FOG-2016_Special_issue

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September 9, 2016

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OG 2016 in San Francisco Bay Area from August 5 to 14 was a grand success. It was attended by over 150,000 people over 10 days at summit, movie fest, awards, mela/fair and parade. It successfully brought the world's largest and oldest democracies together, while imbibing the youngsters with the culture and values that community practices in making the adopted land of dreams their own.

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estival of Globe is San Francisco Bay Area's premier multi-ethnic cross cultural extravaganza. The week-long festival packages films and performing arts from around the globe into a lively and intense celebration of the

that are actively supported include youth development, elderly and senior care, ending hunger and homelessness and empowerment of women.

For 2016, the main focus was Youth Empowerment against sex crime. The mission of Festival of Globe has been to help communities better integrate with each other

Audience during FOG opening gala

richness and diversity of cultures. Using Art & Culture as a common theme, FOG aims to serve as a unique catalyst for cultural osmosis and bring positive change within the communities.

The effort of the Festival of Globe - Silicon Valley, San Francisco and FOG Movie Fest has been in recognizing the need for communities to work together for a larger good. Through film, culture, dance, art it is planned to be the largest festival that aims to engage global participation.

Festival of the Globe provides participants, brands and audiences interacting with each other. Also, through the FOG Movie Fest, it amplifies some of the burning issues of the day to a larger audience and introduces the global talent pool of movie makers to Silicon Valley Investors.

Each year the festival raises funds in support of various social issues faced by the diverse communities. Specific causes

and unify for the greater purpose of the common good. Through a dazzling array of events around films, culture, dance and art, it brought artists, audiences, social activists and investors on the same page to celebrate our present and commit to improving our future.

FOG 2016 AT A GLANCE • 60+ films screened over 10 days • Participants from over 30 countries • 150,000 attendees • FOG Awards, the red carpet was rolled out to welcome film personalities from India, China, Nepal, Brazil, Hollywood and others • FOG summit panels at Facebook headquarters, Boot up World, Plug and Play, KPMG with World renowned speakers • World premiere screenings • Investor Pitch Sessions • Youth Empowerment forum against sex crimes - Educate, Empower and Eradicate

A section of the crowd

FOG MOVIE FEST: FOG Movie Fest is a very unique festival, in the sense that it is much more than a celebration of good cinema. Whether you are a veteran or a newbie, FOG Movie fest welcomes you and encourages you to submit your work. You can rest assured that not only will your film touch a diverse crowd, but also you will be contributing to empowering disadvantaged people. Socially, this is a golden opportunity to hobnob with the glitterati from the tech, film, arts and philanthropy sectors and gorgeous people from different parts of the world.

FOG MELA/FAIR: FOG Mela 2016 was a free event and was well received by the locals of Bay Area.

This is the first time, the mela was made free without any entry fee and this attracted large number of desi and non-desis all over Bay area. The two day fair comprised over 150 booths and exhibits on products, services, arts, crafts, literature, fashion and designs. "Mela," in Sanskrit, means "to meet or gather" and is used synonymously for "fair," RK Japra, Chairman and founder of FIA explains, the word, spread throughout.

FOG DANCE COMPETITION is a grand celebration of the beautiful dance forms of the Indian subcontinent and other parts of the world. By the means of this platform, FIA provides thorough enjoyment to participants and audiences alike, help youth imbibe their rich cultural heritage, empower youth by encouraging their talent, showcase the arts of different ethnicities to mainstream America, thus contributing the best parts of Indian and other cultures to mainstream American culture. The main stage of the mela was dedicated to dance competitions on Saturday which was chaired by Jyotsna Bendapudi.

There were nonstop cultural performances from Bollywood, classical, hip-hop with over 80 plus Bay area teams. There were around 300 performers (group and solo), winners were judged by a panel of 5 eminent judges and cash reward was given to the winning group by FIA. On Sunday, after the Grand Parade, Jyotsna Bendapudi, FOG cultural chair and her team paid a tribute to the celebrities Randeep Hooda, Raima Sen and Prosenjit Chatterjee with their alltime hit numbers and enthralled the audience.

THE FOOD FESTIVAL presented a tasty assortment of Indian dishes from chaat, chai

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Festival of Globe a Grand Show

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and dosas to biryanis and kababs, from popular local restaurants like Peacock Indian Cuisine, Roobaru, Vedas restaurant, Cakes and Bakes, Celebrations Indian cuisine, Annapurna catering.

FOG HEALTH FAIR was held on August 13 from 10:00 am - 12 noon and around 1000 patients were checked for their BMI, Blood Glucose, Cholesterol. They offered specialty services such as cardiology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, dental, psychiatric, physical therapy and other niche area of expertise. These free services were offered by eminent Bay area physicians and it has been continuing for over 20 years.

The health fair was coordinated by Raju Mantena and his team of volunteers.

INDIA DAY PARADE which was held on August 14 from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm was the main attraction of the 10 day festivities.

