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VOL. XVIII NO. 17
India in New York A GUIDE TO EVENTS AND ENTERTAINMENT FROM INDIA ABROAD FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2014
Crusader for the invisible children Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi ADVERTISEMENT
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INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
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People wait for their turn at Cox and Kings office in Manhattan.
Cox and Kings passes the buck George Joseph reports on their meeting with community representatives
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ox and Kings Ltd, the outsourcing agency for Indian visas, Overseas Citizen of India and Person of Indian Origin cards, reached out to the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin to update them on its services. There has been widespread criticism of Cox and Kings after it took over from BLS International. Complaints raised included apathy towards customers, untraceable documents, loss of passports, a customer unfriendly Web site, non-responsive telephone services, and most importantly, ill-informed staff. Cox and Kings held meetings with GOPIO officials in New York and Washington, DC. Company managers present at the New York meeting included Thomas Thottathil, the agency’s associate vice president for corporate communications from Mumbai; John Nair, US Operations head; and Sumit Sharma, New York regional head. GOPIO was represented by its founder president Dr Thomas Abraham, GOPIO-Connecticut past president Shailesh Naik, vice president Varghese Ninan, treasurer Viresh Sharma and
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founding life member Ramesh Kalicharan. Cox and Kings claimed there were problems after the takeover because of the backlog of over 18,000 passports in New York alone with similar numbers at other centers. It said it inherited the responsibilities from the previous vendor in a disarrayed condition. It said it had sorted out several issues since it took over, changed security guards and wanted to work with the community to fix the problems. Cox and Kings also promised to implement GOPIO’s suggestions about extending work hours, opening the offices on weekends, hiring more professionals, training staff, answering telephone calls, making its Web Site more user-friendly for applicants, and arranging town hall meetings with the community. GOPIO will monitor the services and has appointed its associate secretary Jaswant Mody to receive complaints from the community at jmody@yahoo.com with a copy to gopio@optonline.net
Indra Nooyi gets Swaminathan Award
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ood production is not any more a problem across the world, but the big question is who gets to eat and who doesn’t,’ Indra Nooyi, chief executive officer,PepsiCo said at the Swaminathan Award gala in New York October 10. The award was instituted by Asia
Initiatives in honor of renowned food scientist and community organizer Dr M S Swaminathan. The 89 year old, known as the Father of the Green Revolution in India, traveled from India for the event, and conferred the award on Nooyi, for her ‘deep commitment to performance with purpose.’ Nooyi said many governments did not have adequate mechanism to save food
from destruction and lacked the resources for food distribution. Private organizations could, in these cases, play a crucial role. She said she did not believe in corporations that did not have a broader vision and did not think about how they made their money. She also talked about
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INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
Teenager molesters face charges as adults GEORGE JOSEPH
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ew Jersey residents Rahul Mathew, 20, and Matthew Hazuda, 20, face criminal charges for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl at a borough park. Though they committed the crime when they were teens, they face charges as adults after the state supreme court denied their petition to keep the case juvenile, prosecutors say. Both are charged with aggravated sexual assault in the August 10, 2011, attack, according to Bergen County Prosecutor
John L Molinelli. About two months after the alleged incident, the victim disclosed to her mother that she was sexually assaulted at a park in Paramus by two males, subsequently identified as 16-year-old Hazuda and 17-yearold Mathew. During an interview with detectives, the victim provided a detailed account of how Hazuda and Rahul forcibly engaged in inappropriate sexual activity with her. The ensuing investigation resulted in both Hazuda and Rahul being served with juvenile complaints and released into the custody of their mothers. Both were instructed not to have any contact with
the victim. “When the defendants were originally charged, the case was waived up to adult court due to the severity of the charges. That decision was under appeal by the defendants until now,” prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Maureen Parenta tells India in New York. “Although both were juveniles at the time of the incident and were charged accordingly, their complaints have now been referred from the Family Part to the Criminal Part where they will be handled as adults.” The case now goes to a Bergen County grand jury.
Indra Nooyi, right, with Dr M S Swaminathan at the award ceremony.
Dr Samin Sharma
Mount Sinai honors Dr Samin Sharma SUMAN MOZUMDER
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Indra Nooyi gets Swaminathan Award
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Dnyaneshwar Mulay
her own company, which, over the recent years, is producing more and more health drinks and snacks that have less fat, sugar and salt than the standard fare. This was AI’s second award gala. Last year it had honored economist and humanitarian Professor Jeffrey Sachs. AI, driven by the vision of co-founder and current CEO Geeta Mehta (a New York architect and adjunct Columbia University professor), works for ‘a world where no one should live in abject povertyor is denied opportunities to education,
basic health care, food, and shelter.’ During the evening, Mehta discussed AI’s activities in India, which include improving sanitation in shanty towns, and helping hundreds of farms with communication help, and also to receive information on weather patterns and conservation efforts. She also spoke about AI’s new focus: To develop Social Capital Credits, which would give incentives to individual or communities to undertake tasks like girl education, cleaning a locality, improving health-care programs. ‘It encourages people and the communities to empower themselves by empowering others,’ Mehta said.
ount Sinai Heart Institute named its cardiac catheterization laboratory the ‘Dr Samin K Sharma Family Foundation Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory’ in honor of Dr Samin Sharma, director of clinical and interventional cardiology at the Mount Sinai Hospital. The institute held an inaugural ceremony for the laboratory during which a wall plaque was unveiled honoring Dr Sharma, the Sharma family, and the donors who helped the laboratory reach its $5 million endowment goal. The endowment will support the laboratory’s future clinical research and educational projects. Dr Sharma said with hard work and dedication, the number one catheterization laboratory in the United States with the highest volume and lowest complication rates had been created. ‘From the bottom of my heart, I thank all of you. Also, I thank my team, my mentor and guide, Dr Valentin Fuster,’ he said at the ceremony. Dr Fuster, director of the Mount Sinai Heart Institute, and physician-in-chief, Mount Sinai Hospital, said, ‘Having our catheterization laboratory named after Dr Sharma is a tribute to him for everything he has done for us at Mount Sinai.’ Anandi Lal Sharma, Dr Sharma’s 84year-old father, traveled from India to join the celebration. Dr Samin Sharma came to America from India in 1983. He joined the Mount Sinai Hospital in 1990 as a cardiology fellow, and later became the director of its catheterization laboratory in 1996.
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INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
Judge finds Bhalla innocent of ethics violation A
dministrative law Judge James Geraghty dismissed an ethics complaint against Councilman Ravinder Bhalla of Hoboken, New Jersey, last week. The judge said the allegations of a conflict of interest were ‘wildly speculative’ and made by a ‘local gadfly’ known for bigoted attacks, The Star-Ledger reported. The complaint accused Bhalla of wrongfully voting on a legal contract involving an attorney with whom he shared an office. The judge said Bhalla did not have any personal or financial relationship with the attorney and that the charges against him were ‘frivolous and unwarranted.’ In 2010, Peter Belfiore, former housing authority commissioner, filed a complaint with the local finance board, alleging Bhalla had a close business relationship with Paul Condon, whom the city council had appointed to represent Hoboken in certain police department cases, the
since the city did not have a precedent for such a case. Bhalla challenged the board’s decision in the state Office of the Administrative Law. ‘I’m happy that the judge cleared my name, and I hope it makes people think twice before abusing the process for political gain,’ Bhalla told NJ.com. ‘The decision ended what amounted to a five-year smear campaign against my reputation.’ The judge said Belifore was a ‘relentless political antagonist’ of Bhalla and had a history of making ‘malicious, bigoted personal attacks’ against the councilman. Ravinder Bhalla with Belfiore said he was shocked that a his wife Navneet and brother Amardeep. judge who had never met him would characterize him as a bigot, and told NJ.com, ‘Suppose I am a bigot, what court documents said. does that have to do with the fact that Ravi was found in Though Bhalla said he had checked with the city’s attorviolation of the local law? To me this was obfuscation. I’m ney whether he could vote on the matter and voted only far from a bigot.’ after the attorney advised him to, the finance board had He said he may appeal the judge’s decision. said co-signing a lease with Condon constituted a business The case will be referred back to the local finance board. relationship that could affect Bhalla’s objectivity. The board has 45 days to accept, reject or modify the deciBhalla was fined $100 but the payment was waived sion.
Fukuyama deals with Indian politics at Nand & Jeet Khemka lecture SUMAN MOZUMDER
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rancis Fukuyama, the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, delivered the Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture in New York last week. He spoke on The Origins of Indian Political Institutions: The Long View. Professor Fukuyama spoke on political institutions, their emergence and efficacy in a country like India and their historical roots, and factors that shaped their emergence. Professor Fukuyama is the author of The Origins of Political Order: from Prehuman Times to the French Revolution, and Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy. He based his lecture mostly on his first book, which has three chapters on India and made somewhat of a historical comparison between India and China. The ‘China-India comparison is a very longstanding one because they are two of the largest populated countries in the world and both are underdeveloped and, in a Professor Francis Fukuyama, left, at the event. sense, are rivals,’ he said. ‘But they pose very different that organizes the endowed Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished models since they became independent countries.’ ‘I am not arguing that these two countries have to play these Lecture; India’s Consul General in New York Dnayaneshwar historical patterns or their traditions, but what I am saying is Mulay, and other academics, corporate executives and CASI that it is important to know the patterns to understand where supporters attended the event. Earlier, introducing Professor Fukuyama, Kapur described his the contemporary institutions come from and one can only do books as monumental works of scholarship: ‘They ask really big that by looking at history.’ About 120 people, including Professor Philip Oldenburg, a questions in the way we think of people like Karl Marx, Hegel scholar of South-Asian culture and history in Columbia; Charles and Max Webber. His books really try and address three core R Kaye, co-chief executive officer, Warburg Pincus LLC, a glob- components of modern political order — the competence and al private equity firm; Devesh Kapur, director, Center for the capability of a State, the State’s subordination into the rule of Advanced Study of India, the Philadelphia-based institution law and the accountability of a government to its own people.’
