Munnabhai inspires seminar on Gandhigiri

Bollywood film "Lage Raho Munnabhai" has inspired a slew of protests worldwide using Gandhian methods, such as people swamping officials with flowers. Now it's the turn of the academics to discuss modern Gandhigiri.

Mahatma Gandhi had led a march in South Africa in 1908 to protest a law asking all Indians and Chinese to carry registration certificates with them, and hundreds had publicly burnt such documents following him.

On the centenary of that historic march, the Centre for Indian Studies (CISA) at the Witwatersrand University, Indian Consul-General Navdeep Suri and the Gandhi Centenary Committee Monday hosted a colloquium on The Bonfire of 1908: Passive Resistance Then and Now.

The Mahatma's great-granddaughter Kirti Menon headed the colloquium. P.K. Dutta of Delhi University, an expert on Indian popular culture, related how Gandhian ideas were now being revived in India in new ways.

Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie from the University of the Western Cape, a granddaughter of Gandhi, spoke about a housing project next to a busy motorway in Cape Town that has resulted in a lot of social tensions there. She said that Gandhian strategies might have led to a different outcome.

Rehana Ebrahim-Vally from the University of Pretoria shared views on how young Indian people in South Africa understand Gandhi's ideals and how it relates or does not relate to their sense of being of Indian origin.

Ari Sitas, a professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and Crain Soudien of the University of Cape Town spoke about the relevance of Gandhian ideas to new movements that are trying to address globalisation.

Sitas addressed the role of Gandhi in what he called "neo-Gandhians" in the anti-militaristic movements across the globe, while Crain referred to the African Renaissance led by South African President Thabo Mbeki and how Gandhian philosophies might have led to different outcomes in his attempts to bring about such a transformation.

There were also presentations by Raymond Suttner of the University of South Africa and Goolam Vahed, professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, on how the African National Congress (ANC) grappled with some of the ideas of non-violence as opposed to the need for a violent struggle in South Africa.


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Tackle terror before N-deal: Lord Paul

: NRI tycoon and British lawmaker Lord Swraj Paul on Monday said India and the United States must first focus on tackling terrorism before going ahead with a civil nuclear deal.

"There is no doubt I am against the (Indo-US) nuclear deal. My point against the deal is that we must first deal with terrorism. Unless we do not deal with terrorism, we would be planting nuclear bombs in the form of reactors," Lord Paul said at an interactive session organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation here.

He said his apprehension against the deal stemmed from the fact that global terrorism has changed face and India was vulnerable to it.

"India has lost a lot to terrorism, including two Prime Ministers. The country still continues to suffer from terrorism," Lord Paul said.

Giving another reason for why he was opposed to the deal, he said: "The world has not been able to find a solution to the nuclear waste problem." It would be unfair to the future generation to dump the nuclear wastes now and leave the problem unsolved.

"(US President George) Bush may want to supply nuclear plants to India. That's their business but opposition is in human interest," he said.

Commenting on the current global economic crisis, he said: "It is a manmade crisis and the investment bankers are responsible for it."


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NRI among Britain's top 10 retailers

Two retail empires built by an Indian and a Pakistani from humble beginnings have been named in a list of Britain's top 10 privately-owned retail companies published on Monday.

Tom Singh's New Look fashion chain and Anwar Pervez's Bestway cash-and-carry grocery outlets figure in a Daily Telegraph list of Britain's top 100 private companies to run over the coming weeks.

Urging its readers to "salute a nation of shopkeepers", the paper said Tom Singh is "a trail-blazer in inventing the cheap, 'fast' fashion that now dominates the UK high street".

Born in Thakarki, near Phagwara in Punjab, Singh came to Britain in 1950 at the age of one. His family went door-to-door selling from a suitcase and opened their first shop later in the 1950s.

Singh started his first shop with his wife in 1969, and in 1982 merged his stores with those of his parents to form New Look Retailers, a group of around 20 stores.

Entering the 1990s with some 40 shops in southwest England, the family became a strong regional retailer. It then began a period of rapid national expansion, growing to 200 stores by 1994.

Annual sales now are in the region of 1.2 billion pounds a year, and the company is now expanding overseas, particularly in France, where it has an established chain.


