Indians settled in USA and other Western countries (NRIs) are doing much better financially than people originally from those countries.
As mentioned there, while an average American earns $65,000 per year, a white American $66,000 per year, and a Chinese American $85,000 per year, an average Indian living in America earns $120,000 to $125,000 per year.
The telephone call was at around 6 pm from a young IAS officer who was posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate in Muzaffarnagar District in Uttar Pradesh. This was his first posting after completing his training. I could discern some desperation and urgency in his voice. He wanted to meet me to discuss an issue personally and he wanted to come over right away. I had settled in NOIDA after my superannuation. Muzaffarnagar was around a three-hour drive from NOIDA. I had no problem with him dropping in even at an unearthly hour so I asked him to come over. He arrived at my place at around 9.30 pm.
By Mayank Chhaya
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report out of the investigation into Donald J. Trump’s alleged attempt to illegally hold onto power after losing the 2020 election shows that the President-elect’s strategy to do whatever it took to brazen out all his perilous challenges worked.
In his 137-page report released at 1 a.m. on January 14, Smith wrote, “The department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a president is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof or the merits of the prosecution, which the office stands fully behind.”
“Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial,” he said what is clearly the essence of Trump’s four-year-long strategy until he won the election on November 5, 2024.
Purely as an act of political machinating, Trump’s strategy to resist and rebuff has paid off brilliantly from his standpoint but in the process, it has set an ugly precedent by which other political leaders and even future presidents could well achieve similar results.
It was not lost on anyone when he announced to run for president again on November 15, 2022, that he was primarily doing it to build a shield around him against the oncoming flood of his legal troubles. However, it was not enough just to contest and win the Republican Party’s nomination to ward off his troubles. He had to win the election to ensure that he becomes legally untouchable as pointed out by Smith in view of the U.S. Constitution prohibiting indictment and prosecution of a president.
Had he lost the election, it would have been a fait accompli that Smith and the Department of Justice would have pursued the election interference case as well as the classified documents case to their logical end and likely won conviction in at least one, if not both.
Notwithstanding the complete absence of morality or ethics in Trump’s strategy, in so much as it illustrates to what extent politics is the art of the possible it would probably get enshrined in political science text books.
Coming as it does barely six days before Trump’s takes oath of presidency for the second time as it does in the immediate aftermath of Smith’s resignation, the report is a stunning rebuke of the President-elect.
As if writing with an eye on history, Smith said, “I can assure you that neither I nor the prosecutors on my team would have tolerated or taken part in any action by our Office for partisan political purposes. Throughout my service as Special Counsel, seeking to influence the election one way or the other, or seeking to interfere in its outcome played no role in our work. My Office had one north star: follow the facts and law wherever they led. Nothing more and nothing less.”
While most of the details of the cases have already been known for quite some time, reading them in a single document makes it even more extraordinary.
“As alleged in the original and superseding indictments, substantial evidence demonstrates that Mr. Trump then engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to retain power. Although he did so primarily in his private capacity as a candidate, and with the assistance of multiple private co-conspirators, Mr. Trump also attempted to use the power and authority of the United States Government in furtherance of his scheme. As set forth in the original and superseding indictments, when it became clear that Mr. Trump had lost the election and that lawful means of challenging the election results had failed, he resorted to a series of criminal efforts to retain power,” the report said.
The report also stands out starkly for laying the entire blame for the 2020 election disaster at Trump’s feet.
It is unlikely to change any minds on either side of the political divide, but its shattering importance ought to be seen in the context of posterity. It will forever remain a powerful and damning counter to the Trump narrative.
Today’s political scenario in India presents a sordid sight. Our politicians, of all parties, are squabbling with each other, seeking power and pelf for themselves, with no genuine love for the people, and with that end polarizing society by inciting caste and communal hatred to get votes, an exercise in which they are experts.
The forthcoming Delhi Assembly elections to be held on 5th February, for which ‘saam, daam, dand, bhed’ ie all means fair or foul, are being applied by all 3 major parties, the BJP, the Congress, and the AAP, is a typical example.
The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) or China CDC has recently been reporting a steep increase in viral infections of the respiratory tract. This is coupled with viral videos on social media about hospitals full of sick people with masks and exhibiting respiratory illness symptoms.
This has triggered fears among people all over the world that there is going to be a similar outbreak to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this scenario, people are most afraid of the human metapneumovirus (hMPV) which is gaining notoriety. Let us examine this issue closely.
I was once invited to participate on a Pan Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) panel focused on the topic of leadership. IITs are the most prestigious engineering institutes in India, and the panel consisted of five successful leaders from prominent consulting firms and technology companies in the US—all IIT alums like myself. I was honored to be the only woman on the panel, and eager to share my experiences with the audience and my peers.
By Justice Markandey Katju- (Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.) Bill Tammeus is my American friend who lives in Kansas City, Missouri. He came to India with his father, an agricultural expert, in or around 1957 […]
As I highlighted in all my debates and forums—one was hosted by the League of Women Voters and the other by Embarcadero Media—we have fundamental problems within our city, where candidates are running unopposed.
