India in New York - July 25, 2014

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VOL. XVIII NO. 5

India in New York A GUIDE TO EVENTS AND ENTERTAINMENT FROM INDIA ABROAD FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014

Modi at MSG COMMUNITY PLANS $1.2 MN BASH FOR NARENDRA MODI

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INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

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Sikh Coalition seeks NSA, FBI documents with racial slurs GEORGE JOSEPH

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he Sikh Coalition has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for employee emails sent from September 11, 2001, that contain the slurs ‘raghead’ or ‘towelhead.’

The move is in response to a new Edward Snowden leak that revealed the NSA and the FBI have spied on the e-mails of five high-profile Muslim-Americans who are not publicly known to be guilty of any terrorist activity.

In the same leak, one dis-

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Sikhs for Justice continues fight against Manmohan Singh

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The Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, August 7, 2012, days after a shootout. The Sikh Coalition invoked the repeated violence and bigotry faced by the community post 9/11 in its request.

ment leaves office, however, that individual generally retains residual immunity only for acts taken in an official capacity while in that he Sikhs for Justice filed a motion askposition. ing a Washington federal court to The SFJ argued that the Foreign Sovereign reject the Department of State’s ‘sugImmunity Act did not cover acts committed gestion of immunity’ to former Indian prime by foreign officials in their official capacity minister Manmohan Singh in a pending and also pointed out that defendant was not human rights violation case. prime minister of India anymore and thereLast year, the New York-based organizafore did not enjoy immunity as head of a fortion filed a civil case against Dr Singh ‘for eign government. his role in crimes against humanity perpeThe new motion noted that the suggestion trated upon the Sikh community in India.’ of immunity contravened the laws of the It accused Dr Singh of funding counter United States; violated jus congen, a norm of insurgency operations in Punjab during international law; and violated the funda1990s, as then finance minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh mental policy principle of the US, which is resulting in more than 100,000 Sikhs being protecting and promoting human rights. killed extra judicially by Indian security TOMOHIRO OHSUMI/REUTERS Pointing to a Department of State’s country forces. condition report from the 1990s, which documented human Before Dr Singh left office, the Department of Justice had rights violations, extra judicial killings and torture in Punjab told the court that he was ‘immune in this action.’ in the name of counter insurgency operations, the motion After a new government took over in India, the DoJ submitargued that instead of suggesting immunity for Dr Singh, the ted that ‘Singh’s departure from the office of prime minister US government should investigate and prosecute him for his during the pendency of this litigation does not render ineffecrole in sponsoring and funding ‘cash for bullet’ policy. tive the Executive Branch’s assertion of immunity.’

‘Under 509 (b)(1) of HREA of 2009 the US government is The Supreme Court had held that US courts were bound by bound to take appropriate legal action even if someone is suggestions of immunity submitted by the Executive Branch. merely suspected of human rights violations. The Obama Under the customary international law principles accepted administration’s suggestion of immunity to Manmohan Singh by the Executive Branch, head of state immunity attaches to a is blatant use of the executive power,’ said Gurpatwant Singh head of state or head of government’s status as the current Pannun, legal advisor, SFJ. holder of the office. After a head of state or head of govern-

GEORGE JOSPEH

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INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

She gives voice to the voiceless ARTHUR J PAIS

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aving made documentary films on shoestring budgets dealing with complex subjects ranging from the unionization efforts of a group of rural women in her native Malaysia and about a mother who gives birth to a son but has to bring up her as a daughter (She Is My Son), Indrani Kopal decided to go for something comparatively lighter these last two years.

Yet, each of the documentaries this Hoftra University master’s student has made have social relevance.

Her The Game Changer, about a choreographer who uses the arts to change the lives of prisoners, is bringing the 35-year-old filmmaker quite a bit of attention. It has been accepted by the 2014 Portland Film Festival and the Ninth Annual Harlem International Film Festival.

The Game Changer is the first installment of Kopal’s thesis project in the Documentary Studies and Production program at Hofstra’s Lawrence Herbert School of Communication.

The winner of a 2012 Fulbright scholarship, she is now working on her second film in the series, which will focus on the six men who took part in the dance program, all of whom have since been released from prison.

Indrani Kopal Another of her MFA films, Living Jazz with Bill Saxton, was an official selection of the 2013 Langston Hughes African-American Film Festival in Seattle.

As a student filmmaker, she has to do most of the heavy lifting herself. “It is not always easy to convince people that I want to make a film on them,” she says.

Kopal, who loves wearing a sari, has often met her subjects in a sari and “sometimes they wonder who is this woman in this dress,” she says, chucking.

One of the most difficult people to convince was the choreographer and activist Susan Slotnick who every Sunday

f PAGE 2 closed file from 2005 shows an unidentified target’s name being logged in a spreadsheet as ‘Mohammed Raghead.’

‘Disclosure of the requested information to us is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the extent to which employees have used epithets indicating prejudice in official correspondence,’ the FOIA request noted.

Since 9/11, Sikh Americans have repeatedly endured violence and bigotry, called ragheads or towelheads, because of their religiously-mandated turbans.

Over a decade later, in August 2012, a gunman attacked a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing six worshippers and injuring several others. In the months after the massacre, a Sikh business owner

afternoon for the last seven years has driven from New York an hour up the mountains to the Woodbourne Correctional Facility, a medium security prison for men, to teach modern dance.

“The lives of men whom she touched have never been the same since,” says Kopal. “She believes that laws are passed to enforce a change in behavior. But art exists to inspire a change in the heart.”

Kopal’s I only dance for You , which she describes as ‘a slice of life story’ about a gay couple who live in Greenwich Village, New York City was selected for the fourth annual Outrate Online Film Festival and showcased at OUTtv’s Hot Pink Shorts 2010, Canada.

The daughter of Tamil school clerks in Malaysia, she gave up her college studies because “I realized it was not fair for my parents to pay all my fees.”

“I wanted to work for some years, make money and continue my studies,” she adds.

She worked as a multimedia journalist for Malaysiakini.com, a well-known news organization in Malaysia. She taught herself video filmmaking while working for a major university in her country.

“There was all this equipment, and there were many good professors,” she recalls, “but hardly anyone had hands-on experience. I taught myself a lot and soon I was helping the students.”

This led to her a decade-long career as a video journalist, producing news clips, short documentaries, television programs and promo videos for nonprofit organizations.

“I am very glad I had the opportunity to make films about marginalized people,” she says, referring to She’s My Son which won an award at the 2007 Freedom Film Festival in Kuala Lumpur. “Transgender people don’t get the understanding and respect they deserve in Malaysia, as is the case with many other countries.”

Four years ago, thanks to a visiting professor who saw her work, she was invited to the George Washington University Documentary Center’s International Emerging Filmmakers six-week fellowship program. She produced two short documentaries in New York and Washington, DC with Zimbabwean filmmaker Simon De Swardt.

One of the films, Oily Hair — on the initiative by the hairdressers in Washington, DC to clean up the Gulf Oil spill — was screened at the National Press Club during her fellowship.

The film was also accepted by the online film festival, Green Unplugged, that year.

“I never get tired of telling the stories of people who are making a change, who are giving a voice to the voiceless, and empowering others,” she says. “I see them around me ever so often.”

Sikh Coalition seeks NSA, FBI documents with racial slurs was shot and injured in Port Orange, Florida; a Sikh octogenarian was beaten with a steel rod in Fresno, California; and a Sikh professor was assaulted in New York City.

Given the persistence of hate violence against Sikh Americans, and after a lengthy campaign by the Sikh Coalition, civil rights groups, and numerous members of Congress, the FBI finally agreed in 2013 to begin tracking hate crimes against Sikhs.

‘As Americans, we expect law enforcement officials to behave like adults,’ Amardeep Singh, program director, Sikh

Coalition, said in a statement. ‘The Sikh Coalition will not tolerate the use of racial or religious slurs by people who are supposed to protect us. We therefore demand a full accounting of NSA and FBI emails to determine the extent to which agency employees are combating bigotry, not promoting it.’

He expects the agencies would comply with the request.

“We don’t believe there is a lawful basis for them to not produce the documents under the law governing Freedom of Information Act requests,” he told India in

New York. “If they don’t produce the documents within 20 days, we can appeal that decision. If our appeal is denied, we can file a lawsuit to compel production of the documents. We have every intention of doing so.”

Soon after the reports about the leak appeared in the media, a White House spokeswoman said it had asked James Clapper, director of national intelligence, to undertake an assessment of intelligence community policies, training standards, or directives that promote diversity and tolerance, and as necessary, make any recommendations changes or additional reforms.

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INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

Snapshots from the event.

India’s Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar Mulay, sixth from right, lights the ceremonial lamp to mark the launch of the AICC Annual Franchise Expo. He is seen with board members of the association.

AICC Franchise Expo to be held in September A CORRESPONDENT

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usiness leaders joined the community at the Indian consulate in New York recently at a kick-off meeting for the Franchise Seminar & Show by the Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce, scheduled for September 21 at the New Jersey Convention & Expo Center in Raritan Center in Edison.

India’s Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar Mulay appealed to entrepreneurs to share innovative ideas with their Indian counterparts: ‘The need for transferring ideas and business concepts from USA to India has never been so important as it is today because of the prevailing environment in India, which is ideal for strengthening bilateral partnership between the two countries.’

Ambassador Mulay urged officials and business

Meet the minister

owners from the US to visit India to explore new investment opportunities and spoke about the possibilityof New York Governor Andrew Cuomo leading a business delegation to India.

The AICC, a New Jersey based representative body of Indian-owned businesses, will offer a total of $30,000 as interest free-loans to winners of best business plans at the expo, selected from plans submitted at the Start-up Hub at the show, announced Anil Bansal, president, AICC, and chairman, Indus American Bank.

Rajeev Krishna, event chair, said that the expo would provide a platform for entrepreneurs to meet and build relationships with small business owners.

Nandini Menon, event co-chair, said prospective franchisees could look forward to financing and marketing resources for their businesses while current franchisors could explore alternative financing and marketing resources.

K C Joseph, center, minister for non-resident Keralites affairs and rural development, at a meeting organized by the Kerala chapter of the Indian National Overseas Congress (I) in Floral Park, New York.

Joseph spoke about Kerala’s model for inclusive development and governance, which made it the highest ranking Indian state as per the United Nations Human Development Index.

Guru Poornima in New Jersey A CORRESPONDENT

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ver 3,000 people from the United States and 14 other countries, including India, attended the international Guru Poornima celebration at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, July 12.

Bhajans and devotional dance sequences built up the mood for the discourse by Sri Guruvanand Swami. Though he has been coming to America since 2008, it was the first time that he graced Guru Poornima — a day dedicated to teachers and mentors on the Hindu calendar — here, the first outside India.

Rachna Sarang of the Academy of Performing Arts performed a Ganesh Vandana. Her students performed the Hanuman Chalisa in Kathak style. The finale was a Guru Stuti composed and dedicated to Guruvanand Swami.

