Hind Himalaya Staff, Author at Hind Himalaya

Dallas can ban gas-powered equipment to address environmental concerns

by Hind Himalaya Staff | Nov 28, 2022 | Community

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Using gasoline-powered lawnmowers, leaf blowers and other landscaping equipment could soon be prohibited in Dallas.

Mentioning health, noise, and environmental concerns, Dallas officials are trying to put a plan to take out gas-powered tools and equipment for city departments, contractors, businesses, and residents by 2027 or 2030. The ban would require use of alternative devices, like ones powered by electricity.

The city is hiring a consultant group to help flesh out a transition plan and evaluate its impact on the public. Dallas officials, for example, don’t know how feasible it is for the average resident to switch to non-gasoline equipment or how many lawn care and landscaping businesses operate in the city.

Small businesses aren’t tracked by the Texas secretary of state’s office, according to Susan Alvarez, assistant director of Dallas’ environmental quality and sustainability office.

But the proposed banning faces opposition from the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association which represents more than 1,400 industry members, including 60 based out in Dallas.

Council members Paula Blackmon, who has spearheaded the most recent city policy change effort, and Paul Ridley earlier this month said they supported the plan’s progression and implementation sooner rather than later.

Blackmon, chair of the council’s Environment and Sustainability Committee, suggested more city research and community outreach happen simultaneously rather than consecutively.

“I do want this to keep moving forward, and we’ve had a year of discussion,” she said during the Nov. 7 meeting. “I think it’s now that we start working on how we are going to do this and when.”

Social media ads help online retail dupers steal millions ahead of Cyber Monday

by Hind Himalaya Staff | Nov 26, 2022 | Editors Choice

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Scammers will be busy this weekend as a record 166 million individuals are expected to shop between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights and Analytics.

“While there is much speculation about inflation’s impact on consumer behavior, our data tells us that this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see robust store traffic with a record number of shoppers taking advantage of value pricing,” NRF CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.

The Better Business Bureau conveyed reports to its scam tracker are just under all-time highs reached last year. From January to September, financial losses across North America from reported fraud in the “online retail” category hit about $280 million and are expected to reach $380 million by the end of the year.

“Likely, just under 5% of people who are scammed actually report it, so the real number is much larger,” said Brian Edwards, an investigator for the BBB.

People between the ages of 18 and 24 may be digitally savvy, but they’re the most likely victims of online retail fraud because it’s their preferred shopping method. And scammers have gotten smarter to trick them, even offering fake tracking numbers.

“Scammers adapt to popular trends quickly and to different social media platforms quickly, like TikTok, which helps them target younger people,” Edwards said.

Greed has no end, 3 Indians accused in $1.5 million cryptocurrency insider trading fraud

by Hind Himalaya Staff | Jul 24, 2022 | Editors Choice, Indian-American

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Two Indian brothers and their Indian American friend have been accused in the first-ever cryptocurrency insider trading scheme in the US via which they allegedly made an Illicit profit of $1.5 million.
Ishan Wahi, 32, a former product manager at Coinbase Global Inc, and his brother Nikhil Wahi, 26, were arrested Thursday morning in Seattle, Washington, where they reside. Their friend Sameer Ramani,33, who lives in Houston, Texas remains at large.

Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging the three Thursday.Charged with wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud, all three face a maximum sentence of 20 years each on each count.

As a product manager assigned to an asset listing team at Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Ishan Wahi was involved in the highly confidential process of listing crypto assets on Coinbase’s exchanges, according to the indictment.

He misappropriated that Coinbase confidential information by tipping either his brother, Nikhil Wahi, or Ishan Wahi’s friend and associate, Sameer Ramani, so that they could place profitable trades in those crypto assets in advance of Coinbase’s public listing announcements.
After getting tips from Ishan Wahi, Nikhil Wahi and Ramani used anonymous Ethereum blockchain wallets to acquire crypto assets shortly before Coinbase publicly announced that it was listing or considering listing these crypto assets on its exchanges. Following Coinbase public listing announcements, Nikhil Wahi and Ramani sold the crypto assets for a profit.

