FIJI SUN USA

USA

18

Vol-20 Issue-06

Inside

Bollywood Mallika Sherawat envies Kangna Ranaut!

FIJI FESTIVAL 2011 HIGHLIGHTS July-2011

www.fijisun-usa.com

510-677-4488

P- 31 Al-Madinah Academy...

P- 2 Chance meeting ...

P- 6

( See Photo Gallery and Interfaith Pages inside)

Fiji Commits To Elections

Dr Sahu Khan disbarred, Mishra, Raza fined P-10 Bainimarama ...

P- 28 Shimon Kanaih to...

A clearly shaken Dr Muhammad Shamsud-Dean Sahu Khan had to be consoled by his daughter today after hearing that he was no longer part of Fiji’s legal fraternity.

Dr Sahu Khan was today disbarred from practicing law after he was found guilty of professional misconduct by the Independent Legal Service Commission.

The Ba lawyer failed to comply with a Deed of Indemnity and Guarantee which he executed with his client Sashi Kiran in 2006.

In the deed, Dr Sahu Khan had stated that he would take full responsibility for paying Kiran the sum of $120,000 if the civil suit

they filed against the Registrar of Titles and the Attorney General’s office was dismissed.

Following Dr Sahu Khan’s failure to comply with the deed, his client, Sashi Kiran had to pay the $120,000 that was supposed to be paid by him.

In sentencing Dr. Sahu Khan, Commissioner John Connors labelled the Ba lawyer’s conduct as a “disgrace” and “reprehensible”. And as punishment for his act, Commissioner Connors ordered that Dr Sahu Khan’s name be “struck from the roll of legal practitioners” and to indemnify Kiran with respect to any money

paid by her as a result of his actions. Commissioner Connors then ordered the Fiji Football Association president to pay all principal and interest owing on the loan in the sum of $120,000 referred to in the deed of guarantee and indemnity with 28 days. Dr Sahu Khan was also ordered to pay a further sum of $478 in witness expenses to the Commission.

He was then asked to lodge his passport with the Commission within 24 hours for retention until all the orders have been complied with. Meanwhile Vipul Mishra and Mehboob Raza managed to escape with fines for their profes-

sional misconduct charges.

Mishra who after hearing his sentence apologised for his act, was ordered to pay a total sum of $10,241.83 within 28 days and do all things necessary to facilitate the removal of Sashi Kiran’s mortgage whether by legal action or payment of the mortgage before December 31, 2011.

Mishra was then warned that if he did not pay the fine imposed on him within the requested time, then his license would be suspended.

Meanwhile, Mehboob Raza was ordered by Commissioner Connors to pay a sum of $10,713.50 or face a similar sus

FIJI SUN IS NOW ON FACEBOOK FOR ALL

2

EDITORIAL

July, 2011

PO Box 265, Mt. Eden, CA 94557

PHONE : 510-677-4488 FAX : 510-781-4884

Anil Singh to assist Fiji Sun in Sacramento M H Koya (PhD) Editor-Publisher

Anil Singh, CEO of AP Properties, clearly strikes as a sincere and hardworking Fiji guy not in petty politics and popularly. Kind a guy you trust and like to business with.

When I approached him for assistance, Anil willingly offered to help us out in Sacramento area where he is better affiliated with Fiji soccer and SanatanDharamSabha communities. Currently Anil is planning to host a KIRTAN COMPETITION AT THE El Grove Lodge. Please see AD on page .

Need Matter

Email: fijisun@gmail.com www.fijisun-usa.com

Chance meeting with cousin Aiyub after 20 years at Fiji Festival!

HAYWARD-One great advantage of the Fiji Festival is that it provides a chance for social interaction, find old friends and relatives and win more friends a well.

Aiyub and I are first cousins. He is the eldest son of my father’s elder brother late Maulvi Moidin.

We both grew up as neighbors, played and went to school together. Obviously, Aiyub and his two other brothers Yusuf and Isaac were bright kids. They all made it to the elite Natabua High School and I legged behind.

Aiyub was also a great soccer player and went on to become Lautoka City rep but he had to abandon soccer after a foot injury. He was the first among us to dream and talk about coming to America which he did in the

1970s when I was in the Royal Fiji Police Force.

We lost touch after he immigrated and settled in Hawaii.

However, when I was studying at the Sacramento City College 20 years ago, we did contact and subsequently met when Aiyub came to San Francisco. I picked and dropped him back to relatives in San Francisco and then lost touch again.

It was a pleasure to learn that he relocated to Bay Area a few years when his younger son got a senior position with United Airlines. Aiyub has taken after his late father and is closely involved in religious work with the Al Madina Academy at 714 4th Street in San Bruno of which he is the current secretary.

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July, 2011

BUSINESS NEWS

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July, 2011

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Mobile 101: The Basics of Mobile Technologies

Definitions and terms for getting started at your nonprofitBy:orKevin library Lo

Mobile communications devices have come a long way from just being phones. For many of us the computing power available on a new phone exceeds that of our first computers. On the most basic level, mobile technology refers to any device capable of utilizing mobile networks to perform basic communication functions like voice calls and short message service (more commonly called SMS or text messaging).

More powerful devices, termed “smartphones,” can perform functions normally associated with computers: receiving and sending email, web-browsing, and connecting to private email networks. Many phones also include decent quality camera and video features, with easy upload to a variety of sites and services where they can be shared with a wide audience instantaneously.

With an ever-expanding range of new devices available and never-ending marketing jargon, the landscape of mobile computing can be confusing for any accidental- or non-techie. Additionally, ubiquitous phones with fuller feature-sets offer new and different ways to connect with and engage communities with which your nonprofit or library works. This article – the first in a two-part series on mobile technologies – aims to explain the basics of how they work and what to consider when using them at your nonprofit or library. The second part in the series covers how nonprofits and libraries can embrace these devices within our organizations and how to leverage mobile for the social good.

The Computerization of Mobile Devices

Mobile technology, as with computers in general, has become more affordable even for those of us working in the nonprofit and library sectors.

Unlike computers however, you don’t necessarily get to do more things faster; your voice calls don’t getting clearer, and your text messages don’t get delivered faster. If anything,

due to the increasing load, the performance of those basic functions may even have degraded. Still, like computers, mobile devices have moved from small monochrome screens to large color ones, and from ten-key pads to full thumbpads or touchscreens.

This advance in technology is offering new ways of interaction and productivity in the workplace.

Just like computers, mobile phones and tablets need operating systems to power these devices. Here are the three most popular smartphone operating systems based on new smartphones sold: • Android: Developed by Google and in its second major version, Android can be found in devices made by a variety of manufacturers.

• iOS: Developed by Apple and in its fourth major version, it runs on iPhones, iPad tablets, and iPod touch music devices.

• Blackberry OS: Developed

by Research in Motion and in its sixth major version, it runs on the eponymous devices favored by many corporate IT departments.

Although many would argue that one brand/OS/device is better than another it should solely depend on your own needs and preferences. While the number of “apps” (more on this later) or programs that run on mobile devices is often used as a selling point, if an app is functional and well supported, it would be made for more than just one platform. Other differentiators include the presence a keyboard, size and weight, and the user friendliness of the main interface. And a phone is only as good as its voice and data service offered, so reviewing the plans and service reliability in your area should also play a role in your decision. Read on for more on networks.

In addition to smartphones, larger devices with touchscreens seven inches and larger are entering the market.

Popularized by Apple’s iPad, tablets like the Samsung Tablet running Android or RIM’s Playbook are being heralded as the advent of a new computing trend. Although for now they are used mostly as

content consumption devices, (you wouldn’t want to compose your grant report on an iPad), you can certainly view and comment on it adequately on-the-go. Because of their increased screen size, many enterprises are embracing tablets as a legitimate productivity tool in addition to a laptop or mobile phone, sometimes merely as devices to connect to full-fledged virtual machines and servers. As more devices come out in the future we can expect to find more ways to use them.

Is There an App for That?

If mobile devices are becoming more like computers that are truly mobile, we also need programs that can run on these devices. Developers are creating “apps” or mini-applications for phones, that extend the basic functionality of your phone or tablet. Many apps are free, while others charge a small fee, all of which are designed to enhance your phone or tablet experience.

Because your device is likely to be connected all the time however, one way these free apps are free is that they serve ads to your device when you use them, unless you pay for the premium version. This “freemium” model – where basic version of an app is free but addition features require a subscription premium – we often see in the cloud application space as well. A quick browse on the app marketplace would suggest that most apps are either for entertainment, “amplified” versions of popular websites, and lightweight versions of desktop programs. But beyond those categories there are many that make specific use of a phone or tablet’s functionality that make them unique. For instance, all smartphones have at least a back-facing camera, while some have front- and back-facing ones. In theory, this makes them ideal devices for videoconferencing.

Unfortunately there is still no easy way to do so between networks and platforms. Other apps that use the camera’s capabilities include Google Goggles, which allows a user to take a picture or barcode and returns search results, orInstagr.am, an iPhone app that makes it easy to share

photos in your social networks.

Another feature that many apps utilize is the GPS function that captures a device’s location. The popularity of apps that let you “check-in” to different locations, a feature that even Facebook is adopting, suggests that more apps will find innovative ways to use their unique capabilities. In the second part of this series, we will discuss how mobile can be leveraged for your organization.

Mobile Networks and Speed

This ability to consume content or interact with others depends on the availability of reliable and high-speed cellular networks. Although most devices can utilize standard wireless networking in your office or at a public library, the allure of mobile computing is that you can connect from anywhere where there is mobile carrier reception. While the United States still lags behind Europe and Asia in terms of affordability and speed, you can adequately use a smartphone or tablet in areas where you have reception with your carrier. It’s certainly possible to not use any mobile network for a device (for example, some tablets are WiFi only), but having a device that can connect to a mobile network adds flexibility. Your device, however, remains locked with your carrier; you cannot use an iPhone registered and configured with the ATT network with Verizon, nor can you use your T-Mobile Galaxy Tablet on Sprint’s network. Partly due to this lack of portability, network carriers offer the option to subsidize the initial cost of a device, but require you to commit to a data contract. Others offer lower monthly charges with no contract but you pay more upfront.

These contracts also impose data limits and overages if your usage exceeds that of your plan. If you are considering purchasing mobile devices for your organization, be sure to consider your needs before entering into a contract, and carefully read the terms and conditions of your data plan.

In terms of networks, each carrier boasts their performance and coverage over another. Here are some common terms and acronyms

used by U.S. carriers: • 3G: “3rd generation” data network that supports broadband-like speeds of at least 2 megabits per second (Mbps) downlink depending on location and network load.

• 4G: “4th generation” data network that’s the technical successor to 3G, and should be capable of supporting 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). However, carriers who have improved their existing 3G networks and offer significantly improved network, such as “LTE”, “WiMax”, or “HSPA+” also call themselves as 4G even without reaching these speeds..

• LTE: Long Term Evolution is a type of 3G standard that offers up to 100 Mbps downlink.

• HSPA: High Speed Packet Access is another form of high speed mobile networks that offers up to 84 Mbps.

• WiMax: Another advanced 3G standard that offers up to 100Mbps downlink.

• Tethering: A feature that allows you to connect a laptop or netbook to your mobile phone and use it as a wireless modem. Most carriers will charge extra for this feature.

• Mobile hotspot: A feature where your wireless phone can act as a wireless access point, and allows you to connect other devices to the data network via WiFi. Some carriers also offer dedicated mobile hotspot devices.

Additional charges will normally apply for your data plan.

Using Mobile Devices in Your Organization

So what does all this mean from an IT manager or accidental techie’s point of view?

For many nonprofits or libraries, using your personal devices for work purposes does not seem all that new.

But because of this wider trend of “consumerization,” social sector users benefit as well.

For example, the move from on-premise services to the cloud reinforces the adoption of mobile technologies. In the past where you would have to

setup VPN to allow external access to files on the network, you can opt to collaborate online using any device that can connect via the Internet.

As most nonprofits and libraries are probably are not resourced enough to be secured against all threats, mobile devices - and the confidential data they hold - opens another front that needs to be protected. Although checking email or downloading and opening and emailed file on your personal phone may seem innocuous enough, are you prepared to notify your clients and funders that you misplaced a personal phone or tablet on which you downloaded confidential information?

Accessing online data, which requires secure logins from any device, is only one measure against data leakage and loss. Built-in VPN and encryption for certain devices are a good start, but like every other IT policy, nothing beats a sensible and easy-to-understand approach to security. If you plan on getting mobile devices for your employees, be sure to have a proper use and replacement policy, and if they were to bring in their own devices, advise them of the potential risks to the organization. Compliance to specific laws notwithstanding, IT managers need to communicate clear guidelines of usage to employees using personal devices. Conversely, it is also possible that with their own devices the monetary loss to the organization might be less, and they are less likely to be misplaced.

What the Future Holds

We’ve only begun to scratch the surface in terms of possibilities for mobile computing. Netbooks, smaller notebook computers that were affordable but underpowered, brought a false dawn to this trend. But with manufacturers and developers bringing cheaper hardware and better apps, we can expect even more ways to use these technologies. In part two of this series, we will look into how this trend affects those of us in the nonprofits, libraries, and NGOs and the opportunities to expand our missions as creators of mobile computing rather than just users.

Cult leader nabbed in Fiji after more than a year on the run 6

FIJI NEWS

July, 2011

FUGITIVE cult leader Rocco Leo and two other senior members of his church have been arrested following a dramatic commando-style boat raid at a former Fijian resort.

The charismatic head of the Agape Ministries of God, girlfriend Mari Antoinette Veneziano and her brother, Joseph, are being held by Fijian immigration authorities for breaching their visas and are now facing deportation.

Leo and Mari were arrested at the former Tiri Villas eco-resort in Pacific Harbour, 35km from the Fijian capital of Suva, after a team of police and immigration officers raided the gated complex by sea last Sunday.

Joseph surrendered to police on Tuesday after two days in hiding.

Leo, who has not been seen since SA police raided his Adelaide church properties in March last year, appears to have been operating his cult from the secured compound for some time, with its occupants telling locals the complex is now a church.

A 15m yacht was moored at the

front of the compound. Police believe Leo and his followers have been using the boat to travel between various Pacific Islands to avoid detection.

Several shipping containers are also dotted around the grounds of the complex, with locals saying the Fijian military also removed several other containers last month.

Fijian immigration sources said local police, the Transitional Crime Unit and immigration officers had been monitoring the cult's activities for the past month.

They had not been charged with any offences but were being detained because their visas had expired.

If Leo is deported to Australia, he will be arrested upon arrival. The Venezianos will be questioned by police over the financial activities of the embattled Agape church, which has been the subject of a Major Fraud Investigation Section inquiry and court actions for the past 14 months.

The Sunday Mail can also reveal that an arrest warrant was taken out

Commits To Elections Fiji's controversial Attorney General, Aiyaz Saiyed-Khaiyum said the country will hold elections by September 2014 and will lift restrictions on the media before then.

Speaking today on TV3's "The Nation" Mr Saiyed-Khaiyum said that anybody would be able to stand for the elections. And the elections would be based on a common role. Traditionally Fiji has had an electoral system which split electorates between indigenous Fijians, Indo-Fijians and other ethnic groups.

"You have for the first time a Prime Minister who's saying everybody's a Fijian," he said.

"That is very powerful, that is very potent, is very modernising, is very forward looking.

"We must have one person one vote. Irrespective of your communal background you're a Fijian. "You have a common and equal citizenry.

"In Fiji we have not had a common and equal citizenry being applied practically and legally also." In the interview, Mr SaiyedKhaiyum hinted that Fiji would send its rugby team to the World Cup. New Zealand has threatened to bar several players who are members of the military.

Under its "smart sanctions" policy New Zealand has barred members of the Fiji Government or its military from entering the country since the military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama seized power in a coup in 2006. "Fiji will be denied the right to field the best team if the New Zealand government

continues with this ban," he said. "By banning a few rugby players that may be crucial to the rugby team, what is the New Zealand government getting out of it?

What is the objective of it?"

Mr Saiyed-Khaiyum defended the country's Public Emergency Regulations, which give the government wide sweeping powers, and its Media Decree, which controls the media. He said they were needed while the country undertook a fundamental restructure of its society and institutions.

