SAJAforum

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

SAJA and SAMMA present two events with Salman Ahmad, musician, author and ambassador of peace. 1. Wed, Feb. 17, 2010, 6:30-8 pm - public event at Columbia Journalism School, presented with MSA & ASMA (details coming soon); 2. the webcast below.

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010
11am-noon, New York time
9-10 pm, in Lahore, his hometown
See local time around the world: http://timeanddate.com/s/1jkt

==> Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2010/01/28/music-salman-ahmad-muslim-rock-star-on-a-rock-roll-jihad
(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.

- - -

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:

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:

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:

WEBCAST: Shashi Tharoor, India's Minister of State for External Affairs

Hit play above or click here to listen to the recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2009/10/16/Shashi-Tharoor

SAJA presents a newsmaker webcast with author and former UN Under Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor as he visits his former home, NYC, after becoming an elected member of India's parliament and Minister of State for External Affairs. Call and and ask questions as he discusses his work in the cabinet and India's place in the world. Follow him at http://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor. More on him at http://www.Tharoor.in

Friday, Oct. 16, 2009
4-4:45 pm, New York time

==> Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2009/10/16/Shashi-Tharoor
(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 AUTHOR/LITERARY WEBCASTS:

WEBCAST: Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn on "Half the Sky"

Thank you for all who caught the live show - we have folks from around the world. You can catch the recording by hitting the play button on clicking on the link.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2009/10/07/Nicholas-Kristof-Sheryl-WuDunn
(you can set an e-mail reminder for yourself at that link)
Or call-in to listen and/or talk to them at +1-347-324-5991.

~ ~ ~

SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association, celebrating SAJA@15, its 15th Anniversary Year - in cooperation with the Asian American Journalists Association (NY chapter), the Arab & Middle East Journalists Association and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism - presents...

a special webcast with NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF & SHERYL WuDUNN, authors of the widely-acclaimed "Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" (and as seen on the cover of the New York Times Magazine, "Colbert Report," "Oprah," the NYT Bestsellers list). More about them and their book at http://halftheskymovement.org [Folllow Kristof on Twitter: @nytimeskristof]

"If you have always wondered whether you can change the world, read this book.  Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn have written a brilliant call to arms that describes one of the transcendent injustices in the world today - the brutal treatment of women. The authors vividly describe a terrible reality about the world we live in but they also provide light and hope that we can, in fact, change it." - Fareed Zakaria, author, The
Post-American World and host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Noon-1 pm ET
(see local time around the world: http://snurl.com/s86n1)

Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2009/10/07/Nicholas-Kristof-Sheryl-WuDunn
(you can set an e-mail reminder for yourself at that link)
Or call-in to listen and/or talk to them 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.

MODERATOR: Vibhuti Patel, contributing editor, Newsweek International and arts writer.

ABOUT THE BOOK, from Amazon: From two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era's most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world. With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among

AWARDS: SAJA 2009 Award Winners + Winners' Webcast

On Tuesday, July 21, 2009, SAJA presents a webcast with some of the winners of 2009 SAJA Journalism Awards (full list of winners and finalists below).

Hosted by Jigar Mehta, SAJA awards chair and New York Times video producer, the webcast will feature the following speakers:

• Stewart Bell, National Post, winner, winner of outstanding piece or series covering the conflict in Sri Lanka, "Inside Sri Lanka: An Island of Blood" (six-part series)
• Jonathan Foreman, National Review, winner of outstanding editorial/commentary on South Asia, or South Asians in North America: The Real Bhutto: Against the Mythmaking
• Anand Giridharadhas, The New York Times, winner of outstanding business story about South Asia, or South Asians in North America: Indian to the Core, and an Oligarch
• Kris Hundley, St. Petersburg Times, winner of the Daniel Pearl Award for outstanding reporting about South Asia, or South Asians in North America: Testing Grounds: Our medicine at what cost
• Sandip Roy, NPR, winner of outstanding arts, culture, or travel story about South Asia, or South Asians in North America: A Nod to Arranged Marriage this Wedding Season

These journalists will discuss their work and share ideas and advice for producing excellent journalism.

