Khushwant Toor writes from Toronto

AMERICA’S official poverty rate in 2008 was 13.2 percent, up from 12.5 percent in 2007. There were 39.8 million people in poverty in 2008, up from 37.3 million in 2007. Meanwhile, the number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008, while the percentage remained unchanged at 15.4 percent.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced last week that real median household income in the United States fell 3.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, from $52,163 to $50,303. This breaks a string of three years of annual income increases and coincides with the recession that started in December 2007.

These findings are contained in the report Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008. The following results for the nation were compiled from information collected in the 2009 Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC):

Income
Race and Hispanic Origin (Race data refer to people reporting a single race only. Hispanics can be of any race.)

• Between 2007 and 2008, the real median income of non-Hispanic white households declined 2.6 percent (to $55,530); for blacks, it declined 2.8 percent (to $34,218); for Asians, it declined 4.4 percent (to $65,637); and for Hispanics, it declined 5.6 percent (to $37,913). Except for the difference between the declines for non-Hispanic white and Hispanic households, all other differences between the declines were not statistically significant.

Nativity
• Native- and foreign-born households, including those maintained by a naturalized citizen, had declines in real median income between 2007 and 2008. Income was statistically unchanged for households maintained by a noncitizen. The decline for native-born households was 3.5 percent; the decline for foreign-born households was 5.3 percent; and the decline for those maintained by a naturalized citizen was 4.8 percent. The apparent differences among the declines in median income for native-born, foreign-born and naturalized citizen households were not statistically significant.

Earnings
• In 2008, the earnings of women who worked full time, year-round was 77 percent of that for corresponding men, down from 78 percent in 2007.
• The real median earnings of men who worked full time, year-round declined by 1.0 percent between 2007 and 2008, from $46,846 to $46,367. For women, the corresponding drop was 1.9 percent, from $36,451 to $35,745.

Income Inequality
• Income inequality was statistically unchanged between 2007 and 2008, as measured by shares of aggregate household income by quintiles and the Gini index. The Gini index was 0.466 in 2008. (The Gini index is a measure of household income inequality; 0 represents perfect income equality and 1 perfect inequality.)

Poverty Overview
• The increase in the poverty rate between 2007 and 2008 was the first statistically significant annual increase since 2004. The 2008 poverty rate (13.2 percent) was the highest since 1997.
• In 2008, the family poverty rate and the number of families in poverty were 10.3 percent and 8.1 million, respectively, up from 9.8 percent and 7.6 million in 2007.
• For married-couple families, both the poverty rate and the number in poverty increased — 5.5 percent (3.3 million) in 2008, up from 4.9 percent (2.8 million) in 2007. Both measures, however, showed no statistical change in 2008 for female-householder-with-no-husband-present families (28.7 percent and 4.2 million) and for male-householder-no wife-present families (13.8 percent and 723,000).

Thresholds
• As defined by the Office of Management and Budget and updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the weighted average poverty threshold for a family of four in 2008 was $22,025; for a family of three, $17,163; for a family of two, $14,051; and for unrelated individuals, $10,991.
Race and Hispanic Origin (Race data refer to people reporting a single race only. Hispanics can be of any race.)
• In 2008, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic whites (8.6 percent in 2008, up from 8.2 percent in 2007), Asians (11.8 percent in 2008, up from 10.2 percent in 2007) and Hispanics (23.2 percent in 2008, up from 21.5 percent in 2007). The poverty rate in 2008 was statistically unchanged for blacks (24.7 percent).

Age
• The poverty rate increased for children younger than 18 (19.0 percent in 2008, up from 18.0 percent in 2007) and people 18 to 64 (11.7 percent in 2008, up from 10.9 percent in 2007), while it remained statistically unchanged for people 65 and older (9.7 percent).
• Similar to the patterns observed for the poverty rate in 2008, the number of people in poverty increased for children younger than 18 (14.1 million in 2008, up from 13.3 million in 2007) and people 18 to 64 (22.1 million in 2008, up from 20.4 million in 2007) but remained statistically unchanged for seniors 65 and older (3.7 million).

Nativity
• Among the native-born population, 12.6 percent (33.3 million) were in poverty in 2008, up from 11.9 percent (31.1 million) in 2007.
• Among the foreign-born population, the poverty rate and the number in poverty increased to 17.8 percent and 6.5 million in 2008, up from 16.5 percent and 6.2 million, respectively, in 2007. The poverty rate in 2008 for naturalized citizens, 10.2 percent, was statistically unchanged from 2007, while the poverty rate for those who were not U.S. citizens rose to 23.3 percent in 2008, up from 21.3 percent in 2007.

