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India’s 62nd Independence Day celebrated at Oak Tree Road and Mandira Bedi, was grand marshal this year

India’s 62nd Independence Day celebrated at Oak Tree Road and Mandira Bedi, was grand marshal this year.

Posted: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:34:02 +0000

The Indian American community celebrated India’s 62nd Independence Day on Aug 9th Sunday with a parade along a 1-mile stretch of Oak Tree Road that travels through Edison and the Iselin section of Woodbridge. Bollywood actress, model and TV presenter, Mandira Bedi, was grand marshal this year.
Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the Parade and so were multiple colors seen, while grand finale was given by Grand Marshal with dance and drama shown by beautiful dressed Indian American kids, in a cultural program on the grounds of St. Cecilia’s Church

Celebrated Bollywood actress, model and television presenter, Mandira Bedi, was very happy throughout the mile-long parade along the Oak Tree Road, the road that divides little India, and stretches from Route 1 highway.

Now a permanent feature of New Jersey cultural milieu, the parade is held every year by Indian Business Association in association with scores of other Indian American organisations, to celebrate India’s Independence Day.

Normally it is held over the weekend around August 15 so as to facilitate maximum attendance, but this time, it was organized on Aug 9th.

The event, marking India’s independence from the British on Aug 15, 1947, is hosted by the Indian Business Association and about 80 New Jersey-based Indo-American associations.

“We have a large Indian population in Central Jersey which is growing, we thought the community was ready to support a parade in the area,” said Mahesh Shah, former president of the Indian Business Association, which initiated the parade six years ago.

Shah noted that the India Day parade in New York has been a success for the past 29 years.

New Jersey’s Indian American community accounts for a large segment of the state’s minority population. About 2 percent of New Jersey’s 8.4 million residents are Indian Americans, up from 1 percent in 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Middlesex County has an Asian population of 13 percent.

Many thanks goes to the Edison Police Department who provided good support, security and sense of friendship by keeping close watch on entire parade, and closed Oak Tree Road between Grove and Wood Avenues.

Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

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Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Today, August 09, 2009, 11:31:15 PM

Today, August 09, 2009, 2 hours ago | GoDesi

In album Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Today, August 09, 2009, 2 hours ago | GoDesi

In album Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Today, August 09, 2009, 2 hours ago | GoDesi

In album Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Today, August 09, 2009, 2 hours ago | GoDesi

In album Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Today, August 09, 2009, 2 hours ago | GoDesi

In album Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Today, August 09, 2009, 2 hours ago | GoDesi

In album Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Today, August 09, 2009, 2 hours ago | GoDesi

In album Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Today, August 09, 2009, 2 hours ago | GoDesi

In album Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Today, August 09, 2009, 2 hours ago | GoDesi

In album Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Today, August 09, 2009, 2 hours ago | GoDesi

In album Thousands of Indian Americans participated in the India Day Parade in Edison

Father’s Day Quote

Father’s Day Quote

If you are planning to get a Father’s Day card and you desire to add specially uttered and written quotations by known and anonymous people, then here are particularly picked and inspirational quotations not just for Father’s Day but about dads in general.

It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons. ~Johann Schiller

Dad, you’re someone to look up to no matter how tall I’ve grown. ~Author Unknown

The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God; I call him Dad!
~Author Unknown

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever. ~Author Unknown

There’s one sad truth in life I’ve found
While journeying east and west -
The only folks we really wound
Are those we love the best.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad.”
~ Anne Geddes

“Fathers, like mothers, are not born. Men grow into fathers – and fathering is a very important stage in their development.”
~ David M. Gottesman

“For rarely are sons similar to their fathers: most are worse, and a few are better than their fathers.”
~ Homer

“Father taught us that opportunity and responsibility go hand in hand. I think we all act on that principle; on the basic human impulse that makes a man want to make the best of what’s in him and what’s been given him. ”
~ Laurence Rockefeller

There are still a lot of quotations for your dad that you can find in the Internet. You may also use a line from your most loved movies. Any way will do. Just make sure that you understand and feel for those quotations.

Women in India are offering themselves as surrogate mothers to get through the recession and escape poverty.

According to fertility specialists there has been a rise in the number of women volunteering for surrogacy, which has coincided with growing numbers Western couples looking for mothers willing to have a child for them.

