Guest guest Posted January 29, 2001 Report Share Posted January 29, 2001 Dear Dilip Raheja: > > According Rediff.com, the toll in the killer earthquake in Gujarat was on Monday reported to be somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000. This figure was likely to skyrocket, with survival chances appearing slim for nearly 100,000 people feared to be trapped in debris at Bhuj, Anjar, Rapar, Bhachchau (all in Kutch district), Ahmedabad, Surendranagar, Morbi and other places in Gujarat. > > In the midst of this benumbing news, it's of some consolation to us Indian-Americans that our government here is standing by India in this hour of grave crisis. > > The Times of India reports that Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice met in emergency session and agreed that India be provided with emergency relief that could include not only massive infusion of humanitarian assistance, but also other material aid like US military aircraft support to ferry equipment to the affected areas to help in search and rescue. The full text of the report is reproduced below. > > Meanwhile, for those who wish to make financial contributions, here are some of the organizations to which you may send your check: > > 1) PRIME MINISTER'S NATIONAL RELIEF FUND: Send checks in dollars or rupees. Checks/Money Orders should be drawn in favor of "Prime Minister's National Relief Fund" and sent to any one of the following addresses: > > Prime Minister's National Relief Fund > Embassy of India > Attn: Head of Chancery > 2107 Massachusetts Avenue, NW > Washington, DC 20008 > > Wire Transfer Information: > Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (Riggs Bank, Washington, DC) > Account Number - 08115910 > Route Number - 054000030 > > 2) INDIA DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF FUND (http://www.idrf.org). Donations to IDRF are tax exempted in the United States (Tax exempt ID: 52-1555563), and a receipt will be mailed to donors. Make checks payable to IDRF, and mail it to the following address: > > IDRF > Attention: Nagaraj Patil > 1580 Hollenbeck Ave., Apt #4 > Sunnyvale, CA-94087 USA. > > In the memo, please mention "Gujarat Earthquake Relief." > > For more information contact: Vijay Shrivastava at (770) 394 5031 > > 3) VEDANTA SOCIETY OF WESTERN WASHINGTON > 2716 Broadway E. SEATTLE, WA 98102 > Phone: 206-323-1228 > > Donations to the Vedanta Society are tax deductible in accordance with the US tax laws. > > 4) The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha will be collecting a fund for the > Earthquake relief in India. All contributions are to be directed to: > BAPS Earthquake Relief Fund > P. O. Box 891449 > Dallas, TX 75389 - 1449 > > The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha has played a major role during times of calamities throughout India, for details on the progress of the 2001 earthquake relief work by BAPS, please feel free to visit : > http://www.swaminarayan.org/news/2001/01/earthquake/index.htm > > Ritesh Desai > (770)696-4798 > ritesh_desai > > 5) AMERICARES > 161 Cherry Street, > New Canaan, CT 06840 > Contact: Elizabeth Griffin at 1-800-486-4357 > > 6) AMERICAN RED CROSS (http://www.redcross.org) > Donors wishing to designate their gifts to India should make checks payable to the American Red Cross--International Response Fund and earmarked for India Earthquake Fund in the memo section of the check or an accompanying letter, should specify India Earthquake Fund. > > Donor can use a secure online credit card donation services or you may send your donation to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. > > The following agencies are accepting contributions for assistance in India as members of InterAction, a coalition of relief, development and refugee assistance agencies. > > a) Adventist Development and Relief Agency, 800-424-ADRA, > http://www.adra.org > > b) Asian American Hotel Owners Association, Fred Schwartz, (404) 816 5759 > > c) AAPI, Dr. Dayanand Nayak; (914) 732-3322 > > d) American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, 711 Third Ave., New York 10017. (212) 885-0832. http://www.jdc.org > > e) B'nai B'rith International Disaster Relief Fund, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. N.W., Washington 20036. (202) 857- 6533. http://www.bnaibrith.org > > f) CARE, 151 Ellis St. N.E., Atlanta 30303. (800) 521-CARE. > http://www.care.org > > g) Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore 21203. (800) 