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INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

Modi at MSG Community plans $1.2 mn bash for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September.

Aziz Haniffa reports

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it clear that the community reception in his honor has to be a broad-based, all-inclusive, national event.

ndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it clear that the community reception in his honor slated for September 28, during his visit to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly session and his summit with President Barack Obama, has to be a broad-based, allinclusive, national event.

Dr Bharat Barai, a Chicago area physician and Modi’s longtime friend and confidante, has been designated the point person and ‘lead volunteer’ for organizing the reception that is estimated to cost about $1.2 million.

The Overseas Friends of the BJP, which organized the community reception for then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he visited New York; the Global Indians for Bharat Vikas, a Bostonbased Vishwa Hindu Parishad front organization, and even the Federation of Indian Organizations in New York, which organizes the annual India Independence Day Parade, had been jockeying to organize the reception which will be held in New York, most likely at the Madison Square Garden.

The Prime Minister’s Office vetoed these efforts and made clear Modi’s wishes to Dr Barai, the Indian embassy, and the New York consul general’s office: That it should not carry the imprimatur of any particular organization, but be under the auspices of a ‘Reception Committee for the Prime Minister of India.’ *** Mumbai-born Dr Barai, 66, has been a longtime friend of Modi from the days the prime minister was a karyakarta (worker), and their friendship has blossomed over the years.

For the past seven years, he has organized Modi’s video interaction with Indian Americans during Gujarat Day; the last one, May 12, beamed live in 20 cities in the US. He and his physician wife Panna were in the front-row — ahead of Supreme Court justices, senior parliamentarians and the like — at Modi’s inauguration, in seats reserved for prime minister’s friends. *** Dr Barai told India in New York that Modi and his office had given strict instructions “to make sure that this is not a

$400,000 have to be provided. Besides the more than $550,000 for the MSG, Dr Barai said all of the other expenses would propel the total cost of the Modi reception to in excess of $1.2 million.

The community reception for Vajpayee, hosted by the OFBJP — led at the time by its founder and president the late Dr Mukund Mody — and the reception for then peime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, organized by the Indian National Overseas Congress, both with the cooperation of the Indian consulate, did not attract more than 1,000 guests.

Those events, Dr Barai said, would be no match for the scope and scale of the gargantuan reception being planned for Modi at the MSG. The PMO has designated Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of state for power, coal, new and renewable energy, to be the liaison with Dr Barai, the Indian embassy and the New York consulate for the event, which will be wholly an Indian-American community event even though the embassy and the consulate will assist if asked by the reception committee.

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BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) event or that kind of event, but a broad-based program incorporating a cross-section of the community from all across the US. The prime minister and the PMO have emphasized that this is a national event — this is not a New Jersey or New York event, even though it is being held in New York.”

He acknowledged that the MetLife Stadium and the Yankees stadium, which can seat 82,500 and 50,291 respectively, had been considered, but were found not available because the Jets were playing the Lions on that day, and as The Washington Post reported, the Yankees although are away, has an ‘event block’ that weekend ‘to protect the grass leading into postseason.’

An application, Dr Barai said, had already been submitted to the Madison Square Garden, which can seat about 20,000, and that Elise Daniledes, manager, special events, MSG, had submitted it to the MSG board and the contract was expected to be signed this week.

Once the contract is signed, within 24 hours, an initial non-refundable deposit of $165,000 has to be made and bank guarantees for the remaining approximately

ources told India in New York that it was on the strength of a letter provided by New York Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay — that Dr Barai and his tentative committee of volunteers would be the contracting party — that Daniledes had accepted the application and submitted it to the board.

“All of this has meant mobilizing a lot of money, a lot of people,” Dr Barai said. “As soon the contract is signed, MUKESH GUPTA/REUTERS we will have to nail down the various committees, and also decide how the invitations for the 20,000 people will have to be distributed. We will have to come up with a fair and equitable formula of how to invite people so that the most genuine people get a ticket — because we don’t want any unruly elements to get in. If you put it down in Ticketmaster, anybody can buy a ticket and come.”

He said some leading community organizations in New York and New Jersey, with well-established infrastructure and networks of volunteers, had asked him to give them the project and that they would easily raise the $1 million and distribute the 20,000 tickets and fill up the stadium. Dr Barai said he had refused, because “we have to keep the formula fair and transparent.”

The program, he said, was “yet to be worked out, because right now we are still in the process of confirming the facility, raising the finances, and also brainstorming on how to come up with an equitable and fair distribution of the tickets. No formal committees have been formed and we are now operating on an ad hoc basis; but time is certainly of the essence because we only have about 10 weeks to go.”

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INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

The battle over Modi George Joseph reports on what went on at the first meeting to coordinate the reception for Prime Minister Modi

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hough members of the Indian-American community anticipates Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to New York September 28 with excitement, a kickoff meeting to plan the event ended on a sour note.

The meeting attended by more than 200 people at the TV Asia auditorium in Edison, New Jersey witnessed unruly scenes, which could only be doused by Indian Consul General in New York Dyaneshwar Mulay’s intervention.

The event was called by Dr Bharat Barai and the invitations were sent out by India’s New York consulate. As soon as the meeting commenced, Ankur Vaidya, president, Federation of Indian Associations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which organizes the India Day parade in Manhattan, questioned what authority Dr Barai had to organize such an event in New York, bypassing community leaders in this area.

Pandemonium broke out as community leaders jumped onto the podium and shouted at Dr Barai, accusing him of hijacking the reception.

Dr Barai read out a letter he said had been issued by the Prime Minister’s Office that asked him to organize the event. In a conversation with India in New York Vaidya later alleged that this was a letter issued by the Indian embassy in Washington, DC with the limited scope of booking a venue for the reception.

When some rose to support Dr Barai, there was much shouting. As the fracas escalated, Ambassador Mulay was called on to control the situation.

Mulay noted that the reception was being held for the prime minister of India, the leader of all Indians. The reception and the organizing committee would have to represent a cross section of the Indian-American community and if the community could not come out with a united plan, the consulate would take charge of organizing the reception.

Only the prime minister would be on the dais, Ambassador Mulay said, and nobody would get a chance to shake hands or for photo ops.

Shalli Kumar, a leader from Chicago, said, “I thought the consul general was simply brilliant. He was the Buddha of the moment, who said (to Kumar and some others a day before the event) ‘desire for prominence is the cause of all this infighting in the community, get rid of prominence, you will get rid of the infighting.’ He also wanted the core committee to have diversity across religions, home states in India, US states, and also across professions.”

“He stated that it should not be a Gujarati function or a BJP function, or a Hindu function,” Kumar said. “It should be an Indian function, with no prominence for any one.

There should be nobody on the dais, no speeches, no handshakes, no photographs, no declaration of any names of any kind. Only prominence should be given to India and India’s Prime Minister.”

“I thought it was brilliant, and since as a matter of practical reality, potential donors would run away for lack of prominence, I told the CG that I would offer $1 million towards these festivities if the principles and conditions laid out by the consul general were met,” Kumar added.

Dr Bharat Barai and his wife Dr Panna Barai with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, May 22.

Vaidya complained there had been no consultation with leaders in the Tristate area and matters were already decided by a few people sitting upstairs while the audience was waiting at the auditorium.

“How can a person sitting in Indianapolis do an event in New York, as if there are no Indians here?” Vaidya asked.

“Moreover, he has no experience organizing an event here.

If One cannot organize a meeting of 200 people well, how can he organize a huge meeting?”

Dr Barai told India in New York that invitations were sent out to local Indian associations compiled from the list maintained by the consulate and TV Asia, requesting two representatives from each organization.

Thomas T Oomen, president, Indian Christian Forum, who was present at the event, thanked the organizers for inviting him as a representative of the Christian community.

“Indian Americans as well as the Indian community around the world are looking forward to this history-making reception,” Oomen said. “The prime minister has asked the leaders to organize the event to include representatives from all communities. A letter from the PM’s office to this effect was conveyed to the attendees at the meeting and it was warmly received by all.”

Shobana Patel, former president, FIA, felt there was no indication of any role for women, to which Dr Barai clarified, “No committees were formed as it was only the beginning. Several committees are needed, such as for food, fundra He said e-mails would soon be sent out asking people about the committees they wanted to join. Since it would be a national event, he added, it would be organized with a national perspective and there was no merit in the argument that only local leaders should be given charge of it.

“It is not a local event or a Diwali celebration or a party function,” Dr Barai said. “Indians from anywhere in the US should be able to attend it.”

Dr Barai also spoke about his role to India in New York, saying he had been authorized by the prime minister’s office to organize this as a national event, was only the lead volunteer and not looking for any position or glory.

“I have known the prime minister for 35 years,” he said. “I have been coordinating events in which Modiji spoke through video conferencing for the last eight years. It is natural that the PM’s office entrusted the responsibility to me.”

In the course of the conversation he shared his initial plans for crowd control at the event. It could be an invitation-only event with tickets offered to each association in the country according to their size. Passes, he said, could be numbered with sponsors being responsible for the behavior of the attendees.

He said they had to exert “some kind of control on who is coming to the event. It is needed considering the security aspect.”

Chandrakant Patel, president, Overseas Friends of BJP, who was present at the event, said his organization supported Dr Barai as somebody had to take the lead. “We contacted the prime minister’s office. They instructed us to make it an inclusive event. The OFBJP will be only part of the reception committee. We don’t want to take any political advantage over the event.”

Patel wished they could have a larger venue for the reception to accommodate as many as 100,000 people, but since that seems impossible at the moment, he added, “We are only concerned about the success of the event, irrespective of who leads it. As disciplined soldiers we will work to make it a grand success.”

Community Special

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INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

Aziz Haniffa, Editor, India Abroad, speaks about the Role of Ethnic Media in Promoting India-US Ties at the Indian consulate in New York, July 18.

PHOTOGRAPHS: PARESH GANDHI

‘It is in my DNA to run around’ GEORGE JOSEPH

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lecture on the ‘Role of the Ethnic Media in promoting India-US ties,’

by Aziz Haniffa, Editor, India Abroad, India in New York’s parent newspaper, at India’s consulate in New York was an “intellectually stimulating event,” Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay said after the fifth lecture in the Media India 2014 Lecture Series.

The lecture series earlier featured Maximum City author Suketu Mehta, then Time magazine editor Aparasim ‘Bobby’ Ghosh, political theorist Brown University Professor Ashutosh Varshney and physician Dr Shuvendu Sen. The next lectures will be delivered by Marshall M Bouton, Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study of India and president emeritus, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and Columbia University Professor and renowned economist Jagdish Bhagwati.

“Aziz is married to India Abroad,” Ambassador Mulay said. Setting the tone for the lecture, the diplomat said the topic — ‘Role of the Ethnic Media in promoting India-US ties — intrigued him and he wanted to hear about it from Aziz and moderator S Mitra Kalita, Ideas Editor at Atlantic Media’s Quartz.