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Indian professor nominated for UAE award

A professor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has been nominated for the prestigious Sheikh Zayed Energy Future award.

Hamid Ali of Petroleum Studies Department at AMU is the first person to be nominated for the award, which is named after UAE founder Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, a release said.

The UAE award has been instituted for promotion of development of sustainable energy solutions.

Sheikh Nahyan had donated $ 2 lakh to the varsity to establish an institute of petroleum studies during his visit to AMU in 1975.


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Gujarati student crowned new Miss India-Canada

TORONTO: Twenty-one-year-old Rupal Lakhani, a dance instructor at the Shiamak Davar Institute here, has been crowned the new Miss India-Canada.

The local Gujarati-origin university student beat 15 contestants to win the crown for 2008. At the jam-packed gala at the city's Double Tree International Hotel over the weekend, Lakhani outscored her opponents in all rounds of the pageant.

The show began with a joint dance performance by all the contestants who came from all parts of Canada. After going through two rounds of quizzing, the contestants lit the stage on fire with their solo dance-and-song performances - from bharatnatyam to hip-hop to jazz to blues to hit Bollywood numbers.

After the preliminary round, the contestants were short-listed to five. These five again went through the final and fourth round of quizzing before the judges adjudged the Gujarati girl the beauty of the year.

Along with the crown, the Gujarati girl took home an array of awards in cash, jewellery and electronics goods offered by various sponsors.

Jet Airways will fly her free to India and Trail Blazer Tours India provide her free hotel accommodation during her stay.

“It feels terrific to win the crown. The Miss India-Canada pageant is a great platform for young South Asian girls in Canada to feel proud of their roots and make a statement about the richness of their culture,'' Lakhani said.

She said she was looking forward to visiting India as the winner of the 2008 crown. “I will try to connect with underprivileged and abused women of India and work with them. My goal is to represent women at the United Nations,” she declared.


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Youngest UK doctor an Indian

After becoming the youngest student to get admission for the medical course in 2002, Dr Heenal Raichura, who is just 22, has passed the course to become UK's youngest doctor.

Dr Raichura described her feat as “being a surreal one”. Excited about starting her practice, she said: “I'm slightly nervous because it's a big responsibility.”

Apart from the five years of medical study, she also spent an extra year to get a degree in Anatomy and Developmental Biology from St George's University.

Recalling her years in college, she said she never felt out of place. “Everyone was welcoming and I got pampered,” she said.


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Sunita Williams receives Padma Bhushan

Houston (PTI): Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams, who holds the feat of completing the longest space flight for a woman, received the Padma Bhushan -- India's second highest civilian award -- here for her outstanding achievements.

Indian Consul General S M Gavai presented her with the award at a function, which was attended by large number of Indian Americans.

The award was conferred on Sunita earlier this year, however, due to her preoccupations, she could not turn up to receive it in New Delhi from President Pratibha Patil.

Dressed in a purple kurta and matching pleated printed salwar, she spoke briefly at the gathering and mingled freely with those present.

The astronaut, who was accompanied by her father Deepak Pandya, expressed happiness on the recognition.

"It is a great honour. I am elated," she said.

Recounting her experience in space, where she remained for 195 days, Sunita said, "Earth looks beautiful from space as there are no borders on the planet".

"Sometimes we think we have borders because we are male, female, of different religions or have differently coloured skin," she said, adding, "Well you don't, they are just in your mind and they are not real".

"I could see this borderless world only after I went to space but there are people like Mahatma Gandhi, who could visualize all this even without going to space. Gandhiji's vision of keeping people at peace together is really a cornerstone of humanity", Sunita said.

Williams achieved the unparalleled feat of completing the longest space flight by a woman after remaining in space for 195 days last year. She is also the only woman and Indian American astronaut after Kalpana Chawla to go into space.


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US govt sues company for not hiring Sikh

A Texas company has been sued for religious discrimination by the US government after it did not hire a Sikh who refused to shave his beard and take off his turban.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is seeking punitive damages for Sukhdev Singh Brar, a certified security officer in the Dallas area, apart from back pay and compensation for pain and suffering caused to him.

Brar applied for a job at the Champion National Security Firm in Richardson in October 2005.