Health Insurance Coverage Overview
• The number of people with health insurance increased from 253.4 million in 2007 to 255.1 million in 2008.
• The number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008.
• Between 2007 and 2008, the number of people covered by private health insurance decreased from 202.0 million to 201.0 million, while the number covered by government health insurance climbed from 83.0 million to 87.4 million. The number covered by employment-based health insurance declined from 177.4 million to 176.3 million.
• The number of uninsured children declined from 8.1 million (11.0 percent) in 2007 to 7.3 million (9.9 percent) in 2008. Both the uninsured rate and number of uninsured children are the lowest since 1987, the first year that comparable health insurance data were collected.
• Although the uninsured rate for children in poverty declined from 17.6 percent in 2007 to 15.7 percent in 2008, children in poverty were more likely to be uninsured than all children.
Race and Hispanic Origin (Race data refer to those reporting a single race only. Hispanics can be of any race.)
• The uninsured rate and number of uninsured for non-Hispanic whites increased in 2008 to 10.8 percent and 21.3 million, from 10.4 percent and 20.5 million in 2007. The uninsured rate and number of uninsured for blacks in 2008, meanwhile, were not statistically different from 2007, at 19.1 percent and 7.3 million. The uninsured rate for Asians in 2008, 17.6 percent, was not statistically different from 2007.
• The percentage of uninsured Hispanics decreased to 30.7 percent in 2008, from 32.1 percent in 2007. The number of uninsured Hispanics was not statistically different in 2008, at 14.6 million.
• Based on a three-year average (2006-2008), 31.7 percent of people who reported American Indian and Alaska Native as their race were without coverage. The three-year average uninsured rate for Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders was 18.5 percent.

Nativity
• The uninsured rates for the native-born and foreign-born populations were statistically unchanged at 12.9 percent and 33.5 percent, respectively, in 2008. Among the foreign-born population, the uninsured rates for both naturalized citizens (18.0 percent) and non-citizens (44.7 percent) were statistically unchanged.

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Taraksheel Sabha bring wonders of the night sky to the Punjabi community

Gurpreet Singh writes from Vancouver

THE Indian Rationalist Society brought wonders of the night sky to the Punjabi community in Surrey on September 20. The Taraksheel Sabha which is celebrating the silver jubilee of its foundation across the world was established to promote scientific education and end superstition. While the astrologers and the palmists continue their business unchallenged in the Indo Canadian community, the Taraksheel Sabha in partnership with the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) organized an open air educational demonstration at the Surrey’s Holland Park to give a scientific explanation behind the movement of planets.

Around 80 people showed up at the event. Apart from the kids, the parents and the seniors also keenly gazed the sky through the telescope brought by the RASC President, Ron Jerome. The Taraksheel Sabha leader, Avtar Gill said that this was their first such attempt to outreach the community although they have been investigating the stories of the ghosts and spirits and organizing plays and magic shows in the past.

Gill said that the current biggest challenge before his organization comes from those promoting astrology as science. Those who are ignorant often get confused between astronomy and astrology. The astrologers attribute the problems of the people to the movement of the planets and are indulging in brisk business of selling stones for remedies. Interestingly, Gill had a debate with one of the participants, who believed in astrology.

Though the event was not a major crowd puller because of the lack of publicity and being first of its kind, yet the Taraksheel Sabha succeeded in generating interest for science and space technology in the Punjabi community. In fact, the religious conservatism and blind faith are major problems in the community and only experiments such as these can change this scenario. The Taraksheel Sabha should organize more such events especially on the birth anniversaries of the prominent inventors and scientists.

The Taraksheel Sabha was formed on June 3, 1984. Its mandate is to caution people against all forms of superstition. In the past 25 years, they have been not only been able to enroll thousands of members but have solved many mysteries of ghosts and spirits by sending their investigating teams to the villages. They have proved the stories of the rebirths wrong.

They have their own publication that print books on the works done by the world renowned scientists. Among them is the Punjabi translation of the Charles Darwin’s The origin of Species.

