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Raja stands up for Women's Rights at rally Details on page 16

Five Sikhs inducted into US Army

VOL 22, No. 1165

January 27, 2017

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Periodical Postage

U.S. WARNS CHINA ON SCS ISLANDS

WASHINGTON: In a stern warning to China, the US has said it will protect its interests in the disputed South China Sea and defend international territories from being taken over by "one country".

"I think areas in the South China Sea that are part of international waters and international activities... I think the US is going to make sure that we protect our interests there," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his first news conference.

"So it's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yes, we're gonna make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country," Spicer said.

He was responding to a question related to a recent statement made by Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson that US would deny China access to these islands as they are in international waters.

Details on page 5

Trump picks Ajit Pai to head communications Details on page 6

Indian-origin is UK varsity Chancellor Details on page 6

Kashmiris group in UK to find Kashmir solution Details on page 8

Details on page 6

Hong Kong withdraws free visa to Indians

Indian techie injured in Aus road rampage

Details on page 7

PIO convicted for making harassing calls

Details on page 7

CONTENTS Bollywood ---------------------- 28-29

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Classifieds ------------------------- 38 Community Post -------------- 16-21

INDIA POST SURVEY

Date Book -------------------------- 39

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HealthScience Post --------- 44-47

This week’s question

Horoscope ------------------------- 25

Edit Page --------------------------- 54

Immigration Post ------------- 34-37

Do you support bilateral deals idea of Trump?

Life Style ----------------------- 30-33 Perspective -------------------- 48-49

Last week’s result

Philosophy ------------------------- 53

Should Trump continue on Twitter after Jan 20?

YES 13%

NO 87%

Publisher’s Diary ------------------ 4

BULLISH SUPPORTERS: Tamil-American protesters in Washington, DC, hold banners urging the Government of India reverse a ban on the popular Tamil bull festival of Jallikattu (Details on page 10)

Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”

Real Estate -------------------- 50-52 TechBiz Post ------------------- 11-15 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 40-43

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s is the decent thing to do as an American citizen, I celebrated what we have so perfected as a nation - the inauguration of a new President of the United States of America. I guess just saying that attaches a lot of power to that position and surely from that day forward the incoming President has realized what he has got himself into as must have his voters on what they have got themselves into.

To cite President Obama the day after the election, the Sun did come out and we are all still Americans first - even those of us who chose not to stand on national mall on the day of the inauguration, but came out the day after, in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of women who were protesting the inauguration.

In the run up to the election, the Trump brigade and the media tried to destroy each other's credibility. Such a toxic relationship between the executive and the fourth estate can only be termed as dangerous where the only losers in the hate fest would be the American people.

It was heartening to know from the new White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer that Trump administration wants to have a "healthy relationship" with the media. However he had a point protesting at media's attempt "over and over again" to go after this president and say, well, that can't be true and that's not right. He pointed to a tweet that went out in a pool report saying that Trump had removed the bust of Martin Luther King. The particular reporter had to apologize for the fake report.

While also wrapping my mind around Trump's impact on world affairs, trade, conflict zones, etc. I'm willing to wait it out, and as a lot of people are saying, "give the man a chance". Maybe, just maybe, there is a sober side to the President that really means business. Even if only for America first.

BOSTON Gope Gidwani Bureau Chief DETROIT Ashok B Jain, M D Bureau Chief Gurminder Singh SAN DIEGO Neelu Bhardwaj Bureau Chief SACRAMENTO Madan Sharma Bureau Chief Janak Sidhra Correspondent Upen Shukla Correspondent CENTRAL VALLEY (CA) Dr Ram Saini Bureau Chief Sheila Rogers Correspondent YUBA CITY (CA) Satnam Tatla Correspondent CAROLINAS Nalini Raja Patel Correspondent INDIA Vinod Dhawan Senior Editor & Bureau Chief NEW DELHI Jyoti Vashisht PR & Marketing Vijender P Shah Graphics PUNJAB Shiv Japra Bureau Chief Anil Kanwar Senior Correspondent/ Marketing DOABA, PUNJAB Romesh Kaura Correspondent HYDERABAD M Sagar Kumar Bureau Chief MUMBAI Nidhi Soparawala Correspondent Frank Fernandes Correspondent

Mahira feels bad Pakistani actor Mahira Khan feels bad that she is not able to promote her Bollywood debut Raees in India

Cover Story: US warns China In a stern warning, the US has said it will defend international territories from being taken over by "one country".

Community: Women's Rights Raja Krishnamoorthi addressed 150,000 people at the Chicago Women's March, urging all to fight for their rights.

Immigration:

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US warns China on SCS islands WASHINGTON: In a stern warning to China, the US has said it will protect its interests in the disputed South China Sea and defend international territories from being taken over by "one country".

"I think areas in the South

reporters at his first news conference.

"So it's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yes, we're gonna make sure that we defend international territories from being taken

"So it's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yes, we're gonna make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country" China Sea that are part of international waters and international activities... I think the US is going to make sure that we protect our interests there," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told

over by one country," Spicer said.

He was responding to a question related to a recent statement made by Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson that US would deny China access to these islands

as they are in international waters.

China in a strongly worded statement had warned US of a war if it is denied the access.

The US President, Spicer said, understands that China is a big market - for US goods and services. "When he met the head of Alibaba a couple of weeks ago, that was part of the point. There's huge market issue there. But in many cases, it's not a two-way street," he said.

"There are so many Chinese businesses and individuals frankly, who can have ease of access in the United States to sell their goods or services," he added.

"I think that whether or not you're talking about the financial services or the banking, you know, the other service industries, or our manufacturing goods and services, or some of the IP problems

US to pursue bilateral trade deals WASHINGTON: The new Trump administration has asserted that it would pursue bilateral trade opportunities with allies around the globe as multilateral trade agreements such as the TPP were not in the interest of the US. The White House announcement in this regard came soon after President Donald Trump issued a memorandum withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral agreement that includes the US and 11 other countries.

free and fair trade throughout the world," Spicer said.

He said big, multinational agreements are not always in the interest of the US. "The beautiful thing about a bilateral agreement is that if any one of the true parties in the agreement decides at any time they want to get out of the agreement, or they're not being treated fairly, they can renegotiate much easier," he said.

"In a multinational agreement, that's not the case. In many cases,

"He has always gonna be fighting for the interest of the country and the American worker. So where and how we engage and with whom, is gonna be decided on whether or not we can get a deal that benefits our country�

"As the president has said many times, this type of multinational agreement is not in our best interest and he's moving quickly to advance trade policies that increase the competitiveness of the American worker and manufacturer," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.

"This executive action ushers in a new era of US trade policy in which the Trump administration will pursue bilateral trade opportunities with allies around the globe. This is a strong signal that the Trump administration wants

all of the other countries have to agree to an action or to let somebody out. That's not putting the US' interests first," Spicer asserted.

The White House Press secretary said, "When you enter into these multinational agreements, you're allowing any country, no matter the size - any one of those 12, including us, to basically have the same stature as the US in the agreement.

"So we're basically on par with some very small companies who are getting access to an amazing

market, the United States. And in return, we're negotiating at the lowest common denominator," he said.

Spicer pointed out that China too has been engaging in bilateral trade agreements.

"The President's gonna look to countries to engage with, he said in response to a question.

"So he understands the need, that's part of the reason that trade is important, bilateral trade. It provides a check on a lot of this," he said.

"He has always gonna be fighting for the interest of the country and the American worker.

So where and how we engage and with whom, is gonna be decided on whether or not we can get a deal that benefits our country, economically and in terms of national security.

"That there are there things that we can do economically, that actually end up also benefiting us from a national security standpoint because of the economic relationship that exists between the two countries," he asserted.

The Trump Administration, he said, is in the process of reviewing all of current trade agreements.

"Looking at potential bilateral options going forward, whether it's in the EU or in the Asia-Pacific arena, or in the Middle East. He's gonna figure out where we can expand US market access," he said.-PTI

that we have with China, that it really is not a two-way street," Spicer said.

market."But he also recognizes, there's a lot of concerns with how we are treated entering into

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer

"So he understands the market that China has and our desire to further penetrate that

China's market, and we need to review that," he said in response to a question. -PTI

'Trump wants healthy relationship with media' WASHINGTON: The Trump open dialogue with the press administration wants to have a corps and with the American "healthy relationship" with the people about what he's doing to media, the White House has help this country and to unite it. said, a day after the president's "But in a time when he's tryaides said his government will ing to unite this and he keeps "rethink" its ties with the press talking about uniting this nation, if it tries to 'delegitimize' his bringing this nation together, presidency. and then a Tweet goes out in a "I want to make sure that we pool report to a few thousand have a healthy relationship," people saying that he removed White House Press Secretary the bust of Martin Luther King, Sean Spicer told reporters at his how do you think that goes first news conference.

Spicer was responding to a vol- Spicer said that despite ley of questions backlash from the media, from correspondents on the kind of Trump has defied the odds relationship he wants to have with over and over again the media.

"You're talking about integrity and you're talking over?" he said. about telling the truth and facts. I The reporter had apologized. don't know that it wasn't malicious Spicer said that despite backat all, and I'm not saying. But there lash from the media, Trump has is a point at which we have a right defied the odds over and over to go out there and correct the again. record," Spice said.

"He keeps getting told what "Over and over again, there he can't do by this narrative is this attempt to go after this that's out there. He exceeds it president and say, well, that every single time. I think there's can't be true and that's not right an overall frustration when you and the numbers weren't there. turn on the television over and There's a rush to judgment ev- over again and get told that ery time," he said. there's this narrative that you Spicer said - "It is a two-way didn't win. You weren't going to street". He said the new Presi- run. You can't pick up this state," dent wants to have a healthy and he said.-PTI

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Trump picks Ajit Pai to head Five Sikhs inducted into US Army communications WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has picked Ajit Vardaraj Pai, an outspoken opponent of new net neutrality, to head the crucial Federal Communications Commission, making him the fourth Indian-American in the administration at the senior level.

"I am deeply grateful to the President of the United States for designating me the 34th Chairman of the Federal Communications

Communications Commission, its Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said he is bright, driven and committed to bringing connectivity to all Americans.

"I am hopeful that we can come together to serve the public interest by supporting competition, public safety, and consumer protection," Clyburn said.

Republican Senator Jerry Moran said Pai is an excellent

Ajit Vardaraj Pai

Commission," Pai said in a statement.

"I look forward to working with the new Administration, my colleagues at the Commission, members of Congress, and the American public to bring the benefits of the digital age to all Americans," the 44-year-old said.

Congratulating Pai on being named Chairman of the Federal

choice to lead the FCC. "I know him to be a capable and talented leader and one of the smartest people I have ever met when it comes to public policy," he said.

"Ajit understands the importance of quality access to broadband and wireless connectivity, and I believe growing up in Kansas makes him uniquely qualified

to advocate for rural America. I look forward to continuing to work with him to make certain we can improve connectivity and bring critical updates not only to our homes and businesses but also to our hospitals and schools," he added.

"Commissioner Pai's expertise on the issues has been well documented and we're looking forward to working with him to advance conservative, thoughtful solutions at the FCC," said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn in a joint statement.

Republican Congressman Tom Graves said Pai has the type of experience and no-nonsense attitude that will help reset the FCC's relationship with Congress.

"Further, I am confident that he will work on a nonpartisan basis to stop harmful regulations, develop lawful and Constitutional solutions to 21st Century problems, and protect the American people's access to information while allowing the industries under his purview to grow and prosper," he said.

Pai is the fourth Indian-American to become part of Trump's administration, following Nikki Haley, nominated US ambassador to UN, Seema Verma, head of medicare and medicaid and Preet Bharara, US attorney for the southern District of New York.-PTI

WASHINGTON: Five Sikhs Jammu, an Infantry Recruit who have been granted approval to was born and raised in Elk Grove, serve in the US Army with their California, vowed to follow a path religious insignia intact, days af- of service after tragically losing ter the army issued a new regula- his brother in 2013. tion under which servicemen who "The ability to serve my counwear turbans, hijabs or beards try and faith has been a lifelong can be enrolled in the military. goal. I'm now honoring my This is the largest induction brother while pursuing a career of Sikhs into the US armed forces that serves our nation without after the Department of Defense compromising my beliefs," he banned visible articles of faith in said.

1981.

According to Sikh Coalition, The new rules made public on the religious accommodations January 4, eliminate bureaucratic bring the new total to at least 14 hurdles that had previously dis- Sikh American soldiers now servcriminated against Sikhs.

The new set of The new rules eliminate rules, issued by Secretary of the Army Eric bureaucratic hurdles that Fanning, allows religious accommodations had previously discrimito be approved at the nated against Sikhs brigade-level. Previously it was at the level of Secretary. ing with their religious articles of "After a 35-year presumptive faith in the US Army. ban on observant Sikhs, our Under the previous policy, nation's largest employer has these accommodations involved taken a vital step in embracing a burdensome case-by-case propolicies that reflect the rich di- cess, were brought up the chain versity of our nation," said Sikh of command to the secretaryCoalition Legal Director, level, and were subject to annual Harsimran Kaur. review and revocation.

"We look forward to permaNow, they can be granted at nent policy change across all the brigade-level and can only be branches of the military so that revoked if the Army identifies a all religious minorities can freely specific, concrete hazard. serve without exception," she This policy does not apply to said. the other branches of the US miliPrivate Shabaddeep Singh tary.-PTI

Indian-origin woman is UK varsity Chancellor LONDON: An Indian-origin broadcast journalist has been appointed as the new Chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in north-west England at a special ceremony.

Ranvir Singh, 39, becomes the third Chancellor of the university

coming its new Chancellor. I am Preston born and bred, I studied for my post-graduate degree in journalism here and the experience helped to shape me and my career," Singh said in a statement after taking charge.

"In fact, had this ceremony

Singh is a well-known broadcast journalist in the UK, with a regular on ITV channel's news shows. She also presents her own primetime series for ITV, 'Real Stories with Ranvir Singh'.

In 2013, she received a UCLan Honorary Fellowship in Preston, the city she grew up in and completed a post-graduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism from in 2000.

"I am immensely proud to accept the University's offer of be-

been on any other day I'd have been covering Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington," Singh said.

"I am truly honored to be given this opportunity of helping inspire

the next generation of talent coming through.

The University has an exciting future and I can't wait to be part of it," she added.

Singh is a well-known broadcast journalist in the UK, with a regular on ITV channel's news shows. She also presents her own primetime series for ITV, 'Real Stories with Ranvir Singh'.

In 2013, she received a UCLan Honorary Fellowship for her contribution to broadcasting.

She took over as Chancellor from Sir Richard Evans and the ceremony also marked the inauguration of Professor Mike Thomas as the university's fourth Vice-Chancellor.

David Taylor, Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the University Board, said: "Both Ranvir and Mike bring inspiration and vision at a time of increased competition

and change within the higher education sector."

"Ranvir continues to make a huge success of her career in broadcasting and journalism. Importantly she has an affinity with Preston and the University and is someone who cares about our heritage and our future. She is a wonderful communicator with the capacity to inspire and I know she will be a fantastic role model for our students," Taylor said.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Mike Thomas said: "In the coming years we will continue to develop our role as a civic University, supporting Preston and our county as well as delivering benefits to individuals, organizations and the community as a

whole".

"For these reasons I am de-

Ranvir Singh

lighted to lead the University into the next stage of its development and success," Mike said. -PTI

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Hong Kong withdraws free Indian techie injured in Aus road rampage visa to Indians BEIJING: In a setback to Indian travelers, Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, has withdrawn the visa-free facility for Indians who will have to complete a pre-arrival registration now.

"The online service for Pre-arrival Registration for Indian Nationals is now open," the Hong Kong immigration department said in an announcement on its official website.

HKSAR visa-free (if seeking to enter the HKSAR during transit).

Pre-arrival registration is not required for Indian nationals in direct transit by air and not leaving the airport transit area," it said.

A notice on the Indian Consulate in Hong Kong said Indian passport holders without the PreArrival Registration Slip, except those belonging to any of the ex-

"Indian nationals must apply for and successfully complete pre-arrival registration online before they can visit or transit the

empted categories, would not be allowed to board a conveyance bound for Hong Kong.

A Pre-Arrival Registration is

normally valid for a six-month period or until the expiry date of the Indian passport linked to it, whichever is earlier, it said.

This is a major set back for over half a million Indians who visit the former British colony for business, trade and holidays.

Till now Hong Kong has permitted Indians to enter with valid passport for a period up to 14 days without a visa. But the facility has been withdrawn despite representations from India ostensibly on the ground that the number of Indian asylum seekers was on the rise, official sources told PTI here.

Indian officials refute that saying a small number of asylum seekers from over half million visitors cannot be an excuse to scrap the longstanding facility which also benefited Hong Kong as most of them were high spending tourists contributing to the economy of the former British colony.

There is also concern whether the move is being brought about

by Hong Kong due to pressure from China. -PTI

MELBOURNE: An Indian-ori- some family friends, who are helpgin woman IT professional in ing out the family.

Australia has been critically in"Given the severity of her injujured in a deadly incident here last ries, Nethra will remain in hospital week when a man "intentionally" for quite some time, and followhit pedestrians with his car, kill- ing this will have a long road to ing five persons. recovery, both physically and Nethra Krishnamurthy, be- psychologically", the page said. lieved to be in her 30s, was return"Please help us to raise funds ing to office, after breastfeeding for this mum and her young famher eight-month-old baby boy in day care, when she was run over It said that Nethra, an IT by the speeding driver techie, has no relatives in in the country's second largest city.

Australia and her husband According to fund raising page set up by a has been by her bedside family friend, Krishnamurthy sustained serious ily, during this unfathomably difinjuries, including deep lacera- ficult time" it added. tions to her head, a punctured Meanwhile, the 26-year-old lung, damage to her liver and kid- James Gargasoulas, accused of neys, as well as broken ribs and killing five people in the rampage, three fractures to her spine. was due to appear in court.

It said that Nethra, an IT techie, Gargasoulas has been charged has no relatives in Australia and with five counts of murder over her husband has been by her bed- the deaths of pedestrians allegside. edly hit by a stolen car he drove Her baby was currently in the through Melbourne's Central care of a work colleague, and Business District.-PTI

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Oscars came to me, says Jackie Chan MUMBAI: After spending 56 years in the movies, Jackie Chan received the honorary Oscar in 2016, but the action star says he does not work for awards and his only motivation are his fans.

Chan, who is in the city to promote Indo-Chinese production 'Kung Fu Yoga' starring him along side Bollywood actors Disha Patani and Amyra Dastur, said no matter what the results are he will keep working equally hard for his films.

"When I make or do any film I don't think of awards or anything.

(My films were considered) cheap action comedy movies. I don't care as I am not for awards I am for the audience. Even if my films do well at the box office or not do good, or people watch my films or don't watch my films I will continue to risk my life for every movie," Jackie told reporters here.

"They saw (referring to his work) after 56 years I did not change; I was doing the same thing, which is why they decided to give me the Oscar. I think one should continue to do their best always. Oscars came to me and I did not go to Oscars," he said.

PIO convicted for making harassing calls

File photo of Jackie Chan accepting his Honorary Oscar Award during the 8th Annual Governors Awards in California on November 12

Indian teacher guilty of fraud in US WASHINGTON: A 58-year-old Indian national has pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with a wire fraud scheme involving hiring of Indian nationals to teach in the US. George Mariadas Kurusu, a Fort Stockton Independent School District (FSISD) teacher, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud; one count of fraud in foreign labor contracting; one count of tampering with a witness, victim or an informant; and, one

George Mariadas Kurusu

count of making a false statement on a visa application.

Kurusu admitted that from December, 2012 to May, 2016, he defrauded several teachers out of USD 50,000 for a "visa package" to get and maintain jobs and H1B visas in Texas, according to prosecutors.

Several school districts across the US hire teachers from abroad for subjects in which there are not enough qualified Americans and

The 62-year-old action star was awarded an honorary Oscar at the Eighth Annual Governors Awards at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles.

The actor is now looking forward to the release of "Kung Fu Yoga." -PTI

bring them on H1-B visas meant for professionals.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement that he set up a company, Samaritan Educational Services (SES), and advertised jobs in FISD in newspapers and when people applied; he made it appear that they had to apply for the jobs through him, according to a statement by US Department of Justice.

He charged large fees and gave them the impression that they were for the paperwork and not for him while paying only the nominal fees, the statement said.

He used their personal information to create a buffer so that all communications to and from the FSID and the visa application process went through him, according to the statement.

And when the teachers arrived in the US he had them set up bank accounts with electronic transfer of funds provisions that sent 15 per cent of their salaries to the account of SES claiming it was for consultation and for what he claimed was ensuring they had their jobs and visa, the statement said.

When investigations into his scheme began, he told his victims not to cooperate with official and threatened them that all H1-B teachers would lose their jobs, the prosecutors said. -PTI

Jackie Chan wants to do a love story MUMBAI: Action star Jackie Chan says he wants to do a Bollywood film that has elements of romance and dance.

The 62-year-old actor, who is in India to promote his upcoming film "Kung Fu Yoga", said he is tired of doing just action and would like to romance on-screen.

SAN FRANCISCO: A 56-yearThe SEC regulates the stock marold Indian-origin man who made kets and the securities industry. more than 3,000 harassing inter"His voicemails were profanitystate phone calls to officials, some filled tirades that repeatedly called with death threats, has been con- for SEC personnel and others to victed by a federal court in the US be, among other things, rounded state of California. up, publicly hanged, waterKulwant Singh Sandhu was found guilty of two counts of He is to be sentenced in making harassing calls April and faces a maximum

by Eastern California of two years in prison for Federal Prosecutor each of the two charges he Phillip A. Talbert.

The case was pros- was convicted of and a ecuted by Assistant Federal Prosecutors USD 250,000 fine Nirav Desai and James Conolly before Federal Judge Gar- boarded, burned alive, shot, and land E. Burrell Jr. blown up with rockets and tanks," The prosecution said in a the prosecutor's office said. statement that in about 2012 "His comments were often sexuSandhu started making harassing ally graphic and targeted indiphone calls to the staff of the Se- viduals." curities and Exchange CommisHe is to be sentenced in April sion (SEC) in Washington and to and faces a maximum of two years private individuals and in 2015 in prison for each of the two alone he made more than 3,000 charges he was convicted of and calls and left 350 voicemails. a USD 250,000 fine. -PTI

Kashmiris group in UK to find Kashmir solution "I want to do it (Hindi film).

Ask some Bollywood director to hire me. No more action for me, I want to do dance and do a love story. I tried very hard to do it (Bollywood film) but the script did not work out. But after 11 years I am here. It's one of my dreams. I want to do it (Bollywood film)," Jackie told reporters here at a promotional event of his upcoming film "Kung Fu Yoga".

"I would want to come again to India. I come here for film festivals, charity and for films. I know you all love me and even I love you all," he said. -PTI

LONDON: Academics, writers and professionals from the Kashmiri Diaspora in the UK have joined hands to create a new group to bring together prominent and liberal voices on Kashmir from both India and Pakistan to find a "dignified and honorable" solution to the issue.

Kashmir Voice International (KVI) chaired by Prof Mohammed Abdullah Raina was launched at Birkbeck University in London with the aim of providing a platform for the people of the Valley in the UK. "Negotiations mean that compromises will have to be made on both sides. Kashmiris are willing to be flexible and a dignified and honorable solution can be found.

But we have to get rid of much of

the baggage of the Partition and overcome hatred," said Raina.

KVI is intended to bring together prominent and liberal voices on Kashmir from both India and Pakistan in Britain. The members intend to travel to Kashmir and work on building public opinion in favor of breaking the status quo.

"KVI will seek to de-link Kashmir problem from Indo-Pak relations, ask to put it aside and not look at it through the prism of Indo-Pak relations," reads the KVI statement of intent.

The group also wants to lobby all parties involved to explore alternative solutions to the Kashmir problem, besides seeking the implementation of the UN resolution. -PTI

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Pak asks India to stop JK water projects ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's two parliamentary committees in rare joint resolution asked India to immediately suspend work on two hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir and agree on the constitution of an arbitration court to resolve the water dispute.

National Assembly's Committee on Foreign Affairs and Water and Power held a joint sitting in

Until the World Bank constitutes the court of arbitration, it must persuade India to put an immediate halt to ongoing construction of the Ratle dam till the issue is resolved, read the joint resolution adopted unanimously by both the government and opposition members of the committees.

The construction of dams on the western rivers by India has

The construction of dams on the western rivers by India has brought the two countries at loggerheads and Pakistan has engaged the World Bank, a facilitator of the IWT, to stop India from going ahead with the construction Islamabad to discuss water issues with India.

A joint resolution unanimously adopted in the meeting asked India to halt the construction work, Dawn reported.

The resolution also called upon the World Bank to constitute a court of arbitration to adjudicate on issues raised by Pakistan against India's ongoing construction of Kishanganga and Ratle hydro projects.

It said that under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), it is the responsibility of the World Bank to play its role without further delay.

brought the two countries at loggerheads and Pakistan has engaged the World Bank, a facilitator of the IWT, to stop India from going ahead with the construction.

The committees were briefed on the agenda Indian threat on the Indus Waters Treaty and to chart out a course of action for Pakistan. The meeting was co-chaired

by Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and Muhammad Arshad Khan Leghari, members of the parliament and the chairmen of the two committees.

Briefing the committees, For-

eign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said all options were available with Pakistan in case India violated the IWT. "We will not let India violate the treaty," Chaudhry said, adding that Pakistan had already engaged the World Bank to look into the issue as guarantor.

"We have already requested the World Bank to appoint chairman of the arbitration court," he said. The secretary said Islamabad would defend its right at any cost.

New Delhi, he alleged, was using delaying tactics while "we want to resolve the issue at the earliest".

Pakistan has serious reservations over an Indian move to construct 45 to 60 dams on the western rivers, he said.

Water and Power Secretary Younus Dagha said Pakistan was challenging the construction of Kishanganga and Ratle projects in the court of international arbitration. He, however, said India had not as yet started work on Ratle project.

Former foreign minister and Tehrik-i-Insaf leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the water dispute with India had reached such alarming proportions that it could even dwarf the Kashmir issue. He suggested the government to evolve a clear roadmap, assuring his party's support on the issue. -PTI

Pak woman among terrorists held in Saudi JEDDAH: In a pre-emptive op- house in Al-Harazat at least two eration, Saudi security forces months ago, to be used as a hidekilled two terrorists and arrested out for the terrorist cell; he used two others, including a Pakistani his wife in an attempt to avoid the woman, in the coastal city of landlord and neighbors becoming Jeddah. suspicious," the paper said.

"Two terrorists in Al-Harazat The security forces cordoned District, in south east Jeddah, off the two hideouts and arrested were killed after they blew them- the first person, Saudi citizen selves up after refusing to surren- Husam bin Salic bin Samran Alder to police calls," Arab News Juhani with his Pakistani wife in reported, quoting the Interior Min- their apartment in Naseem district. istry spokesperson.

After searching the house, the He said the authorities arrested security forces found a ready-toanother two, a man and his Paki- use explosive belt, a locally-made stani wife, from an apartment af- bomb, together with a machine ter a tip-off.

With the arrest of the Pakistani woman, iden- With the arrest of the tified as 19-year-old Fatima Ramadan Pakistani woman, identified Balochi Murad, the as 19-year-old Fatima number of Pakistanis arRamadan Balochi Murad, rested on terror charges the number of Pakistanis has gone up to 69.

Citing security arrested on terror charges sources, the paper said the authorities got in- has gone up to 69 formation on the presence of a group of terrorists at a gun with live ammunition. house in Al-Harazat District. AfThe forces also cordoned off a ter an investigation, the residents house in Al-Harazat. The forces of the house turned out to have a asked the terrorists to surrender link to another terrorist living in but they started firing.

Naseem District, who used to When the security forces tried come to the house together with to storm the house, the terrorists his wife. detonated the explosive belts "The person also turned out to they were wearing, killing thembe a former terrorist who was im- selves and causing extensive prisoned for eight years but re- damage to the house. leased after less than two years.

