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Chicago, Sep 10: Some people are trying to make the word Hindu "untouchable" and "intolerable", Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has said as he underlined the need to preserve the true values of Hinduism as taught by seers like Swami Vivekananda to alter the "ill-informed" opinions.
In his keynote address to the concluding session of the second World Hindu Congress (WHC) here, the vice president said India believed in universal tolerance and accepted all religions as true.
Naidu called upon the delegates to preserve the true values of Hinduism as shown by seers like Vivekananda.
More than 2,500 delegates and 250 speakers from over 60 countries participated in the three-day WHC coinciding with the 125th anniversary of the historic speech of Vivekananda in Chicago in 1893.
Share and care is the core of the Hindu philosophy, he said, outlining the important aspects of Hinduism.
Naidu rued that a lot of disinformation (about Hinduism) is going around.
"Some people are trying to make the very word Hindu untouchable, intolerable. That's why one has to articulate and see the values that espouse and present the bucket of ideas in correct perspective so that the world has the most authentic perspective," he said.
The authentic perspective will prevent the distortions and any erroneous perception gaining ground, he said.
Acknowledging that certain weaknesses has crept into the society, he said this has to be dealt by reformers from inside.
"We should also know others' experience and try to improve upon others' philosophy," he said, adding the Indian culture and religion has given the liberty to imbibe the best practices from other communities.
He said "ill-informed opinions and attitudes need to be altered" to the real significance of the religion.
"The philosophy that the entire world is the whole family, the whole world is the manifestation of the divine and that the god lives in each living and non-living entity of the world; tolerance and acceptance of plurality, realisation that there is unity in diversity, and the ability to adapt and absorb are some of the key aspects of Hinduism," Naidu said.
Hindu religion, he asserted, teaches how to co-exist harmoniously with nature.
"True nationalism is preservation of this invaluable heritage," the vice president.
Empowerment and respect of women is another key aspect of Hinduism, he said.
"Swamiji was an embodiment of Hindu culture. As Swami Vivekananda said in his inaugural speech at Chicago on September 11, 1893, ours is a country that has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance'," he said.
India, Naidu said, could provide to the world the honey of wisdom.
"The values we all cherish, as Indians, can be the guideposts for our individual growth and collective advancement. We also care for the preservation of natural resources and environment. We help create a more sustainable planet," Naidu said.
India, he said, once upon a time was known as the 'Vishwa Guru' (the world teacher).
"In a world of unprecedented changes, we need a sheet anchor and a spiritual compass. India could offer those to the world. In a world that is filled with bitterness, India could provide the honey of wisdom gathered from different flowers by different bees," Naidu said.
Whenever the world is faced with the threats of fragmentation, conflict, hatred and irrational prejudices, the Indian voice brings to the world the soothing, inclusive perspectives that have pervaded its cultural world for more than two millennia.
As Vivekananda said in Chicago, "ours is a country that has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance".
India believes "not only in universal toleration but we accept all religions as true."
This event is called the World Hindu Congress. But, what exactly is Hinduism? As Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishan observed, "we find it difficult, if not impossible, to define Hindu religion or even adequately describe it".
"Unlike other religions in the world, the Hindu religion does not claim any prophet; it does not worship any one God; it does not subscribe to any one dogma; it does not believe in any one philosophic concept; it does not follow any one set of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not appear to satisfy the narrow traditional features of any religion or creed. It may broadly be described as a way of life and nothing more," Naidu quoted Radhakrishan as saying.
The vice president said Vivekananda's exquisite description is worth recalling, "we Hindus accept every religion, praying in the mosque of the Mohammedans, worshipping before the fire of the Zoroastrians, and kneeling before the cross of the Christians.
"Knowing that all the religions from the lowest fetishism, mean so many attempts of the human soul to grasp and realize the infinite, each determined by the conditions of its birth and association, and each of them making a stage of progress. We gather all these flowers and bind them with the twine of love, making a wonderful bouquet of worship".
In a passionate appeal, he urged the delegates to preserve their mother tongue and culture.
"Do not forget your mother tongue," he added.