Dr Nayna Patel, one of India’s best known surrogacy specialists, said there had been a marked increase in women volunteering, while Dr Anoop Gupta, one of the country’s leading gynecologists, told The Daily Telegraph his Delhi clinic had seen a sharp rise in recent months of both childless couples searching for surrogates women looking to earn up to £5,000 to deliver another family’s baby.

One of those women is 29 year old Gita, a beautician from South Delhi, whose husband lost his job as a sound engineer in the film industry.

They were living in a comfortable three bedroom apartment when the axe fell. The sudden loss of his 35,000 rupee (£500) per month salary, sent them into freefall. They could no longer afford the £200 per month rent, and she, her husband and their two young children moved into one room, where they had to share a lavatory and kitchen with five other families.

To make ends meet, she joined Dr Gupta’s donor egg programme, selling two sets of eggs for 25,000 rupees (£330) each, and finally decided to volunteer for surrogacy.

“It’s been very hard, but now I’ll earn 350,000 rupees (£5,000) for the pregnancy plus 5,000 rupees per month living expenses (£66). I feel good about it, it’s easy, and if the family I’m having the baby for are happy, they may give me more. One woman was given a new flat,” she said.

It won’t be quite that easy. She and her husband must keep the arrangement a secret from their neighbours and family who may disapprove.

They will be told it is her own baby, but when she returns childless from hospital, “they will not ask any questions,” she said.

The recession has already accounted for the first 200,000 Rupees (£3,000) – “We must repay a loan. Then I don’t know what we will do with the rest,” she said. The £2,000 left after is not enough to buy property in Delhi, but it will be enough for them to return to a rented flat in the style they lived in before her husband lost his job.

Her gynaecologist, Dr Anoop, said he had delivered 150 babies with surrogate mothers in the seven years from 1998 to 2005, but he had delivered the same number again in the last three. An increasing number of patients are arriving from overseas, and he is matching them with practical-minded, lower middle-class women who want better schools for their own children, or to trade in their motorbike for a family car. “They’re not poor women being exploited. They’re very settle people who are very clear about their goals,” he said.

Gita is certainly clear about her goals: She wants to escape living with her family of four in just one room, and return to the comfort of a world she never wanted to leave.

“It’s easy money, I’m happy when I’m pregnant, I have normal pregnancies and the family will be happy with their new child,” she said. “I feel good about it.”

The credit crunch is also a factor in the growth of western clients coming to India for cheap surrogacy.

At Dr Gupta’s clinic, Kristin Jordan, 26, said she and her software developer husband opted for an Indian surrogate when they discovered it would be around $30,000 (£20,000) cheaper than in their home state, California.

“Here it will cost around $15,000. In Sacremento, it’s three times the cost,” she said.

Indian soda taps cow urine

Image by aphasiafilms via Flickr

Indian soda taps cow urine
Times of Malta Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:05 PM PST
A hardline Hindu organisation is testing a soft drink with cow urine, which many Hindus believe is sacred and has medicinal properties. The RSS, which opposes Western imports, wants the bovine beverage to outsell the likes of Coca Cola and Pepsi.

Why ‘Holy powder’ turmeric is a panacea for all ills

Why ‘Holy powder’ turmeric is a panacea for all ills
New Kerala Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:54 AM PST
Washington, March 7 : Indian ‘holy powder’ turmeric’s health-related properties are due to its ability to make cell membranes more orderly, which improves cells’ resistance to infection and malignancy, according to a study.

Police google farmers, find marijuana field

Friday, 30 January , 2009, 00:18

Zurich: Swiss police said Thursday they stumbled across a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the search engine company’s satellite mapping software.

Police said they arrested 16 people and seized 1.1 tons (1.2 US tons) of marijuana as well as cash and valuables worth 900,000 Swiss francs ($780,000).

Officers discovered the hemp field in the northeastern canton (state) of Thurgau last year while investigating an alleged drug ring, said the head of Zurich police’s specialist narcotics unit Norbert Klossner.

Images: Striptease queen

The plantation, measuring almost two acres (7,500 square meters), was hidden inside a field of corn. But officers using Google Earth to locate the address of two farmers suspected of involvement in the drug operation quickly spotted the illegal crop.

“It was an interesting chance discovery,” said Klossner.

Prosecutor Gabi Alkalay told reporters in Zurich that she plans to complete her criminal investigation in February, after which she will formally charge the 16 suspects and ask for prison sentences for all of them.