"You have a different level of development; you have a different colonial history. You cannot say just because something's done in New Zealand it should apply in Fiji," he said.

But he said the media restrictions would need to be reviewed before the elections took place.

Asked by interviewer, Sean Plunket, when that would be, he said: "You'll find out before the elections. I mean that's an assessment that's made by the government. I'm not here to give you specific timeframes."

He would not be drawn on allegations being made by the fugitive colonel, Tevita Mara, alleging torture by the military and corruption within the government.

You have one person who's suddenly come out and made all these comments," he said.

against Leo in Adelaide Magistrates Court on May 31 in connection with 126 fraud charges.

That warrant cannot be executed in Fiji because there is no extradition treaty in place. Leo will be charged with 117 counts of deceiving another to benefit self and nine counts of aggravated deceiving another to benefit self.

The alleged offending occurred between March 2006 and October 2008 and involved about $200,000 that had been given to Leo by fellow cult members for a specific purpose, but which he had allegedly diverted for his personal use.

Commercial and Electronic Crime Branch officer in charge Detective Superintendent Jim Jeffery confirmed police had been advised early last week that Leo and two key associates had been taken into custody on "immigration matters" and were monitoring the situation.

"We are waiting to hear as to what the immigration arrangements will be from here with Fiji," he said.

"If Rocco Leo is deported from

Tonga rejects Fiji extradition for runaway soldier

NUKU'ALOFA. The Tonga government said Saturday it had rejected an application by Fiji to extradite a senior army officer who faces sedition charges. Fiji demanded the extradition more than a month ago when Lieutenant-Colonel Tevita Mara arrived in Tonga and denounced the 2006 military coup that toppled the then democraticallyelected Fijian government. The Tonga prime minister's office said a diplomatic note had now been sent to Fiji turning the application down.

Mara was among the senior army officers who backed military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama who seized control in Fiji in a bloodless coup on December 5, 2006.

Bainimarama has said there will not be a return to democracy in the Pacific island nation before 2014, but Mara said it should happen now.

"I know it is strange coming from me, since I was part of the military that overthrew the democratically elected government in 2006, but that is what I would like to see happen in Fiji," he told the Matangi Tonga magazine. "It has also been finally realised that what we did was illegal. We have to go back to democratic rule, there are no two ways about it."

Mara is a relative of Tonga's King George Topou V and fled to the Pacific kingdom in early May while on bail in Fiji after being charged with plotting to overthrow the government.

Agape Ministries of God leader Rocco Leo and a pool at the former Tiri Villas ecoresort at Pacific Harbour, near Suva, Fiji, where he was arrested. Digitally enchanced image Source: AdelaideNow

Fiji to Australia, Major Fraud detectives will execute the first instance warrant that has been issued."

He said SA police had "some time ago" asked Federal Police to liaise with Fijian authorities to locate

Leo and his associates and "ascertain the details of any other church members who were with them and particularly if a person registered as a missing person in SA, John Mouhalos, was staying with them".

THE only way forward for the sugar industry is through combined commitment from all stakeholders says Fiji Sugar Corporation executive chairman, Abdul Khan.

Mr Khan yesterday said one of the positive outcomes at the onset of the 2011 season was a more concerted effort towards consultation between FSC, Government and growers.

"I think we have a good understanding between all the stakeholders and this is a good and positive thing. Unless we all pull together in one direction, it will be difficult to get this industry back on its feet," he said.

Sugar Cane Growers Council acting chief executive officer Sundresh Chetty said cane farmers had always been supportive of the idea and were very vocal on the

need for more consultations in industry matters.

"We are working towards this and have always said that consultation is the only way forward.

Speaking for cane growers in the country, I must say we are very appreciative of the efforts by Government and FSC and look forward to continued dialogue into the future," he said.

Mr Khan in a previous interview had said one of his primary objectives was changing the mind-set of people in the FSC. "We have to run FSC like a business. To ensure its long-term sustainability, it has to be able to stand on its own feet and we envision this to happen in the next two to three years," he had said.

He also lauded the commitment and support from Government.

Khan talks solutions

Japanese company designs solar system for

A Japanese solar home system company has designed a system specifically for the rural communities in Fiji.

The company – Inter Action Corporation says - the system consists of a compact unit which is user friendly and includes a computer console that would assist students in rural Fiji considerably.

The system is also designed for other markets in the Pacific. Fiji’s Foreign Affairs Ministry says the initiative by the company comes under the Japanese grant to the Pacific - under which a project for solar systems for the Pacific is being allotted.

The Ministry of Finance had put out a tender for the provision of the solar system to Fiji and an announcement is yet to be made in this regard.

The company says the system was developed from a national data from Fiji on rural and outer island community energy source, usage and costs.

They have had several visits to Fiji where consultations were held with various government agencies.

FIJI NEWS Brief News

Qantas Struggles to Secure Deal With Fiji

SYDNEY—Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd. is struggling to persuade the government of Fiji to pay $40 million to buy out its stake of national carrier Air Pacific.

According to a copy of the proposal from Qantas sent to the Fijian government last year and viewed by Dow Jones Newswires, the Australian airline recommends that Fiji either cancel new aircraft orders; sell and lease back aircraft; refinance a plane hangar; and sell the Sofitel Hotel on Fiji's Denarau Island to fund the acquisition of the 46.3% of Air Pacific owned by Qantas.

Fiji police shut down women rights meeting

The Fiji government is defending the shutting down of a women's rights group meeting today, despite acknowledging they did have a legal right to hold it. Police closed an internal planning meeting of the Fiji Women's Rights Movement at a resort in Pacific Harbour on the main island of Viti Levu earlier today. [on Friday morning]. Under Fiji's emergency regulations. known as PER, public meetings are banned, but there are complaints rom some groups that there is confusion about what is and is not a public meeting. The Fiji Women's Rights Movement itself had no comment on what happened, but Shamima Ali, the Coordinator of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, told Bruce Hill the police action shows the ridiculous lengths some security personnel go to in applying the emergency regulations. Presenter: Shamima Ali, the Coordinator of Fiji Women's Crisis Centre; Sharon Smith-Johns, Fiji's permanent secretary for Information Fiji military denies assaults, advises to lodge complaints with police Assaults on union leaders by members of Fiji’s military are being denied.

A senior union official in Fiji has given details about his beating at the hands of Fiji’s military in February this year.

The National Secretary of the Fiji Trades Union Congress, Felix Anthony, who is visiting New Zealand, says after speaking out on the sugar industry, he was punched and kicked by at least five soldiers leaving him with a damaged eardrum and bruising. He says another union representative Mohammed Khalil was also beaten by military officers outside a sugar mill in view of the workers. In May, a former senior officer Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Mara accused the interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, of personally beating four pro-democracy activists, including three women, who were detained at the barracks.

A military spokesman, Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga, says he can’t comment without seeing the reports.

He says the military does not do those things and anybody could claim to be in the military. Colonel Tikoitoga says if the complainants can give proof of an assault, it should be to the police. A spokesperson for the Information Ministry, Sharon Smith Johns, says she can’t make any comments regarding the military.

July, 2011

7

Demands NZ extradite escaped Mara

Fiji's military regime has demanded New Zealand extradite runaway former Fijian army chiefTevita Mara if he steps on New Zealand soil. Foreign Minister Murray McCully confirmed the Government was served with papers on Friday.

"My office has received a dossier of documents which purport to be extradition proceedings for Colonel Mara. We have handed them across to the Ministry of Justice which is the first step that should be taken in such a case."

The ministry would advise the next step and it would not be appropriate for him to comment further, MrMcCully said.

Colonel Mara fled to Tonga in May after being charged with plotting to overthrow Fiji's military gov-

ernment. Fiji has unsuccessfully sought his extradition from Tonga and Australia where he spent several days recently.

Colonel Mara is now back in Tonga but has signalled his intention to come to New Zealand to discuss the situation in Fiji with New Zealand officials. He is expected in the next few weeks.

He had been in Australia for just over a week and has been granted a travel exemption allowing him to come to New Zealand for two days.

McCully said Colonel Mara could come and go from New Zealand before any decision is made on extradition.

The case was in the hands of Justice Ministry officials and ''these things normally take some

Bank Union concerned with proposed The Fiji Bank and Finance Sector Employees Union has raised concerns on the proposed changes by FNPF on the pension rate as there are inconsistencies in the data and assumptions on which the proposals are based.

National Secretary Pramod Rae said the Union has given in their submissions last week and is supporting the proposals by the Fiji Islands Council of Trade Unions call not to rush the FNPF reforms to reduce the current pension rate.

Rae said that the treatment of the pension buffer fund remains unexplained.

Rae has also raised questions on why FNPF is using life expectancy rates of 74 years and 78 years projected for 2030 to create panic as the Fiji Bureau of Statistics states these at around 65 years and 69 years in 2007.

He said the assumption of a 35% pension take up rate is also not supported by FNPF’s own disclosure that it has never got to 30% and is currently around 20%.

The Union has called on the

The row over the alleged “mistress scandal” of Taiwan's representative to Fiji continued yesterday as an opposition lawmaker threatened to sue Victor Chin on charges of forgery of documents and corruption for allegedly using public funds to cover his dates with a secretary at the Japanese embassy, including buying her a expensive jewelry necklace as a gift.

In a Wednesday press conference held after Chin's apology in the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyhpeng accused the married envoy of continuing to lie over his alleged affairs with Aiko Kurokawa, a secretary at the Japanese embassy in Fiji. Gau accused Chin of using nearly NT$200,000 public funds to buy expensive items including a jewelry necklace for Kurokawa this

changes

government to de-monopolize FNPF and allow competitive superannuation schemes by other financial institutions with appropriate tax incentives for both contributors as well as providers.

Meanwhile, the Fiji National Provident Fund said the pension rate has to be reduced to ensure the sustainability of FNPF. FNPF will be focusing on discussing the proposed changes to the FNPF Act and Pension Scheme with the employers for the next two weeks.

Fiji

March before the Japanese left the South Pacific island nation.

When asked to comment on Gau's accusation, the representative to Fiji said on Wednesday that these gifts were not given to the Japanese secretary but to wives of several high-ranking Fijian government officials.

At yesterday's press conference, the DPP lawmaker demanded Chin to present evidence to support his argument.

The MOFA should thoroughly investigate the case instead of trying to cover up for Chin by letting him fly back to Fiji, Gau said.

In response to Gau's latest allegation, James Tien, director-general of the MOFA's Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, yesterday said an ad hoc investigation committee to clarify allegations against Chin is currently underway.

time.'' ''Whether Justice will turn this around in the required time frame is a matter for them,'' he added. ''I'm not asking them to speed it up or slow it down.''

It is ''theoretically possible'' Mara could make the trip before any decision is taken on his case.

McCully said latest advice was he was due in the first week of July.

The extradition demand was being treated ''as a normal request.'' ''First of all we will look to ensure it is a valid extradition request that relates to an offence that is extraditable under New Zealand law. Then they will look at the merits of this particular case.

Then I'll guess they'll look at questions like will the man get a fair trial, if he's returned are there

human rights issues?''

As a member of the Fijian military regime, Colonel Mara is on a list of people banned from entering New Zealand.

The New Zealand Government is playing a balancing game by trying to support attempts to restore democracy in Fiji but not fuel the already tense relationship between Fiji and Tonga caused by a longterm spat over the Minerva reef, claimed by both countries.

Prime Minister John Key is in Canberra and last night discussed Colonel Mara's plight with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. While Australia has removed Colonel Mara permanently from its travel ban list, Mr Key said it supported New Zealand's approach.

Fiji unionist tells of beating by PM's men

Tamara McLean. A senior Fiji unionist claims he was beaten and yelled at by government officers after speaking out against the country's military regime.

The allegations are the latest to be levelled at the government, which has been accused of increasingly curbing human rights, silencing opponents and controlling the media since seizing power in a 2006 coup.

Felix Anthony, national secretary of the Fiji Trades Union Congress, said he was subjected to screaming abuse from the country's self-appointed leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, after speaking out about the country's struggling sugar industry. After Cdre Bainimarama left, senior military officers, including one from the prime minister's office, took Mr Anthony and his colleagues into a room for ques-

tioning one by one. "They didn't have weapons but they started punching and kicking," he told Radio New Zealand during a visit to Auckland. "It was pretty bad.

My eardrum was damaged and of course I had other injuries on my back. "There were soldiers all around me punching from everywhere they possibly could, probably about five, seven of them."

The unionist's claims fit with allegations made by one of Cdre Bainimarama's former frontmen, Lieutenant Colonel Ratu Tevita Mara, who fled his homeland in May, and has since accused the regime of widespread corruption and abuse.

Col Mara, who escaped after being charged with trying to overthrow the government, claimed the leader himself once beat three women involved in the prodemocracy movement.

Fiji Water accused of environmentally misleading claims

It is, according to the marketing spiel, “drawn from an artesian aquifer hundreds of feet below the edges of a primitive rainforest”, untouched by human hand. The firm also claims to be the “the first major beverage brand to give a carbon negative commitment”, meaning that buying its product is actually good for the planet. But a documentary investigation has concluded that Fiji Water, which is stocked by some of London’s most exclusive restaurants and enjoyed by Barack Obama and Scarlett Johansson, is far less friendly to the planet than it claims. Fiji Water is owned by the Californian entrepreneurs Lynda and Stewart Resnick, who urge consumers to drink their brand to combat climate change. The firm takes fresh water from the Yaqara Valley on the island of VitiLevu and ships it thou-

sands of miles to the UK and US. London’s Michelin-starred restaurant Nobu, on Park Lane, serves it, and Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridge’s sell it.

Celebrities on America’s West Coast, from Gisele Bundchen, the model, to Lady Gaga, the singer, and David Beckham, the footballer, are all photographed with it.

The brand is so successful that it has even appeared on the television shows Friends, The Sopranos and Desperate Housewives.

8

INDIA NEWS

July, 2011

At 78, workaholic PM puts in 18-hour days NEW DELHI: Invariably polite and punctilious, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's energy levels and intense concentration can give someone in his 20s a run for his money despite two heart surgeries.

Disciplined and balanced in his lifestyle, 78-year-old Singh can keep punishing schedules, switching between reviewing Afghanistan and Pacific security with a visiting prime minister and meeting MPs with localized grievances.

Manmohan Singh increasingly works out of his 7 RCR office with its attached residence. He begins his day fairly early with a brisk morning walk on the lawns, a routine he is loath to miss out on. He is ready for work by around 7 am.

Occasionally, breakfast is when Singh meets people – old associates like economist Jagdish Bhagwati for example -- he would like to toss an idea around with.

This is also when he goes through newspapers.

The PM's appointments typically begin around 9 am when he meets

senior staffers and at times receives high-level briefings on matters considered priority in terms of security or political significance.

Unlike some of his predecessors, Singh does pay attention to detail and holds regular sectoral reviews instead of leaving matters to top PMO officials.

After his multiple coronary bypass in 2009, Manmohan Singh is more careful about having his meals on time and retires to his residential quarters for lunch around 1 pm. He is back at work at 2.30-3 pm in the afternoon.

Although not exactly a night bird, Manmohan Singh doesn't turn in early. His evenings are usually packed with engagements and there are callers seeking time at short notice like ministers requesting a few minutes after a Cabinet meeting. Singh usually does not refuse and minutes can stretch on a bit longer.

He works right through weekends, unfazed by political storms raging around him. A few months ago, on a Saturday when Delhi's rumour mills were busy speculating about his political future, an unperturbed PM calmly oversaw a meeting on green energy options.

While his ability to scan files and minutiae is legendary, aides insist he doesn't get bogged down in micro-management. He does not

NEW DELHI : Rajit Mitter, India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, has been summoned by the government in Dhaka to explain Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks against Bangladeshis earlier this week.

The prime minister's office posted a transcript of the PM's meeting with editors earlier this week, where the PMO quoted him saying, "we must reckon that at least 25% of the population of Bangladesh swear by the Jamaatul-Islami and they are very antiIndian, and they are in the clutches, many times, of the ISI (of Pakistan)."

The prime minister's publicized remarks on Bangladesh have not only embarrassed India and the PM personally, but created a storm in the neighbouring country. Its timing could not have been worse.

Foreign minister S M Krishna is expected to visit Dhaka from July 6 to 8, and sources said he can expect some tough questioning there. Krishna's visit is expected to

prepare for Singh's trip to Dhaka later this year.

