Share and Care receives grants from NY Life Foundation and Shirin Foundation

NY Life Foundation, the charity arm of NY Life Insurance, a well-known premier corporation in USA has awarded a grant of $10,000 to Share and Care Foundation, a US-based charity and a premier Indian American philanthropic organization. The funds will be used for the "
Science on Wheels" (SciOW) an Education and Development Program in India in partnership with LIFE in Rajkot, India. Share and Care will utilize this grant in expanding this on-going program that has been proven successful over the past years. Science on Wheels objectives are to enhance village children’s knowledge and real life science by providing actual instruments, hands on experiments to develop understanding of nature and environment. It addresses the lack of desire to study or drop out before reaching Higher Education level. It motivates the families to encourage them to technical, vocational or college studies. Share and Care has also received another grant from Shirin Foundation who has awarded $19600 to support 21 fresh "Female Scholars" to "Educate to Graduate" program. This is a signature program of Share and Care Foundation. Educate to Graduate Program is managed by a group of educationists to help brilliant, but financially challenged students who cannot receive higher education after 12th grade, as their family income is unable to support the cost. Visit www.shareandcare.org for additional information

Indian-American doctor gets life term for bombing

An Indian-American doctor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a 2009 bombing that critically injured the chairman of the Arkansas Medical Board against whom he held a grudge. Randeep Mann, former physician at Russellville in Arkansas state, was sentenced on Monday in federal court in Little Rock, the Arkansas News reported. Mann's wife was given a year in prison for getting in the way of the federal investigation. Prosecutors say Mann was out for revenge after Pierce pulled Mann's license to prescribe narcotics. Several of Mann's patients had overdosed on drugs. That's when Mann attached a bomb to Pierce's car, which was sitting in the driveway of Pierce's West Memphis home. Pierce lost some of his sight and hearing in the bombing, and was left badly scarred. Pierce attended the hearing, and gave a brief statement asking the judge to send Randeep Mann to prison for life. The Manns attorneys maintain their clients' innocence and plan to appeal within 14 days. 'The jury just got this wrong. It's a great system we have in this country, but it is not infallible,' said defence attorney Blake Hendrix. 'I have not a clue who did it, but we can assume that person is still running around,' Hendrix added. Also present at Monday's sentencing was Teresa Harris, whose daughter Ellie overdosed on prescription drugs seven years ago, she says under the care of Randeep Mann. The Pierce family is asking for 1.7 million dollars in restitution. The judge left that decision open for 90 days to further examine the Manns' finances.

5 Indian American researchers join NAE

The National Academy of Engineering elected five Indian American researchers among its 68 new members and one Indian scientist among its nine foreign associates, NAE president Charles M. Vest announced Feb. 8. This brings the total U.S. membership to 2,290 and the number of foreign associates to 202. Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and to the "pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education." Abbas Firoozabadi, senior scientist and director, Reservoir Engineering Research Institute in Palo Alto, Calif., was elected as a new member for his contributions to oil and gas recovery processes through application of surface science and thermodynamics. Mark S. Humayun, professor of ophthalmology, biomedical engineering, and cell and neurobiology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, was elected for his contributions to development and clinical implementation of the visual prosthesis for restoration of sight. Asad M. Madni, retired president and chief technical officer, BEI Technologies, Inc.; and independent consultant in Los Angeles, was elected a new member for his contributions to the development and commercialization of sensors and systems for aerospace and automotive safety. In Berkeley, Calif., Jitendra Malik, Arthur J. Chick Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, was named a new member for his contributions to computer vision and image analysis. Also from UC Berkeley, Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Plato Malozemoff Chair Professor in Materials Science and Physics, was elected for his contributions to the science and technology of functional complex oxide materials.

Indian American creating crowd-sourced film on Egyptian revolution

An Indian-American filmmaker and journalist is leading a project to create a "crowdsourced interactive documentary" to tell the story of the Egyptian revolution with the same tools that brought it to the world in real time. A three-person team led by Jigar Mehta, a Knight Fellow at Stanford and former New York Times video journalist, is asking people to tell what they know of the events in Egypt from Jan 25 to Feb 11 for their "18 Days In Egypt" documentary. Others on the team are Yasmin Elayat, a New York based interaction designer and software developer, who studied Computer Science at the American University in Cairo and Alaa Dajani, a documentary filmmaker born and raised in Egypt. The team is asking people to tag their media on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter with the tag '18DaysinEgypt' and the day it happened plus any additional information they can provided about the media.

Los Angeles Getty Museum exhibiting Ganesha & Vishnu

Prestigious J. PaulGetty Museum of Los Angeles (USA) is currently exhibiting 13th century Lord Ganesha in its "Gods of Angkor" exhibition, which will continue till August 14. This exhibition contains intricately detailed 26 historical bronze statues and ritual objects from Cambodia, including 11-12th century Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva’s bull Nandi, etc. Ganesha statue, in a sitting posture, is shown with snakes forming his armbands. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European and American photographs. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa in Malibu houses approximately 44,000 works of art from Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities.