KAN BANGLA, Pakistan (AFP) — Veiled mothers huddled with feverish babies in ruined Pakistani villages Thursday as sickness started to bite among earthquake survivors who spent a freezing night beneath open skies. In crumbled settlements that no aid workers had reached more than a day after the powerful quake that killed at least 215 people, shivering residents begged for shelter, food, medicine — or just any help at all.

Read the full article here.

QUETTA, Pakistan – A strong earthquake struck before dawn Wednesday in impoverished southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 150 people, and turning thousands of homes of mud and timber homes into rubble…

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India and Pakistan opened a trade route across divided Kashmir for the first time in 60 years yesterday, in an attempt to bring a peace dividend to the Himalayan region that in recent months has seen an upsurge of anti-Indian rioting and heavy firing between the two nations’ troops.

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Tata Education and Development Trust, a philanthropic entity of the Tata Group, has decided to donate a whooping $50 million (about Rs 240 crore at current exchange rates) to the prestigious Cornell University in New York.

President David Skorton has called this donation coming from Tata as “one of the most generous endowments ever received from an international benefactor by an American university.”An agreement in this regard was signed by Ratan Tata, head of the Tata Group, and David Skorton, president of the Cornell University early this week. Ratan Tata is an alumnus of the university. Skorton made this announcement during the course of his State of the University Address on October 17.

Read more about this story here.

If you haven’t heard of ‘Joe the Plumber’, you must be living under a rock. This name has become the most talked about subject since the latest presidential debate on Wednesday. Both candidates referenced ’Joe’ numerous times during the debate. McCain has never even met the guy - Obama had a conversation with him in Ohio. He is actually a real guy (unlike ‘Joe Six-Pack’) who wants to buy a company that will make more than $250K per year. He tells Obama that his new tax plan will cause him to pay more taxes. Little did Joe know, that his 15 minutes of fame was just starting. From the debate, to parodies on Saturday Night Live, to being mentioned on every talk show, news show, and entertainment show, Joe the Plumber will probably be around for a while. Letterman even discussed him with McCain on The Late Show last night. Good luck to Joe and enjoy it while it lasts! I am sure there is some money to be made here….

Read in more detail here.

Last night was the final round of the Presidential debates.  The two Presidential candidates walked out on stage, shook hands and smiled at each other.  That was the only moment in the night that these two guys were nice to each other.

Not even two minutes into the debate, Senator McCain started firing his expected shots at Obama.  We all knew that McCain would need to come out firing last night, but no one ever expected to see such emotion out of him.  Interrupting the moderator,  talking over Obama, Mccain was definitely trying to show the people that he is strong and forceful.  He also walked right into Obama’s house and started talking to his own people.  John McCain addressed “Joe, the Plumber” many times during the night in an effort to tell him that Obama’s strategies were in fact hurting him, not helping him.

The analysts are saying that John McCain definitely won the first 30 minutes of the debate.  McCain was assertive, eloquent, and he quickly put Obama on the defense.  That was probably clear to the people as well.  However, they say that McCain started to fall apart during the debate due to problems he was having to avoid the non-important issues and containing his emotions .  You’ll be sure to see “over emotional” pictures of McCain repeatedly over the next few days (which is definitely going to be the democrat’s line of attack):

Obama was clearly on the defense last night.  He didn’t fight back on most of the topics that people thought he would, and that is now being considered a weakening move for him. He did, however, keep his composure, and for most, that was enough to win the debate.

So who do you think won the debate? 

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The ‘Big B’, Amitabh Bachchan, was hospitalized in Mumbai on Saturday. Reports are that he was complaining of a mild stomach disorder. Doctors have said this is not a serious condition and he should be ok. Best of luck to Amitabh Bachchan and his recovery.

Read more about this story here.

Sister Alphonsa, who was born in Kerala, is now Saint Alphonsa. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at a ceremony at St Peter’s Square on Sunday, becoming the first Indian woman saint.

Read the full Times of India article here.

Indian weddings can be a lot of fun, but the planing can serve up a lot of stress.  Indian weddings have so many little details you need to take care of, and moreover, SO MANY PEOPLE you have to account for.  As me and my wifey-to-be-plan out our wedding, we constantly look for ways to relieve our stress (No…this is a PG blog folks).  We’ve looked into Yoga, mediation, and even into those soundscape cds that play the sound of a river flowing or the wind blowing.  Yes, we’re desparate.

And then I found this article, which was written by a blogger.  9 Tips for relieving your stress while wedding planning:

1.Expect that there will be stress in planning your wedding. Why? There are a lot of decisions to be made, many details to be worked out, and others may want, or try to influence you. That is not bad or wrong, it just requires that you and your fiancé be aware of what is really happening. Try to respond to issues and avoid reacting to things.

2.One of the greatest challenges facing brides and grooms is their feelings of wanting to satisfy everyone. There are so many people involved - family, friends and relatives. Setting realistic expectations is very important. Don’t expect perfection. Expect a “terrific” day. Setting expectations that are too high will create stress and lead to frustration, and then more stress.

3.Feeling stressed about certain elements of the wedding such as, saying your wedding vows or your first dance? Then, visualize the event. Spend some quiet time alone, relax and really visualize in your mind the events going smoothly. Do this exercise several times a day if you need to!

4.One of the best ways to combat stress is to exercise. When things start getting out of control - STOP. Take a break and go to the gym or go for a brisk walk.

5. There are always some people (relatives or friends) that know how to “push your buttons”. When you are feeling very stressed… be sure to stay away from or at least limit your time with these people.

