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VOL. 24 • NO. 47 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 • P.O. BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487 • PERIODICAL PERMIT USPS 017699 • 25 cents

Chinmaya Mission to receive Nagendra Singh International Peace Award Chinmaya Mission Worldwide will be conferred the “Dr Nagendra Singh International Peace Award” on Nov. 24, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

On behalf of Chinmaya Mission, Swami Prakashananda and members of Chinmaya Mission Delhi, will receive the award from the Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu.

The award has been instituted in the memory of Dr Nagendra Singh, first Indian judge at International Court of Justice, Hague.

Swami Swaroopananda, spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission, in a message to Chinmaya Mission members said Pujya Gurudev declared as the organization’s motto, “To give maximum happiness to the maximum people for the maximum time.

This recognition is indeed a memorable milestone in the eternal journey of fulfilling the Master’s mighty vision, by rendering selfless service to all.

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Rashtra Nirmaan

Swami Swaroopananda and the International Goodwill Society of India, for bestowing this honour upon Chinmaya Mission.”

The First Justice Nagendra Singh International Peace Award established by the International Goodwill Society of India (IGSI), is a nonpolitical, social and scholastic association.

In 2016, Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar received the Nagendra Singh International Peace Award.

Trump blasts Pakistan in interview

U.S. President Donald Trump criticised Pakistan for doing nothing to help the U.S. in combating terror. The comments were part of a wide-ranging interview to Fox News’s Chris Wallace, where he spoke on topics like allegations about his state of mind, transfers in the White House, and Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Mr. Trump said that former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden could have been caught a lot sooner. “Living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan, in what I guess they considered a nice mansion... I don’t know, I’ve seen nicer... but living in Pakistan, right next to the military academy… everybody in Pakistan knew he was there and we give Pakistan $1.3 billion a year and they don’t tell him [President Barack Obama about bin Laden’s whereabouts]?”

“Which we don’t give them anymore [$1.3 billion] by the way.

I ended it. Because they don’t do anything for us, they don’t do a damn thing for us,” he said.

The U.S. has given Pakistan some $33 billion in aid since 2002, $14 billion of which was to help Pakistan combat terrorism. Not satisfied with the outcomes, the Trump administration has withheld about $800 million in aid this year from Pakistan.

On Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denying any involvement in the killing of journalist Jamal Kashoggi, Mr. Trump said, “I don’t know... I mean who can really know? But I can say this, he’s got many people now that say he had no knowledge,” adding that there are sanctions on Saudi individuals now, but “at the same time we do have an ally and I want to stick with an ally that has... in many ways, been very good.”

Satellite image of Sardar Patel’s statue

The image shows the statue built alongside the banks of river Narmada in Gujarat.

An American company has taken a stunning image of the world’s tallest statue from space.

According to media reports, the 597-feet Statue of Unity of India’s “Iron Man” has been shared by the American Constellation of Satellites owned by Sky Lab. The image, captured on November 15, shows the statue built alongside the banks of river Narmada in Gujarat.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Statue of Unity to the nation on October 31, the foundation stone of which he had laid as the Gujarat Chief Minister in 2013 at the Sadhu Bet river island facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the River Narmada.

The statue has been designed by renowned Indian sculptor Ram V. Suthar, 93, of Maharashtra, who has designed 50 other monumental structures including statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and G.B. Pant, among others.

The Statue of Unity complex is spread across 20,000 square metres and has a public plaza overlooking the river, food stalls, laser-light and sound show, gardens, hotel and convention hall, amusement park, research centres and a museum besides a memorial and exhibition depicting the life and times of Sardar Patel.

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PAGE 2 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

COMMUNITY

President Trump lights Diya marking Diwali President Donald Trump on Tuesday said U.S.’ relationship with India can act as a “bulwark� for freedom, prosperity and peace as he celebrated Diwali in the White House along with eminent Indian-Americans.

It is the second consecutive year that President Trump has celebrated the largest festival of India and Indian Americans in the White House.

Mr. Trump said he was thrilled to celebrate Diwali at the White House. “It was my great honor to host a celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, in the Roosevelt Room at the @WhiteHouse this afternoon.

Very, very special people!â€? Mr. Trump said in his tweet. “This ceremony signiďŹ es the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. It is a jubilant occasion that brings loved ones, neighbors, and communities closer together,â€? Mr. Trump said before lighting the ceremonial diya in the historic

Roosevelt Room of the White House.

He said the shining lights remind people to “seek wisdom, to give thanks, and to always cherish and love the ones who grace our lives�. “Our nation is blessed to be home to millions of hardworking citizens of Indian and South East Asian heritage to enrich our country in countless ways. Together we are one proud American family.

Do we agree with that? I think so. I think we do. Right? Better, believe it,� he said. He said the United States has deep ties with India and he was grateful for his friendship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Modi is my friend and now her [Ivanka] friend and has great respect for India and the Indian people that I can say,� said the U.S. President as he introduced his daughter to the audience, who was present in the room. “Absolutely,� replied Ms. Ivanka, who had visited India

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in the Diwali ceremonial lighting of the Diya as India’s Ambassador to the U.S. Navtej Sarna (right) looks on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, U.S. on November 13, 2018. | Photo Credit: Reuters last year. She was the ďŹ rst top the talks were moving though it Pai; Manisha Singh, Acting Under Secretary of the DepartoďŹƒcial of the Trump adminis- was tough. “We’re trying very hard to ment of State; Seema Verma, tration to travel to India to attend the Global Entrepreneur- make better trade deals with Administrator of the Centres ship Summit in Hyderabad in India. But, they’re very good of Medicare and Medicaid traders. They’re very good ne- Services; Uttam Dhillon, ActNovember last year.

Mr. Trump also touched gotiators. You would say right. ing Administrator of the Drug upon the ongoing negotiations The best. So we’re working. Enforcement Administration; between the U.S. and India on And it’s moving along,â€? Mr. Neil Chatterjee, Chairman of a trade deal but indicated that Trump said. the Federal Energy Regulatory Along with nearly two dozen Commission and Raj Shah, top Indian American oďŹƒcials the Deputy White House Press of his Administration, Presi- Secretary. dent Trump invited the Indian The ďŹ rst White House DiwaAmbassador to the U.S., Navtej li celebrations was held in 2003 Singh Sarna, his wife Dr. Avina under the then U.S. President Sarna, and his Special Assis- George W. Bush, who never attant Pratik Mathur to be present tended the celebrations in perduring the White House Diwali son. A senior administration of celebrations. ďŹ cial represented him.

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 • PAGE 3

VIEWPOINT Scientific approach to the Sabarimala controversy Faith and reason stand at odds with each other. Applying reason in the matters of faith, therefore, doesn’t work.

That is the folly in making the Sabarimala temple issue about gender equality.

By Markandey Katju T M Krishna’s article in the Hindu, titled ‘Sabarimala and the quest for equality,’ reveals the superficial and emotional but unscientific approach of the writer towards the Sabarimala controversy.

Before dealing with the article, I would like to briefly describe my own philosophy. I am an atheist. I believe all religions are superstitions, and the truth lies in science, which, unlike religion, never claims to be final but is constantly developing.

Having said that, I would also like to add that most people in India are unlike me – they are deeply religious.

What is the basis of religion?

It is the feeling of helplessness before natural and social forces. All early religion was nature worship, e.g. the Vedic gods Indra, Agni, Surya, etc.

These forces could benefit the human or harm him or her, like rain, fire, etc. Since humans did not know the real nature of these forces, they thought they were some supernatural entities that must be propitiated to avoid their wrath or get their favour.

Most people are poor, and their lives are so miserable that they may go mad if they did not have religion as a psychological support. But even most middle-class and rich people in India are religious. This is because the chance factor is very important in our lives.

We plan something, but something else happens. Thus, we cannot control our lives. For instance, in business, there can be losses due to bad management, competition, recession, or a change in government policy. Hence, most businesspersons in India are highly religious, and seek to propitiate goddess Laxmi to avoid losses.

But it is not due to any supernatural entity but due to the low level of development of science as yet in the world that we cannot control our lives.

Even today, in India (and many other countries), religion has a powerful hold on the minds of most people, and will continue to do so for several generations, maybe for over 100 years from now, until science has advanced to such a high level that we can control our lives.

It is important to understand that the basis of religion is faith (shraddha), not reason. Hence, it is a mistake to test religious beliefs on the anvil of reason.

For instance, in Srinagar, there is a Hazratbal shrine, where it is believed that the hair of Prophet Muhammad is kept.

Now, one cannot ask the ques-

tion what proof is there that it is the Prophet’s hair.

The only question that can be legitimately put is: do Muslims coming to this shrine believe that it is the Prophet’s hair? The answer is yes, and the matter ends there. Many years ago, the hair disappeared, and there were huge disturbances in the Kashmir Valley, which only ended when the hair was found.

In Chitrakut in Uttar Pradesh, there is a “Sita rasoi”, where it is believed Sita used to cook food for Rama and Laxman.

In Lourdes, France, it is believed that the Virgin Mary had appeared in the nineteenth century, and also that the church there has healing powers. Millions of people come there every year. The same belief is about Velankanni in Tamil Nadu, known as the Lourdes of the East.

In Kandy, Sri Lanka, there is a temple presumably having Buddha’s tooth.

The Mormons of America believe that Angel Moroni appeared in 1823 to Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon sect, and presented him golden tablets on which was written the Mormon faith.

These are all matters of faith, and cannot be tested rationally. One cannot ask how Mary could give birth to Jesus while remaining a virgin, or how could Prophet Muhammad fly on a winged horse, Burraq, from Mecca to Jerusalem and then to heaven?

Now coming to Sabarimala.

The devotees (called Ayyappans, who become celibate, wear black clothes, fast partially, and pray for 41 days before beginning their pilgrimage) believe that Lord Ayyappa is a Naishthik Brahmachari (celibate) who does not want menstruating women in his presence.

One cannot test this belief on the anvil of reason. It is a strongly held belief, and some people may even be prepared to die for it. If menstruating women are allowed, it would destroy the very nature of the temple.

So, it is wrong to believe that it is the political parties who are obstructing the Supreme Court verdict (though they may have joined the agitation seeing political benefit).

With regard to the majority judges on the Sabarimala bench, it must be said with respect that they took an abstract, theoretical, avant garde view of equality, women’s dignity, etc, ignoring that religion is still powerful in India, and attacking religious beliefs is counterproductive and makes people more bigoted.

The correct view was of Justice Indu Malhotra, who, displaying the balance and restraint that characterizes great judges, pointed out that in a country with such diversity like India, it is extremely impru-

dent for judges to intervene in religious beliefs and practices.

She has observed that the right to equality in Article 14 of the Constitution cannot be read in isolation; it must be read along with Article 25, which guarantees the right to hold religious beliefs and observe religious practices, and the two rights have to be harmonised.

If the Sabarimala verdict is followed, one will have to interfere with hundreds of religious places. There are temples that do not permit women, others that do not permit men.

Recently, it was reported that a lady Member of Legislative Assembly entered a temple in Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh, and there was an uproar because women are not permitted there.

The temple priest later said he was not present, otherwise he would never have allowed entry to the woman. The temple was washed with Ganga water for purification, and the idol taken to the Sangam in Allahabad for cleaning.

Moreover, though in theory there is no bar, in practice hardly 1-2 per cent mosques permit entry to Muslim women, who have to pray at home.

So, can the Supreme Court be selective? Should it not also direct that Muslim women must be allowed entry in mosques?

Krishna, in his article, has written against the stand taken

by Shashi Tharoor and Nirupama Menon Rao, but it is not necessary to go into that. However, he is mistaken that the

practice of denying menstruating women into Sabarimala is due to caste prejudice and misogyny.

What has caste to do with it?

All women of that description, whatever be their caste, are denied entry. And the practice does not denigrate women; it is only because the presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, is believed to be celibate. In fact, among the demonstrators against the Supreme Court verdict, there were as many, if not more, women who support the old custom.

(Markandey Katju is former judge of the Supreme Court of India and former chairman of the Press Council of India.)

—Swarajya

Sabarimala, and the quest for equality

By TM KRISHNA Sabarimala, it appears, could be our new touchstone for understanding liberals, especially from Kerala. The intellectual emptiness in the arguments of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao on the Sabarimala imbroglio require both investigation and introspection.