SFJ to submit ‘1984 Sikh Genocide’ report to the UN GEORGE JOSEPH
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arking the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Sikh massacre, the United States-based human rights group Sikhs For Justice will submit a report on it to Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General, United Nations, November 7. The report, titled ‘1984 Sikh Genocide,’ will carry details of the killings of Sikhs 19 states in India, and the lack of convictions in the case. When the report is submitted, Sikhs from North America and the European Union are expected to converge at the UN headquarters to highlight the issue. The presentation of the report coincides with the day when an All India Sikh Students Federation delegation is expected to bring the ‘Torch of Justice’ from Delhi to the UN in New York. Attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor, SFJ, said, ‘After exhausting all judicial remedies in India, 1984 victims have decided to go international with their quest.’
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INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
In the evening, a spectacular fireworks show exploded over the river.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY: AIA-NY
One thing that brings people home to a sense of Diwali, even in Manhattan Chaya Babu attends the Diwali Mela at South Street Seaport
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talls lined Water Street in Lower Manhattan October 5. Under their white coverings, costume jewelry, colorful Rajasthani garb, gold-embroidered scarves, and paintings with stylized renderings of Ganesh were on display for purchase. Children in lehengas and old women in saris covered with cardigan sweaters dotted the streets. But there were also young people — a 20-something with large green sunglasses and the side of her head shaved strolled down the street along with a couple, two men holding hands. The crowd had its share of non-desi folks as well. Diwali at South Street Seaport draws a diverse crowd. “If we go back 27 years, when we tried to do the first Diwali here, we faced so much resistance, that now that we’re able to do it so easily, we take a lot of pride in that,” said Sunil Modi, president, Association of Indians in America-New York , the organization that put together the festival. “In order to do this event in Manhattan at the historical Pier 16, using public streets, you can imagine that these things didn’t come easily in those days. Today, it’s not an obstacle anymore.” By the middle of the day, some police officers estimated that the numbers coming in and out of the festival area were nearing 40,000. With the breathtaking views of the water and the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, it’s no surprise that the day drew such numbers, as well as some high-profile faces. Mayor Bill DeBlasio made an appearance along with members of the Congress like Grace Meng and Carolyn Maloney, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, and Manhattan Borough President Gail Brewer.
The day consisted of much more than just cultural wares and of course food — the basics at such events. Music, dance, health and wellness, and children’s activities were also core parts of AIA’s production. One of the highlights was a college dance competition, Naach Inferno, on the large stage on Pier 16. Participating dance teams were from schools like Stony Brook, Adelphi and Columbia. Drexel University Jhalak and City Chaahat from City College of New York took first and second place respectively. Sarina Jain, founder, Masala Bhangra, talked her team through their performance backstage before they went up to put on a show that got the audience hyped up. “It’s an honor to be back at the South Street Seaport Diwali festival after years,” Jain said. “When I first moved to New York City, I had my little booth here, and now to see where Masala Bhangra is at today, 15 years later, being one of the top five workout videos in the US, is pretty hot.” Jain told the story of how her father, who passed away when she was young, inspired her to create her Indian fitness empire. She said she has been happy to be a pioneer of bringing Indian dance to a diverse group, and now, threequarters of her students are not even desi. “I created Masala Bhangra with an intention — and that was to honor my father and his existence and everything he told me to be proud of,” she said. “I’ve been teaching fitness for the past 23 years, but now it’s not even about fitness anymore; it’s an empowering program that gets everybody up and moving and to absolutely embrace whoever they are,
Mayor Bill DeBlasio, center, made an appearance along with members of Congress like Grace Meng and Carolyn Maloney, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, and Manhattan Borough President Gail Brewer.
whatever culture they are, to embrace it. My dad always said: ‘Wherever you go, don’t ever forget to be Indian.’” As she spoke, people snapped pics of Miss Teen India New York, Karishma Malhotra, and runner up, Manjari Parikh, on the pier, the choppy East River glistening behind them. Closer to the street, while bhangra and Bollywood beats blared from two stages, kids did arts and crafts, making everything from Diwali lanterns to rangoli plates. A shadow puppet show used Indian mythological figures as the puppets, and a pixelated poster of Gandhi let children paste colored squares in designated boxes with the word ‘peace’ written on them in the language of the child’s choice. A Holistic Health Fair with free information on various medical issues was also set up, and added to things like dental screening and an Ayurvedic doctor. In the evening, per tradition, a spectacular fireworks show exploded over the river. If there’s one thing that truly brings people home to a sense of Diwali, even in Manhattan, it’s the colorful lights of fireworks, symbolizing what the holiday represents: The festival of lights. “This is a privilege that we had to fight for 27 years ago but now the community takes it for granted, which we’re happy about. And now, the community has so many more young adults who were born here and grew up here, and we know they really want to be part of the community, they want to understand Indian culture, they want to make the best of both worlds, and we want to have this platform for them so they can do that.”
One of the highlights this year was a college dance competition, Naach Inferno, taking place on Pier 16.
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Cover Story INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17 2014
Crusader for the Invisible Children
Child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi in his office in New Delhi after the Nobel Peace Prize announcement.
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ADNAN ABIDI/REUTERS
Children’s right activist Kailash Satyarthi wins Nobel Peace Prize
TEAM INDIA IN NEW YORK
ven as guns blazed at the border between India and Pakistan, halfway around the world the Nobel Prize Committee gave a nod to peace. It awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize jointly to Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai ‘for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.’ Satyarthi, 60, runs the NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement), which has been in the forefront of rescuing children from forced labor and trafficking. He has ‘maintained the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and headed various forms of peaceful protests, focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain,’ the Nobel committee said.
Malala, 17, shot to the limelight after the Taliban fired bullets into her for advocating education for girls. She displayed tremendous courage even after the Taliban attack, resolutely expressing her determination to carry on with her campaign for child rights and girls education. The Nobel Committee said the duo had won for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education and added It as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism.’ Satyarthi dedicated the award to the people of India and vowed to work with renewed vigor against exploitation of children and to ensure their welfare. He told the media that he would ask Malala to join him in fighting the exploitation of children besides working together for peace in the sub-continent. ‘I know her (Malala) personally,’
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Knowing Kailash Satyarthi
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s a school-going child, Satyarthi, born in 1954, was deeply affected by child-labor in his hometown. This was the foundation for what he was to become. nAs a 6 year old, Satyarthi started a football club, and used the membership fee to pay the school fees of those who were too poor to afford them. He, along with a friend, collected more than 2,000 school textbooks for poor children. The project went on to become a book bank in Vidisha, his hometown in Madhya Pradesh. n He has a degree in electrical engineering and a post-graduate diploma in highvoltage engineering. nWhile teaching as a professor in a college in Bhopal, Satyarthi decided to work more actively for social change. Along with a set of friends, he founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan in 1980, the organization which would become the initiator of the first regional South Asian people’s movement, the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude, a conglomeration of more than 750 civil society organizations. The Nobel Peace Prize and fighting for children’s lives is not the only common link between Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai. Satyarthi has survived numerous attacks on his life, the last in March 2011, when he raided a garment factory in New Delhi to rescue children. nHe played an important role in India’s Right to Education law for free compulsory education to children. He has been featured in a 2005 PBS series called The New Heroes, hosted by actor Robert Redford. nThe State Department’s 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report has named him a Hero Acting to End Modern-Day Slavery. nHe loves to cook for rescued child laborers. nHe has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times in the last decade. nHe is a co-founder and a member of High Level Panel on Education with Gordon Brown, Graca Michel, Kofi Annan, Queen Rania and other world leaders. nHe has been ranked among the top defenders of humanity of all time, alongside Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Elie Wessel and the Dalai Lama.
