A retired professor of the Punjab Agricultural University, Dr Naurang Singh Mangat, set a rare example of courage by saving the life of man who had met with an accident on Tuesday night.

Talking to Newsline, Dr Mangat said, “On March 16 around 8 pm, when I, along with my van driver, were on our way to Ludhiana, we saw a stray cow ramming into a scooterist half-a-kilometre from Sarabha village. With the help of two youths, I put the injured in my van and took him to a hospital. To our good luck, he regained consciousness after a few minutes.”

An NRI, Dr Mangat is heading a small NGO “Guru Amar Das Apahaj Ashram”. After serving 30 years as a scientist at Punjab Agricultural University, University of Windsor in Canada and Morrison Scientific Research Company at Calgary in Canada, he now pedals into slum areas of Ludhiana and surrounding villages on his bicycle with the sole purpose of extending help to physically challenged, lepers, blind, and the poor.

R Seetharaman, chief executive officer of Doha Bank Group, has been honoured with the International Indian of the Year award for his

contribution and achievements in the international banking sector in Doha on Saturday.

The award also recognises Seetharaman's contribution in the field of global economics and also supporting the cause to address global warming and climate change, a statement from the bank said.

Minister of New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah presented the award during a ceremony held at the second NRI Global Summit in Doha.

Seetharaman was conferred 'The Phenomenal Banker Achievers Excellence Award' in April 2009, selected as the 'Banker of the year' in 2007, and conferred the 'Best CEO in the Middle-East Banking Industry' title in 2008, alongside many other prestigious awards for his pioneering contributions to the world of banking.

A chartered accountant by qualification, Seetharaman, has more than two decades of experience in banking, information technology and consultancy.

Doha Bank is the largest private commercial bank in the state of Qatar.

India-born Labour MP Ashok Kumar, who was known as a natural fighter and community leader in the UK was today found dead in his house.

Kumar, 53, suffered a "sudden accidental" death, his office has said.

He died in his north-east England constituency of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. Born in India in 1956, Kumar had been MP since 1997.

Leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul, described Kumar as a "marvellous MP, very devoted and a great party supporter. He was also an able scientist."

"At this stage it is too early to say whether the death is being treated as suspicious and inquiries are ongoing," a police spokesman said.

Kumar's aides called the emergency services when he failed to arrive at his office in the House of Commons this morning.

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said that officers were called to an address on Canberra Road, Marton, in Middlesbrough, at 12.30pm.

"Officers entered the property and found the body of a man in his 50s. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics."

Announcing the news to the House of Commons afternoon, John Bercow said, "Ashok was a most assiduous Member, much respected by the House and by professional background a very fine chemical engineer."

Emboldened by the success of the global summit of overseas Indians which concluded here on Saturday, its organisers say they will work ceaselessly to foster trade ties between India and Qatar. And some of the key avenues in which Indian businessmen can invest here are real estate, energy and power.

For Qatari businessmen wanting to set up businesses in India, efforts will be made to minimise licensing procedures and paperwork, said Mohamed Sabih Bukhari (pictured).

“I already have had talks with relevant ministries in India in this regard and will keep following up on the issue,” Bukhari told this newspaper yesterday.

He was picked chairman of the Doha Chapter of New Delhi-based NGO, NRI Institute, which held the NRI Global Forum here on Friday and Saturday in cooperation with the Indian diplomatic mission. The primary objective of the Doha Chapter, said Bukhari, is to crate a platform for closer interaction between the private sectors of the two countries.

Inviting investment from India in viable sectors here and wooing potential Qatari investors to invest in lucrative avenues in India and bringing businessmen from the two sides closer to one another for joint venture deals will be top on the Chapter’s agenda.

But Bukhari said before embarking on these ambitious plans, the Chapter is to be registered with the embassy here. “We are currently working on that.”

He said some 65 delegates attended the two-day event here and one-to-one meetings of some of them with Qatari businessmen under the umbrella of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI), representative body of the Qatari private sector, were also held.

Former speaker of the Indian parliament, Balram Jhakar, and India’s new and renewable energy minister Dr Farooq Abdullah also attended the meet along with a number of Indian businessmen.

An NRI allegedly being harassed by land mafia claimed that even the police were not helping her out of the problem.

Alleging that it had been more than six years, she was unable to get justice from the police, NRI Manmeet Gill said that she and her mother were continuously living in fear as the land mafia was trying to grab the property worth crores in the city.

While explaining the case, Manmeet said that on June, 2004, an FIR was lodged for criminal trespass against the land mafia but till now no arrest had been made. On February 1, this year again some 25 men entered into her residence and along with that some people entered with bulldozers, JCB machines and broke the boundary walls of the house and took over the possession of the property.

Manmeet Gill alleged that a police officer came to her residence after two hours of the incident and instead of adding proper sections in the case, the police had not made any kind of arrests so far. She alleged that instead of helping her a separate case was lodged by the other party imposing Section 307 on her and due to which she could not go and meet her husband and her in-laws in Canada and her life had been ruined.

Manmeet also alleged that on October 19, 2005, land mafia took forcible possession of 4,500-square yards plot which was owned by her mother and which was inherited property of forefathers, regarding that SDM Mukand Sandhu gave an order on February 6, 2008, and the case was sent to the DC Office, Ludhiana, but there the records were not traceable.

Indian-American computer scientist Subhash Khot, most well known for his "Unique Games Conjecture", has received the prestigious National Science Foundation's (NSF) $500,000 Alan T. Waterman Award.

The award is given annually to an outstanding young researcher in any field of science and engineering supported by the NSF. The honour includes a grant of $500,000 over three years for scientific research or advanced study in any field of science.

An Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay graduate, Khot is associate professor at the New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

The recent leveraged buy-out of database major Infogroup Inc by private equity firm CCMP for about $460 m has not caused any pain for Vinod Gupta Founder, Infogroup Inc

despite him being the founder of the company. “I have been publicly saying that the company should be sold for quite sometime now. It will do better in the hands of people who can grow it,” said Mr Gupta, an Indian American entrepreneur who set up InfoUSA—as the company was earlier known—in 1972. And though Mr Gupta stepped down as the chairman of InfoUSA in 2008, after he came under a cloud over a shareholder lawsuit, he along with his family, still holds a majority of shares of 14.8 million. The buyout deal is now being seen as the latest of a number of small leveraged buy-outs of public listed companies in the US by cash-flush PE firms.

The share-holder allegations against Mr Gupta were on “improper company expenditures” which included spending on former US President Bill Clinton on things such as luxury yachts and jets.

Mr Gupta, who has always been close to former American President, had also hired him as a consultant after he left the White House in January 2001. He was among Clinton’s top aides during his first visit to India as US President. In fact, it was Mr Gupta—a wildlife enthusiast—who is said to have inspired President Clinton to visit the famous Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve during that visit.

“I’m now feeling a sense of closure and can move on in life. The liquidity will help me carry on with my charitable work in a more effective way,” said a relieved Mr Gupta who is well known for his donation of $2 million to his alma mater, IIT-Kharagpur, to start the Vinod Gupta School of Management. He later donated a million dollars more to set up the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law at IIT-KGP, which is the first law school under the IIT umbrella.

“I am now talking to the IIT-KGP director Professor D Acharya about starting a school for entrepreneurship which will help students start their own businesses. So far, most of the IITians move into corporate jobs after they finish their studies and it will be good if some of them can be mentored to become entrepreneurs. I feel that a medical school should also be started within the IIT system and have been speaking to experts on that too,” said Mr Gupta.

But first, he wants to relax and take time off before starting on any new venture. “I will then be looking at building a private equity investment portfolio and am also scouting around for an acquisition in the business information space,” Mr Gupta said.

He is also looking forward to spending more time in India with his philanthropic activities and also his other favourite project—wildlife conservation and saving the Royal Bengal tiger. He had donated $1 million for a women’s polytechnic in his village of Rampur Manhyaran in UP, which was inaugurated by President Clinton. Recently, Mr Gupta has also started a new science block at his former village school. And though he spends most of his time between Los Angeles and San Francisco these days, he hopes to be in India later this year.

India Media Centre, claimed to be the world’s first academic centre dedicated to research into one of the most diverse and dynamic media systems on the planet, has been launched at the elite Westminster University here.

Speaking on the occasion, the Westminster University Chancellor, Lord Swraj Paul, said the new centre “will promote and develop research and knowledge transfer on Indian media in a global context, and will attract high-quality research students from the sub-continent.

“It will also build collaborative links with international institutions, policy makers, NGOs and creative and cultural industries, as well as provide a platform for UK-based Indian media, arts and cultural organisations.”

Leading NRI industrialist Lord Paul, Chairman of the Caparo Group of industries, described the UK as a world leader in cultural industries, and said: “this University has a long and proud tradition of academic excellence in the study of media, arts and design.”

An NRI Violinist has won this year`s Gloucestershire Young Musician of the Year competition and is set to perform at major events. Therese DeSouza, a 16 year old violinist whose family is originally from Goa, won the event that included four other finalists on Wednesday. “I am over the moon. It’s a very surreal feeling to have won. We all played for about 15 to 20 minutes trying to show a range of music within our programmes,” Therese said after winning the event, according to PTI reports. “There was panel of judges. It was very nerve-wracking but it was just brilliant,” she added.

Therese, who attends Pate’s Grammer School in Cheltenham, wins the Oldbury Trophy, a 500 pounds prize and will now perform in her own concert series, including a concerto with the Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra and a solo performance as part of this year’s Cheltenham Music Festival. Gloucestershire County Council’s music service organised the event to discover the musical star of 2010. The other finalists were Elin White (violin), Alastair Roberts (classical guitar), Thomas Percy (violin) and Andrew McDade (tuba).

Prakash Narain, M.D. was elected the new Mayor for the city of Cypress, California on December 14, 2009. In 2009, Dr. Narain served as Mayor Pro Tem of the city. Cypress has population of almost 50,000 people of which South Asians comprise 0.2% only.

Dr. Prakash Narain has been very active in the community for many years, including serving on the Cypress Senior Citizens Commission for 8 years. This is his first term on the City Council. He was elected in November 2006 in his first attempt at public office. Cypress allows for a maximum of 2 four-year terms on the city council. Narain will be running for re-election to the city council in November 2010.

Dr. Narain is a physician with a specialization in internal medicine and geriatrics. He has been in medical practice at the Leisure World Health Care Center in Seal Beach, California for 22 years. While serving as a City Council Member, he has continued his medical practice and his affiliation with Los Alamitos Medical Center, in Los Alamitos, where he has served as Chief of Staff and as Chairman of the Governing Board of Directors.

Also in December, 2009, Harry Sidhu, an engineer turned businessman, was elected Mayor Pro-tem for City of Anaheim, home of Disneyland. Harry was re-elected as Anaheim City Councilman last year. Currently, he is contesting for the position of Orange County Supervisor.

David Dhillon, a third generation Indian American was the first to be elected mayor of a city in California. He was elected mayor three times of city of El Centro, Imperial County. Imperial and Riverside counties formed the Congressional district from where Indian American Dalip S. Saund was elected as congressman of the United Sates. Saund was the first among Asians elected as Congressman in the US.