Mr. Tharoor contends dangerously that “abstract notions of constitutional principle also have to pass the test of societal acceptance”. As pointed out by lawyer Suhrith Parthasarathy “This wasn’t a verdict based on abstract notions of equality. On the other hand, it gives meaning to the Constitution’s abstract guarantees.” Would Mr. Tharoor also recommend that the triple talaq pronouncement be rethought if conservative Muslims took to the streets in large numbers? And it scares me to think of what his position will be on the Ayodhya case if it does not satisfy his prescription.

The Supreme Court does not, and should not, take into account mystical notions and practices as the foundation for its considered opinion. While it does consider the culture of people, every practice of culture or faith must pass the test of the Constitution of India. It is a cultural document in the sense that within its intentions, principles, pronouncements and guidelines lies the fibre of the people who make up this land. Hence its limitations are also our own social, cultural and political wrinkles. But the makers of the Constitution wished and hoped that the fundamental rights would represent an ideal of India.

They were, and we are, yearning for an India where all forms of discrimination and segregation cease to be practiced.

The Constitution is not a heartless, emotionless document; it is a passionate seeking for human upliftment.Therefore, the court should respond with care, compassion and empathy for the citizens of India, especially those who are at the receiving end of a discriminative practice, disregarding society’s majoritarian impulses.

Simply put, if the wishes of Ayyappa lead to an unjust limitation of access for women between the ages of 10 and 50 who want his blessing, then his wishes have to be set aside.

The cornerstone of the Hindu tradi-

tion is bhakti. And there is nothing more sacred than the unconditional love of the devotee. Ayyappa has to surrender to its power. Philosophically, this is in alignment with the Supreme Court judgment of September 28. It was remarkable, reminding us of the profound vision of the architects of our Constitution. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud put it succinctly when he said, “Religion cannot be cover to deny women the right to worship.”

Mr. Tharoor and the Congress, meanwhile, are playing a dangerous game in Kerala. Please do not cry foul when the BJP uses exactly the same arguments you are making to oppress certain sections of society. This duplicity will come back to haunt you.

Soon after Mr. Tharoor’s observations came a series of tweets from Ms. Rao. She argues that we should leave Ayyappa and his world of male-purification, selfcontrol, abstinence alone. Shockingly, she makes the case that barring Dalits from temples was the result of upper-caste hegemony, but the Sabarimala practice is founded on the legend of Ayyappa and is, therefore, acceptable. But isn’t it that very same ‘purity’ that forbid Dalits from entering temples being perpetrated here in the name of Naishtika Brahmachari-ism? Even today, women are advised not to enter places of worship when they are menstruating. Esoteric arguments of positive/negative energies and purity are expounded in order to cultivate fear and restrict women — a result of discriminative legends, stories, tales, social rituals, manuscripts and treatises.

Ms. Rao went on to say, “the men bond together, beyond class and hierarchy and status during the pilgrimage, while the women are left free and unhindered in a blessed sisterhood.” People of all castes do throng to Sabarimala but that does not mean it dissolves caste.

By that argument, every temple is then casteless because today people from every section of society offer prayers and undertake pilgrimages.

But we all know that this is entirely untrue. Most temples in their traditions, ritual practices, control and organization are inherently casteist.

And “sisterhood” in this context is unmistakably patriarchal. She makes the celibacy of Ayyappa central to her reasoning, forgetting

that if she is going to grant Ayyappa that right, then the devotee has as much right to question his nature.

Very soon, Hindu fundamentalists and conservatives from every religion will be expressing exactly these notions of tradition in varied contexts to justify the unjustifiable.

Which is exactly why bigoted Islamic groups are lending support to the Sabarimala agitation.

Mr. Tharoor and Ms. Rao have also brought into focus the inherently casteist and patriarchal nature of Kerala society. Social reformers Narayana Guru and Ayyankali fought this deeply entrenched caste discrimination and untouchability in Malayali society — the success of reservations and positive social indices suggest that they made a big dent in casteism. But it is obvious from the upper-caste noise being generated in Kerala today that much work remains to be done.

Within every one of us hides casteism, and it reveals itself in such situations. Patriarchy and male hegemony are the foundations on which caste operates, and Kerala is no exception.

Mr. Tharoor’s misguided attempt to reconcile his prejudices on the Sabarimala issue — and that of his constituents, presumably — with his liberal interior undermines the Constitution. What he should be doing is grapple with his own implicit, unconscious acceptance of casteist and patriarchal religious practices. Ms. Rao, who has implied that Sabarimala is a mythologically sanctioned male domain for self-purification, should look at every domain that women have challenged and succeeded within.

There was always some form of supernatural or socio-ritualistic restriction blocking all those avenues for women. It is just too convenient for caste-privileged liberal feminists to be selective in their idea of feminism.

Every sphere of activity, including the religious, needs to be questioned on feminist grounds, and practices that are restrictive must be reconsidered. Surely, the supreme being also hopes that we move forward as sensitive, questioning beings? Isn’t that the very essence of being Hindu?

T.M. Krishna is a Carnatic music vocalist —The Hindu

PAGE 4 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

VIEWPOINT

He fights: An analysis of President Trump

By Evan Sayet Townhall.com My Leftist friends (as well as many ardent #NeverTrumpers) constantly ask me if I’m not bothered by Donald Trump’s lack of decorum. They ask if I don’t think his tweets are “beneath the dignity of the office.”

Here’s my answer: We Right-thinking people have tried dignity. There could not have been a man of more quiet dignity than George W. Bush as he suffered the outrageous lies and politically motivated hatreds that undermined his presidency. We tried statesmanship. Could there be another human being on this earth who so desperately prized “collegiality” as John McCain? We tried propriety – has there been a nicer human being ever than Mitt Romney?

And the results were always the same.

This is because, while we were playing by the rules of dignity, collegiality and propriety, the Left has been, for the past 60 years, engaged in a knife fight where the only rules are those of Saul Alinsky and the Chicago mob.

I don’t find anything “dignified,” “collegial” or “proper” about Barack Obama’s lying about what went down on the streets of Ferguson in order to ramp up racial hatreds because racial hatreds serve the Democratic Party. I don’t see anything “dignified” in lying about the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi and imprisoning an innocent filmmaker to cover your tracks. I don’t see anything “statesman-like” in weaponizing the IRS to be used to destroy your political opponents and any dissent. Yes, Obama was “articulate” and “polished” but in no way was he in the least bit “dignified,” “collegial” or “proper.”

The Left has been engaged in a war against America since the rise of the Children of the ‘60s. To them, it has been an all-out war where nothing is held sacred and nothing is seen as beyond the pale. It has been a war they’ve fought with violence, the threat of violence, demagoguery and lies from day one – the violent take-over of the universities – till today.

The problem is that, through these years, the Left has been the only side fighting this war.

While the Left has been taking a knife to anyone who stands in their way, the Right has continued to act with dignity, collegiality and propriety.

With Donald Trump, this all has come to an end. Donald Trump is America’s first wartime president in the Culture War. During wartime, things like “dignity” and “collegiality” simply aren’t the most essential qualities one looks for in their warriors. Ulysses Grant

was a drunk whose behavior in peacetime might well have seen him drummed out of the Army for conduct unbecoming. Had Abraham Lincoln applied the peacetime rules of propriety and booted Grant, the Democrats might well still be holding their slaves today.

Lincoln rightly recognized that, “I cannot spare this man.

He fights.”

General George Patton was a vulgar-talking, son-of-a-bitch.

In peacetime, this might have seen him stripped of rank. But, had Franklin Roosevelt applied the normal rules of decorum, then Hitler and the Socialists would barely be five decades into their thousand-year Reich.

Trump is fighting. And what’s particularly delicious is that, like Patton standing over the battlefield as his tanks obliterated Rommel’s, he’s shouting, “You magnificent bastards, I read your book!”

That is just the icing on the cake, but it’s wonderful to see that not only is Trump fighting, he’s defeating the Left using their own tactics.

That book is Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals – a book so essential to the Liberals’ war against America that it is and was the playbook for the entire Obama administration and the subject of Hillary Clinton’s senior thesis. It is a book of such pure evil, that, just as the rest of us would dedicate our book to those we most love or those to whom we are most indebted, Alinsky dedicated his book to Lucifer.

Trump’s tweets may seem rash and unconsidered but, in reality, he is doing exactly what Alinsky suggested his followers do.

First, instead of going after “the fake media” – and they are so fake that they have literally gotten every single significant story of the past 60 years not just wrong, but diametrically opposed to the truth, from the Tet Offensive to Benghazi, to what really happened on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri – Trump isolated CNN. He made it personal. Then, just as Alinsky suggests, he employs ridicule which Alinsky described as “the most powerful weapon of all.”

Everyone gets that it’s not just CNN – in fact, in a world where Al Sharpton and Rachel Maddow, Paul Krugman and Nicholas Kristof are people of influence and whose “reporting” is in no way significantly different than CNN’s – CNN is just a piker.

Most importantly, Trump’s tweets have put CNN in an untenable and unwinnable position. With Trump’s ability to go around them, they cannot simply stand pat. They need to respond. This leaves them with only two choices.

They can either “go high”

(as Hillary would disingenuously declare of herself and the fake news would disingenuously report as the truth) and begin to honestly and accurately report the news or they can double-down on their usual tactics and hope to defeat Trump with twice their usual hysteria and demagoguery.

The problem for CNN (et al.) with the former is that, if they were to start honestly reporting the news, that would be the end of the Democratic Party they serve. It is nothing but the incessant use of fake news (read: propaganda) that keeps the Left alive.

Imagine, for example, if CNN had honestly and accurately reported then-candidate Barack Obama’s close ties to foreign terrorists (Rashid Khalidi), domestic terrorists (William Ayers), the mafia (Tony Rezko) or the true evils of his spiritual mentor, Jeremiah Wright’s, church.

Imagine if they had honestly and accurately conveyed the evils of the Obama administration’s weaponizing of the IRS to be used against their political opponents or his running of guns to the Mexican cartels or the truth about the murder of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and the Obama administration’s cover-up.

This makes “going high” a non-starter for CNN. This leaves them no other option but to ratchet up the fake news, conjuring up the next “nothing burger” and devoting 24 hours a day to hysterical rants about how it’s “worse than Nixon.”

This, obviously, is what CNN has chosen to do. The problem is that, as they become more and more hysterical, they become more and more obvious. Each new effort at even faker news than before and faker “outrage” only makes that much more clear to any objective observer that Trump is and always has been right about the fake news media.

And, by causing their hysteria, Trump has forced them into numerous, highly embarrassing and discrediting mistakes.

Thus, in their desperation, they have lowered their standards even further and run with articles so clearly fake that, even with the liberal (lower case “l”) libel laws protecting the media, they’ve had to wholly retract and erase their stories repeatedly.

Their flailing at Trump has even seen them cross the line into criminality, with CNN using their vast corporate fortune to hunt down a private citizen for having made fun of them in an Internet meme. This threat to “dox” – release of personal information to encourage coideologists to visit violence upon him and his family -- a political satirist was chilling in that it clearly wasn’t meant just

for him. If it were, there would have been no reason for CNN to have made their “deal” with him public.

Instead, CNN – playing by “Chicago Rules” – was sending a message to any and all: dissent will not be tolerated.

This heavy-handed and hysterical response to a joke on the Internet has backfired on CNN, giving rise to only more righteous ridicule.

So, to my friends on the Left – and the #NeverTrumpers as well -- do I wish we lived in a time when our president could be “collegial” and “dignified” and “proper”? Of course I do.

These aren’t those times. This

is war. And it’s a war that the Left has been fighting without opposition for the past 50 years.

So, say anything you want about this president – I get it, he can be vulgar, he can be crude, he can be undignified at times. I don’t care. I can’t spare this man. He fights.

Evan Sayet is the author of The KinderGarden of Eden: How The Modern Liberal Thinks. His lecture to the Heritage Foundation on this same topic remains, some ten years later, by far the single most viewed lecture in their history.

Evan can be reached at contactevansayet@gmail.com.

Not one fellow has any new ideas, laments Mr. Mathrubootham Respected Madam/Sir, Are there any new ideas left in this country (India) or old ideas again and again without any shame?

One billion people are there in this country. But not one fellow has any new ideas. Same old song with new dance. Same old film with new hero.

It is like going to doctor.

You go say hello doctor I have stomach ache, he will say take two X-ray morning and evening after food and then come back next week.

You go to same doctor and say, doctor blood is there in urine he will say please take two X-ray morning and evening after food and come back in one week.