Quoting the spokesman of the He was the one who rented the Interior Ministry Maj Gen Mansour Al-Turki, the paper said the hideout at Al-Harazat was used as a lab for making explosive belts and bombs.

He said the man arrested at the second hideout, in Naseem dis"There is no personal criticism trict, was linked to those in the of Dr Washbrook. Our target is on Al-Harazat property.

Security authorities are still the university's back for allowing collecting evidence from the two this to happen," Mallalieu told the locations and conducting invescourt. tigations with the arrested perSiddiqui, who trained as a solicitor after college, suffers from sons. All details and identities of depression and insomnia, which the terrorists will be announced he links to his "disappointing ex- later, Al-Turki said.

Last July, Pakistani terrorist amination results".

Abdullah Qalzar Khan blew himOxford University had argued self up near Solaiman Fakeih Hosthat the claim was baseless and pital in Jeddah.

The security aushould be struck out because of thorities arrested 49 Pakistani resithe over 16 years that had passed dents and put them under interrosince Siddiqui graduated.

Professor Alan Smithers, an gation since the bombing in July, education expert at Buckingham Saudi Gazette reported.

A terror plot - involving two University, told the newspaper: "This is a test case and in future Pakistanis Solaiman Arab Deen universities will have to ensure and Farman Naqshaband Khan, that what they do stands up to was foiled last October here.

In a recent statement, the Intecritical inspection in the courts.

In the past, universities have been rior Ministry said that 5,085 terror quite cavalier about the quality of suspects from 40 countries are in detention. -PTI their teaching.-PTI

Oxford faces trial over bad teaching LONDON: Oxford University has been directed to face trial after an Indian-origin student sued the varsity for "hopelessly bad" and "boring" teaching which allegedly resulted in him getting a second class degree and in turn led to loss of earnings in his career as a lawyer.

The world-famous university had applied to the High Court in London to dismiss the claim by Faiz Siddiqui but in an 18-page judgment by Justice Kerr the court ruled that Oxford does have a case to answer, 'The Sunday Times' reported.

Siddiqui, who studied modern history at Brasenose College at the university, accuses its staff of "negligent" teaching of his specialist subject course on Indian imperial history, which led to him getting a 2:1 back in 2000.

The 38-year-old's barrister

Roger Mallalieu had told the court that the problem came down to four of the seven staff teaching Asian history being on sabbatical leave at the same time during the 1999-2000 academic year.

which came to light last month.

His legal team had singled out the "boring" standard of tuition that Siddiqui had received from David Washbrook, an expert on the history of southern India be-

Siddiqui believes he could have had a high-flying career as an international commercial lawyer if he had not got lower grades and decided to take the legal route,

tween the 18th and 20th centuries.

Mallalieu claimed that the eminent historian's teaching had suffered from the "intolerable" pressure of the staff shortages on the course.

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Tamil-Americans rally in support of Jallikattu WASHINGTON: Several hundred Tamil-Americans held a rally at the Gandhi statue here in support of the ongoing Jallikattu movement demanding lifting of the ban on bull-taming sport which is an integral part of Tamilian culture.

Several dozens of them also held a protest demonstration outside the PETA headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.

Holding posters and banners, Tamil-Americans including a large number of children and women raised slogans in support of Jallikattu and vented out their anger against animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which is leading in supporting the ban on the grounds that it is a torture to the animal.

"We love our animals. We know how to treat our animals.

This is part of our tradition and culture," said Babu Vinayagam, one of the anti-PETA protestors at the Gandhi Statue in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington.

"The rally is to show our solidarity with our people back home

fighting against ban on Jallikattu," he said. Majority of the slogans were in Tamil, but at times they shouted "Down Down PETA," venting their anger at the animal rights group.

This was one of the largest protest rallies and demonstrations in front of the Indian Embassy in recent years.

"We may be away from home, but home is always with us. We

local news channel in Virginia reported a protest outside PETA headquarters here in Norfolk.

"Dozens of people travelled to Hampton Roads from all across the world to protest outside of

there is a prevention of cruelty act in India, which was backdoor amended, through the lobbying that PETA did," Karthik Rangarajan, a protest organizer said.

Tamil-Americans protesters in Washington, DC

They also shouted "We want Jallikattu." Vinod Kumar, an IT professional from Tamil Nadu, said adding, expatriate Tamilians want a permanent solution to lift the ban on Jallikattu.

"We want legislative measures, so that this age-old tradition could be continued," he said.

are Tamil people and we are proud of our heritage, it is our pride that is being taken away from us," said Nalini Britto speaking on behalf of the Greater Washington Tamil Diaspora, which had organized the anti-PETA, proJallikattu rally in Washington.

Meanwhile, an ABC-affiliate

the PETA headquarters," the news channel said.

"Protesters stood outside of PETA headquarters in Norfolk, telling 13News Now they are protesting the organization's influence on the court decisions," it said.

"What PETA has done is that

In a statement, PETA alleged that these protesters "are anxious" to overturn the court ruling and "preserve a culture as heinous" as fox hunting was in the UK and bullfighting is in Spain, one now outlawed the other being banned, city by city. PTI

UK experts to tackle Delhi air pollution LONDON: Indian and British experts are joining hands on a project to help tackle health problems associated with air pollution in Delhi, which affect some 46 million people in and around the country's capital city.

With air pollution levels at times up to 30 times greater than those found in the UK, Delhi was rated the most polluted city in the world for ambient air pollution by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014.

Involving leading researchers

from universities in India and the UK, the team put together by Birmingham air pollution experts will investigate the causes of pollution in the Indian capital city, which is home to some 18 million people, a release by the Birmingham University said.

'ASAP-Delhi: An Integrated Study of Air Pollutant Sources in the Delhi National Capital Region' is supported by a 1.4 million pound grant from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Medical Research

Council (MRC) Air Pollution and Human Health program.

Led by the University of Birmingham, the team involves experts from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the Indian National Physical Laboratory and the University of Surrey.

"This project will allow us to definitively quantify the contributions of different sources to fine particles in Delhi's air - a key step to solving this problem," Professor Mukesh Khare, from IIT Delhi, said.

Experts will measure airborne particulate matter and analyze how the pollution is being generated.

Results from this work will feed into other research projects in a wider NERC program and be used to help efficiently reduce pollution levels and improve population health.

"Some 46 million people live in and around Delhi and extremely high particulate matter levels are responsible for damaging citizens' health and the environment, leaving many people unable to work,

which has significant economic implications for the region," said Professor William Bloss, Head of the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham.

"As a global 'civic' university, the University of Birmingham looks to enrich the life of both our home city and others globally.

This partnership in Delhi chimes with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Smart Cities Mission to make India's cities citizen-friendly and sustainable."

Bloss added that many Asian countries, including India, were undergoing rapid industrial development and urbanization, leading to sharp increases in population exposure to poor air quality in cities mainly fine and ultrafine particles.

"We've designed the project to better understand the sources of the most dangerous air pollutants in Delhi," Bloss said.

"It partners leading researchers from India and the UK and will allow us to assess the likely effectiveness of changes in behavior for example odd/even number plate traffic bans to improve air quality." -PTI

More top stories on pages 22-24

Tech News Indian student behind online attacks?

A

security researcher claims to have established the identity of "at least one co-conspirator" who made many recent online attacks possible. Late last year, a series of hundreds of thousands of connected devices were hacked and used to send debilitating surges of data to servers. These so-called IoT botnets, which were used to take down websites and Internet infrastructure, were orchestrated using a piece of specially written malware known as Mirai.

Now, security researcher and writer Brian Krebs has waded through the murky depths of the Internet to trace the identity of a co-author of the code, going by the username of Anna Senpai. In a lengthy post citing numerous sources and laying out corroborating evidence, Krebs claims that a Rutgers University student called Paras Jha helped write the code that's been causing havoc on the Internet.

The Internet Is sick. Can it recover?

I

f the Internet in good health is free and open, then maybe it's starting to ail. Fake news seeps from its pores. The phenomenon may have blown up during the U.S. presidential race, but it's now causing other countries similar headaches, and Germany is wrestling with untruths ahead of its forthcoming election.

Elsewhere, unwelcome intruders invade the Internet's deepest tracts.

The UK's new "Snooper's Charter," for example, will make it easier for British law enforcers to hack devices and make technology companies hand over data. The Internet's increasingly consumed by greedy growths, as Internet giants, such as Facebook and Google, shape the way. These symptoms have prompted the Mozilla Foundation, which makes the free Firefox browser, to conclude that the democracy, openness, and neutrality of the early Internet is being subverted.

Alexa's data feeds Amazon success

E

very day, millions of people tell Amazon their most immediate desires as they talk to its smart assistant, Alexa. And that provides the company with one of the most wonderful resources of the modern age: data. "There are millions of these [Alexa devices] in households, and they're not collecting dust," said Nikko Strom, an AI expert and founding member of the Amazon team that built Alexa, at a conference recently. "We get an insane amount of data coming in that we can work on."

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Hong Kong to open Trade Office in India BEIJING: Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, would open an Economic and Trade Office (ETO) in India to strengthen trade ties and investment linkages.

The ETO would go a long way in strengthening trade, economic and investment linkages between India and Hong Kong, a press release from the Indian Consulate in Hong Kong said.

"We look forward to working closely with Hong Kong government in this regard," the press release said. Hong Kong is a business hub for Indian business and much of the Chinese investments are routed though the former British colony. -PTI

WEF concerned over automation & future of globalization DAVOS: As the five-day talkathon of global elite wrapped up in freezing cold climes of Swiss Alps here, world leaders foresaw a new normal for globalization with a lot more 'inward focus' by various countries including the US, even as global economy appeared poised for a fresh growth era propelled by India and China.

With the narrative getting populated with populism and politicsdriven possible 'black swans' emerging after polls in some major economies, calls grew louder for 'responsive and responsible governments' to tackle income and gender inequalities on a war footing.

While China emerged as an unlikely hero of capitalism after presenting itself as the new champion of globalization, experts seemed to be less convinced about that country becoming the new leader of global economy in place of the US. From the impact of automation and artificial intelligence on jobs to concerns about the future of globalization, discussions touched upon a raft of pressing issues.

At the closing plenary, award winning Pakistani documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, who is also a co-chairman of the annual meet, said it was good to see art included in the communications in Davos, and not seen as something separate.

As the first arts leader to become co-chair, Sharmeen said her experience was that there was lot of empathy and she also could see a feeling all around that there could be much more participation from women.

Bank of America Chief Brian Moynihan, another co-chair, said he could see some ideas on how sustainable development commitments can be met by for-profit enterprises. He applauded the theme of 'responsive and responsible governments'.

Another co-chair and Save the Children International CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt said sustainable development goals were fo-

cused extensively here at the WEF meeting and she was pleased to see business leaders showing interest.

Royal Philips CEO Frans Van Houten, who is also a co-chair, said he saw great preparedness

balization is not working and that it needs to be fixed.

Referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech, she said that she felt we were witnessing "the week when the world turned upside down".

Stating that the world today needs much more empathy, she said she has seen a lot of that, which is also her big take away from here.

Amid rising uncertainties on political as well as economic fronts in different parts of the world, India continued to be seen as "bright star" even as clamor picked up momentum for speedier reforms and decision-making process to catch up with neighboring China.

Eminent banker Uday Kotak said India has an opportunity to be a "bright star" in such a "sober" global economic scenario.

At the concluding session, WEF paid tribute to former Israeli President Shimon Peres who died last Minister of State for Commerce & Industry (Independent Charge), Nirmala Sitharaman and State Bank of India Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya attend a penal session at the 47th year. annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland WEF founder Klaus Schwab defrom ministers and business leadSharmeen said one of the great- scribed Peres as a true global ers in discussions on what world est things about Davos is that statesman and a person who truly needs to do. everyone is approachable and it embodied Davos culture.

Schmidt added her big realiza- has become more inclusive and Cont’d on page 13 tion at Davos was economic glo- much more interesting.

'India a bright star in 'sober' global outlook' DAVOS: As uncertainty grips the global economic outlook, ace banker Uday Kotak has said India has an opportunity to be a "bright star" in such a "sober" scenario and the medium term prospects for the country's economy looks good as long as it can focus on right things.

Amid an intense debate on future of globalization here at World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Kotak said India has been a big beneficiary of the globalization process, including by getting a USD 100 billion software services industry and huge portfolio flows to the tune of USD 300 billion and it should be a strong votary of open trade and defend open

economies from its own point of view.

"I was attending a global institutional investors' group meeting

Uday Kotak

here and there was a view that India is certainly a potential bright star in a relatively more sober glo-

bal outlook," Kotak, Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of WEF meet.

Of course people are optimistic about Donald Trump turning around and making America great and that is going to be a magnet for capital to be moving back, he said. According to him, China is essentially going to work on the plank of stability and continuity all the way up to October 2017 when internal elections of the ruling party are held.

Cont’d on page 13

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Gadkari moots cycle tracks on roads DAVOS: Regarded as a minister handling the country's biggest investment projects, Nitin Gadkari has said the total work orders relating to the roads, shipping and ports ministries will reach Rs 6 lakh crore by March and investors are ready to put in money from India as well as abroad.

He also proposed to make cycle tracks on all major roads across the country, including on highways, and favored a shift towards electricity-based public transport services, including electric cars being run as taxi in some cities.

The Union minister for road transport, ports and shipping, who was here to attend the World Economic Forum annual meeting, said there are several opportunities in

Nitin Gadkari

India and people came and met him here with investment proposals and innovative ideas.

"In roads, shipping and ports ministries together, we have begun

work on projects worth Rs 4.5 lakh crore and I am confident of further work orders to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh crore by March-end, taking the total to Rs 6 lakh crore," Gadkari

China acquires strategic 40-pc stake in Pak stocks

Kudankulam 2nd unit generates full capacity

KARACHI: A consortium led

by Chinese firms has signed a strategic agreement to acquire 40 per cent equity of Pakistan Stock Exchange for USD 85 million, in a move aimed at mobilizing funds for the USD 46-billion CPEC project and facilitating China's entry into the Pakistani capital market.

The Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) was signed in the presence of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in Karachi.

The consortium comprises Chinese Financial Futures Exchange Company Ltd (lead bidders), Shanghai Stock Exchange,

TIRUNELVELI, TN: The second unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) has attained its maximum generating capacity of 1,000 MWe, six months after it went critical.

"It is a great moment for the KNPP which is already successfully operating its first unit. After successfully crossing a range of tests, the second reactor has reached the milestone of generating 1,000 MWe," KNPP Site Director R S Sundar said in a release.

The second unit of the IndoRussian joint venture project attained criticality on July 10 last year and synchronized with the southern grid on August 29.

Power generation had been gradually increased at several stages after mandatory tests were stipulated by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.

The first KNPP unit began commercial operations in December 2014.

Tamil Nadu gets the major share of the power produced in the two units of the nuclear plant.

Under the agreement between India and Russia, four more units of 1000 MWe each would be set up at Kudankulam in this district in southern Tamil Nadu.

Excavation work for the third and fourth units are underway and power generation is expected to start in 2022-23, the release said. -PTI

'Pakistan Development Fund' aimed at financing the infrastructure development projects in the country.

"We would soon be coming to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) to mobilize funds," he said, adding the International Finance Corporation and others had indicated their interest in participating in the Fund. Dar said the strategic deal with the Chinese consortium was a "dream come true" for him.

Besides being the best market in Asia and fifth best among global bourses in 2016 on the basis of returns, the PSX had after the divestment graduated to 'regional market', he said.

He expressed the hope that the decision The PSX also plans to by the Chinese consorlaunch infrastructure bonds tium to venture into Pakistan's capital marwhich would be predomiket would bring bennantly be used for the USD efits to both sides.

"Divestment will re46-billion CPEC sult in institutional shareholding, experiShenzhen Stock Exchange, and enced ownership and good govertwo local partners Pak-China In- nance for PSX which will translate vestment Company and Habib into organized and robust develBank Ltd, Dawn reported. opment of the exchange," he said.

It had won by placing the highChinese Ambassador to Pakiest bid of 28 rupees a share for 320 stan Sun Weidong said the occamillion shares at a price consider- sion marked a new step in all-round ation of Rs 8.96 billion (USD 85 cooperation between the two counmn) when the stake was put forth tries. "It is a win-win situation for in December. both sides," the ambassador said The PSX also plans to launch and added that the partnership infrastructure bonds which would would assist in investment financbe predominantly be used for the ing and generate credit for CPEC. USD 46-billion China- Pakistan "It comes at a significant moEconomic Corridor project that ment when we are pushing forward passes through the Pakistan-oc- CPEC to deepen cooperation and cupied Kashmir (PoK). sustainable development in Speaking on the occasion, Dar China-Pakistan all-weather friendsaid the government had set up a ship." -PTI

told PTI in an interview here.

"I feel there are several opportunities and people are ready. Last year, three flagship shipping organizations earned profit of Rs 6,000 crore and this year, it will rise to Rs 7,000 crore.

"We are also building six new ports. Inland waterways are being started, we are developing cruise tourism for which 100 cruises are coming to Mumbai alone. Work is being done for Goa, Kochi and several other places."

The senior minister said there are several opportunities and people are ready to invest.

"All we need is transparent policies and faster decision-making process. Even from within India, there are several investors ready to put in their money. Post demonetization, our bank deposits grew by 30 per cent and that money can go into infrastructure," he added.

Asked about air pollution being a big issue, the minister said, "Air pollution is indeed one of the biggest problems we have. Therefore, I want to promote ethanol, biodiesel, electric business.

"We have begun making ethanol from municipal waste. I am going to request national highways, state highways, district highways and even municipal roads in metro cities to make cycle tracks."

Gadkari, for good measure, wants "cycle to become the most loved vehicle of the country".

"First, it will reduce pollution and it is good for health also. Second, I want to promote electricitybased vehicles for public transport in our country. I want to promote mass rapid transport run by electricity. We are surplus in electricity and importing petrol and diesel, which also add to pollution," Gadkari said further.

"In some cities, we are thinking about electric taxi. Just like petrol pumps, there will be electric charging stations.

There are several innovations that are happening in these areas.

Besides, we are already in the process of introducing the old car scrapping plan. There are problems, but there are also solutions and we need to convert the problems into opportunities." -PTI

WEF closes with Afghan orchestra DAVOS: The annual jamboree their country in 30 years. of rich and powerful from across The concert was held in partthe world ended here in this snow- nership with Intesa Sanpaolo. capped resort town with a musical Gathering under the theme 'reperformance by Afghan's first sponsive and responsible leaderwomen Orchestra 'Zohra'. ship', participants discussed a Spread over five days and slew of issues including the imnearly 400 sessions, the 47th An- pact of automation and artificial nual Meeting of the WEF saw intelligence on jobs and concerns around 2,500 leaders from busi- about the future of globalization. ness, politics, academia, civil soThe annual meet also had the ciety and art engaging in intense entertainment quotient as celebdiscussions. The powwow also saw special addresses by Chinese The orchestra from Kabul President Xi Jinping joined forces with members and British Prime Minof Geneva's youth Orchestre ister Theresa May. Award winning Paki- du Coll Ge for a powerful stani documentary film- affirmation of friendship and maker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy became the first trust across cultures cultural leader to become a co- chair of the meeting, rity singer Shakira dished out two where attendees also included lines of a Latin ditty.

Karan Johar and Swami Agnivesh "Today's babies will drive from India. tomorrow's business. Their capacThe orchestra from Kabul ity to contribute will shape joined forces with members of tomorrow's societies, will solve Geneva's youth Orchestre du Coll tomorrow's problems," said the Ge for a powerful affirmation of Colombian star, who is also a friendship and trust across cul- goodwill ambassador for UNICEF tures. and was also awarded here for her Zohra is Afghanistan's first fe- humanitarian work. The inaugural male conductors and comprises had musical concert by violinist the first women to play music in Anne- Sophie Mutter. -PTI

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Demonetization has opened opportunities: Sanghi JAIPUR: By generating fear among some people, the demonetization move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened opportunities for others, writer Ashwin Sanghi said here.

"When there is a fear there are opportunities. Demonetization has created a fear among few people and on the other hand opened opportunities for others," Sanghi said at a session at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here.

He was joined by businessman Binod Chaudhury, writer and journalist Hindol Sengupta and Suhel Seth.

According to Sengupta, the "pain" that has come along with demonetization has been "worth it", and that the move was a step forward towards a better economy.

"There has been pain and it is worth it. Despite the sufferings, there has not been a single real mass protest happened on roads.

The NCR economy is entirely sus-

taining on black money.

Government's next step to nail 'benami' property will be another

Ashwin Sanghi

move towards better economy," he said.

Calling himself a "deep advocate" of demonetization, Suhel Seth termed it a "splendid" step, predicting that India will be the "fastest economy" in the coming

future.

"I am deep advocate of demonetization taken by the government.

We need to root out black money from the system and it is a splendid move.

"International Monetary Fund projection for Indian economy is rubbish and we will be the fastest economy in coming future," he said.

He said that while the working class may be in "short-term pain" but gains would be manifold in longterm.

"The move will yield results in next two quarters," he said.

Questioning the timing of announcing the decision to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, and whether the Reserve Bank of India was prepared for the repercussions, Binod Chaudhury said that the aftermath of the move will last longer than projected, but assured that "India will have a bright future".

"Demonetization was needed at

IoT Botnets are growing-and up for hire JAMIE CONDLIFFE

When anyone can make use of a burgeoning army of rogue connected devices for a fee, the threat of a crippled Internet is more real than ever.

T

he army of Internet-connected devices being corralled and controlled to take down online services is active, growing-and up for grabs.

Internet of things botnets-collections of devices hacked to work with one another to send debilitating surges of data to servershave been blamed for several re-

suffered Internet outages recently as a result of a failed attempt to recruit the company's routers as devices for a botnet. According to an independent security researcher who spoke with Motherboard, the total number of devices employed in IoT botnets could now be in excess of 500,000.

Earlier, Ars Technica reported that a new piece of botnet software was able to commandeer 3,500 devices in the space of five days. It's not clear, though, at what pace these systems will continue to grow. Most of the devices currently employed by hackers seem

It seems able to provide fake IP addresses for the devices it's using, which will make it substantially harder to block when used in the future cent Internet failures. Most notably, the servers of domain name system host Dyn were taken down last month, affecting connectivity across large swaths of the East Coast of the U.S. But hackers appear to be making attempts to swell the ranks of their botnet armies and offer their services for a fee, which could make future attacks far more serious.

The German telephone provider Deutsche Telekom has reported that nearly one million of its users

to be older, less secure hardware that's easy to compromise. It may be harder, and take longer, to add your latest smart home hardware to the army-though it may not be impossible.

For now, though, some hackers appear to be trying to monetize their IoT botnets. Last month, Forbes reported that a 100,000device system could be employed for $7,500. Now, another pair of hackers has put up the botnet that they control for hire, claiming to have as many as 400,000 devices

to level at servers. Hiring 50,000 devices to perform an attack is reported to cost between $3,000 and $4,000, according to the site Bleeping Computer.

The same site reports that researchers have noticed that the latest version of the malware used to create the 400,000-device botnet, which is thought to be the same one used to try to take Liberia offline earlier this month, has a new trick up its sleeve. It seems able to provide fake IP addresses for the devices it's using, which will make it substantially harder to block when used in the future.

Last year, security expert Bruce Schneier argued that someone, somewhere was "learning how to take down the Internet" using these kinds of attacks. And at a November Congressional hearing about the threat, he appealed to the government to intervene, explaining that "the market really can't fix this ... the government has to get involved. [W]hat I need are some good regulations."

With hackers realizing that other parties may be interested in taking advantage of their hardwon armies, the stakes ratchet up.

If something isn't done to stamp out these botnets, Schneier's apocalyptic predictions may yet come true.

-Courtesy MIT Technology Review

some point of time. But, whether it was the right time and was RBI prepared to tackle the eventualities is a question.

"Currently 50 per cent of Indians have access to banks and post

offices so demonetization has troubled many people. Pain of the step will be a bit longer than projected. However, India will have bright future," the Nepalese businessman said. -PTI

'India a bright star in 'sober' global outlook' Cont’d from page 11

industry and the IT industry have gained from globalization. Global capital flows for Indian capital markets have been good. India needs to keep in mind that we have benefitted from this global process, he said.

"A global process comes with being champions against protectionism and against currency manipulation etc. India for the last many years has ensured that it has not been protective, or exces-

"India certainly has an opportunity to be the bright star in such scheme of things," Kotak said.

"I am truly proud of the macroeconomic situation we are in - that is low current account, low inflation, fiscal deficit under control and the key thing for India is to see how to get the investments going again," he added.

Further, Kotak said private investments have been a little shy and if the government can step up on India for the last many the plate without necessarily bloating about the years has ensured that it fiscal deficit, that would has not been protective, or probably be a very good thing because we excessively protective, need investment back about itself on track.

"I feel India is normalizing and the medium term out- sively protective, about itself. We look is good as long as we can should actually be a strong votary hold ourselves together and focus of open trade and defend open on right things," he noted. economies from our point of view.

Asked about the globalization Just think about it that we did debate here and India's position not have software services induson it, Kotak said, "I have been try 18 years ago, which is today coming to Davos for 18 years and USD 100 billion. Look at the portI can say India has been a big ben- folio flows which are today USD eficiary in the whole globalization 300 billion. Look at the FDI flows process". which are also huge," Kotak said.

The entire software services -PTI

WEF concerned over automation & future of globalization Cont’d from page 11

He also remembered the day when Peres and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat came together on the stage at WEF Annual Meeting in Davos.

While discussions about Donald Trump's presidency in the world's largest economy and concerns over Britain's decision to leave the European Union continued to bother leaders gathered here, developmental issues also found their space, with stitching up of some partnerships, including for developing vaccines to deal with epidemics in a short time.

WEF, government think-tank

NITI Aayog, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Cornell University have joined hands to develop an India Innovation Index to measure the performance of Indian states.

The first ranking is expected to be released at the India Economic Summit in New Delhi on October 4-6.

Jinping said that globalization is a "double-edged" sword but cannot be blamed for the world's problems, and pushed for greater role for emerging economies in governance of global institutions.

"Nobody will emerge as a winner in a trade war," he cautioned. PTI

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January 27, 2017

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Samsung faulty batteries triggered fire SEOUL: A Samsung probe into the exploding batteries that forced the electronics giant to scrap its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones has found irregularly sized batteries caused overheating, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The South Korean conglomerate was forced to discontinue its flagship Note 7 after a chaotic recall that saw replacement phones also catching fire, with the debacle costing the company billions in lost profit and reputational damage.

Samsung is set to unveil the results of its investigation but sources told the WSJ that the findings indicated some of the problematic batteries were irregularly sized, causing overheating, while others had manufacturing problems.

Samsung announced a recall of 2.5 million units of the oversized Galaxy Note 7 smartphone in early September after several devices

exploded or caught fire.

When replacement phones also started to combust, the company eventually decided to kill off the Note 7 for good.

The company blamed faulty batteries made

by an u n named supplier - widely believed to be its sister company Samsung SDI. Initially, the WSJ said, Samsung officials believed the problem was limited to batteries made by the Samsung affiliate, and

recalled those devices while boosting production of smartphones carrying batteries made by Hong Kong-based Amperex Technology Ltd. to replace recalled devices.

The probe found that the issue with the batteries from Samsung SDI was an irregularly sized battery which did not fit the phone properly which then caused overheating, the WSJ said.

In the batteries made by Amperex Technology Ltd. the flaw centered on a manufacturing issue resulting from the quick ramp-up in production of replacement phones, the WSJ said, without specifying what the problems were.

The recall fiasco has taken a major toll on the reputation of the world's largest smartphone maker, which has promised a "complete reform" of the firm's overall production and quality control process to prevent another crisis. AFP

Takata sued over faulty air bags ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.: New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is suing Japanese manufacturer Takata and a long list of automakers in connection with the sale of cars with dangerous air bag inflators.