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Cover Story INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
‘It was like love at first sight’ As she patiently waits to greet her Nobel Prize-winning husband, letting journalists have time with him first, Sumedha Kailash happily chats with Sahil Makkar about marrying a teacher who became an activist
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umedha Kailash was rushing to a hospital for a medical check when she heard about her husband, Kailash Satyarthi winning the Nobel Peace Prize. She changed her plans and rushed to the office of his Bachpan Bachao Andolan, located in the busy market of South Delhi’s Kalkaji area. She had to wade through an excited office staff and a battery of journalists swarming outside the two-storied rectangular building. “It’s been more than 3 hours and I am yet to congratulate him personally,” she jokes, alluding to her husband being besieged by journalists, including those from the foreign media. “We have been expecting this for a while but didn’t know it would be this year,” says Sumedha, now joined by daughter Asmita in one of the many rooms on the ground floor. Almost five years ago, the family says they’d expected he’d get it but the prestigious prize went to Bangladesh. “Such was the feeling then that many women colleagues had fainted. Today, everyone is exuberant,” says Asmita, who doesn’t use a second name. While Satyarthi is busy giving interviews to television channels on the first floor and the office staff struggles to manage over-enthusiastic photographers, accompanied by their reporter colleagues, Sumedha happily gives more details of her marital relations. “Everyone has a love story. But ours is such that a film can be made out of it,” dressed in a white suit, she chuckles. “It was like love at first sight.” Satyarthi used to write expert pieces for a local magazine, for which Sumedha was a sub-editor. Her father invited him for dinner one night and Satyarthi stayed back with them. “In the morning, he was joking with all my four sisters, but not with me. Then, I realized there was something happening between us.” She says October has always
brought them good luck. “We met in October; we got married in October and now this.” However, it is not that everything was smooth in their lives. Satyarthi’s decision to quit a teaching job for a social cause didn’t go down well with his in-laws. “There was a time when I had no money to buy milk for my one year-old son,” she says. Relations later got repaired. Even as Sumedha speaks about her relationship, an office staffer called out names of journalists waiting their turn to meet Satyarthi. The narrow aisle leading to the stairs gave a glimpse of the work that takes place there. “Kailash Satyarthi Sir, Congratulations for the Noble (sic) Prize,” boldly reads a white notice board in a corner. The other boards have cuttings from newspapers, lauding the rescue work undertaken to free bonded children across the country. The receptionist is busy turning down requests for help from callers. “Today, we can’t help you, because lots of media people are here.” Above her head hangs a black and white board, reading: ‘Total children released since 1980 — 83,525.’ The walls, painted white with brown window panes, support paintings advocating work for child rights. On tables lay flower bouquets and water bottles. On way to the first floor, Swati Jha, one of the many project coordinators, says they were so excited that they even hugged him for the first time. “He is such a nice person and always takes part in raids to rescue children.” The first floor has a big white notice board listing the scheduled interviews of Satyarthi with television crews. “I am not going anywhere. I will speak to everyone. Let me have tea,” says Satyarthi, strolling out of the room, holding a mug in one hand and fending off TV journalists with the other. By arrangement with Business Standard
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the Press Trust of India quoted him as saying. ‘I will ask her that besides our fight for child rights and education for children, particularly for girls, we have to go a step further and work for peace in our sub-continent. For India and Pakistan, it is very important that our children are born and live in peace.’ Satyarthi added to Press Trust of India, ‘This is not about simply poverty and rights of children. It is more than that. The fight has to continue. We are happy that the issue has been recognized globally now. I will continue my work… The award has put more responsibility on me to work towards welfare of children.’ Malala told the media in London, ‘This award is for all those children who are voiceless, whose voices need to be heard… We will work together and try to build strong relations between India and Pakistan.’ Malala said she and Satyarthi would appeal to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join them in Oslo for the award ceremony in December. She also made a ‘humble request’ to Sharif and Modi to ensure peace.
DARREN STAPLES/REUTERS
Malala Yousafzai, the joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, at Birmingham library in Birmingham, England, October 10.
Kailash Satyarthi, left, meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, October 11.
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Cover Story INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17 2014
‘No country has shown the political will to actually eliminate child labor’
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15 years and a Nobel Peace Prize later, Kailash Satyarthi’s conversation with Amberish K Diwanji still remains relevant
sumers. So what we have been suggesting is that in principle there must be some linkage between trade and labor standards. There is no question about it. There must be some social clause. But such social clauses must not be used for protectionist measures by the rich. If the social clause is seen as a protectionist tactic, which other method is there to fight child labor? In this whole debate, supporters against child labor have not been able to prescribe any independent monitoring mechanism. Who will decide that so-and-so country does not adhere to the labor standards or that soand-so company has been using child labor? If some group within the WTO is to monitor, then it can be misCan you give a brief background of the debate over child used anytime. labor in the WTO? Hence, what we have been demanding is that the The issue developed over two streams of thought. One WTO must mobilize the services of other existing labor was from the USA and France and some other developed organizations. The International Labor Organization (a countries. This was supported by GATT (the General United Nations’ body) is ideal for the purpose — inciAgreement on Trade and Tariffs) in the early days. dentally, the Indian delegation at the WTO meet has Some governments wanted to incorporate the minimade the same suggestion — along with a number of mum labor standards. One of the reasons they gave was independent organizations who are working in the area that it would be very difficult to control the multinational of child labor or environmental issues. This could be an corporations who were scouring the world in search of effective monitoring system under the UN or WTO. cheap labor. However, the WTO has not agreed so far. Since MNCs apply multiple standards in different We have suggested that such a body be set up, involvcountries, these governments felt that there should be a ing representatives from both the rich and poor counminimum standard applicable for labor. Later on, the tries, and it be helped in eliminating child labor. If a paraspects of environment and child labor were added to ticular company or country does not meet the minimum these demands. Thus three aspects came under the social requirements, then it should be warned before action is clause. taken. The second stream came from the developing counWould you say that the entire issue of child labor has tries, mainly India and Malaysia, which took the lead. BOBBY BANK/GETTY IMAGES become politicized between the rich and poor countries These countries outright rejected the developed counwhile the real issue is being neglected? tries’ demand on labor standards, terming the same as Kailash Satyarthi and Ndioro Ndiaye, Deputy Director-General of the Yes, certainly! No country has shown the political will each country’s internal matter, and depending on culInternational Organization for Migration, attend a human trafficking special to actually eliminate child labor. One example is that ture, tradition and economic priorities. session during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York in 2009. most of the developing countries don’t even spend 1 perThen some laws and bills were introduced in the US cent of their GNP on primary education. Exceptions are calling for a ban on import of goods that were made by remain confined to one country. And it is not just a question countries like Sri Lanka and Turkey. India spends only 1 child labor. This has created a lot of problems for many percent on primary education, Pakistan 0.8 percent. On the of capital but also of labor. countries, particularly Bangladesh, where a number of other hand, countries that talk of universalization of educaAlso, if we decide that it is necessary to introduce some American countries were making goods using child labor. It tion, such as the US, they don’t earmark even 1 percent of regulations to ensure minimum standards, then the rules also affected certain industries such as garments, carpet their total overseas development aid for primary education need to have teeth, otherwise the trading system will be manufacturers, etc. in developing countries. Thus both sides are guilty. uncontrollable. For instance, the MNCs have so much What caused such bills to be introduced in the Western Who are the people against anti-child labor legislation in money and power, how does one control them? countries? And what was/is the attitude of the MNC? India? On the other hand, developing nations who are opposed The multinationals do not support the social clause bills. It is the vested interest of some in the ruling elite. Take to social clause have no moral or ethical right to do so — These bills were imposed by Western governments, under the carpet industry, one culprit. Recently, bandit-turnedand this includes India. Most of the countries opposing the pressure from workers and trade unions. And, of course, member of Parliament Phoolan Devi said there is no child social clause have guarantees and rights in their constitumany non-governmental organizations were involved in labor in India and the law against child labor should be tion and laws for minimum labor standards. For instance, seeking to curb the menace of child labor. But my conabolished. The general suspicion seems to be that she might India has laws against bonded labor and against child labor tention is that both the views are not 100 percent justified. be getting funds from the carpet industries because where in hazardous occupations. So what is your view about these pressures? she gets elected from — the Mirzapur belt in central Uttar Thus, if consumers abroad declare that they will not use The developing countries fear that the social clause could Pradesh — is the area where such carpets are made. Then items such as garments, carpets, leatherwear, gems, etc — be used as protectionist measures to prevent goods made by there is the glass industry in Firozabad area. The owners most of which India exports — that have been made by cheap labor flooding their markets, and that the child labor have support of the politicians who in turn keep quiet. child labor, then I see nothing wrong in it. After all, Indian aspect could be used to dictate terms to the poor nations. In Since they employ child labor, they don’t have to pay the laws are against such labor exploitation. some ways, the poor countries’ fear is not wrong and it canminimum statutory wages. They pay less but on paper show So you are saying such boycott is justified? not be written off completely. much more and the difference goes to the owners who Totally! If an American or German or Briton does not The other school of thought is that there should be want to wear jeans made by the sweat and blood of a child absolutely no linkage between trade and labor. This is also not fully justified, because if you look at the present scenario in Dhaka or Jalandhar or Bangkok, then it is up to him. We cannot dictate terms to him. That is the choice of the conand future trade trends, in this globalized era, we cannot fter the World Trade Organization’s ministerial conference in Seattle in 1999 brought labor standards sharply into focus Kailash Satyarthi, who chaired the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude, spoke to Rediff.com, India in New York’s parent company, on the issues of social clause, child labor and trade. Fifteen years after that, as Satyarthi wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his work for children’s rights, India remains a major culprit when it comes to child labor and that interview continues to resonate.
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employ children. This money is used to bribe the politicians and bureaucrats. What is the estimated number of child laborers? And how does it affect adult labor? Our estimate is that there are 60 million child laborers in India. Some estimates, including that of UNICEF, put it at 120 million. The government estimate is 11.8 million. Our key argument has been that every child employed deprives a job to an adult. There are around 65 million jobless adults. At the time of Independence, there were ten million unemployed adults and ten million child laborers. The growth of unemployment is linked to the growth of child labor. Our studies have also found that very often, employers prefer to hire children from a particular family rather than the father or mother because children are paid less and are easier to exploit. Children don’t form unions! So it is a vicious circle —children employed in place of parents. Did the Indian government hold consultations on child labor before the WTO meet? No, nothing of that sort! The government only met people from the CII and FICCI (Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, apex business chambers) but did not meet anyone concerning child labor. The Indian government has always lacked a serious political will to tackle the problem of child labor. It is extremely hypocritical that the Indian government is keen to welcome
‘No country has shown the political will to actually eliminate child labor’ foreign investors, their money and technology, but refuses to hear them talk about child labor. There were many protests against child labor involved in making things like Nike shoes. How important are these protests that involve consumers? Consumer awareness is perhaps the key to fighting child labor, as mentioned earlier. It was the protest by our partners against the use of child labor in the making of Nike and Reebok shoes in factories in the developing countries that raised consumer awareness worldwide and forced these huge MNCs to change their practices. The same thing happened in the case of woolen garments. We began a system whereby all garments made without child labor had the Rugmark label. An independent agency or NGO gives this label. It was and is a huge success, and so we know this type of a solution can be replicated in other industries. The best example was the ‘foul ball’ case. Soccer balls were made by children in Pakistan and some groups raised a stink. These groups then asked children in the US to not buy such products made by children. The success was immense and the Pakistani industries were forced to change their practices and get independent confirmation of the same. We are using the same tactics when two years ago we
asked children not to buy firecrackers made by poor children. Around 150,000 children are involved in this practice and this year, there was a drop of 30 per cent in the sale of firecrackers. What is the solution you propose to end child labor? The best solution is to provide primary education and make it compulsory. By forcing children to go to school, you keep them out of factories and workshops. Also, the suggestion that there can be schools and part-time jobs does not work, because almost all the children are employed in the unorganized sector and it is impossible to monitor them to ensure that part-time labor is part-time and does not become full-time. This is the best and most workable solution. Then, we must identify child-labor-prone areas and develop comprehensive programs to eliminate the problems. For instance, there is a clear linkage between the lack of land reforms and high child labor incidences, whereas where land reforms have taken place, child labor is virtually absent. Very often, middle-class people are also guilty of employing small children, usually as household helps and babysitters. You are right… The middle class is guilty of such crimes and the solution lies in other people boycotting families that employ children or protesting against such practices.