Then you will go to doctor and say hello, bloody fool Mir Jaffar of MBBS, now stomach is aching and blood is coming and blind in both eyes and one kidney is also gone, and just now one leg has fallen off in autorickshaw, what nonsense you are doing? But receptionist will say sorry, doctor has gone to the U.S. for son’s admission, but why don’t you take two-three X-ray, we can give discount, it is our sister company.

Madam/ Sir, let me tell one more story. In 1988, when I was working in Bank of India, one regional manager type fellow came to do study tour and give motivational speech to all employees. Morning itself, we all assembled in the office. He stood up and said: “Good morning colleagues, first of all I want to say it is my pleasure to be here in Ongole branch, Ongole is my favourite branch, our customers in Ongole are non-stop saying every branch should be like Ongole branch, Ongole is the best branch. I give my hearty regards to all of you here in Ongole.”

Then after five more minutes of speech, branch manager got up and said, “Regional manager sir, this is the best speech we have ever heard in this office. Sir, how you speak like this? Since birth or some special training? If only you make me assistant regional manager, I could listen to you speak like this nonstop every day. However, one small problem sir, this is Warangal branch.”

Madam/ sir, this fellow had by-hearted one speech and was going around Andhra Pradesh giving same speech in every branch. Buffoon.

Whole country is like this. No originality. Film is remake of English film. Song is duplicate of Korean song. Even poster is duplicate.

Speech is photocopy of speech.

And then this morning what did I see in your esteemed newspaper?

New Jawa motorcycle is coming. Is this needed, madam/ sir? Other countries are zooming into the future. Courier is coming on drone. Car is running on battery. Robot is cooking in hotel.

What is happening in India? Motorcycle with sound like diesel generator and face-cut of water buffalo is selling for lakhs.

Tomorrow what and all I will read in your paper? Bullock cart by Toyota? Hand-pump for water by Voltas? Dosa kal by Apple? Nawab of Arcot is coming back? Anybody in whole country with any new idea?

Yours in exasperation, J. Mathrubootham This article appeared in the opinion section of The Hindu.

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NEWS 2,400 Indians in custody for illegal border crossing As many as 2,400 Indians are languishing in various American jails for illegally crossing the US border to seek asylum in the country, according to the latest figures.

These detainees, a significant number of whom are from Punjab, are seeking asylum, claiming that they “experienced violence or persecution” in India.

As many as 2,382 Indians are lodged in 86 jails in the US, according to the information obtained by North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) through Freedom of Information Act. According to figures as of October 10, a total of 377 In-

dian nationals are detained at California’s Adelanto Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center, 269 at Imperial Regional Adult Detention Facility, 245 at the Federal Correctional Institution Victorville, and 115 at Washington State’s Tacoma ICE Processing Center.

“Most of the detainees at the federal facilities are asking for asylum claiming that they ‘experienced violence or persecution’ in their home country,” NAPA president Satnam S Chahal told PTI. “This is a matter of serious concern that thousands of Indians, with an overwhelming majority of them being from

Punjab, are languishing in jails in the US,” he said.

Chahal who has been working in the field for past several years alleged that there is a nexus of human traffickers and officials in Punjab, who encourage a young Punjabis to leave their homes to illegally enter the US and charge Rs 3550 lakhs from each individual.

Human trafficking is a criminal act which affects the global community and consequently Punjabis are too victims of this episode, he said.

“The Punjabi enthusiasm to migrate to affluent countries in search of greener pastures has given the traffickers to exploit them,” Chahal said.

“Failure to reach their promised destination leads to deportation, exploitation, indebtedness, imprisonment and even death,” he rued.

The NAPA urged the Punjab government to strictly enforce human trafficking laws that have been passed by the State Assembly in recent years.

The Trump administration has introduced a number controversial policies in line with its hardline stance on immigration.

Last week, the administration decided to restrict the entry of illegal migrants who cross the southern border with Mexico to seek asylum in the US.

Indian Americans in Trump administration Critics of President Donald Trump consider him to be a “racist” and “anti-immigrant.”

The list of Indian Americans published during the Diwali celebration makes one wonder why such a large number of immigrants are in this administration.

Trump administration appointees on the White House Diwali celebration list included Manisha Singh, acting under secretary at the State Department; Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services; Uttam Dhillon, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission; Neil Chatterjee, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Dimple Shah, assistant secretary for International Engagement of the Department of Homeland Security; Bimal Patel, deputy assistant secretary, Financial Stability Oversight Council, Department of the Treasury; Vanila Singh, chief medical officer for the Department of Health and Human Services; Pradeep Belur, chief of staff of the Small Business Administration; Gopal Khanna, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality at the Department of Health and Human Services; Asheesh Agarwal, general counsel of the Social Security Administration; Stacy Amin, chief counsel of the Food and Drug Administration; Arjun Garg, chief counsel of the Federal Transit Administration at the Department of Transportation; Rajive Mathur, deputy commissioner and Systems/Chief Info Officer at the Social Security Administration; Gurjeet Guram, senior advisor, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and Lathika Thomas, senior counselor in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

The list of White House invitees provided by the White House, included top White House officials including Ivanka Trump, advisor to the President; Deputy National Security Advisor Mira Ricardel; Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah; Director of the Office of Public Liaison Justin Clark; recently appointed Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Neomi Rao, who President Trump announced, has been nominated to fill the seat of Judge Kavanaugh; Director for India and Indian Ocean, National Security Council Basant Sanghara; Director for India, National Security Council Jennifer Wethey; Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director of Management, Office of Management and Budget Neal Patel; Policy Advisor, Office of the Senior Counselor Pranay Udutha; and Air Force Technical (TSgt) Sergeant Dinesh Sheonath from the White House Military Office.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 • PAGE 7

NEWS

Professor used students as servants; UMKC knew and didn’t stop him The University of MissouriKansas City will expand an inquiry into a School of Pharmacy professor in response to The Kansas City Star’s investigative report Sunday revealing allegations that the professor had coerced students to perform personal favors for years.

In a statement Sunday afternoon to students, faculty and staff, Chancellor Mauli Agrawal said: “Once our fact-finding is complete, we will take any and all disciplinary action as necessary.”

The Star reported Sunday that for decades Professor Ashim Mitra directly and indirectly threatened students pursuing their doctorate degrees so that they felt compelled to watch his dog, water his plants and act as waiters and busboys at events put on by his Indian cultural group.

Mitra, who is an Indian immigrant, made the demands exclusively of Ph.D. candidates from India here on student visas. Some of those students told The Star that they performed the work because Mitra, who had brought the university millions of dollars in research grants, had the power to force them out of school — meaning they would lose their visas. Mitra denied making such threats.

Earlier report Kamesh Kuchimanchi traveled halfway across the globe to earn his Ph.D. alongside one of the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s top researchers.

Ashim Mitra’s sterling reputation as a scientist wasn’t the lone draw. Like Kuchimanchi, the professor was from India, and that was a comfort. Their common bond, Kuchimanchi hoped, would make America feel more like home.

Instead, their relationship soured almost from the start, he said, because Mitra exploited that cultural kinship with students from India.

“I considered my life at UMKC nothing more than modern slavery,” Kuchimanchi said.

“Slavery” to Kuchimanchi meant bailing putrid water from Mitra’s basement after a flood and serving food at Mitra’s Indian cultural celebrations off campus.

His was not an isolated case.

The Star found that over Mitra’s 24 years as a leader in the UMKC School of Pharmacy, the professor compelled his students to act as his personal servants.

They hauled equipment and bused tables at his social events.

They were expected to tend his lawn, look after his dog and water the house plants, sometimes for weeks at a time when he and his wife were away.

The Star talked to nearly a dozen former students about Mitra’s demands. Dozens more declined to go on the record for this story.

Through Mitra’s hints and direct threats, students said they

feared he would have their visas revoked if they did not comply with his demands.

The students’ complaints were corroborated by Mitra’s former colleagues, who told The Star they saw the students performing menial tasks off campus or heard their complaints. A few colleagues repeatedly told the professor his actions were improper, yet nothing changed.

According to allegations in pending litigation, the university not only knew about Mitra’s behavior, but administrators overlooked complaints for years because Mitra was among the most successful faculty members in corralling millions in research dollars for the school.

Court documents obtained by The Star show that after one colleague filed a formal complaint, the university investigated. The probe involved talking to only one student, court documents say. The official in charge now says that “in hindsight” the investigation could have been done differently.

At best, critics say, Mitra’s demands violated ethical standards and university policy. At worst, a U.S. immigration official told The Star, coerced off-campus labors would be tantamount to human trafficking.

When Kuchimanchi once told Mitra he wouldn’t be a servant, “he threatened to kick me out of the university and force me to lose my visa and lose everything.

That was his ammo. Either fall in line or you would be thrown out. You didn’t want to be in that situation where you have to go back home empty-handed.” So he continued to do what Mitra asked.

A student who earned her doctorate at the UMKC pharmacy school in 2013, a dozen years after Kuchimanchi graduated, told The Star that students feared the repercussions if they refused Mitra.

“They were so afraid of not graduating,” said the woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear that Mitra could undermine her career. “Dr. Mitra could have easily affected graduation. Everyone in the department knows how Dr. Mitra handles things. If he wants to graduate you, he would. If he wants to give you trouble, he would.”

She said students complained to one another privately. “Because he had the prestige, he could influence people. He could make things happen.”

For that reason, they were reluctant to come forward. So were most of Mitra’s pharmacy school colleagues.

But one of those colleagues, Mridul Mukherji, who is also from India, is suing Mitra and university officials. He filed two related lawsuits in Jackson County Circuit Court — one in 2016 and one in 2018. The lawsuits claim that Mitra mistreated

vulnerable foreign students and that the university retaliated against Mukherji when he complained.

On Friday, Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, UMKC’s provost and executive vice chancellor, responded in writing to a series of emailed questions from The Star.

She said in part: “The complaint was looked into, repeated efforts were made to contact all students identified by Dr. Mukherji, but no students substantiated the claims, and no formal action could be taken under the university’s policies and regulations that were in place at the time.”

However, she said: “In any situation, it can be difficult to know whether an absence of student complaints indicates that there is not a problem, or that students are reluctant to come forward.”

In an interview earlier this month, Bichelmeyer said the university had recently improved procedures for investigating complaints against faculty.

Separately, Mitra issued a statement to The Star through his attorney: “Over the years, I have invited graduate students to my home where they have done work related to their courses of study, and at times eaten meals prepared by my wife,” he wrote.

“I have not required anyone to perform chores unrelated to their studies. …

“I do not understand the suggestion that anyone was concerned with their visas being at risk. I have worked with over 60 graduate students attending UMKC on F1 (study) visas, and I am not aware of any of those students having their visa status challenged or revoked.”

Excerpt from lawsuit filed by Mridul Mukherji against a fellow UMKC pharmacy professor, Ashim Mitra, and several university officials.

Kuchimanchi, who graduated with a doctorate in pharmacology in 2001, recalled when overnight rains flooded Mitra’s home in the late 1990s. Mitra sent a car to the pharmacy lab to fetch his graduate students.

“He sent us to the basement,” Kuchimanchi said. “There was a lot of water. He told us you are going to clean it up. He handed us buckets. We spent the day bailing out the water. It was a lot of back-breaking work. It was slave labor.”

Having students work under fear of losing visa status is “a form of human trafficking,” according to Carissa Cutrell at the Student and Exchange Visitor Program within the Department of Homeland Security. She said the department would investigate, but only if students came forward.

Some students, like Kuchimanchi, said they felt forced to do such work. Others said they volunteered when asked.

“He would request us, and we would go,” said Ganesh Bom-

mareddy, who spent three years studying with Mitra before asking to work with another professor. He said Mitra never asked him directly but rather through other students. “Nobody put a gun to my head; I felt I had to go.”

The Star attempted to reach dozens of Mitra’s foreign students via phone, email and social media. Many did not respond. Of those who did, only a few spoke on the record, but all either knew students who performed personal services for Mitra or had been asked to do so themselves.

Kuchimanchi said Mitra often asked students to work at events sponsored by Sangam, a local group of Hindus with cultural ties to the Bengal region of India. Kuchimanchi wasn’t interested, even though it could have meant a free meal.

“He would tell us he would pick us up and take us to where everything was happening and we were told to serve the people and clean up when it was over,” Kuchimanchi said. “It was clear that no one could say no. If they said no then the next day they would be yelled at in front of the whole group. He would start finding fault with your work for no reason. He would pull you down so badly in front of all the students.”

Mitra’s requests continued for decades, from the mid-’90s to at least the mid-2010s, The Star’s investigation found. The students Mitra put to work off campus were all from India — reluctant to complain and bound by a culturally influenced silence.

