23rd December 2024
USA Cricket’s ‘Cricket Heroes’ Program Gains Momentum with Zonal Lead Appointments

USA Cricket’s ‘Cricket Heroes’ Program Gains Momentum with Zonal Lead Appointments

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USA Cricket is set to appoint zonal leads for its new ‘Cricket Heroes’ program, which aims to introduce cricket to American children and provide them with a fun and engaging first experience with the sport. The program will be rolled out in the host cities of the 2024 T20 Cricket World Cup – Nassau County, New York; Grand Prairie, Dallas, Texas; and Broward County, Florida.

USA Cricket is seeking to hire six zonal leads, with one male and one female leader in each of the target cities. The zonal leads will play a crucial role in training and supervising activators who will assist in delivering the Cricket Heroes program in schools and school districts within their designated zone. They will also be responsible for reaching out to schools to enroll them in the program and maintaining ongoing relationships with them.

To be successful in this role, candidates will need to have a passion for working with children and youth, as well as experience in delivering cricket or sports programs and/or coaching. Excellent communication skills and a team player attitude are also essential, along with strong leadership qualities.

Interested individuals are encouraged to submit their resume and cover letter to [email protected] The application deadline is October 30, 2023. Applicants must be legally entitled to work in the United States and possess a valid driver’s license with a clean driving record.

USA Cricket is the National Federation for cricket in the United States and is officially recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Its mission is to govern, regulate, develop, and promote all forms of cricket at all levels within the country. The organization is dedicated to enabling U.S. cricketers to achieve sustained competitive excellence and successfully compete in national and international competitions.

The Board of Directors of USA Cricket, representing various cricket stakeholder groups, is committed to leading the sport to new heights. The organization creates and administers value-added programs to grow and develop cricket, ensuring that it remains a thriving and inclusive sport within the United States.

For more information about USA Cricket and its programs, visit their website at www.usacricket.org.

Indian Rupee Strengthens Against The U.S. Dollar

Indian Rupee Strengthens Against The U.S. Dollar

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The Indian rupee opened stronger against the U.S. dollar on Thursday.
The local currency strengthened three paise to open at Rs 83.24 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday. It closed at Rs 83.27 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg data.

“The Indian rupee could start this Thursday on a flat note as expectations of RBI presence could offset losses coming from an overnight rally in crude, U.S. Treasury yields, and the dollar,” Reliance Securities said in Oct. 19 note.

The Rupee may open around Rs 83.2300-83.2400 against the greenback compared with Rs 83.2600 in the previous session, with the possibility of trading between Rs 83.1500 and Rs 83.3400 on Thursday, the brokerage said.

“Crude oil prices experienced an uptick, likely driven by geopolitical tensions, such as the Middle East and the visit of US President Biden to Israel. These events have been closely monitored and could have implications for global markets”, Jateen Trivedi, vice president of research at LKP Securities, said.

“Indian capital markets have seen substantial selling pressure, potentially due to a combination of global and domestic factors. Overall, the rupee remains weak in the near term, although the RBI’s intervention continues to provide some stability,” Trivedi said.

“Rising tensions in the Middle East are leading to risk-off sentiment, and stronger US yields are pushing the US dollar higher. 10-year US Treasury yields reached it highest level since 2007, while DXY again surpassed 106.50 levels,” said Kunal Sodhani, vice president, Shinhan Bank (Global Trading Centre).

“For dollar/rupee, the support is seen at Rs 83.15 while the immediate resistance is seen at Rs 83.32 followed by Rs 83.50,” he said.

India likely to sign deal with U.S. for 31 MQ-9B drones by February 2024

India likely to sign deal with U.S. for 31 MQ-9B drones by February 2024

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The deal for 31 MQ-9B Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with the U.S. is expected to be concluded by February 2024 and deliveries will begin from February 2027, three years from the signing of the contract, according to defence sources.

“The deal is on track and the Letter of Offer and Acceptance [LOA] is now awaited from the U.S. The contract is expected to be concluded by February 2024,” a defence source with knowledge of the matter said.

As part of this plan, General Atomics (GA) is scheduled to establish a global Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India. But its location has not yet been finalised, the source stated, adding that it could likely be in Bengaluru.

In June, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) cleared the procurement of 31 MQ-9B UAVs from GA, including 15 Sea Guardians for the Indian Navy and eight Sky Guardians each for the Indian Army and Air Force, at an estimated cost of $3,072 million though the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route. Following this, last month, just ahead of the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued the Letter of Request (LoR) to the U.S. government.

Based on the LoR, the U.S. government and MoD will finalise the LOA where details of equipment and terms of the procurement would be negotiated and finalised in accordance with the FMS programmme, the Ministry stated earlier.

As part of the process, the U.S. administration will have to notify the U.S. Congress of the sale, expected to be a formality in this case. In the penultimate step, the deal has to be approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security of the Indian government after which the contract will be concluded.
The MQ-9B, which will significantly boost the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of the Indian armed forces, has two variants – the Sky Guardian and Sea Guardian, its maritime variant. MQ-9B is designed to fly over the horizon via satellite for up to 40 hours, depending on configuration, in all types of weather and safely integrate into civil airspace, according to its manufacturer.

School named after Indian-American trailblazer Sonal Bhuchar formally dedicated to her in Texas

School named after Indian-American trailblazer Sonal Bhuchar formally dedicated to her in Texas

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An elementary school in the US state of Texas named after Indian-American trailblazer Sonal Bhuchar has been formally dedicated to her memory at an official ceremony where speakers highlighted her contributions to the community and the needy.

The Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD) Board of Trustees on Sunday unanimously approved naming the elementary school after Sonal, who died in 2019 at the age of 58 due to cancer complications.

The funding for the Sonal Bhuchar Elementary School in Missouri City, Texas was provided through a 2018 bond.
Sonal was an FBISD board member, an esteemed leader, a consensus builder and a well-respected trailblazer.

She was a dedicated volunteer with Child Advocates, the Literacy Council, the Cultural Arts Foundation and the Fort Bend Education Foundation.

She was elected to the Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees for six years and served as the Board President for two years.
Sonal also took her community service to the political field too and sought the Republican Party nomination for the State Representative position in 2012.

In 2015, Texas Governor Greg Abbot appointed Sonal to the One Star National Service Commission Board which promotes volunteerism and oversees the administration of the AmeriCorps programmes in Texas.

Originally from Mumbai, Sonal, a professional physiotherapist, had her bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Mumbai University before immigrating to Houston in 1984 with her physician husband Dr. Subodh Bhuchar.

The memorable dedication for the school named after her opened its doors in August.
The school’s mascot, a Bengal tiger named Royal, is an emblem of Bhuchar’s Indian culture. ROYAL stands for Resilient, Optimistic, Youthful, Admirable, Leader.
Walking into the lobby of the school is a prominently placed mural on a wall, with her image alongside a quote that guided her life, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.

The school was built to house 1,000 students and features an outdoor classroom for students’ and teachers’ use on nice weather days.

Glowing tributes were paid by the speakers at the ceremony, highlighting the contribution of Sonal in the community and how she encouraged them to serve for the betterment of the needy in the community.
Consul General of India D C Manjunath, who was amongst the special guests at the event, paid his tributes and gifted the elementary school with special books on India.

Sonal’s children gave an emotional speech about the lessons learned from their mother, and how she spent hours volunteering the community causes without any expectations in return as she believed in doing things for good without an ego.

The school will forever promote education and development, which was close to her heart. Their speech touched many chords and left many eyes wet.

“Along with establishing her own practice, she managed her husband’s office, raised three children, and served on various charitable boards in the community”, they said.

“She served in many leadership roles, and up until her passing, was actively involved as a Board Member with the Child Advocates of Fort Bend and Parks, Art, Recreation, Culture, and Streetscapes (PARCS).

“During her tenure with the district, she spearheaded many efforts including chairing the WATCH programme (a healthy lifestyle education program for elementary school kids), developing the concept for the Fort Bend Education Foundation’s Annual International Festival to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within the District, Student Leadership Programme, Legislative Advocacy Program, and countless scholarship opportunities for students.”

She was a giver in the community, highly regarded,” said Christie Whitbeck, superintendent for Fort Bend ISD.

Others who spoke at the dedication include Judy Dae, FBISD Board President, Robin Elackatt, Mayor Missouri City, Nikki Robert, School Principal, Rebecca Wells, School Music Teacher.
Principal Nikki Roberts said she is “incredibly excited”.

Roberts told PTI that we are honoured to celebrate the life of service Sonal Bhuchar dedicated to the district and the beautiful school she is named after.
Roberts said she wants all children to love learning and is grateful for the opportunity to open a school that pays tribute to a person who was a giant in the community.

Vivek Ramaswamy Calls For Ending Birthright Citizenship In US: Report

Vivek Ramaswamy Calls For Ending Birthright Citizenship In US: Report

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Continuing his proposals of harsh policy changes, Indian-American presidential aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy, in his second Republican presidential debate, has said he would favour ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants in the US.
The second Republican debate of the 2024 election cycle which was held at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California on Wednesday, saw Mr Ramaswamy sharing the stage with six other candidates including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

When asked “what legal premise” he would use to expel undocumented immigrants and their American-born children from the country, Vivek Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, resurrected a 2015 proposal of ending birthright citizenship from then-candidate Donald Trump, reported the Washington Post on Wednesday.

The first section of the citizenship clause of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment says, “All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Although most agree with the long-held tradition that it grants citizenship to those born on US soil, some legal scholars argue that the phrase “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” seems to give the government some leeway to restrict the right, just as other constitutional principles can be limited, the report said.

Because of this, he argued, children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States should not be granted citizenship, because their parents “broke the law” to be in the country.

Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, also supported his opponents onstage and acknowledged other measures such as militarisation of the southern border, defunding “sanctuary cities,” and an end to foreign aid to Mexico and Central America.

He said he would go a “step further” by ending “birthright citizenship for the kids of illegal immigrants in this country.” A second-generation Indian-American, Mr Ramaswamy, had earlier criticised the H-1B visa programme saying the current “lottery” system needs to be “gutted” and replaced with a “meritocratic” skill-based immigration scheme to match the needs of the US.

The H-1B visa, much sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

His stance on H-1B visas is also reminiscent of the 2016 Trump campaign, when then-candidate Donald Trump, who has also hired a number of foreign workers under H-1B visas for his businesses, took a hardline stance on these foreign workers before later softening his rhetoric.
It is to be noted that Ramaswamy himself has used the H-1B visa programme 29 times.

According to Politico, from 2018 through 2023, US Citizenship and Immigration Services approved 29 applications for Vivek Ramaswamy’s former company, Roivant Sciences, to hire employees under H-1B visas.

Mr Ramaswamy, who was addressed as “Trump’s heir apparent” by Time Magazine has garnered quite an attention after his maiden Republican presidential primary debate held on August 23.

The first poll after the debate said that 28 per cent of the 504 respondents said that Ramaswamy performed the best.
Mr Ramaswamy’s harsh proposals have helped him stand out in the crowded primary field, according to US media reports.