Natasha Perianayagam, a 13-year-old Indian-American schoolgirl has been named to the ‘World’s Brightest’ students list by the Johns Hopkins Center. The list has been made on the basis of the results of above-grade-level tests of over 15,000 students across 76 countries. Perianayagam is a student at Florence M Gaudineer Middle School, in New Jersey.

Natasha Perianayagam
She also took the Johns Hopkins Center For Talented Youth (CTY) test in Spring 2021, when she was a Grade 5 student. Her results in the verbal and quantitative sections levelled with the 90th percentile of advanced Grade 8 performance, which catapulted her into the honours list that year.

CTY Talent Search
This year, she was honoured for her exceptional performance on the SAT, ACT, School and College Ability Test, or similar assessment taken as part of the CTY Talent Search, the university said in a press release on Monday. Perianayagam, whose parents hail from Chennai, said she loves doodling and reading JRR Tolkien’s novels in her spare time.

CTY used above-grade-level testing to identify advanced students from around the world and provide a clear picture of their academic abilities. According to the university release, Perianayagam was among the 15,300 students from 76 countries who joined CTY in the 2021-22 Talent Search year.

Perianayagam scored the highest grades
Less than 27 percent of those participants qualified for the CTY ceremony, receiving either high or grand honours based on their test scores. In her latest attempt, Perianayagam scored the highest grades among all candidates. “This is not just recognition of our student’s success on one test, but a salute to their love of discovery and learning, and all the knowledge they have accumulated in their young lives so far,” said CTY’s executive director Dr. Amy Shelton.

“It is exciting to think about all the ways in which they will use that potential to discover their passions, engage in rewarding and enriching experiences, and achieve remarkable things — in their communities and in the world,” she added.

A new wellness and spirituality web magazine, alotusinthemud.com, founded by Indian American journalist Parveen Chopra was launched at the Consulate General of India in New York recently.

“We tap the world’s religious and spiritual traditions for wisdom as well as draw from the latest medical and scientific research to present content for our readers to be fully productive and successful and yet be healthy, happy and centered,” said Chopra.

Every article posted on alotusinthemud.com must pass the litmus test of usefulness — something that the readers can benefit from to better their lives, he said.

Unique interactive features of the web magazine include short meditations with soothing music, personality quizzes, and space for visitors to share their experiences of healing and personal or spiritual growth.

Launching the website, Consul General of India Randhir Jaiswal congratulated Chopra for introducing “another slice of India in America, promoting wellness through yoga, right food habits, etc, and from which people should take benefit.”

Chopra agreed that even though the Lotus site respects and sources from the world’s major faiths, its founders, advisers and donors being proud people of Indian origin are committed to preserving, protecting and promoting Indian heritage by projecting it to American audiences.

At the launch event, a video introducing the webzine explained that ‘Lotus in the mud’ is a key concept in Hinduism and Buddhism, signifying that we may get muddled by problems, but we have the inherent capability to emerge as full bloom lotuses in body, mind, and spirit.

A trained teacher of meditation, Chopra had founded Life Positive, India’s first spiritual magazine from New Delhi in 1996. He currently edits The South Asian Times and One World Under God interfaith journal.

Last year Chopra founded American Center for Wellness & Spirituality Inc, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, to run the Lotus website.

The Hindenburg Research report calling Adani’s meteoric rise the biggest con in corporate history, has shaken up India’s stock markets. As it raised 89 questions against the conglomerate, the report focused on Adani’s use of shell firms to jack up prices of stocks, which were later used to borrow more debt. As Adani’s defenders are decribing Hindenburg’s allegations as a conspiracy against Indian markets, Indian-American NYU Professor Aswath Damodaran has described Adani’s stocks as overpriced.

The valuation guru valued Adani Enterprises at Rs 947 per share, which is almost 40 per cent lower than its current market price. He argued that considering fundamentals such as cash flow and risks, Adani Enterprises has been priced too high. Damodaran added that the firm lagging behind in profit and lower margins in its sector, are reasons behind this gap.

Competent in an Indian market full of frauds?

But at the same time he disagreed with Hindenburg calling Adani being over-leveraged a con. According to him, being over-leveraged is just a risk that investors take to squeeze out higher returns. Although he called Adani competent, Damodaran juxtaposed the firm against an Indian market full of frauds and incompetent players.
Still won’t buy family-run group’s shares

The Hindenburg Report also highlighted how all key positions in the Adani group are held by family members, reducing transparency. Damodaran also wrote that family businesses have higher risk of opacity, and that the Adanis were able to exploit weaknesses of the Indian market to their advantage.

Although he didn’t agree with Hindenburg’s description, Damodaran maintained that he won’t buy Adani shares, which are overpriced even if the short-seller’s observations aren’t considered. He also cited Adani being a family business for his view, since an investor would have to buy into cross-holdings and transactions between family-owned firms.

Indian-American Congressman Dr. Ami Bera has been appointed as a member of a powerful US House Committee handling intelligence-related matters. The House Permanent Selection Committee on Intelligence is charged with providing oversight of the country’s intelligence activities, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), National Security Agency (NSA) as well as the military intelligence programs.

Indian-American Ami Bera Appointed to House Intelligence Committee- Key Points
Dr. Bera informed that he is honored to be appointed by Leader Jeffries to serve on the House Intelligence Committee which plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and national security of the United States.
Dr. Ami Beri, a six-time congressman represents the sixth Congressional District of California.
He has also served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
During the 117th Congress, Bera served as Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Non-proliferation, where he spearheads Congressional efforts to strengthen ties with Indo-Pacific allies and partners to advance the US economic and security interests.
In the 117th Congress, Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi served on the House Intelligence Committee.

A second year Indian-American student at Harvard Law School has been elected president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review, becoming the first woman from the community to be named to the position in the prestigious publication’s 136-year history.
A report in The Harvard Crimson said on Monday that Apsara Iyer was elected the 137th president of the Harvard Law Review, which was founded in 1887 and is among the oldest student-run legal scholarship publications.

Apsara Iyer said in The Crimson report that as Law Review president, she aims to “include more editors in the process of reviewing and selecting articles and upholding the publication’s reputation for “high-quality” work.”

“I think that right now I’m just focused on making sure we keep the lights on and everything going,” Ms Iyer said.

Ms Iyer’s distinguished predecessors in the role include Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former president Barack Obama.

The Crimson report said Apsara Iyer graduated from Yale in 2016 and received a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Math and Spanish.

Ms Iyer’s immediate predecessor Priscila Coronado said the publication is “extremely lucky” to have Apsara Iyer at the helm.

“Apsara has changed the lives of many editors for the better, and I know she will continue to do so,” Coronado said. “From the start, she has impressed her fellow editors with her remarkable intelligence, thoughtfulness, warmth, and fierce advocacy.”

The Crimson said that Apsara Iyer’s interest in understanding the “value of cultural heritage” led her to work in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit that tracks stolen works of art and artifacts.

Ms Iyer worked in the office in 2018 before coming to the Law School, and took a leave of absence after her first year studying law to return to the role, it said.

The report added that Ms Iyer joined the Harvard Law Review following a competitive process called “write-on,” where Harvard Law School students “rigorously fact-check a document and provide commentary on a recent State or Supreme Court Case.”

Apsara Iyer has previously been involved in the Law School’s Harvard Human Rights Journal and the National Security Journal and is also a member of the South Asian Law Students Association.