Holidays and a new year are reasons to celebrate and to look for new beginnings. As we near 2021, we have a need to do both, writes columnist Frank F. Islam. I recently wrote an article for India doing that. I share it here with you my fellow members of the Indian American diaspora in the belief that you will find it of interest and hold many of these same sentiments for your relatives on the other side of the globe. ******* As we enter the holiday season and … [Read more...]
Articles
Frank blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and writes occasional columns and articles for publications such as the International Business Times and The Economic Times of India.
Frank writes on a wide variety of topics that are critical to shaping the future of America and the American dream and to making the United States and the world a better place. These include: Business; education; poverty and inequality; politics and public policy; immigration; manufacturing; innovation; leadership; citizenship; and social commentary.
Frank’s most recent blogs are highlighted on this page. To read other blogs or articles by Frank, click on the categories or publications links on the left.
Vaccine: 2020 Word of the Year
Vaccine. That is our word of the year for 2020. Our choice for 2019 was trust — not for its presence but for its absence in that year. In 2018, we chose three words: toxic justice, trumper-tantrum and shutdown. Our 2018 Word Of The Year blog began as follows, “2018 is past. May it rest in peace. It deserves a gentle farewell because there was little that was relieving or relaxing in this most tumultuous year.” Little did we suspect that 2018 and 2019 were dry runs … [Read more...]
Thanksgiving Thoughts on Our Divided Nation
After the presidential election contest of 2016, we posted a blog titled “Thanksgiving Thoughts on Our Divided Nation.” That blog began as follows: We wrote our first Thanksgiving blog for the Huffington Post in 2012 shortly after the presidential election of that year. Near the end of that blog, we observed, “One other thing we see as we look at our country is a citizenry that is more divided in values and perspective than it has been in the past.” If that was true in 2012, it is … [Read more...]
Healthcare: India and US can learn from each other
Healthcare: India and US can learn from each other (Comment) India and the United States of America are the two largest democracies in the world. For most of this 21st century, they have served as solid examples for others to follow. The same cannot be said for their delivery of healthcare. The World Health Organization (WHO) provided its first and only ranking of health systems in 2000. The US ranked 37 and India ranked 112 out of 191 countries. The current coronavirus crisis, … [Read more...]
Our American Song: Music Moving America Forward
America is a song. It is a song that has been sung and one yet to be written. It is a song of harmony and one of discord. It is a song that reveals and one that conceals. It is a song of patriotism and one of protest. More than anything, however, it is a song of passion. Of love for this nation with all its flaws and a desire to celebrate or to summon up our better angels. The foregoing thoughts were evoked by Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw’s excellent new book, Songs of America: … [Read more...]
Curing Pakistan’s ailing healthcare system
Pakistan’s healthcare system is sick. Successive governments have neglected this critical area for the past 70 years. Urgent measures need to be taken to improve this ailing system. The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan is aware of the needs and importance of Pakistan’s health care sector and appears poised to act on them. In its election manifesto, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf promised to revamp the health care system completely. Speaking to senior journalists recently, the Prime … [Read more...]
Wishing Americans A Happier 2019
I want to be happy But I can’t be happy Till I make you happy too These lyrics are from a hit song written for the Broadway musical comedy show No, No, Nanette, originally produced on Broadway in 1925. The show was revived in 1971, after the tumultuous sixties, in a production that reminded Americans of more innocent times. In 2018 there is evidence that we Americans are longing for simpler times again. We need someone or something to make us happy. That’s the conclusion that must … [Read more...]
Public healthcare in India: Need to move from ‘biggest’ to ‘finest’
India's public healthcare system is sick. In late September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration launched Ayushman Bharat, meaning Long Life India, to address this illness. This initiative, which has been described as the "world's biggest healthcare programme" will insure more than 500 million Indian citizens who currently have no coverage. Will "Modicare", as the programme has been labeled, cure what ails India's public health care system? The answer is maybe. That answer must … [Read more...]
Entrepreneurship helps female empowerment
Entrepreneurship in India today takes many forms. It ranges from entrepreneurs running neighbourhood stores, to those establishing businesses in emerging cutting-edge areas such as information technology, media and entertainment, and life sciences, to start-up operations related to new national initiatives such as Make in India. One of the things that those successful entrepreneurial ventures have in common is that they address an unsatisfied need. This is written to … [Read more...]
Realising the power of purposeful philanthropy
Pakistan is moving forward on its agenda to become a developed country. To help the country achieve that status and realise its full potential as a democratic nation, the citizens of Pakistan must exercise the power of purposeful philanthropy. Pakistanis are already among the most generous people in the world. The country contributes more than one per cent of its GDP to charity according to the Stanford Social Innovation Review. This is just below the United Kingdom where … [Read more...]