The attorney general's office argues in a lawsuit that the manufacturers had a duty to ensure their products were safe and that concealment of air bag defects amounted to unfair, deceptive and unconscionable trade practices under New Mexico law.

Takata already has agreed to pay $1 billion in fines and restitution as part of plea agreement with

Cyient's Warangal tech center goes on stream NEW DELHI: IT firm Cyient, formerly known as Infotech Enterprises, has commenced operations in Warangal from the Incubation Centre of the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC).

"Cyient has established a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in TSIIC Incubation Centre to help its communications business expand operations for its global client base.

The CoE will undertake fiber and co-axial network planning and de-

sign, MDU engineering, cell site design and drafting, RF planning, and network optimization services," it said in a BSE filing.

"Cyient will also leverage the centre to provide geo-spatial services and solutions for the company's Smart City engagements."

In February last year, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had laid the foundation stone for Cyient's state-of-the-art technology development centre in Warangal. -PTI

the U.S. Justice Department over the years long scheme to conceal the deadly defect in its inflators. It also faces class-action lawsuits as well as litigation filed last year by the state of Hawaii.

Aside from targeting the air bag manufacturer, New Mexico's case also spreads the blame to numerous automakers that used the faulty bags in their vehicles. The complaint lists dozens of models that include some of the most popular vehicles in the U.S. The state is seeking civil penalties for each defective air bag that entered the New Mexico market and penalties for each day the manufacturers misrepresented the safety of their products. State prosecutors also are demanding a jury trial.

Takata inflators can explode with too much force, spewing shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least 11 people have been killed in the U.S. and 16 worldwide because of the defect. More than 180 have been injured.

The problem touched off the largest automotive recall in U.S. history covering 42 million vehicles and 69 million inflators. -AP

Tata JLR fined after worker lost leg LONDON: Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has fined 900,000 pounds after a worker lost his leg in an accident, described as "completely avoidable" by the court, at one of the company's UK factories nearly two years ago.

A trial at Birmingham Crown Court was told that the delivery driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into another car at JLR's Solihull plant in the West Midlands region of England in February 2015.

The worker was crushed be-

similar accident.

The HSE said its investigation found that the company had failed to ensure that the driver of the Range Rover, who was covering the shift, was familiar with normal procedures.

The firm had also failed to separate workers on the production line.

Two other employees had suffered minor injuries in the accident.

As well as the fine, the Tata Group firm will also have to pay

tween two vehicles and his right leg had to be amputated.

"A worker has been left with life-changing injuries that were completely avoidable. It was only good fortune that prevented this from being a fatal accident," John Glynn, an inspector with the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE), told the hearing.

JLR has since introduced a buffer zone to reduce the risk of a

49,868 pounds in legal costs.

"Jaguar Land Rover is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all employees, and strives to continuously improve working conditions.

"We accept the decision and continue to work closely with the HSE to ensure that all reasonably practicable measures are in place to protect our employees," JLR said in a statement. -PTI

Tata Motors car sales grow 18% KOLKATA: The passenger car division of Tata Motors Ltd has grown steadily in 2016 despite demonetization move and between April and December 2016 the company has registered a car sales growth of 17.5 per cent.

"In the current fiscal, between April and December 2016, the growth in car sales is 17.5 per cent to 1.2 lakh units over the same period last year. Industry grew by 8 per cent during the nine months.

We expect to end the year with better growth," Tata Motors Ltd VP (sales & network) S N Barman said here at the launch of their lifestyle car Hexa in the city.

The company claimed to have 5.5 per cent domestic market share in passenger car segment and with the launch of SUV it aims to get greater traction in the coming months with new variants.

"We have gained 0.6 per cent in market share during the current

nine months of the fiscal," Barman said.

Even in the months of demonetization, Tata Motors passenger car division has grown. In the east, the company registered healthy growth in the months of November and December, fuelled

by Zest and Tiago.

Meanwhile, Barman did not disclose the number of booking of Hexa but said with current demand and production, the wait period for the car was eight weeks.

The Tata Hexa is the second vehicle in IMPACT design series after Tiago hatchback tasted success.

Barman said Tiago automatic would be launched soon as it was selling well.

The company was also working on improving customer satisfaction index ranking which was at the second position with 888 points. -PTI

TechBiz Post

January 27, 2017

India Post

15

www.indiapost.com

I

n the 2013 movie "Her," Theodore Twombly, a lonely writer, falls in love with a digital assistant designed to meet his every need. She sorts emails, helps get a book published, provides personal advice and ultimately becomes his girlfriend. The assistant, Samantha, is A.I. software capable of learning at an astonishing pace.

Samantha will remain in the realm of science fiction for at least another decade, but lessfunctional digital assistants, called bots, are already here.

These will be the most amazing technology advances we see in our homes in 2017.

Among the bestsellers of the holiday season were Amazon.com's Echo and Google Home. These bots talk to their users through speakers, and their built-in microphones hear from across a room. When Echo hears the name "Alexa," its LED ring lights up in the direction of

the user to acknowledge that it is listening. It answers questions, plays music, orders Amazon products and tells jokes.

Google's Home can also manage Google accounts, read and write emails, and keep track of calendars and notes.

Google and Amazon have

both opened up their devices to third-party developers - who in turn have added the abilities to order pizza, book tickets, turn on lights and make phone calls. We will soon see these bots connected to health and fitness de-

multiple languages. Google has demonstrated a voice-synthesis capability that is hard to differentiate from human. Our bots will tell our ovens how we want our food to be cooked and ask us questions on its behalf.

of responding to your questions.

By listening to everything that is happening in your house, as

Why 2017 is the Year of the Bot VIVEK WADHWA

vices so that they can help people devise better exercise regimens and remember to take their medicine. And they will control the dishwasher and the microwave, track what is left in the refrigerator and order an ambulance in a case of emergency.

Long ago, our home appliances became electrified. Soon, they will

be "cognified": integrated into artificially intelligent systems that are accessed through voice commands. We will be able to talk to our machines in a way that seems natural. Microsoft has developed a voice-recognition technology that can transcribe speech as well as a human and translate it into

This has become possible because of advances in artificial intelligence, or A.I. In particular, a field called deep learning allows machines to learn through neural networks - in which information is processed in layers and the connections between these layers are strengthened based on experience. In short, they learn much like a human brain.

As a child learns to recognize objects such as its parents, toys and animals, neural networks too learn by looking at examples and forming associations. Google's A.I. software learned to recognize a cat, a furry blob with two eyes and whiskers, after looking at 10 million examples of cats.

It is all about data and example; that is how machines - and humans - learn. This is why the tech industry is rushing to get its bots into the marketplace and are pricing them at a meager $150 or less: The more devices that are in use, the more they will learn collectively, and the smarter the technology gets.

Every time you search YouTube for a cute cat video and pick one to watch, Google learns what you consider to be cute. Every time you ask Alexa a question and accept the answer, it learns what your interests are and the best way

these bots do, they learn how we think, live, work and play. They are gathering massive amounts of data about us. And that raises a dark side of this technology: the privacy risks and possible misuse by technology companies. Neither Amazon nor Google is forthcoming about what it is doing with all of the data it gathers and how it will protect us from hackers who exploit weaknesses in the infrastructure leading to its servers.

Of even greater concern is the

dons Twombly for a superior, digital life form.

We surely don't need to worry yet about our bots becoming smarter than we are. But we already have cause for worry over one-sided relationships.

For years, people have been confessing to having feelings for their Roomba vacuum cleaners - which don't create even an illusion of conversation. A 2007 study documented that some people had formed a bond with their Roombas that "manifested itself through happiness experienced with cleaning, ascriptions of human properties to it, and engagement with it in promotion and protection." And according to a recent report in New Scientist, hundreds of thousands of people say 'Good morning' to Alexa every day, half a million people have professed their love for it, and more than 250,000 have proposed marriage to it.

I expect that we are all going to be suckers for our digital friends. Don't you feel obliged to thank Siri on your iPhone after it answers your questions? I

Google and Amazon have both opened up their devices to third-party developers - who in turn have added the abilities to order pizza, book tickets, turn on lights and make phone calls dependency we are building on these technologies: We are beginning to depend on them for knowledge and advice and even emotional support.

The relationship between Theodore Twombly and Samantha doesn't turn out very well. She outgrows him in intelligence and maturity. And she confesses to having relationships with thousands of others before she aban-

do, and have done so.

Vivek Wadhwa is Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University Engineering at Silicon Valley, Syndicated columnist Washington Post, Contributor: VentureBeat, Huffington Post, LinkedIn Influencers, ASEE Prism Magazine Website: www.wadhwa.com , Twitter: @wadhwa

Toyota sees flat sales in India this year GUWAHATI: Japanese carmaker Toyota is expecting its vehicle sales in India to remain flat during the current year mainly on account of uncertainty in the market post demonetization.

The company, which is present in India through a joint venture with the Kirloskar Group, sold 1,34,149 units of its entire range of vehicles in the country in 2016, registering a decline of 4 per cent over the previous year.

"For 2017, our target is to sell similar volumes like 2016 or may be more than 2016 ... We are being conservative in our target setting for 2017. We will alter the same

considering the demand situation and market pull," Toyota Kirloskar Motor Director and Senior Vice President (Marketing and Sales) N Raja told PTI here.

Although overall sales of the company last year were on positive side, but it got affected due to the government's demonetization drive, he added.

"Our sales in the last two months of 2016 were affected due to demonetization and we believe that its impact is going to last in the first quarter of the new

calendar year," Raja said.

December is usually a high selling month as most makers try and liquidate the year-end stock by offering schemes of huge dis-

counts on products, he added.

"Having said that, the number of walk-ins at the dealership and enquiries have been impacted due to demonetization in the past two months," Raja said.

Talking about fall in sales in last year, he stated that 2016 has also been a year of challenges.

"Our sale of Innova and Fortuner got affected due to the ban on registration of vehicles over 2,000 cc in Delhi and NCR, where both the Innova

and Fortuner are present," Raja said. The company sold 1,34,149 units in 2016 compared to 1,39,819 units in 2015.

Talking about sales in North East, the senior official said the region contributes 18 per cent of Toyota vehicle sales in the east, therefore making it a significant market.

"North East is a significantly important market for the auto industry as it contributes to 20 per cent of the total passenger car sales in Eastern India. Assam being the largest state in NE, contributes the highest to sales in this region," he added.-PTI

Desi News Seniors celebrate India's Republic Day JAYANTI OZA

CHICAGO: The Bhartiya Senior Citizens of Chicago celebrated the 68th Republic Day of India and Makarsakranti on January 21 at Rana Regan Center in Carol Stream, a north west suburb of Chicago.

More than 350 people attended the event. The program began with Ganesh Vandna followed by information about the tentative 12 months program scheduled for the year 2017 and a welcome speech

by BSC Trustee and Ex. Vice President Parasotambhai Pandy. This was followed with Kalyani Patel talking about the importance of Makarsakranti. Rajendra Anjaria gave information about Republic Day of India.

COMMUNITY ACROSS AMERICA

16 India Post

www.indiapost.com

NRI Tolani awarded prestigious 'Hind Rattan'

January 27, 2017

Details on page 20

Raja stands up for Women's Rights at Chicago march SURESH SHAH

Details on page 18

Shukla named "Faith Leader to Watch" NEELA PANDYA

WASHINGTON, DC: Suhag Shukla, Executive Director, Legal Counsel, and co-founder of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), has been named one of twelve "faith leaders to watch in 2017" by the Center for American Progress.

Other faith leaders recognized

by CAP include: Amani AlKhatahtbeh (Muslim Girl), April Baskin (Audacious Hospitality), Rev. Susan Chorley (Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry/Exhale), Rev. Michael Curry (Episcopal Church), Rev. John C Dorhauer (United Church of Christ).

A section of Women March attendees

CHICAGO: Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi addressed a crowd of at least 150,000 people at

the Chicago Women's March, urging women and all Americans to stand up and fight for their rights.

The January 21 rally started at

Details on page 19

Karunakar Asireddy elected ATA President PRAKASH M SWAMY

LAS VEGAS: The American Telugu Association (ATA), an umbrella body of the community in the United States, held its board meeting at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 14.

Karunakar Asireddy was sworn in as the new president of the organization.

Aside from the ATA board members, standing committee Chairs, Regional Coordinators and prominent Telugu community members from across the US attended the meeting. More than 200 delegates came from across the US. Details on page 21

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi addressing the crowd

10 a.m. in Grant Park in Chicago. It had a good number of eminent politician speakers including Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, Aldermen Pat Dowell, Susan Garza and Michele Smith. Raja was one of the speakers. Congressman Krishnamoorthi represents the 8th District of Illinois, which includes Chicago's west and northwest suburbs.

In a statement, R a j a Krishnamoorthi said that "The march was about people from every walk of life coming together to declare their support for the rights of women and all Americans.

Women's rights are human rights. A loud chorus of

voices including mine will speak up for the rights of women and all Americans to make a better life in this country. I'm proud to be here today and to continue this fight in Congress," he said Attendance was three times what was expected and was possibly among the largest outside

Raja Krishnamoorthi said that “The march was about people from every walk of life coming together to declare their support for the rights of women and all Americans.

Women's rights are human rights� the marquee Women's March on Washington event.Event organizers estimated that 250,000 attended the rally."We want people who connect, protect but activate.

This is the key word in our motto," said event co-chair Ann Scholhamer.

January 27, 2017

Community Across America www.indiapost.com

India Post 17

18 India Post

Community Across America

January 27, 2017

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UP confers Pravasi award on Acharya Pandey among 15 other NRIs awardees from various countries who have their roots in Uttar Pradesh.

Acharya Ji has served Indian Army for 18 years as Dharma Guru. He came to US in 2003 at the request of his followers, to offer social, religious and spiritual service.

He was also awarded Hind Ratan award and Mahatma Gandhi Samman by NRI Welfare Society of India in January 2015 in Delhi and Jaipur. Indian community in US is proud of his religious and community services. He was invited as an honored guest at World Alliance of Religious Peace Summit at Seoul, South Korea in 2014 where religious and social leaders from around 150 countries were assembled. He represented Hinduism from US.

India Post News Service

FREMONT, CA: Uttar Pradesh is one of the largest states in India with a GDP of US$147.92 billion.

In the past five years, the State has grown remarkably in terms of both state domestic product and per capita income. Uttar Pradesh has claimed the top spot with the highest share of about 15 per cent in PPP projects across India and has the highest share of about 22 per cent in terms of value in total PPP investment projects under construction across India.

Akhilesh Yadav led Uttar Pradesh government has conferred the 'Uttar Pradesh Ratna' awards on NRIs from the state who had made a significant contribution in state or in a foreign country in varied fields. One of our eminent and long term Bay area residents, Acharya Krishna Kumar Pandey was awarded "Uttar Pradesh Pravasi Bhartiya Ratna" on 4th Jan 2017 in

Lucknow.

Acharya Pandey is a social, spiritual and religious leader. He is also the Founder and President of Shiv Durga Temple, Bay Area. He was

Seniors celebrate India's Republic Day JAYANTI OZA

Bhartiya Seniors celebrating India's Republic Day

CHICAGO: The Bhartiya Senior Citizens of Chicago celebrated the 68th Republic Day of India and Makarsakranti on January 21 at Rana Regan Center in Carol Stream, a north west suburb of Chicago.

More than 350 people attended the event. The program began with Ganesh Vandna followed by information about the tentative 12 months program scheduled for the year 2017 and a welcome speech

by BSC Trustee and Ex. Vice President Parasotambhai Pandy. This was followed with Kalyani Patel talking about the importance of Makarsakranti. Rajendra Anjaria gave information about Republic Day of India.

Cont’d on page 20

Chicago's Bollywood singers (L to R) Jitendra Balsara, Shaila Khedkar and Atul Varma

Community Across America

January 27, 2017

India Post 19

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Merrimack College urged to include 'Hindus' MADHU PATEL

CHICAGO: A group of Indian Americans have urged the renowned Merrimack College in North Andover (Massachusetts) to add "Hindu" to its Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations Center getting it quite inclusive for its Hindu

minds" when its inter-religious relations center excluded various major world religions, Rajan Zed asked.

Michael K. Crowe, Dr. Christopher E. Hopey and Joseph Kelley; Trustees Chair, President

Merrimack College in North Andover (Massachusetts)

students and the community.

Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism said that by including Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought, Merrimack would be implementing its own "Mission Statement" which sought to "increase mutual understanding among peoples of diverse beliefs".

How a well-known educational institution could accomplish its "mission" "to enlighten

and Center Director respectively of Merrimack; are urged to work on restructuring its Center for the Study of Jewish-ChristianMuslim Relations and include Hinduism in it.

Founded in 1947, Merrimack College on a 220-acre campus attracts students "from all across the United States and around the globe" to its 90-plus graduate and undergraduate academic programs and claims to rank among the top 10 colleges in the North region of USA.

Shukla named ‘Faith Leader to Watch’ NEELA PANDYA

WASHINGTON, DC: Suhag Shukla, Executive Director, Legal Counsel, and co-founder of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), has been named one of twelve "faith leaders to watch in 2017" by the Center for American Progress.

Other faith leaders recognized by CAP include: Amani Al-Khatahtbeh (Muslim Girl), April Baskin (Audacious Hospitality), Rev. Susan Chorley (Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry/Exhale), Rev. Michael Curry (Episcopal Church), Rev. John C Dorhauer (United Church of Christ), Rev. Cedric Harmon (Many Voices: A Black Church Movement for Gay & Transgender Justice), Sapreet Kaur (Sikh Coalition), Tamar Manasseh (Mothers Against Senseless Killing), the North Carolina clergy advocating for transgender rights, Pastors for Texas Children, and Rev. Allyson Robinson (the first openly transgender Baptist minister).

Center for American Progress in a note about Shukla observed

that he "has positioned HAF as a strong voice in the national debate about the separation of church and State, consistently speaking out about issues of

Suhag Shukla

Hinduphobia and the rights of religious minorities. Further, prioritizing legal advocacy, HAF regularly weighs in on cases related to religious discrimination and accommodations. Educating the Hindu American community on their rights regarding religious

liberty is a core part of this work."

"HAF participates in the [Obama Administration's] White House Initiative on Asian American Pacific Islanders Act to Change platform to combat bullying; it recently published Classroom Subjected: Bullying and Bias Against Hindu Students in American Schools.

The report examines Hindu American students' experiences with bullying in schools and offers recommendations to address this bias. Shukla embodies true religious liberty, ensuring that plurality and the rights of religious minorities are at the heart of religious freedom advocacy."

Commenting on the recognition, Shukla noted, "I'm humbled to be included alongside other prominent American faith leaders. However, doing this work and being honored in this way is only possible because of the dedication and hard work of the entire team behind HAF, as well as that of our supporters."

20 India Post

Community Across America

January 27, 2017

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NRI Tolani awarded prestigious 'Hind Rattan' India Post News Service

T

he 36th International Congress of Non Resident In dians (NRIs) hosted a Mega Event in New Delhi generating global partnerships by inviting highly accomplished NRIs from various parts of the world.

On the occasion, American Social Entrepreneur and Prince Organization CEO Sunil Tolani along with other distinguished and eminent NRIs were honored with "Hind Rattan Award" ("Jewel of India") one of the highest Indian Diaspora awards granted annually to non-resident persons of Indian origin (NRIs) by the NRI Welfare Society of India for their outstanding achievements and contributions.

The award is granted at the Society's annual congress on the eve of India's Republic Day, in conjunction with national Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations. The award ceremony was attended by The Prime Minister's office, senior members of the Government, Supreme Court of India, international

diplomats and celebrities.

Congratulating the awardees, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "NRIs have been our brand ambassadors since decades. They are showcasing the image of India by culture, tradition, skills and style of life while dwelling in foreign countries. It will be our duty to keep them sentimentally and emotionally linked for enabling them to make substantial contributions towards the progress of the motherland. NRIs have now become the strength of an economically and financially powerful India.

They have always been in forefront to upload the dignity and cause of motherland that is Bharat."

Upon getting the written confirmation Tolani wrote that "I credit my parents for instilling values and teaching me the

importance of promoting ethical and kind behavior. I live by example that greatness is not found in material possessions, power or

Sunil Tolani

Seniors celebrate India's Republic Day Cont’d from page 18

The actual Republic Day celebration began with all seniors waving Indian flags and chanting

ecutive member Parasotam Pandya gave birthday wishes to all seniors who were born in January and February. Pandya also presented flowers to birthday

Mohmmad Rafi), was another big draw and highlight.

They sang Rashtriya songs and Bollywood songs from 60,70 and also new Bollywood songs.

Surendra Jhingan feted on his 90th birthday

"Bharat Mata ki Jai, Azad Hind Jindabad". A salute to the flags of India and America was followed by singing of Indian and American Anthems. Pandya greeted all present with best wishes for 68th Republic Day of India Hiraji gave information about "Mansarover" tour by video presentation. BSC Trustee and ex-

members. Surendra Jhingan's 90th birthday was celebrated with cutting of cake.

The two-hour long cultural program by Chicago land local popular singers Shaila Khedkar (Voice of Lata Mageshker and Asha Bhosle), Jitendra Balsara (Voice of Mohmmad Rafi, Kishor Kumar), Atul Varma (Voice of

That was great entertainment for all seniors and many were seen dancing. At the end of the program, Pandya specifically thanked executive members J. Oza, Kalyani Patel, Munjal Patel, Harshida Patel for their hard work in putting together this program.

Later everyone enjoyed a delicious dinner.

position, but in goodness, service, good character and humility.

I am a human with a heart and soul behind the vast organization and not a heartless CEO. I try to do my best to bring a holistic approach to business as our reach and care goes far beyond the walls of our numerous enterprises and business interests across the Americas.

"We have a simple formula for success as success is not somewhere in the future; success is today, right now. If you are successful at what you do daily, it naturally accumulates and you become successful. Successful are those who endeavor, preserve, work hard with honesty every single day and integrity focusing on what is important with discipline, energy. They are successful, no matter at what level or what job they are doing.

"I have been fortunate and successful as I've taken the road less travelled being a risk taker and rather ask for forgiveness than permission. We walk the talk with genuine kindness, benevolence and purpose in many shapes and forms believing in the purpose of life is a life of purpose.

"This Honor is my biggest Trophy and it feels like I have won

who has met him is not surprised by his meteoric rise as he walks the talk and proves, it does not matter where you start , it matter where you finish with hard work.

His story is a story of how dreams turn into reality."

"Sunil is the pride of World Sindhi Community," wrote Dilip Butani, a past committee member of the Sindhi Association (SASC) and President of Lions club little India. "When I get him on the phone, he's likely to be in CO, TX, MIAMI, NYC or somewhere in the world as he is to be in L.A. He works very hard and everyone who surrounds him wants a piece of him."

Ashok Patnaik of United Federation of Indian Community says, "Sunil truly is a humanitarian as any non-profit needs a donation, sponsorship or a piece of electronic for a raffle, his name comes up and we cannot think of any non-profit he has said no too."

Past President of Lions Club Maninder Sethi wrote on his Facebook post "Sunil, you have achieved a greatness that will last longer than any glory of awards.

You have nothing to prove and are your own man. A man I know, I admire and am proud of. My son John Sethi also admires you for

Ashok Patnaik of United Federation of Indian Community says, "Sunil truly is a humanitarian as any non-profit needs a donation, sponsorship or a piece of electronic for a raffle, his name comes up and we cannot think of any non-profit he has said no too." the Super bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup and the World Cup trophy all at once. I will continue to make our Global Indian community even more proud."

Sunil Tolani was nominated by Mohammed Islam, the founder of South Asian Biz Network (SABAN) a pro-business, leadership, advocacy and social network organization for South Asians in America's business community.

Islam said "We are very impressed with his exceptional professionalism and commitments as a Social entrepreneur." He remembers a conversation in which Tolani said "I want to grow Prince Organization with ideals and values and not be impersonally mindlessly pursuing material wealth."

The past president of Indian Association of Southern California (IASC) Kamini Khare said "Sunil Ji is a good example of what a man should be on a daily basis.

What a man does with conscious dignity with his intact family and personal poise. I'm sure anybody

the great advice, roadmap to success and brilliant discussions you always have with the youth. Many can look up to you and say, 'Hey, that could be me one day.' Congratulations for being nominated and winning the Bharat Ratan Award 2017, the most prestigious of awards for Indians living abroad who aspire to raise the bar for bringing laurels to their motherland."

Deepak Singh, Convener of the Society, wrote in a memo to the selection committee that "Tolani has the highest values, greatest interests and deepest passions for living a life full of giving and always willing to donate time and money to philanthropy. He is turning into an icon of kindness and compassion. Sunil Tolani Ji is a shining star. The World NRI community celebrates his lifelong commitment of Social Service. We congratulate him on receiving the Award and hope he always keeps shining.

Cont’d on page 21

Community Across America

January 27, 2017

India Post 21

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Karunakar Asireddy elected ATA President PRAKASH M SWAMY

LAS VEGAS: The American Telugu Association (ATA), an umbrella body of the community in the United States, held its board meeting at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 14. Karunakar Asireddy was sworn in as the new president of the organization.

Aside from the ATA board members, standing committee Chairs, Regional Coordinators and prominent Telugu community members from across the US attended the meeting. More than 200 delegates came from across the US. Incumbent President Sudhakar Perkari passed on the baton to the new President. Along with Asireddy, a revamped board of trustees has also been installed.

ATA unanimously elected 13 of its board of trustees (BOT) from different categories: Bhuvanesh Boojala, Parashuram Pinnapureddy, Vinod Koduru, Jayanth Challa, Krishna Dyapa, Ravinder Reddy, Raghuveer Bandaru, Murali Bommanaveni,

ATA office bearers

constitution and bylaws. The new trustees will be in place for a four-year term begin-

ATA new President Karunakar being sworn in

Soumya Kondapalli, Kiran Reddy Pasham, Raghuveer Reddy, Rinda Kumar Sama, Sharat Vemula. All members of BOT took the oath and promised to uphold the ATA

ning this year (2017-2020).

ATA new board has elected Parmesh Bheemreddy as President-Elect in a unanimous vote and he will serve as President

NRI Tolani awarded prestigious 'Hind Rattan' Cont’d from page 20

"Society promotes unity, progress, friendship & co-operation by organizing seminars, conferences and symposia at national and international levels in different parts of the world and also honor NRI men and women from various parts of the world to recognize their work, contributions and achievements of NRIs. Those who left the country empty handed and made a respected place for themselves outside the country. Thus, also contributing their might in strengthening India's economy for keeping the "Flag of India high. Life is about doing good and executing positively, He has executed. We've become big fans of Tolani Ji," Deepak concluded.

Dr Hiro Badlani, an author on Hinduism, said "Glad to see you doing your best to make a mark in the community being civi-

cally involved and supportive of various organizations and different religions. We are very impressed with the charitable and social activities that you and your family are so involved. Greatly appreciate your 'Service' spirit to involve your two sons also at such a tender age and happy that your sons are being groomed in the right cultural and moral manner by you and Neelam. Our Hindu culture of over 7000 years had probably its beginning in our homeland Sindh! We must inform our children about this with great joy and pride! We offer our best wishes and pray to God to give you both more strength so that you continue to serve the community at large. My best wishes for all family."

The NRI Welfare Society of India serves to link members of the Indian Diaspora with the Government of India. NRI Society is registered with Government of India under Societies Act of 1860.

for 2019-2020. President Karunakar Asireddy, in his presidential address, noted that ATA, as an organization, continued to remember its main mission: to preserve and maintain the heritage of all American Telugus; to promote literary, cultural, educational, religious, social and economic activities of the community, and other aspects as mentioned in the ATA charter.

He unveiled the new committee's vision and plan of action for the next two years on counseling on immigration and jobs for students, skill enhancement training for ATA

members, free online SAT training and college admission counseling for high school students, medical/dental camps for visiting parents, expanding emergency services for Telugu community.