"When I finished applying, she (company representative) called me for an interview, and told me, 'I'm going to hire you, but you have to shave and take off your turban,'" he was quoted as saying by CBS.

Brar says he told the representative what she was saying was against federal law and his religion. "I cannot cut my hair. I cannot take off my turban," he said.

"She told me, 'This is our company policy and we cannot change our company policy.'"

The government wants the court to order the company to change its hiring policy.

"Essentially, they're asking, demanding someone give up their deeply held religious beliefs for a job. In that regard, I think it's very egregious," said Bill Backhaus, EEOC.

Before the EEOC filed the lawsuit against Champion National Security, it tried to resolve the case. But the government said the company wouldn't budge.

A company attorney said they haven't seen the lawsuit yet. But he says they don't discriminate, and have a good track record of hiring a diverse workforce.


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Indian pilot trainees duped by US aviation school

New York, June 29 (IANS) Over 100 Indian trainee pilots in California were reportedly duped after the aviation school they enrolled in closed down and is allegedly not refunding the fee they paid.

The students of the American School of Aviation who paid $40,000 each in the hope of finding jobs after graduation in the booming Indian aviation sector that is facing a severe shortage of pilots, have been told to vacate their accommodation after officials in Merced County - where the school is located - discontinued water and electricity supplies citing outstanding utility bills.

'The students have been there for 18 months and the course which was supposed to be 10-month long is not yet finished. The NRI owners of the school are not refunding their course fees and classes have been suspended,' Vayalar Ravi, minister of overseas Indian affairs, said in a statement.

The overseas Indian affairs ministry is trying to help the stranded students through the Indian consulate general in San Francisco.

According to a media report, about 30 of the students have accepted an offer from Manpreet 'Prince' Singh, president and chief flight instructor of the aviation school, to have them enrolled in another flying school in California.

Besides Indians, the school has a few Japanese, Sri Lankan and American students, who share their predicament.

The school's website displays logos of all the major Indian airlines as well as other airlines, giving the false impression of an association with them.

Kingfisher Airlines is one company, however, which issued a letter of intent to the school to consider employing their graduates. Kingfisher too has since terminated the arrangement with the school as per a June 2 posting on a website by the manager for human resources at Kingfisher Airlines.

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Lakshmi Mittal joins Goldman Sachs' board

New York, June 30 (IANS) Lakshmi N. Mittal, world steel tycoon based in England, has joined the board of directors of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, one of the oldest and largest investment banking firms headquartered here.

Mittal, the chairman and chief executive of the world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal, joined Goldman's 12-member board Saturday as an independent director, the Wall Street firm said in a press release Sunday.

Goldman Sachs's board announced that Mittal will serve on the audit, compensation, corporate governance and nominating committees of the board.

He and his family together own over 43 percent of ArcelorMittal, which accounts for about 10 percent of the world's total steel output.

India born Mittal, 58, who settled in London n 1995, is Britain's wealthiest man and fourth richest person in the world with a personal fortune of $45 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

Lloyd C. Blankfein, chairman and CEO of Goldman, said: 'Lakshmi Mittal has reshaped a global industry and, in the process, has engineered new modes of production, identified unrealised value and sparked remarkable growth.'

'He has a keen understanding of the global economy, having operated in virtually every corner of the world. Lakshmi's experience, judgment and independent thinking represent an important addition to our board of directors, and will be of tremendous value to our people, our shareholders and our clients,' Blankfein added.

Mittal, a B.Com from St. Xavier's College in Kolkata, founded Mittal Steel Company in 1976. The company acquired Arcelor S.A. to form ArcelorMittal in 2006.

For his outstanding business achievements, Mittal has received many honours and awards, including Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour. He was presented with a Fellowship from King's College London in 2007. The same year he received the Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Leadership Award and the Grand Cross of Civil Merit from Spain.

Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals.

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Businessman jailed for illegal export of technology to India

An Indian-American businessman was on Tuesday sentenced to 35 months in prison by a US court for illegally exporting electronic components to government entities in India, involved in ballistic missile production.

Parthasarathy Sudarshan, who ownes an international electronics business, was convicted of supplying the materials to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and the Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL).