The event drew over 30 floats from organizations ranging RANA, Kannada Koota of Northern California, Haryana, Bharathi Tamil Sangam, Bay area Tamil Manram, Orissa, Maharashtra Mandal to name a few.

Floats representing different states of India were judged by celebrities like Randeep Hooda, Raima Sen, Gulshan Grover, Prosenjit Chatterjee who were the Grand Marshals and Co-Grand Marshals of the parade.

One key feature this year was a vastly increased number of walking groups, organized by local community organizations.

The Parade area was filled with patriotic slogans and proclamations of "Vande Mataram" and "Bharat Mata ki Jai". Deepak Chhabra, Chair, Parade worked closely with these groups. The making of floats starts well in advance by the end of July. He credits the success to the whole team and the organization whose members enthusiastically participate year after year.

FOG Chairman, Dr Romesh Japra also took the opportunity to thank all the sponsors, media partners, volunteers, festival partners for their support. Bank of the West, Wells Fargo, Comcast, PG&E, McDonald, Visitors coverage, Airline partner - Air India, Hospitality partner - Wyndham Garden, San Jose Silicon Valley, Western Union, Raymond James, Incredible India, Charles Schwab, Dublin Chevrolet, Fremont Chevrolet, Nurture kids, Gateway Eyecare, Excel Test prep, Shastha foods, Robson Homes, CEFCU, Yupptv, Summerhill homes, Chugh law firm, Meenugiri family dentistry, Kolkata 24*7, Bongflix, Scholar's academy are the sponsors. Times Now and Zoomtv were the broadcast partners.

Articles in this supplement were contributed by VIDYA SETHURAMAN, RITU MAHESHWARI, RISHI KUMAR, LAKSHMI IYER AND MEGHNA NAIR.

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n August 7th, 2016 Festival of Globe (FOG) held a Summit that consisted of panelists that ad dressed the emerging trends in our world. The six speakers that attended this Summit were people who want to make each and every country as advanced as another country. Some of the topics that were addressed were new technologies, microbiomes, and many more.

Each panelist explained about how they are trying to make the world a better place to live in.

The keynote speaker of the Summit was Vivek Wadhwa. Vivek Wadhwa is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Wadhwa's main goal is to get the technology that is used in the Silicon Valley transported to villages in India. Villages in India have young entrepreneurs that could really benefit from all the technologies used in the Silicon Valley. These entrepreneurs could also help make advances that people in the Silicon Valley have not thought of.

Vivek Wadhwa really stressed the importance of education in India. He said that young kids in India are not getting the education they should be getting. Wadhwa repeated many times that if children in India are taught properly from a young age, they can really help our world.

The moderator of the Summit was Dr. Solomon Darwin. Dr. Solomon Darwin is the Executive Director of the Center for Corporate Innovation. Dr. Solomon's goal is to have smart villages all over India. Smart villages will be full of new technologies that will help children all the way to adults.

These villages will be the future engines of

economic growth in India.

Darwin is looking to accomplish to this goal using new technology and a good business model. He believes that if the chil-

dren in India can get the education that the children in US get, they will be able to do many great things. Dr. Solomon Darwin believes that if everyone can pitch in, his goal of smart villages can be accomplished.

The next panelist who spoke was

Boston also stressed the importance of equality between men and women. She said that women are getting held back from doing great things because they don't get the same opportunities as men. Penny Boston believes that women all over the world

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FOG Summit took up issue of Sustainability & Future Trends

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Joseph said that the kids with fewer resources are the kids who are more creative.

Minafra has already seen what kids in India and other countries have been able to do with robotics. Joseph Minafra stated that if people in India can get the resources that

FOG Summit - Sustainability panel

Penelope (Penny) Boston. Penny Boston is the Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. Penny was more focused on the medical side. She talked about microbiomes living in our body. Microbiomes are the microorganisms in a particular environment, including the body or a part of the body.

"We depend on a vast army of microbes to stay alive: a microbiome that protects us against germs, breaks down food to release energy, and produces vitamins." Penny

stated that the world should be educated about microbes because they are the foundation of a human body; any disease or problem starts from microbes.

should get more opportunities to become successful.

Kevin Surace, CEO of Appvance, talked about making the world an eco-friendly place. According to Surace, buildings use the most energies. Surace once saved a business $450,000 every year after changing the window panels in the buildings.

Kevin stated that the awareness of global warming increased at a time but now it is decreasing. Surace founded a business that uses disruptive technologies to reduce energy usage in buildings.

Kevin believes that using solar panels, using electric cars, and cutting energy use in buildings can help decrease global warming.

Joseph Minafra is the Lead for Technical Systems of Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute in NASA. Joseph's speech was mainly about robotics.

Minafra runs a robotic program targeted for college students. He believes that robotics is a good way to express creativeness without kids knowing that they are learning Math and English.

Silicon Valley has, they can really advance the world of technology.

There was a Q&A session at the end of the Summit. These were some of the questions that were asked: 1) Q: If you had a disease and you were taking medicines to try and cure the disease, could the microbes shrug off the medicine causing the medicine to not cure the disease?