The ATA board elected the executive committee for 2017 and 2018. President: Karunakar Asireddy; President-Elect: Parmesh Bheemreddy; Secretary: Soumya Kondapalli; Treasurer: Kiran Pasham; Joint Secretary: Venugopal Rao Sankineni; Joint Treasurer: Srinivas Dargula; Executive Director: Madhavi Bommineni.

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Mauritius PM hands over power to son PORT LOUIS: Mauritian Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth handed over power to his son Pravind despite anger from the opposition which has called for new elections in the island nation.

Jugnauth, 86, officially handed his resignation to President Ameenah Gurib Fakim - whose role is ceremonial - after long hinting he would step down before his term expires in 2019.

"The job of prime minister involves great responsibility. It is a great burden. I have carried it but now it is time to make way for the youth," he said after resigning.

His son Pravind, 55, was then handed a letter nominating him to the post. Mauritius is a model of political stability in Africa, however the handover has created turbulence on the Indian Ocean island, best known as a dream beach holiday destination.

The younger Jugnauth is both finance minister and leader of the ruling Militant Socialist Movement (MSM). Constitutionally, it is he who takes over if the prime minister resigns. However the opposition has rejected his "inherit-

ance" of the position, and has boycotted his inauguration.

"The best would have been for the prime minister to dissolve the national assembly before his resignation and call an early election," said opposition leader and former Prime Minister Paul Berenger.

Sir Anerood Jugnauth

That sentiment is shared by numerous residents phoning in to local radio shows, declaring they voted for Jugnauth senior in 2014, not his son.

Jugnauth has done several stints as premier since 1982 and

Modi congratulates new Mauritius PM NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Pravind Kumar Jugnauth to congratulate him on taking over

one in the ceremonial role of president.

"It is a shame he has ended more than 50 years of political career in this way. We will organize a political campaign across the country to demand the holding of general elections," Berenger said.

two countries.

Jugnauth thanked the Prime Minister for the telephone call, the PMO said in a statement.

Modi and Jugnauth affirmed their shared commitment to further strengthen the timetested and unique relationship between India a n d Mauritius, the statement said.

M o d i also appreciPravind Kumar Jugnauth ated the leadership as Prime Minister of Mauritius and contribution of outgoing and both leaders expressed Prime Minister Sir Anerood commitment to further Jugnauth to strengthening the strengthen the time-tested and strong bonds of friendship beunique relationship between the tween India and Mauritius. -PTI

Mauritius, an island of 1.3 million inhabitants, regularly tops the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance, and has held a series of peaceful elections and smooth handovers of power since independence from Britain in 1968. -AFP

Army Chief visits Kashmir, assures well-being SRINAGAR: Undertaking his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir as Army Chief, Gen Bipin Rawat reviewed the security situation here and assured the people of the Valley that his force will ensure their well-being.

Gen Rawat, who took charge of the top post on December 31 last, visited Srinagar, Leh and Siachen.

In Srinagar, he was briefed

spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said here.

He said the Army Chief complimented the soldiers on the ground for their high morale, outstanding vigilance and state of preparedness.

Gen Rawat, who has served in Kashmir in various capacities including commanding the prestigious Dagger Division in 20112012 and Rashtriya Rifles Sector in Sopore-Bandipora in 2006-2007, also conveyed his greetings to the people of the Valley, the spokesman said.

The Army Chief "reassured them (people of Kashmir) of the Army's commitment towards their well-being," the Army Chief, Gen Bipin Rawat spokesman said.

Accompanied about the prevailing security sce- by Northern Army Commander Lt nario in Kashmir and the measures Gen D Anbu, Gen Rawat also visinstituted to integrate all govern- ited Siachen and Leh in Ladakh ment agencies for efficient intelli- region of the state. gence generation and successful On arrival at Siachen Base conduct of operations, Defense camp, he paid tributes to the martyrs by laying a wreath at Siachen War Memorial and then interacted with troops posted there, the spokesman said.

Amartya calls for ending inequalities in India LONDON: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has called for political engagement in India to ensure issues of education and healthcare are fully addressed to fight against social inequalities.

The 84-year-old leading Indian economist and philosopher said he would carry on doing his best through the trust he had set up after his Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998 to address social equalities in India.

"The work of the trust has got a lot of attention, so I think we have contributed to the diagnosis of the problem, which is important and necessary for solutions. I think there is need for political engagement on that," said Sen, addressing the South Asia Centre of London School Economics (LSE) to mark the release of a new edition of his seminal work on welfare economics titled 'Collective Choice and Social Welfare'.

In response to a question posed by PTI if he feels his work on welfare economics is as celebrated in action in India as his Nobel Prize achievements, he re-

plied: "Well the simple answer is, no. Not only recently but I have been writing about issues of healthcare and education, particularly girl's education, for years.

"I try to do my best. With my Nobel money I set up a trust called the Pratichi Trust - there's a Bangladesh part and an India part.

Amartya Sen

The India part deals with the issues of education and healthcare, mainly analysis. The Bangladesh part deals mostly with the issue of gender inequality, particularly training women journalists. The Indian part has been concerned with a rather larger set of problems and I will carry on doing my best." -PTI

During his interaction, he appreciated the commitment, dedication, sacrifice and professionalism of all officers Thereafter, the Army chief moved to Leh where he was briefed on the overall security situation and operational preparedness by the Corps Commander, he said.

The chief later interacted with officers and men at the Leh Garrison. During his interaction, he appreciated the commitment, dedication, sacrifice and professionalism of all officers and men posted to the region and called up on them to continue to uphold the core values of the Indian Army, the spokesman said. -PTI

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Make your mind strong, PM to children NEW DELHI: "Bravery is a state of mind. Therefore, we need to make the mind strong," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told children as he encouraged them to read biographies of leaders, sportspersons and others who have done great deeds in their lives.

He made the comments while presenting the National Bravery Awards here to 25 children chosen from across the country for their outstanding acts of velour.

"Presented the National Bravery Awards 2016. I congratulate all the award winners for their exemplary courage," Modi tweeted.

While interacting with the awardees, he said, "Bravery is a state of mind. A healthy body helps, but the prime moving force is the mind. Therefore, we need to make the mind strong," according to a PMO statement.

He urged the children to ensure that the adulation and fame that they are getting, should not become an obstacle to their future progress.

The Prime Minister told the

Prime Minister Narendra Modi presenting the National Bravery Awards 2016 to the children, in New Delhi on January 23. Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Krishna Raj and Secretary Ministry of Women and Child Development Leena Nair are also seen

awardees that their deeds of bravery show their decisiveness as much as their courage, the statement said.

He asked the children to ensure that this award does not become

Netaji played major role in freeing India: PM NEW DELHI: On the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Prime Minister Narendra Modi saluted his velour, saying that it had played a major role in attaining independence for the country.

"I salute Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary. His velour played a major role in freeing India from colonialism," Modi tweeted.

He said Netaji was a great intellectual who always thought about the interests and wellbeing of the marginalized sections of society.

On the occasion, Modi also highlighted that his government had declassified files on Bose.

"Honored that our government got the opportunity to declassify files relating to Netaji Bose & fulfill a popular demand pending for decades," he said in another tweet. -PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary at Parliament House, in New Delhi on January 23

the end of their life s purpose but marks only the beginning for them.

Reminding the children about the significance of the day, which is the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the Prime Minister urged the children to read as much as possible, and especially read biographies of leaders, sportspersons and other people who have done great deeds in their lives, the statement said.

Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi was present on the occasion.

The National Bravery Award Scheme was initiated by the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) to give due recognition to the children who distinguish themselves by performing outstanding deeds of bravery and meritorious service and to inspire other children to emulate their examples. -PTI

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Republic Day parade

Tableau of Arunachal Pradesh

Indian army’s mechanised columns during theRepublic Day parade at Rajpath in New Delhi

Tableau of Delhi

IAF fighter planes flying past during the Republic Day Parade

Tableau of Gujarat

Tableau of Jammu & Kashmir

Territorial Army soldiers march past

Tableau of Maharashtra

Tableau of Manipur

School children perfrom during the Republic Day parade

Tableau of Odisha

Tableau of Indian Air Force

Horoscope

January 27, 2017

India Post

25

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The stationary transit of Rahu and Ketu is in effect till April 2017, Sudden setbacks, obstructions are likely.

Drive safely.

Be patience.

Jan 27th - Feb 2nd 2017 Please send your birthday, place of birth and time, so I can give you your zodiac sign, according to Vedic astrology. Send to Jaysastrology@gmail.com

Y

he professional matters look ok.The week brings new ideas about new ventures or repackaging of your existing services.The promotion is likely to be delayed due to conflicts.Some additional expenses are likely. Take care of your health get regular physical check up. Stay away from disputes.Handle relationship matters with care.It is better to avoid new ventures.The child may need help.

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ou have to be careful in the matter of profession, status and relationships. New opportunities should be taken up only after due care.The professional matters may cause sudden concerns and losses. The promotion may be delayed.Health of father may cause concern.

Due to transit Saturn expect lack of sleep, trouble in foreign land for those living there.

T

his week is good for you in the matter of income and it's likely to bring happiness.The professional matters look ok.The promotions/recognition may be delayed. The time is turning towards betterment.The health of father needs extra care. It is better to avoid haste and conflicts.Avoid unnecessary driving and take care of your health.

Patience is the Mantra.

his week is going to be better for health.Some additional income is likely.

The professional matters look ok.Those who are in international trading may get new opportunities. New opportunities may face obstructions till 15th of February. The health needs care, get regular physical check is time.

Take continued care of your health. Exercise patience.

Romance wise is ok.

T

ome stress is likely in the matter of relationships and partnerships. Exercise patience. Professional matters may face conflicts, Avoid confrontation with other employees. Avoid haste, don't rush into things. Students and those who are appearing in selections should work with patience. The transit of Rahu/ Ketu can bring sudden setbacks and obstructions. Businessmen may face stress.

S

he professional matters better.The mental peace and emotions are likely to be disturbed. Stay away from conflicts.Some additional expenses are likely. Silence is golden for you.The prolonged transit planetary influences caused by Rahu/Ketu are difficult for those whose ascending degree is around 9 or some planet is around 9 degree in odd signs up to 15th of April, 2017.

T

S

T

T

T

T

T

he week indicates prob lems in job/profession.

Handle relationship and property matters with patience.

Child needs extra care & help, Focus on the child.

Some additional stress, losses and extra expenses are likely.It is better to avoid unnecessary driving, and avoiding risky activities. Take care of your health, see doctor is required. Romance wise avoid disputes.

he professional matters look ok.This week indicates the incidence of conflicts, litigation and health concerns. Manage conflicts with patience and compromise. Silence is golden.

There is some extra mental stress. Handle relationship matters with patience. Keep new ventures pending. Avoid manipulations. Child may need help. The time is not good for your father.

he professional matters look better.Take care of relationship and property matters. Work with patience and avoid conflicts.Handle new ventures with due care, may want to wait for better time to expand. The health of parents may cause concerns.The week may involve some additional expenses.Avoid haste, aggressive behaviour, conflicts, unnecessary expenses and driving/travel.

he professional matters are looking up.Some additional income is likely.

Some new opportunities may also come up.Avoid speculation. Always invest in safe assets. Patience is the best medicine. Take care of your health. Some income constraints are likely. Strengthen your birth planets through a Special Power Kavach as transit weakness of planets can bring sudden mishaps.

ome of you are likely to be promoted/recognized. The professional matters look better. Obstructions are likely in the sources of income.Health of the spouse may cause concerns. Manage obstructions with patience.

It is better to avoid manipulations and driving. Strengthen your birth planets through a Special Power Kavach as transit weakness of planets can bring sudden mishaps.

he professional matters look better.Some business related journey is likely.

Some additional expenses are likely.Manage things with patience. Romance wise take it slow, as disputes and conflicts are there.The prolonged transit planetary influences caused by Rahu/Ketu are difficult for those whose ascending degree is around 9 or some planet is around 9 degrees in odd signs.

This weekly horoscope is more focused and accurate as these are based on ascending signs. The ascending sign is worked out on the basis of your date, time and place of birth. You will find the predictions at other places based on your Sun sign or Moon sign. The Sun remains in one sign of zodiac for one month whereas the Moon remains in one sign for about 54 hours. It is the ascending sign, which changes every couple of hours." That is how this site offers you more focused predictions.

JATIN P - ACHARYA MIHIR • JAYSASTROLOGY@GMAIL.COM • 630-675-7148

January 27, 2017

26 India Post www.indiapost.com

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TOP TEN HINDI FILM SONGS

28 India Post

January 27, 2017

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akistani actor Mahira Khan says she feels bad that she is not able to promote her Bollywood debut Raees in India due to the climate of political tension between India and Pakistan.

The 32-year-old actor stars alongside Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the Rahul Dholakia-directed film.

In an interview to BBC Urdu, Mahira said she has put in a lot of effort in the project and feels bad that she can't see the results. "Of course, I feel bad. When you put so much effort and hard work in a project, you wish to see the results. I work with same dedication and zeal in all my projects, but Raees is very special," she said.

Speaking about her fears, she said, "I'm scared about saying what I feel. I believe I'll end up causing offence. It is unfortunate though."

1 Nashe Si Chadh Gayi: Befikre 2 Channa Mereya: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil 3 Love You Zindagi: Dear Zindagi 4 Ude Dil Befikre: Befkire 5 Dhaakad: Dangal 6 The Breakup Song: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil 7 Haanikaarak Bapu : Dangal 8 Ae Dil Hai Mushkil: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil 9 Tu hi hai : Dear Zindagi 10 Gilehriyaan: Dangal

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here have been a lot of discussions about women empowerment and feminism. In 2016, Anushka Sharma was called out by a few media outlets for setting women back with her role in Sultan.

According to reports, her character "threw away years of ambition in the most regressive way possible". Ask Richa if as a feminist, she feels pressurized to pick an ethical or morally right film, and she says, "The responsibility of choosing the right project shouldn't just lie on women, but men as well."

She feels everyone should "raise the bar and do what's right". "Is feminism only a woman's prerogative? Shouldn't it be the other way round? Who propagates patriarchy and causes women to be oppressed? It's not women, but often men. So, why don't we say that everybody should write better characters and better content," says Richa.

H

rithik Roshan and Suzanne Khan are no longer a married couple. Last year, they have ended their 17 years old marriage legally. Despite having no any formal relationship, the ex-couple clicked very often together, partying, vacationing and moving around. They bonded very well post divorce and looked very comfortable and happy in each other's company. Couple of times, it was also reported that Hrithik and Suzanne might give their marriage a second chance but Suzanne clearly cleared the air that they are together only for the sake of their two sons and they would never get back together.

Hrithik and Suzanne celebrated Christmas together, rang in New Year together and the superhero also celebrated his birthday with his ex-wife and two children, Hrehaan and Hridhaan. Hrithik and Suzanne separated mutually and post separation they have maintained a cordial relationship.

Speaking to Mumbai Miror, Hrithik said, "My relationship with Sussanne is peaceful. We are loving parents and friends to each other."

Bollywood

January 27, 2017

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unny Leone has come a long way in the Bollywood film industry. Not only has she bagged the leading lady roles in films, but now fans will see her romancing the Badshah himself Shah Rukh Khan, in a special dancer number in 'Raees'. A huge fan of SRK, Sunny is ruling the music charts with her 'latka-jhatkas' in the reprised version of the song 'Laila main laila'.

The diva recently tried her hand at mimicking King Khan by mouthing his popular dialogue from the film, "Koi dhandha chota nahi hota, aur dhande se bada koi dharam nahi hota."

"Koi dhandha chota nahi hota, aur dhande se bada koi dharam nahi hota."

T

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aapsee Pannu is currently prepping up for the climax of Neeraj Pandey's 'Naam Shabana' with a Hollywood stuntman, stunt director and martial arts expert, Cyril Raffaelli who designed the action for films like 'The Transporter', 'Tekken' and 'The Incredible Hulk' to name a few.

Cyril has flown down to Hyderabad where the actress is shooting her Telugu horror-comedy, 'Muni 3: Kanchana 2', to train her for the final leg of the thriller in mid-February.

Taapsee says, "The climax is going to be pretty intense and there's a lot of action that I'm going to be doing. Cyril has been great mentor and Akshay sir too has been a great guiding force for 'Naam Shabana', especially for my stunt training. I did an extensive two month-long training for the earlier schedule and now when I'm going to be shooting in Hyderabad, we'll further work on the stunts.

he last time Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar came together on screen (for 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha'), everyone thought they were an unlikely pair. But they pleasantly surprised everyone with their fresh chemistry on screen, and their performances were lapped up by the audience.

Now, two years since their first outing, Ayushmann and Bhumi will come together again for another quirky love story. Of course, having lost oodles of weight, the leading lady is a far cry from her appearance in her first film. This one, titled Shubh Mangal Savdhan, directed by RS Prasanna, will be jointly produced by Aanand L Rai and Eros.

Aanand says, "It is a funny and layered story. These are the kind of stories I've identified with, right from the time I made 'Tanu Weds Manu'. It is a simple narrative with an interesting bend and the reason I cast Ayushmann and Bhumi is that they fit the bill perfectly. They are the sort of actors I could be friends with even if they didn't belong to the fraternity. They are simple and humble."

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30 India Post

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equels, biopics, history lessons, fantasies and a prequel - that is what Bollywood has lined up for movie buffs in 2017, a year in which the Indian film industry will hope to produce better content and stand up to the increasing presence of Hollywood blockbusters in the country's movie calendar.

While 2016 had a shortage of good films, it showed that Indian audiences have developed an appetite for movies that don't always tick the traditional check boxes.

"Dangal", the highest grossing Hindi movie of all time, featured Aamir Khan as a pot-bellied, attimes despotic father; "Pink" spoke openly about promiscuity

B

ollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has won People's Choice Award for her TV series 'Quantico,' for the second time running.

On her winning speech, Priyanka said, "I'm really happy being a 'drama queen' if this is how it's done!"

Dressed in a lovely peach col-

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and consent, and yet was a sleeper hit.

Shah Rukh Khan's "Raees" (Rich) and Hrithik Roshan's "Kaabil" (Able) are two big-ticket films that will kick off 2017. Directed

by Rahul Dholakia, "Raees" is the story of a bootlegger (played by Khan) and is said to be based on the true story of gangster Abdul Latif, although the makers have denied it. Khan will be hoping that his latest film makes a bigger impact at the box office than his last few releases.

Akshay Kumar plays a struggling lawyer who stumbles upon a big case in the second edition of "Jolly LLB", replacing Arshad Warsi in the main role. Taapsee

ored off-shoulder gown, Piggy Chops also congratulated her fellow nominees - Ellen Pompeo, Taraji P Henson, Viola Davis and Kerry Washington and said that they were the reason she joined the show. Sitting in the crowd, her Baywatch co-star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson applauded Priyanka.

Priyanka said, "I'm really happy being a 'drama queen' if this is how it's done!"

January 27, 2017

Pannu plays the lead in "Naam Shabana", a prequel to the 2014 "Baby", and Ram Gopal Varma makes his umpteenth attempt at a comeback with political thriller "Sarkar 3", which has Amitabh Bachchan in the lead.

But the two sequels that will have everyone's attention are Ali Abbas Zafar's "Tiger Zinda Hai", with Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif reprising their roles from 2014's "Ek Tha Tiger", and S S Rajamouli's "Baahubali: The Conclusion". The Telugu director's

epic fantasy "Baahubali: The Beginning" broke box office records in India when it released in 2015 and made Bollywood sit up and take notice. The sequel is expected to release in April.

Biopics seem to be the new fad for most Bollywood studios, and 2017 will also see a host of real-life stories retold on celluloid.

"Thank you to all of you," she said, referring to 'the People'.

"Thank you for accepting me."

"I am really psyched. Can I do a little wiggle? I am sorry it's the concussion talking...this (award) means the world to me," the actress said while accepting the

trophy.

Priyanka Chopra has already shot for the second season of the TV show and she received lots of love from the Hollywood audience for her role. 'Quantico' airs on the network ABC in the US, and is shown on Star World in India.

Cont'd on Page 32

January 27, 2017

India Post 31

Madame Tussaud's in Hong Kong PREETI VERMA LAL

I

n Hong Kong, meeting a celebrity is as easy as climbing a mountain. Not walk up 428 meters, but take Asia's first funicular to The Peak and step on the red carpet. In Hong Kong Madame Tussaud's, time stands still. So do the celebrities in wax. More than 100 famous personalities looking

real in Asia's first permanent Madame Tussaud's.

Inside the Historical and National Heroes section, Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister

Tussaud's team is exceptional at what they do," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he met his wax version. Dressed in kurta pyjama and his signature jacket,

Narendra Modi stand side by side.

Legendary movie star Amitabh Bachchan dressed in black bandgala and white trousers makes his presence felt in the World Premiere section.

"What can I say? As far as art is concerned, the Madame

his wax statues took residence at four Madame Tussaud's attractions - London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok. Each figure took a team of talented artists four months and around HKD 1.8 million to create.

"We are delighted to welcome

Israeli Safari saves baby mandrill Viva Sarah Press

V

ets at Ramat Gan Safari nursed this newborn mandrill back to health.

Pic Zoological Center Tel Aviv Ramat Gan Safari Israeli zookeepers at the Zoological Center Tel Aviv - Ramat Gan Safari nursed a baby mandrill back to life and his mother was only too pleased to snuggle him in her arms.

The latest member of the mandrill group at the Israeli zoo was born on January 9 and found by zookeepers in an overnight enclosure that Tinkerbell, the mother, shared with her other son, Tuvia. The small, weak newborn was trying to cling to his 13-year-old mother's belly but was instead being dragged behind.

The zookeepers say they watched the mandrill and Tinkerbell attempt numerous times to connect without success. Mandrill babies must cling to the hair of the mother's chest and be supported by her hand for the first two to three weeks of their lives, re-

ports the Safari.

The species is considered vulnerable in the wild.

A blown-up surgical glove gives this baby mandrill something to cuddle while being treated. Pic Zoological Center Tel Aviv - Ramat Gan Safari Zookeepers carefully extracted

drill for fear his mother would not accept him back.

Once the baby mandrill was stronger, the veterinarians brought him back to the night enclosure and found an irritated and disoriented Tinkerbell searching for her newborn.

The zookeepers report that within seconds of seeing what

the baby from the enclosure and hurried him over to the onsite Wildlife Hospital. Veterinarians gave him oxygen, warmed his body temperature and nursed him back to health.

The vets did not wash the man-

they were holding in their hands, Tinkerbell came over to them to snatch her baby back and quickly snuggled him close to her belly.

The Safari vets report that within 24 hours they observed Tinkerbell breastfeeding her baby son.

Mr Modi to the world stage here", says Jenny You, Director, Sales &

Marketing, Madame Tussaud's Hong Kong.

Pics: Preeti Verma Lal

32 India Post

January 27, 2017 www.indiapost.com

Aamir Khan not interested Rishi 'can't be friend' to son Ranbir in Hollywood

S

uperstar Aamir Khan says he has no interest in work ing in Hollywood but is open to do international projects if something interesting comes up his way.

"I don't have any interest in going to the US and working there.

I am totally interested in working for Indian films. I have a relationship with the audience here for last 25-26 years and I cherish and give a lot of value to it," Aamir said in an interview when asked if he has any plans to work in the Hollywood in the future.

"But that doesn't mean it is a bad idea to entertain the world audience. I just don't have that interest. It's not my career graph that I will try and work for doing international films," he said.

The 51-year-old actor, however, said he is open to work in global film projects if something interesting is offered to him. "...But it doesn't mean that I am adamant on not doing any international film. If I get something interesting I will do it. There are no boundaries for creative purpose. If I get

an offer from Japan and if I like it, I will do it," he adds.

On big ticket Hollywood films like 'Jurassic Park', 'Spiderman' series and 'The Jungle Book' mint-

ing good money in India, the 'Dangal' star said any good film will do well commercially and such

projects from abroad do not pose a threat to Hindi films.

"I don't think Indian cinema has any threat from Hollywood. We should fear and be afraid with ourselves because if we make bad films then we will automatically lose out on our audience. I don't think it is possible for anyone to come and eat into our business," he said.

"If a film is good, be it any language it will get good response. Our aim should be to make good films. People come to theaters with the intention of watching a good film," adds Aamir.

Irrfan Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anil Kapoor and more recently Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone are among the Indian stars who have explored their prospects in international cinema.

Shah Rukh is happier with women

H

e's known as the King of Romance. Being wooed

by Shah Rukh Khan on celluloid -whether it is on mountain tops or in some mohalla - is every Bollywood actress' dream.

The superstar unabashedly claims that he enjoys the company of women more than men, but it's not just romance that he's talking about.

He emphasizes that women have always played a central and crucial role in his life. In reality and in his movies, including the upcoming drama 'Raees', which has him playing a don.

"I lost my father early in life, and I was closer to my mom. I guess children are closer to their mothers. I was brought up by a woman who was energetic, practical in a certain sense, and very beautiful, like all mothers are.

My mom impacted my life deeply, and it's not just what she told me, but what she did for me. Since I was 13-14 years old, I spent a lot of time with women. I was the only

boy in my mom's family.

"On her side, there were four sisters. Even those sisters didn't have a boy first, so in a way, I was surrounded only by them. Even my grandfather died early, so whatever I knew of my mom's family in Bengaluru, they were only women.

I have been brought up by women and I would hang out with them.

Strangely, I went to a boys' school, so that was a contrast. On one side, I saw boys all day, and at home, it was all women power.

Then, much later, I got married and I had a daughter, so more women entered my life. Honestly, I get along better with women and I enjoy their company more," he

says.

The actor always displays an innate kind of sensitivity towards women, a quality that leaves the ladies around him floored and awestruck, to say the least. And he's worked with some of the most talented and gorgeous women in the industry. He's quick to add, "In my films, the leading lady's part has to be important, as I believe that women play an important role in the world. Being a hero who has worked with the most beautiful women, I got to know them over the years. Even in my upcoming film, the female characters have been instrumental in the rise of 'Raees'."

"He's helped a lot by the women in the mohalla, and though he is a criminal, they are not scared of him.

There is a scene where he is seen chatting and joking with them. In their own subtle way, they stand by him. I am not talking about just the leading actress (Mahira Khan), but also the other female characters. At first, I didn't realize this aspect of the story, but as we went along, it struck me that women play a big role in shaping Raees," he adds.

V

eteran actor Rishi Kapoor, known for his outspoken nature, said he just 'cannot be a friend' to his son Ranbir Kapoor when it comes to discussing personal life.

Though the 64-year-old star says he has all the love for his son, he prefers respecting each other's private space. Shedding light on his relationships with his father, Raj Kapoor, he said, "I never argued with my father and it so happened that unfortunately the same kind of relationship passed on with me and Ranbir."

"I really want that there should be love and respect between me and Ranbir, but at the same time I want that there should be some kind of distance that I can see you but I can't feel you," the veteran actor said.

The actor was in conversation with author Suhel Seth at the launch of his book titled 'Khullam Khull: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored', which was attended by his wife Neetu Singh and daughter Riddhima Kapoor Sahni.

Rishi says that he may be wrong with what he feels about his relationship with Ranbir but he wants to keep it that way. "I know I'm wrong. Ranbir has his own point of view about it while I have my own. He feels that when he is going to have kids he is not going to be like me. Call it a generation gap or whatever I'm like that."

Rishi said that all through

Ranbir's childhood he was busy working in films and was unable to give that much time to him. "I was extremely busy during Ranbir's childhood days and he was more close to Neetu probably he felt that he needs his father but I'm sorry I just can't and I'm failed. I can't be a friend father to a son. I was never that way with my father as well. You

have to accept the way I am."

The tell-all book sees the 'Bobby' star revealing some of the flustering aspects of his life, where he talked about his father and filmmaker Raj Kapoor's affairs with coactors and his passion for cinema, besides capturing the evolution of their father-son relationship.

