Asha for Education to Explore the Impact of Education on an Individual, Society and a Nation

New York, NY, May 12, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Over the past few years, India's educated population has given the nation a competitive edge in a global economy. The country has come to be known for its deep pool of highly-skilled, knowledge workers. Today, higher education is one of the largest service-sector activities in India. This has facilitated large-scale supply of labor from India to other developed countries as well as enabled India to develop a significant information services industry.

Dishearteningly though, in a country that regards pursuit of education and knowledge as the pursuit of truth itself, this only represents a small section of society. For the vast majority, education continues to be an aspiration, at best. About 53% of students drop out of primary school due to economic reasons and a staggering 35% of adult population is still illiterate.

Asha for Education, a 100% volunteer based organization that raises funds to support education programs for underprivileged children in India will explore the dichotomy within India’s education system at its first annual dinner gala to be hosted at the Waldorf Astoria on Saturday, May 19th, 2007 in New York City.

Guest of Honor, S. Gopalakrishnan, co-founder, COO & CEO-designate of Infosys Technologies and Special Guest Speaker P. Sainath, award-winning author and journalist of the Hindu, will speak on “Education and its Impact on an Individual, Society, and a Nation” and what each of use can bring to bear to change education in India. The evening will be hosted by renowned comedian Dan Nainan and feature entertainment as well as an auction of exclusive items.

All proceeds from the evening will go towards Asha projects in India. Education initiatives supported by Asha’s fundraising efforts include education for slum children, orphans and tribal communities and alternative education for victims of child labor.

Tickets start at $300 and can be bought directly from their website at https://www.ashanet.org/nycnj/gala/index.php. Please contact Priyanka Lilaramani at priyanka.lilaramani@gmail.com for more information on tickets or sponsorship opportunities.

SPEAKER BIOS
S. Gopalakrishnan (called Kris by his colleagues) is one of the founders of Infosys Technologies Limited, a highly respected consulting, IT services and business process management company operating in the global market. In 1981, Kris, along with N.R. Narayana Murthy and five others, founded Infosys Technologies Limited. Currently, Kris serves as chief operating officer and since August 2006 is also the president and joint managing director of the company.

Kris and his family have established a charitable trust – Pratiksha Trust. Pratiksha supports educational and healthcare initiatives targeted towards the poor and focuses on creating systemic changes in society.

Kris is also currently the chairman of Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (IIITM), Kerala and the vice-chairman of the Information Technology Education Standards Board (BITES) set up by Karnataka Government. He is on the board of directors of National Internet Exchange of India and is the chairman of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Karnataka Region. He is a member of ACM, IEEE and IEEE Computer Society.

P. Sainath, a world-renowned development journalist, covers social problems in India, particularly on poverty and rural affairs. During the early 1990s, Sainath spent two years in the poorest districts in India and avidly wrote about problems associated with the poor, including farmer suicides. He also wrote Everybody Loves a Good Drought, an examination of India’s economic policies on poverty in the country. Currently, P. Sainath is the rural affairs editor of The Hindu.

Sainath has won numerous awards for his reportage, including the European Commission's Natali Prize in 1994 for articles on development and poverty. In November 2001, he won the Boerma Journalism Prize from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (UNFAO). He received other awards including the Amnesty International Global Award for human rights journalism, the PUCL Human Rights Journalism Award, and the B.D. Goenka Award for excellence in journalism. In 2006, Sainath won the Judges' prize at the Harry Chapin Media Awards.

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Asha for Education is a secular, zero-overhead, volunteer run, non-profit organization dedicated to developing education of underprivileged children in India. 100% of proceeds go directly towards supporting Asha projects in India. Asha was ranked #1 among “top-ten slam-dunk charities” by Charity Navigator in 2005.

Started in 1991 by a group of students at UC Berkeley, Asha has blossomed into a worldwide organization totalling 66 chapters (45 in the United States, 14 in India and 7 in Europe, Singapore and Australia).

Since 1995, Asha’s 66 chapters worldwide have disbursed over $7.3 million to more than 385 projects in India. The NYC/NJ chapter has supported several key projects with focus on special needs, disabilities, infrastructure, formal and non-formal education, community-based intervention and more. By pioneering bold new initiatives in the field of education, Asha is making a difference in the lives of underprivileged children of India.

For more information about Asha for Education, please visit the NYC/NJ chapter website at http://www.ashanet.org/nycnj

Press Contact:

Priyanka Lilaramani
Asha for Education NYC/NJ Publicity Coordinator
priyanka.lilaramani@gmail.com