Listen live, or later, to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2009/07/21/SAJA-Award-Winners

Call-in number to listen by phone or to ask live questions: +1-347-324-5991
Or e-mail your questions in advance: saja[at]columbia.edu (subject line = webcast)

See full list of winners and finalists below.

Kris Hundley of St. Pete Times and David Montero of Frontline/WORLD win the 2009 SAJA Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting on South Asia. NYT, Washington Post, NPR, AP Among Prize Winners as SAJA Celebrates 15th Anniversary.

NEW YORK (July 16, 2009) -- The South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) and SAJA Group Inc. are pleased to announce the winners of the annual SAJA Journalism Awards. The winners and finalists, from media outlets big and small, were recognized at a gala dinner at Columbia University on Saturday, July 11. The awards were part of SAJA's 15th Anniversary Convention & Career Expo, which was headlined by religion scholar and author Dr. Reza Aslan and CUNY journalism professor and blogger Jeff Jarvis and attended by more than 500 journalists and guests from across the U.S. and Canada.

[Coverage, photos and videos from the convention are available at SAJAforum.org/convention.]

"The judges had an incredibly difficult time narrowing down the entries and selecting the winners," said Jigar Mehta, SAJA Awards Chair and a video producer at The New York Times. "The quality and range of the winners and finalists reflect the level of attention that media organizations are paying to South Asia and to the South Asian diaspora."

Among the prizes is the annual Daniel Pearl Award, named after the Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped and killed in Pakistan in 2002. This year's winners are Kris Hundley of the St. Petersburg Times and David Montero of Frontline/WORLD . In addition to the categories that have been awarded for several years, SAJA instituted two one-time categories to reflect major events of the past year: the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008 and the end of the decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka. This year, SAJA received more than 220 entries in 10 categories. Winners were selected by 40 judges who generously volunteered their time.

WEBCAST: SRI LANKA BRIEFING #4 - The Human Rights Situation

[PLEASE SUPPORT SAJA: Help us meet our new $15,000 challenge grant: http://saja.org/articles/saja-group-receives-prestigious-challenge-grant

TWITTER: Be sure to follow SAJAhq:  http://twitter.com/sajahq
BLACKBERRY/IPHONE: Get us directly on your mobile device: http://saja.polarmobile.com]

WEBCAST: SRI LANKA BRIEFING #4
Discussing the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) Special Report: on A Marred Victory and a Defeat Pregnant With Foreboding

SAJA presents the fourth in a series of webcasts about Sri Lanka (recordings of previous sessions below).

SAJA features a rare interview with a member of University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), Dr. K. Sritharan. UTHR(J) has just issued a special report focusing on the last two months of the war in Sri Lanka—and in particular, its ramifications for civilians.

SPEAKER:
Kopalasingham Sritharan, former Mathematics Lecturer at the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, is a co-founder of University of Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna). The group formed in 1988 at the University of Jaffna, and documented human rights violations and abuses by all sides in the nation's conflict, including various armed groups. After the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) assassinated Dr. Rajani Thiranagama, another prominent founding member of UTHR(J), in September 1989, Sritharan and fellow UTHR(J) member Rajan Hoole were forced to leave the university. For the past 20 years, in hiding and on the move, they have systematically documented human rights violations, provided political critiques and recorded voices of ordinary people from all communities.  UTHR(J) was awarded the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for human rights in 2007. K. Sritharan is also a co-author of The Broken Palmyra.

Official report summary:
This report covers key issues arising from the recently concluded war. It begins by examining current political prospects, and then moves on to a sketch of the last two months of the war primarily from the standpoint of civilians. While being frank about the LTTE’s cynical use of civilians, the report raises questions about the Sri Lankan government’s relentless move to crush the LTTE leadership while placing the civilians it held hostage at unacceptable risk. It examines humanitarian and human rights issues, the detention of the doctors who served with courage in the No-Fire Zone, questions about the fate of the injured left behind and moral questions arising from the action against the LTTE leadership and the fate of Prabhakaran’s family. The report closes with a warning, noting the danger posed by the present government behaving increasingly like a replica of the LTTE, and makes some recommendations that UTHR(J) believes would be profitable at this juncture. The report and its recommendations emphasize two aspects in particular: the need for urgent measures to address the concerns of the recently displaced living in camps and to secure accountability of the state to ensure the due rights of its citizens.