Bollywood films to watch out for Cont'd from Page 30

Shraddha Kapoor and her brother Siddhanth Kapoor will star in a biopic of Haseena Parkar, the sister of India's most wanted man, mafia boss Dawood Ibrahim. Titled "Haseena: The Queen of Mumbai", the film is directed by Apoorva Lakhia and expected to hit the big screen in the latter half of the year. But the underworld biopic to watch out for is Ashim Ahluwalia's "Daddy", based on the life of Mumbai underworld gangster Arun Gawli.

Rajkumar Hirani directs Ranbir Kapoor in the much anticipated biopic of troubled actor Sanjay Dutt, and actor Rahul Bose will direct and act in "Poorna", the reallife story of a tribal girl who scaled Mount Everest.

There's also a history lesson or two for audiences in theatres.

Vishal Bhardwaj's espionage thriller "Rangoon", set towards the end of World War II, comes out in February. The story of 14th century Delhi ruler Alauddin Khilji and Hindu queen Padmavati comes to life on screen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmavati".

Bollywood hasn't stopped producing its staple content though.

David Dhawan's "Judwaa 2", a sequel (sort of) to a film he made 20 years ago, releases this year, as does Rohit Shetty's "Golmaal Again", the fourth edition in a series of what feels like the same film each time with different names.

The big Eid release this year is Kabir Khan's "Tubelight", starring Salman Khan and Chinese actress Zhu Zhu. Imtiaz Ali's film with Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma, tentatively titled "The Ring", also comes out in the latter half of the year.

January 27, 2017

India Post 33 www.indiapost.com

Travel meets star power at Paris mens' show PARIS: Travel, trekking and urban exploration defined the Paris Menswear Week. And did someone mention celebrities?

Here are the highlights of the day's fall/winter 2017 shows: LOUIS VUITTON'S SUPREME FRONT ROW The word ``Supreme'' printed on the looks paraded down the catwalk just about said it all.

When it comes to fashion shows and celebrity pull, Louis Vuitton is indeed a cut above the rest.

Photographers went wild as Kate Moss arrived with slickedback hair and dressed to the nines in Louis Vuitton, including leggings and a multicolored sweater.

The 43-year-old model sat next to David Beckham, who opted for a soft-beige Louis Vuitton knit turtleneck and the safety of his shades.

The front row carried additional evidence of the house's PR coup in the forms of Usher, actors James Marsden and Will Poulter, and sports stars Rio Ferdinand and Lewis Hamilton.

A seasoned fashion performer, Moss was the first to dart out of the show venue _ and the glare of the cameras _ as soon as the display ended.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: VUITTON-STYLE Travel-conscious Louis Vuitton looked to the Big Apple

for inspiration this season, pro- use of the ``Louis Vuitton'' brandducing a collection that celebrated ing and LV monogram, which New York of the 1970s, 1980s and tended to distract the eye. early-1990s.

The chic, loose-tailored coats ISSEY MIYAKE GOES recalled the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in Manhattan and mixed with logo-filled denim to summon Harlem of the `80s to nice effect.

Excessive glittering jewelry, meanwhile, was more than reminiscent of the heady days of Studio 54. ``It's uptown and downtown,'' designer Kim Jones said. ``Artists and musicians, friends and heroes.''

But this was a Paris show at heart.

The printed French silk shirts, workwear items in luxury cashmere and alligator, as well as the venue _ Paris' Palais-Royal) _ ensured no one forgot A model wears a creation for Louis Vuitton Men’s that.

Fall Winter 2017-2018 fashion collection Sumptuous pajama presented in Paris styles, a Jones signature, delved into the archives and TREKKING recreated prints from 1930s Louis Urban outfits that can weather Vuitton advertisements. the extremes of nature was the It was a nice touch that reined highly prescient theme at Issey in the edginess and recalled the Miyake. heritage house's classical roots.

Fashionistas holding coffee The only possible drawback of cups braved the frosted gardens the strong collection was the over- of Paris' Jardin des Plantes for the

Shahid's brother Ishaan makes debut A

midst several speculations about his next film, Shahid Kapoor's half-brother, Ishaan Khattar decided to make his acting debut with an international project. He will start shooting for critically acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi's film in India.

Initially there were rumors that Ishaan will be doing one of Karan Johar's films but with no update on that front, the newbie who had his aim high, decided to start with this one. Apparently titled Beyond The Clouds, the film will have Ishaan playing one of the protagonists in this brother-sister story.

Elaborating on the role, producer Shareen Mantri Kedia revealed that the young lad will play someone who is deeply connected to the ground and the city.

From what we hear, Majid

Majidi had approached Honey Trehan, the casting director to

Ishaan Kapoor

scout talented actors who will play leading actors in his forthcoming film.

Ishaan, apparently, aced the look test and suited the role of the brother perfectly because of which Majid Majidi decided to go ahead with the decision.

D e e p i k a Padukone was also spotted shooting for the film with Majid Majidi but the details of the same are yet to be known. Ishaan Khattar is shooting for Beyond The Clouds in South Mumbai.

fall-winter 2017 collection, with some unfortunate ones slipping on the soil and begrudging the frost.

But the clothes on the catwalk provided some functional ideas for how to join forces with and embrace nature instead.

Textured shirts hand-printed in pop patterns and inspired by white birch forests jazzed up the start of the show.

But the style crescendo came later - in loose sweaters and cardigan jackets conceived in luxurious wool-cut jacquard that reflected the changing hues of autumn leaves.

A 1983 archive coat in divine violet also was a standout, cut beautifully in long billowing proportions of washed nylon taffeta.

Fashionistas might be pleased to know that the garments were, according to the program notes, all lightweight and wrinkle-resistant - and could probably endure other kinds of fall.

RICK OWENS' STYLE FEAST Rick Owens conjured an artistic feast in a surreal mix of gothic styles and abstract plays on (over-)size.

As always for the Americanborn fashion master, there was method to the madness and great complexity at work behind simple looking silhouettes.

The leitmotif of the 41 designs was the horizontal line.

Lines appeared on coats as paneling or in the grooves of

huge, multicolored bubble jacket sections. They were haphazardly banded around the bodies of waif-like models with long grungy hair.

Elsewhere, light fabric was tied around the neck and shoulders to hold it together.

It evoked a rudimentary bandage, or perhaps over-stuffed sleeping bag casing.

Silhouettes were long and loose - and at times seemed to intentionally unfurl at the seams.

Whatever the intention, it's clear why Owens is so often compared to an artist. Each piece was unique.

DRIES VAN NOTEN It was a pared-down affair for Dries Van Noten.

The Belgian designer riffed on the wide shoulder, sartorial styles and baggy knit sweaters of the on-trend early 1980s.

The retro looks were accessorized with pointed, winklepicker shoes.

But proceedings at the fallwinter show stayed classic and packed no surprises.

That's unusual for Van Noten, a designer who is one of the original members of the famed Antwerp Six avant-garde fashion group.

In a play-safe collection that showcased traditional fabrics, single- and double-breasted suits filed by among tweeds and long woolen coats.-AP

Better late, says Shatrughan Sinha V

eteran actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who was presented with the lifetime achievement award at the Jio Filmfare awards, says it was great to receive the honor from his friend Amitabh Bachchan.

"What more one can ask for...its better late than never," Sinha said.

"The joy of the award increased manifold when it was presented to

me by my friend and great actor Amitabh Bachachan in the presence of veteran director Subhash Ghai and my darling daughter Sonakshi Sinha," Sinha said.

Starting his Bollywood career with Dev Anand's 'Prem Pujari', Sinha went on to act in more than 200 Hindi movies. The 70-year-old Sinha has played a long inning in politics also.

In Brief Bill targeting ethnic studies won't advance PHOENIX: A Republican lawmaker's proposal to penalize colleges and universities that teach ``ethnic studies'' classes won't get a hearing in the Arizona House education committee.

Committee chairman Rep. Paul Boyer confirmed that fellow Re-

Immigration 34 India Post

www.indiapost.com

Conditions in Greek island camps deplored Details on page 37

January 27, 2017

Changes in immigration laws & impact on India in Trump rule ANU PESHAWARIA

Rep. Paul Boyer

publican Bob Thorpe's bill won't advance. He didn't give a reason and said Thorpe is expected to issue a statement.

House Bill 2120 would ban classes Thorpe calls divisive, with violators losing 10 percent of their state funding. The Legislature banned similar classes in K-12 schools seven years ago.

Boyer wouldn't comment on the fate of another Thorpe proposal, House Bill 2119. Thorpe says he's targeting colleges and universities granting in-state tuition to immigrants granted deferred deportation under an Obama Administration policy. It also carries a 10 percent penalty.

Thorpe's proposals were criticized by Democrats. -AP

„ Salt Lake City immigration detainees gone SALT LAKE CITY: Authorities say the end of a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract with the Utah County sheriff means people taken into custody in Salt Lake City to await deportation proceedings are being transferred out of state.

The Deseret News reports that some detainees have been transferred to Henderson, Nevada, while others are being taken as far away as Alabama.

Utah County officials said last year they needed the jail space and could no longer accommodate immigration detainees.

Chief Sheriff's Deputy Darin Durfey said the contract ended Dec. 6.

Immigration attorney Skyler Anderson says the move means noncitizens will probably have to appear before an immigration judge by video with their Utah attorney appearing by telephone and family and witnesses might not be present. -AP

W

hile the United States Presidential election re lated activities were on peak last month, even in the midst of my busy schedule in my law firm at the United States of America, I have been closely watching Trump's statements on immigration.

Trump continues to make headlines with each of his statements being highlighted as a matter of 'grave concern' especially for developing countries such as India.

This is quite natural given the fact that a very large population from our country migrates to the United States for business, family and employment related purposes ever year, thanks to the opportunities the U.S has always been offering.

Some of the most important questions our people need to carefully consider today when they think of 'immigrating' to the U.S are: What is the existing immigration law (under the Obama administration)? What is Trump's stand on immigration? What does this hold for India? What can India do

for its citizens to ensure that their transition to the U.S is hassle free?

For enabling the President to ensure this, the federal law gives him broad authority to enforce

immigration law as well as regulatory leeway in the form of policy recommendations and executive actions. The biggest fear India has is related to the curtailment of the

Anu Peshawaria

H-1B program which allows 65,000 workers a year mostly used by Indian software engineers to work in the US. While Trump would need an act of Congress to substantially raise the qualification standard for an H-1B visa or to lower the annual cap for the same, he could use his executive power to tighten up rules or pass new laws such as the recent bill to raise the minimum wages and remove the masters degree cap to make the process more painful for the visa applicants.

What we need to understand here is that, over the years, there has been considerable misuse of loopholes in this (H-1B visa) program, and hence the President is at total liberty to plug those loopholes. However, if the President enforces law to the extent that shuts down immigration completely, the American people and the U.S economy is going to suffer; hence, this is unlikely to happen.

Cont'd on Page 36

New legislation to tighten H1B visas WASHINGTON: Two powerful US Senators have announced they will introduce a legislation which, if passed by the Congress, would give preference to foreigners studying in American universities, a move that will tighten the noose around the H1B visa program and could hurt Indian IT firms.

The bill - to be introduced by Senator Chuck Grassley and Dick Durban - will require US Citizenship and Immigration Services to prioritize for the first time annual allocation of H-1B visas. It will ensure the "best and brightest" students being educated in the US receive preference for an H1B visa, a statement issued by the Senators said.

The preference system also gives a leg up to advanced degree holders, those being paid a high wage, and those with valu-

able skills, it said.

"Congress created these programs to complement America's high-skilled workforce, not replace

"Our bill takes these steps to ensure that the programs work for Americans and skilled foreign workers alike" it. Unfortunately, some companies are trying to exploit the programs by cutting American workers for cheaper labor," Grassley said.

"We need programs dedicated to putting American workers first.

When skilled foreign workers are needed to meet the demands of

our labor market, we must also ensure that visa applicants who honed their skills at American colleges and universities are a priority over the importation of more foreign workers," he said.

"Our bill takes these steps to ensure that the programs work for Americans and skilled foreign workers alike," said Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The legislation restores Congress' original intent in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs by increasing enforcement, modifying wage requirements and securing protections for both American workers and visa holders.

"Reforming the H-1B and L-1 visa programs is a critical component of fixing our broken immigration system and must be included in comprehensive immigration reform legislation," Durbin said.

"For years, foreign outsourcing

companies have used loopholes in the laws to displace qualified American workers and facilitate the outsourcing of American jobs. The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act would end these abuses and protect American and foreign workers from exploitation. I thank Senator Grassley for partnering with me on this important bipartisan legislation," he said.

The bill among other things would crack down on outsourcing companies that import large numbers of H-1B and L-1 workers for temporary training purposes only to send the workers back to their home countries to do the same job.

Specifically, it would prohibit companies with more than 50 employees, of which at least half are H-1B or L-1 holders, from hiring additional H-1B employees, the statement said. -PTI

Immigration Post

January 27, 2017

India Post 35

www.indiapost.com

Asylum-seekers being turned away at border SAN DIEGO: Immigrant advocacy groups say that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are allegedly turning away asylumseekers before their claims can be heard, violating obligations under U.S. and international law.

The groups said they began fielding reports in the summer that border crossers entering the country from Mexico were being told that they couldn't seek asylum, that they needed visas, or that that they first had to petition Mexi-

groups, including the American Immigration Lawyers Association, American Civil Liberties Union and American Immigration Council, urged an investigation ``to fully address this alarming new trend.''

Requests for asylum and other forms of humanitarian relief have surged in recent years, with many crossers turning themselves in instead of trying to avoid capture.

After clearing a ``credible fear'' interview, their cases move to immigration courts, a process that

Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the Homeland Security Department, said in a statement that there has been no policy change on asylum procedures and that it doesn't tolerate any abuse. If someone expresses fear of being returned to their home country, the person must be sent to an asylum officer can authorities for relief. Under U.S. law, any foreigner may claim asylum.

Many are left with the impression that the U.S. is no longer considering asylum requests, according to the complaint filed to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's inspector general. Six

could take years and allow them to remain in the country until a decision is reached.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which does the initial screening, said it had 92,071 cases in the 2016 fiscal year, nearly double the 47,928 cases it handled the previous year and more than

16 times the 5,523 cases in 2009.

The complaint highlights several cases at border crossings from California to Texas. A Salvadoran woman who said she was receiving death threats at home over her membership in a political party was allegedly laughed at, threatened and turned away with her 3-year-old son when she sought protection at a south Texas crossing in November.

A former Mexican police officer who had been ``brutally attacked by a cartel'' was allegedly told by officers in San Diego in July that asylum applications were not being accepted, forcing him into hiding.

Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the Homeland Security Department, said in a statement that there has been no policy change on asylum procedures and that it doesn't tolerate any abuse. If someone expresses fear of being returned to their home country, the person must be sent to an asylum officer for the initial screening. ``The United States has long adhered to international laws and conventions allowing people to seek asylum on grounds that they are being persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, political beliefs or other factors,'' the agency said. -AP

Iowa won't help Feds enforce immigration laws IOWA CITY, Iowa: Iowa City leaders have decided the city won't help federal officials enforce immigration law.

The City Council voted unanimously for a resolution that says the city - with few exceptions will take no law enforcement action and won't spend any city money to aid federal officials.

The city began discussing the policy in early December after several community members requested that Iowa City become a ``sanctuary city.'' The council decided at a previous meeting not to declare itself a sanctuary city, the Iowa Press-Citizen reported.

The resolution says the enforcement exceptions include public safety threats as determined by local police and situations in which cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be necessary to protect the public.

The resolution also says the

``power to regulate immigration is exclusive to the federal government'' and notes that no federal law requires city police to help enforce immigration law. City employees will not be prohibited from sending or receiving information to federal officials regarding the immigration status of any

of its residents and visitors. As some of our speakers said, if some undocumented immigrants fear they will be deported simply for being undocumented, they will avoid reporting to the police crimes they witness or have committed against them. This would make all of our residents feel less

The resolution says the enforcement exceptions include public safety threats as determined by local police and situations in which cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be necessary person.

Mayor Jim Throgmorton said he was proud to support the resolution. ``We intend to keep (Iowa City) a safe and welcoming place for all

safe,'' Throgmorton said.

According to Throgmorton, a majority of the calls and written comments urging the city to not consider the resolution came from outside Iowa City. -AP

Cities receive guidance on sanctuary policies NEW YORK: The state's attorney general has issued guidance to local governments on how they can put laws and policies in place to limit their participation in federal immigration enforcement activities under Republican President Donald Trump's administration.

The guidance from Democratic

immigration a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, including building a wall on the country's border with Mexico, deporting more of those people in the United States without legal authorization and prohibiting entry to immigrants from certain nations.

New York City has policies to limit its involvement in immigration

New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says local law enforcement agencies can take several steps. Those steps include refusing to enforce non-judicial civil immigration warrants, denying requests from federal officials to hold onto people in custody who haven't been charged for more than 48 hours, limiting immigration enforcement agents' access to people already in custody and limiting the gathering and reporting of information like someone's immigration status.

Schneiderman said public safety depends on trust between law enforcement and communities. ``No local law enforcement agency should have to undercut that trust just to carry out Donald Trump's draconian immigration policies,'' he said.

Trump made clamping down on

enforcement. The mayors of cities including Albany and Rochester spoke out in appreciation of the guidelines. ``We are committed to being a sanctuary city, and these guidelines will assist in our efforts to protect immigrants' rights and develop relationships that enhance public safety in our city,'' Democratic Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said.

But Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that pushes for strict immigration policies, said ``the line is between not participating and impeding.''

He said, ``They should be required to offer the same level of cooperation with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) that they do with any other law enforcement agency in the country.''-AP

PRADEEP ROY-SINGH B.A. LL.B. M.B.A. J.D. Attorney-at-Law

Former Assistant StateÂ’s Attorney

Civil & Criminal Litigation Felonies, Misdemeanors, Inc DUI 1 Personal Injury, Business, Divorce etc.

1 Property Tax for Commercial Properties 1 1

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Immigration Post

36 India Post

January 27, 2017

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Sheriffs to join ICE screening program BOSTON: A Massachusetts sheriff who offered to send county jail inmates to help President-elect Donald Trump build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is joining a partnership with federal immigration officials that will allow his staff to identify and detain inmates who may have entered the country illegally.

Republican Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson was criticized by civil rights groups earlier this month when he said he would be willing to send inmates to help build the wall that Trump had pledged as one of his campaign promises.

Now, Hodgson and another Republican sheriff, Joseph McDonald Jr. of Plymouth County, say they are planning to sign agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to join a program that trains local law enforcement agencies to interview incoming inmates and access ICE databases so they can flag any-

one to ICE who may be in the country illegally.

The program has been a part of immigration law since 1996, and has been modified over the years

could help prevent undocumented immigrants from being released before ICE agents are able to check their status. ``The advantage to this pro-

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson

to reflect ICE's enforcement priorities. Currently, ICE has agreements with 34 agencies in 16 states, mostly at local jails.

Hodgson said the training

gram is that some people might bail themselves out before we can identify them,'' Hodgson said. ``ICE has limited manpower. By having this immediate access, we

Divakaruni pens 3-generational immigrant story NEW DELHI: US-based author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni likes to set her books in places where she actually lived and her latest work "Before We Visit the Goddess", a three-generational immigrant story about mothers and daughters, spans from Bengal and Assam to California and Texas.

She also uses this particular form for the first time a novel in stories, where each chapter is a complete story but is related to the other in a particular way.

The particular language, the prose each one uses has to be different and relate to the character, she says.

"Before We Visit the Goddess", published by Simon & Schuster, is about three generations of mothers and daughters who discover their greatest source of strength in one another.

The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but due to her family's situation college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single, unforgiveable misstep.

Years later, Sabitri's daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother's choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover - but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she'd imag-

ined.

As the marriage crumbles and Bela is forced to forge her own path, she unwittingly imprints her own child, Tara, with indelible les-

sity of Houston.

She started thinking about this novel after her mother passed away.

"So I was really thinking about our relationship and the heritage she's passed on to me, what is the heritage I am trying to pass onto my children. Out of that came this three-generational story which is not autobiographical but just follows my concerns.

"One part of my concern is what it means to be a successful woman. Does that meaning change from one generation to the next? Does it change when we Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni move from one culture to ansons about freedom, heartbreak, other? This book explores these and loyalty that will take a lifetime ideas which I think is a timely to unravel. theme for India and America and "Writing about women has probably other cultures also. It's been very important for me for a something women need to think long time. Many of my books have about," Divakaruni told PTI in an women protagonists," says interview.

Divakaruni, a McDavid professor The characters in "Before We of Creative Writing at the Univer- Visit the Goddess" are fictional. -PTI

want to make sure we have every tool in our toolbox to identify anybody who is a threat from being released.''

The plans by Hodgson and McDonald come at a time when many immigrants are fearful of being deporting under the Trump administration.

Isabel Lopez, lead organizer of the Brockton Interfaith Community in Plymouth County, said immigrant advocates are expected to protest the move. ``Sheriff McDonald needs to focus more on what his office is supposed to be doing, which is providing better re-entry programs for people leaving the county jail,'' Lopez said.

McDonald said he sees the program as a way to help immigration officials identify people who are priorities for deportation.

``It will allow those individuals working inside the correction facility when they encounter someone who identifies themselves as foreign born, they can check that against the (ICE) database and see if this person is a priority for ICE for deportation proceedings,'' McDonald said.

Under the ICE program, sheriff's department staff members go through four weeks of training to be certified as ICE officers in jails. ``This is not carte blanche to detain individuals for the duration of their immigration cases,'' said Sarah Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for ICE. ``This allows local jails to detain someone if they meet immigration enforcement priorities until ICE can come and collect this individual.'' -AP

Cubans bemoan end of 'residency' policy MIAMI: Some recent Cuban immigrants to the U.S. are fretting over how the rest of their families will join them now that Washington has ended its policy of granting automatic residency to Cubans who arrive on U.S. soil.

Luis Alberto Rodriguez says it was exhilarating to arrive across the Texas border into the U.S. on New Year's Eve after an odyssey that took him through 10 countries.

He was hoping to bring his family in shortly afterward, but was shocked to hear they'll have to go through the long process of applying for legal status.

The policy had rankled Cuba for years, as well as some U.S. officials who said the arriving Cubans were taking advantage of U.S. benefits.

It also angered immigrants from other countries who felt they should get the same opportunity. -AP

Changes in immigration laws & impact on India in Trump rule Cont'd from Page 34

It is evident that Trump is certainly going to step up investigation of programs such as H-1B of which India is the highest beneficiary, and is therefore very likely to ban more employers who have violated H-1B rules as part of the process. It is going to be a hard political argument to make that Indian immigrants are being discriminated on the H-1B policy.

In this context, what is of utmost importance for Indian companies in the U.S is to strictly follow the immigration rules. A point worth noting here is that the Trump administration has not yet commented on the EB-5 program.

Hence the EB-5 stakeholders, though they feel that there may be a tougher stand in some aspects of the immigration program, are very confident of the continuance of this (EB-5) particular program.

Their confidence stems from

their belief that the President will think twice about turning his back on a program that has been proven to create and support jobs around the country. There is a new bill proposed by Trump Sarkar to raise the minimum investment fromApril 2017 hence the rush in new applications.

As expected, there is a clash within Republicans (the business and populist wings of the party) over the nation's system of legal immigration. This battle could prove to be as divisive as the fight over illegal immigrants.

Anu Peshawaria, Esq (President of the Anu Attorney Law Group, PLCC based in Seattle, Washington) is an award winning US Immigration attorney, who is a former adviser to Embassy of India in Washington DC and in San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Houston for immigration. She is also Indian Supreme Court Lawyer as well as Supreme Court of Washington, USA.

Immigration Post

January 27, 2017

India Post 37

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Conditions in Greek island Centre 'proactive' on US protectionist measures camps deplored ATHENS, Greece: Europe's top official for migration has deplored the plight of thousands of refugees and other migrants in camps on Greece's eastern Aegean island of Lesbos who face harsh winter conditions.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European Union's commissioner for migration, said solutions must

the worst of winter without a roof over their heads,'' Avramopoulos added.

More than 5,000 people live in overcrowded camps on Lesbos, and hundreds had to be evacuated from tents covered by snow during a cold spell this month.

Many were transferred to a Greek naval vessel.

A refugee stands next to a pool of mud at Moria refugee camp on the eastern Greek island of Lesbos. Europe's top official for migration deplored the plight of thousands of refugees and other migrants in camps on Greece's eastern Aegean island of Lesbos who face harsh winter conditions.

be found immediately. ``We all ... have a humanitarian imperative to alleviate the situation here on the islands,'' Avramopoulos said during a visit to Lesbos, accompanied by Greece's migration minister. ``It simply cannot be that refugees are left out in the cold, to brave

Resentment is rising among many Lesbos residents, who have borne the brunt of Europe's immigration crisis for the past two years and fear their tourism-reliant island will remain an open prison for migrants indefinitely.

More than 62,000 refugees and other migrants have been stuck in

Greece since a series of Balkan border closures and an EU-Turkey deal on stemming migration.

These include about 15,000 who reached the eastern islands after the March 2016 agreement, and are not allowed to travel to the mainland unless they successfully apply for asylum. If they cannot prove that they merit asylum in Greece, rather than neighboring Turkey from which they traveled, they face being returned to Turkey.

Avramopoulos promised to reduce congestion in island camps by moving vulnerable people to the mainland and stepping up returns to Turkey.

Also Wednesday, the Human Rights Watch organization charged that Greek authorities, as well as the United Nations refugee agency and international charities receiving significant funding to operate Greece's camps, are failing disabled migrants. ``Asylum-seekers and other migrants with disabilities have particular difficulties getting basic services such as shelter, sanitation, and medical care, and ... have limited access to mental health care,'' the group said. ``For example, one older woman who uses a wheelchair had not been able to take a shower for a month.'' -AP

'San Francisco can't be sued over death by immigrant' SAN FRANCISCO: San Francisco cannot be held liable for a slaying by a man who was in the country illegally and had been released by sheriff's officials despite a request by immigration officials to keep him behind bars, a federal judge said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero dismissed wrongful death claims filed by the family of 32-yearold Kathryn Steinle against the city and Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. The judge, however, allowed a negligence claim against the federal government to move forward.

Steinle's shooting death thrust San Francisco into the national debate over immigration The man charged with murder in the July 2015 slaying, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, was a repeat drug offender who was transferred to the city jail to face a marijuana sales charge after he completed a federal prison sentence for illegally reentering the country. The district attorney dropped charges,

and the sheriff's department released Lopez-Sanchez three months before Steinle's death, ignoring a request by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to keep him behind bars.

San Francisco's so-called ``sanctuary policy'' bars city employees from cooperating with federal immigration officials in deportation efforts.

Frank Pitre, an attorney for the Steinle family, said he was evaluating the best course forward.

Mirkarimi cited the law in a 2015 memo to deputies that prohibited them from providing certain information to federal immigration authorities, including the date an inmate is released, according to Spero's ruling. In their lawsuit,

Steinle's family cited a statement by immigration authorities that Lopez-Sanchez would have been deported and Steinle's death prevented if sheriff's officials had notified them about his pending release.

Spero said in his ruling that neither the state nor federal law cited in the lawsuit prevents the sheriff from restricting his deputies' communications with immigration officials about an inmate's release date.

Frank Pitre, an attorney for the Steinle family, said he was evaluating the best course forward.

Spero allowed a claim in the lawsuit alleging that a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger negligently left the gun used in Steinle's slaying loaded inside a vehicle in San Francisco, and it was stolen.

Lopez-Sanchez says he found the gun and it fired when he picked it up, striking Steinle in the back.

He has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge. -AP

BENGALURU: As protectionist measure like visa curb are looming large on the Indian IT sector with the regime change in the US, Minister of State for Electronics and IT P P Chaudhary has said the Union government is proactive and there is no reason for worry.

"Definitely we will take up. The government is always ready to protect the interest of our IT professionals and IT companies. We have always been ready, we are ready now also. Modi government is even more ready on this," he said.