Many desi journalists in New York descended on the consulate July 18 to hear Aziz — for long the doyen of the IndianAmerican media — whose delivered lecture can be read alongside.

After the lecture, Kalita asked Aziz incisive questions, personal and professional.

She asked why Aziz had stayed on at India Abroad for more than three decades, when he could easily have moved to mainstream media.

Aziz confessed he loved Washington, DC and did not want to move out of the city. If he had joined a mainstream newspaper, he could have been posted anywhere in the world as his forte is foreign affairs.

“During (India Abroad) founder and publisher the late Gopal Raju’s time I was asked

tions, Aziz passed, but noted that President George W Bush was amazed at India’s functional democracy. Bush, Aziz, who interviewed the President as he has several other Presidents, said was in awe of democracy in a country with one billion people. It led Bush to signing the nuclear deal with India though there was strong opposition in the United States from many quarters.

Why were more ethnic newspapers being born in America, Kalita asked, at a time when mainstream newspapers were shutting down?

Newspapers in Indian languages thrive in the US, Aziz felt, because of the arrival of new immigrants from India, adding that subscription for English language desi newspapers is drying up.

Bringing in the new generation as readers for the newspaper is tough, he said, adding that even he – a diehard newspaper man — prefers now to read newspapers like the Washington Post online.

Aziz, Kalita pointed out, is one of the most prolific writers in journalism and wondered how he wrote so many stories for each week’s edition of India Abroad. Aziz attributed this to his DNA.

to take over as publisher of the paper. When I said I did not know anything about publishing, he said I could go to school to learn it. But I declined the offer. It is in my DNA to run around. It energizes me,” Aziz said.

India Abroad, he pointed out, covers every facet of the Indian-American community — the rich, the successful and the lowly — with the same zeal.

Asked which President in his 31 years in DC had been the best for India-US rela-

India’s Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar Mulay. Since March, the consulate has hosted a monthly lecture-series titled ‘Media India 2014-15.’

He noted that he would write a very important story on diplomatic affairs, but the next one he wrote could be a piece on a small community celebration or desi achievement. He would do the latter as he would the former, with the same enthusiasm.

Raju Narisetti, second row left, senior vice president, strategy, News Corp.

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Community Special

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INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

Aziz Haniffa and moderator S Mitra Kalita of Quartz.

Aziz, India Abroad and the India-US relationship

introducing a magazine section and also doing wonders with the layout and graphics not to mention the editorial content and reinforcing the work of my editorial colleagues in the US, some of whom are here today.

In terms of the ethnic media’s role in promoting IndiaUS ties, I am going to delve into a historical perspective and context with India Abroad being used as the case study to illustrate some of my points.

And this involves speaking about Raju and his pioneering work in getting a beach-head and establishing the first Indian ethnic newspaper in the US. He came to the US — to the University of Michigan in the early 1950s and being quite the entrepreneur started a travel agency for international students.

Then after graduating, he moved to New York and expanded this travel service and also launched India Abroad in 1971, to keep the then small but growing Indian-American community in the US apprised of what was going on in India.

And even before I joined the newspaper in the mid1980s, he had made his mark as a feisty and tough and uncompromising publisher and he fought a major battle with the Indira Gandhi government during the Emergency and won when he had refused to buckle down to pressure that he not publish articles by some of the Indian exiles, NRIs, students in the US at that time during the emergency who were critical of the emergency.

It brought the Indian Ambassador T N ‘Tikki Kaul’ coming after him. Air India held back commissions owed to him crippling his travel service.

It made Raju to focus more on the newspaper.

Of course, for some of the old-timers here, who probably knew Raju, you would know what Raju’s reaction was — he told ‘Tikki’ Kaul to take a hike.

Raju had a New York Times staffer in Washington who was freelancing for him, but he didn’t want just re-writes of press releases but was looking for a young guy who could hustle, and cover the State Department, White

PARESH GANDHI

L

adies and gentlemen, thank you very much and its wonderful so see many old and new friends and to be among you all.

Ambassador Mulay, thank you very much for inviting me to be a part of this very interesting and innovative series you have initiated and kudos to you for being so pro-active since your posting here and convening such stimulating discussions and interactions on a host of issues and also for always being there for the community.

We also appreciate your presence at our India Abroad Person of the Year awards gala last month.

It’s also a pleasure to have my longtime and dear friend, Mitra Kalita, formerly of The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and the Mint in India and now Ideas Editor at Atlantic Media’s The Quartz, which one of the earlier speakers in this series Bobby Ghosh, Time magazine’s international editor has also recently joined as managing editor.

By the way, if you’ll have not already read Mitra’s books Suburban Sahibs and My Two Indias, you don’t know what you are missing, and would strongly advise you to get it on Amazon and make it part of your summer reading. Of course, I am giving Mitra this plug hoping that she’ll return the favor when I finally get down to writing my book.

Anyway, now to the topic at hand— Ambassador Mulay had asked me to speak on the role of the ethnic media in promoting India-US ties.

At the outset, let me argue more generally that the importance of the ethnic media today is virtually a nobrainer.

In 2003, the Carnegie Corporation brought out this report with a cover story on ‘New Americans — Fresh off the Presses, focusing on the importance of the ethnic media and the cover had a picture of a young lady reading India Abroad.

In the report, Daniel Akst, whose work appears in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Wilson Quarterly and other publications, talks of how ‘the reach —and influence — of the ethnic media in the United States continues to grow.

Assimilation, acculturation, citizenship and news from home are only some of the subjects that ethnic media outlets present to millions of eager readers in dozens of different languages every day.’

And, about India Abroad, the Carnegie report states, ‘A more recent example is India Abroad, a colorful New York-based weekly owned by the Indian media conglomerate rediff.com India is a vast nation of many languages and cultures, but publications like India Abroad help cement emigres into a group made cohesive by their Indian-ness in America, as well as by their economic success.

While some ethnic papers have a central narrative as the struggle of an oppressed people — their readers, this is peripheral in India Abroad, which focuses heavily on successful Indian Americans.’

But I would dispute the report’s contention that we write only about successful Indian Americans. That while we write about successful Indian Americans and their achievements, we also delve into a range of important issues from immigration, discrimination, racial profiling and a whole panoply of issues and so, it’s a wide canvas that we’ve covered over the years.

And this was written over 30 years after India Abroad was established in 1971 by the visionary founder and publisher, the late Gopal Raju, and two years after India Abroad was bought over by rediff.com with Raju’s blessings because he was convinced that Ajit Balakrishnan, chairman and CEO of rediff, and Nikhil Lakshman, editor in chief, would continue his vision of India Abroad being the voice of the Indian-American community and promoting India-US relations, with quality journalism, credibility and objectivity.

And, of course, the superb rediff team has done just that,

House, Congress, Pentagon, buttonhole lawmakers, etc. In some ways, ironically, move the paper beyond simply a parochial, ethnic mold.

Earlier, being a stickler for good editing and language and wanting a standard that could hold its own with mainstream newspapers, he had hired some retired New York Times copy editors, or sub-editors as we know them in South Asia.

You got to remember these were the Cold War days and India was getting a bad rap being viewed as a surrogate of the erstwhile Soviet Union and hustling for interviews, stories and trying to cover Indo-US relations, let alone promote them through our newspaper was an uphill battle and every interviewee in both the administration and Congress would always complain bitterly about India’s foreign policy, non-alignment, etc, and it was essentially a US foreign policy of the good guys and the bad guys — if you were with the US, you were the good guys, and if you disagreed, you were the bad guy.

But hustling, covering, interviewing, buttonholing, I did, while at the same time covering the growing and influential Indian-American community, which was getting politically involved and empowered, and writing report after report that I like to joke that Raju quickly put me on salary because he found that more economical than paying me by the word, and quickly made me permanent from a stringer.

Jokes apart, this was the beginning of the ethnic media promoting India-US ties during these difficult time and getting the Indian-American community to flex its muscle and building up a critical mass to oppose the Reagan administration’s sale of sophisticated F-16s to Pakistan, its Cold War ally.

At the time, there was a Congressman Stephen Solarz, a

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‘It is in my DNA to run around’ f PAGE 8 The growth of the desi community and the growing number of desi political activists, he revealed, had helped him nail interviews with mainstream political leaders. Florida doctor Zach Zachariah helped him interview Presidents George H W Bush and later George W Bush. Reading the latter interview, Senator John Kerry, the Democratic Presidential candidate against George W Bush in 2004, quickly granted Aziz an interview.

When he needed to interview Senator Harry Reid, Aziz said, the best route was through the Senate Majority Leader’s physician, Dr R V Prabhu. If an interview request was made via official channels, Aziz quipped it could take years to materialize. After Dr Prabhu intervened, Senator

New York Democrat, whom Raju had cultivated, and introduced to the IndianAmerican community, who was chairman of the Asia Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who was almost a one-man India Caucus and like Horatio at the Bridge, countering all of the anti-India attacks launched against it by Republicans like Congressman Dan Burton, who was then the darling of the Council of Khalistan and the Kashmiri American Council and Burton would every year introduce anti-India legislation calling for cutting of development aid to India.

Through the sustained reporting of Solarz’s speeches in the House floor and tough interviews with the likes of Burton and other India-baiters, here was the Indian ethnic media playing a catalytic role in trying to impress upon the importance of closer relations with a democracy like India, instead of a dictatorship in Pakistan.

Of course, when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Washington on a state visit the extensive coverage and the analysis of the Reagan-Rajiv meetings and how well they got along also was instrumental in helping the Indian-American community to come into its own and become the catalyst they have become for the amazing evolution of ties between Washington and New Delhi that we see today.

And before I fast forward and come to the nuclear deal between India and the US, which was transformative in itself and further cemented the strategic partnership which began to take place following President Clinton’s visit in March 2000, there was also Raju’s India Abroad Center for Political Awareness, playing a role in supplementing the role of India Abroad.

Then, of course, the nuclear test happened in May 1998, the ties nosedived into the doldrums and India Abroad was in the forefront exhorting the Indian-American community to meet with their lawmakers and Senators and others and the likes of

Aziz, India Abroad and the India-US relationship

From left, Aziz Haniffa and S Mitra Kalita chat with Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay. community activists like Swadesh Chatterjee arranging meeting for then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to meet then chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Jesse Helms and get him to understand the rationale of these tests and why the sanctions were unfair, etc.

While the mainstream media kept hammering India for these tests and blaming India for triggering Pakistan’s tests, etc, the ethnic media like India Abroad, and of course, other outlets like India West, News India, kept giving India’s perspective and

PARESH GANDHI

f PAGE 9

Reid called Aziz the same afternoon. Without these connections, Aziz said ethnic newspapers could not reach out to leaders like Reid.

Aziz had no doubt about the Indian-American community’s growing political clout. In the next 10 years, he predicted the community could have a few US Congressmen and possibly a US Senator.