It is ironic that in the midst of the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter this week, the Panama Canal, control over which was transferred to Panama by him in 1978, has been made into a hugely contentious global issue by the incoming President Donald J Trump.
Real freedom is freedom from poverty, unemployment, hunger, malnutrition, price rise, lack of healthcare, and good education, etc. The Independence of 1947 gave us no such freedom, and hence was phoney freedom.
Indians are slowly realizing that they were befooled by being told that after 1947 they were free. All that happened in 1947 was that our white masters and oppressors were replaced by brown ones.
The inevitable resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has the potential to reboot Canada’s seriously frayed relations with India over the question of Khalistani separatism.
Whoever takes over as Trudeau’s successor will have a fresh opportunity to recalibrate bilateral relations which have practically collapsed since October last year after unprecedented tit-for-tat expulsions and withdrawals of its diplomats over escalating tensions flowing from his allegations of a “campaign of violence”.
The Kumbh Mela ( a religious congregation of Hindus ) is commencing in Prayag ( Allahabad ) in UP, India from January 13 this year and will last till 26th February. It is estimated that 400 million people, mostly Hindus, from all over the world will come on this occasion.
By Justice Markandey Katju- (Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.) Those Indians who can do so, are increasingly leaving India and going to settle abroad, as this article explains. Many migrate illegally, as shown in the […]
By Karl Mehta- [Karl Mehta is chairman emeritus of Quad Investors Network (QUIN). The views expressed in this article are his own) The past four years under the Biden Administration have seen a mixed trajectory in US-India diplomatic and trade relations. While significant strides were made in some areas, lingering challenges have hindered the full realization […]
Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP claim to represent inter alia the Dalits, whose votes they will seek in the coming Delhi Assembly elections, But how shabbily they treat the memory of Baba Sabeb Dr. BR Ambedkar and the University founded in Delhi in his name can be seen from the example given below.
Former Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy recently raised eyebrows in a viral message with his discourse on a “c-word: culture.” “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence,” he claims. Further, he suggests if we grow up aspiring normalcy, mediocrity is all we will achieve.
Here’s wishing everyone a Very Happy New Year. Let us embrace the New Year as a fresh start filled with hope, opportunities, and endless possibilities. May this year bring all of you joy, health, and success in all that you pursue. We hope that your new year is filled with love, laughter, and light.
Lord Macaulay, in his ‘Lays of Ancient Rome’ wrote:
“Then out spake brave Horatius
The Captain of the gate
To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his Gods.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the newly-crowned World Chess Champion D. Gukesh on Saturday, Dec 28.
Taking to X, PM Modi wrote: “Had an excellent interaction with chess champion and India’s pride, @DGukesh! I have been closely interacting with him for a few years now, and what strikes me most about him is his determination and dedication. His confidence is truly inspiring.
The month of Maargazhi (called Maagh in North India) starts in Tamil Nadu and other South Indian states on December 17 and will last until January 16, which is called Pongal in South India, and Makar Sankranti in North India.
It is regarded as the most sacred month among Tamilians and other South Indians. In North India, the Maagh Mela is held every year in my home town Allahabad-Prayagraj, where Hindu saints from all over India congregate and give their sermons.
“You don’t have to be necessarily tall to be tall. It is the depth that matters. You then leave indellible footprints behind you”. This was my immediate thought when I heard about the sad demise of a stalwart and this is what I posted on the social media. When I had penned down my last book, “Encounters with Politicians”, I had written a brief chapter on Dr Singh as well.
As an avid Reddit user, I’ve learned to approach everything I read with skepticism, echoing Jerry Seinfeld’s catchphrase, “Really?” This morning, I encountered an unsourced post about Boox, a tablet and e-reader, which I viewed with a critical eye. According to the post, an upgrade to the Boox tablet’s operating system, which is based on Android, includes an AI assistant developed by ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant that also owns TikTok. ByteDance launched Coze, a competitor to ChatGPT, earlier this year.
On December 23, 2024, The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction placed on Beneficial Ownership Information (BOA) reporting by a District court on December 3, 2024.
Following this ruling that reinstated the reporting requirement, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) extended the deadline for most reporting companies to submit beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports to January 13, 2025.
Since this is the Christmas season, it may interest many to know of India’s ancient connection with Christianity.
The first connection began with the birth of Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem, when an Indian named Caspar (or Gondophares), was among the three wise men coming from the East, who visited that manger, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the infant Jesus.
Today, 24th December, is the 100th birth anniversary of the legendary Indian singer Mohammed Rafi, whom I regard as the greatest Hindi film playback singer of all times.
There have been many great singers in Hindi films e.g. KL Saigal, Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, etc., but I regard Mohammed Rafi as a shade above all, just as there have been many great Urdu poets, but Mirza Ghalib is a shade above everyone else.