The MEA put out an apology against the gaffe. The spokesperson, clarifying that the remarks "we're not intended to be judgmental" said, "Prime Minister and his Government and the people of India have the greatest affection for the people of Bangladesh and hold our relations with Bangladesh to be of the highest importance."

Reports from Bangladesh said former foreign minister in the Begum Khalida Zia government, Morshed Khan, was leading the political protests against Singh's comments. He was quoted as saying, "such comments from a person like Manmohan Singh is frustrating for Bangladesh".

The PMO took over 30 hours to notice the gaffe on Bangladesh, and remove it from its website.

The MEA said, "India recognizes the stability of the democratically elected Government and is committed to the non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign

states." The Awami League government in Dhaka was trying to put a brave face on it, but sources said this masked a deep feeling of dejection. The regime has been very sympathetic to New Delhi's concerns about the insurgents from India's northeast operating from within Bangladesh territory and has often been attacked by domestic opponents for not holding its own in dealings with the bigger neighbour.

Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami on Friday condemned Singh's remarks, where he had said the JI drew its inspiration and directions from Pakistan's ISI. "The comment of Indian premier that Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is anti-Indian, and acts in accordance with advice of the ISI is false, baseless and it does not go with the status of the premier," said the party's acting secretary general A T M Azharul Islam in a statement. Jamaat said it wanted a good relationship with India maintaining Bangladesh's sovereignty and interests.

NEW DELHI: The annual Amarnath Yatra was on Friday temporarily suspended from the Baltal route as heavy rain continued to lash parts of north India.

Downpour triggered a floodlike situation in southern Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and caused landslides in Uttarakhand, where hundreds of pilgrims were reportedly stranded at various places. "The Amarnath Yatra from Baltal route has been

stopped temporarily due to inclement weather. A decision on allowing the pilgrims to proceed further will be taken only after the track is declared safe," a Yatra committee official said in Srinagar.

Hundreds of pilgrims going to three shrines of Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri in Uttarakhand were stranded due to landslides. At least 10 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state in the last fortnight.

Puish Rautela, executive director of Uttarakhand Disaster Management Mitigation Centre at Dehradun, said highways along the Rishikesh-Gangotri , Dehradun-Yamnotri and the Rishikesh-Badrinath routes suffered damage . The Rajasthan government has taken up rescue operation. At least 2,000 people in several flood-hit villages of Baran and Kishanganj have been moved to safer places.

Indian envoy summoned in Dhaka over PM's 'gaffe'

Heavy rain halts Amarnath Yatra

breathe down a ministry's neck, expecting ministers to get on with their day to day jobs, something that came across in his suggestion at his meeting with editors on Wednesday that he could not be a class monitor when it came to working with allies.

His focus is on goals and hurdles in the way. As on Friday, when he will take an overview of infrastructure sectors, the PM looks at major roadblocks and calls for solutions to break logjams. Despite seeming a bureaucratic exercise, these sessions keep officialdom on its toes as ministers and bureaucrats are aware that they face an accounting exercise with someone who is not intimidated by details and statistics.

Manmohan Singh's schedule requires him to regularly address academic, industry, government and constitutional bodies. He delivers a couple of speeches a week on an average. Government and party work at the Planning Commission, Congress core group meetings, official functions at Vigyan Bhawan,

Cabinet meetings and other business like a meeting to commemorate his mentor P V Narasimha Rao this week are all part of work.

The afternoons often see meetings with chief ministers and senior officials and are 15-20 minute affairs and then there is file work to attend to. Singh often pens a "please examine" on representations that keeps officials busy.

Despite the volume of work that awaits him every day, officials say he is a gracious boss ever ready to hand out a generous recommendation to those who have served him.

He respects diligent officers and is faintly deprecating about pushy ones.

The PM's evenings stretch on longer than was the case in his first term, partly because of more frequent and prolonged crisis ranging from the Telangana protests to dealing with civil society agitators but also because he is keenly conscious of the need to keep the wheels of policy turning.

A foreign tourist clicks photograph of Lord Jagannath's chariot on the eve of the Rath Yatra festival in Puri.

For him, blood donation is also celebration PATIALA : He was unaware about the importance of blood donation till 1984 when he first donated blood for a terrorism victim, but that donation changed the life of Inder Kumar of Patiala. Blood donation is not just a mission, but celebration for him, come birthdays or marriage anniversaries in the family. Not only Inder, almost all members of his family comprising two brothers, a sister, their spouses and children now donate blood whenever anyone is in need.

The NGO, Punjab Yuva Chetna Manch (PYCM), started by Inder in 1990, has around 2,000 active blood donors as its members, who are always ready to donate blood for needy patients. "When doctors saved a patient in Amritsar hospital with my blood in 1984, I felt great and made blood donation a mis-

sion of my life. Since then, I have donated blood around 80 times," said Inder while showing the appreciation certificates he received from various NGOs and government departments. He has received many state and district level awards as well.

Inder has so far organized around 80 blood donation camps in Patiala, leading to collection of 10,000 units of blood since he started blood donation. To encourage others to donate blood, family members have been celebrating various occasions of family by donating blood.

Family members have been celebrating the birthdays of their children and marriage anniversaries by donating blood to spread awareness about the importance of blood donation.

PAKISTAN NEWS

July, 2011

9

India militarily

Contest in Pak's Punjab univ: An ode to Osama

LAHORE: Two persons pushing down pipes for the balance the heavily loaded donkey cart in Provincial Capital City.

LAHORE: Two months after the covert US raid that killed Osama bin Laden, posters emblazoned with images of the burning World Trade Center towers appeared at the country's largest university advertising a literary contest to glorify the slain al-Qaida chief.

The poem and essay competition at the prestigious Punjab University shows the footholds of hard-line Islamists on college campuses and growing efforts to raise their profile and influence even in the relatively cosmopolitan atmosphere of Pakistan's culture capital, Lahore.

Zardari meets British deputy PM, discusses ties

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari met British deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in London and discussed bilateral ties as well as the prospect of expanding PakistanBritain trade, it was reported here.

Zardari and Clegg also spoke on Britain's support to Pakistan's access to European markets, Associated Press of Pakistan reported. Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was present in the Thursday meeting. Zardari, during the day, also met a delegation of British businessmen. He said Britain and Pakistan need to work closely to further enhance their partnership in diverse areas in trade and investment.

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan cannot afford to match the induction of modern weaponry by India, which possibly has a greater capacity to sustain a war, Pakistani defence minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar has said. "If we only try to match them (India) militarily and buy the sort of armament which they have, we will probably not be able to afford it," Mukhtar said. Explaining his contention, he noted that India's economy is "six to seven times bigger than" Pakistan's and its trade volumes were "five to six times greater".

"The capacity of India and Pakistan to fight was for 20 to 22 days. Now India has inducted a lot of armaments, may be they can last for 45 days, we will not be able to do so," Mukhtar said in an interview to BBC Urdu.

He was responding to a question on whether the projection of India as Pakistan's greatest enemy was the root of the country's problems. Mukhtar noted that the two countries were taking steps to improve relations in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. "Slowly the process of meetings has started. People are going across the border. Nobody had ever thought they could walk suitcase in hand to Amritsar via

Pakistan to build more N-plants

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's nuclear capability was purely for peaceful purposes, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said while declaring that the country would build more power plants to meet its growing energy needs.

Addressing a seminar, Gilani said Pakistan would continue to comply with the requirements of International Atomic Energy Agency's nuclear safeguard agreements. "Building and operating nuclear power plants is vital to country's interests because of its severe energy deficiency," Gilani was quoted as saying by Associated Press of Pakistan Tuesday.

The contest's organizers have kept their identities hidden. But many students and teachers suspect it is being held by a powerful Islamist student group that has increasingly enforced its conservative religious views on the rest of the campus - sometimes violently.

The Islami Jamiat Talaba, which is connected to Pakistan's largest Islamist party, has denied involvement, saying it doesn't participate in secret activities. But its leaders have publicly acknowledged that many members support bin Laden and have a profound hatred for the US. The group's rising ambitions

have intensified fears about the radicalization of Pakistan's educated middle classes, who make up a large part of the public university's population. The educated classes have been seen as a bulwark against militant groups such as the Taliban in the nuclear-armed country.

The ability of Islami Jamiat Talaba, or Islamic Student Group, to gain ground on the university even though many students reject its radical views - also reflects a general unwillingness of Pakistani authorities to challenge the powerful Islamist forces.

WASHINGTON: Pakistan spy agency ISI not only aids and abets terrorist sanctuaries in the country, but also provides training and intelligence inputs to extremist outfits, a former top Pentagon general said.

Gen (rtd) Jack Keane also charged that Pakistan Army headed

by General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, who once headed ISI, has been repeatedly lying to the United States on the matter.

But still, the retired American General argued that the US has no other option but to have strategic partnership with Pakistan, given its significance in the war against terrorism.

"The truth is, the ISI aids and abets the sanctuaries in Pakistan that the Afghan operate out of. They provide training for them, they provide resources for them and they provide intelligence for them. From those sanctuaries, every single day

Afghan fighters come into Afghanistan and kill and maim us," Keane, said at a discussion on Afghanistan organized by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think-tank.

"There's a direct relationship of ISI's complicity and the deaths of American soldiers and the catastrophic wounding of those soldiers.

The chief of staff of the Pakistani military is complicit. He used to be the director of ISI. He put the guy in there who is in charge now and he has full knowledge of what I'm just describing," Keane alleged.

He said: "This partnership has got to be based on that harsh reality. There are two ammonium nitrate factories in Pakistan. 80 per cent of the explosive devices that are used to kill our soldiers, kill Afghan security forces and kill Afghan people come from Pakistan."

"All of what I just said to you,

when we confront them with this, they lie to us. They lie to us just like the Soviet Union used to lie to us.

But we have to have a relationship, in my judgment, that is based on the harsh reality and the truth and we go from there in developing this relationship," Keane said.

The retired US general said Pakistan is a country of strategic consequence - much more so than Afghanistan is - given the size of that population and the growing nuclear arsenal and the fact that there is a raging insurgency inside the country to destabilize it. "This is radical Islam who wants to take over that country, would have that nuclear arsenal. None of that could we permit to have happen."

"So we have to have a strategic partnership of some sort with Pakistan. But I think it got to be grounded, once and for all, on the truth.

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: The United States is rejecting demands from Pakistani officials that American personnel abandon a military base used by the CIA to stage drone strikes against suspected militants, US officials told Reuters. US personnel have not left the remote Pakistani military installation known as Shamsi Air Base and there is no plan for them to do so, said a US official familiar with the matter, who asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive material. "That base is neither vacated nor being vacated," the official said. The information was confirmed by a second US official.

The US declaration that drone operations in Pakistan will continue unabated is the latest twist in a fraught relationship between security authorities in Washington and Islamabad, which has been under increasing strain for months.

also targeting goods vehicles going to Afghanistan," he said.

Ghalanai is the main town in Mohmand, where Pakistan has recently stepped up raids on militant hideouts, as it faces American pressure to conduct a separate offensive against the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network in North Waziristan. "An operation was launched three days ago with the support of army aviation aircraft, helicopters and fighter jets. We killed at least 40 militants," Ahmad said. Maqsood Hussain, a

government official in Baizai, confirmed the raids and casualties, but it was not immediately clear how the Pakistani officials reached the body count of 40. Mohmand is one of seven districts in Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal belt, where Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants have carved out strongholds used to plot attacks on Pakistani, Afghan and Western targets. Washington has called the tribal belt the most dangerous place on Earth and the global headquarters of al-Qaida.

ISLAMABAD : The US has halted the launch of Predator drone strikes against al-Qaida and other militant leaders from an airbase in Pakistan after a dispute over a CIA contractor who shot dead two Pakistani citizens in Lahore in January, a US newspaper quoted Pakistani and US officials as saying. The Shamsi airbase in Baluchistan has been one of the facilities that Pakistan provided to the US for its counterterrorism operations in the region.

Under a secret arrangement,

Islamabad had allowed the US to use the Shamsi airbase for its covert drone operations inside Pakistan's tribal areas. The US has been using the place for more than seven years to launch Predator and Reaper drone strikes against alQaida and Taliban hideouts. The CIA presence at Shamsi was detected in 2004, when the first drone strikes were launched from the base. Google Earth images showed Predator drones parked on the runway at the base.

ISI aids and abets terrorist sanctuaries in Pak

Wagah but that is the reality now and it is happening," he said. This was happening, he said, "in spite of the fact that wars were fought, there were problems on the border and the Mumbai incident".

US rejects demands to vacate Pakistan drone base

Pakistan 'kills 40 militants' in tribal belt 'US halted drone attacks from Pak 3 months ago' ISLAMABAD : Pakistani troops backed by jets and helicopter gunships have killed 40 militants in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan in the past three days, a military commander said on Thursday. Brigadier Aftab Ahmad said that his forces had destroyed 17 militant hideouts in the Baizai region under his command in the lawless tribal area of Mohmand.

"Militants were regularly attacking our posts on the Afghanistan border at Shonkari and Mithai and

Bainimarama 'screamed abuse' at unionista 10

July, 2011

State welcome for Tongan king Transsexuals hailed by Samoan PM King of Tonga begins five-day visit Bainimarama 'screamed abuse' at unionist Kiwi survives Papua New Guinea jungle attack Kiwi shot with arrows in harrowing PNG ordeal Tonga refuses to extradite Mara Fiji includes NZ in extradition attempt Fijian army runaway Tevita Mara due in NZ Acting Papua New Guinea PM' s son arrested A senior Fiji unionist claims he was beaten and yelled at by government officers after speaking out against the country's military regime.

The allegations are the latest to be levelled at the government, which has been accused of increasingly curbing human rights, silencing opponents and controlling the media since seizing power in a 2006 coup. Felix Anthony, national secretary of the Fiji Trades Union Congress, said he was subjected to screaming abuse from the country's

self-appointed leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, after speaking out about the country's struggling sugar industry.

After Cdre Bainimarama left, senior military officers, including one from the prime minister's office, took Mr Anthony and his colleagues into a room for questioning one by one.

"They didn't have weapons but they started punching and kicking," he told Radio New Zealand during a

Tonga refuses to extradite Mara

State welcome for Tongan king Transsexuals hailed

by Samoan PM King of Tonga begins five-day visit Bainimarama 'screamed abuse' at unionist Kiwi survives Papua New Guinea jungle attack Kiwi shot with arrows in harrowing PNG ordeal Tonga refuses to extradite Mara Fiji includes NZ in extradition attempt Fijian army runaway Tevita Mara due in NZ Acting Papua New Guinea PM's son arrested Tonga has refused to extradite a runaway Fiji colonel back to Fiji where he is wanted to face charges linked to plots to overthrow military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama.

Last month Colonel Tevita Mara fled Fiji on a Tongan Navy boat rather than face sedition charges. As the youngest son of Fiji's founding president, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the colonel is also a member of the Tongan Royal Family. In a statement tonight the Tongan Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that under their law they are unable to extradict Mara. They said they had sent a diplomatic note along these lines to Suva.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Tonga regrets that the Laws of the Kingdom of Tonga do not permit His Majesty's Government to comply with the aforementioned Extradition Request," the note said, adding in quaint diplomatic language that Tonga conveyed the "assurances of its highest consideration" to Fiji. Colonel Mara is under the personal protection and hospitality of Tonga's King George Tupou. The colonel has recently been to Australia and is due in New Zealand next week for a two-day visit, which he is trying to have extended.

visit to Auckland.

"It was pretty bad. My eardrum was damaged and of course I had other injuries on my back. "There were soldiers all around me punching from everywhere they possibly could, probably about five, seven of them." The unionist's claims fit with allegations made by one of Cdre Bainimarama's former frontmen, Lieutenant Colonel Ratu Tevita Mara, who fled his homeland in May, and has since accused the regime of widespread corruption and abuse. Col Mara, who escaped after being charged with trying to overthrow the government, claimed the leader himself once beat three women involved in the pro-democracy movement.

"Bainimarama landed the first blow," he said ub a statement in May, describing the incident.

"He then continued to punch and kick them. When they had fallen to the ground he jumped on their backs and continued with the beating."