A child works at a coal depot in Meghalaya.
DANIEL BEREHULAK/GETTY IMAGES
Aseem in Tokyo
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The Sari Angels I
have been visiting Japan for the past four years. And the more I walk on the streets of Tokyo, the more impressed I am by how well residents of the city dress. Young and old, even children and teenagers, have an amazing sense of fashion. Last year I started a photo album on Facebook and titled it Faces of Tokyo. I have nearly 50 pictures in the album of random people I have stopped on the streets of Tokyo asking them if I can take their pictures. Most people are taken aback by the request, but then they stand and pose, sometimes giving wonderful smiles. Last Sunday I was in the Ginza area (similar to Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue) with a couple of friends when I saw something amazing, even by Tokyo fashion standards. I saw two Japanese women walking in our direction wearing gaudy colored saris. And just when I was going to ask them for a picture, three more women arrived. Their saris were similar — brightly colored, kind of tacky, and made of some synthetic material. They each wore a matching blouse and a big flower on one side of their hair. They stood in the middle of the street (the main streets in Ginza are closed to traffic on Sundays), holding their pallus on their left shoulders with smiles on their faces as if they were about to break into a Bollywood song. One of the women — Kimiko Haniwa — told me she had picked up her sari in India. They call themselves the Sari Angels. When I least expect it, I start to find traces of India in foreign lands.
The Sari Angels in Tokyo.
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ast week I spent three nights in Makuhari, a suburban town about 40 minutes away from Tokyo. While I like Japanese food and I love discovering new cuisines from the country, every few days the desi in me desires Indian food. So on the second night in Makuhari (I had already been in Japan for four nights) I went to eat at what I believe was a new Indian eatery, Mantra. As it turned out, Mantra is located in the same location where last year there was an Indian restaurant called Maharaja. I was told by a waiter that the restaurant is now owned by a Nepali man. The waiter was from Nepal although there was a server from Dehradun. The food — a prix fix non-vegetarian platter looked nice in the presentation — a large naan, a small seekh kabab, one piece of
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tandoori tikka, butter chicken, a mixed vegetable curry, and rice. But in taste it was just adequate. The dishes had Indian flavors, but I could taste the separate masalas in the vegetable and
chicken curries. Most annoying was the fact that the rice was not basmati. Rather, it was a tasteless Japanese rice. Oh well, at least the food appeared to be Indian.
ne of my favorite things to do in Tokyo is to visit the city’s Roppongi neighborhood. It is very popular with the expat population and locals. A happening place full of bars and restaurants. And films have played a big part in Roppongi. Quentin Tarantino was inspired to make a set of his film Kill Bill based on the interiors of a restaurant called Gonpanchi. The food there is decent and the restaurant is very popular with tourists. And part of one of my all time favorite documentaries Jiro Dreams of Sushi is shot in Roppongi. The documentary is about a small sushi restaurant located in an underground passageway in the Ginza area. It is a three-Michelin star restaurant where reservations are made one month in advance and a 20-piece sushi meal costs $300 per head. A few years ago as I walked through Roppongi with a New Yorker friend, we stumbled on a quaint little Japanese restaurant also called Roppongi. Since then we have made an annual visit to the restaurant. The food is simple, not very expensive, and presented in small plates. This time we had pieces of marinated beef, garlic rice, and mushrooms with breadcrumbs. One of the appetizers we ordered was sautéed onions. It was a beautiful presentation and along with the onions we were given small portions of two kinds of salt — a white powdery one from Japan and a pink-colored one with slightly bigger pieces, and a crunchy touch from Pakistan. The taste of the salts was similar, but the two varieties were so different in appearance.
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rithik Roshan is ecstatic about the success of Bang Bang even though the film got mostly poor reviews. The actor discusses the box office, critics and his choice of cinema. How do you view Bang Bang’s success? The only way to judge the success of a film in its entirety is through box-office collections. Many times it’s happened that I’ve been surrounded by 10,000 people, who are praising my performance in a particular film, and they may be the only people who have liked the film. People either love Bang Bang or hate it. Why do you think this movie has generated such an extreme response? Every person’s opinion matters to me. But Siddharth (Anand, the film’s director) tells me that all the films that have crossed Rs 100 crore (the Bollywood success benchmark these days) in the history of Indian cinema have got mixed reviews. I respect critics. As an actor, I have to do all kinds of films. Some of them make critics happy, some are successful at the box office, and some please both. In the past, I have done films that have pleased critics, but haven’t made money at the box office. This time I wanted to make my fans happy. After many years, I have given my fans what they were requesting from me. They wanted to see me dance to the cool kind of action that I did in Dhoom 2. With Bang Bang, I got to do things that I couldn’t do for the longest time. Have your kids seen the film? I really wanted my children to like the film and they loved it very much. They have told everyone that Bang Bang is the best film they had seen. After watching the promos, they were so excited that they wanted to see it immediately. My kids’ reaction was the most important and best reaction. Is it true that a sequel is being planned? I don’t know about the sequel, but Siddharth and I are planning to work together again. His vision of making films is a lot like my father’s (filmmaker Rakesh Roshan). If I request my father to make a small film with a message that will make people think, he will outright reject it. He likes to make entertaining films on a big scale. Siddharth is quite similar. Bang Bang has surpassed my father’s film Krrish 3’s first day collections. I am very happy but I don’t know if my father is happy (laughs). What do you think about Haider (which released on the same day)? I really loved Haider. I enjoyed the work of all the actors. Your Bang Bang dare has become a rage among the film fraternity... I have a belief, which you may call naïve, that we, as human beings, are bigger than the success of our own movies or the fame and the money that we get. I believe in healthy competition. Healthy competition means I do my best and then I help you to
The Big
BANG Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif chat about the success of Bang Bang. Sonil Dedhia tunes in
do your best. The contribution towards each other is what I wanted to create through this Bang Bang dare. I am really happy that my friends from the fraternity lovingly came forward and did something for me. Many of my friends felt bad that I didn’t give them a dare. Your next film Mohenjo Daro is starkly different from Bang Bang. I want to do all kind of films. I don’t deliberately select different kinds of films. After Kaho Na... Pyaar Hai, I did Fiza. I have also done a film like Guzaarish, which got me immense praise for my performance but unfortunately, it did not do well at the box office. I am an actor and my objective is not to build an image of a superstar but to entertain my audience in all kinds of roles. Are you planning to work with your father any time soon? There were reports that I was working with him on Krrish 4, which isn’t true. I will soon start working on Mohenjo Daro.
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ith the success of Bang Bang, Katrina Kaif is in a happy space. And criticism of the film has done nothing to mar it, she says. What do you think of Bang Bang’s boxoffice performance? Everyone wants their film to be seen and accepted by audiences. It’s great that people love Bang Bang. We had promised that the film would be an exciting ride. The good numbers indicate that fans love the film. It’s so gratifying for the entire crew to be appreciated for all the hard work that went into creating the experience of this film. People either love Bang Bang or hate it. Why do you think the movie has generated such an extreme response? All of us live in a world of criticism. If I want, I can look at everything with criticism. I can criticize everyone I meet or keep criticizing myself all the time. My philosophy in life is live and let live. If you don’t like my films, please don’t watch them. Is it true that a sequel is being planned?
Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif in Bang Bang.
