'Howdy, Modi!' success moment for Indo-US ties: USISPF

Agencies
September 23, 2019

Houston, Sept 23: The joint address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump here to a record crowd of over 50,000 Indian Americans was a triumphant moment for Indo-US relationship, the head of a top India-centric strategic and advocacy group said on Sunday.

"The addresses by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to a 50,000 plus audience in Houston were a triumphant moment for our bilateral ties," Mukesh Aghi, president of the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), told PTI.

"The summit not only showed our leaders' camaraderie with each other but also their commitment towards the US-India partnership and why the two countries continue to be natural allies," he said.

Aghi said during the "Howdy, Modi!" rally, it was reiterated more than once that both countries have shared values, a love for independence, freedom, and liberty that bind them together.

Trump touched upon every area of bilateral cooperation -- from a strong defence partnership to fighting global terrorism, a growing energy trade and energy security, advanced clean energy technologies, and also some of the forward-looking aspects such as joint space cooperation, he said, referring to the US president's speech at the event.

"Prime Minister Modi's address reinforced India's strong global position -- geo-economically and geo-politically," Aghi said, adding that a rising India is capable of attracting bigger and better US investments that create jobs in both countries.

The Texas-India relationship itself is significant with Texas being India's second-largest trading partner, he said.

"It is incredible to witness this growth in our ties and we commend both leaders who have started off this trip on a very solid footing," Aghi said.

The American corporate sector, he said, is looking forward to some tangible outcomes from the bilateral meeting in New York, where the two leaders will discuss the trade ties that have seen an upward trajectory in the last decade.

"Most importantly, the summit was a stunning display of the power of our people-to-people ties and how Indian Americans continue to contribute economically, politically and culturally to the bilateral relationship," Aghi said.

Eminent venture capitalist and philanthropist M R Rangaswami, the founder of Indiaspora, a group that tries to organise Indian Americans, told The New York Times that events like "Howdy, Modi!" help the community become more relevant in the US.

Trump's appearance here was an opportunity to increase his 14 per cent showing among Indian Americans in 2016, he added.

Indian American attorney from New York Ravi Batra said precedents were broken and protocol-embedded wisdom discarded in Houston when Modi introduced Trump at the event.

"Such warmth, usually between brothers or best friends, can displace protocol for something better: a knowing and obvious joint destiny," he said.

"To the faint-hearted or mischievous, they need to proceed with caution during the 21st century, because Houston became the venue when history was reset and India -- that Columbus set out to find -- and America, that Columbus discovered, joined as long lost family with a passionate warmth that exceeds the limits of sovereignty," Batra added.

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News Network
January 17,2020

New Delhi, Jan 17: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia does not have any car on his name, according to information shared in the poll affidavit filed by him for Delhi elections.

In the affidavit, it is also shown that while his self-acquired immovable property remained roughly the same as in 2015. His wife's self-acquired immovable property is worth roughly about Rs 65 lakh, as per his latest affidavit.

In the papers submitted during the nomination for 2015 Delhi polls, the senior AAP leader had declared that he owned a Maruti Swift car of make 2013.

However, in his 2020 affidavit, he has mentioned "nil" in the column for motor vehicles and other means of transport.

In the affidavit submitted on Thursday, his moveable assets were declared worth Rs 4,74,888 for 2018-19, as against Rs 4,92,624 for 2013-14.

In 2015, Sisodia had informed in his affidavit that he had bought a property in Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, worth Rs 5.07 lakh in April 2001. The approximate current market value of self-acquired property in 2015 was Rs 12 lakh.

In his current affidavit, the AAP leader has mentioned the same property. However, the approximate current market value of self-acquired property in 2020 has increased to Rs 21 lakh.

In his affidavit for the 2015 polls, Sisodia had also said that his wife had purchased a property in March 2008 costing Rs 8.70 lakh. At that time, the approximate value of her self-acquired property was Rs 20 lakh.

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News Network
June 13,2020

Jun 13: Requiring the wearing of masks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in areas at the epicenter of the global pandemic may have prevented tens of thousands of infections, a new study suggests.

Mask-wearing is even more important for preventing the virus' spread and the sometimes deadly COVID-19 illness it causes than social distancing and stay-at-home orders, researchers said, in the study published in PNAS: The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

Infection trends shifted dramatically when mask-wearing rules were implemented on April 6 in northern Italy and April 17 in New York City - at the time among the hardest hit areas of the world by the health crisis - the study found.

"This protective measure alone significantly reduced the number of infections, that is, by over 78,000 in Italy from April 6 to May 9 and over 66,000 in New York City from April 17 to May 9," researchers calculated.

When mask-wearing went into effect in New York, the daily new infection rate fell by about 3% per day, researchers said. In the rest of the country, daily new infections continued to increase.

Direct contact precautions - social distancing, quarantine and isolation, and hand sanitizing - were all in place before mask-wearing rules went into effect in Italy and New York City. But they only help minimize virus transmission by direct contact, while face covering helps prevent airborne transmission, the researchers say.

"The unique function of face covering to block atomization and inhalation of virus-bearing aerosols accounts for the significantly reduced infections," they said. That would indicate "that airborne transmission of COVID-19 represents the dominant route for infection."

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday urged organizers of large gatherings that involve "shouting, chanting or singing to strongly encourage the use of cloth face coverings to lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus."

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News Network
February 5,2020

Mumbai, Feb 5: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said there was no need to fear the Citizenship Amendment Act, but asserted his government will not allow the proposed National Register of Citizens to be implemented as it would "impact people of all religions".

Throwing out Bangladeshi and Pakistani migrants out of the country was an old demand of the Shiv Sena, the chief minister said in the third and concluding part of his interview to party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

"I can confidentally say the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) is not meant to throw Indian citizens out of the country. But, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is going to impact Hindus as well," the Sena president said.

India has the right to know the number of minorities from neighbouring nations who applied for Indian citizenship after being persecuted in their home countries, he said.

"When they come here, will they get homes under the 'Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana'? What about employment and education of their children? All these issues are important and we have the right to know," hesaid in the interview to Saamana's executive editor and Sena MP Sanjay Raut.

"As chief minister, I should know where will these people be relocated in my state. Our own people don't have adequate housing. Will these people go to Delhi, Bengaluru or Kashmir, since Article 370 is now scrapped?" he wondered.

Several Kashmiri Pandit families are staying like refugees in their own country. The CAA is not to throw citizens out of the country, Thackeray said.

"However, the NRC will impact Hindus and Muslims and the state government will not allow it to be implemented," he asserted.

Under the NRC, all citizens will have to prove their citizenship. In Assam, 19 lakh people could not prove their citizenship. Of these, 14 lakh are Hindus, Thackeray claimed.

In a veiled attack on his cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who will lead a rally in support of the CAA and NRC in Mumbai on February 9, the chief minister said the NRC is not yet a reality and there is no need for a 'morcha' in support of or against it.

"If the NRC is enforced, those who are supporting it will also be affected," he said.

Under the NRC, even Hindus will have to prove their citizenship. "I will not allow the law to be enacted. Whether I am chief minister or not, I will not allow injustice to anybody," he said.

The chief minister also took a veiled dig at the Centre's decision to give the Padma Shri award to Pakistani-origin musician Adnan Sami.

"A migrant is a migrant. You can't honour him with the Padma award. Throwing out illegal migrants was the stand of (late Shiv Sena supremo) Balasaheb Thackeray," he said without naming anyone.

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