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Photos: provided by author. Neera Sohoni By Neera Kuckreja Sohoni In 1945, freeing itself of Dutch colonial rule, Indonesia set up its own independent government headed by President Sukarno (Soekarno). It took barely a year for the Dutch to resume their invasion

By Parthiv N. Parekh The massive national wave of devotion to Lord Ram witnessed recently during the consecration of the Mandir in Ayodhya, was breathtaking—and inspiring. Even though I grew up in a family steeped in Krishna bhakti, the reverence for

By Ajay Bhutoria In the realm of leadership, President Joe Biden has emerged as a truly exceptional figure, earning recognition as one of the greatest presidents in recent history. Far surpassing the criteria of merely being a good leader or a

By Farwa Aamer, Director of South Asia Initiatives, Asia Society Policy Institute As Pakistan braces for imminent elections in less than a week, the political landscape is marred by a series of dramatic events, most notably the sentencing of former Prime

By D.C.Pathak NEW DELHI - The anti-India remarks made by Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on returning home from a five-day high-profile state visit to China on January 13, go beyond what could be considered as the consequence merely of India's known

By Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor, Co-Chair and a Founding member, MLK Unity Committee, City of Fresno January 15 was a federal holiday in honor of Dr. King's 95th birthday, which was observed across the nation and around the world. It is a holiday

Photo: Warren K Leffler, Library of Congress By Shakeel Syed “We are not makers of history. We are made by history,” said Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose life we celebrate this week. For South Asian Americans to earn their rightful place

The Biden administration has just announced a plan to build 31 new tech hubs across the country. Seasoned biotech exec and entrepreneur Grace Colón lays out a blueprint for turning cities into booming life science centers like Boston and San Francisco. By

By Vinod Mirani MUMBAI, (IANS) - It is the time to sum up the year 2023. Good or bad, it is a tradition followed in all kinds of media. The scene of the film industry is like all the years gone

By Neera Kuckreja Sohoni A day after the deadly terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, in an act of unusual courage by an immigrant Indian, Congressman Thanedar renounced his membership of the Democratic Socialists of America coming out against that entity

By Yajurvindra Singh The popularity of the conventional form of cricket, ‘Test Matches’ may be on the wane; however, it is the only way one can measure the ability of a cricketer. The five days of play for men and four days

By Kavya Dubey The world may be feeling for Gaza in the wake of the war Israel announced against Hamas for attacking it on October 7, but the silence of the Arab nations over Israel’s relentless retaliation against Hamas is rather

Photo: EMS By Pedro Noguera and Louis Freedberg Too often, the things that get kids most excited about learning have been stripped out of the school curriculum. No wonder when asked: “how was school,” so many students respond, “boring.” It shouldn’t be that way

By Sanjeev Sharma NEW DELHI, (IANS) -China is navigating an unfamiliar and uncomfortable role -- as the world’s largest official debt collector, AidData said in a report. Fifty-five per cent of its loans to low- and middle-income countries have already entered their

By D.C. Pathak Awareness is a product of analyzed knowledge. Innocence is bliss, no doubt, given the complexities of life, but a brush with reality becomes inevitable even for Gautam Buddha - born as Prince Siddharth - and that was enough

By Deepika Bhan NEW DELHI, (IANS) - As Israel's war on Hamas rages, demonstrations are being seen in several countries in support of the Palestinian cause. In India, too, pro-Palestine and anti-Israel protests were held in a few cities. Some organizations, including

Photo: @VivekGRamaswamy By Abhishek Narahari In mid-August, after I was elected President of my school’s student senate, I received a call from my grandparents in India. Having known my deep interest in politics, they congratulated me profusely. But towards the end, they

By D.C. Pathak Strategic analysts are writing a lot on the situation in Pakistan in the context of what is happening to Imran Khan in the wake of criminal cases being pursued against him with endorsement from a hostile Army and

By D.C. Pathak The Preamble of G20 Delhi Declaration - singularly important for representing the unanimous voice of all the leaders participating in the Summit - goes beyond the motto ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ as they pledged their commitment not only to ‘one

Photo: Wikipedia By Neera Kuckreja Sohoni SACRAMENTO, CA - While those who live in California are invariably envied by others for enjoying its year-round incredible weather, natural beauty, and historic (once treasured now fast decaying) cities, they and we are slowly recognizing

By Deepika Bhan NEW DELHI - The Women's Reservation Bill continues to languish in Parliament. From time to time, different women's groups and leaders have raised their voices to get the Bill cleared in Parliament, and this time once again a

By Daniel Russel Asia Society Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy NEW YORK, NY - Chinese President Xi Jinping attended every G-20 leaders meeting from the time he took office until the pandemic. And he recently traveled to South Africa to

By Mishita Jethi Special to India-West NEW YORK, NY - Every month, the Department of State (DOS) comes out with a visa bulletin. The dates in the visa bulletin show which green card applications can move to the final stage. The August 2023

By Neera Kuckreja Sohoni India’s Independence Day has come and gone and therefore it may seem of no news value to address its significance. However, an irritating sanctimonious opinion  (https://indiawest.com/i-cannot-celebrate-indias-independence-day-again/) is a compelling reason to pen the following rejoinder In the current age when

