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Skokie IL: Inspired by the spirit of patriotism and intensified by a show of heartwarming unity, the Federation of Indian Associations-Chicago (FIA) a premier registered community’s umbrella organization of 30 years, hosted their flagship Republic Day gala banquet that was packed to the capacity of the Grand Ballroom at the Holiday Inn in 5300 West Touhy Avenue, Skokie, Illinois on Friday, January 28, 2011. Buoyed by large attendance, enthusiasm and energy, the FIA’s 62nd Republic Day celebrations were distinctly enhanced by a series of colorful patriotic dance presentations made by young Radha Krishan RK-Group and melodious musical selections of Rohit Parikh singing to patriotic themes which were interspersed with inspiring remarks from prominent guest speakers which augmented the festive spirit of the Republic day. Iftekhar Shareef, FIA’s Trustee Chairman in his key note remarks paid rich tributes to India’s majority Hindu population for their magnanimous secular ethos which, he added, enabled them to elect members of the minority communities to India’s highest offices including the office of the Prime Minister, the President and ruling-party coalition chair. Iftekhar Shareef complimented the members of the media including Asian Media USA, Five Star Tribune, India Tribune, India Post, Hi India, Desi Talk, TV […]

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Chicago, IL: On Wednesday, January 26, 2011, Honorable Consul General Mrs. Mukta Tomar celebrated 62nd Republic Day with leading Chicago-land entrepreneurs and citizens to honor the sacrifices our freedom fighters have fought and to remember the work of our Founding Fathers, for giving to us a country where our dignity and individual freedom is assured. She also extended her warmest greetings to all across the country and also to those living abroad at the Indian Consulate located in the heart of downtown at 455 North City Front Plaza Drive, NBC Tower. Over 100 guests gathered from citywide to celebrate this occasion. The event began at 10am as the Honorable Consul General saluted the Indian Flag as she held the rope to release the Indian Flag called “Dhhwaj Vandan” to respect and honor the Indian Flag followed by singing an Indian National Anthem. She also recited the speech given by honorable president of India SMT. Pratibha Devisingh Patil on the eve of republic day on 25th January, 2011 in India. Consul General Tomar was the perfect hostess and radiated with hospitality, courtesy and humbleness along with the entire Consulate General team. 26th January is a very significant date in our nation’s […]

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Bensenville, IL: Urdu Times Presents “Shaam-e-Ghazal a Tribute to Ghazal Maestro- Mehdi Hassan” was held at the Monty’s Banquet hall, 703 South York Road in Bensenville, IL on Friday, January 21, 2011. Mehdi Hassan! A master in music such as Mehdi Hassan deserved the spectacular tribute he had received as not one member of the audience was displeased by his three sons’ performances. His very loyal sons, Kamran Mehdi Hassan, Imran Mehdi Hassan, and Faizan Mehdi Hassan performed wonderfully for their father showing him their love and devotion to him and by helping the audience relives the legendary career of Mehdi Hassan. The gesture was no small act as they showed him the beautiful music he had raised them with and what they have made of it in their lives. The event was stunning as the classical music played by the trio was accompanied by applause for a considerable amount of time while they played. The audience was not only pleased with the performance, but appalled by the very elegance of each word sung, each note hit, each pounding of the Tabla, and each keystroke. Each member of the audience knew what to expect, but received much more than what […]

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Chicago, IL. The Rhythms of Rajasthan presented a fabulous folklore at the Hamdard Center located at 1542 W. Devon Ave Chicago, IL on Thursday, January 20, 2011. Over 50 attendees gathered to discover the magical Rhythms of Rajasthan. The Rhythms of Rajasthan performer consists of 5 members who dazzled the audience with their vocal and instrumental talents. Men were dressed in exotic and colorful attire with multi-colored Paghdis accompanied by Ms. Sevadevi, the dancing queen of the Rhythms of Rajasthan group. This project has been conceived in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, by Nitin Nath Harsh, a folklore promoter. Nitin Nath Harsh has been working with more than 100 folk artists of Rajasthan for the past nine years. He began his career in folklore of Rajasthan with the late legendry folklorist Padam Bhushan Komal Kothari. The vast unending expanse of burning hot sand that makes up the Thar Desert of Rajasthan hosts one of the most vibrant and evocative music cultures of the world. The Rhythms of Rajasthan have been evolved from an idea to create an exciting fusion of traditional rhythms and melodies from this culture. The group captures the romanticism and heroism of the north Indian desert in a visceral hypnotic […]