On April 11, 2022, Coinbase announced that it was considering potentially listing dozens of crypto assets on its exchanges. Based on Coinbase confidential information provided by Ishan Wahi, Ramani caused multiple anonymous Ethereum blockchain wallets to purchase large quantities of at least six of the crypto assets that were to be included in Coinbase’s April 11, 2022 listing announcement.
Shortly after Ramani traded in advance of Coinbase’s April 11 listing announcement, on April 12, 2022, a Twitter account that is well known in the crypto community tweeted regarding an Ethereum blockchain wallet “that bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of tokens exclusively featured in the Coinbase Asset Listing post about 24 hours before it was published.”
The trading activity referenced in the April 12 tweet was the trading caused by Ramani. Coinbase thereafter publicly replied on Twitter noting that it had already begun investigating the matter.
On May 11, 2022, Coinbase’s director of security operations emailed Ishan Wahi to inform him that he should appear for an in-person meeting relating to Coinbase’s asset listing process at Coinbase’s Seattle, Washington office on May 16, 2022.

On May 15, he purchased a one-way flight to India and called and texted Nikhil Wahi and Ramani about Coinbase’s investigation. But prior to boarding the May 16, 2022 flight to India, Ishan Wahi was stopped by law enforcement and prevented from leaving the country.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has separately initiated civil proceedings against the three

Now Listen to Radio Mirchi in Dallas, Texas – It’s Hot

by Hind Himalaya Staff | Apr 15, 2022 | Community, Indian-American

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Mirchi, the music and entertainment company, has strengthened its presence in the USA with the launch of its operations in Dallas, Texas

In line with its vision to expand its global footmark and cater to the South Asian diaspora across markets, Mirchi aims to present its radio, digital, and Live events solutions to the city.

With South Asians accounting for almost 1,50,000 of the total population in Dallas, there is a significant demand for Hindi music and Bollywood content. Catering to the needs of this vast pool of consumers, Mirchi will be bringing the best of Bollywood content along with local updates relevant to the target audience.
Mirchi will bring popular and exclusive content like the ‘Mirchi Top 20 Countdown’, ‘Club Mirchi’, ‘What Women Want with Kareena Kapoor Khan, ‘Bhatt Naturally’ with Mahesh Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt, ‘The Karan Johar Show’ along with other elements like ‘Mirchi Murga’ with RJ Naved, ‘Purani Jeans’ with RJ Sayema, etc.

With this launch, Mirchi will now have a terrestrial presence in the top 3 South Asian media markets in the USA i.e., The Bay Area, Dallas, and New Jersey.

Prashant Panday, MD and CEO of Mirchi, said, “Mirchi has been the No. 1 player in the Indian market for two decades now. In addition to radio, we have grown a successful solutions business globally. After expanding our footprint in UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, New Jersey, and San Francisco, we are excited to enter the dynamic market of Dallas. We look forward to bringing the best of Mirchi to the South Asian and Indian diaspora across these markets.”

Biden nominates Indian-origin woman attorney and certified public accountant to key admin posts

by Hind Himalaya Staff | Apr 2, 2022 | Indian-American

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US President Joe Biden has announced his intention to nominate Indian-origin civil rights attorney Kalpana Kotagal and certified public accountant Vinay Singh to key administration positions.

Kotagal is the nominee for Commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission while Singh has been nominated as Chief Financial Officer, Department of Housing and Urban Development, the White House said on Friday.

Kotagal, who is the daughter of immigrants from India, is a partner at Cohen Milstein, a member of the firm’s Civil Rights and Employment practice group, and co-chair of the firm’s Hiring and Diversity Committee.

She is the co-author of the seminal legal template ‘Inclusion Rider’.

Singh, a Certified Public Accountant, is currently a senior advisor to the Administrator at the US Small Business Administration (SBA), assisting agency teams to deliver organizational efficiencies to better serve our communities’ small businesses.

He has 25 years of private-sector leadership experience with a deep understanding of finance, analytics, and strategy.

Singh had also served in the Obama-Biden administration as a Deputy Assistant Secretary (US Field).

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