Pashmina products, often referred to as "golden fleece," are now facing death, according to an article in the BBC News.

According to Tsering Dorjay,  Ladakh development officer, some 150,000 Pashmina goats had been affected by the shortage of food.

Of these, 100,000 goats were at risk of death if fodder could not be provided immediately.

Unusually, this year, winter pastures in the Changthang area, bordering China, had been covered in snow, officials said.

Moreover, they said stocks of winter fodder provided by the administration had already been exhausted.

The problem facing the Pashmina goats was brought to the authorities' attention by nomads who travelled by foot to a district office.

Local officials have asked India's defence ministry to airdrop fodder into areas which are cut off by heavy snowfalls.

Goats that provide Pashmina wool usually live above 4,500 meters (approx. 14,500 ft.) where temperature during the winter can fall as low as -22 degrees.

Although China and Mongolia are the largest Pashmina producers in the world, Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistan are known for quality Pashmina. According to The Hindustan Times, the Ladakh region produces about 66,139 lbs. (30,000 kilos) of Pashmina every year.

Along similar lines, Business Standard reports that the latest trade-related dispute between India and Pakistan is over the intellectual property protection for the Pashmina wool and other Pashmina products, by getting a geographical indication tag.

In dispute is the application filed by a Jammu and Kashmir-based handicrafts association to register “Kashmiri Pashmina” as the exclusive brand for products made in this Indian state. This will lend “Kashmiri Pashmina” the same kind of brand protection enjoyed by, say, champagne and Darjeeling tea. And the challenger, predictably, is a pashmina-trading organisation in Pakistan which wants products produced in the part of Kashmir under that country’s occupation to be given the same IPR protection.

Here is the Wall Street Journal version on the Pashmina dispute.

Does anyone know how much of Kashmiri Pashmina comes to the US? Please post comments below.

DEVELOPMENT: The Top 10 Megacities of the World

South Asia has 4 entries on the latest Forbes list, this one the top 10 Megacities of the world (thanks to Visi Tilak). Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Dhaka all made the list. Karachi didn't, coming in at #12. The list is part of a broader look at 21st century cities, and a recognition that as of this year, more people will be living in cities than in rural areas, which translates, more often than not, into large numbers of alienated slum-dwellers and the potential for "failed cities" that pose problems just like failed states.

According to the writer, Elizabeth Eaves, "The future of the city is a vast Third World slum." She also looks at the backlash against recently announced efforts to transform Dharavi, Mumbai's biggest slum.

#2. Mumbai, India
Projected Population in 2015: 21.9 million
Population in 2005: 18.2 million

The city's previous name, Bombay, was discarded as a relic of colonialism. But Mumbai itself is very much a relic of the colonial era. The land it occupies was ceded to Portugal by an Indian potentate in 1534, and then passed to Great Britain in 1661. Under British rule, Bombay developed into a major metropolis. Today, vibrant Mumbai is India's commercial and entertainment capital.

INDIA: Richard Gere's muscle-kiss gets Shilpa burned

Leave it to an Indian mob to blame the victim. Actress Shilpa Shetty found herself the object of Richard Gere's sudden, pawing affections on stage and, next thing you know, they're burning posters of her.

The two appeared at a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday to highlight the HIV/AIDS epidemic among India's truck drivers. In front of a cheering crowd, Gere kissed the giggling Shetty on the hand, then kissed her on both cheeks before bending her in a full embrace to kiss her cheek again. [AP]

Watch the debauchery here, if you can:

True, they burned effigies of Gere too, but clearly that was just for good measure. Gere apparently apologized to Shetty afterward and said he was re-enacting a scene from the movie "Shall We Dance" since he couldn't communicate in any other way with the Hindi-speaking crowd. Whatever his objective, it's clear he made some sort of impact:

They whooped with delight and whistled loudly as Gere swooped down on a visibly delighted Shetty to kiss her on her hand and a number of times on one side of her face. "No condom, no sex," an ebullient 58-year-old Gere shouted in Hindi to thousands of truck drivers who roared his words back in unison at a dusty fairground in New Delhi. [Reuters]

The Shiv Sena is grieving over the incident and took to the streets, joined by Muslims. Communal harmony reigns.

