INOC INAUGURATES ITS BUSINESS COUNCIL

While dozens of INOC members and local business leaders looked on, Dr. Surinder Malhotra, President of the Indian National Overseas

Congress (INOC), inducted prominent New York City attorney, Rajiv Khanna, as a Vice President of INOC and as Chairman of INOC’s newly created Business Council. Because of his extensive experience and background as an internationally-recognized lawyer

specializing in, among other things, crossborder trade and investment between India and the U.S., as well as head of the India- America Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Malhotra stated in his speech that "INOC believes that Rajiv is the best person to chair its Business Council." INOC’s Executive Committee conceived the idea of forming the Business Council, he said, in order to support the UPA government’s desire to exceed this year, by even greater margins, India’s current record-high GDP.

Prabhu Dayal, Consul General of India in New York, who was invited by INOC as chief guest for the occasion, congratulated INOC on the formation of its Business Council and told the large gathering that the Business Council potentially could be a vehicle to greatly enhance prosperity in India and that the Business Council "must succeed" in its mission.

He urged the Business Council to form various committees and outreach to as many as possible who might assist it in achieving its goals.

In his acceptance speech, Rajiv Khanna said that his focus would be to "harness all the forces favoring trade and investment between India and the U.S., and that the Business Council would work to remove any impediments that might hinder the growth of trade and investment between the U.S. and India."

Khanna said that he planned to organize the Business Council into groups of subcouncils, each to address an important sector of U.S.-India trade and investment, such as a nuclear section, a diamond section, a medical tourism section, an information technology section, an outsourcing section, a real estate section, a manufacturing section, etc. Each section would be headed by a member of the Business Council’s Executive Committee who would have a "hands-on" responsibility for that sub-Council. The induction ceremony was held at Mr.Khanna’s office at 599 Lexington Avenue in New York.  

Hinduism Summit In Chicago To Draw Prominent Hindu And Spiritual Leaders 

A Hinduism Summit (Hindu Dharmasabha) will be held from 2:30 to 6 pm on June 5, 2010 at the Hindu Mandir of Lake County, Grayslake, IL. The Hinduism Summit will be held by the Forum for Hindu Awakening (FHA) and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), with support from noteworthy Hindu and spiritual organizations and leaders from USA. The summit is open to anyone interested in understanding, living and preserving Hinduism. It strives to be a step in the direction given by Swami Vivekananda’s historic address about Hinduism at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago.

Days-long, expensive events that focus merely on bringing together people in scores, giving them a glimpse of Indian art, trends, cuisine and speeches by renowned personalities associated with India and Hinduism hardly provide any direction to understand, live and preserve Hinduism. In contrast, the 3.5-hour-short, free-of-charge Hinduism Summits marry latest technology with ancient tradition to present selfless, local Hindu scholars and activists, and spiritual research findings. It provokes thought about the crucial spiritual dimension that is often ignored, causing the problems of Hindus and society in general to rise, despite decade long efforts by various organizations.

The Chicago Hinduism Summit follows the success of similar summits held in the last half of 2009 by FHA in Virginia, USA and jointly with HJS in New Jersey, USA and London, UK. HJS brings its exceptional success in awakening and uniting hundreds of thousands of people through more than 350 such Dharmasabhas that it has held throughout India in just the last 2 years.

The Chicago Hinduism Summit will commence and conclude with auspicious recitations from the Vedas and ancient Hindu Scriptures. It will feature short, insightful presentations by selfless Hindu leaders, and demonstrative videos on understanding, living and preserving Hinduism. This will be followed by a press conference and audience interaction with speakers, and a exhibition of unique posters, books and other educational materials on Hinduism. The event will be webcast live on FHA and HJS websites for attendance and participation from anywhere in the world.

Veena Festival and Conference of North America A Splendid Success

Sri Annamacharya Project of North America (SAPNA) and India Classical Music Society (ICMS) of Chicago conducted the 2010 Veena Festival and Conference on Saturday April 24,2010 at the Pancavati Auditorium, the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple Aurora, Illinois.

According to Dr Sarada Purna Sonty, Conference Coordinator, "The 2010 Veena Festival and Conference was inspired by the 2009 Veena Festival and Conference, which received great reviews, devoted to the exploration of the mysterious transcendence of Veena, the string instrument of old times. This conference pays homage to the pristine tradition of Veena and presents the established Veena artists and students from the Chicago & Midwest Indian diaspora."

 The 2010 Veena conference theme is " tri kaala varna maala." Dr Sarada Sonty also reiterated that this unique program lies in the presentations of variations of a compositional form "Varnam." This is the first time an entire conference is based on a singular compositional style. These musical compositions are presented in a combination of mellifluous melodies along with simple and complex rhythmic cycles in various "Raaga" and "Taala" representations. Prof Shelly Kumar of the ICMS also a collaborator and initiator of the 2009 conference felt proud of the breadth of the Veena Artists in the greater Chicago land area and the number of schools and students learning this esteemed Veena instrument tradition and he was encouraged by the Veena artists participating in the 2010 Veena Festival and conference. Krishna Gurupalli, President SAPNA stressed the hardwork and commitment of SAPNA towards Classical Indian music traditions. Dr Ramaraja B. Yalavarthi, President, SVS Temple of Aurora congratulated and appreciated the contributions of SAPNA at the temple and to the Chicagoland music patrons and audiences.