AZ India

F E E L A T H O M E www.azindiatimes.com PAGE - 16 May 2019 1-844-AZINDIA IACRF SENIORS FAREWELL THE OUTGOING PRESIDENT AND WELCOME THE INCOMING PRESIDENT OF IACRF: By Dr. Prakash V Kotecha and Sr. Bhagubhai Patel pvkotecha@gmail.com Dr. Vasudev Atluri completes his tenure as Presi- dent, IACRF and he appreciated active participation of seniors in the program. He mentioned that he is enjoying attending Thursday meeting and thanks everyone. Bhagubhai thanked Vasu for his material and mental contribution, encouragement and pres- ence in the seniors’ program and giving his heart and time to the program. Dr. Prakash Kotecha thanked Dr. Vasudeva for his constant support and his help for Big TV that incidentally completed one- year besides various other supplies in the kitchen and elsewhere. Vasu thanked the members and appreci- ated the activities and engagement that the members have with each other so cheerfully and promised to continue with his presence even after completing his presidentship with IACRF. Sudhir Kalra has been the new president elect and he has promised to come and join with seniors on one of the coming Thursdays. Fun Time: Three table tennis tables are set up by 10-30 and still there are members waiting for their turns while 12 members play table tennis. Two sets of tables have members playing judgement and bridge, their fa- vorite games. Everyone enjoys socialization till 11-30 AM. TV display continues showing day’s program and thoughts for the day with instrumental Bolly- wood music playing in the background. Antakshari On the last Thursday of the month, seniors enjoy Antakshari. Meenaben Bhavsar conducted Antak- shari with spirted participation of both the groups of men and women. At the end a few members sung full song and all the members appreciated them with ap- plause. Sharing Interesting Facts Dr. Prakash Kotecha referred to Women’s empower- ment and specified the importance of number 19 as we are in 2019. One hundred years back in 1919 women did not have voting rights and it was 19th Amendment of the constitution passed on June 4 1919 and ratified in on August 18, 1920 that provided women the right to vote in USA. He also asked the members the difference between jogging and running. After various responses from the members, he clarified that pace is the main dif- ference and when the speed is up to 6 mph or less it is known as jogging and if it is higher than 6 mph it is known as running. Shyam Byra , our invited guest briefly explained about Kalyanam , a Ramnavami program. He nar- rated the importance of it and quoted various exam- ples how people benefitted. On another occasion he mentioned about Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA that supports over 85000 school in India cover- ing over 2 million students; boys and girls for their education. He invited members for 21st April pro- gram at IACRF Hall. Lalitbhai Patel also endorsed Ekal Vidyalaya activities and appealed members to actively participate and contribute for this noble work. IACRF Seniors Presentation to IACRF Board of Directors Lalitbhai Patel made a brief presentation to IA- CRF Board of Directors about various activities and membership to IACRF Seniors. Lalitbhai then shared the presentation that he had made to the Board of Directors to seniors, showing summary of activities that IACRF Seniors do. Slide presentation showed mission, vision, memberships, activities and how members volunteer for various tasks and enjoy the lunch and games besides picnic, bhajan, outings and professional technical presentations. How they en- joy celebrating all the festivals was nicely included. Members thanked and appreciated Lalit bhai for this comprehensive presentation. Yoga and Laughing Club Sarlaben Dave presented her idea of Yoga and Laughing Club to the members every Thursday at 11-00 AM. She demonstrated laughing exercise three times and all the members very cheerfully joined them and liked the idea. Since then for last four weeks at 11-00 AM the activity starts and continues for 30 minutes and more and more members have joined and liked the activity. 60th Marriage Anniversary Celebration for Bahl Family We celebrated 60th Marriage Anniversary of Su- man & Bhisam Bahl . Suresha Shah in her flowery and poetic language described the marriage event of Bhisam & Suman Bahl. Bhisam ji himself in a roman- tic mood offered the song “ O meri zohra jabeen, tu abhi tak hain haseen ” to Sumanji and mem- bers applauded his love and spirit. Suresha Shah then had various events interwoven into Bollywood songs that our members happily joined. At the end the cake was cut and both of them offered to each other and to others. Obituary Thakorbhai Patel, our senior member passed away on 1st April morning. He was a very senior member who had chronic kidney disease for which was un- der dialysis three times a week. He was very kind and an ever-smiling personality. He recently became life members of IACRF in July 2018. His pictures with members were displayed. Members observed one- minute silence praying