SURVEY: India scores well in Global Opinion Survey

We love popularity contests. We always did well at them, back in school. Every year, just like that, we'd do so much better than we had the year before - so much room for improvement. This year, India wins the Most Improved Nation title, or something like that, in the latest BBC World Service poll (conducted by the firm GlobeScan), which asked 28,000 people around the world how they felt about other countries.

GlobeScan president Doug Miller said "India is the only country that has significantly improved its global stature in the past year, and is now even with China. Britain, while slipping a bit since 2005, appears to be avoiding the steep decline that its war partner, the US, is suffering. And it is fascinating that Chavez's Venezuela seems to be appealing to as many people as it is displeasing."

India got positive marks from people in 17 countries but negative marks from only 3 countries (where, it is rumored, distribution of KANK was widest, but that's just a rumor, with fewer than 2 sources). India appears to be the only South Asian country on the survey. Overall, Canada had the most favorable ratings. Israel, North Korea and the U.S. didn't do well at all.

Is any of this important? We're not sure, but it's becoming harder to keep track of all these surveys. Also, the more we envision a random individual on the street - someone we sort of know, but don't necessarily respect - being asked questions about Nigeria and Kenya, Indonesia and Hungary, the less is our faith in this survey.

Here's a more thorough explanation of the survey and its results.

HUMAN RIGHTS: HRW says India's failed to uplift Dalits (UPDATED)

UPDATE: Smita Narula has been making media appearances to discuss her Human Rights Watch report. She was on WNYC's Leonard Lopate show, and she also appeared on WBAI's Asia Pacific Forum.

UPDATE: SAJAer and Fordham University law professor Anil Kalhan has written in response to the HRW report on Dalits, focusing on its comparisons of India to South Africa under apartheid.

UPDATE: Read a recent apology to Dalits from the US-based Hindu group Navya Shastra. The progressive group consistently highlights injustices against Dalits and says it was dismayed at the feeble response to its 'apology project'. (On a filmi-er note, read the group's condemnation of the Bachchans and Aishwarya Rai revolving around her engagement to Abhishek Bachchan).

Original post follows...

A new 113-report from Human Rights Watch flays the Indian government for how it deals with Dalits. The report is titled 'Hidden Apartheid: Caste Discrimination against India's Untouchables.' The word 'apartheid' is a running theme of the report, intending to drive home the idea that the Indian government actively helps, as co-author Smita Narula says, 'in maintaining a system of entrenched social and economic segregation.'

2007: A Calendar pushes the limits of South Asian Sexy

Since its founding, SAJA has been, more than anything else, about the journalism, and stuff like the truth. But it's also been about trends and representation, and about sexy, and to that end we've asked Saroosh Gull, publisher of DesiClub.com, to elaborate on his Sexy South Asian Girls 2007 Calendar. The calendar has been selling for $14.95 online, and features Anjali Bhimani, who acted in the Broadway run of Bombay Dreams, as well as Mariyah Moten (the cover girl), who won the Miss Pakistan Bikini title. The calendar's launch party is today in New York.

A press release on the DesiClub website plays up the potential for controversy:

"The calendar itself is not without controversy. The cover girl, along with several other models in the calendar are of muslim background and posing in bikinis has caused quite an uproar in some communities."

Tell us a little about this calendar. Has anything like this been done before? Who's funding it?

SAROOSH GULL: Well, the idea was there for some time about doing something new and edgy but it wasn't until my co-publisher, Ojas Vaidya, pushed the idea on me by starting the initial model search. And no, I am very proud to say that this has indeed never been done before in North America or the UK. The only other calendar showcasing South Asian (Indian) models is the Kingfisher calendar, which is far more conservative and is based solely out of and for India. This is being funded by myself and Ojas Vaidya. We also have some great sponsors on board.

What kind of distribution do you have in mind? What's your print run?