Students from India are a large percentage of graduate students in UMKC’s pharmacy school and Mitra’s lab, there on student study visas awarded by the U.S. State Department on the condition they remain enrolled where they were accepted for admission.

Back in India, doing personal favors for professors was expected, students said.

“It’s a cultural thing in India.

When a teacher says do something we tend to do it,” Bommareddy said. “Our culture is such a way that when a professor walks in the room, we stand.”

But U.S. universities operate under different rules, and professors are supposed to know better.

According to the American Association of University Professors, college faculty should “avoid any exploitation, harassment or discriminatory treatment of students.”

Students say Mitra realized they feared him and made improper demands of them.

“The students don’t give any complaint because they don’t want to ruin their education, their career,” said Kishore Cholkar, a California pharmaceutical company employee who graduated in 2015 and had worked closely with Mitra on a research project recently patented.

“So no student will come forward to speak against a professor. … The students will not talk because they want to make a career here and they need the immigration status. They need the professor’s support. Everybody knows it: If you stand up, you will get cut down.”

Excerpt from lawsuit filed by Mridul Mukherji against a fellow UMKC pharmacy professor, Ashim Mitra, and several university officials.

Yet Mitra was a professor whom students from around the world, particularly India, were eager to have as their mentor.

After earning his doctorate at the University of Kansas, Mitra began his career at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and went on to Purdue University, where he began building his reputation as someone who excelled at convincing the government to fund his research projects. His specialty: drug treatments for eye conditions.

UMKC hired him in 1994 as chair of its Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences. There, his stature grew in concert with his many successful grant applications and patents, earning him the prestigious rank of curators’ professor. At UMKC, federal records show, Mitra would eventually secure more than $8.5 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health alone.

Research dollars sustain successful Ph.D. programs in the life sciences. They fund projects that lead to cures, which bring acclaim to universities. And they attract doctoral students, who gain valuable experience and get their names on published research papers.

“Mitra was the man,” said Bommareddy. “He had the largest lab in terms of space, in terms of students. He had the fancy projects, so it was prestigious to work in his lab, to say you worked on his fancy projects.”

And, he said, Mitra pushed hard to prepare students to have successful careers.

In 2016, former student Sai Boddu praised Mitra this way when the professor won the University of Missouri System’s President’s Award for Sustained Career Excellence: “Professor Mitra has made substantial contributions to several areas within the pharmaceutical sciences, and has improved the state of knowledge of ocular drug delivery.” Mitra’s innovations, he said, “have benefited millions of patients worldwide.”

What Boddu did not mention was that, before he graduated in 2010, he was one of Mitra’s regular house-sitters and dog watchers. “It was voluntary,” Boddu wrote in an exchange of emails with The Star. After several years as a professor at the University of Toledo, Boddu recently relocated to Dubai and said he was unavailable to speak by phone.

PAGE 8 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

NEWS

New antidotes to shield military and civilians from chemical agents

Research from neuroscientists at Texas A&M University may have key consequences for soldiers and victims of nerve agent attacks. D. Samba Reddy, PhD, RPh, a professor of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at Texas A&M College of Medicine, recently published two papers showing why current therapies are not able to break the chemi-

cally induced neuronal circuit that causes seizures and brain cell death—and what type of drug might be better.

Organophosphate (OP) nerve agents, used as chemical warfare weapons in combat or as bioterror agents against civilians, have severe, fastacting effects on the body.

These compounds interfere with brain chemicals that turn

neurons and muscles “on” and “off.”

How it works In a normal, healthy person, a chemical called acetylcholine acts as the “on” switch.

Acetylcholine is released at the junction between neurons and muscles, and this process allows the brain to tell muscles to contract. So, every time someone wants to walk—or

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breathe—acetylcholine is released, which acts as the “on” switch, and certain muscles are able to contract and facilitate movement. When the body needs to stop contracting its muscles, another compound, called acetylcholinesterase, acts as the “off” switch. Acetylcholinesterase essentially cuts up the acetylcholine into small pieces so that the muscles stop contracting.

When an individual is exposed to OPs, it blocks acetylcholinesterase, the “off” switch. As a result, acetylcholine, the “on” switch, builds up in massive quantities in the brain and causes widespread nerve excitation & muscle contraction. Without an “off” switch, the brain is massively excited and muscles in the body continuously contract and cannot relax. This results in muscle spasms, convulsions, continuous seizures, respiratory arrest and eventually death. If a person is able to survive a nerve agent attack, they will likely have serious brain damage.

The current situation Currently, there are two major therapeutic drugs that are used to reverse the effects of OP nerve agents. Diazepam and midazolam are benzodiazepine anticonvulsants that can work to prevent OP-induced brain damage and seizures, if given very soon after exposure. Both drugs are very effective antidotes when given within 30 minutes of OP exposure, but do not have much effect after an hour or two after exposure. In the context of chemical warfare and unexpected civilian bioterrorism, this is not a realistic timeline.

“Although soldiers often carry auto-injectors of a drug to use on themselves in case of a nerve agent attack, in civilian populations, the quickest midazolam could be administered after calling 911 and getting to the hospital would likely be at least 40 minutes,” Reddy said. “That is the critical time period, so any anticonvulsant antidote for these OP chemical seizures has to work even after 40 minutes. That is the goal.”

New findings Recently, Reddy has published two papers in the journals Biochim Biophys Acta and Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeu-

tics, co-authored by his research staff Ramkumar Kuruba and Xin Wu. In the research reported in these articles, Reddy’s team examined two major points for diazepam and midazolam.

First, they examined how efficiently each medication suppressed seizures. Second, they looked at how efficiently each drug protected against brain damage. The results of both studies showed that diazepam and midazolam were very effective when given 10 minutes after exposure. However, both medications were completely ineffective when administered at 60 minutes or 120 minutes after exposure.

“The benzodiazepines don’t control seizures at later time points, but it’s not because they aren’t reaching enough quantities in the brain,” Reddy said. “The three main reasons are the loss of target receptors, the loss of neurons and damage-induced inflammation.”

Imagine the brain is covered in billions of small red targets that serve as receptors for diazepam and midazolam. If benzodiazepines are little red molecules that only recognize the red targets, then they must find their targets to be able to have an effect on the brain.

However, red OP nerve agents somehow destroy these red targets, meaning that the diazepam and midazolam cannot find their receptors.

“Benzodiazepines bind to certain receptors, and these receptors disappear in more than 50 percent of neurons within 10 to 20 minutes of seizure onset,” Reddy said. “When we administered benzodiazepines at 40 minutes, it meant that 50 percent of the benzodiazepine receptors had already vanished. The administered benzodiazepines bound to the remaining 50 percent of receptors, but the maximum effect they could produce depended on the number of receptors available, no matter how large of a dose was given.”

OP poisoning will also kill neurons, which worsens the problem of too few benzodiazepine receptors.

“Massive brain cell death will further exacerbate the problem of a lack of recepSee ANTIDOTE, Page 12

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 • PAGE 9

COMMUNITY

Chinmaya Mission shines light on Diwali

By RADHIKA NAIR

Chinmaya Mission Houston Acharya Gaurang Nanavaty performs aarti during Diwlai puja.

Chinmaya Mission family members participate in Diwlai puja. Photos by Jay Mistry

The grand autumnal festival of Diwali, arguably the biggest celebration among Indians the world over, was celebrated in Chinmaya Mission Houston with vibrance and devotion on Sunday, November 4, 2018.

Against the exquisitely decorated backdrop of Lord Rama and Sita Devi, and the row of ashtalakshmi murtis, Sri Ganesh Satyanarayana, Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya priest, lead the puja with each family seated in the hall following the rituals step by step with their own idols. This was both personal and especially empowering for the children who immediately got involved, and participated with enthusiasm throughout the puja.

“Bring out the divinity in you”, was the message Acharya Gaurang Nanavaty had for those present. Just like gardens flourish by constant weeding, he said let us allow ourselves to grow, by persistently removing the negativity within us. Wishes from the acharyas on this occasion were to light the diyas within our hearts, be alert to destroy the Ravana within us, and keep the light of knowledge continuously shining within.

In the five days of the rituals

of Diwali is a beautifully packaged message worth reflecting upon every day.

On the first day the homes are cleaned and new things are bought. On the second, houses are decorated with diyas and rangoli.

The third day, Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped. This is followed by the celebration of the New Year.

On the fifth day siblings pray for each other’s well-being and visit upon each other.

In the microcosmic realm of an individual, our journey to an elevated existence begins with first purging our minds of the clutter.

Then we bring in things of value that will equip us to get better at our endeavors. With renewed exuberance and optimism we pray for the light to continuously kindle this spirit.

Without the wealth of knowledge and a balanced state of mind, all the worldly joys are evasive to us; hence we seek the grace of MahaLakshmi, the supreme goddess of wealth, for an abundance of knowledge and all worldly comforts to make our progress possible.

And lastly, while we work zealously towards our personal

See CMH, Page 10

PAGE 10 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

COMMUNITY

Indian community at Pine Mills Ranch, Katy celbrates Diwali Diwali is one of the largest festivals celebrated across all cultures in India and the Indian diaspora. It is a festival of lights that symbolizes inner spiritual victory over ignorance. Pine Mill Ranch (PMR) had a grand Diwali celebration on 10th November 2018 at the Seven Lakes High School, Katy TX which was graced by the presence of more than 400 people.

The entrance was decorated with Lord Ganesha’s beautiful idol. Multiple booths depicting herbal henna art, jewelry, toys, and food kept people busy. The celebration created an ever lasting impression on people because of the hard work and creative enthusiasm of over 50 participants and volunteers who showed their dedication over the past three plus months in preparation for this grandeur.

This was the second successful year of PMR’s Diwali celebration. The highlight of the entire program was the focus on encouraging and cultivating our future young leaders. Children from the age of 5 to 12 exhibited amazing performances.

The program started with honoring key guests which included the Pine Mill Ranch HOA board of members Daryl Brister and Mrs. Cowen from Keiko Davidson Elementary who is the owner of The Smilin’ Rylen Foundation (all net proceeds of $4000 during the event were donated to this foundation.). This was followed by the traditional Diya Lightning Ceremony depicting the significance of this festival and the United States of America’s National Anthem - “The Star Spangled Banner”.

Middle schoolers not only compiled and hosted the event

CMH

From Page 9 goals, the last two days of Diwali remind us to expand our circle of influence, and spread the joy of love and look out for as many lives as we can.

As the glance traverses down the neatly seated aisles of devotees in the hall, the familiar eye would spot some young parents; themselves balavihar children not too long back, passing on the tradition to their little ones. The new brahmacharini Shweta Chaitanya herself was a balavihar student at this center. As philosopher Rumi

but also wrote their own scripts.

Children aged 5-9 years danced beautifully on Bollywood themed songs leaving the audience in awe. This was followed by younger children aged 3-4 years who put the stage on fire with their ramp walk in a wellorganized fashion show. Then came the kids who neither know Hindi nor had any musical background; and still beautifully managed to sing to the tune of a Karaoke Bollywood song.

A very talented set of middle schoolers played their magic on various musical instruments to the tune of Indian songs. This performance was followed by multiple dance performances by young children and their parents. Between various performances, there were raffles called out and event sponsors presented gifts to the winners.

As the performances ended, a vote of thanks was given to all the cultural leads and those who helped make the program successful. The program concluded with India’s national anthem. Post this, there was an open floor DJ where children and their parents showed their dance moves with DJ A.J. joining in the fun.

Overall it was an everlasting mesmerizing experience and immensely contributed in bringing forth the creative talents, zest and courage of the PMR youth.

Platinum and gold sponsors were thanked for their generous donations. Pine Mill Ranch HOA ,Dr. Teeth Dental Care Katy, Kiddie Academy of KatyWest, Wealth Design Group LLC, Master Strokes Cricket Americas, Eye Level, JK A/C and Heating, Amiralli Dodhiya, Agent with New York Life,

said, the lamps are different but the light is the same. Under the guidance of acharyas Gaurang and Darshana Nanavaty a dynamic group of volunteers strive to keep the rich philosophy and knowledge of the hindu scriptures relevant and applicable and of interest to all generations and all kinds of seekers.