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Dual citizenship woes

Sujit K. Pandit

INDIA announced with great fanfare Overseas Citizen of India Card for those Indians who had migrated to other countries and become citizens. It was meant to address their problems like getting visa and setting up business back in India. Indian prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh himself presented the first card to at a gala function. But like other matters, there is an anarchy let lose in India where nothing seems to work properly [prime minister repeatedly admits that many things do not work]. Here is a first hand account of a well know elderly medical specialist from America who returned to his home country.

“My advice to all my friends who hold an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) Card and those who aspire to get one.

I am an American citizen. I also carry an OCI card (Overseas Citizen of India) since 2007.

On Saturday, June 20, 2009, I arrived at the Kolkata Netaji Subhas Airport from Detroit via Singapore, by Singapore Airlines (SQ 516) at 10:30 P.M.

I presented myself to an Immigration Officer (Mr. Biswas) for immigration clearance. I gave him my American passport and my OCI card. He demanded to see my visa from the Indian consular office. Unfortunately, that visa was attached to my old passport and I did not bring it with me.

I explained to him that I am sorry I forgot to bring my old passport but since I do possess a valid OCI Card that would automatically mean that I do also possess a permanent (life long) visa for India and there are proofs that I have traveled multiple times to India after I had received my OCI card.

Mr. Biswas detained me for two hours inside the airport and then he told me that he is going to allow me to stay in India for 72 hours and asked me to report to the Foreign Relations Regional Officer (FRRO) in the city within 72 hours. He kept my passport. During all that time I had no opportunity either to approach his OC (Officer in Charge) although I asked for it, or to contact my relatives who came to the airport to receive me and were waiting outside and had no idea why I was being held back or if I have even arrived.

Forgetting to bring my old passport was my own fault but I 'forgot' to bring it partly because I knew I have my OCI Card with me and I thought, that means something, I really believed that I am a citizen of India too. Why would a citizen also need a visa to enter his own country? I thought I have a dual citizenship for both the USA and India. Otherwise, what is the difference between an ordinary foreigner and the OCI Card holder?

Next day was a Sunday, I called a friend in Ann Arbor who went into my house, got my old passport and sent me the scanned copy of my old passport and a copy of my permanent visa by e-mail.

So, on Monday I went to see Mr. Bibhas Talukdar, the FRRO. He hardly looked at the documents (the scanned visa) that I had with me he simply asked me to get my old passport by courier mail within another seven days. He appeared gleeful telling me that it is only out of “pity" that he is allowing me to stay in India for seven more days. He was totally unimpressed by either my status as a Professor Emeritus of the University of Michigan or my age (70+)

I called my friend in Ann Arbor again who then sent my old passport by FedEx. Three days later the passport arrived. Since I had to leave Kolkata for prescheduled visit to Bangalore, my niece took it to Mr. Talukdar. But due to lack of communication between the FRRO office and the airport immigration department my passport had not arrived at the city office even after 9 days. My niece had to go to the FRRO's office three times once waiting until 6 P.M. still they did not have my passport. They only promised: "it will come soon". At last, 12 days after my arrival, my niece got my passport.

From this painful and anxiety provoking experience I have learned a few valuable lessons:
1. The loud talk about "Dual Citizenship" for Indian Americans is just a political hoax.
2. The OCI card just does not have any value. It is just a piece of expensive junk. You still need a visa every time you travel to India whether or not you possess an OCI card. Only difference is that for the high price of getting an OCI card you will get a "life long” visa. A 10-year visa is much cheaper.
3. When coming to India always consider yourself a foreigner and bring your visa with you, there will be no exceptions. Your OCI card is not a visa substitute.
4. In fact, you will probably be treated worse than an ordinary foreigner arriving without a valid visa. Because a foreigner especially a white Caucasian will at least be treated with courtesy and probably offered a temporary visa if there is no reason to deny it, but not you.
Please feel free to forward this mail to any of your friends who may befit from my experience. Especially feel free to forward this to any influential politician or civil servant in India that you may know.

[The writer is Professor Emeritus, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor , MI,48109, USA, sujitpandit@hotmail.com]

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The Bush Legacy: More poverty, disease and deprivation

WHILE still in office, President Bush and his allies used to get frustrated when reporters would ask them to speculate on what the administration's legacy would be -- especially in light of the President's abysmal poll numbers at the end of his term. They would defensively argue that Bush's true greatness would emerge over time. "I'll be dead when they get it right," Bush reportedly remarked in 2006. Adviser Karl Rove was convinced that his boss would be "viewed as a far-sighted leader who confronted the key test of the 21st century." Well, they were right in one respect: a fuller picture of the Bush administration's effect is now emerging. But they were sorely mistaken in believing that it would vindicate the 43rd president. Last week, the Census Bureau released its 2008 annual report on the income, poverty, and health insurance in the United States. As the National Journal's Ronald Brownstein wrote, the Census report "closes the books" on Bush's economic record -- and it's not one that Republicans will be boasting about. "On every major measurement, the Census Bureau report shows that the country lost ground during Bush's two terms," noted Brownstein. "While Bush was in office, the median household income declined, poverty increased, childhood poverty increased even more, and the number of Americans without health insurance spiked."

