International | Dignity Post

Pelosi departs Taiwan as tensions rise

Posted By: dignity@123on: August 04, 2022In: Breaking News, Global News, Human Rights, International, Latest News 2No Comments

Biru Nepali- Kathmandu

Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. House speaker, was welcomed to Taiwan by leaders eager to accept American support. But when she departed on Wednesday, she left behind a crisis.

Pelosi met with Taiwanese lawmakers and then with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, offering assurance of U.S. support for the island that China claims as its own. The meetings, though light on substance, were widely welcomed in Taiwan as a rare symbolic victory in which a major foreign power showed its support in the face of intense opposition from China.

Taiwan is now bracing for China to begin live-fire military drills on Thursday — an escalation without recent precedent — that could encircle the island and drop missiles only 10 miles from its coast. China also suspended its exports of natural sand to Taiwan and stopped imports of certain types of fruit and fish from the island.

Diplomacy: The Biden administration has spent months building an economic and diplomatic strategy in Asia to counter China, and Pelosi’s visit leaves allies to wonder what damage has been done to the president’s united front. Europe, which mostly does not support the independence of Taiwan, has sought to stay out of the conflict.

In the region: Japan, whose westernmost inhabited island lies less than 70 miles from Taiwan, has increasingly come to view Taiwan as important to its national security.

Social activist Bishnu Maya Pariyar, featured in school curriculum in the USA

Posted By: dignity@123on: August 02, 2022In: Dalit Lives Matter, Global News, Human Rights, International, Latest News, National NewsNo Comments

Biru Nepali

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 1: A year after famous Nepali-American social activist Bishnu Maya Pariyar’s story was featured in a textbook for universities worldwide, she has been featured in the government school curriculum of Massachusetts in the USA.

The government school curriculum for grade 7 in Massachusetts, approved by the state’s Department of Education, incorporates a chapter about Dr Pariyar under the subject of World History and Geography. Pariyar currently resides in the US.

According to Khasokhas. com–an online portal focused on the Nepali community in the US, the chapter assisted by video contents and slides includes eight slide shows introducing award-winning personality Dr Pariyar and about caste-based discrimination and untouchability in Nepal. It also incorporates a documentary ‘untouchable’ surrounding the life struggle of Dr Pariyar.

This lesson is available in all public schools in Massachusetts and will be implemented in many schools in the USA next year. The chapter aims to eliminate inequality and number 10 of the United Nations Development Goals.

At the beginning of the lesson, after explaining the inequality through a video and quoting the famous American civil rights activist Rosa Parks, a video will be shown about Pariyar.

The text covers caste discrimination and inequality in Nepal; the EDWON, an organization established by Pariyar, is working to address the problems created by the caste system. In the less than 20-minute video lesson, Dr. Pariyar will be taught; the video tries to connect the caste system of Nepal to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“At a time when Nepal has yet to include the issue of caste-based discrimination in the school curriculum this is a historical development,” said Rem Bishworkarma, a rights activist and a journalist.

Born on December 19, 1973 in Taklung, a village in Gorkha district of Nepal, Pariyar’s life struggle was published in a textbook which is studied worldwide.

Dr. Lisa Wright Hoeffner authored the textbook ‘The Writer’s Mindset’ which is widely read by Universities and High-School students has included her story published by a renowned American publication McGraw Hill.

Scholars say the inclusion of Pariyar’s story in the 692-paged book was the first of its kind in history.

Dr. Pariyar is an award-winning scholar, prolific social entrepreneur, and one of the most admired personalities in Nepali community abroad.

Singapore is trying to find solutions to combat urban heat

Posted By: dignity@123on: August 02, 2022In: Agriculture and climate change, Breaking News, Global News, Health, International, Latest News, SDGSNo Comments

Dignity Post

In Singapore, where temperatures are rising at twice the global average, there is a real fear that extreme heat could make the affluent city-state uninhabitable.

That urgency has led to a government push for solutions. With the help of high-tech developments, including a mobile cart that measures radiation, researchers on the island are now trying to address urban heat through a program that the government said could be a model for other countries.

