2008 Big Apple International Indoor Tournament

The 2008 Big Apple International Indoor Tournament was held on February 23 and 24 in the Riverbank State Park, a press release said. The tournament annually attracts many of the top men's and women's field hockey teams from the U.S. and Canada.

"Field hockey has steadily grown in popularity in New York City due to outstanding events such as the Big Apple International Indoor Tournament," New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba was quoted in the release."Bringing together the top indoor field hockey teams offers New Yorkers the opportunity to see some of the sport's premier athletes in action."

2007 men's and women's champions RYE FHC and University of Maryland (also the 2005 & 2006 NCAA Div. I Champions) returned to defend their respective Big Apple International Indoor Tournament titles.

University of Maryland and the Toronto Lions FHC were the ladies and mens champions respectively.

The 2008 tournament field was chosen from over 50 applicants. The eight men's


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How to celebrate Leap Day

We all grew up learning the rhyme about the calendar: Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have thirty-one, except February, which has twenty-eight. Or does it?

Turns out the earth revolves around the sun every 365 ¼ days, so if we did not add on an extra day every four years, we would eventually celebrate Christmas in July!

So what does Leap Day mean for most of us? Well, not a lot. (Except for those born on this day, then it means a big time party to make up for the past three years when the world decided to skip their birthday.)

But you do not have to be born on Leap Day to celebrate the holiday. Here are some suggestions on how to make the most of this ‘extra' day in our lives:

• It is an old Irish tradition for women to ask men to marry them on Leap Day. In Scotland, if a man refused a lady's proposal, he had to either give her a kiss, a pair of gloves, or a silk dress. So get out there and ask a guy out.

And guys, if you turn her down, you better pick up that pair of leather gloves she has been eyeing.

• Use the Internet to find the current address of an old friend who you have not spoken to in over four years.

• Write the old friend a post card, then bring it to the post office and ask them to hand-stamp it with the date. Since you are going to the post office, bring your old cell phones and eyeglasses. Many have bins where the phones will get sent to soldiers overseas and the eyeglasses to those in need.

• Clean out all the e-mail that's been piling up, both at work and at home. Un-enlist from newsgroups and list serves from which you no longer bother to open mail.

• Make a Leap Day Cocktail, like the one created at London's Savoy Hotel for a Leap Day party in 1928. Share it with someone you love.


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Corzine legislation to help working families

Governor Jon S. Corzine signed two bills to assist low-and moderate-income working New Jersey families on February 13. The first bill, S-2647 expands program eligibility and enhances the benefit amount under the New Jersey Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The second bill, A1698, permits free tax preparation centers (VITA sites) to offer Alternative Refund Anticipation Loans (A-RALs) to low income New Jersey filers without high fees or interest charges.

"With the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, we are providing new economic opportunities to nearly 300,000 additional low- and moderate-income working families across the state," the Governor said. "By helping these families earn their way out of poverty, we are supporting self sufficiency and ensuring better lives for their children. I would encourage all eligible families to apply for these credits when they file their taxes this year.

"Low-and middle-income filers can use tax preparation centers such as this one run by Citizen Action and be guaranteed certain consumer protections without being charged excessive rates for these services."

The EITC is a targeted income tax benefit that lessens the burden of payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare. Under the new law, the credit is now available for



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City's pothole repair programs improve our streets

Every year, when winter arrives, we actually have to put our repaving efforts on hold. That is because it is too difficult to keep the asphalt we use to repave streets hot enough to work with. So we turn our attention to other needs. And that is a good thing because the winter is prime time for potholes: Rainwater or runoff from melting snow seeps beneath roadways and freezes and expands, causing the road surface to break open.

Over the past six years we have repaired nearly 1¼ million potholes. That includes some 200,000 during 2007 - double the amount we filled in 2002. In fact, our crews are now filling potholes at the rate of 22 every hour - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

One of the reasons why we are filling more potholes than ever is because of 311 and our brand new SCOUT program, which deploys a team of inspectors onto our streets to report quality-of-life infractions.In fact, last month our SCOUT inspectors covered every street in the city and called in nearly 1,300 potholes.