for him. Shantiben Patel and Meena Bhavsar offered an ANJALI BHAJAN for him. Prakash Kotecha, Jagan Lingamneni, Bhagubhai Pa- tel and Lalitbhai Patel paid tribute to him. Acknowledgement: Jagdish Trivedi donated $ 200-00 to seniors’ group in memory of late Mrs. Sheela Trivedi and members applauded his noble ac- tion. Lunch sponsors for the month included Dr. Pinakin & Sarla Dave, Sharad & Anjana Shah, Dr. Jagan & Uma Lingmneni, Kaly & Mani Paramanan- dam, Bhisam & Suman Bahl and Manjuben Patel. Senior Group meets every Thursday, 10:00AM to 3:00PM at the Indo-American Community Center located at 2809 W. Maryland Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85017, for information please contact Prakash Ko- techa at pvkotecha@gmail.com Why Phoenix Needs More International Flights By Aryan Naik anaikschool@gmail.com 7th grade, BASIS Phoenix In 2018 Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport was the 13th busiest airport by amount of flights and passenger volume. Currently, Phoenix only has 2 nonstop destinations in Europe and none to Asia. Yes, Phoenix has 22 international destinations, but 10 of those flights are to Canada, 9 to Mexico, 1 to Costa Rica, 1 to London and 1 to Frankfurt. So es- sentially Phoenix only has 2 overseas flights. The de- mand for more international flights is high and the airport has been saying that they are working on it for a couple years now. We did get the Frankfurt flight last summer, so that for sure is a positive for the fu- ture of nonstop international flights from Phoenix. Many people would find it much more convenient to travel directly to their destination than go via Los An- geles or some other city. Business travelers are always short of time so a nonstop flight would be beneficial to them so that they actually get some time to relax rather than going through many other airports. More international flights will also benefit the economy. According to the Phoenix Sky Harbor website: “ In 2017, Phoenix Sky Harbor had an economic im- pact of about 38 billion dollars and employing over 270,000 people. ” This shows that our airport heavily influences the economy and employs many people. International flights would only continue to bolster the Phoenix airport in making it reign supreme. American Airlines recently started daily flights to London on March 31st, and so far the flight has been doing great. The flights are constantly getting sold out which increases profit for American Airlines, so they could end up adding more routes from Phoenix. Many Phoenix officials were vying for nonstop flights to Asian cities and this is what American Airlines CEO, Vasu Raja had to say: “ We (American Air- lines) will watch the Phoenix-London flight and see how the market plays out with filling international flights. ” As we said earlier, the flight has become an instant success so hopefully this means Phoenix-Asia flights are in the radar. People also want more des- tinations in Europe. Condor airlines , who started Phoenix to Frankfurt flights last year, said they will increase service due to popularity and success of the flight. Phoenicians hope that Condor Airlines can add more destinations in Germany like Munich or Berlin. All of this would not only increase revenue for Condor and Sky Harbor, but also for both respective cities because it will bring in more tourists and ease the life of business travelers. Others wish that new airlines will see the opportunity in a growing met- ropolitan like Phoenix. There are approximately 4.7 million people in the Phoenix metro and it is the fastest growing area in the United States of America. Phoenix is the 5th largest city by population in the country. With all of this, there aren’t many overseas flights when compared to other cities like Houston, Dallas, Miami, or even Boston. Phoenix deserves much more recognition than given. Airlines such as Air France, Air Lingus, Air Japan, and KLM Airlines should ideally start operating flights from Phoenix. As stated earlier, this would benefit everyone so the airlines shouldn’t feel too worried or hesitant. Places such as Paris would be a massive bonanza for Phoe- nicians and the airport. The city council has said on numerous occasions in the past couple of years that they want to extend the reach of the airport and add more international flights. So far they have been true to their word as Phoenix did get flights to Frankfurt last year and London on a second airline. We also got a nonstop flight to Montreal , Quebec, Can- ada last year, and that’s always refreshing. This goes to show that in the past few years domestic airlines have noticed Phoenix as the real deal, which goes to show that international airlines should at least give Phoenix a chance to prove itself. With all of this be- ing said, it only further enhances why Phoenix is a big player and deserves more flights to Europe and new flights to Asia. Now we can only believe that Phoenix will get these opportunities in the near future, and the airport will continue to grow positively no matter what happens.