The program is aiming to build a computer model of Singapore, which would allow policymakers to analyze the effectiveness of heat mitigation measures.

Researchers say Singapore’s geographical position in Southeast Asia makes it a good model for others, particularly nations in the tropics. Situated near the Equator, the island has an average of 84 percent humidity and year-round temperatures that hover around 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

Data: A climate change study predicted that Singapore’s daily average temperature could rise between 35 degrees and 40 degrees Fahrenheit toward the end of this century.

What’s next: Singapore has planted 388,000 trees toward a goal of one million trees by 2030. “The prevailing hypothesis now is that the presence or absence of shade in a place like Singapore is the critical determinant in adjusting to heat exposure,” Winston Chow, a climate researcher, said.

NAIFF2022 Announces Film Lineup

Posted By: dignity@123on: June 18, 2022In: Entertainment, Global News, Human Rights, International, National NewsNo Comments

Opening Film: ‘ Halkara-The Postman’, written and directed by Bikram Sapkota

Maryland 2022 | NAIFF — Nepal America International Film Festival of Maryland has announced the lineup for its hybrid (virtual and in-person) festival scheduled for June 23–26, 2022.

The festival will kick off in person at the Old Greenbelt Theatre at Greenbelt in Maryland with the opening film- writer/ director Bikram Sapkota’s ‘Halkara-The Postman’ (Nepal). The in-person closing night at the same venue on June 26, will screen ‘Brick Mule’ directed by Michael Brown (filmed in Nepal), and ‘The Lip Readers’ directed by Erik Spink (USA).

Films from more than 12 countries — shorts and features, will be screened during the film festival. NAIFF will feature live virtual programs every day of the festival, which includes live Q&As with filmmakers, actors, and other film talents.

NAIFF has also announced its team of juries for this year which includes Anup Subedi, Nina Streich, Rebecca Bustamante, Farid Bozoegmehr, Portia Cobb, Deborah Jones, and Bhavani Rao.

The Virtual portion of NAIFF2022 films will be available for viewing on the Eventive platform for the duration of the festival. Details of the lineup are available on the website of Nepal America Film Society, the organizer of NAIFF at www.nafilmsociety.org. Follow #NAIFF2022 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Film ‘One Night in Kathmandu’ directed by Mohan Rai

NAIFF2022 Lineup

Features

1. Brick Mule | 40 min | UK-Nepal (Closing)

2. Halkara — The Post Man | 110 min | Nepal (Opening)

3. On Sacred Ground | 39.54 min | USA

4. One Night in Kathmandu | 85 min | Nepal

5. Singing in the Wilderness | 70 min | China

6. Six Feet | 76 min | USA

7. Tattooed Trucks of Nepal |98 min | USA-Nepal

8. The Inner Glow | 80 min | Venezuela

9. The Iron Digger | 51 min | Nepal

10. The Houses of Light |49 min | Croatia

Shorts

11. Antak | 6.01 min | Nepal

12. Barking Dogs | 14 min | Nepal

13. Crime Scene | 4.28 min | USA

14. Dastard, Traitor and Dog |13.59 min | Ukraine-Kyrgyzstan

15. Divination | 14.54 min | Nepal

16. Dumpling |14.32 min | China

17. Fobia | 3.30 min | Brazil

18. God’s Buffalo | 15 min | Nepal

19. Hands of A… |14.55 min | India

20. Home | 20 min | Nepal-Portugal

21. Life is One-Shot | 13.30 min | Iran

22. Medea | 13.29 min | China

23. Metamorphosis | 10 min | Iran

24. Nowhere to Escape |10.35 min | USA

25. OCD | 1 min| Tunisia

26. Rest Time | 15 min | Iran

27. Run Carlos Run | 5 min | Armenia

28. Sitting Still | 10.22 min | USA

29. Sleep Tight | 11.27 min | USA

30. Stronger | 3 min | UK- Nepal

31. The Lip Reader | 6.50 min | USA

32. The Statue (Peykareh) | 09.30 min | Iran

33. Three Threads | 24 min | USA-India

34. Tyndall Typewriters | 22.20 min | USA (DMV)

35. Wildfire | 10 min | Nepal

36. Ye Shaam Mastaani — This Enchanting Evening | 14.59 min | India-USA

Global Peace Film Festival — SideBar Section

37. Go-Go City | 50 min | USA

38. Out to Vote | 31 min | USA

Source : https://nafilmsociety.medium.com/naiff2022-announces-film-lineup-86e00de83361