By SHAKEEL SYED Last year, I wrote an op-ed in this very newspaper titled, “I refuse to celebrate India’s Independence Day.” I had hoped I would celebrate this year. I was wrong. Here are a few reasons why I will not celebrate

By D.C. PATHAK NEW DELHI (IANS) - Slowly but steadily the Pak-supported Khalistan movement is raising its head among the Sikh diaspora in the four countries -- Canada, Australia, the US, and the UK -- where it is significant number-wise. There is

By D.C. PATHAK NEW DELHI, (IANS) - Of all the matters validating strategic cooperation between India and the US from a long-term perspective, perhaps the most important was the pledge of common resolve of President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra

By ASAD MIRZA WASHINGTON, DC (IANS) - A recent UN report has identified India as one of the peripheral countries where terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda, Islamic State (IS) and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) are planning to increase their presence. The

NEW YORK, NY (IANS) - The US expectations of the relations with India - that it would become a bulwark against China and Russia - have come a full circle from 1947 to 2023 with Washington and New Delhi finally

The words of Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective come to mind - “Elementary My Dear Watson” - when one reviews the Jonny Bairstow stumping incident. In a tight situation, especially during a critical Ashes Test match, every cricketer on the ground

By NAVNEET S. CHUGH The Supreme Court's recent ruling on college admissions and affirmative action has made African Americans and Hispanics unhappy, some whites happy and most Indians happy.  The lawsuits leading up to the ruling were largely filed by Asian-American students

By R.C. GANJOO It was a bold and clear message from the US and India statement that has thrown an open challenge to counter global terrorism and unequivocally condemn terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations. The statement

By JAY J. CHAUDHURI, North Carolina Senate Minority Whip This week, President Joseph Biden hosts Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Republic of India for an official visit to the United States, only the third world leader invited by President Biden.

By VINOD MIRANI In the Hindi film industry original ideas are scarce, and filmmakers often rely on foreign films, novels, or South Indian movies for inspiration. The film industry operates with a desire to play it safe due to the high risk

By D.C. PATHAK In recent years the international scene has been conditioned by new geopolitical trends that were affecting all regions, particularly West Asia, Indo-Pacific and Eurasia. India now a major power influencing global events, had stakes in these parts of

By SUBHASH GARG Build-up to SB-403 Hindus were taken aback when giants like Apple Inc. and the California State University system adopted policies about caste-based discrimination (CBD). They did not think or hear of CBD or practice or experience it. But a

By YAJURVINDRA SINGH The recent launch of Aunshuman Gaekwad's book made one truly understand how cricket has mellowed over the years. The biography is titled "Guts amidst Bloodbath", referring to an occurrence that many cricketers had to face to play the game

By ATUL ANEJA The May 9 pinpointed attacks in Pakistan on key military installations by angry mobs, piqued by the unceremonious arrest of Imran Khan at Islamabad High Court, has been a pivotal moment that may have sealed the fate of

By SUBHASH GARG Section 703 of the 1964 Civil Rights Act bans discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex or national origin.” Why not include “caste” in this list? The question has been asked for several years. Recently, some organizations have acted

By ASAD MIRZA NEW DELHI - Recently, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) Defense Ministers' meeting, India adopted a very tough stand to deal with its immediate neighbor China, which has been the founding father of the bloc. Relations between the two

By Hamza Ameer ISLAMABAD, (IANS) - The increasing influence of China in the South Asian region is certainly raising eyebrows as Beijing capitalizes on the economic vulnerability of important regional countries to strengthen its position. China's hawkish relationship with India can be

With a billion users worldwide and 150 million in the U.S., Chinese owned social media giant TikTok is facing a possible ban here amid growing concerns around data privacy and rising geopolitical tensions with Beijing.  Opponents of the ban say it

NEW YORK, NY (IANS) - China's influence at the United Nations  -- a barometer of its global clout -- measured by a recent secret electoral vote has shown a downward drift even as it maintains an iron grip on power

NEW DELHI, (IANS) - Finland formally became a member of NATO on April 4 during a scheduled summit, finalizing the fastest accession process in the treaty's history. Last week, the blue-and-white flag of Finland was raised alongside those of its Western

By PETER WHITE LOS ANGELES, CA - Seventy-five percent of voters say women and their doctors should decide; just nine percent say judges and politicians should decide. Polls were clear before and after the 2022 midterm election. A large majority of Americans

NEW DELHI, (ANI) - Myanmar's Coco Islands in the Bay of Bengal have long been the subject of geopolitical intrigue. The most common allegation is that since the early 1990s, Myanmar has allowed a Chinese signals intelligence facility on the

By Nikunj Trivedi In June 2020, news broke that the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) had sued technology giant Cisco Systems for alleged caste discrimination by two managers against a Dalit employee. Effectively, an American state body tried to define religious

BY GANESH IYER NEW DELHI, (IANS) - Scarcity alone doesn't seem to be the reason. Poverty, inequalities in income and power contribute primarily for this fear. But the moot point is what is the context and perspective to this looming likely

By D.C. PATHAK It is not surprising at all that militancy in the name of Khalistan is being revived in the border state of Punjab, by some groups based abroad and working under the operational guidance of Pakistan's ISI. India's intelligence set-up

By SHAKEEL SYED------------------------------------Two decades old US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 proved to be one of the most profoundly wrong foreign policy decisions in modern times, and the subsequent war was marked by a high level of violence, instability, and