How did a Sri Lankan – Aziz is a native of the island – come to report Indian-American issues, Kalita asked. The late Gopal Raju, Aziz recalled, had hired him to cover Sri Lankan affairs for an Asian newspaper. Gradually, he became a reporter on Indian-American affairs.

After the lecture and QnA, Consul General Mulay praised Aziz for providing riveting insight into the ethnic media’s role in promoting India-US relations, and declared, “It was so revealing I reveled in it.”

“Rarely has there been such insight not only on the substance, but also the person who has been associated with this newspaper,” Ambassador Mulay said.

“We were extremely delighted to have this presentation because we actually went on a journey,” the consul general said, then turning to Haniffa, added: “Both your journey and India Abroad’s journey and that of a visionary (referring to the late Gopal Raju) because sometimes the stories of these visionaries need to be told.”

Mulay suggested that Aziz “at some point of time, take some time out and write about all this and this role in an independent book — about the role of India Abroad in promoting Indo-US relations, and who better than you?”

Earlier, Kalita, following Ambassador Mulay’s opening remarks where he disclosed that the consulate hoped to feature an Indian state every month and also include Assam — where Kalita and her family hail from — joked that he should also feature Sri Lanka “because they’ve lent us somebody who is so committed to India and India-US relations and we are so grateful for it.”

interviewing Congressmen and Senators and finally was invaluable in the strategic dialogue that began between then Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Jaswant Singh that ultimately led to the envisaged strategic partnership.

Now fast forward – the India-US nuke deal. Then Ambassador Ronen Sen, who led India’s efforts in the US to make this deal a reality, would tell the likes of Swadesh Chatterjee who had formed the US-India Friendship Council to lobby the US Congress to approve the deal, to urge me to write op-eds and opinions to exhort

the Indian-American community to come out in support and lobby Congress to support the deal. It was not easy, convincing Democrats, who didn’t want nuclear reactors even in the US. But they came around.

I would do regular interviews with then Under Secretary of State Nick Burns, Ashley Tellis, who was also then part of the Bush administration, and why I advocated this issue not because I was a lobbyist for the US administration or the government of India but because this issue had been a thorn in the US-India relations and was an impediment to better ties and the envisaged strategic partnership.

Of course, Ambassador Sen was one of my best sources and we would talk twothree times a week, and I was very close to him until the unfortunate ‘headless chicken’ fiasco.

But the Indian-American community, thanks to the ethnic media, were a critical mass in pushing for the deal and in the process moving the strategic partnership even closer. So these are two tangible examples how the ethnic media has promoted India-US ties, in fact, in two difference eras — during the Cold War and after its demise.

Finally before I end I must also say there have been times when we have scooped The New York Times and the Washington Post.

An example, we first reported that Clinton would also visit Pakistan during his trip to South Asia for a few hours even though US law barred any relationship with a country that had deposed a democratically elected government by a military coup — when General Musharraf got rid of Nawaz Sharif, but now the whole scenario has come full circle.

So, the ethnic media has had a role in the India-US relationship and I predict it will continue to grow as the IndianAmerican community had grown exponentially in its influence, gravitas and presence in the mainstream community, and this will be not just covering the politics and diplomacy and trade, but culture, education, and whole new facets and area.

Aseem in New York

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INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

Salman snores. Akshay chills.

Punjab Deli survives.

B

ollywood’s summer movie season is about to pick up now that Ramadan is almost over.

The first big film to open soon is Kick -- an Eid release and what has become an annual Salman Khan event.

The press conference was held in the basement screening room at the Bryant Park Hotel and was organized by the film’s distributor, UTV. As it usually happens at these press conferences, we did not learn much about the film, other than after all the action Khan’s character gets the real kick by seeing a little girl’s smile.

As it also happens at Khan’s press events, the star was in form, kidding around and making fun of the other guests.

Khan seemed to be very fond of Fernandez and in answering one question about what motivates him to go to work he said he liked seeing his co-star on the set of the film.

The real butt of Khan’s jokes was Bhagat, one of India's best-selling writers.

Each time Bhagat would start to talk, responding to a question, Khan would pretend to sleep and snore.

He even said he did not like Bhagat when they started to work together, but now Bhagat had grown on the star.

Bhagat appeared very uncomfortable with all the jokes at his expense.

At one point when he started to answer a question, he first turned to Khan and said: “Now please don’t pretend to be sleeping.”

There was a strange chemistry between the two men. There was laughter, but there was also quite a lot of awkwardness.

PHOTOGRAPHS: ASEEM CHHABRA

A

kshay Kumar -- who happened to be in New York City vacationing with his family -- took time off from his relaxing schedule to speak about It’s Entertainment, which opens on August 8.

Kumar was very prompt, arriving exactly at the scheduled time of 10 am on Saturday and much of the interview he focused on how important his vacations are to him, especially since he makes three, four films a year.

He also spoke about the fact that he only works eight hours a day. After eight hours he is in his car heading home, he said.

Plus his routine includes waking up at 4 am and going for a jog along the Juhu beach in Mumbai.

In It’s Entertainment Kumar plays opposite a dog, a Golden Retriever whose real name is Junior. Kumar’s father in the film leaves all his wealth to the dog instead of his son. The rest of the film has Kumar battling the dog for what he believes is rightfully his inheritance.

Kumar said he enjoyed playing opposite the dog who would perfectly follow instructions and give his best in two or three takes. He compared this experience with working opposite a baby in the hit film Heyy Babyy.

While comedy comes naturally to Kumar, he emphasized that he wants to do something new and different to be challenged. His new goal is to play a negative role in the near future, he added.

Salman Khan pretends to sleep and snore as Chetan Bhagat speaks at the Kick press conference via satellite!

O

ne of my favorite cabbie eating-places in New York City is Punjabi Deli located in the Lower East Side on First Avenue and First Street.

Last week there was a petition going around that said due to lack of parking spaces the eatery was losing its taxi driver clients.

The petition asked Meera Joshi, the head of the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, to create more parking spaces around Punjabi Deli.

I signed the petition and forwarded it to many of my friends and social media followers.

On Sunday I dropped by Punjabi Deli mostly because I felt like eating its signature Samosa Chaat, but I also wanted to know the status of the eatery.

The good news is that Punjabi Deli is not planning to close. Goras outside Punjab Deli.

The petition has received over 2,500 signatures so far. to get 3,000 signatures before they Billa, one of the owners who stood would pass the petition to the city.

Billa was very thankful to the behind the counter, told me the goal was

Americans who live on the Lower East Side. “We have stayed open because of the support of the goras,” he told me.

Bollywood

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INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

S

Salman Khan

alman Khan is angry. He’s upset with journalism, and he’s upset with press photographers. But with a film coming up for release — the Eid release Kick — the superstar has no choice but to address the media. Salman vents, in this candid chat with the media.

Edited excerpts: How different is Kick from the original?

Kick is inspired by a Telugu film of the same name. The plot is the same, but the film is totally different.

What are the action scenes like?

When you look at some of the action scenes, you will think that a lot of hard work has gone into them, but that’s not true.

Some scenes look easy, but you have to do a lot of hard work for it.

It would be hard work if I had not done these kinds of stunts before, but I have done this kind of stuff before.

I have been playing sports, riding cycles all my life, so doing these stunts was not very difficult for me. I have learnt how to jump from a motorcycle, fight and drive at the same time, so it’s not difficult.

We did not compromise. If a scene required 30 cars being blown off by a bus, there were 30 cars waiting to be blown off. The bus was brought from London to Poland for the shoot.

The main hero of this film is the heart of the producer, who never compromised.

Salman Khan chats about his upcoming film and why he is angry with the media.

Patcy N takes notes

‘Getting

KICKED PRADEEP BANDEKAR

gives me the

BIGGEST KICK’

There are about three to four action teams.

I have done my own action scenes. But for shots from different angles, a body double has been used.

The buzz for Kick is more than for other films…

Most films in this genre have this kind of buzz. A little before Wanted, the buzz for this genre increased. Even a film like Ready had that buzz. Action films like Dabangg and Wanted, which have comedy and masti, create a good buzz before the release.

What went wrong with Jai Ho? Jai Ho is a serious film. We make films for kids and in Jai Ho we had a roar, which we liked a lot, but the kids got scared. We thought that kids love digital games so they wouldn’t be scared.

Your film should be better than the previous one. In that process sometimes the film looks convincing and sometime it just becomes too much to handle.

The music of the film also didn’t do well.

The release date of the film was not good — it was January and people had just returned from their holidays, but had not come out of the holiday mood.

The ticket cost just Rs 250 ($4) when other film tickets were Rs 450 ($7.50), Rs 650 ($10.50) and Rs 950 ($15.50). I think that was a big mistake, though we stand by it because we did it for our fans.

Jai Ho on television is the most amazing film.

Ultimately it is a Rs 126 crore (Rs 1.26 billion or $20.9 million) flop, which is fine.

You have a release for Eid this year.

Yes. Last year we were not prepared for Eid, but this year we are. Any festive season is the best time to release because of the holidays and you can also accommodate more than one release.

There are no releases during Ramdan, so Eid is the good day.

Diwali is good because there are 10 days of holidays. Christmas is a festive season and chilled out time.

How do you handle the pressure during the release?

I have no pressure at all; I am not in any numbers game. If a film does well, it is okay. If it doesn’t, it bothers me as I gave my best but it doesn’t pressurise me. Being in the numbers game can be tiring.

How difficult is it to work in a film now?

I have done so many films that now when I say my dialogues I feel I have said this dialogue somewhere before! It is difficult to bring change, but Jacky (Jacqueline Fernandez) has brought a huge difference to my character in Kick.

The film also has Nawazuddin (Siddique) and Randeep Hooda.

You have not seen them with me before. I look different because of them.

What gives you the biggest kick?

Getting kicked gives me the biggest kick.

You have a train sequence in this movie. How was that?

I don’t get scared of CG (Computer Graphic) trains (laughs).

I had a really bad experience with a real train when I was shooting for Tere Naam.

I had to walk on the train tracks with a bandage on my head.

There was a stuntman working on the train tracks who looks at the train and has to pull me out as my back is to the train.

But the stuntman panicked and froze. I am not supposed to look back in the scene so I had no idea how close the train had come. The stuntman looked at me and then he looked at the whole unit and at the last moment he pulled me out.

I got hit a bit on my leg and the stuntman told me, ‘I panicked, but when I looked at the whole unit, I knew if anything happens to you, I will be killed. So I took the risk and apne jaan ko jokhim main daal ko aapko bachchaya (I risked my life to save yours).’

The whole unit was shocked. Then they realized that this could be done in CG and the effect would have been the same.

In Kick there is a train but it is at a safe distance. In the scene I am cycling in front of the train. What if the cycle chain comes off or the tyre get stuck crossing the track? It is necessary to keep a safe distance.

Your name in the film is Devil…

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Kick

Release: July 25 Among the biggest releases of the year, the hype around Salman Khan’s Kick has been constant. The trailer has created a record in terms of views and appreciation and producer-turned-director has kept the entertainment quotient quite high. The song Jumme Ki Raat is already a chartbuster, and all records are set to be broken this Eid.