Vivek Wadhwa during FOG Summit

A: There are cases were the microbes have shrugged off the medicine. It is definitely possible for the microbes to act the opposite way.

2) Q: Is it really expensive to start your own robotic competition?

A: No, it is actually very inexpensive to start a robotic competition. It will be even easier to start one if you had sponsors on board.

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FOG Summit September 9, 2016

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Different perspectives heard on Political Education

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estival of Globe (FOG) FOG Summit 2016 (www.fogsummit.com) Emerging Trends - Media, Enter tainment and Sustainability was recently held in San Jose featuring renowned global leaders such as Laura Turner, Vivek Wadhwa, Kevin Surface,

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for a very successful FOG Summit 2016 Political Education session.

Festival of Globe leverages twenty three (23) years of legacy which has been celebrating the world culture while taking up one social issue at a time. In its twenty fourth year, FOG brought together some thought leaders from around the world in FOG Summit 2016 with the aim of starting

cal and policy leadership converging for the common good of the citizens, is imposing their positive intentions and good citizen values upon this fantastic region.

We invited these California leaders to inspire each of us in giving back to our community and understanding the inside view of their world. The summit showcased what set these leaders to the path of suc-

involved. How can you expand your network, and create a powerful impact in areas that are near and dear to you.

"There are leaders such as yourself waiting to be unleashed, that will make their mark over the next decade. Why not take that first step? Can public service be freeing and energizing, satisfying, rewarding and transformative at the same time. There

Mayor Sam Liccardo and Actor Gulshan Grover amongst others sharing their insights and perspectives on our current opportunities and challenges.

FOG Summit 2016 Political Education

discussions on some of the most important social issues of our times. The theme for the summit was "Emerging Trends Media, Entertainment & Sustainability".

FIA of Northern California has been the

cessful public service and the ability to make a difference. These elected leaders from our local cities, from our legislative and executive branch, energized leadership making change happen, to ensure a thriving and prosperous California.

They provided answers to the usually asked questions, "What inspired them to public service?

Is it really a thankless job? What keeps them going?"

R i s h i Kumar, a Councilmember of Saratoga (2014-2018) was the moderator and chair of the session on Political Education Panel. In his kick-off remarks, he called upon the gathered audience to get involved. "The world of politics, a world of glamour and glitz?

The elected leaders may call it dryly a "Thankless job". What is it really? Why do so many end up running for office when it is a thankless job? Find out how giving back to our local community can do for you.

Find out how you can get started to get

are many who have made their mark in doing just that. This panel discussion will provide you insights and perspective, educate you, show the path of public service."

The Political Education Panel, which Rishi Kumar was chairing/moderating, provided a chance to hear perspectives from both members of the public and political leaders. It provided an insider's view about

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Panel discussion was held with Mayors, Senators, Assemblymembers, vice Mayors and Councilmembers. The objective of the panel discussion was to encourage the gathered audience into engaging into the local community and the political process.

The decades long activism and leadership of Romesh Japra, Chandru Bhambhra, Rajesh Verma and Yogi Chugh converged

trailblazer political organization empowering the Bay Area California community for decades. As part of FOG 2016, FIA brought this all new political track to showcase political leaders that represent the incredible tapestry of California, responsible for the success of the region, the economic prowess, leading the world as innovators making it a better world. This wizardry of politi-

Rishi Kumar, a Councilmember of Saratoga (2014-2018) was the moderator and chair of the session on Political Education Panel. In his kick-off remarks, he called upon the gathered audience to get involved the various political situations that a government can face. There was an engaging discussion about the present politics and governance models in different countries.

The Attendees included Mayor Sam Liccardo, San Jose; Senator Bob Wiecokowski (SD10); Assemblymember Kansen Chu (AD25); Vice Mayor Larry Moody, East Palo Alto; Councilmember Jim Davis, Sunnyvale; Vice Mayor David Canepa Daly City; Vice Mayor Lily Mei, Fremont; Councilmember Ash Kalra, San Jose and Ro Khanna Deputy Assistant Commerce Secretary Dept of Commerce.

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he Festival of Globe is proud of its showcase of international cinema and culture. The FOG Movie Fest underlined this accomplishment in a stellar manner.

The FOG Movie Fest 2016 kicked off on Saturday, August 6 with Cos-play artists dressed up as various characters and a panel on Media and Entertainment chaired by Barbara Crouch Roth and John Callison. Bryan Gaynor was one of the artists who performed on stage.

The film festival opened with the back-to-back screenings of two children's animation films - "Mermaids on Mars", a local Bay Area 30-minute animation film with some real characters in between, and "The 3 Burritos", a comedic adventure animation film lasting 15 minutes from Australia.

"Mermaids on Mars" is directed by Jon Peters of Athena Studios, based in Emeryville, California, and Nancy Guettier is the mind behind the story of the film. She was there with her two children and we had a wonderful Q & A session with her.

