Bhagavad Gita Online Classes for Children And Youth by RadhaKrishna Temple Dallas!!

Bhagavad Gita Online Classes for Children And Youth by RadhaKrishna Temple Dallas!!

Reading Time: 2 minutes

In an endeavor to connect younger generations with the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, the RadhaKrishna Temple Dallas presents a golden opportunity for children and youth. These online Bhagavad Gita classes are set to commence from August 18, 2023, occurring every Friday between 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM CDT (4:30 AM IST).

Upon conversing with the temple coordinator, it was affirmed that these Bhagavad Gita classes are tailored for children and youth aged 9 and above. The classes are thoughtfully designed to be conducted online, providing a convenient platform for young learners to immerse themselves in the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Guided by expert teachers from JKYog, these classes promise a holistic learning experience.

Young participants will have the privilege of gaining valuable life skills through these Bhagavad Gita classes, such as:

  1. Focus and Concentration: Learning techniques to enhance focus and concentration, empowering them to excel in various areas of life.
  2. Clarity and Purpose: Navigating life with clarity and purpose, fostering a sense of direction in their endeavors.
  3. Decision-Making: Equipping with tools to make informed decisions, aiding them in overcoming life’s challenges.
  4. Emotional Intelligence: Learning to understand and manage emotions, leading to healthier interpersonal relationships.
  5. Meditation and Self-Exploration: Embarking on a journey of self-discovery through meditation, unlocking the potential within.
  6. Gems of the Gita: Extracting the gems of wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita, enriching their perspectives on life.

How to Join:

If you’re excited to embark on this enriching journey with your children or youth, visit the RadhaKrishna Temple Dallas website at https://www.radhakrishnatemple.net/BalMukund. Here, you can find details about enrollment, schedules, and more.

Should you have any questions, the temple is just a call away at 469-795-9130. The dedicated team is eager to guide you through the enrollment process and provide any assistance you may need.

Empower the young minds of today with the wisdom of ages – let them embark on a journey of growth, purpose, and fulfillment through the Bhagavad Gita classes at RadhaKrishna Temple Dallas.

A More Challenging US Citizenship Test on the Horizon

A More Challenging US Citizenship Test on the Horizon

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The path to the American dream may become more challenging as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plans to update the citizenship test. According to the Washington Post, the proposed changes, which include the addition of a new English-speaking section and multiple-choice civics questions, could pose difficulties for aspiring citizens. USCIS announced in December its intention to pilot the updated speaking test and civics exam, aiming to implement the changes by 2024.

Currently, English proficiency assessment for prospective citizens occurs during the eligibility interview with an immigration officer, not the citizenship exam itself. One of the proposed modifications involves transforming the civics section into a multiple-choice format administered on a tablet, replacing the current format of providing short oral answers.

The existing test evaluates an applicant’s English speaking ability through personal questions that have already been addressed in their naturalization paperwork. In the new test, officers would display photos depicting everyday scenarios and request verbal descriptions from the applicants, as reported by the Associated Press.

During the Trump administration, the citizenship test underwent significant changes, with the number of civics questions doubled and the pool of potential questions expanded. However, these revisions were reversed by the Biden administration in 2021. Despite this, the passage rate remained consistently above 90 percent, according to the Washington Post.

The proposed changes to the citizenship test have raised concerns among immigration advocates and preparation centers. Jessica Senat, who directs English-language programs at the Immigrant Learning Center in Malden, Massachusetts, noted that it would create a learning curve. The center is one of the volunteer sites testing the revised exam this year.

Considering the lengthy waits endured by thousands of H1B aspirants for their green cards, the potential impact of these proposed changes on the path to acquiring US citizenship becomes even more intriguing.

