There have been several articles about the proposed statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the City of Austin. While many of the details are still in their nascent stages, most people involved with this project agree that the statue would be privately financed and ideally in a public space such as Zilker Park.
Read the Austin American-Statesman’s editorial, published in the July 6, 2010 edition, entitled “Give Gandhi a space at Austin’s Zilker Park” here
Similarly, read the original news story in the July 4, 2010 edition of the Statesman here
Posted in: Admin.
Tagged: Austin · Gandhi · local · news
Interesting article on Yahoo! News regarding increased political participation by Indian Americans in this election cycle.
Dr. Manan Trivedi of Pennsylvania, an Iraq war veteran, is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House.
A new wave of Indian-American candidates are running for high-profile office across the country. At least eight children of Indian immigrants are running for Congress, governor or attorney general — the most ever.
Read the article here and feel free to post comments.
Posted in: Admin.
Tagged: national · news
Given our upcoming board recruitment meeting and selection of new officers, this would be a good time to review what IACT has accomplished in the past year. You can download a summary of IACT’s 2009-2010 accomplishments here (viewable in Adobe Reader).
Posted in: Admin.
Tagged: census · IACT · news
IACT is actively recruiting prospective board members for 2010 (and beyond). If you are interested in serving IACT — and the Indian-American community it represents — please join us for an informational dinner and meeting on Thursday, May 13, 2010 from 7-9pm at Sarovar Indian Cuisine (address and directions here). All of IACT’s board positions are currently open for 2010-11.
- Would like to see the Indian American community better represented in state and local affairs, including the election/appointment of IAs to leadership positions?
- Can you help identify and give a voice to the needs of the Indian American community while improving relationships with public officials?
- Do you have ideas to improve communication and cohesion among a rich, diverse, yet fragmented Indian American community?
- Would you like to shape the future of the Asian American Resource Center, a multi-million dollar project funded in part by the City of Austin to serve the needs of the growing Asian American community?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you should plan on attending the IACT information and board recruitment dinner on May 13. If you are interested in attending or would like more information, please RSVP to Ashwin Ghatalia, IACT President, at ashwin_ghatalia@yahoo.com or (512) 327-4343.
Posted in: Admin.
Tagged: board · IACT · local
While IACT’s primary focus is on domestic (especially state and local) issues affecting Indian Americans, we still highlight topics of interest in foreign affairs, particularly the fluid relationship between India and the United States.
Here is a link to an article in this past Saturday’s Austin-American Statesman regarding the underlying India-Pakistan dynamic to the U.S.-led efforts in Afghanistan. Read the story here.
Posted in: Admin.
Tagged: foreign policy
Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan among his officer training classmates
By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer
SAN ANTONIO – The soldiers in standard-issue fatigues and combat boots stood side-by-side repeating their creed: “I am an American soldier. I am a warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army values ….”
Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan was no different except that he wore a full beard and black turban, the first Sikh in a generation allowed to complete U.S. Army basic officer training without sacrificing the articles of his faith. He completed the nine-week training Monday after Army officials made an exemption to a policy that has effectively prevented Sikhs from enlisting since 1984.
Read the whole story here
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IACT President Ashwin Ghatalia distributes tote bags to raise awareness about the importance of the 2010 Census
A story in this Sunday’s Austin American-Statesman highlighted the concerted effort made by the US Census Bureau, in conjunction with local organizations such as IACT, ICC, and NAAO, to reach out to the growing Asian population in the Austin metro area.
You can find the story here — check out the quotes from Nehal Sanghavi, ICC Chair and IACT Board Member, and photo of IACT President Ashwin Ghatalia distributing Census materials and tote bags to community members. These efforts are part of coordinated efforts to ensure a complete, accurate count of the Asian American population in Austin. (See “Census 2010 Outreach: It’s Quick, It’s Safe, It’s Important“, below)
Posted in: Admin.
On Tuesday March 23rd at 7:00 PM, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell will be holding a Town Hall Meeting with the Asian American community.
We invite you, your friends and family to join the Mayor to talk about how we can continue to make Austin the best city in America to live in. This is an opportunity for us to connect with our elected officials on issues of importance to our community such as accurate Asian American count in Census 2010, and the Asian American Resource Center (AARC) project.
The meeting is open to everyone and food will be provided (free buffet dinner, including vegetarian dishes). For more details about the event program, please see below…
Continue reading →
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IACT’s monthly board meeting will be on Thursday, March 10 from 6:30 to 8:00pm. The main topic on the agenda will be Census outreach, including IACT’s efforts so far as well as upcoming public events at which we can encourage community members to partake in the Census 2010 efforts.
For more information about the Census 2010 outreach effort or the March IACT board meeting, please contact Ashwin Ghatalia at ashwin_ghatalia@yahoo.com or (512) 327-4343.
Posted in: Admin.
Tagged: board · census · IACT
For the February 4, 2010 IACT Board meeting, IACT has invited Ms. Kumkum Jain, the South Asian Partnership Specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau, to work with local leaders of South Asian community groups with our 2010 Census outreach efforts.
Meeting information:
Thursday, February 4, 2010 (6:30p – 8:00p)
Lost Creek MUD Conference Room
For directions and RSVP, please contact Ashwin Ghatalia at (512) 327-4343.
*IACT Board meetings are always open to all IACT members. For this meeting, we also invite all individuals motivated in helping with Census outreach in the South Asian community in the coming months.
About Ms. Jain
Ms. Jain’s speciality is reaching people who live in the U.S. who are from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka ; we are grateful to her for taking the time to travel to Austin to work with us on this important service to our respective communities.
Posted in: Admin.
Tagged: board · census · IACT