Nancy shared with us interesting tidbits about her creative life and how she encouraged her children to partici-

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better, he realizes what a soul mate is.

Maya Vishwakarma interviewed Angel Nieves after the film's screening with the small audience chipping in with questions after the screening. The hard work that goes into the making of a film was apparent as Angel disclosed that it took a few years from inception to the final product of the film.

"A Tale with Christ and Jesus", a film from Cuba directed by Oldren Romero about a homosexual couple and the hypocrisy of society rounded up the opening day.

Sunday, August 7, was chock-a-block full of a range of international films. Russian feature film, "Pechorin", based on the literary work of Mikhail Lermontov and directed by Roman Krushch, opened the day along with the Nepalese

Meanwhile, in another theater, two short films, "Home", and "Pursuing Dreams: Stories of Refugee and Immigrant Youth in California" were shown.

"Home" tells the story of a time-traveling young girl, Abby, who is in search of a place to call home, somewhere where she feels loved and cherished. This short film from Canada is directed by Joshua Costea, who was only 14 years old when this project was entered into the festival.

"Pursuing Dreams: Stories of Refugee and Immigrant

feature film, "Namaste Nepal".

August 7 was the day of FOG Nepal with three other feature films following - "Adhkatti", a comedy, "Classic", a heart wrenching love story between two blind people and "Ke Ma Timro Hoina Ra", a romantic action tale with all the ups and downs of a potboiler.

Actor Aaryan Adhikari from "Ke Ma Timro Hoina Ra" was present as was Nisha Adhikari, the actress who has scaled Mt. Everest.

It was also a great day for documentaries with "Swaraj Mumkin Hai", a documentary from India on a self-sufficient village, Baghuwar, in Madhya Pradesh, India, kicking off the string of great films from this genre. Pankaj Shukla is the director of this film. Creative producer, Maya Vishwakarma represented the film for the Q & A session.

Some dignitaries such as Mr. Subbarao from India who provided the initial information about the village to Maya, graced the screening.

It was a unique event with Mr. Subbarao giving a searing speech about India's struggle for independence and current challenges in society and then leading the audience in the rendition of a patriotic Indian song.

"Empty Promises", a short poetic film by Nandini Kanhere about the drought situation in Indian villages, added to the socially relevant repertoire of the day. Nandini and her producer, Madhav Karhade answered questions from the audience.

The academic and highly interesting documentary on the relationship between ancient Indic and Eastern European civilizations, "Eastern Shores of the Western World", directed by Aditya Patwardhan capped off the slot. Aditya and his team mate, Anup Kulkarni represented their film and took questions from the audience and interviewer, Lakshmi Iyer, during a very engaging Q & A session.

pate in her story creation process.

It was also enlightening to hear about the innovative ways to cut costs. When the interviewer asked Nancy about the interspersion of real characters with the animated ones, she replied that it helped cut costs as did masking the faces of one of the animated characters with a thick mustache and another Martian with a mask, to minimize simulating facial movements and coordination with dialogue.

We played an encore of these two films.

The director of "The 3 Burritos", Attila Peter Miklosy was unable to attend but was thrilled that his film was going to be played in the opening slot.

The heartwarming feature, "Dreams of You and Me", directed by Angel Nieves, was next in the afternoon.

This film tells the engaging story of a young man who meets a woman at a Laundromat. The woman is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who happens to be homeless on

the streets of New York City. The young man has a beautiful model for a girlfriend, whom he thinks is the perfect one, his dream girl.

However, his heart is drawn to the homeless woman as he has many fateful run-ins with her in the neighborhood and even sees her in his dreams. As he gets to know her

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Movie Fest showcased world cinema & culture

Youth in California", directed by Kate Lord, is a short documentary that follows the lives of three refugee immigrant youth who have emigrated to the United States from Nepal, Myanmar and Somalia and their struggles and journey.

The evening warmed up with the glamour on the Red Carpet turning up several notches with the cast and crew of "Arranged To Love", a local Bay Area short film. Directors Ranu Sinha and Leilani Amour Arenzana, were present.

Two other short films were screened - "The Land of Exodus"/"La Tierra del Exodo", an intense short film in Spanish and English that tells the story of a group of Mexican kids attempting to cross the border into the United States with the help of a 'coyote' (smuggler) and one of the kids actually rescuing a kidnapped American teenager and bringing him along with him. Director Skinner Myers attended the screening.

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the festival were "Cesium and a Tokyo Girl", a Japanese film directed by Ryo Saitaini, about the time-traveling adventures of a young girl, dealing with events all the way from the Fukushima disaster to World War II and "Kidnap Capital", directed by Felipe Rodriguez, a gripping Canadian film based on true events about Central American illegal aliens who are abducted and held hostage in a suburban house in Phoenix,

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Aditya also had another short film of his scheduled for the next day among the international shorts - "Red House by the Crossroads", the story of a Polish doctor treating the victim of his Nazi father who had murdered her husband. The most interesting and truly inspiring fact is that Aditya was born and raised in India but makes films that transcend his roots, and this aligns very well with the

mission of FOG to bring communities together.

