Rajesh Chandra

Barack Obama’s phenomenal and seminal victory in US presidential elections created ripples all over the world. A man of color and a person far less tried than many of his elders in his party but far more gifted politically had triumphed on the night of November 4, 2008. He is a political whiz-kid who radiates a gracious charm and is capable of inspiring rhetoric. Obama’s minority identity and his approach to transcend identity politics leave deep impression among Indian communities. Left-Liberals back in India had a celebration marked by unrestrained revelry unwary of the potential impediments for India. Obama’s message of ‘change’ is a cabinet full of ex-Clinton administration hawks. Old liberals from the old school are back and desperate to solve all world problems. The new administration has already set its imperial aims to win Afghanistan and to do so it needs Pakistan’s Army to co-operate. In one of the interviews Obama said “We should probably try to facilitate a better understan

“Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America , but it turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all”. These lines created waves in the political world and in mainstream America. Sarah Palin, a new face of GOP has redefined the rules of this neck and neck race. Sarah has been serving as the first female Governor of Alaska since December 2006 and before that she was the Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska for about 6 years. Nobody had inkling that John McCain would pick an average hockey mom, mother of five children, former beauty queen, life member of national rifle association and a moose hunter to be his running mate! Sarah, also known as “Xena” or “Sarah Barracuda” injects fresh blood in this Obama skewed presidential race. Her strength and determination to fight the odds stems from her strong sense of leadership qualities ingrained in her. Her career in politics kicked in 1996 with the race for

Jerusalem ’s downtown Zion Square was inundated with people celebrating and dancing on the night of 14 th May, 2008. It is a day on which millions of Jews found a ‘home’. It was the day when the great nation of ISRAEL took birth after Great Britian terminated its mandate over Palestine . It took lot of blood to create this nation. Jews single handedly triumphed in 1948 against the Arab army comprising of Egypt , Syria , Jordan , Yemen , Saudi Arabia , Iraq & Lebanon . Destitute Jews pouring into newly created Israel from North Africa, Europe and other Arab nations were successfully absorbed and integrated into Israel which went on to evolve as an economic and military superpower in Middle-Eastern region. As of this year, democratic and sovereign Israel completes 60 years of independence or existence. Fortitude and perseverance of Israelites to exist and thrive after centuries of virulent animosity and fanaticism from anti-Semitic people astounds me. The threat to this

Foreign students have always been instrumental in spurring a cultural and technological revolution in the US . International students not only bring ‘hopes’ and ‘dreams’ but also a major economic boost to the US . According to a report from the Institute of International Education , foreign students brought in a total of $14.7 billion to the US economy from their home countries to pay for tuition fees and living expenses in the year 2006-07. The US continues to attract lot of hopefuls from hundreds of countries. The number of students enrolling in US universities is soaring every year. The largest numbers of students to the US are from India followed by China . The procedure to fly to the US for graduate studies is quite tedious and cumbersome. A 4-year degree is usually required to pursue a graduate degree in US. The first and foremost step is to appear for GRE ( www.gre.org ) and TOEFL ( www.toefl.org ) since most US universities require applicants to have taken both the t