With this event, the contribution by donors for the foundation's charitable causes in the past year went up to $1.1 million, a milestone in the history of the foundation. This was revealed by H D Vinod, professor of economics at Fordham University in New York, who heads the foundation.

Vinod said over the years the foundation has contributed more than $1 million for strife and disaster victims, such as Orissa cyclone and Maharashtra earthquake survivors and Kosovo war refugees. It has also undertaken various social service projects for the poor at other places, he added. Patkar, who is in the forefront of the movement opposing the construction of large dams across the river Narmada in central India, spoke of hercampaign, saying green activists oppose the project as they believe it would destroy the environment and uproot the local tribal residents. The people who would be displaced by the vast lake to be created by the dam should be consulted on the issue by the state governments concerned, she said.

A highlight of the fundraiser was the performance of Marathi stage actress Bhakti Barve, who presented scenes from many of the plays of P L Deshpande, a leading literary figure of Maharashtra. Similar fundraisers were held in Washington, DC, and Chicago, Vinod said. The foundation also sponsored a function in San Francisco to acquaint the Indian American community there with its activities and objectives.

-- IANS