Field of Dreams: Indian American Teen Arjun Nimmala Among Top-15 Pick of Major League Baseball Draft Class

Field of Dreams: Indian American Teen Arjun Nimmala Among Top-15 Pick of Major League Baseball Draft Class

Reading Time: 3 minutes

For years, Florida teenager Arjun Nimmala spent more time on a cricket field in India than the travel baseball circuit. Now he’s projected to be a top-15 pick of this year’s MLB draft class which is set to take place in Seattle between July 9 and 11. A recent graduate of the Strawberry Crest High School outside of Tampa, the 17-year-old has committed to Florida State as a freshman starting this fall. This offseason, he trained with New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, “who happens to be Nimmala’s favorite player,” according to ESPN. Lindor’s agent reportedly advised Nimmala ahead of the draft.

According to global sports content platform Sportskeeda, “scouts have been enamored” with Nimmala, who is “capable of driving out 40 home runs per season on account of a powerful swing.” At 6-foot-1, he moves” very lightly on his feet,” the website says, he has “often recorded exit velocities well in excess of 100 miles per hour.” The website notes that because of the young player’s “capabilities at the shortstop position lead many to draw comparisons to Minnesota Twins shortstop and former Rookie of the Year Carlos Correa.”

 

ESPN Baseball Insider Kiley McDaniel saw Nimmala play in April in a regular-season game for Strawberry Crest High School outside of Tampa, where “a couple dozen scouts came. One scout who saw Nimmala play weeks before McDaniel told him that he had “the most impressive pregame [combinations of] infield [practice] and batting practice I’ve ever seen from a high school player.”

Sports Illustrated notes that Nimmala is getting “rave reviews from scouts in private workouts and could be around for the Chicago Cubs in the first round.” The youngest of the prep position players, the young baseball player “has been wowing teams in private workouts, consistently posting the best exit velos and with probably the best shot to stick at shortstop of those players, as well,” the publication added.

 

However, baseball wasn’t Nimmala’s first choice; cricket was. He was introduced to India’s favorite sport, during his annual visits to visit relatives in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, according to ESPN. He was a batsman — when he tried bowling, it didn’t go well. “I’m horrible, I don’t get the form right,” he told ESPN about his bowling. “I’m just a hitter.” When asked by McDaniel if he was good enough to play cricket professionally, Nimmala replied that if he “really practiced to the point that the others did,” he thinks he would’ve been “pretty good at cricket.”

Last summer, his last year playing travel baseball, Nimmala realized he was good at the game. “I realized I was pretty good because I heard draft talk and it’s hard to keep away from that because things just get to you and people talk,” he told McDaniel. “Then I realized that there was a decent amount of attention, and that’s kind of when I realized that I had a good chance.” And although he was playing with the best players in the country, he remained humble, McDaniel wrote, and “considered himself a potential pro prospect at the latest time he could possibly think that.”

In his ESPN profile, McDaniel raves about the young prospect’s skills and lists factors that could favor him, like his age. Nimmala is nearly a year younger than most of the other players in his draft class. “Being young for the class is one of the strongest empirical indicators of future success for high school position players, which is why Nimmala allows scouts and executives to imagine almost any outcome.’ His inexperience works in his favor as well, McDaniel writes. “Nimmala missed all of those showcases full of middle schoolers and their dog-eat-dog travel parents in search of that elusive D-I offer — because as a freshman in high school, he and his family still weren’t aware any of it existed.” Nimmala told McDaniel that his parents are from India and “had no clue about the recruiting process.”

In a short time, Nimmala went from being late learner to “one of the earliest commitments in his class to training with his favorite MLB player,” as well as playing in front of the “heavy-hitter” executives and general managers coming to every game. “What I realized is that I should really not be thinking about that they’re here,” Nimmala told McDaniel. “I want to impress them and do as well as I can, but I’m playing for my team and for myself, not for them.”

Ken Mathew makes history as first Indian-American sworn in as Stafford Mayor

Ken Mathew makes history as first Indian-American sworn in as Stafford Mayor

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Mathew, a former Stafford City Council member, won the race defeating incumbent Mayor Cecil Willis by 16 votes in a run-off race this month, crediting his victory to his faith in god, the Fort Bend Star reported.

