R. Madhavan in US Raising Funds for Habitat for Humanity

Famous Bollywood film star R. Madhavan gave one of a kind experience to Chicago audience on February 13 at Meadows

Club auditorium in Rolling Meadows. Maddy was on a four city tour of the U.S. to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity, an international philanthropic organization which has undertaken several home building projects for needy people world wide including India. Maharashtra Mandal Chicago had organized this event as a kick off function for the upcoming international convention of Brihan Maharashtra Mandal in Chicago on July 21 to 24, 2011. Assistant State Treasurer Raja Krishnamoorthi, plus community leader Naren Patel of Medstar accompanied with Binna Patel of a Cook County Circuit court Clerk office was present. The event also announced the launch of activities for the BMM 2011 Chicago Convention to be held in Chicago between July 21-24, 2011 at McCormick Place. The event is expected to be attended by more than 4000 people from all over North America and India. The main attraction of the convention venue is the Arie Crown Theater, a state of the art facility with seating capacity of over 4250 people. Various activities will be undertaken during the convention including a business conference, continuing medical education, cultural events consisting dance, drama, songs, standup comedy, group discussions and so on.

Unlike a typical Bollywood style program, this event was a totally informal affair without any songs and dances yet it left the audience spellbound for over two hours. In his amazing life story, Maddy proved his public relations skills by connecting to the audience. His down to earth approach towards life and his simplicity, as a human being are exemplary. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Assistant State Treasurer joined him as they initiated the kick-off ceremony of the Convention by lighting up the lamp according to Indian tradition to welcome the convention to be Illinois from July 21 to 24, 2011.

Applied Materials and the State Bank of India Partner with Akshaya Patra

Akshaya Patra has added five new state-of-theart meal delivery vehicles to its fleet. Applied Materials, Inc., the global leader in Nanomanufacturing Technology solutions, donated three vehicles as well as a grant, which provides meals for over 1,000 students for an entire year. It is an extension of their 2009 partnership with Akshaya Patra. The State Bank of India, India’s largest bank, has funded two vehicles. The custom-designed trucks will be used to distribute midday meals to children in schools across Bangalore.

Mark Walker, the Managing Director of Global Community Affairs at Applied Materials, was on hand for the Applied Materials ceremony. “We are proud to extend our association with the Akshaya Patra Foundation in 2010, and to support the critical cause of ensuring nourishment through healthy midday meals for school children. The meal van initiative supported by the foundation provides these children with timely, nutritious food which is critical for their growth and academic development.”

The State Bank of India donated the trucks as part of its corporate social responsibility program. “The Akshaya Patra Foundation has supported millions of children across India with timely, nutritious food which is crucial for their growth and academic development. That is why we decided to support this noble cause,” said R. Sridharan, Managing Director, State Bank of India.

Neera Tanden returns to Center for American Progress

Neera Tanden, senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, is returning to the Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal policy think tank she was associated from the very outset with founder John Podesta, President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff from 1998-2001.

CAP announced Tanden will rejoin the center to assume the newly created position of chief operating officer. She will be responsible for CAP’s strategic planning and management of the institution. A graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles and Yale Law School, Tanden was a member of the White House staff of then-First Lady Hillary Clinton. When Clinton ran for the Senate and later for the presidential primaries, Tanden was in her inner circle of advisers. Tanden was the Obama campaign’s domestic policy director. When Obama won his party’s bid, Tanden joined his team to help further the health policy goals of the new administration.

Indian American Student Wins Wsj's Daniel Pearl Internship

Devin Banerjee, an Indian American student at Stanford University, has been awarded the 2010 Daniel Pearl Memorial Journalism Internship, which will have him working in one of the Wall Street Journal’s foreign bureaus this summer.

Banerjee, editor-in-chief of the Stanford Daily, is working toward a degree in management science and engineering, with a concentration in technology and policy, according to a university news release. He expects to graduate in 2011.

The internship was established to commemorate the work and ideals of Pearl, a Stanford graduate and Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002.

In an essay written as part of the application process, Banerjee noted that Pearl rooted his stories in conversations with everyday people, “for it often was their absence from the larger conversation that yielded a nature of misunderstanding – the failure to connect the dots.”

Banerjee is from Calabasas in Southern California, and he has previously held internships at the San Jose Mercury News and the JoongAng Daily in Seoul, Korea.