We printed an initial batch of 20,000 and after a few weeks of selling it exclusively on DesiClub.com, we have a little more than half left, which we plan on distributing at various launch parties and for promotional purposes - as was our plan. Its a great tool for our brand so sales weren't the only catalyst. We do however plan on having a non-exclusive distribution channel in place for the 2008 calendar, which will make the calendar available in mainstream retail outlets and other websites.

These women - how did you find them?

We found all of our models by doing a model search on our site, DesiClub.com, and by utilizing our relationships with key players in the South Asian-American scene. It wasn't easy finding 12 Desi girls who wanted to pose in Bikinis, but we actually found 17, of which only 12 made it to the calendar.

Given that this is a desi calendar, you could've dressed your models in, say, salwar kameez. But you chose bikinis instead. Why?

I don't think anyone wants to see South Asian models in salwar kameez, that's been killed and killed again by the existing fashion outlets, who do nothing but the same thing over and over again. That was also part of the reason for doing what we did, to showcase South Asian women in a way that they have never been shown before. It puts a whole new perspective on South Asian-Americans being in the mainstream and not repeating the cliched Indian fashion look of saris and salwar kameez - not that there is anything wrong with that but we wanted to project an American look and that is what we accomplished.

Were there any decisions you made to scale down the sexy factor, given the audience?

Not at all. But in directing the photo shoots, there were times when I did have to scale things back a little, but only for artistic reasons. I don't think the calendar is overtly sexy, it has a good blend of sexiness, but does not cross any boundaries that have not been crossed in the mainstream.

You say the calendar isn't 'overtly sexy.' But isn't it? Would it be unfair to some of the shots are inspired by porn, as mainstream as some porn imagery may be? Most of the shots are more risque than what you'd find in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

I do not think it is overtly sexy - it is nothing more than what you see on MTV or VH1 or any Network channel at any given time. We could have done something more conservative, but then what would be the point of that as our main goal was to bring South Asian models into the mainstream and by maintaining a conservative concept, it really would not be introducing anything new and it most certainly would not have the impact that this is having on getting notoriety for the models and for the project itself. While we did maintain an edgy style - it is nothing beyond mainstream publications MAXIM or FHM or network TV for that matter.

ELEPHANT UPDATE: 'Mac' wins over other, better names

The Houston Zoo's elephant-naming contest ended tragically, with the infant beast dubbed... Mac. Not Sundar, nor Janu, as we had earlier hoped, but... Mac. As in iPod. Or Big Mac.

Over 8000 votes were cast, many of them, evidently, by corporate lobbyists.

Vote tally:

1. Mac: 2669 votes
   Janu: 2224 votes
   Guiness: 1664 votes
   Sundar: 1343 votes
   Colossus: 623 votes

In better news, the baby has passed the 475 pound mark.

ACTIVISM: Ram Narayanan, bilateral booster

Several months ago, if you’d been following the pending Indian civilian nuclear deal via the op-eds of the New York Times ("Still a Bad Deal"), you may have assumed it was headed for trouble. Yesterday, the deal was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate (the House already approved it) and at least outside of DC, one person who deserves credit is Ram Narayanan.

Narayanan is a photo-shy retiree living in Buffalo, but among Indians he is one of the most influential grassroots activists in America, exerting a considerable impact on Indo-US opinionators inside the Beltway. His activism has mirrored, and helped define, the increased political sophistication of Indian-Americans in recent years. As a registered independent, he doesn’t openly support any party in the US or India, but his issues are pretty defined: he wants a more muscular economic and military partnership between the 2 countries, and he wants American lawmakers to crack down on cross-border terrorism driven by Pakistan.

It was the Kargil episode that got him going, in 1999. He started his website, www.usindiafriendship.net then, after which he started the email list. Today, with help from his wife, Loral Alberta Narayanan, he has about 15,000 subscribers, more than any other South Asian (see list of top email activists and networkers). I heard from several dozen subscribers – politicians like Kumar Barve, Congressional aides and academics, as well as community activists across the country.

A couple things repeatedly came up in their answers.