: Kerala native Ken Mathew has become the first Indian-American and the first person of colour to be sworn in as the Mayor of Stafford in US state of Texas.

Mathew, a former Stafford City Council member, won the race defeating incumbent Mayor Cecil Willis by 16 votes in a run-off race this month, crediting his victory to his faith in god, the Fort Bend Star reported.
He was administered the oath of office by Missouri City Mayor Robin Elackatt, also an Indian-American, at a special event attended by his family members and top officials.

Indian-American Fort Bend County Judge, K.P. George, who was present on the occasion, tweeted: “Congratulations to Stafford Mayor-elect Ken Mathew! It was an absolute pleasure to attend his swearing-in ceremony this evening. Wishing him all the best as he embarks on this important role.”
Texas representatives, Ron Reynolds and Suleman Lulani, and former Missouri City Mayor Owen Allen also graced the occasion.

Back home, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, also congratulated Mathew in a tweet.

“Congratulations to Ken Mathew from Kerala for becoming the elected Mayor of Stafford, US. He is the first Indian to be elected to the post, in 67 years’ history of Stafford,” Chandrasekhar wrote.
Mathew served on Stafford Council since first being elected in 2006, and served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission for several years before then.
He immigrated to the US in the 1970s after earning a degree from the University of Bombay, the Star reported.
An MBA, Mathew worked as an accountant and financial executive for several corporations, including Toshiba in the Houston area. He has lived in Stafford since 1982.

Why Americans, including Obama, are in awe of Indian-American attorney Neal Katyal

Why Americans, including Obama, are in awe of Indian-American attorney Neal Katyal

Reading Time: 2 minutes

An Indian-American attorney is being hailed as a “national hero” and “true patriot” in the US after he successfully argued a case before the US Supreme Court against a legal theory being promoted by conservatives, especially those who support former US President Donald Trump. The US-born attorney, named Neal Katyal, was representing the watchdog group ‘Common Cause’ and won the judgement 6-3, with support from three liberal and three conservative judges.

 

Such was the significance of the case that one legal expert labelled it as the most important constitutional case in US history, while it helped the attorney earn rare praise from former Democratic president Barack Obama himself.

 

What was the legal case?
The case, Moore v. Harper, was about overhauling the US election system altogether while giving state legislature primacy over courts to set election rules.
Had conservatives won the case, state legislatures would have become immune to interventions by courts on state election rules. However, the theory was rebuffed by six Supreme Court judges, maintaining that the power of state legislature was restrained by federal and state courts.

America’s top legal and constitutional experts heaved a sigh of relief as the judgement came, with Obama himself tweeting on the issue. “Today, the Supreme Court rejected the fringe independent state legislature theory that threatened to upend our democracy and dismantle our system of checks and balances. This ruling rejects the far-right theory that threatened to undermine our democracy, and makes clear that courts can continue defending voters’ rights—in North Carolina and in every state,” Obama wrote in his tweet.

‘Single most important constitutional case for American democracy’

The case was hailed as the “Single most important constitutional case for American democracy” by Judge Luttig, a distinguished jurist who was also associated with the fight. He also lauded Katyal for being “masterful” while arguing the case before the court. He said Katyal made “the single best oral argument I have ever heard made before the Supreme Court of the United States.”

Who is Neal Katyal?
Neal Katyal is the son of Indian immigrants, and his mother is a paediatrician while his father is an engineer. He attended Dartmouth College and pursued his law degree at Yale, where he had the opportunity to learn from Akhil Amar, a renowned Indian-origin constitutional scholar in the United States.

 

Presently, Katyal holds a position as a partner at the prestigious law firm Hogan Lovells. Additionally, he serves as a professor of National Security Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he holds the distinction of being one of the youngest professors to have achieved tenure and a chaired professorship in the university’s history.