736-3467. > http://www.catholicrelief.org > > h) Christian Children's Fund, P.O. Box 26484, Richmond 23261. (800)-SPONSOR. http://www.christianchildrensfund.org > > i) Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, 800-55-CRWRC, > http://www.crwrc.org > > j) Church World Service, 475 Riverside Dr., New York 10115. (212) 870-2167. http://www.churchworldservice.org > > k) Concern Worldwide, 212-557-8000, http://www.concernusa.org > > l) Direct Relief International, 27 South La Patera Lane, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93117. (805) 964-4767. http://www.directrelief.org > > m) Doctors Without Borders, P.O. Box 2247, New York 10116. (888) 392-0392. http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org > > n) Food for the Hungry, 7729 E. Greenway Rd., Scottsdale, Ariz. 85260. (800) 2HUNGER. http://www.fh.org > > o) Gujarati Samaj of New York, 173-15 Horace Harding Expressway, Flushing, NY 11365; Peter Bheddah, president, (718) 565-7765, Chandrakant Patel, secretary, (718) 762-9007. > > p) Gujarati Samaj of Washington DC, 9845 Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22030 > > q) Jackson Heights Merchants Association, (718) 651-6969 > > r) Leva Patidar Samaj of USA, 716 Sweetwater Circle, Old Hickory, TN 37138; (615) 391-4LPS. > > s) Lutheran World Relief, P.O. Box 17061, Baltimore 21298. (800) LWR-LWR2. > http://www.lwr.org > > t) MAP International, 800-225-8550, http://ww.map.org > > u) Operation USA, 8320 Melrose Ave., Suite 200, Los Angles 90069. (800) 678-7255. > http://www.opusa.org > > v) Oxfam America, India Earthquake Response, P.O. Box 1745, Boston, Mass. 02105 > 1-800-776-9326 http://www.oxfamamerica.org > > w) Salvation Army World Service Office, 703-684-5528 > > x) The Association for India?s Development (AID), (301) 422-7765 > > v) United Methodist Committee on Relief, 475 Riverside Dr., New York 10115. (800) 554-8583. http://www.gbgm-umc.org > > z) US Fund for UNICEF, 333 E. 38th St., New York 10016. (800) FOR-KIDS. > > aa) United Way International, 701 N. Fairfax St., Alexandria, Va. 22314 > (703) 519-0092. http://www.uwint.org > > bb) World Concern, 800-755-5022, http://www.worldconcern.org > > cc) World Relief, 800-535-5433, http://www.worldrelief.org > > dd) World Vision, 888-56-CHILD, http://www.worldvision.org > > Lets contribute generously to relieve the pain and suffering in India. > > Ram Narayanan > On-Line Resource for Indian-Americans > http://www.indiatogether.org/us/lobby.htm > > http://www.timesofindia.com/today/29indu14.htm > > TIMES OF INDIA, JANUARY 29, 2001 > > BUSH NATIONAL SECURITY TEAM PLEDGES HELP TO INDIA > > WASHINGTON: The Bush administration's national security team, in an emergency meeting at the highest-level, has unanimously decided to provide India with any assistance it may require to deal with the earthquake that struck Gujarat on Friday and has killed 20,000 people. > > Secretary of state Colin Powell, defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice met in emergency session and agreed that India be provided with emergency relief that could include not only massive infusion of humanitarian assistance, but also other material aid like US military aircraft support to ferry equipment to the affected areas to help in search and rescue, administration and diplomatic sources said. > > These sources said the Indian government had acquiesced to American military helicopters and if necessary C-17 transport aircraft -- like the ones that accompanied former president Bill Clinton during his trip to South Asian in March -- to be used in this humanitarian effort and that US ambassador Richard Celeste who was in constant touch with defence minister George Fernandes had also conveyed to Washington the expeditious need for concrete-cutting equipment, water-purifiers and mobile hospitals. > > Meanwhile, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the humanitarian arm of the American government, will up its assistance to India from the original $1 million announced on Saturday to $5 million and has made provisions to provide even more emergency supplies to India as the situation warrants. > > Len Rogers, acting administrator of USAID's Humanitarian Response Bureau said that "this is clearly a terrible earthquake," and that his office had set up a special task force to monitor the situation and work with Indian officials to determine the most critical needs and would send more aid and intensify its relief efforts as the days go by. > > A