LOS ANGELES: Recognizing May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, KCET TV and Union Bank of California presented the 5th Annual "Local Hero of the Year" Awards at a special event for honorees and their guests at KCET on May 8.

RIVERSIDE: Riverside's Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir celebrated Mother's Day in a very special way. While the All-World Gayatri Pariwar recited Gayatri Mantra and sang bhajans, Mandir members generously signed up to become bone marrow donors.

CHICAGO: There is no ban on export of Basmati Rice from India. Only the Government of India has imposed an export duty of $200 or Rs 8,000 per ton on Basmati rice export and raised the minimum export price (MEP) of Basmati rice from $1000 to $1200 a ton.(i.e. approximately 1000 kgs or 2000 pounds).

CHICAGO: Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat and doyen of Gujaratis across the globe, profusely praised the erstwhile denizens of his State settled abroad for their unflinching loyalty to the country and the State of their origin, and thanked them for extending their help during every time of distress Gujarat suffered due to man-made or natural disasters.

CHICAGO: Indian Community of Chicago land showered their love and honor on Consul Jagdish Rai and Mrs Gopi Rai as they received the news of the retirement of the popular consul.

ST. LOUIS: The Indian Students Association (ISA) at University of Missouri, St. Louis, celebrated India Night at Pilot House in the University campus last week.

ST. LOUIS: The Fourth annual Health Fair organized jointly by the Indian Medical Council, Mahatma Gandhi Center and the Hindu Temple of St. Louis was held on Saturday, May 3 from 9 pm to 2 pm at Mahatma Gandhi Center.

NEW YORK: Samskrita Bharati has announced the release of its new website www.samskritabharati.org while redirecting its old hyphenated domain name Samskrita-bharati.org also to the new site. The day was also "akshaya tritiiya" considered propitious to the advancement of any initiative.

WASHINGTON DC: The Association of Americans for Civic Responsibility (AACR) kicked off its Fifth Annual Conference last week with the relevant topic of the time "Voter participation - The Ultimate Civic Responsibility".