For more information on Chinmaya Mission Houston and its activities visit www. chinmayahouston.org or reach Jay Deshmukh 832-541-0059 or or Bharati Sutaria 281933-0233 or better still, stop

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The PMR Organizing Committee leads Palak Naik (Cultural Event Lead), Ashwini

Wani (Sponsorship & Anchoring Team Lead), Iti Chhablani (Décor and Event Photography Lead), Natasha Garg (Treasurer Lead), Sree Bindu Gadde (Banner, Flyer and Entrance Photography Lead) and Rashmi Dharam (Venue and Volun-

teers Lead) were also thanked for spearheading the PMR Diwali event and making it memorable as were the participants who exhibited wonderful performances through their dedication and enthusiasm.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 • PAGE 11

COMMUNITY DAV Montessori and Sanskriti School students celebrate Diwali at Arya Samaj of Greater Houston

Arya Samaj Houston celebrated Diwali on 10th November in a grand manner as a fitting tribute to its founder Maharshi Dayanand Sarasvati who breathed his last on the Diwali evening of 1883 - one light faded into oblivion to ignite millions of lights.

The evening began with a Havan followed by a brief message from Acharya Surya Nanda. He spoke of the age-old tradition of Nava-Sasyeshti Yajnya when the new harvest was first offered to Agni (the fire) in Havan to spread its nourishment to all the beings breathing air.

The importance of bringing light in the homes of the underprivileged was highlighted and that sense of nobility is possible if we dispel inner darkness by the light of wisdom - Tamaso Ma JyotirGamaya.

The children of the DAV Montessori School and the Sunday School (DAV Sanskriti School) presented an array of songs and dance to celebrate the festive occasion. Arya Samaj Houston takes pride in being bold enough to serve the community with the only Indian elementary school.

DAV Montessori & Elementary students Architha, Nirav and Shivani spoke on the importance of the five-day celebration of Diwali and its practice in different parts of India.

Sanskriti Sunday School was not to be left behind; Eesha Kumar spoke about Festivity of New Harvest, Dhruv Thacker on Tamaso Ma JyotirGamaya, and Aanya Pant on What Do I Enjoy Most in Diwali. DAV Montessori Preschool, KG and 1st grade students sang a melodious song: “Deepon ka tyohar Diwali”. DAV Elementary KG to 5th grade students recited the Taittiriyopanisad Mantras under the guidance of Acha-

rya Surya Nandaji in complete unison with precise Sanskrit enunciation followed by a song “Aaj diye se diye jalakar ghar jagmag kar jaayenge”.

The Sanskriti School dance was performed by about 25 children in perfect harmony and it evoked a sense of awe in the audience, particularly because the children attend the school for a mere two hours a week.

The chorus song by the Sanskriti School has become the signature to sign off special events of Arya Samaj Houston.

The song Prabhuji, Daya Karo; Man men Aan Baso … touched everybody, tears flowing down several cheeks in the audience.

Little children rendering the song, accompanied by teachers and volunteers displayed pure virgin spirituality.

Apart from the holistic Vedic values imparted by Arya Samaj Houston and its two schools, there was much more in store besides spirituality.

Everyone in the audience, particularly the children, rushed outside for a couple of hours for a fun-filled Diwali Mela with food stalls, play area, raffle, face painting and fireworks. A new addition was the exhibition of art paintings recently made by the school children.

All activities and food were prepared by the volunteers of Arya Samaj and its schools, logistic help provided by the youth wing of Arya Samaj called Arya Yuva Mandal (AYM).

The overall decoration was eye catching. As usual, the event that holds everyone until the last moment was the display of fireworks.

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PAGE 12 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

NEWS Antidote From Page 8

tors,” Reddy said. “The cell must be alive for the drug to bind to receptors. The benzodiazepine receptors are on the main neurons. However, so many of these neurons are dead that it further reduces the number of available receptors. The loss of inhibitory interneurons, which apply strong breaks on excessive brain excitation, creates a self-sustaining seizure circuit.”

Finally, nerve agents will cause severe inflammation in the brain, which will cause more cell death and a loss of more receptors.

“When we asked ourselves ‘Why are these medications failing when they are administered later?’ it gave us the idea for producing next-generation anticonvulsants that are better than benzodiazepines,” Reddy said.

Samba Reddy

Benzodiazepine receptors, the red targets, are exclusively present in post-synaptic junctions. However, a new type of what are called GABA-A receptors, which can be imagined as green targets, are present in extrasynaptic sites. While red OP molecules can destroy the “red” benzodiazepine receptors, they will have no effect on “green” GABA-A receptors.

“These GABA-A receptors should be targets for new drugs because they will not disappear in 10 to 20 minutes after nerve agent exposure,” Reddy said.

“However, it is still a reverberating circuit, because the neuronal loss leads to inflammation and loss of receptors. By targeting extrasynaptic receptors, if you control the seizures, you will stop neuronal loss. Essentially, you are breaking the circuit.”

Neurosteroids that activate extrasynaptic and synaptic GABA-A receptors have the potential to stop seizures more effectively and safely than benzodiazepines. In addition, neurosteroids may confer neuroprotection by shunting the excessive excitability and its exacerbating impact on neuronal injury and neuroinflammation, which are typically associated with nerve agent poisoning. Reddy and his team are developing innovative injectable neurosteroid products for approval by the Food and Drug Administration, which could be revolutionary for both military members and civilian

victims of nerve agent attacks.

“There is an urgent need to develop next-generation anticonvulsants antidotes superior to midazolam for better treatment of OP and nerve agent poisoning,” Reddy said.

This research has been supported by the U.S. CounterACT Program, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke. excessive excitability and its exacerbating impact on neuronal injury and neuroinflammation, which are typically associated with nerve agent poisoning. Reddy and his team are developing innovative injectable neurosteroid products for approval by the Food and Drug Administration, which could be revolutionary for both military members and civilian victims of nerve agent attacks.

“There is an urgent need to develop next-generation anticonvulsants antidotes superior to midazolam for better treatment of OP and nerve agent poisoning,” Reddy said.

This research has been supported by the U.S. CounterACT Program, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke.

Sarah Elmer contributed to the writing of this article.

— Christina Sumners, vitalrecord.tamhsc.edu

Hari Venkatachalam Hindu Students Association, Board of Directors

Succeed In Your Business

PRESS RELEASE

rid of staffi ngAssociaproblems and spend more April 6, 2017Get – AUSTIN, TX –your The Hindu Students tion (HSA) would like to regretfully announce that Numbers it will be Good = Good Decisions cancelling its annual Gateway Retreat for the 2017 year. HSA prides itself in building a strong network of young Hindu Americans, and it looks forward to organizing other events in the future that will link students from its various branches.

HSA has been reorienting itself in recent months to doing more grassroots work. “We have been focusing more on accomplishing work on the local and branch level,” said Mrinalini Vijalapuram, National President of the Hindu Students Association. “We have been doing this through many different activities including interfaith events with other religious organizations, building community partnerships, and expanding into other campuses that don’t already have HSA branches.”

While the cancellation of Gateway may come as a disappointment for many prospective attendees, HSA hopes to get feedback from students on other projects and events that interest its branch members. Currently, several projects, including developing HSA’s podcast series and releasing monthly articles that highlight the accomplishments of members from the various campuses have been the focus of the organization’s efforts. HSA welcomes student and community members to get involved in these activities to help further the goals of the organization. “It is important that we meet the needs of the campuses and communities we serve,” reiterated Ms. Vijalapuram. “We want to make sure that we are putting our attention on projects that will truly benefit them.”

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 • PAGE 13

NEWS

68 Sabarimala protesters taken into custody

Police personnel help devotees climb the 18 sacred steps of the Lord Ayyappa temple on Sunday.I Police detained 68 people from the Sabarimala temple complex in the early hours of Monday for holding protests, prompting further protests across the state.

The sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Ayyappa temple opened on Monday morning with a few devotees turning up early.

Police sources told PTI that 68 people were taken into preventive custody from the temple complex and brought to the Manniyar camp early on Monday morning. Their details are being verified and their arrests have not been recorded yet.

Describing the arrests as “cruel”, BJP state unit president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai said the party wants a judicial probe.

The pilgrims were protesting at the ‘sannidhanam’ against lack of facilities at the temple complex and stringent restrictions imposed by the police.

Devotees chanting ‘nama japam’ had gathered on the covered pathway to the temple and had refused to disperse after the shrine closed at 11pm.

Since prohibitory orders had been imposed, the police told them they should leave. Police sources said they had information the protesters might create

trouble at the ‘sannidhanam’ and had to take precautionary measures accordingly.

Union minister K.J. Alphons slammed the Kerala government for turning the shrine into a “war zone”. Alphons arrived at Nilackal, the base camp, on Monday morning. “The state government has turned the temple complex into a war zone. The devotees are not militants, they are pilgrims,” he told reporters.

“What was the need to declare Section 144 at Sabarimala?” he asked.

The minister said there was lack of basic facilities at the temple complex despite the Centre providing Rs 100 crore for the purpose, he said.

The minister’s visit came hours after hundred-odd devotees held protests while chanting “nama japam” (chanting in the name of Lord Ayyappa) late on Sunday night. It continued into Monday morning, when 68 protesters were detained.

The incident led to a string of protests across the state, including in front of the official residence of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram. BJP leaders led

by Shobha Surendran are hold-

ing a “nama japam” protest in front of the Manniyar police camp, where those taken into custody have been brought.

Hindu Aikya Vedi president K.P. Sasikala was stopped on her way to the shrine with her family on Monday morning.

She was headed there for the “chorunnu ceremony” (rice feeding) of her grandsons. Police flagged down the bus she was travelling in superintendent of police Yatish Chandra at Nilackal served her a notice asking her not to remain at the ‘sannidhanam’ beyond six hours.

Chandra later told reporters that Sasikala had promised to return and assured the police that she was not going to the temple to create trouble.

“Our aim is not to trouble anyone. We want devotees not to stay back at the sannidhanam, but come back. This will enable devotees to worship peacefully,” the officer said.

Sasikala had been taken into preventive custody from near the temple premises two days ago for flouting police regulations and had been released after being produced before the magistrate.

The Billionaires of India – Mukesh Ambani adds another $9.3 Billion Anubhav Gupta, assistant director of the Asia Society Policy Institute, in his conversation with James Crabtree, author of The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age, discussed India’s Billionaires in 2018. The conversation covered how India’s super-rich have grown in number over the past two decades, how they have altered their country’s perception in the eyes of the world, and the specter of corruption that looms over India’s economic future.

This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of India’s Richest 2018.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of mobile payments giant Paytm, seems unstoppable. In August, billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invested $300 million in Sharma’s firm, joining a galaxy of marquee investors such as Alibaba and SoftBank. “It’s an endorsement of the India story. I feel more responsibility than ever before,” says Sharma of Buffett’s bet, which valued Paytm north of $10 billion and boosted the 40-yearold’s net worth.

A rout in the rupee–down 13% since we last measured fortunes a year ago–practically wiped out the Indian stock market’s 14% rise in the same period. Even so, 11 of the nation’s 100 richest saw their fortunes jump by $1 billion or more. Oil and gas tycoon Mukesh Ambani added $9.3 billion amid the continuing success of his Reliance Jio broadband telco service. He remains at No. 1 for the 11th year in a row.

The biggest gainer percentage wise is biotech queen Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, one of only 4 women on the list, who saw her wealth soar by two thirds. Shares of her Biocon jumped when it received approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration last December for a cancer drug codeveloped with Mylan and have nearly doubled in the past 12 months.

Overall, the top 100 have eked out only a 2.7% gain in their combined wealth to $492 billion since our 2017 list. Close to half are poorer, six of them by $1 billion or more. Among them is Acharya Balkrishna, cofounder of herbal consumer goods maker Patanjali Ayurved, whose fortune fell by more than a fourth as sales slowed. Higher fuel prices took a toll on the wealth of Kapil & Rahul Bhatia, the father-son pair behind IndiGo, the country’s biggest airline, which at least gained market share as rivals reeled under financial woes.

Graphite India’s Krishna Kumar Bangur is number 91 on the list. Among the five new faces are Krishna Kumar Bangur, who controls Graphite India, which is benefiting from acute demand from the steel sector for its graphite electrodes; and south Indian infrastructure magnate P.P. Reddy of Megha Engineering & Infrastructure.

Eight dropped off the list, including Rana Kapoor, whose Yes Bank shares plunged after the Reserve Bank of India said he must step down as CEO in January. The regulator’s move was reportedly a response to inadequate disclosure of bad loans, which Yes Bank has denied. The fortune of paints tycoon Ashwin Choksi, who died in September, is now listed under his family.