It’s Entertainment

Release: August 8 The title itself promises ‘entertainment,’ so we can expect a lot of that in writersturned-director Sajid-Farhad’s next funny offering. Just like his last

BIG stars, BIG banners BIGGER movies Joginder Tuteja lists the most-awaited movies of the second half of 2014

Khoobsurat

Singham Returns

Release: August 15 The biggest sequel of the year, Singham Returns, marks the return of Ajay Devgn with director Rohit Shetty, whose last Chennai Express was a blockbuster.

There are high expectations from the sequel since Singham was much loved, both the movie as well as the character. Kareena Kapoor joins the party in the sequel.

Release: September 19 The year did not start well for Sonam Kapoor, thanks to a flop called Bewakoofiyaan. But she may just bounce back with Khoobsurat, a remake of the Rekha-starrer of the same name. This will be Sonam’s sister Rhea’s second production after Aisha.

Bang Bang!

Release: October 2 A year after Krrish 3, Hrithik Roshan returns with Bang Bang!, the official remake of the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz starrer Knight And Day. This Sidharth Anand-directed action entertainer is already super hot due to its cast, which includes Katrina Kaif, and the action it promises.

Happy New Year

Release: October 24 As far as biggies of the year are concerned, one film that’s set to lead the pack is the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Happy New Year. release Holiday, Akshay Kumar has ensured that this film enjoys a long and sustained promotion. The reactions have been good so far.

Raja Natwarlal

Release: August 29 A year after Ghanchakkar, Emraan Hashmi returns to the big screen with Raja Natwarlal, a film that looks intriguing.

It will be interesting to see what Emraan and his Jannat director Kunal Deshmukh have in store for us this time.

Daawat-e-Ishq

Release: September 5 With director Habib Faisal (Ishaqzaade) at the helm, along with Parineeti Chopra, Aditya Roy Kapur and Anupam Kher, this Aditya Chopra production could turn out to be a delectable dish.

Finding Fanny

Release: September 12 Deepika Padukone reunites with

her Cocktail team — director Homi Adajania and producers Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan. Arjun Kapoor pairs up with Deepika for the first time. The cast also includes fine actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur and Dimple Kapadia.

Mardaani

Release: August 22 Amidst all the men and their action arrives Rani Mukerji, who is going solo yet again after her last release Aiyyaa.

This time around, the vibes are better and the reactions to the trailer — where Rani plays a gritty cop — are good.

Though her earlier association with director Pradeep Sarkar, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, was a no show, Mardaani is in different territory and looks interesting.

Action Jackson

Release: November 7 Although delayed by six months, one hopes that Action Jackson releases this year.

Haider

Release: October 2 Haider presents Shahid Kapoor with a showcase to ably show off his acting talent. From what we see in the trailer, he’s not the only one doing a fabulous job — Tabu looks ethereal and we can’t wait to see her on big screen again. An adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the film is an acid test for director Vishal Bhardwaj, who must be looking for redemption after his debacles Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola and 7 Khoon Maaf. Set in Kashmir, the film’s added attractions are Shraddha Kapoor and Irrfan Khan.

Directed by Prabhu Dheva, starring Ajay Devgn and Sonakshi Sinha, this promises to be a full blown entertainer.

Kill Dil

Release: November 14 Buzz is that Parineeti Chopra will be seen like never before in this action musical, which has Shaad Ali (Saathiya and Bunty Aur Babli) returning to direction seven years after Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. With Ranveer Singh joining the show, Ali Zafar in a new look and Govinda in a pivotal role, the expectations are lofty.

Bombay Velvet

Release: November 28 Anurag Kashyap’s next film is expected to be an epic saga. For Ranbir Kapoor, the film is extremely important as his Besharam with the other Kashyap brother is best forgotten. Karan Johar and Anusha Sharma join the cast.

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‘Getting kicked gives me the biggest kick’ f PAGE 12 My name in the film is Devi Lal Singh. So the short form is Devi L, which becomes Devil.

You sing in this film. Is that your passion?

It’s my hobby. I enjoy doing it. I like it.

Interviews I have to do; it’s a compulsion.

I try to enjoy things as much as possible. Till the time I enjoy it I will do it. The day I feel it is not enjoyable, I will give it up.

This interaction I like, but there are those oneon-ones, the boring ones, that I just cannot stand because I don’t get the reaction. Sometimes, they don’t even understand my humor.

They (reporters) just need 30 seconds and for that they waste an hour of my time.

Next time tell me what you want in that 30 seconds and I will tell you only that. You tell me the topic, what you want and how you want it, and I will do it. It’s become a joke now, it’s not journalism any more; it has become entertainment.

The problem will be when you have to capture real stories. The real stories will not be conveyed because everything is so badaa chadaa ke (exaggerated). There will be no impact. This way the nation’s character is falling.

There is no social and national responsibility, it is just about TRPs. It is our fault usually because we are letting this happen. It is the fault of politicians because they are letting it happen. This is your fault because you are letting it happen. This is the fault of your newspaper owners and your editor.

It is everybody’s fault. This is the fault of the people who are used to reading bullshit. No single person should be blamed for this.

Who is going to stop this?

When you can pay money and publish an article what is there left to say? Journalists should just report. Instead, you give your opinion depending on your bias.

It is said that if you had stepped in during the altercation between the photographer and your bodyguards, the matter would not have worsened…

Why should I step in? That’s not my job.

I said ‘Jisko rehna hai, woh raho, jisko janaa hai, woh jaoo’ (whoever wants to stay can stay, whoever wants to go, can go). That was my way of stepping in.

You (press photographers) say you get Rs 150 ($2.50) to Rs 250 ($4) per picture so I come there and stand, you take my pictures on digital camera non-stop… There is no way you can ban me. It is your choice not to take my pictures.

I would be happy if the whole fraternity says ‘No, we will not take his pictures.’ I will be really glad.

I hope they can survive.

At least there are some people who have taken a stand, right or wrong it doesn’t matter.

It will be their loss, I may also lose, but their loss is definite.

At photographer on his own will join his hands and say, ‘Rozi roti ka sawaal hain, ghar main baal bachche hain, ek tasveer de do (It’s a matter of my livelihood; I have a family, let me click one photo).’ And then in a group he becomes like this.

They get aggressive and they do that to disturb the party.

In Baba Siddique’s Iftar party the press photographers were climbing over everybody, ministers to stars. But that stuff doesn’t work with me, dude. I don’t want it to go to that level.

The photographers have no problem with me; they have a problem among themselves.

The photographers are aggressive. How many women photographers do we have? Why is the number of women photographers so low?

There is a monopoly of male photographers because they are physically aggressive and women don’t want to be part of that. Is that a cool thing to do?

The fault is also of our PR team. Why do they call so many people? Just call a few publications.

Every few years such things happen and now it is happening a lot.

Why do photographers need to come so close to us? They have such long lenses that they can shoot from 30 feet away.

There was a picture of Priyanka Chopra from outside the building in the middle of the night.

The photographer got the bloody picture, no? So why do you have to come so close? It is because they are competing with each other.

With this kind of behavior, our PR teams are going to call four or five photographers to shoot pictures and if they also ban us then we have our own photographers who are superb.

If one of you comes and stands with me during a photograph session you will pee in your pants when you see the aggression. We have been tolerating this for a long time.

You are doing a Rajshree film, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo…

It is the most difficult film I have done in a very long time. It’s been 13 years since I have done a film with Sooraj (Barjatya).

I have changed so much, I am not that pure person any more. I have seen a lot more. But Sooraj is exactly the same, the niceness and innocence that Sooraj had when he wrote Maine Pyaar Kiya at the age of 17 is still there.

It is difficult for me to become that Prem once again. I have to unlearn everything that I have learnt. This film is going to take me to the person who I was.

You are in Riteish Deshmukh’s Marathi film Lai Bhaari?

I have a guest appearance in Lai Bhaari. This is the first film in which I told Riteish at least give me a few more scenes.

I loved doing it. I was shooting for Jai Ho and he was shooting for Lai Bhaari in Ramoji Studios.

We finished the scene in one night. I have not seen the film but I have heard the reaction. It is my first film in Marathi.

What are your forthcoming films?

I am doing No Entry Mein Entry, a film with Mahesh Manjrekar. I am doing Shuddhi with Karan Johar. I am also doing a film with Aditya Chopra and Kabir Khan.

Big stars, big banners bigger movies f PAGE 13

All Is Well

Release: December 5 Two years after OMG: Oh My God, director Umesh Shukla returns with another social entertainer. For Abhishek Bachchan, this is a good platform to go solo after multi-starrers like Dhoom 3 and Happy New Year. Asin returns to the big screen two years after Khiladi 786.

Tevar

Release: December 5 2014 has been a big year so far for Arjun Kapoor as both his releases — Gunday and 2 States — were hits. The trailer of his next film Finding Fanny looks good too. He will turn on the heat once again with Tevar. The film is a romantic action entertainer about lovers on the run, with Sonakshi Sinha for company.

PK

Release: December 19 Aamir Khan reserves his holiday month spot for his big release PK, directed by his 3 Idiots director Raj Kumar Hirani. The film also stars Sanjay Dutt, Sushant Singh Rajput and Anushka Sharma.

Welcome Back Tentative release date: December 26 Though Welcome Back was planned to arrive alongside PK, filmmaker Anees Bazmee hinted that the clash would be avoided and the release date of the John Abraham-starrer would be moved around a bit. It has Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar returning to the scene.

India in New York July 25, 2014

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India in New York July 25, 2014

India in New York July 25, 2014

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India in New York July 25, 2014

IMMIGRATION NEWS LISTING THE FOREIGN NATIONAL’S QUALIFICATIONS ON THE PERM FORM

By Cora-Ann V. Pestaina* One of the most surprising lessons to learn for practitioners who regularly file PERM labor certifications is that past certifications do not always mean future certifications. In other words, just because 10 PERM labor certifications prepared in the same way have all been certified without issue does not mean that the 11th one will also be certified. That is the nature of PERM. The Department of Labor (DOL) is notorious for suddenly coming up with new and previously unheard of reasons for denial.

Most recently, there have been reports of a slew of PERM denials, primarily for physician and teaching occupations, on the basis that Section H.14 of the ETA Form 9089 indicates that a medical or other license is required, but Section K does not list that the PERM beneficiary holds a license. What makes these denials even more baffling is that in many of these cases, the foreign national’s work experience practicing medicine or teaching in the US was listed in Section K thereby providing proof that the foreign national was indeed licensed. Moreover, the ETA Form 9089 does not provide any specific section in which to list licenses. Most disturbing is the fact that the DOL did not previously deny any PERM applications for failing to list a license on the form. But that did not stop the denials from coming. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) recommends that denials of a PERM labor certification solely because of not listing a license should be reported to the AILADOL liaison committee. A motion for reconsideration should be filed at the same time.