"What's Going On with Wolves" followed with Michelle Parekh interviewing director Eric Simon on his eye-opening work about the declining population of wolves in the wild in the US. "Silo, a Spiritual Path", a unique documentary about the humanistic, spiritual and social leader, Silo, from Chile followed. The screening was well attended and Michelle hosted a wonderful Q & A session with the producer, Ken Dickinson, who attended with his wife and enthusiastically watched some other films, too.

"Finding Mabel", a documentary about a woman's search for her namesake and what happened to her during the military repression of the late 1970s and early 80s in Argentina, was another great film that lit up the evening. Director Eileen Mabel who is the protagonist of the film, graced the red carpet and screening with her entourage of enthusiastic family and friends.

The feature film, "Moments from a Sidewalk", directed by Silvia Kovatchev, about a homeless girl with a talent for music, was another gem of the late evening session.

Lakshmi Iyer interviewed Silvia Kovatchev who was present with her family and friends. The director, who is Bulgarian by birth, shared her thoughts on homelessness, the

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Movie Fest showcased world cinema & culture

role of music in the film and the lead actress's versatility and contribution to the original music score.

The short films that were screened on Sunday included "The Red String", a film by Greg Mitchell about a man's wait for a woman he met at a railway station forty years ago. The director talked about his inspiration for the film and some of his techniques during the shooting to emulate the look of the 1970s.

"Hanna", a film by Hai-Tao Wu, about a young eighteen year old ballet dancer's longing for the affection of her father who has left her and her mother and "The Last Request", a poetic film about a woman on death row directed

by Emanuele Secci, completed the list of shorts for the day.

Some other great feature films that were showcased in Arizona and "Tie The Knot", a crossover IndianAmerican romantic comedy, directed by Shuja Paul.

Although Felipe Rodriguez could not attend the festival, two of his investors, Maria Blua and Beatriz were present to answer a few questions after the screening.

"Tie the Knot" was well represented with Shuja Paul, the film's director, producer Sanjiv and supporting actress and beauty queen, Ohmnie.

Some of the other shorts and documentaries included: "If There is a Reason to Study", a Taiwanese film directed by the young Adler Yang about a holistic education school in Taiwan and how the children adapt to the cut throat competitive academic life outside after they graduate from the school "The Last Tear", a deeply disturbing yet though provoking and moving documentary about the survivors of sexual slavery at the hands of the Japanese during World War II, directed by Christopher H. K. Lee Cont’d on page XV

Dr Japra and Laura Turner

Randeep Hooda, Grand Marshal

Raima Sen, Co-Grand Marshal

Prosenjit chatterjee and Dr Japra

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India Day Parade and Mela

September 9, 2016

Dr Japra and Anjum Chopra

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Mela booth

Crowd during parade Maharashtra float

Grand Marshal and Co-Grand Marshal on stage

Mela

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India Day Parade and Mela

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India Day Parade and Mela

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From L-R: Rajesh Verma, Jyotsna Bendapudi, Rahul Mittra, Raju Chadha and Randeep Hooda

Dr Japra, Naveen Chandra, Ajay Kulkarni from Times group

Visitors Coverage booth

Booth in mela Western Union booth

Comcast booth

Play area in mela

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India Post News Service

SAN JOSE, CA: FOG Silicon Valley's Women Empowerment event was held on Friday, August 12 at the Camera 12 Cinemas in San Jose. In the wake of Stanford Uni-

by Patricia McCormick. Globally the brutality of child trafficking affects millions of children around the globe every year. The average age of a trafficked girl is thirteen, the same as Lakshmi in the movie. "Sold" is a call to action for our global community.

make significant contributions to our community in human trafficking and violence against women and youth included Honorable Teresa Cox, Ohlone Community College, Trustee, Shipra Bhutani, Woman Entrepreneur, Dr. Yasi Safinya-Davies, Execu-

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Call to empower youth against sex crimes

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Actress in "Sold", Pamita Seth, Marketing Media, Chhitra Subramaniam, Producer/Director, Wiz Films, and Event Moderator Jessica Hubley, CoFounder & CEO, Annie Cannons, Inc. Anima Desai, Event Chair, Honorable

FOG Youth Empowerment panel

versity swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman and human trafficking on the rise, FOG Silicon Valley's Women Empowerment wanted to make sure that we continue to educate and empower our youth and lead the fight against sex crimes against women.

This event had the world premiere movie screening of "Sold" and followed by panel discussion and question and answer session. "Sold" is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit of a young girl named Lakshmi who was sold into human trafficking and kept in brothel prison where she must struggle daily to survive against impossible odds.

An American photographer heard her desperate cries for help and enlisted the help of a local NGO to spearhead a dangerous mission to rescue her. Finally, Lakshmi risked everything for freedom.