Full report here:
http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport32.htm

Featuring: K. Sritharan, University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna).
Moderator: V.V. Ganeshananthan, current SAJA board member, former SAJA vice president and author of "Love Marriage," a novel set in Sri Lanka and the diaspora.

Friday, June 12, 2009
10:30 am-11:00 am NY time
8 pm-8:30 pm Colombo time

Listen live or to a recording:http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2009/06/12/Sri-Lanka-Briefing-4-The-Human-Rights-Situation
(you can go and set an e-mail reminder for yourself)
or listen live via your phone by dialing this NYC number +1-347-324-5991
Please post your questions in the comments section below or e-mail saja[at]columbia.edu (subject=webcast). You can also call into the show live.

You can listen to previous webcasts here and here:
BRIEFING #1: http://www.sajaforum.org/2008/12/webcast-sri-lanka-the-.html
BRIEFING #2: http://www.sajaforum.org/2009/01/webcast-sri-lanka-briefing-2.html
BRIEFING #3: http://www.sajaforum.org/2009/05/webcast-lanka-briefing-3.html
Another discussion co-sponsored by the Asia Society and SAJA:
http://www.asiasociety.org/resources/090415_sri_lanka.html

OBIT: Prof. Rajeev Motwani, influencer of Google, Paypal

 I learned about the passing of Rajeev Motwani, one of the most influential people in Silicon Valley the way I learn most news these days, from the world of social media. SAJA co-founder and leading tech journalist Om Malik, posted the following on his Twitter feed:

@om: good bye Rajeev Motwani, one of Silicon Valley's good guys and a dear friend. I am going to miss you.

And he followed up with a blog post about Motwani, whose Stanford students included the Google founders:

Rajeev Motwani, one of the savviest angel investors in Silicon Valley, a Stanford professor and most importantly a close and personal friend passed away earlier today. He was 45 and is left behind by his wife Asha and kids.

It is hard for me to write this post — this morning the news of Steve Jobs’ improving health put me in a good mood. My day is ending with a broken heart and tears in my eyes. It is the day which reminds you of the unpredictability of life. Rajeev and I had been swapping emails, hoping to get together for a cup of coffee and discussions about technology. Alas, that shall never be.

After working tirelessly in anonymity, his tutelage of two Stanford University young grad students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, made him a household name in Silicon Valley. He started the Mining Data at Stanford project (MIDAS) and was one of the earliest backers of Google. He was an early investor in Paypal and a special advisor to Sequoia Captial.

Sergey Brin, one of those famous Google boys, posted the first item in nine months on his blog:

It is with great sadness that I write about the passing of my teacher and good friend Professor Rajeev Motwani. But I would rather not dwell on the sorrow of his death and instead celebrate his life.

Officially, Rajeev was not my advisor, and yet he played just as big a role in my research, education, and professional development. In addition to being a brilliant computer scientist, Rajeev was a very kind and amicable person and his door was always open. No matter what was going on with my life or work, I could always stop by his office for an interesting conversation and a friendly smile.

<snip> Eventually, as Google emerged from Stanford, Rajeev remained a friend and advisor as he has with many people and startups since. Of all the faculty at Stanford, it is with Rajeev that I have stayed the closest and I will miss him dearly. Yet his legacy and personality lives on in the students, projects, and companies he has touched.

Here's News.com's report, Valley investor and Google adviser Rajeev Motwani mourned:

Condolences are pouring out over the Internet as news spreads that Rajeev Motwani, a Stanford University computer science professor and well-known Silicon Valley angel investor, died unexpectedly at his home Friday.

Reading all this, you'd presume Motwani was an old man. He was 45 47, a 1988 Berkeley PhD and a 1983 IIT-Kanpur, grad. See his personal site here.

TechCrunch's Michael Arrington posted two documents co-authored by Motwani, from the proto-Google days in 1998.

Here's how Brin ended his post: "Today, whenever you use a piece of technology, there is a good chance a little bit of Rajeev Motwani is behind it."

UPDATE: Cause of death was reportedly accidental drowning in his home swimming pool.

Post your comments here.