The next World Hindu Congress would be held in Bangkok in November 2022.
In a proclamation, the Governor of Illinois declared September 11, 2018 as Swami Vivekananda Day. (PTI)
Chicago, Sep 8: Hindus have no aspiration of dominance and the community will prosper only when it works as a society, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said and urged the community leaders to unite and work for the betterment of the mankind.
Addressing a gathering of some 2,500 delegates attending the second World Hindu Congress here, Bhagwat said one of the key values to bring the whole world into a team is to have controlled ego and learn to accept the consensus.
The second World Hindu Congress marks the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's historic speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893 in Chicago.
"If a lion is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy the lion. We must not forget that. We want to make the world better. We have no aspiration of dominance. Our influence is not a result of conquest or colonisation, he said.
Bhagwat said a sense of idealism is good and described himself not as "anti-modern", but as "pro-future". He sought to describe Hindu dharma as "ancient and post-modern".
"Hindu society will prosper only when it works as a society," he said at the conference inspired by the Hindu principle 'Sumantrite Suvikrante' or 'Think Collectively, Achieve Valiantly'.
"One of the key values to bring the whole world into a team is to have controlled ego and learn to accept the consensus. For example, Lord Krishna and Yudhishtra never contradicted each other," Bhagwat said.
In this context, he alluded to the war and politics in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and said politics cannot be conducted like a meditation session, and it should be politics.
"To work together, we have to accept the consensus. We are in a position to work together," Bhagwat said.
He urged the conference attendees to discuss and evolve a methodology to implement the idea of working collectively.
He said the Hindu society has the largest number of meritorious persons.
"But they never come together. Coming together of Hindus in itself is a difficult thing," he said.
He noted that Hindus had been suffering for thousands of years because they forgot to practice its basic principles and spiritualism.
"We have to come together," Bhagwat said, noting that all the people need not to register under one umbrella.
He noted that Hindus had been suffering for thousands of years because they forgot to practice its basic principles and spiritualism.
Addressing the congress on the theme drawn from the Mahabharat, 'Think Collectively, Act Valiantly,' Bhagwat highlighted the need for such an action, and how Hindus should work together.
He said in Hindu dharma, even a pest is not killed, but controlled.
"Hindus don't live to oppose anybody. We even allow the pests to live. There are people who may oppose us. You have to tackle them without harming them," Bhagwat said.
SP Kothari, chair of WHC, said he and many speakers attending the conference received calls and petitions from organisations and individuals to withdraw from the Congress on the ground WHC or some of its organisers are "socially and religiously divisive."
"I categorically reject this supposition," Kothari said.
"I urge them to listen to my talk and reflect on whether it is tainted with hate. I have chosen to disregard those petitions as originating from a lack of complete understanding of the Word Hindu Congress," Kothari said.
"The three goals of WHC are enlighten, reform and advance. WHC brings enlightenment throughout the world about Hindu community through spirituality, harmony and inclusiveness," he said.
"Hindus must reform and be in the forefront in eliminating social and economic inequality, fostering cooperation among those with ideas and resources, and view commerce as a means to furthering Hindu dharma for a better tomorrow," he said.
Vice-president of the Republic of Suriname, Ashwin Adhin, in his address said, We as Hindus never forsake our mission. Hindus have always been the missionaries of renunciation and service.
"Words like peace, harmony and spirituality do not appeal to ordinary people easily and they have to be framed in the right perspective terms so that they become established in people's mind," Adhin said.
Addressing the confluence of Hindu leadership who have come to connect, share ideas and inspire one another and impact the common good, WHC coordinator Abhaya Asthana stated we have gathered to reaffirm the same message of diversity, cooperation and universal acceptance uttered by Swami Vivekananda 125 years ago.
WHC, he stated, is not an event, but rather a community movement. It seeks to encourage Hindus around the world to ascend to the highest levels of excellence.
Speaking at the confrence, actor Anupam Kher said Hinduism is a way of life and one becomes a Hindu by living like one.