PACIFIC NEWS

King of Tonga begins five-day visit

Little leaves union to campaign Gender pay gap in PM's office three times wider ACT leaves 'door open' for Garrett Christchurch councillors lay official complaints Tongan king puts on his top hat, brushes off his cane National MP explains his cars and effect policy Defence jobs go but not the promo Maori pupils' needs 'not met by system' Politics briefs Wednesday, July 6 All in on burqa debate as woman kicked off bus The King of Tonga arrives in New Zealand today for a five-day visit.

As part of his visit King Tupou V will visit Linton Army Camp and the National War Memorial in Wellington, and will receive an official state welcome at Government House. The Prime Minister John Key said he was looking forward to

meeting the King on Tuesday as part of his official programme. ''New Zealand enjoys a strong and friendly relationship with Tonga, with deep ties at a personal level and frequent contact between our Ministers and officials. ''Tonga was one of the first countries to offer support following the earthquakes in Canterbury. ''The Tongan Government and Red Cross have provided more than $650,000 to various earthquake fundraisers, and the Tongan community has also made a number of private donations. ''This generosity reflects the strong bond between our two countries and the concern felt in Tonga for the people of Christchurch and the Canterbury region.''

unteer doctor Josette Docherty performed four hours of surgery to repair his wounds. Docherty's partner Allan Mason also donated a unit of blood. Mr Scheurich, who lives in Auckland, said he was flying tomorrow to be at Matthew's bedside.

Matthew was a very private person who did not want his plight in the media, Mr Scheurich said. "He's still trying to deal with his own trauma and in a great deal of physical pain and trying to deal with that. He's just very very very lucky to be alive." Matthew's life was saved because Gerard, 29, a French anthropology student, managed to activate a personal locator beacon, and the pair escaped to a village aid post, where they were able to organise an airlift to the port town of Kiunga, a 30-minute flight away. In the meantime, Matthew, who is from Hamilton and lately from Melbourne, pulled the arrows from his body, causing significant bleeding. His face was also cut by rocks thrown at him. One above his right eye was cut right to the bone. Mr Scheurich said he had a "huge amount of respect" for not only his son but for his son's girlfriend who had the presence of mind to trigger their emergency locator beacon after the attack. "She is remarkable." At Kiunga Hospital, Dr Docherty was surprised to see a deathly pale white man being taken into the operating theatre.

State welcome for Tongan king Transsexuals hailed by Samoan PM King of Tonga begins five-day visit Bainimarama 'screamed abuse' at unionist Kiwi survives Papua New Guinea jungle attack Kiwi shot with arrows in harrowing PNG ordeal Tonga refuses to extradite Mara Fiji includes NZ in extradition attempt Fijian army runaway Tevita Mara due in NZ Acting Papua New Guinea PM's son arrested Government officials are looking at how and when former members and supporters of the Fijian military government could be removed from the banned list and allowed to travel to New Zealand.

The issue was raised after Fijian dissenter Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Mara was awarded an exemption to allow him into New Zealand for two days this week. Colonel Mara will remain on the banned list after his departure despite being removed from Australia's list. He was picked up by the Tongan navy last month having fled Fiji after being charged with sedition. He has been in Sydney attending prodemocracy meetings.

Kiwi survives Papua New Guinea jungle attack

State welcome for Tongan king Transsexuals hailed by Samoan PM King of Tonga begins five-day visit Bainimarama 'screamed abuse' at unionist Kiwi survives Papua New Guinea jungle attack Kiwi shot with arrows in harrowing PNG ordeal Tonga refuses to extradite Mara Fiji includes NZ in extradition attempt Fijian army runaway Tevita Mara due in NZ Acting Papua New Guinea PM's son arrested Kiwi Matthew Scheurich is back in hospital fighting an infection after a horrific arrow attack in Papua New Guinea. His father, Greg Scheurich, said this morning that Matthew, 28, was "in a great deal of pain" but recovering after he was attacked while intervening to save his partner, Anais Gerard, from a sexual assault near Suabi, in Papua New Guinea's Western Province, 11 days ago. "We are eternally grateful for the care Matthew has received in PNG and Australia," he said. "We would like to thank the medical professionals who operated on Matthew. He is recovering well but is still receiving treatment."

One arrow went into Matthew's right lung and the other through his ribs, under his liver and through his stomach, stopping short of the aorta. After being air-lifted to Kiunga Hospital a 30 minute flight away - visiting Port Moresby surgeon Dr Charlie Turhars and Australian vol-

Govt looks at Fiji travel ban list

Acting Papua New Guinea PM's son arrested Fiji offers talks on ownership of Minerva Reefs

State welcome for Tongan king Transsexuals hailed by Samoan PM King of Tonga begins five-day visit Bainimarama 'screamed abuse' at unionist Kiwi survives Papua New Guinea jungle attack Kiwi shot with arrows in harrowing PNG ordeal Tonga refuses to extradite Mara Fiji includes NZ in extradition attempt Fijian army runaway Tevita Mara due in NZ Acting Papua New Guinea PM's son arrested A woman who died on the grounds of Papua New Guinea's acting prime minister Sam Abal's home had her throat cut, police say. Mr Abal's son Theo, 21, was arrested on Tuesday after the body of the 29-year-old waitress was found in a banana grove on the grounds of the acting prime minister's Port Moresby residence on Monday morning. "She had her throat cut, most probably with a kitchen knife. One was found about

ten metres away from the crime scene," police superintendent Dominic Kakas said in an email to AAP. Mr Kakas said while the results of forensic analysis were pending, police believe it is the murder weapon. Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal called police after a security guard at the Abal home found the body of the woman, believed to be from the nation's highlands region, early Monday morning. A statement issued by police commissioner Anthony Wagambi said the guard, Willie Bola, claims 20 minutes after Theo Abal and the woman allegedly entered the garden, he heard a woman's scream.

"The guard claims that some time after Theo comes out and tells him that he had killed the woman and left her body in the banana garden," Mr Wagambi said. "(The guard) informed Mr (Sam) Abal, who then

contacted me." The woman was a waitress at the Port Moresby Hotel, police say. Theo Abal is understood to live on the family compound and is the younger of Mr Abal's two children. The scandal is being played out against a larger backdrop of party upheaval in Papua New Guinea. Mr Abal has been filling in the post of prime minister since long-time political leader Sir Michael Somare stepped down in April for heart surgery. With Sir Michael in Singapore for ongoing treatment, Mr Abal has been cracking down on ministers seen to threaten his leadership of the governing National Alliance party. In early June he sacked party heavy-hitter Dan Polye as foreign minister, as well as petroleum and energy minister William Duma, citing the need for discipline. Police say they expect Theo Abal to front court on Thursday.

State welcome for Tongan king Transsexuals hailed by Samoan PM King of Tonga begins five-day visit Bainimarama 'screamed abuse' at unionist Kiwi survives Papua New Guinea jungle attack Kiwi shot with arrows in harrowing PNG ordeal Tonga refuses to extradite Mara Fiji includes NZ in extradition attempt Fijian army runaway Tevita Mara due in NZ Acting Papua New Guinea PM's son arrested Fiji says it is willing to amicably resolve its dispute with Tonga over who owns the Minerva Reefs, 1500 kilometres north of New Zealand. Both countries claim the unoccupied reefs with Fiji destroying a Tongan maritime beacon on the reefs.

Last week the Tongan Navy claimed it had chased away a Fiji Navy ship at the

reefs and had re-installed a new beacon.

In a statement today Fiji said it reiterates that Minerva is within Fiji's territorial waters and any challenge to this widely accepted Fijian territorial maritime boundary must be directed to the United Nations dispute resolution mechanism in the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea. "The Minerva Reef falls within the legal and internationally recognised border of Fiji." They say the Fiji claim has been "endorsed through acquiescence by all Pacific Island countries over the years through acceptance of regional maritime maps issued by regional organizations‌." It says Fiji's boundaries and exclusive economic zone has not changed from the one registered with the UN three decades ago.

HEALTH/FITNESS

Your Skin NEEDS CARE

Most often, the bad condition of our skin and hair is not due to weather conditions or hereditary factors, but because of how we treat them. We often complain that new products cause skin allergies and blame the product. We don't realise that it's not the product which has caused harm, but its improper use. The desire for quick solutions to beauty woes leads many into committing blunders.

FACE FOCUS

Women generally take care of their faces and spend a lot of money on skin care products. But many forget to take care of the neck, back and chest. They even leave their bodies and legs unmoisturised. Stop giving the rest of your body step-motherly treatment. When you decide to pamper your skin, go the whole way. You don't have to invest in separate products for each body part, just extend your face care to other areas. Use a facial scrub to exfoliate your neck and back.

Cleanse these areas regularly with a cleanser.

Age shows fastest

Physical exercise

keeps your brain

E

xperts at the University of Florence suggest that physical exercise may be the best way to keep your brain sharp in old age.

They say that keeping physically fit may be more important than mental workouts.

The researchers based their findings on 15 separate studies, reports the Daily Express. They

SHARP

found that regular jogging, walking or gym sessions can slash the risk of cognitive decline – where the brain struggles with everyday tasks such as remembering names or processing information – by almost 40 per cent. Even a weekly game of golf or daily mile-long stroll reduced the risk by 35 per cent by sustaining blood flow to the brain or stimulating brain cell proteins.

C

on the neck and chest. Invest in a good anti-ageing cream and use it on these areas.

PRODUCT OVERLOAD

Most women think that using several skin care products will give them gorgeous skin. That's one of the biggest errors. Mixing too many products can wreak havoc on your skin and can also lead to allergies and redness. An overload of products will cause confusion in detection of the actual cause of an allergy, if it occurs. The secret is to create a three-step skin care regimen with products from the same beauty care range.

EXCESSIVE SCRUBBING

Everyone likes clean skin. So we wipe off every speck of dirt and pollution from our face.

However, over-enthusiastic people end up using too many cleansing products or scrubbing the skin too often, causing excessive dryness. This results in your skin working overtime to secrete oil and can lead to an imbalance in the skin. It is best to use gentle products.

Avoid using soap on your face. Use a

limbing stairs can help you stay fit, say researchers in Ireland. They came to the conclusion after analyzing benefits of climbing stairs once or twice over the course of a workday.

"I think the key thing here, is that stair-climbing is one of the few everyday activities at a moderate to high intensity that one can do surreptitiously without having to change, use special equipment or look foolish," The Globe and Mail quoted Colin Boreham, a professor at the University College Dublin Institute for Sport and Health as saying. In the study, boffins asked eight undergraduate women to undertake an eight-week program that started with climbing a 199-step staircase twice a day, five days a week, climbing 90 steps a minute.

Compared to a group of matched controls, 17 per cent of aerobic fitness increased in the stairclimbers and reduced harmful LDL cholesterol by 8 per cent. By the end of the study they all were climbing averagely five times in a whole day that was equivalent to 10 minutes of exercise a day.

"Because it's at such a high intensity, it accomplishes health adaptations in a shorter period, which is handy if you like your exercise in short bites," says Dr. Boreham.

July, 2011

11

creamy cleanser and a soap-free face wash to wash away grime.

Beautician Rani Gautam recommends the use of two types of products — one to deal with the T-zone and the other to cleanse relatively dry areas of the cheek.

"A face scrub should not be done more than thrice a week. Use products that have fine grains to avoid scratching your skin," she advises.

ZIT PICKING

Beside being painful, picking at zits pushes bacteria further into the skin, aggravating the condition. This can trigger an outbreak of pimples and leave scars.

Instead of touching a painful pimple, apply a cream containing salicylic acid on the area for a few days. To deal with redness and soothe the pain, apply ice on the area. If you feel a pimple coming on, use a tea tree oil-based face wash and toner to reduce zitcausing sebum.

HOT WATER BATH

Bathing with water that is too hot can have adverse effects on the skin. Use lukewarm water to get clean, supple skin. Using steaming water can dry out your skin and also washes away the protective layer of sebum and moisture of the skin. This will leave your skin feeling parched and rough to the touch. Wash with lukewarm or cool water and finish off with cold water as this closes the open pores and tones the skin.

TOO MUCH CONDITIONER

If you have hair with frizzy ends, it indicates that you love your conditioner too much. When using conditioner, don't apply it to the hair roots. This weakens the strands. Instead, apply more near the ends. Massaging hair strands and then wash off with cold water.

This allow the conditioners to create a protective layer over your hair.

Take stairs to stay fit

12

EDUCATION

July, 2011

Education

Café

Consortium of American Fiji Education

( L-R H. Koya (PhD), Mr.Ben Venktash(FAIM), Dr. A. Pillay, Ms.Sarita Sharma (BA) and Ms. Nirmila Prasad)(AAIM)

A new consortium to forge achievement of higher education among Fiji American is being formed under the charter of AIM, American Institute Management.

The existing AIM team will be in the initial steering committee. Soon additional members will be invited to join this team.

Why a consortium?

a b c d e a

To catalog Fiji student population at secondary, college, undergraduate and graduate levels.

To track success records.

Idendify their needs and avail guidance.

To inspire and assist such students to set and achieve their goals.

To esnure a steady flow of gradutes to fill a void in the legal, medical and techical fields .

To indentiy and avail resources (where needed) to help accomplish their goals.

Open University Free tuition

ABOUT US AND HOW TO GET TUITIONFREE ONLINE EDUCATION

University of the People (UoPeople) is the world’s first tuition-free online academic institution dedicated to the global advancement and democratization of higher education. The high-quality low-cost global educational model embraces the worldwide presence of the Internet and dropping technology costs to bring university-level studies within reach of millions of people across the world. With the support of respected academics, humanitarians and other visionaries, the UoPeople student body represents a new wave in global education.

Economic and geographic constraints exclude millions of people from higher education. With the aid of technological developments and the help of volunteers, however, access to a tuition-free online education is within reach courtesy of University of the People.

University of the People is a nonprofit venture that is beginning to revolutionize higher education by providing universal access to tuition-free online education, even in the poorest areas of the world. With a few keystrokes, UoPeople takes the concept of social networking and applies it to academia, providing a global classroom for all students that seek access to online higher education. ShaiReshef, UoPeople President and Founder, credits open-source technology and the increasing access to the Internet in making tuition-free, online education available to people all around the

world. Online learning is a growing trend in the United States of America. According to a survey by the Sloan Consortium, approximately 4 million students are currently enrolled in online education in the United States.

As a tuition-free online education service, UoPeople takes the concept of e-learning to an unprecedentedly broader and global audience. UoPeople operates on a limited budget without sacrificing the quality of education by employing collaborative and open-source elearning. UoPeople embraces peer-based and collaborative learning to provide university-level programs to a global student body. Within the online study communities, students share resources, exchange ideas, discuss weekly topics, submit assignments and take exams. A community of educators comprised of active and retired professors, librarians, master-level students and other professionals participate in the educational activity and oversee the assessment process of this tuition-free online education model. UoPeople offers tuition-free education, and plans to charge in the future only nominal Application and Exam Administration fees ($10-$50 and $10-$100 respectively) that could be adjusted on a sliding scale based on the economic situation in each student’s country or place of residence. UoPeople is open to accept applications from applicants who submit a certificate of graduation from secondary school, demonstrate proficiency in English and have access to a computer and to an Internet connection.

Free Legal Education

There are two most important areas where we lack practicing professionals: law and medicine. There are a few Fiji-born attorneys who are either in the mainstream American business or in career positions. Same is true of doctors.

There is a growing need for independent Fiji attorneys in US. We must encourage our students to enter the law profession. Please feel to contact us for more information. 800-757-6619 or email: aim.edu@gmx.com

LITTLE FEET DAY CARE Now open for enrollment!

Excellent tender care and attention provided!

Call:

Nasima Eqbal 209-879-9845

INTERFAITH PAGE 13 PHOTO GALLERY INTERFAITH

Editorial note : My grateful thanks to Mr. Ben Venktash for inviting me recently to be part of a spiritual seminar at on Divine attributes at which he made an impressive presentation. I had a great opportunity to both do my own presentation and absorb in a lovely discussions that followed each presentation. I was able to obtain both a deeper appreciation of the Hindu teachings and the spiritual blessings shared by the presenters. Given below is a synopsis of Mr. Ben Venktash’s take that we are sure readers will find informative.

Scientific meaning of MANTRA in its significance(Part 1.)