I want to encourage everyone to keep calling 311 if you see a pothole. The sooner we


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Diabetes and pedicures - not a wise combination

Sangita Khanna, a diabetic 52-year-old, is apprehensive about treating herself to a pedicure in a parlor - and rightly so.

A badly handled pedicure - leading to cuts on the feet or minor burns from prolonged exposure to hot water - can lead to bacterial infections and non-healing ulcers in diabetic patients, as wounds take longer to heal for diabetics.

Due to loss of sensation in their feet, diabetics often don't know about such injuries early enough.

Unfortunately in India, beauticians as well as diabetics are mostly unaware of such a threat.

After speaking to 10 premier beauty parlors in the city, IANS found that only four took particular care in performing pedicures for diabetic men and women.

Banita Verma, who heads the Gurgaon branch of VLCC, a recognized health care center, said: "Our clients don't tell us if they are diabetic or not and we never ask them. But in case they are bruised or have any specific foot-related problem, we ensure utmost care in doing the pedicure safely."

Nilisha Mehta, manager of the Lakme Beauty Salon, said its pedicurists are

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For India's ‘brand freaks,' Prada, Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Louis Vuitton...

A mid buttery leather handbags and $200 torn jeans, Anuga Shah and her friends were shopping in this boom town's newest mall recently, proudly humming that they were "spendy."

"This week, it's all about Tommy," Shah, 26, cooed as she petted hooded sweaters inside a glitzy Tommy Hilfiger boutique. "In India today, we love to be branded. I'll spend my whole salary for a really swank brand and eat idli (steamed rice cakes) for the rest of the month."

This country's growing middle and upper middle classes have recently given rise to self described "brand freaks," who crave the latest luxury goods. In this city - where the father of the nation, Mohandas Gandhi, once located his austere ashram and rejected foreign textiles - it's Chanel, not homespun cloth, that generates excitement these days.

India's elite have long enjoyed luxury goods imported from the West. In recent months, though, Indians who can't afford $600 sunglasses - but who still have some disposable income - have been splurging. Designers including Prada, Jimmy Choo, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, as well as brands such as Rolls-Royce and Mont Blanc, have either set up shop or beefed up operations here.

Last month marked the opening of two of the country's highest-end malls. At New Delhi's Select City Walk, women nearly caused a stampede as they crowded into a MAC cosmetics store, many of them in search of a popular brand of eye shadow. Women said they were thrilled that their husbands didn't have to go abroad to shop for them anymore.

"This year, India really unleashed the brand beast," said Saloni Nangia, associate vice president of Technopak, an India-based marketing research firm that estimates the middle and upper-middle classes at 8 million to 9 million people and growing, albeit in a country whose population is 1.1 billion.

"It used to be just five-star hotels that had the high-end shops," Nangia said. "But now India is actually getting upgraded with both premium brands and very high-end luxury.The right real estate is here now and the brand freaks market is only going to get bigger."

In the fall, Vogue magazine, the bible of high end fashion, launched its thick Indian edition, the most glamorous in a long line of magazines from Elle to Marie Claire that now have editions here. A recent article in Vogue headlined "The rise of ME culture" chronicled how much the Indian paradigm has changed, with women finding more disposable income and freedom to spend on their

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For Rasul the horrors of that March day in Gujarat live on

A Mumbai court has sent 11 of those who raped her and killed 14 of her family behind bars for life, but there is no closure yet for Bilkis Bano Rasul for whom the horrors of that March day in Gujarat six years ago live on.

In a life fraught with uncertainty, Bilkis is certain that she will never return to her village Randhikpur in Godhra from where her neighbors had chased her and her family members away.

Six years after the carnage in Gujarat claimed at least Muslim 1,000 lives, the polarization seems complete."I will never return to my village.

All our belongings were either burned down or looted, our cattle whisked away and our house burned down. The land is there. Where will it go? But it is lying barren.

"My father goes there sometimes. But I have no heart to return to that place anymore," said the woman who knew little about the world outside before Feb 27, 2002 when 59 Hindus were killed inside a train in Godhra station.

Four days later, Bilkis' life came to a standstill as anti-Muslim riots raged in the state.

