Manavi celebrates 26 years of empowering women

Author Ru Freeman with Manavi volunteer Maha Raman

On May 7, 2011, Manavi, an NJ based non-profit organization dedicated to ending violence against South Asian women, held its Annual Community Dinner at Akbar Restaurant. In celebration of Manavi's 26th anniversary, over 200 individuals gathered, comprising staff, board, volunteers, community members, lawyers, politicians, organizational partners, and supporters.

Volunteer Sumi Bhatia with Cofounder Shamita Das Dasgupta

Social Justice Activist and renowned author of A Disobedient Girl, Ru Freeman, gave the keynote address in which she discussed exploring issues around her Sri Lankan identity, women's rights, and the complex idea of "home" for immigrants in her writing. Also at the event, Manavi's Executive Director, Maneesha Kelkar, announced how despite the recession, Manavi launched two new programs to help South Asian survivors of violence. One is Manavi's Economic Empowerment Program designed to help battered women gain financial independence and the other project, Bholo Behen or Speak Sister, is a partnership with Christ Hospital that will increase Manavi's presence in Jersey City and raise awareness about sexual violence in the community.

At the event, Manavi screened for the first time Manavi's Economic Empowerment Video, entitled Sonia's Search, with their closest supporters. The 10 minute nontraditional instructional video was professionally filmed by director, Vaishali Sinha, and funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The evening ended with fine dining and dancing.

Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birthday celebrated in Manhattan

(l to r) Jay Sarkar, Boro President Scott Stringer, Aparna Sen, Uma Sengupta and NY State Senator Malcolm Smith.

On May 7, 2011 Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer joined in Times Square with a diverse and eclectic group of actors, musicians, and writers to celebrate the 150th birthday of the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Borough President Stringer co-hosted the event with USIN Celebrations, a community organization which was co-founded by New York City District Leader Uma Sengupta and Roger Sengupta. USIN Celebrations provides educational services, supports the arts and creates awareness for and about the South Asian American Community and surrounding communities. "It is only fitting that we celebrate Tagore's 150th birthday in a city defined by its diversity, where 170 different languages are spoken and an array of different races and ethnicities live together in harmony," said Stringer.

Tagore influenced generations of Indians with his contributions to literature, music, philosophy and the arts. In 1913, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first South Asian to win such an award.

Several of India and Bangladesh's top cultural and political figures were in attendance to celebrate Tagore's impact on their native country, including Professor Momtazuddin Ahmed, Cultural Minister of Bangladesh, as well as Indian and Bengali community leaders, musicians and performers. U.S. Officials were also in attendance, including New York State Senator Malcolm Smith. In addition to declaring May 7th "Tagore Day" in Manhattan, Borough President Stringer presented the first-ever key to the Borough to award-winning film actress and director Aparna Sen, who is the director of 36 Chowringhee Lane, Paroma, Sati, Yugant, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer and 15 Park Avenue.

Kingfisher Airlines and Royal Caribbean International announce strategic alliance

(l to r) Kelvin Tan, Regional Director for Asia-Pacific, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines; Gautam Chadha, CEO, Tirun Marketing; Rebecca Barba, Manager, Marketing Communications for the cruise line in Miami; Atul Kumria, Regional Director- Americas for Kingfisher Airlines and Anahita Motafram, Manager, Alliance& Tie-Ups for Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines and Royal Caribbean International have formed an alliance that will offer customers bundled vacation packages as well as enhanced member benefits for members of King Club, Kingfisher Airlines' loyalty program.

Kingfisher is one of India's market-leading airlines and is a member-elect of the world's leading quality airline alliance, Oneworld. Royal Caribbean International is one of the largest cruise lines in the world, offering vacations to more than 260 ports around the world.

"We are consistently looking for new and innovative initiatives for our King Club members. This alliance with Royal Caribbean Cruises, is another added bonus to our King Club members," said Atul Kumria, Regional Director- North America, Kingfisher Airlines Limited, in New York recently.

"Working together, we can offer a number of synergies and new benefits to our Royal Caribbean International guests, and to Kingfisher customers," explains Michael Bayley, Executive Vice President of International for Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. "India is a key market for us, and we look forward to expanding our brand presence there and introducing people to the world of cruising."

This is the first time Royal Caribbean has entered into a strategic alliance of this magnitude in the Asia-Pacific region, where the Legend of the Seas sails out of Singapore and Hong Kong, and Brilliance of the Seas is home-ported in Dubai seasonally. Kingfisher Airlines flies to all three of these embarkation ports from cities throughout India and its tour division.