6. Wedding planning can cause a great deal of stress between the bride and the groom. Individually, they should be aware of their thresholds for stress, and how much stress they can handle in a given time period. If you notice that one of you is nearing your “threshold”, then take a short break from your wedding planning and do something fun together.

7. Parents can also experience wedding stress as their children get married and leave “the nest”. This is commonly referred to as “separation anxiety”. It can be a time of great anxiety for the parents which can then create stress and highly emotional issues for the bride and groom. Being aware of what is happening, REALLY happening, is a big part of dealing and managing stress.

8. Time pressure can cause a great deal of stress. Don’t try and do everything yourself. Delegate as much as you can to others. Use the Internet.

9. Are you and your fiancé arguing more than normal? Realize that this is normal because you are spending more time on wedding planning versus spending time on your relationship. That’s why it is so important to take time away from wedding planning and spend time with each other. A romantic dinner, a bike ride — whatever you both like to do together (just don’t discuss the wedding plans!)

Read full article here

Hopefully these tips will help you and your bride/groom through the exciting, yet stressful journey of planning an indian wedding.  Good luck!

Another Desi Killing was reported by CNN.com yesterday, and eerily, it had to do with the financial crisis that has been facing our nation in the past few weeks.

Authorities said the man had an MBA in finance but appeared to have been unemployed for several months and had worked for major accounting firms, such as Price Waterhouse.

The two-story rented home is in a gated community in Porter Ranch, about 20 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

The shootings were discovered after 8:20 a.m. Monday, after a neighbor called police to report that the wife had failed to pick her up to take her to her job at a pharmacy, Deputy Chief of Police Michel Moore said.

Ed Winter, assistant chief from the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, identified the suspect as Karthik Rajaram, 45.

Winter said the victims included Rajaram’s mother-in-law, Indra Ramasesham, 69, and his 19-year-old son Krishna Rajaram, a Fulbright Scholar and honor student at UCLA.

Read full story here.

The story goes on to say that because of the downward spiral that this individual’s financial situation was heading, he felt that the only way out was to kill his entire family and himself.  Rather than just killing himself, he explains in a letter that he felt it was the noble thing to do to not leave the financial burden on his family.  It’s a horrible time when people believe that death is the only way out of a tough situation.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family on their loss.

As most of you know by now, The United States government has approved the funding for a $700 billion dollar bailout, which will provide the major banking institutions and insurance companies with the money needed to ride out the credit crisis.

What you probably didn’t know is that Henry Paulson, United State’s Treasury Secretary has appointed Neel Kashkari as the interim head for its new Office of Financial Stability to oversee their $700 billion dollar wallet.

Here is the latest from the Washington Post:

Indian origin Kashkari, a Treasury assistant secretary for international affairs, is the key adviser on whom Paulson has come to rely on during the financial crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Paulson is now seeking Kashkari’s help to oversee Treasury’s $700-billion programme to buy distressed assets from financial institutions, the report said.

The position is interim and pending for the Senate confirmation. It is unlikely the Senate would take a call on the matter before the November elections, the report added.

Kashkari, who was one of the originator of the bailout plan, was part of the Treasury team that negotiated the asset-repurchase programme with Congress. Now, he would oversee some key decisions on how the rescue programme would operate.

Congress has given Treasury the authority to start buying assets, but choices like which asset managers to hire, which securities to purchase and how, still remain, the report said.

I think this is a great choice for the benefit of the American people…Not only because this guy has “kash” in his name, but also because DESIS are SUPER tight with their wallets, which means that he will make sure that every dollar spent is well worth it!  Don’t be suprised if our boy Neel asks for extra hot sauce, napkins, and forks when rolling through America’s economic drivethrough. 

The much anticipated vice presidential debate is now over.  And by now, you have probably seen it, talked about it, and made up your mind on who won.  This was the most watched vice presidential debate in history and gave us the opportunity to see how these candidates really feel about the issues facing this election.  So who do you think did a better job?

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Welcome back to Weekend Weedeos!  This weekend, we feature a video that has gotten over a MILLION hits on Youtube.  This video features a guy who is rollin through the streets of INDIA just chillin’ on his motorcycle while texting on his cell phone and using his feet to steer his bike….all we gotta say is…ONLY IN INDIA!  hahaha…enjoy!

Okay so for our readers who don’t watch MTV here is what you missed.  MTV has started airing a new show called Exiled, in which they take previous members from a show called “Sweet Sixteen” and put them in remote regions of the world that are not up to the standards of America.  The show is doing this to teach the individuals a lesson in appreciation as well as a sense of independence.  The appreciation of having a bed, running water, and the ability to wash clothes and all the other things that we as Americans take for granted is stripped away from them. This particular episode takes place in INDIA, thats right the motherland. Marissa is from Arizona and is a spoiled little daddy’s girl who travels to KERALA, INDIA to spend a week with a family.  She is taken in with open arms by a young girl named Primilla and is educated on the culture as well as all the day to day chores and tasks that we are not use to seeing.  For example, the family needed her to walk to the well to draw water, and needless to say, she was not enjoying it.  The list goes on and on from cleaning to cooking. The reason that I feel that Marissa wins my vote for most improved is that after spending time with the family in India she came to a realization that she needs to grow up and become self sufficient. Take a look at the episode and tell us how you feel about it.

click here to watch the video (http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1595054&vid=278250)

Usually a temple is a place of worship and where one can find peace, but this was not the case on Tuesday. Reports say that at least 168 people were killed and 100 injured when thousands of pilgrims stampeded at a Hindu Temple in Jodhpur, India.

You can read the full MSNBC article here.