On March 3, then six months pregnant with her second child, Bilkis, her mother and sister were stripped in public and gang raped till she fell unconscious.

When she regained consciousness, she found that 14 of her family members, including her three-year-old daughter, had been killed. Her child's head had been smashed with a stone.

Since then, the "simple housewife", who has become a symbol of courage in the face of the most brutal adversity, has evolved into a dogged fighter. The mother of two, a one-year-old child and a six-year-old daughter who was in her womb when she was raped, has fought a relentless legal battle against her tormenters.

She has successfully taken on and won against the entire Gujarat government and its police and secured punishment for most of those involved in the crime.

On Jan. 21, a Mumbai court sentenced 11 of those convicted for her gang rape and the killing of her relatives to life sentence while a police officer guilty of concealing evidence was sentenced to three years in jail.

Her mission is still incomplete."Yes I am satisfied

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Manhattan Court rules that Sneha Ann Philip is 2,751st 9/11 victim

The name of Sneha Ann Philip, a physician who lived not too far from the World Trade Center in Manhattan and was last seen on the evening of September 10, 2001, will now feature on the list of 9/11 victim and at the memorial on the site.

A Manhat tan appellate court ruled last week that Philip officially and legally perished in the attacks on the twin towers on Sep.11, 2001.

She becomes the 2,751st official 9/11 victim. Felicia Dunn-Jones, an attorney who died of lung disease in February 2002, was the 2,750th.

For years, Philip had been considered a missing person by police, who could not find any proof that she died at the 9/11 site.

Her husband, Ron Lieberman, also a doctor, and family reasoned that, being a doctor, she might have been in the area on the morning of 9/11 and probably would have gone into the crumbling buildings to help.

Now, the appeals court has sided with Philip's family, confirming not just their view of her death, but also their image of her life.

Based on, among other things, evidence of Philip's "predisposition to help others according to the highest calling of her medical profession", the panel found that it was "highly probable" that she died at the World Trade Center on Sep. 11.

Philip's family's attorney, Marc Bogatin, said the family finally had closure.

"The court has given a date and location and a reason for her death. She will be on the official list,


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51st Annual New York Emmy Awards - At least 7 South Asians among over 460 nominated

Nominations for the 51st Annual New York Emmy Awards were announced on February 7 at the studios of CUNY-TV. Out of the over 460 nominated entries by station, at least seven entries included South Asians.

NYC TV, the official network of the City of New York, has been nominated for 48 awards.

'Secrets of New York' led all programs with 21 nominations.

The winners of this year's awards will be announced at the award ceremony on April 6 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. The awards are to be broadcast on NYC TV as part of a special presentation on April 15 at 9 p.m.

The 7 entries of category with South Asians are:

• 'Education' - What's Up in Finance? April 1. 2007. (Thirteen/WNET). Jill Peters, Executive Producer; Naomi Edelson, Arash Hoda, Producers.

• 'Health/Science' -Program/Special Breast Cancer: Progress and Promise. October 7, 2006. (WABC-TV). Jeelu Billimoria, Senior Producer; Diana Williams, Stacey Sager, Hosts.

• 'On-Camrea Talent: Reporter Speciality Assignment'- Sapna Parikh. April 4, 2007. (WNYW Fox 5). Composite.

• 'Director: Post Production' -

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Air India launches New York, New Delhi non-stop service

A s a gleaming new Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft of Air India touched down at 5:45 am at the John F. Kennedy Airport February 8, India's flag carrier had launched one more nonstop service to the U.S. from India - this time from New Delhi.

With 141 people on board, including the pilots and the cabin crew, the aircraft named "Andhra Pradesh" landed to a rousing welcome, and the 123 passengers showed little fatigue despite a 15:30 hour non-stop journey.

"This flight, as in the case of the non-stop between Mumbai and New York last August, offers unprecedented comfort and convenience," said Air India chairman V. Thulasidas, ahead of the launch.

"It will, in a way, redefine air travel," the chairman said, even as he added that the carrier, which was recently merged with Indian Airlines, would continue with the daily service here via London.

"We will also continue to operate a daily flight on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Paris sector. We will thus have 28 flights per week to serve New York - including twice every day from Mumbai and New Delhi, the two main Indian gateways."

