Symbol Of Indo-Canadians’ New Home In Canada
 

                    Article & Photo by Sunil Rao from www.southasianfocus.com

The new BAPS Shri Swaminarayan temple was officially opened last weekend. The $40 million temple, with an exterior built from Turkish limestone and Indian sandstone, and an interior carved out of Italian marble, is among the biggest temples in North America. Dubbed an architectural wonder, the edifice is constructed entirely from interlacing stone elements without any nails or wood to hold it together. A team of 100 sculptors and artisans specially flown in from India worked on it for more than a year to carve out the uniquely Indian motifs adorning its exterior and interior.  

Many Americans Ambivalent about Immigration
By Henok Fente, Washington, 26 July 2007
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2007-07-26-voa24.cfm?renderforprint=1


Africans face a number of challenges in their efforts to attain legal status as immigrants in the United States. In this 4th of a five part series, VOA English to Africa's Henok Fente reports on how the United States views immigration both now and in the past.

Historically, the United States has attracted immigrants from every corner of the world. In fact, immigrants form part of the fabric of American society. Douglas Rivlin of the National Immigration Forum, a think-tank based in Washington, DC, says, "Immigration is one of the things that makes the United States, the United States. People came from all over the world, and we have put together what we think is a very good country. Even uneducated people, like my great grandfather, who came from Russia to come to the United States and make a life for themselves, whether they had formal education or not. We need to preserve that unique quality of the United States that it matters more what you can contribute than where you are from."
He says even though the United States is a nation of immigrants, there has been resistance to newcomers throughout its history: "Political cartoons in the big era of immigration of 120 years ago [depicted people] really hating the Irish and really hating the Italians or really hating the Jews, the Slavs or whatever group was coming in at the current time. America has always had this love and hate relationship and the skepticism about the current wave of immigrants. This love/hate relationship was reflected in the immigration debate in the U.S. Congress. Lawmakers were divided regardless of party lines over the bill, which eventually failed to gain enough support."

Rivlin cites informal statistics supporting his comments: "Without having exact numbers in front of me, it was about two thirds of the Democrats and about one-third of the Republicans who voted for it moving forward in the legislative process, and in the end that wasn't enough. There are some people who feel that there is too much immigration going on in the United States [and they would] really like to see the numbers reduced."

"Numbers USA" is one of the leading lobbying groups urging Congress to reduce the number of immigrants. The group did not respond to our repeated requests for its views, but on its official website it says it stands opposed to economic injustice and favors a "reduction in immigration numbers that are now so high as to harm the most vulnerable American workers and their families."

Part of an Internet advertisement paid for by Numbers USA targets Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who supports comprehensive immigration reform. "Why is Senator Harry Reid selling out Nevada in favor of illegal aliens? He has joined with George Bush in strong arming senators to support amnesty for millions of illegals, many of whom have already taken jobs from American workers."

When the immigration bill was voted down in Congress last month, Numbers USA claimed victory for Americans and for the country's economy. Rivlin says the argument that immigrants are taking jobs meant for Americans is not logical, "It is an argument that you hear all the time and it happens to be wrong. Immigrants are working for the most part in complementary jobs to the native-born workforce. They are working in the service sector in agriculture in parts of our economy that are growing but Americans were not particularly interested in."

Economists say as long as the US economy does well, immigrants will find a way to cross the borders. This is also the view of Chuks Eleonu, head of an African think-tank called African-Pac: "You can fortify the border as much as you want. That is why I mentioned earlier about China having a wall, Rome having a wall, Germany had a wall, and people scaled it. When a family has a desire, if you are sitting in darkness, and you can see light across the street, you will try to find a way to cross that street no matter how torturous it is."

The immigration issue is officially off the table in Congress - for now - but many predict it will play an important role in the 2008 presidential elections. 

Canada-India Education Potential Underlined
South Asian Focus http://www.southasianfocus.ca/business
Tuesday July 24 2007
By SUNIL RAO, Staff Writer

Considerable scope exists for two-way Canada-India exchanges in the field of education, participants at a conference organized by Canada-India Business Council heard last week.