The gang is alleged to have sold up to 7 tons (7.7 US tons) of hashish and marijuana between 2004 and 2008, with an annual turnover of 3-10 million francs a year, officials said.

Resume of Indian PM Manmohan Singh

RESUME
Name: Dr Manmohan Singh (India’s Prime Minister)
DOB: September 26, 1932
Place of Birth: Gah (West Punjab)
Father: S. Gurmukh Singh
Mother: Mrs Amrit Kaur
Married on: September 14, 1958
Wife: Mrs Gursharan Kaur
Children: Three daughters
EDUCATION /Qualification:
* 1950: Stood first in BA (Hons), Economics, Panjab University,Chandigarh,
* 1952; Stood first in MA (Economics), Panjab University,Chandigarh,
* 1954; Wright’s Prize for distinguished performance at St John’s College,Cambridge,
* 1955 and 1957; Wrenbury scholar, University of Cambridge,
* 1957; DPhil (Oxford), DLitt (Honoris Causa); PhD thesis on India’s export competitiveness
OCCUPATION /Teaching Experience:
* Professor (Senior lecturer, Economics, 1957-59;
* Reader, Economics, 1959-63;
* Professor, Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1963-65;Professor,
* International Trade, Delhi School of Economics,University of Delhi,
* 1969-71; Honorary professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University,New Delhi,
* 1976 and Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi,1996 and Civil Servant
Working Experience/ POSITIONS:
* 1971-72: Economic advisor, ministry of foreign trade
* 1972-76: Chief economic advisor, ministry of finance
* 1976-80: Director, Reserve Bank of India; Director, Industrial Development Bank of India;
* Alternate governor for India, Board of governors, Asian Development Bank;
* Alternate governor for India, Board of governors, IBRD
* November 1976 – April 1980: Secretary, ministry of finance (Department of economic affairs);
* Member, finance, Atomic Energy Commission; Member,finance, Space Commission
* April 1980 – September 15, 1982: Member-secretary, Planning Commission
* 1980-83: Chairman, India Committee of the Indo-Japan joint study committee
* September 16, 1982 – January 14, 1985: Governor, Reserve Bank of India.
* 1982-85: Alternate Governor for India, Board of governors, International Monetary Fund
* 1983-84: Member, economic advisory council to the Prime Minister
* 1985: President, Indian Economic Association
* January 15, 1985 – July 31, 1987: Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission
* August 1, 1987 – November 10, 1990: Secretary-general and commissioner, south commission, Geneva
* December 10, 1990 – March 14, 1991: Advisor to the Prime Minister on economic affairs
* March 15, 1991 – June 20, 1991: Chairman, UGC
* June 21, 1991 – May 15, 1996: Union finance minister
* October 1991: Elected to Rajya Sabha from Assam on Congress ticket
* June 1995: Re-elected to Rajya Sabha
* 1996 onwards: Member, Consultative Committee for the ministry of finance
* August 1, 1996 – December 4, 1997: Chairman, Parliamentary standing committee on commerce
* March 21, 1998 onwards: Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha
* June 5, 1998 onwards: Member, committee on finance
* August 13, 1998 onwards: Member, committee on rules
* Aug 1998-2001: Member, committee of privileges 2000 onwards: Member, executive committee, Indian parliamentary group
* June 2001: Re-elected to Rajya Sabha
* Aug 2001 onwards: Member, general purposes committee
BOOKS Written:
* India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth -Clarendon
* Press, Oxford University, 1964; also published a large number of articles in various economic journals.
OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
* Adam Smith Prize, University of Cambridge, 1956
* Padma Vibhushan, 1987 , Finance Minister of the Year, 1993;
* Asia money Award, Finance Minister of the Year for Asia, 1993 and 1994
INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS:
* 1966: Economic Affairs Officer
* 1966-69: Chief, financing for trade section, UNCTAD
* 1972-74: Deputy for India in IMF Committee of Twenty on International Monetary Reform
* 1977-79: Indian delegation to Aid-India Consortium Meetings
* 1980-82: Indo-Soviet joint planning group meeting
* 1982: Indo-Soviet monitoring group meeting
* 1993: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Cyprus 1993: Human Rights World Conference, Vienna
RECREATION:
Gymkhana Club, New Delhi; Life Member, India International Center, New Delhi

‘India to launch manned moon mission by 2015′/Economic downturn affects corporate Diwali gift-buying trend

India chases China to moon with unmanned mission

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.