18th November 2024
Artwork Of Indian American Student To Be Displayed At US Capitol

Artwork Of Indian American Student To Be Displayed At US Capitol

by | Apr 2, 2022 | Community, Indian-American

Reading Time: < 1 minute

What a proud moment for Indian Americans, the artwork of a community student from Florida is all ready to be displayed at the US Capitol.

Sraddha Karthik, a Grade 11 student from a Tampa high school in Florida, has been declared the victor of the annual Congressional Art Competition at the Tampa Museum of Art where high school students from across Hillsborough County competed for a spot to showcase their work in the US Capitol.

This year, Sraddha Karthik, who came to the United States at the age of just one with her parents from Chennai, bagged the top prize with her graphite drawing “Pensive Gaze” created with intricacy and precision, said a media release issued by Congresswoman Kathy Castor.
Ms. Karthik’s self-portrait tackles perception versus reality.” I wanted to see if I could draw myself as I am and not how I think I am,” she said.
She used different shades of graphite to create depth and dimension for her artwork, the release said.

Ms. Karthik, the statement said, has been drawing since she was 7 years old when her parents registered her for an art class. “I don’t have as much time as I used to before high school, but I do try to fit in art as much as possible because it’s really helpful for me to express myself,” she said.

WeWork appointed Indian American Mathrani as its chairman

WeWork appointed Indian American Mathrani as its chairman

by | Apr 2, 2022 | Indian-American

Reading Time: < 1 minute

WeWork Inc (WE.N) on Tuesday named Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Mathrani as chairman of the office sharing company, months after Marcelo Claure vacated the role.
WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani will now take an extra role at the co-working company.
The company announced Tuesday that Mathrani will become WeWork’s chairman, a position held by Marcelo Claure until he left his roles at WeWork and Softbank after a reported disagreement over the compensation. Claure was said to be seeking $2 billion from the Japanese investment company.
Claure had been a chief operating officer of the Japanese investment company since 2018 after leading Sprint. He became executive chairman of WeWork in 2019.

 

WeWork also appointed Saurabh Jalan, a partner at SoftBank Group, to WeWork’s board, refilling a seat that had been held by Claure. Jalan handles SoftBank’s stakes in WeWork, T-Mobile US, and Deutsche Telekom AG, among other companies.

Three Indian Americans listed in the top ten Regeneron Science Talent Search

Three Indian Americans listed in the top ten Regeneron Science Talent Search

by | Mar 26, 2022 | Indian-American

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Three Indian American students are among the top ten winners in the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search, America’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.

Neil Chowdhury, 18, of Bellevue, Washington, Pravalika Gayatri Putalapattu, 17, of Centreville, Virginia, and Neil Rathi, 17, of Palo Alto, California won the fifth, seventh, and eighth places respectively.
More than $1.8 million was awarded to the 40 finalists, who were evaluated based on their projects’ scientific rigor, their exceptional problem-solving abilities, and their potential to become scientific leaders, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Society for Science announced March 15.

Fifth place winner Chowdhury received a $90,000 award for creating a computer model to study the role of a histone protein implicated in colon cancer and found that the histone caused changes to two key processes regulating the way DNA folds itself to fit into the nucleus of cells.

Seventh place winner Putalapattu received a $70,000 award for designing a video-assisted workflow recognition program to monitor laparoscopic gall bladder surgeries in real-time, verify the surgeons’ actions, and flag errors so immediate corrective action can be taken.

Eighth place winner Rathi received a $60,000 award for identifying common linguistic patterns in four languages that support the theory that human language evolved for greater efficiency in communication.

For the first time since 2019, the competition was carried out in person under strict Covid-19 protocols in Washington, DC, after virtual competitions in 2020 and 2021. The finalists were honored during a live-streamed award ceremony emceed by Saturday Night Live’s Melissa Villaseñor.

Indian-American Ro Khanna named to the biotechnology body

Indian-American Ro Khanna named to the biotechnology body

by | Mar 19, 2022 | Indian-American

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna has been anointed to a top advisory body to review how advancements in emerging biotechnology and related technologies will shape current and future activities of the Department of Defense.

The 12-member National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, providing an interim report to President Joe Biden and the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and House within one year, according to an official release.