The 47-year-old had acquired electrical components with applications in missile guidance and firing systems in the US and supplied to the entities between 2002 and 2006, according to court documents.

Sudarshan and others at his company, the Cirrus with offices in Simpsonville, South Carolina, Singapore and in Bangalore, provided US companies with fraudulent certificates that claimed the end-users of the electrical components were non-restricted entities in India, when, in fact, the items were for VSSC, it said.

There were no export licenses for any of the shipments to VSSC and BDL, which are on the Department of Commerce's Entity List. Both the Indian entities are involved in development of ballistic missiles, space launch vehicles, and fighter jets.

Exports of US-origin commodities to these entities are restricted and require prior authorisation in the form of a license from the Department of Commerce.

To further conceal from the US government that goods were going to entities in India on the Department of Commerce Entity List, Sudarshan would route the products through its Singapore office and then send the packages on to India, the documents said.

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London minister sorry for 'racist' remark on Indians

London: A local authority councillor in London has been forced to apologise after blaming Indian immigrants for littering.

Lucy Ivimy of the Hammersmith and Fulham local authority in west London was slammed after claiming in an email that Indians in an apartment block were throwing rubbish out of the window.

While such practice was “normal behaviour” in India, to do so in Britain was “not acceptable behaviour”, she said in the email.

Residents said there was no evidence Indians were tossing rubbish out of the window -- or indeed that there were any Indians at the Woodford Court apartment block.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Ivimy said: "I am aware that some ill-advised comments of mine in a private email have been interpreted as something that I never meant and have given offence, for which I unreservedly apologise.

"I should stress that I have no idea who are the specific culprits, or even if they are estate residents.

"I never meant to imply that this sort of careless behaviour belongs specifically to any one particular group."

Stephen Cowan, leader of the Labour group in the Tory-run council, said: “This shows her inherent prejudice.”

He said Ivimy, as a member of the council's cabinet looking after housing, was responsible for 14,000 tenants' homes and over 4,000 leaseholders' homes and all the housing association homes in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

"Many of those people, like the whole of London, come from all sorts of backgrounds."

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NRIs condole Nirmala Deshpande's death

New York (PTI): The non-resident Indian community here has condoled the death of Indian parliamentarian Nirmala Deshpande, describing her as a true Gandhian, a visionary and a guiding light to many.

In a statement, General Secretary of the Indian National Overseas Congress, USA (INOC), George Abraham said India has lost a great social activist whose goals and dreams were synonymous with the aspirations of the peace loving people across the world.

"Nirmalaji will be remembered for her fighting spirit and valiant efforts to protect and preserve the pluralistic framework and democracy in India and to promote bilateral relations with Pakistan," he said.

A joint statement issued by five other NRI organisations here said Deshpande's tireless work to uplift the downtrodden through Harijan Sevak Sangh and her vision for improvement of India's relations with Pakistan would be remembered by people of both countries.

"Nirmalaji took a courageous and principled stand against social inequality, untouchability, extremism and religious politics in India. She was the torch bearer of the vision Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Acharya Vinoba Bhave had for India and the world," they said.

The signatories to the statement included NRIs for Secular and Harmonious India, Indo-Pak Peace Mission, India Foundation, International Service Society, and Federation of Indian
American Christian Organisations of North America (FIACONA).

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Britain honours NRIs

: The NRI founder of a leading public relations organisation in the UK and the Head of Group Equality and Diversity at the Home Office have been honoured by Britain for their "tireless" work to enrich society.
Minister for Security and Counter-terrorism Tony McNulty presented the trophies to Teji Singh, NRI founder of Sterling Media and Ravi Chand of the Home Office, at a function organised by the British Sikh Association in London on Sunday night.
McNulty praised Sikhism and other religions for spreading love and universal brotherhood and said "values that unite us is greater than that divide us. We must not be tempted to look backward but look forward. We can either perish in hate or prosper in love," he said and acknowledged the massive contribution made by NRIs, particularly Sikhs, to the UK.
Rami Ranger, head of the British Sikh Association, described Teji Singh, as a "woman of great "substance" who broke through the "Asian-mould" and set up a leading communications group which now has high profile clients and corporate houses. He also lauded her contribution to promotion of Asian culture in Britain.
Others honoured were 97-year-old Sardar Fauja Singh, marathon runner, Bobby Grewal, Chairman, India Association, who raised 100,000 pounds for cancer and HIV/AIDS research through his charity walk from Amritsar to Kanyakumari and Ashraf Chohan, Secretary General of the Pakistan India and UK Friendship Forum.