I haven’t been approached for the sequel so I am not aware of it. But if they ask me, I will consider it. Does the success of your past films influence your decision about future projects? I don’t calculate and choose scripts. At that moment of saying yes, I think that this is what I want to do. After Ek Tha Tiger, I did Yash Chopra’s Jab Tak Hain Jaan — a completely different world for me. After Dhoom 3 and Bang Bang, I knew I wanted to do something different and that’s why I signed Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoss. After that, I am doing Abhishek Kapoor’s Fitoor, which is an intense and passionate love story, completely different from love stories you have seen recently. I am lucky to be able to work with directors I want to work with. Every film I do is different in its own way. You have been very successful, but you haven’t been rewarded for your performances. I don’t miss awards. Yes, awards are great. I love them. I have lots of those viewer’s choice awards. If I get them, I will accept them with a smile. If not, I’m happy with the result. Salman (Khan) told me once that he didn’t receive any nomination till Dabangg happened. Not that I am comparing myself to him — he is an iconic per-
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“A
rey yaar, they edited out my Dil Chahta Hai dialogue there,” Achin Narula, 28, purses his lips in mild disappointment. The joint winners of the whopping Rs 7 crore (Rs 70 million/$1.1 million) prize on Kaun Banega Maha Crorepati (the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire) — Achin and his younger brother Sarthak, 23 — are glued to the television, reliving their glory as their momentous KBC episode unfolds on the screen in their room. Sitting on their respective beds in Hometel, a comfortable budget hotel in Malad, a Mumbai suburb, the two brothers — who are working their way through tricky ques- Achin, left, and Sarthak Narula watch their winning episode. tions on the popular game show — are a study in contrastfirst four times before. ing personalities. The KBC team would say, ‘Tu phir se aa gaya? When will Achin restlessly paces the room every time he gets a conyou quit?’ gratulatory phone call and rocks back and forth at crucial “I told them I’ll keep trying until they let me through the points in the episode. His brother, on the other hand, sits next level,” Achin says. calmly with his legs covered with the comforter. So did they have a certain number in their mind that they Presumably because they have done quite a few interviews till now, they have learnt to periodically tune out an outsider intended to win? “We were looking at winning at least Rs 25 lakh (Rs 2.5 presence for brief, private victories with each other. When we politely decline their offer of tea/snacks — I sus- million or $41,000). Since there were the two of us, it seemed like an achievable goal,” Sarthak chimes in. pect it’d be a mindless interruption for them —Achin quips, When asked about his very unusual sounding name, “Don’t worry, it’s all on Sony (the channel).” Achin says, “It means a man without worries — my parents They are obviously in a very good mood. wanted to name me Sachin, but, at the same time, didn’t While the show progresses, it becomes clear that more want to break the family naming convention in which all than witnessing their moment of KBC glory, the duo is names must begin with an A.” interested in how they have conducted themselves on TV. But then, why was They are acutely conscious Sarthak named differof how many of their wiseently? “My mom wanted cracks and quips were editme to be different,” pat ed out. comes the reply from “He (Achin) thinks everySarthak. thing he’s said and done The big win hasn’t should be shown on TV,” sunk in yet for the brothSarthak remarks. ers even though it’s been “They must have sold three weeks since they these slots for exorbitant shot for the episode and prices and longer duration won. Their friends and ads,” concludes Achin, who family are still ‘shellworks in the marketing shocked’ as well. department of a real estate “They can’t believe that firm in New Delhi. such a thing has hap“They have edited so pened. How many peomuch, I’m getting calls from ple can reach even the 1 my friends saying, “Tu toh crore (Rs 10 million or kuch bol hi nahi raha (You $163,000) question, aren’t saying anything at after all?” asks Achin. all),” says Sarthak, sounding Achin, left, and Sarthak Narula, right, on Kaun Banega Maha Crorepati Friends and friends of concerned. with host Amitabh Bachchan, second from right, and their parents. relatives they hadn’t even The brothers bought new heard of, or have met spectacles for their appearance briefly, have been calling in to congratulate them. on the show. “The guy I was talking to over the phone is a cousin of a “I used one pair for many years but when we had to come friend who I met once, when I was in the 12th standard. It’s here, I decided to get another pair just in case the old one a bit of a hassle to attend each and every call since the broke. The new pair you see on him (Achin) are photochrophone is on roaming at present,” Achin confides. matic,” Sarthak offers, even as Achin squirms — he is more But money is surely no matter now? conscious of how he’s presenting himself than his soft-spo“Middle-class values always remain intact. More imporken younger brother. tantly, the money hasn’t come in yet,” the brothers burst The Narula brothers’ preparation for the show was (obviinto peals of laughter. ously) top notch. Achin had been trying to get on the show “We have already spent a lot of money — CCTV cameras for the last 10 years and had made it to the fastest finger
‘No one can believe we’ve won Rs 70 million!’
AFSAR DAYATAR
Nishi Tiwari meets the winners of Kaun Banega Maha Crorepati and finds out what happens when two 20-something Delhi boys become millionaires overnight
have been installed in the house, we have thrown three parties — for friends, work friends and relatives. Paisa aane se pehle hi chala jaa raha hai (money has been spent even before we’ve got it),” they note. Achin took an indefinite break from work when the first call from KBC came in. “It was an opportunity of a lifetime and I needed to prepare for it,” Achin says. “I can show you emails of the number of books I’ve ordered for quizzes over the years. We’ve also watched a lot of quiz shows. There’s one on the Disney Channel that airs at 3 am,” Sarthak, who has done his graduation in Commerce, informs. “Then we read Derek O’Brien’s Bournvita Quiz contest books, another one by Siddharth Basu, one called Mastermind; we have also been regular subscribers of Competition Success Review (a staple for government entrance exam aspirants),” he adds. “Since I was trying for KBC for 10 years, we made notes of what areas of GK were asked from the most and worked at them accordingly,” Achin says. The Rs 7 crore prize money brings with it a set of new career plans for him. “I will look at viable business opportunities now. We have the capital now, loans will also be more easily available to us,” he notes. A string of marriage offers for Achin have also come in. “Ever since the news of our win got out, I’ve received sixseven proposals,” Achin says. ”I wasn’t thinking about marriage but after the win, it will definitely be easier to find a match.” Achin and Sarthak’s father is a marketing officer with National Insurance. “We also had a mattresses business in our mother’s name but we had to shut it down after some regulation changes. It just wasn’t viable for us anymore. We incurred heavy losses and had to sell our house. We now live in our grandfather’s house,” says Sarthak. Their mother was detected with ovarian cancer in July 2013. The chemotherapy sessions are over, and she’s on the road to recovery. “She will recover but she will need regular tests for the rest of her life. Chemo has been tough — we’ve all suffered emotionally too, besides her own physical pain,” Sarthak adds. But they don’t want to dwell on that. “We wanted to talk about it on the show only because there are now vaccines for certain types of cancers. Many people don’t know it so we just wanted to get that information out there through television,” they explain.
India in New York October 17, 2014
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India in New York October 17, 2014 ANNOUNCEMENT
MassMutual Honors Diwali and the Business Tradition of Chopda Pujan
Almost three million Asian Indians in the United States are preparing to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, on October 23. For the more than 300,000 Asian-Indian owned firms* in the U.S., the holiday takes on an added dimension, as the celebration marks the beginning of a new business year. To help business owners prepare for the New Year ahead, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) is offering a series of free, no-obligation business seminars in five cities across the country this Diwali. In a special Diwali ritual for businesses known as Chopda Pujan, new account books are opened and blessed. Business owners use this time to reflect on the past year while looking ahead to new opportunities for prosperity and wealth. It is said the goddess of wealth, known as Lakshmi, visits the homes of devotees on this day, and lamps light the way to welcome her. A MassMutual study** found that although 77 percent of Asian Indian busi-
ness owners believe financial planning for their business is very important, only 43 percent are concerned about who will run their businesses if they or another owner leaves, becomes disabled or dies; only 46 percent have a formal retirement plan. “Entrepreneurial businesses are vital to our growing economic recovery, so it is concerning that so many business owners seem to be sacrificing their own and their family’s financial future,” says Nimesh Trivedi, Asian-Indian Market lead at MassMutual. “With help, business owners can look past the seemingly overwhelming day-to-day demands of running their businesses and establish and meet their long-term financial goals.” To help Asian Indian business owners open their new books this Diwali and plan for a prosperous new year, MassMutual is offering a series of free video-based seminars featuring stories shared by real business owners. The vignettes explore critical business planning topics, such as passing ownership on from one generation to the next, preparing for the unexpected, the death of an owner, retaining key employees, and proper estate and retirement planning. Seminars addressing these topics critical to Asian Indian business owners will be presented in the following cities across
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the country this Diwali: • Houston, October 14 • Atlanta: October 18 • San Jose, Calif.: October 24 • Edison, N.J.: October 29 • Chicago: November 6 For more information on the multi-city business owner seminar tour, contact Nimesh Trivedi, 413.744.1244. For more information on planning for your businesses’ and families’ financial futures, visit massmutual.com/asianindian or view a video at http://www.massmutual.com/planningtools/additional-resources/asian-indian. About MassMutual Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners. The company has a long history of financial strength and strong performance, and although dividends are not guaranteed, MassMutual has paid dividends to eligible participating policyowners consistently since the 1860s. With whole life insurance as its foundation, MassMutual provides products to help meet the financial needs of clients, such as life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, retirement/401(k) plan services, and annuities. In addition, the company’s
strong and growing network of financial professionals helps clients make good financial decisions for the long-term. MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and its affiliated companies and sales representatives. MassMutual is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts and its major affiliates include: Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; The First Mercantile Trust Company; MassMutual International LLC; MML Investors Services, LLC, Member FINRA and SIPC; OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB. For more information, visit www.massmutual.com or find MassMutual on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+ and Pinterest. -###*2007 Survey of Business Owners Summaries of Findings, U.S. Census Bureau. This information is the most current data available. **MassMutual’s Business Owner Perspectives: 2011 Insights in an Uncertain Economy, conducted by GfK Custom Research North America for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), 2011.
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India in New York October 17, 2014
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Bollywood INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
Top to bottom, Rekha, who turned 60 October 10, was also the show stealer on Comedy Nights with Kapil.
Top to bottom, Rekha appears on Bigg Boss to promote her upcoming film Super Nani.
THE ORIGINAL DIVA If her turn on TV was so good, wonder what’s in store with Rekha’s onscreen comeback
Bollywood INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
Bollywood’s A-listers were spotted at the first Star Box Office Awards in Mumbai. Clockwise from left, Kajol, Sonakshi Sinha, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Shahid Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, and the Happy New Year cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Farah Khan, and Boman Irani.