shipment of USAID supplies that includes plastic sheeting, blankets, water-containers, purification and distribution kits and generators have already arrived in India,envisaged to help at least 8,000-10,000 families, and so has a seven-member disaster response team that will quickly assess the situation and send its requirements to Washington for additional assistance and more supplies. > > USAID said it was also working with the non-governmental organization (NGO) CARE and had already begun distributing 100 metric tons of food aid on Saturday that was already in India when the earthquake struck and was making arrangements to rush several more hundred metric tons of food aid, which consists of ready-to-eat rations that could meet half of the energy requirements of about 4,000 families for a period of up to 20 days. > > A spokesman for the Fairfax Country Search and Rescue team, which is considered one of the best in the world and works with sniffer dogs, said they stood ready to fly out to India as soon as New Delhi took it up on the offer they had made immediately after the disaster struck. > > Meanwhile, all the area temples were packed to capacity on Sunday with devotees and worshippers offering special prayers and setting up special committees to channel the spontaneous ontributions people were making to help in the relief efforts. > > Community organizations in the area had also set up special accounts and Web sites to channel the spontaneous outpouring of financial contributions and were working in concert with the Indian Embassy to expeditiously get these funds across so that they could be put into maximum use. > > The Washington Post, which continued to report on the earthquake and featured it prominently on page one for the second day running, carried a list of relief organizations and NGOs that were assisting in the relief efforts with details on how to contribute. > > Specialty organizations like the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) also was mobilizing its members. Dr. Navin Shah, past president of AAPI and the chairman of the AAPI-Hinduja Hospitals collaborative venture on developing trauma units, said he had been in contact with Hinduja chairman S.P.Hinduja in New Delhi and that the Hinduja Hospital was dispatching immediately from Mumbai to Bhuj a team of doctors recently trained by AAPI-sponsored American trauma specialists. > > This US team is being led by Dr. P. Balasubramanium, a trauma surgeon at the University of California, Los Angeles. Balasubramanium, according to Shah, would be leaving Monday with a top-flight six-member mobile surgical unit to assist the medical units, both Indian and international, that were already on the ground in the acutely affected areas where emergency surgery was required. (India Abroad News Service) > > > _______________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com > _____ Send a cool gift with your E-Card http://www.bluemountain.com/giftcenter/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 1, 2001 Report Share Posted February 1, 2001 Oh, Dilip! Thank you for this letter! I am going to send a donation, but also, you have given me an idea for how to find other Hindus here. I can't even find any Indian people in the town where I live. I just can't be the only Hindu here, but if I am, Mother and I make a majority! Jai Ma!!! nancy And also, thanks for the reminder of meditation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 1, 2001 Report Share Posted February 1, 2001 Om Amma I recall Amma's message Swamiji has read in San Ramon Ashram. History shows that wars have been faught in the name of religion or groups, so just be God's / Amma's child and believe in Love. Although by birth I'm Hindu and I have been exposed to Hinduism, Budhism, Christianity, etc. ... as well as many spiritual Gurus. Thanks Amma for everything But I call myself God's / Amma's child rather than Hindu or anything else. Om Guruve Namah at your lotus feets amma, Ekanath Ammachi, RemoteVwr@a... wrote: > Oh, Dilip! > > Thank you for this letter! I am going to send a donation, but also, you have > given me an idea for how to find other Hindus here. I can't even find any > Indian people in the town where I live. I just can't be the only Hindu here, > but if I am, Mother and I make a majority! > > Jai Ma!!! > > nancy > > And also, thanks for the reminder of meditation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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