For the benefit of human spiritual development, our great Maharishis’ and Saints’, in a state of super consciousness, discovered

the divine mantras for inner spiritual dimensions. Mantra consists of two syllables, “man” and “tra”. Manana is thinking and Trana is liberation from the bondages of the negative physical surroundings and thought processes. Mantras are energy vibrations at different frequencies which have the effect of purifying the mind. Mantra, a mass of radiant energy is known as the supreme truth in sound- body. The great Rishis and Saints gave their disciples the divine mantras to purify their minds and share for the bene-

fit of mankind.

Om is divine and sacred (shabda) word. It is the essence of the Veda.

OM is universal a n d a l s o known a s

Pranava.

It is the first sound and symbol of the infinite and absolute, known as Brahman in Upanishads. Two representations

July, 2011

13

of OM are varnatmik and dhunatmik. Shabda is varnatmik and it is theoretical, dhunatmik is OM and it is practical and cause of spiritual manifestations. Mantra, when chanted the right way with proper alliteration and pronunciation, a devotee can develop a self-generating power within and make connection with the deity or Istadevata using the bijamantra.

The male deity is the static potential energy and the female deity is the active kinetic energy.

Regular chanting of the mantra with deep devotion protects the devotee from the influence of Maya and social conditioning. Trust and know the power within yourself.

ChidanandaRoopa, Shivo Hum, Shivo Hum. Sarvejanasukhinobhavantu.

Ben Venktash, Advaitin

Al Madinah Academy gets a mention in SF Examiner

Al-Madinah Academy stall at Fiji Festival raises funds for new stricture in San Bruno

AMA ladies wing a helping hand at the Fiji Festival 2011 booth Cal State Hayward.

Dean Moidin stands in front of the home where a low-profile mosque resides in San Bruno. City officials say the mosque must make structural adjustments to accommodate its growing congregation. (Mike Koozmin/The Examiner) A low-profile mosque, tucked away in a family home on a suburban street in San Bruno, must make structural adjustments to accommodate its growing congregation, say city officials.

Since it opened its doors in 2003, Al Madinah Academy at 714 4th Avenue has seen its congregation grow from seven to some 60 attendees for its midday prayer on Fridays, said the mosque’s president, Dean Moidin.

“The community is growing day by day,” Moidin said.

Al Madinah was opened in 2003 by a handful of working-class Fijian immigrants. The mosque, which teaches Arabic classes and offers

daily prayer services out of a residential home, is so discreet that two neighbors living just a few doors away said they had no idea of its existence.

Even city officials were clueless about the Islamic place of worship until an observant neighbor started asking questions back in 2009.

While city code requires religious facilities to file for a permit and provide visitors with ample parking, Al Madinah had failed to do either, said Aaron Aknin, community development director. After receiving a warning, however, the group hastily suspended its services on the property and submitted applications for a congregational permit and parking renovations.

The San Bruno city council Wednesday authorized an environmental review of the mosque’s proposed renovations, which include increasing the number of parking spaces from four to 14.

The project would combine two adjacent lots at 710 and 714 Fourth Ave. The existing single-family home at 714 would be demolished and replaced with a two-story religious building, which Moidin said would “appear residential.” The two-story home on the 710 lot will remain intact and serve as home to the mosque’s imam.

The total cost of the environmental review, an upcoming architectual review, and the proposed renovations is expected to reach $750,000, money the small congregation will have to raise before it can restart services on site.

The number of Muslims may be on the rise not just in San Bruno, but across San Mateo County, due to immigration and expanding local Muslim families, according to Abdurrahman Anwar, the imam at Belmont’s mosque and community center, the Yaseen Foundatzon.

14

July, 2011

12

EDUCATION

July, 2011

Education

Café

Consortium of American Fiji Education

( L-R H. Koya (PhD), Mr.Ben Venktash(FAIM), Dr. A. Pillay, Ms.Sarita Sharma (BA) and Ms. Nirmila Prasad)(AAIM)

A new consortium to forge achievement of higher education among Fiji American is being formed under the charter of AIM, American Institute Management.

The existing AIM team will be in the initial steering committee. Soon additional members will be invited to join this team.

Why a consortium?

a b c d e a

To catalog Fiji student population at secondary, college, undergraduate and graduate levels.

To track success records.

Idendify their needs and avail guidance.

To inspire and assist such students to set and achieve their goals.

To esnure a steady flow of gradutes to fill a void in the legal, medical and techical fields .

To indentiy and avail resources (where needed) to help accomplish their goals.

Open University Free tuition

ABOUT US AND HOW TO GET TUITIONFREE ONLINE EDUCATION

University of the People (UoPeople) is the world’s first tuition-free online academic institution dedicated to the global advancement and democratization of higher education. The high-quality low-cost global educational model embraces the worldwide presence of the Internet and dropping technology costs to bring university-level studies within reach of millions of people across the world. With the support of respected academics, humanitarians and other visionaries, the UoPeople student body represents a new wave in global education.

Economic and geographic constraints exclude millions of people from higher education. With the aid of technological developments and the help of volunteers, however, access to a tuition-free online education is within reach courtesy of University of the People.

University of the People is a nonprofit venture that is beginning to revolutionize higher education by providing universal access to tuition-free online education, even in the poorest areas of the world. With a few keystrokes, UoPeople takes the concept of social networking and applies it to academia, providing a global classroom for all students that seek access to online higher education. ShaiReshef, UoPeople President and Founder, credits open-source technology and the increasing access to the Internet in making tuition-free, online education available to people all around the

world. Online learning is a growing trend in the United States of America. According to a survey by the Sloan Consortium, approximately 4 million students are currently enrolled in online education in the United States.

As a tuition-free online education service, UoPeople takes the concept of e-learning to an unprecedentedly broader and global audience. UoPeople operates on a limited budget without sacrificing the quality of education by employing collaborative and open-source elearning. UoPeople embraces peer-based and collaborative learning to provide university-level programs to a global student body. Within the online study communities, students share resources, exchange ideas, discuss weekly topics, submit assignments and take exams. A community of educators comprised of active and retired professors, librarians, master-level students and other professionals participate in the educational activity and oversee the assessment process of this tuition-free online education model. UoPeople offers tuition-free education, and plans to charge in the future only nominal Application and Exam Administration fees ($10-$50 and $10-$100 respectively) that could be adjusted on a sliding scale based on the economic situation in each student’s country or place of residence. UoPeople is open to accept applications from applicants who submit a certificate of graduation from secondary school, demonstrate proficiency in English and have access to a computer and to an Internet connection.

Free Legal Education

There are two most important areas where we lack practicing professionals: law and medicine. There are a few Fiji-born attorneys who are either in the mainstream American business or in career positions. Same is true of doctors.

There is a growing need for independent Fiji attorneys in US. We must encourage our students to enter the law profession. Please feel to contact us for more information. 800-757-6619 or email: aim.edu@gmx.com

LITTLE FEET DAY CARE Now open for enrollment!

Excellent tender care and attention provided!

Call:

Nasima Eqbal 209-879-9845

INTERFAITH PAGE 13 PHOTO GALLERY INTERFAITH

Editorial note : My grateful thanks to Mr. Ben Venktash for inviting me recently to be part of a spiritual seminar at on Divine attributes at which he made an impressive presentation. I had a great opportunity to both do my own presentation and absorb in a lovely discussions that followed each presentation. I was able to obtain both a deeper appreciation of the Hindu teachings and the spiritual blessings shared by the presenters. Given below is a synopsis of Mr. Ben Venktash’s take that we are sure readers will find informative.

Scientific meaning of MANTRA in its significance(Part 1.)

For the benefit of human spiritual development, our great Maharishis’ and Saints’, in a state of super consciousness, discovered

the divine mantras for inner spiritual dimensions. Mantra consists of two syllables, “man” and “tra”. Manana is thinking and Trana is liberation from the bondages of the negative physical surroundings and thought processes. Mantras are energy vibrations at different frequencies which have the effect of purifying the mind. Mantra, a mass of radiant energy is known as the supreme truth in sound- body. The great Rishis and Saints gave their disciples the divine mantras to purify their minds and share for the bene-

fit of mankind.

Om is divine and sacred (shabda) word. It is the essence of the Veda.

OM is universal a n d a l s o known a s

Pranava.

It is the first sound and symbol of the infinite and absolute, known as Brahman in Upanishads. Two representations

July, 2011

13

of OM are varnatmik and dhunatmik. Shabda is varnatmik and it is theoretical, dhunatmik is OM and it is practical and cause of spiritual manifestations. Mantra, when chanted the right way with proper alliteration and pronunciation, a devotee can develop a self-generating power within and make connection with the deity or Istadevata using the bijamantra.

The male deity is the static potential energy and the female deity is the active kinetic energy.

Regular chanting of the mantra with deep devotion protects the devotee from the influence of Maya and social conditioning. Trust and know the power within yourself.

ChidanandaRoopa, Shivo Hum, Shivo Hum. Sarvejanasukhinobhavantu.

Ben Venktash, Advaitin

Al Madinah Academy gets a mention in SF Examiner

Al-Madinah Academy stall at Fiji Festival raises funds for new stricture in San Bruno

AMA ladies wing a helping hand at the Fiji Festival 2011 booth Cal State Hayward.

Dean Moidin stands in front of the home where a low-profile mosque resides in San Bruno. City officials say the mosque must make structural adjustments to accommodate its growing congregation. (Mike Koozmin/The Examiner) A low-profile mosque, tucked away in a family home on a suburban street in San Bruno, must make structural adjustments to accommodate its growing congregation, say city officials.

Since it opened its doors in 2003, Al Madinah Academy at 714 4th Avenue has seen its congregation grow from seven to some 60 attendees for its midday prayer on Fridays, said the mosque’s president, Dean Moidin.

“The community is growing day by day,” Moidin said.

Al Madinah was opened in 2003 by a handful of working-class Fijian immigrants. The mosque, which teaches Arabic classes and offers

daily prayer services out of a residential home, is so discreet that two neighbors living just a few doors away said they had no idea of its existence.

Even city officials were clueless about the Islamic place of worship until an observant neighbor started asking questions back in 2009.

While city code requires religious facilities to file for a permit and provide visitors with ample parking, Al Madinah had failed to do either, said Aaron Aknin, community development director. After receiving a warning, however, the group hastily suspended its services on the property and submitted applications for a congregational permit and parking renovations.

The San Bruno city council Wednesday authorized an environmental review of the mosque’s proposed renovations, which include increasing the number of parking spaces from four to 14.

The project would combine two adjacent lots at 710 and 714 Fourth Ave. The existing single-family home at 714 would be demolished and replaced with a two-story religious building, which Moidin said would “appear residential.” The two-story home on the 710 lot will remain intact and serve as home to the mosque’s imam.

The total cost of the environmental review, an upcoming architectual review, and the proposed renovations is expected to reach $750,000, money the small congregation will have to raise before it can restart services on site.

The number of Muslims may be on the rise not just in San Bruno, but across San Mateo County, due to immigration and expanding local Muslim families, according to Abdurrahman Anwar, the imam at Belmont’s mosque and community center, the Yaseen Foundatzon.

14

July, 2011

July, 2011

15

16

July, 2011

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July, 2011

BOLLYWOOD

A

fter the speculated superimposed pictures of Mallika Sherawat in the company of President Barrack Obama, Scarlett Johanson and Elton John, the actress seems to be having a tough time relating to her Bollywood costars.

And Indra Kumar's Double Dhamaal cast, which includes Kangna Ranaut, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, and Jaaved Jaaferi, can certainly vouch for the same. Despite alienating herself from the rest of the film's cast, Mallika reportedly envied Kangna's relationship with the rest of the male troop.

The actress took her alienating antics to another

Mallika Sherawat

ENVIES Kangna Ranaut!

level, while in Toronto, at a recent awards function, during the showcase of Double Dhamaal's world premiere. It was supposed to be an important event for the team of the comedic sequel to the 2007 film Dhamaal, but Mallika did not echo similar sentiments.

Reportedly, Kangna, Riteish, Aashish Chaudhary and Mallika walked the green carpet and were then supposed to proceed to one of the seven screening rooms. However, after Mallika walked down the green carpet, she decided to bail on the screening. And to everyones' dis-

Weight gain is

SONAKSHI

While there are reports that Sonakshi Sinha walked out of Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroopam because the makers took too long to start the project, South producers are speaking in hushed whispers about how Sonakshi was actually asked to leave the project because she couldn't lose enough weight for the role . The character has to take part in a lot of action scenes and hence is required to have a lean

LOSS

physique. The curvy actress has weight problems and tends to pile on kilos if she doesn't stick to her diet and workouts. A source close to the project reveals what went wrong. "The makers gave her a couple of months to get lean. She had to do outfit trials and also begin physical

may, nobody could trace her. A source told us, "Indra was very perturbed by the incident and went around looking for Mallika. He kept calling out 'Mallikaji'. But when Riteish heard this, he told the director 'You are giving so much of respect, but she's already gone'."

When contacted, Kumar confirmed, "Yes, it's true Mallika was

training. However, she was unable to look the part even after that." They wanted to start shooting by June-end.

Now that Sonakshi is citing delays for walking out of the project, there's buzz in Tollywood about how she lost out on the role due to her weight trouble. The source adds that now Kamal Haasan is considering some other faces for the film. "It's a big budget film and he doesn't want any more delays. The reason he chose Sonakshi is because he really liked her work in Dabangg and thought she would appeal to the audience down south as well. However, now that things haven't worked out, they have gone separate ways."

not present, but I do not know why she chose to leave."

Meanwhile...

Director Indra Kumar is already gearing up for his next endeavours. He is currently chalking out the third follow-up to the Dhamaal series, titled, Total Dhamaal. While the male actors of the series stay the same, Kumar is searching for new actresses.

When asked if Mallika will be considered again, Kumar said, "If she is the right fit for the role, then yes."

Kumar is also plans for the sequel to his 2004 film, Masti.

Hubby not having affair: Shilpa Shetty

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has refuted reports that her marriage is in trouble, saying that she and her husband Raj Kundra are holidaying in the US. She also says that she is not pregnant. "First I hear am preggars (NOT true) Now I hear my husbands havin an affair from the press. Common fr papers 2 stoop low 2 sensationalise false," Shilpa posted on her Twitter page Tuesday. There were reports that Kundra had met a gorgeous lady at a hair-transplant clinic in London and later gifted the clinic assistant a European holiday. But, the 36-year-old actress has denied the reports. "False news!grrrrrr:( 4 the record, my husband and I are holidaying in USA and r very happily married. Sorry 2 burst the newspapers bubble," she added.

BOLLYWOOD

T

wo years after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cells, and about a year since declaring herself cancer free, Lisa Ray is facing the cameras again. Since her last outing, the 2009 film, " Cooking With Stella", she has undergone an intense journey of sickness, healing, and being "reborn".

We caught up with Lisa Rani Ray (yes, that's her middle name, given to her by her dad), who will now be seen hosting the show "Oh My Gold!" (OMG) on the Travel And Living Channel (TLC). The actress was in Delhi with her partner Jason (who politely declined when we tried to pull him into the conversation, saying this was "about her"), and answered the ubiquitous whenare-you-settling-down-question saying she was, indeed, already so. Excerpts: This is the first time you will be seen on screen after

Story: Three young professionals who happen to be roommates -- Tashi (Imraan Khan), Nitin (Kunaal Roy Kapur), Arup (Vir Das) -- inadvertently become couriers for a cache of diamonds, smuggled in by a Russian gangster. The diamonds have to be delivered to a local gangster, Vijay Raaz. Unfortunately, a strange mix-up causes a weird package to be delivered to him instead.

This is the beginning of the troubles of the happygo-lucky threesome which obviously has no experience in tackling Delhi's crazy underworld.

Delhi Belly is breath of fresh air. It's path breaking movie which has no parallels in Ind...Read more Pragya Panchal (Manama, Bahrain) 02/07/2011 at 05:32 pm Movie Review : So who's the real hero of the film? Is it writer Akshat Verma who has given Bollywood one of its smartest scripts to hit the horizon since a long long time? As a comedy, Delhi Belly is such a refreshing change from the run-ofthe-mill Hindi film laugh riot which almost always borders on the juvenile.

The humour is all situational, beautifully woven in the script and never having to depend on a banana peel skid. Grow up all you comedy filmmakers who insist on treating your audience as retards!