Lamsal and Saput felicitated at New York

Posted By: dignity@123on: May 22, 2022In: Dalit Lives Matter, Global News, Human Rights, International, National NewsNo Comments

KATHMANDU, MAY 21: The Warm Foundation New York has felicitated litterateur Dr. Navaraj Lamsal and singer and artiste Prakash Saput at a function held in New York.

Saput and Lamsal were awarded ‘New York State Senator’ at the book launching and felicitation ceremony on Thursday by acting consulate general Bishnu Gautam and social campaigner Navaraj KC.

During the same function Lamsal’s epic ‘Agni’ was also launched. Acting consulate general Bishnu Gautam congratulated Lamsal and Saput.

Chairperson of the Warm Foundation Prof. Rajan Thapaliya’s literature and art sector is crucial in strengthening Nepal-America relations.

Singer Saput expressed joy over the felicitation and said he was more encouraged to dedicate his time to fighting against social discrimination.

His creations are popular among Nepali communities. Lamsal is not only a litterateur but also a radio journalist. During the function, a number of dignitaries including President and artiste of the warm foundation Urmila Bishwokarma, outgoing Secretary of Federation of Nepali Journalists and editor-in-chief of dignitypost.com Rem Bishwokarma, journalists Kiran Marahattha and Ankur Luintel, NASO Community vice-chair Punyawati Ramtel, Program Director of The Warm Foundation Dipak Pariyar, Bikas Pande of Gorkha Samaj, Susmita Diyali of Rotary Club, Manita Gurung of Tamu Gurung Society, social campaigner Ryan Lamgade, artiste Nisha Sunar, and Jivan Sunar had expressed their opinion.

The Warm Foundation was established in 2020 in New York for the social and educational development of disadvantaged communities.

Nepali scholar Bishnu Maya Pariyar nominated Asian American Commission member

Posted By: dignity@123on: May 21, 2022In: Dalit Lives Matter, Global News, Human Rights, International, National News, UncategorizedNo Comments

Nepali scholar Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar has been appointed a member of Asian American and Pacific Islander Commission. Of 28, Asian American people appointed to the position she’s only Nepal.

In 2021, Phil Murphy, Governor of the New Jersey has established Asian American and Pacific Islander Commission to ensure representation of Asian American community in the state institutions. This year, he nominated 28 Asians staying in the United States as members of the commission celebrating the month of May as the “month of heritage.”

“In New Jersey, we wear our diversity as a badge of honor,” said Governor Murphy. “As our state is home to the third-largest percentage of AAPI residents in the nation, our AAPI community is a key part of the great diversity in our state.”

Murphy said he was proud to appoint these outstanding members to the New Jersey Asian American and Pacific Islander Commission and wants to work with them to address the social and economic needs of the AAPI community.

With this, Dr. Pariyar became the first Nepali woman to be nominated for this position for her contribution to ensuring the health, education, and economic empowerment of marginalized communities in Nepal. The New Jersey City appointed to the commission for her outstanding performance in uplifting the status of the Nepali Dalits, social inclusion, and empowering people with meager
income.

Other nominees include Peter Ahn, Cecilia Aranzamendez, Angela Bae, Saima Bhutta, Samantha Bobila, Saketa Chadalavada, Dr. Ronald Chen, Gulshan Chhabra, Kin Gee, Smita Nadia Hussain, Sharmila Jaipersaud, Vinita Jethwani, Dr. Khyati Joshi, Sabeen Kalyan-Masih, Rippi Karda, Dr. Naveen Mehrotra, Anjali Mehrotra, Rupande Mehta, Mary Pan, Falguni Pandya, Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar, Amber Reed, Dr. Nimisha Shukla, Amol Sinha, Gabriel Tanglao, Jasmine Ueng-McHale, Yoginder Virk and Yan Mei Wang.