LOSS OF INCOME: "I think when people take a look back at this moment in our economic history, they'll recognize tax cuts work," Bush boldly predicted in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in March 2008. "They have made a difference." They have indeed made a difference, but it's not a good one. Last year, Americans' median household income dropped 3.6 percent to $50,303 -- the sharpest drop since the government began keeping records in 1947, and the lowest dollar level since 1997. When Clinton left office, the median income was 4.2 percent higher than it was when Bush stepped down eight years later. Bush also has the "dubious distinction" of being the only recent president to "preside over an income decline through two presidential terms," according to Economic Policy Institute President Lawrence Mishel. "[T]he bleak economic results from Bush's two terms, tarnish, to put it mildly, the idea that tax cuts represent an economic silver bullet," concluded Brownstein. Americans were able to see the effects of Bush's sordid legacy long before the President was; toward the end of his term, one poll found that zero percent of Americans believed that the economy was improving, and only 17 percent approved of how he was handling the economy. There's increasing evidence that Bush didn't understand the complexities of the economy. A new book by former speechwriter Matt Latimer reveals that Bush advisers were more interested in "mapping out an ambitious schedule of 'legacy speeches'" for the President than providing policy solutions. Even when the President was selling his $700-billion bailout proposal to the public, he didn't fully comprehend what he was talking about. For nearly a year after the economic downturn started, Bush administration officials continued to publicly state that there was no recession.

RISE IN POVERTY: When the extent of the recession did become clear at the end of Bush's term, the President was convinced that it wasn't his fault. Rove still believes that the administration bears "no responsibility" for the deficit, and Vice President Cheney said in January that the financial crisis had developed only "over the last six months." Bush similarly had no understanding of what most Americans were going through, embodied in his infamous statement to a woman who had to work three jobs to get by: "You work three jobs? Uniquely American, isn't it? That is fantastic." Under Clinton, the number of American in poverty dropped 16.9 percent; it increased 26.1 percent under Bush. Similarly, the number of children in poverty declined 24.2 percent under Clinton and jumped 21.4 percent under Bush. The 2008 poverty rate was at an 11-year high of 13.2 percent, with 39.8 million people in poverty (including 14 million children). The Bush years saw an additional 8.3 million people fall below the poverty line. As The Wonk Room's Pat Garofalo noted, "This [Census] report does not take into account the hemorrhaging of jobs that occurred in early 2009, when more than 700,000 jobs were disappearing each month, so these numbers are likely to rise even higher. And they would be headed higher still if it were not for the economic stimulus package that was passed in February." A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that two-thirds of Americans blame Bush -- not President Obama -- for the nation's current economic problems.

RISE IN THE UNINSURED: While Obama has made reducing health care costs and insuring more Americans a focus of his presidency, Bush's health care policies were mostly spending cuts and the advancement of a right-wing ideology. Bush didn't veto many bills during his presidency, but he did decide that expanding health insurance for children was offensive enough to warrant one. Not surprisingly, by the time Bush left office, the number of uninsured Americans had grown to more than 46.3 million, an increase of 20.6 percent from when Clinton stepped down. The number of uninsured Americans had increased by 7.3 million over the eight years of the Bush administration. Despite right-wing claims that public health programs are "inefficient rationed care" and America doesn't need health care reform, number of Americans with individual and employer-sponsored private coverage decreased under Bush, while enrollments for Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP grew. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called the new Census report "another call to action for change in our health insurance system," adding, "In a nation where more than 46 million people go without health insurance -- and the number of uninsured rises by the day -- reform is no longer just an overdue priority, it's an economic and moral necessity." [Courtesy Center for American Progress]

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Dialogue and drama: The Gadhar heroes

Dr. Amrik Singh writes from Sacramento

IN North America, Gadhar Movement 1914-1915 was the first organized movement to free India from British occupation. A few thousands Indians pooled their resources for an armed insurrection against the British colonialists. Though they could not succeed in their mission, they awakened a longing for freedom in their countrymen. They started their freedom struggle even before the Russian revolution. More than 200 freedom lovers were martyred for their patriotism. Many others who tilled their lands in Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley supported the free India campaign until India got freedom in 1947.