This list was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the families and individuals, stock exchanges, analysts and India’s regulatory agencies. The ranking lists family fortunes, including those shared among extended families such as the Godrej and Bajaj families. Public fortunes were calculated based on stock prices and exchange rates as of September 21. Private companies were valued based on similar companies that are publicly traded.

Ape fossil 11 million years old unearthed in Gujarat The researchers hope that this finding will draw more attention to the region and more studies will be carried out in the future.

Tireless fossil hunting under the scorching heat of the Kutch basin, Gujarat proved fruitful — palaeontologists have unearthed a fossilised upper jaw (maxilla). Further studies showed that the fossil find was highly significant: it is the oldest and the only known ape fossil discovered in peninsular India.

Dr. Ansuya Bhandari from Birbal Sahni Institute, Lucknow stumbled upon the jaw in 2011 during a field survey with a group of palaeontologists from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun and IIT Roorkee.

The researchers concluded that the upper jaw belonged to an adult ape (hominoid family), belonging to the genus Sivapithecus and lived about 11-10.8 million years ago (Miocene). The oldest found remains of these apes are dated at about 12.7 million years in Indo-Pakistan and the youngest at about 8.6

million years.

“Fossils of the Sivapithecus genus have been previously unearthed near the Siwalik hill range, spreading across Pakistan, Churia Hills in Nepal and around the Himalayas [Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh]. Now this finding, almost 1,000 km south from the previous finds has increased the geographic range of the genus” says Dr. Ansuya Bhandari from the Birbal Sahni Institute and first author of the paper recently published in PLOS ONE. “It also fills a time-window of approximately 11 million years in the evolutionary history of hominoid remains in India.”

She also explains that researchers now believe that Sivapithecus is either more close to the modern orangutan of Southeast Asia or an ape that is part of an early radiation of fossil hominoids — the great apes, the chimps, gorillas and orangutans and also humans.

Researchers from Duke University, U.S. carried out the X-ray CT scans. The researchers note that as the unearthed jaw had a lot of iron in it due to its de-

position in an iron-rich ancient soil, the radiation was not able to penetrate very deep into the specimen, thus preventing better analysis. They hope that this finding will draw more attention to the region and more studies will be carried out in the future.

By comparing the fossil with other available data on Sivapithecus genus, the authors speculate that the identified jaw could belong to a large-sized ape, attributed to one of the two species of Sivapithecus, hysudricus or sivalensis. More, better preserved and unfragmented specimens are required to identify the exact species.

“Kutch is a paradise for fossils. Many associated mammal fossils belonging to the Miocene age have been discovered here in the past, including whales and sea cows. The new discovery will help us understand in detail the evolution of great apes,” says Prof.

Sunil Bajpai from the Department of Earth Sciences at IIT, Roorkee and former director of Birbal Sahni Institute. He is one of the authors of the paper.

PAGE 14 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

NEWS

What RBI can give and what the Centre wants to take

RBI Governor Urjit Patel The board of the Reserve Bank of India hunkers down on Monday to discuss a raft of contentious issues ranging from relaxed lending rules for small and medium businesses to the more explosive topic of transferring the central board bank’s notional profits to the government’s coffers.

The deep rift between the RBI and the government had surfaced at a meeting of the board on October 23 that had ended in a sharp disagreement over the finance ministry’s decision to stake claim to the “excess capital” on the central bank’s balance sheet ahead of the general election next year.

The bickering, which should have been kept within the confines of the boardroom, boiled over into a very public spat when deputy governor Viral Acharya delivered a speech drawing attention to the Centre’s move to undermine the RBI’s independence and rob its wealth, which he claimed would draw the wrath of the markets.

The government had threatened to quell the RBI’s dissent over the claim on the money from its contingency capital buffers by threatening to invoke a never-before-used section of the RBI Act that empowers it to direct the 18-member board to manage the central bank’s affairs in emergency situations.

The colonial-era proviso also confers on the Centre the right to dismiss any board member, including the governor.

Governor Urjit Patel and his camp have contended that the capital buffers are necessary to ward off an economic crisis at a time the world economy is staring at uncertainty because of a potential global trade war, economic sanctions against Iran that has impacted the fortunes

of oil-dependent economies and the prospect of a flight of capital from emerging markets like India.

The RBI had built the buffer on the gains from the revaluation of its holdings of gold and foreign exchange reserves at a time when the rupee has fallen by more than 16 per cent against the US dollar.

The government, however, rubbishes this argument and insists that it has a right to stake claim to the profits of the RBI. The revaluation gains on the central bank’s books are unrealised and, therefore, illusory.

RSS ideologue S. Gurumurthy, chartered accountant and a fierce advocate of swadeshi economics, has little patience with the RBI’s argument and believes that restrictions on the government’s fiscal spending have constrained growth in the economy.

At one stage, the government had demanded the transfer of a sum of Rs 3.6 lakh crore from the reserves of the RBI but seemed to back down in the face of criticism.

The central board will discuss this issue in a roundabout manner by turning it into a theoretical debate over whether there is a need to “fix an appropriate economic capital framework” for the RBI. This is financial gobbledygook to determine what the size of the RBI’s capital buffers should be.

The RBI has assiduously built up a corpus of Rs 9.59 lakh crore (including a currency and gold revaluation account worth Rs 6.9 lakh crore), which works out to 27 per cent of its assets of Rs 36.17 lakh crore.

A stacked board The big fight between the officials of the finance ministry

and the policymakers on Mint Street, where the RBI headquarters is located, is over the issue of reducing the equity and reserves to assets ratio to anywhere between 14 and 18 per cent.

Any excess could then immediately be transferred to the Centre and spent on social welfare programmes and lollies for farmers and small businessmen — the traditional voter base of the Modi government.

The counter-argument from the supporters of the RBI is that if you exclude the revaluation reserves, the ratio comes down to a modest 7 per cent.

But any accounting sleightof-hand that a capital transfer to the government involves is going to be fraught with problems. A raid on the liabilities side of the balance sheet will have to be matched with a concomitant decrease on the asset side through the sale of foreign currency assets and gold, which some feel could deliver a deflationary shock to the economy.

Gurumurthy believes that the government should print money at will to break out of any liquidity shortages that is holding up credit to small businesses. He also supports the idea of slapping big restrictions on imports -– a move that could also potentially shrink the economy.

There has been some talk that the government is ready to kick the ball on these hugely divisive issues down the road by setting up a committee to discuss these issues.

But if it comes to the crunch, the government will be able to call the shots, largely because it has packed the board with loyalists and economists who favour greater government influence over the RBI. In August, Gurumurthy and Satish Marathe, a former banker who was in the student wing of the BJP, were named to the board. Last month, the government appointed retired bureaucrat Revathy Iyer and Sachin Chaturvedi, head of a Delhi-based think-tank, while removing Nachiket Mor who was close to RBI officials.

It means that of 18 current members, five come from the government bureaucracy, two are finance ministry officials, and two have close links to Modi and the BJP. Four have a

business background, including Tata group chairman N. Chandrasekaran and Sun Pharmaceuticals chairman Dilip Shanghvi.

The other five are Patel and his four deputy governors.

Consensus glimmer The board may choose to focus on issues where there is a greater chance of consensus: greater flow of credit to small businesses and shadow banking agencies, and the possibility of relaxing lending restrictions on the 11 public sector banks that are bedevilled by bad loans and capital adequacy issues.

The RBI officials may be amenable to the Centre’s suggestion to increase the flow of credit to small businesses by lowering the capital risk weightage for banks. Effectively this means that banks will be required to set aside less capital while extending loans to these businesses.

The other big bone of contention is the Centre’s demand to remove lending restrictions on the 11 weak banks.

The prompt corrective action (PCA) framework was introduced in December 2002 as an early intervention mechanism and was revised in April 2017.

It monitors three areas: capital, asset quality (net NPAs), and profitability (return on assets). The apex bank has set three risk thresholds and banks under PCA face various restrictions.

The Centre believes that the norms are more stringent relative to international standards, staunching credit flows in the country.

The RBI is likely to defend the current rules by arguing that they are necessary to nurse these banks back to health.

Banking sources said the RBI was unlikely to give in to demands of relaxing the norms by doing away with the condition that links the fierceness of belt-tightening restrictions to net NPA thresholds.

“It (relaxing the PCA rules) is like asking that a patient who is in intensive care to be allowed to have street food. The RBI is only saying that these banks should reduce the NPAs, increase capital and achieve a better return of assets before they come out of the rigours of the PCA framework. Their performance is reviewed every quarter,” said a former central banker.

He added that it would take at least 8 to 12 quarters before a bank emerges from the PCA process.

The central bank officials are also prepared to fight to keep tighter capital requirements for banks than that prescribed by the international standards laid down under the Basel–III guidelines.

Banks in India are now required to maintain a minimum capital to risk weighted assets ratio of 9 per cent against the Basel requirement of 8 per cent. This ratio determines the capital that banks must set aside relative to the level of riskiness of an asset (which is banking parlance for a loan).

Experts said the RBI had fixed a higher standard as the credit-default ratio (CDR) is high in India. CDR is the probability of a loan default over a period of time.

“The government is cherry picking here. The minimum capital norms are higher in some of the countries like Mexico and Singapore. In some of the other rules, we have relatively less stringent standards. For instance, the NPA provision requirement here is lower than in other jurisdictions. In India, during the first year, banks have to make a provision of only 15 per cent of the default amount whereas it is 100 per cent in some other countries,” said a source.

The crisis precipitated by the near collapse of ILFS drew attention to the vulnerabilities of India’s shadow banking system.

The growth in credit to the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) -– which represent the backbone of the shadow banking system -– has surged 41.5 per cent year on year based on data presented till September 28. That is the highest rate of credit growth in the entire banking spectrum.

NBFCs have been a big channel for lending to small and medium businesses and the government has been keen to make sure that it doesn’t get choked because of liquidity constraints.

Since the ILFS crisis, many other NBFCs have staved off their immediate problems by rolling over their short-term borrowings. Keki Mistry, vice chairman & CEO at HDFC, had recently said the liquidity crisis faced by these firms would blow over in the next three to four weeks.

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 • PAGE 15

NEWS

Terror revisits Amritsar

In a reminder to dark days of militancy in Punjab, three people were killed while over a dozen were injured in a grenade attack during a religious congregation at Rana Sansi in Amritsar district at a time when the State was on high alert after terror inputs since Thursday.

The Punjab Police has described it as a “terrorist act” and is probing all “possible angles”. By the evening, police have arrested two suspects from Bathinda, and seized live cartridges from them.

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has decided to investigate the incident that took place at Nirankari Bhawan in Adliwal village. The NIA has registered a case into the incident and its team, comprising senior officers, left from Chandigarh in the evening, to reach Raja Sansi to further investigate the matter.

The blast came at a time when police have sounded high alert across Punjab, especially in Amritsar after the terroristoutfit Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH) chief Zakir Musa was reportedly spotted in the holy city along with a few other men on Friday.

Security was beefed up across the State since Thursday after four people snatched an SUV at gunpoint near Madhopur in Pathankot district last week, followed by an intelligence input claiming that a group of six to seven Jaish-eMohammed (JeM) terrorists were reportedly in the State, possibly in Ferozepur.

Sunday’s blast attack at Nirankaris — considered to be a subsidiary of Sikhism but fol-

lowing their own living Guru and religious text — harked back about four decades back.

In 1978, 13 Sikhs and three Nirankaris were killed in Amritsar following a violent clash between the two groups — an incident considered to be the starting of the Sikh militancy in Punjab.

As per initial inputs, two youth, aged between 25 and 30, with their faces covered, forcibly entered the Nirankari Bhawan and lobbed the grenade amidst the crowd when the congregation was on.

“Out of 250 people who were present in the religious congregation, three died, and 15-20 were injured,” said the State IG (Border) Surinder Pal Singh Parmar. All victims were sect followers from nearby villages who had gathered for the Sunday weekly religious meeting. SP Harpal Singh said that earlier, religious congregation used to be held at a house in Lopoke village which were stopped by Satkar committee a radical Sikh organisation.

The State’s all top police officials, including the State police chief Suresh Arora along with DGP Law and Order and Intelligence, rushed to the site immediately and camped there until the area is properly scanned. Dog squads have also been deployed to collect the evidence.

The Police have also launched a massive search operation to nab the suspects, with Special Weapons and Tactics team also deployed. The police had also sealed Punjab’s border with Rajasthan.

Stating that the attack appears to be a “terrorist act”,

the State DGP Suresh Arora said: “It appears to have a terror angle. Because it is against a group (of people) and it is not against any individual. There is no reason to throw a hand grenade on a group of people, so we will take it as a terrorist act.