"India today has 10 million students in colleges, and its institutions of higher learning led by the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) are today translating into strong economic of 9.5 and 10 per cent," said R.L. Narayan, High Commissioner of India. "While economic liberalization has certainly been an enabling factor, it is India's initial investment in education that is today leading the country on the strong growth path."

He said both India and Canada have considerable upside potential. Among the bottlenecks, he noted Canada has not branded itself strong enough to be able to tap adequately into the 120,000 Indian students who annually seek foreign education.

Husain Neemuchwala, chair of C-IBC's Education Committee, did Dr. Balbir Sahni of Concordia University the honour of presenting him with a brick, for laying the foundation of a strong Canada-India education initiative.

The event, organized by Kam Rathee, president and executive director, C-IBC, attracted more than 100 delegates from across Canada and overseas.

Tuesday July 24 2007

NEW YORK--Hindu priest Rajan Zed's historical opening prayer in the US Senate and the protests in the house have created crackling interest on the Internet, with some describing the prayer as "an insult to God" and others asking the Indian American chaplain to forgive the protesters.

The prayer held on July 12 has also resulted in hundreds of protest calls to the office of the senate chaplain and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Ont. Citizenship Minister Quits In Wake Of Auditor's Report
Friday, July 27, 2007 | 8:51 AM ET CBC News

Ontario's minister of citizenship and immigration quit Thursday after an auditor general's report slammed the government for doling out $32 million in year-end grants to ethnic groups, without any accountability.
In his report, Auditor General Jim McCarter says the money was rushed out the door in a way that was "not open, transparent, or accountable."
He added, however, that there was no evidence the minister, Mike Colle, handed out the funds to ethnic groups because of Liberal ties, as opposition parties had accused.
McCarter said the grant process had no formal application procedure.
"Decisions were based on conversations, not applications," McCarter said, adding that many organizations said they weren't even aware how the minister knew they needed the money.
"More could have been done and quite frankly, more should have been done," he said.
Colle said he was under "time constraints," was personally familiar with the organizations and had "to get the money out the door quickly," McCarter said.
In one case, the Ontario Cricket Association requested $150,000, but received $1 million, McCarter's report said.
"You had people literally showing up wanting a small bucket of money and instead walked away with a wheelbarrow full of money," said Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory.
Both opposition parties called on the premier to bear responsibility for the scandal.
"Dalton McGuinty can't fob off responsibility for this scandal onto one disgraced cabinet minister. The issue is not Mike Colle's actions," New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton said in a news release.
 

Soccer Scores at Viva Goa
By Francis Carvalho

A total of 22 teams (17 men and 5 women) consisting of 264 players participated in the 10th Anniversary inter-village Viva Goa soccer tournament.

Mens teams were divided into 3 groups of 4 teams and one group of 5 teams Women had a single group of 5 teams.

In the men’s final Old Goa who had in their ranks former ace India striker, Roy Barretto dethroned holders Bogmalo S.C. winning by a margin of 4 goals to 1.

Roy Barretto of Old Goa was awarded the tournament MVP and the Golden Boot for scoring the highest number of goals (7) The Senior MVP (over age 30) went to Gavin Francis of Parra SC and the Jr.MVP (under 19) to Bradley Pereira of Vagator SC.

The women’s final played between Fatorda and Saligao Stars was a very close affair with Fatorda finally emerging victorious on penalty kicks. Rhea Monteiro the captain of the Saligao Stars with her outstanding talents was awarded the women MVP trophy

The guest of honour at the prize distribution ceremony were Francis and Xavita Fernandes owners of United Global Logistics. Francis is a very strong promoter of soccer in the community and donated the beautiful trophies that were awarded to all.

The referee for the men’s final was Eddie Gonsalves and the womens final was officiated by Ireneus Ratos.

All the refs. i.e Steve DaSilva, James Pereira, Frank Carvalho and Edward Fernandes and the two above sacrificed their busy and financially rewarding Ontario Cup duties and/or their personal time to volunteer at this community event.

The tournament was organized for Viva Goa by Francis Carvalho ably assisted by Manuel Araujo, Emano Moniz, Mario Martins and Savio Rodrigues.

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