He was responding to a question on taking up with the US the issue of protectionist measures like visa curb looming large on Indian IT sector with US President Donald Trump's administration taking charge.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event to unveil Mphasis' 'My Stamp', to commemorate the company's Silver

Jubilee here, he said, "Modi ji and his government is not only reactive, but proactive always."

Not wishing to elaborate about discussions with the US administration on the issue, the Minister said the matter was related to the Ministry of External Affairs, adding that things would be made known when the need arises.

Chaudhary said earlier also visa issue had been raised and resolved. "Now again it has been raised it will get resolved."

Stating that there was no reason for Indian IT companies and professionals to worry, he said, "the reputation of our IT companies' world over is outstanding.

The diversification measures that our IT companies are doing...there will be good demand."

He said there would not much of a problem on visa related issues. "...there are indigenous opportunities also, so I don't think there is any need for worry," he added. -PTI

Ohio college president won't support 'sanctuary' BOWLING GREEN, Ohio: The president of a northwest Ohio college says she won't support making it a so-called ``sanctuary campus'' to help protect immigrant students potentially facing deportation because she's worried about jeopardizing the school's federal funding.

The Blade reports Bowling Green State University President Mary Ellen Mazey announced she wouldn't go against federal law as the school's faculty senate prepared to consider a resolution in

support of the designation.

Mazey says about 68 percent of funding is tied to the federal government through tuition grants and loans.

She says she has signed on in support of the BRIDGE Act, which would provide protections for students enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. That program has allowed young immigrants to work and travel for humanitarian, educational or employment purposes.-AP

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January 27, 2017

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Datebook

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India Post 39

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NEW JERSEY Upcoming

NEW YORK

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

Upcoming

Fri, Jan 27 • Glow in the Dark Ladies Night

Sat, Jan 28 • Bollywood Beats - A Weekly Saturday Night

Venue: Royal Alberts Palace(Grand Ball Room), 1050 King Georges Post Rd, Edison, NJ 08837 Time: 07:30 pm

Venue: Lexicon, 226 E 54th St, New York, NY 10022 Time : 10:00 pm

Sat, Jan 28 • Dance pe Chance - Dance Competition 2017

Sat, Feb 4 • BOLLYWOOD BEATS - A Weekly Saturday Night Desi Party

Venue: Plainfield High School, 950 Park Avenue, Plainfield, Nj 07060 Time: 04:00 pm

Venue: LEXICON, 226 E 54th St, New York, NY 10022 Time : 10:00 pm

Sun, Jan 29 • NJTS Pongal Thiruvizha

Sat, Mar 11 • The Biggest HOLI Party in New York City

Venue: West Windsor High School South, 346 Clarksville Road, West Windsor Township, NJ 08550 Time: 02:00 pm

Venue: Stage48, 605 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036 Time : 12:00 pm

CHICAGO

Upcoming

Sat, Jan 28 • Jai Ho! 6 Year Anniversary Bollywood Dance Party

Sun, Jan 29 • Patti Manram by Tamilkadal 'Nellai Kannan'

Venue: Slide SF, 430 M-ason Street, San

Venue: Jain Temple, 722 South Main Street,

Francisco, CA 94102

Milpitas, CA 95035

Time: 9:00 pm

Time: 03:00 pm

Sat, Jan 28 • Bollywood Fever Retro Remix Night

Contact: 510-406-0047

Venue: Aura Night Club, 389 South 1st

Sat, Feb 4 • Iffer Valentines Ball 2017

Street, San Jose, CA 95113

Venue: Golden Peacock Banquets, 24989

Time: 10:00 pm

Santa Clara St, Hayward, CA 94544

Contact: 510-870-4693

Time: 6:00 pm Contact: 650-921-2846

Fri, Feb 03 • Laila O Laila - Bollywood Arabian Nights

ATLANTA Upcoming

Venue: Aura Night Club, 389 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA 95113 Time: 10:00 pm Contact: 408-250-5618

Sat, Fri 4 • Jai Ho! Dance Party - Official Monthly Launch Party!

Sat, Jan 28 • Pongal Vizhaa in Herndon Venue: Herndon High School, 700 Bennett St, Herndon, VA 20170 Time: 2: 00 pm

Venue: Queen Bee's Art & Cultural Center,

Mon, Feb 6 • Bus Connections Atlanta

3925 Ohio Street, San Diego, CA 92104

Venue: Marta Bus Station, College Park.

Time: 09:00 pm

GA, 3800 Main Street, College Park, GA

Contact: 971-344-2022

30337 Time: 6:00 am

Fri, Feb 10 • Sammy Obeid – Running for President in 2036 Venue: Cubberley Community Theater,

Sun, Feb 26 • Paracha Entertainment - Taj Express the Bollywood

4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA

Venue: Cobb Energy Centre, 2800 Cobb

94303

Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30339

Time: 08:00 pm

Time: 07:00 pm

ILLINOIS Upcoming 1st and 3rd Sunday of Month • Chicago Children's Bal Mukund Character Building Program and Hindi Literacy Classes Venue: Vogelei Center, 650 W. Higgins Road, Hoffmann Estates, IL 60192 (Next to Nissan Dealership) Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok @ 630-561-4807

Mondays and Fridays • Free ESL - English as Second Language Classes Metropolitan Asian Family Services Venue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL, Time: 10:30am to 12:30pm Contact: 773-465-3105

Mondays and Fridays • Free ESL - English as Second Language Classes Where: Metropolitan Asian Family Services Venue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL, Time: 10:30am to 12:30pm Contact: 773-465-3105

Swami Ishatmananda • Bhagavad Gita: Philosophy of life Venue: Public Library-95th Street 3015 Cedar Glade Rd Naperville IL 60564 Time: 1st friday of every month 7-8 pm Contact: 630-637-0662

• India Eternal: From the Vedic Age to the Present Venue: Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago 10915 N. Main Street Glendale Heights, IL 60139 Time: 10:00 pm Contact: 630-655-8822

40 India Post

T

he Maldives, a tropical paradise of pristine beaches, is an archipelago of 1,192 coral islands grouped into 26 coral atolls (200 inhabited islands, plus 80 islands with tourist resorts) in the Indian Ocean. They lie southsouthwest of India and are considered part of Southern Asia.

The Maldives are well-known as a world-class diving destination with crystal blue waters teeming with a diverse array of ocean life. There are also plenty of private bungalows and resorts abutting the islands' white, sandy beaches, though in recent years cottages and apartments in the Maldives' major towns have become more prevalent.

Of particular note is the islands' capital, MalĂŠ, which sits at the epicenter of Maldivian culture and features dozens of colorful pastel buildings and great local restaurants. Its vibrant local life has been influenced by the cultures of adjacent nations like India, Thailand and re-

www.indiapost.com

January 27, 2017

gions of the Middle East, and yet remains wholly unique.

The atolls are composed of live coral reefs and sand bars perched atop a 960km submarine ridge, while the land features lush tropical vegetation with abundant local coconut palms. With an average ground level of 1.5m above sea level, the Maldives is by far the lowest country on earth and as such has a very fragile ecosystem.

Tourism is the largest economic industry in the Maldives.

A tourist resort in the Maldives consists of an exclusive hotel on its own island, with its population entirely based on tourists and work force, with no local people or houses. These islands developed for tourism are approximately 800 by 200 meters in size and are composed of sand and coral to a maximum height of about 2 meters above the sea.

Cont’d on page 42

January 27, 2017

Travel & Hospitality Post

India Post 41

www.indiapost.com

Tour operators seek tax sops for inbound trips NEW DELHI: Travel and tour operators want the government to exempt service tax on foreign exchange earned on inbound tours in the upcoming Budget.

While seeking lower tax rate, the players also want the government to fix the GST rates for the sector after taking due consideration of the GST/VAT being levied by neighbouring countries.

"Travel and tourism is one of the highest foreign exchange

earners for the country. The industry is expecting that there will be exemption of service tax on foreign exchange earned by tour operators for inbound tours," Cox & Kings Ltd CFO Anil Khandelwal told PTI. He further said paying of double tax on outbound tours must be also ended.

Currently, an Indian customer

pays double tax on outbound holidays for the overseas part of the trip due to service tax in India and also local GST/VAT of the visiting country, he said.

"The service tax/GST should be levied only on the Indian component of the tour," Khandelwal said.

Thomas Cook India Group Chairman and Managing Director Madhavan Menon said: "Strengthening 'Incredible India'

brand through the creation of tourist circuits, key infrastructure and rail-roadways, is mission critical."

Effective marketing to position India as a top leisure and MICE destination is also of prime importance, he added.

"The tourism industry is one of the largest and most dynamic sectors globally, accounting for more than a third of the total services

trade.... Keeping this in mind, we are hopeful that the upcoming Union Budget will provide a vital and much needed boost to the sector," Menon said.

OYO Founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal said considering the government's focus on speedy implementation of digitalization for long-term economic growth, "all eyes are now on the Union Budget for clarity on taxation policy and regulatory issues, and fixing norms for the credit guarantee scheme. We hope to see supportive policies for the travel and tourism sector."

He said additional incentives should be provided for infrastructure investments in the travel and tourism sector to accelerate growth.

"A lower tax rate for hospitality business and lower rate of interest for real-estate development will ensure opening up of more supply for the nascent branded budget hospitality sector," Agarwal added.

Khandelwal also said the government should fix the GST rates after taking due consideration of the GST/VAT being levied by neighboring countries.

He also highlighted the importance to simplify tax rules thereby minimizing service tax litigation and create a framework to avoid litigation post-GST implementation. PTI

Foreign tourist arrival went up 3.6% in Dec NEW DELHI: Foreign tourist arrivals in India surged by 13.6 per cent to 10.37 lakh in December on year-on-year basis earning foreign exchange of over Rs 16,800 crore, officials said.

"Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during the month of December 2016 were 10.37 lakh as compared to 9.13 lakh during the month of December 2015," an official release said.

The US accounted for the highest share of tourist arrivals, followed by Bangladesh and the UK the last month.

The growth in overseas tourist arrivals in 2016 stood at 10.7 per cent with a total of 88.90 lakh as compared to 80.27 lakh in 2015, it said.

Among the top 15 source countries for December 2016, the share of US was the highest (18.33 per cent), followed by Bangladesh

(13.02 per cent), the UK (11.71 per cent), Australia (5.43 per cent), Russia (4.18 per cent), Canada (4.13 per cent) and Malaysia (3.38 per cent).

The share of Germany was 2.80

per cent, while those of China it was 2.53 per cent, Sri Lanka 2.25 per cent, Singapore 2.12 per cent, France 2.01 per cent, Japan 1.79 per cent, Afghanistan 1.38 per cent and

Nepal 1.34 per cent.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism during December 2016 were Rs 16,805 crore as compared to Rs 14,152 crore in December 2015, registering a

growth of 18.7 per cent.

FEEs during 2016 were Rs 1,55,650 crore with a growth of 15.1 per cent as compared to Rs 1,35,193 crore in 2015. -PTI

Desert Bird Fest of vultures in Bikaner BIKANER: In a first of its kind initiative, forest department has organized a Desert Bird Festival where large number of domestic and foreign tourists saw more than 80 rare species of vultures here.

ber of tourists reach Bikaner to watch famous Camel Festival," the officer said.

More than 5,000 migratory birds reach Johadbeed forest area from other countries. Other animals

The department aims to conserve vulnerable species of vultures and disseminate information about them.

"We have reserved 5,600 hectares of land for conservation of vultures where tourists thronged in large numbers," Bikaner Divisional Forest Officer Ram Niwas Kumawat told PTI. "We decided to organize the festival in January as large num-

have also been accommodated well in the forest, Kumawat said.

Bikaner district collector Ved Prakash said that forest department's efforts to conserve vultures and the Desert Bird Festival is an attempt where domestic and international tourists can see these birds.

He said that the efforts are on to develop the area for wildlife tourism. -PTI

AirAsia connects Srinagar, Bagdogra with Delhi NEW DELHI: No-frills carrier AirAsia India has announced the launch of its services to Srinagar and Bagdogra from the national capital, commencing next month.

The Bengaluru-based airline would also start a direct flight on Delhi-Pune route.

The launch of two new destinations and one new route is aimed at improving regional connectivity and increasing the airline's footprint in the country, AirAsia India

tional route," AirAsia India chief executive officer Amar Abrol said.

With the launch of these services, AirAsia India would now fly to 13 destinations through its hubs - Bengaluru and New Delhi - covering Chandigarh, Jaipur, Guwahati, Imphal, Goa, Pune, Vizag, Kochi, Hyderabad, Srinagar and Bagdogra.

The airline also announced special fares from as low as Rs 1,999 for the New Delhi-Srinagar

said in a release.

The new services will be rolled out from February 19, it said.

"AirAsia India is consistently growing and is on a rapid business expansion mode. We ended 2016 on a highly positive note and are delighted to continue the same momentum in 2017 with the launch of two new sectors and an addi-

flights and Rs 2,499 and Rs 2999 for Bagdogra and Pune flights from New Delhi.

AirAsia as a group strongly believes in enhancing connectivity and making air travel affordable for all, Abrol said, adding Bagdogra and Srinagar are key sectors for the airline's further growth in the domestic market. -PTI

42 India Post

Travel & Hospitality Post

January 27, 2017

www.indiapost.com

Cont’d from page 40

In addition to its beach encircling the island, each island has its own "house reef" which serves as a coral garden and natural aquarium for scuba divers and snorkelers. The shallow water enclosed by the house reef also serves as a large natural swimming

pool and protects swimmers from the ocean waves and strong tidal currents outside the house reef.

The Maldives is renowned for its incredible diving opportunities.

The crystal clear water and shallow lagoons are perfect for snorkeling, while the reef walls offer a kaleidoscope of sea life for more experienced divers. The Maldives have an amazing diversity of sea life, with corals and over 2000 species of fish, ranging from reef fish and reef sharks to moray eels, rays and whale sharks. The island's many sheltered lagoons also provide the perfect destination to en-

joy an adventure-filled family holiday or romantic getaway for two.

Things Not to Miss: • Go scuba diving or snorkeling and explore the islands' gorgeous coral reefs or view them from within the popular Whale Submarine • Take part in water sports like windsurfing and water-skiing

• Charter a boat and go on a fishing expedition • Explore Addu City, the southernmost city in the Maldives and its second largest town • Plane hop from atoll to atoll by chartering an air taxi • Spend the day touring the National Museum • Take a picnic to the Sultan's Park, located on the grounds of a former palace • Eat traditional Maldivian food at the islands' many hotaa's, or cafés • Surf great waves just offshore Other tourist attractions in

Maldives are Diving Bluetribe Moofushi, Sun Island beach, Alimatha Island, Manta Point, Banana Reef, Grand Friday Mosque, Hukuru Miskiiy (Old Friday Mosque), HP Reef, National Museum, Veligandu Island beach, Bodu Mora, Hulhumale, Mulee Aage, Utheemu Ganduvaru, Biyadoo Island, Tiny Island Marine Conservation Centre, Kuda Bandos, Muraka Diving

year to visit the Maldives is during the dry season, which runs from January to April.

Languages: The locals speak Dhivehi, with English widely spoken in areas frequented by tourists.

Culture: The local culture features a lively mix of South Indian,

Sinhalese and Arab influences that is reflected in the traditional music, cuisine and art of the island.

Money/Currency: The monetary unit is the Maldivian Ruffiyaa (MVR), while international credit cards are widely accepted by resorts.

Driving: Most tourists will land

When to visit Due to their proximity to the equator, the Maldives experience consistently warm, even hot, weather year round with temperatures generally hovering in high 80s. However, like most countries near and in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives experience a volatile monsoon season. Precipitation is at its worst between April and October. As a result, the best time of in the capital, Male, and will be transferred to their hotel either by seaplane or boat. These two means of transport are widely used for most trips between islands.

Direct Flights to/from Maldives There are frequent direct flights to Male from most international destinations including India, Sri Lanka, Dubai and major airports in South-East Asia, as well as an increasing number of charters from Europe.

January 27, 2017

Travel & Hospitality Post

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43

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Hawaii plans 100 percent renewable transportation HONOLULU: Hawaii has the most aggressive renewable energy targets in the nation, aiming for its utilities to get 100 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2045.

Now advocates want to extend that goal to the transportation sector to urge all forms of ground transportation to fuel up using renewable sources by 2045. ``The majority of our fossil fuel goes into transportation, and that's a challenge that we have to solve, and we currently don't have a vision for what that future looks like,'' said Jeff Mikulina, executive director of the Blue Planet Foundation, which is pushing the bill.

But Hawaii officials aren't planning to make everyone get rid of their fuel-powered cars - at least not yet. ``Nobody wants to step in and force people to get rid of cars that they might love now,'' said state Rep. Chris Lee, chairman of the Energy and Environment committee.

The goal represents a steep climb for the auto industry in a state where there are about 5,000 electric vehicles, out of an estimated 1 million cars on the road. ``Our ability to achieve it is re-

ally going to be dependent on what happens throughout the entire automotive industry,'' said Hugh Baker, managing director of HD Baker & Co., an energy consulting company. ``We can say we want 100 percent clean transportation tech-

nology, but the market in Hawaii is not nearly big enough by itself to move the whole global automotive industry. It will really take more than just Hawaii.''

Unlike Hawaii's groundbreaking

100 percent renewable goal for electricity, where utilities in the state will be fined if they don't comply by deadline, the proposed transportation goal isn't a mandate.

With 1 million cars on the roads, hundreds of auto dealerships and multiple counties with fleets of vehicles, it's unclear how the state could enforce a renewable fuels mandate, advocates said. Beyond the vehicle stakeholders, there are cyclists and pedestrians in the mix, making it challenging for the state to even measure what percentage of the state's transportation fuel comes from renewables.

The bill is being introduced in the Hawaii Legislature. If passed, Hawaii would be the first in the nation to set such a high goal for its transportation sector.

Vermont also has an aggressive goal for renewable fuel in transportation, but most states don't have such targets in place. ``That's a huge, huge transformation,'' said Hawaii Gov. David Ige in a recent interview with The Associated Press. ``We are the most isolated community on the

China's 'Silk Road' train arrives in London LONDON: The first direct freight train service between China and the UK, which may become a cost-efficient and time-saving way of transporting trade between both the countries, has arrived in London after traveling 12,000 km during an 18-day journey.

The so-called 'Silk Road' service is part of China's One Belt, One Road program aimed at reviving the ancient trading routes to the West.

The train left the Chinese business hub of Yiwu, on the east coast, this month and travelled 7,500 miles (12,000 km), crossing seven countries, before arriving at a freight depot in Barking, east London.

"The fast train route between Yiwu and London takes 30 days less than maritime transportation, while only costing a fifth of air transportation," said Fang Xudong, vice-general manager of Tianmeng Industrial Investment.

The service delivered 34 containers of clothes and high street goods. China Railway already runs services between China and other European cities, including Madrid and Hamburg.

The service passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before entering the UK via the Channel Tunnel.

It is hoped the China Railway train will become a cost-efficient and time-saving way of transport-

tially to assess demand. So far there have been 40 freight train routes connecting Asia to 14 European cities, which form part of a trade route launched in 2013.

London is the 15th European city to be added to the list of destinations for China's rail cargo.

The first direct freight train service from China to the United Kingdom arrives at a rail freight terminal in Barking, east London,. Some 34 containers packed with mainly clothes and other high street goods completed the 7,456-mile (11,999km) journey in 18 days.

ing trade between China and the UK. The trains will run weekly ini-

Last year, 1,702 freight trains made the voyage to Europe, more than double the 2015 figure. -PTI

planet, and we import virtually all of the oil we use today.''

Details of the bill are still being worked out, but it's undecided whether it will come with funding, Lee said.

The state recently created a new position in the Department of Transportation to work on renewable fuels in transportation, and it is planning to build infrastructure to increase electric vehicle charging stations at work locations in Honolulu's urban core using state funds, he said.

Lawmakers also are introducing a bill to boost the required number of electric vehicle charging stations, which is currently 1 station per 100 spaces, so that commuters can charge electric vehicles during the day when more energy from the sun is pumping into the grid.

Encouraging more electric vehicles - or ``batteries on wheels'' could help Hawaii meet its renewable electricity goals. ``It's easier to manage more renewable energy when we have electric vehicles on the grid that can suck up that excess and hopefully in the future put some energy back on the grid,'' Mikulina said.

Auto dealers in Hawaii support the transition to renewable energy, but they believe it will take a massive advertising campaign by the

state to encourage people to buy vehicles powered by alternative fuels, said David Rolf, executive director of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association. ``I'm passionate about this goal, but I'm also realistic,'' Rolf said.

Hawaii's residents ranked second in the nation in 2015 with 2.94 electric vehicles for every 1,000 residents, just behind California, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Tackling the fossil fuels used in air travel - which is critical to Hawaii's tourism-driven economy - will have to wait.

About a quarter of the 36 million barrels of oil Hawaii imported in 2015 was used for commercial aviation. But the long flights require energy in a dense form, and with today's technology that's generally only available in fuels, energy experts said. ``They need to go so far between recharge opportunities that they really need something with a higher energy density than batteries, and it's just not even physically possible for an airplane to carry enough batteries to go where it needs to go,'' said Matthias Fripp, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. -AP

Record number visit Virginia state parks RICHMOND, Va.: A record number of people visited Virginia state parks in 2016.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe's office announced that park attendance

year-long celebration of the parks' 80th anniversary for the uptick in visitors.

Virginia has 37 state parks, including the newly opened Natu-

Natural Bridge become a state park

rose 12 percent from the year before, with more than 10 million visitors.

State officials credited good weather, lower gas prices and a

ral Bridge State Park in Rockbridge County. State officials say the parks have a $222 million impact on the state's economy. AP

„ Health

Line

Soon, your heartbeat may be password NEW YORK: A patients own heartbeat may be soon used as the password to access electronic health records, say scientists who developed a low-cost technique to protect personal data.

"The cost and complexity of traditional encryption solutions prevent them being directly applied to telemedicine or mobile healthcare," said Zhanpeng Jin, assistant professor at Binghamton University in the US. "Those systems are gradually replacing clinic-centered healthcare, and we wanted to find a unique solution to protect sensitive personal health data with something simple, available and cost-effective," Jin said.

Traditional security measures like cryptography or encryption can be expensive, time-consuming, and computing-intensive.

Scientists encrypted patient data using a persons unique electrocardiograph (ECG) - a measurement of the electrical activity of the heart measured by a biosensor attached to the skin - as the key to lock and unlock the files.

"The ECG signal is one of the most important and common physiological parameters collected and analyzed to understand a patients health," said Jin. "While ECG signals are collected for clinical diagnosis and transmitted through networks to electronic health records, we strategically reused the ECG signals for the data encryption. Through this strategy, the security and privacy can be enhanced while minimum cost will be added," he said.-PTI

Student health insurance rates to increase TOPEKA, Kan.: After two years without increases, student health insurance premiums will go up more than 5 percent at state universities next year.

The Kansas Board of Regents approved a 5.2 percent premium increase for all plans for the 201718 academic year.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports a student-only plan will cost $1,464 a year, an increase or $72. No changes to plan benefits were recommended.

In 2017-18, plans for a student plus spouse, or student plus child, will cost $2,928 per year, an increase of $144.

Plans for a student plus spouse and child, or student plus two children, will cost $4,392 per year, an increase of $216. And plans for a student plus spouse and two or more children will cost $5,856 per year, an increase of $288. -AP

Health Science

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January 27, 2017

Details on Page 47

Secy Price tries to reassure on health care; Dems not buying it WASHINGTON: Offering reassurances, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for health secretary has said the new administration won't ``pull the rug out'' from those covered by ``Obamacare.'' Democrats were unimpressed, noting a lack of specifics.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., also told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that Trump is ``absolutely not'' planning to launch an overhaul of Medicare as he tries to revamp coverage under President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

He acknowledged that high prescription drug costs are a problem, but did not endorse the idea of government directly negotiating prices.

Throughout the nearly fourhour hearing, Democrats peppered Price with questions about his stock trades. The sometimes confusing exchanges involved different transactions under distinct circumstances. Price, who has signed a government ethics agreement to sell his stock, was clearly annoyed by the suggestion that he profited from his official position. ``I'm offended by that insinuation,'' he told Sen. Elizabeth Warren, DMass.

Committee Chairman Lamar

Alexander, R-Tenn., lauded Price's performance, but ranking Democrat Patty Murray of Washington said she remains deeply concerned. No Democrats offered support for the 62-year-old nominee, an orthopedic surgeonturned-legislator.

know that no rug is going to be pulled out from under them.''

Alexander said he took that to mean that the Trump administration will be careful, and not attempt to repeal the 2010 health care law without a replacement ready to go.

The Affordable Care Act is pro-

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga.

Price said he wants to reopen a bipartisan dialogue on health care centered on practical solutions. ``One of my goals in this entire debate is to lower the temperature,'' said Price, speaking in even, measured tones. ``People need to

viding coverage to about 20 million people, and government as well as private experts say repealing without a concrete substitute would make millions uninsured and spike premiums.

But Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.,

Hillary Clinton's running mate, said, ``I don't think `lowering the temperature' is consistent with rushing'' to repeal and replace.

Trump has promised to unveil his plan when Price is confirmed.

With coverage for millions at stake, Price faced pointed questions about Trump's evolving stance on health care. Trump campaigned on repealing Obama's law, but at times he's sounded more like a liberal. For example, he made recent comments about providing insurance for everyone and taking on the drug companies.

In an interview aired on Fox News Channel, Trump said his approach would offer coverage through private insurers for people who cannot afford it. ``Nobody is going to be dying on the streets with a President Trump,'' he said. He said his plan would ``probably'' turn Medicaid over to the states in the form of block grants to cover low-income people. Democrats reminded Price that approach could lock in big cuts.

Price represents Atlanta's northern suburbs and until recently led the House Budget Committee.

Cont’d on page 46

Americans of all stripes say fix health care WASHINGTON: Sylvia Douglas twice voted for President Barack Obama and last year cast a ballot for Democrat Hillary Clinton. But when it comes to ``Obamacare,'' she now sounds like President-elect Donald Trump. This makes her chuckle amid the serious choices she faces every month between groceries, electricity and paying a health insurance bill that has jumped by nearly $400. ``It's a universal thing, nobody likes it,'' Douglas, a licensed practical nurse in Huntsville, Alabama, said of Obama's signature law. ``They need to fix it with whatever works, but not make more of a mess like they have

now.''

That Americans agree on much of anything is remarkable after a presidential race that ripped open the nation's economic, political

More than 4-in-10 Republicans, Democrats and independents say health care is a top issue facing the country, The Associated PressNORC Center for Public Affairs Re-

Republicans want to repeal Obama's signature law but fear the political damage of stranding millions of Americans who secured coverage. Democrats say they want to fix problems and cultural divisions. But on the brink of the Trump presidency, a new poll finds ample accord across those divisions on the need to do something about health care in the United States.

search poll showed. That's more than named any other issue in the survey, conducted Dec. 14-19.

But there seems to be little agreement on what to do about it.

Democrats say they want to fix

problems in the current program - among them, rising costs and dwindling competition - but not dismantle it. They warn that the GOP is threatening the coverage gained by 20 million people under the 2010 overhaul.

Republicans want to repeal Obama's signature law but fear the political damage of stranding millions of Americans who secured coverage. Congress' nonpartisan budget analyst lent weight to that concern, estimating that a bill passed in 2016 to only repeal - not replace - the law would result in 18 million more uninsured people and a spike in premiums.

Cont’d on page 45

January 27, 2017

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Haryana MoU with Patanjali Americans show last-minute for herbal forest love for Obamacare CHANDIGARH: Haryana Forest Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Patanjali Anusandhan Sansthan Divya Yog Mandir Trust, Haridwar for developing World Herbal Forest in Morni in district Panchkula.

While Haryana Additional Chief Secretary Forests, R R Jowel signed the MoU on behalf of the Forests Department, Acharya Balkrishna signed on behalf of the Trust in

Khattar also said that the land in Morni would remain either with local people or with the Forests department.