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Chicago, IL: To celebrate the great leader Martin Luther King Jr. and his message of equal rights for all Americans, Compassionate Care Network (CCN) hosted the Albany Park Neighborhood Council (APNC) at a breakfast meeting to discuss their shared goal of providing access to affordable health care for everyone. The meeting was held at the Muslim Community Center (MCC), 4380 N. Elston Ave, Chicago, IL on Sunday, January 16, 2011at 9:00 AM.. Compassionate Care Network (CCN) meets with Albany Park Neighborhood Council (APNC) to discuss shared goals to provide access to affordable health care. The CCN-APNC meeting brought together those from various faiths and backgrounds to discuss each organization’s initiatives to expand their combined network of affordable health resources to better serve all Illinois residents. Both organizations discussed potential collaboration in programming and goals. APNC shared its progress on developing a “Charity Care” program that would offer hospitalization and in-patient care to the underserved, while CCN introduced its new program of health education workshops for minority communities that suffer from above average incidences of diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Both organizations agreed to support each other in their initiatives and that a shared goal was to develop volunteers within the […]

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Medinah, IL: This year also Lohri was celebrated with great fanfare at Hari Om Mandir located at 6 North 20 Medinah Road, Medinah, IL on Thursday, January 13, 2011. More than 300 people attended the function. The weather during the day didn’t deter excitement of the devotees. Lohri was celebrated with traditional food of Saag (mustard) and Makki (corn) ki roti and lassi (buttermilk), bonfire, tappes, and songs suitable for the occasion. Lohri function has been celebrated in the North India in winter in the month of January. Families get together around bonfire to celebrate Lohri of the new born & newly married and eat foods such as dates, peanuts, bhuga (traditional India sweet and made of milk products) good for health during the winter season. Peoples in the North have migrated to other parts of India and abroad, therefore Lohri festival is celebrated throughout India and even in the foreign lands. Surinder Kalsi, Hansa, Shobaben, Vithal bhai, Naveen bhai and Sarkar family along with the temple priests created a beautiful exhibit of traditional Lohri items. There were models of Charkha, well with utensil to draw water, front of a house with traditional paintings of Diyas (tea lights) and cut […]

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Without an education, the distance you go in life can be measured. With an education at the new Furqaan Academy located at 519 East Briarcliff Road in Bolingbrook, the distance you go in life will be vast and immeasurable. Its new location’s Grand Opening was held on January 15th at 1 pm to 3 pm, and was open to Dignitaries from various Islamic Organizations, media, students, and parents. The Furqaan Academy’s new location is held at a three-story building that contains 18,000 square feet neighboring a Baptist Church. The Furqaan Academy moved to its new location on January 3rd. What a great way to start the New Year for the Al-Furqaan Foundation! The Grand Opening ceremony began with prayers and was then accompanied by a recitation of the Quran by one of the Academy’s very own students, Obaid Razi, a great speaker! Obaid sent Asian Media USA a summary of his speech that was translated to make it easier to for our readers. “There is a verse in the Holy Quran that states: “You will never attain righteousness unless you spend from what you love; and whatsoever you spend, Allah is fully aware of it.” [3:92] The Arabic word for […]

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Chicago, IL: In a building of Muslim Community Center (MCC) Chicago located at 1480 Elston Avenue,Chicago, IL the least expected to happen would be that a group of people have gathered to help save a battered underwater portion of Pakistan. Yet that is exactly what took place, and it was extremely successful as Helping Hand USA for Relief and Development (HHRD) explained how they were going to tackle the ongoing chaos in Pakistan that was caused because of the 2010 flood. Though the floods were six months ago, that doesn’t mean the destruction it caused is over. HHRD explained that the sections of Pakistan that were confronted and engulfed by the floods are still in a horrible position. People are still in need of long term projects from relief agencies e.g.: water filtration plants, house construction, hospitals, medicines, schools, Orphan support, interest free micro-financing etc. HHRD through the heartfelt donations of compassionate donors from across the world set out to provide necessary aid to the people of Pakistan by launching their “Relief for Pakistan” campaign. Their efforts provided food, In Kind donations, medical relief and shelter to the millions of affected people. Furthermore,HHRD launched www.reliefforpakistan.org website as a tool to […]

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