ALL THAT GLITTERS
A PEEK INTO THE WEEK’S GLITZIEST TINSEL TOWN EVENTS
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‘The best thing that happened to me on Pavitra Rishta was Sushant’ As the hit TV show wraps up, Ankita Lokhande looks back on the experience with Rajul Hegde
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ne of Zee Television’s top shows Pavitra Rishta will conclude October 24, after running successfully for over five years. Its lead actress Ankita Lokhande, who became a Ankita Lokhande on household name with the Pavitra Rishta. show, also met the love of her life Sushant Singh Rajput on its sets. She talks to India in New York about the best moments from the show. Was shooting the final episode of Pavitra Rishtaan emotional moment for you? Yes. But at the same time, I am happy because it ended on a good note. All good things have to come to an end some day. Obviously I am sad because I have been part of the show for close to fiveand-a-half years. Can you remember your very first shoot of Pavitra Rishta? It was a railway crossing scene in Goregaon (a Mumbai suburb), where I had to pick up my niece Punni from school. Though it was a candid shot, I was scared and nervous as it was shot in a public place and I was new as an actress. You have shot your last scene with your boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput (who returned to Pavitra Rishta, in which he played the lead for two-and-a-half years
f PAGE 11 son in the industry — but I find it quite relevant to what I want to achieve. How do you look at competition? I see every actor as competition. Actually, competition isn’t the right word. I don’t compare myself with any other person because I am already aware of my strengths and weaknesses. My battle is with myself… Right now, I am in a fortunate phase where I still get to do the work I want to There are reports that you play a 22-year old girl and Ranbir Kapoor a 19-year-old guy in Jagaa Jasoos. I’ve read that too. Ranbir’s and my character in the film don’t have any defined age.
before he quit and moved to films). I can’t talk about my last scene because I want everyone to watch it. But, yes, it was emotional and special to shoot with Sushant again. Actually, it was Sushant who told me that he wanted to come back to the show and shoot for the last time for the final episode. Ekta (Kapoor, producer) told him that she would love to get Manav back on the show. It was a huge surprise for the entire team. Everybody wanted him for the final episode, but nobody had expected him to come back after he has moved on to films. I must say he is still so simple and grounded. What was your most memorable moment on the show? Each and every scene I have shot for the show is memorable. I had a great bond with some of the actors like Hiten Tejwani, Mrinalini Tyagi, etc. I am going to miss them and the show. The best thing that happened to me on the sets was Sushant. Our relationship started on the sets. We met for the first time during the promo shoot of Pavitra Rishta. Both of us were full of attitude. Even after five months of shooting, we hardly spoke to each other because of our
The Big
BANG
The only thing that I can tell you is that Ranbir is playing a sort of detective and not even in a traditional sense. Director Anurag Basu has made some beautiful films in the past, and the best part is that you can’t classify his work. He creates a world in his films which is very unique and unusual. After working with so many superstars you have a young co-star, Aditya Roy Kapur in Fitoor.
egos (smiles). Gradually, we realized we had something in common and then the equation changed. In our relationship, nobody proposed. It just happened. We knew we would be there for each other (smiles). You are a household name because of Pavitra Rishta. Is there any fan incident that makes you happy when you think about it? Yes. The older generation know me by my character name, Archana, while the youth know me as Ankita because of the dance reality show (Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa) I participated in. When people call me ‘Archu,’ I love it. That is because my Aai, Baba, and family members fondly call me Archu in the show. It shows the kind of connect the audience has with my character. They feel that I am one among them. It’s really amazing. Sushant has some good projects in hand. What do you have to say about his Bollywood career? I am very proud of Sushant. When he left the show, I stood by him. I knew that he didn’t leave Pavitra Rishta for films; he left the show for creative reasons. He is so passionate about his work that he sleeps at 4 am and wakes up three hours later. He is always thinking, reading or writing. Every person who has passion for his work does this, I guess. Sushant will definitely go far in life. I am so happy that because of his hard work and enthusiasm he is getting good work which he deserves. So what next for Ankita? I seriously need a break. I want to chill out with my family, friends and my dog Scotch. But the break won’t be for long. I will come back with a show that gives me creative satisfaction. I haven’t got any offers yet from anyone, not even from Ekta Kapoor. As of now, I don’t want to do a reality show because I don’t want to be judged, but to be myself. I don’t plan things. Let’s see what’s in store for me. When are you planning to get married? You will come to know very soon (smiles).
Good, na, I can bully him (laughs). I saw Aashiqui 2 and I think Aditya did a fabulous job in it. Also I don’t think anyone particularly offers films with only a particular cast in mind. In two of my last five films, I was approached before the hero was on board. When I did New York, Neil Nitin Mukesh was comparatively new. In Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ali Zafar and Imran Khan were comparatively new. So I don’t look at whether I am going to star opposite a young or a relatively established co-star. The film also stars Rekha. What do you feel about working with her? I am really excited. Over the years, I have really enjoyed interacting with her whenever we have met. She is amazingly energetic
and very passionate about her work. I find her a very fascinating person and I am looking forward to working with her. Is it true that you are training your sister Isabelle and helping to launch her in Bollywood? I am not training her for Bollywood. She recently did an English film in Canada called Dr Cabbie, which has done really well there. She has formal acting training from Lee Strasberg in New York so I don’t think she needs any training from me. She is also an amazing dancer and is trained in ballet. Currently, she is busy with her career out there. It will be great if she wants to come to Bollywood. I know people here and will surely help her meet people.
Bollywood
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INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
When HRITHIK met PARIS
Maratha warrior. Hrithik Roshan and Farhan Akhtar played Emperor Akbar and athlete Milkha Singh, respectively, with their gym-trained six-pack bodies, a cinematic liberty that did not go unnoticed by critics. Bhansali won’t take any risks. “As Bajirao, Ranveer will have to go bare-chested in many scenes, and it will be a full physical deconstruction for Ranveer,” a source close to the project tells India in New York. “The character is set in the 18th century, when there were no gymbuilt bodies. Sanjay Leela Bhansali can’t have a Maratha king with six packs. He has to look physically fit but not in a physically trained manner.” — Subhash K Jha
By Stan Lee
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tan Lee, the legend behind the likes of Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the Incredible Hulk, created his first Indian superhero in 2011. After airing an animated version of Chakra on Indian television last year, the comic book legend is considering taking the superhero to Bollywood, The Hollywood Reporter revealed. ‘We’ve set up some great meetings Stan Lee already with some of the most amazingly talented actors and directors in Indian cinema and I have no doubt that these individuals will help make the Chakra film a massive hit in India and around the globe,’ Lee said in a statement. It was reported that the film would show a grown up version of the original tech genius teenager, Raju Rai, fighting his archenemy Boss Yama.
In Tabu’s voice
L
Akki in training
‘On the sets of my next Thriller #Baby. This is my only hint. He’s a God in my Parkour World :),’ actor Akshay Kumar, right, posted on Facebook recently. A day later he told us more: ‘It is the Parkour Legend himself ‘Cyril Raffaelli’ (not Vin Diesel).’
COURTESY: TWITTER.COM/IHRITHIK
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ver a decade after filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali had announced Bajirao Mastani — with the hopes of casting Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai — the film has finally gone into production. Priyanka Chopra has started shooting for the period film, which is based on the love story between Peshwa Baji Rao I and his second wife Mastani. Directed by Bhansali, the film will star Priyanka as Kashibai, Ranveer Singh as Bajirao, and Deepika Padukone as Mastani. Ranvir, meanwhile, is working on desconstructing his body to fit the part. It’s not just his hair that will go for his role, he will also have to let go of his six pack abs to look like an 18th century
Hrithik Roshan recently enjoyed a night out with socialite Paris Hilton in Dubai. He tweeted a picture of them at Cle Dubai by Michelin-starred chef and author, Greg Malouf.
ike many a Bollywood star who has been taking a turn at singing off late — Priyanka Chopra, Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Madhuri Dixit-Nene come to mind — Tabu too has caught the bug. After singing a song for the recently released Haider, she told Hindustan Times, ‘Acting is my first love, but music interests me a lot too. I love singing because it helps me express things Tabu in Haider. that are inside me… I want to continue singing for Bollywood films.’ ‘Vishal (Bhardwaj) knows that I love singing. I hope we come up with an album together.’
Starring Kapil?
A
REUTERS/DANNY MOLOSHOK
The cast, from left: Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, and Deepika Padukone.
COURTESY: FACEBOOK.COM/AKSHAYKUMAROFFICIAL
PHOTOGRAPHS: PRADIP BANDEKAR
Finally, Bajirao Mastani
fter things went south with Yash Raj Films, comedian Kapil Sharma has found another option. Media reports suggest that he may make his entry into Bollywood with director duo Abbas-Mastan. And if reports are to be believes, Sharma will be seen with five heroines in the film. While we take that news with a pinch of salt, we will certainly be looking out for word from Kapil.