At a Conference on 22 August this year at Sheldon High School Sacramento organized by Gadhar Memorial Foundation. The keynote speaker was Dr. Harish Puri, a historian and author of a book on Gadhar movement and held the Chair of Ambedkar Studies at Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar. Dr. Jaspal Singh Vice Chancellor Punjabi University Patiala, Dr. Surinder Singh Mand Government College Talwara and Dr Jaswant Singh Neki were other speakers. Earlier, Dr Gurdev Singh Khush, a renowned agriculture scientist, inaugurated the conference.

‘Gadhar Express’ a play written by Dr. Atamjit Singh and directed by Surinder Dhanoa was staged after the conference.

Dr.Puri underlined the role of intellectuals in Gadhar Lehar. It was their learned guidance that was responsible for building the movement. Gadharis according to him were secular in their vision. He quoted Harold Gould to stress that Gadhar activists were naive and unorganized. Most of them, according to him, were uneducated.

Commenting on papers of the main speakers, Dr. Amrik Singh pointed out that conferences can become irrelevant if the history becomes a casualty of ideology and false opinions. He referred to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s book on the question of Pakistan published in 1941. Dr. Ambedkar quotes Lala Hardayal’s statement that appeared in 1925 in “Partap” as part of a Hindu solution to the question of Pakistan. Dr. Ambedkar clearly outlines that Hindu hardliners like Lala Hardayal and V.D. Savarkar pushed Muslims to entertain ideas of Pakistan. Hindu chauvinists’ proposal for “Shuddhi” was an expression of intolerance and threat to other minorities.

Dr. Jaswant Singh Neki held that Guru Nanak was the greatest revolutionary. Gadharis were influenced by the revolutionary spirit of Guru Nanak. The construction of Gurdwara in Stockton in 1912 was a precursor in building up the Gadhar movement.

Dr. Jaspal Singh referred Gadhariss contribution was not recognized mainly due to an unusual stress on Gandhianism. Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement was built by the government beyond proportion. As a result, the armed incursion of Gadharis was reduced to insignificance. He said Gadhar failed due to the treachery of some insiders. Dr. Jaspal Singh said that it was a challenge to historians to reevaluate Gadhar movement and rewrite its history.
Dr. Surinder Singh Mand’s lecture focused on the monumental contribution of Gadhris in the struggle for India’s freedom. According to him, they influenced Punjabi literature and language by writing revolutionary poems and essays.

Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal, chairman of Gadhar Memorial foundation announced that to commemorate 100 years of Gadhar movement in 2013, a big conference will be held. The patron of the foundation, Charan Singh Judge, thanked the audience for coming from far off places to attend the conference.

Among other speakers, Dr. Sukhwinder Kamboj, Major Bhupinder Singh Daler, Dr. Onkar Singh Bindra, Dr. Baldev Singh Dhaliwal of Punjabi University Patiala also commented on the success of the conference.

After the conference, the “Gadhar Express,” Written by the renowned playwright from Punjab, Dr. Atamjit Singh was staged. Surinder Singh Dhanoa directed the play.

As soon as the curtain lifted, a big book with the title “History” written on it appeared as a stage setting. The characters emerge from the book and look totally strangers not only to the audience, but also to themselves. Through this device, the playwright ironically denounces the apathetic ignorance about the glorious history of the Gadhar. Gadhar Express is a play within the play. The rehearsal is a part of the play, thus it demonstrates lapses in acting at places. The director’s efforts to improve the performance of his cast appear natural.

The play prominently figures incidents revolving round murders of William Hopkinson by Mewa Singh in Vancouver in 1914, and Ram Chander in San Francisco by Ram Singh in 1917. Both incidents took place during the court proceedings. A Canadian Immigration inspector and a British Spy, Hopkinson headed a network of Sikh agents engaged by the British to diffuse rising wave of patriotism among Sikhs of California. Ram Chander at the height of Gadhar movement, engineered dissensions that led to the failure of Gadhar. He received huge funds from Germany that he appropriated in his personal accounts.

An appeal was made to raise a suitable memorial for the movement in Sacramento, California.

[drsinghamrik@gmail.com]

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