Indian origin patient among those healed completely of cancer in drug trial

 An Indian origin patient was among those who had a “miracle” cure using a cancer medication that is being tried out by a research centre here achieving an unprecedented healing rate

An Indian origin patient was among those who had a “miracle” cure using a cancer medication that is being tried out by a research centre here achieving an unprecedented healing rate when all 14 patients in the trial had their cancers disappear.

“It’s a miracle”, Nisha Varughese said about the immunotherapy drug’s efficacy in curing her. In the trial at the Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center in New York using dostarlimab, “the rectal cancer disappeared after immunotherapy — without the need for the standard treatments of radiation, surgery, or chemotherapy — and the cancer has not returned in any of the patients, who have been cancer-free for up to two years,” the MSK said.

According to researchers, this was the first time that all the patients in a cancer trial were completely healed with a medication and they did not have serious side effects. The results of the trial were disclosed over the weekend in the New England Journal of Medicine and at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology….

New York to raise age to buy assault rifle to 21, ban body armor

 Citing the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, local officials said they wanted to close loopholes and address the gaps in laws exposed by the back-to-back massacres

Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders pledged to raise the legal age to purchase an AR-15 assault rifle in New York to 21 years old from 18, and pass a package of measures to tighten gun laws before the end of the state’s legislative session this week.

Citing the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, local officials said they wanted to close loopholes and address the gaps in laws exposed by the back-to-back massacres. The bills would prohibit the purchase of body armor for civilians, require a license to purchase a semiautomatic rifle, make threatening mass harm a crime and strengthen the state’s “red flag laws”. The measures would also require new pistols to be equipped with microstamping technology, which uses lasers to imprint markings on a firearm to make it easier to trace guns to registered owners.

Two Sikh men attacked, robbed in NY in second assault in the last 10 days

 In the second such assault in less than 10 days, two Sikh men were attacked and robbed in Queens here, the same neighbourhood in the city where an elderly Sikh man was assaulted early this month

In the second such assault in less than 10 days, two Sikh men were attacked and robbed in Queens here, the same neighbourhood in the city where an elderly Sikh man was assaulted early this month. The Consulate General of India in New York said in a tweet that the assault on two Sikh gentlemen in Richmond Hills, New York is deplorable. We have approached the local authorities and New York City Police Department in the matter, the Consulate said.

It added that it notes that a police complaint has been filed in the incident and one person has been arrested. The Consulate said that it is in touch with community members and “ready to offer all assistance to the victims. Community-based civil and human rights organisation The Sikh Coalition said that the two Sikh individuals were attacked and robbed in Richmond Hill, Queens Tuesday. The attack happened very close to the area where septuagenarian Nirmal Singh was punched in an unprovoked assault on April 3….Read More

Nita Ambani named to the board of New York-based Metropolitan Museum of Art

Nita Ambani, 57, was elected to become an honorary trustee of the museum, according to the statement.

Nita Ambani, philanthropist and wife of Asia’s richest person, was named to the board of the largest U.S. art museum after years of supporting exhibitions at the New York City institution. Ambani’s backing “has had an enormous impact on the museum’s ability to study and display art from every corner of the world,” Daniel Brodsky, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s chairman, said Tuesday in a statement.

The wife of Mukesh Ambani, chairman of refining-to-telecom giant Reliance Industries Ltd, has been promoting Indian art and culture around the world along with sports and development programs inside the country as the head of the conglomerate’s foundation. Nita Ambani, 57, was elected to become an honorary trustee of the museum, according to the statement.

The 149-year-old Metropolitan museum draws billionaires, celebrities and millions of visitors a year to see art spanning 5,000 years from around the world. The not-for-profit institution reported revenue, support and transfers of $384.7 million in 2018 at the operating level, down from $385.3 million the previous year, according to its annual report.

Trump to meet Modi, Imran soon; says progress made in reducing tensions

According to Trump’s schedule, he could meet the Pakistani Prime Minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session in New York later this month

US President Donald Trump on Monday said he will be meeting the prime ministers of India and Pakistan soon, even as he maintained that tension between the two Asian countries had reduced. While Trump will address Indian-Americans, along with PM Modi, at the “Howdy Modi!” event in Houston on September 22, the American president did not say when or where will he be meeting PM Khan.

“I’ll see Prime Minister Modi and I will — we’ll — be meeting with (prime ministers of) India and Pakistan,” Donald Trump told reporters in response to a question at the White House on Monday. According to Trump’s schedule, he could meet the Pakistani Prime Minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session in New York later this month.

After addressing a record crowd of more than 50,000 Indian-Americans at the “Howdy Modi!” event , Trump will travel to Ohio and then is expected to fly to New York to attend the Annual General Assembly Sessions of the United Nations. Without mentioning Kashmir, Trump said a “lot of progress has been made in reducing tension” between India and Pakistan. Tension between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5. Reacting to India’s move on Kashmir, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.