Telugu Association of North America (popularly known as TANA) is the oldest and largest Indo-American organisation in North America. TANA was established in New York in 1977 by the people of Telugu people across North America and was incorporated in 1978 as a non- profit organisation. Development of the people particularly poor and needy echelons of the society is the main objective of TANA vis-à-vis it takes up welfare activities. In view of these, members of the organisation identify and address social, cultural and educational needs of Telugu people in general and North American Telugu Community in particular. Because of TANA’s laudable role, Indian ethnic organisations in the world feel TANA is a role model in promoting culture and serving the community, an innovative method.

 TANA has penetrated its roots through its wings in North America and India by carrying out many development and welfare activities as more than four decades over after its set up. It is pertinent to mention that TANA plays an important role in developing, nurturing, preserving and propagating Telugu arts also.  There is a saying in Telugu, “Desha Vasha Landu Telugu Lessa” meaning Telugu is the beautiful language. In order to promote Telugu language, TANA has established and supported many teaching programmes in Telugu language  in many US universities and instituted educational scholarships for the needy  students.  To inspire the young generation, TANA organises biannual novel and short story competitions in Telugu language. Moreover, TANA helps to publish rare and important works of Telugu culture/activities so that new and present generation can know about these. TANA facilitated the introduction of modern Telugu poetry as well as the Telugu classics like Kanyasulkam to non-Telugu persons through its subvention of English translations.

  As welfare activities, TANA Foundation, the charitable wing of TANA, spends millions of US dollars each year in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for the needy persons for education, sanitation, disease prevention, health promotion, rehabilitation, building of libraries, schools, roads, protected water supply systems etc. It is heartening to mention that TANA’s other activities inter alia are assisting orphanages, scholarships to the needy students, organising eye camp, cancer camp etc.

TANA’s activities are like ‘water in the ocean’ but few recent activities for the benefit of readers are presented: i) all know when a baby is born ‘mother offers milk’ as food is sine qua non for all living beings.  Keeping this in mind, TANA arranges meals to the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank to feed 2000 poor kids every weekend, ii) also it  arranges food for 200 kids every day throughout the year at Tulluru of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh in collaboration with Akshaya Patra Foundation, India, iii) During COVID-19, TANA provided grocery items to Indian students in remote areas and also arranged flight tickets to 2500 parents who were stranded in USA during lock down, iii) TANA arranged USA made reusable sanitary napkins among the girl children of Gurukulam Pathsala in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, iv)  to cater the health needs, it arranged 26 paediatric cardiac surgeries for the poor kids in Andhra Pradesh, also v)   TANA, donated free Hepatitis B Vaccine to more than 4500 rural kids of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, vi) to promote art and craft activities , TANA organised Villu Vidya programme in 11 major cities across USA with the objective of promoting Telugu ancient art, vii) with the help of local leadership in the State of Ohio successfully organised carrom competition, ladies cricket, free Yoga workshop, bone marrow drives etc. 

It is worthy to mention that TANA has been doing praiseworthy activities in the USA also. Every year, TANA presents backpacks and other school items to the children of low income earners/below poverty line (BPL) families in various cities/districts of North America. Also members help to conduct health camps and take part in disaster relief activities across the world. Recently , TANA donated 10,000 US Dollar to the Northern Ohio Golf Charities Foundation with the objective of funding the local organisations. 

   As a result of TANA’s activities many leading persons in the USA appreciated TANA, although list is huge but some of these are mentioned here: a) Proclamation from Mayor of Akron, Ohio recognised 2 December 2016 as “TANA Service Day” in Akron, Ohio, b) In 2017 both Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Ohio State praised TANA, c) special recognition received from the Senator Mr Sherwood Brown in 2016 d) special recognition received from the Governor of Kentucky for “Be the Change” programme etc.

 As an Indian I am proud of TANA’s activities as when I was in some countries as a resource person many appreciated the activities of TANA. LONG LIVE TANA.  

The following websites have been consulted while writing the article:

(The author is grateful to Mr. Ashok Babu Kolla, a member of TANA, for providing necessary information to write the article)

Dr Shankar Chatterjee

1)     file:///C:/Users/HP/Desktop/TANA%20Many%20points.html

2)      https://tana.org/foundation/whatWeDo

Former Professor & Head (CPME), NIRD & PR (Govt. of India), 

Hyderabad,  India

PRESENT ADDRESS

Prof. Shankar Chatterjee 
Lidom Villa, No.13
Perancheruvu, Bandlaguda(Jagir), Hyderabad-500 091

India

India’s Badminton Queen PV Sindhu defeated Japanese Akane Yamaguchi in Women’s Singles quarter-finals to book her place in the semi-finals of the All England Open. Sindhu came back brilliantly after losing the first set 16-21. In a nail-biting event, Sindhu kept her composure and won the last 2 sets 21-16 and 21-19. She will now face Pornpawee Chochuwong from Thailand today.
 