Is it director Abhinay Deo who tells a story peppered with the most unusual incidents in a down-to-earth, matter-of fact way which works

you were diagnosed and then cured. How does it feel to face the cameras once again?

Well, that's what made it such a celebration. And that's why this series is more important to me than just a project, because even when it was offered to me and I decided to do it, it was still very early on after my stem cell transplant – my hair was still short, it was still growing, my energy was a little low – but I just felt so compelled to be a part of it because of all the ingredients. And on top of that, it's kind of neat because, as much as I love acting, this is a chance for me to share a bit more of my personality. This will be the real me on screen. And it's a way of sharing that with the Indian audience, who were also so supportive through my time, and because transparency was kind of the signature of my entire cancer journey – being honest and open – it kind of made sense

that this would be my first project.

When you say transparency through your cancer journey, did you have to decide if you'd share each and every moment?

Your blog describes everything; there's an instance of some growth in your eyes and you going to the doc to have it removed. Some wouldn't want to share such things because it's too personal, others would think, 'I don't wanna gross people out'.

So how did you decide to share it on a public platform?

Well, first off, it didn't start off that way. I just wanted to write because it was my way of processing what I was going through. So that's how it started, I never thought anyone would actually read it. Really?

That wasn't my desired result, necessarily; it wasn't what I was aiming for. And secondly, I never over-thought it. I was going

July, 2011

19

through a process, and it was my way of processing, and healing, and so there was no self censorship, there couldn't be.

Now, however, 'coz I've come out the other end, and my health's dramatically improved and I'm doing well, I won't necessarily share all those details.

But that was very specific to that period. Also because, on some level, I felt perhaps it could help someone else.

Lisa Ray I am settled

Double Dhamaal Movie Review

Delhi BELLY Movie Review

wonders for the film?

Mercifully, there is no desire on his part to shock and awe you or send you into hysterical bouts of laughter, simply because the events are so bizarre, they shock and awe you by their very nature and keep the laughs coming relentlessly. Certain sequences almost bring the house down: Vir Das and his exploits with the burqa, Kunaal Roy Kapur and his exploits with orange juice, Vijay Raaz and his encounter with the contraband packet.... Too many to enlist! Is it the

performances: all set pieces and fine examples of how to underplay and over-impress? If Imran Khan pitches in his best act till date as the journalist trapped between fleeing from death and floundering in love's dilemma, then newcomer Kunaal Roy Kapur is the funkiest victim of the accursed Delhi belly. His gripes, groans and loo exploits are the stuff classic comedy is made of. Vir Das delivers his usual competent clown act without trying too hard: quite a scene-stealer. Vijay Raaz as the gangster is a

scream while the girls blend in with ease. And finally, is it the Censor Board which displays such maturity in passing the film with no cuts? For the first time, we get a film where characters actually speak the language real young people speak. And no, nobody's morals get corrupted.

One of the highlights of the film is its screenplay, brimming over with cuss and swear words, which themselves add to the fun factor of the film. Ram Sampath's audio score with quirky lyrics like Switty, DK Bose and Chudail are an added bonus.

All in all, Delhi Belly is a fine example of how the brightest and the boldest, when they pool in their talent, can create a film that is guaranteed to give you your money's worth, even as it re-writes all the moth-balled rules of an ageing industry.

Story : The gang of Dhamaal -Adi (Arshad Warsi), Manav (Jaaved Jafri), Boman (Ashish Chowdhury), Roy (Riteish Deshmukh) are back. Once again they have just one purpose in life: to get rich, any which way. This time the plan entails duping their tormentor Kabir (Sanjay Dutt) by messing up his personal and professional life. Movie Review: First things first, part one was better. It was stupid, but it did have lots of goofy humour and fun. The sequel is more stupid than funny, nevertheless there are enough moments to keep the clock ticking. The entire film operates as one extended con game where most of the chaos is kicked up by the loser foursome of Arshad, Jaaved, Riteish and Ashish. It's one of the most dysfunctional bunch of friends in Bollywood, where each seems to be more stupid than the other. Yet, when they pool in their mental deficiencies, they do manage to create some madcap moments on

screen.

In the first half, they try to ingratiate themselves with Sanjay Dutt in order to win a partnership in his firm. And the fact the he has a svelte girlfriend like Mallika Sherawat and a siren sister like Kangana Ranaut motivates them further. But when they realize the tycoon has put them in a soup by peddling gutter water in the middle of Mumbai as oil, they know it's time for revenge. Specially since they are being hounded by the local gangster (Satish Kaushik) who is baying for their blood. Act two is all about vengeance and one upmanship between the foursome and Sanjay Dutt. This one's definitely not for the fastidious, choosy viewer but for those who don't mind losing it for a bit, Double Dhamaal works like an average Bollywood comedy. Performancewise, it's one big circus with the guys hogging most of the limelight. The girls -- Mallika and Kangana -- are mere confetti.

20

July, 2011

WORLD NEWS

July, 2011

21

'Maid plotted to exploit ex-IMF chief for money'

People enjoying the annual water fight event, at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. Hundreds of people took part in the fight.

China, Vietnam vow to cool South China Sea tensions

BEIJING : China and Vietnam pledged to resolve a row over the strategic South China Sea, state media said on Sunday, in a bid to ease tensions that prompted accusations of Chinese bullying in the region. The apparent olive branch between the testy neighbours came as the United States and Philippines readied for joint naval exercises in the face of Chinese actions and after the US called for Beijing to help lower the temperature. Several recent incidents have put the security spotlight on the South China Sea, a strategic and potentially oil-rich area where China has sometimes overlapping disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. Recently, Vietnam carried out live-fire drills and the Philippines ordered the deployment of its naval flagship after accusing China of aggressive actions.

Representatives of China and Vietnam met in Beijing for weekend talks and agreed to resolve their maritime territorial disputes "peacefully", China's Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.

NEW YORK : In a secretly recorded phone conversation, the New York hotel maid who had accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault, can be heard telling her boyfriend in Arizona about her plan to get money from the former IMF chief.

"She says words to the effect of, 'Don't worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I'm doing,' " an official told 'The New York Times' .

The phone conversation was translated this Wednesday from the Fulani dialect spoken in the maid's native Guinea, the paper said.

Strauss-Kahn , 62, was accused of forcing the Guinean maid, 32, at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan to

Defiant Muammar attacks in Europe TRIPOLI : A defiant Muammar Gaddafi has threatened to carry out attacks in Europe against "homes, offices, families," unless NATO halts its campaign of airstrikes against his regime in Libya.

The Libyan leader, sought by the International Criminal Court for a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, delivered the warning in a telephone message played yesterday to thousands of supporters gathered in the main square of the capital Tripoli. It was one of the largest pro-government rallies in recent months, signaling that Gaddafi can still muster significant support. A green cloth, several hundred meters long and held aloft by supporters, snaked above the crowd filling Tripoli's Green Square. Green is Libya's national color. A series of powerful explosions later rattled the heart of the capital, apparently new NATO airstrikes, as Gaddafi supporters cheered, honked horns and fired into the air in the street. Black smoke could be seen rising from the area near Gaddafi's Bab al-

Gaddafi threatens

Aziziya compound. Gaddafi spoke from an unknown location in a likely sign of concern over his safety.

Addressing the West, he warned that Libyans might take revenge for NATO bombings. "These people (the Libyans) are able to one day take this battle ... to Europe, to target your homes, offices, families, which would become legitimate military targets, like you have targeted our homes," he said. "We can decide to treat you in a similar way," he said of the Europeans. "If

Boeing Dreamliner lands in Japan for tests TOKYO : Boeing's 787 Dreamliner flew into Tokyo from Seattle on Sunday for test flights as All Nippon Airways prepares to become the world's first airline to deploy the new fuel-efficient long-haul jet.

The wide-bodied twin-engine plane touched down at Tokyo's Haneda Airport at 6:20 am on a maiden flight to Asia as its arrival was broadcast live online and crowds of aircraft enthusiasts gathered in and around the seaside airport.

Painted in the ANA colours of white and blue, the 787 taxied to a hangar through an arch of water sprayed from two airport fire trucks.

"It got good mileage as we used less fuel than what we thought would be enough," the plane's Japanese captain Masami Tsukamoto told reporters. "It is an

environmentally friendly plane."

The 787's fuselage has been made lighter as it is 50 percent made of carbon fibre and other composite materials. Its fuel efficiency is 20 percent better than the similarly sized Boeing 767, which will be replaced by the new aircraft, according to Boeing.

The jet, 56 metres (184 feet) long with a wingspan of 60 metres (197 feet), will be tested at five airports, including Osaka's Kansai and

perform oral sex. He was taken into custody a few minutes before his Air France flight departed for Paris in May. Yesterday, Strauss-Kahn who was released from house arrest, will be allowed to travel inside the US. He will also have his $1 million bail and $5 million bond returned.

Investigators have reportedly discovered a string of lies told by the maid to a grand jury including a false story about being raped in Guinea.

The Times reported that meetings with prosecutors became tense and angry. She collapsed in tears and got down on the floor during questioning. She became

Hiroshima during its six-day itinerary in Japan.

With the help of Boeing officials, it will be checked for its compatibility with boarding bridges, fuelling systems and other facilities at these airports. ANA has said it plans to introduce 14 Boeing 787s in the year to March 2012 and 10 more the following year. It will eventually deploy a total of 55 Dreamliners.

The first Boeing 787 is expected to be delivered in August at the earliest and the first batch of the aircraft will be used on domestic routes starting in September or October, according to ANA officials.

ANA's rival Japan Airlines said earlier it would receive five Boeing 787s in the year to March 2012 and use them on a new route to be inaugurated between Tokyo's Narita and Boston in April.

we decide to, we are able to move to Europe like locusts, like bees.

We advise you to retreat before you are dealt a disaster."

It was not immediately clear whether Gaddafi could make good on such threats.

In the past, Gaddafi supported various militant groups, including the IRA and several Palestinian factions, while Libyan agents were blamed for attacks in Europe, including a Berlin disco bombing in 1986 and the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, mostly Americans. Libya later acknowledged responsibility for Lockerbie. In recent years, however, Gaddafi was believed to have severed his ties with extremist groups when he moved to reconcile with Europe and the United States.

Al-Qaida and other jihadi groups have opposed Gaddafi since he cracked down in the late 1990s on the Islamist Libyan Islamic Fighting Group which sought to replace his regime with an Islamic state.

unavailable to investigators from the district attorney's office for days at a time.

While the maid has claimed that the hotel job is her only source of income, in recent weeks, investigators collected bank records showing deposits of thousands of dollars in Arizona , Georgia, New York and Pennsylvania to an account in her name.

The maid also changed her earlier version of what happened immediately after the alleged sexual assault.

She told the Grand Jury in May that she waited in the hallway for Strauss-Kahn to leave and then told her supervisor.

Hillary Clinton urges Gaddafi to deliver democracy not threats

TRIPOLI : US secretary of state Hillary Clinton demanded that Muammar Gaddafi deliver democracy instead of threats after the Libyan leader warned Europe of stinging attacks unless Nato halts its air war.

"Instead of issuing threats, Gaddafi should put the wellbeing and interests of his own people first and he should step down from power and help facilitate a democratic transition," Clinton said Saturday on a visit to Nato ally Spain, the latest leg of a European tour.

In a speech broadcast by loudspeakers to thousands of supporters in Tripoli's emblematic Green Square on Friday, the Libyan leader had warned that his loyalists could launch stinging attacks on Europe like "locusts and bees." "The Libyan people are capable, one day, of taking the battle to Europe and the Mediterranean," Gaddafi said.

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Petra Kvitova outguns Maria Sharapova to win 2011 Wimbledon title 22

July, 2011

LONDON : Petra Kvitova stunned favourite Maria Sharapova to win her first Grand Slam title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the women's singles final at Wimbledon on Saturday.

The 21-year-old eighth seed became only the third Czech woman to triumph at Wimbledon after nine-time champion Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna, who were both in Centre Court's royal box to witness the victory. Kvitova, who had never appeared in a Grand Slam final before, collapsed to the turf in delight after clinching the title in the 10th game of the second set with her first ace of the match. "It's hard to find some words, to see the great players in the royal box," said Kvitova, the first left-hander since Navratilova in 1990 to win the title.

"It's very nice when they're watching me all the time and supporting me, it's great." But it was a desperately disappointing outcome for Russian fifth seed Sharapova, the 2004 champion who had been heavily favoured to win her fourth Grand Slam crown. "It's great to be back at this stage and holding the runner-up plate -- but I wanted the big one today," said Sharapova.

"But it's something I want to be back for and holding again one day."

Sharapova ultimately paid the price for a faltering service game which Kvitova was able to break regularly throughout.

A nervous start saw Kvitova and Sharapova both suffer breaks of

Czech player Petra Kvitova (L) holds the Wimbledon Trophy as she looks at Russia's Maria Sharapova (R) after beating her in the Women's Final of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Tennis Club, in south-west London, on July 2, 2011.a

serve in the opening two games before the match settled into its rhythm.

Kvitova fought off a Sharapova break point in the third game before holding to take a 2-1 lead.

The decisive break came in the sixth game when Sharapova's serve -- which had looked shaky during her semifinal win over Sabine Lisicki -- let the Russian down again.

A double-fault gifted Kvitova a

break for a 4-2, which swiftly became 5-2.

Sharapova's problems on serve continued in the next game, where she was forced to save a set point in the face of some relentless groundstrokes from Kvitova before holding for 5-3.

Kvitova was not to be denied in the next game however, the Czech's left-handed spin on serve causing all sorts of problems for Sharapova as she successfully held

Mike Bryan of the U.S. (R) and Bob Bryan of the U.S. kiss the winners trophies after defeating Horia Tecau of Romania and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden in their men's doubles final match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London July 2, 2011. to take the set.

Another poor service game from Sharapova saw her double-fault at 30-40 down to gift Kvitova her third break of the match.

But Sharapova was able to carve out a break to level at 2-2, when Kvitova failed to put away a routine smash which allowed the Russian to lob. The problems which had dogged Sharapova's serve resurfaced in the next game however, and the former world number one was soon break point down.

Sharapova saved that one but Kvitova made no mistake to convert her second, bludgeoning an unstoppable forehand return past her opponent for a 3-2 lead.

Sharapova again conjured up a break to bounce back to 3-3 but her failure to address the vulnerability of her own serve proved costly once more as she was broken for the third time in the second set to trail 3-4. Kvitova duly held for the remainder of the set to seal a deserved win.

Yuvraj makes the cut, Kohli dropped from India-England Test series

Bolivia soccer fans celebrate after Bolivia draw 1-1 against Argentina during a Copa America soccer match in La Plata, Argentina.

British press hails Murray despite defeat

LONDON : Britain's press paid tribute to Andy Murray on Saturday, despite the Scot falling in the Wimbledon semifinals for the third year in a row.

Some newspapers said Murray had shown he was capable of taking Rafael Nadal on, while others said he was the best Britain had had for 70 years and got as far as he did despite the tennis system here rather than because of it.

Spaniard Nadal reached his fifth Wimbledon final on Friday with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over an outclassed Murray, leaving British hopes of a first champion since 1936 in tatters.

The Times said that any British victory in any sport was a success against the odds, because "there are too few of us trying to do too much at once". It said that Britain was the only nation that purports to be world-class at football, rugby union, rugby league, cricket, tennis and athletics. "Then, having spread ourselves so thinly, we have the eccentricity to play more minor sports than anyone else," it said, citing Britain's "excellent long-term record" in archery and dressage. Then factor in the social class divisions further narrowing the pool for each given sport.

CHENNAI : Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and other big guns returned to national duty, while Yuvraj Singh was handed another Test lifeline as India on Saturday announced a full-strength 17member squad for the upcoming cricket tour of England starting mid July.

Opener Virender Sehwag will miss the first Test but will join the squad after a fortnight, while paceman Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth, both of whom missed the Carribean tour because of injuries, have also been named in the team.

Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha got the nod ahead of Parthiv Patel as the second wicketkeeper, while Virat Kohli and opener Murali Vijay were dropped from the squad announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection committee.

Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund was retained in the squad but pacer Abhimanyu Mithun and spinner Pragyan Ojha couldn't find favour from the selectors.