The DOL has promised to issue an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on this issue. But since the ETA Form 9089 will remain unchanged, it is anticipated that the FAQ will advise practitioners to list the foreign national’s qualifications in Section K.9. AILA raised the issue of the denials in a DOL Stakeholders Meeting on December 12, 2013 (AILA Doc. No. 14011449). In sum, the DOL responded with: In general, if an employer states that a specific position requires a license, the employer should indicate that the beneficiary has the license. The appropriate place to list the license is under K.9 so that the analyst can compare the requirements and the beneficiary’s qualifications. OFLC will issue an FAQ to spell this out more clearly. When stakeholders asked OFLC to consider in the future, issuing an FAQ in advance of the change in practice, OFLC agreed to take this into consideration if there is a decision to make a policy change. OFLC is continuing to examine how to address cases already denied on the basis that Section K did not list the license or certification. Employers with denials on this basis may wish to file a Request for Reconsideration of the denied case to at a minimum preserve the issue until OFLC develops further guidance.

At the recent AILA National Immigration Conference in Boston on June 18-21, 2014, representatives of the DOL indicated that the instructions in Section K.9 of the ETA Form 9089 already instruct practitioners to list “job duties performed, use of tools, machines, equipment, skills, qualifications, certifications, licenses, etc.” Accordingly, the DOL expects practitioners to list all the experience and qualifications gained with a particular job under the particular job experience listed on the ETA Form 9089. At the AILA national conference, it was also suggested that Section K of the ETA Form 9089 can be completed to only indicate the foreign national’s license or other special qualification earned during a specific time period when he was not also earning work experience and the ETA Form 9089 will not be denied for failure to list an employer’s name and other details. Other qualifications that need to be included in Section K.9 of the ETA Form 9089 include (See AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 14041655. (Posted 04/16/14): • Licensure, or eligibility for license, e.g., Medical License, Teacher Certification, Professional Engineer (PE).

• Knowledge or coursework acquired in a course of study.

• Professional certificates or diplomas, e.g., Microsoft certification, Health and Safety Certificate, CPR Certificate, Engineer-in-Training Certificate.

• Board Certification, or Certification Eligible, e.g., Board Certification in Internal Medicine, Board Certification in Immigration Law. • Second degree, if required by employer, e.g., Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering, in addition to a Ph.D. • Degree or other credential required at H.4, “education: minimum level required,” does not match the foreign national’s credential at J.11, “highest level achieved relevant to the requested occupation” [e.g., H.4 requires a BS in Chemical Engineering; J.11 indicates foreign national has a (relevant) Ph.D. in Process Engineering, but foreign national also has a BS in Chemical Engineering that cannot be entered anywhere in Section J or K]. (to be continued) * Cora-Ann V. Pestaina is an Associate at Cyrus D. Mehta and Associates, PLLC (CDMA) where she practices primarily in the area of business immigration law. She represents large global corporate clients, emerging growth companies and individuals in a wide range of industries including Information Technology, Finance, Healthcare, Automobile Manufacturing and Design. Ms. Pestaina regularly counsels clients regarding temporary employment-based nonimmigrant visas and permanent residence sponsorship for their foreign national employees. She also represents artists and investors. Ms. Pestaina received her J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law/Yeshiva University where she served as Annotations Editor for the Cardozo Women's Law Journal and was an executive member of the Black Law Students Association. She earned her B.A. in Political Science, graduating Magna cum Laude from Marymount Manhattan College. Ms. Pestaina is also a graduate of the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) where she earned an A.A. in Liberal Arts and was honored as the class valedictorian. She is admitted to practice in New York and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association where she currently serves as co-chair of the New York Chapter's Department of Labor Committee.

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Bollywood

20

COURTESY: INDIA COUTURE WEEK

HITESH HARISINGHANI/REDIFF.COM

COURTESY: INDIA INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY WEEK

Bollywood’s divas dazzled the fashion world last week. Clockwise from above, Sunny Leone and Bipasha Basu at the India International Jewellery Week in Mumbai; actress Rani Mukerji with designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee at the India Couture Week; actress Lisa Hayden at ICW; actresses Parineeti Chopra, Sonam Kapoor and Sridei at IIJW.

A PEEK INTO THE WEEK’S GLITZIEST TINSEL TOWN EVENTS

COURTESY: INDIA INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY WEEK

COURTESY: INDIA COUTURE WEEK

HITESH HARISINGHANI/REDIFF.COM

ALL THAT GLITTERS

HITESH HARISINGHANI/REDIFF.COM

INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

Bollywood

21

INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

ALL THAT GLITTERS

Actress Rekha at the southern edition of the Filmfare awards in Chennai.

PHOTOGRAPS: PRADEEP BANDEKAR

A PEEK INTO THE WEEK’S GLITZIEST TINSEL TOWN EVENTS

From left, actor Riteish Deshmukh, filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and Mohit Suri, and actor Siddharth Malhotra at the Ek Villain success party in Mumbai.

Shruti Hassan

Also at the celebration were actresses Shraddha Kapoor, above; Alia Bhatt, above right; and Sonakshi Sinha, right.

Dhanush looked dapper in a sharp black suit, showing off hs award for the best actor (critics’ choice) for the Tamil film Mariyan.

A R Rahman with wife Saira Banoo.

Bollywood

22

INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

More hits to be axed?

A

Devon Ke Dev Mahadev

Dr Rahman

W

hen one of the world’s most celebrated composers heads to one of the world’s most revered music schools we expect magic.

The Berklee College of Music will bestow an honorary doctorate on A R Rahman and establish a scholarship in his name to help bring students from India to Berklee this fall.

‘A friend from India described A R Rahman to me as John Williams and Sting rolled into one — a leading film composer and a wildly popular, brilliant songwriter and performer,’ Roger H Brown, president, Berklee, said in a statement.

Rahman, who will also conduct a master class and explore the college’s new, and state-of-the-art film scoring studios, said, ‘I’m deeply moved to receive an honorary doctorate from such a distinguished school.’

And that magic we were talking about? That will take place when the master composer performs with a 60piece Berklee student and faculty ensemble at Boston’s Symphony Hall October 24 at a concert celebrating his career spanning two decades, original scores and songs for films like Slumdog Millionaire, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and 127 Hours; compositions for the 2012 Olympic Games; collaborations with Mick Jagger, Michael Bolton, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Will.i.am; and awards like the Oscars and Grammys.

fter Bade Achche Lagte Hain, it appears that two other hugely popular television shows are coming to an end.

Devon Ke Dev Mahadev apparently is drawing to a close.

Protagonist Mohit Raina, one of the most popular actors on Indian television right now, doesn’t deny it: “I suppose there is a time and place for everything. Our series has been telling the story with great success. But now I feel we’ve explored every aspect of Mahadev’s saga. There are no more hidden tales.”

“We have a staunch and solid audience. In between I admit the episodes went through an identity crisis and we faced a slump. But now, we are on firm grounds again.

Given the constraints of the medium, our writers are doing a fine job. At a time when mythologicals were considered obsolete, Devon Ke Dev Mahadev revived the genre.”

Meanwhile, rumors from the sets of long-running Colors show Madhubala suggest that it may be time for curtains on this one, thanks to growing differences between its lead players Vivian Dsena and Drashti Dhami.

“I am available for shooting for as long as the serial is on,” he said. “As far as my rapport with Drashti is concerned, I am not here to make friends. We are all professionals. We are here to do our jobs. How we feel about one another is not of any importance. I won’t say she’s a friend. We are cordial with one another. Beyond that, we have no communication.”

He added, “We meet only on the sets and our association will last as long as the show.”

— Subhash K Jha

A

N

ow that the first look of Pradeep Sarkar’s hard-hitting new film Mardaani is out, it’s quite clear that this is Rani’s do-or-die attempt to comeback to the position that she held three years ago before Aiyya made mincemeat of her career.

The film is the story of a cop’s search for a missing girl child, which leads her on a trail to a human trafficking racket.

After watching the film’s edit, Rani and her producer-husband Aditya Chopra decided to remove all the romantic portions.

“The trailer that you see is designed after the film has been re-edited,” says a source close to Yash Raj Films. “The entire plot has been changed. All the romantic scenes between Rani and her screen husband Bengali star Jisshu Sengupta have been removed. Sengupta’s role has been substantially removed. He played Rani’s husband and represented her domestic life. But now Pradeep Sarkar and Adi feel Rani’s character’s lighter moments from her home life seem to impinge on the main theme of child trafficking. The film has been re-edited as a dark, tense thriller.”

— Subhash K Jha

Kapil, post Bank Chor

K

apil Sharma, best known for his superhit television show Comedy Nights with Kapil, is no longer a part of Yash Raj Films’ upcoming Bank Chor.

Sharma said that the move did not create any bad blood.

“Ashish Patil of Yash Raj and I agreed that it was not possible for me to accommodate their film in my schedule,” he says. “There was no bitterness at all. I’ve repeatedly said my show Comedy Nights With Kapil is my top priority. There was no way I could do the film and fulfill my

Neil Nitin Mukesh turns villain again R Murugadoss’s next film Kaththi marks the Tamil debut of Neil Nitin Mukesh, who will be seen in a negative role.

“He plays a North Indian character,” Murugadoss says. “So although the film is in Tamil, Neil will be heard speaking a lot of Hindi.”

The director known to cast brutal and sadistic villains (Pradeep Rawat played the title role in Ghajini and Farhad Daruwala was the steel-eyed terror mastermind in Holiday) says he chose Neil for his looks: “Gone is the time when villains had to look a certain way. You don’t have to sport scars

Mardaani re-edited as dark, tense thriller

and frowns to be a villain. You can be a good looking, normal guy and yet a villain.”

Neil will also apparently play a character with grey shades in Sooraj Barajtya’s Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, where he is cast as Salman Khan’s younger brother.

Is this the beginning of a new career as a villain for Neil Nitin Mukesh?

Says a friend of the actor, “Neil is trying to find his bearings. He played a villain in Players, so this isn’t a new territory for him.”

— Subhash K Jha

duties towards the show.”

He doesn’t rule out a film in the future: “I will find a way of balancing my show with a feature film. When that happens, I’ll happily do a film. Until then, I am happy being on my show.”

The production house too said they and Sharma, who had signed a threefilm contract with YRF earlier this year, decided to ‘part ways mutually.’

Bank Chor is a comic-caper and tells the story of three morons trying to rob a bank, who pick the worst day possible when everything that can go wrong, goes wrong and how they’re inadvertently caught in the crossfire of cops, industrialists and corrupt leaders.

— Subhash K Jha

Special INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

A meal with Bill Clinton The former President visits Jaipur and Lucknow.

Photographs: Chandra Mohan Aloria and Sandeep Pal

Former President Bill Clinton serves meals cooked at the Akshaya Patra kitchen, which provides meals to school children, in Jaipur, July 16. Right, he also visited the Akshaya Patra kitchen, which cooks food for 150,000 students in Jaipur.