Dr. Pariyar has been involved in ensuring the health, education, and economic empowerment of tens of thousands of Nepali children since the commission was formed.

In 2017, Dr. Pariyar had played a vital role to have the historic Nepal Flag Raising Ceremony (2017) in Jersey City Hall, New Jersey, the USA which is the first not only in the United States but in the entire world; TPS (Temporary Protection Status) City of Jersey City Council Resolution for Nepalis living in the United States in 2015 and 2018. Dr. Pariyar has also been successfully bringing two countries closer as Emissary of Sister City between the City of Jersey City and Nepal’s Indrawati Rural Municipality since 2019.

The City of Louisville, KY, USA honored Nepali social activist and reformer Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar was honored with a City Proclamation and dedicated September 27 Day as “Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar Day” City of Louisville, Kentucky, USA, and its Mayor Greg E. Fischer for her social work towards Dalit and marginalized people, women and children of Nepal. Dr. Pariyar is a prolific social entrepreneur and one of the most admired personalities among the Nepali diaspora.

Office of the Governor | Governor Murphy Announces Appointments to New Jersey Asian American and Pacific Islander Commission (nj.gov)

Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar Designated As A Women’s Advisory Board Member In Jersey City

Posted By: dignity@123on: May 14, 2022In: Breaking News, Dalit Lives Matter, Global News, Human Rights, International, National NewsNo Comments

Nepali American prominent social leader Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar has been appointed to the New Jersey City as a women’s Advisory board member. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulp’s former advisor to the diversity and inclusive Board, Dr. Pariyar, is also a Jersey City employment and training committee member. The Jersey City women’s commission was formed on January 26 under the supervision of Council President Joyce Waterman and Dr. Pariyar.

Though the childhood of Bishnu Maya Pariyar was fraught with adversities, the problematic early life experiences instilled all the essential leadership characteristics in Dr. Pariyar. Dr. Pariyar is a role model for millions because she did not only eradicate the deep-seated social discrimination but also empowered women through advocacy and promotion of social inclusion, gender diversity, and equality for everyone.

In the U.S., Dr. Pariyar has vast professional experience working in family advocacy and prevention of domestic violence. She is also the founding member of the Association for Dalit Women’s Advancement of Nepal. She has also served on the New Jersey Mayor’s Advisory Committee on diversity and inclusion and is currently a Jersey City Employment and Training board member. In recognition of her meritorious service in social justice, she has been awarded hundreds of prestigious awards.

Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar, NJ Mayor Advisor, has played a crucial role in materializing this sister city concept. Indrawati village is one of the first towns that has become a sister city to the other cities in the nation.

Presently, Dr. Pariyar is the senior program coordinator at Hudson Speaks under Care Point Health in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. Hudson Speaks is a leading non-governmental and non-governmental emergency response organization against sexual violence in Hudson County, New Jersey.

Source: newyorkcitypost.org

Why the West is reckoning with caste bias now

Posted By: dignity@123on: May 01, 2022In: Dalit Lives Matter, Global News, Human Rights, International, Latest News, National NewsNo Comments

The US states of Colorado and Michigan recently declared 14 April as Dr. BR Ambedkar Equity Day. Days before that, Canada’s British Columbia province also declared April as Dalit History Month.

Ambedkar, the architect of India’s constitution, is the venerated leader of the Dalits (formerly untouchables), who suffered from their lowly position in the caste hierarchy. He was born on 14 April 1891.

India’s constitution and courts have long recognized lower castes and Dalits as historically disadvantaged groups and offered protections in the form of quotas and anti-discriminatory laws.

Now Dalit activists and academics, particularly in the US, are trying to bring in similar recognition in the West, where the Indian diaspora has often strived to be the “model minority” – aspiring, diligent immigrants who assimilate seamlessly into the country.

“Ambedkar once quoted, ‘If Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would become a world problem.’ That is precisely what is happening now in the United States,” Rama Krishna Bhupathi of the US-based civil rights group Ambedkar International Center told the BBC.

Dalit activists say that for decades, discrimination practiced by upper-caste Indians – especially in universities and technology firms – didn’t get attention.