“Congressional staffers are always trying to get up to date, and non-editorialized information on pressing issues,” says Rich Verma, senior national security advisor to Senator Harry Reid. “That’s what Ram’s listserv assists with.” 

The other thing, and probably the quality that makes Ram’s list even more influential than its numbers suggest, is his ability to motivate subscribers. More than merely informing readers by passing along articles and op-eds, Ram gets people to write letters to the editor and to their elected representatives, even circulating templates of letters to help things along. This moves the issue from backrooms on the Hill to the public arena, and makes Congressional aides take notice.

“He has been instrumental in mobilizing public opinion on various issues,” says Dr. Chandresh Saraiya, the national president of the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation. “During elections in US, he was very helpful in providing back-grounds on candidates for congress and senate and their stand on US-India relationship. He was helpful for building a larger India Caucus. He has spent tremendous energy on Us-India Civil Nuclear Energy agreement. I have written to Congressman in my area after his efforts on this and other issues.”

Here’s what Achamma Chandersekaran had to say:

“When he felt that the effort on the part of Indian Americans may not bear fruition, he sent out the names of the bill sponsors by state so that we could contact our law makers and ask for support.  Based on that, many Indian Americans, like me, contacted their friends to get their attention to the situation.”

One Beltway observer says Narayanan’s contribution is ‘significant,’ in terms of holding politicians’ feet to the fire, primarily by making it known who has voted and who’s still sitting on the fence. The effect is less that of an analyst than a grassroots activist, and that Narayanan’s strength lies in his independence (“he’s not a Congress-wallah or BJP-wallah”). If there’s any downside, the observer thinks it rests in Narayanan’s approach to U.S.-India-Pakistan relations as a “zero-sum game,” wherein what’s good for Pakistan is by definition bad for India.

But Ram disputes this.

"I am not against Pakistan nor do I think US-India-Pakistan relations are a zero-sum game," he says. "I am against Pakistan's policy of training and directing terrorists against India and the rest of the world. I am looking forward to the day when Pakistan would be to India what Mexico is to the US."

Ram is originally from Chennai. He worked in banking before moving to the US and becoming a marketing executive. He now spends several hours a day on the effort, combing press reports from the mainstream media and Congressional journals and such, and formulating summaries. He also has a lot of emails from subscribers to answer.

"The list, I may add, embraces the diversity of India and the Indian American community," he says, "whether occupation-wise, religion and caste-wise, language-wise or by political persuasion. You name a category and I am fairly certain you will find some one belonging to that category on the list."

Here's his email address: ramn_wins@adelphia.net

LISTS: The top South Asian email activists and networkers

Which South Asians run the most popular email lists? What follows is a list of seven individuals/groups (let’s call them The List of Seven, or the Gang of Four, although technically there are seven of them) - activists and networkers of varying shades who have been keeping at it for a goodly amount of time, and have somehow managed to not get unsubscribed into oblivion. Call them relevant. Each of these people self-reported the number of subscribers – make of that what you will.

Although I’m a long-time subscriber to his list, I was startled to find that #1, Ram Narayanan has 15,000 subscribers, about double that of the next guy, one Sreenath Sreenivasan. For those of you who don’t know Ram or his U.S.-Friendship.net, check out SAJAforum's profile of him and his work in helping impact the dialogue on the civilian nuclear energy deal between the US and India.

• DEEPA IYER/SAALT – 2,300 subscribers

Deepa started South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow in 2000. The group was based in New York until last year, when it set up shop in DC, and deals with civil rights and policy issues affecting the community.

• Tushar Unadkat/NOUVEAU IDEA – 3,100 subscribers (updated)

Tushar is Toronto-based and works in the movie industry. He started his service at the end of 2002. He says its subscribers include Shabana Azmi, Aroon Shivdasani (IAAC), Mahesh Dattani and Mira Nair. The service spreads the word about auditions and other events pertaining to the Biz.

• Sakhi for South Asian Women – 2,783 subscribers

The New York-based service tells people about the domestic violence group’s activities.