Clinton met students and assessed the working of self-help groups in Jabrauli village near Lucknow, July 17. However, there was a note of disquiet in Lucknow that the manner in which the visit was carried out suggested it was aimed at raising funds for the Clinton Foundation.

Some among those present there said he spent more time with his personal staff and an American television crew than the beneficiaries of the health and women empowerment schemes undertaken by the foundation.

23

Health

24

INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

Don’t let the weather come between you and your fitness regime.

Fitness expert Sagar A Pednekar shares tips to stay in shape in the comfort of your home

Stay-at-home workout tricks

n

Get on to the floor in the push-up position.

Start hopping with alternate legs, such that your knees come close to your chest. n Breathe normally. n Perform this for at least a minute. n

Warrior One Pose (Virbhadra Asana) This yoga pose helps improve body balance; it focuses majorly on lower body, especially the front of the thighs, helps condition your core and improves spine flexibility: n Stand with both legs together and hands beside your body. n Inhale and step behind with one leg. n Ensure that the front leg should be bent making a right angle at knee joint. n Both the arms should be raised up with palms touching each other. n Maintain an arch in the back.

Warrior 2 pose (Virbhadra Asana II) Also a yoga pose, this one helps tone up your lower body and improve upper body flexibility: n Stand with both the legs together and hands beside your body. n Inhale and step behind with one leg. n Ensure that the front leg should be bent making a right angle at knee joint. n Now turn your body sideways with arms raised in line with the shoulders. n Hold the pose for 10-15 counts, relax and start it again with other side.

COURTESY: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Snake/Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) This one helps improve the flexibility of your lower back as well as in stretching your abdominal muscles: n Start with a push up position. n Drop your knees on the floor. n Keep your feet flat to the floor. n Drop your chest down, tuck your elbows inside. n Now, lift your chest off the floor such that the navel is touching the floor. n Hold this pose for 10-15 seconds and then relax. n Repeat this least 4-5 times.

Squats The squat is the big daddy of all exercises — it targets your quadriceps, improves functional strength and is one of the best exercises for fat loss: Here’s how you do it: n Stand with hip width distance between your legs with toes slightly pointing outwards. n Inhale and sit down pushing your hips behind till your thighs are parallel to the floor. n Exhale and get up back to the starting position.

Push-ups Push-ups target the upper body muscles — primarily the chest, shoulders and triceps and also help improve the upper body functional strength: n If you are a beginner, place your knees on the floor. n The distance between your hands should be slightly wider than your shoulders. n Inhale and drop your shoulder within the palms such that the elbow and shoulder is in one line. n Exhale and push your body up back to the starting

position. n For the advanced users, take the knees off the floor. n Everything else remains the same.

Burpees This is a good functional training workout that targets multiple muscle groups together, helps raise the Basal Metabolic Rate and helps lose fat faster: n Stand with your legs hip-width apart. n Inhale and go down into a full squat position. n Exhale and hop behind into push up position. n Inhale and come back into a full squat position. n From squatting position hop up in air till you stretch your body completely. n This completes single burpee. n Do a set of minimum 10 burpees.

Mountain Climbers This effective body weight workout helps improve your cardiovascular conditioning and also helps to make your core strong:

Tadasana This yoga pose improves body balance and stability, helps in muscle co-ordination, and stretches the upper back and the abdomen muscles: n Stand with feet together and hands beside you. n Inhale and raise your arms overhead, touching palms together. n Balance on any one leg whereas the other leg should be folded and resting on the first one. n Hold this position for at least 30 seconds and repeat 4-5 times.

Abdominal crunches Abdominal crunches target your abdominal muscles and help you tone your abs. n Lie down on the floor, with hands folded behind the head — this is your starting position. n Exhale and lift your upper body half way up crunching the abdomen. n Inhale and go back to the starting position. n Easy enough? Repeat at least nine more times.

Side plank The plank targets the sides, that is, the obliques: n Lie down sideways on the floor. n Lift the body sideways off the floor. n Balance the entire body weight on the elbows and feet. n Hold the position for at least a minute. n Repeat it 3-4 times.

25

India in New York July 25, 2014

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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.

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The Week That Was

26

INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

Court notice to Modi over Varanasi election

was killed during the 26/11 terror attacks.

Vinita has accused Maria of not telling her who sent her husband towards Cama Hospital where he was killed. Maria was in charge of the police control room during the first few hours of the attack.

The Allahabad high court issued a notice to Prime Minister Narendra Modi July 18 on a petition challenging his election from Varanasi. The Congress party’s Ajay Rai, who had contested against Modi, alleged that Modi had left blank columns relating to his wife’s PAN card details and her income, which violated the Supreme Court’s directions.

Dhotis, Sanskrit and Jayalalithaa Decrying the action of a Chennai club imposing a dress code and denying entry to a dhoti-clad judge as an ‘insult’ to Tamil culture, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said July 16 that her government would enact a new law to curb such practices.

She also took strong exception to the Central Board of Secondary Education’s Sanskrit Week celebrations in schools under its ambit next month. She said July 19 that it would be appropriate to have organised a ‘Classical Language Week’ in each state based on its linguistic heritage.

Congress-National Conference alliance ends The Congress party announced July 20 that it would contest the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly election, scheduled for November, on its own.

This ends the party’s six-year alliance with the National Conference, headed

by Farooq Abdullah.

Over 3,500 Indians return from Iraq in last 30 days Over 3,500 Indians have been evacuated from conflict-hit Iraq in the last one month even as nearly 50 Indian nationals still remain in the conflict zones of the war-torn country, including 39 construction workers who are in captivity in Mosul.

Writing her own destiny

ARUN PATIL

Armed with a never die attitude and a smile, and amid thunderous applause from her classmates, Monika More took her first step into college July 21 after a horrible accident in which she lost both her arms.

The accident had taken place at Ghatkopar station in Mumbai, January 11, when she fell off a packed suburban train, into a yawning gap between the platform and the train bogey.

Now, with prosthetic limbs the teenager begins her journey with her foray into Grade 12.

1 in every 3 child bride lives in India India has the sixth highest prevalence of child marriage in the world with one in every three child bride living in India, a United Nations report said. Child marriage among girls is most common in South Asia and subSaharan Africa the UNICEF said in a report titled Ending Child Marriage — Progress and prospects.

Modi hints at larger role for private sector in nuke energy Indicating a greater role of the private sector in the field of nuclear energy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there was a need to tap additional sources of investments for the ambitious expansion programme. He hoped the role of the industry in providing equipment and systems for the nuclear program would continue to grow

Katju links UPA to ‘corrupt’ judge

Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, currently chairman of the Press Council of India, stirred a controversy July 21 by alleging that three ex-Chief Justices of India had compromised in giving extension to an additional judge of the Madras high court at the instance of the United Progressive Alliance government in the wake of pressure from one of its allies, apparently the Dravida Munnetra Kazahagham.

H R Bhardwaj, who served as India’s law minister from 2004 to 2009, admitted that a district judge who was appointed as additional judge of the Madras high court in 2003 and was later confirmed despite adverse intelligence reports, had significant political backing.

India to head BRICS’ $100 billion development bank

Leaders of the BRICS emerging market nations launched a $100 billion development bank and a currency reserve pool in their first concrete step toward reshaping the Western-dominated international financial system.

The bank aimed at funding infrastructure projects in developing nations will be based in Shanghai.

India will preside over its operations for the first five years, followed by Brazil and then Russia, leaders of the five-country group announced at a summit.

The long-awaited bank will be called the New Development Bank.

General V K Singh informed former defense minister about bribe offer: CBI Then Indian defense minister A K Antony has ‘admitted’ that then army chief, General V K Singh, had informed him about the alleged bribe offer by retired Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh for clearing the file for purchase of 1,676 Tatra trucks, the Central Bureau of Investigation has told a court in New Delhi.

26/11 attacks: Judicial probe ordered against Mumbai top cop In a major embarrassment for Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria, Maharashtra’s transparency watchdog has recommended a judicial inquiry against him for ‘withholding and giving misleading’ information to Vinita Kamte, the wife of slain officer Ashok Kamte who

IAS officer who took on Robert Vadra to be shifted to Center?

There was speculation July 15 that whistleblower Indian Administrative Service officer Ashok Khemka may be shifted to Delhi by the Narendra Modi government.

Khemka — a 1991-batch IAS officer who had initiated an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the land deals of Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra — currently holds the post of secretary in the Haryana government’s department of archives.

Other parties don’t want seats next to Congress in Lok Sabha The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Trinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal appear to be unwilling to have seats in the Lok Sabha along with the Congress party, a Press Trust of India report has said.

It quoted Parliament sources as saying the Speaker, who has to get the seating arrangement in place through the Lok Sabha secretariat, was trying to sort out the issue.

BJP win blow to Muslim politics: Singhal The Lok Sabha election had shown that an election could be won ‘without Muslim support’ and it was time the minority community learnt to respect Hindu sentiments, Ashok Singhal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad chief patron, told the Hindustan Times.

He said India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi would deliver on the Hindutva agenda unlike the first National Democratic Alliance government. He called Modi’s victory a ‘setback to Muslim politics.’

PAGE 27

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The Week That Was

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INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

UP woman gang-raped In a chilling reminder of the Delhi gang-rape, the body of a nurse was discovered by residents outside a primary school building in Balsinkheda village, Uttar Pradesh, July 17, a few miles from the venue former President Bill Clinton visited later that day. Evidence suggests the victim was raped, beaten, attacked with a blunt object and stabbed. The incident occurred on a night when the police were on high alert due to the Clinton visit.

Minor gang-raped in Bihar A 13-year-old girl was gang-raped by four men in a village in Bihar’s Saran district, July 17. The girl was admitted to a local hospital and her condition is said to be critical. The police have arrested three of the four accused.

Rajasthan minister’s son, 3 others booked for eve-teasing Four persons, including the son of Hem Singh Bhadana, Rajasthan’s minister of state for food and civil supply and consumer affairs, have been booked for allegedly eve-teasing girls in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, police said July 17.

Delhi gang-rape: Supreme Court stays execution of 2 convicts

The Supreme Court stayed till further orders the execution of the death penalty of two of the four convicts in the December 16, 2012 gang-rape and murder case. The bench said since the death sentence of other convicts had already been suspended by this court, the same order has to be passed.

Meanwhile, Two juveniles arrested in connection with the Shakti Mill gang-rape

f PAGE 26

Japan to join India and US navies in Malabar 2014

Japan will participate in this year’s Malabar naval exercise, which has historically been an India-US affair, Amy Searight, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, told a Congressional hearing July 17.

Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia said, ‘We were about to hold the fifth iteration of the US-India-Japan trilat earlier this summer. We have had to reschedule that, but we have seen a tremendous growth in the amount of collaboration that we’re able to have, not only in terms of sharing of intelligence and analysis but also looking at active areas of cooperation.’