But over the past few years, many have been speaking out.

In a September 2020 episode of the NPR show Rough Translation, a tech employee using the alias of Sam Cornelius spoke about co-workers patting him on the back to figure out if he was wearing the white thread worn by men of the Brahmin caste.

“They will call you for a swim, you know? ‘Hey. Let’s go for a swim’ – because everybody takes their shirt off. And they all know who are wearing threads, who are not,” he said on the show.

Others also spoke of feeling afraid and uncomfortable as Indians asked each other their caste at university parties.

Prem Pariyar seen at Cedar Rose Park in San Francisco — Image caption,

Prem Pariyar, a Nepali-origin academic, said he often used a metaphor from Isabel Wilkerson’s book to explain caste in America

The work of activists from marginalized castes and a rise in online “safe” spaces have increased the visibility of this issue in recent years.

The Black Lives Matter protests, which intensified after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, also had an effect, said Sonja Thomas, an assistant professor who fought for caste protections at Colby College in Maine.

South Asian Americans are now thinking through how anti-Blackness in their own communities might be informed by casteism, she said.

One major change in the past decade, Ms Thomas explained, is that many from the upper-castes are also grappling with their historical privilege.

“Though we are all well-versed in the stories of how our mothers and fathers came here with one suitcase and a handful of dollars in their pocket, we have little understanding of how generations of caste privilege in India helped pave the way for our parents, us and our children to do well in this country,” documentary filmmaker Kavita Pillay said in the Caste In America series funded by the Pulitzer Center.

Why Indian-born CEOs dominate Silicon Valley

Activists say a pivotal moment in the US was the state of California’s 2020 lawsuit against IT conglomerate Cisco and two of its dominant caste employees of Indian origin for harassment and discrimination against a Dalit co-worker.

“The case gave credibility to the efforts that were already being made in the background,” the Ambedkar Association of North America (AANA) told the BBC.

Soon after the Cisco case became public, a hotline set up by Dalit rights organization Equality Labs received reports of caste-based harassment from more than 250 tech workers in Google, Facebook, Apple, and several other companies in Silicon Valley.

The Cisco case received support from the workers’ union of Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

“It was the first time an American institution outside of our countries of origin recognized caste as a significant civil rights problem and one that required governmental litigation,” Thenmozhi Soundararajan, founder of Equality Labs, told the BBC.

In 2021, a separate federal lawsuit accused Hindu organization Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) of exploiting Dalit workers to build temples across various sites while paying them far less than the minimum wages.

Silicon Valley headquarters of Cisco in San Jose, California — Image caption,

The Cisco case was a pivotal moment in the fight against caste discrimination in the US

The same year, the University of California, Davis, Colby College, Harvard University and the California Democratic Party added protections against caste discrimination in their policies.

A landmark moment came in January 2022 when California State University became the first and the largest university system in the country to add caste as a protected category in its policy.

The student campaign at Cal State had the support of major labour unions in California which was a “gamechanger” as it highlighted that caste equity was also a workers’ rights issue, Ms Soundararajan said.

This solidarity from the labour movement is expected to influence more global conversations on caste equity, she added.

Explaining caste to America

“Unlike race which is mostly based on skin colour”, the complex nature of the caste system is difficult to explain to Americans, Mr Bhupathi said.

“It’s determined by birth. It determines where you stand in the hierarchical Hindu system,” he said.

Prem Pariyar, a Nepali-origin academic and a lead organiser for Cal State’s policy change, said he often used the metaphor “caste is the bone and race is the skin” from Isabel Wilkerson’s book as an explanation.

The 2020 book – Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents – had compared the histories of caste and race and Mr Pariyar felt it helped spotlight caste discrimination in the US mainstream.

Mr Pariyar’s experience had been undermined by upper-caste faculty at an academic senate of the university who said caste discrimination was “an Indian issue” so why discuss it in an American university?

This aversion to acknowledging caste is not uncommon among the dominant caste, said Ms Thomas, whose work delves into caste and gender in Christianity.