"Sold" movie was produced by Academy Award-Winning Director Jeffrey Brown. "Sold" is a narrative, feature film adaptation of the globally acclaimed novel

FOG Founder Dr. Romesh Japra welcomed and addressed the audience and called for action on empowering youth and women in our community and especially leading the fight against human trafficking and bringing movies to educate our global community.

The global panel leaders who greatly

tive Director, Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments (SAVE), Sharan Dhanoa, Coordinator at South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking, Christopher H.K. Lee, Producer/Director of the documentary, "The Last Tear", Laura Hackney, Executive Director, Shashirekha Alur, Art of Living Foundation Teacher, Seirah Royin, Featured

This event had the world premiere movie screening of "Sold" and followed by panel discussion and question and answer session. "Sold" is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit of a young girl named Lakshmi who was sold into human trafficking and kept in brothel prison where she must struggle daily to survive against impossible odds

Teresa Cox, Co-Chair and Seema Sahni, CoChair, Olga Chervyakova, Shakun Nagdev, Sarla Kinsara, Sonia Siddhu, Manali Brahmbhatt, Sandhya Desai, Hansa Shah, and Anju Patel were members of the FOG Silicon's Valley Women Empowerment Committee.

In summary, the audience was briefed on educational opportunities, women entrepreneurship, understanding the victim's perspective and on ways to help and support them as they transition into a better life. Discussion included knowing the signs of human trafficking and reporting it.

Human trafficking is modern day slavery.

A person is not free to leave a situation where they are being exploited for their labor or sexually for commercial gain. Stop human trafficking in our cities.

Learn more at: www.NoTraffickAhead.org. Report in an emergency call 911. The National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888. The National Hotline is a non-governmental and confidential phone line.

India Post News Service

FOG Silicon Valley's Community Unity in Diversity was held on Sunday, August 7 at the Camera 12 Cinemas in San Jose. In the wake of the shootings in Orlando, Dallas, Baton Rouge, Paris, Munich, our global community is faced with great challenges that we have never faced before.

Everyone's lives matter in our community.

California exemplary community leaders

who have contributed greatly to our society are the following: Honorable Teresa D. Cox, Event Chair and Moderator & Ohlone Community College Trustee and Trade Advisor to the Obama Administration; Chandra Lopez-Brooks, Northern California Staff Director for SEIU-United Service Workers West & Vice Chair of Santa Clara County's Commission on the Status of Women and Girls; Frank Carabajal, Founder and President of EsTiempo;

Assemblymember Kansen Chu, District 25; Mujeeb Ijaz, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Doug Hollie, President, Northern California NFL Players Association; James Gonzales, San Jose Police Officer and Board of Directors of Police Officers Association; Dr. Romesh Japra, FOG Founder & Convener; Reverend Jethro Moore, Silicon Valley Chapter, NAACP; Father Jon Pedigo, Santa Clara County Interfaith Council; Parmeet

FOG Unity in diversity panel

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Bringing community together in peace & harmony

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Randhawa, Founder, Mr. & Mrs. Punjabi USA Pageant, and Tawney Warren, Ohlone College Student Trustee (Fmr.).

Each community leader shared his invaluable insight and experience on how our community can help stop the violence and racism against our brothers and sisters.

Angela Tirado, Singer, Voice of San Jose, concluded with Michael Jackson's song, "Man in the Mirror" on how we can make that change by starting with ourselves.

Dr. Romesh Japra gave a warm welcome and presented awards to each speaker assisted by David and Jacqueline Cox and congratulatory salute with F.O.G. Executive Steering Committee including Upendra and Seema Giri and Rajesh Verma.

Music Recording Artist Kam was in attendance to support this Community Unity in Diversity and empower our community.

Audience members came from Los Angeles and around San Francisco Bay Area to hear from these exemplary community leaders, their own stories, the challenges that they faced in their endeavors and the lessons they learned through their determination and perseverance. Striving to always do the right thing in the best interest of our community.

In keeping with FOG's tradition of promoting and working with our global diverse community, we thank these community leaders for their courage, leadership, and dedication to discuss how we can bring our community together in unity, diversity, peace, and harmony.

Healthcare Summit discussed opportunities & future India Post News Service

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he world of healthcare is rapidly progressing. On August 8th, 2016, six speakers in the industry of healthcare spoke at Plug and Play, Sunnyvale. They talked about opportunities for startups in the healthcare industry and the future of healthcare. All six speakers addressed their own opinions about the world of healthcare.

Steven Chan works at the intersection of healthcare, behavior, medicine, business, and technology.

Chan said that mental disorders are major causes of disabilities. 1:5 people will suffer a mental disorder in their lives. Steven Chan believes that we can help these people using new emerging technologies. These technologies could be apps, telehealth, etc. Steven Chan firmly believes people diagnosed with a mental disorder can really be helped if more money can be invested in mental health.