No evidence against Saeed, can’t jail him to please anyone: Pakistan envoy Amid the row over journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik’s meeting with the 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Muhammad Saeed, Pakistan said July 18 it was not

cases of a photojournalist and a telephone operator in Mumbai were convicted July 15 by the Juvenile Justice Board and sent to a Nashik school for three years.

A sessions court had earlier awarded capital punishment to three convicts in connection with both the cases.

Two other accused were awarded life imprisonment for their involvement in the cases.

aware about the meeting.

Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit, replying to a question in New Delhi, said it was a meeting between two private persons and added, ‘We do not have any evidence against him... We cannot put him in jail just to please anyone.’

India lost 19 fighter jets, 11 helicopters in 3 years Nineteen fighter aircraft and 11 helicopters of the Indian armed forces crashed in the last three years, killing 24 service personnel, the Indian Parliament was informed, July 18.

Maoist leader arrested In a major achievement for the Odisha police, Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda — wanted in over 60 cases — has been arrested. He has been active in the Maoist movement for more than two decades.

Kids below 12 banned from taking part in Dahi Handi Children under 12 years of age will no longer be allowed

At a protest in Bengaluru July 19 after a six-year-old girl student was allegedly raped by ‘unknown persons’ at a prominent school in the city. The incident led to angry protests in the city and the police chief being replaced. The Bangalore police arrested the school’s skating instructor in connection with the rape. The police said a laptop seized from the accused contained child pornography and videos of school children being raped. The instructor had allegedly tried to abuse at least four other children in the past three years.

REUTERS

to take part in the formation of human pyramids during Dahi Handi celebrations, which are integral part of Janmashtami festivities in Maharashtra.

Bhimsen Joshi’s heirs vie for riches in court The heirs of the legendary singer Bhimsen Joshi are locked in a bitter legal battle for his property worth millions, apart from royalty from around 20 music companies. The row has landed in the Bombay high court where the vocalist’s three children (two sons and a daughter) from his second wife, Vatsala, have challenged a September 2013 order passed by a Pune civil court restraining them from creating any third party rights in the bungalow, where the vocalist stayed, and two of his apartments, all in Pune.

Supreme Court acquits 11 men in 1993 Surat twin blasts cases The Supreme Court acquitted July 18 all 11 men who were convicted and sentenced to jail terms ranging from 10 to 20 years in the 1993 Surat twin blasts cases in which one girl was killed and 31 others were injured.

28

Sports INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

THE ARCHITECTS OF INDIA’S

HISTORIC WIN AT LORDÊS India registered only its second Test victory in 17 Tests at Lord’s. Harish Kotian looks at those who played a major role in the historic triumph

India bowler Ishant Sharma leads his team mates after India win the Test at Lord’s, July 21.

I

ndia’s young team played out of their skin to emerge triumphant in the second Test against England at Lord’s after a long wait of 28 years. This was India’s second Test victory in 17 Tests at Lord’s, their first since 1986.

Despite having the worst of the conditions after they lost the toss and were put in to bat on a green wicket, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men showed great determination over the five days of the match to register a historic 95-run victory.

Though England never let India off the hook, and took a slender 24run first innings lead, the visitors came up with solid batting in the second innings to post 342 and set England a challenging 319 for victory, which ultimately proved to be enough.

Going into the Test, India were haunted by their past, having lost 0-4 in the previous series in England in 2011. Having also failed to win a Test away from home since 2011 it was only fair that the odds were stacked against India at the start of the five-match series.

Few gave the team a chance, considering that many players had never played a Test in England. The young guns stuck to the task and chipped in with vital contributions at crucial moments to script one of the most memorable victories for the country in recent times.

PAGE 29 g

STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES

Sports

29

THE ARCHITECTS OF INDIA’S INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

HISTORIC WIN AT LORDÊS f PAGE 28

T

he turnaround in the Test came about off the last ball of the morning session on Day 5. Ishant Sharma’s extra pace did the trick!

England had staged a good comeback thanks to Joe Root and Moeen Ali who stitched together a dogged partnership before the latter was caught at short leg trying to fend off a short ball. That opened the floodgates, as Ishant single-handedly destroyed England’s lower order with a five-wicket burst that saw him finish with career-best figures of seven for 74 in 23 overs.

Interestingly, all his five wickets on Day 5 came from short balls as England’s batsmen succumbed to bouncers, caught in the deep.

Ishant became the first Indian bowler to take a seven-wicket haul in England, and five of his six fivewicket hauls have come in away Test matches.

Before the start of the series, veteran pacer Zaheer Khan had asked India’s most experienced bowler to step up and lead the attack in England. How wonderfully did Ishant respond to that challenge.

A

jinkya Rahane must consider himself very unlucky to have missed out on the man of the match award in this Test. His century on Day 1, on a green Lord’s wicket, must rate as one of the best Test knocks in recent times.

When he came out to bat, India were reduced to 86 for 3 and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. At 145 for 7, as the right-hander watched from the other end, all the top batsmen were back in the hut. Rahane led a fightback with a magnificent innings of 103, hitting 15 fours and a six off 154 deliveries.

He not only scored a hundred, but also got it a strike rate of 66.

The Mumbai batsman put on 90-run stand for the eighth wicket with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (36), which helped India post a respectable 295 in the first innings.

In scoring a 100 at Lord’s he achieved what legendary batsmen Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar could not during their illustrious careers.

GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES

T

here was some debate over whether Ravindra Jadeja would retain his place in the squad for the second Test after he went wicketless in the first at Nottingham. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni kept his faith in the all-rounder and persisted with him ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin.

The left-hander delivered with a match-winning, allround effort. He took two wickets in the first innings and played a vital knock with the bat in the second essay.

With India reduced to 203 for 6, Jadeja counterattacked the English bowlers as he slammed his way to a quickfire 68 from 57 balls, inclusive of nine fours.

What was notable about his swashbuckling batting was that he kept using his feet while facing the fast bowlers, even against the new ball, to disrupt their rhythm.

STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES

STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES

M

urali Vijay has grown in leaps and bounds in the last year or as a Test opener. Not so long ago, he was branded as a limited overs specialist after his exploits in Twenty20 cricket.

The Tamil Nadu batsman has come up with some dogged performances to cement his place at the top.

Following his century in the first Test, Vijay continued his good run with a determined 95 in the second innings at Lord’s.

His theory of leaving as many deliveries as possible outside the off-stump left the English pacers frustrated while ensuring India got a good start in both the Tests. He also took a wicket with his part-time spin in the first innings, that of Moeen Ali. With Shikhar Dhawan not living up to expectations, Vijay ensured that he made up for it and looked to stay at the wicket as long as possible.

B

huvneshwar Kumar has been India’s most consistent player in the first two Tests. Perhaps, the country’s search for a champion all-rounder has ended.

Following twin half-centuries in the first Test, Kumar played another important role in both innings at Lord’s which included a half-century in the second.

He continued his good form with the ball, claiming six for 82 in the first innings in which he bowled 31 overs.

His impressive performance with both bat and ball has opened up more options for the team, including playing two spinners when conditions permit.

GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES

STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES

Sports

30

INDIA IN NEW YORK JULY 25, 2014

The win at Lord’s was only the second time India has won a Test at the Mecca of Cricket in 82 years.

A look back at when it happened for the first time...

28 years ago, at Lord’s that day…

T

he last time India won a Test at Lord’s before that magnificent Monday afternoon when Ishant Sharma bowled Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team to only a second win at the Mecca of Cricket in 82 years was in 1986.

The team then for the Lord’s Test featured: Sunil Gavaskar, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ravi Shastri, Roger Binny, captain Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, wicket-keeper Kiran More, Maninder Singh.

In the reserves were Sandeep Patil, Raman Lamba, Chandrakant Pandit, Manoj Prabhakar and Shivlal Yadav.

The languid stylist David Gower — like Alistair Cook, the current English skipper, a left-hander — led the Englishmen, who included stalwarts like Graham Gooch, Mike Gatting and Allan Lamb. The bowling attack had fast bowlers Graham Dilley, Richard Ellison and the allrounder Derek Pringle with Phil Edmonds, the colourful left-arm spinner, and off-spinner John Emburey.

Kapil won the toss and put the Englishmen to bat.

Gooch scored 114, Pringle 63 in England’s modest 294.

None of the other Englishmen had an answer to Sharma and Binny’s medium paced guile; Sharma took 5 for 64 (Gooch, Gower, Gatting, Lamb, wicket-keeper Paul Downton). Binny, unlike his son Stuart who had a disappointing Lord’s Test, took 3 for 55.

India’s 341 was boosted by Dilip Vengsarkar’s third and final ton at the ground (the Colonel made 126) and Mohinder Amarnath’s 69. None of the others — including wonderboy Azhar who had made his Test debut the previous year scoring three tons in three Tests against the Englishmen at home — sparkled.

Trailing by 47 runs, the Englishmen crumbled against the skipper’s accurate bowling — Kapil took 4 for 52 — and folded for 180.

India typically made their supporters sweat, losing five wickets to score 133 for their first-ever win at Lord’s.

It was only the second time India had won a Test in England, after that memorable 1971 win at the Oval.

Kapil and Co won the next Test at Leeds too, by a huge 279 runs.

India would have to wait 16 years before its next win in England — the 2002 innings triumph at Headingley is the biggest victory for an Indian team in England.

The 1986 tour would be the last away Test series for veterans Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath. Gavaskar retired from cricket the next year after India lost the 1987 World Cup semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium against England.

Raman Lamba, who played his fourth and last Test against the West Indies the next year, died tragically on a cricket field after being struck by a ball when he was fielding at forward short leg in Dhaka in 1998.

Raj Singh Dungarpur — ‘Rajbhai’ to legions of Indian players and cricket officials — the manager for the 1986 tour, too has passed into the ages as has Graham Dilley who bowled so well in the 1986 Lord’s Test. He died in December 2011, aged just 52, after a short illness.

For everyone old enough to remember that fabulous 1986 victory — it came three years after that glorious Saturday at Lord’s when India won the World Cup — there is now another triumph to savour.

Just as sweet. Just as memorable. Just as awesome.

A rare autograph sheet of the Indian cricket team that toured England in 1986, the last time India won a Test at Lord’s.

Snapshots of a triumph

COURTESY: SAKSHI DHONI/TWITTER

Indian skipper M S Dhoni’s wife, Sakshi, center, tweeted this picture: ‘Victory at Lord’s...with all the gorgeous wives!!!’

With her were Murali Vijay’s son Naveen, left, and wife Nikita, second from left, Cheteshwar Pujara’s wife Puja, third from right, and Gautam Gambhir’s wife Natasha, second from right, along with his three-month-old daughter.

India’s players watch the presentation from the dressing room balcony after the win, July 21.

PHILIP BROWN/REUTERS

India in New York July 25, 2014

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India in New York July 25, 2014

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