• Sreenath Sreenivasan/SAJA – 7,500 subscribers

According to Sree this figure is approximate, and includes “desis and desi watchers in 20countries.” Easily the most high-volume of the lists represented here. Since most people are on the SAJA articles lists (select articles being sent out a few times a week), Sree recommends the SAJA E-mail Discussion List for those with an appetite for more analysis of what going on in the news. That list, of about 400 people, is run by SAJA Treasurer John Laxmi and "offers many more articles and critiques of news events, newsmakers and the journalists who cover them." Anyone who'd like to join that list can e-mail John at johnlaxmisajadisc[at]gmail.com with a few lines introducing themselves.

• Sam Kannappan – 3,000 subscribers

Sam is a Houston-based community leader. His emails are usually digests of happenings around Texas – pujas, a Tamil drama, a meet-and-greet with a visiting Indian dignitary - and include the occasional call to action (sign up for Medicare Part D). The subscribers include Harris County Judge Robert Eckels, the press secretary to Governor Rick Perry and Dr. George Sudarshan.

• Hindu Press International – 5,000 subscribers

HPI is the almost-daily service run by the same people who put out Hinduism Today, in Hawaii. It’s overseen by Sannyasin Arumugaswami, the managing editor of the paper. The service allows the editors to publicize news that can’t be run in the paper because it would be dated by then, and also to occasionally galvanize the global Hindu community. A podcast is being considered, in English and possibly other languages.

“HPI is researched by a dozen or so people who regularly send in news items they find on the Web and several hundred more who send in something rarely,” says Arumugaswami. “Occasionally something will be translated from a print edition of Hindi, Tamil, Spanish, French, etc. Rarely we'll do an original report. Most recently we did several original reports on the California textbook issue. These reports were widely cited (or plagiarized) in the press worldwide. We do evaluate stories for plausibility, and will not run something questionable without checking on it first.”

Know of other big lists? List them below, with descriptions, contact info.

ELEPHANT UPDATE: Hindu now Hindi, cosmic order restored

We earlier posted on the Houston Zoo's naming contest for their brand new, bouncy 384-pound baby elephant, noting that two of the choices were Indian (Sundar and Janu), and also noting that the site confused the word Hindi with Hindu...

• Sundar (In Hindu/India, it means "attractive")
• Janu (In Hindu/India, it means "soul" or "life force")

We're happy to note that the mistake has been repaired. In an EXCLUSIVE interview yesterday with Zoo spokesman Brian Hill, SAJAforum raised the issue and was assured that a correction was in the works. Apologies and sheepishness were generously proferred. The culprit was apparently a hasty assistant webmaster.

Additional info: the elephant's mommy is named Shanti, while the bull dad is named Thai (as in -land). There's a third elephant at the zoo, no relation to this as-yet-unnamed one, called Mithai. So generally speaking the zoo has tried to name in an ethnically accurate manner.

The five name choices for this one - Sundar, Janu, Mac, Guiness and Colossus - were suggested by the 7 elephant handlers at the zoo.

The last time the zoo had a naming contest, for a baby giraffe, about 8,000 people voted. There's still another week for to vote, people. Let's do right by that elephant.

DESI SPOTTING: Name that elephant!

The Houston Zoo has a new, 384-pound baby elephant, and it's looking to name him (via Sam Kannappan, who appropriately enough calls the contest a Namkaran). Go to the zoo's website and place your vote for one of five names, including 2 Indian names:

• Colossus
• Guiness
• Sundar
• Janu
• Mac

The deadline is Friday, November 10.

You'll notice on the website that they've given a little explanation/translation for each name, and for Sundar and Janu it says "In Hindu/India, it means..." as if to suggest that Hindu is a language. Whoops.

But hopefully nomenclatural (?) justice will prevail and that little Indian elephant will receive a good Indian name.

They say this is the largest baby elephant birth on record. Maybe they'll eventually take it a step further and do like Guruvayur temple, in Kerala, which is to let you get blessed by the elephant. Elephant's trunk caressing the crown of your head - one of the world's top 5 sensations.