Aarti Arianna Rama is the founder of Heart Glo, an integrated wellness company which helps people re-conceptualize health and embrace wellness through an integrative, neuro-scientific, and mind-body approach. Arianna's

speech was about unlocking parts of our brain that have never been unlocked before. We can unlock these parts by using new neuronal networks and activation of secondary structural functionality regions.

Arianna believes if we have the proper nutrition, sleep, activity, stress management, meditation, breathing, and minimizing excesses, our brain will advance majorly.

Sanjay Malhotra is an Associate Profes-

our DNA. He compared our DNA to the binary code. 99% of communication on computers is done by binary code.

Malhotra also addressed because of stem cells, we might have the possibility to make new cells and organs. Sanjay Malhotra believes that if we can crack the code of DNA, we will be able to diagnose and prevent a disease much more easily.

Anne DeGheest founded HealthTech

sor of Radiation Oncology (Radiation and Cancer Biology) at Stanford University.

Sanjay talked about decoding the code in

Capital, a group of private investors dedicated to funding and mentoring new HealthTech start ups to decrease

healthcare cost and empower patients.

Anne talked about decreasing healthcare costs by using data, analyzing it, and taking action. Anne also said that people don't want to be defined by their disease and they want to deal with the disease less and engage more with their lives.

Anne's main goal is to invest and mentor early stage start-ups in healthcare.

Two speakers, Lucas Clarke and Prasad Modali, gave their presentation together. Lucas and Prasad talked about drones. Drones in healthcare are used to deliver medicines, collect samples etc. Drones deliver medicine faster than a person can.

But there are problems with drones.

Drones can easily be interfered with; for example, the GPS system can be tampered with. Both Clarke and Modali are working to make drones easier to work with. Lucas and Prasad believe that making drones easier to work with will help the industry of healthcare majorly.

The main question from this Summit is "How can we connect biology with technology?" All six speakers gave informative speeches and made the audience realize the advances made in the field of healthcare.

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FOG in Fashion September 9, 2016

FOG King and Queen awarded during FOG Fashion fest

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FOG in Fashion September 9, 2016

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Cont’d from page VII

"Jose Canseco: The Truth Hurts", directed by Bill McAdams, Jr., a documentary based on the true story of Jose Canseco, a baseball player who disclosed the use of steroids in American baseball "God on the Edge", a wonderful documentary from India about the perils of human encroachment on elephant habitats and how a single elephant trainer (mahout) can make a tremendous difference with his care and concern for the animal "For Anna", a sweet, sentimental and deeply moving Italian short film by Andrea Zuliani about the innocent love of a boy for a girl who is visiting his village "Alice's Mirror", a bilingual French/Mandarin short film

directed by Benoit Lelievre that tells the story of a young woman who was adopted by French parents from China and goes looking for her biological mother "The Sin of Those Who Love Us', a Portuguese short film directed by Vasco de Oliveira that deals with the occult, possession and the strained relationships in a family "Fatum", a Polish mystery thriller short directed by Radoslaw Pietruczuk that is set on a young man's train journey "Fade", a short film by Ruoyu Guo that deals with the onset of Alzheimer's in a man and his relationship with his son "Sparks", a very short film by Areej Mahmoud from Lebanon that tells the interesting tale of a hookah delivery guy on a motorbike who catcalls young women "The Impact of Being Human", a philosophical documentary short directed by Alan Chriest who was there on the red carpet with his producer for photo-ops and questions "The Caterpillar Trail", a mystery short by Matthew Oquendo on a man's reaction in the aftermath of his girlfriend's murder "Woman in a Blue Gown", a sweet short love story directed by Miguel Almendarez that develops during a painting session between a painter and his subject Feature films from India that lit up the screens included "Bollywood Diaries", a film directed by K.D. Satyam Karri, that tells the story of three aspiring actors from different backgrounds and age brackets, struggling and hoping to make it in Bollywood.

The stars of the film, Raima Sen and debut actor Salim Diwan, were present for the Q & A session that followed the film screening. Raima Sen plays a prostitute in Kolkata who hopes to make it big as a Bollywood actress some day and goes to great lengths to achieve her dream, even soliciting only customers from Mumbai who can possibly help her in her dream.

Salim Diwan plays a young call center worker in Delhi who auditions for a reality talent hunt show and gives his all to catch the judges' attention. Lakshmi Iyer and Maya Vishwakarma interviewed the actors about their different backgrounds and approach to the craft of acting.

"Peeda", directed by Hemant Verma, is a unique, simple and powerful film that deals with the sense of abandon-

ment and pain experienced by parents whose children have emigrated from India.

Then, there was "Jugni", directed by Shefali Bhushan, a film that tells the story of a young woman who is a music director in Mumbai and who goes to Punjab in search of a singer and some inspiration but finds love instead, "Aligarh", directed by Hansal Mehta and based on the true story of a professor in Aligarh, India, who was persecuted for homosexuality, "Mantostaan", the harrowing stories of Saadat Hassan Manto based on the India-Pakistan partition of 1947 brought to life in an ensemble film by Rahat Kazmi and "Badman", India's first 'mockumentary' film directed by Soumik Sen and featuring one of Indian cinema's best known villains, Gulshan Grover, in a neverbefore-seen comedic role.