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Indian restaurateurs in UK take to streets

Can a Polish cook tarka dal to the right level of spice? Or, is a Bulgarian migrant here culturally sensitive enough to rustle up 'chicken tikka masala' widely considered Britains national dish?
No, say owners of Indian restaurants who are currently struggling to deliver orders due to severe staff shortage.
New immigration rules prevent the owners from recruiting chefs from the Indian sub-continent, and many owners and consumers are facing an acute problem.
This crisis facing the 3.5-billion-pound Indian restaurant industry is scheduled to hit the streets of London on Sunday as thousands of chefs, owners and consumers stage a three-hour protest against restrictive immigration rules.
The protest has been joined by Chinese and Turkish restaurant industries, which are also facing similar staff shortage problems.
The protest has been organised by the newly formed Ethnic Catering Alliance, representing over 40,000 restaurants.
Connoisseurs of Indian cuisine believe that cooking food is a cultural process that needs the right material and cultural inputs.
They believe that without years of experience and sensitivity, it cannot be performed by people outside the Indian cultural zone.
But Indian restaurant owners here have been encouraged to employ Polish, Bulgarian or other migrants from the expanded European Union who do not need permits to work in Britain

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Indians top list of foreign skilled professionals in Norway

India has become the number one source of foreign skilled professionals working in Norway, with fellow colleagues from other countries faring way behind.
According to Norwegian Immigration Department figures for 2007, Indian skilled professionals constitute one-fourth of the total foreign qualified professionals inducted in Norwegian firms in the given year.
Employed mostly in sectors like IT, petroleum and healthcare, the figure stood at 618 the highest from any foreign nation, followed by Russia (254), US (231) and China (205).
Indian ambassador Mahesh Sachdev while lauding the figures, referred to it as a "paradigm shift."
"In the past two years, the identity of an Indian (in Norway) has undergone a paradigm shift. Today, an average Indian entering Norway is taken to be an expert, a professional and as someone who is contributing significantly to the Norwegian society and economy," Sachdev told PTI.
Indians have also registered the maximum rate of growth in terms of employment of foreign skilled professionals in Norway, with a 92 per cent increase over the previous year.
The inflow of Indian skilled professionals has witnessed a rapid surge since 2005 when their number stood at 105. It touched 322 in 2006 and has grown since.
The arrival of Indian experts to Norway has been taking place in tandem with spurt in outsourcing from this northern European country to India -- not only for routine office chores but also high-end designing and Research & Development.

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Protesting Indian workers in US to return H2B visas

Nearly 100 Indian workers, who claim they were lured to move to the US by false promises of permanent jobs, will march up to the White House on Monday morning and return their H2B visas in a symbolic rejection of the guest worker programme used to traffic them in US.
( Watch: Indian workers in US to return H2B visas )
The workers, who complain they underwent "slave-like treatment" at a Mississippi shipyard, will also demand a Congressional investigation of their former employer Signal International.
Signal, a Northrop Grumman subcontractor that held them as bonded labourers and is already the subject of a criminal human trafficking investigation by the Department of Justice, a statement issued on behalf of them by the organisers said.
Allies from 'Jobs With Justice', a national campaign for workers' rights in United States, will join the workers, who arrived in Washington last week after a nine-day S atyagraha , or "journey for justice" from New Orleans to Washington DC.
The group is among over 500 Indian welders and pipe-fitters trafficked to the US to work for Signal International after Hurricane Katrina.
The workers have filed a major class action anti-racketeering suit against Signal and its US and Indian recruiters in federal court.
Last Thursday, the workers had staged a protest rally at Dupont Circle and then marched to the Indian Embassy on Massachussetts Avenue where they had a three-hour-meeting with the Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen. They had also demanded a CBI probe into their case.

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Punjabi set to become fourth most spoken language in Canada

With the latest census showing a 35 per cent increase in its speakers since 2001, Punjabi is set to become the fourth largest spoken language in Canada.