Health
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INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
Take care
Health guru Mickey Mehta shares six easy-to-do fitness tips. Follow these and stay healthy
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onstant travel for work coupled with never ending long and tiring commutes to the office, work pressure, unhealthy diets high in saturated fats, sugar, food with high sodium content and a sedentary lifestyle, all combined together pose serious health challenges like obesity. It can also play host to complications like hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, osteoporosis, and more. In the long run, if this kind of lifestyle is not altered these will turn into life-threatening and life-shortening disorders! But, the good news is that despite these challenges, one can maintain one’s weight and achieve a healthy and fit body by adhering to a sensible eating pattern with a variety of natural, wholesome foods and most of all by staying active, physically and mentally. The keys for attaining good health and a fit body are quite simple. All of you have to do is take care of good nutrition, physical activity, sufficient sleep and rest, meditation and conscious breathing. Diet and nutrition: The best insurance for healthy eating is maintaining a diet that has a balance of fruits, vegetables, salads, millets, whole grains, nuts, pulses, sprouts, seeds, low fat milk, soy milk, tofu etc. These foods have detoxifying, healing and regenerative properties and are rich in antioxidants and elements needed to keep you nourished. Exercise: Any physical activity like walks, swimming,
yoga, gym workouts etc helps to keep one energized, well oxygenated and improves strength, stamina, flexibility, immunity and metabolism. Listed below are a few recommendations that can be followed without the encumbrance of equipments as well as time. These can be easily done in your room or outside if you are travelling. 1. Avoid snacking on junk foods: Instead, make sure you eat a wholesome breakfast before hitting the road and carry a fruit that can be munched on in between. Choose steamed foods like Idlis or toasted sandwiches and stay away from all fried foods, aerated drinks, milk shakes, fruit juices, desserts and any kind of sweets. 2. Keep dry fruits handy: These are nutritious and will keep hunger at bay. A few almonds, walnuts, cashew nuts, dates and figs are ideal. 3. Do neck rotations, shoulder shrugs, arm rotations etc. while you are traveling. These can be done when you take a break from driving, between meetings and even in an air craft. These exercises work wonders especially for long flights as they keep your blood flowing even when you’re sitting in one place for a long time. While sitting at a traffic signal or in the plane extend your legs, keep your toes pointed and rotate your ankles-clockwise and anti-clockwise. Shoulder rotations are also recommended to ease away the muscle tension. 4. A brisk walk daily is an effective way to do some cardio without hitting the gym and can be an invigorating
ANINDITO MUKHERJEE/REUTERS
experience as walking is an exercise that you can do anywhere, anytime. Take a brisk walk everyday and you are sure to be on the way to better health and vitality. Walking also helps you enjoy the freshness of nature with the added benefit of relaxing your mind and simultaneously getting rid of stress. Here’s a quick tip: whenever possible, use the stairs instead of elevators. 5. Simple exercises like leg kicks, squats, lunges, chair dips, push ups, ab crunches and a few yoga stretches like suryanamaskar, bhujangasan, dhanurasan, sethubandhasan and naukasan are possible to do in your room. These help to boost flexibility as well as stamina and strengthens the core and back muscles. Pranayam or breathing exercises like chanting of ‘Om,’ kapalbhati and anulom-vilom should be done at regular intervals throughout your week. These revitalize your body and alleviate stress and tension after a long day. 6. Drink plenty of water to keep yourself well hydrated. This can include water, herbal/green teas/coconut water (depending on their availability). Health, wellness and fitness certainly do not require extreme or rigid measures all they need is proper planning, consistency and regularity. These are the key factors for a healthy mind and a well-toned body. Follow the above mentioned simple strategies to reinforce complete and total wellness and enjoy a healthy and stress-free life.
Special
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INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
COURTESY: PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU
A view of cyclone Hudhud with heavy rainfall inside the Naval Harbour in Visakhapatnam, October 12.
Besides the port city, the coastal Andhra districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and East Godavari suffered widespread damage due to strong winds of almost 124 miles per hour.
Devastation
R NARENDRA/REUTERS
Tropical cyclone Hudhud hits the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, kills 24 Hudhud moved to Odisha and hit Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada districts.
R NARENDRA/REUTERS
After the cyclone, residents scrambled for food and water. Reports stated that a bottle of water was sold for Rs 250 ($4) while a packet of milk cost Rs 100 ($1 and 16 cents). Gas stations remained shut.
REUTERS
Nearly 250,000 people in Andhra Pradesh and 100,000 in Odisha were evacuated to safer locations and housed in special shelters.
SNAPSINDIA
The Week That Was
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INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
Modi launches model village scheme
An injured member of the Indian Border Security Force is taken to a hospital in Jammu, October 9.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, October 11. He asked India’s 800 plus parliamentarians to each develop the infrastructure of three villages (with which, importantly, they have no personal connection) by 2019. India will have 2,500 model villages within five years, and many more when state lawmakers get involved with this scheme.
Pakistan: 8 killed, 40 injured at Imran Khan’s rally
Eight people, including a child, were killed and 40 injured in a stampede at a rally for Opposition leader Imran Khan inMultan, central Pakistan, October 10.
Tharoor sacked as Congress spokesman
Former Union minister Shashi Tharoor’s praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi cost him his job. The Congress party sacked Dr Tharoor as its spokesperson October 13 after receiving a complaint from the Kerala Congress Committee. Dr Tharoor recently accepted an invitation to be a brand ambassador for Modi’s Clean India initiative.
Bilawal: Kashmir root cause of Indo-Pak tension
Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Kashmir was the root cause of hostility between India andPakistan, October 13. Earlier, Bilawal, the late Benazir Bhutto’s only son, said he would take back all of Kashmir as it belonged to Pakistan.
Chautala surrenders
Former Haryana chief minister and Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Parkash Chautala surrendered at Delhi’s Tihar jail October 11, a day after the Delhi high court asked him to do so, for misusing bail conditions by campaigning for assembly elections in Haryana.
Coalgate: Court summons former secretary as accused
Rejecting the Central Bureau of Investigation’s closure report, a special court October 13 summoned former coal secretary H C Gupta and other government officials as accused in a coal blocks allocation scam case.
MUKESH GUPTA/REUTERS
Heavy Pak shelling; 8 killed, 90 injured The Pakistan Rangers shelled border outposts and villages in Samba and Kathua in Jammu. Eight people have been killed and 90 injured, including 13 security men, since October 1. Nearly 30,000 people have been displaced following one of the worst ceasefire violations in recent times. October 10, India issued a stern warning to Pakistan saying its ‘adventurism’ at the Line of Control would cost it dearly.Pakistan retaliated with heavy mortar shelling October 11. There have been over 100 ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC in recent weeks.
Election Commission’s show cause notice to Raj Thackeray
Indian woman gets UN police peacekeeper award
The Election Commission issued a show cause notice to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray October 13 for his alleged remarks against nonMaharashtrians. Thackeray apparently declared that if his party came to power, the entry of nonMaharashtrians into the state would be barred.
Shakti Devi, an inspector with the Jammu and Kashmir police, currently deployed with the UN Assistance Mission inAfghanistan, has been awarded the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014 by the UN. She received the award for ‘exceptional achievements’ while working in Afghanistan, including her efforts towards helping victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
Devyani pins hope on Modi
Devyani Khobragade, India’s former deputy consul general in New York, is hopeful that her case will be taken up positively by the Narendra Modi government. In an interview to the Times Now television channel, the diplomat said it could have been the temptation of a Green Card or a US visa that compelled Sangeeta Richards, her nanny, to file a complaint against her.
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Shanti Devi, second from left, receives the award.
COURTESY: LAWP.ORG
The Week That Was
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INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
f PAGE 22
For his longevity
Army personnel killed 2,000 civilians in Manipur: Report
In a report submitted by a panel of judges to the Supreme Court, it has been stated that armed forces personnel allegedly raped and killed nearly 2,000 civilians in 35 years in Manipur ‘under the cover’ of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
A woman offers Karva Chauth prayers at a temple in Chandigarh, October 11.
A first: RSS chief ’s speech broadcast on Doordarshan
Opposition parties in India attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party government for the ‘misuse’ of Doordarshan after the state broadcaster telecast a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh event last week, including a speech by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. The Congress party also approached the Election Commission accusing the BJP of misusing Narendra Modi’s speech at the Madison Square Garden event as an advertisement on Marathi news television channels, ahead of the Maharashtra assembly election.
AJAY VERMA/REUTERS
Supreme Court to hear Jayalalithaa’s bail plea
The Supreme Court will hear All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa’s bail plea, October 17. Jayalalalithaa, who was sentenced to 4 years in jail in a corruption case September 29, was denied bail by the Karnataka high court, October 7.
Connecting India Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, addresses a gathering during the Internet.org summit in New Delhi, October 9.
ISIS flag spotted in Srinagar
The Indian Army, October 9, said it was closely monitoring incidents of stone throwing and the alleged presence of an Islamic State flag at a rally in Srinagar.
Constable at nuclear complex shoots 3 colleagues dead
A Central Industrial Security Force head constable allegedly shot dead three of his colleagues at the Kalpakkam nuclear complex, Tamil Nadu, October 8 and injured two others.
Sunanda Pushkar died from poisoning: Fresh report
A team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, submitted a fresh report on the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of former Union minister Shashi Tharoor, saying she died of poisoning. Her family demanded, October 10, a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into her mysterious death.
One more satellite for India
The Indian Space Research Organization said on its Facebook page that it would launch the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System 1C by PSLV C26 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, October 16. This satellite is the third of seven satellites in the series that puts India’s navigation system at par with the United States’ Global Positioning System.
Can’t say if Salman was driving: Witness in hit-and-run case
Witness Kalpesh Verma, testifying in the hit-and-run case against Bollywood star Salman Khan, could not confirm that the actor was driving when the accident
ADNAN ABIDI/REUTERS
occurred. Verma told the court he had seen Khan in the driver’s seat of a stationary car in the parking lot of a hotel in a Mumbai suburb on the same night.
Now, government employees’ attendance to be tracked online
The Indian government will track its employees’ attendance and work, online, through a centralized attendance monitoring Web site, launched October 9. Initially launched as a facility for the public to ascertain, at the click of a mouse, if a particular government official was regular in attendance, the site was made passwordprotected later.
UN owes India $110 million
The United Nations owes India $110 million, the second-
highest outstanding payment to any country, for the costs relating to peacekeeping operations, a UN official said.
5 Mahadalit women gang-raped in Bihar
In a village in Bihar’s Bhojpur district, 5 Mahadalit women, who worked as rag-pickers, were allegedly gangraped at gunpoint by a scrap-dealer and his two accomplices, October 8.
M V Kamath dead
Editor and writer M V Kamath passed away October 9. He was 93. A Padma Bhushan awardee, he was a former editor ofThe Illustrated Weekly of India. He also served as Washington correspondent of The Times of India and as the editor ofThe Sunday Times.
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Sports INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17 2014
Left, Nita Ambani, Priyanka Chopra, Sachin Tendulkar and Hrithik Roshan with others at the opening ceremony.
Below, Kerala Blasters co-owner Sachin Tendulkar with Chennayin FC co-owner Abhishek Bachchan at the event.
Indian Super League kicks off with glittering ceremony
Below left, Atletico de Kolkata co-owner Sanjiv Goenka, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and Nita Ambani arrive.