The team, to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will have Gambhir as the vice-captain.

Yuvraj, who missed the tour of West Indies because of a chest infection, returns to the Test fold after a gap of almost one year. The left-hander had last played a Test match against Sri Lanka at Galle in July, 2010.

Yuvraj, who has failed to cement his place in the Test squad, gets one more opportunity to prove his worth in the longer format of the game.

Sreesanth, who was also laid low by

an elbow injury, returns to action after having last played a Test against South Africa at Cape Town in January this year.

The squad has as many as five pace bowlers considering the seaming conditions in England. It has two spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra.

The batting line-up has been considerably bolstered by the return of Tendulkar and Gambhir with Sehwag being available from the second Test onwards. Sehwag, who skipped the tour of West Indies because of a shoulder surgery, is still not fully fit but the selectors have given him time to recover completely before the second Test starts at Nottingham from July 29.

The focus will again shift to Tendulkar, who is just one century short of a landmark of 100 centuries in international cricket.

The seasoned Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman will lend solidity to the middleorder, while the other berth in the line-up would go either to Suresh Raina or Yuvraj.

The 21-year-old Mukund tilted the scale in his favour with a gritty 48 in the second innings of the ongoing second cricket Test against the West Indies at Kensington. His opening partner Murali Vijay, however, flopped in all the innings and paid the price by being dropped from the squad. Virat Kohli, who also could not make much of an impact during the tour, was also left out.

The return of Zaheer will provide a lot more sting to the bowling attack and the

Squad : Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Gautam Gambhir (vice Capt), Abhivan Mukund, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel, Wriddhiman Saha, Virender Sehwag. wily paceman will have to shoulder the pace bowling responsibility in conditions that will suit the fast bowlers. Ishant Sharma, who has been impressive in the Carribean, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar will also have a key role to play during the four-match Test series. Off-spinner Harbhajan and legspinner Mishra are the specialist spinners in the team, though Yuvraj and Raina can also be used as part-time spinners.

Wriddhiman's selection as the second wicketkeeper was a little bit surprising as he got the nod ahead of the more experienced Parthiv Patel, who is also a handy batsman.

India will play four Tests, five ODIs and a T20 during their tour of England from July 15 to September 16.

I

TRAVEL NEWS

n the course of the generous sprinkling of oil over the African continent, the land of Morocco, had narrowly managed to escape the cosmic sprinkler. At least that's how Salim, our local tour guide, saw it. "We don't have any oil and we are happy about it," he emphatically told us. In light of the brewing social discontent there, perhaps his statement could be challenged but then again if Morocco had been deprived of oil, it had been rendered a cultural melting pot due to its characteristic blend of Arabic, European and African flavours.

Rabat We were in the heart of the administrative city of Rabat. Our first destination was the Royal Palace of the present king, Mohammed VI. A few days earlier, following the Libyan revolt, demonstrators had rioted outside the Parliament house, some distance away. "And you are still going?" was the question hurled at me by almost everyone. The subtext of that question was clear. It either read 'Go on, belly-dance all over our frayed nerves' or 'Who do you think you are? Indiana Jones?'

Three days later, I was tempted to post a video-byte of Salim allaying our fears, on YouTube. "Not to worry," he said, as we neared the Palace. "Except for a few isolated incidents, the protests were largely peaceful," he said. "Moroccans have been holding demonstrations outside the Parliament house for years. It's common." Common? Not how the news had reported it. But then again, unlike the other epicenters of the Jasmine Revolution, the protests here had been primarily directed at the Parliament, instead of at the more popular King.

From the Palace, we headed towards the historical Mausoleum of King Mohammed V, grandfather of the present king. The Mausoleum contains his tomb and that of his two sons. While the guide spewed other historical facts, I gaped in fascination at the

Morocc-oh!

Hispano-Moorish Mausoleum and the exotic guards manning it, not necessarily in that order. Opposite the Mausoleum, is the 12th century, Hassan Tower; a 44-meter beautiful red minaret, which stands desolately at half of its intended height amidst columns of an unfinished mosque.

Marrakech It was evening when we entered the ancient pink city of Marrakech and I could see the city's landmark, the majestic Koutoubia minaret framed against the pink skyline. Later we were told that the Hassan Tower in Rabat was modeled along the lines of this minaret.

The next morning, we visited the beautiful and ornate El Bahia Palace. Interestingly, the palace, principally designed by Vizier Bou Ahmed, a former slave, was meant to accommodate his four wives, twodozen concubines and consequently, a truckload of offsprings.

"The Vizier named this palace after his first and favourite wife," whispered our Palace guide. Two words hung in the air: Ironic and twisted. Half expecting to get clobbered by some angry feminist in the vicinity, the guide hastily continued. "Many celebrities have come to this Palace. Martin Scorsese conducted a recee

July, 2011

23

here for one of his movies." Then surveying our brown Indian faces, he promptly changed track. "Amitabh Bachchan has come here too. I have met him. He is a gentleman."

We tried to look impressed. He mopped his forehead and tried again. "Have you all seen Sex and the City 2?

Almost 60 per cent of the movie is shot in Morocco." Wow, we chanted, deciding to give the guy a break. He beamed. That evening, we went to the Djemaa el Fna square, the buzzing heart of Marrakech. Brimming with snake charmers, belly dancers, storytellers at one end and colourful souks of spices, tagines (clay cooking dishes) and babooshes (Moroccan sandals) at the other, this Mecca of madness draws similarities with parts of Old Delhi. I descended into the chaos, clutching my handbag for dear life, since Salim had warned us of the notorious touts here. An hour later, to my horror, a local began chasing me with a snake in his hand. Ignoring my shrieks he lassoed me with the snake, dragged me to the centre and made me pose for a photo. Not one to miss a Kodak moment, I temporarily gave up shrieking and summoned a painful, fake smile. Then I tossed the snake back at him and stood up, ready to flee. "100 dirhams," the tout said, blocking my exit. Apparently torture came at a premium. I blindly thrust 20 dirhams into his hands and bolted. Later, we made our way through the food stalls, which served lamb tagines, couscous and bastilla. Ironically, despite being a spice-haven, I found the Moroccan cuisine rather bland and disappointing.

I flew out the next day, glad that I had not cancelled my trip, since all had been quite peaceful that week. Post my return; however, as I read about the fresh bout of protests there, I wondered what Salim would have to say about them. Whatever it is, I hope it helps douse the fears of yet another bunch of 'foolhardy' tourists.

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US Updates

Barack Obama's jobs plan aimed at voters, not debt talks 24

July, 2011

WASHINGTON : President Barack Obama's call for new job-creation measures won't make it easier to reach a budget-cutting deal with Republicans in Congress, but it could make it easier for him to win reelection next year.

As the Democratic president pushes Congress to complete a deal that would avoid a potentially catastrophic debt default, Obama must balance the concerns of two very different groups: Republicans who want deep spending cuts and independent voters who are struggling to make headway in a sluggish economy.

Guess who got more sympathy on Wednesday at Obama's first formal press conference since March? Hint: it wasn't the group that he compared to his school-age

children.

"Malia and Sasha generally finish their homework a day ahead of time. ... They don't wait until the night before, they're not pulling allnighters. They're 13 and 10. You know, Congress can do the same thing," he said at a news conference. Obama's stance makes it more likely that Congress will be pulling all-nighters as an Aug. 2 deadline for raising the debt ceiling approaches. His call for new construction loans and an extended payroll-tax break would probably add hundreds of billions of dollars to budget deficits in the short term.

That makes it more difficult for negotiators to reach the $2 trillion plus dollars in deficit savings that will likely be needed for Congress to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit

before early August, when the treasury department says it will run out of money to cover the nation's bills.

It's possible that Obama has other numbers in mind. The US Federal Reserve projects that the unemployment rate, now at 9.1. per cent, will be around 8 per cent when he comes up for reelection in November 2012.

In recent decades, no president has been reelected with unemployment over 7.2 per cent. Neither job-creation proposal is new -- Obama backed additional construction spending last year, and the White House floated a payroll-tax break extension several weeks ago. Senate Democrats last week called for both proposals to be included in the budget talks, right before they hit a standstill.

It's official : Maria Shriver files to divorce Arnie

LOS ANGELES : Maria Shriver stood by Arnold Schwarzenegger when he ran for California's governorship in 2003, even after several women accused him of lecherous behaviour . On Friday, 25 years after their wedding on Cape Cod, she filed for divorce.

The former television journalist and Kennedy family heiress cited irreconcilable differences but offered no additional details U.S. President Barack Obama departs the White House in Washington enroute to Camp David in Maryland.

Al-Qaida facing financial crunch and manpower shortage: Report

WASHINGTON: Details of communication between al-Qaida leaders derived from Osama bin Laden's computers indicate that the terror network is facing massive financial crunch and difficulties in replacing cadres lost in combat with US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other places, a media report said on Saturday.

During the six weeks of intensive study of the materials obtained from Abbottabad compound of Osama bin Laden, where he was killed by special US forces on May 2, the CIA-led inter-agency team prepared some 400 intelligence reports.

The most important information gleaned from the 15 computers and 100 storage devices recovered from his compound is the information about the internal strains of the terrorist outfit and the repeated attempt of bin Laden to carry out attacks on the US, The Washington Post reported.

"The trove makes it clear that bin Laden's primary goal -- you can call it an obsession -- was to attack the US homeland," a senior US counter-terrorism official was quoted as saying.

"He pushed for this every way he could," he added. According to The Washington Post over the past year, the al-Qaida leader fielded e-mails from followers lamenting the toll being taken by CIA drone "explosions" as well as the network's financial plight. "Bin Laden approved the creation of a counter-intelligence unit to root out traitors and spies, only to receive a complaint in mid-2010.

about the breakup. Shriver did not list a date when the couple separated , although they announced they had done so on May 9. A week later, the former California governor admitted he fathered a child with a member of his household staff years ago.

The filing, which Shriver signed nearly two weeks ago, signals an end to a union that brought together a film action star and a princess of the Kennedy clan.

US President Barack Obama salutes before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC. Obama was headed to the Camp David presidential retreat.

Strauss-Kahn spends first full day free of house arrest

NEW YORK : With the sex assault case against Dominique StraussKahn hanging by a thread, damning new revelations emerged Saturday about his accuser whose mounting credibility problems prompted the former IMF chief's release from house arrest. Buoyed by a New York judge's order a day earlier to end all restrictions on him except foreign travel, Strauss-Kahn was enjoying his first full day of freedom -- as prosecutors scrambled to salvage some sort of case against the once-high-flying French politician.

While the charges against Strauss-Kahn stand, the case has nearly imploded in the wake of

investigations of the Guinea-born hotel maid who accused him of assault, with the discoveries leading prosecutors to acknowledge she lied to a grand jury about the case. In a letter to defense lawyers, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said the woman had provided a "false" narrative of her life -including a gang rape which she later admitted never occurred -- as part of her application process for US asylum. Among other details gleaned about the maid were her possible links to criminal activities, including drug dealing and money laundering, a law enforcement official told The New York Times.

Latest standoff: Pakistan, US squabble over drone base

WASHINGTON: You have a friend you invited in as a guest in one of your bedrooms when things were good. But the friendship has soured and you want the guest to leave. No way, says the friend, refusing to vacate. You can't call the cops because the friend is himself a supercop. To make matters worse, someone in your house has sublet that guest room to another party who backs your guest. Your house if full of interlopers you thought were your friends.

Welcome to the bizarre houseguest drama involving Pakistan, United States, the "forcible occupation" of the Shamsi air base, and some bit players such as the UAE. Located in remote Balochistan, Shamsi is from where the US is said to be launching some of its drone attacks aimed at Pakistani terrorists. Pakistan now wants US to vacate Shamsi. US response: "Sorry.

Can't. Won't."

First offered to Washington in the early days after 9/11 by the Musharraf regime when it simpered before the American threat that it will be bombed

back to the Stone Age if it did not cooperate, Shamsi's US operations was a well-kept secret till February 2009 when Internet trawlers ferreted out Google earth photos showing drone aircraft at the base.

News that the US was using Pakistani facilities to carry out its Predator campaign within Pakistani territory against Pakistani targets embarrassed Islamabad no end, sparking off a campaign to evict American assets. Amid growing outrage about the Drone campaign and the civilian casualties it is causing (contested by the US), Pakistan managed to get Washington to vacate the Jacobabad air base, the second of the two airbases US was operating from. But Shamsi remained unresolved, and the US continued to use it despite Pakistani protests.

How could Washington refuse to leave a military airbase against the express will of the host government? This is where things turn murky.

For one, it appears that the air base is not even under Pakistani control. Like with some other parts of the country

(notable areas of Pak-occupied Kashmir which it ceded to China and parts of the Khyber Pakhtunwa given up to extremists), that Islamabad has relinquished to earn itself the dubious reputation as a rentier state, it turned out that Shamsi has been leased out to some Gulf potentates.

During the Pakistan national assembly debate on May 13 following the Abbottabad operation, Pakistan air chief Rao Qamar Suleman reportedly told lawmakers in camera than Shamsi has been under the control of the United Arab Emirates and PAF has no say in the matter. In fact, the Shamsi air strip was originally built for Arab sheikhs who flew into Pakistan to hunt for the houbara bustard, a rare bird some Arabs believe has aphrodisiac properties.

Now, the US-UAE arrangement in Shamsi had rendered the Pakistani establishment impotent.

But earlier this week, Pakistani Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar rose up against the deal, telling the media that Islamabad had

asked Washington to leave Shamsi. The US responded with an in-your-face rejection, saying "that base is neither vacated nor being vacated."

In fact, Washington went a step further, suggesting that Mukhtar was merely posturing against the US to mollify inflamed public opinion and arrangements for continued use of Shamsi were very much in place. Backing the US position, another federal minister, Firdous Awan, undermined her own colleague, saying news of Pakistan demanding US exit from Shamsi was "bogus."

US officials publicly remain cryptic about the Shamsi situation.

State department spokesman Mark Toner on Friday referred all questions about the subject to the Pakistani Government "for their comments and clarification of their comments," adding that he was "not aware that we have any military personnel on that base."

The addendum suggested that the CIA is in control of the base -- and will remain so regardless of Islamabad's views on the matter.

STAR AGE ARIES

March-21 to April-20

CANCER

June-22 to July-23

This is an encouraging month for you, in which you will get all-round success. The first week of the month requires you to be more constructive and original in your ideas and plans for the rest of the month. You will be able to get the cooperation and support of your superiors. New offers and opportunities should be picked up by the middle of the month.

This month hard work will ultimately pay off and bring rich dividends.

Substantial gain in business and social status is indicated in the first week of the month. Concentration on your current work is needed and should be finished up as early as possible. You will see increased responsibilities and obligation towards your family members by the middle of the month.

A favourable and pleasant month. You may be able to sort out many of your problems early this month. Change in routine for good is indicated. You may get gains through your superiors or other influential persons. A new start in September-24 the mid-month will be beneficial.

Appreciation from the superiors will to boost your confidence. Secrecy at your October-22 place of work is required.

LIBRA

CAPRICON

December-23 to Januar-20

You enjoy love, companionship and warmth of happy relationships as you share time with friends and family this month. It is important for you to be in the right place at the right time. You should check your speculative tendencies. Publicity and public relation campaigns should go particularly well.

Where romance is concerned, your luck can change for the better.

TAURUS

April-21 to May-20

LEO

July-24 to August-23

SCORPIO

October-23 to November-22

AQUARIES

January-21 to February-19

This is a month of joy and celebrations. The first half of the month will be peaceful and harmonious as you will get some offers initially to supplement your income. Your superiors have high hopes for you. The domestic front will remain cool and family members will back you up as usual.

A hopeful and courageous month.

The initial week of the month is a bit busy and hectic and you may feel some tension mentally. Patience is the need of the hour. Success in new business ventures is likely by the middle of the month and travel around the city is also indicated. Some of you may have to postpone travelling plans.

Emotions and relationships come into focus this month. You will find yourself in a better position to get what you want. If you are angling for a new contract, be sure to hold out for much better terms than the ones being offered. You will be delighted to find that the atmosphere at home is improved. The mid-month is also a favourable time for socialising.

A light and playful attitude is needed to gain peace and harmony this month. The first half of the month will be a bit too demanding as compared to the second half. Your authority will be established more firmly if you bring cooperation and teamwork in your attitude. You should get off to an early start with your work. Do not leave routine affairs until the last moment.

