NRI professor appointed to Arizona space commission
FEB 9: Indian-American Dr. Sandeep Gopalan, has been appointed to the Arizona Aerospace and Defense Commission by Governor Janet Napolitano. Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Gopalan says "I am obviously thrilled and humbled by the opportunity to serve. It is also an honor for the growing Indian-American community in the State. We are sorely lacking in representation at the political level, and this small step will hopefully motivate more Indian-Americans to take up leadership positions." Gopalan is a professor at the Arizona State University College of Law in Temple. His appointment is a way to recognize outstanding citizens by naming them to positions of leadership within our state government, said Governor Janet. Born in the Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore, Gopalan was educated in the Jesuit tradition, at St. Joseph's, Bangalore, and Christ College. Graduated from India's premier law school, the National Law School of India, he was elected to a Rhodes Scholarship, and went up to the Queen's College, Oxford. While at Oxford, Gopalan was the first person from outside Europe or America to be elected president of the Middle Common Room (the association of graduate students at Queen's). Dr. Gopalan is an expert on the legal aspects of the financing of satellites and aircraft. He is a member of the American Bar Association’s Air and Space Law Forum. He has authored one book, entitled Transnational Commercial Law, and several scholarly articles in prestigious publications.  It is significant that another Rhodes Scholar of Indian origin, Congressman Bobby Jindal started his public life with a gubernatorial appointment in the state of Louisiana. Prior to starting his academic career, Gopalan was a Wall Street investment banker and Attorney. Gopalan is the only person of Indian-origin on such an important gubernatorial Commission. He has conducted extensive research on a new Convention that is expected to infuse huge amounts of financing into the space and aviation sectors. The entry of private enterprises into the space sector will be facilitated by this international law. Many companies are planning to enter the area and the first big sign was the formation of Virgin Galactica by Sir Richard Branson, with the idea of sending tourists to space. (Despardes News Desk)
Indian woman cop treated like maid in New York
NEW YORK, FEB 9: A retired female police woman has charged a New York Police Department (NYPD) sergeant with treating her like a maid because of her Indian background. Alleging racial harassment in a employment discrimination lawsuit filed late last month before the Manhattan Federal Court, Lisa Hazamoon Cahill, 33, told the New York Daily News in an exclusive interview that Sergeant Salvatore Rufolo ordered her to wash and iron his shirts at the police headquarters. "He forced me to ... I'm so embarrassed, so ashamed," "I couldn't refuse. He wasn't asking me, he was telling me. Maybe he thought because I was Indian, he thought I was submissive," she added. Cahill, who retired in September 2003 after suffering a knee and foot injury on the job while pregnant, joined the force in 1996. She said she once loved her job. She proudly recalled being commended in 2001 by then-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik for stopping a knife-wielding stalker from getting into Police Headquarters. She appeared in a recruiting video and occasionally represented the NYPD at events attended by the Indian community. The Brooklyn-reared Cahill, who is of Punjabi descent, said she knew of only one other female cop of Indian origin in the 36,000- member force. Cahill said she was the only cop in the security unit with certification from the U.S. Marshals Service in X-ray screening for weapons and explosives. But her suit alleges the unit was rife with misconduct, favoritism and boorish behavior by Rufolo. Rufolo, she claims, asked her on several occasions to wash and iron his shirts, and even went to the extent of calling her out of roll call to launder a burgundy dress shirt he planned to wear to a wedding the next day. "It was a dirty, used, nasty shirt that I had to prepare for him," she said. Cahill said she scrubbed the shirt using hand soap in the bathroom, then rinsed it out in the sink. Then she pressed it with an iron the female cops shared in the locker room. She also charges the sergeant was abusive to a black cop in the security unit, asking him in front of other officers to "act like a monkey" and "make animal sounds for me." The black cop complied, she said. Contacted at work on Tuesday, Rufolo said: "I'm not going to answer anything." Cahill said she brought her complaints directly to Internal Affairs Chief Charles Campisi, but he seemed more interested in recruiting her to work undercover, she said. Cahill, who is married to a retired NYPD sergeant and is the mother of a 10-month-old son, said despite her experience, she misses being one of New York's Finest. "I loved that job with a passion," she said. "I miss my job terribly." (ANI)
Click here >

Top

Latest Diaspora News:
'Swades' in Bihar
Indian student deported from US for sex crime
UK's top speller is a Keralite
Run over by his taxicab
Indian beheaded in Saudia
Indian American probing 19th century artist's death
Outsourcing tutors
Hindu priest convicted of rape in UK
Jindal introduces first bill on Captol Hill
When Canada sneezes, Punjab catches a cold
Behind ‘Behzti’
The advent of Inquisition?
Dialing India for tuition
Desi in US jail for software piracy
Indians arrested in Dubai
"ABC" & "Times" of Jersey City slayings
Sham marriages- 25 desis convicted
Desi pizza owner's Fra Diavolo scams
"Punjabi Canadian zabaand hai"
Desi pizzas topple Canada Minister
Dialing India for tuition
Desi in US jail for software piracy
Indians arrested in Dubai
Dual citizenship for all NRIs
New law can deport naturalized US citizens
Selling a temple
Gunning down 'a desi'  in Mississippi
Stabbing a female preacher 33 times
UK imam jailed for rape of 12-year-old
Indian Americans live up to 'model minority' tag
Single and Asian? Try speed dating
Sikh-owned gas station burnt in USA
‘Chopped-up at home’
Indian family killed in cold blood
Dreams turn sour for young Indian docs in UK
Pakistani students turn sour on US
Bobby Jindal wins, makes history
Indian Americans in US polls
Bobby Jindal poised to be only Indian-American in US Congress
Canada wants more immigrants
The rise of Indian billioniare(s) in Canada
NRI marries sister to get Green Card
Kuwait wants 4,700 Pakistani workers
Muslim vote is anti-Bush, not pro-Kerry
Family of hate crime victim granted U.S. residency
Pak to emulate India's call center success
New Saudi law to benefit South Asians
Mizo 'bamboo man' creating ripples abroad
Delhi man dupes Indian girl in US
India-born bank teller sentenced to 13 months in prison in US
Canada wants Indian farmers
UK army eyes Sikh community
Sikhs are UK's top house owners
Chicago Police gets its first desi-American sergeant
Muslim women’s paintings being exhibited in New York
Saudi Arabia to deport foreigners violating Ramazan
3 Pakistanis held in Hong Kong
All new H1-B visas filled on opening day
Gandhi's statue unveiled in Houston
Asians avoid British Police
Mosque attacked in France
Gurkhas get UK citizenship
Ash 'twin' unveiled at Madame Tussauds amidst song & dance
2 Indians in list of US sanctions
Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways announces India, Pak flights
Vote Bush out, Indian Americans urged
Moderate Muslims call for regulatory body to train Imams
Foreign student slaughtered in stab frenzy
Ethnic recruiters learn from US
Khan mania hits the UK
NRI breast implant doctor being probed
2 NRIs plan to ‘revolutionize’ Indian potatoes
Indian sleeps on Chicago train, wakes to fame
How difficult is life for a Muslim in US
Adnan Sami rocks Durban and Johannesburg
Indian origin cab driver fakes death for insurance claim