"Tolerance was the centerpiece of Vivekananda's message. Despite being refugees in their own country, Kashmiri Pandits have practiced tolerance for 28 years like nobody ever has," he said.
"As a Hindu, it pains me deeply to see how half knowledge and ignorance are trying to destroy one of the world's oldest, most peaceful religions, he said. (PTI)
Chicago, Sep 8: President Donald Trump on Friday said he wants to stop the subsidies that growing economies like India and China have been receiving as he wants the US, which he considers as a "developing nation", to grow faster than anybody.
Addressing a fundraiser event in the Fargo city of North Dakota, he also accused the World Trade Organization (WTO) of allowing China to become a "great economic power".
"We have some of these countries that are considered growing economies. Some countries that have not matured enough yet, so we are paying them subsidies. Whole thing is crazy. Like India, like China, like others we say, 'oh, they're growing actually'," Trump said.
He said that they call themselves developing nations and "under that category they get subsidies."
"We have to pay them money. This whole thing is crazy, but we're going to stop it. We're going to stop it. We have stopped it.
"We are a developing nation, too, OK? We are. As far as I'm concerned, we are a developing nation. I want to be put down in that category because we are growing, too. We are going to grow faster than anybody," Trump said amidst applause from the audience.
Attacking the WTO, Trump said he thinks that the World Trade Organization was probably the worst of all. "But a lot of people don't know what that is, that allowed China to become this great economic power".
On the trade deficit between the US and China, which has led to a tariff war between the world's top two economies, he said, "I'm a big fan of (Chinese) President Xi Jinping, but I told him, 'we have to be fair'."
"We can't let China take USD 500 billion a year out of the United States and rebuild itself," he added.
The President also said that the US should get paid for securing the wealthy countries from the outside harm.
"I think it's fine, but they got to pay us for this. We're watching the whole world and they take it for granted.
"For years and years we've been protecting these countries. They're making a fortune. They've had very little military cost. We have the biggest military cost in the world. Most of it goes to protecting outside countries, some of whom don't even like us," Trump said.
"We're protecting countries that have -- I got to say, they do have respect for us now, but they didn't have any respect for us, and they got to pay. They got to pay, you know, when they're wealthy," he said. (PTI)
Chicago, Sep 8: As many as 15 people, including Indian-origin, and five India-based businesses were indicted on Friday in the multimillion-dollar call centre scam which defrauded thousands of US citizens of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Seven persons were arrested in the US on Thursday for their alleged involvement in scam that victimised over 2,000 American nationals, resulting in over USD 5.5 million in losses.
Mohamed Kazim Momin, Palak Kumar Patel, Mohmed Sozab Momin, Rodrigo Leon-Castillo, Devin Bradford Pope, Nicholas Alezander Deane, Drue Kyle Riggins, and Jantz Parrish Miller were arrested and arraigned yesterday before a US magistrate, Judge Janet F King, officials said.
Seven defendants and five call centres in India were also charged for their alleged involvement, they added.
"This indictment and yesterday's arrests demonstrate our commitment to identifying and prosecuting those who hide behind these types of phone scams," said US Attorney Byung J Pak.
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, J Russell George said: "This indictment makes clear that the IRS impersonation scam has risen to a new level, with indictments against five call centres and seven co-conspirators in India who allegedly directed their employees to participate in the scam."
The Inspector General also noted that since 2013, the IRS impersonation scam has been on a relentless path, claiming more than 14,000 victims who have lost upwards of USD 71 million to the scammers.
The indictment alleged that the defendants were involved in a sophisticated scheme organised by co-conspirators in India, including a network of call centres laocated in Ahmedabad.
Between 2012 and 2016, the defendants perpetrated a complex fraud and money laundering scheme in which individuals from call centres located in Ahmedabad frequently impersonated officials from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in a ruse designed to defraud victims located throughout America.
The Indian call centres used various telephone fraud schemes to defraud mainly vulnerable Americans, including the elderly and legal immigrants.
Using information obtained from data brokers and other sources, call centre operators allegedly called potential victims while impersonating officials from the IRS or individuals offering fictitious payday loans.