Attendees chant and cheer inside NRG Stadium ahead of a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston, Texas — Image caption,

Right-wing Indian-American groups often mobilise parts of the diaspora against changes to the status quo in the US

They fear using the word “privilege” would make it seem like they hadn’t earned their position in American society where South Asians were a minority as were Hindus and Muslims, she explained.

But caste was a structure of inequality not limited to Hinduism and present within every South Asian religion, Ajantha Subramanium, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies at Harvard, wrote in a letter to Cal State earlier this year.

“Moreover, many oppressed caste individuals are themselves Hindus,” she wrote.

The challenge from right-wing Hindu groups

A win for this rights movement in the US has usually been followed by a challenge from right-wing Indian American groups like the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) which mobilise parts of the diaspora against it.

The foundation stood against the Cal State policy and the Cisco case, calling them “discriminatory” and a violation of “the rights of Hindu Americans”.

In his book Open Embrace, Verghese K George wrote that the Indian-American community was willing to buy into the narrative that conflated “being Indian with being Hindu and being Hindu with being Indian”.

The notion found an easy overlap with the ruling Indian government’s agenda of promoting a pan-Hindu identity that did not address caste.

HAF is among several Indian-American organisations that have rallied support in the US for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has called the diaspora a “strategic asset”.

With BJP’s rise in India, Hindutva groups in the US have felt more empowered to increase their lobbying and legal efforts to curtail any changes to the status quo in the US, Mr Bhupathi said.

But caste equity is a vital and urgent frontier in global civil and human rights, Ms Soundararajan said. “We want to see those oppressed by caste informing institutions on how to transform themselves into places accessible to all.”

Journalist and rights activist Rem Bishwokarma honoured by The Jersey City Council

Posted By: dignity@123on: April 18, 2022In: Dalit Lives Matter, Global News, Human Rights, International, National NewsNo Comments

DIGNITY REPORTER

KATHMANDU, APRIL 17: Founder general secretary and former chairperson of Jagaran Media Centre Rem Bishwokarma, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of dignitypost.com has been honored by the President of The Jersey City Council of USA on Saturday.

Bishwokarma, who was also the former secretary of the Federation of Nepali Journalists–an umbrella organization of all the journalists of Nepal–was honored at the function organized by The Jersey City Council in coordination with Dr. Ambedkar International Mission (AIM) to mark the 131st birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar at the Jersey City Hall.

A human rights and Dalit rights activist Bishwokarma has been advocating for Dalit rights and social inclusion for decades through various platforms including media.

After a gap of two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ambedkarites in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania enthusiastically celebrated this special day.

This year’s event was made even more special as the City Council of Jersey City partnered with Ambedkar International Mission (AIM), USA, and made the historic declaration of recognizing 14th April as “Equality Day,” a fitting tribute to the champion of equality, whose life mission was establishing equality through the constitution in a society where it was most needed.

Jersey City is renowned to be immigration friendly and a champion in upholding human rights values.

“AIM takes this opportunity to express our profound gratitude towards the City Council of Jersey City and hope that this pioneering step towards upholding humanist values will inspire more civic, public, and private organizations across the USA to take up similar initiatives,” states a press statement issued by AIM.

Since there is growing curiosity and interest in Dr. Ambedkar’s work in academia and civil society across the globe, AIM had designed the event to rekindle and strengthen its platform for engaging with varied thinkers and expand the reach of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s monumental work.

The erudite and enlightening speeches by dignitaries like Professor Timothy Loftus, Professor Jenik Radon, Professor Jayashree Kamble, Professor Biju Mathew, Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar and Ms. Yashica Dutt were followed by cultural performances by AIM artists, adding a joyous note to the occasion.

Continuing the tradition started by AIM’s founder-president, late Mr. Raju Kamble, AIM had also set up a booth for free distribution of Dr. Ambedkar’s writing and speeches.

“AIM would also like to thank Jersey City’s Immigrant’s Affairs Commission(IAC) team for initiating this proclamation and also the Mayor of Jersey City, Steven M. Fulop for signing it, which is now available under public record,” the statement said. “AIM also thanks to the representatives from the Consulate General of India, New York, for gracing the occasion.”

Around 200 guests attended the function which was also covered by local news channels.

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