The committee will submit a final unclassified report within two years to the President and the committees, including recommendations for action by Congress and the federal government, it said.
The names were announced Thursday by the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, Representatives Adam Smith and Mike Rogers, and Senators Jack Reed and Jim Inhofe.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Smith selected Ro Khanna who represents California’s 17th Congressional District, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, and is serving in his third term.

Khanna sits on the House Armed Services, Agriculture and Oversight and Reform committees, where he chairs the Environmental Subcommittee.
Additionally, Khanna is the Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, serves as an Assistant Whip for the Democratic Caucus, and is the Democratic Vice-Chair of the House Caucus on India and Indian Americans.
“Khanna is committed to representing the people and ideas rooted in Silicon Valley to the nation and throughout the world,” the release said.

Authentic Maharashtrian Taste in Dallas- Vishnu Ji ki Rasoi

Authentic Maharashtrian Taste in Dallas- Vishnu Ji ki Rasoi

by | Mar 15, 2022 | Editors Choice

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Step into the shoes of a foody customer and just give a thought. What makes you happy and satisfied as a customer when you visit a restaurant. Taste of food, cheerful and pleasant ambiance, and quality service, isn’t it? If by and large, this is true, Vishnuji Ki Rasoi stands tall on these grounds. And Vishnuji Ki Rasoi in Dallas(Allen) has earned its reputation on all these fronts within a year of its birth. Indeed, an incredible journey and feat, especially during testing Covid times.

Hemant Kulkarni, who is now shouldering the responsibility of this incredible brand, has a lot of stories to share about his journey in this one year. Originally an IT guy, Hemant was always interested in doing some business apart from his regular IT job. An active member of Maharashtra Mandal since 2017-18 he was searching for the right opportunity. Meanwhile, he happened to visit the already running outlet of Vishnuji Ki Rasoi and got an immensely bad experience in terms of service. He communicated his resentment with the restaurant and even to Vishnu Manohar in Nagpur, India, the founder of a well-known chain and a celebrity chef. Those discussions triggered the idea and Manohar offered him to run the restaurant in Dallas. This started the journey of finding a suitable place, learning from mistakes, trying newer things, taking guidance from Vishnuji, and all sorts of things. And the target was a single point to make the VKR, Dallas a successful venture. And then began actual operation, the restaurant was opened on Feb 7, 2021.

 “When I started working on this, I was new to everything. I even did not name of equipment used for preparing food. Due to the good advertisement, the brand name, and discount offer, there was a large turnout on an inaugural day and all planning turned into chaos on the very first day. Thus started our journey of the new restaurant business. After one year down the line, when I look back, I think we have achieved a lot in this short span of time,’’ says Kulkarni.

Learning from Challenges – 
Meanwhile, Vishnu Manohar himself visited the US and stayed with Kulkarni for almost four months. His guidance about connecting with people, handling operations, overcoming mistakes, developing networks, thinking process was a learning experience for Hemant. That changed him a lot like a restaurant professional. That also reduced his stress while handling the workload and he started managing his IT job as well as Rasoi in an efficient manner.
“ After handling the responsibility, one thing I have learned is that we all have immense potential, but we never explore it and choose to stay in our comfort zone. Running a restaurant is not an easy job. You need to give good service, manage resources including staff and handle customers. We are still at an early stage in this business and learning new things every day. Why we are growing since one year is good food quality, good service despite fewer resources and guidance from Vishnuji,” shared Hemant. He also gave credit to his wife Priyanka who is handling family responsibilities as well as contributing to the hotel.

Moving towards the next milestone – 
Now, VKR Dallas has started a bakery and cake shop. It is also planning to add a feather in the cap by starting a new non-veg restaurant with the name Saoji which would have non-veg food varieties across Maharashtra. They are also trying to introduce Maharashtrian cuisine in the curriculum of local hotel management institutions which would also help them to get trained professionals for their business. Engaged in a social cause like distributing food in temples, VKR is also trying to provide employment opportunities through their venture. They are also doing tie-ups with other Desi restaurants.
“One thing is clear for us that we want to promote Maharashtrian food which has a huge variety. We have now started providing breakfast on weekends which is essentially Maharashtrian. We are very much sincere to this motto and sure that people like Maharashtrian food,’’ ends Hemant
……………