Gulshan Grover brought great cheer to his fans in the Bay Area with his presence at the screening. Dr. Romesh Japra himself came up to the panel as a lively conversation followed with the veteran actor who shared his experiences while expanding his repertoire in the international arena.

Another film that is truly unique was "Hum Bhi Agar Bachche Hote" directed by Monish Kaushal. The story is that of a married man falling for his secretary and having to choose between her and his wife. The plot may sound commonplace but the surprise is that children play the characters; hence the name, "Hum Bhi Agar Bachche Hote" (Wish We Were Kids). Producer Rakesh Sabharwal was present at the screening.

This time, there were also short films from India. Director Devashish Makhija's short films - "Elayichi", "Agli Baar" and "Absent" were part of a showcase. "Elayichi" tells the story of a woman's relationship to the vision of her dead husband; "Agli Baar" deals with the threats re-

ceived by slum dwellers and their supporters who oppose the demolition of their homes and "Absent" talks about a man's love for his daughter and desire to spend time with her before it is too late.

The Bengali short, "The Woman…and the Man", directed by Sarmishtha Maiti and Rajdeep Paul, and produced by Shivanggi Choudharry, tells the story of a milk delivery man feeling a strong attraction to one of his customers.

Another featured short was the 5 minute "I fought I

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Movie Fest showcased world cinema & culture

September 9, 2016

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survived" by Aartii Naagpal.

The FOG Fiji showcase took place on Thursday, August 11 with five films from the Fiji/Australia/New Zealand region: The features "Twisted Families" and "Feeling Lucky" from New Zealand, produced by Dr. Rachel Singh and directed by Devesh Pratap Singh under the banner of Dreamz Media The short films, "Tall Poppy…Envy of Success" and "Fast Lane" from Australia, directed by Dr. Satish Rai The feature film, "Ghar Pardes" from Australia, directed

by Vimal Reddy All these films are based on the Fiji Indian Diaspora in Australia and New Zealand.

Dreamz Media had quite a few representatives for its films - the Head of Marketing, Kal Kular and her husband, Steven Singh, and actors, Rishi Kumar Deepak, Jagdish Punja and Anand Raj Naidu of "Feeling Lucky".

Dr. Satish Rai and producer, Joe Thomas attended as did the actors from "Ghar Pardes", Vijay Kumaran and Adwin Awadh. Satish Rai, Vijay and Adwin also attended last year's FOG film festival.

The Movie Fest concluded on Friday, August 12 with the screening of "SOLD", a film based on the tragedy of human trafficking in Nepal and India. Representatives Ashit Ghevaria and Surbhi Paul from the Art of Living Foundation were instrumental in bringing the film to FOG. It was followed by a panel discussion on "Empowering Youth Against Sex Crimes", the theme of FOG 2016. Anima Desai was the chair of the panel.

Actress Seirah Royin from the film attended and participated in the enlightening panel.

FOG Bengal was one of the major showcases this year.

The independent Bengali film, "D Major" tells the story of a young college-going girl with a passion for learning to play the guitar but gets sucked into the world of drugs.

Directed by the young, talented Samik Roy Choudhury and produced by Shivanggi Choudharry under the banner of Aadiv Kreations, this film features fresh, young actors.

Shivanggi attended the Festival of Globe for the first time.

On Saturday, August 13, Camera 12 Cinemas looked like one of the cinema halls in Kolkata, India. The Bengali Diaspora turned up in all their traditional finery to watch "Dark Chocolate" and "Hemanta" and have photo-ops with two of West Bengal's biggest stars, Prosenjit and Raima Sen. "Dark Chocolate", directed by Agnidev Chatterjee, is based on the true story of a high profile mother from the Indian media world accused of murdering her own daughter.

"Hemanta", directed by Anjan Dutt, is a modern rendition of Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Producer Shyam Sunder Dey was present.

With traditional Bengali food that included the sweet delicacy, "rosgolla", the afternoon was a treat for moviegoers.

None of this would have been possible without the hard work of all the coordinators and their team members: Kaushal Rana, Suraj Jung Shah, Rajen Giri and others from the FOG Nepal team, Judhajit Sen Mazumdar and his team for FOG Bengal - Debolina Sinha, Sourav Datta, Anirban Kundu and Debashish Maya Vishwakarma, Seema Murthy and Lakshmi Iyer for the overall Movie Fest.

Mahi Hiremath and his team of dedicated volunteers kept the event running as did the amazing staff of Camera 12 Cinemas.

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FOG: A grand show September 9, 2016

Dr Japra, Chairman and founder, FOG and Gulshan Grover

NFL Players, Rajesh Verma and Raima Sen

Raju Chadha, CEO Wave group and Laura Turner

Performers from FOG dance competition

Randeep Hooda, Raju Chadha and Gulshan Grover

Performers from FOG dance competition

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