Till proven otherwise, prima facie we will take it as that.”

“There was no issue with this group as such…There was no specific input on Nirankari Bhavan,” he said, while adding that the security across the State has been beefed up, especially around all Nirankari buildings.

Arora told The Pioneer that it was too early to say if it is a joint action by Kashmiri and Sikh militants. He also maintained that it was too early to compare it with the 1978 situation when the Nirankaris were targeted.

Condemning the incident and appealing the people to maintain peace, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of deceased. He also directed the civic hospital to provide free treatment to those injured in the attack.

Soon after the attack, Capt Amarinder chaired a high-level meeting to review the law and order situation in the State.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also spoke to Capt Amarinder assuring “strong action” against those responsible for the grenade attack. Calling the Sunday attack a “reprehensible act of violence”, the Union Minister expressed deep anguish over the death of innocents.

Ex-Tesla employee charged in $9.3 million embezzlement scheme NEW YORK A 32-year-old Indian man, a former employee at American electric car manufacturer Tesla, has been charged for allegedly stealing $9.3 million from the company by falsifying financial documents to divert payments from one supplier to another.

Salil Parulekar has been charged with nine counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. If convicted, the maximum penalty for each count of wire fraud is twenty years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

The maximum sentence for aggravated identity theft is two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A federal grand jury issued an indictment against Parulekar last week, charging him with engaging in the embezzlement scheme, US Attorney Alex Tse and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge John Bennett said.

According to the indictment, during 2016 and 2017, Parulekar, formerly of San Jose, or-

chestrated the embezzlement scheme at Tesla.

At the time, Parulekar was an employee in the Global Supply Management group at Tesla. He was responsible for overseeing Tesla’s relationship with certain suppliers for various parts and services related to Tesla automobiles.

Parulekar allegedly used his role to initiate a scheme wherein he diverted money owed to one Tesla supplier and caused it to be paid to another supplier.

In all, he allegedly embezzled approximately $9.3 million.

According to the indictment, Parulekar learned in January 2017 that Tesla had terminated its supplier relationship with Schwabische Huttenwerke Automotive GmbH (SHW).

At the time of the termination, the SHW had only provided a limited number of sample products, specifically, motor pumps, to Tesla.

Parulekar allegedly knew the termination meant that Tesla was withholding future payments to the SHW and that Parulekar was not authorised

to contravene this decision.

Notwithstanding these facts, Parulekar redirected a series of payments intended for another supplier, Hota Industrial Manufacturing and caused them to be paid to the SHW. The indictment alleges Parulekar caused the diversion of payments by falsifying invoices; creating fraudulent accounts payable documents, such as bank account information and wire instructions; and impersonating Hota employees.

Specifically, Parulekar allegedly stole the identity of a Hota employee and by impersonating the employee, deceived Tesla’s Accounts Payable division into switching the bank account information for Hota and SHW. Parulekar had studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Mumbai and earned his Masters in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Ikea has a plan to fix the pollution crisis in India’s cities Ikea has come up with a plan to help some of the world’s most polluted cities breathe easier.

The global furniture giant will start making products out of agricultural waste in India, meaning farmers no longer have to burn it.

The initiative, called “Better Air Now,” will provide Indian farmers with a use for unwanted rice straw, which is often burned.

Smoke from the fires is one of the major contributors to northern India’s pollution crisis.

Ikea, which opened its first stores in India earlier this year, plans to buy the straw and turn it into a renewable source for Ikea products. The company’s ambition is “to create a model for how to reduce air pollution that could be replicated in other mega cities,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

The program will kick off in the areas around India’s capital New Delhi — one of the world’s most polluted cities — before being extended to other parts of the country and eventually to Ikea’s global markets.

Ikea is working with Indian state and local governments, NGOs and companies to help take the initiative forward.

Crop burning is one of the biggest sources of pollution in northern India.

Every year, farmers set fire to millions of tons of crop residue to clear fields for the next season, releasing huge amounts of harmful air particles into the environment.

As much as 33% of New Delhi’s overall pollution earlier this month came from crop burning in surrounding states, according to a report by India’s System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research.

Pollution in India is believed to be responsible for as many as one million deaths a year.

Data from the World Health Organization released in May gave India the unenviable distinction of having nine of the world’s 10 most polluted cities.

New Delhi’s air is so polluted that residents could live as much as nine years longer if the city met WHO standards, the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago estimated in a study last year.

Ikea has taken other steps to increase sustainability in recent months, including a global ban on single-use plastic at its stores earlier this year.

Clash between British and American English comes under judicial scanner Chandigarh,

The clash between British and American English has come under judicial scanner. A candidate for a stenographer’s post has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging that the word ‘enrollment’ was wrongly checked by Registrar (HR), Punjab and Haryana High Court Enrolment, with one “L” is standard in British English, while enrollment with two “Ls” is standard in American English. In her petition placed before the Bench of Justice Rajiv Narain Raina, Rajni of Bathinda prayed that she was required to be considered “qualified candidate” for the posts of stenographer in the subordinate courts of Punjab “in view of word ‘enrollment’ being wrongly checked”.

She added the word with single and double “L” was correct as “both were having the same meaning”.

Her counsel Dr Rau P.S. Girwar added the petitioner secured 34 marks, while the candidate obtaining 36 marks in her this category was declared successful.

He added the petitioner was in the physically handicapped category. “Due to wrong result, she was deprived from getting employment in the subordinate courts on the post of Stenographer Grade-III, which was direct infringement of fundamental rights.”

The case will now come up on November 26.

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PAGE 16 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

NEWS

Two Indian-origin ministers quit government in U.K Two Indian-origin Ministers on Thursday resigned their positions in protest at the draft withdrawal agreement passed by the British Cabinet, while a Pakistani-origin politician resigned from his role as trade envoy to Pakistan over the government’s approach to offering asylum to Asia Bibi as well as the Brexit deal.

Shailesh Vara, the Minister of State for Northern Ireland and Suella Braverman, a Minister within the Ministry for Exiting the EU, both tendered their resignations to the Prime Minister in letters made public on Thursday morning, joining more senior figures, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey. Sri Lankan-origin Ranil Jayawardena also stepped down as a Minister. Rehman Chishti said he was stepping down as the Conservative Party’s vice chairman and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Pakistan.

Mr. Vara became the first Minister to tender his resignation following the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. In his letter, he said that he could not support an agreement that left

Britain in a “half-way house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation.”

“There is every possibility that the U.K.-EU trade deal that we seek will take years to conclude. We will be locked in a customs arrangement indefinitely, bound by rules determined by the EU over which we have no say,” he warned.

Pointing to Northern Ireland, he warned that it would be subject to a different relationship with the EU with the rest of U.K., threatening the economic and constitutional integrity of the U.K. While Mr. Vara had supported the Remain campaign in the run up to the referendum, he supported the leadership bid of Brexiteer Michael Gove in his party leadership campaign in 2016 following the resignation of David Cameron.

“The proposed Northern Ireland Backstop is not Brexit,” insisted Ms. Braverman in her resignation letter. “It prevents an unequivocal exit from a customs union with the EU.” Ms. Braverman was an influential campaigner to leave the EU, chairing the European

Research Group, which has been campaigning for a “hard” Brexit, until she joined the government earlier this year.

Mr. Chishti also expressed his disagreement with the withdrawal agreement and his disagreement with the “lack of leadership shown by the U.K. government” over the Asia Bibi case. “What I found shocking is that this British government is failing to put into practice the core values that our country stands for; religious freedom, justice, morally doing the right thing… the government should not wait to see if another country offers sanctuary, we should have had the conviction to lead on this matter and offer sanctuary ourselves straight away,” he wrote in his letter.

The resignations further reduce the presence of Indianorigin Ministers in the U.K. government, following the high-profile resignation of Priti Patel last year. Rishi Sunak, the son-in-law of Infosys’ Narayana Murthy, remains a Minister within the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government, as does Alok Sharma, Britain’s Minister for Employment.

1.8 million foreigners visited India on e-visa this year The highest number of visitors were from the United Kingdom, followed by United States, China, France and Germany Around 18 lakh foreigners visited India on electronic visas till October 31 this year, a Home Ministry statement said.

The highest number of visitors, 2,92,143, were from the United Kingdom, followed by the United States with 2,21,339, China 1,27,022, France 1,07,185 and Germany 89,863.

Over 17 lakh foreigners visited India on e-visa in 2017.

The government received $105,558,496 as e-visa fees in 2017 and $137,527,270 (₹993 crore approx) till October 31 this year.

Covers 166 countries The number of foreigners who visited India on e-visa has gone up from 4,47,000 in 2015 to 18.7 lakh till October 31 this year.

The e-visa facility now covers practically all the countries of the world, 166 as of now. Foreigners can arrive at any of the designated 26 airports and five seaports in India without interacting with any official before checking in at the immigration counter.

Under the e-visa scheme, an applicant receives an email authorising him or her to travel to India after it has been approved.

The tourist can travel with a printout of this authorisation, a Home Ministry official said.

On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorisation to the immigration authorities who would then allow entry into the country. E-visa is now available for five categories ie. tourist, business, medical, conference and medical attendant. To promote cruise tourism, immigration facilities have been provided at five major seaports where e-landing permits are granted to passengers for their onshore site-seeing.

Sankara Nethralaya: The Temple of Eye

Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu bars CBI’s entry into his state Chandrababu Naidu’s government has restricted the CBI’s entry into Andhra Pradesh without its permission, accusing the Narendra Modi dispensation of using the agency to target political opponents and setting off a potential face-off with the Centre.

Sources said Naidu, who has been trying to unite the Opposition before the general election, had also highlighted the turmoil in the country’s premier investigating agency, perceived as stemming from the Modi government’s interference to promote its favourites among its officers.

In a “confidential” notification that was leaked late on Thursday night, Naidu’s government has withdrawn the “general consent” given to the CBI to carry out operations relating to central employees in Andhra without informing the state administration.

“Now CBI officers will have to seek the state government’s permission every time they want to enter the state to carry out investigations, except for cases where a high court or the Supreme Court has ordered a CBI probe,” an agency officer clarified.

Agency spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said no such notification had yet been received from Andhra. “We will examine it after getting it and seek legal opinion if necessary,” he said.

Mamata Banerjee has backed Naidu’s move and said she would explore legal options for

similar measures in Bengal.

Sources said the Naidu government had cited a lack of confidence in the CBI, saying the agency had lost its credibility after its top two officers accused each other publicly of corruption and got benched.

Naidu had dumped the country’s ruling alliance in March this year over the Centre’s failure to grant a special status and financial assistance to his state, promised following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

Since then, income-tax raids on certain business establishments in Andhra run by people close to the state’s ruling party had left Naidu red-faced. Miffed, he had announced that his government would not provide police cover for the officials conducting the raids.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, government hereby withdraws the general consent accorded (in GO Ms 109) to all the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under the said act in the state of Andhra Pradesh,” the order issued by state principal secretary A.R. Anuradha says.

The CBI functions under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, whose rules give it complete jurisdiction over Delhi and allow it to enter other states with the “general consent” of their governments.

All the states notify this general consent every year, and the Andhra government had renewed it on August 3. The general consent becomes superfluous, however, if a high court or the Supreme Court has ordered the CBI probe.

A senior CBI officer said Andhra’s revolt against the Centre could have far-reaching consequences for India’s federal structure of governance.

“The state government is within its rights to revoke the consent. This Centre-state confrontation will make corrupt officials feel happy and protected,” he said.

Opposition parties have down the decades accused successive Union governments of unleashing the CBI against political opponents.

Sources said the Karnataka government, then headed by Congress leader S.M. Krishna, too had withdrawn its general consent in 2001 but the matter was resolved after a few months.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s NDA government was in power at the Centre at the time.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal backed Naidu’s move.

“Chandrababuji has done the right thing. Modiji is misusing the CBI and the income-tax department,” he tweeted. “Naiduji, please don’t let the income-tax department enter your state, either.”

Sankara Nethralaya, premier eye care institution in Chennai, India was established by the Living Legend, Padmabhushan Dr. S. S. Badrinath in 1978 with the objective of providing eye care of international standard free to the poor and reasonable cost to others. Nethralaya has three prong approach for eradicating blindness in the Indian sub-continent – patient care, ophthalmic education and India centric research.

On an average, Nethralaya treats 2,400 outpatients and performs 200 surgeries per day, almost half of them free on poor patients. Nethralaya has trained thousands of ophthalmic professionals and sent them throughout India.

