Indian American Named Peace Corp CIO
Indian American Focus
India-West Newspaper, Posted: Jul 09, 2002
Indian American Named Peace Corp CIO
Ashish Kumar Sen
President George W. Bush has appointed Indian American entrepreneur Gopal Khanna, the former president and chief executive officer of Edina, Minn.-based International Technology Consultants, as chief information officer at the Peace Corps. “It's really the ultimate honor one can receive in life to get this opportunity to serve one’s country,” said Khanna, who recently relocated to Washington, D.C. and is a national vice president of the Association of Indians in America.
Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez said Khanna “brings to the Peace Corps his extensive experience in leveraging technology to improve business processes.” In his new role, Khanna will be responsible for strategizing and directing the information technology functions at the Peace Corps.
"I believe this call for service gives the Indian American community an opportunity to come forth and bring their skills in the areas of education, science, technology, entrepreneurship and offer them to communities all over the world where we can make a difference," Khanna said.
Planet Bollywood Opens with Fanfare
Varun Arora
Move over Planet Hollywood. The stage is now set for a whole new dining experience — Planet Bollywood.
Gurbaksh Chahal, the 27-year-old co-owner of Planet Bollywood in Milpitas, held a grand opening of his new restaurant June 30. The event drew more than 300 people who clamored to meet Gulshan Grover, a Bollywood star and the honorary guest for the evening.
Searchlights beamed in the night sky and five-foot-tall posters of Bollywood actresses Aishwarya Rai, Kajol and Madhuri Dixit greeted the guests in the lobby. A huge poster of Shah Rukh Khan on a Harley Davidson towered over the tables in the seating area.
The 10,000-square-foot restaurant on Calaveras Boulevard was once a stucco-and-tile French-Vietnamese restaurant. Chahal is a former CEO of ClickAgents, an Internet advertising provider that merged with Value Click in December 2000.
"I was looking for a solid business opportunity which also had my creative juices flowing," Chahal said. "Planet Bollywood seemed to be the right venture because of the ever growing appeal of the Mumbai film industry."
Immigrant Creates Great Seal of U.S. With 2,000 Stamps
Bhavna Mistry
To show his patriotism, an Indian American immigrant in Canoga Park, Calif. who arrived in this country on July 4, has recreated the Great Seal of the United States using a collage of nearly 2,000 U.S. postal stamps.
To celebrate his 10th anniversary in America, Nitin Shah, 62, spent 111 days depicting the U.S. seal, which is printed on every U.S. dollar bill and features the bald eagle holding olive branches and arrows. Shah’s replica features a red, white and blue shield and charts the history of each of 42 former presidents.
“Everything about this picture is American, from the design, the materials used and the maker,” said Shah. “I wanted to show my pride for this country.”
Seen from a distance, the collage appears merely as an enlarged version of the seal, but when viewed closely Shah’s great attention can be seen most prominently in his choice of historical stamps. ”Americans have so much pride and respect for the flag,” Shah said. “I wanted to do something that was representative of that as well.”
After completing the collage in May, Shah took it to Winnetka Elementary School, where he works as a cafeteria worker. His co-workers and the students who saw the creation were impressed with his combination of artistry and patriotism. “He’s honoring the United States and what it stands for,” said Maria Villasenor, the school’s principal. It’s just gorgeous.”
Using statistics that Shah had compiled, school officials presented math lessons by having students figure out how long it took Shah to complete the project and how many different kinds of stamps had been used.
About 95 percent of the collage was made using cancelled postal stamps, including 90 16-cents black stamps featuring Abraham Lincoln; 155 red 6-cents stamps featuring John Quincy Adams; 175 green 1-cent stamps featuring George Washington; 310 10-cents brown stamps featuring John Tyler; 255 34-cents blue flag stamps, and 210 stamps with the Statue of Liberty. “I wanted to make my best using only waste materials,” said Shah. “It’s a representation of the wealth of this country.”
At the center of the collage, Shah has created a chart of 42 former American presidents from George Washington to Bill Clinton. Underneath each of the presidential stamps, he has written their names and the time they served. “They have worked so hard for this country and I wanted to honor them,” Shah explained. “They are the pillars of this nation.”
Page
1 of 1
|
