Author: Starvision News Desk

New York, Oct 4 (IANS) Eight Indian-Americans will be honored at an award ceremony in New York this month for achievements in their respective fields and for their service to the society.The Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center will present its 31st annual awards banquet on October 28 in Elmont, which will be attended by prominent leaders from India, US as well as members of the diaspora community.“The Kerala Center has been honoring outstanding achievers since 1992. Every year we invite nominations and the committee has to make a unanimous choice for a candidate in a category to receive…

Washington, Oct 4 (IANS) Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Republican Representative Patrick McHenry, who was named the interim Speaker after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster in a historic no-confidence vote, has asked her to vacate her office in the Capitol building.Pelosi, who served as the Speaker until January 2 this year, maintains her regular office in the Cannon House office building, reports CNN.An email sent from McHenry’s office to Pelosi’s office just after 6 p.m. on Tuesday stated: “Going to reassign h-132 for speaker office use. Please vacate the space tomorrow.”In response, Pelosi said in a statement on Tuesday…

Beijing, Oct 4 (IANS) China’s flood control authorities have activated a level-4 emergency response against Koinu, the 14th typhoon of this year, so as to better cope with gales and rainstorms expected to hit the country’s southeastern regions on Wednesday.In a forecast early Wednesday, the National Meteorological Centre said that Koinu had weakened in intensity from a super typhoon to a severe typhoon as of Tuesday night, reports Xinhua news agency.The weather bureau has also maintained a yellow alert against the The typhoon, observed at 22.0 degrees north latitude and 124.0 degrees east longitude at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, is…

Johannesburg, Oct 4 (IANS) The prices of petrol, diesel, and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) will increase in South Africa with effect from Wednesday due to local and international factors, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said.As South Africa imports crude oil and finished products at a price set at the international level, including importation and shipping costs, the country’s petrol, diesel, and illuminating paraffin will see different price increases, Xinhua news agency quoted the Department as saying.This is the fourth consecutive month for the country’s fuel prices to increase.The average international prices of petrol, diesel, illuminating paraffin, and LPG…

New York, Oct 4 (IANS) BioTek reMEDys, a Delaware-based pharma company and its Indian-origin CEO Chaitanya Gadde, have agreed to pay $20 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act of paying kickbacks to patients and physicians to protect its revenue stream. The government alleged that, from at least August 2015 through May 2020, the specialty pharmacy that offers drugs and infusion services, routinely waived the copayments of Medicare and TRICARE patients to induce those patients to purchase its drugs and services. Many of the specialty drugs offered by BioTek were expensive and required patients to pay large…

New York, Oct 4 (IANS) Two Indian-origin men have pleaded guilty to their role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain and launder millions of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans that the Small Business Administration guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Nishant Patel, 41, Harjeet Singh, 49, and three others engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the SBA and certain SBA-approved PPP lenders by submitting false and fraudulent PPP loan applications, a Department of Justice statement said on Monday.All five defendants also assisted in laundering the fraudulently obtained PPP loan funds by supplying…

Beirut, Oct 4 (IANS) Lebanon has to shut some schools that receive displaced students from Syria amid a lack of international funding, Lebanese Education Minister Abbas Halabi said.”Donors were late in paying due funds for this academic year and the previous one, which will force us to cut down on the number of schools that receive refugee students,” Halabi added on Tuesday.At present, many public schools in Lebanon are hosting refugee students from Syria in the afternoon shift, Xinhua news agency reported.The Minister’s remarks came during his meeting with the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka.Wronecka emphasised the…

New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma to appear on behalf of the Centre in a plea seeking approval for stem cell therapy treatment for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).On August 31, the high court had granted permission for two children suffering from ASD to undergo stem cell therapy as part of their treatment. The family members of the two children had approached the court with a petition, following a halt in their treatment due to a recommendation by the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of the National…

Colombo, Oct 3 (IANS) Amidst pressure by China on Sri Lankan government to have the joint research program as planned using controversial Chinese vessel Shi Yan 6, Sri Lankan state university that was to represent Sri Lanka has decided to step aside.The University of Ruhuna, the government-run university on Tuesday announced that it will stay away from the planned geophysical scientific research with the Chinese ship. The university had decided to drop the joint research with China as one of the lecturers who agreed to join the research had migrated while another lecturer had already left his duties with the…

Ottawa, Oct 3 (IANS) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said his government is “not looking to escalate” diplomatic tensions with India but did not say if his government would engage in a tit for tat response as the latter asked Ottawa to pull out 41 diplomats.Trudeau was speaking as he arrived to attend the Liberal caucus meeting here on Tuesday, in wake ofIndia seeking removal of 41 diplomats by October 10, following which it would revoke their diplomatic immunity, the CBC reported.To a question if his government would retaliate on the diplomatic front, Trudeau contended his government would…