They serve the patients with major hospitals in in Chennai, Kolkata, Thirupathi and Sri city.

There are plans to start hospitals in Thane, Maharashtra and Surat, Gujrat; and Nethralaya University in Sri city in Andhra Pradesh. One unique activity of Nethralaya is Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU). These are operation theatres on wheels – first of its kind in Asia.

Two busses serve as operation theatres – one as preparation unit and the other as operation theatre. MESU goes out to the villages, performs operations at the door step of the patients and returns to main campus after post-operative care. Nethralaya has two such units and has performed over 10,000 surgeries.

Sankara Nethralaya OM Trust, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization established by Mr. S. V. Acharya in 1987 in Maryland, USA with sole purpose of raising contributions in US and transfer to Nethralaya in Chennai for providing free services to indigent patients.

SN OM Trust is managed my twenty uncompensated trustees spread across USA. The Trust has been raising over a million dollars and help Nethralaya perform over 10,000 surgeries per year. The Trust has chapters in metro Washington DC, Houston & Dallas in Texas, Atlanta, GA, New York, NY, and Las Angeles and San Francisco, CA. The trust organizes number of fund raising events and help raise public awareness of Nethralaya. It is pertinent to point out that with active participation by the Trustees, administrative overhead of the Trust is in the 2% range.

For more information, feel free contact President Mrs. Leela Krishnamurthy at (832) 654-9444, or President Emeritus Mr. S. V. Acharya at (855) 463-8472, Ashok Vasan (281)265-7745 or Jay Malhotra (713) 962-5555.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018• PAGE 17

NEWS

TM Krishna performs in Delhi as AAP makes political statement in an inclusive India, an India which belongs to all religions, faiths and castes, ur presence tomo will be a statement against those forces who r trying to divide and destroy our beloved India.”

Mr. Sisodia later said in a tweet that the concert sent a message.

“Awesome performance by @tmkrishna ..and amazing response by people of Delhi . Superb! Thanks Delhi! For being here. It’s not only about music... Your presence here is a political statement to save the diversity of the country.”

Among those in the audience were Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram NEW DELHI Politics and art shared the stage here on Saturday as Carnatic singer T.M. Krishna performed at a hurriedly put together concert organised by the Aam Aadmi Party government, three days after a Central government authority event he was supposed to perform at was cancelled.

Mr. Krishna was scheduled to perform at an Airports Authority of India and SPICMACAY event over the weekend, but it was cancelled on Wednesday allegedly because right wing trolls targeted the singer, who has spoken out against religious chauvinism.

On Thursday, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s office had reached out to the singer, offering to organise a concert. On Friday, the Delhi government and Mr. Krishna announced that he would be performing at the Garden of Five Senses in south Delhi on Saturday as a part of the government’s Awam ki Awaaz concert series.

Speaking before Mr. Krishna started his performance, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told the crowd: “You all have come today. Enjoy the music, but you coming here today is a big statement that this country belongs to all –Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists. It belongs to Tamilians, Malayalis, Gujaratis, Marathis, Haryanvi and Punjabis.”

He added that India’s diversity was its strength and that it had to be preserved.

Before he began his performance, Mr. Krishna said he would not be speaking much as he was there to sing.

“The spirit of the day has transformed over the past few days. And in keeping with the spirit I’m going to try to bring in multiple voices, languages, traditions and religions in the concert,” he said.

On Friday, Mr. Kejriwal had said in a tweet: “If u believe

Yechury, who sat next to Mr. Kejriwal, and former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A.P. Shah.

While most in the crowd were aware of the controversy surrounding the cancelled concert, some audience members said they were only there for the music.

Neeraj Bansal, a Faridabad resident, said his family was visiting the nearby Qutub Minar and had some time to kill.

“We just chanced upon this concert here and decided to stay as I wanted my children to experience it,” he said.

The BJP on Saturday attacked the AAP government

in Delhi on its decision to host Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna.

Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly Vijender Gupta, said, “Mr. Krishna, whose image is directly or indirectly questionable due to its association with urban Naxalism, is being hosted by the Kejriwal government, which is least bothered about the development of Delhi.”

By hosting Mr. Krishna, Mr. Gupta alleged, AAP was associating itself with “anti-national forces” by sponsoring such programmes, in addition to continuing its to focus on “political interests in other States.”

PAGE 18 â&#x20AC;˘ INDIA HERALD â&#x20AC;˘ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

COMMUNITY CALENDAR Art Museum Kannappan Art Museum will be open for public Tuesday 5.30 PM to 7.30 PM, Saturday 10AM to 2 PM, Sunday 12 noon to 4 PM. Address: 2341 N. Galveston Ave, Pearland, TX 77581.

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Chinmaya Mission Sunday satsangs for adults, youth, and children. A unique Bala Vihar program for each grade, from PreK to Grade 12. Satsangs in two sessions between 8:35 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. - 1p.m. Bala Vihar students can take shloka, bhajan and orchestra classes or language classes for Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, and Gujarati. Chinmaya Mission is located at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX 77498. New members may visit the welcome desk between 8 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. or 10:15 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Please visit www. chinmayahouston.org or contact Bharati Sutaria 281.933.0233 for more information.

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Shiv Shakti Mandir Sanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir, 6640 Harwin. Open daily 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. All major festivals, as well as birthdays, naam karan, engagement and other ceremonies. Call Pandit Virat Mehta 713-278-9099 or Hardik Raval 361-243-6539 for puja or other ceremonies.

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Hare Krishna Dham Houstonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original Vedic temple, ISKCON of Houston. At 1320 W 34th St. (77018). Daily Darshan & Arati Times: 4.30 a.m, 7 a.m, 8.30 a.m, 12 noon, 4.30 p.m, 7 p.m, 9 p.m. Sunday Festival: 5.30 pm to 7.30 p.m. Weekly Gita classes for adults; call 281-433-1635 or harekrishnadham @gmail.com Houston Namadwaar A prayer house where the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Maha-mantra is continuously chanted. Weekends: 8-11 AM & 4-7 PM, Weekdays: 7-8 AM & 6-7 PM. Weekly â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gopa Kuteeramâ&#x20AC;? childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heritage classes and Srimad Bhagavatam classes. Call 281-402-6585; visit www.godivinity.org (Global Organization for Divinity).

Saumyakasi Sivalaya Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is located at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478.

Temple timings: Monday to Friday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM. Saturday and Sunday: 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM. For more information Contact 281-568-1690 or Jay Deshmukh at 832-541-0059 or visit www.saumyakasi.org Gauri Siddhivinayak Temple Darshan from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. All major festivals as well as birthdays, naam karan, engage-

ment and other ceremonies. Call Pandit Pradip Pandya 832-4669868 for puja and other ceremonies. At 5645 Hillcroft Ste 701, Houston, TX 77036.

Veerashaiva Samaja VSNA Houston is a group of families who believe in Veerashaiva dharma (Basava dharma).

Monthly Mahamane program for prayer and discussion on Vachana Sahitya followed by Prasada. Contact: vsnahous ton@gmail.com or Jagadeesh Halyal 832-744-4166.

Mar Thoma Church Trinity Mar Thoma Church every Sunday at 5810 Almeda Genoa Rd. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m.

Malayalam service at 9:30 a.m. on 1st & 3rd Sunday. Adult Bible class at 9:30 a.m. English service at 10:30 a.m. on 2nd & 4th Sunday. Call 713-991-1557 or 281261-4603.

Telugu Christian Fellowship Telugu Christian Fellowship meets every third Saturday of the month at Triumph Church, 10555 W. Airport Blvd., StaďŹ&#x20AC;ord TX 77477 at 6:30 p.m. Join us for a time of praise, worship and fellowship. Worship is in English.

For information call Chris Gantela 281-344-0707, or Rev. Vijay Gurrala 281-997-0757.

Sri Guruvayurappan Temple Hours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m. -8 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Weekends & Holidays: 6 a.m. to noon and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Bhajans Saturdays 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Sundays 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Special poojas (weekends and holidays) Choroon (Annaprasam) for kids, Thulabharam, Vahana Pooja, Nirapara. Temple is located at 11620 Ormandy St. (77035) Tel: 713-7298994 email: temple@ guruvayur.us Preksha Meditation JVB Preksha Meditation Center conducts weekly Meditation, Yoga and Swadhyay sessions inside its unique Pyramid hall under the auspicious guidance of Samani Kanchan Pragyaji and Samani Pranav Pragyaji who are stationed at Houston Center this year. It also runs special events and programs like I-Choose, Meditation Camps and Gyanshala program for children ages 4-14 yrs. JVB is located at 14102 Schiller Rd. Houston 77082. Every Tuesday, 9:30am11:30am, Samaniji has pravachan for all adults interested in learning about Jainism. Every Wednesday there is Swadhyay class from 7-8pm and meditation from 8-9pm.

Every Thursday from 9:30-11am there is special Yoga class for Ladies only. Every Saturday, there is Yoga Class from 9-10am and Meditation from 10-10.30am. Ist & 3rd Sundays, there is Gyanshala Classes for Kids ages 4-14yrs. from 10-12:15pm followed by Lunch.

Visit www.jvbhouston.org or send email at info@jvbhouston.org for more details.

Patanjali Yogpeeth Free Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun at Arya Samaj from 8 am to 9:30 a.m. Call Anil 281-579-9433. For other free classes, call Indra 281537-0018. For Yoga/Herbal products, call Shekhar 281-242-5000. www.pyptusa.org; www.DivyaProducts.com.

Hindu Temple of The Woodlands 7601 S. Forest Gate Dr,

The Woodlands, TX 77382 Temple Hours, Weekdays: 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM 5:30 PM - 8.30 PM Aarti @ 7:30 PM Saturday and Sunday 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM Aarti at 12:00 PM 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Aarti @ 7:30 PM; Contact 832-585--0001 or temple@myhtw.net Sathya Sai centers Sunday program held at two locations (North Houston: 12127 Malcomson Road, Houston; South Houston: 246 Fluor Daniel Drive, Sugar Land) from 3:00 to 5:30 pm) - Sai Spiritual Education (SSE) classes for children; Study Circle for adults & Devotional singing for all. Service programs - food distribution, canned food drives, nursing home visits, tutoring at schools, etc. Contact Venkat Rao (North) - 602-503-2249 or Ranji Raghavan (South) 281-451-8238.

Visit www.sairegion10.org Sadhu Vaswani Center Sadhu Vaswani Center of Houston holds regular Satsang on 3rd Thursday of the month and daily Arti at 7.30 p.m. Call 281-4630379 or e.mail ramolaj@aol.com Gaudiya Math Shri Govindji Gaudiya Matha is a Hindu Vaishnava temple of Sanatan Dharam and worshipping place of Shri Shri Radha Krishna, Shri Gaur Nitai & Shri Ram Darbar.

Mandir is open daily from 5.30 AM until 8.30 PM. The services are held from 5.30PM to 7.30PM followed by delicious prashad.

Daily Aarti times : Mangala Aarti5:30 am. Bhog Aarti - 12:30 pm.

Evening Aarti - 7:00 pm. Enroll your child in Sri Govindaji Vedic School. We oďŹ&#x20AC;er Hindi classes for all ages. Sri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha is located in Northwest Houston at 16628 Kieth Harrow Blvd Houston TX 77084. For more information, call at 832-4644686 or visit our website: http:// sggm.org.

Swaminarayan Temple Hindu Satsang at Shree Swaminarayan Hindu Temple, under Shree NarNarayan Dev Gadi kalupur.

Opens daily from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Daily aarti at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Saturday sabha from 5 p.m to 7 p.m. followed by aarti at 7 p.m. and Maha-Prasad (free dinner). www.issotx.org. (281) 530-2565.

Sanatan Dharm Maha Sabha West Indian Religious Organization called Sanatan Dharm Maha Sabha Branch # 377 is located at 26100 Tina Lane, Katy, TX 77494.

Durga Mata Pooja is held every Friday from 7 pm to 9.30 pm.

Contact Ram Sharma @ 713-4129985.

Gandhi Library Mahatma Gandhi Library Book Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of each month; 12:30 PM at Arya Samaj Greater Houston, 13475 Schiller Rd. Join the discussion of the great manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s autobiography â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Story of My Experiments with Truth.

Call Manish Wani 713-829-6979.

Sant Nirankari Mission Sant Nirankari Mission holds its weekly spiritual congregation on every Sunday at India House 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. followed by community meals. All are welcome. For further information, call Raj Bhala at (281) 980-2825.

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