New Art of Living Foundation Center in Schaumburg

The Art of Living Foundation in Chicago announced the opening of their new center in Schaumburg, Illinois, on May 13, 2011.

Located in 1251 N. Plumgrove Road, Suite No.110, Schaumburg, IL 60173, the new center will be inaugurated next month by Schaumburg Mayor Al Larsen in the presence of a number of prominent community activists and dignitaries. The ribbon cutting ceremony is expected to be attended by Congressmen Joe Walsh, Danny Davis and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky besides Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford and Hoffman Estate Mayor William D. McLeod.

Foundation spokesperson Vinesh Virani, while addressing a press conference at the Udupi Restaurant on Chicago's famous Devon Avenue; said that Foundation's many activities include yoga and meditation classes for the members for a nominal $50 fee. However, there will be free access to practice yoga exercises in the meditation hall as prescribed from time to time. The Art of Living Foundation carries out numerous charitable, educational and humanitarian services throughout the world. It also works in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN, and as such it has accredited representatives at the UN in New York, Geneva and Vienna.

It also works in formal consultations with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Three Indian American scholars among new members of American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Three Indian American scholars - Shree K. Nayar, Amita Sehgal and Vishva Dixit - are among the world's most accomplished leaders from academia, business, public affairs, the humanities, and the arts who were recently elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

A total 212 new members were selected to join one of the nation's most prestigious honorary societies and a leading center for independent policy research, said a press release.

Vishva Dixit is the Vice President, Physiological Chemistry, Genentech, Inc., San Francisco, California and Shree K Nayar, is T.C. Chang Professor, Computer Science and Co-Director of the Columbia Vision and Graphics Center at Columbia University. Amita Sehgal is an investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, John Herr Musser Professor and Vice Chair of Department of Neuroscience and Co-Director of Comprehensive Neuroscience Center at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

"It is a privilege to honor these men and women for their extraordinary individual accomplishments," stated Leslie Berlowitz, Academy President and William T. Golden Chair

Remit2India Honors NRI Leaders and Visionaries Through "The Light of India Awards: Recognizing the Indians Abroad"

Indian model Nina Manuel and TV personality Jitin Hingorani at the Light of India Awards.

Ms.Topaz Green with Salman Rushdie on the red carpet

Remit2India, a Times Group service, ranked the world's #1 online money transfer portal for non-resident Indians (NRIs) by AC Nielsen, celebrated half a million satisfied customers and ten years in the business in 2011 at an event organized at New York City's iconic Waldorf Astoria Hotel on April 22, 2011.

To mark this milestone, The Times Group, with event partner Evolve Entertainment, organized the first-ever Remit 2 India "The Light of India Awards" ceremony to recognize exemplary achievement by NRIs in the fields of business leadership, corporate leadership, political leadership, science and technology, journalism and literature, and arts and entertainment. More than 200 of the South Asian community's Who's Who in New York City, as well as special dignitaries and performers from India, packed the awards ceremony, which is to be broadcast at a later date on Sony Entertainment Television, Asia, in more than 150 countries around the world.

Special chief guest, Her Excellency Meera Shankar, the Indian Ambassador to the United States, was honored by legendary Indian film and stage actor Shabana Azmi.

Indian musician and singer, Raghav Sachar, wowed the audience with his patriotic tunes, and actor and comedian Aasif Mandvi, of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, entertained the crowd with his anecdotes of being a first-generation American. The show was co-hosted by television host and model Nina Manuel and television personality Jitin Hingorani. The award winners in various categories included: Ajay Banga, President and COO, MasterCard; Vikram Pandit, CEO, Citigroup; Vinod Khosla, CEO, Khosla Ventures; Naveen Jain, Founder of InfoSpace and Intelius; Vinod Dham, CEO, Silicon Spice Inc.; Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni, writer & novel; Vikram Seth, poet, novelist, travel writer, & biographer; noted novelist Salman Rushdie and, film director and producer Mira Nair.

The jury members included Javed Akhtar: Hindi/Urdu poet, lyricist and screenwriter; Shabana Azmi: Indian actress and social activist; and, Pranay Gupte: international journalist and author.