GEMINI

May-21 to June-21

VIRGO

August-24 to September-23

SAGITTARIUS

November-23 to December-22

PISCES

February-20 to March-20

July, 2011

25

This month is to develop your inner qualities. Be careful while dealing with financial matters as you might tend to be careless at one point or the other. In the second week of the month, there will be some sort of get-together or function. Financial gain during the mid month is possible if you make a concrete effort towards it.

This month, beware of criticism from colleagues or friends. The first half of the month is more hopeful and optimistic than the second one. You will be satisfied with your current financial position and try to manage and straighten out domestic problems successfully. Good news in the first or second week may perk you up considerably.

Generally, it is going to be a normal month for you. You will be eager to tie up your affairs and get your accounts into some semblance of order. Local travel in the first half of the month might enable you to accomplish far more than you had hoped. In the second half of the month it would be best to take things easy and not to get overly impatient.

Inner and outer changes are on the cards this month. You would feel that you are more in control of your own destiny. It would be best to handle work on your own. Travel is likely in the first half. Educative programmes may be attended. Unexpected expenditure at home is likely to upset your mood. Mid-month is good for socialising with friends and close relatives.

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Pure water and air can keep a man healthy. Pranayams helps balance the air and the water elements in the body.

Water is the link between body and life and also between food and age. A person who consumes pure water and air stays healthy and lives long. So, eat less food, drink more water and breathe lot of good air.

26

FIJI SPORTS

July, 2011

Wales Under-20 38-24 Ireland Under-20 Wales U20 (21) 38

Tries: Robling, Cook, Williams, Hill, Young Cons: Shingler, Morgan Pens: Morgan 3

Ireland U20 (14) 24

Tries: Conway, Boyle, Henderson Cons: McKinney, Jackson 2 Pens: Jackson Wales try-scorer Liam Williams is tackled by Iain Henderson and Kieran Marmion of Ireland Wales were never behind against Ireland in Treviso Wales ended their IRB Junior World Championship campaign on a high with victory over Ireland to claim seventh place in Treviso, Italy.

Lewis Robling set the tone with a fourth-minute try, with Macauley Cook and Liam Williams also crossing to build a 21-14 lead at the interval.

Wales then took full control with tries from Cory Hill and Thomas Young.

Ireland, who scored two first-half tries, had the final say when Iain Henderson crossed in the last minute.

The victory gave Wales a record of three wins and two defeats in the competition, and matches their seventh-placed finish at last year's tournament.

Richard Webster's side Wbeat Argentina 34-8 in their opening game and were too strong for hosts Italy in a 56-6 win.

But those victories were followed by two defeats - a humiliating 0-92 mauling at the hands of reigning champions New Zealand, and then

Vijay Singh qualifies for the Open Championship but likely to stay back

St. George’s at Sandwich but unfortunately the 48-year-old Fijian will not be able to participate in the event owing to his injury at Aronimink Golf Club at the AT&T National last week.

Singh had withdrawn from the tournament in Philadelphia when his back pain soared after the second round and decided to call it a day at Aronimink. He had shot rounds of 68 and 70 at one of the most difficult par-70 courses on the tour, trailing the leader K.J.Choi by just five strokes.

Singh has been battering poor form and injuries for several years.

He did not show up for the US Open Sectional Qualifiers, bringing an end to his 67 consecutive major appearances.

Currently ranked number 63rd in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), Singh was not eligible to play at the third major of the season and was relying heavily on a strong finish at Aronimink. After losing all hopes to get a spot in the Open at Sandwich, Singh got lucky on Monday, July 4, when the organizers announced his qualification for the event.

For the current winner of the season, Rory McIlroy (US Open winner), Charl Schwartzel (Masters Winner), and K.J.Choi (Players Championship.

a 20-34 reverse to Fiji.

"We put in a good performance in the end and we're really chuffed with the result," said Wales captain Cook.

"I'm really proud of the boys, they dug deep. After the loss to Fiji we needed pull together and pull out a performance. I thought we did that."

The defeat to New Zealand prompted Welsh Rugby Union head of rugby Joe Lydon to announce a review into Wales' performance at the tournament and the structure that underpins the nation's agegrade rugby.

Coach Richard Webster then voiced his concerns over the youth setup by claiming the players' development is being held back by a lack of competitive action for their club sides.

"We wanted a lot better [than seventh] coming into the tournament," added lock Blues, who is part of the Blues region.

"If we would have beaten Fiji we would have been going for fifth, or finished sixth at worst. But we were fighting for seventh place in the end and it could have been worse - we could have been eighth."

New Zealand will face England

later on Sunday in the final, while France will battle against Australia for third place.

TEAMS

Wales U20 : Steve Shingler (London Irish); Liam Williams (Llanelli), Iolo Evans (Scarlets/Llanelli), Lewis Robling (Dragons/Newport), Ross Jones (Ospreys/Bridgend); Matthew Morgan (Ospreys/Swansea), Jonathan Evans (Dragons/Newport); Will Taylor (Ospreys/Swansea), Kirby Myhill (Scarlets/Llanelli), Will Griff John (Blues/Pontypridd), Macauley Cook (capt, Blues/Cardiff), Lloyd Peers

(Ospreys/Bridgend), Luke Hamilton (Blues/Glamorgan Wanderers), Thomas Young (Blues/Cardiff), Ben Thomas (Ospreys/Bridgend).

Replacements : Jamie Sollis (Dragons/Cross Keys), Lewis Smout (Blues/Pontypridd), Cory Hill (Blues/Pontypridd), Owen Sheppeard (Blues/Pontypridd), Lewis Jones (Blues/Pontypridd), Rheon James (Scarlets/Carmarthen Quins), Dale Ford (Scarlets/Llanelli).

Ireland U20 : Andrew Conway (Blankrock/Leinster), Craig Gilroy (Dungannon/Ulster), Alex Kelly (UCD/Leinster), JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians/Munster), Andrew Boyle (UCD/Leinster); James McKinney (Queen's University/Ulster), Kieran Marmion (UWIC/Exile); Finlay Bealham (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), David Doyle (UCD/Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Daniel Qualter (Buccaneers/Connacht), Iain Henderson (Queen's University/Ulster), Shane Buckley (Garryowen/Munster), Aaron Conneely (Galway Corinthians/Connacht), Jordi Murphy (capt, Lansdowne/Leinster).

Replacements: Jonathan Murphy (Banbridge/Ulster), James Tracy (UCD/Leinster), Michael Kearney (Clontarf/Leinster), Eoin McKeon (Galwegians/Connacht), Peter du Toit (UCD/Leinster), Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster), Brendan Macken (Blackrock/Leinster).

Pacific Nations Cup ready for kick-off

The 2011 IRB Pacific Nations Cup kicks off this weekend with Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and Japan looking to step up their preparations for this year's Rugby World Cup. The tournament, set to be contested July 2-13, was originally due to be hosted in Japan, but following the catastrophic earthquake that hit the country in March, it will now be predominantly hosted in Fiji. The action gets underway on Saturday with Japan playing host to Samoa in Tokyo with Fiji tackling Tonga in Lautoka. Samoa took the honours last year but they lost to Japan on the way to the title - and the Brave Blossoms' coach John Kirwan is hoping for a repeat performance at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium. "We've had one month of the Asian 5 Nations, then we had a 10-day camp and now we have the Pacific Nations Cup, which has been incredibly good for us," said Kirwan. "We're playing teams above us in the rankings, physical matches and it's really helped us.

"Last year we had two wins against Samoa and Tonga and our whole life revolved around PNC. We wanted to win it and we wanted to perform in it. This year I need to be a little careful just to keep my eye on the World Cup, so I need to take a few risks and play some people

who need to play to see if they can take that step up." Fiji will face Tonga at Churchill Park in the first of three scheduled clashes before

the World Cup with two further warm-up matches scheduled for August. Tonga failed to win a game in the 2010 competition but were

involved in the pick of the matches that saw them squander a 31-0 lead against Fiji on their way to a 41-38 defeat. Tonga lead the headto-head stats with three wins to Fiji's two but the Fijians' hopes have been boosted by the return of their all time top points-scorer Nicky Little. The 34-year-old has not played any international rugby since breaking his leg in Fiji's outstanding win against Wales at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, but his steady game could still be key to Fijian success. Lining up for Fiji following a tough domestic season are the likes of Racing Metro's Albert Vulivuli, Toulon's Gabriel Lovobalavu and young Clermont fullback Kini Murimuivalu. Fiji coach Sam Domoni has made it clear he expects better from his side. "Tonga will be physical and we cannot afford what we did last year," Domoni said. "We have to be on our toes from the start." Tonga enter the competition fresh from this year's Churchill Cup where they thrashed the United States before losing to Italy 'A' in the Plate Final. The likes of Kurt and Daniel Morath will be key to Tongan success, along with Alipate Fatafehi, Semisi Telefoni, Kisi Pulu, Viliami Ma'afu and Taufa'ao Filise.

FOOD

July, 2011

27

Quick-fix Refreshing Prawn and Lettuce Salad INGREDIENTS

150gms prawns (25 count) 100gms mixed lettuce leaves 50gms cherry tomatoes 10ml olive oil 8ml Lemon juice 2gms Salt 2gms crushed black peppercorns

INGREDIENTS

Asian Glass Noodle Salad INGREDIENTS

120 gms Asian glass noodles 80 gms green cucumber 50gms bean curd 10ml soy sauce (light) 2 cloves garlic 2gms salt 2gms sugar

METHOD

Soak the glass noodles in cold water.

Now slice the cucumber and chill it for a while.

On a cutting board, cut the bean curd carefully into juliennes, i.e., scrape it nicely.

Toss together all these ingredients and some soy sauce.

Add the chopped garlic, salt and sugar.

Serve the salad chilled.

Don't miss these wholesome salad recipes that fill you up!

Chicken Caesar salad

250gms Romaine lettuce 20gms Parmesan cheese 5gms each anchovies, garlic 5ml lemon juice 120ml olive oil 2gms salt 100 gms chicken breast 1 slice white bread

METHOD

Marinate the prawns with salt and pepper and cook over a grill.

Toss all the ingredients along with the prawns and serve.

Note: You may use different lettuce leaves for this salad and can add beansprouts to it for a healthy bite.

Salad Meals

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

S

Combine anchovies, garlic and Parmesan cheese with olive oil.

Blend in lemon juice and check seasoning.

Marinate the chicken breast with salt and pepper and cook over the grill. Cut into cubes and reserve for the salad.

Toss the Romaine lettuce in with dressing.

Add chicken cubes.

Feta Greek Salad

150gms bell peppers (3 colours) 20 gms cherry tomatoes 20gms cucumber 20gms Feta cheese 10gms black olives 20gms Romaine lettuce 10ml vinegar 30ml olive oil 5gms dried oregano

100gms French beans (boiled) 100gms carrot 100gms green peas 100gms potatoes 100gms

METHOD

METHOD

Cut the vegetables into cubes and the cherry tomatoes into half.

Tear the lettuce and cut the feta into cubes.

Blend together the vinegar and olive oil and season.

Toss all the ingredients along with the dressing and sprinkle dried oregano on top.

Russian Salad pineapple 20ml fresh cream 50gms mayonnaise 1 boiled egg 50gms lettuce Salt, pepper to taste

METHOD

Cut the vegetables into cubes.

Take all ingredients except potatoes and mayonnaise in a bowl and toss.

Then, add potatoes and toss.

Add the salt, pepper and mayonnaise and mix.

Garnish with boiled egg and pineapple.

tarted with Mediterranean aspirations, Drizzle has sadly lost the plot in a mound of cabbage. Yes, at Drizzle, no matter what you order, it comes overwhelmed in a sea of cabbage, and, mind you, it's not your red cabbage or some other exotic variety, but the humble green cabbage, sometimes cut artistically, and mostly indifferently, but always ubiquitous. The menu comes in a fancy scroll, and is a fairly exhaustive one that does a fair bit of Mediterranean meanderings, and then announces its global intentions. The rock chicken doesn't much rock but it's passable in terms of taste and texture, though the portions are minuscule, and, you guessed it, completely cabbage covered. The crispy

Drizzle fizzle

chicken salad looked and tasted suspiciously similar to rock chicken in a more dressed up avatar. The grilled fish, lost in the cabbage garden, held an appeal for the taste buds, but the portions again are gratingly small. The Peruvian beef kebabs (the Latin America now!) come looking nice and wholesome, but perhaps it's an item best left to the Peruvian chefs. This place on ECR started on the right

track if initial reviews are to be taken into consideration, but presently apart from their dimly lit interiors with a soupcon of drizzle witnessed through a glass enclosure and creatively crafted tree bark furniture, there's nothing that much pleases the soul, much less the stomach. The food takes a long time coming, the napkins are horribly crumpled, the dishes are overpriced, the servings are small, and the cabbage is the king. I would hate to rain on Drizzle's parade, but when you don't even get the pizza right, then, isn't it time to take things on the flood and change your course? Maybe then, Drizzle would be a nice place to w (h) et our appetites.

From the Grapevines 28

July, 2011

Be it from the “coconut wireless” or just via grapevines, there are always gossips in every society and at level of groups of people. It is human habit and for the part cannot be avoided and will remain as part of human interaction and communication.

Our community has never been free of the grapevine stories. As a matter of fact, grapevines are not always mere gossips or untruths, but in the unlettered societies are the main source of information despite the tendency of changes,additions and minuses to details in the retelling. It is hearsay and many times lack the real source of information. Grapevines are a great way to get a feedback of what’s happening around us and cannot be totally disregarded. Often they provide a lead to something real and true, if you investigate and get to the bottom of it.

Here’s a selection of this month. Feel free to write us call us and give your “grapevines”.

The truth about 10,000 copies, Tom Walia

Good friend Tom Walia was at the Sacramento Soccer tournament last month and happened to make an announcement over the load speakers that his ASIA TIMES was crossing a 5000 copies in circulation threshold enticing Fiji readers to check his paper out.

Guess what you got hurt most? Right! The CEO of the largest newspaper “out of the world” got mad at the announcer and ordered him to make an immediate announcement that his paper had a whopping 10,000 circulation. FIJI SUN knows the secret and will publish the actual facts specially since no copies are found at several major Fiji stores and Indian groceries.

Pathfinder ordersCEO to:“take your paper or we’ll trash it”

So the CEO goes and tries to make good on a lost public relation with Kamal at his Pathfinder Travel office. Last year he had bad mouthedPathfinder Travel big time. After getting foot back in the door, the CEO of the “largest newspaper” demanded payment for a “free” AD he run a few months ago. When the response was

Shimon Kanaih to take over as new FANA president

Rumor has it that this time it is certain that Daven Kumar will step down and probation officer Shimon Kanaih will take over as the new president. Well the way the general election is held without a quorum, there is all the possibility that Shimon will win hands down with support from his Sangam buddies. Skepticism is already being expressed whether Shimon will bring in the same support that Daven seized from Cal State University management team as the university engineer. “You can never say,” quipped one observer, “the man has MBA and lots experience in sports so he can do a lot. Plus, don’t forget he has the full backing of the largest newspaper. He cannot go wrong.”

FIJI AWARDS NIGHT

Among many nominees are: Best student Best radio host Best Business Best media Best professionals Doctors, lawyers, teachers, writers, pharmacists etc.,

Best artist Painters, graphic designers, photographers, dancers, musicians, singers, performers and poets.

SPECIAL CATEGORY

Associates! Members! Fellows!in the field of professional management.

Nominations are still open.

You can email your nominations at:

fijisun@gmail.com

Fiji police Reunion

GRAPEVINES

THE FORMER FIJI POLICE OFFICER'S REUNION WILL BE HELD ON SUNDAYTHE 4TH OF SEPTEMBER 2011 AT SANGAM PALACE HALL 11267 125ASTREET, SURREY, BC. PLEASE INFORM ALL THE FORMER POLICE OFFICER'SIN YOUR AREA.

S K Mishra

(Former Senior Superintendent of Police) Email: mishsub@hotmail.com

July, 2011

29

30

July, 2011

Fiji Festival 2011 Scenes at Cal State Hayward PHOTO GALLERY

July, 2011

31

32

July, 2011

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