Today, it is the sixth largest spoken language after English, French, Chinese, Italian and German, though it is already at the fourth position in the province of British Columbia.

But as India overtakes China as the largest source of immigration for Canada this year, Punjabi is projected to surpass Italian and German by 2011 to become the fourth largest spoken language in the country.

According to Balwant Sanghera, president of the Punjabi Language Education Association (PLEA) that is celebrating the sixth International Mother Language Day on February 24, "Punjabi is growing by leaps and bounds in Canada, and within the next three to four years it will become Canada's fourth largest spoken language."

Citing the latest census figures, he said 367,505 people said Punjabi was their mother tongue, showing a growth of 35 per cent since 2001.

"This places Punjabi as the sixth most spoken language (after English, French, Chinese, Italian and German). The difference between the number of Punjabi speakers and those of German and Italian is very small. By the next census of 2011, Punjabi will overtake both to occupy the fourth place," he added.

Sanghera, who retired as a school psychologist in British Columbia, said Punjabi is one among ten most spoken languages out of a total of 6,000 in the world.

"More than 150 million people in 150 countries speak this language. Mini Punjabs in Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and Singapore are testaments to it. Here in Surrey and Abbotsford cities, Punjabi is the second most spoken language after English," he said.

In British Columbia province, Punjabi is taught in the University of British Columbia (UBC), Simon Fraser University, University College of the Fraser Valley, Kwantlen University College and many schools.

Hospitals, city halls, airports and markets carry Punjabi signs. And it is common see the Punjabi sign of "Aseen Punjabi Bolde Haan" (We speak Punjabi) at banks

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NRI to head Gates Foundation division

An Indian American doctor has been named by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as director of its Global Health Delivery, one of the five teams in the Global Health Programme of the world's largest charity. The foundation has also named an Indian to the advisory panel of their programme.

Rajeev Venkayya joins the foundation as a representative of the US government. He was till recently a special assistant to President George W Bush and a senior director for bio-defence on the White House Homeland Security Council.

He will oversee the foundation's efforts to help expand the availability of effective vaccines, drugs and other health solutions in the developing world. Venkayya will also head preparations for delivery of future health solutions, the Gates foundation said in a statement.

Global Health Programme president Tachi Yamada said: "Rajeev brings a wealth of experience both as a physician and a senior health policy strategist, and we are fortunate to have him heading our efforts in this area."

Venkayya said after the nomination: "Every year, millions in poor countries die from preventable causes because they do not receive basic health services taken for granted in rich countries. I look forward to working with the foundation's grantees and partners to address this critical challenge."

Venkayya has a degree in medicine from Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and is a former coordinator of the US government medical and public health efforts, including preparations for a potential influenza pandemic.

He is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine. Previously, he was co-director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and director of the High-Risk Asthma Clinic at San Francisco General Hospital.

The foundation has also named Sujatha Rao, additional secretary and director general of the National AIDS Control Organisation under the Indian ministry of health and family welfare, as an advisor on the panel of five.

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Sikh attacked in another hate crime in New York

An American man is facing hate crime charges for allegedly punching in the face a 63-year-old Sikh, whom he called an "Arab", and breaking his jaw and nose before shouting racial slurs outside a gurudwara here.

David C Wood, 36, who attacked Jabeet Chadha on January 14 faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Wood was arraigned this week on charges of second-degree assault as a hate crime, second and third-degree assault and second-degree aggravated harassment.

He was ordered held on USD10,000 bail and will return to court January 30.

Wood allegedly told Chadha "Arab, go back to your country" when he was about to enter the gurudwara in New Hyde Park, Queens District Attorney (DA) Richard Brown said.

Wood then allegedly told Chadha "you don't listen" and punched him in the face, the DA said.

Chadha's nose and jaw were broken in the attack and he is on a liquid diet due to his injuries. He will need surgery on his nose and will have a medical consultation on what to do about his jaw after the swelling goes down, Brown was quoted as saying by Times Ledger.

"Crimes motivated by bias -- particularly those involving violence --will never be tolerated in this county," the DA said in a statement. "When they do regrettably occur, they will be vigorously prosecuted and those involved will be severely punished."

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