"The people will also obtain new technique of cultivation.

Apart from the conservation of existing plants, a variety of about 25,000 medicinal plants and herbs found in the country will be planted in this area," he said.

The forest would be divided into clusters for plantation.

He said that Patanjali Anusandhan Sansthan would provide its expertise free of cost for developing the herbal forest.

T h e Sansthan Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal, Acharya Balkrishna, Finance Minister would idenCapt. Abhimanyu, Health and Ayush Minister, Anil Vij and Additional Chief tify plants, seSecretary, Forests and Wild Life, R.R. Jowel after signing a Memorandum of lect suitable Understanding (MoU) between Haryana Forest Department and Patanjali area for planAnusandhan Sansthan Divya Yoga Mandir Trust, Haridwar to set up World Herbal Forest at Morni, district Panchkula, in Chandigarh. tation, and provide scithe presence of Chief Minister Manohar Lal entific assistance.

Khattar, State's Health and Ayush Minister Acharya Balkrishna said that it was not a Anil Vij, Forests Minister Rao Narbir Singh commercial tie up between Patanjali and the and Finance Minister Abhimanyu.

Haryana Forests department.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief MinHe, however, said that the Sansthan would ister said that World herbal Forest would provide its scientific and technical support be developed over an area of about 53,000 to develop Morni forest as herbal forest. acres with the technical and knowledge supHe said that out of the 4.5 lakh varieties port of Patanjali Anusandhan Sansthan, an of plants, Patanjali's scientists and experts official release said here. have identified about 60,000 medicinal and "This will not only help in promotion of herbal varieties which are being docuherbal and medicinal plants, but will also mented. assist to promote forest tourism in the State.

"Patanjali has not taken any land from This herbal forest will bring Haryana on the the government for this ambitious project world map where botanists and researchers and our objective is only to develop the from around the globe will visit," Khattar Morni forest as an attractive forest," he added. added. -PTI

Americans of all stripes say fix health care Cont’d from page 44

Trump says he has a plan, but so far he's given no details. He told The Washington Post that his approach would provide ``insurance for everybody.''

Congressional Republicans say the revamp will offer ``universal access'' to coverage, not quite the same thing The desire to fix Obamacare stretches across party lines, but some are skeptical it can be done. ``It can't be made to work,'' said James Gemind, a 55-year-old restaurant worker from Orlando, Florida. ``That's why both sides have been unanimous in their agreement that it has to be repealed or replaced.

Part of it is funding; it just does not exist to insure everybody.''

Health care reform survives the era of division, in part because it touches on peoples' day-to-day quality of life, and in the most personal ways.

Douglas' husband is disabled and she recently was diagnosed with a condition that required abdominal imaging. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is now the only provider in her state exchange - a fact she blames for the boost in her monthly premium, from around $600 to nearly $1000. Additionally, she learned, her deductible had zoomed to $4,000. That torpedoed work she'd done to build a future. ``I was going to buy a new home, I was getting my credit straight, but now that is down the drain,'' Douglas said. ``Obamacare helped the less-fortunate, and that's what I liked about it. I had no idea it would tear out the middle class like this.'' -AP

WASHINGTON: For the first time, more Americans have shown positive views on Obamacare, the signature healthcare program of President Barack Obama, which his successor Donald Trump has vowed to repeal on his first day in office.

Americans views of Obamacare tilt narrowly positive, according to a new CNN/ ORC poll, marking the first time more have favored than opposed the law since its passage in 2010.

The shift comes at the same time more than 8-in-10 say the law is likely to be repealed and replaced by incoming president Trump.

Overall, 49 per cent say they favor the 2010 health care law, more formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), while 47 per cent oppose it. Though a mostly mixed review overall, that's a sharp improvement compared with previous polling on the law.

More have opposed than favored the law in every CNN/ORC poll on this question from March 2010 until now. The shift in the laws favor stems largely from Democrats and independents, while views among Republicans have not moved much, CNN reported.

Still, few feel the ACA has done much to help them personally. Just 22 per cent say they or their families are better off since the laws provisions have gone into effect, and more, 30 per cent, say that they are worse off now. About 3-in-10 say that the law

hasn't actually helped anyone in the US, including 58 per cent of Republicans who feel that way.

The law undoubtedly helped reduce the share of uninsured Americans, with the uninsured rate reaching historic lows following the implementation of some parts of the law, but Americans by and large do not see it as successful, the report said.

Nearly 4-in-10 (37 per cent) say they consider the law a failure, outnumbering the 23 per cent who say they see the law as a success. That's an uptick since 2015, but nearly all of the increase in perceptions of the law as a success comes among Democrats, 46 per cent of whom say so now, up from 19 per cent in 2015.

In the new poll, 14 per cent cited health care as the most important issue facing the country, up sharply from the three per cent who cited it last fall in a similar question about the most important issue in the presidential campaign.

President-elect Trump has said that he would simultaneously repeal and replace Obamacare.

"It'll be repeal and replace. It will be essentially, simultaneously. It will be various segments, you understand, but will most likely be on the same day or the same week, but probably, the same day, could be the same hour," Trump said on January 11 at his first press conference in six months. -PTI

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AIIMS doctors deny undisciplined activity NEW DELHI: Served showcause notice for participating in a protest which almost disrupted an event attended by two Union ministers, 14 resident doctors of AIIMS have responded saying they had not indulged in any undisciplined activity and thus a disciplinary action against them will be "unjustified".

doctors asking why their services should not be terminated for participating in a protest against the signing of an MoU between AIIMS and National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) to sell 10 per cent of the institutional land for commercial use for building over 3,000 flats for AIIMS staff in Ansari Nagar, West Campus.

In their replies, the resident

The institution has now issued another notice warning 2nd semester MBBS students against participating in any kind of illegal activities like staging protests, displaying banners, shouting slogans and attempting to disrupt peace.

"If any student is found indulging in the illegal activities, disciplinary action as deemed fit will be initiated against him or her," the notice read.

The AIIMS administration had issued show-cause notices to the

doctors stated that it was a "misconception" on the part of the administration that they had indulged in illegal activities and that they wanted to submit a memorandum to the ministers but the security guards and police used physical force on them and on the female residents to remove them from the spot.

"I would like to focus on my duties as a student rather than indulge in 'misconceptions' as our Prime Minister has called upon youth of the country as in 'let us

join the mass movement towards surajya', realize the hopes and aspirations of the people and take India to greater heights.

"Since, I have any discharged my duties as a responsible citizen of country upholding the values of our constitution, judiciary and Prime Minister, I find no basis in the proposed disciplinary actions when all my actions have been towards the discipline, dignity and prestige of my alma mater, AIIMS, New Delhi," one of the replies read.

They said that further pursuance of the matter will result in undue addition to mental trauma to them and the student community as a whole.

"Any inconvenience caused (inadvertently) is regretted by student community.

I believe any disciplinary action against me is unjustified and not in line with existing rules and regulations. I fear any action on the basis of the vague show cause notice and misconception grossly undermines the ethos and spirit of cited high court order, our respected judiciary, our constitution and messages of our Prime minister," they said.

The protesting resident doctors tried to barge inside the auditorium, where the the MoU was being signed in the presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda and Union Urban Development

WHO praises India's initiatives on tobacco control NEW DELHI: A World Health Organization report has cited India's multiple initiatives on tobacco control, improving access to proprietary medicines, and curbing acid attacks among examples of deploying the law to safeguard health.

The new report from WHO 'Advancing the right to health - the vital role of law' in collaboration with the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), the University of Sydney and Georgetown University in Washington DC describes ways in which law makes a crucial difference for public health.

The report also cited a soda tax in Mexico, salt limits in South Africa, plain tobacco packaging in Australia, national health insurance in Ghana, mandatory motorcycle helmets in Vietnam and health care in the US, as other examples of legal initiatives that

have played a vital role in safeguarding and promoting good health around the world.

The report features case studies from around the world on how

The effect of this order was to give constitutional protection against exposure to secondhand smoke in public places the law has improved the health and safety of populations, providing a resource for countries to learn from the experience of others.

"After considering the effect of smoking on both smokers and

non-smokers, the Court (Supreme Court of India) issued an order prohibiting smoking in public places and requiring federal and state governments to 'take effective steps to ensure [the prohibition of] smoking' in 'auditoriums, hospital buildings, health institutions, educational institutions, libraries and court buildings, and public conveyances including railways".

"The effect of this order was to give constitutional protection against exposure to second-hand smoke in public places in India. In 2003, the Parliament of India passed the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, which prohibits smoking in a 'public place', defined to include the places identified in the order of the Supreme Court. Cases like this illustrate that litigants and public health organizations, can be powerful agents for change," the report said. -PTI

California withdraws immigrant health care request SACRAMENTO, Calif.: California officials have withdrawn their request to sell unsubsidized insurance policies to people who can't prove they're legally in the United States after learning the decision would fall to Presidentelect Donald Trump's administration.

Calling the decision ``the first California casualty of the Trump presidency,'' Sen. Ricardo Lara said he doesn't trust the incoming administration to protect people's privacy and health. The Democrat from Bell Gardens wrote legislation seeking to waive a federal requirement that the Covered California insurance exchange only do business with citizens and legal U.S. residents.

Officials from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified Covered California's executive director that there would be a one-month public comment period and a 180day window to make a final decision.

Trump has alarmed California Democrats with his rhetoric about immigrants and his pledge to step up deportations. ``California is committed to a healthier future for all, and we will continue to seek ways to expand

health coverage even as Republicans in Washington move to take it away,'' Lara said in a statement, referring to GOP efforts to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law.

It's unclear how many immigrants could afford the unsubsidized premiums, which can cost hundreds of dollars per month for basic coverage. Immigrants without legal status currently can buy the health coverage through an insurance agent.

The bill's supporters say more would likely sign up through the Covered California website, in part because of the millions of dollars in advertising and enrollment assistance the agency funds each year.

Most immigrants living in the U.S. illegally have family members who are citizens or legal residents and would be eligible for coverage from Covered California, Lara has said. The bill would be especially beneficial to those ``mixedstatus'' families, who would be able to shop for coverage together online.

Critics of Lara's legislation said it was a distraction for lawmakers who should have been focused on problems affecting U.S. citizens. -AP

Secy Price tries to reassure on health care; Dems not buying it Cont’d from page 44

A budget hawk and a social conservative, he drafted his own plan to replace Obama's health law.

It would have saved taxpayers money but covered fewer people, according to an outside analysis.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pressed Price on whether Trump intends to keep promises repeatedly made during the presidential campaign not to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. ``I have no reason to believe he's changed his position,'' Price said. He expressed support for some provisions of the Obama health law, including allowing young adults to remain on parental coverage, protecting people with pre-existing medical conditions, and closing the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap.

Questioned by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Price acknowledged there are ``certain areas where drug price increases seem to have little basis in rational actions.''

But pressed on whether he would support Trump's call for Medicare to negotiate with drug companies, Price tried to sidestep.

If confirmed, Trump would be his boss, Price said, but he also suggested the idea of negotiations needs further study. He was supportive of requiring drugmakers to provide more public information about how they set prices.

Democrats also challenged Price on his extensive stock portfolio. His investments have prompted questions about potential conflicts of interest and calls for a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of possible insider trading.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., suggested Price got a special deal in the purchase of stock in an Australian drug company, Innate Immunotherapeutics. But Price insisted other investors also had the same option. ``I think our job is to avoid the appearance of conflict,'' Franken chastised. ``And you have not done that.''

Republicans bristled at such questions. ``To question whether you are honest is insulting,'' Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Price.

HELP is one of two Senate committees that will hold hearings on Price.

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Pumping heart with squeeze from robotic sleeve WASHINGTON: Scientists are developing a robotic sleeve that can encase a flabby diseased heart and gently squeeze to keep it pumping.

So far it's been tested only in animals, improving blood flow in pigs. But this ``soft robotic'' device mimics the natural movements of a beating heart, a strategy for nextgeneration treatments of deadly heart failure.

The key: A team from Harvard University and Boston Children's Hospital wound artificial muscles into the thin silicone sleeve, so that it alternately compresses, twists and relaxes in synchrony with the heart tissue underneath.

It's a dramatically different approach than today's therapies and, if it eventually is proven in people, it might offer a new alternative to heart transplants or maybe even aid in recovery. ``You can customize the function of the assist device to meet the individual needs of that heart,'' said Dr. Frank Pigula, a cardiac surgeon who, while at Boston Children's, took the idea to Harvard colleagues developing soft robotics.

More than 5 million Americans, and 41 million people worldwide, suffer heart failure, a number growing as the population ages. A heart left damaged by a heart at-

tack, high blood pressure or other conditions becomes progressively weaker and unable to pump properly.

For severe cases, the only options are a scarce heart transplant or battery-powered mechanical pumps that are implanted into the chest to take over the job of pumping blood. These VADs, ventricular assist devices, prolong life, but running blood through the machinery can leave patients at risk of blood clots, strokes and bleeding.

That shouldn't be a risk with the robotic sleeve. ``The nice thing about this is it can go on the outside of the heart, so it doesn't have to contact blood at all,'' said Harvard associate engineering professor Conor Walsh, senior author of the research.

Unlike with traditional rigid medical devices, the soft robotics approach allowed design of a sleeve that could fit snugly over a heart's irregular surfaces. It moves thanks to artificial muscles, a concept developed in the polio era that's now being used in robotics. They're powered by pressurized air that would have to be carried in a pump in a backpack or fanny pack much like the batteries that power today's VADs. The researchers programmed the robotic sleeve to move in the same pattern as the weakened heart muscle it surrounds while

NGO writes to CM for survey on homeless NEW DELHI: A city-based organization for the homeless has written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking a fresh survey of the homeless people in the national capital and periodic inspections of night shelters.

Founder of non-government organization Centre for Holistic Development Sunil Kumar Aledia suggested that departments like women and Child Development and

Social Welfare should work in coordination with the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).

Also, in accordance to the High Court order, the Joint Apex Advisory Committee which was constituted to ensure coordination between government agencies and NGOs while taking decisions on infrastructure development and related works should meet once in every 15 days to address the issues of the homeless, he suggested.

"The issues of the homeless should not be raked up only in winters, rather work on this should be carried out throughout the year," Aledia said in the letter.

He further suggested that the Aajeevika - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) - should be implemented for the welfare of the homeless.

In his letter he mentioned that the constituency of the Chief Minister doesn't have a single pakka night shelter which is a matter of worry and urged him to pay special attention to the issue.

As per official figures, the number of homeless people far outstrips the capacity of the existing night shelters.

Last month Supreme Court had ordered the forming of a panel to look into the monitoring of the shelters and has also pressed the Centre and states to ensure adequate shelters are in place for the homeless.

The Supreme Court Commissioner's Office cited the population of homeless at over 2 lakh in 2011, the census estimated it as 46,724 in the same year.

There are 261 night shelters operating in Delhi this winter, which include 21 meant solely for women. -PTI

strengthening and optimizing each heartbeat. The device can be tailored to compress different sections of the heart.

And importantly, as the sleeve relaxes, it

Harvard University, a pig’s heart encased in a robotic sleeve designed to gently squeeze a diseased heart so it better pumps blood.

helps the damaged heart better expand and refill with blood ready to be pumped out with the next heartbeat, said Pigula, who is

now with the University of Louisville.

The big test: The sleeve restored normal blood flow in six pigs that had been put into heart failure, Walsh's team reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The experiments were short, lasting only a few hours, and more research to test how long animals could live safely with the implanted sleeve is crucial before it ever could be studied in people, Walsh cautioned. He'd also like to study if physically moving damaged heart muscle - essentially exercising it - might spur it to heal and require less assistance from the sleeve over time. ``I'm quite impressed with where this research is going,'' said Dr. Christopher O'Connor, chief executive of the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute in suburban Washington, who wasn't involved with the sleeve's development.

Researchers have previously tried ``socks'' and other ways to encase or compress the heart with little success.

Unlike those prior attempts, the new sleeve is ``smart, it's robotic,'' said O'Connor, who edits an American College of Cardiology heart failure journal. ``They really worked on developing a device that can mimic the contraction of the weakened heart muscle and augment it so there is improved heart function without the theoretical clot risk.'' -AP

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Perspective

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T

he journey of indentured labor from India to Mauritius and to other des=-tinations such as Suriname, Guyana, Reunion Island, Fiji, after the abolition of slavery in 1834 is one of history's untold sagas. The Indentured Route which brought the Indian Diaspora to these countries has many similarities to the Slave Route but is less well known.

It is a journey that is less well chronicled and sometimes conveniently forgotten. In many cases, the Diaspora and their journey led to the formation of modern democratic nation States. Their quest for political empowerment is one of the most interesting examples of the evolution of democracy, pluralism and multi-ethnicity in these regions.

Their journey thus poignantly highlights the history of these countries during this period. The journey of the women of Indian Diaspora as carriers of culture and preservers of identity was no easy one because of the circumstances in which they made the journey and the patriarchal nature of Indian society.

The voice of the silent majority, i.e. woman, has been rarely heard in the his-

Journey of the women of Indian Diaspora Carriers of culture, preservers of identity AMBASSADOR BHASWATI MUKHERJEE

Historical origins: Journey into the past and preservation of links with Mother India The paucity of women initially, apart from being a serious social issue, necessitated marriages across social barriers and sometimes across religious boundaries. However, the indentured and particularly the women never lost their links with their past, with their culture, their language or their religion. They

The paucity of women initially, apart from being a serious social issue, necessitated marriages across social barriers and sometimes across religious boundaries. However, the indentured and particularly the women never lost their links with their past, with their culture, their language or their religion. They ensured the preservation of these links with Mother India torical documents which record the statements of the literate and thoughts of the influential. The part played by Indian women in the great 19th century Diasporas which have irretrievably transformed so many former colonies of the British and French Empires, has been especially undervalued. Indian indentured women have tended to be portrayed as dependents and spouses, reluctant to migrate, and of negligible labor value, or as lone females of dubious virtue.

Such characterizations were the work of contemporaries - the European officials who authored so many of the documents

ensured the preservation of these links with Mother India, along with the celebration of traditional festivals, be it Holi for the Hindus or Muharram for the Muslims.

It was often the woman in the family who played an important role in ensuring that Bhojpuri was spoken within the family. We must acknowledge that these indentured women who remained wedded to their oral traditions and language, played an essential role as a carrier of this culture.

The Journey of the Indentured Indian women: Carriers of Culture and Preservers of Identity

External Affairs Minister laying wreath at Apravasi Ghat, Mauritius

cogent analysis can be made of their role in developing identity and maintaining cultural linkages with their past. Scholars have noted that despite the efforts by the colonizers to impose a new form of slavery on the Indian indentured, the role that these women assumed was significantly different from that expected of their slave predecessors.

This was possibly due to the fact that women were unequally integrated into capitalist production and into the plantation economy in particular. This was in contrast to the central participation of female slaves in plantation agriculture in the pre-abolishing period.

As a result, the position that women en-

rejected by later historians, particularly feminist historians.

The latter have also sought to exculpate women from charges of immorality as replicated in the traditional historiography of the period. The women at that time did seek to be treated as individuals, not as a commodity. They did strive to recreate stable partnership and happy family life in their new homes.

Nevertheless, the skewered ratio between men and women indentured in the early years had an impact on the development of stable family life. It was only later that the colonial Government decided to sponsor family migration and women indentured la-

Through the letters, petitions and statements of the Indian indentured women, a cogent analysis can be made of their role in developing identity and maintaining cultural linkages with their past. Scholars have noted that despite the efforts by the colonizers to impose a new form of slavery the role that these women assumed was significantly different

Newly arrived Indian laborers in the Caribbean island of Trinidad

we use today - but they have been echoed by many later historians.

Through the letters, petitions and statements of the Indian indentured women, a

joyed in the indentured society has not been recorded in a sympathetic manner.

They have either been referred to as a 'sorry sisterhood' of Indian women tricked into going abroad or from marginalized social classes or castes or again referred to as 'abandoned women', picking and choosing husbands for themselves. There is no consensus in the available literature as to their actual position in the society at that time.

Neither version is accurate and has been

bor. This approach differed according to the colony concerned.

The increasing number of Indian women indentured immediately injected a new dynamism to the cultural creativity of the indentured population and the re-establishment of some of the norms of family. The above is true for the women indentured across the Caribbean, Mauritius and Fiji.

Cont’ d on page 49

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Perspective

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Journey of the women of Indian Diaspora tion Offices of those days and now in national Archives, whether in Mauritius or in the Caribbean or Fiji.

Concluding Reflections This is a complex topic. It is unfortunate that scholarship in this field of inquiry is marked by the frequent failure of scholars and intellectuals to transcend the geographical, conceptual and chauvinistic parochialism that has become a hallmark of contemporary plantation studies in general and indentured labor studies in particular.

Equally unfortunate is the lack of interest internationally in the Indentured Labor Route, despite its acknowledged role in shaping the contours of socio-economic, cultural, and political life and contributing to vibrant democracy's such as in

Mauritius, in the post-colonial era.

There is a need to highlight the need for the constitution of an international network of scholars working on indentured labor for the purpose of fostering new perspectives on these systems and deepening our understanding of the indentured experience in all its complexity.

Let me conclude by an emotive poem by my friend and younger brother Rabin S Baldewsingh, leader of the Surinami Hindustani community in Netherlands and Deputy Mayor of The Hague, who became very close to me when I was Ambassador to Netherlands.

Rabin often spoke of the folklore, legends, music and dance centered around the 'Lalla Rookh', the first jahaj to bring the jahajibhais and bahens to Suriname.

In his book of poems, entitled 'Tamanna:

The Indian Immigration Archives [National Archives of Mauritius] contain records pertaining to the Immigration of Indentured Laborers. Photo Courtesy: Mahatma Gandhi Institute

Cont’ d from page 48

In the Caribbean and in Mauritius, the archives that have been preserved and the oral records and letters of these women provide touching testimony to the manner in which they preserved their individual religion and their culture, especially the Bhojpuri culture. Some writers have noted that in the Caribbean as well as in Mauritius the humble indentured women came with two sarees, a lotta and a copy of the Tulidas

and to develop their identity. This was despite the oppressive State laws, Plantation codes of conduct and communal sanctions or family control, specifically designed to limit their mobility.

The role of these women was therefore complex and diverse and they richly and fully contributed to the settlement and development of the communities to which they belonged and to the creation of the nation states that developed later, whether in the Caribbean or in Mauritius or Fiji.

This is a complex topic. It is unfortunate that scholarship in this field of inquiry is marked by the frequent failure of scholars and intellectuals to transcend the geographical, conceptual and chauvinistic parochialism that has become a hallmark of contemporary plantation studies in general and indentured labor studies in particular Ramayana.

It has been often noted "Indian culture was born and survived in the Caribbean out of this spiritual necessity of a community." We could add that this was largely due to the contribution of these indentured women.

The struggle of these women demonstrated, above all, the capacity of these indentured women to initiate change, to react to injustice, to preserve their culture

The source material from which these conclusions have been drawn are mainly through the letters written by Indian women to their relatives abroad or by indentured women to their families in India. These provide an extraordinary and revealing glimpse into the life of these first generation women settlers.

Supplementary information can be found from the petitions and statements of these women contained in the Immigra-

Indentured women; Photo courtesy The Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies

Endless Longing' which I released at the Gandhi Centre at The Hague in June, 2013, his poem on 'Lalla Rookh' symbolizes the triumph of human spirit of those who undertook this journey into hell. It states: "I am not the only one In this narrowness of imprisonment Where men play men Where men surpass animals.

This is surely no dream This weeping, this grief.

No, this trek will not lead to liberation: It is the isolated destination in hell"

Ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee

The author, a former diplomat, was Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO (2004-2010).

Realty Tidbits

Trump's 1st home up for auction 2nd time NEW YORK: The first property connected to Republican President Donald Trump has become a hot spot for real estate deal-making.

Trump's earliest childhood home is up for auction for the second time in three months.

The 1940 Tudor-style house, in a leafy part of Queens, was offered to bidders last fall, but that auction was canceled after publicity sparked a burst of last-minute interest. City records show an investor ultimately bought the home for nearly $1.4 million last month.

But there's no doubt it's more valuable than when it was first offered, said Misha Haghani, a principal in Paramount Realty USA, which is coordinating the auction. ``The last time, we were auctioning the childhood home of the Republican presidential nominee,'' Haghani said. ``Now, we're auctioning the childhood home of the president-elect.''

The president-elect's father, developer Fred Trump, built the five-bedroom, 4 1/2-bathroom, brick-and-stucco home in Jamaica Estates, an upper-middle-class enclave about 10 miles east of midtown Manhattan. The presidentelect lived there until he was about 4, when the family moved to another home Fred Trump had built nearby. -AP

Bill to allow leasing rooms and homes INDIANAPOLIS: Under a new bill proposed, cities and towns in Indiana wouldn't be permitted to ban short-term rentals that are found on websites like Airbnb.

Many cities in other states have already either banned short-term leasing or added inspection and permit fees. While Indianapolis has taken a more liberal approach, Carmel issued a warning to residents Tuesday that listing homes on Airbnb is violating city zoning ordinances.

Republican Rep. Matt Lehman of Berne says the bill wouldn't take away control from local governments.

According to the bill, cities and towns in the state could still impose laws regulating public safety and sanitation if ``enforcement does not prohibit the use of a property as a short term rental.''

Airbnb is a global homestay network that allows people to temporarily rent homes, apartments or rooms in cities. -AP

Real Estate 50 India Post

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US homebuilder confidence, sales slip U.S. homebuilders are feeling slightly less confident this month about their sales prospects, a pullback from December when builders' confidence reached the highest level in 11 years.

The decline in builder confidence comes amid heightened concerns about mortgage rates, which have been mostly rising since early November. Higher mortgage rates make home loans more expensive, which could dampen sales.

Details on page 52

How will fair housing fare under Trump administration?

HOLDEN LEWIS

T

he next housing secretary says he will continue the Obama administration's fair-housing policies, even though he has called them "mandated social-engineering schemes" that will have unintended consequences.

Ben Carson, nominated by Donald Trump for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, objects to two Obama-era policies: • A rule that requires local communities to seek and destroy discriminatory housing patterns.

• A legal principle that says plaintiffs don't have to prove that housing discrimination is intentional; just that it is a result of policies that have a "disparate impact" on different groups of people.

2 ways to define discrimination In his confirmation hearing before the Senate's banking committee, Carson said he objects to "people sitting around desks in Washington, D.C.," telling local governments to "go and look for a problem" that looks like housing discrimination. He meant that as a criticism of Obama's housing

policies.

On the other hand, when a senator asked Carson if he will keep the policies, Carson replied, "I will be working with the local HUD officials and the communi-

Dr. Carson to these promises."

But are Carson and the National Fair Housing Alliance talking past each other? Conservatives and liberals speak different languages when they discuss

Ben Carson

ties to make sure that fairness is carried out."

The National Fair Housing Alliance responded that "the fair housing community is more hopeful today about HUD's continued support of fair housing after hearing the testimony of Dr. Ben Carson," and said it would "hold

housing discrimination: • Conservatives say it's your intention that matters: Whether you're a landlord, developer or city council member, you're in the clear if you're not intentionally discriminating against anyone.

• Liberals say it's the impact that matters: If you can't rent or buy a

home where you want, maybe it's because someone drew up policies that unintentionally keep you from living where you want to live.

A new fair-housing rule Obama's fair-housing policy arises from a long-ignored passage in the Fair Housing Act. The law, passed in 1968, requires the housing secretary run the department "in a manner affirmatively to further" fair housing.

But what does it mean to affirmatively further fair housing? For more than 40 years and through eight presidential administrations, that question went mostly unanswered. Then the Obama administration drafted the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule.

The rule says local governments and nonprofits should: • Figure out why neighborhoods are racially segregated, even if the segregation is unintentional - and even if no one is complaining about it.

• Change the policies and customs that result in segregation to reduce or eliminate it.