The call centre operators would then threaten potential victims with arrest, imprisonment, or fines if they did not pay taxes or penalties to the government, the indictment alleges.
If the victims agreed to pay, the call centres allegedly would immediately turn to a network of US-based co-conspirators to liquidate and launder the extorted funds by purchasing prepaid debit cards or through wire transfers, including through MoneyGram and Western Union, to the attention of fictitious names and US-based defendants and their co-conspirators, it said.
The five India-based call centres that have been indicted are Excellent Solutions BPO, ADN Infotech Pvt. Ltd, Infoace BPO Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Adore Infosource, Inc., Zurik BPO Services Pvt. Ltd.
Apart from Mohamed Kazim Momin, Patel, Mohmed Sozab Momin, Pope, Deane, Riggins and Miller, the others who were indicted include -- Shylesh Kumar Sharma, Dilipkumar Kodwini, Radhishraj Natarajan, Shubham Sharma, Nirav Janakbhai Panchal, Athar Parvez Mansuri, Mohmmad Samir Memon, Rodrigo Leon-Castillo.
Earlier, 21 Indian-origin persons in the US and three Indians were sentenced up to 20 years in prison for their involvement in the same fraud and money laundering scheme. (PTI)
Washington, Jul 25: Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley is neither in Chicago nor in hospital, his lawyer said today, dismissing reports that the prime accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack case was battling for his life in the US city after being beaten by inmates at a detention centre.
"Although I cannot disclose his location, he is neither in Chicago nor in a hospital," John Theis, Headley's lawyer, told.
Media reports had said that Headley was attacked by two inmates at a Chicago prison on July 8 and that he was admitted to an intensive care unit of a hospital in the city since then.
"I am in regular communication with Mr. Headley. There is no basis for the report in the Indian press," Theis said.
The reports had said Headley suffered serious injuries and was rushed to North Evanston hospital, where he was admitted to the critical care unit.
He has been sentenced to 35 years in prison by a US court for the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai that killed more than 160 people.
Headley who recced various Indian cities including Mumbai before the 26/11 attacks was arrested in 2009.
On Monday, US authorities refused to comment on the reports.
"We are not able to locate information about this individual," the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago said in a brief email response to when asked about the reported prison incident. (PTI)
SINGAPORE, May 11: Chicago wheat slid for a third consecutive session on Friday with the market set to post its biggest weekly decline in two months after the U.S. government estimated production above expectations.
Soybeans are poised for a second week of decline on pressure from slowing demand in top importer China, while corn is down this week following two weeks of gains.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade slipped 4.3 percent this week, on track for its biggest weekly loss since mid-March.
In the previous session, the contract hit $5.00 a bushel, its lowest since April 27.
Soybeans are down 2 percent this week, and corn slipped 1.3 percent.
"Some investors may have decided that without another crop downgrade the rally in wheat prices has come to end. We agree with that view," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
"The USDA is also forecasting a hefty rise in spring, durum and other high protein spring wheat production."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture projected the total U.S. wheat crop for the 2018-19 marketing year at 1.821 billion bushels, above the average analyst estimate for 1.777 billion and up 5 percent from the prior year.
Winter wheat grown in the southern U.S. Plains has struggled with months of drought, but the USDA said combined production of spring and durum wheat would increase 34 percent from the previous year.
The agency expects global wheat stocks to total around 264.33 million tonnes by the end of 2018-19 marketing year, down about 2 percent from its 2017-18 forecast of 270.46 million, an all-time high.
The soybean market is being dragged down by slowing demand in China, which buys more than 60 percent of the oilseed traded worldwide.
China will cut its soybean imports for the first time in 15 years in 2018/19, the agriculture ministry forecast on Thursday, as a trade spat with the United States pushes pig farmers in the world's top buyer to seek cheaper proteins.
The USDA projected 2018-19 soybean ending stocks at 415 million bushels. The figure was below most trade expectations. It forecast global corn ending stocks would drop to 159.15 million tonnes by the end of 2018-19, from 194.85 million in 2017-18 and below a range of trade expectations. REUTERS
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