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Meenakshi Bhatt of India left her last position as a Consultant for Oxfam in China to join her husband in the United States. She was confident that with five years of international experience working for non-governmental organizations in several countries and two Master's degrees, she would not have difficulties securing a professional position in the United States. She soon learned she was wrong.

"I was very surprised that my international experience and my foreign degrees did not attract employers to interview me. I did not even get a call for volunteer opportunities that I applied for," recalls Bhatt.

She began to think that her foreign degree and experience would not count in the United States and that she would need an American degree before continuing her career.

She learned about ‘Upwardly Global', a non-profit organization from the ‘New York City Young Professionals Network'.

‘Upwardly Global' specializes in helping skilled immigrants apply their foreign degrees and experience to finding a professional position in the United States.

Bhatt worked with Upwardly Global to revise her resume, make connections with professional peers, and learn American professional culture.

Jane Leu, Executive Director and Founder of ‘Upwardly Global' said, "Many companies and employers overlook candidates whose academic background and professional experience were gained in a foreign country.

In addition, lacking a well-developed professional network and familiarity with cultural norms of the American business environment, immigrant professionals often struggle to find professional positions in their field."

"Our mission is to help U.S.

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Reclaiming careers - ‘Upwardly Global' helps skilled immigrants use their foreign degrees in U.S.

Meenakshi Bhatt of India left her last position as a Consultant for Oxfam in China to join her husband in the United States. She was confident that with five years of international experience working for non-governmental organizations in several countries and two Master's degrees, she would not have difficulties securing a professional position in the United States. She soon learned she was wrong.

"I was very surprised that my international experience and my foreign degrees did not attract employers to interview me. I did not even get a call for volunteer opportunities that I applied for," recalls Bhatt.

She began to think that her foreign degree and experience would not count in the United States and that she would need an American degree before continuing her career.

She learned about ‘Upwardly Global', a non-profit organization from the ‘New York City Young Professionals Network'.

‘Upwardly Global' specializes in helping skilled immigrants apply their foreign degrees and experience to finding a professional position in the United States.

Bhatt worked with Upwardly Global to revise her resume, make connections with professional peers, and learn American professional culture.

Jane Leu, Executive Director and Founder of ‘Upwardly Global' said, "Many companies and employers overlook candidates whose academic background and professional experience were gained in a foreign country.

In addition, lacking a well-developed professional network and familiarity with cultural norms of the American business environment, immigrant professionals often struggle to find professional positions in their field."

"Our mission is to help U.S.

SAJA - South Asian Journalist Association announces office bearers for ‘08

The South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) announced their office bearers for 2008 on January 29.

Sandeep Junnarkar, a new media professor at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism was elected president.

V.V. Ganeshananthan, known as Sugi, a writer and author, was elected vice president.

Anusha Shrivastava, a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires, who is new to the Board, was named secretary.

John Laxmi, a New Jersey-based freelance writer, continues as treasurer and Sree Sreenivasan, a Columbia University journalism professor and WNBC-TV technology reporter, continues as the executive committee's at-large officer.

A full slate of board members for the year has also been named, including Aseem Chhabra, NYC-based freelance writer; Kiran Khalid, freelance TV journalist and documentary filmmaker; Monika Mathur, researcher, the Associated Press; and Gopal Ratnam,

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Committees on Consumer Affairs and Immigration - Council holds hearing on regulation of immigrant

The New York City Council's Committees on Consumer Affairs and Immigration held an oversight hearing on January 29 at City Hall on the implementation of Local Law 31 of 2004 - the Regulation of Immigration Assistance Service Providers. Testifying at the hearing were representatives of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), which is charged with enforcing Local Law 31, as well as immigrant service providers such as Catholic Charities and Community Action Project (CAP).

Local Law 31 of 2004 regulates "any form of assistance" provided in the City in exchange for compensation to any person, or their representative, who has come or plans to come to the United States from a foreign nation.

Specifically, the local law regulates any work performed in "relation to an proceeding, filing or action" under the immigration and nationality laws, including executive orders, presidential proclamations, regulations by the U.S.

Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of State.

It prohibits certain types of conduct by immigration service providers such as "stating or implying that they have special influence with the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS); from making any guarantee or

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City Journal - Exciting times for political junkies; our turn to choose on February fifth

These are exciting times for political junkies and devotees of democracy.

Hillary is socked one week and then survives in the next. Obama's oratory dazzles in one primary and then the fantasy fizzles in the next. An evangelical preacher's flock flings him farther than expected in Iowa, but falters in secular New Hampshire.

And, like Lazarus, the presumed-dead candidacy of McCain begins to breathe again. Moreover, Mitt's moolah misses to move the masses in Iowa and New Hampshire. Mormons on the other hand are motivated enough to revive him in Michigan and Nevada.

We haven't seen such a roller coast ride since 1968 when the anti-Vietnam war candidate Gene McCarthy chased the sitting president, Lyndon Johnson, out of the White House. Senator Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) then jumped into the race, whose assassination following his victory in the Democratic primary in California gave the Democratic Party's nomination to Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

Being closely associated with the administration mired in an extremely unpopular Vietnam War, Humphrey lost to Richard M. Nixon, changing American history.

How can we forget the Watergate scandal, or tilt towards Pakistan during the independence uprising in Pakistani Bengal (now Bangladesh), and subsequent resignation of Nixon in the face of impending congressional impeachment?

Let's first recall what we remember of the past primaries. Who won the Iowa Democratic caucus in 2004, 2000, 1992, 1988 and 1984? Can't remember?

Answer: For Democrats it was John Kerry in 2004, Al Gore in 2000, Tom Harkins (the home state favorite son) in 1992 and Richard Gephardt in 1988.

Only two (Kerry and Gore) became presidential nominees of their Party. But none of them moved into the White House. Iowa evidently jinxes its victor. Why would anyone want to win in Iowa and get jinxed?

Well, miracles do occur as it did in 1976 when Jimmy Carter, a little unknown governor of Georgia and Baptist Sunday school teacher, with absolutely no experience in foreign affairs came from nowhere to win the Iowa caucus and eventually the presidency.

In the New Hampshire Democratic primary Kerry

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Exciting times for political junkies; our turn to choose on February fifth

These are exciting times for political junkies and devotees of democracy.

Hillary is socked one week and then survives in the next. Obama's oratory dazzles in one primary and then the fantasy fizzles in the next. An evangelical preacher's flock flings him farther than expected in Iowa, but falters in secular New Hampshire.

And, like Lazarus, the presumed-dead candidacy of McCain begins to breathe again. Moreover, Mitt's moolah misses to move the masses in Iowa and New Hampshire. Mormons on the other hand are motivated enough to revive him in Michigan and Nevada.

We haven't seen such a roller coast ride since 1968 when the anti-Vietnam war candidate Gene McCarthy chased the sitting president, Lyndon Johnson, out of the White House. Senator Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) then jumped into the race, whose assassination following his victory in the Democratic primary in California gave the Democratic Party's nomination to Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

Being closely associated with the administration mired in an extremely unpopular Vietnam War, Humphrey lost to Richard M. Nixon, changing American history.

How can we forget the Watergate scandal, or tilt towards Pakistan during the independence uprising in Pakistani Bengal (now Bangladesh), and subsequent resignation of Nixon in the face of impending congressional impeachment?

Let's first recall what we remember of the past primaries. Who won the Iowa Democratic caucus in 2004, 2000, 1992, 1988 and 1984? Can't remember?

Answer: For Democrats it was John Kerry in 2004, Al Gore in 2000, Tom Harkins {the home state favorite son) in 1992 and Richard Gephardt in 1988.

Only two (Kerry and Gore) became presidential nominees of their Party. But none of them moved into the White House. Iowa evidently jinxes its victor. Why would anyone want to win in Iowa and get jinxed?

Well, miracles do occur as it did in 1976 when Jimmy Carter, a little unknown governor of Georgia and Baptist Sunday school teacher, with absolutely no experience in foreign affairs came from nowhere to win the Iowa caucus and eventually the presidency.

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Image and Article source: Desi Talk
Article taken from the issue: 1 Feb 2008