Cont’d on page 52

6 Indian cities in most dynamic list DAVOS: Six Indian cities have made it to the world's 30 most dynamic places that have the ability to embrace technological change, absorb rapid population growth and strengthen global connectivity, with Bengaluru topping the chart.

Cities in India, China and Vietnam, along with several in the US, head the list of world's fastest changing cities in JLL's fourth annual City Momentum Index.

Other Indian cities in the list are Hyderabad at the 5th position, Pune (13), Chennai (18), Delhi (23) and Mumbai (25).

Asia Pacific cities comprise half the top 30 fastest-changing cities.

"India has taken over from

China as home to some of the world's most dynamic cities. Six Indian cities feature in the CMI Global Top 30, with the country's primary technology hub, Bangalore, moving into the top spot for the first time," JLL said.

Top 10 cities in the JLL index are Bengaluru, Ho Chi Minh City, Silicon Valley, Shanghai,

Hyderabad, London, Austin, Hanoi, Boston and Nairobi.

"With more than half the world's population currently living in cities, a proportion that is expected to grow substantially over the next few decades, the success of our cities takes on great importance," said Jeremy Kelly, JLL Director in Global Research.

Bengaluru, Hyderabad, among the top 10 dynamic cities in the world in JLL City Momentum Index

The report noted that dynamic labor markets help fuel some 'Emerging Megacities' such as Chennai, Manila, Delhi and Mumbai. However, this group faces significant infrastructure and quality of life issues, with high levels of inequality, congestion and pollution hindered by weak city governance.

In all, 134 cities were assessed by CMI using 42 variables including recent and projected changes in city GDP, population, corporate headquarter presence, commercial real estate construction and rents.

Other factors included education, innovation and environment. -PTI

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Concern over Trump plans for Scottish resort NEW YORK: Donald Trump has vowed his company will do ``no new foreign deals'' while he is president. But he's left ``new'' and ``deals'' open to interpretation.

Now those words are drawing scrutiny as his company confirms plans to expand its golf resort near Aberdeen, Scotland, raising concerns about conflicts of interest.

A spokeswoman for the resort says the expansion is not a new deal, but just another construction phase that was included in the broad plan approved by the local government in 2008.

Some lawyers who specialize in government ethics aren't convinced.

Richard Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, said there are so many pending issues before local governments at each stage of a real estate project, it's like a new deal every time. ``Each phase requires building permits, each phase requires financing, each phase poses additional conflicts of interest,'' said Painter, a relentless Trump critic who has urged him to sell his company. ``Americans don't want their president or any other high

ranking official dependent on a foreign government for a building permit.''

The Scottish expansion is especially worrisome, Painter said, because the United States will need to negotiate a trade deal with the United Kingdom now that it has voted to leave the European Union. ``In that context, who is going to deny a permit to the president of the United States?'' Painter said.

In addition to its Scottish resort, the Trump Organization has several other uncompleted international projects, including a hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, a golf course in Dubai and two resorts in Indonesia. His partner in Indonesia, billionaire developer Hary Trump's original 2008 proposal for the resort, the Trump International Golf Links, included plans to eventually add a 450-room hotel, a second golf course, 500 luxury homes and 900 timeshare apartments. A recent article in the Guardian newspaper in Britain cited plans now for about twice the number of homes and timeshare apartments.

Officials at the local government, the Aberdeenshire Council, couldn't confirm the Guardian figures, but did say plans for the second golf course are still under review and have not been ap-

Donald Trump stands between bagpipers as he arrives at his revamped Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry Scotland

proved. A website run by the government shows the Trump Organization has had to undergo many reviews since its 2008 plan was approved, including for small projects, such as erecting a flag-

DDA's new housing scheme in Feb NEW DELHI: Delhi Development Authority's new Housing Scheme with 12,000 flats on offer is now likely to be launched next month, with the delay being blamed on "lack" of basic infrastructure in "few pockets" falling under the scheme.

contacted said, "Certain pockets of areas falling under the scheme lack basic infrastructure around flats like link roads, street lights, and so we will address these issues. The new scheme should be out sometime in February."

Out of the total number of flats,

The scheme was earlier expected to be launched around January 26.

"We had a January target but people were reeling under the immediate impact of demonetization and so bank transactions were getting difficult to come by," a source said.

A senior DDA official, when

most of them in Rohini, Dwarka, Narela, Vasant Kunj and Jasola, 10,000 unoccupied flats are from the 2014 scheme, while 2,000 are other flats which have been lying vacant," a senior DDA official said.

Sources said most of the flats are one-bedroom LIG flats from the last housing scheme and no new flat is on offer this time.

pole and building a wall and adding six rooms to a hotel already there.

The resort has had a troubled history.

It's faced fierce opposition from

"About 10,000 are LIG flats from 2014 DDA scheme. Unlike EWS (Economically Weaker Section) last time, in this scheme there would be no such category," the official said.

"For LIG category the registration fee would be Rs 1 lakh while for MIG and HIG it would be Rs 2 lakh," he said.

"Application forms would be available both online and off line," he said.

From application to refund, the DDA this time had planned to make the scheme an online affair to reduce the long queues of flat buyers at its headquarters.

"A big number of citizens either still do not have access to technology or are not tech-savvy. So, we decided to keep both the options," he added.

Scheme 2014 offered 25,040 flats across categories, with prices ranging between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 1.2 crore.

The online response was so massive that DDA's official website had crashed soon after the launch. The one-bedroom flats were offered in Dwarka, Rohini, Narela and Siraspur areas. -PTI

Sanderson said.

To make questions of possible self-dealing go away, many ethics lawyers have urged Trump to follow the example of past presidents by selling his ownership in his company and putting the cash into a blind trust overseen by an independent manager.

In a public speech last week, Walter Shaub, the director of the Office of Government Ethics, a normally behind-the-scenes agency that advises incoming presidents, urged the presidentelect to do just that. He criticized parts of Trump's plan as ``meaningless.''

Some ethics experts have said a blind trust is impractical given the size and sweep of the president-elect's holdings, which include hotels, resorts, residential towers and commercial buildings in about 20 countries. The view was embraced by Trump's lawyer at the news conference. ``President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built,'' said Dillon, a partner at law firm Morgan, Lewis and Brokius.

Trump has been slimming down his business, though. In recent weeks, the Trump Organization has canceled signed deals and exploratory talks in several countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Azerbaijan and the neighboring country of Georgia.

Kathleen Clark, a former federal ethics lawyer, said the focus on new foreign deals misses the real problem. She said any Trump real estate project - new or existing, foreign or domestic - offers opportunity for government officials, corporate executives and ordinary people to curry favor with the new president. They can approve permits or purchase time-

locals, including a fisherman who became a national hero of sorts for refusing a $690,000 offer from Trump to buy his land. Environmentalists protested possible damage to Aberdeen's dramatic dunes overlooking the windswept North Sea. A documentary was shot called ``Tripping Up Trump.''

The pledge of ``no new foreign deals'' came at Trump's press conference last week in which he unveiled several other steps he would take to allay concerns that he could be tempted to put his private financial interests ahead of the public good.

Sheri Dillon, a lawyer who helped Trump with the conflicts plan, told reporters at the news conference that the steps were ``extraordinary.'' But government ethics lawyers have largely panned the moves.

They noted that his Trump project offers opporcompany can still strike new domestic deals and tunity for government offiargued that much of cials, corporate executives what was promised is difficult for outsiders to and ordinary people to monitor. curry favor The news conference was ``full of unanswered questions and malleable share units or pay up to become commitments that leave the pub- members of his golf clubs.

And she worries that by framlic guessing,'' said Matthew Sanderson, a former legal adviser ing the debate over conflicts so to several Republican presidential narrowly - What is ``new?'' What is a ``deal?'' - the public will quickly campaigns.

Sanderson said the Scottish tire of Trump's conflicts issue. ``Pinning him down and seeing expansion shows that Trump whether he's living up to his promneeds to provide more details. ``His conflict situation is ex- ise will get technical,'' said Clark, a traordinary and only extraordinary professor of law at Washington levels of transparency can com- University in St. Louis. ``It won't go bat the appearance that his new radioactive. It will seem like a dull office is enriching him,'' issue of technical compliance.''-AP

Real Estate Post

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US homebuilder confidence, sales slip

U

.S. homebuilders are feel ing slightly less confident this month about their sales prospects, a pullback from December when builders' confidence reached the highest level in 11 years.

The decline in builder confidence comes amid heightened concerns about mortgage rates, which have been mostly rising since early November. Higher mortgage rates make home loans more expensive, which could dampen sales.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index fell to 67 this month. That's down two points from a revised reading of 69 in December.

Readings above 50 indicate more builders view sales conditions as good rather than poor.

The index has been above 60 since September.

Builders' view of sales now and over the next six months also fell, as did a gauge of traffic by prospective buyers. ``Concerns going into the year include rising mortgage interest rates, as well as a lack of lots and access to labor,'' said Robert Dietz, the NAHB's chief economist. Builders have complained in recent years about a shortage of skilled construction workers and land parcels cleared for home construction.

Despite the pullback in this month's builder confidence index and the potential setback of rising mortgage rates, builders' overall outlook remains positive.

The homebuilder trade group forecasts that single-family home construction will climb 10 percent this year.

A stable job market and stilllow mortgage rates helped spur demand for homes in 2016, driv-

ing prices higher. Sales hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000 in November, a 16.5 percent increase from a year earlier

vanishing. Long-term mortgage rates have mostly risen since the presidential election.

Last week, the average 30-year,

A new home under construction in Phoenix. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index is released for January.

and the fastest pace since July.

But the cheap loans that have supported stronger sales may be

fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 4.12 percent, the second weekly decline after a nine-week run of in-

creases. While still low by historical standards, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage is up sharply after averaging 3.65 percent for all of 2016.

Investors have bid rates higher because they believe Presidentelect Donald Trump's plans for tax cuts and higher infrastructure spending will drive up economic growth and inflation. Last month, the Federal Reserve raised shortterm U.S. interest rates for only the second time in a decade, citing improvement in the U.S. economy.

This month's builder index was based on 334 respondents.

A measure of current sales conditions for single-family homes fell three points to 72, while a gauge of traffic by prospective buyers dipped one point to 51. Builders' view of sales over the next six months slipped two points to 76. -AP

How will fair housing fare under Trump administration?

Cont’d from page 50

Local vs. top-down control It's up to local officials to find discriminatory policies and fix them in a way that's acceptable locally.

Fair-housing advocates seem to believe Carson is satisfied by this element of local control.

"He didn't say that the rule was top-down, what he said is that he is opposed to top-down approaches," says Lisa Rice, executive vice president of the Fair Housing Alliance. "So he is opposed to the government sitting in Washington and telling people what they need to do."

But the find-and-fix requirement comes from Washington.

That seems to be what Carson objects to. As he said in his confirmation hearing: "They're not responding to people saying that there's a problem, they're saying, 'Go and look for a problem.'"

The Trump administration, with Carson in charge of the housing department, might approach housing segregation less proactively.

'A tortured reading' In a 2015 opinion piece in the Washington Times, Carson wrote that the Affirmatively Further Fair Housing rule relies on "a tortured reading of the Fair Housing laws to empower the Department of Housing and Urban Development to 'affirmatively promote' fair housing, even in the absence of explicit discrimination."

He continued: "The new rule would not only condition the grant

of HUD funds to municipalities on building affordable housing as is the case today, but would require that such affordable housing be built primarily in wealthier neighborhoods with few current minority residents and that the new housing be aggressively marketed to minorities.

"In practice, the rule would fundamentally change the nature of some communities from primarily

las area were disproportionately available in minority neighborhoods, making it difficult for families to move into non-minority neighborhoods.

The Supreme Court ruled that the fair-housing plaintiffs could challenge the local housing authority's housing voucher policies on the grounds that they had a disparate impact on minority families. The plaintiffs wouldn't have

Carson criticized a Supreme Court decision that upheld "the use of 'disparate impact' analysis in determining whether municipal housing policies have a racially discriminatory effect, whether intended or not." single-family to largely apartmentbased areas by encouraging municipalities to strike down housing ordinances that have no overtly (or even intended) discriminatory purpose - including race-neutral zoning restrictions on lot sizes and limits on multi-unit dwellings, all in the name of promoting diversity."

Skeptical of disparate impact In the same column, Carson criticized a Supreme Court decision that upheld "the use of 'disparate impact' analysis in determining whether municipal housing policies have a racially discriminatory effect, whether intended or not."

In that legal case, fair-housing proponents in Texas complained that housing vouchers in the Dal-

to prove that the housing authority's policies were intentionally discriminatory.

"Fair housing advocates saw this as a victory, but as with other mandated social-engineering schemes, the sort of unintended consequences Justice Samuel Alito alluded to in his dissent lurk in the shadows," Carson wrote in his Washington Times opinion piece.

For example, he wrote, New York City might be prevented from building sorely need affordable housing in minority neighborhoods.

In the confirmation hearing, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, asked Carson if he is committed to affirmatively furthering fair housing.

But Carson's response was

about something different: the "disparate impact" ruling.

"This is been a judgment passed on by the Supreme Court,"

he said. "It has become the law of the land and of course, if confirmed, I will enforce it."

-Courtesy Bankrate.com

JPMorgan settles mortgage discrimination lawsuit NEW YORK: JPMorgan Chase will pay $55 million to settle federal charges that independent brokers working for the bank discriminated against minorities seeking home mortgages during the housing crisis.

While the settlement is not a big financial dent to the giant bank, the cases illustrate the depth of the mortgage quagmire that has trailed the financial sector for a decade.

A federal suit filed in Manhattan accused JPMorgan Chase & Co. of charging black and Hispanic borrowers higher interest rates and fees for mortgages from 2006 to at least 2009, causing them to pay an average of an extra thousand dollars. The lawsuit alleges that discrimination cost at least 53,000 minority borrowers tens of millions in higher interest payments and fees, in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit said Chase originated about 260,000 wholesale mortgage loans during those years, with 40,000 of the loans going to black applicants and another 66,000 going to Hispanic borrowers. It said the pricing discretion was not based on borrower risk.

The New York bank denied

wrongdoing and shifted the blame. ``We've agreed to settle these legacy allegations that relate to pricing set by independent brokers,'' said JPMorgan spokeswoman Elizabeth Seymour. ``We deny any wrongdoing and remain committed to providing equal access to credit.''

While JPMorgan said those involved were independent brokers working under contract for the bank, federal prosecutors said that Chase maintained ultimate control and was ``directly and extensively involved'' in setting up the deals. ``Chase could have, but failed, to better monitor its wholesale brokers to discourage discrimination against borrowers based on race or national origin,'' the lawsuit said.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said it is suing JPMorgan Chase for discriminating against female workers. The agency said that it found that at least 93 female workers in an investment-bank division earned less than comparable men in the same jobs since at least May 2012.

JPMorgan said it tried to work with the agency and was disappointed that it filed the complaint.

-AP

Philosophy

January 27, 2017

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Page Sponsored by Sahanis G. I. GURDJIEFF

M

y effort to awaken cannot be forced. We are afraid of emptiness, afraid to be nothing, and so we make an effort to be otherwise. But who makes this effort? I must see that this too comes from my ordinary "I." All forcing comes from the ego. I must no longer be fooled by an image or an ideal that is imposed by the mind. I need to accept emptiness, accept to be nothing, accept "what is."

In this state, the possibility of a new perception of myself appears.

Real "I" comes from essence.

Its development depends on the wish of essence- a wish to be and then a wish to become able to be.

Essence is formed from impressions that are assimilated in early childhood, usually up to the age of five or six when a fissure appears between essence and personality. In order to develop further, essence must become active in spite of resistance from the pressure of personality.

We need to "remember ourselves" for our essence to receive impressions. Only in a conscious state can we see the difference between essence and personality.

Ordinarily impressions are received in a mechanical way.

They are received by our personality, which reacts with automatic thoughts and feelings that depend on its conditioning. We do ROBERT ADAMS

A

ll forms of meditations, affirmations, yoga, breath ing exercises are all to make the mind stop, to still the mind, to make the mind quiescent, but that's going about it the hard way. The fastest way to do this is to ask yourself the question, "To whom come these thoughts?"

You must use your mind to annihilate your mind. And by asking the question, "To whom do these thoughts come?" but not answering, it will take care of itself. Do not answer, due to the fact when you answer it's your ego answering. Your ego seems to have all the right answers and you never get anywhere.

You do not answer but the feeling will come to you, "These thoughts come to me, I feel these thoughts," and the next query should be, "From where does the I come from?" or "Who am I?" and again you do not answer.

And one day you will find out that the I does not come from anything, it's mesmerism, there is no I, there never was an I, there is only I-am, freedom, bliss, consciousness, existence, they are all synonymous.

And you will feel your Self not as a body but as omnipresence.

not assimilate impressions because personality itself cannot be alive- it is dead. In order to be assimilated and transformed, impressions have to be received by essence.

This requires a conscious effort at the moment of the impression.

And it requires a definite feeling, a feeling of love for being, for being present. We must respond to impressions no longer from the vantage point of personality but from love for being present. This will

energy brings a vibration, a note that did not sound until now. It is subtle, very fine, but nevertheless communicates. I feel it. It is an impression I receive, an impression of a life in me. All my possibilities are here. What follows- whether I will open to the experience of Presence- depends on the way I receive this impression.

Call to Consciousness We do not understand the moment of receiving an impression and

sion, I close myself.

I am imagining what "I" am. I do not know the reality. I am the prisoner of this imagination, the lie of my false "I." Usually I try to awake by forcing, but it does not work. I can and must learn to awake by opening consciously to the impression of myself and seeing what I am at the very moment.

This will be a shock that awakens me, a shock brought by an impression that I receive. It requires a freedom to be in movement, not

We are prisoners of the lie of our false 'I'

G. I. Gurdjieff

Only in a conscious state can we see the difference between essence and personality. Ordinarily impressions are received in a mechanical way. They are received by our personality

transform our whole way of thinking and feeling. The first necessity is to have an impression of myself.

This begins with a shock when the question "Who am I?" arises.

For an instant there is a stop, an interval that allows my energy, my attention, to change direction. It turns back toward me, and the question now touches me. This

why it is so important. We need to be present because it is the shock of the impression that drives us.

If there is nobody here at the moment an impression is received, I react automatically, blindly, passively, and I am lost in the reaction. I refuse the impression of myself as I am. In thinking, in reacting, in interposing my ordinary "I" in the reception of this impres-

to stop the movement.

In order to be present, I must see that I am asleep. I am enclosed in a circle of petty interests and avidity in which my "I" is lost.

Excerpted from 'The Reality of Being - The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff' by Jeanne de Salzmann.

The 133rd birth anniversary of Gurdjieff was observed on January 13.

You will realize everything as your Self. There's only one and even the one does not exist.

There is no word to use. There is the Self. That's the only word you can use. Everything is the Self and you are That.

It's beyond words, beyond thoughts. It comes to you. It's like you wake up, it's like you've been asleep for all these years then all

On about the thirtieth day he opened his eyes and he was shining, he was smiling. His disciples asked him, "Master, what happened to you, did you see God?" He said, "No," "Did you become self-realized?" "No," "Well what happened," and he simply exclaimed, "I am awake!"

Therefore all these words, selfrealization, illumination, aware-

are taking place in this world, but when you wake up all these feelings are gone.

You realize the illusion, the dream, and you are no longer that.

Everyone is already free. Identify with your freedom. Identify with the ultimate reality. Do not identify with the experiences you're going through bodily, leave them alone. Do whatever

Use your mind to annihilate your mind You watch TV, you watch the news and you get upset, all these terrible things, these dastardly things that are taking place in this world, but when you wake up all these feelings are gone. of a sudden you awaken and you know. It's like the story of the Buddha. He was sitting under the Bodhi tree for thirty days and he made up his mind he was going to sit there until he dies or until he awakens. And his disciples were sitting all around him, watching.

ness, they're just words. You just wake up from the dream. Right now you feel your body. You feel your emotions. You feel pain. You feel hurt. You feel all kinds of things going on in this world. You watch TV, you watch the news and you get upset, all these terrible things, these dastardly things that

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.

-Thich Nhat Hanh

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.

-Gautama Buddha

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

-Alan W. Watts

Even if things don't unfold the way you expected, don't be disheartened or give up. One who continues to advance will win in the end.

-Daisaku Ikeda

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher."

-Pema Chรถdrรถn

"If there is any religion that could respond to the needs of modern science, it would be Buddhism."

-Albert Einstein

Robert Adams

you have to; take care of them but do not put your mind to that.

Keep your mind on your freedom, on your absolute reality and then you will see what happens.

Excerpted from a talk on 3rd August, 1990. The 89th birth anniversary of Robert Adams was observed on January 21.

We are not going in circles, we are going upwards.

The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps."

-Hermann Hesse

Yes I am, I am also a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, and a Jew. - Mahatma Gandhi

Insure yourself FIRST. Call Sahanis, (Arish, Priya or Shiv) for your Insurance needs 718- 271- 0453. Serving for last 35 yrs

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January 27, 2017

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Japan-China contestation to continue in 2017 India Post

SANDIP KUMAR MISHRA

2

017 is set to be a consequential year for East Asia in general and JapanChina contests in particular. Beijing and Tokyo's growing assertive postures would continue in 2017 and it is likely that the Japan-China contestation in the region would be more direct and scary. Both countries have been extremely uncompromising under the leaderships of Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and China's President Xi Jinping. Both have been incrementally crossing mutual permissible lines and the trend portends further worsening. There are concerns that in 2017, both will further test the policy of 'offence'.

In the past few months, there have been significant developments, which point in this direction. Chinese coastal guards have significantly increased their patrolling near the Senkaku/Diaoyu

Japan also keenly observes China's behavior pertaining to the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the One-Belt One-Road (OBOR) project, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and its fierce opposition of the installations of the US Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) system in East Asia.

On most platforms of bilateral and multilateral exchanges, the Chinese approach has been overtly non-compromising. China has been flexing its muscles at the East Asian Summit, ASEAN, and the ASEAN+3, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), among others, which makes Japan concerned.

Similarly, Japan too has been equally uncompromising in its approach. Tokyo increased its military budget again, which is the fifth consecutive increase in a row and its latest defense paper openly

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with China's President Xi Jinping

islands in the East China Sea. In 2016, China submitted over 50 applications to the Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names, part of the Monaco-based International Hydrographic Organization, to give Chinese names to underwater topographic features that had Japanese or other non-Chinese names.

These applications were double in number than those submitted in 2015. Although 34 Chinese names were rejected, the move shows Beijing's intent. Over the past six years, China has successfully gotten 76 names approved. It also must be underlined that in 2013, China unilaterally declared the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea and there are allegations that it has gradually been becoming stricter in its implementation.

mentions islands' security and the East China Sea as the main contexts of the increase. Japan's procurement of naval ships and submarines are the main focus of the defense expenditure; and this was evidently done bearing China in mind.

In early December 2016, two Japanese F-15 fighter jets allegedly interfered in the training of Chinese Air Force in the Western Pacific, which irked Beijing.

Additionally, Japan has a plan to establish an organization of the Japanese Coast Guard, which would help Southeast Asian countries 'improve maritime safety'; and this organization is slated to become operational from April 2017.

In a more recent move, Japan added the name Taiwan to its de facto embassy in Taipei on 28 December 2016, which will certainly annoy China.

Actually, China may read Japanese overtures to Taiwan as part of Tokyo and Washington's joint plan because US President Donald Trump has also shown a glimpse of his intent to review the status quo of the US' 'One China Policy'.

Trump received a phone call from Taiwan's President, Tsai Ing-wen, and justified his conversation strongly. China would consider it a Tokyo-Washington joint plan to alter Taiwan's status in their diplomacy.

On 29 December 2016, Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada visited Yasukuni shrine to again emphasize Japan's intent of noncompromise. Furthermore, in early January 2017, the defense minister had visited the NATO headquarters to deepen NATO-Japan defense cooperation and along with the Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, participated in the two-plus-two talks with France on security issues in the East China Sea and the region.

Japan has also been trying to placate Russia's President, Vladimir Putin; and during his visit to Japan in mid-December 2016, Tokyo assured many economic concessions to Moscow. Observers connect Japan's extra efforts to improve relations with Russia with the Japanese efforts to isolate China in regional politics.

Although, there are uncertainties over Trump's approach towards Japan, Abe's special meeting with the US president-elect in December 2016 indicates that the US commitment to Japanese security would continue.

It is also because, even though Trump has some reservations regarding Japan's 'free-ride', he is overtly challenging China and for that, he needs Japan's support.

Overall, the contestation between Japan and China is intensifying, and if neither party carries out a course correction in 2017, it may reach a critical point. Incremental quantitative changes are likely to bring qualitative transformation in the Japan-China bilateral this year.

The course may be otherwise, if the following three variables intervene in the process: huge economic exchanges between the two countries; a decrease in Washington's support to an aggressive Japan; and constructive intervention of concerned middle powers of the Asia-Pacific.

The writer is Associate Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, JNU, & Visiting Fellow, IPCS

China's ambitions D

esire for a warm water port must have been a major part of China's expansionist designs. This desire must pre-date occupation of Tibet. In fact one of the reasons for occupying Tibet could have been to provide land access to reach the warm water port, in this case Gwadar in Pakistan. Thus the need to befriend Pakistan. Simultaneously with milking America, Pakistan must have been in secret touch with China by the logic that an enemy's enemy is your friend.

Pakistan's approach as its driving force is, and has been, driving down India. And in that mission, it would even sup with the devil. No doubt China wanted to use Pakistan and the latter was more than willing even to cede territory to make China's advance to Gwadar through Pakistan possible.

America must have been aware of this China-Pak bon homie and that is how it got Pakistan to arrange the 1971 secret visit of Nixon's National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to Beijing via Pakistan who in turn arranged for the visit of Nixon to China the next year. This opened the way for US-China relations. Both nations have been grateful to Pakistan for making this possible.

India after Independence did not allow itself to be used by any great power. Pakistan in contrast had no such compunctions and laid itself open to be used by America, China or anybody else as long as it served its purpose of harming or belittling India.

China's expansionist designs are not confined to the Gwadar port in Pakistan. Burgeoning with heavy infrastructural machinery lying unused after transforming China, it has approached countries on India's periphery to build their roads and ports. Among these is the noted project of the Sri Lankan port in Hambantota.

Lanka's Ports Minister Arjuna Ranatunga has indirectly accused India of blocking attempts for developing Hambantota port with China's substantial help. He has also said that India is opposing the proposed Kra canal planned to be built by China through Thailand which will allow ships to bypass the narrow Strait of Malacca, cutting their travelling time to China by 72 hours. The Kra Canal project is breathtaking in its vision and it is not being opposed by India but by Malaysia and Singapore since ships would bypass Malacca Straits in their region causing a big financial loss to the two countries.

China is keen on the Kra Canal project partly for strategic reasons. Presently, 80% of China's oil from the Middle East and Africa passes through the Straits of Malacca. China has long recognized that in a potential conflict with other rivals, particularly with the US, the Strait of Malacca could easily be blockaded, cuttingoff its oil lifeline.

An area of more international concern is the capture of some South China Sea islands by China even as these are claimed by adjoining countries. As a high proportion of the world's trade passes through the South China Sea, there are many nations that want the South China Sea to remain as international waters, with several nations (e.g. America) conducting "freedom of navigation" operations. However China has just gone ahead and built bases on these islands.

As for the anti-India bias of the Lankan minister, there is a history behind it. Arjuna Ranatunga is a former cricket captain of Sri Lanka who lead the World Cup winning team in the 1996 contest held in India. In the semi-finals held in Calcutta, the large crowd started rioting and burning property as they sensed India was losing.

The match was stopped and it was conducted only after the entire stadium was vacated. Although Sri Lanka went on to win the final against Australia in Bombay, the treatment in Calcutta still rankles with Ranatunga. Also, Ranatunga has been having a running battle with the Indian Board of Control of Cricket and has also opposed BCCI domination in the ICC.

January 27, 2017

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