PHOTOGRAPHS: DIPAK CHAKRABORTY
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t was an evening to remember for the people residing in ‘Mecca of Indian Soccer’ as a riot of colors lit the Kolkata skyline with the much-awaited Indian Super League doing everything possible to strike the right chord with soccer fans. Amid the confluence of Bollywood superstars, sportpersons, corporate magnates and politicians, it was master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who drew the maximum applause. The ceremony began with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, IMGReliance and Soccer Sports Development founding chair Nita Ambani, AIFF president
Kolkata drub Mumbai 3-0 in a spectacular ISL opening match
Praful Patel and Atletico de Kolkata co-owner Sanjiv Goenka appearing on stage.
A Borja Fernandez, second from left, of Atletico de Kolkata celebrates with team mates after scoring a goal against Mumbai City FC during the opening match of the Indian Super League at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata, October 12.
tletico de Kolkata gave soccer-crazy Kolkata fans a night to remember in their 30 drubbing of Mumbai City FC in the opening match at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan, October 12. Fikru Teferra struck the first goal of the ISL to give the home franchise a 27th minute lead while Borja Fernandez’s stunning volley from the edge of the box delighted all with some top quality stuff. Substitute Arnal Llibert (90+3rd) gave the Kolkatans enough reasons to celebrate by turning Fikru’s cross from the right to give a perfect ending to the match of the league touted to change the landscape of Indian soccer. Fans enjoyed some quality soccer with replays from 17 giant screens that dotted the uppermost tier, something that was never experienced in Indian soccer before.
PHOTOGRAPHS: RUPAK DE CHOWDHURI /REUTERS
Manuel Friedrich of Mumbai City FC jumps for the ball next to team mate Lalrindika Ralte, left, and Luis Garcia, right, of Atletico de Kolkata during the match.
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Sports INDIA IN NEW YORK OCTOBER 17, 2014
India level series, third ODI cancelled COURTESY: BCCI
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ndia relied on their bowlers to script a 48-run victory in the second one-day international against the West Indies in Delhi, October 11. The victory enabled the hosts level the series 1-1. Chasing a 264-run target, the West Indies were cruising at 170 for two in the 36th over before their innings fell apart on a sluggish Ferozshah Kotla track. India defended the total despite the West Indies’ early domination as opener Dwayne Smith hit a career-best 97. Once Smith was dismissed, the Indian bowlers called the shots, causing a batting collapse. The Caribbeans lost their last eight wickets for just 45 runs and were out for 215 in 46.3 overs.
Mohammed Shami (4/36) recorded career-best figures, while all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (3/44) and leg-spinner Amit Mishra (2/40) snared five wickets between them. Electing to bat, India posted a competitive 263 for seven, as Suresh Raina hit a sparkling 62 and Virat Kohli (62) returned to form with his first half-century in eight months. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni contributed with an unbeaten 51 off 40 balls while Ambati Rayudu scored 32, batting at number three, a position Kohli usually bats at. The third ODI between India and the West Indies that was scheduled in Visakhapatnam October 14, was called off after cyclone Hudhud hit the port city. The fourth ODI is scheduled in Dharamshala, October 17.
Shuttler Jayaram clinches Dutch Open, bags maiden Grand Prix
PARIVARTAN SHARMA/REUTERS
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ndian shuttler Ajay Jayaram notched up the biggest triumph of his career by clinching the $50,000 Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton tournament in Almere. The 27-year-old Bangalore-based player defeated Indonesia’s Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 10-11, 11-6, 11-7, 1-11, 11-9 in the men’s singles final which lasted 46 minutes to bag his maiden Grand Prix title. The 13th seeded Indian returned to the circuit in August after a seven-month injury layoff. Jayaram had beaten top seed Rajiv Ouseph of England 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 in the 26-minute semi-final. He got past Chun Hei Tam of Hong Kong in the pre-quarterfinal and thirdseeded Indonesian Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka in the quarter-final.
REUTERS/TORU HANAI
Ravindra Jadeja celebrates after dismissing Darren Sammy.
Schumacher waking up ‘very slowly’ from coma S
tricken Formula One ace Michael Schumacher is reportedly waking up slowly from his coma. Schumacher suffered a serious accident when skiing at the French resort of Meribel December 29. He is currently under treatment at a medical suite in his Geneva home. Schumacher’s 15-year-old son Mick has apparently passed on a positive update to a family friend French Formula One commentator Jean-Louis Moncet, who provided the update on the Formula One legend’s condition, Stuff.co.nz reported. Moncet also revealed Schumacher’s accident in detail. Moncet said the problem for Schumacher was not the fall, but the mounting of the Go-Pro camera that he had on his helmet that injured his brain. Schumacher was placed in a medically induced coma after the accident. Last month, his manager Sabine Kehm confirmed that rehabilitation would continue at Schumacher’s home after he was moved from a clinic in Lausanne, where he was undergoing treatment.
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India in New York October 17, 2014
Restaurant Sale/Lease
PROFESSIONAL Hindu parents of attractive NY lawyer, 31, US born/raised, Berkeley/Columbia; seek US raised, good-looking, top INDIAN restaurant for sale. No universities, top professionals. Pictures/ competition adjoining Banquet hall. biodata: Sale 37K plus with a lot of potential. ns570@columbia.edu Asking 70K. Price not negotiable. Only MATCH for beautiful, fair, slim, never- serious enquiries. married, younger looking US born Call (760) 349-1939 or daughter, 41/5’5”. Has biomedical indbiz4sale@gmail.com Ph.D. and manager in a well-known Reason of selling is moving out of company. Email biodata & recent state. photograph: rdaisy0714@gmail.com
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Profitable Drycleaner for Sale - Retirement Piscataway, NJ www.wsmkr.com/cleaners (908) 812-0455 vodkacream@yahoo.com
Store For Sale/Lease GROCERY PLUS LIQUOR STORE FOR SALE Near downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Please call (330) 639-6062 or (216) 280-4201
HIGH VOLUME Gas station/ convenient store for lease in Ohio. Qualified buyers please call Ron (551) 998-8991
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Services / Miscellaneous REAL ESTATE Room For Rent ELMHURST: Wanted a lady to share an apt. Room available.(718) 6519319.
ACCOUNTING firm looking for graduates in accounting. Knowledge of Quickbooks, Microsoft office preferred. Please email resume to: sarar@pnagaraj.com
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FULLTIME Help wanted for RESTAURANT HELP: Cook, Tandoori FOREST HILLS: One bedroom apt convenience store. Call (516) 312Cook, Helper, Waiter. Call (716) 837- with backyard for rent. Call (718) 6997160 9887/ (917) 544-0541 0460. (716) 830-6432.
Superstar India
Big fashion houses turn to India
a De celebrates Author Shobhaatime has come country whose
Discover The New India Abroad
PERIODICAL
NEW YORK
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Chicago/Dallas
aka Singh Rana Wrestler Dalip with India’s The Great Khali Patil at President Pratibha May 6 Rashtrapati Bhavan,
INDEX
.......................................A2
Letters to the Editor .......................A4 ..........A44 People............................................ Immigration........................................... ................A38 Business........................................... ...........A32 Community........................................... .................M1 Magazine.......................................... ......................A46 Sports........................................... ...............A37 41 Events........................................... Pages: 56+12=68
EDITION
$1
York Toronto NY/NJ/CT New Los Angeles
XXXVIII No.33 16, 2008 Vol. Friday, May Weekly Newspaper International
Sameer Ahuja helms Sports Museum of America May 16, 2008
magazine
The International
GEORGE JOSEPH áå kÉï vçêâ forMichael Bloomberg York Mayor of America When New into the Sports Museum dream transform mally inaugurated Ahuja saw a May 7, Sameer multivibrant reality. first and only interactive, proved an The nation's museum experience before its media all-sports people lining the street from across the street instant hit, with entrance, just get in. The building to 26, Broadway Liberty ferry, Company, the Statue of Standard Oil housed the had earlier D Rockefeller. the street, so he on founded by John spent all night be the first visitor "One person could museum," to enter the Ahuja, the Delhi-born Chief the museum's and its Operating Officer Philip with co-founder Schwalb, said. cele"The museum sports. all brates sports, millions of There are sports. various fans for houses The museum is no them all. There anythis place like Ahuja where," a proud lives said. The museum he gives up to the billing more than Sameer Ahuja it: It houses movies and 20 original variAZIZ HANIFFA 1,100 photos, experience 600 artifacts, Visitors get to through áå t~ëÜáåÖíçåI a` within 19 galleries.related memorabilia, end up and and week showous sports, presentations, histories of Security last memof Homeland detailed interactive multimedia six foreign-born The Department studying the soldier, one of ceremony spending hours events. out cased an India-born at a special naturalization big-ticket sportsis unmissable: Tourists coming bers of the military, to Lady United States. a soldier in the US the of museum obeisance The for new citizens Sandeep Singh, 23, after paying Team, by 24-foot phoColor Guard of Battery Park Ludhiana-born in their tracks athInfantry Continentalto serve his adopted Liberty are stopped legend Babe Ruth, stories the desire Army's 3rd US names from "followed his tographs of baseball said he had terrorist attacks of 9/11." and other iconic 21 countries lete Jesse Owens sport. nation after the 26 men and women from by museum feet American of Allegiance square annals He was among the Oath of range of the 100,000 and Immigration The interior sports fan; seminal exhibits report who were administered US Citizenship the Sandeep Singh King's school Mall. is manna for director of the icon Billie Jean celebrating historic on these Scharfen, acting in the ceremony at the National from tennis had taken place of variJonathan 'Jock' memorabilia of the DHS, such an event part card through Page A8 US history that museums; the event was Service, an appendage third time in Recognition Week. It was only the bounded by the Smithsonian of Public Service are Page A8 the celebration grounds, which connected with ous activities
Superstar India
India-born 9/11 inspires America soldier to defend
Weekly Newspaper
Author Shobhaa De celebrates a country whose time has come
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