Earlier, Lakshya Sen was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Men’s Singles after losing to Netherlands’ Mark Caljouw.

Nepal has given emergency authorisation to India’s COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN. It has become the third country to approve the shot, developed by Bharat Biotech and a state research institute.

The vaccine was approved for emergency use in India in January and Zimbabwe cleared it early this month.
 
Nepal’s Department of Drug Administration said, conditional permission has been granted for emergency use authorisation. The Himalayan country has already received more than 2.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India, including one million doses as a gift.
 
The latest approval comes as authorities in Nepal said they were suspending their vaccination campaign because of a lack of supply. Nepal has reported 275,750 cases and 3,016 deaths so far, according to government data.
 
Bharat Biotech says it has received interest in COVAXIN from 40 countries. It has sought or is in the process of seeking emergency approvals in Brazil, the Philippines and Thailand.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin met with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval last night. In a tweet today, Mr. Austin said, the breadth of collaboration between United States and India reflects the significance of major defense partnership. He added that both the countries are working together to address the most pressing challenges faced by Indo-Pacific region.

Central Bureau of Investigation has conducted nationwide joint surprise checks at premises of Central government Department and Organisations in more than 25 States and Union Territories.
 
The joint surprise checks were conducted in the premises of around 30 Departments and Organizations of the Government of India. These joint surprise checks were conducted to unearth any wrong-doing at places which are prone to corruptible practices while rendering services or implementing projects of the Government of India, at the cutting edge level.
 
Various cities and towns where the surprise checks were conducted include Shillong, Agartala,  Guwahati,  Imphal, Agra, Allahabad, Ahmedabad,  Gandhi Nagar, Goa,  Coimbatore, Manali, Mumbai, Howrah,  Delhi, Bangalore; Hyderabad; Jaipur,  Vishakhapatnam,  Patna, Ranchi,  Dhanbad and Cochin.
 
The Departments where surprise checks were conducted by the CBI include Food Corporation of India, Railways, BSNL, GST, Postal Department, CSD Godown, North Coal Fields Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation, CPWD and Military Engineering Service.

Political parties have intensified campaigning in poll bounds states and Union Territory. Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in West Bengal and Assam today and tomorrow. He will address rallies in Kharagpur in West Bengal and Chabua in Assam today. In a tweet, Mr Modi said, in his speeches he will elaborate on BJP’s development agenda. He said, it is clear that both states West Bengal and Assam want to elect NDA in the upcoming polls.

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd James Austin III, who is on an official visit to India, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi yesterday. During the meeting, Prime Minister outlined his vision for the strategic partnership between both countries and emphasized the important role of bilateral defence cooperation in India-US ties. Mr Modi welcomed the warm and close relationship between the two countries, which is rooted in shared values of democracy, pluralism and commitment to a rules-based order. He requested Secretary Austin to convey his best wishes to President Biden.
 
Secretary Austin reiterated the US Government’s continued commitment towards strengthening the bilateral defence relations between the two countries. He expressed US’ strong desire to further enhance the strategic partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Secretary Austin conveyed greetings of President Biden to the Prime Minister.

The Home Ministry has instructed all the States and Union Territories to take necessary steps to promote COVID-19 appropriate behaviour among people and ensure strict enforcement of safety measures to curb the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.
 
In a letter written to all the Chief Secretaries of States and Administrators of Union Territories by the Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, it is stressed that guidelines for surveillance, containment and caution must be strictly followed. It is also asked to ensure wearing of masks, hand hygiene and social distancing.
 
The Home Ministry has urged all the States and Union Territories to take necessary measures for creating awareness among people to follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. This order came in the wake of rising cases of COVID-19 in some of the States and Union Territories.

More than four crore 20 lakh 63 thousand doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to the beneficiaries in the country so far. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has informed today that a total of 27 lakh 23 thousand 575 doses of vaccines have been administered to the beneficiaries in the last 24 hours.
 
Meanwhile, the country’s COVID-19 recovery rate reached 96.12 per cent with a total recovery of 23 thousand 653 patients within 24 hours. The Health Ministry said more than one crore 11 lakh patients have already been recovered from this disease. However, the active caseload is continuously rising in the country due to a sudden spike in the cases reported from various States.
 
At present, there are 2 lakh 88 thousand 394 active cases in the country which comprises 2.49 per cent of the total positive cases. Amid the rising new cases, a total of 40 thousand 953 new cases have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative positive cases to over one crore 15 lakh. The Health Ministry said, 188 deaths have been reported within a day taking the toll to over one lakh 59 thousand across the country. Various laboratories have conducted more than 10 lakh 60 thousand tests of corona virus samples in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative testing to more than 23 crore 24 lakh.