UNI, New York - The US Congress has released a Certificate of Recognition honouring legendary Carnatic vocalist Mangalampalli Bala Muralikrishna.

The proclamation by Congressman Nick Lampson from Texas praised the musical genius of Dr Balamuralikrishna and his multi-faceted contribution to Indian classical music, describing him as a ''legend''.

The first episode of ZeeTV SareGaMaPa Vishwa Vyudh (World War) of Music came to a closure yesterday in Mumbai with Aneek Dhar walking away with the title crown and most amount of votes, 3.65 crores. Poonam Yadav was crowned the champion amongst the women.

Raja Hasan got the 2nd highest votes, 3.52 crores, followed by Amanat Ali of Pakistan. Amanat pulled in most of amount of International votes and is quite popular with overseas listeners. 

(PTI): Indian fusion music stands good chance on the global stage but its prospects are hampered due to a dearth of proper backing, according to internationally acclaimed musician, Remo Fernandes.

"Pure Indian music could not get into international mainstream for obvious reasons. Fusion music stands a good chance, but one would require excellent backing in the form of agents, managers and record companies. Sadly, this kind of backing is badly lacking in India," Remo told PTI in an e-mail reply.

Here is a quick intro by Colin D'Cruz on Jazz status in India along with one of his interview with  Jazz Goa, the very group he helped create to promote Jazz. 

"A little under two hundred years ago, a bunch of American musicians discovered the joy of improvising and called it jazz. Meanwhile over two thousand years ago, Indian classical musicians were busy setting the rules for those American musician's joy. If jazz is improvised music, Indian classical music is jazz! Now that we've discovered who really discovered jazz, it's time to take a good look at the state of jazz in India."

Further to the previous story on Bhajan Belt, it is our great pleasure to extend you the invitation to World fusion concert by vocalist Sheila Chandra and Yoga chanter Krishna Das later this week in Auburn, NY. The event is being organized by Auburn Public Theater that would send any fan of world music into a frenzy.  Das will perform an additional show on Saturday.

Here is an interview conducted by The Citizen introducing both the singers to Auburn. 

Please join us for a very special World Music segment tonight at 10:00PM EDT. We shall be covering the devotional chanting on new and modern beats, including western vocals. In upstate New York, a new region, called "Bhajan Belt" has sprung up. There are many other such pockets popping up within United States and rest of the world. It focuses on Hindu devotional chanting, Yoga and meditation. We shall be dedicating today's world music hours to such a phenomenon! Do join us.

You can read up more on this in New York Times Archives .